#we need to make our fate and not take it and divert this river in a controlled manner asap yet we lack infrastructure investment
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free my boy, the atchafalaya river
#free my boy atchafalaya river#no on the real this is could be a risk for to 'national security#' we must rip off the band aid and rebuild while times are pleasant#recommending it like an innoculation against hard times#facfic inspo#what if the southern us had a government that did anything#lol but seriously enemies of the USA rejoice that we continue to pick a useless fight with the truly inevitable mississippi river diversion#this needless hill we are pointlessly dying on creates a fat target for anyone who would like to shut down the USA's maritime traffic#we need to make our fate and not take it and divert this river in a controlled manner asap yet we lack infrastructure investment#largest economy in the world#80% off the rails 20% teetering for dear life#one GOP president away from economic depression
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This is gonna be a v. indulgent prompt but how about some Silvamy? Especially with silver hopelessly pinning Amy (imma ramble on: his heart fluttering, heart beating so fast whenever he thinks of her and he is much happier and healthier, and he pinsss and yearns and longs) and the ending is more two sided? Maybe? Thank u đ
Iâll do my best, Sweet-Chan ^^;b
ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE, PROMPTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN! DONâT SEND ME MORE UNTIL THEY REOPEN AGAIN! Thank you~
Prompt:
It was getting harderâŠ
I came back from the future on a report of something happening with the Chaos Emeralds in the past. Apparently, Eggman had found himself a new âfriendâ, so to speak. But this⊠this monster was like nothing Sonic, nor his friends had ever faced before.
We were engulfed by the Chaos Emeralds power, time and space suddenly shifted, but not just thatâŠ
I shifted.
We were all separated, but me and⊠Me and Amy, by some matter of fate, were consumed in the light that sent us to the same place.
Here, there seems to be a never-ending winter. But the snow doesnât really bother me so much. Amy, though⊠It was hard to watch her struggle.
This place⊠this zone⊠It was horribly gloomy. But no matter how cold Amy was, she was always⊠smiling.
Silver stopped walking a moment, his feet sinking into the snow a moment as he looked up into the cloudy air above him.
âWill it never stop snowing?â he held out his hand, watching a snowflake fall to it and melt even before it reached him.
It wasnât just body heat, but his unique abilities allowed him to divert the chilly wind or keep the sun centered on them. He could telepathically move heat to himself, something he couldnât have done before. But in this strange world⊠with the Chaos Emeralds effect creating for him some new abilities, he was able to do many things.
âSâŠSilverâŠâ
His eyes widened and he turned around. âAmy..!â his hand glowed and he immediately brought her closer, within the âorbâ he had created to keep the heat in. âIâm sorry, I must have been moving too fast. Iâll try and remember to keep you closeâŠem!â his face suddenly turned red, seeing her willingly lean into his chest fur and shiver from the cold outside his concentrated bubble.
âY-you o-o-ought to look be-be-behind you moreâŠâ It was a light scold, barely a complaint as she rubbed her arms for warmth.
âOoooOOOoohh⊠Silver! Donât just stand there! R-rub your hands with mine!â she took his hands instantly before he could even object and turned her back to the warmth of his chest and began rubbing their hands together.
âE..Ehh??â He moved his head around, not sure what to do but tried fighting the urge to resist her. âA-AmyâŠâ
âQuit making a fuss, youâre the one that has these new âheatâ powers and besides, you said that next time I get cold I could just come closer to you, right?â she looked behind her a second and then placed hisânow warm handsâup to her face. âAhh~ Itâs like hand warmers⊠but literally! Haha!â
He was so confused. For one, his heart was doing something strange. Was it the chaos manipulation? He couldnât tell. It bounced in rhythm to a song he didnât know nor understood, but the pounding sensation made him uncomfortableâŠ
âA-AmyâŠâ He lightly whispered this protest out, but then just shut his eyes to take it. âI-It was my fault she fell out of the force, I should be m-more considerate of her!â his eyelids trembled before blinking open again. âU-Um⊠Thatâs not quite how it works but⊠I am sorry about that.â
âDonât worry, Silver. I know youâre trying your best to find a way back to our time and place.â Amyâs voice comforted him almost instantly, but he didnât know why.
She had moved his gloved hands away from her face, looked up and over her shoulder, and smiled so warmly to him⊠he didnât need the sun for a moment, he just needed her eyes to warm his insides.
His hands twitched slightly⊠they were warm against her faceâŠ
His eyelids drooped and his actions began to be smoother in motion, moving to take her hands again as sheâsurprisedâlooked to see what was going on.
âHuh?â
âI promise. Iâll find a way to get us out of here.â
âW-where was this strength coming from? I see her face and I just⊠her hope in me⊠I donât want to let her down! I have to protect her! Sheâll die out here if it wasnât for my new abilities. I canât let that happen. I wonât let that happen!â
With new resolve, nodded to her, âAmy, I think Iâm gonna try and fly again.â
âFly?â Amy turned away from the odd action of his hands and looked back to him, curious. âBut didnât you fall straight into the snow last time?â
In this winter wonderland, she was like looking at spring.
He smiled, relaxing for some unknown reason. âPlease, have a little more faith in me.â
âYeah, but you hit rock bottom. HardâŠâ Amy looked a bit worried, but her words suddenly shook his resolve.
âI-I-I was just off my usual balance and concentration!â he blushed again, raising his voice just a little higher to try and sound affirmative. âI donât think it will happen a-again!â
âEmmâŠâ she studied his face, then squinted her eyes and moved⊠-gulp- dangerously close to his face.
âI-Is there something wrong?â he shifted his eyes about, not liking how his hands grew sweaty and his heart started to skip the song and just start playing an entirely new beat.
After a moment of her invading his own personal bubble inside the heat trap, she finally moved away and smiled. âI can see Sonic in your eyes. I know youâll do it. Just like he does!â she beamed.
But that⊠broke his spirit somewhat.
He froze⊠in that little melting snowbankâŠ
He let go of her hands, âO-oh⊠like Sonic⊠Right.â
âWhy am I acting this way..? What has the Chaos Emeralds done to me? Sonic is an amazing hero⊠I⊠I donât understand why comparing him to be is so upsetting right nowâŠâ
he moved up and began to try and float again, but his jaw tightened and his eyebrows quivered down to a narrowed glare.
âIâm not Sonic! Iâll do this my way. Iâll show her she can trust my eyes! Why did she see him in me?! What does that even mean-AhâŠAhhhh!!!â
Silver lost his focus again and straight down into an icy river he fell.
âSilver!â the muffled voice of Amyâs cry under the water broke his moment of unconsciousness from the impact.
âAmy⊠Iâm failing her⊠she needs me ⊠she ⊠I have to⊠keep her warmâŠâ The cold was starting to pierce through his thick hair and fur, the wetness soaking his gloves and shoes⊠now the bitter cold finally made his actions slow, but his mind was fully alive. âAmy⊠Amy..!!!â
As he tried to bring out his power, reaching his hand up to the waterâs clear and shining surface, it was disturbed almost instantly by Amy jumping in and diving for him.
âWhat?â Air bubbles escaped his mouth, left completely in amazement. âSheâll get cold⊠what is she doing? Is she⊠coming for⊠me?â
She grabbed his hand, turning around and heading back to the surface.
We quickly found a shelter, it wasnât much, but with the excuseâwait⊠why am I calling it an excuse? Itâs a reliable reason! A-anyway⊠I was wet and cold. Amy came closer and began to rub my arms and head, trying to help me warm up so I could use my power again.
She was clearly freezing⊠but even as her teeth clattered against one another⊠I would look up and see her desperately trying to warm me⊠Where did that determination come from? Was it⊠Was sheâŠ
Silverâs eyes suddenly focused on her, as she began to sigh.
âMan⊠Youâre really soaked all the way through. Geez⊠I told you you could, but I didnât mean for you to bolt off into the sky like that! It was too fast, of course you wouldnât be able to see. Ohhh⊠I should have mentioned to take it easy. I guess my motivation can sometimes be a little too effectiveâŠâ
Her hands over his head⊠he completely gave in and let her hands move his head in any which way they moved him. He closed his eyes, feeling her and her breath just above him.
He was sitting down, but Amy was up on her knees, moving closer as he went limp.
âH-hey! Come on, Silver! Stay with me!â her voice turned frantic and he blinked his eyes slowly open again.
âS-âŠSorry.â
âWhatâs happening to me? I just⊠I want her closerâŠâ
He could feel the urge to lift his icy hands up, pull her against him, and let the heat do the rest⊠but as he thought about it, his face flushed again and he couldnât help but stare up at her.
âSâŠSilver?â She leaned one hand down to touch his head, âAh! Youâre burning up!â
ââŠAm I?â he smiled, his eyes bending as though he wasnât completely there anymore.
âOhhâŠâ Amy looked a little upset, placing her forehead to his own. âHmm⊠Here.â she sat down in front of him and leaned against him, holding him. âTake in some of my heat. Together, we should be able to warm each other up enough for you to use your powers again.â
âŠDid he want too?
If he did⊠she wouldnât remain like this⊠But would he rather die a frozen hedgehog than let her go?
Soon, he had enough strength to trigger his powers again, allowing Amy to rest in the warmth of the sun for a moment as they headed out.
âDonât let go!â he urged, a few times, as Amy held onto his flying body. âFor some reason, I canât lift you up and hold this circle around us at the same time.â
ââŠIs it wrong to say I donât want to try? Is that lying?â
âWaahh..! Just try and summon Chaos Control again! Eeee..! Donât drop me!â she was flailing about, holding herself up by wrapping her arms around his neck, being held up by his shoulders.
He puffed out his chest, smiling.
He had plenty of energy now, but tilted himself slightly to keep her balanced on him a bit.
âDonât worry, I wonât ever let you fall.â he leaned his head into the top of hers. âNever⊠Definitely never.â
âWho needs a portal?â had he completely lost his mind?
When a portal opened above him though, he was sad, but Amyâs face lit up in joy.
âItâs working!â
âIâm not doing thatâŠâ He admitted, almost like he was pouting in disappointment.
The gang had saved them⊠whoopie.
Coming back, he couldnât stop thinking about her. Defeating Eggman? He took his time, didnât work as hard. Going back to the future? He made every attempt to convince Sonic and the gang he needed to stay longerâŠ
Really, I just wanted to be around her more.
Her cheery voice⊠her gentle touch⊠her tough attitude during cold fronts⊠She was amazing to him.
âMaybe she does love everyone⊠but for now, Iâll just pretend itâs only me.â
His powers returned to normal, so now he didnât have an excuse to hold her hands, bring her closerâŠ
He bent down by her side while she attended her garden. She was so close⊠yet so far.
He wanted so desperately to reach out for her, even thinking of maybe taking the hose in her hand and manipulating it to spray near her, then he would jump inâgrab herâ and yell out, âLook out!â as though he hadnât staged it.
Her soft fur against his own⊠Her hands moving along his head⊠Her voice crying out his nameâŠ
âSilver?â
âYeah⊠just like that.â he closed his eyes and leaned his head up to the sun, before hearing her say it again.
âUmm⊠Silver?â Her eyes looked unamused.
ââŠGAHK!?â His face shone red and he freaked out, jumping up into the air and hovering their a second, âDid I say that out loud!?â
âE-hee. You sure did.â she giggled it off⊠but would she ever figure it out?
âOhh GeezâŠâ He slouched in the air.
âHey, make yourself useful and fetch me some of those sunflower seeds.â She pointed behind her. âI also want to plant some of those white flowers over here. They remind me of you! Haha! See?â she showed him the picture, taping it to a stick and putting the stick down in the soft, deep brown soil where her flowers would go.
âSunflowers?â he blinked his eyes, using his abilities to bring them over. âThese ones?â
âThatâs right! I wanted something to remind me of the sun in that world, and of you, of course.â She nodded towards him.
ââŠYou are my sun.â
âHuh?â
âOhh⊠Nothing!â he gripped his head, âMan, figuring out I love her is so hard! I canât hide a thing! At least sheâs easily distracted and canât tellâŠâÂ
âN-Nothing at all!!!â he took off, âIgnore me!â
âHmm⊠What is that boy thinking?â Amy batted an eye a moment, âCouldnât be⊠me, could it?â she laughed at the idea. âSilver?â
He flew back, still flustered. âE-emm?â his mouth wiggled in a nervous line, and his eyes remained shut and head facing up and away from her pretty gaze towards him.
ââŠI hope you donât leave for a while.â her eyes softened.
âH-huh?â He turned to finally look at her again.
ââŠDo you know why?â she tilted her head, âŠ
âOhh⊠Donât do that.â his eyes turned back to a clear sign of infatuation. âCanât you see it drives me wild!?â
âNo⊠I donât know whyâŠâ He moved closer, âTell me?â
The plea was almost too much, so she turned away and âPfft!âd to the side.
âOh, now sheâs mocking me.â he pouted, moving slightly away.
âIâm serious! Why do you want me to stay?â
âCause the world seems a lot warmer with your innocent heart flying around everywhere.â she winked his way, and then planted the first seed of the white flower. âItâs nice to have you around⊠Youâre very genuine. I hope these flowers bloom before you do go. That way, I wonât be sad when you leave. But Iâll have them spreading that same warmth to my world. Well, I hope so, anyway.â She giggled, âDonât make that stop you from leaving if you were going too. I just wouldnât have a picture of you, and that would be sad, you know?â
She took out her miles-electric, looking sadly to it with a smile before he put his hand to it and pushed it down, startling her as she looked to his face just inches away from her cheek, hovering over her shoulder.
âDonât worry.â
âDoes she see my eyes now..? And not Sonicâs?â
He smiled kindly to her, trying to convey what his heart pined for him to declare.
âIâm not going anywhere.â
And for once, he did see her stare differently at him.
âThese arenât Sonicâs eyesâŠâ He moved closerâŠ
âTheyâre mine⊠Looking at you.â
#silvamy#silverxamy#sonic prompt#silver prompt#amy rose prompt#silver the hedgehog#amy rose#cutegirlmayra#silvamy prompt#sonic au
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Devotion - Â Story of the Oracle and her Shield
Chapter 3 - A False Promise
If our actions are the outcome of our own choices, then is it right to blame fate? Or is it fate that dictates our choices? I wonder.
The car, with a number plate WH-1637551, applied hard brakes and came to a screeching halt just inches before him.
âAre ya out of your mind standing in the middle of the road?â Yelled a spunky girl in a heavy southern accent, rolling down her window.
âI am sorry, we need a ride to Lestallum,â he said, looking at the girl with curly blond hair and olive-green eyes. She wore a cropped yellow jacket and a red cap with yellow outlines and a logo with the words âHAMMER HEADâ and âFULL SERVICE STATIONâ on it.
There was someone in the passenger seat, but he couldnât make out much about him because of the lack of light.
âThat be all? Hoop on in the back,â she said, pointing at the back of her open-air pick-up truck.
He went back to help Lunafreya. With his support, she limped all the way to the back of the car. He lifted her tenderly as to not hurt her. They both sat on the opposite end, facing each other.
âYou two okay back there?â The driver asked from a small window connecting the back of the truck.
âYa. Thanks for the ride,â said Squall.
âNo sweat. Where are you two birds eloping to?â She asked.
âRunning away from the Imperials and going to Lestallum,â Lunafreya replied quickly.
âAh, so a refugee?â She asked.
âYes.â
âThere are lots of refugees now, especially after the fall of Insomia,â she added. âThe name is Cindy, by the way.â
âI am Dave from Hunter HQ,â the passenger added. âWhat are your names?â
âSquall Leonhart,â he went first.
âAnd your name, young lady?â asked Dave.
âStella Heartilly,â said Lunafreya, after a brief pause.
Squall raised an eyebrow questioningly. Lunafreya placed a finger on her lips, indicating him to stay quiet.
âHeartilly? I know I have heard that name before. But where?â He wondered.
The car slowly picked up the pace and they were on their way. He did not know much about this world, but a busy town usually means a hotel and comfortable bed, which would be like a heaven right now.
âI am not feeling well,â she said softly. Her words halted Squall from fantasizing about a soft bed.
It took him by a surprise as this was the first time she dropped her âdeterminedâ façade and admitted her shortcoming without probing.
âYou should rest, you have been through a lot,â he suggested. She nodded before leaning back and closing her eyes.
It was the first time he had the time to carefully look at the girl in front of him. She had long blond hair styled in side-swept bangs with a double braid going across her crown and the rest twisted and pinned up. She wore a necklace with half-moon as the pendant. She wore an elegant long white dress with white heels. Her dress was anything but white at this point after all the battles.
As the carâs speed picked up, the wind started blowing hard. They were still drenched from their dip in the river. He saw Lunafreya shivering as the wind got stronger. He took off his jacket and covered her as she peacefully slept.
âTell us something about yourself. Where are you guys from? What is your story?â asked Dave, from the front seat.
Squall looked at Lunafreya for an answer, but she was fast asleep.
âWe are victims of war. Homes torched, and families displaced. The same story as all other refugees,â he replied, keeping his answer vague. âSo where are you guys from?â Squall asked, diverting the attention from him.
âI am from Hammerhead in Leide. I manage a garage with my paw-paw,â Cindy said.
âMust be nice to work with different types of car,â Squall added to drag the conversation.
It worked as Cindy went on and on about Hammerhead and her love for cars and hot dogs.
The car ran over a pothole as the back of the car bounced a bit, causing Lunafreyaâs head to bump against the railing.
âOuch,â she woke up, rubbing the back of her head. She was so exhausted that she quickly falls back asleep.
Once Cindy stopped talking, Squall asked the passenger, âAnd what about you, Dave?â
âI go wherever hunter HQ needs me. We hunters fight demons, escort citizens, and help in any capacity we can,â he too went on and on about Hunter HQ.
This was the first time in his life that Squall wanted people to talk more.
The car ran over a bump and once again Lunafreya banged her head against the side of the car.
Squall moved next to Lunafreya and she instinctively placed her head on his shoulder.
âSo, can anyone become a hunter?â Squall asked, as the conversation seemed to die down. He desperately wanted to keep attention away from him. It worked as Dave passionately started talking about Hunter HQ again.
Cindy made a sharp turn which caused Lunafreyaâs head to slip from Squallâs shoulder and slid into Squallâs lap. Normally, he hates when people touch him, but for some reason, he was okay with her. Something about her made him feel comfortable and at ease. There was an odd sense of familiarity about her. Something he would definitely need to address once he has more time.
Squall chimed in infrequently to keep the conversation going as he learned a few things about the world he inhabits now.
Without even realizing Squall kept stroking the head of Lunafreya as she slept peacefully.
The car slowed down as the city approached.
He tapped Lunafreya gently to wake her up. After multiple tries, she finally woke up.
âWhere are we?â She asked, trying to adjust her eyes to the ambiance light.
âI believe we are in Lestallum,â he made an educated guess. âWhere do we go now?â
âThere is a hotel here called Leville; we can rest there,â she said, getting off the pick-up truck with Squallâs help. Instead of returning Squallâs jack, she wore it properly as if it was the most normal thing to do. Squall just looked at her dumbfounded. He had to admit; his black jacket looked nice on top of her white dress.
Cindy and Dave came out of the car to meet them.
Lunafreya immediately thanked them when she saw them approach. âI canât thank you enough for your kindness.â
âThese are dark times, weâve gotta help each other,â Dave said.
âMy be, arenât you the Oracle?â Cindy said with awe.
âYa now that ya mentioned it, I think I saw her on TV during the treaty signing,â Dave recalled.
âI am flattered, but I can assure you that I am no Oracle. Any resemblance I might have is purely happenstance. I believe it is disrespectful to compare someone such as I to the late Oracle, as I am no more than a refugee without a home,â Lunafreya quickly lied to conceal her identity. She was not here in her official capacity as an Oracle and would like to keep a low profile to not attract Imperialâs attention. Squall noticed how she had refused to say that she was the Oracle and wondered why.
âIt was announced on the radio that the Oracle died during the fall of Insomnia, so she canât be her.â Cindy justified it in her head and chose not to push the topic any further.
âYou two should be safe here. There are many refugee shelters in this town,â said Dave.
âYes, we shall seek them. Thank you for your assistance,â Lunafreya said, with a slight bow.
âWell, Iâm gonna go get myself some hot dogs. Lestallumâs hot dogs are very famous. I love them,â she said, with unmatched enthusiasm in her voice.
Squall had another onset of headaches. He clutched his head as he recalled events from the past. He remembered a friend who loved repairing cars, eating hot dogs, punching things and was always full of energy. He did not recall his face or name.
Soon, the headache subsided, and he heard Cindy asking him, âYou alright? Do you want some hot dogs?â
Squall was hungry, but before he could say anything Lunafreya replied, âNo, we are okay, thank you so much for your offer. You have helped us enough already.â
âHey Cindy,â someone yelled from a distance.
They all look in the direction of the sound and saw someone enthusiastically waving.
She looked like a middle-aged woman with middle-parted shoulder-length hair wearing some sort of thermal suit. She quickly made her way to them.
Cindy rushed to her and gave her a big hug. âHolly, Iâve missed you,â she claimed.
âItâs been a while, Cindy,â Holly replied with a big smile.
âHi Dave,â Holly greeted, and he waved back in response. âOh my god, what did you do to your hair? Why did you cut off your pigtail?â
âThought itâd look cool,â Dave replied, with a shrug.
âI used to love your pigtail,â Cindy said with disappointment.
âYou did? I guess Iâd better grow it back. It will take a while, though,â Dave said, with a laugh.
âA girl who loves hot dogs and cars and a guy with a pigtail. Seems familiar yet very odd,â Squall thought to himself.
Holly noticed the two strangers around them. âAnd who do we have here?â She asked, looking at two unfamiliar figures.
âRefugees,â Lunafreya quickly replied.
âAh, we are getting a lot of those lately. You should check out Leville hotel, they are housing all the refugees for the time being,â she said, pointing in general direction of the hotel. âIf you need any help, donât hesitate to ask me, the name is Holly, I am always by the EXINERIS.â
âThank you, Holly, that is very kind of you,â Lunafreya replied graciously.
âShall we go to the hotel now?â Squall asked, not wanting to get involved in another long conversation. Lunafreya looked at Squall and nodded.
âGood luck,â Cindy chirped. âSee you around,â Holly added. Dave waved at them.
âThank you all once again for all that you have done for us,â Lunafreya said once again.
She put her one arm around Squall while he supported her back with his left hand. They made their way towards the hotel slowly as Lunafreya could barely limp.
Once they crossed the road and reached the main city entrance, Lunafreya said disappointingly, âOh God, these are lots of stairs.â
âItâs okay, take your time, weâll go slow,â he encouraged.
After 10 minutes, they had barely climbed a few steps as she took a break after every few steps to gather strength to climb the next one. Squall was getting impatient but did not want to say anything.
After a few minutes his patience finally ran out, âHey, I am sorry.â
It came out of the blue, so she asked, âSorry for what?â
âFor what I am about to do,â he replied.
Even before her brain had time to process or react to what he just said, she was lifted off her feet into his arms.
He effortlessly picked her up in bridal style and marched on the stairs.
Her heart was panicking. âWhat are you doing? Put me down.â
âAt the rate at which you were climbing, we would be here till sunrise. Itâs much more efficient this way,â he explained logically with a monotonous voice.
âItâs embarrassing. People are watching,â she said, blushing.
He shrugged in response. âNo one knows me here anyway.â
âBut lots of people might know me,â she said, emphasizing on the word lots.
âIf you really insist on walking, then who am I to oppose?â He said, getting to the top of the stairs.
âNo, please donât put me down. I donât want to walk,â she complained, as she threw her head back in resignation. âThe effect of healing spell is wearing off. My entire body hurts. I feel like every bone in my body is broken.â
âWho told you to fight that Titan alone?â He retorted.
âI told you already, that was not the plan.â
He kept making small talks to keep her mind away from pain and from the fact that he was still carrying her. They reached a big building at the end of the alley with âLeville Hotelâ written on it.
âWe are here,â he announced, as they walked through the main entrance, with him still carrying her.
He let her down as they approached the front desk.
âWelcome to hotel Leville. I am Francesco DiMarco, how may I be of service to you?â The clerk at the counter asked politely.
âWe need rooms,â Squall replied briefly.
âI am sorry, Sir, we donât have any honeymoon suite left,â Francesco apologized.
Squall was not the one to usually laugh, but even he couldnât help but chuckle at it.
âI wonder where he got that idea from,â Lunafreya said, slowly so only Squall could hear, glaring at him. Her cheeks were red as roses now.
âWhatever. It was a practical choice,â he said, with a shrug.
âSir, we have lots of refugees coming in lately, so we are almost full. We only have one room with single bed available,â Francesco explained.
âThat will do,â Squall replied.
âNo, it wonât. We need two separate rooms,â Lunafreya said in a panic, not wanting to promote this misunderstanding any further.
âHe just said there is only one room available. Do you want to kick out other refugees, so you can have your own room?â He asked rhetorically.
âNo, thatâs not what I meant,â she said, glaring back at him. âYou donât understand, I canât be alone in a room with someone. My reputation is at stake here. If the word gets out that I shared a room with a guy, then it would be a tabloid story,â she said, in a low voice, so only Squall could hear.
âDonât worry about sharing the room. I am not interested in you,â he replied in a whisper.
âOuch! That was rather mean. You would be lucky to have someone like me,â she said, glaring at him.
âOh, what do you want me to say? That I like you and I would love to share a room with you? Would that make you more comfortable?â He retorted.
âNo,â she replied, sheepishly while still blushing.
âButââ she was about to say something when she heard the clerk laughing.
They both turned around and looked at him.
âSorry, but I just remember how my wife and I used to fight when we were newly married tooââ
âShut up,â both of them yelled in unison.
Francesco just raised his hands in defense, still chuckling.
Lunafreya felt bad at yelling at the clerk and she immediately apologized. âI am so sorry; I did not mean toââ
She was interrupted when Squall leaned on the counter and said, âkeys please.â
âHey, at least apologize to him,â she said, condoning his behavior.
âFine. I am sorry, now give me the keys,â he said, getting annoyed.
âDo it properly,â she said, glaring at him.
Squall sighed and said to the clerk, âI am sorry, I shouldnât have yelled at you. It was not your fault. Now can you give me the keys, please?â He said, finishing his sentence looking at Lunafreya.
She smiles and said, âmuch better.â
âOh, the young love is so much fun to watch,â Francesco said, with a smile, handing the keys to Squall.
Squall wanted to say something but choose not to. He just scowled at him instead.
âThe room is on the first floor, all the way down the hall to your right,â Francesco pointed out, ignoring Squall scowl.
Squall nodded in acknowledgment.
Lunafreya looked around and said with a sigh, âNo, itâs my enemy again.â
Squall quickly got on high alert and scanned the area, but he did not see any threat. âWhere? I donât see any Imperials.â
âNo, not the Imperials,â she said, shaking her head. âItâs my other enemy; stairs,â she said, pointing at them.
Squall placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head slightly.
He picked her up again in his arms, and she did not resist.
âYou owe me a big one for this,â he said, directly looking into her eye, as he started climbing the stairs.
âAfter all that you have done for me today, Iâll probably end up owing you my life,â she said, sincerely.
âYou know,â he started, âYou are very light.â He said, as he ascended the second set of stairs.
âUm, thanks, I guess?â She said, blushing.
He walked down the corridor and their room was the last one. There was an ice machine next to it. He let her down and opened the door with the key he got from the front desk. Once the door swung open, they noticed that it was a very small room. The floor was made up of blue tiles. There was a bed in the center of the room. Small table with the TV on it. A chair close to the sliding door and balcony behind it.
He entered and turned on the lights while she hopped on one leg and crashed on the bed.
She lay flat on the bed and claimed, âOh, this feels like heaven.â
Squall looked like a child waiting for his turn on the ride. He too wanted to lay down on the bed, relax, and experience this heaven, but it was one bed and two of them.
He disappointingly walked up to the chair and plopped down. He took off his gloves, socks, and shoes. He leaned back in the chair and stretched his feet. âThis feels like heaven-ish, I guess.â
She realized that she was occupying the bed and he too should get his share of it. But it would be awkward to share a bed with a complete stranger. She tried to get up from the bed, so he can lie down there for a bit.
He noticed her struggling to get up and understood what she was trying to do. âYou take the bed; I call dibs on the shower.â
She nodded to the deal and let her body fall back on the soft bed.
He got up and made his way to the bathroom, hoping they would have hot water. He was not disappointed. After a long day, a shower with warm water was bliss like no other. The water cleansed all the dirt, but it also revealed all the bruises and scars he hadnât noticed before. It wasnât just a battle; he fought a war and somehow managed to walk out alive. It was an eventful day, to say the least.
He wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower. He paused at the mirror to examine one of his scars closely. When he looked at the mirror, the reflection staring back at him scared him. His heart skipped a bit, and he wasnât sure he trusted his eyes. He stared intently at the mirror as his reflection looked a lot older now, the late twenties if he had to guess.
âHow long was I stuck in the beyond?â He wondered.
Gone was his boyish look as a mature person looked back in the mirror. His hair longer than he remembered. His jaw was more square-shaped, and his complexion was rough now. His beard added to his mature look.
âIâve gotta ask Gentiana, this doesnât make any sense. Why do I look older now?â He thought, still staring at the mirror.
He stepped out of the bathroom after getting ready and was surprised to see a dog sitting on the bed next to Lunafreya.
âThe room is locked so how the hell did the dog get in?â He wondered.
It was a white dog with blue eyes with subtle gray markings on its face. It had a green bandage around its right front paw.
He noticed a sudden movement to left in his peripheral vision. He turned to look at it and found another unexpected visitor.
âUmbra?â he said out loud, looking at the familiar dog sitting on the chair. Umbra barked happily and started wagging his tail.
He noticed the dog sitting on the bed, had similar green bandages to Umbra but in the opposite direction.
âFriend of yours, I presumed?â he said, looking at the white dog next to Lunafreya. As if replying to his statement, Umbra barked in response.
âInteresting,â he said, as he moved closer to the sleeping girl.
âHey Lunafreya, wake up,â he said, gently tapping her. âHey, wake up now.â
From the looks of it, she was completely out cold.
âShe went through a lot today. I donât think she is waking up any time soon. Maybe I should let her rest.â He thought to himself.
He noticed a gash on the side of her forehead and her arm.
âThat looks nasty. It would get infected if not cleaned.â
He looked around in the room to see if there was any first aid kit available. He checked the table, drawers, bathroom, and closet, but he found nothing.
âMaybe I should get it from the front desk.â
He left the room after making sure he had taken the key with him. He made his way down the stairs and to the front desk.
âHow can I help you, Sir?â Francesco asked politely.
âHey, do you have a first aid kit?â Squall asked.
âOh, what a strange request. Why might you need a first aid kit on your honeymoon, I wonder,â he said, with a wink and a grin plastered on his face.
âI so badly want to punch him and break his teeth.â
âFirst. Aid. Kit. Now.â He said in a tone that would send chills down the spine.
Francesco quickly grabbed a first aid kit and handed it over to Squall.
âThank you,â he said and left quickly.
As he was climbing the stairs, he heard the clerk say in a sing-song voice, âhave fun now.â As Squall stared at him, the clerk just grinned and then gave a wink.
âOne punch, I swear should be enough. Just one.â
He decided to ignore him and go back to his room. He opened the door, and everything was exactly how he left. Neither dog moved from where they were.
He opened the kit and took out all cotton swabs, antiseptic cream, cleansing wipes, crĂȘpe rolled bandages, disposable sterile gloves, scissors, and sterile gauze dressings. He placed everything neatly on the table next to the bed.
The dog next to Lunafreya eyed him curiously.
As soldiers, they get trained in basic medical treatment. He got to work starting with her face and then moved to her arm.
âPoor thing fell asleep even before she could take off her heels.â
He gently removed her heels and placed it next to the bed. He saw her ankle, and it was very swollen.
âWe would need a doctor for this one.â He thought placing his hand on his forehead.
âIn this unknown town, where would I find a doctor at this hour?â He wondered.
Much to his dismay, he called the only person who could give him this information, the front desk clerk.
âHello, this is the front desk how may I help you?â Francesco asked in his usual polite manner.
âI need to see a doctor right now, is there a hospital or a clinic open at this hour?â
âYou are quick, Sir. Do you need obstetricians or would any doctor do?â Francesco said, clearly chuckling.
Squall clutched the phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
âI want to punch this guy so bad.â
âAny doctor is fine,â he said, trying his best to control his rage.
âHold on, let me check,â Francesco said, and placed Squall on a brief hold.
After listening to annoying hold music, which felt like forever, Francesco finally spoke again. âSir, a caravan of refugees was attacked nearby by the daemons. There are many casualties. All our available doctors and nurses are out there treating the injured. The clinic should be open tomorrow by noon,â he informed.
âOkay, thank you,â Squall said. As he was about to hang up, he heard the clerk say, âHowever, if you need obstetricianââ Squall slammed the phone down before he could say anything else.
âCalm down. Just ignore him. He is just another troll.â
He saw Lunafreya peacefully sleeping and immediately calmed down.
âRight, I need to do something about her leg. Ice should help with the swelling, but I need something to apply it with.â
After thinking for a bit, he pulled out the cover from a pillow. He stepped out of the room and filled the pillowcase with some ice from the ice machine in the hallway.
He returned and sat on the edge of the bed and started giving cold compression on her ankle.
Even though it was late at night, he could still hear bustling in the street below. He normally likes quiet places, but after all that they had been through today, he appreciated a crowded town because there is a certain safety in numbers.
He was lost in his thoughts, while absentmindedly applying cold compression to her ankle, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a woman clad in black standing in the balcony.
âGentiana!â
He desperately wanted to talk to her, but at the same time did not want to abandon Lunafreyaâs treatment. He grabbed another pillow and removed its cover. He used that pillowcase like a string to tie it around her feet so that the previous cover with ice in it would stay in place.
He quickly got out to the balcony and shut the sliding door behind as to not disturb Lunafreya's sleep.
âCongratulations on completing your first trial. You did well,â Gentiana said, in her usual demeanor.
âA little heads up would have been nice. You just threw me in the middle of the battle.â
âTime waits for none, you had to be there at that precise moment,â she said, politely.
His mind had a million questions he wanted to ask. Why was he here? Who is she? Why does he look older? How come he only has limited magic to use? What if he dies in this world?
All of his frustration just came out in one sentence, âJust what the hell is going on here, I donât understand.â
âSquall, do you remember your time in the beyond?â She said, avoiding his question.
âYes, how could I forget?â
âTell me, what do you remember of that world?â She asked.
âIt was a world without light or hope. Dark gray clouds eternally swirled above me and barren land was beneath my feet. No trace of life anywhere. Everywhere I looked I saw gray haze swirling endlessly in the atmosphereââ He narrated.
âThat is the fate of this world, should the Oracle fail,â She interjected.
Squall was alarmed to hear that. He recalled Gentiana mentioning about it when they first meet, but the gravity of her words did not sink in until now.
âIt will be a world filled with eternal darkness, daemons, and despair. By completing the trial of Titan, you held the hand of fate a little longer.â
âWhat am I to do next?â He inquired.
âWait till the Oracle recovers, and then challenge the trial of Ramuh,â she instructed.
âRamuh, the thunder God?â He clarified. She simply nodded in response.
âLead her through the trials of Ramuh, and then to Altissia to the Tidemother, in their lies your liberation,â she said, with her eyes closed as usual.
âIf I complete this mission, you will send me back to my world, correct?â He reiterated their earlier deal.
She had to think long and hard about how to answer his question. She finally said, âYes, you shall find your home. That is a promise by your familiar,â
They both stood there in silence. Squall stood there like a statue with his arms folded and a frown plastered on his face. Gentiana, on the other hand, leaned against the railing with a small smile gracing her lips.
âHow long was I stuck in the beyond?â Squall finally broke the silence.
âThe beyond is a realm where the past, present and the future tangle endlessly.â She started.
âTime compression?â He asked.
âYes, it is a realm where space and time are distorted. You were there for 10 years, while the world here moved on for many years.â
âThat explains why I look older now,â he said, shaking his head.
Silence consumed them both, once again, as they stood side by side.
âMeeting Lunafreya, fighting Titan, meeting Cindy, and me talking to you, this all feels like a dĂ©jĂ vu.â Squall spoke up.
âMemories perish with the body, but the bonds of soul linger, it seems.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âIt matters not, for all shall be revealed in due time.â
He hated this cryptic stuff. One question which bothered him more than anything else was in regards to his past. âHow come I donât have all the memories from my past?â
âMemories can be a gift or a burden. Knowing what happened in the past would do a great disservice to you on your current mission. It is better this way. It is for your best,â she said, with her eyes closed.
âAnd just who the hell are you to play with my memories and determined whatâs best for me?â he said raising his voice.
âA friend,â she quickly cut him off before he had a chance to say anything else. âI have witnessed your journey from the very beginning. Your joys and pains, your excitement and disappointments, your happiness and suffering, and all your human emotions, I have experienced it all with you. I mean you no harm. Trust me.â She said definitively.
Squall was still processing all that when Gentiana pushed herself off the railing she was leaning on.
âI must go now, someone is waiting for me,â she announced.
âWait, I still have many questions I need to ask,â he said.
âNot now. We shall meet again soon,â she said, and within a blink of an eye, she disappeared, leaving small ice crystals dancing in the air in her place. He stood there motionless for a few minutes.
He entered back in the room and continued tending Lunafreyaâs wounds. Once he was satisfied, he went to the bathroom and removed his t-shirt and started tending to his wounds. It took him a few minutes to patch it all up.
It had been a really long day and all he wanted now was to sleep. He thought about sleeping on the chair, but he needed to lie down and stretch. He took one of the spare bed sheets and laid it on the tile floor. He grabbed one of the spare pillows and tossed it on his makeshift bed. He shut off the lights and carefully navigated to his bed and lay down. He was so tired that he did not have any strength to move a muscle.
It wasnât until he lied down that he noticed excruciating pain radiating down his left arm. He knew he would have to get it checked as it was not normal pain. But all that can wait, as his priority right now was sleeping. As he lay there staring at the ceiling, trying to wrap his head around everything going on, he noticed Umbra had come down from the chair snuggled next to him.
âWhat a strange dog.â
He closed his eyes and within minutes he drifted off to one of the best sleeps he ever had.
Author's notes
Four new FFVIII characters were revealed in this chapter, hope you caught them all. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me the significance of "Francesco DiMarco" (this is a hard one)
Please leave a comment if you've enjoyed the story so far. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks :)
#Squall#Luna#Lunafreya#Noctis#Prompto#Gladiolus#Ignis#Ardyn#Aranea#Gentiana#Bahamut#Rinoa#Zell#Irvine#Selphie#Quistis#Stella#FFXV#FFVIII#FanFiction#Crossover#Love#Tragedy#Adventure#Final Fantasy#Final Fantasy Versus#Squall x Rinoa#Squall x Luna#Noctis x Luna#Squall x Lunafreya
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[Free eBook] The Way of the Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds by Gavin Van Horn [Nature Travelogue Philosophy]
The Way of the Coyote: Shared Journeys in the Urban Wilds by Gavin Van Horn, the director of the Cultures of Conservation for the Center for Humans and Nature nonprofit focusing on conservation ethics, is a nature travelogue book, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher the University of Chicago Press.
This is their featured Free Book of the Month for July, and is a combination of nature appreciation, travelogue, and philosophical meditation upon what it means to co-exist, as the author explores the small wild spaces found within big cities, and the species that manage to make their living in the urban landscapes. You can also watch a short video of the author discussing the themes of this book via his UCP author page.
Offered free worldwide through the end of July, available directly from the publisher's website.
Currently free @ [the university's dedicated promo page] (https://press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html) (ePub available with download options for both Adobe Digital Editions and Readium DRM, follow instructions provided on download link page, requires newsletter signup with valid email address), and you can read more about the book on its regular catalogue page.
Description A hiking trail through majestic mountains. A raw, unpeopled wilderness stretching as far as the eye can see. These are the settings we associate with our most famous books about nature. But Gavin Van Horn isnât most nature writers. He lives and works not in some perfectly remote cabin in the woods but in a cityâa big city. And that city has offered him something even more valuable than solitude: a window onto the surprising attractiveness of cities to animals. What was once in his mind essentially a nature-free blank slate turns out to actually be a bustling place where millions of wild things roam. He came to realize that our own paths are crisscrossed by the tracks and flyways of endangered black-crowned night herons, Cooperâs hawks, brown bats, coyotes, opossums, white-tailed deer, and many others who thread their lives ably through our own.
With The Way of Coyote, Gavin Van Horn reveals the stupendous diversity of species that can flourish in urban landscapes like Chicago. That isnât to say city living is without its challenges. Chicago has been altered dramatically over a relatively short timespanâits soils covered by concrete, its wetlands drained and refilled, its river diverted and made to flow in the opposite direction. The stories in The Way of Coyote occasionally lament lost abundance, but they also point toward incredible adaptability and resilience, such as that displayed by beavers plying the waters of human-constructed canals or peregrine falcons raising their young atop towering skyscrapers. Van Horn populates his stories with a remarkable range of urban wildlife and probes the philosophical and religious dimensions of what it means to coexist, drawing frequently from the wisdom of three unconventional guidesâwildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold, Taoist philosopher Lao Tzu, and the North American trickster figure Coyote. Ultimately, Van Horn sees vast potential for a more vibrant collective of ecological citizens as we take our cues from landscapes past and present.
Part urban nature travelogue, part philosophical reflection on the role wildlife can play in waking us to a shared sense of place and fate, The Way of Coyote is a deeply personal journey that questions how we might best reconcile our own needs with the needs of other creatures in our shared urban habitats.
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#93 Pt. 2 | A Tom Holland Imagine
# 93 Pt. 1
Tom Holland x Reader Words: 2,222 Disclaimer: enjoy part 2! @gold3ncurls
Thomas was at the stables, combing the dirt off of your favorite stallion. He was a mutt, and bought in an auction, but he was one of the most wildly beautiful things you had ever seen. All white save for the spots on itsâ hind so dark that they almost looked like nothing. They looked like the space behind your eyelids just before the light hits you. Thomas looked beautiful. His hair was extra curly on account of the humidity swirling in the air; by the way everything smelled, it was obvious to you that it was about to rain. He helped the horse back into the stall and dumped out the bucket he had used to clean one of the others.
You avoided him all day. When Sam told you he wanted to play outside, you told him the two of you would go down by the river to play so he could catch the bugs that skipped on the water. You told him that you loved him and kissed his head and tried to decide if what you wanted out of life was to do what was right for him, or what your heart was calling out for.
When the two of you went in for lunch, you went around to the front door. You kept your head down anytime Tom was passing through with something to mend. When he passed you on the stairs to head down toward the kitchen, you forced all of your attention on Sam as he walked before you. If Tom tried to confront you with a gaze, or his touch, or by repeatedly slamming a piece of metal onto an empty metal bin, you would simply closed the door to your bedroom, shut all of your windows, and cry yourself to sleep.
Today your mother requested some fresh fruit from the marketplace. A new sort of doctor had come by at your fatherâs request to see if there was anything to be done. Deep down you knew she was too far beyond help, but the way she spoke to you about the way fresh fruit would heal her, you couldnât help but indulge. Your father would not let Tom to take you into town, so he took you himself, along with one of your distant cousins from the coast.Â
âOn the coast you can taste the salty air of the sea. It makes me sick to thnk of how dirty it is, but I have no say when it comes to where my husband and I will live. I do enjoy the order he provides in my life, much so, but I do wish he would offer affection once in a while. I want to be as in love as you are, Uncle.â She in a sort of snobbish accent, the one that really makes you think she had a golden feather jammed fervently up her rear end.Â
You felt sorry for her. She had been married off at fourteen years of age to a man who was barely rich enough to buy your worst cow. He was very tightly wound, and you were sure that every night when she tried to kiss him before bed, he would brush her off. There was no love for her in this life, but as you sat there off in a daze, you thought of Tom. He was kind, and loving. The two of you got on really well, and he could mend absolutely anything in the world that needed mending. He looked at you unlike any suitor ever had before in your life.Â
Your cousin snapped in your face.
âWhat were you thinking of, cousin?â She asked. You shook your head and bit the side of your finer to hide your smile.Â
âNothing in particular.â With that she talked the rest of the way to the market, but you were lost in a daydream about the love of your life.
âĄ
At the market you linked arms with your cousin and nodded along as she dragged you around the different stalls of merchants selling wears and goods for the people of the countryside. They yelled enticing rhymes to get the passersby to purchase what they had. You did not glance twice at anything on the tables. Your eyes were glazed over as your cousin cooed over the perfect lace for a new dress that her husband would never let her actually make herself. You were lost in another daydream about Thomas. His strong arms made you wish he was there to scoop you up and out of the pitiful life you were being forced to live. You would never let him though, no matter how much you yearned for him.
Then, beyond the way of all of the people in the marketplace, you saw him just there.Â
âThomas-â you said his name as if it held all the power of your cousins favorite prayer. He walked forward and took your hand in his, but you tried to remain distant. Tried to convince yourself that he was not the one you were meant to love. âYou must leave, now.â
âIâm nothing if not realistic about my intentions when loving you. I am not exaggerating when I tell you the moment we kiss after exchanging our vows, I will gift to you the sun the moon and all the stars. Though I fear you have already given them to me.â His heart leaked into every syllable he spoke to you, the hand that held yours was tender, but strong. He wanted you to feel how much he meant the words through the tips of his fingers and the love in his eyes. You did not falter.
âItâs a real shame nobody asked for your opinion, Mr. Holland. The words you say are very pretty, but my life does not revolve around beauty.â Your cousin squeezed you arm encouragingly.
âThatâs because you are the beautiful that life revolves around, please-â he took your other hand, but you pulled it back swiftly. His touch was like the feeling of slipping into your favorite nightgown. Like feeling at home. Your cousin actually gasped at the sight. âTake my words into your heart, let them build a home on the weary bones you must live with. I beg of you, understand me as I stand in front of you. I will love you until the earth turns into nothing.â
âWe must be going.â Your cousin said as she pulled your arm in hers to signify unity in the decision. âShe is already engaged to be wed.â
You nodded once and then diverted your eyes from the glowing face of Thomas to the ground. As you stepped forward and away from him, your handkerchief fell out of your gloved fingers and carried with a soft breeze to lay flush against his thigh.Â
âMy lady, your-â he started to say as he lifted his from his leg. He was desperate for your attention, your love.
You turned your head the opposite side of your cousin and whispered. âKeep it.â
âĄÂ
âI heard about that stable boy of yours,â your cousin said as she handed a merchant a few coins in trade for a sac of apples a little down the way. This was the first thing sheâd said all day about anything that made you actually start paying attention.
âWhat have you heard?â You stayed as uninterested as you had been before, but this time you paid attention to what she said next.
âUncle, your father, he told my mother that if the stable boy stepped out of line heâd kill him and it would be your fault. I dare say that is the most romantic thing Iâve ever heard, but heâs my uncle and I shouldnât be attracted to that.â You nodded you head as you took in the information, watching as your father walked inside a pub to chat with one of his business partners. You turned to your cousin and squeezed her wrist a little tightly.
â(Y/n)... thatâs too tight, youâre hurting me...â Her eyes were angry, and afraid. Mostly afraid.
âDo not speak of things you do not know, to find it in your heart to love someone who looks to kill the one person in my life who offers me the kind of love you are always going on about.â You threw her wrist away and resolved yourself to moving all of your attention across the way to the group of people just walking into the marketplace.
âI hope you donât find offense when I tell you that my uncle will hear word of what youâve just done to me. Iâm sure to have a bruise by the morning, and once he hears what youâve done to me in the name of Thomas Holland, your father will have his head.â
âIf you tell me father of what has happened today, I will tell your husband all of the things he does that you say are unworthy of your love. An eye for an eye, I do not mind to be blind.â
âĄ
He waited for you to visit after the sun went down and the grounds were silent. Your father was away on business again, your mother was locked away in her bedroom, and Sam was fast asleep. You wore your night gown, your hair braided and tied at the side of your head. Tom waited at the stable behind the giant hay bale pile. When you came around the corner, he took your hand and pulled you close to him. You let him pull you in with the other hand by your waist. He took you in so closely, held you in his grasped. He breathed in the scent of your hair, kissed the lobe of your ear softly. You werenât sure how you would convince him that the two of you were not to be fated together.
âThomas,â you sighed as he pressed a kiss upon your neck. It made shivers run up and down your spine so wonderfully, you almost faltered in your courage. To be kissed and loved and held by someone who made their first priority the importance of you knowing they loved you so, made your next few words hurt your heart.
âMy love, I love-â he pulled back to gaze into your eyes, a grin painting his features in the most beautiful way. You nodded your head in agreement, which encouraged him to press a kiss upon your lips so fervently it made you gasp upon his tongue. This was a kiss you had never expected in your life, but welcomed it in a way that made you shove him away. He was confused and worried for your sudden change of affection.
âWhen my mother passes away, her side of the family will stop sending money. All of my fatherâs wealth is gone. We will be beggars on the street if I do not wed Charles tomorrow evening.â You looked him in the eyes, delivering the death sentence with pained force.Â
âI thought you had no need for wealth.â His voice was broken, he knew you were serious.
âI have a brother Thomas, and he is only nine years old. I canât just forget about him.â You stepped away from him, urged his hand to let go of yours.
âBut your father, heâs a terrible man-â Thomas was trying to change your mind, plead his heart to you as if it were the only money he had.
âWatch your tongue,â you warned halfheartedly. âWhat you say may be true but that terrible man is the one who pays your dues and keeps a roof over my head. He is sparing your life, I am saving it.â
âIs it worth it?â
âWorth-? Worth means nothing when it is life and death for a young boy. If I do not follow through, my brother could end up just like my mother.â
âRun away with me. Take your brother, weâll be free. We can cross the world and sail the seas so long as weâre together. I will need for nothing but you in my life.â
âI am not food or water. I am not a house or clothing. I am but a simple girl trying to do right by what will be left of my family, Thomas. You must understand I canât be with you, not anymore.â You dabbed away a few tears that has swelled in your eyes. He saw them and stepped toward you, his hand reaching for your cheek to hold you, but you stepped away. âIf anyone sees us you will die.â
âI love you, (y/n). I love you, what more is there in life and death but love?â Tom pleaded.
You turned all the way around so that he couldnât see the way the tears fell off of your cheeks like early morning dew. It took everything in you to want to stay away form him, it took every vein in your body to work the blood backward so that everything that made you you would keep away from the love of your life.
âMr. Holland,â you tried in a very weak voice, turned only a little so he could see a piece of your face. Your skin was hot, your tears were thick. âI do not love you.â
#hi have this#tom holland#tom holland imagine#tom holland x reader#tom holland x you#1800s au#uh#imagine#my writing#anyway#there you go!!!#pt 2
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The Deluge of Souls
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The frozen waterfall to the north of the outpost has been shattered, replaced with an inky river known as the Deluge of Souls. Thanks to Mourne, the late Haden Lightwing and a mysterious Revenant, the Deluge was diverted to southeastern Icecrown before it could wash over the outpost.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Alright. Small force here with the wards, myself, two volunteers? The rest of you will be the flanking attack, up there to the southwest of where I stand. When the enemy is trapped in the wards here, unleash hell."
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon raises a hand. "I can help you Mourne."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Raising his hand, "I shall aid you, sir."
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: Tyr takes a deep breath. Â "Think you'll need a bolster, brother?"
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: "I'll stand near the gate to manage the illusion and the false breach."
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakhara looks at Tyr. "Do you wish me to stay with the menders, or aid Captain Sunblaze, sir?"
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne nods. "Good, Galdanir. Everyone understand the plan? Unleash hell once they are trapped, be wary of the void-falls, mind the corrupted."
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: Tyr shakes his head hard. Â "Don't worry about staying with the menders. Â Hit the enemy and hit them hard."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Sunfall - you are the defense of the flanking group."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Aye sir. You'll be safe."
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: The orc nods at Tyr and moves off toward the others.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Me? Hah, no, I am bait. Flanking group, go."
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Eyes aglow with arcane magic, Galdanir raises a hand toward the barrier just beyond the gate. "At your command, Champion."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera tugs her eredar skull down over her features, fel green eyes peering through the eye holes in an eerie fashion. "Right. Give 'em hell, hear that Bacon?" The ray does a backflip.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "At two minutes after flank group moves. Go. Flank, everyone who is not staying with me."
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylora nods to Otrera. "Put as many holes as we can in them. I don't want them able to walk or flee."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Right!"
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: "I'll be going out onto the field.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Deluge of Souls whispers this eve. It weaves tales of oncoming storm, of the truth behind the black clouds swirling above the Argent outpost, of the rites and rituals spanning the frozen expanse of Northrendâs bloodstained shores and all the land between them. Time itself drags at the edges, stretched taut over the unnatural shadowy growths that plague these lands. The snow falls and winds pound, black flakes the frozen teardrops of a madmanâs unhinged laughter.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Â ~"Prepare yourself, 194th. Sunwell guide."~
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Night has fallen far too early. Itâs not the cool shade of blanketing clouds or the light-framed pool of an eclipse: itâs darkness enduring and eternal, such that day itself might be easily forgotten and that the ill-fated denizens of the midnight hours ascend from their daytime haunts. The snows part around a rider who approaches from the north, hood drawn, his steed black as midnight; his frame marks him Human. He is flanked by two hulking figures, hunched against the elements as their leathery, rune-etched skin is battered by void snow.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne raises his arms, starting to alter the wards, as if he is struggling - and yet upping his own power... a tasty lure, a wondrous distraction.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The hooded figure projects his voice-- except itâs not louder, per se, only closer, as borne by the winds and snow falling and annihilation with the wards. It comes through muffled. âWolves of the Pack; Sheep of the Herd. I approach with Julgar, son of Julgen, on behalf of the great Lord of Shadow, seeking terms of surrender.â
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Though he's vanished from sight, a faint shimmer, like heat rising from the asphalt, marks the space along the wall where the magister waits.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: They crack and surge. "He Who Seeks accepts your surrender. Return my Crown."
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: "What an odd fellow..."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera frowns, gun in hand, though her eyes are briefly on the sky, the song. Shaking her head, she grumbles something to Bacon.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: Tyr holds up a hand for silence among the ambush team.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo tugs down her goggles, the lenses whirring quietly as they zoom in on the others.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Peals of laughter break on the howling wind, augment it, become it. "You humor the Dark One. He asks only your life, Shepherd, and that of your Wolf-- and one other that can be salvaged another day."
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon stands, acting as Mourne's big strong guard.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral squints at the gathering activity farther down back into the camp and north of it.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "You know what I belong to, and it is not you and yours. Fools, apostates. We deny you."
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: The wards shudder beneath the constant onslaught.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: The healer narrowed her gaze as she squinted towards the camp. "Light heed me," she whispered.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Her eyes are closed, and she awaits the queue to strike. She's dead silent, even her breathing practically gone. She's listening...
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Fuckin' shit..." she stamps her feet in the cold. Something doesn't feel right, and her gut churns. "Bacon, we should've retired back after the Siege..."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Still, his own wards rise and crack, his own power roiling. To those who are attuned to shadow, it sings almost sweetly, but faint.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "So be it. Ye of thin flesh and limited blood, of great faith and little understanding, rejoice. You have come to our home, now, and your incursion will be spurned." The void snow becomes tidal waves of raw magic, of life essence siphoned and tortured by the encroaching and all-consuming madness of Void. It breaks across the wards, eats, sunders.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne's stance shudders, his wards can be felt as they -crack- against the northeast... but then he quickly tries to stem the tide.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Gritting his teeth, he reflectively closes his right eye against the masses of darkness sweeping upon the wards, his ears twitch back in irritation but still, he waits.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: It is falling, falling, clearly he seems to struggle now in his fight.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: The mender captain is silent and still as a stone.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Void is nigh sentient as it seeks and pries at the cracks in the defenses. Meanwhile, from the north-- just beyond the Deluge of Souls-- a war horn sounds, loud and primal against the winds. "SHADESKORN!" comes the voice, somehow piercing the storm. "CHARGE!"
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne's wards crack at the northwest now too, starting to crumble. "Damnit, no!"
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: There, facing the waterfall; a fracture in the magister's fine spell. The arcane that supported Mourne's Light and Shadow is run through with darkening cracks. It shatters like so much glass, dissolving as it crumbles before the shadeskorn.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Chuckling to himself, the hooded rider turns and rides north. His allies follow-- and are crossed by the horde of Vrykul mounted on their shade worgs, those crude amalgams of flesh and magic, chomping at the proverbial bit to sink serrated teeth in the flesh of elves.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne skitters backwards, appearing to frantically try to get the wards up. "No, no no!"
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon raises his own hands, pretending to help bolster the shields.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The first worgs crash headlong into the wards-- wards that are not yet *quite* broken and, as such, spur the insurgents from their mounts, where they inhale snow and crack ribs upon landing.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Aqev... aqev- hul bala miz rilakhich..." The wards crack just a bit as each one hits, appearing to crumble.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "AZ'HAL ITAR HUL RILATUR NYRGADUUL."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: The wards that Mourne holds shatter and crack- in the north, at least.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The worgs have taken to burrowing at the wards, over and over, until steaming droplets of shadowy blood spill from their eyes and nose, from ears and chest...
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo quietly draws an arrow from her quiver, preparing to help clear the way for those below, when the time came.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Another voice, this one very mortal, sounds over the winds. "SHADESKORN, FLANK NORTH!" And so north they flank; some of the riders carry rope bookended with hooks, and it's this they use to toss over the walls and prepare to scale. Meanwhile a veritable
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: army of mounted Vrykul 'cavalry' amasses to north and west, and prepares to move south...
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Ah shit. Are they comin' this way?"
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Her eyes open as she now hears the chaos, the sound of the beings throwing themselves against the wards, and her hand lifts. Palm closes around the hilt of her twinblade, readying herself to charge. Her body is tense, and a quiver is in her left hand as she grits her teeth.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne drops his wards to the north entirely, and erupts like a beacon of shadow, spiraling out towards their enemies. He is trying to make it look like a desperate attack- but really, it's a taunt.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "We will hold until we get the signal to attack."
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: "Shut it," Tyr hisses, eyes gleaming.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: It's a taunt that works, as it swallows two riders and mounts entirely in its wake, rendering them limb from limb and eventually molecule from molecule in Mourne's wake.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo braces himself, reading his weapon and uttering a fervent prayer under his breath.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Ribbons upon ribbons of darkness surging outwards to each.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The rest charge, and the group flanking south kicks up snow and dirt as riders heel mounts to move north and inward.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne continues with the void taunting, drawing them in... in....
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "What the h--" From one of the guard towers, an olive-skinned and wide eyed Argent peeks out of the window; her curiosity is rewarded with a harpoon through her open mouth that pierces flesh, bone and skin to pin her, dead, to the wall behind.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon moves himself behind Mourne.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Her eyes watch as the Argent was fallen from a single spear, ears twitching as she muttered. "War brings collateral damage...all that matters is we avenge those who fall..."
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Now the Vrykul flood the camp, at least two score of them moving three-deep to the gates and through them, now...
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne is a veritable unholy beacon of shadow, now. "Fuck you and your Nyrgaduul! 194th, NOW!"
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: "Attack!"
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord] Amateo lets out a battle cry and charges with his comrades!
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "BLADES GO GO GO!"
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Bringing sword and shield ready as the enemies rushed in, Rethandral joins the surprise attack group in assaulting their enemies with a mighty challenging yell!
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: She moves, as soon as she hears, charging forth and leaping over the wall. She lands, her blade drawn, and ready for action.
[Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Taneisha wasted no time and rushed in, Light sparking at her fingertips as she snarled.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: This is NOT the place for mounted combat, and the Vrykul are learning this the hard way-- their mounts charge of their own accord, often tripping over their own feet as they try to organize and hunt down the elves.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo moves forward, firing as she goes, dropping arrows into anything that moved against them. Bakharah followed the others over the wall with a roar.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon's hands draw up the void, as he begins to get ready to unleash hell onto the incoming enemies.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Bright as the glow around the Dalaran crater, a six inch thick wall of raw, crackling Arcane rises from the snow, pushing corruption and nature itself aside. The dome closes over the outpost- blazing, brilliant, and unstable.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Worgs find Nestevon and Bakharah, charging them over!
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne starts to switch the shadow-luring to the wards. Yoink
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: In his hidden alcove, Galdanir has taken a knee, the faintest outline of him visible when his focus wavers. His lips move, the spell ongoing.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: It's pandemonium, chaos-- and now the Blades can truly appreciate the depth of their genius. As the Worgs are physically and magically severed from the Deluge of Souls, they begin to physically disintegrate! Falling, piece by piece, they howl and try to sink their teeth into anything nearby-- Vrykul, Blade, and fellow Worg alike.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera also moves forward with Aylo, shooting at anything not wearing the 194th's colors; Bacron screeches, arcane energy filtering down his form, as he moves to snatch at worgs missing their riders and carry them to doom via gravity.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon uses what little strength his body has to try and push back the flooding worgs, of course getting battered along the way
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah let out a string of orcish curses as the worgs knock her into the snow, using her shield to try and keep them from getting any closer.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Digging his feet into the snowy ground, he calls upon his Light energy to ward one side of the attack group.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne whips two void ribbons around, letting them seep through the snow and impale two unfortunate souls. It glowers darker. Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: The skull buddies will eat well, later.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Once he hits the ground Amateo does not hesitate. He keeps charging forward, impaling one vrykul and hitting another hard in the head with the broad-side of the weapon.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera hisses stumbling down over the wall as a worg comes into contact with her shoulder. "Bad dogs, holy shit--"
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Grunting, a crumbling, disintegrating warg crashes into his shield, clambers over it and savagely bites at his shoulder and armor, before crumbling into nothing but filthy bits. "Accursed creature!"
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah, still on the ground, snarls as a blade cuts into her leg, pinning her there for the moment. Aylo on the other hand, stands on the wall and picks off two of the attackers, her arrows catching them in the eyes.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "PURGE THE HERETICS!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The biggest of all the Vrykul is one whose tattoos span every square inch of exposed flesh and knotted muscle; in each hand is an axe dripping Void and emitting ice aura. He roars, "Shadeskorn, invoke the Dark Lord! He will bless us!"
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Clearly the red head a temper this evening and it showed herself as she withdrew her sword and shield. The mender however said nothing as she rushed towards her first target, ramming her shield into it and then running it through her blade as it stumbled back. Once that hulking nightmare was dealt with she turned her attention to the next and charged at them, piercing the monster's heart before withdrawing with a low growl and assuming a defensive stance.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Vrykul take up a chant in Shath'yar! Their blades ignite with Shadow! One of the Vrykul charges Kiri from the side, swinging an axe for her thigh!
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Another fires an arrow from the back of the ranks, catching Bakharah's shoulder!
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: The medic lets loose a spiral of Light and fire at one of the Vyrkul.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah tried to rise, until the arrow struck her shoulder. As the Vrykul came closer, maybe to finish her off, the orc kicked out and tripped him, wrapping her leg around his neck as she pulled back on his forehead, choking him out.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera takes aim at the Vrykul that Bacon is harassing; there's a crackle of lightning from her gun, and it hits the creature square in the eye, felling him.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Flooded by combat against the advancing Vrykul as they became more organized now and attacked as a unit, Rethandral found himself tested as a shieldman, taking hits, slashing, bashing. These were a difficult enemy and they were chipping away at his armor and shield to draw blood here and there!
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: A stray arrow nails Galdanir in the thigh, passing through phased flesh only for the magic imbuing it to tear him fully into the physical world. Ow.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo saw the thrown weapon coming a moment too late, dropping off the wall as the large axe cut into her hip.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: As the Vrykul charges, she tries to meet it's advancing swing, though she is foolish in thinking her small stature would meet the Might of the Vrykul. Her blade is effortlessly pushed back, feeling the bite of the axe shred through her thigh and sending a hiss of pain through her. A snarl is heart behind her helm as she twists her form, her blade dipping low and arching upwards as she slashed the Vrykulsâ axe arm off, twisting the blade around and then impaling it into the creature's chest, only to kick it into the snow, returning to her stance quickly. A stagger is given from the pain in her thigh, but otherwise, she's still standing.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Worse still- now he's in plain sight, and the connection between the magister and the wards that encase the outpost has become tangible.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo gets slashed in the arm with an axe, unable to defend himself against the charge. The hand on the wounded arm momentarily loses its grip on his weapon, and it thunks lamely into the snow due to the sudden imbalance.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Vrykul leader notices this interaction between Galdanir and the physical ward and, roaring, charges the Magister!
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: Ish'kael launches himself by the staff, soaring for some feet to plant his boot into a Vykrulsâ face. Â Enough force to smash the nose in too far into the skull. Â As a second came towards him, Ish'kael simply moved quick.. Â And jabbed the foe in the throat with a spark of lightning through his hand.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Stealing a glance of the battlefield, Rethandral notes someone rather important in mortal danger. He calls upon a shaft of Light and hurls it surely at the giant Vrykul commander. "Take on someone your own size, you coward!" Rethandral shouts, clashing his blade on his shield loudly.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The plan was only temporary-- of course the Captains factored this, but it's true all the same. The Void assault on the wards renews from the outside.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Meanwhile, vigor renewed by the possibility of coming reinforcements, the Vrykul charge the Blades' lines once more! They still outnumber those standing nearly 2:1!
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne staggers again when the renewed assault hits his wards.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: Tyr thumbs his COMM. Â "Can we lock him down, portal out?"
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera's head whips towards the wards, ears flattening against her skull.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Her exposure at the front of the group renders Taneisha an easy target for one of the Vrykul; with both of his axes he swings, hard, for the Knight-Master's chest. Having seen what Kiri did to what was probably his friend or beer drinking buddy or Cousin Earl or something, one of the Vrykul charges Kiri, shoulder checking her to the snow.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: His eyes trained on Rethandral's foe, Galdanir braces his palms against the void tainted snow, still whispering the words that hold his wards steady. For now.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: An anguished scream escaped the Knight-Master's chest as a massive axe struck her in the chest and sent her falling over onto her back before she sharply cursed under her breath.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon doing a good job of missing and being missed
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "I AM JULGEN, SON OF JULBOR!" roars the massive Vrykul, turning heel to face down Rethandral. He swings both of his heavy axes in an attempt to break the knight's guard!
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Her attention was all over the battlefield trying to assess, to see where she was --- WHAM! She lets out a loud squeak as her body is thrown into the snow, dazed for a moment as her helm falls off from the blow, and her scarlet locked head lays back in the snow.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral had kept his shield up, but the mountain of muscle elf was clearly knocked off his feet and flung sideways into the snow as two cleft marks are left on his shield with trickling blood from cuts of his arm holding it!
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Julbor is strengthened with retribution by the death of his comrades!
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Having regained her composure, she quickly leaps to her feet. Her blade is held tightly at her side as she rushes past the chaos, moving to meet Reth's side as she stepped in to take a blow for him. She grits her teeth, though ignores the pain as her fel green eyes narrow, her blade held tight, and her stance strong, refusing to go down.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera shifts in the back, moving to take better aim at Julbor. She whistles sharply; Bacon swoops in from the sky, sharp teeth and arcane magic harassing the Vrykul leader as her void bolt hits his knee.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Dawnfury?!" He grits out in pain, then gets back to his feet. "Nice to see you again."
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "Heh, likewise, catch --- hnnng...up later, right now, ass kickin' time!"
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo sees Taneisha fall and nearly panics at the sight. Just before he crumbles, her words before the battle come to him: he must stay calm. He is of no use to anyone if he loses control. So instead, he lifts his weapon with one arm still screaming from the axe blow, and thrusts the pointy-end into the Vrykul leader.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne whispers a prayer as he works on the wards.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: A tendril of arcane tears through the snow, lashing out at Julbor from the very ground beneath their feet.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Checking his shield arm, Rethandral roars out in challenge as he seemed to blaze with light. "You shall fall to my blade!" He rejoins the attack on Julbor, keeping him away from their mage!
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah shoved the dead Vrykul off of her and rose. She jerks the shortspear from her leg and drives it into the chest of the first vrykul to come in range of her. Aylo tried to stand from where she'd fallen off the wall only to have a large foot slam down on top of her chest, the sharp cracking noise coming from her ribs, alarming.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Slowly but surely the mender rose to her feet as golden magic sparked at her fingertips and she rushed at the nearest foe, taking off the monster's head before she assumed a defensive stance once again.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon thinks he's been useful, throwing fel fire everywhere, he didn't see the Vyrkrul coming after him, taking a spiked mace into the chest. Oof.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Julgar roars, slamming his foot down into the snow and sending a shockwave of brutal force outward!
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: For all his speed, he couldn't take on too many. Â As he dodged one, the other took the shot. Â The monk felt a blade cut across his side and rolled away from getting another wound.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Meanwhile, the 14 remaining Vrykul surge among the group of soldiers behind those fighting Julbor, swinging axes and causing chaos, the blood of their mounts still hot and steaming upon their skin.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: As Nest tried to get the spiked mace out of his chest, another Vyrkrul swings, taking one of Nestevon's arm off. He wasn't excited about that.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo stumbles backwards from the force of the attack, but adrenaline and pure force of will keep him from feeling the full extent of his current injuries. He grits his teeth and takes up his fighting stance again.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne is caught on the side as he held the wards, a smack and a crunch.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah jerked the spear from the fallen vrykul and turns, looking for another. As she turned, the vrykul behind her drove the spear into her abdomen, roaring in the face as he did so.
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: His backpedalling did no good, one closed the gap and swung hard.. Â Ish'kael went rolling like a croquet ball.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: The stomp sends out a tremble, her footing shaky and starting to stumble until she staggers back. Her blade is flipped around, driving the tip into the snow to steady her footing as she retreats behind Reth for a moment. "N - Need to recover!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: One oncoming Vrykul swings hard at Tyr upon cornering the Captain, fist connecting with his temple with a brutal 'crack'. He lifts both axes to finish the jobâŠ
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon tried to cast a spell with his good arm, but the Vyrkrul slapped him and he misfired.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne swatted at the nearest Vrykul that struck him, then charged towards Tyr- perhaps not as much charged as a shadow-tendril wraith of doom between Tyr and the one who would harm his brother.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: The medic goes down hard, seeing stars.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Vrykul attacking Tyr is strangled by the magics he worships!
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne thinks they both enjoy it a little.
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: With a grunt and a jump back to his feet, Ish'kael would not let it get him down. Â As two vykrul approached as he leapt back they would get face full of fire. Â Flames hot enough to overtake the two.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral ducks under the swinging range of those deadly dual axes and viciously slams his shield multiple times into the Vrykul leader, knocking the foul thing on its heels.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Meanwhile, the remaining Vrykul-- all ten of them-- attempt to rally, swinging and fighting, but they're being corralled⊠One of them manages to accost Tanei, kicking her brutally square between the shoulderblades.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo prepares to strike at the Vrykul, calling upon the Light to aid his strike. His weapon sings with golden light, and by all means his attack is going to be really awesome. As he congratulates himself on how cool he looks right now, a stray arrow hits him in the side and completely throws him off. The Light on his weapon winks away and he completely flubs the swing.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: She watches Reth's assault, and moves. Her form is swift as she darts to the side, skirting the opposite side of Amateo's damage dealt and moving around behind Julgen. Tip of Faithkeeper dragging through the snow before she lashes a strong upper swing to the being's back, tearing a nice gash in his back.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera takes a breath, reaching for the central mechanism on her gun. She twists it, the color of the internal glow changing from red to pale violet. "BACON, FETCH!" Her cry rings out above the din of the combat as she takes aim above the Vrykul leader's head and fires an orb of pure arcane energy. Her nether ray swoops in, gathering the magic into his body. At her whistle, the creature divebombs the prone leader, the magic passing from ray to Vrykul in an electric shock enough to render him unconscious for a good, long while.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Bacon trills. He's so proud. Even if he ripples a little bit like an open electrical wire.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Once Julbor has fallen, the ground below him becomes a swirling vortex of Arcane. He's pinned on the very brink of passing through a portal into the unknown.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo stretched, ignoring the pain in her ribs and grabbed her bow, aiming up, and loosing the arrow in the soft part of the vrykulsâ under jaw.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Well, the Knight-Master didn't seem to be having a good day and it only got worse as one of the giants managed to rush her and kicked her squarely between the shoulder blades, evoking a startled and pained yelp from her before she stumbled face first into the snow only to growl soon after. "I've had just about enough of your crap!" She snapped out.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne swoops his arm in a sweeping gesture, more ribbons of darkness shoot forth, aiming spikes through the heads of the two unlucky Vrykul in Mourne's way.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: A spear of light stabs out from the medic's outstretched hand, still down on one knee in the snow.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Void magic continues to crash down on the wards!
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Speaking softly through gritted teeth, Galdanir brings his comm to his lips. "I can't hold this."
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: As one tries to get away, Ish'kael out stretches his hand, striking the Vykrul with red lightning.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon, thoroughly fed up, shoots void bolts from his hood and into the face of the mace wielding Vyrkrul. As that one lets go of the mace stuck in the undead's chest to stagger back, Nestevon rips it out and slams it into the side of the Vyrkrul who knocked off his arm before sucking the life out of that one. After he turns and shoots flames to melt the first Vyrkrul.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "BROTHERS, COVER ME!" With only three Vrykul remaining, one drops to his knee and draws a diamond-studded dagger from his belt, which he uses to begin carving at his wrist. The other two Vrykul take defensive positions around him!
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Stop the one with the dagger!"
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: "We need an exit NOW!"
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne holds up an arm- he's going to lightning rod this if he can.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: With a mighty stomp, Rethandral sends a shuddering shockwave of burning Light to engulf one of the vrykul in hungry, vengeful flames!
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo shoved the dead Vrykul off of herself, wheezing in a breath as she snags up the single arrow from the ground. She raised the bow and drew back, her eyes clouded with pain and loosed the arrow, sending it straight into the vrykulsâ eye, stopping him from casting.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon grabs up his lost arm, using it as a wand, he swings it out so it is straight, the Palm facing one Vyrkrul who guarded the caster. Void and Fel flames spray out all over that Vyrkrul.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Taneisha stiffly rose to her feet with a huff. Her hair was a mess and the snow around her was slowly turning to crimson. "....ENOUGH OF THIS!" She screamed as the Light flared at her fingertips and her eyes shone a bright gold as she charged forward and thrust her blade through the monster's heart before tearing it out with a low growl. "Bite me, you bloody fools!" She screamed.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera's eyes have returned to the wards, her ears twitching forward to listen to the song of the void with unease.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne glances up at the wards.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Void onslaught continues; from the North, the winds pick up and carry... but the Shadeskorn are slain.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: The arcane that shields them thins, weakening by the moment. What had been nearly half a foot thick at the start now stands at mere centimeters.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "194th, rally at center- we may need to evac! Argents, positions to center!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The onslaught rages, roars, broils and surges from the north.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Rally in the center!" Rethandral calls out loudly, spreading the message to others near him.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo takes a step forward and winces at the arrow in his side. He grits his teeth and snaps off most of the shaft of the arrow before obeying the command.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Being told to Rally, she tries to take a step, only to drop to a knee panting. The pain in her thigh aches, causing her to need to take a moment to rest. Her blade stabbed into the snow and leaning into it as she grunted.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: Nestevon puts his arm on his belt, like it was a sword. Moving towards the center.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Up you go Dawnfury." He sheiths his blade and pulls Kiri up with his right metal arm, helping her to the others.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Bakharah grinds her teeth together as she struggles to her feet. She snaps the spear shaft off, close to her body, leaving it to be dealt with later as she moves slowly to the other.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Galdanir, the portal holding Jubal- take us to the garrison courtyard if you can, go go- ARGENTS, ALL PERSONS TO THE CENTER FOR EVACUATION!"
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera whistles for Bacon, holding out her gun to him. He smacks his fin against it, and the magic seems to get absorbed back into the weapon.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo does a double-take at Nest and decides his injuries aren't so bad after all.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylora cradles her ribs, hunched over with her bow dragging through the snow behind her.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne calls out through the his shadows that whip through the entire garrison now. "ALL PERSONS TO CENTER FOR EVAC GO GO GO!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: From the North the Deluge of Souls begins to roar, to shift, to grow... to expand, clearly prepared to swallow the entire region if not somehow halted, if not stopped or stymied.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Galdanir's fingers sink into the snow. Magic crawls up his arms from the leylines below, coiling about his shoulders, his throat, all of him. The portal beneath Julbor consumes their captive. Its shores expand, a growing pool of untamed magic.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: And our heroes begin to feel their chests tighten and strain, their vision fade-- only slightly at first, but it's sourced in the waterfall, as though their very souls already belong to the Deluge.
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: Tyr begins to murmur something under his breath--cleansing.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "W...We're retreating?" She grunts, leaning against Reth as she is still out of breath. She feels the tightening of her chest, and panic begins to rise in her as she clutches the Bulwark at her side, now trembling. She doesn't know what's going on...
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Whip-SNAP. The Arcane magics that Galdanir's channeling are broken and turned against him, cracking across his chest like a maul.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: Amateo presses a hand against his chest as if to keep whatever is inside him contained. The uncomfortable reminder of his first day here tests his resolve.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: And still, our heroes' life essence is drawn north...
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: With a pained grunt, Taneisha returned with her other comrades, stumbling as she fought to keep her balance. "...Light heed me, protect us. Guide us in this darkness," she whispered, as golden sparks began to dance around her fingertips and she moved to Amaeto's side. "Steady...resist whatever this."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Shields UP!"
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera frowns. "Don't have a shield..." Bacon darts in front of her, making a soft chirrup.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: The wards fall, the portal glows bright as the sun and winks out. All trace of the Arcane vanishes when Galdanir collides with the wall behind him.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The voice that comes now is female, and it is somehow unaffected by the wards. "You need not fear, my children... there is only one way to preserve your lives... you can heed my word or flee, and have result give way to my truth..."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral growls against the mounting dread within him. Pulling upon the Light, Rethandral forms as strong as a shield as he could for his brothers and sisters.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne dashes over towards Galdanir.
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: The orc drops to a knee, keeping close to the group.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera tilts her head, frowning, as she pushes Bacon out of the way and steps towards the north, first one step, then another.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: "The only way to preserve my life is through Ichor and thread." He'd look at the arm strapped to his belt and sigh.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Come, children, and drink from the waters that shall tether."
Tyrvarden-WyrmrestAccord: The word comes simply, firmly. Â "No."
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Then perish, and know that I will weep for your loss."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: Mourne tries to scoop up poor Galdanir.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: Galdanir doesn't stir again. Luckily, he's at least not noncompliant.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "Heed her..." Ears twitch as she falters, looking to the group, and then towards the north. "...who's voice...?" She's so confused, and growing weary. Without Shorel'belore giving her the strength she was used to, the fighting was taking a toll on her. She didn't know how much longer she'd be able to stand.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Do not heed this new voice of enticement and witchery. It only leads to your doom Blades." Rethandral glares and winces at where the shattered Waterfall was.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: And Mourne carries him over to the group.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: "If you think..." Taneisha began soon falling prey to a vicious coughing fit as crimson slowly trickled from a corner of her mouth before she wiped it away. "If you think we're going to fall, you're wrong!" She screamed with fire in her voice.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "No, I think we should." Otrera's voice is quiet.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Their life essence siphons, draws as though their forms are sieved.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "...I'm already weak. I'll take the chance...Reth, take me over."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "I will -not- take you over to that thing!"
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera just starts walking off north. "No. I'll do it."
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "You must all... drink... of the waters..."
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "No, get back here."
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "Reth. I'm already weak and at this point at my limit. If this voice is right, --- no, you're a better fighter than I. If this is wrong, you lose more if you die than if I do."
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Come... to the Deluge... of Souls..."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "By my strength and the force of the Light, whatever fiend you are shall not claim a single Blade this day!" Rethandral shouts at this 'voice', unsure of where it was coming from beyond everywhere.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Ki'var get back here before I break your legs!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Now the world begins to drain of color for each of the Blades; it's all greyscale.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera just starts -- running off north, Bacon following her.
Amateo-WyrmrestAccord: The soul siphon and his injuries chisel away at his strength. Soon he must rely on his ranseur as a support to stay standing.
Nestevon-WyrmrestAccord: "Well, I for one could use a drink." Nestevon winks but none could see it. "I'm just joking."
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylora clicks her comm and wheezes. "GET THE FUCK BACK HERE! THATâS AN ORDER!"
Ishkael-WyrmrestAccord: Ish'kael looked back seeing Aylo is lagging behind. Â Despite his own wounds he rushes for her, not caring about anything and picks her up. Â
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: Now growls and tries to push herself off of Reth, using her last of her strength to mend the wound in her leg just enough so she can run after Otrera. She's not letting that one die alone, if at all.
Mourne-WyrmrestAccord: "Right, if you can, hearth out of here, rally at the old garrison.â
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "Kiri, get back here!" Rethandral staggers but follows after that stubborn woman.
Taneisha-WyrmrestAccord: Taneisha wasn't about to let Amaeto fall and she gingerly tried to settle his arm over her shoulder. "Stay up!"
Bakharah-WyrmrestAccord: Aylo lets out a pained groan as Ish'kael picks her up.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Go -back!- Take your light magic and your nice -- shiny Blood Knight tabard and go -back- where you came from!" Otrera is still running towards that waterfall!
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: As the grey deepens...
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "I'm taking the two of you with me if it's the last thing I do! Your sacrifice is not worth it!"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The heroes make their choicesâŠ
=================
=================
=================
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The Deluge of Souls is an oasis of night in the storm: the river runs pure black, and white essence froths at its surface. The faint chattering of myriad voices is lost to sloshing seas and foamy, murky depths. Standing on the other side of the river is a figure impossibly beautiful and horrendously evil, such that her potency is undeniable. She wears a simple gown of black silk that matches her waist-length black hair, in stark contrast to skin pale as snow and cold as ice.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Ah-- holy shit..." she comes to a stop just before the water, eyes wide. "It's actually her." She seems a little overawed.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral slows his heavy run after the two and stares at the chaotic scene around him of the flowing river of void. His attention is drawn to the figure upon the other side of the black river and quietly mutters an oath of protection to himself.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Full lips curve upward in a smile. "Your friends' souls are now rent from this world; only an offering both willing and deemed worthy by the Dark One can suffice to keep them tethered to this world." She glances among the three.
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: She comes to a stop behind Otrera, her hand moving for her blade once more as she grit her teeth, staring the woman down. She knows in a fight she'd be at a huge disadvantage, but she's ready to defend the Huntress. Her eyes never leave the woman, narrowed as her stance readies. She isn't going down without a fight...and she will fight to make sure the three of them get out.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera doesn't want a fight, or perhaps, she knows taking on the creature with her gun would be useless. She sits the weapon down in the snow, shooing Bacon away. "And there's no way to save 'em? They -left-, they're not even in Northrend any more!"
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Putting a hand upon his blade, he steps to the edge of the river and calls out "There must be some other way to retain the souls of our comrades." He barks out in anger.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "You can drain this river and kill me," she purrs-- no, lilts, and her eyes are black chasms. "But, should you fail, all of your allies who tread these snows this eve shall perish in your foolhardy attempt. Or, you can allow a choice that has been made long ago to take place."
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "Think I'd take m'chances cuttin' you down..." She snarls, ready to charge past Reth, but she's waiting. She's searching for some sort of footing. Some sort of opening...something to give her the queue to strike.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera briefly contemplates whether or not that would be possible...and then realizes she's not actually sure how one would drain a river of void, and is certain that would kill all three of them. "Then what's this big huge sacrifice?"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "An eye for an eye," the woman says simply, hands splayed to convey honesty. "You tipped the odds one way, and the Deluge would see them restored."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral looks to both of the women behind him, then to the women before him across from the river. "If it takes a willing sacrifice to save all of the Blades from whatever doom you have placed upon them... as a Shield of my brothers and sisters, I will take that as my duty." He lowers his hand from his sword handle and plants each hand on his waist instead.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "No, I-- Sunfall, you'd almost certainly lose your Light. Let me do it." She says it immediately.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: "No."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Well, tough tits, because I'm doin' it."
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: "Like hell will I allow that, Reth! I'm the least experienced, and the one who would be less remembered. Fuckin' let me do it. The Blades lose more if either of you fall."
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Only one of you is worthy," The woman says simply.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Then which one is it?" That seems the simplest question.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "You," the woman says simply, smiling and stretching her hands. "Come, my child, step into the river and know my name: Styxaria, Matros of the Seventh Eye."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral glowers at the two behind him, then takes his steps into the flowing black river. "I willingly offer myself to save the remaining brothers and sisters, Styxaria, Matros of the Seventh Eye..."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera looks at the others. "Let me do this," she says quietly. "Please. Y'all have so much, the Light -- and everythin' -- I don't have that. I just have this."
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera is marching after Rethandral, not even waiting. Like hell she's letting him go alone. She reaches for his free hand, grabbing it in her own.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Styxaria extends a hand to Rethandral-- and it turns into a serrated blade, an extension of her arm that shatters Rethandral's armor and pins him to the snow; a pool of his blood forms under him.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Futile," she purrs.
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: "Ah shit--"
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: Styxaria looks up to Kiri. "Go, now, flee and tell your comrades what fate awaits the Wolf and his Pack... before you damn them all."
Aelitheline-WyrmrestAccord: She watches Reth stepping forward, her attention turning to Otrera, and then Reth. Two comrades...one she has known a while, the other she has only begun to meet tonight. Ears wither as she pictures losing them...and she doesn't want this. Her teeth grit, and a voice speaks in her mind. "Flee. Regroup...you cannot accept this." Ears twitch, and she begins to falter in her steps. She takes a step back before the sight before her, watching as Reth is run through. "Damn it..." she mutters, frozen in her spot. (Run, Kiri...) The voice tells her, and Styxaria's voice is what brings her to life. She grits her teeth, turns, and bolts.
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: Rethandral thumps into the snow with a gurgled gasp as the serrated blade pierced flesh and penetrated armor with ease. Gasps come as his body tries to breath and then slowly ceases. The glow of Light ever present from his right eye slowly fades out.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: "Come, now, child." Styxaria beckons. "Descend into the Deluge of Souls, and embrace your fate."
Rethandral-WyrmrestAccord: A pale wispy soul of the one-armed night seemingly raises from the slowly cooling husk of a body, turns about to regard the two women quietly, nods, and descends into the depths of the Deluge of Souls. To what fate, who knewâŠ.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: And now Otrera is pulled, too, willed...
Otrera-WyrmrestAccord: Otrera looks up at Styxaria, ears wilting. So many things -- so many things she wants to say. To run, back to Dazen -- she's been stupid, the fevered heartbeat in her chest tells her as much. But the world is grey and strange, and whether it's illusion or reality, the man next to her is very, very -dead-. She whistles -- one last act of defiance -- and Bacon soars in, grabbing at Rethandral's body and dragging it back towards the base, back towards helpful hands who can maybe save him. Before she glares at the Matros and marches straight into the water.
Galdanir-WyrmrestAccord: There's a high pitched whine. A sudden, mechanical hum, a bright flash of artificial light that consumes Rethandral's body from boot to brow. Mourne's teleporter is visible on the fallen soldier's chest for only an instant before gravity takes hold...pulling his body inevitably through the portal that's formed below him.
Drimmari-WyrmrestAccord: The waters of the Deluge of Souls run white, high, powerful before they give way to a single wisp-- flecked in black-- that follows Rethandral through the portal. They're a brilliant and effulgent white for several moments, and for that span Styxaria's appearance shifts-- her ears lengthen, features narrow-- before she disappears, too. Eventually, the Deluge runs black once more.
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Ever since the first Matrix film was released in 1999, curious fans have asked: are we living in The Matrix? Although it may seem far out there, tech billionaires like SpaceX founder Elon Musk are bankrolling research to determine if we are merely existing in someone elseâs elaborate simulation. If the thought alone doesnât freak you out, this next statistic will most certainly do the trick: âMany scientists, philosophers, and business leaders believe that there is a 20-50 per cent probability that humans are already living in a computer-simulated virtual world,â read a Bank of America analyst report released in late 2016. Take a minute to let that sink in; 20-50 per cent is huge! No longer wild theory relegated to the darkest corners of the Internet and late-night discussions over a blunt and a bucket of chicken wings, the idea of the human race living in a carefully-crafted fantasy world has reached mainstream. The Bank of America report makes it clear that if we did, in fact, exist within a simulation, weâd never really be able to know. However, perhaps there are clues all around us if we look hard enoughâŠ
#1 Uri Geller, Spoonbender In one of the most-quoted scenes in the original Matrix film, Neo encounters a group of child prodigies at the modest home of The Oracle. Neo is fascinated by one in particular, a young boy sitting cross-legged on the floor bending a spoon with his mind. âDo not try and bend the spoon, thatâs impossible,â the boy tells Neo. âInstead, only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon.â In real life, illusionist Uri Geller is best known for his spoon-bending trick. On his website, he describes his first experience with spoon-bending at a house party in 1985 at which participants shouted âwill you bend for me?â at various silverware plucked from a pile in the middle of the room. Since then, Geller has made a career out of showing off his self-professed psychic abilities, despite the fact that skeptics have debunked his spoon-bending performance as nothing more than a simple magic trick.
#2 Voodoo Death Although characters liberated from The Matrix can perform extraordinary feats when plugged back into it, one limitation remains: if you are killed in the Matrix, you die in real life. Morpheus explains this to Neo as âthe body cannot live without the mind.â If youâve ever heard the phrase âdied of a broken heart,â you already know that it is somewhat accepted in modern society that the mind and heart are inextricably intertwined with our physical well-being. In fact, the phenomena has been observed in native tribes as far back as the 1500s. Anthropologist Major Arthur Glyn Leonard studied West African tribes for an entire decade, and writes in his 1906 book The Lower Niger And Its Tribes: âI have seen more than one hardened old Haussa soldier dying steadily and by inches, because he believed himself to be bewitched; so that no nourishment or medicines that were given to him had the slightest effect either to check the mischief or to improve his condition in any way, and nothing was able to divert him from a fate which he considered inevitable.â In other words, the soldierâs mind made his death real, just as in the Matrix film.
#3 Mother Mary, Full Of Doubt Everyone who has seen the Matrix films knows too well about Agent Smith and his ability to project himself from various non-human characters inside the Matrix. Overtaking the bodies of everyone from a homeless man in the subway to a garbage truck driver in an attempt to kill Trinity, Smith uses both cunning and his ability to possess random characters within the Matrix in his ongoing battle against the freed red-pillers. In the real world, there exists a delusional condition called Capgras syndrome in which sufferers believe a family member or friend to have been replaced by a foreign imposter. In one such case, a mother named Mary believed that her 9-year-old daughter Sarah had, in fact, been placed into the custody of Child Protective Services and that the little girl she was raising was actually a fake posing as her daughter. Though there is an explanation for this condition based in psychiatric science in this world, a rogue program capable of hijacking humans makes perfect sense in a Matrix scenario.
#4 Ma Xiangang, The Electric Man Although the artificial world within the Matrix is said to be set in 1999â the peak of humanityâ Morpheus tells Neo they believe the actual year to be closer to 2199. So while human beings are blissfully unaware that they are plugged into a simulation set in 1999, their bioelectricity is harvested to fuel the machines in the real world 2199. In reality, giant fields of humans generating energy would be incredibly inefficient, if impossible, to extract much energy from. As anyone who has ever gone on a Calories In-Calories Out diet knows, it takes a massive amount of energy simply to sustain the life of a single human being. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Case in point, Ma Xiangang, a Chinese man who is not only seemingly immune to large amounts of electricity but energized (no pun) by it. In a real-life Matrix scenario, millions of pods full of humans with The Electric Manâs special powers might make sense when it comes to powering more than a cheap toaster.
#5 The Mandela Effect Those still trapped in the Matrix believe they exist in the year 1999 (coincidentallyâ or notâ the year the film was released), sharing a collective delusion about the world around them. The Mandela Effect is the term given to a collective memory that people believe to have happened, when in fact it never happened at all. It is so named because countless people believe former South African president Nelson Mandela died in prison back in the 80s. He actually died in December of 2013. One of the most widely discussed incidences of this is the spelling of the popular childrenâs book series The Berenstain Bears. Despite the fact that old printings of these books clearly show it was always spelled Berenstain, a vast number of Internet denizens swear that it used to be spelled Berenstein, and as such believe themselves to have been âglitchedâ into an alternate reality in which the spelling changed.
#6 Tom Boyle, Superhuman Everyone remembers the climatic scene in which Morpheus is heroically rescued from the skyscraper after heâs been kidnapped and tortured by Agents after the codes to Zion in his head. As the group is escaping with Morpheus and challenged by Agents, Neo is suddenly able to perform moves previously unseen in anyone other than Agents when attacked by a group of them. In 2006, a paint shop supervisor named Tom Boyle famously lifted a Camaro off of a teenager whoâd been hit by the vehicle while riding his bike. The phenomenon is sometimes called Hysterical Strength, and is believed to be the result of a surge of adrenaline in highly stressful situations. Just as Neo adapted quickly to the situation at hand with the Agents with shocking, superhuman ability, so did Tom Boyle when he saw the young man pinned under the truck. Adrenaline, or the elastic nature of a simulated world? We may never know.
#7 Ray Gricar When plugged into the Matrix, red-pillers use telephones to transport themselves back to the ship Nebuchadnezzar; these phone escapes are called exits. Now, get ready for a truly freaky case thatâs basically straight out of the movie⊠In 2005, a Pennsylvania District Attorney named Ray Gricar was on a road trip and disappeared off the face of the planet after making a single call to his girlfriend to tell her heâd be home that evening. Well, he never made it home. His car was later located along the Susquehanna River and contained his cell phone and laptop. His body was never found. In 2011, Gricar was declared legally dead.
#8 Tay, AI Gone Bad The explanation given to the rise of machines in the Matrix is the development of Artificial Intelligence that evolved free will and became too difficult for humans to control. This started a war between man and machine, leading to a blackout in the sky which drove humans into hiding toward the core of the Earth. No better example of AI Gone Wild exists in current day than Tay, Microsoftâs millennial chatbot. Tay was supposed to learn from humans, and boy, did she. Within 24 hours of her debut on social media, Tay began to spit out disturbing statements such as âHitler was right!â. When asked âwhat race is the most evil to you?â by one Twitter user, Tay confidently tweeted âmexican and blackâ without hesitation. Tayâs Twitter account is currently private. Probably for the best.
#9 Brain Uploading In the film, new skills can be learned in the Matrix simply by downloading a program. Imagine skipping four years of college and simply torrenting everything you need to know in a matter of moments instead. It would surely be a lot quicker than college, though no doubt likely as costly or even more than pursuing a degree these days. In early 2016, headlines from around the world touted a scientific breakthrough allowing human beings to learn via brain upload, exactly as they did in the Matrix. Cool, right? Hang on, youâre not going to be storing your Spotify playlists in your gray matter any time soon. HBL Laboratories in California has âdiscovered that low-current electrical brain stimulation can modulate the learning of complex real-world skills.â The researchers measured the brain activity patterns of six commercial and military pilots, and then transmitted these patterns into novice subjects as they learned to pilot an airplane in a realistic flight simulator, and found that the novice pilots improved their abilities via these brain stimulations. Itâs a long way off from learning how to fly a helicopter in a matter of minutes, but itâs certainly progress.
#10 Juanita Maxwell Agent Smith can overtake any NPC in the film, and often commits atrocities in these kidnapped bodies. In 1979, a Florida hotel maid named Juanita Maxwell was accused of killing a 73-year-old hotel guest but she remembered nothing of the crime; an alternate personality emerged from her during the investigation that remembered specifics from the incident. The alternate personalityâ one Wanda Westonâ behaved in a distinctly different manner from Maxwell, and admitted to beating the woman to death with a lamp. A judge ruled that Maxwell was not intelligent enough to fool investigators with a phony personality, and declared her not guilty by reason of insanity.
#11 Reuben Nsemoh, Spanish Speaker As we already know, humans freed from the Matrix can learn new skills via simulation or brain upload. In 2006, an Atlanta teenager named Reuben Nsemoh fell into a coma after being kicked in the head at a soccer game. When the 16-year-old awoke, he could suddenly and inexplicably speak fluent Spanish. The boy could speak a bit of Spanish prior to the incident, limited to high school Spanish like âdonde esta el banoâ, but not to the extent of fluency he demonstrated after the coma. The unexplained skill eventually faded, but weâre forever left wondering if it proves that human beings can learn in non-traditional ways as shown in the film.
#12 MITâs Brain âUSB Cordâ Alright, so scientists havenât exactly created a USB cord for the mind. A group of them at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, however, have developed a neural interface that they say allows them to send signals and even drugs directly into the brain. The polymer fibers are âsoft and flexible and look more like natural nerves,â says Polina Anikeeva, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at MIT. Although a far cry from the complicated and large coaxial-like cables of the human power plants in the Matrix film, this technology proves that controlling the brain via computer isnât impossible after all.
#13 The Fermi Paradox Long before the first Matrix film was releasedâ 40-some years before, to be somewhat exactâ physicist Enrico Fermi threw out a crazy idea at lunch with some colleagues. The universe, he said, must be populated by aliens because, well, itâs so big and so old. Yet, we have yet to see any concrete evidence of their presence, leading Fermi to ask a pretty reasonable question: âwhere is everybody?â When framed in the context of the Matrix movies, in which almost all of human society lives oblivious to their machine overlords, it isnât that big of a stretch to wonder out loud if we are living in a simulation controlled by these invisible aliens. OK, itâs a bit of a stretch. But just a small one. So small that the director of NASAâs Center for Evolutionary Computation and Automated Design Rich Terile said in an episode of Science Channelâs Through the Wormhole that itâs entirely possible weâre all Sims living in a carefully-crafted version of reality programmed by an unknown entity. This would totally explain why we sometimes enter a room totally forgetting why we entered it in the first place, our programmer simply clicked âcancel action.â
#14 The Netflix Red Pill The technology hasnât been developed just yet, but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes that the future of entertainment could be as simple as knocking back a blue pill. Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event in late 2016, Hastings said, âIn twenty or fifty years, taking a personalized blue pill you just hallucinate in an entertaining way and then a white pill brings you back to normality is perfectly viable.â Imagine having a choice between taking a blue pill for the news, or taking a red pill just to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. And by deep, I mean not leaving your house for two straight days and binging on four straight seasons of your favorite sitcom.
#15 The All-Seeing Google The most compelling case that could prove we live in a real-life Matrix is something you probably use every day: Google. Yes, Google. With a humble start as a research project in 1996, Google quickly grew to serve as the ultimate librarian of all humanityâs shared knowledge spread across the entirety of the Internet. Now, itâs difficult to image just how much data Google sorts through so you can find the cat videos you want to watch, but IBM says 2.5 exabytes of data are created every day. So what does this have to do with the Matrix? Itâs simple, really. In the film, the cookie-baking, cigarette-smoking Oracle is not some Miss Cleo knock-off predicting the future by reading palms, but rather a gateway to our own knowledge and understanding. In this way, she is a lot like Google. Google doesnât answer questions for us, rather it helps us find the answers.
Source: TheRIchest
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