#(she started the floating-in-strange-bodies-of-water thing once she got it)

[crowdsourcedloner]

idol: has your OC been in a position where a lot of people were looking down on (or up to) them? how do they handle the pressure of fame? of criticism?

If it has not been answered!

As Nailah is the Warrior of Light, she's in fame's spotlight far more often than she's comfortable with. People know of her through her deeds and try to treat her like a great hero or try calling her by her name - both things that she greatly dislikes, especially from strangers.

For her, the fear of not meeting other's expectations runs rampant when she is the center of attention. To cope with this, she hides behind her "masks" and plays the role she thinks people want to see - one of a perfect weapon. She stays quiet to reinforce an illusion of stoic courage and to mask her own discomfort. Meetings or formal events she's invited to are similarly silent - she'll hold her tongue out of fear of saying the wrong thing and causing a diplomatic incident. She keeps a focused glare on her face to discourage conversation with would-be admirers and refuses gifts or special treatment of any sort.

It's not uncommon for Nailah to disappear into the wilderness for days at a time to de-stress from a city visit, both to avoid having echo visions and to get away from the perceived expectations she suffocates under. If she can't leave a city for whatever reason, she will relax in a hot soaking bath - should one be unavailable, she'll leap into the nearest body of water instead.

While external criticism does cut at her, Nailah is a far harsher critic of herself than near anyone she's met. She takes external criticism with icy efficiency, responding that she will do better before she returns to whatever job is at hand. She's remarkably level-headed about it as well, internally picking apart the statement to see if there is any truth to it and changing her behavior accordingly. Dealing with internal criticism is a much messier affair, though, as she easily spirals into self destructive tendencies in an attempt to correct mistakes or punish herself for failures.

For all her difficulties with fame, she slowly grows to see it as a tool - something Nailah can leverage to get what she wants. She will use her status to avoid even more conversations and she will rally the people around her with her titles, letting her legend bolster their courage and hopes far easier than any of her speeches could.

#answered asks #thank you for the ask! #this got... really long... #and kinda rambled about fame at the end... #but it's pretty much a question made for nailah lmao #she deals with infamy far better than fame tbh #also the kojin's blessing really gets a workout lol #(she started the floating-in-strange-bodies-of-water thing once she got it) #oc: hrothwol

[endthedream]

Teaser

pairing: siren!haechan x human!reader (she her)

summary: Insanity isn’t what she expected to receive when she joined her father and his crew on an expedition, full of men who think she isn’t capable of anything. But it’s all that she got after seeing nothing but endless water every single day. Maybe that’s why her mind started imagining a strange boy who finally shows her the appreciation she deserves. Maybe that’s why she ignores the way she can’t escape the trance he puts her in whenever he sings a melody for her. Or maybe everything is real, and the boy isn’t who he pretending to be.

words: 10-12k

story colour: green

release date: Friday 8th, 2023

click here to go to the finished story

August 27th, 1878

Day 50 on sea

I am losing my mind.

This can’t be real. I am writing this down to make sure I am wide awake and not dreaming.

I woke up from a noise. At first, I thought I was imagining it, because lately I’ve been imagining a lot of things. I wanted to go back to sleep, being exhausted from, well, doing absolutely nothing all day long, but then I heard it again.

It wasn’t just a noise. It was a melody, a very beautiful one. It sounded like the gateway to heaven, like it was sung by angels. And it made me feel drowsy.

I knew I needed to rest more, but something about this melody pulled me in. It made me forget the throbbing pain in my body and the events that happened days before. All it made me want to do was reach it, engrave it into my skin. It made me want to never hear anything else.

I was in a trance, no thoughts inside my head anymore.

So, I got up, walked out onto the deck of the ship to find out where this melody comes from. But when I reached the deck, I didn’t expect to see a boy sitting on the railing.

But it wasn’t an ordinary boy. Oh, no. Not like the ones I’ve seen in my town growing up. I can’t describe him in any other way than captivating. His jet-black hair softly swayed in the night wind, covering his eyes every few seconds. His cheeks adopted a soft rosy color from the coldness, contrasting the tan of his skin. And his eyes were almost as dark as the night sky.

I don’t know why I stared at him for such a long time, and I don’t know why he let me.

“You’re here.” Those were his first words. The first time I heard his voice. A voice that made time stop for a moment. I couldn’t hear the waves crashing against each other anymore, or the cracking of the old wood the ship was built with. I couldn’t even hear my heartbeat pumping against my chest. All I could hear was him. “I was waiting for you.”

“Who are you?” That was not what I wanted to ask him at that moment, but the sane part of my brain must have sensed that something wasn’t right. Something about the way my body reacted to this strange man was dubious.

“Haechan.”, he spoke with a soft voice, turning his body so that he fully faced me. A smirk was placed on his lips, only intensifying his tantalizing physique. “And you are?”

“Y/n.” My name came out in a mere whisper, fearing that my voice might have broken if I spoke any louder. I couldn’t stop staring at him, still having being sure that my mind was playing a trick on me or, well, still is.

For days no one has checked in on me, no one has talked to me more than five words. I’ve been on this ship for way too long seeing nothing but the endless nothingness of the sea. My mind has been plagued with recuring thoughts, never once having a quiet moment. Maybe this is the final sign. Maybe this is it. I am insane. So insane that I’m imagining a boy sitting on the rail of the ship just so that I have someone to talk to.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Reaching one hand out, the boy signaled me to come closer to him. Every part of my body longed to take his hand and sit on the rail with him, but doubts started to float my brain.

“What are you doing here? How did you get on this ship?” Haechan, as I learned his name, just chuckled, a low sound that was so different from his honey voice. He looked amused at my asking, almost like he was making fun of me.

“Why did you come out here, Y/n?” I remember frowning at him, clearly feeling upset that he chose to ignore my question and ask one of his own. I felt upset that this boy, which I probably made up in my mind, didn’t show any respect for me at all. He, just like the others, ignores what I have to say, and I didn’t want to get treated that way, not after what happened last time.

So, instead of answering him, I turned around, heading back to my bed. But before I could even take a step, the melody I heard earlier started again. All the thoughts that I had in my mind at that moment flew away and I was, yet again, caught in a trance. It was like I couldn’t escape, even if I wanted to.

“It’s you.”, I whispered, but he still heard me. I knew that because the melody got louder, clearer. I closed my eyes, letting his voice enter every part of my body. I let it fill me up and shut me down at the same time. I let it rearrange my mind and mend my wounds, but I also let it cut me open and bleed me dry. I gave myself into the sweet penetration of his honey laced voice and wanted nothing more than to make all his wishes and desires come true. I would have given him the world if it was possible. My whole body felt like it was floating on top of a cloud, high up in the sky and there was no way of ever coming down again. I was trapped.

“Come closer.”, he murmured, voice deeper and almost impending.

“No.”, I quivered, suddenly scared of ever opening my eyes again.

“Please, Y/n.”, he pleaded, and I could nearly hear the desperation in his voice. “Just please look at me.” And so, I did. He was not sitting on the rail anymore, he was standing right in front of me. A small smile on his lips and one hand stretched out to me. “Come closer please. I don’t want anything else from you.”

And as I was about to take the step towards him, give in to his demand and the growing need inside of me to grant all his wishes, I heard a voice behind me, calling out my name and breaking the trance I was in.

“Y/n?”

#lee haechan #lee haechan x reader #lee haechan imagine #lee haechan imagines #lee haechan fluff #lee haechan nct #lee haechan nct dream #nct dream imagines #nct 127 imagines #lee haechan nct 127 #nct dream x y/n #nct 127 x reader #haechan #haechan fanfic #haechan imagines #haechan x reader #haechan x you #haechan x y/n

[roffmychest]

My Near Death Experience

[CW for death and mentions of religion]

I had a near death experience towards the end of 2019. It all started when I began experiencing severe tachycardia. I had tachycardia before, but this was much worse than anything I’ve ever dealt with, so my roommates convinced me to go to the emergency room.

Once I was there, it only got worse. I think I was around 200 BPM. They ran some tests and discovered my potassium was extremely low, but didn’t know why. They decided to keep me there for observation. I was given a horse pill of a potassium supplement that I couldn’t choke down and Ativan.

After the Ativan, my condition stabilized enough for them to let me go home sometime in the early morning. The Ativan made me very cloudy headed. I cannot remember how I even got home. The only thing I remember is that one moment I was On the phone with my roommates in the hospital and the next I was on the couch back at the house.

I don’t know if I was sick or if it was just the Ativan but I was so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I had never been that tired in my life. I collapsed on the couch with all my clothes and shoes on. I remember feeling an extreme heaviness in my chest just before I dozed off and feeling like I was drifting out of my body.

At first, it felt like I was waking up from the deepest sleep I’ve ever had. I was near a river with black water that had a bunch of sticks floating in it. Everything was dark and gloomy like I was Underground. I think I might have been on a small boat or some thing because I wasn’t in the water, but I was moving and I kept dipping my hands in and moving the sticks around like if I moved them out of the way, some thing else would be behind them.

Then I felt a falling sensation and woke up feeling like I have been dropped from somewhere very high up. Paramedics and my roommates were standing around me. I had no idea what the hell was going on. I later found out that I hadn’t been breathing. Apparently one of my roommates Tried to wake me up to give me something to eat, and I was completely nonresponsive, which isn’t like me. She was concerned and held a mirror in front of my nose. There was no fog.

Apparently I was not breathing and did not have a pulse. She was really worried about me and tried to get my other two roommates to call somebody but they didn’t take the situation seriously. She finally called the paramedics herself. While all of this was going down, apparently she had texted my girlfriend at the time freaking out, saying that I was dead on the living room couch. Apparently I was like that for quite some time before they got to me and I woke up for no apparent reason.

Anyway, I was clinically dead, and I didn’t think much of it until later, but I think I saw the veil. I didn’t see any deceased family members. There was no sense of peace. I saw neither Heaven nor Hell. I didn’t meet God or Jesus. I just remember going down a black underground river full of sticks.

I haven’t told this to anybody, except for one friend. He’s big into Greek mythology, and he thought perhaps I saw the freaking river Styx. We don’t know though. It was very strange.

.

#r/offmychest

[acosmicblizzard]

Romantic ghost manor au Grace headcanons

For base info on this au go here! Warnings: Mentions of water, mentions of low body temperature and the cold

Story type: Fluff, Au

Pairings/Characters: Grace - “Naiad” x Gender neutral Reader

(Pretty fish lady that i love but suck at kiting against, possibly ooc and made during writers block)

Grace is very much like Melly as in she's a background ghost as well. However unlike the entomologist she usually seeks out to avoid others entirely, completely content being all by herself. She usually just hangs out near the small ponds and bodies of water near the outsides of the manor but never wanders too far from it. She'll usually lurk in the woods near the bodies of water and only return when needed or it becomes late in the day.

Grace has a natural distrustful nature towards any human with all she's been through, so don't be surprised if she's incredibly distant to you for the longest time. She's likely to have revealed herself to you very late in your time in the manor, probably only revealing herself due to the other hunters doing so.

Your bond with grace grows over a large span of time as she learns to trust you despite all the trauma she has gone through, and when i mean a large span of time i mean it was legit months until you could even consider yourself acquainted with her. It would take a even longer time before you could call her your friend, and eventually your lover.

Grace is very and i mean very touch adverse at first, if you even poke her once without consent it is over. Until you bond with her more she will absolutely hate any sort of physical affection. Once you do bond with her and gain her trust she becomes more touch neutral. Not minding and sometimes liking hugs or holding hands but not all the time. Once you get into a relationship she’ll remain touch neutral but sometimes leans more towards liking PDA.

Once Grace realizes her feelings for you she'll probably start asking you to come with her to the ponds outside the manor. Watching the fish swim back and forth and touching the water makes her feel at home and happy and she wishes to share those feelings with you, even if you don't have as close of a connection the ocean and water as she does. Even with Grace's inability to talk she loves hearing you go on about anything, your voice just makes her happy.

Grace confesses to you on one of the times both of you are visiting the ponds by the manor again. You walk towards the ponds with Grace floating by your side, strangely today Grace felt like being extremely close to you and doing things such as holding your hand. When she asked by writing it down on a piece of paper while you walked you gladly took her hand, the extreme chill from her low body temperature spreading across your body by that one touch of hands. You shivered slightly but tried your best to brush off the feeling of the cold, glad to be holding Graces hand. Grace noticed and tried to pull her hand away, you didn't let her however, smiling at her and saying it was okay. Not matter her body temperature you'd be glad to hold her hand. Grace was slightly shocked at first but smiled at your words, gripping your hand slightly tighter as you walked side by side. You soon arrived to the pond with Grace and sat down next to it with Grace sitting by your side. After awhile of sitting in silence you felt a tap on your shoulder, you turned towards Grace and saw her holding a piece of paper. She handed you the paper and averted her eyes, covering the lower half of her face with the notebook she got the paper from. You grabbed the paper and started reading, your confused face soon turning to a flustered one at the contents on the paper. It was a simple confession on the paper mixed with compliments towards you, also asking you if you felt the same about her. You set the paper down and slowly moved your hand to go and cup her cheek, hesitating slightly on touching her just incase she would be uncomfortable. She leaned into your hand, the chill from her abnormal body temperature engulfing your senses once again. For awhile you just silently stared at one another, looking in one another's eyes until you finally got the confidence to voice out "may I?" Grace nodded and closed her eyes as you leaned in, your lips making contact with hers. It felt like you were brought into the ice age with how cold your body got, but you didn't care. This chill was heaven to you.

As your relationship continues Grace will actively try to hang out with the people you surround yourself with, feeling that maybe if you trust them it'll be okay. You'll have to hold her hand and guide her through everything at first but eventually she'll get the hang of hanging out with others other then you. You and Grace have a unique promise, once you told her about the existence of beaches she wished to posses a object you would carry with you there and to have the chance to swim around in the ocean once again, with her amazement you promised one day that would happen. A promise you would one day fulfil to her.

#idv #identity v #idv imagines #identity v imagines #idv x reader #identity v x reader #idv oneshot #identity v oneshot #idv scenarios #identity v scenarios #idv headcanons #identity v headcanons #idv naiad #identity v naiad #idv grace #identity v grace #idv naiad x reader #identity v naiad x reader #idv grace x reader #identity v grace x reader

[undertale-anomaly20]

Mortal Kombat 10 x reader: Chapter 2

6 years ago

(name) was walking to her new home since she moved out after the mortal kombat experience. For her 2 years have passed since then she was now an adult, her time in the mortal kombat tournament was she could never forget and she still regrets leaving her friends and wished she could return to them. Little did she know that her wish was to come true. After entering her home she carried the box of new games the company had provided her to test, once in her room she opened the box the first game that she saw made her freeze.

Mortal Kombat X

Memories of her friends flooded into her head making her smile. She picked it up and chuckled, a while back the game had been recalled due to glitches and viruses "finally they decided to bring you back" she said to herself. She looked over to her wall where Bi-Hans' clothes hung and underneath them were his wrist guards, she put the game on and as it was loading walked over to the wall. She placed her small, yet slim, hand on the clothes thinking back to when she was 18 and how much she had accomplished "thanks guys, I owe you big time" she said to herself again, because of the experience she had with them she found confidence in herself to do things she couldn't do before she picked up her grades, moved out of home, went out of the house more often and even got a part time job as a singer for cover songs. She walked back to the gaming system and picked up the wireless controller and selected story mode for one person suddenly she felt dizzy. She placed a hand upon her head as it pounded, the room spun around her as she fell to the floor passed out. Her left hand was on the controller of the PlayStation as the TV showed her character on screen wearing a dark grey ninja suit that had no sleeves and cut off at her mid thighs, she wore black handless gloves that started 2 inches below her shoulder, dark red/brown 2 inched knee high heeled boots, a red sash around her mid-section and a mask like Mileenas' except in red and black in a pattern where the red forms into triangles at the top and black ones at the bottom making them look like fangs, her hair was tied into a tight low braid.

Now in outworld a year before Mileena was overthrown, Ermac was ordered to patrol the city by Mileena, there was a commotion in a certain area and Mileena wanted to know what it was so she sent Ermac to investigate. Twenty years prier in outworld word had spread that Shao Khan had fallen, giving Mileena the right to be its' new ruler but also word had spread that Mileenas' pretty bird a.k.a (name) had fallen also, Mileena mourned over the death of her pretty bird more than her fathers, once Ermac heard the news he felt a strange feeling of sadness, something that he thought impossible. As Ermac was patrolling he noticed that many of the outwrolders had crowded around something he floated towards them "we demand to know what is going on" he said as they all parted "someone is down there" one of the men said pointing to the now large water hole. Ermac floated over to it and peered down into it his eyes widened in shock. In the deep hole under the water was a girl with her torso wrapped in bandages as well as her lower half from her waist to her mid-thigh forming a skirt, the girls' (h/c) below the knee length hair fanned around, her (s/c) skin shimmered slightly in the sun, her face looked so peaceful as if she were sleeping. Once Ermac looked harder he was stunned.

The girl in the water was (name) (last name). The girl who had died over 16 years ago yet her she was looking no older that when he last saw her "stand back all of you" he commanded as his souls wandered down into the hole, they wrapped around the girls' body and carefully lifted her out. Her long hair, as well as her skin, dripped with water, her bandages were soaked and her arms dangled as she was lifted upwards. Once he was out of the hole she was carefully placed in Ermacs' awaiting arms, he placed two fingers on her neck and found a strong pulse she was alive. But Ermac was superstitious surely lady (name) had died long ago and even if she hadn't she would look older than this, Ermac concentrated and looked into her soul to find it was indeed the girl he had fought before and had aged only 2 years. Ermac turned to the crowd "we shall take her to the empress the rest of you leave" he said then floated away.

He was at the doors of the palace leading to the throne room where Mileena was talking with Baraka and D'vorah. "My empress we have discovered what caused the commotion in the city" Ermac said gaining Mileenas' attention. From across the room all she could see was a girl long (h/c) hair. "What is this? A simple girl has caused such a disturbance in my empire?" she demanded "we know that this girl is anything but 'simple' empress" Ermac walked forward and revealed to Mileena the young girls face causing Mileenas' eyes to widen then glare at Ermac "do you mock me!?! How dare you insult my pretty birds death with this imposter!" she screamed "this is no imposter my empress. We found her only today her soul is exactly the same as it was when we last encountered her, we promise you that this is indeed her" at Ermacs' words Mileena placed a hand upon the girls wet cheek, even though the girl is soaked, Mileena's Tarkatan sense of smell aids her in finding the girls sent, her eyes welled with tears of joy "my pretty bird has finally flown home" she said smiling under her mask. She removed her hand and turned to Baraka and D'vorah "Baraka take her to the royal chambers. I want to see her for when she awakens" Baraka followed her orders and carried the girl out of the room. D'vorah walks to Mileena's side giving her a questionable look "this one wishes to know who the girl was?" she asked. Mileena looked to the corner where Baraka had disappeared and simply said "my pretty Bird"

(name)'s P.O.V

'oh my head...'

I open my eyes to see that I'm not in my own home but a room made of sandstone, I sit up and look around, I notice that I'm on a large bed with black and pink sheets and that on the right side of the room is a large arch way that leads to a balcony. I slowly get off the bed and walk to the arch, looking out the window to see "outworld" I whispered. 'did it happen again? Did the elder gods give me the chance to return here? Or did they return me to give me another task?' I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a door open I quickly spun around ready to fight but once I saw who was standing there I was stunned. Mileena was standing there wearing her royal clothes and looking at me with narrowed eyes "pretty bird?" she said sounding cautious, as if to see that I am me, I straighten up and smile "hello beautiful" I said. Next thing I know she's tackled me to the floor in a bear hug, her tears streaming down her face onto her mask I was stunned at first but eventually hug her "m-my pretty bird is home" she cried. She lets go of me and sits on her knees as I sit up on my ass "t-they said y-you were dead. 14 years I thought you were dead" she cried wiping away her tears.

"it's going to be hard to explain beautiful so you might want to get comfy" for the next hour and a half I explained to her why I wasn't around and what happened to me and why I was in the tournament in the first place "but what bothers me now is why am I back? N-not that I'm not happy or anything it's just...why now..." I felt Mileena place her hand on my own I look up at her and see her eyes sparkling with joy "I does not matter! You are finally home with me! and since I am the ruler and you are my pretty bird that makes you my queen!" I blush at her words "but wouldn't you want a king-" "NO! ONLY YOU! YOU ARE MY QUEEN!" she yelled startling me. I nod submissively "ok...I'm your queen" she hugged me "good now *stands up and helps me up to my feet* let us get you clothes fit for a queen~" she said holding my hands "clothes?" I asked confused, 'what's wrong with what I'm wearing?' before I can make a move she laughs "surely you do not think a queen would walk around her kingdom in bandages?"

I look down and see that indeed I am wearing nothing but bandages I squeal blushing red as she laughs "this is just like when we first met!" she laughed clutching her stomach. I look at her seeing how happy she was. I began laughing with her "I suppose it is!" we laughed and laughed until our sides were sore. Our laughter faded into the city as night fell.

The next day Mileena had given me her clothes to wear until mine was made, she threatened the tailor to make it within the hour but I politely asked her to let them take their time or else the clothes with turn out horrible. She gave him one month or he would die.

Timeskip to 2 months

"And remember as a queen you are to be the kind one of us to the public while I am the brutal one, understand?" I nod at Mileena and smile "yes, Kahnum" I say looking into her yellow slit eyes. She had me changed into a long mermaid tail skirt the colour of (f/c) that opens up at the knee to show off my legs at the front and a tube top (darker f/c) with black edges, I wore no shoes so I walked around bare footed except for a gold bangle placed around each ankle, two bangles on each wrist, a tiara was placed upon my head much like Kitanas'. At this thought I wondered how my friends were "is something wrong, my pretty bird?" Mileena asked worried. I smiled and shook my head "just wondering about my friends, beautiful. The Earthrealm warriors" her eyes looked away from mine "Mileena?" she looked back to me "many of them were killed and are under the service of Quan Chi" my body frozen in shock for a few moments then burned with rage "god damn it!" I yelled slamming my fist into a wall denting it "after all I did, after everything we all went through nothing fucking changed!?!"

"Pretty bird!" I stopped when Mileena placed her hands upon my face "you are a queen, you are supposed to be gently and kind and only ruthless when I am not around. So please be calm" I take deep breaths and latch onto Mileena and cry into her shoulder as she stroked my hair. After everything I had done, everyone I saved, nothing changed... I wipe my tears away and stand up straight. "now as a queen you must know how to protect yourself" "I can already-" "things have changed, you shall train with me every day until you collapse. It will be hard at first but I refuse to let you go so easily" she said looking me in the eyes. I nod in understanding. "good~ let us begin"

'oh boy'

2 hours later

"shit!" I land flat on my back "pretty bird you must do better if you are to succeed, I will not have you slain in battle" I struggle to get up since I was inflicted with slash marks on my body "I know I know" I said getting ready to fight again "you must keep your guard up or you will die" she said readying her sais "I know" I said again readying my katana "go!" I launch at her with my katana and duck as she tries to slash me with her left Sai 'this sucks!' I thought as she slashes me with the right one. I spin around on my knee and slash her left leg causing her to go down giving me the chance to knock her on her back and point my blade at her throat "yield" I said smirking. She looked shocked then she smiled "well done, pretty bird"

1 year later

"Must you go?" Mileena asked me sadly trying not to cry. I wipe away her tears and kiss her cheek "I'm sorry, my beautiful Kahnum, but I must. I need to find someone in Earthrealm who can help me or it shall be the end for all of us" I said sadly. I had put on a dark grey ninja suit that had no sleeves and cut off at my mid thighs, I wore black handless gloves that started 2 inches below my shoulder, dark red/brown 2 inched knee high heeled boots, a red sash around my mid-section and a mask like Mileenas' except in red and black in a pattern where the red forms into triangles at the top and black ones at the bottom making them look like fangs, my hair was tied into a tight low braid. I looked over Mileena's shoulder and saw D'vorah walking back into the palace with Reptile I brought Mileena in for a hug "D'vorah and Reptile are not to be trusted I give you this warning to save yourself, be safe" I said quickly. Mileena's eyes widen but I can feel her smile underneath the mask "thank you my pretty bird, be safe and return to me soon and burn anyone who dares to defy you" I nod and pull away, during the year found out was a pyromancer, someone who could control fire, more than a few Tarkatans had been severely burned the night I found out even Mileena burnt her hand, I'm still struggling with my ability but I can at least as long as my anger doesn't get the best of me.

I walk to the portal that leads to Earthrealms' temple where Raiden resides rain pouring down heavily. I walk through and see a man running out with a statuette, his head covered by a cloak "Kung Jin" I whispered to myself as I moved through the shadows and onto a nearby roof and watched as Raiden appeared "It has more sentimental than monetary value" Raiden says as Jin stops dead at his words "Nevertheless, I would prefer you did not steal it" "It's a family heirloom. One that shouldn't have been given to you!" The statue disappears from Jin's hand in a flash of lightning, and reappears in Raiden's "Your family honoured me with this memento of your cousin Lao. After his death" "A death you caused! You made him fight Quan Chi and left him to die and watched as that bastard ripped him in half!" I narrow my eyes on Raiden 'he made Kung Lao fight Quan Chi?' '"You go too far, Kung Jin "No... Not far enough" They fight. Kung Jin soon realises he is outmatched, as the Thunder God takes little damage from his onslaught. Even when he manages to knock Raiden to the ground, he knows fighting him is in vain "Just let me go" Kung Jin said about to walk away I smirk from my perch and speak out loud "Blood of Kung Lao, descendant of the Great Kung Lao... a common thief" both Raiden and Kung Jin look around when lightning flashes and reveals me standing on the roof of the building across from them. I jump down and walk to them both.

"Who are you?" Raiden asked looking at me sceptically "I am Viper, a pyromancer" I said looking directly at Jin "why are you here?" Raiden asked "I'm here for you, Lord Raiden, but at the moment it seems as though you have a thief problem" Jin held the statuette tighter "Kung Jin, you do relies that doesn't belong to you" he glared "it shouldn't be here!" he yelled yet I stayed calm "and I agree, but your cousin didn't die for nothing, he was an Earthrealm warrior. Think about it he died to help those in need" "don't talk like you knew him!" "I did know him asshole! He was my friend!" "Yeah? Well where were you 7 years ago?" I looked down in shame "I would have come if I could" I said then looked over to Raiden, who had a look of confusion in his eyes, "you fought him to release his anger. To clear his mind so he could think and be more reasonable, didn't you?" I said and he nodded then I looked back to Kung Jin "and make me feel like shit" he said looking away in shame. I place a hand on his shoulder making him look at me "you shouldn't self-loath yourself. There is a better path for you than being a thief. The Wu Shi Academy, become a shaolin and make your family and Kung Lao proud" I said as Raiden gave Jin the statuette "I can't. They won't... accept—" "they don't care whom your heart desires only what is in it" I said smiling under the mask "it's too late for me" "it's never too late now go, I must speak with lord Raiden in private" he nods and runs off.

I turn to Raiden "now, I must speak with you" I said bowing "who are you really?" he asked I rise up and pull my mask down his eyes widen in shock "hello Lord Raiden" I said smiling "L-Lady (name)" he said in shock. He brings me into the temples tea room and hands me a towel as we both sit down. "we all had thought you dead, how is this possible?" he asked as he poured tea "the elder gods. That's my best guess. I haven't figured out why but I don't question them" I said drying my braid "you said you were a pyromancer, yes?" "yeah and I'm hoping you could help me" he shook his head "I apologize, lady (name), but I cannot. However I do know of someone that can" I place the towel next to me and gratefully take the tea Raiden has poured for me "who?" "Hanzo Hasashi, the grandmaster of the Shirai Ryu" I look up at him with wide eyes "you do realise you're the only person in earthrealm who knows I'm alive right? If he saw me now he would think I'm a revenant" Raiden thought for a moment "perhaps if I were to send you to the Lin Kuei temple" now I was confused "how would that help? I'm a pyromancer not a cryomancer" "yes but recently grandmaster Sub-Zero has requested an audience with grandmaster Hasashi. They are to meet within the hour" "and how do you suppose I get there? Fly?" I deadpanned he smiled "no, I shall send you there. However I wish to know how you are here and still look as though you have not aged" I sigh and explain where I have been and what has happened

"...and that's everything, Raiden you can't let anyone else know not yet. If Quan Chi knew anything about me being here it could make things worse than they already are" he nods "of course. But what of Mileena?" "I am her queen, when the time comes I shall save here but for now I must train *looks at hands* my abilities are...wild and have not yet been tamed. I need to have full control over them if I am to help anyone. Words can only go so far" Raiden stands as do I "I shall send you there now, may the elder gods watch over you" I nod "may they watch over you as well" I said before I was surrounded by lightning.

I open my eyes to see I'm near the Lin Kuei temple. I shiver as the cold surrounds me 'holy shit! It's cold!' I rub my arms for warmth and pull my mask back up and walked to the temple and use the shadows to my advantage when I hear footsteps I hide up on the rafters of the roof and look down to see Hanzo passing through 'Hanzo' I smiled and silently follow him to the area where the Lin Kuei pray a table and with two bowls and a kettle are there. I silently drop from the rafters and hide behind a wall and watch to see what happens when I hear something behind me I turn to see Sub-Zero walking past me to greet Hanzo. "Master Hasashi. I am grateful that you've come" he said as he bows before Hanzo "Speak your mind. I do not wish to linger here" Hanzo said. Liang motions toward the table. When Hanzo does not move, he walks around him and kneels by it "You re-establish the Shirai-Ryu as I reform the Lin Kuei. We both seek to shed our clans' dark pasts. Dedicate them to Earthrealm's protection" He puts some flavouring inside the two bowls "Our common purpose gives us a chance to end old rivalries. To start anew" "You'll confess what you've long denied? That your clan's hands are soaked in Shirai-Ryu blood? In the blood of my family and friend?" "...Our honour is indeed stained. Please. Sit" Hanzo finally complies with the request "After you and I were freed from Quan Chi's control, I sought out my clan. I had hoped rebellion from within would have quashed the Grandmaster's plans"

I hear more footsteps and see Frost sneaking past me, unaware of my presence, towards them 'like hell I'm letting this happen' I quickly pull Frost back and throw her behind me she glares at me "how dare you!" she yells "I dare plenty, popsicle!" I said glaring right back "only chance I'm going to warn you. Stay. Away. From Hanzo" I said through gritted teeth she fires ice at me knocking me through the doors and onto my back. I quickly get up and launch at her, my hands become engulfed with flames as I hit her; she screeches in pain her and I appear to be equally matched in skill, strength, speed and powers. However, my fire ability, even though not fully mastered yet, provides me the upper hand I need. After a back and forth exchange, I knock her to the floor, but she jumps back up "Shirai Ryu dog!" she yells trying to hit me "Lin Kuei scum!" I shout back we charge at each other ready to land another blow when "FROST! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

We both stop and look towards the two grandmasters "she attacked me!" Frost said bowing as I straighten up "had she not had the intention of harming master Hasashi I would not have pulled her aside" I said as my flames disappear. Hanzo looked at me carefully when Frost charges him once again, this time brandishing an ice dagger. As Hanzo turns to her, an ice blast from Sub-Zero freezes her solid. I smirk "Frost lacks judgment, hence why she cannot see the wisdom of peace" I said then bow to the men I once knew well "it's good to see you both again" I said as I rise up "who are you?" Hanzo asked looking ready to fight in case I was a threat. I pull my mask down and smirk "am I really that easy to forget?" I asked as their faces show nothing but shock "Lady (name)...you're alive" Hanzo said in complete shock "yeah I know I've got explaining to-" I was cut off by a hug. Hanzo had his arms wrapped around my small frame his head buried in the crook of my neck "y-you were dead, Quan Chi told me of your death" he said barley above a whisper I smile and wrapped my arms around him "he lied, Hanzo, I'm still here" I said as he released me I turn to Kuai Liang who walked towards me "how can this be? You...you have not aged at all. This cannot be real" he said I smile and walk over to him his hand raises and stretches out to my face I place it on my cheek "I'm real, Liang, and alive" I said when he engulfed me in a hug "Maybe we should head inside, I'm not exactly covered in these clothes" I said smiling as he let me go and we walked into the temple. "how can you live when Quan Chi told me of your death" I turned to Hanzo "he told you it was Liangs' fault right?" he nodded "that's a lie, I died because the elder gods used my body as a vessel to fight Shao Khan. After they left my body was drained leaving me to die. I was sent here a year ago for some reason and I'm going to stay until I'm done" I said as we reach a table.

The cybernetic arm and head of Sektor lie on it, both hooked up to some sort of battery "remember how I said you would thank me later while we were in the tournament *looks back to the table* when I tried to stop you from killing Bi-Han" I look to Liang asking for permission he nods. I press the button on Sektor's arm. From a projected light it reveals a hologram of Quan Chi "this is why" I said as the hologram Quan Chi talks "The Lin Kuei need to abide their agreements, Sektor. The Grandmaster gave Shinnok his word" Sektor's recorded voice replies in response "Shinnok's currency is lies. As is yours" "Payment is due. I exterminated the Shirai-Ryu as promised" "Hanzo Hasashi lives. He's your spectre, Scorpion" "I created Scorpion from Hasashi's soul AFTER he died. We observed the agreement" "The letter, not the spirit. You are owed nothing" The hologram fades. Hanzos' face now shows pure horror at the words he just heard "Harumi... Satoshi..." he said as he bows his head in shame "things would have been different if you both had known the truth, if I could have changed everything 19 years ago I would have but I'm only one person. I can only do so much" I said placing a hand on Hanzo only for him to shrug me off and glare at me "you knew? You knew and didn't tell us!" he yelled his hands blazing I stepped back in fear Liang stepped in front of me trying to protect me "Hanzo, she did all she could!" he tried reasoning with him "she could have told me the truth! I could have had my revenge!" Hanzo yelled.

"Now hold on a minute! You're blaming me?! Look here asshole!" I shouted stalking towards a now surprised Hanzo "I'm not the one who killed Bi-Han that ways you. I'm not the one who killed both Liang and Tomas that was you. I'm also not the one who sided with Quan Chi, did his bidding and hurt our friends that was all FUCKING you! So don't go and blame all this shit on me!" my body grew hotter and hotter "what Quan chi made me do after you were gone was not my fault!" I thought for a moment "wait after I was gone?" I glared "what did you do?" he looked away in shame "Liang what did he do?" I looked to Liang "he...killed some of our friends so that they could become Quan Chis' soldiers" as soon as I heard what he said my body filled with rage. Flames enveloped my body as I looked wide-eyed at Hanzo, my eyes dilate "YOU DID WHAT!?!" I shrieked Hanzo looked at me with wide eyes "lady (name) please calm down!" Liang said trying to calm me down but I wasn't listening "our friends, the ones who believed in second chances, they welcomed us with open arms and you murder them!?!" "Lady (name) please I-" I shoot a fire ball at Hanzo cutting him off "to hell with you! You're gonna pay!"

We fight. As formidable a foe as the hellspawn ninja is my training with Mileena and fire ability keep me in the fight long enough for me to take the battle to Scorpion. After a fierce brawl I knock him to the floor "get up I'm not finished with you" I say before walking over to his body when an ice covered hand is placed on my shoulder I look back to see Liang looking at me with caring eyes "lady (name) please, stop this, do not become that of which you hate" he said carefully letting go. I take deep breaths and slowly the flames disappear into nothing I look at Hanzo as he stands up and looks at me, I look away in shame "I'm so-" he holds his hand up "no it is I who should apologize. I was blinded by Quan Chis' magic that much I let him control my actions not only that I was foolish enough to believe him of your death and then blame you. I am the one at fault her not you" he said bowing 'oh great now I feel like shit' I sigh and stand a few steps in front of him "Hanzo stand-up" I said as he rises up "look we're both at fault here. My fault for withholding information and you for killing our friends. But those faults are things we can look back on and fix in the future" I said smiling but frown looking at his bruises I place a hand on his bruised cheek.

"I shouldn't have been so rough" I said as a pink tint rose on his cheeks "it is fine lady (name), there are worse things I have gone through" he said smiling then looks to Liang "Sektor was wrong. There is a debt to be paid - and Quan Chi will pay it" He puts a hand to his chest in a salute. Kuai Liang returns the salute with his hands clasped together. The two former rivals bow to one another "now that that's settled onto the matter of why I am here" I said as they both face me "Hanzo I need your help" he looked surprised "my ability to control fire is unstable if I am to be a help and not a burden then I must learn to control it" he nodded "of course"

#mortal kombat x reader #mortal kombat 10 #mortal kombat x

[mischiefmaker615]

Tears of a Mermaid (Loki Love Story Ch.4)

Loki kept his eyes forward as he rode his horse back to their meeting place, keeping it to where they met the other day where his horse is always left. his mind pondered to what his father had said, and wondered if Mara did have great power. was she aware of it and she wouldn't tell him? it had to be true, his great great grandfather's war was stopped by its usage..but mermaids weren't evil..or at least, she wasn't to the point where she'd actually do any harm..

he got off and his face instantly relaxed once he saw her head come out of the water to their familiar distance between them ''good evening my dear mermaid'' he grinned as he crouched down to more of her level, where she let out a giggle and gave a small playful bow

''good evening my prince''

Mara noticed his gaze wasn't as..friendly as it normally was and she tilted her head in curiosity ''what is it?''

Loki knew she could tell, even by a couple days she could sense he was not himself and sighed, moving to a sitting position as she came closer to listen ''Mara you'd..you're not bad are you?''

Mara was taken back a little, confusion with a mix of curiosity on her face as she tried to understand his question ''bad?''

Loki motioned a little in the direction to where the Biefrost would be ''the Midgardians..they have tales of creatures like you leading soldiers to their demise..- i'm not sure why i'd even ask, from the time we've spent together you probably already would have-''

''we're territorial.''

''what?''

Mara played with the water a little with her eyes down ''to my understanding over the decades, i think its because people came to close to our homes, and out of protection- much like how Asgard defends its territory from invaders, we protect.''

Loki nodded a little as he gazed at her, knowing she was telling the truth as she explained and tried more to touch the subject ''..how would one defend its territory?''

Mara looked up at him, biting her lip as if shy on the subject but instead of telling him, to his surprise she raised her hand a little and water seemed to float up with it. she moved her hand in a sideways motion and it seemed to follow as if it were a magnet before she released it

''water manipulation?'' Loki spoke out loud in astonishment, looking more impressed if anyway. his father was right.. ''is it just body's of water?''

Mara hesitated a little as she seemed to glance at the plants behind him but turned her gaze back to his eyes ''its what we essentially use..are you alright?'' she asked, a little concerned as she leaned forward a bit more to examine his face, seeing the deep thought in his eyes before he seemed to snap out of it with a gentle look

''i'm fine Mara, i'm just over thinking things'' he assured and smiled a bit ''it doesn't make me think any different of you like you to me, we embrace our gifts. it makes us who we are'' he told her and gently plucked a flower from the ground, holding it out toward her and it lit up green a moment before started changing colors in a beautiful rhythm. her gaze seemed to return to a child like state where she gently took it from his hands and smiled, stroking its petals with her careful fingers

''it's beautiful..''

''like its holder..'' Loki said almost quietly, earning a blush from her as he gazed at her gently with a smile. without another moment of hesitation, he got up and started striping to the amount of clothes he had on yesterday, earning a surprised look and a darker blush as she moved away a little

''don't hide from me'' he assured with a small chuckle by her bashfulness ''it makes it possible for us to be closer'' and with that, he got into the water once more, up to his shoulders where they were now face to face, and their eyes able to roam again as she bit her lip

''..although our kind is different..i have these strange..feelings inside me..i've never had them before..'' she whispered, her eyes going back up to his own with a shy but honest expression.

'gods..everything she's ever said has been true..' Loki thought as he looked her over 'her beauty..passion..everything she is..is nothing to anyone i have ever known before..' Loki was taken out of surprise as she suddenly took his hand in hers and placed it over her own heart with a small smile, glancing down as he felt her rather quick heart beat

''see? it feels just like your from yesterday'' she smiled

'gods she's so beautiful..so happy to be finding anything she can that's similar to i am..' Loki returned her look as his thumb gently swayed, feeling her smooth skin as he chuckled a little ''we're more similar than one would think'' he then gently took her hand and brought it to his lips, giving her a small kiss that made her heart race even faster as her blush returned, her tail swooshing at a more quicker pace that brushed up against him. her eyes traveled down to their hands as she gently turned hers over so she was holding it and swam a little as if taking a step back, an eager look on her face as she moved to look like they were going to relocate

''ready?''

Loki grinned and helped swim with her as she went to pull him along ''more than ever.''

the days seemed to go by the same, Loki finishing what was needed of him and quickly disappearing to meet Mara every evening. from the valuable time they had available before nightfall, they spent it talking and Mara taking him to new places along the waters and lagoons of Asgard. he opened more up to her, venting about his troubles with Thor, more life in the palace and of Asgard, even how he felt when Odin seemed to treat him different compared to his brother, knowing he was to gain the thrown before him. Mara, all the more sympathized with him, reassuring and providing whatever coping advice she could as well as telling him more about herself, learning how she enjoyed flowers, the creatures she came across on land and even a bit of her past that she could remember.

''so..you have no memory at all from your beginning?'' Loki asked as they took their time swimming back to their original meeting place.

Mara shook her head but seemed to be thinking hard to try to do so ''..i just remember a bright light, almost green but just water all around me, every day its water, water water'' she almost joked as she splashed it around to make a point ''i have no memory of family, all i remember is just being here and just..adapting, knowing what to do and that's all i've done. my entertainment was just discovering new places and watching from the waters, land dwellers''

''and out of all those centuries, no one has ever seen you but me?'' he asked, almost thinking it couldn't be possible.

''Asgardians are very unobservant'' she joked and he playfully sent a splash over to her, making her giggle.

''well i being none Asgardian, don't feel that insulted'' Loki defended himself teasingly, having told her about what he really was, earning more fascination and questions that day from her. she took it well, more intrigued seeing another being through him as a Frost Giant, she didn't fear him at all, making him feel..at peace, relaxed and..accepted, more than what his family ever gave him.

Mara looked up once they reached the shore and smiled ''well, it's just about nightfall'' she sighed, and Loki heard her disappointment but smiled, not getting out of the water but instead, motioned toward the cliff side where they had first met

''Mara..would you like to watch the sunset officially with me?'' he asked, and she followed his gaze to where he was referring too. even at dusk he could still see her cute blush he was getting so skilled at making.

after a moment, she nodded and smiled ''i would be honored'' she told him and swam closer to the shore and he followed, stopping once he could properly stand but she stayed low, turning over to a sitting position as he looked down at her

''how did you get up there in the first place?''

Mara bit a small laugh and rubbed her arm ''i scoot back little by little until i get there, takes a couple tries with the incline but its how i stay mobile in the occasional times i go up on land..''

Loki nodded a little, glancing at the path they would have to go. it wasn't far, but there was risk of rocks and the incline holding her back a bit. with that, he went over to her and crouched, showing his hands a little to where they would be and looked at her first ''do you trust me?''

Mara looked at him hesitantly, even from the several days they had spent together, learning and enjoying, their contact has been very quick and little..but by now she felt comfortable around him, and gave him a small nod ''..i do''

Loki's heart beat a little faster as he gave her a nod and gently placed his hand under her tail and around, the other around her mid back and carefully picked her up bridal style. there was a bit of weight, having a long tail that were a bit longer than the length of a females legs, but it didn't bother him, being as strong as he was compared to if a Midgardian would do it. her arms wrapped around his neck to help support her, and he hid a smile when her blush came back. gods he loved it when she did that..even her smell was amazing, and nothing one would expect when one was in water so much. it smelled almost fruity, fresh and sweet..

he carefully walked them both up, being careful with his footing and followed the short path he took the first time he had gone up until he on the cliff. he carefully set her down and sat down next to her, her tail and his legs hanging off the side as they watched the sky get a reddish orange, purple, pink and soon to be darkness as they stole glances at each other, none of them minding that their hands were resting on top of each other as they sat. once the sky was nearly dark, Loki could hear the calls of his horse getting anxious and he sighed, always hating the part when he would have to leave

''shall i see you again tomorrow?''

Mara smiled, hiding her disappointment that he had to leave but gave a small, eager nod as she looked at him ''i look forward to it every time'' she told him, earning the same look from Loki as he hesitated to move. their eyes stayed put, longer than usual but at a comfortable silence as they almost seemed to wordlessly speak to each other.

after a moment, Mara broke it as she took his hand on hers and carefully setting it down onto her lap. Loki broke eye contact out of surprise and astonishment, looking down as his hand rested on her tail. out of the entire time, always being careful with what they did, this was the first time she allowed him to touch her other than their hands. her tail was smooth, not slimy like one would think and almost felt like skin in a way on each individual scale as he gliding his hand up and down. Mara hid a smile at how fascinated he looked and he finally looked up at her with his smile she loved so much

''thank you..''

''until tomorrow, my prince'' Mara smiled, giving him a small, playful bow and he grinned, doing the same before he forced himself up, looking down at her with small concern.

''are you able to return safely?''

Mara nodded and glanced down at the water, knowing he knew she was capable of leaping back in uninjured at this distance ''i shall be fine, make sure you return safely'' she laughed and he chuckled, knowing she tended to tease him from his horse fall and gave her a playful look before departing.

Mara watched him go sadly, her hand resting in her lap as if she could still feel his touch and saw i'm in the distance, having put his clothes back on and riding back to the palace. longing grew in her heart with that feeling that pounded through her and she instinctively found herself singing through the night.

#loki #loki odinson #Loki Laufeyson #Thor and Loki #loki smut #loki x reader smut #lokiedit #loki god of mischief #loki imagine #lokifluff

[druckkugelschreiber]

Okay, so, I have always been a bit confused how Noriko drowned for centuries in the ocean because you float on salt water, but like, I did some googling and thanks now I'm horrified.

And of course I'm sharing the horrors with you!

Horrors of drowning discussed below. Proceed at your own risk

So, once the air in the lungs is replaced by a water a body begins to sink. It only floats back up when it starts to decompose and the gases make it go buoyant.

From the comics we know it takes about 60 secs for the immortals to drown over and over with a full lung of air. Which is technically not how drowning works. While an average person can hold their breath with a full lung of air for about 30 seconds, we already have oxygen in our bloodstream at that point. That means even when that timespan of holding your breath conciously is up, your brain will make you hold your breath until you pass out and inhale water. (And then a feeling of peace can/ will set in).

Conciousness is usually lost in between 2-3min.

The actual death by drowning is after 5-8 mins depending on individual factors (which is less important for the immortals who don't get resucitated).

Back to Noriko. She goes overboard in a storm. If she gets pulled under by a wave and can't get back up and drowns, she'll sink. And with every struggle of life and death, the storm raging on, it'll make her sink more and more. She comes back to and the light is further away and away and while she is concious she can never get back up high enough to stay above the waves even when the storms stop.

Alternatively she was pulled down with broken parts of the ship, which tugged her instantly so far down she couldn't get back up even when she had freed herself.

Basically, what I'm saying. Noriko is so far under the waves, she can't get back up in 3 minutes of conciousness. But she has those three minutes of conciousness to think. To exist. To see the fish and other underwater things want to eat her when she struggles and she can feel their teeth on her body.

And the pain.

And now I have no idea how she eventually escaped. Maybe she was lucky and got carried up by a dolphin or a strange sea event.

Either way. I know even more about drowning than I previously already did, feel even worse for Noriko and just generally have a really bad time.

Of course we can also play this through for Quynh, in this post I discuss how the iron of her cage will break after 25 years. That means she's free to swim and free to drown all over again, because if she's deep down enough not to get back up like Noriko... can you imagine?

Fighting for 25 years to be free of the iron maiden and then the iron breaks and you realise you're still trapped. You still can't get out. You can see the light and everytime you swim up it comes closer and closer but your body gives out before you can reach it. No matter how hard you fight, you can't win.

You thought you were free but you actually traded one cage for another. The illusion of freedom.

#I'm so unwell now #noriko the old guard #quynh the old guard #drowning #the old guard

[th3-art-of-dying]

I died once, but they brought me back......

Only within the last few years ( give or take a few) has it been possible to do what I did and live to tell the tale. What I did was a half gram of street grade fentynal at once. This is not exactly a good idea for a guy who didn't do opiates on a regular basis. I remember at one point hearing the doctor tell me that I had done enough to kill 3 horses. That must be the reason it took them 4 doses of narcan to revive me.

I couldn't get high. Either that or I was too high to know how high I was. I had got through an 8ball of ice by myself before my guests had arrived. When they got there, in total, there were 5 8 balls between us.

I had not injected the drug in years but because I couldn't get high, I decided it was time. I did .4 and felt nothing. So I did about a gram. Nothing. A fucking gram of ice and felt nothing. I was not happy.

Everyone else was High and having a good time. I had a half gram of fentynal in my pocket that no one knew I had. After the next two 8 balls were gone, and I should note that we did 2 8 balls in under an hour, I decided to try the fentynal to see if it would get me high.

The last thing I remember after snorting the half g was one someone saying ' dude, your going to die' and then, I did.

I stopped breathing and fell to the floor. Two of my guests were a couple of tweakers I had met on Facebook that same day. The third guest was a long time friend, nurse and the only reason I'm alive. Well, her and narcan.

It took the EMTS 17 minutes to arrive. During these 17 minutes a lot happened. I died, stopped breathing on my own. The two dudes decided to throw water on me , which did nothing. They carried me down stairs and set me down. There, my friend, Jessica, gave me CPR. I took a few breaths, and then quit breathing again.

After all this was over, Jessica told me her part of all the chaos. She had actually given me CPR multiple times. I would respond by taking a few breaths and then stop again. She said that each time it was a little harder to get me to breathe. Like I was fading.

I was fading. More specifically, I was floating. I had left my body. I don't recall at what point I left it but I know I did. Strangely, I was no longer aware of self when I began to float. I was not aware of anything at all. It was complete peace.

The only reason I even know it happened is because of them bringing me back. The 4th dose of narcan, I came to. The moment I was revived, I became aware again, but had yet to reach my body as I had managed to float a distance away.

I was in my neighbors back yard to be exact. So, 4th dose of narcan, I awaken in my neighbors backyard. I began to float back to my body. I pass over the street in front of my house. I can see the ambulance, the neighbors standing around being nosey, and a police officer walking toward the house.

The first thing I remember feeling once I hit my body was anger and cold. I was soaking wet and madder than I've ever been. They robbed me of the peace I had attained. I spoke to no one.

I thought I was in the hospital for months. However, it was only 3 hours. The doctor came in and told me to try and walk. I did, took 2 steps and started throwing up. He said " I got another OD that needs this bed. Your being discharged."

At one point I remember seeing something on the news that said the chief coroner in the state I lived was attempting to get the president to declare a state of emergency because upwards of 80% of the bodies coming through were from Fentanyl overdoses.

If this would have happened to me 3 years before it did, I would not have made it. It is crazy to me to think a person can kill themself on dope and be brought back to life. What a world we live in.

Currently to date, I have lost every friend I had in high school to fentanyl overdose. Well my circle of friends the ones I spent the most time with. My two best friends, both dead. One of them died on his way to a rehab which he was traveling to on foot. He stopped under a bridge with the girl he was with to shoot up. They both fell asleep and only she woke up. She did not even know his name and they could not identify him in the state he was in. His mother hired a private investigator to find out what happened to him. My other best friend died 20 minutes after arriving at a rehab. It's just me now.

I don't know how I'm the one who survived. I was always the one who went all out did as much as I possibly could of whatever was available yet somehow I managed to get this far. I have overdosed on drugs more times than I can remember. I have gotten hurt attempting to do ridiculous things. I have put myself in situations that I should have been shot or killed over and over again in my life. Yet I still stand. But why?

The experience was something I guess I could say I wish never happened but not because I was able to handle the drug. I wish it never happened because I didn't do the stupid things I do. However the experience did show me a couple things. First it showed me that when we die we are no longer self aware. This confirmed my theory. Secondly I determined that we do not sit idle in the state that we enter into after we die. We travel. This goes along with the theory I had that are Essence returns to the source upon death. It's not proof but it definitely kind of reinforced some things in my mind.

I had this experience and I know that death is peace. I know that death does not last forever. I was never afraid to die, but if I'm honest I think that I am now. Not as much of death itself but more of not being here for my boys. I cannot imagine leaving them in any way. My life is very difficult and it's not easy at all to be in their lives due to external forces which make it difficult for me. I go through hell just to be near them and I have not very much to live for apart from them.

I feel like I want to die a lot. My life is full of depression and anxiety and addiction. I feel misery most of the time, but I still cannot help but want to live for them. And so I'm afraid to die. I don't know what to do with myself at this point. I feel like I want to be sober and try to remember who I used to be. I do not however, know how anymore. The thought of being sober is something I just cannot imagine. For me sobriety is torture, a story for another time.

At any rate, for now, I am still here and I will try to make the best of the time I have. What more can I do?

Thank you to all who read this for your time invested with me. Much love to you all as always.

[jenifern]

Cordelia Story Ideas

Idea 1:

The film starts in the café, Cordelia attempts to snoop in Moira’s bag, as there are evidence files in there, and she’s desperate to uncover the truth of what happened to her father. As she reaches for the bag, she gets bonked on the head by Moira, who scolds her. She insists a spider was on her bad and she was shooing it away. They then make it back to Moira’s apartment where she receives a call to come to the station, as its urgent. She leaves her bag with the evidence files in it. A voice starts to pester Cordelia in her head but she wants to respect Moira’s wishes and not look into the files, but it’s too difficult to resist and she looks anyways. Her eyes widened as she discovers the truth behind who ordered the hit on her father and killed her. Moira’s very own boss, Chief Chuckle. She is enraged as the disembodies voice urges her to vow revenge. And so she does. She travels to the station, and it is a little quieter than usual. Her ghostly presence sends chills in the officer’s spine, but they brush it off as the breeze. She phases into his office while Chuckle is buried in paperwork. He feels her presence too, and sees her as she begins to take solid form. Before he could speak, she silences him and exposes his wrongdoings. Chief Chuckle is in denial, how could his ex-partner’s daughter be alive, or semi alive at that? He tries to reach for his gun, but Cordelia swats it away with her powers. He begs for his life, that he was ordered to do it, but anger has already consumed her. She does as she pleases, and gets her revenge,

Meanwhile Moira notices she left her evidence file and quickly takes a detour back to her apartment. When she walks in and sees the destruction left in her apartment. She realises she may be too late.

Alternate stories:

Instead of starting at a café, it starts in Chuckle’s house, as he’s giving a wholesome speech to his colleagues on his birthday. Moira’s phone blows up as Cordelia is wating for her return so they can look through the files together. Chuckle pulls Moira to the side and thanks her for her great service as a cop she admires his resilience as a Chief (to humanise his character a bit more) Meanwhile Cordelia loses patience and looks through the files anyway. The party wraps up and everyone leaves, with Moira announcing to Cordelia that she is returning soon, but it’s too late. Cordelia is already making her way to Chuckles house to confront him.

When she arrives the same thing happens, just in a different setting and she ends up killing him. Moira arrives to her apartment to see the destruction and realises she’s too late.

Idea 2:

Cordelia retells stories of segments of her life.

She begins on how she resurrected. When she was initially shot and got thrown into the sea, she thought she would ascend, with her mother. She was wrong. She woke up. In excruciating pain. She didn’t realise at first but she was being eaten, by piranhas. Mutated ones, with sharp teeth and bulging eyes. Once she saw blood floating around her. Her instincts kicked in and she shook them off as hard as she could; it was hard though, as she was underwater so her movements were slow, and she was still hazy from being shot. Her body was burning at this point and the pain was unbearable, until she heard humming and the rotten fish began to leave. From afar a figure began to appear. Not a human or a fish, somewhere in between, a siren? She approached the weak Cordelia and held her hands.

‘Do you want the pain to end?’ she asks. Not verbally but telepathically

Cordelia nodded, in disbelief at the situation, but she is merely a child in pain, she would accept anything in that moment.

‘Do you want to see your father?’ she asks

Cordelia nods again

‘You must accept me in order for that to happen. Will you accept me?’

It was a strange and vague question, but Cordelia nodded once again.

Moments later everything turned black.

She then explains how she spent years in the water occasionally rising up to shore in hopes of seeing her father, deep down she knew, he was dead long ago.

After some feedback, I decided to go for the second idea.

#ax3021 #animation #year3 #wip #story ideas

[ben-drabbles]

Henry Drowned

(cw: violence, blood, death)

"Sardior's gleaming ruby taint," swore Red Henry. "What is that?"

"Not sure, but it's big. We might need you on the ballista," responded the ship's spelljammer, Mariath. She waved a quick hand and a bubble of air appeared around Henry's head.

"Right. On it," said Henry, heading back through the turtle ship Reliquary and towards the weapon platform. He passed by a few of the other crew scrambling to their stations as the Reliquary shook - apparently, the creature had started its attack.

Brigham nodded sharply from across the way as Henry ascended the custom waterlock. "Just drive it off, big guy," said the captain, also sporting an air bubble. "We'll see how bad it is and if we can still descend once it's gone." Henry nodded in return, before the ice cold water surrounded him.

"Alright, you void-breather. Come and get some," said Henry to himself as he grabbed onto the ballista, pre-loaded for situations just like this. Mariath's darkvision spell was also still active, meaning Henry could finally see what was coming for them. Specifically, as he swiveled the ballista to try to pinpoint the attacking creature, he caught sight of the ground rocketing right towards him.

------

Henry woke up in darkness and in pain. He sucked in a breath - good, the air bubble was still going - and looked around. He was underwater, he could feel himself floating gently. It was dark, and nothing was moving. He looked down and groaned. His head and left arm were free, but everything else was pinned under the ballista, which in turn was pinned under the full weight of the overturned Reliquary. "Fuck."

He tried to shift his weight as he yelled out. "Anybody else out there? Any surviv- shit," he swore as the ballistae finally loosed its bolt. Unluckily for Henry, it only pinned him worse, and the bolt went right through his leg. "Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK fuck!" He tried in vain to shift the weight of the ship, or at least move the ballista - but no such luck. He was well and truly stuck. At least, he thought bitterly, the weight kept the bleeding down.

It took Henry 24 hours to die.

He tried to claw at the ground - no dice. He tried to bite through the ballista enough to free his other arm - only barely, and it was well and truly fucked. He called out for anyone, anyone else in the crew. He begged the Reliquary to move, he cried to the ocean to just shift it, just slightly. Gods, it was cold. It was cold, and lonely, and dark. He watched morosely as his blood trickled out of his leg, as breathing got harder and harder.

"Please," he croaked, as the last of his air him. "Anything. Anyone listening. Please. Don't let me die. I don't want to die." He sucked in a last lungful of ice cold water.

He remembered blacking out - he remembered.....moving? Something...dragging him? All the way down to the Hells, he thought. This is what it is to die.

-----

The next thing Henry felt was hungry.

He opened his eyes and sat up gingerly. He drifted slightly upward - still underwater. His arms weren't healed, but he could move them - same for his legs, after he undid some straps holding them down. He was sitting on some kind of stone slab, red lines marking strange symbols into it. Across the ocean floor, he could see the overturned Reliquary, loaded with all they'd gathered so far - and, presumably, what was left of the crew. He blinked - this certainly didn't *feel* like hell. And damn, he was HUNGRY.

He swung off the altar, heading back to the Reliquary - hopefully, someone else was still alive, hopefully someone who could Spelljam them out of here. He kicked off something soft on the sea floor. He looked down into the gaunt, dead face of Brigham. "Well, damn," said Henry, watching captain's body drift through the water. "I was hoping you'd know what to do." He sighed, and kept swimming, giving that strange altar one last glance.

It was surrounded by bodies.

More crew - some strange deep-ocean fish - all gaunt, all drowned, all very very dead. Henry stared. "What....what the fuck did I do?" He stopped. "And how the SHIT am I talking? And seeing? And...and why...." He shook his head. Sure, they looked tasty, but he wasn't about to interrogate that.

"Time to go," he said to himself after a long moment. He'd hoped to sound confident, assured, but it came out as a whimper. He turned back towards the ship. Mariath wasn't among the bodies, so maybe she was just waiting on him?

He smelled blood. It smelled good.

Before he knew it, he'd broken into a predator's sprint. Eyes black, foaming at the mouth - there was food in that ship. He NEEDED it. He passed by the spot he'd been pinned with barely a glance, drag marks showing that he had been moved, the ballista broken beyond repair, but that wasn't important right now. He bashed through the busted waterlock and grabbed at the food on the other side - the other icebreaker, Tevran. He bit into the drowned corpse and finally, blissfully, drank.

The bloodlust faded, and Henry let go, swimming back a bit. Not the first time he'd bitten something - just the first time he hadn't been...in control. Weird. Best get to a mage, they'd probably know what was going on. He kept swimming through the ship, passing by other floating bodies - suddenly, now that he wasn't hungry, it struck him as pretty damn gruesome. He shivered, despite himself.

The helm door was open - he swam inside. Mariath wasn't there. "Tiamat's tits," he swore. "Now what?"

He spent a while searching the ship, but no survivors or signs of Mariath's location presented themselves. "Fuck," he said. "I guess that's it. Apparently I don't need to breathe, so....I guess I'll just, try and swim out?" As good a plan as any, he figured. He gathered what equipment he could, prayed to all the stars in Wildspace that the creature that attacked them was gone, and left.

------

"It's been a while since then," said Drowned Henry to his prospective ocean delvers. His wounds had never healed, but he'd stopped caring. He'd found a taste for flesh and blood, but what else was new? This was a fresh start - and he was a new sailor, just like when he'd left the Razorfang to start mining the ice. "I don't know if Reliquary is still under there, or if anybody else found our loot, or what the Hells happened to Mariath." He grinned, revealing rows and rows of razor-sharp Dhampir teeth. "Worth a look, though, don't you think?"

#writing #drabble #short story #fantasy #spelljammer #dnd #backstory for a new campaign starting up #the build. it's so stupid. #he's a barbarian/rogue. he reckless attacks to proc sneak attacks #and with the shark race & dhampir climb speed. he can do everything but fly #horror movie monster guy #but also he's kinda a dumbass. hopefully that came across lol #anyway enjoy

[soysaucevictim]

“it feels like my brain (was floating in a fishtank)”

(See warnings/summary on Ao3.)

[ Prologue/Start ] [ Previous ]

Chapter 5: Connoisseur of Hallucinations

Roman had wanted to ask why Remus was hitchhiking again, but didn’t want to worry their parents even more. They worried anyways- making all sorts of speculation on why Remus was in that crash, in that particular car. The police were unhelpfully vague about an ongoing investigation and too busy to give them much more than that. His parents would ask in hushed tones, “Was this a kidnapping attempt?”

The only thing tempering their worry was the fact Remus seemed to be safe and accounted for, just grateful it wasn’t otherwise.

Roman wasn’t sure if that was the case, it didn’t seem to be. Remus always got back home, without anything amiss, before. He hated that he wasn’t there to protect his brother, not that he knew how he could if he wanted.

So, Roman went alone to the beach.

He paced up and down along the tide, at his brother’s favorite spot. There was nothing amiss, besides the missing sibling’s antics. It was always here whenever he had last contact, before he learned that Remus had been hitchhiking to who knew where.

He went a little further out to see a condo complex poking out into the sands.

He hid behind some rocks when he noticed someone leaving it, dragging something with them toward the ocean. The moon was almost new, so it was too dark for him to make out the details.

Roman carefully got closer to see what was being dragged – a vaguely familiar body.

Closer. Roman’s breath hitched when he barely recognized her from the Anchor Management story. 

The person dragging her seemed to melt into the ocean, pulling her into the tide. Roman dispensed stealth to run out to them.

Mid-pursuit, he realized she didn’t have the “smell” of life. He shook his head thinking about how he could sense when Steve died, a complete void of emotions opening up where he used to stand. Unlike someone simply sleeping, nothing for him or his brother to Feast on anymore.

When he got there, all that seemed to be left behind was a plume of darkness in the water.

Then, he noticed some bones as it cleared up.

Human. Bones. Not a whole body’s worth, but what remained was almost picked clean.

Roman shuddered, unable to read who or what did this. He was too focused on the woman to be sure, but it clearly wasn’t human. He felt a pit in his stomach grow.

He ran again, before whatever it was could have a chance to catch him.

-

Before long, Remus would be discharged from the hospital.

Carrie was about to go pick him up, when Vee cleared his throat behind her.

She was getting used to his presence, no matter how much he tried to intimidate her. She was taking that as an opportunity to tamp down the loudness of the Bright Dream’s suggestions. To try to get used to it and maintain her sense of discipline. To not let the Hero’s Call drive her to the same madness that Steve delighted in.

Resisting it during her day-to-day activities felt like when she once had to get a badly impacted wisdom tooth removed, it wasn’t even remotely an easy task. She was glad that the few Beasts that worked at the hangar didn’t share the same shift as her, for everyone’s sake.

Her nightmares about her family being in danger recently got more graphic. The images of what she should do to the next Beast she laid eyes on, regardless of whether they were hurting anyone else, followed suit. When she killed Rich, it was a brief reprieve from the Dream’s demands. It sickened her, yet there had been times she just wanted the quiet back, even if it meant...

She dreaded to ever bring any of that up anywhere near Janus’s brood – she would never forgive herself if she harmed her sons or this strange new family she was a part of.

When it got particularly bad, Patton would just pop up and ask to hug her. Vee definitely took notice.

She glanced back at Vee, “Yes, dear?”

Vee slumped a little, “Before. Before Remus wound up in the hospital. I was about to tell you something.”

“I copy.”

“I wanted to tell you… my name.”

Carrie remembered something Vic told her about names, “No pressure. If you don’t want to-”

He winced before outright saying, “My-name-is-Virgil!”

Carrie softened, “That’s a lovely name.”

Virgil seemed uncomfortable, as he looked away, “Y-yeah. Anyways, you should go get Remus. I can only imagine how squirrely the guy’s been over there.”

“Thank you for trusting me. I’ve been told he only horrified three nurses so far today.”

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck, smiling a little bit, "Well, that's down from the entire ward, yesterday."

Carrie couldn’t help but laugh, “Thank you, I really needed that.”

“Uh, no problem. Y-you can tell the rest of your family, too. If you want to. I guess.”

Carrie nodded before heading off, back to worrying about Remus.

-

It was clear to everyone that Remus was still dealing with the after effects of the car crash.

He had pretty frequent tension headaches. The sort of insomnia he had growing up with constant nightmares, seemed to come back with a vengeance. Said nightmares never came back since he was Devoured, nor would they ever, as Beasts. No, he just had this restlessness over what he just couldn’t remember. It irritated him, he felt it was too important to forget.

All mouths, no eyes, nothing clearer than that.

The dizziness was waning, at least.

His parents were worried about him, telling him he shouldn’t strain his mind so hard. He was still recovering, after all. It was okay to not know, but everyone overlooked that that was just not how Remus operated. And it would have been kind of hypocritical, they too still wanted answers.

His brother stared at him more and more skeptical about what he had been doing lately. He would say nothing of substance, and it only frustrated Remus more. 

All he knew was Cass saved him and he was grateful enough to not break his promise with them. He worried if they would be pushed away, if he told the brood about Cass.

He wasn’t even sure, in that state, who would hurt worse to be pushed aside by.

On one of the better days, he chose not to go to the Beach, that would be too conspicuous and energy-demanding. Instead, he opened a portal in the huge pool Janus had on their property.

-

As he floated in the central chamber, he meditated on the growing garden of trash inside. It was filled with symbolic trophies from all his haunts. Melted oven knobs, broken piles of china, a torn down basketball hoop, car tires, a yacht porthole...

There he could just be himself. The great kraken, always craving to send more ships to the briny depths. He “breathed” in a slow and rhythmic manner – feeling the cool water run past his gills. It was simpler being a monster than a human, at least, that’s what he thought. That’s what it thought.

He thought about how often other kids would tease him and call him an “it”, growing up. The first few times, maybe it hurt, but then he made that easy for them. He quickly embraced that its strangeness was always there. He wasn’t just another boy, it was something else. He wondered about bringing that up to his family.

It would think about that more, settling in for a moment more of relaxation.

The peace was disrupted when he felt a strange new presence in his Lair. It made him shiver, despite his resistance to the cold.

Yet, when he tried to look for it, the presence seemed to evaporate.

He didn’t have the energy to keep scouring the place, even though it still had him unnerved.

He eventually returned to the “real” world.

-

“H-hey. Ms. Janus?”

They smiled down at him, “Yes, little dragon?”

“I need some help.”

“Go on.”

“You seem to know a lot about a lot of things. Do you have any, um, suggestions for where I can go Feed next? I-I need a change of pace.”

“Oh? Well, hmmm…”, they took a moment rubbing their chin in thought.

The two of them were in Janus’s personal study and Roman watched them walk over to their desk. They pulled a rather large ring of keys out of thin air and unlocked something in one of its drawers.

From within, they took out a small notebook and leafed through it.

Roman fidgeted, “What’s that?”

They were glib, “Secrets. The things people hide. Small indignities, delectable snacks. Completely life-ruining sins, veritable five-course meals. All fair game.”

Roman mumbled to himself, “And here I thought all of that slimy snake stuff was just a coincidence…”

Janus stopped looking through their book to stare at Roman a moment and broke into an exaggerated display of laughter, clearly hearing that. They wiped a nonexistent tear away and spoke, “And I have absolutely never heard that one before!”

Roman was growing impatient, “Will you help me or not?”

Janus looked through the book some more, “Ah. If you’re feeling adventurous, there is a certain powerful individual who LOVES to pretend he’s a noble, upstanding citizen. Claims to be one of those loyal sheep dogs chasing after society’s wolves.”

“… and he’s not?”

“I have some sources saying if someone could do some sniffing around the abode he totally honestly earned... I can find some more wool with blood all over it. So, I was wondering if that someone could be you? Oh, and I do have something that might sweeten the deal, too.”

Roman felt far less ashamed when he targeted people he thought deserved it. He still didn’t regret robbing Steve or those scalpers, after all. “Go on.”

“He loves to take his daughter to Disneyland, practically every other week! The place regularly keeps a spot in the Fairy Tale Suite on reserve, just for that trust fund brat. Of course they wouldn’t leave without a few souvenirs from it all. Don’t you agree, little dragon?”

He never responded to a question so fast, “Alright, spill.”

-

Remus was sitting by Janus’s pool again. He wanted to see Cass, too. He thought about what Roman said, about how Roman wound up in the marketplace through the Dream.

Remus was tempted to see if he could just go to that Yacht Club, that way. He felt like he probably could, given how deeply he felt the ripples he made.

He was chuckling at the thought of just showing up there for a sequel, when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He looked back, to see Virgil lounging in the more shaded spot of the patio. “What do you want?”

Virgil nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess I just wanted to… check on you.”

Remus twisted around a little too extreme for a normal person, and rolled his eyes at the guy, “Since when did you care? While it was funny, at first, especially with Robro… did you seriously think harassing my family was gonna win you any favors?”

Virgil looked down for a moment and then said, “I deserved that.”

Remus sighed and then laughed, “Honestly? I don’t know how I’m feeling. Always been bad about that shit, unlike sniffing out other people’s emotions. Still can’t fucking remember what happened and it’s driving me a little crazy over here! Well- more than usual.”

“Do you want help in remembering it?”

“What, you’re gonna reach into my brain and ask it nicely? ‘Cause I’ve tried that… I think.”

“I was gonna say, Janus has connections. They have ways of figuring this sort of stuff out. And, well, there was a lot of shit that didn’t add up about that accident...”

Remus’s breath hitched without thinking, he didn’t want them to know about Cass. He coughed it off and answered, “I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about me.”

“That’s not how I operate, newbie.”

Remus had a bit of trouble doing it, but he managed to produce some tentacles to splash water at Virgil for that one.

Too bad Virgil had such impressive reflexes, Remus only managed to get some of his arm wet from it. Remus wanted to see him look like a miserable wet cat, but he filed that urge away for later.

Virgil flipped Remus the bird for that, earning a cackle, “Oh, you’re a fun one!”

“L-look! I’m just trying to-!”

“Hmmm?”

“N-Never mind. You can just go do whatever it is you're gonna do. I-I gotta go.”

Remus blinked, confused, when Virgil disappeared in the nearest shadow again.

-

Vic kept thinking about those symbols that floated around that assistant he healed, when he Awakened. He needed to learn how to do that again. If his children, his family, were ever in danger again, he needed to be able to help mend them. There could be another time where taking them to the hospital was not an option.

When he attempted to meditate on those words in particular, they escaped him. Yet others were far more accessible. They really did help him at work, all told.

When the aviary had to take in a nest of rescued terns a citizen scientist noticed it was abandoned for a dangerous amount of time. Neither parent came to warm and feed them and they weren’t yet able to fly. At least one chick was found dead nearby, it was brought along for forensics. But it wasn’t clear how well off its siblings were.

On intake, he saw symbols flitted around them. They pulled words out of his mouth, “Conocimiento…”

His heart skipped a beat as he instantly figured that these were California Least Terns, it was good they were found. Without sexing them, he just knew both were males.

He blinked and stared at the precious things. Another word, “Revelando…”

There was no one at the nest preening these poor things and he knew they had bird lice before looking closely at them. A coworker caught him speedily able to fill out their charts and treatment plans, he was always pretty good at this stuff. But if that colleague’s face was anything to go by – this was unnaturally fast. It did help in getting these things quickly on the path of recovery.

Vic also wondered if this magic was the well he had been drawing from, throughout his career. 

Vic was patient when it came to everyone he cared about, but not with himself. He needed to pick Ellis’s brain some more.

-

In a few weeks after his discharge, Remus eventually felt well enough to go down to his favorite stomping grounds at Huntington Beach. Cass seemed to find the best haunts and he kind of wanted to go back to the marina with them for round two.

He found himself wanting to make even bigger waves, he was so hungry at that point. However, it came with the restless tension of not wanting to overdo it. He felt so much less like himself, so sluggish in his Lair that he might forget to leave at all.

He sat at the shore again, trying to soothe himself and think more clearly.

As hoped, Cass was soon by his side. They were a bit out of breath, dashing up toward him, “Hello there! I-I do apologize for that uh, accident we found ourselves in. Are you okay?”

“Probably just a concussion, wait. Am I okay? Are you? I heard-!”

“Sh-shhh, don’t worry about me. See? Everything’s alright.”

Remus inspected Cass and it really was as if the accident never happened to them. That was, except for some very old scars on Cass’s palms, he’d just noticed. He snorted, lightly speculating about stigmata, there.

Remus took a breath, “I want to sink more boats, Cass. And I- I have an idea of how to keep my Horror from getting too sleepy again.”

Cass gave him an encouraging smile, as he elaborated, “I’ve… made horrorspawn before. Once.”

Cass’s face lit up at that, it was almost endearing. “Fascinating! Care to tell me more?”

He had since allowed Jude to merge back into his Horror. He wanted to make more like it, he wanted to nurture them and unleash them into the world. It was an almost instinctive feeling, like his very Hunger was. He was told over and over how natural it was to want to reproduce with other humans and experience those weird feelings of attraction in others. An instinct pretty much all humans and animals were supposed to have. He never felt that before, but making spawn were the closest moments he came to that sensation.

It didn’t really feel like a father in those moments nor a mother. It was just Remus wholly embracing its capabilities. It supposed that Roman not feeling the same way about it didn’t help its feelings of isolation. It also liked Janus, but they were often just so preoccupied. It still wasn’t sure about Virgil, even though Patton had charmed it more than it ever expected. Ellis and its dad were busy in an entirely different realm of existence. Its mom, well...

Remus groaned, “I-I want to make more.”

He knew the spawn would never be another proper Beast, Janus told him as much. But he was okay with that. They had a simplicity in what drove them he envied sometimes. They didn’t have to care about anything else.

“Well. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to, it was… a pretty desperate situation. I’d need to find some people to incubate them. And I’d need to know how to make their very souls shake open.”

Cass smiled at him in that same creepy way he and Roman tended to do without thinking, “Oh, I can help with that.”

“Really?”

Cass nodded and Remus followed them toward their brand new truck. They were so completely unfazed by the crash and didn’t remark on the replacement.

The way they moved was so purposeful and fluid. Remus was awestruck by them and their power. Awestruck and something else he couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was all scrambled, still. It had only been a couple weeks since he was discharged.

“Where are we going?”

“Just an ordinary little hotel. I’d like to introduce you to a few friends there!”

“Why?”

“A place where I may…”

“ … sojourn in Thy tent to the ages, I trust in the secret place of Thy wings.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to ruin the surprise, now do I?”

-

“Ah, you’re beginning to grasp the Tapestry with your Sight. I can work with that.”

Vic was back in Ellis’s study, somewhat confused. “I- what.”

“Do you remember when I said ‘my spheres aren’t connected with yours’?”

“Vaguely?”

“In the simplest of terms – you are known as a ‘Shaman’ and I’m a ‘Necromancer’.”

Vic whipped his head so fast at that, “W-wait. You can like. Raise the dead!?”

“Technically speaking. But really, those titles are… generalizations. We found different paths in our awakenings and thus made us attuned to different spheres of magic. Based on everything you’ve told me – your arenas are Life and Spirit. Mine are Death and Matter. In all honesty, I have greater mastery of the Matter side of that coin.”

Vic sat there blinking, absorbing it, “Can you show me?”

“Alright…”, Ellis dropped into an intense focus and muttered unintelligible things under his breath.

Vic saw energy gathering around Ellis’s hands and more symbols he had no ability to understand shimmering around them. The colors in the room shifted strangely – the dark blue stripes in Ellis’s tie were then a bright orange. The clothes around Vic suddenly stiffened and he couldn’t move. Not that he wanted to with all the mesmerizing effects of his young teacher’s magic.

Vic asked, “W-what’s happening right now?”

As he spoke, his voice sounded like a chipmunk, like he sucked in a party balloon, and he was getting a little lightheaded. And just like that, Ellis dropped the spell and Vic could breath. He still had more of the wrong air in his lungs, so his voice was still high, “Did you just-?”

“I turned some of the nitrogen in the air around you into helium. Yes.”

Vic took a few forceful breaths to get more oxygen in him, “That. Was. Terrifying.”

Ellis flinched a moment.

Vic quickly and excitedly added, “Can you teach me more?!”

Before Ellis could answer that, Vic suddenly recognized some of the tattoos on Ellis, “Wait. Is that The Flamel?”

Ellis flushed, reflexively covering the tattoo on his hand with his other, “Perhaps. Look. I can’t be blamed for seeking inspiration from stories about alchemy. And the narrative was really quite engaging.”

Ellis cleared his throat to change the subject, “As I said, there may be some limitations in my abilities to give you focused study. For one, Spirit is one of those spheres that simply doesn’t come easily to necromancers – I wouldn’t be able to instruct you in that area very well at all.”

“So what am I supposed to be bad at, then?”

Ellis laughed nervously, “From what I’ve read, it’s Mind magic. Admittedly ironic to me, given what your children are.”

“Huh?”

“Not my area of expertise but I know of some warlock colleagues that have had quite a few dalliances into the Primordial Dream to study Beasts like your sons. The realm they awaken in puts them quite cosmologically close to each other, actually.”

“Huh.”

“It certainly explains a lot about you and your temperament. Shamans tend to be very… emotional and impulsive.”

Vic spoke with a great deal of affront, “HEY.”

Ellis laughed a little more heartily at that reaction, “I get the feeling you will be quite the entertaining pupil. And who knows, I may learn a lot from you in return?”

-

This time, there wasn’t any incident in reaching their destination.

Remus and Cass were at some hole in the wall two-star hotel, in the very southwest corner of Santa Ana. The fuzzy zone where it bordered Huntington and Newport. Two floors, one long L-shaped building, all the expected features. The cheap looking painted stucco riddled with cracks and flaking. The signboard outside had yellowed over the years, with letters “No Vacancy” hanging onto it for dear life. It almost looked abandoned, if not for the flickering lights and the tiny pool still having water in it.

There were other cars parked in the lot, some Remus recognized, but it wasn’t packed either. Cass parked next to them and told him, “Wait here, I need to let our friends know we’re here.”

Remus fidgeted as he watched Cass take a couple suitcases out of the truck bed with them toward the lobby entrance. Remus wasn’t usually the kind to follow orders, but something compelled Remus to want to with Cass.

Cass seemed to take their sweet time in there and Remus was getting restless. The black paint job on this truck certainly didn’t help Remus’s comfort levels. He was tempted to step out to see whether that pool was at all well maintained, he had expectations that it would look disgusting.

Even though the sun was going down, Remus was feeling like he was baking in there. He thought about those pet PSAs about not leaving them in hot cars with the windows rolled up. Just as he reached the door handle, he saw Cass show up and they were dressed differently.

The new cassock they wore was something Remus didn’t recognize in his brief stints of going to church as a child. It was the color of full-bodied red wine. There was intricate, green and black embroidery at the hems: grape leaves entwined by vines, tentacles, and other strange symbols. His favorite eye-searing toxic shade of green.

“¿Estás listo, mi dulce sepia? ”

“W-what did you just call me?”

They acted as if they hadn’t said anything at all, “Whatever do you mean, Remus? Come along.”

“O-Okay, then.”

The two of them filed into the lobby of the place and were greeted by a small group of people – Remus was surprised by the familiar faces. One of them was Edsel, from the car dealership. Another was one of the scalpers, Tim. He vaguely remembered a couple people from the yacht party. And one of his teachers from high school?

Remus blinked at them all and looked back at Cass, confused, “Why are they here?”

Edsel looked at Cass and smiled at Remus, with a hazy expression, “Look! The Herald and the Sign are here!”

Remus was even more confused, noticing everyone there kind of had that distant look to them, everyone except for Cass, “Are these guys on something?”

Cass ignored the question to address the others, “Pledges! You’ve each personally borne witness to the Sign’s work, have you not?”

They nodded with a shared look of fear and delight that was already starting to stir something in Remus. “Are you certainly ready to...”

“Put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry)?”

It felt like they were resonating with different parts of his very soul, connected. He was feeling the phantom sensations of remembering a good meal. It was weird, how they didn’t run away from him, knowing how much he’d already disrupted their lives.

Weird, but Remus was too busy soaking in it to think it was a bad thing.

Cass continued, “The work is not finished! The Sign requires more to fulfill their Promise to the World. More tests will come for you! Prepare yourselves!”

Remus was confused, but Cass ushered him into the nearby office room and locked the door behind them. Cass noticed Remus getting squirmy, “You are free to do as you please with them. All I ask is that you let me help you. Help you reach and truly understand your potential. I’m the only one who can.”

Cass gently placed both their hands on his shoulders, their stare stilled him again.

“You can?”

“Yes. Everyone else just wants to limit you. My only desire is to allow you to flourish. Truly.”

Remus felt himself salivate and flush, looking past the office door. His thoughts started sharpening as he opened the door. His eyes flickered with that faint green glow, singling out Edsel and Tim in front of him.

Cass said something about them being chosen to receive visions. Remus was too busy reaching into the fractures he left behind to understand what they were talking about.

-

Like Steve before, Remus showed them who it really was, an imposing monstrosity destroying everything they could ever cherish. As they screamed at the visage that invaded their minds, they screamed for mercy, in graciousness, in clarity. Before it could allow its Horror to fully digest this deliciously complex meal, it scattered fragments of itself inside their minds.

-

Remus grinned wildly, overcome with the weight of the new additions beginning to form inside its Lair. It was excited to run inside to tend to them immediately and it wanted to run out to that pool outside to do just that.

He was stopped by Cass with a simple request, “May I see it?”

-

Feel free to ask to be on a tag list, if you wish!

(I’ll probably tag every other cross-post.)

-

[ Next ]

#spilled musing #begotten au #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders

[guessillcallitart]

Wip title: Victorian Shannon

Genres: fantasy, adventure, romance, ya fiction, horror

Content warning: mature themes/topics such as death violence, trauma, abuse (not necessarily in every bit I post but this generally applies to my story)

@jacquesfindswritingandadvice

Her mother didn't want for her to go explore to the forest. "It's dangerous", she said. Little did she know that only made the forest more appealing for Florence. Besides she wasn't a mere sapling anymore. She was a nearly fully grown tree spirit. Besides she was also a werewolf. Interestingly enough, she thought as she listened the sweet singing of the birds and watched the enormous, iridescent jelly fish floating around between the trees, her mother didn't feel at home in the woods. She wasn't a dryad but a werewolf. You'd think werewolfs would like the forest too. But there was something unknown, threatening, Florence recalled her mother telling her, something dangerous looming far beyound the trees, a force so strong and vicious it lured innocent children there so they got lost. Florence twirled around happily as she stepped lightly as a feather on the dark green moss as soft as cotton candy, her long, green hair flowing around as if she'd fly to the skies any moment. She glanced up to find majestic griffins soaring far above her. She made her way zig zagging in between the trees avoiding to going down just one path. She wanted to get lost. She had an exellent sense of direction after all. She'd always find her way back home. Darkness descended all around her as she moved gracefully farther and farther. She'd left home at dawn and she could just and just make out the small, bright shapes of the seven suns rising above the thick canopy of trees. She hoped she could stay for the whole day just see how the forest would look like at night. She'd heard stories at school that there were planets and constellation circling the trees and small clearings where you could see them in the skies too. Florence loved the stars. She loved the nature and a certain archer boy with cute freckles, twinkling eyes and messy, curly hair but that, she thought blushing, she wouldn't admit to anybody, the least to the boy. A quiet breeze brought a waft of jasmine, cherry blossoms and salty ocean air to Florence's nose. The air carried a melody, like an eerie song of a nightingale. Her mother had warned her about this too. But the thing was she had to experience and find things out by herself. Her mother called this making bad decisions. The song was beautiful and sad. It didn't have lyrics but somehow Florence knew what it was about. She just couldn't describe it with words. Thin, silvery fog, like liquid moonlight swirled at her feet and then rose to her waist. With a surge of panic Florence started to fear it might encase her. Somehow the fog felt threatening and dangerous. Every cell of the girl's petite body screamed that she should turn back and go home but her mischievous, troublemaker nature made her keep going. The fog followed her as she moved through the mossy ground with her heart beating faster and faster and goosebumps creeping up her back. Then she spotted the deer. It was majestic with its enormous antrels entangled in seeweed and tree leaves. It was lounging under a grand weeping willow. Florence went slowly closer and realized the deer's rear was a shining, turquoise tail that reminded her of a mermaid. Come closer... Florence flinched. Where had that voice come from? The deer watched her with its kind, dark brown eyes. Florence looked around her. She had come to a beach and as she stared at the lake spreading before her, the same, strange fog met her eyes once again. The fog around her swirled around her and toward the dark waters. What is this place? Florence thought. A rustle came from above her and a something small dropped in front of her from a willow. "You shouldn't be here." A small boy with shaggy, red hair and hazel eyes regarded Florence with utter curiosity. "Who are you?" the girl asked. "Are you a stalker? Were you the one whispering before?" The boy looked surprised. "No", he said. "This is a strange place. The legends say it's haunted." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Hiro." Florence shook his hand unsurely. "I like exploring the forest", Hiro explains. "Just heard you coming."

"I'm Florence." The girl seemed to relax and decide Hiro was harmless. "Have you been here before?" she asks regarding her surroundings hoping to see the lovely deer with a tail again. However she was disappointed to see an empty lake swirling with fog spreading before her and this strange, red haired boy. "It'll come back", Hiro blurted out all of a sudden. "Huh?" Florence frowned at him. "The creature you saw", he clarified. "They're called de grege cervos iaculari et uada." He pronounced each word carefully like wanting to impress the green haired, curious girl standing before him gazing at the lake again. "It means..." he started to translate until the girl cut him off. "I know Latin", she snapped, which was only partly true. She studied Latin at school currently, she had just always been rubbish at it. "Shallow", she said slowly feeling a twinge of embarrassment. "Those deer, they don't like deep waters." Hiro nodded. "I know my way with creatures. My dad teaches about them. Those deer, we call them sirène mythique." Florence laughed. She was better at French than Latin. "Mythical mermaid?" Hiro nodded. "I suppose the one who named the creature hadn't actually seen a mermaid before and this place, well... What I've heard is that no one knows its exact location. People get lost and find it."

"Not that I'm too eager to go back home, but it has to be possible right? Somehow." Florence frowned. "I know someone who can help us," Hiro said. "This witch, she lives in the middle of the woods. She helps people who get lost here."

"What's her name?" Florence asked. Hiro stared at swirling fog. "Artemis."

"We'll just have to be careful," Hiro warned as they thrudged down the path where Florence came from. "She's a bit dark, people say."

"Bit dark?" Florence prompted. "Well, very dark," Hiro admitted. "Rumours tell her parents abandoned her and she turned bitter and started to kill people." Hiro's voice was full of fear and shushed. Florence even distinguished some excitement in there. Like this whole thing was a dumb game. Guess, Hiro is a little boy still, Florence thought. Actually, she couldn't tell how old Hiro was. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Florence said. "Listen to the girl, boy," a threatening voice behind them said. "She's way darker than the rumours tell you." Florence and Hiro spun around. The girl in front of them had a long, wavy, chestnut coloured hair cascading from her burgundy hood. Florence couldn't see her face. She took a step closer to the girl. "Are you Artemis?" she asked with her heart racing and mentally screaming the word danger. She smirked and performed a mock bow. "At your service."

"Can you help us finding our way back home?" Florence asked. "Perhaps," Artemis said. "But see, there's a catch. Not just anyone can find a portal back to where you came from."

"You haven't always lived here, have you?" Florence frowned at her. "Smart girl", Artemis said. "Let's just say time and place aren't exactly the same with me and everybody else."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiro asked shrilly. "It doesn't matter." Artemis flicked her hand and purple smoke encased the three of them. They emerged in a clearing surrounded by various plants which glowed blue. "You have to embrace the darkness inside you," Artemis said. Florence looked around her. "Where's Hiro?" she asked with a shaky voice. "I sent him somewhere else." Artemis regarded Florence in a threatening manner like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. "You'll see him again," Artemis promised. "After you've embraced your inner darkness."

"That's what you did, wasn't it?" Florence asked. Artemis flicked her hand again and a long, bronze sword emerged into Florence's hand. Without answering her question, Artemis disappeared. A loud rustling came from the trees. A girl with black hair and eyes to match faced Florence with a challenging smile. Florence stepped back in alarm. "Nyx", she said barely louder than a whisper. "This is how I'm facing my darkness!" she screamed all of a sudden. "Artemis, you're pathetic! She just kissed my best friend! This is crazy!" Florence felt a sword blade under chin. A crack opened in the mossy ground and several ghouls swarmed around Florence. "It's more than that," a whisper like a wind was carried to her. Nyx pushed the blade deeper and some dark red blood trickled down Florence's neck. Her head exploded with sharp pain. It wasn't just the sword but some twisted magic of Nyx's. The ghouls encased Florence's petite frame and images flashed through her mind. A sobbing woman with green hair and eyes to match with a bloody sword in her hand. "I was only trying to protect her," she cried at someone Florence couldn't see. A lifeless body of a dark haired man came into view. "He was trying to hurt her. He was a demon." Somehow Florence knew it was her dad lying there. The werewolf who raised her wasn't really her dad. Her mother had killed her dad. Then the image showed Nyx grinning like a madman. Florence saw ghosts screaming and swirling, working their magic around her mother. This is how I'm supposed to embrace my darkness, Florence realized in a daze. This is what Artemis wants. I'm supposed to want revenge. Florence lashed with her sword. The image disappeared. She placed the tip of her sword on Nyx's heart. This isn't me, she thought. She might have been a fighter but she wasn't a killer. "Why did you do it?" she asked. "There's a prophecy. A child of the earth shall make a decicion, for the fate of the world shall be decided then. The child of the night makes darkness pour into the lightest of hearts", Nyx recited. Florence pressed the blade further. "See, I'm not going out without a fight." Nyx shut her eyes and summoned more ghouls. She opened her eyes with a devilish grin and slashed down with her sword. A pain exploded in Florence's gut. She flew backwards. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Nyx asked while Florence lay on the ground still managing to hold her sword. "Fight, you coward", Nyx growled. "Weak. Stupid." The ground erupted under Nyx's feet. A geysir threw her backwards. But she seemed to have anticipated that. She swung her sword to keep her balance and landed on her feet. Florence leapt up. She didn't know what hurt her the most but it had set her off. She was ready to kill this girl. She willed the earth to rise and swallow the ghouls inside it. Then she attacked with her sword and lashed but Nyx wasn't there anymore. Instead there was Artemis. "I still need her." She flicked her hand. "Here's your friend." Hiro appeared on the mossy ground. He seemed to be unconcious. "What did you do to him?" Florence knelt before him and tried to find his pulse. "He wasn't up to the task," Artemis said. "He's drained."

"Is he dead?" Florence asked tearfully. She wasn't really sure why she cared for Hiro. They had just met. All she knew Hiro somehow felt like a little brother she had never had. "He'll live," Artemis said in a monotous voice. "He might not wake up but he'll live." Florence sprang up with anger flaring inside her. She ran her sword down on Artemis. She vapourized and emerged at the other side of the clearing. "Really? You honestly thought you could take me?" Artemis laughed joylessly. "What an ego you have." Florence knelt down again, embracing Hiro. She flung him over her shoulder like a ragdoll. "Show me the portal." Her voice sounded braver than she felt. "Find it yourself," Artemis said. "This time you actually can find it." Then she disappeared. Florence cursed. "Fine!" she yelled. "I'll find the bloody portal!" Even if she had no idea what it looked like. So she trudged along xigzagging between the trees until she heard an eerily familiar melody but it wasn't the same one she'd heard before. She followed it knowing it'd lead to a portal. She sensed water close by. Soon she found the source. A large lake shimmering with blue light rested before her. This is it, Florence thought. This is the portal. The surface of the lake was completely still. Intuitively Florence knew what to do. She walked right in and was surprised her feet didn't get wet. Nor did her legs or waist. She was about to descend into the lake when a sword point was placed under her chin. Holding Hiro, even if Florence could fumble and reach for a weapon, she wouldn't be able to wield it. Not that she had a weapon to begin with and she couldn't concentrate enough to use her powers. Something about the lake seemed to smother her magic. She did her best to put on a brave face and looked into dazzling, bright green eyes of a girl with threatening, scary expression on her pale face. Shaggy, black curls cascaded on her shoulders. "You know a way out. Show it to me." Hiro stirred feebly on Florence's shoulder. She knew they didn't have much time. "The lake is a portal", Florence said gritting her teeth together. "I've been trying for weeks", the girl said. "It won't work." She pressed the blade deeper. Panic welled in Florence's insides. "My friend needs a healer," she said shakily. "I need to get him out of here." Frost gathered around the girl. It stuck on her skin. Florence watched in amazement the girl freezing in front of her. Soon there was a frozen statue in front of her. Another girl with silvery hair and icy blue eyes trudged through the water. It froze under her feet. "Frozen much?" Florence asked. She recognised the girl as Chandler Hunter from Rose garden. Your welcome, Chandler signed. She was deaf, Florence remembered. Fortunately everyone in Rose garden learned sign language. Thanks, she signed not remembering whether Chandler could read lips or not. Chandler smiled. She was very pretty like a younger, real life Elsa without the white braided hair.

A fog like vapour rose from the lake. It seemed to fill Florence's lungs. She nearly dropped Hiro when she noticed that her arms had become vapour too. This lake was turning her into a ghost. With her heart racing she anchored her thoughts to somewhere other than the lake. She thought about Gwynedd, her parents and her sister. Then she dived in. For a second she felt like she was suffocating and the world turned upside down. She stood in a corridor full of heavy, wooden doors and stone walls with torches in brackets to create a dim lighting. She glanced up and realized the ceiling looked like the bottom of the sea with clumps of seaweed and sand. "Damn right, mom, this is dangerous," Florence muttered to herself. "Which door is home?" she wondered. She started to examine the doors. They looked exactly the same. Great. She needed to get Hiro to a healer, fast. She tried the first door. It opened. "No way I'm this lucky," Florence muttered. "That one probably goes to Nightmare Valley or something." Before she could do anything the door sucked her in.

Florence woke up with a blue haired girl kneeling down next to her. For a second she thought groggily that the girl was her sister, Marissa. Then she sat up and started to see more clearly. The girl had almond shaped eyes the colour of rich amber, not honey with darker dots like Marissa. The girl had a kind, heart shaped face. Her skin was the colour of roasted almonds. She was wearing a burgundy hijab - how hadn't Florence noticed that? - almost entirely covering the girl's hair, light blue ripped jeans and a shockingly pink t-shirt. Florence looked around her. She was sitting in a pile of hay. There were wooden walls around her and a ladder leading downstairs. She was in a barn. Florence spotted Chandler lounging around nearby. She looked allright, just a bit weary, likely from using magic. You okay? she signed. Florence nodded. You? she signed back. Tired, Chandler signed with a smile. You passed out. I'm more worried about you. "I passed out?" Florence asked aloud now staring at the blue haired girl. "For how long?"

"Twelve hours," the girl said brightly. "Traveling through portals can be exhausting. Anyway, I'm Bedelia."

"Florence," Florence said perplexed. "Where's Hiro?"

"If you mean the small, redheaded boy, he's okay, still sleeping downstairs," Bedelia said. "He's like a blank slate at the moment. I had to extract a lot of dark magic from him."

"Will he be okay?" Florence asked with her heart racing with increasing worry. "Hopefully," Bedelia replied. "I did all I could." She offered Florence some blue chocolate chip cookies. "These'll give you energy." She smiled. Florence thanked her and proceeded to stuff a cookie into her mouth. "Hey, what are your pronouns today btw?" Bedelia asked. Florence swallowed the cookie. "What? How did you...?" Bedelia shrugged. "You're a dryad, aren't you?" Florence nodded feeling suddenly self concious about her green hair and the flowers growing from it. "I've heard dryads are very fluid, that's all," Bedelia said. "She and her," Florence replied. "Good to know." Bedelia nodded. A loud rustling came from the hay and a a toddler about a year old crawled out. He had a fluffy, fair hair with tiny golden and white feathers growing from it. His eyes were a golden colour like honey. His complexion was a light toffee colour. He was wearing a pair of orange overalls and on his back Florence spotted tiny, white owl wings. She blinked and a tiny owl perched in front of her. Then the toddler again. "That's Art." Bedelia smirked. "Short for Arthur." Art giggled. "Nice to meet you." Florence couldn't help but smile. "He's my little brother," Bedelia explained. "Our family is a bit weird even by Mystery Shore standards. We're descended from people who were part owls, part people. Art is also a shapeshifter but the owl thing kind of skipped me, I suppose." Florence could tell Bedelia was pleased about this. She racked her brain for some mythology facts she had learned at Rose garden. The owl people were called Sundana. They had exellent eye sights and hearings and they were nocturnal. They had wings and plumages ranging from tones of copper to tones of white and gray. Otherwise they were human. Their roots traced back to Norway and Japan. Florence glanced out of the small window on the far wall. The sky had turned blood red outside. Florence spotted a few cherry blossoms floating in the wind. She liked the smell of hay and horses in her nose. She felt like home. "Fancy going riding?" Bedelia asked first aloud and then signing for Chandler. Y-E-S, Chandler signed back. "I'd love to," Florence replied with a smile. "You know, just until your friend wakes up. I could show you around here," Bedelia explained. "We'll have to be back for dinner, though. My mom will want to invite you guys, of course." How could I? Florence thought. Enjoy myself when I don't know if Hiro will wake up. But Bedelia seemed awfully confident that Hiro would wake up and riding and a dinner just sounded so normal and lovely. Not that Florence didn't love all kinds of adventuring but somehow being almost killed wasn't nearly as fun as riding.

The girls rode under a canopy of shining, snow white cherry blossoms. Grass grew wild all around them. Florence spurred her gorgeous, white mare into a trot. She enjoyed the breezy wind on her face. She felt free, happy and content. For a moment no demons were out to get her. Her friend wasn't asleep after a great amount of darkness had been exracted from him. For once Florence wasn't in trouble or about to die. Oh, how she loved horses. As they were heading back to Bedelia's Florence spotted a carriage led by two, white horses, manouevring down the path lined by cherry trees and stopping a halt next to the barn. A bunch of people stumbled out of it. A girl with blonde hair collapsed in a boy's hands, was it Gwynedd? Florence wasn't sure. "Whoa, boy." Bedelia slid from her horse's back and ran to the carriage. Florence and Chandler decided to take the horses back to the stables before following Bedelia.

Bedelia

It came true. All of your worst fears have come true. I stop to halt to stare at the pale girl with freckles and long, blond hair. Her eyes are dark blue, like cornflowers. "Bring her to the barn", I say as in trance. A very worried looking redheaded girl who kind of looks like my friend, Angel, but with brown eyes, not green, steadies her friend who is barely able to walk. I jog there to help them.

I place my hands under her chin. I shut my eyes and a instantly beams of light travel across my closed eyelids. Something snuffs them out. Darkness seeps into my mind and lungs. I open my eyes to take a shaky breathe. "There's so much darkness in her."

"Yeah, we figured that much out", a blond boy says impatiently. "What can you do about it?"

"I may be able to extract almost all of it." I choose my words carefully. "But there might be too much of it. I think there's a demon inside her." You can't heal her. Not everyone and everything can be healed. Some day you'll meet a girl you won't be able to heal. She'll be your undoing.

This is really long but I hope you like it✨ Skai and her friends have found their way in a town called Mystery Shore and Skai needs a healer.

I made a moodboard of Florence and Skai because these pictures were so pretty💕 The pictures are from Pinterest and We heart it

"I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away

I don't know where my soul is

I don't know where my home is"

This is their song🥺

#original story #original character #victorianshannon #fantasy #fiction #original characters #ocs #wattpadstories #wattpad #writerblr #Spotify

[phoenixyfriend]

Auntie Soka and Little Leia (and Rex)

Read on AO3

This was originally posted on tumblr. At that time, it was about 24k words. This version is almost 50k. There are two chapters that are entirely new (first and fifth) and a whole lot of new scenes. Have fun!

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

Ahsoka dies in one moment, quick and mostly painless.

A quick death was the only kindness the man who had once been her master had left in him.

(In another world, perhaps, she’d have been saved by Ezra.)

(Perhaps, in another world, she’d have been able to save Anakin.)

(In this world, she is not.)

Ahsoka floats in death. She is not possessed of a sense of self, nor any true intent. She is not like the Force Ghosts she remembers crèche tales about. Ahsoka is the loosest collection of thought and memory that could be called a being.

If that.

The Force carries the entity she now is, limp and finished with life and personhood, having passed on her duties to what remains of her people.

Ahsoka lets herself start to come apart to join the spread of existence.

And then she doesn’t.

--

Duracrete is never fun to wake up on. Wet, smelly duracrete in a dark alley under the rain is worse.

Ahsoka’s montrals ring like she’s been hit. The sound is muffled and strange. The lights glitter like stars, though they aren’t.

This isn’t Malachor.

She leverages herself up from prone on her back to propped on her elbows, head spinning. Her clothes hang poorly, straps tugging in places they shouldn’t, loose and off-center. Blearily, she notes the beskar-and-plastoid tassets currently getting speckled in water on her thighs.

Her armor looks… bigger.

The fabric on her legs is getting soaked through, but her mind is still faintly buzzing, ugly with the press of too many minds. She shouldn’t be here, wherever it is. There are too many people.

Her hand goes to her hip. She has her sabers. They are warm to the touch, but oddly large, just like her clothes and armor.

Focus. Process. Body trauma check. Should have done it before sitting up.

Fingers responsive, nothing broken. Forearms, upper arms, shoulders. Toes, ankles, legs, hips. Torso. Neck.

She realizes by the time she gets to her shoulders that her lekku are too short, and reaches up to check her montrals after she confirms her neck is fine. They too are shorter and less defined than they should be.

It’s no wonder her hearing feels wrong. It’s not even worse, just… different. The rain isn’t helping.

“Soka?”

She rolls to the sides and up into a crouch, eyes wide. Stupid stupid stupid. Not even checking her surroundings.

A child. Fett clone. Blonde.

Familiar in the Force.

“You got shrunk more than I did,” she says. She stands, and tries not to swallow too visibly. “Hey, Rex.”

He unfreezes and barrels into her, unable to reach her head for a Keldabe kiss and thus settling in to hug her like his life depends on it.

“Okay, then,” Ahsoka mumbles. Something twinges at the base of her skull, a dirty little warning of a headache to come. “Rexter, you know where we are?”

“You’ve been dead for six years,” he snaps to her. The effect is somewhat lessened by how his face stays buried in the stiff leather of her cuirass.

Six years.

Rex had to live with her death for six years.

“I’m sorry,” she says, because there’s nothing else to be said. “I couldn’t leave him.”

“Ezra said.”

Of course he did.

Rex feels so small under her hands, and it’s a dizzying thing, really. If this were both of them getting turned back the same amount, she shouldn’t be quite so much larger than him. He’d been physically twenty… six? Eight? He’d been nearing thirty when she was in her late teens, which is what she’s estimating herself at now.

Even if his body were to go to the chronological age to match her, he’d be a bit older than this, wouldn’t he?

Or perhaps Fett had looked a little younger than he was, and none of the clones ever noticed due to their aging being so karked up already.

She pulls away from him, looks him up and down and clicks her tongue. His clothes hang on him worse than hers do, baggy like a child playing dress-up in daddy’s closet. He’s swimming in his uppers like a dress.

“You got pants?” she asks. “Armor?”

“Nothing that fits,” he says. He looks over her own armor, eyes catching on the straps that don’t quite fit. “Emotions later.”

“We need to get out,” she agrees. They know how to compartmentalize. They can cry on each other after they’re safely out of the rain and have an idea of what the hell is going on.

Ahsoka closes her eyes and tries to feel out a direction. There are too many lives, too many thoughts, too many—

There’s a bright spot.

It’s familiar.

Ahsoka turns and jogs, because it’s close and angry but not quite in distress, and Rex follows her. He curses as he does, loud clomps sounding off just how unpleasantly large his shoes are for him right now, but follow he does. Ahsoka rounds the corner, trusting him to follow, and sees a very small human girl in a white dress uniform that swallows her more than Rex’s does.

Familiar. Not immediately so. Ahsoka’s met this one, but doesn’t know her as intimately as she does Rex.

(He’s her other half. He always has been. She imagines he always will be, until one or both of them are dead.)

(…that already happened.)

(She should… shelve that thought for later.)

“Hello?” Ahsoka calls, slowing down as she nears the little one. She crouches down, balancing on her toes to keep from ending up even more drenched in the filthy street water than she already is. “Hey, hey, look at me.”

The little girl looks up from where she’s struggling with a belt, and blinks. Recognition, hesitant and doubting, lights her face. “Fulcrum?”

“Uh-huh,” Ahsoka encourages. “I’m afraid I don’t know you. If you got shrunk like I did, then I probably only recognize older you.”

“Leia.”

“Princess? Okay. Okay, right. You should… not be this age, if I’m back to being a teenager. Whatever time did, it hit us all differently.” She hesitates, and then holds out her hands in offer. “Let me carry you until we can get somewhere dry, and then we can figure out the clothes situation.”

Leia hesitates, but nods. They don’t have much of a choice, right now.

Ahsoka scoops her up, and then looks over her shoulder to Rex. “Eopie back?”

He isn’t happy about it, but he’s not going to run around barefoot, and he sure as hell isn’t going to be making time in the shoes he has. He climbs on and clings.

“Right,” Ahsoka says, shelving all horrible feelings into a little box for later. “Let’s get out of here.”

--

Neither Rex nor Leia seem to be particularly perturbed by Ahsoka using the Force to slip quietly into a hotel room she absolutely is not paying for. They’ve both lived their adult lives in the same outmatched war as she has, and they know that they can’t be picky. Snagging a hotel room for free doesn’t quite match up to the number of bombs they’ve planted, the number of corporate secrets they’ve smuggled, the lives they’ve stolen.

It's a very depressing line of thought. Ahsoka shoves it away in favor of hopping into the shower, fabric layers shoved into the attached laundro-sonic. Rex and Leia both insisted on waiting their turn. Ahsoka’s body-shyness is approximately in the negatives, and she’s shared exhausted cleanup with Rex before. Leia might be a bit less used to a soldier’s showers, though, and Rex definitely wants to keep an eye on her.

Ahsoka doesn’t know what happened after she died. She has the vaguest sense of a few things—she knows there was a massive loss of life at one point, something on the scale of billions in a moment—but nothing concrete. She doesn’t know what Rex’s life was like after she was gone. She has no idea what path Leia has followed from junior senator.

She ignores the scars she does not recognize. She finishes her shower. She exits. Rex darts in and starts up his own run in the sonic, and she has a feeling his clothes are going to spend more time getting cleaned than he is. Leia’s tiny form is wrapped in her uniform jacket like a dress, still wet and mussed and dirtied up by the way they all woke up. She pouts like a champion, and shivers.

“Let’s get you out of that.”

“I’m not a child,” Leia snaps. “I’m twenty-two.”

“…and I’m thirty-two,” Ahsoka says, trying not to wince at the reminder that she’s missed years of this girl’s life. “I’m also looking at someone too stubborn to get out of wet clothes.”

Leia glares at her, but starts undoing the various closures. Her fingers shake, both from the cold and from sudden lack of size. Ahsoka goes to one knee and brushes Leia’s hands out of the way, quickly undoing the zipper on the jacket, pulling off the jumpsuit and two or three layers under it, and getting Leia down to just the undershirt she’d been in when it all went down.

Rex comes out of the shower while Ahsoka is finger-combing through Leia’s hair, finally out of the braid she’d admitted it had spent the last six weeks in.

(“It’s not like we could take water showers on Hoth, you know, and sonics are murder on the hair.”)

(“I wouldn’t know.”)

(“What?”)

(“I’m togruta. I don’t have hair, Princess.”)

“Okay, get,” Ahsoka orders. “Let us know if you need help.”

“I’m not—”

“You might be too short to reach things, though,” Ahsoka reminds her, before they can get into another argument about her being Not A Child. “Go.”

Leia huffs and stalks off, dirty clothes in her arms for the fresher, and Ahsoka shakes her head.

“Plans?” Rex prompts, sitting down next to her.

She looks over at him, considers the actual knot he’s had to tie to keep his pants on, and says, “do you think you could fit into her adult clothes?”

“Not what I meant,” Rex mutters, but he obliges and puts some thought into it. “Organa’s tiny as an adult. It might not fit, but I don’t think it’ll be falling off the way mine are. Just cuff it a bunch and toss on a belt; we’ll be good to go.”

“That’s one problem solved,” Ahsoka says. She looks to the pile of dinged trooper armor and old shirt. She considers.

“I know that look,” Rex says, and it’s so odd to hear someone that knows her better than all the galaxy sound like a ten-year-old. “It’s a Kenobi look.”

“I don’t have a Kenobi look.”

“You do,” he says, utterly unconcerned. “It says ‘I just had an idea that the people under my lead are going to hate, but they can’t stop me because it will work and also because I’m in charge,’ just like he did.”

She shoves his shoulder. “Jerk.”

“He was smug about it, but not the same way General Skywalker was,” Rex continues. Her heart clenches. “Kenobi expected different kinds of arguments.”

“He did,” Ahsoka says, and then can’t keep going.

Rex waits. His hand—so damn small, though it already has plenty of blaster callouses—finds hers. “Soka?”

“Let’s not talk about Anakin,” she says. “I’m… not in a place to do that.”

Rex gives it a moment, and then says, “I know what he… I mean… I guessed… if you were worried about how to break it to me. I’ll leave the subject there.”

His pain radiates. She can’t bear it.

She closes her eyes and leans to the side, resting her shoulder to his. “Okay.”

“Okay.”

(Continue on AO3)

#auntie 'soka and little leia (and rex) #uncle ben and little luke #ahsoka tano #captain rex #leia organa #phoenix files #star wars #the clone wars #sw legends

[blzzrdstryr]

Midnight chatter

Yandere Diluc x gn!knight!reader

Wordcount: 2385

CW: Yandere, drugging, kidnapping

This was a third week after his return and fifth day of the tireless fight with winery work, when Diluc received an unexpected guest. During his travels across the world, the winery business fell into disrepair and almost collapsed, so once he learnt the state of the wine industry he decided to settle in his office and try to battle the endless reports about necessary expenses and small profits all on his own.

He started to work with the first rays of sunlight well into the night, squeezing every bit of energy his body had, not only because financial issues could affect him personally, but also because of the night vigilante of Mondstadt title he took upon himself.Due to the increased workload he couldn’t find time to patrol the dark streets and alleys of the city, while experience and conscience didn’t allow him to thrust the safety of ordinary citizens into the hands of bumbling, cowardly and lazy knights.

The day soon turned into the late evening, and dawn winery workers started to go home, when someone knocked on his door. It was Adelinde.

Her steps were faster than usual, her stoic face shadowed by the note of concern. Diluc wanted to say that no, he won’t go and have a rest, but she spoke first.

“Master Diluc”, she stopped before his desk: “we have a guest, a knight”.

He lifted his head shifting the eyes from the report to the head maid and pondered - despite his long absence, a lot of people in the city had a general idea how much he dislikes the Favonius Order and so a rare knight would actually dare to bother him, unless… Unless, they were acting out an order from someone high-ranking, like Jean or Varka for example.

Apprehension that his former colleague somehow learned of his nightly escapades sent an unexpected wave of shivers and vague feeling of unease, but he didn’t let it get to him.

“Ask why this knight is here and if it’s something unofficial tell them to leave”, he ordered, at which Adelinde blinked, slowly and tiredly, as if she was looking for the strength to tell something incredibly upsetting or scary.

“The thing is, master Diluc, that I already let them in”.

“Without my permission?”, his eyes widened at that, and the heart started to pick up the pace. What if this knight was really sent here by Varka or Jean? If it was true, Adelinde, unknowingly set him up to fail.

She was looking after him from his earliest childhood, so she was allowed to do and say more than any other of his staff, yet this perceived audacity was unheard of before.

“They were badly injured and said that they needed to stop for the night and once it’s over they will travel to the city with the first sun rays. We helped them to patch up their injuries and offered a room for guests, yet they declined and remained to sit on sofa”, the maid explained absolutely unfazed, after noticing Diluc’s dissatisfaction and then added : “If you are that displeased, master Diluc, I can tell this tired and battered knight to get out from here into the dark night”.

Her voice remained even and emotionless as usual, but even like that young Ragnvindr could hear a light mocking in her words. And to think about it - he got so freaked out over some silly coincidence - the knight stopped here because of the injuries, not some insidious scheme.

“Alright”, Diluc admitted defeat: “they can stay… and offer them some food and tea”, he added just as Adelinde’s hand touched the doorknob.

“Will be done”, she replied before exiting the office. The corners of her mouth slightly moved and crept upwards.

***

Despite his earlier goal of finishing as much work as he can, Diluc couldn’t do anything. Small digits and letters started to float and dance before his eyes while the long lines fused together, when he tried to analyze the state of wine business in naught. But the worst thing was the fact that his thoughts strayed to the topic of mystery knight again and again and Diluc lost count how many times he caught himself thinking who this person is.

He sat like that for a while, until the cinnabar of dying sky got replaced by the darkness and pleasant chill of the night.

Diluc scolded himself for his uncharacteristic indecisiveness, standing up from the desk and locking the office, when this thought, loud and persisting, knocked into his head again. Wouldn’t it be nice, he wondered, to learn who this night is, and finally decided. After all the thoughts about them pestered him for a long time.

Quietly and carefully walking through the unlit corridor of the winery, he confirmed that all servants and workers had already left for sleep, some into the rooms of the main building designated for them, some into the cabins around it. All in all, he was confident that there’s no one except him, the knight, Adelinde and a couple of other maids.

His steps were quiet and slow and not even a single board in the wooden floor creaked under his weight as he knew the winery like the back of his hand. With a bated breath he made his way downstairs, making out vague shapes of the familiar objects. Moonlight pouring out through the windows illuminated only the silhouettes, but even with that he quickly noticed the unknown frame.

The person was half-sitting half-lying on the sofa, and their sword and armor were placed nearby the furniture, reflecting the pale light of the moon. They weren’t moving, seemingly asleep. Diluc couldn’t make out their face even after making a coming closer, so he decided to take the risk and summoned a small wisp of flame.

The dancing light illuminated everything in a small radius and what he saw made him jolt and take a step back. You were the mystery knight.

Why are you still a knight? Where were you? Who injured you?

Still shocked by the previous revelation, Diluc accidentally knocked over the breastplate with his foot and it fell on it’s side with a loud thump.

You woke up.

“What… Who?”, you stirred and half sat on the elbow: “Ah, it’s you” and saw him :”What are you doing here?”.

Caught red handed, Diluc didn’t find any words - it was so sudden and unusual to be caught unaware, and because of that doubly unpleasant.

“This is my winery and I am free to do whatever I want”, he decided to hide the awkwardness behind the faux annoyance.

“Easy, easy” you half smiled, half yawned: “I just managed to fall asleep”. You yawned again and blinked at him with sleepy tired eyes.

“I have sleep medicine if you want some”

You got surprised and touched by his sudden responsiveness: “Thank you, but I think painkillers would be better. My body is aching and that’s the main problem”.

Maybe because of the trembling, dancing light or maybe because of the recent sleep you imagined worry and pity twisting his facial features.

“I have it too. Wait here”, he quickly replied and vanished into the dim darkness of the winery, not giving you any time to answer, as you were left to sit and wait for him. Diluc, to your own surprise, happened to be extremely stealthy, able to move without producing a single sound.

“Here”, you first heard and then saw him,as Diluc used pyro vision to light the nearby candlestick and then opened the medicine vial he brought and handed it to you: “Drink it all”.

“Thank you”, you whispered to him, taking the painkiller before making a big gulp. The taste was horrible, so horrible in fact that you almost immediately started to violently cough. Well, if it’s as effective as foul, then I will be good as new in no time, you thought to yourself, suppressing the urge to throw up.

Diluc stood nearby and observed your reaction, his hand extended on his own when the coughing started as he awkwardly tried to pat your back in the gesture of comfort. “I will be here with you until you fall asleep”, he stated once the fit stopped and then, seeing your highly raised brows explained further: “Painkiller takes time to work. Tell me if you won’t feel better”.

You nodded in response, and closed eyes, listening to the sensations of your body. Your injuries still burned and screamed and throbbed, yet a strange numb sensation started to slowly surround you. Just like Diluc said, medicine would need time to fully settle in.

“If you're here can you talk with me?”, you decided to shorten the time in conversation: “Ijust wanted to talk with you. For a really long time”.

“About what?”, he allowed himself a shadow of the smile, Diluc that you used to know peeking through the gloomy facade, like a long awaited sun or it’s reflection on the tranquil mirror of the water surface. Next words stuck in your throat, bitter and acidic and totally unfit, and you had to force them out through your own hesitance to destroy this calm.

“What happened that day? The day before you left. I asked Jean and Kaeya and other knights who were present with you, yet no one said anything”, the water surface bubbled and the visage of that old, sunny Ragnvindr shattered into thousand pieces. The person before you adopted the same cold facade of annoyance and indifference.

“Why do you need to know it?”, he answered the question with another question and you sensed barely buried hurt and grief.

“You leaving hurt. A lot”

“That’s why you are still a knight?”, you quickly nodded at that.

A minute passed by and he still stood, without saying a single word, thinking what to do. On one hand, he didn;t want to open up, the story of his eighteenth birthday was incredibly painful and personal experience to be shared so freely, on the other hand he yearned for your understanding.

"Alright", he broke the silence:"Let's make a deal, you answer my questions and I'll tell you the whole story after. Deal?"

"Deal".

Diluc looked at you again, looked at the bruises and cuts, still peeking through the bandages and for a second his mind lit up with one thought alone: what disgusting bastard did that to you. He suppressed the rapidly rising rage, deciding to start from the most important.

"Is my leave the only reason why you decided to stay?" his heart picks up the pace again, he needs to know the answer.

"Basically yes, you knownI didn’t do it for my parents… I just.. That tragedy, I know it's not my place, but… I always wanted what happened to you. I asked this question to myself everyday and night, and I missed you terribly".

His breath hitched and he lowered his gaze. For some reason you always managed to fluster him with the words alone, even if it wasn't your intention.

"Your parents must be happy", h e changed the topic, stifling the heat in his heart.

"Yeah, they're ecstatic that I stopped being difficult and made their aspirations real. Hm, do you have any other questions?"

"What happened to you? ",he pointed at the bandages covering most of your body.

"Ah, catching treasure hoarders does that to you, usual stuff", you dismissed his concerns and Diluc started seeing red from the way your voice remained so calm and unbothered. Usual stuff? Usual stuff?!

"Grandmaster could send anyone else", he snapped:"Favonius Order has more than plenty of vision holders, they should've sent one, instead of you! You could die!".

Diluc’s sudden explosion left you speechless, but soon your own weaved words of irritation:"Ordo Favonius doesn't consist of Jean and Kaeya only. We can't let them handle all the hard and dangerous business all the time. Ordinary people like me can still help, even if the gods didn’t favour us. Don't think of me as some helpless idiot just because I have no shiny vision to show off"

Your heated response seemed to work and Diluc turned red from embarrassment, realizing how annoyed you got, despite the worry for your health and still present anger at the other knights for letting you get hurt. He also didn’t like how you looked at him, reprimanding and disappointed.

"Alright, sorry", he cleared his throat:"where were you before? I haven't seen you anywhere"

"City gates aren't the only thing that needs guarding. I was sent to the Liyue border, to make sure that no treasure gang crosses it. I think I will get sent there again, once I fully recover".

Diluc got angry at that too, yet this time he suppressed unpleasant feelings, already knowing how you will rebuke and reprimand him again. There's no convincing to be done, as you won't change your opinion. You left him no choice for what he was going to do.

"Alright, you answered all my questions", he said before changing topic again:"Did painkillers start working? I have another".

Being so engrossed in the conversation you forgot about the ache, yet once he mentioned it your body started to hurt with a renewed strength.

"Yes, I would like one", you decided and Diluc vanished in the unlit hall yet again.

"Here", he handed the small bottle to you already opened. The new substance was different, sweet and viscous. You managed to take two sips before your eyelids started to feel up with lead, and soon even lifting a hand seemed like a highly arduous task. Whatever the thing that Diluc gave you wasn't a painkiller.

"What…", you uttered, before your body relaxed and you fell asleep once again. Diluc bent over, looming over your unconscious form, as his hands carefully took the bottle away. He didn’t want it to somehow fall and injure you

This is a necessary measure, Diluc assured himself, before making a plan of actions. He would need to fake your disappearance and forge enough leads to direct investigation into the completely opposite direction, but now he needed to wake Adelinde up and ask her to prepare the room in the basement. He didn't want you to be uncomfortable in your new home.

#yandere genshin impact #Yandere genshin impact x reader #Yandere diluc x reader #Yandere imagine #Yandere #male yandere #yandere x reader #my writing

[justfandomwritings]

By The Norns (Part One - Soulmate!Loki)

Pairing: Loki x Reader, Soulmates AU

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: Nobody was harmed in any way in the making of this story... but there was some arson.

Summary: She wasn’t a goddess. She wasn’t even an elf or a dwarf. She was a mortal, a Midgardian, a human. To Odin, she was a curse. To Loki, she was a second chance.

Notes: Don’t worry. Despite what the chapter and the description may make you think anyone whose read my stories before will know I am not a fan of soulmate aus that take away the character’s choice. This chapter is set up. Stick with me on this. I promise. Posted in honor of @muna1412​ being very excited at the prospect of another soulmate au.

This is not related to Loyalty in any way... I just have an unhealthy obsession with Soulmate aus. 

Fate was a funny, fickle thing. Loki knew that much. After all, he’d met her. 

Them, to be more precise. The Norns.

Urdr, Skuld, and Verdandi were their names: Past, Present, and Future, as they should be known.

It was they who watered the tree, and they who grew its leaves. The task fell to the Norns to write, shape, create, and control the fate of every being under the branches of Yggdrasil. 

A poor, dwarven craftsman working on the surface of Nidavellir, a beautiful, golden elf living on a hill in Alfheim, a meager, puny human scurrying around the surface of Midgard. It was they who made the dwarf rich, who killed the elf in his sleep, who let the human sow the land. They did not exchange the gold; they did not wield the dagger; they did not draw the plow. But it was by their hand, by their grace and mercy, that the worlds turned, that life waxed and waned, that the Realms drew breath. 

Every birth was through their will. Every death was by their hand, and everything in between was because they decided it would be so.

All fell under the gaze of the Norns. The kitchen cook, Andhrimnir, who served the Aesir’s table at night, owed everything to the Norns. They allowed his birth into Asgard. They raised him above the station of a lowly tavern boy. They gifted him the family he cradled so dearly to his chest.

Odin, King of the Nine Realms, Protector of Asgard, owed everything to the Norns. He was born by their choice. He survived a thousand battles because they said he would do so. He married Frigga because they put her on his path. His sons… 

Well, one of his sons.

Loki knew the exact moment Odin stopped looking at him as a son, the exact moment Odin chose Thor over him, the exact moment Odin turned his back on him, the exact moment his father marked him disappointment.

It was, like all things, the doing of the Fates. The Norns.

Fates were theirs to command from the highest branches of Yggdrasil down to its very roots. From king to beggar, slave to master, aristocrat to pauper, farmer to merchant, sailor to soldier. From Loki to her. She was their doing.

Love was an inevitable part of life. Not even the Norns, with all of the power of the gods and then some, could stop that. Humans, Aesir, Elves, Vanir, the sentient beings of the Nine Realms felt an overwhelming urge towards emotion, and one of the strongest, one of the most inevitable, was love.

They couldn’t stop it, but they could direct it.

It fell under the purview of Fate to decide who one loved. People, god and mortal alike, fell in and out of love all the time. 

Sometimes, though, every now and then, the Norns would reach down and touch two beings. The Norns would take two souls in two bodies and braid them together, weave them together, mold them together, as if they were one.

Those who knew magic well, those like Loki, could see them, watch them, doing this. 

They could see Urdr floating, invisible amongst them, deciding the pair. They could see Skuld, plucking up their souls. They could see Verdandi tying them together.

Loki watched them when they took his soul.

“Mother, Mother,” Loki tugged on his other’s silk skirts and pointed up into the rafters of the Grand Hall. “What’s that?”

Frigga followed her son’s gaze and gasped. Magic was not her proficiency, though what little she had she wielded well. She had enough to see the Norns, floating ghostlike in the air over her younger son. She had enough to see his soul in their hands, and another at their side. 

In the old days, before that fateful night, it was considered an honor to be chosen by the Norns. It was a guarantee of a great, powerful destiny in the future. It was a promise of passion, understanding, and respect on the horizon. It was the mark of one who would know true love. 

The Midgardians called them soulmates. The Aesir called them the destined. 

“The Norns have touched Loki,” Frigga whispered to Odin at her side. “They are gifting him a match.”

“With who?” Odin asked because he could not see them for himself.

Frigga squinted in the direction of the apparitions tying together Loki’s future. “I cannot tell. She appears to be…” Frigga’s eyes whipped around to Odin, “Midgardian.”

Odin turned up his nose and sniffed.

Midgard. The word, the world, that had sentenced Loki to a lifetime of second best. 

His ‘destined’, his ‘soulmate’, his curse.

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

It was centuries before the soul tied to Loki’s found the body it would spend its own life in.

(Y/n), her parents named her. 

They weren’t sure why they named her that. When asked, they said they saw the name once in a book. Or was it on the tv? Or in a dream? 

Neither could really remember. All they knew was that, as she grew, the name suited her perfectly. Almost as if fate itself had chosen it for her.

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

For centuries, millennia even, her soul had been lingering on the edges of reality, existing but not quite feeling. She floated through time and space, following the ties that bound her to existence, waiting.

By the time her soul entered her body on Earth, she had existed longer  than any other Midgardian ever had or would in all of history. She had lingered for years just out of reach of one of the most powerful beings on Asgard, her soulmate. Lifetimes had passed her by in the blink of an eye, and though she didn’t remember any of them, they remembered her.

Her soul hovered above its mate, basking in the magic that dissipated into the air around him like smoke. She breathed it in, soaked it in, drew it in.

In many ways, even subconsciously, she showed her age, her mate.

Even as a baby, she never woke her mother up screaming, to the jealousy of her mom’s friends. She was the model toddler, even through her terrible twos. She almost never cried and rarely threw temper tantrums. They called her a prodigy when she started speaking in full sentences before time doctors even expected her to be learning her first words, and they called her a genius when she learned to read full children’s books while other kids were still struggling through their first alphabet flashcards. Even though she ran around playing in the mud or splashing in puddles, somehow her clothes were always pristine. She taught herself faster than the teachers could and skipped two grades in elementary school alone. She was suspiciously charismatic for such a little girl and made, literally, hundreds of dollars off her lemonade stand. She listened to a family speaking another language in the store once and ran up to them to answer a question they had; when her parents asked her how she’d learned to understand or say that in another language, she had no idea what they were talking about and seemingly hadn’t even realized she’d done it. 

And yet there were other things, darker things. 

When she was born, the nurses didn’t question the little shock of static that jolted through them as they held her. No one commented how, in the right light, the baby’s eyes could look terrifyingly aware. She lied as easily as she breathed and almost never got caught. A girl made fun of her friend's hair once at school, and that night ended up being rushed to the hospital by her parents with all the signs of a heart attack in a five year old child. She liked having things her way, and even when her parents refused her, they always found themselves oddly compelled to do whatever it was anyways. She had an affinity for snakes that often found her letting them in the house. The pranks she pulled on her little brother sometimes got out of hand and often resulted in loud crashes and screams, though by the time any adult arrived nothing ever seemed broken. Her father used to joke that she must be some kind of shape shifter because he swore that, from day to day, her eye would change their color. Sometimes, when he looked in them, he swore they weren’t his daughters, but when he blinked and looked back they always returned to normal. 

Most of it was written off as the simple oddities of a child or exaggerations of first time parents. 

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

Superheroes did not exist when (Y/n) was a child. 

It would be another decade before Tony Stark would stand on a stage and proclaim before the world, “I am Iron Man.” It would be even longer still before Peter Parker would put on a red and blue jumpsuit and call himself, ‘Spiderman’. Bruce Banner hadn’t even begun his research into the serum that would be his ultimate undoing. Dr. Stephen Strange was finishing up med school. Thor hadn’t made his presence known. Wanda had just been born. Hawkeye and Black Widow were still assassins working in the shadows. No one outside Wakanda had ever heard of the Black Panther. Vision hadn’t been built yet, and Captain America had been dead for decades. 

Even if they did exist, it wouldn’t have helped (Y/n). Most of them weren’t born super. Most of them became so by lab experiments or radioactive insects or training or technology. 

In the world (Y/n) grew up in, there were no superheroes. And if there were no superheroes... then what was she? 

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

She was 12. 

It was her big day. 

Not her birthday, she didn’t particularly care about birthdays. Something about them just felt off to her. When she turned 11, she asked her mom if she could have two of those candles that were shaped like the actual numbers, and she’d put them pressed against each other on top of the cake. She ran around all day telling everyone she was 1,111. Some people laughed, but mostly to humor her.

That was why she hadn’t had a birthday party when she turned 12. She didn’t like people fake laughing. It felt like lying. She didn’t particularly mind lying herself, but she hated thinking that people were lying to her. Especially because she could always tell when they were. 

No, instead, she had this. The Science Fair.

She’d won first prize the night before. She knew she had because one of the judges had told her she’d won.

That morning, they would be handing out the awards, and she was so excited for everyone else to know the secret, to know that she was the best, even better than the older kids in her class.

The judges were walking up on stage, and any moment, once they got past the category winners they were going to call her name.

“In third place we have Jesse Martin with his project in the biology category!” 

A cheer went up that, judging by the pitch, absolutely must have been from Jesse’s mom. The other parents in the room clapped while Jesse ran towards the stage, turning red in the cheeks from his family’s overzealous encouragement. 

“Congratulations, son,” the Dean smiled as he bent down to shake the boy’s hand. The mike picked up a small bit of Jesse’s anxious thanks before he ran to join the line of winners.

“And in second place we have, (Y/n)! With her wonderful….” 

Second place. 

But Mr. Sellers, the science teacher had told her she won. 

Was he lying? Did he honestly think second place was winning? Was he just saying that to shut her up? Or was he being mean? Did he want to laugh at her when his real favorite won? 

The parents were cheering her, including her own. Her father was nudging her towards the stage, but she didn’t at all appreciate the gesture.

No. They told her she was going to win. 

Her face screwed up in pain, and she balled her hands into fists.

At the back of the room something exploded. 

A scream went out. 

“Fire!” Someone shouted. “Fire!”

The poster boards up and down the hall were catching fire. It jumped easily from paper to paper. It didn’t help that there was no smoke, for some odd reason. That the sprinklers, that the fire alarm, didn’t turn on.

Someone grabbed (Y/n) by the waist. Her father no doubt. 

(Y/n) barely noticed. She was still upset staring at the trophy on the stage over his shoulder. 

Slowly, before her eyes, it began to melt.

She smiled. Good. If she couldn’t have it, no one could.

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

“She caused the fire.” He whispered, staring down at the floor in front of him with glassy eyes. 

“Wayne, that’s crazy; you know it is.” 

“I saw it with my own eyes, Elle. She clenched her first and suddenly Christina Danvers poster exploded. She gets second, and the first place project explodes the moment she throws a fit?”

“Our daughter doesn’t throw fits.”

“Not normally, but she did today. She was about to, and then everything caught fire.”

“Wayne, you can’t be serious about this right now.”

“She was smiling.” He whispered. “When everything burned down, she was smiling.”

(Y/n) listened silently from the hallway as her parents talked.

She loved to eavesdrop on her parents late night. They never knew she was there. It was another one of those odd coincidences of her life that (Y/n) was the only person in the house who never made the steps creak when she walked up and down the stairs. 

She was old enough to know what they were saying, what they were implying. It should’ve bothered her more than it did.

(Y/n) walked back upstairs, silent as the grave, and opened her closet.

She needed the duffle bag her father kept tucked away in the top of her closet, but she was nowhere near tall enough to reach it. As the door slid open, the bag teetered on the edge of the wire shelf and fell to the floor. 

“How convenient,” (Y/n) mumbled to herself. 

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

“Hey Kid,” The man shouted at her out the window of his semi-truck. “What’re you doin’ out here at night? It ain’t safe!” 

(Y/n) shrugged. “Not safe at home either.” 

The man gave her an understanding look. 

(Y/n) watched him carefully as he opened the door of his rig and offered her a hand. 

Her mother had always told her not to talk to strangers, but (Y/n) had found she could always tell what people wanted. Besides, she was pretty sure she was a greater danger to them than they were to her. 

“Where ya’ headed?” The man asked.

“West.”

“I can take ya’ as far as Texas.” He offered. 

(Y/n) hopped off the curb and grabbed the man’s offered hand, hauling herself up into the passenger seat. 

She didn’t know where she was going or why she was going there. But something inside of her told her she had somewhere to be.

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

Next Time On.... Part Two

Thank you very much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed. I have just come back from a hiatus and a great deal of why I went on said hiatus was the stress of managing ‘added features’ for lack of a better expression. I like writing. I don’t like formatting or managing the blog side of things. 

As such, no taglists. Please don’t ask me to be on a taglist. Keeping track of it stresses me out too much. I don’t feel like doing it. I don’t appreciate being pressured into doing it. In the olden days of tumblr, people used to follow each other, and I promise you that feature still works. If you follow me you will see part two when it’s posted. 

#loki x reader #loki odinson x reader #Loki Laufeyson x Reader #loki soulmate au #loki soulmate #soulmate loki #loki fanfiction #loki fanfic #loki x reader soulmate #marvel imagines #loki imagines #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel one shot #loki one shot #loki oneshot #mcu fanfiction #avengers fanfiction

[fuchsiagrasshopper]

Saturated

Author’s Note: Here it is, the long awaited one-shot that ended up a mini story in length. This wasn’t a planned idea, just something I went with and this is the result. I know this fandom is starting to shrink due to the show ending, but I hope those of you still here are having fun!

Masterlist

Summary/Pairing: Ivar x Reader In which Ivar thinks he’s found a daughter of the goddess Rán

Wordcount: 9642

Warnings:  Language, Angst, Smut NSFW

The night was warm and still when Ivar made his way down to the stretching shore. It was a difficult trek the older he became because he had to wade through the sand that seemed to double his weight and sap his strength. After all that effort, he was reminded why he put himself through such a trial when he came into the blessed solitude. When he was a boy he had found an old fishermen's dock that was no longer used, and it was a quiet place he could go without being bothered. Sometimes he would look out at the water and imagine all the lands that were waiting for him to bring them terror and glory. When he was feeling less ambitious after drinking with his brothers, he would lie back on the creaking boards of the dock and gaze at the stars and wonder if the gods were watching in forethought.

His mother told him it was the sea that would take him from her. Her eyes would grow empty yet full of sadness, and he could only watch without being able to comfort her. Ivar wanted to journey, and he assumed his mother's vision meant that either it was by ship or drowning that he would be taken. When one entered a longboat to go raiding, the chance of a storm crashing down was always a possibility, but it was a risk worth taking for honor and legacy. He loved his mother, more than anyone, but he could not stay in Kattegat forever. His fate was out there waiting, and he needed only to extend his hand to take it.

A sudden movement in the water broke his focus and he looked out over the dock to the rippling surface. His eyes adjusted, and he thought his mind had gone when he recognized the whites of a pair of eyes staring back at him. There was a person in the water, bobbing just to their nose above the surface. At first, Ivar reached forward with his hand. They must have been frozen to the bone in the frigid sea. Kattegat's waters never warmed, even in summer.

When he looked at his hand cast forward, he felt foolish. With his useless legs, he couldn't swim. His upper body strength might support him a moment or two, but then sink and be wrapped under in the weeds before he could take a breath. He withdrew his hand only to find the eyes were no longer where they should have been.

Ivar scooted closer to the edge of the dock, searching the black water for the face he thought he saw. He rubbed at his eyes. Perhaps he hadn't slept well enough, or maybe he had ingested something spoiled during the last meal. He chose to believe his senses were sharp. They had kept him alive this long, and while trying to match his brothers no less. His eyes did another sweep of the shore before he called out, "I know you're there. You should know you cannot hide from a son of Ragnar."

His legs that dangled over the pier were parted, and a figure came straight out from the water to rest its arms on his thighs. Ivar flushed when he saw the figure was womanly. A beautiful and terrifying face, with large silver eyes, peered up at him. He had mistaken you for a woman, but you were something more. The hair that tangled down to your waist dipped into the water, and below was not a pair of legs kicking. Black scales with a pearlescent shimmer. You were one of Rán's creatures, or perhaps a daughter to the goddess herself.

"Ragnarsson," You spoke, and he was struck dumb by your voice. "Few may hear the siren's song calling."

Ivar's eyes shot to your hand as it trailed up his leg. Your nails were long, and there was a transparent webbing between your fingers. What surprised him even more than your strange claws was how gentle your touch was. It was a caress barely felt through his trousers.

"Who are you?"

You smiled. "I am (Y/N)."

"I am Ivar."

"I know you," You replied, and your sweeping hand switched to cupping his cheek. "You have your father's eyes and spirit."

"You know Ragnar Lothbrok?" Ivar asked while leaning into your touch. Your hand was warm despite the brisk waters you waded in.

"I know many faces of your home. I like to watch and learn from your people. Your father was a gazer too, but his eyes were to the horizon. You search the stars and night sky."

When you began to pull away, Ivar grabbed your hand and brought it back to his face. "Do you know my brothers?"

"I have seen them, but my song does not reach their ears. You are unique."

Ivar simpered. He could hear what his brothers could not. While they were off in barns and clearings, playing under the skirts of thralls, he was alone in the quiet of the night with a goddess. The sea had chosen him, though youngest and deformed.

"Why have you sought me out?" He asked, desperate to have his hopes confirmed.

"I wish to talk with you, and learn more of your kind. But we must always meet under darkness, for many of your people would rather hurt me than trust me."

Ivar knew why. Fishermen told tales of beautiful women taking sailors to the water, down to the sea bed of Rán's hall, never again to surface. He did not think you had the malice to do such a thing to him.

"How do I know you'll return? Is this even real?"

He couldn't help the creeping doubt from springing forth, and you flashed him a look of pity before plucking the knife from his belt. That got his attention, and he lurched forward to reach for the thing, but you held no ill intent. Instead, you pulled your hair over your shoulder and cut free a length to give to him. It was softer than any wolf pelt, and he clutched it tight to his chest.

"Giving a lock of hair to another can be one's undoing, so believe that I will return or curse me should I ever be treacherous," You said, and you slid his knife back into place before dragging your hand down his thigh. His cock gave a twitch, and your grin told him you knew. "Farewell Ivar."

You slipped back into the water like a needle through silk, and he was only able to catch a glimpse of your tail before you disappeared into the deep.

ooOOoo

Ivar went back to the dilapidated dock every night, and true to your word you would be there waiting in the water. You only approached once he took his place at the end of the pier, and Ivar would keep his legs apart so you would come rest between them. As you spoke of things unimportant, he would weave his hand with yours, playing with your fingers and the thin membrane of webbing. You would return the affections with little pets of your own, and you always left a kiss to the corner of his mouth before parting.

The lock of hair you had given to him was always with him. He had braided it together into a bracelet that he wore everywhere on his wrist. If his brothers thought anything about it, they never voiced such concerns. Ivar presumed they figured he had found his own thrall to be with, and as distracted as they were with Margrethe, they didn't dig further into his affair. His mother had noticed the thing as well, and always she would give it a long stare. Ivar always anticipated her to ask, but she avoided mentioning it as if it were a matter too delicate to speak of.

Ivar wished he could bring you to meet his family if only to brag to his brothers that you had chosen him. But he knew that could never happen. They would fear that you were a deceiver after his life, and his mother would have you killed to keep him safe. She probably would never let him near water again.

"Ivar," You called, clasping both hands on either side of his face. "Your mind is elsewhere tonight."

"Sorry," He said, looking away momentarily. "I just was thinking what it would be like to live our lives together."

"Come with me to the water," You suggested, and you gave a small tug on his arm that scooted him closer to the edge. He almost let you drag him in before he grew hesitant and pushed back.

"I can't swim like this," He said, scowling at you and then his legs.

"I will keep you safe." Ivar searched your face for any deception, but he only saw your smile. "You don't trust me?"

"I do," He said quickly. "But I…"

You heaved yourself upwards on the dock until it was just the tip of your tail whipping strokes in the water. Ivar caught your bare torso against his chest, and he flushed as your breasts pressed up against him. You were practically sharing the same air, noses brushing together as you steadied yourself in his arms. Your eyes met and you breathed a laugh that eased his previous concerns.

"We won't go far. I just want to show you that your legs aren't the burden you think they are."

You weren't pleading, and Ivar was intrigued by your suggestion. He gave you a short nod, and that was all it took for you to wrap your arms around him and haul him down into the depths. Your strength was surprising, but the admiration was banished from his mind the moment the cold water soaked straight through to his blood. He thrashed his arms, grabbing for purchase at imaginary aids that weren't there. When he tried to let out a shout, he swallowed saltwater. The sea was going to take him, just as his mother feared.

No. You were there, and you had never left. Like a spark to wood, Ivar was enveloped in a new warmth, and he floated to the surface with your arms around him. He took his first breath of air, but his throat was raw and he sputtered and choked. Your lips closed over his while he continued to cough, and it was as if you pulled all of the water out from his lungs. He didn't know if it was a real kiss, but he wore a shy grin as you pulled away.

"Breathe," You instructed. "Breathe, and look up at the stars you love."

Ivar first looked back at the shore and realized you had kept your promise. You had only taken him out far enough so his feet wouldn't brush the sandy floor. He then craned his neck up to the sky and found the familiar sight of his stars. They were the same out in the water as they were on land, a comforting thought for when he would one day sail away from home. The sky would always be there.

"Lie back and let the water hold you," You whispered in his ear from behind.

Ivar didn't know when you had maneuvered around to his back, but he continued to put his faith in you as you guided him down gently into the water. He was lying face up with his body floating across the surface weightless and free. You joined beside him, and together you shared in the silent night, bathed in the moonlight with the motion of the sea carrying your bodies. Ivar forgot for a moment about his broken legs. Drifting there beside you, he felt whole.

"You didn't answer me before," He spoke up, and you watched him with curiosity. "About us living our lives together. Is it possible?"

"There are those of my people who have given up the sea's blessing to live on land. Some may even live among your kind, though I doubt you would recognize them."

"How did they do it?" Ivar was sure even the dumbest farmer in Kattegat would have noticed a child of Rán flopping about.

"When my people choose to live a life as a land dweller, they simply have to go ashore. The blessing of the sea will fade, and in place will be a soft and weak human body, " You explained, and you turned your eyes away from him. "But the sea is vengeful and she hates those who leave her waters. Once the blessing fades, we can never return to her currents, or else we would be reduced to nothing more than foam that settles into tide pools."

If you were to be together you would have to give up everything you knew to be with him. Ivar wanted to ask this of you, but he was afraid of your answer. Being a prince as well as his mother's favored son meant he never had to work for anything. What he wanted he got, and always in plenty. If you refused him, he feared the rejection and what his reaction could be. He wasn't beyond forcing you out from the water onto dry land if it meant keeping you for himself. Better to not ask now. It was too early to demand so much from you.

He heard you shift in the water, and you were at his side again while supporting his back with your strong hands. "You don't want to ask me?"

Ivar shook his head. "Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow."

"I know you will soon, Ivar. It's in your eyes, they darken with hunger."

"What would you say if I did?"

He let out a shiver as you righted him back into your arms, holding him in your embrace that let him know you were in control. "I would say that you could also give up your life to be with me. Right now, I could take you down there, and you would never again have to worry about dragging yourself upon the land."

The idea of never having to crawl again was tantalizing, something he had always wished for, and yet...even if he was with you, he knew he wouldn't forget all that he would leave behind. He wanted to show his people he could lead and conquer better than any man, even without working legs.

"I couldn't," He murmured.

"Then it is good I did not ask, and nor will you ask it of me. We will take comfort in the joy we have now, and forget everything else."

You met his eyes with your own. Silver, just like the treasures that were brought back over from raids. Ivar refused to fluster under your gaze, even though your peering felt like a piercing dagger. He wanted to appear self-assured, and not as some young lad who needed you to hold him. He pulled you close and planted a clumsy but heartfelt kiss. Your lips were cold but your mouth was warm, and he tried to keep up with your feverish pace as you devoured everything from the kiss.

When you clapped your hands on his cheeks, Ivar could feel himself trembling, and he knew it wasn't because of the kiss. Your mouth left him, and he tried to find your lips again. You placed a finger to his mouth to stop him and gave him a shake of your head. "You are like ice. I've kept you here too long."

"Not long enough," He retorted before sneaking another kiss on you.

You laughed while gently prying him back. "You have your father's confidence."

"Good, maybe you can find out what else of his I have." He gave you his best wolfish grin.

"We'll have our time," You promised, and you secured an arm around him before starting to swim back to shore.

The water seemed to grow colder as you glided through it and by the time you made it back to the pier, Ivar couldn't control his shivering. You urged him up onto the dock, and your concern had made you grow quiet. Ivar didn't mind that you fretted over his well-being, but he missed your smile.

"How will you make it back home?" You asked while looking over him to where the edge of the town was barely visible through the treeline. It was a long way off.

"I've travelled further," Ivar excused, though he had his trepidations. His damp clothes were sticking to him, and his hair felt like grass after the thawing in spring. The cold made his muscles tighten, and he wasn't looking forward to pawing at the ground with stiff hands.

"Go now, while you have the moon's light to guide you."

"When can I see you again?" It was becoming more difficult each time he had to leave you, and his thoughts revolved around when you could be together.

"I'll come back until I feel you no longer wish to see me." You reached your hand out to him, and Ivar took it, bringing it to his chest.

"That will never happen."

What he was saying must have been madness. Maybe you were Rán's daughter, and you had him under a spell. If you did, he didn't care. He would gladly stay under your enchantment. It was a warmth all his own, and a happiness he didn't have to share or contend with his brothers over.

"Goodnight my love." You placed your lips once more on his hand before returning to the sea.

Ivar did not watch after you as he usually would. It was a luxury he couldn't afford. The desperation to get inside by a fire drove him to turn towards home, and he struggled through the terrain as fast as his dragging would get him. He only passed by drunks and stragglers that did not give him a second glance upon realizing who he was. Ragnar's youngest son, the cripple. No one important.  

He huffed his way up the stairs of the Great Hall, nudging on the doors with his shoulder until they parted. A low fire was burning in the pit, and his mother was asleep on her throne. She was still all done up from the last meal, and he realized she must have waited up for his return. His guilt propelled him forward, and he went towards her instead of his room. Careful not to wake her, he collapsed on the furs at her feet where sleep found him quickly.

Ivar didn't know how long he had been asleep, but he was startled awake by screaming. It took him a moment to realize it was his voice shouting, and he had jack-knifed into a seated position, clutching at his lower right leg. He knew he had broken a bone, and his mother, who was alert at his side, knew it as well. She called for two able-bodied guards to take him back to his room, out of sight of the thralls who had now gathered. None of his brothers were about, and he was relieved to be spared the humiliation. The weakness of his body during moments like this was only for his mother and the healers.

He was placed down onto the fur-covered palette in his room with one of the guards already off to fetch a healer. His mother was already trying to soothe his agony with her words, and as she brushed the hair on his forward she grew a frown.

"You're burning up," She said, feeling his forehead and then his chest. And your clothes are damp."

He swatted softly at her hand, frustrated with her observations but with never enough ire to cause her any harm. "Go away."

"Ivar, where do you go? All of these nights you leave my sight and no one knows anything about it." She plucked at the bracelet of your hair on his wrist before he jerked it out of her reach. "Who is this woman you see?"

"Get out, please," He begged. Tears stung at the corners of his eyes, and he didn't know if it was from the fever or the pain in his legs.

He was spared any further argument from her when the healer entered with three other thralls to assist. With soft voices, they were able to make her leave, at least until they finished addressing his fracture. Ivar would have felt awful at banishing his mother from his side if he could summon any other thought that wasn't about the hurt he was feeling.

The trek back through Kattegat had proved to be too much, but he didn't regret the night spent with you. In the water under the stars, and in your arms sharing kisses was where he wanted to be. He kept those thoughts in mind as the healer got to work on setting his leg in place, slathering it in a warming salve before wrapping it tightly in bandages.

"My Prince, you will need to stay in bed for the next few days to give the bone time to mend."

He gazed up at the rafters of the ceiling with contempt. How was he supposed to stay put knowing you were out there waiting for him? He couldn’t let the time pass and risk losing you, but he would need help.

"Go and bring me Ubbe," He instructed one of the thralls who shuffled out of the room at his request.

The healer continued to try and force some foul brew down his throat that he cursed her for at every turn of his head. Ivar knew he was notorious for being difficult to treat, but this healer had stuck through the bad times at his side. He admired her tenacity. If the situation was reversed, he would have given up on himself a long time ago.

After he had taken a large enough dose of the revolting stuff, he was left alone. The medicine made his head foggy, and he drifted in and out of consciousness while waiting for Ubbe to arrive. His eldest brother was best suited for the task in mind because he was soft when it came to Ivar's condition. Hvitserk didn't care about his legs either way, and Sigurd made a point to disparage him at every turn so he was definitely out of the running. Ivar guessed they had to all be out to the hunter's cabin. Following the commotion he had caused in the morning, one of them would have heard about it by now if they had been in town. It was nothing new really. He was used to being left behind.

Just as he was about to slip into another fitful bout of sleep, his door was forced open and in came his brother. He looked out of breath from running at least half of the distance back. Poor, gullible Ubbe.

"What happened?"

"The usual," Ivar started to explain as he forced himself to sit up. "Another broken bone."

"Mother says you also have a fever," Ubbe retorted as he took a seat at the end of the palette.

Ivar groaned. He hadn't estimated that his mother would be playing watchdog. "She got to you already?"

"She's worried about you."

"What else is new? She always worries about me," He grunted out as his leg twitched in pain.

"It's not just her this time. We all are concerned. You disappear at late hours and you're always tired. Even Hvitserk has noticed, and haven't you realized that Sigurd no longer says anything to you? For him, that's practically a defeat."

Come to think of it, Ivar couldn't recall the last verbal sparring match he'd shared with his third brother. Had his time with you sapped him of his usual energy?

"I need your help with something."

"Alright," Ubbe agreed with a nod of his head. "What is it?"

"When night falls, I need you to go down to the water. There's an abandoned dock if you follow the shoreline westward. Wait there and call for (Y/N), and tell her what has happened to me."

"Is she the woman who gave you that?" Ubbe asked while indicating to the bracelet on his wrist."

Ivar nodded as he began to twirl the thing around. It meant more to him than an arm ring. It was proof you had chosen him. "She's a daughter of Rán."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see for yourself when you meet her." He smiled something Ubbe couldn't understand.

"Feel better, brother," Ubbe said softly as he made his exit from the room.

Ivar could feel the headiness of the brew still working, as he was pulled into visions of you. Together you danced under the moonlight. He could recall the feeling of working legs even though he'd never had a pair before. You glided with him in his arms, but Ivar could not see if it was feet you stood upon or you had somehow managed to balance on the tip of your tail. The strangeness made him privy to the knowledge it was just a dream, but he allowed himself to be carried away in fantasy regardless.

Sometimes his mother would pop inside to have a check on him. Her long hands caressing his forehead and pushing back his hair made him feel like a boy again. The worry on her face had settled now that he was no longer writhing in pain. They only shared in a handful of words while the healer continued to tend to him. It was their special connection, a bond she did not have with his brothers.

When night came and darkness fell, Ivar sat himself up against the wall and waited for Ubbe to return with word of you. It was the first time in a long line of sneaking away that he didn't escape to go find you. A strange emptiness filled him at the thought, and he rubbed at his eyes to combat the sleep that threatened to take him. He couldn’t miss the update about you because he had fallen asleep.

A thin stream of silver light poked through a cut out in the roof of his room, and he imagined you in the water beneath the stars. He wondered what your reaction would be to learning of his injury. Concern he hoped, and not pity or regret for the night they had shared.

As Ivar's thoughts began to spiral out, he was relieved from further gloom when the door opened. Ubbe had returned, and he had on a perplexed frown that furrowed his brow.

"Well, did you speak with her?" Were the first words out of Ivar's mouth.

Ubbe shut the door behind him before coming further into the room. "I called for (Y/N) and waited on that pier, but no one ever came, Ivar."

He took a moment to juggle that information in his head while Ubbe looked on with worry. You never showed. Had something happened to you? Perhaps you were riddled with guilt about taking him in the water or you had seen Ubbe from a distance but did not approach. That had to be it. His brother was a stranger who did not hear your song as he had.

"I have to go there."

Ivar threw the furs off and started to twist to the side. His broken leg protested the rapid movement, and he grunted through his struggle. Ubbe was already at his side pushing him back. He latched onto his brother's arm and tried to shove him off, but even his upper strength had waned and he ended up flopping back down like a lifeless fish.

"You can't leave this room like that," Ubbe scolded. He took a seat down beside him, preventing him from trying something foolish again. "You'll end up losing that leg entirely."

"What's that matter? I'd be no worse off than I am right down."

Ubbe sighed. "I understand you care about this (Y/N), but I don't believe she would want to see you harm yourself this way."

Ivar knew you wouldn't. That's why he had to see you again and be surrounded by your love. "You could take me there."

"We'd never make it past the throne. Mother has seen fit to have eyes on who comes and leaves your room. I think she is looking for the woman to blame."

"(Y/N) won't come here," Ivar said and he could see the confusion on Ubbe's face, but he didn't elaborate. "I've probably lost her forever now."

"If she truly cares for you, she'll still be there," Ubbe argued, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "When you are well enough, I promise I'll help you back to the dock."

Ivar knew from past experiences that it would take many moons before he'd be fully healed. His eyes closed as angry tears threatened to fall. Why had the gods cursed him with these horrible limbs? The faults of his parents should not have fallen onto him. It was a cruel fate.

When he didn't continue to speak, Ubbe must have assumed he had fallen back asleep. He crept back to the door and exited the room as softly as a mouse scuttles through the kitchen.

Once he was alone, Ivar opened his eyes and took off the bracelet from around his wrist. He held it close to his lips, feeling the silk strands as he kissed the braided band. Maybe you could sense him reaching out. He decided to keep it enclosed in his hand and across his heart. If you were calling out, he would feel you in his sleep.

ooOOoo

In the many days that went by, Ivar became more frustrated with his leg. His broken bone was mending, but not fast enough that he was allowed out of the great hall. The slow progress had him taking out his anger on everyone, and they must have felt as trapped in with him as he was feeling about being locked up.

After a brief appearance to sit down to a meal with their mother, he had not seen his brothers again. This time he could admit he was to blame, and that they made the smart decision to cut and run back to the cabin. He had made the meal as uncomfortable as he could manage out of some need for vengeance. While they were free to run about Kattegat with their thralls, he was stuck in bed with wrinkled healers painting noxious salves on his body. He couldn’t be with you, so he chose to be spiteful.

Even his mother began to show signs of being fed up with him. Her smiles were now close-lipped, and she would linger by the door when she visited to make a hasty exit. He had yelled at her only once, and it had to do with her wanting to leave him just like everyone else. Ivar knew that wasn't true, and the moment she let out an anguished sob he had apologized.

Rather than continue to hurt those around him, he knew what he had to do. His leg was well enough that he could crawl again, and if he secured it tightly in his leather bindings it should protect the bone from any trauma as he moved. He had to get down to the pier himself and find you again. The call from the sea had him more desperate for water than a man dying of thirst. No thrall or guard would dare refuse him, and even his mother would not be able to stop him from going. He was doing this for her as well, even if she wouldn't see it that way. After causing her tears, he wouldn't be the reason for any more of her sorrow.

He needed the light to travel, so he began the trek from his room when the sun had only just begun to kiss the horizon. Much of the activity in the great hall had died down once the last meal had been served, and many of the thralls had already gone off to the barn. His mother was not on her throne. Ivar smirked at his good fortune and made for the doors as fast as he was able. Once he had them nudged shut behind him, he began his descent down the stairs. It was the most difficult part of the journey, guiding his body down feet first so his leg wouldn't bounce on every step down.

By the time he had cleared the treeline, the sun had set further and shadows were popping up in every corner. Ivar was more winded than he would normally be due to being bedridden, and he was mindful that he would have to work on building back the strength he had lost. But none of that mattered now. The dock was in sight. He had made it. He went together well with the solitude of the place, and when he sat perched on the end the creaking boards welcomed him home.

"(Y/N)," Ivar called out while searching for any ripple in the water. The surface remained still as glass, and he frowned while giving your name another shout.

Perhaps it was still too young in the day. He waited for the complete pitch of night to hit while letting his mind run wild with all the things he wanted to tell you about. It would be like a reunion of two lovers, and he couldn't fathom how one could be separated from their woman while gone on raids. Of course, his mother and father detested one another's presence, so it must have come as a balm to be away from one another.

The clouds parted from the moon, and one by one the stars surfaced in the sky. He called for you again, then held his breath to listen for any break in the water. Instead, he heard the crunch of footsteps behind him, and over his shoulder, he saw Ubbe approaching.

"I figured you would try coming back soon," Ubbe said once he stood at his side. "How's the leg?"

"Stiff," He replied tersely. "What do you want?"

Ubbe took an uninvited seat beside him which caused Ivar to shift over. There wasn't nearly enough room at the edge of the dock for both of them, and the wood groaned with the added weight.

"I never told you, but I've been coming back here every night after you sent me to search for (Y/N)."

Ivar frowned. "Why?"

"Because I saw how important it was to you to get that message to her, and I wanted to help. I might not be able to take away your pain, but I will still be your legs where I can."

Ivar looked at his lap as the heat built up in his face. He never knew how to take to his eldest brother's kindness. None of the rest of them had it, but from Bjorn's mouth, it was said that he inherited it from Ragnar.

"She never came back, did she?"

Ubbe shook his head. "She must only come for you."

"I don't think so," Ivar said as he looked out at the water. "It's been too long, and I've missed my chance. I don't think she'll come back."

"If she cares for you as you do her, I'm certain she'll be back."

Ubbe's words floated off him as he gazed down at the black water. He was struck with an irrational idea to force your hand if you were near. Before his brother could react, Ivar threw himself off the dock and into the water. It wasn't deep this close to shore, but it was enough that he began to sink. Ubbe was quick to follow, and Ivar tried in vain to bat away his saving hands. He was so desperate to have you come back that he would risk drowning. What a fool.

"Idiot," Ubbe cursed as he dragged them both up onto the sand. "What were you trying to do?"

Ivar turned his head away as he coughed up water. He felt embarrassed by what he'd just done and angry that it didn't earn him anything more than soaked clothes. "You wouldn't understand."

"I don't understand, and you won't help me to," Ubbe said, and his tone lightened from annoyance to mild irritation. "I need my little brother back. The one who's smarter than me at every turn, and doesn't make me fish him out of the sea."

Ivar started to laugh. It began in a quiet snicker and grew deep from his belly until Ubbe joined him. Neither of them knew what the humor was in the situation, but Ivar felt it was better to give in to the urge. He wanted to forget you weren't there, and giggling like a child with his brother in the sand was a good way to accomplish that.

"Should we head back?"

Ivar gave his leg a tug with his hand. "The bandage has soaked through and is starting to fall off. Guess I'd better have it looked at."

Ubbe crouched down beside him and indicated for him to climb up on his back. "C'mon, it'll be faster."

For once Ivar didn't argue. He couldn’t benefit from another disagreement, and he didn't want to be in wet clothes longer than he had to. Ubbe or Floki were the two he trusted most to support him. Hvitserk had dropped him one time, and he refused to let that happen twice. Sigurd never offered.

Once he was secured up to Ubbe's height, they started back home. He chanced one last look over his shoulder for as long as the water was in sight, clinging to the idea that you would spring up from the depths. The only movement out there came from the wind and the tide.

Neither brother spoke another word, but Ivar suspected Ubbe knew he had taken that last glance. How could he not? He wasn't ready to give up on you or accept the idea that you had abandoned him. Thoughts of you being in harm came to him, and he to banish those away because of the helpless feeling they gave him. You were a daughter of Rán, and the sea couldn't hurt you. Repeating it enough times had to make it true. As they journeyed through the night back to Kattegat, Ivar clung to the hope of seeing you again, and his thoughts warmed him up and dulled the pain until he found rest.

ooOOoo

Time passed by for Ivar and the pain in his legs dulled back into its usual ache. With his bone mended he could return to training with his brothers, and hunting up by the cabin. While his physical injury may have healed, it was not so for the throbbing in his heart. He had gone for sparse visits to the abandoned dock again, with each ending in the same sorrow until he had decided to give up going back. What's more, your bracelet that he had never let out of reach had vanished one day. Perhaps you had never been real, and he had dreamed you up.

What more could the gods take from him? First, it was his legs, then his father, and recently he was drifting from his brothers due to their infatuation with Margrethe. It was his mother he looked to as his constant, but she had grown distracted by visions. It was now common practice for her to disappear to her room after the last meal, when not so long ago she would be the last to leave with a chalice of wine. All of this left Ivar alone, and his thoughts had become unbearable. He needed something to dull the noise, a distraction.

More than anything Ivar longed to keep up with his brothers, and that's when he decided he wanted to fuck a woman. He approached Ubbe with the request to convince Margrethe. She had a pleasant face, and she didn't resemble you. If she had taken three of the other sons of Ragnar, he should be no different. Ubbe appeared torn when he first asked but did agree, and Margrethe was hardly in a position to refuse.

Now that the moment was approaching, and he was being brought over to the cabin by boat, he wondered if he would be the one to refuse. From what he'd always seen, men loved to hump a beautiful woman. It's what led to his parents' affair and marriage. So what was wrong with him that as he grew closer to the destination he felt ill? Ubbe certainly wasn't sharing the sentiment. He wore a dumb grin and was humming an old song to himself.

"You're happy I'm about to lay with your woman?" Ivar asked.

Ubbe laughed. "Margrethe isn't my woman, she's still a thrall. But I am happy because this is a good day for you, brother."

The day is still young, Ivar thought with a bitterness that was ingrained in his bones. Was sex such a powerful thing that it would shift who he became? Other than to have children, Ivar never dwelled on the matter. He'd never had a lover, and the closest he had come to obtain such a relationship was with you.

The boated jilted back and forth as it hit shallow water. Ubbe tied off by a tree before coming to fetch him. He was to be carried by his brother to his first tryst with a woman. Not nearly as humiliating as crawling he supposed, but the difference was negligible.

As they passed through the threshold of the abandoned cabin, Ivar stole a look around the place. It smelt like fire and driftwood, and there was a bed that had been piled thick with furs. The flame burning in the hearth let him know that Margrethe was already there.

Ubbe deposited him down on the bed and turned to get a look at him. "I'll leave now so you can be ready for her. Relax and enjoy yourself."

Ivar swallowed. That was easy for any of his brothers, they all had working parts. A handful of times he had felt his prick twitch and stiffen, but it was never a long event and he had never dared to try to take himself in hand. It was silly, but he was afraid of his cock.

He began to disrobe with haste, not wanting Margrethe to walk in on him without his trousers and his legs exposed. Once he was free of his garments he threw the heavy furs over himself and clutched them at his waist. All he could hear was his heart pounding, and he kept his chin tucked into his chest, straining to listen for the woman in the cabin.

She came to him from behind in light, cautious steps. Perhaps she was nervous, or his trepidations had seeped into the air and spoiled the mood. Ivar resisted the urge to peek until she stood at the side of the bed. When he glanced up he saw that she wore a fisherman's net as a veil. Her features were distorted, but he could make out the subtle difference that alluded to her being anyone other than Margrethe.

"(Y/N)?" He whispered and hoped.

You lifted back the thin mesh from your face, and you put on a dazzling smile. Ivar had never seen a better sight, not the first sacrifice of spring or the storms of Thor could hold a candle up to you. You donned a crisp white gown that was cinched at the waist with a strap of brown leather, and your hair was a wild tangle of waves. He had never seen you without your sodden tresses.

You took your first step to come closer, but you lost your balance and fell onto the bed in his awaiting arms. This was where you belonged.

"Shit," You cursed, pulling back enough to look him in the eye. "I was supposed to be beautiful and graceful, but these legs are too light. If I run fast enough, I'm sure I could soar like a bird."

"You have legs?" Ivar exclaimed while pulling you onto the bed beside him with all of the strength he could summon. "Let me see."

You swung your legs across his lap, careful not to rest any weight on his thighs. He hitched the skirt of your dress up to your thighs, exposing the new flesh. His hands didn't know where to touch first. This must be the work of the gods. In place of your magnificent tail were two gorgeous limbs that he was happy to smooth his hands over. You wiggled your toes, content to observe Ivar as he studied you.

"How is this possible?"

"I told you my people can choose to abandon the sea. Now I'm a soft creature like you," You said while giving his arm a playful squeeze.

He caught your hands before you could pull away and placed a kiss on each of them. They no longer had the webbing or claws, but there was a strength to them that he could feel under your touch. "Where did you go? I tried so many times to find you, and I even sent my brother."

"You had your life up here, and I had mine below," You said as your eyes grew vacant. "When I did return to the surface, I could no longer find you. All of these things left unsaid caused us to miss each other."

"Then why are you here now, like this?"

You reached for his wrist, finding it bare. Ivar knew what you searched for. "You no longer have my precious gift. Did you think I turned treacherous?"

"I misplaced it. I would never have thrown it away, even if I thought you'd left me."

"I know," You said as you ran a hand down his bare chest and over his heart. "You were in more pain than I understood that night. The blue in your eyes."

Ivar tensed. "How did you learn about that?"

"Your mother told me."

"My mother…" Ivar knew his mouth was hanging open in question, and he snapped it shut to regain composure.

"She found your bracelet. It was her voice I could hear beckoning me to the land. She must be a powerful woman to do such a thing."

You didn't have any animosity in your voice, but Ivar couldn't help but feel angry for you. His mother had taken your life from the sea by force. He had considered the heinous deed himself for a time, but he would have never risked your resentment. What if that came to pass now that the unthinkable had happened?

Ivar couldn't keep himself from looking at you now. He wouldn't let you go a second time. "She said the sea will take me. Perhaps you are meant to stop that from happening."

"Or maybe I am the sea," You said, shifting your hips as you hovered over his lap. With a firm shove you had him down flat on the furs, and he nearly lost his air as your thighs squeezed at his waist. "Come to take you myself because I couldn't stand the thought of that Margrethe touching you."

And then Ivar realized...Ubbe had known he was taking him to you. You had been on land long enough to learn to walk and find out about his pathetic setup with the thrall. His face flushed and he turned his head to the side before feeling your fingers grasp his chin. You tilted his face back around, and he saw only tenderness.

"I know the weariness from being alone. My heart has been there as well."

"You'll stay?" Ivar knew he sounded a touch petulant, but he did not want to suffer another morning with you vanishing.

"Until the gods bring you home and the sea turns me to froth, I will remain by your side, Ivar Ragnarsson."

He didn't know who's lips touched first, but when your mouths connected, it was like being awash on the deck of a ship. You were a cool drink of water with the tang of salt, and Ivar threaded his hands through your hair. The more his hold tightened, the more it pulled him in like reeds in a marsh.

You withdrew slowly, and you held his gaze, even when he wanted to look away from the thrill of what you'd just done. With careful hands, you shed the veil from your head, and then the dress, all collecting into one pile on the floor with his garments. You were naked before him. All of your scales were gone in place of smooth flesh and pleasing curves. Ivar knew he was gaping at your breasts, how they rose and fell with each rapid breath you took. As you gave a coy grin, you peeled back one corner of the furs and slithered your way in beside him. You pressed up against his side, and his body went taut as you tangled your legs with his.

"Is this alright?" You asked while your toes brushed up and down his shin.

"Yes," He said as a puff of air escaped him.

It was stifling hot under the covers, and your hand seemed to sear his flesh as you dragged it up to his thigh. Your fingers just teased next to cock before brushing up his abdomen. Ivar shifted, his hand reaching yours to halt your motions.

Your eyes flashed to his, and you smiled with patience. "Tell me what you want."

"I…" He paused, unable to form the words, and he could feel himself losing his nerve. With a tighter grasp, he took control of your hand and brought it back down to his half-hard prick. "I just want you."

"You have me," You murmured back as your hand began to fondle his shaft. He continued to grow in your hand, and Ivar let his eyes roll back at the feeling of you working him. His cock had never been so stiff, and his free hand clutched at the furs as he tried to recognize everything he was feeling. Fluid was beginning to bead out at his tip, and he struggled to push you back.

"S-stop," He sputtered.

You pulled back with a shy expression, and you were breathing just as hard as he was. You enjoyed what you could do to him. "Are you alright?"

Ivar bobbed his head, not sure if he agreed or not with your question. "I was losing control too soon, and I haven't even touched you yet."

"Is that all?" You rolled yourself on top of him, pushing back the furs while the cold air of the room pebbled your nipples. Ivar looked up at you in awe. "Touch me then."

Your slick center was rubbing on the base of his shaft now pressed up against his stomach, and he could feel his hips give a few practiced ruts. He saw the flash of delight in your eyes, and you hummed out a moan that was as long as a horn that bellowed in war.

"I'm still adjusting to this new body," You panted. "I've never felt like this before."

Ivar felt a strong sense of pride for bringing you these new experiences along with him. Even though he lacked the skill, he had a newfound confidence that had him reaching for you. His hands felt rough and clumsy against your untouched skin, squeezing and pawing to see how much pressure to apply and where. Your breasts were soft and pliable while your backside was firm and rounded, and you leaned further into him as he grasped onto your cheeks. You placed a wet kiss in the hollow of his throat that had him moaning. He wondered if you could hear his heart racing.

"Please," He choked. "I need to feel you."

Your hand reached down between your bodies, and you pulled back to watch his face as you clutched his cock. Lining it up with your slippery center, you brought your cunt down to the hilt. Ivar was under no delusions that he would last long or immediately be worthy of infamy in bed like his brothers, but being surrounded by your wet heat, he thought he'd cum right then. As you sat up straight to readjust, he let out a gasp. You did too, only when his eyes cracked open to get a look at you, your eyes were shut and your face was screwed up in pain.

"What's wrong?"

"Is it supposed to hurt like this?" You whimpered, hands grabbing at his chest. It seemed everything about your human body was new.

"For human women, it does the first time." He wrapped his arms around you and spun you down onto the bed with himself still connected between your legs. It would be difficult for him to manage this way long, but it would be better for you this time. "I've got you."

Your eyes were blurry from unshed tears, but he could feel you relax in his arms as he began to set a slow pace. On the first withdrawal of his cock he could see a small amount of blood seep out which he regretted feeling thrilled about. You were his now, and he was yours.

The strength in your legs was unmatched, and as you grew more comfortable you squeezed at his waist with your knees. He knew his end was already in sight from the tightening in his balls and the burning in his gut. You had thrown your head back, hair tousled and mouth open to show your sharp teeth. It was the only telltale sign that you weren't a human, and he bought his lips down on yours to explore the fangs with his tongue. You teased back with little nips, and you gave a harsh tug on his hair that separated him from the sloppy kiss.

"Fuck," He breathed out, and his hips began to lose rhythm. "I can't go much longer."

You ran a hand meant to soothe down his back, but it only spurred him on. His hips snapped at a frenzied pace with his thighs smacking against yours. Nothing could stop him chasing the feeling of his release, and with a few more pumps he felt himself empty deep inside you with a profane groan. All of the strain he'd put on his arms to keep from balancing on his legs gave out, and he collapsed on top of you. Your hot skin stuck to his, and he could feel you twitch beneath him.

"Sorry," He whispered embarrassedly. He rolled off of you and his cock made a wet pop as it slipped out from your folds. "You didn't get to finish."

You rolled onto your side to look at him, still breathing fast and on the precipice of your release. "Forget that. This was about you getting to enjoy me tonight."

Ivar shook his head as he turned into you. "But I want you to enjoy me as well."

His hand dove for your core, chubby fingers fumbling around in your wet pussy that was now a mix of your blood and his cum. This was the first time he had felt a woman's warmth, and he watched your reaction as he felt around your lips and the tiny bud at the top. When he stroked over it with his thumb your legs jerked and you whined. He continued to swirl his digit around the nub while experimenting with varying degrees of pressure. You were now experiencing his love for you, and he could read what you enjoyed most with how expressive you were with your body. He settled into a comfortable pattern, and your hand shot down to join his when he hit a perfect cadence.

"Yes...there," You cried.

Ivar plunged his longest finger into your depths as you began to wither and shake. He could feel your pussy clamp down on him as you came, and he knew he wanted to feel that on his cock next time. Your eyes blinked rapidly as you started to calm, and he withdrew his hand, only to bring it to his mouth for a taste. You watched him in rapt attention.

"A warrior tastes the blood of his enemies in battle, so should he not also taste his lover's in bed?"

You brought your hands back together with his and pulled yourself against his chest. "If the gods willed it, then let it be so."

You laid in silence together, and Ivar felt your little puffs of air even out as you fell asleep. He pulled a fur over the both of you, the fire had long gone low and the night air colder. Indeed the gods must have willed it. Ivar now knew he was favored by the gods above all other sons of Ragnar. You were a daughter of Rán, and you had chosen him. His mother knew it as well, or else she wouldn't have summoned you back into his arms. In his heart, he had already forgiven her for taking the bracelet.

The sea had come to take him, and he had gone willingly into the mouth of the current. It was comfortable there, like a never-ending waterfall over rocks beating him down onto your altar. You opened it up and took him in, and now you were both drenched.

The cabin grew cold and black, and Ivar went to sleep beside you that night with the comfort that the stars still shined overhead, and that when dawn came he would not have to face another day without you.

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