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flowerwrites06 · 3 years

Text

the tale of agape I — jjk

World Info: There are eight types of Love originated from Ancient Greece. In the Realm of Love, these types have been turned into seven Gods and one Goddess. — Agape (universal): OC (Name: Belle) | Pragma (everlasting): Jungkook | Storge (familial): Yoongi | Mania (obsession): Seokjin | Philia (platonic): Namjoon | Eros (sexual passion): Taehyung | Philautia (self-love): Hoseok | Ludus (playful): Jimin

Plot: Agape is a well-loved Goddess in the Realm of Love. Anyone who wins her approval will become the most powerful entity in the land, standing side by side as a co-symbol of eternal Love. Unfortunately with knowledge of this power, Gods and Nymphs are prone to obsession and cunning. So Agapes’ de facto brother, Storge organises a tournament in her honour. Only the winner will become Agapes’ partner.

Pairing(s): God!Jungkook x Goddess!OC (Name: Belle) ft. God!Seokjin

Rating: G | PG | M | R 18+

Type: Drabble | Oneshot | Two Parter | Series

Word Count: 2.6k

Genre: Gods & Goddesses | Fantasy | Romance

Tags & Warnings: betrayal, nothing intense in this chapter but there will eventual smut and violence so

Authors Note: i miss doing a jungkook series lmao so here you go, there were a lot of people during requests asking for a god/goddess au so I’m going on that with a new plot based on the eight types of love. I’m also extremely sleepy and ready to pass out, please excuse any mistakes. And lastly of course, enjoy and let me know what you think! Is this something you’d want me to continue or nah?

Morning began with soft sunlight painting the Love Realm, making the Cherry Palace sandstone glow like a topaz gem. Yoongi, the God of Familial Love stood at the terrace with the God of Platonic Love, Namjoon. Their soft silk robes flowed in the cool breeze as they watched the chariots of red, gold and blue riding into the courtyard; each vehicle pulled by majestic stallions.

“Are you sure about this?” Namjoon asked, eyes gently squinted to adjust to the bright day. His flowing blonde hair looked almost white from the reflection of the sun.

Yoongi shook his head, heart shaped lips pursed. “I don’t like it as much as you do but this is the only way we can filter out the ones on our own accord.”

“Is Belle okay with this?”

“She likes tournaments. Chose the method herself.”

“Jousting?”

Yoongi hummed in agreement, unable to hide the smile spreading across his lips.

Namjoon chuckled. “Sometimes I think she just likes the knocking of heads.”

“Agape has a cheek to her.” Yoongi leaned forward on the balcony railing. All the heads padded out of their chariots, escorted by servants into the palace. Only one chariot hadn’t arrived yet.

“Seokjin is coming too?” Namjoons’ voice grew deep with slight contempt.

“I have to invite him. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“You know how he gets, Yoongi.” Namjoon shifted to face him completely. “What if he gets out of control in this tournament?”

“I gave him my warning last time.” Yoongi raised a hand to calm him. “He knows what’ll happen.”

“You can’t kill him.”

“Oh I’ll keep him alive.”

Namjoon shook his head, laughing. “How do you make even that sound threatening?”

Yoongi grinned. “I made her my sister for a reason. No one hurts her on my account.”

“Understood.”

Refreshing wind brushed through the transparent crème curtains into Belles’ room as her lady-in-waiting fit her into a warm pink georgette dress for the first tournament. The tone matched her pink irises, making them look more otherworldly than ever.

Angel let out a satisfied sigh after fixing the train. “Lord Yoongi knows how to pick dresses.” She stood up straight and fixed the gold patchwork bordering the shoulder of the dress.

“He always chooses pink.” Belle observed herself in the silver rimmed mirror, tilting her head. Her curls fell over half her face.

“Well, you can’t wear red just yet.”

“Such a strange rule.”

“Apparently when Agape wears red, it’s only for the most auspicious occasions.” Angels’ voice turned airy as her face lit up with astonishment. Her passion for the Gods of Love was admirable and endearing without the added obsession of climbing the ladder. She respected the concept of love in its purest form. Belle needed more of that around her. “So it’s special that you wear it in specific times.”

“Will I wear it for my wedding?” A small thrill tingled through her belly mentioning her own wedding. Belle remembered all her dreams about being the splash of red amongst pink roses and falling peach blossoms in the Cherry Palace center garden.

Angel stared up at her, eyes glossed and face flushed with excitement. “It could be the most beautiful deep red dress that has a train all down the Realm.” She gestured out through the curtains.

“That’d be a bit hard to move around in.” Belle giggled as she shrugged off the pink dress until she was down to her white underdress. “But I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

“Watch your left, Eros!” Laughter ensued from outside her room.

“You watch your footwork, Pragma!”

Hearing the Gods’ names being used as colloquial nicknames was a strange sound to Angel but it made Belle grin. She rushed forward through the transparent curtains to the sandstone balcony which looked over one of the smaller gardens. The ones with apple trees and the fountain.

“My lady, wait!” Angel whispered harshly.

The sleeve of Belles’ underdress slid off her shoulder but she barely thought to fix it. Angel quickly draped a silk robe over her body to keep her decent.

The two young Gods of Love, Pragma and Eros dueled each other like they were performing in a playful dance. Yoongi called Pragma by Jungkook and Eros by Taehyung. Both of them a true symbol of their role in the Realm.

Taehyung had beautiful deep tan skin, glowing like a bronze pearl and his sharpened eyes constantly brimmed with bliss over the things around him. He wore a loose silk shirt of yellow and white, half-opened to expose his soft chest while his dark brown curls fluffed and flowed like a gentle garden.

Jungkook was of milk tea skin, sweat on his neck and cheeks glistened, matting his raven hair to his forehead. His body was lithe and muscular adorned in a red and black shirt. The smile on his face had the perfect mix of mischief and pure joy. His feet moved like the genteel steps of a blossom dancer but his sword swings were the strength of a rock sentinel. Chuckles flowed from his lips at the sequence of movements, truly enjoying the activity instead of being full of anger and determination to win something.

Belle wanted to continue admiring him but a sense of her own mischief seeped through. The fountain centered this garden which the Gods did an amazing job to avoid in their flexible parries and attacks. When she noticed Jungkook nearing the fountain ready to avoid, she took a deep breath. “Having fun, my lords?!”

As expected, Jungkook lost his balance and toppled over to the fountain. His beautiful shirt splashed with water and his dampened hair from sweat completely soaked from the fountain flow. From up on the balcony, it looked like a Nymph was pouring water constantly on Jungkooks’ head.

Belle couldn’t help but laugh and Angel tried her best not to follow along.

Jungkook winced at his drenched self; almost a hint of anger on his face before he threw his head back and scoffed out a laugh.

Taehyung looked over to follow the sound and his expression softened when he recognized Belles’ face. “Agape,” he whispered with such a baritone voice that it even shocked Jungkook.

He tracked his gaze up to the sandstone balcony, decorated with pink roses and all-spice flowers. Jungkook raked his fingers through his hair, slicking it back so he could see her. Agape. The Goddess of Eternal Love. Beautiful brown curls and glowing skin against the warm sunlit sky. He couldn’t see it clearly from here but the hints of her pink irises twinkled. A smile tugged at his lips. “You got me, my lady.”

Belle smirked, leaning forward as her cheeks heated. “Be sure not to catch a cold, my lord. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the match.”

Jungkooks’ smile turned to a bright grin. “I’ll be as healthy as a God,” he mused before biting his bottom lip.

The day had come for Seokjins’ arrival. Mania: the God of Obsessive Love. This time Yoongi opted to see him personally in the council room. Kiku, the Earth Nymph Queen and his wife stood by his side despite her wish not to see this God again. In the last banquet, Seokjin had less than pleasant things to say to her and Yoongi was on the verge of announcing war. Thankfully Namjoon broke apart the fight, telling them to separate until they calm down.

Black robe train slithered across the white polished stone floor. When Yoongi remembered Seokjin, he saw a plump skinned charmer who saw the world as a trail of possibilities. Today he stood in front of a thinning man. “I thank you for welcoming me back after my horrible behaviour in the last banquet.” Seokjin spoke in his truest charm but it was changed. There was a darkness under his eyes now and his previously plump skin became sunken with age.

Yoongi attempted a smile. “It’s forgotten.”

Beetle black eyes flickered to Kiku with the same deathly sleep-deprived expression. “And Lady Earth, I offer my humblest apologies.”

Kiku nodded in response without a word. Yoongi knew it was her way to tolerating this visit without giving her true opinion.

“I’m happy to be part of this excitement.” Seokjin intertwined his long fingers together like a spiders legs uncurling.

“Both Eros and Pragma will be participating.”

“How wonderful!”

“Jimin will also be giving his famous stories as entertainment with Goddess Gaias’ illusions. I know you enjoy them.”

“My favorites are of ours.” Seokjin always had his way to maintaining the memory of their history. The two oldest Gods of Love. Family and Obsession building the Realm of Love from scratch. There was a twisted beauty about that fact.

“The servants will help you to your temporary chamber in the Palace.” Yoongi nodded to the three servants awaiting his order. “Make yourself at home.”

Seokjin bowed and turned his heel, quietly expecting the servants to scurry after him.

Yoongi glanced over at Kiku. Her entire body exuded a sense of concern and a hint of anger, green vines were twirling around her fingers to relieve her stress. He held onto her hand, her skin as soft as a cloud. A silent comfort to reassure her that it’ll all be well.

Thousands of people in the Realm of Love crowded on the wooden pavilions, waving their flags of rainbow colours representing their favourite jousters. Excitement thrummed in the air with that hint of curiosity. Who would the Goddess Agape stand next to at the end of the festival? Some of the members of the crowd were already deep into debate as to which fighter would be the most appropriate.

At the center and best view of the arena, three velvet lined seats were placed. Yoongi sat in the middle with Kiku on his left and Belle on his right. A step lower than the seats were the three non-performing gods, Namjoon, Seokjin and Hoseok, the God of Self-Love.

Once the crowd was organized and ready, Yoongi stood up. He didn’t need to move an inch before everyone delved into an attentive silence. “Welcome to our esteemed competition, good people. The rules are simple. You are to clash with your partners in a fair joust and the winner will provide a favor of their colour to the Goddess.” He gestured to Belle. “The one with the most favors will win the match.” Yoongi waved his hand. “Let the games begin.”

A wave of applause and cheer welcomed the first jousting match between Taehyung and an Earth Nymph. Their gold and silver armor glinted against the summer light. Another trail of pin-drop silence as the jousters had their lances ready. Belle kept her eyes on Eros as most of the crowd did. No one expected him to be much of a sportsman but his blooming friendship with Jungkook seemed to have influenced his new hobbies.

With a clap, the stallions galloped towards each other. In a pounding rise of suspense, they grew closer. Closer. Closer. Taehyung smashed the lance against the Earth Nymphs’ chest earning a wild applause.

He reached the other side and one of the servants gave him a white favor for his victory. Taehyung rode out to the platform where Belle sat. Keeping his half-lidded gaze, he kissed the favor and had it levitate towards the Goddess. “For you, my lady.”

Belle smiled and gently accepted the favor. She gave a short bow to acknowledge his gift.

Another series of matches continued on but what Belle truly waited for arrived around five matches later. She may have counted in her head until she saw the red flag matched with green.

Jungkook rode in his glinting obsidian armor and black stallion that had the most beautiful silver mane. He was a picture of magic. Lances at the ready, the crowd stills with anticipation. The Earth Nymph rides first and Jungkook follows suit a few seconds later. There were some murmurs that the God lost his focus in the midst of the match. They soon found out it was another reason altogether.

The sheer brute force of Jungkooks’ lance nearly cracked the Earth Nymphs’ armor and had them falling off their horse. Due to the leather straps, the Nymphs’ struggling body was still being dragged by the stallion while servants tried to get them to safety.

Belle stared at the fallen Nymph in worry, feeling a bit guilty for the sheer excitement brimming through her body at Jungkooks’ explosive victory. He brought a red favor. This time Belle stood up from her chair as the beautiful stallion closed in. Moving down the step platform with Namjoons’ help, she took a moment to caress the stallions’ head.

“For you, my lady.” Jungkook handed her the red favor.

Belle accepted it, feeling the warmth of his palm and the heat exuding from it. “My lord,” she muttered before turning on her heel. Perhaps it was too blatant of an action for her favoritism but she didn’t care.

Yoongi noticed the flushed pleasure on Belles’ face. He couldn’t help but chuckle, rubbing his lips and instinctively holding Kikus’ hand. A part of him remembered how the early thrills of a blossoming relationship felt like. The more Belle smiled, the more he felt grateful for this tournament.

Jungkook stayed still on the spot just watching Belle move back up to her platform. His body and soul grew too comfortable in her aura that it made him dizzy. When the Goddess sat down and faced him, he shook himself back to reality. Giving a quick bow, he rode back for the rest of the tournament.

***

Night fell into a deep blue blanket of sky and the remnants of thrill from the tournament celebrated with ale, dancing and pleasure. Jungkook had last seen Taehyung in a bedroom full of the most beautiful Nymphs and the smell of incense. With the look on his face, one could only imagine what was going on in there. He, however, was called to Seokjins’ chamber.

He knocked on the door four times and announced himself before Seokjin invited him in with a chirpy tone.

“Welcome, Jungkook!” Seokjin was about the only person other than Yoongi who could call him that. “I hope you had fun in the tournament.” He gestured for him to sit at the dining table.

“Sword fighting is more my favourite—” Jungkook relaxed on the chair, his tired muscles aching when it was finally resting. “—but I liked the favors idea.” He smiled.

“I’m sure you did.” Seokjin picked up an apple from the glass bowl and wiped it on his robe. “Keep going like this and our deal will go smoothly.”

His smile faded, fingers lightly tapping on the arm of his chair. “Do you think it’s fair? Sneaking up on the Goddess like this?”

“Don’t start getting a conscience now, my lord.” Seokjin chuckled. “When you were begging for your friends’ life, you said you’d kill the Goddess.”

Jungkook tasted something bitter on his tongue at the thought.

“Too bad that friend didn’t have your beautiful dedication to friendship.” He scrunched his nose. “Wind Nymphs, they’re a bit filmsy, aren’t they?”

Jungkook pressed his lips together, averting his gaze.

Seokjin let out a deep sigh, raising his palms. “Apologies.” The kindness of his gaze ended as soon as it started when he narrowed his gaze. The shadows cast under his eyes made him look more like a Demon than a God. “But we’re still on this deal, aren’t we?”

It wasn’t a request open for Jungkook to refuse. If he backed out of his deal then the price would be dire. Seokjin was an ancient God of Love like Yoongi. Entities like him could take a God or Nymphs’ powers, rotting their core soul into a Demon. An animalistic creature with no memory of their past self.

Jungkook was trapped the moment he thought of a deal with Seokjin. All he could do was nod and accept the betrayal he was going to perform.

next chap >>>

#jungkook #thebtswritersclub #bts fanfic #bts imagines #jungkook fanfic #jungkook imagines #bts gods au #jungkook gods au #fantasy au #bts fantasy #bts fantasy au #jungkook fantasy au #romance #bts romance #romance au #bts romance au #jungkook romance au #ancient greek

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dholwrites · 3 years

Note

Okay. I have to ask. AHow would the boys act streaming horror games like Monstrum? Who would be the panicker and who would just be immune to jump scares?

Note: I don’t play horror games, I can watch people play them and that is as close as I will get.

I have a hard time imagining Hien and Haurchefant playing horror games.

Ao3

Aymeric

Clock tower

Corpse Party

Ao Oni

You can see when he starts to internally panic and stress out; his eyes growing wide and darting around the screen as he tries to move on. He would still read and talk to his viewers in his calm and soothing voice, but his words would trail out at any odd creek or subtle movement on the screen. Aymeric would let out a long and drawn-out sigh when he gets caught and dies, but jump scares rarely get to him. At least until someone comes up and tries to stick a fake knife in his side.

Estinien

Resident Evil

Ao Oni

Outlast

Estinien is entirely immune to jump scares, neither sudden sounds nor monsters running at the screen can make him flinch. He doesn’t make comments on what is happening in the game, not even the things he sees or hears. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t scared. A keen-eyed viewer could start to pick up the small cues and tells of the panic inside his mind. Perhaps he starts to move faster or he fumbles a bit with a lock or puzzle that nearly causes a ‘Game Over’. Estinien would never stop playing when he hits a bad ending, but he becomes more and more desperate to complete the game.

Thancred

Outlast

Evil Within

Resident Evil

Thancred is quite at home in this genre with a strong preference for survival horror. He enjoys managing his resources, learning about the enemies, and doing everything he can to accomplish his mission. What gets him is when he gets lulled into a false sense of security. His ammo is fully stocked, health packs are ready and within reach, and triple-checked. All it takes is an unsuspecting zombie to show up around a corner or grab at his feet, and he ends up fumbling to put most of his bullets into its brain. Once he finally has time to collect himself, he would pretend as if that didn’t get his heart racing.

G’raha Tia

FNAF

Until Dawn

Angels of Death

He’s a bit jumpy whenever there is a sudden sound in the midst of pure silence or the background music slowly getting louder and louder. His ears are quite sensitive, so it’s common to see him suddenly stop mid-game to look around for noise that only he hears. It has saved his tail more than a few times, but it doesn’t help when he is so focused on the task at hand. G’raha enjoys the puzzles within the game, even if it causes him to come face first with a monster. He can become obsessed with saving and helping every NPC along his path that he ends up replaying old saves until he manages to trial and error his way through the game.

Cid

SOMA

Doki Doki Lit Club

Prey

He loves it when horror games get creative with their story and game style, especially those that add a fresh spin onto something that has been done a million times. He has more interest in the sci-fi horror genre. Cid is delighted, albeit a little worried, when he discovers that some games require you to mess around with the game files on your computer to progress through the game. He isn’t a screamer, the gross and disturbing details of a game don’t bother him. The jumpscares will startle him and cause him to take a few minutes to take his breath before he continues on, often with him grumbling about how it has to be a glitch that it caught up to him so quickly.

Alphinaud

Fran Bow

Spooky’s jumpscare mansion

Tattletail

Alphinaud is a huge scaredy cat with horror games and he does everything he can to avoid playing them. However, he still ends up playing them when Alisaie tricks him into trying out cutesy-named games with ambiguous designs. The young elezen panics at sudden noises, and movements would always cause him to squeak and scream, even when it’s just the sound of his character moving around. Pure silence unsettles him to the point of stalling, but having a little too much noise causes him to duck into the first shelter. It has happened often enough for Alisaie to compile an hour-long complication of him just screaming.

Alisaie

Resident Evil

Emily wants to play

Deadspace

She has a love-hate relationship with horror games. Alisae gets angry enough to scream and yell when she gets caught and blames the game for cheating to find her hiding spot. That doesn’t stop her from booting up the last save and push forward until she makes it to the ending. Alisaie cracks up at the cliches and bad animations in bad horror games, but she will take the time after she finishes a game to give genuine praise and sound advice for the games she finds herself enjoying. She garners a lot of attention from developers and writers for her feedback as she does not hold back any punches when it comes to criticism.

Ryne & Gaia

FNAF

Little Nightmares

These two share the channel as they usually play multiplayer games together, horror games included. For single-player games, the girls would alternate between who is controlling the main character and who sits back and watches. Ryne is a complete scaredy-cat, you can see her physically shaking in her chair and hear it in her voice as the music starts to grow more ominous. Gaia enjoys making her scream by poking her sides when the moment feels just right. Gaia herself behaves as if nothing scares her, she charges into rooms without even checking. Her actions cause her to run into even more jump scares than Ryne. The second something rushes to her face, she lets out a short scream before dropping some very unladylike words that need to be bleeped out down the road.

Urianger

Call of Cthulhu

Amnesia

Silent Hill

SOMA

Urianger has a habit of forgetting that he is actually playing a horror game.; the elezen would immerse himself in the numerous books and notes. Any in-game lore captivates him, especially if the story is something that you would have to piece together to figure out what is happening. He would follow a plot to the end even if it’s nothing more than a side story that players aren’t meant to pay a lot of attention to. Because of his tunnel vision to find the answer, Urianger easily gets caught by bosses and monsters that lurk around the corner. A sudden grab or attack can induce a paralyzing effect on him, leaving him staring at the death animation and end screen with wide eyes for long moments.

Sidurgu & Rielle

Fatal Frame

Mad Father

At Dead of Night

The Xaela looks as if he lives and breathes horror; from the dark clothes and decor to his interest in music. It is a surprise to find out that he is secretly a scaredy-cat, who struggles to even attempt to progress the story out of fear. Rielle has to egg him into playing horror games, even ones that most people don’t even consider scary. Sid would take a few steps, stop, and force his character to face a wall so he doesn’t catch a glimpse of something that would haunt his nightmares. Only to let out a high hiss when an arm phases through the wall to grab him. Rielle has gotten so used to it that she barely moves when the screen flashes red and Sid gets a shot of pure adrenaline to get away from the monitor as fast as he can.

#ffxiv headcanon #ffxiv fanfic #ffxiv #fanfic #aymeric de borel #alphinaud leveilleur #estinien #thancred #g'raha tia #cid nan garlond #alisaie leveilleur #Urianger Augurelt #Ryne #gaia #sidurgu orl #rielle

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rpmemesbyarat · 3 years

Conversation

RP meme from Werewolf: The Apocalypse "Kinfolk: Unsung Heroes" Introduction & Ch.1

"I have normal human fears and frailties, despite my faith."

"I’m terrified I won’t be there when they need me, that I won’t be able to give fully of myself to save them when the time comes. And the price of my failure, for them, would be too high."

"It was like nothing else mattered, nothing else could fill my eyes like the sight of him."

"Now, of course, I realize I was in shock at the time clammy skin, disorientation, that sort of thing."

"That night misted over my senses; even now, it seems more like a vivid dream than anything else."

"I had to watch. I couldn’t turn away."

"That night, I saw I had to protect him. He needed me, and it’s just as simple as that."

"Let’s just say what I know has come in handy."

"The best folks give the most of whatever they can."

"Think about it — would you like to go through childbirth every nine months from age 14 to 50?"

"We’re human beings, dammit!"

"I’ll always do anything I can to help, even if I’m royally pissed; I don’t expect thanks or money, either. But it would be nice to get some respect."

"I'm not alone in saying that I hate being patronized."

"Give an inch, they’ll take a mile" is what some of them think about us."

"The rhetoric a lot of them use sounds like the same crap bigots give when trying to “justify” why women and minorities shouldn’t have equal rights."

"Just once, I’d like to feel like an equal, a partner in all this."

"Ever think about how hard things would be without us?"

"I see by your scowl that doesn’t satisfy you."

"Think of it as normal family responsibilities, magnified a thousand times."

"It’s practically medieval!"

"I mean, it looks like such fun to turn into a wolf."

"There are connections like you wouldn’t believe. Completely outside the law, these people can get dirt on the opposition, perform b&e without leaving a trace and provide muscle no other boss can beat. All they ask is some capital, some boltholes and a little legal cover. Sweetest deal in the world!"

"What do I think about it? Imagine what it’d be like for someone to call you and say you’d missed out on a million dollars because you got one wrong number on the lottery ticket."

"Some are too caught up in the things of humans —chasing after money to have what advertisers insist they can’t do without, living their soap-opera lives and not seeing what the world is really all about. I pity them."

"There is sweeter revenge than death."

"I laugh with joy thinking how your heart will burst should you ever have to face him in battle."

"It’s a great honor to be who I am, who we are. But it’s scary, too."

"Families can quarrel, snarl and cut one another to the quick, but in times of trouble, they’ll stick together."

"God, Allah, Gaia, the Great Spirit or whoever gave us this job, so we have to do the best we can with it."

"Blood also fetters our lives in hatred as well as love, I’m afraid to say."

"I’m not saying this is a fact, but if she was abused, it might explain some things."

"I’m sorry, I can’t quite imagine a moment of sensual passion with someone I don’t love, much less hardly know!"

"In other words, it’s the connections that’re vital, not the money or the mileage."

"Many have wealth, but not all; lineage, not money, is most important."

"That’s a heavy price to pay in a harsh world."

"Self-sacrifice is also important."

"Sacrifice comes in terms of emotional costs, too."

"It’d be pretty stupid for me to become a gun-toting mercenary, for example."

"To put a positive spin on all this, I guess I’d say it’s nice to be needed."

"I admit I don’t really understand what it is or when it’ll be, but many’s the Irish tale where a small oversight wreaked terrible disaster."

"So I got online and made a few phone calls and tried to get the “truth” in as many forms as I could."

"The word “family” has come to mean a lot more things than the 1950s concept of mommy, daddy and two perfect children."

"Raising children is no bed of roses, either."

"Kids love to test their parents and see just how far they can push and still get away with it."

"There’s no way this could be easy."

"Some days, I have to bite my tongue, and that does get old."

"I was just too stupid and blind to see it."

"I always felt like I was split, alone, part of something I couldn’t name."

"Listen, you have no idea what it’s like to watch someone you love slowly lose her mind."

"There are some, well, bimbos."

"You know, the ones that like to control CEOs and topple careers."

"Here, try a piece of this chicken gizzard. I get ’em real cheap down at the butcher shop. No one else seems to want these extra parts. I grill ’em with a little barbecue sauce and honey mustard. Delicious! Thanksgiving’s always the best time, though. Then there’s turkey necks for the takin’!"

"Our families are pretty big, and we figure even the most distant cousin or friend of a friend’s part of the group."

"I’m sure you know, working with people all the time, how far thanks and a friendly smile go when you’re dead on your feet. It’s like the sun’s come out on a cloudy day."

"I mean, some of that stuff is long outdated!"

"It’s more a matter of belief and pureness of spirit, if you ask me."

"The Network also has a lot of splinter groups that organize among youth, educators, environmentalists and so on."

"We’re steadfast and steady, yet vibrant and alive, warriors, artists, writers, musicians beyond compare."

"I don’t know if we can save them, but we won’t give up."

"To be tested and accepted by the greatest warriors in the world — no greater honor can we ask for."

"Think of us as the tiny little parts that hold a machine together. Maybe it could function without us, but not without a lot of wear and tear on the system. You get my drift."

"If leader seems weak, I test him. He shows strength, I stop."

"They’re the ones who are causing all the problems by rebelling against the people in charge. They need to settle down and just be content with what they’ve got, if you want my opinion."

"Why should I worry? It’s a clear day. Traffic’s light, but walking’s fine. You get to see where you’re going. I’ll hit a little town ’fore dark and trade a song or story for some food and a piece of floor."

"Revolutions are intolerable and inexcusable."

"The aristocracy attained their positions for a reason, for only the most worthy were chosen to lead, after all. If the

lower classes overthrow the aristocrats, anarchy is the sure result. One need only look at history; Can the Russians truly say their lot improved after they murdered the Romanovs?"

"History has always been a beloved subject to me."

"I pity those souls, displaced by fortune, who are ignorant of their heritage. How can one know who he is without knowing where he comes from? A man — or woman — is the sum of all who came before."

"Money is not the issue; many great families lost their fortunes, yet retain their nobility."

"It’s a poor teacher who doesn’t learn from her student; in this way, the knowledge of both increases."

"Dreams, of course, are the pathways of our souls; here rest our secret desires, fears and hopes."

"You doubt me. You don’t speak against me, but I can see your heart is dubious."

"There’s no greater glory than to serve the destiny of the universe."

"The lacerations looked exactly like the work of sharp teeth, deep into his flesh."

"I won’t go s’far as to say there’s undying loyalty, but we do have a lot of respect for each other."

"Were I as capable as my ancestors, I’d kill you now and never spare a second thought."

"No atonement can replace those lost children."

"Thus far, we have been lucky, but it’s just a matter of time before someone we don’t want sneaks in. It’s not that I want to close ranks by any means; I just wish we paid a little closer attention to who came in from the cold."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you think we’re a dime a dozen. I’d like to believe we’re a little more special than most."

"We’ve built too much for a rotten apple to spoil it all."

"I don’t believe this guy; it seems almost too perfect to be true!"

#rp meme #rp memes #rp starters #roleplay meme #roleplay starters #roleplay memes #Werewolf the Apocalypse #wta #World Of Darkness #owod #kinfolk

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gone-series-orchid · 3 years

Note

I know you've said before that you think Caine and Drake are pretty one-dimensional (and I agree completely). I was wondering if there were any other villains that you wish had been explored more instead of giving those two more page time in later books. Or if there were any characters that you thought could have had villainous potential that were unexplored??

wow, interesting question! i think my main problem with caine and drake is that they’re just kind of blandly evil, one-dimensional like you said. i think, ideally, villains should feel like real people.

funnily enough, i think zil probably comes closest to embodying that in this series. he’s mean-spirited from the beginning, but it’s only under lance’s influence (from what i remember) that he becomes a real threat due to his gaining confidence. i think it would have been nice to see more of him in the series—he’s insecure in his role as leader of the human crew, which makes him fallible. he’s also kind of unnerved by lance’s neo-nazism. he’s arguably the most intelligent out of the crew aside from lance. he’s not sympathetic, per se, but he is compelling.

i would’ve liked to see him interact more directly with the protagonists—especially astrid, because i think she should get a chance to one-up him in some way after he was thinking creepy thoughts about her in hunger. also, i think astrid, being the smartie she is, would probably be most likely to try to persuade him to turn over a new leaf—she’s a normal, and a white, aryan-looking (gag) normal at that, which would probably satisfy lance, and she still has distinct power in the fayz. though zil could probably poke a hole in her argument by pointing out that she only really has that power because she’s sam’s girlfriend, which is true. anyway, they could have words about it.

i think zil is compelling because he has the potential to be redeemed. it’s a slight potential, because he’s already done some pretty evil things, but he’s not totally evil—he has to justify the violence he commits in order to accept it, which is more than caine or drake does. we never forget that, at the end of the day, he’s still an insecure, blustering twelve-year-old. he’s an anti-moof bigot, but he could change. i think lance, more than zil, represents total irredeemable evil. he represents what zil could descend into being. he’s the devil on his shoulder (astrid could potentially be the angel if she maybe switched tactics from lawful punishment to direct emotional manipulation).

i’m a sucker for human villains and natural disasters being the principal antagonists, which i think is why the first four books work so well? i think fear and light suffer from the gaiaphage taking control of the narrative, villain-wise, when i think it worked best when used sparingly. gaia is pure evil, nothing more. she’s fun to read about in her own way because she’s so villainously campy, but that’s kind of it. she’s not really interesting, imo.

i think the reason why i harp so much on the insufficient “humanity” of antagonists like caine and drake is because that’s the principal strength of books (lord of the flies, battle royale) in the “kids trapped in place and forced to survive” genre: what do the actions of the characters say about human nature? about society? about morality? in lord of the flies, the message conveyed is ultimately a bleak one: the kids all descend into savagery in one way or another, with the purest one of them all, simon (the jesus figure) being driven insane, and the intellectual (piggy) being murdered. the story is all about “the darkness in the human heart,” to paraphrase the last line of the book.

in battle royale, on the contrary, the message is ultimately one of hope. despite the characters living in a dystopian fascist society that sacrifices one class of students to a killing game, the main character shuya clings to the idea that he and his classmates can figure out an alternate way to survive the titular battle royale aside from murdering each other. his compassionate view of humanity is validated by the pov vignettes given to all his classmates. all of them are given distinct personalities; some are kind, like shuya and his allies noriko and shogo, and some are drake-esque sadists, while the majority fall somewhere in between (my personal favorite characters are the girls that team up with one another in order to protect themselves from possible sexual violence from the boys. they hole up in a lighthouse!). but all are tragic in the sense that they’re children thrust into an unfair and cruel situation. even then, though, the nobility of certain characters shines through.

for instance, there are two girls at the beginning of the game who are best friends and don’t want to kill anyone. they (foolishly or bravely) use a megaphone to call out to the other kids in hiding, asking if they can all band together. shuya and several other characters are tempted, but sadly the girls are both fatally shot soon after their announcement. they die in each other’s arms after affirming their friendship, tears in their eyes. shuya and several other kids are devastated by the girls’ deaths. while some more callous characters deride them as being stupid and naïve, the reader is ultimately meant to mourn their deaths and the lost potential of a class-wide alliance. they know that their enemy isn’t their classmates, but rather the fascist government that makes them kill each other in the first place.

anyway—tangent aside—i think those two aforementioned novels are really solid examples of the genre gone is in. gone has more of superhero vibe to it, given the focus on powers and mutations and paper-thin evil villains, but i almost think the way that’s executed almost detracts against the aforementioned “kids surviving, etc.” genre? like, that’s all about the messiness of morality and human nature and whatnot, and while superhero comics can weave that into their narratives (watchmen, the brat pack) those are usually deconstructions of the genre than straightforward examples of it. the superhero genre is usually morally black-and-white and really action-focused. this is why i think we get the strange tonal mixture of kids reacting realistically to the trauma of starving versus reacting fairly unrealistically when faced with brutal superpowered violence, such as when brianna decapitates drake like it’s nbd. or anything brianna does, really.

there’s a shift from the realistic to the unrealistic that’s fun, but tonally dissonant from each other. so there’s this sort of disconnect, at least for me. i sympathize greatly for astrid when she’s slapped by drake and forced to call little pete a slur, for instance, but how many times does drake or caine murder a kid in cold blood? at some point it gets...idk, old? as the violence gets more cartoony the less it interests me aside from morbid fascination, and there’s just so much of it. it gets desensitizing after a while. i think that’s why, even though i think it’s handled fairly believably in gone, i had a lot more trouble with the monster trilogy’s blend of absurdism (the animorphs-style mutations like dekka turning into a cat woman with medusa hair and another character turning into a praying mantis with super speed, etc.) vs. grimdark realism (ICE forcibly deports a character’s father, terrorist violence is a common theme, the san francisco bridge is destroyed, a baby boy is mutated into a giant fuzzy caterpillar and then gets blown up by the military—like this is budding dystopia-level dark and the narrative doesn’t seem to realize it). it just feels too heavy and too light at the same time. the contrast of tones does a disservice to both of them. idk what i’m saying let’s get back to your actual question lol

as for characters with villainous potential...hmmm. tbh i think astrid has villainous potential? i mean, i like the idea of her moral righteousness escalating in a way that makes her more morally gray. she’d have to probably latch onto more powerful kids in order to have any leverage over sam and the gang, given her powerlessness. maybe she could manipulate orc into being her bodyguard while she plots to usurp sam or something asgjsjk. i think she could be a powerful threat if she wanted to be! it’s fun to ponder. i heard of an au where she joins the human crew that i thought was sort of interesting!

what do you think, @goneseriesanalysis? any villains you wish had been dived into more, and/or characters with villainous potential you think would have been cool to explore?

#gone series #michael grant #the gone series #fayz

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secret-engima · 4 years

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...Rufus Shinra and the Turks in KHR

-Pure, total, utter, CHAOS.

-This boy was raised to rule an EMPIRE that played pretend as a power company there is no one more suited to wreak havoc with the Mafia than this boi and his pack of trained killers.

-Let’s be really mean and make Rufus be reborn as Tsuna and OH BOY the chaos starts from a young age.

-Tsuna doesn’t remember his old like until Nono seals him, and several days later (after Nono and Iemitsu have left) in the continuous desperation to LIVE-SURVIVE-NO-NO-NO that comes from having part of his soul locked away, Tsuna cracks open a part of his mind that should have never been touched, and Rufus spills out across the young, vulnerable mind of his second life with a gasp and a shudder, and he feels something in his veins screaming to be let out, and it feels like drowning-freezing-dying so he FIGHTS with every ounce of Will he has.

-The seal was meant to restrain the young, untrained Flame of a toddler. This new and unsettled, it was not prepared to hold back the surge of Will that came from an adult mind honed to a razor edged and tempered in world-ending apocalypses. The seal shatters into a thousand shards, but not before it carves at Rufus’s soul on the way out, and Nana rushes her son to the hospital for what looks like a seizure.

-The doctors have to restart his heart three times before he finally stabilizes (before his Flames finally flush the last of the seal shards from his system and are allowed to flow free through his veins). During the tense, hours long struggle to keep him alive, Nana calls the number Iemitsu gave her over and over.

-No one answers.

-Rufus wakes up in a hospital, and the sensation is not unfamiliar. It still takes him a moment to recognize the woman dozing in the chair by his bed with dark marks under her eyes as his mother (new mother) and this life as Tsuna’s life, not Rufus’s.

-Well. This is.

-Not what he expected when he died.

-He gets the feeling Gaia is laughing at him.

-The doctors can’t figure out what caused his seizures, nothing unusual shows up on any of their tests or scans. The only thing is heightened stress hormones and blood pressure, but not nearly high enough to cause damage. Eventually they let Nana take him home, but the woman who was previously so distant and ... ditzy in Tsuna’s memories is now protective, alert. Rufus assumes it’s because having your child nearly die horribly for unknown causes would make anyone (barring say, his old father) terribly upset.

-(He doesn’t know that Nana carried him all the way to the hospital because she doesn’t have a car, that his Flames, screaming Sky and biting, feral Mist, soaked into her own soul in their desperation, and in their quest to tear off his seal, shattered the one Iemitsu had sneakily applied to Nana’s passive Sky flames as well).

-Rufus thinks on Tsuna’s memories and realizes that it was his absentee father and “grandfather” (hah if that’s not a crime lord euphemism he’ll eat his own shoes) that caused his awakening and near death. There is something morbidly amusing in having a terrible, probably criminal father in both lifetimes.

-It would be funnier if he had any of his old allies to help him along (to make him feel less lonely).

-He also has powers now, and for a while he wonders if that makes him some kind of Ancient or halfbreed of one, but either way he keeps them secret, and he’s pretty sure Ancients didn’t use quite this much fire in their powers.

-He keeps his head down, he gets top marks in school but makes no real effort to socialize with his peers (none of them are worth knowing except maybe Hibari, but Hibari is feral and Rufus isn’t sure he wants to deal with that), and in secret he practices control over his Flames. He has two of them, one is bright orange and bright and POWERFUL, it’s the easiest to call. The other is weaker, but it’s incredibly useful. It’s light indigo in color, and with it Rufus can weave illusions from simple “don’t notice me” things to full on imagined animals or people as distractions.

-One day though, he gets caught playing with his powers by one Yamamoto Takeshi. The boy looks at him with an implacably neutral expression and Rufus is wondering if his purple fire can erase minds, when suddenly he smiles and holds out a palmful of blue fire.

-Rufus’s orange Flame lurches out of his skin in a breathless, needy desperation that startles them both, the Intuition in Rufus’s head SINGING found-you-found-you-mine-mine-mine- and there’s a click in both their souls-.

-Takeshi relaxes and something in Rufus’s soul cries with joy and recognition. Then Takeshi folds his hands politely in front of him and smiles a smile Rufus would know anywhere in the world, “Hello sir,” Tseng murmurs, “it’s good to finally see you again.”

-After that, their adult reserve crumbles, and the two children (only ten years old) cry heart wrenchingly on each other’s shoulders, because they saw the world end, they saw death, and now they woke up and thought for years they were the only ones.

-The others trickle in slowly after that, in fits and starts. Kyoko wanders over one day and introduces herself as Elena, and Rufus realizes Ryohei, her very quiet brother, has been something of a Martial Arts fanatic since a few years ago (since Rufus broke his seal, he doesn’t know it, but the sheer power and desperation of his Flames echoed over the town and woke up the others, though they did not realize where their awakening had come from).

-Cissnei shows up on his doorstep without explanation, her hair dark purple now and her body skinny from malnutrition that Rufus’s new mother happily sets about fixing.

-One by one his Turks drift in, and when Hibari starts growling over the intrusion of a budding gang in his territory, Rufus finally deigns to give Hibari his full attention.

-It’s a fight that ends in two broken arms, three broken ribs, a black eye and a nasty concussion, but one of those arms, the black eye, one of the ribs, and the concussion aren’t his and Hibari looks at Rufus in something like awe before he names Rufus Fluffy Carnivore and suddenly Hibari has a new turk recruit who comes with his own small army of pompadour wearing minions.

-Excellent.

-Rufus is content to start small. He doesn’t want to attract the attention of his father’s organization yet, but he has established himself as a small Yakuza now (though no one knows he rules it, his illusions are so helpful in making him seem smaller and weaker and clumsier than he is, to the point the oblivious students and teachers call him Dame-Tsuna) and he is looking into uncovering which Mafia group his father works for (so he can someday tear it up by the roots and burn it down, just to see the look on Iemitsu’s face).

-Of course, when he turns 14, everything gets ... complicated.

-Namely a tiny hitman shaped vaguely like a toddler shows up on his doorstep, calls him Dame-Tsuna, and says he’s here to teach Tsuna how to be a proper Mafia boss.

-Rufus and his Turks are Not Impressed™.

-But Iemitsu sent this tiny hitman, and Rufus is never one to pass up a chance to play the enemy for a fool, so he plays along. He plays the startled, skeptical civilian, the klutzy middle schooler with a group of wacky friends who don’t fit in any better than him, and when the TRAINED KILLER who is the best in the world (or so he claims) buys it wholesale, Rufus has to struggle not to roll his eyes at the sky because HONESTLY.

-Then Reborn drags a boy from Italy here, one who is quiet and wears sunglasses and has perhaps too much love of explosions and Rufus grins to himself and clicks his fingers at Tseng. Tseng takes the boy aside, and when they come back, Rude calmly swears fealty to Rufus without batting an eye.

-Reborn’s strangled surprise in the corner is priceless.

-It’s less priceless when Reborn shrugs it off as coincidence and keeps buying the “Dame-Tsuna” persona.

-It takes until Mukuro (Reno, a nearly broken, fractured Reno who has kept his sanity only because of the memories his torture dragged up out of his soul) shows up with two more of his Turks and Rufus and Rude talk them down in minutes (and with a lot of tears afterward, because these bodies are only 14 and Reno and his comrades have been through too much already) that Reborn starts to get suspicious that Something Is Up.

-Even so. The Dame-Tsuna insults and condescension persist, and Nana is bristly from it now (from being lied to in the face and expected not to notice) and Reborn still doesn’t notice and it is honestly getting on Rufus’s nerves.

-The day the Varia show up and he is told that Tsuna is to fight for the throne of Vongola, a pack of seeming 14 year olds against TRAINED ADULT ASSASSINS. Rufus decides enough is enough.

-On the day of the first fight, Rufus calmly and openly tells his Turks to “Take the Field”. The leader of the Varia, a man who’s Flames all but scream pain and betrayal and anguish (a familiar set of emotions, albeit not hidden and turned into poison, and it seems like Rufus is destined to be reminded of his first childhood at every turn doesn’t it) laughs at the “arrogance of the small trash”. Rufus just smiles, thin and polite and sweet.

-Martial Arts tears through Lussuria with a flurry of punches and kicks that send little shockwaves through the arena and the laughter slows.

-Knives (now named Haru) doesn’t even bat an eye at the lightning umbrellas and instead goes straight for the man’s sensitive bits with a lightning enhanced foot, then holds a knife to his sensitive parts and sweetly asks him to yield.

-By the time the Storm battle occurs and Rude has neatly burned off a good chunk of the Varia Storm’s hair with his bombs, the laughter has stopped and the staring has begun. Reborn and Iemitsu are deathly silent as they watch “Tsuna’s civilian friends” shred the Varia like paper, but really what did they expect to happen when they pitted the only group of unenhanced alive who could go toe to toe with SOLDIERs and win against some over-confident assassins?

-The Varia leader gets steadily more furious with each uninterrupted victory from the Turks, snarling and raging at his subordinates in a way that is most unbecoming. By the time it’s the turn of the Skies (and Nono is there to watch and such a PITY he didn’t get killed in the exploding mecha suit, truly), Rufus is still smiling thinly and Xanxus is fit to burst with fury.

-”What are you?” Xanxus roars not long into their fight, when Rufus calmly dodges every blast and seems to all but fade from the senses if they take their eyes off him for a mere moment, “You’re supposed to be a Sky! Stop fighting like a trash Mist!”

-Rufus stops, and pointedly does not look at Reborn or Iemitsu or Nono. He just grins, wild and bloody, “Alright.”

-He lets his Sky Flames out.

-The two so-called referees, Iemitsu’s pet Rain, and the Varia’s Lightning all drop to their knees from the pressure.

-Xanxus gapes.

-”Turns out,” Rufus hums calmly as he creates a shotgun out of Mist Flames and fires a round of pure Sky Flame at Xanxus’s chest (the man barely dodges with a stream of curses), “that nearly dying of a prolonged seizure and three heart attacks when you are just a toddler because of the Flame Seal that your dearest father and father’s boss tried to carve into your soul means your Dying Will is very, very strong. Who knew.”

-Xanxus actually lowers his pistols to stare at Rufus, “They. What.”

-Rufus politely refrains from shooting this man while his guard is down, because an enemy of Nono is a potential ally that shouldn’t be wasted, “You heard me. Ask mother dearest if you want. She was the one who ran to the hospital with my seizing body in her arms and spent the next seven hours outside the emergency room calling my father’s number with no response, unsure if I would live or die. But please, don’t let mere facts stop you from telling me how I’m trash who can’t light a candle with my Will. It certainly doesn’t stop my so-called Tutor.”

-Somewhere in the background, Reborn makes a strangled noise, and Rufus thinks that the Varia Sun is the one making the angry kettle noises all medics make when their medical sensibilities have been gutted and set on fire in front of them.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #Tear Down the Sky verse #Rufus as Tsuna verse #long post #oh look new au #giving this two names for now #we'll see which one I remember

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anistarrose · 4 years

Link

Summary: Angus leads a virtual book club meeting. Kravitz connects the dots. Taako makes significant updates to the list of people he trusts and things he believes.

Characters: Kravitz, Taako, Barry Bluejeans, Angus McDonald, Magnus Burnsides, Merle Highchurch, Noelle | No-3113, The Raven Queen, The Director | Lucretia, misc. BoB cameos, Julia Burnsides, Garyl

Relationships: Taakitz, Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans & Kravitz, Kravitz & Angus McDonald

Bit by bit, we’re inching closer to the endgame! Lots of plot and angst in this update, but also I think I might’ve implied that Minecraft exists in Faerun, so it evens out, y’know?

By virtue of their trance state replacing sleep, elves were supposed to be good lucid dreamers. Taako had always experienced mixed results, but never moreso than tonight, with a dream that started out all saccharine romantic fantasy — fishing with Kravitz and sharing a kiss after falling into the lake together — before a clap of thunder and an unholy scream plunged the world into darkness and left one single source of light, one last surviving star, cradled in Taako’s unassuming hands.

Then a ripple in the darkness, the invisible maw of some ravenous entity, closed around that final star — and Taako screamed, as loud as he could muster yet still not loud enough to drown the ringing in his ears, as he flailed in the dark against the invisible monster that stole the world from him —

At once, two hands closed around his own, one cold and the other warm. On Taako’s left was Kravitz, aghast but holding himself together, a steely composure to his posture despite the fear in his eyes.

On Taako’s right was a Red Robe — but not Barry, and in fact not anything like what Taako had started to accept as normal for Red Robes. Where Barry had a clouded darkness in place of hands and a face, this lich had pure static escaping from within her sleeves and beneath her hood, crackling and constantly changing shape like lightning, or… like fire.

Taako sat up in his bed covered in cold sweat, heart pounding as he realized his legs were hopelessly tangled in his sheets, and only slightly slowing when he realized there was nothing in his bedroom to run from.

Elves were supposed to rarely awaken late, but Taako’s wizard hat-shaped alarm clock — a gift that Angus that he’d quietly appreciated, even though it should have been redundant — indicated that it was mid-morning, and when he trudged out into the common area, he found no sign of his doormates besides a note written in Magnus’s distinctive scrawl.

I know you were busy last night, so we’re letting you sleep in while we go play Fantasy Kickball on the quad! Killian and Avi are team captains and their rivalry is fierce, so we’ll probably be playing all day if you want to join us! Love, Magnus! (And Merle)

Taako didn’t realize how relieved he was until he felt himself let out a sigh.

He had a sinking feeling that the same dream — or at least, a similar dream — had played out more than once that night, looping over and over again as he repeatedly failed to remember, much less control, where it was going. He felt too exhausted to be operating on even a single minute of dreamless sleep, and didn’t even want to think about holding a conversation with anyone…

Well, with most people. There was someone he’d really been meaning to chat with, before he’d been distracted by haircuts and Kravitz and pottery and stargazing and Kravitz.

He transmuted a mug of lukewarm tap water to a piping hot, high-caffeine tea, then picked up his Umbra Staff, and conjured a familiar phantom steed with twin horns that nearly grazed the ceiling as he reared and whinnied.

“Yooo! Mornin’, Taako!”

“Morning, Garyl.” Taako yawned. “Could you do me a favor, and tell me literally anything you know about the liches you said I used to hang out with?”

***

CalebClevelandFan#2045: All early-installment weirdness aside, I really do think it’s a great introduction to the series! Because of the retcons you’ll encounter later, there are some conspiracy theories that the most recent arc of Caleb Cleveland was ghostwritten to maximize the publishing rate (which I think is hogwash, because continuity errors are going to be inevitable no matter who’s writing) but I guess I’ll let you decide for yourself when you get there! Do you need to stop by the moon again to borrow Book 2?

ReaperAwMan#1672: No thank you, Angus! I think I’m going to try and download the “digital” version, now that I know I can do that on my Stone! Taako told me about that feature and a lot of others last night, so if I can’t get it to work, I’ll just call him and ask him to walk me through it. :)

ReaperAwMan: Did I use the smiley face correctly?

CalebClevelandFan: Yes! :) You’ve picked up on technology a lot faster than my grandpa did.

CalebClevelandFan: Did Taako also choose your username on this app, though?

ReaperAwMan: How did you know? Is it a reference to something? :)

CalebClevelandFan: Um

CalebClevelandFan: Yes, but it’s a long story. It’s not mean-spirited or anything, though! I think it’s pretty funny!

ReaperAwMan: Okay! :)

CalebClevelandFan: Is that all for book club today? If it is, Mr. Kravitz, I just want to say that I’d be happy to talk to you again about Caleb Cleveland anytime!

CalebClevelandFan: It means a lot to me, but I understand if you’re too busy (message edited)

ReaperAwMan: Oh, there’s always time for book club, Angus!

ReaperAwMan: But I admit, I have had a lot on my mind…

CalebClevelandFan: Is it the liches? Since the Reclaimers aren’t in trouble anymore? (By the way, I went to tell Noelle she didn’t have to worry about getting reaped, but apparently she’s visiting family, so I left a message with her teammates Carey and Killain..)

ReaperAwMan: Excellent deduction. (And thank you for that. I hope she gets the message soon.)

ReaperAwMan: You’re right, I’m still hunting Lup and Barry Bluejeans, but… I just can’t shake the feeling that they’re connected to Taako and the others.

CalebClevelandFan: Really? What makes you say that?

ReaperAwMan: Well, I didn’t think much of this for a long time, and now I’m kicking myself for it, but their bounties registered in our system at the same time as Taako’s, Magnus’s, and Merle’s. We figured it was just a widespread detection glitch, which has happened before on a much smaller scale, but now it feels awfully suspicious. The Reclaimers have also encountered Barry at least four times now, without even seeking him out the first three times, whereas finding Barry is my job, and I get a lead on him about twice a year, if I’m lucky.

CalebClevelandFan: That is odd. Did any other bounties show up at that same time? Do you know if they have any kind of connections to Barry?

ReaperAwMan: Only two others, for a couple of people named Lucretia and Davenport. They must be living like hermits, because it’s been 12 years and I know as little about them as I do about Lup. Not a lot of leads there, I’m afraid.

(CalebClevelandFan is typing…)

CalebClevelandFan: Hmm. Huh! I wish I could say those names meant something to me, but I’ve never heard them before in my life! Truly unfortunate, that. But, I do suspect that Barry appearing to the Reclaimers is because the Red Robes made the Grand Relics, and it’s the Reclaimers’ job to track those seven relics down!

ReaperAwMan: You mean to tell me that Barold J. Bluejeans made a Grand Relic, and the Reclaimers all knew that information, but didn’t think it would be important to tell me?! This is simultaneously the most and least surprised I’ve been at any point in my afterlife.

CalebClevelandFan: Well, I guess there’s a reason I’m the moon’s resident boy detective and they aren’t, sir!

ReaperAwMan: Wait. Angus.

CalebClevelandFan: Yes?

ReaperAwMan: Seven relics. Seven bounties.

CalebClevelandFan: Sorry, sir, I’m not following. What’s the connection?

ReaperAwMan: I know this is going to sound impossible, but…

ReaperAwMan: Taako is a transmutation wizard. The Philosopher’s Stone can transmute any material into anything else. Merle is a nature cleric, and the Gaia Sash offers control over natural disasters and the wilderness. Then of course, Barry is a lich like no other, and the Animus Bell is the most dangerous necromantic artifact I’ve ever been tasked with monitoring. I don’t know exactly how Magnus fitz into this, or how the other three bounties have managed to hide from me, but…

ReaperAwMan: I think Taako, Merle, and Magnus made three of the Grand Relics!

ReaperAwMan: Angus? Are you still there?

CalebClevelandFan: Sorry, I just rebooted my Stone, but I still can’t read your second-to-last message! It just looks like static, but I was inoculated, so that shouldn’t be possible!

ReaperAwMan: I’m not sure what you mean by “inoculated,” but if the app is glitching, then do you want me to call you?

CalebClevelandFan: It may not be the app, sir. And if it isn’t, I fear a phone call won’t make any difference… but I just got an idea! I’m going to go check if Noelle is back yet — she should be able to help with this. Please bear with me for a few minutes, sir!

ReaperAwMan: Okay, then… good luck!

Head in his hand, Kravitz scrolled back up to the offending message, reading it over once more.

I think Taako, Merle, and Magnus made three of the Grand Relics!

It made sense, but it shouldn’t have. Despite all the questions it answered, it raised more in their place — and Kravitz had been ready to accept that he was wrong, ready for brilliant little Angus to chime in with a piece of evidence that refuted it all...

Except that message, and that message alone, hadn’t made it to Angus in the first place — and wasn’t that the most damning, of all the so-called coincidences aligning before Kravitz’s eyes?

The Reclaimers made Grand Relics and consorted with liches. The Reclaimers can’t remember making Grand Relics or consorting with liches.

Someone is hiding the truth from the Reclaimers, and from Angus. Someone is hiding the truth from the entire Bureau of Balance.

Is it Barry? Does he have that much power? Is he working with someone? With Lup?

Kravitz summoned his scythe with the full intention of warping straight to the moonbase, and bringing his four friends from the Bureau directly back to the Astral Plane — not to take them prisoner, but simply to get them somewhere safe, somewhere to talk without Queen-knows-what outside forces eavesdropping or interfering. Yet before he could open a rift, Kravitz’s vision flashed blue, and a faint yet familiar tug directed his focus towards a much different region of the Material Plane.

A voice echoed in his head, too distorted to identify the speaker, but the words themselves were clear enough:

Kravitz, help!

Kravitz’s Stone of Farspeech clattered onto his desk as he raised his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes, honing in on the location of the summoning arrow. It was surrounded by undead presences of several shapes and forms, but one aura outshone all the others — one unmistakable red aura, crackling with power, and… desperation.

There was a very short list of people on the Material Plane with access to this kind of summoning beacon — and no matter what dark secrets their pasts held, Kravitz couldn’t bear the thought of any of them being left alone with an incredibly powerful, secret-keeping, Relic-crafting lich who had finally, finally snapped.

With a frantic swing of his scythe, he ripped open a jagged portal to the arrow’s location, and leapt through without even pausing to retrieve his Stone.

Hang on, boys! I’m coming!

***

“If you wanna hear anything about liches,” Garyl declared, “that information comes with a price. Which you know is gonna be oats, ‘cause what would I even do with gold? I’m just a funky little 80’s horse remix, so you gotta hand over those spectral oats, dude.”

Taako sighed. “Garyl. I know you’re not gonna like this question. But before you whine, please consider the fact that I’m not in the fucking mood. Now: does it have to be oats?”

“A pound of spectral oats is worth two spectral carrots or one spectral sugar cube! That’s the conversion rate. If you offer a spectral salt lick, I may be willing to negotiate.”

Taako conjured two floating, semi-tangible carrots with a wave of his umbrella, and levitated them over to Garyl, who took a bite out of both at once.

“That’s the stuff!” he whinnied. “Okay, so. Liches. Whatcha wanna know about ‘em?”

“You said, like — like two days ago now — that you used to get spectral oats from liches that I hung out with. Garyl, I need to know: was that true, or were you just guilting me for not spoiling you with enough treats?”

Garyl’s response was rendered completely indecipherable by the fresh bite of carrot in his mouth, part of which splattered across the floor and narrowly missed Taako.

“This is serious, Garyl! I’ve been meaning to ask you about this for a while, but it keeps getting more serious.” Taako groaned. “I… I didn’t even realize it, until I was talking to Kravitz last night, but… it’s just… okay, look. He remembers his whole life crystal clear, right down to how many stars you could see from this planet eight hundred and twenty years ago, but…”

He lowered his voice, glancing towards the door. “My past has always just been… fuzzy to me. I never really worried about it, but… I’m just now realizing that this might not be normal. And that if it isn’t, then I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Garyl swallowed the last of the carrots. “Yo, your past isn’t fuzzy to me. You really don’t remember your lich buddies — your lich family? Your literal sister and brother-in-law?”

“No, Garold, I don’t remember the sound of getting electrocuted in a fantasy garbage disposal!” Taako rubbed his forehead with increasing vigor, futilely attempting to massage away the sensation of an approaching migraine. “I don’t know how you made that noise with your nasty horse mouth, but it sounded just as bad as the static Lich Barry was speaking when —”

He gasped — and in the ensuing silence, the static kept ringing in his ears, but not as an audible echo. It was coming from within his own head, like a misdirected electric current leaping from neuron to neuron, generated as his mind repeatedly tried and failed to process what he’d just heard… and Taako knew exactly where he’d felt that sensation before.

“Oh, fuck.”

He bolted for the door, locked it, then frantically emptied his pockets until he found his Stone of Farspeech, which he powered down and then magically silenced for extra insurance. “Shit. Shit. Fuck.”

“Yo, what’s the rush?” Garyl asked. “Didja just remember you owe the unicorn mafia a whole bushel of oatsss?”

“What the hell? No!” Taako cradled Garyl’s snout in his hands, standing on his tiptoes to stare at Garyl in the eyes. “Promise me, promise me right now, Garyl, that you’re not gonna fucking snitch.”

Garyl’s expression turned as serious as a binicorn’s expression could turn, given two horns, technicolor eyes, and glittering lashes to work with. “Taako, you gave me life. I’ve always got your back, man.”

“There’s a second voidfish,” Taako blurted out. “And you’re more ghost than horse, I guess, so you’re immune to it, but I’m not. And I — I think I lost something big to it.”

“Huh.” Garyl snorted. “Damn. Geez, yeah. That would explain some things about, man, musta been…” He closed his eyes, nostrils twitching. “The last twelve years? That sound right?”

“Please, Garyl. You — you might know me better than I know me, at this point, so I need you to tell me — who can I trust?”

“I can’t decide that for you, Taako.” Garyl arched his majestic equine neck, as a single tear rolled down his face, and his mullet billowed in a wind that simply shouldn’t have been possible indoors. “Look at what you know to be true in your heart, and begin the journey towards your truth by trusting yourself.”

“I’m not here to listen to your poetry, Garyl — I need names!” Taako pleaded. “Like, I — I can at least trust Kravitz, right?”

“Look, man, I’m sorry! I could tell you who you used to trust, but if someone took a Voidfish-brand eraser to your chalkboard of a brain, that means someone had to betray you, and I dunno who it was! Kravitz is probably chill, because he seems on the level and you haven’t known him long enough for him to be the culprit — but I’m still juggling like six suspects, and I’ve only got four hooves, man! I’m trying my best to —”

Abruptly, Garyl’s voice died out, and he lowered his eyes. “Well, okay, it would be… five suspects. ‘Cause… Lup definitely went missing before any memories got…”

Taako clapped his hands over his ears. “Can you try not to do that? I’m already on the edge of a migraine without —”

A knock at the door interrupted him, and the next thing he knew, he was brandishing his Umbra Staff — never mind the fact that he’d locked that door just a minute ago, and it had since remained closed.

“Taako?” Lucretia called from the hallway. “Are you alright in there?”

After what must’ve been a suspiciously long pause, “Fine!” was the only word Taako could force out.

“Just dandy!” Garyl added in a terrible Taako impression, and Taako elbowed him in the equine shoulder.

“You’re sure?” The quizzical tilt to Lucretia’s head was downright audible. “You don’t sound like yourself.”

Taako bit back a reply of golly, I wonder if that’s because I don’t who I am or how much of myself I’m missing! but managed something more civil, clamping a hand over Garyl’s mouth as he spoke.

“Just had a late night last night! Took some… personal hours. May or may not be nursing a mild hangover now.”

“Oh, we’ve all been there. Merle did mention you were sleeping in.” Lucretia sounded like her suspicion had been sated — unless, of course, she just wanted Taako to think that — because in a much more casual voice that carried far less gravitas, the next thing she asked was: “Do you mind if I come in? I feel like we haven’t talked since Candlenights.”

“No problem!” Taako replied, probably much too quickly. He uttered the word ‘unlock’ under his breath in Elvish, to magically undo his little paranoia-induced security measure before swinging the door open, and hoping Lucretia wouldn’t notice the door had been locked or go on to question why. “Mi casa es tu casa — ‘cause, y’know, mi casa is technically part of your moonbase.”

If Lucretia did notice the unlocking door, she only questioned it silently, because her attention seemed understandably drawn to the binicorn trotting in place in the middle of the dorm.

“Oh, Garyl! Good to see you too.”

“Haha, yeah!” Garyl chuckled nervously. “Imagine meeting you, here, in a place like this! What are the odds?”

Lucretia lowered herself onto the sofa, glanced at Magnus’s rugged hand-crafted coffee table, and pointed to her feet. “Do you mind?”

Taako shrugged. “Uh… knock yourself out, Luce?”

She kicked off her heeled boots and slung her feet onto the table, laying her staff down in her lap. “Let’s get to the point. I did come here for a particular reason —”

“Oh?” Taako forced a smile. “Do tell.”

“Well, Merle and Leon got into a bit of an argument over — actually, let me start from the beginning. At some point in today’s second game, the kickball went over the edge of the moon, and has probably hit the planet Earth at terminal velocity by now.” Lucretia grimaced. “I hope no one was standing beneath it. Yikes.”

“Home run, baby!” Garyl cheered. Taako simply attempted to nod along.

“Actually, by our rules, it’s a foul with a sizeable penalty. Leon was pitching and Merle was kicking, so naturally they got into a fight over whose fault it was, and Merle threatened — let me see if I remember this all correctly — to ask you, Taako, to ask your ‘new friend the Grim Reaper’ to come up here and ‘reap Leon’s ass’ like said Grim Reaper purportedly once threatened to reap Merle’s own ass. So I was just hoping to get to you first, and stage an intervention to make sure the Bureau’s only artificer doesn’t take a one way trip to the heavens above — not to mention, maybe, ask if you had any idea what the hell Merle was talking about?”

“Well, bold statement saying Leon would go to heaven, first of all. Pretty sure he’d head the way of the plummeting kickball and smash through the planet’s crust. Second of all, um, I guess you could say I know the Grim Reaper? Look, we haven’t been seeing each other for very long, but I think we both feel a connection —”

“Oh! Well, good for you! Don’t get me wrong, that’s fucking wild if you mean it seriously rather than as a goof, but I’m still happy for you!”

“Not a goof. That is the whole story there, though. I’m dating the Grim Reaper, what more is there to say?” Taako grinned from ear to ear, and it felt slightly more sincere than every other smile he’d put on in this disaster of a conversation. “But as a… as an aside… uh, Garyl, do you remember those… six, no, five people you mentioned to me, just before Lucretia showed up?”

Garyl blinked at him with a downright hostility, as if to say You’re circling back to this topic NOW?

“Your, um, suspect list?” Taako clarified. “Of… people on the moon most likely to give you oats? I guess it was more like a power ranking, actually, let’s definitely call it a power ranking instead of a suspect list — but my point is, um, was the ‘Director’ here on it?”

“Yee-esssss,” Garyl replied slowly, still giving Taako the evil eye. “You know what I always say about Lucretia: she… she totes got the oats!”

“Okay!” Taako replied, knuckles turning white as he gripped the handle of the Umbra Staff. “Thanks! For letting me know! About those oat facts!”

“Um,” said Lucretia, which was probably the best reaction that Taako could’ve reasonably hoped for. “I… think I misplaced my oats today. Also, maybe my supply of oats for this entire year?” She reached for her boots. “Is this a hint that I should go back to refereeing kickball?”

“Yes!” Taako blurted out. “Oh, I mean, no, it’s not — I mean, you can leave! But you don’t have to. We don’t mind you being here!”

“We don’t not want you to leave but we also don’t not not not want you to leave,” Garyl added, as if it were a verbal Fantasy Rosetta Stone that would clarify and explain all of Taako’s anxious floundering. “Because we trust and cherish you. And oats! Mostly oats.”

Lucretia slipped her boots back on, then rose from her seat in a regal manner that probably wasn’t intended to intimidate the living daylights out of Taako. “No, you have a point. I should go make sure our secret society doesn’t fracture into warring kickball factions — but I’ll be back to chat more, don’t worry. Hopefully on a day you’re feeling better, Taako.”

She winked at Garyl as she turned to leave. “And I’ll try and remember to bring oats. Gotta move up in those power rankings.”

“It was actually more like a tier list!” Garyl called as she closed the door. When Taako magically locked it behind her, Garyl began pacing around the dorm, his tail swishing with enough force to knock several paintings and decorative vases onto the floor.

“Taako! She never has oats and she knows it! She’s onto us!”

“Yeah, you think?” Taako sunk into the couch Lucretia had vacated, burying his head in his hands. “I need backup who can hear through the static, before she puts it together and comes back to throw me in the brig. I’m calling Kravitz.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you do that. I’ll keep working on the tier list.” As Taako began to reboot his Stone, Garyl accelerated his nervous pacing to a nervous trot.

“Garyl, if this turns into a canter, I swear to gods —” Taako muttered, tapping the Stone’s unresponsive screen with a shaky thumb.

“Sorry.” Garyl slowed to a halt. “Hmm. You trust Davenport more, less, or the same as Lucretia?”

“What, you think he just pretends he can only say his own name to disguise his role as the evil mastermind?” Taako’s stomach churned. “Shit. You might be onto something. Put him below Lucretia on the tier list. Or above? I dunno how —”

“Wait, I’m not following you, man. Since when can Dav can only say his own name?”

Taako groaned. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say since twelve fucking years ago — alright, finally! Here we go!” His Stone of Farspeech flickered to life, and he navigated to Kravitz’s contact page as quickly as his trembling fingers allowed.

When he hit Call, an eerie silence filled the dorm as he and Garyl listened to one, two, three, four short rings — then, a beep, and a horrendous pre-recorded Cockney accent.

Hullo, greetings, and top o’ the morning! You’ve successfully reached the desk of Kravitz, Emissary of Her Majesty the Raven Queen, but I’m away right now, so if you have a zombie outbreak to report, press 1. If you wish to subscribe to our mailing list of anti-necromancy resources, press 2. If you’re dead and in need of an escort to the Astral Plane, press 3. If you just wanted to have a friendly chat, please leave a message after the caw, and I’ll get back to you once I’m able.

A raven cawed, and Taako started talking:

“Hey, babe, it’s me! Your boy. Um, don’t let me take you away from saving the world from necromancers or anything important like that… but if you’re not busy, I could really use your help, so if you could swing by the moonbase, and — and maybe not tell anyone you’re coming here or that you’re coming to see me — then that would be just swell! Everything’s cool, nothing’s wrong — well, no, you’re a perceptive guy, you can definitely tell something’s wrong — but I’m sure you and me, and Garyl, and maybe Angus will be able to figure it out, no problem! Except, now that I think about it, maybe not Angus, because I’ve put him in enough danger to solve my own problems already — but uh, thanks in advance, love you, see you soon, bye!”

Then he dropped his Stone, grabbed the nearest couch pillow, and screamed into it.

“Hey, hey, relaaax,” Garyl told him. “You heard him — he’ll get back to you soon.”

“Yeah. I know.” Taako took a deep breath, letting the pillow fall to the ground. “He’s just a busy guy, with an important job. He’ll be here as soon as he can…”

Garyl nodded sagely. “And you’d do the same, for him, because that’s love. Unless…”

Taako’s heart skipped a beat. “Unless?”

“Unless someone on the lower end of the trust tier list knows about his connection to you, and to keep hiding the truth, they capture him before he can get here!” Garyl sniffed. “Just like the unicorn mafia captured my dear ol’ uncle…”

Taako pressed the Call button again, and when he was once again directed to voicemail, he picked the pillow back up and resumed screaming.

“Hey, take it easyyy, man. It’s not like they can kill him,” Garyl soothed. “And b’sides, haven’t you got that… that whatsit-called, that magic arrow? You can still check in on him that way, even if the bad guys stole his Stone!”

“Right!” Taako sprung up from the couch, and bolted towards the quiver of arrows that Magnus had casually slung onto the doorknob of his room. “I mean, I’m sure his phone didn’t even get taken from him — he’s eight and a half centuries old, for crying out loud! He probably just misplaced it, or accidentally put it on silent, or… gee, we really don’t have a lot of traditional surfaces to jab arrows into here, do we?”

He glanced around the dorm, gaze finally landing on Magnus’s homemade coffee table. “I’ll just… wedge it in one of the seams in the wood, so it definitely won’t be noticeable, right?”

“You asking me? I’m apparently an amnesia-immune ghost horse, man — what makes ya think I’d ever want or attempt to understand woodworking?”

“Guess you’ve never attempted to understand a rhetorical question, either,” Taako muttered as he crouched on the ground. Clasping the arrow between two hands, he took a deep breath, then plunged it into the coffee table. “Kravitz? I could really use your help, I won’t lie, but — but mostly, I’m worried and just checking in to make sure you’re okay —”

For a sliver of a second, everything seemed to proceed as it should, with an electric blue glow flickering to life inside the arrowhead — and then, it exploded, spitting out fragments of crystal and tongues of vicious astral fire. Taako reflexively turned his head and dropped to the floor, but still felt something sharp and burning prick into his biceps like a red-hot needle, and he held his breath until the sound of shattering crystal halted and the sound of burning wood faded to a faint sizzling.

“So, uh…” Garyl slowly backed away from Magnus’s poor table, which was already more ‘smoldering pile of ash and sapphire dust’ than it was furniture. “This ever happen before?”

“No,” Taako whispered. He raised a hand to touch the stinging point on his arm, and pulled away with a droplet of blood and a tiny pointed crystal both resting atop his index fingertip. “Never —”

“Okay, cool, that narrows down the possibilities,” Garyl concluded. “Either he’s really busy, or we’re really fucked.”

This time, Taako didn’t even bother to grab a pillow before he started screaming.

***

End Notes:

thanks for reading, comments welcomed as always!

next chapter: Ghost Fight (or in other words, we get to see what Kravitz has been up to in the meantime)

#taz #taz balance #taako taaco #kravitz taz #taakitz #angus mcdonald #lucretia taz #garyl taz #taz balance spoilers #fic: ftrala #rosalia writes fic

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girlobsessed21 · 4 years

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Thoughts on The 100 7x01

Before I get into the episode, I felt the absence of Bellamy and Octavia, they are my favorites and a very core part of this show. I was worried about the lack of Bellamy in all the promotional material, but Jason explained in an article that he needed some time off and they gave that to him, but he still plays a vital role and we will see him again. At the end of the day, we don’t know what happened, but the mystery around his disappearance into anomaly is quite intriguing.

For now, I’m holding out hope that he will return to my screen in full force, until proven wrong I’m going to be positive. Despite that, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my favorite first episode, still a strong start spreading optimism for the rest of the season. Lots of surprises that made it worthwhile.

The anomaly colony

Hope wakes up with memory loss while Gabriel examines her tattoos. She runs away and finds a note to herself that says, ‘Trust Bellamy’. Bellamy, not Octavia, who she clearly knows, which seems like Hope wasn’t aware she would find Octavia in Sanctum.

Now, why would Hope want to trust Bellamy and stab Octavia? Perhaps she needed his help finding her in return for Diyoza? This seems like a logical conclusion given that ‘He’ has her mother. The Blakes certainly hold some key to the anomaly, everything points me in that direction.

I can’t say all that much about Hope, due to the amnesia she has no personality yet, but it’s clear she’s smart and capable.

Gabriel being an anomaly-dork. Gosh, I love him too bits. The acting in the scene where they try to figure out what happened to Octavia and Bellamy is a little cringy, but I turned a blind eye and focused on the dialogue.

I’m getting to the good stuff…

Roan coming back to haunt Echo is probably my favorite part of the episode, I’ve missed the king so damn much. He asks her who she is without Bellamy or her queen. I’m so glad they’re delving into the subject. If you read my previous blogs, you’ll know I asked this question many times. She’s such a bad ass spy, she needs a purpose and story apart from him. Nonetheless, I like Echo and I would love to see her gain some of her own identity and build her own life. Being distanced by time and space could really do that for her. Scroll down for the shipping part of this story…

The more important thing is that there are people who control the anomaly and know exactly who they are. Like Echo predicted because of the bad shots they were sent to capture and not kill them except for Hope. I assume it’s because she knows how the anomaly works. Who are they and what do they want? My guess, Bellamy and Octavia. Perhaps Clarke as well?

Loved the three of them entering together because a few second difference could mean months. That means Diyoza and Octavia could have been months, maybe even years, apart.

Rising from and burning to ashes in one afternoon

This new beautiful house with the dysfunctional family and Madi with Picasso is certainly heart-warming in a show that continues to push the bounds of darkness. How great is that little picnic in the yard? Now I’m curious, they drink to Abby, but have they forgotten Kane?

Also, good to see Raven and Clarke on better terms. They really spoiled her character in season 6 but it seems like she’s back on par. It’s clear that good things happen when they’re working towards the same goal, as family. That dynamic has been broken since season 2 and if there’s one lesson that can be learned from season 1 it’s that they’re outstanding on the same team.

At first, I wondered why they weren’t questioning Octavia, Bellamy and Echo’s absence but then I realized they probably saved them a room like they did for Jordan and assumed they were exploring the anomaly. It’s still the same day as 6x13 since they were having lunch. Episode 6x13 ended at dawn and 7x01 starts at lunchtime.

I know Murphy did a lot of obscure things in season 6 but he’s not to blame for Abby’s death. Emori’s right, Russel killed her.

Why did Clarke choose the master suite, though? It seems a little out of character for her to do something so selfish.

On to other things, I must point out Indra’s line: “Someone needs to speak for the commander and I’m hungry.” She’s magnificent, hard and sharp, as always. Pair that with Miller being a dutiful, abiding shoulder and you have greatness.

Raven makes a comment about mothers and daughters and Clarke says she’s fine. Later, Madi also asks her to open up about it, and she still claims to be fine. When I heard this the first time, I was instantly worried because they heap one set of PTSD on top of the other and never deal with it. The woman just lost her mother, how the hell can she be fine. The answer: She can’t.

And I’m really glad they expanded on that to show how utterly necessary it is to deal with your grief and trauma. Sure, Clarke is a powerhouse of a woman, but she’s human and clearly hurt, she can’t compartmentalize and continue on like nothing has happened – I hope she finds a way to actually deal with it instead of following in Jasper’s footsteps. She was already suicidal, give the damn woman a break.

Is civility an ability?

Faith is a powerful and dangerous thing. Interesting topic. While I don’t completely believe that faith is dangerous, when it comes to the point of blindly following charlatan’s into harms way, yes it becomes dangerous. My biggest thoughts on this narrative is whether peace can indeed exist in a world where different factions exist with various beliefs and opinions. I’d like to quote John Lennon:

Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

Keyword being ‘Imagine’, this song is written about an unattainable Utopia which is still a reality several hundred years into the future.

“Too many people”

“Good thing ALIE’s not around.”

The humor is all around outstanding this episode even Clarke cracks a joke.

We’re introduced to a few new characters and not much too say about them since we didn’t see much of them. I like Nelson, he is firm in his stance, logical and pragmatic. Trey is just annoying with his faith in the divinity of the primes. The only thing I got from Nikki is that she’s compulsive and lethal while Hatch has this Southern charm and charisma. He reminds me of Sawyer from Lost.

Next, Jordan goes to check on Russel. I appreciate the way they build around the morality we saw withing Russel at the beginning of season 6. JR Bourne is a fantastic actor with the depth he plays into the grief and guilt of losing his family.

Also, the softness of Monty and Harper still shining through Jordan. I’m glad he’s not adjusted and simply trying to keep the peace. Not sure if that’ll change. Curious to know why they saw the anomaly in their visions…

I just need to add that Murphy sitting at a bar is perfect!! Another amazing episode for him and Emori. He questions himself with his own varied degrees of morality while Emori continues to grow by reading Kay Lee Prime’s journal. I guess the believers must be blind to continue following their orders, but hey, props to Raven for exploiting the opportunity and Murphy and Emori did an entertaining job with it. Emori has come such a long way and the ‘We are one’ line felt personal in the sense that she had also established herself as part of the family.

Losing my religion

Can you truly lose your religion? What is a fleimkeepa without a flame, what is Sanctum without the primes and what is Echo without Bellamy? Sometimes faith is stronger than truth. Bad thing, no! Because what is the truth really? Interesting subject to explore but I don’t have an answer on this. I’d rather focus on the fact that I’m glad we’ll get to explore these characters on new paths.

Clarke’s composure vanishes. Boy oh boy, Eliza’s acting. When you compare s6 and 7 to s1, it just shows you the value of experience. The way that switch flipped when Russel handed her Abby’s clothes and wedding band. I looked at the fighting and her explosive rage in detail and I cannot help but compliment her on that perfect portrayal of the result of passive aggression.

Now, I don’t understand how Sheidheda uploaded himself into Russel’s mind drive when it was made clear that two consciousness cannot exist in the same mind. When Clarke killed Josephine in the mind-space, she came back to life within seconds. Will this be another Clarke/Josephine battle and are the other commanders still subdued?

If he is going to be one of the main villains of the season, I would like to get under his skin. I’m not interested in a one-dimensional pure evil villain. I’m hoping JR Bourne will make something remarkable of him.

Shipwreck

There’s a friendship blooming between Clarke and Gaia and I’m all for it. Could they be setting them up romantically? It’s a possibility and I’d take it as a consolation prize for Bellarke if it’s well-built. Focus on the well-built. If Clarke finds out that Bellamy is missing and goes through hell and beyond to save him, I will interpret that as Clarke still loves Bellamy. If they want me to fall in love with Claia, they should make me fall in love with Claia.

Although I’d always prefer Bellarke. From a storytelling or writing viewpoint, all loose ends should be tied with the conclusion. Bellarke is a complete loose shard. If romance is not their destiny, I hope they at least address the topic in full, because it has been building for seven years. If you haven’t read my post on Bellarke, please do so. I explain in the romantic elements of their story in detail.

As for Echo’s vision of Roan. He questions her devotion to Bellamy and says she will even betray the man she now claims to love. I interpreted that as him referring to Mount Weather as well as secrets she’s obviously hidden from Bellamy. For example, her real name. This could go two ways in my opinion. One, they’re trying to set Echo apart from Bellamy, separating them by time and space to break them up or they are trying to teach her how to be her own person as well as the other half of their relationship.

I’m not quite invested in their relationship, and they would have to rip one bigass hare out of the hat to get my attention. Love their characters individually, but season 6 showed me Bellamy still loves Clarke. If Becho’s relationship was built to last, the writers would have written it that way. When you compare it to Murphy and Emori or Monty and Harper, it’s clearly questionable.

That’s it, let me know if I got something wrong, if you agree or disagree, love to hear your opinions.

#the 100 #the 100 season 7 #the 100 7x01 #the 100 season seven #The100 #clarke griffin #bellarke #bellamy blake #octavia blake #john murphy #emori #echo kom azgeda #gabriel #indra kom trikru #gaia #raven reyes #russel lightbourne #jordan green

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missingmywing · 7 years

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Protect

This is based on something I saw on Tumblr. The thought was “What if Cloud actually died at Nibelheim, but his consciousness possessed a nearby wolf, and when Zack leaves the lab Cloud follows behind him like a lost puppy?” or something like that (can’t find the actual post now). And… well… I really like that idea. So I ran with it.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy. I only own my obsession with it. And my obsession with the upcoming HD remake. I. Cannot. Wait. The feels will murder me, and the humor will bring me back to life. And I know I’m not the only one looking forward to seeing Cloud in a dress. Dear god I want this game.

Chapter 1

. . . . .

Cloud choked out a cough, gripping his chest and gasping for air. He stumbled as pain coursed through him, the edges of his vision going black.

Zack…

He could see his friend and superior lying on face-down on the stairs. A fist clenched around his heart, and he hoped to all hope that the SOLDIER was not dead.

He stumbled, vision flashing for a moment. When he blinked, he found himself lying on the stairs next to Zack. His vision was fading, but he needed to let Zack know that things had been taken care of. That he had done it.

“Zack…” He coughed. “I-I did it. I… I beat Sephiroth.” Everything was going dark and everything hurt so much, but he forced his hand out, reaching over to put his hand on the brunette’s head. “Everything… will be… will be okay now… right?” His eyes started sliding closed. “I think… this is it… for me.” He swallowed roughly. “I… I don’t… want to die.” I’m not ready yet… I… I wanted to make it into SOLDIER. Can’t I… Can’t I stay here? Even if I don’t make it into SOLDIER… Cloud’s eyes closed, final thoughts echoing, resonating.

… I want to live… and help him…

. . .

He was surrounded by dancing streams of green energy, floating around him in the dark. Voices whispered, weaving around him and drowning each other out.

So young…

Not his time…

Too soon…

… fix…

… needed still…

Cloud listened with bewilderment and unease. There… There was still something he needed to do. He couldn’t… remember. He knew that he needed to, but the memories kept slipping out of his grasp. It was so important though… It was about his friend… right?

Friend?

Zack.

Sephiroth.

He had to get back! He couldn’t leave Zack, he couldn’t die already-

“All souls exist in a cycle. Even those who die will one day come back.”

“Will Dad come back?”

“Eventually. You may not recognize him immediately, but he will return.”

“Will you recognize him, Mom?”

“Hmm… I like to think that I would.”

No, no, no! He couldn’t! Going through the cycle would take too long! He had to go back now!

He flared out with his mana, the little bit that he had left. He reached desperately for anything that would take him back, anything that could possibly allow him to go back to his friend.

Impossible…

… poor thing…

… new path…

… new life?

… shortcut…

… memories intact?

… challenge… yes.

… accept… soul?

… we try.

You… lead…?

Yes.

Cloud frowned at the whispers as he caught bits of phrases. What was-?

His thought was cut off as he felt a force wrap around him, pushing against him while pulling him away at the same time. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it was a highly uncomfortable and disorienting sensation. He felt like he was being changed, molded into a different and unfamiliar shape. He couldn’t move, couldn’t struggle, as they tugged him into the shape they wanted, then shoved him forward.

Pure white flashed across his vision, and then his world turned dark once again.

. . .

Several miles into the mountains away from the destroyed Nibelheim and the reactor, a Nibel Wolf licked her newborn pups clean. There were four of them, three large brown ones and a smaller and more golden one. That one got most of her current attention.

Smaller pups were always weaker, and it wasn't uncommon for them to die young. But this one… he was special. She could sense his connection to the Lifestream, could feel his hidden strength.

He was small, but he would be strong. Of that, she was certain.

. . .

Cloud stumbled over his feet as he moved towards the warmth. He wasn't entirely sure as to what was going on, as he couldn't open his eyes, had four legs and an extra limb, and could sense three small bodies and one large one around him.

He was confused, but the large one made him feel safe. For now, that would have to be enough.

. . .

Everything fell into place after two weeks, when he opened his eyes for the first time.

All he could see was a large mass of brown, and it took him a few moments to realize what it was.

Fur.

He blinked and shifted around, pausing as he caught sight of his body for the first time. He tilted his head and moved his back foot- paw, back paw- and confirmed what he'd suspected. Yes, that was his body. Yes, he had fur and-

Dear Gaia he actually had a tail.

He shifted it carefully, then stared in disbelief as it actually moved.

What the hell was going on?

He finished turning around and surveyed his surroundings. He was in a large cave, glowing with thin veins of… materia? Was that even possible? He dismissed the sight as temporarily unimportant, and continued examining. His ears flicked around to catch surrounding noises, pricking as he registered the nearby sound of wind, and the distant sound of flowing liquid. Water? No, it had a lighter quality to it, with the faintest sound of whispering. Flowing mako, then. Hardly uncommon around the Nibel mountains, thanks to the reactor. Mako caves were fairly common, though people avoided them due to the possibility of being affected by any residual Mako.

Right next to him, however, he could clearly hear the now familiar sound of steady pounding of four hearts. He flicked his ear back and turned to see what was attached to that heart, freezing as he turned and looked directly into the glowing eyes of a Nibel Wolf.

His entire body tensed as the wolf leaned towards him, then involuntarily relaxed as she licked his head and rumbled in amusement.

His mind flashed back to his fur and tail, and to the feeling of being bent into another shape by the voices. Everything fell into place and he swallowed at the realization.

He'd been reborn as a Nibel Wolf.

Gaia help him.

. . .

It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be, Cloud admitted grudgingly.

Once he’d gotten used to walking on four legs (and having a Gaia-forsaken tail) moving around had become easier… as long as he avoided the other pups. They didn’t seem to mind when they bowled him over, and every time they did he got closer to biting them. It wasn’t his fault that he was smaller than them! Still, at least there wasn’t any malicious intent when they did it. They just seemed to be incredibly unaware of their surroundings.

They were just pups, after all. It was hardly surprising.

Their mother was watchful of them, but she wasn’t controlling. She would step in if their tussling got out of hand, but she generally just kept watch

Cloud spent most of his time around the edge of the cave, curiously examining the walls. He had no interest in playing with the other three, and he was curious enough to not constantly stay next to his… mother.

Every time he thought that, he felt a pang of loss for his former mother. The woman who stood next to him and supported him for fourteen years, and continued to support him even when he left for Midgar. The woman who’d died in front of him in a burst of raging flames.

He shook his head viciously to dispel the memories. He didn’t want to dwell on them; the nightmares were bad enough.

The other pups yelped cheerfully as they played, and Cloud let out a breath of exasperation. He turned back to the walls, examining the materia. There were several different types, in several different colors. He’d also been surprised to find that he could instinctively recognize a materia type and eventually figured that the mako taint in Nibel Wolves played a part.

The vein (he was still confused as to how that was actually possible) he was examining now was a vein of Thunder materia. It sent a rush of tingles through him, the hum of electricity a sensation dancing along his fur, making it stand on end. He wrinkled his nose and sneezed.

His… mother, gave an amused rumble as she watched. He glanced back at her, feeling put out. An image leapt to mind of a look Zack had been fond of pulling when he didn’t get his way. On a whim, he decided to copy it, see how effective it was.

He flattened his ears back and ducked his head down slightly, widening his eyes as he sent her a wounded look.

In response, she let out a huff that could only be called a sigh of exasperation. She shook her head slightly and padded over to him, nudging him with her snout in a motion of amusement. His breath whooshed out of him as her nudge rolled him off his feet.

He let out a yip of surprise, followed by a growl of annoyance. Her amusement didn’t disappear.

With an annoyed huff, he stalked away from her.

. . .

Cloud ducked down behind a rock, peering out to examine the dragon. It’d been about two years since he was reborn, and he’d gotten used to his new life and new family. He’d learned how to track and learned how to live.

And now he was learning to hunt.

Or rather he’d learned how to hunt along with his siblings, and now they were putting it into practice alone for the first time. He was the diversion to draw the dragon’s attention, since he was small enough to seem like easy prey, and fast enough to avoid being caught.

His size had been a bit of a sore point in his last life and had carried over into this one at first, but had faded with time. Largely because the wolves were very much pack/family oriented units, and everyone did their parts fairly. As such, he wasn’t pushed around and bullied as he had been as a human. His siblings didn’t have any problems teasing him about his size, and they all took pleasure in holding him down while play fighting, but it was all fun and games. They weren’t purposely cruel about it.

It was a nice difference.

With a deep breath, he bunched his muscles and darted out from behind the rock. He ran full-tilt towards the dragon, snapping his fangs at its lowered wings to gain its absolute attention, and dashing back around it. He bit the tail as he moved past it, bone crunching under his strong jaws. Good, that would throw off its balance. With a roar, the dragon spun around to follow him.

It made the mistake of turning its back on the rocks he’d come from, and two of his other littermates leapt out from behind them and, with mighty leaps, jumped up and caught its wings in their mouths. They caught them near the base, where it was just muscle, sinew, and bone. Snapping their jaws closed crushed the base of the wings, eliminating the dragon’s ability to fly. The dragon let out another roar of pain and rose up on its back legs. The two wolves on its back leapt off and dashed off behind the rocks again.

Cloud darted in and snapped down harshly on one of the dragon’s back leg tendons. He continued running past, slipping another painful bite to the dragon’s tail as he ran underneath it. As planned, he kept its attention on him as he darted around, dodging the occasional blast of fire.

He kept making painful and debilitating wounds to both blind it by pain and rage, and to slow it down. Whenever the dragon left an opening, one of the two would dash forward and make a major wound on it. The fourth member of their litter was hanging back, watching the events unfold. His job was to watch and wait for an opportunity to deliver the killing blow.

As Cloud dodged another fireball he took the opportunity to leap up on its back, running up along its spikes until he reached the soft, sensitive spot between its wings. Then he bit down in the exact center of the gap. Hard. In the same instant, the other two darted in and bit down on the tendons in its front and back leg respectively.

The dragon roared and staggered from pain. It’s head lowered slightly, and the fourth dashed forward and, with a powerful leap, bit down with his full strength on the dragon’s neck. Its windpipe was crushed, and a main artery was split open. The dragon shook its head back and forth, a last desperate attempt of survival, but the wolf hung on determinedly.

With a last wheezing attempt at a roar, the dragon collapsed. Cloud and his oldest brother both leapt clear. They landed next to each other and turned to watch the dragon take its last breaths. As it stilled completely and the life faded from its eyes, they exchanged a proud glance.

His older brother and sister made their way over to the two, nudging them in victory. With the wolf equivalent to a grin, their oldest brother threw back his head and let out a triumphant howl. After a moment, the other three did the same.

For the first time in either of his lives, Cloud felt truly included and appreciated.

It was a nice change.

. . .

The dragon kill gave the four of them adult status and the pack enough food for a week. After that, rot set in and the body dissolved back into the Lifestream as decomposition set in. As adults, they were expected to help the pack more. The day after the dragon dissolved, Cloud and his oldest brother were sent out to scout the nearby areas for both food and shelter.

Both were still riding the high from the last successful hunt, and as such were feeling energetic and confident.

“Do you think we will find anything good?”

“We’d better,” Cloud retorted. “Mother will eat us alive if we don’t.”

“Good point.” His older brother leapt onto a rock pile to survey the surrounding area.

“Anything interesting?”

The older wolf flattened his ears slightly. “The human shelter-territory, so we will need to be careful about going around it.”

Cloud bared his teeth at the mention of the new town. The fake, Shinra-made town that had taken the old town’s place. He’d developed a hatred for the company since he’d found out about the new town, as he realized that the company wasn’t even going to acknowledge what had happened.

They were going to hide it.

Pretend that it didn’t even happen.

And that was inexcusable.

“Yeah, we will. Are we going to go high, or lower on the mountain?”

The other considered for a moment, then leapt down. “I think we should go higher up. There’s more caves up there.”

“But less prey.”

“We can send hunting parties down the mountain if we need to. But the lower we are, the higher the risk that we’ll be attacked by humans and the harder it is to find caves large enough to fit everyone.”

Cloud conceded his point. “So we go up.”

“So we go up.”

. . .

Three years since he had been reborn, and Cloud was fully settled into his role in the pack. He was often leading point in search parties, and played the distraction role in large-prey hunting parties. He was also a solo hunter, taking down small prey with ease.

It was during one of his solo hunts that he found the tunnels.

He chased a large rodent down into one of the openings in the mountain, and found himself in obviously man-made tunnels. He immediately turned wary, crouching lower to the ground as he made his way along the wall. The rodent had disappeared, unfortunately. He would have to hunt down another one once he left the tunnels.

He followed the tunnel downwards, ignoring the offshoots until he reached what looked like a dead end. Except- no. There was a small opening in the cleft of the rock, large enough for a fully grown human to fit through. A semi-grown wolf like Cloud had no problems.

The cleft opened to a hallway. A familiar hallway. A shudder ran through his body, ears flattening against his head, as he gazed around the entrance to the secret labs. Considering his last memories of this place had been of Sephiroth going mad right before burning Nibelheim, he was entirely unenthusiastic about the idea of hanging around. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, however, the screaming started.

He jerked in surprise, ears pricking up at the sounds of agony. It sounded almost familiar, like he’d heard something similar like-

Zack.

It was like a bastardized, anguished twist of one of Zack’s shouts. A few steps up from his wounded yelps and grunts whenever a monster had managed to land a hit.

His hackles began to raise, teeth baring into a snarl, when he heard the rapid approach of footsteps. His head whipped around as a man stepped around the corner and paused. A navy blue suit, Wutain features, a Turk. The same Turk that had been on the Modeoheim mission. Tseng.

“Why aren’t you helping him?! I thought you were his friend?!” Cloud snarled at him, even knowing that his words wouldn’t be understood.

The Turk eyed him warily, hand resting on his gun. The screaming stopped abruptly, and Tseng’s eyes flicked towards the door next to Cloud, concern flashing briefly across his eyes before it was quickly masked.

The concern was not enough for Cloud to forgive him for allowing this, but it made him slightly less motivated to rip his throat out.

But it was a very close call.

The sound of shocked shouts and shattering glass caught both of their attentions, their stand-off wavering. A scientist shouted for security backup, and footsteps thundered down the wooden stairs as two Infantry units burst into the hallway. He hesitated for a moment, debating whether to try to hold them off long enough for Zack to break out. The choice was taken out of his hands when one of the scientists inside the labs shouted for the Infantrymen to get in there and hold the SOLDIER back long enough for the tranqs to finish kicking in.

Cloud let out another snarl of frustration. ShinRa tranqs were no joke, there was no chance in hell of Zack breaking out if he’d been hit by them. Those could literally take down a Behemoth. As the Infantry shifted their guns, Cloud spun around and dashed out of the hallway, back the way he had come.

He left with a growl of anger and a silent promise. He would get Zack out of there, no matter what he had to do.

Failure wasn’t an option.

. . .

Cloud spent the next year scouting the areas around the mountains, finding the best places for escape and for hiding. What they would do once they got out of the mountains, Cloud wasn’t sure. He supposed that he’d leave it up to Zack. Where Zack went, he went. And he wouldn’t let Zack refuse.

He was both surprised and grateful at his pack’s support. He knew that he had stronger ties to the Lifestream than most creatures, even most monsters, but he hadn’t realized how keenly the other members of his pack had felt it. When they found out what he was planning they had asked for an explanation, and then accepted that explanation with only a few clarificatory questions. They’d accepted and supported him, and he’d never felt felt so overwhelmed by joy and gratification than he was then, especially when they began helping him in his scouting missions and materia/armor collecting.

Of course, they also knew that something was changing. They all felt the shifts within the Lifestream, and noticed how many of the lesser monsters, such as Dorky Faces, began turning more and more aggressive and less and less intelligent. Even the dragons above were becoming more territorial and temperamental. Normally, the wolves and the dragons got along peacefully, casually ignoring each other as they went about their business for survival. The occasional Mako crazed dragon was both target practice and food for the range packs, while crazed wolves were the same for dragons. But the dragons had started getting snappy and suspicious of all of the packs, as though they were expecting to be attacked constantly. Their paranoia was the strongest clue that something was becoming a serious problem in the Lifestream.

“If this continues, then the dragons will become as much mindless beasts as the mouth monsters.”

“Bahba Velamyus or Battery Caps?” Cloud shuddered either way. A giant mouth with legs, or a carnivorous mushroom with three mouths. They both gave him nightmares.

“Human speak,” his oldest brother dismissed, “both of the mouth monsters are equally mindless.”

Cloud couldn’t argue with that. “But who’s next after them?”

His brother sighed, resting his head on his paws. “Us, of course. It is only a matter of time. With both the dragons and the Valrons succumbing to insanity, and all of our food and water sources imbued with the tainted Lifestream, we are… how did you put it? Marching to our doom? We have very little time left, I fear.” He opened his eyes and gazed intently at Cloud. “You must act soon. Even if we are to become mindless beasts, you must not.”

Cloud flattened his ears, confusion and fear flashing through him at his words. “Why me?” Why would he have to leave alone? Why did the others have to succumb to the spreading madness?

“Because the Lifestream chose you. You would not be here otherwise. You may leave, you may survive and perhaps even thrive elsewhere, because you remember a time before you were a wolf. These mountains and this way of life is all we have ever known, to leave would be to die. We are all aware of the fact, and we have accepted it. However, whatever is causing the madness to spread, the Lifestream believes that you can stop it.”

Cloud’s ears pricked back up in confusion. “I can stop it? But… why does it think that?”

His brother tilted his head. “Did you not before?”

Cloud’s heart stopped, breath catching in his throat. “But… no, that can’t be right. He’s dead, Sephiroth is dead!” He’d killed him, he’d thrown him in the reactor. Into pure Mako. Mako… that regularly leaked from the reactor. Tainted Lifestream…

He whimpered, eyes widening and ears flattening again as the implications sank in. “Oh Odin… I threw him in the reactor. Even if he died, if he somehow resisted the Lifestream the way I did, more strongly than I did…” He turned horrified, shocked, guilty eyes to his brother.

Said brother flicked his ear in contemplation for a moment, then gave the wolf equivalent to a shrug. “If you threw him into the Lifestream leak then it is possible. That knowledge will help you create a hunt to eliminate the threat on the Lifestream’s territory. It is good that you thought of it.” Sometimes Cloud forgot how different humans and wolves viewed things. And then something like this happened, and he was abruptly reminded all over again. Humans would have either blamed him, or found some way of passing the blame off to something else, reassuring him that it wasn’t his fault. Wolves, on the other hand, examined the information given, accepted the facts, and reacted accordingly.

They didn’t believe in holding blame, it did nothing but tear the pack apart. They made sure that the one who made the mistake was aware of the fact, and they ensured that the mistake maker received the due consequences, but they didn’t shun or accuse them. They simply expected them to help fix the mistake.

He shuddered and nodded slightly. “I need more information. I can’t make a plan of attack without knowing what it is I’m attacking.”

“It is unlikely that you will find it here.” His eldest brother glanced around. “No prey remains in the area of its predator after escaping.” He nudged Cloud lightly. “It is time for you to make your move. You must leave before the madness spreads further.”

Cloud flattened his ears, squeezing his eyes closed for a moment. “I’m scared.”

“Fear is expected. It is also necessary. It is not debilitating. You know what you must do. You will do it. Fear breeds caution. Do not allow it to breed panic.”

With a deep breath, Cloud opened his eyes and stood up. “Alright.” He paused at the sound of wingbeats, glancing around to find the source of the noise. His ears flicked up as a human figure flew overhead, then passed out of view. Cloud felt his heart in his throat as he stared up. Was that Angeal? No, it can’t be, he died!

His brother tilted his head. “He was heading towards the mansion.”

“Yeah,” Cloud narrowed his eyes, “and he was flying low.”

“Trying to avoid detection.”

“Looks like it.”

“Perhaps we should investigate.”

“Right,” Cloud glanced at him. “Are you coming?”

“Of course. You may need help, after all.”

“Thanks.”

. . .

The two wolves slunk down the tunnels warily. The tunnel monsters, the ones left at least, avoided them. It had become common for the wolves to wander the tunnels, exploring the different escape routes and finding Materia and a few pieces of armor, and the monsters there had learned not to attack them.

They reached the break in the wall in time the hear the sound of shattering glass. A few moments later, the winged figure appeared in the doorway. Cloud’s heart stuttered in his chest. It was Angeal. Except… not. The man he remembered, the strong and kind Commander who led missions, with a fanclub that had open arms for any Cadet, SOLDIER, or trooper that needed help, even the man who had, at Modeoheim, knocked him out… he had been torn but confident at his abilities.

He had also looked fairly healthy, if a bit exhausted and malnourished.

This man was holding himself wrong, as though he was uncomfortable in his body. His tense stance, as though preparing to defend himself, was off. Cloud could have done better when he first joined the Cadet program. And that was just sad. He also had the same flaky, sick appearance that Genesis had had in Modeoheim and worse in Nibelheim. Plus he was wearing a suit of all things.

It obviously wasn’t Angeal.

“A copy,” he sighed, thinking back to the many, many missions getting rid of Genesis copies with SOLDIERs. “Should have known. Though why he’s helping Zack…” He must have known the Second Class before… everything happened.

He two steps forward and one to the side, his brother following his lead. The copy faltered for a moment then, likely taking in the intelligence in their eyes, relaxed and inclined his head in the unspoken offer to let him leave.

Right before he ducked down and disappeared, he turned back to look at Cloud. “You know him, don’t you? And you’ll help him?”

Cloud tilted his head for a moment, scrutinizing the man, then nodded.

The man nodded back. “My thanks. Considering who I am a copy of, now, as well as who I was before… I fear I may not be welcome.” He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and glanced back at Cloud. “Lazard, if the name means anything to you.” Then he turned away, and he was gone.

Cloud stared after him in bewilderment. The Director of SOLDIER? Why is he a copy? And… what did he do before to make Zack mistrust him? With a shake of his head, Cloud dispelled the thoughts. There would be time later. For now, he needed to get Zack away from the mansion.

“I will scout ahead. Is it likely that he will wish to retrieve something from elsewhere in the den?”

“Most likely,” Cloud responded with a glance toward the stairs, “I doubt that they would keep his sword and armor near him.”

His brother inclined his head and moved to the stairs. Cloud watched him go, then turned and darted into the room. He slipped around a desk to see a man in a white coat moving towards Zack, who was lying on the floor in front of a destroyed Mako tank.

He let out a loud snarl to catch the man’s attention, and get him away from Zack. The man whipped around, startled, and Cloud moved forward threateningly. Zack must have heard the noise, because he stirred and glanced blearily around. He tensed when he saw the scientist, and leapt to his feet. The scientist turned just in time to get a fist to his face. He flew back with a cracking sound that definitely didn’t sound healthy, and landed on the floor a few feet away. He didn’t get up.

Zack stumbled forward a couple of steps before falling to his knees. Cloud immediately moved forward to stand beside him, nudging his shoulder gently. Zack was shaking, and when he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.

Cloud let out a soft whine of concern, shifting his weight slightly closer to his friend. The man shuddered for a moment, leaning his head against Cloud’s neck as he breathed.

“… Cloud?” he whispered quietly, desperately, voice hoarse from disuse for anything but screams. He sound like he was about to fall apart.

Cloud tensed the slightest bit at the sound of his name. It had been years since he’d been referred to as that, and by Zack no less… He closed his eyes and pressed closer to Zack, resting his head on the ex-SOLDIER’s hunched back and nodding slightly.

Zack let out a choked noise and wrapped his arms around Cloud’s neck. He shook, and Cloud felt his tears through his fur. He let out a soft noise, somewhere between a whine and a hum. He wanted to reassure Zack, but he wasn’t sure how.

“I’m so sorry.”

His voice was so quiet that it took a Cloud a moment to realize what he had said, and when he did he let out a soft whine and shook his head. There’s nothing to apologize for, Zack. Nothing that happened was your fault.

They stayed like that for a several minutes before the sound of shouts and gunfire reached them. Cloud snapped his head around at the distant sound of a familiar snarl. Zack must have heard it too and felt Cloud stiffen, because he pulled away and wiped his face before standing up.

“We have to go,” Cloud growled.

Zack glanced at him, unable to understand but having a good guess at the message, “I can’t leave without the Buster Sword.”

Cloud nodded, unsurprised, and darted to the door. Zack kept up with him as they raced up the stairs and into the mansion itself. As they left the room and entered the mansion center, they were met with the sight of a large gray Nibel Wolf running circles around a couple of units of Infantrymen. They were doing more damage to each other than to Cloud’s brother. Even as the watched, the wolf timed his jump just right so that four of the Infantrymen shot each other down.

Cloud leapt down to join in, and together they finished the men off. Zack whistled in appreciation.

“Now that’s teamwork.” He swung himself over the railing and landed heavily next to Cloud, wincing slightly as he landed in a kneel.

Cloud perked up at the compliment, then forced his tail to still as it began to wag slightly. He wasn’t an insecure puppy, he and his siblings had worked together to take down multiple enemies a thousand times. This was no different. Except that it had impressed Zack.

His brother sent him an amused look. “Well, well, well. It would appear that there is someone who makes you a pup.”

It was a turn of phrase that wolves used in amusement. It was basically the same as the teasing human phrase “looks like someone’s got a crush”. Generally implied due to the fact that puppies often found and attached themselves to an older wolf and followed them around doing everything they could to get approving attention.

Cloud rolled his eyes at him. “He was pretty much the first person in my last life to treat me as something other than a Life-mad runner. Of course I want to keep a good impression to him.”

A Life-mad runner was the wolf term for Mako crazed, in reference to the way they ran around doing nothing useful and everything destructive after absorbing to much of the processed Lifestream.

His brother huffed in amusement, nudging his side. “The fact remains, he turns you into a puppy. It is good for you, you need someone to finally make you happy enough to act foolishly.”

Cloud huffed and turned away to scan the mansion. Where would they be keeping Zack’s sword?

“It is this way.” Amusement still filled his voice, but there was a solemn note as well. Cloud and Zack, who had been watching the exchange in confused amusement, followed him up the stairs and into a side room. The Buster Sword was leaning up against the wall next to a large wardrobe. In the wardrobe were several clean SOLDIER First uniforms, one of which Zack changed into quickly before settling his sword on his back.

“Right, I’m ready to go. Unless… hmm… should I try to get some Materia and armor…?”

Cloud rumbled to get his attention, and shook his head, motioning to the door. Zack eyed him skeptically for a moment, then twitched at the sound of a transport truck outside the gate. With a soft swear, he nodded to Cloud to lead the way. Cloud didn’t hesitate, and dashed across the stairs and back to the room with the secret staircase with Zack and his brother following behind.

They made their way back to the break in the wall, where Cloud’s sister was waiting with a green Materia. After the four had gone a few feet down the tunnel, she activated the Quake Materia and the opening of the tunnel collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble. Hopefully, it would cover their tracks. At least long enough for them to escape. Cloud let out a huff of amusement at Zack’s bewildered look, and nudged the man. He glanced down at the golden wolf and grinned wryly.

“Somehow, I get the feeling that this is your fault.” His voice was warm and amused, surprise fading to resignation at the sheer strangeness of the situation. Cloud preened, sending him a smug look. Zack laughed and ruffled to top of his head, the way he used to when Cloud was still a trooper, following behind the cool and nice First Class that liked him for some reason. Where once he would have brushed the hand away with squawk of indignation, and been called a Chocobo for his troubles, now he leaned into it with a rumble of content.

By the gods he’d missed Zack.

His brother broke the moment with a soft bark. “We need to go. If fate favors us the collapse will throw them off, but it may not work forever. Especially not if they bring the blue-clad men to the hunt.”

“Right,” Cloud sighed, pulling away from Zack reluctantly. Turks were bad. “Let’s go.”

Zack seemed to get the message, and he started moving. He and Cloud stayed next to each other, walking close enough that they occasionally brushed, Cloud content to allow his siblings to lead the way. They were far enough ahead to talk without him casually overhearing, though judging by the amused glances they kept sending him he could guess what it was that they were saying.

Eventually, they reached their destination.

They stepped into the cave with the Mako Spring, where the rest of the pack was waiting. This was one of the few places around the mountain where the Mako was pure, and where the Lifestream could reach easily.

The puppies were playing, and the older members were relaxing and talking, They all looked up as the four entered, and several of the adults stood up. The pack leader and his mate made their way over with Cloud’s mother and older brother. Cloud and his siblings met them halfway, Zack a few steps behind with a hesitant expression.

The murmur of the Lifestream grew louder for a few moments, and Cloud felt the edges of his awareness blur as the Planet whispered through the cave. Zack glanced around with confusion and awe, though there was wariness in his gaze as well.

“It is time.”

Cloud swallowed, glancing around at his pack. They were watching him, sadness and acknowledgement in their expressions in equal measure.

“I know.”

His mother stepped forward, resting her head on top of his. “You are strong, as I always knew you would be. You have speed, you have strength, you have knowledge, and you have instinct. You have all of the traits needed to be strong and you know how to apply them. The Lifestream chose you and it chose well. You are my son, now and forever, and you are of the pack. You have our strength and knowledge and you will have our gaze when we rejoin the Lifestream. Stay strong, stay firm. You will not waver in the opposition, it is not your way.” She licked the top of his head gently, taking a step back. “Do not let doubt misguide you when you know the correct path.”

The leader raised his head, and Cloud lowered his own in respect. “You know of the Lifestream’s plight. You know of its origin and suspect its cause. You must find a way to purge it from the Lifestream before it destroys it. You leave with our acknowledgement and our acceptance. The pack wishes you well on your journey.”

It was the formal address to someone leaving the pack, with a twist as he wasn’t leaving to start his own pack, rather he was leaving on an extended journey.

An extended journey that it was unlikely he would come back from. Or that they would still be here if he did.

He bowed his head more, closing his eyes and flattening his ears, the straightening once more. “I accept your acknowledgement, and am grateful for your acceptance. I wish you good hunting and fair weather as long as the pack survives.”

It was time. He couldn’t delay any more. It was time to leave the pack, leave home, and stop the corruption of the Lifestream. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and took several steps back until he was standing by Zack. With one last sweep of his gaze across his family, he nudged Zack and turned back to the tunnels.

The man followed him silently, and he could see the confusion and concern on his face. He glanced up at him and flicked his ears as reassuringly as he could. He wished that he could actually talk to Zack, but… well, they’d make do.

He led him through the tunnels, fighting off monsters where necessary, until they reached the armor and Materia stash in a cave leading to the mountain outside. When Zack saw it, his jaw dropped and he glanced at Cloud in shock. Cloud just sat down, sending him a smug look. Zack spluttered for a moment, then kneeled down and slung an arm around Cloud.

“Man Spike, you’ve thought of everything!” He smiled at the golden wolf. “I’d be toast without you, huh?”

Cloud sniffed, headbutting him affectionately. “Yeah, you would.”

“No need to sound so smug about it, sheesh.” He grinned to take the edge off, and Cloud rolled his eyes in response. He sent a pointed look at the stash, and Zack all to gleefully bounced over to it and began sorting through it.

By the time he was done, he had two Edincoats (with seven slots each), three Fourth Bracelets (with two paired slots and one single slot each), and a Gold Armlet (with two paired slots), all stolen from various dragons’ hoards. Cloud was very proud of himself for finding them and recognizing them. He didn’t bother trying to figure out what materia Zack equipped where, but he knew there was a Restore and a Heal and he assumed that the elementals were paired with All.

Zack put the rest of the stash in his bag to sell later, and looked at Cloud expectantly. Cloud padded to the front of the cave and glanced around, eying the sun setting behind the mountain thoughtfully, then retreating back and lying down next to Zack. The man raised a brow, then shrugged and settled down next to him, setting the Buster Sword across his lap and starting some highly needed maintenance. Cloud closed his eyes and relaxed to the sound of Zack’s work and annoyed grumbles.

When he next opened his eyes, the moon was just rising over the trees and Zack was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. He pushed himself up, stretching his stiff muscles with a low whine of relief. When he glanced over, Zack was watching him with an amused grin. He huffed at his friend and moved to the cave opening and scanned the area, looking for any sign of ShinRa. From what he could see, it looked clear.

He glanced back over his shoulder to see Zack standing on his tiptoes, stretching his arms into the air as he let out a low groan. He came back down on his heels and grinned unrepentantly at Cloud’s amused look. He slung his sword on his back and made his way over to Cloud.

“Alright, lead the way oh wise wolf.”

Cloud smacked him with his tail, and began picking his way down the mountain. Zack followed him closely with quiet snickers.

As they neared the bottom of the mountain, with the moon directly overhead, a single howl rose into the air. Cloud paused and glanced back, listening silently. Zack stopped next to him, still and silent as well. As more howls rose up in the air, he closed his eyes. It was a sad song, speaking of farewell and loss, but also of hope. As the song came to a close, he threw back his head and howled a single long note, filled with all of his emotions. As the note died away, and the mountain returned to the former sounds, he allowed his head to fall for a moment. He allowed himself a moment to mourn everything that could have been, and then he returned to what was and what would be. He had Zack, and he had a goal. It was his life, and his journey, and he would see it through.

Failure wasn’t an option.

. . . . .

Wow, this was… long. It took longer than I thought it would. But I like it. I really, really like it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse to allow them to be able to talk to each other yet. Though, now that i think about it, I could technically use the Jenova cells… but that’s kinda flimsy. ‘Cause I mean, neither of them have that kind of control of her. Cloud has plenty of her cells because he’s a Nibel Wolf now and her cells leaked all over that mountain. Zack has them because, well, SOLDIER. But they can’t control them so… no go.

It’ll be fixed once they get to Banora and Zack beats Genesis, thus summoning Minerva and all that. Because there’s no way in hell I’m writing the entire story from Cloud’s point of view if he’s gonna be pretty much useless information wise.

I should probably also mention that when they say that Cloud was “Chosen”, they don’t mean it like a prophesy. It just means that the Lifestream chose to send him back with all his memories, and there’s probably a damn good reason for it. Like, you know, having the necessary information to fix the problem at hand.

I am gonna have to figure out how Cloud actually died. Because unless Sephiroth stabbed him right under/through his heart, he shouldn’t have died nearly as quickly as he did. Blood loss takes longer than that, pretty sure you can survive with one lung… Hmm… I’ll figure it out. I also need to decide if Zack’s gonna bother “naming” Cloud something when they run into Tifa… I was gonna do Fenrir before Zack realized who Cloud was and the little goldie confirmed it. ‘Cause I didn’t write that. It wrote itself and I’m keeping it. Zack wasn’t supposed to find out until… stuff happened.

And then Zack was hurting and almost delusional when he got out of the Mako Tank and the first thing he thought of when he saw blue eyes and gold fur was Cloud. Cloud who he couldn’t protect who he sent to his death and he was guilty and was he here again and… yeah. Cloud wasn’t about to lie. So… Zack knows. And I have to rewrite this in my head. This changes so much of my imaginary script that I convince myself I have.

(I’m making this up as I go along okay. I don’t plan. I had a plan. And then that plan wasn’t character compliant. So the characters rewrote their script. So I’m burning the script and we’re winging this.)

So yeah. Stuff. This isn’t the end of Zack’s guilty conscience for sending Cloud to his death. They will have a lengthy conversation about it after Cloud can actually talk to Zack. Because I wanna write a feels fest. Angst is fun. And I wanna see how many people I can make cry.

I’m going to be crying as I write it, I already know that.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Wings, out~!

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areyouratcliff · 6 years

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got high on acid and speed and heroin and weed and coke and dmt and wrote this

treesus the hero the fire tree john the ent the nature wizard treebeard sunday 2018 april 15 super strength fast movement speed healing powers anti undead powers fire magic light beams that can kill vampires high int empathic abiitys high cold restaints sou; saving nature magic high pain tolerance magic fingers connected to souls hes saved almost fearless only has the fear of losing the ones he loves or cares aboutnatural fear human estinal fear serve ptsd needs water and ciggerates to breath has he is half plant will keep growing taller and taller needs sunlight kinda like superman doesnt want to hurt anyone so he doesnt use his might in combat he uses magic when he is injuryed in combat baths and smokes with music in the bathtub heal him was posseded by deamon but has overcome them needs painmeds dreams of the war on the undead stoping and has done use by turning the queen of the dead into an ent like him can almost do anything he wills with magic like clean the air or the waters or stop bombs from blowing up is more powerful in a naurtal envirmoent can stop a car with his mind or hands has the strength of 300 men trys to talk people out of doing stupid things doesnt like to break the law but will in order to survive he is the closest thing we have to jesus but is part ent part man can shape shift with the aid of his elf friend whos from a dark future who has a computer like dobop that can send him messages turned the worse demons into ents with souls has a code of honor like a japan warrior loves women but is almost a sexual kills vampires with fire magic thought he was loki for years when he reallity he was loki treebeard the end or the natural jesus christ will bring good change to the city of toronto freedom and justice for the little guy is a biker but a very light hearted one.one of the only wizards in toronto who respecsts women 2018 wants a wife one day but feels the world is to dark loves everyone even when they dont derserve it has blue eyes and red black hair covered in scars from being shot and stabbed but still has a strange pure beauty to him some think hes st mike but i think hes LOKI when he walks to long his legs hurt because he is part ent he could lift A CAR OVER HIS head if he just beleieved in himself knows death magic but also how to heal the sick can make healing potions with his mind to heal any alement can save peoples souls can cure someone of being a vampire looks strange and walks strange and has low stamia gets hurt by his feelings more than getting beat up needs better people in his life needs good women around him who love him for what he is a ent of purity not a troll of the darkness LOKI has been hurt by very powerful deamons drinks water and coffee alot and smokes weed does drugs his mind is so powerful now that if he uses lsd like drugs he will warp reallity he is the second coming he is the number 13 he is luck he is love he is war when he needs to be he has a fury of his own and a pride in protecting the weaker which is almost everyone but himself longs to settle down with someone one day but knows the world is not safe enough yet to raise a family has the power to insettl peace in people has the power to teach and enlighten and inspire art in everyone has a classic kinda handsum face which most women couldnt resist if he just tried to pick up but his aspergers makes it hard for him alot of people see him as a hero in toronto but the evil hoardes hate him with their dark souless bodys he is john the ent or the fire tree he wont stop untill the cupport are gone from this planet his motherdead is gaia is father is odindead therefore there is some darkness in him but a overpowering light of purity skills= healing factor, mind control, healing others with his touch or mind. his own magic words he has created to do Almost anything. fire magic, death magic, light magic, mind reading, purifing water with his touch, shape shifting, growing taller, no animal will atk him, the power to inspire other artist with love and hope. quickness and super strength. too know someones sins or of they are a evil cuture bringing people back from the dead to see the future and have hope and love that it will be a better place making magic potions of healing with any liquid can use alot of drugs

he defends the women of the city from rapists and murders his blood could cure any illness his best friend is thor and the primeminster of canada he deals drugs so he can fight vampires and ghouls and sometimes werewovles he has autism but still is able to remain charming he loves music and art and the company of women he sees the good in everyone where others would only see darkness he thinks everyone can be saved but they cant he has two hearts and in his main heart is another brain his organ are bigger and he can heal faster than others his bones are made of thicker stuff than humans and he will never start growing he is kirk cobain back from the dead the next jesus he never gives up on his friends and loves everyone in a pure way he can time travel

weakness getting hurt by people emotionally being called names needing to smoke to breath normally his heart falling love to easily being socail award having pioplar andptsd a bit of aspergers gets tired with water or food needs love of others he has killed almost every demon on earth inculdin the first wolf and first vampire mars etc

turns some deamons worth saving into to ents like him which are a pure form of imortality he has turned the queen of the damned into a ent he can heal the sick and give life to dead make people walk with the magic words varn harvin

he likes weed benzos heroin speed lsd shrooms dmt lsa hash opium cocaine beer wine and booze learned alot from odin and loki before killing odin he needs drugs to fill the void in his soul from being so baddly trumpisted in his youth and early adult but that doesnt make him a bad person id rather be alone in a room with him than any other man he has 8 elves now ents souls connected to his fingers and st mike on his right thumb or thor

300 valkry on his feet

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sphinxsmuses-archived · 7 years

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ooc: Scene of a favorite rp of mine and favorite ship of mine

Been meaning to post this for awhile. My favorite ship with Kyana is one I had on a roleplay on Gaia Online where a villain fell for Kyana after they faced each other for the first time. The villain’s name was Frost and since Kyana’s hero name is Wildfire, I dubbed the ship Frostfire. ^.^

I thought it would be fun to post our posts to each other as Kyana and Frost first meet. The scene is a police station in ruins after a bad guy group that Frost is apart of known as the Grave Ravers attack it as a distraction so they can rescue their teammate who is being held captive by the Teen Titans that Kyana is a part of. Here we go starting with Frost:

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of an introduction." he said, aiming his rifle and acted like he had fired it for a moment. "Don't like the rain sunshine? I love it, brings back memories of my first kill and it was a piece of art unto itself." he said, aiming right between her and Red X. It was a quiet sound as he fired off the round and into the wall or what appeared to be part of the wall. "Normally, I would advise against trusting Red X but, he can't seem to stop double crossing everyone..." he said, aiming directly at Wildfire's chest.

"I was the punching bag of every bully and no-one ever came to my defense. Every time I tried to defend myself, I was the one punished." he said, putting his finger on the trigger. "It was then that I discovered what a truly corrupt world we live in. I'm merely surviving and taking on those who wish to change things." he said, getting ready to pull the trigger.

Kyana’s attention snapped to Frost as he appeared and she froze instantly when he fired his gun made of ice. Her heart beat felt like it stopped as memories came flooding in from when she was a child and her powers had first awaken. She stared at the brunette, green eyes wide with sights of the gun aimed at her chest. His words made the memories of the gun shot more vivid, a little boy who had somehow gotten a hold of a gun despite his age and threatened to kill her. A bully who called her carrot top and for whatever reason decided it was a reason for her death. Her fire had saved her that day when no one else was around. "If I was there, I would have helped you." she said quietly for a moment then said louder, "I know what is like to be bullied but I also know the world is not as corrupt as you think. I'm trying to be the one to save those that need it and have no one else to turn to." she stated with a determined expression. Even with his finger on the trigger she didn't move for a moment but was ready to. Flames swirled around her both her doing and because of her raising emotions, fear but also determination. She bent her knees with her fists in the air. "If you threaten and kill others, I will not hesitate to take you down!" she shouted, flames raising even higher and about to burst.

He would've pulled the trigger but, hearing what Wildfire said was echoing inside his head. He released his finger off the trigger and looked at the hot headed teen. "You are honestly the only person who has ever told me that they would've stood up for me." he said, his voice still lacking emotion...except for a hint of joy. "When I was working for the underworld gangs, I never went after contracts that would involve killing women unless they themselves were killers nor would I go after children. My own thoughts were only on trying to exact bloody revenge on everyone who has ever wronged me." he said, making no attempt to aim at Wildfire just yet.

She had a point...not everyone was corrupt in this world but, sometimes the only way to get change...was to do it by force. He looked at Wildfire and lowered his gun, to show that he wasn't going to attack quite yet. "If you had simply returned Shutter unharmed to us, we would not have to go through this little song and dance." he said, waiting for her to make the first move. "Perhaps, you and I are more alike than either one of us wishes to admit." he said with a cold smirk under his mask.

Kyana stared back at Frost wide eyed. There was a part of her that suddenly felt sympathy despite his past actions like the people he had froze in the zoo (though she was lucky to save them with her fire). The fact he wouldn't even kill children made her feel like he wasn't as cold-blooded (was that a pun?) as she thought he was. His words about Shutter made her bite her lip. She didn't really want to lock the girl up in the Tower, feeling like it was better to let the authorities take her.

But she was the minority in that vote. "It...wasn't what I wanted personally." she replied. Shutter was dangerous and maybe it was best that the Titans kept watch over her, but the repercussions of that were greater as she was starting to see. The fact Frost didn't look ready to attack her surprised her a bit but what really got her was the fact he mentioned maybe they were more alike than she knew. Kyana wasn't entirely sure about that and simply said, "Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can let you destroy the police station and kill the police." Her fire continued to flare up. "If you let them be and...and maybe beat me as well...I'll-I'll give back Shutter." she said, knowing the Titans would be furious with her but maybe it was the best way. Though something in the back of Kyana's mind was telling her the other Ravers were already on the track to save her, after all not all of them were here. There was a sudden anger, clearly this was a distraction. But she couldn't turn her back now or Frost would take her out for sure.

They were having a great time or at least the mask betrayed what was hidden under it all. "Wildfire, you and I both know what will happen next. We'll duke it out and everything returns back to normal. Its just another cycle in this screwed up world of ours." he said, holding the gun at his side. "Every kill I ever made, it was because I sought revenge against those who had wronged me. I'm merely the monster that lurks in every human heart." He said, making no attempt to aim at her...yet why couldn't he pull the trigger on it?

Did she really get enough into his head that he was suddenly turning soft? "Love, its nothing personal but, this is what happens when your comrades take one of our own." he said, showing the chaos and chose not to kill a fleeing police officer, even though he had every chance to do so. He even remembered the first kill he ever made. He could only watch in cold humor as he slowly froze the man who made every day of his life a living hell in school. It just kinda snowballed from there, he had even become known as the to go to guy for killing off unwanted business. "Wildfire, do you know why the Ice Murders stopped?" he asked, calmly loading his gun once more. "Because I chose to stop. I had wiped off the last name on my list and suddenly, I felt this primal rage boiling up within me. The world wasn't any better off with these people gone and the downtrodden were still being used as human meat shields." he said, letting out a small sigh. "I don't expect a hero to really understand whats its like to live in the constant darkness." he said.

Just as Frost couldn't pull the trigger on her, Kyana didn't budge an inch, couldn't even throw a fireball. Despite the past crimes of this Grave Raver of ice, she felt...sorry for him. If what happened to him in the past never happened, perhaps he would be one of the good guys. But fortune didn't favor him nor anyone that crossed him. She found herself biting her lip. He was right, if they fought, it wouldn't change much. She made a vow never to kill anyone no matter how dangerous. "I...I want to stop the ones that do wrong, but killing isn't the answer!" she blurted out then stopped to stare at him when he continued speaking. He even had let a police officer run off unharmed. Her cheeks immediately flashed red when he for some reason called her 'Love' and she continued to stare at him wide eyed. That caught her a little off guard but something flared inside her. She didn't want anyone else to end up like him, to feel like killing was the only way to right the wrongs of the world. Maybe a hero couldn't understand completely what it was like to live in darkness, but she would do her best to understand if that would help people. She clenched her fists and looked to the ground for a moment, then turned to him with a look of absolute determination.

"I will be the light to the darkness. I will stop not only those who kill or do other horrendous acts but I'll also find a way to stop bullies, to save those from abuse. I will find a way...to save you and others." she stated, voice unwavering, expression unwavering. Why? Perhaps Frost did kill those who were corrupt and evil. This boy deserved jail, and yet she felt he deserved salvation.

She wanted to save guys like him and give them a second chance? He wanted to hurt her badly because she was speaking the truth. It was too late to save a monster like him but, perhaps she could make sure that nobody else ended up like him. "I was called a Cold Hearted monster, a murderer with ice in his veins. Nobody ever stopped to think that I was maybe doing the world a favor." he said, dropping down to one knee and let the trademark mask fall to the ground, showing a young man under it.

He was an ice cold person but, his heart was never made of pure ice and now...the temperature was starting to drop. "I was always the freak, the outcast that everyone shunned. I even thought I had a friend once but, it was nothing more than a damn ruse to lure me into some mean prank." he said, his voice growing colder and the rifle even spoke, "Warning, emotions of current user are growing out of control. Please leave the area as soon as possible." He couldn't kill her, even if she was there to stop them. He knew that when his emotions raged, the temperature would start dropping at a rapid pace. "No..No..I can't stop the temp dropping. I'm such a freak...I can't stop it from killing everyone." he said, trying hard not to think back on that horrible night. He had been forced to freeze and kill a person he cared about...before the ravers came into the picture. "I have to regain control..." he tried to block out the voices of the damned but, it would not stop them. He could never be cleansed of what he had done, even if it was a twisted form of justice. "Friend..." he almost seemed to reach out to touch wildfire's hand before falling to the ground and blacking out.

#ooc #snippets of a roleplay #of course I love every ship I have with Kyana #or even ones starting to happen #muse: Kyana #frostfire #more under keep reading

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