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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

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Humans are Space Orcs, “Animal Planet Alpha, ″

I found some extra time to write this morning, yay! Hope you guys like it :)

“Watch your step, and make sure not to make eye contact if you see a human. If one seems to be getting aggressive towards you, it is best to act submissive. Lay down and show your belly, they aren't likely to attack you if you do that.”

“Would you often consider the humans to be…. Aggressive?”

Dr. Krill nods at the camera, “Sometimes, it is very unpredictable with humans.” he walks up the ramp of the ship and prepares to open the bay doors. The camera crew follows behind with apprehension as the bay doors open to a dim interior.

They make it past the airlock and into a large deserted room stacked with crates and boxes. The camera pans around clearly searching for a human though they don’t find anything in the deserted hallway. Crew leader Tesraki Mendex walks out into the empty room and looks around frowning, “Well, I don’t seem to see any humans…. The audience should know at this point what while I have seen humans at a distance, I have never actually met one myself, this is just as exciting for me as it is for some of you.” He turned to look at the doctor, “Where ARE the humans.”

The little doctor shakes his head and shrugs before pausing, “Sorry, I am in the habit of communicating with humans non-verbally. What I mean is that, I don’t know and it very much depends, they could be…..anywhere.” With that thought, the rest of the crew looks around nervously as if expecting to find a human climbing the walls or watching them from atop one of the stacks of crates.

Krill motions them to follow, “We will probably run into some of the humans eventually, might as well follow me.”

The crew does as told panning their cameras around nervously.

Mendex walks just behind the doctor, “Now…. how will we know when we are close, what are the immediate signs of human presence.”

The doctor turns to look at him, “It depends.”

“Depends on what.”

“Weather or not the human WANTS you to know if it is there or not.”

“How about you, how close do you think the humans are too us?” Mendex begins doing his best to sound more excited than scared, which though he is honestly scared out of his mind This is the most uncontrolled environment he had ever been in, and he didn’t particularly enjoy it.

This better get him good ratings.

“Well I would wager to say that one of them is about twenty feet away.” The little Vrul said pleasantly.

“And how do you wager that.” They wonder glancing to the walls on either side of them.

“Because I have eyes.” He stated motions very pointedly towards the back of the group. Cameras jerk and pan wildly to face down the halt. An audible gasp rises up from the crew who scamper backwards nervously.

“Dr…. Dr what do we do.”

“Everyone hold still right where you are. Do not back up, do not turn around, and do not run away. Humans are preditors, so running away will activate their natural instinct to make chase. Just hold your ground relax and try not to look nervous. They can sense fear.”

The group grows very still.

“Look at that.” Mendex whispers from where he is hiding behind doctor Krill, “Zoom in on that.”

Camera shaking, the crew does as told bringing the human at the far end of the hall into sharp relief.

“Wow, just look at it.” The camera zooms in a little further, “I don't know how much you can all tell from what you see on the camera, but the human, he is at least one and a half of my height two or three heads taller than I am, absolutely gorgeous, just look at the way he balances on two legs, no tail, no nothing…..”

Krill steps out from behind the camera crew, “This is a real treat for you guys. That, right there is a human named Adam, now he is the alpha human of this particular pack. He’s still a young male about 25 solar cycles. Despite being alpha, I would consider him to be rather docile. But still, stay very still ,and we will see what he does, because it is his place to determine if you are going to be allowed in his den. He could probably sense you coming from some distance.

The human begins walking slowly up the hall, and the crew shrinks back noticeably.

“Stay where you are, don’t move.”

“Can you guys see this, we are at least eight maybe ten feet from a fully grown adult male human, and the most dominant alpha of his pack.”

The human stops just outside camera range one eye blinking at them with an unreadable expression. He looks down at the little doctor and hoots.

The Doctor pats the human’s leg,” Thats a good human, now play nice with the crew.”

The muscles in the human’s face writhe and constrict into a strange expression. He bares his teeth sending the crew members shrinking backwards away from him.

“Humans are primarily visual creatures, though they have great hearing, and an acceptable sense of smell, so everyone, stay still, let him look you over.”

You can almost hear the bones of the crew members creaking as they stiffen up. The human leans closer. Crouching down to look one of the crewmen straight in the eyes They are only inches apart as the human examines them. The Tesraki is shaking so hard he almost drops his camera..

“Just relax, don’t make any sudden moves.”

The human loses interest and moves to the side prowling through the group until he reaches Mendex cowering at the back.

The human reaches out a hand. Mendex squeaks in fright.

“Don’t you dare move.”

He goes very still as the human reaches out and then begins to pat the Tesraki on the head. He stands very still, “What, what is it doing?”

The doctor chuckles, “it’s a good thing you Tesraki have fur. Humans like soft things. THey like to pet them especially. I would wager to say that he has accepted your presence in his den. Maybe if you greet him nicely he may let you touch him.”

“And how do you greet a human?”

“Well that is easy, take one of your hands hold it up like this, and wiggle it back and forth, yes just like that, now add the other hand, now more wiggling, yes that is good . If you want to make it especially good just hop up and down on one foot if you can. Ah there it is, perfect.”

The human stands straight and looks around at the group of aliens hopping and wiggling their hands in earnest.

The human shows his teeth again but seems to accept the aliens making a strange repetitive revving noise deep down in his chest which breaks from his mouth in bursts.

“What… what is that, what is that sound he is making?”

“Just calm down, that is a good sound, generally. Now come here, and let's see if the human will tolerate us touch him.” Nervously the crew makes a circle around the human as the doctor looks up at his human companion motioning him with a strange gesture. Still bearing his teeth the human does as directed kneeling slowly on the ground so he is at a better height for the surrounding aliens.

Mendex held to the back of the group.

“Go on, I think he will be nice and let you touch him now, there we go, just reach out, try the arms first. Arms are generally acceptable to humans, hands too.”

Krill pats the human on his arm to demonstrate how it should be done, and the human allows it head tilted to one side. Its bright green eye examines the rest of the crew as they move forward some of the more brave reaching out hands stroking their fingers down his bare arm.

“Wow, that is so… strange.”

“What is that.”

Now that the rest of the camera crew has touched the human, Mendex moves up reaching out his fingers. At that moment the human jerks suddenly as if to lunge forward at him. Mendex squeals and jumps back nearly knocking his cameraman over. The human makes that revving noise again.

“What what was that!” mendex squeaks.

Krill nudges the human, “Be he's just playing. Go on try again, he will behave himself this time.” Mendex didn’t seem convinced but reached out anyway running a hand over the human’s arm, “Wow ... wow that is very strange isn’t it. It’s hard to describe the feeling, sort of soft, but rubbery at the same time, and it’s covered in tiny hairs, almost invisible, I am not sure if you can see.” The human was surrounded now, by aliens patting his arms and hands.

“Yes, human skin is one of the most important parts of their body. It protects them from infection, regulates their body temperature, and keeps out water. It’s soft because there are oil glands just below the skin that keep it from cracking and drying out. These little hairs.” He ran a digit over the human’s exposed skin which, to the astonishment of those watching, erupted upwards sticking straight on end by raised bumps.

“Wow!”

“That little trick can be caused by a multitude of factors, if it is cold, if the human is scared, or even if they hear or feel something they like. When humans had more hair, it was a way to make them appear bigger, the fur would puff up making them look bigger, but now it doesn’t serve as much of a purpose. Some scientists suggest that humans still have hair as a sort of…. Wisker almost. It helps them feel movement in air currents, and, my personal theory, they have lots of poisonous bugs on their planet, so being able to feel the tiny movement of the hairs allows them to know when bugs are present.

The doctor reaches ut and takes the human’s hand opening up the fingers so they can examine the strange appendage, “Humans have five digits, this one here the thumb is the most important part of the human hand and is what allowed them to evolve larger brains. Each finger not the thumb has two joins after it’s base and allows the human to do very delicate work. These things at the end-”

“Claws/”

“No, they are nails, and they may have evolved from claws, but they aren't as strong. The tips of the fingers are very sensitive, because humans often use their hands to explore their environment. Human hands are so sensitive that they can feel changes in texture at the atomic level, so these nails here protect the tips of their sensitive fingers.” He uses his own digits to articulate the human’s hand moving it around, “There are no muscles in the fingers themselves, but they are held by muscles connected to tendons in the forearm. The other great thing about the human body is the dexterity of the wrist, which is highly uncommon allowing it to rotate at different angles from side to side..” He held out the hand so the others could feel flipping it over so they could touch the pads of the human’s hands.

“Is the hair on the head the same?”

Krill shook his head, “No it is much thicker and much more coarse. Let’s see if he will let you ouch, some humans really like having their hair touched and others really hate it.” Krill looks at the human and the human tilts his head a bit lowering it so they can feel the hair.

“It’s so soft.”

“No it isn’t.”

Suddenly, the human’s head jerks up, and the group sits back in shock and confusion fearful they had done something wrong, but the human isn’t looking at the. He stares past them and down the hall.

“Oh, it looks like he found something, perhaps we should follow and find out.”

An excellent idea, “ Mendex responds from the back of the group where he had been hiding for most of it.”

The human gives him an inscrutable look and then begins walking off down the hall.

What could they possibly be in for?

#humans are insane #humans are space orcs #HUMANS ARE WERID #humans are space australians #humans are space oddities #earth is a deathworld #Earth is space Ausralia

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capricornus-rex · 3 years

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In the Face of Fear (5 - End)

Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by @stellar-trinity

Summary: Kashyyyk has its own charms and surprises, but what if one of those said surprises rear its ugly, unpleasant head right in front of you in the form of a spider that’s the size of a boulder?

Tags: Arachnophobia, Wyyyschokk, Matriarch Wyyyschokk, Kashyyyk, Arachnophobic! Reader

Also in AO3

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 | Previous: Part 4 | Masterlist

5 of 5

You landed on the soil with a cat-like posture and lightness. You and Cal—though still immobilized—watched the spider rub its face, soothing itself from the pain of your kicking. Once relieved, the spider locked all of its eyes solely on you.

“I think you’ve made it angrier,” Cal attempted to lean closer to your earshot.

“Yeah, well, I did cut her leg off. And kicked in the face. So yeah, I guess you can say I pissed her off!”

Before the Wyyyschokk could skitter back to a closer distance, you threw your lightsaber to its direction, searing the top of its hind abdomen and came bouncing back at you. If this abomination could speak, she would definitely have said something along the lines of “I am tired of dealing with you two children!”

Those words, albeit not exact, echoed in your mind—as if the Wyyyschokk had communicated withyou. But you can’t afford a moment to reflect.

It was time to fight.

“Okay,” you huffed, psyching yourself up. “You can do this...”

The Wyyyschokk screeched at you. You squeeze your hilt with both hands.

“Probably,” you shrug a shoulder during your short pep talk with yourself.

The Wyyyschokk close din on you this time, it probably remembered you amputating it—recognizing the color of your lightsaber as well—and got more aggressive in its approach. It wasn’t the slighest bit intimidated by a stick of light that you swing around, and so it proceeded to crawl towards you.

You dared not to run, even if that’s your initial impulse whenever you’re head-to-head with your own phobia. You planted the soles of your boots to the soil—balanced and erect in your erect. When the Matriarch Wyyyschokk was close enough, you swung your saber the other way, completely removing the other leg she had used in holding Cal. Her once-pointed foot was nothing more than a limb with a charred stub. The Matriarch looked at her leg stump, the pain and the anger boiled altogether into one drum-busting wail—rattling her entire body and the cavern, possibly alerting her spawns.

Covering your ears did so little in muffling out the noise, both you and Cal winced until the spider stopped screaming.

Cal continued to wriggle his way out of the cocoon, but to no avail; meanwhile, you try your best to fight off the Wyyyschokk. You transitioned from aimless swinging to more calculated attacks—although basic strikes, as they were—and evasive maneuvers. One of the objectives was to not get impaled by her other intact legs with ends as sharp as spearheads. With your size versus the Matriarch’s, you’re capable of avoiding her wide-ranged attacks and parrying the lunges. The hide of the creature’s rotund abdomen was surprisingly tougher, your slashes could only singe the shell, but not totally maim or subdue it—that’s when you realized you have to drive your saber through its weak spot: the exposed flesh on the peak of its abdomen.

She’s too fast! You observed in your mind. The only way to solve that is to completely cut off all of her limbs—you’ve taken out two of eight so far, you’ve six more to go.

There was a burst of energy seething within you, it’s probably from the adrenaline; whatever its origin, you made use of it to your advantage. The Matriarch can still attack you like normal, though her pair of leg stumps do less damage than before when they were still whole. Elusively sliding to its side before it could turn around to face you, a violent push hurtled it against the wall, bringing the Matriarch lying on her side and her grotesque feet scrambling to stand herself up; being just one second behind, you come sprinting forward with the glistening beam of light primed for a stab. A clean sweeping cut to the right severed the last joints of the Wyyyschokk’s legs, your heels sprang up from the ground and sparks flew when your lightsaber met with the spider’s tough hide.

Tearing through the prismatic, shimmering shell of its rump, there was a bit of a struggle; though, with the Wyyyschokk disoriented and physically handicapped on one side, it afforded you some time to really deal some damage. Never mind the ear-drilling howls, you supported the pommel with the base of your hand when there was resistance coming from the Matriarch. You wager a guess that you’re driving deep into the organs while the set of stumps of her left-side slap and whip at your back.

Whne the clawing had become more violent, you withdrew from the beast. Both Jedi and the little droid, BD-1, watched the spider scramble back to its feet—it now stood slanted, her menacing gait was now a thing of the past as it was reduced to a humiliating hobble unfit for something named a Matriarch. Though, it was fueled by a primal rage of killing its prey to do itself some justice.

“This has got to be the most persistent spider I’ve seen!” you commented to Cal.

“Yeah, just to get back at you for chopping her legs!”

“Fair point,” you shrugged sarcastically. “Which makes me hate it back even more!”

You sprang back towards it, the burst of power remained undying. The Matriarch rears back an inch and the sorry remnants of her front limbs are lifted from the ground—you know this move, thus you retaliated with a successful parry. The spider was quick to follow up another attack, but you were quicker—parroting a particular move of Cal’s: a direct kick right after doding the next attack. You swerved to your left—the side where the last of this great Wyyyschokk’s limbs remain intact—and executed the kick to disorient it for a brief second. A move that required one to move in the blink of an eye.

You followed it up with a duo of hard, heavy slashes that severed the left side of its body—the sternum, the abdomen—but it quickly shifted to face you, until the Matriarch attempted to redo the same attack that you parried, only this time, it won’t take a single parry to deter her. You felt the animal’s confidence of sorts that it’ll finally kill you along with Cal, reinforced by the same primitive rage that fuels its persistence, and you determined it to be its undoing.

Lunge. And then a parry.

This exchange of assault happened thrice. The third parry was the strongest, injuring the outer set of mandibles. With the Matriarch fazed after the third, you hopped on to her head like a stepping stone until you hover on the peak of its abdomen. The tip of the lightsaber aligns with the center of the fleshy, claw-shaped dermis and plunged it. You found it easier to penetrate the top than the side. Of course, the Wyyyschokk thrashed violently, you held onto your hilt as tight as you could and buckled your knees to plant your feet against its shell.

“Damn...” Cal muttered in awe as he watched, almost not minding the cocoon.

The movement became slower and more sluggish, the Wyyyschokk has depleted its energy on its dying throes, though you still held onto the hilt with the blade driven deep through the creature’s shell. In half a second, the Matriarch Wyyyschokk’s body finishes into a heavy thud on the earth, you joined the drop, your knuckles were swelling white as bone from the tightness of your grip, and then returned to its color when you confirmed your quarry to be unmoving. The Matriarch’s remaining limbs clenched and scraped the earth until she finally gave up and loosed all tension in her body. A weak squeal escapes her mouth for the last time.

Silence for ten seconds past. Either Jedi anticipated something, but hoped that it was finally over. Cal squirmed around in his silken straitjacket.

“Umm... [Y/N]?”

“Oh...” you huffed. Your hand searched for the saber still stuck into the spider’s exoshell. It took some effort to tug it out, when you did, a vile mixture of cauterized bits of entrails and sparks spurted out of the orifice. You then dragged your knees to Cal’s direction, the tip of your saber hovered an inch above the mud; you knelt at a considerable distance from Cal—the heavy load on your entire body, pounded to exhaustion as the adrenaline wore off, felt relieving. You then founded the strength to hold your saber to eye level and carefully cut through the cocoon.

“Alright, now hold still,” your weak voice was almost a whisper.

“Gently now,” Cal whimpered.

You overlooked the evident doubt in his voice knowing full well you’ve been battered by the fight, “It’s fine, I can still hold it up properly.”

Cal could feel the heat coming from the end of your saber, but he can also feel the cocoon loosening up on his shoulders, and then to his neck; much later, there’s finally some wiggle room for his arms, you worked your way in cutting it downward until his kicked the cocoon’s flaps open. He rolled over and threw the rest of the shell off of his back.

“It’s almost like you hatched out of it,” you joked.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” retaliated the redhead as he dusted off the grass and dirt from his sleeves. His sarcastic tone mellowed and shifted into a warm, affirming tone, “Hey...”

Sensing the abrupt change of tone, you looked to him, wordlessly prompting him to continue.

He plants his hand on the top of your head, fingers slightly digging into your hair and rubbed lightly. “You did great back there.”

You let out one big sigh. Your foreheads touch.

“You did it, [Y/N],” Cal said this twice, whispering proudly to you as he squeezes your hand. He sneaks a kiss on your forehead and helped each other back up on your feet.

“Come on, before the kids find out their mom is dead,” you blurted.

Speak of the devil. Both of you had to move fast as neither of you can deny that the collective skittering and hissing of the lesser Wyyyschokks are starting to get a little louder—what seemed to start as faint noises lurking amongst the rock eolved into a menacing buzz that frightened even the little BD-1.

“T-Trill!”

“BD’s picking up a lot of thermal signatures in here all of a sudden!” Cal translated.

“Well, I’m not waiting to find out what they are in person!”

Gathering his strength, Cal punched the wall with the brass claws, starting with his right hand. When he got a feel that it’ll hold, he looked over his shoulder.

“Hold onto me.”

there was no time for argument. At the corner of your eye, you could see the moss-green of the Wyyyschokk’s body popping out of the shadows. You drape your arms around Cal and he begins scaling the rock wall. You lock your legs against his hips, and quietly promised you’d literally get off of his back when you’re at a considerable distance from the ledge.

You peeked down and Cal has brought the two of you pretty far up now, the collective hissing in the shadows have taken shape into a cluster of the lesser Wyyyschokks gathering round the carcass of their mother. Their fangs twitch as they touch the dead shell of the Matriarch, the feelers in their mandibles alert them that there isn’t anymore a sign of life within her—their sad curiosity morphed into a seething rage akin to their mother’s, rooted by their grief as a whole pack.

“Um, Cal? I think they’ve figured it out!”

“Figured what out?”

“That we killed their mom,”

“Hey, that’s all on you!”

The redhead attempted to pick up the pace, not letting the pressure get to him. You briefed Cal on your plan, so when he got to the top end of the wall, he drove the claws deeper and planted the tips of his boots for traction.

He peeked over his shoulder, looking down, and seeing that the Wyyyschokks scamper from the dead Matriarch to the base of the wall. His heart rate spikes.

“Any moment now, [Y/N]!”

“I’m working on it, hon!” you grunted.

Your free hand flicked the cover of the small switch that’ll send a wire flying from your right-hand gauntlet. Once done, you extend your right arm, fist facing forward, and then a hooked cord shoots right out of the narrow runway of the gadget. The tiny spines on the hook dug into ledge’s adjacent wall. With his free hand, Cal takes the loose end of the cord out of the gauntlet’s small hatch—revealing a toothed anchor—and stabs the rock wall with it. A few good, resistant tugs confirmed that the anchor’s been secured.

“Alright, it’s good to go,” reported Cal.

You scrambled for the pouch on your utility harness and produced a zipline slider. You literally got off Cal’s back, hooked the slider over the cord, and traversed the air—hanging about twenty feet above the ground with a colony of vengeful spiders below. Shortly after, BD-1 hopped over the cord, his forked feet clicked and transformed into the same fashion of a zipline slider—then Cal held onto the little droid and joined you on the ledge.

A few of the spiders have already climbed to a certain height of the wall, others have cut through the line and circled to reach the top end, a handful have crossed the gap by deliberately passing by the rock wall and towards you. Before any of them could examine the anchor—let alone, realize that it’s there—you twisted a thin knob on the hook-end. The anchor whipped and whistled, startling the spiders near it, and snapped as it conjoins itself with the hook. Cal watched with a child-like wonderment.

“That’s pretty nifty!”

“I know, I should make one for you some time!”

Once the hook and anchor mechanism had reduced into the size of a metal pod, you returned it to its small hatch on your gauntlet and prepared for a second shot—this time, as a climbing line from the ledge to the oculus.

You’re reminded of the disadvantage on your end, “I can’t zipline upwards. I’m gonna have to borrow BD.”

“Bee-bee-chirp!” the droid was happy to help and didn’t spare a second in hopping onto the cord.

Before you could even hold onto little BD-1, a single Wyyyschokk clung onto the rock above your heads and greeted you with its maws, strung with saliva and bile. It didn’t wait any longer for either of you to react, but the pointy end of Cal’s lightsaber beamed through the roof of its mouth and then through its skull. He thumbed on the switch while his weapon was still near its mouth, the rod of light vanished cleanly, scrolling downward into the emitter.

The Force lent him enough strength to carry and toss the Wyyyschokk off the ledge, but a few would soon follow.

“Uhh, [Y/N]...”

“I know, I know! I see them!”

That courage you had on the ground against the Matriarch Wyyyschokk seemed to have died with her. Your phobia was returning in each passing minute her legion of spawn cover nearly half of the wall. Your initial grip on BD was unstable, it took you a brief minute to adjust your grip that’ll reassure you won’t fall along the way.

Clamping your fingers tight around BD’s feet, the droid’s rotors went to work and delivered you from point to point. As soon as BD’s feet touched the end of the string, you buckled your legs and sprang upward, directly out of the oculus. You knelt by the rim of the hole and witnessed the spiders miss Cal by a hair. He leaped straight out, the three of you regrouped but it doesn’t stop there—one problem after another, the spiders were gaining and they’re already treading the cord.

“Step away!”

You cut the cord with your saber, the cord twanged and whipped as it lost all the tension from the anchor and hook. The spiders that were walking on it went down with it. A few have failed in attempting to make the impossible jump and fell from a higher drop.

“Here, help me!” Cal scrambled up to his feet and then faced his entire body towards a boulder.

Immediately getting the idea, you stood up and channeled the Force; gathering strength to lift the boulder alongside Cal. Together, the rock rose from the ground, leaving an indent on its former place since time immemorial, and—fitting like a glove—clogs up the cavern’s oculus from the surface, severing the leg joint of a juvenile Wyyyschokk in the process.

The amputated leg wildly twitched, hopped, and writhed by your feet, which you jerked back out of startled disgust. The two of your watched it until it finally curled and went limp. Finally, you and Cal can afford the breather that you so desperately wanted and needed.

“Come on, we have to get back to base,” you nudge at his shoulder.

“Yeah...” he exhaled. “Yeah, let’s.”

You chuckle at his lazy bum. Your arms couold not take up his weight as you take his one hand with both of yours. He initiated to stand up when you landed on your bottom after trying to tug at him, the roles reversed, and you distanced yourself from the clogged hole of the underground cavern.

Cal clicked the button of his comlink.

“Sierra Unit, do you copy?”

A couple more impatient clicks on the gadget and he was answered with static. BD-1 tried to help by popping out his tiny satellite out of the top plating of his head, the little dish spins at a speed while the droid’s owner continues his desperate attempt.

The device finally beeped, an ecstatic male voice answers.

“Hey now, I thought for sure you were goners in that Wyyyschokk pit!”

A grin stretched across Cal’s freckled face. A huge relief befell him when his shoulders voluntarily relaxed. You shared the same sentiment, except you hid your desperation for a response on the other end of the comlink.

“Is it too early for a pick-up?” chortled Cal.

“Not at all! Just send us your coordinates and we’ll be right over... Over!”

After the transmission, you were drawn to the crashing sound of water, thus you followed it; you walk up to the more open area of the forest—finding yourselves on the side of a river, at the edge was a waterfall. The scenic view at the ridge was breathtaking. Fresh, crisp air welcome itself into your lungs, the loose fringes of your hiar whipped at the torrential wind from such an altitude, and the mist of the water tickled your cheeks and neck.

This was a wholly new area to both of you.

“Cal, over here!”

The redhead approached where you stood. He, too, was astounded by the view. Treetops and mountains that were greener than his emerald irses, and a sky that was so vast and blue; the Shyyyo Bird made an appearance, gliding over the treelines. The spray of the rapids at his left-hand side landed on his freckles and fogged BD-1’s optical lens. He realizes that there’s so much that everyone—except the Wookiees—hasn’t touched yet: Imperial or otherwise.

Not long after appreciating the view, a gray speck dotted the sky in your north, at the edge of the waterfall. Squinting through the horizon with your hand over your brow, the gray speck in the sky takes on size. The rotors of a retrofitted LAAT gunship mingle quite well with the roaring rapids—faintly, at first, until it got louder as they got nearer. A foot soldier peeked out of the doorless side of the ship and waved his free arm at you. As a response, you ignite your saber and wave it in the same manner as the soldier.

Just when you thought you were saved—the spiders have made a team effort in pushing out the boulder used to block off their exit. The thumping sound of the rock caused both Jedi to swing around and watch as the Wyyyschokks spring out of the hole. The foot soldier saw the quick transition from your glad expressions to an impatient, anxious one.

“Hurry, drop down the ladder!”

“Come on! They’re coming!”

Confused, the foot soldier was partially panicking and taking his time—unsure of the sudden mood change. He scrambled inside the ship looking for the rope ladder while the vessel lowered itself slowly. Alternating between the soldier in the ship and the rock being moved by the spiders in a collective effort, Cal locked eyes with one lesser Wyyyschokk while you clawed the air—pleading the soldier to kick down the ladder.

“HURRY!!” you cried.

The ladder was still untangling itself in mid-air when you clumsily caught a rung.

“Cal, come on!”

You manually straightened out the rope ladder and started climbing, Cal followed suit. The foot soldier shouted at the pilot to bring them up while the two Jedi were still clinging onto some rungs. The juvenile Wyyyschokks never got close to your heels; by the time they’ve completely gotten out of their den, the LAAT gunship has already carried you. The creatures curse the wind and the metal bird for refraining them from avenging their mother.

Again, you catch your breaths while the foot soldier checked on both of you.

“You’re alright, you two. You’re safe now,” he reassured. “What happened down there anyway?”

Cal nodded sideways, pointing to you, “Believe it or not: [Y/N] here killed the Matriarch.”

The soldier’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped altogether, “No way?”

The Jedi boy countered, bemusingly, “Way.”

“I don’t believe it. Well, that’s a story to tell around the campfire back at base!”

All you could do was smile. You were exhausted. There was nothing to say, but you appreciate the affirmation. The least you could do right now, after facing your fear all caged inside a rock, is reward yourself with rest.

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of-frost-and-fire · 3 years

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The Element’s Clash

Part 5 The flame flickering out... oh what a delectable sight that was. It was expected, of course, but he didn't expect to feel such a rise of adrenaline within his veins when the fire that blazed across her very skin was snuffed into a mere wisp due to the frigid ice curling through her own bloodstream. He charged forward as she slowed, the cold overcoming her as his footsteps stomped out the flames left behind by her boots, his pace extremely quick as he began to close the distance between the two rather easily. And when she dropped to a knee nearly blocks in front of him, he couldn't help but chuckle and smirk. And he kept running still, the woman barely being able to right herself as he began to close the distance between the two...

Four blocks away now, the dove would explode in a detonation of frosty devastation directly before the dark-skinned female, forcing her to leap with the hopes that her momentum would carry her past the spikes. And yet she was too slow, the large spikes that shot up from the ground forcing her to channel her flames forth and shatter only the most lethal of the many spikes, the rest slicing and piercing her in many different places as dark crimson dripped from her wounds. All the meanwhile he continued to charge at her, another hundred feet melting away as her jaw was cracked against the gravel road, her consciousness wavering for a few moments as each of the cuts and holes in her flesh began to grow extremely frigid now, the cold filling her entire body as it began to force her muscles and lungs to constrict, the icy effect almost beginning to suffocate her.

Almost...

Unfortunately for the cryomancer, her flame was a rather well-off match when pitted against such chilling magic. By the time he was on the same block, she was able to rise, the undying heat within her very being melting away the suffocating cold as her body began to bring itself back to life, the metaphorical gears in her body - once stopped by a stray iron pole - snapping the metal away as they began to turn once more. The wave of fire she unleashed in his direction was a torrent, and a powerful one at that… and so he allowed his toothy bottom mask to split horizontally, revealing the cracked lips below as he let out an exhale of pure frost that turned the flames into a mere, hot mist.

And so he charged forward still.

But as fast as he was moving, the rate at which recovered was still too fast for the cryomancer to truly have caught her completely off guard. But he tried anyways, his frigid feet clattering against the stonework beneath them as he dead-rushed the pyromancer, not even realizing that in one swift, almost unnoticeable motion, she managed to turn on him with her guns aimed true, firing directly into him.

And all four made their mark.

The first pierced through his right shoulder like it was butter, the burning steel cauterized the large hole left behind as his frost kept the physical heat at bay. It was then that he began to dig his heels into the ground, attempting to skid to a stop. As he did the second bullet sliced through his inner thigh, his knee buckling forward as he stumbled, the third bullet snapping through his elbow as an immense wave of pain coursed through his left arm and filled his body. His eyes blurred, his body lurching forward as he just barely caught himself, frantically blinking as the heat began to pierce through his frost.

And then the fourth bullet approached.

It was as if time slowed, everything almost felt frozen. His right eye's pupil met the point of the golden bullet as it traveled directly towards it, his eye widened as he was forced to make a much too rapid decision. Five sigils of equal size with a design comparable to that of a snowflake would appear before his eye, each one shattering as the bullet passed through it. The cold these magical emblems left behind helped to rid the bullet of both its speed and flame, but even by the time the fifth seal was passed the bullet still carried itself with immense force, charging forward directly towards his iris. Shattering the right side of his mask almost completely, the bullet mere inches from his face as the pieces of the crow-shaped obscurer, it seemed as though he would be facing his maker soon...

And thus came a six seal, the likes of which managed to redirect the bullet in such a way that it sliced through the flesh directly next to his eye, leaving behind a steaming burn as the top right section of his face was revealed. His eye was a frosty blue, his skin a snow-like pale, and small ice crystals could be seen forming against his winter-like visage. But his eye didn't seem cold... no, it seemed very, very hot, practically boiling with rage. Rage that clouded his mind and judgment...

...rage that almost got him killed.

Luckily enough, though, he managed to pull himself back into a more calculative mindset as the second flurry of gunshots filled the air. There were many more this time, about three times as many as the previous, and he feared that if he didn't defend himself he'd be almost definitely killed. But he was in too much pain to run, and so he resorted to revealing yet another of his precarious tricks. And thus his back suddenly bore large wings made of snow and frosty air, the likes of which quickly wrapped around his torso before crystallizing and further freezing into feathers of solid, hard as steel ice.

And, unfortunately for the pyromancer, the first three bullets where completely absorbed by the wing's impact. Their flames were wiped away without a care, the bullets themselves shattering against the ice as the force of each pushed him back but an inch or two. The forth and fifth bullet left indents though, and the sixth left a crack in the right-wing. Seven, eight, and nine all focused on the left-wing, however, and soon it was riddled with a large series of spiderweb-like cracking that covered its entire surface. Ten pierced the right-wing, completely shattering the apex of the wing as the rest began to crumble...

And he just knew the eleventh would kill him if he didn't move now.

But his legs were burning as the pain in his body locked him still. And so he did what little he could, allowing his wings to fall apart and accumulate in a fantastic ball of frosty misty that he rose his right hand towards it, flicking his wrist as the ball suddenly bursts and propels him backwards. But unlike the woman before him, he had much more control in regards to his aerial momentum, or at least it seemed as if he did. The frost of the propulsion was carried with him, too, culminating into the same ice shield he had used early as he curved his right side towards the ground, allowing the shielded arm to impact if only for a moment. After all, a moment was all he needed~

The ice collided just as he wished, scraping against the stone for but two or three seconds before he pushed off of the ground with the shield, sending his form upward and back as he managed to plant his feet onto the ground, the bullet whizzing by a few inches past his head as he steadied himself, raising his shield as the woman charged directly towards him in the aftermath of her furious torrent of bullets.

And despite the power behind her punches, he managed to parry the first three completely, the forth only managing to leave a small crack upon its surface. But as each of her hands grew more furious and more flame-scowered, her patterns becoming erratic and unpredictable, the hits the shield took became more and more evident as crack after crack, dent after dent formed. And with what seemed like the fiftieth punch - a particularly hard left hook - she shattered the shield, pushing through the ice as she slammed her fist into his exposed eye, the painful slam forcing him a whole foot back as his neck practically cracked from the intense weight behind her punch. Before he could even react another punch slammed into him too, her right fist slamming directly into his gut as he let out a loud grunt, the air that once filled his lungs escaping entirely as he was forced back even more.

But as she went for another hit with her left, hoping to slam a crucial hit against his jaw, he managed to arch himself back, the punch completely whiffing as the ice she had shattered began to reform into an odd shape along his hand and the beginning of his forearm. The mist and ice and frost came together to form a gauntlet of sorts, with clawed fingers and spiked knuckles. Planting one of his feet behind himself he shifted, his arm striking her at a rather rapid pace as he went to slice directly across her face. His other hand caught her other fist, twisting her arm as he brought his right leg up, a flurry of wind surrounding it as he kicked at her gut.

And what followed was a boom of thunderous wind that could send even giants flying, small icicles piercing into her as the gust acted as a brief respite for the cryomancer before he suddenly took a more offensive position, charging towards her now as he clawed at her with his gauntlet rather recklessly... though his form held patterns. He seemed to be aiming for her joints - for her elbows and knees and shoulders, even attempting to slice at her neck. All the meanwhile his left arm laid rather limp, seemingly rather affected by the bullet that had pierced his elbow but a minute before.

And as he went for a sly kick to knock her legs out from under her he shouted in anger, his eyes lit up with blood lust. Truly, this had become very personal~

If there was anything-...anything at all that fueled her wrath, it was that devious chortle that she heard from the back of his throat the moment her legs had given out. She remembered it, unable to get it out of her head as it echoed against the walls of her mind~ developing a putrid loathing for the sound. She'd be lying if she claimed to have never tango'd with an ice mage, they weren't rare, she'd killed one before. Even so, she had just as well let another life, this one, however, wouldn't get the chance. Even at the brink of her death, he'd need the grace of Ravenous herself in order to avoid going down with her. She wanted to melt every bone in his body~ in return for freezing her own; and she made it known, quite vividly making the very vow to his face as her fiery orange eyes stared down the same raging heat that burned within the crystal cobalt within his exposed eye.

Then she charged him, snapping the icy pole like a twig as her blood as hot as lava rushed through her veins once again, and just like the sick trick he played by plaguing her body with his fist, she invaded his own by smashing his shield to bits. Her blood warmed her body to push forward, warmed her rage, her fury, as every blow upon his body left nearly third-degree burns. She wanted him to feel it, wanted the pompous bastard to feel every lick of heat she gave him.

"Laugh..." She said- smoke beginning to rise from her very fists, and the smell of burning flesh plagued the air around them, soon enough, she'd roast this man alive. "Come on- LAugh!!!" She demanded as her palms clenched, following his grunt due to her abdomen blow, she watched as his whole body lurched forward due to the impact and took no hesitation to send another punch toward his face. However, with a swift side-step, he moved out of the way, yet she was still moving forward with momentum. There was no time to recover, she knew, as the reconfigure of his ice surrounded his arm. However, she could counter, that is, if she was fast enough.

With her face already going forward, the woman's cheek met the blunt force of his charging fist, the claw's each of his knuckles digging into her flesh before ripping through and coming out on the side. The gunslinger clenched her teeth as she felt his solid and frigid fist crack the base of her right cheekbone, though she only regained herself as she planted her feet where they were. As she was already leaning to her left in consequence of his fist, the click of a gun rang through the quiet streets as her right hand brought out a familiar-looking revolver. Its shade the color of rose gold, outlined in rosey reds, and shadows of dark brown. With The last bullet locking in place, she was already aiming it toward his very skull as she opened her eyes. But once again, her movements slow as his palm wrapped around her wrist and pulled it back.

A momentary fight of strength then as she attempted to force her weapon back toward the base of his head, however, strength was not needed, he knew this. As with the simple squeeze of the base of her wrist, it forced her hand to open, and to no avail, her fingers lost grip of the firearm as it heavily clanked to the ground. Though given no breath between, she only caught glimpse of his flying knee as it collided with her stomach as quick as the wind itself. A large groan passed through her lips, alongside the plot of air that was within her lungs; she stumbled back several steps as her arm clutched it in pain. Nonetheless was only given the moment to cough out a gagged mouthful of blood that sprayed along the stoned streets, prompting the next phase consisting of a powerful wind that threatened to pick her off her feet. She braced against it, as she leaned forward and raised her armored arm before her. Luckily, it blocked a few dozen of the tiny icicles that were carried by the wind, saving her face, although, with her chest exposed, their slim edges punctured her in all areas, cutting deep into her flesh.

The woman let out a small pained cry as she raised her hand to the left side of her bosom, clutching it as coughed out a hoarse gag at the tiny icicle that pierced her lung. The gunslinger's eyes wide as raspy- spasmed breaths escaped her throat, her rage momentarily replaced with a brief feeling of panic, especially as his form neared. It wasn't over, and the distance between them closed in nearly an instance; too sluggish to counter or run, her instincts simply allowed her to slide beside two slashes to her, but her luck ran out as he made contact with the base of her left shoulder. She grimaced in tune, and before she knew it, a claw slashed along the exposed part of her elbow underneath the armor upon her right arm. Blood stripping from her flesh as it splattered along the ground. Another slash, but lower- the slim edge slicing through the fold of her knee and causing her to become unbalanced, and only prompting the forthcoming assail to her throat. She managed to angle herself, however, avoiding a lethal gash along her throat, and settling for the next best thing as the edge of his gauntlet sliced across her skin up and across her face. Not even given the chance to backstep, the mage swung his foot underneath her, dispatching the air beneath her feet so quick that her legs swept up toward the sky itself. Leaving the back of her head to make first contact with the unforgiving stone below.

Her vision blurred as each limb lost the nerve of consciousness, becoming stiff as her eyes glazed over.

The frost was already dragging down her muscles, suffocating them with a foreign cold that invaded her body from the inside. Forcing every breath to be a struggle, every lift of a finger to be a challenge as if to be strangled by a snake.

Ashes she became as her arms lifelessly hit the ground, utter cinders that followed a mighty inferno- one that no longer stood in the wake of soot. But her heart didn't stop, it beat, and it continued to beat even underneath the layer of ice that covered it, melting it, with each powerful beat that radiated everlasting heat throughout her body and muscles. Blood pumped through the ice, fighting against it as it dared to hold her down by chain.

By the time her feet met the stone, her arms were already climbing over her head, palms bracing upon the earth as the ember within the ashes sparked with a sudden ignition. The woman's legs folded in before her whole body coiled in like a spring, only to extend out and upward sending a blow toward his chin before her momentum threw her off the ground and back on her feet. Blood dripped from her body as she straightened, eyes narrowed, and her palms clenched, though her stance was off, and her knees threatened to buckle at a moment's notice, yet she stood.

The woman let the witch come at her once again, and for a moment, her eyes darted to something on the ground, before her feet moved, and she slid past him and slithered an arm underneath his own, only to fold her elbow upon his shoulder and trapped his arm within her grasp. With her movement tipping him off balance and temporarily immobilized, the gunslinger pulled back her fist, a fury of flames ignited her already armored right fist as she smashed it into his exposed ribcage. She brought it back again; slow, but strong as she held him, with the fraction of a second more, she slammed her fist into the same place, hopefully breaking his bones and sending them into his flesh, she'd be lucky if it stabbed his heart. A coarse breath escaped her as she pulled back her final fist, the cold returning to clasp her breath, but she gave through and delivered the devastating blow one time more. Blood leaked down the side of her mouth as she then lifted her own soles to the sky, promptly leaning back as she sent his face into the stone underneath her weight.

She let go of him once on the ground, rolling to her side as she held no more strength to stand. With an extended reach toward her revolver that laid not too far away, she managed to grab it before snapping back to the ice mage in her wake. Her vision, focusing in and out, and her even dominant left hand shivering as she raised it before her adversary; to fingers nearly frozen stiff as she fought to simply pull the trigger. A frustrated cry came out of her as she raged her final battle cry toward the heart of her foe.

BAM!!

And she felt the vibration of the bullet through her skin as it slid out the muzzle. Spiraling toward the mage before her. She did it...

Did she..?

Exhausted yanked at her limbs, as her vision became a flurry of colors and mist. Not even noticing when her firearm had slid out of her grasp, the world around her drifted out of view. Before the ground below came up to meet the Genasi, a single frosty mist escaped her blood-stained lips, her seemingly last as the gunslinger collapsed. Very seemingly in fact, as her chest was only still for a moment, before it began to rise and fall.

#fantasy #DnD #2Writers #Original #Story Post #ocs #story #Fantasy Story #Writing #Writing Post #Writers

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youhearstatic · 5 years

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Cor’s Adventure Zone Writing

Longer Fics - colabs

A Single Slat of Wood and Canvas - After months of training, Lup fails to bring in her first solo reaper contract. She won’t tell anyone exactly what happened, even Barry. (By @tanger-catnip & @youhearstatic)

Barry woke with a start. His hand reached for the other side of the bed before he even knew who or where he was.

“Lup?” he asked the empty room.

Her side of the bed was cold. Barry was up and fumbling for his glasses in an instant, his heart pounding.

Made Before the Voidfish (Broken by a Voidfish) - For months Lup, Magnus, and Merle have been haunted by the presence of the ‘red robe’. Often showing up after their adventures to offer cryptic and usually unhelpful warnings and advice. Shortly after the events at Refuge, Lup hatches a plan to finally pin this incomprehensible creature down and get the answers to the questions burning inside her. [TwinSwap AU 1.0] (By @tanger-catnip & @youhearstatic)

Lup heard her own voice twist into a burst of static. She couldn’t remember what she had just said or hold it in her brain, but her mouth knew the words. She bent over, a lance of pain shooting through her head. It hurt so much, but she was so close to something she just had to keep going.

More static. It was like something was stealing the words away from her. She tried to claw them back, but they just would not stay in. It was like vomiting, but with words that she couldn’t hear.

Lust is a Thing with Fangs - Lup tries to sneak in one more day of laboratory work before her annual heat cycle kicks in. Barry is there. It goes about how you would expect. (Explicit content.) (By @tanger-catnip & @youhearstatic)

Lup paused at the door to the lab. She stood up straight, wrapping herself in dignity and ignoring her heart pounding in her chest like a jackhammer. It would be fine. It was only Barry. He would be way too focused on his work to notice her trembling, or the fact she was flushed from the tips of her ears to her toes.

Lup licked her lips. She suddenly had the strangest feeling. Like part of her had come to a revelation about something and another was frantically trying to muffle it before it could be brought to her attention.

A Night at The Naughty Kitten - Out of options after the Starblaster hastily relocated without them, Lup and Barry spend the night at a “boutique” “short stay” hotel.

There’s only one bed, but that’s the least of anyone’s problems. (By @tanger-catnip & @youhearstatic)

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It wasn’t the first time she’d ended up like this, but every time Lup wondered if it would be the one to break her. He wanted her so badly. Lup didn’t understand how she was supposed to handle seeing it so clearly on his face on top of her own longing.

Sandworms and Other Concerns - Barry discovers that Lup’s presence can improve any situation, including having his arm torn off by a fifty-foot-long, carnivorous, burrowing, acid-spitting, hook-toothed, pinstriped Sandworm. (By @tanger-catnip & @youhearstatic - Also on AO3.) {Hey guys, just to let you know: The sandworm is all in the title. This is Hurt/Comfort wrapped in Fluff. Angst levels are at absolute minimum!}

Lup blinked. Once, then twice. At first, she didn’t know what had woken her up. The ship was perfectly still, aside from the faint thrum of the bond engine that she’d learned how to tune out decades ago. The interior lighting that simulated a day-night cycle was dimmed as low as it went which meant it was still ‘nighttime.’

After a moment, Lup realised what it was. The steady pattern of breathing that lulled her into sleep was coming at its normal pace. Barry was awake.

Longer Fics - solo

Bluejeans, Boxers, and One Bed - A prompt that got out of hand, this is my contribution to the best mutual pining trope out there: There Was Only One Bed! 4500+ words of ridiculous pining with a side dish of underwear angst. Yup, it’s a thing.

She’s tempted to watch but doesn’t, turning to give him the same privacy he afforded her. She already knows he wears boxers. They’ve all seen each other’s laundry enough to know every article of clothing by heart. He has navy blue ones, two different types of plaids, and red ones with white hearts that she’s wanted to ask about for years now. Something about them screams Valentine’s Gift Set and she wants to know the story. Were they a serious gift? A gag gift? Did he get his heart broken? Was he…

Lup’s heart stutters wildly for a few beats. Was he in a relationship when they left?

Losing Time - (Post Story and Song) After being missing for three days, Barry has been mysteriously de-aged. Now he looks 20 years old and doesn’t remember anyone. Lup, Kravitz, and Taako are trying to figure things out. (17k words)

His hair is thicker, his face smoother. He’s still heavy but lighter than she’s used to. She’s known him for over a hundred years while neither of them aged.

And now he’s a stranger.

Losing Time “Exit Interview” (10 fanfic questions answered about Losing Time. Includes a lot of behind the scenes and extended explanations.)

It’s About Time - This is a love letter to Barry Bluejeans of sorts: the whole campaign of The Adventure Zone: Balance (and then some) told from Barry’s point of view. (All the Time in the Worlds Series, Pt two. Meaning it’s essentially the Barry POV companion fic to A Thousand Tiny Moments. WIP, updates Fridays.)

Two days later Barry is dead.

Again.

All those contradictions and questions are filled when he rises, spectral and nearly overwhelmed with more emotions than his lich form can handle.

Because when he’s dead he can remember it all.

Contradictions (Prologue - tumblr link)

A Thousand Tiny Moments - Before being chosen for the Starblaster crew, Lup meets someone at a party. It doesn’t go well. (All the Time in the Worlds Series, Pt one, the Lup POV companion fic to It’s About Time. 14k words)

She drifts closer to him and slowly, so slowly, she bends her head to his. She pauses inches away, not yet touching but so close they share breath. Her hand slides along the lapel of his jacket and she feels his chest rise as he breathes in.

She looks at his mouth and thinks this is the last moment before I kiss him.It’s as inevitable as his chest falling beneath her hand as he exhales. So she kisses him. His lips are warm and soft against hers with the rich sting of alcohol painted on both their mouths.

The Lup POV minific that became A Thousand Tiny Moments

A Thousand Tiny Moments “Exit Interview” (10 fanfic questions answered about ATTM. Includes a lot of behind the scenes and extended explanations.)

Short Fics

Barry & Lup:

Morning in Bed (Lup and Barry just cuddling and being in love. Prompt Request.)

It’s Cold Outside But You’re Warm (Lup and Barry mutual pining. Prompt Request.)

Strings (Lup and Barry just performed their song. Lup has a few final doubts.)

What If She’s Just Gone? (Barry’s anxieties get away from him when Lup is missing. Prompt request.)

Will You Marry Me (Barry does what he has to. Prompt Request.)

Reactions (The twins deal with Barry being ill. Prompt Request.)

Curse and Canyon (Barry is hurt. Lup is trying to deal. Prompt Request.)

Take a Picture (Lup is frustrated. Prompt request.)

Your Laugh is so Adorable (Lup does some reluctant pining. Prompt request.)

Don’t Touch Me (Barry and Lup short experimental piece.)

Gathering (Taako plans a party. Prompt request.)

It was the Pottery (Taako teasing Barry. Prompt request.)

Super Short & Cutesy (Barry and Lup in the lab. Prompt request.)

What You Did Was Stupid (Barry and Lup on Tesseralia. Prompt request.)

This One is Really Dark (You’ve been warned. Prompt request.)

Let Me Help You (Prompt request for Barry & Lup.)

You Don’t Have to Act Like You’re Okay (Prompt request for Barry and Lup.)

Pride (Prompt based minific of Lup coming to Barry’s rescue at a Pride event.)

Hotel Balcony (A prompt based modern meet-cute for Barry and Lup.)

Hotel Balcony Pt 2 (Hey look, there’s more!)

Contradictions (Test minific/opener for the Barry POV fic that is in progress.)

Lup and Barry switch (Lup is the one that falls from the Starblaster, taking Taako with her.)

At the Wedding (Barry and Lup at Carey and Killian’s wedding. Quick scene inspired by a post.)

True Seeing (Barry in a voidfished body with a group of adventurers. Short group write piece.)

Other Short TAZ Pieces:

Getting Home (Super short Magnulia prompt)

Love is Dead (Taako has never had a soulmark. Kravitz gets one only after he dies. Taakitz Soulmate/Soulmark AU with Blupjeans background)

Second Chances ( When Lucretia gets the second void fish she realizes she can inoculate Davenport and talk to him.)

Just You and Me (JohnChurch prompt request.)

Karma is a Bitch/What Did You Say? (Taako & Barry’s friendship prompt request.)

Can You Keep a Secret? (Taako & Barry’s friendship prompt request.)

Meta, Etc

Headcanons:

[The Twins | Taako & Lup]

[The Lover | Barry]

[The Protector | Magnus]

[The Lonely Journal Keeper | Lucretia | The Director]

[The Peacemaker | Merle]

[The Wordless One | Davenport]

[Kravitz]

[Miscellaneous]

Meta:

Lucretia and the Red Robes (Pt 1) Lucretia and the Red Robes (Pt 2)

A list of every conversation Lucretia has with the boys about the Red Robes and a discussion of her thought process/intentions. Part 2 focuses specifically on how her words in Ep 59 may have influenced Magnus’s decisions going forward.

Murder or Suicide: What is it when lich!Barry sets up his living!Barry body to die?

Other:

TAZ Balance Characters as WoW Classes

#taz fic #taz balance #barry and lup #blupjeans #taakitz #barry bluejeans #lup #mywriting #mystuff #fic list #it was time for another update!

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alexander-slander · 6 years

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The Seer part five

Stiles called a few other places and made appearances to some places getting everything ready. He stopped by the station to tell everyone when the service was going to be and thanking everyone for being there for his dad over the years.

He went back to Dereks’ and changed out of the clothes he was wearing into something more comfortable. He left Dereks’ and went to meet Marigold. On his way there he heard a scream and rushed to see what was going on.

When he got to the origin of the scream he cursed himself and ran out with his magic ready to attack. He saw that two wolves were attacking another wolf. He didn’t see who screamed but decided to leave that for later.

Stiles recognized two of the wolves as Scott and Derek the other must’ve been from out of town. He stayed hidden until he was able to get a good shot at the other wolf. “Scott, Derek get down! “ He yelled as he hurled his magic at the wolf knocking it way from the others.

After it was hit he ran away into the woods. Derek and Scott changed back and went behind a tree to put some clothes on.

Stiles walked closer to them and looked around where they were fighting. It was an open clearing that the pack used to train or wrestle.

Scott and Derek walked out and raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “So are you going to tell us what that was?” Scott asked waving his hand.

“That has a logical explanation.” He said taking a deep breath. “I’m the seer.” He said looking at them waiting for a reaction.

“You’re the what?” Derek asked not knowing what else to say.

“The seer. I know it sounds crazy trust me I know but it’s true.” Stiles said holding his hands in the air.

“How do you know this?” Scott asked crossing his arms.

“The old seer told me.” He said shrugging.

“I thought seers were a myth?” Derek said blinking a few times.

“Derek you should never think anything is a myth after the last eight years of our lives.” Stiles said rolling his eyes.

“He’s right.” Marigold said her voice coming from around them.

“Who’s there?” Scott called out his nails turning into claws.

“Put the claws away McCall.” She said walking out from behind the trees. “You’d never get one past me.” She said crossing her arms.

“Scott, Derek, this is Marigold, my predecessor. Marigold this is my best friend Scott McCall, and the other one is Derek Hale.” Stiles said looking at Marigold.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been this close to a werewolf.” She said putting her hands on her hips.

“Wait how do you two know each other?” Scott asked titling his head.

“Well I’ve been looking for my replacement for about twenty something years. I’ve been the seer since I was nineteen. Which was about fifty years ago.” She said crossing her arms over her chest.

“You look like you’re about twenty five.” Stiles said from where he stood.

“You stop aging when you’re about twenty five.” She said turning to look at him.

Stiles explained to them what was going on and then he showed them what he could do and explained how he knew that Sam and Dean were the Winchesters along with telling Scott who Sam and Dean were.

The next day it was reported on the news that there was an animal attack in the woods near the reserve. When Dean heard the news he got up and went to the kitchen where Sam was.

“We got a case.” He announced walking in to find his brother reading the newspaper.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked looking up at him.

“There was a wolf attack in the woods late last night.” He said grabbing a cup coffee.

“How do you know it was a wolf attack? Besides there aren’t any wolves in California.” Sam said putting the paper down.

“It was the first unexplained animal attack in two years. It happened not far from the first attack that happened eight years ago. Plus the body was torn in two.” Dean said taking a sip of his coffee.

“Okay we’ll check it out but don’t jump to conclusions.” He said getting up and putting his cup in the sink.

“We leave in ten.” Dean said walking up stairs. Sam rolled his eyes and went to change as well getting his ID ready.

Derek and Stiles were at the crime scene seeing as they found the body. “Mr. Hale if you don’t mind we’d like to take your statement now.” A deputy said leading him away from the crowd.

Another officer did the same with Stiles. Derek crossed his arms and told the officer how they found her.

“Derek and I were on a morning run. We hadn’t been on one in a while and neither of us could sleep so we decided to go for a run. I tripped over what I thought was a tree root then we realized it was the girl.” He said taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

“I know this must be hard for you and I’m sorry is there anything else you can remember?” The officer asked writing in his note pad.

“When we realized it was a body I walked closer to the main road to get a signal and Derek stayed with the body.” He finished.

“Thank you Stiles. I’m sorry about your dad he was a good man.” The officer said gripping his shoulder lightly.

“Yeah he was thanks Darrel.” He said before walking over to a tree and leaning against it.

They didn’t have the all clear to go back to the house yet so they continued to lean against the tree.

Sam and Dean showed up and asked to speak to the officer in charge. As they were talking to one of the officers Sam looked up and saw Stiles and Derek. He slapped Dean’s arm and nodded in their direction keeping the surprise off his face.

They talked to the lead officer then Dean went to talk to the ‘witnesses’. “What are you two idiots doing here?” he asked looking at them.

“It’s not our fault.” Stiles said throwing his arms in the air. “We didn’t know she was here until I tripped over her.”

“So you’re telling me that you just happened to stumble upon the body?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes we were on a run and I tripped I thought it was a branch but it was half a person.” He said rolling his eyes.

Sam walked over and looked at the two. “You two okay?” he asked cutting off Dean’s reply.

“Yeah we’re fine it’s not the first body we’ve found.” Stiles said crossing his arms.

“Alright that’s good we’ll get your statements from the other officers.” Sam said before nudging Dean before going to talk to some other officers.

An officer walked over and told them they could leave and that they’d be in touch if they needed anything.

Once they were far enough away Derek said, “I don’t like your cousins.”

“I know.” Stiles said rolling his eyes. “You don’t try to hide it.” He said letting out a huff.

“I don’t like them because I had Deaton do a back ground check on them. It turned up some interesting facts.” Derek said stepping in front of Stiles.

“What facts showed up?” He asked crossing his arms.

“Well there’s a death certificate for Dean. According to the government he’s supposed to be dead. They’ve been suspects in murder cases more than once.” Derek said crossing his arms as well. “I’m just saying that we shouldn’t trust them at least not right away.” He said running a hand down his face.

“I know and I don’t. If you had actually been listening when Dean walked over you would’ve known that I told Dean what we told the other officers. We went for a run and I tripped over her.” He said stepping around him starting back to the house.

“You did?” Derek asked catching up with him.

“Of course Der. After everything we’ve been through do you really think I would trust two guys who show up on my doorstep the day after my dad dies just because they’re my cousins?” He asked turning around to look at him.

When he heard Stiles call him Der he knew he wasn’t that mad. “I’m sorry I guess I should’ve thought that through.” He said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“I know you were just looking out for me I get it but remember I can take care of myself. I mean I did get the upper hand on you.” He said smirking.

“That’s because I was distracted.” Derek defended.

“Oh uh-huh trying to save face are you?” He asked titling his head with a playful glint in his eyes.

“I could beat you any day.” Derek said matching Stiles’ smirk.

“Try me sourwolf.” Stiles said before taking off with Derek following behind him.

Dean and Sam got back into the impala and sighed. “I’m telling you that, that Derek guy is hiding something.”

“Dean not this again. We hardly know anything about the guy. Just because he’s hiding something doesn’t mean that it’s because he’s a werewolf. He could be a completely normal guy.” Sam said leaning his head against his seat.

“Just because he’s in love with our cousin doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.” Dean said turning on the car.

“You picked up on that too.” Sam said looking over at him.

“Yeah it’s not like they try to hide it they both have the hots for each other they’re just two idiots who don’t realize they like each other.” He said as he pulled away from the reserve.

“Reminds me of you and Cas.” Sam said chuckling as he looked through his notes.

“Hey! Cas and I were not that oblivious.” Dean said side glancing at him.

“Oh come on Dean, Cas was flirting with you for a month before you realized he liked you and that’s only because Bobby tossed a box of Condoms at you.” Sam said looking at him.

Dean thought about it for a moment as he continued to drive. “Were we really that clueless?” He asked looking over at Sam quickly.

“Yeah.” He said rolling his eyes before looking out at the rode. “Dean watch out!” He said seeing a wolf run into the rode.

Dean pushed his foot down on the breaks to stop the car stopping inches from the wolf.

The wolf then howled with a few answering howls in return before taking off into the woods.

Dean and Sam looked at each other eyes wide. “Sammy are you sure there aren’t any wolves in California?” He asked looking over at him.

“Okay we may have a slight werewolf problem but that doesn’t mean Derek’s involved.” Sam said as he calmed down.

The pack returned Isaac’s call and they met at the clearing from the night before. Derek had caught Stiles just as Isaac howled.

When they all got there they looked at each other and then at Isaac. “Sorry I was chasing a squirrel and almost got hit by a car.” He said after changing back being tossed some clothes from Scott.

“Did you see what kind of car it was?” Stiles asked stepping forward.

“Yeah it looked like an Impala.” He said as he got dressed.

“That’s great if they didn’t think there were werewolves in Beacon Hills then they do now!” Stiles said tossing his arms in the air.

“Who are they?” Kira asked with one hand on her hip.

“Sam and Dean Winchester. They’re supernatural hunters and my cousins.” Stiles said turning back around to face them.

“Wait I thought your parents didn’t have any siblings.” Jackson said leaning against a tree.

“So did I until a few years ago.” Stiles said then explained everything to them except for him being the seer.

They all made their way back to the house and sat around watching T.V and eating snacks.

Sam and Dean got back to the house and went inside before calling Stiles. His phone went straight to voice mail. “Hey kid it’s Dean call me.” He said before hanging up.

“What are we going to tell him?” Sam asked sitting on the couch. “Oh hey we almost ran into a wolf and we think there’s a pack of werewolves nearby?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure out a way.” Dean said sitting down next to his brother.

“His dad just died should we really be involving him in this?” Sam asked turning to look at his brother.

“In this line of work you lose people you care about you can’t stand around feeling sorry for yourself.” Dean said looking at him.

“Yeah I know but he didn’t grow up like we did his dad has been his everything since he was a kid.” He said before getting up to take a shower.

“Alright so the plan is to tell them that the wolf belonged to Derek along with three others since there were three howls in response.” Stiles said as he ignored the call from Dean.

“So how are we going to explain that I have four pet wolves?” Derek asked looking over at Stiles.

They’d ordered pizza and sat around the kitchen counter discussing what to tell the Winchesters. “We’ll say that your family used to take in injured wolves and you carried on with it and one of them got out while we were gone.” Stiles said taking a bite of his pizza.

“You really think they’d believe that?” He asked raising an eyebrow.

“They have no reason not to besides we can have them shift and act like normal wolves.” He said shrugging as the others groaned.

“Do we really have to act like we’re pets?” Scott asked laying his head on the table.

#writing #writers #sterek #fluff #teen wolf #teen wolf fluff #supernatural #supernatural fluff #destiel #angst

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xerxixez · 3 years

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Chapter 7

It was a Camazotz. Its seven foot tall frame looked like a giant bat, with a nearly eight foot wing span tipped with claws so sharp it could rip threw plate mail in a single swipe. There head is that of a giant vampire bat with teeth so sharp that the act of closing there mouth causes there gums to bleed leaving them with the constant taste of blood in there mouths. There mouth, of which was so large it looked as if there head was made up of nothing but teeth, are always covered in blood as there saliva will not allow blood to congeal. They are known to bite there victims injecting them with there saliva that would thin their victims blood causing them to bleed profusely. Once the bitten is weak they would swoop in and suck them dry leaving them nothing more than a mummy like husk. They are intelligent and believed to have been officers in the Caretakers army. For there tireless obedience to there master the Caretaker would allow them to the over-world to feed, not only as a prize but also to save her army from taking massive casualties from the unsatable hunger of the Camazotz. Nick had only seen one, and that was almost a year ago. Out on a hunt with Nathan they had found only one set of tracks all day and it was almost time to head back to the homestead but Nathan had insisted they could catch the deer and take it home if they tracked it just another few minutes as the animal was already bleeding bad and couldn't last much longer. Unwillingly Nathan agreed and went on with him. Less than five minutes later they come across a gruesome scene of a giant bat sucking the deer dry. With in seconds the creature had dropped the husk of the deer and flew off. Nathan and swooped up Nick and ran as fast as he could home. When he arrived he explained to Pops what had happened and there grandfather had explained what they had seen. Nathan could never forget that sweet unique smell of syrup mixing with old blood. That was the only way he could explain the stench that had come off the thing. As the Camazotz dropped the husk of the horse and turned towards the man that was knocked to the ground from atop it Nathan reacted. He was only ten or so paces from the creature, charging in he pulled his battle ax from his side and swung. The Camazotz was to fast and dodged the attack, side stepped and hit Nathan along the side of his head with a backhand from his massive claws throwing him nearly seven foot back landing on his side and loosing his battle ax in the flight. Standing and ignoring the blood streaming from his head Nathan pulled his two tomahawks out of there sheaths, he would not allow this creature to kill this unknown man while he still had the will to fight. As he readied his self for the next attack an arrow flew inches from his ear and into the creatures right shoulder. Smiling, knowing his sister had his back, adrenaline pumping, he charged onward. The Camazotz swung his huge wing like a blade tipped with barbs at Nicks head. Ducking at just the last second nick got under the wing and slid past the creature lodging one of the tomahawks in the hip of the creature while slicing threw the wing with the other. As he come to a slow he pulled one of his daggers to replace his lost tomahawk and gripped it in a reverse grip ready to counter anything this ungodly creature did in retaliation for the interruption of its meal. Another arrow flew at the creature but was easily knocked aside by its giant wings as it was expecting it this time. Nick new that if he did not keep its attention it was going to charge at his sister. There was no way she could withstand the strength of this creature if it was to get its hold on her. The Camazotz turned to launch towards Sara but its ripped wing left it unsteady and it barely kept its self from falling. Knowing that it was possibly the stupidest idea he had ever had Nick lunged stabbing the dagger all the way up to its hilt in the chest of the beast and out the back while burying the tomahawk in his other hand into the same shoulder that the arrow had punctured moments before. With the strength and force of the charge both Nick and the beast hit the ground in a flurry of mud, blood, and wings. Sara sent another arrow into the creatures back as the two on the ground rolled over in battle. Nick found purchase as the arrow made the Camazotz scream in agony as the arrow had punctured its lung. With out thinking Nick grabbed its head and squeezed. With his unnatural strength he could feel the bones in its head begin to crack under the pressure of his massive hands. With a soft pop the creature went limp as its head imploded. Nick slowly stood up breathing massively harder than he has in many years. He was bleeding from the head, the shoulder, and the leg. Sara could not remember the creature hitting home in any attack on him sense the initial hit that sent him flying, but apparently it had happened so fast that she had missed it. As Nick collected his weapons Sara ran forward and saw that the man that had fallen off his horse was wearing a military uniform of Shinaru and a Calvary regiment patch. This was a soldier and that patch was that of her fathers elite Calvary regiment. What was he doing out here? Has the war turned to this direction? None of that mattered this man was unconscious and bleeding profusely from a bite wound on his left leg. Nick found his war ax lodged into a dead aspen tree to the south of the trail. As he came back within sight of Sara he noticed the uniform of the man he had saved and the condition he was in. "Nick we have to save him, we have to get him to Pops if he has any chance of living and we have to do it fast. I will use as much earth magic as i can to make a sled and put him on it i will get on your back and attach the sled to my self with the bow string you need to run like u have never run before back to Pops. This man must be saved he might know something about father, that is fathers regiment on this uniform." Sara said as fast as she could Nick gave her a look of disbelief knowing she was not very good with earth magic "I know i know, get a bunch of sticks together" she insisted Nick did as he was told and went to the job of finding sticks. As her brother gathered the sticks and twigs Sara bandaged the man as best she could with cloth she ripped from her shirt. Within minutes nick had a pile of wood and was looking at Sara with doubt in his eyes. Sara arranged them into a sled that would be easily dragged with a body on it. She took a deep breath and visualized how she wanted the wood to fuse together to make it sturdy and strong. As she focused she put every bit of her will into the magic and let it flow from her hands into the wood in front of her. After a few moments she opened her eyes and to her surprise it had worked. She had never been able to do such a thing before, even simple bindings of earth magic she had almost always failed on. In disbelief she stood up and kicked it to see if it would fall apart. It moved as if it was one single piece of wood. In surprise she poked Nick in the arm " Come on Nick grab him and put him on the sled while i destring my bow to use as a rope. " In moments Nick had situated the man on the sled and Sara had connected the bow string and her spare bow string she liked to keep on hand "just in case" together and tied one end to the sled and the other to the belt around Nicks waist, realizing that if she tied it to her self she would be pulled off Nicks back. Sara climbed up onto her brothers back and squeezed tight around his waist with her legs and told him to go.

Slow at first with uncomfortable movement he started off, but within moments he was able to get a good rhythm that wouldn't cause him to knock the man off the sled and still gain some speed. They went as fast as they could having to stop once or twice to re-situate the man on the sled so he didn't fall off but was able to get back to the house in just over an hour and a half. "Pops!! Pops!!" Sara screamed as they come into hearing sound of the house "Someone is hurt real bad and needs your healing, Pops get out here!!" As they got to the front porch Zack stepped out the door and saw the man "Get him in the house on the table now! What happened?" "A Camazotz" Nick answered "How did he survive and how do you know it was a Camazotz?" Zack asked as he collected supplies and herbs to stop the bleeding. The man was turning blue from loss of blood and beginning to go into shock. "He killed it!" Sara pointed at Nick "OK, OK, get out now so i can focus. Nathan u stay you could be of help, Sara, Nick go clean up and wait outside till i'm done here. The two of them walked out the door with out complaint knowing there grandfather would hear none of it.

#book #short story #story #my story

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magic5ball · 3 years

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Nature Trail to Hell Arc IV: Megamart of Darkness (10)

Chapter 10: Bokrug vs. A-Bomb vs. Watt! Ultimate Deathmatch!!!

Despite having only golf clubs, A-Bomb was fearless. A reckless sort of fearlessness that leads one to charge a 25 pound, machine gun toting mass of unadulterated avian fury.

A fearlessness that would only make sense if your opponent was playing right into your hands.

“Bokrug! Look out!”

By the time the last word left my mouth, it was too late. A-Bomb teed off on Bokrug’s jaw, sending the gander flying. The machine gun clattered to the ground, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. All that was left was for A-Bomb to start teeing off on Bokrug’s downed carcass, which he gleefully did. Repeatedly. And it looked very painful, so painful it scared me out of mini golf for life. Even so much as touching a club gives me memories of the poor goose’s gasps of pain.

“Please, my child.” He begged “You may have fallen far, but the kind, innocent boy I once knew is still in there. I can feel it!”

“Really? Because my internet history says otherwise!”

If Bokrug wasn’t getting hit before, now he’d been reduced to the world’s downiest piñata. And yours truly could only watch helplessly as his physical form looked like it was gonna explode into a million bloody pieces any second, too glued to my seat (literally) to do anything. Or was I? Because A-Bomb had only glued the bottom of my seat. If I could only wriggle out of my pants…

Gotta give credit to Bokrug: he held out much longer than I thought he would. But even dinosaurs fall with enough beating, and before long A-Bomb was standing triumphantly over his kill like some African big game hunter. Right as I was able to slip out of my pants. Though when you consider I was wearing my pachyrhinosaurus underwear, the exact same smelly pair I’d been wearing since I’d left camp, this may have made my problem much, much worse.

A-Bomb laughed loud and deep at the sight, his face turning a deep red. This must have gone on for several minutes, him constantly on the verge of chortling his lungs out, myself too strawberry red to move. Then, once he’d spit out enough chuckles to speak again:

“A-are you kidding me?!“He pointed at me like some schoolyard bully. “Of all the dinosaurs you get monogramed on your underwear, you chose the NERD one?!”

I breathed deep. “Pachyrhinosauus is an amazing and criminally underrated member of the ceratopsian clade! In addition, it is woefully underrepresented in museu-”

A-Bomb thought that was a regular knee slapper.

“Kid, everyone knows the only reason they throw Pachyrhinosaurus in museums is so they can reach their diversity quotas! Yy-you are such a pathetic NERD!” Another fit of laughter later, he added “I-I can’t kill you like this!”

He snapped his fingers, summoning a legion of brown bagger clones armed with those dumb laser scanners to circle us.

“How about this? For making me laugh, I’ll let you escape! Heck, I’ll throw in a 30 second head start, free of charge!”

The Brown Baggers joined their master’s jeering, lest they be sent to the unemployment line (AKA Pete’s Slaughterhouse). Speaking of the Master, he pulled a bottle of Crystal Springs Water from his khakis and began chugging like he’d hadn’t drunk in a week, the power coursing through his veins.

I should have run, run like the pathetic wimp I was. But I didn’t. Because at the end of the day, you can steal sacred water from roleplaying geese. You can threaten to turn me into a corporate slave. You can bludgeon a close friend of mine within an inch of his life with and force me to watch. Heck, you can even force me to watch Carney the dinosaur sixty hours straight if you wanna! But nobody, and I mean NOBODY, makes fun of my pachyrhinosaurus underpants and lives to see the next sunrise!

Instead, I dashed for my pants, thirty seconds ticking away fast. Ten seconds in, I was pulling the packet of grow dinosaurs from my pocket. Another ten I got the stupid wrapping off.

Nine…

I remembered what Bokrug had said about the water, how it was enchanted and whatnot.

Eight…

Problem was, I had no idea where the real water was. The only one I knew was the real deal was being held by A-Bomb, and I sure wasn’t getting there.

Seven…

Unless… I looked at the sad water fountain, spurting alone between two shelves. Maybe the water of the sacred spring wasn’t in a bottle at all.

Six…

I concentrated. No going back now. No regrets…

Five…

A red pill rocketed through the air, a glorious, million dollar shot. A million glowing red darts marked themselves on me.

Four…

Three seconds. Four tense, terrible seconds of that pill riding the wind, right to the rim of the water fountain, teetering on the edge until, at last, the Luck of the Tostigs pulled through, and that baby went right down the drain.

Three, two…

Something pushed out from inside the water fountain, something BIG!

One…

Shrapnel exploded from where the water fountain had once been as a giant sponge triceratops burst out, alien style. The beast charged, plowing down brown baggers like they were blades of grass. As for A-Bomb, he didn’t even get a chance to set a stupid expression on his face before he was reduced to a red stain on the tile floor. And from where that water fountain once stood, the sacred spring gushed forth, coating the rest of the little sponge grow capsules, turning them to life-size dinosaurs. Not missing a beat, I hopped on the triceratops, and gave it a little bit of Tostig family advice:

“CHAAAARRRRGGGGGGEEEEEE!”

And boy howdy, did we! With a bellow that shook the foundations of the Wegmart, the triceratops launched fifty employees so high they left little brown bagger shaped holes in the ceiling! Heck, if I hadn’t used my toe claws to lodge myself in its’ skin, I might have been tossed into the next state!. Meanwhile, where the water of the Sacred Sprinng showered on Bokrug, he changed, wings becoming massive muscular arms, a wide sail growing on his back, his face becoming long and crocodilian, feathers became scales. A form I would recognize anywhere: Spinosaurus Aegyptus.

The brown baggers scattered. One dinosaur they could handle, but thirteen? Not a chance! Together, we watched the remaining five or so survivors flee into the stock room as we posed epically on a thousand foot mountain made of their corpses. Any that weren’t fast enough were picked up in Bokrug’s massive jaws and flipped up into the air, only to be swallowed whole like gingerbread pancakes! Our remaining troops, few as there were, flocked to join us.

We’d won.

The words felt weird on my lips, my brain still trying to grasp what just happened.

We’d won.

Yet I couldn’t deny it: somehow, we’d kicked out the most powerful company in Pennsylvania.

“WE’VE WON!”

Bokrug bellowed majestically into the air, his voice ancient and primeval The rest of the birds, dinosaurs, shopping carts, and whoever else was in our slapdash army joined in:

“WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!”

And they carried me out of the store on their wings like I was some kind of rock star.

. . .

That night, we partied. And by partied I mean set out the spoils of our war (snack chips and pretzels, mostly) while everyone stood awkwardly around the punch bowl, not knowing what to say (for guys who wore party hats all the time, LARP geese sure don’t know how to hold a conversation). Bokrug especially seemed interested in going to the little dino’s room and staying there a really long time. As for me, I stared into one of the barbeque fires we’d set around the place for lighting, plotting my next move. Hilda and whatever we’d put in Ms. Hoebag’s body were running the camp like a Siberian Gulag; in the middle of it all was my ticket back to reality, and by extension, my Gameboy Advance.

And, y’know, Mom was probably worried sick about me.

After half an hour of brisk walking, I found the bathroom door. I knocked twice.

“Bokrug, you in there?”

“My apologies,” bellowed the dinosaur, “but it seems as a final act of resistance, the minions of darkness burned all the toilet paper, so that we may never properly use their waste depository facilities.”

Sighing, I shoved some party napkins under the door.

“These do not seem to be the papers I seek. Are you certain these will work?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

One flush later, Bokrug barreled out, knocking the door off its’ hinges.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I replied, heading in myself.

Bokrug cocked his head to the side, the way birds do when they’re curious.

“And why would you leave paradise? With the waters of the Sacred Springs in our grasp, we shall soon surpass even the empire of Tako Shak in power!”

I shook my head, strategically positioning Mr. Weenie over the dung pit, letting loose. Bullseye. “Bok, I want to stay, but my Mom and Gameboy are at home, and I’m sure as heck my dirty rotten little brother isn’t going to give them company.”

The dinosaur could only stare in awed amazement as I epically exited the loo, piece of toilet paper attached to my shoe. “Long story short, I’m going to summer camp. Wanna join me?”

The dinosaur shook his crocodilian head. “While the idea of devouring communist elementary schoolers does pique my interest, my responsibilities are to my people. I cannot leave them leaderless at such an incredible time.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling a little bit damped down. “There’ll be all the communist turds you can eat.”

“Watterson, you have helped me when I needed it most, but you have your family, and I must care for mine. Surely, you understand?”

And for the first time I thought about how I had left Hilda at summer camp. I wondered how she was holding on now that Shatner and I had left.

But before I could head on my way, the old water lizard had one last surprise in store for me. “However, there is one gift I can give you.”

Holding out a scaly hand, I saw the grow capsules I’d filched off Wegmart, now turned into tiny sponge dinosaurs that galloped across he palm.

“My apologies, they shrunk in the sun.”

You’d think I’d be upset, but I wasn’t worried. Not at all.

. . .

And so we went on our quest: me and twelve grow-sponge saurian mercenaries from hell. We walked along a dirt road for about twelve hours before, as luck would have it, along trundled a Systo delivery truck, the same kind that delivered the crap food to camp. Hitchhiking wasn’t as hard as I thought (having dinosaur claws makes you surprisingly persuasive!), and soon me and the dinosaurs were crammed into a cardboard box in the semitrailer.

And so I sat in the dark, curled up inside a cardboard box meant for Styrofoam containers trying to formulate the master plan to get my body back. And by formulate a master plan I mean trying not to laugh at the Spongeboy jokes that would randomly pop into my head and focus, darn it!

Instead, I found myself drifting to sleep as the truck rolled across the winding backroads leading to fate, to destiny, to the thing that had started this all…

Summer Camp.

(Okay, so maybe I started it all by putting firecrackers in Dad’s cereal, but hey, I wasn’t the one who forced a young, innocent mind to watch Barney the ‘Dinosaur’. ‘Shudder’)

Part IV: MegaMart of Darkness: End

(Author’s Note: To everyone who’s read this far: thank you for hanging with me all this time! It really does mean a lot to me! Anyways, as it stands, I’m not quite happy with the final arc, so I’ll be taking a month’s hiatus to maybe fine-tune it a little bit. Until then, thank you so much for staying with this story, and see you soon!)

#My writing #Nature Trail To Hell #bokrug #supermarket #geese #summer camp

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galfridus1 · 7 years

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NNT WEEK DAY 7: FAVOURITE BATTLE

Meliodas verses Escanor. I absolutely love this battle. Meliodas looks even more beautiful than usual (as if that were possible!) and the fight was almost too tense to read. It was so inspiring I wrote my first ever attempt at fanfiction based on this panel. It’s the end of the week and this story is pretty short so here it is in full. Hope you like it.

Summary

Meliodas is in an extremely bad mood. Enough to go into assault mode, and there are no enemies in sight. He needs a good fight. His younger brother and brethren oblige. Spoilers through to chapter 232. There’s some swearing and canon-typical violence.

ASSAULT

Meliodas stormed out of the throne room, not even trying to keep his rapidly building fury in check. The Demon King was impossible. An alliance with the vampires? For fuck’s sake! Apart from the humans they were the most pathetic creatures in all of Britannia, and at least the humans were entertaining. They screamed nicely anyway. And he, Meliodas, leader of the elite Ten Commandments, had to go and start the negotiations?

Recognising the look in the crown prince’s eyes and the swirling darkness pulsing all over his forehead, courtiers and servants scattered before him. Meliodas strode through the castle, blasting everyone and everything out of his way. Black tendrils whirled furiously around him, and as his chest expanded the clothes he wore tore apart. Meliodas quickly replaced the lost garments with darkness, fashioning a high-collared cloak which rustled out from his back. Strings of the black substance snaked down the front of his shoulders to cover his pelvis and legs, leaving his muscular torso free from restriction. The darkness stretched out over his feet, protecting the soles before finishing up in vicious spikes.

He needed to fight someone. Badly. Meliodas adjusted the enormous weapon slung over his right shoulder and darkness covered the blade before it slid down to circle his lower arms in wrist guards. Transformation complete, he hurled himself towards the training grounds.

Most of the Ten Commandments were away on a mission, but Galland, Monspeet and Derieri were there, putting the demon army through its paces. Seeing their commander, they shrank back instinctively, before an unspoken agreement passed between them. There was only one thing that would help their leader when he was in this state.

Galland was first in. Meliodas sneered, cruel satisfaction flicking through his jet black eyes. Galland was always rushing into fights he had no business attempting. This would teach the impudent fool a sharp lesson. Meliodas squared up as the tall, gangling demon approached, full body armour clanking as he stalked forward. What a pity Galland insisted on wearing that mask of a helmet. It would have been thrilling to see the fear in his eyes.

Galland struck first, thrusting himself into the air and reigning down blow after blow with his long spear, the force enough to tear up the ground. Meliodas stood without moving as dust flew all around him, holding his own weapon up to deflect the blows. Bored, he thrust his huge sword upwards savagely and Galland, armour crumpled, fell back with a snarl.

Taking advantage of Galland’s posturing, Derieri had called a nearby red demon over towards her, the creature obeying unwillingly. Derieri wasted no time, repeatedly kicking and punching the foot soldier, counting the blows as they fell. Each one landed with more force than the last and when she got to twenty-eight the red demon exploded, covering the surroundings with gore. She moved on to a massive albion, using the claw of darkness which covered her dominant left hand to smack it ferociously. It took another nineteen blows before the albion too gave way, falling dramatically down to the ground. She then ran at Meliodas, her lithe, practically bare body glistening with exertion, ready to spring.

Meliodas smirked. Combo Star, an interesting move but not without weakness he considered as, quicker than thought, he sped behind Derieri and smacked her down into red demon entrails. She shouted up in disgust, more upset by the intestines clinging to her hair than her reset combo. She allowed her darkness to cover her, and it started to cleanse the slick pulp away.

Galland was peeved. One blow? He was better than this. “Critical Over,” he snarled and he felt new strength rush through his limbs as spikes rose all over his armour. Monspeet looked on, his habitual haughty expression in place. Why Galland had not gone in with that first he had no idea. Did he really think he could beat their leader in this state without using magic? Monspeet sighed, moving over to Derieri, tenderly helping her clean the mess from her limbs.

Galland jabbed his spear, this time landing a blow on his leader with tremendous force. Meliodas fell back, his darkness protecting him from serious harm but still feeling discomfort. Now this was more like it! Meliodas ran, a vicious smile turning up one corner of his mouth before he practically flew into Galland, pummelling him relentlessly. But what Galland lacked in strategy he made up for in endurance, and he returned the attacks blow for blow.

Monspeet decided that now was the time to risk intervention. He only had one shot at this. Taking care to avoid discovery, he sprung up onto one of the castle balconies. Overlooking the two combatants, he prepared to pour every single drop of his magic into his attack. No point in not going all out. His proud, high-cheekboned face was etched with intense concentration as he checked his timing so as to sneak in the attack. It wouldn’t do him any good if this was returned. “Ashen Dragon,” he murmured and a gargantuan flame with the head of a monster shot towards Meliodas. Before it could land, the prince of evil looked up, his smile ecstatic with wicked delight as he sang out, “Full Counter,” and the attack shot back towards Monspeet, twice as fierce as before.

Monspeet cursed, then felt himself pulled into the air as his cloak flapped around him, just before the flaming beast hurtled into the castle. Debris flew everywhere as Derieri carried him back to the ground, her black wings sliding away as they landed. “You’re welcome,” she said, bashing her fists again and again into another red demon, raising her power before rushing to Galland’s assistance. Monspeet sighed. This wasn’t really his thing, but with his magic spent he had no choice. He picked up a sword from the nearby racks, and ran into the fray.

Meliodas hadn’t enjoyed himself this much for a while. These three were giving him something to do, he thought as he felt Derieri land a mighty blow on his chest. He whirled around, catapulting himself up into the air before smashing with force into the demon’s snub nose. Landing lightly, the spikes on his feet giving him traction, he twisted and kicked Derieri’s chin upwards, knocking her straight into Galland and sending them both to the floor.

Grinning, Meliodas spun on his heels and sliced his blade quickly through Monspeet’s sword arm, disarming the coming attack. The taller demon shot his leader a look of pure loathing, the thin lines of his moustache quivering with fury. He glanced at Derieri, checking she was still breathing as tendrils shot out to pull his lost appendage up to him, smoothing over the join to repair skin, tissue and bone. Meliodas pressed his advantage, slashing down to bury his blade deep in Monspeet’s shoulder. The latter fell to his knees with the force of the blow. They were done. In one jerking movement, Meliodas yanked his sword out of The Commandment of Reticence, raising it for the kill.

Before he could strike, another figure flew in front of him and Meliodas grinned in anticipation. The cavalry had arrived. Zeldris snapped back his wings and drew his curved sword from the scabbard wrapped round his trim waist, covering it with black flames as he charged. The spark in dark-haired boy’s raven eyes and his lopsided smile gave away his enjoyment. His skill was expert, and the pair lunged and parried repeatedly, Zeldris sensibly eschewing his magic to avoid the risk of Full Counter. Zeldris shook his head slightly, not regretting his early, some said stubborn, decision to push his power in other directions. Full Counter was his brother’s move and he would not lower himself to Estarossa’s level by copying it.

Meliodas smiled, he had taught Zeldris well, but fun as this was he was ready to end it. “One Thousand Divine Cuts,” he growled and surged on Zeldris, preparing to strike.

Zeldris stood perfectly still, his metal-clad arms by his sides, eyes locked with the whirlwind of wrath rushing towards him. He waited until Meliodas was within an inch of striking him before saying, “I’ve sorted it out. It’s agreed that I will go to Edinburgh in your place.”

Meliodas stopped short, the markings on his face shrinking slightly underneath the blond mess of his hair. “Why didn’t you come to me first, instead of going berserk?” Zeldris asked, and Meliodas laughed with genuine amusement. “How did you manage it?” he enquired as he slung his weapon over his shoulder and Zeldris chuckled. “I just told him you were terrible at diplomacy. You’d only have gone and seduced the vampire princess or something.”

Laughing, the brothers walked back to the castle, and Galland, Derieri, and Monspeet, relieved that the tantrum was over, went back to training the army.

#nntweek #nntweek2017 #nnt #favourite battle #Meliodas verses Escanor #meliodas #galland #derieri #monspeet #zeldris #fanfiction

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fluffyllamas-23 · 7 years

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Yooooo. Here’s the third and final part (Part one can be found here, Part two can be found here). Honestly there was less Shiro whump in this than I had planned, oops. Sorry. Please let me know what you think, and also please send me prompts or asks or anything, I really wanna make more friends on here XD

Shiro was...well, if we were being honest, Shiro wasn’t doing too hot. Lance was asleep next to him, and had moved so he was lying with his head in Shiro’s lap, and his legs in Keith’s.

Keith was on his phone, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated on whatever game he was playing.

Shiro closed his eyes, grimacing at the throbbing in his head.

“Hey, Keith?” “Hmm?” Keith mumbled absentmindedly. “Lance is out for the night, I think I’m going to go back to my place...sleep in an actual bed.” Keith looked at him, panic stricken. “You’re leaving? Why-why-why are you leaving? you don’t need to go anywhere!” Shiro sighed. “Keith, I need to sleep in an actual bed. You’ll be okay on your own.” “What if he wakes up?” He was barely concealing his annoyance now. “Keith.” “Okay, okay. Um...what do I do with him?” Shiro sighed again. “He can have more medicine at eleven. If he wakes up again, give him some then. If he stays asleep, leave him be.” “Can I call you if I need something.” “You won’t.” “But if I do?” Shiro rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Fine. Yes. But I think you’ll be fine.”

Shiro slipped out from under Lance. Luckily he didn’t even stir, and just stretched out even more. The moment Shiro was standing up, black spots clouded his vision, and he nearly pitched forward. He caught himself at the last minute on the back of the couch.

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Stand much?” Shiro shot him a flat look. “Very funny. Alright, I’m gonna go. Let Lance know I’ll be here around nine.” He shot him a thumbs up. “Will do.”

Shiro made it back to his apartment a lot slower than usual. It was only a five minute drive, but because he was so sleepy and felt so out of it, it took him fifteen. He didn’t really remember the drive, but he didn’t crash so it must have been somewhat okay.

Once he was inside, he nearly collapsed on the couch that was too short for his six foot frame to stretch out on. He didn’t care, though. He was far too tired to make it another six feet to his bedroom.

Despite his exhaustion, Shiro didn’t sleep that night. Then again, he never slept when he felt shitty, and man, did he feel shitty.

His entire body was aching, and he was sure the achiness was exacerbated by the couch he had to curl up on to fit. It felt smaller, somehow. By that point, he was too tired, and had no energy to get up, so he resigned to staying on the tiny uncomfortable couch. He tossed and turned the entire night, and eventually tumbled to the floor, where he landed with a dull thud, and low groan of pain. His head was throbbing much worse now, and Shiro wasn’t sure if he had smacked it on the ground when he landed, or if the act of falling just angered it.

Lance woke up the next morning, and rubbed a hand over his face. He felt better for the first time in days, but he was nowhere near one hundred percent. None of his symptoms were gone completely, except maybe the fever (which got rid of his achiness). They were all just less severe.

“Oh good. You’re awake.” Lance inhaled sharply and rubbed his eyes as he looked at Keith, who was leaning back against the wall next to the doorway to the kitchen. “What time is it?” He mumbled sleepily. “Just past eight. Shiro said he’d be here around nine.” “Shiro?” He mumbled, his brain muddled from sleep. “What? I thought he was here.” “He wanted to go sleep in his bed or something, I don’t know.” Keith shrugged. “How are you feeling?” “Uh...better, I guess.” He rasped. “I finally don’t feel like death.” Keith cracked a smile. “Well that’s an improvement. You should go get ready. Shiro should be here soon.”

And he was, thirty minutes later. Lance had thrown on a pair of sweats, a ratty t-shirt, and a zip up hoodie, not caring how shitty he looked, because he still felt shitty and couldn’t bring himself to care. He was lying down on the couch when there was a weak rapping on the door. Lance pushed himself off the couch, trudged to the door and threw it open.

“Hey Shir-oh. Dude, are you alright? You look like hell.” “Yeah, just tired.” Shiro muttered, shooting him a weak, tired smile. “Just tired?” Lance said, quirking a brow at him. “I had a hard time sleeping last night.” Shiro shrugged. “Anyways, are you ready to go get this done?” Lance nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes at Shiro. “Yeah, but if you’re not feeling great, maybe you should take a day and just rest.” Shiro rolled his eyes (which felt so heavy and hurt so bad). “Let’s just go.” “But are you-” “-I’m fine, Lance. How are you feeling?” “Better.”

By lunch time, Shiro was definitely sick. He locked himself in his classroom, using the ‘I really want to get this all cleaned and organized without distractions’ excuse. In reality, he was huddled underneath his desk, barely conscious and shivering. He was freezing, but his skin was slick with sweat, and his shirt was sticking to him uncomfortably. He definitely had a fever now, and he told himself he just needed a fifteen minute cat nap, and he’d be okay after waking up.

The congestion finally hit him thirty minutes after he got to his classroom, as did the awful sore throat that felt like he had been gargling knives anytime he spoke or swallowed.

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance rasped, knocking on the door. Shiro shot up into a sitting position, and then groaned in pain as the throbbing in his temples increased. “Hold on.” He croaked weakly. He pushed himself to his feet, and walked on legs that felt like jello to his door. He opened it, coughing into his fist. “You ARE sick!” Lance cried, pointing an accusing finger at the larger man. “I’m f-” He turned from Lance, pinching his nose as he stifled what must have been ten sneezes in quick succession. The fit left him panting, and his eyes watering as he coughed lightly. “You are not. Shiro, come on.” Shiro sniffled, turning around and walking to the tissue box on his desk. “Landce, I’mb finde...allergies, or sombething.” “You don’t have allergies, you idiot. Come on, let’s leave.” Shiro blew his nose, and then wiped under it with the tissue and tossed it in the trash can. “I don’t need to.” “You’ve been here for almost four hours, and your classroom isn’t any closer to being clean than it was when we got here.” Shiro sniffled weakly in response. “Go back to your classroom.” “No. I’m not going back to my classroom.” Lance spat, throwing his hands in the air. “Will you just QUIT the tough guy act? I know how shitty you feel, I’ve been there for the last five days. Now stop it, let’s go home, you need to sleep. We can come back tomorrow if you’re really that desperate to get your classroom clean.

Either Lance was a hell of a lot more persuasive than he thought he was, or he really didn’t feel well. Either way, Shiro nodded in agreement, visibly deflating as his eyelids drooped and he swayed on his feet.

Lance wrapped an arm around his waist. “Alright, big guy. Please don’t pass out on me, just get to the car.”

Shiro was a solid wall of muscle, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. Lance, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He was much shorter - a good five inches - and was small and wiry. If Shiro collapsed, he would definitely take Lance down with him and Lance would probably die.

Lance managed to get him to the car. He’s not sure how, because Shiro was very unsteady, and very out of it (but he did it).

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, watching as Shiro clambered into the front passengers seat of the car.

“Keith, I need a favor.” “Yes?” Keith asked, sounding distracted. He was most likely writing the manuscript of his latest novel. Usually Lance didn’t bother him too much while he was working, but he needed him. “Dude, I need your focus.” “What is it?” “You need to come get us.” “What? Why?” “Shiro’s sick. He’s really out of it and in no condition to be driving us home.” “Can’t you drive?” “I’m exhausted. I feel like shit, man. Can you please just come?” Keith sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

Lance was better by the next morning. He still had some lingering effects from the flu, but he was better. Shiro, on the other hand, was worse, and had what seemed to be the flu/head cold from hell. It was all in his sinuses and head. The coughing had gone away completely, and instead, there was an annoying, almost constant buzzing feeling in his sinuses. He was sneezing what felt like every fifteen seconds. He had already gone through a box and a half of tissues, and was laid up on the sofa, despite how (weakly) adamant he was that he was FINE.

“His fever’s pushing one hundred and three.” Lance groaned, staring at the thermometer. “Go get some washcloths. We’ve gotta get it down.” “Yeah, okay. You know, I never signed on as caretaker for you guys.” Lance rolled his eyes. “Okay, well you didn’t do shit because you don’t know how to take care of someone. Stop complaining and go get the washcloths.” “Yeah, whatever.”

Shiro sniffled, going into another weak sneezing fit. His sneezes sounded exhausted at this point, and like they were clawing their way out of his throat. He sounded miserable, and Lance felt awful for getting him sick.

“Shiro?” Lance asked anxiously. He sniffled. “What?” “Sorry you’re sick.” Shiro just shrugged listlessly, his eyelids drooping. They snapped open when he sneezed again, and he moaned in discomfort and annoyance. “I’mb really sick of sndeezindg.” “I think we have some decongestants. Let me go check on that.” Shiro nodded, closing his eyes again.

Once the damp washcloths were on his forehead, and the medicine had kicked in, he was finally drowsy enough to fall asleep. Which he did, and it was the most restful sleep he’d had in the past week.

#this was...#well I had anticipated that it would be better #its really hard to write a character who pushes through illnesses #and shiro definitely pushes through things until he's like on his death bed #sorry guys #I tried #anyWHO #shiro #Lance #keith #sickfic #voltron #please let me know what you think #also please send prompts #and inbox me if you wanna #I really love talking to you guys

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azvolrien · 5 years

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Anchored Tempest - Chapter Ten

In which several mysteries are solved.

~~~

The light had gone out of the pebble by the time they woke, however many hours later that was. Una conjured a witchlight to float above them as they all made their way out of their little campsite and ventured deeper into the High Citadel, down a high-ceilinged tunnel as wide as the alcoves and archways in the dragon hall.

Nirali gave the light a poke with the tip of one claw, to no visible effect. “I thought it would be hot, somehow,” she said. “But there’s just a sort of… very faint humming feeling.”

“Witchlights are just light,” said Una. “Light without heat, completely harmless – unless you make it too bright and shine it in someone’s eyes. Back at the College they’re a good way of finding out how much power the new apprentices have to throw around.”

“Your College sounds like an interesting place. Is it like the Warren?”

“A little, I suppose. Lots of scholars running around. More of a focus on magic, though. And not underground.”

“There’s something up ahead,” said Ikara. “There, against the wall. It looks like…” She trailed off as they moved closer.

It was the body of a man in Balaurin clothing, slumped on the stone floor of the corridor with his back to a wall. Star arched her back, her spines standing on end and rattling against each other. Una laid a soothing hand on her muzzle and waved the witchlight over to hover above the man. Like the food in the Citadel kitchens, his body had been preserved in the cold, dry air within the mountain, though by no means perfectly: his skin was shrunken and waxy, pulled taut over his bones. Despite that, he looked strangely peaceful. Although his teeth were bared in a death grin, there was no agony in his pose or obvious wounds to his body.

Nirali crouched down for a closer look, cleaning specks of frost from her glasses. “I think it’s the man from the Sky Stone,” she said, peering at his withered face.

They gathered around to see.

“I think you might be right,” said Karash.

Ikara nudged the man’s chest with her foot. “Looks like he got sleepy in the cold, sat down for a nap, and never woke up,” she said. “Poor bastard,” she added philosophically.

“There are worse ways to go,” said Nirali. “This ‘River’ must be in here as well somewhere.”

Star crawled forwards, snuffling at some deep scratches in the stone floor. They were much too old to still hold a scent, she informed Una, but they could only have been left by the claws of a dragon. She reared up on her hind legs, stretching out her wings and tail for balance, and awkwardly measured the nearest gouges against her foot. A much bigger dragon than her, she added.

“Look, unless River was very young when it and our friend back there locked themselves up here, it’s probably in the same state,” said Ikara, several thoughtful seconds after Una had passed this information to the others. “Let’s keep going. Unless we hit some weird magic trap, there’s nothing to be scared of up here.”

“Oh, you’ve done it now,” muttered Karash.

They carried on, following the tunnel around and down in a wide spiral. It was largely featureless grey stone; every now and then, an empty sconce like those in the Throat was bolted to the wall. Occasionally they passed a bit of graffiti, where somebody long ago had scratched or painted a name or a picture on the stone. Here and there were what looked like direction signs carved into the walls, but they had been hacked into illegibility.

After at least half an hour of brisk walking, the tunnel came to an end in a dragon-sized archway. Beyond it was total blackness. Una fed a little more power to her witchlight, but it did not illuminate more than a few feet through the arch.

Everyone looked at each other.

Nirali took a deep breath. “Well, we’ve come this far.”

They stepped through the archway into the dark.

“Is it warmer in here?” asked Karash.

“Feels like it,” said Una, closing her eyes in concentration. “The air in here is saturated with magic.”

“Is that good?” asked Ikara.

“Could be. I’ll see if I can make use of it. I don’t have quite the same knack for drawing on outside sources that my father does, but I should be able to…” Una held up one hand, pointing upwards; the witchlight floated up in response until it hovered twenty feet above their heads. She closed the upraised hand, and the light flared bright enough to cast at least a little illumination on the entire chamber.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” said Nirali.

Huge crystals, each one at least the size of a grown man and most even bigger, covered every inch of the walls within the roughly spherical cavern. It was nothing less than a geode the size of a Kiraani amphitheatre.

“You said crystals are good at holding magic,” said Karash. “The Sky Kings must have filled all of these before they flew out for the last battle.”

“There’s something down there,” said Ikara, pointing with her spear.

The archway they had entered by was cut at the geode’s equator, opening onto a raised metal gantry; the crystal-coated walls formed a dome high above and a bowl below, but the witchlight was still not bright enough to clearly show what Ikara had seen.

Nirali bounced on her toes.

“You want to go down for a closer look, don’t you?” said Karash.

“I absolutely want to go down for a closer look,” said Nirali.

Metal steps led down to more gantries below, each one slightly smaller than the one above as they encircled the cavern. “I’ll go first,” said Karash. “I’m the heaviest – if they hold me, they’ll hold all of you.”

Star made a noise of protest.

“Yes, but you and Tsheer can fly,” Karash pointed out. “Besides, you’re both big enough to easily climb down the crystals.”

Karash was right, Star admitted to Una, but she had better not tell him that. Una just smiled.

The steps held firm as Karash climbed down to the next gantry. Una lowered the witchlight to help see where they were putting their feet. The crystals they passed were etched with spell-markings: spells to hold the scrying block, spells to keep the storm in place, spells for translation, and other symbols that Una had never seen before, either at the College or with the Balaurin. A few levels down, the gantries got wider. Crystals had been cut down into pedestals or carved into alcoves, each one padded with specially-shaped cushions of leather or fabric to provide a comfortable nest for its inhabitant.

“Harbinger’s fire,” whispered Una.

Dragon eggs. All around the full perimeter of the huge geode, level upon level down to the bottom of the cavern. Una tried to count them, but had to give up; there must have been hundreds of them.

“These must be the ‘treasures’ the man spoke about,” said Nirali, studying the nearest egg in its nest. “Hidden away during the Last Revolt, kept safe here for centuries…”

“They must be dead by now,” said Ikara, not harshly.

“Dragon eggs are tough,” said Una. “It takes a lot to addle them, much more than a bird’s or a lizard’s. But after this long…” She sighed.

Star chirped to get their attention. As everyone turned to look, she hopped from the edge of the gantry, stirring the air with her wings, and glided down to the bottom of the cavern.

“You shouldn’t go off by yourself in here!” said Una, following her down the stairs almost at a run. “You don’t know what kind of trap they might have left behind, or – oh.” She stopped dead at the foot of the last flight of stairs, where the crystals had been filed down to leave a wide, level space. Karash, Nirali and Ikara, jogging to keep up with her, failed to stop in time and ran into her back one by one. Tsheer glided down with considerably more grace and landed next to Star, preening his feathers as if absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary.

At the very base of the cavern, curled up in the centre of the open space, was a dragon. His pose made it difficult to tell his size, but he was at least three times the size of Star with deep forest-green hide mottled with gold all along his back. Unlike his companion in the tunnel, he did not appear mummified; to look at, he could have fallen asleep minutes ago.

“That must be River,” said Nirali.

“Is it… alive?” asked Karash. “Even in the cold up here, dead things usually don’t look that well-preserved.”

Nirali looked thoughtful. Ikara just scoffed.

“He’s not breathing,” said Una after watching closely for a few quiet seconds. “But you’re right. It’s weird how fresh he looks.”

“He? You can tell?”

“You get your eye in after living with them for a while,” said Una with a shrug.

“How big is a dragon hatchling?” asked Nirali, turning back to the eggs. She held both arms out, measuring the nearest egg against their span.

“It can vary depending on how old the mother is,” said Una. “Bigger dragons can lay bigger eggs. But they’re usually about the size of a horse.”

Nirali nodded. “How old is Star, then?”

“Twenty-seven, same as me. She’s still very young for a dragon, though – she won’t be laying any eggs for a while yet.”

Star crawled in a wide circle around River, inspecting him carefully. His wings were folded tightly against his back and his legs were pulled in close to his belly, while the tip of his tail was coiled beneath his head. Unlike Star with her four rather stubby horns, he possessed eight: six long and pointed and two much shorter ones near the hinge of his jaw, all forming an impressive half-collar around the back of his neck. She leant in for a closer look at one. Each of his horns had been decorated with a broad gold ring around the base. The four on each side were linked to one another by a length of fine gold chain, while the two shortest also bore pendants of precious stones dangling like earrings. A polished, egg-shaped emerald the size of Karash’s fist rested on River’s brow, its gold setting welded to the rings on the central pair of horns.

It was all rather gaudy, thought Star. Not something any of the dragons at home would have worn. She nudged the huge emerald with the tip of her snout, seeing how firmly the gold held River’s horns, and her jaw brushed against his scales.

A flickering shimmer of light ran through the crystals – a wave starting from where River lay and radiating outwards. Everybody froze for an instant. Star took two cautious steps backwards.

River’s chest heaved in a sudden deep breath.

“Ohhh,” said Una. “That’s probably not good.”

“Probably not, no,” said Karash, something gradually approaching hysteria in his voice.

River uncurled, stretching out all of his limbs one by one. His tail swept across the crystalline floor without leaving a scratch. He arched his back like a cat; his jaws gaped in a massive yawn. Finally he opened his eyes. Oval pupils like Star’s swivelled to focus on the younger dragon.

Then he spoke.

It was not like talking with Star, with her thoughts and emotions expressed as meaning without language, and speaking directly to Una alone. River’s voice echoed inside all their heads, and he spoke in words.

I do not know you, little one.

She had come from the north with her rider, Star explained.

River let out his breath in a long sigh. What is your name?

She was Bright Star in the High Cold Dark.

I am Halted Flow of the River of Time.

That was an interesting name.

Whatever god grants dragons their strange abilities saw fit to give me the power of stasis. So I have held myself and these eggs, still and unchanging. Tell me, how went the battle against the savages? I knew we would prevail – this was merely a precaution.

Errr…

“We should kill him,” said Ikara in a loud whisper. “Here and now, before he can fly out to cause trouble.”

River slowly turned to look at her. Nirali smacked her in the back of the head.

Savages, he said, a hiss coming into his mind-voice as he bared his teeth. Here, in the High Citadel! He whipped back around to glare at Star, his spines bristling along his back. You brought them here! Why?

They were friends…

Savages are slaves, not friends! Kaayo! Kaayo, there are intruders in the High Citadel! Raise the alarm, we may still call the others back!

There was, of course, no answer from poor frozen Kaayo. The spines on River’s back slowly settled to lie flat against his scales.

Kaayo is… is gone. How long has it been? He stared into space, his pupils narrowing in sudden desperation. How long have I been in here?

Una stepped forwards, raising her hands soothingly. “It’s been a long time,” she said.

How long? HOW LONG?

Una swallowed. “You’ve been sleeping here for six hundred years,” she said as gently as she could.

Then the others…

Dead, Star sadly confirmed. The orcs had won the war.

No…

But it was all right! There were still Balaurin in the north, in the Dragon’s Teeth; River could take the eggs north to live with them there!

To live with creatures like you, who make friends of savages? No. The northern Balaurin were always weak, always! I will not go quietly back to the ones who scorned us and cast us out!

“Someone’s got a selective memory,” muttered Ikara.

“Not! Helping!” said Karash and Nirali in unison.

River threw his head back in a roar. The eggs will last without me for a while. The savages destroyed my people? Well, then – I have work to do.

He spread his wings, beat them once, and made it to the entrance archway in a single powerful leap. In moments he had vanished into the tunnel. Soon even the scraping of his footsteps was barely audible.

“Oh, no,” said Una.

“Well, don’t just stand there gawping!” said Ikara, scrambling onto Tsheer’s back. “After him!”

~~~

River’s just kind of an arse.

#az writes stories

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writerspink · 5 years

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K-12 Words

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mark wealthy row feeling across attention ran map students inside design art mouth ring skill hot during shelter full till log (book) blossom discard bring quickly scientists party town covered wise early cram grain harm goal pause inform heal clue fame freeze badge pimple dim missionary diet dumb rod march agree stick government bulb mall ban greed skiing poison stove image grew fact material dangerous flow gap ago stack explain didn’t strong voice true drawing surface gift corner cloud since king dawn pulled dozen friends greedy burning upon knew insect decimal nervous pay foot weak smooth aware steady serve lost nonetheless beach front atlas questions less cost slight motor banner wire area carefully separate equation local minutes fast table plan fine waves fair sing dive suppose boat thousands shape among toward gas factory birds wait understand sure ship report captain human game history reflect special brave bounce though else can’t matter square syllables perhaps bill felt suddenly test direction center farmers ready anything divided general energy subject Europe moon region return believe dance members picked simple cells paint mind love cause rain exercise eggs train blue wish drop developed window difference distance heart site sum summer wall forest probably

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afraid absorb british seat fear stretched furniture sight oxygen coward rope clever yellow albeit confess passage france fan cattle spot explore rather active death effect mine create wash printed process origin rose swift woe planets doze gasp chief perform triumph value substances tone score predict property movement harsh tube settled defend reverse ancient blood sharp border fierce plunge consider terms vision intend total schedule attract average intelligent corn dead southern glide supply convince send continent brief mural symbol crew chance suffix habit insects entered nursery especially spread drift major fig diagram guess wit sugar predator science necessary moisture park ordeal nectar fortunate flutter gun forward globe misery molecules arctic won’t actually addition washington cling rare lie steel pastime soldiers chill accordingly capital prevent solution greek sensitive electric agreed thin provide indicate northern volunteer sell tied triangle action opposite shoulder imitate steer wander except match cross speak solve appear metal son either ice sleep village factors result jumped snow ride care floor hill pushed baby buy century outside everything tall already instead phrase soil bed copy free hope spring case laughed nation quite type themselves temperature bright lead everyone method section lake iron within dictionary bargain loyal resource struggle vary capture exclaim gloomy insist restless shallow shatter talent atmosphere brilliant endure glance precious unite certain clasp depart journey observe superb treasure wisdom

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prepared journey trade delicate arrived track cotton hoe furnish exciting view grasp level branches privilege limit wrong enable ability various moreover spoil starve dollars digest advice sense accuse pretty wasn’t industry adopt loyal suggested blow treasure cook adjective doesn’t wings tools crops loud smell frail wisdom fit expect ahead lifted deed device weight gradual respect interesting arrange particular compound examine cable climate division individual talent fatal entire advantage opponent wouldn’t elements column custom enjoy grace theory suitable wife shoes determine allow marsh workers difficult repeated thrill position born distant revive magnificent shop sir army struggled deal plural rich rhythm rely poem company string locate church mystify elegant led actual responsible japanese huge fun meat observe swim office chart avoid factories block called experience win crumple brilliant located pole bought conditions sister details primary survey truck recall disease radio rate scatter decay signal approach launch hair age amount scale pounds although per broken moment tiny possible gold milk quiet natural lot stone act build middle speed count consonant someone sail rolled bear wonder smiled angle fraction Africa killed melody bottom trip hole poor let’s fight surprise French died beat exactly remain fingers clever coast explore imitate pierce rare symbol triumph ancient cling disturb expose perform remote timid bashful brief compete consider delightful honor reflex remark brink chill conquer fortunate fury intend pattern vibrant wit

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capture remark western outcome risk current bold compare resident ambition arrest furthermore desire confuse accurate disclose considerable contribute calculate baggage literacy noble era benefit orchard shabby content precious manufacture dusk afford assist demonstrate instant concentrate sturdy severe blend vacant weary carefree host limb pointless prepare inspire shallow chamber vast ease attentive source frantic lack recent distress basic permit threat analyze distract meadow mistrust jagged prefer sole envy hail reduce arena tour annual apparent recognize captivity burrow proceed develop humble resist peculiar response communicate circular variety frequent reveal essential disaster plead mature appropriate attractive request congratulate address destructive fragile modest attempt tradition ancestor focus flexible conclude venture impact generosity routine tragic crafty furious blossom concern ascend awkward master queasy release portion plentiful alert heroic extraordinary frontier descend invisible coax entrance capable peer terror mock outstanding valiant typical competition hardship entertain eager limp survive tidy antonym duplicate abolish approach approve glory magnificent meek prompt revive watchful wreckage audible consume glide origin prevent punctuate representative scorn stout woe arch authentic clarify declare grant grave opponent valid yearn admirable automatic devotion distant dreary exhaust kindle predict separation stunt

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evade debate dedicate budge available miniature petrify pasture banquet pedestrian solitary decline reassure nonchalant exhibit realistic exert abuse dictate minor monarch concept character strategy soar beverage tropical withdraw challenge kin navigate purchase reliable mischief solo combine vivid aroma spurt illuminate narrator retain excavate avalanche preserve suspend accomplish exasperate obsolete occasion myth reign sparse gorge intense revert antagonist talon aggressive alternate retire cautiously blizzard require endanger luxurious senseless portable sever compensate companion visual immense slither guardian compassion escalate detect protagonist oasis altitude assume seldom courteous absurd edible identical pardon approximate taunt achievement homonym hearty convert wilderness industrious sluggish thrifty deprive independent bland confident anxious astound numerous resemble route access jubilation saunter hazy impressive document moral crave gigantic bungle prefix summit overthrow perish visible translate comply intercept feeble exult compose negative suffocate frigid synonym appeal dominate deplete abundant economy desperate diligent commend boycott jovial onset burden fixture objective siege barrier conceive formal inquire penalize picturesque predator privilege slumber advantage ambition defiant fearsome imply merit negotiate purify revoke wretched absorb amateur channel elegant grace inspect lame tiresome tranquil boast eloquent glisten ideal infectious invest locate ripple sufficient uproar

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apprehensive dialogue prejudice marvel eligible accommodate arrogant distinct knack deposit liberate cumulative consequence strive salvage chronological unique vow concise influence lure poverty priority legislation significant conserve verdict leisure erupt beacon stationary generate provoke efficient campaign paraphrase swarm adhere eerie mere mimic deteriorate literal preliminary solar soothe expanse ignite verge recount apparel terrain ample quest composure majority collide prominent duration pursue innovation omniscient resolute unruly optimist restrain agony convenient constant prosper elaborate genre retrieve exploit continuous dissolve dwell persecute abandon meager elude rural retaliate primitive remote blunder propel vital designate cultivate loathe consent drastic fuse maximum negotiate barren transform conspicuous possess allegiance beneficial former factor deluge vibrant intimidate idiom dense awe rigorous manipulate transport discretion hostile clarity arid parody boisterous capacity massive prosecute declare stifle remorse refuge predicament treacherous inevitable ingenious plummet adapt monotonous accumulate reinforce extract reluctant vacate hazardous inept diminish domestic linger context excel cancel distribute document fragile myth reject scuffle solitary temporary veteran assault convert dispute impressive justify misleading numerous productive shrewd strategy villain bluff cautious consist despise haven miniature monarch obstacle postpone straggle vivid aggressive associate deceive emigrate flexible glamour hazy luxurious mishap overwhelm span blemish blunt capable conclude detect fatigue festive hospitality nomad supreme

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exclude civic compact painstaking supplement habitat leeway minute hoax contaminate likeness migration commentary extinct tangible originate urban unanimous subordinate collaborate obstacle esteem encounter futile cordial trait improvises superior exaggerate anticipate cope evolve eclipse dissent anguish subsequent sanctuary formulates makeshift controversy diversity terminate precise equivalent pamper prior potential obnoxious radiant predatory presume permanent pending simultaneously tamper supervise perceived vicious patronize trickle stodgy rant oration preview species poised perturb vista wince yearn persist shirk status tragedy trivial snare vindictive wrath recede peevish rupture unscathed random toxic void orthodox subtle resume sequel upright wary overwhelm perjury uncertainty prowess utmost throb pluck pique vengeance pelt urgent substantial robust sullen retort ponder whim saga sham reprimand vocation assimilate dub defect accord embark desist dialect chastise banter inaugurate ovation barter muse blasé stamina atrocity deter principal liberal epoch preposterous advocate audacious dispatch incense deplore institute deceptive component subside spontaneous bonanza ultimate wrangle clarify hindrance irascible plausible profound infinite accomplish apparent capacity civilian conceal duplicate keen provoke spurt undoing vast withdraw barrier calculate compose considerable deputy industrious jolt loot rejoice reliable senseless shrivel alternate demolish energetic enforce feat hearty mature observant primary resign strive verdict brisk cherish considerate displace downfall estimate humiliate identical improper poll soothe vicinity abolish appeal brittle condemn descend dictator expand famine portable prey thrifty visual

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stance vie instill exceptional avail strident formidable rebuke enhance benign perspective tedious aloof encroach memoir mien desolate inventive prodigy staple stint fallacy grope vilify recur assail tirade antics recourse clad jurisdiction caption pseudonym reception humane ornate sage ungainly overt sedative amiss convey connoisseur rational enigma fortify servile fastidious contagious elite disgruntled eccentric pioneer abet luminous era sleek serene proficient rue articulate awry pungent wage deploy anarchy culminate inventory commemorate muster adept durable foreboding lucrative modify authority transition confiscate pivotal analogy avid flair ferret decree voracious imperative grapple deface augment shackle legendary trepidation discern glut cache endeavor attribute phenomenon balmy bizarre gullible loll rankle decipher sublime rubble renounce porous turbulent heritage hover pithy allot minimize agile renown fend revenue versa gaunt haven dire doctrine intricate conservative exotic facilitate bountiful cite panorama swelter foster indifferent millennium gingerly conscientious intervene mercenary citadel obviously rely supportive sympathy weakling atmosphere decay gradual impact noticeable recede stability variation approximately astronomical calculation criterion diameter evaluate orbit sphere agricultural decline disorder identify probable thrive expected widespread bulletin contribution diversity enlist intercept operation recruit survival abruptly ally collide confident conflict protective taunt adaptation dormant forage frigid hibernate insulate export glisten influence landscape native plantation restore urge blare connection errand exchange

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feasible teem pang vice tycoon succumb capacious onslaught excerpt eventful forfeit crusade tract haggard susceptible exemplify ardent crucial excruciating embargo disdain apprehend surpass sporadic flustered languish conventional disposition theme plunder ignore project complaint title dramatic delivery litter experimental clinic arrogance preparation remind atomic occasional conscious deny maturity closure stressed translator animate observation physical further gently registration suppress combination amazing constructive allied poetry passion ecstasy mystery cheerful contribution spirit failed gummy commerce prove disagreement raid consume embarrass preference migrant devour encouragement quote mythology destined destination illuminating struggle accent ungrateful giggle approval confidence expose scientist operation superstitious emergency manners absolutely swallow readily mutual bound crisp orient stress sort stare comfort verbal heel challenging advertisement envious sex scar astonish basis accuracy enviable alliance specific chef embarrassed counter tolerable sympathetic gradually vanish informative amaze royal furry insist jealousy simplify quiver collaborate dedicated flexible function mimic obstacle technique archaeologist fragment historian intact preserve reconstruct remnant commence deed exaggeration heroic impress pose saunter wring astound concealed inquisitive interpret perplexed precise reconsider suspicious anticipation defy entitled neutral outspoken reserved sought equal absorb affect circulate conserve cycle necessity seep barren expression meaningful plume focused genius perspective prospect stunned superb transition assume guarantee nominate

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install reticent corroborate regretfully strength murder concise cunning intention holy satire query confused progression disillusion background mundane abrupt multiple enormously introduce emulate harmful pragmatic pity rebut liberate enthusiastic elucidate camaraderie disparage nature creep profitability impression racist sobriety occupy autonomy currently amiable reiterate reproduce cripple modest offer atom provincial augment ungratefully expansion yield rashly allude immigration silence epitome exacerbate somber avid dispute vindicate collaborate manufacturer embellish superficial propaganda incompetent objective diminish statistics endure ambivalent perpetuate illuminate phenomenon exasperate originality restrict anxiety anthropology circumstances aesthetic manufacturing conventional dubious vulnerable reality precedent entity success term critical repair underscore stepmother republican hesitantly classic wary contents prediction immediate invoke notorious implicit excluding input skeptical foster element punish frank humanity profound dessert orthodox substance disappear encourage neighborhood elder superfluous naive ascertain complacent resilient deafening military tend prudent glare acceptance skillfully induce monster beam gullible conciliate vessel petty cantankerous disclose archaeology anecdote disdain electronics substantiate subjective tourism advisable joyful incredible provocative psychological ruins discipline condone indifferent misfortune judgmental industrialize tasty assume astute mission mar protective definitely escape oppress shocked virtual zealous endorse qualification hostile eccentric abstract disparate geographical scrutinize generalization tolerate activity claim dogmatic influential obsolete extol implausible subsequent resource chronic benevolent improve confidential ambiguous seriously dearth perplex hatred throughout dine contemporary evoke essentially economic flagrant obscure alleviate eloquent dreaadful clumsy sympathy victim condemn vigor condescend spontaneous quell reprehensible substantially sleeve equivocal ironic decry errand articulate progressive eradicate refreshments elicit aspiration recently exemplary bribery theoretical disingenuous partisan revere particle nostalgia self-aggrandizement debunk tyranny rhetoric hierarchy warning whimsical venerate commend assert miserable awful vibe constrain undermine explicit differentiate compliment scrupulous contempt erroneous ideal refute imply cynical rash presume insight revival vary delay renounce indignant offensive temperate circumstantial export peep logo advertise suppress distort chunk convoluted denounce overwhelming fertility rigorous acquire arrogant university antagonize profitable indulgent strategic breathing idiosyncrasy profession frugal discern accommodation adversary incredulous disturbance digress social belie roam smug continual pertinent voluntarily elite subtle blame sincerity lick horror censure involvement candid infer futile impetuous exploit bewilder sustain diligent sincere protect sealed musical empathy callous parenthetical insure acorn sarcasm seize sacrificially allege emphatic irrelevant progress diplomatic stunned improvise deride reconcile meticulous deject scientifically incontrovertible pressure justify gloomy depict supplant endurance analogous diary bolster slip contemplate pesticide glow religious advocate negligent creator lament fundamental embrace throne inherent inferior valuable thrive trivial pretense reserved capricious refresh refusal flight boost explanation coherent prevalent tenacious official royalty assassin rub poach delete

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warrant circumscribed somewhat explosive optimistic mandate previously detract opinion intuitive feasible intimate persistent humble simplicity tempt deliberate painful unethical fundamentals discrepancy remorse pessimistic possibility conclusion acknowledge impregnate soberly creation paralyze suitability oblige tranquil medal arbitrate pacify illusory susceptible vibrate vengeance infection democratic stressful grave speculative sample identification stifle obligation revenge organization namely mediocre practical scream weaken consensus affectionate deficient treacherous console isolation ingenious memory melodrama despair awestruck composition regret recommendation celebrity decision devoid opaque ornamentation longevity participate dread restore interrogate aid accordingly mislead embarrassment optimism domestic apt funds virtue geography fundamentally thoroughly press despite horrible chilling rental esteemed disappointment innovative contemplation assign popularize haunt deafen serene percent estrangement suffer extravagant throng estimate comment priesthood mass dreadfully promote periphery animated saying relate clarity triple derivative succeed distortion register suicide improvement discreet inquisition probable curative incident praise convenience baffle covet dreadful genuinely weary undisturbed disgruntled humility renown nonchalant monopoly comedy vague decisive inconsequential announcement fabricated nevertheless vigilant scarce neglectful hushed attainment tedious explode snatch pslm agency sentimental tension adhere meanwhile sacred avert conformity likewise challenger accessible responsibility peril contact event roast fallible catastrophic competitor violate resolute deceive exaggeration discredit intolerable approve paste dimly novelist demeanor norm politician satisfaction obvious vehicle reservation defer involve restoration crush audible assistant backpack attain inanimate commemorate confrontation emigration parasite disperse quantitative laughter policy vulgar occasionally repay effective eulogy starvation empty therapeutic overall immortal encompass inappropriate opportune engagement illustrate turmoil observatory classification expression reminiscence comedian invention depress remedy protagonist gesture texture diplomatic election prolong conducive emotional invigorate curiosity expressive %

K-12 Words was originally published on PinkWrite

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professionalhorror · 7 years

Text

Rise of the Dragonbats

Spelunking. It's a fun word to say. I don't know what weird ass words it's derived from to make it mean cave diving, but that's neither here nor there. What is there is the North Ridge cave system, one of the largest untraversed cave systems in North America. And what is here is Dwayne Cameron, the coolest and most gorgeous spelunker to ever spelunk.

Dwayne Cameron is me by the way. In case you couldn't tell.

I figured I go on enough badass adventures I would make a little log and fill it with little notes and voice recordings I make along the way. Maybe finally get that TV show on Nat Geo I so righteously deserve. Anyway, I'm about to check this cave out and turn it from untraversed to traversed real quick.

I know I know, they tell you never to spelunk alone and normally I wouldn't but my friends won't be in town for a couple of hours and I'm bored. Don't worry, I'm not going to go too deep right off the bat. Just a little taste to whet my appetite.

Oh man this is gonna be a good one too. I can hear water dripping. Not that spooky slow dripping you might here walking in the sewers or something but a waterfall. It sounds majestic from here. Imagine what it'll be like to be the first person to see it. If you imagined yourself as Dwayne Cameron in about twenty minutes, you made the right mental picture.

Also what will be fun is all the little critters that make the cave their home. There's bats, they're the ones making those squeaking sounds right now, and there's also...like some other animals. Point is, I'll see some bats and stuff.

I don't bring much equipment with me since I won't need much. I just have a hard hat, a couple of flashlights, and a lighter to find which tunnels to walk down if I get lost.

Pro Tip: if you go spelunking, bring a lighter along. Wind blowing into tunnels from the outside can flicker the fire of you lighter and let you know which tunnel is the way out.

Oh yeah, if you're also going to a cave with a sweet waterfall inside, bring a bathing suit.

Taking my first steps into the cave, I notice that the dirt is very loose. My foot sinks in about an inch with every step. Hopefully the ground is more solid the further in we go. But for you guys reading this log, you never want to assume that, that's why you wear boots.

I have to turn on my flashlight not too long after entering the cave because it gets really dark really fast in here.

Pro Tip: bring some chalk or a marker with you during your exploration so you can draw arrows on the wall in the direction you’re going. I forgot to do this but no worries, I'll remember where I went. I'm not going that far anyway.

Oh man I can hear the water getting closer. I'm jog down the tunnel toward the sound of the water. You really shouldn't run in a cave for safety reasons but whatever.

I turn to the right down another tunnel. Remember that, I turned right.

The bat squeaks are getting pretty loud as well. Those squeaks are their echolocation. They must've echolocated me by now.

The terrain is starting to get rougher as the wet loose soil gets buried under a layer of rocks.

Just as my ears fill with the sound of running water, I hear another sound ring across the walls of the cave: a screech. Def not human. Sounds like a bat but not a bat I want to run into. I turn my head to see if can find out where it came from.

Pro Tip: always look where you’re running.

My ankle goes sideways on a rock and I tumble across the rocks for a solid ten feet before coming to rest. Fucking hell I messed up my ankle. Oh damn, this is-this is bad. Dammit, Dwayne, what did the website say? Don't run in caves to prevent injury. I mean--that's what my years of spelunking experience has taught me. How foolish of me.

I don't really have anything with me that'll work as a splint but if I move slowly I should be able to make it back.

I turn around and...oh no. Which tunnel did I take? There's like six. I take my lighter out. It's broken. I must've landed on it when I fell.

I hear another high pitched squeak. I wanted to move away from it but the way it bounced off the walls, I wasn't sure if I'd be moving toward it or away.

I slowly move myself towards the sound of running water. Running water is my way out. There's no way the water stays in the cave. It's gotta run out someplace, a steam or a river or the fucking ocean. Somewhere!

My flashlight starts to flicker. This is bad guys. I’m getting a bit nervous here. But the sound of the water is getting closer and closer.

The tunnel I'm in opens up into a major chamber where the waterfall is. I was right, the water runs out down a tunnel, surely outside. I'm safe. I hobble over to the water's edge and look deeply into the stream. It’s a bit murky, like rust colored, but it still looks pretty.

I shine my light over the water and see something. Some weird shapes like brown pods of some kind. You know like caterpillars, they become butterflies by going in a--cocoon, that's the word.

I pick up a rock and toss it into the water. The shapes warp and disappear. Oh I'm dumb, it's a reflection.

Pro Tip: if you look at water you can see what's in it and above it at the same time. Dope right?

I shine my light up to the roof of the cave and see those pods. They're pretty big, probably like seven or eight feet long. There's about seven of them. Wonder what they are?

I pick up a rock and toss is up at one of them. The rock I pick is a touch too heavy and starts falling back down before it hits the pod. I actually almost hit myself with the rock.

I pick up a smaller rock. This is the one. I huck it up to the sky and nail one of those suckers with a thud. Damn I should've brought my GoPro, that would've looked sick.

I'm not going to lie, I feel a bit weird now. Sorta like when you stand up too quickly and you’re like off balance and woozy. The pounding pattering sound of the waterfall fades away. I stumble backwards.

I feel liquid pour down the sides of my face. I must've walked under the waterfall. I wipe the liquid off me but it's not water. It's bright red. I feel my head and find where it came from: I'm bleeding from the ears.

The sounds of the cave start to warble back into focus as I crane my head back to the roof of the cave.

Those aren't pods. What I hit just spread open its huge leathery wings, revealing a monstrous bat.

It screeches loudly, knocking all sound in the cave back out of focus. The rest of the bats begin to awake and spread their wings.

Pro Tip: don't piss off dragonbats. Like I just fucking did.

It might not be the best defense in the world but I start crying.

Can you blame me? I'm going to die. I'm going to die in some stupid cave and no one is going to know what happened to me.

My friends? Those people I said were coming to join me in a few hours? They don't exist. None of my friends wanted to come to some stupid cave where they could get lost.

My friends were right too. If they had come, they'd be lost too. Who am I kidding, I’m not an adventurer or a spelunker. I just wanted to do something cool for a change. The only reason I know the lighter thing was because I watched The Descent and went on a couple spelunking websites.

I back up toward the water, staring at the giant bats. Hopefully they don't see me. I’m sure they won’t. They don’t say ‘blind as a bat’ for nothing, right?

Seven sets of eyes snap around to face me. All of those giant bats are staring right at me.

I dive into the water just as I hear the whooshing of their wings flap through the stale air of the cave. Why did I ever think this was a cool idea? I try to keep swim to the bottom but the water gets way too dark and murky down there to see.

I pat my hand around the ground to see if I’m near the bottom. I wish I hadn’t. There’s a freaking dead guy in the water. Which probably explains the rust-colored water. I probably should’ve picked up on that a bit sooner.

I hear a big splash and look up: a dragonbat just swooped down trying to grab me. I can’t stay down here much longer though. I’m running out of air. I start to surface but I keep hold of the dead guy. I know this is fucked up but hey, there’s still one person who can live through this.

Another dragonbat swoops as I surface and they swing, claws barring. The dragonbat grabs the dead guy and yanks him out of the water.

This is my chance. I start to swim down the tunnel where the water is running. I overestimated my chance. I’m grabbed by the shoulders by the next set of clawed feet.

One of the dragonbats rips me from the water and fly high into the air. My hearing goes back and forth from being filled by the whooshing of bat wings and the pounding waterfall to a painful muted ringing whenever the bats screech.

I try to fight out of the bats claws but they just dig deeper into my arms. I scramble through all my pockets until I find a flashlight and I chuck it up at the bat’s head.

The flashlight lightly bumps of the bat’s face but it is enough to get the bat to loosen it’s claws for a second. I free myself from its grip and fall about ten feet to the ground.

If I wasn’t about to die, I probably would’ve curled up right then and there because, ow. Very much ow. I landed on my side about two feet from the water right onto the rocky ground. I roll my body toward the water and let myself fall in.

The dragonbats all swoop down toward me as I try to lamely paddle away.

Not So Pro Tip: Try to make your last thoughts about your loved ones. It feels nice as the sharp claws ensnare you.

My ears start to ring and I feel immense pain as the claws drag across my body.

But then it stops. Is it over? Am I dead?

I feel my hearing start to come back but I still feel like my equilibrium is off. I see a dragonbat’s head looking down at me. It’s poking through some kind of hole and it’s getting further and further away.

I look down and see a pool of water approaching. Oh shit.

I explode through the water’s surface. Apparently that tunnel I swam down lead to a second waterfall. I looked around and saw a giant light: an exit.

I did it. I made it. Yeah, screw you you stupid ass dragonbats. Guess Dwayne Cameron is off the menu tonight boys. And it ain’t going on ever again. You missed your chance. You couldn’t drag me back to this cave if you tied me to a bulldozer.

I swim toward the exit and walk out. The wind feels beautiful. Oh my God, the birds are singing and the grass looks so green out here. It’s practically paradise.

“I made it!!” I scream.

“Shhh!!! Quiet!” I heard a voice. “We’re filming here.”

I look over to them and there’s two guys with film equipment. One with a camera and one with a microphone.

“Oh sorry, what are you guys filming?” I ask

“Some stupid nature documentary for Nat Geo. Dave, our host, was supposed to be here hours ago so we’re just filming some establishing shots and some transition shots, you know?” He says.

“Oh so you guys are missing a host?” I says.

“What about it?” he says.

“I could help out, if you guys really want to make this show something special.” I say.

“What do you have in mind?” He asks. He turns the camera toward me.

Pro Tip: Never reveal everything you know.

I look into the camera, “Hello, I’m Dwayne Cameron, and you guys better prepare yourselves because I’m about to show you something inside this cave that you won’t believe.”

11 notes · View notes

pandabearlikes · 7 years

Text

Temporary Affairs

Table of Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Chapter 13. Resolution

2017 was coming to a close. Since your foot was still healing, you were imprisoned in the four walls of your living room. Silently, you watched as your fiancé sprinted from the kitchen with a slice of pie. Oh, how much you just wanted to touch your feet against the tiled floors.

“Try it,” Jongin suggested, holding up a spoonful of pie.

You took a bite and instantly your face scrunched up. Okay, so no one’s perfect. Jongin’s shoulders slumped back in defeat. He stood up with the plate hovering over the trashcan.

“NOOO!” you hollered, leaning over to grab his arm.

“But it’s not good,” he spoke.

You grabbed the plate, placed it on your lap, and stuffed a spoonful of pie into your mouth. It was so terribly bitter but you suppressed your urge to spat it out instead you quickly gulped it down.

“It’s delicious!” you lied.

“Really? I made more,” Jongin exclaimed, happily running back into the kitchen. Crap. But love is love and love has no taste buds. $#%#%@@%@

So you gobbled down another slice of the sweet potato pie, still unable to comprehend how your fiancé had the talent to turn something so sweet into this insane bitterness. He must be a genius. That’s exactly it.

“It must be really good. Let me try some,” he said, taking the spoon from you.

“Nooo…” you warned but he had already stuffed it into his mouth.

You snorted and fell over in laughter when his complexion paled. His eyebrows furrowed and he trudged over to the garbage can to spat it out.

“You lied,” he accused, still hovering over the trash bin.

“What? It’s good,” you said stubbornly as you demonstrated by eating another slice.

He moved the plates aside and sat on the coffee table to look directly into your eyes. He’s so, so handsome. Okay, focus, ________ah. FOCUS.

“Why are you staring at me?” you asked with a spoon dangling from your mouth.

“You’re so in love you can’t even distinguish between bitter and sweet anymore,” he concluded. Spot on.

You shook your head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you need to get your taste buds check”.

Giggling, you licked up the rest of the plate and slurped the spoon. Outside, fireworks started to blast in the distant. You turned around to look out the window. It was such a pity that you couldn’t watch outside due to your leg injury, but as long as Jongin was with you nothing else mattered.

“Hehe,” you cutely mumbled.

Your fiancé wrapped his arms around you from behind; swaying you from side to side as the official count down began. You turned around to look at the fireworks through his eyes.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Automatically, your lips were on top of his. His fingers laced through your hair as you sucked on his lower lip. Abruptly, he backed away. You looked at him hurt by his rejection but upon seeing his disgusted expression, you threw your head back laughing. Jongin wiped his lip with the back of his hand.

“Seriously, Jagiya, that pie is so, so bitter”, he complained.

“Heehee,” you smiled foolishly at him.

“But I guess love has no boundaries,” he chuckled then leaned in to kiss you again. Did he just admit that he liked me? @%$@%#$#% Breath, _________ah, breathe.

Swinging his arms around, you asked, “Oppa, what are your resolutions for 2018?”

“Marry a beautiful wife,” he replied bluntly, pecking you on your nose.

Your face turned red.

“How about you?” he asked. Marry a handsome hubbie. <3

“Hmm…maybe just be less stressed out about others’ opinions,” you said thoughtfully.

“That’s a good one,” Jongin replied, nodding in agreement.

“Also, maybe paint more..?” you said unsure.

“That’s a good one too,” he replied, fixing your hair so that it didn’t cover your face.

“But I don’t know if Appa will like it…” your head hung low and your voice diminished.

Your fiancé sighed, “And there you go again…”

You pouted so he caressed you in his arms.

“After we get married, I’ll open an art gallery for you,” he promised.

You melted into his chest like a puddle of de-thawed snow.

----

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye and you were finally up and running again. Throwing your pretty pink flats on, you skipped happily out the door. It was January 14th, which was Kim Jongin’s birthday. You wanted to give him a surprise by stopping by his office to present him with a bento you spent the whole morning preparing.

As you stepped into Bliss Communications, the staff recognized you and started to greet you but you held your finger up to your lip. They nodded understandingly, muffling back giggles as they fangirled about you two lovebirds. Biting your lip, you slowly inched your way to Jongin’s office, making sure that he didn’t spot you through the glass windows. As you got to the door, you lifted your hand to knock but froze in place. From the window, you saw the silhouette of a woman. Your eyes narrowed. She advanced toward your fiancé, wrapped her arms around his neck, and…kissed him on the lips. Your eyes widened in terror. The wrapped bento box fell out from your hands, shattering onto the floor. The noise alerted Jongin’s attention. Immediately, he pushed the girl away and rushed to the door. But you’re already gone, running into an elevator.

Seconds felt like minutes and minutes dragged like hours. The room spun in front of you and you almost willed it all to be a dream. Because you opened your heart vulnerably to a man you fell in love with and you had every reason to believe he felt the same. But…he doesn’t.

As the door closed, you saw a frantic Jongin appear, calling after you. Tears rolled down your eyes. You knew it was too good to be true. All the surprises, gifts, and confessions were all lies. At the lobby, you swung the revolving door with so much force, you almost smashed yourself on the cheek.

The cold winter storm grazed your face but you ignored it, running as fast as possible away from the man you loved.

I should have known. I should have known better than to believe that a rich, handsome, perfect man like him would fall for someone as flawed as me. I should have known better than to believe his sudden 360-degree change didn’t come without a motive.

“Jagiya!” Kim Jongin’s voice cried out.

Wiping the tears from your face, you turned around to see how close he was, but because your attention was elsewhere, you failed to see the random bump of the sidewalk. You crashed down hard against the pavement, scraping your right palm. Your ankle throbbed as well and you could have sworn you had re-injuried your old wound. As you desperately tried to get up, Kim Jongin caught up to you.

“Jagiya! Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing your bleeding hand.

Instantly, you slapped him across the face, your blood smeared on his cheek. He froze in place and you began to attempt to stand up again. As soon as you do, a splitting pain ran down your leg and you crumpled onto the floor again. Straightaway, Jongin swooped you up into his arms. You thrashed around, punching him in the chest.

“I hate you. I hate you, why did you do this to me?!” you cried, clawing at his shirt.

Finally, he placed you down on a bench. Your head hung low as you sobbed. Jongin lifted your face up so that you were staring directly at him.

“Listen to me,” he demanded and you reward him with another slap.

“Were you using me because your father’s company needed our help? All that marriage shouldn’t be business bullshit that came out of your mouth was all a lie,” you shouted bitterly.

“No, no I would never use you, Jagiya,” he tried to persuade, holding tightly onto your arm so that you couldn’t leave.

“Then explain to me why you were kissing Lee Sohee just now!” you hollered, kicking your legs around.

“Babe, stop moving your leg, your ankle is hurt,” he warned, gripping your leg in between his so that you would stay still.

“You really should audition for Hollywood,” you said bitterly.

“______ah, Sohee and I broke up months ago! As soon as I realized I was falling for you, I broke things off with her,” he desperately tried to explain.

With tears uncontrollably streaming down, you stared into his eyes and said, “Kim Jongin, I loved you. Why?”

He wrapped his arms around you and said, “_______ah, I love you too. Please, listen to me”.

You kicked him in the shin with your injured foot. Jongin grimaced in pain but your leg also throbbed in anguish.

“Jagiya, I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me. She didn’t want to break things off,” he tried to explain but you shook your head repeatedly.

“Kim Jongin, I don’t ever want to see you ever again,” you said.

Your heart shattered into pieces and for a moment you wondered if you were really dying because every part – every inch of your body felt like raw flesh soaked into vinegar.

“No, please don’t do this to me,” Jongin begged, his eyes bloodshot from crying as well.

Turning around, you stared into his soul and firmly said, “Kim Jongin, I won’t marry you. I will never marry you”.

a/n: YAY DOUBLE UPDATE ~dances around~

But they broke up. Oops. Um…well at least I gave you guys fluff in the beginning of the chapter before it ALLL PLUMMETED DOWN AND EVIL AUTHOR SHOWED UP. BAHWHWWHWHWHAHHEHA ۞_۞

I’m currently under food coma LOL so sleeeepy. ;p from now on I won’t accept exam for early update unless you add in a sexy pic of Kim Jongin jkjkjkjk <wait, is that a double negative? ~wiggles eyesbrows~ LOL OMG I’M SO SLEEPY, excuse me.

#kai scenario #kai scenarios #kai fanfic #kai fanfiction #exo scenario #exo scenarios #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #kai #kim jongin #jongin #exo fluff #exo #exo comedy #Temporary Affairs

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ivy-dust-blog1 · 7 years

Text

Somewhere Only We Know

pairing: touken/tousaki |post :re timeline genre: romance, fluff word count: 1,878 summary: Touken visits the spot that was once called Anteiku, and they contemplate how far they’ve come in life. notes: Tokyo Ghoul and the first half of :re were everything, but after the second half of :re I just fell asleep. Also side note, Kaneki looks lit but I still wanna fuck Haise so Imma pretend tousaki still exists. I left tumblr 1 year ago because of writer’s block & I lost 25+ of my best touken fics I’ve worked SO hard on. I know, I’m gonna fucking kill myself :) I’m still suffering badly from writer’s block, so in case you feel clueless, I used past tense to describe past events and present tense for what is currently happening.

"Do you remember this place, darling?"

His question makes her heart quiver, mouth stinging with a sudden dryness. She recalls walking away from a demolished Anteiku a few years back,

in this same spot.

Touka looked up to the dry, stagnant clouds, and barely assembled a few words into the air, with less than an ounce of hope left in her, I have faith in him.

They stand under a tree in the park, showered in different orange shades of the dried fall leaves. He holds onto her a little tighter; their coats furling in the cold breeze. Bodies pressed together, her head rests on his prominent shoulder blade, while inhaling the scent of his dark outerwear. Her blue tresses barley cascade over his scapula, for he towers over her by inches a plenty. He always smells different from the other ghouls, deliciously different...the same way from back when he just met her, only now it is more intense. To laugh out loud, it gives her nose-gasms.

"I should be asking you that." She responds. Feminine fingers claw through his soft, pretty pearl-white hair. Indigo eyes meet chestnut brown ones, and she finds it unbelievable that so many things happened within a few years. Most of all, she's tired of him just zoning out of her life all the time, and giving her the cold shoulder...as though she doesn't matter...as though she doesn't exist or there is nothing between them.

Leave me again and I'll stick my foot up your ass, she scolded him when they officially reunited. There were literal tears in her eyes, and of course, knowing him, he simply chuckled like it wasn't much of a big deal, but it was. He knew how much he meant to her. He knew it.

Love endures all things. He simply told her, as he hugged her, held her for the first time in never.

She never cried that much for anyone else, not even for her beautiful baby brother, or her father.

Touka never cried for anyone else.

He was a creature that fed off of the people around him. He’d change himself to appeal to others, built himself up with lies, all just to forget the loneliness and fear tearing a large hole in his heart.

Touka wasn’t afraid to call him out on this. With her, he had the liberty to be who he really was and peacefully come to terms with himself, which is why he’s grown to value her so much.

The Black Reaper couldn’t live up to all expectations. He was imperfect, had many strange flaws, made countless mistakes. He was broken and she accepted him...always kept on giving him second chances.

Maybe because she was broken too.

Please see someone. A therapist. I don't want to worry about you anymore. I can't live like this. She told him one day over coffee. It was hard to fathom how much pain he’d felt from the beginning - really novel-worthy, the type to tell over ten tragic events, maybe twenty...she'd expect him to be mentally deranged by now. He needed to be loved and sheltered from all this.

You're my therapy. He responded.

Marry me...marry me and I promise you won't have to worry anymore, That's the last thing I ask of you. I won't rest until you say yes. She'd never seen him so sure of himself before, so firm and serious and determined.

He looked her in the face, spirit unbreakable. She lost her voice that day, as a tear prickled from her reddened lid. What if I'm a terrible wife. You don't deserve that. She thought to herself.

Kaneki glances down at her, his smile gentle - the way it’s been no matter what he went through. He was the same person to a degree. Was it even possible? To go from killing his opponents in cold blood, to borrowing Hinami (from Ayato) to take her on brother/sister book dates?

“Of course I do...” Their faces inch closer. He brings a warm palm to her cheek, and goosebumps swamp her skin in response to him. How she loved his warmth. The ukaku can’t help but smile widely, for she can’t live without him.

She remembers despising humans. Having so many of them come to Anteiku, it was rather cringe-worthy. Then he came to her, the first impressions not exactly to her liking; a frail boy with the face of an eight year old and shy tendencies - a mere small fry. Now, she wouldn’t look back, wouldn’t think twice. Now she’s never loved a human more...well, a half-human. She clutches his forearm at the thought.

“This is where everything started.” The former investigator adds. The remains of what was once called home laid beneath their feet.

“You...” he kisses her lips and she suddenly feels giddy inside, like their first kiss - except this one is not as awkward.

“Me...” another kiss.

“And everything that keeps bringing the two of us back together.” He speaks inaudibly against her neck, then he takes the flesh between his teeth, the sound of saliva on skin filling the air. “Ah-...” Touka shrieks at the tickling sensation.

He could be the One-Eyed King, hold a record for defeating Kishou Arima, he could be whatever. He still needs her, needs to feel her, hold her, love her...he’s not afraid to admit it to anyone and everyone around them.

With him by her side, she could turn from a tough woman to a little girl in seconds, for there are so many sides of him that charm her, conquer her. She'd lose herself in his sweet torture.

"With you in my arms, it's hard to not want to devour you every waking hour of the day." He gingerly presses his lips against her forehead.

She senses his hands, light as a speck of dust, flutter over the life growing inside her. "It's a boy. I can feel it."

It symbolizes all the bonds they've shared, everything they've ever felt for each other. "Maybe you should be the one pregnant. I can't enjoy spaghetti and brains and kagune at the same time." She jokes, and she's right; human food made Touka throw up each morning.

Not that the baby was planned. But things went far that night. That period of time was the spark of their relationship, the highest point of their attraction to each other.

None of them had gotten he chance to have alone time with each other that day, spending every minute surrounded by the :re crew, they hadn't made love in weeks.

Haise was teasing her all night. Every time they walked by each other, he'd have his finger tips graze against her thighs, waist, breasts and backside, by accident of course...how he made it seem. She felt her hands run cold, stomach do somersaults.

Touka had liked other boys before him, only thing is they never made her wet - they just didn't know how to appease her or make her desire them all over her body. His strength, his grace, his pensive demanding presence, his irresistible figure, all played a huge factor in her wanting him so badly.

The twenty-six year old barely paid her any mind, or so she thought, as he brought Tsukiyama's shot glass to his mouth, pouring the fermented blood down his throat. He sat on a stool across the room. While trying so hard to listen to Hinami rave about her new book, Touka couldn't help but realize how strongly he stared at her. His gaze reverted to hers and she quickly found the hem of her skirt, fingers finding the polyester to rake it backwards, sending him a clear message.

He receded and she quickly gave up, swooping by the group to ascend the stairs to her room. Their room...

She stood in the dark by her closet, taking her blouse off to prepare for bed. The door handle twists, alerting her. People are supposed to knock goddammit...with only one exception.

Their eyes met once again as his tall figure stood in the door way. Nothing but silence between them. The heavy tension in the air conveyed that they both wanted to fuck, needed a release from the built up urges, needed to feel a long sweet orgasm one way or the other, like a drug,

He lunged toward his wife, groping her into his arms to attack her lips ravenously - exactly what she wanted him to do. They romped on the bed, hungry, absolutely no time for decent love-making. Sooner or later she would succumb to the immense tingling from her torso right down to the spot between her legs, muffle her swears and moans with his two fingers in her mouth, as her warm juices trickled onto his cock.

The sex was fast and short-lived as it was passionate and intense. None of them lasted long - barely twelve minutes - he finished first, felt like a weight off his shoulders to see her finally at ease, his teeth marks all over her body, in all the correct places she wanted him to ravage.

When she found out weeks later, he was the last person to know. She tried to hide it but couldn't get passed Hinami's smart mouth. Touka was quite apprehensive. Everyone knew it was unlikely for a human to impregnate a ghoul, or that the baby would not survive in the mother's womb for the first few weeks.

I'm afraid of being too happy...something bad always happens.

It doesn't have to be that way. Let's just wait and see what happens. Of the two, he was the only one optimistic about it. Her blue eyes softened gleefully. Carrying a half-half child, under her heart was going to be rough. Touka favored it just being her, her husband and no one else. But she would do it just for him, anything in her power to make sure they weren't alone ever again.

A family means everything to him, since he never had one of his own. This is a chance to turn all the wrongs into rights, let everything be the way he wished it really was back then. Kaneki would make sure his child has a father, someone to give guidance and spend time with. He makes it a priority to be everything his mother was not.

"This world will do many things to hurt you, as it did me. But I want you to be strong, stronger than I am." Hands on either side of Touka's protruding tummy, he kisses the baby. I'm gonna take you everywhere I go, buddy. You'll never have to be by yourself." They both feel a kick and Touka is overwhelmed with joy and relief. She smiles at Kaneki, for she hadn't felt a move all day.

"Let's go home." He takes her hand (and her heart) and Touka looks up to the sky for the first time in years - sailing clouds rosy and full of life - everything's going to be okay, with him by her side. She finds closure in the moment, happy that he returned to her

and will keep returning.

#touken #tousaki

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jeichanhaka · 7 years

Text

To Say Goodbye

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Chapter 5: Bonds

"What? You mean Kurama's sick because of that runt!" Kuwabara exclaimed after Yusuke finished telling him what Hinansho told him. After hearing Hinansho's confession, Yusuke called everyone to a meeting at Genkai's—Kurama's condition was stable enough at the moment, so there was no reason to worry. So far the only one who wasn't there, besides Kurama of course, was Hiei, no one had been able to reach him.

"I'm sorry, I forgot all about the curse my ex-lover put on me. I wouldn't hurt Shuui-chan on purpose." Hinansho apologized, his eyes red from crying, his cheeks wet, nose runny.

"Uh…you can stop crying now; we know you didn't do it on purpose." Kuwabara quickly replied, trying to figure out how to cheer Hinansho up.

"Yeah, it's not that bad yet. We just need to undo the curse, for that we need to find your ex-lover." Genkai spoke up, staring at Hinansho, who stood only around a foot taller than she did, observing his deep black hair kept wildly spiked, silently chuckling to herself.

"What's so funny?" Hinansho asked, perplexed by Genkai's amused expression.

"Did the fox have you spike your hair?"

"Yes…."

"Heh, thought so."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You remind Kurama of someone else, that's why he became your lover so soon, the stupid fox."

"Shuui-chan's not stupid, take that back!"

"Jeez…you took that too personally."

"…hm…." Hinansho fell silent, looking at the floor still annoyed at Kurama being called 'stupid fox.' Although he wished to remain silent, curiosity got the better of Hinansho. "Um…Genkai? Um…who do I remind Shuui-chan of?"

"I thought you'd asked that question." Genkai chuckled gazing at Hinansho knowingly. "Seeing as its no one here, it's not very necessary for you to know right now. As soon as you see him, you will know. Now, however, is the time where you answer our questions. First, what is the name of your ex-lover? Second, what sort of powers does he have?"

"His name's Karaikasai, and he mostly uses incantations—ancient spells and curses. Though he does know how to fight and use aura attacks." Hinansho replied, dismayed that Genkai hadn't answered his question.

"So this Karaikasai demon put a curse on you because he was mad about you breaking up with him and now Kurama's paying for it." Genkai stated closing her eyes once before turning her eyes back to Hinansho. "This demon must be extremely adept at spells to be able to affect a demon of Kurama's class."

"He is." Koenma interrupted stepping into the room in time to hear the demon's name. "Karai is an S-class demon, but most of his power goes into his spells and enchantments. He hardly ever fights with real combat techniques; he usually puts a curse on his opponent beforehand so his opponent can't fight."

"You certainly know a lot about this Karai demon."

"Well yes, he was prosecuted by the Spirit World in the past for a few misdemeanors. Nothing serious, just rude pranks that became dangerous." Koenma replied pausing for a second before continuing. "The only serious crime he did was selling his knowledge of spells to humans. Now some spells were not dangerous since it require use by a demon, but some were very dangerous and the Spirit World was forced to arrest him. He got off without any jail time in the Spirit World."

"But if those spells were dangerous…."

"Karai is very good at persuasion, his gift at speech enabled him to avoid jail time, and he hasn't been in trouble since. Though there was this strange occurrence around eight weeks ago…where he's been rumored to live, but there's no evidence he was involved."

"Eight weeks? Um…I…."

"Yes, Hinansho, what is it?"

"Karai and I broke up eight weeks ago. If he did anything it would have to be because he loss his temper. He didn't want me to break up with him. He ended up summoning a couple of monsters from the Demon World, but he sent them back after checking his temper."

"Well…so he was behind that." Koenma muttered, looking curiously at Hinansho who looked fearfully at him.

"You won't arrest him for that, will you?"

"You seem awfully protective of your ex-lover."

"I…it's…." Hinansho stammered, turning red, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Why did you break up with Karai?"

"That's…that's none of your business." Hinansho replied turning away from everyone's gaze, acting in a way that said he would not answer any questions on the subject. "I don't know where Karai is right now, I heard nothing about him since I left him in Kyoto to move here."

"You're sure…."

"Yes, I don't know where he is. I'm going back to the hospital to stay with Shuui-chan; you guys can do what you want to find Karai." Hinansho stood up avoiding everyone's eye as he strode out of the temple, intent on keeping silent. No one followed as he walked farther from the temple, deeper into the surrounding forest—oblivious to every sight and sound around him.

Tears fell from his green, emerald eyes dripping down his cheeks and to the ground as he stopped, leaning against a tree covered in shadow, gasping for breath between his sobs.

"Shuuichi…." Hinansho sobbed, quivering with fear and guilt over what he had done—he hadn't done it on purpose, but his careless forgetfulness was robbing his most cherish lover, of life and power. How could anyone ever forgive his fatal carelessness, he knew what curse Karai placed upon him, and knew Kurama could not survive it, only if the victim of the curse was of a higher class than the caster could the curse fail, and there was no class above S-class which Karai was. Hinansho could not bear to tell Kurama's friends this—they still had hope, even if it was an impossible hope, and Hinansho couldn't bring himself to take it away.

Caught up in his own thoughts, Hinansho failed to notice how a blanket of silence quenched the noisy, hyped-up forest or how a sudden darkness, deeper than night fell in upon him. Hinansho noticed none of this until the sound of footsteps resounded loudly through the silence.

"Who?"

"So you're the one." A voice snarled in the darkness, anger, hate—intense malice wrapped up in a growl. It was a voice tinted in evil, laced with hatred deeper than the pits of hell and greater than the emptiness of space.

"Who…are…you?" Hinansho stammered, quivering uncontrollably, heart pounding wildly in fear—the very darkness seemed to radiate with the horror and hate concealed in that voice. "Why are you here?"

"To kill you."

"Why?"

"It's the only way to save him."

"Him…? I…oh!" Hinansho gasped as he realized who the voice meant by 'him.' "You mean…Kurama?" Silence was the only reply, however Hinansho felt the hate-filled darkness flicked with a different emotion—it wavered only for a moment, but long enough for Hinansho to grasp the truth. "You…you're the one Genkai said I remind Kurama of! What's your name?"

"Shut up." The voice growled, masking the sound of footsteps as he lunged at Hinansho, swinging the sword blade at Hinansho's throat. The deafening silence, however, increased the intensity of the swooshing sound of the sword swing—Hinansho dodged it before it struck him, falling to the ground as he did so. Hinansho's attacker however was quicker than he had anticipated, lunging at him again right after the first attack missed. Blood spurted out from the gash left across Hinansho's chest from the sword's blade, the force of the blow knocking Hinansho ten feet through the air to land by a riverbank where darkness hadn't reached.

"Please…I…."

"Shut up." His attacker seethed, stepping onto the bank of the river, the sword in his right hand, blood dripping from its blade. Hinansho studied his attacker's appearance—black spiky hair, intense red eyes gleaming with a suspicious hatred, short stature—only an inch shorter than Hinansho.

"Who are you?"

"Be quiet."

"But…."

"SHUT UP!"

Hinansho fell silent at the sight of his attacker's face contorted in rage, eyes glowing with an evil hatred—something unreal, unnatural, glistening in their reddish hue. He had seen that same glint in a person's eyes before—that glistening anger and unnatural rage shone brightly in the eyes one other person, eight weeks ago.

"Heh, kill him." Hinansho gasped at the words spoken by that all too familiar voice, a voice and tone he heard only eight weeks ago.

"Karai! No…."

"Heh. Die!" Karai lunged at Hinansho striking the human boy in his abdomen with his clawed right hand, breaking through the skin and exiting through Hinansho's back, blood splattering from the entrance and exit wounds.

"Ka…rai…why…?" Hinansho gasped, coughing, blood shooting and dripping from his mouth as he spoke, tears streaming down his cheeks. Eyes blurred with tears, weak from blood loss, Hinansho fell limp, despair consuming him, swallowing him deeper into weakness, his gaze drifting to his ex-lover's right arm—then he knew. Realization whelmed throughout him, causing him to fight against the drowsy weakness threatening to overpower him.

"You're…not…Karai…." Hinansho muttered raggedly before falling unconscious.

Feeling the human boy fall limp, the imposter Karai let go of his hold on Hinansho, his arm covered with the boy's blood. Slowly he turned to the person standing behind him, smirking at him as he licked the blood on his arm.

"You did your part well, Hiei."

"Undo the spell you put on me."

"Undo? Why don't you like the new you?"

"I fulfilled my part, now fulfill yours and change me back, take your mark off me!" Hiei growled revealing the mark on his right-shoulder, tattoo-like, the image of a stretched out bird—like a crow. Anxious to return to his old body, he had agreed to allow the demon to place a spell on him, he had gotten his original body back but not he wanted the controlling mark taken off.

"No. You did not kill Hinansho."

"What's it matter? He's dead! Now take the spell off!"

"Hah hah! You think I'm foolish enough for that? Hah! No, I'll keep that spell on you."

"You bastard! I'll kill…." Hiei made to lunge at the imposter Karai but with merely a wave of his hand, the imposter flung Hiei away without touching him—then bound the fire-demon with energy bonds before Hiei hit the ground. Bonds of green demonic energy bound Hiei's wrists behind his back, and to his neck. A final bond bound Hiei's legs together—immobilizing him. "Bastard!"

"Heh, delightful. You look so…enticing in bondage, you're physically helpless and yet your spirit is unbroken." The imposter spoke, lustily, grabbing the fire-demon by the hair and bringing his lips down roughly on Hiei's unwelcoming ones. A zap of energy to the mark on Hiei's shoulder loosened the poor fire-demon's defenses—Hiei's lips parted against his will, and his entire body seemed out of his control. The imposter demon explored Hiei's mouth with his tongue, his pleasure intensified feeling how reluctant and frustrated the fire demon was at the loss of control over his own body.

"We're going to have fun tonight."

"Bastard!"

"I'm going to love breaking you." The imposter smirked, lunging at Hiei with lustful sadism, intent on overpowering the reluctant fire-demon.

Unseen by either demon, someone, concealed in shadow sprung away from the scene carrying the body of Hinansho in his arms, stalking quietly through the forest.

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