#and you gotta go to the top of the lost shrine

[rippleclan]

RippleClan: Moon 11

Parsley attends the Gathering (under Fennelspot’s observation).

[Image ID: Parsley and Fennelspot sit below a large brown stone, where Autumnstar, Mistlestar, Gorgestar, Sanderlingstar, and Downstar sit. Under Downstar, it says - CONDITION: RECOVERING FROM BIRTH. Oilstripe and Puddlespeckle are in the far back while Scrubmask is standing to the side. Parsley says “I’ll tell ya, Mr. Fennelspot… your Clans are strange.” Below her, it says + CONDITION UPGRADE: INFECTED.]

“You really take this walk every moon?” Parsley groaned as she walked alongside Fennelspot in the RippleClan line-up. Downstar, fully recovered from the strain of birth, led the small Gathering patrol along the border between SlugClan and WheatClan. The AshClan delegation, which had more cats than Parsley had ever seen in one place, wandered ahead. Its members occasionally glanced back at RippleClan’s smalls numbers; Downstar, Weedfoot, Fennelspot, Parsley, Scrubmask, Oilstripe, and Puddlespeckle. Many of those eyes focused on Parsley.

“Well, I walk the first portion on the half-moon before the Gathering,” Fennelspot explained. “I have to visit StarClan’s Shrine.”

“And does AshClan escort you there, too?” Parsley mumbled, glaring at the large ginger and white figure at the front of the giant group. His mangled tail bounced high above his flank. Parsley wasn’t convinced the “nine lives” story was anything more than folklore to improve the leader’s image, but if leaders did get nine lives, judging by the scars covering Autumnstar’s body, he had most certainly lost a few by now.

“They used to,” Oilstripe chirped behind the pair. “Downstar got them to stop this moon.” She squeezed between Fennelspot and Parsley.

“Now I thought RippleClan was sovereign,” Parsley huffed. “Why did Autumnstar make such a fuss about us waiting at the border for AshClan?”

“It’s early RippleClan history!” Oilstripe explained. “When StarClan gave the Clans their blessing to form RippleClan, AshClan had to give up some of their land to us as payback for killing the Ashes in the Water, Weedfoot’s group of friends. Autumnstar only agreed to acknowledge RippleClan as a real Clan if they could escort us whenever we had to cross past their territory. It sucks, but it means they aren’t trying to kill us, so for now, we put up with it. They gotta escort us to Gatherings or Autumnstar said he’ll chase us out.”

“So much for independence,” Parsley huffed. “That’s just not right. I’m sure the other Clans don’t need a kitsitter.”

“We’re working on it,” Fennelspot groaned as the two Clans reached a harsh cliff face. A small path snaked up the side of a harsh wall of brown stone that stuck out of the sweeping, rugged hills that marked most of the area. Moss and leaves peeked out of the cracks and a small trickle of water flowed into a pool of clay to the side. Pawprints covered the clay deposit as memories of artisans harvesting clay for their terracotta. A narrow path wound its way up the slope. Voices chirped from somewhere up top. Autumnstar led AshClan up the cliff in two neat lines, but Downstar raised her tail and everyone in RippleClan stopped.

“Aren’t we going to join them?” Parsley huffed.

“RippleClan will make its own entrance,” Downstar explained. “Scrubmask, do you have our goods?” Scrubmask carried a basket filled with as many mussels as she and Carnationpaw could find. Parsley hadn’t realized cats were capable of crafting such things until her arrival over a moon prior. Scrubmask lifted the basket at her leader’s call. The mussel shells clattered together inside. Autumnstar yowled when he reached the top of the cliff and all the cats of AshClan launched up and out of sight.

“Stay together when we enter,” Weedfoot said, looking over her shoulder as Downstar flicked her tail and climbed the path up. 

“The Gathering can be really exciting,” Fennelspot explained as RippleClan followed Downstar, “but I want you to stay by me tonight, and let me know if your tail starts to hurt too much.” Parsley didn’t like lying, so she didn’t respond. Her tail burned and the exposed skin underneath her cobweb bandages stunk. Fennelspot said the wounds were infected and rarely left Parsley’s side. Even so, when RippleClan returned from the last Gathering, the way they spoke of the event pushed Parsley to ignore her pain and demand a place at the next one.

Since moving her tail too much made the burning worse, she couldn’t use it to balance along the narrow path. Fennelspot walked along the edge and kept her paws steady. Eventually, she made it to the top of the cliff, where Downstar and Weedfoot patiently waited for the rest of the Clanmates. They waited until every member of the patrol climbed onto the rich spring grass before they led RippleClan as a united group through a thick line of ferns and trees that concealed the Gathering Clearing.

Parsley thought AshClan was crowded, but the size of the crowd within the Gathering Clearing stole her breath. Never, in over a hundred moons of living, had she seen so many cats. There was a chance that there were more cats in this one clearing than Parsley had ever met. Every color pelt was on display, sitting on stones and hard ground ripping out of the grass, as cats from four different Clans gathered around a giant rock. It was a bulky, golden-brown structure as tall as two humans. Three cats stood on flat platforms scattered around the stone. Autumnstar climbed up the stone onto the highest platform. Downstar approached the rock and hopped onto the lowest platform. 

“You’ll be able to interact with the other Clans once the leaders make their announcements,” Fennelspot whispered. “For now, stay here.”

“Well, you’ll need to tell me who is who,” Parsley whispered back. “And will you please throw in a few pronouns? I can’t understand why you Clan cats always assume things.”

“Parsley, you’re a Clan cat now,” Scrubmask reminded her. 

“Greetings, everyone!” Autumnstar yowled from on top of the Leader’s Stone. “Welcome to the second Gathering of the new year. AshClan will start this moon’s announcements, as we have much to be proud of.”

“Is he always like this?” Parsley asked. She must have said that a bit too loud, as Autumnstar’s huge yellow eyes locked onto her. His frost-bite scars looked like open blisters in the light of the small fire lit in front of the Leader’s Stone. Parsley would have tucked her tail if she could have moved it.

“I am excited to announce,” Autumnstar continued, looking back over the crowd, “that some of my grandchildren have finished their apprenticeships and now stand before you as adults, capable of handling any threat that comes their way. Tonight, please give warm praises to Burningpath, Nettlestep, and Crimsonrun, the newest artisans and codekeepers of AshClan!” The Clans chanted the three names as three cats, each with ginger pelts, stood with their chins and tails high. Even RippleClan chanted the new names, so Parsley joined along. She kept going a bit too long after everyone’s excitement faded.

“Beyond that joyous occasion,” Autumnstar said, “we must mention that a black bear has come out of hibernation near the land of the Clans and crossed the Great Northern River into our territory. It took the life of one of our strongest caretakers, Sundream, while on patrol. The bear has crossed the river once more, but be on the lookout, for it may continue wandering the Clans. The rest of this moon has been typical for us. Mistlestar, would you like to go next?” Autumnstar nodded to a dark red cat on the second highest platform.

“Mistlestar is LynxClan’s leader,” Fennelspot explained quickly. “They’re neither a tom nor a molly. They keep their announcements short.”

“LynxClan is strong,” Mistlestar huffed. “No new kits, apprentices, or graduates, although Whitestripe expects her kits before the next Gathering. An uneventful moon for us.” They sat and wrapped their tail over their paws. They glanced down at the two leaders who shared the second lowest platform. One had long, dark fur, and sat with their back legs splayed out. The other was white with a pale brown back and a round figure. They muttered to one another, trying to decide who would make announcements first.

“So these two lead SlugClan and WheatClan?” Parsley asked.

“Gorgestar is SlugClan’s leader,” Fennelspot sighed, pointing his tail at the long-furred cat. “He’s a good leader. I did my best after his fall, but I couldn’t restore his back legs.” Fennelspot’s tone dropped as he said that. “The other cat is Sanderlingstar, from WheatClan. She’s been a leader the longest, even though Autumnstar is older.”

“SlugClan has received a blessing from StarClan this moon,” Gorgestar suddenly said, startling a few cats in the crowd. “On the night of the half-moon, just as Bubblemoon returned from StarClan’s Shrine, Scaleshine and Leafear had a litter of nine kits. A quarter moon has passed, and all nine have survived so far. They’ve each been given wonderful names and are growing well.” Cheers and excitement rose in the crowd. 

“Are they well-fed?” Mistlestar asked.

“Bubblemoon is making sure every kit has their chance to eat and Scaleshine is not exhausted,” Gorgestar explained. “However, he needs to stay at her call to ensure her good health. SlugClan may call upon one of our neighbors for a spare cleric, should the need arise.”

“LynxClan has three to spare,” Mistlestar said with a nod. “We will help.”

“Thank you, Mistlestar,” Gorgestar purred. “That’s all for SlugClan. Sanderlingstar?” Sanderlingstar groaned and stretched, licking her lips as she looked over the crowd.

“WheatClan welcomes a new cleric apprentice by the name of Thistlepaw,” Sanderlingstar sighed. “She joins the apprentice’s den with her littermate, Fogpaw, who trains as a mediator.” The crowd cheered the names of the new apprentices. This time, Parsley made sure to stop chanting sooner rather than later. “Meanwhile, our oldest elder, Rockback, peacefully joined StarClan this moon. His last words, as he wanted everyone to know, were ‘It’s about time.’” WheatClan chuckled and various cats gave a bit of polite laughter, but AshClan was the loudest, fully giving into the dark humor. “WheatClan has fully embraced the spring growth and has new goods to trade, if any mediators or artisans want to visit our borders. Now I’m curious as to what our youngest Clan has been up to.” Sanderlingstar draped her paws over the edge of the platform as all the leaders looked down upon Downstar.

“It’s been quiet in RippleClan,” Downstar admitted. “My apprentice, Carnationpaw, has helped us collect some seaside goods for trade. We’ve brought some mussels with us for the communal soup, but they can be eaten raw as well.” Scrubmask stood on a rock so everyone could see her basket. “Beyond that, our kits are healthy and our camp is secure.”

“Well, that’s not really everything,” Sanderlingstar pointed out. “You’ve brought that loner you found with you tonight!” A hundred pairs of eyes fell on Parsley. Her fur bristled. She wasn’t doing anything wrong by being here!

“We told the Clans about Parsley last moon,” Downstar reminded the Gathering, blissfully pulling some eyes away from Parsley. “She’s a part of RippleClan now, and she is allowed to join us at Gatherings.”

“She’s caused trouble around AshClan in the past,” Autumnstar growled. His brutal eyes once again tore into Parsley. “I didn’t recognize her at first, but I remember reports of a self-righteous loner with a single white paw berating our patrols for doing their jobs.”

“And I remember a bunch of dim-witted killers screaming at me whenever I got within sight of them,” Parsley snapped. “I never crossed your borders but your warriors always harassed me. Of course, your Clan seems built on harassing others, isn’t it?” The crowd gasped and oooed at Parsley’s words while Autumnstar hissed. Oilstripe and Weedfoot cheered her on. 

“Enough, everyone,” Mistlestar huffed before the Clans got too rowdy. “Is that all, Downstar?” Downstar nodded, defiantly staring up at Autumnstar.

“Your new Warrior is a troublemaker, Downstar,” Autumnstar grumbled. “Let the Gathering begin!” The five Clans swarmed one another. Old friends touched noses and the scent of each group overwhelmed Parsley’s nose. Oilstripe and Puddlespeckle vanished into the crowd. Scrubmask approached a large oven with her basket of mussels. Weedfoot joined Downstar by the Leader’s Stone. 

“Well, what now then?” Parsley asked, eyes darting around the chaos.

“We socialize for a while until our Clan decides to leave,” Fennelspot explained, glancing between Parsley and Autumnstar. “Oilstripe will likely stay longer, though. There’s something called an Aftergathering once the leaders take their Clans home. It’s more relaxed than a regular Gathering.”

“This is already rather relaxed, don’tcha think?” Parsley chuckled. She groaned and stared at the huge crowd around her. “I’ll tell ya, Mr. Fennelspot… your Clans are strange.”

“You were so brave back there!” A young voice gasped. A murky gray kitten with a swirling pelt danced in front of Parsley. “You really showed AshClan up! I hope I can be like you when I graduate! I’m Fogpaw!” Fogpaw touched their nose to Parsley’s. Parsley stared for a few moments, unsure what to do next.

“Well, hi there,” she gulped. “She and her for me, please.”

“Why specify that when your scent matches?” Fogpaw asked, cocking their head. “Then again, maybe that makes sense, I mean, I’ll be telling everyone I use they and them my whole life, so I know some cats have to specify, but cats won’t really mess up for you. What was life like as a loner?” Huh. So this was a Gathering. Parsley could handle it.

“I’ve got a few stories if you’ve got time to hear them,” Parsley purred. Fogpaw nodded so hard, it looked like their head would come off. Parsley settled beside the young apprentice and did her best to enjoy her first Gathering.

(Parsley: 105, female, warrior, righteous, good speaker)

(Fennelspot: 68, male, cleric, insecure, valuable insight, incredible runner)

(Oilstripe: 15, female, historian, charismatic, ghost sight)

(Downstar: 70, female, leader, adventurous, trusted advisor, very clever)

(Weedfoot: 60, female, deputy, charismatic, very clever, formidable fighter)

(Scrubmask: 28, female, warrior, gloomy, fast runner, good hunter)

(Autumnstar: 115, male, leader, fierce, great hunter)

(Mistlestar: 78, agender (they/them), leader, cold, steady paws, excellent fire-starter)

(Gorgestar: 89, male, leader, sincere, excellent teacher)

(Sanderlingstar: 100, female, leader, childish, skilled toolsmith)

(Fogpaw: 6, non-binary (they/them), mediator apprentice, oblivious, interested in oddities)

#rippleclan #clangen #warrior cats #warriors #rippleclan story #downstar #parsley #fennelspot #autumnstar #mistlestar #gorgestar #sanderlingstar #oilstripe #scrubmask #gathering

[chronotsr]

No. 5 - D2, Shrine of the Kuo-Toa (August 1978)

Author(s): Gary Gygax Artist(s): David C. Sutherland III (Cover), David A. Trampier Level range: Average of 10, preferrably party size 7+ players Theme: Underground exploration Major re-releases: D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders

I'm almost speechless. This is the most 1e module cover to ever have 1e'd. It is perfection. The way the combat is perfectly perpendicular to the step pyramid. The bondage gear fishman who has a complete fishhead so you 100% understand he's a fishman. Lobster mommy saluting the troops. It's just….it's what dreams are made of.

So I'm already in love with this module, deeply and irrationally in love with it, before breaking the cover. If you're BORING you might prefer the later Jim Roslof cover art that's got lame things like technical proficiency. Ugh. The shit I have to put up with.

Anyway, there's a lot to talk about with D2! It's a lot of firsts for an official TSR product, and critically it's a lot of GOOD firsts.

It's the debut of the Kuo-Toa, one of the most fun groups of people in D&D! It's the first module that doesn't presume the enemy will be inherently aggressive! It's got a lot of negotiation and learning! The only good type of gnomes debuts with the Svirfneblin! This model of "alien settlement where you are not instantly attacked but you gotta learn the social rules and play along" is just the best. This will be done again in U2 and I adore U2. Yeah it's how it feels to go to a different country, especially one that doesn't speak your language, and just have everything be a little "off" compared to what you're used to, but. To me, it will always be The Autistic Experience. How well and quickly can you learn these bizarro social rules you can't intuit and what's the fewest number of whacks to the head it takes to get there? How long can you swallow your complaints when you see stuff that's obviously cruel, but the people around you don't perceive it as cruel anymore because it's The Way Things Are and they will actively defend the cruelty of it?

Ok, ok, back to your regularly scheduled program.

Gary starts off this week's festivities by telling you to be toxic to your players:

Sometimes it feels like there's three Garys in a trenchcoat and they take turns writing the modules.

So D2 starts in the cave at the immediate end of D1 and, let me derail already by saying that I really, really hate old-style hex maps. I cannot follow them -- I don't mean I don't understand how you're supposed to follow them, I mean it's nearly impossible for me to follow the diagonal to the destination. Your coordinate here is R20. Here is your map. Follow the 20 axis diagonally upward and rightward until you intersect with the R row. Can you do it?

Personally, I can't. My eye cannot follow that straight line, it will get lost in the mix of blank identical hexes and occasional interest objects. I sat here trying to follow it for 5 minutes and I couldn't do it. I need a straightedge to do it. The correct answer is that if you follow the light blue area from the bottom right towards the top left, it's the hex up and left of the fourth fully black hex you run into -- the leftmost of the two touching black hexes. I tested this against a few guinea pigs and no-one else could mange it either. Later we will admit defeat and that this axial coordinate system for hexmaps is, uh, really fucking bad, and replace it with offset coordinates (or even better, double coordinates) which more closely resemble normal cartesian coordinates, and by extension are not Eye Strain Central. They have the downside of different eyestrain (tiny font) and that you literally cannot fit as many hexes on the page, but the point of a graphic is to communicate information and the axial coordinate hexmap is bad at that unless you're playing on a huge table with like, two DM screens.

Yes this rant should've gone in D1, mea culpa. In my defense, D1-2 is, basically one module in two parts, they're not really separable.

Here's the coordinate lined out for you, since I imagine many of you have the same issue:

So, now that I have a headache trying to read, we can get to the actual text of the adventure again. Now keep in mind that max movement rate is 1 hex per 1 inch of movement for the slowest member of the party (so like, your guy wearing platemail has 60ft of movement, 10ft to the inch: 6 hexes per day). This means you could hypothetically arrive at the final location as quickly as 22/6=4 days of gameplay, 3 if no one including hirelings wore plate. That is, if you beelined to D2 by sheer luck, never got lost, never got distracted, never got slowed down, never had to take a rest day. Which is good because the food in The Depths seems questionable.

The first segment of the adventure is mostly reprinted from D1 -- random tables and maps and the like. We do get the addition of everyone's favorite early DND trope: a slavery table! And also happilly we get some goopy guys to move your eyes away from that shit:

Which, is a lot more my speed. More goopy guys. It's a roper, actually, although I frankly didn't recognize it. It looks more like the monster from Dexter's Lab? Apparently Ropers have changed a lot in the last 50 years.

So it's all random tables teasing that we're going to end up arriving at a shrine soon. There is a special entry in the back for the new Kuo-Toa and Svirfneblin, and oddly the Svirfneblin don't get a header? We don't learn much. We know that they're natural elemental summoners, that they're "natural fighters", and that they live at some unstated cave somewhere. They like their stun gas darts, they "communicate with racial empathy" (which I guess means body language?) outside their own domains, deep gnomish at home, and underworld cant when they're trading, plus earth elemental-ese. So they learn a lot as kids. They love them some traps, too, basically they're the gnomish Rambos and I love them for it.

Meanwhile, our titular Kuo-Toa get a pretty standard write-up. Driven underground, human sacrifice, raiders, like their war parties. Their priests like their mancatchers, which are based on lobster claws, they spawn in pools, they can spontaneously generate lightning by holding hands (???), are too slippery to grab, can see both infrared AND ultraviolent, can see you moving through basically any magical means, immune to poison, paralysis, charming, sleep, and are resistant to magic missile and lightning. This is, very very weird. They are wildly powerful compared to their later versions, and the only upshot is that they're readily blinded by light spells. Apparently they go insane with such regularity that they have a dedicated social role to controlling or killing the crazed? Yeah these people are a piece of work.

We get a little setpiece moment here where, essentially, there's a rogue kuo-toa who will offer you a trip across the river for 10g. He only speaks kuo-toa and he'll sicc his giant fish on you if you don't say yes fast enough. In fact, a lot of ink is spilled on this little moment, which in all likelihood will be a brief conversation and some passing of money.

Before you get into the shrine proper, some svirfneblin offer to help you in the shrine if you go halfsies on treasure (with almost that exact wordchoice).

Finally, we end up in the shrine proper, which is keyed so let us enter Keyed Mode ™️

The whole area is lit by glow-in-the-dark lichens, which is a spooky way to reveal the lobster lady idol up on the pyramid

While the party can choose to politely integrate into the crowd and play along, there's lots of little things to harass them into nonconformity. Leeches, horrifying offerings, offerings of increasing amount, having to correctly pronounce nonsense names (Blibdoolpoolp????????), holding a live lobster, it's a good bit.

You can, in fact, visit the goddess, who will give you a boon (if you give an offering) or a geas (if you don't), which also grants you kuo-toa speech and also a mark of loyalty, which is neat. You can also encounter her if you fuck around in the prince's treasure room, so the odds of meeting her are actually pretty good! Note that this is pre-"Kuo-Toa believe their gods into existence" so in this case they are worshipping a (hypothetically) permanent, naturally-occurring deity. Being that this is 1e and she is a she, she is Extremely Naked. She is later called The Mother of Lusts, which is one hell of a title.

If you fail to get the priest-prince when you meet him, he actually has a pretty rock-solid escape plan and will come back with an army. So, probably whack him if possible. I really like when antagonists have the sense to piss off and come back armed, rather than pridefully stand and die. You get the sense that Va-Guulgh is priest-prince because he plans contingencies like this, whereas other Kuo-Toa simply vibe. That being said, the Kuo-Toa are apparently not equipped for a search, so it's pretty easy to ditch them.

Sigh.

We do not have a dramatic declaration of THE END anymore, which is a terrible shame. We instead get a more reasonable "This is the end of the section."

The magic of D2 is more in the play and less in the overview. Like, look at this map:

This is a pretty naturalistic map. This is just how you'd arrange a major structure, rather than the kind of nonsense layouts you see in a lot of early dungeons. I don't put much stock in "Gygaxian Naturalism", I think Gary presented pretty intensely game-y spaces and they only seemed naturalistic by 1970s published product standards, but nonetheless he was paving the way compared to some of the silliness you got in pre-G1 modules. This map is good, I think, in that it becomes super extremely obvious to the players from the moment you enter that they extremely do not want to provoke a full alarm -- this is a shrine where you want to kill as few Kuo-Toa as you can, and as many of those as you can behind closed-doors -- it's time to straight up bail if the alarm goes off because you are not beating the hundreds of guys here if you you provoke them up front.

We end with some rust monster art, my favorite monster that I never use because I think I'd get shanked if I did. See you next time in D3!

#1e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg #adnd

[mikeys-bike-slut]

Untitled Part 18

With last night chapter being so bad I decided to upload this early to make up for that train wreck haha I hope you'll enjoy it!

Previous Part

Warnings: small angst, crack

***

Next day: 

Finally this day came. My first Toman meeting ever since I got out of the hospital, finally we're going to find out who's going to be the new 1st Division captain. Mikey did not say a word about it and whenever I tried to ask about it he either ignored me or just changed the subject which made me uneasy, knowing this idiot I wouldn't be surprised if it's fucking Hanma or some shit as Mikey loves pulling stunts like that, but with Chifuyu being the vice captain I hope Mikey discussed it with him.

It felt great to wear the Toman uniform again and to ride on my own even if the weather wasn't exactly the best for bike rides. The snow been falling heavily and many of us cursed Mikey for being so adamant to meet at the Musashi shrine. Not enough we're going to freeze our asses off but also gotta somehow climb the goddamn stairs which I imagine gonna feel more like a fucking ice rink than anything else. Is that his plan? Who ever actually makes it to the top gets to be captain? I giggle to myself at the thought as I shut off Goki and take my helmet off once I arrive at the carpark by the foot of the shrine. 

"Someone's in a good a mood" I hear Takashi's voice from behind me and I just give him a wide grin.

"You kiddin'? I'm finally back, baby" I grin feeling like an excited child as I stretch.

"It's glad to have you back" Hakkai gives me a grin then gives me a bro hug and pats my back.

"It was too quiet without you" I hear a familiar voice and my eyes widen. 

"PAH!" I yell and I tackle the missing captain. "I didn't know you been released!" 

"Yeah they shortened my sentence for good behaviour" he winks then hugs me tight.

"They didn't know you, that's why" Takashi grins and we all let out a laugh and pat Pah's shoulder.  

"Definitely not" Draken chimes in with a grin as he appears behind us actually scaring Hakkai and me. 

"I didn't miss any of you fuckers" Pah frowns playfully and Peh just lets out an offended gasp.

"Pah you just lost your husband" I laugh and the guys burst out laughing as Peh acts like an offended lady. 

It felt nice to laugh. We all missed Pah so much, we missed the team. Everything felt like before I was just waiting for Baji to chime in until I suddenly realized he won't. I stop in my track and just turn towards the parking lot, my eyes desperately searching for him. I'm waiting to hear the Goki's exhaust, to hear his cursing as he gets off of his bike and cursing at the vehicle for almost dying on him before giving me a big grin. Even if I deep down I know he won't be there I just stand there and wait. A tear rolls down my cheek until I feel a hand on my shoulder. 

"I miss him too..." as I turn I find Chifuyu standing there looking at me from under his messy black bangs. "Not gonna lie I also waited for him to show up" he sighs then offers me a smile. "Don't be sad. Knowing Baji if he'd see us being sad and depressed over him he'd kick our ass" he frowns and I can't help but let out a small laugh.

"Thanks Matsuno" I smile at him then I hug him. "You're doing alright?" 

"Of course, Peke J keeps me busy" he chuckles. "Though I hate this weather. I do not like snow" he frowns which makes me chuckle a bit.

"To be fair I happily would've had this meeting somewhere indoors" I chuckle then sigh as I look at the stairs then suddenly let out a yelp as I see something sliding down almost knocking me over. 

Once the something stops at the bottom of the stairs we realize it's not a something but a someone and that someone is Hakkai.

"I hate Mikey..." he groans as he lays on his back rubbing his ass. Chifuyu and I couldn't help but let out a laugh before helping the vice-captain up onto his feet. 

"You good Shiba?" I chuckle softly as I brush the snow off of his uniform. 

"Yeah, but I will kick Mikey when I see him" he groans then let out a sigh. "I was almost at the top..."

"I'll help you kick him" I chuckle. "Alright let's give this a try"

Like determined climbers we started climbing the icy stairs but that determination was quickly destroyed when Draken himself along with Mitsuya -who he just dragged with himself the second he slipped- came tumbling down taking all three of us out like some human bowling pins resulting in a pile of Toman at the foot of the shrine.

"Fuck this meeting..." I groan as I lay on top of Draken and Hakkai with Mitsuya and Chifuyu laying across me. 

"You assholes are heavy..." Draken groans from the bottom of the pile.

"What are you all doing...?" a familiar voice comes from our right. Mikey...

"I'm going to kill him" I groan.

"Take a number" Hakkai groans from under me.

"I'll join" Draken joins the groaning meanwhile our commander just stands there giving us a confused look.

"Fuck you and your outside meeting, Manjiro" I say as I look at him then slowly getting up as Chifuyu and Mitsuya helps me on my feet. 

"What's up your asses?" he frowns still having a confused look in his obsidian eyes. 

"What do you think?" Draken growls as he finally gets on his feet brushing the snow off of himself. "The fucking stairs are life threatening" 

"That's why you all should've used the side path... idiots" he shakes his head then sigh. "Follow me" 

"There's a side path?" I whisper as I lean to Hakkai. 

"I don't know" he whispers back.

"I never fucking heard of it" Takashi whispers as we both look at him then all of us glances at Draken.

"Don't look at me like that, do I look like a guy who's good with direction?" he says almost offended. 

We all follow Mikey up to the side path and praise every existing God for finally making up the fucking hill to the shrine where Pah and Peh and rest of Toman already there giving us questioning looks. 

"Say a word and you're all dead" Takashi growls at his division who all just look away immediately.

"Okay, now that I have gathered all of the captains we can finally begin. First of all, thank you all for your hard work in the investigation that has been going on the past few weeks. There are a few things we need to discuss. First of all, I want to welcome back two very important members. Third Division Captain, Haruki Hayashida or as most of us know him; Pah" Mikey announces and raises his hand motioning to Pah who just grins as he stand in front of the gang and we all let out a loud cheer.

"Good to be back home" he grins. "Thank you for having me back" he bows to the gang and there's a mixture of cries and cheers. I wipe a tear from my eyes then let out a loud excited yell. 

"Glad to have you back home, brother" Mikey smiles as he offers Pah a hand which he happily takes then pulls him into a hug. They pat each others back then pull away and Pah comes back to join his fellow captains. 

"Second, I'd like to welcome our Angel back" he shouts then raises his arm to me and I just roll my eyes with a smile.

"Well, apparently you just need to get stabbed to get the spot light" I joke and a laugh runs across the gang and Mikey just rolls his eyes with a smile. "But on a different note, I'd like to thank all of you for all your help and support. You're all my family. Thank you" I say then I bow to the gang. The gang cheers the gives me a round of applause then just I walk back next to Draken who gives me a big grin.

"And now to discuss something that is less cheerful" Mikey starts and my stomach turns as I know what he means especially when Chifuyu walks up to him and stands beside him. I thought I'm going to be okay with it, ready for it but apparently I am nowhere near ready to let Baji go "With losing Baji we have lost not just our 1st Division Captain but a friend, a brother, a soul mate. No one will ever replace Baji, so know that the next 1st Division Captain isn't replacing Baji but will carry on his memory, his work and his devotion to Toman. I had discussed this with Chifuyu and we both agreed that our choice will be the perfect person to carry on Baji's legacy as the Captain of the 1st Division" Mikey explains and there's just pure silence amongst all of us. I clench Draken's hand trying hard not to faint or break down crying. Out of all of us losing Baji hit me and Chifuyu the hardest. "With no further delay, the next 1st Division captain is-" 

"I'm sorry I can't do this" I whisper to Draken as I let go of his hand and I turn away, start walking off, not wanting to hear those words coming out of Mikey's mouth. I just... I can't accept it. Baji's the only 1st Division captain. 

"Angel where the hell do you think your going?" Mikey's voice echoes in the silence and I just stop in my tracks. 

I turn around then bow. "Forgive me, commander but out of my own selfishness I cannot stand to hear nor talk about having a new division captain. No disrespect to who ever is the next captain but to me that division belongs to Baji and no one else. Forgive me for saying it so bluntly but no one other than Chifuyu deserves that title, no one knew Baji well enough to carry on his greatness" I say in a serious tone as I look at him. 

"No one, huh? You're questioning my choice as the commander of Toman?" he asks as he starts walking up to me. 

"Mikey..." Draken steps out but Mikey just quiets him with a simple motion. 

"If it comes to picking anyone other than Chifuyu then yes I do" I say with a more powerful tone as I start to get annoyed. I know I should just stay quiet and going against the commander really isn't a wise idea but when it comes to Baji I just can't think straight. 

"After all these years, you seriously question me...?" he cocks a brow but his tone... it's not his Toman voice, this is not the Invincible Mikey, I wasn't talking to the commander of the Tokyo Manji gang... I was talking to my childhood friend, that sweet dumbass who I have movie marathons with and play fights over snacks. "Matsuno!" he calls out without breaking eye contact with me. 

#toman #tokyo manji gang #mikey #tokyo revengers #mikey tokyo revengers #sano manjiro #manjiro sano #draken #ken ryuuguji #tokyo revengers ryuguji ken #hakkai shiba #shiba hakkai #mitsuya takashi #peh yan #pah chin #toman mikey #mikey x angel #draken x angel #mikey x oc #tokyo revengers oc #crack #angst

[versadies]

My wishing ritual is really long cause I know I'm really unlucky and I have to double check and make sure I don't need to prepare my crying when I lose the 50/50 to diluc or worse mona- i mean a weapon that I can't use(hoyo just won't stop giving me claymore users) but anyways it consists of sacrificing Bennett to the gods the day before the banner cause we don't want his bad luck lurking around (unless we're the one with back luck you gotta sacrifice gorou instead cause he seems lucky so we can claim his luck, I did both because i dont wanna risk it espessially with my luck being like bennetts) and after the sacrifice say aloud that you want to win the 50/50 a few times to your yelan shrine or whoever you want(I would pray to my ei shrine more since it brings more good luck cause she's an archon and the strongest but she wont listen to ur prayers unless you offer candy) and sacrifice everything you own to the character you want but make sure not to give them too much cause its annoying, then on the day of the banner instead of sacrificing maidens you give them blessings instead and by blessings I mean climbing on top of the barbatos statue and before you sit use all the character's ult(or skill if you want) because you will use all your energy getting good luck and...it uses energy too then sit on it and make sure to check pity first and if you're almost on soft pity you will get extra luck(like getting a double 5* or getting their weapon early or even better, getting c1 with their weapon but we know that ain't happening) and if you're not guaranteed go back to ur ei shrine or character and offer them their favorite food, paper primos, and lit a candle and burn a paper cutout of what they hate the most to trick them into liking you, useually it will work if you did it right but if it doesn't work and you need to go to hard pity(ahem ayato) I have a backup ritual, I would try other streamers wishing ritual cause streamer luck like the naughty corner (or qiqi in da fountain😋) and if you're REALLY THAT DESPERATE you should sacrifice maidens before it, I would sacrifice maidens on a high place like dragonspine or the top of the zhongli statue of the seven ect. There are many maidens to sacrifice but I don't have any 5* maidens so I would use Barbara or sucrose and then go to the naughty corner or whatever streamer's ritual you're gonna use and wish that hoyo will spare you because ur desperate😚

NOW IF IT DIDNT WORK- yeah I would've lost hope and do some hardcore farming for them and hope it's enough (ahem ahem ayato and ayaka ahem)

Yeah I try too much to win the 50/50 cause I don't have lots of 5* and ik I should be grateful for any 5* as a f2p but sometimes I badly need it cause I'm a hard simp

#— ( chatting with penpals 😌 ) #ty for the wishing ritual bUT OML 😭😭😭

[mariolandavid]

Hai Van Pass

Morning broke. The sounds of a chunky V8 engine carrying a huge metal frame, roared, spluttered & thundered into earshot, pierced the daybreak. "My names Bi... but you can call me Bumblebee" said the driver with a cheerful boyish grin. Parking up the retired Army Jeep, now converted into a retro transport solution for people wanting to head over to Hoi An Rambo style,  the engine quietened and the stereo could be hear playing The Eagles now that the fiery V8 was sleeping. We took in the envious glances of every passer by as we hopped on the back.

This was gonna be fun.

The Hai Van pass is the popular seaside winding road made famous by Top Gear (at least for Brits). *Jeremy Clarkson Voice* may be the best coastal road drive.... in the world. You can travel it in a number of ways, the most popular is to rent a scooter and drive across it yourself, taking in the vast ocean landscape as you scale the winding roads up and down a soaring cliff road. then back down again, sweeping along the coast circling Da Nang. You'll never want to settle for the M25 again.

Instead of the scooter route though (neither of us has been up to the bravery required to give them a go, given the fear of ending up with some kind of injury that'd spoil the 6 month trip) we got the bad-ass version. Loading up into a surplus US Army jeep retrofitted to pump out tunes and loaded with cold beers into the cooler box in the back. Why the hell would you wanna travel any other way?

" My friend and me used to smoke a lot of weed,  one day he just called me bumble because of how I got after and that name sorta stuck" said our driver for the day Bumblebee. This guy deserves some kinda commendation in life. He's been through the mill, seen his demons up close and come out again fighting.

His family had been "re-educated" by the Viet Cong following the fall of Saigon and the end of the war.; losing them for years at a time when he was growing up. COVID, not the easiest time for anyone hit Bumbleebee hard. He lost his father to a motorbike accident, fell into a deep gambling addiction that caused his wife to throw him out of the family home and away from his young son and fell into deep depression. He told us he thought of ending it all at times, only his son, who he loves dearly, talking about him non-stop, stopped him from taking that dark twisted turn.

Now Bumbleebee doesn't gamble. He works 4 jobs to put his kid through school. He's a driver, a security guard, a delivery guy. A hero. You're a bigger man than me B.

Tearing through the streets, back roads, following the path of lakes and streams & trying to take in all the huts and shrines; we pulled up on our first stop of the day, the Ghost City.

Imagine an eastern spiritual take on Keeping up with the Jones's. Your neighbour here, let's call him Jay. He's worked hard. Saved up. He's thinking of retirement. What does Jay wanna do with his hard earned life's work. Beach house? Building that den in the basement with his own bar? Maybe that little cabin he's had bookmarked in that catalogue under the living room reading lamp all these year.

None of those. Jay wants to build his own Pyramid of Giza to mark his journey to the afterlife.

The City of Ghosts is a vast complex of private family tombs. Tombs used for 1-2 days a year, glistening with broken chinese porcelain art, with Hindu, Buddhist and Christian relicery. Tombs worth up to $5m USD for miles and miles. No one in this town works anymore. They don't have to. It's filled with guys who made their fortune overseas or have cash cows living in the States, Europe or elsewhere funelling cash back home. They live in this semi-live state. Among graves and finery, building their own tombs in advance before waiting amongst them for the big day. It's a real insight into human obsession with death and legacy but most of all, it's a monument to vanity and envy. Gotta build a bigger tomb than Brian says Jay to himself. He spent $4m, mines gotta have 8 towers now. It's a strange old place and not one I think I liked. I preferred the odd huts we kept passing that when I asked, turned out to be "mushroom huts" where the locals can temp control grow any fungi they wish, magic or not

"You know there's 65 million Scooters in Vietnam"? says Bee as we parted them like the red sea in the Jeep. Sending them flying away from us seemingly by negative magnetic force. There's 100 million people in Vietnam, it's kinda crazy how Scooters dominate the place. We asked a place to watch the Premier League's opening game later that night "I got a bar for you... my Pussycat works there" as he wrote down the details of the Shamrock bar Hoi An for us. Bee had a recommendation, a story, a guy he knew at every turn.

"Top.. you emailed my boss man! He's the big boss".. Top was the owner of the company who ran the Jeep tours, he moved to the US, owns 2 hotels and 5 ex-Army Jeeps. He paints with his spare time and likely bankrolls 3-4 tombs in the Ghost City.

It was fun just to talk to Bee as we drove. The scenes themselves were incredible, speeding past Vietnam's biggest lake, taking in herds of Water Buffalo grazing in the grass and absorbing vast fields of Oyster Farms, we made our second stop. The local swimming hole.

Here we were told all about the COVID embezzlement scams that ran rife in Vietnam and were only just being prosecuted (the details are here and are really scandalous examples of corruption at every level of government). We scaled some rocks, threw down a picnic blanket and jumped into a clear stream, swimming aronud in the sunshine without a care in the world for 30 minutes before hopping out to get some lunch at a nearby seaside shack.

Bee at this point (unsurprisingly given his high energy levels combined with the fact he worked a billion jobs and never seemed to sleep) went for a nap. We ordered some lunch and took in a common sight in east Asia, but one that nevertheless takes some real getting used to. The local lunchtime karaoke slot.

Get the image out of your head of your late night trips down to Lucky Voice and Rowan's. The karaoke here isn't confined to dark corners and fuelled with secret shame. These guys live and breathe the stuff like a national passtime. An 8 strong group of octegenarians had their favourite table. Out of nowhere a crate of Huda beer appears, followed by a kid wheeing out a full size, top spec Karaoke machine. One solitary mic, the equivalent of the Lord of the Flies Conch is passed round. Earnestly, each diner sings their turn while the others at their table sit as if nothing's happening.

The earnest nature of what's happening. The sheer lack of any shame or self consciousness is just something to behold. This is serious crooning. Hell it's at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight in a beach shack. I've never dreamed of doing karaoke in that kind of fiery hellzone. These guys have some cojones. There's stories of houses kkicking off proceedings in the Karoke at 9am and not stopping til 24 hours later. Bumblee had a family in his village who'd had to have their power cut off to just stop them damn singing. To say Karaoke's a national obsession doesn't quite capture it.

Makes it hard to nap though... Sorry Bee.

This brought us post lunch to the main event. The big coastal drive. It's a stunning drive. The only thing I've ever done that touches Big Sur on the American west coast. The ride up is punctuated by verdant greens, as jungle and forest surrounds one side of the car, while the other opens on to a vast endless ocean.

You climb higher and higher, snaking, twisting and turning up and up the pointed mountain with scooters and trucks haring past. The view never recedes. Never lets up. It only widens or changes scene to something else breathtaking. Cliffs, rocks, private military beaches without a soul on them. Everything pristine and sublime. I wish I could have driven it myself, the thrill would have just been incredible.

That feeling quickly receded as I opened a beer in the back of the Jeep. "Yeah no actually, being driven open top here is kinda better".. Stops for photos for us, became photo opportunities for everyone else. Excited kids and grown ups piling up next to the Jeep hoping to get photos themselves. We were happy to oblige, feeling like the most popular guys on the mountain.

"See you tomorrow" was Bee's favourite joke as he constantly faux threatened to leave at every opportunity we left to go to a bathroom, swimming hole or photo spot. I guess it was endearing. It kept us guessing if we'd ever actually just be abandoned with a long way down to come, but eventually we started the descent. Flying through the air with Da Nang and Hoi An in sight from our eagle eyed vantage point, we slithered down the mountain roads into Da Nang, one of the larger cities in Vietnam that we'd be returning to in a few days.

Rising up in this city, amidst sky scrapers, resorts and beaches are the famous Marble Mountains. A Buddhist monastery carved into the marble rocks in the middle of town provides an amazing sight to see in a beach town. It's made for old timers who can't handle a few steps. Hell there's a lift up to the top if you just don't care for your Fitbit yelling at you for your laziness at all.

All around the bottom are stone carvers and hawkers, flogging anything they can to people wanting their souvenir marble. It's worth pointing out that it's been illegal to sell marble quarried from the Marble mountains themselves since the mid 90's... so either these guys are getting it from somewhere a little less local... or sales have been real slow.

We pulled up to the final stop, our hostel in Hoi An, the Backhome Hostel. The ATM I'd chosen to get the cash out for this trip had only had 50,000 Dong notes available. I needed to go about 4 rounds with this machine to get the several Million we needed to pay and had something a small drug-lord on a Baltimore corner would have considered a decent day's take popping out of my pocket in small bills. Bee laughed as he had to count it all, but I'm a trustworthy guy so all cool and we said our goodbyes, gave him a tip for himself given the amazing day he'd given us and settled down into our new place. Welcome to Hoi An

You can find their tour here

[asleepinawell]

nier replicant more like don't ever mention pink moonflower seeds to me again

#nier replicant #nier #tying the gardening stuff to real time was a terrible decision guys #no one wants to stop playing right before the ending and wait for days and save scrum to get some flower seeds for one stupid side quest #so dumb #mp #niermp #loved this game but there's a few things that made me want to throw my console out a window #like that magic stone quest you only get after you have all the fragments #and you gotta go to the top of the lost shrine #where you need to go anyway for the end game #but then you have to go all the way back down and across the map to turn it in #like why couldn't you get that quest earlier #I did not want to grind through that stupid place twice in a row #argh

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

S3 ep5

Current emotional status: FEAR

Cthulu Max has been on the rampage for a whole week!?

Ew, the narrator

Oh man, are they sending the airforce after him?

I really like Cthulu Max's design

Momma Bosco 💗

Oh hey, Norrington and Papierwaite are alive.

Superball are you saying you tried to send the Maimtrons up Max's--

Also he's acting president while Max is... deposed of.

Superball is only giving Sam until 6am :(

Featherly!

"Wandering around the moleman tunnels is no fun without Max."

"You got it all wrong, we're trying to help Max." "We will help him... to a generous serving of ass whooping."

"That is one rabbit who will be multiplied... into 2,000 smoldering pieces."

Carol ran off with Blustet

"I only want her to be happy, is all." Aw, Curt

Superball just admitted to having separation anxiety from Max

Ok Momma can't come but Papierwaite and Norringron can.

I like Norrington :)

GASP

Is it?

It is!

SYBIL!!!!

RETURN OF THE QUEEN

Oh, she is very pregnant

She was a wizard at one point?

She's gonna help!

Superball there's no such thing as acceptable losses

Abe has his body back

"Four score and seven tons of raw power"

HE CAN FLY NOW!?

Sybil, I love you, but why did you mod someone else's car???

Grandpa Stinky I love you

Oh, he just handed us the recipe for once.

Asdfff the spore maxes swarming Grandpa

They stole Grandpa's hotdogs

"We must feed the host! Piglets and sphinkters make us stronger!" "We regret nothing!"

Grandpa hasn't slept in three years

Sam just casually taking the last of Grandpa's corndogs

The spores are trying to get it

Lol Sam slapped them

Sal's alive!

He's hiding from Sam :(

Lol we can control Cthulu Max with Corndogs

Ew, the cornstarch got mixed in with the giant puddle 🤢 Looks gross

Love how Sybil completely ignores the Flaming Max head

Also the look of disappointment on the spore's face made me laugh

Fifth trimester???

The way the one Max spore by Grandpa's truck is bobbing in circles with his mouth open is making me laugh.

Sam showing concern for Sybil because she’s preggers 🥺

Her being pregnant with Abe's child implies that statues have working genital in this universe

She put a weiner scented airfreshener in the desoto

At least Sam and a Max spore seem to like that (of course they do)

"Sybil you're the best!" Hell yeah she is!

Sam's mind went to the color bar codes to prevent being traumatized by Sybil's oversharing

We drowned the desoto

Asdfgh Sam just botched slapped one of the spores for trying to say "that's none of your damn buisness."

Ew, Max's spine is pointing out

Oh hey, Satan and Jurgen

Why is Jurgen wearing his old fashioned clothes instead of his emo clothes?

Lol Sam snuck into frame to shout "Go Mets! New York rules!"

"--besides it's just a good and noble thing to do." "You're not familiar with my previous work, are you?"

"Sam, what happened to you to make you so cynical?" Gee, Jurgen, I wonder what could have possibly happened.

Oh so the water tower counts as vegetable oil because Momma did something to it

Pfft we can replace Satan's microphone with a corndog

Omg they jumped off the building to avoid Max

Oh, they're fine, and the oil is in the giant puddle.

I'm thankful to Featherly for giving us an egg but I'd have preferred not to watch him lay it. Granted it was just in a cartoon way but he still made weird noises

Also TRANS FEATHERLY 2021

"I desperately wanted to see that, sir. Ask him if he'll lay another one."

Oh hey, the Flaming Max heads helped heat up the giant desoto corndog

Since I'm playing this in 2021 the Maimtron's song references are super dated, which defeats Superball's efforts

Oooh! A unique opening sequence???

Oh this music is jazzy af

Sam really doesn't like the Max spores

Sam how do you already know what Max's insides look like???

"Even when he's not a collasal monster Max's food comas can last for weeks."

Ok we wake Max up with the coffee beans, right?

Yup!

The gi Max spore is so sad he doesn't get to come 😢

"But I'm a horrible monster!"

"I suppose Max's brain always looks like a living room?" "Well, Max is host to all kinds of weird parasites, and he likes to he a good host!" WHAT

No really, this brings up so many questions about lagomorphs. Are they some kind of Symbiote or something?

And a previous episode confirmed Max is amphibious

Max has tumors!!!

It shocked Sam!

"Eugh! Get away fake Max!" "Do you find my warmth... alarming, Sam?"

"What do nightmares taste like, anyway?" "Pepsi"

Max wants to be author 💗

He also writes fanfiction about Flint 🤣

I'd unironically read his books.

Tina Belcher voice: Friend fiction

Max has an experimental fusion jazz band???

"He just killed a great white shark--"

Max being completely unable to describe a woman is very gay of him. Good for him.

Max's brain teleported everyone to different parts of the body.

Found Sybil in the gym/legs

The brain is broadcasting Sam's thoughts???

Sam couldn't think of a joke for the medicine balls :(

"Wow Max is looking pretty buff. Would it be too weird if I asked him to turn around?"

Sam! Stop thinking bad things about Sybil's pregnancy she can hear you you putz!

She's upset with him now

"Can you believe this guy?" "I find the entire situation to be very contrived and misogynistic." Same spore Max, same.

Sam stop being so mean omg!

"I changed Sybil, I totally get the whole parenthood thing now." "Really now?" "Tax deductions."

In Max's inventory now

Y'know, I never really thought about it as a storage house

Hit The Road reference :3

Baby roach hatched in

"Pa..papa?" "Now I am little champion, now I am!"

Max has a Maximus shrine

Sam turned into a roomba!

Aw, he named it Sam Jr 🥺

We won Sybil back through his love of Sam Jr

Found the conjoined twins

Huh, Max lost as eye. Does that mean he has a glass one, or do lagomorphs have regenerative abilities?

Pfft we have to play twister to control his arma

The brain is messing with things again

Oh, we need a roach to operate the game because of radiation

Well, let's kidnap Sal

Oh, poor Girl Stinky. She's really going through it

Aw, Sal feels bad

Sal?

Honey, are alright?

He's dying???

He's not immune to irradiation!?

Oh no, he's gone

I'm so sad 😞

Gotta pick up Sam Jr. Before I control Max

They mad Max do a magical girl pose

Ugh the narrator is back

Wait, what?

He's Max's brain??? SUPEREGO???

WHAT

"I was always ignored" Yo if my super ego was as pretentious as you I 'd ignore it too 😤

He wants to kill himself and Max???

I know Max had a self loathing complex but holy shit

The super ego is perfectly fine with destroying half the east coast what a jerk

Just noticed Sam's tie is red. Had no idea about this while drawing PI!Sam lol

We have to help Max get his memories back to use the ASTRO projector

Skunkapes has three Sam clones imprisoned

Sam had canon ocd?

Gasp Gordon???

No, it's Sammun Mak

I love him, little child tyrant

Just make him a mobile brain in a jar and let Sam and Max adopt him

Why is Grandpa here?

He isn't talking like Stinky

Too polite

Sam sees it too

He's a space gorilla

They switched brains?

Found the cloning g chamber

Let's go to Momma's first

CONE OF SHAME CONE OF SHAME CONE OF SHAME

Superball is "wracked with guilt"

"Keep it together Superball. Sam will be able to save the day. He always does."

Ok, let's go to the cloning facility

I'm still thinking about poor Sal yo

FLIIIIIINT!

He's punching space apes!

Girl Stinky really playing up the evil Mistress role

The doggleganger has a bomb on him!!!

Wait so Girl really is a mermaid??? I thought that was just her aestetic

God I love Flint

Haha we tricked Skunkape with scooby doo villain tactics

Got the robot

Her water broke... and it was pennies

Max wants to save Sybil! 😭🥺💕

Super Ego is here

Oh now he wants to save Max

The only thing here are those records

Super Ego waved goodbye

Cthulu Max is cute when he cries

Wait What?

His head is on fire!

The maimtron hit him!

He waved goodbye... and teleported away.

He exploaded!!!!

He promised he'd take Sam with him and he didn't!!!!

AAAAAAH

I thought the dead Max thing was popular angst fanon fic thingy!

We're cloning Max?

It didn't work 😭😭😭😭😭

Superball ran off crying

Oh God the credits are just Sam walking sadly what the hell

He's not even stopping to fight any crime 😢

💔💔💔

God the way he's clinging to himself

What?

The elevator???

MAAAAX

he's back???

Past Max???

He blew his Sam up???

Wait hold on I'm glad they're together again but this doesn't fix anything

There's so much trauma from this season

All the horrible things that happened during 301-304 happened in like 3 days tops, then Sam had to deal with Max being a monster for a week before watching him die!

And the new (?) Max had BLOW HIS SAM UP!!!

And they left the franchise like that for a decade????

What the hell?

I want to be happy but this shit is going to consume my brain for the next week at least what the hell

Aaaaaaah!

Like maybe they really do just brush it off but it feels unlikely

I know Max has a connection with his other selves so it'll be easier for him to adjust but certainly Sam is going to notice the discrepancies since he doesn't get the same deal

Someone told me there were multiple endings hold on

Aw, they walked off into the sunrise together

But still

AAAAAAAAH

#sam and max #freelance husbands #sam and max freelance police #sam & max #sam & max freelance police #freelance police #lee plays sam and max #305 #what the hell #flint paper #agent superball #momma bosco #sybil pandemik #sal s&m #general skun ka'pe #girl stinky #sammun mak #don't @ me I'm crying

[ickaimp]

[HTTYD] Break your heart, steal your crown

Sometimes ya just gotta write angst. Lotta people liked Coming Down is the Hardest Thing, my version of the ‘Hiccup runs away and becomes the “Dragon Master”, Astrid’s offered up as a Sacrifice years later’ tropes without Hiccup being a dick, and there were requests for sequels, which I didn’t do because this was all I had. Two years post Coming Down is the Hardest Thing, 4220 words, angst and some fluff.

"Berk is dying."

The words sat heavily in the air of the smithy, lingering like a spectre between Stoick and Gobber.

Stoick almost wished he could take the words back, but that wouldn't change the accuracy of his words. Berk was dying.

Gobber closed his eyes and sighed, giving him a weary nod of agreement. So he had seen it too. Or more likely, he had seen it in Gothi's last roll of the bones, before she had gone to bed and passed away in her sleep, leaving the fortune out for Gobber to read when he found her body this morning.

He hadn't actually told Stoick what the bones had said, giving him the same world-weary look he was currently wearing instead.

Even without the soothsayer's predictions, Stoick could see it. The twins had left years ago, declaring that the isle was too boring for their pranks, setting sail with only a chicken as their companion. It had seemed like a blessing at the time, less things exploding in their wake, leaving Berk a much quieter place than it had been.

Then came Spitelout's stupidity with Astrid, offering her to the savage Dragon Master. They'd gotten her back, only for her to disappear a week later. She'd left a note that this time was by her choice, but it'd been little comfort.

This left Berk's next generation without any women old enough to be wives. To become mothers to bear future generations. 

With the Jorgenson clan name soiled by Spitelout's actions, Snotlout was no longer able to be Stoick's heir. The other clans would never treaty with someone whose family had literally brought the Dragon Master down on their heads during a meeting of the chiefs. Except for maybe Dagur, and that was not a glowing recommendation, given the Berserker's... instability.

Which left Fishlegs as the only remaining of Berk's next generation to lead. The lad was smart, there was no doubt about it, and he would be fantastic as a second in command, the next Chief's Gobber, he was too quiet and soft to be a leader. The politics would eat him alive. And worse, Fishlegs was aware of this.

There were other children, Gustav and his ilk, but they were too young to start training as the next Chief of Berk. Stoick ran a hand down his beard, more grey than red from the stress and sorrow. He didn't have long enough to train one of them up.

And Berk's numbers were dwindling in other ways. Many had not been able to adapt to life without dragons to fight, finding a peaceful life did not sit well with their warrior blood. They'd left, being adopted into other clans. They'd just lost another family that way today. Stoick wished them no ill will, but if this continued, then they'd find their numbers too small to maintain the community.

Even Gobber was growing bored, not having enough work to keep the blacksmith busy. Without the dragons, there was no need for weapons, and the simple farming tools they had didn't need as much maintenance.  Stoick looked around the smithy, his eyes falling on the curtain leading to a small room that Gobber wouldn't allow anyone into, his own private shrine to his missing godson.

And then there was the loss of Hiccup, the first of Berk's children to leave. The Dragon Master's words, that Hiccup was happy and healthy where he was, was little comfort without being able to verify this. There was little Stoick wouldn't do in order to be able to see his boy again, for even just a moment. Sometimes he wondered if this wasn’t his fault. The path had seemed clear when they were constantly being raided by dragons. But without the raids, he was floundering. His people were looking to him for direction, and he had no experience with peace to know what to do. More and more they seemed to realise this, and left. Seven generations of vikings had lived on this isle, going all the way back to the first chieftain, his many times great-grandfather, and it was starting to look like he’d be Berk’s last chief.

"I wish I had some words of wisdom for ye, my friend." Gobber said softly. "I-"

Stoick jumped as something flew in through the window and landed on Gobber's face.

It was a green and brown Terrible Terror, who was making a high pitched growling sound as he crawled all over Gobber's head. "Don't move." Stoick rumbled, reaching for his sword.

"Ach." Gobber made a sound of annoyance, reaching up and grabbing the Terrible Terror by the scruff of its neck, pulling it off his head. "What're you-"

He trailed off, eyes drifting upwards and Stoick realised that it was the sound of a larger dragon's wings flapping. A Deadly Nadder, unless he missed his guess. Stoick gritted his teeth, feeling fire in his veins again, eager to have something to fight again, to take this rage and frustration out on.

"Oh no." Gobber said, a look of horror crossing his face as he glanced at Stoick. That was all the warning Stoick found himself being spun, his arms being bound behind his back with a pair of iron manacles, and he was flung through the curtain into Hiccup's old room. He landed against something softer than he expected, falling to the ground.

"GRUMP!" Gobber commanded, sticking his head through the curtain and pointing to Stoick. "Sit."

With a complaining groan, something large and heavy pressed down on Stoick. He grunted, trying to push himself up with his shoulders, but the weight was too much for him to get leverage.

"I didnae want you to find out like this." Gobber said, sounding apologetic, the Terrible Terror riding on his shoulder as if this was a common occurrence. "But if you value yer son's life at all, do not make a sound."

Stoick opened his mouth to bellow, only to find a rag shoved unceremoniously into his mouth. He growled, ire filling his veins as Gobber turned away, pulling the curtain shut. The torn fabric didn't go all the way to the ground, leaving Stoick with a clear view of the smithy.

When he got free, and got his hands on Gobber...

A blue and gold Deadly Nadder head stuck it's head into the doorway of the smithy, then carefully stepped in, taking care not to bump into anything in the small building. A crowned pale spectre rode on it's back, white and grey wisps obscuring the figure.

"Gobber!" The spectre greeted the smith with a cheerful voice. The spectre raised an arm, throwing what looked like a bridal veil over their crown, revealing inhuman features covered in glittering blue scales.

"Is good to see you, lassie." Gobber returned the greeting, his voice rolling with affection. The spectre laughed, reaching up for their head and pulling it off-

-Revealing Astrid's smiling face.

Stoick stopped fighting, going lax in surprise. It had been almost two years since he'd last seen Astrid, grim faced and bitter before she disappeared. She seemed to practically glow with happiness now, as she slid off the Deadly Nadder's back, giving a little hop before leaping into Gobber's outstretched arms, giving him a tight hug.

"Good to see you too." Astrid declared, holding him out at arm's length. Stoick could see that she was wearing armour now, covered in scales that matched the Nadder she rode. She wore a skirt, cape, and veil made out of ragged strips of a thin sheer white fabric that seemed to dance in the air when she moved.

The Undead Bride of the Demon was Astrid. Stoick recognised the Nadder now, it was the same one that she'd flown when the Dragon Master had kidnapped Stoick from the Althing.

"What brings ye here?" Gobber asked jovially, the merriment sounding slightly forced. "Not that I'm complaining, but was nae expecting t’see you for another week or two."

A stab of betrayal felt like a knife between his ribs.

"We have news." Astrid bounced and gave a little hip wiggle of delight. It was a gleeful carefree movement that Stoick didn't think he'd ever seen from the usually tacturn lass.

"Hey, wait. No fair." A shadow at the doorway protested, and Stoick found himself growling as he recognized the outline of the Dragon Master and his demonic Night Fury. The Dragon Master swung a leg over his so-called brother's neck, standing upright on his cloven foot and moving towards them. "I wanted to see Gobber's face when you tell."

"Not my fault that you're being slow, my sweet husband." Astrid grinned, giving another skip-hop to give a little kiss to the side of the Dragon Master's scaled helm and Stoick growled, wiggling as he trying to get free, but the weight on top of him didn’t budge.

"Wait a moment." Gobber breathed. "Astrid... Your belly... You cannot mean..." He trailed off, too choked up to speak.

Looking at her in silhouette, he could see what Gobber meant. Astrid's previously flat stomach was curved out in a very distinctive solid roundness.

Astrid was pregnant. And from the casual arm around her shoulders that the Dragon master had around her waist, the babe in her belly was that demon's.

Stoick would kill him. He'd kill him for touching Astrid. He'd rip the foul creature limb from limb, and then he'd get rid of that Night Fury who was sniffing around the room-

All thoughts faded from his mind as the Dragon Master took off his helmet, revealing his face for the first time, and Stoick's breath caught in his throat.

It couldn't be.

The messy brown hair, almost reddish in the candlelight. Green eyes. The fond crooked grin on his narrow face, having finally grown into his ears.

"Hiccup." Gobber said, his voice thick with tears. "Astrid. You've got a wee bairn on the way."

His son. That was his son standing there with an arm around Astrid, the two of them shining with happiness.

His son, the Dragon Master.

"I'm about five months along." Astrid beamed at Gobber, resting comfortably against Hiccup, the two fitting together like matching puzzle pieces.

"We were hoping you'd agree to be the Godfather." Hiccup said, and Stoick didn't know how he hadn't heard it before, in the Dragon Master's dry sarcasm. It was his son's voice, a little deeper than as a teenager, but the nasally tones could only be him. 

"Godfather-?" Gobber echoed in awe.

"It's not dependent on if you take up our offer to live with us." Astrid was quick to assure him. "But we'd like you to be. We wouldn't be having a kid if it wasn't for you."

"You got Astrid out of Berk, and you saved my life by taking me under your wing here." Hiccup said sincerely. "We're also open to them calling you 'Grandpa', if that's okay with you."

Grandpa.

Stoick was a Grandfather.

He felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. He'd never thought he'd have that chance, not after his son went missing. And here his son was, was, healthy, happy, and with a wee one on the way.

"Och." Gobber shook his head. "I couldn't."

"You can." Astrid grinned, reaching out and taking Gobber's hand in hers, scales and claws curling delicately around calloused scarred skin. "We talked to Valka about it. She laughed and said she's fine with it. Someone else to share the responsibility of dirty diapers."

The tears spilled over his cheeks. Valka, his dear sweet Valka was alive as well.

He remembered now, the Dragon Master saying that he had his mother's eyes, and he did. Skies above, he did. Hiccup had always had Valka's clear eyes that seemed to penetrate and see more than anyone else.

"I mean, you did more to raise me than my own father did. It's only fair." Hiccup added without any trace of bitterness as he gestured around the smithy. "All of my fondest memories of Berk are here."

Stoick's breath caught, feeling as if a sword had just been thrust through his chest.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you." Gobber shook his head dismissively. "Otherwise some dragon would have flown away with your toothpick self."

The Night Fury, who had been circling around in the background, stuck it's muzzle under the curtain. The beast sniffed the air for a moment before poking its head all the way into the small room, it's acid green eyes narrowed into slits as it stared at him, a low warning rumble coming from its throat, lips curling back to show a giant maw full of razor sharp teeth.

Stoick stared back, uncomfortably aware of how vulnerable he currently was. The creature could bite off his head in one bite, and there was no way for Stoick to protect himself.

"Oh nooooo. How terrible." Hiccup deadpanned in the background as Astrid laughed. "Carried away by draaagons."

The great weight on top of Stoick shifted and grunted, and he realised that it was a giant heavy dragon that was currently sitting on his back. The Night Fury crooned what sounded like a question to the creature pinning him down, getting a snore-like rumble in return.

The Night Fury glanced back down at Stoick, giving him a look that could only be described as 'scornful' before turning away with a smug expression and trotting back over to his son. Stoick watched as the beast gave an amused warbling at his son, casually headbutting Hiccup, sending him into Astrid, who took a half step to keep them all upright.

"Oh!" She gasped, then took Gobber's hand that she was still holding and pressing it against her belly.

"They're moving!" Gobber gasped. "Oh, they're a fighter, just like their parents."

Stoick's breath caught again. His grandchild. His grandchild was moving.

"The only thing that really settles them down is when the dragons sing to them." Astrid looked amused. "Even if the dragons are confused as to why I haven't laid an egg yet."

The Night Fury gave Stoick a pointed look, then nudged Astrid's belly with it's broad flat nose, giving a soft affection croon, as if to point out that the creature could touch the babe in Astrid’s belly, but Stoick could not. Stoick choked on the gag in his mouth, silently swearing vengeance.

"Which is part of the reason why we stopped by early." Astrid said gravely, and Stoick wondered how much more news he could take tonight. 

"Valka says I'm probably fine for flying up until I give birth." Astrid said, wrapping a protective arm around her belly. "But we decided that fighting is out until afterwards. So it may be awhile before I'm back in the area."

"Trapper tried to kick her in the stomach." Hiccup growled, and all three dragons in the room echoed the sound, even the Terrible Terror on Gobber's shoulder. The sound covered up Stoick's own noise of outrage at such an act. "Stormfly stopped them, but it gave us all a bit of a scare."

Astrid nodded, leaning against Hiccup, who looked a little anxious, rubbing his hand up and down the blue scales of her arm. "I can still do air support, but the pregnancy is making me exhausted lately. Which is probably only going to get worse." Astrid looked annoyed. "So we're all going to be staying with Valka at least until I give birth."

"It's not like the Hidden World really needs Toothless and I to guard it." Hiccup said with wiry humour. Stoick blinked, finding he had no more room for shock. Of course Hiccup found the home of the dragons. Of course he had. "But if you did decide to accept our offer to live with us, we didn't want you looking in the wrong place and thinking the worst."

"And Valka promises not to cook in your honour when you do show up." Astrid smirked. And Stoick nearly choked on muffled laughter, aware he was crying again. Valka had never been the best cook, but she tried. And it'd been worth every burnt and raw bite he'd choked down.

"Thank you." Gobber's voice was thick. "But I cannae leave just yet. Your Father needs..."

"I know." Hiccup hastened to assure. He stepped forward, wrapping a clawed hand around the back of Gobber's head, resting his forehead against the blacksmith's. "When you're ready, we'll be there. Even if you're never ready, we just want to make sure you know that there is a place for you."

"You just don't want to be the only one with experience making protestetics." Gobber grumbled, and Hiccup laughed, tapping his cloven foot on the ground, making a ringing sound.

Hiccup's prosthetic foot, Stoick realised, watching the spring inside the metal contraption flex. His son was missing a foot.

And Stoick had no idea when or how it happened.

"You caught me." Hiccup didn't sound angry about it as he released Gobber, more jovial than anything. "But it doesn't make it less true."

"I'll think about it." Gobber promised with the air of having said the same thing many times before, taking the Terrible Terror off his shoulder and transferring it to Hiccup's.

"And I'll teach you how to make Dragon Iron when you do." Hiccup said with a grin, his voice both teasing and cajoling.

Dragon Iron, which the Dragon Master was the only one who knew how to make. Because Hiccup had been a smith since he was six years old, put under Gobber's eye to keep him out of trouble.

"Stop trying to bribe me, you brat." Gobber cuffed him upside the back of his head with a grin. Both Hiccup and Astrid laughed, even if the Night Fury gave Gobber a glare. "Now g'wan. Get out of here before you're seen."

"Yeah, yeah." Astrid rolled her eyes and stood up on her toes to give Gobber a quick fond kiss on the cheek. "We'll see you later, one way or another." She informed him matter of factly before putting her helmet back on and climbing on top of her dragon, settling the veil around her shoulders.

"Take care of yourself." Hiccup clasped Gobber's hand, then pulled the larger smith in for a back thumping hug before releasing him. "And say ‘hi’ to Grump for me, wherever he's snoozing at."

"Will do." Gobber agreed blithely. "Stay safe, all of you."

The Night Fury let out a warble as if to say that it was his job to keep them all safe as Hiccup fastened the helmet back on his head, transforming back to the Dragon Master. The beast gave Stoick one last pointed look as Hiccup climbed in it's back, before turning and heading out of the smithy, both the dragons and their riders losing their relaxed easy going postures.

Astrid followed a few heartbeats later, following Hiccup's soft whistle. There was the sound of wingbeats, and then they were gone.

Leaving the smithy empty aside from Gobber and Stoick. It was with a sinking realisation that he realised he probably wouldn’t get another chance to ever see Hiccup again.

The Dragon Master was essentially Chieftain to the dragons, a role that clearly kept him busy and constantly travelling all over the archipelago and beyond. Stoick knew first hand how busy having a newborn kept one as well. It would be months, if not another year before Hiccup would free to visit Berk. And there would be no way for Stoick to know where or when.

Gobber gave a great big heaving sigh before turning back towards Stoick, his peg leg sounding loud against the ground. Gobber moved the curtain aside, and then knelt down, removing the gag from Stoick's mouth.

"I'm sorry y'had to find out this way." Gobber said softly, and the thing that hurt the most is that he could feel how sincerely his oldest friend meant it.

"How long?" Stoick asked, ignoring the way his voice broke.

Gobber gave a thoughtful hum, reaching up and petting the dragon on top of him. "Almost two years now." He finally said. "I recognized Hiccup's work on the blade the Dragon Master gave Astrid when he returned ya both here. Astrid had suspected as much, it just confirmed it for her."

He'd travelled with his son for an entire day, and Stoick hadn't a clue it was him.

Stoick, who had sworn that he'd be able to recognize his son anywhere, any time, in any place.

Horror went down his spine as he remembered the accusations he'd hurled at the Dragon Master after the dragon had crashed into their camp. Threatening to kill the Dragon Master in order to find his son.

His son, who had been right there. Who had told him while hidden behind a mask, that Hiccup was alive, healthy and happy where he was, far away from Berk.

Away from Stoick.

"About a month after Astrid left, she stopped by for a visit, ta let me know she was fine." Gobber continued, nudging the dragon off of Stoick. The giant creature grumbled as it slowly obeyed, leaving Stoick still shackled and on the ground. "The next visit, she brought Hiccup, and we cried together for nearly an hour."

Gobber paused, checking his pockets for his keys, then started to work on the manacles around Stoick's arms. Stoick had broken through stronger bonds before, but he didn't have the energy in him now.

"They stop by every every other month or so to check in on me, let me know how they're doing, or send a Terrible Terror with a letter." Gobber continued quietly. "Valka's been by once as well, weren't real comfortable here and left just as quick. Too many memories of blood shed."

The manacles released with a click, and Stoick slowly moved his arms, his shoulders protesting having been twisted in such a position. He carefully sat up, turning to face the monster that had been on his back.

And found himself looking at the least dangerous dragon he'd ever set eyes upon, for all its enormous size. It was large enough that it had probably only been it's head that had been resting on Stoick's back, and looked like it was already asleep with its eyes half open.

And it looked like a giant turd. Large, brown, and lumpy.

"This magnificent fellow is Grump." Gobber motioned to the sleepy dragon, with a fond expression. "They left him with me for back up, and so I have a way to meet up with them some time. He's been running the forge fires for me. Never realised how helpful having a dragon in the smithy could be before Hiccup mentioned it, even if the great lump sleeps most of the time."

Grump slowly turned an eye in Gobber's direction, thick club of a tail bouncing a few times as if realising that they were talking about him. He briefly wondered how many months the dragon had been sleeping here and no one had even suspected.

Stoick felt as if everything he had believed in had suddenly been turned upside down and shaken about. Dragons possibly weren't evil. His son was alive. He had a grandchild on the way. Hiccup was the Dragon Master.

"Is he happy?" Stoick asked, mindful of the tears still on his cheeks. "Hiccup?"

Gobber thought it over. "Aye." He finally said, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. "The lad weren't never made for being a Viking. Living amongst the dragons brings him not only comfort, but joy. Astrid and Valka too. Once you've earned a dragon's loyalty, there ain't much that can break it. And the three of them fit among them like they were born for it."

Stoick nodded. "And you?"

"Me?" Gobber looked surprised at the question.

"Will you be joining them?" He had the invitation and the dragon.

Gobber hesitated, looking at the slumbering dragon. "I'd like to." He finally admitted. "Some day. But not any time soon."

Because he was staying here, for Stoick's sake. He'd told Hiccup that clearly enough.

Gobber was his oldest and dearest friend, loyal to a fault, and Stoick couldn't blame him for keeping HIccup's secrets. Not when Stoick's reaction to meeting the Dragon Master hadn’t been nearly so generous, even as he realised that the Dragon Master was only trying to help in his own way.

"You should join them." Stoick said, rising to his feet. Gobber looked like he wanted to protest, and Stoick stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "When you're ready."

Gobber closed his mouth and nodded. Stoick nodded back, then walked out of the smithy. The cold air hit the tear tracks on his cheeks, and he ignored it, trudging up the hill to his cold empty hut.

He had gotten his wish, to know that his son was not only alive, but thriving. Astrid too. And Valka as well, his wife living amongst dragons for nearly two decades now. He was so elated to know that they weren’t dead. 

Stoick wouldn't trade that knowledge for anything, not even with the understanding that the reason for their happiness was that they were living their lives far away from him.

-fin- (no, there are no plans for anything further in this au, but if it sparks something in you, feel free to play.)

#HTTYD #how to train your dragon #stoick the vast #gobber the belch #astrid hofferson #hiccup horrendous haddock iii #toothless #icka fic

[housamo-side-blog-2]

A FAMILIAR FACE PART 1

CONTINUEING!.

Harumo:Who was that guy?

That was the last question you muttered before falling asleep and dreaming about stuff, however, this time, its different your dreaming about the time where you’ve met that stranger when you were with Ryota at the shopping street, there you could see the stranger dressed with a black jacket and blue shorts,you thought you could finally see the stranger’s true face, however the image you’re being shown is only what your mind have captured and the stranger’s face appears black being covered by its hoodie, 

Harumo:Oh c’mon!, even here i couldn’t even see it.....Why am i so determined to see this person?

With your curiosity intact while asleep,you struggled to sleep as you move around in your bed making a lot of creaking noises while the night passes by hopefully those noises won’t wake up anybody, 

{NEXT DAY}

Its another day at Shinjuku Academy, the place where both transients and students of Tokyo are educated and taken care off, The summoners are in Class E chatting like the usual friends they and Kengo being shouted by Shiro for sitting on top of table,Ryota tells the others about what they did back at the shopping street of Shinjuku Park and you happen to have just arrived.

Harumo: Morning Guys!

Shiro: Good Morning Harumo, you look well today.

Kengo: How you doin partner.

Moritaka: Good Morning to you too Harumo, 

Ryota: Morning Harumo!.

Toji: Good Morning to you too.

Harumo: Looks like i made it in time for the first time guys.

Shiro: Indeed, did you have a good sleep?

Harumo: Nope!, I couldn’t stop thinking about that stranger yesterday.

Kengo: What,did you guys fought or something?

Ryota: Oh yeah! When we were running in the shopping street, i accidentaly bump into someone, 

Moritaka: I see, It appears you are not hurt Ryota.

Ryota: Nah, im fit as a feedle,its a good thing it wasn;t that serious.

Shiro: Im glad to hear that, but next time be careful when go running around in crowded areas.

Kengo: You know, your starting to sound like my mom, 

Shiro: i think you mean as a responsible adult. 

Kengo:*mutter* A boring one to be honest.

Shiro: What was that?!

Ryota: Anyway, Guys!, you have got to try Ebisu’s rainbow buns,they are the best buns you could have ever tasted!

Moritaka:Who’s Ebisu?

Ryota: Oh, He’s one of the stall vendors at shopping district, Harumo is actually friends with him. Man you guys were missing out on the deliciousness those buns where giving.

Moritaka: For Ryota to praise someone’s pastry so much, must mean that those Rainbow Buns must be really delicious.. maybe I’ll join you today,is that okay Ryota? 

Ryota:Yay!, Moritaka is coming! Always,the more the merrier they say, how about that Harumo?

Harumo: With the two of you,its going to get really fun.

Moritaka:Im grateful for you acceptance. 

Ryota: How about you guys? wanna come along?

Shiro:Im terribly sorry,I have after school cooking classes today, maybe next time then.

Kengo:No can do Ryota, i have an important sparring match today.

Toji: I also can’t come as well, because, i was tasked to guard the shrine today. My apologies.

 Harumo; AWWW, I really want to spend time with you all.

Shiro; Im terribly sorry, I’ll be sure to come with you next time.

Kengo:Yeah me too.

Toji; Maybe next time then.

Ryota:All right then, its just going to be the three of us.

Harumo and Moritaka:Yeah!

Three of you are going to be hanging today and Mr Jinn has finally arrived and is now about to start his class and the next class and so. Yup a normal school day, You go on with your studies,unknowing about the events that are going to happen.

[After 6 hours}

[SCHOOL BELL RINGS}

Class has finally ended, you’ve finally have some room to stretch your arms from the long period of sitting on your chair, 

Harumo: Ah, my shoulders are starting to get tense,

Ryota:Yay!, im so excited to go the shopping area again, are you excited Moritaka?

Moritaka:Well, off course, nothing is much more excitable than going out with your friends. 

Shiro: I have to go the economics room for my cooking class, see you later everyone.

Kengo: Man, all that sitting around made my shoulders hurt, gotta get some warm up then, see ya.

Toji: I’ll be leaving now, Good luck!

Harumo: See you later Guys!.

Ryota:Okay guys lets meet up infront of the school after we put in our bags at the dorms.

Moritaka:All right Ryota, I’ll see you two later then,

Harumo: See you guys later!

{Dorm Room}

You’ve arrived at your dorm room, put down your bag at the side and took a quick lie down on your bed facing the ceiling, you reminence about whether you are going to meet that stranger again. caught up in your thoughts your butler make his entrance.

{Ring flashes}

Lil Salomon: Hello Master!, Oh,you seem to be lost in thought. 

Harumo: Yeah, i keep on thinking about that that guy we met.

Lil Salomon: You mean the stranger that you and Ryota met at the shopping area?

Harumo: Yes.

Lil Salomon: Hmm, laying down won’t do anything Master, C’mon your friends are probably waiting for you.

Harumo: Oh, yeah thanks for reminding me. 

Lil Salomon: Thats my job as your butler Master,toodles.

You changed your clothes and wore casual clothes and went towards Shinuku Park where your supposed to be meeting, 

{BLACK SCREEN}

[DARK ALLEY}

The dark alley”s of Shinjuku is the favorite meeting spot of several criminals whether its transactions or  place to hang out, In one the alleies is one particular transient that is one to feared off, He is a guy of great strength, heartless intent, and a cold one. is seen laying down on a beaten couch snoring loudly, 

Once a comfy slumber, now turn into a hellish reality to him, as a bunch of strangers not knowing the danger they’re waiking towards.

Thug: Hey idiot, this is our turf! get lost!

Stranger:*Snoring* 

Thug 2: Looks like this runt needs a wake up call.

Thug 3: Heh, How about we bash his head on then.

The trio of idiots did not know who they were messing with as they laugh at the sleeping stranger with the intent to put him in slumber forever....

However....

Stranger: Hey,...... Thanks for the suggestion.

 Thug 1: What the......

The thug quickly had his head smacked on the stone floor, with the sudden emergence of the stranger now with a malicious grin, the other thugs could only watched in surprise as they could not register what just transpired infront of them. With a blink of an eye the other thug who was beside had his entire body thrown in the garbage pile,

Thug 3: H-hey..wHAT the hell is happening!? ,who are you?..

Panicked and fearing for what the stranger is going to do to him,a cold voice whispered to his ear and soon after, the unlucky guy ,was flung towards at a wall knocked out.

Stranger: Psst, Pathethic,man they really ruined my sleep,*yawn* it was getting good. 

Not soon after his stomach released a rumbling sound.

Stranger: I haven’t eaten in a while, maybe i should go get something from the shopping area at the Park. 

{END OF SCENE}

{Outside area of Shinjuku Park} 

You have arrived at a traffic stop and across it is your destination, Shinjuku Park, hom your friends are currently waiting for you at the food area, you are waiting for the traffic light to turn green as you wait the timer on it decreases over time, 

Harumo: What the...

You see an orange cat infront of you, when suddenly..

Harumo: Im not gonna make it...

You hurried towards the cat,that is about to be run over by a truck, everything turned slow as you see the truck getting closer and you aren’t even close to saving the poor creature from its painful death,

 A shadow appeared fast infront of you and saved the cat infront of you,however as soon as you get your bearings back,you only saw a cat running towards you,even though you didn’t save it in time,but the worked of a mysterious stranger who’s movements are so fast they appear to be inhuman.

Harumo: What...just happened? 

You realized, that was the same stranger from before and just disappeared infront of you. went on to search for him and looking left and right for him but you only see passerbies.

Harumo: What the....Where did he go? 

To no signs of him everywhere,you went on with your day and made it towards your destination.

{Shinjuku Park}

Ryota and Moritaka are sitting a bench constantly waiting for their friend to arrived and Ryota”s stomach is starting to rumble fom all the waiting and constant seeing the food placed on the passerby’s hands with its smell wafting through the air.

Harumo: Sorry guys! im late.

Ryota: You’ve made it!

Moritaka: There you are.

Ryota: Im so hungry, and seeing everyone with delicious food in their hands makes me drool.

Moritaka: Holy cow! Ryota i didn’t even notice the drool on the bench!

Ryota: That just means im very hungry, C’mon lets go.

Harumo: Right with you.

Ryota quickly dashes towards the shopping area and starts looking at the delicious food they have in stock,one by one,Ryota dashes from one store to another with inhuman speed like he isn’t affected by his hunger a moment ago. 

Moritaka: Ryota, would you please slow down?, you’re dashing everywhere.

Ryota: Heheh, sorry,...Oh,how about we go to Ebisu’s shop, i think they should be open right about now. Lets go.

Harumo: Woah! slow down, you don’t want to bump into someone again don’t you?.

Ryota: Oh yeah, sorry, Lets waik then.

Moritaka: I could never figure out,how much energy Ryota has.

{Ebisu”s stall}

Ebisu: Hi guys, its so nice to see you two again.

Harumo: HI Ebisu, 

Ryota: Heya Ebisu, I would like you to meet my friend Moritaka here.

Moritaka: Its an honor to meet you Ebisu, my name is Moritaka Shino Inuzuka i hope we could be great friends.

Ebisu: Nice to meet you Moritaka, Im Ebisu im one of the Seven Lucky Gods.

Ryota: Wait, you’re a God? 

Moritaka: Holy smokes, to think im actually meeting a God!

Ebisu: Uhm, guys.... i just inherited the memories of one of the seven luckly Gods.

Ryota: Thats still a big deal.

Ebisu: It really isn’t. ....Anyway what are you buying?

Ryota: 10 rainbow buns please!.

Moritaka: My word Ryota!, are you really eating that much?

Ryota: Don’t worry I’ll share with you guys.

Ebisu: Comin right up. Please wait a moment a please.

As you wait patiently for Ebisu’s rainbow buns, you look around the area and see a lot of people comin in and out of the area and buying delicious food, everyone in the vicinity is either seen eating takoyaki, holding a lot of bags full of food,Ryota’s nose is moving like a hound on a hunt for prey as he faces a stall with delicious fried chicken and another stall with squid on a stick.All of this different kinds of cuisine is seen one place as the smells of different foods mixed together wafting the air you currently breath and could not help but tingle your taste buds even you aren’t tasting anything, the smell alone is enough to make Ryota drool.

Moritaka: So..Many different smells coming into my nose, ,,Ahh im practicly drooling over the scents.

Ryota: I know right, we’re going to try every last one of them.

Harumo: Lets hope we brought enough money for it. 

Ebisu: All right 10 rainbow buns, order up! 

Ryota: OOOHHH! It smells so delicous Ebisu, 

Ebisu: Hehehe, Thanks for coming by, hope you come back again.

Harumo: Im going to miss you Ebisu.

Ebisu: Eh, Uhm Im going to miss you too Harumo.

Ryota: See you later Ebisu!

Moritaka: I hope we could meet again someday Ebisu, bye bye.

Ebisu: See you later Ryota! i also hope to see you again Moritaka, bye bye

Waving at Ebisu and waiking around while eating the delicous rainbow buns Ryota bought, Moritaka could not help but be in aww about how delicious it was. 

Moritaka: This rainbow buns are really delicious especially the green one. It taste like tea.

Ryota: Yeah, here,try this orange one, i bet it taste just like oranges or peaches.

Moritaka: *chewing sound* Mmmm, It taste exactly like oranges, here would like to taste it also Harumo?

Harumo: Only if you feed it to me.

Moritaka: Oh, okay then,, say ahh.

Harumo:Ahhhh * chewing sound*.........MMMMM it taste just like oranges, this is delicous.

Ryota: I think i should have a go with this white one. 

Moritaka: What do you think it would taste like? 

Ryota: One way to find out, Itadikimasu! * chewing sound*

Ryota swallows the bun and takes a second of silence, 

Harumo: Uhm...Ryota? 

Moritaka: Ryo-

Ryota: ITS DELICIOUS! 

Moritaka: Ahh, Ryota you surprised me, What did it taste like.

Ryota: Its White chocolate, and its so creamy!

Harumo: Really?!, Can i try it? 

Ryota: Sure, here you go. 

Harumo: All right down the hatch you g-

{SCREAM]

As you are about to enter a world of flavor, you were interrupted by a sudden scream from a woman, and quickly hurried over to check it out. 

Moritaka: There! 

Harumo: Hey stop!

You discovered a blue bearlike transient with a knife on its hands and threatening someone,  and when they saw you and Moritaka with a sword on his back, the robber immediately turns to take the poor lady hostage. 

Robber: Now you stay back!, Or else i’ll cut her throat out!.

Ryota: *gasping for air* hey guys i made it and Whoah! 

Harumo: You better stop this right now! 

Robber: Oh, how about make me then punk! 

Moritaka who was about to draw out his blade, noticed by the robber he immediately step back with the hostage using her as a human shield, The people behind him are steping back as they fear it could only worsen the situation. confident in his ploy, the robber tries to demand money from eveyone,    

Unfortunately with his head turned around and not noticing the chubby guy infront of him, 

Harumo: Take this! 

With no hesitation, you runned towards the robber and did a powerful punch to his face, all the barehand training you recieved from Kengo seems to be quite useful in this types of situations, the robber startled and confused from the blow lost grip from his prey.

Robber: Tha,,,,darn kid! 

He angrily tries to flee as you chase him,seemingly unable to grab him,one person appeared out of nowhere and suddenly knee kick the robber to the stomach and with the sheer force from his attack,the robber could not be atleast 10 meters away. 

Harumo: What the.. this speed...i’ve seen it before.

You’ve met face to face with the stranger from before and it appears his also the one whom you have met the other the day, Yes, the mysterious stranger whom you have met with Ryota the other day. has now appeared infront of you again and this time,Ryota didn’t bump him. 

Stranger: Really doesn’t know what the consequences are. 

Harumo: Wait! you’re that guy from before.

Stranger: Huh, who the hell are you supposed t- What the hell!

Harumo: Huh?

The stranger who was wearing the same black hoodie as before and its covering his face and its shocked to see you as if he saw something phenomenal. 

Stranger: Why do you?

Harumo: Do i know you from somewhere?

Stranger: Thats my question, Who the hell are you? 

Harumo: I ask you first. 

Stranger: Heh, well if you wanna know then....*shows his face*

Harumo: What the.....Why do you

Stranger: My name is.........

Reitan

Everything felt silent to you as you processed the image your eyes are sending to you as you couldn’t believe the person infront of you. 

Harumo: Why do you....Look like me?

#housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #mc5 #ryota #moritaka #*ebisu #familiar face #story #fanfiction #part 1

[queen-of-bel]

Oh jeez, I just realized I never wrote up my thoughts on Demon’s Souls so...

Okay, I gotta first start off by saying that I’ve only done one playthrough, I’m planning on replaying once I finish Dark Souls, so I’m sure my thoughts will change some once I do another playthrough.

That being said~

Overall, the game is fantastic. Absolutely loved the atmosphere, the music, and just the general vibes this game gave off. 

The one thing I don’t feel qualified to comment on is the gameplay. I emulated the game on my PC, and my rom was... fucky, to say the least. Bosses spamming AOE or lunge attacks, enemies suddenly being granted teleportation abilities... I honestly wouldn’t have even known that these were bugs if I didn’t have friends telling me otherwise. Whatever my experience is, it is apparently atypical of how the game is supposed to be so... Oh well. I still had a fun time.

My world order was absolutely bonkers according to... literally everyone. I did Stonefang, Boletaria, Latria, Valley of Defilement, and then Shrine of Storms. I was really stubborn and didn’t want to move onto another world until I finished Boletaria, so...

So many designs absolutely fucked. The fat officials are absolutely amazing and that’s not a design I will forget any time soon. That design just screams gluttony and wealth. The shiny gold accents, the smooth plated face-- like this feels like someone who has been corrupted by greed through and through. Seeing him at the top of the stairs during the Tower Knight fight? You get huge “head honcho” vibes; someone who thinks he's above it all, and makes his underlings do the work for him.

Characters were great. Yuria and Biorr (rest in peace, brave soldier) were my faves (altho I may have come to be very fond of Ostrava if, you know, he survived...). Yurt and Patches were also cool, but in a “yeah you’re a neat character, but I will toss your lifeless corpse over a cliff” kinda way. Yurt dropped some absolutely sick armor, though. Whereas Patches only dropped... I don’t even remember what. Something useless.

In terms of areas, Latria was definitely my favorite. It was a great and eerie vibe, and I got to collect lots of friends :) Valley of Defilement was probably my least favorite. I really did not like the swamp area because I got lost so easily and moving so slowly just got... frustrating. That being said, Maiden Astraea was a heart-wrenching boss and I felt awful after that.

Valley of Defilement did, however, bring possibly the funniest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in a video game:

This fucked up little rat thing is an absolute mood.

Anyway, as it stands, Demon’s Souls is a solid 9/10. My guess is that this game will really shine with new game + playthroughs, so I’m anticipating the score to go up once I get around to the second playthrough.

#amelia plays demons souls

[noonaficcorner]

Rose-Colored Boy | Part Three

Paring: Mark Tuan | Reader

Genre/Rating: Friends to Lovers |  Fluff, Smut (later on), Slight Angst

Warning: Language

Summary: Working as a Nurse, Y/N's favorite pastime is getting lost in her favorite online game with her online gamer squad. After 2 years of online banter, Y/N finally gets the chance to get closer to and meet her online friend, Mark Tuan. With many things in common and the same twisted sense of humor, one thing still remains a mystery: Mark's career that causes him to constantly travel out of the country. Still, Y/N decides to take a chance on what could be more than just friendship and meets Mark for the first time. (New Summary thanks to a friend)

NOTES: So Sorry for the year later update! Writer’s block is terrible. But I’m feeling inspired so expect some more soon.

Part One // Part Two // Part Three

“You’re on your phone again? Careful, you’re going to end up needing bifocals.” Bora said as she completed her reports next to your desk. Bora was a first-year resident, and even though you were a nurse, you became friends when you were both going through your respective programs. 

You shrugged off her question and continued with your search. The internet was a blessing and a curse. It gave you everything you could have asked for, but also things you didn’t. 

It had been five days since you ran out of Mark’s apartment. It had been four days since you looked up GOT7. Three days since listening to their music. Two since watching their variety shows on YouTube. And yesterday, determined you have lost your mind. 

Finding out your online friend was actually an idol was every fangirls’ wet dream. However, it sent you into a state of panic and never-ending anxiety. You tried to recall every conversation you ever had with Mark, to pick out the lies or rather the omitted truths. By the fifth day, you could give Sherlock a run for his money with the amount of digging you’ve done. 

Just as you finished reading another interview Mark did with a magazine, his name flashed across your phone screen. This was the twenty-fifth call just today. He was averaging around forty calls and twenty text messages a day. Each one gone ignored until you figured out how to deal with the new information.

“Why don’t you just answer him? How bad is it that you have a celebrity friend? Pretty sure you’re no different than anyone he went to school with.” Bora took the seat next to you and tried to snatch the phone out of your hands. You had to eventually tell her what was going on when she kept suggesting you go to the clinic to get some sleeping pills since you looked like a walking zombie. You told her the whole story, from when you would talk in the game to when you basically ran from his apartment as if it was on fire. She thought you were crazy and that you should be excited to have met someone famous. 

What she said was true but you weren’t ready to handle that part. Could you really just throw caution to the wind and have a friendship with someone who was adored all over the world, but only a half-decent gamer, that you’ve known for two years? You started to question everything and that is what felt crappy. 

Two long years. Now knowing who Mark actually was, it made things more clear. Why he never wanted to say what he did for work. Why that “job” had him disappearing for weeks and months at a time. He could have been on tour or filming a music video. Some things checked out. He did have siblings, that he was from California, and had come here as a teenager. What he failed to mention was the reason he actually moved here. 

Your head hit the top of the reception desk, wishing for something to just whisk you away from this stress. 

“My biggest question in this craziness is, ‘why now?’ All of a sudden he just wants to start talking to you and meet up now? Isn’t that weird?” Bora questioned. Your head popped up to answer, but your mouth hung open, realizing that you didn’t have one. She was right. Why did things all of a sudden change? Things were going fine as an online friendship of when you’d kick his ass and laugh at each other’s mistakes.

Just as your mind started to travel down this new road of speculation, your phone vibrated in hand with an incoming text. 

Y/N. I just want to know you’re alive at least. I fucked up… but I still care.

You looked at the text over and over and before you could talk yourself out of it, a reply was typed in the box.

Why did things have to change?  The message turned blue with a press of your finger before you could overthink and erase what you asked. It wasn’t even a second before the typing dots were shown and you knew he was responding. 

I’d like to answer that question in person. But if you don’t want to meet, I understand. Can you answer my call at least? He pleaded. Before you could say yes or no, your phone was vibrating in your hands. Right when you were about to swipe right and decline the call, Bora snatched the phone from your hands and accepted.

“Bor!” you yelled, but all she did was press the phone to your cheek and got up to run off, leaving you with a voice coming through the receiver. 

“Hello? Y/N? Are you there?” Mark had a slightly worried tone in his voice. 

“Uh, hi?” you didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but at least you answered, right?

“Hi… I’m so sorry. I fucked up and I want to make it right. I didn’t mean for you to find out the way you did, but you have to believe me when I say I was going to tell you. It was never my intention to lie, I just didn’t know how to explain that part of my life. And when Yugyeom…”

“Mark. Breathe.” You interrupted his word vomit and rolled your chair into the corner so you could have some kind of privacy. You could hear him take a deep breath through the phone, but he didn’t continue speaking, ultimately waiting for you.

“I… I can’t say it doesn’t matter that you’re an id… singer. But what bothers me the most is that on some level you felt like you couldn’t even tell me. Granted, we talked mostly about gaming and pet dogs and random things we saw on youtube, but I think we became a little more than random strangers.” It was your turn for word vomit and all you wanted to do is run away from everything,

“You are. You’re definitely more than just a stranger to me. I just didn’t know how to bring both parts of my life together.” his voice sounded heavy with remorse. Part of you wanted to crack a joke to make the sad tone in his voice disappear but if things were awkward before, they were tripled now. 

When you didn’t respond, Mark sighed through the receiver and asked, “Is there any way that we can meet so I can explain everything?” 

You were still trying to process all of the things and somehow your mouth decided it was now independent from the rest of your mind and the word yes flowed out. Immediately you covered the traitor as Mark sounded relieved on the other end. 

“Really? Tha-thanks. I can meet you or you can come over to the house. I can make sure we will have no interruptions this time as I just explain everything. Whatever works best for you.”

What surprised you as your hand continued to cover your mouth, was the scene that played out in your mind. Meeting Mark at some cafe as he pulled down his mask and a hoard of people swarmed around the two of you, wanting to get a piece of him. You go to protect him and then you’re knocked out with an ahgabong and Mark will be whisked away like a sacrificial lamb and they will put him on some shrine after shaving his head. 

“Yourplaceisfine.” you rushed out, shaking that horrific vision from your mind. Never again will you go down the hole that is KPOP fandom, it’s a scary place. 

“Thank you, y/n. I really am sorry for everything.” the apology came out in almost a whisper and if you weren’t paying the utmost attention, you would have missed it. 

“Does noon work for you?” you asked, slight doubt in your voice. Now that you were aware of his career, you weren’t sure if you would be intruding on some important time.

“No, no. Noon is perfect. Remember how to get here? If not, I can text you the address.” His voice was shaky and it conflicted with the persona that you saw in the multiple videos of him on stage. He was confident when doing acrobatics and the raps that left his lips coated with swag. The duality fucked with your head a bit. 

“I remember. I… gotta get back to work. I’ll see you at noon tomorrow, Mark. Uh… bye?” without waiting for a response, you ended the call and slid out of your chair and crawled under the desk. If you could live under there like a troll, you would. Trying to beat down the anxiety that the phone call gave you was nothing compared to the boulder of worry you had about going back to his place. But you owed it to him and yourself to see this through. He had been your friend for 2 years. Maybe him being crazy famous wouldn’t change any of that history. Maybe...

#got7 #got7 mark tuan #mark tuan #got7 fic #got7 imagine #got7 scenarios #mark tuan imagine #got7 fluff #mark tuan fluff #got7 smut #mark tuan smut #friends to lovers #got7 x reader #mark tuan x reader #got7 mark x reader #got7 fanfiction #mark tuan fanfiction #kpop #kpop fluff #kpop smut #kpop angst #kpop fanfiction #kpop fanfic

[nxrthmizu]

Hi babie! Here for your event 👀 can I request a fluff with Daichi? 😩💜 my head has been FULL of this man. I see myself as a friendly person and I tend to be not awkward when talking to someone I’ve just met. You can also say that I have ambitions and clear goals of what I want my future to be like! But I have very low confidence level. It’s very hard to get my confidence up there but very easy for it to plummet down. Thank you for doing this babie! Congratulations again 💓💓

| Wishes and Takoyaki | Sawamura Daichi 

»»——⍟——««

prompt | #1- Snow 

pairing | Sawamura Daichi x Reader

words | 1.3k 

author’s note | Aww thank you Ana! Hope you enjoy this dose of childhood bestfriend!Daichi fluff~  

»»——⍟——««

[Year 2000] 

“Hello! Are you lost?” 

He looked up to meet your eyes, tinted yellow by the candles around the two of you. Snow had started to fall softly, gathering in clumps on his dark green beanie. The Snow Lights Festival was being held at Shojing Shrine, which sat atop a little hill. The path leading up was decorated with snow lanterns, which emitted a soft yellow glow amidst all the white. 

“Y-Yeah.” He answered shyly, rubbing his hands together. He had gotten separated from his parents due to the crowd a while ago. “My parents said to meet them at the top if I get lost.” 

You tilted your head at him, smiling. “I’m lost too! Let’s start walking up!” 

“But- But it’s so far away.” He complained, pouting. “I can’t walk that far.” 

“Sure you can!” You insisted fiercely. “Just think of the food at the top! If you make it up there you can eat! And you can make wishes on emas, too,” You added. “But most importantly there’s food at the top.” 

He hesitated. “Are you going up, too?” He asked hopefully. 

“Yeah!” You grinned. “I’m here with my sister. She said if I get lost I gotta meet her at the top, so let’s go together!” 

Nodding slightly, he took your outstretched hand, blushing a soft pink in contrast to all the white around the two of you. “Okay.” 

“Oh, my name’s L/N Y/N! You can call me Y/N.” 

He frowned. “But what about formalities?” 

“We’re friends, right?” You smiled widely. “Then you can call me Y/N.” 

“Oh... In that case, you can call me Daichi.” 

[Year 2001] 

“Daichi!” 

He turned around, smiling even before his eyes met yours. Your voice was instantly recognisable by him, the tone and note memorised right down to the last detail. “Hello, Y/N.” He replied. 

After last year’s festival, Daichi’s parents had acquired your older sister’s phone number so that the two of you could hangout and become better friends. You had spent countless days at Daichi’s place and could probably walk to his house blindfolded. 

“Let’s go!” You grinned, tugging at his hand. Daichi glanced back at his parents, who only nodded in approval, calling out to the two of you to be careful. He let himself get dragged up past the snow lanterns and up the slope towards the shrine, the memories of the year before fresh and renewed in his mind. 

“Wait here.” He told you, running off into the crowd as he left you by the side of a tall lamppost. You frowned in confusion but waited anyway, and he wasn’t gone long. In two minutes, he had returned with two wooden plaques in his hand. “Here’s yours.”

A beam slowly stretched across your lips as you realised what he had handed you- An ema, a little wooden plaque where you could write wishes on. “Thanks!” You smiled brightly, the two of you heading over to the station where pens were provided. Your sloppy, seven-year-old handwriting spelt your wish on the plaque- ‘I want a puppy and to be friends with Daichi forever’. 

You peered over his shoulder curiously. “What did you wish for?” He instantly repelled away from you, grabbing his shinto tightly in his palm. 

“You can’t do that!” He said indignantly. “It’s a secret.” 

You pouted. “Fine! Not like I wanted to know anyways.” 

[Year 2005] 

Before you knew it, it was the Snow Lights Festival again. The two of you had turned eleven as pages of the calendar flew past in a blur. Daichi had dropped his slightly shy nature and become a more confident pre-teen that exerted the slight aura of a leader. 

“Y/N!” He called out your name, a slight look of amusement on his face. “Were you lost?” He teased, having noticed how you had been wandering around aimlessly as you searched for your best friend, who you were supposed to meet at the shrine. 

“I was not.” You defended yourself, crossing your arms. 

He chuckled. “Sure, you weren’t. Where’s your sister?” He peered behind you, glancing around. “Isn’t she normally with you?” 

“She got asked out for a date.” You replied giddily, incredibly proud of your sister, who had been an awkward single young-adult for the past five years. 

“Oh.” 

A silence fell between the two of you. Daichi looked like there was something he wanted to say, but decided against it. “Well, I brought money to buy takoyaki. You hungry?” 

“Hungry or not, I’m always down for takoyaki.” 

[Year 2010, Current time] 

“Daichi! Sugawara! Asahi!” You grinned brightly as you spotted the trio. Junior high had came and left, and now you were halfway through senior high. Daichi had become a tall, broad-shouldered volleyball player that was greatly respected. His leader aura had only gotten stronger, giving him a reputation of being an incredibly reliable student.  

The grey-haired boy nudged your childhood bestfriend. “Asahi, I’m going to the toilet. Want to come?” 

“Err... Yes! Of course I want to come.” Asahi coughed awkwardly. “Y/N... We’ll see you guys at the shrine?” He offered, but was dragged off by Suga, who seemed very hasty to leave. 

You stared at Suga and Asahi’s retreating backs oddly. “Isn’t the toilet in the other direction?” 

Daichi seemed to choke on his saliva. “Um. Is it?” He laughed nervously. “Let’s... Go up first?” He suggested, gesturing to the slope that you had now become so familiarised with. 

“I’m going to get some takoyaki. You want some?” You offered, already reaching inside your bag for your wallet. 

“Go ahead, I’ll go buy us two emas’.” He smiled at you. “We’ll meet back here?” 

You gave him a wink. “You got it!” 

A few minutes later, the two of you met back under the lamppost, exchanging what you two had bought. “Here’s your ema.” He handed the wooden plaque to you, holding his own, an identical-looking one in his hand. 

“Thanks. Oh my gosh, it tastes so good when it’s still hot.” You moaned, feeling the warm takoyaki ball inside your mouth. “It’s so good!” 

He smiled in amusement. 

“Oh yeah, Suga and Asahi sure are taking a long time in the toilet, huh?” You brought up, feeling suspicious. What were those two doing in the toilet??? (Asasuga??? wink wink) 

He coughed. “Um. Maybe we should go write our wishes first?” 

The two of you crouched by the pen station, writing down your respective wishes. You wished for good grades and an uneventful year, plus good luck for Daichi, Suga, and Asahi’s volleyball team. Daichi tucked his inside his coat pocket as soon as he was done writing, being very discreet and suspicious about the whole thing. 

“There’s no more space!” You grunted in frustration, trying to squeeze your ema onto the fence provided to hang the plaques. 

Daichi chuckled, taking your plaque from you. “There’s space at the top.” He reached up, easily tying it on one of the higher bars. “There. Okay, um. I need to tell you something.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “If you make a remark about my height, Daichi, I will slap you.” You warned playfully. 

“No! It’s not about that.” He laughed, a blush colouring his cheeks. “Okay, um. Remember the ema I hung up when we were seven?” 

You scratched your mind for the memory. “Oh yeah! The one you wouldn’t let me see.” 

“Yeah, well. About... What I wrote.” He coughed nervously, rubbing his arm restlessly. “I- I wrote that I wanted to be friends with you forever.” 

You cooed. “Aww!” That’s what I wished for, too. Guess the wishes do come true, huh. 

“The thing is, I want to take that back.” You must’ve looked panicked, because he rushed to reassure you. “No! Not like that. I... Don’t just want to be your friend.” He explained awkwardly. 

The two of you paused for a moment until an old lady coughed, the two of you apologising in embarrassment and moving out of the way so other people could hang their emas. 

“Oh.” You replied softly. 

“So...?” Daichi prompted. “You can say no, it’s fine, really. I just... Wanted to shoot my shot.” 

You giggled. “Then maybe we should get another ema.” 

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What? Why?” 

“So I can wish for us to be together forever.” 

»»——⍟——««

[Haikyuu!! Light Festival]

Here you go Ana! I hope it’s satisfactory~ 

Also I googled Asahi x Suga and apparently it’s a thing- 

»»——⍟——««

#daichi sawamura #sawamura daichi #haikyuu!! #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu!! x reader fluff #haikyuu!! fluff #sawamura daichi fluff #sawamura daichi x reader #daichi x reader #karasuno #karasuno x reader #childhood bestfriend! daichi #sawamura daichi x y/n #cadyh2o #cady writesss « #cady's requests #haikyuu!! light festival

[littlemisslol-fic]

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules) for Varian and Hugo? I just want dumb boys doing dumb things together,,,, UggHhHH

Hey anon!! Thanks for the ask! I merged both of these into one story, but it’s basically a full fledged oneshot by now so oops. Have some modern-day-au-varigo!!

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules)

“We’re going to get into so much trouble…” 

Hugo looks at him like he’s lost his mind.

“What’s wrong, goggles?” The blond laughs, “Scared?”

Varian bristles at the taunt, scowling. He shifts awkwardly- his shoes scuff the dirt in a way that only accents how stressed out he feels. The forest around them sings with birdsong, the rustle of trees in the wind, and the gentle snip-snip of Hugo’s wire cutters. The moon shines down on them, full and bright, a hole punched in the middle of the sky surrounded with starry shrapnel. 

Varian’s hoodie- Hugo’s hoodie that he’d stolen, actually, not that he’d admit it- is soft and warm around him, the green fabric surrounding him like a hug. Hugo grins like an animal, and turns back to the fence in front of them. Varian watches with apprehension as Hugo snips away at it, chopping an ugly, but functional entrance.

“I’m not scared.” Varian finally mutters, shifting his weight again. The late August air is still warm, but starting to cool the closer they get to midnight. “I’m just… concerned.” 

“Sure, Var,” Hugo laughs, sticking out his tongue as he snips at the last of the fence. “Keep telling yourself that.” 

Varian scowls again, flushing. The woods around them are dark, but Varian isn’t concerned about that- he grew up here in the small town of Old Corona, after all, he knew these woods like the back of his hand- no, what scares him is the idea of getting caught. 

“Seriously, Hugo, if we get caught my dad’s gunna-”

“Flip out?” Hugo blows a lock of blond hair out of his face as he snips at the last of the wire. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re not going to get caught.”

Varian grits his teeth. Hugo, content with snipping the final chunk of fence, stands back up and shoves the wire cutters in his backpack. With a rough kick- Varian cringes at the noise, blue eyes scanning the treeline frantically- Hugo’s perfectly cut square goes flying away from the fence, leaving a doorway chopped out of the wire.

“See, easy.” Hugo grins. Varian scoffs, but when the blond offers him a hand he takes it. Hugo leads him through the hole in the fence and Varian follows with a grumble; as much as he’s bitching he’s curious about what exactly his boyfriend is up to. Hugo was nothing if not spontaneous, showing up at Varian’s house at nearly eleven at night and dragging him through the woods towards one of the only dangerous places in Old Corona.

The old fairgrounds, while only recently abandoned, had been locked tight for two years. Varian can’t help but look around in awe, seeing the way that the rusting metal and cracked concrete are slowly being overtaken by nature once again. It’s dark, the kind of inky black you can’t see inside the city, the kind that makes the milky way above so vibrant and bright in comparison- like a river of stars snaking across the night sky.

Varian can’t help but stop, just looking up and into the sky. Hugo pauses, grinning and letting him stare. Varian doesn’t get out much- not with his usual obligations as the mayor’s son- and these are the kinds of things he missed while growing up… the kind of things that Hugo is nothing but glad to show him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Varian hears Hugo ask him. He nods, dumbstruck, but when he looks at his boyfriend- Hugo isn’t looking at the sky. He’s staring Varian dead in the eye. He feels his face grow hot- he must be a shocking colour of red by now- but Hugo doesn’t make mention of it. Instead he holds out an arm, an offering that Varian gladly takes. He worms his way into Hugo’s side, delighting as a strong arm wraps around his shoulders and pulls him close. 

The old fairgrounds are the kind of quiet that sinks deep in your chest. Not that they’re silent- Varian can hear the chirping of crickets and the creaky whine of metal swings as they pass a swing ride- a large tower with a round disk at the top, nearly a hundred swings hanging from rusty chains. When the wind blows they swing along in soft, meandering arcs. Out here, nearly in the country, the quiet is something that seems sacred. The kind of silence reserved for graveyards and churches, shrines and memorials. It feels immoral to break it, so they don’t.

Hugo leads Varian up to a large roller coaster, the wooden frame still nearly perfect. Varian looks at it with apprehension, digging the heels of his hightops into the cracked concrete as Hugo begins to tug him forward.

“We’re not going up there.” Varian declares, “I don’t have a deathwish, and neither did you last time I checked.” 

“Relax goggles.” Hugo grins, “I was up there earlier this afternoon, checked it myself. It’s sturdy. We gotta hurry though, or we’re going to miss it!”

Hugo spins on his heel and hops the metal turnstile, not looking back. Varian scowls, following despite himself. Hugo knows him too well- knows that Varian would follow him to the ends of the earth if Hugo asked it of him. They draw close to the base of the coaster, shuffling up on top of a series of boxes left behind by previous explorers- or maybe Hugo himself that afternoon, apparently. Varian can’t help but scowl… what did his boyfriend even get up to while Varian wasn’t keeping track of him? Risking life and limb to climb unstable ruins, apparently. 

Hugo begins to scale the main hill of the coaster, the path easy as on the left side is a set of metal stairs for maintenance. Varian follows, his hand firmly planted on the railing as they climb higher. 

“Are you just leading me up there to murder me?” Varian calls, shuddering as the wind picks up a little as they reach about halfway up. The hill’s nearly five stories high, easily the tallest attraction in the abandoned park. Varian can almost see the tops of the trees from here. 

“Why would I take you all the way up here?” Hugo asks, turning around and smirking at him. “If I wanted you dead I would have killed you on ground level.” 

“I… that’s not assuring!” Varian gripes, “If anything that makes this worse!” 

Hugo, the bastard, laughs.

“You don’t like bullshit.” Hugo says, and Varian can’t help but melt. Hugo turns around and keeps climbing, his boots making little thunk-thunks on the aging metal. Varian scrambles up after him, breathing in the wind as they finally reach the top. Hugo had been telling the truth, it seems, as there’s already a small setup at the very peak of the arch.

Two small camp chairs, a blue cooler in between, all precariously balanced on a small flat space at the very top. Varian assumes it was once for maintenance, like the stairs; a cluster of blankets hanging from two long flagpoles attached to the safety rails make a little roof, and when Hugo hits a little battery back a series of string lights flick on in a rainbow glow. Hugo crawls down into the little fort, looking back and smiling. Not his usual smirk, but an honest-to-god smile.

Varian can’t help but fall a little more in love. 

He crawls in after Hugo, laughing as they get tangled up for a second. For a second they become a flailing cluster of arms and legs, giggling like children as they trip over each other. Varian gets an elbow to the gut and grunts- Hugo’s arms are suddenly wrapping around his waist. 

“Sorry, sorry,” The blond snickers, “Didn’t account for your stupid legs-”

“What, you just want me to leave them behind next time?” Varian groans, resting up against Hugo’s side with a sigh. Hugo’s warm and solid as Varian leans into him- settles under Hugo’s arm like he belongs there, sinks into the heat of the other’s body, curls into the embrace like he was made for it.

Hugo’s chin settles on his head, and Varian smiles softly to himself. 

With Hugo’s back propped up against the pole, they both face out over the forest. In the distance, Old Corona glows with street lamps and houses and cars. Above them, the stars shine just as brightly, if not moreso. Varian smells pine and something distinctly Hugo- breathes it in and lets it settle deep in his chest like a balm. 

Hugo’s arms tighten around his waist, the two of them looking out towards the distant light of home. Varian feels at peace, the gentle waves of tranquil silence and soft lights from their little makeshift tent soothing the ails of day.

And then, just as Varian’s getting used to the relaxation-

Pop-pop, pop pop pop-pop-pop-

Fireworks scatter across the sky in a rainbow of light and colour, vivid oranges and blues and purples glowing across the inky sky like a scattering of magic. Varian’s eyes go wide, watching with a childlike glee as they fizzle and spark. Hugo’s hold on him gets a little closer as Varian shifts, as if the blond’s scared he’s going to pull away-

“Did you know about this?” Varian asks him, turning in his arms. He can see the reflection of colour in the lenses of Hugo’s glasses- and in the warm look in those green eyes.

“Sure I did.” Hugo says, “I know a guy who knew a guy.” 

Varian snorts, refusing to look away. Hugo’s trying to play this off- of course he is- but Varian knows that he’d probably been planning this for a while. He feels his heart start to thump at the thought, that Hugo had set all this up, had thought of doing all of this for Varian-

He grabs Hugo by the strings of his hoodie and pulls him into a kiss. Hugo smiles into it, leaning into it and pulling Varian close. They kiss for what feels like hours and seconds, Varian can’t tell, before they break. They both breathe a little heavily, gasping for air a mere few inches from another kiss.

“I love you, goggles.” Hugo whispers, like a prayer.

“I love you too,” Varian murmurs, lost to the moment. 

When they meet again, Varian can’t help but smile.  

#varigo #varian #tts #asks #fic #these are fun!!! #sorry it took a bit anon #love you!! hope you see this!!

[belladxne]

i will see you where the shadow ends | chapter 4

[see notes for ao3 and ff links]

part of the put your faith in the light that you cannot see series AU: Breath of the Wild pairing: KiriBaku word count: 5,133

chapter 4: there’s a fog from the past that’s giving me, giving me such a headache

When Eijiro starfishes on the ground at the bottom of the tower, it’s not long before Inko’s leaning down over him, watching him with a fond expression. She’s content to chat with him like that for a minute or so while he gets his bearings, and when he gives an abridged, glossed-over summary of how atrocious fast travel was, she insists that if he lost his lunch he’ll just have to let her cook him a big dinner to make up for it.

“Well, if you’re gonna twist my arm about it,” he laughs gently, though he’s getting a little worried about overexerting her hospitality.

They agree again that it’s only fair he should help gather enough food for their dinner, and he figures it can’t set him back too much to hunt and forage a bit before heading for the nearest shrine. That decided, he dusts himself off from where he’d been slumped on the ground, and makes for the Forest of Spirits.

That’s where Eijiro meets his first Korok.

The little guy almost gives him a heart attack, too—Eijiro’s climbed an odd stone formation in the middle of the forest, hoping for a vantage point to hunt from, and is slightly puzzled by a large rock just… sitting there. It’s kind of huge, maybe bigger than his torso, but not quite big enough to make a good perch, so he doesn’t want to stumble over it while he’s focused on aiming his bow.

He heaves it over his head, just planning to heft it out of his way, when all of a sudden a triumphant little trumpet sounds and Eijiro drops the stone in alarm at an explosion of fairy lights in front of him. He barely hardens the dragonscales on his head fast enough to avoid concussing himself.

“Ya-ha-ha!” the forest spirit cheers, while Eijiro whines and rubs his head. “You found me!” The Korok bounces in absolute joy and utter delight for a moment, before suddenly tilting its head at him in apparent confusion. “Huh? You’re not Hestu!”

“Um,” Eijiro manages. The little spirit sounds so betrayed. “Sorry?”

“You can… see me?” the Korok asks next, apparently more concerned with this fact than with Eijiro’s apology. “I didn’t know your kind could see the children of the forest!”

“I… I guess I didn’t either?” Eijiro answers. It’s probably not strictly true—it’s more like the case of him being dragonblooded. He knows what a Korok is, recognizes one on sight—he’s probably seen them before? But he hasn’t thought about it at all, hadn’t even thought about their existence or the potentiality of meeting one, so he may as well have been blind to them before now.

“Wow!” the little plant cries, awed. Eijiro is glad to see that the betrayal has been left in the past. “You must be very special! Like the Deku Sprout!”

“Thanks?” Eijiro says, and it occurs to him that most of his contributions to this conversatiion have been in a confused and questioning tone. Might as well keep up the streak. “Um, and what is that exactly?” He feels like he should know. The term sounds familiar, like a mental sensation of a word being right on the tip of his tongue.

“Not what,” the Korok gasps, scandalized. “Who! The Deku Sprout is a person! We Koroks love the Deku Sprout. He’s the Great Deku Tree’s successor, and he’s wonderful!”

Oh. Of course—with that, the information does come flooding to mind. A long chain of heroes chosen by the Goddess Farore, with Her blessing passed down between them, tasked with protecting Her creations. Nature in particular, but She’d created all life in the land and this chosen hero was meant to look out for all of it, accordingly. Her magic would grow in them, keeping them strong and youthful until it would begin to overtake them, and they would have to settle in one place as Her magic transformed them into a giant tree—the Great Deku Tree.

And then they would pick another hero worthy of Farore’s blessing—someone to receive a mere sprout of their power, to store and cultivate on their own as they protected the land. That was the origin of the name Deku Sprout, but that name for them was probably more popular among creatures of the forest than regular Hylians. That was why it hadn’t been immediately familiar.

He was pretty sure Hylians had preferred other titles for the role, but the current Great Deku Tree, a legendary hero named All Might, had taken so long to choose a successor that most had forgotten the legends, and the titles with them. Eijiro could vaguely remember that there were tales of how All Might had prolonged his retirement and transformation for so long that he’d gone into his last few battles with bark already overtaking his skin.

“Oh—you’re right, sorry, sorry.” Eijiro nods his acknowledgement and understanding of the Korok’s words. “But… you said I’m like him? I don’t... think I’m the Deku Sprout.”

“Of course not!” The Korok uses a tone that makes it sound like he’s trying to explain a very simple concept to a very silly small child (and the irony is not lost on Eijiro), like Eijiro’s not understanding him on purpose. “The Deku Sprout is in the castle!”

“In… there?” Eijiro asks somewhat dubiously, nodding his head in the direction of Hyrule Castle, though their view is blocked by all the trees in the way. The place doesn’t exactly seem hospitable, clearly.

“Oh, yes!” the forest spirit chatters, clearly eager to gush about this topic. “He’s a hero, Mister! He’s protecting all of us! He’s been fighting the Calamity for a long, long time, but he’ll be back soon! All Might said it won’t be long anymore, and then he’ll come back to the forest.”

In the castle? Holding the Calamity off? “Huh...” Eijiro manages, but it comes out weak and distant to his own ears, as his thoughts race. The voice, his voice, he knows it’s coming from the castle—is that what the voice has been doing, too? It makes sense—he hadn’t said as much, really, but he was asking for Eijiro’s help, and he’d said he was waiting and that the monster was regaining strength. A long time… was he fighting All for One for all of those one hundred years?

“Um, I gotta... go...” he tells the Korok distractedly. He’s got a lot to think about now. For a moment he almost wonders, are his voice and the Deku Sprout one and the same? But, Farore’s associated with green, not golden light, and besides, nature powers wouldn’t let someone talk to him in his head. Unless they would, but it wouldn’t make any sense. So… are they in there together, then?

“Okay!” The Korok seems oblivious to how lost in thought Eijiro has become, dancing excitedly from foot to foot. “But wait! If you run into Hestu, please return this to him.”

Eijiro’s not sure where the seed that the Korok produces came from, since it’s not like the little guy has pockets, but he takes it and stares at it blankly. It’s… literally just a seed. There’s probably a lot of others like it. He has no idea why he’s being tasked with this. “Um… okay? But I don’t know who Hestu is.”

“Doesn’t matter! You’ll know him if you see him. You can’t miss him!”

Eijiro figures he might as well just accept it.

He returns from hunting with three Korok seeds in his pockets, and two foxes that he’d managed to catch—which he skins and cuts up for Inko to begin cooking into stew before he finally steels himself for the next shrine. Inko thanks him warmly and sees him off, but there’s something tense in her demeanor.

Her eyes seem tight with worry, but when Eijiro tries to ask what’s wrong she just waves him off and makes him promise to be safe. He doesn’t hesitate to give her his word—he couldn’t bear to make her worry, but really, as uneasy as he is about the shrines, he knows he can handle them.

The ruins aren’t far from Inko’s home at all—honestly, he’s had to pass them at a distance, a bunch. It doesn’t take him long to make his way to them, and they’re surrounded by… odd shapes of some sort, the kind he’s seen dotted around the Great Plateau in several places, but this is the closest he’s actually gotten to any of them. They’re all tarnished and moss-covered, too much so to make out what they might have looked like once, and he can’t figure out what they were for.

Not statues, surely, because their positioning is too random and too haphazard. The only thing he does know, is now that he’s close enough to make out details, they fill him with the most visceral unease and dread he’s ever felt in his life.

He spends a solid minute staring at one, throat dry and palms clammy, before he manages to convince himself to inch closer. There’s no reason he should be so—so—so scared shitless by a hunk of lifeless material. They’re stationary. What’s his problem?

Man up, he chides himself, swallowing roughly as he pokes around one. It’s… not so bad when he gets in close, because he can focus on just the area right in front of him, and ignore the whole shape. It’s made of metal, he realizes, knocking on a scuffed and dulled part of the material and hearing a hollow and muted clang as he does so. Squatting down, he leans a hand against the moss-covered material and peers into one of several openings near the bottom of the shape.

As he runs his hand around the opening, brow furrowed in thought as he tries to piece together what these things are and why they agitate him so much, something comes loose in his hand. Pulling it out, he stares at—a screw?

Something similar had come out of the automatons he’d been forced to fight in the last shrine. Looking up at the shape again, Eijiro bites his lip, his unease building again. Was this another machine just like those? Near the top, he now realizes there’s a circular indent that—that looks like the eyes of the automatons, where their lasers had fired from.

Eijiro blanches.

He can’t imagine what machines of this size would do—what kind of damage that eyes of that size could cause. He grips the screw he’d pilfered tightly to keep his hand from shaking, and suddenly his fear doesn’t seem as ridiculous or confusing to him now. He’s just glad they’re all clearly defunct. Taking in a shaky, steadying breath, Eijiro stands and backs away quickly, regardless.

He just… doesn’t want to be around them. That’s all.

He skirts around it as he moves further past the battered and half-collapsed walls of what the map tells him used to be the Eastern Abbey. Skirting through one opening, he makes his way into an area clearly far more open than it once was—there’s half of an archway in the center of the space, the only testament to whatever walls once divided this particular area. There are two more of those intimidating defunct machines lodged in the rubble on either side of that arch. Beyond them stands a complete doorway in one of the few whole walls, though its opening is sealed over with debris.

Still, these walls are all cracked and littered with ivy and plantlife, so climbing them won’t be any problem at all. Eijiro’s not worried as he makes his way forward—at least, not about how to get to the shrine. He wishes he didn’t have to walk so closely between the lifeless machines, though.

He’s hardly more than a few steps into the clearing when it happens—the machine on the right, it moves. The top of it rattles and lifts, the whole creation suddenly glowing red as it spins to face him, and then—that fucking sound, like a gong or a hand slamming down on an out of tune piano, and Eijiro—

Eijiro can’t fucking move as the eye lights up piercingly blue and stares him down. His blood turns to ice in his veins and his breath feels solid in his lungs as he tries to choke past it and every muscle in his body draws painfully tense and he can’t—he can’t—

He can’t move and can’t think and he can’t afford to run he has to stay and fight, but there’s no point it’s over he can’t do this they’re going to kill him, they’re going to kill them both, and then they’re going to kill everyone and he can’t stop it he just has to—

The eye shifts colors. The blue’s suddenly deep and dark—a line of red light beams out of it, directly onto Eijiro. A strangled gasp gets caught in his throat, and he runs. Involuntarily he scrambles, nearly tripping over his own legs. He manages to slam himself behind a ruined wall, in the same instant a white-hot beam of light flares past where he’d just been. It blasts into a wall behind him, a sob escaping Eijiro as an explosion of flame and light bursts at the impact point. It sears his skin, even fifteen feet away.

Eijiro presses himself flat to the wall, legs curled close to his chest, face buried in his knees as he struggles for breath. His heart’s pounding so painfully he thinks it’ll break his rib cage and he grips tight around his legs with one arm, his other hand gripping at his own hair tight enough to hurt.

He needs—he needs to—fuck, he has to get away from here, he can’t—he doesn’t know what that thing is but some deeply ingrained part of him must, because he still can’t control the trembling of his limbs or the stinging of his eyes. He can hear it, on the other side of the wall, a constant whirring and deep, menacing humming all paired with a mechanical grating as it turns its head back and forth, searching for him.

He has to go. He knows without trying that his sword would break on this thing before he could get any real damage done. It’s armored, heavily, and even its insides are made of metal. His sword’s fine, but he knows the difference between fine and good or even great. It could never survive an attack on that thing.

He could just… he could continue to use this wall for cover, and get as far as his legs will take him, keeping obstacles between them until he’s gone and doesn’t ever have to do this again. It would be easy. It would be easy, but…

He has to get to that shrine. He has to get off this plateau, and help the voice—fuck, the voice, he’s in the castle, with something so much worse than this stupid, stuck robot that can’t even move. Why the hell can’t Eijiro get himself together? He knocks his forehead against his knees over and over, trying desperately to manage something other than the choked, hiccuping gasps that keep escaping him.

How can—how can he even think about running away from this? If he can’t jump into action now, when it’s his own life on the line and his enemy can’t even move, how is he ever going to help anyone else? How is he ever going to face All for One? The voice… Eijiro’s going to fail him. He can’t give in here.

He still can’t even draw a full breath properly, but he can’t let it stop him. He moves to grab the hilt of his sword, starting to push himself up against the wall beside him before—before—he slumps, sliding back down the wall and onto his ass. His knees are still too weak to hold him, but even if they weren’t, it’s his resolve that failed.

Eijiro knows he can’t fight this thing. He hasn’t seen a weapon on this plateau that could even make a dent. He’s being a coward, he knows, but… but he doesn’t want to die fighting a battle he can’t win. He’ll never help the voice that way. So… so he has to figure out something else.

His mind scrambles through what he knows, trying to figure out something—any piece of information he can use. Think. He tries to comb through what just happened, to pinpoint anything…

It hadn’t targeted him right away. That’s what he realizes first. It had taken a moment, to find him, and only then did the red light flash towards him. And—and it hadn’t fired right away either. The red light had lingered on him, a strange clicking sound emanating from the machine, until a final beep. It had fired a split-second after that. But—but it also hadn’t moved. The line of red light had locked in place after the sound, while Eijiro kept moving, and then it had fired, at where Eijiro had been.

So—so if he moves fast enough…

He can get past this thing.

He doesn’t want to risk getting close to the machine, and he doesn’t want to bet his life on being fast enough to dodge only in that split-second where it can’t track him, but… there are walls littered all around them. The shrine is surrounded on all four sides. If he can just keep to cover, moving faster than the beam can focus in on him, until he can scale that last wall—it won’t be able to target him.

Eijiro has a plan. He can do this.

It goes off without a hitch, more or less, for the first sixty seconds or so. Yeah, he’s scared out of his godsdamned mind the moment he sees the flash of red, every time he sees it—but he only has to sprint through the open twice, and both times are fleeting. He makes it around a corner, out of the thing’s sight, but even as he sags with relief he refuses to believe he’s out of the woods.

The place is littered with the remains of those machines, and now he knows he needs to be wary of all of them. He finds himself at a dead end, walls around him on most sides, so he tries to loosen his muscles and gets to climbing. Despite his protesting muscles, he heaves himself over quickly.

He finds himself a little too out in the open—the machine has a line of sight on him from here, if it thinks to turn around, so he sprints again for the wall to the side of the shrine. It won’t see him from there, at least. But just as soon as he makes it, he sees—there’s another one up ahead. And it gives a shudder.

The second one lights up, its eye turning to Eijiro, and his heart stops.

His heart stops and he runs—he doesn’t freeze up this time, bolting for the wall, and he doesn’t even waste time looking for handholds. He just feels claws overtaking his hands, and he jabs them into the stone with enough force to crack it himself, making his own handholds as he claws his way up. He’s over just as the beam locks on, hurling himself past the wall heedlessly of the fall waiting.

He rolls to dispel as much of his momentum as he can, scales hardening across his skin to absorb what force he can’t, and then—

And then it sinks in. He did it. Part of him wants to whoop for joy but the rest of him is still too breathless and shaky, and he lets himself flop flat on the long grass that’s overtaken the ruins, right at the foot of the shrine. He doesn’t remember if he was the praying type before he woke up in that shrine, but he lays a hand over his pounding heart and thanks each of the Goddesses and Bakusatsuo in turn, earnest and sincere.

Ja Baij Shrine does give him another rune. It won’t get him off the plateau, but it is badass.

He can now summon bombs, two types of them, out of the slate at will. He doesn’t know how often he’ll need that, but just having the option makes him feel pretty damn powerful. Admittedly, the trial this shrine offers is just as easy—maybe easier—than the magnesis trial had been, but he keeps messing it up.

When he first comes in, the adrenaline is only just draining from his system, and all of his limbs feel heavy with exhaustion. The fear response from earlier hasn’t fully left him, either, and it makes his hands just a little shaky—the result is he keeps fumbling his grip on the bombs, not quite judging his throws correctly. Several times he has to stop to take a few deep breaths, shake his hands out, and hope for the best as he attempts the same toss he’s messed up two or three times already.

Still, he gets through it in about the same amount of time, and he endures Ja Baij’s weird purple mist and spontaneous disintegration with only some contained distaste and not outright panic this time. Progress!

When he steps out of the shrine, the same odd energy that’s been humming under his skin since the first one is there still, stronger now. He’s still unsettled by it, but—but whatever it is, the ‘strength of these monks’ spirits’, it’s supposed to help, so he tries not to let it bother him. He steps out into the beginning of sunset, and he realizes—

He’d thought there could be nothing he’d ever hate more than fast travel, and he was so wrong. Standing on the surface of the shrine, realizing he’ll have to get past those looming machines on the other side of the walls, Eijiro doesn’t have to debate long. He pulls out the slate, braces himself, and taps Oman Au Shrine on the map—it’s farther, but like hell is he going to climb down the tower a third time, in this state.

He’s in hell for all of the five seconds it takes him to be ripped across the plateau, but, hey, he doesn’t throw up this time!

Sure, he stumbles to his hands and knees as soon as he arrives, and he has to close his eyes to ride out the waves of nausea that hit him, but he doesn’t even dry heave so he’ll take the win. He takes as many deep breaths as he needs to to calm his stomach, and then he pulls himself to his feet, heading back towards Inko’s home once more.

It’s really nice, to have somewhere that cozy and safe to recoup, after all the worst of today.

Inko looks about ready to cry when he arrives back at her tiny house, two more Korok seeds in his possession. Actually, he can’t be sure she doesn’t actually start crying—he has to look away fast, just in case, before he’s in danger of his own waterworks possibly starting in response to hers.

“Oh, you’re safe, thank goodness,” she breathes, waving him in almost frantically. He can’t even get a word out before she’s ushering him into a seat at her table, and she keeps him there with a hand firmly on his shoulder, not even letting him move to dish his own meal up. She ladles the stew she’s had simmering for the past two hours or so into a bowl herself, and puts it in front of him.

He’s not sure where all the nervous energy comes from, but it doesn’t fully fade through most of the meal, even as they talk over their dinner. Every time she stands—to dish up seconds for either of them, or to grab something across the room—she finds an excuse to touch Eijiro, laying a hand on his back or shoulder. One time, she even strokes his hair, the gesture motherly and caring. It’s like she has to keep reminding herself he’s there and not hurt. Eijiro doesn’t know what to make of it.

It’s well and truly dark out by the time Eijiro finishes eating, and that’s when it finally hits him—

“Oh… I should probably figure out somewhere to camp out for the night.” He hadn’t even thought about it before, and he wishes he’d thought to get set up someplace before it was dark out. Still, he doesn’t think it’ll be too hard. It feels like something he’ll know how to do.

Inko raises her eyebrows at him. “What are you talking about? You’re staying here, of course.”

“Really?” he blurts, surprised and hesitant. “Are… are you sure? You’ve already fed me twice, and given me hair ties, and helped me out so much today, you don’t have to—”

“But I want to, and I will,” she says, firm. It’s hard to argue with her, especially with gratitude swelling in his chest, but…

“I—I really don’t want to be a burden—”

“You could never,” she insists gently, but she leaves little room for argument. “I would never forgive myself if I made you fend for yourself in your situation. You’ll stay here tonight. And tomorrow, if we haven’t figured out how to get you down from the plateau, either. I want to do this for you, and you’re going to let me, young man.”

“Okay...” He swallows, and his voice is not just a little wobbly, thank you very much. “Um… where...”

“You’ll take the bed,” she says without looking at him as she begins to gather their dishes, and Eijiro shakes his head.

“I can’t! I couldn’t make you sleep on the floor, and it’s your house!”

Inko just shakes her head, glancing his way with a warm smile. “You can. I wouldn’t be using it much, anyways. It would be a waste. Trust me, dear, getting old ruins your sleep. You can’t sleep through the night anymore, and you’ll be napping throughout the day no matter what you do. You’ll take the bed.”

“But that’s not fair,” Eijiro protests. “You keep doing so much for me, at least let me repay you by letting you keep your bed.”

Setting their stacked bowls down, Inko reaches across the table to lay a hand over his, regarding him with a fond, no-nonsense look. “Eijiro, honey, you do not have to repay me for a single thing. You deserve a good night’s sleep after the day you’ve had, and I won’t accept no for an answer. Besides, I have some things I want to work on tonight. I think I have an idea how to help you get down safely, so I won’t be sleeping much tonight anyways. I insist, and it will make me happier than any other sort of repayment you could give me.”

Eijiro presses his lips together, and he can feel a lump in his throat. She’s so kind and helpful, and he doesn’t even know what he did to deserve it. Letting him have her food, some of her things, even her bed, and on top of it all she’s planning to lose sleep working on a way to help him tonight. He doesn’t understand but he’ll never forget how much he owes her as long as he lives.

“Why—” He has to clear his throat, voice a little hoarse. “Why are you… so nice? You’re doing so much for me—and I appreciate it! I really, really do! But you don’t even know me, why...”

Inko’s expression softens, and turns just a little sad. She takes a deep breath, and the smile she offers him is heartbreaking.

“You remind me—an awful lot, actually—of my son,” she tells him quietly. She clasps her hands in front of her and her eyes grow distant, but thinking about him clearly brings her so much joy. “I haven’t seen him since he was your age, but you’re just like him. You’re both such sweet, polite boys. It’s—it’s a terribly dangerous world out there, but he’s keeping people safe, just like you want to. You both think so much about other people—and you’re so brave.”

Her voice wavers on the last word and then—and then she’s crying, tears an absolute flood, and before Eijiro realizes it he’s got tears spilling down his cheeks, too. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s all r-right,” Inko says, but he can barely make it out through her tears. “Really, it is, I just—I just love him so m-much.”

“I can tell,” Eijiro says, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, but it doesn’t do much to stem the flow of his sympathetic tears. “He’s—he’s got a really great mom.”

“I have a really w-wonderful son,” she responds, and Eijiro can’t see with his hands pressed to his eyes, but he can hear that her weeping is only getting worse, and it just makes his worse in response. “I kn-know he’s thinking about m-me every day, just like I think about him. And that’s why I’m looking after you, Eijiro. I w-want to look after you the same way I’d—I’d hope someone would look after my baby. So just l-let me do that, okay?”

“Okay,” Eijiro just barely manages, his own voice wobbling and wavering just like hers. He pulls his hands away from his eyes to see her frantically trying to stem the flow of her tears with a handkerchief, but it’s not getting her very far.

“Good,” she wails, and together the two of them are a complete and utter mess.

Eventually they manage to pull themselves together, enough so for Inko to finish cleaning up after their dinner and for Eijiro to get ready for bed. He doesn’t have the heart, after all that, to argue with her further, and the complete and utter happiness on her face when he finally starts to climb into the bed makes getting past his hesitation completely worth it. He hopes that wherever her son is, he understands exactly how wholeheartedly wonderful his mother is, and cherishes her appropriately.

By the Goddesses, Eijiro hadn’t realized how exhausted he was after everything until the exact moment his head hits the pillow—he tries to stay awake long enough to plan out how to get to the two shrines left on the plateau tomorrow, but it’s in vain.

The last thing he sees before his eyes shut for good is Inko pulling out a sewing kit and something that looks like a blanket, maybe? It’s vibrant red and has the winged Triforce symbol of Hyrule on it. He doesn’t even have time to wonder how a blanket might help him get down from the plateau before sleep barrels into him with all the force of one of his newly-acquired bombs.

#kiribaku #bakushima #krbk #bkshm #kirishima eijirou #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijiro #bakugo katsuki #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #fanfiction #fanfic #fic

[phantaloon-books]

I finally read The Tyrant's Tomb and boi I loved this one so much, so here's some my opinion on it (they're not in chronological order)

warning, this is long af and sorry for cursing a bit, I can't help it

Apollo's character arc is lowkey one of the best Rick has written, I'm sorry if you don't agree, but he's gone from wanting others to solve his problems and relying on the halfbloods to intentionally avoiding others doing things for him, volunteering for the quests and saying it should be him that faces the terrible stuff so that demigods and other creatures don't suffer

something really interesting is how his perception of himself has changed, and it's almost worrying how genuinely self depreciating his inner dialogue is, because he no longer sees himself as mighty Apollo, he sees himself as worthless and useless Lester, and his narration is highkey depressing

Also, Apollo disliking and being somewhat disgusted of the god he used to be, realizing the horrible things he had done and how horrible he was and that he looked worse as the former Apollo than as Lester, regretting things he'd done, that's top tier development

(I'm sorry but I love the entire scene with the ravens, the part where he just screams "I'm sorry" it feels as if he isn't just apologizing to the ravens, but to everyone who's been affected by what he's done as a selfish god)

Reyna so openly turning down and laughing at Apollo for suggesting they be together is my favorite thing ever lmao I couldn't stop laughing, like she knew what gods can do if you turn them down (even if it was just mortal Lester) and she didn't give a damn, it was so fucking funny

people say Rick only includes diversity for the sake of including it and to gain popularity, but I still enjoy the fact that he does, because as a teacher he must have had all kinds of students of all religions, colors and sexualities, he includes diversity because he's seen diversity. anyway my point is I love that we have Lavinia, a Jewish lesbian from a Russian family, and she's not ashamed of being any of them

I'm sorry I just love Apollo so much, I've grown to respect him so much, and even if Hermes once said them gods often forget their oaths and promises, I have a feeling Apollo won't ever forget Jason's request that he never forgets what's it like to be mortal

Frank still admiring Apollo despite everything, and despite the fact that he looks like a messed up teen makes me go all uwu

Frank being portrayed as this clumsy and awkward kid but also this powerful and brave leader is my favorite thing ever because I think Frank is underrated and I dare to say that he's one of the strongest demigods we've ever met, even stronger than some of the nig three children

the whole thing about the undead army is honestly so creepy, especially when we see it from Apollo's perspective cause se him slowly succumb to the venom's effect, and that part in Tarquin's tomb where he "calls Lester to be part of his undead" was genuinely disturbing, at least to me

some books in the past have touched the part of the nature spirits not being given enough attention, but I really enjoyed how Apollo comes to realize that he only worries about demigods and gods when all lives are worth the same - mortals, halfbloods, nature spirits, gods, and even monsters

again, I love Apollo's arc, it's just AHH he's becoming so caring of life it just makes me happy

Reyna choosing herself to make herself happy is everything, and inspiring to every single woman who is told by others that they need someone to be happy, I just love it, because self love is the most important love of all

I haven't said anything about it, but man I love Meg and Apollo's friendship, they just care so much for each other, Meg who's so scared of losing her loved ones and Apollo who's so scared of not being able to be loved or to love, but they still love each other, and I'm glad it's not romantic, because yes fraternal love is also what people need, and their friendship is what they need

aurum and argentum being cute doggos rather than the steely (no pun intended) and cold dogs we met in HoO warms my heart. I don't understand why they're so cute and adorable, or maybe that's just how Apollo sees them, but they seem to act like actual dogs in this book

the fact that Reyna never confirmed nor denied being attracted to Thalia just makes me all hyped up, like we love Theyna

Apollo just gives off Eddie Brock vibes throughout the entire book and that's hilarious asf. ever since the start he's said to look like shit, feel like shit and be injured with deathly poison that will turn him to a zombie. if that isn't Venom vibes I don't know what is

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Frank Zhang is one of the strongest demigods Rick has ever introduced in a series, and him facing two immoral and godly in power emperors, burning one to death with his own life fire and injuring the other enough for Apollo to do the final kill is top tier

"If I'm going to burn, I might as well burn bright. This is for Jason." bitch actual goosebumps

We've seen countless deaths before, but something about Frank killing Caligula and Apollo killing Commodus seems so... mature I guess is the word, or well for a more mature audience. I can't describe how or why, but it feels more real, more like actual human death

I can't deal with how human Apollo seems in this book gosh I really am sorry I keep bringing this up, but I feel such warmth

the story of how Frank overcame his curse is actual BS and as much as I love Frank, it makes no sense that they spent all that time thinking of ways to keep the wood secure only for this. idk I mean id that were the case wouldn't the curse had vanished when he broke Thanatos free? he was willing to die then just like against Caligula, so why now but not then?

Don reincarnating into a laurel is peak bittersweet feeling and it actually hurt because in a camp where fauns were seen as dumb and useless, he helped Lavinia organize everything and destroy the canon things on the yachts

I'm still not over Jason's death, he really did deserve better. It makes sense, plotwise, because out of all of the huge characters from the past, Jason, Percy and Annabeth's deaths would impact others the harder, and push them to do better. And I understand that you gotta show, not even the main characters survive sometimes. Still, I'm hurt.

Thalia talking to Apollo during the funeral for the fallen campers made me actually weep. I'm not sure if it was because of Jason, or when Thalia talked about how much Artemis loves Apollo, or when Apollo "accepted" halfblood children of Zeus as his family

Also, you know who deserved better? Harpocrates, damn right he deserved better. I nearly cried when I read his death, cause he embraced it like one would an old friend in happiness. He and the Sybil deserved better. Dakota also deserved better

On the other hand, I tried so hard not to laugh at 2 am as I read Tarquin demand answers from a cat? he genuinely thought a cat would tell him where the Sybilline Books where and I couldn't handle that

This book is cruel but in a much more human way? The maiming of the pegasi wings? that's horrifying, but in such a human way, unlike what we've seen in any of the greek/roman gods series, and it's unsettling

Meg is braver than any of the other demigods were at that age (maybe excepting Nico), cause she's not embarking on a quest to retrieve an item or rescue someone or bring back their sister from the dead, she's facing her own abusive father while aiding a somewhat weak mortal in releasing the oracles and gaining godhood back. what's she getting from it all? absolutely nothing, she's gifted some seeds and she hangs out with unicorns more than other people and she's lost everything, but she's willing to lose more to help her friend. she's heroic like no one else is, because she's the first who doesn’t want anything more than being with her friend (Percy wanted whoever was taken back, Annabeth wanted to be able to be more, Nico wanted to bring back Bianca, even Bianca wanted freedom). the only other person who didn't have somewhat selfish (but kot wrong) interests while doing something heroic at a young age has been Hazel. What I mean is I love Meg and everything she does

Thalia being that chill over Jason's death bothers me so much, as if she wasn't the happiest when she found out the brother she lost 14 years ago was alive after all, and she had a part of her family back, and it was ripped from her, and Thalia is just not one to easily forget or move on from things, it's just unrealistic that she would only need a little furious session of throwing things to be okay with Jason's death as if her brother was not just taken from her all over again. it's impulsive Thalia we're talking about, who fought Percy when dealing with Annabeth going missing, it's just not her to be over his death that quickly. Sorry for Rick but I think differently

I also kinda don't like that Tyson went from being freaking General of the Cyclops, to the guy that has the Sybilline prophecies or whatever, it's important and all, but he would have been of great help during the battle and they had him waiting for help in the shrine hill like his potential went down the drain

but a thing I really loved was how different Camp Jupiter seems from Lester eyes compared from Percy's or Hazel's or Frank's perspective, it's hilarious. The other three see this place where everyone is serious and shit but Apollo just sees beyond the seriousness and it's actually refreshing, cause he's the first not to make CHB seem immature in comparison and like I said before I hated that in previous books

also Reyna laughing watered my plants, cured my depression, and made the world okay again, I just love her

all in all, this is my favorite book of ToA so far, and I'm really excited to see what's to come, and how Apollo and Meg will face Nero and Python, but more  than anything I'm looking forward to what will happen to Apollo, and whether if given the choice, he'd go back to being a selfish god or remain mortal for a while, with his newfound friends

Also I really miss Annabeth so can I please see Annabeth, I just want to see her cause she won't deal with Apollo's shit and I can't wait to see that, I miss my girl

#pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #hoo #heroes of olympus #toa #trials of apollo #apollo #lester papadopoulos #the tyrants tomb #the tyrant's tomb #meg mccaffrey #reyna avila ramirez arellano #the burning maze #jason grace #thalia grace #hazel levesque #frank zhang #lavinia asimov #tyson the cyclops #ella the harpy #new rome #camp jupiter #the tower of nero

[iasiney-blog]

The Call of the Ancients

Wizar became aware of a knife of heat and pressure jabbing into him. Then he felt everything around him start to shake and it made him jolt out of sleep. He grogilly became attentive and then saw an apparition form at the foot of his bed fully in ghostly white form with pointed ears. He shied away in his bed as he wasn't too used to this. He worked with elvish ancestors before. The normal that the situation was supposed to be was still abnormal. The apparition spoke to him, "You must wake up. There is a great forbidden power that rouses. Can you feel it?" Wizar wasn't sure what to do at first but he did feel something else and it wasn't from the apparition. The apparition felt clean to him in aura and energy. The dirtier chaotic feeling thrust with a red hot poker struck into him again from somewhere that he couldn't sense. He winced psychically and he had a piece of the energy latch onto him. "You see. This is what your ancestors call upon you to cleanse. You must go now," The apparition called to him. He sat up in bed staring at where it had been. The elvish ancestors rarely came out so forcefully to their kindred. The vision gathered his strict attention and his mind fevered for a solution. He caught his senses and centered himself and emptied his thoughts. He got out of bed and donned his robe of the Mage and then the tunic of the Kundid mage and the sash of a common mage across his belt. Why were the ancestors coming to him rather than some empowered and more experienced mage? He slipped downstairs and beheld himself in the mirror. He had the pointed ears, yellow hair, yellow eyes and was as lithe as elves came. His tunic and robe and sash fit him snuggly. He sniffed the usual smell of clay that had dried and glanced at the walls. Mud house. He'd put that together with the help of his friends and family. He went to a long case on the way toward the door and inside he opened it up to behold his staff of an oak. It had a natural set of the letter of his first name in elvish. This was why he had choosen it without hesitation. It was no longer needed by the oak tree as it had just discarded it. He picked up the staff and went out the door into the moonlight. The dew and the wet grass smells wavered to him as well as a wormy nightcrawler edge to it. The crickets and frogs still chirped. Wizar oriented toward the frog croaks into the woods around his house. He started up a rise up and then down into a gully whereupon he came to a stream. He put his staff on the bank and waded out into the midst of the stream. There he turned around and said to the stream, "Eukta, Yukta, Oukta." The stream bubbled and coarsed and formed a thin column. That column filled out into an elvish form. It glided over to him and spoke in a watery smooth tone, "You seek to ask me advice, my friend?" "I was visited by an ancestor. I can feel something wrong. Do you feel it?" Wizar asked. He hadn't turned his mind to his purpose until then. Mostly all of it had been instinctual and along with his training. He hoped it wasn't true but his gut instincts were pulling toward some impenetrable obscure evil brooding far away. He had felt it on the way to the place, he realized, in the very air. "Yes. It broods. It grows. It comes daily now. It is felt by most that have even the slightest sense of the magic. It scars. And it has scarred you," The water spirit said. Wizar looked at the spirit agape and he searched his own aura and power and found the wedge of the jagged red energy in him. As he tried to put his mind around it, he felt the water energies creeping in and the spirits gently oozing the wounding energy away. He looked up toward the moon in relief and gave an, "Aaaahh, thank you." "You will go afar. The ones you meet as friends shall help you. One friend will show you the way to your goal even though it does not seem it is there," The water spirit emitted and stepped away sinking back into the stream. Wizar pushed out his senses but could feel the spirits all around writhing in the aura of the darkened forboding energy. He did not sense and move toward it. Instead, he passed back across the water and grabbed his staff. He hefted it aloft and started to wade across the stream, and held the staff up as the water came up to his chest in the middle. Then he was across and looked back at the stream a moment and started on. His mind then broke and he began to worry about his friends and family and what this evil meant for them. He did not have time to think further when a bolt of a deep red colored energy hit him. He felt it as the same forboding aura that caused all the pure energies to shudder. It brought him to his knees and rushed around him in a red storm painting everything that color. It then started to whisper and then roared before it collected into an audible booming voice. "You go to your folly. You do not know what it is you are doing, who you are, and what you seek. You step on haphazardly. You hope to best me, but you will not. You will sample our energy. Then when you finally make it to me you will use this energy against all that you hold dear," The voice hit him down and down. When it finished he felt disoriented, abruptly lost sense and collapsed in a heap. His dreams panned out red colored and were of his friends and family burning alive all around him. The forest was ablaze, the stream he was just in was dried up to a jaked caked earth bottom. His house was just a pile of mud with jagged pieces of bones writhing out of it. Then the dreams grew lesser in shades of red and death and soon were of him on a boat in the middle of a lake with water of mirror complextion at the top. In the mirror of the lake it was the evening and reflected the moon and starry sky above as he went from one shore to the other. A bump of the boat on rocks made him jostle out of his sleep. He opened his eyes to blurry lightened surroundings. It was trees mixed with browns and greens and blue skies. Then as he looked up he saw a blurry face come over and look down at him. He could make out pointy ears, blue eyes, yellow hair, and a set face. He started to stir but a feminine voice, light and airy said back to him, "Shhhh easy now. You've had a sickening level of energy cast on you. You need to rest. The ground and the roots are sapping away this energy from you and cleansing your aura and soul. Rest." He felt his vision swim and fatique come on him. Before he closed his eyes, a purplish black haired shape joined his field of vision and beside another red haired shape. He had another dream and in it he was in a cavern full of fire and lava with flames that leapt high toward the ceiling. Over across from the entrance ledge he stood on was the exit and reachable over the fiery chasm. He saw an elven maiden there being pulled away by shadows. She looked back and stretched her arm toward him. Everything went in slow motion then her mouth moved slowly as she was pulled away. He stretched his arm out toward her and stumbled off the ledge and down into the cliff. Before he hit the flames he snapped awake and heard the birds chirping and the rerr of distant water. His vision was still blurred when he opened his eyes. He focused and it all became clear. He was on his back in the forest looking up toward the sky. He started to move to get up and felt dizzy so laid himself back down with a groan in hopes it would stop the world turning so fast. He then moved his head finding that his surroundings no longer spun around him. "You hadn't better move. You had a nasty bout," He heard a gruff voice say and he moved his head slowly. What he saw jerked his senses up as he saw it was a purple black furred puma. Not just a regular puma but a Hyrugar. They were of the types of blessed animals that walked and talked like elves but had features and fur of animals. "Honestly, don't you know how to defend yourself magically," he heard another voice and made a gasp as he saw another Hyrugar that was a red furred monkey. "Egh," was what he admitted as he sat up with his head swimmy. He felt if he'd had too much root wine. His put his hand to the back of his head and kept himself from staring at the Hyrugar. He'd never seen this many gathered together. They were usually accorded such high positions in elvish society accordingly with their natural affinity with nature. They usual were regulars at Temples and few and far between in other places. Their pilgrimmages had them wearing shrouds. Truly he did a double take as he'd never seen them so informal as they both were now. The elfess sat down before him, "I am Admona." "Serah," the puma admitted shrugging from here seat up against the tree. She wore a dark plumed armor of sorts, although Wizar could sense the power humming from it more than he could tell what it was made of. "Evers," the monkey said over his shoulder. He was crouched down, looking around randomly through the forest. "Are you temple or shrine trained?" Admona asked. Wizar looked at her. Temple meant the old relic sites from ancient Magineania. Shrines were newly constructed ones. The training was different. But he said, "Neither. Magic guard of the Kundid order." Serah scoffed, "How typical? Gotta' love that training. Can't even shoo away pests with that." "Serah," Admona snapped at her. Evers laughed and stood up. He hopped onto one leg and onto a red oak climbing it fast and was soon toward the top of the tree and eventually called down, "It is clear now. That energy went back somewhere. I can't see or sense it." "That was an abrupt attack. Some evil spirit," Admona said. "Demon," Serah said barely enough to be heard. The way she said it brought both their attention to her. Her expression went from looking down and with furrowed brow was now looking ahead alert almost a tail edge of fear Wizar thought he saw. Admona and Wizar looked back at each other. Admona laughed, "Don't mind her. Anywas, we'll be going. Uhhh where were you going?" Wizar stood up, "I should report to the local garrison. But." Admona tilted her head to the side, "But what?" Wizar was thinking about telling his unit commander or the shrine priest about what happend. Then again it seemed far distant, almost as far fetched. "Nothing. And uh thank you," He said picking up his staff and started away from them. "Uh wait. Maybe we could go with you, where is your unit garrisoned?" The elfess asked walking after him and gestured to her other companions. A few minor leaf shakings and Evers was down on the ground starting to say, "Yeah, Admona, we are supposed to g," but Admona glanced back at him and he stopped. "Yeah, we should visit the Gamsa Shrine," She said with crossed furred arms and looked ahead with her usual furred brow expression. Wizar saw a shape of another elvish ancestor fade into view ahead. His walk and manner slowed down although it didn't slow down itself. The elder in the shade wore a dress and had long tresses of hair. Then the elf saw that the elder was standing wide-eyed with her arms stretched out toward them in a stopping gesture. Her mouth was moving but there was no sound. He felt off suddenly and pushed his will to pull his feet back and halt his progress forward and turned his head to see something beastly red with jagged crackling ethereal edges open mouthed right on him. Then he was yanked and tossed out of the way suddenly and all the surroundings snapped back out of their slow down. He saw Serah go away from her gesture of tossing him aside to grabbing the beast and knocking it away. Wizar heard the snarling all around. They had outlines of wolves but were summoned by an evil tether of energy that came from far distant. His newly joined companions spread out but kept in a type of triangle. Admona had her hands out one palm forward pointing up and one palm toward her facing down. She was standing well balanced on one leg and had a shield of energy surrounding them all between the wolf spirits. Evers was standing in even stance and Wizar blinked as he twirled the energy around as if he was twirling around ropes. He kept flourishing like this while they stood there waiting. Serah lastly had drawn herself up into a taller stance and had her paws out in front of her palms forward the tips close together but just not touching. Their combined energy sent him into a flutter but he snapped to and picked up his staff. "Nen- shen – je – sheh- aloo," He said bringing his magic focus up to his staff tips and they started to glow with small green round lights alighting on each of the five tips. The wolves attacked. Serah had a wolf spirit knocked in the previous direction crashing and smacking off of several trees. Evers did a blur of a swirling whip arc with his energy ropes and cleaved a few wolves in two. Wizar put a few fingers to his mouth as Admona started to hover while bumping those creatures that attacked off her magic shield. "Sahack," Wizar said bringing his staff bottom to tap the ground and a green bolt erupted and flew at one of the wolves that was about to strike the shield. "Creshon," He spat out and a jagged green lightning sparked and connected with another wolf spirit about to impact the shield. Then, that was all. The wolf spirits turned tail and dissapeared into the underbrush. Admona dropped her shield with a sigh and settled down on both feet on the ground. "Corrupted," Serah emitted coming back over toward them. "You must have a grudge out on you, my fair elvish companion," Evers added. Admona's expression was set similar to Serah's but with drawn eyes, "We definitely want to reach that shrine and your garrison very quickly." The Gamsa shrine was near the Ulvo protector garrison where Wizar reported when on duty. He was not a regular with the garrison but after finishing his training was slowly easing into a full protector there. It had a few full protectors and several others were filling in in hopes to become full protectors there. They passed through the front of the arch into the narrow stone line path up toward the Reymos river and across the stone bridge into the village. Then, they passed the quiet gleaming circular structure in a shallow hallow of the Gamsa shrine. "You should stop by the shrine while we are here," Admona spoke and said nothing more and neither did Wizar and the two Hyrugar went with her without adding anything themselves up the path to the shrine. Wizar sighed and finished moving down the path toward the rectangular structure in the middle of the village with the symbol of the Kundid order of protectors. The structure had two rooms, one that combined bunks and mini armory. The other that was the front desk, records and rooms for kitchen and living. A few of the partial protectors and full protectors were on guard around the ring of the village center here. "Is the captain in?" He asked them. "Yeah, but hey, something's going on. He'll fill you in," a veteran named Izale said. Wizar hesitated, "What do you mean?" "Got a lot of tail edges of bad energy. The temple had a layperson deliver a message. Get in there," a fellow mage Couras added in. "Wow, ok," Wizar commented and promptly went inside. The rooms weren't big and only had light from magical lanterns other than the windows. The captain stood aside one of the central desks and was peering over a document. Wizar knew him to be matter a fact and knew to get to the point and get his information across quickly. His typical elvish hair was in a few small knots and trimmed short. His uniform was also creaseless and had no spec of dirt. He was a veteran of the protectors, in the Gelieshen City, the heart of the Sacred Lands. "Oh Wizar. Here. Sit down a moment," Captain Gregind sat down at the chair across from the desk and Wizar sat in a chair on the other side of the account. "You might have felt that tail of bad energy earlier on the way here," Gregind said. Wizar nodded and started to say something but Gregind held up his hand. Wizar suppressed a grimace. "As you know, the Zin border protectors along the south were still bolstered along with Boulos to the north with the recent civil war from Zin and the attempted treachery of Boulos. So, we don't have enough people to investigate this, though. But we have asked for help. The temple thinks it was close. We are to maintain a normal presence in town. The Marshall doesn't want us to do anything yet. You'll be staged and patrolling toward the east side with Teren. We can't afford to send anyone out further," Gregind finished and stood up. Wizar did too and then started, "Captain, I~" The footsteps of a dark haired elfess with the robes with the sacred temple symbols made both of them turn toward the door as she went right up to the captain and handed an emerald. The captain clutched it in his hand, close his eyes and touched it to his forehead. His ears soon twitched. He slowly lowered the stone and stared at Wizar with an expression that could be mistook for stunned but to Wizar looked to veil a scowl that he knew the captain did in the small amount of time he was a protector there. "Report to the temple. They will be giving you orders. You follow them now," His voice was a whisper, almost a hiss. Wizar hesitated and the Captain made a quick dismissive motion at Wizar whereas he jerked to and spun around following the elfess out. "My name's Wizar," He said to the elfess as they went past all else back down the path toward the temple. She didn't say anything for a moment then smiled at him saying,"Eh~Sizar." "What?" Wizar stopped and she saw he stopped and stopped and looked back at him. "Yeah. Coincidence?" She asked but her features went more somber and thoughtful and she looked off toward the cow grass off the side of the path. "Well~" Wizar started. "C'mon. Priest Myuin expects you," Sizar said. Myuin was the priestess of the temple. Wizar only saw her from a distance since he came to town. He could only really see that she was faired as far as elves went but otherwise was too veiled out from the presence of the holy tree. The temple was round and had an opening at the top that allowed a beam of holy light to alight the sparkling golden yellow tree that grew in the midst in a patch of grass, flanked by magic stones, plants, and having altars around the steps down that ringed it. Then half the way from there and the outer walls was a ring and low wall of glistening stone. Wizar saw several individuals as well as a few in hoods, one paying respects on the other side, in the middle ring Wizar recognized as Yerah from the town. He didn't recognize any other but Serah, Evers, and Admona. Wizar knew the average lore and attended the local Shrine during his childhood. It was a year or two since he attended one regularly. So he remembered, in respect, to kneel with Sizar at the entrance and those inside nodded so they approached just to the middle ring and knelt down there. A couple of the robed individuals joined them and knelt down beside them at the wall. "Wizar, you may approach the inner circle," one fair haired robed elfess said and Wizar nodded, stood up and approached the inner circle and was bid to knell down before the priestess in line of the tree. He wondered if this was Myuin but couldn't tell. "In order to go further, it is required that you must undergo a test of spirit," the elfess said. Admona moved further into the circle and everyone looked down and away from Admona for a moment and then when they looked back up she held a shiny tray with a single wide curved leaf on it. "Praised be the leaf of the sacred tree, " everyone intoned around him and he repeated out of habit. Wizar felt his body tense up, he'd heard the lore but not met anyone who had done this as it was considered sacred knowledge for much of the lore on the leaves of the sacred trees themselves. When Admona approached him he went wide eyed, even when everyone kneeled with her when she kneeled with the leaf. He remembered hearing some visiting foreigners to his hometown's marketplace. They were saying that the leaves made you see things that weren't there. They used a word that sounded like hallucinate He didn't know that word exactly, other than that it induced some state. They didn't have an exact equivalent in elvish for it. "You must eat this. It'll send you into a waking dream. There you will talk to the elders and they will guide you," Admona spoke in almost a whisper then bowed her head toward Wizar and everyone else did and the distant sound of a trickle of water and rustling tree was all he heard. Wizar shakily reached out a hand, and grasping brough it shakily to his mouth and chewed up the bitter leaf. He suppressed a gag on the juices but swallowed the leaf clutching his eyes closed to help him swallow it forcefully. When he looked back everything was blurry, then everything faded until things were pitch black. He stretched out his hands and legs and couldn't touch ground but was floating in nothingness. He drifted here for a moment, before noticing a light starting in front of him. He couldn't move toward it. Then he noticed glowing apparitions of an elder elf and elfess that he recognized. Then the water spirit drifted in with them and the elders held his hands. Wizar tried to move away but they clutched him tight the elfess and elf saying almost in unison, "Stay with us lest you drift away in the oblivion forever without a way out." They seemed to move now in a pitch forward but toward the light. It got brighter and then surrounded them. "Stay with us and allow us to guide you in the light, lest you fall into the light and you will die," The water spirit said. Wizar felt they stopped to drift and seemed to be waiting there for something. Then, after a time Wizar noticed a figure get closer and closer until it was a glowing ghostly elf in flowing features. He spoke plainly directly to Wizar, his mouth moving but the speech sounded to him far away. "Your elders and family are humble protectors of the Magineans of the Sacred Lands. And that you the protectors should get the gift of gifts to be the best of the protectors of the Magineans," the ghostly elf spoke. "Who are you?" Wizar emitted. The elder smiled, "I am the elder of elves. That elder of all elves. And here in your heart receive the best of gifts to smite this evil that stirs. But you must seek the wisdom of the elder family of holy trees in the regal temples of the sacred lands. Go to the temple of the protector. There take of the sacred fruit. There, find the path to purge the evil poison in the sacred lands." The elder of elders produced a staff from behind him. It had three points curcled like branches at the top and also the bottom. This sent reverberations through him like lightning. At the same time, the light, elders, and water spirit withdrew and Wizar felt himself falling toward an opening that he didn't think he could pass through. Then it grew large enough and he noticed that it was the temple and hisself and the others were standing there as he remembered them looking at him. He drifted around the sacred tree feeling exhilerated around it and fell back down toward his body and entered it snapping back aware inside of it like slapping the surface of water. Everyone jerked a step back after that. They stared at him and Wizar looked around at them and noticed the tip of a finger was glowing then examining himself noticed a faint glow that seemed to highlight hisself and the staff he now suddenly held in his right hand and the ground. He picked it up and held it up looking at it and found he was standing up. As he did he saw everyone now knelt down and he looked at them abashed. "My~ lord. What did the elders say?" Admona asked in a barely audible whisper from her kneeling position. Admona was a Priestess of the 3rd circle and esssentially one of the six High Priestesses in the Sacred Lands of the Council of nine. She had a vision to visit the shrine and present the leaf to a humble protector she was to meet on the way there. The remainder of the ventinue, even the local that was worshipping at the time received a whisper or a vision from an elder from their family of elders that went on or apparition of another elder. So, beginning with Wizar, they each recounted their vision. Myuin said in a strained whisper that the sacred tree would be threatened and that she would have to give up something precious. The four hooded ones were monks, Wizar guessed. They each had been given a very symbolic decree to go to the four corners of the sacred lands and bear witness to all the temples and sacred sites what they'd seen today. Admona said she received a vision to follow a light that eminated from the sky and made the darkness of the land retreat. Serah said she saw a vision of a rock that held fast against a devestating storm and sheltered a light from being snuffed by the pelting rain. Evers said he saw a light in the trees and whichever way it went was close by his view. Sizar was silent a moment until everyone was looking at her in silence. She said at length, "I~ am going with you." "This~" Myuin was wide eyed at her. Sizar knelt down and bowed her head muttering. "It appears Me, Evers, Admona, are to go with Wizar as well. The banishing of the dark and protector of the Magineans," Serah admitted. "Of course we are," Evers added in. "We are to help him on his pilgrimmage to find the light," Serah admitted. Wizar made a step toward Sizar, as he could tell she was visible trembling. The monks had already kneeled out of the temple on their way with solemn expressions that turned to smiles as they left the entrance into the temple. The ancient ruins were located to the North and East nearer the mountains. They planned to start toward there, stopping by a few temples before there on the way as the journey would take several days. Myuin expressed concern over the vision she received to Admona. Admona talked with her aside from Wizar and the others. They then turned to Wizar. Wizar looked back at them and then realized they were waiting for him to lead on. He didn't expect this and balked but started a foot forward and they went toward the exit of the temple. When they exited they Captain Gregind and five of the protectors were there. The captain stepped forward expressionless and said, "Take Wizar into custody." "Whoa, captain, I thought we were coming to see him away," Izale stepped aside the captain with a sweeping spread of his hands. "Take him," The captain exclaimed pointing at Wizar. "What has he done? Captain," Couras added in forrowing his brow as the three remaining protectors surrounded Wizar and they took him back to the garrison and moved him into the bunks and down into the stocks in the lower levels there. It was lit by candles and grew darker when they reached the bottom level. They tried to take the staff from Wizar but it burned them to their touch. They chained him up over his wrists on the wall and shackled his legs. "You may leave," The captain said and with some hestitation, the other protectors left. "That's going to grow tiring to hold," The captain said, a wide grin on his face. Wizar was taken aback. It was too much smile on someone he'd used to see so serious. He stretched his magical senses and found that a foreign red colored aura swooped around the Captain aside from his normal aura. He stayed in the position he was in in the stocks and looked at the Captain regularly. Soon, he felt the staff droop and start to fall. There was a sudden commotion clank of metal and a waft of bursts of magic. Admona with Evers and Serah were then hurrying down the stairs toward them at the bottom. The Captain spun about and unsheathed his curved sword and sunk into a defensive stance. Evers leapt to the right, Serah charged and Admona weaved about as the two Hyrugar distracted the Captain to unshackle Wizar with magic. Then she lead him away and up back into the barracks. There, Couras and Izale awaited him "I'm sorry, Wizar. The captain went crazy," Izale spoke. "He isn't himself. He might be influenced by something not him," Wizar told them. Couras looked away and down. Izale's eyes went wide. "Yes, he is entranced by some wicked influence," Admona said. "What could we do to help him?" Izale asked. Wizar noticed something, a tension release such as when someone cracks their knuckles coming from down below. It felt relieving to him, "I think it's ok." "What do you mean?" Couras asked. Evers and Serah soon appeared in the entrance to the underground compound. Serah carried Captain Gregind slumped over the crook of her arm. "Whoa, don't you think you overdid it," Admona's expression got serious. "Not at all. Just knocked unconcious," Evers added and they took him over and laid him on one of the bunks across the room and retreated to the next room to let him rest. "Do you think you've got this without the captain?" Wizar asked. "You've got nothing to worry about," Izale reassured. "Just be watchful," Wizar said staring absently while the description of Myuin's vision of the destruction played across his mind. The goodbyes were curt and the supplies were gathered and the journey began promptly although soon after leaving town, Evers and Serah were expressing the distaste on Wizar's abilities. "And with the gift. I mean with the ancestral gift, I can't even touch the staff see," Evers added while reaching over and trying to touch the staff and his paw trembling more the closer he got. Wizar felt the resistance but didn't push the resistance himself back. "Terrible. These gifts are miracles in the hands of an experienced of the temple trained. But what do we got, a one off protector," Serah commented as well. "Stop it! You two. He will learn. He's only just begun the journey," Admona scowled making a dismissive motion. "We might as well go home," Evers scoffed and said. They drifted back and argued on with Admona. Sizar kept pace with Wizar and mentioned, "I don't know anything. They seem to ignore me." Wizar glanced at her and looked ahead. He didn't know much what the layperson did for the temples other than relay messages. "I just clean this and water that. I replant and uproot bad roots. I take messages back and forth. I wash the robes, prepare and clean the altars," Sizar continued more to herself. "Have you seen this before?" Wizar asked. "What? The ancestral blessing?" Sizar looked at Wizar and Wizar looked at her. He took in her features and she looked back at him seeming to do the same. Then they both looked away with slightly rosier colors to their features. He didn't realize how beautiful she looked up close. "I have but not since I was a little one. This is rare. Your blessing is. Well. It doesn't happen that often. I havent' seen your particular blessing before. Not many have," She continued at length as they both looked back ahead. Wizar almost stopped in thought. Sizar must've noticed this as she said, "I know the ancient story though that tells about it which is why this is~ well it is exciting. It is humbling." "What's the story?" Wizar asked. Sizar hesistated thoughtfully considering then went into the story, "A long time ago when the first elves started the Kingdom of the Shimmering, an unease started in the center of the land. It grew over the Shimmering King. He called his priests and magicians. They could not ease the pain of the land. Then, a seer with a maimed foot called to see his majesty claiming to know a solution. At least five times did the king refuse to see this soothsayer. Then when he was finally brought before the king, he was starving. So, in his final breath he said to seek the six ways, find this one of six streams. Therein he consulted his advisors and sent messengers out to all the villages and shrines. "Then word came of a place on the cusp of seven rivers a hut there where a family was. The king went there and the family humbly received his majesty. He asked all the family to be brought before him and the daughter was right and fit and the son was sickly for he had nearly drowned in the seven rivers. They brought him to the local temple nearly a days journey away whereas the boy almost died. "The boy awoke one day and spoke of a dream where he met the first elf and ancestor of all. He gave the boy a special staff and a blessing and told him to journey to the sacred sites to receive direction.The king ignored the sickly boy and took the daughter to heal the land. "The daughter could not heal anything, though, and the unease grew until the rivers were threatening to flood and the family had to move to higher ground. The boy was not there when they had packed their wagon on. They found him nearly swept away from the river but the boy outstretched his hands and the waters grew still and the sky parted to a calm night. "The parents knew the boy was special and brought him to the ancient temples and on the way soon reached the center of the unease. The king was near death and the daughter cowered in the corner. The King had received word of the renown of the boy and realized his folly. Then with the boy's help he was able to end the unease and bring peace and prosperity back to the Kingdom." "I heard of a different version," Admona spoke making them jump. "This reminds me that I first heard the ancient story at the elder temple ruins we go toward," Evers added in. Serah came up beside Wizar and swiped down at him and he barely dodged her. "What are you doing?" Wizar exclaimed and barely dodged again. They circled around and she went after him and finally tripped him and held her claws up to his throat. He could barely breath. "You're kidding me. He's weak. Put away this kid stuff and stories Sizar. This isn't some ancient prophesy. We're not facing some obscure unease or whatever it is. This evil power is real," Serah shot the layelfess an icy stare. Wizar felt himself light headed. "He isn't. But it's a story," Sizar's voiced came out strained. The puma released Wizar and he gave a croak raising his staff, "What are you doing?!" Admona jumped in between them, "Stop it, now!" "You. I'd expected better. And you, you will get better," Admona scolded Serah first and took Wizar back by turning to him with the second part. They continued much of the way in silence heading North West across the forest land ascending up and down steep hills toward the next town called Azlele. Wizar stepped up beside Sizar and it took him a moment but he asked, "So, the elders just said to go with me?" Sizar sighed, "Yeah, that's just it." "Really. Huh," Wizar let himself trail off looking here or there. He smiled because he didn't really believe that was all but he let it go despite it starting to pull at him to know. "Yeah," She trailed off too. "Do you know much about these temple ruins?" He asked. "A little. The nine ruins were built for each of the eleven Kedelvian virtues. Wisdom, piety, vision, courage, integrity, perserverance, hospitality, moderation, fertility," Sizar replied. "So, each one was dedicated to a virtue?" Wizar asked. "I would think so. I only heard it spoken by Priest Lirn when he was teaching me to be a layperson," Sizar added. "Oh, you weren't from there?" Wizar said. "What do you mean?" Sizar questioned. "Oh. Sorry. You weren't born in the Gamsa town?" Wizar corrected smiling. "No. No I wasn't. I was born in Relonatur, " Sizar said smiling back looking at him. Wizar noticed the smiling exchange and looked away flushed. "And you?" Sizar asked at length. "Ferduun," Wizar said and memories went back to sitting on the high bank behind his house and watching the elvish retinue of high mages traveling to and from the Saheguit. Sizar ducked as a bird swooped at her, "Must be at the nest." "Yeah, whoa~" Wizar started to say when another bird swooped at him. "Move away," Admona said backing up away from the tree. They did so and moved around it and skirted the path dodging the birds until they were away from it. Then another set of birds started to swoop at them. Then another as they went down the path. This caused them to duck and weave and nearly get scratched up as they went about their way. Wizar heard it differently, an incessant squawking that seemed to come from everywhere, not just the birds. It sounded bigger as of a larger bird. The heart beats of the birds filtered into him and became a flutter of pounding like heavy rain on a roof. He felt it deep inside. He wanted to do something but he didn't have any magic to quiet them all down. Then, something welled up from inside him. It felt to him as a reassurance that he could do something to help else the birds and they. All of the squawking and noise only made him want to concentrate on one word and he emitted a long low, "Shhhhhhhh." Everything went calm and peace. The birds hearts thundering trailed off getting low and lower. Wizar only felt some tail edge of a sinister influence retreating from underneath it all, much like an unearthed earthworm retreats underground back to where it feels it must go. They continued along and stopped along a whitened stone waystation with stone benches to sit on off the road after walking for most of the day. These were nearly as ancient as the sacred temple ruins they were journeying toward. Wizar felt a strong connection in the roots with some power that was hardy and pure but very ancient tied into it. He could barely make out that the power pulsed like a dim light traveling down the road from them and meeting in the first temple on the branch of the tree in the middle of it at a lone fruit there. "He can see it," Serah said. Admona came over with Sizar and Evers had crawled atop the roof of the waystation. Wizar felt a little put on, "Like a course of energy path pulsing toward the temple, and the fruit on a tree. "The blessing is opening up you faculties much more. You'll be much more sensitive than I am," Admona said. "Don't be so sad," Serah said. "No, quite the opposite. I am thrilled," Admona said smiling. Wizar and the group supped and packed up and continued walking on the road. They reached the town of Azlele as the light of the day started turning toward evening. The inn had only a few beds. "Do we want to take turns," Serah said. "I think we can handle staying up," Evers said putting an arm on Wizar's shoulders. Wizar nodded as he was still conditioned to take late watches on occassion, those which he didn't get much if any sleep on. "He is going to take the Elder's fruit. Only high priests and Hyrugar have eaten even a piece fruit, but he is asked to take the whole thing. It is very toxic to Elves. No, he'll be the one that needs the sleep," Admona said. Wizar's mouth dropped open at hearing about the poisonous properties of it. This made his demeanor shaky. "Yeah, he looks a little pale now. Don't worry, Hyrugar have some immunity to it. We take it with ease," Evers said and Wizar tried to smile and left them slipping up into the room. He placed his staff in the corner of the room and hanging up his over robe, crawled into bed. Sleep didn't come easily. When he finally drifted off to sleep he had a dream that the elders were gathered around him again. The elder of elders gave him the fruit. "You're going to die," The elder cackled as he took the fruit and took a big bite off of it. His voice reached a higher pitch, "Die. Die. Die. Die." His form became redder and fiery and his body split apart and his skull grew bigger and shot toward him. He woke up starting forward and stopped as his head smacked against a bed post. It was early morning and the birds chirped and he heard others stirring and calls and a whistle from outside and the movement of carts and clop of hooves. He put on his overrobe and picked up his staff before going downstairs. No one was in there but some already disheveled drunk elf and the innkeep cleaning mugs. He burst outside almost hit Sizar but instead made her take a seat on the ground. "I'm sorry," he said picking her up and their eyes locked and for a moment they didn't say anything or move. Serah cleared her throat and he saw she had a serious look so asked, "What happened?" Admona had been looking off into the distance and turned around, her face puffy with the remnants of tears, "They umm. It umm." She turned back away. Evers came close and said calmly to him, "As soon as we left, some eclipse of darkness went over the shrine of Gamsa. Myuin and those in it were found dead, the shrine cracked in two, the tree stained black, completely dead. Wizar looked at Admona and then at Sizar who was the most stoic. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He found some pulsing emotion from the ordeal and sunk to his knees hanging his head for a while thinking over the Priestess he barely knew. He felt a hand on his shoulder at one point and looked up to a solemn Admona, "We need to go. Whatever is turning the land upon itself we can't let get anything more on us." Wizar got up and they moved down the cobbled road toward the path to the stones presiding at the entrance to the grounds of the ruins. "What do you mean?" Wizar asked. "You probably know. What has attacked us or tried to hinder us, like nature itself went crazy," Admona said. Their trek to the other side of the town was solemn, almost in slow motion, the town's citizens went about their hectic day around them. Then only when they reached the entrance to the ruins did the speed of everything seem to catch up. It was then Wizar felt chilled and saw dark skies moving from southward toward them. He watched it and noticed it moved fast. Much faster than was normal and it felt to him of decay and death. "Evers and Serah, the ancients' wall, "Admona said looking toward the darkness. "Whatever evil it is it caught up with us," Evers said blankly and went to one of the stones around the entrance to the ground. Serah did the same. Then they activated some old power that made everything shimmer to life. The dark clouds reached them quickly but the shimmering did act like a wall blocking it off. Although Wizar saw and felt that it kept the sky from growing dark but only gradually as the edges started to grow grayer. "C'mon," Admona motioned to Sizar and Wizar. They followed and mounted the steps up onto a raised bridge from what looked to once be six fully intact walkways in glistening white stone. It met in the center and Wizar saw the branches of the tree poking out from the semi crumbled dome at the center. It looked similar to the shrine did at Gamsa except was more open air theatre type and had a bright green grass surrounding an inner gate and low wall in the center. The tree itself was bigger but Wizar couldn't see the fruit but felt it was there. A few figures stood up there. Two of them were the monks from earlier and another one was an older man in white robes that Admona bowed too. Wizar mirrored her move although not sure why. "Grand Priest, here is Wizar that was awakened by the elder tree leaf," Admona said to him. The old man nodded and took out an object from his robe. It was round and had several curved lines on it like the curved lines on his staff. "Kneel, Son," the Grand Priest said. Wizar did as he was told. The Grand Priest held out the fruit to him saying, "This is one of the biggests tests you've had your whole life. Eat it and pass through the veil of sickness to be something whole worthy of speaking on behalf of all Elders." Wizar took the fruit feeling a little gnaw of fear that grew a bit. He pushed his will and himself forward and put the fruit up to his mouth. He opened and took a bite. It was numb and bitter but also had a cool tranquil edge to it that ended in something sweeter. He took another humble bit and then bigger bites. His mouth became number, then his body after each bite and thankfully the fruit still tasted a little sweet. He ended up at a seed and the elder plucked it from the fruit. He ate past it and was stopped by another seed but that was it and soon he ate it all. He body felt completely devoid of feeling and his stomach swimmed and sloshed with a bitter feeling and a tinge of sweetness still in his mouth. Then a hot feeling started small at his heart and started to burst out from his body. He expected it to make him feel invigorated but instead it made him drowsy and sleepy. The weight of this continued until he couldn't stay awake and passed out. He felt himself drifting on a raft made of gilded leaves. Everything was shimmering. The waterways appeared to be in woodend walls like the inside of tree roots with the occassional hole in the ceiling that revealed a bright blue sky speckled with cloud and bright sunshine that warmed and made him feel peaceful. The water lapped gently on his raft as he drifted further. Soon, he noticed the branches and the outline of a tree. He appeared to be drifting toward it. He almost sat up as he saw the roots extended into the distance and as he got closer to the tree he thought he saw water inside those roots flowing toward the tree as he was. He saw shapes of ghosts of the elders all around it. Then a bright glow started in front of him shimmering from inside the tree to outside of it expanding outward until it touched him. Then he got a prickly feeling all around him that felt like magical energy. The light got brighter and brighter. He opened his eyes and felt that he was laying. His vision was a little blurred. Through it he saw the branches of the tree above him. An older wrinkled face came over him. He looked like the elder of elders from the dreams. Then his features and everything came into better focus and it was the Grand Priest looking over him wide eyed. Wizar sat up and everyone took a step back and sunk to their knees abashing Wizar immediately. He saw above a clear blue sky. He felt a glow all around him that seem to emminate from him outward. He didn't see the darkness on the other side. He felt serene, calm and straightforward as if pieces of the puzzle of everything was lined right at its correct place. Except just outside the temple outskirts into the death and decay that encroached. He also felt another off feeling far distant, something wasn't right there as well but he knew deep down inside he felt he knew how to put both wronged parts the puzzle back in order. He stood up and everything went a bit brighter when he just concentrated from doing that. He felt a little dizzy. There were a few stone benches there and he sat down on one of them. He looked at the ruined dome and other bits that were once together but were crumbled. The longer he stared at them the more they seemed to move and shift. He soon thought he was seeing a vision of them restoring themselves to how they originally were. He shook his head in surprise but not so much disbelief as this was real. Everything seemed to get brighter like the sun came from behind the clouds and shone on it, but the sun wasn't out but behind the clouds. He stood up but then knew as all the puzzle pieces floated just above place as it was to be and settled into place, so did the temple right itself from ruins to pieces of stones fitting into where they once were built to be all right before their very eyes. A few hours passed as he walked around the grounds and it all re-assembled back whole from the ruins, all of it, from the barrier stone fence permiter to some of the the various buildings around the center, to the stone walkways and paths toward the edge of the ruins. Soon it was ruins no more but rebuilt by the pure magic of the elders that flowed through him now. He knew this now. It was so. Then he felt his gaze pull him and turned somewhat to the south and panned and shot forward pulling his vision forward to show a spike of red energy in the midst of the region southward there. He turned back to others who had followed him at a subdued pace. "I can see it. That evil," Wizar said. Wizar looked in Sizar's direction. He knew his feelings for her were getting to be more than just common each time they talked now. He knew he had better go to the next level with it and find out if the feeling was mutual. He felt it might be mutual since it was the way she looked back at him and how he felt around her. The new elder blessings did not bring things closer or better. In fact, she seemed to shy away. That, and the fact that their new retinue was gawked at. Wizar was told it was because how he looked, shimmering without shimmering or glowing without glowing. He didn't look like an ordinary elf now or more specifically he did but those that he talked to could feel something much more base and connecting with everything about him. It made Wizar feel like a walking ancient elder that lived and breathed like anyone else. When he looked at anyone, even the bravest looked away after a moment. He wanted to pull it back in, the shimmering glow as he thought of it, but it felt unnatural to think of, almost as a hurt or slight to the elder of elders. Instead, they attracted pilgrims and the most devout. Elves of many shapes and sizes and Hryugar, first a bird, then a lion, then a rhino, then a stag, and then many more. They followed them after they passed on crossroads or some distance away from the nearest shrine. Wizar felt his gaze ever drawn toward the red spike. It felt like a pulsing thorn in the earth and stood against anything natural let alone any elder that ever was. He almost drifted toward it, not that he felt that he had to merge with it or get the power of it but that he had to deal with it someway. Instead, the Grand Priest insisted to present him before the other high priests. The Gazenhet druid order also contacted him and the Saheguit and were ready to march off now to take care of the evil. Admona, Evers, and Serah had joined in the sentiment to deal with the evil but his holiness would not hear of it and insisted it was time to meditate and get the will of the land and elders before going on to conquer evil. So, they rode onto Silvan City and down the many streets and through the main street in a parade of its own until reaching the spires of the Grand Temple. It was at the outskirts Wizar started to notice that the spike had started to send off a current toward the direction of the city. Then, when they passed inside of the temple he felt a sharp set of evil energy pouring off of the hearts of some of the guards inside. He stopped long enough at this that Sizar asked, "What's wrong?" "We shouldn't be here," Wizar spoke but said no more. "It is tradition. The story goes. It is said that the boy in the tale came to the city and holy temple for guidance before heading on his journey," Sizar shrugged and said. "Really, it was different than what you told me," Wizard said smiling at her. "That is the version I tell the children. I know, you're not a child but I thought~" Sizar said and trailed off looking away. "Don't worry," he said and touched her shoulder and she looked at him and he smiled back. She grabbed his hand. "We can talk about it later. I just feel better with you like it doesn't matter what I feel, things will be better," Wizar said and it was the truth. He felt she had something deep in her heart that besides maybe some feelings for him, was some level of pure that felt akin to the feeling around and with the blessings of the Elders. They had taken horses so dismounted at the stables on the temple yard and went toward the inner sanctum. The tree there was peaking out of the dome in the center and had the theatre style as the ruins did with the benefit of being fully intact since upon first coming to it. Around the middle seven people were set apart from the outer ring of many clergy dress. The outer ring was where the pilgrims started to fill. Wizar made a start as he saw the outstretching thin tendrils of the red energy going into the hearts of those at the center. The evil was in their hearts. It was a practical trap. Yet something happened, as Wizar got closer, the energy started to flutter and the ones started to back away but could only go so far. Wizar grasped the hand of Sizar and it seemed a brilliant wave jumped out from them and struck out the dark energy completely and the ones in the center collapsed. There were cries and confusion and guards rushed Wizar's retinue and the high priests to protect or capture. The wave had struck it out of their hearts as well. The Grand Priest saw what had happened and raised his hand turning to Wizar in reverant features. They all knelt, even Sizar. This was when a great thunderboom and a red ball of dark energy erupted splitting the tree down the middle and throwing the high priests and anyone at the center aside. The destruction of the tree ran through every priest in the temple there and the energy felt as a hot knife slicing through Wizar. Left there in a cloud of smoke was a horned looking imp with tatterd clothes. It stood with a hunched up back and let out a laugh that everyone but Wizar and the Grand Priest had to shield their ears from the sound. Then the demon creature hopped off the tree and said, "Don't you remember me from your stories. Zazar? You stupid pathetic elves and your zoo animals. You're not any threat to me. Ah, who is this." The demon Zazar looked next to Wizar at Sizar and gestured. She flew across the air into Zazar's arms. Wizar's staff grew bigger and bright and into a pillar of light that seemed to pass up and away into the ceiling. He stomped toward the demon and brought it down on top of him. But the evil being was gone and back where Wizar had sensed him before. He went back over to Admona as he had felt a deep dormant light start when Sizar was in the fiend's arms, "Did the stories talk about some elfess that was with the boy?" Admona stared back at him and Wizar looked around and finally Serah said, "There was story of some humble urchin that I used to like as a kid. Kind, calm, and steadfast with a big heart. She went to the temple one day and came back to find her home destroyed by some evil spirits. The elders took pity on her and gave her the fruit from the sacred tree and she went forth as a champion against evil joining the fabled boy to cleanse the land. Her and the descendants were the first Druidic Paladins that fought against evil." "She must have it, I think I barely felt it, but you felt more, Wizar. Didn't you?" The Grand Priest said. Wizar nodded and turned toward the weathered face of the steward of the Druidic order Inan that had offered to help. "Is your Druidic order ready to go out?" Wizar asked. "As needs be, my lord," he replied with a solemn nod. "The mages order?" Admona asked a robed and hooded elfess mage from the Saheguit order. She nodded in earnest and disappeared from the crowd. Wizar went and knelt by the tree. He then brought up his staff before him as he stood and the halved tree pulled and mended itself back together alive and pulsing with energy again. They gathered the rest of the temple forces that could offer themselves as well as any clergy and monks from the Hyrugar, even the two monks they met back in the Gamsa shrine. Wizar felt stuck in a nightmare world. The vision he had once of the elfess and the fiery pit slashed across his mind everytime he thought of it. He barely ate and barely slept on the way as everything seemed to come in a daze. He only pushed all of his being onto descerning the path to the the red spike and they followed his lead until they ended up in a grotto which a stream of muck slurped through. They had to walk single filed on a narrow rocky outcropping and soon into a cistern of deposits from a few holes at the top and a decay underneath. Ias could still see the red spike nearby but beyond this cistern. He saw a crumbling lip at the entrance at the far end and before he knew it he was walking on air over the gap toward the lip above the waters he could see below. He felt the red energy collesce below him and a deformed monstrous hand reached out for him. He sliced into it with a hot white light erupting around his staff and severed it in two. Drifting on, he landed on the entrance and jabbed the staff toward the mucky water and sticks, logs began collecting from all around. Wizar broke out of his full determination toward Sizar and the demon to show the others it was sturdy enought to allow them across. They passed deeper and deeper and admist the torchlight and glows from various magic used by them wound around and through passages and through caverns getting darker and danker. As they got deeper a decaying smell of death became prevalanet in the air choking a few to their knees so that they had to be left or sent back. The passage eventually opened into an area that started to put Wizar on edge. It was a pit that descended below into a dim glow. It became brighter on its own. It looked like lava and it rose until it was bubbling not far below. Another pit was between them and on the other side he saw the form of the demon twice the size and as tall as the cavern. It had Sizar in its grasp. "To think that some damned elvish protector coming from a shitty town couldn't save some shitty town priestess. You have it going well for you, Wizar. But I have this elf fuck girl that has the hots for you. Awww," The demon said and made a gesture that looked like he was squeezing her. Wizar's heart jumped into his throat and then back down, as his feelings peaked so did the glow around him abounding from the elder's blessings and core of nature powers from them. He saw on around him gather a glowing type of armor. The staff now was larger and had a curved double ended lance look to it. It glowed brighter than bright casting the whole room aglow with light. "Thank the elders," He smiled and leapt flying across the gap. The demon brought up his claw and parried his driving strike but Wizar slipped about along the ground and slashed into the demons side. It dropped Sizar making a deafening screech. He up slashed with the lance immediately and made a deep cut up the remainder of the side of the Demon. It moved slightly and Wizar tried to defend but the tip of the demon's claw caught the lance and knocked it out of his hand. It missed Wizar and he dodged and moved. The lance rested teetering on the edge. Wizar tried to strike it with bolts of magic but it didn't graze the surface as much as the lance. So he shot toward it as it teetered and dropped down into the chasm. Right before it touched the lava he caught it and swooped upward and back. He felt some newer powerful energy welling up from inside him and a voice that sounded like Myuin's calm voice say, "We the elders now give you our greatest strength." He flew at Zazar as like a bolt of lightning and was on the other side in a cracked dent of the ground in a split second later. He turned back to the demon and the demon turned back toward him with a big hole through its chest. It tottered toward the chasm and fell in with a deep cry. Wizar and Sizar looked in after it to see it's body enveloped by lava and sinking until only it's claw outstretched toward them was left and then it was gone. The journey back to Silvan City was both joyous and tear felt. Joyous in the celebrations at the inns they passed. Tear felt because of the parting of those that were nearby or were pilgrims or assigned to other places by the clergy. Yet, for Wizar and Sizar, it was subdued. They spoke briefly and he had held her until they passed beyond the cistern and muck. They they walked with linked hands not hardly thinking sometimes that they were doing it. The whispers started and they had to bring it to an end consciously. They talked about it once and decided to revist it when they got back to the city. The visit to the city ended up with them seperated as the tale was told again and again to each of the heads of the city and a visit to the current ruling council and the Lord King himself. Sizar was there for him when he got back, "It's time we talked." "Oh, what?" Wizar said still laughing as he left the current retinue of mixed soldiery and clergy. He saw the distant look and wide smile and his smile dropped to a simple one. The higher feelings he'd felt at being so revered dropped him back down. On this he couldn't even feel the ascention to the elders powers again and that linked through Sizar as he felt it. "The right thing to do would be to discuss us," Sizar said. "Sure, lets walk the gardens," he said but even Wizar didn't feel that was good, but he was torn between what would be recognition and the strength of the tie he felt now with Sizar. "I was thinking more out of the way," She said. Wizar nodded, "We need to go back there. We have not heard word what happened or if it was rebuilt. Their goodbyes were resisted by high priests and other authorities in bad form. They would not hear of their departing too soon. Wizar and Sizar eventually had to sneak out of the city under darkness. Wizar glanced back once but he looked ahead again as they moved off. The journey had them mostly camping off the path to avoid recognition at the inns. Wizar's magical senses now helped feel out sites for staying over night. It was also how he sensed some deep pulse and noticed some signs of ruin of the sites they camped at. The sites looked very similar to the waystations of the past. At least over a week was gone when they reached the river and followed it up until the village was in view. It was midday and they quietly rode into town and stopped at the path to the Gamsa shrine. It was in disarray, full in ruins and the tree a hulk of what it once was. Wizar still felt enough energy to do it and with Sizar beside him slipped into the ruins and flexing and stepping around the rubble. Then when getting to the tree he touched it and the tree and rubble vibrated moving itself away and back together piece by piece. Before the tree they both knelt and looked at each other and Wizar and Sizar in unison said, "Before the elders and all gods I join with you until death take me."

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