#we got the magenta streak and a dog

[game-grumps-captions]

YOOO THE MAGENTA STREAK IS BACK

[crystalrose555]

Slap me, I dare you! ch. 18

His stomach turned and shifted as he fought the nearly constant nausea, he wondered what he should do next. Sure, he was able to avoid Satan and Levi from the movie promotion but now he was running on fumes, sweat dripping from his brow while the lights of the backroom hummed above his head. Nixie took in a couple of deep breaths while adjusting his shades in the mirror. Taking them off, he stared into his reflection, seeing his magenta-shaded eyes while his hair swayed between black and rose gold. His skin was turning pale and he could feel a chill running through his body, however, he couldn’t figure out the source of it. Suddenly, knocking echoed into the room as the door vibrated rhythmically.

“Come in,” Nixie called out as he put his shades and face back on.

In walked his manager, scrolling on his phone with a big cat-like grin on his face. Standing tall, despite his short stature, he pulled back his smooth blonde hair out of his face while letting the purple streak fall to the side of his boyish face.

“Very nice, Nue, a full house for the entire event. Now that’s what I like to see.” He praised eagerly.

Nixie stared at him with a bit of annoyance.

“I’m glad that you’re so happy, truly.” He grumbled.

“Whoa, are you alright? You look like shit.” He asked as he put his phone away and approached with a concerned hand.

“Is it that obvious?” Nixie asked as he swatted his manager’s hand away.

“Hmm, maybe you should take the rest of the day off. Get some food and go straight home.”

Nixie raised his eyebrow as he looked at the shorter man.

“…What are you up to, Claude?” He asked as he glared through his shades.

Claude just gave another Cheshire grin, worrying Nixie even more.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just gonna do some planning for our next big step.”

“And that would be?”

“Endorsement and exposure. We need you to be at the front of the latest releases, whether it’s technology or entertainment.”

Nixie just looked at his manager with tired eyes.

“Yeah, I’m going home, and don’t even think about signing any deals without me knowing.”

Claude’s grin grew wider.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it~”

“Hold it still, dammit, I can’t get the screw in straight,” Mammon growled as his fingers trembled with the metal screw and screwdriver.

“Hurry up, my arms are getting tired,” Belphie whined with a yawn.

“I can’t hurry if ya can’t keep it still!”

The two demons bickered back and forth while Gell and Rem watched on with unamused expressions. Beel excused himself back into the home with numerous bags, chewing on another corn dog stick.

“I brought some snacks to tie us until lunch,” Beel exclaimed with a smile.

Gell’s brow flattened as he stared at the vast amounts of food being unloaded upon the table.

“This is a snack for you?” The unnerved twin claimed while poking through the pile.

Rem, on the other hand, nonchalantly picked out a bag and ripped it open. Gell’s expression melted with a sigh before staring at the strangers in his home and breaking the silence.

“…So, after you fix the door, you guys are leaving, right?”

The demons froze in place as if being perfectly still would make them disappear. Gell looked at all of the adult visitors and felt a bit of a pathetic air wafting off of them. Suddenly, Mammon zipped across the room, leaving Belphie with the door, and planted himself right by Gell’s side. His grin beamed from ear to ear, leaving Gell put off while Rem casually remained at his brother’s back.

“Don’t ya think that’s a bit too sudden? I mean we just got here, shouldn’t ya be a bit more welcoming?” Mammon pointed out.

“…You broke into our house and you’re gonna try taking the high road?” Gell retorted sharply and coldly.

“Not a smart move, wanna try again?” Rem flatly asked, chewing on some chips.

Mammon then began to shrink at the piercing gaze of the twins while his own brothers focused on the door they had broken. Gaining a second wind, Mammon cleared his throat and his approach towards the skeptic boys.

“C’mon, we’re all friends of Marley, right?” He chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, we live with her and you kidnapped her, I think there’s a line that needs to be pointed out here.” Gell glared.

“Careful not to hurt yourself backpedaling,” Rem added nonchalantly while emptying the bag.

Nixie sighed heavily while he waited for his to-go order. His patience was running thin thanks to the throbbing pain in his head and there seemed to be no end in sight. He barely managed to dodge straggling fans camping out of the book signing and he wanted to get moving as soon as possible but the line of backed-up orders was demanding he stayed put for the unforeseeable future. Feeling defeated, he took out his phone and began to scroll through Snapgram. The corners of his mouth curled slightly as he saw pictures and posts from the earlier event. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest, seeing so many fans supporting the movie gave him a sense of accomplishment and peace.

And with that an even more chilling wind blew through the home, chilling the demons to their cores.

----------------

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it.” He thought to himself.

“It sure is crowded in here,” Solomon commented, shuffling through the bushels of people.

His soft demeanor suddenly stiffened like a stone as he heard a bubbly voice in his vicinity. He whipped his head toward the source and cursed under his breath sharply. Nixie flattened himself against the wall, hoping to make himself as sparse as possible while struggling to keep his eyes on the group that dominated his sight and thoughts.

-------------

“I agree, I thought we were going for lunch, not a concert,” Lucifer grumbled while managing to get to a seat at the table.

“But this is one of the major hot spots in this area, their menu is amazing, not to mention they have the cutest desserts and drinks.” Asmo chimed as he took various pictures of the surrounding decor.

Lucifer closed his eyes and shook his head while Solomon smiled with a sigh. Asmodeus proceeded to go on and on about possible food combinations while shuffling through the numerous shopping bags. Solomon chuckled to himself before rising from his seat.

“Does anyone mind if I go place our order?” He offered.

Lucifer opened one eye while Asmodeus jolted in his seat, fumbling his phone.

“That’s fine with me, it will give us time to get back to the original conversation, isn’t that right, Asmodeus?” Lucifer smiled darkly.

Asmodeus stammered, he then looked at the white-haired sorcerer who seemed to be inching away slowly.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we waited for everyone to show up first?” Asmo whimpered.

Solomon just waved softly as he disappeared into the crowd near the counter. The sorcerer sighed heavily, the heat from the crowded bodies was radiating and rubbing against his face and causing a slight sweat to form. He wiped his brow while he squinted at the illuminated menu board, however, the staggering distance from the front only made it illegible. Solomon pressed against the wall, releasing a heavy breath, staring at the numerous heads in front of him. The bodies around him shifted back and forth, trying to organize themselves into pick-up and ordering areas.

He wondered if he should return to the table and rescue Asmodeus from Lucifer’s interrogation but deep down, he knew what would come of it. The white-haired sorcerer retreated inward as he thought back all those centuries ago, causing an old wound of shame to rip fresh in his mind, the guilt only created flashes of memories that assaulted his senses without giving any clarity to what he should do. Suddenly, one of the bodies shifted oddly in the corner of his eye. He didn’t know why but he found himself staring at someone dressed in black who seemed to be avoiding his gaze. He shuffled toward them quickly, cutting off the possible escape route as he stood before them.

Solomon’s intense gaze softened to a concerned shock as he stared at Nixie who locked eyes with the surprised sorcerer. Time seemed to freeze in place while they tried to figure out one another. Taking the first step, Nixie pushed himself past Solomon only to be grabbed by the arm and forced to look at the white-haired man directly. Solomon could barely see the demonic glowing eyes behind the dark shade but Nixie’s hair pulsed light streaks of magenta which mirrored his true feelings. At that moment, Solomon knew who he was looking at, however, he wouldn’t be the first one to talk.

“Let go of me.” Nixie coldly claimed.Solomon stiffened before releasing his grip, he then shook his head.

“Listen, I just want to talk.”

“Why should I talk to some stranger who just decided to put his hands on me?”

“Because we both know we’ve seen each other before in the Devildom.”

“…”

“Please, I truly just want to talk with you.” Solomon claimed softly.

Nixie just looked at the sorcerer before turning away. Solomon went to grab him once again only for Nixie to snap back at him.

“Leave. Me. Alone.”

“You know I can’t do that, we have a lot of questions that only you can answer. And I have many personal questions that need answers as well.”

“That sounds like your problem so I’m going to give you one more chance to go away. Leave Marley and me alone, we want nothing to do with Devildom and its demons.”

Solomon stood firm.

“Have it your way.” Nixie answered bluntly.

The next moment seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace as Solomon heard a sweet sound coming from Nixie’s mouth. He couldn’t call it singing but it was as if he was being called to something warm and familiar. He felt as if he was floating but he was brought back to Earth when he realized some of the people who were crowding the counter and pick-up area were now facing him with glazed-over eyes and soft smiles. Seeing this Solomon was able to snap out of his trance and face Nixie once more with a widened gaze.

“What did you do?”

“All I did was call for a little help.” Nixie answered as the group closed in on them.

Before he could make another comment, Solomon found himself grabbed and held in place by the various brainwashed humans. As he struggled he expected to hear mindless groaning from the masses, but he could hear each person claiming similar yet distinct thoughts. Suddenly, Solomon’s blood ran a bit cold when he realized what this meant, he was about to call for his companions until a hand covered his mouth. Nixie sighed heavily as he staggered a little, he knew he was now on borrowed time before the crowd snapped out of their trance so he straightened himself up and gave a side eye to the struggling sorcerer before moving toward the exit. He didn’t have his food but he had the freedom and time to think about his next move. He swayed back and forth, inching closer and closer to the door. His head was pounding even harder and felt as if it was going to split open. However, his hopes were dashed as the door swung open only to reveal Satan and Levi walking in. Nixie cursed under his breath as he staggered back when the incoming demons took notice of him.

“Of course, Asmo would pick a place where this guy would eat.” Levi complained with slight disgust.

“Levi, I think we have more pressing concerns.” Satan corrected as he stared at the now panicking Nixie.

Nixie backed away from them only to hear a voice that made his hair stand on edge.

[gravityfallsweirdgirl]

Confrontation

At the orphanage the night after the fight, Gosalyn pulled out her phone, scrolled through her contact and when it went to drake's phone number, she pressed it and a icon said

Do you wish to delete this photo number

She thought for a minute.

"Well there's no turning back now" she said as she pressed yes and deleted drake's phone number and went to sleep.

It's been a month since drake and gosalyn had that fight.

It didn't take long for drake to realize that Gosalyn has been avoiding him.

She stopped seeing the mcduck family and stopped calling drake or see him.

It made him worry.

He was at work, shooting for a scene, when he called her.

Her dialed her phone number and as he was waiting for her to pick up.

But it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey gosalyn, it's me drake, I haven't heard you in awhile and I just wanted to know how you were doing, call me back"

Then when he was out on his motorcycle, doing patrol when he decided to call her again.

"Hey gosalyn it's me again, calling you for the 26 time, just wanted to know if your ok, you haven't answered any of my calls in awhile, so called me back"

Then he knew something was up, he was driving to the orphanage, looking worried.

"Ok gosalyn I'm starting to worry now, are you hurt, you haven't been answering any of my calls or texts and this is the 46 voicemail message i left, I'm coming over"

After he hangs up, he calls Launchpad.

"Launchpad i think that something is wrong with gosalyn"

"Well have you tried calling her" Launchpad says.

"I did call you, i called her 26 times, left her 36 text messages and 46 voicemails, and it's starting to worry me, I'm heading to the orphanage right now, something doesn't seem right"

"Do you think maybe she's trying to avoid you" Launchpad said.

"What make you say that"

"Well maybe it's because of the fight you guys had"

"How did you about our fight"

"I was with you when you were dropping her off, i think that maybe she needs some space"

"I think I kept been giving her space too long" drake said.

"Look maybe you guys just need to work some things out"

Drake thought about what Launchpad said then he hangs up when ge finally arrived at the orphanage.

"Ok look i got to go now, bye Launchpad"

"See ya drake"

He gets inside the orphanage and goes up to the desk where a female stork was typing on a computer.

"Excuse me, I'm hear to see gosalyn"

But before she could answer, these two little girls, one duck with blonde hair and a dog brunette, in uniforms came in.

"Gosalyn says she doesn't want to see you" the female duck says.

Drake just looks at them surprised.

"Yeah, she says you hate children" the female dog added then both girls left.

"I'm sorry about that but gosalyn isn't feeling feel at the moment, again i am very sorry"

"What why" drake asked.

"Well she says that- well we think that it is best if you stopped coming to the orphanage"

"What" drake was shocked as he drops the bouquet of roses he bought for Gosalyn.

"I'm sorry mr. Mallard, it's what's best for Gosalyn, she says she doesn't want to see you anymore"

"Oh no that okay, I'll just go" he walks outside, shock but what just happened.

But he doesn't quit, he changes into Darkwing and climbs up to gosalyn's room outside the orphanage.

"Ok Gosalyn, what are you hiding, why are you avoiding me" he says to himself.

And when he opens her window, he panics when he sees Gosalyn looking at herself in a mirror, staring at her reflection.

He quickly goes back outside, leaning against the wall.

He was lucky that she didn't see him but he saw how sad she looked.

He also saw that she looked different.

She wore long magenta dress with streaks embroidered on it and at the bottom of he dress, with orange teardrop-shaped circles on her collar, a chatelaine belt and brown high heels boots, and a black shawl.

"Ok don't panic" Gosalyn tells herself as she was brushing her hair.

"It was just a little lie, your not lying to him, how bad can it be"

She puts on a smile but then frowns as she presses her hand on her head and shakes her guilty.

"Ugh I'm such a horrible person, I don't deserve him"

She then looks at the left side of the reflection as drake makes a worried look.

"HEY Don't look at me like that"

Drake panicked as he thought she knew he was there.

But when she turned around, he realized that she was just talking to her Darkwing duck doll.

She takes it and talks to it as she was talking to drake.

"We both know that this was bound to happen and it's not like I wanted to do this either, but what was I supposed to do, wait for you to finally adopt me, well I'm tired of waiting and if you weren't going to adopt me then I'll just have to find someone who will and besides you weren't going to adopt me, so there"

Focusing on the doll, gosalyn gets mad.

"Oh what do you know, you're just a hack" she throws the doll at a glasses frame picture of her and drake.

The picture fell breaking the glass and cutting a hole in the doll.

Gosalyn gasped by the horror she has done, she covered her mouth and slowly made her way to the doll.

She bends down, carefully picks up the picture and holds the doll in her hand.

She stares at the doll and starts to cry as she hugged the doll to her chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she sobbed.

Darkwing saw the whole thing and felt bad, then gosalyn stitches the doll back together and puts him on the bed.

She then goes to the window, places her hand on the glass.

"I just wanted you to have me as your daughter, but I guess you don't want me"

On the outer side of the glass, darkwing puts his hand where gosalyn's one's.

She had her eyes closed, then when she opens them, darkwing was gone but not away.

"Gosalyn, the milestones are here" one of caregivers from the orphanage called out to her.

Gosalyn looks at the doll and grabs her suitcase.

"Well I better get going now, there're going to be expecting me, I'll be back to get you later, bye Darkwing, I was nice knowing you"

As she left the room, darkwing got inside, feeling bad for what he did to her.

"She's...getting adopted, why didn't she tell me"

Then suddenly Darkwing realized something.

"Ugh I'm such a idiot" Darkwing slapped his face.

He climbed Downstairs and he saw gosalyn meeting these nice friendly pig couple.

The female had blonde hair and the male wore a sweater vest.

And when they saw gosalyn they were already loving her.

"Aw she is so adorable" the female pig said.

"She's is absolutely perfect" the male pig said.

"Yes and she is full of spirit, gets along well with the other children and is very clean and polite" the care giver says.

When Darkwing saw them, he felt sad that he wasn't going to see Gosalyn anymore.

"So shall be begin the paperwork"

But that doesn't mean he shouldn't stop caring about her, he wanted to make sure these parents would treat her right, like he should have.

So before the couple could sign the paper, they saw through the window, that Darkwing was smashing his fist against his hand and pointing at them.

It scared them.

"On second, we're just ready to have kids yet" the female pig grabs her husband's hand as he was still staring at the window.

"What" the care giver said as Gosalyn started to crumple again like she felt when drake yelled at her.

After the parents left, gosalyn started to cry as the two care giver started to argue.

"Ugh that's the 13 couple this week, I don't understand why"

"Isn't it obvious, nobody wants her because she's a mistake, a screw up, a bad child"

Darkwing didn't like the way, they were talking about gosalyn.

"Don't say that"

"But you know it's true"

"But you can't say that in front of her"

"Why not"

Then gosalyn got upset.

"Would you stop talking like I'm not here" she yell as she ran up to her room.

But when she got inside, she was surprised to see Darkwing inside her room, on her bed.

"Hey" Darkwing said.

"What are you doing here" Gosalyn asked in a rather terrifying tone as she didn't wanted to see him.

"I could ask you the same thing" Darkwing walked towards hatred door and shutting it, gosalyn felt scared around him.

"Ok what's going on"

"It's nothing" gosalyn said.

"Why have you been avoiding me for the past few days, first you stop answering my calls and now, you say you don't want to see me what gives"

"It's nothing ok, besides what are you doing here anyway"

" I wanted to see how you been doing"

"I'm doing fine, now go"

"I'm not going until you explain to me why you been ignoring me"

"Because I'm done waiting on you" she yelled.

"Look After everything we been together, I thought you might want to have me as your daughter but then I realized you don't want me"

"Gosalyn I didn't mean it"

"And I been trying to get adopted all this time but nobody wants to adopt is because of you"

"Why me"

"Because every time you pick me up, everyone thinks you want to adopt me and that's why no parent ever wants to adopt, but when I do try to get adopted, they just run off scared and that when I knew, you were right about me, no by parent would want me around, I'm a mistake"

"That's not true" Darkwing said.

"A screw up" gosalyn continued.

"Gosalyn"

"A bad child"

Then Darkwing grabs her shoulders.

"GOSALYN, you know that's not true, look about what I said, I didn't mean it, and it's not true what they say about you, your a amazing kid with lots of spirits, any parent would be lucky to have you"

"If that's true then how come nobody wants me"

This made Darkwing feel guilty.

"Because I was the only that scared off them off"

Gosalyn pulls herself away from him as she started to hit Darkwing.

"Why can't you let her be happy, why do you like seeing me be miserable, why don't you let me just finally get happy"

"I do want you to be happy" Darkwing said as he tried blocking her punches.

"Then why won't you let me get adopted"

"Because I don't like seeing you with another family, I wanted to be the one to make you happy"

Gosalyn stops as her emotions got fried on the emotional roller coaster.

"Gosalyn I-"

"Gosalyn the Danvilles are here" the care giver said.

"Look I got to go, I got to meet my new family, hopefully they won't run away this time, bye Darkwing"

She grabs her suitcase and walks away from him.

Darkwing had a choice to make, he could let her go or he could fight for her.

"Gosalyn" drake grabbed her shoulder and she turned screaming at him.

"JUST LET ME GO DAD" she yelled.

But she open her eyes wide as she realized what she just said.

She saw how shocked Darkwing was, feeling embarrassed, she accidentally drops her suitcase.

She bends down to pick it up then Darkwing grabs her hand.

She backs away to the wall when he got close to her.

"I didn't mean-it was a accident-wait..just wait-I'm sorry" she tried to apologize.

Then by her shocking surprise, darkwing bend down and hugs her.

He nuzzled his beak against her and she was surprised by the hug but breaks down and lowers her head in his shoulders and cries as she returns the hug back.

And after a moment of emotional cuddling, they laid on her bed, he had her hands in his.

She was admiring his hands as she was touching them.

"You look nice in that dress" Darkwing complimented her.

"Thanks" gosalyn said.

"But why are you wearing a dress anyway"

"Because the orphanage says that if I'm ever going to get adopted, I had to wear a dress and be perfect"

"That's not true and you look beautiful without the dress"

"Really" gosalyn asked as she looks up at him.

"Are you accident prone" gosalyn asked.

"What"

"Well every time you fight crime, you always get hurt and I don't like it, it makes me worry and I'm afraid that you get hurt then I won't see you again"

"Hey don't worry I'm fine, I maybe get hurt but my accident always gets me out of trouble and I'm scrappy and I'm used to get"

"Really how do you do it"

"That's easy I think of the most important thing that keeps me strong"

"What's that" Gosalyn asked.

"You"

Gosalyn was surprised when she saw drake get up and gets on his knees, taking her hands.

"Huh" gosalyn was puzzled.

"Gosalyn, I'm so sorry about everything, I wish I could do anything to take it back, and I don't want you to end up alone and miserable without a family, so o want you to be my daughter"

"What" she was speechless, "you would want to have me for a daughter, but don't I annoy you"

"Yes, You make me want to pull my feathers out but in a good way, you help keep me sane from dealing with the mcduck family"

"What is it exactly that you like about me"

"I like your spirit and I like how you make me happy and I don't want you to stop that spirit of yours"

"I don't know" gosalyn said as she takes her hands back.

"Gosalyn I promise you, I will be the perfect dad you need and I will never ever hurt you again, I promise"

"You don't need to be perfect, I just need you to be there for me on my darkest time"

"I promise" drake said.

Gosalyn smiled and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him.

She savor his touches when he hugged her back.

Then the scene changes to gosalyn hugging drake as he was holding her abd carrying her suitcase while yelling at the rude Karen care giver.

"Now mr. Mallard let's just talk about this"

"I'm going home and I'm taking gosalyn home with me and frankly, I don't think you're right for this orphanage, I'm calling child services and your fired"

"Fired" the care giver panicked as she starts to shake.

"No please"

"Oh and another thing, gosalyn is perfect just the way she is and you have no right to talk to her like that, now excuse me I have to take my daughter home.

It made Gosalyn smiled hearing him call her his daughter.

[ask-fused-fates]

who's sil?

Continued in Written Form:

Bucky led the way, finned tail swishing. Vex quietly followed, her dark paws padding against the earth. Something about the ground beneath her feet didn’t feel right, despite not knowing what it should feel like. It just felt... too thin.  The bidoof-magikarp fusion led her to the edge of the small lake, it sat at the center of the strange... enclosure? The place was shaped like a hexagon, and the lake sat at its center.  Vex felt her fur prickle at the sensation that a few pairs of eyes were on her.  She ignored them, and instead stared at her own reflection in the water. A black furred face, pink scaled armor, and the large black tusks- tipped with magenta as though streaked by strange blood- that jutted from her jaws. The espeon-haxorus sat down, forked tail curling. Bucky sat down next to her.  “So... I’m sorry bout all this, honestly.” he sighs. “Why are you sorry?” “This place is... a lot. There’s a lot going on for you- lotta mons, several things we haven’t gotten around to telling you, and- do you even know what you are?” “Why would I even know?” Vex murmurs, “All I can... remember of things are...” her mind fell back to the strange dream. Smoke, or was it mist? Or dust? It felt grainy in her lungs. The land was grey and lifeless, she stood on her hind legs and watched with a strange feeling in her chest. Then it was green, and she was running on all fours and playing with a creature her mind whispered to her was a ‘human’. The human spoke words to her. The human called her ‘Vex’.  “Things are foggy?” Bucky tilts his head. She nods.  “Yeah... very little do know much when they wake. Or ever, even. That’s why we all talk to Sil.” “Sil... that’s the mon that’s been to the outside, right?”  “Yeah, that’s them. They know... a lot. Though they’re a little standoffish, sliiiightly intimidating- they could answer at least the question of what you’re a fusion of.” “F...fusion?”  “Yeah. None of us are normal pokemon. We’re all weird... mish-mashes of two. Created by the humans here.” Vex’s ears twitch. Created..? Here? But... she had vague memories of others... of the outside. How could that be possible? “I know that sounds crazy, but it’s... unfortunately what’s goin on in this place.”  “Why..?” Vex finds herself asking quietly, “Why would the humans here make us..?”  “We... don’t know. That’s what everyone is wondering. And anytime we’ve asked Sil about it they just... shut up immediately and try to walk away. They know more then they let on and it’s kiiiinda startin’ to tick me off,” Bucky shakes his front paws for emphasis, “if the guy couldn’t punt me halfway across the enclosure I’d be more inclined to push at it.” he snorts lightly. Vex gives a light chuckle, “Big pokemon?” “One of the largest, though I think Athamas has him beat. Noivern-scoliopede. She’s big, but old and really nice.”  “Ah... who else is here..?” Vex tilts her head. “Oh there’s... I think twelve of us?” “Twelve?”  “Yup, they’re all milling around here. Some are... nicer then others. So if you wanna talk to other mons, be a little careful, okay?” Bucky gives Vex a pat on the shoulder, “And worse comes to worse, come back to me. I’ve got your back.” he gives her a toothy grin, and Vex returns with a small smile.  “Thanks...” her magenta gaze rose to the few pokemon she could see.  A pale colored bird like creature with a blue and red finned tail that glimmered in the light swam across the water. A deep purple snake with orange rocks protruding from their body was perched up on a rock with a blue colored snake that had purple wings. Both has their tails twinned together. A small, purple rodent like pokemon sat below them.  And a pale furred dog like pokemon sat by a rock, they had two strange protrusions hanging from the area just behind their eyes that occasionally twitched as though sensing something. They stared at the ground with wide and blank eyes.  

[dainty-baneberry]

Prompt #4: Clinch

(The Rising Sands. A Realm Reborn) They were bound to come to blows eventually. Minfilia's soft entreaties and Urianger's attempts to deflect be damned. There was simply too much resentment on either side and both were entirely too pig-headed to sit down and resolve their issues with an adult conversation. Thancred absolutely believed that Dainty had disrespected Minfilia and continued to do so and he would no longer stand for it. Dainty absolutely believed that Thancred was a hypocrite with an anti-authority streak twice as long as her own. She was well sick of his sneers and pouts over an imaginary crime.

If he wasn't going to shut his mouth then Dainty would shut it for him. Especially when Minfilia herself did not feel insulted or disrespected by Dainty's sarcastic sense of humor or stoicism. So what if Dainty did not look particularly pleased about the tasks Minfilia set at her door. Or rolled her eyes behind her tankard when yet another of the Scions plans involved Dainty being sent on an arduous journey. Dainty never failed to complete those tasks, and those journeys with a bloody minded determination that, in Minfilia's opinion, spoke deeply of just how much Dainty did respect the orders of the Antecedent and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.

“Should we step in?” Moenbryda suggested. The Sea Wolf Roegadyn woman was well tall enough to heft the hyuran Thancred by the collar with one arm and the auri Dainty by the hem with the other so that they could not reach one another to trade blows. Dainty had started it, throwing an empty bottle at Thancred's head after yet another tart comment about her drinking when she had “work to do” Thancred's clenched fists as he glared at her and Dainty's taunting smirk spoke of violence. The Rogue and the Warrior were perilously close to erupting into a fist fight if something wasn't done. Urianger glanced left and right to see that Minfilia was currently absent and the shook his head; “Nay. Neither wilt be satisfied till one or other of them hath set thine other on their haunches.” “Idiot pair of mongrel dogs.” Moenbryda snorted but Urianger was correct. No amount of time, or talking, or distance would resolve anything between the contentious pair.

Dainty, ever the provocateur, threw the first punch. Thancred took a menacing step towards her and she responded with a body shot to prove she would not be intimidated. It missed, Thancred's reflexes being good enough to dance back in time for no connection to be made. He had always assumed his speed as a Rogue would more than compensate for Dainty's strength as a Warrior. Especially when both were without their weapons. What Dainty could do with an axe, and her Blessing of Light, Thancred knew he could not touch. Nor would he attempt to. She was something wholly unseen when it came to fighting on that level. But a scrapping, bare knuckle bar fight between unarmed combatants was a different kind of fight and one that Thancred was well versed in. He had been in more bar fights than he could count at this point in his life, many times triggering them himself as a method to gain trust with a mark by seeming to have their back in a scrape. It was a sound theory but leaking like a sieve from one major point. Had Dainty ever cared to share much of her private life with the Scions Thancred might of known that Dainty had spent the past 5 years since the Calamity wrestling with a very large Roegadyn adopted brother. Much like Laughing Couerl Thancred was significantly larger than the appropriately named Dainty. And her tactics worked on either man equally as well. In a burst of speed she ducked umder Thancred's return fire punch to grapple him around the ribs. This was done to eliminate his advantage of having much longer arms and range. For several moments they danced around, both unable to effectively punch or kick thanks to the close quarters but still doing what they could to hit and injure. Dainty got Thancred decisively with an elbow to the side, fighting dirty but it allowed her a second of opportunity to put him into a proper clinch hold as opposed to her original clumsy grapple. That was all she needed, sinking fingers into the flesh of his arm and shoulder enough that her nails drew blood. With a nasty snarl Dainty wrenched Thancred off his feet and threw him mercilessly to the wooden floorboards. Brutally she followed this up with a kick to his ribs that fully sent Thancred sprawling. “Oi!” Moenbryda jumped in, over riding Urianger's words to seize Dainty by one arm. “You've won, Dainty! Enough!” Kicking a man when he was down was in no way fair or sporting. “I am merely trying to show Thancred what my disrespect really looks like.” Dainty growled between her teeth, the orange limbal rings of her dark magenta eyes almost fully glowing. She looked about ready to shake off Moen's grip of her arm and continue the fight but instead remained in place, glaring at the silver haired Thancred as he rose unsteadily to his feet, holding his kicked ribs with one hand. Dainty said nothing more, as was her usual way. Her point had been made, her victory taken in a clinch she simply yanked her arm from Moenbryda's and summarily walked away to find another drink. Leaving Moen and Urianger to patch up Thancred if needed.

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi Mod Kait!! I hope you're doing well with all that you're going through lately 💕 can I request Saeyoung and Saeran with cuddles? - 4'10 anon sends her love 💞💞💗💗💘💘💓💓💞💞💝

I'm well! Just a little tired and unmotivated, that's because my serotonin machine is broke. Good news, my cat keeps me going, he's been trying to type out his own answers to the requests. But if I let him do that, the only person who would understand this blog would be Long Cat! ...and possibly Seven. I wouldn't put it past him to know how to speak long cat. Saeyoung ° Ever since Saeran and Seven made up and started working on making a healthy bond, things had changed drastically for the RFA. Especially you. You finally could move in with Saeyoung. You had spent the longest time apart because of how much he wanted to focus on his brother, but you weren't upset about that. It had to be done.° You two had been spending plenty of time together, much to the charign of Saeran. Cough. Cough. Anyways. You two had your moments but everything was looking up for you guys and you were hoping to keep it that way. ° "Are you going to keep doing that? You've been cooped up since I got home, take a break, already!" ° "Five more minutes, Y/N!" ° You've been asking him to come and join you on the couch for like, twenty minutes. But Seven always had some kind of excuse. He was caught up in something that you pretty much knew to be him destroying Yoosung on LOLOL. He wouldn't admit that though, so, you just tossed a pillow at his head from the couch and huffed, marching back to enjoy your t.v. show without him. ° Fifteen minutes later, he dive-bombs the couch when you turned your head. Suddenly, there's an adorable redhead staring up at you with puppy dog eyes and forgiveness on his lips. ° Instantaneous yelp. ° "I'm done~" He informs you with a grin. "Now I can spend all my time with you, Y/N." ° You taunt him. "Oh, now you want my affection? You didn't seem to be all that interested earlier, Saeyoung, you were having a little too much fun with your sadist streak. You probably made Yoosung cry. He doesn't even know he's fighting you, either. That's too mean." ° Seven shakes his head. "I'm just playing around with him. You don't really complain about that side of me when we play,Y/N. Are you jealous of Yoosung?" ° You sputter, and shake your head feverishly. "O-Of course not! What kind of question is that?!" ° Seven laughs at the red tint on your cheeks. "Okay. Okay. I'm sorry, I'm only going to give you my affection now." ° "What if I say no?" You retort. ° "Can you really say no to God Seven when he looks this sorry and cute? That would be a first!" He countered, throwing his arms around your hips and tucking his head against your stomach. "The princess doesn't have a bad bone in her body, you won't shove me off even if you want to do it." ° You snort. "Saeyoung, don't be such a smartass."° "But I love you, Y/N. I thought you liked me the way I am." ° Looking away from him, you brush your hand through his hair and let out a little sigh of your defeat. "I love you too, Saeyoung. But next time I ask you to come cuddle with me, don't hesitate!" Saeran ° Saeran and you had been able to spend a lot of time with each other just one on one since the storm had settled. The both of you had collectively just moved into Seven's bunker, it was safe from the public eye and it didn't take much for Saeran to tinker with the system to make it work for the both of you. Neither of you had anywhere else to go, staying here while everyone searched for Seven just seemed ideal. ° "You couldn't sleep, huh?" ° You woke up in the middle night because the bed felt emptier then usual. Saeran wasn't there. Oh, God, had you dreamed everything? For a moment you felt the weight of anxiety in your gut, but then you remembered that you weren't back at Magenta, and you both were home. ° You wandered to each one of the rooms until you finally found him in Seven's room, hunched over the desk at the computer. ° "Saeran...?" You asked, rubbing the tired from your eyes. "What are you doing up this late?" ° He looks back at you, a little guilty, and then he looks away. "Oh, Y/N. I didn't think you would get up... I'm just... I couldn't sleep." ° Couldn't sleep is a code for something being wrong. ° He had nightmares or he was thinking so hard that he pulled himself out of his sleep. ° You approach him and look over his shoulder, "Are you trying to look for your brother, again?" You ask him, gently, resting your hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to do this alone, Saeran, you know that the RFA are working with you on this. I know you're worried but you can't work yourself into the ground. You won't feel well in the morning, and neither I nor Seven want you to feel exhausted." ° Saeran knows that you're ultimately right about that. ° With some insistence, you managed to convince him to come back to bed instead of working until the sun came up. ° Tugging him close, you rested your head against his shoulder and sighed. "Try to relax a little, okay, Saeran? I'm here for you." ° You could feel his hands against your back. "I know, Y/N. I just... I feel guilty when I wake you up in the middle of the night." ° "It isn't a bother to me. I know you can't help your scars from the past, but I'm always hear to kiss the pain away." You mumble.° "You're too sweet for me... too kind... too perfect..." He would sigh. ° "I'm just right, actually. Haha." ° You were. ° He wouldn't have it any other way, though. 💜 Mod Kait 💜

[ladyleoart]

First Time For Everything

Fandom: Marvel - Avengers {MCU} AU:  Domestic Avengers - Let’s pretend they’re in a time bubble, I just want them to be HAPPY okay! Pairing: Steve/Tony {Stony} Rating: This is a solid fucking G, basically? Sex implied Warning(s): None <3 Prompt: "Stony goes through a haunted house, Steve does bobbing for apples for the first time, Tony takes Steve trick or treating" 

For: Eric @fiction-is-my-diction also viewable on ao3!

(Note: Bucky’s halloween costume is actually inspired by this post from @dorkcoffee !! Amazing artist <3)

--

Captain America is a symbol of hope. He’s an American icon, but his reach extends beyond its shores and touches the heart of every dreamer, the fiery soul of every broken and beaten outcast, the spot buried deep in anyone who looks into the face of inequality and inhumane treatment and yearns to kick and scratch bloody stripes into their skin. He’s a hero, a role model, a mythical figure in his own right.

And he’s terrified of robot babies.

Tony can’t believe it, but it’s true - Captain America has fears, and not something so grand and vague as fascism, war, or another metaphoric big bad. His fear is the goddamn animatronic baby in the haunted house crib.

“Steve, it’s not real.”

“I know that!” He groans, fingers digging into Tony’s arm so hard it hurts.

“We can’t leave until we walk past it.”

“I know that too!” His feet seem to be glued to the spot, and the baby’s scripted routine of jerking upright and wailing resets, causing Steve to jerk and yank Tony’s arm nearly out of the socket.

“Steve,” he hisses involuntarily, and the star-spangled crybaby relents slightly, allowing Tony to roll his sore shoulder and grab his wrist instead. “Alright, come on, I’ve got you.”

A soft whimper and at first Steve’s dragging his feet through the small “nursery”, but once the baby lays back down Tony is able to pull him out the draped doorway and into a hall of mirrors.

As they wander through, Steve seems to calm down; he’s almost back to normal by the time they make it to the exit - but Tony can still feel him flinch when a short little vampire pops out for one last jumpscare. The kid must be about sixteen, but Steve glares him down like he’s Red Skull all over again; Tony can’t help but slide him a twenty to make up for what are most likely stained pants as he drags his surly boyfriend across the lawn of the haunted house.

Steve is dead silent - pun intended - and Tony shoulder checks him gently. “They do say it’s the scariest haunted house on the east coast.”

“I am never doing this ever again,” Steve snaps, but the pout says he’s more embarrassed than angry.

“Hey, at least that kid has a story to tell about the time he almost made Captain America cry.”

“Oh shut up.”

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They show up to the Halloween party fashionably late - a quick pit stop to change into their costumes turned into Tony’s suggestive “Trick or Treat” implications which turned into a quick tumble in the sheets. Eventually, Steve manages to get into his cowboy costume without Tony prying pieces of it back off, even if it means he has to yank Tony’s grim reaper hood down over his entire face.

There’s music playing and lights pulsing when they finally make it into the party, which is conveniently located three floors under their penthouse apartment in Stark Tower.

“The party’s at your house and you show up late?” Rhodey greets them with a grin, an arched brow, and two glasses of scotch, one of which he hands off to Tony while initiating their routine banter. He’s making the most of his robotic leg braces and has committed to being a cyborg for the party, complete with glowing red eye-piece.

“Oh, you know traffic always sucks.”

“You know,” Natasha interrupts, appearing from seemingly nowhere to stand directly beside them. “This is the boring business equivalent of a Dad Joke.”

Tony looks horrified. “You take that back, I am funny.”

“Maybe the first time, if I’m being generous.”

“Hey, Nat,” Steve interjects, casually sliding between them to steer her away from a sputtering Tony and laughing Rhodey. “Where are Sam and Bucky?”

“Just arrived to the party and you’re already heading to the time out corner?”

“The what?”

She grins. “That’s what I call the corner where they’re inevitably snarling and glaring at each other.”

He snorts. “Guess I better go make sure they don’t start another brawl.”

“Nice costume by the way,” she gives him a once-over. Natasha herself is wearing what can only be called a combat ballerina costume. Grey tights and steel-toed black boots, a fluffy pink tutu and bedazzled bodice, hair in a tight bun and war paint streaked on her cheeks.

He can’t help but laugh. “You too.”

She salutes him with her glass of vodka and a dangerous smirk.

He finds his two best friends right where Nat suggested - staring each other down in a little corner lounge space. The armchairs are plush and they’re sprawled in relaxed poses, but the tension in the air does nothing to suggest comfort - in fact, the chairs seem to have been yanked out of place so they can stare unblinking over their bottles of beer. Sam is decked out in what he calls “modern warlock regalia” which is really just a fancy, fitted charcoal gray suit and a velvet magenta duster, both dripping with chains and jewels. Bucky, true to form, has gone the lazy route with his costume. He’s wearing a blousey black shirt with loose sleeves that has a laced front undone to mid-torso, tucked into tight black pants and tall boots with several belts and a red sash.

“Are you a prince, or a pirate?” Steve interrupts their staredown brightly.

“Pirate,” Bucky spits, wiggling his many-ringed fingers and taking a long swig of Sam Adams’ Octoberfest without breaking eye contact.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Steve frowns sternly. “This is a party and we are here to have fun. No more pissing contest, ya hear me!”

“Aw, fine.” Sam is the first to break and cave to societal convention. “I know what to do!”

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Bucky is scowling and Sam is grinning and Steve is wary, but Thor enthusiastically grabs them all in a big bear hug as they approach the bucket of water.

“Bobbing for apples?” Bucky’s brow is arched sharply as he squirms away from the embrace, but his relaxed stance betrays his interest.

“On Asgard we call it epli grípa,” Thor explains. “And it is a great game of sport.”

“I saw Thor carrying in the bucket,” Sam explains excitedly. “My cousins and I used to love bobbing for apples as kids.”

“Y’know,” Steve muses aloud, “I don’t think I ever did bob for apples.”

“Wait what?” Bucky frowns. “I did.”

Steve smiles wryly. “I think too many dunks in the school toilet turned me off the concept.”

Sam spins to look at him, incredulous. “You got swirlies?”

“There’s a name for those?”

“Oh yeah,” Tony grins, sliding up behind them and wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist. “I had my fair share, being the misunderstood rich genius that I was.”

Rhodey snorts. “You were a smart-ass punk and everyone could see it.”

“Same thing,” he waves a hand dismissively. “All geniuses are inherently misunderstood.”

“Now!” Thor grins. “Will the Captain be the first to…bob?”

He pauses, and Tony nudges him. “Go on then, Cowboy. Reclaim your honor.”

“Reclaim his honor?” Bucky frowns.

“Don’t you dare!” Steve snaps.

Tony smirks. “If you can catch the apple within three tries, I take the secret……to the grave.”

Natasha, passing by with Pepper and Darcy and a plate of snacks, groans. “Oh, reaper puns? Now it’s getting worse.”

“You shut up, you,” Tony points at her sternly, shaking his scythe, and she sticks out her tongue.

“Fine,” Steve declares, pulling attention back to himself. “I’ll accept your challenge.”

“When have you not accepted a challenge?” Bucky mutters.

Thor claps firmly, grinning broadly. “Yes!”

“I kinda wanna hear the story,” Sam wonders aloud, and Tony winks.

Steve is focused on the tub of water like it hold the secrets of the universe, eyebrows furrowed with concentration.

It’s like watching a blind dog try to find its water dish in the dark. He’s flailing and pecking at the water like a chicken, and Tony Is trying so hard not to pee himself laughing. In the end he goes past three attempts with no success, a fact which seems to drive him further out of spite. Steve is nearly submerging his entire head at this point, and eventually Bucky and Tony have to pull him back by the arms - with an apple clutched firmly in his teeth.

“Good job babe,” Tony smiles, pulling the apple free and taking a bite. “I’m still telling the story though.”

Steve groans, proud grin falling into a resigned expression. “I knoooow….”

So Tony gets the treat in the end.

[pocketseizure]

The Legend of the Princess, Chapter 24

Rivers Running Underground

In which Zelda witnesses a number of things she’d rather not see in the darkness below Hyrule Castle.

(Chapter 24 on AO3) (Story Tag on Tumblr) (Cover Illustration)

* * * * *

When Zelda stepped into the corridor to join Impa, the first thing she noticed was a fervid magenta light approaching rapidly from the opposite direction.

Nabooru noticed it as well. “Get back!” she commanded, thrusting her spear in front of her.

Ganondorf grabbed Zelda’s arm and pulled her toward him just as a blazing golden comet of flame jetted from the outstretched line of Nabooru’s spear. A second later there was a high-pitched wail and the sound of glass shattering.

“It must have been a poe,” Ganondorf whispered into Zelda’s ear. “I’ve seen them going back and forth along the corridor while I’ve been down here. They infest the ruins in the desert too.”

Zelda had dealt with her fair share of poes, and she didn’t need Ganondorf to explain this to her. In that moment he was the last thing on her mind.

“That was amazing!” she exclaimed.

Nabooru winked at her. “Telma’s not around to tell me not to use magic.”

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Zelda continued, thoroughly impressed. “Do you think you could teach me how to use magic?”

“And while you’re at it, teach me too,” Impa joined in, laughing.

“If you’re going to show off your tricks, why did you even bother bringing a spear?” Ganondorf grumbled as he emerged into the corridor behind them.

“She needs it,” Zelda and Impa said at the same time, sharing a look. After all, there were far worse things than ghosts in these underground passageways.

“Right,” Nabooru said, tapping the blunt end of her spear against the stone floor. “Let’s get a move on. You two stay behind us. Cover us if you can, but let us do the heavy fighting if we encounter anything nasty. Your battle is still ahead of you.”

“Speaking of which,” Impa added, “you’re not doing to get anywhere with those daggers, dear apprentice of mine.” She removed a short reflex bow and a quiver of arrows from the small arsenal strapped to her back and handed them to Zelda.

“You knew I would come here,” Zelda said softly to Impa as she took the bow.

Impa only smiled in response, but Zelda could see the glint of excitement in her eyes. Despite her sense of foreboding, she understood Impa’s mood perfectly. She had always enjoyed training with Impa in the northern forest, and in the caverns in nearby Kakariko Village, and even in the more neglected corners of the castle dungeon. Zelda knew that she would never be a real warrior, at least not in the same way Impa was, but she still enjoyed the dynamic tension of a bow in her hand and the sharp assurance of an arrow between her fingers. Her earlier trepidation concerning how to handle Ganondorf had vanished, and it pleased her that he would be able to see what she could do with a proper set of weapons. She hoped he would keep her prowess in mind when – if – they found the Triforce.

If Zelda’s suspicions were correct, then they were headed for the Temple of Time on the edge of the woods to the north of the castle. Although she knew that the abandoned temple was connected to the castle grounds through the underground waterways, she didn’t know the exact route to get there. Impa did, however, and Zelda was a little jealous of her, as she always had been. She wished, not for the first time, that someone else could be a princess so that she could join the Sheikah. If her parents had other children, or if there had been a more suitable candidate for the throne of Hyrule, then she might have had that option. But no, her mother and Ganondorf’s mother had made some sort of pact, and in any case it was the royal family’s custom that there could only be one Zelda every few generations. She sympathized with Ganondorf, truly she did – it wasn’t easy to be bound to one’s fate from the very moment of one’s birth.

The small party set off with Impa in the lead. Nabooru and Zelda followed her closely, their weapons at the ready. Ganondorf lagged behind, still unarmed. Zelda was annoyed with his apparent nonchalance at first, but gradually she realized that he was concentrating deeply on the path that Impa was navigating. Every so often he would touch the tips of his fingers to the stones of the wall, whisper something unintelligible, and send out a pulse of magic that she could feel on her skin.

Zelda tried to keep track of the twists and turns of their route, but eventually she lost count and simply followed Impa, figuring that it would be more useful if she kept an eye out for any of the various creatures that lived and hunted and ate in the darkness. After a while the moldy air of the stone passages began to grow fresher and was replaced by the slightly alkaline smell of running water. Before long Zelda could hear the sound of the water rushing through the tunnels ahead of them, and after Impa unlocked a series of rusty iron gates with a mere touch of her hands they were in the castle sewers.

“Be on your guard,” Impa said in a muted voice. “The path we’ve taken has been safe so far, but there are no Sheikah wards to protect us here. I hope we won’t run into anything too dangerous, but it’s probably going to get messy at some point.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Nabooru replied, patting Impa on the shoulder.

Impa nodded in response. “We need to move quickly. The longer we linger, the more likely something unpleasant will notice us.”

Unlike the bare walls and floors of the dungeon corridors, the sewers were clogged with hanging strands of gray moss and the dangling tips of pale and unhealthy roots. Rats as big as dogs skittered across the slippery walkways, and keese with viciously sharp teeth swooped down at them from the ceiling. As she promised, Nabooru made proficient use of her spear, and Impa struck anything that came close to her with the glowing blade she held in her hand like a torch. Zelda conserved her energy and arrows, keenly aware that her arsenal was limited.

Ganondorf focused his attention behind them, presumably to ensure that they weren’t blindsided by an attack from the rear, and it was he who saw the skulltulas first.

“My dear cousin,” he said in Gerudo, the resonant tones of his voice echoing through the vaulted stone corridors, “I do believe this Sheikah friend of yours has led us directly into a den of monsters. If you would be so kind as to look up, you’ll witness something quite disturbing. But no sudden movements, if you please.”

Zelda was so amazed by the cultured politesse of Ganondorf’s language that it took her a moment to process his words and do as he suggested. As soon as she looked above her, she wished she hadn’t. Hundreds of beady red eyes formed pinpricks of light in the shadowy mass of webbing attached to the ceiling. Nothing moved until a skulltula plopped to the ground in front of them with a sickeningly heavy thud. It was young, only as wide around as a paving stone, but it demonstrated no signs of fear, only looking at them with its eight horrible eyes.

“Well, cousin,” Nabooru muttered, “I would never claim that you’re one for theatrics, but if you wanted to show off for the princess then now’s the time.”

Ganondorf clicked his tongue in annoyance, a sound that was swiftly followed by a terrible rustling above their heads.

“To me!” he shouted, and Nabooru dashed toward him. Impa followed suit, grabbing Zelda and dragging her along so that they were all pressed against Ganondorf.

“Shut your eyes,” he commanded. Zelda did so, and a split second later her ears were filled with the roar of an incredible rush of wind. The air crackled and buzzed with magic, and Zelda squinted her eyes open enough to see that they were surrounded by a tempest of flames. The inferno was so bright that she once again screwed her eyes tightly shut.

After perhaps half a minute, Impa loosened her grip on Zelda’s arm, and she opened her eyes. It took her vision a moment to clear, but there were no skulltulas to be seen, nor any of their webs. There was, however, a peculiar odor.

“Did you really have to vaporize the sewer water?” Nabooru said to Ganondorf, waving her hand in front of her nose.

“How about that,” Impa remarked, whistling in admiration. “I’m impressed. Is everyone from that desert of yours some sort of wizard?”

“Oh goodness no,” Nabooru responded, laughing as she began following Impa, who once again took the lead. “A few of our elders specialize in that sort of thing, and some of us take a class or two during basic training, but this one is special. He always had his head in the books when he was a kid, and then he got into the habit of exploring ruins. He calls this spell ‘Din’s Fire,’ and he claims he learned it from a fairy in some sort of secret fountain out in the sand wastes.”

“So the Great Fairies are real, then?” Impa interjected, turning to face Ganondorf. “You lucky bastard! I’d love to meet one myself.”

Ganondorf merely grunted in response, and Impa shrugged and continued on her way.

Zelda did her best to keep walking, putting one foot in front of the other, but her earlier sense of going on a grand adventure had vanished. Ganondorf’s casual display of such powerful destructive magic filled her with dread. It had been difficult – almost impossible – for her to reconcile the warlords she saw in her visions with the Ganondorf she had once played with as a child, but it had finally come home to her that this man was capable of hideous acts of violence. Scenes from her visions looped through her mind: the enemy general decimating the soldiers at the front gate of Hyrule Castle, the warlock king striking a burning tower as tall as the heavens with a jagged streak of lightning, the demonic face of the young prince after the Gerudo camp was attacked, the black-scaled deity looking down on a decimated kingdom with its callous golden eyes. Even if their cause was just – no, especially if their cause was just – the ends these men used to justify their means were unspeakable.

When Zelda told Ganondorf that she still hadn’t decided whether to save him or to kill him when she came to him in the dungeon, she wasn’t being facetious. She owed it to herself and her kingdom to find out what he truly wanted, but she could not afford to spare him if he did become a monster – if he did become the “Ganon” whose name was being chanted by roving mobs in the streets high above their heads. She had not seen any of the princesses in her visions kill the men who had become their nemeses, but of course they had. She did not want to kill Ganondorf, the man she had danced with in the sky above a crumbling castle that not even the stars could see, but of course she would.

May the goddess grant me wisdom, she prayed, hoping against hope that she could find another way.

The quartet continued on without further incident. The line of Impa’s mouth grew thinner as her facial features solidified into a stony blankness. It was clear to Zelda that something was bothering her.

“It’s been a while since we passed the skulltula nest,” Nabooru remarked, apparently picking up on Impa’s shift in mood, “but I haven’t seen so much as a single keese since then. Did those spiders manage to eat everything down here?”

Impa didn’t answer, but she quickened her pace. They all followed her in silence.

There was no sound aside from the flow of water churning alongside the raised walkways, but Zelda gradually became aware of a quiet but discordant noise.

“Impa…?” she whispered, wondering if she were the only one who heard it.

“We’re very close” was Impa’s curt reply. “But we need to move quickly.”

They passed through a tunnel with a low overhang and into a chamber so vast that its dimensions were lost in shadow. Perhaps it might once have been used as a reservoir, but its uneven floor was dry and dusty. Zelda couldn’t see far into the darkness, but the odd sound had grown louder.

“Okay, we need to stop now,” Nabooru announced, plunking the end of her spear onto the floor. “I can hear something out there, and it’s giving me the creeps. I have a bad feeling about this. Is there another way we can go?”

“I think… I think we better,” Impa muttered. Zelda was shocked by the sudden uncertainty in Impa’s voice, and she immediately realized what they had inadvertently wandered into. The underground passageways they had been traversing eventually connected to the temple in the forest, but along the way they passed under the castle graveyard. Zelda strongly suspected that they had found themselves in something far more disturbing than an empty reservoir.

“It might be too late to return the way we came,” Ganondorf said. He raised his hand and sent a glowing ball of light upwards, illuminating the chamber and revealing that they were surrounded by hideous creatures that had once been human but were now nothing of the sort. The broken figures shambled toward them, blocking the way forward – and the way back.

To her credit, Nabooru didn’t panic. “What are these things?” she asked Impa. “And, more importantly, how to we get rid of them?”

Impa shook her head in response as she scanned the room. Zelda could tell that she was searching for grappling targets, but the ceiling was much too high.

Not wanting to interrupt whatever plan Impa might be in the process of forming, Zelda answered Nabooru’s question. “We call these things ReDeads, and we can’t kill them. They’re already dead, or… or something like it.”

“Is it possible to hold them off?” Nabooru asked.

“I’m not sure,” Zelda replied. “I’ve never fought one. They don’t respond to being attacked. It’s easy enough to avoid them, but I’ve never seen more than one or two at a time. They’re generally guarding something, and it’s best just to leave them to it. They’re usually not so aggressive, unless…” Zelda realized that she was rambling, and she shut her mouth abruptly. Nothing she was saying was helping. The only thing she could do was to fit an arrow to the string of her bow and hope that she would be able to momentarily slow down any of the creatures that came too close.

“All right, so physical attacks won’t work,” Nabooru responded calmly. “How about fire? Din knows we have enough of that to go around.”

“That won’t stop them,” Ganondorf muttered.

“What?” Zelda turned to him. How would he know?

“We don’t actually need to fight them,” Ganondorf continued. “They’re animated by Sheikah magic, so we can use Sheikah magic to command them.”

He glanced at Impa. “By your leave,” he said. She responded with a look of horror.

This didn’t seem to bother Ganondorf. He began chanting in an oddly accented language that Zelda had never heard before. The curiously asymmetric structure of its tones bothered her, and she thought to herself that she would prefer never to hear it again. As Ganondorf’s words rang out through the vast room, the creeping monstrosities stopped in their tracks and began to sway in time to the irregular rhythm of the cadence of his voice. Zelda was shocked when it occurred to her that they were actually listening to him, something that she didn’t think was possible with these creatures. It chilled her to her core to realize that they still possessed some semblance of consciousness and will, and that they were capable of more than mindlessly crouching and lunging at anything that made the mistake of crossing the lines of the spellwork that bound them.

Nabooru and Impa watched Ganondorf with identical expressions of disgust. Zelda had no idea what they were thinking, but she was filled with terror. It was bad enough that Ganondorf knew it was possible to communicate with the undead, and it was worse that he had not only learned how this was done but was apparently skilled at doing so. And yet Zelda wasn’t surprised; she felt as if she had known this all along somewhere in the farthest recesses of her mind. A warlord needs an army, after all, but there were never enough Darknuts or Moblins or even Gerudo to attack Hyrule, not even if they combined their forces. Was this what “Ganon” was, the legendary Demon King? Could he truly control creatures like this? Could he force them to do his bidding? Is that what made him such an object of fear and hatred?

To Zelda, however, the most troubling realization was that Ganondorf was using Sheikah magic, and he was proficient at a level far above anything Impa could command. He clearly knew Sheikah herbal lore as well, so he must have known that it was the Sheikah who created ReDeads, normal humans who were tortured to the point of mindless madness but denied the release of death, forever cursed to guard the tombs and secrets of the royal family. The ReDeads, as awful as they were, were bound to Zelda just as the Sheikah themselves were. Impa had taught Zelda, deep in the training grounds underneath the Sheikah village of Kakariko, that one day she would inherit this legacy of darkness. It was something she didn’t like to think about, something she wished she could dissociate herself from. One day, when she was queen, she would do away with these sorts of foul practices, she told herself, even as she knew that it would become her job as a monarch to use any means at her disposal to maintain the peace of the world above this subterranean nightmare. After all, the dead had never rested easy in Hyrule, and the good of the many far outweighed the fate of a few unlucky souls.

Zelda hated this aspect of the monarchy and was grateful for the services of the Sheikah, who shielded the light of the royal family from the shadows of their kingdom, but Ganondorf had known about this darkness all along. How many of the unsavory secrets of the queens and kings of Hyrule did he know? What had he learned in the ruins of the temples and factories and castles and prisons that her ancestors had abandoned? What did he know that she didn’t?

Zelda was paralyzed by loathing – loathing of the ReDeads that swayed in place according to a hellish rhythm but did not retreat, loathing of Ganondorf who felt no shame at exerting his will over them, and loathing of herself for her powerlessness. Perhaps she could use her ocarina to amplify the effect of Ganondorf’s chanting, but she was so overcome by queasiness and doubt that she could barely bring herself to move.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light in the distance. It was as if someone had uncovered the lens of a gas-powered torch pointed directly at the ceiling. As the beam of light drew closer, the ReDeads shrank away into the shadows at the edges of the chamber, and a hooded figure walked slowly into the void they left, holding a glowing sword aloft.

“Link?” Zelda recognized him immediately, but she couldn’t begin to understand why he was here or what he was doing.

“That’s right, Princess, it’s me,” he called out to her from across the expanse of the dirty tiled floor. “Can you get that idiot to shut up? What he’s doing isn’t the least bit useful, and his voice is bothering me.”

Ganondorf scowled but fell silent. His eerie chanting had set Zelda’s nerves on edge, and she sighed with relief now that he had finally stopped.

“What is that child doing here?” Nabooru asked Impa. “Does someone want to explain what’s going on? Is he really holding what I think he is? Farore save us all.”

“I don’t believe it,” Impa muttered, shaking her head as Link continued to walk toward them, the ReDeads cowering away from him. “He’s done it. He’s drawn the Master Sword.”

Zelda glanced at Ganondorf, but his expression was unreadable. The light he had cast was fading, and his face was obscured by the sharp shadows thrown by the bright illumination of Link’s sword. Zelda was well aware that Ganondorf was the most dangerous thing in this room, and she didn’t want to turn her back on him. Still, the best way to extricate all of them from the tension of this situation was to get Link talking. Once they’d all gotten it through their heads that no one was in any immediate danger, then hopefully they could get out of this crypt.

Zelda marched straight to Link, ignoring the dry shuffling and mulchy odor to either side of her, and pointed her finger at him, still holding an arrow in her fist.

“What in the blessed name of Hylia are you doing here?”

“Is this not a reasonable place to take an evening stroll?” Link asked in return.

“Well, it sure does look like everyone’s doing it, doesn’t it?” Zelda countered, annoyed at his levity. “You, me, two trained assassins, the man who’s supposed to destroy Hyrule, and several dozen of the walking dead. Is this some kind of surprise party for my coronation? Because I for one am not enjoying myself.”

“Zelda, listen… ” Link made a pained face and an awkward gesture.

This only added to Zelda’s aggravation. “That’s right, Link, I’m listening, so you better start explaining, right now.”

“I was sent here,” Link responded.

“To save us?”

“Saving you was a happy accident, if you can call any sort of encounter with these things happy. What I meant is that I was sent to guard the entrance to the Temple of Time.”

“To guard it against monsters.”

“Well, no… Not precisely. I was told to stop anyone who tried to approach the temple through the underground passageways.”

“Specifically me,” Ganondorf interjected, pushing his way forward.

“Specifically you.” Link nodded.

“Is that the Master Sword, then?” Ganondorf asked, not wasting words.

“You look different,” Link said, not meeting his eyes. “Is it the beard? It must be the beard.”

“Do you understand what you’ve done by drawing that sword?” Ganondorf growled.

“Don’t act like you’re not involved in this,” Link responded, losing his temper. “I just did what I was ordered to do, and those orders wouldn’t have been necessary if it weren’t for you.”

Ganondorf tensed, startling Zelda. She put a hand on his arm, hoping to calm him.

“Some hero you are,” Ganondorf muttered in a voice so low that only Zelda could hear it.

“I don’t care what my father ordered you to do,” Zelda said, raising her own voice so that it echoed across the chamber. In the brief silence that followed, she could hear the choked groaning of the ReDeads lurking in the shadows. She raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and met Link’s eyes with a fierce gaze. “I am Princess Zelda, Hylia’s descendant, and I am going to the Temple of Time. This man is coming with me, and you are going to escort us there. Do I make myself clear?”

Link grimaced, but he nodded.

Zelda turned to Impa and Nabooru. “You’ve both done well to bring me this far, but you don’t need to go any farther. I absolve you from all responsibility for what happens next. Go back to the castle. I’m sure there are people there who are going to need your skills before the sun rises.”

Impa shook her head. “I wish we could, Princess, but we can’t. It’s started. The sword has been drawn, and the cycle has begun. None of us can go back now.”

Zelda had never seen Impa look so defeated, and Nabooru hung her head at her friend’s side. What Zelda felt at that moment was not courage, and it certainly wasn’t wisdom. She’d gotten caught up in something that she seemed to have no control over, and it made her furious. She glanced at Ganondorf and saw her own anger and frustration reflected in his eyes. A moment of understanding passed between them, and that’s when she found what she was looking for – power.

She faced Link once again, her eyes blazing. “War is breaking out on the eve of my coronation, and I am not wasting another second standing around chatting in the sewer under a graveyard. If we can’t go back, we can only go forward. Take us to the Temple of Time, now.”

( Link to Chapter 25: The Power of the Gods )

[ladyofwisteria]

Chapter 2: Ceremony Catastrophe

~Inside the Mirror Chamber~

Dozens of people started murmuring to themselves and others as they saw the headmaster leave during the middle of the dorm assignment ceremony, they are eventually interrupted when one of the six (five one of them was a floating tablet) people that stood directly near the mirror let out a loud "Ahem!" that made everyone turned towards them. One of them a short red-haired man spoke up first.

                   "Is that all for new student dorm assignment?" he paused waiting for anyone who hasn't speak up "Listen up, new students. Here in Heartslabyul, I am the rules. Break them." he pauses again "and it's off with your head."

The next to speak up was a man with lion ears "Uuuugghh. Is this stuffy ceremony is finally over? We're going back to the dorm. Savanaclaw, follow me."

                   "To the new students, congratulations on entering the academy. Enjoy your life here to its fullest." The silver-haired man with glasses spoke up "As the dormitory leader of Octavinelle. I will support you to the best of my ability."

                   "By the way, where did the Dean go? He flew out right in the middle of the ceremony..." said a beautiful man with short blond hair with purple tips.

                   "Abandoning his post..." said the tablet

                   "Did he get a stomach-ache or something?" the tan-skinned boy with silver hair and red eyes question which got everyone murmuring again.

                   Not a few seconds later the door slammed opened revealing the headmaster, a tied-up cat, and another person wearing the same cloak.

~Third person pov~

Crowley, Grim, and Alice entered the room greeted by a large number of people wearing the same hood I was in. Alice thought she must have quite the imagination to think up this many people.

While most of the noticeable people in the crowd had no disguising features the six men seemed to strike more to me, well five one of them was a floating tablet

"Not at all!" Crowley spoke up as we entered

"Ah, he's here"

"I cannot believe you all. We were missing one new student, so I went to find them." Crowly turned to me "You are the only one yet to be assigned a dormitory. I shall watch over the raccoon, now step in front of the Dark Mirror." He said jerking the cord holding Grim as he was still struggling in getting out.

So, Alice just steps in front of a mirror and then what, 'will I wake up or will this dream get even weirder than it already had.' Alice thought to herself

"State thy name"

"A...Alice Weaver"

"EHHHHHHHH!" Everyone in the room let out in shock.

"Isn't Alice a girl's name?"

"This is an all-boys school right; how did a girl get accepted?"

"Did the carriage make a mistake?"

"Headmaster, there must have been a mistake, this is an all-boys school!"

"Not necessary, while yes this is an all-boy school there are no rules stating girls aren't allowed to attend, we have had a few women in the academy before the last being seventy-five years ago" Crowley corrected

"The shape of thy soul is...... I do not know."

"Come again?"

"There is a faint spark in this one... but is locked, deep in their soul...I can not see the color nor the shape. Therefore, they are suited for no dormitory."

"WHAT!" the students including Crowley yelled again students begin to mumble about this bizarre event.

"If that's the case, then I'll take her place" Grim who had finally gotten out of his restrains declared  

"Stay right there! Racoon dog!"

"Unlike this dumb human, I can use magic! Let me the school instead! If you need proof, I'll show you right now!"

"Everyone, get down!"

Grim did a large inhale and Alice got ready to book it but not taking the length of the cloak into effect the cloak got caught under her foot and almost fell off the stand, Alice braced herself but crashed into someone preventing her from hitting the floor just as Grim let out an array of flames setting the venue and someone's ass on fire, and everyone running in panic.

"S... Sorry" Alice replied opening her eyes to see herself on top of a man with tan skin, bright green eyes, long messy brown hair, and...lion ears.

"Just get off my stomach," he said in a tired but angry tone, she quickly jumped off the man while he made little effort in getting up.

"At this rate, the school will be a sea of fire!" Crowley starts to panic "Somebody, catch that Raccoon Dog"

"Hmm? Aren't you good at hunting? Doesn't it look like a nice plump snack?" The beautiful man questioned the man with lion ears

"Why don't you do it yourself"

"Mr. Crowley" The silver-haired man with the glasses spoke up "Please leave it to me. I'm sure the others couldn't stomach harassing the poor creature, so I will take it upon myself.

Alice couldn't help but notice but when he said that he would de it himself his enthusiastic smile turned a bit sadistic.

"That's Azul for you. Always try to earn himself points." The person communicating through the tablet replied

"Are you all even listening!?" Crowley panicked not even trying to help quell the situation.

"If it's just catching some stupid raccoon, can't you do it yourself, Teach?" The lion eared man questioned earning him a glare from Mr. Crowley

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a raccoon! the Great Grim that will become the magician is me!" Grim complained

"It certainly has Moxie. Care to help me, Riddle?" the silver-haired identified as Azul asks turning to the red-haired man.

"I can't overlook those who break rules. Let's hurry and get it."

Hearing that Grim booked it out of the mirror room the moment he saw Azul and Riddle rushing towards him leaving everyone staring as the two ran out of the room chasing the cat.

"Umm, hey, could someone put out my butt fire already" the man in the Turban broke the silence

Oh yeah, that guy's butt was still on fire.... Wait

'It's been how many minutes and nobodies helped him yet' Alice thought to herself

Alice quickly ran over to the poor guy and ripped the cloak off of him toss it to the ground and preceded to stomp out the flame of course forgetting about my clock again and it got caught on fire as well. Quickly she tore off the cloak and tossed it into the plie and resumed stomping out the fire revealing her long black hair, slim figure, light peach skin, light pink lips, and piercing Amethyst colored eyes.

As the result, almost all the boys in the crowd were blushing profusely.

"N..no way it is a girl" "And a really cute one" were some of the whispers she managed to hear

This quickly ended with an "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

A few seconds later both Riddle and Azul returned with Grim with a wired black and red collar around his neck

"Laws of the Queen of Hearts Number 23: 'One shall never bring a cat into a festival.' You being a cat means you've broken the rule. I shall have you leave at once." Riddle stated

"I'm not a cat!! I'll burn this collar right up..." He tried to use his fire but realized he couldn't "E, eh? I can't use my fire!"

"Hmph! You won't be using any magic until I remove the collar. Just like an ordinary cat."

"Wh-what?! I'm not some pet!"

"Wow" Azul spoke up "As wonderful as ever. Any and all magic gets sealed by your Unique Magic, Riddle. I want it..." That comment resulted in Riddle giving Azul a really angry look "No, I wouldn't ever want that cast on me."

"Now then... Miss Weaver" Mr. Crowley put me on the spot again "Do something about your familiar!"

"But" Alice tried to get a word in only for him to interrupt me again.

"Because of you, the welcoming ceremony was almost ruined," He stopped hoping this time I could get something in but

"Your familiar not only destroy one of the coffins but almost destroy parts of the facility and almost injured several students!"

Alice tried to say something again. "While the coffin was not heavily damaged, have you not thought of the cost of repairs for the facilities and lawsuit compensation"

She had just about enough before he could continue "MR. CROWLEY!" Alice yelled

Everyone was in complete silence and shocked.

"So, the kitten has fang" the Lion-eared man Leona spoke up with a smirk

"Umm, can I just say something?"

Mr. Crowley snapped out of his shock stare "*sigh* Very well then, what is it"

"He's not my familiar"

"It's not"

"Yes, that's what I have been trying to tell you"

"Y-you did?" Mr. Crowley cleared his throat and took Grim from Riddle "Anyway, let's get it out of the school at any rate. We won't turn you into stew. For I am gracious."

He began walking out with Grim struggling to get out of his grip.

"Gyaaa! Let me go! I'm going to, going to... Become the greatest magician!" he yells as his voice begun fading.

'I wonder why he was so desperate'

A few seconds later Crowley came back. "We had a bit of trouble along the way, but this brings the entrance ceremony to a close. Dormitory Heads, please show the new students back to the dormitories." He stops for a bit and looks around in confusion. ".. Hm? Now that I think about it, I don't see the leader for Diasomnia, Mr. Draconia around at all..."

"That's no different from usual is it?"

"What? Did nobody tell him about the ceremony?"

"If you're going to complain, you should've done it yourself"

"Hmmm. But I don't really know anything about that guy."

Again, the students below begun to murmur.

"By Draconia...Do they mean "that" Malleus Draconia?", "Is he seriously attending this school?", "Scary..."

"I was correct." An unknown voice causing everyone to turn the source to see a young-looking man with dark hair with magenta streaks. Alice was a bit surprised as the man just appeared out of thin air right beside her.

                   "I thought he might come but Malleus didn't. It seems the invitation "never arrived' again."

"My deepest apologies. I promise, we didn't intend to exclude you". "His aura makes it hard to approach him." Both Azul and Riddle apologized.

"It's fine. Members of the Diasomnia Dormitory can come with me... I hope this doesn't upset him..." before he leaves with the respected dorm he stops in front of Alice and turns to face her.

"It's been a while since some from your family had been accepted here" He whispered to her and walked off to join his group.

Alice wanted to stop him to question what he meant but just like he appeared had vanished before she could.

Eventually, every student left leaving Alice and Crowley were the only ones left.

"Then, miss Alice, I'm terribly sorry about this but... We must have you leave the school. Those without any talent for magic cannot be allowed to attend class here, even if they have only a faint bit of magic. There's no need to worry. The Dark Mirror will send you directly back from whence you came.

"Fine by me, this was a long a wired dream anyway, I just glad to get this over with and wake up back in my bed" Alice replied with a bit of annoyance

"A dream? I can ensure you this is no dream, now enter the Gate, and picture your home clearly in your mind."

Alice walked into the coffin 'Gate' and as Crowley close the lid on her she had begun to think of her home, and her family.

"Oh, Dark Mirror! Guild this one back to the place they belong!"

"....."

*cricket noise*

"Once more. Oh, Dark Mirror! Guide this..."

"It is nowhere..." the Dark Mirror spoke up

"Eh?" both Crowley and Alice replied as she pokes her head out of the 'Gate'

"The place they belong is nowhere in this world... It does not exist."

Reality began to set in for her this was indeed not a dream and that she was indeed stuck in an unknown world's all-boys magic school.

"What did you say? That is unbelievable! Hmm, well the unbelievable has been on parade today. This is the first time it's ever happened since I become Headmaster, what should be... Where exactly you come from?"

"E...England, I'm from Warwickshire, England"

"I've never heard of that place. I have a general grasp of where all the students came from but I've never even heard that name before. Let's go do some research in the library.

[eliz1369]

KazaChi Week 2017 Day 2: Reunion

Note to self: start these things before the week actually arrives...

Words: ~2,000 Rating: G

This is was supposed to be a short musing on what happens when Kazama finally get Chizuru to accompany him back to his clan, but it kinda got out of hand. It’s not often I write in canon (even if this piece exists completely post game) so please feel free to let me know if you catch any errors or inconsistencies. This is also up on FF and AO3. 

"We're here."

Chizuru blinked the drowsy fog out of her eyes as she lifted her head off of Kazama's shoulder and looked around.

They'd been riding since early morning, with only a short break for lunch. She'd tried to stay awake, she really had, but Kazama's shoulder had been surprisingly comfortable and she'd trusted him not to let her fall off the horse. The forest around them didn't look any different from when she'd dozed off, but the fading light lent it an ominous feeling.

Chizuru shivered slightly as she pulled herself closer to Kazama's back. She would have prefered to stay in her own home in Edo, with her patients and the few acquaintances she'd managed to make, but that was no longer possible.

Granted her neighbors had thought she was crazy when Kazama had first started living with her after showing up to 'retrieve' her, but eventually the muttering and rumors had died down. Especially since her skills were in such demand. Unfortunately it was those skills that had brought her to the attention of the government.

All it took was one official calling at her door and Kazama had been adamant that he was not waiting any longer to take her to his clan. Honestly it hadn't taken much convincing on her part, since the official hadn't even been vague about his interest in reviving her father's research.

No, it had been time to go… but that didn't mean she wasn't nervous about this next stage in her life. There was no getting away from the fact that she was going to marry Kazama. He'd made it clear that was what his clan would expect if he were to return with her.

Chizuru tried to suppress a smile at the memory of his surprise when she'd simply nodded and began packing. The idea of marrying Kazama didn't scare her anymore. While he'd been living with her, she'd practically been his wife in all but name and deed. What made her stomach clench and her palms feel sweaty was the fear of rejection. What if they didn't like her? What if they thought she wasn't good enough? What if she wasn't good enough? Could she handle the responsibilities they'd expect of her?

"Chizuru," the sound of Kazama's voice pulled her out of the spiral of her unfounded worries, "If you are going to daydream, please do so on the ground. I can't dismount until you do."

"Oh! Right. Sorry."

Carefully she started to swing herself off the horse, but even then the ground was still a long way away. Her hesitation had not gone unnoticed by Kazama, and he gave a quiet sigh, before taking hold of her arms and easily lowering her the final few feet to the ground. No sooner had her feet touched the dirt path, then he was also dismounting with an easy grace she couldn't help but envy.

Kazama frowned as he looked down the path ahead of them. "I sent a message ahead, so they will be expecting us."

Chizuru bit her lip as she nodded nervously. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but with the darkening forest, she could make out the faint flickering of firelight ahead of them, just out of sight around a bend in the path.

Kazama started forward, keeping one hand on the reigns, but Chizuru couldn't make herself move. She felt frozen with nerves, her worries returning afresh. Kazama had only gone a couple paces, when he realized she wasn't with him, he turned to look back at her.

"What is the problem?" She could see the subtle lines of tension appear in his shoulders as he said, "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet about this now."

"No, of course not." She rushed to say, finally managing to force her body to move the short distance to catch up with him.

"Then what is the problem?"

"Well… What if they don't accept me? I mean, I've never lived among our people before…" Chizuru stared down at the ground, her fingers clenching the fabric of her kimono.

Kazama sniffed disdainfully before he said, "They wouldn't dare. Besides," He tipped her head up to look at him, "I refuse to accept that there is anyone more suited to stand at my side."

Chizuru couldn't help the bright, relieved smiled that pulled at her lips, even if it was accompanied by an embarrassed blush at his declaration. He may be brisk at times, but Kazama always knew just what to say to set her at ease. In many ways, he had a number of the qualities she'd admired in Hijikata… not that she'd ever tell him that. He still refused to understand her obsession with those 'Bakufu Dogs'.

As if nothing of any consequence had happened, Kazama turned and resumed walking down the path. She hurried to keep pace with him, choosing to walk at his side, instead of slightly behind. He'd said she deserved to be there and she believed him.

All too soon, they were around the bend and ahead, Chizuru could see the path broadened into a wide street lined with buildings. It was no metropolis like Kyoto had been, but it was by no means small either. There were lanterns hanging from the corners of every roof, giving off a softly colored light, and she couldn't help but wonder if this was something they did all the time, or if it was in celebration of their arrival.

When Kazama had said he'd sent word ahead of their arrival, she'd assumed he meant for them to prepare some kind of event or celebration. Instead only three people stood at the entrance to the village.

Chizuru glanced up at Kazama to see if this was what he'd been expecting, but nothing seemed amiss in his expression or posture. If anything, he seemed more at ease than she'd ever seen him before. At least she wasn't going to be faced with the entire village just yet.

As they approached, she could make out two men and one woman. The woman's shoulders were stooped and bent with age, while the two men were tall and strong, one looking to be twenty or so years older than Kazama, while the other seemed closer to her own age, if not a couple years younger. Even in the tinted light, she could tell the younger man shared kazama's unusual blonde hair. Could they be related? The other man's hair was a black like her own, if lightly streaked with gray, but she took some comfort from its normalcy.

She'd always felt rather plain when compared with the other oni she'd come to know. Sen had her striking magenta eyes, Shiranui had his midnight colored hair, and Amagiri had his own striking combination of ice blue eyes and dark red hair. Even Kazama had red eyes and blonde hair, and yet she was left with dull black and boring brown.

The two men bowed and the old woman inclined her head when she and Kazama came to a stop in front of them. Chizuru blinked at the action, unused to anyone treating her with such diffidence.

"I trust your journey was safe, Kazama-san, Yukimura-san?" the older man said as he rose. When Kazama nodded, he continued, "Not much has changed since you left other than what I sent in my reports. I believe I speak for the elders when I say we will be more than happy to hand the day-to-day governance back over to you."

Kazama smiled somewhat wryly as he said, "I'm sure you would."

"Enough of the boring stuff already," The blonde man shot a smile at her, his eyes sparkling with the same excited light she'd seen in Heisuke's every so often. "Tell me nii-san, is this the woman I've heard so many stories about?"

Kazama's eyes narrowed as he glared at what she now knew to be his little brother. "What stories? I haven't told you any stories."

"Well you haven't, but it's all over the village about how you're marrying a fierce warrior princess who fought with the Shinsengumi." He turned his attention to her, a an all too familiar mischievous grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Is it true you fought off twenty Satcho soldiers at once during the battle of Toba-Fushimi? And that nii-san had to use all of his influence to keep the new government from arresting you?"

Chizuru stared at him, completely dumbfounded, "W-What?"

Warrior princess? Just what kind of reputation did she have?! How had menial chores and tending to the wounded evolved into that? The most she'd ever slayed was the dirt on the wooden floors and the leaves that had littered the courtyard, which was hardly a tale of epic valor.

Kazama sighed before shooting another glare at his brother, but it Chizuru didn't think it held any real anger behind it. It seemed to be more of a familiar routine between the two. "Even if your teasing seems to know no bounds, you would be wise to keep my future wife out of it."

"All right, all right," He winked at her, drawing an irritated huff from Kazama, "Just remember, I'll be happy to teach him a lesson if he gives you any problems."

"I-I'm sure that won't be necessary," Chizuru said, her cheeks warming with embarrassment. "Though I do appreciate your offer."

Up till then, the old woman had been silently watching the conversation unfold, so it was something of a surprise to Chizuru when she suddenly said in a no-nonsense tone, "That's quite enough out of you, young man. Do something useful with yourself for once and stable the horse."

Thankfully Kazama's brother didn't argue as he took the reigns from Kazama and led the horse down the street and around a corner.

The older man smiled kindly at her as he said, "I hope you will forgive him, Yukimura-san. He can be a handful sometimes, but his heart is in the right place."

"Oh, enough of that. Come here and let me look at you dear. This light doesn't do my eyes any good." The old woman said as she gestured for Chizuru to come to her.

When Chizuru was close enough, the woman's cool hands held her face as her sharp eyes looked her over as if searching for something, before finally settling on her eyes. Chizuru fought to keep her emotions calm and not look away from the piercing gaze holding her own.

It felt like an eternity before the woman finally smiled and nodded. "A fine choice. She will do well." Letting go of Chizuru, the woman turned to Kazama and jabbed a finger at him. "Well it certainly took you long enough. Did you have to examine every girl in the country before deciding on this one? I hope for your sake that she was the last one you looked at because I will personally give you a thrashing if she wasn't."

Chizuru waited with bated breath for Kazama's inevitable explosion. She'd never seen anyone talk to him like that.

Thankfully the explosion never came. Instead, he said with a measure of resignation, "No, I did not look through every girl in the country, and yes, she is last woman I have looked at to be my wife. Now, if that is all for tonight, Chizuru and I would both like dinner and to rest after our day's travels."

Without waiting for their answer, Kazama took her hand and began walking past the pair and down the street. Chizuru couldn't help but giggle when she heard him mutter under his breath, "Nagging old hag."

At the sound of her laughter, Kazama glanced down at her and offered her a small smile, his hand tightening around her own.

She may not know what to expect from her new life with Kazama in this village, but Chizuru couldn't help but think that it certainly wouldn't be boring. She'd become close to the feared captains of the Shinsengumi, and she'd to learn to love the man she'd once viewed as an enemy. She returned Kazama's smile. Being his wife and getting to know an entire village should be a walk in the park compared to that.

[black-strike-otp]

part 96

I like this chapter. This is a nice chapter. Actually looked forward to this chapter.

~Days Later~

Bots were swarming for a chance to help build the intergalactic transmitter. A surprisingly small amount arrived simply for the sole benefit of energon they’d collected. The majority arrived stating how they longed to be in contact with old friends. Another servoful was eager to be part of such a monumental and meaningful project rather than waste their lives and time away waiting for change. With the war having went on for lifetimes on Cybertron and a significant fraction off, most were interested in the change the transmitter may bring.

Unfortunately, it left Blackout preoccupied with trying to help construct the base for the communicator. He had very little issues with his size and strength carrying around equipment and holding up the skeletal pieces of metal. In fact, Novastrike was pretty damn sure he was enjoying himself. Having a task seemed to fuel him. After spending roughly half an Earth year with no work and no purpose, wondering the galaxies only to return home and have to work like a junkyard dog just to survive, he finally had routine and something physical to do. A routine. A task.

The only down side to all this change was the loneliness. With Blackout both desiring to and being asked to be on the job site not too far from the rogue outpost, it left Novastrike alone a lot. With her size, she wasn’t of much help and would only get in the way. Even Scorponok had found a job in burrowing holes into the planet to help keep the posts good and stable to the concrete bases.

So Nova spent time in the one place she was both out of the way and could be found useful. Though the medic didn’t seem keen with the extra presence, he stayed just about as far as he could away from where she hovered not far from Venus and Barricade.

She watched the infected mech with wonder and awe. Aside from the gentleness Blackout always expressed upon her, she’d never seen from an outsiders view the love a bot could have for another. He didn’t leave her side for a nanoklik, no matter wake or rest. Venus had since woken, but was told to remain in the medical office until she’d completely recovered from her injuries.

Jiggling one of her pedes from where she saw, the small femme watched as ‘Cade lovingly caressed his recharging femme’s servo. Where light glossed over her frame reflected a well polished streak over black and magenta that he took such great obsessive care to help clean when she had been out. The silver and purple metal on the claws of his servos caressed over Venus’ with delicate feather-light brushes as she slept.

Every bit of predatory insanity that had been written in his faceplate and surging at the surface days ago was gone, but the blame still warred in his dark mauve optics. No matter how hard Novastrike tried to find the words to speak to him, she couldn’t bare to open her mouth. Usually she didn’t have a problem spitting out whatever was in her processor if she thought it could help. Barricade was different however; he twisted words meant to soothe into daggers and inflicted them upon himself until he was bleeding from wounds you couldn’t see and physically mend. He was bound and determined to be the villain of his own story; the catastrophic hurricane, the cause of torment, the weight that dragged Venus into the fire and flames and would inflict only a plague of misery and hurt upon her.

Breaking into the solace with a clearing of her vocalizer, Novastrike gestured slightly to Venus as ‘Cade turned towards her and quietly coaxed, “Venus is looking better every day. Do you mind if I come over and remove her path to see if she’s in need of a replacement?”

From the other side of the room, the doctor looked up. His gaze was disapproving and somewhat distrust of her, like he found it hard to believe she could manage the task. Rather than involve himself though, he lowered his helm back into whatever he was working on in his files.

In a stereotypical robotic response, ‘Cade numbly nodded his helm as he answered in monotone, “Sure thing, Novastrike.”

“You can call me Nova,” the white armored femme stated, offering a half-sparked smile to try lightening the mood.

It didn’t to inflict any difference on the bad cop. He shuttered his optics at her very slowly and with disinterest. Gradually, he shifted his optics back down to look upon Venus as he continued stroking her servo softly.

Bounding off the counter, the small femme made her way over to the examination table and jumped up on the edge. She made sure not to glance up at the worried mech and make awkward optic contact whilst approaching Venus’ form.

With her tiny servos, she had no problem finding and disconnecting the clips helping to keep the temporary plate of metal in place. She pulled at the soft, spongy material this particular medic used instead of welding and peeled it off to toss to the side. As Novastrike began to lift up the compress with a huff, Venus began to stir.

Mumbling some nonsense gibberish, the taller femme unshuttered her optics and blinked in the dim overhead light for a moment. Her fuchsia optics blinked as she reflexively twitched her digits, curling them around Barricade’s servo that had been holding hers up.

“How are you feeling, beautiful?” ‘Cade requested quietly as he raised her servo to press a gentle kiss against her knuckles.

“Fine, Barricade, just as I keep telling you,” Venus explained with a broad and loving smile.

Using her elbow to prop herself up, she pressed a kiss against the underside of his chin. The corner of his mouth pulled up a little as he rubbed his thumb against the back of her servo lightly, watching her with brightly shining optics.

Nova would have to give Scorponok more credit later on. Being the one to just stand around while two bots were staring at each other, optics locked like they could see all their hopes and dreams and happiness in the others gaze, really had a way with putting the aww in awkward. It was sugary sweet and gave her the fuzzy feelings, but maybe if she wasn’t specifically inspecting one of the bot’s injuries in the middle of it she could appreciate the sappy quality a bit more.

But right now she just felt like a nuisance.

“Ahem, sorry to barge in,” Nova spoke up nervously as Barricade looked to her with vague irritation. “I know Barricade asked you this, but how are you doing, Venus? Feeling any abnormal pains anywhere? Energon making you feel sick at all? Did you recharge well?”

Unlike her mech, Venus seemed unperturbed by her interference. She smiled in a way that probably made cherubs so jealous they turned their noses up and gazes away, as if looking upon her too long would befall you into a state of worship. There was something lethal in that beauty however; a threat waiting to pounce at opportune moments as she sucked bots into her charm.

Nova felt incredibly lucky to be on her side, and not her opponent. She rather enjoyed Venus; her kindness, her wit, the snide joking remarks and high sense of self-confidence made her a truly fun individual. The thought of being sucked into all that flare only to meet a demise was very disheartening.

“I feel fine,” she insisted. “I just wish I could get out of here. Yeah I probably had the longest amount of recharge in years, but that’s all I’m doing.”

“Well I’m sorry about that,” Novastrike offered sympathetically as she turned her optics upon the injury, brushing her digits in a ghostly, hardly touching contact upon it. “I’m sure it was worth it though, right?”

Barricade gave an offensive curse to himself. Glowering at her mech, Venus squeezed his servo firmly and nudged him slightly with her elbow.

“It certainly was.”

Novastrike grinned to herself a bit. Even if she couldn’t drill the thought into Barricade’s helm that the incident was none of his fault, Venus would have a better chance of knocking it into him.

“Good news: everything appears to have healed up nicely. The sealant has done its job and there’s no leaks since it melded your cracked lines. Your frame seems to have accepted the new replacement gears nicely. I don’t think there’ll be any lasting effects from the damage. Of course, the medic should really give you the a-okay and get your reformed and refortified armor back in place before you’re allowed to leave.”

The smile on the bigger femme’s faceplate faltered slightly as she whispered, “Wait, you’re not a medic? I thought for sure you were a field medic, or a trainee, or something.”

Timidly shrugging, Novastrike offered a cheesy grin and replied, “I’ve had some experience working with two highly skilled medics. I’m not a professional; I have no doctrine to prove anything and went through no schooling, but I got some servos-on-training.”

“Wow,” Venus pondered with amazement. “That’s pretty remarkable Nova. You know, I know we haven’t known each other too long and it’s not like my opinion matters at all, but I’m glad Blackout found you. I like you. He’s always been a bit of a brooding, anti-social, silent type but he’s never been anything but pleasant around me. I knew he had to have something in him willing to care more than just beyond being polite to ‘Cade,  Scorponok and I.”

“Oh. T-Thank you, Venus,” Novastrike stuttered in reply. “I gotta say, I was a bit intimidated meeting the both of you. Blackout never really revealed much of his past to me; even his work with the Decepticons he kept vague. I’m not sure how much of that was him trying to protect me from the things he’d done and how much was him just wanting to move forward in life. But I’m really glad I’ve gotten to meet you both. I mean, you look like you walked off the runway and strolled out of some sort of fairy tale.”

Grumbling, Barricade removed his servo that had been upon Venus’ and wound it around her back. He rested his palm against her backside, stretching out his digits along her frame as he tossed a look at Nova.

“Yo, smalls, I’m the one with the flirty pick-up lines. You’re laying it on pretty thick. Watch it; she’s mine,” ‘Cade cautioned.

Looking sideways at her mech, Venus rolled her optics. She turned her gaze onto Nova as she nervously twiddled her digits.

“Don’t mind him. You’d think he’d know bots can be inclined to compliment one another and not mean anything by it. I’m flattered by your praise, but you’re a cute little thing yourself. Don’t feel intimidated or discouraged. I’m sure you’ve gotten your fair share of admirers, and you don’t have to worry about the one whose opinion probably matters the most to you. ‘Cade probably would have tried killing Blackout years ago if he’d actually thought of him as competition.”

“He’s got a size kink, babe. You’re not tiny enough. He only really hung out with Scorponok before me anyway which proves my point-ouch!”

Pinching a nerve in Barricade’s wrist, the goddess of a femme shot him a warning look.

The trio turned their optics to the shuffling pedes as the medic made his way over towards them. He looked nervously at ‘Cade, who turned his helm away quickly. From the glance Novastrike got from him before his faceplate was hidden, the poor mech’s demons were rearing their ugly helms again; stricken with a look of self-loathing.

Cutting right to the point, the doctor held up the pieces of Venus’ armor that had been removed to be fixed. He waved them in the air slowly before her.

“You’re suitable to be discharged,” he stated, looking down at the wound and up to her optics. “I’m going to put these on you, and I want you to take your friend and get the Pit out of my office. Immediately.”

Smiling sweetly up at the mech, Venus purred in response, “Yes of course, sir. I’m so sorry if our ruckus disrupted your work at all.”

Suddenly, the medic’s face looked like he’d been struck by cupid’s arrow. His pupils dilated a few degrees and he looked down from her faceplate swiftly and to her injury as light filtered brightly out of his gaze. His digits fumbled for a moment shakily; too nervous with his fumbling digits to touch her. After a few tries, and Novastrike squinting at him as she considered offering to do it, the medic finally managed to snap the pieces of armor into place.

“There you go!” he practically burst out as he stiffly turned around. “Now get out, and don’t come back unless you have a real fragging emergency!”

~

“Wow, I’ve never been thrown out of a medic’s office so quickly,” Venus laughed as they walked out of the rogue outpost. “I guess I should have spoke to him a lot sooner!”

“He wanted us out because he was terrified of me,” ‘Cade sulked quietly, looking off to the side.

Walking backwards in front of the duo so that she could speak to them directly, Novastrike flicked her servo out as she threw in her own two credits, “Venus is up and walking around again, free of the med-bay and constant prodding and poking. We should all be very happy and enjoying this moment!”

Glancing over to the mech following her stride, Venus nudged her hip against Barricade’s as they walked. He glanced at her somewhat shyly and wrapped his arm around her to plant a kiss against her lips.

Nova made sure to discreetly look away, embarrassed.

By the time she turned her optics back, Venus had playfully shoved ‘Cade as he pulled away. A small smile played against his mouth as he snickered quietly.

Not watching where she was going, Novastrike tripped up on the uneven surface of Cybertron and fell right on her aft.

“Ha!” ‘Cade snorted.

Holding back from laughing, Venus managed a shaky, “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes,” the small femme squeaked with humiliation. She quickly pushed off on her pedes and righted herself to brush at her rump. It hurt a bit, but not nearly as much as her ego that felt like it’d been popped and collapsed like a balloon.

“You should watch where you’re going,” the taller femme scolded gently. “You could get hurt, walking without looking where you’re going.”

Nova pressed her audio receptors against her helm with mortification. She could make out the warble in her dejected spark, and the sound of other pedes approaching from the left as bots came their way.

“R-Right, yes-”

A rush of air whizzed by Novastrike’s frame and a small explosion of metal and dirt flung up from the ground. The suddenness stupefied her for five nanokliks as they all turned to look at what had just hit the ground.

A single bullet, mostly collapsed in on itself from hitting the ground, lay on the ground.

Flicking her audio receptors up, the little femme swiveled them in the direction she’d heard the muffled pedes walking around. A distinct sound of a shell casing popping out with a mechanical click of a pin whispered into her sensitive ears.

“Move!” Nova yelled, jumping out of the way just as another shot went hurtling by her, mere nanokliks from having punctured into her processor.

Assessing the trajectory of their assailant, Barricade moved around to Venus’ left side as he helped push her along to the nearest area of cover. Another bullet whistled right by; this time missing ‘Cade by a few inches and ricocheting uselessly off some nearby scrap metal and flying off elsewhere.

Charging in the opposite direction of the other twosome, Novastrike panted quietly as she jumped over some nearby twisted scrapmetal. Her form shifted; panels moving and rearranging so that when she hit the ground on the other side, she landed smoothly on four sturdy legs instead of two. The feline’s sharp optics and audios moved in the direction she’d heard the last shot come off from as she crouched low behind the mass, thinking she may be out of the line of sight.

Another bullet zipped by, luckily hitting some of the scrap. It embedded itself in the ground just centimeters from the cyber-cat’s toes.

Lifting her helm quickly, Nova picked out the brief gleam of a rifle, and the figure of a bot lying down with it in the shadows. Another ping of a shell casing had her twitching her audios in his direction.

Dashing forth, the white cat streaked across the ground like a bolt of lightning. Her hunches sprung fluidly as she dodged and weaved around the twisted formations and remnants of buildings in her way towards the bot. With fangs bared, a snarl rippled through her form as she closed in.

A shadow to her right moved as she closed in.

The crack of a cannon went off and Novastrike went rolling across the dusty surface of the planet. She slid her claws into the surface with a screech of metal, coming to a halt.

Snarling, the feline lashed her tail furiously around as the sheath around her barb tail slid open to reveal the sharply honed prongs. The blast hadn’t hit her directly, merely gave splash damage and debris flung up on her side as it harmlessly hit the ground from her last-minute adjustment.

The bot didn’t have a faceplate she recognized as they leered at her with jagged, uneven derma.

They raised their cannon and fired once more, but she was already moving once again. Hurtling over a waste of metal, the femme raced around and towards the shadows as another shot went off from the sniper. The bot didn’t have time to recover and ready another shot when she jumped into the darkness; swallowed by the shadows as she came down on the bot.

Novastrike’s claws snagged upon their faceplate as she let out a roar of fury. The bot let out a femme’s cry of pain as they released the sniper rifle to try swatting her off. Elongated gashes dripping with energon whelped as Nova sprung off the femme’s face to leave a pleasant calling card behind.

Pedes moved behind her. She tensed, whipping her helm to the mech that she hadn’t realized had approached so close already. Raising her tail, Novastrike hissed, ready to strike the bot when an explosive crack of a blaster went off.

The mech cursed, stumbling back as he was struck.

Loosening her posture, Novastrike turned her helm just in time to see Barricade as he jumped. He crashed directly into the mech. As the pair fell together, ‘Cade physically rolled with the assailant and threw him with tremendous strength. It was disturbingly horrifying to hear the bot strike the knotted up mass of rebar sticking out with such force that it punctured into areas of his frame as he let out a terrified, pained scream.

Turning towards the femme whom she’d just clawed, Novastrike saw the dawning look of fear on the bot. She pushed herself away just in time as ‘Cade jumped and came crashing down on her sniper rifle, his pedes snapping the weapon in half.

Dumbfounded and more than a bit terrified herself, the white cyber-cat turned her helm to the incoming sound of pedes. Huffing softly from the jog, Venus sprinted right past Novastrike, much to her confusion. She craned her helm around just in time to see the goddess strike a blow to the mech’s extended arm’s crevice in his forearm. The joint cracked as his arm snapped downward, firing his cannon into the ground.

Bringing up her leg in a wide arc, she struck him hard in the side. As he stumbled and tried to regain his balance, Venus slid a dagger out from her forearm into her servo. With a flick of her wrist, she plunged the blade with a fluid stroke beneath a section of the bot’s armor of his chassis and up.

His optics flashed with alarm as he sucked in deeply. She extracted the blade and rammed it in again as he wheezed, staggering. There was very little energon that dripped out from beneath his armor as he fell into Venus, but she stepped aside as he collapsed.

Nova didn’t bother to watch as he convulsed and slowly would begin to turn gray. Instead, she slid her paws gingerly on the ground, scared to witness what Barricade had done to the femme he’d been victimizing.

It seemed Venus had the same thought.

Running around Novastrike, the taller femme hurried over to the two frames upon the ground. She reached out tentatively to touch ‘Cade on the shoulder as he leaned over his opponent.

“Babe?” she whispered nervously.

Lifting his helm up, Barricade’s optics were that eerie slightly pinkish-purple. The seams on his faceplate were slightly parted, but not fully opened. He held his ventilation system still so not to breath in the smell of energon. A bit stiffly, he pushed himself to his feet.

Novastrike grimaced and looked away from the femme. Her armor was practically crushed out of sheer, brutal strength. There was hardly a faceplate to be made out.

Reaching out, Venus gingerly touched the sides of his face. A kitten’s purr almost moved through the cop as the four segmented areas of metal on his faceplate flexed slightly and retracted back to making his faceplate smooth once more.

“Are you okay?” Venus demanded swiftly.

“Fine,” ‘Cade rasped, grinning. “Didn’t even take a nibble.”

“Primus, you had me scared there for a moment,” she hissed, stroking the side of his face.

Chuckling with some unease, he leaned in to press his forehead lightly against hers. An adoring smile formed on his faceplate as he looked her in the optics tenderly.

Slowly pulling away, Barricade looked over Venus’ shoulder to stare at Novastrike. She went rigid, looking around like she wasn’t sure where to go to be out of his sites. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong, but being caught staring was certainly a bit awkward.

“You’re not too bad,” he admitted gruffly as Venus caressed his face.

Blinking her optics slowly, Novastrike offered a nervous smile. “Thank you, for saving me from that mech, Barricade.”

‘Cade gave a single nod of his helm, flashing his derma in a grin. “Sure thing, Nova. By the way, you can call me ‘Cade. I won’t bite, I promise.”

Light sparkled in Novastrike’s optics as she let out a faint gasp. A feline’s grin appeared on her cyber-cat alt-mode’s face as she wriggled in place excitedly.

What a way to get the approval of a new friend.

[fanofawesomethings]

Over The Mountain We Went

(Disclaimer: This is a purely fan-produced story. All characters, elements, worlds belong to their appropriate owners.)

This was a commission piece done for BixbitesMeepMorps and her OC Gems Bixbite and Onyx. If you want a commission fan fiction of Steven Universe of your own, send me a message and I’ll send you my prices.

Echoes of war are the hardest to drown out. Her hands weren’t strong enough to shut it out of her ears. Her Gem felt it. No earthquake could match the noise of the battlefield below, nor could any natural disaster found on Earth’s soil outshine the destruction of the war. Soldiers wearing armor scattered about their bodies fought an enemy they couldn’t see. Topaz grunts held their hands together, building a wall to take the front assaults; clouds erupted every few minutes when one of them was poofed. Amethyst bodyguards, pulled from their usual locations, fought with only instinct to guide them, throwing attacks into the air without a target in mind hoping to hit anything. Rubies, Jaspers, and so many other Quartzes were overpowered.

Meanwhile the Rebellion the many Gems fought to crush, the Crystal Gems, launched attacks from beneath every chasm, behind every tree, behind any crack in the ground they could find. The words of their leader rang in their ears as one after another they poofed the Homeworld armada, their own kind.

“FIRE!” Commanded Bismuth, the sort of general of the Rebellion.  

A battalion of cannon shot forth geysers of blinding lights. They split the air as they soared over the battlefield.

“Look out!” Screamed an Amethyst.

The Homeworld army looked up with only enough time to see the shots above them crashing down. Explosions that rattled the ground followed. What remained in those smoldering craters of ash were the gemstones, unharmed but poofed.

“I’d say that got them angry. Ready the cannons again!” Bismuth ordered the Gems under her care.

The fighting continued with an end nowhere in sight. Gems had seemingly limitless stamina, strength that was doubled what any human could achieve, and magic so great it could tear the Earth in two. Everything that made the alien species what they were fueled the war, keeping it from ending overnight.

Reluctant to do so, a Gem watched the fighting at a safe distance from atop a tall tree overlooking the valley. Glistening streaks of magenta and rose red covered her elongated hair that outlined her pudgy face. She watched with horror through her visor. She watched a rebel Amethyst charge at a Homeworld Amethyst and poof her with one swift strike, only to be poofed by another Homeworld Amethyst. Gems against Gems, it was something the Bixbite could understand.

A Petalite solider, part of a passing squad of reinforcements, spotted Bixbite in the tall Oak tree. “Up there!”

“CRYSTAL GEM!”

“TRAITOR!”

The Quartz squad fired their weapons up into the tree. Spears, axes, and swords narrowly missed Bixbite who climbed higher and higher to get away. A Ruby grunt had an idea, something uncommon among their type of Gem; she drew her weapon, a small pickax, and began to chip away at the tree’s trunk.

“No.” It pained Bixbite to her see her favorite tree get hacked to woodchips.

The Other Quartzes joined in with their own weapons. Their burlier muscles sliced away at the tree trunk faster than the Ruby.

Bixbite panicked, furiously searching for a way to escape. In her escape to the very top of the tree she didn’t remember the ground growing smaller and smaller. And waiting for her would be a regiment of Quartz soldiers, waiting to shatter her. She couldn’t breathe. Her Gem flickered with fear. The stress was too great. Her vision blurred. Finally the trunk was split and the tree gave out. Bixbite plummeted into the darkness.

Darkness. An abyss without the slightest glimmer of light.

 She woke up. The scene acted out as a projection from her Gem against the cave roof vanished into glowing dust when she opened her eyes. The memory was fresh as if she had been plucked from it only seconds ago. One of her companions, a small goat with a broken horn on its left side stirred also. She crawled to her Gem friend and touched Bixbite’s hand.

“AH! GET AWAY!” Bixbite unknowingly swatted at the goat and the small animal jumped back. When she realized what she had done and the adrenaline of fear began to simmer down, she gave the goat an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, Horn.”

The goat, named Horn because of its abnormality, returned to the side of her friend, nestling her furry head beneath Bixbite’s right hand, where her gemstone was. Bixbite fell on top of her bed of her own hair, which reached down to her rear.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh! Sleep. Is. Evil.”

Instead of returning to the pleasant ritual of sleeping, which she hadn’t yet fully understood but had seen from her many animal friends, Bixbite switched a rock for her hand so Horn wouldn’t wake up. She snuck out of her cave to greet the morning sky.

The sun hadn’t yet made it to her mountain side cavern and so the skies were blue like an Azurite’s Gem. There were certainly no such things as sunrise and sunsets on Homeworld, which made the Gem love them even more. She watched the sun rise to the middle of the sky the entire time, the shadows of the morning fled all over her forest fled into hiding and the land was bright once again.

Her animals stirred. Horn left the cave and skipped to her perch, a rocky boulder that Bixbite beat into a makeshift chair for Horn to sit in, which she did. Beak, one of Bixbite’s hawks, flew over her head and landed on a rock beside her.

“Golly, I wish I could fly like you do, Beak. Some of the Lapis’ I knew always said it was nice to fly.”

Bixbite gave a pause. It had been centuries since she had seen another Gem. The battlefield from her nightmare rested like a scar on the other side of the mountain, a part Bixbite refused to go in. She caressed the limestone of the mountain she called home; it had been the only rocks she’s ever been with. The war may have been fresh in her mind but the friends she left behind were covered by a hazy fog and each time she tried to go into that fog she’d lose her wide smile. Bixbite shook her head and long hair like a dog with water in its ears, shaking the melancholy feeling away.

“HEY! SHARP NAILS!” She beckoned to the forest. There was no response but that only told Bixbite her call was received. “CATCH ME AND YOU GET TO CHEW ON MY LEG AGAIN!”

Bixbite threw herself into the forest like a sack of potatoes, crashing through the branches with her weight, but she didn’t mind onslaught of tree branches and leaves hitting her. She popped out of a tree but before crashing into another one she grabbed a branch and swung from it like a monkey. Sharp Nails, a vicious Mountain Lion that was more or less Bixbite’s friend, was startled awake, spotting the magenta Gem in a tree. The feral cat growled at the challenge; Bixbite took off and Sharp Nails followed. She skipped from branch to branch while the lion gave chase at top speed.

“Hehehehahaha! Hehehehahaha! You’re not gonna get to chew on my leg like that!” Bixbite laughed.

Sharp Nails pounced on the tree she just left and revived the chase from atop the trees. Quickly after, the Mountain Lion caught up with the Gem. Bixbite fumbled to find an exit but couldn’t, and Sharp Nails pounced on her, sending both of them to the ground. The two tumbled in the dirt until Sharp Nail was on top of her, pinning her down. The starving animal licked its whiskers eyeing the figure that resembled human meat. It started to naw on her shoulder.

“H-Hey—W-Wait—! That—!That tickles—hehehehahaha! D-Don’t—!”

The creature was dumbfounded by the uncharacteristic response to its going in for the kill. It switched to the leg Bixbite had promised it only to get the same results, a hardy laugh from Bixbite that said she wasn’t the least bit in pain even as the sharp teeth plunged into her stubby foot.

“Relax; I got you some of that red gooey stuff you like to eat too.” Bixbite summoned a slab of meat—but not knowing what it was—out of her Gem in a flash of purple light and threw it for the Lion to chase who then devoured it.

The Gem watched the instinctive actions of the Mountain Lion. It tore the slab of meat into strips with its fangs, and its throat bulged with each piece it swallowed. Bixbite giggled because she knew where the food was going and it amused her, blushing a little which made her reddish purple cheeks glow brighter red. The solution to that mystery didn’t come easily for the ignorant Gem. She once had to follow Sharp Nails around for an entire day just to find the answer to the mystery of where the food went to. When it was done, Sharp Nails curled into a ball and slept. Bixbite always giggled when she’d see Sharp Nails’ belly swell and shrink with its soft sleeping breath. She thought it was cute.

Bixbite jumped onto Sharp Nails, coiling her chubby arms around the mountain cat as it struggled to get free. The violent and sudden jerk away made the animal hyper. She brushed her cheeks against its fur affectionately.

“Aw come one, Sharp Nails, just a few hours. I just wanna cuddle,” Bixbite laughed.

The Mountain Lion thrashed about but the Gem’s will to cuddle with it was too great for it to overcome. It howled for the need to escape, but Bixbite was prepared for this since it was often what Sharp Nails did whenever she tried to hug it.

But suddenly the thrashing stopped. Taking the opportunity, Bixbite added her legs into the equation, now squeezing the animal with her entire body.

“I knew you’d warm up to me, Sharpy,” purred Bixbite. She only found it odd until after a few minutes of cuddling when the normally reluctant Mountain Lion stayed frozen.

Sharp Nails had its ears perked, standing at attention. Its head darted from left to right, and up and down, searching. Its expression was blank.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

Bixbite said nothing and focused her ears too. At first nothing. The rhythmic sounds of the forest played alongside the rustling trees and prickling brush. She could hear Horn cawing from her perch, but not much else. So it came as a shock when something caught her eye when she didn’t hear it coming.

Soaring in a nose dive across the sky something broke the neutrality of the sky. Bixbite squinted her eyes and saw a white egg reaching speeds she’s never seen an egg reach. There was nothing out of place in its look, so Bixbite’s first reaction to see it drop was concern.

“That Oval is falling! Falling Oval!” Bixbite screamed, waving her arms up and down like mad. Oval was the name Bixbite gave to eggs whose purpose was another aspect of her animals she didn’t understand. She looked back at Sharp Nails to see if it shared in her panic but its attention was still drawn to an unknown sound that perked its ears in alarm.

Bixbite didn’t waste another moment; she ran towards it. Her unruly hair danced behind her like a tail for her head. In the break between treetops Bixbite kept an eye on the falling object. Her mass wasn’t design for such intense activity; Bixbite squeezed her face tightly in a fruitless attempt to boost her running. She reached a clearing in the forest, a treeless area where she often came to get unhindered stretching room because the trees were pushed away from it.

The Oval stopped its diagonal descent and dropped to a straight fall as if it sought the clearing the entire time. But it was still far from the clearing’s entrance which was where Bixbite stopped to catch her breath.

“NO!” Bixbite jumped into the air, her arms stretched out to catch the precious egg before it landed. Her strength as a Gem threw her across the grassy clearing, almost too well. She cleared the gap in the trees and made it to the opposite side, missing the egg entirely.

The ground trembled as it exploded into the ground; a scorching crater was left in the earth. Bixbite clapped her hands over her eyes not wanting to see what she had seen sometime ago when Beak dropped one of his Ovals. It made her feel horrible then and realizing she didn’t save it made her feel horrible again.

CRT-CSSSSSSHH! A strange noise came from the crater and Bixbite peered through her fingers to see if indeed the Oval had survived the crash landing. She tiptoed towards the crater, fidgety, until she stopped when her foot hit the rim. Slowly, poking her head over the edge, she saw that the Oval did split open.

“Oh no!” Bixbite sobbed. “I’m so sorry Oval!”

CHOONK!

Bixbite was thrown to the ground when something smashed into her stomach and threw her down. The Oval shot something out of it like a bullet that collided with the unaware Gem. She shook her head of the trauma and looked down at her belly. A black rock with a bright gleam casting off its polished surface sat in a very cushiony spot in the middle of her stomach. There was something familiar about it, a quality not shared any rock Bixbite found around her cave, until she remembered where she came from.

“W-Wait…are you a—?”

The black stone floated above her. A black glow like an eclipse light spewed from it, forming a featureless doll outline, but from that doll followed a muscled build that towered over the stubby Bixbite.  

The black stone floated above her shining black like an eclipse. A featureless doll outline spewed from that light. A muscled build grew from the doll, one that towered over the stubby Bixbite.

It was a Gem. Another Gem! Bixbite felt a rush of excitement. Another Gem after such a long time; frankly Bixbite lost count how long she had been on the Earth. Her eyes outshined the stars, that is, until she remembered her nightmare earlier. The War and the Gems that saw her as an enemy. What if this Gem attacked, she thought. What if it happened like last time? As the Gem began to form completely, Bixbite held her breath, hoping for the best.

The Gem formed and suddenly fell back to the ground, on Bixbite. Her quick reflexes caught the ground just in time, but she only saw the Earth Gem after. Bixbite lay helplessly below her, while the new Gem had her arms on both sides of Bixbite’s body as if keeping her in front. The new Gem had black skin like coal and her hair was darker than that, hanging over to one side of her head, wildly like Bixbite which caught Bixbite’s attention right away. Bixbite’s eyes widened as they stared deeply into the new Gem’s black eyes. The new Gem was caught off guard by Bixbite when she just formed, and she didn’t know how to respond.

To her, Bixbite was a strange face. It was evident by her tracing eyes that the new Gem had never seen such a round, chubby face of bright magenta. She then noticed Bixbite’s hair too and became fixated on the long strands glistening with the Earth sun. The two Gems were locked in each other’s eyes, neither one of them said or did anything. What broke them out of the trance was seeing the other blush. Bixbite was enamored by the long hair that matched her own’s wild nature, but also the muscles that kept her pinned down were an added plus. Seeing Bixbite blush made the new Gem blush.

“I’m Bixbite,” she was very quick to say.

The Gem pounced off her, rapidly as if frightened. She cleared her throat and dusted off her knees.

“Onyx,” said the Gem, crossing her large arms together. Her muscles tightened, being stretched like that, and Bixbite was quick to noticed it.

“Oh my golly, a new Gem! A new Gem! A new Gem!” Bixbite pranced around the stationary Onyx who watched her with an outstretched brow. She took Onyx’s hands in hers and bounced them up and down. “I can’t believe! I can’t believe! I can’t believe! I haven’t seen another Gem in such a long time! My name is Bixbite—oh wait I said that already. I just—EEEEE! I can’t believe it!”

Onyx took back her hands. Bixbite’s smile was too bright for her to look into directly. “Yeah…well, it’s…nice to see another Gem too. Now, I’m very busy so I need to go.”

“Ooo, busy with what?” Bixbite trailed next to her like a little duckling following a moving brick wall. “A big mission? A big Gem mission?”

           Onyx didn’t answer her. The new Gem surveyed the landscape with a stern face. What she saw was unfamiliar to her. She swung her head around, taking note of the green stands—trees—she just met. Bixbite held her next flurry of words when Onyx closed her eyes. Her lips darted as she mumbled under her breath. Suddenly Onyx pointed towards the mountain, but as a signal to herself because she didn’t say anything to Bixbite before walking towards it.

           “You’re going to my mountain? Oh, oh, I can show you around my cave. I bet Horn will love you. Oh and wait until Sharp Nails gets a bite out of you.”

           Onyx looked at the corner of her eye were Bixbite rambled excitedly. She watched her talk and talk, but Onyx couldn’t shake the feeling of suspicion. The name stuck to Onyx’s thought since she introduced herself, it wasn’t a Gem name she was used to hearing.

           “I’m sorry, are you like a…really tall Ruby?” Onyx asked.

           Bixbite stopped rambling, confused. “No.”

           “Are you a…fusion?”

           Bixbite showed her the single gemstone on the surface of her hand. “As far as I know, no.”

           The name seemed familiar to Onyx, but she couldn’t put a memory to it, and what’s more she didn’t have time try.

           “Sorry, but I’m busy.”

           Onyx raised her speed as a way to distance herself from Bixbite. The mountain was the only thing on her mind. As she came closer to the wall of trees surrounding the clearing where she landed, Onyx didn’t know what to expect from the still poles in front of her. But she wasn’t going to let them stop her. The new Gem faced the tree and without hesitation she crashed into the tree, face first, not anticipating how dense it was.

           “You didn’t think they’d be that strong too, huh?” Bixbite asked, knowing from experience.

           “Geez, what’s with these things?” Onyx asked, her rough yet smooth voice muffled over her hand as she rubbed the spot on her nose where the tree hit.

           “I call them Frists. When I first came to the Earth I thought they’d move out of the way when I started walking to them.”

           “Frists? This planet is strange. Sorry but I got to go.”

           “Go where? What’re you gonna do in my mountain?” Bixbite asked with giddy curiosity enlarging her wide smile.

           “That’s classified,” Onyx snapped. “I’m on a missing to find any survivors.”

           As soon as she said this, Onyx slapped her hands over her mouth as though she didn’t mean to say the last part.

           “Survivors? You mean from the Gem War?”

           Onyx was flustered for a second because Bixbite guessed it right and she didn’t know what to do next, but she actually wanted to hear more of what the Earth Gem had to say, but at the same time not letting her know she was interested.

           “You’re the first Gem I’ve seen in a long time. But I don’t go to all the sides of my mountain so I don’t know if there are others out there.”

           “Long time? How long was I—? Well…I still have to check,” said Onyx, undeterred.

           Onyx stepped around the trees this time, finally making her entrance into the forest where she found herself surrounded by the strange poles. There were so many sounds she didn’t know. The leaves rustled, birds chirped like flutes, and the leaves beneath her feet crunched with every step she took; every time she stepped she was startled by the next crunch. She danced around, afraid where to step next. It made Bixbite giggle to herself, and when Onyx heard her laughing she was embarrassed.

           Beak, or it could’ve been another Hawk entirely, dropped down on a branch above Onyx and watched her. Onyx drew back and bumped her back against the tree, stirring the bird. It flew down and perched itself on Onyx’s shoulder. The new Gem had no context for the creature resting on her shoulder, eyeing her without a word—because Onyx expected it to start talking.

           “Aww, Beak likes you,” smiled Bixbite.

           “B-Beak?” Onyx stuttered.

           The Hawk cawed, scaring Onyx and knocking her to the ground. It flew away after.

Bixbite stood over Onyx. “Are you alright?”

“I think I had enough of this planet,” groaned Onyx.

“Um…I don’t want to make you upset, but I haven’t seen another Gem for a long time. I don’t think you’ll find any here.”

“You don’t understand. I have to find my squad. The coordinates on my pod set me to fall where 20 miles away the battlefield. This important. I have to find her.”

“Her?”

“My friend, Plume Agate, she was our squad’s commander. I have to tell her I finished regenerating and I’m ready to fight those rebel scums.”

Bixbite thought back to the Gem War. After the incident in her nightmare she hid away in her cave for longer than she could remember. The cave sound muffled all the sound so she didn’t hear any of the fighting. Then there was that light she could never explain; the noise that followed was a mystery to her also. All she knew for sure was that when she came out, everything was quiet.

“O-Onyx…” She hesitated to say anything further. What if she was wrong, she thought, and there were other Gems out there she didn’t know about? What if they were still on the battlefield? The one thing Bixbite knew for sure was that she didn’t want to go, but she couldn’t leave Onyx alone. She sighed and responded. “I can take you there to the other side of the mountain. That’s where the…fighting was.”

Excitement lit up on Onyx’s dark face, visible, but she contained herself, putting on a strict expression.

“Thanks for the offer but I’m an Agate soldier, I can find my way up an Earth mountain easily.”

Just as she took another step, Sharp Nails jumped out from the brush and blocked her path. Onyx froze. The vicious Mountain Lion eyed the unfamiliar stranger to its forest with slit eyes. Onyx shook of the start and took a fighting stance not to be frightened by some creature. The two squared off, both sides unmoving because they waited for the other to make the first. Sharp Nail growled and Onyx’s stance wavered because it wasn’t a sound she’s ever heard. The big cat took a step and Onyx started to sweat. Finally Bixbite summoned another slab of meat and tossed it into the bushes where the hungry lion was more than happy to ignore Onyx and chase after it.

“Don’t tell me Sharp Nails scared you. Where was the Agate soldier?” She teased.

“Be quiet! ARGH! Fine, you’ll show me to the battlefield, but you have to make it fast my squad is waiting for me,” Onyx ordered, crossed.

“Roger Golly, Soldier!” Bixbite saluted with her tongue hanging out. It was right around then that Onyx felt her chances of making it through this mission start to fade.

The journey up and around the mountain anything but a smooth path. The black Gem stayed ten pacing behind Bixbite who always tried to bridge the gap between them. She skipped merrily while whistling a song she heard the birds sing, while Onyx analyzed the surrounding areas for anything Gem-related. Despite Onyx’s hurry, Bixbite stopped their progress when they came to the entrance of her limestone cave. She took an entire hour showing Bixbite the things she’s collected, treasures she found along the forest floor, but the Gem with a sour grump on her face wasn’t having any of it. The only words to come out of her mouth in response to all Bixbite’s treasures were “Let’s go”. But since Bixbite led the way with a casual speed of her skipping, they made it to the base of the mountain when the sun had started moving away from the center of the sky, and the shadows became longer.

Bixbite stopped suddenly along the path. A wall of large prickle bushes blocked the path, too thick to see through. This was the entrance to the battlefield. On the other side would be the scene from her nightmare. She hesitated to take another step,

“What’s the problem?” Onyx grumped, hating that they stopped once again but keeping calm enough.

Bixbite didn’t say anything, too lost in thought. Onyx griped under her breath. She walked closer to the other Gem and was about to shake her by the shoulder but she saw the frightened expression on Bixbite’s face. Bixbite’s blank stare into the prickle bushes was wracked with fear causing her face to sweat. Her body started to shake.

“Hey,” Onyx spoke, putting a rather gentle hand on Bixbite’s shoulder, holding her still. “What’s wrong?”

“ONXY!” Bixbite gasped, snapping back. She startled Onyx with the sudden outburst. “I-I’m sorry. It’s nothing. L-Let’s go then!”

Bixbite prepared herself, taking a deep breath before parting the prickle bushes, but neither she nor Onyx was prepared to see the other side. Not a battlefield at all, but a valley that looked like not a single ounce of rage or violence had touched it. The grasses below where they both thought the battlefield was in were overgrown, growing high with life. Flowers painted the ground as if splashes of paint rained on the land. There were no craters in the ground from the light canons in Bixbite’s dream, but instead small lakes of water from which little animals drank and swam in. Bixbite saw Beak—definitely Beak this time—diving into one of them and soak the feathers of its head with the crystal clear water. When a gust of air blew passed Bixbite’s hair the entire valley danced with the wind. Bixbite didn’t have the words to describe how happy she felt. She avoided this side of the mountain all this time because she feared it would be a desolate wasteland only there to remind her of the horrors of the past, but now she wholeheartedly regretted not coming here sooner and seeing the majesty. There was life, not destruction.

“No.” She looked over at Onyx who was affected by the sight but not in the pleasant way Bixbite was.

Onyx pushed Bixbite aside in her haste to make it down the mountain to the valley. She ran so fast she tripped on the rocks and tumbled down, painfully.

“Onyx!” Bixbite screamed with concern.

The black Gem didn’t stop rolling until she hit the valley and even then she didn’t stop to rest. She ran into the tall grass, frantically searching all around her for any signs of her squad. There wasn’t a hint of any battles anywhere near her, yet she was absolutely sure this was the place she was in before. She looked back, thinking it may have been a different area, but the side of the mountain that faced the valley was a sight Onyx couldn’t forget being the vigilant soldier she was.

“This can’t be it. This can’t be—right. I-I was just here.” Onyx lost the calm in her voice. Bixbite watched from a distance. “O-Over there! Right there the rebel’s canons poofed Shou Amethyst. And there! That’s where I was poofed when a spear stabbed me in—”

Onyx held her stomach, where the weapon has pierced her body and poofed her. That was the last thing she could remember.

“I was…gone, but…for how long?” Onyx turned to Bixbite and charged at her. She grabbed Bixbite’s shoulder before she had a chance to respond. She shook Bixbite, violently. “H-How long has it been since the War? W-We won, right? We crushed the Rebellion! We defeated the Crystal Gems, right? RIGHT?!”

“Onyx!” Bixbite shouted above Onyx’s frantic cries.

Onyx dropped to her knees. The weight of the situation fell on her back and not even she was strong enough to carry it while standing. She couldn’t believe this was true. She closed her eyes and opened them, thinking everything she saw was some sort of illusion, a trick of the eye. But the flowers were still there, the grass was beneath her, and the scars on the valley were healed.

Bixbite felt her Gem ache seeing Onyx crumbled on the ground. She sat next to her, waiting for her to speak first. Onyx didn’t want to look at the valley anymore.

“The truth is I don’t know if Homeworld won,” said Bixbite. “I’m not a soldier Gem. All I remember was this fight, but then I had a hide because a Quartz squad thought I was a rebel Gem. I hid in my cave until the fighting stopped, but I don’t know how long it’s been since.”

It took a while for Onyx to respond, but even as she sat down, upright, she had her back towards the battlefield. “So you aren’t a soldier Gem. What kind of Gem are you?”

           “Do you wan to know the weird part of that? I don’t know. Homeworld said I was made as a ‘new’ type of Gem, but then the War started before I had a chance to know for what. I’m a Gem who doesn’t know her purpose.”

           “That’s why I’ve never heard of you before.”

           “So what’s your story, Onyx?”

           “I’m one of White Diamond’s Quartz. When the War started, me and my squad was called here to fight. But now they’re gone. Who knows if they got shattered or captured. I could be the last one.”

           “I’m so sorry.”

           “Maybe they’re still around, just somewhere else. I wasn’t exactly formed on my Drop Ship to know. I just hope Plume is okay.”

           “You care a lot about this Plume. Is she special to you?”

           It came time for Onyx to show hesitation. It could have been everything she had seen that made her give up on he restrain to keep it a secret or it was out of gratitude for Bixbite for showing her where the battlefield was. She didn’t like telling this part.

           “You were obviously made outside of Homeworld. Over there I’m Off Color. The other Agates used to be disgusted by me. But Plume wasn’t. She saw how hard I worked to be a great soldier like the other Quartzes and Agates and she liked how determined I was to obey White Diamond. I’ll never forget when she came up to me and asked me if I wanted to join her squad. She gave me a chance when no one else would.”

           Bixbite swore she saw a tear forming along the corner of Onyx’s sharp eyes, until Onyx turned away from her. The Earth Gem leaned on Onyx’s shoulder unexpectedly.

           “I’m sorry you’re alone,” said Bixbite, softly.

“Are you stupid or something? You’re with me, remember?” Onyx chuckled.

           “You could stay with me, just in case your squad comes back. If you want to.” The truth was Bixbite wanted Onyx to stay. She had been alone for so long that she found it nice to talk to another Gem. But she restraint herself so Onyx could make her choice.

           Bixbite shyly gestured her hand for Onyx to take it. Onyx was unsure. She didn’t know where she saw, where her squad was, or what was going to happen. Uncertainty wasn’t something she wanted happen to her. But even so she admitted that things weren’t hopeless. As far as she knew her squad could be looking for her and they could come here. She could start searching for them, Onyx thought, but even then she was uncertain about the outcome. For now, she admitted, it wouldn’t be so bad staying there. Onyx’s hand met Bixbite’s.

           They sat in the grass, quiet. The wind tussled their hairs. All of a sudden a rogue wind stronger than the other blew both their hairs into messes. Bixbite’s hair was pushed clear over her head and draped over her eyes making her look like a mop with arms and legs. And Onyx’s hair was blown in wild directions, splitting the hairs in two; it looked like her hair split open. The two looked at each other. Bixbite couldn’t hold in her laughs and she burst out, rolling around in the grass. Onyx chuckled seeing the hair kick its feet while laughing.  

[realityisiron]

Operation: Give Shiro a (Space) Dog

I’m writing a fluffy gen-fic two-shot based on this drawing I did for Shiro’s birthday. So now you’re getting a snippet of a fanfic about Shiro’s birthday more than a month after his actual birthday. Whoops.

“What are you going to name her, Shiro?” Allura asked, leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look as Shiro’s new pet – a Mahrit according to the intergalactic humane society, though the Castle’s earth inhabitants stubbornly called it a space dog. She was currently curling herself into the tightest ball she possibly could, which was rather impressive considering how she had to fit her six legs somewhere. Unfortunately, she was her own worst enemy. Every time she almost made herself into a perfect ball, her six gleaming orange eyes would catch sight of Shiro and she’d rapidly uncurl herself to rub her face against his.

Shiro chuckled as the Mahrit pressed her nose against his forehead, letting her long, forked tongue slip out to flick the tip of his nose. “I- I have no idea. I didn’t think I’d get a dog for… decades, probably. Maybe Laika?”

Pidge’s mouth fell open in horror. “Shiro, you wouldn’t!” Keith rolled his eyes, probably expecting no less from Shiro. He returned his gaze back to the booklet in front of him, an in-depth instruction manual on adjusting the settings of one of the lower holo decks. To keep the space dog a surprise from Shiro, they’d kept her in their personal quarters, rotating her every day. Now that Shiro had her, it was time to create a Mahrit-focused space for the weeks they spent off-surface.

Not quite as calm about Pidge’s outburst as Keith, Coran and Allura shared looks of confusion, mouths turned down in questioning frowns.

“What’s so wrong with Laika, Number Five? It sounds like a perfectly beautiful name.”

On the other side of the room, Lance and Hunk were reading a long list of strange words. “I forgot she’s trained to test for poisons! How did they do that? Wouldn’t that kill her?” Hunk asked, peering over Lance’s shoulder. His face was pinched together, evidently imagining her training and not liking his mental image.                                                                                                               

“Well, maybe she’s got like, a super sensitive nose or something. Dogs could detect drugs and bombs and stuff back home. Why not poisons? Still, how about we try something a little… simpler. And less likely to kill her. Like, uh-“ Lance cleared his throat, glancing over at the dog in Shiro’s lap and lowering his voice an octave “speak.”

She didn’t respond. In fact, it was like Lance had said nothing at all. The galaxy revolved around Shiro as far as she was concerned.

Hunk and Lance pouted at the same time, eying her with disappointment. “Huh, I was kind of hoping she’d- Oh! She was trained by that Gessrin guy,” Hunk pointed out.

Lance gasped. “So she would only respond to commands in Gessrin? As in this stuff?” he asked, gesturing to the words sounded out with the English alphabet, but definitely not English in any way. Not Spanish either, or even that bit of Altaen that Lance had started studying. Lance took a steadying breath. “Okay, fine, sure, we can work with this. But uh, how do you pronounce that?”

Back on the couch, Allura and Coran were giving Shiro expressions so scandalized he might have just admitted to drowning puppies. Which, alright, he had just admitted to wanting to name his space pet after a dog that had overheated in space. So, their expressions were probably fair.

“The poor thing!” Allura whispered, covering her mouth.

“An elegant and giving creature, sacrificed for the primitive advancements of man,” Coran lamented, throwing a hand to the wall and bowing his head. He put Shakespearian actors to shame.

“An Altean would never do such a thing!” Allura insisted. A debatable statement, considering an Altean in a bind or with a cruel streak very well may have done the same thing in hopes of getting the technology Allura now used. But given that Shiro didn’t know much Altean history – the language had seemed a bit higher priority – he had little to argue with. “You take it back right now! I order you as the princess of Altea to never name any creature Laika. Even as a memorial to her noble sacrifice.”

Shiro laughed as the Mahrit once again foiled her own intentions, rapidly unwinding her body to press her wet nose to the underside of Shiro’s jaw. “Of course, Princess. I’ll be sure to-“

“Sahlen!”

At the sound of Lance’s voice, the space dog’s head snapped towards him. Then she dropped her jaw.

“BLAM BLAM BLAM!”

Silence. Everyone stared at her, eyes saucers and pupils pinpricks. The color drained from Shiro’s face and his mouth fell open. His new pet was evidently unaware of the shock she had just caused everyone. Forked tongue lolling out between her fangs, she turned to look back at Shiro.

Finally Hunk cleared his throat, bringing almost everyone out of their moment of silence. “So was I the only one who thought that really sounded like-“

“Blam blam blam,” Shiro murmured. His eyes didn’t leave her as she panted back at him, the corners of her mouth turned up in what might’ve been a toothy grin. “I… she just…” Shiro whipped his head up to look at the rest of his team. “You- You all heard that, right?”

Everyone started snickering at his stunned expression, but managed to nod back all the same. “You know what that means, don’t you?” Keith asked, closing his manual with a small smirk.

Pidge didn’t wait for Shiro to guess. “You gotta name her Laser.”

Hunk nodded in agreement. “It’s obviously her birthright.”

“Or her barkright.” A shorter moment of silence followed as everyone turned to glance at Lance. “Her bark sounds like Shiro’s laser sound effects and you all won’t let me have this one bad pun?”

Keith arched an eyebrow. “Just one, huh?”

Lance gave a mock pout but said nothing. It was Shiro’s sort of birthday (a day off for another two years, unfortunately), and no one had any intention of ruining that by actually hurting one another. It was a day for fun and relaxing, for easy teasing and harmless jokes. And of course it was a day for surprising their overworked, overstressed, unrested leader with an alien pet. They all needed that, Shiro most of all.

Shiro ran a hand over the soft fur at the top of the Mahrit’s head, settling behind one of her ears to give her a scratch. Beneath his touch, her fur began to turn purple. The tips above her eyes went magenta. “It’s a good name,” he agreed. “How do you feel about it? You mind being called that for the rest of your life? Laser?”

“BLAM BLAM BLAM.”

Without the shock to stop him, Shiro could only laugh as she continued to bark.

He looked happy, as if for the first time there were no strings attached. No past or future or fate of the universe.

It would potentially only last them a few minutes more, but everyone was ready to take what they could get. A heartbeat of Shiro being happy was a gift. Laser had already found her place on the ship.

At least until Allura realized just what sort of pet they’d gotten Shiro.

[myauralove-blog]

Me.

1. Name 1 thing you miss about being a kid- No money, no responsibilities, not having a heart lol 2. What was your favorite musical group when you were a kid? Spice Gallsss 3. When was the first time that you had alcohol? year 10, 15 years old 4. What is your worst dating experience? hahahah year 8, RB. or JW 5. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?  punched a police officer in front of 200 people and got held in a cell for 6 hours.. 6. Name one thing that not many people know about you. I’m actually very clever literacy wise. I love to read! I would love to be a writer/editor/journo 7. What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death? Kindness. That I changed someones life for the better. 8. Do you have any phobias? Spiders >:( 9. Name three countries you would like to visit. Italy, UK, Asia 10. If your house was on fire and you could grab only 3 things before leaving, what would they be? My dog! Photos, Phone 11. Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets? yesyesyesyes  12. Do you believe in the paranormal? yes shut up  now im scared 13. What would be your dream job? Getting paid to travel/vlog, writer, english teacher

14. If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be? lifetime supply of money, to have children, to have my family safe and happy forever

15. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? hahaha umm? Zoe? Love that name

16. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Hawaii 17. If you knew you were going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do in the time you had left. Spend time with each of the people I love most, laugh alot and take loads of pictures 18. What crazy activities do you dream of trying someday? none :/ Is travelling classified as crazy activities?

19. If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go? My mum/sister

20. Any tattoos or pierced body parts? 2, 5 21. What’s your favorite color? Green 22. What is your favorite flower? Sunflower 23. What is on your bedside table? dont have one 24. What was your best Halloween costume for Halloween? cat lol 25. If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be? none? 26. Are you a morning or night person? both 27. Name a singer whose voice you can’t stand. Mariah Carey 28. If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do? I wouldnt 29. What do you remember about your high school formal? bad bad memories. ditching all of my mates at the after party to chase a boy to his ex’s house and then walking home alone with a bottle of vodka, getting allllll the way home and smashing the bottle....... 30. What’s your favorite holiday? Christmas! 31. Have you ever been mentioned in a newspaper? Yes 32. Have you ever gone skinny dipping or streaking? no 33. What body part do you get caught staring at? face, bum lol 34. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic? both 35. What is your most treasured possession? photos, jewellery 36. Adult Beverage of choice? cocktails! 37. What is your favorite food? Pasta 38. Can you fake any accents? indian, british, new Zealander 39. What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? eyes, smile 40. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? anal hahhahahhahhahah  41. If you had to live under the sea what kind of an animal would you be? seal 42. Most hated chore on the household chore list? dishes 43. In life who has had the most influence on you? mum, dad, sister 44. What do you like best about yourself? eye colours, wrists hahahha, personality 45. If you could be one kind of beer which one would you be and why? yuck none 46. What extremely difficult life situation have you overcome and how did you do it? heartache, being ripped off 10k, being bullied by friends, anxiety, moving to alice springs, being undermined at work, living with a bipolar person and being away from my family. lol i didnt overcome it 47. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you? omg getting my period during sex with my crush hahahhaha he was disgusted 48. If you could choose, how would you want to die? old age in my sleep please 49. If you could change the world what would you do? create awareness for womans rights, stop child abuse, stop violence against men and women, get rid of guns, world peace! 50. Name 1 thing you love about being an adult - noone having control of my money but its also very very bad 51. Which would you rather have, $50,000 or true love? the money for sure aahahha 52. Do you believe everything happens for a reason? yess 53. What song always makes you happy when you hear it? ilysb lany, anything by blackbear 54. Who’s the funniest person you know? mum/sister 55. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? mum 56. How big is your bed?  queen 57. What is the wallpaper on your cellphone? sunset 58. What’s the first thing you thought about this morning? work ugh 59. Are you afraid of the dark? kinda 60. 3 things you cannot live without? social media, money and family 61. Favorite song? ilysb lany, flex your way out, anything by ruth b, 62. Are you a giver or a taker? both 63. Virgin or not? nah 64. Are you very sarcastic? super 65. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? no lol what a rebel 66. Which you favorite icecream flavor? choc mint or rum raisen 67. What was the last drink you drank? orange cordial 68. Do you prefer hugs or kisses? both are nice 69. Have you ever gone cow-tipping? what 70. Do you like to sing in the shower? somedays 71. What’s your favorite midnight snack? anything food is my life lol 72. Whats your favorite movie? life as a house, the choice, the best of me 73. Have you ever gambled at a casino? badly but yes 74. Have you thrown up in a car? hahahah yuh 75. Do you scream on roller coasters? very loudly 76. When did you go to your first funeral? 2010 77. Where did you go on your first airplane ride? cairns, 2 yrs old 78. Whats your favorite season? winter 79. Who was your imaginary friend? fairies named magenta, indigo and sapphire 80. Date someone older or younger? either but only 3 years max 81. If you don’t know the words to a song do you improvise? hahaha yep 82. What turns you on about the opposite sex? half smiles, confidence but not too cocky, good kisser, smells good, neck kisses, when they tuck your hair behind you ear, when they are a combo of sexy and cute, sense of humour!!!!! rough but in a way where they know what they’re going with the flow not where they’re straight out shoving their dick in your throat.. 83. What turns you off about the opposite sex? bad smell, hair pulling, vile dirty talk, overly cocky, treats you like meat, forces it, no intimacy, no foreplay 84. What scares you the most and why? not being able to have kids, losing family, having nothing to show for my hard work, never succeeding in my dreams 85. What do you do in your free time? read, watch tv or youtube, listen to music, social media, babysit, spend time with friends or dad, drink 86. Name 8 things in life you find most beautiful? nature, genuine kind beautiful people, genuine happy souls, love, art (music, paintings, movies, books), being gifted with family, animals, big 100% real, cheesy smiles,  87. Tell me about something you really regret? 10k to my ex. moving back to alice 88. Tell me about your favorite book, magazine or comic? you by caroline kepnes. go read it 89. Something or someone you miss the most from childhood? having brothers who were just children not adults, being free, making memories with my sister everyday 90. Your best friend dies, what would you do? considering thats my sister id die 91. What is your zodiac sign? aries 92. Name a couple of T.V. shows you watch a lot? friends, neighbours, ex on the beach, the middle, modern fam WAITING FOR RIVERDALE TO COME BACK SO I WATCH EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING ATM 93. Name a movie or movies you can watch over and over? best of me, rom coms. sad movies, anything adam sandler, old classic 90′s disneys movies, christmas holiday movies 94. Would you ever go skinny dipping? yes 95. Have you been told you can sing well more than once? like never 96. What is the strangest dream you’ve ever had? so so so many 97. What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh? at work with the kids, today with dad at the star track angry small man 98. What is your happiest childhood memory? alligator in our backyard (imaginary) at dixon road with Eb. Think i was 4 or so? Playing pirate boats with blake and zane at mimosa, I was 7 or so, dads old house and all the cool computer games we used to have 99. If you could take a one month trip anywhere and money was not a consideration, where would you go? Europe!!!! 100. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be? no swearing, no moving towns

[eschapters]

Chapter 19: Experiments are Strange

The amber streaks of the ruby-colored skies were now signalling the approach of sunset. As a result, the five had decided to find a place to stop around. They all had stopped at a lush forest, which was full of apple trees and grape vines. It was almost as if they had stumbled into a fruit garden. Slowly but surely, the skies had soon turned dark with the stars spread around the sky once again. Holly had fallen right asleep, wrapped up by Venere's tail and head. Fabian had scooted next to Venere in attempts to feel secure. Alair and Etalt were the only ones left awake. Alair watched the two Bounded Viabilities huddle against Venere and fall into a peaceful dream. His eyes had fell upon Holly, who looked like she would never wake up from her dream. "...What happened to her parents?" When the question had reached her ears Etalt, who was sitting next to Alair, had looked up at him, "...Huh?" "She had parents, right?" Alair had kept his eyes on Holly, "...Why is she alone now?" Before actually starting to explain, Etalt had took in the feeling of fresh air, "Well... They aren't as nice as Holly describes them. She just loves them a lot," she looked over at Venere, "From what Raika says, Venere was a dog once. Holly and Venere were growing up together," her gaze had shifted back to those cyan eyes, "Do you really wanna hear the whole story?" Alair nodded. "Holly had found Venere as a german shepard puppy on the streets. She had always wanted a puppy, so she took him home. She gave him a name and she loved him... But then, Holly knew that she was gonna get in trouble for bringing him home... So she hid him right outside of her house." Venere had gaped open its mouth before falling right back asleep. "Holly would always visit him and stay out for a long time just to play with him... She knew better than to be out for long, but she loved him way too much to leave him for a long time. Every time she would come home, she would receive a fresh cut on her arm or her face... But she endured it because she knew that Venere needed someone to take care of him," Etalt had cleared her throat, "She and Venere had built a strong bond together. When Venere was big enough, he would always stay by Holly's side and threaten anything that would kill her. It was then one day that her father had tried to stab her after Holly's mother had ran away." Alair had looked over at the three. They were still soundly asleep. "Holly had received some damage, about to give in... Until Venere had ran in, mercilessly attacking her dad. He had heard her screams and cries, and he had responded to it. Together, the two had fled from that house for good... Until they had met the one who had created this world. The creator had asked, 'What do you wish for?' Holly had responded, 'Eternal happiness, miss.' And from that day on, Holly and Venere had lived together in that mansion." Hearing the story had made Alair softly smile at the embodiment of glee and the flytrap canine, "...Guess they're really lucky to have met." "Even though tragic stories like these aren't really my cup of tea, that's probably about right," Etalt had shifted around before resting her head on her hand, "But ya gotta feel somewhat bad for the kid after all that, right?" "Mhm..." The white-haired girl got up, dusting herself off, "Alright. Go to sleep." Instead of listening, Alair had supported himself with his arms so that he would be able to get up if needed, "Where are you going?" "Nowhere. I'll just get a few apples or grapes, and then I'll sleep." Seeing that Etalt had walked off, Alair had looked at the fire. Alair's surroundings had suddenly started to peel away into a frenzy of lights all around them. Holly, Fabian, and Venere were awake and watching the lights that danced around them. Next to him was that same person from his previous flashback. "One... Two..." the person had counted, "This is good, right?" Reality had rebuilt itself around him, reverting to the scene of everyone but him sleeping under the place that was only lit by a simple fire. The flashback had caused Alair to doze off as a smile had crept onto his face. ===================== The gentle rays of sunlight had once again tapped Alair's face. He slowly opened an eye as the sun had welcomed him into the morning. He stretched his arms before stifling a yawn, "Morning, guys-" The moment he had opened his eyes fully, Alair had stopped. He was the only one left there. Alair had pushed himself up, looking around, "Guys?" No response came. He decided to go further into the forest. Once he was some distance within, Alair felt something crunch beneath his foot. It was revealed to be an average-sized dark magenta petal when he lifted his foot off the ground. Because of how suspicious it seemed, Alair had decided to follow it. The petals also seemed to resemble the ones around Venere's neck. Alair's bag had seemed to lag along behind his back. The path seemed to go on for hours and hours. To his relief, a huge building had came into view at the end of the path. The building was huge, as stated above. It was vast white in color and now windows could be seen at all. Smoke rose from the roof's pipes and filled the air. Alair paused for a while with a thought, "Are they here? ...What would Etalt do?" He walked over to the entrance before studying the area. There really wasn't much to describe it. It just seemed completely bland to Alair himself. Alair stepped forward to active the sliding doors in front of him. He stopped, hearing a voice. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice seemed to belong to a young female child. It was familiar, but it also wasn't. Upon hearing the voice, Alair had stepped back before looking for the speaker. "You can't see me. Don't try to look for me," the voice echoed throughout his head, "'Who am I,' you ask? That, I will not answer." "...Uh... W-Well, that's fine!" Alair called out, "But... Where do I enter, then?" "...Where else? The vents." "..Vents...?" "Look around." Alair ran over to the side of the building. He skidded to a stop when a small opening had came into view. The opening, however, was blocked by a wired frame. "Open it," the voice urged him. He bent down opening the frame before crawling inside. "Good. Now remember my directions," the voice said, "If you want help, then find your first ally here. She is also in the vents." "...Huh? You mean Etalt? Really?" Alair went along, crawling through the vent. "Yes. She's there. She's a little far, but you'll find her soon. Have you ever tried to use the Anamnesis Pearl to get in contact with anyone? I am currently contacting you with this pearl. "...Oh, right!" Alair stopped, reaching his arm into his pocket before pulling out the green sphere, "...What do I do...?" "Oh yeah, a mortal like you is really brainless when it comes to this stuff." "Hey! Rude, much?" "It's true," the voice stated, "Now think of what you want you want to say and who you want to say it to..." "...Got it, I hope..." "Good. I won't be able to talk once you contact another person," the voice whispered, "Nice talking, Alair." Alair had raised his head, "How do you know my- OW!" he rubbed his head right after it had hit the ceiling, "...GEHH!!!" He groaned before continuing to crawl through the vent. Throughout the whole time he crawled, Alair had tried to communicate with both Holly and Fabian. It failed, of course since he couldn't reach them at all. He groaned again once he had realized that the only person he could try to call was Etalt. Alair took in a deep breath before attempting to think. He tried to think of Etalt herself, "...Etalt... Etalt, are you there?" He waited... No response again. He concluded that he would have to venture around the area on his own, until someone had spoken. "LIAR?! WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO DO THIS?!" "FINALLY! THANK LORD I CAN HEAR YOU!" "WHY ARE YOU HERE, IDIOT?!" "I... Kinda got worried... Where are you?" "...Stay where you are. I think I can find you." And so Alair waited. And waited. Until he heard the sounds of something hitting against the vent. Alair had been greeted by those glowing green eyes and heart again. "ETA-" "SHHHH!!" Etalt hissed, "You'll get us caught!" "...Sorry." "...Look. I haven't found 'em yet, but..." Etalt scoffed, "Now that you're here, you can lead I guess." "...Wait, what happened to Holly, Venere, and Fabian?" Alair had asked. "...Let's just say they got kidnapped or so," Etalt sighed, "This is why I don't fall asleep on other nights." "...Okay, I get you," Alair had started to crawl through the vent again, "But why are they here?" Etalt raised an eyebrow, "Scientists. Contraptions. Lab. WHAT DO YOU THINK?" "...I see where this is going. The sooner we get them out, then... the better." As they passed along, they saw various scenes beneath themselves. In one scene, a scientist was testing out experiences while another was testing out a fluid for trees. In another, some assistants were speaking with each other. The two had stopped to look down at one scene in particular that had a seal laying on a rock. Alair chuckled softly, "...Hey, this is actually cute for on-" And then the seal had turned around. Its eyebrows were thick, its eyes were big and crossing, and its teeth stuck out like a caveman. As soon as Alair saw its face, he shivered a little before going on, "...I take it back." "Everything is not what it seems," Etalt muttered. "...Ah... Right..." Alair stopped again, looking down. "...See another seal?" Etalt tried to look down as well. "...No... No, look at this!" Alair had scooted himself over to allow Etalt to see what he was seeing. Within a wide-spaced cylinder container that had reached up to the ceiling was a giant lizard, who was almost as brown as the cold and hard soil. The lizard snapped its jaws, crawling around the container. "...A Komodo Dragon...?" Alair now felt as if his breath had been taken away, "...Why is it..." "...You really wanna know," Etalt had said it more of a statement than an answer. "Of course!" "Why don't you set it free to find out?" "Are you crazy?! What if it bites off my h-" Etalt had covered his mouth as a male teenager with black hair had walked in. The boy had a jacket that had a dark blue stripe at the side of his sleeves. He walked up to the container placing a hand on it. "...I'll get you out. I don't mean any harm." The lizard had gaped its mouth, breathing out fire. However, the fire did not damage the glass at all. "Calm down. I don't wanna hurt you." "...It's Logan, holy shi-" "Shut up!" Etalt had hissed again. Logan backed away, leaving the room. They were both able to hear the door slide close with a satisfying click. Etalt had pushed open the wired cover, "Alright. Down you go!" Alair gawked, "Me?! You have more chances of surviving!" "Guess who has to stop learning how to be a wuss!" Etalt had pulled him closer to the opening. "Guess who has to stop being closed minded!" Alair had tugged Etalt closer as well. "You're the one who has to learn how to fight!" "Maybe if you understood my situation better, then you'd know how I feel!" As the two argued, they pulled each other closer and closer to the opening. "Oh, yeah? Maybe someone has to stop being a nosy little tw-" "Hypocrite! You tell me and some others to watch our language but then here you are, about to use those kinds of words!" "Unlike you, I ain't a goodie two-shoes twenty-four seven! I ain't tryna give others random hugs when they don't need it!" "Seriously? At least I don't punch random strangers without warning!" "At least I don't talk back to the first person I met in this darned world!" "Oh, so you wanna put it that way?! At least I'm not a dwarf that everyone depises and treats like a mon-" Before Alair could finish he had been sent falling down the opening while screaming, but not without dragging Etalt down with him. Coincidentally and conveniently, the two had landed on a water-filled couch. Etalt looked up before scoffing yet again, "Look whatcha did, ya wuss!" "Okay, okay, can we just... Not?" Alair groaned, "We're both down now, so why don't we just work together?" She was about to reject, but then she realized the distance they had fallen from. The distance had been enough to kill them both, had the couch not been there, "...Fine. Alright." Alair walked up to the giant cylinder container. Looking closely inside, he saw that the cylinder was surrounded by a blue forcefield. The lizard crawled up to him, baring its teeth. When Etalt walked up, the lizard stopped baring its teeth as it looked at her. "...Huh. How do we get them out?" Alair looked at the container from the bottom to the top. "...Well... Maybe there's a switch around here... Just maybe," Etalt walked around the room, "...Why don't you help me look for it?" "Why not?" Alair searched around the room for the switch. He stopped across a switch that had said, "Do not press." "Maybe this will work! It DOES say 'do not press!'" Alair rammed his hand on to the switch. Ironically, it didn't free the creature. It did, however, open a screen in front of Alair. The screen contained little bugs, wearing grass skirts and dancing like they were in Hawaii. When Alair had tried to reach into the screen to pick one up, they all started to scream. "...Uh... nope," Alair pressed the switch again, not sure of what to think. "...Found it?" Etalt called from the other side of the room. "...Nah." Alair continued along the room, looking for the switch. He stopped at a cabinet before opening it. There were a lot of things within the cabinet, such as cleaning tools and even medicine. Alair closed the cabinet, finding no use to the supplies within. He came across a yellow curtain after before pulling it aside. It was another button that was labeled, "Press At Your Own Risk." "Maybe this one!" Alair pushed it. All at once, part of a wall had been opened. Puppies and kittens had came running up to Alair. He chuckled, bending down to pet all of them. "Aww... These are so cute!" Alair laughed as the puppies and kittens piled up on top of him. This had called Etalt's attention. She looked over at him, her eyebrows lowering as she crossed her arms, "Liar. Put those back where they came from..." "But they're h-" "NOW." Alair got up, stepping back, "Come on, Etalt! Don't be a killjoy! What could possibly-" A kitten had hissed, causing Alair to look behind him. He quickly lifted his foot upon realizing his mistake, "Woah, hey! Sorry! I didn't mean it!" The kitten had arched its back before its skin had ripped apart. The kitten had grown into a large feline-like creature. "SPOKE TOO SOON!!" Alair had screeched, fleeing from the feline. Hearing his voice, Etalt groaned. She turned around, taking a small device from her pocket and flashing it at the feline. A red dot was visible next to it. The former kitten had leapt on it, as well as the surrounding kittens. Alair quickly ran back to the button, slamming his fist on it. The animals rushed back inside the opening they had came from as the opening had closed in. There was no trace of their appearance. "This is NOT what I expected a lab to be like!" Alair panted. "Well, ya get what ya get... Now let me press the switch this time!" Etalt had moved a pile of books aside, revealing a switch on the floor. She bent down to press it. Out of nowhere, swords and kutlases had been sent flying from side to side. Alair screeched, attempting to run to the other side of the room. Doing so had only resulted in a sword nearly slicing his chest. Luckily, the sword had only made a clean uppercut right on his jacket. "Crud," Etalt pressed the switch again, and the swords had immediately dropped right where they were. Etalt walked over to Alair, looking around him for any cuts, "It got your jacket, huh." Alair looked down to see the clean slice that the sword had made. The gray shirt he wore underneath was now exposed, "At least I always wear two layers underneath..." "I think you can get that fixed at Glister Bay or Sequía Village," Etalt stated, "Just... worry about that later." Etalt had walked to the cabinet that Alair had looked at earlier. She placed everything within to the side before reaching in a hand to touch something. The blue forcefield that had surrounded the cylinder container had dissolved, leaving just the glass. The two both went back to the cylinder container, being stared at by the komodo dragon. Etalt had knocked on the glass, "...Hey, lizard-breath. The forcefield's down. Come out." The komodo dragon only stared. "Hey, come on. Go. You're free." Still nothing. "Maybe he needs to be motivated..." Alair had ran to the first switch, pressing it. The bugs had emerged again, continuing their dance. Alair grabbed one, not caring if it screamed or not. He ran over to the glass cylinder and raised the bug to the lizard. "Hey, big guy! You want this, don't you?" Alair had called. "Liar, what are ya doing? Those things don't eat insects!" "They eat them when they're younger!" Alair had said, "Besides, I guess trying to irritate this thing is the best idea I have!" "Liar, you're gonna get us all killed!" The komodo dragon roared, gaping its mouth again. Fire had built up within the back of its throat as it opened it. Alair had dropped the bug, running out of the way while grabbing Etalt's wrist and dragging her along. The reptile had let loose a demolishing flamethrower, burning down the glass in front of it. The hole that had been made was just enough for the komodo dragon to fit through. It released another blast of fire, burning down the wall all the way at the other side. Alair now seemed somewhat concerned, "...Uh... Is this supposed to happen?" "Mhm. He'll burn down the place, and then we'll get Holly, Faris, and Venere out of here." "I thought his name was Fabian." "It's a bit of a long story. I'll tell you later." Within the time they used to hold a small conversation, nearly the entire room had caught on fire. Alair ran over to the second switch, pressing it. The puppies and kittens had ran out from the opening and out the entrance. "...Pacifying frick," Etalt muttered. "Hey, what could I have do- Okay, no. Let's just find the others." The two ran out of the room, not bothering to stop at anything that could've possibly came their way.