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ironcherryblossomphilosopher · 1 year

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The Healing

~ Story by Stormi Dawn

She: It's beginning to make sense, this change inside of me.

He: You mean, growing in wisdom and understanding, learning what makes you - well... you?

She: Well, I've been trying to steady myself, but allow myself room to breathe. Like as I do, I'm finally bringing myself together, piece by piece.

He: So, does this unfolding surprise you about yourself? Are all the emotions, all the varied beliefs, accomplishments and failures, beginning to weave a more congruent line in behind and, most importantly, in front of you?

She: The things I think are out of place, I'm finally finding myself able to find the containers they properly belong in, but that's really just beginning. It just feels so neat. Until now, it's as if I had been scattered all about my history, emotions, bad people, and even across some melodies.

He: Is it like you're on a journey underneath all that is happening round and about you?

She: I don't know. It's just like...I think I'm finally healing... like somehow I'm finally setting myself free from all the bondage I've placed upon me.

He: Or, more likely, had placed upon you. [Clears throat] So, are you finding some moments you're actually present, where you can feel and cherish things?

She: It's hard. A lot. But it's happening more frequently. And I'm finding connections where I thought they'd long since past.

He: Are you laughing more often?

She: Yes, and genuinely.

He: Are you beginning to see the lessons more clearly as you navigate your history?

She: Moment by moment, and without all the searching. It's like these moments that come to me are finally setting me free as I figure them out and accept them without judgment. There's just so many!

He: Never healing the wounds means each encounter was even more devastating. It's like a wounded horse staying in a race, his rider not stopping even though the horse is down to three legs. Next you know, the horse starts to get worse and worse off, every gallop is bringing defeat to his body and spirit. As there rider keeps going, the horse rides on bravely obeying his rider and as the rider drives him farther, one small pebble or clump of dust might be all it takes for the horse to fall down completely.

She: So, like, never taking a pause to understand the injury completely, let alone heal. And blaming myself for even getting injured each time as I forced myself to go on without understanding or healing, only applying external disciplines.... that's what's been making me so hollow, detached, and empty within?

He: Exactly. Take all the time you need. Pretty unique you've made it this long functioning with the analogy, huh?

She: Geez. Guess it is. Is it unique that I'm healing these things?

He: That you've never stopped searching for a way to heal, without any proper resources or diagnoses or guidance... that you've held onto finding a way to heal, knowing deep inside something wasn't quite right - that you didn't give up trying for THIS long - that's very unique.

She: So, do you think I'm a bad person?

He: What do you think?

She: I don't think I am. But I think I could've been perceived that way by being so disassociated, so dead inside, so unaware, so shattered, so weird that everything was a tremendous struggle for me. Oh, and quite more naive to things than most adds even more to the complexities I've been navigating. Because, given my age and the current century, not many understand that I'm kinda like a cave man, outta sync, place, and time.

He: You're over explaining again. Do you feel like you need to justify saying you think you're not a bad person?

She: Yeah, I'm still pretty insecure about how I'm seen or, like, taken...or, mostly, I want people to understand I'm just ... really different.

He: [silently thinking, Oh, they know you're different, sweetie. But you're right on their assumptions, they don't understand your story. How could they? How could anybody?] That's why you make it funny. But you've still got work to do on your opening. You been practicing it lately?

She: No, I still have a hard time seeing myself when I look in the mirror some days. It's hard to remember who I am a lot still. But it's getting easier.

He: And more clear. And happening more often. Have you done any rehearsing as you fall asleep?

She: When I'm not lost in longing, yes, definitely.

He: Ah, yes, the longing. It's from spending so much of your life with CPTSD amnesia among other things. You are recalling the things you missed because you couldn't be present when they were happening. That's part of the healing too.

She: Yeah, it does get confusing and makes me wanna run away again.

He: You're figuring out what keeps you steady now, aren't you?

She: Some things. Things are slow some days. Those are when I heal the most and feel the most whole and present. But that madness, that running girl, well, she tempts me to keep up with her.

He: Are you able to talk to her directly yet?

She: No, but I'm learning how to calm her down.

He: You're getting there. I'm so proud for you. Keep up the good work, sweetie.

She: Always. [she winks]

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elwynten · 7 months

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Chapter 35

Rescuing Wiene

"Are you sure you want to go that far down? You've only been in the upper floors so far." Bell asked me.

I chuckled. "We're all level two and some of us should rank up to level three shortly." I reminded Bell. "We've been going from floor to floor so we can get used to what we need to do and to earn valis. So, we are quite capable of dealing with anything on the middle floors." I replied.

"Oh, yah, I forgot about all of you ranking up after you came down to rescue us. Well, if you think you can do it." Bell said.

That's why my Team and Bell's party were both headed to floor 19. This also helps me out in other ways. Going with Bell, Lili, Mikoto, Haruhime and Welf, I can mark areas where my Team can port to on the different dungeon floors. That way we don't have to go through each floor to get to the deeper floors. It will save us lots of time and effort in the future.

We were all on the 19th floor. The area we are in is like a forest, so they named it the Giant Tree Labyrinth. It's covered in trees or some other kind of plants that look like trees. There are all kinds of plants on these floors. Even the walls look and feel like wood.

We are on kind of a quest. Bors asked us and some other adventurers to kill some firebirds on the nineteenth floor. There is a huge increase of the firebirds, and it is causing a big problem with adventurers going any farther down than the eighteenth floor.

Bell and I had gotten separated from our Teams while we were chasing a firebird. That's when I heard. "Get it!" I hear a little way away. "After it!", "Where did it go!?" "Hurry up or it'll get away!" More yelling can be heard a short way away and getting closer. Then I saw her, a blue humanoid monster with a red stone in her forehead called a Vouivre. She had tripped while running away from a group of adventurers. Bell was close behind me but hadn't seen the girl yet, either because I was between Bell and the Vouivre or because a Firebird was flying towards us, and he was keeping an eye on it.

Running over to the Vouivre, I cast an invisibility spell over the Vouivre and myself as well as put a telekinetic field around us. I held my finger to my lips and made a shushing sound, then held up my hand, palm facing the girl to try to keep her from making any sounds. I healed her while we were waiting for the adventuring group to pass.

The Firebird breathed fire at Bell, but his salamander wool cloak prevented him from being burned. Once the fire was gone Bell jumped up and dispatched the Firebird.

The group of adventurers that had been chasing the Vouivre ran up to Bell. "Have you seen a Vouivre?" One of them asked Bell. "It was running this way."

Bell looked around, then to the group. "N-no, I haven't seen a Vouivre." Bell replied.

"Lot of help you are." Another of the group said as they ran off in search of the Vouivre.

I waited for the adventuring group to get out of sight then dropped the invisibility spell and the telekinetic shield. "Bell." I called to get Bell's attention.

Bell turned when he heard his name being called. "Eilwyn what is it? Are you hurt?" He asked me.

I grinned. "I'm fine, but we have a little problem." I said as I moved so Bell could see the Vouivre. The Vouivre still has tears in her eyes and Bell saw them. "She needs help. She's not a monster. She can think, she can cry, and she'll be able to talk as soon as we teach her how." I tell Bell as I put Normalization on Wiene the Vouivre. Wiene is the name Bell gave the Vouivre when he found her in the anime. It is pronounced Vee-nay. And I didn't see any reason to change her name.

Bell looked at the Vouivre for a moment. "Where did she come from?" He asked.

"She was running from that group of adventurers." I told Bell as I put a salamander cloak over Wiene.

By that time my Team and Bells party had found us. "What's going on?" Cindy asked.

"I found someone that needs help." I replied.

"Who is it, what do they need?" Welf asked.

"Her name's Wiene and we need to go back to the 18th floor so we can see what needs to be done about her." I told them.

*She's a Vouivre, what they consider a monster. But she is also a Xenos, which means they are intelligent and most of them can talk. She's why we came to this level.* I sent to my Team leaving the telepathic connection open so all of them could hear and respond telepathically.

*Is she worth the trouble saving her?* Cindy asked me.

I almost chuckled. *Yes she's worth the trouble. Besides I would think you would want her around… she is a dragon girl after all.* I sent.

Cindy gasped in shock. "I… I…" Cindy started, forgetting to not let Bell and the others know we knew what would happen. She caught herself and corrected what she was going to say. "I believe we need to do what Eilwyn suggested and go back to the 18th floor." She finished.

Iris and Kimmy agreed with me. Rosni looked at my Team then to Welf, Bell, Lili, Mikoto and Haruhime. "I'll go along with that, meow." She said and reached down and scratched Ushi on the head. Ushi is the Companion I gave Rosni after she agreed to be my supporter permanently and also joined the Hestia Familia. Ushi is in her Clouded Leopard form.

Welf looked at Bell. "It's your call Bell." He told Bell.

"I don't want to go all the way back to the 18th floor, but if we need to talk this over, that's a better place to talk than here." Lili responded.

"It would be safer on the 18th floor then here, so I guess we should go back to the 18th floor." Bell said.

"Ok, the 18th floor it is." Mikoto said.

On the way back to the 18th floor, I was teaching Wiene her name, my name and several other words. Wiene is a quick learner, by the time we reached the 18th floor, Wiene could hold simple conversations with anyone in our group.

Half an hour later we arrived back on the 18th floor. My Team let Welf and Bell talk to Bors about the firebirds we had killed and to collect our pay for the quest. With that finished, we found an empty field and I created a yurt and enough chairs for everyone to sit on and a table.

"Everyone in the yurt and have a seat. Taima, you stay outside and make sure no one sneaks up on us." I turned to my Team. "And y'all should leave your Companions outside as well." I told my Team.

"Okay." Iris said and sent Waiola to watch the surrounding area.

Cindy and Kimmy did the same with their Companions, Zala and Rosey.

Bells Team looked at each other for a moment or two then Bell shrugged his shoulders. "Why not." He said and sent his Companion, Wyatt, to watch over the yurt as well.

The rest of his Team followed suit and sent their Companions out of the yurt to keep watch.

Once everyone was sitting down, Wiene was sitting beside me holding onto my arm. I created drinks and snacks.

"Wiene is a Vouivre, with a major difference. As you can tell she can talk and hold conversations with people, and she learns new words very quickly. She is what is called a Xenos because she has human intelligence." I started.

"You mean there are more like her out there?" Welf asked surprised.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yes, there are more like her. Although some are harpies, some are lizardmen, and there are even Bell Bunny, Xenos." I told Welf.

"They are called Al-Miraj, not Bell Bunnies!" Bell exclaimed.

Everyone laughed except Wiene, because she didn't understand the reference.

"There are even villages for the Xenos. The dungeon makes safe places for the Xenos to live. The main problem is the Xenos want to be able to live on the surface, and there is a possibility I can help them do just that." I informed my Familia.

Mikoto looked confused. "How is it you know so much about these Xenos and where they come from?" She asked me.

Here we go again, me explaining how I know what will happen or how I know what is happening. I sighed. "I can see a limited amount of the future. I can't see everything in the future, only small parts of it. Usually important or dramatic parts. That's why I know about the Xenos and the dungeon helping them. But anything of the future stops at a set point in the future and I can't see anything beyond that point. I also know there is a door on the far side of this floor, but you have to have a special key to open the door. The reason for the door being there is because of Daedalus. He's the one that started building Orario and he discovered the dungeon. He couldn't believe that nature had created something more beautiful than he could make, so he started digging another Dungeon beside this one. It drove him insane because of it. So he put a curse on his desendents that they have to finish what he started. They are forced to work on the Dungeon he started. But now, one of his decendents, Dix Perdix, is capturing monsters and many of them are Xenos, and selling them on the black market to raise money to work on Daedalus's Dungeon." I explained.

In otherwards I only see the future of what I've seen in the anime, read in the manga or light novels. My Team knows the 'future' as well, but we agreed for them to keep quiet about it so no one would get suspicious about all of us knowing the future.

"You know the future and that's why you know about the Xenos and this Vouivre and the Dungeon Daedalus started. Do you know what happens to the Xenos?" Mikoto asked.

I nodded my head, yes. "I know what will happen to the Xenos unless I change the present. If I do that, it will change the future. If nothing is changed lots of people will be hurt or killed and Wiene here will go full monster. But I can change that, in fact I have started changing that future by being here, right now." I explained. "Now I want everyone to look at Wiene and tell me what you see." I requested.

Everyone from Bell's group stared at me like I was crazy, and maybe I am crazy. It took a minute or two before any of them answered.

Haruhime spoke first. "I see a young girl with blueish hair."

"Um, I see a young girl too." Bell told me.

"Ya, that's what I see as well. I thought you said she was a Vouivre." Welf stated.

"That's what I see. A young girl with blue hair." Mikoto tells me.

Everyone looked at Lili. She blushed being the center of attention. "She's closer to my size than the rest of you are." Lili said and acted as if she was pouting.

I looked at Rosni. "And what do you see?" I asked her.

Rosni looked at Wiene. "I see what everyone else sees. A young girl that could be a child or a small adult and she has blue hair." She told me.

While everyone saw what looked like a fairly normal girl with blueish colored hair. Wiene's real appearance is, azure-silver hair, blue-white skin with some blue scales on her shoulder's arms, back and face and she is four feet eleven inches tall. She has a slim body, arms and legs, but she is very strong. Wiene is equal to a level two adventurer in agility, strength, etc.

"Why did you want to know what we think what this girl looks like? And why was she all alone on the 19th floor?" Welf asked me.

I laughed. "It was more or less a test. I wanted to know what you saw because as I told you earlier, Wiene is a Vouivre but y'all only see a young girl or small woman. None of you see anything unusual about her."

"W-why would you need to test us of how we see Wiene?" Bell asked me.

"Easy. It wasn't to test you per se, it was to test what you saw. You see, the Xenos want to live above ground, but they can't really do that because most people will see them as monsters. But if I give them Normalization like I did Wiene, the people will see them as normal people with maybe an oddity to them. As in they have a long snake tail, the people would just see them as having a long cloak trailing behind them or something like that. A lizard man would look like a big man to the people above ground, and so on. Or they will just look exotic to people." I explained.

"So, you want to bring monsters to the surface and let them run free!?" Welf asked with some heat.

"If you think about it, man can be a monster. Look at Hyacinthus Clio during the war games. He would have killed Bell if he was given the chance, even though Apollo wanted Bell in his Familia. And even Apollo could be considered a monster because he's willing to force people to leave their Familia's to join his just because he finds those people, interesting. To Apollo, people are just toys to be used, abused and tossed away. And Ishtar would have murdered Haruhime to get her magic so she could kill even more people, so she could gain more power. The only difference between the Xenos monsters in the dungeon and the monsters above ground is, it is a lot easier to see the monsters in the dungeon. Whereas the monsters above ground can hide their monster aspects quite easily." I told them.

"You shouldn't talk about the gods like that. You could get in a lot of trouble." Lili told me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm only speaking the truth; besides they won't know what I said unless someone here tells them, and I don't see that happening." I replied.

"With this Normalization thing, isn't it still possible they could be noticed. Besides does it stop them from attacking people?" Welf quarried.

"They could be noticed as monster although it would only be in extrema situations. And no, Normalization does not prevent them or anyone else with it from attack people. But then there are plenty of people that don't have Normalization that attack people. But the main reason for Normalization is so they can integrate into human society. And there is something else that can be done along with Normalization. I can give them all Companions." I informed them.

"Companions? Like the ones you gave us?" Bell asked.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Exactly like the Companions, I gave you and your Team."

"How is that going to help the Xenos?" Welf asked.

"Anything a Companion can do their partner can do as well. That means Taima can turn into a human so I can turn into a human that looks different than I do now. Taima can turn into a horse so I can turn into a horse. Taima can change her size up to four times her normal size and down to one-quarter her normal size, which means I can do the same thing." I reminded them. "That being said, if I give the Xenos Companions and their Companion can change into a human, the Xenos will be able to turn into a human as well. Their form changes but their abilities and status stay the same as their natural form. So, with a Companion they could change into their human form and no one would know the difference. They would look totally human or demi-human." I explained.

"But they would still be monsters that look like humans." Lili stated.

"As I said before, there are plenty of humans that are monsters. The difference is the Xenos want to live in peace on the surface. They could even leave Orario and start their own village out in the country somewhere. That way they'd be away from humans most of the time." I explained.

I didn't want to do it because these are my friends and my Familia, but it looked like I might have to plant a seed in their minds that it was a good idea. Most of them were starting to accept the Xenos living with humans as long as the Xenos looked human or as long as the Normalization works, but Lili was still on the fence.

"I thought about giving Wiene a Companion of her own, so she can shift into a human or demi-human form. That way no one would know she is a Vouivre." I told them.

"Like the ones you gave us?" Lili reiterated, but it sounded more like she was talking to herself and not me.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Exactly like the ones I gave y'all." I replied.

I turned to Wiene and explained to her what a Companion is and what they can do, and that anything her Companion can do, she can do as well. "Did you understand all of that?" I asked her.

Wiene smiled at me. "Yes, Eilwyn, I understand most of what you said about the Companions. Are you going to give me one of those Companions?" She asked still holding tight to my arm.

"If you would like to have one. Because if you have one, and she can shapeshift, one of the new forms can be human. That way you will look just like a human or demi-human, and no one will be able to tell that you are a Vouivre. Unless you change back to your natural form of a Vouivre." I told Wiene. "Although with Normalization if you are in your natural form, no one should notice anything strange about you anyway."

"If I can look human, can I stay with you, Eilwyn?" She asked me.

I smiled at Wiene. "I believe you will be able to."

"I want a Companion so I can stay with you Eilwyn!" Wiene said excitedly.

Wiene and I talked for several minutes, working out what she wants and needs her Companion to be able to do. We finally came up with…

Wiene's Companion Name: Linna (A small blue flower) Mythical (Winged Manticore/F) (Golden Eagle, Snow Leopard, scorpion) Intelligent L2 Strength L1 Agility L2 Speed L1 Durability L2 Regeneration L2 Teleportation L2 Sustenance L2 Elemental Blast L1 (Electricity/Lightning) Size L2 Magical L1 (Invisibility, Dancing Lights, Telekinesis) Flight Venom L1 (Tail stinger, poison-Paralysis) Shapeshift L2 (Winged Manticore, Snow Leopard, Golden Eagle, Scorpion, Horse (Dutch Heavy Draft), Dog (Bouvier Da Flounders/Brindel), Demi-Human, Otter, Ferret, Bearded Lizard, so she can change into a Titanium Dragon)

Wiene's demi-human form looks close to what she looks like now. It is one inch shorter than her normal height, so she will be 4' 10" tall, with her skin tone a light brown similar to a mediterranean skin tone, with dark brown hair with blue highlights and green eyes. Her dog ears and tail are dark brown as well. Her demi-human face looks close to what her natural face looks like but with minor changes. She has a light dusting of freckles on her face instead of scales. That way if it is discovered she is a Vouivre she won't be so easy to tell her Vouivre and human forms are the same person.

I explained to her and the others that even in human form they can still put different parts of the animals onto their human form. That is, she can put cat ears and her cat tail on her human form and look like a cat person. And that they can do the same thing with the dog ears and tail. I also gave Wiene a set of shifting clothes, that way she would have some lightweight clothes she could wear.

Once Wiene had chosen what she wanted her Companions abilities to be. I created her Companion. She flew in and landed beside Wiene. Wiene's face showed wonder, surprise, excitement and joy.

"Since we're on the 18th floor, I guess you can take an hour so you can get to know Linna and what you can do because of her." I said chuckling.

Wiene reached down and started scratching Linna on the head between her ears.

Iris laughed. "I remember what it was like when you gave me Waiola (pronounced Why-oella). It'll take her days to really get used to her Companions." Iris told me.

Kimmy smiled at Wiene and her new Companion. "We should stay close by just in case she has any questions." She suggested.

I nodded my head in agreement. "I figured that, but we can still go outside, maybe build a fire and give them a little time to get acquainted with each other." I told Kimmy.

With that my Team and Bell's Team exited the tent, gathered some wood and build a fire. We sat around the fire talking for a while before Wiene came running out of the tent in her demi-human form. Linna was close behind Wiene still in her cat form. Wiene was all smiles. Wiene ran over to me and flung her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. I put my arms around her and returned the hug.

"You like your new look?" I asked Wiene.

Still smiling Wiene said. "I love it, especially if I can stay with you if I look like this."

I chuckled at Wiene's excitement. "I love it too, and I'm sure with you looking like a Chienthrope, you'll be able to live with me." I assured her and gave her another hug.

Bell and Welf looked over at Wiene. "If Wiene can look like that all the time above ground, I don't think she'll have any problems." Welf stated.

"I still don't think it is a good idea. She's still a monster, ya know." Lili started. "But with how she looks now, I don't think anyone will find out she 'is' a monster." She added.

"If you would stop calling her a monster, it would be less likely she'll be discovered." Welf replied to Lili.

"Miss Wiene looks adorable like that." Haruhime gushed.

Mikoto looked worried. "Does that mean Miss Wiene can do the same things her Companion can do?" She asked me.

"Yes, she can, and I'm guessing you're worried about Wiene going full monster on us with all these extra powers. You don't have to worry. As long as Wiene is like she is now, that being in her human form, her normal form or any of the other forms she can take because of Shapeshifting. She can use all of the abilities she gets from her Companion, just like y'all can. But if she goes rogue or full-blown monster, all of the abilities she gets from her Companion will be nullified. Which means she will not be able to use any of her Companion's abilities until she goes back to being peaceful Wiene." I explained.

"Whooh, that's good to hear. I'd hate to see Wiene being full monster and also being able to use all of those powers. That would be a nightmare." Mikoto said.

"Yes, it would." Welf agreed, and I nodded my head in agreement as well.

"And another benefit of Wiene looking like this, is no one can try to take or remove the Vouivre's Tear from her forehead because no one can get ahold of it." I informed everyone.

"Now that all that has been settled. Do y'all want to go back to the nineteenth floor or do you want to go back to the surface?" I asked.

Bell, Welf, Mikoto, Lili and Haruhime looked at each other. "What do you say?" Welf asked his group. "Do we go back down or head up?"

"We have spent to much time here, so it would probably be good to go back up and go to the 19th floor later." Lili gave her opinion. "Besides we did get quite a bit of money on the quest we were pushed into doing." she added.

"I wouldn't mind going back down to the nineteenth floor, but we have spent quite a lot of time waiting for Miss Wiene to get to know her, Companion. I believe it would be best if we left the dungeon." Mikoto said.

I clapped my hands. "Okay, there's not much to pack up." I said and dissolved the tent, the chairs and table in the tent. "All that's left is the chairs we are using, and I can get rid of them as soon as we all stand up to leave." I said.

Everyone took the hint and stood up. I dissolved the chairs that are around the fire. Then I put out the fire with my Fire Control including the embers so there would be no chance of a fire starting accidentally.

We got into our own groups and ported back home.

Once in the back yard of Hearthstone Manor. "Well, I need to take Wiene and introduce her to Hestia." I told the group and took Wiene to find Hestia.

#DanMachi #Wiene #Monsters #Dungeon #Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon #Bell #Welf #Lilly #Lili #Haruhime #Mikoto #Hestia

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imaginingmanyfandoms · 3 years

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Paul's Lullaby | part one

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"Sam?" Paul was, he was in pain. He respect Sam and Emily's privacy, but he needed to talk to Sam now.

Paul wasn't angry, he was in pain. He felt like the world had opened up and swallowed him whole. He ruined his own life, and he didn't know where else to turn.

"Paul?" Sam asked, opening the door. Emily was behind him, face covered in concern.

"I imprinted tonight," Paul said, "but she hates me. She really, really hates me."

"I'm sure it's nothing you can't fix," Sam said, ushering Emily to come closer.

"Sam, I'm not exaggerating, she told me that she hates me. In fact, she should hate me." Paul looked at his feet, but only to try and hide the distress on his face. "If anyone treated her that way I used to, I'd rip them apart."

"Paul," Emily said, reaching out. Paul flinched back.

"I don't deserve your sympathy. I just, I don't know what to do."

"Be patient. Maybe you just have to prove you're a different man now," Emily offered a sad smile, but it was the exact thing Paul didn't want. He shouldn't pitied, he didn't deserve it. He could feel his heart bruise and falter. He broke his own heart and has no clue on how to fix it.

Emily had to go back to sleep, but Sam sat up with Paul for a while longer.

When Paul finally left, it was almost two in the morning. He took off running through the woods, shifting when he knew he was hidden by the tree line. He tried to outrun the heartbreak, but obviously it didn't work.

You were sitting at your desk, staring at your computer. You wanted to work on your writing, but you were so angry at the audacity that Paul had.

You had done everything you could to avoid him the last couple years - and you managed to make it to the first day of summer after graduation. You'd run into him on the beach.

He was just such a jerk, acting like his words had no effect on anyone. Like he could just laugh behind your back and it wouldn't hurt.

But he used to tell people nasty rumours about you. Until nobody really wanted you around them. And then he had to take it that much farther, when you were both fifteen, he took you on a date, acted like he'd changed and grown. And right before he kissed you he said, "I know you fall for it."

That date alone triggered years of trust issues. You'd felt alone ever since.

Back to the beach, he was blocking the trail you needed to head down to get to work on time. You'd hoped that putting your head down and just trying to slide passed would work, but he recognized you. He tried talking to you, but you ignored him.

After taking a couple steps down the path he said, "don't be like that."

This made you look up, astounded that he would even say something like that. Until you finally looked into his eyes, and you recognized how beautiful he was. He also looked stunned, like he'd run into a glass door. He reached out to you, but recoiled, dodging his touch like he was on fire. Somehow, you'd felt even lonelier than ever.

One look at his face and you felt like you were missing something. You tried to keep your cool but you just couldn't. Tears brimmed at your eyes, and his friend Jared Cameron coughed, before walking to the water just to give you two some space.

"Y/N," he said, his voice low and hesitant. Making you panic, thinking he was toying with you again.

"Stay away from me," you warned, taking a defensive step back.

That hit Paul harder in the heart than you would ever know. His soulmate, his imprint, recoiling away from him defensively. He found the person he was supposed to protect, to be needed by, and you couldn't stand the sight of him.

"Just wait a second," he begged, not moving towards you again. He didn't want to scare you.

"I hate you," you whispered, and then louder said it again. And louder again. Until you had screamed it, and the tears had taken over your cheeks. Every time you said it was an arrow to Paul's heart. He nodded, and let you turn around to run off without another word.

You didn't notice him run into the woods, followed by his friend.

You called work saying you had a personal emergency, and then went back home for the night.

Back in the present, you were tearing up at the memory of it. You were sick, you think. Addicted to red flag behaviour because there was no way you were thinking of Paul's hurt face, and feeling bad for causing it. He should feel bad for all the pain he caused.

You looked at the clock, it was almost three in the morning, but you were too caught up in all your feelings to send yourself to bed. You walked to the window, and noticed some kind of animal by the tree line. You lived in the middle of the woods, in an old cabin your grandma used to live in. You moved in when she got sick but never moved out. You liked it. It was cozy. It was private.

Finally relenting, you crawl into bed and did your best to sleep.

The next day, you were walking along the same path on the beach. You offered to cover the shift of the girl who had covered yours at such last minute.

Paul was in the same spot, but alone this time. You tried to walk passed him without acknowledging him, but something stopped you. You didn't want to see him sad again, it hurt you. And it made no sense why, you'd spent two years hating him.

You were only a few steps passed him, so you turned around, gripping the end of your sweater sleeves in each hand.

Paul had his head down, but looked up when he heard you sigh. You were standing in front of him, looking so terrified to speak to him. Paul could've started crying.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you like that yesterday," you said. "I should've just walked away so... sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he said, a flash of excitement crossed his eyes, and you mistook it for something sinister. You tried to remain calm, but you were feeling lightheaded. You just couldn't trust his motives. "I deserved it."

Now that, threw you for a bit of a loop.

Fool me once, you thought.

"I still think we should just keep our distance," you said. "You kind of broke my heart."

"I'm really sorry about that, I was trying to impress the seniors. I was a tool. An idiot."

"Finally we agree on something," you said. He looked at you, and you both let out a small smile. He pushed some sand with his foot. His bashfulness made you want to believe him. "I work just up the hill. You can walk me if you want."

"Can I walk you home when you're done?" he asked, quickly falling in perfect tandem with you.

"No," you said. "But you can walk with me right now."

"I'll take it," he said.

"Why do you want to talk to me anyway? I thought you hated me," you said.

"I could never hate you," he said. "I do hate how I treated you though. Not my finest hour."

"I think your finest hour remains to be seen."

Paul stayed quiet after that. And you were oddly comfortable in the silence. You're not even sure why you invited him to come along, but some sick part of you wanted him to. You wanted to reach out and touch him. His arms just looked so welcoming, and the way he stretched his hand open and shut made you think he wanted the same thing. But you couldn't let him in, not after one day.

"Have a good shift," he said, putting his hands in his pocket.

You smiled at him ,and thanked him for walking you. When you smiled, he smiled. And you caught onto that.

Paul had been standing in the same spot every day to walk you to work. Out of curiosity, on one of your days off, you snuck close to the spot to see if he was there. And he was, leaning against the same railing, in the same spot that he waited for you everyday.

You got comfortable in a cozy little spot in the trees. You wanted to see how long he waited for you. You dozed off before you could get your question answered.

You woke up hours later, when the sun was already setting. You hated walking through the trees in the dark. You started walking on your own, but you had a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. So you swallowed your pride and called someone you knew would answer.

Paul was sitting at Sam and Emily's table, enjoying the dinner she made while waiting for his turn to go on patrol. It was Jared and Quil out there now. Paul could hear Seth snoring on the couch, making him laugh. Things that used to annoy him, didn't really seem to annoy him anymore. Not since you started letting him walk you to work. He even got Sam to let him change his patrol times to make sure he could be there every day.

His phone rang, and with a mouthful of food checked the number. He almost chocked on his food when he saw your number. He answered, hitting his chest to dislodge the food.

"Y/N, hi," he said, big grin on his face as he stood up and walked outside. Behind his back, Emily and Sam shared a knowing look, and he leaned in to kiss his wife.

Paul noticed Jared sitting nearby with Kim, and didn't think too much of it with you on the line.

"This may sound stupid," you said, "but can you walk me home? I don't like to go in the dark."

"You never let me walk you home," he said.

"If this is a bad time, it's okay," you said, disappointment clear in your voice.

"No, no... where are you? I'll be right there." He stepped back inside the house to grab his shoes, but the sound of you gasping stalled his movements.

"I'm by our meeting spot," you said. His grin returned when you called it that. "It's so dumb, I wanted to see if you went there when I didn't work and fell asleep."

"You were spying on me?" he asked. You were silent on the other end and he laughed. "I'll be right there."

"Who are you?" you asked.

"Huh?"

He heard you scream, as did Sam and Emily who's cheeky glances turned to concern quickly. "Y/N?" he asked, panicked. He was already running outside, Sam on his heals.

"Jared!" Sam shouted, "Why aren't you on patrol?"

"Seth said he'd do it!" Jared yelled back. Paul dropped his phone, and shifted, running top speeds to where you said you were.

Never in his whole life had he been this scared. He could hear Jared apologizing for the mixup in his thoughts, but Paul didn't really care what he had to say. If you were hurt, Paul would die. Paul would simply die.

He needed you to be there safe.

I knew something was wrong, Embry thought. Paul didn't even see him show up. Sorry I didn't act on it.

Shut the shit up and run, dammit!

When he got to the meeting point, you were gone, but your bag was abandoned nearby. Paul sniffed it, getting your current scent memorized. He took off when he found the trail. He also smelled a retched, filthy bloodsucker. It wasn't one of the Cullens. No, this was different. And it started at the water, that's how it got passed their lines. Not that they had enough people around.

Paul howled, the pain in it was evident for anyone around. It was him saying get here, or suffer the consequences.

I don't smell their blood, Jared thought.

You don't get to talk about them. This anger didn't derive from a bad temper, it was fear. It was just fear talking.

Paul kept running, catching a fork in the scent trails. One way was Quil, Leah and the bloodsucker. And the other was you, all alone. Alone but alive. If he couldn't hear Leah or Quil think, that was a good sign. Meant that they'd changed back, and Leah would never do that unless she killed them.

Go to her, we'll find Leah. Sam nodded at Paul.

You were crying as you ran, clumsy feet stumbling over tree roots and your own blurred vision totally betrayed you. Someone had come out of the water, eyes red like rubies. And they were so pretty that you just had to look at her. Until the showed her teeth, forcing you to flee in fear. She was faster than you, but you think she was playing with you.

And then if that wasn't scary enough, when she was jumping down from a tree to kill you, a wolf jumped from the shadows and grabbed the woman. And it was her turn to flee. Another wolf jumped out, and you were sure you were a goner.

But it just chased after the other two. Leaving you alone and confused.

You stumbled back to your feet, running as fast as you could towards your cabin. You would be safe in there. Maybe. It was the best you could do right now.

You cried harder when you thought you heard more rustling in the trees. You were at your door, struggling to get your keys out and unlock the door. When you did, you slammed it shut and locked it behind you. You dove over the sofa and kept your eyes on the door, as if that's all it took to keep you safe.

Your phone was lost somewhere in the woods, but you could still hear them. Out there. Maybe it wasn't real.

There was a feverish knocking on your door, and you couldn't peel yourself away from the couch.

"Y/N! Are you in there," Paul shouted. Oh my God, thank everything, it's Paul.

"Paul, I'm coming," you struggled, fighting through your tears to answer. It killed him, but he was so happy you were okay.

You opened the door, and cried even harder when you saw his face. You couldn't hate him now, now when he came running for you. He ignored his usual boundaries and pulled you in for a hug. He was so warm wrapped around you. Your arms were still tucked into your chest. And his totally encompassed you.

"Just breath, honey," he said, rubbing his hand up and down your back. You tried to take his advice, but you couldn't focus.

"You came for me."

"I always will, you can always call me. I will always come running," he said. And you believed him.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" you asked, pushing yourself away from him enough to look up at his face. His features were uncharacteristically soft as they looked down at you.

"Of course," he said. He kissed your forehead, and you felt the instinct of pushing him away - but you ignored it this time.

"On the couch," you said.

"Sure, honey." He brushed his hands up and down your biceps, helping you take a few deep breaths. "I'm not going anywhere, don't worry."

"I don't understand what happened," you said, pushing yourself away from him. "She came out of the water, and then she..."

"It's okay," he cooed, "you don't have to say anything."

"And this doesn't change anything," you said. "I trust you with some things but not other things."

"Some things?" he asked, more amused than anything.

"I trust you with my life, not my heart."

"We'll work on it," he said, pulling you in close for another hug.

"Yeah," you agreed. "We'll work on it."

[requested] [part 2?]

I kind of love this?

#imagine #imagines #paul lahote #paul lahote imagine #paul lahote imagines #twilight #twilight imagine #twilight imagines #part 2

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twjournals · 3 years

Note

Can you do an (lesbian) Erika from teen wolf smut? Like where you’re both Derek’s betas and have gæ crushes on each other

Warning: Erica Reyes x fem!reader, fingering, small pinch of degrading, all characters are of age

You stared at her from a distance. Her body swaying with Jackson and Isaac, letting them sandwich her between their bodies. She had a way of getting under your skin. You knew what she was doing. She was trying to get your attention. She had been doing it all night.

There was no sense in her trying when she had your attention all along. Even when she did not think you paid attention, you had been. You had always had a thing for Erica but could not bring yourself to make a move with her aside from occasional flirting. She seemed so out of her league.

Erica knew what she wanted and she had her ways of getting what she wanted. Even if it meant pissing you off in the process of realizing how badly you wanted her.

She was good at putting on a show. She seemed to be really enjoying herself. She really had you convinced until her eyes met yours and a smirk came to her lips.

"Unbelievable." You muttered as you took your drink, moving through the crowd. You keep your back to her as she squeezed from between the two of you, following behind you. You could hear her hot on your tracks without even seeing her.

"Don't you have a crowd to be entertaining?" You could smell the hint of liquor on her breath when she wedged herself in front of you. You knew she had not had near enough to get take any toll on her, but the liquor only went straight to her confidence.

She giggled at your reaction as you tried to ignore her presence. It was harder than it looked when she always made her presence well known. Erica had been overlooked by everyone for too long to be ignored. Except you, you had always thought the world of her even before Derek picked her to be one of his betas. She was so quick to drown in all of the attention she missed out on. It was like she had forgotten about you. She noticed the way you started to drift, to ween yourself from her. The more you tried, the farther she pushed herself into any situation just to see how jealous she could get you.

"Don't act like you didn't like the show?" She tilted your chin to look at her.

You rolled your eyes, moving your head out of her grasp. Her smirk never faded. She loved playing with you, seeing how far she could push you.

"Aww, come on, you'll always be my favorite girl." She teased. You ignored her, glancing around the rave in order to keep from giving her any attention. "I know how bad you want me. It's okay." Her hands fell to your sides as her lips brushed against your neck.

Your eyes widened slightly at the feeling of her red lips on your neck. "Just say the words and I'm all yours." She continued as your eyes met hers again, lingering over her for a moment in thought.

If that was the game she wanted to play, the game you were going to play.

Just as she was about to say something else, you pressed your lips firmly to hers to silence her. You did not have to say anything. You knew she would submit so easily to you.

You had enough of the teasing. Her hands were quick to wrap around your neck and pull you closer.

The rave was so full of intoxicated people, too full for anyone to notice the two of you off in the corner. You pushed her back against the wall, keeping the space between closed you closed with your body.

You worked your way down her neck, biting at her skin and kissing over the marks you left before her body healed them. She jumped wrapping her legs around your waist when your hands fell to her ass, kneading it underneath her skirt. You listened to the soft moans you pulled from her already. It was a shame no one could hear her over the music.

You shielded her body with your own, looking down at her as you pushed up her skirt the rest of the way.

Your fingers tracing the wet patch of her panties already, tsking to yourself at how wet she was so soon. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment the way you teased in front of everyone. It amazed you how she could not play her own game when you were playing with her.

"What's got you so wet?" You kiss against her jaw as your fingers rub back and forth against the wet patch, feeling it only getting bigger and wetter. You chuckled at how quiet she was all of the sudden. "First time I've heard you so quiet since you became a beta."

You grabbed the soaked fabric of her thin panties aside, taking her plump bottom lip between your teeth and giving it a tug. Your fingers slid through her folds, letting them coat your digits and sucking at her lip as she moaned.

"That all you needed? This was easier than I thought." You smirk as you let two of your fingers push inside of her, thrusting them in and out of her slow at first.

"Shut up." She snarled and you raised an eyebrow at her tone, quickening the pace of your fingers and easing in a third one. "Oh god..." You watched her head roll back against the wall.

You slapped your free hand against her cheek, pulling her back to the moment. "Keep them open. You're gonna watch me make you cum. Let everyone see you fall apart on my fingers."

#erica reyes #erica reyes drabble #erica reyes x reader #erica reyes smut #erica reyes x you #erica reyes x y/n #teen wolf drabble #teen wolf one shot #teen wolf x reader #teen wolf smut #erica reyes imagine

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simping-i-guess · 3 years

Text

Scars of the Stampede

Characters with scars being self concious about them is a trope I really like so... whatever.

��—————————

Not once in your months of travel with the legendary Vash the Stampede had you ever seen him unclothed. You had begun thinking his flirtatious nature towards you was simply all talk, as any time you made an attempt to push further than just a few kisses or fooling around, he'd quickly change focus to something else. You hardly questioned it, knowing he didn't owe you any form of physical intimacy, despite your craving for him.

It soon became apparent as to why he had never pursued something farther.

"Ah, (y/n)..." Vash looked over his shoulder, meeting your eyes with a sheepish gaze.

"I... just came to make sure you were doing okay." You mumbled on your words as your eyes slowly trailed down Vash's scarred body. All he had on was a pair of pants, allowing his full upper body to be on display. Your eyes flit from the scars on his shoulders down to the large one placed on his right pectoral. Your eyes continued to roam, trailing down his abdomen, looking to have been stitched up rather carelessly, as if the person doing it didn't care how it'd scar. Finally, your eyes landed on the scar wrapping around his side, looking jagged and pink even now that it was fully healed.

You didn't mean to stare or gawk, and perhaps you should have expected this from the Humanoid Typhoon- but you somehow still found yourself awed by the sheer amount of battery Vash's body had clearly sustained over the years. Finally, your eyes met his again, and you felt guilty seeing the somber expression placed on Vash's features.

"...may I come in? Or would you prefer me to leave?" Your question hung heavily in the air for a moment, before Vash gave a single, small nod.

"You can come in."

You stepped through the room's threshold, quietly pushing the door closed behind you. Vash sat himself down on the edge of the mattress, his elbows resting against his knees as he slightly hunched over. With a slow approach, you took a seat beside him, eyes staying locked on Vash's face. The silence permeated, only being broken by a soft chuckle from the man in front of you.

"I didn't want you to see all this." He told you, a familiar goofy smile being plastered on his features. But you knew him well enough to know that his smile was only hiding his true feelings... Shame? Embarrassment? Perhaps it was a mixture of both.

"Why?" You asked, your voice leaving your throat in a reluctant whisper. Vash laughed again, though no humor was present in it.

"Pretty girls shouldn't see beat up bodies like mine." Vash vaguely gestured down at his torso. "It's unsightly."

"I don't think so." You argued, though your voice still came out in a meek tone. Your eyes again dared to wander, and you examined the expansive scars decorating the Stampede's back. Not thinking much, you reached out, your fingers slowly tracing around one of the large, jagged scars. "It's proof of what you've managed to survive. There's nothing unsightly about that."

"Hm..." Vash hummed thoughtfully, his eyes coming to close. "You don't have to lie. I've been told how gross they are before."

"Tsh. By who?" You questioned, aggravation apparent in your tone.

"A few passerby here and there, maybe a woman or two... I've come to expect it."

Vash's answer frustrated you, and you were frustrated on his behalf. How dare they? You thought, brows pinching as you bit your inner cheek. How could they be so harsh to someone so kind?

You shifted, sitting on your knees to be a bit higher. With the delicate touch of a mother cradling a child, you pressed a kiss against Vash's shoulder. You were keenly aware of the rough texture brushing against your lips, but you weren't repulsed. No, not by any stretch of the word. You could only feel the swell of affection within your chest, heart fluttering against your ribs.

Vash didn't miss your action either- he watched you with a surprised expression, eyes staying trained on you as you pressed yet another kiss to his scarred shoulder.

"It's not unsightly, Vash." You repeated, now allowing your fingers to trace the scars on Vash's bicep. "At least, I don't think so, for whatever that's worth."

Vash's expression slowly settled into a very soft smile. With his free hand, he carefully stroked it down the side of your head, being careful not to press to hard with his metal digits. "Your opinion is worth a lot to me, (y/n)."

Despite his more accepting words, you could see behind his expression. He wasn't convinced. He still felt that his body was ugly, and you hated knowing that. You frowned, visible enough for Vash to comment.

"What's wrong?" He asked. You didn't respond verbally, only placing a hand on his chest and giving him an encouraging nudge. Vash slowly settled himself onto his elbows, his eyes staring up at you through his lashes. "Wh-"

"All the way down, Vash." You commanded, though your tone never hardened. You caught the way Vash's cheeks flushed as his back hit the mattress, the soft thud giving way to silence yet again.

Wordlessly, you straddled Vash's hips, keeping yourself above his sensitive areas. This wasn't the first time you had straddled the man, though the way his face flushed could lead you to believe otherwise.

With slow, delicate touches, you pressed the tips of your fingers against Vash's jaw, and slowly began working your way down. Your dragged your fingers against his skin, stopping at each scar along the way. You payed them extra attention, carefully stroking down them with the pads of your fingers. You felt Vash shudder beneath you, and you paused your actions.

"Are you okay?" You asked, trying to find the answer within Vash's complicated expression. "Is it hurting you?"

"N-... No, it's not..." Vash's response was stuttered.

"Does it feel good? Bad?" You allowed your head to tilt slightly with your question.

"Ah, good... definitely good..." Vash paused, his brows knitting slightly. "It's just-"

"No one has ever touched you like this before?" You interrupted him, letting out a disgruntled sound when he confirmed with a nod. "Figures." Your thumbs carefully swiped across one of the scars on Vash's chest. "I'm sure if someone ever had given you this kind of attention, you'd think a lot differently about these." You softly stroked your finger down a long, raised scar on Vash's ribcage.

Vash didn't speak. From his expression, he didn't seem to know what to say, but it was obvious that he didn't want you to stop. He relaxed more and more under your tender touch, his eyes carefully fluttering closed as your hands danced across the scars etched into his hips.

While your hands had come to their destination, you would carry on. Pulling any stray hair away from your face, you leaned down to press a chaste kiss on Vash's chest. You heard his breath hitch, but the way his hand gently rested against your shoulder seemed to invite you to continue.

One by one, you planted soft kisses on each of his accessible scars, peppering multiple little kisses on the larger ones. Down the straight scar sliced down his abdomen you kissed, covering every inch of it with affection. The hand on your shoulder slowly moved up to caress your cheek, and you softly laid your hand against the back of his, turned your head and placed a kiss on his weathered palm. Then, remembering the scar that wrapped around his wrist, you pulled his hand away just enough to get a firm idea on where to plant your next kiss- right against the inside of his wrist, and against the scar that had been put there.

Vash squirmed a bit, letting a soft breath escape from between his previously closed lips. He cracked an eye open to peer at you, only to meet your hooded gaze. Maintaining full eye contact, you pulled his arm up just a few inches, placing an especially long, tender kiss against the scar lining his extensor. Again, Vash shuddered, and a soft noise escaped his throat. He still didn't look away, no- he couldn't take his eyes off of you.

"You're in no way unsightly, Vash." You allowed your voice to come out a rough whisper, and you offered Vash a quaint smile. "Truly, I think you're very beautiful."

Vash offered you but a single nod. He didn't question you or assert otherwise, nor did he seem embarrassed anymore. If anything, he looked rather sultry, looking up at you with a half lidded gaze and his lips slightly parted.

With a final kiss to his knuckles, you were ready to get off of Vash, not wanting to push him farther. "Are you ready to sleep?" You asked.

"Ah..." Vash seemed... hesitant. His free hand hovered over your hip, but didn't make contact. Your brows raised, and you wondered... "I... If you'd be up for..." Vash couldn't seem to find the words he wanted.

You let yourself chuckle a little- Vash acted so smooth and flirty when you first met, but now you could plainly see that it was mostly all talk. Still, you wouldn't pass up the chance to show Vash more intimately just how beautiful and wonderful you thought he was.

"I thought you'd never ask."

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Full version with smut available here~!

#vash the stampede #vash x reader #trigun #x reader

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angelsfalling16 · 3 years

Note

From that quote-prompt list...

Have you done "I'm not leaving you here"?

Been needing some angst. XD

💜

Thanks for the prompt! <3 Sorry it took me so long to complete it; I wanted to make it a little bit longer and make it part of my 20fk series. I hope you like it! Also, I just saw that it was your birthday yesterday, so happy belated birthday!! :)

You can also read this on ao3

---

Baz

Simon gets called out at the beginning of class to go on a secret mission for the Mage, and even though it has happened before, it seems to irritate me more today. Why does Simon keep allowing the Mage to use him as his pawn?

He is more than a bomb that the Mage can point at one of his many enemies and allow to go off. He’s a person, a boy, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like this, like he’s expendable. I don’t understand how I am the only one who sees this. Surely, even Penny would be wary of this. But I guess no one is willing to go up against the Mage like that. (Except maybe Fiona.)

One of these days, he is going to get himself killed, and I will not sit idly by and watch that happen. I have to make Simon see that he’s being used, that he doesn’t have to keep doing this. As soon as this class lets out, I take off in search of Simon. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to catch up with him before he gets too far away.

He isn’t in our room, but his scent is strong here, which means he was here not long ago. I rush over to the window and look out of it over the grounds to see if I can see him walking away, but he isn’t there. I’ll have to cast a spell then.

It works instantly, and I can feel Simon. He’s close. The spell starts to pull me towards him, and I take off out of our room, practically flying down the steps. I’m not sure my feet even touch the ground, but I don’t have time to stop and think about that because I have to reach Simon before it’s too late.

The spell is leading me towards the gates. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to get through with one of the Mage’s gates standing guard, but I will do whatever it takes, including spelling the idiot out of my way if I have to.

I don’t have to worry about that, though, because there’s no one there.

That’s strange, I think. There has been someone standing there every day since eighth year began, so something must have happened if the station has been abandoned.

I slow as I reach the gates to open them, and I take a moment to recast the spell to strengthen. It feels like I’m close to him, but it doesn’t feel like Simon has moved any farther away since I initially cast the spell. If there was a threat this close to the school, you would think that the Mage would have raised some kind of alarm, but he doesn’t even have anyone at the gate. It just goes to show how terrible he is at his job.

I continue to follow the pull of the spell, and it brings me to the road, then across it, then to the woods on the other side.

I can hear some sort of commotion now, and I pick up my pace. I have to help Simon. He probably won’t want it, but that’s too bad. I would die a thousand times over in order to protect him. I will not let him die if there is any way that I can prevent it.

When I reach Simon, there is no sign of the Mage of any of his men. It appears like they abandoned him here to handle this threat on his own. It’s unbelievable.

Simon is being surrounded by dozens of goblins, all of whom are vying for his head. He is doing his best to fight them off with his sword, but it isn’t enough. He’s fighting a losing battle.

One of the goblins has managed to get behind him and has a knife raised over him, ready to attack. Before I even have time to think about it, I have summoned a ball of fire in my hand, and I send it soaring in the goblin’s direction. It makes a contact, and with nothing more than a shriek, the goblin catches fire then disintegrates into ash.

Simon spins around to see what happened, and he’s understandably shocked to see me. “Baz?”

“Watch out!” I shout, rushing forward to cast a spell at a goblin that lunged at Simon as soon as he turned his back.

I keep casting spells and sending fire at the remaining goblins, and once Simon recovers from his shock, he turns to fight with me, swinging his sword wildly about, beheading one gobbling after another. He’s brilliant at it, and I almost wish I could stop and watch him in action.

We fight side by side, killing goblin after goblin, but our efforts seem futile because the goblins just keep coming at us, spilling through the trees on all sides, forcing Simon and I to stand back to back. It doesn’t look like we’re going to make it out of here alive, but we can’t give up.

One of the goblins manages to knock my wand from my hand, and I curse under my breath. I can summon my fire without it, but as the goblins close in on us and I start to grow tired from so much use of magic, I’m not sure how longer I can keep doing it.

The goblins manage to get a few good hits and cuts on us, and the smell of Simon’s blood forces my fangs to push through my gums. I could bite them, but goblins are foul and bitter tasting beings. Plus, it would leave me open to attacks from the others if I got distracted by one of them.

“You should go,” I hear Simon say behind me.

“What?”

“You’re stronger than I am. You’ll be able to make it out of here alive. Just go!”

“I’m not leaving you here! You will never be able to defeat them all on your own.”

He’s quite for a moment, and I hear a demon cry out as Simon stabs at the same time that I shoot some more fire at the ones in front of me. It’s getting harder to summon it; my magic is starting to run low. But I won’t run. I won’t leave Simon behind. I could never live with myself if I left him here to die.

“We just have to keep fighting. Someone will come help us eventually.” I don’t even believe it as I say it.

“Who? No one even knows we’re here.”

“What?! I thought the Mage sent you here.”

“He did, but he said that he had a more pressing matter to attend to. There were only a few goblins at the time, and this is my responsibility. It’s me they’re after. Which is why you should go. It’s not you they want. They’ll probably just let you leave.”

If I make it out of this alive, I am going to murder the Mage.

“I’m not leaving you!” I repeat. I look around for my wand, but I don’t see it. The next flame I summon is barely more than an ember, and it only injures the goblin in front of me, rather than killing it.

“I’m sorry, Baz!” Simon shouts, and the tone in his voice worries me.

“Why are you sorry?” I shout back, whirling around to see what he’s about to do.

That’s when everything goes black.

***

When I come to, all I see is trees.

With a groan, I force myself to sit up. There is a pounding in my head, but most of my other injuries have already started to heal. I look around and am relieved to find that Simon is lying beside,

“What happened?” I asked. “The last thing I remember is you apologizing.”

“I went off,” he says, grimacing like he hates to admit it. “I tried not to because I was worried that you would get hurt. That wouldn’t have been a problem if you had run like I told you.”

“I couldn’t leave you there!” I say, angry because he actually believes that I could just abandon him like that.

“Why not?”

“Because I--.” I cut myself off before I can finish that sentence.

“You…what?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t want you to die, alright?” I look away, but then a thought occurs to me. “Why did you care whether or not you hurt me?”

“If you died because of me, I would have a lot worse problems than a horde of goblins attacking me,” he says, but the blush on his face tells a different story.

He’s right, though. If I had died, Simon would have instantly moved to the top of Fiona’s list, right above the Mage, who is coincidentally now at the top of my own list.

“Look,” Simon says, “none of this matters. We made it out alive. Now, we can go back to trying to kill each other instead of nearly getting killed by other things.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” I mutter under my breath as I push myself to my feet, but somehow, Simon hears me.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.” I start to walk away from him, back in the direction of Watford, but Simon stops me by grabbing my arm and pulling me around to face him.

“Baz…. Why did you come out here? Why did you try to help me fight the goblins when you could have let them kill me and been rid of me for good?”

“Because I don’t want you to die,” I hiss. “I actually care about whether you live or not. Unlike the Mage.”

He makes a face at that last remark but apparently decides to ignore it for now.

We’re standing barely a foot apart, and his hand is still on my arm. I could turn and run from him, but instead, I allow him to pull me closer. Because I’m weak.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t want you to die either.”

My breath catches, and my heart skips a beat. I know that it doesn’t necessarily mean that he likes me, but it’s progress. It’s better than him hating me.

He gives my arm another tug, and we’re so close now that I have to tilt my head down to look at him. He brings a hand up to rest gently on my cheek, and I can’t help the sigh that escapes me at his touch. I lean down until our noses brush but stop there, meeting his eyes. The world seems to have disappeared around us, and it’s just him and me.

Whatever happens next could change things forever. I just wish I knew what he was thinking.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks, and then I know exactly what he’s thinking.

“Yes,” I breathe.

Then he kisses me.

It’s soft yet passionate, fast but gentle. His lips part around mine in a sigh, and it is the best thing that I have felt. I feel like I’m flying for the second time today, and I wonder at how Simon can make me feel like this. Like nothing else in the world matters, which feels so true.

I love Simon. He is the most important thing in my life, and I will never let anything bad happen to him for as long as I can help it. I will keep loving him and protecting him until the day I die.

#snowbaz #snowbaz fic #simon snow #baz pitch #carry on #wayward son #any way the wind blows #the simon snow trilogy #rainbow rowell #20fk #my writing #i apologize for any mistakes #i only did light editing #i should probably get a beta at some point #lol

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saksukei · 3 years

Text

mermaid yeosang au

[plenty of curses lol and also this is hella long ,,,,, so I'm sorry] This was once again inspired by warmau, please check them out! I love their writing.

other mermaid aus; yunho san

when your friends said you were a dumb fuck you begged to differ but now you just agree

because really– you have proved how low your IQ level is when you went to the beach

It was a cloudy day and it was supposed to rain later on but you and your friends were already at the beach– so you decided you might as well enjoy

you wanted to go for a swim but all your friends refused and said that they preferred to stick to the shallow water

you went in for a swim in the deep water, where the waves form because you go out to swim pretty often ,,,, especially this place

but then it started raining cats and dogs

and the current started becoming stronger

your grade A swimming skills couldn't save you because even as you were trying to swim against the current, the water was just sweeping you away

The only thing you could hear were your friends screaming for the one second you managed to get out and then you were back in

salt water going through your nose

and you felt like this was it

because getting out of the water is impossible and you've heard countless stories of people drowning, never thinking you were going to go be one of them

and this isn't some movie where you get washed up on some shore on an island and find your way back home

and so you just let the water take you with itself

Till you felt a strong grip on your wrist

you couldn't see clearly because the salt water and the sand was hurting your eyes

but you felt something wrap it's arms around you tightly and drag you away with full force

you felt everything fade away as you lost consciousness

you eyes fluttered open and you jolted up

you found yourself on this flat rock on some unknown shoreline?

“oh good– you're up,” you heard someone say from behind you.

You turned around to see a white haired boy, prominent cheek bones, angular face, melanin skin, a weak smile on his lips

and then you noticed–

the huge gash that went from his ankle to almost his knee

“w-what ,,,,, how did this happen? Are you okay?” you asked, worryingly, as you inched closer to him.

“oh I'm a hundred percent fine!” he replied in a sarcastic tone, pointing towards his leg

hE SOUNDED LIKE A WHINY BITCH

“rude,” you hissed, as you tore your sleeve, wrapping it around his leg to cover the wound

“please stop– this ,,, it won't help,” he pointed towards the bandage.

“i know it's not great but it'll be worse if I don't do this now,” you answered.

“no you don't understand,” he interrupted, his tone stern.

“what do I not understand? This is one of the things I've been taught to do in case someone gets wounded and this prevents bacterial infection from happening–”

“I'm a mermaid,,,,,,” he confessed.

and you stopped dead in your tracks

“y-youre a ,,,,, what?” you asked him again

“don't tell anyone please,” he grumbled. “I don't want a fanclub”

“oh my god ,,,, you're a mermaid but you're also a dick, congrats!” you replied, clearly annoyed.

I MEAN WHO DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS???

and he just rolled his eyes

“why don't you just tell me how I can help because I don't want to be responsible for murder,” you hissed.

Yeosang scoffed and kept thinking of a solution, till an idea popped into his mind, a smile on his face

You could see the light bulb over his head

“well- there are these things we use to heal and keep ourselves strong ,,,,, they're a type of seashell.....”

“oh god– this will be like finding a needle in a haystack,” you sighed.

“no actually the shell is the color of my tail which is emerald green, with white lines and we don't carry these shells with us, but rather– they find us when we are in need,” he explained.

“so can't it just ,,,,,, I don't know pop out of the ocean right into my arms?”

“if that's how it worked, do you think I would have entertained you all that long?”

“fine, you win,” you admitted, gritting your teeth

“dont hit your head on the rocks or drown like you did before–” he jabbered.

“you know ,,,,, I really miss two minutes ago when I didn't know your existence,” you retorted, as you dived into the water, missing the smirk on his face

After several minutes, you found the shell and you swam back to the silver haired boy

aND HE WAS SURPRISED AS FUCK?

“y-you found the shell?” he gulped

“yeah, why do you sound so panicky?” you asked, as you handed it to him, noticing the change in his tone

“nothing,” he scoffed. “I thought your intelligence quotient was so low that you would drown again,”

You only huffed in annoyance as you watched the gash on his leg disappear in an instant

“how did you get hurt anyway?”

“i was trying to save your dumbass from drowning.....”

he stood up and mans was taller than you

“the wound is fixed, the attitude comes right out huh?” you snapped.

“this isn't attitude, this is just–”

“no, you're just a jerk face” you interrupted, getting up.

Before you could utter another word, in one swift motion he grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards him

“first of all, it's not jerk face– it's Kang yeosang and second of all, I didn't have to injure myself just to save your petty ungrateful ass, but I still did.”

“well, god wanted me dead and now you get to find out why,” you managed to choke out, hoping he wouldn't notice how fAST YOUR HEART WAS RACING

He let go of your wrist as he rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time

“do you want to get back home or not?”

“yeah, so that I can forget your existence.”

He mumbled a ‘fine’ and jumped into the water

and you jumped after him

you could see his dark emerald green tail and as it came to the middle part, it become almost white, similar to his hair color

“hold on tight and pray that I don't strangle you,” he wrapped his arms around you and held you close to his chest

I mean ,,,,,, dude was a dick but he looked hELLA FINE AND YALL SEE HIS CHEST??

he swam at literal lightning speed like you were there before you even knew it??

the storm had passed and you could see lifeguards, friends and family on the shoreline

You were in still water, small waves here and there but nothing too strong

“the coast guard is going to come here for another round to search for you–pretend you're unconscious and just let your body float,” he instructed.

“what if I get only farther and farther away from the shore?” you asked and he rolled his eyes

“you need to stop asking me stupid questions ,,,,, and- I'll be here to supervise.”

“okay then um- thank you ,,,, yeosang.”

“you're welcome–” he let go of your body and you let your body float on the water, till you felt a boat near by, eventually taking you out of the water

you eventually pretended to regain consciousness and was happy to be reunited with everyone

you also got scolded by everyone but you felt as if something was missing

sure you didn't like yeosang but he still saved you and you just ,,,,, kinda liked having him around even if he was annoying

I mean he made your heart race and get you all giddy for some ,,,,,, reason

this incident happened a little over a month ago and you spent all your time missing yeosang?? even though you like barely knew him and he was a dick lol

you went back to the beach, without anyone around and just walked along the shoreline till you felt your foot hit something

it was emerald in color?

yeosang's shell??

was he in trouble?

you panicked internally because you hoped he was okay

you picked up the shell and looked around,

but you still couldn't see him

you saw a rather large rock so you decided to swim towards it in hopes of trying to spot him from the top

and you got there but unfortunately the rock was too steep and slippery and so you were trying to find an edge where you could get on top from

unaware that Yeosang was watching you struggle and grinning at your stupidity

“you do realize– I have been looking for that ,,,, every where,” you heard someone say, making your heart race and you ended up bumping into his chest ,,,,, again

“you dick– if you were here ,,,, why couldn't you help me?”

“sorry it was fun watching you struggle–” he smirked

“rude– but I found your shell so- are you okay?” you asked with geniuine concern

He sighed, “oh god- I have to tell you something....”

“what?”

“you see ,,,,, I had originally sent you on a wild goose chase when I sent you to find my shell–”

“what do you mean?”

“actually no one except the mermaids themselves can find their own shell,” he scratched the back of his head. “unless–” he paused.

“unless?”

“unless they are your significant other....”

#ateez fluff #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez headcanons #ateez yeosang #yeosang #yeosang ateez #kang yeosang #yeosang x you #yeosang x reader #yeosang imagines #kang yeosang imagines #ateez x y/n #ateez x reader #ateez x you

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arts-and-drafts · 4 years

Text

Boogeyman

(Special thanks to @fluffy-papaya and @sweetest-honeybee for the design and concept of Boogeydubs! I hope I did him justice, but pls keep in mind this is just my interpretation of him 💗)

Bdubs furiously rolled around in his bed, praying that mindless sleep would wash over him like it had every night before. There was always a panic that struck his heart when the sun went down, a sort of unexplainable terror that gripped his soul with icy claws as dark and cold as the sky.

But it was fine. He was fine. He was just scared of the dark. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody has fears.

But he doubted that everybody's fears manifested in a way that his did.

Bdubs knew as soon as he heard the low chuckle echo from under his bed that it was going to be a long night.

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying to will away the Thing that slithered out from below, as he knew it would. Bdubs buried his head into his pillow, breathing in the comforting smell of familiarity and peace that lingered to his faithful resting place. For a moment, his heartbeat slowed, and he began to calm.

Then ice cold fingers brushed his cheek, and he snapped his eyes open in horror.

The Thing grinned wider with horrible glowing teeth when it noticed Bdubs finally looking. "Good morning, Bdubs." It greeted sarcastically, its voice distorted and hollow.

Bdubs couldn't respond. He couldn't move. If it wasn't autonomous, he doubted he would even be breathing right now, as sharp and ragged as it was. He could only stare unblinking at this disgusting attempt of a doppelganger that sat at his bedside.

The Thing was pure black, an evershifting mass of shadow save for its face, which would look exactly like Bdubs' if he had sharp teeth and glowing green eyes. It only existed to taunt him, to torture it's host, only making itself known at night.

"You kept me away for a good while, Bdubs." The Thing purred, voice as oily as its form. "What changed, I wonder? Missed me?"

The Thing bared its teeth in a sly grin. "Or could it be that you were thinking of me?" The Thing asked, shifting into a demented copy of Scar.

Bdubs' breath hitched in his throat, but he still couldn't say a word as the Thing pranced around in his beloved mayor's form.

"You were always a disappointment, you know that, don't you?" The Thing continued, its voice now a distorted but very recognizable Scar's. "You were never useful. I only kept you around for the fans. I couldn't have them be upset."

The Thing leaned closer to Bdubs, putting a mocking smirk on Scar's lips. "You know how important the views are to me."

"Stop," Bdubs croaked, tears spilling down the sides of his face. The Thing somehow grinned wider, it's glowing eyes flashing with glee. "I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just relaying the facts. Can't you handle the truth, Bdubs?"

Bdubs' chest heaved with a sob that got trapped behind his teeth. The Thing backed away, again performing that pretentious strut around Bdubs' bed in Scar's body.

"I don't need you. You're only a minor nuisance that I deal with every day." The Thing sighed mockingly. "So goes the plight of the most powerful man in the shopping district, I suppose. At least I have Cub by my side." The Thing side eyed Bdubs with a smug smile.

Jealousy burned in Bdubs' heart, temporarily pushing back the fear that trapped him to his bed. It was gone sooner than a torchlight snuffed out, but something on his face must've informed the Thing that its words affected him.

"Touchy subject, Bdubs? Hm...there's something you wish to say?" The Thing taunted with a cruel smile, sitting on the foot of the bed. "Come now. You know you can tell your mayor anything."

"STOP!" Bdubs cried, wrenching himself free of the mental chains that froze him in place and leapt out of the bed, chest heaving from the effort. The Thing slid off the bed to pool on the floor in front of him, quickly rising and molding itself back into Scar. Its leering aura was very quickly changed to a menacing scowl; an expression that Bdubs was terrified to see on Scar's face, even a copy of one.

"You can never run from me." The Thing growled, dissolving back into Bdubs' doppelganger. "I am part of you. I AM you." It began walking towards him. Bdubs was frozen in place. "And now you're just wasting time. What would your mayor think?"

The Thing molded its face into Scar's once again, eyebrows knitted into a disapproving look. "You know how I HATE low productivity."

Bdubs stumbled away from the Thing, falling to the floor and clutching his head. "Stop it--stop it! You're not him!!" His face burned with regret and resentment, tears pouring from his eyes when he squeezed them shut so tight he became lightheaded. "Just leave me alone--" Bdubs choked out.

The Thing grabbed his shoulders from behind, it's claws so cold they felt like burning metal through Bdubs' shirt. "I'm always with you. I can never leave. Someone has to keep you in check." It hissed.

The Thing wrenched Bdubs' face up to look it in the eyes, it's claws leaving the skin numb where it touched. "After all, it certainly won't be you."

A pitiful cry escaped Bdubs' throat before he could swallow it. Deep down, he knew the Thing was right. He wasn't good enough for Scar. He couldn't hope to beat Cub. Nobody needed him.

The Thing shifted back into Bdubs, grinning again. "Now you're getting it."

The numbness in Bdubs' face suddenly grew white hot, pulling a strangled scream from his chest. He tried to rip the Thing's claws off his face, but his fingers stuck to where he touched, sending searing pain into his arms.

"I'm starting to get sick of reminding you. You don't even give me the time of night anymore." The Thing sneered at Bdubs, ignoring his sobs of pain. "So I've decided to stick around a little while longer."

The Thing laid a hand on Bdubs chest, feeling as though it had set him on fire. Dark tendrils spread out from the Thing's claws, and Bdubs could feel the darkness burrowing into his veins like a deadly poison, setting every nerve ending alight with agony.

Pain. It made him remember. The last time Bdubs was in pain, Scar was there, bandaging his legs after a nasty fall from the floating Eyes of Ender that covered the shopping district.

Scar was there for him. Scar helped him, looked him over with his gorgeous green eyes full of worry. Brushed off Bdubs' false words of being fine, helped him back to his office in the Town Hall to heal. Didn't leave his side until he was truly okay again.

Scar cared. The Thing was wrong about that.

Warm affection swelled in his heart despite being in excruciating pain. But as soon as it did, the Thing drew back as if it'd been burnt, halting the process of assimilating into his host. A split second of bewilderment crossed it's face, but it was enough to affirm Bdubs.

Bdubs staggered to his feet, clutching the fabric over his chest where the pain was still very raw. He heaved breaths of relief and excursion, standing taller to face his nightmarish counterpart.

"You're wrong," Bdubs gasped. The Thing bared its teeth like a cornered animal, it's glowing eyes narrowed to angry slits.

"Scar--Scar doesn't think I'm useless. He--that's what matters. You can say all you want but it won't mean anything!" Bdubs spat. He fruitlessly wiped the tears from his face, but more replaced them just as fast.

"You--you can screw off." Bdubs panted. The Thing snarled and took a step back, it's form shifting more incomprehensibly.

"Go back to the--the nightmare world you came from." Bdubs said. There was no bravery inside of him; just a defiance. If denying that Scar cared for him was denying the truth, then call him a liar.

The Thing must have noticed Bdubs change in thought. It took another step back, lowering itself to all fours. "You'll realize one day." It provoked. "I don't care how long it takes."

"I'll be waiting." Bdubs growled, tightening his grip on his shirt. He was shaking and sopping wet from sweat and tears, but his resolve was stronger than diamond armor. The warmth of love burned in his soul, soothing the pain of the Thing's attempted possession.

The Thing dissolved into a puddle and zoomed back under the bed, leaving Bdubs alone in silence.

Bdubs shakily sat down on a block of scaffolding, finally giving himself time to breathe. He leaned his head back to rest on the cool cobblestone wall, closing his eyes to let the last of the tears fall.

After several minutes of recovery, Bdubs slowly retrieved his communicator.

[BDoubleO100] Scar, can we talk?

[GoodTimesWithScar] Sure? You're not sleeping, everything okay?

[BDoubleO100] That's what I want to talk about. Can you come to my base?

[GoodTimesWithScar] Of course <3

Bdubs felt a soft smile tug at his lips. He was exhausted, but at the same time never felt farther from sleep.

#i can't draw so I'm doing this instead :'')#angst #hermitcraft fic #scardubs #kind of??#meraki post #queue #boogeyman

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morimakesfanart · 3 years

Text

Sindria's Prophet #08

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [AO3]

** TW/suicide of family member implied (it is marked ahead with ((text)) so you know what to skip) ~POV shift Mori~ In my old life I had spent 4 or so years as a historical reenactor for the mid 1700's through early 1800's on my weekends. My group mainly acted as pirates/privateers and sang sea shanties. We had done performances on different ships, but every time we were invited onto a period ship I couldn't make it, so I was geeking out when I saw the ship we'd be taking to Sindria. I prayed it didn't show on my face. Sure it was exciting for an other world's nerd like me to get to see a ship like this in use, but to everyone else it was a normal ship. The ship had two masts -both square rigged with a fore and aft sail at the back for better steering. Considering the reputation for the waters around Sindria I expected a bigger three mast ship for strength, but who was I to judge?

With only two masts, this ship probably only needed a crew of about nine people to allow for different shifts. It didn't look like it had room for many passengers. No doubt, Sinbad didn't expect to be bringing four extra people back with him. I was in full on research mode by the time I got on the ship, and I tired my best to not stand out or get in the way. Getting to look up at the rigging from on the deck was an experience. After everyone was settled I'd definitely make a point to look around more. I might even take one of the scrolls out and try drawing the deck of the ship since I never got around to drawing that gorgeous room in the hotel. I considered myself lucky that no one tried to talk to me until the rooms were being divided out -I had been hyperfixating so I might not have even noticed if they did.

Studying the ship could only boost me for so long. About 15 minutes before we left the port I could no longer ignore that my head was throbbing from exhaustion. This headache was undeniably becoming a migraine if it wasn't one already. I decided that sleep was the next thing on my agenda. Luckily, I made that decision around the same time the rooms were being divided out. I had figured I'd end up in the same room as Alibaba, Aladdin and Morgiana, but Alibaba was put in the same room as Ja'far and Masrur. Everyone put their bags down, and headed back on deck except me. I sat on my bed with my head in my hands as I started to let myself fully calm down. In the quiet it hit me just how much I had been using working on the scrolls as a way to avoid thinking about my guilt and lost home. I'd have to find time when no one else was in the room to work through these feelings. There was no way I could keep it bottled up until we reached Sindria. "Excuse me, Miss Mori?" Aladdin had re-entered the room and closed the door. We might not have been formally introduced but he was told who I was. "What is it?" I lifted my head to look at him, and tried to keep my expression positive. I felt the waves rising. A Magi was talking to a Prophet in private; something was bound to happen. The walls of the ship creaked, and I heard steps and the floor boards creak in the hallway. The wave got a little bigger. Silence hung in the air as the boy just stood there. Instead of trying to guess what he wanted I waited. His hands tightened around his staff. Aladdin looked nervous as he confronted me. "I know you say you've read Fate, but I don't think Fate is something written in stone. It's something that everyone makes together. It can always change." The hallway floor creaked behind the Magi again. The wave was getting bigger. Someone was definitely listening in, and there was only one King that was a chronic eavesdropper.

"I agree," I said bluntly. I wanted Sinbad to hear my answer. Ten years ago, he came to the conclusion that Fate was something already written as a way to cope with his guilt and trauma, and he thought he was 'the chosen one' for being able to read ahead through the waves, but he was wrong on both accounts. "You do?” Aladdin was surprised. It must sound weird coming from someone who read Fate. "I've read more than one Fate for this world, so I know there is no one true path." The manga, anime and OVAs were a little different after all. "And if Fate couldn't be changed then I couldn't be here." I turned so I was sitting facing him. "You see, I wasn't in any of the Fate I read. I wasn't even in this world until five days ago." The magi took a few steps towards me with wide eyes. Aladdin had felt very alone for not being from this world -now he would know he wasn't the only one. It wasn't a reveal that caused problems on its own when Aladdin explained in the original so I didn't see an issue in letting Sinbad overhear about me either- I had already implied as much the previous day. I felt the need to elaborated. "Everything I do changes the Fate I read because I wasn't here. For example, only one of the Fates I read showed the conversation where you all found out about the Kou Fleet. Remember how I yelled at Alibaba? If I didn't convince him to leave then King Sinbad would have knocked him out, and Alibaba would be kept asleep with medicine for this whole trip. Since I was there this time, I was able to change that." "Oh!" He brightened up a bit. "I much prefer things this way." "I agree. Like this it will be much easier for him to heal." I looked down at my intertwined hands. "I have no idea how this will change the Fate I read though." Aladdin hummed a question mark, but he didn't say or ask anything directly. I answered the obvious question to my words, "I can't read a Fate that I'm a part of, so now that I'm here I can't read how my actions are changing Fate. Eventually, the Fate I did read will become useless, and I have no idea if I'm changing it for the better." It was only as I said it that I remembered that Sinbad was listening. I had basically just told him that my usefulness as his Prophet would have a definite expiration date. All I had wanted was to let Aladdin know that he might not be able to rely on me for everything. I definitely wasn't thinking clearly. Aladdin cut into my thoughts. "Is that why the Rukh are so active around you? Because you weren't originally a part of the Flow of Fate?" "Probably." I didn't know what else to say. I knew I had to be making distinctive waves in the Rukh just by being here, let alone with all of my changes. "Miss Mori, where are you from?" I hummed in amusement at that. "I'm from much farther away than you or your parents-if you can believe it." I was from the same world as the person who wrote the original Fate of this world. There was no way I could tell anyone that. He was shocked again. It was written all over his face that he was questioning if I was really from a dimension farther away than Alma Torran. Aladdin gripped the flute that he always wore. "Then... Are you the person he didn't recognize?" "He?" Which 'he' -oh. I lowered my voice. "Ugo?" I put one finger over my lips and looked at the door. Sinbad has to remain ignorant about the Sacred Palace; he's too self-absorbed. Aladdin looked confused at my change in volume. He followed my gaze to the door and back then nodded. He didn't look all that surprised that I knew about Ugo. I kept my voice low. "Aladdin, let's talk more about this some other time. The walls have ears on such a small ship. And I'm exhausted." "Okay. Rest well, Miss Mori." Aladdin spoke at normal volume. I heard a scramble in the hallway, the magi left, and I put my glasses in the top of my bag for safe keeping. I could hear Aladdin through the wall. "Oh! Mr. Sinbad, Mr. Ja'far, did you want to check on Miss Mori too?” "Uh, yes. How is she doing?” Was King Sinbad's response. I could hear the nerves he was trying to

cover up. "Real smooth there, Sin." I mumbled as I finally drifted into unconsciousness. --- I was a young man of 20 some years. I had started a family. We didn't have enough money for food. I ended up taking a risky job because I knew it would pay better. ... No. I'm a six year old girl? I don't remember if I had parents, but I remember going to visit this old dog every day. ... If life was hard, and I had nothing to loose then there was no reason not to bet everything I had on one last round. How could I return to my family without money? The last time I saw my son he was three. Would he even remember me? ... Ya know, when you grow up with someone and everyone else can see your chemistry you'd think it would be obvious that we'd marry when we grew up, but she met someone else. ... I knew things were bad, but I never even considered that my neighbor was stealing from me when I was at work. Bastard stabbed me with my own kitchen knife when I caught him. --- I wasn't myself in my dreams. Every time I woke I had to ground myself and remember where and when I was. Rereading the scrolls I had made helped. Just how many Rukh had merged with me, and why? I had no connections to any of those spirits while they were alive. Was it just because ghosts like me? I wrote down every dream I had; their lives might have been over, but they were a part of me now. I was too exhausted to go on deck, and I could feel that there were still more lives inside of me that I had to get aquatinted with. When I wasn't sleeping, I was working on scrolls again since I at least had enough energy to write and draw. My breathing was getting difficult, and I was struggling with temperature regulation. I wasn't okay enough to tell if it was my body struggling with the changes in my magoi, like when Sinbad took in all the Rukh after the Fall of First Sindria, or if I was just sick. After making sure I could still use magoi manipulation I decided that it was probably the later. I mainly left that room for food, and I waited until almost everyone was done before going. I avoided talking to others too. If I was sick I needed to minimize my contact with others. Alibaba seemed to be in a similar state to me. We both found that staying near each other when around the others made them less likely to approach us with the depressing cloud that hung over us.

Those that did see me could obviously tell I was unwell. From their words it seemed like they were assuming I was just mourning -they were only half wrong. It gave me an easy excuse to leave, so I never corrected them. I did feel bad for worrying everyone. The whole situation sucked. I wanted to cry. I had been in lock down back home because of Covid-19 for 8 months as an at risk person (it's still Oct 2020 in this story). I was literally in a fantasy anime world now. I wasn't given a better immune system, but my boobs didn't need a bra anymore??? WTF?? If the current arbiter of Fate was me writing fanfiction, then they had a lot of explaining to do. ... Who was I kidding? I knew why I would write something like this. I wanted to see more stories about people like me -someone with my disabilities and life experiences- get to be someone "valued" even if they couldn't be on the front lines. My migraine wouldn't go away, and it wasn't the only part of me in pain. I think I got palpitations a few times -breathing was even worse during those episodes. If I hadn't had health problems growing up I probably would have been panicking. I knew it was stupid to not tell anyone what was going on with me. But would anyone even be able help me on a ship? Telling them would just make them worry more than they already were. Aladdin and Morgiana could tell something more was wrong with me; I couldn't fully hide from them while sleeping in the same room. They must have let the others know since they gave me some pain killers at some point. It tasted awful. I'm honestly not sure how affective it was, but it did knock me out. ((Skip to the next paragraph to avoid the trigger)) At least I was left alone most of the time. I had no choice but to sit with my thoughts about Balbadd. I grew up mourning. The blood on my hands might not be the same as losing most of my loved ones back home, but it was damn similar to when I was in high school thinking "if only one of us had answered the phone that day." The Balbadd revolt would have been much worse if I wasn't there. And even if I had said something sooner there was little that could be done to actually stop Al Thamen when they had their hands so deep in that country. Even with Sinbad there to sway Fate, Al Thamen would still find a way to spill blood. Even if I told Alibaba days in advance and he tried to talk to Cassim about it, Cassim wanted nothing to do with Sinbad, so any help that came from him would be refused. Cassim was twisted around Issnan's fingers and out for blood. I did the best I could. My actions did save some people. I'd have to take solace in that. --- I woke up to something wrapped around me, almost like I was tied down. I couldn't move my legs. I gave up trying to untangle my skirt and covers from me, and just pulled the skirt out from under the cloth belt -kicking the whole mass off like a cocoon. I had put my underwear on underneath and I still had the tunic on so I wasn't left totally uncovered. Star light shown in from the window. I had slept through another day. I couldn't remember my dream. Maybe I had finally returned to having my own dreams. The other beds in the room were occupied. My head was still swimming. I felt trapped. I needed something. I heard the waves outside, and felt the waves of Fate washing over me. Their sounds called to me. Back home I had used the sounds of waves to meditate and stim regularly. I had been hearing them all this time, but I wanted to see them. I didn't bother to slip on my flip-flops as I made my way to the door, didn't even think about grabbing my glasses until I was already on deck. It had been so dark below that I couldn't see anyway, and didn't realize I wasn't wearing them. The wave of Fate I had been following lead me farther into the space. When I hit it's end, the adrenaline that had got me that far died out. The night air hit my legs and I shivered. It was colder than it was at night in Balbadd. I thought we were heading south. Did I still have a fever? The cold reminded me that I really should have put on

my shorts or something before coming out here. The tunic just barely covered me. My vision was going grey scale. This was bad. Really bad. I recognized this feeling. I was about to pass out from not being able to breathe right. I used to have fainting spells as a kid because of my weak raspatory system and needed to carry smelling salts for a few years. The last time it happened was about five years ago -I had been really sick. My head was throbbing; my heart was pounding. Guess I was sicker than I thought. I needed to focus on breathing and getting to the ground. I stumbled to the bowsprit (the pole that sticks out the front of the ship) as support. I needed to get to the ground safely before I collapsed. I'd gotten a concussion once because I didn't get down before the black out hit. A wave crashed into me from behind. If I hadn't been putting all my weight on that wooden shaft I would have been pushed over even though it wasn't a physical wave. What in the world was behind me that would cause such a wave? I removed one arm to look back as my knees started to give out. There was definitely someone there. Their color balance didn't match anything I could remember, but they were really familiar. Without my glasses I couldn't really tell anything -especially since everything was becoming different shades of black. And I already had bad night vision. The light was fading. Shapes were getting harder to discern. Even though I was breathing deeper I hadn't managed to counter the fainting spell. I was going down. I definitely fell, but it didn't feel like I fell for long enough to hit the ground. The feeling across my back was really familiar. Someone had caught me.

Sometimes I was able to stay conscious when I fainted. It was kinda like ending up in sleep paralysis but with a -20 to all sensory inputs. Seemed like this was one of those times. I couldn't hear what they were saying or see them. It was like my head was deep under water. There was a pressure on my forehead. Were they checking my temperature? When someone faints you're supposed to lay them on the ground and position them so they can breath easier. This person didn't take first aid classes or forgot or something because I was being lifted upwards instead of laid down. It was really warm and comfy though. I liked this feeling. What was it? Safe? Was that it? I hadn't felt actually safe in a long time. I certainly didn't feel safe in that house back home even after everything was over. Maybe it was the feeling of warmth and safety. Maybe it was the way the waves were moving. Maybe it was the numbness that comes with blacking out. But whatever it was had stopped the pain. With the pain gone I calmed the rest of the way. I felt my spine straighten out onto a soft surface. The warmth faded even though something was now covering my legs. I was in a bed. The cold was back without a source of warmth to leech from. I definitely had a fever if I was this cold. Damnit. I grew up with all sorts of chronic health conditions and have always gotten sick easily. Even though I was now in an anime world, I was still me. Was I going to die in this world from some common illness that was already cured back home? We might not have had a lot of money back home but I was lucky enough to get a job with usable health insurance that let me work from home during a pandemic. I could at least get medicine every time I got a normal illness. I was finally able to afford to get and keep an inhaler. Not that any of that was of use to me now. My motor functions were returning. I rolled to the side and curled into the fetal position. I had lost everything. No home. No friends or family. Who would want to look after a stranger with nothing to give back? I was doing what I could to seem worthy of the main cast, but how long would that last? The story would reach its end in five years. What would I do after that? What was the point of all of the savings I had managed to make back home if I was going to be Isekaied? I had been the main bread winner and now my family couldn't even use my savings because I hadn't left a body behind as proof that I had died. All of the thoughts and feelings I was still running from were flooding through me. I couldn't even distract myself with writing scrolls or anything. This was probably for the best. Pushing things away for much longer would be unhealthy. And if I couldn't let myself feel miserable when I was sick and alone, then when could I? I let the tears fall. I hadn't been a loud crier since I was a kid, so I was caught off guard when I could hear my own sobs. I didn't have it in me to hide any more. The bed I was on creaked but I hadn't moved. There was a new weight on the mattress.

I wasn't alone.

The concept that someone was checking on me hurt harder. I didn't grow up in a healthy environment, so now feel immense guilt when someone shows me genuine kindness. But I am also aware and recovered enough to know I deserve kindness, so the guilt always paired with an equal amount or more of relief. I felt a hand stroke my hair. They wanted to comfort me. And I wanted comfort. The waves washing over me encouraged me seek out more. I used what little strength I had to pull myself against them. Having undeniable proof that I wasn't alone and that someone cares was overwhelming. The relief made me cry harder. I'd have to thank them later. But for the time being I'd pour out as much emotion as they'd let me.

#sindria's prophet #magi prophet fanfic #king sinbad #magi sinbad #sinbad magi #sinbad x oc #sinbadxoc

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hoyaanae · 3 years

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The beautiful dialogue of Lovely Us

Ep 01

"Once people become parents, their memory begins to become biased. They always remember they are their children's most reliable parents, but often forget that they are also children loved by their own parents. When they are waiting for their children to come back home, they forget that their own parents are also waiting for their return in a similar mood."

"When I'm absent from the concert, my idol won't know or feel sad. But when I don't go back to accompany my mom to celebrate her birthday, she'll know it. I don't want to make her sad."

Ep 02

"A lot of things are good at hide and seek - the old scarf I bought last year, the new eraser, Mom's favorite sewing needle, and a feeling of heartbeat for someone. We try to find them, but in vain. Then when we give it up, they just appear somewhere unexpected - on the back of the chair, in the book, in the cotton thread, and behind my back.

Human heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute on average. That day, I failed to count my heartbeat per minute. Even the water droplets falling from the umbrella were disrupted together with me. The joy, the thrill and the butterfly in the stomach converged into the restless heartbeats. On this raining day, a girl's heart beat 101 times in a minute."

Ep 03

"Huang Chengzi, why is the starry sky beautiful? Do you think it is because of the brightest star? Of course, everyone might say "Look, the Venus" while pointing at the brightest one. However, for those stars shining together and forming the Big Dipper and Orion, don't they look beautiful? They cannot be described as a foil. Anyway, I think some stars that keep shining might be more beautiful than the brightest one however dark they are."

Ep 07

"The audio frequency of the sound when a snowflake falls on the water surface is over 50,000 Hz. Because it falls beyond human beings' hearing range, this snowy day is still so quiet that it seems I can only hear my own heartbeat and that it seems there is only me and the person in front of me on this planet with a population of 6.6 billion. I hope this world can be noiser so that I can pretend that I've never discovered this secret."

"Do you have such a feeling? People around you always tell you that you are already standing on the top of the mountain, but when clouds and mist scatter, you find there is another higher peak waiting for you. After going out, I've found there are so many people who work harder and are more excellent than me. It's just like in an originally easy marathon race, I suddenly find all the people around are sprinting. So, I must run faster. Otherwise, others will surpass me. I'm a little bit out of breath."

"At the age of 17, we all have our own secrets. We are trying to hide those secrets, but they are still going to be discovered. We are unwilling to admit those secrets, but the more we conceal them, the more conspicuous they become. We are very clear about those secrets, but eventually, we are still willing to turn them into memories. And these secrets that cannot be told, are found so similar to each other after a long time. It turns out they are all about unexpected feelings for someone."

Ep 08

"I've always been content with what I have and I'm in need of nothing. I can remember what I read and I'm surrounded by nice people. My life has always been smooth and I thought the life that had been planned was not bad for me. Just like a sailing ship, with enough food, I didn't look forward to rains and storms. I just wanted to follow the prescribed route and go back fo the safe zone of the harbor in the end. That was my perfect ending. But from the very beginning, you've been determined to brave the storm and to see the bigger world. Wind and rain can't knock you down and the waves can't overturn you. You've shown me a life course that's completely different from mine. So, since her dream is to explore this world, I just can't let her go through it alone. Zhu Jinxiao, I like you."

"At the age of 17, the first habit developed by boys is to hide their affections. They think that the probability is just 0.01, so they put on the emperor's new clothes, trying to hide their affections with magic. But affections are not that easy to hide. Even if the probability is pretty low, it will be revealed at a certain moment. So on that rainy night, while looking at her back, he found that the most obvious evidence of falling in love with her was the feeling of easement in his heart and the smile on his face when he looked at her."

Ep 09

"In the past, we always felt a year with 365 days was exceedingly long, but only when it comes to this moment do we understand that we become one year older all of a sudden. The significance of spending the Spring Festival, extending from ancient times to the present, is shining brightly like fireworks, giving us the courage to heal each other many times. And then we can have a new start. It doesn't matter that you can't eat steaming hot dishes. It doesn't matter that you perhaps don't know the secret hidden in the couplet. It doesn't matter that you listen to your grandma's nagging sometimes. Even if it takes too long on the way back, as long as there are people we care about, we won't be lonely. We will return to the home we are familiar with."

Ep 10

"Actually we never forget the happy hours with our parents in childhood. Maybe the so-called alienation is because we walk so fast while our parents are staying where they are. One meter, a hundred meters, a kilometer. The distance becomes farther and farther until we can't hear them calling us. That's why we mistakenly think love is silent. So while we are confused, our parents feel the same too. They are confused about how they can give us their deep love in a smart manner."

"Those who love hiding their feelings most in this world are fathers. They hide their inarticulate concerns in warm lights. In every precious certificate of merit, they put their unmentionable encouragement. Besides, there are many silent surprises they carefully arrange in every day when we are marching to the future. They firmly care about us with such silent fathers' love, and we firmly love them."

Ep 11

"We think that many things and many people in this world can wait til tomorrow. So when you pause it or when you turn around, you think that everything will still be the same tomorrow, or you won't even realize this hope in your mind, because you think tomorrow should be the same as today. And you think nothing will change as time flies by. But this time, the moment you let go and turned around, some things completely changed. The sun went down and before it rises again, some people will leave you forever. We always thought that there would be a big ceremony to say goodbye, so we keep waiting for a warm hug, a refreshing drink, and a heartfelt goodbye. But in the end, we realized that most goodbyes in our lives are all silent."

Ep 12

"At that silent corner in my mind, there are a number of weird illusions. For example, can I become Alice who enters the wonderland with White Rabbit? For example, can I become the little girl who enters the forest with Totoro? For example, is there some special switch in this box which can teleport me? No, none of them exist. There's no flying dragons or knights, and I'm not the heroine of some comics for girls, either. However, the only thing I'm sure about is that this escape greatly shocks my world. My palms would sweat, and my sight would be indistinct. Then my view becomes narrower and narrower until there's room for only one person in my eyes. After a long time, I know such a moment is named adventure, in which the one in your eyes is irreplaceable."

Ep 13

"In the summer of 2008, in retrospect, the most impressive thing may not be the world-famous Olympic Games, but the silly things we did because we were fearless. What is shining and unexpected is everything that is closely related to friendship. We wanted to pick the brightest stars and make the most beautiful wishes, so we became the bravest boys and girls. While crying and laughing, with the bond between each other, toward the most beautiful end of youth, we keep running all the way and never stop."

"The familiar chirping of cicadas on summer nights, the familiar bear doll who must lean by the lamb, the familiar lovely girl who frowns even when she sleeps, and the 17-year-old time wrapped by the sense of familiarity never seem to have changed. The only difference is that when I look at the familiar him, I feel a flurry and uneasiness that I have never expected."

Ep 14

"That night, it was the first time I found there's magic hidden in my mom's smile. Those feelings between adults and children which I thought are hard to express in words don't have to be spoken out. They can be understood through her smile. Indeed, adults don't often say I love you, and seldom say sorry. But it doesn't matter. Action speaks louder than explanation. There's no need to express deep feelings in words. If you stand there quietly, you can automatically receive all their love for you."

"There are many new days like today. Today, he holds my hand. Today, he holds me in his arms. Today, he carries me on his back and runs in the street in the early morning. Many days with him like today will eventually become my unforgettable past days. I'll remember days like today for a long time."

Ep 15

"In the last hundred days, I heard countless times "Hurry up to walk! Hurry up to eat! Hurry up to take the notes! And hurry up to go to the toilet." But it's strange. When you try to seize time by the forelock, it goes faster. Then after the exams, we graduated."

"I just want to be an ordinary person. I'll live on a small fruit stand in the future or continue your small shop, which makes me happy. This is life. It's my own choice and I will bear the results. Different people have different dreams. Let those extraordinary people be extraordinary. I just want to be a happy and ordinary person."

"Friendship means so much to us. It brings us close, and makes me flinch, so sometimes we just tell ourselves that as long as we're together, I can be just a friend of hers. But the taxi that I failed to catch, the phone calls that have been hung up, the time that's flying and my restless heart are telling me eagerly that in this world, both love and friendship are important. Every detail related to you is reminding me that we can't be just friends. So when it's still not too late, I have to tell you the things that I want to tell you as soon as possible. Huang Chengzi, I like you."

Ep 16

"In this world, it seems like all wishes have a guardian. Wishing wells, shooting stars, the aquarium's white whale. They're all hiding in the corners of the universe caressing the sorrow of loving someone alone. It's just that the god of happiness can't bless everyone out there. They let some people be happy and their wishes come true, and let some be sad, but they can't admit how sad they really are. The feeling of being in love is like a butterfly gently flapping its wings, that stirs up a hurricane in people's hearts. The second you realize it, then there's no escape."

"That's you when you're happy. And that's you when you're mad. Over there is the jealous you, and you when you're being naughty and pretending to cry. I was just going to draw one to start with, but every expression you have is floating around in my head, and I really love every single one of them."

"I've never been afraid of growing up. And I've never worried that growing up would be lonely. Not because I'm so strong, but because I have faith that I will never be alone. The guy who held my hand will continue to grow up closely together with me. The guy who's in my diary and I in his, will exchange even more secrets in the future. All of us have walked together through the years and will continue to walk together farther into the future. This world never lets lovely people down, and we are all lovely."

#如此可爱的我们 #Lovely Us #Lovely Us Cdrama #Cdrama #李明德 #Li Ming De #田曦薇 #Tian Xi Wei #李寅崟 #Li Ying Ying #李明源 #Li Ming Yuan #尤浩然 #You Hao Ran

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emachinescat · 3 years

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Explosion + Hands + Jack

A MacGyver Fan-Fiction

by @emachinescat

@febuwhump day 22 - burned

Summary: A bomb Mac is disposing of goes off prematurely – and Mac’s hands pay the price. Or, the time when Jack has to be Mac's hands.

Characters: Mac, Jack

Words: 2,945

TW: Relatively graphic description of burns

Note: This story is based loosely off a scene from classic MacGyver. Also, please take the vague MacGyverism with a grain of salt. I did some research (and also wrote this before Mac made the same thing a different way on the newest episode), but I also took some creative liberties.

Keep reading here, or on AO3!

If you enjoy, please consider liking, commenting, or re-blogging, and you can follow me for more content like this!

"These have to be the stupidest bad guys I've ever met," Jack griped. He sat in an old dining chair, ankles lashed together with rope and hands tied behind his back. MacGyver was his mirror image, tied similarly, in another chair, back to back with his partner. Their bound hands had been connected to each other, so every time Mac moved, working the ropes, Jack's arms jerked with him.

Even though he couldn't see Mac's face, he could clearly picture the raised eyebrow in his mind's eye as Mac responded dryly, "And you're… complaining about it?"

A cramp ran through Jack's upper back, and he instinctively rolled his shoulders. Mac squawked indignantly as Jack's movement impeded his progress. "Hey, watch it! You almost made me stab myself!"

"Sorry." Jack paused for a brief moment, trying not to think about why Mac was working so feverishly to cut through the thick ropes with his knife – seriously, they hadn't taken his knife before they'd tied them up! – without cutting himself or Jack. "You about got it, hoss?"

Mac's voice was strained with concentration when he responded. "Just … about," he grunted. "Keep talking."

Jack smirked. "Can't get enough of hearing ol' Jack's wisdom, huh?"

"It's more like white noise, but if it makes you feel better…"

"It does." Jack continued on his earlier line of conversation. "I'm just sayin', man, these lunatics didn't leave nobody here to keep an eye on us, and they left Angus MacGyver tied with regular ol' rope with his SAK in his pocket and a room stock fulla toys he can use to escape." When he spoke, Jack's Texas drawl was thicker than usual. He'd noticed that his accent got more pronounced when he was nervous or in a rough situation. He'd mentioned it to Mac once, and his partner had quickly informed him that it was more than likely a coping mechanism, Jack's way of unconsciously trying to keep himself calm. Jack disagreed. He was convinced that his cowboy twang got heavier in nerve wracking situations because he was actively channeling the spirit of Clint Eastwood and his mind and body were preparing him to do some insanely awesome hero stuff to fix the situation.

"Yeah, well… they also left a bomb in the room," Mac reasoned. Jack could feel the sawing motion as Mac carefully made his way through the rope. Any other time, Jack knew that he would have cut through it in half the time, but with all four of their collective hands gathered together in one bundle of scratchy rope, Mac had to move slowly, methodically, so he didn't cut either one of them. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem for him to take his time, but as Mac had so helpfully pointed out, there was the matter of a ticking bomb just out of arm's reach. And they had no idea how much time was left.

Jack tried to paint their situation in a better light. "It's just a little one. The explosion won't even be all that big."

"No," Mac agreed, "but with all the gasoline they scattered around us, I think it's a safe bet that the size of the explosion won't matter, since we'll burn with the warehouse."

A snap, a sigh of relief, and then Jack felt Mac move in the chair, and knew he was bending forward to untie his feet. As soon as he was free, Mac pelted forward so quickly that he pushed the chairs back a couple of inches, Jack and all. He didn't stop to untie Jack – no time – but he did leave the SAK in his palm. Jack immediately started sawing at his own ropes.

He was still working when he heard Mac swear loudly from somewhere behind him. A queasy dread settled in Jack's gut.

"Talk to me, Mac!"

"No time!" Mac spat, and Jack knew, heart stuttering, that his partner wasn't just saying that he had no time to talk – there was no time on the bomb.

"I can't disarm it!" Mac yelled, his voice growing farther away as he ran, presumably with the bomb in tow, away from Jack. "I'm going to try to contain it!"

Jack continued to cut at the ropes – almost there! He heard the sound of something metal being pried open, and he remembered that there was a large dumpster near the door of the warehouse, one of those industrial ones. Hope rose cautiously within him. Mac had done similar things before; there was no reason why it shouldn't work this time!

The one thing that he didn't factor in, however, was the bomb's timer running out before Mac could close the dumpster.

He heard the explosion, a terrible, anguished scream, and then, the worst sound of all – low, uncontrollable, rocking sobs of pain.

Jack cut himself three times in his haste to get free, but he made it to Mac's side in less than a minute. What he saw made his stomach curdle and his hands shake as he pulled Mac back, further from the smoking dumpster.

Mac had curled into himself on the floor, his hands gnarled before him in pain. Once they'd moved a safe distance from the mostly contained bomb, Jack took a closer look at them and nearly vomited – not from the blood or the burns themselves, but from the knowledge that these were Mac's hands that had been caught in the explosion, burned, blistered, and bloody almost beyond recognition. Jack knew he should be grateful that all of Mac's fingers were intact, but it was hard to feel thankful for anything when Mac's hands could serve as a suitable stand-in for ground beef.

Mac's head was low, chin flush against his chest, his shoulders trembling in pain. Jack remembered when Mac had sustained first and second degree burns pulling his dumb ass out of a crematorium. Jack too had been burned on the bottoms of his feet, and the healing process for both Mac and himself had been one of the most painful experiences either of them could recall in recent memory. There had been debriding, cleaning, bandages, antibiotics, and, in Mac's case, a few sessions of physical therapy.

This was so much worse.

"Mac, buddy," Jack entreated, trying to keep his voice steady for his partner's sake. His accent was slathered liberally on every syllable, his voice gentle and quiet, like he was approaching a startled horse. "I need you to look at me. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Mac didn't respond, just heaved in a great gulp of air, and the breath rattled in his lungs like the last throes of a dying man. The sound clenched its icy fist around Jack's heart. He reached out, placing his index and middle fingers carefully beneath Mac's chin and lifting his kid's head to look him in the eyes. What he saw there nearly killed him.

Jack had been Mac's overwatch for a long time, and he'd seen the kid in a lot of less than ideal situations – roughed up, sick, shot, you name it. But never had Jack seen the level of fear and pain blazing in Mac's eyes as he did now. Tear streaks ran down his face, which was sooty and a bit red, especially around his forehead, but the burns on his face were superficial. Definitely first-degree. He'd managed to shield his face and eyes from the blast.

But his hands… Mac had to have just let go of the bomb to drop it in the dumpster for his hands to look like that but still be basically intact. Jack moved his hand from Mac's chin and cupped his partner's face in his hand, gently brushing a tear away, trying to get Mac's attention on him, to calm him down. "Mac, talk to me." He had no idea how he was keeping himself from crying right alongside his friend. "I need to know you're with me."

Mac hiccuped, took a deep breath through his nose and made a visible effort to calm himself down. When he spoke, every bit of the agony Jack saw in his face translated to his voice. "I–I'm okay."

Jack chuckled, but there was no humor to it. "I don't believe that for a second. But you will be, ya hear me?"

Mac nodded shakily, a low, keening whine building at the base of his throat like a wounded hound dog. He choked out, "It h-hurts."

"I know, bud. Can I see your hands?"

Mac shook his head, pulling his hands closer to his body. "Not yet. We n-need to find a way out of here f-f-first." Mac's teeth had started chattering, which sent a whole new wave of fear tearing through Jack's body. If Mac was going into shock, they were really out of time. And as much as Jack wanted to get a better idea of the damage, figure out what they were working with, he knew Mac was right. In all the chaos and worry, he'd almost forgotten that they were still locked in the warehouse with a smoking dumpster slowly turning the air against them. From where they sat on the floor, the air wasn't bad yet, but they needed to kick it into third gear – it wouldn't stay that way for long.

"Okay," Jack agreed. "How do we get out? As I recall, they've padlocked all the doors from the outside, and this whole place is made of steel. Can you figure out how to make something to bust those doors down?"

Mac's eyes, glazed with pain, darted around the warehouse, which had until very recently been one of the stashes of the cartel that had captured them. "Uhhh…" His voice broke, and Jack saw Mac's hands twitch in a painful spasm out of the corner of his eye. Fresh tears welled up, and Mac blew out a shaky breath. "Okay. Yeah. We should b-be able to make a blowtorch to c-cut us out of here."

Jack shot Mac a dubious look. "You're not makin' anything hoss, and I sure as hell don't know how to make a blowtorch. Think you got it in you to walk me through it?"

Mac didn't look so sure, and Jack's stomach flipped as he saw how much the trembling had increased. Still, MacGyver was never one to admit defeat, and he nodded. His voice was thick with pain, dry and raspy, but he managed to walk Jack through a collection of basic supplies, all of which were readily available in their current space – an empty syringe, a thumbtack, pliers, lighter fluid, and Jack's own lighter, which the bad guys had left on him. Seems the only things they'd actually taken were their prisoner's phones.

By the time Mac had coached Jack through the process of actually building the DIY blowtorch, an incredibly precise and delicate venture that Jack barely managed with his sausage-like fingers, smoke was beginning to gather in earnest, and Mac was shaking so badly that he sounded like he was working a jackhammer when he talked. But Jack had finished it, and to his shock and utter relief, it worked – he'd not doubted Mac, of course, but his own ability to bring Mac's idea to fruition – and Mac had offered a pained, crooked smile at him, and said, "S-s-see, we m-make a p-p-pretty good t-team." Then, whether from pain or shock or hyperventilation, he passed out, and Jack only spared enough time to check his vitals before he used his lighter-turned-blowtorch to cut his way through the steel wall of the warehouse.

It was a slow process, and Jack burned himself no less four times, but at last he'd carved their escape route. The men who'd left them here to burn had gone. Jack hoisted Mac onto his shoulder, taking extra care not to jostle his mangled hands, and set out in search of a phone – he knew there was a gas station a few miles away.

Mac just had to hold on until then.

***

24 Hours Later

Jack was there when Mac woke up from his first surgery.

Jack was always there when Mac woke up in medical.

Mac peered at him through groggy, drug-hazy eyes and gave his partner a weak smile. "Hey, Jack."

Jack fought the urge to pull the kid into the tightest bear hug he'd ever experienced. Only a glance down at Mac's heavily bandaged hands lying delicately on his chest kept him where he was, in the cushioned hospital chair that played at being comfortable but really wasn't after ten minutes. Jack had been sitting in it for nearly sixteen hours, give or take, not counting bathroom breaks and coffee runs. Others had stopped by at various times, too – Matty, Bozer, and Riley chief among them – but right now it was just Jack and Mac. The way it had always been.

The way it would always be.

"Hey, kiddo. How're ya feelin'?"

Mac thought about this for a long moment, his brow furrowed in concentration like he was trying to figure out some complicated equation. Finally, he answered, "Weird."

Jack threw his head back and laughed, though what Mac had said in no way warranted the kind of reaction he was getting. It was like all of the stress and fear and uncertainty and trauma of the last day were riding the shockwave of that almost manic laugh.

Mac's eyebrows creased further in concern. "What's so funny?"

Jack scrubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, not sure if his eyes were watering from laughing, or if he had started crying somewhere along the way. "Nothing, hoss. What feels weird?"

"Floaty?" Mac answered uncertainty. From where Jack was sitting, Mac looked all of seven years old, tucked into the hospital bed in the Phoenix recovery ward, hair messy, eyes tired and confused.

Jack patted Mac on the shoulder, and Mac stared at the hand like it was the most surprising thing he'd ever encountered. Damn, they had him on the good stuff. He told Mac as much.

Mac's eyes were already drifting shut, the pull of the drugs too strong. "You go to sleep," Jack said softly, unable to keep himself from brushing a stray lock of hair from Mac's reddened forehead. "We can talk more when you wake up."

Mac, for once, did as he was told.

***

Jack spent the night at Mac's side, of course, despite Matty's urging that he go home and get some sleep. He wouldn't have been able to sleep, anyway, even if he had been in his own bed. He couldn't stop thinking, stop remembering. When he looked at Mac now, he saw pristine white bandages and the kind of tentative peace that could only come from whatever drugs they had him on – probably morphine and a cocktail of antibiotics, if he had his guess.

The problem was, Jack knew what lay beneath the bandages. He had seen, once he had finally found a phone and called for help, the extent of damage that had been done to Mac's hands up close. And it terrified him.

Even now every time he closed his eyes, even to blink, he could see his kid's hands, covered in burns, some so deep that Jack swore he could see tendons. They were bloody and blistered and the angriest shade of red Jack had ever seen.

He also saw, whenever his body betrayed him and he started to doze off, the way that MacGyver had writhed and twitched and moaned even while unconscious as Jack tried to examine them. His mind dragged him back to the Phoenix chopper, where a medical team immediately gave Mac painkillers and started debriding the burns. Mac had woken up then, thrashing and screaming the most terrible, guttural, animal screams, and Jack had been forced to hold him down while the medics worked, and he'd cried alongside Mac, and after they'd landed and Mac had been rushed in, Jack had found the nearest trash can and puked his guts out.

Even now, one surgery down, it was far from over. The doctor's prognosis had been hopeful, but cautious. Mac should be able to gain control of his hands again, should be able to build things and destroy Jack's phones and return fist bumps and high fives, and open doors and climb and pick things up and shoot hoops and anything else he wanted to do… but it would take time.

Six surgeries, minimum, to repair damage to tendons, do skin grafts. Mac's hands would always bear some scars, even though Phoenix had flown in the best surgeons in the country to rebuild the hands that usually did the rebuilding. And the few sessions of physical therapy he'd been through the last time he'd burned his hands were child's play to the PT he had in store in the coming months.

Jack sure as hell hoped the world would hold it together until MacGyver healed. He knew that it might as well have ended if Mac hadn't made it out of that explosion alive. Jack's world would have, at any rate.

But, Jack reminded himself as he watched the steady rise and fall of Mac's chest, despite all of the pain and physical therapy and surgeries in his future, Mac was by far the strongest person he knew. He had no doubt that the cautionary "should" the doctor placed on Mac's recovery was more of a "will definitely," because Mac didn't let anything slow him down for long.

So Jack had to be strong, too.

"I'll do it for you, Mac," he said aloud. He carded his fingers gently through mussed blonde hair.

It was a promise he intended to keep.

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aliensandartifacts · 3 years

Text

Center. Balance. Stretch. Strength. Focus. Breath. Release.

Yoga or dance, the principles are the same. As I move forward into this new chapter of my life, I find myself adapting these to be part of them as well. Find my new center. Balance all the parts of it. Stretch myself into areas that are outside my current comfort zone. Build my strength. Focus on the goal. Breathe and keep breathing. Release what I can’t control and what is behind me. Every day it starts over. I can only do so much, the rest of it I feel like I’m just faking. ***Cuz I’m only human…*** Nothing can ever go back to how it was. I don’t know if I really ever wanted it to, as much as I miss parts of it...people from it. There’s an ache that might never go away, but that’s life. I have to accept what is and face it. Tears may come, but in time they will be less frequent. I’ve had to wear a mask when in society for my entire life. Pretend to be someone I’m not to make those around me happy. I’ve never been the debutante that my “father” and Ambrose wanted me to be. I hated that role, but I put on a smile, dolled myself up, and played the part when I needed to. Once more I will do that, but there will be times when I’ll break down and fall apart. **Because I’m only human…**

My new center are my brothers, both by blood and of the heart. The five men that have seen me through what has been the darkest of hours of my life, these past times. They have helped me keep my sanity and more. I owe them more than I could ever repay and love them more than I could ever put to words. When the world starts to tilt, I remember that no matter how dark it seemed, I was never alone. None of them would ever turn their back and walk away, that’s not in their character to do. In times when I pushed them away, they grabbed hold and pulled me right back harder. They let me rage, they let me scream, they let me cry, and they never judged. They have shown me true love, true friendship, and what it means to never walk away. They have let me be me, and that is a gift I treasure. They have let me be ***human***.

Balancing, well that is something that I’m not sure about yet. Soon I’ll be going back to the campus I love. Returning is something that causes my stomach to turn and my skin to almost feel like it’s buzzing. That’s where I have to focus on my breath and breathing. Focus. Breathe. Find the balance. It will come, I do have faith. I want to go back to a normal life, but I’m not sure I can. I know too much, I’ve seen too much. Balance. Balance between the normal I want, and keeping artifacts like what Adama and Ambrose had out of the hands of people like them. I will have to find that balance. I WILL find that balance. I’m resolute in that. I can only do so much though, ***I’m only human…***

And doing that will cause me to stretch outside my comfort zone. Right now my comfort zone isn’t much larger than the manor house at the Darrow estate. I’m not sure that it even extends off of the property. I haven’t left the estate since we returned. I know I will have to, and I am preparing to. Each day it stretches a little farther. I push myself, I reach farther, I do more. I won’t become a recluse and let what was done to me defeat me. I did nothing wrong. I was a victim and no matter how much I blame myself for not seeing it sooner, It is not my fault. I bear no shame for the actions of others, certainly not for what they did to me. The voices in my head, and maybe of others who would side with them, well they’re wrong. I refuse to give into them. So I will survive and thrive and push and stretch and do more and be more. Each day moving forward. Each day more. Stretch, reach, be, do, love, and live. And yes, I will fail sometimes, ***because I’m only human…***

If anything, this has all taught me that I’m a lot stronger than I thought. I’ve taken hard blows, but I’m still standing. I’ve broken down, fallen apart, but I pulled it together and put myself back together. Yes, I had help, but I had to do the bulk of it myself. Slings and arrows in my direction, and still I came out standing. Of that I shall always be proud. I was not taken down, no matter what came at me. I might have had to lean heavily on another, but I didn’t completely fall. In the end, I have come out stronger, bolder, and better. I know more of who and what I am. I have more resolution to be better, do more, love harder, and not let what I went through jade me against life and those in mine. Being strong also means protecting those who are weaker, not preying on them. Every day, I resolve to do and be better. Walk with more purposed and live a better life. I might not always accomplish that, after all, ***I’m only human.***

Focus, mine is now on the future. There is nothing for me looking back. What I had and what I lost will lead to nothing good if I fixate on it. I know the lessons I learned, and I will carry those with me, but I do not need to keep looking at how I looked at them. Living in the past and what was will not benefit me. Doing so will just cause me to stagnate. It will leave me in pain and with an ache in my chest that doesn’t ease. I don’t want to live like that. The past can’t be changed. Only the future can be shaped. So it is forward that I will focus. Steps will be planned, paths will be charted, and decisions will be made. Then I’ll have to put those in motion, which does scare me a little, but I haven’t made it this far to fail now. So focus and determination, that is my mantra. There will be moments where I slip, where those memories rise up and try to divert me and pull me back into that sadness that threatened to overwhelm me. I cannot promise that in those moments I will not falter; after all, ***I’m only human…***

Breathe. Sometimes we forget this. We get so tense, we hold our breath. We don’t even think about it. We bite our tongue, we hold our breath, we become a bundle of nerves as we face situations. Often it’s not even what we’re actually facing that causes us to do it, it’s the anticipation of what is to come that causes us to do it. No matter how hard what is in front of us feels, we must remember to breathe. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to, to slow our breathing. Slow our breathing by counting seconds in and out. Take control over the situation through our breath. Watch someone master their anxiety and nerves by controlling their breath and you see someone master true strength and focus. Sometimes you don’t win, but you always try. After all, we’re ***only human..***

Release the failure. Release the negative. Release the hate. Release the pain. Release the ache. Release the disappointment. Release the shattered dreams. Release the situations that fell apart. Release the would haves, the could haves, the should haves, and the might haves. They are no more. Holding on to any of that will do no good. You have to embrace the success, even if it’s just making it one step further than what you did the day before. Keep the good and leave the bad in the past, you don’t need it. That which serves no purpose shouldn’t be carried into the future. It’s not easy. We want to cling to things we so desperately wanted, even if they hold no basis in reality now. Clinging to them just brings new pain with each new dawn. It holds us back from what could be, what will be if we are just willing to let go of what was and won’t be anymore. Release. Heal. Move forward into the future and all that it holds.

***Center.

Balance.

Stretch.

Strength.

Focus.

Breath.

Release.***

*I can do it

I can do it

I'll get through it*

*But I'm only human

And I bleed when I fall down

I'm only human

And I crash and I break down

Your words in my head, knives in my heart

You build me up and then I fall apart

'Cause I'm only human*

@talamasca74

#NerdsOfAFeather #MelaniaLaVeau #OnlyHuman

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ksfnmoments · 3 years

Text

The Tide Rises ~ Chapter 2

“Damn, finally. It was starting to get boring over there," TNTina said, stretching her arms as she kicked up her legs atop the starboard of their motorboat. Her eyes shifted to the missile launch button in a moment of temptation, but she shrugged it off. "Can't believe Ocean took off without me. Leave some adventure for the rest of us!”

She didn't know if it was the way 8-Ball shook his head with an irritated sigh, or if it was the general aura of annoyance radiating from him, but it was enough for her to immediately retract her limbs. The mannerisms almost reminded her of... no, that was long enough ago. He was nothing of relevance anymore, whether it be to her or the hearts of GHOST.

Pushing the thoughts of the golden mastermind to the back of her head, Tina scooted a little closer to the front, leaving 8-Ball with a new dilemma as she hovered over his shoulder, and by extension, the controls. He had to constantly shift his position to block her view of the missile button, as he could feel the slight rush of air from her arm each time she tried to reach for it. His attempts to stop her only further tested her stubbornness and encouraged her to keep trying. "Death will be real boring if SHADOW discovers us outside of base," he finally snapped. "We are here on a rescue mission, not to be taken hostage because we brought too much attention to ourselves shooting missiles. I assume you wouldn't want that to happen either."

She shrugged. "Hey, just us being on this boat is enough attention on us. So, west of Pleasant, one of those islands of trash?"

"Correct," 8-Ball confirmed, sharply turning a corner. "Are you properly supplied?"

Tina pulled a grenade from the case she had packed and threw it into the air, watching it explode behind them. "You kidding? I'm always prepared."

"I question that statement."

Tina rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

Pleasant Park was just ahead, and there was a boat parked along the shore between the two islands made of debris. Ocean and Turk weren't there; rather, they were a little farther away on a patch of green that had resurfaced, complete with a small wooden shed. They could hear the distant singing and laughter of the marauders, and as one duo made their way to the other, they could see their strange wooden structures built atop another hill. There was a typical group of them dancing away between their temporary base (if they could even call it that), with their strange animal masks and protective armor glistening under the sun. They were performing some strange wordless incantation, some strange healing ritual. The agents had to act fast, or they'd be dealing with stronger enemies.

Ocean and Turk were both holding out their own weapons and observing their movements with them. "About time," Turk said as they approached, without looking away from his sniper. His sarcastic remark was more directed towards 8-Ball than anyone else.

"Slow your roll, angler," 8-Ball retorted, holding a tactical shotgun at ease. "How long have they been lurking there?"

"They've been doing their little ritual thing for the past, like, ten minutes, Ocean said, lowering her burst. "We're kinda surprised they haven't started completely wrecking Pleasant. They'll probably be on the move any second, though."

Tina pulled out another grenade. "Then we better get fighting, don'tcha think?" She said a bit too loudly, and she immediately charged towards the group, leaving no room for protests. She climbed atop the wooden shed; the marauders were just a few swims away. Tina pulled the pin from her grenade and aimed for the leader in the center of the group. "Hey, big guy!" She yelled. The assault marauders were faster than her impulsivity anticipated, and within seconds, stink bombs flew towards her as the grenade slipped from her grasp in a clumsy throw. It fell short somewhere and exploded in the water.

Tina jumped away from the roof and the foul fumes; bullets started flying through the cloud of stench. The GHOST agents fired back, only for their vision to be disrupted by another line of brown clouds. "Take cover!" Ocean ordered, coughing from the putrid scent. As they collectively ran for their boats, she found herself falling when something tore through and burned the side of her leg. "I'm down!"

Hissing at the stinging pain, she tried to pick herself up and limp away. 8-Ball shielded as Turk hurried over to help her up. Ocean felt her vision blur and her breaths picked up as she felt warmth dripping from her injury, but she kept her head up in hopes of not discouraging the others from the fight, even reaching behind her to continue her fire against the invaders.

One more line of stink bombs exploded as they ducked behind their respective boats, and the fire ceased when they disappeared from the marauders' line of sight. 8-Ball examined where the bullet had torn her leggings. "You were grazed by a sniper bullet," he told her, pressing his arm against the exposed cut to try and stop the bleeding. He pulled a bandage roll from his leg pouch and wrapped it around.

Tina peeked over the edge of the boat; the marauders were retreating back to their makeshift base. It seemed this particular group wasn't prone to wandering. She reached inside the boat for her boom bow. "Not yet," Turk whispered sharply, and she huffed.

"This mission blows," she said. "The one guy still has the rocket launcher. We try to leave, they'll shoot. We're gonna have to get 'em out of here, any ideas?"

"We can just ambush them and shoot," Ocean said matter-of-factly, trying to stand.

8-Ball kept her from doing so. "Our top priority is keeping you protected as our leader," he said. "We need you to stay here until the threat is cleared."

Ocean scowled at his words. She had just ridden a shark twenty feet in the air for only the second time after doing nothing but walking around The Fortilla for a month. Now she was being told she couldn't even fight because of a small injury? "I can protect myself."

"I'm sure you can, but not while you're injured," Turk said.

"You know who's not injured?" Me," Tina declared, and it was loud enough to once again gain the attention of the marauders. With barely a moment of thought, she hopped into the boat, drove it back, and then over to the group. She reached for the missile fire button and shot, smirking as it twirled once in the air and rained down, leaving some of them in a daze. "Now this is more like it!"

Turk and 8-Ball nodded to each other before charging, and after a quick exchange of fire while most of them were distracted, only two of the marauders remained. The final assault marauder, one of the two, reached for her belt in an attempt to throw another stink bomb, but 8-Ball struck her down with his shotgun as soon as he caught her movements.

What they weren't ready for was the blast of a rocket, and the two E.G.O soldiers were knocked back from the heavy marauder's shot. It was now a one-on-one fight.

Tina, who found herself parking by the shed, examined him and his rocket launcher. An idea struck her, an idea she had only attempted twice before, but with half of the battleground being a body of water, she knew the risk would be worth it. The munitions expert stuck her hand in her mouth and whistled, her voice loud and taunting as she baited the marauder. "Shoot your rocket, big guy! You won't!"

He shot a rocket straight for her face—Tina watched as it soared towards her, calculating its speed, before jumping into the air and landing on top. Finally drawing her boom bow as she balanced on top, she pulled back the arrow and aimed carefully. "Now you're mine."

She released the string, watching with anticipation as the explosive flew through the air to its bullseye. Tina leapt off and dove into the water below just as the rocket exploded behind her, cheering on the way as she felt the adrenaline rush through her veins.

Turk and 8-Ball greeted her as she swam back to shore, all three breathless from their victory and the excitement that came with it that they all had been dying to experience for months.

"That's how you get it done," Turk applauded, giving her shoulder a swift punch. From the side, they watched Ocean pull herself up and hang onto the other boat. She was just as breathless from just watching the fight, though it was easy to see she was still somewhat dejected from being prevented from helping out.

The distant rumbling of helicopter blades were heard from the distance, and the three agents' heads whipped up at the sound. Turk and TNTina raised their weapons towards it and backed a little ways away. 8-Ball took Turk's sniper and used the scope to look. It was a choppa from the southwest, and there was the unmistakable white of a henchman suit in the pilot's seat. "From The Fortilla," he assured.

"Yeah, I called for a medic," Ocean said. Tina helped her over as the GHOST-issued choppa descended to the grass. There was another henchman sitting on one of the skids with a med kit—one of the medically-trained ones, they assumed.

"Wait 'til they hear about this one," Tina raved. "Skye's missing out."

"Brutus wasn't very happy with your decisions to leave." 8-Ball shook his head at Ocean and Turk. "He said you shouldn't have done so without telling anyone.

The latter simply nodded, however Ocean evidently wasn't pleased. She let out a frustrated sigh and sat down on a helicopter skid as the medical henchman unwrapped the bandage and examined the wound. "I'm in charge, aren't I? I should be able to leave without telling him everything."

8-Ball shook his head again. "With all due respect, ma'am, you're our leader, and you cannot just run off wherever you'd like for your own desires," he said. "It risks our lives at GHOST, and it risks your own."

Ocean opened her mouth to retaliate, but she found herself unable to say anything. No matter how much his words irritated her... she knew there was a truth to them.

Defeated, she looked to the sea as the helicopter took to the air, hoping for the waves to calm her as they accelerated away.

~•~

"A week?" Ocean groaned, sitting up. Her leg had been propped up as she laid in an infirmary bed, and Remedy had just finished properly examining and patching up her wound. Sniper bullets were no joke, and she was left with stitches.

"You're lucky it was only grazed in all that fire," Remedy said. "I heard those marauders have some real nasty aim.That bullet could have hit you directly, ricocheted and hit the bone, and we would have been talking about a way longer process."

She had briefly checked the others before tending to her; everybody seemed clear, but she went around one more time just in case. "I'm all good, thanks," was Tina's response before Remedy could even get to her. She made her way to Ocean and held her hand out for a fist bump, which she returned with a small smile. "Hey, don't leave without me next time. Gotta get Skye in next time, too."

She delivered a quick punch to Ocean's shoulder before leaving with 8-Ball, who she started bickering with the second the door closed behind them.

Ocean leaned back again, resting her cheek against her hand. With all due respect, ma'am, you're our leader and you cannot just run off whenever you'd like for your own desires.

8-Ball's words had rung through her head during the entire ride back to The Fortilla, and even now, they were tormenting her. It wasn't only him, but several varying agents, especially from the higher ranks, who had told her something similar. Brutus was especially notorious for getting onto her, and it was getting on her nerves the more she heard it.

"What does being a leader mean to you?" Brutus had asked her that one day, and the truth was, she still had no clue. Telling everyone what to do, getting to do whatever her mind wanted as long as she didn't die... that's what she had expected when she had accepted Brutus's offer, but she knew she couldn't continue to think like that, because it just wasn't doing any good.

Turk, who she realized was still there, placed a hand on her shoulder, as if hearing her inner turmoil. Or, maybe it was the scowl she realized had taken over her face. "Hey, I know things got cut short with the marauder interruption, but thanks for getting me out on the water again... especially up where we were," he said. "Truth is, we've all been a little scared to leave The Fortilla lately, but thanks for that extra push."

Ocean looked up at him, and she realized something upon seeing the genuine look of joy in his eyes.

Maybe leaving and facing dangers were her desires, but to an extent, they were, in fact, universal among the agents of their troubled organization. The way his face had shifted from hesitance to temptation as she reminded him of his passion earlier... that meant something to her by being GHOST's leader. Inspiring the agents that were now her responsibility to overcome their fears and motivate them to try and keep going... It was a truly rewarding feeling. If understanding just that was part of what it took to be a leader, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad... and maybe, Ocean was finally beginning to understand, if only a little. She would just have to work more on her position.

"Yeah, no problem, dude." She smiled up at him, and he went on his way.

Remedy walked back in after he had left—she hadn't realized the medic had stepped out. "Thanks, sir," she said quietly into her earpiece, and a hint of concern was written on her face as she walked over to Ocean.

"Brutus said he's on his way. He wants to talk to you," she said, placing a hand on her hip. Ocean sighed and laid back again, crossing her arms over her stomach. With all said and done, there was one last thing she sure wasn't ready for: this reprimanding Brutus was going to serve her. She wasn't ready in the slightest, and there wasn't a guarantee there wouldn't be a hole in the metal wall behind her afterward.

#fortnite #fortnite chapter 2 #fortnite chapter 2 season 3 #fortnite ocean #fortnite turk #fortnite 8-ball #fortnite tntina #fortnite remedy #fanfiction #fortography #kayvi0’s fortnite storyverse #SHADOWs of GHOST

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nothingbutfangirlsmut · 4 years

Text

The Trials of Emi

Pairing: A little Minho. A sprinkle of Frypan. Gally x Emi(OC)

Summary: Emi, her twin brother Thomas, and a small group of gladers had been rescued and taken to a safe haven. Or so it seemed. It doesn't take long for Thomas to realize something is wrong. What happens next is a true trial for all of them but Emi's trials began the moment she was ripped away from a dying Gally. Watching someone you love die right before your eyes truly takes a toll.

Finally meeting the right arm could have been the end but betrayal leads to even more chaos and loss. A new mission to rescue those taken from them leads them to a city. The last city. After Emi finally comes to terms with everything that's happened something unfolds that changes everything again. She will have to not only deal with helping her brother take down WCKD and save their friend but also deal with all the new problems in her head and her heart.

Rating: As of right now it’s at most PG13. Some strong language that’s about it but it could change.

(This is the 2nd part/book to my other story "The Maze trials: A Gally Fanfiction". This will cover the events of the scorch trails and the death cure.)

Chapter Fifteen

Outside the city walls was a small city of its own. It was crowded and run down. We wormed our way threw the crowd until we got out into what looked like the main road. A large crowd was making their way up the road towards the wall.

"We are the voice of the voiceless!" A loud man's voice shouted.

We turned to see a van slowly driving with several armed men on top of it. One man was at the front shouting into a megaphone. We stepped back out of the way as they drew closer.

"They hide behind their walls! They think they can keep the cure for themselves! While they watch the rest of us wither and rot!" The man continued to shout as the van slowly drove past us.

I stood beside Thomas with Fry right behind me. The people around us cheered and followed the van as it moved.

"But there are more of us than there are of them! We will rise up and take back what is ours!" The man's voice started to drain away as they got farther away from us.

We followed the crowd through the street. As Thomas turned a corner around a building he stopped.

"That's it! That's our way in!" He shouted over the noise of the crowd.

He took off elbowing his way threw the crowd. Only Jorge was able to keep up with him. Brenda, Fry, Newt, and I got stuck several feet back from them. The crowd started to shout and chat even louder than before as we drew closer to the wall.

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Fry asked.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling." I told him.

Newt grabbed my arm as I grabbed the back of Fry's shirt so we could stay together. I happened to look behind us to see the same two men who were once on top of the van standing in the crowd staring in our direction. I nudged Newt causing him to look down at me. I nodded towards the masked men. Newt looked over his shoulder at them. They were moving threw the crowd now towards us. There were two more on our right watching us as they walked. That bad feeling I had skyrocketed. We shoved threw the crowd quickly to get to the front where Thomas and Jorge were standing. Newt wrapped his arm around Thomas' waist to get his attention.

"Hey, guys, we need to go now. Look." Newt said pointing behind us.

We all turned to see the men in masks even closer now. Before we could move a loud alarm started to sound drawing everyone's attention back to the wall. I couldn't see what was causing the alarm but the people around us started to scream and back away. I screamed tugging Fry's arm as bullets and explosions started to rain down around us. We ran threw the crowd trying to dodge the sudden attack. I found myself holding onto Fry's hand tightly. We turned to run between two buildings coming out in a small area.

Before I had time to think someone grabbed me ripping me away from Fry. I screamed and kicked as the person lifted me off the ground. I was tossed inside a van then Thomas was thrown inside right behind me. Two armed men climbed in then Brenda was thrown in behind them. When the third armed man got in he shut the door. I moved to sit as close to Thomas as I could. He was squeezed between myself and Brenda. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly as the van started to move.

"What the hell is happening?" I questioned quietly.

"I have no idea." Thomas panted.

The three armed men all set opposite us. They just silently staring at us. I noticed the man in the middle seemed to be looking at me. I slowly moved so I could put my hands inside the boots I wore. Thomas noticed what I was doing and grabbed my arm.

"Emi, that's not gonna go well against their guns." He whispered as he tugged on my arm.

I huffed but leaned back leaving the two twin blades that I had stuffed into my boots alone.

"Why don't you boys put down those guns? You couldn't possibly think little ole me could take any of you." I told the masked men in a sickly sweet voice.

One of the men on the side started to put his gun down but the man in the middle grabbed it and shook his head. I smirked but said nothing else. The van finally came to a stop. The armed men climbed out as the door behind us opened.

"Get out!" Another man in a mask ordered.

As soon as the three of us climbed out the other van pulled in. When it stopped it was rocking from side to side. The three of us shared a confused look. The back door swung open as a man came flying out of it. Jorge jumped out landing on top of the man.

"Where is she?" Jorge questioned loudly as he started to punch the man.

We all scrambled to get to him but each of us were pulled backward. Everyone but Brenda. She ran to Jorge putting her arms out to him.

"I'm right here! I'm right here!" She shouted.

Jorge instantly stopped. He got back to his feet then pulled Brenda into him for a hug.

"Everybody relax! We're on the same side here!" One of the masked men shouted.

Thomas tore himself free to turn to the man.

"What do you mean the same side? Who the hell are you?" Thomas asked harshly.

The rest of us were let go. I stepped over to Thomas keeping myself between him and Fry. The man in front of us put his gun down then pulled his mask off his face. When he turned to look at us everything stopped. There was no more noise. My heart stopped beating as it too stared in shock at the face in front of me.

"Hey greenie," he said in the voice I'd been dying to hear for so long.

I stepped back right into Fry. I stumbled but he caught me. He wrapped his arm around my stomach holding me against him.

"Gally?" Thomas questioned softly in utter disbelief.

My body felt like jelly. My legs trembled as my eyes overflowed with tears. He's alive? How? I was snapped out of my intense state of shock as Thomas landed a punch so hard to Gally's face that it knocked him completely off his feet. Thomas dived tackling the man on the ground. The others around us quickly pointed their guns at Thomas. Gally raised a hand at them as Thomas punched him.

"Stop! It's alright! It's alright!" Gally shouted.

Before I knew what I was doing I pulled out of Fry’s hold then ran forward just as Newt did the same. We took each side of Thomas grabbing his arms to stop him. I kept my eyes on my brother's face and not the man lying beneath him.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Newt shouted holding tightly to Thomas.

Thomas panted as he glared down at Gally.

"He killed Chuck." Thomas said through clenched teeth.

"I know. I remember. I was there too. I also remember he was stung and half out of his mind." Newt informed Thomas.

Thomas looked over at me. My tears were falling freely down my cheeks. I didn't need to say anything to him. He knew everything I was feeling at that moment.

"Just calm down." Newt whispered.

Thomas huffed then jerked himself away from us and Gally. Gally. I slowly turned to look at Gally who was still lying on the ground. His eyes were fixed on mine. I was pulled to my feet by Thomas. I stumbled backward but Fry caught me once again.

“Are you okay?” Fry whispered as he held me steady.

I shook my head. I’m the farthest thing from okay. Gally got to his feet as he rubbed his jaw.

"Kinda had that coming. Anybody else? Fry? Newt?" Gally questioned then turned back to me.

"Emi?" His voice wavered slightly.

"You know this guy?" Jorge asked.

"He's an old friend." Fry said simply as his hold on me tightened slightly.

I turned around grabbing Fry's shirt in my hands as I leaned my head against his chest. My mind couldn't process anything. Run to him! My mind repeated those three words over and over. If I wasn't clinging to Fry's shirt I'd be jumping into Gally's arms. I can't do that. I need to process the situation. I was healing. I was letting myself relax with the thought of maybe one day moving on. Moving on with Fry when I was ready.

"How? How is this possible? We watched you die." Newt said in disbelief.

I tightened my hold on Fry's shirt.

"No, you left me to die." Gally corrected.

A sob involuntarily came out of me. Fry was quick to wrap his arms tightly around me.

"If we hadn't found you when we did you'd be dead right now. What the hell are you doing here?" Gally asked.

I forced myself to let go of Fry. I turned slowly blinking away the tears. I placed my back against Fry’s front. Gally was watching me until Newt answered him. I noticed Gally’s eyes moving from me to Fry’s hands that were holding my upper arms.

"Minho. WCKD has him here. We're looking for a way in." Newt told him.

Gally glanced back to me then back to Newt.

"I can help with that. Follow me." He said then turned to walk away.

Thomas stepped forward.

"We're not going anywhere with you." Thomas said harshly.

"Suit yourself but I can get you through the walls." Gally shrugged.

My eyes were once again fixed on Gally. It took everything I had to stay glued to my spot. I wanted nothing more than to feel him holding me tight. I had made my peace with his death. I had finally made myself believe I'd never see him again but here he is. Right in front of me. But who knows if he still feels the same about me. After everything that happened. After all the time that has passed. I could never let go because I thought he had died but he probably thought I just left him. I took a step forward but Thomas was quick to grab my arm.

"Emi, we need more information before you go jumping into his arms." Thomas whispered to me.

I turned to look at him with tear-stained cheeks. He gently wiped my cheeks with his fingers then turned to Fry.

"Keep a hold of her please." Thomas told him.

Fry grabbed my hand then gently pulled me back to him. I knew Fry had feelings for me even if I had made myself clear to him. He had been so understanding of me needing time but what was he thinking now? I still love Gally and knowing he’s actually has changed everything.

"I can't imagine what is going threw your head right now Em but I need you to trust me. I just need to make sure this is safe. That he's safe." Thomas said quietly.

I nodded then squeezed Fry's hand. Fry squeezed my hand back softly.

—

#nothingbutfangirlsmut #fanfiction #gally #gally imagine #gally smut #gally x reader #the maze runner #the maze trials #tmr gally #original character #the trials of emi

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one-spidey-boii · 4 years

Text

BUMMER SUMMER || peter parker; ch nine

read ch eight here

masterlist

an; i’ve really struggled with juggling all my responsibilities lately so please forgive me. i just ate questionable fried rice and i’m feeling mediocre at best. have a great day you guys.

warnings; mentions of battle wounds (i.e. blood/scars/etc), smut, mature language, fluff, angst, both peter and oc are 18+!!

word count; 3.1k+

edie's pov

i take in a deep breath and click the call button on my phone after hovering over it with my thumb for a few long and painful seconds. i slowly bring it up to my ear. on the third ring, a small click sounds on the other end.

"ah! you're still alive. yippee!" tony's voice chirps jokingly at me from wherever he and the rest of the avengers were staying. i sit up in my bed and play with the end seam of my shorts.

"i am..." i trail off awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say to the man. he's making me call him everyday, and i don't know how long it's going to last, but i'm already running out of things to tell him at this point. i'm healing, my bruises are fading, the pain is subsiding.

"is peter treating you right?" he asks. i gulp at his question, remembering the moments peter and i shared only a day ago.

"u-uh yeah, wait- um what do you mean?" i stutter out, mentally kicking myself.

"i mean, is he taking care of you? yanno, making you chicken noodle soup or hot chocolate and giving you back massages- actually scratch that last one, i don't wanna think about that." he rambles on, my face flushes and i pull loose pieces of fabric off of my shorts completely in panic. no way can mr. stark find out about peter and i...whatever we are.

"hey! it's not like that." i mumble, doing my best to cover my nerves.

"yeah, sure it's not." tony retorts back with a snort, his voice just above a whisper. i'm at a loss for words, "uh, pfft, yeah, it's not."

"i don't care either way- well, that's a lie, i care a little bit. just keep healing and make sure peter stays sharp out there." i squirm in my spot and continue to update mr. stark on my condition, eager to get off of the phone.

with a final 'goodbye' and 'don't do anything stupid'- he ends the call and i flop back down on my bed. my side only slightly aches when i move now, becoming less of an annoyance and more of a numbing feeling.

i glance around my room at my fresh yellow walls. the color brightens the space and brings a warm feeling to the pit of my stomach. but my bed is still in the middle of the room, making me feel open and vulnerable on all sides. with one big huff i roll out of bed and plant my feet at the end of the frame. i give one push with both hands and the bed goes skidding back to the wall. in the process, my side cramps up and a burning sensation pushes its way through my body, making me wince.

"you okay there?" a soft, yet teasing voice speaks up from behind me. i dip my head down between my arms still placed on the bed and peek at the intruder through my legs from upside down. peter stands there, a lazy smirk spread across his lips. i roll my eyes and flip my head back up to turn around and face the boy.

"absolutely. i don't always need your help, parker." i reply and lean against the end of my bed. after the alarm went off last night, peter and i spent our time making food until he had to go out on patrol, more hesitant that ever to leave. none of us said a word about the disturbance, despite my suspicions. he returned late in the morning, later than his usual schedule. and when he did get back, he went straight to sleep, not even making it to his room. he stayed fast asleep on the couch until late afternoon. i guess he came straight to me after he woke up.

it's only been two days since i've been out, but my body is growing restless at the lack of adventure. jealousy poked at heart knowing that he would be the one seeing and protecting the city until mr. stark deemed me ready to get back out there.

i push the feeling away, not wanting to focus on things i have no control over.

peter takes a few steps closer to me, speaking playfully, "so, mr. stark gave me a call today. he wanted to know if i was taking care of you." once his body reaches mine, his fingertips immediately move to trail along my hips, "what do you think, wolfie? am i taking good care of you?" his voice lowers the closer he leans in.

i gulp audibly at his question, thinking back to my own conversation with mr. stark. my eyes meet his and i can’t t form any words under his gaze. so i just nod sheepishly at him, it seems to be the only thing i can do lately. peter's mouth curls into a satisfied smirk and it makes my stomach drop into my feet. an overwhelming surge of heat passes through my body and i have to lean back farther into the mattress for support.

peter and i didn't really talk about what had happened yesterday. at the time, it didn't seem weird or out of the ordinary. it felt natural, good. now that we've—i've—had time to think about it, well, i don't know what to think. i don't even know what to say to him. it's embarrassing how much control he seems to have over me, after so many years of being able to joke around as friends.

now his closeness makes my heart squeeze both in adoration and frustration. i'm angry at how fast he's able to make me melt into his hands. i used to tease and make him blush, now he somehow turned the tables. just add that to the list of things i can't control.

peter leans in, close enough to pepper a soft kiss to the corner of my lips, "i gotta head out, but i'll be around." he pulls away and points to his ear, where his comm rests.

"see you around." i say with a level voice, now too focused on gaining a hold of myself to be sweet with him. he drops his remaining hand from my hip, choosing to ignore my change in demeanor. with a small wave that reminds me of the nervous boy he used to be, he turns the corner and i'm alone again.

my skin is buzzing. the feeling is mostly concentrated on where peter's fingers had been, but it's spreading quick. needing a distraction from the feeling, i change out of my comfy clothes into something a little more suited for action. i rumble through my luggage and pull out a black sports bra with leggings to match. before i leave, i shove my own comm in my ear.

after making my way to the training room, i set up a few different targets. the first one is a simple circle with three red rings spaced around a red center, i place it firmly on the ground. the next one is the same, except this time i suspend it into the air, letting it sway back and forth. the last one is a little different. it's human shaped. as a fighter who refrains from hurting people as much as possible, i'm hesitant to set this one up. but after what i went through, i need the practice on a human target.

i flip through my phone and search for some music to get my energy up, i connect to the speakers that run throughout the house and crank up the volume. the bass of the music cancels out the continuous buzzing through my body, allowing me to shake the tension away. i stretch in front of the mirror before pulling a table to the far side of the room, opposite the targets.

on the table i set out an array of throwing knives, each one reflecting the fluorescent light from the high ceilings. i run my hand over the edge of one knife in particular before grabbing the handle and nailing the middle of the hanging target in one fluent motion. the knife sticks out from the center as the momentum violently swings the target in the air.

i take in a deep breath and pick up two more, one in each hand. i throw both at the same time, hitting the grounded target side by side with barely an inch between them. i continue to practice on the two targets, using up all the knives on the table in the process. i'm sweating and panting as i go to collect them and start again. i let my eyes pass over the human shaped target, but i quickly look away and focus on the other two once again.

after ignoring the last target for what seems like forever, i stop myself mid throw as i notice how shredded the others have become. i drop my arm to my side and use my other hand to turn off the music.

the silence of the room makes the pounding in my ears almost unbearable as i scope out my last challenge of the night. the lifeless figure has no face. it's only the silhouette of a head and torso, a simple shape. despite the fact, i can still see the features of one person in particular.

i raise my hand and ready myself to throw the potentially deadly weapon held in my grasp. i can feel my heart rate pick up and i stare down the figure before me.

a female, seemingly innocent.

my breathing grows heavier as i fall back on the memories of that night, only a few days ago.

she looked scared, all i wanted to do was help.

my stance falters at the thought. my eyes clouding over as i grit my teeth and shake my head to snap myself out of it.

"see what happens when you try and help people?"

with a grunt, i charge at the inanimate target before me. my legs cross the floor in three simple strides as i jump up to plunge the knife into the head of the target. i slide down and i hold the knife tighter in my grasp, letting it slice all the way down the figure, nearly severing it in two. i drop the weapon.

with heavy breaths, i turn to grab another human shaped target. i kick the other one out of the way, replacing it with the new one.

i try different attacks, needing to set up a new target every time i 'kill' the last one. i do it again, and again, and again- picturing the same face every time.

peter's pov

i can't just come out and tell edie i'm searching for the people that attacked her. but i can't come up with any explanation as to why i'm staying out so late—err, early? i don't know. i do know that every second i'm not out here looking, it's becoming more and more dangerous for her. it scares me.

the sun is peaking out from behind the tall buildings of the city. i spent the entire night staking out two people specifically, but no such luck. now i'm sat atop a building, hesitant to call it a day and go back to edie. but, oh boy, i want to see her. thinking about her makes my heart swell, and now that i'm finally able to show her how i feel, it seems like the whole world let out of sigh of relief for me.

i like the way she reacts to me. it being a huge contrast to the playful, witty banter that we used to share exclusively. now, when we get close- i'm the one who takes control. it's a weird change of pace between the both of us, but i don't mind it one bit. it’s almost like i crave it.

once making the decision to go back to the compound, i swing myself across the city, eager to see edie. i get to the door and press a suit covered thumb over the touch screen. the glass door slides open and i slip into the cold air of the compound, making sure the glass shuts and locks behind me before i go any further.

i pull the mask off my head and stumble into the living room, hoping edie is somewhere close. when i don't see her, my face drops and i turn to jog down the hall towards her bedroom. not finding her again, i raise my hand to the comm in my ear and speak.

"e, you there? where've you run off to?" i turn on my heel again to step into my room down the hall. as i do so, her voice floods through my head.

"training room." she utters, her usual soft voice sounding hardened and cold. i quirk an eyebrow up as i change into more comfortable clothes, confused by the girls tone. nevertheless, i finish up and trot over to her.

as i round the corner, my eyes settle on her standing in the middle of the room, rolling her shoulders back with a knife in her hand. i stand quietly and watch her movements, hesitant to step in and become an accidental target. edie raises her arm to throw and adjusts her feet into a low stance. so quickly, i almost miss it, the knife flies through the air towards a human shaped figure. to my surprise- it clatters against the target and falls to the floor.

she lets out a groan and pulls at her hair, muttering profanities under her breath as she turns to see me staring. her body stiffens under my gaze and slowly she lowers her arms to her side, a doe-eyed expression on her face.

"you're back." she mutters. i take a few steps into the room and gulp at what i see. targets similar to the one she just attacked are shredded and thrown across the room in piles. there must have been fifty of them, each one damaged in a different way.

looking back at her, i force a smile on my face, "you've been busy, yeah?"

her eyes follow the path mine took and she shrugs, indifferent, "mhm. training." i nod hesitantly.

"have you slept at all?" i pipe up, curious at how long she has been here.

"not really, no."

another nod, and i shuffle over to the table that holds her collection of weapons. i'm impressed with her skills, seeing as she has no 'super powers'. but damn, she could take anyone down in seconds. i admire the girl in front of me, hoping she knows just how much i do. not long after, a bug of curiosity wiggles around my stomach.

"do...you think you could teach me?" the words slip out of my mouth before i can think of the consequences. edie looks at me with a stoney expression that makes my heart jump. i regret my words immediately, afraid that i offended her or something.

i try to take it back, "i mean- only if you want! i know it's stupid so you don't..."

the devilish smile that creeps along her face shuts me up, "i'll teach you."

i let out a small breath, "o-okay. i should probably go change." i say as i look down at my baggy clothes and compare them to her tight fitted ones. edie shakes her head and waltzes up to me, the smug smile still gracing her lips. i grow nervous, realizing i'm in her territory now. this is her thing, so i force myself to hand over the reigns.

she gestures to the rows of knives on the table, "take you pick, parker." her cool and confident voice sends a small shiver down my spine. i look closer at the table and gingerly run my fingers along each sharp edge. i stop at a knife with a shiny black blade and red handle and i pick it up to feel the weight of it in my hand. the blade isn't metal or steel and it has small ridges on the surface. i bring it closer to examine it even further.

"that's obsidian, black volcanic glass. it was used a lot in the stone ages," edie takes the knife from my hands and twirls the point on the tip of her finger, "it's sharper than steel, and nowadays surgeons use it in their scalpels...good choice, peter." she smiles up at me. i can feel my cheeks flush. she places it back in my palm and struts to the center of the mat, "we'll start close, hopefully you can hit the target. how's your aim?"

i roll my eyes at her taunting words and walk over to her place on the mat. edie strolls around me in circles, observing my body language- which is less confident than i'd like to admit. she stands in front of me and plants her hands firmly on my hips, twisting them into a desired position. next, she does the same with my shoulders, all the while sticking her tongue out in concentration.

then she comes to the knife in my hand and pulls it away, only to place it back and wrap my fingers around it one by one. it immediately feels more comfortable in my hand. she circles me one more time and hums in satisfaction at her work.

"now, obsidian is brittle, so it's really important to make your shot count or else you risk breaking the blade," edie comes back around my front and leans in close, her finger resting under my chin, "don't break my blade." she threatens with a smug smile curling at the edge of her lips. i can't stop my eyes from dropping down to look at them, and she notices.

edie traces her finger along my jaw line, making me shiver once again. i groan at the lack of control over my body and my eyes widen at the sound. she just smiles and lets her hand fall down my chest to finally rest at her side before taking a step back. she points behind her to a circular target a few yards away.

"give it a go." her voice grows softer, encouraging me to make a move. i tighten my grip around the knife and raise my arm to chuck it at the target. i stop short.

"could you...maybe show me first?"

|| taglist; @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @whycantileaveyou @lovewolfspirit @kitykatnumber @franksholland @goddamnit5sos @thehugslut

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