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feastfic · 3 years

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On my computer right now and I just spent like, I think maybe only an hour on this???

But hi!!! I wrote a thing! And I really want to say things about what inspired me to do this and why I thought of this, so if you wanna know please lmk! (Please I really wanna talk about this AU digjasobjn)

So since this took less than an hour and it’s currently almost two in the morning for me (and I took my sleeping meds) this is probably rushed and doesn’t have as much going for it as I wanted, so please keep that in mind!

This will be under the cut for spoilers, and tw in advance for implied/mentioned murder. Also wildly out of character behavior but it makes sense in the context of the AU I promise; but enough of me going on. Here it is!

He was just… mad these days. Well, not mad. But certainly unhappy. Upset, maybe, was the best word to use.

Ever since he and the rest of Team Snakemouth left the Swamps, he seemed a different bug. Ever since he’d killed The Beast- a rightful act of revenge, of vengeance for his previous friends- he was bitter.

He didn’t even quite know why he felt this way. Kabbu couldn’t tell if it was a new onset grief for losing his team, rage at The Beast, fear of losing the people he currently cared about. There was so much to feel about, and not enough of him to contain all of these feelings.

So he just decided not to contain it. Not around Leif or Vi, of course. There was no way he’d expressly show them how he felt. Not when these feelings were so destructive, so unlike how he normally was. Kabbu was not a bug to hate easily or quickly. But he had a feeling that that was what was going on. He hated- no, loathed; utterly despised this feeling. He wanted, needed to take it out somehow.

He didn’t seem to care about much anymore. His fighting skill wasn’t any better or worse off, but both Leif and Vi knew something was up. Other bugs that the team had previously encountered also could tell very easily that something was up with the typically gentle beetle.

Where he was once careful in battle, he was no longer. His caution was thrown to the wind, it felt like. More nicks and scratches collected themselves on his body, not out of the battles he’d won, but just out of his lack of self-preservation.

“What is up with you lately?” Vi popped the question as they took residence in the hotel underneath the termites’ dome. “Ever since we left that swamp you’ve been acting all weird.” Even her normally sarcastic tone was tinged with real and genuine concern. Not that she’d ever say that she cared any time soon, of course.

Kabbu gave her a side-eyed look, his arms held crossed as he leaned forward on the leaf bed he got when the room was rented out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stated bluntly, his gaze focusing on the bee on the bed right across from him. Behind her was Leif, silently watching the two of them talk. The moth had gotten quieter since the swamps, too.

“You’ve been all… all- I don’t know! You just haven’t been yourself and there’s no reason for it, Kabbu!”

“We agree with Vi. You’ve had a big change in character.” Leif said, quiet but as direct as ever.

With both of them on his case, there wasn’t a lot that Kabbu could say. He didn’t want their sympathy, he didn’t want them worrying about him. How could he ever tell them that he didn’t know if he even wanted to be part of the team anymore? Well, he didn’t have to. And, well… he could always just leave out of nowhere. Not that he was thinking of doing that.

He waited until the lights of the dome dimmed- the termites were going to rest as well now. To his side, he heard Vi’s soft snoring, but had to sit to make sure Leif was asleep too. It was a good thing he was, or else this would get awkward and stressful fast.

There was nothing he chose to bring along. Except for the explorer badge that he and Vi got on their first day as an official team. It’d be only Vi now, but she had Leif. They’d be like every other team- a party of two, instead of their devious three. And that was it- he was never the item carrier; the bag with all of their things always went to Vi, where she’d protect their belongings as valiantly as she could. So the badge was just another thing that she’d keep.

Well, that was basically it now. Bringing along nothing with his person, Kabbu slipped out of the room in silence. He took the elevator back down to the ground floor, leaving for the great doors that had welcomed him into the dome just yesterday. The guards there of course asked him about his intentions and why he was leaving- alone especially- but he just coated his answer with a white lie.

“I’m only going to take the ant tunnel. It isn’t far from these gates.”

The two termites glanced at each other, their antennae twitching between one another like they were exchanging a telepathic message.

“Well,” one began, before letting out a sigh; “alright, but just go to that tunnel, alright? We don’t need any of those Farland beasts coming through. I’m sure you understand.”

“I do; don’t you worry.”

The other guard worked the mechanism that opened the gate. Not all the way, only just enough to let Kabbu step through. When he entered the foggy abyss of the Forsaken Lands, the gate clanked shut behind him not long after. He nearly disappeared into the pressing grey surrounding him, so much so that he could barely even see the two termites standing watch outside their kingdom. That was certainly a good thing for him, at least.

He wasn’t going to the tunnels. What he needed was time to himself. Figure out what he was going to do now. Because leaving the team was sort of a big deal, even if he’d been considering it for a while.

In theory he could join something like the bandits, or stake off for himself somewhere out in the wilds. No, the bandit idea wouldn’t work- they’d recognize him, even if that Astotheles character gave them heed about his defeat to Team Snakemouth before his disappearance. And while he could just live off in nowhere, that wasn’t the life he wanted to live now.

What he wanted was to make a big change. Something that’d get the attention of everyone. With the Wasp King being under high pursuits and being a bigger threat, he could get away with many more things. But what? What was there that he could do? He just wanted to break something, really. He wanted to do something to take out the way he felt so crushed about everything that happened in the swampy grasslands. Let everyone know what The Beast did to him.

By doing the same thing to everyone else.

He looked down at his carapace in the deep fog, turning over his arms to look at all of the scratches that would remain on him either until he died, or until his next molt. But he was an aged man- he hadn’t molted in forever; not since he was much younger. These scars might as well be permanent, then. All of these would bear witness to whatever he decided on doing.

Oh, did he know it was wrong. He hated himself for it. Hurting innocent bugs was still something he didn’t want to do from the bottom of his heart. It wasn’t that he felt that it was all he could do though, but it was the thing he wanted to do most. He was scared. Both of the possibility of his actions, himself, and if he’d be caught.

Fear.

It was what he was going to make everyone else feel.

The same suffocating, horrible, gut-wrenching fear he once felt.

If he couldn’t bring himself to be the grand hero that everyone held Team Snakemouth up to be, then he simply wouldn’t. He was no team leader, he was no Green Ranger. He was Kabbu, damned.

If he was so sure of this course of action, he’d become someone like who he was once fighting against.

The wasps were the enemy, or perhaps once were. He’d start there. Keep the pretense of doing good.

Those troopers wouldn’t know what hit them, or any of the other damned… things he’d sparred with.

Oh, no. He wasn’t going to stop there. He just needed a gateway. Surely he wouldn’t feel bad about hurting a few of those folk. He’d work his way up; he just needed a way to get his initial anger out is all. It just so happened that a certain kingdom worked in his favor as a target.

He’d go from revered to hated, to where bugs would fear to speak his name for the things he’d done. Where exterminating a few wasps would first be looked up upon by other kingdoms, when the numbers began stacking higher and higher concerns would rise. Nobody would know it was him, not for a very, very long time.

From hero, to anti-hero, to villain.

He’d be a bad guy if it meant he didn’t have to live in guilt and sorrow for his own past.

Only he mattered to himself now, and he was going to make sure that nobody got in his way or tried to change this path he was choosing.

He walked further in the fog, until all he could make out of his surroundings were the cracks in the rock beneath his feet. This would be a long path for himself.

Many countless nights full of himself hating himself, nights where he thought this was the best idea he’d ever had. Nights where he cried, where he laughed to himself. Going from his past self to whatever he’d be called was nothing easy.

But time passed. Days turned to weeks, which turned to months. He was only a fraction of his former self. Down the line he’d forgotten most of what inspired him to go on this outburst, but there was no turning back now. He’d abandoned his humanity just a month ago- these past thirty days were the easiest he’d had in what felt like years.

And there was no telltale signs about Leif or Vi ever since he left. He’d heard of the talk when he first left; he entered towns from time to time cloaked in leaves and scraps of fabric bugs left about, shielding himself from observant eyes. People wondered what could’ve possibly happened.

They weren’t finding out any time soon.

At least, not from him. He was a little busy with… other things.

Which reminded him, as he sat alone in a small pub off the center of Defiant Root. The bar was a common ground for other bugs in shady business, so Kabbu fit right in. Ironic. But that was besides the point.

He didn’t like calling his craft murder. Nor assassination, or anything like that. But terms meant nothing when anyone else would know what it was called. What he was doing was never anything he’d thought he’d be able to do, but as it turned out, dealing with crippling survivor’s guilt and other feelings for so long made you numbed out to such things like death.

There was no joy out of it, but he didn’t do it just to do it. There was still the motive of fearmongering. He just didn’t know how far he’d take it.

Well, he’d find out in a week.

Because on his marks right now was a certain general. That’d surely get people to talk.

#i'm both proud of this and also not #because like i said im SLEEPY #but sorry ultimax :(#bug fables #bug fables kabbu #i don't even wanna tag the characters like this feels so OOC even if it's an AU LIKE HELP PLEASE RDIHYTRGYIERUEHU #tw ???#ask to tag #but yeah!!! give me your thoughts pwease :pleading:#bug fables spoilers

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unicyclehippo · 4 years

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idk if this is the kind of prompt you were looking for but maybe a take on beau never joins the m9 and the first time they meet her is when she's an expositor and how they react to her saving them from something

maybe not what u wanted , but all i could think about

The time they were given, left to wait in the antechamber of the castle, was enough to catch their breath but not nearly long enough to recover or start that process, so it is still bruised and bloodied that they follow the Marshal into the throne room.

The chamber is grand. Far beyond anything their patchwork party has ever seen before. It is comparable in size, in grandeur to the Bright Queen’s throne room, except that where her space had been a clear, clean, shattered prism of crystal and a pure but cold light, here is all severe grey stone, heavy and firm, and stained glass. The pretty colours do nothing to mellow the space; if anything, all the windows do is highlight how dizzyingly tall the ceiling of the chamber is as they stretch higher and higher.

Their boots tap against stone. Echo in the vast space around them. The Nein walk across, through, the scored lines of light that burn from those windows across the floor.

Ahead of them rides a great set of stairs that honestly, at this point, just feels like torture. They’re beat to shit. They’re tired. They don’t want to do this. If they’re gonna be killed, the King could at least have the decency to not make them climb a hundred steps first.

The Marshal nods them forward, expression brooking no disagreement.

‘I wish—I had died,’ Fjord groans, quietly. He’s panting as he climbs. ‘Honestly, if I have to—oh god—climb another step, I’m gonna throw myself—ha—down them.’

Jester grips his hand hard. Struggles for a smile, but with each step she’s losing her breath and it has less to do with exertion and far more to do with the fear squeezing her heart as the heads and shoulders and cool faces of the Council start to show above the platform.

A man with shoulder length hair and a long, thin goatee, both streaked with grey sits upon his throne, wooden and backed with an immensely tall and ornately carved back. The man looks to once have been fit and strong but now, in perhaps his early sixties, the muscle he had built has gone soft. There is nothing soft in the way he stares at them, cuts suspicious stares down over each of them in turn—lingering on Fjord, on Jester and Molly, on Nott. He is the King, and Jester thinks she would have known that even without the circlet that rests upon his head.

The names and faces of the remainder of the Council blur, all of them imposing, none of them welcoming. Jester searches their number for something, anythjng to focus on, as Caduceus begins to talk and panics, and as Fjord takes over, smooth and calm. No sign of the panic Jester knows he must be feeling.

It is when the Martinet steps forward that Jester sees her.

Seated behind the Martinet is a young human woman, not much older than Jester if at all, with dark skin and dark hair, which she wears pulled back into a handsome top knot and the sides shaved. Fine robes cover her clothes; they are similar to what the Martinet wears, but far less adorned. Which is not to say that she doesn’t shine at all—there is a small mantle of office draped across her shoulders, plain in comparison but still weighty, and gold glints in several places on her ears. Her face is handsome, though more stern than Jester would expect to see on someone so young, and unmarred save for a scar that cuts deep into her brow, dividing it into uneven parts.

She must feel Jester’s attention on her because suddenly blue eyes are fixed on her in turn and Jester can do nothing but stand still, stuck in place not because of this stupid terrifying audience with the King of the Empire, but by the powerful force of this stranger’s attention. She looks over Jester as though she can see into her, as though Jester were an open book and she a speed reader—and then her eyes skip up to meet Jester’s again, seemingly for no particular reason, and she smiles.

It’s not much. A flicker of a smile. A smudge of a smile. It isn’t kind, it isn’t sweet, but it is somehow very reassuring.

The smile is gone as quickly as it came and then they are answering a lot of very scary questions like How does the Bright Queen know about you? Why would she care about you? (and Jester does not like the tone of that question, like they’re stupid, or small, or worthless, and How did you know about the cult if you are not a part of it?

Jester’s attention drifts back to the girl. She’s taking notes in a quick hand, has been the whole time—but now her hand is still and poised above the page and she is looking at Yasha of all people with keen interest. What can she see? If she is the Martinet’s assistant, does that mean she’s magical? What does she know about Yasha, about all of them, just by looking?

‘I scried on them,’ Jester blurts. Feels the world spin around her. ‘Mister King? This is a very tall platform, um,’

‘You scried on them?’ the Martinet prompts, before the Kings darkening expression boils over into a storm.

‘Yes. We found a thingy—‘

‘A...thingy.’

Jester swallows hard. ‘A device. That was being used to open portals.’ She tries to remember what Allura and Caleb had told them. ‘They were planting them everywhere to open rifts to the Hells—‘

‘Abyss,’ Fjord coughs.

‘Abyss,’ Jester corrects, voice pitching higher as her heart rattled with nerves. ‘It’s like termites!’

‘Termites,’ the Martinet repeats.

Jester wonders if he has ever had to worry about anything like that, anything as ordinary and mundane and troublesome as termites.

‘Yah. They eat wood? They’re little and white and look a bit like ants,’

‘I know what termites are. I am not in need of a lesson on beetles at this time.’

‘Technically, technically, they’re insects,’

‘Maybe ixnay on the ugbay essonlay,’ Fjord hisses.

‘She’s right.’ The voice comes from behind the Martinet. He turns, brows raised, to the girl taking notes. Her voice is nice, Jester notes. Kinda brash and rough, but warm. She sounds like a real person, like the people they’ve spoken to all over the continent. Not like these polished martinets and kings.

‘Pardon?’

‘Termites. They’re insects, not beetles.’

The Martinet sighs. ‘Yes, very good, thank you Beauregard.’ He turns back to Jester. ‘So, to clarify, you found this device that opened portals to the Abyss in the manner of...a termite?’

Jester thinks about it for a moment. ‘No.’

‘There were many devices,’ Nott interjects. Realises—remembers—too late that she is a goblin. But the King and Martinet are watching her now, so she continues. ‘We found—three? Of them. And there were more we heard about but didn’t see.’

‘With each one that opens, they...undermine the integrity of the planes,’ Jester says, trying to repeat what Allura and Caleb had said.

Up there on the platform, Allura nods encouragingly.

The girl—Beauregard—looks with interest toward the Arcanist, and back at the Nein once more. There’s a thoughtful crease between her brows and she seems to be taking notes in earnest now, though no one is speaking.

‘You said you scried on these people. Would you be able to describe them, beyond the ones you slew?’

Jester licks her lips. Glances across to Fjord who shrugs helplessly. Cad looks like he’s still mid panic attack but she knows his thoughts on it—honestly. Caleb meets her eyes cautiously, careful not to stray sideways to the white haired jaundiced man upon the platform. He nods the smallest amount.

‘I can—we can name one of them. An empire agent who is part of the cult.’

‘Then do so,’ the King commands.

Jester nods to him a few times, fast, jewellery jangling it seems far too loud in her ears. She stills. Feels her attention dragged back to the Martinet and, behind him, the note-taker.

‘Vence Nutheylas.’

Things devolve quickly from there—accusations are thrown at the Nein, at Allura, hinted at the Martinet, Ikithon is a fucking creep, the King makes puppets of the Nein to solve the problem of this war for him. And as they are escorted down and out from the castle and into the light rain of the Shimmer Ward, they pass by a shaded corridor and Jester glimpses the tail of a red cloak. The Martinet, walking briskly down It and away, shadowed by his assistant. Jester can barely hear them, the words echoing down the corridor.

His deep voice is troubled. ‘—and Vence,’ he hisses, groans. ‘And I gave him an amulet. What a fool I am!’

The girl doesn’t disagree. ‘I warned you about him.’

‘I can’t dismiss someone so talented just because you say he’s slimy,’ the Martinet chides, exhausted. Clearly, they have had that discussion before. ‘And these...Mighty Nein? What do you make of them?’

The girl glances back over her shoulder before they turn the corner. Eyes lock once more with Jester’s, who now realises she has slowed to a stop, right in the middle of the corridor.

‘I don’t know,’ she says, thoughtful. Gentle. Not in a soft way, but delicate. Like a hand brushing dirt from a relic, interested in what lays beneath. ‘But I’ll be very interested to find out.’

Kamaruth Cottage is lovely. Warm and comfortable.

Something about it rubs Jester the wrong way. Maybe the way it aims for rustic but is far too pristine, too comfortable to really be rustic. Like it’s just pretending. A giant mimic, waiting to gobble them up.

She draws that idly in her notebook as they wait for dinner. A cottage, thatched eyebrows, a giant slobbering tongue as the red carpet leading to the front desk. A dozen window eyes staring.

Maybe it’s the way the theyre given seven rooms. Expected to split up. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Dinner is a quiet affair. Molly hasn’t let go of Yasha yet, doesn’t let go of her arm even when Fjord trades five hundred gold for a heavy tome he passes to her. They talk some, eat some. Nott drinks. Cad nearly falls asleep in his salad. Eventually, they make their way up to Caleb’s room to talk. To gauge their footing, and what he wants to do next.

For ten full minutes, Caleb passes over the room, taking time to examine it ceiling to floor for any manner of device or trap or something that should not be there. Behind him paces Caduceus, eyes gleaming with the familiar sheen of detect magic. They both turn up nothing.

Caleb sits and scratches at his arms and worries.

‘So,’ Fjord starts them off. ‘Big day, huh. I guess... Welcome back, Yasha.’ Fjord waves a hand toward her, or them, Molly still stuck to her side. Held tight in a hug.

‘Thank you. And... I’m sorry.’

‘I’ll take that apology,’ an unfamiliar voice says—harsh, and harshly amused—from behind them, from the window. Spinnjng, the Nein find that standing there, leaning back with her elbows braced against the sill, aggravatingly nonchalant, is the girl from the throne room. She looks a different without the robe. Smaller, thinner, and all in black and darker blues and greys, but it is unmistakably her.

In their room. Unheard. Unseen.

In the next second, Fjord has crossed the room, conjuring his blade and grasping the long hilt in both hands, pointed to her throat. Yasha has drawn the Judge. A burning of copper fills the room as Molly draws his blade across the skin of his forearm, scimitar lighting with white flame. Nott pulls her crossbow, the wire click, click, clicking as she wrenches it into the ready position.

Caleb just stares.

And Jester, she raises her hands, not sure exactly what she’s going to do when she’s exhausted like this. But if worst comes to worst, she has a hand axe.

‘Planning on killing the Martinet’s auxiliary, are we? Fun times in the Kamaruth Cottage. Didn’t know it was such a fun scene—’

Fjord presses his sword closer until it touches the skin of her throat. Still she just grins, unphased.

‘I don’t know what you think you overheard, but we have no plans on killing anyone,’

‘Maybe Trent,’ Molly hissés behind them all in Infernal.

‘Who doesn’t want to kill Trent?’ the girl answers in common. Ignoring Molly’s shock, she continues, very slowly, very patiently, very patronisingly, ‘The Martinet’s auxiliary is me. In case you didn’t know.’

‘Important position, is it? You’ll be missed, is that what you’re saying?’

‘Not really. To both. Just...letting you know because, and I’m gonna be honest—you seem well out of your fucking depth here.’

‘I don’t like this one,’ Molly decrees, opening in Common, since it seems she can understand his preferred language of disparagement. ‘Not one bit.’

‘I’m heartbroken,’ the girl sneers.

‘What you are is the one at sword point—and I know wizards. We’ve had time to rest now—we could take you.’ Jester winces at Fjord’s tone. Protective, he has gone harsh, gone with a face of stone to cover his shock, to cover their slip in letting her join them unnoticed.

‘This must be real hard for you but I’m gonna need you to use your head. For think-ing.’ She breaks the word apart like it might be too big for him, unfamiliar. ‘Even if you did beat me,’ she says, words drenched in disbelief, ‘there’s a whole city to get out of after that, all riled up after that attack. Whether I’m well-liked or not,’

‘Not.’

‘Missed or not,’ she amends with a shrug, ‘there’d be some real powerful people after your head if you killed me. So. Be smart about this and put. The sword. Away.’

For maybe the first time in his life, Fjord snarls, baring tooth and tusk.

She grins. ‘Is that a no?’

‘It’s a give me one good reason why we should trust you.’

It’s just a gut feeling but Jester doesn’t think that she will.

She watches as the girl tilts her head back almost lazily, before bringing it forward to crack into Fjord’s nose, his forehead. Fjord gets out a stuttering choke and as he stands there stunned, she ducks the sword and slips behind him, punches up the ladder of his spine. Fjord wheezes, breath punched out of him, and staggers around to face her.

By this point, Nott is screaming bloody murder, Caleb’s hand is wreathed in flame, Yasha has the Judge raised in both hands, Molly has both swords lit up, and the girl, Beauregard, is just standing there with her arm around a stunned Fjord and grinning.

‘As much as I’d honestly be stoked to go toe to toe with all of you—‘specially you, sweetheart,’ she says, throwing a wink and a kiss to Jester. Her eyes slide over to Yasha and her smile, somewhat salacious, turns harsh. ‘And you, Orphanmaker,’

Her eyes go black with blood as Molly barks something in guttural Infernal. Unlike so many that they’ve fought, she doesn’t panic. She settles back into a defensive posture, letting Fjord step away and out of reach; head cocked to listen to them, she waits out the sudden blindness, blinks the film of blood away.

Her eyes find Molly. Looks at the bleeding scars, the glowing blades, his harsh, panting breath. The way he stands in front of Yasha.

‘Now that is very interesting,’

‘Forgive us,’ Caleb says, finally says, his hand still wreathed in flames, blue eyes fixed on their guest, ‘but perhaps you will stop cataloguing us for just a moment, bitte, and tell us who you are. Because I do not think for one moment that you are the Martinet’s auxiliary.’

‘What do you think I am?’

‘A monk,’ Caleb says flatly.

‘I see I’ve found the brains of the operation. Bren, was it?’

‘It’s Caleb,’ Nott shrieks. She’s been holding her crossbow the entire time and now swings it up to let loose. A bolt pings from her crossbow, and the monk catches it, hisses when the tip scratches her arm. She looks from it to Nott. Waggles the bolt at her with a scowl.

‘Next time, I throw it back,’ she warns. Tucks It into the soft sash of her belt. ‘I’m keeping this.’

‘It’s Caleb,’ Nott says again.

She glances up from Nott to the man she is protecting—no other way to describe the way she stands in front of him, small body straining to cover as much of him as possible—and she nods.

‘Okay. Caleb, then. Good to know, I’ll make a note of that.’

‘I’m certain that you will,’ Caleb says with a hint of laughter to his tone. Resigned laughter, tired, but laughter none the less. ‘You know our names—you probably know far more than that, if I am to understand what it is the Cobalt Soul does.’

Beauregard nods, shrugs.

They stand in silence for a short while. Until she looks about, brows raised like, And? What?

‘He’s asking what your fucking name is,’ Fjord grits out from his place next to Caduceus.

‘You’re not still mad, are you?’

‘I think you broke my nose.’

‘I definitely did,’

‘Beauregard,’ Jesterer blurts. ‘That’s what the Martinet called you.’

Beauregard looks surprised, then pleased, then annoyed. ‘Yeah, he does. But you lot shouldn’t. It’s just Beau.’

‘Why?’

‘Because Beauregard is a stupid fucking name and if you use it, I’ll punch your face in.’

‘...Got a last name?’

‘Do you?’ Fjord looks away first.

‘Why does the Martinet call you that if you hate it so much?’

Beau smiles. It’s a bit macabre with the stream of dried blood like a tear track down her cheeks. ‘Poor Ludinus. He really hasn’t much luck in the assistant department. His annex is a fucking cultist, and his auxiliary is a spy. Once again—because you seem a bit slow—I am the auxiliary.’

‘You’re a spy.’

‘Hey, not so slow after all. Good job. I’ll find you a sticker or something, a little pin that says well done.’

‘Fuck. Off.’

‘I do not understand,’

‘Pretty simple, Caleb my man, I’m the auxiliary and I’m a spy-‘

‘Ja, that I understand. What I don’t understand is why you are telling us this.’

Beau’s eyes slide across to Yasha again. ‘Let’s just day that I’m not the only one who noticed you’re out of your depth. Some people really dig that kind of thing. Vulnerability. Innocence. Guilt. Whatever they can manipulate.’ Caleb’s cheek twitches. ‘I’d like to say the Archives is above all that shit.’ She doesn’t elaborate. Just says, ‘The High Curstor pulled my from Ludinus watch, re-assigned me to you lot. I’m supposed to help you with this whole relic thing.’

‘And why would we agree to that?’

‘Couple reasons. One, you’re out of your depth,’

‘Yes, we got that one,’ Fjord grumbles

‘Two, I have access to the entirety of the Soul’s archive of research. Three, I’m a monk, I’m badass, I have like a billion abs.’

‘How is that a bargaining chip?’

‘How is it not?’ She hikes her shirt up to show them off.

Jester blinks. Comes around from behind the bed to examine them up close. And maybe to add an extra level of defense between Beau and Yasha.

‘Whoa,’

‘No! No whoa, Jester,’

‘I mean, you have to admit, Fjord, that’s really impressive. You should be very proud,’ Jester tells her, nodding.

‘Thank you, thank you, I am.’

‘There is no doubt in my mind you would be a helpful ally,’ Caleb says. ‘I only have a question as to what you, or your Archive, gets out of this arrangement. Forgive me, but I have not known people here to do things out of the kindness of their heart.’

Beau lets her shirt and her smile drop. ‘You’re not wrong. The Soul gets two things outta this—one, we love to fuck with the Assembly. The more dirt we can get on them, the better we feel—and everything I’ve heard about this relic and Ikithon—‘ There’s no way she misses Caleb’s flinch. ‘—smacks of some real fucked up shit. The Soul is all about weeding that out, putting a stop to corruption and all that.’

‘What a fine job it has done so far,’ Caleb murmurs, barely more than a whisper.

‘You said you get two things. What is the second?’ That, of all people, is Yasha.

Beau meets her multi-coloured eyes squarely. ‘The Cobalt Soul gets you.’

#cr tag #tagging my stories #prompt fill

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achtung-attitude · 4 years

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CHAPTER 36: Weezer - Part 1

From his porch on Mulholland Drive, All-Kill sits, looking out across Los Angeles. The view is beautiful at night, but on this particular morning, it looks muggy and uncomfortable. “Yeon-in,” he calls.

At his summons, the wolf appears with a bottle of Korean soju held in its jaws. With surprising dexterity, it places the bottle on a small table next to its master. All-Kill pets his companion between the ears, then unscrews the cap, pouring the rice wine into a small glass and sipping from it.

“Little early for that, isn’t it?” T’onga says, stepping out of the house and standing behind the chair.

“I’m in a celebratory mood… Have you taken care of everything? The stragglers and loose ends?” the boss replies, keeping his eyes on the view.

“Yeah. Of course,” she says numbly.

“Good. Then the time to strike is now. Go to where Dust is and use HOUSE OF PAIN to eliminate him. No matter what you say or what it takes, do that above all else. It makes no difference what kind of ability Dust has. Once you get him into the room, he’s no match for you. I have every confidence. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve already won.” He punctuates his statement with another sip of soju and a smile.

“Right… Where’s Sang-ok?” T’onga asks.

“At his apartment. I’ll call him over when you’re done.”

“…And Sumni?”

At the mention of this name, there is a long pause between the two, as All-Kill places his glass down. “…She’s on standby, as usual. Why? What difference does it make?”

“Oh… it doesn’t. I was just wondering where everybody was. See you later, boss…” she turns a leaves, stepping back inside the house. All-Kill turns his head and keeps his eye on her until she leaves his sight. The wolf at his feet whines softly.

“Anaheim…” he mutters, and nothing more.

---

The Anaheim Convention Center and Arena! One of the largest gathering spots in all of Southern California, a stone’s throw away from the famous Disneyland, home to every sort of convention for every sort of event, from company-wide get-togethers, to the biggest sporting event, down to the most niche of fan conventions. And this time of year, it's home to the one and only...

TubeCon, the world’s convention for the no. 1 video-sharing network, VidTube! Here, everyone from video bloggers, pranksters, game streamers and the ever underappreciated animators gather to engage with their fans and celebrate their work.

They mill about like termites, some old, but most young, moving between stall after stall, buying merch, taking selfies. Among them are content creators, many of whom film themselves on their phones. Their voices can be heard clearly over the general din.

“EY ITS UR BOY MERCINATOR MEETING UP WITH SOME FANS!!!”

“EY WHAT UP GUYS IT'S YO BOY RATMATT HERE AT TUBECON!!!”

“WE'RE THE SLY BROTHERS AND WE'RE HERE AT TUBECON TO GET PEOPLE'S REACTIONS TO MEETING US!!!”

At the far end of the auditorium, three men in their thirties play video games on a couch under the scrutiny of over a hundred people.

“Julio,” one demands of his bearded companion, “would you rather eat a man or acquire a nice tan?”

“I don’t… What kind of question is that, Neil?” Julio splutters.

“Julio, answer the question!” demands the third.

“What is this place...?” Kilo mutters, taking in the atmosphere with distaste, having found himself and his friends beckoned here.

“This is probably what Hell looks like,” Moya remarks, with a thousand-yard stare. In the midst of this controlled chaos, she and Kilo stand protectively between Shizuka, who stares doe-eyed into the crowd, searching for something. For someone. Frowning, she reaches into her inside pocket and pulls out the message for the hundredth time.

I WILL MEET YOU AT ANAHEIM and a drawing of an impossible triangle, written in permanent marker, and three tickets to this very convention. Nothing else was in the envelope delivered to Jerome’s mansion. Shizuka turns the message around, but all she sees on the back is the marker ink bleeding through the paper.

“Whoever it was that sent that letter…” Kilo grumbles, peering over her shoulder at it, “ least they could’ve done is be a little more specific. So what now, cop?” he turns to Moya, “We just supposed to stand around here, waitin’ for somebody to walk up on us?”

“This is our best move,” Moya replies, squinting suspiciously into the crowd, “For now, we have to assume the worst and that this is a Congregation trap. They’ve been one step ahead of us this whole time, and even now they still have the advantage. But waiting around in C-King’s house won’t get us any closer to stopping them, so we may as well take the chance and handle what comes of it. And besides… if T’onga really did send that message, then I don’t know when we’ll get another chance to get this close to her. No matter what happens, we can’t get separated. As long as we stick together, I’m confident we can take anything that comes our way!”

“Hrrmh… I hope you’re right…” Kilo says. Shizuka says nothing during this exchange, but looks up from the letter, glaring resolutely.

“HEY, YOU GUYS!!” shouts a loud, raucous cry, directed at the three of them. Immediately, SATURN BARZ and WITCH MOUNTAIN come out, only to recede soon after. A man in his late 20s wearing mirror-shades suddenly stands right in front of Shizuka.

With painfully artificial exuberance, the man in sunglasses shouts, “You’re next in line, huh, bros?! Great!! Don’t be shy, I always have time for fans! Here, lemme get that for you!” He says, taking the paper from Shizuka’s hand.

“Ah…! Hey, wait…!!” she starts, but the guy soons hands it back to her, but not before scrawling chicken scratch on the back in red ink.

“Who the fuck is this…?” Kilo mutters. He then glances behind him and notices for the first time a line has formed behind them, composed of teenage girls and boys, the eldest surely no older than 14. Without moving from their spot, the trio appear to have become part of an autograph line.

“Now you got your autograph, how about a selfie?!” the shaded vlogger announces to Shizuka, already pulling out a smartphone and attaching it to a telescopic pole. “It’ll be legit, for real! You’re bound to get a ton of likes on your feed once people see me on it!”

“Ah… N-no, thanks,” Shizuka responds, taken aback, “I’m kind… of waiting for-”

“Come on, honey, no need to be shy!” he announces again, sidling up beside her with his selfie stick raised over them, “You’re talking a major boost in online cred if you get seen with me! I’m kind of a big deal on YouTube, in case you didn’t know!” Bearing over her, he reaches a hand across her shoulders, “And hey, if we hang out a little more, maybe I can give you a few tips on how to get your own channel started! I could send a few early subscribers your way, if you do me a couple favors. What do you sGGLKH!!”

He chokes, his tongue lolling out as Moya lifts him, one-handed, by the back of his t-shirt collar. Kilo, meanwhile, grabs the selfie stick out of his hand, breaks it in half over his knee, then pitches the phone to the other side of the auditorium. The teenagers in the line behind them gasp. Moya drops him, and they and Shizuka moves away from him, stepping around him like garbage.

“H-Hey! Wait up!!” The vlogger shouts, rubbing his neck and beginning to pursue them, “Hey! You guys! Who do you fuckin’ think you are?! Hey, I said--!!” Kilo and Moya turn at once, fixing him with furious expressions. “Yeah, what?”, they say at the same time.

The vlogger appears to forget how to speak for a moment. Then he scurries off to retrieve his phone, shouting back, “My followers are gonna hear about this, you hear me?!”

Shizuka hardly notices his departure, merely brushing lint off her shoulder. Kilo and Moya exchange a concerned glance.

---

The vlogger weaves his way through the crowd, eventually finding his phone lying on the ground with a cracked screen. Upon sight, he rushes to retrieve it, but crashes into a tall man in a hoodie from behind. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, jackass!” he berates before stooping to pick up his phone. The guy in the hoodie slouches, removing his earbuds from his ears and scratching his oversized afro.

Before the vlogger stands back up, he starts wheezing. He manages to release a few choked coughs, which go unnoticed by anyone, before his neck and face begin to swell up like a balloon and his face turns a shade of pale blue.

“Anaphylactic shock, huh? Nasty...” says Toto, and nothing more. By the time he finishes his remark, the vlogger is already dead and he has lost all interest in him. He peers over the crowd. His eyes fall upon the trio, then he slides himself into the back corridors.

Without a care in the world, he strides through the service hallways, eventually coming to the security control center. He opens the door with a stolen clearance card and enters the room, shutting the door behind him. Two dead security guards are propped up against the wall, their faces blotchy and swollen. Toto sits down at the surveillance desk and finds the trio on one of the monitors.

“They’re clinging to each other like…” he mutters to himself, keeping them in sight at all times. “Like… Like, uh… Liiiike… Oh! Like tar and feathers! … No, no, not like that, not like tar and feathers, more like…” he stops abruptly and furrows his brow deeply, searching for the correct analogy. “Flies on hot shit? No, no… Oh, yeah! Like atomic particles! Two little electrons orbiting around a neutron/proton center! That’s perfect!” He smiles, delighted. Then his smile drops.

“Wait, hold on, if the three of them are an atom, then wouldn’t splitting them up be totally bad?” he mutters, beads of sweat suddenly appearing on his forehead, “When you split an atom up, you get nuclear fusion, in other words a big fuckass huge explosion…! Applyin’ that here… Dust wanted me to separate the Joestar princess from her friends, but what if that’s a bad idea…?! What if the best bet is to take ‘em all here and now, together…?! No no no, fighting ‘em all at once is no good either, their abilities are too strong…!

“Aaagh, did I do enough, did I miss anything?! I been here for an hour and I made sure to touch as many people as I could, but what if it ain’t enough?! What if all the people I came into contact left already?! Uuuurghh…!!” he frets manically over this, pinching his temples as his thoughts race. Then at last he freezes, and his relaxed posture returns.

“Don’t be stupid,” he admonishes himself, “It’s just an expression, they ain’t really atoms. They just people. Caught in the flow of fate, just like everybody. Does no good to worry over how things’ll turn out. Split ‘em up, cram ‘em together… It’s all the same at the End of Time…” Fully calmed down, he reaches for the microphone and leans into it.

Affecting an officious, professional tone, he speaks into the PA, “Attention, all convention-goers, attention all convention-goers. The Paulie Paul panel event will be commencing in ten minutes. Please proceed to the cordoned area in Hall D in an orderly fashion. Thank you.” Finished, he watches with satisfaction at the silent stampede that begins, which slams into the trio, tearing them apart.

He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a pre-rolled spliff. He regards it for a moment, taking in the herbal scent, before shaking his head. “No, no… No time. Gotta work…” he says, getting up and leaving the security office, heading for the exhibit halls.

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #achtung attitude #shizuka joestar #kilo staples #moya pezzente #toto #ch36

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ask-de-writer · 4 years

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LOST TIME (part 3 of 3) A fantasy of Flocking Bay.

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to Flocking Bay

LOST TIME

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

5556 words

written 2003

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

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.

All sorts of Fan Activity, fiction, art, cosplay, music or anything else is ACTIVELY encouraged!

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Her hands skimmed lightly over the inlaid table tops and felt the textures of the brocaded silk upholstery. Her eyes took in the carvings and inlays on the furniture and the hand carved moldings, unique to each room. She drifted from chamber to chamber as delicately as a ghost, and as silently. Her camera hung from her neck by its strap, forgotten. She was as taken as I had been by the nature of the beauty here. Her head tilted slightly at times, as though she was listening to something that I could not hear.

Somehow, the library managed to survive all of the changes of ownership apparently intact. Some of it was actually written on scrolls. The other books were mostly quite old. It would not have surprised me to find that some of them were medieval manuscripts or perhaps translations of something older yet. I had not had the time to look at them beyond the merest glance.

If I had even the slightest idea of where to begin, I had no doubt of my ability to read it. I have never yet found a written language from Europe, Asia, or Africa that I could not read and write as well as speak fluently. As I told Lois, part of my income comes from helping archaeologists to make out old texts and inscriptions.

Lois spent a lot of time in the library. She stood with that listening aspect for a short bit, then she pulled a book from the shelves as though she knew exactly what she was looking for. She set the book on an old-fashioned reading stand and opened it with that small amount of leafing that indicates complete familiarity with the contents. She read for a few pages, sometimes more or less, then replaced the book. Then she went on to the next. She spent several hours in this pursuit, finally looking up, eyes bright.

“Vandervekken, are you as hungry as I’ve gotten to be?”

“Now that you mention it, yes,” I replied.

Lois led the way to the kitchen, and held the door for me, looking as pleased as a conjurer who has just performed a clever illusion. The table was set for two. There was a selection of cold cuts, a woven loaf of bread to pull apart, melted butter to dip it in, a bowl of salad with a cruet of dressing and a bottle of wine just cool enough to sweat.

“Was it you that set up the food and got things done for me?” I asked, slightly floored by the thought.

“No . . . though I did choose this menu. I hope that you like it. I really can’t tell you very much more yet. Now, let’s eat.”

“Not until you tell me one thing,” I stated. “You were with me all the time, so how did you do this?” I gestured at the table set with food.

“I didn’t. The house did it,” she replied. “I just suggested the menu. Now, please let’s eat first. I have found out a few things out that I don’t understand. I’ll tell you what I can after we eat.”

Dinner passed quickly. The food was excellent but the atmosphere was a bit strained. I was feeling puzzled, more than a bit jealous, envious of Lois’ apparent knowledge. I did compliment the food but my attempts at small talk all fell flat due to my own mood.

As we cleared away the dishes, I asked in a brooding voice, “What can you tell me, now, that you couldn’t before?”

Lois looked a bit hurt, which made me instantly contrite. I hastened to add, “I didn’t mean that tone of voice. I really do want to know.”

“I really don’t know much. Capt. Vekin appears to have been involved in some sort of sorcery. He made the house to look after him. It’s sort of alive. It is trying to communicate with me so that I can talk to you. I can almost hear it but not quite like a voice.

“It gives me hunches. That’s how it guided me to those books in the library. If I understand any of what I have learned, the house likes you and will provide for you. It wants to reach you desperately, but something is blocking it. It can only reach your feelings.

“Anyhow, all I am sure of is that the floors are terribly important. We already agree that painting them over was a crime.”

“Why can’t the house undo the painting, then? The same way that it fixed the rusty fence or the yard?”

“I don’t know why. I did find out that it can fix what happens to it, but not what is done to it. I guess that intent is the key. Rust happens, termites happen, the yard grows, it will take care those things itself. The floor painting was done deliberately. I guess that’s the difference. We have to undo it.”

“WE . . .” that almost stopped me in my tracks. After a moment, I asked cautiously, “What do you mean, exactly?”

Lois seemed almost scared as she answered, “I know that you’ve been a loner since your memory loss . . . I’ve been a loner, too. This afternoon . . . I got sort of attached. I had a hunch about . . . I like both you and this house. The house seems to want me to help you. More important, I want to be with you . . . if you’ll let me.”

I felt like I had been hit on the head with a sandbag. After a bit, I got my breath back enough to say, “Gaea! Yes! Let’s start on those floors and see what happens.”

“It may not be easy to do, you know,” she replied, relieved.

“Let’s take Lilitu back to town to get paint stripping stuff and tools!” I enthused.

“Flocking Bay rolled up it’s sidewalks at 9:00,” she said tartly. Then added, “I have a heat gun for paint stripping and shrink wrapping back at the Voice. We could try that and a scraper.”

“You’re a wonder!” I cried, hugging her impulsively. To my surprise, she hugged back, and kissed me. I kissed back. All in all, it was about ten or fifteen minutes before we went to get the paint stripping gun and scraper.

We started in the front hall, just at the door. Lois was indeed right. It was not a simple thing to do. Oh, the mechanics were simple enough. All that we did was apply heat to a few square inches until the paint started to lift and bubble, then scrape it off. The problem was simple. It would not scrape off at all if Lois tried it.

Only I could actually remove the paint. The moment that the heat from the gun hit the paint my head began to hurt like it was on fire. Scraping the paint away felt like having a blood clotted bandage ripped slowly off of a still unhealed wound. I could not have done it alone. It was an agony even with Lois’ support, hugs and sympathy.

The first of the patterns that we revealed was one of knots, rivaling the finest Celtic work. When I tried to trace the lines it was almost impossible. They writhed in and out in the most peculiar way. The part that I was tracing was always in focus, but the intersecting lines could not be held in focus or even in view.

Trying to unravel the one small knot that we uncovered gave me even more of a headache until, instead of trying to trace it, I looked at it as a whole. Suddenly, the pain stopped. In it’s place was a memory. “Ebla,” I said in wonder, “how could I have forgotten you, Empire of Roads and Trade?”

“Ebla?” asked Lois. “What is Ebla?”

“Ebla was a smallish city just to the south of Asia Minor. We now call it Turkey. The kings of Ebla collected tribute from Ur, Babylon, Egypt, the Indus valley, Jericho and the many cities of Canaan. Even the wild Sythians paid them. They were wealthy. They had little land of their own, and never attacked their neighbors.

“Ebla did not rule by fighting wars. They built roads and trade routes. Ebla paid the mercenaries who protected the trade from bandits. If someone did not pay their tribute, Ebla closed the roads, routing the vital trade around them until they gave in.

“Ebla collected tolls for the use of the roads. They shared the money with the kingdoms that their roads crossed. Often a kingdom's share of the tolls was greater than the tribute that they paid.

“After more than a thousand years of peaceful trade, greedy kings and merchants sacked Ebla. The poor fools never quite understood why the bandits suddenly flourished and the trade upon which they depended for a thousand years died. Ebla was destroyed more than 3,500 years ago.”

Lois said quietly, “I never even heard of them before. Where did you learn of them?”

“I lived there. They called me Lord Wanderer. I built their first roads and helped to set the policies that kept the peace and created the trade.

“You are right. We have to go on. The rest of my life is under this paint. My memory, my sorcery. The length of my life is not an accident. The one greatest good that came from losing my memory is a thing that I just learned. I can share my life, if you will be the one to walk the halls of time with me.”

“Where you go,” said Lois quietly, putting her hands into mine and looking into my eyes, “there I will go also.”

Startled, I said, “Lois, did you know that ancient Roman women used to say that when they got married?”

She flashed me smile and replied, “I had a more than a hunch that they did. It was in one of those books that our house showed me.”

-THE END-

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Return to Flocking Bay

#LOST TIME #Part 3 of 3 #Flocking Bay #Written by De Writer

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eclissy · 5 years

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In the Space Between his Eyes and Nose

Written a million years ago, this thing about Ash meeting his “Son” from the future. Not gonna put this into the tag cause I have more thinking power than i did as a baby.

Also reposted for the df “Writing” meme title post.

In all his starry eyed wonder at the world that had gotten so much larger since the day the Falconreach bridge split, Ash could argue that his smile was always the widest when his best friend came running with his name on her breath.

The Hero, Ty, was heading his way, waving her arm in greeting and excitement. Ash couldn’t help but jump up from his seat by the fountain to go meet her.

“Ty! You’re back,” Ash approached, hoping his cheeks weren’t flushed again. He couldn’t keep using the ‘it was windy today’ excuse over and over. “What were you up to all da—“

And coming up right behind Ty were two things that could wipe the smile off of Ash’s lips without a trace. Number one being the tiny bouncing red ponytail of a very angry Aria and number two being the grinning face of a handsome young stranger.

It was like walking up to a double decker nightmare.

“Ash, you won’t believe it!” Ty, her blue eyes alight with giddiness, hugged Ash tightly. The boy was still staring at her two other companions in a cross between confusion and lurking disappointment.

It was not an expression fit for a warm Spring day.

“I can’t believe it either so it’s not true!” Aria near shouted, close to stamping her feet. The man standing beside her stifled a giggle while the passing townsfolk quickly skittered away from the impending mess.

“Uh, what?” There wasn’t any real reason for Ash to ask what was happening. It was obvious wasn’t it? The Hero had found a dashing fellow that was probably a knight who had saved fifty princesses and a King’s pet gopher and now the two were going to get married.

Ty and the pretty boy getting married. Not Ty and the gopher. Ash could get away with cooking the gopher.

Give Ash five years and he could have been that dashing fellow. Oh, that was a sad thought. It literally sucked the color out of his skin.

The young man snickered harder behind his palms which then prompted Aria’s sour frown to become sharp enough to pierce through ribs. Namely Ash’s.

The boy adventurer gulped and that was the time Ty chose to pull back from the hug and say “This is my son! He fell into our time from the future!”

Standing there openmouthed, Ash froze while Ty waited or an answer. Time travel wasn’t such a strange thing in a place like Lore. In fact, Ash’s reaction was arguably stranger. She wondered if her friend was having a stroke but suddenly, the life burst back into Ash’s face and he cheered.

“Oh thank Lore! I-I mean, wow that’s great Ty! I mean, uh, sorry about you getting stuck here,” Ash turns to the stranger with renewed hope. Aria was already next to Ash, her heel coming to dig into the poor knight-in-training’s foot. “A-ah it’s uh ow nice to ahg meet you!”

Despite the sharp pain and dizzying mood flips, Ash was ready to do backflips.

All at once, the young man went from being a looming threat to a figure of awe and possibility.

“I’m Doran, it’s nice to meet you. People always tell me ‘Doran, as in the explorer?’ and I die a little inside but that’s fine. We all die eventually anyways.” Doran grinned, regarding Ash as he inspected the visitor from the future like he was a mirror.

Doran was taller than Ty and Ash for now but he had the same jet black hair as his soon-to-be mother. The same sheen was there too but Ash could say that the way Doran’s smooth locks moved when he laughed would have been something he saw everyday…if his hair was longer. But Ash wasn’t grasping at straws; it was true! Doran’s eyes might have been fern green but the space between them and his nose matched Ash’s exactly!

It may have been early but Ash was proud. All he could see on Doran’s face were smile lines. He must be enjoying his life.

“Shouldn’t we shake hands?” Doran asked, gently pushing Ash out of his daze. Startled but only a tiny bit flustered, Ash nodded eagerly and extends his hand. Aria immediately slaps it down. She was fast for a kid but she did train some scary pets after all.

By the fire in the tiny redhead’s eyes, most of those pets were likely to attack him in his sleep tonight. Bye bye, toes.

“Shouldn’t you be giving me some hints about your dad?” Ty teased, saving Ash for the time being.

Ash could have sworn he saw a glint in Doran’s eye right before he scratched the back of his head, feigning discomfort.

“Aw, mom. You know I can’t do that and besides—“Doran winked at Ash. “I’m sure you found him already.”

And Ash’s chest swelled so fast, Aria would have popped it if she had a pin with her.

“You tease,” Ty reached up to tug on her future son’s ears. “When you’re born, I’m going to feed you nothing but mashed peas.”

“I’d rather murder children!” Doran protested and Ash’s chest deflated as fast as the heat left Aria’s cheeks.

There was a stretch of silence before Ty tugged on Doran’s ears harder.

“Yowch! It was a joke, I swear!” The young man half whined half laughed. Neither Ash nor Aria could tell if he meant that or was just saying it to get his mom off his case. “But in all seriousness, I can’t stick around long but I’m glad that I got to see you all.” He pulls his mother’s fingers off of his puffy red ears and leans down to kiss her forehead.

All of the knight-in-training’s worries disappeared. Why was he even worried in the first place?

“Especially you, Ash Dragonblade,” Doran continues, taking Ash’s hand to shake and this time, Aria didn’t stop him. “I’m glad I got to find out that your eyes were chestnut brown.”

“What?” Ash wheezed but Doran kept his hand trapped. That was a miracle in of itself that it stayed stuck in Doran’s fingers since Ash’s hand had become clammy and soaked in sweat seconds after those sincere words.

“I don’t think it’ll be dangerous to this time to mention it but—“Doran lowered his chin, temporarily lost in happy memories. “My brothers and sisters, and I were always happy when you were around. The moment we heard your BBQ Prong hands click together, we would rush out to greet you.”

Ty and Aria would have said something but both of their throats felt like someone had stuck termite ridden driftwood into them. Ash was too busy imagining himself as a blind metal crab.

“Uh…any reason why I have those uh those prong hands?” Ash laughed nervously, hoping he wasn’t sweating waterfalls.

“I didn’t like your old hands.” Doran answered without missing a beat. “Not sure what happened to your eyes.”

“Doran!” Ty exclaimed while Aria was making up an excuse about needing to go see if the fish needed a bath.

“Kidding again!” Doran snickered, tugging hard enough on Ash’s arm to mess up his footing. The boy stumbled and found Doran’s arm around his shoulders all buddy buddy like. “Did I scare you too much? Sorry about that, Dragonblade.”

“I wasn’t scared. It was only a joke.” Ash managed not to stutter those words but the moment Doran looked back at him, he was thankful he missed lunch.

Doran was still smiling but the side of his smirk was like the curled tip of a hunting knife and with his eyes narrowed in such a condescending way, it reminded Ash of the same look on a certain wanted poster hung up on the inn’s wall.

“Dra…Drak…Dra—“ Ash began to stammer, earning confuse looks from both of his friends.

“Dragon?” Doran’s voice twisted to sound like it was worried. “You see a dragon coming our way?”

“Dragon?” Aria’s brow furrowed.

“I don’t see any dragon.” Ty frowned, scanning the horizon and the space directly above Falconreach for any sign of a shadow.

“There—“ Ash stopped mid-warning, feeling a cold sharp point poking him.

“Well, always be sure than be Dragon Chow, right?” Doran said and though it was a bit stiff, Ash’s nod got the two girls to make a head-start for the Guardian Tower.

“Figures, my son from the future swings by and we have to go slay a dragon.” Ty sighed.

“It’ll be a family—“The point of the hidden blade digs hard enough into Ash’s skin to make him wince. “—activity for all of us.”

Once Ty and Aria were too far away to hear, Doran let what looked like the largest hunting knife in existence fall out of his sleeve. He catches the handle and presses the freezing metal against the underside of Ash’s chin.

“The skin under the chin is the softest,” Ash and Doran said at the same time, repeating the advice Ty had once given them. No doubt, the man who gave Doran the knife had heard the same. “Keep it safe or you’ll end up bleeding out like a pig.” Doran finished by himself, that pleasant smile still plastered on like a flashing warning.

It was scary how intense the waves of loathing could come off someone with something so nice on their handsome face. It was like looking at a bundle of daisies while a snake hissed, hidden under the petals.

“Mom likes you, Dragonblade. She really does. I do too!” Doran chimes, letting the side of his head nestle against Ash’s in a mockery of affection. “I just like you as far away from mom as possible but I think you got the message already, right? Riiiiight?”

Ash felt awful all over and Doran’s kind and soothing voice only made his head hurt.

Before the knight in training could actually say anything, the point of the knife slipped from his chin, over his shoulder, and back as Doran leisurely stepped back.

“How was that?” Doran asked, placing his hand on his hip. “Was that scary?”

“H-huh?” Ash gurgled, heart beating like it was trying to escape his rib cage. “That was another joke?”

“Well, yeah,” Doran taps his head with the flat side of his knife. “And it was a bit of practice with lying. You gotta have fun if you want to get anywhere with your skills you know. Or maybe that’s just the easy way with some things.” The boy mused but Ash was so far from tickled purple by Doran’s antics, he was surprised he was still on Lore.

“Wow, Uncle Ash. You get all splotchy like dad does when he gets mad,” Doran said the last thing Ash wanted to hear. “Sorry about that too but hey, you’re still our uncle so there’s that. Oh!” His shoulders rose as he suddenly remembered something. “And there’s this too.”

Doran slaps something wet and slimy into Ash’s hand and the boy grasps the thing instinctively. Mind already muddled from the barrage of overly heinous jokes, Ash squinted at what looked like an oversized wet bean.

“What is this?” Ash asked.

“It’s your kidney.”

Remembering how the knife had slipped behind him, Ash felt stabbing pains in his lower back and yelped. Falling to the ground, the kidney slipped out of his hand and bounced with a wet sound on the grass.

It was a good five minutes of mindless panicking before Ash realized that there was no bleeding flap of skin slowly killing him. By then Doran had sat down cross-legged to watch the show.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Ash demanded, somewhere dangerously close to tears.

“Because I love you Uncle Ash. We never got to play much back in my present,” Doran grinned again, making Ash see stars. He could understand why his future self didn’t want to play that much with this boy.

“Mom and Aunt Aria are probably wondering where that dragon is so I’ll be going now. And before I forget—“ Doran pointed at the drying kidney. “That’s not your kidney.”

“I know.” Ash groaned.

“It’s your mom’s.”

“What on Lore? Are you serious?”

“Probably. Probably not.” Doran shrugged as he got up, dusting the grass off of his pants. “You should probably go visit her every now and then. That’s what a good son does. Anyways, I’ll be going to see my mom so I’ll catch you later, you chicken cow penis with eyes. Have fun kissing sunbeams and ten year olds.”

Struck dumb, Ash gaped at the back of the boy from the future walking away and regretted how he seen a reflection of himself between those eyes and that nose.

#ohhhhhhhh uhhhhhghhgghghgh #why did I do this #oh this is so mean spirited #doran #ty #ash #as long as it doesn't show up #in thetags for #drakath #dragonfable #ok we're ok #i swear to god #don't

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mediocreronpas · 7 years

Text

Izuru, Kiibo, Junko, Korekiyo, Hoshi, Tanaka, Ouma, and Angie with a cuckoolander/SHSL Fantasy Writer S/O

These two were so similar that I decided to combine them, hope you don’t mind.

- Mod Teruteru

Izuru Kamukura

- He feels like you should be less interesting.

- But you kind of aren’t.

- The way you kind of just wander around aimlessly for hours is amusing.

- How you can turn a trip to the mall into an amazing and well detailed fantasy story is a skill that you have that he thinks is cute.

- You start yelling the introduction when you open your front door and search for a piece of paper.

- He would read your stories and piece together what outings they were.

- A story about picking up a queen and king to take them to a safe house when them and their kingdom was being attacked… that time Sonia and Gundam had to get their house gassed due to termites and you let them stay here for the week.

- One about a wood elf and a drow elf being forced to judge an eating contest between two trolls by the human chef the trolls captured to make the food… When Akane and Twogami had an eating competition at Teruteru’s house and Hanamura forced you and Izuru to stay in case something bad happened.

- Keeping you out of trouble while you were in a floaty state was something else he did.

- He basically kept you from doing anything weird.

- Not that you knew what you were doing.

Kiibo

- He’s so confused by you.

- How could you not know any kind of human standards when you started living in the human world from the very beginning?

- He doesn’t know why you think magic exists either.

- There’s been plenty of scientific studies from thousands of years ago that proved magic to be non-existent.

- He’s shown them to you

- But no.

- The chocolate you get in your basket every year is from a rabbit, and the gifts you get that aren’t labeled from anyone is from santa.

- He does like it when you write stories with someone you say was inspired by him.

- Like a steampunk robot boy and his faithful teenage inventor.

- Or an ancient stone guardian in the shape of a teenage boy.

- When doing things weird, Kiibo doesn’t know when to stop you.

- Usually it’s too late.

- But he enjoys learning about regular human life with you.

- So that’s a perk.

Junko Enoshima

- She loves how you just kind of float around the halls.

- You’re never really sure what your next class is, and neither is anyone else.

- Especially since you call them things like scrolling and training.

- You light up when Junko knows that the things you are talking about are english and gym.

- When you walk on the street together you spout descriptions about them as if they were stone roads filled with peasant owned stalls. Then you looked at Junko and described a beautiful pink haired queen being forced to walk the peasants road because her horse carriage was in the shop.

- Then Junko would tap into her queen persona and yell “Bow down peasants! Your queen has graced you with her presents!”

- You love it when she changes personalities, by the way.

- You’ll play along with whatever she pulls with full enthusiasm.

- Even if you both get in trouble.

- Which is an aspect she loves.

Korekiyo Shinguji

- He finds you extremely interesting.

- The way he met you was the first interesting thing.

- You were just sitting in an empty classroom all by yourself, staring at the ceiling.

- He kind of just sat at the opening of the door until he decided to approach you.

- And when he did you snapped out of your little trance and scooted backwards a bit so your back touched the wall.

- “After his long winded observation, the onyx haired vampire decided it was time to introduce himself.”

- Shinguji put a finger to his mask covered mouth.

- “Oh? Am I the onyx haired vampire?”

- “His stance was fierce yet sophisticated. Though it intimidated the elf a bit, it also intrigued them.”

- You stood and looked him in the eye.

- “‘They got up from their resting spot to make themselves look more dangerous.’ My name is F/N L/N. I am a lythari in search for the Glass of the Forgotten. Have you seen it in this area by any chance?”

- You were kind of confusing him, then he realized.

- “You mean this pair of glasses I found in the other room?”

- As soon as your sharp eyes met with the glasses, they became soft and friendly. You had come out of your magical adventure status and into your regular head in the clouds one.

- “Hmm? Can I have those please? A friend of mine lost them. I can’t remember which though…”

- Since your first meeting, you had kept hanging around Shinguji, in search of things that you could turn into fantastical stories.

- This just gave Korekiyo all the more reason to study you and your ‘magical’ antics.

Ryoma Hoshi

- He is constantly pulling you from possible embarrassing situations.

- A lot of face palms are in order.

- You even wrote a book with the two of you as inspired characters.

- “The most deadly sin of all.”

- It’s about a reckless satyr and their intelligent gnome partner in search of the demons of the seven deadly sins, Greed (Togami), Wrath (Nidai), Gluttony (Akane), Lust (Teruteru), Envy (Hajime), Sloth (Himiko), and Pride (Ouma). So they can defeat them, collect the relics they hold and summon the devil king so they can kill them once and for all.

- It’s already a bestseller.

- So much so that you and Hoshi get recognized on the streets and complimented on for the general descriptions of the characters and the lovable arc the gnome goes through as he tries to get over his past as a criminal so he can get closer to the satyr.

- Whenever this happens your imagination explodes and Hoshi has to stop you from yelling some sort of line you would write in a book.

- You love calling Hoshi’s tennis matches battles.

- He sometimes wishes that he was up there to stop you from yelling stuff like, “Go Hoshi! Smite the beast right through the heart!”

- But he appreciates the enthusiasm.

Gundam Tanaka

- At first he thought you were just playing along with his act.

- Then he noticed how you were doing it all the time.

- You always stayed in a floaty state of mind until Gundam went into character.

- Then you became somewhat of a supervillain with a super intense voice.

- You were kind of like, all of what Gundam wanted to be when he was younger.

- You once sang a rock version of “You’re Welcome” from Moana to him while pretending to be a demi god.

- He absolutely loves the things you’re willing to do to prove that you were magic.

- Wait are those his deer?

- Whenever you weren’t in your state of magic and adventures, you barely knew what was going on.

- You’ll just switch from badass relentless supervillain to a little soft rabbit who was dropped off in the middle of who knows where.

- Whenever this happened, you would walk over to Gundam and quietly ask him what you need to do.

- Gundam gets fuzzy feelings when he thinks about this part of your personality.

- But for some reason when he thinks of your villain persona, he feels like he’s getting a burst of adrenaline.

- He can’t decide which one is better.

- So he asks you what you think.

- “‘The high elf scratched their head in confusion. They didn’t really know how to answer this.’ Well how about, ‘They said in a low voice. ‘You love both sides equally instead trying to like one half of a person better than the other.’”

- Gundam thought on this for a bit, then he laughed.

- “You are correct as always S/O. It was foolish of me to ask such a question.”

- Then you went back to your fluffy state.

- “Mm, I don’t know. It was just something I came up with on the spot. You don’t have to take it seriously.”

- Then Gundam laughed some more and caressed your face.

- “Its okay. You’re right. I should love all of you. Not just some of you.”

- “Thank you.”

Kokichi Ouma

- You started off as rivals.

- In your eyes, you began your meeting with him with a duel. He had insulted your mechanical friend and you wanted revenge.

- You constantly referred to him as a black hearted halfling who used his magic to lie and manipulate people.

- While he called you a delusional asylum escapee.

- When he tries to mess with you, you tend to have your head in the clouds and unknowingly ignore him.

- When you do this he starts whining loudly.

- When he did this the first time you snapped out of your trance and glared at him.

- “The mighty high elf angrily stared at her rival for interrupting their peaceful visit to their mind palace. ‘You’re lucky I don’t blink you to the Ethereal Plane.’ They growled. ‘For what reason do you have for interrupting me?’”

- Then Ouma blinked at you and smiled.

- “I was just trying to save you from your own insanity. One more minute inside your own head and you would have gone bananas for real!”

- You continued glaring at him.

- “Or maybe not. Who knows, I am a liar after all.”

- You laughed.

- “‘The opinion of my sanity is my decision and my decision alone.’ Then the high elf smiled. ‘There’s no room for any opinion even close to one made by a shorty like you.’”

- But you both learned to settle your differences.

- You stopped calling each other names. You agreed to stop making fun of Ouma’s height as long as Ouma stopped teasing your soft kitten like side.

- And whenever you went to your soft side, he...sometimes lets you know what’s going on.

- Not always.

- I want to make that clear.

- You would always cross your arms and make a cute huff when he didn’t

- Which is why he didn’t often.

Angie Yonaga

- She always finds your strange mannerisms as a blessing from Atua.

- Whenever you began spouting whatever about two pixies traveling the world together, she would out her hands together and says two or three words in a language you don’t know to thank him.

- She loves and triggers your soft side a lot.

- “Uhh, Agnie, can you please help me write my next book. My fans are getting antsy.”

- “Okay S/O! Do you want to pray with me? Atua may have some good ideas he wants to share!”

- “Ah, okay.”

- Then you and Angie would get into a prayer session.

- Thanks to Angie’s prayers, you have written plenty of amazing books.

- But this was mostly because some of these prayer sessions can last for a long while. And when they end you’ll just sit down and write mindlessly then publish a book without really knowing what it was about.

- As long as Angie had helped you, you thought it was a good book.

- Which she found really cute.

#danganronpa #danganronpa2 #super dangan ronpa 2 #new danganronpa v3 #dr1 #sdr2 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 imagines #izuru kamukura #kiibo #junko enoshima #korekiyo shinguuji #ryoma hoshi #gundam tanaka #ouma kokichi #angie yonaga #mod teruteru

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tlk4dawnofanewera · 4 years

Text

The Lion King 4: Dawn of A New Era Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Hey, no problem. It's my job to help Pride Land animals."

Nala's ears perked up at these words. Pride Land Animals. She shivered a bit, but tried to hide it.

Kiara frowned. "Are you okay, mom?"

Nala was tempted to say 'yes' and just let it go, but the knot in her stomach tightened. She couldn't hide her feelings forever. "Listen … Scar's region … was tough on all of us … I just don't like thinking about it too much …"

Nala looked away from her daughter and son in law, trying to think of how to explain it to them. "... I might need to talk about it, and get it out of my system … if you're willing to listen, I'll tell you all about Scar's region tonight …" She looked at Kovu. "... There's some things you and Vitani should know before I take my place in The Circle of Life ..."

Kovu blinked. "Like what?"

Nala sighed again. "I'll explain … tonight …"

With that, Nala went back into the den of Pride Rock.

Vitani and her Guard neared the southern border of The Pride Lands.

"Are you sure about this sweetheart?" Tazama asked, nuzzling into Vitani's neck.

Vitani gave her a gentle nuzzle and a lick back. "Yes, I'm sure. I don't think they'll be a threat either."

"Pppft! Even if they do, we can take them!" Shabaha said.

Vitani sighed. "We're not going to fight them. We've done enough fighting already." Her tone alluded to the war with The Pride Lands, only months prior.

For once Shabaha blacked down. "Right … right …" The war was still fresh in her mind too. At the time she'd been proud of all the lions she'd taken on, how many she'd run off. Now it just seemed like a stark contrast to how things were now, especially being part of the guard.

"Besides, that hyena said they ran away to avoid fighting. I don't think they're going to want to fight us." Vitani stopped when they neared the swamp near the border. She looked carefully for any movement in the water before heading down.

She and her guard nearly hugged the shoreline, trying to get passed.

A bubbling in the water alerted all of them.

"Well, well, well." A crocodile laughed as he emerged from the water.

A small snarl escaped Vitani's lips as she glared him down.

"What do we have here?" He grinned, inching towards the shoreline. 'I haven't seen you Outsiders in ages."

"We're not Outsiders anymore, we're Pride Landers now." She said, sternly.

"Right, right." He said, still grinning. "I forgot. You're living in those fancy Pride Lands, with an abundance of food. Meanwhile, we're still stuck here, still scavenging for food."

Vitani felt her stomach churn with guilt, remembering her own life in The Outlands, scrounging for food herself, nearly starving. They have it just as bad as we did, don't they? No wonder they were so hostile, they were hungry. No wonder they went after us!

Vitani frowned. "I …" She sighed. "Why don't you join us in The Pride Lands?"

The crocodile looked surprised. "Really? You'd let us in?"

The guard looked at each other, also confused.

"Well, I don't have the power to let you in, but the king and queen do, and they want their pride to be united. They believe, We are one."

"We are what?" The crocodile asked.

"We are one." Vitani repeated. "We're all part of The Circle of Life."

"Should we do something?" Tazama whispered to the rest of the guard.

"Why? Vitani knows what she's doing." Kasi said. "You think you'd trust your girlfriend a bit more."

"I do trust her!" Tazama protested. "But that doesn't mean I can't be worried about her."

"Again! If anyone causes us any problems, I can take 'em!" Shabaha boasted. "Bila hofu!"

Vitani and the crocodile both looked over at the lioness. In response she let out a laugh. Vitani just shrugged it off and finished her conversation with the crocodile. "We'll be back with the rest of the hyenas, and then we can all head there together."

"All right." The crocodile's tone had softened since the start of the conversation. "Hey uh … thanks …"

Vitani smiled warmly. "No problem. I'm the leader of the Lion Guard, it's my job to protect The Circle of Life." She turned away, looking over her shoulder back at him. "We'll be back."

She headed over to her guard, and they went to the termite mounds.

Stepping foot there again sent a shiver down Vitani's spine. Looking at the rest of her team, she could sense the same uneasiness within them.

Spending your formative years in such a place wasn't good mentally for, well … anyone, let alone a cub who was trained as a second in command to a ruthless leader bloodthirsty for revenge under false pretenses of murder.

Looking down, she saw a bunch of termites scurry past. She lifted her paw slightly, allowing them to pass by in a single line.

Vitani looked around, for any sign of the other hyenas.

"Where is she?"

"She's been gone for quite a while …"

"Do you think she's okay?"

Vitani's ears perked up when she heard the conversation nearby. She headed towards the termite mounds and looked around.

"I sure hope so."

"I'm worried about her …"

"We're all worried about her!"

As Vitani got closer, her paw snagged on a root, causing it to snap. The talking stopped and Vitani groaned. Crap. Well I might as well just go in.

Vitani turned the corner and was face to face with a group of four hyenas. When they saw her they froze.

Sensing their fright, Vitani softened her voice. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

The hyenas looked at each other, unsure. One of the hyenas stepped forward and let out a warning growl. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vitani." She said, still keeping her tone calm. "Leader of The Lion Guard."

The hyena's look of anger turned into one of confusion. "The Lion Guard?"

Vitani nodded. "We're the protectors of The Circle of Life."

The hyena's eyes widened and he took a step back. "We're? There's …. More of you?" He gulped, folding his ears back.

"Yes." Vitani took a step towards them. "But, we're not going to harm you. I promise."

Another hyena took a step forward, tilting his head to the side. "Okay, if you're not here to fight, then why are you here?"

"We found your cackle leader injured in The Pride Lands." Vitani explained.

"Aiube!" The group gasped.

"She's safe." Vitani reassured them. "But she was worried about you and I offered to take you back to The Pride Lands for her."

The hyenas looked at each other skeptically.

"We … we need to talk about this." One of the hyenas squeaked out.

"I understand. Take your time."

The hyenas gathered in a circle, whispering amongst themselves.

"What if she's lying?"

"Well what if she's not?" The anxious hyena asked/

"Well what if she is!" The one who had first approached Vitani said.

"Well, she knew our leader was missing …."

"Or she was just eavesdropping!" The first one continued.

"Don't you think she would have attacked us by now if she was going to?" The anxious one asked again.

"Well … maybe she wants to lead us to that group of lion … lackeys …. Or whatever they're called."

"I think they were called The Lion Guard!" The smallest hyena squeaked out.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "That "lion guard" might just see us as a free meal. How do we know they didn't eat Aiube already."

"Please don't say that!" One of the female hyenas whimpered.

"Right. I'm sorry Utii." The hyena that had first approached Vitani softened his tone. "I'm sure she's fine …"

"Why don't we just give her a chance then?" She asked. "What if Aiube really is hurt? We need to be there for her, Jeuri!"

Jeuri let out a sigh of defeat. "All right, all right, fine! But at the first sign of trouble, we're gone, all right?"

"Sounds good to me!" The anxious one said.

"All right, I suppose …" Utii said.

"Great, Hofu and Utti are on board with the plan." Jeuri looked at the smallest hyena. "And what about you Kidogo?"

She shifted a bit and anxiously looked between Vitani and her cackle. Seeing her look, Vitani exchanged her look of blank contemplation to a small grin.

Kidogo looked back at the others. "O .. okay … sounds good …"

The cackle made their way over to Vitani. Hofu took a step forward. "We'll follow you."

"All right. We're going to have some others coming with us too." Vitani said as she started to lead them.

"Wait, who else?" Jeuri demanded.

"The crocodiles in the swamp nearby." Vitani said. "The Outlands have been rough for them too."

"I imagine so." Hofu said, trying to keep up pace with her. "There's no food or water nearby."

"Trust me, I know." Vitani let out a dry chuckle. "I grew up here."

"Oh." Hofu frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah .." Vitani let out a wistful sigh. "It's been awhile since I've been back here, it's kind of … scary …"

"What made you leave?" Kidogo asked curiously. Her voice sounded like that of a cub.

"It's … kind of complicated." Vitani bit her lip. "But in short, my Pride learned to put the past behind them, and united with our once enemy Pride."

She shook a bit thinking of the war.

Where's your pretty daughter, Nala?

I don't even feel like the same lion that said that … She felt the chills multiply, and looked at the hyenas, trying to forget about it. Forcing a smile she continued, "But it's all fine now. We are one."

"We are one … I like that …" Hofu smiled.

"Kinda cheesy, but I get the sentiment." Jeuri said.

"That's really sweet." Utii added.

"We are one! We are one! I love it!" Kidogo said, bounding forward. "We are one! We are one!"

Vitani laughed a bit. "I'm glad we've got some fans."

They all paused when they came into view of the other lionesses.

"This is my guard." Vitani said. "Sabaha, Kasi, Imara, and Tazma."

"I'm Hofu. I'm Aiube's mate." He said with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Jeuri." He said simply.

"I'm Kidogo!" She said, bouncing up and down.

"And I'm Utii. I'm kinda like Aiube's majordomo."

"Hey, Vitani, are we still gonna take those crocs with us?" Shabaha asked.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

Shabaha let out a snort like laugh and looked at the hyenas. "You better be careful. Those things could take down a wildebeest single handedly. Imagine what they could do to small fries like you four!"

Hofu, Kidogo, and Utii looked startled. Jeuri rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath, "I'd like to see them try …"

"Shabaha!" Vitani scolded.

"What?" She asked, still laughing a bit. "It's true!"

Vitani groaned and rolled her eyes. "You're scaring them."

She stopped laughing and looked at them. Even Jeuri under his rough exterior seemed unnerved by her comment. Frowning a bit, she quickly apologized, "Oh uh, sorry about that …"

"Don't take it too personally." Vitani said. "She has a kind of morbid sense of humor, but she's working on it."

"Yeah, I sure am." Shabaha laughed more. "Like a crocodile about to strike its prey and …"

This was met with more looks from the guard and she backed down.

"Let's just head back." Vitani said.

Her guard and the four hyenas stayed close behind her as they approached the swamp.

Vitani knelt by the swamp. "Hey, I'm back!"

The crocodile popped out of the water and was face to face with Vitani, causing her to stumble back in surprise.

"Hello." The crocodile said.

"Are you and your bask ready to go?" Vitani asked.

He nodded and got out of the water, followed closely by a dozen other crocodiles.

Vitani took the lead again, and took them all to The Pride Lands.

#disney #lion king #lion guard #fanfiction #fanfic

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rasekstories · 6 years

Text

Rasek’s Dupstep Hour

It was early evening, and the light filtered through a set of old blinds and a cloud of dust as thick as butter, illuminating a small spot on the floor in front of a growing fire where a group of young trolls were gathered. They were all sitting on their haunches, looking up at a grey-haired troll in an overstuffed chair.

The troll in the chair puffed at his pipe as they asked him questions all at once, the girls demanding stories of romance and danger and bravery, and the boys demanding stories of boobs and another look at the daggers on his hips.

They all quieted at once as he took his pipe from his mouth, exhaling the smoke through his nose and regarding them all coolly.

“Ya wanna hear a story?” They nodded in unison. “Aiight. I tell ya a good one. Rasek quality story for a quality crowd.”

He leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knees, leaving his pipe forgotten.

“See, we was stationed in de Sunnymoon a lot, right? Like eh, even back when de Sunnysworn was infestin de place like termites, which is where de name comes from, see.

Anyway so we was stationed dere a lot durin de lest war, an eh like, we left an came back, left an came back, but dis one time we was dere an de place was all weird. Dere was mon I neva seen before goin round tellin everyone dey was in charge, dey was a big name wit a big head an big glory, an I neva heard shit about dese chumps, right?

So I just look at all dese mon an not tell one from de udda, an dat make tings hard for me. I know lots a de warband feel dat way. An ya know, Sunnymoon was harder to live in den if ya was a troll, because dey was hikin up de prices for us an everyting else. Ya lucky ya live in dis age an not de last one, eh?

Anyway so sometimes it was nice to take a break an wander round in like Evasong an tings. Not dat we could visit de Amani dat would out in de eastern side den, since dey wasn't our allies an tings. Like we had eh, General Juzmik an him sis was from dere, but like we couldn't just walk in an shake hands an tings, so not like we could go round an chill an be in normal huts an tings.

So anyway, I was wanderin round Evasong, just walkin round dese forests dat'd all been ruined an tings. De elfies had dese big rune stones set up round de forest dat was s'possed to keep shit out, but like dey was shit, so dey didn't work, ya? An I come to one an dere be dis pinky hangin round one like she cryin on de ting.

So I hop off my bear an come up to her an ask her why she cryin, because like ya can't turn down a girly in need even if she an elfy. Dere a chance she let ya see her boobs, an dat's worth it no matta where she come from, lemme tell ya.

Dis girly thought I was gonna kill her at first til I talk to her in Orcish a bit eh, an den I gave her my elf impersonation an got her laughin an tings, an she told me her whole house got sacked!

Awww, what a turrible fate. I mean it was sacked by de trolls so I wasn't too worried about it, but I'm a sucka for cryin girls, so I was all aww girly aww dat's sad.

An she start tellin me her papa raised dese eh, de big bird tings dey ride, an how proud he was, an he dead an tings but she still took care a dem, an she was so sad because de Amani take off wit her birdies.

So I was like ey I help ya get dese tings back, what a good citizen dis guy is.

An she was like “Ohhh Rasek ya de best, ya de finest ya got de biggest dick” an I was all I know whateva I hear dis all de time.

So I put her on de back a my Thug'jin, dat's my bear, an we head in de direction she pointed me. Now at de time I didn't consider de facts. Cute cryin pinky in de middle a de woods, tells me Amani took her birds an den takes me west? Dey live in de east! But I was focused on de fact dat she had great thighs an her arms was wrapped around my waist (dis was 'fore I was married to ya mama, 'fore ya ask), so I didn't pay no shit attention.

So we get to dis real suspicious lookin path between two cliffs, an dere's dis sign outside dat say “candy on de udda side”, an I go well I like candy, but dat ain't written in Zandali, an she go “Oh well dey got my birdies Rasek help me”, an she press her tittes against my back an I was like ya right de candy lessgo!

So I walk through an like in five seconds dese mon was jumpin down from de cliffs all actin like badass heroes an tings, ready to steal from me an take my bear, eh?

Now ya might be tinkin ol' Rasek kill em all wit him trusty daggas, but dat weren't de case. Dey captured me like right away an take me to dere base. Dey ask if dere anybody who'd pay a ransom for my life, an I'm like ya try all de whores in Sunnymoon, but dey didn't tink it were funny, so dey didn't gimme no damn dinna or nuttin.

So anyway, dey elfies right, so like a course dey real fuckin stupid druggies dat just waste dey time singin an tings, an I'm a smart guy an tings, so late at night dey was all getting drunk an smokin de thistle, an I was just like whoeva taught ya to tie knots was a failure, an I slipped outta my ropes an just kinda eh... well, I was in a cage, ya? So I couldn't just be like EY I UNITED MYSELF an have em actually look at a fuckin book an figger out how to tie a knot, so I was just all quiet an tings. I peed on some a dere shoes when dey walk by.

Anyway, in de mornin someone come an open de cage to gimme some food, an I bit a chunk outta him neck an jumped out screamin. Dey udda elves was just so horrified dat I bit a chunk outta a dude's neck dat dey all just starin at me in horror.

Like shit, de lot a ya thieves an villains, an ya neva seen a mon try an eat anudda mon before? I swear to de Loa, elves is de pussiest creatures.

Anyway, one ting hot bitty wasn't lyin about was de ting about de birds. Dey got lotsa birds, real nice ones, ya? Dey was all lined up like eh, in a stable type ting but ghetto, an dere was one at de end dat was all extra fancy. Like ya figger dey king or whateva ride dat one.

I started to run ova an get it, but by den some a de elfies regained dey senses an was tryina grab me. So eh, I whip my junk out an start hittin em wit it an wavin it at em, an dey all move back, not wantin to touch my junk an me not wantin to get ransomed by a bunch a fairies, right.

So I hop on dis king bird, dis big white ting wit like friggin jewels on him face an tings, an just start screamin jibberish dat sound scary and whoolah outta dere.

Meanwhile, cryin boob chick from before's chasin afta me, screamin an hollerin about how I'm de manliest min she eva met an how she wanna come wit me. I stop before a majestic sunset an tell her she got pancake boobs an she smell like a warlock an I already met de most beautiful girly eva (it's ya mama), so she just scummy an I ain't got time for her.

So I leave her de way I found her: Sobbin into de dirt. I come back to Sunnymoon wit my new white birdy an get heralded as a great hero an dey gave me a cape an a bunch a udda tings I forget.”

A young troll in the back raised her hand, a pair of golden eyes watching him from behind a curtain of black hair. Rasek nodded at her.

“But em, papa, how'd Thug'jin get out?”

“Eh?”

“Thug'jin. He outside.” She jerked her thumb towards the door. Rasek squinted his eyes an tucked his pipe back in his mouth.

“Oh eh. I dunno. Dat's Thug'jin 4, don't ask me questions like dat, girly.”

And so he reclined in his chair and lowered his eyes to the floor, content by the warmth of the fire, his gaggle of excitable children bathing in the moonlight through the window. Wompf wompf wrr wrr wrr this has been the Dubstep Hour with Margaret Finch.

#wow stories #rasek #gorwatha

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tlk4dawnofanewera · 4 years

Text

The Lion King 4: Dawn of a New Era Chapter 2

Petition to give Forgotten Disney More Love: https://www.change.org/p/give-forgotten-disney-more-love

Chapter 2

The rain had let up, leaving The Pride Lands covered in fresh dew and puddles of water. The sun was once again shining brightly in the sky. The animals went along their usual way. There was still a mist of grief in the air.

Kiara stood at the border of The Pride Lands with Kion and Rani.

"Have a safe trip back." Kiara said, nuzzling her younger brother.

"We will." Kion said. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Kiara let out a small, dry laugh. "I … I think I'll be okay … thanks Kion …"

Kion turned to Rani. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah ..." Rani groaned slightly, folding her ears back a bit.

Kion frowned. "What's wrong, Rani?"

"N … nothing … I'm fine,I'm fine!" Rani tried to reassure, forcing a rather pained looking smile.

Kion wasn't sure and went over to his mate's side. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked, worriedly, checking her over for any injuries.

Rani rolled her eyes slightly . "No Kion, I said I'm f … Ow!" She stumbled to the ground.

"Rani!" Kion and Kiara shouted. Kiara rushed over to Rani's side, putting her paw gently on her back.

"Kion …" She said through gritted teeth. "... Kiara …."

"Please, tell me what's wrong!" Kion was nearly begging at this point.

"My stomach …" She winced. "I … I've got a really bad cramp … Ow!"

"Can you get up?" Kiara asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"I … I can try …" Rani rolled onto her stomach and staggered up. "If … if I can just make it ... to the ... Tree ... of Life … I'll be … fine …"

As she took a step towards Kion, her legs wobbled and shook. "... I can … make it ..."

Rani took another step and stumbled to the ground.

"Rani!" Kion crouched beside her. "... You can't make it to The Tree of Life like this … you need help now!"

He turned to his sister. "Kiara! Get Rafiki!"

"R ... right!" Kiara breathed out anxiously. She ran towards the direction of Rafiki's tree, trying to keep herself calm.

You can do this Kiara … You can do this! Keep calm! Keep calm! This is your first big task as queen ...You can't let it get to you! You have to stay calm! You're the queen now, you can't let fear stop you ... You need to be there for your Pride! Right now you need to be there for Rani and Kion … your family!

Kiara breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Rafiki's tree in the distance.

Sitting on one of the large branches, Rafiki was adding a fresh coat of paint to Kiara's portrait, highlighting it in various shades of blue and gold.

Rafiki looked up to the sky. "Oh Simba, your daughter is going to make The Pride Lands proud! The ceremony yesterday went very well. The Pride seems ready to accept Kiara as their queen."

He stuck his thumb into a darker shade of paint and touched up the mane on Kovu's drawing. "She and Kovu will usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the pride, I just know it."

A small breeze passed by as Simba acknowledged the wise mandrill's words. Groups of ants, dung beetles, and termites made their way up the branches of Rafiki's tree. Even when they didn't have a message for him, Rafiki was glad to have their company.

Taking some pink paint, Rafiki put a small line over Kovu's eye. "We can finally let the scars of the past heal, and we'll be even stronger than before!"

Rafiki sighed happily as he pulled back to admire his work. "I think things can only go up from here …"

A few of the bugs started to scurry around frantically, catching Rafiki's attention.

Something is wrong ...

"Rafiki!"

He looked down to see the distraught lioness, looking up at him. "Kiara?"

"Rani's hurt!"

"What happened!?" Rafiki asked.

"I … I … I don't know." Kiara said shakily. "She and Kion were about to leave and she just … collapsed!"

"Oh dear …" Rafiki sighed in worry. He hurried down the tree to Kiara's side. "Bring me to her."

Kiara nodded and took Rafiki to her brother and his mate.

Rani laid on the ground, groaning in pain, as Kion stayed beside her, grooming her fur.

"Rafiki …" Kion sighed in relief. He moved out of the way so he could examine her.

"What is wrong?" Rafiki asked gently, stroking the young lioness' face.

"My … my … my stomach …" Rani groaned.

Rafiki moved to the other side of her and put his hands on various parts of her stomach. "Tell me if any part hurts when I touch it, okay?"

"Ok … Ow!" Rani winced.

Rafiki stopped and examined the area that had caused her pain in her lower stomach. He prodded at it again.

"Ow! Stop it! That hurts!" Rani whined.

A large smile formed on Rafiki's face as he let out a joyous laugh.

"Rafiki? What's going on?" Kion asked in confusion. "Is Rani okay?"

"Oh, Rani is perfectly fine!" Rafiki said.

"But my stomach.." Rani tried to protest.

"This …" Rafiki said, grabbing her paw, and placing it where the pain was. "... is your baby ..."

"My what!?" Rani asked in shock.

"You're pregnant!" Rafiki proclaimed excitedly.

Rani tried to sit up. "Am I really pregnant."

"Yes! Congratulations, you two!" Rafiki said, pushing Kion and Rani together.

"I'm … gonna be a father?" Kion breathed out, unsure what to think. He glanced over at Rani, and saw she looked anxious as well. Kion smiled widely and nuzzled her lovingly, wanting to comfort her.. "I love you Rani."

"I love you too." She purred, relaxing into him.

Kiara bounded over to them. "Kion! Rani! That's great! I'm so happy for you!"

She nuzzled both of them, purring lovingly.

"Thanks Kiara." Kion laughed slightly.

Rani smiled before groaning again and falling back on her side. "I still can't walk though ..."

"You'll be okay in a little while." Rafiki said, helping her up again. "You may need to rest for a while."

Kion helped Rani onto his back. "Come on let's go back to Pride Rock."

"Pride Rock?" Rani asked. "I thought we were going home."

Kion shook his head. "I don't think I can carry all the way back there."

"All right.." Rani said, sounding a bit unsure.

"You're both welcome to stay as long as you want." Kiara said, going to Kion's side and helping him carry Rani back to the den of Pride Rock.

Gently they laid her down on her side on a pile of leaves.

"Thanks ..." Rani groaned, closing her eyes.

"Kion? Kiara? What's going on?" Nala asked worriedly, going over to them.

"Nothing's wrong, mom." Kion reassured her. "It's just that well … uh …"

"What?" Nala asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm pregnant …" Rani groaned out,

"You're pregnant?" Nala asked, sounding excited.

"Yeah ..." Rani huffed out in pain.

"Oh, that's great!" Nala said, leaning down to nuzzle her daughter in law. She turned to Kion and gave him a loving lick on the cheek. "I'm so happy for both of you."

"Thanks mom." Kion said, silently relieved that she didn't seem upset by this.

"Is … Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Rani asked.

"It can." Nala said. "I had the same problem when I was carrying Kiara. It got a lot easier when I was pregnant with Kion."

She looked at Kion. "Chewing on mint plant helped me with my stomach you can find some for her?"

"Right, good idea." Kion said.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Kiara asked.

"Sure." Kion said. "It'll give us time to catch up."

The two of them headed down Pride Rock together.

"How's living at The Tree of Life going?" Kiara asked as they walked through the savannah.

"It's been great!" Kion said. "Being with Rani … is amazing! I love her so much. There's like...a warmness inside me that I've never felt before...does that make sense?"

"I get what you mean." Kiara chuckled a bit. "I feel the exact same thing when I'm with Kovu."

She sniffed the air. "I think there's a patch of mint nearby."

"There it is." Kion said, grabbing a chunk of mint out of the ground, holding them firmly in his jaw.

Kiara laughed a bit at how his cheeks puffed out, while holding the mint.

Kiara grabbed some mint too and they both headed back to Pride Rock.

Rani had managed to go from laying on her side to laying on her stomach.

Kion nearly spat out the mint leaves in front of her.

"That's gross." Rani teased.

"Hey, my mouth was starting to burn." Kion laughed.

Kiara placed her pile of mint leaves in front of Rani.

Slowly, Rani leaned forward and took a huge bite of mint leaves.

"I really hope this works." Rani said, laying her head back down on the ground.

Kion laid beside her and nuzzled her close. "Are you feeling any better at all?"

"A little...laying on my stomach doesn't hurt as bad anymore …" She said. "I think I'll be fine."

She laid her head on Kion's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Kovu and Vitani entered the den.

"Hey, we heard the good news!" Kovu said excitedly.

Kion smiled. "Yeah, I'm so happy."

He leaned down and nuzzled Rani's stomach.

Vitani smiled slyly. "Hey … I'm happy for you kid."

"Thanks Vitani." Kion said a little bashfully. He didn't want any ill feelings between him and his sister in law after the whole lion guard fiasco when Kion and the others had returned to The Pride Lands. He'd accepted that she was now the lion guard, and she and her team were doing an amazing job.

"If you need anything else, just ask." Kiara said to Rani.

"Thanks … but you don't have to …" Rani groaned out.

"No really … it's no problem …" Kiara said. "We're family now after all."

"All right … Can you help me to the watering hole?" She asked. "My mouth's kinda stinging from all this mint."

Kiara laughed a bit. "No problem."

She put her head under the crook of Rani's neck and pushed up slightly, helping her stand up. Kion was by her side too, helping steady her as they headed down Pride Rock.

There were two major water holes in The Pride Lands. One was a bit farther off, near The Elephant Graveyard. Simba was insistent that Kiara and Kion never go there without an escort. (For reasons he never fully went into, he clarified that Zazu did not count as an escort in that case …. Same with Timon and Pumbaa after the whole incident that led to her meeting Kovu.)

The one Kiara commonly went to was the small watering hole by Pride Rock. It was referred to as The Royal Water Hole. however it gained its title from its location and not usability. Simba allowed all animals to use it. It was in few of Pride Rock that he'd be able to easily see if any of his cubs were in danger at the water hole … not that anyone would try to hurt them anyways …

Kiara and Kion stopped in front of The Royal Water Hole and laid her gently on the ground. Rani lapped up water quickly, and then dunked her head under the water. She shook her head around before pulling back, and swayed slightly to dry her fur.

"Ah, that felt nice …" Rani sighed in relief.

"You wanna stay here for a while?" Kion asked.

Rani nodded, idly swirling her paw in the water.

Sounds of hooves pounded on the ground, catching the three lion's attention.

A mother zebra and her daughter stopped in front of the water hole, leaning down to take a drink. The mother pulled back and started grooming her foal. Her baby looked up and nuzzled against her.

Kion smiled warmly and looked at Rani. He nuzzled against her cheek, letting out a soft purr.

Rani laughed a bit, "Someone's feeling affectionate."

"I guess I'm just thinking about how great it's going to be, to be a dad." Kion said, resting his face on hers.

Rani smiled. "Yeah … being parents is going to be great …" Her voice faltered slightly, showing her anxiety.

A family of birds fluttered by, a mother, father, and their two babies. Kion's smile deepened as he nuzzled Rani even closer.

She relaxed slightly. "I think I'm feeling good enough to go back to Pride Rock."

Kion and Kiara helped her back up. She staggered a little bit when she first got onto her paws, but she was able to steady herself.

"I can walk by myself now." Rani said. "But thanks for helping me get down here and everything."

"No problem." Kiara said. "We're family, we look out for each other.

Rani smiled slightly. "Right … family."

The trio of lions made their way back to Pride Rock, passing various other Pride Land animals on the way back.

A mother elephant was rolling in the mud along with her calf. A gazelle and her two babies were eating a fresh patch of grass. They looked up slightly when they passed by, but when they realized they weren't hunting, they relaxed and went back to their grazing.

Kion felt his heart swell in positive emotions as they passed by many other animal parents.

I never thought I'd be a parent before Kiara was …. But he couldn't be happier.

When they made it to the base of Pride Rock, Rani's legs got shaky again trying to climb. Kion helped make sure she was steady and walked up beside her.

Once they were back in the den, Rani laid down again, resting her head on her paws.

Zazu flew in and landed in front of Kiara, bowing before her. "Good morning your highness!"

Kiara felt her stomach churn slightly at her new title. She figured it would be a while before she'd get used to being called this.

"You don't need to be so formal." Kiara let out a dry laugh. "You were my babysitter before, I think we can be … well … uh … you can just call me Kiara, okay?"

"Oh yes! Of course!" Zazu said, correcting his posture.

At least that went well … Kiara relaxed a bit.

Zazu then focused his attention on Kion and Rani.

"I've heard the great news!" Zazu said, beaming with pride. "Congratulations, you two!"

"Thanks." Kion smiled.

"Yeah." A light smile pierced Rani's lips.

"Ah, I remember when you were a baby yourself." Zazu said, nestling into the top of Kion's mane. "The Pride was thrilled when you were born! I remember it like it was yesterday …" He let out a sigh of content.

"Oh you do, do you?" Rani grinned slyly. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

Kion's face flustered as he anxiously pushed his ears back. "... N .. no Rani … I … I'm sure it's not that interesting."

"Oh come on. I wanna hear what you were like as a baby." She teased.

"And I can add in some details too!" Kiara laughed.

"As can I." Nala said, a soft smile on her face as she sat beside Kion.

Kion sighed in defeat. "All right fine …. Go ahead Zazu,mom, Kiara …"

Zazu landed in front of Rani. "He was the cutest cub ..."

#lion king #lion guard #lion king fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction

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