#And then he threw her out into the temporal rain

[rej11]

#death stranding #fragile #lea seydoux #higgs monaghan #troy baker #i love fragile #peter englert #death stranding higgs #And then he threw her out into the temporal rain

[doevademe]

Slightly angst idea: during a fight, Nico is injured during the battle, it looks worse than it actually is, but Nico (who isn’t dating Percy right now, Percy has already confessed but Nico rejects him because he doesn’t take Percy’s feelings seriously) watches as Percy goes into what I playfully calls “Hurricane Perseus” where he is just going across the battlefield, wiping out everything in his wake, other people have to get out of the way to avoid being dragged into his path of carnage. After every monster is dead, Percy goes to Nico and cries tears of relief that Nico is okay. Nico can’t tell if he is touched that Percy loves him that much, or he slightly concerned considering that put other campers lives in danger. One thing he is certain of, he doesn’t doubt Percy’s feelings anymore and gives Percy a little kiss on the cheek saying the need to talk once he gets looked at.

Blood can be a bit of a drama queen, Nico had found out.

Some places, like anywhere near the head, tended to gush with blood at even the slightest scratch, despite it being superficial.

There was just no way to know for certain how bad an injury was until an expert looked at it.

The only thing Nico knew for certain was that his head hurt, there was blood flowing into his eye and blocking his view, and that he felt a little dizzy from the cyclops that had whacked him, but that he would ultimately live.

Try telling that to Percy Jackson, though. The young man was holding him up in pure panic, even ripping his shirt to try and wipe the blood from his face.

"Nico, just... just hold on, all right?" He asked desperately. "Help is on its way!"

"Percy, it's not that bad," he tried to say, though his speech was a little slurred due to the hit and came out more like "Purshy, izzon't sabbat."

"D-don't force yourself, okay?" he said softly. Behind them, the other campers kept fighting the small army conjured by some big name monster general that had returned from Tartarus after a few years trapped down there. "Help's on the way."

"...Not Will," he managed to say. Having his ex-boyfriend take a look at him in the middle of a battle was not high on his list of priorities.

Percy chuckled.

"I'll take any medic right now," he said. "And hey, better him than me, right?"

Nico winced. It hadn't been even 24 hours since Percy had asked him out, and the awkwardness had been palpable.

Nico knew that Percy was on the rebound. His break up with Annabeth had been relatively recent, and that in his state he would have asked out anyone who was available and made him feel not alone.

It was not that he didn't like Percy. It was that he knew that it would be a short-lived and unhappy relationship.

Taking his history with Percy into account, Nico felt they deserved a real romance, if it ever happened, not a temporal thing to get the son of Poseidon back on his feet.

"I'll take care of him," a girl, Kayla, said. "You need to go back there. Kampê is slaughtering us!"

"But Nico—"

"I expected more of the generals who felled me the last time," the half-dragon woman screeched as her whip snared a child of Hermes's sword. "I guess the Hekatonkheir was the reason they won."

About five demigods threw themselves at her, but Kampê just cracked her whip again and sent them all flying.

"Even one of their champions fell to a hit from a lowly foot soldier," she gloated, looking straight at Nico. "I'll enjoy torturing him as payback for what his father did to me!"

Percy's eyes darkened. He gently placed Nico on Kayla's lap and turned, drawing out his sword.

"You won't ever touch him again," he said in an eerily calm voice.

The monster laughed.

"And how do you plan to..." Kampê stoped herself as rain started pouring heavily, the raindrops hitting her and then going to Percy, making the water gather around him like a typhoon. "Troops! Focus on that one! Destroy him!"

The cyclopes, dracanae and hellhounds barely had time to register her order, as Percy jumped and started slicing the monsters apart.

The strength of the winds and water around him dragged the monsters to him, leaving them open for slaughter.

"Florian!" She gasped, as the small son of Demeter who followed Kayla around was sucked into the maelstrom along with the hellhound he had been fighting.

"Clossmy woond," Nico slurred, Kayla turned to look at him. "Now! You... can sheck me laterrr."

Terrified, the daughter of Apollo nodded. Nico felt the itch of his wound disappear as Kayla sang a hymn to her father. Nico thanked her and ran towards the newly formed hurricane.

"Retreat!" Kampê shouted, but it was too late, her whip had been caught in the storm, and it was dragging her into Riptide's bloody path.

"Your stupid revenge scheme hurt him," he heard Percy say coldly. "Everything that happens to you now, you deserve."

Nico gulped as Percy slashed like a madman. Due to Kampê's dragon skin, the slashes weren't deep enough to kill her, but they all bled, and the half-dragon woman cried out in pain as Percy continued his assault.

The campers were shouting, about three of them had joined Florian inside the maelstrom, and at least one of them had lost consciousness.

"Percy!" Nico shouted, making Percy look at him. "End this now!"

Percy nodded and waved his hand. Kampê screamed as a flow of water came out of her, dehydrating her and making her so fragile the next slash cut her in half.

The storm stopped, and the campers caught dropped to the grass like dead flies. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kayla and Will rushing to help them.

"Nico, how are—oof!" Nico hit Percy with the hilt of his sword in the stomach. "What was that for?"

"That was for endangering the campers!" He said, glaring. "Control your powers better! You can't just... are you crying?"

"I'm just... so relieved that you're okay!" Percy sobbed, hugging Nico. "I... I thought I would lose you!"

And Nico couldn't help but wonder, was he really so sure that Percy was just rebounding, or was he... too scared of finally having him?

Nico hugged him back and separated himself a little, giving him a experimental kiss on the cheek.

Percy lit up like a christmas tree.

"N-Nico?"

"My head's still pounding," he announced. "I need to have a full check-up."

"Uh... right, right," Percy said dumbly. "I'll take you to the infirmary."

"After that... we need to talk."

"About what?"

Nico smiled and tightened his hug as Percy picked him up.

"About yesterday," he said softly. As the adrenaline left his body he felt more and more exhausted. "I think we owe each other an actual conversation."

#Percico #my writing #writing prompt #feels good to be doing these again #the angst is light despite the request #but I hope it satisfies #ask #heroichalfblood

[cassianus]

The Holy Martyr Platon, brother of the holy Martyr Antiochus the Physician (July 16), was born at the city of Ancyra in Galatia. While still a youth he left home and went through the cities, preaching the Word of God to pagans, amazing his audience with the persuasiveness and beauty of his speech, and his profound knowledge of Greek learning.

Because of his preaching he was arrested and brought for trial to the temple of Zeus before the governor Agrippinus. At first, the judge attempted to persuade the saint to turn away from Christ by flattery. He assured the youth that he might be on a par of intellect with the greatest of the philosophers Plato, if only he worshipped also the pagan gods. To this St Platon answered, that the wisdom of the philosopher, although great, was but ephemeral and limited, whereas the true, eternal and unbounded wisdom comprised the Gospel teachings. Then the judge promised to give him his beautiful niece for his wife if he would deny Christ. He also threatened him with torture and death if he refused. St Platon replied that he chose a temporal death for the sake of eternal life. The patience of the governor was exhausted, and he gave orders to mercilessly beat the martyr, and then send him off to prison.

When they led St Platon off to prison, he turned to the people gathered about the temple, and he called on them not to forsake the Christian Faith. Seven days later they again led the Martyr Platon for trial before Agrippinus in the temple of Zeus, where they had the implements of torture already prepared: boiling cauldrons, red-hot iron and sharp hooks. The judge offered the martyr a choice: either to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, or to feel the effects of these implements of torture on his body. Again the saint steadfastly refused to worship idols, and after his tortures they threw him in prison for eighteen more days without bread or water. But seeing that this did not shake the martyr, they offered him his life and freedom if he would only say, “Great is the god Apollo.” The martyr refused to deny Chirst or to sacrifice to the idols. Therefore, Agrippinus ordered the holy Martyr Platon to be beheaded.

The Holy Martyr Roman was deacon at a church in Palestinian Caesarea. During one of the persecutions against Christians he moved to Antioch, where he encouraged Christians in the faith by his example and fervent preaching.

When the Antiochian governor Asklepiades was considering the destruction of the Christian temple, St Roman called on the believers to stand up for their sanctuary. He persuaded them that if they managed to protect the church, then there would be rejoicing on earth in the Church Militant, and if they should perish in defense of the church, there would still be rejoicing in the heavenly Church Triumphant. Seeing such a firm resolve among the people, the governor did not dare to carry out his plans.

Some time afterwards, there was a pagan celebration in the city and many people came to Antioch from the surrounding area. St Roman began denouncing the idol-worship and called on all to follow Christ. They arrested him and subjected him to torture. During his torments the martyr saw a boy, a Christian named Barulas in the crowd. He directed the governor’s attention to him saying, “This young man is wiser than you, though you are older than he, because he knows the True God. You, however, worship lifeless idols.”

The governor Asklepiades gave orders to bring the boy to him. To all the questions of the governor, Barulas firmly and without fear confessed his faith in Christ, the True God. Asklepiades in a rage gave orders to whip Barulas, and then behead him. Before his death the holy child asked his mother, who was present at the execution, to give him something to drink. The mother called out to him to endure bravely to the end. She herself carried her son to the place of execution, and later buried him.

St Roman was sentenced to burned alive, but a heavy rain extinguished the fire. The saint began glorifying Christ and insulting the pagan gods. The governor commanded that his tongue be cut out, but even deprived of his tongue, St Roman loudly continued to glorify the Lord. Then the torturers placed a noose around his neck and choked him to death.

[klbwriting]

Stranded - Part 1

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow

Pairing: Constantine x Female!Reader

Warnings: None for this chapter

Summary: The legends are stranded in a forest, where they don’t know, when they don’t know.  As Ray works to fix the WaveRider the other Legends go into hiding to avoid the multitude of bounty hunters on their trail because of their latest team member, the daughter of a time crime lord.  Why is there a time crime lord? Because this is Legends of Tomorrow!

Notes: Ah, Constantine coming through with the inspiration.  This should be a series, we will see how it goes!

                            Y/N had only been on the WaveRider for a few months, but she already felt like part of the family.  It was a strange dysfunctional family and no one could have imagined them having and Y/N felt right at home among the weirdos, criminals, and people who had once been dead but now were magically alive.  She herself, was the daughter of a time crime lord, Captain Dredd, who had a large band of time pirates that ran about stealing things from history, maybe assassinating a do-gooder or two, and just generally causing all kinds of time-related shenanigans to muck up the timeline.  Y/N had escaped his ship the last time the Dredd gang had tangled with the Legends and stowed away aboard the WaveRider.  When the Legends had found her instead of turning her over to the pirates they welcomed her into the group, what other choice did they have? Send her back and let the pirates turn her into an evil crime lord so they would have a problem with her in the future?  It was great, Y/N fit right in with the team, especially with John Constantine. The two seemed bond over a fascination with archaic magic, fine alcohol, and sarcastic witticisms.  

              “So how many years were you treading water before I came along?” Y/N asked, throwing herself on the couch in the parlor, and setting her legs right on his lap.  John sighed. He hated to admit how much he liked anyone in the Legends but he could not stand how much he liked her specifically. Every time he fell for someone it ended badly, except for that one time him kissing Desmond saved the universe, but that still didn’t work out well in the end.  So here he was stuck being on this time ship for the moment to track down the Dredd gang with magic and Y/N was here for her protection, leaving him no other option but to deal with her constant presence that he both loved and hated.

              “O I’ve been on this bloody ship for 3 years now,” he said, trying to focus on the book of spells he was glancing through.  He had picked it up when he heard her coming, hoping she wouldn’t bother him.  He should know better, she always had to bother him.

              “And you know all kinds of magic?” she asked.  He sighed.

              “Yes, you know this already, what do you really want?” he asked, finally closing the book and looking at her.  

              “I was just curious could we…” she never got to finish that thought as suddenly the ship dropped from the temporal zone and into so trees, throwing Y/N across the room, John landing a few feet away her. He popped up, looking around before running to help her stand.  “What the hell was that?”

              “We just fell out of the temporal zone…” he said, moving to the bridge where everyone else was gathering.  Zari groaned looking at her designer jeans ripped in a way that was not fashionable.

              “What the hell, I just had Gideon make these!” she whined, leaning on the counsel.  “Gideon?”

              “Hey Gideon, are you there?” Sara said, moving to the control panel and taping some options.  Gideon didn’t power back up.  Ray frowned and ran off to find out if he could fix Gideon quick.  He came back after a few moments.

              “Get off the ship, now!” he said, pushing Nate and Charlie to run and the rest of the group ran off the ship as suddenly a gas started pouring out of the vents.  As they got off Ray sealed up the inside and watched as the gas filled the inside of the ship.

              “What the hell was that?” Y/N asked, pointing at the ship.  Ray sighed.

              “It’s a defense mechanism that if anyone were to steal the ship then before it would take off it would spit out a gas to incapacitate them before they left and then we could take over, it malfunctioned when I went to look at ship’s wiring to fix it,” he explained.  They groaned.  “Should all be dissipated in a couple days…”

              “Days?” Ava asked.  Ray shrugged.

              “If Gideon were around I would have her release the vents but…” he shrugged.  The rest of the team sighed and looked around.  

              “Where are we?” Mick asked, still drinking the beer he had been holding when the ship crashed.  He snarled and threw it when he realized it was empty.  

              “No idea,” Sara said.”

              “When are we?”

              “No idea.”

              “Bloody hell,” Constantine groaned.  

              “We should find some shelter for tonight, maybe just string some branches together in case it rains,” Sara said, looking around. “Ray, Mick, Nate, Behrad, go start making some treehouses please.  Charlie, Zari, Ava, and I will walk around the area and see if we can find a town or something.  Constantine, Y/N try to scout the area for water or any food.”  

                The group split into their groups and headed off in different directions.  Y/N followed John into the woods to find water.  They walked for a time finding nothing and she finally stopped him, turning to face him.

                “Don’t you have a spell or something to like make a river?” she asked.  John looked at her clearly annoyed.  “Alright, touchy touchy.  So why do you think the ship crashed?”

                “Probably thanks to your dad and his crew of merry jackarses,” he said, hearing something nearby and grabbing her arm for a second so she would follow him.  She took advantage of the moment and took his hand, letting him lead her reluctantly to a stream nearby.  He bent down and cupped his hands, taking a drink.

                “You sure that’s safe?” she asked.  He sighed and looked at her.  “O ya, sorry you randomly drink blood sometimes, forgot, creek water should be fine for you.”  She walked over next to him and once she saw he didn’t immediately start throwing up she leaned in and got some water for herself.

                “I’m pretty sure you’re right about my dad being the one shoot us down,” she said.  “Hopefully he lost us for awhile when we fell out of time.”

                “Well we found water…” he started, but the sound of a crash made he look back at the way they’d come and they both started running back.

#legends of tomorrow #john constantine #john constantine x reader #john constantine series #stranded series #legends of tomorrow series #legendsoftomorrow #johnconstantine #johnconstantinexreader

[poetik666]

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

               It was one of those autumn Saturdays when everyone said “I drank too much last night.” However, I did not feel the same way. I always feel vivid when I wake up. Lonely people are empowered by the experience of loneliness. I start the day feeling alive and drain all my vividness during the day. I'm waiting to live another day, by ending my life like a butterfly at night. The only thing that can be considered a hobby; is my dreams, the moments when I take a long break. If you are wondering what I am doing all day, I am only running. Just like other unfortunate adults, running so fast, non-stop.                                                                 ***                            The doorbell rang, and I dared to open it without looking through the hole because I knew who was knocking. It is obvious, my life is a boring routine. I always know what is going to happen. My only friend, Summer, was waiting for me to go to my job. I put on my coat and one of my false faces before I opened the door. "Good morning, Jim. Let's not miss the bus this time. Shoes, hurry up" she said. “Morning, Summer.”          I stuck the laces in the shoe because if I tied them, we would miss the bus. It took me milliseconds to look at her face and immediately turn my head away. Looking at Summer's face is like someone who has been falling into a snowstorm for a long time; comes home and puts her or his hand on a stovepipe that's been burning for hours. Both agonizing and soothing experiences. Her grey-emerald terrifying eyes, the eyes that pierce, impossible to meet.                                                           ***

          Summer and I rarely meet at work. The only place I can spend time with her is at the bus stop. But anyway, I have more painful problems than that. I've been alone for as long as I can remember. It sucks not to have seen your parents, not to remember a moment that would keep them alive in your mind. Fortunately, I have dreams, I witness better things every dream. That's what keeps me running.  The most interesting dream I have ever seen; being a handsome knight. On my white horse, over the wuthering green hills, watching landscapes I'd never really see. An orphan boy (due to his look, I feel he was an orphan) was running towards me. He seemed to want to talk to me about something important. I couldn't compromise my attitude. I was not looking at the boy's face, watching the fascinating scene. "Father, father," the boy screamed. I continued to not looking. "Father, where are you going? I ran too fast to catch up with you. Why didn't you wait for me, Dad?" He deserved an answer with that effort.        As soon as I turned my face to look at the boy's face, the poor child evaporated. It was one of those moments when I realized I was dreaming. I woke up, but I closed my eyes again because I wanted to keep dreaming. This dream should not have ended so soon because I had not ridden my white horse long enou — “Jim, can you come to my office for a quick evaluation?” said my superior, with a crushing voice and spoiled my conservation with you. “An evaluation, for what? What did I do wrong, Sir?” I could feel the sweat flowing from my temporals. “I've been watching you for hours, Jim, and the only thing you're doing is looking at that damn wallpaper. We don't want any useless men here. There are thousands of guys who want to be in your shoes. Get your shit together or —"         I left his room. I loosened my necktie and walked to my desk, packed my things, and left the office immediately. All the hard work I have put in over the years, all those runs, is defeated to my boss's ego. When I went out on the street, realized I didn't need any office stuff, so I threw it all away. The laces I stuck, came out of the shoe. I have never even had time to tie my shoe. I finally felt free.                                                            ***             I am so alive; I just want to run. I desire to marry Summer. I want to get her out of that shithole, travel every inch of the world, see the beautiful landscapes. Maybe I can live my dreams? Summer and I make a great couple. Besides, a knighthood is better than working in an office. I can run forever. I might answer the orphan child’s questions. How does it feel to be the first person to run around America? I don't know where to begin. I hope that sense of freedom doesn't disappear quickly.             After tying my shoes, I started running at a low pace. One of the great things about living in Harlem was that I was so close to Central Park. I kept running around the park, inhaling the smell of soil that came out after the rain. When my phone rang, I stopped immediately because it was Summer. I was out of breath running, moreover, when Summer called, my heart kind of failed. "Where are you, Jim? Why did you leave the office all of a sudden? People are worried about you." her voice was nervous. “Have not you heard? He scolded me out of the blue. He threatened to fire me for staring blankly at the screen, so I resigned before he fired me.” “Jim, no. You didn't even talk to the boss. The intern said you just packed up your stuff and left the office. Why did you do that? What happened?”               Suddenly my eyes darkened and my whole life flashed before my eyes, Didn't I talk to the boss? How is that even possible? Am I schizophrenic? I've always wanted to live my dreams, and just 15 minutes after I achieve this, the truth hit me in the face? “I will call you later, Summer.”                                                             ***         Every night since my childhood, I have had these wonderful dreams. I have never forgotten the "Knight" dream, and I barely remember the other good ones. However, after the realization of my mind’s status, I remembered the most important dream of my life. We're having a picnic on Long Island where the green shiny grass stretches like a pillow. My parents and a few other people are here. My mom's preparing the food and my dad's drinking his beer and watching the colossal trees in front of him. I'm playing with my wooden horse toy, trying to figure out what my dad's looking at. He must have seen something very interesting. The shapes of the clouds draw my attention, and all of a sudden, the dark clouds surround us and start thundering. The rain comes at such an unexpected moment that everyone is surprised and suddenly begins to gather picnic stuff. My father must have foreseen it was going to rain. All the stuff is packed up and loaded into the cars. No one notices me, they forgot about my existence. My parents leave me in that field that transforms into a mud pool as the raindrops fall. I'm stuck in the mud with a wooden horse in my hand, waiting for somebody to wake me up.

                                                                                                              A.E

#writing #short story #storytelling #poetik666 #poetik #creative writing #the loneliness of the long distance runner #pirvik #666 #english literature #literature #story #original story

[rokkosmysterydungeon]

31 Days of PMD: An Interconnected Series of Vignettes

Day 10: Outlaw / Thief

Game: Explorers

Theme: Grief over People & Memories

Spoilers: Mid-game

Dark droplets pelted all the plants at Treeshroud Forest. Every leaf, every blade of grass, nothing escaped the heavy rain. Not even the being who was technically, yet not-technically, a plant. This was a grovyle, a grass-type pokémon, rushing through with long leaps his legs were built for.

This was Razr, a Rescuer.

Rescue Teams were very uncommon on the Grass Continent, because the area’s more popular profession, that of Exploration Teams, usually also threw in rescue services. Indeed, Razr used to operate on the Air Continent, where he was one of many Rescuers long ago, or, what to him was long ago, anyway. In any case, he was here on a very different kind of rescue.

He finally stopped at a clearing in the very depths of the forest. Shining against the darkness of the storm was the prize Razr sought. It was a Time Gear, governing the local time in its mid-air perch.

“I finally found it… A Time Gear…!”

Now all he had to do was take it.

“But… this is only the first of many...”

All he had to do was take it.

But he just stood there for a bit. All he had to do was take it, and his mission would be one step closer to completion. But his strong legs began to waver. He began speaking, not to anyone corporeal, but to his memory of someone dear to him.

“Danny… I’m so sorry you aren’t here to see this. I don’t… I wish I...” He had to kneel down to catch his bearings. “No, don’t let go! Just a little longer… Come on! Hang on!” he remembered… the last words he ever said to his combusken partner. He began to cry, his tears mixing with the rain that poured down his face. His emotions were too much of a flood to withstand anymore.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” He clenched the grass with his hands and feet. “We were going to save the world again, together! You and I should’ve been here, doing this with each other by our sides!” Lightning touched down on a nearby tree, the sheer light it gave off enveloping Razr for less than a second. He took several deep breaths. He needed to calm down, and re-focus himself on his task. Like it or not, he had to be his own rock now. The world needed him to be.

He stood up again and fixed his eyes on the Time Gear. The mission was simple enough: Retrieve all of the Time Gears and then take them to Temporal Tower.

He remembered the events that led up to this. How he and Danny, and their third team member, Marshtomp, were in the middle of a rescue mission. Some strange weather had come in shortly after they entered the dungeon, but they thought nothing of it until Marshtomp fainted during a battle with some dungeon illusions. How Danny & Razr were trying to figure out why their Reviver Seeds weren’t working, their friend frozen on the ground. How their client, when they found her, was also frozen, completely unresponsive, like Marshtomp. How when they returned to Pokémon Square, the town was engulfed in panic and chaos, everybody having someone they knew succumb to the mysterious freeze. The sun hung still in the gray sky, and it never set again.

Time had somehow come to a stop.

The team he ran with Danny, Team Emberites, was renowned in the community for their efforts in the field, tackling many of the most dangerous missions & even saving the world once. And for a time, even through mourning their fallen friend, they did their best to soothe the scared pokémon of the area, performing any rescues they still could. Slowly, yet inevitably, their clientele dried up. There were very few unfrozen pokémon left anymore. It was then that they were found by Alys.

Alys used to work for a pokémon known as Dialga, the keeper of time. She told them that Temporal Tower, Dialga’s ultimate machine, meant to automate the task of governing the flow of time, had suffered a catastrophic system failure, which paralyzed time throughout the world. And with this collapse, Dialga had regressed to a bestial, merely self-preserving state of being called Primal Dialga. She needed anyone she could find to help her find the Time Gears, a set of recovery media designed to safely reboot and repair Temporal Tower in such an event. Always having it in their hearts to rescue others, of course Team Emberites accepted the mission.

Soon Alys whisked them off to the Grass Continent, where the Time Gears were said to be hidden. Through an unknown amount of time, (it was difficult to keep track when the sun no longer moved) the three of them scoured the Continent, slowly but surely finding Time Gear locations. Complicating the search was Primal Dialga’s disciples. These still-unfrozen pokémon seemed to think they could avoid a horrible fate by serving Dialga and making sure he stayed Primal for the rest of frozen time. These disciples were everywhere, and the team had to stay one step ahead.

Eventually, they found and retrieved the whole set. Yet… they had no way to get to Temporal Tower. Alys knew it was somewhere called the Hidden Land, but lacked the means to get to it. The biggest setback came when the leader of Dialga’s disciples, Adán, a dusknoir, got his hands on the Time Gears during a fight and promptly vanished. He returned to them later, gloating that he had taken the gears to Primal Dialga, who promptly destroyed them, effectively making their mission impossible. Without Time Gears, what hope did they possibly have?

The three refused to give up, and eventually found a solution. By using something called Luminous Water, which was at a protected spring on the Water Continent (they lucked out bigtime, since Danny, as a human-turned-pokémon, met the requirements needed to bypass its seal), they could restore Alys’s time-based powers, with which she could open a warp to the past, and Team Emberites could find the Time Gears there.

Razr couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Once again, when it looked like they’d all managed to figure out a solution, something unfortunate happened to set the team back. While in the time warp, something attacked Danny, separating her from Razr. And he never saw her again.

He’d arrived here, in the past, completely alone. He tried to find Danny for the first few days, but it was to no avail. And that led to now, where he stood. In front of the Time Gear.

All he had to do was take it.

He knew what would happen once he did. Time in the local area would halt, as a backlash effect from moving the Gear from its designated place. Pokémon in the forest would be subject to the same horror that he experienced in the future of darkness. They’d be seeing their home and their loved ones freeze in time. He’d be doing something very bad. If anyone that didn’t freeze saw him, he’d almost certainly be wanted, be hated. He knew he had to save the world, and he could only do that, if he did this.

The rain felt cool on his grassy, leafy body. Oh, how he’d missed the movement of weather! He wondered how his ‘past, actually-present’ counterpart, a beloved hero on the Air Continent, was doing. He hoped that that version of him was having a great time with Danny, and would cherish his time with her... always.

As for him, and all the pain and loss he’d had to swallow, he braced himself for the new addition to the pile, and reached his green arm forward.

All he had to do was take it... and take it he did.

The dark blue rain in Treeshroud Forest turned a stagnant gray as the resigned grovyle bolted off into the night, the Time Gear in hand.

This was Razr, a Thief.

#writing #31 days of PMD #pmd month #pmd explorers #pokemon mystery dungeon

[secretstories]

Temporal Anomaly

This story is NOT canonical, but it was fun and I wanted to write it. Using a time travel trope for this one. Hope you enjoy :)

“Approaching temporal anomaly.”

“Admiral, maybe it's best if we get someone more… scientific to do this?”

Amidral Vir slowly engaged the jetpack in spurts costing through the blackness of space seriously glad he didn’t get vertigo as stars plunged into infinity on all sides leaving him floating in a vacuum of nothingness.

He knew people who had been driven mad by this experience, they used to call it cosmic hysteria before someone actually put a real name to it. He engaged his com, “That would be a good idea if any of you nerds knew how to use a jetpack. Just tell me what I’m looking for.

There was a pause over the end of the line for a moment before a voice came over the line slightly nasal making him think of pocket protectors and those little rubber things you put on the end of your finger to help turn pages, “Ok Admiral, when you get the the anomaly, I want you to hold up the device and press these buttons in sequence.”

He rolled his eyes. Ah yes someone more scientific to press a few buttons.

He floated a bit more forward stopping just short of something very…. Strange. From where he was it looked like he was staring into a fractured pane of glass where the individual pieces only remained together because there was no force acting on them. He could see the light on the front of his space suit being reflected back at him, and behind that his own silhouette.

“Are you guys sure this things is an anomaly…. Looks like someone just chucked out their broken mirror.”

“That’s what our scans are saying, Admiral.”

“Alright so I just” He paused, and sighed, “Which buttons was I supposed to press again.”

There was chuckling from the other end of the line as he walked through the instructions. He did as ordered only half listening to the chatter of the nerds on the other end of the line. Instead he got a closer look at the…. Whatever it was. The lite from his suit was too bright and scattered off the glass so much he couldn’t see his reflection, but, rather continued to blind himself.

“Some kind of warp tunnel?”

“No, warp tunnels are more volatile and tend to draw things into them. This would have already pulled the Admiral in if-”

He tried to tune them out and tilted his head this way and that

He shouldn't have let his mind wander. As krill had once said his rain was  like a small child, and if left unsupervised it was prone to doing things it shouldn’t. He reached up a hand fingers parallel to the glass.

He slowly moved his hand forward his brain imagining the cool, slick surface of glass beneath his fingertips.

He felt as his glove impacted something.

“ADMIRAL N-”

And he was sucked violently forward, so violently it felt as if his body was going to rattle apart. He was spun this way and that pulled apart in all directions and then snapped back together like a rubber band. His feet flew over his head, he worked desperately to fight against the the blackness at the edge of his vision as he plunged downard into what must have been an infinite well of gravity, and then with a jolt, it stopped.

His head spun and his body hurt.

His hands and arms floated out to either side of his fingers trialing in the air beside him. His feet were kicked up before him and his head spun circles, far worse than they had during flight training.

And then he was 

Gone.

Fading away with the stars overhead, and a bright light passing over his body.

***

“The suit is certainly huma, though I can’t say I have seen this model in a while.”

“And it has a jetpack! Hell yeah! Our mystery visitor has class.”

“Now, the real question remains. Who could it be? We are the only ship in this sector.

“Don’t tell me we are going to open it up and see a gooey corpse…. Eww.”

“No, the suit is broadcasting vitals. WHoever is inside is just fine.

Adam struggled to open his eyes but when he did he was blinded and the world spun around him. He tried to lift his hands against the light, but his suit felt like led weight was boring down on him.

“He’s waking up” Someone announced 

He groaned.

“Get the helmet off him or… her I suppose.”

There was a sharp hiss and the world around him was flooded with light. He grimaced and turned his head to the side.

There was a gasp from around the room.

“Well glaze my ass and call me a doughnut.”

“This is it, I have OFFICIALLY seen everything.”

“Holy shit!”

He grimaced past the light and managed to hold up a hand before his eyes. He blinked a few more times.

Someone stepped in blocking the light assailing his eyes, and finally he was able to drop his hand, and nearly leaped back in his skin. A man stood over him grinning from ear to ear, tall, broad shouldered snow white hair and…. An eyepatch.

“Well you are once handsome devil if I do say so myself.”

He sat up scrambling back a little.

The man grabbed his arms, “Whoa there champ, hold on before you crawl out of that suit.”

“Who the fuck are you!” 

“Come on, son, ever looked in a mirror.”

His mouth opened and then closed and then opened again.  He turned his head wincing at the light nearly crawling off the bed when his eyes fell on another shape. Small, brown grey, with large prismatic orange eyes.

“Fascinating.” Krill said. There was a loud snap as he pulled on a latex glove, “I guess probing is in order

He leaped to his feet pointing, “Hell no you little gremlin, keep away from me.”

“Wow, I remember you having a much better sense of humor.”

“Oh you boys stop harassing him, look he’s scared.” He turned his head towards the new voice falling upon wide bespectacled eyes, and long dark hair pulled back from her face in a tight bun. The lines around her eyes had deepened and her skin wasn’t so tight but, he would know that face anywhere.

“Katie.” He said in confusion.

She smiled at him, “That’s right, now get down from there, we promise we won't hurt you.” She glowered at Krill, “And we CERTAINLY won’t PROBE him either.”

Krill huffed, “killjoy.”

Slowly Adam crawled down from where he stood on the bed stealing glances at the white haired man off to his right, who was grinning at him. As soon as he was down the other guy moved forward taking him by the shoulder and turning him this way and that, “Wow its like looking in a mirror, only, you know some twenty years younger.”

The other man tilted his head back, “Forgot how handsome I am.”

Adam pulled his face away, “W-what is going on.”

The other man grinned, “ well why don't’ you tell us your side of the story, and we will try to fill in the holes.”

He rubbed the back of his head, “Well I was…. I was investigating a temporal anomaly and I.”

“You touched it, you touched it didn't you.” The older man interrupted.

He felt himself go red, “I…. no..”

“He he, looks so cute when I lie.”

“How do you know he’s lying.”

“How can’t you know. Look, his ears are all red.”

Adam reached up to cover his ears, “who are you.”

The older man rolled his eyes, “man I am dumb sometimes.” he held up his hands, there is only one explanation for this my young friend. He reached up wiggling his fingers through the air, “Time travel”

“Time travel?

He nodded, “Time travel. You see you are me and I am you just, you know older…. How old are you right now?”

“Twenty uh…. Twenty six?”

“Don’t look at me. I am Forty six and fabulous.”

Adam frowned, “But your hair.”

The older Adam frowned at him, “I go grey early, can you blame me. Look, I think you have some white hairs yourself. But you won’t find a man my age with a body like mine this side of Andromeda.”

“Sure you do.”

“Haven’t heard Sunny complain.”

Adam opened his mouth closed it and then, felt his face flush red again, “You….” He trailed off cutting the question short.

“Oh look at him, he's going red.”

Older Adam waved a hand, “Well that isn’t hard to do. Watch this.” he turned to look adam in the eye, “Sex.”

He felt his face flush even worse, and he turned away.

“Adam!” Katie scolded, “Stop tormenting him.”

Older Adam grinned, “But it’s so fun, I can finally understand why my brothers did.”

“I still think we should study him, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Krill was sayin. He didn’t sound like he had aged a day.

“Don’t you think that would be a little much, Krill. This is a lot to take in.”

Older Adam through an arm around his shoulders, turning his head to look at him, “Yeah we don’t want to do ‘science’ he wants to look at the ship.”

He took  a deep breath, “I… I….”

“That would be a yes, don't worry he’s just getting his brain to boot up. Takes a minute when he’s nervous. Now get out of that smelly suit and let's take the grand tour.”

What other choice did he have, and he was given the privacy to pull off his suit and undersuit, at least that is until someone threw open the curtain and barged in. he nearly squealed and fell over, grabbing something to hold in front of him.

Older Adam just laughed, “nothing I haven’t seen, son…. Ha ha, son, thats funny.”

He did not lower the pillow he was holding in front of his private business, “Do you have any sense of personal boundaries.”

“Nope, those fled with age.” he doessed him a bundle and Adam ended up dropping the pillow on reflex just to catch the clothing sailing towards him.” His older self nodded in approval, and Adam felt himself go bright red again, “Those should fit, i mean we are the same size, haven't started shrinking yet.”

Adam awkwardly pulled on the proffered clothes finding it strange when he identified his own smell.

With one waved hand he was led from behind the curtain, and out to where the others were waiting. They stared at him, and he looked down at his feet.

“Come on, I’m excited for you to see this. Plus I have some serious advice for you.” older Adam grabbed him by the arm and walked him into the hall.

He looked around in awe almost immediately as a large spindly creature trudged past down the hall.

“What was that?”

“Just some new friends we have made in the last twenty or so years.” They walked up the hall and took the stairs down. The ship was darker than it used to be, much more lived in, but it was familiar.

“Here this way to the rec room.” 

They turned a corner and the floor opened up into a familiar space, though it had more TV’s and even a vintage arcade game now. He nodded in approval, “Hey everyone, c’mere.”

The entire room looked up, and he sudden felt himself the center of more than a dozen eyes.

“Holy shit, is that?”

“yeah , yeah it is.”

Another man moved out of the crowd, and Adam felt his eyes widen, “Ramirez!” he looked up at the other man shaking hismelf, “You aged…. Really well, holy shit.” Ramirez grin, straight white smile lighting up his face, “That’s a compliment coming from you.

Adam snorted, “In your wildest dreams Ramirez.”

“ I’ve had wilder.”

He held out a hand, “Uncanny.” Adam took and looking down saw something glittering on his hand, “You’re married!” 

Ramirez laughed and held up his hand, the wedding band glittering bright on his finger, “yep going on about ten years now.”

“Who? Tell me.”

Ramirez shook his head, “No, I don’t think I will.”

Other faces popped at him from out of the crowd, “Mav/” He asked wide eyed. The woman moved forward grinning wickedly. He hair was short on the sides and long on the top braided back into a viking-esque haircut, “Oh look it’s baby Adam’ how cute.”

Old Adam patted him on the back, “doesn’t it just remind you of the old days.”

“When you were still a raging idiot…. Oh wait, I was thinking of right ow.”

It was at the same time that the two of them frowned and responded with near identical “Hey.”s 

The entire room laughed at that.

Ramirez looked at older Adam very seriously, “You know what I would do if I were you.”

Older Adam sighed, “Do I want to hear this?”

“If i was you.” Ramirez continued, “I would kiss myself/”

Adam blanched and old Adam roared with laughter, “Kiss yourself, Ramirez isn't that like…. Incest somehow.”

“Selfcest and I don’t think it counts, but seriously, thinking about it. You could know exactly how good you are at kissing and be able to work out any bugs.”

Adam backed away as older Adam looked at him contemplatively.. Adam backed into a wall, and older Adam just laughed slapping him on the back, “Oh stop looking so worried, I wouldn’t do that to you unless you wanted a go, but you aren't as fun as Ramirez.”

“But I am you.”

“I know, I remember what I was like.”

“What you ‘were’ like?”

He shrugged, “Yeah you loosen up as you get older, don’t worry kid. You can thank Sunny for that.”

He put a hand on his shoulder and led him out into the hallway.

“Sunny! Is she here?”

Older Adam beame, ‘I know that look. Lets see your 26 right, so you two are dating/”

He nodded a bit nervously.

“Yeah shes here, we’ll go see her next. She will want to see you for sure.”

Together they stepped down the hall and Adam nearly keeped ovr as a sudden shape appeared before them white and billowing in the hallway.

“And then there were two.” Conn Said, his dark eyes glittering rather maliciously.i the darkness.

“Convict.” Old Adam said.

He turned his dark eyes to look at Adam, “Same dumb different age.”

“Charming Conn.”

“You didn’t change much.” Adam muttered  as the two of them pushed past Conn down the hall.

“Don’t let him fool you. He has gotten better as time  has gone on. A real asset to this ship. Saved me from an assassin a few times.”

“Assassins!” 

Old Adam shrugged, “Yeah Assassins, “People don’t like what I…. what you and I represent.”

“What do we represent?”

“The union between humanity and alien life of course, or the GA in general. We are the face of the galaxy my friend.”

Adam frowned, “When does that happen.”

“It already has you are just a bit dense, but soon enough you will see. Right now you are a household name for humans, and it only takes a few more years for your name to become intergalactic.”

He felt himself go a little weak as white- hair Adam smiled at him, “yeah, the Stress will turn you white early, but it's a good life, and so far I don’t regret anything I have done….. Tough there is one thing….”

He paused, and Adam leaned forward  little to hear him feeling that this was important.

However, they were silenced rather quickly by a sudden massive shape scuttling towards them from across  the ceiling, and then dropping onto the floor. Henearly leaped out of his kin.

But then the thing came into view, a massive adaptid, with blond fur on its face, “POS garbage system gonna need fixing.” The voice was strange, echoing unnaturally like it was coming from a static radio.

The adapted stopped and sniffed the air, its eyes fixing in on him with a hungry expression, one that turned to confused a moment later, its bright green eyes widening with confusion, “Father.”

“Glados!”

She turned her head to look at white hair Adam, “What is this, some kind of joke.”

He shook his head, “No glados. I younger me has come to visit from the past.” She sniffed at him.

“Holy shit.” he muttered, “Wh-what are yo undoing here.”

“What does it look like I’m doing! She snapped, trying to fix this POS ship is what I am trying to do, but the coil drivers are going bad and Narobi’s people forgot to order morem, so now I have to finagle the things back together. Do you know how hard it is to fit down those dark cramped hallways, and then every now and again some asshole runs into me and screams, practically defines me every time.” She snarled, showing great white glittering K-9 teeth.

Older Adam patted her on the shoulder, “Deep breaths Glados, everything will work out, I promise.

With a deep sigh, Glados did as told, taking two great heaving breaths before calming down.

“Better?”

She nodded her huge head, eyes softening a bit, “Anyway. I have to go fix this. It was interesting to see you again, father.” and then she turned around and scuttled into the darkness. As she departed Adam was surprised to find a shape clinging to her belly …. An adapted male.”

“She…. shes…. uh  married? Dating?”

“Yes, though she's been looking for a third.” He chuckled, “She’s been trying to convince Conn, believe it or not.”

Adam snorted and nearly fell over, “What!”

“Imagine a bunch of baby adaptids who could survive in the vacuum of space. It would be one of the greatest evolutions their species has ever seen.”

He rubbed his head almost dizzy, “And is he considering it?”

Old Adam shrugged, “I don’t know. I think if we told him no directly to his face he might actually consider it, but I want to see if Glados can convince him first. I’d rather he agree on his own than out of spite.”

Adam held his head behind his back and shook his head, “This is all, this is insane.”

Old Adam snorted, “Not so much kid. This is your life.”

They were lead down through the next few hallways in near silence, “So what were you going to tell me earlier?”

Old Adam tilted his head, “What was…. Oh yeah! I remember now” he turned to look at him with a very serious expression stopping in the hallway and then laying a hand on his shoulder, “The one thing I regret.”

He waited on tenterhooks.

“Go on.”

“I regret not advancing my  relationship with Sunny sooner. You love her, kid. You love her so much you don’t know what to do with yourself, but for some reason you are so worried and embarrassed about it that you can’t do it. I gey your nervous and awkward, but she doesnt care, and no one else that matters will care.”

He felt his face flush and his hands go warm, “I…. I don’t know about that I, I’m not.”

‘Not ready? Well lets be honest, you will never be ready,and the longer you wait to feel ready is the longer that beautiful warrior is going to go thinking that maybe….. Just maybe you are going to turn away and pick someone else. The longer you wait is the longer she is going to wonder if she is good enough, the longer she is going to think you are going to leave her for some human.”

He stood on the floor stunned, “She thinks that? But she’s never…”

“Never said anything. Of course she’s never said anything. She doesn’t want to drive you away, and she loves you enough that she wants you to be happy even if that means her being miserable” he grabbed Adam by the shoulders and nearly shook his brain out of his head, “You found her, I promise you found her ok, no need to look anymore, no need to worry. She isn’t going to leave you, no matter what you do, and possibly despite everything you do.”

His heart was hammering in his chest as the other man lead him up the hallway hand gripping around his wrist.

“So….so you two…. I’m … I mean you and Sunny are.”

Older Adam turned to look at him over his shoulder, “I challenged her to trial by unarmed combat seven years ago, and every day I regret that I hadn’t done it sooner.”

Adam sputtered, “Trial by unarmed combat but that!.”

Old Adam frowned at him, “I know what it is. I am leader of a drev clan too.”

hIs head was spinning, his heart was hammering and he felt ready to fall over as they turned the next corner and down into a little workshop that he recognized well. It was more cluttered than it had been before,and the walls were practically plastered with schematics and blueprints, but the smell of metal and adhesive were strong.

Old Adam left young Adam at the back of the room and walked forward to where a lone figure was sitting on a bench busy tinkering with  a few pieces of equipment.

“Hey, hot stuff.” He said, leaning in to kiss her cheek, making Adam’s face flare red as he looked away.

The head lifted, bright light running over blue carapace, “Mmmmm hey snow white.”

“Never gonna let me live that down, huh.”

“Nope.”

“There is someone here I want you to see.’ He said, and the way he reached out, touching her arm tenderly made his entire body erupt into tiny fizzing bubbles. He swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling.

Sunny looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened, freezing in place as she stared at him. He raised an awkward hand to wave, “Er…. hi.”

“No way…. Is this serious.”

Old Adam grinned, “yeah.”

Sunny shook her head in awe before the expression adjusted into a frown, “Great, now I have two children to take care of.” She looked pointedly at old Adam who just grinned.

She turned and looked Adam back over one more time, “I forgot how hot you used to be.’

His grin fell and he glowered at her, “Used to be!”

She grinned at him and shrugged, “What your old, and decrepit now.”

“I’m not even fifty!” 

She stood and walked over looking down at him. Was it just him, or did she seem a little taller?

She brushed a hand through his hair, “You are adorable. What would you say to a fight.”

Old adam frowned again, “Hold on, why do you want to fight him”

She looked over her shoulder, “I don’t know he's younger…. More…. spry .”

“Spry!”

She grinned, “And probably a little more flexible too.”

“Now hold on, I don’t recall you complaining before.”

“Hard to complain when you are trying your best, but you know things get old…. Not so much stamina anymore.” She grinned again 

Adam wanted to sink through the floor, and felt that he might if he got any warmer. As if he might sink through the floor and melt into a puddle.

“I’ll give you stamina, woman.” 

Adam resisted the urge to cover his ears.

Sunny turned her head back to him looking almost hungry, “You always had a nice body.”

“You keep talking about this in the past tense, and I don’t appreciate it.” Old adam lifted his shirt and patted his abs, “See all six still there.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow, “Bet he's a little more….” She tilted her head to the side, “Firm.”

Older Adam looked scandalized by the comment and Adam himself just wanted to die, “Can we NOT talk about that please.”

Sunny sighed, “Still haven't gotten over that have you. She patted his shoulder. Took me FOREVER to convince you and lord was it difficult, but I swear if you just do it, than you won’t have a problem anymore.I swear it vanished overnight.”

“Please stop.”

She sighed, “Alright fine, but you better give younger me a chance sooner before this idiot did, I swear he regrets it with every fiber of his being.”

“I get it! I Get it! I am hearing what you are saying and now we can go ahead and stop right now.” 

The two of them just laughed at his expense, and Sunny put an Arm around him, gently brushing a stray hair from his cheek, “I’m sorry, I know that makes you uncomfortable, we’ll stop.” He relaxed a little and a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Older Adam smiled a little, “Sorry, kid, guess I was having a little too much fun at my own expense.” He winked, though with the eyepatch it looked just like a blink.

Did he really do that that often?

“So…. aside form the other stuff, is there anything I should know? Any advice.”

Older Adam frowned and tapped his fingers, “IF you ever meet a cute little alien that looks like an eyeball with fuzzy hair, don’t touch it whatever you do.” he Shivered and grimaced.

“Um, turns out I am very very allergic to honey so any sort of scent or flavoring that involves it is not going to go well for me.” Sunny added, “So keep me away from it.”

He nodded.

“Also do not attempt any sort of inverted backspin with your jetpack. I was in traction for a month.”

Adam frowned, guess that sort of ruined his weekend plans .

Old Adam rubbed his chin, “Ad face it kid, you're going to get old, but that doesn't mean you should act old. I tried it once and it was miserable.” He prodded Adam in the chest, “Expect your left knee to give you shit  and the fucking heartburn is killer, but keep up your workout routine for your own happiness.”

Sunny paused and then went very quiet, “IF I insist on seeing my mother…. Let me go, but don’t let me do it again. NEVER let me go back again.”

WOrried he nodded again unsure of what to do.

There was another pause, “Also, my brother Kanan, give him some poetry books next christmas.”

Adam snorted in surprise, but from the look on her face he went quiet, “Yeah, I think I can remember all that.”

Older Adam put a hand on his shoulder, “looks like they found the temporal anomaly, and it’s time to send you home kid.”

Older Adam accompanied him into the docking ebay wearing a space suit. It was very strange to hear himself give orders, but partially exhilarating at the same time. He…. he didn’t hate how he sounded when he was giving orders. A group of others came t osee him off and he got to see other members of the crew.

Nairobi, with a colorful scarf tied up on her head, Jackie standing Next to Simon, who looked just as stiff as ever, but managed a smile at him. There was Katie and Krill, who wandered forward and leaned up. He leaned down to listen to his friend expecting another sarcastic comment, but instead, “Relax Admiral, relax and maybe you won’t go grey so early.”

Adam smiled a little and stepped back glancing over at his older counterpart, “All told…. It looks kind of good on me.”

Krill shrugged, “Stress doesn’t, now get back to your people before they freak out.”

“You mean before YOU freak out?”

“Oh I am already freaking out I assure you. That is a fact of life.”

Adam smiled and stepped back as Sunny walked over. She put her hands on his shoulders and then leaned down gently resting her forehead against his before pulling away, “Be safe and try not to do anything overtly stupid, which i KNOW is a tall order.”

He grinned and pulled on his helmet. “No promises.”

She then turned her attention to older Adam, turning her head so he could kiss her on the cheek, reaching down to squeeze his hand, “Same goes for you, you hear me.”

He grinned, “Here you are to ruin all my fun.” She took the helmet from his hands gently placing it on for him with a tight snap before checking the seal and when smacking him about the head.

“Hey!”

“Yep, it works.” She announced laughing as she backed away, and the two of them turned.

They stood in the airock as it was depressurized, and their feet lifted off the ground as the door opened. Together they engaged their jetpacks and slowly coasted forward.

The universe unfurled around them.

It hit him now just as fresh as it had the first time, and he turned his head to look at the older Adam, who was already looking at him, and he was under the impression that his older self still felt the same way, which made him feel right.

At least that was something he’d never lose.

The temporal anomaly appeared before them as they reversed thrusters and came to a slow stop.

Older Adam turned to him, grabbing him by the front of the space suit as they looked, “You gotta promise to do one more thing for me kid, just one more.”

“Yeah, what”

“Waffles…. You, you tell her she’s a good girl, tell her she’s a good girl from me.” The man’s voice was partially choked up, “Can you do that?”

Adam nodded, “I’ll tell her.”

“Good,” And then he was shoved back into the temporal rift and vanished.

[scribeofmorpheus]

Mark of the Wolf Part 12

Catch Up Here!

Pairing: Derek Hale x Reader (Lastname: Markolf)

Words: 5k

Warnings: For once... no violence in a MOTW chapter. But... maybe some poorly written rushed angst? I’m sorry... I just wanted to keep this story alive without having to wait a month in between updates... Oops!

A/N: Ayyy... Next chapter things are gonna heat up a bit.... and not just with our killer hunter tree people (Oh gawd, this sentence was stupid.) Enjoy meeting the family!

Leave a like or reblog if you enjoyed this chapter! It helps ☺

~

The drive to the Homestead was filled with awkward silence, half snores and faint mumbles traded in for regular conversation. You had been resting against Derek's chest the whole drive, teetering between full-on sleep and temporal distortion from constantly zoning in and out -or at least, it felt like you were time travelling whenever you'd close your eyes for a second and then the next thing you knew, a whole hour had flown past.

Your dreams were foggy, hitting you vividly one moment then incomprehensible the next. Several symbols flooded your thoughts when your eyelids closed, so did Alyster’s hoarse voice, but you blocked most of that out. Through all the disorder within your brain, only one image presented itself clearly and repeatedly: the bow and shank of a golden key without a bit. You kept sketching it in your mind. Over and over and over again until you started tracing the outline of the shape on your thigh using your index finger. Derek noticed but didn’t say anything. You were grateful because you wouldn’t know what to say had he asked.

You knew instantly the moment you were close to home. The air smelled of pine and rain. The sound of chirping and crickets filled the night. You felt Derek's muscles uncoil as soon as that fresh forest air hit his nostrils. He took a long, deep whiff and that caused his chest to rise and the beating of his heart to accelerate. The sound was… calming.

A howl woke you from your half-slumber. You were greeted by a tense energy swarming inside the car. Markus chuckled before reassuring everyone it was simply your youngest brother, Jonah, alerting the rest of your family to your arrival.

The driveway was narrow and paved by pebble-sized stones in place of tar or cobble, the sound of tires rolling over stone was familiar yet odd. Out from behind a tall hedge was the old, two-story wood and brick style house and behind that was the cabin and shed. Your mother and father were standing on the porch, tight smiles on their faces diluted by the breezy way they waved their arms. Beside them stood your sister, Esme. She was wearing workout clothes, undoubtedly from spending her day training Jonah -who was nowhere to be seen.

"Home, sweet home," Markus said as he got out of the car and was promptly greeted by Esme's fist punching his side. "Oof! Why do both my sister's insist on punching me? Are hugs and handshakes no longer an acceptable form of etiquette amongst werewolves?"

Esme's brow was furrowed, she looked furious, "Werewolves, yes. Siblings, not so much.” She punched him again, “You had us worried."

You were certain she was ready to rip him a new one right there and then by scolding him with a wordy speech she had undoubtedly practised several times in the mirror, but it never came. In place of a tongue lashing, she completely blindsiding him with a strong hug. A relieved sigh leaving her full lips.

As soon as you stepped out of the car, you were nearly toppled to the ground by Jonah -who had no doubt picked up the same blindsiding habit from Esme- with one of his trademark sprint hugs.

"Y/N! I missed you! How's your new job? Saved any pups lately? Get bitten by any mean cats? What about your new house? Is it spacey? Do you have your own porch swing? I know how much you love porch swings. You probably noticed ours is gone, I kinda, sorta, maybe broke it. Anyway, what about your neighbours? Is it weird moving someplace where your nearest neighbours can hear it when you sneeze? You sneeze really loudly! Are they nosey or rude or--" Jonah rambled at a faster than lightning pace.

You were still winded from his surprise hug, you almost didn't know what was happening. You couldn’t even get a word in between each speed round of questioning he threw your way.

"I missed you too Speedy," You giggled as you patted his lithe back, he was taller and skinnier than when you last saw him. That worried you. "The real question is: 'What have they been feeding you?' You're practically all bone!" You gawked at your parents.

Your dad chuckled, pushing his glasses farther up his nose, "Don't look at us. He eats more than Esme and Markus combined."

"Hey squirt," Esme wrapped you in a hug after she released Markus from her stony embrace. After she peered over your shoulder with an arched brow at all the strangers currently disembarking from the cars. "I see you've brought guests. Good thing you called ahead of time to give us a heads up." She retorted.

"Oh tish, Esme. Don't be rude," your mom walked down the steps and welcomed the strangers at her doorstep. “Please, ignore her boorish manners. Any friends of Y/N are friends of ours. Welcome, welcome.”

Stiles fumbled a bit, wiping his clammy hands on his jeans before offering a handshake. Scott and Liam inched closer to offer their own introductions while Derek and Peter took in the sheer scope of the Homestead, the latter of whom let out a whistle before remarking, “We invested in the wrong kind of real estate...”

“We?” Derek huffed.

“We’re family. Family is always entitled to a ‘we’,” Peter pointed out.

“I think we are the exception to the rule,” Derek strode away from the insulted looking Peter and introduced himself to your parents. Theo had remained silent and guarded during the entire welcome wagon. The overly warm ambience threw him off. He stood out like a sore thumb. An uncomfortably sore thumb.

"How's the fiancé?" you asked Esme with a bright smile as you made your way inside the house. It was probably the first time you'd been able to smile freely ever since you moved to Beacon Hills.

It comforted you that the house still smelt the same: sandalwood and lavender. Sandalwood was your dad’s go-to scent, he used it to try and mask the smell of tobacco from your mother whenever he’d sneak a cigar. He was never successful in that endeavour. Lavender was the go-to scent of all the candles Maggie made from scratch. She was a dabbler in aromatherapy. Everyone else in the house would always complain about strong smells during Summer, that’s when she did most of her brewing and mixing and distilling like some new-age witch without the pointy hat or warty nose. Your wolf nose wasn’t as keen as everyone else’s, so it never bothered you much. Not unless she was working with jasmine, you couldn’t stand the smell of jasmine.

Esme rolled her eyes, "She's driving me up the wall. Who knew planning a wedding could be so… stressful."

You cocked your head to the side, "Wait, I thought Maggie wanted to elope?"

"She did, originally," Esme sighed in your mom’s direction before shooting you a small smile. "Mom talked her into having a traditional wedding instead."

"All I did was show her your grandmother's wedding dress and a few photo albums, Maggie is a grown woman, she is allowed to change her mind," Your mother winked in your direction.

Jonah darted around Derek and Scott, nose high in the air as he far-from-discretely investigated the new werewolves.

"Hey, Speedy, what is the general rule when you meet other werewolves?" Esme asked with a hint of exasperation in her tone.

Jonah huffed a sigh and pulled his lips into a pout, eyes cast down, "Never be too obvious…”

“And?” Esme pressed.

Jonah bit his lip, “And don't sniff the air… it's rude."

"And what were you doing?" Esme's hands were on her hips now.

Jonah kicked at the air, "Being rude."

You elbowed your sister when you saw your brother's pouting face pull lower, "Cut him some slack, E. He's allowed to fib a little. He’s still a kid. You all had a learning curve too." You held out your hands for Jonah and he dashed to your side and cradled under your frame as though you were his security blanket. He shot Esme a shit-eating grin. "Don't worry Speedy, I'll protect you from the big, bad wolf."

Esme snarled, her eyes turning blue for an instant and then she chuckled and ruffled Jonah's sandy curls, "You're lucky Y/N's here. But don't think for a second that you can use her to get out of morning training."

Jonah shone his golden eyes in a puppy dog manner and Esme simply smacked his face playfully, not having any of his younger sibling bullshit tactics. You laughed at the weird sound he made after Esme’s palm left his face.

You had been so caught up in just being back home and slipping back into comfortable habits that you had forgotten to introduce everyone. "Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t done proper introductions yet. Mom, Dad, Esme, Speedy, these are my… friends from Beacon Hills. That's Derek, his uncle Peter, Scott, Liam, I'm not sure who he is because we met two nights ago and we took separate cars and, of course, we all know Deaton. We had a seventh, but we left her in Mexico."

Theo smirked at your quirky way of saying you hadn't been introduced and gave a half-wave as he decided to handle his own introductions, "Theo."  

Everyone gave a wave or a nod or an inaudible, 'Hello'.

"Everyone, these are my parents, Christian and Estella Markolf. The sour face over here is my sister Esme, you all met Markus and this little runt over here is Jonah.” You shook Jonah around like he was a ragdoll, prompting a giggle from him. “Our emissary, Maggie is… somewhere, though I'm not sure where."

"She headed into town early this morning, apparently a package arrived for her," Esme filled you in.

Jonah sniffed the air again, though not as subtly as he thought he was being. Then he turned and whispered to Esme, "Does he smell strange to you?" he set his eyes on Theo.

"Yeah, I'm not all werewolf, that's why. I'm surprised you picked up on it," Theo explained to him loudly.

Esme hid her embarrassment behind a scowl, “Speedy, we just went over this…”

Jonah ignored Esme’s protests and started up a conversation with Theo, "I have a condition that makes my wolf senses more excited than normal. It means I’m constantly running about or my nose picks up on strange smells from miles away. One time I smelt a campfire that was lit on the other side of the property line. Oh, and this one time I heard scratching in the house and it nearly drove me up the wall because it was so loud but no one else could hear it… turns out it was a rat in the basement."

"Ah, Chimera," Theo offered in explanation. "What's your…uh, condition?"

"ADHD," Jonah said simply.

Peter looked at your brother like he suddenly transformed into a peacock and you protectively glowered at him. Derek subtly stomped on Peter’s foot and he let out a hiss in pain. You bit back a laugh.

"Well," you father cleared his throat. "Now that we're all… acquainted, let’s see if we can make some room for all of you. And then after, we’ll let Markus explain what exactly he was doing in Mexico and why he and Esme never bothered to tell their parents they were planning on doing something stupid." he glanced between Esme and Markus with an inquisitive brow arched high. Both your siblings looked away like they’d been burned and shuffled awkwardly.

“Before you go on and tear Markus a new one, remember to mind your temper, your blood pressure is a whole thing now and I don’t need to tell you to keep a handle on it,” your mother patted your father’s chest lovingly before turning to her eldest son. “And you. March on upstairs and take a shower and a couple of aspirin. You reek!”

 The house was full and bustling with energy. In every room there was a conversation to be had or a chore to be done. The only time the house had been this full was the time when Maggie had invited her extended family over from Ireland to visit over the holidays.

The house was already beginning to bud off into smaller groups. The youngest members gravitated towards each other. Jonah and Theo hit it off quite easily and it didn’t take long until Liam was pulled into their orbit. Before you knew it, they were outside roughhousing like teenagers -though, to be fair, Jonah was barely over eighteen.

Peter and Esme got to talking about her former pack down in Sao Paulo and Deaton, Scott and Stiles were in the study looking over several open books and notes Maggie had compiled about the hunters. Derek and Markus were outside somewhere talking in hushed whispers. Meanwhile, your dad was helping you and your mother set up your old room.

"It's good to have you home," your mother said as she unfolded the duvet cover. "Despite the circumstances."

You shrugged, focusing your energy on putting the duvet cover on the right way round.

"Though it is rather ironic," your dad chipped in as he brought several sleeping bags down from the attic. "You left to get away from all this werewolf business and somehow you come home with more werewolves. Next thing you know you’ll be marrying a werewolf."

"I get it, I'm a walking disaster with a magnet for the supernatural," you half-joked.

"That Derek boy and his uncle seem quite familiar to me," your mom's face scrunched up in thought. "He wouldn't be a Hale by any chance?"

"Y-yeah… how did you--?"

"I knew his mother, way back when, before I left my old pack." She interrupted you as she fluffed several pillows and took down several blankets from the wardrobe. "He looks so much like his mother..." her eyes glanced out the window and then back at you. “And quite handsome."

You tossed a pillow her way, "Very subtle."

She winked, "It's just an observation."

Your dad grumbled as he took the blankets out of her hands and headed out of the room, "I sure do hope that’s all that was."

“Ignore him, he’s only just gotten used to the fact that he isn’t alpha anymore, he’s a little more territorial than usual,” she snickered behind a quilt.

 You heard the clinking of Maggie's chunky metal bangles and numerous pendants before you heard her footsteps when she barged in through the front door holding a cardboard box marked with a 'Royal Mail' stamp on it, "Hey, who are those two strange boyos with Jonah outside?"

She stopped with wide eyes when she saw you, arms spreading wide so she could squeeze your frame between her two plump arms. The frilly sleeves of her summer dress rolling up so you could see her tattoo sleeve in all its glory. You noticed she had gotten a new tattoo added to the collection.

"Aww, Y/N, I've missed you! I didn't think we'd be seeing you so soon after you left..." she studied your face and frowned when she noticed the dark circles under your eyes. "You haven't been sleeping at all. You got a bad dose of stress, don’t you? This won't do." Her strong Irish lilt was still very much present on her tongue.

"Hey, Maggie, I hear you aren't eloping anymore?" you asked and she blushed dotingly.

"What can I say, I decided I wanted the fairy tale wedding after all," She tucked her short hair behind her ear as a deep blush set on her freckled face. “I’m guessing those new additions amongst the garden gnomes belong to you?"

"Oh, I brought more," you nodded behind you where Derek, Peter, Scott and Stiles were all gathered.

"Who is that tall drink of water?" she whispered, but you knew they all heard.

You ignored her comment and glanced down at her parcel balanced between her arm and hip, "What's that?”

"Oh, it's a book my brother sent over," she used her shapely nails to rip open the box with little to no finesse. "Aha!" she cheered when she finally got it open. "It's the right volume too! I’ve gotta crack on with this sweets. We’ll hang properly later, yeah?"

You nodded and stood aside to let her through.

She trotted over to the study and immediately started flipping through pages after a short and sweet introduction to the rest of the pack. Maggie and Deaton got to catching up while Stiles, who was face timing with a pretty girl, pulled up a chair to join them with their studies.

Derek glanced your way while Peter rambled to Esme and Markus about something. He flashed a quick smile at you that caused the temperature in the room to grow much hotter. You hovered aimlessly for a second before seeking out something to do. You settled for sticking your head in the fridge to try and cool down.

Those words Alyster had spoken before kept fading in and out of your subconscious all day like a malfunctioning dimmer switch you could never turn off all the way.

That night, you, Esme and Maggie had curled up under your covers with a pint of lemon sorbet and an old boxset of Friends on DVD. Even though you enjoyed your time away from the madness and bloodshed and time being hunted to the ends of the earth, you never quite relaxed into the secure sanctuary of your bedroom walls.

The crappy TV in your room had the worst sound and you had spent most of the night pretending to watch the poor quality video while Esme and Maggie rotated between bridesmaid talk, the new pack of wolves you had brought home and how many muscles Derek was hiding under his shirt -that particular topic seemed to interest Maggie more that Esme, who simply made disinterested noises every time her better half brought up the topic.

"I mean… I bet his muscles have muscles..." Maggie ate her spoon full of ice-cream slowly, mind elsewhere. "He seems like the kind of guy who would work out shirtless."

"Come with us, and all this chaos can end. Come with us and I'll tell you the truth."

Esme sighed, "If you like him so much, marry him." her words weren't mean or unpleasant, simply the ramblings of a bored woman tired of hearing Maggie fawn over Derek's muscles.

"Come with us and you will learn of your importance to the Order... And the fate of the world."

"I mean… with your permission," Maggie said sarcastically before peppering what could only be cold kisses onto Esme’s cheek, smudging her rouge lipstick all over your older sisters face. Esme didn't mind it one bit.

"All we want is you."

"Easy there, future Mrs Quinn-Markolf," Esme wiped the lipstick smudges onto her t-shirt sleeve. "You keep smothering me like this and I may just have to rethink the, 'Till death do us part' clause in our vows."

Maggie snorted, "Yeah, you'll have to rethink it if you think I'm going to be known as Maggie Quinn-Markolf for the rest of my life."

"Your blood is special.”

Esme pulled away from Maggie, “What? Is Quinn-Markolf not euphonic enough for you? I thought our love was stronger than the clashing sounds of our hyphenated last names!” she retorted.

“Your lineage is special.”

Maggie scrunched her nose and gave a blunt, “Nah, you’d be sorely mistaken there, love.” Esme gasped and Maggie peppered her cheek with more kisses before she could escape from beneath the covers, “I am only codding ya!”

“You are special."

Despite the playful atmosphere, you were too distracted to enjoy the moment.

Esme noticed you had been absent from their conversations and she chalked it up to more than just exhaustion or anti-social behaviour, "You okay, squirt?" she nudged you with her shoulder.

You hummed, taken by surprise by the question. "Yeah, why?"

"Because you've been a little… distant tonight," Maggie finished her thought for her.

"I..." you wanted to say everything was fine. You wanted to put up a brave front and soldier on, but something in you cracked and you had to hold back a sob as you finally caved in, revealing everything that had happened to you since you saved Derek in the vet clinic. You even revealed the part about you almost agreeing to be the sacrificial lamb when Alyster was in your head.

Neither your sister nor her fiancé said anything, they just let you talk and talk until you passed out. It felt good to be open and truthful without the fear of sudden judgement.

The next day, when you woke up, you were squished between Esme and Maggie. Their soft snores waking you from the longest sleep you'd had in a long while. It felt good to get that off your chest. But for some reason, the atmosphere in the house changed. It grew a little more tense.

The days following your homecoming blended together. The pack had spent their free time doing research and trying to come up with a viable plan of action. Liam, Jonah and Theo began to form an odd bond over their werewolf otherness -Liam with his IED, Jonah with his ADHD and Theo with his being a Chimera. Together, they were one ingredient short of turning into some form of an incendiary device. Their energy was exhausting, as was their constant rough-housing. You couldn't fathom how Maggie managed to reign them in whenever they got too rowdy. 

Things with Derek were different. He was more distant and whenever you did interact, he'd act pricklier than usual. He was giving you the cold shoulder. Most of the time, if he could avoid it, he wouldn't look you in the eye when he talked to you. His jaw would twitch every now and again as he spoke between clenched teeth. Peter delighted himself in watching your painful interaction. He’d always have a snide comment that would cause Derek to sigh or just walk away.

It was like Derek was being accosted by your very presence and that drove you up the wall. That was why you were storming into the woods at dawn in old combat boots and baggy pyjamas. This behaviour couldn’t continue. You wouldn’t allow it.

You found him in the middle of the meadow, he was shirtless and sweating. His biceps were straining as he dipped his body low in a single armed push-up. You were dazed for a moment, the first glimmers of daybreak causing his sweat slickened body to glisten. It seems Maggie was correct in assuming he worked out without a shirt. A flush burned at your cheeks and you bit your tongue in frustration. Damn him and his perfectly chiselled muscles.

"What are you doing out here so early?" he grumbled out without looking at you.

"I have a bone to pick with you. Didn't want to do it in front of the others," You placed your hands on your hips as though that would make you look more imposing. It didn't. 

He stood and let out a strained exhale, bare chest heaving up and down as his midriff tensed and relaxed with every breath. He brushed a hand through his dark, sweaty hair and strode over, picking up his water bottle and spritzing himself with water in an effort to cool himself down.

You could have sworn you saw some of the moisture evaporate off his body. It made you gulp.

"Alright," he was panting, eyes dark. "What is it?" his jaw did that thing again and your face grew even redder. You hoped he'd chalk it up to anger.

"You've been acting… strange around me ever since we got here. Most days you don't even look at me. Usually, this wouldn’t bother me, but we’re supposed to be working together here and I can’t help but feel like maybe I did something wrong... Well did I?"

His eyes narrowed, "Did you do something wrong?" he repeated the question with a condescending tone and then laughed darkly. "Oh, I don't know. I'm usually elated whenever the person I'm trying to protect from sudden death flirts with the idea of giving themselves over to the homicidal maniac that's been stalking them across the country!"

You gasped, "You heard me?"

He rolled his eyes at you, "Of course I heard you! The whole house heard you! You live with a family of werewolves that have super hearing!"

You were growing antsy. What gave him the right to be so angry over something that didn't concern him? What gave him the right to eavesdrop on your private conversations with Esme and Maggie?

You were positively fuming now, "Well, since you took it upon yourself to listen in on my private conversation--"

"I wasn't listening in. I have supernatural hearing!"

You held up your hand to hush him, "Let me finish. Since your supernatural hearing picked up on my private conversation, then you obviously heard why I flirted with the idea of giving myself over to that homicidal maniac. He promised to let you live. I thought you were going to die… all of you."

"That doesn't make things better. He could have been lying to you for all you knew!"

"What if he wasn’t?

"He was!"

"What if he wasn't and all this madness would have ended once I gave myself up?"

"I don’t believe that! And neither should you. I can’t believe you were so reckless. Do you have any idea…" He ran a hand over his scruff roughly. “We promised to protect you. How do you think I would have felt if you wound up dead? Or how Scott would have felt? We chose to put our lives on the line. That was our choice.”

"If it comes down to me choosing between myself and everybody else, it’s simple math. It's my life! I never asked you to try and take it upon yourself to save me! I don't need your permission."

"Maybe you don't get a say in the matter!" Derek's eyes turned blue as he took a step closer to you. “Math isn’t all it’s about. It’s not all check and balance. Death isn’t permanent for everyone else who’s left behind. It just becomes an addition to their own equation.”

You were shaking now, voice going hoarse from all the shouting, "What gives you the right to presume to know what is and isn't best for me or what I can and cannot get a say in?" You finger poked at his chest repeatedly.

He wrapped his strong hands around your wrist, but there was no pressure, he simply used his hold over you to pull you closer so you could better hear his whispers, "Absolutely nothing."

Voice feather-light, you whispered back with a searching gaze, "Then why are you so mad with me for trying to do the right thing?"

"Because..." he tried to explain but gave up with a sigh and then dropped his water bottle.

Before you knew it, Derek's arms snaked around your body and his lips crashed onto yours in a heady kiss. His sharp canines grazed over your sensitive tongue and lips in a seductively dangerous manner. The kiss felt dangerous…forbidden. The perfect balance between pain and pleasure.

You gasped in shock when he deepened the kiss, his tongue coaxing yours to become as fervent as his -lapping, suckling and massaging tender flesh in sweet torment. A deep rumble emerged from his chest that caused your locked tongues to vibrate. Instinctively, he pulled you closer until you were pressed flush to his hot body. You moaned on reflex and felt blood rush to your head until your vision started to spin.

When he finally broke away, you stumbled and took a few breaths to try and gather your wits. Derek's wolfishly warm palms were cupping your face, forcing you to stare up into his deep green eyes. "Because you drive me insane." He finally finished.

"Oh..." a frog set itself in your throat and you had to clear it with a few awkward sounds, "I- Uhem! I, uh… didn't know that. I… I-"

You were flustered and in shock, your body burning with a sensual desire you hadn't had a second ago. All you could think about was how good his lips felt on yours. How soft and tender and deep the kiss was. How talented his tongue was.

You had to fan yourself to try and cool your skin. When that wasn't enough, you grabbed Derek's water bottle off the ground and sprayed yourself with the remnants inside.

With a shrill gasp, you turned to Derek, mustering what little dignity and authority you had left and spoke sternly at him, "That still doesn't excuse your behaviour. I'm glad we could resolve this like adults. I'll see you at the house. I have… things to do. Have a good… exercise."

You nodded to yourself and marched away, leaving the sounds of Derek's baffled chuckles behind. Before you reached the house, Jonah had appeared out of some unseen position and stopped you mid-stride. You shrieked from freight and frowned at him when he gave you an apologetic look.

"Jesus, Speedy! Don’t do that… Announce yourself next time or wear a bell," you steadied your breathing. "What is it?"

"Sorry, it's just, Maggie you know, she… uh, sent me with a message and told me to get to you as quickly as possible," Jonah rambled.

You placed a hand on his shoulder to slow him down, "Talk. Slower."

He nodded, a yawn deforming his smile, "She -Ah, good you're here, I don't have to run after you too. And, oh wow, you’re shirtless. I like running around shirtless too. Esme doesn’t like it though. She says I blind her with my pale skin. It’s not my fault that I can’t tan as nicely as the rest of the family," he spoke to someone behind you.

You turned and noticed Derek had run down from the meadow after hearing you scream. The flush from before threatened to return but you chose to focus on Jonah’s message and not Derek's intense stare.

"Right, okay, back to why Maggie sent me out here to look for you guys," Jonah continued. "She thinks she's cracked it."

"Cracked what?" Derek asked as he pulled his shirt over his shoulders.

"You know, the mystery behind the hunters who’ve been killing werewolves all over the place and what it is exactly that they want," Jonah smacked his palm on his forehead. "She thinks she knows what they are too, thanks to that book Caleb sent her –Caleb is her brother in Ireland– Deaton and that clumsy dude… Stiles, they helped her with everything. They spent all night translating this book with a girl called... Lyria? Lyra? I can’t--" he clicked his fingers repeatedly as though that would magically bring the name back to him.

"Lydia," Derek stated.

Jonah clicked his fingers once more before continuing, "Yeah, her! Anyway. Family meeting in five. Chop-chop. Before Maggie sends Esme after me… And I don't want that."

Jonah sprinted for the house and you were left a little winded by everything.

Derek placed his hand on the small of your back to urge you forward and you shuddered beneath his simple touch and he snatched his hand away as if your skin had electrocuted him.

Things just got complicated.

 To be continued...

Next Chapter>>

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#teen wolf #derek hale #derek hale x reader #derek hale imagine #teen wolf imagines #derek x you #derek x reader #I'm juggling too many characters #help #original characters galore #we finally meet the family #and adorable lil Jonah

[nelvana]

In which the territory of others is crossed

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which the dungeon with fossil foes is explored Previous: In which there are dreams and discussions

    The following morning greeted everyone suddenly. Typically, they rested for the nights in forests, or somewhere with cover, and even when they had gone out to Magma Cavern, they had been tired enough to sleep through the early morning. Now though, them being out where it was more open forced the sun to their eyes from the beginning of the sunrise. There were only a couple that slept in very long, but otherwise everyone was up right at dawn. They handled breakfast for the morning, and then began heading out towards Brine Cave.

    While they still lacked a proper map for the Grass Continent, the memory of those who had been here in the dead timeline was enough to server as their directions to the dungeon. The four of them took the lead, including Nelvana, who Alex would talk to enthusiastically about their previous experiences in this location that she could not remember, in hopes of prompting some sort of memory. He wasn’t successful, but she enjoyed the conversation nevertheless.

    “My only worry now is that we don’t have that relic fragment thingy. Do you think the Rainbow Stoneship will be functional?” Ceebee pointed out, interrupting the other two’s conversation.

    “It should be,” Dusknoir spoke up, and then coughed. “The Rainbow Stoneship was only damaged from the meteor, as was the Temporal Tower. We should have complete access to it now.”

    “The Rainbow Stoneship… would that have been our first time actually seeing bright colors?” Nelvana murmured, “it was still rainbow, right?”

    Alex, who previously had turned to Dusknoir with a frown, grinned as he spun back to look at his partner, eyes lighting up.

    “Yes, yes it was!” he answered.

    “I bet that looks really pretty, must have been especially pretty then, for your first time,” Keahi chimed in, stepping closer up front. “Hey, you guys haven’t seen a rainbow out here yet, haven’t you? Hopefully we’ll see one soon, they’re always really nice to see!”

    “Oh, yeah, an actual rainbow would be nice,” Nelvana agreed, “I’m just excited to see the Rainbow Stoneship for now in the meantime. I have an idea of what it looks like, but it will be nice to see it for myself again.”

    “Natural rainbows usually only show up when it’s raining but also sunny,” Damien pointed out, “considering the season, we’re only going to have a few more chances for that.”

    “There are ways to manipulate water to make your own rainbows!” Keahi countered, “we could see about using the waterfall from Whiscash’s pond if we wanted to do that.”

    Damien blinked, glancing upwards as he thought back, but then nodded in agreement to Keahi’s idea.

    “Hey, you know…” he mumbled instead, “for the ‘Grass Continent’, there sure is a lack of grass out here-“

    “Everyone stop!” Tsuki suddenly yelled.

    Freezing in place, the rest of the group stiffened and stopped walking at the command, as Tsuki leapt over to the front of the group. She bent her head down, sniffing the ground and taking careful steps back and forth.

    “This is the territory of absols,” she said, her voice sounding far away as she lifted her head.

    “It is?” Keahi questioned.

    Alex paused to sniff the air, and then nodded, “it is. Good catch there, Tsuki, we wouldn’t want to be trespassing on someone else’s territory… I guess there were absols here before the time collapse.”

    “Wow, more absols? That’ll be cool, right? Tsuki, you said that you haven’t seen any other absols before,” Edgar chimed in, floating ahead to join Tsuki at the front.

    “Are absols typically territorial?” Dusknoir asked, glancing around the area, which had become rockier and slightly more mountainous as they had gotten closer towards Brine Cave.

    Tsuki didn’t answer, only continuing to look out into the distance. After a pause, Damien stepped up instead.

    “I… From what I remember, they can be sometimes, if they have something to protect,” he said.

    Dusknoir glanced back at the gengar, appearing mildly surprised that he was the one that was able to answer, but accepted this and turned back to face ahead.

    “Should we wait for some sort of border patrol then? If this territory is marked, there should be someone to check the borders, right?” Nelvana asked, crouching down to the ground as well. “This doesn’t really smell that recent…”

    Alex sighed, “well, I’d hate to be trespassing, but we can’t wait here all day… who knows when someone will be back here to check the borders. Best to ask forgiveness then permission in this case.”

    Tsuki’s fur bristled, but then she slowly nodded, “that would certainly be impolite, but these are dire circumstances; they should understand.”

    “Could we go around?” Damien offered.

    “We don’t know how far the borders stretch out,” Ceebee pointed out, “we could get sidetracked and end up wasting more time; we’d be better off waiting for some sort of border patrol in that case.”

    “If everyone agrees then, we should keep going,” Nelvana said, “keep your eyes out though, if we see anyone, we should try talking to them.”

    “Like how you called out to Tsuki when we saw her for the first time!” Keahi added.

    With that decided, the group proceeded forward. Tsuki continued to hold the lead of the group even after this; everyone silently agreeing that in the case of running into another absol, that it would be best for her to be seen first for diplomacy. For the first five tense minutes, they still didn’t run into signs of any other pokemon. Then…

    “Stop!”

    Following the booming voice came an absol leaping out from behind the rocks to stand in front of the group. Their fur, while still with a blue hue, was greyer than Tsuki’s. As well, they towered over Team Galaxy’s absol by over a foot, and their build was larger as well. Despite this, Tsuki held her head high and locked eyes with the other absol.

    “I am Daichi of the tall cliffs! Who are you, and why are you here?” the absol questioned.

    “I am Tsuki of the winter night!” Tsuki answered proudly, “and these are my allies, of Team Galaxy and otherwise. We wish to cross these lands to Brine Cave.”

    Daichi narrowed his eyes with suspicion, “why do you wish to enter Brine Cave?”

    “There is a great disaster to soon befall this world! Surely, you have sensed it as well?” Tsuki answered, “we wish to pass through Brine Cave so we may find Dialga and speak to them so that we may prevent this disaster,” she further explained.

    “If I may…” Ceebee fluttered closer to the front of the group. “Please, trust my word with this as well. We need to pass your territory so we can eventually make it to the Temporal Tower.”

    Glancing from the absol to the celebi, Daichi slowly nodded. His steely gaze then moved across the rest of the group, finally landing on Dusknoir for a few moments before he directed his attention back to Tsuki.

    “I have sensed this danger as well, you are correct,” he sighed, “I would like to believe that I can trust you. Myself and my pack guard these lands against anyone who may even try to enter the likes of Brine Cave. I can tell that you are true in your words of your goal, and I wouldn’t wish to turn down a mythical…” He stood straighter, holding his stance firm. “However, I sense disaster amongst your own group. The dusknoir is not allowed to pass. The rest of you… should be fine.”

    Dusknoir stiffened before hastily making his way over to Daichi, who bristled at his approach. Pausing, Dusknoir moved back slightly again to provide some comfort to the two absols before he spoke up.

    “Please, sir, I will admit to being such a danger in the past, but I can assure you that I only mean to help now,” he told him.

    “No,” Daichi insisted without hesitation, “I cannot, in good conscience, simply allow you to pass through here. I cannot trust you like that.”

    “Look, we’ve been keeping him supervised before now, can you trust us to keep doing that and prevent any harm?” Damien offered instead with a sigh.

    “Our mission is too important, his help is required,” Tsuki spoke up again before Daichi could respond to Damien. “If you wish, I will prove it to you in whatever way required. From an absol to an absol, you know that I would never allow someone to cause disasters under my watch.”

    Daichi huffed, “very well. We shall duel to prove ourselves. Come with me.”

    He stepped back a few paces, distancing himself from the rest of the group, and Tsuki followed after a brief moment’s hesitance. The remainder of the group glanced at one another, silently asking each other if they should follow.

    “I remember learning about this, back when I was a trainer,” Damien whispered, “we’ll have to stay back, or else it breaks the… the…” He snapped his fingers, trying to recall the right word. “…the integrity of the duel. It has to just be the two of them; if we step in to help her in any way, it doesn’t count.”

    “The integrity?” Keahi repeated, “so how… does it work?”

    “Not sure the specifics, but I think it’s a way to prove the strength of their goals…?” Damien responded with a shrug. “I only had some books to go off of, so what I know might not be accurate, but I think they’re going to prove whoever’s, uh, intention is stronger.”

    “Do you understand the rules?” Daichi’s strong voice asked, breaking through the quiet air.

    Tsuki bowed her head, “yes, now, thank you.”

    “Aw, we missed what the rules are!” Keahi groaned quietly.

    “Hopefully we’ll pick it up along the way…” Nelvana responded.

    Everyone falling silent, the two absols began to circle around one another. After a couple cycles of the two simply staring each other down as they paced, Tsuki made the first move. Throwing herself at Daichi, their horns locked against together, before with a heavy toss of his head, Daichi easily threw Tsuki away. She rolled on the ground, immediately pushing herself back to her feet to return to the duel.

    “Can she not use moves?” Alex whispered.

    “I never thought about it before, but I don’t think so… I can’t remember ever seeing one where they used actual moves, just their horns,” Damien murmured, “no, wait, they can use moves, I have seen that before. Maybe just not directly…? I remember seeing one use slash, but it was only to cut the grass since the other was hiding in it…”

    “I’ve seen that in other pokemon,” Dusknoir commented quietly, “it relays more to their true strengths to not use moves directly. It would be disrespectful for one of them to use a move in this sort of duel, but they can use it to affect the terrain, as that commends to their intelligence and tactics.”

    “What other pokemon does that, that you would know of?” Alex questioned with a hiss, but Dusknoir did not answer, instead motioning for everyone to quiet down so they could pay attention to the battle.

    Circling each other again, Tsuki’s eyes shot around, studying Daichi and the area around them. She threw herself at him again, their horns clashing against each other. This time she managed to hold her ground longer, but had to tear herself away and step back to avoid being thrown again. It was obvious that she could not win by brute force.

    They continued to pace, before eventually Daichi lunged at Tsuki instead, their horns clashing once more. Tsuki’s claws dug deep into the earth, the two forcing their weight against each other. After a few moments though, Tsuki changed her angle, forcing them to begin moving in a circle again, horns still locked against each other.

    After a few paces, she opened her mouth, puffs of frost floating out before ice was shot out at the ground. She held the attack, continuing to force the two of them to slowly turn in a circle, now with her tracing an outline out of where they had been pacing around each other before. Daichi pushed harder to try and throw Tsuki off, but that only seemed to turn them faster. She was using his strength against him. The more he would attempt to force Tsuki down to the ground, the more she would use that force to push them around, allowing her to continue to freeze their perimeter. Slowly but surely, she was creating a circle of ice around them. Not that it was easy, sometimes Daichi would tug and force Tsuki’s forelegs off the group, but she always managed to twist her way back down to force the both of them to continue turning around in place.

    Just as she barely completed the circle, Tsuki tore herself away from Daichi, scrambling away and across the ring of ice she had created. Throw off by her sudden disappearance, Daichi stumbled under his own weight, but caught himself before he fell over, standing tall again. He glared over at her, him inside the circle of ice and her now outside.

    Daichi growled with frustration, evidently not expecting this duel to last this long. Tsuki panted from her position outside of the ice ring, exhausted from putting so much force into redirecting Daichi’s strength, but she did her best to continue holding herself high. Daichi saw this sign of weakness, however, and seeking to finish this battle soon he dove at her once again.

    As one paw stepped on the ice, however, he slid over, his entire weight crashing onto his chin where he landed, crumpling onto the ring of ice. Tsuki held back a smile of triumph; he was not built for the cold like she was, her paws were larger to handle the ice, and his were better suited for climbing rocky cliffs. Daichi scrambled to pull himself to his feet again, chin bleeding from a cut from the ice, but each time he would attempt to stand, his paws would slip on the ice and send him crashing down again.

    Before he could get the idea to slide off the ice instead, Tsuki made her move. Leaping at him again, she landed safely onto the ice without any trouble and firmly placed her forepaws onto his head. He struggled against her, but his head alone could not free itself under all her strength, and the rest of his body still couldn’t manage to even stand on the ice. His claws scraped the frozen ground in a fruitless attempt to pull himself up, and then he kicked wildly back, but Tsuki had positioned herself where he could not simply reach her like that. Finally, she leaned down and tugged on his fur with her teeth.

    “Yield,” she growled.

    Daichi continued his struggle for a bit longer, but with a long sigh, he relented to her and slumped onto the frozen ground instead, breathing heavily from all his effort.

    “I yield,” he gasped back.

    Accepting her victory, Tsuki stepped off from Daichi, shaking her fur off. He attempted to stand once more without the extra weight, but still slipped over. After a pause, Tsuki padded back up to him, offering her help, which he accepted, and she dragged him off from the ice.

    With the battle clearly over, the rest of the group hurried over to their friend to congratulate her, complimenting her tactics and commending her for the success. Daichi sat down during this, patiently waiting for his opportunity to speak again. Fortunately, the cheerful chatter quickly died back down, and Tsuki turned her attention back to the other absol.

    “I must admit, I underestimated you, Tsuki,” Daichi said, “but you have most certainly proven yourself; you won that battle fairly. Your resolve for your duty here is greater than mine; you may all pass to Brine Cave.”

    Tsuki smiled, “thank you, Daichi.”

    “Excuse me, Daichi, your chin is still bleeding,” Edgar pointed out, “would you like an oran berry for that?” he offered, glancing over from Alex to Damien, the two bag carriers.

    Daichi shook his head, “thank you for the offer, but I will not need it. I will get medical attention from my pack for it later,” he replied, “now, however, I shall escort you all to Brine Cave.”

    “Oh! Thank you!” Keahi hummed, “that would be helpful, thanks! Are you sure you don’t need anything for the cut though…?”

    “I am certain. You should all save your supplies for the journey ahead anyway,” Daichi insisted, “now, come along, and stay close. We would not want to lose anyone along the way.”

    Shaking the dirt from his fur, Daichi stood again and padded off in the direction the group had been heading in before they had run into him. After exchanging some silent glances, the group followed him deeper into the absol territory.

    It was silent for the beginning of the walk, aside from Daichi exchanging some quiet and simple pleasantries and advice with Tsuki for what was to come, most of which she, and the rest of the group, already knew. Eventually though, the terrain grew even rockier, and they soon began spotting dens between the stones, and would glimpse some white pelts darting around behind the rocks. What started as glances though soon became stares, as more absols from the pack were drawn out to stand on the rocks and look over the passing group. None of them moved up or spoke up, likely because Daichi was escorting them, but there were some mixed expressions that could be seen from a lot of them.

    Suddenly though, one of the absols bounded out from behind the rocks to greet the group. This absol stood out right away, their red instead of blue fur and green eyes made sure of it. They boldly padded up to the group, smiling politely at them. Standing next to Daichi, she was at tall as him, though not as broadly built.

    “Hello! I’m Sabi!” she greeted, “er, Sabi of the mountain ores, that is,” she added.

    Tsuki smiled back, “and I am Tsuki of the winter night.”

    “Yes, greetings, Sabi,” Daichi sighed, “this group is here to visit Brine Cave. They’re going to do their best to handle the disaster we’ve all been sensing.”

    “Ohhh, I see,” Sabi replied, nodding. “Did you two duel?” she asked, looking at the cut on Daichi’s chin.

    Daichi nodded, and Sabi grinned and swayed in place, her long fur swishing around her.

    “I wish I could have seen it! Daichi getting beat by this runt- no offense,” Sabi laughed.

    Tsuki sighed, though still smiling, “none taken. I have… noticed that I am smaller than most of you.”

    “Noticed? Couldn’t you tell from… your own pack?” Sabi questioned, her own smile faltering. “Oh. Are you a lone absol?”

    “I was. I do not even remember what pack I would have come from,” Tsuki replied, gaze hardening. “I have my own pack now though, right here,” she continued with pride.

    “Aww… that’s really sweet!” Sabi purred, looking over the rest of the group. “Shame you lost your old pack, but it’s nice to see you found your way.”

    Daichi furrowed his brows, though if he doubted the value behind a non-absol pack, he did not mention it.

    “Hey, actually, are you a shiny absol?” Ceebee commented, fluttering up to Sabi.

    “Yes!” Sabi chirped with a broad grin, “only one in the pack, and proud!”

    “That’s neat, I’m actually a shiny too!” Ceebee replied, “I’ve never gotten to see another shiny before!”

    “You’re a shiny?” Sabi blinked, and then chuckled to herself. “Sorry, I’ve never gotten to see a celebi before! This is really cool! What do other celebi look like?”

    “They’re green instead of pink,” Ceebee answered.

    Daichi cleared his throat, “pardon me, but I sense that this is a time important mission, yes? We should continue heading to Brine Cave.”

    “Right, of course!” Sabi responded, “here, I’ll escort you all too!” she offered, “I’ll provide better company than Daichi here,” she teased.

    “We don’t mind the extra company!” Keahi replied.

    Daichi sighed, shaking his head, “very well, but walk and talk then, Sabi.”

    “Yeah, yeah, I get it, old man!” Sabi barked with another laugh, padding along ahead as if to prove her understanding of Daichi’s instructions.

    “Have either of you two been through Brine Cave before?” Nelvana asked, “any… tips you could maybe give about this dungeon in particular?”

    “I had been getting to that before we were interrupted,” Daichi replied, “Brine Cave is a fifteen-floor descending dungeon with one rest stop after the ninth floor. There are traps, but no monster houses. Common type is water,” he told them, “its final floor is also the home to several fossil pokemon.”

    “Ooh, yeah, them,” Sabi hissed, “we’ve managed to work out a truce with them so we can get through without… too much trouble, but they’re really territorial. Most definitely will attack you all, even if you say we’ll chill with you. They’re the time to attack first and ask questions later.”

    “So, expect a big fight at the end, got it.” Alex nodded. “How many of them are there?”

    “Uhh… it varies depending on when you go in, but usually there’s at least one kabutops and two omastar; they’re the leaders of the gang,” Sabi answered, “expect those three as a minimum and anywhere upwards to… ten? Other pokemon in the pit.”

    “And I expect you would rather stay on good terms with them, so we shouldn’t be too rough?” Dusknoir responded.

    Daichi glanced back at Dusknoir with narrowed eyes, “if you could, please,” he grumbled.

    Dusknoir narrowed his eye back instinctively, but quickly caught himself and did his best to relax again. Fur bristling again slightly, Daichi turned ahead again to watch where he was walking, electing not to respond to Dusknoir again if he didn’t have to.

    Eventually, the sight of other absols disappeared as the rocks grew into mountains spreading out into the distance. The scent that this was their territory still lingered in the air, but they by now had passed the main living area for the pack. It wasn’t long after this that the group stopped at the mouth of a large cave, the path descending into the darkness of the dungeon below.

    “Here we are, Brine Cave,” Daichi announced, glancing back at the group again. “We wish you all the best of luck, I trust your strength and intentions. Know that considering the graveness of this disaster to come…” He shook his head. “…the very fate of the world rests on your shoulders. I wish I could help you more from here, but this pack must continue protecting these lands first and foremost.”

    Tsuki nodded in return, “we understand. Thank you for helping us here.”

    “We’re here if you ever need any other sort of help!” Sabi added, “well, we still don’t travel too much, but we’re still good for advice and directions, and any local-er disaster prevention!”

    “We’ll keep you all in mind. I’m sure we’ll want to come back to this continent again some other time in the future,” Ceebee replied.

    “Thanks again for the help!” Keahi chimed in.

    “May Arceus watch over you all,” Daichi hummed.

    Giving their final farewells to the two absols, the group entered their single file line, entering Brine Cave together.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which the dungeon with fossil foes is explored Previous: In which there are dreams and discussions

#galaxies above #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #pmd #writing #my writing #fanfiction #drawing #art #my art #digital art #team galaxy #nelvana #cubone #keahi #torchic #alex #grovyle #tsuki #absol #daichi #sabi #ceebee #celebi #edgar #duskull #damien #gengar #dusknoir #it was pure coincidence that all the named absols ended up with names ending with the letter i sdkgowkmwrhhj

[ours-is-the-fury]

By The Moons I Honour Thee

Contains: SWEARING, VIOLENCE, POSSIBLE NSFW THEMES

CHAPTER 1...

The colours of Faster-Than-Light gave Jules a headache.

Slipstream engines were the fastest form of FTL but it came at the cost of comfort; the ride was bumpy and the slipstream tunnel wasn’t entirely stable, but the speed more than made up for it. The headache wasn’t a priority right now, however. The Dalek Saucer in pursuit was a far more pressing issue.

              “Computer, how far behind is the hostile?” Jules asked hurriedly, his fingers dancing over a keyboard.

“Four kilometres and closing,” the cool robotic voice replied. “They still have a weapon lock despite your efforts.” The usually emotionless electronic speech contained an almost undetectable tone of condescension. Jules raised an eyebrow but ignored it. Now was not the time to get into a shouting match with the computer. He spun the chair to look backwards and a holographic screen showing the rear of the ship flickered into life. The Dalek Saucer was gaining slowly - a blue laser bolt flew past the ship. The lock was not perfect, it seemed. Spinning back forward, Jules threw the ship into a pattern of evasive manoeuvres to shift the Dalek lock.

              “Tell me you fixed the cloak!” Jules yelled at the hatch down to the cargo hold.

“It’ssss taking sssome time,” hissed the response. The female Ice Warrior was no engineer. “Illegal cloaking devicessss don’t come with manualssss!” The ship violently lurched as a laser bolt sheared through the starboard wing.

              “Warning. Hull damage sus-” The voice was cut off buy the blaring sound of a Dalek.

“FLEEING VESSEL. CEASE FLIGHT AND PREPAIR TO BE EXTERMINATED!”  

              “Piss off, tin can.” Jules retorted to himself, barrel-rolling the ship and dodging more bolts. “Rakara, tell me the time circuits work.”

              “Currently, yessss,” she responded, confused. “Whhhy?”

Jules avoided the question, “Ready a Z-Neutrino torpedo.”

              The Chula warship the Selene dropped out of slipstream just ahead of the Dalek saucer and disappeared. Two seconds later, the Dalek vessel exploded and the Selene flew out from the wreckage.

*****

                Leaving the remains of the Dalek ship far behind, Jules punched in the coordinates for the planet Balthazar and engaged the slipstream engines. Getting up from the command chair, he climbed down to the cargo bay to where Rakara was waiting, her arms folded.

              “A time Jump?” She hissed menacingly, “The Churshhhh will impound the Ssssselene this time.”

“The Church won’t find out; their temporal department is too busy hunting for a blue box to worry about a small retrograde hop.” Jules was trying to convince himself more than her. He was worried they’d take away the Selene and leave him stranded on some backwater world. He ran a hand through his scruffy black hair, exposing his left eye…or what was left of it. The cyber implant had not been some off-the-books black market upgrade, but a full-on conversion, or what was supposed to have been. The process had been interrupted by Rakara – a debt he would never be able to fully repay. Rakara’s crimson eyes looked him up and down.

              “You need a sssshower,” she finally said after a few moments pause. “You ssssmell of sssweat and adrenaline.”

              Jules nodded in agreement, “You have control,” he said softly and walked to the shower room.

 *****

 The Selene emerged from Slipstream on the edge of Balthazar’s orbit. The planet was a city world, with population figures numbering in the hundreds of billions. Jules piloted the ship along an approach corridor and set her down on a floating landing pad hovering between skyscrapers. The cargo ramp opened and Jules strolled out into the driving rain; the planet had global storm systems caused by the ionisation of the atmosphere. Too many star ships, Jules thought to himself as he walked toward the public transmat booth. The booth looked like a glass telephone box with a number pad fixed to one side where the transmat location was dialled in. With a zapping sound, Jules was rematerialized on the pavement outside an unassuming three-story building in the undercity. The door slid open with a click and he continued inside. The corridor was a pale sickly green colour, made worse by the dim lighting. Jules made for the only door at the far end, however before he got there, the door opened and a man stepped through…no, not a man, a flesh avatar.

“Halt!” the Flesh announced. “Identify yourself.”

“Jules Flynn, contract bounty hunter for the Church.” Jules replied with a bored expression. This routine was getting old now. The church had become so paranoid since word of the Doctor reached them; Jules wasn’t interested in galactic politics. For the most part he just liked getting paid.

“You may proceed,” the flat voice informed him. Jules pushed past the flesh guard and into the office of Adrian Ziegler.

“Sit down Jules.” Adrian didn’t look up from his holopaper, but Jules did as commanded. “Word has reached me of a destroyed Dalek ship in sector B37, was this you?”

“I’m not sure what-” Jules was cut off.

“The destruction was caused by a Z-Neutrino device, something which is illegal in most galaxies. So, I ask again: did you have anything to do with it?” Adrian’s voice was calm and slow, his steel grey eyes studying Jules over the paper.

“You’re more worried about a Z-Neutrino device than my time hop?” Jules asked, perplexed.

“In all honesty Jules, I’m not worried about either. Top brass is. However, you report to me and I need you.” Adrian clicked his fingers and the holopaper fizzled out of existence. With a tap on the keyboard another hologram appeared; this one took the image of a jet-black crystal, shaped like a cut diamond. “This,” he gestured, “is the Vortex Core.”

Jules raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

A harsh look. “The Vortex Core is possibly the most powerful artefact ever discovered. The Core can wire itself into any navigational system and gives it the positional data of every ship in the galaxy.”

Jules blinked. “How the hell would it know that?”

“We don’t know - no one does. But it’s true and it’s missing. Top brass doesn’t want people knowing about this as we don’t exactly need a mass panic on our hands, but if we don’t get to the device…we can’t imagine the damage the Daleks, Cybermen or Sontarans could do with that data.” Adrian stood up. “You’re the best tracker we have in our employ, we need you to locate the object for us. Its last known location was in the Delirium Cathedral; the headless monks had it in their possession.”

Jules just sat there, slightly stunned. Cloaking and time travel were one thing, but to know the position of every ship in the galaxy…to have that power… “I’ll find the device. But to destroy it. No-one should have that power.” He shifted to stand and froze, hearing the cocking of a gun behind him. “This is about that Doctor isn’t it? You want to know where he is. You may be a galactic peacekeeping force but you don’t have the right to people’s locations, and you don’t have the right to kill whoever you want.”

“The Doctor is a threat to the Church and the galaxy; he must be stopped!” Adrian spat, “We received a message from the future - he will destroy all of us. This galaxy, this universe. A war without end. With the Core we will know his location and we can end his reign of terror.”

Jules dared to stand, feeling the gun barrel in his back. “I will not give you the device. Find him yourself if you have this much courage in your convictions, but I grew up on the stories of a man, a wanderer, who helped people, who saved people. Now if he is this Doctor then by the moons, I will not help you.” His breathing quickened, anticipating a fight. He fidgeted with the ring on his left little finger.

Muscles flexed in the other man’s jaw. “Then it seems you have outlived your-” before Adrian could finish, Jules twisted the ring and the room froze. The desk fan in the back corner ceased spinning; Adrian stopped talking. Jules looked around. The micro Time-Stop would only last a few minutes, enough time to vacate the building and gain a small head start on the Church…

#doctor who #oc #own character #ice warriors #sontarans #cybermen #daleks #sycorax #the church #the silence #52nd century #chula warship #scifiandfantasy #scifi writing

[damn-stark]

Rewrite the stars - Ben solo imagine pt.3/4

Ben solo x reader

A/N- hope you guys liked it :) next part will be the final one.

Warning- violence and language

Rewrite the stars master list

—

“Look at stars guys they’re shining bright they’re on our side we’re going to make it out!” Daten said with hope in his voice. You smiled but didn’t look out the window of your ship. You never could look at the stars the same way since you left the burning temple without Ben. Since you made him believe you had died everything changed.

Your nerves were set on high, you had all been in a dangerous mission before but this one was different. You were going to go into the first order base and steal important information. And well....he was going to be there.

“You okay?” Daten asked as he noticed your very nervous state. You looked up at him and nodded with a feigned smile to accompany it. “We’re going to make it out y/n...and after maybe you and me can go you know have some fun together.” He said with a taunting grin. Your smile was now a real one as you heard what he said, you threw him a piece of paper that was resting on the table. The paper hit his shoulder and faked to be hurt by the throw. The two of you laughed right after. That’s what you feared losing, all of them, these moments. But it’s like Daten was saying, you were going to make it out.

The rest of the way to the first order base was just talk of plans on what you had to do when you got there. By every moment you got closer to your destantion it felt like your heart was going to jump out of your chest. T-29 came to you and handed you, your lightsaber that he had hidden. You looked at it and were hesitant to take it. You barely used the thing after you left the temple. You were too afraid someone would find out of your identity and then reveal it to the wrong people. “Thanks T.” You said as you took it, you had to keep it hidden so no one in the base would find out that you weren’t really first order workers.

“About to enter the planet please everyone sit down.... that means you Daten unless you want another scar on your forehead.” Enzo said making the rest of you except for Daten laugh.

You began to fly low as you entered the planet so scanners wouldn’t see your ship enter. As you entered the planet though you felt Bens presence, but he couldn’t feel yours. You landed far off from the base itself, it was cold and wet on the planet, covered in untouched fallen snow the sky looked grey as if it was about to rain. “Well I did not think we were going to make it in this damned planet without any trouble.” R1Z confessed as she finally made her way out of the ship.

“Very hopeful aren’t we R1Z.” Bellamy commented making Daten snicker in the background.

“I’m trying.” R1Z said. You nodded your head with half a smile on your face.

“Let’s try and make it inside before we all freeze out here.” You said as you signaled them to start moving.

“T-29 and I wouldn’t freeze to death out here.” You heard R1Z argue as she followed behind the group.

The way into the base was easy, most stormtroopers were inside and or in the front side of the base itself. Even still you moved carefully in case of any wondering troopers. As you moved your mind kept wondering to memories you’ve tried to keep hidden in the deep parts of your mind.

“I love you y/n.” He muttered queitly scared of how you would respond. He had said the words first and that revealed nothing but how he felt towards you. The attachment he had for you.

“I love you too Ben.”

You felt your back hit the wall as you were pulled back into a corner. “Troopers coming this way, watch out.” Enzo warned.

“We need their uniforms.” You whispered. You looked quickly in between the troopers and your crew, trying to find a quick solution. You looked over your shoulder again and back to Enzo, you pointed your head to the troopers as they turned their backs to you. Enzo nodded understanding what he needed to do. The both of you ran behind the stormtroopers and wrapped their arms around their neck, quickly knocking them out. You took off their uniforms and handed one to Bellamy while Enzo wore the other one.

You kept moving inbetween the shadows making yourself hidden so Daten and you wouldn’t get discovered. As you kept moving you found more stormtroopers and stole their uniforms for temporal use. Running into trouble was unavoidable but luckily the uniforms tricked those complications. The old empire files were kept inside the base, heavily guarded. But you found your way up onto vents and just outside the room you needed to be in.

Memories still invaded your mind. Memories of Ben. It was now where you wished you would’ve gone away with him like you wanted. You would’ve avoided all this, him becoming who he is now. Kylo Ren. A fearless first order leader. A monster. Jedi killer..... but even with all his names and things he’s done you still hold hope for him. Hope that he’ll turn back to the light side, part of you will still want to run away with him.

“Y/N are you ready?” You hear Bellamy ask from beside you. You blink repeadtly lost on what exactly you were ready for. “Come on I know this is a hard place to be in but we’re almost done just need to get in the main room and get the file and then we can leave. Focus okay?” You nodded in a agreement and she then explained in a shorter version what you needed to do.

Your crew knew a short version of what you had been through before you met them. They knew partially of Ben and the temple and your life as a Padawan. It was to hard to tell them a lot so you kept the story short. Only person who actually knew was Enzo. He was the one who really understood why being here was difficult.

As you made your way into the file room you saw it, it was huge. The files were kept behind this glass room that outstretched upwards for what seemed miles. Computers were in the room you were in, no one seemed to be in here then again their was no reason for anyone to be in here unless it was needed. Which worked out for you.

“Almost done okay? And if all goes right we can avoid your long lost dark prince lover.” Enzo said and you narrowed your look at him and playfully punched his shoulder at the use of the nickname.

“This is going way to easy.” You heard R1Z say from the earpiece you had placed in your ear.

“Well we still need to get on the computers that’s going to be hard.. but luckily I’m here to save all your asses.” Daten said making Enzo scoff.

“Just get to it genius.” Enzo said as he nervously kept tapping his foot on the floor. You huddled around Daten as he worked on getting the computers unlocked. Perhaps R1Z was right this mission was going way to easily. But you also didn’t want trouble.

The minutes passed with a quiet tension, all of us to worried on wether Datens hacking skills were going to work. You kept looking over your shoulder to see any sign of the door opening, R1Z and T-29 were waiting outside but you still felt uneasy.

“I got it!” Daten shouted. Enzo was quick to shush him. A nervous smile spread on your lips but you still waited on the file. You looked over at the room where it was placed and saw a metal arm move to a blinking disk. As it was about to grab it the whole room began to flash a bright red light, with beeping sounding seconds after.

“Daten what the hell is going?!” Bellamy shouted. Daten looked down at the computer which was now completely invaded by a black screen. You looked over at the glass and saw that a metal door began to close on it.

“They found out! We need to leave before the door closes leaving us in a complete shut down.” Daten said in a panicked way. You didn’t overthink the decision you were about to make, you got to close to leave the file now.

You got out your blaster and shot the glass but it seemed to be blast proof. “No y/n what are you doing?! Let’s leave now!” Enzo said as he came to reach for your arm to pull you with him. You pulled away and reached to grab your lightsaber

“Go now! I’m getting this file....I’ll meet you guys later.” You told them. Daten began to shake his head and was coming towards you to take you by force but you outstretched your hand and used the force to push them out of the room. You closed and looked the door. Daten began shouting at you behind the door telling you to open the door. “Enzo just go please if you stay out there any longer we will get caught.” You said through the earpiece.

“Y/N open this stupid door before I open it myself.” Daten said anger clearly in his voice. You closed your eyes briefly to think of what to say, you knew Enzo wasn’t going to question your decision but right now you knew he was willing to risk his life to see you out alive, and daten was only making him overthink the decision. “Enzo please leave I’m going to make it out.” The other end was quiet for a while getting you more worried then you already were.

“I’ll see you later then.” Enzo said.. you exhaled deeply and then began to cut the window with your lightsaber.

You barely got to cut the glass before the metal covered the exterior making the file room go competely dark except for the blinking red light. You jumped onto machine which contained the files. You climbed over to where the metal arm was still at. You hit the disk to see if something would come out but nothing came out. You pounded and pounded on the disk but still nothing. The commotion coming from below made you quickly swing your head down to see generals and stormtroopers. “Think of something fast y/n.” You whispered to yourself. Without T-29 by your side with the right gadgets you wouldn’t be able to get the disk.

A blast from below hit the disks beside you causing you to lose grip from one hand, you hung from the side as your legs dangled. You began to look around and had the bright idea to pull the metal arm to open the disk. The blasting began to be more frequent and you saw stormtroopers began to climb towards you. You hurried your movements until you got the file in your hand. “Yes!” You placed the file in your pocket and began to climb up.

Stormtroopers were fast on your trail as you made it to the top. But your hands were finally free and you used your blasters to shoot them and then make your way back to the ship or any ship to make your way back to the resistance base.

Making your way to the ship was harder but when you finally made it outside and to the ship you saw it was the same way it was when you got here. You ran to get inside and saw that no one was inside. Your worry once again invaded your thoughts. You wanted to make your way inside to help your crew but you knew that they would want you to get this file to the resistance.

In a hurry you went to the computer that Daten had for occasions like these. “Come in resistance base! This is Y/N L/N! I’ve got the map! Sending the file now!” You said through the radio. The itch to leave the ship and help your friends was beginning to overcome you. But you needed for this file to reach the base.

“Y/N this is general Organa we got your file....thank you...and may the force be with you all.” General Organa said. You swallowed thickly and made your way back into the first order base.

You made your way inside and made sure to remain hidden so the rescue would be easier. As you were ontop of some vents that opened to down below you overheard a stormtrooper talking below. “We caught three rebeles and two droids we only need the other one she’s still inside find her!”

“No no no.” You kicked the vent and landed on the stormtrooper. “Tell me where the prisoners are now!” You ignited your lightsaber and put it up it’s neck. “Before I cut your head off straight off your shoulders.”

“Captain Phasma has the prisoners she’s going to excute them in the main room...please please don’t kill me.” even with the stormtroopers voice disguised behind the helmet you could still hear the fear behind it.

“I’m sorry.” You said before you pushed the lightsaber forward causing the stormtrooper to drop on the floor. You began to sprint to find your friends, every muscle in your body was beginning to hurt and your lungs felt like they were yelling at you to stop but your friends needed you. You turned a corner and bumped into a squadron of stormtroopers. You wanted to turn back but they grabbed you harshly and cuffed your hands and legs. You would’ve used the force to take them out but this was an excuse so they would take you to the rest of your squad.

Even in your worried state their was still a small part of you worried of who you might see in any moment. Your identity was still hidden behind the helmet but that wouldn’t matter because he would still see your face... and you weren’t ready to deal with that now.

“You must be their leader.. if you weren’t then you wouldn’t risk your life to come back for their useless lives.” A metal stormtrooper said as she harshly pulled off your helmet. “Now you will watch me kill your crew here before I kill you.” She said as she kicked you to get you to hit the floor. A groan left your lips as she kicked you again. “Place them in front of her so she can see what her little mission caused.” She said.

You looked over and saw your whole crew being placed in front of you. They were covered in sweat and their faces had fresh cuts and bruises. “No! Leave them alone! It was just me! Just kill me please!” You pleaded but the metal troopers only laughed. “No no no!” You shouted as your eyes began to sting with tears that threatened to fall.

Your eyes looked at all of your crew members that were now your family. This was your fault. And you couldn’t let them die. You couldn’t lose them too.

You closed your eyes and focused on everyone around you. You pulled your cuffs apart and freed your arms. You then used the force to push all the stormtroopers to the side and then up so now they were floating in midair. As you were about to break their necks you felt a sharp on your side. You fell to the ground and all the troopers fell. The metal trooper was quick to grab your arms and pull your head up. “You will see all your friends die now.” She hissed. You tried to push her away but the new wound on your side made every movement hurt.

Tears flowed down your cheeks now. You saw Enzo, Daten, and Bellamy in front of you. R1Z and T-29 were nowhere to be seen but you knew they were probably going to be taken to be taken apart. “Please...please I can’t lose them too.” You whispered as you let your head fall. Daten tried to fight his way out but the stormtroopers kicked him down.

The metal trooper pulled your hair to move your head up. “You will see every moment.” She spat. “Ready! Aim!”

“It was a hell of ride partner.” Enzo said making your lip quiver. Every memory of him and you rushed to your mind making your last interaction more difficult.

“Please...” you pleaded again. “I love you guys.” You told them. The three of them smiled a sad smile all with tears of their own.

“I love you y/n” daten confessed. “I always have.” A sad smile spread on your sad features.

“Thank you for everything y/n...you guys were the best crew.” Bellamy said.

“Shoot!” The sounds of shots being fired made you jump and the sound of your crew dropping to the ground made you cry out. The metal trooper pulled you up. “You got lucky with the stunt you pulled Supreme leader Snoke will want you alive.” She said as she began to drag you away. “Take her into a integration room Ren will want to question her first.”

.

.

.

.

#fanficiton #star wars #starwars #star wars imagine #star wars fanfiction #starwarsimagines #starwarsimagine #starwarsfanfiction #kylo ren #ben solo #ben solo fanficiton #ben solo imagine #ben solo imagines #supreme leader snoke #phasma #general organa

[ceruleanmusings]

When the Clock Stops

Fandom: Flash/Arrow Pairing: Oliver Queen x Sage Moreaux (OC) Words: 1583 Note: Can be found on AO3 Summary: When the Crisis looms and difficult choices must be made, wedding vows are put on the line as they face down the swift moving hands of time. Warning: This ficlet has spoilers for Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 1. If you have not seen it yet, you will be spoiled. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

———-

Her finger pulsed on the trigger, sending arrow after arrow flying off her crossbow. Her heart jumped in her chest as she shuffled backwards, keeping close to her husband and her daughter. She cracked a grin, at the idea and at taking down a shadow demon. Fighting with her husband and daughter from the future? If she weren’t so used to this life, she’d wonder what Barry did to mess things up this time. Only he had no hand in bringing Izzy to her. That was luck she supposed. And she’d cherish this moment, seeing her daughter fighting with reckless abandon, saving the Earth, following in Oliver’s footsteps.

Sage returned her focus to the battle around her, ducking and dodging to hit every and any member of the Anti-Monitor’s shadow army. Ray’s blaster beams sliced through the air, dancing with Kara’s and Clark’s beams shooting from their eyes. The rest of them stayed on the ground—Barry, Oliver, Izzy, Kate—circling and keeping the enemy away one by one. Bursting into clouds of smoke and matter with every strike.

A flash of red. Barry punching out a demon.

Blue beams. Kara and Clark twisting around, taking down demons diving from above.

A smear of green. Oliver—no—Izzy flipping through a well-aimed kick, curly hair flying.

Sage’s heart swelled with pride at the direct hit.

Izzy would be okay.

They’d all be okay.

Blue flashing and twisting within a cloud appeared to Sage’s left and she cursed beneath her breath at the sight of the Monitor. No! Not now! This can’t be it!

“The battle is lost,” the Monitor announced, stepping out of the temporal gateway. “We must retreat and save our resources for battles yet to come.”

Sage glanced at Oliver, at her husband, out the corner of her eye. He barely reacted to the Monitor’s statement, still drawing back his bow, still fighting. But she spotted it in his eye, through the grease smeared around the skin, through the mask. A fleeting sort of hesitancy that made her, for one second, rethink everything. But then the fire reignited and he kept going, his movements so fluid and graceful that for a brief moment she stared, took in the beautiful sight of him. She steadied her jaw. That’s that, then.

Her finger pulsed on the trigger.

Puffs of blue clouded smoke enveloped them one by one. Kate. Ray. Kara. Clark.

Izzy! She turned a halfstep, a shout dancing on the tip of her tongue, to warn, but it died away when she was enveloped too. Doubts careened around her. She stood and watched as her daughter, her baby, disappeared before her eyes.

Was this still right? Was she doing the right thing? There was still a chance, to spend time with her, to be there for her little girl. One unplanned but never unwanted.

“Oliver!”

Barry’s shout made her whip around, a searing pain lodging in her chest at the sight of Oliver being knocked over.

She gripped her crossbow. No. She need to be here.

Her eyes locked with the Monitor’s and he lifted his hand. “No!” she snarled with such a ferocity that it rumbled in her chest. He paused and she shook her head. The Monitor’s head inclined, a single nod. Confirmation.

She nodded back.

“Oliver,” the Monitor called out, shifting his attention. Sage did the same, lifting her crossbow and firing more arrows. They whizzed through the sky, hitting each mark. Bursting every target. “It is time.”

“Has the planet been evacuated yet?” Oliver demanded, his gruff words sending a shiver down her spine.

“Not entirely,” the Monitor replied.

“Then it’s not time!” Oliver

Oliver looked at Sage. It crept all the way down to her toes, unsteadying her for a second in only the way that Oliver could manage to make her waver. She closed her eyes, engraving that look in her mind, in her heart.

“Sage—”

“Ollie,” she interrupted him, eyelids flying open, eyes hardening.

“Go.”

“No.”

“Sage, don’t—”

Sage grasped at the insignia on her midnight blue suit, twisted it to the left. It cranked and clicked until she stopped and then slapped it, pushing it a few inches inwards. Blue beams shot off from the insignia and traveled down the inner arms of her suit, crawling up to her palms. Energy surged through her and she dropped the crossbow, holding up her hands, thrusting them outwards as she concentrated.

A thin, blue dome popped up around them. The shadow demons all halted, stopped in midair, frozen. Pain rolled in waves in Sage’s head. Tears formed on the bottom lids of her eyes and a warm, wet trail slid down from her left nostril. It slipped over her lips and she stuck out her tongue, taking in the familiar metallic taste of blood. Oliver whipped around, looking this way and that as she gritted her teeth, straining.

“Wha…?”

“Froze time,” she uttered.

“You can—?”

“I can now,” she said. Her legs began to tremble. “It’s new. I don’t use it much.” She sucked in a hissing breath through her teeth as he approached. “Don’t have much time. Just needed…to say something.”

She focused on Oliver’s echoing footsteps rather than the flames licking at her muscles, coursing beneath her skin, and cracking her skull. Her breaths came out in ragged, hissing bursts but she kept her eyes on him. On Oliver. And she leaned into his comforting touch when his gloved hand cupped her cheek and his forehead pressed against hers.

“I’m…I’m s-so…proud of you,” she uttered, doing her best to keep her strength. In her words. In her body. In her resolve. “Oliver Queen, I’m so proud of you. And—and I love you. You gave me a b-beautiful daughter…and a beautiful life. And I th-thank you.”

“I love you,” Oliver said. He pressed a kiss to her lips, the blood clinging when he pulled away. He didn’t move to wipe it away. “You need to go.” His breath ghosted across her lips. She took in his scent, cologne mixed in with leather and mint. So uniquely Oliver.

Sage shook her head. ‘’Til death do us part, remember?” His eyes darkened and his jaw set. A little muscle twitched near the back, below his ear. His lips pressed into a line and, oh, how she wanted to kiss those lips again. One last time.

But she couldn’t move.

Not yet.

The field would break and then… It wasn’t time.

They needed to be ready.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“I can’t ask you—”

“You didn’t. And you won’t. This…this is what has to happen. I’m fine with it. This is what I want. You’re what I want.”

Oliver’s hand curled on his bow. He nodded, his nose nuzzling against hers. A low hum sounded in the back of her throat at their touch. She nodded. With a groan, she dropped her arms. The dome around them broke, shattering into small glittering pieces that rained down on the rooftop beneath them. Sound hit them all at once. The screeching of the shadow demons vibrated her bones and turned her stomach but her resolve steeled.

Staggering back to her feet, she pushed her hair back out of her face as Oliver lifted a bow and in one, fluid, sure gesture, shot it at the Monitor. Sage turned her back on him as he fell to the ground, electricity coursing over his body.

Lifting her stinging arms, Sage readied her crossbow, recalled all the marksman training her uncle Joe, and her father, and Oliver had put her through, and fought.

And fought

And fought. She rolled and dodged away from swooping shadow demons, landing swift kicks and punches to those that got close enough. A few exploded with the force of her swinging her crossbow around, catching them in the sides.

An explosion knocked her off her feet. A loud ringing screamed in her ears, her vision tilted, and her breath stuttered as she rolled around, trying to get back to her feet. Trying to fight. Soot and dirt coated the inside of her mouth, sucking the moisture out. Her coughs, ragged and hacking, seized her body and famed the flickering flames of ache.

Sage got to her feet, unsteady. Her eyes darted around until she spotted Oliver on the ground. “Ollie!” She clumsily skirted the debris and slabs of concrete on the roof top and dropped to his side. He swung his legs around, lifting into a kneeling position as he reached back for an arrow.

He grabbed air.

She held her gloved hand out to him and he grasped it, allowing her to help him to his feet. Their grip tightened as they looked in one another’s eyes, their breaths steadying. She squeezed hard and slipped her hand out of his grasp, turning to face the shadow army head on. Flashes of her family flittered through her mind: Uncle Joe, Iris, Wally, Barry, Nora, Caitlin, Cisco, Ralph, Cecile, her daughter Izzy.

Oliver.

“By the way.” Sage dragged the back of her hand against her mouth and turned a half-smile over to Oliver, coupled with a wink. “Happy anniversary.”

He blinked, uttered a short laugh, and shook his head. All at once the mirth in their faces drained and were replaced with stony acceptance. Oliver threw away his bow. Sage tossed down her crossbow and yanked ring daggers out the patches on her thighs. They tensed and, with simultaneous battle cries, they charged, united.

#the flash #arrow #crisis on infinite earths spoilers #oliver queen #sage moreaux #arreaux #arrow ficlet #flash ficlet #my writings #the flash oc #arrow oc #technically

[and-imagines]

Dallas Winston x reader part one

Found you when your heart was broke I filled your cup until it overflowed Took it so far to keep you close (Keep you close) I was afraid to leave you on your own I’ve known Dallas Winston since his days in New York. I found him when he was going through a rough patch in his life. I made it my goal to not let him out of my sight just to make sure he was okay and wouldn’t do anything stupid... alone. I did everything to make sure he was going to alright. I even went so far to moving to Tulsa with him. I said I'd catch you if you fall And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (All) And then I got you off your knees Put you right back on your feet Just so you can take advantage of me We promised each other that we’d always have each other’s backs. We even started a real relationship together. When we told everybody we were leaving they laughed and said we wouldn’t last. I remembered as we drove away from the crappy old apartment building I gave them all the bird. It’s just me and Dal. I smiled to myself thinking that I had been the one who got him here. I picked him up and got him back on his feet. Sure we had our low points. We were both very hot headed and when we argue sometimes things are said that we didn’t mean. Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there Feeling so high but too far away to hold me You know I'm the one who put you up there Name in the sky Does it ever get lonely? Thinking you could live without me Thinking you could live without me Baby, I'm the one who put you up there I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why) Thinking you could live without me Live without me Baby, I'm the one who put you up there I don't know why (I don't know why, yeah yeah) When we got to Tulsa I called up an old buddy of mine, Buck. He said he had a room me and Dally could stay in. We moved in and were set. I introduced him to a few people as I met them. He really hit it off with them. Eventually it got to where he didn’t even need me to go out and party every night. He’s really up on his high horse now. I bet he doesn’t even realize I’m the one who got him there and that I’m still here. I’ve never left him. I usually kept to myself when we hung out with our group of friends. It consisted of a handful of different greaser boys. All who were loyal to one another. A true family. You don't have to say just what you did I already know (I know) I had to go and find out from them So tell me how's it feel (oh-woah) One night I walked home to Bucks place. Dally was supposed to pick me up from Soda’s place but he never came. Darry offered me a ride but I refused. It was raining and I honey needed time to think. I think the best when it’s raining. Everyone seemed to know something I didn’t tonight and it was odd. I decided I’d ask Dal about it when I got there. When I arises the party was in full swing so I figured Dal would be getting himself a drink. But when I got there I only saw buck. “Hey man do you know where Dally is?” I asked. His face fell a little. “I think he went up to his room. But you don’t want to go up there. I think he had a girl with him. She lead him right up there like it wasn’t her first time. I’m sorry Y/n I tried to talk him out of it, I was going to tell him to think about what it’d do to you but she was too drunk wouldn’t let me near him. I’m so sorry.” Buck said. I ignored his warning. It was mine and Dally’s 3 year anniversary, now it’d be our last. I stormed in to see him and Sylvia making out on our bed. He always tried to flirt with her when got drunk. I walked over to the closet and grabbed a duffle bag. I began to pack my stuff. Dal was over by me in less than a second. “Doll, let me explain.” He pleaded. “You don’t need to. Buck told me he saw you two come up here together.” I said tears forming in my eyes. He continued to plead with me as I threw my stuff into a bag. The skank sat there watching like an idiot. When I was finished I took an envelope out of my back pocket and handed it to Dallas. “Happy anniversary.” I said grimly before walking out leaving him dumbfounded. I slowly walked back to Soda’s place with his brothers. I knew I shouldn’t be out like this in the rain but I couldn’t care right now. I got to there and knocked on the door. Darry answered it. “I’m guessing he didn’t take the news very well?” He asked with sympathy. “I didn’t get a chance to tell him. He was making out with some girl when I got there.” I said as I made my way over to the couch. “Well you can stay here as long as you need to and we will try to help you, both of you, however we can.” Darry said before walking off temporally. When he came back Pony was following him in his pjs with a pillow and blanket in hand. “Go take pony’s bed, he’s sleeping out here for the night.” Darry said. Usually I’d argue but I was too tired to. I changed in the bathroom then went into the room Soda and Pony shared. I climbed into Pony’s bed and covered up. “You know if you’re trying to hide from him, he’ll find you tomorrow if you’re here.” Soda said. I rolled over to face him. “Yeah, but I ain’t leaving. If he wants to trade me in for a slut so be it. He’s just going to have to watch me have this baby without him. He won’t get to see it once it’s born either. He’s a two timing pig and I don’t have time for that. I need family and that’s what I got here and I ain’t leaving it.”

#Dallas Winston #Dallas winston x reader #the outsiders

[spookyscullies]

how to begin an ending

rating: NC-17 (for language)

plot: Mulder is trapped in a downward spiral of grief after Scully is shot in her apartment instead of Melissa.

tagging: @today-in-fic

Stacks upon stacks of files. Everywhere. Covering the floors, lining the walls, upon every surface in apartment number 42. Files interspersed between piles of dirty dishes. Some hadn't been touched in ages, with dust that created a film on them. Others had been left open, papers spilling out. The rooms were left dark, always. Never a light turned on. It was a hopeless place, and just like it was devoid of any light, it was also devoid of any real life.

The lock clicked and the door pushed open. He stumbled in the doorway and slammed the door behind him. He slumped against it, falling slowly to the floor as his back pressed against the door for some stability. He buried his face in his hands, his head pounding in excruciating pain. It always felt like this. Even without the hangovers. Sure, he went out every few days to get hammered, but the headaches were a preexisting condition. It was a wonder his still had his job, although he was damn near close to getting fired. Skinner wouldn't fire him, though. Mulder knew he just felt sorry for him. One sorry son of a bitch. That's what Scully's brother had said to him that day.

Characteristically, that day had been dark. He had found it hilariously fitting. Of course it was stormy. Of course it was raining. Of course the sky was overcast and angry. It was only suitable, and it only made sense. It was a grim day, overflowing with sorrow and despair. A lot of hatred for himself and a lot of hatred towards him from others. How could he be forgiven? He was to blame. It was his fault she was dead.

Mulder eased himself up from his position and walked over files to reach his couch. His coffee table was littered with the current leads he was following. All of them were dead ends, and he knew it. There was nothing that could be traced to anyone. They covered it up too well. They took what was most precious to him. They did it again. His eyes wearily glossed over the M.E. report. Single gunshot to the temporal fossa. Cause of death: fatal injury to the brain and blood loss. Absolutely nothing left at the scene. No finger prints. The bullet had proved to be untraceable. No sign of a break in. The perfect set up for a case to go cold. He squeezed his eye shut tightly.

It had been the first place he'd gone to after returning from New Mexico, Scully's apartment. He had to get back home eventually, but he'd wanted to see her first. Upon reaching her apartment complex, however, he was greeted from a few blocks away by flashing lights and dozens of personnel flocking outside the building. He had immediately pulled over on the side of the road. He ran the rest of the way, pushing past law enforcement officials and residents of the building, flashing his badge along the way.

He followed the corridors, ignoring the looks of pity or confusion that came from the local police . The door was wide open, and there she was. Skinner stood above her, his eyes filled with grief. Her auburn hair was splayed against the floor, stained a darker shade of red by the pool of blood that leaked from the wound. Her eyes. The sight of her eyes wide open, staring into nothingness was an image he could never get rid of, no matter how much he tried to drink it away.

Mulder sunk to his knees, his breath stolen from him. His fingers gently brushed her cheek. She was still warm. Her lips were slightly pulled apart, as if in shock.

"Mulder, you can't." Skinner said quietly.

He didn't listen. He tenderly closed her eyes.

"Agent Mulder."

Mulder felt tears slip from his eyes, his hands squeezing her shoulders and drawing her close to his body, holding her lifeless form in his arms. He shook violently as his sobs overtook him. Her blood-soaked hair was pressed against his face, her head fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck.

"Scully." He whispered softly, rocking back on his knees. Her tiny frame remained motionless in response to his whispers. His hot tears trailed down his face, landing on the top of her head.

It might as well have been if he held the gun to her himself. He killed her. He did this. He did this to her. His life's mission destroyed her, an innocent. It wasn't even her quest and here she was because of him. He knew why she stayed, but God, he should've told her to leave long ago. He should have told her to stay the hell away from him. She would have fought him, told him that she wouldn't leave her side, but he should've done something. If he had done anything, she wouldn't be lying here dead.

Mulder slammed his fist down on his coffee table, his sorrow pulsing through him, coursing alongside his rage. His fingers gripped the underside of the table, and through a fit of fury, he overturned it and threw it hard to the floor. The wood splintered and groaned and he kicked at it in indignation.

He sunk onto the couch, clutching a pillow against his chest. His heart clenched excruciatingly, remembering all the hurt Scully had suffered for him. How she had bravely undergone it, never asking for pity, never looking for sympathy. Why did she do it? It baffled him to this very day, why she so stoically remained by his side, never backing down. Even after her abduction, even after her coma, she came back and aided him.

It wasn't fucking fair. Why her and not him?

Everyone was clad in black. A long procession of people trailed around the coffin, draped in the colors of the country Scully had served so faithfully. Mulder stood staring for what seemed like hours. It hadn't been an open-casket ceremony, and he thanked whatever god that was out there for that. He wouldn't have been able to handle it. Hell, he wasn't handling it now. One by one, each member of the congregation placed a rose upon the coffin. Finally, he had reached the front of the line. His hand shaking, he lowered the flower onto the small pile that had already been laid there. He had attached something to his rose. It was something he had been saving until her birthday. It was an Apollo 11 keychain, just something that he thought she would appreciate.

He watched as the coffin descended into the cold ground, turning away when members of her family began to pour dirt into the darkness she had been entombed in.

"Fox?" Melissa tapped him on the shoulder.

"I can't do it. I'm sorry." Mulder muttered, forcing his voice not to shatter.

Melissa was silent for a few seconds, as others around began to do their share in the work.

"You know Fox, I think she loved you." She said solemnly.

He glanced up at her, his eyes red, tears threatening to break free.

Mulder leaned against the arms of the couch, fighting to stay awake. For what, he sincerely didn't know.

_______________________________________________________________________

His eyes jerked open. Sunlight was peaking through his windows. His head felt heavy, and his brow was beaded in sweat. He looked around, inspecting his surroundings. There were no files on the ground, none on the table. In fact, the table was still in one complete piece.

He heard rustling in the kitchen. Alarmed, he stood to his feet. He swayed back and forth a little, shaky on his feet. He staggered toward the kitchen.

He saw a flash of red hair.

"Scully?" He mumbled, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

She turned to face him, her eyes filled with concern.

"Mulder, what are you doing up and walking around? Go lie back down, you still have a fever." She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and guided him back to the living room.

"Scully, you're... you're alive?" Mulder stopped in his tracks, his hands gripping her arms.

"Of course I'm alive." Scully laughed, but her smile faded as Mulder leaned in toward her, their faces nearly touching. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I lost you." He whispered. He pulled her into a tight embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Lost me?" She questioned softly against his chest. She pushed back to look into his eyes. "Mulder, I think you're a little delirious."

"I think I am too, Scully. I can't believe how deliriously stupid I've been all these years." He held her face in his hands, his thumb tenderly stroking her cheek.

"What do you mean?" Her deep blue eyes searched his, looking for something to tell her what this all meant.

"I had a fever dream. You were dead, Scully, you died. You were shot... instead of your sister. I saw what my life turned out to be. How miserable, how lost I was without you. It was a nightmare. You were gone and the pain was stifling, like all the air in the world had been taken away. I couldn't breathe. Every day was a day filled with enduring agony. And out of all of the horror I've felt in my life, all of the pain I've experienced, I don't think a single thing can compare to that feeling of having you gone. It was unbearable. What I mean is that I don't know how I ever went through life without you. I don't think I can go through life without you."

Scully stared at him in stunned silence, her fingers interlacing with his.

"You know you don't have to. And you know that was just a dream, Mulder. I'm here." Scully kissed his forehead delicately, remaining there for a few moments.

"Scully."

She met his eyes; they shone at her with such intensity. He tilted his head forward. There was an instant that seemed to last for thousands of years. The second before their lips met, their noses touching, so close they could feel the breath from the other bouncing off their skin. His lips captured hers, tender but with zeal, like a desire fulfilled after years of longing. They moved with each other, feeding off of the other's passion, tongues wandering. Hands roaming.

They broke apart at last, eyes shining with joy.

"You're it, Scully. You're all I need." Mulder tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She nestled her head against his chest, wrapping her arms around him. She deliberated for a moment

“I love you too, Mulder.”

#msr fanfic #txf fanfic #txf fan fiction #msr #mulder and scully #txf #scully #mulder #dana scully #fox mulder #todayinfic

[chuckling-chemist]

31 Days of Fanstuck Day 16: Volcor: Frog Hunt

“Ooh look! There’s another one!”

Volcor looked up from the whirring device held in his good hand to point his hook toward the watering hole in the distance. The device itself, aptly named Paradox Frog Detector, was created in equal parts by him and Zanchi. It used specific signals that not just frogs, but only the frogs necessary for the Genesis Frog would be recognized in a radius up to 15 meters. Thanks to a unique type of radiation they seemed to give off at all stages in their timeline -- paradox radiation they dubbed it -- it made seeking shockingly easy for the both of them. The instrument detected temporal or spatial paradoxes, and it dinged if they were close to it. The struggle came with the absolute vastness of Volcor’s desert. Lighting the Forge threw enough debris into the sky it blotted out the harsh sun and brought much needed rain back into the desert, turning it back into the savannah it was supposed to be.

Zanchi nodded, shrugging his falling backpack back on. “I’m not moving faster to get these frogs. I’m sure we’ve got plenty of time to take care of this….what was it?”

“Genesis Frog.”

“This Genesis Frog.” He shook his head. “Because that makes sense.”

“It does if you don’t think about it too much,” Volcor said. 

The device vibrated loudly in Volcor’s hand, whirring and beeping frantically. Volcor twisted around in every direction, seeing if one path in particular intensified it further. It didn’t. The instrument whirred no matter where he looked.

“Shouldn’t that mean there’s a frog here? Like,” Zanchi pointed down at the soft ground between them, “right here?”

Volcor looked down with a frown. “Yeah. It should. Or wait…” He trailed off, looking back up into Zanchi’s sunglasses. “Did we ever specify this to detect the frogs? Or just paradox radiation in general?”

Zanchi snorted. “Okay, but even if we were detecting general paradox radiation what would it pick up on here? The ground?”

“I dunno. Maybe?” Volcor tapped the curve of his hook on his hand. “Or wait, does it detect paradox radiation from all points in time or just the present time? Did we account for that?”

“I don’t fucking know.” Zanchi scowled. He turned sharply on his heel, marching back toward the watering hole. “Let’s get this frog over here and figure out what’s going on.”

Volcor didn’t move from his spot. “But what if it’s something cool! You’ll never know!” He set down the Paradox Frog Detector in exchange for a shovel to dig. “What if there’s a frog down here?”

“There’s not.” Zanchi’s voice was distant now, as he walked further toward the pond. “I’ll see you over there.”

Volcor huffed and rolled his eyes. Fine. If Zanchi wanted to be Zanchi about it, that wouldn’t bother him. 

At the same time, he had a point. Their instrument hadn’t received much testing before practical application out into the real world. The two of them did some brief calibration against the first frog they found, but nothing else. However, what kind of issues would appear? He’d never know unless he figured out why it currently dinged back and forth. 

In the end, Volcor figured if it felt like it’d been 30 minutes of digging, or if Zanchi grabbed him again, he’d continue on. But until then? May as well investigate.

So while the instrument dinged and whirred and vibrated, Volcor remained. He dug through the earth, pulling anything out that looked potentially interesting and testing it. But nothing matched. Nothing made the bells go off. With each minute that passed, Volcor’s hope slowly dwindled that there would be much of anything. The Paradox Frog Detector might just be bugged.

Then, right there, the detector’s bells rattled alongside the vibrations. Volcor’s whole body perked up and he glanced over to the instrument.

“Whaddya need?” he asked.

“I think,” a familiar voice chirped behind him, “I think it’s responding to me.”

Volcor stopped everything. He swiftly turned around with a grin, matching the smiling face of Fioira. But, at the same time, a different Fioria. The one he expected to run into was the Fioria in a long, pleated skirt and loose fitting blouse. This one wore a bright red summer dress and soft looking moccasins. 

A doomed variant of her, maybe? Volcor didn’t know enough about timelines to try to guess what exactly she was, only that she was picked up by his Paradox Frog Detector.

“We can fix that,” Volcor said. “Though uh...why’re you here?”

“Fixing some things.” Her fingers made a couple quick movements and in her hand was a small, white frog. “You’ll need this moment later on to pull him from. Okay?”

Volcor took the frog out of her hands, holding it curiously in front of the device. It whirred and vibrated and dinged and shook. 

Well, it still detected frogs. Just not maybe at the right time. All the better he ended up waiting.

“Okay.”

#homestuck #long post #31 days of fanstuck #my writing

[nasilyapilirteknoloji]

New Post has been published on AOrhan BLOG

New Post has been published on https://www.aorhan.com/step-by-step-instructions-to-choose-the-right-running-chews-44527.html

Step by Step Instructions to Choose the Right Running Chews

A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table – Samsa was a travelling salesman – and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer.

Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad. “How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense”, he thought, but that was something he was unable to do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and in his present state couldn’t get into that position. However hard he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was.

The quicker or more distant you run, the more carbs you require.

His room, a proper human room although a little too small, lay peacefully between its four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table – Samsa was a travelling salesman – and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame.

One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked. “What’s happened to me? ” he thought. It wasn’t a dream.

Outrageous conditions require more liquid and electrolytes.

Before you get started, please be sure to always search this Documentation, and also watch our Video Tutorials. If you have further questions beyond the scope of this Documentation, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll do our very best to reply as promptly as possible.

It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fly into your mouth. One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment.

Know about veggie lover and vegetarian choices.

It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer. Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad.

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