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phoenix-downer · 1 year

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Where I Belong Chapter 4

Styx and Stones: ~2685 words. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy descend to the Underworld to search for Hades in the hopes he’ll know how to find Sora.

Story Info: Sora/Kairi. Starts during the end of KH3/during ReMind and moves into KH4. Kairi POV. Angst, Romance, Fluff.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

The descent into the Underworld was a series of jagged, zig-zagging steps leading lower and lower into the depths of darkness. Kairi followed behind Donald and Goofy as they carefully wound their way down, and she kept glancing behind them. The light was getting dimmer and dimmer, and she was beginning to wonder if it was such a good idea coming here after all.

This place was wrong. There was so much pain and suffering and regret here, she could sense it in her bones. The souls of the dead who resided here were not happy, and she hoped they would soon escape their prison.

At long last they reached the final stair and passed through a tall gray door. Her legs were tired and she desperately wanted to rest, like this place was sapping her strength and energy. Before them yawned an enormous cavern hewn out of blue-black stones. The shape of the stones made Kairi sick—they looked like giant twisted mushrooms mixed with swollen boils ready to burst.

Death, rot, disease, decay. This entire place was opposed to everything she stood for. Up ahead was a dark, spooky river undulating with otherworldly light. Kairi gasped and put a hand over her mouth when she realized the strange light was coming from the souls of the dead. They floated along with the current and wore vacant, glassy expressions on their faces.

Goofy gulped and raised his shield, and Donald took his staff out, shaking all over. If they were this spooked when they’d already been here before…

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Things feel different from last time,” Goofy explained. “Gawrsh, I don’t know what it is, but it’s like somethin’ wrong’s in the air.”

“Yeah,” Donald said. “This place gives me the creeps.”

“That’s because all of you should be dead,” said a voice from behind them, and the three of them whirled around. A man with ashy skin and flaming blue hair towered above them. His eyes were yellow, and he was dressed in gray and black robes with a pin in the shape of a skull holding his chiton in place. Black smoke emanated off of the hem of his robes, and his mouth full of pointy, sharp teeth was twisted into a hideous smile.

“Hades?” Kairi guessed, and she felt Donald and Goofy flanking her.

“Ding ding ding we have a winner! What’ll it be, Door #1 or Door #2?” he said, dramatically gesturing to two large, sealed circular doors behind him. “Here’s a spoiler: they both lead to your timely demise.”

“None of us will be dying today,” Kairi said through gritted teeth. “We’re looking for someone who’s already dead.”

“Yeah, where’s Sora?” Donald quacked.

“You mean the runt? Little shorty? That brat with the Keyblade? Spike? The little half-pint punk himself?”

The three of them nodded. Hades was not fond of Sora given the slew of derogatory nicknames about his height, that much was clear.

“You’re right, he’s dead as a doornail,” Hades said. “Gave up the ghost. Cashed in his chips, bit the dust, kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, took his final bow, crossed the River Styx, yada yada yada. What’s it matter to you, huh?”

Kairi glared at him. It was so tacky to talk about Sora’s death like that. But something about his words stirred a faint memory in her mind. The River Styx, the River Styx…where had she heard about that before?

An unsettling smirk spread across Hades’ face. “Oh, I see how it is. The little pipsqueak had a pipsqueeze, and that would be you.”

She bristled. Hades was right, but his fast-talking, slick salesman manner was really starting to get on her nerves.

“Let me guess: you want to bring your little boyfriend back from the dead.”

She hesitated, then nodded. That was what they wanted to do, right?

“Not gonna happen unless you give me something in return,” he said, then started counting off different options on his long, pointy fingers. “My favorite brand of souvlaki, Wonderboy’s head on a platter, your freedom for all eternity, your soul for the runt’s, front row seats to the sporting event of my choice for the rest of all time, you know, the usual stuff.”

“Kairi, don’t,” Donald said, shaking his head.

“Remember what Herc and Meg said,” Goofy said. “You can’t trust him.”

“Hello, standing right here,” Hades said with a chuckle. “Look, do you want my help or not?”

“What’s it going to cost me?”

“Geez Louise, are you deaf or are you dumb? A soul for a soul, do you think I’m running a charity here?” Hades made a small, smokey version of Sora and herself appear. Sora was clearly dead, and then Hades snapped his fingers and Sora revived while she collapsed to the ground. “Say the word, and the deal’s as good as yours.”

“Kairi, no!” Donald and Goofy said in unison.

She shook her head. “I can’t. Sora wouldn’t want me to be your prisoner for all eternity.”

Hades waved his hand irritably. “Then find some other hapless god to pester. Your little boyfriend broke a nature taboo, and I would really be sticking a cork in things by resurrecting him. Not saying that I couldn’t do it, but it had better be worth my while, if you catch my drift.”

“I’m a Princess of Heart, what if I gave you my abilities?”

Hades scratched his chin. “Princess of Heart, now that’s a phrase I haven’t heard in a Peloponnesian Minute. If I recall, I’d need your six other pals as well for it to do me any good.” He looked at her with a gleam in his eye. “Not saying it’s a bad deal, just that it might not be quite enough to bring back Mr. Knight-in-Squeaky Armor. Not unless you rounded up all your little princess friends.”

Kairi shook her head. “I can’t do that either.” It was one thing to risk her safety and security; it was another to ask the other members of the New Seven Hearts to—

“Then quit wasting my time!” Hades shouted, the blue flame on his head turning yellow as his entire face transformed into a brilliant red. Kairi winced and stumbled back, and Donald and Goofy clung to her on either side and shook like autumn leaves about to fall off a tree.

If Hades wouldn’t help them, then what could they do? His terms just weren’t acceptable, no matter how badly the three of them wanted to see Sora again. Surely there was another way, something, anything—

She glanced at the river behind Hades. What was it about that river…Earlier, he’d said something about how Sora had crossed the River Styx…was that this river?

“I’m cool, I’m fine,” Hades muttered as he smoothed a hand over his head, pacing back and forth.

“Lord Hades?” she asked, trying a different tactic. “That river behind you, is it the Styx?”

“Hmmm, let’s see,” he said, making a big show of pretending to think. “A river full of dead people, and Little Miss Princess isn’t sure what it is.” He sneered at her. “Of course it’s the Styx, what else would it be?”

“So once you cross the river, you move from the realm of the living to the realm of the dead?”

“Yes! Geez Louise, are they teaching the mortals anything about the afterlife these days?” Hades complained as he gave them all a disappointed look, and the tips of his hair were looking a little orange again.

“We’ve forgotten our roots,” Kairi said, putting on a serious expression. She looked at Donald and Goofy, and they followed her lead.

“People really don’t respect you or this here Underworld like they should,” Goofy said, taking off his hat and placing it over his heart. “It’s a cryin’ shame, Your Majesty.”

“They really don’t,” Donald agreed. “I didn’t even know there was a…Sticks River till I came down here.”

“Yeah, yeah, butter me up why don’t ya,” Hades said, but he seemed calmer now. The flames on his hair were completely back to blue. Kairi’s gaze flickered to the Styx. Its waters were dark and murky, the only light coming from the souls of the dead. Strange objects floated by—an abandoned toy horse, a broken amphora, the haunted, bloodless face of a dead man silently wailing for help. He didn’t look any older than about eighteen. Their eyes met, and Kairi got the sense that this was a trick, that if she tried to help, she’d get pulled in and trapped forever.

He continued his slow, creepy float past them, staring at her the entire time and wordlessly calling for help. Shivers went down her spine, but she refused to look away until at last he’d disappeared downstream. She couldn’t get his face out of her head. Maybe it wasn’t a trap and she’d just let an innocent man get dragged down to the depths of the Underworld.

“They’re not a very lively crowd, are they?” Hades said, breaking through her thoughts. “But you’ll be a good little girlfriend and save Keyboy’s soul, right?”

Of course saving Sora was the right thing to do. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Worrying and wondering about where he was. His face, did it look like the dead man’s face now? Was his skin ashy, his eyes dull, his hair a reddish color instead of rich brown? Were his hands cracked, his lips blue, his nails brittle, his joints cold and stiff? He’d been gone for a year and a half. Was he no better than a walking corpse at this point?

Tears burned in her eyes at the thought. She sensed his heart still existed somewhere, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to her rescue in that dream, but his poor body—what had happened to it?

Even if he was alive and well somewhere in that unreality place, would he be dead if he came back here? Hades hadn’t said anything about his body, just his soul. Maybe Hades could only bring his soul back but his body would either be forever stuck in Quadratum or rot the moment he set foot back here.

She wiped her eyes. Well, if he couldn’t come back here, then she would go to him. If he was dead in their universe, then she would die to be with him. And together they’d figure out a way to make it home, she was sure of it.

“Life isn’t fair, is it?” Hades said, putting an arm around her shoulder. She flinched but pasted a smile on her face, and Donald and Goofy scowled at Hades’ complete lack of regard for her personal space. “The little runt is gone before his sixteenth birthday, leaving you, his little chickie-poo, his precious Kairi-cakes, to pick up the pieces. Your story’s a real Greek tragedy, you know that? But it doesn’t have to be if you make a deal with me.”

She thought about his words. Considered them carefully. There was a lot about life and fate she couldn’t control, but this, this she could. “You’re right,” she finally replied. “My story doesn’t have to end in tragedy, and neither does Sora’s. I won’t let that happen.”

Hades perked up and offered his hand, and she reached towards him as if to shake it. But at the last second, she summoned her Keyblade and cast a powerful Waterga spell that sent him shrieking backwards. His hair was completely doused and his clothes were soaking wet as he ranted and cursed and raged at her.

“Sorry Donald, Goofy,” she called, “but this is the only way to save Sora. Thank you, for everything.” She smiled sadly at them, then took off running.

“Kairi, no!” they shouted, but she had a head start on them. She sprinted to the river with them right at her tail, then took a flying leap. Time seemed to slow down as the waters of the Styx loomed closer and closer. The souls of the dead stared emptily up at her, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact.

She expected the water to be cold and clammy. She expected the river to make her shiver and freeze the longer she was in it. Instead, the moment she made contact with the water, her entire body felt like it was on fire. A muffled scream escaped her throat, but that just made the burning so much worse. Gasping, she struggled to the surface, but just as she was about to break through, she felt something grab onto her leg. She screamed again and kicked, hard. Panicking, she kicked some more. She couldn’t die here, she couldn’t, she had to make it across.

Her head broke above the surface, and she gasped for breath, her lungs burning.

“Guess you’re not the brightest lamp in the Agora after all,” Hades called. “You’ll be dead before you can make it to the other side.”

“Kairi, no!” Donald cried.

“Hang on,” came Goofy’s voice, “we’ll—”

The souls of the dead grabbed her and dragged her down with them once more. She thrashed and screamed as they pulled her deeper and deeper. Hades was right. She was gonna die here before she got anywhere close to the opposite shore.

No. She couldn’t die here. She just couldn’t. She summoned her Keyblade and called on the light deep within her heart. She thought of Sora, thought of his smiling face as they sat on the paopu tree together just moments before he’d disappeared. The light burst forth from her so powerfully that it pushed back the poor dead souls trying to cling to her. Only one remained, and she made one more strong, firm kick downward to shake it. Free at last, she swam towards the opposite bank like her life depended on it, and indeed her death to save Sora’s life did.

But a strange thing was happening. The more she swam, the foggier her thoughts became. Her memories floated aimlessly through her mind, disjointed, the people important to her flickering. Panicking, she swam faster, but that just made it worse.

“Kairi, the chains of your memories are coming undone!” came Naminé’s worried voice in her mind.

I know, Kairi wanted to say. I know, but Sora’s worth it—

A girl with dark hair and blue eyes that looked like Kairi appeared too. “Your connection to us is fading, Kairi, we’re losing you!”

I’m losing you too, she thought to herself, her throat tightening. But to find Sora she had to lose it all. She kept swimming with strong, firm strokes.

“Careful, Red, you can’t carry on like this much longer!” a man with fiery red hair cried. But she had to.

“Kairi, come back and finish your training,” a woman with short blue hair and stern but caring eyes commanded, and for a moment Kairi almost listened. But reaching Sora was more important.

“Kairi! Kairi!” she faintly heard two voices call from the shore she’d jumped off of.

I’m sorry…I’m sorry…

Green eyes and silver hair flashed through her head. “Kairi, what are you doing? You were supposed to stay safe at home, I promised you’d be okay! What’s Sora gonna say when he—”

But who was Sora? She couldn’t remember. Why was she in this river anyway? She was tired, she was so tired, everything hurt and her entire body burned and all she wanted to do was sink to the bottom and rest—

“KAIRI!”

Her eyes flew open. That voice, she knew that voice.

“Don’t you dare die on me, not again, please not again,” the voice begged. “I didn’t die so you would die, I want you to live, you have to live!”

She smiled faintly. Oh Sora, don’t you see? If I die, then we’ll both have a shot at living again.

At long last she felt the ground beneath her feet. The river was getting more and more shallow, she was almost free of it, she was almost to the other side—

With the last of her energy, she stepped onto dry ground and collapsed.

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A/N: Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged the previous chapter, I really appreciate it! Writing Hades’ dialogue and interactions with the other characters was a lot of fun and provided some levity from the heavier moments in the chapter.

Aquafolia requested Kairi cross the River Styx to search for Sora to parallel his sacrifice for her, and I also drew on a previous story I’d written to describe Kairi’s experiences (but in that case it was Sora who took a plunge in the river), Lifeline. Shoutout to Liv as well for proofreading this chapter ❤️

Thank you for reading! Next week I’ll post the final chapter.

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autumnslance · 2 years

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Side Stories and the Warrior of Light’s Integration

Was thinking and wondering about the upcoming trial series, that I don’t think we’ve had any hints at really as to what it’s going to be, and reflecting again that the biggest problem I believe Sorrow of Werlyt has in its “bones of a good story but lacking in execution” was how it not only decentered the WoL but made the PC superfluous to the narrative entirely. It’s also a reason why the final tier of YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse as a crossover with FFXIV falls flat, in my opinion.

FFXIV has done a good job overall of taking our silent protagonist, and even with Assumed Default WoL (since this is an MMO that can’t do multiple options the way a single player game can), the connection folks feel to their own OCs is often very real, due to how the main narrative centers the WoL and hinges upon their actions and relationships with the NPC cast. The RP duties where the player takes on a NPC for a time helps branch it out a little and makes what would otherwise be a summary or long cutscene interactive, but those are brief asides. The MSQ is the WoL’s hero story, and many of the side stories follow the same vein by at least keeping the WoL as an active and necessary participant even when another character is the story focal point.

Spoilers for various side content below.

The loose idea of the trials in ARR patches is further investigation of Ascians pushing the tribes to summon more powerful versions of the primals the WoL’s already fought, so WoL’s investigation of those escalations is front and center; especially for Ifrit, where a still-recovering-from-2.0-MSQ Thancred can’t go into the field himself yet, so WoL has to do the heavy lifting. Coils of Bahamut and Crystal Tower also have the WoL involved, interacting with the NPCs, forming bonds with the other central characters in the plot, investigating, creating items to get past defenses, and so on. We’re doing more than just the fighting, we’re part of the team. The Coils story has a direct impact on Alisaie’s development, and her friendship with and admiration of WoL really starts here (please play Coils story, it’s easy now to desync and roll it as a 90 solo, or get high level friends to run one through, and does affect almost all of Alisaie’s dialogues on her return to MSQ in 3.4).

Same in the Heavensward stories; in Alexander, WoL is part of a team with Y’shtola and the Ironworks; making friends with Mide and Roundrox, helping them, is essential to the story. Actions in the plot center WoL and their comrades in the mystery and time shenanigans. In Warring Triad, again WoL is part of a Scion research team figuring out how to deal with the eikons, while interacting directly with Unukalhai and Regula the entire time. We feel Regula’s sacrifice for the youth, and see his sense honor, twisted as it is by Imperial doctrine. There’s a reason Regula, for the very brief time he has on screen, is one of the more popular and lamented as lost-too-soon Garlean antagonists. Folks were interested in our little buddy Unukalhai and pleased he got more story in the Void Quests in ShB finally. Meanwhile, WoL is also off adventuring with the sky pirates to investigate the Shadows of Mhach; they treat WoL as a member of the crew, sharing info, bringing them in on tense meetings with the rival, letting WoL hang out at their base.

In Stormblood, we get drug into helping Cid’s old school friend and realizing his dream of the truth of Ivalice; there is a LOT going on with that story, and there are moments where it doesn’t land for folks because it’s such a huge reference-fest to Tactics and FFXII that sometimes WoL does get lost among the rest, but overall it’s the WoL’s interactions with Ramza that help him get past his adolescent upset and back to focusing on his family, WoL who supports Alma, WoL who meets with Fran and gets the rebels’ cooperation, WoL who deals with the Dramaturge and his wife’s silly requests. Four Lords, meanwhile, works right off the MSQ and Alphinaud’s little error with the checkbook, WoL agreeing to Soroban’s offer of adventure and treasure, and upon meeting the auspices, becomes integral to helping Soroban’s new training and not just fighting the Lords, but also listening to their stories, letting them shed their long-held burdens. It’s necessary for the WoL to help them finally grieve their friend, and in the finale, though it’s a cutscene, WoL still has a place and role. Omega likewise has the WoL as part of another Ironworks research team, and as the bot takes out other members of that team, WoL has to do a bit more work they’d normally aid Cid with. Making friends with Alpha is again essential here, letting the little birb self-actualize in a way Omega cannot (yet?).

In Shadowbringers, Eden gets it mostly right. The 8man raid series, much like Coils, is a wrap-up of MSQ and directly related to past events (Coils is more related to 1.0, but still). We work specifically with a Scion team again, and forming connections and memories with Gaia is essential to the story. The WoL’s experiences with the primals is also central for the majority of it, and it all ties back in, too, with our Ascian antagonists. Even the Bozja Resistance storyline, building off the Ivalice raids and the friendships formed there, makes sure the WoL is an active participant, enough that the major NPC betrayal fairly early on stings a good deal. I mentioned the role and follow-up Void Quest earlier, and again, the non-combat connections WoL makes with those characters, how the PC investigates the Virtues, interacts with the hunters and the boys, everything with Cylva, relies on the WoL as a person, not just a combatant.

Throughout, even stories like Hildibrand keep the WoL an active participant in the story. While the Inspector’s quests focus on his antics, WoL is a part of his team alongside Nashu. WoL still interacts with all the other NPCs, handles investigative tasks, and only occasionally has to fight something the others cannot. We’re along for the ride, but also nudging it on its course.

YoRHa seemed to start off well enough in that same vein; the WoL’s interactions with the dwarves are a big part of the story, and being able to explore the raid zones and bring back documentation as clues to what’s going on felt good. I loved having quests during the off-patches to give more story and characters. But in the end…Anogg runs away, there’s a confusing mystery as to what happened to her and when, and then she apparently meets 2B and 9S and helps revive the latter all off-screen. The weekly follow-ups with rebuilding the town go well while seem to be building to a problem with Glagg that just…goes away on its own, no help from WoL needed. Meanwhile the twins just vanish with the WoL left in the empty room. All so Dark Apocalypse can be part of the greater NieR storyline, with its cameo in FFXIV being just a confusing aside that the FFXIV characters never get even minor resolution on in-universe.

And in Werlyt…the WoL is superfluous. Literally only shows up to fight the weapons, maybe have an Echo vision of some things that set it up, and that’s…it. You could replace WoL with an advanced Ironworks defense mechanism and nothing changes. We actually meet most of the kids only once (and the first girl not at all) outside of their weapons. All of the major character interactions happen elsewhere, in “meanwhile” scenes WoL and Team Gaius aren’t present for. WoL never even meets the primary antagonist nor sees him in those Echoes; he’s Gaius’ villain—barely—and while that Diamond finale scene is well-done, WoL isn’t part of it. A lot happens with Gaius and his team becoming part of Terncliffe, helping Werlyt, the struggles with this former conqueror now working with the rebels…all offscreen. Summarized and informed. We just show up, fight a weapon, get to pilot the G-Warrior once, and then go back to other WoL business. We’re watching the story—and there’s a lot of cutscenes that run long that we just watch—but our character isn’t really part of it.

And it’s frustrating because the elements of a good tragic mecha anime story are there. The concept of Gaius examining his past beliefs and working toward change in himself (while never expecting others’ forgiveness) is there. There’s a lot going on in Werlyt, perhaps a bit too much, and along the way, the WoL, the game’s protagonist and the player POV character, is entirely lost in the shuffle and relegated to the side in a way they aren’t usually in these stories. Even when other side stories focus on specific characters, like Mide and Roundrox, or Ryne and Gaia, The Four Lords, or the Lexentales, the WoL’s interactions with them, the help we offer outside of combat scenarios, is integral to those characters resolving their issues. We never get the chance with the weapon pilots, and in the end, I’m still wondering what and how exactly did Team Gaius learn from the WoL when we just show up now and again long enough to fight the next weapon and leave right away while actual story events happen elsewhere outside the characters’ POVs.

So far in Endwalker, I am optimistic with Pandaemonium and Aglaia; the first tiers of each have gone well enough, and WoL’s interactions with the characters is so far forefront. We’ll see what comes in the next series as the 6.x patches continue forward with new ideas and stories.

EDIT: And as of 6.5 and the end of the raid stories...Yeah. Panda and Myths both centered WoL in interesting ways, with Panda relying on the stable time loop and the friendships forged with Themis/Elidibus, and then Erich, and even our renewed understanding of Lahabrea and bringing it all back to the Heart of Sabik and Athena’s obsessions, which became fixed on WoL. Myths had the Twelve decide that with Hydaelyn and Zodiark gone, they could enact their own retirement plan and who better than Her Champion to aid them? And the friendship with WoL, the other Baldesion pals, and a baby monkey, were pivotal to the climax, and it’s WoL there all the way to the end. The trial series for Endwalker ended up as part of the MSQ, and so of course WoL is central there, working with the other Scions to teach Zero how to remember to be a real person again. Even so far in the Tataru quest line and in Hildibrand again, it’s the WoL’s connections to people across the star and actions as part of the agents’ team that matters. Even Island Sanctuary’s minimal plot is all about giving the WoL a vacation project to work on and others coming to visit them for fun!

So yeah. Keeping WoL involved not just for combat and the handy Echo, actually having pivotal moments happen onscreen and that WoL is simply present for--even if just as moral support!--go a long way to making the stories feel more involved, make more sense, and gives it a better chance of hitting the desired emotional resonances, as the players are then able to care about the NPCs, the the story, and how their WoLs fit in.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Warrior of Light #Sorrow of Werlyt #yorha: dark apocalypse #Eden #Return to Ivalice #Four Lords #Omega #Warring Triad #Shadows of Mhach #Alexander #Coils of Bahamut #Crystal Tower #primals #blogging #opinion

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the-arcade-doctor · 1 year

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more info on the springy archive project: Springy And The Galaxy Gears was a video game produced by [REDACTED] after his comic line took off in ????. In this game, you play as Springy, a sentient coil infused with Boundium, a material that gives whatever it latches onto a LOT of elasticity, whose goal is to stop the evil William B Malicious, AKA The Mechanic from getting all of the Galaxy Gears, powerful relics from The Clock Tower of the universe, each of them are guarded by a Gear Guardian.

#“and i said ”Sonic? I barely know him!“#jehehehehe #unreality #sadly #springy's not a real game yet

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senhochiller · 2 months

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Sustainable and Powerful: Why Air-Cooled Water Chillers are the Future of Industrial Cooling

Air-cooled water chillers are increasingly recognized as a sustainable choice in industrial cooling, offering benefits that align with future industrial trends. Let's look into why air-cooled water chillers are becoming more prevalent and how they contribute to the evolution of industrial cooling.

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waterodyssey · 1 year

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gameguides · 1 year

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Kingdom Rush Strategy and Tips

Welcome to our Kingdom Rush Strategy and Tips guide. This is an in-depth guide for Kingdom Rush 1 that I originally wrote as a reference for myself, but decided to share after discovering a huge amount of strategic and mechanical depth in Kingdom Rush 1 that not many people have. #KingdomRush

Kingdom Rush Strategy and Tips

This is an in-depth guide for Kingdom Rush 1 that I originally wrote as a reference for myself, but decided to share after discovering a huge amount of strategic and mechanical depth in Kingdom Rush 1 that not many people have. General Game Strategy: Level Opening The start of a level is often the most important and strategic point in Kingdom Rush. How you’ll want to start and place/upgrade towers will often depend on the level itself, where the natural chokepoints are, what enemies you have to deal with in the first wave and level as a whole, etc. As a general rule it’s often a good idea to go for a number of nonupgraded Melee Towers covering a strategic chokepoint to start, and then sell most of them later for room/money. Be sure to upgrade the Melee Towers that you actually intend to keep as soon as the soldiers start dying and the enemies start to push through, as this immediately respawns the soldiers. Artillery Towers often go great with Melee Towers, as the latter will bunch of enemies so the former can get max Area of Effect damage on all of them. The nonupgraded Melee Towers combined with Artillery will be capable of holding off the enemies on most levels until you’re able to afford a Tesla Coil with Overcharge or a Big Bertha.

An example of a solid early game tower setup on the 'Glacial Heights' Elite Stage on Veteran. General Game Strategy: Upgrading And Combining Towers Tesla Coils with Overcharge and the Smart Targeting Star Upgrade plus Paladins with Holy Light and Shield of Valour positioned at a chokepoint are often the best first upgraded towers to get in KR1. Then you can either get some more Tesla Coils and Paladins at other strategic chokepoint(s) in the level, or start spamming Sorcerer Mages with a single point in their Earth Elemental summon ability; waiting to upgrade this more until the Earth Elemental is near death, since they get full health every time you upgrade this ability. Putting one point in the Polymorph ability is also useful if you have to deal with a lot of extremely tough enemies, though keep in mind you will have to spam-click the sheep to death quickly, as they cannot be blocked by ground units and are relatively fast. Placing a single Rangers Hideout with Wrath of the Forest vines fully upgraded near your stalling and offensive towers is also very powerful for crowd control, and Poison Arrows is a strong damaging ability for the cost, especially since poison Damage Over Time ignores armour and can be spread to lots of small enemies at once for huge Damage Per Second potential. Both of these abilities also disable the health regeneration of all trolls, werewolves, Lycans, and Swamp Thing. Note, however, that any given enemy can only be vine ensnared up to 3 times, and poison does not stack with itself, and thus you generally don't want more than one upgraded Rangers Hideout at a time.

My mid-game setup on 'The Dark Tower' Veteran.

My late-game setup on 'The Dark Tower' Veteran.

My late-game strategy on the 'Ruins of Acaroth' Elite Stage's Heroic Challenge on Veteran.

My late-game strategy on the 'Rotwick' Elite Stage on Veteran.

My late-game pre-boss strategy on the 'Blackburn Castle' Elite Stage on Veteran.

My late-game post-boss strategy on the 'Blackburn Castle' Elite Stage on Veteran. Kingdom Rush Towers Strategy And Info Tips -Level 2 Melee Towers are a lot better than level 1, for just a little higher price. Level 3 is a pretty good upgrade from 2, but not as cost effective as Level 1-2 overall. Level 4 Paladins with Holy Light and Shield of Valor are the best for the price in most scenarios, as they're practically unkillable by most things. Once you get your Melee Towers up to Paladins, you'll want to invest in 2-3 Holy Light upgrades before you bother with Shield of Valor, as they need the former for sustainment in combat. Holy Strike is generally seen as a waste of money, unless you have an excess of cash or limited tower space at a strategic chokepoint. When your Melee units start taking fire from ranged enemies, be sure to move them somewhere out of range (if possible), and then back on top of the ranged enemies when they come within range of the Melee Tower. Most ranged enemies are weaker in melee combat. Never let ranged enemies stack up and shred your Melee units’ health. Also note that Paladins are the only Level 4 tower that is completely useless against flying enemies. -The Barbarian Hall is pretty mediocre in KR1 (IMO), and a waste of money compared to other towers. I seldom ever use it, outside of the Icewind Pass Iron Challenge where you need them to target flying enemies with throwing axes. -Tesla Coils are best for their Overcharge ability, which provides true Area of Effect explosive damage (which ignores half of an enemy’s physical armour) and makes them one of the best towers in the game. Definitely focus on maxing this upgrade first before bothering with Supercharged Bolt (especially if you don't have Smart Targeting), which is a good upgrade overall, but isn't true AoE. Oftentimes you may want to forego Supercharged Bolt in favour of making more Teslas with Overcharge, and then later on go for Supercharged Bolt when you have a good defense built up. -The Big Bertha is generally not as good as the Tesla Coil overall, but it is the best tower for dealing with massive amounts of trash enemy spam, and it’s also good for bosses when other towers would be out of range and you have extra money to spend, as their Dragonbreath missile has very long range (appears to be about double that of the tower itself) and will always aim for the enemy closest to the exit. -The Sorcerer Mage is one of the best and most spammable towers in KR1, overall. Its main attack deals magic damage and Curses any enemy it hits. The Curse deals True Damage as Damage Over Time (which isn’t reflected in the damage listing for the tower), and halves the enemy’s physical armour rating for its duration; thus greatly increasing the damage all physical/explosive attacks deal to armoured enemies. Its Polymorph ability permanently turns an enemy into a sheep, which can’t be blocked by friendly ground units, but can be rapidly clicked to death for an Instant Kill. This also comes at a cheaper price than the Arcane Wizard’s Death Ray, for a very similar overall effect as long as you’re attentive. Like Death Ray, don’t bother upgrading Polymorph above level 1 in most scenarios, as it’s cost ineffective. The Sorcerer Mage’s Earth Elemental summon is great to spam at Level 1, as when an Elemental is near death, you can just upgrade the ability in order to fully restore the Elemental’s health. Earth Elementals have significant health and armour, and deal good amounts of physical damage to up to 4 enemies at once. With max Star Upgrades, each of the Sorcerer’s primary attacks will also slow enemies and permanently destroy 3% of their physical armour rating. In short, this tower is almost universally good and is quite cost effective; with good single target damage, temporary physical armour halving from Curse, some True Damage from Curse, slowing and permanent physical armour breaking per shot, an Instant Kill ability, and stalling and physical area damage from its Earth Elemental. -Arcane Wizard: Having one near the back of the track with the Teleport and Death Ray to counter tough big/armoured enemies can be useful, depending on the level and enemies. Be sure not to rely on Arcane Wizards alone, however, as they're terrible against groups of enemies relative to their cost. -The Rangers Hideout is a very strong all around tower, although its special abilities’ effects on enemies are mutually exclusive with itself and thus redundant if you have more than one Rangers Hideout. Vines and poison both disable health regeneration for all trolls, werewolves, Lycans, and Swamp Thing; making this tower a hard counter to those enemies. The poison Damage Over Time also ignores armour, and can outright kill some lesser enemies with one poison arrow at Level 3. -The Musketeer Garrison: For bosses and large enemy spam, Shrapnel Shot 3 is amazing if you have Smart Targeting unlocked, as it has the best DPS and some AoE. Note that Shrapnel Shot has 0.5x range compared to the tower itself, however, making its range misleading. Also note that Sniper Shot (1.5x range) does not target or affect bosses in any way. -Nonupgraded Mage and Archer Towers have the highest gold-to-DPS ratio, and with upgrades, the nonupgraded Mage Towers can also slow enemies and permanently destroy 3% of an enemy's armour with every shot. Note, however, that lots of spread-out weak towers are not useful against enemies with health regeneration. The Best Heroes (IMO) Ranked

1) Ten'shi. Ten’shi is a very strong melee Hero, and the best support Hero; tied with Elora Wintersong. Ten’shi is a great all-around melee Hero with True Damage primary attacks, meteors, and earthquakes, invincibility to all damage and effects during Iron Time, the ability to stun non-boss enemies with his earthquake attack during Iron Time, and the ability to teleport around the map instantly when not in Iron Time. This all combined gives him high support utility, maneuverability, healing ability, sustainment, and precision targeted enemy stalling/killing capability. His ability to teleport effectively allows him to be everywhere on the level at once and micromanage many tasks. He can also teleport to and bully some dangerous melee-vulnerable enemies such as Shamans, Spider Matriarchs, Shadow Archers, Demon Lords, Necromancers, Goblin Sappers, Raiders, and Abominations. You can also strategically teleport him to an enemy/group of enemies right before he casts his Firerush! meteor ability (which will make a bell dinging sound just before he casts it), to great effect. Ten’shi can level up exceptionally fast if you micromanage him, focusing on always teleporting him to the least-armoured/lowest damaging enemy onscreen, and keeping an eye on his health total to prevent him from dying to them over time. 2) Elora Wintersong. Elora is the best ranged Hero, and the best support Hero; tied with Ten’shi. Elora has good range, speed, health and armour (for a ranged Hero), DPS, AoE, crowd control, can target flying enemies, and gets benefit from the Mage Tower’s Arcane Shatter Star Upgrade for her attacks. She’s the only thing in KR1 that can slow bosses via debuffs, making her excellent against bosses; especially ones with Instant Kill abilities that would render melee Heroes almost moot. Elora can level up exceptionally fast if you micromanage her, keeping her within range to attack magic damage-vulnerable enemies, without them being able to damage her. Note that micromanagement is necessary to do with Elora, as her melee damage is weak compared to her ranged damage, and thus you want to keep her out of enemy range when possible. Although she can still block and tank effectively when needed. 3) Ignus. Ignus/Chonk is the best melee Hero for DPS, to the point that some people considered him to be overpowered before his (doubled) damage per tick glitch was fixed on the Steam version. His DPS and AoE damage are great, all of his attacks deal True Damage (unaffected by any enemy resistances), he's fast, he’s fairly tanky, he heals in combat, and he respawns faster than most Heroes. However, he also is very unreliable for stalling enemies (the primary job of most melee Heroes), as he tends to erratically jump from enemy to enemy with his Surge of Flames dash. This will force you to do a lot of micromanagement to keep him where you want him. Ignus can level up exceptionally fast by sheer virtue of the fact that he deals a lot of True Damage, although keeping him attacking an enemy(ies) may be an issue. 4) Oni. Oni is a great all-around melee Hero. He deals great damage and AoE, is fast, and is immune to Demon explosions; generally making him the best Hero on levels with lots of Demons. 5) Sir Gerald Lightseeker. Sir Gerald is the best tank melee Hero in the game, period. He’s highly damage resistant, reflects (non-AoE) melee damage back at enemies as True Damage (100% to 200% depending on level), and has good support capability by buffing other ground units when 2 or more are nearby and are engaging in melee combat; granting them increased damage, healing 15% of their max health, and granting them additional armour (+5-15% depending on level).

Early Game Star Upgrades And Considerations

Early on you should focus on maxing the Star Upgrade trees of Magic/Bomb Towers (switching them out depending on the level and what tower upgrades you have unlocked) and Reinforcements (free extra blocking and ranged damage = OP). Level 2-4 Meteors are also extremely powerful relative to their Star cost. Smart Targeting is one of the most powerful Star Upgrades in the game and should be prioritized as soon as you have Big Bertha/Tesla available, as it makes all Bomb Towers and the Musketeer Garrison amazingly powerful (even without any Archer Tower Star Upgrades). Generally I prioritize fully upgrading the Star paths in the following order: Bombs, Reinforcements, Meteors/Mage, Melee, and then Archery. It’s also worth mentioning that when you have finished the main Campaign, you should go back and begin 3-starring the older levels and doing the Heroic and Iron Challenges on them before wasting your time attempting the extra challenging Elite Stages. Ignore the Elite Stages until you have all of the Star Upgrades unlocked. This will save you a lot of unnecessary headache, especially on certain insane Elite Stages on Veteran difficulty.

An example of a strong mid-game Star Upgrade build. Read the full article

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weirdzano-and-co · 5 months

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Attention.

(thanks for 9 prettys followers, he loves you all)

rus: Внимание.

(спасибо за прекраснейших 9 поклонников, он вас всех любит)

Ох-йахрр, так много народу... глядит на меня...

Так, эээээ... Как дела, ребят?

#pizzano #sugary spire pizzano #sugary spire au #sugary spire #pizza tower au #pizza tower #coil tower #coil tower au #weirdzano #pizzano sugary spire #coil tower info

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peachyteabuck · 4 years

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something i can eat [peggy carter x reader]

summary: She backs you against a wall easily, towering over you. Her eyes scan your form, pausing when she gets to your center and chest.

“When Stark said he’d get me something to play with, I admit I didn’t expect it to be this cute…”

pairing: dark!peggy carter x reader

words: 1,668

trigger warnings: dubcon, corruption kink, innocent reader, face slapping, vaginal fingering

notes: this is actually a writing warm up that went awry. it’s quite different from what i usually write so uh. please let me know what you think!

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

The ice had knocked something loose. It had done the same to Steve – changing him in a way no one expected and everyone tried to hide.

Each request to interview either of them – either half of the World War Two star-crossed lovers who were bound by ice so thick many were sure no one or thing would be able to get them out - was turned down in the politest way Stark Industries’ PR team knew how.

Oh, they’re on a top-secret mission. Oh, they’re tired from a top-secret mission. Oh, they’re doing something confidential.

When Peggy was found, it had become glaringly obvious she would need what they had gotten Steve the second he could stand – a distraction.

They had found you the easy way. You were one of the poor kids Stark had hand-picked from the thick stack of intern applications that didn’t make the cut for the real job.

He framed the alternative job offer as being an “assistant.” Peggy just needed someone to help her, he said in an email. Not much work, with free, required room and board.

To you, a broke recent college graduate with student loans and nowhere to turn, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

You showed up to the first day in thick leggings, thicker sweater, and a simply adorable button-up underneath. Stark nearly cooed when he saw you – patting himself on the back for picking the perfect person for his friends…unique needs.

Stark was grinning when you stepped through the door and, though seemingly overly enthusiastic, you chalked it up to him wanting to meet you.

You followed him diligently throughout Stark Tower as he explained to you your duties – to make Peggy remained fed and ate and kept her apartment clean and dressed herself.

You blushed at the last one, but continue to walk at a brisk pace as you enter an elevator. There, Tony hands you a badge and a tacky Stark Tower lanyard and tells you which employee entrances you’ll be able to use with your unusually high level of access (this didn’t make sense given you were an assistant, and not even a glorified one. But you chose not to question it).

Stark enters the apartment that you’re told is Peggy’s without so much as a knock – announcing his (and your) presence with a loud call into the minimalist living space.

A woman you sort-of recognize from the news (which talked about her nonstop when they found her in the place she had used to try and rescues Steve) appears from nowhere – dressed in a black and dark grey women’s suit from the 1940s, complete with low heels and deep red lipstick.

You’re starstruck, speechless – a ringing in your ears so loud you don’t hear that Stark has left until he’s gone.

And with the door shut loudly behind him, you and Peggy were alone.

“Well,” Peggy says, smile off-putting but beautiful. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing.”

Your chest felt like your ribs were tightening around your lungs, your breath squeezed from your body as she watched you. “I, uh,” you swallowed, trying to find whatever words you would pull from your dry mouth.

She backs you against a wall easily, towering over you. Her eyes scan your form, pausing when she gets to your center and chest.

“When Stark said he’d get me something to play with, I admit I didn’t expect it to be this cute…”

Your breath catches in your throat, eyes wide in confusion. “Miss Carter, I-I have no idea what you’re-“

She cuts you off, shoving three fingers into your mouth. “Quiet,” she hisses through her teeth. “You will not speak unless I ask you something and when I do, you. Will. Answer. You understand?”

You gulp around her fingers. “Y-yes.”

She grins and moves to shed you of your sweater, huffing when she finds a fully buttoned shirt underneath.

“You’re such a tease,” she tuts before ripping the shirt. Buttons fly everywhere, but before you can process or complain or ask her what she’s doing your bra is gone, too.

Her tongue circles on of your pert nipples, making you fight back a small moan.

Her lipstick remains perfect when she pulls away with a soft pop!, moving to tear at your leggings and picking your flats off with the point of her heel.

It’s then that you find yourself able to push at her shoulders – stuttering through a menial protest.

“Wait!” you cry out. Peggy stops, but only for a moment. “W-wait! What are you doing?”

Peggy just smiles.

“C’mon little dove,” she coos down at you. “Don’t you want to feel good?”

You gulp, feeling the cold of the table press into your hot skin. “I-uh…”

“Don’t worry, baby girl,” she says. Her voice is low, as if not to scare off a wild deer. “I’d never hurt you, I’d never hurt anything so precious.”

You look between her and the door once more, admittedly a little scared.

But, what’s the worst that can happen?

You give her a little small nod, avoiding her heated gaze.

“Nu-uh,” Peggy tuts, using a single, perfectly manicured finger under your chin to raise your eyes to hers. “You have to tell me what you want. Don’t leave me guessing, little dove.”

Your eyes widen in fear and unknowing – struggling to find what you want to say.

It’s then that Peggy laughs lightly, fake pouting as she watches every movement of every muscle in your face.

“Oh, darling,” her lips curl sinisterly, but you can’t help but press your thighs together as a desperate heat grows there. “You don’t know what you want, do you?”

You shake your head silently. When Peggy narrows her eyes, you quickly move to correct your grave mistake. “N-no, I, uh…I don’t know…what I, uh. Want.”

Despite your mediocre presentation, Peggy doesn’t chastise you.

“You’re a fast learner,” she murmurs. “I like that.”

A moment passes where she just stares at you, and suddenly you feel quite insecure.

That, however, does not last for long.

“Open your mouth,” she tells you.

You do.

Easily, she slides two fingers past your lips and massages them over your tongue.

“Good girl,” she murmurs. “From now on you belong to me, do you understand?”

You nod.

Peggy moves her hand from your mouth to cradling your face, squeezing your cheeks before she pulls it back and slaps you.

You whimper in pain, making Peggy laughs.

“Aw, little dove,” she coos as you hold your hurt cheek, tears threatening to spill. “Did you like that?”

“N-no,” you mumble. “I, I didn’t l-like it.”

Peggy grabs your cheek forcefully, making your watery eyes meet her fiery ones. “Then don’t disobey me. Do you understand?”

You sniffle before you respond. “Y-yes.”

Peggy then rubs your pussy through your panties, smiling as you hold back whimpers.

“Sensitive little thing, aren’t you?” she murmurs.

“I-“ you struggle to respond but fear punishment. “Y-yes.”

“I’m going to make you feel so good,” Peggy tells you as she pushes your cotton underwear to the side.

You’re practically dripping as she pushes two fingers into you, the same two that remained soaked in your spit. Your hands scramble for purchase and land on Peggy’s shoulders.

She’s an expert at this, much better than the boys in college. Actually, everything about her is better than the boys in college – you didn’t even know girls did those kinds of things together.

It doesn’t take long for pleasure to light itself inside of you, for your spine to melt and your head to feel as if it was floating.

There’s something else, though, something both familiar and unknown to you.

“W-what-“ you moan. “I- Why does it f-feel like I’m g-going to-“

Peggy just smiles easily, eyes trained on your face. “That’s called an orgasm, little dove,” she tells you. “It’s okay, just let yourself feel good.”

You gulp, still trying to move out of her grasp.

Peggy just tuts at you, her other hand moving to run a comforting thumb over your jaw. “You can’t lie, I can see it I your pretty, dazed eyes. C’mon baby girl, don’t you want to come for me? You do, darling, don’t you?”

You nod, the coil in your stomach tightening with each passing second. “I, I-“

“Shh,” Peggy says, kissing at the corner of your trembling mouth. “Just let go, just let go for me…”

You cum with a loud moan, clinging to her as tears threatened to spill from your eyes and your skin felt like it was being torn at your fingertips and stomach.

Peggy holds you up as you come down from your high, allowing you to slump against her when you become boneless and blissed out.

She carries you to her bedroom, laying you down before she sheds her own clothes and joins you under the covers.

“So,” Peggy begins, holding you close to her despite the expansive, unclaimed real estate left on her large bed. “Are you going to be my filthy little girl from now on?”

It’s the next day when you’re sitting at the dining room table, going over the meals you planned to make during the week for Peggy and yourself.

The woman in question sits herself in the chair next to you, looming over your shoulder as you wrote into your notebook.

You thought she was going to say something, but then you feel her hand on your thigh.

For a moment you tense, but quickly realize what Peggy’s doing. With some hesitation you then use your own hand to push it closer to your center.

Peggy just massages the inside of your thigh, pressing into the bruises she left last night.

“You’re such a good girl for me, aren’t you?” She says, leaving small bites along your exposed neck. “Can’t wait to teach you fuck you, humiliate you a little.”

You gulp but lean into her body nonetheless and open your legs further. There’s nothing you’d like more.

#peggy carter x reader #peggy carter smut #peggy carter lemons #peggy carter #lukis writes stuff #title is from money all around by holy child #which is an EXCELLENT song #also yes im aware of the motif of eating/mouths/etc in my writing #its that and bible verses dont @ me

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emphasis-mediencehippo · 3 years

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I just remembered something really weird I did when I was ultra hyperfocused on DRAMAtical Murder awhile back. I wrote an entire google doc about this one scene on Clear’s route that wasn’t really all that important, but I still read way too much into it anyways? Unfortunately I no longer have the google doc, but I will try and recreate it as best as I can.

Minor Clear route spoilers, nothing major to the plot but just in case.

“So at some point during Clear’s route, Clear leaves Glitter and tells Aoba that he’s in Oval Tower but it turns out that Clear was in Overr tower and he confused the two. Afterwards he regroups with Aoba and whatnot. Okay but can someone explain to me how the fuck Clear contacted Aoba from inside Overr tower when he doesn’t have a coil? I know Clear has a watch but it just looks like a normal watch to me. Also, regardless of whether or not his watch is a coil, Clear never exchanged info with Aoba anyways, so he wouldn’t have the ability to contact him even with a coil. There is no logical explanation as to how Clear was able to contact Aoba from inside Overr tower, even if he did have a coil. Aoba isn’t surprised by this fact either, which in my opinion rises more questions. Perhaps he was too tired to notice but I wasn’t.”

#DRAMAtical Murder #dmmd #clear dmmd #dmmd clear #Please don't take this too seriously

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dapper-ocs-collective · 3 years

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Turmalaire, the dorm founded on the melodramatics of the motherly dame

The crest shows mother Gothel’s dagger with a strand of golden hair coiled around it, the frame is the mirror that was in the tower.

Students of this dorm are renowned for their talents in the theatrical arts, fully creating and producing all manner of plays put on at the school.

Dorm leader:

Corinna Hexe, third year

The shinning starlet of the school. Not only is she always the lead of every play, she also insists upon being the director. She is obsessed with her youthful beauty and hates to actually work on anything not related in plays, including her dorm leader duties leading many to say that she is the leader only in name. Calls the people of her dorm her "children".

Vice leader:

Gillian, second year

In charge of costumes and set design, as well as the writer for a number of the dorm’s performances. Often has to pick up the slack from the vain dorm leader, finding new ways to try and motivate her. The belt on her waist holds numerous drawing/painting and sewing supplies.

Other students:

Isa Stetchen, first year

One of the lead set builders. A girl with a dry, sarcastic wit, a bit excitable leaving her sister to be the one to keep her grounded. Her near constant grin and her delinquent aura makes many people afraid she’s up to something.

Ulli Stetchen, first year

One of the lead set builders. A stoic girl with a fierce glare, leaving her sister to do mos of the talking for her. Despite appearances, she’s actually quite gentle.

Some basic info about my Twisted Wonderland oc dorm! It is based on Disney’s Tangled. Gillian is an allusion to Rapunzel’s tower, while the Corinna is mother Gothel and Isa and Ulli are the two stabbington brothers (the evil mercenary twins).

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twst oc dorm #twisted wonderland oc dorm #ocs #oc

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yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

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Beside The Dying Fire (part nine)

[DnD AU with the tour!verse]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Word count: 2313

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Queen Jane Seymour’s kingdom wasn’t always called “the Unbreakable City.” Before the land was ravaged by battles, it was called Babylon, the capital of Cyprus and the safest place to live on the entire continent. It got its name from the gorgeous hanging gardens decorating the palace and mountains the city was situated on.

But after five years of nonstop battles and attacks on the capital, its name was changed to the Unbreakable City to symbolize how much it had withstood against Henry’s army.

The Unbreakable City was set up on the side of a mountain, boxed in by a deep chasm called The Great Crystal Cliffs, which glittered in streams of petrified rainbows in the sunlight. But there wasn’t much sun left in the capital, as Henry had cast an eternal storm over the city, buffeting it in rain and snow and sleet and wind as long as the queen continued to not surrender.

A large ebony wall towered around the perimeter of The Great Crystal Cliffs, protecting the people that lived within. Five impenetrable bridges conjured by the strongest magic lay over the chasm, allowing people to come and go from the city as they pleased. A pitch-black gate wrapped in vines and clusters of violets creaked open when Katherine and her companions arrived, and they followed Cleves and Bessie into the queen’s kingdom with their heads held high.

The senses of the city overwhelm Katherine from every direction. First, there was the noise, the cacophony of hundreds of people: merchants hawking their wares; dozens of different conversations; the cries of animals and children; the rattle of carts; and a million other noises. It was all the bubbling babble of a village meeting magnified a thousandfold.

Then there were the smells: the sweat and stink of thousands of bodies; the stench of rotting food, smoke, and cooking grease; the mixed odor of grilling meat and sizzling vegetables; the pungent musk of farm animals on the outskirts of the city; the constant aroma of rain. Smells were everywhere, all slamming into her in powerful waves of stink.

Finally, her ears got used to the cacophony and her nose began to filter the overpowering stench, and she could see the glory that was the Unbreakable City: houses piled three or four stories high, stretching into the distance like a jumbled mass; the high, raised pillars of spires and turrets and crenelated bulwarks in ebony stone; the caves carved into the towering stretches of cliffs all around; and the plants. There were so many plants all over the place, roses and violets and bluebells and sunflowers bursting in barrages of color from building to building.

And then, there was the palace.

Queen Jane Seymour’s palace had to be the most beautiful building Katherine had ever seen before. It was carved out of polished black marble, half-built deep into the mountain where dozens of rooms were chipped away from mossy stone for all the workers and nobles to live. A wide curtain of willow and lichen hung down from the cliff overhead, gently draping over the black beauty. Moss and blankets of tightly-woven flowers were cascading from several grand balconies, glowing with vibrant life, and vines crawling with roses were coiled delicately around intricately-carved spiral pillars. Waterfalls were pouring out from crevices in the mountain wall, falling into the chasm below like streams of crushed diamonds.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Katherine turned her head to see Cleves smiling at her. The Minotaur gazed up at the palace, and her golden-brown eyes glittered in the light drizzle. On her shoulder, Bessie’s black tail feathers were wagging like a happy dog’s.

“It is,” Katherine said. “It’s amazing.”

Cleves smiled even wider before walking up the steps to the palace pavilion, Katherine and her companions following. A marble courtyard of lush greenery was built around a statue of an elegant quartz dragon sitting regally on a glittering throne. The entrance to the palace was a high arch with a curtain of vines that tickled Katherine’s shoulders when she passed through them.

“Woah,” Joan murmured at her side.

The inside of the castle was just as incredible as the outside.

A huge foyer yawned out before them, with a visible catwalk stretched around the upper sections of the high-vaulted walls where maids and other workers bustled about. Several hallways were carved deep into the mountain, most likely leading to even more magnificent rooms.

Cleves ended up taking them down the corridor at the very front of the foyer, which led into a giant throne room that was dressed in flowers and plants, fed by spring water streaming from the smooth stone walls and collecting into troughs edging the floors. The ceiling was completely covered in dark phosphorescent moss that was freckled in glowing bright blue speckles, mimicking the night sky. One of the two thrones was a beautiful marble creation, studded with opals and pearls and fluffed with silver velvet cushions. The other, however, was completely wrapped in prickly vines and painfully sharp thorns; it was clear that sitting in it was not allowed, though a freshly-polished silver circlet hung from one of the back points.

Cleves looked around the throne room, while Bessie jumped down from her shoulders. Her talons clicked against the shiny floor as she paced around.

“Shiny?” She called out in a youthful voice. “Queenie?”

“Hm,” Cleves said. “I’m disappointed but not surprised.”

“What?” Katherine looked at her.

Cleves chuckled. “Nothing. It’s just very like Jane to not be on her throne. Come on, follow me.”

They took a hallway to the left and walked further into the castle. Instead of feeling claustrophobic from being inside a mountain, Katherine felt quite secure and protected within the stone walls of the palace.

They stepped into another huge room, and Katherine couldn’t help but gasp at its beauty.

It was a library, but also a forest. Giant thick trees towered out of the mossy stone floor, their twisted branches hanging with lanterns and writing materials. Holes were carved in the trunks, where scrolls were neatly slotted info and marked with letters in the bark. Several more cubbyholes were dug out into the walls, filled with ancient texts and grand stories, while high, shined mahogany bookshelves actually held all the books. Wooden tables dotted the space, along with several places to sit, like hollows in the trees and nests made of fluffy lichen. A spring burbled softly in the center of the library, giving off a natural bioluminescent glow, which bathed the two figures by the water in soft blue light.

The figure standing up was a Leonin woman, dressed in shiny glass armor and wielding two curved swords. Her fur was a dark sandy yellow color, speckled with light brown on her back and shoulders, and her eyes were bright amber, sharp and alert.

The figure sitting on the ground reading a book, however, was a beautiful dark-skinned human woman. Her skin was unblemished and shiny from the golden oils she bathed with, contrasting brightly with the silk silver dress she was wearing. Teardrop-shaped crystals were draped along her shoulders, cascading down her gown in a bright glittering stream. A metal circlet sat on her head, studded with diamonds and opals. When she looked up, her eyes were a warm golden-amber color.

Cleves and Bessie bowed, then Katherine and her companions copied. The queen smiled.

“Anna, Bessie,” Queen Jane Seymour said, and her voice was smooth and husky. “It’s good to see you both again. I’m glad you’re home safe.”

“Queenie!!” Bessie chirped. She launched herself forward and threw her arms around the queen, nuzzling her with happy bird coos. The queen chuckled and stroked the feathers on her head.

“Hello, Bessie,” Jane said. She glanced at Katherine and her companions. “Hello there. Who are you three?”

“Katherine Howard of Ghent,” Katherine dipped her head, despite already bowing. “These are Catalina and Joan. We request your assistance in something.”

Jane raised an eyebrow. She closed her book and stood up, suddenly looking very alert. “Oh? Is that so?”

“They had a run-in with Mannox, My Lady,” Cleves informed.

Joan flinched slightly when the name was said, flicking her ears back. Katherine gently touched her shoulder for support.

“Do tell,” Jane said.

“My village was destroyed by Henry’s forces,” Katherine said. “Ghent. It was in the Needle Forest.”

Jane frowned. “I heard about that. I’m terribly sorry.”

Katherine nodded slightly. “I’m here to urge you to get more involved in the war. Henry is tearing apart the continent. You need to start fighting back more than you are. Please.”

Jane stared at her and, without hesitation, said, “No.”

Katherine’s jaw actually fell open. She watched as Jane briskly turned around and began walking out of the library. The Leonin followed her, and Cleves and Bessie copied after glancing at Katherine to gauge her reaction. Katherine hurried after them, Catalina and Joan on her tail.

“Wait!” Katherine shouted. “Your Majesty!”

Jane turned to her. “I can’t risk losing any more of my soldiers. By pushing out more, I anger Henry, and that is not what I want.”

“But people are dying!” Katherine cried. “Innocent people! What about them?”

Jane sighed. “I feel bad, I do, but my people come first.”

“You’re a fucking coward,” Catalina hissed.

The Leonin growled lowly, bristling her fur. “Watch what you say, Aasimar.”

“What do you mean? Watch what I say about the truth?” Catalina scoffed. She narrowed her eyes at Jane. “What kind of queen are you, hiding inside your castle? Do you enjoy being blissfully ignorant towards the things going on outside your walls? Katherine is right, innocent people are DYING because of YOUR husband! Control him!”

Jane went quiet for a moment, rubbing her fingers over a sapphire pendant around her neck. “My husband,” She murmured. She shook her head. “Henry had been changing long before the war started. I couldn’t stop him then. I’m not sure what you expect me to do now.”

Catalina barked a cruel laugh. “You are unbelievable! So many people are dying, women and children, because of YOUR petty marriage issues, and for what? What is even the point of this stupid war?”

Jane stared at them, silent, then said, “Follow me.”

The queen led them all through a mossy hallway with sewing rooms and music rooms and learning rooms in them, then up a flight of smooth stone steps. She was quiet as she approached and opened a wooden door.

Inside was a room with walls that were decorated with bright, colorful flowers and sparkling crystals. A large light purple rug was stretched out across the stone floor, and several large pillows, blankets, books, and toys filled the rest of the space. A small castle was carved out of stone in one corner, fit with a slick flint slide and a woven rope swing. Long dark green curtains billowed in the wind streaming inside, and the doorway they blocked led out onto a balcony thriving with plant life. Stars whittled out of luminescent blue stones dangled from the ceiling, swaying slightly in the breeze.

It took Katherine only a moment to realize this was a playroom.

“Mama!”

A little boy burst out of the stone castle and ran to Jane, hugging her leg tightly. He was small, with ivory skin, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes. A purple blanket was tied around his neck like a cape, and he clutched a pegasus toy tightly in one of his little hands.

“Mama! Mama, guess what!!!” The boy exclaimed. “Today when I was learning with Mister Hugo, I read ALL BY MYSELF!!!!”

Jane smiled, rubbing the child’s head. “My smart boy,” She said lovingly. “I’m so proud of you!”

The boy beamed, then noticed Katherine and her companions standing there. He perked up.

“Woah!!!” He cried. “Mama, look!! New friends! And a TIEFLING!!! Look at her, Mama! She’s SO PRETTY! LIKE A DIAMOND!!!”

Joan blushed, folding her ears back bashfully. She clearly wasn’t used to be complimented for her strange coloration.

“I see them, sweetheart,” Jane said, then looked at Katherine and her companions. “This is Edward. My son.”

/Her son/, Katherine repeated in her head. She remembered hearing rumors about the queen of the Unbreakable City giving birth to a prince, but never knew if they were true, as not much information came out about him. She had just assumed the prince had died somehow until that moment.

“Eddie, why don’t you go show the pretty Tiefling your swing?” Jane said.

“Okay!!!” Edward chirped. He bounded over to Joan, but held out his free hand to her instead of just grabbing her own. Joan hesitated shyly, then took his head and was taken over to the rope swing on the castle.

“Five years ago I gave birth to Edward,” Jane said to Catalina and Katherine quietly. “I barely survived. Henry wanted to take him to learn to be a ‘proper prince’, but I refused. I hadn’t almost died just to not be with my son. Henry didn’t like that. He had already been hanging by a few threads, but this did it. He left Cyprus and then declared war two months later.” She shook her head, looking up at Katherine. “Now do you see why I can’t risk fighting him further? I can’t lose my son.”

Katherine looked at Edward chatting excitedly with Joan as they swayed on his swing, taking in how happy he looked, despite the tragedy raging outside the city’s walls, then said, “Is there anything we can do to change your mind?”

Jane considered her. “There are these beasts in each of the other territories. Henry created them to scare the people out of the war. If you can kill them and get the other kingdoms on my side, then I’ll join the fight.”

Katherine chuckled. “Alright.”

After all, she had wanted to be a hero.

#dnd au #beside the dying fire #six the musical #six the musical au #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fic #tour katherine howard #katherine howard #tour catherine of aragon #catherine of aragon #tour anna of cleves #anna of cleves #tour jane seymour #jane seymour #tour maria on the drums #tour joan on the keys #edward vi of england #six the kids

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raendown · 4 years

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For the @madatobiweek prompts generation swap au and fairytale au.

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 9590 Rated: T+ Summary: Tobirama doesn't have much in life, just a younger brother to protect and a job that doesn't pay enough to feed them. He knows that hunting in the king's forest is forbidden but for Hashirama he would risk everything. In the forest he finds meat to put on the table for the last living member of his family.

And in the forest he finds a tower, a boy imprisoned, and a future he could have never dreamed of.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

I Never Asked For My Pedestal

If one asked the local authorities they would say that Tobirama had no good intentions in the forest that day. Hunting in the royal forests was expressly forbidden, an edict passed with no explanation only a year or two after Tobirama was born, but for the families as poor as his there was often little choice but to take that risk. It was the thought of seeing his younger brother going hungry that drove him in to the trees week after week in search of a meal he could not legally afford on his own.

Once Tobirama had been the third son of four, had reveled in the guiding love of his older siblings, happily joined in the doting when another was born and he wasn’t the youngest anymore. Then sickness had swept through their village and while the lords and ladies locked themselves away safely in the castle Kawarama and Itama, his two beloved elder siblings, took themselves away to die quietly in the forest where they would not infect the others. And from that day Tobirama was left with nothing but his own two hands to work and feed his baby brother Hashirama.

Like so many other days in the years since they had been alone, Tobirama’s job working for one of the local farmers couldn’t quite pay enough to feed them both. Hashirama, wonderful smiling Hashirama, was an innocent young lad who lived with his head constantly lost in daydreams and greeted his brother at the end of each day with a hug and a hundred questions. Were they situated anywhere else he would have been forced to find work himself no matter Tobirama’s urges to baby him but with the forest behind them and the guards growing lax in their patrols it had become almost routine to find dinner through other means.

Not, of course, that such conditions had ever convinced him to grow inattentive himself.

Tobirama was only moments from loosing an arrow to take down a buck which would have kept them well fed for several weeks when he heard the sound of hooves. He cursed himself for a fool as he lowered his arms and cast about for somewhere to take cover. It made sense to hunt in a different place each time he came here. Even a skilled woodsman like himself left some traces of his passing and traversing the same paths over and over could only make it easier for someone to catch him in his lawbreaking. But he should have known better than to come here so far beyond the woods and fields that he’d spent the last decade mapping out in his mind. This area was largely unknown to him. Promises of new and unsuspecting game had drawn him farther from home; now he was paying the price for answering that siren call as he realized that he’d forgotten in his hunger to scout an escape route first.

Desperate for any way to return safely to his brother at the end of the day, Tobirama leapt for the first place he saw that looked as though it could conceal his over-average height. The boulder was tall, if not very wide, and the small pocket of space behind it could really only be seen if one walked right up to the cliff it sat at the base of. With his heart in his throat he threw himself behind the rock.

He was immediately forced to bite his tongue to keep from crying out in surprise when he fell through the screen of ivy he’d thought was covering solid stone.

As soon as he figured out which way was up Tobirama did what he could to resettle the ivy so it hung still, less evidence of his presence. Then he turned to stare down the cavernous emptiness of what looked to be a passageway carved through the mountain. Since there really were only two options, forwards or back out in to the open, he hurried on in to the darkness. It wasn’t entirely dark, actually, some kind of light was clear at the other end, but with the ivy blocking out any light from this end made the passageway feel twice as long as he was forced to feel each step out before setting his weight down. Even using such caution he nearly rolled his ankle several times.

By the time he reached the other end Tobirama was close to cursing out loud. His eyes had only just finished adjusting to the darkness when he finally stepped out in to the light again, squinting with his chin tucked down to make the readjustment easier. When it felt less like tiny knives digging in to his eyeballs he gave a few experimental blinks then raised his chin.

Only to drop his jaw and let it hang loose as he took in the sight before him.

What he had taken as a pathway underneath the mountain was in fact the entrance to a hidden oasis in the very center, a field hidden on all sides by the cliff that Tobirama had always believed to be just one solid peak. Crystal blue water sparkled in a small lake, untouched grass grew lush and green, yet all he could see was the massive white stone tower that rose from the very center of the clearing. So tall it would have been visible from the outside with only a few more feet, the structure was made entirely of pale granulite and stood alone with no other buildings nearby. At the base he could see where there had once been an entrance but it had since filled in with stones and boulders. Who, he wondered, would build such a graceful monument to loneliness only to seal it up in such a manner?

He very much intended to find out. The bricks were pretty but their cut looked rough and uneven, perfect for a man in good fitness to scale his way to the top. He had only just shifted his weight to step forward when movement caught his attention and sent him scrambling back in to the safety of the dark passage.

Not a moment too soon, it turned out. As he watched, a woman stood from where she had been crouched next to the lake, hair white as his own and a sweeping robe to match blending in with the shine of sunlight on water. Her face was severe enough to make him grateful he hadn’t accidentally caught her attention but instead was able to observe from afar the way she floated across the field and stopped at the base of the white tower. There she tilted her head back to look up at the very top.

“Madara,” she called, a melodic voice that for some reason turned his stomach. “Let down your hair.”

Before he could wonder what the hell that even meant Tobirama bore witness to the single most baffling sight he had ever seen. A face came to the window high up in the sealed tower, man or woman he couldn’t tell from this distance, and struggled to lift something over the wooden sill. Then coil upon coil of hair the color of the darkest night came spilling down, down, down until the very end of the impossibly massive braid jerked to the end of its length just an inch or so before it would have brushed the ground. Seemingly unimpressed with this incredible phenomenon, the woman took hold of the braid with both hands and called out above once more. Then she was rising in to the sky as ostensibly whoever had thrown her the pseudo rope was now reeling it all back up as well with her weight added on.

Tobirama waited but neither the woman nor the other figure appeared at the window again and before long he realized that he didn’t truly want either of them to catch him there where he was so clearly not supposed to be. And besides that he had a brother waiting at home with an empty belly. None of this was any of his business. With one last long glance at this new mystery Tobirama told himself to forget what he had seen and turned to head back in to the forest, hoping against hope that whoever had sent him scurrying in to the unknown had moved on as well.

He did what he could to put the oasis and its wonders out of his mind in the days that followed. Seeing the light in his brother’s eyes when he came home with the deer he’d finally managed to take down was enough to keep him content for a day or so but the morning beyond that he found his thoughts wandering. Who was that at the top of the tower? How did they come to be in such a place? With the bottom sealed up it was obvious that the figure with such fantastically long hair would have no way down. Tobirama couldn’t help but wonder if they had chosen to shut themselves away from the world or if that sickeningly beautiful face were perhaps more sinister even than he’d first imagined.

There was only one way to find out.

For nearly a week he managed to resist before the pull of the unknown drew him in just the same as the thick tomes he studied in the public library whenever he had a chance. Strictly speaking it would be at least a few more weeks until he needed to hunt again; after salting and curing most of the prime cuts they could rely on venison whenever there wasn’t money for other foods. But the mountains in the distance called to him, whispering the secrets that only he knew of, and Tobirama could only resist for so long before he found himself asking Hashirama to be safe while he was gone and heading in to the trees once more.

It felt strange to traverse these fields and forests with no bow upon his back, although he supposed that it was nice not to worry for once about leaving tracks. There was nothing illegal about walking in the King’s woods. Without the need for his usual caution he was able to make the journey in about half the time it might have taken him on any other day, the sun barely at its zenith by the time he crested a small hill and began to look around for the sheet of vine concealing the entrance he’d fallen through before.

Were he any less alert his future might have gone very differently from that moment – or perhaps been deleted entirely. Only his sharp reflexes sent him whirling behind the closest tree when he spotted a flash of white from the corner of one eye. He was out of sight not a moment too soon as the woman he had seen calling up to the tower emerged from the hidden passageway and set off through the forest with a rather annoyed looking expression. In one hand she carried an empty basket that Tobirama would have bet his last penny she intended to fill by either foraging through the woods or making the journey in to the village. Whatever the case, she would likely be gone for several hours.

Oh how the fates had smiled upon him. Now was the perfect time to sate his curiosity. Feeling almost gleeful for his good luck, Tobirama forced himself to remain still for several minutes past when the woman was out of sight just to be sure and then dashed towards the ivy. In his enthusiasm he very nearly forgot to step carefully along the dark uneven ground but there was at least no one around to watch him wobble and stumble as he hurried along until finally he was stepping back in to the bright midday sun. Somehow the massive white tower was only more impressive at a second glance yet he wasted very little time in admiration, moving forwards until he had reached the base where stones and mortar sealed what would have been the easiest way in. After a quick circuit around the whole thing he concluded that his first guess had been correct. He would have to climb.

Luckily he had come prepared for just such an activity. He stomped both feet to settle them in his sturdiest shoes and shook his hands out to loosen the muscles, wary of a cramp at just the wrong time. Then he paused the moment he laid his hands on the rough hewn bricks. Head tilting back, eyes squinting above, Tobirama considered the call he had heard before.

There was no one here, he reasoned with himself again. If he looked a fool then there was no one to carry the tale of it. With that in mind he cleared his throat and firmly reminded his voice that now was not the time for nervous cracks.

“Madara,” he called loudly in a false soprano, “let down your hair!”

Even as he winced at how terrible his impression had been there came a movement at the window above. Then suddenly coil upon coil of midnight hair came tumbling down towards him only to snap taut just before the ground. For a moment he could only stare. It was hard to believe that had actually worked. Then he paused a moment longer to wonder if his weight might hurt the scalp on the other end of this incredible length. Only when the pseudo rope gave an impatient ripple did he suck in a deep breath, reach out with both hands, and begin to scale the tower at a much quicker pace than he’d been expecting to.

With his feet walking up the side to keep him straight and arms strong from years of hard labor Tobirama was scrambling over a wooden windowsill almost in no time, taking in the petulant figure several feet away, hair anchored and knotted around a hook so as not to pull on his head and arms crossed over his chest while he pouted towards the floor.

“You sound like you swallowed a frog,” the man growled. “What’s the matter, hit yourself with one of your own curses, witch?”

Tobirama could only stare, unsure of what to say. In a word the man was gorgeous. Skin china pale without the sun’s rays, broad shoulders thick with muscles from dragging around the weight of so much hair, and a face with almost delicate features that still somehow screamed of masculinity. He was a masterpiece. When his pout deepened the expression only served to make him look more adorable in the sort of way that made Tobirama’s heart flutter traitorously in his chest.

“Cat got your tongue? Or maybe it finally shriveled up and fell out from all the acid lies you spit.”

Such antagonism could only mean that his residence here was not a happy one, though it still remained to be seen whether or not he was being held against his will. Clearly he wasn’t the biggest fan of the woman he was expecting to come up to him.

“Real mature, giving me the silent treatment. Didn’t you just leave? Thought I’d have the whole afternoon without your evil stench. I hope you didn’t come all the way back up just because you forgot something, I could have thrown it down. At your head.” With a snort and a faintly vicious smirk as he presumably imagined throwing something at the woman’s head, at last the strange man looked up – then gasped and attempted to reel backwards with fright in his eyes. “Who–!?” Before he could even finish his startled exclamation the anchored hair jerked him to a stop and he froze in place, trembling from head to toe.

“I apologize, I did not mean to frighten you,” Tobirama murmured. His voice, if possible, seemed to startle the man even further.

“You’re not the witch! You’re…like me. A boy!”

Considering he was well in to his second decade Tobirama gave some thought to correcting that. He was a man, not so much of a boy anymore. Now was hardly the time for semantics, though, so he let that go in favor of inching a single step forward just to test the waters. When the other man trembled again he angled his body to make it as clear as possible that he was heading towards the hook built in to the floor.

“My name is Tobirama,” he said as non-threateningly as he could. “What’s yours?” He already knew that, of course, obvious from the words that gained him entry to this tower. It was just polite to ask really.

“None of your business!”

“I see.” He hadn’t really expected politeness in return.

The closer he got the more worried the man looked until with carefully projected movements he bent down and freed the massive braid from the hook trapping its owner in place. As soon as he was free the man scrambled backwards, though Tobirama noted that the worry was colored now with a sort of curiosity he knew all too well.

“What do you want from me?”

“Nothing,” Tobirama admitted truthfully. “I stumbled upon this place a few days ago and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. There was a woman – is that the one you call a witch? – she called for you to let down your hair and I wanted to know what sort of person could have such impossible locks. They’re impressive. What’s your name? You know mine, it’s only polite to share.”

For a moment the man hesitated. Then he asked very quietly, “Is it? I wouldn’t know. Will you do anything bad with my name?”

“Anything bad?” Tobirama repeated, baffled.

“Well I don’t know! I’ve never met anyone else before!”

“Never!?”

Sticking out his bottom lip in another pout only brought this fascinating stranger back to be cute. “I’ve spent my whole life here in the tower. Well, I suppose I wasn’t born here. That old hag certainly isn’t my mother but she did explain to me once how babies are made so I suppose I must have been somewhere else once.” He considered his very first visitor with deep gravity. “My name is Madara.”

It was a good name, strong, the sort of name that wouldn’t be common in the lower classes. For whatever reason it sounded almost familiar but Tobirama couldn’t quite put his finger on why and he was hardly going to waste his time digging through memories just now. Trying to remember the manners classes he’d taken as a youth from a friendly neighbor, a poor imitation of the gentrification proper noblemen were raised with just in case he somehow encountered one of the royal family, he tucked in one arm and spread the other wide in a clumsy bow.

“Your acquaintance is my pleasure to make,” he said. The words felt too large and fancy in his mouth and halfway through the sentence he realized he’d said it all wrong. Madara didn’t seem to mind.

“What now?”

“How do you mean?”

“You said you wanted to know who was up here and now you do. So what will you do next?” The straightening of his spine spelled confidence but the way he reached out to take a solid grip on his heavy braid just in case was more obvious than he probably thought. Someone who spent all their time away from other people probably hadn’t had many lessons in being sneaky.

For the first time Tobirama allowed his eyes to slide away from the figure he’d gone to so much effort to meet, gazing around the room to take in all he could. Basic furniture and sparse entertainment options made the place look even more like a prison than the sealed exit at the bottom. He noted there seemed to be no exit from here either. However one was meant to travel down the tower when it was built, the way appeared to have been cleverly hidden from view now. For Madara there truly was no way out. He could have climbed his own hair, of course, but doing so would have left him stranded at the bottom with no one to unhook him from the anchor.

All of this combined with the way he spoke of ‘the witch’ left Tobirama with only one choice, a stupid choice, a choice that would surely put him in to danger.

“I could take you away from here,” he said. Phrasing it like a suggestion felt safer for the psyche of a man who had never left his prison but in his heart he knew that he couldn’t leave Madara to his fate, not now that he knew of the situation. Stolen away as a child so young he remembered nothing but the tower that caged him? It might not be Tobirama’s responsibility but he would never sleep again if he walked away now.

Clearly Madara was not well versed in the art of kindness judging by the startled look on his face. Not a big surprise there.

“A-away?” he asked.

“You’re clearly not here of your own free will. I intend to come back and, if you wish, free you from this place.”

“Free…” Brows furrowed, Madara worried at the loops of his makeshift weapon. “Isn’t it…isn’t it terribly dangerous outside of the tower? When I was young I used to plan how I would run away from here but I never did – and lucky for that! The world is so dangerous! All of my books have stories to tell about bandits and people with bad magic; there’s just too many people who would try to steal me away!”

Tobirama cocked his head to the side. “I assume you believe they would steal you for the same reason the witch keeps you here, whatever that may be?”

He almost regretted his words immediately as Madara's eyes narrowed in suspicion. It only became obvious that the man had slowly begun to relax when he tensed up again at the idea of giving away what must be some sort of secret. Knowing he needed to tread carefully if he wanted to build any sort of trust, Tobirama very carefully did not react to that expression and did his best to give the impression he wasn’t interested himself in this secret.

“I believe I can keep you safe from anyone who might want to hurt you,” he declared instead. He might not have been the most refined peasant but his skill with a blade could rival that of the royal guards themselves. Or so he’d been told him once by an uncle who served in the palace until an injury left him unable to carry the buckets for cleaning or fetch the arrows for lords too lazy to walk across a field and fetch their own. Unless they encountered a magician of some sort he truly was confident he could protect this man. And since the only magician he’d ever seen round these parts was the wizened old woman who performed tricks for the court the odds felt pretty low on that happening.

“What’s it like?” Madara asked. “The world?”

“Very big. Full of different things. Scary at times but if you use your head you can usually think your way out of things.” That was how he’d gotten through life, anyway.

“That sounds terrifying and wonderful all at once.”

Clearly he was considering it but it was just as clear from the wary hesitation in his eyes that Madara had no intentions of following through on the offer. After spending his entire life locked in the same tiny space Tobirama couldn’t really blame him for that, either. He would have been frustrated if he hadn’t already expected that answer, planning ahead in his mind for when he could make the trip out here again.

“I can ask as many times as it takes for you to be brave,” he promised.

A promise rashly made but it was one that he kept. Though he could not stay for long that day Tobirama was in the woods and calling for Madara to let down his hair only a few days after. Hashirama, the understanding brother that he was, simply waved from the doorway and told him to enjoy whichever adventure had captured his attention so.

Their visits were all quite the same at first. Before he left the first time Tobirama instructed Madara to hang something in the window whenever the witch was gone so he would know it was safe to call up. Each time he scaled the tower and crawled over the sill Tobirama then happily spent however many hours he could spare answering all of Madara's questions about the outside world, asking his own questions in turn about life here alone. He was pleasantly surprised to know that his new friend had been provided books on mathematics and spent quite a lot of his time rereading the few novels he was allowed to have. Stifled as it was by isolation, it was obvious Madara possessed a mind just waiting to flourish.

Watching confidence grow in his friend week by week was a special sort of joy that Tobirama would almost liken to how it had felt to raise Hashirama on his own – except he’d never been struck by the beauty of Hashirama's face in a beam of sunlight or listened rapturously to the rolling timber of his brother’s voice.

Falling in love was, perhaps, not of his smartest ideas. Of all the people he might have taken an interest in Madara was the most dangerous. Not because he thought the younger man could hurt him but because at the moment he was the only person who had ever been kind to Madara and it would only be too easy for such affections to be misplaced. The last thing he wanted would be to take advantage of someone who had put so much trust in him.

With caution in mind Tobirama came back to Madara knowing that he himself was growing only more and more attached with each visit yet also knowing that he could not in good conscience abandon anyone stuck in this situation no matter how it all ended. There was no doubt in his mind that eventually it would be his own heart that came away with a wound but to know that Madara would find a better life than the one he had so far led, well, he couldn’t say that didn’t make this all worth it. Even if he had despised Madara to the bone he would still have come back to help. No one deserved to be kept locked away and never feel the kiss of freedom.

Even destitute as they were, Tobirama appreciated the freedoms he and his brother enjoyed now more than ever.

It took until the first time that Madara very nearly worked up the courage to follow him out of the tower for the man to trust him with the secret of his servitude. For all the many times they had spoken for hours upon end it had been difficult for Tobirama to bottle his curiosity, to allow such a sensitive subject to come to light on its own, and his patience was rewarded at last on the day Madara hung his feet out the window and stared at the ground so far below them.

“How would you get down?” he asked as though it had only just occurred to him. Their plan had been for Tobirama to remain behind and free the long hair from its anchor once the other had reached the bottom.

“Don’t worry about me,” Tobirama soothed him. “When I first came upon the tower I had planned to climb up with just my hands. I’m sure I could just as easily climb down.”

“All that way!?”

“It isn’t so far. When I’m out on a hunt I’ve scaled cliffs twice that height with half as many good handholds.”

Trusting Madara with the knowledge that most of his food came from illegal poaching in the royal forest had been an easy choice. Not because he doubted the man would ever truly work up the nerve to escape but because he believed in the seeds of loyalty that grew and flourished with every day their friendship strengthened.

“You know…I used to dream about the world when I was younger, about making some daring escape on my own. I would have done it back then for sure. Too innocent, too ignorant of all the darkness that’s out there. But even if I had known about bandits and knights and all the ways I could hurt myself without anyone there to help, the one thing that held me back was…myself.” Madara reached up to play with the shorter hairs growing around his face. “She stole me for the power that I was born with and I hate her but she’s never tried to hurt me as long as I stay. What if I ran and got caught again by someone who didn’t treat me as well?”

“Keeping you locked in a tower doesn’t really strike me as treating you well,” Tobirama murmured under his breath. When Madara flashed him a grin he knew he’d been heard.

“Of course that’s the part that you would comment on. You’re a good person. From what I know of people, anyway.”

As careful as he had ever been, Tobirama took a step forward to bring them closer. “In what way?”

“Don’t play coy, we both know you’re curious as hell about why that witch keeps me here. I mentioned flat out that I have some kind of power and you still don’t ask. You’re always so careful about making me feel safe.” Madara's lips twisted in a wry expression as though acknowledging his own vulnerabilities.

“Your secrets cannot be my own unless you choose to entrust me with them.” There was really no point in denying that he was curious but even as he realized that he hadn’t been quite as subtle as he imagined Tobirama hoped to impress that he had no intentions of forcing anything the other didn’t want to tell him. He had learned a long time ago that trust was something earned, not asked for.

His efforts were clearly appreciated. Swinging back from the window, Madara set his feet on the floor and smiled warmly. The expression suited him probably more than he’d ever been told.

“I trust you with my life,” he declared.

“Poor taste,” Tobirama couldn’t help but tease. He smiled to himself when Madara roared with laughter.

“Maybe. But they’re my secrets and I’ll give them to whoever I please, so there!”

Just hearing those words sent the heart in Tobirama’s chest galloping double time and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward on to the balls of his feet as the mystery he had turned over in his mind a thousand times unfurled itself before him.

“You might have noticed that my hair is just a little long,” Madara began with a touch of sarcasm. “She won’t let me cut it. I don’t know how or why, she’s never bothered to explain, but my hair has some kind of magical properties – healing properties – and the longer it is the more potent the magic becomes. If I cut it short I would be able to heal small cuts and scrapes. With it long as it is now the power is so strong that my healing reverses the signs of aging.”

“Sweet flame…”

“It’s why she keeps me trapped here. She might look young but that witch is ancient, old enough to be my great grandmother. But with the power I have in me she can stay young and beautiful. Or at least she thinks she’s beautiful.” He snorted in obvious disagreement.

Completely unsure of how to respond, all Tobirama could think to say was, “She’s not my type.”

Madara blinked. Blinked again. Then his head tilted back and once again he roared with unfettered laughter. It was far from attractive, brash and quite similar to the bray of a donkey, and Tobirama admitted with the solemn taste of defeat on his tongue that he had never been more in love. It was a laugh that had never been taught shame or self-consciousness, beautiful in its innocence.

“Good to know that you have no plans to use me as bait,” Madara declared when he was able to draw breath again.

“Setting aside the vomit I can feel rising in my throat at the very thought, I would never use someone in such a deceitful manner.” Reaching up to tug at a lock of his own hair, Tobirama eyed the dark braid so long it could loop several times around the entire room. “So. Magic hair. I really should have been expecting that and yet somehow I was not.”

“I guess it’s nice to be the one with new and interesting information for once.”

The two of them shared a look and from that moment on something very subtle changed between them.

Meat had never been so plentiful in their home as the days now with Tobirama making the journey through the forest every chance he had between working for the farmer who paid him so little. It didn’t occur to him how deeply he’d buried his head in the clouds until Hashirama greeted him home one night and asked with a grin if he would ever get to meet the one who had captured his aniki’s heart. Tobirama had made a point of holding off on another visit the next day just to spend some time with his sibling. Sweet Hashirama was such a good little brother. It was hard to believe he had ever done anything to deserve a love like the one they shared.

Over the months that followed Madara very nearly followed him away from the tower on three different occasions. Though he never quite made it past his own balcony Tobirama could see the way his gaze lingered on the snow drifts with curiosity and wonder, how he traced the shapes of spring with naked longing in dark eyes.

“What’s really holding you back?” he asked one day when he had stayed perhaps a little later than he usually would have.

“Her,” Madara whispered. “I want to leave and never come back but…what if she follows? What if she finds me?” He paused and looked away with something like pain etched in to his features. “What if she hurts you? After everything you’ve done for me I can’t imagine repaying your kindness by leading her straight to you.”

“I can protect myself,” Tobirama reminded his friend, daring to step close enough for their arms to brush together. Small touches were all he ever allowed himself.

The minutes passed but he held his silence, allowing the other to follow whatever paths his thoughts had led him down. When their eyes met again he was surprised to see that all gravity had faded and instead a mischievous grin was looking back at him.

“Can you protect yourself from this?” Madara demanded, both hands raised as though to give a solid shove.

He was frozen halfway through the motion by a voice calling out from below.

“Madara, let down your hair!” Both of them looked at each other in panic even as Madara slid off the windowsill and moved towards the anchor on muscle memory alone.

“She’s supposed to be gone for hours!” he hissed. “What do we do?”

“Don’t keep her waiting. Keep her attention away from the window once she’s up here so that I can slip out. I’ve told you before I can climb down on my own, don’t worry.” Tobirama make shooing motions with both hands to hurry the other along. Only when Madara finally leaned down to begin looping the end of his hair around the metal ring did Tobirama turn and madly search for a place to hide.

There wasn’t much, even less that was close enough to the window that he could sneak out undetected. For once in his life he cursed his own tall stature as he discarded a standing mirror that would have been perfect were it not two heads shorter than him and too thin to crouch behind. To the other side of the window there lay a sizable storage chest he might have fit in but the noise he would have made climbing out vetoed that option even before he checked whether there was enough room inside. A frantic noise from behind sent Tobirama scrambling in to the only viable hiding spot he was able to see.

Usually it was children who hid themselves behind the drapery and thought themselves concealed. He could only pray that the witch didn’t think to look down at her own feet lest she spy his.

Forcing himself to keep still as he listened to the sounds of the witch he’d heard so much about clambering in to the dungeon she had created was probably the hardest thing Tobirama had ever done. Her weight made less noise than the voluminous robes he had once seen her in, silk and satin whispering as they dragged across the wooden frame. Her shadow fell over him and for a single heartbeat he felt the very blood in his veins go cold thinking that she’d seen him. Then it moved away and Madara's voice captured her attention, his only opening.

“You said you’d be gone longer,” his friend snarled.

“It isn’t for you to wonder at my comings and goings.” Her voice was melodic in the way Tobirama had always imagined an evil witch’s might be, honeyed and soft to draw you in until the frost hidden in her words bit and snapped, striking just at the moment one was foolish enough to trust her.

“Hmph, I’ll wonder at whatever I please.”

Praying that his friend wouldn’t go overboard in his attempts to keep drawing attention, Tobirama peeked around the curtain and barely held in a sigh of relief to see that the coast was clear. He wasted no time slipping over to the window and sliding on to it, movements as fast as he dared to make them without allowing his clothing to give him away with their rustling. Madara's eyes flicked over to meet his own in farewell but it was only a moment. As he turned himself around to descend feet first he could hear the other man give vent to a loud grumble.

“And how many new babies did you kidnap while you were away today? None? Ah, I suppose you stopped and gobbled them up for your lunch then. Is that why you’re back so soon? Too full from your snac-!”

His voice cut off with the ringing sound of a slap and Tobirama went still just out of sight, eyes wide, glaring at the stone between him and the woman he so desperately wished did not exist.

“Do not forget that I hold your life in my hands,” the woman’s voice hissed, all softness forgotten. “It is only by my mercy that you aren’t chained to the walls with only bread and butter to soothe the aching emptiness in your belly – or would you rather a taste of such a life to remind you of your place?”

“No,” Madara surrendered. Even without being able to see him anymore Tobirama could hear the defeat in his tone. Fingers clenching against the bricks until they scraped and bled, he clung to the side of the tower and wished death upon the evil within it. Never had he hated another person so much. He wasn’t even sure she truly qualified as a person, barely human in his eyes after all the things he’d heard of her, and that opinion was only solidified as he bent all of his willpower in to convincing himself not to climb back inside and give her a taste of his bloodied fists.

Only the knowledge that doing so would make things worse for the one he wished to protect held him back.

“Say my name,” the witch purred. “Go on, answer me properly this time. Would you like a taste of what you truly deserve, my little magic boy?”

“No, Kaguya-sama.”

“Ah, I do so love the sweet music of obedience when you say my name. Go. Begone to your room. You may count yourself lucky if I see fit to bring you your dinner after such offensive behavior.”

Though he waited Tobirama heard nothing more after the sound of Madara freeing his hair and dragging it all with him to one of the walled off areas that Tobirama had never asked to see. Bedrooms were private places and for someone afforded so little privacy he’d never seen fit to invade Madara's.

Climbing down was as arduous yet uneventful as he imagined it would be. By the time he reached the bottom his arms were nearly ready to fall off and his fingers had all gone entirely numb. After shaking out his limbs and resting until the sensation came back Tobirama considered whether he should wait a little longer until darkness fell, dark skies offering what little protection they could against wandering eyes that might look out the window at just the wrong time. In the end he decided that it would be just as easy to spot him then as it would now and someone who just returned home was less likely to be gazing out at the world than someone settled in for the evening. His heart hammered in his throat as he took off across the hidden grove like a rabbit fleeing from a wolf’s jaws.

Hashirama greeted him with a smile when he came home, stumbling through the front door with no memory of his journey back through the woods. Worry replaced his usual cheer as soon as he took in the expression on his brother’s face.

“I’ve just made tea!” he said. “Come, sit! What on earth is wrong?”

Like a little mother hen the younger man fluttered around their modest kitchen, cups rattling together when he pulled out too many for just the pair of them, lips pursed anxiously until he finally made it back to the table with the promised tea. With all his running around it had probably gone half cold but Tobirama found he didn’t mind. It was nice to be cared for, even in the moments like now when he felt a little guilty about it. He should have been the one taking care of Hashirama as the older sibling.

“You look like you’ve been summoned before the royal court!”

“Worse than that.” Tobirama gratefully accepted the tea that slid across the table towards him. “I just came face to face with the urge to take the life of another human being. And I know that I would have felt no guilt for it.”

“Oh my…” Hashirama swallowed but – bless his soul – there was no judgement on his face.

Unable to look away from the dark liquid steaming before him, Tobirama drew in a breath and let it back out slowly. “I should have been honest with you a long time ago. Will you listen to my story?”

“Always. You’re allowed your secrets Anija!” His brother’s voice was so full of love and understanding that it made him ache. “If you trust me with them I would love to hear what you have to say.” When he finally looked up Hashirama was beaming as though to share things between them was a great gift rather than simply the way it should have been from the very start.

So Tobirama told him the truth about where he had been disappearing to over the past year. He told Hashirama about the young man he had met locked away in a tower, though he did not reveal why. That was not his secret to tell. He described the witch who kept his friend locked away and admitted that he hadn’t the faintest idea of what her true powers really were. When he had said all the words that he could force along his tongue he fell silent and waited to hear the verdict, the opinion, of one who thought so differently than himself.

He was startled by the hand that reached across to take his own.

“You love him,” was the first thing his brother said.

“I don’t know how you do that,” Tobirama murmured. “How you just look at someone and see how they feel even when they don’t say it.”

“Well of course you never have to say anything, Anija, I always know what’s in your heart!”

Hashirama squeezed his fingers a little tighter and Tobirama the sensation deep inside his chest.

“This world does not deserve you, Otouto. I…you’re right. There might be some feelings on my part. But you understand why I can’t say anything to him?” He was both glad and disheartened to see the other nod.

“Do you have a plan?” Hashirama asked.

“Yes.” Tobirama chewed his bottom lip with thought. “I knew the moment I heard his story that I wanted to help him escape but of course he’ll need somewhere to go. I want to bring him here. My hunting can keep us all fed and if I’m not traipsing through the forest so often I’ll have time to see about picking up extra work somewhere else. You would like him. And if there’s anyone that would be a good friend for someone in his situation it would be you.”

“I can’t wait to meet him!”

Chest spasming with the clenching of his heart, Tobirama bowed his head. “You’re okay with this?”

“Of course! Goodness, I can’t believe you haven’t spirited him away already and hidden him under your bed!” While Hashirama's mouth turned up with a little giggle Tobirama felt his cheeks grow warm. Just imagining such a scenario had him forcibly moving his thoughts elsewhere. He didn’t want to think about how much he would enjoy Madara in any sort of context concerning his bedroom. Not with his little brother right there.

Knowing that he had Hashirama's blessing was a weight off his chest that he hadn’t acknowledged was even there until it was gone. The two of them had always been close enough that keeping any sort of secret felt wrong no matter what the younger said. Freeing himself of that guilt made each step lighter as he disappeared in to the woods the next time he was able to slip away, mumbling promises to himself under his breath that the next time he entered these trees it would be in search of food and nothing more.

With his head so lost in thoughts of the future and all the many ways it could play out his trip to the hidden oasis flew by almost without notice. His feet tread along the familiar path on muscle memory alone while he tried to imagine what expression Madara would wear the first time his feet touched grass, how quickly his body would tire when travelling long distances for the first time, what expression he might wear to see the hustle and bustle of a real village after a lifetime of quiet solitude. It was hardly the first time he had fantasized about such things but they had never had such an immediate taste of anticipation before.

It was only when he had made his way through the passage and looked up to see a familiar blue strip of silk hanging in the window that he realized how lucky he’d been with his timing, how carelessly he had crashed through the forest in his rush to get here. All it would take would be one unexpected meeting with the witch and everything would be ruined. Neither he nor Madara knew where she went during the times she left him alone in the tower but neither truly cared to know. She was gone. That was all that mattered.

“Madara,” he called up, excitement tight in his voice. “Let down your hair!”

He only needed to wait half a minute before coil after impossible coil came flowing down to brush the earth, a scant few inches longer than it had been the day he first made this climb. After the amount of times it had been since then Tobirama’s arms were stronger than ever and he pulled himself up the side of the tower with a speed that would have impressed himself but a few months before.

Full of hope and happiness after speaking with his brother, it felt like nothing less than a cold knife in the heart when Tobirama crawled over the windowsill to be confronted with the sight of a purpling bruise on Madara's cheek. His friend stood tall and proud in the face of his stare, undoubtedly aware of why, refusing to be ashamed of his own situation. It wasn’t the first time Tobirama had seen a mark like that on the other man but it was the first time he’d understood that it wasn’t a result of clumsiness or any sort of accident. Just the sight of it had his blood boiling with rage all over again.

“I know what you’re going to say–” Madara began. Tobirama cut him off.

“Come with me.”

His words gave the other pause. “Okay, so I didn’t know you were going to say that. I should have, you’ve said it before, but I thought…”

“You don’t need me to tell you that how she treats you is wrong, you’re not stupid.”

“Damn right!”

“Please,” stepping forward, Tobirama dared to be so bold as to take his friend’s hand. “Come with me. My brother has already agreed that you can stay with us. I can show you anything you want to see and teach you anything you want to learn. Come with me. Let me take you away from here.”

To his great surprise Madara did not pull away, only turned his head to look out the window with a familiar distant gaze. He wanted to, that much was obvious, wanted to know what it was to be entirely in control of his own destiny.

“I would stay with you?” he murmured.

“For as long as you want to.”

“You don’t think you’d get tired of me pointing out when you’re being a boor?” Madara's grin was sharp and yet so very fragile, steel encasing glass so ready to shatter.

“I could never tire of you in any way,” Tobirama admitted. It was perhaps a bit too honest but if it got him the results he’d been trying to achieve for an entire year then it was worth the pain of laying his heart bare. Madara's freedom was worth everything he had to give and more.

Much to his pleasure he was not met with disgust or dismay or even the sort of hesitance that comes before rejection. Instead he was blessed with the sight of a warm pink spreading over Madara's pale cheeks, chin ducking in to his wide collar almost shyly and then immediately jerking upright in defiance of his own emotions. Watching him navigate the roller coaster of his heart would always be a pleasure and an amusement both.

Breathing deeply with determination in his eyes Madara took a single step forward, bringing them closer than they ever had been before, close enough to feel the heat of each other’s bodies, sharing air as their gazes locked.

“Ask me one more time,” he demanded.

“Come with me.”

“Okay.”

Unlike all the other times they had spoken these exact same words there was something different in him now, a straightness in his spine, a steadiness in his voice. Tobirama felt almost as though his heart were fluttering in his throat. Difficult as it was he managed somehow not to float straight off the ground as a pink tongue flicked out to wet Madara's lips and then his friend was leaning forward, closer than close, brushing their mouths together with all the innocence of one who knew nothing of the world but the feelings he carried in his heart.

“You’re sure?” Tobirama whispered.

“Of you? Yes.”

While he was still trying to breathe past the thunder in his ears he found himself rather pleasantly distracted by the touch of lips against his own once more and this time he had enough wits about him to respond in kind, drinking in the sweet sounds that followed like fine wine. He had only kissed one boy before. Puberty had left him restless, curious, all too aware of the way some of the eyes of others near his age had followed him around. His explorations then had been chaste and unsatisfying enough that he turned his attention away from any sort of intimate pursuits – that is, until the day he realized exactly how attached he had become to the boy in the tower.

He was still flying high with his head in the clouds when they parted, Madara's hand tightening where they were still linked between them. Nothing in his life so far had ever quite compared to the joy he felt when he saw his friend, his most precious hidden treasure, move to anchor his hair in its usual place. When he secured it through the ring bolted to the floor he did so at the opposite end from his own head to allow himself a rope with which to climb down.

“You’ll follow after?” he asked, already moving to the window.

“Always,” Tobirama promised. “Wherever you go, so long as you’ll have me, I will follow.”

“Here’s hoping you enjoy the view from behind then.” Filled with the wild energy of escape, Madara sent him a wink before clambering up and over the sill. He waited just long enough to look back and make sure that Tobirama had taken the ends of his hair to lower him down with.

Then he took a tight grip with both hands, closed his eyes, and with a smile unlike anything Tobirama had ever seen before he put his trust in to another’s hands along with his weight. Watching his head disappear from sight was sweet. Hearing his voice give a triumphant crow only moments later was even sweeter. The strain on his muscles was next to nothing as Tobirama fed the massive braid of magic hair downward bit by bit; strangely he found the most difficult part was convincing himself not to cry. An odd feeling. He’d never been the type to get overwhelmed by his emotions like that.

It took several minutes longer than his own descent would have for Madara to reach the bottom. Tobirama made sure the journey downward remained slow and steady to make him as comfortable and unafraid as possible. Only when he felt the line go slack did he allow his stance to waver and his arms to relax and the second he was sure the other had reached the ground he was dashing over to the window to look down.

Madara's neck craned back to look up at him, on hand cupped around his mouth while the other waved madly through the air.

“Tobirama,” he called, “let down my hair!” Then he looked down at his own feet and even from so far above his voice could be heard crying out with excitement. “It tickles! The grass tickles! This is amazing!”

No matter how quickly he was able to tear his eyes away Tobirama was doomed. There was no denying the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes any longer, though he consoled himself that they were at least tears of joy. Tears for the happiest he had ever been in his entire life. In this moment he could not imagine anything else that he could possibly wish for.

He should have known the universe would prove him wrong. After freeing the hair from its anchor for what he hoped would be the very last time it was only one quick-as-possible climb down familiar stones before he too was standing in the lush grass and admiring the wonder on Madara's beautiful face, laughing at the way dark hair dragged along the earth unattended. Though he knew that they should hurry away from this place he couldn’t quite bring himself to break the moment until finally the other’s eyes returned to him and pale hands reached for his own.

This, this was the moment in which he could ask for nothing more, he realized. With Madara's fingers between his own he had everything he could ever need.

“I did it.” Words whispered thick with disbelief, sharp with joy, lighter than the air they breathed.

“Welcome to the world,” Tobirama whispered back.

“Take me away from here,” Madara demanded. “Take…take me home. I’ve never had a home before.”

“You can have one with me.”

Where the witch had gone they did not know. How she would react to finding her captive missing they had no idea. Tobirama knew only one thing for sure as he slipped off his shoes to offer the other and led them towards the passageway in to the rest of the world.

He would protect this man no matter what. Whatever the future held he would fight to protect this precious treasure that he had found, that he had freed, that he had fallen in love with and never looked back.

#rae writes #madatobiweek2020 #madatobi #madara #tobirama #hashirama #fanfiction #fairy tale au

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