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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 3 years

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Can we take a moment to talk about what a tragic character Minerva is? Y’all know that for the longest time I haven’t been the biggest fan of her, and honestly I’m still not? but I think I might’ve had a breakthrough on why that is.

Whenever I’ve asked around to see why people find her so appealing or why they consider her their favorite, I’ll get answers like, “she’s such a complex character and she deserved a redemption arc!” or “she should’ve come back to the school with us! Let Minnie be happy, you cowards! Telltale did her dirty! I could write paragraph after paragraph about her!” all sorts of things along those lines… but like, no one seems to want to actually talk about her. I find that interesting? Since when I do follow up with a “care to explain further?” I get nothing. Radio static. Like…. no, talk to me please, I just wanna understand-

Minerva within the context of TFS is such a tragedy. She grew up in a school for troubled youth where all the adults left them for death at the start of the breakout, they had walkers trying to eat the living all around them, and I’m sure she saw her fair share of traumatic violence and despair… but on the bright side, she always had her twin sister, Sophie, and little brother, Tenn. She had her friend and eventual girlfriend, Violet. She had music, and a dorm full of pretty paintings done by Sophie. She and Louis composed a song together to make everyone feel better. There are worse places to live than the school.

Then one day she got traded away to a bunch of raiders against her will, having no idea what the hell these people were gonna do to her and Sophie. They were made to be soldiers to fight in a war that had nothing to do with them. The delta fucking broke her. If we’re to believe Lilly’s story about the twins, they started their brainwashing process early on when Sophie was still alive, and it seems like Minerva was easier to control as Sophie was still planning a way out and causing trouble. Then, when Sophie convinced her to steal a boat and get the hell out, they got caught and the delta forced her to murder her own twin sister.

Like…. I’m sorry, not only did Minerva kill her own sister, but she was made to believe that was the right thing to do? That line she says about how she had to prove her loyalty to the place she calls home? That shit’s ingrained in her brain, you can tell that isn’t the first time she’s heard or said that very thing. That is what made her family to the delta. Delta is her home now, her family. Sophie was just a thing that needed to be dealt with. You keep your head down, do as you’re told, and you survive. You survive and you get to go home, eat a hot meal, take a shower, and be with your delta family. If not, you end up like Sophie.

What’s also fucked is that Minerva actually cares about these people now. Think about that. After everything they did to her and made her do, she’s been trained to see them as her family and obey. When you save Louis and he kills Dorian, Minerva actually cries out and is visibly hurt by her death. When she’s with the other raiders on land, she's screaming at walkers to get away from them. She cares about the people who made her kill Sophie… and no one ever talks about that??

She fucking hates Clementine. Clementine is just another thing in Minnie’s way. I know the part of the fandom likes to ship these two together and they think it’s hot when they fight and shit, but within the canon text, Minerva wants Clementine gone. Dead. She is the thing stopping her from having her old family merge with her new family. If Clementine hadn’t made them fight, they all would’ve been captured and they’d all be a delta family now. She would’ve had Tenn back.

Clementine is the problem, she made everyone fight back and that’s why people are dead. Minerva hates her for it… it’s not a “I hate you but like the sexual tension, y’know?” that I see people pretend it is, it’s “you are ruining everything and if I have to, I will kill you myself and I won’t give a second thought about it when they toss your body overboard.”

Like….. seriously, think about how fucked up all of this is. Minerva is a husk of who she was before she was taken away. Sure, you do have to keep in mind that when Tenn and Violet are describing her, their sights are a bit clouded, y’know? But I do believe that she was someone who was kind and cared about people, she wanted to make people feel safe and comforted.

Now she’s a brainwashed soldier who won’t help the people she used to call friends when they’re about to get limbs cut off. She won’t hesitate to knock someone unconscious or threaten a child. She’s willing to trick them into being captured with no regard for what’s going to happen to them. … all she knows is this was the mission, and now they all get to be together again back at the delta.

Then when she finds out there’s a bomb on the boat, she ditches Violet to blow up with it in order to make it to land herself. She loses her shit seeing everyone die and gets her face chewed off by a walker… and then she tries to blow Clementine and AJ up with a grenade.

Oh, and who can forget the fact that she tracks the group down with plans of murdering Tenn so that they can go to a better place together? And she’ll take down anyone who gets in her way?

Like….. jesus christ, Minerva’s waaaaay too far gone. It’s awful.

I think that’s what stumps me about why she’s so loved in the way that she is. It’s not that I don’t understand why she’s complex and well-written, I get that perfectly fine. She’s a compelling character study when you comb over all her scenes and take different factors into account.

What I don’t understand is why we tend to just throw everything interesting about her away? For what?

These days, I never see anyone talking about any of this unless they’re insisting she deserved a redemption arc which…. Eh, I’ll touch on this later. What I mostly see here and mostly other platforms is how great it would be if she and Clementine made out, or hey what if she and Violet got back together if she did come back to the school? Or they just….the best term I have for this is “uwu-ify.” As in she’s reduced to a caricature of a tall, pretty, mean, white lesbian who has “good damage.”

People insist that Telltale are cowards or bastards because their predictions of her turning on the delta to save Clem and crew didn’t happen. Instead, Minerva ends up being the final baddie you gotta get away from, and she ends up taking someone down with her. But did you really expect to just do a 180 and suddenly decide being brainwashed for over a year was lame and Clementine and friends are cool? Gonna help them out and be with Tenn again? Sure, there’s some left over trauma but love conquers and fixes everything, right?

Uh…. no? That’s not how people work? Honestly, if we entertain the idea that Minerva wasn’t bit and somehow didn’t murder Clementine when they all got back to the school…. romance is the last thing she is ever gonna think of??

I think that’s what bothers me most when reading these au’s and rants about redemption and the entire idea of clemerva as a whole. It’s the same thing that I see happen with Violet- Minerva only has value to fans if she’s in a wlw relationship. By herself, she doesn’t matter. They don’t care about her canon story, they don’t care about Sophie, they don’t care about discussing what could’ve happened if she and Tenn reunited under better circumstances or had a healing recovery together. But why?

Throwing a girlfriend at her isn’t some band aid that’s gonna cover up all the bad she went through?? Having an enemies to lovers romance with Clementine isn’t going to fix a years worth of brainwashing, trauma or the fact that she murdered her own sister and the delta told her she's proved her worth to them??

Having the support of those around her is a good thing, don’t get me wrong. The idea of the Ericson crew as a whole trying to help her out and do the best they can to accommodate her is bittersweet since there’s only so much they can do. They’re not trained therapists, which is what Minerva would need and plenty of years ahead of her to work through and come to terms with everything that happened as well as taking steps forward. I’m not saying that she shouldn’t have friends or that she couldn’t have a healthy romantic relationship someday... but that isn’t the solution, y’know?

I don’t know how else to explain this, but it makes me feel weird that all of this stuff is flat out overlooked or doesn’t appear to matter to fans of her.

Look, I get it. We all want these characters to be happy. AU’s are a thing, after all. Sometimes we want to forget about the bad things and focus on the good that bring us comfort. You wanna gush about the idea of an AU where the twins never got traded, the raiders didn’t exist, and Clementine got to meet them the way they were before? I feel that, AU’s are super comforting and fun to explore, and my point isn’t to try and shame anyone who has an AU you like this.

Hell, you think I don’t have days where I pretend mute Louis isn’t a thing because the whole concept of Louis having his tongue cut out of his mouth breaks my fucking heart? No, lot’s of days I just want to forget everything about that route, I want to set aside all the bad and just intake as much clouis fluff as I can get…. But that doesn’t mean I always ignore or refuse to acknowledge the bad just because I don’t like it. I fucking hate the fact that Louis loses his tongue when you don’t save him, but guess what? That’s a canon route you can play, just like any other route, and the possibilities that come with a mute Louis are vast and compelling.

This is how it is for me… my favorite characters are my favorite for a reason, and I take all the bad with the good. Louis isn’t perfect, and I don’t want him to be. I was to dive into his backstory about why did that to his parents, I like to talk about what he went through with Marlon’s murder and his feelings about AJ and Clementine at the point, I like to view his love of music as bittersweet. He can stand on his own, and while he is a love interest for Clementine, that isn’t his only purpose.

I know everyone’s different, they express their love for characters in their own ways, but I do have a genuine question: do you guys actually like Minerva?

Believe it or not, I’m not trying to step on toes or make everyone feel defensive which I know is how people will react to this. “You’re just saying all of this to make us feel bad for shipping clemerva! You don’t even like Minnie so you don’t get to say shit!” yeah yeah, I hear you and look, it’s true that she’s not my favorite character. I know I’ve said I hate her in the past but upon reflection and throwing out fandom interpretations.... I don’t hate her. I get it now. She’s a great character study to dissect and analyze and I think she deserves more than what the writers and the fandom have given her.

And yeah, what I do hate is clemerva, and I’ve explained why. It’s not for me, it makes me uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, who cares? Me not liking it doesn’t mean anything to those who create AU’s for them. They have their reasons, they can do as they please as long as they’re not hurting anyone. I’m just here pointing out things I see and things that bother me in hopes of starting a discussion.

There’s my ramble about Minerva. I’m gonna go make some tea now.

#twdg minerva #twdg clementine #twdg sophie #twdg tenn #twdg violet #twdg louis #twdg marlon #twdg lilly #twdg aj #twdg

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earlgreytea68 · 3 years

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Tagged by @setting-in-a-honeymoon!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

An even 200!

2. What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

Um. 3,328,002

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Six:

Inception in the lead with 67 fics

Sherlock with 56

Fall Out Boy with 36

Doctor Who with 14 (this number is incorrect, I have written waaaaay more than that, they just live on LJ and DW)

and then one each for Sports Night and The Office (UK)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Nature and Nurture

Saving Sherlock Holmes

Working on the Edges

The Radovljica Apicultural Museum

John Watson’s Twelve Days of Christmas

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I get busy or depressed or sick, etc., and I fall behind, but I try to respond, for a number of reasons - they give me so much joy that I want to acknowledge that they have brought my joy; it is so wonderful to see what people to respond to and love and laugh at and cry over, it definitely makes me a better writer, and so I want to acknowledge that, too; and comments when I’m in the middle of posting a fic are especially helpful to me because they often result in me tweaking what’s coming next in response to questions I see people have that indicate I’m not being clear enough, or maybe I’m not hitting the tone I want, etc. And so I like to respond to be like, “Thank you! You have no idea how important and wonderful this is to me!”

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Oh, wow. While I actually think I can write good angst, when I do it I try to have it in the middle of the fic, so that it gets properly resolved to give you a nice, happy ending. I’m sure someone’s going to be like, YOU ARE FORGETTING THIS HEART-WRENCHING THING YOU WROTE, but all I’m coming up with right now is that, in my long Doctor Who ‘verse I wrote, I did a fic in which their family dog died. That was pretty angsty. (omg I just scrolled down to see how I ended this story and OH MY GOD ahahah I forgot that I wrote this after I’d broken up with the Tenth Doctor and so it ends with Brem being like, “Plus, my father is useless so I have to hold the entire family together all the time” hahahaha what an extra-angsty ending, Brem, my love lol)

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do sometimes! I feel like most of my crossovers make some amount of sense. Like, okay, maybe you wouldn’t think to cross Inception with Fall Out Boy (this was a special request) but I think the premise of the fic makes total sense. And I once crossed Oliver with Brem, but those were my first two beloved precocious fic songs, so that made some sense, too. And I still think Inception and Sherlock crossed together made SO much more sense than actual seasons of Sherlock lol. So I guess if I had to choose the craziest I would go with the Doctor Who/Gossip Girl crossover I wrote lol. But wait, that one actually also made sense as I wrote it, I think, so I’ll go with the Sherlock/Fall Out Boy crossover because that was just bonkers.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes. I wrote a fic that was really horrible to Mary in “Sherlock.” I hate Mary. I feel like I can say that now. I haaaaaated Mary. But in those days “Sherlock” was an incredibly tense fandom to be part of and if you didn’t say that you loved Mary all the time forever and always then people were like !7@((!*(@(!& at you. I have a million massive warnings in all caps all over the fic, like, DON’T READ THIS IF YOU LIKE MARY, and people still would leave rude comments on it lololol. And then we wonder why I left that fandom lol. (I mean, many people in the fandom were wonderful, and I don’t always have REASONS why I leave fandoms, it’s not like anything is that logical or rational. But it wasn’t a very fun time to be in Sherlock fandom. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do. My smut almost always has to be advancing some kind of emotional beat in the characters’ relationship. I’m never super-explicit because usually the whole point of the scene to me is what the characters are thinking and feeling, not really what they’re *doing.*

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Sometimes my fics show up somewhere without my knowledge. People are really good about letting me know when that happens.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yup!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

This is like asking who my all-time favorite child is.

14. What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I have this high school Peterick AU that I started at the beginning of the pandemic. For some reason, when schools shut down, all I could think about was all these bands that wouldn’t get formed because the kids couldn’t go to each other’s houses, like Pete Wentz couldn’t just show up at Patrick Stump’s to hear him play. So I started this story where Pete and Patrick meet right before the pandemic hits, and then everything locks down and they’re stuck Facetiming each other and coming to the realization that their soulmate is on the other side of the screen.

Anyway, I actually think this fic is super-hot?? And I never think I write hot things, but it’s got a hot phone sex scene and I’m really happy with it and I would love to finish the story...except that the pandemic turned out to be...this. And in my head, Idk, I thought there’d be this triumphant moment where everyone would be like, “Yay! We can see each other now!” and Pete and Patrick would reunite, and instead everything petered out into, “Can we see each other now........????? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “ and I didn’t know what to do with that in my fic, it made it not as neat as I was wanting it to be.

But I hate to lose that hot phone sex scene hahaha. And also after the hot phone sex scene Patrick adds “Hotline Bling” to his and Pete’s shared Spotify playlist they’ve been working on and I’M SORRY, I FOUND THAT SO CHARMING, PATRICK STOLE MY HEART WITH THAT MOVE, anyway, as you can see, I love so much about the fic and I really want to find a way to make it work and maybe someday I will the end.

15. What are your writing strengths?

My dialogue.

Also I think I write the same story over and over (person realizes that they’re deserving of being loved for exactly who they are), but I think I’m REALLY GOOD at that one story lol

Also I like to think that I write family relationship stuff fairly well, like, Idk, I love doing that stuff, whether found family or biological.

Oh, and I think I usually get the ratio of angst::happy ending pretty good (in my view for my personal preference lol).

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I don’t think I’m especially good at smut. I’m terrible at paying attention to things like setting, what the characters are wearing, what the characters even look like, etc. As mentioned above, I tell the same story over and over and over, and I’m okay with that, but yeah, I’d be bad at telling a story where people aren’t, like, nice people who you’re rooting for.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think I couldn’t do it, because I don’t speak any other language, but I’m always happy when people translate my fics!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who. Although maybe, like, New Kids on the Block self-insert stuff counts from junior high??? But Doctor Who was first published.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Please see above re: favorite child lol

I tag every writer who wants to do this and I hope every writer does this because I always think these are fascinating!!

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mrslittletall · 3 years

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For the writing prompt could ask for the 1 or 21 or 28 for Hollow Knight (maybe any of the 5 knights?) ?

Title: After the Dream ends Fandom: Hollow Knight Characters: Hornet, The Pure Vessel Word Count: 3.297 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30159255

Summary: After the little Ghost has faced off with the angry god trapped inside of the Hollow Knight, Hornet is left with her broken mess of a sibling.

(Author's note: 1: “Please don't leave.” 21: Leaning against someone. 28: “You are gonna be fine.”

I am so sorry, but for some reason I read “for the Hollow Knight” instead of just “for Hollow Knight” and I noticed if FAR too late. Technically, THK is pretty close to the five great knights, so I hope you can still enjoy it.)

Hornet awoke from the grasps of her unconsciousness.

It wasn't a slow waking up, like waking up from a deep slumber, but a sudden one. For her, it felt like no time had passed at all. One moment she had been hurled into a wall, the next moment she was awake, groaning at the lingering pain in her head from the impact.

The next thing she noticed was the absence of any fighting noises. The last thing that Hornet had done to help the little Ghost, was pinning the Hollow Knight to the ground, giving them an opening. Right after that, her world had turned into darkness.

There was another thing that was absent as she took in the scene in front of her. The little Ghost was nowhere to be seen. All she could see was the infection that had stopped to pulsate and glow and seemed to slowly dry out. In the middle of it, she could see the Hollow Knight, bend over on the ground, their gaze directed towards the floor, their body shaking, their chest slowly heaving as they struggled to breathe properly.

Hornet didn't knew where the little Ghost could have gone, or if they even were still alive, but right at this moment, it didn't matter to her. She could search for them later. She needed to take care of the last family she had left, her older sibling, first.

Hornet rushed over to them and laid both of her arms on their shoulders. “Hey, are you alright?”, she asked. Not only a second later she wanted to slap herself for this question. She knew that the Hollow Knight couldn't speak, they wouldn't be able to answer her, and even if they would have been able to shake or nod their head at her, they were clearly not alright.

“What am I talking about, you are clearly not alright.”, Hornet spoke, maybe more to herself than to the Hollow Knight, because they didn't seem to have acknowledged her. Her gaze wandered over their body. The most noticeable thing was a whole arm missing, the stump that was left dropped flakes of the infection of the ground. Their chest didn't look much better, the infection had grown in large cysts there and they must have popped open, orange liquid running down the pitch black body of the Hollow Knight. There was a large crack on their mask, going directly through their left eye. The eyes that once glowed orange from the infection, now where black holes again, but the leftovers of the intruding liquid stained their mask like grotesque tears. It wasn't a nice picture to look at and that was only their physical state.

Hornet could barely fathom their mental state. They had been forced to lock away an angry god for... how long had it been? Hornet didn't have a sense of time anymore once the kingdom had fallen into some kind of stasis. It might even have been centuries... Hornet decided that a very long time was probably the most fitting description for the duration of their imprisonment.

So, they had been sealed away for a very long time, having to contain an angry god and... failed at that task. Hornet knew why. She had gotten all the ugly details, from him, before he had vanished. The Hollow Knight... hadn't been without a mind like intended, but had developed feelings and a will, and that had made them vulnerable for the infection. That was why it had leaked out.

Hornet looked into the dark eyes of the Hollow Knight. She remembered the time when they hadn't been half eaten by infection, when their mind that they shouldn't even possess in the first place hadn't been broken. She felt her heart tighten in her chest at the memories.

When she had been but a little grub and ran around the palace, finding them standing there, all regal, all stiff, all motionless. At first she had thought they were a statue and it had been a game to get them to react to her once she saw that they were, in fact, being able to move once her father had called them to his side.

The game had turned into something else once the Hollow Knight had started to react to her. Acknowledge her. They never had said a single word to her, now she knew that they had been made without a voice, but they had sat next to Hornet, listening to her blabbering about her day, having let her sit between her horns and sometimes they even had caressed her little head.

They had been her cherished older sibling and back then, Hornet hadn't understood why they had to go away, at the same time as her mother as well. She had felt so left alone, having lost her mother and her older sibling at the same time, with only her father being left and he... he hardly seemed to care about her.

Now that Hornet knew all the gritty details about their and her own origins, the tightness in her chest welled up into anger.

“You didn't deserve this.”, she spoke, cupping the mask of the Hollow Knight between her hands. “You sacrificed yourself for this doomed kingdom and nobody is even left to thank you for it.”

She felt herself shaking, clenching her fangs, only stopping when she noticed that the Hollow Knight in front of her was shaking even harder. What she had just said to them... had it evoked a reaction? Whatever it was, they clearly needed help.

“You are going to be alright.”, Hornet said. “I promise it. I won't ever let you rot away behind a sealed door, for a kingdom that has long gone. Can you walk?”

Hornet stepped away from the Hollow Knight and looked expectantly at them. They didn't act at first and Hornet had a hunch that she had to change her way of wording. They had been used to follow orders after all. They probably didn't know how to react when asked a question.

“Stand up.”, she ordered, hating how her voice sounded as she spoke out the command. The Hollow Knight winced and then slowly tried to get up on their feet, only to break down and nearly crack their mask open even more when their missing arm failed to completely catch them.

“Apparently not.”, Hornet said, stepping closer to them. “Here, lean on me. I'll help you out.”

Standing right in front of them, Hornet noticed how ridiculous her offer sounded. Even when they were kneeling on the floor, the Hollow Knight was taller than her. When they would stand up, they would be twice her size. Hornet always had disliked that her height was one of the properties she just had to inherit from her father.

Luckily, as a creature of Deepnest, and half spider, she was also strong and resilient. She gently guided the remaining arm of the Hollow Knight around her shoulder and supported them as best as she could with her small body. With her help, they managed to stand up and walk a few shaky steps.

“There's a hot spring deeper into the Forgotten Crossroads.”, she explained. “I will help you get there, to take care of your injuries and to get you cleaned up. The infection did a number on you, Ho...”

She interrupted herself, not speaking it out completely at first. It had been her nickname for them when she still had been a little grub. Their title had been far too long for her, so she normally had called them Hollow.

“Is it fine when I call you Hollow?”, she asked, feeling as if the Hollow Knight should have a say in their name. She felt a nudge on her shoulder and took it as cue that they are fine with it. “Hollow it is, then.”

Helping Hollow walk even to the exit of the temple proved to be a challenge. Not only because they were twice as tall as her, but also because they hadn't used their legs for such a long time. They more stumbled and fell and Hornet had to grit her fangs together when their hand clawed into her shoulder, putting far more weight on her that was comfortable. Still, she had to endure for her sibling.

Worse than the physical pain, was the silence between them. She knew that Hollow couldn't talk, being made without a voice. That made it all the more worse. They may have had so many things to say, but they were forced to be silent. They couldn't even tell her if they were in discomfort.

“If you are in pain or need a break, give me a sign and we'll stop right away.”, she said, hoping that Hollow would understand what she meant. She doubted a bit that they even knew that they were allowed to feel weak and being in pain. She asked herself how they felt right now... did they feel like a failure? They surely didn't look like they felt like a hero.

She should try and take their mind off stuff. Or fill it with stuff to think about, in case they tried to empty their mind, like they had been taught so long ago.

“Do you still remember me?”, she asked as they stepped through the exit. “It's me, Hornet, the daughter of Hallownest. The pale gift. The gendered child. You may not recognize me because I have grown quite a bit in the meantime. The last time we met I could sit between your horns with ease.”

Looking down at her and at Hollow's horns, Hornet had the feeling she still could sit between their horns. Hollow didn't look at her or made any acknowledgement of her words, they just continued to stumble along with her support.

“It's fine, you don't have to answer me. I know that you can't. I just want to talk to you.”, Hornet continued. “Just... I want to let you know that if you still try to empty your mind, you don't have to do it anymore. It's over. It's all over and we have been left with the pieces to pick back up.”

Where had that come from? Hollow was the last bug she should unload her baggage at.

“My apologies...”, she said. “The hot spring is further down, so I am afraid we have to walk quite a bit of a distance. At least now that the infection has dried up, nobody tries to attack us anymore.”

Hornet could see them. The bugs that had been freed. The lucky ones simply coughed up the dried out infection and stood up, confused, finding other bugs to share their confusion with, the unlucky... well, they laid as empty husks on the ground.

“The crossroads has been hit the hardest.”, Hornet told further, as she continued walking with her sibling in tow. “It looked horrible here. The infection was everywhere. This will be a mess to clean up for menderbug, if they are even still around.”

They probably would like it though. Menderbug always loved to fix and clean things.

“The whole of Hallownest was affected... and not only Hallownest, Deepnest as well... When I go back there... I don't even want to think about it... Technically I am their queen, but...”

She stopped when she felt that Hollow had started shivering again. Maybe, not clearly talking about the infection had been the wrong thing.

“My apologies...”, she said again. “But be assured, it isn't your fault. It was never your fault.”

The shivering didn't stop, only got slightly less worse and Hornet wanted to punch herself for her insensitivity. She had to find another topic or stop talking. She knew why she felt so awkward... she had spent an eternity alone. She had managed to talk to the little Ghost, showing herself to be aloof, but she had never expected an answer from them and just had left them alone one they had gotten the bits and pieces of information from her. Trying to hold casual smalltalk, with her traumatized and badly injured sibling nonetheless, proved to be difficult.

“Do you know that your sibling saved you?”, Hornet spoke, softly. “Not me, one of the others. I called them Ghost. They bested me in combat, twice, and they understood every hint that I threw at them. For such a small being, they were fierce and strong. They never backed down. They even went into the temple without hesitation. They saved you... and they saved Hallownest... um, what is left of it anyway. I wish you could have met them... under brighter circumstances.”

Speaking about them made Hornet feel melancholic. She should go back to the Black Egg Temple later and see if she could find any trace of them. If... if they had died back there, then they would deserve a proper resting place and if not... well then at least Hornet would have an easier state of mind knowing that they just had decided to leave this place.

Hollow buckled a bit next to her and Hornet stopped immediately. “Are you alright? Are you in pain? Do you need a break?”

They stayed bent over for a couple of seconds before grabbing back onto her shoulder and continuing walking or more specifically, letting themselves get dragged by Hornet.

“The hot spring isn't far away now, hang in there.”, she said. She was just glad that the bugs that had awoken from the infection were too confused to really notice her and the few that did, quickly scurried away when they saw a predator and the hulking figure behind her.

Hornet filled the rest of the way with silly anecdotes from their time together in the White Palace, talking about how they had played with each other and how sad she had been every time that Hollow had to leave to stand at their father's side. She could feel Hollow's hand clawing into her shoulder each time she mentioned their shared father. How their stance about him was for Hollow, was unclear for Hornet. In their case, she would probably hate his guts. She did and she hadn't been tormented for an eternity in the temple of the black egg. She would never be able to forgive him for leaving his kingdom – and her – alone when they most had needed him.

They finally reached the Hot Spring and Hornet helped Hollow sink into the hot water, rubbing her shoulder. Practically dragging their big frame over there, had been a strain on her body.

Once they sat comfortably into the hot spring, Hornet looked them over. The soul infused water of the hot spring would help them get some strength back, but she could see that the crack on their mask wasn't closing up in the slightest. The water also couldn't heal their void body, as their lost arm didn't regrow. Thinking about it, Hornet was pretty sure that the hot spring couldn't regrow limbs at all, but also the scar around the nub didn't seem to close.

“I guess all we can do is clean out the dried up infection.”, Hornet said, as she sat down on the edge, only dipping her feet in the water, and produced a bit of silk which she weaved into a washcloth. Then, she gently cleaned up the wounds on their body of void, with Hollow wincing a tiny bit whenever she pressed too tight, but mostly the infection just flaked off and slightly tinted the water orange, leaving horrible scarred tissue visible on Hollow's body.

“I can't repair your body that is made of void.”, Hornet said. “That was something he never taught me. I can only bandage your wounds and we can hope that it will heal itself.”

Was Void able to heal? The vessels were basically a shade bound by the mask on their head. She had seen their more feral form, the unleashed shade that would lash out at anyone that came to close. If it originated from a primal instinct or from suppressed feelings, she didn't know.

Hornet helped Hollow out of the hot spring and sat down with them on the bench. There, she produced more silk and used it to bandage every wound she could find on Hollow's body. She weaved the silk around the scarred tissue on their chest, around the nub of their missing arm and the shoulder and even around the crack on their head. The wound would likely not heal completely, but she could at least prevent it getting worse.

With Hollow sitting on the bench next to her, she took another more thorough look at them. The way they sat, with their head lung low, their breathing heavy, they looked so broken and so weak. It was clear for Hornet that the spring water wasn't enough to sustain them. After an eternity on a diet of only soul, fed to them via the chains they had been sealed with, they needed some proper food.

“I'll be right back, Hollow.”, Hornet said as she hopped from the bench, readying her needle, ready to find some prey for them, but before she could take even one step, she felt how they tugged on her cloak.

Hornet turned around and saw Hollow looking at them. “What is it?”, she asked and upon remembering that they wouldn't be able to answer, she specified her question. “Are you in pain?”

Hollow shook their head and looked at her again and even though they weren't able to change the ever same stoic expression on their face, Hornet understood what they tried to tell her.

Please don't leave.

“I won't be away for long, I just need to get some food. You sorely need it.”, Hornet said and turned around again, only stopping when she felt a nudge on her cloak. She glanced back and saw Hollow on their knees on the ground, their arm grabbed around the tip of her cloak and they were shaking.

In an instant, Hornet felt a deep guilt settle itself into her chest. Her intentions had really been to only get some food and come right back, but when she saw Hollow like this, she understood the implications. Why they didn't want for her to leave.

The last time that Hollow had been left alone, they had been imprisoned with an angry god who did its best to torment them, both mentally and physically. For Hollow, who had been without comfort for so long, her leaving to get some food must feel the same as her dying and never coming back.

“On second thought, we can get some food for you later.”, Hornet said and helped Hollow up, once again groaning under their weight and height, to help them back to the bench. There, she sat herself next to them. They were still shivering, but they looked a lot calmer.

“My apologies, that I wanted to leave.”, she said, coming a bit closer, unsure if they wanted physical contact, but once she had initiated it, Hollow practically cuddled against her.

“I eventually will have to get up to get some food. We can't stay here forever.”, Hornet said, caressing their leg, one of the few spots on their body that weren't too injured or scarred. “But I promise you, I will never leave when you aren't fine with it. For now, take your time and heal. Both your body... and your mind.”

She took a deep breath and then said: “It will take some time, but you are going to be fine. I promise it.”

#hollow knight #fanfiction #hornet #the pure vessel #march of the whumps #request fill #ask answered #thx for the ask #I hope you enjoy #the-rat-empress #littlewritesstuff

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imaginethathaikyuu · 3 years

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Question!! How are you SO GOOD are interpreting the characters?? I swear whenever I read a story, im like wow. It really feels as if I not only got to know the character, but it MAKES SENSE how they’re depicted. Does that make sense?? Loll anyway- do you have any tips on writing characters? Id love to learn from you some tips!

thank you so much friend!! that’s really kind!!!

my only answer is that i just try my best lol!! i think where i write for these characters so much it makes it a bit easier over time to write them better. but the best piece of writing advice i’ve ever heard is that the characters have to be in control or they’re not gonna feel real. i mean, sure, you could write the character extremely out of character and force them to do something they absolutely would never do, and if that’s what you wanna do then do it, but your fic likely won’t be better because of it. just let them tell their story and things will fall into place, at least when it comes to the depiction and feeling of that character

when i first heard that (i think it was in a hank green video??) my mind literally opened up and it was like i was seeing new colors, like it just made so much sense to me, it made me feel so much closer to the characters i was writing about (in fanfic and original works alike!) and i’m always telling myself that when i’m writing, reminding myself to let the characters guide through the plot i’ve put them in

also, the haikyuu fandom wiki is my best friend. if i’m ever stumped on what a character would do or say or feel in a certain situation, i just go to their wiki and read through it. sometimes the smallest thing there will solve my problem, or inspire something brand new. that’s the magic of writing fanfic, these characters already exist and are developed and have personalities that i don’t have to make up. i don’t have to do all that hard work so i don’t. i just rely on my source material and it makes things so much easier

i also focus way too much on little things, specifically the way i think a character would speak/dialogue. like....would akaashi ever use the word “gotta”??? would tsukishima talk to someone this way???? is the structure of this sentence really the way kuroo words things??? its all in those details to me, for some reason. i try to write dialogue in a way that the person speaking is obvious without tags telling you who said it - not in an obnoxious or obvious way (because it can get tacky fast,) but just to continuously remind myself of any small speaking quirks a character does or doesnt have. same goes for the way they would sit, or drive, or walk, or whatever. every person is different so obviously characters are going to do things differently, no matter how big or small that thing is. i think those little differences add up in the end

but, yeah, just try your best. get to know the characters you’re writing for, know them as if they’re a friend. i think it will make you much more motivated to tell stories about them accurately, rather than just using these characters to tell a story you want to tell. and if you’re writing hq fanfic, the characters of haikyuu are lovely and great and have so much potential so use that potential! don’t ignore it!

#writing advice #i always feel so unqualified to give writing advice like i feel like i know nothing and im still convinced my writing is just word vomit #it is tbh #but i always hope it helps at least 1 person !!!!#and i like talking about my experience writing and trying my best to give advice so thank u for asking me!!!#and also as usual just write what u want like if u want to write ooc then do it who's stopping u. not me

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nakasomethingkun · 4 years

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hi!! i have 2 questions: firstly, i’m about to write an aftg fic and i would love to know your technique in how you characterize andrew, because you write him, and everything else in general so well! your aftg fics, which are admittedly the only one’s of yours i’ve read, are amazing!! secondly, if you’re ever looking for prompts or requests, would you consider writing the twins and their recovery in the years after tkm? i absolutely adore your writing and would love to see your take on them!!

oh, wow. i never expected to receive a question like this, so now i’m kind of stumped lmao. when i wrote my first aftg fic, i was very conscious of how i portrayed andrew; i regularly checked some scenes in the books and the extra content to get his voice and characterization right (things like how he doesn’t speak often - so that’s one trait, and when he does speak, how does he sound like? what about any character quirks? how does neil describe his body language or his appearance? what are his principles/stances? etc.). even if i didn’t get it totally right, i at least wanted to do his character service by not making him ooc. that said, though, i rarely care if i make him ooc nowadays. the thing about joining a new fandom is that you’re always nervous when/if you’re about to write a fic and post it. it’s the same feeling, every single time. as you get used to writing for that fandom though, you stop being super fussy and anxious about keeping the characters “in character”, because you realize that if you wanted everything to fit canon to a tee, you’d just stick to the original source material and not engage in fandom in the first place.

but i digress. going back to how i characterize andrew, i normally just try to remember some of the basic stuff, like how he’s an asshole (no, really, this is a genuine tip lol). he’s blunt but he doesn’t talk much (not unless you’re neil or bee, and maybe renee, and i’m mostly referring to sober!andrew, if you’re writing/focusing on canon compliant fics). he doesn’t lie per se, not actively, but he omits the truth and deflects a lot. he’s generally apathetic to almost everything and everyone, but when he cares, he cares very deeply; no going back, no half-assing it, which also extends to his promises (e.g. beating up people who tried to hurt nicky, almost breaking allison’s neck after she hit aaron, going berserk when neil got kidnapped, etc.). he’s petty and - i cannot stress this enough - he is a disaster gay (outwardly, he passes as a functioning gay, but hello? have you seen this boy “flirt”? if it can even be called that? anyway).

for the more physical stuff, one of the things that i always make a point of remembering that he’s a heavy smoker, which means that he’s probably really bad at cardio lmao. ppl like to write him as this exy genius with natural born goal-keeping talent (which he is!), but also... pls remember that innate talent can only carry you so far. this is just me ranting about my pet peeve/squick but i hate it when ppl write him in situations where like, he hasn’t touched a racquet in years or put in the same amount of effort or training as the others but when he’s put in court suddenly he’s this invincible and undefeatable machine? what even? i mean, i know it’s fiction but like i said, it just irks me personally.

again, i digress. for AUs, i throw a lot of things out the window. that’s not to say that i’m writing a completely new character, but just that i rummage through the aspects of his character and choose only what floats my boat for that particular verse. it’s all part of that ‘idgaf about what canon says, this is my town now’ mentality lol. sometimes, even if it feels ooc, i just roll with it, because maybe i think that that particular scene is cute or the dialogue is funny, and i think that that’s more important than trying my damnest to squeeze him into the personality box that was created in canon. taking things from the source material and shaping them into your own product is what fandom is all about, after all :D

i don’t know if all these count as techniques to writing andrew, but i’m super touched that you’ve read my fics and like them!! thank you so much <3

and to answer your second question - yes, i would definitely consider writing something like that!

#i will keep your prompt in mind #but pls don't expect anything any time soon!!#i'm a terribly slow writer with at least 49 WIPs so like. yeah.#thanks for your patience babe #anon #ask #Anonymous

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heuristicallyinclined · 4 years

Text

Nobody Knows

Hey, so this is my first public fanfic. I have been a Homestuck fan since the early 2010′s but Hiveswap slammed me back into it hard enough to write. Cringe is dead and it is going to be angsty and indulgent with canon treated as a suggestion. I’ve been spamming some of my favorite writers in the fandom with ideas in their inbox and decided to actually do something about some of them. Most of this comes from some future angst with Mallek I sent @clusband a few weeks ago during sad Mallek hours. Constructive advice welcome.

Get some hurt, comfort, fluff, a lot of angst. A lot of background characters.

Summary: MSPA Reader reflects on their current situation and unhappiness at not being able to see their old friends again. They accept that they past they once knew them in no longer exists, but what about the present?

Chapter 1: Self-reflection and other cool ways to spend the day

Part 1/?

(Word count: 3,085 | Rated T | Past MSPA Reader x Mallek Adalov, MSPA Reader x Mallek Adalov, Past MSPA Reader x Polypa Goezee, Background DaveKat)

AO3 Links: Part One (This) | Part Two | Part Three

Being back in your hive after however long it has been brings up memories. Memories that you had spent so long aching for whenever the discomfort of that void inside of you passed. Focusing on that hollowness for too long always made you uncomfortable, but you sometimes would try to understand why that was. You tried, you really did, to the point of feeling that static so hard that your vision would go white and you couldn’t hear anything over the sound of it in your mind, feeling like you were going to pass out. You think one time you did, but it was hard to tell. Fuck.

You thought that getting them back would help, make you more content, fill it even, make you feel whole again? But you just feel even emptier and like an even more monumentally bigger fuck up. You drink your shitty, expired coffee made in the coffee machine Tagora bought you a long time ago in the mug Skyyla made you, thumbing over the Ladyy design on the handle. You smile at the idea of her making such a comparatively small mug for you. Imagining the struggle of her larger hands trying to make something usable for your much smaller ones. You feel the warmth from your drink and your memory. At least your makeshift home was too out of the way to be ransacked, that or too much of a death risk for anyone other than alien refugees to try to make their way into.

You look around you at all of the trinkets your friends had given you. Remembering how at the time, you felt so rewarded, accepted even. Trolls being, well, trolls, had a hard time opening up to others given how much of a hellscape the whole planet was. So every time you made some progress, you felt like you got the neighborhood cat to approach you without getting too clawed up.

You look over in the corner and notice the plastic bag you got when grabbing some oblong meat products for Dieman at Grub-Mart. You had some extra caegars and figured he might be exhausted after doing whatever drug that was at Ardata’s party. You figured that some sweet meat might help with the hangover. You definitely needed it.

Your teal highlighter had been covered in dust, having not been used since you decided to be a good friend and smuggle some snacks into the bookhive to support your favorite legislacerators-in-training late night, er morning, study session. You stayed as moral support, given you know fuck all about the laws of any given planet and also enjoy having your flesh remain unscorched. You feel like you learned a lot. Probably. You mostly shared meaningful eye contact and words of encouragement.

Drawings from clown children and sketches from Amisia cover your walls. So do ticket stubs from Marvus’ and Chixie’s shows. You felt an odd sense of pride in being one of the most normal people there, extraterrestrial status not withstanding. A set of indigo sweatbands from exercising with Nikhee that you would also use with Stelsa during scaerobics classes are hung on hooks. There was a rom-com with a title too long to read in your lifetime that you watched with Polypa and books borrowed from Galekh that you never returned.

You smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes. You care about all of your new friends, of course you do! It is just that… you feel more like the universe’s least qualified guidance counselor instead of their friend sometimes. You’re older than them, so it is maybe more like a sibling or a sketchy babysitter kind of relationship. They all have kinda weird, hard lives, even the ones on Earth, so you don’t mind being an interdimensional taxi service, or a postman who delivers kids to other kids, but they tend to relate more with each other than with you. Which makes sense, and you're definitely happy they finally get to be with other people their own age, but seeing them hanging out with each other really makes you long for the people you once had the same kinds of relationships with.

You had Karkat ask about your hoodie before you got your memories back and Sollux mentioned Mallek, but you got a little occupied by drones. It had been a bit since then. After taking Karkat back to his hive after a movie night with Dave, you noticed him eyeing your hoodie again.

“HEY. SO YOU NEVER ACTUALLY TOLD ME.”

Told you what?

“DON’T BE OBTUSE, I GET ENOUGH OF THAT FROM ALL OF THE OTHER BULGELICKERS THAT HAVE TRAMPLED THEIR WAY INTO MY EXISTENCE. DID YOU KNOW SOMEONE NAMED ADALOV?”

Oh, yeah the hoodie. After remembering, you were not looking forward to this conversation. You look off and let him know, yeah, you did. You trying not to make a big deal of it has clearly had the opposite impact on him.

“YOU TELEPORTED YOUR HORNLESS ASS INTO MY HIVE. IS THIS WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO BE COY ABOUT? YOU DUMPED ME ON AN ALIEN PLANET AND HAVE THE INEXPLICABLE HOBBY OF TRYING TO GET YOUR FROND STUMPS IN EVERYONE’S PERSONAL LIFE AND I ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU AND FIGURE OUT HOW YOU OF ALL PEOPLE MANAGED TO GET A HIGHBLOOD MOIRAIL AND-”

Matesprit. He pauses and actually looks taken aback. It is odd to see him momentarily speechless.

“WHAT?” Well that didn’t last.

He was my matesprit.

“AGAIN, WHAT? SO YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE AND ARE WEARING A SIGN THAT HASN’T BEEN USED IN FUCK KNOWS HOW LONG? BEING MUTATED CULLBAIT NOT KILLED BY DRONES AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU FILLED A QUAD?”

Quads.

This information seems to break him. You see a familiar crease being to form between his brows. You then pause, trying not to get offended.

Wait, hold on, he has totally accepted you being able to travel time and space, but you filling a quad is too much?

“YOU ARE STILL PUSHING IT WITH TIME. BUT EXCUSE ME IF THROUGH THE PANBOGGLING TALES OF YOUR FUCKING ESCAPADES THROUGH SPACE THAT THEY DON’T EXACTLY FUCKING TRACK ON BEING CONDUSIVE TO FILLING YOUR QUADRANTS.”

Fair. You sigh and tell him the story before he can take a breath because as much as you care about him, this boy has one setting and it is very loud.

You tell him about taking a walk, getting abducted. Saying you were a robot and then revealing you were not in fact a robot. You hesitate during the underground river part as you walk the line between Mallek’s privacy and sating Karkat’s curiosity. You smile recounting getting pushed in the river, saved, and how he called you cute and started blushing and trying to backpeddle. How the two of you hung out later and how he made an account just to talk to you. Karkat seems to soften by a modicum at this.

You laughed at how he showed up to tattoo a stranger just because you asked. You wistfully go through the memories that led to an eventual confession and how beforehand how your moirail Polypa was coaching you and Galekh provided you with literature on quadrants. A true bro move, especially since you don’t know how a conversation on them would have gone. You guessed it was since you helped him with his pitch quad and the tattoo. Maybe he felt like there was already something going on when we were both at his hive in matching hoodies, oh yeah he was the guy who got tattooed. His kismesis was your law partner. Karkat’s brow twitched, incredulous. Yeah you don’t know how Gorgor managed that either. Maybe having an alien alive and working for him on Alternia added to his court cred. You also think that that wasn’t the only part Karkat took issue with, but by some miracle, he lets you keep talking.

You kept expecting him to cut you off but he seemed somewhat enraptured by the tales of your romantic antics, despite his efforts to seem more interested in the you part, you were getting a feeling he was more interested in alien dynamics. You knew he was interested in romcoms so maybe this was just some new material for him, especially since quads were a new thing for you and maybe he has strong thoughts regarding the differences in alien ro-

Oh.

Oh you see why now.

Karkat seemed to pick up on the shift in your storytelling going from your personal life to human romantic customs.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT LOOK FOR?”

What look? There are no looks occurring.

“TRY THAT SHIT ON A MORON WHO JUST HATCHED. THEY MIGHT JUST BE MORE INCLINED TO GLEEFULLY SHOVEL THAT EXCUSE DOWN THEIR CHUTES.” He crossed his arms and squints at you. You knew how sharp his claws were from experience, not that you thought he was going to hurt you. There was just something very endearing about him trying to intimidate you while not subtly trying to glean more information about humans without seeming interested in humans. Or a human. Yeah, this is totally about Dave. You just have to find a way to gracefully skedaddle around that little detail.

I just had a bit of learning curve when dating an alien. So it is totally cool if you don’t know much about human stuff. I know quads can b-

“AND WHY DO YOU THINK I WOULD WANT TO KNOW THAT?” He says this clearly knowing what he thinks you think. You think it would be better if he didn’t think you thinked that, considering how the tips of his ears are turning red. You think.

You have romcom stuff everywhere and seem to really like them? Learning about human stuff might make it easier for you watch human romcoms and see how good or bad they are based on social norms. Kinda like romantic xenoanthropology.

Fucking nailed it. He huffs and rolls his eyes. Or at least enough that your answer plus the sheer amount of not fucking wanting to talk about that got you onto romcoms in general. He seemed to echo Polypa’s taste and you smiled at how animated he was becoming. A few of what you watched were now classics. Others that you didn’t like are prime pitch fodder. It had gotten late (early?) and that led you back to your hive. Just sitting alone and thinking. God you hate self-reflection.

You think of your time with Aradia. How she said you were a little broken. How she said you wouldn’t remember not being able to get to your friends again and being held by whatever the fuck that was. But you did remember, as much as you wish you didn’t. Guess you were more broken than she thought. It would be easier to just think you couldn’t get back because you didn’t try hard enough. But you did, you really did, and no matter what you do you just can’t. You are a shitty meta traveler and an even shittier friend. You thought about trying again but you get the feeling that you can’t access something that longer exists. You’d probably just get stuck in some corner of the universe and be alone all over again until you suffocate.

Can you even really die or be killed in anyway that matters anymore? At least in a way that doesn’t bring up the dull pang of a “bad end” followed by getting slammed dunked back in the past, before your fuck up, by an alarmingly cheerful time goddess?

Yeah, you didn’t think so. That would just add to the conga line of your dead selves letting you know how much of a dumbass you are.

But those people, those times. They don’t exist anymore. You keep thinking back to the way things were and who they were and how you can’t travel to those points anymore. All you have is the relative now and the people who exist now. Mostly.

You finish your terrible, bitter coffee, the cup no longer keeping your hands warm. You deserve this. In some shitty cosmic way, maybe you deserve this for not being better as a friend or partner. You can’t go back to the way things were to only to the people of now. And who even know who or what that even is.

Wait.

Maybe you couldn’t go back to the people they used to be because those were no longer who they were now. That thought sends a pang of hurt through you, imagining what little hope they had crushed. God dammit. But you have to try. Otherwise it is just you babysitting some 13 year olds who are trying to discover themselves and work through their issues with some interdimensional asshole looking over their shoulders. That asshole hopefully just being you.

You put your mug down and stand, closing your eyes, you try to repeat what you did with Aradia again, the memory of them doesn’t work. You know that. But with your new friends, it hasn’t completely been the memory? Maybe more accurate to say it’s them, some part memory sure, but more the idea of the present them, what they look like, who they are. You open your eyes and glance down at the sign on your hood. A sign you have mindlessly traced so many times. A sign that when you forgot it, gave you a dull sense of grief, now that you do remember though, it has sharpened and you are reminded of it whenever you are alone for too long or even slow down. Like the rest of you from other timelines will catch up to you in the current one and you get to experience your failures all over again.

You hold yourself tightly to ground yourself. Self-flagellation won’t get you anywhere, you’ve tried, you know this. So again, you close your eyes. You focus on your hood, the sign on it, the person it belonged to. The Mallek he was when he gave it to you vs. the Mallek he knew he didn’t want to be. The one he would have to be to survive. Your throat tightened at the thought of not being able to find him because he couldn’t do it and what if they got him an-

You slap yourself to stop catastrophizing.

Focus!

Adult trolls get bigger and their horns and claws grow with them. Their skin hardens and darkens as it does. You can’t tell if them molting was a joke someone told you or if they were serious so you don’t think about that part. Their blood color shows more through their eyes as they age. They wear black with their sign incorporated on it when they get spaced. You think back to the cerulean pirate you saw with Konyyl. Something like that. Okay you were getting somewhere. You could tell by how afraid you were to get there. You begin to get a headache, like your mind is a rubber band that you are trying to stretch to fit around something it shouldn’t.

Mallek said he would be a soldier or a spy and would be stuck ordering around lowbloods. No longer able to use his hacker skills how he wanted to. You imagine him, larger, older, more tired. Probably has more piercings and tattoos. You smile a little, despite yourself and the tension you feel continuing to build. He would likely play along, do what he had to do to do what he wanted to do. But at that point what would that even be? You imagine he would never truly stop messing with the system or hacking. His natural curiosity wouldn’t let him so he would be trying… something quietly on the side. He was sympathetic but you didn’t know how deep he would or if he would go down the rebel route, maybe just try to deal with his own corner of the universe.

Going along with what is expected seems to be the easiest way to keep under the radar. He has always been partial to not getting culled. Even when it was just the two of you, you knew it was a conscious effort to let his guard down around you, often requiring a change of scenery with you jokingly asking about if you would be needing goggles. Jokes often broke the tension of being afraid to be known with him.

Despite his projected cool, you knew he was an anxious person and preferred to be alone. You could see that being warped to fit the expectations of being a cerulean. You remember from conversations you had early in the morning, with ordeals approaching, you had some rare moments of verbalized vulnerability, of him exasperatedly going over what ceruleans are supposed to be with the unspoken and mutual understanding of what he was actually like. The coolness that he projected could morph into coldness, him wrapping it around himself tighter than any armor the empire would give him. Put some distance between himself and his team. You couldn’t see him being casually cruel, but definitely keeping people away through attitude and fear of his caste. The band tightens. So does your throat.

He hates having people over him and likely would at that start. Probably would be trying to do well so that he could use his performance and caste to be given his own ship and team so he could get some breathing room away from his superiors. Just be another team that does their job without question or issue in order to keep the space around himself. You realize that at some point during this, you started hyperventilating. You consider doing the breathing exercises Konyyl taught you, but at this point, you were tired of trying to be okay about it. You wanted to let it out in some way or another. You wanted to feel.

You thought of you, your disappearance. How that would have impacted him probably trying to find you, keeping himself up more than usual, blaming himself and then being taken off world. The not knowing would upset him the most you think. Would he even want to see you? What if he mattered to you way more than you mattered to him and you just showing up makes things worse? Another pang of guilt hits you for making things harder for another person again and you taste metal. You grit your teeth and refocus. The whole picture might never actually be known to you, but this is likely as close as it gets. You see this in your minds’ eye, the assumed idea of a person who may or may not exist, based off of who they used to be. Was this accurate, would this even do anything? Your hands clench around the hem of your hood and you drop to your knees and your leggings scrape the wood on the floor of your hive, eyes still screwed shut with tears pricking at the corners, breathing quick and heavy, jaw locked.

You try again.

The bands snaps.

And your head hits a cold, metal floor.

#homestuck #hiveswap #friendsim #mspa reader #mallek adalov #hs mallek #mallek x reader #my writing

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drivingsideways · 4 years

Note

1, 8, 20 for the meta writing ask

hello, hello! Thanks for playing @sidewaystime

1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

Hahaha, I did not expect to be stumped by the first question. Hmm, what's it about. Well, it's basically a love story between a person with too many secrets and someone whose life's work is uncovering other people's secrets? So in a way, I think it's become about how much truth do we need in our lives to be able to live it.

Ok, that sounds like, very deep, it's not; it's about two people who are unutterably horny for each other, and found families.

I started writing it about 3.5 weeks ago, and I think I've made good progress. This seems to imply that I have some control over this story, I do not, it's writing itself and apparently it will take it's own time and words. I thought it'd be around 20k, now it's 43k + and 3.5 chapters (approximately, who the fuck knows) left to go.

What do I love most? WEIRDLY ENOUGH, not the central love story, though I love that a LOT. I am SOFT for these two ok. But the bits I love writing the most are actually the "found family" I'm building around the main PoV character. I'm taking characters that I feel were treated badly/ not given enough time or interest in the canon and trying to give them a life. Mostly, I think I'm succeeding; even if nobody else loves it (shhhh, @rain-hat, I know you do!) and maybe people will skip those parts once it's posted, I LOVE IT VERY MUCH.

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Hmm, yes and no. I feel I like reading stuff that I have no competence- either emotionally or intellectually- to write. But yeah, there's often a particular relationship or dynamic or story in a particular show canon that's not being explored either by the canon or by the fandom, and I will find myself whining, WHYYYYYYYYY and then I will be like, FINE, I WILL WRITE IT MYSELF.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes? )

I tend to reference or quote poetry or literature that's stuck with me and is not really directly related to the canon I'm writing in, as such, and probably, unless I mention it in the author's notes, nobody would even get it. 😊 I think, most recent example was in my TKEM story, "Before You Came" where I had an entire bit that ran through the fic that was actually about the Tony Hoagland poem "Sweet Ruin", because I kept thinking about that poem in reference to the PoV character, but of course, the character themselves doesn't quote it directly. It's just an easter egg for myself. 😊

Then there's the kind of silly self-indulgence that I do, like when I introduced a deaf, lip-reading wolf in a fic for The Rise of Phoenixes (which is a Chinese historical!) , and again, nothing much to with anything except that I got a laugh out of it and it made me want to watch Due South all over again.

Other than that, there's almost always a particular gesture or a sentence or an object, that will get repeated through the fic, but in different contexts as characters move through the story. These are stuff the reader would pick up (or should, unless I've FAILED as a writer!). In Inventing Love, there's the way Gon holds Yeong's hand at the wrist; in Calculations of the Heart, there's Xin Zi Yan reading poetry to Ning Yi, which eventually gets flipped, when Ning Yi reads/ quotes one to him, in The List, there's literally a real list on pen and paper that becomes a point of contention and revelation between Ning Yi and Xin Zi Yan, but also there's "the real list" which is something that only exists in Xin Zi Yan's heart.

I also do love "mirroring" as a device, where one character finds themselves in the same situation as the other, at a different point/context in the story, and the fun and point of it is the self-realization that comes with it, obviously.

Re: clues for future scenes- I'm going to go very literally with this- my current romance fic includes a murder subplot that's revealing to me how difficult it is to actually structure one and leave enough clues so that both reader AND character can "solve" the mystery without the final reveal seeming completely unearned? Ugh, all those whodunnits which were the staple of my teenage life seem to have not taught me anything. But this is the first time I'm attempting anything like a "mystery" plot, and it's really a sub-plot, not a main one, so I'm trying to tell myself not to beat on myself too much.

#sidewaystime #writing things #thank you for indulging me

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saiilorstars · 4 years

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The Girl in the Forest

Chapter 10: A Witch’s Secret

// Story Masterlist //

Fandom: The Originals

Pairings: Klaus Mikaelson x Original Female Character

Pronunciation of OC’s name: Ma-leh-nee

No real warnings for now!

Requested tag: @queenmj10

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

Chapter Summary: Maleny and Klaus go on a hunt to discover the purpose of Kieran's key. On the other side, Cami and Elijah embark on their own hunt...but for a witch.

A blonde Maleny sat on a lonely tree stump in the middle of the forest. It was dawn out and the wind was light as only small wasps of her long hair seemed to move. Maleny's face was covered in tears, her blue eyes red and puffy from the crying she'd been doing for some time now. But that was all she could do after the awful argument she had with Klaus earlier.

"Little girl?" she heard a woman's voice call to her. Maleny turned her head to both sides for the source of the voice, "Little girl?" a middle-aged woman with long brown hair and brown eyes emerged from the trees.

"I'm not a little girl," Maleny declared as she rose to her feet, "And whoever you are, you need to go or-"

"Or what?" the woman raised an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face, "You'll use your nonexistent powers on me?"

Maleny eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "H-how did you know that? You're not from the village," she hadn't been able to identify the brunette as someone she recognized.

"I am on my own, child," the woman walked towards her but Maleny quickly moved behind the tree stump. The woman lightly chuckled, "I have not come to harm you, I have come to help you."

"How?"

"I know what Esther Mikaelson has done to you. I believe I can help."

"Why would you want to help? And how do you know what she did?" Maleny remained still, not daring to run for the woman was clearly a witch by the garbs she wore around her neck.

The woman flashed a knowing smile that gave Maleny chills, "The Mikaelsons have made several friends-"

"Enemies," Maleny corrected, the term no where near scaring her, "But those are enemies within the village. You are not from there so how do you know about them?"

"I have family in your village," the woman gave the brief explanation, apparently having no intention to elaborate more, " My name is Lilith, and I would like to help you get back what is yours."

Maleny's seriousness faltered at the reminder of her powers, "I...I can't get them back," she quietly sniffled, "I can never get them back."

"But that's not exactly what you want, is it?" Lilith raised an eyebrow, Maleny too engulfed in her feelings to question the knowledge of the woman, "You want to change who you are - for one of them."

Maleny shut her eyes, stifling another sob, "I just want to turn. But Klaus won't do it. He's too scared or something. And his mother isn't helping either."

"Esther is a selfish woman," Lilith declared, "I have been told all about her and believe me, you are not the first one she's wronged."

"I can imagine," Maleny whispered.

"Her children are in the dark about their mother's action and they believe they are sparing you the monstrosities they have become," Lilith moved for Maleny and came to stop in front of the stump.

Maleny looked up from the ground, "H-how do you know this? How do you know Esther stole my magic?"

"Child, that's not important. What is important is you doing what you want but no one will do."

Maleny frowned, not even realizing she was blurting out her story, "I helped her turn her children under false knowledge and she used it to take my magic..."

Lilith shook her head, "The worst thing a witch can do to her own kind."

Maleny was near tears again, "She's an awful being...but even now I ask her to use my own magic and turn me as well...but she declines."

"There is a way to live on for centuries without being what the Mikaelsons are," Lilith smirked, "There is a way that you will retain your youth, your beauty, and, most of all, your love for all of eternity."

The offer seemed attractive which brought Maleny to ask, "How so?"

"There is a spell, a spell only my hands can conjure. I will gladly help you be what you wish to be."

"And what's the price?"

"Upon granting the spell, your magic will return in bits and pieces, I ask that you allow me and my family to channel that power," Lilith explained, "We are in trouble and we need all the magic we can get. Please, allow me to channel your powers and I will give you what you want."

Maleny glanced back in the direction of the village, the place she knew Klaus was probably waiting for her. They had an awful argument where he explicitly swore to her he would never turn her. What future awaited for them if she would inevitably grow old while he stayed young? Esther had already told her countless times she would never do the spell again. Lilith's way seemed the only alternative that would guarantee an eternal life.

Lilith anxiously waited for an answer, "What do you say? Do we have an agreement?"

Maleny studied Lilith, trying to see anything that would give a motive to distrust. But there was none. Lilith just seemed hopeful, like there was a grand necessity for her. Maleny thought of it as a deal where both of them could win. Lilith would save her family and Maleny would garner immortality.

And so, after carefully thinking it one more time, Maleny held out a hand for Lilith, "I accept," she declared boldly.

Lilith grinned, taking Maleny's hand and leading her away from the stump, "Then we must get started. I promise you everything will change after this."

Maleny shot up in her bed with wide eyes, her mind quickly replaying that dream of the night. The sunlight emitting from the room's window made her realize it was day. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table to see it was noon. She had slept more than intended but what reward she'd gotten then.

She had willingly gone with that woman who had been the 'curser'. Slowly, Maleny reached for her journal on her nightstand and opened it up, reaching for a pen to write down her horrible revelation.

~ 0 ~

Cami was walking down the tomb rows of the cemetery with a small, white notepad in her hand and a pen in the other. After listening to Maleny she had decided to investigate on her own for the moment. There was someone Maleny had wanted to look more into and with everything that had happened lately, Maleny never got the chance. Cami was more than willing to start investigating Emily Cordera. She had been at the cemetery for a good thirty minutes or so looking through the graves until...

Emily Gates Cordera

Loving wife and cherished mother and grandmother

Cami's eyes widened at the name on the tomb. Her hand scribbled down the information on her notepad. While the name didn't match exactly, the dates coincided perfectly with the story Maleny had told her. Klaus was wrong, Emily Cordera did exist. The only question that stood was what had the woman wanted with 'Maya Sterling' in the 20th century? And did she meet Maya?

~ 0 ~

Genevieve was fiddling with a couple herbs in her hands when Cami burst in from the shop doors. Genevieve only had time to raise her eyes when Cami slammed the notepad on the counter, "Emily Cordera, who the hell was she? And what did she do to my cousin?"

"Well...I see someone is up to date with the news," Genevieve laid the herbs on the counter and looked at the blonde with a smirk.

"Maleny told me everything, including your little deal which by the way off. She's a bit hung up on the fact there's a mystery murderer on her trail. You told her about this woman, Emily, for a reason. What was it?"

Genevieve felt like throwing out the human from the shop but she knew by doing that she would anger Maleny and therefore make it impossible to get closer to Klaus and Hayley. And after her new orders from the ancestors, she couldn't risk that. She would have to help Maleny and tolerate her human cousin.

"Emily Cordera was a witch. She had family in New Orleans," Genevieve sighed, "In fact, she married in the city, a warlock of great powers."

"And?" Cami raised an eyebrow, "You were an ancestor and by that logic you know a lot more than you're letting on. What did she want from Maleny?"

"Maya, was a witch, an orphan," Genevieve shrugged and looked around the shop, "She had a couple friends but primarily the Mikaelsons'. Emily came into the city specifically for Maya. She never said what she wanted but after I died I got a little glimpse from the other side."

"Like?"

"Maya's prone, dead body was carried in by some group of witches, one of them Emily. I don't know how they did it but they killed her," Genevieve leaned on the counter with a fake, solemn smile, "and they sacrificed her for power."

Cami was stunned but it didn't fog her actions, "My uncle said something about that before dying. How could he know that Maleny had been sacrificed?"

"The hex placed on him allowed the ancestors to mess with his mind," Genevieve gave a shrug, "Something must have stuck."

"So, wait a minute," Cami rubbed her temple, "You knew all this time and you never said?"

"To be fair, I didn't know Maya and Maleny were the same person. I tended to avoid Maleny."

"Why did they sacrifice her? What did they want?"

"Power, it was an old spell they used," Genevieve honestly tried remembering the words of the spell, "A channeling spell, though. It's used, if I remember correctly, to give a family an increase of power."

"None of this makes sense," Cami whispered as she thought, "Sacrifices? Why did Emily come specifically for Maya? Why not any other witch?"

Genevieve honestly didn't know the answer to that, "I have no idea. You'd have to take that up with the current Cordera generation. Though I assume they knew Maya was the current Maleny in their generation."

"How would they know?" Cami asked more to herself than to Genevieve. How could the people know which woman was their target?

"Well," Genevieve honestly pondered on the question for a minute, "I would say Maleny has to be branded with something to identify her."

"Like I mark," Cami realized then, "Like...like a chained necklace?" what if the perception filter placed on Maleny's necklace had been not to necessarily hide but to identify her as the current prey for the cursers?

"Your studies haven't been in vain I see," Genevieve couldn't help her sarcasm which earned herself a glare from the blonde human.

"Okay, okay," Cami started to think about it again, "So the current generation of the curser lives and is hunting Maleny down by a mark she has to have. Who's the current generation now?"

"I can't remember all of them, some of them married, but I do know one," Genevieve smirked before saying the name she knew would cause chaos within the Quarter.

But by doing this, she would instantly garner trust not only from Maleny, but from the entire Mikaelson family. And if it would allow her to get close to the unborn baby, then so be it.

Let there be blood.

~ 0 ~

Maleny was frantically passing the pages of her mother's spell book, trying to figure out what kind of spell could do what Lilith had promised her all those centuries ago. But with the scarce dream it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, or unfortunately, however he would react, Klaus walked into the study room of the compound. As soon as he saw her frantically looking at the pages, he knew something was wrong, "What are you looking for?" he approached her but didn't sit down.

"I had a dream..." was all Maleny mustered while reading words she could barely comprehend.

"Elaborate, perhaps?"

Maleny released a breath and set the book on her lap, "I had a dream last night...of myself, the original me," she looked up at him, "It appeared we had an argument and I ran into the woods or something where I met this woman, Lilith. She knew me, and she...offered me a deal: the deal I'm pretty sure is what allows me to be here today."

"Changing bodies without remembering," Klaus pointed out and made her frown, making him raise his hands in surrender, "Only saying. The deal wasn't that good."

"Well, I was angry at you, my mind wasn't thinking clearly," Maleny rolled her eyes, "Apparently we had some type of argument, and a big one."

"Ah yes," Klaus remembered that argument with a long sigh. He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking ahead, "That was the last time I saw you. And you were so...upset," Maleny noticed a distant look was taking him over, "That was certainly not the way I wanted to see you last."

Maleny looked down at the open book and simply could not help but to ask, "Then how would you have preferred to see me? Old and dead?"

"Maleny," Klaus sighed again, letting his head hang low, "Not this again. Please-"

"Well, it's the truth," Maleny shrugged. She didn't intend to start an argument with him about it but she did want him to see the truth, a truth she had wanted him to see centuries ago.

"Centuries later and you still cannot let it go?"

"Well look at me," Maleny gestured to herself, "What ever I did, I thought was right because no one else wanted to turn me."

"So now this is my fault?" Klaus stood up, easily taking the blame as was the custom. However, with Maleny, it...it was not easy, "It's my fault you disappeared?"

Maleny saw the guilt she was willing to bet had followed Klaus for centuries, starting the day she originally disappeared, "No, I don't think it was your fault," she made sure to voice her thoughts, "I did it out of my own choice. I thought if I did it, then..." she felt awkward saying her next words, "...you and I could be together," she cleared her throat as she felt a warm blush rush in her face, "Forever."

"I wanted that too, Maleny, but I just didn't want you to go through what I had," Klaus sighed, "I didn't want you to suffer."

"I get it," Maleny told him, meaning it, "but because of this I actually chose to take this curse. You know, Maya, Victoria, Cordelia and Valerie told me I chose this path...and that's why I ended up stealing their lives. It may not have been intentional but it was my fault. I have been stealing lives for a very long time now. I'm an awful woman."

On that last accusation, Klaus had to openly disagree, "You are far from that. How can you think that?"

Maleny looked down momentarily, choosing to be honest with him as he deserved to know the important detail she'd also remembered, "Klaus, I remembered that...I helped your mother turn you and your family into vampires..." the knowledge left Klaus stunned, his eyes widening for a minute. Maleny took a deep breath and faced him, expressing her guilt in her eyes, "I don't think Esther told me exactly what she was going to do to you but I know I helped her...and in the process, she took my most of my magic. Genevieve was right, it was stolen. I just didn't think it was your mother."

"That..that doesn't make sense," Klaus said, still processing the grave accusation against Esther, "My mother saw you as one of her own..."

"And she turned her own into vampires," Maleny gently pointed out, "If she treated me like her own then of course she had to hurt me in some way. But that's not what I wanted to tell you, well...it wasn't the most important thing I had to tell you. I want you to know that you turning wasn't all her fault - it was mine too," her eyes began to water up as she continued, "I'm sorry, Klaus. I helped her turn you and hurt you. I'm so sorry!"

"I would never blame you," Klaus immediately took her into a hug, his mind reaching to the conclusion that this was one more thing Esther was responsible for.

"You should," Maleny pulled away enough to look at him, her face now covered with tears, "Because I helped her, me," she pointed at herself, "You trusted me and I let you down."

"No, no," Klaus still insisted and began to clear her tears from her cheeks, "I know you, and I know you would have never done something that you knew would hurt people."

"So..." Maleny sniffled and shakily breathed in, "...you're not...you know...mad at me? Don't want to lock me up somewhere?"

"Never," Klaus said then added, "Well, besides this place," he pointed to the room and made her chuckle, "I still don't want you going out on your own."

"I know," she said quietly, no longer upset about it. She learned that spending time with him hadn't been so bad in the end. It had certainly helped remembering more things of their past.

"How about we take another look at that spell book," Klaus suggested, nodding over to Maleny's spell book, "Now that we know a little more of the spell we can pinpoint one in the book."

"Okay," Maleny sniffled again and looked for the book beside her, "but I tried to on my own and it's not easy. There's a lot of stuff in it."

"Well, now it's us doing the job - and we were always a good team, you know," Klaus smirked at her, making her sheepishly smile back, "And, if we can't find it, we could always call your little witch friend. Sure she'll love to hear me asking for help."

"Maybe if you asked nicely," Maleny joked with him and grabbed her book, putting it on her lap, "she would gladly accept."

"Yeah, we'll see," Klaus scooted closer to see the pages, having no intention of asking Davina Claire for something in a 'nice' way.

~ 0 ~

Elijah was confused as he stood in front of a gravestone with the name 'Emily Cordera' carved into the headstone. He, frankly, had a lot to do and so receiving a call from Cami practically demanding to meet with him wasn't a very pleasing task. He could start with the fact witches weren't very content with having a vampire, an Original, standing in the one territory they could call their own. Thankfully, he could see Cami coming from across the row, though her expression wasn't the usual, cheerful one she commonly bore. But nowadays, what other face could anyone have?

"Thanks for coming here," was the first thing Cami said when they stood only feet away from each other, "I know this wasn't, um..."

"My first choice?" Elijah raised an eyebrow, "No, of course not. Any other place would've been good, but then again...you didn't exactly leave time for me to make a suggestion."

Cami didn't look the least bit ashamed of the hurried call she'd given to earlier, "I'm sorry. But I knew that if I told you what I know in the compound, Klaus would certainly hear and then, well...bloodshed would happen," the words made Elijah tense a bit, mostly because he knew Cami wouldn't go to such measures for nothing, "Plus, I thought you would need concrete proof," she looked at the gravestone.

"What is it, Cami?"

"This woman," Cami gestured to the gravestone, "is responsible for Maya Sterling's death in the 20th century."

Elijah glanced at the tombstone, once again confused, "That is impossible. Maya died the day we fled the city. My father killed her."

"You think that's what happened," Cami corrected, "But the truth is Maya didn't die that night. And I have a witness: Marcel. He said that Maya gasped back to life and a couple days later she went missing," all of that was new to Elijah, and with that came doubt.

"Well, Marcel isn't quite the best source of history," he pretended to dust off something from his fingers, "I'm sure you've heard of the attack he caused a couple days ago."

"Yes, but this was before you threw him out of the city," Cami explained, "This was him trying to protect me from what he considered a threat, Maleny. Maya survived your father's attack but she didn't have the same luck with this woman, Emily."

"Cami, all this is-"

"Please," Cami raised a hand and stopped Elijah from continuing, "Just...hear me out, okay? I'm a psychologist, well, getting there, but I'm sure I've cracked something," Elijah nodded and motioned for her to keep going. Cami took a breath, "Emily Cordera, along with her family, sacrificed Maya for power. She killed Maya somehow, knowing just the way for Maya to actually die. But you know what gets me the most? Is how did Emily decide/know Maya would be the witch to be sacrificed? Maleny's been branded with some sort of recognizable mark that allows the enemy to know she's the target - her chained necklace that belongs to her mother. She had to have had it on her in the past, hidden to you all except for the cursers which would then explain the times where she disappeared. She disappeared because the enemy took her to be sacrificed for power..."

"You've certainly got the makings of a psychologist," Elijah concluded after several moments of silence had gone by, "Tell me now, how did you gather this information?"

Cami knew the answer would spark doubts but she still went ahead and said it anyways, "Genevieve told me something and then I put it together."

"What? And you believed that woman?" Elijah stepped forwards, already irritated this seemed like a loss of time.

"I know she isn't a reliable source but I studied everything she told me and it checks out," Cami assured, "She was telling the truth. My theory could be correct, and if it is then that means Maleny is in serious danger."

Elijah had to admit that explanation would fit perfectly with the two attempted murders Maleny had endured. He just couldn't figure out why Genevieve would be so gracious to tell the truth all of a sudden.

"There's one more thing," Cami said quietly, garnering his attention fast, "Genevieve told me the current living Cordera generation..."

"Who?"

"Now look, just because he's part of the family doesn't mean he could have anything to do with it," Cami said first which alerted Elijah and frankly left him suspicious, "It's...Riley. His name is Riley Dawson Gates...Cordera. Emily Cordera was his grandmother - great grandmother or something."

"Do you mean to tell me that, perhaps, all this time the murderer was right under our noses? In our home?" Elijah was horrified to learn he had been that careless...and that Klaus could've been right this whole time.

"Like I said, we don't know if he has anything to do with it," Cami pointed in reminder, "Plus, Maleny said that Riley wasn't even there the two times something happened."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have gotten one of his little friends to do the dirty work," Elijah pointed out, his agitation of himself growing more and more, "Or, that he hid to do the crime."

Cami suspected he would be going into some type of attack sooner or later, making her panic, "I called you because I would think that between you and Klaus, you would be the brother with the least chances of murder."

"Smart move," Elijah remarked and studied her a moment, "We have to tell them..."

"But the first thing Klaus will do is kill that poor guy," Cami crossed her arms, "My theory isn't 100% correct. I don't want Maleny mad with me because I made Klaus kill her friend."

"But Riley is part of the Corderas', meaning we have to pay extra close attention," Elijah countered with, "I believe I can convince my brother to hold off on his actions..."

"You can make him not kill Riley?"

"Oh no, that man's dead either way," Elijah shook his head, surprising Cami with his bluntness, "But we can do this in a smart way, one that'll give us information on how to help Maleny. But first thing's first, Maleny can't know about Riley. I fear her appreciation for him will cloud her judgement."

Cami nodded in agreement, "Okay, but if he turns out to be innocent he's not going to die," she warned, "Just because his grandmother was bad doesn't make him bad as well."

Elijah smiled, "Camille, when you've lived as long as I have, you come to learn the phrase 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' is almost always true."

Cami tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "But your parents weren't exactly 'parents of the year' and I don't think you're all that bad. Maleny's father was also a horrible man and she's the complete opposite. Sometimes, the bad things in life can make you kind."

Elijah's smile grew a little more and gave her a nod of agreement, accepting his loss, "Indeed. Shall we get to work, then?"

"Yes," Cami replied quick and turned to walk off, Elijah moving right behind her.

~ 0 ~

"Nothing," Maleny snapped shut her mother's spellbook with a loud thud and rose from the couch, "We searched through the whole damn book and there's nothing!" she let the book drop to the cushion and walked in frustration towards the threshold.

Klaus reached for the book and opened it up again, skimming more pages, "Then we'll have to go through Esther's," he proposed but that only opened up a whole other mess with Maleny.

"Sure," she turned around, crossing her arms, "right after you take it back from Genevieve," she was still mighty irritated Esther's spellbook had been relinquished to the ginger witch after she'd saved Maleny.

"Mal, I understand you're frustrated but I could use a little less of it towards me," Klaus gave her a look and shut the book again.

"That's what you do all the time," Maleny accused and turned away, taking a breath to start calming down, "We need something else because simply looking for the spell isn't doing much."

"I agree," Klaus stood up and left the book on the couch, "Any suggestions?"

Maleny bit her lip as she began thinking, "Well..."

Klaus knew a plan had formed inside the brunette's mind and immediately pressed for the details, "What are you thinking of?"

Maleny turned around, "Before uncle Kieran died he gave me this key. I told him he should've given it to Cami but he said it was more adequate for me," she gestured to herself, "and then he added it was for 'my kind'."

"So this key has something to do with the witches," Klaus couldn't help but be irritated that he was just finding out about this, "Do you think they're...weapons? Or..."

"I don't know," Maleny shrugged, "but maybe we can find out today - if you're willing to lift my lockdown that is," she added innocently.

"Well," Klaus swayed his head in the manner that Maleny knew would soon be telling her 'no'.

"No, no, don't do the 'well' thing," she waved a hand to stop him, "Whenever you do the 'well' thing it always means 'no' for me. Now, I'm not gonna give you the key if I don't get to go," she warned.

"Alright," Klaus agreed rather easily, figuring he wouldn't be getting far without her assistance anyways, "But," he was quick to lay down the rules, "you stay within my eyesight and hearing at all times."

Maleny rolled her eyes but agreed with the terms, "Yeah, okay."

"Do you know where to start, then?"

"...no," she admitted and rubbed her neck, "Kieran didn't get to tell me what it opened exactly. And Cami doesn't know about any of this so let's not go asking her," she turned and left the living room, heading for her own room.

Klaus was right behind her, and asking the questions that Maleny preferred not to get into, "Why exactly doesn't she know about this key?"

"Um...because I thought it was best not to tell her right now?"

"And you think that'll end well?"

Maleny stopped beside her bedroom door and gave him a look, "Look, I don't know what this key will open. If it's dangerous I don't want her to get hurt. So, please, can it just stay between us until we see what's on the other side?"

"Yes," Klaus nodded and relieved Maleny from her fear. With a small smile, Maleny hurried into her room to retrieve the key for their task.

~ 0 ~

Riley was coming out of a cafe shop holding a drink in hand when he stopped by to chat with a young woman. Across the street, unbeknownst to him, were Elijah and Cami. The two were hidden by the passing people but had a perfect view of the young warlock.

"Okay, so maybe I was wrong about this theory," Cami admitted after a while. They had followed Riley for a good two hours and all the man had done was go into a library and then the shop.

"Patience is a virtue, Camille," Elijah reminded, earning a mock-glare from her. With the two hours passing he had enough time to really think about the idea of Riley being a secret enemy. It made a sense when one really looked into the matter. Riley had arrived a near month before the attacks had started against Maleny. Whenever the attacks occurred, he wasn't there.

"Yeah, or maybe I was wrong," Cami insisted, nervously looking at the warlock across the street.

"Or perhaps you wish it to be so, so that Maleny never has to find out about any of this," Elijah said rather smugly, having known that from the moment they started.

Cami swallowed hard, "Well, I'm not gonna lie and say that wouldn't be nice. Maleny really likes this guy and he's done nothing but help her and even me with our uncle."

"A patient enemy knows when to attack at the right moment," Elijah explained to the young psychology student, "A smart enemy gets close to their target, earns their trust and learns about them."

"She's going to be crushed if this is true," Cami sighed.

For a minute, Elijah looked away from Riley to see Cami, "Do you know if Maleny...has feelings for this man?" Cami's eyes snapped to his in an instant, "I don't intend on telling my brother," Elijah clarified, "I simply want to know where he stands with Maleny."

"Well, does Klaus still have feelings for her?" Cami countered with, unable to help smirk when Elijah remained quiet, "Why should I answer your question if you can't answer mine?"

Defeated, Elijah returned his focus to Riley, "Touche," he said in the end, surprising Cami and frankly himself. It wasn't often a human could outmatch him in words.

Riley had ended his conversation with the woman and moved down the block.

"He's moving, let's go," Elijah said and trailed after Riley with Cami alongside him.

~ 0 ~

Klaus led Maleny into the cemetery and strode down the row of graves. Maleny had the key stuffed in her bag in case Francesca Correa was still looking for it. She didn't want any of the goons of the woman to swipe it off her without knowing.

"You know something interesting about the O'Connell's?" Klaus asked and stopped in front of the O'Connells' tomb area.

"Um, they've surprisingly managed to procreate despite the fact they've lived among your kind?" Maleny looked at him with a teasing smile.

Klaus rolled his eyes at the comment and continued on like she hadn't even answered, "Cami's twin brother never had a proper funeral unlike the rest."

Maleny looked down, "I know, I remember that. They had him buried out with the criminals and the John Does of the city. Cami's parents wanted nothing to do with him anymore."

"Kieran was a smart man and if he wanted to hide something without ever having to worry about it being found out he had the perfect location," Klaus smirked as Maleny wondered just where the location was.

And then she got it.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, her mouth forming into an 'o'.

"There we go," Klaus took her by the arm and led her across the cemetery, coming to stand before Sean's grave.

"I feel bad about this..." Maleny remarked when Klaus acquired a sledgehammer on their way to the grave, "...disturbing the dead..."

"Well, the good thing about the dead is they don't tend to feel anything anymore," Klaus gave a shrug, "Especially when they're normal ole humans."

"I sure hope there's nothing dangerous behind the door because someone's gonna have to explain to Cami why her brother's grave had been broken into."

"I'll leave that to you, love," Klaus was quick to say.

"Oh, and what are you gonna do then?"

Klaus gestured to the sledgehammer he held, "I'm the muscle!" and with that he slammed the hammer to the grave.

In the end, they managed to retrieve a box from the grave. Klaus handed it over to Maleny who quickly tried using the key on it.

"There's nothing," Klaus frowned at the empty box after it was opened.

"Hold on," Maleny brushed some dust off the lid of the box, allowing them both to see a carved code, "I remember this. It's from my implanted memories."

"Can you read it?" Klaus curiously asked her, hoping their plan wasn't over already.

"Yeah, I think so," Maleny looked at the box more carefully, "Kieran taught it to Sean who then showed it to Cami who then...showed it to me. This was supposed to be opened by a true O'Connell," she sighed, "Instead an outsider - a witch with barely any magic - broke into a grave for it."

"Let's skip the whole ordeal of you feeling guilty, shall we?" Klaus took the box from her and took a look at the code himself.

"Sorry I feel guilty," Maleny crossed her arms.

"Sort of used to it, love. It's one of your traits that allowed me to see when you were lying to me," Klaus smirked at her which only made her roll her eyes.

"Well tough because I'm a far better liar now," Maleny snatched the box from him and stuck her tongue out, feeling much like a child but she didn't really care, "Now c'mon, we have somewhere else we need to go to."

~ 0 ~

The code in the box had been an address which led Maleny and Klaus to an apartment complex. Thankfully, the owner had been more than willing to show them to an apartment that apparently belonged to Kieran. After the owner left them to see the apartment, the two started looking around but were mostly disappointed.

"I think you can safely show this to Cami," Klaus shot Maleny a look from the kitchen, unimpressed with the destination of their travel.

Maleny refused to believe this was what Kieran wanted Cami to have had after his death. She sighed, "There has to be more to it."

Klaus continued to look but couldn't really see anything beyond a dusty old apartment, "Perhaps you read the code wrong," he then suggested.

"Word of advice, never tell me I got something wrong," Maleny sarcastically said and walked over to a closet, "I believe that's how you and I got into plenty of arguments in the past."

"That's also because half of the time you were wrong," Klaus reminded and turned to see her looking into the closet.

"And the other half I was right," Maleny didn't fail to point out then pretended to think, "Hm, you weren't the best of boyfriends sometimes."

"Mal," Klaus' voice took a sharp edge, "I hardly think this is the time to point out faults in our past relationships."

"They were your faults," Maleny said casually as she noticed a panel in the back wall of the closet, eyeing the bright yellow duct tape that marked an 'X' on it, "Your ideas weren't always good."

"Are you kidding me?" Klaus walked over, huffing at her accusation.

"Let's remember how our most recent date turned out, shall we?" Maleny teasingly looked back at him, "I was nearly murdered and your friend, Marcel, had other humans murdered that same night."

"Mal!"

"Oh hush," Maleny waved a hand at him then promptly pulled out the panel of the closet to reveal an entire hidden room on the other side, "...woah..." she breathed as she stepped inside.

The room was filled with all type of files, heirlooms and artifacts. Maleny and Klaus were in awe as they took in the entire room, both walking around to see what they could find.

"This is for Cami," Maleny came across a box with a sticky note bearing 'Cami'. She rummaged through the things and found they were some sort of witches objects.

"Dark objects," Klaus spoke up from across the room, making Maleny look up and see him holding shackles, "These are mostly witches' dark objects. How could I have not known about this room?"

"Maybe because they're not ours?" Maleny walked over and took the shackles from him, "These are for Cami and she'll definitely know about this room."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Klaus made a face, seeing all the potential of such objects going to waste with the human, "I can get some work done with these things," as he reached for the shackles Maleny put them behind her back.

"These are not ours to handle, Klaus," Maleny warned him, "And you are most certainly not gonna use any of these things for your fights."

Klaus rolled his eyes, "Leave it to you to suck out the fun in my plans," he walked past her and looked through the shelves.

Maleny set the shackles back on the shelf and turned after him, "Well someone's gotta restrain you sometimes," she moved onto some other objects, wondering if there truly could be anything to help her with her curse, "Plus, I don't want to explain to Cami why you suddenly have acquired her dark objects."

"You'll owe me for this," the hybrid declared, already wearing a smirk on his face as he debated just how that would happen.

Maleny scoffed at the idea and glanced at him, "You will drive me home, let me tell Cami about this room, and then get nothing," she teasingly smiled at him, "and you'll like it."

"We'll see," was the response she received before Klaus went into another aisle of shelves. Maleny shook her head and continued to look through her area of shelves.

~ 0 ~

Night was settling over the Quarter and with nothing to report of Riley, Cami had began to convince herself her theory of the warlock was completely wrong. Elijah had taken her all around the Quarter after Riley, apparently not giving up as easy as she had. At the current moment, Riley was picking up takeout from a Chinese restaurant and Elijah and Cami were waiting a mere two shops away.

"I was wrong, completely wrong," Cami was repeating to the Original while they waited for Riley to come out, "I'm sorry I wasted your day, Elijah. Let's just call it a night."

"I don't think so," Elijah stopped her from leaving by putting a hand on her arm, "I am not going to let this possible enemy slip away due to a mistake."

"But he hasn't done anything to prove me right," Cami frowned, wondering if she'd made a mistake sharing her discovery with him.

"Actually," Elijah looked at her with a small smile, "there's one thing that he did today that I'd like to know more about."

"What?"

"He went into an herbal shop today," Elijah looked back at the Chinese restaurant just as Riley was walking out.

"So? Lots of people do that," Cami was still confused on the relevancy of his answer, "I do that."

"Yes, but when you're a warlock you tend to look for specific herbs," Elijah tried to explain quickly as he pulled her into a walk after Riley, "And he bought several of them. Cami, we need to know what those herbs do."

"So what do you suggest, then?" Cami raised an eyebrow, "Steal them from him?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'sneak a peek'," Elijah flashed her smile and immediately Cami knew she would be involved in another plan of the Mikaelsons'. She only hoped Elijah's would be less violent.

~ 0 ~

Now angry with her luck, Maleny pushed a box away from her and it nearly fell to the floor if Klaus hadn't grabbed it. With a smirk, he placed it back on the table and gave her a sharp look.

"I know, I'm angry," Maleny muttered and turned away from the table, looking at the bookshelves instead, "But we have spent the whole afternoon here and there's nothing to help me."

"There's one box left," Klaus pointed to the box bearing Cami's name.

"I doubt a bunch of dark objects is gonna help me break the curse," Maleny crossed her arms, "This is so frustrating!" she exclaimed and turned back to the table only to kick one of its leg.

Klaus watched her hiss in pain from the kick, "Are you quite done?" he inquired, quite amused with her antics. It reminded him of his original Maleny. The blonde woman, while often mature, had her childish moments which always made him laugh. For a minute he could truly see her as the Maleny that had disappeared in the forest centuries ago.

Maleny stalked out of the secret room and went straight for her bag she'd left behind in the kitchen, "I'm done for today, I don't want anything to do with the stupid curse," she growled and snatched her purse off the table.

Klaus calmly walked out of the secret room and closed it all up, "Are you sure that's what you want?" he called to her as the woman now stood by the door waiting for him.

"I think so," Maleny answered sarcastically, "I feel like I want to throw things, burn things, and punch things. So yeah, I think I'm done for the day."

Klaus smiled to himself as he made sure the entrance to the secret room was concealed once more. As he did so, he could hear the things Maleny muttered under her breath. More than angry, he knew she was disappointed they hadn't made progress on her curse. He was upset too but he cared more for Maleny's feelings at the moment.

"Mal," he called to her and turned around, seeing the brunette still waiting for him, "do you mind if we take a detour before going home?" Maleny's eyebrows raised at the question, curious of what he now had in mind.

~ 0 ~

"Riley! Riley!" the young warlock heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Cami hurrying up to him, looking frantic for some reason.

"Cami," he abruptly stopped the blonde in front of him, making him stumble back a couple steps.

Cami shook his arm and accidentally made him drop a couple bags of his, "There's a little kid hurt down the block, you have to help me! I think he's a warlock or something."

Riley quickly looked down the street, searching for the boy, "Who is it?"

"I don't know, he doesn't speak English very well. He doesn't want to come with me," Cami started pulling him down the street, "C'mon!"

As the two left, Elijah emerged from the corner of the street and hurriedly picked up the bags left on the ground. He rummaged through them until he found the one containing the herbs Riley bought earlier. Elijah didn't know a lot about herbs but he had someone who could recognize them. In a quick speed, he headed for Genevieve's shop.

~ 0 ~

Out in the park Maleny glumly stared at a couple performers across her. She was waiting for Klaus to return with something he apparently needed to buy from a shop. He had wanted her to come with but she was in no mood to go anywhere else that wasn't home. So, Klaus resorted to her staying at the park - having a perfect hearing shot of her in case anything went wrong. As she waited, she took to watching the performers and its crowd. They were musicians with two of them dancing around.

She hugged herself and grew even more downhearted with her circumstances. If she couldn't break the curse she wouldn't ever get to fully live. She would never be able to do the simplest of things like ever figuring out if she had natural talents. Could she perhaps learn to play guitar? The violin? Or maybe dancing was a talent of hers. If she didn't break the curse, she wouldn't even be able to take up a career like Cami was doing. Maleny honestly didn't know what she would if she actually broke the curse but she wanted the options. But maybe that wasn't her fate at all. Maybe her fate was to jump bodies for the rest of time, getting killed or sacrificed each and every time. And...to never actually have a true lo -

"You know," Klaus' sudden appearance broke Maleny's thoughts, "in one of your past lives, you adored the piano," Maleny silently turned her head to him, awaiting for more details, "You loved that thing more than anything. And you were good. Exceptionally good too."

Maleny slowly looked back to the musicians, "I don't think I'll ever get to play again, then."

"You could always learn it again," Klaus shrugged, seeing no trouble in that.

"What for?" Maleny's voice took on a cold tone, "So that in a month I can forget it because I was sacrificed again? No thanks."

"Mal, I know you're feeling discouraged, but we will find a way to end this curse," Klaus turned to her, allowing Maleny to see he held a black bakery box in one hand, "I promise you that."

"I believe you'll do everything you can, but there's always a chance we'll fail," Maleny bit her lip, "Just like the many, many times I've failed in the past."

"But there's a difference between then and now..."

"What is it?"

"You're not alone this time," Klaus declared, "You've got me, you've got Elijah, you've got Cami and Hayley - even a witch who hates anything to do with us."

Maleny smiled and considered his words, "That is a big difference..." she agreed in the end, "What'd you buy?" she pointed to the box.

"I hope you still like berries," Klaus handed her the black box.

"I love berries," Maleny assured and opened the box to find a small, rounded, berry-cheesecake inside, "Ooh, and I love them most when they're in pies," she looked up with a big smile on her face, "Is this for me...?"

The doubt in her face made Klaus chuckle, "No, I decided to buy it for myself and show it off to you," Maleny mockingly-glared at his sarcastic response. Klaus laughed again and finally spoke normally, "I figured it would perhaps make this day slightly less bad."

"Look at you," Maleny began, traces of sarcasm lacing her tone, "Klaus Mikaelson, big bad hybrid who everyone fears... buying me pie?" she chuckled to herself.

"Well," Klaus stepped closer to her, satisfied to hear her heart take quicker beats, "To you I was never all that. I wasn't a title holder. I was simply Klaus...and he loved you very much."

Maleny awkwardly coughed then, her cheeks sporting a bright pink tint, "And, um...how's that, um...how exactly does that go now?" her eyes slowly raised to meet his, "I mean...do you still...feel anything?"

"That depends," Klaus perfectly evaded the question, a bit out of his comfort zone as well.

"On what?" Maleny whispered, doing her best not to seem so anxious of his answer.

"If my answer would make any difference in your life..."

"Oh," Maleny stayed quiet a minute, wondering how the hell things had gone from gloomy to awkward and nervousness in less than two minutes.

Klaus could see her face contorting to confusion and decided to keep pressing for a better, clearer answer than the one she would probably come up with, "Can I ask you a question, Mal?"

"Sure..." the brunette weakly said.

"That Riley guy...is there actually something going on with you two?"

"I don't...think you need to know about that," Maleny quietly said, "But I know you and I know if I don't answer then you'll start thinking what's not. Riley is a great guy, and any woman would love to go out with him...except for me," and when she saw the small glimpse of relief in Klaus' eyes she couldn't help smile a little, "He's just a friend. And he's gonna stay a friend. But now it's my turn to ask invading questions," she took on a smirk, "You and Genevieve...did you start that because of what happened with us before Rebekah left? Or did you actually like her?"

Klaus gave her a smile and walked past her, "We should get going."

Maleny playfully rolled her eyes and called him back to her, "Oh no, Klaus, you have to answer me right now," she turned to face him, only he had his back to her, still refusing to answer. With determination, and admittedly curiosity, she walked up to him, turning him by the arm, "Was that serious? Or was it because we fought before that?"

Klaus resigned to tell her the truth, knowing she'd get a kick out of it in the end, "She's a very attractive woman..."

"Oh, we're off to a good start," Maleny rolled her eyes.

"Mal, you know I'm impulsive..."

"Mhm," Maleny gladly agreed with him, much to his irritation. She wasn't making it easy on him, "Kinda picked up on that when we were kids."

"I don't care about her," he spoke honestly, "Never did. She's attractive, but...nothing. There was nothing and there never will be."

"And now? What do you intend to do now?" she motioned to the bakery box she held, "Buying me my favorite dessert? Telling me these pretty things?"

"I would be lying if I said it wouldn't be interesting to see what could happen with us," Klaus surprisingly admitted to her with ease. He once again stepped closer to her, "But right now I only want to see you happy. And if me telling you these 'pretty things' makes you feel anything unhappy then I will stop. Would you like me to stop?"

Maleny opened her mouth but found she didn't know what she wanted then. She looked down, "I..." she began, hoping to know there and then but it seemed she was conflicted, "...I wish to go home right now," she finished with instead.

While it wasn't exactly what Klaus wanted to hear, he didn't go against her wish, "Let's go, then," he turned to the side and gestured for her to start walking. Maleny thanked for his understanding and walked off with him.

~ 0 ~

Upon arriving at the compound, Maleny and Klaus came to find Hayley tending to Davina in the courtyard. The teen seemed a bit irritated to find the two were together - and according to Hayley, they'd been together for most of the day.

"Davina, what are you doing here?" Maleny asked, slightly confused with her presence.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Hayley almost demanded from the two. If neither Maleny nor Klaus knew Hayley well enough to see her last trimester pregnancy hormornes kicking up, they would be irritated for her rudeness.

"We were looking for more things for the curse," Klaus answered her.

"Together?" Davina frowned, "Why?"

"Because that's how teamwork works?"

"Funny, I didn't know you actually knew what that word meant," Davina crossed her arms.

Maleny didn't want to have to break up any arguments between her and Klaus, "Davina, did you need something?"

Davina looked at her with much softer eyes, "I haven't heard from you in a while and I got worried."

Maleny smiled, "I'm fine. Thank you for stopping by but actually, I am kinda in the need for a trusted witch to help me look over my mother's spellbook. You think you can do that with me right now?"

"Yeah, I told you I would," Davina beamed at the opportunity, "C'mon," she sent Klaus a glare, "But alone."

"My spell book's in the upstairs living room," Maleny pointed and so Davina started to walk off for the staircase. Maleny turned to Klaus afterwards, "Thanks for today. But I think Hayley needs you right now."

"No I don't," Hayley defensively said, crossing her arms.

"You're moody," Maleny pointed at her, "and so is he," she pointed to Klaus next, "I think you can help each other."

"Mal, have I told you your sarcasm is completely annoying?"

"I don't ever want to be pregnant," Maleny made a face and started for the stairs, chuckling as she heard Hayley begin to complain to Klaus about how bad she felt with herself.

~ 0 ~

Cami impatiently waited in her house for Elijah to at least call and tell her what those herbs in Riley's bag had been. After tricking Riley into going with her to help a boy who didn't even exist, Cami had gone for her house as had been the instructions the Original gave her. He was going to bring the herbs to Genevieve and get an identification on the herbs to see if they were malignant. That had been over an hour ago and now Cami was plain frustrated.

Eventually, someone knocked on her door and she dashed to go answer it. She opened it up and was relieved to see Elijah standing on the other side, "You took forever," she accused.

"It's only been an hour and half," Elijah countered, disregarding her irritation, "May I?" he gestured to her home. He hadn't ever been to her house and so needed her invitation.

"Yeah," Cami nodded and stepped side, "Come in."

"Thank you," Elijah stepped inside with the herbs bundled up in a cloth given by Genevieve, "We'll need a better plan to capture Riley."

"Wh-what?" Cami blinked as she closed her door, "What do you mean? What were the herbs?"

Elijah turned around waving the bundle of green leaves, "These are meant for knocking someone out for a good hour or so. Riley bought these with an intention on using it on someone."

"Are you sure Genevieve didn't lie to you?" Cami took the herbs from him and gave it a light sniff.

"She's the one that told you this in the first place, plus she did save Maleny recently."

"That doesn't mean she's seeking redemption..."

"Camille you came to me for a reason," Elijah's voice now had a sharpness that expressed the grave situation they were in, "And that was to see if you were right or not. Surprise, you were right. It's time to accept it and find a solution."

Cami knew he was right, but it wasn't easy to accept a person that had helped with her uncle's passing was actually evil. She handed Elijah back the herbs, "So, what do we do?"

"I agree if we tell Klaus he will probably kill Riley and that is something we don't want - for the moment."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We take care of it on our own," Elijah resolved, "Do you think you can keep this from Maleny?"

Cami nodded quickly, "Yes, if it'll help her then yeah," she only wished this would lead to Maleny's salvation. If they caught the enemy before he tried attacking...that would have to save Maleny, right?

~ 0 ~

As Maleny and Davina overlooked Maleny's spell book, Davina kept glancing at the brunette woman who often took bites of her berry pie.

"So, this whole teamwork thing between you and Klaus, does that include having dinner together?" Davina finally decided to address her big issue, "...and dessert?"

Maleny set down her fork into her box and studied the teen beside her, "I know you don't agree with my past-"

"It's not just about your past, it's what's happening now," Davina sighed, "Mal, I love you, and I don't think that this place," her eyes looked around the quiet room, "is the place you should be at."

"I feel pretty safe here," Maleny shrugged, "I don't see anywhere else I want to be at."

"Do you think there's a chance that your memories resurfacing have maybe...manipulated your feelings?"

Maleny frowned at the bluntness of the question, "What? Wh-what's the relevancy in this?"

"I'm saying that maybe you remembering your past lives are making you feel things that aren't real anymore."

"And just what are these 'feelings'," Maleny raised her fingers to create air quotation marks, "You're talking about, hm?"

"I'm talking about the feelings you used to have for Klaus," Davina made sure to enunciate the past tense clear for Maleny, "Your head is mixed up and what you think you feel may not be true!"

Maleny blinked with wide eyes, stunned by what she was hearing. She would've snapped but Davina seemed honestly frustrated and concerned, "Davina, calm down," Maleny set her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"I can't calm down!" Davina shook her head, "Because you're putting yourself in danger! You can't love Klaus, you just can't! Stop spending time with him, stop letting him take you out, just stop before you get yourself killed!"

"I'm not gonna die because I fell in love," Maleny scoffed at the idea, "And for your information I don't even know what I feel for Klaus right now. So please, calm down."

But it wasn't enough for Davina to feel better. She was terrified for her friend's life, "Mal, get out of this place, please."

"No, Davina, I won't."

"You're going to do exactly what your past yous have - you're going to start something with Klaus and then you're going to die again."

"I'm not," Maleny insisted, "Because nothing is happening right now. I'm focused on my curse and breaking it."

"Look me in the eye right now and tell me you wouldn't even consider starting a relationship with him again," Davina challenged, crossing her arms as she waited for Maleny to prove her right.

Maleny shifted awkwardly on her spot, looking to the side, "I...I don't know..."

"See," Davina gestured and stood up, "You can't do it. You can't stay away from him."

"Well maybe I don't want to," Maleny blurted out, not about to feel ashamed for something that wasn't wrong. She faced Davina and stood up, "Maybe I'm curious to see where it would lead to between us...if things would be...interesting or something."

"Maleny..." Davina shook her head.

Maleny straightened up and gave her final word on the subject, "I honestly don't know what's going to happen between me and Klaus, but if something does happen and it makes me happy...then I will let it happen and no one - not even you - will make me choose otherwise."

Davina deeply sighed and hugged her friend, "I just don't want you to get hurt, Mal. You're my friend, I want you to be okay and with...someone that isn't already dead."

Maleny smiled, knowing that Davina was only trying to look out for her, "I'm okay, Davina. I know Klaus, alright? He wouldn't ever hurt me."

But Davina wasn't so sure about that. Every time Klaus was involved with something or someone, they ended up hurt...or dead. Davina didn't want to see that happen to someone as sweet as Maleny.

#klaus mikaelson x oc #ocappreciation #ocapp #the originals imagines #klaus mikaelson imagines #the originals fanfics #klaus mikaelson x original female character #oc: Maleny Rowan #noblecrescentedit #fic: the girl in the forest

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purplerose244 · 4 years

Text

Of Koi and Kindness

Hello everyone, here’s a fic for the Ninjago Secret Santa hosted by @coco-jaguar! Thank you so much for you work and dedication, I had a lot of fun like every year, it’s one of my favorite events 😍

This is my present for @ookamihanta, one of my favorite artists in this fandom! An absolute pleasure writing about your OCs, I hope I gave them justice! I love your art and I hope you spent the best Christmas! 😊😊

Here we go, enjoy! ^ ^

(These characters do not belong to me, they belong to ookamihanta for Sunny and Chiru, and the Ninjago crew for Ronin)

“Chi, I don’t wanna be that person… but it’s been one full hour since you started trying, so I’ll be that person.” Sunny sighed, shaking her head at her friend’s apparently unbreakable concentration over the target. “You’ve tried enough. It’s time to go. Come on.” There were many other ways she could had spent that snowy night. Stuck in front of a shooting gallery with a very mediocre thrower didn’t really come first on her list.

Chiru pouted, holding the ball in his hand for dear life.

“But this is the one! I can feel it!” That guy could have a future as a writer. ‘But this is the one I can feel it’, a biography by sore loser Chiru. He squeezed his eyes, eyeing the cans that were his targets. “I just… have to… aim…”

Sunny shook her head.

“Cupcake, there’s a Cafe with a special menu for smoothies just waiting for my order, please? I’m dying for a strawberry and banana right now.” And for a warm place to stay in in general, her coat was warm enough but her cheeks were starting to hurt. Winter festivals were fun, especially in the center of Ninjago City. But only there someone could find a shop for antiquity – apparently in possession of a very flawed heater –, that for some reason decided to set up a very attractive looking shooting gallery with koi fishes as prices. Just what she needed with Chiru and his newborn burning desire to have a koi fish.

When the fist sneeze came out Selene gulped nearby, her big blue concerned eyes all over her. Her cat grabbed her pants, almost climbing the girl by herself. Sunny picked her up, leaving her snuggling around her neck like a black fur collar. She was fluffy and warm, the perfect scarf. Sunny scratched her head to thank her, earning a satisfied purr.

Chiru grunted, throwing the ball again. It got the cans, but not enough to make them fall over. The man at the stand, sitting on a chair with his feet on the counter, snickered. He had a big hat slightly inclined over his face, partially hiding his eyepatch.

“Not like I wanna interrupt the stream of money… I really don’t, keep going.”

“I’m gonna get the fish, you just wait old man!”

“Feel free to try as much as you want kid, you don’t hear me complaining.” The man looked at the teens, smirking. “And it’s Ronin. Wanna know an old man, spend like two minutes with one of the ninja. That geezer master can come from everywhere.”

Sunny’s eyebrows went up.

“That Ronin? Aren’t you supposed to be in jail? Or with the heroes?… or both?” That name sparked too many controversial big newspapers titles.

“Not today, today I got these koi fishes from an old client and discovered that for Christmas kids don’t want fishes… but dragons. ” He shrugged, bring his hands behind his neck. “It’s a sad time of the year for pet marketing. Alas this is the only productive method I came with to earn some money and try to get rid of these little things at the same time. They call me many, many, many unhappy names, but lazy isn’t one of them.” Looking at the robot arm and the variety of mechanical components of his body, it seemed a sincere statement.

Aaand another ball thrown pointlessly got stuck into one of the items hung on the wall – some kind of trophy with a blade on top of it, how bizarre. Chiru growled, dropping his head on the counter, the red and blue locks of his white hair falling flat on the surface.

“This game is rigged!”

Sunny smiled sympathetically at him. She turned to Ronin.

“Can’t I just buy one? You said you just want money and for the koi fishes to be gone.”

“I mean yeah. Although, first, that defeats the economy purpose. Statistically I gain more by his tries than his victories. Then second… of course, I wouldn’t have half the fun I’m having right now.” The ball slipped from the trophy and fell down, Chiru growled louder in response. “Aha, see? I haven’t had this profitable entertainment since fire boy tried to negotiate with me for an aeroblade!” Ronin shook his head, getting more comfortable into his position. “Wanna try too, kid? To avenge his fall or some hero baloney?”

Sunny frowned, looking at her friend still dulling over the counter. After all, it was a Christmas present like another, and he really wanted a koi fish. But she had another plan in mind for the execution. She took Selene off her neck – shivering – and placed her down, then scooted closer to the guy, a hand on her hip.

“How about a deal instead?”

Ronin arched an eyebrow.

“I’m listening.” She leaned her elbow on the counter, offering a hand. “Arm-wrestling? Please sweetheart, I’ve been in Ninjago long enough to recognize an elemental master when I see one. Not gonna fall for the old ‘I’m totally not magical’ trick.”

Sunny smiled brightly at him.

“Elemental master of Moonlight to be precise, nice to meet you. With my good friend master of Blood right here.” Chiru waved without getting his head off the counter. “And I wasn’t going to use my powers, don’t worry.”

“How can I trust you?”

“Well… I’m not you?”

The man snorted, pondering for a moment with the face of someone who just really wanted to forget for a moment about working in a freezer-like shop as a living – or maybe it was just her. Ronin looked at the guy dulling all over his counter and shrugged, getting up and grasping her hand. It was the rough hold of someone who’s been through a lot.

“Why not. Bring it on, kid.”

“Gladly.”

They looked at each other for a moment, her calm expression and his sly smile. Then, on an imaginary bell somehow replaced by Selene’s determinate meow, they both started to push through their hold, trying to make the other fall back. Ronin grunted, holding on as Sunny’s hand trembled for the effort, putting more strength. They stayed in the middle long enough for the both of them to silently pant – and for the defeated with white hair to take a little peak. Then finally Sunny’s blue-polished snails clenched strongly around her rival’s hand, slowly and with an unbearable pace pushing him against the counter.

As soon as he lost the man exhaled the longest breath, looking at her in disbelief.

“You gotta leave half of a dignity, girl. Please tell me you used your powers.”

“It was a power, yes… it’s called workout.” Ronin widened his eyes then started laughing. Sunny giggled too, while Selene jumped skillfully over the counter happily watching her. “But it was a nice challenge, I thought all the strength you had was in the robot arm, not this one. And I’m pretty sure I would had noticed a hero slash public enemy walking around a gym.”

“Pff, I would never do something this fancy, I just need to compensate for what I do for money.” Ronin shrugged, pointing at his treasures for sale. “If you run away as much as I did you end up putting some muscles without really trying. Well, Moony, a deal is a deal I guess.” He looked a little grumpy, the kind you pretend to be just to playfully make things a little less too easy. He opened the fishbowl with all the koi fishes, pointing at it. “Alright kid, which one?”

Chiru finally got up from his gloomy position, wearing a very annoyed look. He slowly put his black mask over the mouth, then pointed at Sunny, who blinked in confusion.

“Didn’t need help. Could’ve done on my own.” His muttering against the cloth sounded extremely sheepish. And his pouty voice and freckled cheeks reddening said otherwise.

Sunny snickered.

“You’re welcome, cupcake.” The colorful koi fishes were swimming rapidly in the little container, scooting a little further when the master of moon peaked at them closely. White, red and black, so color so bright over the scales. “They are so beautiful… Selene don’t you dare!” The black cat stopped the paw in midair and looked annoyed at her master, even while obediently complying. “Well, which one do you like the most?”

Chiru took the mask down. He hummed and looked over as well, still squinting his eyes.

“I don’t know…”

“Is anyone looking at you?”

“Of course they are, I look like a beacon of light!” He grinned, blowing a lock of hair with superiority. Then his eyes widened and he suddenly squished his nose against the glass. “Wait a second, why is that spot so slow?”

Ronin frowned. Sunny shrugged.

“He has bad eyesight, he means the fish.”

“Oh, well, I think the little guy or gal has a lame fin, don’t know if it happened during the fishing or the transport. It can’t help it I guess.” Those big eyes were definitely ahead of him, since Ronin immediately frowned. “You want this one?” The guy nodded convinced. “Well alright, it’s your choice.” Ronin took a plastic bag and a little net, making sure to properly seal the bag with the little koi fish inside. “Here you go kid.” Chiru looked in awe at the fish being extended towards him. He slowly took it with his left hand, never taking his eyes off. The coat he was wearing barely hid his missing right arm, the stump was leaving half sleeve empty. Moving it right now, it kinda looked like a fin. The same fin that was still making it swim. No matter what happened.

Slowly a sweet smile appeared over his face.

Sunny’s eyes softened. Selene immediately rushed to get to the same spot around the girl’s neck, purring softly. The elemental master of Moonlight then turned to the man, leaving on the counter a handful of coins in front of a very confused expression.

“Why…?”

“I kinda played at your shooting gallery, so I’ll pay it as a shot.” She smiled at him. “Thank you, you didn’t have to just agree with my little game.”

“… ah, you kids are so corny.” The man rolled his eyes and took the money, a big smirk on his face. “Get out of here and get yourselves a nice Christmas I guess. At least until this city will be under attack again.” He went to get busy over his merchandise as the teens got out, muttering something about strong female elemental masters always getting the best over him.

The streets were covered in white wonder, it had been since a few days already. The roads and the buildings all together looked created a winter wonderland, with different areas set up for ice-skating and random stands selling hot cocoa. The decorations were bright and colorful, from the big neon signs of the different shops to the Christmas lights climbing every single corner. Walking along the main street many citizens were just wandering around, cute families getting closer to each other with big smiles, nice couples holding hands running towards the closest warm place. It was a rare sight in such a chaotic place.

Sunny sniffed the air, the coffee scent already present. Just one of her favorite Cafe, with a big selection of smoothies in the menu. Just when she eyed the wolf shaped sign of the place, with the irreplaceable O&H signature, Chiru cut her off, suddenly entering some kind of bakery nearby. Sunny froze, a little startled, looking through the shopping window. The guy looked very impatient as he ordered, struggling to hold that new package and the fish with one hand.

When Chiru finally got out he looked at Sunny, still pouting a little. Then he slowly gave her the little pink box of what seemed to be a strawberry shortcake.

“I could’ve got them without help, really! But… thank you.” He blushed, more for the embarrassment than the cold – so there was no backup excuse for that. And even though it was one extremely cute reaction, the master of Moonlight decided that seeing him frowning for an hour over a game was teasingly enough. So she smiled thankfully, taking the present, slowly starting to walk again with the master of Blood by her side.

“So, how are you going to call it?”

“… I don’t know if it’s male of female, I would like to know first. Until then… Nemo I think.” Chiru shrugged. “Too obvious?”

Sunny giggled, scratching her cat’s chin.

“You’re telling me? She’s Selene because of the moon goddess, I can’t exactly judge.” A big bang made them both tremble, but the shiver turned into excitement as a bright green firework exploded into the night sky. “Would you look at that…” Selene meowed, a little concerned, snuggling closer to her neck. After a few more bangs she was already getting used to it, her tail twirling just a little harshly after every single boom.

Chiru held Nemo as close as he could, looking at the show just like all the people that had decided to just stop and watch. Like there was time for beautiful things. Like there was no rush when there was enjoyment. He looked at his friend, smiling.

“Merry Christmas, Sunny.”

Sunny turned to him beaming. Another explosion of light reflected sparkles of purple into her soft cyan irises, adding just another shade of beauty.

“Merry Christmas, Chiru.”

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