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#how the forest finds the island
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How the Forest Finds the Island
Backwater
Braking with his wings, Sen decelerated over the water, feet leaving a series of ripples as he skipped across the surface and stopped short on one of the delta's many islets. It was an unfamiliar and inscrutable place. Fog shrouded his surroundings and a myriad of insects buzzed.
Carefully, he picked his way between towering horsetails and trailing seed ferns, holding his fraying robes out of the pools his bare feet rippled through. As the vapours parted, he found his way blocked by a monolithic, muddy boulder.
He glanced back and forth, unsure whether to go around or take to the air and try somewhere else. Placing a hand on the unusually smooth stone, he decided to climb it and get a better view, when it moved.
Sen sprung back, immediately in defensive pose, as the brown mass hauled itself free with a squelch. Trailing pondweed and rotting slime, it raised itself on mighty, segmented legs and trundled with ponderous majesty into the murk, paying Sen no further heed.
"What was that?" he asked in a small voice, feeling very alone. He wasn't expecting an answer, but he got one anyway.
"That there's a sludgetruck."
A tall, thin fairy emerged from the gloom.
"How'reya, Sen, long time no see."
"Hi Simon. I'm relieved to find you here. Are your sons well?"
"Better than ever," confirmed the horsetail fairy, wading through the armpit-deep water left in the sludgetruck's wake. By the time he reached Sen, he was up to his chin. "C'mon, we'll go say hi."
"Should I…" began Sen, with a tentative step toward the deep track. Simon seemed to realise he was mostly underwater.
"Oh! Nah, we'll fly there."
His wings, arrayed in a circular configuration, rotated rapidly, lifting him seamlessly from the medium of water to air. Sen backed up, ran forwards to gather momentum and followed close behind.
-
They set down again on the shores of another muddy bank, this one clearly populated. Tall sticks jutted from the silt, lashed into platforms and bridges at the top. A pontoon of sturdy, buoyant vegetation extended out into the current.
Simon's twin boys, Benny and Sammy, came running.
"Hi Sen," called Benny, pirouetting to a stop on the mud like a figure skater.
"Oh, nice moves!" Laughed Sen, shaking hands with Sammy, who smiled and said nothing.
Simon and his extended family were known to nearly everyone. Although capable of flying great distances, fairies often settled in one spot for immense lengths of time, finding the place where their chosen plants grew best and then adapting to every aspect of it. Without prospects of settling new regions, which were oftentimes already taken, it made more sense not to uproot themselves and to focus on what they had.
The Candocks, though, were dynamic indeed. Their horsetails held near-uncontested dominance of shallow freshwater and riverbank habitats, and as such, there was always new territory to claim. Whenever a lake filled in or a new floodplain formed, they wouldn't be far behind, ready to reap the benefits.
"Let's see if the others are around," suggested Simon, throwing his head back and starting to sing, his sons spontaneously joining. As the last notes faded, Sen inquired who else was staying with them.
"Caden, Aylmer, Virgil…" hummed Simon, "and Anthon stops by sometimes."
"Ah, I haven't seen Caden in a long time! How's he doing?"
"Doin' just fine, thanks," a voice called out, a figure descending from one of the overhead platforms.
"Hey Gongsun," Caden smirked, high fiving him. "What trouble have you been getting into?"
"None, but thank you for asking. I presume you've had more than your fair share?"
"Naturally," Caden flaunted. "Why, last time I saw Drago, we ended up with the most obscene-"
"Yes Caden, thank you, that'll do," interjected Simon firmly. "We were dealing with the aftereffects for months. Anyway, the others will probably stop by shortly, if you'd like to have a cup of tea while you wait?"
"I'd love to!" answered Sen, following Simon out to a little house that bobbed on the pontoon.
As none of them had any skill in fire magic, the tea was served cold; not Sen's favourite, but Simon was being a very gracious host, so he didn't complain. They sat cross-legged on the floorboards, sipping contemplatively. Caden popped in with a stack of starchy crackers, then fluttered up to Sammy and Benny, who were launching themselves off one of the high platforms into the water.
Simon told Sen a little of the wetland's local ecology, describing how it had been sterile, black sand when they arrived, and how the slow accumulation of rotting stems as their horsetails collected in the water had begun to introduce nutrients and structural stability. Aylmer and Caden had shown up once there was sufficient mud for their seed ferns to put down roots, drawn there as if by magic. It probably was magic, come to think of it - Caden always seemed to have a preternatural sense of when fresh turf had appeared. Invertebrates and fish had begun to disperse in from the sea at around the same time.
"How are Benny and Sammy finding it?" asked Sen. "I'm sure they're used to moving around with you by now?"
"Sammy likes it," answered Simon. "Think it suits 'im better than Epiphyllia. Always some arsehole or another making life difficult for 'im there, tryna scare 'im off 'is spot. 'Ere 'e 'as room to be 'imself."
Sen made a sympathetic noise. Benny and Sammy were actually a fair bit older than he was, but they were late bloomers, so to speak. Sammy in particular had stayed under his father's wing for much of the Paleozoic. With the shaking-up of Ecosystems in the Triassic as Epiphyllia and Laurelland separated, he had become more independent, but was still shy by nature.
"How long do you think you'll stay?" Sen continued.
Simon rubbed his trim beard of horsetail microphylls. "I reckon the plants'll be fine with no further input from us. Maybe by next year we'll be setting up shop on the far side of this island, or the next."
"Do you know how many islands make up the archipelago?"
"That's the thing, mate, nobody does. Growing all the time, see?"
Sen leaned back on the floor, considering the rising lava that Osmund had been gazing over. Who, indeed, could guess the scale at which this process was being replicated.
"Also, Aylmer was saying 'e'd-" Simon stopped short as someone popped like a cork from the water and landed, perfectly balanced, further out on the pontoon. Sen couldn't help but stare.
It wasn't Aylmer or Anthon, who he knew fairly well. This was someone new.
A moss? An alga?? Sen had genuine trouble trying to piece together what kind of plants he represented from his appearance. He was pale and skinny, with an incredibly toned physique. His tresses were remarkably short and appeared plastered to his scalp. The only clothing he wore was a set of equally short trunks, likewise plastered to his hips.
As he walked with quick steps down the platform, Simon went to greet him, Sen in tow.
"Virgil, my man! What was your time today?"
"Still can't beat my record," he replied, giving Simon a quick smile before his face settled into an unreadable, stony expression.
"You were swimming?" inquired Sen, an ever-so incredulous note in his voice.
Virgil raised an eyebrow a fraction of a degree and uttered a monosyllabic "yes."
Sen paused, waiting for him to say more, but Virgil simply looked him in the eye. When the tension became too much, Sen cast around for somewhere, anywhere else to direct his attention, pretending he was interested in whatever Caden was up to.
Simon coughed. "I take it you don't know each other. Virgil, this is Gongsun Sen, Sen, Virgil Villous." They bowed stiffly to each other.
"Enchanted," said Virgil, his voice giving no more away than his face.
"Me too, I mean same, I mean, the enchantment is all mine," floundered Sen.
"Do you feel like tea?" Offered Simon.
"No thank you," declined Virgil. "I'm going to find a sunny spot."
He took off at a brisk jog.
"'Lad's on a diet," explained Simon, after a self-conscious lull. "Just sunlight and water."
"What, he doesn't eat at all?"
"Not that I've seen. Thinks 'aving unnecessary organic matter inside 'im will just slow 'im down."
"How abstemious."
Sen watched as Virgil landed on the ooze, his feet barely sinking into it, and sprang away into the mist. He had wings, but they were tiny, and certainly couldn't take his weight. Sen wondered if they were a hindrance while swimming. Or maybe he used them as fins? Shaking his head at that strange thought, he followed Simon back indoors.
-
They relaxed a while longer. Simon mentioned that Girjesh had passed through a few years back, but he hadn't seen him since. Last he heard, his plan was to cross to the next island, where conditions were just right for his jointfirs to take hold.
"By the way, are the rest of your family around?" wondered Sen. "I haven't seen them."
"Yeah, they're around. Wesley and Melvin drop in every now and again, and I believe Fabian made the crossing, but 'aven't seen sight nor sound of 'im since we got 'ere."
"Keeps to himself. I can respect that," quipped Sen, eliciting a laugh from Simon.
The mist was starting to clear, and the sun was setting over the marshes. Sen watched dragonflies hunting and ripples spreading in the water.
"Thank you most kindly for your generosity. I must come and see you again before you move on."
"You're always welcome here," replied Simon, the two of them heading outside. "Safe travels."
"Wish the others well from me."
Sen got airborne and glided back inland, the fresh sea breeze as buoyant as he felt.
---
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treecove · 1 year
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i wanted to show off my home and then got distracted by cannibal neighbours before remembering what i was doing
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moth-whisperer · 1 year
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In a post apocalyptic scenario where my hormonal iud inevitably stops working and I have to deal with my period again, diva cups really are the best option. I still carry a collapsible one in my bag and honestly that would be in my apocalypse bug out bag, thank god someone gave Ellie a diva cup
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urfriendlywriter · 5 months
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How to get to know your characters better?
(feel free to add your own thoughts to this list, hope it helps!) req by @miricalebabyy44 <3
what will your character be like if they were in your shoes?
is your oc the mom friend or the dad or the childish one in their friendgroup ?
do those "poet, king, soldier" quiz for your oc. im being fr
do the "36 questions to fall in love" quiz as your oc.
ik your ocs trauma have an impact on their character, but how would they be like, if they hadn't gone through that experience?
does your oc have similar tastes as you do? (music, art, fashion, coffee/tea etctetc)
will they "i only live once so I'll do it for the plot." or will they "i only live once ffs, i don't wanna die." ?
what is your ocs opinion of love? how is/was their love life on a scale of 1-10?
will your oc let go of someone precious to them when they know they're putting them at danger?
around whom does your oc lets their guard down?
are they romantically constipated or a hopeless romantic?
what type of music does ur oc like?
write a lot about your oc if you're struggling to get to know them. find a drabble prompt, and write what they'd do.
do they trust others easily or do they get trusted by others easily?
what is something your oc will never talk to anyone about? (their answer can be deep, like some emo trauma or like smthng like back when they shit their pants or smthng yk)
do they give off golden retriever energy, or a black cat energy? (or both?)
what will THEIR opinion be on YOUR current life? will they be ur friend? will they trust you?
will your oc survive in a fantasy setting, a war setting, a dystopian setting, a futuristic setting, a medieval setting? will ur oc survive after getting stranded on an island, or a forest?
does your oc like their parents, do they like how their life is, do they feel like they're born in the right gen?
if they are ever to get one wish definitely granted, what would they wish for?
how did they react to their first kiss? (if they have had it by now lmao)
what's an ideal day for your oc?
lastly, who does your oc go to when they've fucked up?
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dreamchasernina · 2 months
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So I had to stop on episode 6. Gonna continue watching tonight. I just have one thing to say so far. People think a good adaptation is the one that follows the story of the original. It’s not. It’s the characters. The characters are the ones that made the original so good. And none of them are as fleshed out here. You cannot seriously tell me the katara you see in the original is the one you see in the live action.
The writers decided to take the struggle and the growth of the characters away. I’m on episode 6. So far, Aang had everything come so easy to him, he didn’t struggle at all. Kyoshi fought for him at Kyoshi island. He enters the spirit world so easily, he finds Roku so freaking fast, he immediately knows Hei Bai is the spirit of the forest, out of nowhere. He learns absolutely nothing through those 6 episode. I could talk for hours about how that scene with Gyatso was a cop out. Why should their main character suffer right? He shouldn’t. So they just make up a scene where Aang meets Gyatso and he just outright tells him there’s nothing he could have done so he shouldn’t feel guilty.
The OG never had that scene. Because the OG knew the audience was smart enough to realize it themselves. There was nothing Aang could have done if he hadn’t run away, he would have died. But Aang needs to realize this himself, he needs to confront his feelings, learn from his mistakes, forgive himself and move on. But these days, writers don’t want their characters going through a journey, nope, the characters are just perfect, from the beginning to end.
Same said for Zuko. The writers apparently decided to make him softer, have higher morals, not as angry or determined, because that would make Zuko complex and interesting. He was good at heart in the OG show too, but he was spoiled and angry and violent. He’s none of that here, he’s gentle and respectful to everyone and just wants to capture the avatar, but not too much though. Zuko doesn’t even give everything he has to capture Aang, he doesn’t hire pirates, he doesn’t hire June himself (Iroh has to convince him to do it), he doesn’t follow Aang into the fire nation, you don’t feel his desperation, his determination, just how much he wants to go home. How could his journey feel interesting when we don’t see the dramatic shift in his character? The most interesting character in the show is not as ineteresting when he doesn’t go from a spoiled angry hurt teenager to an honorable smart and compassionate young man.
Yes, the story is fine, the visuals are nice, but it’s all very surface level. Everything is just flat.
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yaoyaobae · 1 year
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Its been awhile and i have another OC to share LOL gotta draw brain rots instead of keeping them in your head forever ☺️💖
Name: Aurore Dormir
School: Royal Sword Academy
Pastime: Escaping school to wander in the nearby forest, spending time alone
Hobbies: Sightseeing, Gardening, Fencing.
Family: Father, Mother , *Brother ( silver, please refer to the last note regarding my own theory)
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Aurore is a third year student at RSA, currently house warden of the sleeping beauty inspired dorm.
Aurore is also the next king of the Kingdom of Heroes, which naturally made him the center of attention in RSA.
Unlike Malleus whose powerful aura pushes people away from him, Aurore draws people towards him as they feel a sense of security around him.
He was only recently enrolled into school during his second year as his family brought him back from isolation for training, far away from the world’s eyes.
At first glance, Aurore may seem like the ideal dream prince: Kind, Polite, Courageous, Strong and Smart as he is consistent in securing top grades across his cohort. But deep down, he isn’t exactly the perfect prince most of his peers think he is.
Aurore is actually afraid of strangers and overwhelming attention ( he was raised in isolation so meeting humans are.. yeah) He is skilled at hiding his weakness but starts blanking out if there are too many people crowding around him.
As a result, he finds happiness in spending time alone in places where no one recognises him. He usually takes a short stroll around Sage Island’s various forests when his caretakers aren’t looking.
Strangely, Aurore mentions that his enjoyment from lonely strolls only existed because he would suddenly find himself in unknown places as a child…as if something or someone was calling him. But he became mentally stronger as he got older and knows how to guard himself during his impromptu walks.
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Bonus personal theory/lore:
Hi! So if you have been following me since i started creating twst ocs, you would be familiar with a certain comic i drew for an Aurora Oc ( its not exactly Aurore because i didn’t flesh him out) . But to sum up my theory for that comic:
There was once a powerful kingdom that clashed with briar valley, humans and fae did not get along as well back then.
Somewhere in between the war, both of the queen’s sons were cursed by a powerful magician and separated at birth. The queen initially wanted to send her two sons far away from the castle, but only managed to send one tucked away in a casket that drifted on a hidden river which led to a forest.
The war ended a few days later, with both fae and humans forming a truce. The queen fell into depression after realising that her second son probably did not make it and blamed herself for not keeping him a little longer had she known he would have been safe and alive in her arms.
Time heals wounds, and with some reassurance from the King the Queen got back up on her feet stronger for the sake of her people. Of course, sometimes the servants would catch a glimpse of the lonely Queen staring into the far forests wondering if she will ever see those small pair of Aurora coloured eyes again.
Because the Queen conceived her two sons alone away from the servants, only she and the King were aware of their other missing son. The three fairy advisors who had protected them from the very start told the Queen that if word of two cursed princes were to spread, the kingdom would be doomed to fall . The Queen had no choice but to accept this decision, and so they entrusted their only son to the three fairies in case the curse within him acts up. Hence Aurore was raised in isolation away from the world’s attention and only enrolled in his second year to prevent the curse from possibly manifesting.
In this story I created Silver is the missing prince in question who drifted far into the forest and eventually picked up by Lilia. His only proof of his royal status is a ring with an aurora coloured gem (Book 7 mention).
Regarding the curse: Silver was cursed to feel drowsy all the time while Aurore was cursed to follow a voice in his head which leads him to sleepwalk into dangerous places alone. Silver’s hair colour reminds me of the spindle/needle, so in a way he contains the sleeping curse. Like Aurora, Aurore is drawn into strange places by a voice and eventually to the spindle. Hence these two will always feel an unfamiliar sense of closeness to each other.
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“Yao why do you think Silver would have a brother? Much less the RSA guy inspired by Aurora? Doesn’t Silver already have Aurora’s traits?”
In general this is just my own fun theory to think about, but my reasons are because i think it would be interesting if Silver canonically had living family member(s) from a royal family( that ring kinda tells all). It would also put him in place wondering if he should return to his biological human family or stay with his Briar Valley family as he feels a stronger bond with them. With the way TWST tackles issues about fae/human like Sebek from example, i would love to see Silver’s resolve for his found family.
In my old comic, the Aurora OC actually dislikes Fae because of the war. He especially hates Lilia because he believed the war criminal took his own brother away and is promoting peace despite his past.
I feel Aurore would dislike Lilia but eventually learns to see the war from both sides as humans aren’t all that great either, he is still a naive prince with much to learn about the world. So while Silver does have Aurora’s trait, Aurore may have some of King Stefan’s from Maleficent/OG film. TWST tends to combine diff character traits anyways🌝👍
Anyways I adore these two so much and am looking forward to Silver’s past in the future updates! Thank you for reading about Aurore, till next time 💖
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headspace-hotel · 9 months
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So growing up I heard these kinds of statements: "X number of species goes extinct every year" and "Most species that go extinct are undescribed/undiscovered"
And I could never really picture what that looked like. What species were going extinct? Where? Why? If they're undiscovered, how do we know about it? It's only recently that I've been able to understand.
This is an example:
Since European colonization, 99% of old growth forest in the eastern United States was cut down.
In Eastern Kentucky, the coal industry led to waste and rubble being dumped in valleys, literally burying countless mountain streams in gravel and toxic sludge.
Colonialism and exploitation moved faster than leaf-sketching and bug-collecting European naturalists did. It's very simple, and very sad. When the coal mines polluted the streams, many species of fish that only lived in one specific stream must have gone extinct. When Native Americans were forced off their lands, we can presume that rare plant species found in meadows, canebrakes and oaks savannas dependent on particular anthropogenic disturbances went extinct. When old-growth tracts were logged, God only knows how many lichens, mosses, ferns and plants went extinct because the trees they lived on were chopped.
We can extrapolate from the diversity in the fragments that remain, and the number of rare endemic species in especially isolated areas, and guess what probably existed in areas that were obliterated early on.
Keep in mind: All is not lost. New species are still being discovered.
The Bluegrass region of Kentucky was once called one of the most peculiar plant communities of the South—an eastern island of oak savanna with an understory of Arundinaria bamboo and legumes. Early European settlers reported that the ground was incredibly rich and covered with knee-high clover and dense thickets of "cane" (bamboo) that made navigation next to impossible.
Some people say the Bluegrass was always a forest and the savanna theory is wrong. Bullshit! I know this because of several reasons:
The earliest records don't mention any sycamores at all in the Bluegrass, whereas river cane (bamboo) was everywhere. Arundinaria bamboos are fire dependent species, whereas sycamore is HIGHLY intolerant of fire. From this we can infer that the area had a history of frequent burning.
Everyone in the Bluegrass knows about the Old Trees. In horse and cattle pastures in the Bluegrass region, you will sometimes see gigantic, twisted old oaks, with great spreading crowns. Nowadays you hardly see an oak that properly merits the term "gnarled," but the gnarl of the Old Trees is crazy. Just look up google images for Kentucky tourism and you'll see one of those huge trees in the background of several of the photos, I bet. Hardly anyone consciously thinks about it, but these are pre-colonization trees. And they are all obviously open-grown—their growth habit over the centuries has spread out, rather than grown straight up as in a forest.
Early colonizers' records report big walnut and cherry trees in the area. Most of the old houses in the area are made of walnut wood. Those are mid-successional species—you wouldn't find them dominating in an area that was heavily disturbed regularly and recently, they're trees, but you wouldn't find them in a forest that had been minimally disturbed forest for centuries either. The fact that they got huge suggests that a regular disturbance pattern of the Bluegrass region was abruptly interrupted and mostly ceased.
It was a pretty special place, a savanna environment with a mix of giant twisted oaks, rolling prairie hills and bamboo thickets, with deep sinkholes connecting the surface to subterranean cave ecosystems. In places the limestone bedrock reached the surface, creating limestone glades—unique desert-like habitats with many rare plants including Opuntia cactus.
It was also one of the first ecosystems west of the Appalachians to be destroyed by settlers.
BUT! Just a few years ago, we discovered Trifolium kentuckiense—Kentucky clover. A unique species of clover that has only been found in two spots in Central Kentucky.
This means the Bluegrass species that probably went extinct because their habitat was ignorantly logged, plowed and grazed before they were studied by European science may not be entirely gone.
We have been able to fund exhaustive inventories of potential holdouts for big flashy animals like the ivory-billed woodpecker, but so many people view the place they live as "boring" and thoroughly explored, when there could be surviving plants hanging out just about anywhere.
But...I don't think most people realize how much of the Holocene extinction has already happened. Most of the losses are plants and bugs that you never knew existed in the first place.
I feel like lots of people are anxiously waiting for the mass extinction to "start" hitting, but that's not quite right. European colonization of the globe WAS and *is* the mass extinction (combined with climate change which is very related). It's actively ongoing in the Global South. In eastern North America, the major wave of extinctions hit between 100 and 300 years ago.
I feel so much grief for all that was almost certainly lost forever, but I also recognize that I live in a unique period of time where the future can still be changed, and in particular, the heavily damaged ecosystems of the Southeast can be restored and used to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and provide resilience to the entire globe. And I strongly suspect at least a few mysterious new plants will start popping up once that happens...because a lot of plants stick around in the soil seed bank for a long, long time, and seeds can happen to be preserved by freak accident and then sprout later.
we (researchers, scientists, people who work in this field) will desperately need to consult tribal nations for this though because from my reading into it, we don't know what the fuck we're doing. The most basic things like controlled burns are still struggling to catch on and in some places just, spraying herbicides willy-nilly on invasive plants without understanding what makes them invasive.
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dilemmaontwolegs · 11 months
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The Best Kept Secret on the Grid || Part Three
MV, CL, CS, LH, LN, PG x fem!reader Warnings: primal play, smut, oral, cumplay, mxm, foursomes WC: 3.1k
F1 Masterlist || Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four
You asked, I answered - love Ollie xxx
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Gentle waves lapped against the yacht as it was moored in the bay of the private island Max had hired for the week. Your morning had been spent enjoying the ocean spray and the sun with Max navigating the pristine waters of the Mediterranean before you had convinced him to leave the captain's chair and join you on the top deck. 
It was lucky there was nothing around for miles or the boat might have run aground when he saw you were sunbathing nude because he didn’t make it back to the steering wheel for quite some time. 
“I have a surprise,” Max said as he helped you step off the boat and onto the pier that led to the waterfront villa. 
Your already bright smile grew as a quad bike came down the beach and you grew impatient as Max failed to explain anything further. “Well, don’t leave me hanging,” you urged him. “What’s the surprise?”
“You’ll find out,” he teased before grabbing your hips and lifting you onto the back of the quad driven by one of the staff that maintained the villa. “Everything you need is in the backpack.”
He tipped your head back and crushed his lips to yours, nipping your bottom one as he pulled away smirking. “I’ll see you soon.”
You would have opened the backpack to try and figure out what was happening but the ATV revved and your hands were preoccupied with grabbing the handles as you were sequestered away. The ride was nowhere near as smooth as the yacht had been on the sea and you bounced around as the man Max had entrusted your safety to left the beach and drove inland, deep into the forest you had yet to explore.
“Nous voilà. Bonne chance,” he said as he stopped in a clearing with a small lake. Your French may have been limited but even you knew ‘goodluck’ when you heard it and you frowned as you hopped out of the offroad vehicle, grabbing the backpack before he left again.
“What the hell, Max,” you muttered as you were left alone and the sound of the bike was replaced with birdsong. 
There were staff all over the island, topping up supplies in the villa and maintaining the land, but they were very adept at keeping to the shadows to give you the privacy that was expected with your stay. You only hoped they were somewhere nearby as you took a seat at the edge of the water and opened the backpack to see an envelope with your name on it.
We know how much you love the chase and you know we love the competition, so while you and Max were off island we snuck on.  For each hour you escape us, another joins the hunt. Goodluck, Charles, Lewis, Carlos, Checo, Lando, Fernando, Pierre & George.
Your heart jumped at the thrill they offered and you opened the bag open further to see some warm clothes to go over the swimsuit you still wore along with shoes, food and water, as well as a map and compass. You unfolded the map first and saw there were places marked that offered more supplies before checking your watch. It was a little after noon and with sunset tending to be just before 9pm you could see yourself enjoying the night with all of them, if you could evade them for nine hours. 
It didn’t escape your notice that the names were in the same order of the driver standings and you knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task hiding from them on the island. It wasn’t that large but the forest offered the best chance with its cover so you pulled on the clothes and packed the bag up again before setting off into the bush, keeping your heading north with the compass.
The first hour passed quickly with you looking over your shoulder every ten seconds but the second hour grew a little tiresome as the initial burst of adrenaline retreated and the solitude of the dense trees left you going stir crazy. 
By late afternoon you knew Max, Charles, Lewis and Carlos were definitely about with Checo likely already having joined them too. It was Carlos’ laugh that alerted you to their proximity and you daren’t breathe as you dropped to the ground and rolled under a thicket of bush. Your ears pounded as your heart rate spiked and blood pumped furiously around your body. Excitement of the chase warred with the need to get caught and it took all your self control to keep still as they passed your hidden position. 
“Sucks to be you, mate,” Carlos teased, “you’ll be fighting your own brother for her next season.”
The thought of sharing the Leclerc brothers stoked the fire igniting in your body and your thighs pressed together tightly.
“Do you see any Alfa Romeo drivers here?” Charles shot back. 
“He makes a very good point,” Max said with a laugh. “But if you were champion you wouldn’t have to fight anyone.”
“Yeah,” Charles scoffed and you could picture him shaking his head.
“It’s not impossible to do, fucking difficult, don’t get me wrong, but not impossible,” Lewis noted as their voices faded off with the snaps of sticks under their boots. 
The last thing you heard was Checo suggesting splitting into smaller groups to cover more area and the others agreeing, you didn’t hear who teamed up with who.
Another two hours had passed by the time you reached the northern beach of the island, long shadows chasing the retreating tide as the temperature started dropping. It was quite the relief to find that a glamping tent had been set up and inside was a warm meal as well as more clothing and there was even a solar shower after all the walking you had done.  There was no way you were going to pass up the chance to have a hot shower and quickly stripped off your clothes before stepping under the refreshing water. 
If you weren’t so tired from the unexpected exercise the afternoon brought you might have questioned how the meal was hot or why the tent wasn’t on the map. 
“Well, well, look who wandered in,” Pierre chuckled as he stepped into the tent with a towel hung low on his hips, George at his side with wet hair and a grin on his lips. “This is a surprise.”
You froze as you realised this wasn’t a supply tent for you but where the guys were waiting for their time to join the hunt. “Fuck,” you cursed and stepped out from under the spray of water to grab a towel. 
“No need to cover up, love,” George tutted as crossed the distance in two long strides and blocked the shelf full of them. “I quite like you as you are.”
You looked at his watch and bit your lip at the heat of his stare. “You’re not playing yet.”
His thumb caught a drop of water clinging to your bottom lip and your nipples peaked as the air cooled around you. “I never play when it comes to you.”
Pierre watched with an amused look as he sat back on the bed that had been made with the same neatness as the beds in the villa. “It’s kind of a shame you’re here really, I was looking forward to hunting you down.”
Your chest rose and fell with quick breaths as you enjoyed the same thought. “You could let me go, there’s still five minutes.”
His head tilted as he pondered the decision but your attention was torn when George’s knuckles traced your jawline before trailing down your neck and over your collarbone, a soft sigh parting your lips at the touch. 
“Tempting,” George muttered, “but we can hardly let you walk out of here when you look at us like that.” 
A shiver rolled down your spine as your tired muscles were refreshed with an injection of adrenaline and a smile played at your lips. Unable to help yourself, you grabbed George’s hips and rose on your tiptoes to brush your lips across his cheek. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
Your fingers curled into his towel and pulled it from his hips as you ran out of the tent, Pierre’s deep laugh promising retribution as it followed you out. “Four minutes, chérie!”
Your feet were flying as you sprinted off the beach and back into the treeline knowing Pierre would be hot on your heels the moment the hour clicked over. You checked your watch to see how much time was left and cursed as you remembered taking it off to shower. 
You didn’t have a single clue what direction you were heading, all you wore was George’s towel and the low sun barely saturated the canopy of leaves overhead. Realistically, you weren’t sure you could outrun the guys for another hour to get your share of them all but you kept trying.
Your lungs burned and your bare feet hurt but you kept your head down and kept moving before bursting through the tree line into a clearing, crashing into the back of someone. You both fell to the ground with a surprised shout and he managed to wrap his arms around you before the impact came but the towel managed to come free. Rolling on top of him, you straddled his waist and pinned his shoulders down.
“Got you.”
Charles' stunned expression only lasted a second before he grinned. “The hunter becomes the hunted.”
“Where are your clothes?” Max asked as he picked up the towel and you saw Carlos in the clearing too, the trio making up one of the teams they split into.
You dragged your eyes up the length of his body and licked your lips. “Why, want me to cover up?”
“No fucking way, hermosa,” Carlos replied quickly as he took the towel from Max and balled it up before throwing it back into the bush. “This is perfect.”
“You look cold,” Charles commented as he pushed himself up on his elbows to flick his tongue over your nipples and a needy whine poured from you. “I think between the three of us we can warm you up.”
Your mind went blank at the promise of being between them and your hips rocked over his in search of friction. “Please…”
Carlos was already shucking his jacket and ripping his belt out of the loops with a sharp snap so he could kick off his jeans while Max was content to lean against a tree, arms crossed as he watched the scene unfold before him.
Your head fell back with a cry when Charles bit the swell of your breast and your knees tightened around him in response to the bolt of lightning you felt in your core. “Fuck, I missed those sounds,” he groaned as he pulled away before tugging you up his body and positioning your cunt over his lips. “Not as much as I missed how you taste.”
The heat of his breath blowing across your core was nothing compared to his tongue as he tasted you for the first time in weeks and your jaw fell slack with a moan. 
“That’s it, baby, open wide,” Carlos praised, his fist pumping slowly up and down his cock as stepped closer. 
There was something wild and freeing with being lost in the middle of a remote island, the scents of the earth and natural light colliding with the dominant energy rolling off the men. And knowing there were even more of them out there searching for you made you feral with need. 
Your lips sealed around Carlos and your nails dug into his ass as you pulled him closer, burying him down your throat until you gagged. His hand found its way to the back of your head and he held you there as your eyes watered and you almost had to tap out.
“Dios mío,” he moaned as he watched you gasp for air before taking him once again, tears staining your cheeks. 
Your legs began to tremble around Charles and he moaned as your arousal ran down his chin. The tension that had been building all day finally peaked and stars danced around your vision as Charles’ tongue and Carlos’ cock found the perfect rhythm.
Carlos grinned as your eyelashes fanned across your cheeks, droplets glistening along them while your throat tightened around him. “That’s a good girl,” he praised and wrapped his large hand around your throat to feel your struggles with his size. 
Your orgasm shattered every inch of you and your cries were smothered as Carlos’ hand tightened, his hips thrusting forward as he joined you. His taste filled your mouth and you hummed as it ran down your chin before you climbed back down Charles' body and saw the mess on his face.
“Open your mouth, Charles,” Max said with a smirk as he pushed off the tree and knelt beside him. Charles obeyed in an instant but Max wasn’t satisfied as he caught his chin and opened his mouth wider. “Go on, baby, he’s dying for a taste too.”
You leaned forward and parted your lips, letting the thick stream of cum flow into Charles’ mouth before he pulled you down and shared the taste on your tongue with a deep groan.
“How was your warm up?” Max asked as he lifted you off Charles. Your feet touched the ground and though they were a little weak from the orgasm they seemed stable enough.
“Warm up?”
Max checked his phone and chuckled before he slapped your ass. “Run, rabbit, run.”
Carlos’ laugh echoed Max’s from where he was pulling his boxers back up his thick thighs. “Here come the wolves.”
Two British accents caught your attention from somewhere in the trees and everyone turned to the sound but while they were distracted you bolted in the opposite direction, your legs bumbling like a newborn fawn. You barely made it fifty yards before a pair of strong arms caught you and you let out a surprised scream as the ground disappeared from under your feet. 
Your already smarting ass took a fresh smack from Lewis’ large hand and you moaned as the heat spread across your skin. Peering up from where you had been tossed over his shoulder, you smiled as Lando caught up with his own lopsided grin. 
“Hey gorgeous,” he greeted before Lewis turned around to say something to him but Lando was a little distracted. “Oh, hello gorgeous.” 
His lips felt refreshingly cool against the handprints burning backside and you fell limp against Lewis’ back with a sigh at how good it felt. The upside down world starting to spin when Lewis held your legs apart so Lando could fuck you with his fingers and you quickly got lightheaded from it all. 
“Tu vas bien?”
You worked hard to push yourself up to see Pierre had found you with his trademark smirk painted on his face and you gave him the thumbs up as your lips parted with another breathless moan. “Just exploring the island.”
“So I see,” he chuckled as he circled around you. “Heads or tails?”
“Heads,” Lewis called before Pierre tossed a coin in the air and slapped it down on his hand, Lewis’ deep laugh vibrating through you at the result. For a second you were almost airborne before he caught you and lowered your feet back to the ground to see the damp mark on his shirt. His smile was one of pure indulgence as he held your eyes and lifted the material to his lips and tasted you with a hum of satisfaction. “On your knees, babygirl.”
Your fingers worked his belt open and pulled his cargo pants down as you sank to your knees, your hand wrapping around his thick cock before you wet your lips. A pair of hands gripped your hips and you moaned around your mouthful as Lando pulled you back to meet his thrust.
“Fuck, you’re so wet, gorgeous,” Lando groaned happily.
Needing to breathe, you pulled back with a gasp and peeked over your shoulder to see Pierre pressed against Lando’s back and your core clenched as both of their eyes fluttered shut in pleasure.
“Oh my fuck,” you moaned as a delightful shiver spread across your body and Pierre placed his hands over Lando’s, holding your hips too as he set the pace.
“You like that, babygirl?” Lewis asked with a knowing smile as he ran a thumb over your swollen lips. “You want to watch them too?”
You nodded eagerly and tongue lashed across the pad of his thumb before you sucked it into your mouth and his chest rose quickly with the deep breath he took. He pulled you away from Lando, the emptiness only lasting a moment as he spun you around to face them and stretched your cunt as he snapped his hips forward.
Your hands braced on Lando’s chest and he stole the startled cry by crushing his lips against yours. You broke away breathless and your head fell back to rest in the crook of Lewis’ neck.
“Open your eyes,” Pierre ordered and they snapped open at the command to meet his over Lando’s shoulder.
Your eyes trailed down Lando’s body to where Pierre was stroking his hard length smoothly thanks to your arousal slick on his palms. You could hardly breathe as Lewis matched their pace, his tattooed hand reaching around you to find your clit.
“Uh-uh, eyes, chérie.”
Heat spread up your spine and tremors followed as the pleasure built to breaking point. It was the deep moan that Lando made as he came that tipped you over the edge and your fingers gathered the cum that warmed your skin so you could taste him too.
“Oh, babygirl,” Lewis moaned in your ear before spanking his palm across your ass. “You’re so tight, I can’t even, ugh,” his words were lost to his bliss as he rolled his hips slowly, milking every last drop that had begun to leak down your thighs.
“Putain,” Pierre swore as saw the delicious mess that had been made and slammed his dick into Lando one last time before spilling his own.
For a moment the clearing was silent except for the heavy breathing from all the exertion but then a slow clap started and Max, Charles and Carlos stepped out from the trees.
“Please don’t make me run again,” you panted from where you were sitting on Lewis’ lap, a sheen of sweat coating your skin. “I can’t feel my legs.”
“You’re welcome,” Lewis chuckled low in your ear.
“Luckily, the villa is just through those trees,” Max said as he pointed behind you and sure enough there were lights when you looked properly. “You, my little rabbit, have earned a bit of recovery time. After all, we have all night.”
Click here for part four.
Tagging: @slytherheign @alwaysclassyeagle @godess-of-mist @leahstf @mydutchproblem
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syrupfog · 15 days
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The thing about Zoro— is that he’s lost. 
What he doesn’t tell his crew is that he hasn’t always been lost. 
He remembers being a kid, remembers running after Kuina every chance he had. He was ALWAYS able to track her down, always able to find her when no one else was.
He knew the land around the dojo like the back of his hand. He HAD to, since in the beginning he was sleeping in the underbrush outside and pretending to come from the edge of the village for practice every day. 
The thing is, is he doesn’t know exactly when it changed.
It was sometime after be became a pirate hunter, he knows that. But timelines get tricky when he’s not sure if he was getting lost with Johnny and Yosaku because they were in a new land together, or if he was getting lost FROM them, outside of his control.
He doesn’t like to dwell on such things, things he clearly can’t change. During really lost moments he’s considered asking Chopper if it’s some sort of sickness, some brain problem, but then he steadies himself and pushes that thought down.
If he’s sick he’s sick, and if Chopper thought it was curable he would have already cured it. 
Robin mentioned once that she wondered if maybe the curse of his sword has something to do with it, and if that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter. He’s not getting rid of any of them.
His swords are as important to him as breathing. He would be nothing without them.
Still, sometimes, as he takes the third wrong turn in as many minutes, lost to the trees around him, his thoughts turn sour as he thinks back to Kuina.
Kuina, who he could, without fail, instinctually find. Kuina, who always gave him an exasperated look when he popped up demanding a rematch.
He never questioned it, at the time, his ability to locate her. It wasn’t a marvelous ability, it was just what needed to be done.
And now, no matter how hard he tries, the frustration gets to him as he realises his crew is out of reach. Not because they’re dead, not because they’ve been kidnapped, but just because he is fundamentally incapable of locating them. 
All these trees look the fucking same.
And he wonders what good he is, a first mate who can’t even find his crew. He wonders (not that he would ever voice these thoughts) if they see him as lesser— not in the joking way they tell him off for getting lost, but in a real, true, instinctual way.
Is he unreliable? Is he failing them? 
He growls and unsheathes Wado, letting loose a strike that chops down about twenty trees in front of him but leads only to more forest. 
Kuina had needed him and he hadn’t been there. What happens when he’s not there for his own crew?
They’re capable, but so had Kuina been. 
If Kuina had been lost, Zoro could have found her. He’s sure of it. But if his crew now were to get lost, he’d be useless to find them. 
Useless like he is right now, wandering in fucking circles while his thoughts follow the same spiral.
He knows his thoughts are getting too sour, knows he needs to center himself, so, with a growl of frustration, he plops himself down on the forest floor, cross legged, and starts to meditate. 
It takes longer to clear his mind when he’s agitated, but he breathes deep.
His crew is strong, he tells himself. They can survive without him, if needs be. If he never finds them again, they will still be safe. If it takes him three islands to find them, he will manage. 
He’s reached a place of neutrality in his mind, assurances repeating, when—
“Mosshead, are you ready to come home yet?” 
Zoro opens his eyes. 
Sanji is there. 
He’s got a cigarette in his mouth and hands on his hips, looking down at Zoro with an expression that Zoro wouldn’t SAY is fond exasperation, but he might think it.
“What are you doing out here, Cook?” Zoro asks, wary. Is there a harem in the woods he doesn’t know about? 
Sanji snorts. “Finding you, of course,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 
Finding… Zoro. 
“Huh,” says Zoro.
He rises to his feet and Sanji pivots ninety degrees. “Come on,” he says. “We’re about forty minutes from the Sunny, and dinner’s going to be late at this rate.” 
He reaches back, blindly, and grabs Zoro’s wrist, pulling him forward.
Zoro looks down at his wrist as he walks, then up at Sanji. “How’d you know where I was?” He asks. 
Sanji’s not looking at him, but the smoke from his cigarette blows back in Zoro’s face. “Stupid,” he says. “I always know where you are. Your green hair is like a beacon.”
‘I always know where you are’. 
Zoro stumbles, just a little, just for a moment. 
He thinks of Kuina. Of finding Kuina. 
The hand around his wrist feels like fire. 
Zoro had… forgotten… that someone could find HIM, too.
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thatdeadaquarius · 2 months
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College be kicking my ass but we continue on like Scaramouche (alive and kicking, but still crabby about it all lmfao)
Random idea but what happens when the acolytes got hold of Creator that is able to squeeze into small places (like a cat would but less liquid) and knows how to escape? Think of sagau but instead of all the deaths, its just they got overexited and chased the Creator the moment they see them which scared them shitless seeing a mob just appear out of nowhere.
I mean who wouldn't after seeing your favourite person in your favourite game just appear right in front of you? (I apologize in advance to the poor unfortunate sucker)
Imagine a world-wide search that keeps getting them heart attacks. Venti just flying by with Dvalin ony to see you on top of the floating pillar above Dragonspine LEANING PRECARIOUSLY OH MY ARCHONS GET AWAY FROM THE EDGE---
Zhongli walking around trying to find peace and quiet only to sense your presence which led him towards Azhdaha's domain and nearly shouted in terror seeing you hanging by one of the limestones above the slumbering dragon your grace what and how the in the fucking name of teyvat did you---
Yae Miko screaming in surprise seeing you inside one of the cupboards of your grace's house (you made a small temporary one in each country in case u need more rest) that she and Ei found in one of the remote islands.
Nahida and the entire Forest Rangers having one of the most intense, frustrating and most challenging game of hide and seek in the entire freaking forest.
You hiding underneath the sand like a fricking snake everytime Cyno spots you from a disrance.
-Vine Boom 🧨
I am no longer apologizing for lateness simply bc atp its basically assumed Im terribly sorry 💀 /so gen
  
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Content under -----------------✄
Sun: Reader, (you/they/them)
Orbit: Headcanons-ish, Imposter SAGAU? Imposter SAGAU Reversed Ver? unclear (NOT DARK)
Stars: little here, little there
Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: reader/you thinks everyone is hunting them down, dark sagau fake-baiting lmao, & Trigger Warnings: none known.
Please comment if I missed any. /gen
No but the traumatic experience of you cautiously wandering into Mondstadt after realizing ur in Genshin like, ✨👄✨
and every single street/alleyway you try to go down to even avoid it is just people all looking at you like: 👁️👄👁️ ???
and ur over here equally just like: 😃 tf u lookin at????
u get up near the cathedral and finally see a playable character, Barbara, and she just fully GASPS and POINTS at you like she’s getting paid to be an actor for this
shouting sm nonsense like: “My Creator??? King of All???? IS THAT YOU?????”
and after which a few nuns check the commotion, Rosaria and Barbara’s Visions are glowing, and all join in heckling you
Venti coming (literally) flying around a corner on a breeze, saying he was trying to catch up to you, and ohhh now ur Convinced:
None of these bitches must be happy to see you, you did forcefully control their bodies if by the sounds of it they knew you/they must’ve been aware during the game, aw damn looks like u gotta run for your life now
You just book it out of Mond, Venti/Barbara yelling after you to come back, and meanwhile you’re leaving a shell-shocked Jean/Diluc/Kaeya (with Visions glowing) in ur wake on the way out
Not one being, mortal or otherwise, convinces you to stay in Mond, and you finally get to Dragonspine- the only place u know they wont follow
(well maybe the pyro characters but ur betting if u can make it up the mountain theyre not committed to,, running you down? arresting you?? ur not sure)
u make it all the way up and luckily everythings all solved like u did in the game, the traveler must be well into teyvat by now, and u decide to say “for the already achieved achievement” and fuck around and find out near the nail
U thought as u finally got on it u heard a scream somewhere in the sky, and u spotted Dvalin carrying Venti/Barbatos, and once again book it out of town (damn u cant believe theyre so committed they got the dragon in on it…)
so u haul ass all the way down the mountain, traveling only at night, living like a vampire, holing up during the day when u see Mond citizens/knights/gods/etc. walking around presumably looking for you
but u make it, finally! sweet, sweet Liyue, ur 2nd home (besides Mondstadt)
Only to immediately, like right outside the fucking gates to Liyue Harbor, run into Zhongli.
and he’s standing there like this mf knew u were coming, and the first thing out his mouth is some BS like, “…Darnell, that you??”/ref LMAOO
but instead of laughing abt it u just scream and run for your life haha
oh jesus h christ- he’s sending the adepti after you fuck- how hated are you??
sure u maybe hate Celestia a little, and sympathize with the traveler, but this seems a little extreme?!
you go to the one place u know he/any other adeptus doesnt like to come often, Azdaha’s cave
and after a night (well, day bc ur sleeping during the day now) of Azdaha sleeping peacefully, he wakes up fully coherent and u actaully have a rlly pleasant conversation with him about Liyue food lol
he also kept mentioning some kind of god? but like in reference to you?? are u connected to them, u kinda know a lot of gods atp so ur not sure which he means, a god to rule them all??? Celestia?? yeah u guess u know those fucks-
Cue u looking down from ur perch in the stalagmites above, u found a ledge and Azdaha helped you,
only to see a very concerned and borderline nervous Zhongli down below, Azhdaha just greets him like nothing’s wrong, but as soon as he sees you’re uncomfortable, helps you escape (more like teleport) away
(the old geo archon was probably nervous just be around Azhdaha u assume)
and now ur on the islands of Inazuma
u know exactly what islands are all but abandoned, the ghost one, the electrocuting one, and the scary bird one, all great options 👍
Raiden and Yae Miko manage to find you on every single one, with Yae getting more and more exasperated, and Ei getting more and more concerened with every position they find you in
hanging out on the banks of the electro river that would kill you if it weren’t for the little electro trees fending it off (thank fuck u maxed that shit out while in game)
bc u assumed they’d hate to be around it, plus lots of ronin- nope Ei is almost… scolding you?? oh but she’s got her Musou no Hitotachi out fuCK-
(she was slaying ronins that were getting too close to you)
she also is constantly jumpscaring you on tsurumi island/ghost island bc while the ghosts are gone, the creepy atmosphere isn't, and it makes her all the more terrifying as The Raiden Shogun comes walking out of the fog into the cave you've hidden in, stuff of ur nightmares for weeks as u just bird box style try to be silent and stealth around the island to get to an abandoned boat,
literally her scary ass purple sword glowing silhouette wandering around in the fog as you paddle away 💀
getting to thunder bird island and Yae Miko is literally both running/teleporting as quickly as she can to you, as you jump from floating rock to floating rock to escape her, god its so unnerving to watch someone so lazy running after you
she keeps getting in this weird “praising the heavens pose” sometimes when you jump, oh shit she’s aiming hER ATTACKS AT YOU THATS WHY-
oh good- she missed and deflected some stray debris coming ur way, u gotta get to the bird area and see if you can glide away (u managed to get a glider at some point thank fuck)
the bird is luckily on ur side against all these mfs trying to hunt u down (for controlling their bodies u guess) and flies u back to mainland teyvat
sumeru u thought would have the most mercy on u tbh, maybe fontaine bc Neuvillette only rlly cares if u break “fontaine” laws, maybe he wouldn't care to chase down a mortal like u over this
and nahida bc shes just nice
which is somewhat true, as you are acting like tarzan swinging around on vines and shit to escape the forest rangers
but she does show up in ur dreams, but shes just all foggy or distorted, u guess bc ur not of this world or smth??
and so it just unnerves u more, and u try to make it out to the desert, where at least there's no gods to worry about
mf ur hunkered down in a pyramid and see the shadowy shape of Cyno walking thru a sandstorm at you 💀
U dont kno how u got out of that one tbh, smth abt “king deshret made a plan for this” and left it behind for ppl to use to escape underground, sweet
And while Nahida and other eremites, scholars like Alhaitham/Kaveh/Dehya were looking around the desert sands, u slip by them
And u make it to the oasis at the edge of the desert, and steal an old rowboat to cross to fontaine (if i had a nickel everytime u needed to escape a god via old rowboat, youd have 2 nickels- )
and getting to Fontaine is not much better.
U literally get to the clockwork tower, foggy, ominous, uninhabited except for treasure-seekers occasionally, its perfect
until Neuvillette himself just strolls in abt 3 nights of u making camp there
u nearly shit urself as he just fake-knocked on a wall, meanwhile ur like hanging from the ceiling (four limbs out suspending you type of fictional shit)
luckily, mostly bc u were trying to wait him out (which wasn't possible ur limbs hurt so bad) he was, finally, the first person around u long enough to be genuinely kind and patient and answer questions
(Neuvillette acc couldn't figure out where u were at first, and was very confused how u got ur voice to boom around this chamber of the tower, after a minute of talking u trusted him enough to tell him to look up lol)
just in time too, he was able to hide u from the archons a little longer bc u were nervous
(u were already intimidated enough by Neuvillette being irl himself, talking to you, let alone all the other gods/vision users, as u realized afterwards thinking abt all the ppl trying to “hunt u down”, that if they all counted as ppl actually wanting to see you, that was a rlly overwhelming amount, esp if their first instinct is to run at you??? what are you, a fan-abused/disrespected kpop idol????)
trying to be fancy and schedule posts once i get enough free time to actually wrangle my adhd to actually partake in my favorite hobbies 💀
well as long as I'm not getting slammed with lots of shifts again
hope u guys had a great weekend and have a good week! Happy late Valentine’s Day :)
Safe Travels Vine Boom,
💀♒
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cinnabeat · 2 years
Text
no actually half my friends were studying engineering and yet they didnt know how to make a fire?? i was like make a pyramid and they were like but how is it going to stay standing :( like bro i know youre smart pls use your brain 😭
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Boom and Bust
The sun was wobbling fat and red just above the horizon. Sen had a soft landing in a tangle of Cullodena's herbaceous trimerophytes, hopping down from their springy stems and picking his way through the undergrowth. Whereas once the fort had dominated this whole space, now plants scrambled in such profusion that it couldn't even be seen from the ground.
There was someone, no, two someones, standing by the base of the trees that held up the communal space.
Sen slowed down. Short tresses, pointed crown, huge boots… Phonso was back.
"Good evening, Schuppenbaumer, looking for Nathair again?" queried Sen as he drew closer. He didn't know the man standing just behind Phonso. Of indeterminate age, with wings reminiscent of Simon's and tresses in a box braided style, he regarded the two of them wryly.
"If you must know, I just came over to meet with an old friend? Have you met? No? Very well, this is Gongsun, this is Wesley."
"A pleasure." Wesley gave a quick bob in response to Sen's bow.
"Hang on, you're…" the mechanisms of Sen's mind were whirring. "You're not Wesley Candock?"
"The very same." His smile grew at the recognition.
"Oh wow, I… I've dreamed of meeting you since forever! It really is a privilege!" Sen was vaguely aware he might come across as cloying, but any cautionary thoughts were drowned in his excitement.
"What a stroke of luck that you're here!" he continued. "I'm just back from a visit to Simon, he mentioned you'd made the crossing but I didn't expect we'd cross paths!"
"My limp-leaf brother, huh?" Wesley's smile stiffened and one eyebrow rose. "Don't waste your time with him, mate. Suffers from a critical lack of ambition, he does. At this rate he'll be stuck in that swamp forever, but me? I've got a vision to chase."
Sen's trail of speech faltered. Simon had seemed to bear his brother no animosity, but then again, he was always the forgiving type. Had something transpired between them?
Thinking he should change the topic, Sen asked, "So. Ahem. How long have you known Mr Schuppenbaumer?"
Phonso stepped in to answer. "We've been friends since the early Triassic!"
Ugh, thought Sen, exaggeration, but Wesley's smile brightened again as he clapped the lycopod fairy on the back.
"Yeah, Phonsy and I must have combed every inch of Epiphyllia, and with any luck, there'll be plenty of secrets to uncover here!"
"And I've been honing my skills, day in, day out." Phonso gave a demonstration, light magic springing to life in his hands like a pair of miniature suns. Wesley whooped in admiration.
A weird feeling was blossoming in Sen's chest. A bad and unfamiliar feeling, like the mycelia of a fungal parasite infiltrating his nervous system, except it wasn't growing into him, but out of him. It took him a minute to put a name to it. Envy.
Sen tried to think of some excuse to back out of this conversation, to go anywhere else. Before he could, Wesley addressed him.
"So how about it, Gongsun? Wanna join us sometime?"
Sen's focus snapped back to the conversation, his tongue feeling heavy as he tried to decide on an answer. He could see Phonso glaring daggers at him from behind Wesley, daring him to crash the party.
He was spared when something else caught the horsetail fairy's attention.
"Is it my imagination or… is someone there?"
Sen and Phonso swivelled around.
"Now that you mention it…" began Phonso, "I sometimes get the feeling I'm being watched when I come here." His usual bravado had diminished a tad.
Wesley took a curious step towards the darkest corner of the undergrowth. There was a twitch of movement and for a split second, they all saw the same thing; a pair of large eyes in the shadows, discreet yet intent. They were gone in a flash and a rustle of leaves. 
"Who was that?!" yelled Wesley, not waiting for an answer as he bolted after the runaway. Sen and Phonso exchanged a glance and followed.
Making a sharp corner at a hollow log, they nearly tripped over Si-woo, who was flat on his back with another fairy on top of him. A perplexed Askarya observed from a few paces back.
The fairy atop Si-woo sat up slowly, wide eyes looking from one face to the next. Between an ornate mask and long robes, not much else could be seen of them. All were silent for a moment.
"Guys, you scared them," tutted Askarya, breaking the spell and helping the small figure to their feet.
"Um. Ok. Who's them?" Wesley voiced what was on all their minds.
"This is Noori," replied Askarya. "And you should all be grateful for the work they do, I don't know a single fairy who remineralises so much detritus."
"Well, good to meet you, Noori," ventured Sen. Noori returned his bow without saying a word.
As Askarya introduced them to the rest of the group, Sen tried to figure out where Noori's limbs were. It with difficult with their frame completely obscured by their robes, but Sen found their movement intriguing. They seemed to glide across the ground rather than walking, which was especially strange as, like all fungus fairies, they had no hint of wings.
Sen shrugged and leaned against Si-woo.
"Hey rénxiōng. It's getting late. I'll sleep here tonight, what's your plan?"
"Yeah, I'll join you. Night all."
Phonso waved an offhand goodbye, then returned his attention to Wesley as he too made to leave.
The two friends fluttered into the quiet recesses of the fort. It was open and airy, warm and dry. Compared to the early days when they'd slept in a pile on the floor, it had become very comfortable, with silk, straw and twine hammocks strung from the rafters, while feather and moss mattresses lay below for those who didn't fly.
It was quiet, with few occupants around. Over the years, accessory rooms and levels had been built, housing everything from Nathair's growing library to Jess's frock collection. Live vines and stems grew through the construction, replacing dead branches as they rotted away and turning it into a growing, ever-changing structure. More than a structure in fact, but a living thing in its own right, and for many of them, a home.
Sen and Si-woo looked out through the slats towards the horizon. The sun had just vanished, leaving the sky burnished rose and copper. Heavy clouds were building closer to the ground, threatening storms. Sen pointed to them.
"I don't like the look of those. Hope the river doesn't sweep away all of Simon's hard work."
"The look of what, sorry?" queried Si-woo, surprising Sen. He was normally the first to spot rain.
"Those clouds!"
"There's no clouds there." Si-woo rubbed his eyes. "Oh, so there are. Strange. Usually they come from the seaward side."
"I know," responded Sen, hesitant. "And these look like… they're rising off the ground."
An uneasy feeling hovered between them.
"There's a telescope in the admiral's room," suggested Si-woo. They raced there right away. Sen rapped the door.
"Admi- I mean, Sirichai?"
No answer. They pushed in, sorting as respectfully through his belongings as they could, then rushing back with the telescope in hand. Si-woo shakily put it to his eye & adjusted it.
"What do you see?" Sen felt like he didn't want to know the answer.
"Oh Souls. Oh FUCK this is bad!"
Si-woo looked to his friend and spoke a single word.
"Locusts."
---
"Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm, what are you waiting for?!!"
Si-woo scampered up and down the fort at breakneck pace, half climbing, half flying, banging Glen's pots and ladles together. Cullodena emerged from her quarters, looking furious, but her expression softened when she saw the fear in Si-woo's eyes.
"Byun, dearie, whatever's the matter?"
"Locust swarm, headed this way," he gasped. "Round up everyone you can find!"
Sen stood in the crown of the fort's tallest tree, telescope trained on the dark mass with shaking hands. A lichen-covered head emerged through the foliage.
"Nobody gonna tell me what all the fuss is about?"
"Askarya!" Sen blushed and fumbled the spyglass, embarrassed that he'd forgotten all about them in the confusion.
"See for yourself."
They trained the eyepiece on the horizon and scowled.
"That's not good. What's the plan?"
Si-woo fluttered up beside them, followed by everyone else present; Cullodena, Nathair, Glen, Jake, Kai, Elei and, to Sen's surprise, Noori.
"Well me old chum, I'm glad you asked," cut in Nathair. "Our goal is to stop that swarm settling on our fair demesne."
Askarya smiled despite the encroaching threat, amused that he could still be so loquacious in a crisis.
"Nathair, give it to us straight. Are we screwed?" asked Sen.
The fern fairy folded his arms. "Locust swarms don't fly by night. That means they'll be looking for a stopoff as it gets dark. Wherever they land, they'll strip it clean of greenery by morning. That's what we stand to lose."
The others shifted uneasily. From one perspective, it would be easier just to abandon the fort and rebuild once the plague had moved on. But no one voiced this. That option meant abandoning years of work, all the investment of time and energy that had gone into this place, not to mention the likely destruction of every treasured possession they stored inside. It was common knowledge that Nathair would lay down his own life if it meant preserving his library.
"Well, we're burning daylight," prompted Sen. The others switched their attention to him, faces resolute. "Jake, Kai, Elei, you'll be our first line of defence."
Kai cracked his knuckles.
"Glen, Askarya, reinforce the fort however you can. Nathair and Cullodena, you'll help us coordinate." He handed Nathair the spyglass. "And Si-woo and I will be in the air to deal with locusts that get through the outer defence."
The group nodded and quickly dispersed to their positions, Sen waiting to make sure all vulnerable points were covered.
Noori walked over to Sen and looked him in the eye.
"Oh. Sorry Noori, I… ahem, if you want to help, that's great! What kind of magic do you have?"
Noori opened one fist and revealed a sprig of moss. A dingy, stifling aura slowly leached out from Noori's shrouded silhouette. The little moss sprig withered and died.
Sen felt like a lead weight had dropped into his stomach. His breathing hitched and he forced himself not to step backwards.
"R-r-rot magic? That's-"
He swallowed.
"Hold on. That's precisely what we need right now!"
Sen looked over his shoulder. The swarm was less than a kilometre away.
"Noori, will that work on animals?"
The fungus fairy nodded once.
"Oh holy souls, superb. And can you, er, direct it? So that it won’t catch plants in the collateral?"
Noori wavered, then gave an unconvincing thumbs-up.
"Er. Alright. Whatever, it's our best option. Si-woo!"
Si-woo dived to meet Sen.
"What's up?"
"I need you to carry Noori."
Si-woo blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Noori's got amazing rot magic, I think it could take out half the swarm if we time it right. I need you to get them to the centre of it!"
"No way, no way, you're out of your mind," muttered Si-woo, pacing. "You want me to carry a disease causing fungus - no offence - into a plague of leaf stripping bugs on my own?!"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Sen sighed.
"Who's doing what on their own?" Kai alighted alongside them, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
"Perfect, now he won't have to!" Sen exclaimed. "Kai, Si-woo's going into the swarm. Keep him safe."
Kai happily agreed, while Si-woo spluttered in indignation.
"Don't just go along with him like that! And Sen, may I ask why you're not the one carrying Noori?"
Sen froze, face turning green in embarrassment.
"Well… you're a much better flyer than me. And my magic will be little use out there. And- and I'm scared."
Si-woo's expression softened, just a tad. "I know. But what makes you think I'm not?"
Sen didn’t know how to respond. After a pause, he simply went with, “I’m sorry.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “I’m trying to do what has to be done to protect everything we’ve worked for. But a good leader leads by example. You’re right, really I should be the one going out there.”
He took a deep breath and turned to Noori. “You ready?”
The little fungus fairy nodded.
“Alright,” replied Sen, trying to stop his hands shaking. “Hop on.”
Kai pressed his hands to a cycad leaf, drawing in magical vivacity while Noori clambered self-consciously onto Sen’s back.
“Let’s go.”
The three of them dropped from the branch and veered out from the dense stand of trees, into the evening air that was all that lay between them and the storm. At that moment, a voice rang out behind them.
“Dang and blast it, wait for me!”
Si-woo had caught up with them in an instant, his wings flowing like banners. He caught sight of Sen’s knowing smile.
“Well, after all that talk about leading from the front, I could hardly just sit back and watch. You’ll stand a better chance with two pairs of eyes on you.”
“I couldn’t ask for more, Si-woo.”
---
Nathair watched the thrumming storm of wings grow until it blotted out the horizon. His fingers clenched, trying not to let the spyglass slip from his sweaty grasp. Beside him, his mother called something down to Elei, who answered in the affirmative as she geared up for battle. In the distance, the little shapes of Sen, Si-woo, Kai and Noori looked as though they were to be swallowed up without a trace.
---
Sen briefly took his eyes off the wall of jointed legs and compound eyes ahead, looking into Noori's eyes. Up to this point, their composure hadn't faltered, but he saw terror in their eyes.
"Hey, Noori, look at me. It'll be ok, you hear me? We'll get through this. I promise I won't let you fall."
Noori shifted nervously, inhaled deeply and sat up a bit straighter, their mood settling.
"That's the spirit." They were so close that the sound of chitinous wings and hungry mouthparts nearly drowned out Sen's voice.
"Alright, this is it! You ready? Kai, Si-woo? Got your magic ready, Noori? Yeah? Let's go!"
All at once, the swarm surrounded them. Locusts rushed by on all sides and from directly ahead. Kai reacted in a flash, swift strikes of his toughened limbs and wings sending orthopterans raining from the sky, keeping the path clear for the others.
"Now?" Shouted Si-woo.
"Wait until we're at the densest point!", answered Sen. "Our friends will take care of the rest!"
Si-woo gave a grim nod and fell in line beside Kai, calling up his water magic to create a shield of droplets that deflected the ravening grasshoppers around the quartet.
"Noori, it's up to you now. I'll give you as much help as I can."
Sen focused, grateful that for the moment, he didn't have to swerve around locusts as he did so. Breathing deeply in and clasping his hands as his wings powered onwards, he drew on a flow of inter-promoting and overacting magic. It was an atypical combination, but it would allow Noori's magic to feed off the energy Sen provided. It wasn't without risk, as if Noori overstepped their boundaries they could begin draining Sen's life force directly, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Noori locked themself in place with their legs, raising their arms with robes trailing. Flakes began to crumble and spill from their skin, a grey pallour extending all around. Sen nervously took a deep breath as the spores surrounded him, but they appeared to do no damage. The locusts weren't so lucky.
The moment the ashen dust touched them, the insects went into disarray, legs jerking and bodies spasmodically careening into each other. With every collision in the densely packed cloud of wings, another plume of spores went up, enveloping the sky in a grim haze.
"Will that be enough?" Sen shouted to Noori, who shook their head and pointed upwind. Sen nodded and flew on, to where the first spores had difficulty reaching. The locusts were beginning to disperse, flying in chaotic patterns as they avoided the cloud of death, and making it hard to get a good shot in. Noori took their best shot, sprinkling the infectious powder over another portion of the hungering plague, but it was clear that they weren't catching all of them.
Kai and Si-woo closed in on their location.
"Too many are getting through! Fort'll be overwhelmed!", hollered Kai.
"I know! Blast and damn it, we should have had a plan in reserve!"
"Guys, why is the moon rising on the opposite side to normal?" Si-woo chimed in.
"Now's really not the time-", Sen began, but trailed off as the ball of yellow light in the distance rapidly grew in size and intensity.
"Pretty sure that ain't the moon," observed Kai.
Something about the light was familiar, and Sen felt a twinge of premonition in his gut.
"I think we should shield our eyes."
Kai shrugged. "Hey, it's not that bright, it might help us corral those bugs more easi-"
"Cover them!", snapped Sen.
The light exploded.
Beams as piercing as the noonday sun burst forth, bathing the landscape with saturated shadows and cold fire. There was no noise, no heat, just a white glow that granted Sen the chance to get a look at the back of his own eyelids.
As quickly as it had arrived, the light blinked out, leaving nothing but its technicolor afterglow across their vision. Sen slowly got his bearings, wings continuing to beat on instinct as he turned in midair. Noori was still on his back, Si-woo still beside him. Kai was gone.
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onskepa · 4 months
Note
Yay requests are open!
What about a platonic Ronal x scientist? Yes they study the planet but ronal cannot help but like them because they respect the culture, her medical skills and only seems to find the silver lining in her stiff comments. Like come on human I am trying to make you leave through the power of rude and you just gave me a freidnship bracelet? Wtf I imagine tonowari just snickering every night as she complains about her new best friend
Hellooooooooo darling~!!
Yes! Another ronal fic! Thank you for requesting and I hope this cute fic will satisfy you and everyone else! Enjoy~!
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Irayo
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“You are good to go, if anything goes wrong or if they are not very welcoming, just say the word and we will get you” the head director of the ocean na’vi program says. In front of him was the new girl. Determined and open minded to learn new things, and was given the ultimate task. 
Make the first human contact with the reef na’vi. 
Nodding in excitement, the new recruit gets into a canoe with her prepared items. Making sure she is set for sail, she looks at her comrades. “I will let you know everything. Hopefully, this can go well. If doctor Agustine has faith in us, we can't lose” she says with optimus in her voice. 
Saying her last farewell, she sets off to the Metkayina island. 
“This will be good, I can feel it!”
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She arrives at the island, her eyes in awe as she gets closer to the shore. So many na’vi! They all stare at her, many in fear, others in curiosity, and many ready to fight her. Raising her hands, she gets out from her canoe and displays she is of no harm. 
“I come in peace, I bring no harm” the human girl announces in perfect, fluent na’vi. 
Many, from what she suspects are warriors, stare at her in surprise. 
“You are a sky demon! Leave or we will not be easy on you!” one of the warriors warned her. Another warrior follows after. 
“We heard what you did with the forest na’vi, leave! You only bring death and sorrow wherever you go”. 
The tension was building fast among the other people. Mothers protecting their children, might warriors standing in front of the weak. Any wrong move and she might end up dead. Which is a high factor. 
The crowd breaks as two significant looking na’vi walks through, from how they are dressed and the others willing to step aside, the human knew exactly who they were. 
And it gave her excitement. Already the first and she is seeing so much! 
The human was quick with the traditional na’vi greeting of “I see you”. In hopes that the tension can lessen if she displays their ways. 
The Tsahik and Olo’eyktan looked at her carefully. Observing her every move and detail. Small hint of disgust but also confusion as to why a human is here. 
“Hello, I bring no harm. I am here to learn your ways. Allow me to prove myself to you, perhaps you have heard of the dark stories of what the humans did to other na’vi, but I promise you that I only bring peace. Please, teach me your ways”. 
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Ronal doesn't know what or how or even why. But after a lengthy discussion with Tonowari, they granted the human permission to enter their home. And learn their ways. As best a human can learn. While Tonowari was more loose on letting the human in, Ronal felt different, at first she came defensive and was always on alert should the human do something that seems bad under her eyes. 
But the human was aware where the line drew, only did what she was allowed to and dared not to push boundaries. Ronal wasn't making it any easier for the human. None whatsoever. In fact, Ronal planned to make things so difficult for the human that she would have no other choice but to leave. 
Now if only it worked that, and not Ronal making it harder for herself. 
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 “Put more strength in your arms. It must be thinned out and easy to separate. Any thicker and it will be difficult to mix” Ronal instructed the human with a harsh tone. She was teaching the human how to make crushed, thin, dust-like green material. Very dry leaves that were thoroughly picked from their small forest.
The human woman smiled and obeyed, “alright tsahik”. Doing exactly what she is being told. That is the thing that irks ronal. The human doesn't fight back. She doesn't do anything! 
“A child can do a better job than you,” Ronal says with a snarky tone. The human just takes it, “I don't doubt it. This is more of their ways” the human replies with such calmness in her voice. Not a hint of anger, impatience, nothing. 
“Dont think this will be enough, there is still much more to grind down” Ronal says, as she places a lot more dried grass in the already big pile. The human stops for a few seconds to look at the bigger addition. Ronal smirks, surely this will be it? “Guess I better grind faster to finish all of these” the human says in glee and continues to grind. 
Ronal’s smirk left her lips, fine then. Tomorrow will be worse. 
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Harsher insults, harsher training, harsher practice. Ronal threw everything at the human, but nothing breaks the human girl. And it infuriates her to the core. Why wasn't she fighting back? Why was she accepting everything? Why was she letting ronal belittle her? 
Ronal’s anger grew to where Tonowari had to enterfier. 
“Ronal, perhaps you are pushing her too far?” he asks her one day. Ronal scoffs as she does her small tasks in their home. “The human can bare it. Anything I give her, she accepts. That utter fool” she replies. Annoyance heavy on her tone. “She won't break so easily. Not made of sea glass” she continues. 
Tonowari sighs, walks up to her and places a hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps not, but your tolerance is thinner than these fibers. Perhaps by surprise, it will be you who will break first”. 
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The human began to make and wear her na’vi like clothing to fit in more. And as she talked more with the other clan members, more began to welcome her with open arms and even into their homes. Adapting more into their culture and ways of life. They began to accept her. 
Ronal wasn't so ready to accept the human. 
Not yet at least. 
One night, after the communal dinner, Ronal took the human away from the noise and into a more quiet part of the small forest. Yet, along the way, the human not once asked where they were going. Never questioned ronal’s actions, her odd behavior. Nothing. 
When they arrived at a beautiful blue glowing waterfall, Ronal kept a bit of distance from the human. 
“Tell me human, why do you accept?” Ronal asks after a few minutes of silence. 
The human blinked once, “accept what tsahik?”. 
Hissing in frustration, Ronal turns to look at the human in anger. 
“Why do you accept everything?! I keep pushing you to do beyond what you physically can. Accept any insulting word I give you. Force you to do things clearly you are not very comfortable with. Why do you accept my harsh treatment towards you?” 
The human sees Ronal and sees how she truly feels. Taking a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders, the human does what she does best. 
Give her an honest smile. 
“You have every right to treat me that way. While I am not personally responsible for the thousands of killings of the na’vi, I still feel ashamed and guilty as if it were my own crimes. My kind has treated your kind terribly. So, I understand if you feel any anger or hatred towards me for simply being human. But I accept, I accept it all. If it means to be part of your world, your clan. I would gladly accept anything you throw at me. This is a dream come true for me. This planet, the life it holds. The environments, plants, animals, you. I love and respect everything about your world. All I desire is to learn how things are. From learning about Eywa to learning of the na’vi ways. My only desire is to learn. To have you personally teach me, it is a high luck I could never get anywhere else. So that is why I accept all that you give me. A price to pay for the things I can see and experience. So Tsahik, that is why I accept it. As my way to thank you” 
Ronal saw the human, looking deep into her eyes to detect any lies, but all she saw was the truth. 
“You fool…”
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“Irayo, just in time for breakfast” Ronal welcomes her human friend. Irayo, that is what Ronal calls her ever since that night. It's been stuck to her ever since, not that she plans to defy the tsahik wishes. 
Irayo sits in the home of ronal and tonowari. Accepting the food, she begins to eat. But not soon after, she felt a little tug from her wrist. Looking down, Irayo sees little tsireya playfully tugging at her bracelet. Taking it off, she hands it to tsireya who tries to bite down on it. 
“Has tsireya began teething?” Irayo asks, ronal nods but gives a disapproving look.
“She will rip off the beads. You worked so hard to make it for us” Ronal says as she points to her own matching bracelet. Irayo laughs, “that is fine. It will give me an excuse to make better friendship brackets for us. I will even make another for cute little tsreiya” Irayo replies as she playfully pinches tsireya’s chubby cheeks, making the child squeal in delight. 
Tonowari sits down to join them. 
“Today irayo and I will attend to the elderly, tsireya will be under your care until noon” Ronal says to him. 
Tonowari nods, but couldn't help but smirk a bit. Leaning in, he whispers into Ronal’s ear. “Your friendship with irayo has improved greatly. I still remember when you called her many foolish names”. 
Ronal rolls her eyes and taps his forehead lightly. 
“I recall no such things. Irayo has been my good friend from the start”
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Aaaaaaaaand that is all for this one! I hope you all enjoyed this fic! Until next time, see ya!
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Irayo = Thank you
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queen-of-fanfics · 11 months
Text
I Told You To Stay
Pairing: Peter Pan x Reader
Prompt: Peter told you to stay.
A/N: Ayoooo lol I'm alive. Anywho Y'ALL I GRADUATED COLLEGE and the first thing I accomplished after was writing this fanfic. How have y'all been? Now I have some free time and a desk job so I have time to write more. I literally got the idea for this scenario from a dream I had. So... This one gets a little heated but nothing explicit.
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"Where do you think you're going?" Peter teases you as he grabs your arm to spin you around.
You were the second Lost Girl to have ever made it to the island. The first will always be Wendy. Wendy continues to be the mother figure around the island while you were free to run off hunting and exploring with the Lost Boys. You could never shake the feeling that either Wendy hated you or envied you. She would be stuck cooking and caring for the boy while you were almost like a sister. You two never got along too well, the feeling of competition was always there.
The second that you came to the island and met everyone, it was no surprise that Peter was the one that caught your eye. 
However, you were always hesitant to let any hope blossom in you since you thought that Peter and Wendy were together. And if they weren’t, she would have first dibs on him anyway. But that fact never stopped your crush and admiration of him from growing. Day in and day out, you were running through the forests with him and protecting the Lost Boys together. 
Tonight was a quiet and warm night and everyone had had their dinners and was heading to bed. Wendy had made dinner and stayed back at the camp to clean up. You were heading towards your cabin before Peter grabbed your arm.
“You aren’t going to bed already, are you?” Peter asked with his usual smirk.
“Why, huh? You got something in mind worth my while?”
“Only one way to find out, I suppose.” He hides his smile from you as he leads you into the forest. That leads to where you are now. Running through the trees and climbing up the cliff as Peter is bounding off in front of you.
Coming to a stop behind Peter, you drop your hands to your knees and your head drops to start gasping for air. “Are we there yet? I feel like my lungs are going to explode!”
All of a sudden you’re squealing in delight because Peter ran over to you and scooped you into the air, carrying you bridal style. He takes off flying and your arms shoot out and wrapped around his neck. 
“What are you doing?!” 
“Taking you up to see the stars!” He yelled over the whistling wind as you continued laughing until tears formed in your eyes. 
Daring to peek over his shoulders, you gasp at the beautiful aerial view of the island before he dives and does a giant loop in the air. Hugging him close, you shove your face into his neck and breathe in his scent. Though the night was cool, you felt warm against him. Wanting this moment to last forever but you know it can’t, you decide that you will hold this memory so you can always relive this happiness that you feel. 
Feeling dizzy either from the adrenaline or from him, you rest your head against him and press a soft kiss on his neck. 
Suddenly, Peter tosses you lightly into the air and you are airborne before he catches you but now your position has changed. Now you are sitting, straddling his hips, as his hands come to your behind to carry your weight. Your arms wrap around his neck again but now you are face-to-face with him. 
As a blush covers your face, you whisper, “Well hi there.” 
He gives you a small smile as he looks at your thorough hooded eyes, “Much better don’t you think? Now I can see you.” 
You sit there, chest to chest with breaths mingling, completely suspended in the air over a cliff. “What are we doing, Y/N?” His whisper caresses your skin and he leans in just a little bit closer.
“What do you mean?” You can’t help but do the same, almost like a string pulling you to him.
“You know exactly what I mean. Have you casted a spell on me? Making me dream of you every night and thinking of you every minute the sun is up? Have you made yourself my personal magnet to me so I can never not be near you? Are you bewitching me?” He continues to whisper as one of his hands drags up your body and grips the back of your neck, pulling you in closer until your noses are barely touching. 
Your breaths are coming out shaking but your fingers find their way to his hand and you tighten your hold, desperately keeping him close. 
“What if it’s you that is playing with my head?”
Your lips are brushing against each other but not quite touching. Your brain fogs with desire but it’s all pulled away from you as Peter abruptly pulls away and starts flying back to land.
“Wha-” You’re dizzy from the sudden change but you aren’t able to be stable on your feet before Peter is hurriedly pulling you through the trees. Silently giggling and running through the forest, your heart is beating out of your chest. 
Coming to a clearing, you see a small and simple log cabin sitting by itself. There are a few steps leading up to a porch that surrounds the little cabin. 
“Where are we, Peter?”
“This is my place.” He finally slows down to a stop.
He comes up behind you and wraps his arms around you as he shoves his face into the crook of your neck. The movement pulls a giggle out of your throat but you don’t take your eyes off the cute cottage.
“I thought you had a tent back at the campsite with everyone else, hm? Are you keeping secrets from us now?” You tease.
“I always have secrets, don’t you know. But this is my own quiet place. I come here when I need to think. Or when I’m scheming.” He tickles your sides and gives your neck a quick kiss before he straightens. “Come on, let’s go inside.” He takes your hand and walks you into the cabin. 
The inside of the cabin matches its look on the outside. Comfortable. Simple. Nothing extravagant. The main room is open. One side seems to act as a dining room with a large table with a few chairs beside it. The other side of the room has a matching large table but this table is covered in maps, scrolls, trinkets, and many other items you did not recognize. You see a door towards the back of the cabin which you could tell leads to a bedroom.  
“Here, let me get you some water before you pass out on me.” 
But before Peter could take a step or before you could even respond, a voice calls out from the back room.
“Peter darling? Did you just get home?”
The blood drains from your face and your eyes grow to saucers as you see Wendy walk out of the back room. Your ears started ringing and it feels as though everything is happening so fast yet so slowly. 
Peter marches over to Wendy and angrily argues with her though you couldn’t hear anything over the muffling in your ears. “What are you doing here? Who said you could be here?”
“What are you talking about, baby? Don’t be like that.” 
Wendy tries to run her hands up Peter’s front side but her hands do not get far before he grabs her hands and throws them off of him. 
Your eyes shoot back and forth between Peter and Wendy and you could hear yourself mumbling, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t-” You hadn’t realized that you were backing up until you felt the front door hit your back. 
Before you knew it, Peter was in front of you. All you could do was stare up at him with your heart ready to leap out of your chest. You were confused and hurt and scared and you wanted to be mad. But looking up at him. With his face soft and full of worry. All you could do was trust. Trust in what, you weren’t sure. But a wave of calmness fell over you as you looked at him and his hands came up to softly grip your shoulders. 
Peter was gently moving you through the cabin and you could hear Wendy protesting but you couldn’t clear your head enough to hear what she was saying. Peter leads you to the back room which is his bedroom. He sits you on his bed and whispers to you, “Stay here.” 
“Peter, I can go. I should’ve known you two were together. I shouldn’t be here, I can go.” But before you could make a move for the door, Peter grips your face gently but firmly, “I said ‘stay here’. I will figure this out. I’m not with her. She isn’t welcome here. You. Stay. Here.” 
Peter slammed the door behind him as he left and all you could do was sit on the bed as you were told. Looking around the room, there wasn’t much there to keep you entertained. There was a nightstand by the bed with a few nicknacks on it. A desk with papers covered in writing you couldn’t read. No pictures. No posters. Nothing. Twiddling your thumbs, you tried to not overthink. You sat as patiently as you could but as the minutes ticked by and their angry whispering didn't stop, your anxiety started to kick up.
What if he is lying? Why would she just randomly be here? She’s comfortable enough coming in and out of his place like that. He could just be telling me what I want to hear. Of course, they’re together. Even a blind person could see that they were together. When did I become so dumb?! I need to get out of here. 
Your breathing starts to become more rapid as your mind starts spiraling. Looking around the room, there was only one door, and that led back to the main room where Peter and Wendy are. The only other thing in the room was a window that sat above the desk. That was your ticket out. You thank the stars that you weren’t on an upstairs floor or anything or else this escape plan was going to be harder than you thought.
Swinging the window wide enough for your body to fit through, you quietly climbed up onto the table, careful not to disturb anything, and started to push out. You managed to make your way out but you accidentally made a loud thump as your body hit the back deck. Before you could stop and think about what to do, you jumped to your feet and took off running into the forest. 
You ran until your lungs burned and ran some more. All around you were trees, trees, and more trees. Everything looked the same yet you didn’t recognize where you were. “Shit I should have been paying attention on the way here. Where the fuck am I?”
Coming to a stop, you drop your hands to your knees to try and catch your breath. After a few deep breaths, you stand up tall and prepare to take off again, at a more reasonable pace this time that you’re far enough away.
But before you could head off, something flies into you and you go slamming back into a tree. A warm, hard body pushes up against you and holds you flush against the tree with no room to escape. It’s still too dark in the night and the trees are blocking the moonlight so you can’t see what has you pinned. You start wiggling around and try to use your hands to push yourself free but a hand wraps around your wrists and pins them above your head. Something comes close to your ear and you could feel the anger radiating from this figure.
“I thought I told you to stay.”
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bokutosbiceps · 4 months
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‘tis the season | one piece
eustass kid/monkey d luffy/roronoa zoro/trafalgar d water law/usopp/vinsmoke sanji x gn!reader | fluff | ~2.1k words
warnings: some suggestive/18+ themes but nothing explicit
a/n: welcome to my xmas special for the one piece boys !! OKAY before anyone comes @ me for not choosing a food related activity for luffy, pls know that y’all would not be able to decorate shit. he would eat all of the ingredients and/or you would have to lock him out of the kitchen. some of these are loooooooooong. pls enjoy 🎄
18+ MDNI | under the cut for length
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eustass kid and the kid pirates will make a competition out of chopping down a christmas tree to put on the bow of their ship. it happens every single year, and kid didn’t used to participate, but when he started dating you, he wanted to be the one to provide you with a tree to decorate and admire.
you always enjoyed watching kid get riled up over something as small as a christmas tree, though. killer, a man with taste, would always find the perfect tree, then kid would lay his claim to it, boasting about how he had an eye for things like this.
this year, it was different, though. kid seemed to be more calm about it than usual and it made the whole crew restless until they reached the island where they'd always look for the trees.
kid’s face stretched into a calm grin at seeing the island approaching, remaining still till the ship was docked and the plank was thrown onto land.
“you comin’ with me?” kid asks, snaking a hand around your waist while he watches the rest of the kid pirates disperse on the island.
“of course!” you happily jump onto kid’s back and point out all the different trees you see and like. kid just shakes his head at you and keeps moving, knowing exactly what he's looking for.
he reaches the edge of the forest and sets you down, shrugging off his coat and grabbing an axe from his belt. it takes him one swing each to fell two small trees.
“will you take those back to the ship, doll? make em look nice.” kid asks, a mischievous smile still settled onto his lips. you don't ask questions and tug the two small trees back to the ship to start decorating them. they likely won't be in the running for the trees the crew will vote on to keep so you figure they’ll look nice to keep in the corners of the captain’s quarters.
one by one, the kid pirates start to make their way back to the ship. and one by one, they trim and prune their trees to make em look especially nice and voteable.
“where’s kid?” killed settlers next to you on the port side, looking out at the forest. you're leaning on the railing and watching the tree line for any speck of red.
“i dunno! he told me to bring back those runt trees to decorate but i haven't seen him since.”
you speak too soon, because not even ten seconds later, you see kid emerge from the tree line, his metal arm gripping what looks to be a twenty foot tall tree.  
“i think we all know which one we're keepin'!” kid spreads his arms and looks around at his crew. “right? captain’s orders!” kid grins and gestures toward his tree. the rest of the crew doesn't even argue, they just start stripping the trees of their branches to use as tinder for later.
“so? impressed?” kid approaches you, looking proud as ever.
“bigger isn't always better, kid.” you tease, lightly punching him on the shoulder. he scoops you up into his arms and presses a kiss to your chin.
“oh, you know you love it when it's bigger, baby.”
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monkey d luffy is an expert at building snow men because he tries his best to make it look like him! every single year, as soon as there’s enough snow on the ground, he’ll crack his knuckles and start rolling snow into big spheres. the very first time he did this, he made three huge balls of snow and ended up making something resembling more of a snowy caterpillar than an actual human. but he’s learned from his mistakes and is now a master at his craft.
“luffy, can you please put on some gloves? you’re gonna get frostbite!” you call out to him as you watch him roll snow around on the deck. his cheeks and nose are red and he’s sniffling as he shapes the snow into spheres, a big grin on his face despite the freezing temperatures.
“does rubber even freeze?” luffy muses, thinking he’s out of earshot from you and tapping his chin cutely. you smile and shake your head.
“yes, it does!” you say, knowing full well that it doesn’t. but you're hoping your boyfriend might listen to your logic nonetheless. “so that means you can, too!” 
“eh, i’ll be fine! i need to be able to feel the snow between my fingertips, anyways!” luffy grins at you and gives you a shivering thumbs up. “you can’t look till i’m done, okay? and no peeking!”
you raise your hands in surrender and join robin and nami in the warm library upstairs while you wait for luffy to finish up with his masterpiece. 
almost an hour later, luffy bursts into the library with an excited ready! and wraps his arms around you, pulling you up and out of the warmth and into the cold. once you're close enough to the deck, he releases you and moves his hands over your eyes.
“m’kay, one…two…surprise!” luffy removes his hands from your face and smiles brightly at you as he watches you take in his snow artwork.
there are two snow people, one with a straw hat, and another with features similar to yours. you smile and hug yourself, shivering slightly. luffy notices and drapes himself over your shoulders, effectively warming you up and hearing your cheeks up from both his embrace and his sweet gesture.
“it’s us!” he says proudly, pointing to the way that he situated the twig hands of each snow person to make it look like they’re holding hands. you giggle at his thoughtfulness and kiss the tip of his very red and very cold and very cute nose. 
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roronoa zoro allows his eyes to follow you around the aquarium bar below the sunny’s deck as you put the finishing touches on two mugs of warm apple cider you made while zoro’s been napping by the fireplace. you smile and settle down next to zoro, sitting cross legged and sipping your drink while you use zoro’s chest to prop up your book.
zoro props himself up on one of his elbows and you move your book back into your lap, not taking your eyes off of the words. zoro takes a long swig of the cider, humming in enjoyment at the way the sweet notes of the rum you'd spiked the cider with hit his tongue.
“what're you doin’?” zoro asks, peering up at you with a slight frown on his face and placing his now empty mug behind him.
“what does it look like?” you answer, turning a page of your book and giving zoro a teasing smile. he just grunts and plucks the book out of your fingers. “zoro, what—”
zoro quickly and carefully, so as to not spill your mug of warm cider, grabs you by the hips and places you on top of his chest. you purse your lips and glare down at your boyfriend, whose eyes are now closed and lips curled into quiet satisfaction.
you decide not to say anything and instead rest your cheek against zoro’s chest. he brings his hands up to rub his fingers over your spine, stopping at the small of your back.
“attagirl.” 
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trafalgar d water law decides that his least favorite thing in the world to do is going to a christmas market on christmas eve. who could choose a worse day to go to a christmas market? bepo. and since the bear was the one who had begged law to allow them to dock at the sea bound christmas market, law had reluctantly agreed. bepo had made a pretty good argument after all.
“maybe you could find something for y/n-chan while we’re there?” bepo had said, hoping to sweeten the deal with possibly finding something nice for you. you’d only been with law for a little less than a year, so this is your first holiday season as a couple, and law had never really thought of whether or not you’d like something for the holidays.
law is dragged around the market, stopping only at stalls where he notices cute little things that he thinks you might like. he shoves his pride down his own throat to hold up various little knick knacks with a do you think she’d like something like this? to bepo.
law, with a little help from bepo, eventually decides on a tiny little mouse soldier statue, complete with the year and name of the island. when he holds it out to you, his hat covering his eyes and his eyes aimed at the snow piled around where you stood, all you can do is giggle.
you take the little statue from law, turn it over in your hands once, then twice, and smile. law feels like he's going to explode.
“well…do you…?”
“do i what?” you inch toward law, ducking your head to try and get a glimpse of his face, which is still hidden beneath his hat.
law frowns, turning his head to continue avoiding eye contact with you, and clears his throat. “do you like it?”
you look back down at the statue that your boyfriend so carefully and thoughtfully picked out for you. you tilt your head up and quickly flick the brim of law’s hat, tilting it up as well.
“hmm, no.” you say, noticing the way law’s shoulders tense up. you press a kiss intertwined with a smile to his lips before speaking again. “i love it.”
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usopp looks forward to the holidays each year because that means he’ll be decorating the sunny with christmas lights till it rivals a fully lit city on the sea!
all day, usopp is crawling around in the rafters, stringing up lights and hanging his homemade decorations on the masts. he had enlisted you to pass him various nails and push pins and tools to help him hang up the decorations, but you'd been playing catch with him the whole time.
usopp is an incredibly intelligent man, but he's clumsy. hours of missteps and slips and whoops had your blood pressure and heart rate through the roof and you don't know how much more you can take. 
usopp’s smile is wide as he plugs the two ends of the string lights together, his eyes shining in the reflection of the newly decorated Thousand Sunny.
the ship is ablaze with light, and you can't help but smile yourself. the masts glow in a soft and golden light, the snow on the deck is illuminated by the reflection of small and twinkling star decorations that usopp made just for the crow’s nest. there are ornaments and weaves of pine hanging off of every place possible, giving the ship nice red and green hues.
usopp comes up and wraps his arms around you from behind, giving you a gentle and affectionate squeeze.
“pretty, right? now all the pirates in the grand line will see the great captain usopp’s ship from miles away!” usopp makes a grand sweeping gesture with his hand and turns to grin at you proudly.
you lean up to press a kiss to his cheek. “looks amazing, captain usopp.”
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vinsmoke sanji closes off the kitchen on christmas eve, after christmas eve dinner, to allow for some privacy while the two of you decorate christmas cookies for the rest of the crew. sanji usually doesn't let anyone else in the crew help out in the kitchen, unless it's you. he likes feeling close to you, his favorite person, when he's in his favorite place, while he's doing his favorite thing.
“no competition, here, okay?” sanji’s pressed up against your back and his hands are on your shoulders when he skims a kiss to the nape of your neck. "let's just have a nice time together, hm?"
he smiles at you before he sets to decorating the cookies with you, jazz playing softly through the radio and sanji making easy conversation or praising your decorations.
you nudge sanji’s shoulder with your own and nod your head down at the cookie you're holding. sanji’s eyes light up when he sees your initials written in blue icing, separated by a pink heart. 
“y/n-chan, my love!” sanji cries, throwing his arms around your neck and hugging you tightly. he cups your face and kisses you slowly, ignoring the creaking of the kitchen door and light footsteps creeping closer to the two of you. 
you open your eyes just in time to see luffy swipe the cookie you had just shown sanji and make a run for it. sanji follows your eyes and stares at luffy’s back in horror.
you look up to tell sanji that it's no big deal, you can just decorate another one, but sanji is already running after luffy; he's desperate to save the cookie you had decorated with your names on it. 
“luffy, get the hell back here so i can put your ass down the garbage disposal!” 
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taglist: @usoppsstar | @kingofthe-egirls | @anemptypuddingcup | @pileofmush | @luffysprincess | lemme know if you wanna be added to my one piece taglist ✨
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bleepity-blooper · 1 year
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Does anyone ever think about how the clans used to actually have differences in culture and lifestyle and how all of that got erased in the newer books?
Imagine how cool it would have been if the Erins had explored these cultural differences between the clans even FURTHER because that would have given the series so much potential.
Here are some examples of just how cool cultural differences can be:
RiverClan
I want to see RiverClan using their skills in swimming way more than they do currently, let them swim to the gathering island every full moon, let them attack other clans from the depths of the lake and drag cats down into the water to drown them. Let them still have their easygoing and relaxed attitude but show how formidable they can be in a fight and make it clear that they are not to be messed with.
Give them their own traditions too, let them celebrate the coming of spring each year because of ice melting and the river thawing so that they can fish again. Let them collect pretty flower petals on this day to decorate their dens and have them celebrate it by all going down to the river to fish.
Show their clan’s love for pretty trinkets and have them gather pretty shells and pebbles from the river. Let the apprentices play games this way by seeing who can find the prettiest shell for their den and boasting about it later. I imagine the other clans would view them as relaxed and easygoing, always having a ready source of food thanks to the river but at the same time they know to fear them for their almost unnatural fighting skills in the water.
WindClan
Imagine WindClan still keeping their old tradition of tunnelling even at the lake territory, imagine WindClan tunnellers accidentally discovering the old forgotten tunnels that run under the forest and finding out pieces of their history this way, possibly even before Jayfeather does. I wish they had kept the tunnelling tradition alive because that was what made WindClan so unique.
Show just how fast WindClan can be, let them use the tunnels to invade other territories and let them be almost impossible for the others to catch up to. They might be considered scrawny but show that they have an advantage in battle because of their uncanny speed.
In general let them have a closed off and cold approach to the other clans. Show that they think they are closer to StarClan than the others because they live and sleep under open skies. They might seem almost mysterious to the other clans and deeply rooted in their traditions. Let them have oral storytelling nights and let them chart constellations in the night sky, keeping alive the tales of their ancestors.
The could even believe that the wind which blows over the moors is holy, the echo of the voices of their ancestors. I picture them as a religious clan, even more than the others. Perhaps they pray by listening to the wind and leaving offerings to be blown away in the breeze (usually the feathers of birds of prey)
ShadowClan
Next up is ShadowClan, the stereotypical bad guys. I would have loved if ShadowClan had been shown to follow a more nocturnal lifestyle, being active mostly at night. They would be masters of stealth, blending into the shadows and coating themselves with mud and leaves for camouflage due to their territories limited undergrowth. This might be what gives them their stereotypical bad smell, that ThunderClan always complains about.
Their territory is very marshy and due to little undergrowth it would be harder for them to stalk prey. This has caused them to be the stealthiest out of all the clans and the best hunters. But they are also able to use this stealth to their advantage in a fight. They attack without warning from the shadows and rely on surprise, always striking at night when it’s hardest to see them.
Their tradition could be the celebration of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
ThunderClan
And finally we have the main protagonists ThunderClan. This clan has always felt bland to me in terms of tradition because they don’t seem to have anything that really makes them stand out. I imagine they are probably the best trackers due to having to hunt and track prey in thick bushy undergrowth.
But honestly I would have loved if they had been given something to make them special and unique. Any ideas?
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