#you threaten her ship or crew->you die. simple as that

[totallyhealthyobsession]

I love how Janeway sits there so quiet and composed like a good Starfleet officer. Never giving in to panic or despair. Maintaining her dignity and sophistication. Master Class really.

I also love how it’s part of a ploy to fool the Vidiians as long as possible. She knows it’s a losing battle and she calmly waits in the trap she set. Welcomes them into it even. There’s something to be said about a person being so composed right before they kill someone. Truly savage really.

🐐

[arsonalle]

♱ ‧ shoko + satoru + suguru + you

imagine ... an AU where you're friends with Shoko, Satoru, and Suguru

###

;; manga spoilers . no plot . lazy writing . blood, very very light 'gore' . run on sentences because I like how they read . rushed ending . lowkey self deprecating . angst? its really badly written . starts in the past and randomly jumps to present time . made up future past chapter 256 . weird formatting, not linear at all . probably skipping major events that happened in the past but idg2f . big Raga & crew strike again . mentions of shipping/relationships . no caps/random caps . potential spelling/grammar errors . death

songs ;; lady killer ii, i want all original mixshark, army dreamers, taking whats not yours, not allowed, the boy is mine (ariana), skyfall, coming down x hotline bling, girl with the tattoo x break from toronto, sweet crazy love (odd eye circle), midas touch, love fire (psychic fever)

You and Shoko get along like two peas of a pod. You hated that she smoked at first, but now you're used to it, and the smell is oddly comforting. You go shopping together and cringe at Satoru whenever he does something off or weird or is just oblivious to some things around him. You go on missions(? I forgot what theyre called...) with her just to get things done, and you guys work great together. although she usually just tags along for something akin to moral support. Your life without her would be boring, like it would without the other two.

You and Satoru are weirdos together. You contradict whatever you say about him when you're with Shoko and you guys are absolute cornballs. But you love every second of it. You hang out together sometimes, just the two of you, and every time you do you feel the piece of you that craved solitude break off and mold into something that glows in the presence of others. You can't beat his closeness with Suguru, although sometimes you try, but you're okay with that. Being too greedy never leads to anything good

You and Suguru don't hang out much in person unless you're with the other two, which is pretty often so I take that back. You text him the most, though, when you want a second opinion on anything that would take you threatening Satoru to give a serious answer for. You have deep talks with him sometimes. He's surprisingly good at giving life advice now, although maybe its because of the constant crisis's that you and the other two have. You go out to eat a lot with him when you do hang out just the two of them, and he almost always pays. He's good company, calmer than Satoru and a bit more insightful than Shoko. He's still Satoru's friend, though, so he's goofy when he wants to be. He's a good balance, though, so you don't mind it.

. . .

When the three of you graduate its an interesting time. You feel so unaccomplished, but Shoko, Satoru, and Suguru never once let you feel like that for too long. The feeling always comes back, though. You can't help it.

Satoru is...Well, hes Satoru Gojo. Is there really a need for explanation there? He's the best sorcerer jujutsu has seen in at least a millennia. Or something like that. You can't remember exactly what was said...

Suguru is fucking amazing. He can keep up with Satoru far better than anyone else can, because he's talented in his own right. Curse manipulation. That shit could change the jujutsu world for better or for worse. Its too bad it turns out to be for the worse, though.

Shoko's reverse cursed technique isn't for offensive use, but it's still impressive. She can pretty much heal anyone, bring them back to life, maybe. How can you compete with that? She's a valuable asset to the jujutsu world where people get hurt and die on the daily.

And you? You're not much, admittedly. A few generic cursed techniques here and a pretty basic simple domain there are the most that you can manage at your best. Surrounding yourself with outliers like Shoko, Satoru, and Suguru couldn't be good for your long term health, but at least they made you happy for the short term.

. . .

When Suguru makes the decision to disassociate with jujutsu tech and create his own world, things are awkward. Its just three of you now and the four-piece puzzle you created when you met them is incomplete once again. A piece of you is torn out of its place by force and blood is constantly seeping out of your every pore. This blood is thick in texture and volume, sticky, and an abnormally dark shade of red; it makes audible slop noises when it falls on the floor around you.

You want to blame Suguru for this but its not his fault you're experiencing night terrors. You're mentally weak, nothing like Shoko or Satoru who seem to be moving on. Why aren't you moving on? You need to move on. He wouldn't be having these thoughts about you, surely, so why are you having them about him? You feel selfish now, because you're positive that Satoru is feeling ten times worse than you are. The two were obviously in love. You have no right to feel the same hurt as him when you're just...an outsider.

You're an outsider now, and you'd never felt more like one than now.

. . .

Suguru is dead and Satoru finds his body. You thought you were finally getting over the loss of your friend but now everything is bubbling up to the surface again. You can only imagine how Satoru feels having seen his best friend's corpse on a day where his precious students were fighting for their lives and almost lost. You wonder if he sees the same dark blood pouring out of him. Is it from the same places as you or is it spotted? Is his the same color? Thick or is it thin? You want to ask him but thats definitely not appropriate, so you can only guess.

. . .

You were there when Satoru fought Sukuna for the last time. You weren't in tokyo at the time. You were actually at the kyoto branch of jujutsu high, for no specific reason other than to see utahime and her students. You and utahime had an interesting friendship, one you didn't really make known.

You were there when he was unsealed and you spoke to him just before he went out. You still remember what he told you, but now you wish you didn't.

"When I get back let's go for dinner, the three of us. On me."

You smiled and agreed because why wouldn't you? Plus you were pretty broke as of recently, so him offering to pay set off those little receptors in your mind that screamed "Give me dopamine".

You were there, and you watched with Shoko as the battle unfolded. You knew she was anxious, as anxious as you were. Satoru was both of yours's best friend, even though you two probably weren't his. Girls had to stick together, and you squeezed your hand as the two of you waited. Waited for the battle to be over and Sukuna to be speared in half. For Satoru to march back up, cocky as always, and proclaim is victory. For him to come back to you. To Shoko.

But he never came back.

His body stayed on the field for as long as it did before they took it.

Why are you surrounded by so much death? Everyone around you is dropping dead like fucking flies. It was three of you and now its two. Why is everyone lying to you? Playing with your heart? They know you aren't as headstrong as maybe you should've been as a jujutsu sorcerer and they're playing with you. They have to be. This wasn't where you saw yourself in 2006 when the only thing on your mind was Suguru's next birthday present and swapping out Shoko's smokes for candy ones, hoping she wouldn't realize and gradually stop smoking.

You don't feel the blood leaking from you, though, because you have no more to give. Now your heart just hurts and you wish it would end. You knew that because of the nature of jujutsu sorcery that there was a chance everyone involved could die. But who would have ever thought Satoru Gojo, the strongest, could die like this? You sure didnt.

Its you and Shoko now. The girls are sticking together like they should be, you guess. You can't stay too upset, though. You know that Suguru and Satoru are probably playing peekaboo behind you and making fun of your crying face. Its up to you and Shoko now to carry the weight of everything on your backs now. For your fallen friends.

. . .

You move back to tokyo after everything is said and done. You should've probably moved to another country and quit jujutsu, go to canada or something, but you can't leave the very thing that changed your life just like that. You're resolved to become stronger now, pay back everyone and everything that took your life away. Took your friends away.

You become a teacher at tokyo's jujutsu high. You meet Yuji and Nobara and Megumi; they're good kids. The most interesting first year right now is Maki, though. She's almost a repeat of that man, the man that you don't really like speaking about for pretty obvious reasons, but she's a great student. An even better person, you think.

You hang out with Shoko often, usually at lunch and on the weekends. Things aren't normal without two guys dwarfing Shoko in size and sticking to the outside of you two's sides like sandwich bread, but life is moving on. You take Satoru's death a bit better than Suguru's. Whether it was because your feelings didnt reach as deep for him as they did for Suguru, or because you were somewhat desensitized now, you were thankful that Shoko was still there for you, and you were there for her.

Until you weren't.

Things were relatively normal, but just as fast as you can flip your hand, they weren't.

Curses and curse users emerged again, on a slightly lesser scale than they did in shibuya, but on the same level as they were in the culling games, and you weren't prepared.

You're in a sort of limbo now, living in your own head, reading off your own thoughts. You wonder if this is how Suguru and Satoru felt. Everything is silent and for some reason you're calm. You should feel bad for leaving Shoko all alone but you don’t.

Maybe it’s because you know that she’ll get over you faster than she came to terms with Satoru and Suguru’s deaths, or maybe it’s not.

The only thing you feel right now is peace. You wish her the best because you know that she’ll keep on living, carrying with her your legacy. The legacy of you, Satoru, and Suguru, and she’ll make sure she does everything she can to save the people that she can.

After all, she can join you after her passing and have nothing to show for it. You’ll surely make fun of her for that.

arsonalle 2024

[izzyhandslightofmylife]

Help

When they talked about it later - which was almost never, it was too dark, too painful - Jim put it well. 

Sitting on the deck, night lit by the glow of a few lanterns, they kept their eyes on the stars and the grimace in their voice to a minimum, saying only, “it was the beginning of the end”. 

Fang began to sob and was quickly surrounded by the rest of the crew, but nobody would be able to replicate Ivan’s embrace again. 

They don’t talk about it after that. 

–

In a small voice, Frenchie piped up, “How do we”, he stuttered, “I mean- how do we know that this is how he wants to go?” 

All eyes turned to Izzy, who sighed and held up his hand, using his thumb to rub a spade tattoo gleaming in the dim light. 

“He had one of these”, he whispered, as if afraid, afraid that a ghost would come down, afraid that another man, very much alive and very much real, would enter the room at any moment. 

“Pirates get it all the time. It means, if someone finds you, they know you want to be buried at sea.” 

Silence fell before, unprompted, he spoke again, still gruff, of course, but scratchier this time. As if there was something caught in his throat that he couldn’t get out. 

“When I was younger, I always thought-” the ghost of a smile. “I thought, who in their right mind would want to go to the ocean? But, I guess, the longer you spend out here, the more it…makes sense. Ocean never really leaves you and you don’t want it to. I don’t think-” 

Here, he cut himself off, as if afraid of what would come out. In a tone of finality, he said almost reassuringly, “Trust me. This is what he wanted”. 

With no objections after that, silence fell again, each crew member lost in their own thoughts. Fang was wrapped in a cloud of grief, so immersed in his pain that he could scarce comprehend the world around him. Jim’s face was stricken, as if they had just realized how likely it was that, under current management, they could die. Archie made herself smaller, hunching her arms in and burying her head in her shoulder. And Frenchie- well. Sadness, especially sadness like this, was too dangerous, too close to the box, threatening to burst open any moment. 

Instead, he directed his thoughts toward the captain, currently sitting in his quarters like always, but whose presence was so powerful that it seemed as if tendrils of smoke were emanating from his door, spreading through the entire ship. 

“I’m glad”, he said suddenly, air rushing out of his lungs, box in his mind leaking even now. 

“I’m glad he’s going at sea. I don’t want his body to have to stay here anymore, on this ship. Not with him”. 

Once again, all eyes turned to Izzy, expecting him to object to the statement, spoken into the empty air almost like a challenge. In the earlier days, those kinds of sayings would come up all the time, only to be shut down immediately afterwards by the first mate, who could hear Edward’s name like a dog responded to its owners. Overtime, the questioning dwindled, as the crew worked every day and grew too weary to care. 

Now, though, he looked up, stared at the group for a few moments, and lowered his head again. After a moment, he gave a tiny, imperceptible nod. 

Later, they marched one by one up the stairs, Ivan’s limp body decaying in a coffin. It was simple, wooden, but for a pirate, it was a big deal. Most of the time, there was no way to be sent off except to be tossed over. Archie, Jim and Frenchie had gone to shore the day before, fulling expecting to be murdered when they returned. 

Instead, it was pitch black, and nobody was waiting for them except for Izzy, who told them they were safe, followed by a, “You’re in your room right now, understand? Good, now fuck off”. 

It may have been simple, but it served its purpose well; on any other ship, the “waste” of flowers and gold would have been laughed at, but when Fang began the preparations and the rest of the crew joined in, Izzy didn’t object. 

As long as it was done in secret, it was fine. He had wrestled with himself over it, sure, lying to his captain about the chunk of missing coins one day, but what was there to say? Seeing Ivan all laid out like that had been sad. He deserved it. 

Izzy had known Ivan and Fang for years now. He didn’t know if he could call them friends, really- the voice of a drunk man rang through his head, “what kind of pirate has a friend?” but it was hard to have someone there, next to you, for years, and all in one day never have it again. Maybe it was friendship. Now he’d never know. 

The solemn procession reached the edge of the ship, where the casket was lowered down by a system of ropes. In the background, the strum of a guitar picked out a soft rhythm. For the first time in forty years, Izzy Hands prayed. 

He didn’t know to what he was praying to. Not God, never God, but he needed to ask someone who knew better if Ivan would be okay. Something nice, like gold, not stolen, just in the ground for anyone to find. The ocean, maybe. Something purer than he was, something worthy of worship. Of love. 

So he asked the ocean, head bowed, to keep Ivan safe. In the background, a noise punctured his brain- Fang’s deep wails. Fang, too, then, and this whole crew. He had to keep them safe in a way that he couldn’t keep Ivan, and for once, he wasn’t ashamed to ask for help on that. Even if the help might never help. Even if the ocean might never answer back.

For a moment, he thought it might actually work. 

Absorbed in his thoughts and still leaning over the side of the ship, the view of the waves calmed him for the first time in ages. He hadn’t allowed himself to just sit and watch ever since he had sold Bonnet out. He hadn’t deserved it. 

He was a fool. The spell was broken as soon as heard the heavy thud of boots make their way on deck. 

“What’s all this, then?”

Ed’s voice, so casual but so threatening, rang through the air as the crew backed away from the rail like children caught red-handed, tears still streaking down their faces.

As always, Izzy stepped forward from the rest of them, saying “We’re disposing of the body, captain”. 

After a moment, watching the solemn faces of the crew was too much for Ed, and Izzy knew it. He couldn’t face anything of what he’d done. His sadness was the center of the universe; he was too consumed by that to worry about anyone else’s. 

Casual smile. Snort. “Well, get it done quickly then, we don’t need a whole procession”. 

“Yes,” Izzy thought bitterly, “We do”. 

Anger welled up inside him, which was new. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel angry at Ed in a long time, but this was different. Another image flashed through his mind, this time of Fang, cradling Ivan’s body, and Edward, walking away without looking back. Peace was all they needed. Peace was what Ivan needed. And to get that, he had to get his captain to leave. 

So he used the anger, biting out a short snarl and lifting his head up,

“He deserves one, Ed, after that all the shit he’s been through”. 

A glint of anger flashed in Ed’s eyes as his demeanor switched, body stilling and jaw clenching. 

–

“They’re our fucking crew, Captain,” Izzy said, spitting out the word like poison in his mouth. “It’s supposed to be your job to care about them.” 

Suddenly, his body was slammed into the wall, head throbbing from the impact, shoulder blades digging into the wood. Ed’s was pressed on his neck, a shark tattoo staring up at him. In his hand was a knife pressed to Izzy’s temple, with just enough pressure to draw blood. 

It was too much. Too much weight on him, brown eyes glaring into his, and so much anger, radiating from every pore in Blackbeard’s body. For one of the first times in his life, Izzy was scared of him. 

Just when he thought he was going to choke, the arm was released, and he doubled over, gasping for breath. In front of him stood the Kraken, panting with rage but then still, a tableau of something patience masking his features. He stroked the knife in his hand, eyebrows raised, waiting as if bored for Izzy to get up again. 

As soon as his mind cleared, he straightened up, head once again tilting upward to look at his captain. He had to do this, not just for himself, but the crew, too. Before all this, when the man in front of him was angry, Izzy could direct it all towards him, absorb it all and do it willingly. Now, though, the Kraken’s anger was contagious, leaking everywhere, hurting everyone, including the people above him, and hadn’t they suffered enough? 

Almost gently, the Kraken hummed, “I don’t tolerate insubordination on my ship, Iz. You know that”.  

He waited for Izzy to nod, never looking him in the eyes. “Go get the scissors”. 

By now, Izzy’s mind had shut down, oblivious to the world around him. It was the easiest way to get through these sessions if you weren’t thinking about them while they happened. 

“Yes, sir,” he murmured, blank eyed, returning in a moment with the scissors and handing them over like an offering to a god. Without being told, he sank to his knees and took his boot off, two bloody holes now where his smallest toes used to be. While the Kraken flopped down on one of the only armchairs remaining, Izzy lifted his foot up to the stool in front of him.

[nightrazor3242]

Decided to finally post Nightrazor's lore on here! It's not too detailed, I wanted to keep it short but I might add on to it as I go. If you have any suggestions or questions feel free to let me know!

Introduction:

Nightrazor is a long-thought-out OC of mine, originally I created her back in 2019 under the name Wildfire, this was during my Transformer Prime obsession, and her name would later change to Nightrazor after I discovered IDW. Since then I have given her a complex lore, including a book I am still writing as of now. This essay is a much simpler lore, made for people who are interested to read. (None of my friends or family are Transformers fans so I'm super hyped to share!)

Basic Info:

Name: Nightrazor (initially Nightwing)

Gender: Femme/ Female (She/Her)

Faction: Mercenary

Age: Around the same age as Megatron (IDW)

Hight: Same height as Drift (IDW)

Skills: Combat Proficiency, Survival, resourcefulness, Tactical Planning, Stealth, and Infiltration.

Weaknesses: Short temper, impatience, lack of empathy, refusing help of any kind, and vengefulness.

Personality: Nightrazor comes off as stoic and cold. Small talk? Unnecessary and annoying. Bonding? How about no. She refuses to let her walls down even just a little, no matter who it is. She tends to blow up when agitated often resorting to violence depending on her mood and who you are. Deep-seated hatred for both Decepticons and Autobots.

Hobbies: She enjoys working on her ship, experimenting with modifications, or fine-tuning her own systems in her spare time (This includes her combat training). Being a flyer she heavily enjoys zipping around in her alt mode, high in the skies. She also keeps a log of all of her missions, each log is very detailed, and even Ultra Magnus would be impressed.

Moral: Loyalty to oneself.

Deepest fear: Loss of autonomy, anything threatening her independence such as being captured, controlled, or experimented on (She refuses any medical attention, she will tend to her own wounds).

Nightrazor

Before the war:

Born during the golden age of Cybertron, Nightwing of Vos transported cargo along with her fellow consignors, she took care of the orders and helped organize the cargo for send-off. Although she was just a simple transporter she prioritized helping others in need, on several occasions she helped fellow Cybertronians out of poverty and gave them a job aboard her ship, because of this she made several close friends. One of these friends was named Echo (This is my friend’s OC that I am currently redesigning) Nightwing had saved him several eons ago, and since then the two had been inseparable. Overall Nightwing was a sweet and outgoing bot, going out of her way to help others but still taking no shit, she taught many bots how to navigate through life with a clear mind and strong spark, and many looked up to her as a mentor.

Beginning of the war:

During the fall of the golden age, Nightwing and her crew became very paranoid, the fear of a civil war plagued everyone, but as it was they all still had work to due. Soon the Decepticons began to take over Cybertron and with it, the Autobots fought against them, finally, the war broke out. Nightwing and her crew were off-world when the war broke out, unable to reach her commanding officer they turned back to Cybertron to see what was going on, a detrimental mistake. Upon arrival, the ship was instantly targeted and fired at by Decepticon troops, during the panic Echo had managed to steal the ship's only escape pod leaving his friends and mentor to die. When the ship finally crash-landed it killed nearly everyone on impact, but amongst the rubble Nightwing held on to her life by a thread. Decepticons soon scavenged through the wreckage taking anything of value, eventually, they stumbled across Nightwing, and due to her showing signs of life, the troops took her in. Nightwing was initially relieved to be rescued not knowing the horrors she would soon face.

Nightrazors Genesis:

When Nightwing was brought to a Decepticon medical ward she was fixed and repaired, during the repair a few scientists noticed her abnormal spark patterns, and after further investigations, they discovered Nightwing had outlier abilities. Something she had hidden very well, was her ability to blend into shadows and completely shut off her spark signal making her undetectable. Because of this discovery, Nightwing was handed over to the science ward, where they did numerous tests, and experiments, wanting to harness outlier abilities for the Decepticon cause. At the start of this torture Nightwing was horrified, why were they doing this to her? Were they going to kill her? Was anyone going to save her? Would she die here? Over time Nightwing came to accept no one was coming for her, she was alone, and this angered her, greatly, after building her life around helping others and taking in those in need, when she was the one who needed help the most, no one came. Days turned into months, and eventually, Nightwing escaped, stealing a small Decepticon ship she fled Cybertron. She rebuilt herself, not only physically but mentally, changing her name to Nightrazor she vowed no one would dare hurt her again without the consequence of death.

Later on, Nighrazor became a mercenary, originally the job was going to be temporary, she just needed the money to fix her ship and buy some weaponry, but over time the job stuck. Nightrazor was well hidden from other bots, no one knew what she looked like or where she was, they just knew she was a mercenary, effective and deadly.

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

Questions from the ask game for Signe <3

5. how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

24. do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

28. how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

AAH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, DEAR!! The ask game can be found here! Also, SPOILER WARNING for chapter 15 of WYGTYA! 5. how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

With Signe, it's all about practicality... to a certain point! In the beginning of her journey, she opts for simple clothing that protects her as much as possible, but also lets her move around freely. In her line of work, she needs to move and swing around on ropes from ship to ship and to do a lot of sword combat whenever the crew are boarding a ship or plundering. Also, she spent most of her early pirating days in Hammerfell, and I think the climate is a lot warmer, so lots of flowy pirate shirts! Now onto the more spoilery bit! When she eventually becomes Deathbrand, her clothes must fit with her act, that being the most fearsome and deadly pirate on Nirn, and so her aesthetics matter a lot! The Deathbrand mask is not as comfortable as she would have wished! Lots of black leathers and a fake beard and even platforms so that she can appear taller, also lots of eyeliner! Deathbrand needs to be the most intimidating man in existence, and comfort is sacrificed for that. However, she might get some help with illusion magic from a certain future crew member who is a brilliant mage!

24. do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

Not really, she is not the most artistic person, but I guess crafting and creating Deathbrand and his act is some sort of art! Am I saying that Signe would have been a theatre kid if the circumstances were different? I don't know! But she is creative in making plans and finding creative ways to instill fear and fight the Thalmor!

28. how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

Acts of service is her JAM. When she likes someone, she is willing to do anything for them. She is the ultimate ride or die. She would steal the moon, she would fight the sun and she would barter with the gods for the ones she loves. Also, she will try to do anything in her power to make the people she likes feel good. She is pretty blunt and never hides her feelings, if she doesn't like someone, she will snarl, give death stares and even threaten the ones she doesn't like. If she *really* doesn't like someone, she might even attack or challenge to a duel. Beware tho, she is excellent with one handed weapons!

[graceofagodswrath]

Humans Are Feral: Part 2

Wow, I did not expect that last post to be received so well, and so fast. Thanks so much to all those who left awesome comments, reblogs and notes. And since it was received so well, I decided to go ahead and write the part two I’ve been thinking about since part one.

So, humans can vicious and absolutely feral at times. Our society often criticizes such behavior, referring to it as “acting like an animal.” And don’t get me started on how humans love to make themselves seem important by separating ourselves from the rest of the animal kingdom whether from religious belief or simple egotism. But our animal instincts are still a part of us, even though they have been suppressed through hundreds of years of societal evolution. The biggest example of these primal instincts is the fight or flight response. This is one we commonly experience in day to day situations, however small they may seem. From situations like: being in a crowded room and feeling the urge to run because of overwhelming social anxiety. Or being at the in-laws and they make a rude comment, and you just want to snap back or run out of the house. But you suppress those feelings in order to appear “civilized/normal.” Just some tidbits on human psychology I think about a lot.

But that thing that I mostly think about is how we react in extremely stressful and dangerous situations. One’s in which we perceive are life-threatening. I have been put in a situation where I was nearly fighting for my life, and I remember the wildness I felt. There were no verbal thoughts in my head, nothing I remember being normal. All I could feel was this kind of fear-rage in which I was scared as hell, but also angry because I was scared. I remember the adrenaline and the realization that if I was going to die, I was going to fight with everything I had. Which, looking back, seems kind of strange. Many animals often give up if they realize they’re going to die. But humans don’t. Any kind of hope, any kind of need to fight and survive is all we need to keep going. We rarely just give up.

Imagine:

A ship of imperial soldiers of the Fiuldarian Empire had sighted the Star Chaser. All crew had done their best to push the ship to her point, trying to outrun the imperial flagship. But it was no use. Within a few ticks they had been flown down and anchored. But the soldiers never boarded, which scared Captain Din:ai. She stood in the control room before her holoscreens, staring with fear-blown eyes. The imperial ship never sent a communications, nor did it fire any weapons. She had no idea what was going to happen.

Until something did happen.

From the comm, Equaloi’s high-pitched screams shattered the tense silence. The feathered Unaga’o cried out something in their native tongue before a wet gargle cut his voice. His comm cut off, but not before a strange clicking and growl were heard. All in the room stood still, antenna, fur, and scaly plates twitching with anticipation. All eyes stared up at the Captain, awaiting her orders. Or reassurance. Something. But the tall Diralo stood as still as her crew, three-fingered hands balled tightly.

The comm went off again, making several in the room jump. This time heavy breathing sounded. “I just found Equaloi and Fir’nad.” Alex Risach, the only human among Din:ai’s crew. They sounded unnervingly calm, but there was something off about their voice. “They’re not…alive. And they’re all over the place.” Din’ai drew in a sharp breath, her breathing cavities in her chest whistling lowly. Two dead. But not from soldiers.

Din:ai pressed the receiver. “What do you mean by ‘all over the place’?”

“I mean,” Alex said. “That they are in pieces. Torn apart.” Alex’s next sentence made Din:ai’s blood grow cold. “Imperial soldiers did not do this.” Din:ai remained silent, thinking desperately about what to do. Her long kallocks of experience did not prepare her for this situation. Because as much as she wished to deny it, the last few minutes made it clear what was going on. Something was aboard the Star Chaser. And it was extremely dangerous.

“Risach, listen to me. You must make your way to the control room. Any crew you find must follow these same instructions. Whatever is aboard is extremely dangerous, and must not be approached until we know what it is. Do you copy?” There was silence on the other side. Din:ai grew tenser with every quiet second. “Risach, do you copy?”

A click of the comm. And an alien screeching. Angry words could be heard in a human language, one Din:ai did not recognize as a common tongue. Then a feral scream, one that had the scales along Din:ai’s back arching in terror. Every crew member listened in rapt attention, all trying to imagine what was going on behind the sounds.

Then Alex’s voice screaming above the commotion.

“GET SHIT ON MOTHERFUCKER!” A howling squeal followed. A click as the comm turned off. Another click as it turned back on. “On my way to the control room. I recommend all weapons off safety and for everyone to take cover. This thing is mean and ugly as sin.” Their heavy breathing didn’t hide the deep gruffness in their voice. Din:ai pushed away the observation. She could worry about deciphering human language tones later.

She reached under her command center, grabbing the firearm she had hidden earlier. All other crew in the room followed suit. Din:ai pulled up a hole map of the ship, centering in on Alex’s orange-dotted life signal. And the life signal following them. The label above the beeping red dot read ‘unknown’. Both signals were closing in on the command room’s eastern doorway. The giant Diralo captain signaled to all crew present to aim their weapons at the door.

“Anything non-human coming through that door gets shot, understood?” Nods and chirps of agreement. The room became quiet once more, the atmosphere thick with fear-scent. Then sounds could be heard beyond the door. A strange clicking-screeching drowned out everything. Din:ai jerked when banging sounded on the other side of the door. Alex’s voice muffled through the walls.

“OPEN IT!” Din:ai shouted. Yugi, a derumo juvenile who was closest to the door, hit the controls beside it. The door slide upward, exposing the dim hallway and the blood-covered human behind it. Alex sprinted through, turning to aim their weapon at the open doorway.

Then the creature appeared. All recoiled at the sight. Alex spoke true. It was immensely ugly. It resembled a Terran arachnid, long spindly legs supporting a large, hulking body that stood just above Alex’s height. But that is where similarities ended. It was covered in black chitinous armor, spiked and sharp. A pair of spindly arms with elongated claws sat beneath its head. It’s head swayed low, its mouth shaped like a five pointed star shape, teeth covering every flesh surface. Beady black eyes stared from its skull, reflecting the light beaming down. It screeched and charged toward Alex. The crew opened fire.

The gunfire seemed to stop it for a moment before it grew confident again. Because the barrage of bullets and energy weapons barely dented its thick black armor. The clawed arms beneath its head rose to protect its eyes from the oncoming assault.

The gunfire began to lessen as ammo was lost, and the creature noticed. With its head shielded, it approached through the fire storm. That’s when a cloud of fire billowed over it. It screeched and fell back. Alex stalked forward, their weapon drawn against their shoulder, and let loose another bout of streaming flame. The creature retreated, it’s clicks an incessant stream of fearfulness.

“I am so glad I grabbed my flamethrower instead!” Alex shouted. Many of the crew realized their weapons were not effective against the creature, backing under their respective shelters beneath command boards.

Alex’s weapon sputtered and lost its flame. A curse under their breath and they scrambled to reload. But they weren’t fast enough. The creature sprang forward in the moment of weakness and latched its jaws around Alex’s leg. Alex screamed as the beast tore into flesh, red blood spattering on the white floors. It but down and began dragging Alex away, swinging and throwing them around. Alex screamed and cursed in their human tongue, beating at the creature’s head with their weapon.

The weaponless crew could only watch as their human crew mate battled a seemingly hopeless war. Some had run to the western doors, opening them and running away into the depths of the ship.

Din:ai was of the few that stayed, aiming a nearly empty energy gun at the armored beast. She was horrified watching as Alex was tossed about. But what more surprised her was the continued struggle on Alex’s part. They didn’t stop. They continued to beat down upon the creature’s head, screaming and kicking with their free leg at any exposed hide. Even as more blood was lost they fought back.

And Din:ai felt some of her courage, if not shame, return watching the small human fight. She aimed her gun, locking onto the beast’s one exposed weakness: it’s eyes. The black beady things were covered with it’s strange claws, shielding itself from the onslaught of Alex’s flamethrower. The creature was snarling as it dragged Alex, but Alex was snarling back. Din:ai, waiting for an opening, watched as Alex dug the flamethrower beneath the creatures contorted claws, letting go and tearing at it face with their own hands. Their fingers tore wildly, landing on the creatures jaws, trying to part the cage of flesh and teeth latched to their leg. Alex was able to tear away one of the creature’s jaw flaps and pulling with all their strength, ripped it off. Din:ai’s eyes widened. The creature screamed, and Alex screamed back.

The pain the creature was experiencing caused it to lose focus. It’s claws dropped, exposing its eyes. Din:ai took the shot. The wet, electrical sound of an energy discharge into flesh was heard. The creature stopped screaming. Instead it contorted and struggled. Alex was dropped, rolling away and clutching their leg. The creature continued its death throes for a moment more, then its legs curled together and it slumped to the ground, becoming still.

When Din:ai was sure the creature was dead, she crawled down to Alex. The human was clinging to their leg, clutching the horrific wound still leaking blood. Din:ai leaned over them tearing of her clothing covering her torso. She went to move Alex’s hands, but the deep growl the human made caused her to freeze. Din:ai had never heard such sounds come from humans, nor did she know they could do such things. They sounded as ugly as the creature’s. She stared down at Alex.

“Please remove your hands. We need to stifle the bleeding.” Alex stared up at her with large eyes, the white around the brown irises strangely animalistic. Scared and wild. Their chest was heaving, breath loud and raspy. They growled again, baring their teeth in a ugly grimace, then exhaling and letting their hands drop. Din:ai surveyed the wound before wrapping it. The beast had torn the flesh away from the bone, the off-white color unnatural underneath the red flesh. Bits of skin and meat hung from the wound, held together by the thinnest of muscle sinew. It was terrible.

Din:ai wrapped it, ignoring the red blood collecting on her hands. She instead focused on Alex’s wellbeing. “You are extraordinary.” She said. “I always wondered why you humans are held in such high regard. You should not be alive after that beast had you in its jaws.”

Alex snorted. “I’m from Australia.” They grunted, grimacing in pain. “I’ve seen bigger fuckers than that thing. Dealt with worse than that thing.”

Din:ai did not doubt her colleague’s words.

~~~~~~

Wow this was fun. This is the kind of stuff I like to write. Horror-thriller short stories with a little bit of badassery sprinkled in. Thank you again to everyone who bombarded my phone with notifications about how liked my first post was. That was wild. Brought me back to my Wattpad days. If anyone has any suggestions for future story prompts, I may or may not use it. I love writing about how humans can be stupid badasses, it brings in the serotonin. This blog might even become more sci-fi short stories with “humans are space orcs/Australians/insane” prompts. Dunno. lets see what happens.

[psychedelic-ink]

Easy Prey // Among Us AU

Pairing:  Vinsmoke Sanji x fem!reader

Genre: Angst/horror (kinda not really) NSFW

Word Count: 1982 k

Warnings: Blood, murder, face fucking 

Summary: Traveling in space can be hard, especially if one of your crewmates has been replaced by a parasitic shapeshifter. One by one the crew members are being found dead and in the end identifying the imposter is up to you.

“Sanji I really don’t think we should be doing this…” 

Your skin burned as his hands greedily explored every crevice of your body. His breath was warm and damp on your neck, nibbling on the soft flesh and leaving his marks as his hands cupped your breasts. Silent moans left you, your mind now feeling numb, you tried to remember how the two of you ended up in the dark corner of the electrical room. 

“Why shouldn’t we be doing this?” he whispered, his voice dripping with lust. “We might die at any moment shouldn’t we celebrate that we’re alive?”

His voice was like warm honey, you couldn’t say no to him. Everything he was doing to you just felt so good, your heart threatened to leap out of your chest as he lifted up the upper part of your pink suit, were you really going to go with this? While there was an imposter among the crew? So many had already died, you could be next maybe he was right.

Sanji’s head dipped in the valley of your breasts, planting open mouthed kisses he took your right nipple in your mouth. You threw your head back and shivered. The inside of his mouth was warm, his tongue went in circles around your sensitive nub. You let out shaky breaths as you wrapped his blond hair around your fingers. He hissed when you pulled his hair, your nails dug in his scalp. His mouth felt so good on you, Sanji bit, licked and pulled your nipple, driving you absolutely crazy. 

He parted away from you, he had a smug grin plastered on his face. A grin that made your heart skip a beat, your face felt warm and you averted your eyes. He placed his hands on your shoulders and pushed you down, you knew what he wanted and you were happy to deliver. 

You stared at the bulge that was visible from the outside of his blue suit. Momentarily your eyes widen, licking your lips, your hands fiddled with the zipper. Sanji took in a sharp breath when you wrapped your fingers around his throbbing cock. He was already leaking with precum, gingerly you licked the tip, tasting him. You enjoyed the bitterness he left in your mouth, you wrapped your lips around the tip, your tongue going in circles. You were enjoying the way he groaned as you continued to taste him. 

Your breath hitched when Sanji placed both hands behind your head and pushed your forward. Feeling his cock at the back of your throat made you gag, he seemed to enjoy this since you could hear him let out loud moans. Your eyes watered, Sanji snapped his hips, thrusting into your mouth as if he was fucking your pussy. Spit mixed with precum dribbled down from your chin. You tried to relax your throat but he was giving you no room to breathe. His hips continued to mercilessly snap forth and back. Your chin ached, despite your mouth being strained you couldn’t help but moan as he fucked your throat. You felt wetter with each thrust. 

“-ah fuck, your mouth feels so good,” he panted. “You like it don’t you? Being used like a fleshlight?”

With half lidded eyes, you looked up to him and groaned when you saw that he was staring down at you. He wrapped your hair around his fingers and buried himself deep into your mouth, he came right down your throat. 

Sanji’s cum tasted bitter and felt thick as it slid down your throat. His hand held you in place as he continued to splurt his seed into you. Not wanting it to go to waste, hungrily, you swallowed every bite. When he finally released you, you coughed and took in deep breaths. 

You looked back at him only to see him smirking down at you, his eyes dark by lust, you knew he was far from done. 

That is until the alarm went off. The alarm that you feared the most. The alarm that signalled that someone was found dead. 

Lowering your helmet back down, you glanced at Sanji. For a moment his eyes flashed a hint of annoyance. But he was quick to hold your hand and pull you towards the cafeteria, you dismissed the look as your paranoia playing tricks on you. A soft smile tugged at your lips. You were happy that he was with you. 

When the two of you arrived your heart stopped. Only Nami,Usopp and Robin sat around  the table. Nami was biting her lip clearly trying not to break down then and there. Usopp looked pale and was shaking. Robin seemed calm as always but she was clearly bothered as she didn’t look at you. 

“I-I saw Zoro,” he whispered as he made eye contact with you. “He was impaled.” 

“İmpaled?” you asked, trying to wrap your mind around it. 

Your legs trembled and you were hardly able to take a seat. Zoro… he was gone, along with Luffy, Chopper, Franky and Brook. They were all gone. 

“Where?” Sanji asked, breaking the silence. 

“He was in medbay.” Nami answered. 

“I was with Nami.” Robin said. “Where were you Sanji?”

“I was with y/n.” 

“T-That’s true.” 

Why were you hesitating? It was the truth. Fear engulfed your heart as the conversation continued. 

“That means only Usopp was alone then?”

“W-Wait!” Usopp stuttered. “Don’t look at me! I’m the one who reported it besides we don’t know when he was killed.” 

“I just asked a simple question.” you could feel the smugness radiating from Sanji. “Why are you suddenly so on edge?”

“Because you’re clearly blaming me!” Usopp shouted. 

“Robin asked a simple question and I just stated a fact. You were alone weren’t you?”

“I...was.” 

“Well after that outburst I vote that Usopp is the impostor.” 

“I..agree with Sanji.” 

“Nami?!” 

You hated how Usopp genuinely sounded and looked hurt. You couldn’t believe that it was him. But maybe it was?

“I think that Sanji is the impostor.” Robin said. 

You felt your blood freeze when she said that. Sanji squeezed your hand reassuringly, snapping you out of your shock momentarily. 

“I think it’s him too!” Usopp shouted, crossing his arms in front of him. 

“Then that leaves only y/n.” Nami said, looking directly at you.

All eyes turned to you. Usopp was sweating and Sanji just seemed a tad bit nervous. Darkness fell upon you. Who would you choose? Your friend or your lover? Which one was the imposter? Sanji was with you the whole time. Sanji’s thumb grazed the top of your hand, you could feel the warmth he radiated. He felt so secure, so safe. You just wanted him to hold you and never let go. 

“Do I have to choose?” you asked. 

“Yes.” Nami’s voice was ice cold. 

Swallowing you looked down at the table. You felt cold. 

“Usopp,” you took in a deep breath. “Usopp is the impostor.”

“What!?” he screamed. You bit your bottom lip, it felt as someone was squeezing your heart. 

“You heard her,” Sanji’s voice made you shiver, it even sounded colder then Nami’s. He stood up, ready to kick Usopp out. “Get off the ship impostor.” 

“N-No! It’s not me!” 

Usopp’s pleads didn’t stop Sanji from grabbing him and throwing him out. All of you watched as he wiggled in the endless voice of space soon to be motionless. You couldn’t look much longer and buried your face into Sanji’s chest. Nami touched your shoulder. 

“We should go and do the repairs.” she said, clearly starting to regret her decision. 

You slowly nodded. Sanji followed Nami to the navigation, you were going to tag along but you were stopped, when you turned you noticed that Robin had held your hand. 

“You made a mistake.” she simply said and left you. 

A chill went down your spine among hearing those words. But you knew she was wrong. There was no way you sent Usopp to his death by claiming that he was an impostor. Your stomach churning you went to navigation. Your hands felt cold and sweaty at the same time. You felt absolutely sick. 

“Y/N RUN!”

With full force Nami bumped into you. Knocking out the breath in your lungs the two of you fell down. You took in a deep breath, trying to comprehend what was going on you managed to open your eyes. You could see Nami’s terrified face through her helmet. Her eyes wide, cheeks glistening with her tears, you held your breath as your pulse quickened. 

Breathing became easier when Nami was lifted, she shouted as she was being lifted by two black tentacles, at least you assumed there were tentacles. Nami kicked the air and tried to free herself, you stood there frozen with fear. 

The last thing Nami did was reach out to you. 

Blood dripped down, staining your pink suit with red. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her, a sharp object had gone through her chest, warm blood pouring down from her wound, her body now dangling, lifeless. 

“N-Nami?” 

Her body fell to the ground with a loud thud as an answer. You crawled towards her, your hands trembling, you shaked her again and again and again. Nami never woke up. 

“Y/n-chan I don’t think she’s going to wake up.” you hear the voice of Nami’s assailant hum. 

Tears dropped down from your cheeks as you leaned over your friend’s corpse. You clutched her spacesuit, hoping that this was all just a bad dream. Knowing that your wish would never come true you straightened up and faced the killer. 

“Sanji.” you hissed. “It was you all along?”

“That’s right.” he replied with a smile. 

He took a step closer to you and you jumped back. Sanji chuckled when he noticed the fear in your eyes, he feed off of your fear as he took another step. You were frozen with fear, your breathing short and uneven. He stood right before you and with a quick motion he tore off your helmet and threw it to the side. 

“You were so blindly in love.” he cackled. “You just made it so easy.”

“Since when have you been imitating him?” 

Surely it shouldn’t be that far in time. Sanji kneeled down, his suit stained with blood, he took off his mask as well revealing the wicked smile he had. He was truly enjoying this. 

“Since you lot left Pluto.” 

“Pluto…?”

That meant…

“You started to fall for “Sanji” after that, right?” he asked, grinning. “You never fell in love with him though. You fell in love with me.”  his eyes flashed and became red momentarily. 

You felt sick. Sanji never fell in love with you, Sanji never cuddled you, Sanji never comforted you. It was all…that thing, the impostor, the alien. He placed a hand under your chin and lifted your face so that you would face him. You hated that he looked like Sanji, your body betrayed you as your cheeks started to heat up. 

“I really don’t want to kill you,” he said, sighing. “Thanks to you I managed to kill everyone and it’s really fun to play with you but I’m not sure how you’re going to feel after this.” 

“I feel nothing.” you lied. 

“Is that so?” he shrugged. “Then that makes my job easier.” 

His hand came down on your throat, his nails digging into your skin. Your eyes watered, slowly but surely your windpipe was getting crushed. The impostor that was wearing Sanji’s face flashed you a toothy grin. 

“Thank you for making me experience human pleasures y/n.”

Before you blacked out you wished you could warn Robin. You wished you hadn’t sent Usopp to his death. You wished you could warn everyone before any of this happened. 

You wished you could’ve saved the real Sanji. 

But all of your wishes quickly drowned into eternal darkness.  

[physicalturian]

Why don’t you listen to me? Law x GN! Reader - Part 4

Spoilers for : Punk Hazard and Dressrosa arcs [No gender used for the reader, no physical description, everyone is +18] Words : 4801 Archive of our own Bad flirting, fluff, embarrassment, angst No warnings, if you feel like I should put some, send me a DM or an ask!

… Part 1  - Part 2 - Part 3

“… some point you’ll have to kick them out of here Chopper, you can’t just let them-“

“But Torao is scary!! And I am sure all of his crewmates are just as scary, no way- nope, I don’t want to die Robin. You do it! Yeah… Imma head out, okay?” Then echoed the muffled sound of hooves hitting the wooden parquet, slowly at first then scurried. Then there was a heavy sigh followed by a short laugh, quickly after, hands pulled off the blanket from my form, and Law’s along with it. I gasped at the cold air hitting my face and took a bit of time to understand that I had been covered up to my head with the blanket.

“Time to wake up, I think Chopper is getting impatient and he needs his infirmary.” The gentle voice of the long-haired fruit user reached my ear and I slowly opened my eye, ready to answer when I felt the hold on myself tighten.

“He can come by in 10 mins, we’ll be out by then Robin-ya.” Satisfied by Law’s answer, she hummed, maybe too happily then gave us one last glance before leaving and closing the door behind her. When she was out of sight, Law groaned loudly before running his hand over his face. I stood there, in a position completely different from when I had gone to sleep. Instead of him on me, I was the one on him, at least my head was resting very close to his side and I had one leg throw over his. I was pretty quick to change that and sat up rapidly.

“Sorry, I got a bit too comfortable there.” A short laugh escaped his lips, I looked at him tiredly, but curiously too. His hair was a mess, more than usual but it looked good. I let my eyes wander about his form, I was only now realizing that he had some lighter spot on his skin.

 I remembered from his past that as a child he had gone through a lot, and if my memory wasn’t bad it was due to that that his skin had some discoloration. A sigh reached my ear, I looked away as the man put his coat on to cover the small amount of skin I could see. “I wasn’t complaining, but Robin-ya is right, we should go.” What was he not complaining about? I squinted my eyes, thinking, it made him laugh since he stood up and simply said, “You, sleeping.”

 My mouth shape in an O, I snorted and shook my head, “It wasn’t half-bad. I’ll admit, you are a great source of heat, I’ll give you a nine out of ten,” I hummed as I stood up and brought everything back on the infirmary bed, Law was standing by the door, unmoving.

“Nine?” He asked.

“Well, I would give you a ten if not-“ His face turned sour, and his gaze turned to the ground. I don’t know what he expected me to say, but I continued, hoping to lighten his mood. “If not for the heat, it’s great, don’t get me wrong but it’s very, very hot, like a furnace. I’m sure you don’t even need blankets usually.” His expression changed to something close to relief as a small smile drew itself on his lips, but only for a short time.

“And you move a lot, yet you don’t hear me complaining, do you?”

“Hey, I’m just giving feedback here pal, I know I could never be as great as Bepo in term of pillow-quality.” I said with my hands raised in defense, but I was joking.

 A snort blew threw his nose and he opened the door, signaling me to follow him out of the infirmary. I kind of liked it when I made him laugh, I’m sure he found a lot of things funny, but having him show it was something that brought me great joy. He was kind of cute like that. I didn’t have time to reflect or daydream that Chopper came in rushing.

“Did you do anything? Did you- is everything still in place? You better not have broken anything or I’ll-“

I frowned in confusion, how would we have done that? We were sleeping, what was he thinking we had done? The reindeer stopped mid-sentence when he met Law’s gaze and apologized before scurrying off to his room. His panic was appeased when he saw that everything was exactly as he left them. Except perhaps for the bed, that was a bit messy. I never was great to make it proper looking, I never knew how military people did it so well… Or perhaps I was too lazy.

 “Does your infirmary often get,” I made a gesture with my hand, meaning messy, chaotic.

The Doctor shrugged, “Sometimes, they’re not fans of needles but- I meant, you and Law you… Nami said-“

“What she says is never to be trusted. She likes the chaos.” Law said over my shoulder, I thought he’d have left but he was probably curious as of why the reindeer was in utter frenzy when he came rushing in.

“We just slept together though, so what could-“ I stopped talking when the words left my mouth. Some things made more sense when said out loud, but that never meant they were better said out loud either. Like saying you slept with your captain. It sounded wrong.

 I threw a glance at my grumpy captain, my cheeks heating up. I said in realization, “Slept together.” Then huffed, “She- I swear to fuck, this crew is-“

“What do you mean?” he asked, still confused. I didn’t know if he was playing with me or if he was genuinely at loss.

So, I exhaled half-nervously half-tiredly, “She’s saying we fucked. Like, slept together in that sense of the term.” A glimmer of understanding struck his face and for a brief moment, he seemed flustered. But I could have been wrong, I did not have time to question him more that he shook his head.

“I can’t even believe everyone believes that, we weren’t even noisy or anything. It doesn’t make sense-“ A smug smile drew itself on my captain’s face.

“Does that mean you’re usually loud when you-”

“Both of you!! Out! It’s gross, you’re gross! I’ll tell Zoro you’re being weird!” Chopper said as he pushed me out of the doorway before slamming the door.

 I took it as an opportunity to ignore what Law had said, I don’t know why he said that but I was not going to have a conversation about that either. I decided to play it casual. We were still a few days from Dressrosa, which meant we had some time left to polish the plan until we arrived. It seemed the Straw Hat had no ability to focus on Law’s words, they did not seem to care much about the plan either. It annoyed my Captain to no extent; I could see it was getting on his nerves and eventually he blew up and yelled at them.

 It was a rare sight to see the Surgeon of Death lose his composure, the only time he would be anything but laid-back would be when he’d be taunting his enemies. Seeing him angry was very new and I was finding it to be an enjoyable sight. Perhaps it was because it made him more humane, or perhaps I just liked seeing his face contorted with something other than boredom. When he would lose his temper and just vent on the poor Straw Hat Captain, I would nudge his side and look at the map laid out on the deck, to silently tell him to continue. Sometimes it’d work, but most of the time he’d let it all out and the only response he’d get was a laugh from Luffy.

 I found myself enjoying the Straw Hat crew more than I expected, along the three people from Wano that boarded the ship. They were a rowdy bunch, for sure, and I would sometimes sneak off to find some quiet in random rooms of the ship, but on the whole they were great company with great stories to tell. It was interesting to hear their adventure, it made me realize we did not follow the same roads on the sea but it was just as perilous as our voyage.

 A few hours before arriving at Dressrosa, the plan was to call Joker, to tell him we had his partner, Caesar. The whole thing went down as you’d expect, the Straw Hats were not serious, Luffy was easily tempted with simple things. It forced Law to be on the call with Joker, he was filled with hatred, I could hear it in his voice and it sent chills running down my spine. Those chills persisted at the answers from Joker, he seemed to be relaxed on the other hand and yet his tone was serious and threatening. When Law hung up, he reminded everyone that giving them Caesar was but a distraction.

 The more we talked about what we should do once we arrive, the more I felt things would not go according to the plan. We knew full well this entire crew was made of free-spirited people, and while most of them knew how to follow orders, they would prioritize following their Captain no matter the circumstances. And he had close to no impulse control, which meant if you lost track of him it would be too late, things would go awry. Or as I liked to put it, from what I gathered, “Where Luffy goes, fuckery follows.”

 That was what frightened Law the most. He did not use those words exactly, he’d said “If he sneaks out of our sight, we’re screwed.” But the idea was there. I could not reassure him, and deep down we both knew everything will go shit, but I trusted Law, I knew he’d come up with something. He was smart and was able to come up with a plan in the heat of the moment, which saved us numerous times in our own adventure. Hence why I said, a few hours before we arrived on the island, that I’d say by his side, it’s not like I had chemistry with the other of the crew. Nor was I used to their fighting style.

 But the answer was not one I had expected.

“You’re not coming. You’re not stepping off of this ship.” He said off-handedly.

We were in the corridor on our way to the library for some relaxing time, away from all the noise. He did not stop when I did, so I gripped his arm tightly. He grunted and turned around, giving me a pissed-off look.

I held my head high and spoke clearly, “Bold of you to assume I’d listen to that shitty command.” He held my gaze, I hated the way he was looking at me. I did not deserve such angry look from him, I was not known for taking pointless orders and his made no sense.

“You’re only here because it was too late for you to go to Zo.” He explained, pulling his arm away from my grasp.

 “And since I’m here, I’m coming to fight. The more the merrier, right-“

He interrupted me with another frustrated sigh, his low voice reaching my ears, “I’ve given you an order, as your Captain-“

“As my Captain, what? I’m not one to just throw hands at nothing, but this makes no sense. You know full well I can be useful on the battlefield, as a member of your crew, you should trust me.”

He turned around and said, “My crew is smart enough to follow my order, if you’re not planning on doing that, then leave.”

What he said did not sit right with me, I don’t know why he said that but it hurt. I don’t know why I let it get to me, nor did I know why I reacted like that but as he walked away, I hurried to meet his pace and pushed his back with all my force.

 He stumbled forward, catching himself with his hand on the wall. He grunted my name in a warning tone, as he turned around.

“That shit fucking hurts Law, take it the fuck back.” I said with as much calm I could muster.

There was like a knot in my throat, my chest was tight and I could feel my body getting warm and yet I shuddered when he looked at me with this look. This look that meant he was not going to take it back, that he meant what he said, that I was acting stupid. I stared back at him then smiled. My head dipped forward as I tried my best to calm down.

“Alright. So, if I step out of this ship, I’m not part of the crew anymore?” His expression did not falter. He did not move.

 “Why don’t you want me on this? What-“ I paused and swallowed, feeling my throat tighten once more but I acted cool. “What can, I don’t know, a child that has no control over his devil fruit, bring more than I can? Uh?” He gritted his teeth and look to the side, not answering. I thought he respected my power, I thought it was enough. I already felt off joining their crew so late, but having him lose all trust in me the moment the rest of the team was not there, made my heart clench.

“Let’s start over, because you’re not an asshole, right?” I chuckled lowly and joined his side once more, ignoring the chilly feeling I felt next to him.

 I reiterated my sentence, “That’s why I’ll stay close by, ready for your new plan.” I casted a glance at my Captain and he seemed annoyed, his eyes focused in front of him as his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword. He muttered my name once more, it seemed to be said in a more tender manner than earlier but then I met his gaze, he was even more annoyed.

“When your Captain gives you an order, you follow it. If you don’t want to follow my order, you can serve under someone else.”

“Serve under someone else. Serve under someone else.” I repeated his words in pure bafflement, how could he say that? How could he tell me that I could leave, as if it was just some sort of side hustle?

 “This is not some sort of deal, I joined your crew because you were the ones that welcomed me-“ I pushed his chest firmly, once. “As a family,” again. “It’s not about serving anyone, it’s just-“ this time I hit my fist against his chest, he was not moving. “It’s a fucking adventure!-“

“This is not a kid’s game, it’s a life-threatening situation. And if you can’t understand that we’re pirates, not adventurers, then-“ I pushed him more strongly this time.

“I get it. Fuck you. I never saw this as a kid’s game, for someone who’s smart you can’t seem to grasp what I’m saying and it’s exhausting.” I think I heard him mumbled something, but he acted like he hadn’t said anything.

 “I’ll spell it out more clearly,” Taking a deep breath, I stared at the ground a moment then met his gaze, “You’re a fucking asshole for asking me to either follow your orders blindly or leave the crew, knowing full well I loved this crew like my family- but you know what? Maybe I was stupid and it was all pretend, was it?” Tell me no. Tell me we were all a big family, tell me I was enough. Tell me I fight good, and that you want me on this mission, tell me… tell me you love me… I was desperate.

 He looked away. This was more sombre than I thought it’d be but I understood.

“Right. Right, well.” I nodded.

It could mean a lot of things to just look away. But what I gathered was that being honest with me was too much to ask for. “We’ll be arriving soon. I’ll go get ready to join on the mission.” I moved away from him when he turned to face me with a shocked expression, saying my name in surprise.

“What? Did you think I’d just stay here? Because of your shitty ultimatum?” I asked with an exhausted smile. He did not reply, only staring. He was in genuine shock, not that it showed too much on his face, but I could see it was agape.

 Without an answer from him, I shrugged and made my way to the deck. Inside my head were so many thoughts. I was convinced he had a reason to do that, but he gave me an ultimatum I could not fathom. And while this new-found family was great, inside I was thinking that if I was on the battlefield, I could watch over him. If not as a crewmember, then as an ally at least. Never would I have stayed on this ship, but never would I have thought he’d give me such dilemma. Now I was a simple pirate, on a ship on my way to a fight that was not even mine, but I knew Law was about to get reckless, I just knew it. He was too involved in this situation, his pride is at stake, Cora’s pride was at stake. But maybe, at some point, his life will be at stake too, and I will be there to avoid such things.

 I wanted to find a dark room and cry. Even after that shitty ultimatum, I felt a pull. I wanted to stay with him, I still liked him, just because of that I took the only option that allowed me to watch over him.

“How fucking stupid is that.” I mumbled dryly to myself.

“What is?” The cook’s voice echoed right next to me. Without realizing it, I had made my way to the kitchen. Startled, I let out a soundless gasp and moved out of the way, telling him it was nothing.

“It’s not nothing, you look like you’re about to cry.”

“But I’m not, stop insisting.”

He hummed and puffed out some smoke before suggesting me a nice warm meal; which I did not refuse.

 Making my way to the table, I watched him wander about the kitchen as he cooked. It did not take him long to make something that could even warm up the Marine’s hearts. When I took a bite, I felt my chest lighten as I ate up, the cook was observing me with a small smile. I did not pay attention as I gobbled it down, switching with water from time to time to avoid choking.

 When I was done, he asked me once more what was troubling my mind. This time I chuckled dryly and shrugged, “I got kicked out of my crew, I guess?” He quirked a brow and asked for details, so I summarized it to something short, “Me wants to fight, Captain says no. I ask why not? He says, orders you stay on ship, you shouldn’t even be here in the first place. I say, but there’s a kid taken in consideration in the whole plan, you know?”

Sanji nodded, telling me to continue.

There was a small smile on his lips that ticked me off, I don’t know what was fun about this situation but I continued. “Then he basically said, that if I left the ship, I could leave the crew because I couldn’t follow orders.”

 Crushing his cigarette in the ashtray, the blond man hummed and leaned on his fist. “Did he say it like that?”

Shaking my head, I quoted both times he told me off and what followed. It still hurt to think about it, but I’m sure it’d fade soon. Maybe the Straw Hats would want me? Maybe I could join their crew. Looking at the man across from me, I saw the widening smile on his lips as he lit up another cigarette.

“And you’re asking me what I think-“

“No, I didn’t ask you anything, but you’re curious so go off.”

His eyes widened before continuing, “I think once this is all over and you’re both safe and sound, you should ask him again if you’re really kicked out of the crew-“

“I’m not doing that, he said what he said.” I spat, still hurt.

 Taping a finger on his chest, the cook added, “Or maybe, what he didn’t say.” I made a face at the blonde’s words, confused by his cryptic words. “There’s a lot he didn’t exactly say, so think what you will. But Robin-chan is right, you’re both idiots for sure.” He shrugged before rolling his sleeves once more and saying he’d have to prepare one last meal before we go fight. I stayed in the dining room, lost in thoughts while Sanji moved gracefully across the floor, I did not know his past or anything at all about the man except his famous reputation of fighting with only his legs; And yet from his movements I could tell he was very familiar with kitchens, in a professional way. Not all ships had the luck of having a real, good, cook aboard but theirs was almost god-sent.

 While daydreaming, my gaze lost in the direction of the blond, I was repeating Law’s words in my head. I tried to tell myself to stop and come up with a reasonable explanation, one was that he actually cared and wanted me safe but it sounded stupid. He was not emotional enough to be like that, and even if he did, he would have told me straight up. I pressed my palms to my cheeks and scolded myself, focus, focus, forget what he said, you don’t have time to overthink. Stay focus and everything will be fine, you’re still friends so it’s good. Yeah, mm, yep friends.

“Sanji! I’m hungry!! Oh-“ I stood up when I heard Luffy’s voice enter the dining room, and he stared at me with his big wide eyes in awe. Then turned towards Sanji and tried to snatch something, anything, from the burning pan, only to have his hand slapped away. Many times.

 “Hey, you should check up on your Captain, he looks even more stuck up than usual.” A short snort blew through my nose at the swordsman’s words. It looks like they were all arriving to eat whatever the cook was making.

“Well, have you seen his sword nearby? Maybe it’s up his ass?” I asked jokingly, patting his shoulder as I walked past him. A throaty laugh escaped his lips, he did not reply.

 I was tempted to not check up on him, out of pure spite. But I thought, no you’re mature, let’s see what’s up with him, and I did. He was sitting on the stairs on the deck, his sword between his legs, hands on the handle and forehead resting against the hands.

“Law. What’s going on with you?” He lifted his head, a red mark on his forehead from pressing it against his hands.

“Nothing.” He replied before turning his gaze away from me.

It sent something coursing through my vein, I wanted to react just like I did before and push him down, asking him to look at me instead of avoiding my gaze.

“Alright, you don’t want to talk. Do you need company then?” Yeah, that’s a good question, a good reply, polite and all that.

“No, you can go.”

 I scoffed, “Cute, earlier it’s ‘don’t you dare leave this ship’ and now it’s ‘you can go’,” I started, moving closer to him to crouch in front of him to get of glimpse of his eyes, “But funny enough, you’re not looking at me while saying any of those things.” I regretted saying all those things the moment they left my mouth, but I was bitter, I was still angry and hurt by his words. Now I was acting without thinking.

“Don’t.” He said in a warning tone, still looking away from me.

Nodding, I stood up once more, “Got it. Then at least act like you’re fine, the Straw Hats are worried.” I explained.

The next words that I heard shook me, “Are you?” he breathed, finally meeting my eyes.

 There was fear, determination, finality in his gaze. I hated it. It’s as if he was going to take Doflamingo down, no matter the cost, even if the price was his own life.

“To be honest, I am mortified,” I confessed, trying to look as composed as I could. “But even though you’re a bitch, I’m not letting you go out there alone. From what you’re telling me, you’re ready to go down with Doflamingo-“

“If it’s what needs to be done I don’t care-“ Telling him to shut up, I continued,

“But I care! I told everyone I’d watch over your ass, and I’m going to.” I said a bit too quickly, gripping the handle of his sword tightly before pulling it from his hands and crouching in front of him, frowning.

 “I don’t care that you’re ready to sacrifice yourself, because I’ll be there to stop it.” He was surprised for a second, then his brows were furrowed once more. I wanted to go back to our ship where everything was easier, but I knew this was only the beginning of something greater.

He sighed, “You better not mess with the plan-“

“Oh, I’m sorry, is this some sort of command? Because you made it very clear that I was not good enough for your crew.” I said with a spiteful grin, it earned me another baffled look from Law that changed back just as fast,

“I didn’t say-“

I interrupted him, “Cora’s will is important, but I find your life a bit more important. I’m sure you’ll excuse me for that.”

 We stared at each other for a moment, battling one another without word. I was trying to understand him, why he was acting so off but just staring at him would not help. If anything, it made the pull I felt towards him only stronger.

“It’s dangerous.” He stated, I could almost describe it as a desperate attempt to keep me here but I could not be sure.

“Hence why I’m coming with you.” I stood up and handed him his sword back, “You’ll need this,” I said, he grabbed my wrist and I stopped dead in my track, confused. He kept surprising me today, from being a complete asshole to a seemingly nice guy when he said, “Be careful.” Then people joined us on the deck and his demeanor changed completely, he let go of my hand and was back to the leader-like attitude as he repeated the plan to everyone.

 Once again, their focus was nowhere close to be on Law but was probably back in the kitchen from their recent feast the cook made. Some people were going to stay on the ship, others were told to go by teams in different places across the ‘country’. I was to stay near Luffy for when everything would go down, maybe to evacuate civilians that were in Luffy’s radius. I was told he made quite the damaged during fights, even more so since he trained with a man named Rayleigh.

“I don’t have a bounty; Do I need to disguise myself?” I asked, giving them a once-over and holding back from laughing at Law who had a fake mustache but still had his familiar coat and sword. Chuckling, Robin handed me a cap, that I put on reluctantly, making sure my hair was out of the way.

 “It looks good on you, don’t worry!” She said enthusiastically.

“I’m sure I could even rock the mustache, got any spare one?” I said jokingly. People laughed and gathered by the side off the ship as Nami moored the ship on the shore. We were as well hidden as we could with such a big ship, but I’m sure our submarine would have been a lot more efficient if stealth was the key. The Straw Hat captain, however, could not begin to understand the idea of discretion and jumped off the ship, yelling that they had arrived. It’s with difficulty that we quieted him down, and as Law reiterated them to be discrete and calm down, Luffy ignored him completely and took off.

 Observing everyone carefully, I saw Law approach Nami and hand her part of Bepo’s vivre card, telling her its use. It made everyone panic, asking what could go wrong, the black-haired man only shrugged in response telling them “Who knows.”

[Part 5]

[the-gay-prometheus]

Can we get a 2, 3, 11, 26 and 45 for Jack, the queen, the absolute madlad(lass)?

,,,How did I know *wheeze*

2 and 3. Relationship with her mother/father

>Jack had a great relationship with her mother and father! I guess we kinda need to dig into some backstory... so... might as well answer both 2 and 3 together and also tell her entire childhood story because why the hell not.

You can jot down that her place of origin was West Yorkshire, specifically in Shibden under tenancy of Shibden hall. Those of you who are aware of a certain person named Anne Lister will likely recognize this place, and yes I absolutely got the name Jack from "Gentleman Jack." Unfortunately Anne Lister wasn't even born until long after this Jack would have left, so the two never would have chanced to meet.

Her mother, Camellia Smith-Wyndham, and her father, Benjamin Wyndham, were tenants of Shibden farmland, specifically shepherds that raised sheep for wool. Jack was born as Sylvia Wyndham, and was an only child. She never really grew up with gender roles, her parents shared most of the work anyways, and pretty dresses weren't exactly great for helping tend to livestock, so she was always pretty masculine and neither of her parents minded so long as she helped them to get work done. Unfortunately, when Jack was about 10 years old, her father up and left. Yep. Just up and left with absolutely no warning - which seemed odd, because despite being often exhausted from work and worried about keeping the tenancy, he was a genuinely good dad who she was very close to! He was the one that inspired her love of stories and fascinations with mythical creatures, and also her interest in sailing since his own father was a sailor before retiring and acquiring a tenancy at Shibden. The truth was Benjamin had been unhappy - he didn't really love Camellia - not romantically anyways, but the two of them had been arranged in marriage and that just was the way it was. So despite loving his daughter very much, the moment he happened upon the opportunity to join a whaling crew while out in town one day, he up and left and never came back. Camellia and Jack were then forced to continue the work there on their own. While her father was the one to fill her head with stories and aspirations, her mother was always there to keep her grounded while still encouraging her to always be bold and speak up for herself. As soon as it was discovered that they were without a man in the family, though, they were kicked out of the tenancy and replaced. And thus, they moved to Scarborough. While Camellia worked on, well, finding work, Jack spent most of her time by the docks with the fishermen, who were amused by the way she acted and dressed and gladly accepted her company if not just to laugh at her. It was actually here that she gained the name Jack, as that's what the fishermen started to call her since she "might as well have been a man anyhow."

Unfortunately, her mother soon died of disease - I won't say what disease - and Jack was left to her own devices. She decided at that point that, considering she already dressed like a man and vaguely looked like a man and sounded like a young man, she might as well just be one if it meant finding work in her area of interest. Well - problem was that practically everyone in Scarborough knew she was actually a woman, but a few of the fishermen who took pity on her for her troubles decided she could get a job in repairing their sails since... "well women are good at sewing, right?" Turns out, she was actually damn good at it, and not only that, but she really enjoyed the work! She became fascinated by how something so simple as a big ol' piece of cloth could make such a difference in sailing, and it pretty much became her hyperfixation. Point is, she got so damn good at it that some of the fishermen recommended she travel down to London and come up with a full alias for herself so she could work as a sailmaker for much bigger ships.

And that's what she did! She became Jack Corbyn, and moved to London where she eventually became a sailmaker for the Royal Naval Dockyards, making and repairing sails for Navy ships. She worked there for a few years until she ended up getting kicked out (luckily only kicked out and not worse) after somebody who had discovered she was a woman made the mistake of threatening her and she may or may not have accidentally or maybe not so accidentally gotten him killed. She ended up moving down to work at the Chatham Dockyard, but everyone hated her there thanks to her very abrasive personality and she hated everyone there too! And uh. Well eventually finds her way to a certain sailor we all know and love.

And that's her whole life story! Bet you weren't expecting that.

11. Most afraid she's ever been

> Oh - oh you thought this would be about her scar? Hah. She likes to make everyone think the scar came from something scary but... actually it came from an accident involving a tree, a sword, and an ornery ram named Brian. Nothing scary, more embarrassing than anything.

The most afraid she's actually ever been was after the guy died at the Royal Naval Dockyards. She was absolutely sure that A. he had told others and others now knew which would then ruin her life and B. that she would be executed for it probably. Luckily that wasn't the case.

26. Behavior around children

>Uncomfortable as all hell around very small children, though very small children tend to like her because she treats them just about the same way she treats anyone else. Absolutely adores hanging around teens because they always seem to be the most interested in her stories while also being much easier to talk to without fear than younger kids (who she is slightly worried she might accidentally traumatize without thinking). In general though, kids of any age tend to absolutely worship her if they're either gullible enough or mischievous enough.

45. Belief in what happens after death

>Jack believes realistically that... nothing happens after death. You just die and your body is reclaimed by the earth and that's it. She's not necessarily afraid of it but she also isn't too keen on dying any time soon. That being said what she wants to believe is the story her father once told her about how when people die, their soul passes into a crow's egg if they lived their life to make no impact on others, a magpie's egg if they had a negative impact on others, and a raven's egg if they had a positive impact, and they are thus reborn over and over again as that kind of bird. It's that story that she actually took inspiration for her last name from "Corbyn" meaning raven 😌

[imjustthemechanic]

The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess Part 5/? - An Assassination Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - Face to Face Part 8/? - Deals, Details, and Other Devils Part 9/? - Baggage Part 10/? - Private Funding Part 11/? - Just Passing Through Part 12/? - Party of Four Part 13/? - Resolute Part 14/? - The Wreck Part 15/? - Body Snatchers Part 16/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 17/? - A Miracle Part 18/? - A Matter of Circumstance Part 19/? - Nome

Somebody probably should have warned Howard.

-

Peggy felt a need to wash her face again before she went back to the infirmary to see how Steve was getting along.  She didn’t doubt he’d be just fine, as he always was, but there was a part of her that really needed to see for herself.  Like Howard wanting to stay at the crash site, it would be a while before she felt sure he wouldn’t simply vanish if she turned her back.

She stood in front of the mirror and tried to fix her hair a little, but in the end decided that was a lost cause.  It had been days since she’d been able to wash up properly, and while the redness and swelling from Kay’s chemical spray had gone down, the windburn of the long, cold helicopter flight was still very visible, as were the effects of her recent bout of tears.  She had no fresh clothes to put on, and no makeup to cover anything. She looked grotesque.

So of course when she sat down by Steve’s bedside, he smiled at her and said, “you look beautiful.”

“I do not!” she snorted, “and I ought to thump you one for such a lie!”

“You can’t thump me, I’m a sick man!” Steve protested, and wiggled down under the covers trying to look pathetic.  It failed, of course.  He’d been sitting up and eating when Peggy entered the room.

“You’re as well as you’ve ever been in your life, Steve Rogers,” said Peggy, “and I believe the doctors will take my side on that!”

One of said doctors – sporting a picturesque black eye from the earlier fight – looked up from a clipboard.  “I wouldn’t say that,” he said, “but he’s well on his way to recovery. Amazing.”  He shook his head.  “Never seen anything like it.”

“I hear that a lot,” said Steve, but his smile was gone now. “It’s really been three years?” he asked Peggy.

She nodded.  “Yes, darling.  We didn’t realize you’d gone so far north.”

“Huh.”  He looked away.  “I can’t believe you kept looking for me that long.”

Peggy’s insides twisted.  “Well… we didn’t, honestly.  Schmidt was dead and Hitler shot himself just a few days later, but there was still the Pacific theatre, and…”  She swallowed.  “Howard found the cube and we locked that away, but after that the army wouldn’t fund the search anymore.”

“Oh,” said Steve.

She grabbed his hand.  “If we’d known you were alive, we would never have let it go that long,” she promised… though that probably didn’t reassure him.  He must be thinking what she had, wondering if he might have had to wait centuries or millennia.  At least he hadn’t heard Kay tell Peggy that seventy years would have been more than long enough.  “I’m so sorry, Steve, but… well, we thought you were dead.  After a few weeks in the arctic…”  They’d been certain that even Steve must have perished, if he hadn’t been killed instantly in the crash.

“Right, right.”  He nodded, and brought a hand up to her cheek.  “Don’t apologize, Peggy, it’s… you were right, I should have given you my position.  I saw the ground coming and I… at the last minute there…”  He swallowed hard.

Peggy shut her eyes as tears threatened to overflow again, and wrapped both her hands around his to squeeze it tight.  Nobody could have foreseen this.  Nobody but a woman to whom it was already the long-ago past.

“Did you ever find him?” Steve asked.  “I mean… Bucky?  Or…”

She knew if she opened her eyes she’d find him looking right into them… and she also knew they’d be full of desperate hope even as he already knew what the answer would be.  “I’m afraid not.  The valleys there are impassable most of the year…”

“The Russians found him,” said Kay.

Peggy hadn’t even realized she’d entered the room, but when she looked up, she found Kay standing at the end of Steve’s bed.  Her blonde hair was askew and flattened by her hat, and her face, too, was pink and puffy from crying, but she still looked better than Peggy did.

“They were in the area at the time,” she added. “They knew HYDRA had a route through there and they were looking for anything that might have fallen from the trains.  They didn’t know who he was, but they found him and took him back with them.  The dead HYDRA men, too.”

Steve nodded.  “That’s good… I’m glad somebody took care of him.”

“It’s not quite as simple as that,” said Kay, “but I’ll tell you more when you’re feeling better.”  She turned around, and walked out of the room.

Steve sat up a little, as if he planned to get up and follow her, but Peggy and the doctor both took hold of him and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.

“Steve, don’t, she won’t tell you anything until she’s ready,” Peggy said.

“Captain Rogers,” the doctor said at the same time, “you need to recover your strength.”

“I feel fine!” Steve protested, but he must have been tired, because he lay back down and rested his head on the pillow.  “Who is she?” he asked Peggy.

“I… I’m not entirely sure,” Peggy replied.  “I know she’s Russian.  She’s told me a story about her past but I don’t know whether to believe it.  She did know where to find you, though.”  Kay didn’t seem to be an enemy, but Peggy still wasn’t sure she really counted as an ally, either.  She definitely wasn’t a friend, though, there was no question about that.

Steve nodded.  “If she can tell us where his grave is…”

“I don’t know if that will be possible,” Peggy warned. “The relationship between the US and the USSR has deteriorated a bit.”

She wondered if she should have phrased it that way. Would Steve wonder if other relationships might have deteriorated?  He now knew how long he’d been gone…

His thoughts must have been tending in that general direction, because the next thing he said was, “I know I’m late… but is there any chance we could still make that dance?”

Peggy ducked her head as if to hide a blush – but really to hide the tears that were welling up again.  “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised.  But even that was a lie, wasn’t it?  How could she have that long-delayed dance with Steve when she’d found somebody else?  Daniel wouldn’t begrudge her one dance, but would he believe her if she promised it would only be one dance?

She couldn’t tell Steve about Daniel yet.  Not when he’d only just awakened and had so many other things to catch up on, but the longer she waited the harder it would be.

- 

The Valiant had to return to its normal route patrolling the arctic ocean, so a couple of days later, when the doctors were satisfied that Steve wasn’t about to suddenly collapse, he, Masters, Peggy, and Kay were loaded into a small plane to take them to Nome, Alaska.  The crew of the carrier turned out in their dress uniforms with a band playing to send them off, and somebody had made a Welcome Back Captain America banner to hang from the ship’s superstructure.  Steve smiled awkwardly and waved to them as he climbed into the plane.

“Get used to it,” Peggy murmured to him.  “I imagine there’ll be a very similar reception waiting for you when we reach the mainland.”

“Oh, several of them,” Kay agreed.  “You’re going to have to make a cross-country tour.”

“Great, something to look forward to,” said Steve sarcastically.

“You’ve never liked being fussed over,” she observed.

“When I was little it usually meant they thought I was going to die,” Steve told her.

The plane took off into a clear blue arctic sky, heading southwest over Alaska to get to the town of Nome.  Steve sat looking out the window, but he kept his hand in hers, and she couldn’t help looking at him.  The cuts and bruises she’d helped him with after the train were healing quickly, as they always did.  In a couple more days they’d be gone.  There was already no trace to show he’d spent three years frozen in the sea ice. Physically as well as mentally, he hadn’t aged a day.

Peggy had been a year younger than him when he’d left. She wondered if she would now be considered two years older.

He glanced back and noticed her staring, and she quickly turned her head.  “Sorry,” Peggy said.  “I just… can’t quite believe you’re real.”

One of the things they hadn’t been sure of, one of the things Erskine had never been able to test, was the question of whether somebody who’d had the serum would age normally.  Not enough time had passed to see whether Steve was getting older, but the fact that he’d survived this latest ordeal made it seem unlikely that time could touch him.  What would happen if in twenty years, Peggy had gotten older and Steve had not?

During the war they’d both been ready to deal with that as it came.  Steve probably still was.  Peggy wasn’t so sure.

“What about you?” she asked, trying to distract herself from that uncomfortable thought and the problems surrounding it.  “What are you looking at out there?”

“Nothing, exactly,” he said.  “I’m just… thinking.”

“About what?” Peggy asked.

“About what Buck would have said if he were here. He, uh… he would have told me I’m an idiot,” Steve said with an embarrassed smile.  “He would have told me that if I’d given it a few more days I would have realized I didn’t want to die, and he’d be right.  In the last few seconds when I knew the water was coming in, I tried to get out.  But I couldn’t.  He wouldn’t have wanted me to die.”

“I could have told you that,” said Peggy.

“I’m surprised you haven’t yet,” said Kay from the seat behind them.

“I was saving it for when the initial joy wore off,” Peggy replied.  “Then I was going to give him a real earful.”

Kay giggled, but Peggy had to suppress a shudder.  His last thought being that he didn’t want to die after all, only for him to wake up and find he was alive but three years had gone by without him… that had to be enough of a shock.  Three years, however, was merely a hiatus – seventy was a lifetime.  She rearranged her fingers, lacing them through his, and wished Kay hadn’t painted quite so vivid a picture of it.

- 

There was no fanfare waiting for them in Nome, to Steve’s obvious relief.  When they landed on the little airstrip, there was nobody there to meet them but a few more military men, and Howard and Jason.  The ramp came down, and Kay was the first off the plane, followed by Peggy and Steve.  Howard was so happy to see any of them that he ran up to give Kay a hug.

“What do they feed you Russian girls to make you indestructible?” he asked.

“Various experimental versions of the super-soldier serum,” Kay replied.

Howard blinked and then held her out at arm’s length again to examine her facial expression.  She remained entirely deadpan, but after a moment he decided she was joking, and laughed awkwardly before turning to hug Peggy.

“I think you’re just too stubborn to die,” he said.

“Damned right,” Peggy agreed.  “I have far too much to do.”

He responded with a more genuine laugh and hugged her again, while Jason happily greeted Kay.  Steve had stood back for this, but then came up to take his turn saying hello to Howard, on the assumption that his friend was expecting him.

Peggy had assumed this as well.  She hadn’t told Jason that Steve was alive, but Captain Lewis must have radioed ahead to have somebody there to meet them, and would have surely told that person.  And since Peggy had told Lewis that Howard and Jason would be there as well, it seemed reasonable to her that one of the military men would have spoken to them.

Evidently this was not true.  Steve stepped forward with a smile on his face, clearly expecting a hug of his own, and said, “Howard!  Good to see you!”  But instead of returning the greeting, Howard stopped cold.  The colour drained from his face, and then his legs simply folded up underneath him.  If Peggy hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen face-first onto the asphalt.

“Is he okay?” one of the soldiers asked.

Peggy lay him down gently and took his pulse. “He’s out cold,” she said.  “I think he’ll be fine.  Does anyone have any smelling salts?”

One of the soldiers went to fetch some from the first aid kit on the airplane, while Steve and Peggy carried Howard’s unconscious body into a car so they could lie him down comfortably.  Once that was done, Steve stepped back and looked at Jason, somewhat worried about what his reaction might be.

“Captain,” said Jason.  “Dr. Jason Wilkes.  I work for Stark Industries.  I saw you once or twice during the war, but we never actually met.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Wilkes,” said Steve.  They shook hands.

The smelling salts brought Howard around, gagging. “What happened?” he groaned. “Peg?  I thought I saw…”

“You did,” Peggy told him.  “Steve’s alive.  He’s here.”

Howard sat up a bit to see Steve looking over Peggy’s shoulder, and after a moment in which he could only sit there with his mouth hanging open, he began to grin.  “Well, son of a gun!”

[and-the-world-is-quiet-here]

Ballad of a silent songbird.

I done did a fanfiction and you cant stop me

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982632 

The water brushed against her heels as she flew along the corridor, desperate to escape the cold tide that threatened to swallow her whole. She had to get out--- She had to save the crew. Both thoughts called to her, fighting for dominance.

She Took a second, It was a quick decision, she would rather die then leave someone to face the darkness alone, not again.

She burst passed the galley just as the ship gave out, fully submerging the hold into the cold, dark, water. The tide rushed into the hallway nearly pulling her along in its wake. She only just managed to grab the edge of a door frame when she heard the cries.

“Help! Help!”

She swum wildly. Plucking captives from the jaws of death and delivering them to the final clear staircase.

It should have been simple, an in and out hijacking, but the captors chose to blow up the ship rather than surrender.

She hated criminals.

Especially dumb criminals.

More screams echoed through the hallway. It was a captor, not a hostage. Batman would tell her to leave it. But she couldn't, no, she wouldn't leave him.

“Batgirl do you copy?”

One click for yes

“The ships going down in about a minute, I need you back on deck.”

2 clicks for no

“Batgirl, everyone's accounted for.”

2 clicks

“Really? The captor? It's fine he's non-compliant, leave him!”

Click, Click.

She let go of the frame. The rough edges of the wood slipped from her grasp as she got swept along with the tide. She slid wildly down the hallway as the ship careened to the side. With both hands she clutched to a grate, peering through to find the captor pulling frantically at a tipped filing cabinet that blocked the door.

With a powerful kick she broke through, allowing him to swim freely towards the entrance.

He was safe, everyone was accounted for.

But She could not leave. She froze, all she could do was cling to the air vent and watch the water rise.

She could leave

She should leave

She would not leave.

Panic and exhaustion took hold. Would it really be that bad to die here? To succumb to the water? All her life it had haunted her, lapping at the edge of her heels, a constant presence in her mind. It was the giver and taker of her short life. Not quiet an enemy but never, never a friend. To die a hero's death, with Batman waiting above the surface, did not seem like such a bad thing. A much easier thing to do than swim all the way back up there. To allow the water to touch her for the sake of others was one thing, but to do it for herself?  It seemed impossible. “Batgirl? Batgirl do you copy?”

Her hands clung to the grate.

To move them was to die.

She did not copy.

“Batgirl? Batgirl?” His voice grew louder and she looked up. He was there, across the room clinging to the same frame that she had held on to only moments earlier.

“Batgirl, come.” She could not

“Move Cass! Come on, come with me!” She was stuck unable to live, yet somehow unable to let herself die. She didn't respond and he left, of course he did, she meant nothing, she was unlovable.

“Go!!” Her mind screamed.

“Stay.” Her heart whispered.

She should leave, but why? This water had chased her; her entire life, If It was so insistent upon her death, she must deserve it. Oh, and to stay was so much easier.

She would have stayed

she could have stayed.

If a hand had not brushed her leg. A pale, white, dead, hand. A captor who had died of his own violation. Crushed in his escape, by the same cabinet that nearly drowned his friend. Leaving only the pale white arm visible, it touched her again, gracing her calve gently. She looked down and fled, fast. Diving into the water she swam to the top deck. The ship was nearly fully submerged, she barely made it to the raft before it sank below the water, giving out a loud shriek before it disappeared below the inky black forever.

She started to shake. The tingle of a better forgotten memory whispered in the back of her mind. She grasped the edge of the raft, allowing herself to be pulled up by Batman before collapsing onto the floor.  

White light danced across her vision like lanterns, flying in the wind, The lanterns….. She really began to shake, great trembling waves took hold of her boody and the world grew unsteady at her feet. The ground gave out, and she could faintly hear the whispers of a distant reality “Seizure….Completely silent….Weirdest crap I've ever seen….Batgirl? Batgirl? Batgirl it's your da..It's Batman, I need you to say something.”

A lifetime of memories waltzed in and out of her vision, it was a coordinated dance of life and death, swirling in a downward spiral,

A window, A beach, Drowning, Gasping, Living, Dying, Pink dresses, a little sun hat and yellow ribbons, Dancing, A little girl with curly brown hair, Lanterns, A classroom, A kind smile and the smell of burning flesh, Death, Death, Death, More death, So much death, Far to much death, The docks, Her own death, A fall and blackness.

She awoke to an empty boat, and a pair of silent white eyes staring at her. The police met them at the docks, and she waited in the nearby Batmobile as Batman talked. More silence and fretting on the drive back to the manor. She was too tired to do anything other than listen and allow herself to be carried and cared for like a child. For the first time since no man's land, the entire family gathered together at the manor.

Cass never got hurt, never got scared, never stumbled. Yet their pillar of strength had fallen, the facade of stone had crumbled to reveal a fractured china doll beneath. She was broken, worthless, a monster, she tried to warn them and she was hushed, now she was a failure. She deserved none of this, yet she didn't fight it and instead chose to drift off into the blissful darkness.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 65

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

I rolled up on Seventh Heaven with a backfire or two from my bike. It was starting to become familiar to me. I walked inside to see Avalanche around and getting ready for the operation.

I handed Bisque his new weapon and harness and he grimaced. He took his current one off and put on the new one. "Any advice on how to use it?"

"No. It's a gun. I don't like guns. What's hard about point and click?"

"More than you think," he returned. Fair enough. A lot went into a sword fight, too.

"So… what's the plan, Cloud?" Wenge asked.

I pulled my explosives from behind me and juggled them a little.

"Should you be handling explosives like that?" Wenge asked again.

"Probably not. But I'm not a little bitch . I'd survive. The plan is to set the deck on fire and teleport onboard with Neo. We let them evacuate, we kill robots, we put a hole in the hull. Pretty simple."

"No killing," Bisque said.

"No killing," I agreed. "We'll make that shit look easy, too."

"Let's just hope Taurus agrees," Jasper muttered. "He was insisting on being involved when he was last here."

"Good. We could use another killer on deck," I said.

"No killing?" Wenge asked. His voice came out a whinge.

"No killing, but," I drew out the noise, "we could always use another professional. Y'all are amateurs. You could die. Taurus will take a bite out of those robots, chew on ‘em, and spit them out."

"Well aren't you Mr. Take Charge," Jasper came up and wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled herself close to me.

"Well I have to be. None of you know what the fuck you’re doing and could die." I disentangled myself from her and stepped to the side. Her aura at that range tasted of blueberries. It was a delicious flavor, though, not one I would have thought myself partial to.

We wouldn't be a good idea, Jaune. Remember that. You're probably not a good idea for anyone.

I let the self depreciating thoughts rule me. It was better that way. I allowed the familiarity of it to relax me. Someone getting close to me like that had made me tense.  

Neo waltzed up from beside me and put both her elbows on the counter and leaned her head down on her hands.

"Are you feeling alright Neo?" I asked.

She gave me a tired thumbs up. She might just be sleepy. She'd be awake when it came time to work.

"So how have you been handling the training?" I asked.

"I'm sore." Wenge stretched. He twisted side to side.  

"You're a monster, Cloud," Jasper informed me. "What's a girl got to do to make you take it easier on her?" Her fox tail swished behind her in red and white. Up and down it went. I tried not to stare at her behind, or close to it. It drew the eye, though.

"Not ask me for help with it for one. You think you're up for this? Not too beat up?"

"I'm all ready," Jasper said. She flexed a bicep at me as though that would prove it. I chuckled a little at her antics.

"Me too," Wenge echoed her. He didn't flex, though.

"How about you Bisque?" I asked.

"I'm green. This ought to help. Thanks Cloud." He checked the chamber of his new pistol expertly. He was getting used to the new mechanisms as we spoke.

He examined the loaded magazines and strapped them to a bandolier on his person.

"I have more ammunition for it. You shouldn't need it for this operation. Leave most of the robot killing to me, Neo, and Taurus."

"Hey Cloud, you're not really, um, going to kill Taurus are you?" Wenge asked.

"I might have to. He's unwilling to play the game."

"And what game is that? The drug game? We don't play that either," Jasper said. "You haven't threatened to kill us yet, though."

"You still play along with it. You play the information brokerage game. You still play like your lives matter and you don't kill just because it might be the easiest option. Taurus doesn't. It's his way or the highway. That makes him unreliable for anything other than his agenda."

"I think I get it," Bisque said. "You can't threaten him. You can't barter with him. He's not like you. You're willing to compromise. He's not."

"Exactly. He doesn't do business. I do. A lot. I trade favors, I sell my skills. He's not about that life."

The bar door jingled and Taurus came striding in. His white mask on, katana by his side.

"Speak of the devil," I said.

He snorted. "What's the plan to take down the ship?" He asked. No beating around the bush. No chit chatting. He was straight to the point.

I held up one of the explosives. "We've got two of these. We're going to plant them on the inner hull." I flicked open the map of the ship on my scroll and showed the group where we'd be setting up the bombs. "I go in first with a fireball to set up the evacuation of the people onboard. Then Neo teleports the rest of you to the deck. One of us stays behind and watches the vehicles. That'll be you Wenge."

"It would be easier and quieter to kill the guards. They'll set off an alarm. We'll only have minutes," Taurus growled.

"Which is why we'll work fast. Neo will teleport us back out. Once we reach the rendezvous point, that is. Here near the command deck."

I pointed out the deck of the ship I was referring to on my map.

"We fight through any machines that stay onboard and get in our way. In and out, five minutes."

Taurus looked at my face and that of Avalanche. "It would be easier to kill the crew."

"No killing. None," Bisque said. "This isn't the White Fang. This is Avalanche. If you can't handle that, you're out."

He had guts talking to Taurus like that. Adam could rip his guts out and show them to him. The only thing stopping him was a tenuous alliance.

"Anyone I knock out will go down with the ship when we sink it. It would be more merciful to kill them," Taurus said. I winced. I'd used similar logic before. It wasn't a far leap for me to see his side. And the operation would be easier if we killed the sentries. But Avalanche had rules and I made the plan live within them.

"We'll give them plenty of time to get off the ship. We've got a teleporter on our side," Bisque shot back.  Adam hunched over his weapon like he might draw it. He coiled like a spring, ready to strike with alarming speed. I made myself stand relaxed. If he attacked I'd just have to deal with it.

Neo had spun around on her stool when Adam had walked in. She gave a slow barely perceptible nod when she was brought up.

"Very well," Adam grunted. He uncoiled slowly. But he was no less dangerous. I was sure he could draw his weapon fast enough.

"Then it's settled. We'll only have minutes between when the fires start and emergency responders show up. We'll need to be fast and split up. Neo and Bisque will make up one team. Jasper, Taurus, and I will be the other."

I gave one of the bombs to Bisque. "The bombs are both hooked up to my scroll. I'll set them off once we're clear. Any questions?" I asked.

No one had any. They just stared at me in silence.

"Then let's get started."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

The smog of the town refracted the sunset. Casting red and orange light all across us as we drove. Me and Neo were on my bike and all the others piled into Avalanche's truck.

When we came up on the docks I jumped off the bike and hung in the air. I crushed a dust crystal and cast a fireball forward. It splashed in and through the top deck of the ship we were targeting. The White Whale was bold across its side. It's name wasn't the important part of the story. The cargo was the real focus.

Almost immediately an alarm started to blare and red lights flashed in a cyclic fashion that glinted mutely compared to the fading dusk sun.

I didn't land back on the bike with Neo. Instead I glid forward on the air currents and landed on the deck of the ship. I hid behind a mooring station as people rushed past my hiding place and off the ship. Some took to the plank that led down to the docks and others made for the lifeboats.

I let them past me without making a sound from where I hunched down. There was a shattering sound as Neo appeared next to me with Bisque, Jasper, and Taurus.

The alarm wailed for a moment and no more people came rushing up. Machines began to come from beneath deck and put out the fire with extinguishers.

Adam snarled and rushed them. He cut through them with ease, sheathing and redrawing his weapon as he moved. I got my first look at his style then as he side-flipped in place and cast his blade through the machines.

I gave them all a nod and we worked our way beneath deck. Our two parties split up.

We came across more of the small humanoid mechs and I crushed them with my bare hands where they got in my way.

I drew my long sword and I stabbed through a robot's head. I swung to the side as much as I could in the tight quarters and cut another in half at the waist.

I kicked another to the ground as I descended the stairs and I crushed it's chest under my boot. These machines really stood no chance against me. Most were still armed with fire extinguishers rather than sleek Atlesian rifles. They reminded me of ants. They were responding to only one emergency at a time.

It was easy to destroy these smaller robots and there wasn't really the room for bigger ones beneath the hull.

I came across our planting location and began to plant my bomb. I set it against the outside hull and pressed a few buttons on it. A green light flashed and it was good to go.

We ascended back through the ship once more. We got to the command deck and here there was room for larger mechs and for fighting.

I slashed my way through a robot and felt my semblance activate. I pulled my shield from my back. The titanic broad mobile cover allowed me to protect myself from a firing squad of robots and make my way up on them.

I cut through wave after wave of the Atlesian droids. A massive spider bot dropped from the ceiling. I flew at it and Cross-Slashed it before it could do us any real harm. It fell into smouldering pieces with the wires exposed and flickering.

An explosion rocked the ship and I stopped moving. Something was wrong. The ship began to tilt. Something was beyond wrong.

We fought for a moment longer and Bisque came up on us. He was carrying Neo who was singed and soaked both.

"Your bomb went off on her," he said. "I don't think she's going to be able to teleport us out."

I rushed over and put a hand on her face. "Neo…" I murmured.

She opened one eye and looked up at me. She rubbed her face into my hand and sighed a little. She'd be okay. She'd have to be.

A thousand apologies were on the tip of my tongue. I fucked up. I thought my bomb was set up fine but instead it just went off. There was some irony in this. In her getting hurt instead of me when I was the one who deserved it by screwing up.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her.

She smiled and nodded.

I deserved to be the one hurt. I'd been so flippant with those bombs. Instead it was Neo who took the explosion. It should have been me.

She leaned into my palm firmly. I drew back. I felt shaky.

"Keep carrying her. We'll make for the docks. Past the fires-"

"You turned on us, I knew you couldn't be trusted," Taurus prowled up on me nice and slow. More like a cougar than a bull. He had his hand on the hilt of his weapon but it still wasn't drawn.

"Me?" I asked. "How would I benefit from our plan getting fucked. The part where I almost lost Neo? Damn it!"

The ship tilted a little more. Taurus's footing remained sure.

He growled and paced into my range. I stepped back and fronted on him. I drew my broadsword against him.

He slashed at me, drawing his weapon from the scabbard lightning fast. I blocked and activated my semblance. I swept upon him with a glowing blue light.

"Wait, you two! We're still on the freighter. The whole thing is sinking, can you really afford to be fighting?!" Jasper called out.

"Let's find out," I whispered.

"I've had enough out of you, human," he said.

Our blades met between us in rapid horizontal strikes. He quickly sheathed his sword and drew it out again in a dancing fast motion which swept all across my body as he side-flipped in place.

I blocked it all. Then I hit him with my baseball style swing, shoulder to waist with my hips turned into the motion and a shout on my lips.

The blow sent him flying back when he blocked it. And he'd been upside down in mid flip as I swung it at him.

He landed neatly despite the brutality of my attack. He pulled his sheath from his side and fired at me. Shotgun pellets buzzed past my head and I floated into a roll. My hand outstretched to get a grip on his collar.

He backed up and swatted at my hand with his blade and twisted. He fired off two more shots from his shotgun. One hit me in the shoulder and made me falter and the next hit me in the stomach and made me gasp.

He sheathed his weapon and blurred at me in a wide strike in the tight confines of the ship we hardly had room to fight like I wanted and our blades scored trenches in the metal around us.

I front-flipped in a tight fashion and brought my blade down on him in a wave of blue. He stepped to the side but I side kicked him, then I roundhouse kicked him, then I brought my blade around at his head in a tight arc which clipped his stomach and made him grunt.

He slid back and I approached him with a back flip. It was an empty hop, all aggression with zero commitment. He held out his blade partially sheathed to block but I just landed in front of him and waited for his block to drop.

Then I Cross Slashed him. He wasn’t ready for it. They never were ready for it the first time. He blocked the first two lightning fast slashes. But the next three lit him up. It flung him down the corridor of the ship and deeper inside.

He approached me again, faster this time because I didn't have Limit Breaker. He unsheathed his blade as quick as a bullet and slashed at me. Then he slapped me in the face with his hard sheath.

I growled and pressed on.

"Go. Take Neo and get yourselves out of here," I ordered. She was at the forefront of my mind. My slip up could have killed her. Even as I fought my mind raced to find the point where I might have fucked that bomb's construction up.

It must have been somewhere and it must have been costly.

It was distracting me in this life or death battle.

"But-" Bisque started. He and Jasper hovered to the side of Adam's and my battle.

"Don't worry about me, just go! Get Neo somewhere safe. Tell her I'm sorry."

I held my ground and Taurus's and my swords met a half dozen times in a matter of a second. Then we seemed to pause with his blade sheathed once more, me with my weapon back over behind my head, ready for a massive overhead.

Then we flickered out again and that impossible moment broke. He came at me from the side. I blocked and sent my blade in a wide sweeping diagonal cut.

He deflected it and came back at me in an overhead slash that tore into the ship above his head. I countered and riposted but I was finding the amount of room I had to move within the bulkheads lacking. I slashed at him diagonally and he twisted to the side and put a firm boot against my chest. He pushed against me.

I stumbled back a step. The ship tilted more to one side as we fought. I came at him again with my enormous weapon making his look like a toothpick. I cut at him twice horizontally, once from each direction. He blocked both by holding his weapon vertically and shielding himself behind it.

He sheathed his weapon and drew it once more in a flash and came at me with a narrow front-flip. He cut me shoulder to hip and I was forced back a little more.

I gave a narrow rolling side-flip. I slashed at him again and cut his chest once more. I tore at his red aura. Ripping away at it, I landed neatly on my feet inside of his range.

He cut me a half dozen times. I had over extended and his cuts came like flashes. They swept over me from seemingly every direction.

I got out of it by kicking him hard in the side of the knee. He came twisting down and I kneed him in the face hard. Unable to bring my weapon to bear against him I grabbed him by the collar and threw him up into the bulkhead and slammed him down into my knee.

I charged in place for a moment. Storing a little bit of time away where I saw the opportunity, I hesitated mid-fight.

I dragged my weapon around and he slashed forward knocking it aside and cutting me across the chest again.

In that moment I became Limit Broken. We'd traded enough hits that I crossed the damage threshold alarmingly quickly. I came at him in my Limitless state. He swept under a bulkhead, around and stabbed at me. I easily blocked to one side. He furiously cut at me and I blocked each and every single one of his strikes in turn.

He did a tight back-flip and slashed at me. He caught me across the chest and ripped a chunk of my aura out. He shuffled back a step.

Then I Limit Break blade beamed him. He quickly sheathed his weapon and left it partially uncovered. He absorbed it into his weapon. The energy went from deep blue to crimson. It crackled for a moment.

There was a moment where he grinned at me beneath his mask. In that second I knew I'd fucked up again. Maybe just as bad as when I got Neo hurt.

He lit my world up.

Taurus slashed at me and released a beam of red energy that washed through the bulkheads and my aura. The world was painted red and black for a terrifying moment as he slashed forward.

It opened my chest and pierced right through my aura. It left my golden aura bubbling off to the side of the cut. The attack flung me back and my head slammed hard into a wall.

The ship was sinking quickly now and I was bleeding all over the floor. I drew my scroll and with a press I set off the second charge as Taurus paced towards me like a tiger.

The explosion shook the ship once more. Taurus stumbled. It was enough.

And like that I ran. I flew away and up stairs. I made it to the top deck with Taurus hot on my heels. I hovered to the slipping bow and I jumped. I floated away, my half cape fluttering behind me.

I flew all the way to one of the buildings near the docks and collapsed on a roof.

I watched Avalanche's truck make it's get-away. They left my bike behind. That was fair enough, I suppose. I felt a touch delirious. Blood loss can do that to you. I examined my chest wound. I'd probably need stitches. It would have been worse if not for my armor.

I was slipping into unconsciousness. I tried to hold on desperately but I was hurt pretty badly. I leaned against a wall and I collapsed.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[dusky-dancing]

The Prince and the Pirate - CH 4

For SoKai Week - Day 4

Story Summary: Sora finds himself far away from the walls of the Radiant Garden he's known his whole life, kidnapped by a rowdy group of pirates whose captain is as alluring as she is mysterious. What he thought was a simple hostage negotiation turns into an adventure that Sora couldn't have anticipated. He doesn't know which is worse, not knowing what's up ahead, or liking it that way.

Rating: T

Genre: Romance, Adventure, Pirate AU

Length: ~ 1500 words

——————————————————–

Links for story navigation:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

——————————————————–

Sora was used to having his sleep interrupted by sudden turbulence, but something about the jolt that woke him that night felt different, more forceful. The cold water suddenly dripping on his face made going back to sleep right away more difficult.

Another blow, followed by shouts from the deck above, sent him onto his feet. He hadn't been the only one either, as the rest of the crew members shared his expression of worry and confusion.

On the deck, the first thing that greeted him was the heavy rain. Within seconds, all of his clothes became soaked straight through, but another sight soon took his full attention: a giant tentacle splayed across the deck, alive and thrashing wildly.

"Captain, what's happening?" Biggs shouted.

"I don't know, monsters have never attacked my ship!" Her voice came through, bringing him some strange sense of relief. He tore his eyes from their intruder to find her clinging to the shrouds on the other side of the deck, dodging and stabbing at another tentacle. "Don't just stand there," she shouted, "grab a sword and free your ship!"

Sora didn't have to be told twice. Weeks ago, he'd thought he'd be fighting to free himself, not help the ones who'd kidnapped him, but now he didn't have a choice. Summoning his Keyblade for the second time on the ship, he finally put his skills to use against the nearest appendage. It was large, covered in slime, and filled with muscle, but not impossible to fight. It nearly took all of his agility to dodge its swipes, but with enough hits it eventually retreated.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief, until two more took its place.

As he prevented another from damaging the ship further, he was both curious and terrified to see the creature they belonged to.

Soon, his back hit another's, and a giant feather dangled in his face. He blew it away and turned to find Kairi back to back with him.

"Putting that gift of yours to use, I see," she shouted over the rain.

"Feels good to actually use it. Are the kids-?"

"They're safe as long as we're afloat."

The dread weighing on Sora's heart lifted slightly, though staying afloat against a creature like this seemed difficult. "You know what this thing is?"

"I've never seen something this big before!" From her heavy breathing, she'd been fighting just as hard as he had.

With the ship free of two more tentacles, they had a brief window, but as he turned to her, she held nothing but a fierce determination in her eyes.

"Hold on!" she shouted, and he quickly grabbed for the nearest rail, this time knowing what to anticipate.

Her movements now resembled less like a graceful wave and more like a cracking whip. She drew her arms up and thrust them forward, driving the ship out of the monster's grasp. Several crates flew off the deck from the force, and the ship rocked heavily to level with the waves once more.

They were freed for the time being. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge used the opportunity to prepare the cannons, while Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all worked to fix the masts and sails.

Sora and Kairi could see the monster moving underneath the waves towards them, but instead of grappling the ship once more, it rammed the side of the hull, sending everyone on the deck to the floor. Sora lurched over the edge, thankful he'd still been gripping the railing. Whatever this thing was, it was huge, and it was determined to kill them.

As Sora found his footing once more, a massive form overshadowed the already dark night on the deck. He glanced back, only to come face to face with a monstrous squid rising out of the sea. Its large head lobbed forward, and though he couldn't tell one part of its body from another, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was fixated on him.

"It's...the Kraken," Kairi muttered beside him.

Sora froze, and a deep primal fear overtook him. Sure, he'd fought people and smaller monsters on occasion in his sheltered upbringing, but never something this large. And certainly never from such a vulnerable position.

His eyes grew wide, focussed on nothing but the large beak that gaped hungrily between its appendages. A sudden force struck him from the side and pulled him flat onto the deck. When he blinked back to his senses, Kairi was hovering over him. It wasn't until a large tentacle struck where he last stood that he realized she'd saved his life amidst his stupor.

"-out of it, Sora!" He registered that she was shouting at him and tapping his face. "Gather your courage and fight!"

"Right," he shook his head and was back on his feet in an instant. Resummoning his Keyblade, he fought off his assailant and regarded Kairi once more. "You said you never get attacked. I...I think it's after me."

Sora hadn't the slightest idea why the Kraken would be after him, but Kairi didn't seem surprised at all by his suggestion. A light switched on behind her eyes, but she said nothing.

Sora may not know how he was involved in all of this, but Kairi did. And she wasn't telling him.

There was no time for questions and answers, as the Kraken withdrew and circled the ship again.

"It's going to ram the ship again!" Selphie shouted.

"The hull can't take another hit!" Wakka said. "We won't survive this thing."

Kairi's eyes fell, and Sora felt the dejection in her heart. Everyone they'd just rescued, not to mention the rest of the crew, were all at risk. Maybe the ship wouldn't survive another hit, but Sora could take the fight off of the ship. If the Kraken was truly after him, then maybe he could lead it away from everyone else.

Sora took a deep breath and climbed onto the railing, gripping a main line for support.

"What are you doing?!" Kairi shouted, stepping toward him. All eyes turned to him.

"You were right, Kairi, I needed something heroic to fight for. If that thing really is after me, then maybe I can lead it away while you all escape."

"You could die!" Selphie shouted.

Sora glanced down to Kairi and nodded. Frustration and sorrow filled her eyes, but she stayed silent.

"If this is the only truly heroic thing I do in my life, then I'll be satisfied."

Kairi stepped closer, but before she could reach out to stop him, he plunged into the ocean.

The cries and shouts that followed were quickly muffled underneath the thrashing waves. In the distance, a large mass barrelled towards the ship. He didn't have much time. Using his Keyblade, he propelled himself deeper just as the mass passed underneath him. He crashed into the monster with enough momentum to push it off of its course. It let out a fierce cry.

Sora took the opportunity to close in and slice at its appendages. If inexperience threatened him above surface, the drag of water weakened him beneath it as well.

A tentacle quickly wrapped around him and thrashed him around in the water. He could last a long time in the water, but he couldn't stay under forever. Suddenly it stopped, and the massive form faced him in the water. Its head reeled back, to reveal a massive beak that opened before him.

Sora panicked. He released his Keyblade in his free hand before summoning it in his restrained one. The magic sliced right through the flesh, severing the tendril where it held him.

The Kraken cried out in pain again. Sora avoided its limbs on his return to the surface, but his legs were beginning to sting.

He breached the surface and gasped for air. In the dark of night, he couldn't find the ship anywhere in sight. Relief flooded him, along with the heavy dread that he was stuck, alone, in the middle of the ocean with a raging sea monster.

A sudden familiar force pulled him under the surface again. That time, multiple tendrils restrained his entire body. He fought against the constriction with his Keyblade, but even his weapon wasn't strong enough to break through that many. As the Kraken's mouth opened for him once again, Sora pulled and resisted as much as he could. Even if he was above the surface, the pressure around his torso wouldn't have given his lungs enough space to breathe.

Being eaten by a giant sea monster hadn't been how Sora pictured his end. Compared to this, he would've chosen to be kidnapped by pirates in a heartbeat. But atleast he'd gotten to save people in the process.

Atleast he'd gotten to meet someone like Kairi.

Suddenly, the water surrounding him swelled, resisting the pull beneath the surface. There was a flash of red before a pointed sword pierced the Kraken's head.

Immediately, the force restraining him loosened, and Sora would've been able to breathe again if he weren't underwater. He clamoured for the surface, but found his senses dulling as the relief of air seemed to grow further and further away. His arms and legs moved haggardly, if at all. He opened his mouth, but only the remaining air in his lungs escaped as his vision tunnelled.

The last sight his eyes caught in the center of his vision was Kairi's silhouette gracefully dancing her way through the water in his direction.

——————————————————–

A/N: Happy Day 4 of SoKai Week! The action is really ramping up now. This fight scene was one of the first ones I wrote for this fic, because of course Sora would recklessly sacrifice himself for other people no matter what universe he's in. I'm excited to share tomorrow's piece with you all!

[ask-de-writer]

KURIN’S FOLLY : World of Sea : Part 5 of 15

KURIN’S FOLLY

Part 5

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

23,699 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

writing begun  2006

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  Part 1 is here

///////////////////////

Alor looked about the room tiredly.  “We have to find a resolution to all of these complaints. We could take each one separately, and be here until the ship wears out, or separate the complaints by issue and deal with them that way. Let us vote.  Those for separation?”

The Council sat, everybody looking at all of the sheets.  No hands raised.

“By issues?”

All of the hands went up.

Kurin nodded assent and said, “To begin: Slandering Master Selkid’s tools and skill.  Twelve complaints, five from the Master’s Council, three from the keepers of booths near to the Grandalor’s who overheard and were incensed, the last four were from Captains who relayed complaints from the Masters and officers of their ships.  Every complaint names only one individual.  Master Juris.”

Kurin paused, thought for a bit and then said, “Actually, though the issues range from false accusations of theft, simple slander, deliberate disturbance of trade, loss of revenue by disturbance causing custom to leave or avoid booths, Motions in the Master’s Council to dismiss Grandalor Masters, Motions in the Master’s Council to cancel my children’s toy contract for pre-apprenticeship. . .”

Master Cirde and Mistress Daeron both interrupted, “Only Juris voted for those things, Kurin.  All the rest of the Longin’s Masters voted against.”

“I was getting to that,” Kurin responded with an encouraging smile, “I did point that fact out and prevented the fleet Council from summarily canceling the Wergeld.  That also awaits my report.”  

More sadly, she went on, “All of the complaints name only Master Juris.  I see this ship as an innocent victim.”  She paused and looked pointedly at Master Juris, saying, “In almost exactly the same way that the Grandalor was the victim of Silor and Morgu.  

“After you sailed without me, and it was clear that you were going to be unable to carry out the mapping contract, the Captain’s Council voted to cancel.  Because I own the Grandalor, I have a Voice in the Captains Council.  I used it to speak out  and persuaded them to abate the cancellation until I should return.  You are safe until the next Gathering if we have the proper maps made.”

There was a collective sigh of relief around the mess.

Kurin nodded encouragingly again. “Only two things need to be done, now.  There is one more alternative for dealing with Master Juris’ indiscretions.  Also, I need a walled off cabin space about ten feet by six.”

“What for?” demanded Master Juris truculent again and completely bypassing the possible alternative to his problem in the attempt to find fault with Kurin.

She replied, “I have toys to make.  I have contracted cargo space for them.  I had anticipated the use of your shop at the time of contracting.  It is now clear that it is not possible to do that.

“I will have to work in your shop for a while, though.  We have some boats to make.  If we can work together in harmony on a project . . .”

Master Juris pounced on that. “Can’t happen,” he jeered.  “The boat shop is needed for Longin projects and there’s no room for you, anyhow.”  He crossed his arms on his chest, looking triumphant.

Captain Mord hooked the leg out from under Master Juris’ chair.  As he fell backwards, arms flailing, Mord spoke for him.  “Whatever is needed, Master Juris will do.  The only other alternatives leave this ship without his services . . .”  He paused and glared at the fallen Master, “Permanently.  We would rather have him, if you can help us to keep him alive and hale.  If he were able, I am sure that he would agree to do your task.

“Are these boats that you want to build going to be useful to the Longin?”

Kurin smiled at Captain Mord’s form of diplomacy.  “Yes, they will be.  These boats will be floating classrooms for both the dead reckoning navigation and the mapping.  Of especial value, they will allow us to separate these functions and should significantly speed up the mapping.”

Kurin went back to her luggage and produced a set of drawings.  These showed a small sailing boat of a simple catamaran design.  It could carry a crew of three along with six passengers.  The boat was cunningly designed to come into parts for easy storage.  It was so basic that a few apprentices could easily make it.  The only atypical feature was the crab claw sail hung in an A frame mast.  It was simple too, just unusual.

Master Juris was starting to dismiss the project out of hand, saying, “This doesn’t need a Master’s skills.  I’ll give you a couple of apprentices . . .” when Captain Mord hooked his chair out form under him again.

Kurin looked down at the fallen Master and put her young knee on his chest to keep him from getting up.  As she looked down at him, her stare reminded Master Juris of the pitiless stare of a Strong Skin.  “You and I have to work together.  The apprentices can help.  The design is simple to keep our work together to the necessary minimum.

“If you do not help, you lose your Mastery, your shop and very likely your life.  We still need these boats and they will be made.  If I have to do them alone, I will miss you . . . and so will everyone else, except for Dark Iren.”  She got up and turned away.  She did not want Master Juris to see the tears that having to threaten him brought.

The cold, even stare that he had seen finally penetrated Master Juris’ hull and he started to take water.  From the deck, he looked up at her back and began to stutter, “You, you, you saved us.  You saved me. How could you turn on me so?  I taught you everything.  I made you a Journeyman Gatherings ahead of time.  I . . .”

Kurin cut him off by turning her back completely.  Many of the others could see her tears but Juris could not.  She managed to keep her voice even, virtually devoid of emotion.  “You had no hand in saving me from Kotance and his piracy attempt.  I checked.  You said and I quote, “If she’s gone to the Grandalor voluntarily, let her pay the price!”  You forbade your journeymen and apprentices to try to overpower your single guard.  It took Master Clard and the Drum Shop to do that.  That delay got a friend of mine killed and nearly killed me!

“Then, to make matters as bad as possible, you threatened me in open court while I was serving as an officer of the Court!  Your death warrant was drawn up.  With all of this, I still saved you!  

“I remembered what you did for me before, when we were friends and you were my Master.  I remembered Mecat’s fondness for you, too.

“What have you done with the life that I gave back to you?  Attacked me at every change of the wind.  Spread slander and innuendos about my skills and judgment.”

A storm of bitterness freighted Kurin’s next words.  “I have to agree with that last.  My judgment was bad.  I remember how you treated Silor and from that I knew how you would treat me.  After doing all that I could to keep this ship together, I saved you.  You have nearly undone all of my work.

“I can’t save you any more.  Neither can this ship that you have endangered. They can save themselves by renouncing you.  Or you could just do a simple job with me and learn to keep your offal mouth shut.  Your choice.  Not mine.  Behave within the Wergeld or die.”

Kurin stooped, gathered her luggage, and left a truly appalled Master Juris on the deck, amid the scattered drawings as she left the Council.  Through tears of sorrow and frustration, she made her way to the main deck.

High Cloud made up his mind. Maybe a fish wouldn’t help but it was all he could do so he was going to do it.  He launched from Kurin’s shoulder as soon as she had got clear of the companionway.  He circled out and dove.  In moments he bobbed to the surface and began his long, flapping takeoff run.  There was a hapless small fish in his beak.  He didn’t waste any time with gaining altitude.  He came straight to Kurin, flapping all the way.  Settled back on her shoulder, he began to insistently thrust the fish into Kurin’s mouth until she accepted it from him and took a bite.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS ~ NEXT==>

[risingsouls]

Recruited: Prologue

[I suck at titles so excuse the lameness of me just using the name for Nabooru’s new verse. 

So I decided to write actual shit for this because I’m in love with the idea and exploring it. This is just some background on how shit gets set in motion but you can have it anyway. :3]

Nabooru had witnessed falling stars before, trails of light streaking through the sky on clear nights. But never had she seen such a display at midday. Watched them crash into the desert sands with such force as to quake the ground beneath her feet, the edifice she and her people resided in shuddering in protest.

If they had been shooting stars, she would have made a wish on them like a child still so filled with hope for the world. She would have wished for clairvoyance, to know the dreadful shift her life would take, delivered by this phenomenon.

After helping to quell the excitement and panic, she joined Ganondorf and a group of the Elite to investigate. They found that the stars were no stars at all but spherical contraptions embedded in deep pits they created in the sand. They cracked open like a quintet of eggs and out stepped a crew of people the likes she had never seen before, their features all varied and strange to her down to the clothes they donned. 

They hardly noticed the pair of Gerudo step forward despite the king’s size as they conversed among themselves. Planning. Doling out orders. Three took to the air without aid that she could see, leaving the Gerudo in awe. The two remaining--a shorter fellow with a snowy mohawk and reptilian features and a burly warrior with dark hair and sea-colored skin--approached and demanded we offer refuge. Nabooru opened her mouth to protest, but the lizard man raised a hand, a yellow sphere of light forming in his palm and aimed at her chest. Baffled by the technique, on edge over its similarity to magic, she closed her lips again. The message was clear: comply or die.

The band of Gerudo lead the strangers back to the Fortress and Nabooru's unease was reflected back at her on each of the Elite's faces. Ganondorf’s tense jaw and posture, the cogs working behind his eyes as he, too, strategized ways to keep their people safe while wondering who they were, what they wanted. Friend or foe. I could see Aveil desperate to speak to me and convey her own ideas or perhaps make a joke about their appearance to relieve the tension in the furtive glances she shot between myself and the pair. Avira's hands never once left the hilt of the broadsword at her back, and I noticed a flash of silver pressed in Valis's palm. When we passed through the gates, onlookers peered around corners, stopped their training to stare, but the king's glares and the presence of these two kept them all at a distance.

The Elite meeting room was the first stop. A compromise to the initial request. Information for comfort. Nabooru sat on Ganondorf's right side, Aveil next to her, their guests seated directly across from them. The rest of the Elite filled in along the table, all eyes locked on the newcomers. She was grateful that Ganondorf wasted no time with introductions or greetings. Though the warning in his tone when he demanded they state their business only caused the two to exchange smirks. Haughty and overconfident like the stuffed-shirt nobles of Hyrule's court when either of them spoke. Nabooru wrapped her legs around the legs of her chair to keep from springing over the table and tearing them from their faces, that sphere of light poised toward her heart stark in her memory.

The lizard man answered with the ease of being used to such conversations, of someone with nothing to hide. The five of them were soldiers for the ruler of a galactic empire, words that only half made sense to Nabooru. He sent them to the planet to scout its resources, to see if it held any promise as an addition to their empire. When pressed on what that meant for them, the two once more exchanged darkly amused glances, and the dire explanation, blunt and up front, revealed why: they either found usefulness in the planet and its people or it and them would be exterminated.

A million questions swirled around in her panicked mind, most of which fell to pieces before they could reach coherence. Every sinew screamed that they should attack, but the weight of dread and apprehension pinned her and the rest of the Gerudo to their seats, masks of indifference threatening to slip and reveal the desperation and anger they had all felt for years. Hyrule's offences suddenly felt as insignificant as the bite of ants.

The second soldier spoke up before anyone could articulate further questions with one of his own. He saw the warriors training, called attention to those who had welcomed them,all armed and in peak physical condition, and asked if they were warriors. That their power levels, whatever that meant, suggested as much, dismal as they were. Nabooru could see Ganondorf felt the sting of an insult neither of them could quite grasp yet, but answered proudly that Gerudo are taught to fight from the moment they could remain upright and hold a sword. 

As the conversation continued along this vein, Nabooru's apprehension welcomed curiosity when they hinted at such information at least being promising toward their survival. Potentially. A new means of combat for her to learn and strengthen herself. They mentioned something called ki, the energy he had used to threaten her, and Nabooru failed to hold her tongue. Was it magic, then? Both laughed and assured her it wasn't, that even a band of weaklings like them could harness ki or life energy and become an army capable of razing this entire planet and more. Another slight, but in the glance she and the Gerudo king shared, the glimmer of something akin to hope and a desire for strength they both shared to some degree sparking in their eyes, she knew they both wanted to unlock the secrets of this ki. A way to solve their current problems. To fight by their own means rather than artifacts not meant for them just as she always hoped.

Neither of them liked the prospective offer they set on the table for the newcomers, a sentiment shared between the king and his second the following evening as they pored over the same maps that often lead to their more heated arguments, the dead end strategies doomed more than one of them, ripped to shreds in frustration. In futility and helplessness. It was like swapping one ruler for another, but neither had cared to doubt their glib explanation of their business there. With some apprehension, Ganondorf had explained the growing tension within the country, the ire and fear of their neighbors that threatened to slowly suffocate and end their race entirely. How they fought to stave off war with diplomacy and promises of unity, a war they could only dream of winning with the scars of the last one still so fresh. It always shocked her how easily he shifted into the role of the humbled king, how he wove his passion for his people back into his words, his motives, his being. She saw the king she was proud of, the man she fell in love with all those years ago.

The bargain was simple: Ganondorf offered the Gerudo as a standing army to rule over the planet for this emperor of theirs in exchange for training in using ki which would help them overtake the current governing body. Nabooru added that, as natural warriors, the Gerudo learned quickly, and would not cost them much time. She also suggested they teach the Elite warriors first and that they could pass the knowledge on to the rest of the tribe, rather than expend time and soldiers of their own on training an entire army.

Though an agreement hung in the air, the soldiers informing them they would need to run that and the rest of their report by their emperor, Nabooru felt an elation she had not felt in years. A sense that they might finally make progress. She wanted peace, but Hyrule had made it apparent that wasn’t an option. The prospect that they could triumph and survive, to discontinue scraping by, she couldn’t help herself. And to be on the same page as the man she devoted herself to working with--someday ruling beside--after so many long months of disagreements and fights...to see a glimmer of the future she thought they could no longer sustain…

They made love that night. Truly. Deeply. Lovingly. Not as the result of a heated argument, a need for release or the adrenaline after a sparring session. Though the thought of impending doom occurred to her and spurred a second and third round before she tucked herself against his side for sleep, the thought that this could be their last night, such anxiety played a secondary role to her bolstered spirits.

Spirits that only soared higher into the cloudless desert sky when the soldiers returned with the rest of their crew and news that their emperor, Frieza, had agreed to the terms. Training commenced immediately, and Nabooru flourished. She felt like a kid again, handed her very first proper sword and learned to wield it. When she tapped into the energy slumbering within her, it amazed her how natural it felt. The skills, the strength she could have had all that time. Flight, blasts fired from her hands that tore through solid plateaus. It was invigorating. She obsessed over mastering it and challenging herself to reach new heights, finding time outside of the formal training sessions to train more. To spar with Aveil, Avira, Ganondorf, or any of the other Elite who would humor her. 

If only she had known her zeal for combat would someday bite her. That she would find her proclivity for fighting, her love and enjoyment of it, a hindrance over an aid.

How it would cost her everything.

Each Gerudo had to brace themself as the gargantuan ship flew low over the fortress, the gust left in its wake ripping flags from their standards and sand whipping through the air. It landed just outside the gates in far more graceful fashion than the pods the others arrived in. Their five guests scrambled to round up all the Gerudo and assemble them in front of the fortress, barking orders to straighten clothing or to stop looking so slack-jawed. Many aired their grievances with the rushed treatment, their confusion over the unidentified craft that flew overhead. But the sight of it working the galactic soldiers into a frenzy made sense with the whispers and off-handed comments made during their stay once they finally illuminated the significance of the ship: Frieza had arrived.

Nabooru stood at Ganondorf’s side as a chair carrying a horned, diminutive creature hovered toward them tailed by two what she could only guess were his guards or generals, and she followed suit in bowing along with the rest of her tribe and the soldiers. Her gold gaze lifted in curiosity to watch them, to understand why the emperor was so feared and surmise if the horror stories his men told them rang true. She only had to stare into his crimson eyes and witness that condescendingly amused smirk once to discontinue doubting them.

The alarm bells should have sounded when he requested an audience with both her and Ganondorf. It made sense to want to speak with the one who would rule the planet in his stead. But to specifically request she join them after inquiring if she was the one he had been told about, she should have seen the signs no matter how futile a retreat would have been. Her pride blinded her to any possibility except her skill and power being seen as impressive for a beginner. Enough to have earned the emperor’s praise. 

She had only been half right.

The turn the conversation took after a cordial discussion of the planet’s landmarks and resources, of how the warriors handled the training and a prospective timeframe for the attack on Hyrule, had forced Nabooru to forget most of the details of anything prior. The world slipped out from beneath her when Frieza informed the king and his second that he would recruit Nabooru to his ranks due to her skill and unusually high power level for a denizen of a planet like this one, and explained that he couldn’t rightly take Ganondorf, the more powerful of the two, as he needed him to stay and rule as promised. He would settle for close second. As insurance, to feel that he was given as much as they took in their conquest of the planet.

Every fiber of her being screamed out in protest. How could she leave her home? Her people? Her lover? And after all they had worked for and accomplished and on the brink of sacking Hyrule and starting something so entirely new? They were her life, everything she threw every ounce of her essence into. But to refuse was death. Or worse, her people's slaughter over it. She could feel herself hollowing out with each passing moment, as the same hopelessness she thought she had left behind tore the feelings of assured victory from her heart. 

Ganondorf opened his mouth at last to speak for her, but she stopped him with a deep bow. "It would be my honor to serve you, Lord Frieza."

[nika-the-hunter]

House of Mist [Ch. 10]

So I apologize for the massive delay. This chapter was going to be a flashback POV from the Archon, but writers block and the current world events have sort of driven that to a halt. In an effort to move the story along, I'm setting the flashback aside for maybe a future chapter/project. I reordered some of the storyboard to fit these changes. Hopefully other chapters will take less time, but I said that last time... so we'll see.

Northern Seattle Ruins, Pacific Northwest House Mist Territory +157 Days

---

Nicole sighed. "The House of Devils seem to have been a real thorn in your side for a long time."

The Archon let out a deep chuckle. "Yes, yes, they have been. Even back on the initial fleets, the Devils were the worst of the worst. Hence their name in your tongue." Marakis sighed and shook his head. His tone dropped. "They've been responsible for many atrocities against your kind, we hear a lot from the humans around here."

"I do want to hear more about the humans here... but... what did you do to draw the Devil's anger?" she asked.

"Well... that is a long one. Centuries ago, while we were living on one of the moons of your sixth planet. The House of Devils managed to track us down. They held us hostage with their superior numbers and ships. We may have had more hardware, but not the crews to use it."

He lifted a computer tablet from the table beside him and slowly swiped through it. "They threatened to wipe us out if we did not act as cannon fodder for their assault on what you call the Last City. There was nothing we could do about it." He brought an image up on the tablet and showed it to her. Smoke billowing up with a Spiderwalker in the foreground. Eliksni were grouped up around its legs, standing in the snow. A small village beneath the rim of something in the sky.

Her Ghost appeared and looked at the image. "This is the Last City? Is this the battle of Six Fronts?"

The Archon nodded. "I do believe that this is what your people call it."

Nicole slapped the Ghost. "So you do know stuff!"

He twirled around with the slap and stopped to blink at her. "It's not really useful information."

"NoT uSeFul inForMaTiOn." Nicole repeated his words in a mocking tone "I don't have any memories of anything. All information is good information."

The Ghost's fins angled down, giving him a frown look. "Okay fine. Once the Archon has finished with this info dump, maybe I can give you another."

The Archon clapped all four of his hands together. "By the Great Machine, you two are adorable. Ghosts have a much better sense of humor than our Servitors."

"Adorable or not," Nicole sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Please continue your story."

"Right right," he paused. "The battle went on for an awfully long time, the Humans were defending the city well. Our Kell decided to take the chance and we retreated. We took all our people and ran. And when the Devils came for us, to make good on their threat; we sprung a trap."

Marakis sighed and looked down at the floor briefly. "The Kell and his Barons stayed behind and held off the Devils as if Mist in its entirety was fighting back. Meanwhile they had the rest of us climb aboard our ships hidden beneath the oceans of the moon... when the time was right, we escaped. The ships jumped to warp immediately upon leaving the methane seas. I do not know what happened once we left, but from what we were able to work out, the shockwave from all our ships disabled the Devil Ketches and prevented them from tracking us here. As far as I know, our Kell and his barons fell in combat, except for Baron Acskis who he sent here to lead our warriors. Acskis has been angry about that ever since."

"He feels guilty that he was the only Baron to survive and not to die with the others" Nicole gave a sidelong glance at her Ghost, remembering that initial shot blowing out her thigh after the first fight in the Pass. Acskis had a monologue about a battle against the Guardians that night before killing her.

"Indeed, many of the old guard perished in the fight with your Last City and the Devils." He shook his head. "The Kell wanted there to be an experienced military leader to advise his son, who took up the mantle of Kell."

"I take it you may have had a run in with Acskis' anger?" He asked, noticing the look on Nicole's face.

"Yes... he shot me many times before finishing me off one night. Threatened to kill Rykis if we told anyone what happened." Nicole felt like informing the Archon was probably safe, and the best solution to that issue. Acskis had to be dealt with.

The Archon signed and interlaced his fingers; his Ether mask bubbled as he took a breath in. "That is troubling... That region is frequented by Human caravans, causing problems with them can be a relations disaster. I will talk with the Kell... and as for you with your acceptance into the House, you can move wherever you want within our territory. I think you would find yourself safer here in... as you humans say... Seattle."

Nicole nodded slowly; she did not want to leave her tower on the edge of the lake. Plenty of future plans had been made for fixing that place up. "Yes... I think I'll have to talk to Rykis about that."

Marakis perked up at that. "You want to talk with the Vandal about moving somewhere else?" He shifted in his seat. "Consulting an Eliksni?"

"Well... yeah..." Nicole felt like she was on the spot. "Rykis and I have basically been living together for the last five months. I think he deserves to be considered... Speaking of... where is he?"

"I never considered the effects of placing an Eliksni with a newly risen Guardian full time..." the Archon ignored Nicole's question and spoke quietly to himself in his own language. Thankfully Rykis had been a good teacher. He seemed to be in thought for a long time. "Well... how close would you say you two are?"

Nicole glanced up at the Archon, a bit of a blush and unease across her face. "I... would say we're pretty close."

He chuckled. "I do not think that he was going to come, I can have one of my associates get him and bring him here."

She nodded. "Yes, that would be nice, thank you."

The Archon summoned a Vandal from somewhere nearby and assigned them to find Rykis. Hopefully, they will come back with the right one; Nicole was not sure if Eliksni had last names but at this point she was too afraid to ask.

"If they are able to track him down, they'll bring him here. There must be more questions you would like to ask?"

"What made you stay here, in the ruins specifically?" She asked, it was not her first question, but keeping in line with the story he told would make it easier to remember.

"Ah well that was simple. The Ketch carrying our main Ether producing Servitor was damaged while escaping the Arcology, the ship crashed into the bay just off this city, and the wreckage was too twisted to free it. At the time it was our only Servitor of considerable size, we could not abandon it."

The Archon waved around, "Now we have many servitors, and we've built a place for us and the Human survivors that wish to take a chance on us. Mist has spent the past centuries forging a place where we can atone for our failures with Humankind. We are not a large house, but we hope it is enough."

Nicole gave him a smile. "Well I do hope that I can help with that." She believed this Eliksni was telling the truth about their motives. Absolutely nothing she had seen so far told her anything different, but the view of life she got in the ruins across the lake was not exceptionally large. "What about the Humans? What can you tell me about them?" There had been a handful of Humans at the admittance ceremony, some wearing House Mist garb, and some not.

"Oh Humans, they're wonderful. There are maybe a few hundred living across Mist Territory, primarily in their own enclaves that are mostly self-sufficient. We trade regularly with a few scattered settlements out across the mountain passes as well, but those haven't been seen since the Devils took up residence there."

She frowned, from what she had heard from Rykis the settlements out there have been quiet for years. 'I see... with the pass cleared will we be making a trip out there to check on them?"

"Likely yes, we also need to restore contact with the Mist crew over at the hydroelectric dam. Flybys with the Jackwings during the battle last month showed that the humans and dam looked to be faring well. But we have not heard from them in a while. Plus, the locals have asked us to check up on some of their people that were out of the flightpath."

"When do you think we'll head out there and do that? Can I go with them?"

"I do think that you will definitely be on that team." He replied. "Make no mistake there. They will want you to meet the locals." The Archon stood and motioned for her to follow him outside. "I anticipate the Kell sending you and the team out in the next few months, they've been doing too many missions lately, we need time to rest and recuperate."

"Then I would like to visit the humans that live here, is that possible?" Nicole asked, passing through the doors behind the Archon.

"That is something we may do. I can have the Vandals bring Rykis to meet us there too." Marakis replied.

"Well, I'd rather speak with them on my own, if you don't mind." She wanted to speak with the other humans on her own terms, and not have the Archon intimidating them. Their opinions on the House of Mist would help her ultimately determine her own thoughts about the trustworthiness of Mist from the Human perspective. From the Eliksni perspective, they seemed alright so far.

He walked her out to an old reflecting pool area underneath the tall art installations she had seen from the air. Various sculptures were surrounded by plants spiraling out from the center. It was obviously well curated. "I think we can do that." The Archon nodded. "Come, to the Skiff"

Nicole followed along to the waiting ship; the rain finally having let up. The Archon must have some sort of non-verbal communication with those that work around him, the oversized Skiff was powered up and ready to go as soon as they boarded.

They did not travel far, and the Skiff stayed low over the rooftops. It headed northwest, over the trees and crumbling buildings. Crossing the old docks, to a large steep hill covered in old low-rise buildings. The structures here looked like they were somewhat newer than the buildings downtown; however, they were far more overgrown. Small trees and bushes sprouted from the tops of buildings, the long unkempt remnants of rooftop gardens and greenspace.

On the other side of the hill was a wide flat area, ringed in a much smaller version of the wall that surrounded the Seattle area. The buildings inside were not very overgrown, many looked like they were still maintained. The area butted right up against the steep hillside that dropped down to the beach, where the water still lapped against the sand. Once the Skiff had done a flyover, it lowered down to an open area outside the wall.

"What is this place?" Nicole asked, hopping out once the Archon disembarked.

"This is one of the local enclaves that the Humans have. This site is arguably older than our habitation of the ruins, but they did not seem to mind once trading started."

Now that they were on the ground, Nicole could see a gate built into the wall. Either side was flanked with House of Mist banners but other, much older, banners blew on a pole above the gate. She had seen one down at the old base... Steilacoom. It was all over that place; painted on rusting vehicles and in tatters on poles. She had to guess that it represented what this region was way back in the Golden Age. The other banner on the pole was not the same layout as the top flag. It had a black and white sea animal superimposed on a geometrical shape. She had seen that before. The faded words on the bottom were not needed for her to recognize the UMIC company logo, the same one from the ID she had found on her old body armor. Thinking on it, she actually did recall the top banner from the card too. It had just been too faded.

She walked forward, taking the lead ahead of Marakis. This was something she wanted to do, finally really meeting fellow Humans.

Her Ghost appeared over her shoulder and looked around the wall. "Seems a bit more hastily built than the other one," he commented. "Last minute construction during the collapse?"

"Maybe, you can ask when we get inside." Nicole replied.

The Archon remained by the Skiff, respecting her wish to meet alone. Nicole approached the door and it began to swing open.

On the other side was an older scruffy Human. He was dressed in a worn bright yellow poncho, reminding Nicole that it had been raining just minutes before. A rifle was slung over his shoulder. He gave her a once over, and stopped on her Ghost, who was giving the old electrical control panel a digital prod. His face lit up. "Guardian! Welcome to Fort Discovery!" He waved her inside excitedly. "Come in, come in."

Nicole smiled and hurried inside. "Please, call me Nicole." The doors behind her slid closed, leaving the Archon outside with the Skiff. "What do I call you?"

"I am Pedro Luzana, sort of the person in charge here." A woman, also wearing a poncho jogged up to them as he led her through their small village. "And this is Athena Miller, my second in charge."

Nicole nodded to them. "Well it is good to meet both of you. I think the two of you are the only humans I've yet to meet face first."

"Right" Athena drew out the word. "You're that new guardian that Mist found poking around the old tunnels, aren't you?"

"Well, I wasn't just down there on my own accord. That's where my Ghost rezzed me." Nicole followed the two as they walked further into the 'fort'.

From the air, this place had looked deserted, and while not as overgrown as the rest of the area, definitely not livable; however from the ground, she could see that most of the overgrowth was on top of awnings and that the ground level was decorated and clear of plants. Human children played in the covered porches of the houses while the adults busied themselves, but everyone waved at the Guardian when they passed.

"Schematics." Athena said.

Pedro chuckled and put his hand on Athena's shoulder. "I'll tell you, when we heard that a Guardian had shown up down in Seattle, we were worried that all this stuff here would come to an end. But then the word came that you wanted to join up, everyone was relieved."

Nicole cocked her head to the side. "As you probably heard I don't know much about other Guardians; them showing up would be bad?"

He shrugged. "Guardians have a habit of shooting at anything non-human and never asking questions. We've never seen one up this way, but stories get passed from the trading caravans. They also like to round up any 'refugees' as they call 'em and send them down to that 'Last City' of theirs." He put his hands up in defense. "Not to say that living in the wildlands isn't dangerous elsewhere, but we've been lucky to have the House of Mist as neighbors."

"Well that's honestly relieving to hear," Nicole said. "I wanted to talk to someone here one on one so that I could find out if this whole Mist situation was okay. All I really know was what Mist told me since I woke up here."

"Mhmm, what we carved out here is good... well, what our founders made has worked well. I'm a third generation Fort Discovery resident. My great grandmother made her way here from a settlement beyond the mountains that got raided by another Fallen House." Pedro had led them to a collection of tables outside of a mostly open building. She could smell food and heard sizzling from inside. "Please have a seat. We can keep talking here."

Nicole plopped down in a seat, she had to adjust her new cloak so that it did not bunch up behind her against the chair back. "So, you called the House of Mist your neighbors? Their Archon said that you were part of Mist."

He sat across from her, and Athena took the seat beside the both of them. "Well yes, we are technically part of the House, but they let us run ourselves. We trade with their markets, help them fish and farm, even assist in the repair of things. Some bits of our old tech still need the Human touch. Do you drink?"

Nicole hummed to herself as she thought about the relationship between Mist and the Humans here. Everything seemed to be working fine with them. "Drink?" she asked, a bit confused, of course she drank water.

"Alcohol or beer? You know that sort of thing." Pedro replied.

The look on Nicole's face was probably response enough, as Athena broke out in a laugh. "I don't think she knows what that stuff is, Pedro."

"No? Right you're newly risen." He looked back into the building over his shoulder and got the attention of another Human inside. "Peter, can you get a cider for our Guardian guest?" The man inside nodded and disappeared deeper in the building. Pedro turned back to the table. "We'll start you on something easy," he laughed.

Nicole gave him a quizzical look. She had been alive for five months now, only eating what the Eliksni were eating, and drinking water. The food was good, but the water was just water. The other human, Peter, brought out a couple mugs and set them on the table. The amber liquid inside fizzed a little. "What is cider?"

"Well, it's a drink made from apples, or other like fruit. We used to get a lot from across the mountains, but that hasn't happened since the Devils closed the pass. This cider here has a kick to it. I think you'll like it." Pedro took his mug and had a sip.

Taking the mug from the table, Nicole looked into it, and gave it a sniff. It smelled bitter, but with a hint of something her mind said was fruity. The deep, not forgotten part of her head said it was apple. Shrugging, she took a sip and let it wash over her tongue. Instant regret. While it started out alright, the after taste was just not good. "Well... it's not bad." She winced. "Never had anything like it before." She set the mug back down on the table. Intent on getting back to the conversation, she looked around and then back to Pedro. "Is there anything bad about Mist? Or the situation?"

Lowering his mug, he set the now empty glass back down. "Eh... not really. They seem really eager to let us be most of the time. I don't think I can think of any incidents in my lifetime that come from Mist. Occasionally a small group of Devils will make it past the perimeter and bother us at our wall, but that's extremely rare."

Nicole thought back to the first night she was rezzed, and the Devil ambush she and Rykis ran into on the other side of the lake. That had been within the supposed safe area. She had put a stop to a lot of those when she helped clear the pass. "So, you think I should trust them?"

Pedro and Athena both nodded at the same time. "Hell yes," he exclaimed, "Like I said, Mist has been good to us, and having a Guardian here might just boost the stability of the area to where we start attracting other people."

"Might attract things we don't want though," Athena pointed out from behind her own mug of cider.

"And that's what I'm for," Nicole nodded, understanding.

"Exactly." Pedro laughed. "Hey Nicole, if you ever have any other questions, feel free to stop by. We'll be happy to help out."

"I think I'll do that. I like talking with fellow Humans." She laughed too.

After a bit more talking, Athena looked up from the table and waved to someone approaching. "Hey, Rykis. What brings you around?"

Nicole looked up and over to see her Vandal walking down the road, waving back to Athena. "Neh-cole asked for me to meet here," he happily replied.

"Well come on and take a seat. Been slow at the market?" Athena asked.

He came over and took the last seat at the table, the chair barely able to fit his larger frame. "I have not been to market for a while. I live with Neh-cole to help her adjust."

"Oh really?" Athena gave Nicole and Rykis a look. "You were the one that got thrown to the Guardian?"

Rykis laughed. "Yes, I was. The only English speaker within the Captain's reach. I thought I was going to die. But Neh-cole was nice."

"I had no idea what was going on when I came out of that hole." Nicole added. "My Ghost had told me about Eliksni, but you all didn't react like he thought."

"In my defense, I got my knowledge from encounters with the House of Winter, and what I learned from the Last City." Her Ghost finally spoke up from her shoulder. He had been flying around looking at things across the fort, and finally returned with Rykis.

"Well glad everything worked out." Athena said.

Rykis looked over at Nicole's full mug of cider. "Are you going to drink that?" he asked.

She shook her head and pushed it over to him. "I think I'm going to have to work on that. It's not really my thing."

"It's an acquired taste." Pedro said. "Once trade resumes with the eastern settlements, we'll have more to try."

Rykis took the mug and unlatched his mask, then proceeded to down the entire glass in one go. "I missed this."

Others from the fort began to make their way up to the table, and Nicole spent the rest of the day talking with the others that lived there. Children liked to poke her Ghost who decided to project a bunch of colors and lights to keep them entertained. It was a good day.