#i did also find another village while travelling! a desert one

[scrawnytreedemon]

Update on the MCA Reborn Saga:

The guards falling into ditches has been more-or-less solved...

...But we have two missing women, and a whole bunch of childhood mortality.

The population has been fucking booming. Between people arriving via the inn and said people marrying the townsfolk and having children, my hands have been full.

I built a massive three-storey building in the middle of town to house the newcomers until they got married and I could find them proper places, as well as two rooms in the basement (windowed, like those townhouses!) for newlyweds.

On the backside of this, I have just finished(as of 12am last night) three admittedly cramped townhouses to house the new families. It's right across from the other two "large" houses (large in this context meaning 4 beds), so we have a street going!

I will need to clean up town centre bigtime... Because wow this shit currently looks jumbled as fucked.

BACK TO THE MISSING CASES AND CHILD D E A T H S .

I swear to god 1/3 children in this village die. THIS SOMEHOW INCLUDES MY OWN. My daughter, Chava, who died going into toddlerhood(probably because everyone kept CROWDING AROUND HER and this pushed her into a place where she suffocated), and Cain, a child, from... ???

I have absolutely no idea.

These mortalities for, whatever reason, mostly tend to afflict sons, leaving daughters behind and giving the town a heavily female-slant.

Speaking of females.

The two missing women are: Marjana, a master mason... And my own firstborn, Eve.

Both of these women were married, leaving their husbands as schroedinger's-widowers, but only Eve had any children-- ONE, to be exact. A daughter named Lejla.

Both of their husbands are also named Jozo. I. That's a connection, for sure.

But yeah, poor childless Jozo had to move out of his and Marjana's old house and into the apartment complex to make way for a new family.

The weird thing is that they still show up on the family tree and in the town map as having homes just fine, but in the case of Eve, I can't call her. I've tried gifting both of their husbands cake, which would normally result in a conception, but both of them refused.

This has been a bug in the game for many years-- Infact, it might actually have more to do with vanilla Minecraft's villager code than being purely an MCA problem; apparently, though they're not supposed to, villagers can sometimes despawn if they're between chunks.

As for a Watsonian explanation,

It's either joining, wilfully or not, the nearby Pillagers, or getting snatched by fae(Endermen, I guess). Or perhaps murdered and their deaths covered-up. 👁👁

But yeah, Suntide is... Interesting. It's gotten a bit more manageable now, and I have finally gotten around to building that armoury! But it really is a neverending hamster-wheel of accommodation.

(Thank god I switched from using Calcite to Diorite.)

#scrawny rambles #minecraft #minecraft comes alive #minecraft comes alive reborn #mca #mcar #child death cw #i did also find another village while travelling! a desert one #got the coords for a potential tundra-village from asking thr townspeople about rumours #i'll have to check that out sometime

[pussymagnetmadara]

Sasuke true fans, read this please and tell me when I’m wrong

Nobody deserves Sasuke, no indeed. First of all, certainly not Sakura Haruno. Sakura never understood who Sasuke was, how he felt or what his goals were. In fact, she doesn't care at all. She always perceived him as the dude she fell in love with because you know he's Sasuke the cool guy in school, even years later. She doesn't deserve him because she always fought to get him back, to get him and get his favor, so that he could realize that she helped save him. How could she claim to save him from his torment when she never understood why he was so tormented. Of course she is aware of the genocide of the Uchiha clan and that Itachi was responsible for it but she just tells herself that he should never have let himself be consumed by revenge and hatred when she never had a say in the beginning. She finally got what she wanted out of him because she forced a victim of emotional abuse to marry her and giving him a child. Someone with such psychological distress that the dude doesn't even know who he is or why he did all this anymore. His brain pauses to save what's left of his mental state, he's unresponsive to anything, he's totally on autopilot. "I will say whatever my friends and Sakura want to hear if it makes them happy, I have to fix my mistakes." But what mistakes are you talking about Sasuke Uchiha? You haven't done anything wrong. You can't have anything to apologize for when you were the victim in the first place. If Sasuke's travels had been concrete with his state of mind, it's certainly not a redemption arc I would have liked to get but a mental health recovery arc. Secondly, Naruto Uzumaki. No Naruto does not deserve Sasuke and does not deserve his friendship and interest. When I hear that Naruto and Sasuke make so much sense together whether it be friendly or romantic, I say no. I sincerely think that Sasuke gave Naruto enough chances to be a real friend but Naruto never took that chance. Chasing him back to a village that ordered his brother to slaughter their whole family was never a good idea, but I could have left that out during Shippuden, if Naruto had used his brain after the 4th great war, but he didn't. So you bring back the victim of a nation that wasted his life to the very place where all the ghosts of his past are still present. Sasuke was not yet healed, Naruto gave the final blow to Sasuke's mental health. Why did Sasuke want to leave Konoha in your opinion Naruto Uzumaki? Yes because the village still sees him as the deserter and nobody in this damn village is able to reason and try to understand his gesture but also where do you want Sasuke to go in Konoha? The Uchiha district having been totally dismantled and razed, there remains only a small piece of rope to delimit the former territorial zone that had been granted to them and it is not really reasonable to let someone with such a trauma as Sasuke return to the scene of the crime that made his life collapse. . it's like if you bring a kidnapping victim back to the dark and wet basement where they remained locked up for a long time and let them fight their trauma by themselves, you would find it stupid and inhuman, well in Sasuke's case it's the same.

Then I was expecting an arc of reparation and justice for the real victims like Neji Huyga and Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto as the newly nominated hokage, but no, still nothing. Neji still hasn't got justice and neither has Sasuke while all this time Naruto was strutting around with Sasuke whispering in his ears: "don't worry, you will always be my friend…" What friendship are you talking about Naruto? The one where you don't even give your friend the right to officially break away from Konoha? To let him heal his wounds in another way? To let him live his life as he wants? So yes, you saved him from the death penalty but condemned him to a life of slavery as a watchdog of a state that never loved him and was never there for him simply because you, you are far too good to forgive all the people who hurt you, so even Sasuke should do the same. You do not love Sasuke.

So you offer the means to make up for his so-called mistakes by working in your shadow on behalf of Konoha and doing the dirty work for you while you sign piles of papers for hours on end in your sinister office in which hangs pictures of horrible people who have done nothing interesting with their position as hokage but stir up the hatred that eventually caused the genocide of your best friend's clan. You are just proud to finally be in the place that you have so desired to get all these years because of your lack of validation from others and your parents who died in fighting too soon and from whom you suffered a good part of your youth and from whom you are retracing the same path for your son who hates you because you are not there to raise him and his little sister.

So you get Sasuke to be your watchdog, and you continue to treat your so-called best friend, your soul mate as a common pet who should be happy with his lot. You put your friend Shikamaru as your main advisor but let Sasuke put his hands in the shit for you again.

Sasuke lost the hope to smile again, you don't allow him any decision and not even on his own life, and for all this, I deeply resent you.

Thirdly, Kakashi Hatake, for our friend Kakashi, Sasuke was his favorite student but as his friend Hiruzen Sarutobi once said to him, "We are always disappointed in our favorite student when they turn against us one day." Yes Orochimaru turned against you when you never understood him and called him weird and kicked him out of Konoha for his extravagant research while it doesn't seem to me that Tobirama Senju was then banished after inventing the edo-tensei jutsu which is literally fucking necromancy, a jutsu so horrible to practice that it requires in the first place a human sacrifice in order to bring back the soul of a dead person in the world of the living, deprived of its own will and its free will. .. Kakashi once thought he was close to Sasuke because he too had gone through the loss of people close to him, but need I remind you how Kakashi Hatake got over his depression? By stifling his emotions continuously and by murdering multiple shinobi. So he explicitly asked his favorite student who was in such an emotional distress that he was on the verge of internal implosion, to shut the fuck up and continue to live his life as a ninja and that losing people is part of life… he really dared to mean that to a 12 year old. I personally blame Kakashi but I try to make up for my pain by meaning that Kakashi himself being traumatized to the core has also lost all his cognitive faculties in terms of emotion and compassion. He turned himself off and also put himself in auto-pilot.

Fourth, Itachi Uchiha and Fugaku Uchiha. Besides his mother Mikoto, Sasuke only had eyes for his older brother and their father who they thought were just great. It's true, both of them were great and strong shinobi who far exceeded the abilities of the other clan members with a few exceptions. However, Fugaku in the first place should never have exposed Sasuke to a constant competition with his older brother. Fugaku in his great wisdom and experience should never have pitted his younger son against his brother to outgrow him, as he your sons are different, with different personalities and possibly different ambitions and mentally abusing them to force them to suit you is really twisted. To have tried to make Itachi the ultimate ninja that he never had the stature to be even while being the leader of the Uchiha clan and then to have your youngest son do everything to not end up like Itachi who then proved to be your biggest disappointment but in any case, outgrow him. In the sense that he had two chances to succeed, if one of them failed, the other one would inevitably succeed. And in another sense, where Hinata wouldn't go over Naruto's decisions as a good submissive wife, Mikoto never did anything to end it all and allow her older son to destroy himself. What kind of example was Sasuke supposed to draw from that? To be a good dog who is given orders and must obey without restriction? Yeah, Fugaku's twisted advices to Itachi caused Itachi's reaction to be stuck between his clan and his will to be a good ninja of Konoha? In the end, many blame Itachi for the massacre of the Uchiha clan, but when you receive so much pressure from one side or the other you end up inexorably imposing from the inside, and you end up making bad decisions and bullshit. When your daddy, instead of preserving you, shows you what a war looks like at the age of 4, how do you think you will end up? I sincerely regret that Itachi didn't succeed in his suicide, he would have been free of all that because yes he is as traumatized as his little brother, this trauma has disrupted everything in his brain, so much so that he finds it normal to traumatize his little brother in order to harden him, as if being a good ninja had to get over the trauma and the destruction of the mind and that he got from dad BUT even if he was considered as a genius, he never thought with his fucking brain. Like dude, WHY ARE YOU SUCH A FREAKING BOOTLICKER OF A GOUVERNMENT THAT ASKED YOU TO KILL YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING OWN FAMILY? Hello wake up! Fuck you.

Finally, Sasuke never had a real good example either in his education or in other areas. How can you blame a boy for being so called cold and insensitive when he never had a good example of affection except living in trauma, servitude of others and dishonor.

Sasuke didn't have Jiraya to replace the father figure that was so lacking in him. Sasuke didn't have the S/O who understood and admired him at last, not for his looks, nor for his famous family name but for who he really is. No, he has always been lonely, enslaved, and misunderstood.

Fortunately some of us in this rotten fandom really love Sasuke and give him all the love he deserves.

I love you Sasuke Uchiha. You'll always be my king.

PS: Please excuse my multiple grammatical errors, I wrote this very quickly and English is not my first language.

#Sasuke uchiha #anti sasusaku #anti sns #anti sasunarusasu #anti naruto #anti sakura #anti kakashi #anti itachi #anti konoha #anti naruto ending #pro Sasuke uchiha

[blackrabb1t]

Various Genshin Impact Headcanons (and Why I Have Them)

- Some of these might not actually have an explanation or a mini drabble - content warnings: drugs/drug mention, Archon Quest spoilers, Traveler is stated to be Lumine (only because i play as her), hints of angst - ship mentions: heikaveh, zhongchi - None of these are listed in any particular order - This list will be constantly edited and updated - This list is also long as FUCK

• Alhaitham actually doesn't like black coffee.

He always orders 2 coffees, though. One black, the other with enough sugar it really could barely even be considered coffee anymore. Both cups will be taken to his office at the Akademiya, and sometimes a passing scholar might see Master Kaveh of Kshahrewar leaving the Scribe's office with the extra coffee cup. However what they all fail to notice, is that Kaveh's cup isn't the one that contains an excess of caramel and chocolate syrups, whipped creams, and sugar, like one would assume. That cup remains remains with Alhaitham. It's his, after all.

• Dendro users can control their own/another's psychoactivity

okay i know this one is WILD but stfu and hear me out. so, most alcohols are made with fermented grains and fruits, there's an entire wiki page on psychoactive plants/mushrooms, can you see where im going with this. Dendro users (namely Tighnari bc face it, that one dude in his character demo was lit like a mfn christmas tree, and tbh so was he) can either sober themselves up or induce a hallucinogen (severity and effect varies on who and what the purpose is for) when needed

• Anemo users can control their own oxygen levels

i actually saw this one somewhere else (i think somebody else did a think piece on other ways Vision holders can use and control their elements) and i just wrote it into my understanding of how Teyvat works and then i remembered that while yes, we do get the 15% stamina reduction, no, it is not stated anywhere in game that Anemo users never get muscle exhaustion due to lack of oxygen in the bloodstream.

• Certain Hydro users can control blood

Those users being Tartaglia, Kokomi, and Barbara. Tartaglia bc fucking DUH, Kokomi bc she WAS a leading figure in the Inazuman Civil War (lbr, Kokomi deserves a little more violence in her life. i mean look at her), and Barbara learned as a medical thing, in case someone needed to keep blood flow going, and to help find veins for things like IVs or vaccines.

• Mona went to the Akademiya as a Rtawahist scholar

It only lasted MAYBE 8 months, but she was there. If you didn't see Layla's name in the top spot after exams, it was more than likely Mona's until she left for Mondstadt.

• The exams at the Akademiya are on a month by month basis

Because there are so many people going in and out and doing self-studies at the Akademiya, it wouldn't make sense for exams to be on a quarter by quarter basis, so they're done at the end of every month instead.

• Kaveh actually does know about what happened in Sumeru City

Cyno initially told him that there was trouble, and he was searching for Alhaitham. Kaveh wasn't able to leave his project in the desert to help, but thankfully, Candace gave him a run down on the plan and everything that followed when he returned to Aaru Village in preparation for returning to Sumeru City. During the library scene, yes, Kaveh already knew, but he wanted to hear AH's version of the events. Meanwhile, Alhaitham is being difficult because he doesn't want Kaveh to worry over a certain plot event. (He could just leave it out, however Kaveh always knows when he lies.)

• No one knew about Alhaitham using the Divine Knowledge Capsule in the Grand Sage's Office

canon can say they knew all it wants, you'll pry the angst of when this goes sideways out of my cold lifeless hands

• Klee is the in-game reason why we haven't seen Dornman Port or the Dandelion Sea yet

She accidentally blew up the connecting mountain to Dornman Port while fish blasting, and the Dandelion Sea resides further north (meta reasoning is we return to Mondstadt at some point before the Khaenri'ah chapter, and that'll open up this area)

• Tartaglia is actually a really good healer

He learned because he didn't want his younger siblings to worry if he came home with an unexplainable amount of scars, but no one else in the Fatui believes him when he says he's a good healer bc of how he acts on a battlefield (you know that one scene from Sailor Moon where Usagi is like "i got a C+ in first aid!"? that's him)

• Tartaglia is extremely good at wood carving

There was a little truth to the toy seller "lie". He might not be the best, but he does sell a lot of wood carvings for children. The carvings are especially popular in both Liyue and Sumeru.

• Alhaitham and Nahida both find Cyno's jokes funny

Alhaitham doesn't outwardly laugh, but he's losing his mind on the inside, but Nahida is just a ball of giggles for a good thirty seconds following.

• Flowers grow around Dendro users according to their emotions or location

It's best seen with Catalyst users (ie. flora grows under Nahida wherever she walks, qingxin and violetgrass grow in Baizhu's hair whenever he's in Qingce Village), but Yaoyao usually has a few silk flowers and qingxin in her hair, Kaveh has been seen with a crown of Nilotpala Lotus and Padisarah on multiple occasions (especially around the Palace of Alcazarzaray), and Alhaitham has been caught with a Kalpalata Lotus once or twice.

• Kaveh is the reincarnation of the Goddess of Flowers/Alhaitham is the reincarnation of King Deshret

it's a popular theory and it's just. ingrained into my understanding of Teyvat now lmao

• Baizhu is at least part Adeptus

i just. i have a feeling. Changsheng is there for a reason, Changsheng TALKS for a reason.

• All of the regulars at Angel's Share knows that Venti is Barbatos.

no bc what the fuck do you mean the twink is drinking Grand Master Varka under the table??? and he's still standing??? is is liver okay???? (Venti also let it slip a few times)

• Everyone in Liyue Harbor knows that Zhongli is Rex Lapis.

you can't tell me no one in the harbor read Rex Incognito and didn't go "hm. this kinda sounds familiar. oh yeah! this reminds me of the consultant at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!" that is not statistically possible. (Everyone at Wanmin was subjected to a very awkward conversation between Tartaglia and Zhongli after Signora left Liyue.)

• The Fairy Floss Incidents™

- Klee is not allowed to have any by order of Acting Grand Master Jean Gunnhildr. (Klee almost collapsed Stone Gate while fish blasting until Diluc found her.) - Lumine got a recipe for it in Fontaine and offered to make some for Xiao, but he denied vehemently (Childe offered him some when he was visiting Zhongli and has thought it was something dangerous ever since) - Xiangling has yet to find a suitable recipe including fairy floss since it dissolves in liquids almost immediately. - Shogun hates it, Ei LOVES it, yes, this has caused multiple arguments within the Plane of Euthymia (Scaramouche despises the stuff, but becomes indifferent towards it after becoming the Wanderer.) - Nahida is no longer allowed to have it in large amounts by order of Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham and General Mahamatra Cyno.

• Jean and Barbara actually do have a good relationship with each other

let them be sisters, hoyoverse.

• Jean actually does know about Albert.

The only reason she hasn't done anything yet is because Barbara asked her not to, unless it escalates. However, Jean does have Kaeya monitoring the situation. (Kaeya was busy in meetings during that one ending in Barbara's Hangout [Untimely Enthusiasm] and she had asked Lumine not to tell Jean.)

• Kaeya and Diluc have forgiven each other but they have yet to forgive themselves.

LET THEM BE BROTHERS, HOYOVERSE.

• Jean got her Vision first.

• Jean actually does know about the argument between Diluc and Kaeya.

It's hard. It's hard not asking questions when you hear an explosion. A large one, one that you hope is only the little Spark Knight, but it can't be, because you know she was currently traveling with her mother through Liyue. Not asking questions becomes even harder when you find one of your closest friends sitting as if the world just broke underneath him with shards of ice and hints and trails of frostbitten skin on his left arm. It's exponentially harder when you find the answer to some of those questions shattered in a corner somewhere, nursing burn scars up and down his right side and a newly acquired Cryo Vision. And so, her first reaction is to heal. Heal what she can, and support the foundations of what she currently can't. Her second reaction is to seek answers. She seeks the answers, and she heals, and she puts the puzzle pieces together. But suddenly, one drops off the face of Teyvat, frostbitten and a heart full of fire and anger. She is left with the other, burned and a heart full of ice and sadness. It’s hard. It’s hard to move forward, and to heal two broken and hurting hearts, but she is Jean Gunnhildr, the Dandelion Knight of Mondstadt. And to heal and protect is her ambition.

• Kaeya has never seen a horse in real life.

There are no horses in Khaenri'ah and by the time Kaeya was in a high enough position to really be around them constantly, Varka had taken all of the cavalry on the expedition. (Jean went through with naming Kaeya the Cavalry Captain so she can ask for his help in an official unofficial capacity since the Knights of Favonius didn't [and still doesn't] have an espionage division.) To this day, Kaeya still thinks horses are something Diluc made up to mess with him.

• Raiden Shogun and Scaramouche have ball joints.

PLEASE

#voice pattern: rinzler #data file: headcanons #genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #genshin headcanons #do not tag as ship #tw: drugs #tw: drug mention #everything you see about psychoactivity comes from wikipedia i have no knowledge in biology #i know the Kaeya not knowing what a horse is thing was a little mean but i needed sth lighthearted after that Jean hc

[digitalsatyr23]

Ocarina of Time Fanfic (Ch1)

Saria, Hero of the Forest Chapter 1: If Time Was a River… Characters: Saria, Link, Mido, the Kokiri…

Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical alternate timeline to the events of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." This story is a showcase of what might have happened if Saria were to take on the role of Hero of Time in Link's place. This story includes existing events and dialogue from the game, deviating more as the story progresses and its differences become more pronounced. This is not an exact retelling, however. There are new characters, names (some characters were not given names until Majora's Mask while others didn't originally have names at all, such as Saria's fairy), and extra content meant to fill in the gaps. The story also explores and interprets available lore, diverging only when appropriate (such as to compliment the additional content). Any critique or feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy.

 --- 

Somewhere to the east in Hyrule, a foul plan has been hatched. A sorcerer from the Gerudo Desert known as Ganondorf tried to take the Kokiri’s Emerald, but when the Great Deku Tree refused him, a terrible monster was sent to curse the Deku Tree and feed on his life force. Unable to move, he was helpless against this monster. Growing weaker, he reached out to one of the fairies of the forest.

“Navi… Navi, where art thou? Come hither…”

A blue fairy hears the Deku Tree’s words, swiftly flying to his side.

“Deku Tree? What’s happened to you? You look… Sick.”

“Oh, Navi the fairy… Listen to my words, the words of the Deku Tree… Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm… Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule.

For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world… But… Before this tremendous evil power, even my power is nothing.”

Navy listened carefully to the Deku Tree’s words, nodding. “Did an outsider do this? Please, tell me!”

“Indeed… A sorcerer most foul sought the spiritual stone I guard. I would not bargain with him, thus do I now suffer from this curse.” A moment of silence followed as the Deku Tree stopped to regain his strength. His voice grew weaker by the second. “It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey… The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth… Navi… Go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me… I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!”

“Of course! I’ll bring him here straight away!”

And thus did Navi fly off in search of the boy without a fairy. The Deku Tree watched as Navi disappeared, waiting patiently for her return. As his life force continued to fade, a thought crossed his mind regarding the sorcerer.

That Ganondorf… I feared such a man would come here one day, a man hungry for the Triforce’s power. Such a strange, frightening figure. I wonder what he meant by “We meet again”?

---

Saria, a Kokiri girl, was sitting on a tree stump. She gently played her ocarina as forest spirits danced through the air. She had traveled to the Sacred Forest Meadow, a place of peace and quiet where she often spoke with and played music for the spirits of the forest. Today was peaceful as well, only… Something was bothering her. It was a strange, intangible feeling that she couldn’t place no matter how hard she tried.

At first, she thought she got up on the wrong side of the bed. After all, no one else seemed to be bothered. The other Kokiri were at play throughout the village as if nothing was wrong. Fado was standing on the lookout post, Mido was standing guard in front of the path to the Great Deku Tree, and many of the boys were taking care of the village. One was trying to move rocks, and another was trimming the grass in front of Saria’s house.

How nice of him! Saria thought.

The only one that Saria couldn’t see was Link. This didn’t surprise her, however, as Link was always a late sleeper. She had decided to leave him be and go to the meadow to calm her nerves. There was no need to burden the others with her troubles, after all.

The forest spirits were not talkative that day, wishing to hear Saria’s music first before they answered her questions. As she played her ocarina, that same bothersome feeling crept into her mind.

“Stop. That’s enough,” said one of the wispy spirits in the air. “Your music… It feels sad, somehow.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since I woke up I’ve felt like something is wrong.”

“Hmm… The forest has felt strange as of late,” said another spirit. “We’ve seen deku babas sprouting up all over. Strange indeed. The Great Deku Tree should have suppressed their growth. What kind of protector is he if he’s letting all these monsters sprout up!”

“Hey! That’s no fair!” said Saria. “The Great Deku Tree’s reach extends far beyond this forest. We can’t expect him to notice every little thing.”

“It does make me worry though,” said Saria’s fairy, Poppy. “The Deku Tree would never let monsters like deku babas grow here. What if something’s wrong?”

Saria pocketed her ocarina, slapped her knees, then stood up. “I think we should go see what’s wrong then. If he needs help with anything, I think we can handle it. Don’t you?”

Poppy nodded then floated after Saria as she left the meadow behind. Hopping across the top of the maze down the stairway, Saria deftly landed on her feet at the end. As she landed, however, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. A deku baba burst from the ground and lunged at her with its toothy maw. Saria backflipped away, dodging the plant’s bite.

“There’s one here too? Poppy, close your eyes!”

Saria reached around her back, drawing a deku nut from a pouch and a curved dagger from a hidden sheath. With a toss, the deku nut burst open, stunning the plant monster. In its moment of weakness, Saria dashed forward and sliced the deku baba’s stem, killing it in an instant. The severed stem hardened instantly, becoming a stick. Saria gave her dagger a flick before putting it back in its sheath and picking up the deku stick.

“Seems ordinary enough. Branches like this fall from the Deku Tree all the time,” said Saria as she examined the stick.

Poppy floated over to Saria and said, “You’re right. It really is the same type of wood. You don’t think…”

Saria and Poppy’s eyes met for a moment.

“Let’s not worry about that until we can talk to the Deku Tree.”

“Right!”

Saria and Poppy then left the meadow and made their way through the Lost Woods on their way to the village. While the Kokiri ran, dark thoughts bubbled in her mind.

I just hope the others are okay…

When Saria returned to the village, everything was fine. There were no signs of deku babas or any other monsters about. It seemed that whatever was happening had not yet reached the village. Saria breathed a sigh of relief, checking in on the other Kokiri as she passed through. Finally, she approached the treehouse with a ladder leading high up. At the base of the tree was a small drawing of a kid fighting a giant lizard. Just as Saria reminisced, Link stepped out of his house.

“Yahoo! Good morning, Link!”

Link looked down and waved. “Hi Saria!!”

The young boy climbed down his ladder and greeted the girl. Much to Saria’s surprise, a blue fairy was accompanying Link.

“Wait, is that a fairy? Wow! A fairy finally came to you! Now you’re a true Kokiri!”

“Pardon me,” said the blue fairy, “but we have a pressing matter to attend to! Link must see the Great Deku Tree at once!”

“Is that right? I needed to speak to him as well. I don’t want to interrupt if it’s important. Go on! I’ll wait here until you’re done. Let me know if it’s okay to speak with him when you get back.”

“Of course!” said Link. “All right Navi, lead the way!”

Link ran off with the blue fairy, and all Saria could do was wave goodbye.

“Navi, was it? I don’t think I’ve met that fairy before,” said Saria. “I’m glad he finally got one, though. Now hopefully Mido will leave him alone.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” said Poppy. “I’m sure he’ll find something else to complain about.”

Saria giggled at the comment. “Oh, those two… I hope they become good friends someday.”

The Kokiri girl waited patiently by Link’s house for a time, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Curiously, Link returned after a few minutes with a frustrated look on his face.

“Link? What’s wrong?”

“Mido won’t let me pass!” said Link. “He says I have to arm myself before I stand before the tree. What’s with that?”

“Indeed!” said Navi. “The Kokiri boy was most rude!”

“What?! Mido won’t let you go to see the Great Deku Tree? Ohh… That bum! I don’t know why he’s always so mean to everyone!” Then the thought occurred to her. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one to have seen the deku babas. “Hmm… I don’t blame him for what he said. Strange things have been happening here lately… You need to be ready for anything, Link. I believe the Kokiri Sword is up by the training grounds, and you can get a shield from the shop. If you show up with those, Mido will have no choice but to let you through.”

Link sighed. “Do I really have to buy the shield, though? It’s not like it’s a real shop…” Link then glanced over to a rupee sticking out of a bush. “I don’t even know where they get these things.”

“I know it’s a little frustrating but try and play along. They take a great deal of pride in their work.”

“All right, all right. I think I’ll need about five blue rupees… I swear, if something bad happens while Mido keeps me out, I’m gonna slug him!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on the village while you’re away. Good luck, Link.”

The boy left with a reassured smile on his face, waving goodbye. Saria was happy to see him in good spirits, yet that nagging feeling would not leave her alone. A cold, sinking sensation in her chest. It was almost as if…

Time passed. Saria saw Link get past Mido, but he had yet to return. It wouldn’t be long until dusk. Even the other villagers were starting to get anxious. Saria decided to check with Mido.

“Hey Mido, have you seen Link?”

The boy shook his head. “Haven’t seen him since we last spoke. I heard some fighting not long after he left. Seems he ran into some deku babas on the way,” Mido said as he pulled out a stick. “Those were some clean cuts, I gotta say…”

“Hmm. Maybe I should check on him.”

“What?! I mean, you shouldn’t worry so much about him. If he can cut stems this cleanly, I’m sure he’ll be fine… Maybe… Probably…” Mido tapped his foot impatiently, his brow furrowed. “He better come back!”

Saria decided to step away for a moment. “Poppy, what do you think?”

“There’s nowhere to really go in the Deku Tree’s domain. I can’t imagine a conversation lasting for hours.”

“What could be taking him, then?”

Worry getting the best of her, Saria marched back to Mido and said, “Let me past. I need to check on him.”

“Wait, I can’t let you through! Not without a summons!”

“Not even me? But I’ve spoken with the Deku Tree before…”

Mido scratched his cheek, glancing away. “It’s not like I want to stop you, but orders are orders, right?”

“I’ll take responsibility,” said Poppy. “If trouble should come from this, you needn’t worry.”

“But Saria doesn’t even have a weapon! What if-”

“I appreciate your worry, but I’ll be fine.”

Mido looked from side to side, as if scanning for observing eyes. “I… Um… Fine! If you really wanna see Link that badly, I won’t stop you!” The boy then stepped aside, grumbling under his breath.

As Saria passed, she looked back and said, “Thank you.” The boy pulled his cap down over his eyes, blushing. Smiling softly, Saria made her way down the path to the Great Deku Tree. Sure enough, more deku babas had grown along the path. Making use of her dagger, nuts, and swiftness, Saria made short work of the plants. At the end, she looked across the field to the Deku Tree. He seemed sickly and tired, and his bark was starting to lose color.

“Saria… Is that you?”

“It is. What’s wrong, Great Deku Tree? Where’s Link?”

“Link…? I asked him for aid. I’ve been… Cursed, you see. I tasked him with striking down the source of the curse, and yet, I still feel myself slipping away.”

“That’s terrible! Is there anything I can do to help?”

“It pains me to burden so many with my troubles, but if you would be willing, step inside me. Find Link and help him stop this curse.”

Saria looked to Poppy, then back to the Deku Tree. “Of course. I’ll do what I can.”

The Deku Tree opened his mouth and Saria approached. Standing at the base of the tree, she was reminded just how big he truly was. Often she and the others would sit in this very grove and listen to his tales of the outside world. To see the Deku Tree in such a sorry state… It pained her to no end. Steeling herself for what lied ahead, Saria stepped inside and began her search.

It didn’t take long to find clues. Inside the Deku Tree were slain monsters (many of which were skulltulas), and a large hole in the center of floor looked like spider webs had once covered it, now torn through.

“What happened here? Where did all these monsters come from?” Saria asked.

“Perhaps they were brought here by whoever put a curse on the Deku Tree.”

Saria reached the edge of the hole ringed with webbing. Looking down, she could see pools of water far below.

“Do you think Link is down there?” asked Poppy.

“Only one way to find out.”

Taking a leap of faith, Saria dove into the hole, safely landing in the water below. After emerging from the water’s surface, she saw the shallows, as well as plots of dirt and rock. There were metal bars to the south where water flowed through, as well as a stone block with curious symbols on its sides to the north.

“This can’t be right. Is this really part of the Deku Tree?” asked Saria.

“It might not be,” said Poppy, following Saria as she stepped onto land. “The Deku Tree’s roots extend far below the surface. Perhaps this place was built by our ancestors so they could check on his roots. It’d be easier to navigate than digging new tunnels every time.”

“Fair point.” Saria looked around, noticing signs of battle and burnt webbing. A half-burned deku stick was discarded by a doorway, as well as by another hole ringed with webbing. After climbing up to the hole via the stone block, Saria and Poppy looked down. “How far does this go? This is most confusing.”

“Do you think whoever built this place left a map behind?” wondered Poppy.

“Even if they did, I doubt it would have survived in these conditions. It’s simply too damp.”

“What if they kept it in a box, or a treasure chest?”

     “Now you’re just being silly.”

Once more, Saria dove down, landing in another pool of water. After emerging, she noticed a trio of deku scrubs fighting over something.

“Let me have it! Let me have it!” one cried.

“No! I saw it first! It’s mine!” said another.

“You’re both idiots! It belongs to me! He hit me first, so it’s mine now!” said the third.

It was strange. For just a moment, the thing they were fighting over looked familiar. Saria stepped onto land and swept her hair back to get the excess water out.

“You three! Did you see a young boy come through here?”

“W-what? Another one?!” shouted the deku scrub.

“We can’t let you pass! Not after our last failure!”

“Yes, yes! The queen would never forgive us!”

“The queen?” said Saria. “Who are you talking about?”

“You idiots!” shouted the largest of the scrubs. “You said too much again! Get rid of her, quickly!”

The two smaller deku scrubs stood their ground and fired nuts at Saria. She dodged one then struck the other with a stick, knocking it back at the scrub and smashing it into the wall. Saria closed the distance to the other two, batting away the nuts before finally striking the scrubs across the heads.

“You bullies! That’s what you get for attacking someone for no good reason!”

“Ow ow ow! We’re sorry!” said one of the scrubs.

“We promise we won’t do it again!”

“Honest!”

Saria sighed, crossing her arms. “You better not. Now, if you please, could you answer my question? Did you see a young boy pass through here?”

One of the deku scrubs nodded. “We did, we did! We tried to stop him the same way we did with you, but he was too smart!”

“Someone must have told him our secret! The traitor!”

“We’ll find that no good scrub soon enough!”

“Please, calm down,” said Saria. “This boy, did he have blonde hair? Green clothes?”

“He did, but…” The scrub trailed off, looking away in shame.

“What do you mean?” asked Saria.

Poppy, who had been floating over Saria’s shoulder the whole time looked behind her and flew down to the ground.

“Saria! Take a look at this!”

The Kokiri girl turned and looked. On the ground was Link’s green cap.

“Wait… Did he lose it?”

Saria knelt down by the cap and picked it up. It had a faint red stain on it. The girl’s heart sank at the sight, nearly causing her to drop the cap.

“You three…” said Saria. “Did he go through this door?”

The three deku scrubs, who were huddled up, each nodded nervously. Saria pocketed the cap, readied her dagger, then stepped through the door.

On the other side was a large dark chamber. Stone came slamming down behind Saria after she took a few steps past the door. Pillars of old grey wood supported a twisted ceiling of gnarled roots, and a cold mist obscured the ground. A skittering sound could be heard further within. Saria looked around, but no sign of a monster could be seen. Just skittering, skittering, skittering…

Stepping lightly, Saria moved further into the chamber. A faint flicker of blue light caught her attention, and upon moving closer, Saria realized what it was. A wounded Navi was on the ground, missing a wing. So shocked by the sight, Saria dropped her dagger and scooped up the fairy.

“Navi? Navi! What happened? Who did this to you?!”

“The eye…”

“What?”

“It uses magic to hide… Seek the eye…”

The small fairy went still in the Kokiri’s hands. A tear slipped down her face as Saria placed the fairy in a pouch.

“I’m sorry, Navi. Just hold on for a little while longer.”

Just then, the air shifted. Saria dodged on instinct, avoiding a fatal blow. She suffered a small cut across her leg, however. As she looked around, there was no sign of her attacker. The air shifted again, forcing Saria to roll out of the way. Picking up her dagger as she rolled, Saria got back on her feet in a fighting stance. Then, in the middle of the air, a bright blue eye manifested, its pupil spinning backwards as another pupil appeared. The mist flowed against the faint outline of something strange and insect-like as invisible eyelids closed and the creature disappeared.

“So that’s what she meant,” said Saria. “Poppy, can you see it?”

“Barely, but it’s fast.” Saria and Poppy stayed on the defensive, waiting. Then before the beast struck, Poppy shouted, “Behind you!”

Saria ducked, striking at where she thought a limb might be. The dagger cut across something that felt like steel. The creature was quick to move away, changing its position once more. This exchange went on until the eye revealed itself momentarily. This time, Saria was prepared. She struck a deku nut at the ground below the eye, stunning the beast. The Kokiri made a mad dash and struck at the eye, slicing again and again.

When the beast could move, it darted away, clambering onto the ceiling. Not long after, three egg sacs hit the floor, birthing two-legged eye beasts with singular horns on their heads. When their eyes and horn tips grew red, they charged. Three on one, it was all Saria could do to stay on the defensive. Waiting for an opportunity, Saria struck down one of the beasts, scaring the other two away. Though she was on edge, Saria left them alone. Hostile though they were, she felt bad striking down creatures so young.

Soon enough, the large monster returned to attack. Since it worked the first time, Saria readied a deku nut. She kept dodging the monster’s attacks, and sure enough, it took a peep with its eye to confirm her position. Just before she threw the nut, however, one of the baby monsters leapt in the way, causing Saria to hesitate. The monster’s eye glowed red and its invisible limb shot out, piercing the baby and pinning Saria against one of the wooden pillars.

“That was one of your own! You monster!”

The creature cackled. “I care not. I can always make more.”

Saria tried to swipe with her dagger, but another clawed limb swatted the knife away. A third limb reached up to Saria’s face, bringing a claw to her cheek.

“Where is it?”

“where’s what?”

“The stone! I need the stone!!”

“The Kokiri Emerald? Why would you want that?”

“Don’t ask questions! Tell me where it is, and I may spare your life.” The claw dug into Saria’s cheek, drawing blood. “But be quick about it. My brood is still hungry. I can’t hold them off forever…” said the monster with a mocking tone.

She wasn’t sure what to say. Saria had heard of the spiritual stone, but its location was a closely guarded secret. Not even she knew.

“Well?!” The claw dug further in. “I’m waiting!!”

Before things took a turn for the worse, Poppy (who had slipped away) floated up from behind the monster, carrying a deku nut. After getting into position, she dropped the nut right onto the monster’s eye, stunning it. Saria broke free, picked up her dagger, then drove it straight into the eye. The monster stumbled back, hissing and howling, then finally collapsed. As if they drew their life force from their queen, the little ones collapsed as well, and then they all faded away in ghostly blue flame.

“Saria, are you okay?” asked Poppy, flying close.

“I’m fine, but where’s Link? I thought those scrubs said he came in here?”

Poppy’s eyes turned downcast. “I… Saw him while I was flying about.”

“Is he wounded? Show me to him.”

“I… I’m not sure I-”

“What are you saying? Show him to me!”

Tears streamed from the fairy’s eyes as she cried, “I can’t!” and flew away.

“Poppy!!”

Wounded and feeling as if a stone was in her throat, Saria searched the chamber. She did find Link, but…

There was nothing left but bones.

“Link… Link…!”

Saria fell to her knees, the strength in her body leaving her. As she reached down for the tattered green cloth and bones, magical light enveloped her.

“No, what’s happening? Link! Link come back to me! Link! LIIIIIIIIIINK!!!”

Saria disappeared from the chamber, teleported back outside by strange magic. Mido was the first to come running into the field, followed shortly thereafter by the other Kokiri.

“Saria! You’re okay!” shouted Mido. “What happened? Where are the others?!”

The girl, who was clinging onto tattered cloth looked up at her friend with teary eyes.

“He’s… He’s gone…”

The other Kokiri reeled at those words, Mido most of all. The boy’s legs shook as he struggled to stand. Before he could ask more questions, the Deku Tree spoke up.

“Saria… Thank you…”

“Thank me? For what?”

“Dost thou not remember thine deeds? Thou has verily demonstrated great courage.”

“But… I didn’t make it in time. I… Couldn’t save him.”

“I know, and for that I am sorry. It was I who tasked him with ending my curse. Perhaps what is happening is my punishment for my misjudgment.”

Saria and Mido looked to one another, then to the Deku Tree.

“What do you mean?” asked Mido. “Did Saria not break the curse?”

“She did, but the curse took too much of a toll on me. Please… My time is short. There is much I must tell you before I go.”

Saria, still grasping onto the tattered cloth, stood up.

“Okay. Tell me.”

“Thank you. Now… Listen carefully… A wicked man of the desert cast this dreadful curse upon me… This evil man ceaselessly uses his vile, sorcerous powers in his search for the Sacred Realm that is connected to Hyrule… For it is in that Sacred Realm that one will find the divine relic, the Triforce, which contains the essence of the gods…”

“The gods? Do you mean Din, Nayru, and Farore?”

“Indeed. Dost thou remember the tale? When the three goddesses finished making the world, they departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis for our world’s providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm.”

“Then that bad man must be after the Triforce, right?” said Mido.

“Yes. Thou must never allow the desert man in black armor to lay his hands on the sacred Triforce… Thou must never suffer that man, with his evil heart, to enter the Sacred Realm of legend… That evil man who cast the death curse upon me and sapped my power… Because of that curse, my end is nigh… Though your valiant efforts to break the curse were successful, I was doomed before you started… Yes, I will pass away soon… But do not grieve for me… I have been able to tell you of these important matters…”

A green orb of light appeared mid-air, floating down to Saria.

“This is Hyrule’s final hope… Saria… I know I ask much of you, but go to Hyrule Castle… There, thou will surely meet the Princess of Destiny… Take this stone with you. The stone that man wanted so much that he cast the curse on me…”

Saria took the stone, which was a brilliant green emerald with gold swirled around it, reminding Saria of a seed.

“But Great Deku Tree… I thought if a Kokiri left the forest they would die? What are you asking of me?”

“The world is full of danger and strife. Within the forest I could always watch over and protect you, but beyond this place I could not. With my disappearance, you must all learn to protect yourselves through your own strength. I am… Sorry to leave you all… But I believe in you. Stay together… Train well… Do what you must… And Saria, the future depends upon thee… Thou art courageous indeed…”

Before her very eyes, the Great Deku Tree began to wither. His brown bark turned grey, his leaves fell one by one, and his voice went silent. His spirit departed, all the Kokiri were reduced to tears.

Saria returned to the inside of the tree, seeking out Poppy, Link’s remains, and anything else of import. Link had the Kokiri sword and a deku shield, which she entrusted to Mido. Saria kept Link’s slingshot and cap, burying the rest with Navi beside the Great Deku Tree. What felt like days passed as the Kokiri mourned the loss of so many and struggled to pick up the pieces. Mido, who had always called himself the boss of the Kokiri, earned his title by directing others and staying strong in the face of looming danger. Soon enough, the Kokiri who were unfamiliar with the ways of battle swiftly learned, fashioning bark and sticks into shields and weapons. Mido and the others would protect the village no matter what.

At least… That’s what Saria hoped.

After talking it over with Poppy, Saria decided it was time to go. She had been entrusted with an important task by the Great Deku Tree. She had to leave the forest and seek out this so-called Princess of Destiny. Once she finished preparing food, supplies, and her gear, she put on a cloak the others fashioned for her as a gift and made her way to the bridge.

As she stepped onto the bridge that sat between Kokiri Village and the outside world, she saw Mido waiting for her.

“You really are leaving, huh?”

“Of course. What choice do I have?”

“You could stay! That bad man wants the spiritual stone, right? If you leave, you’ll be walking right into a trap!”

“But if I stay, he’ll only come back. He’s already done enough harm here.”

“Then let me come with you! Surely it would be safer than being by yourself!”

“The village needs you, Mido. They need a leader. Besides. I won’t truly be alone. I have Poppy, and…” Saria put a hand to the green cap on her head. Mido looked up at it.

“I thought I saw you cleaning it… I still can’t believe he’s gone.” Mido paused for a moment. “Do you… Hate me? If I didn’t let him through, then-”

Saria hugged Mido, patting him on the back. “How could I? This wasn’t your fault, nor the Great Deku Tree’s. It was that monster and the man from the desert.” Saria let go, stepping back. “It all feels wrong. It feels like he should be standing here. I always thought he would leave the village someday. Maybe he would have if it weren’t for that man…”

“What do you think you’ll do if you encounter him? To enter the village undetected and hurt the Deku Tree so… He must surely be strong.”

“I don’t know. But maybe I’ll learn. If the outside world is truly dangerous, then I’ll need to be strong as well. I’ll fight, survive, and seek out the princess. And if I see that man and he hesitates for even an instant…” Saria gripped the handle of her dagger, “I’ll make him regret it.”

Mido couldn’t help but chuckle at the statement, even as he cried. “Spoken like a true warrior. Seems you’ve graduated from being the big sister of the village! Best of luck then. And please… Don’t forget about us.”

“Don’t worry. As soon as I’m done, I’ll return straight away.”

“You better not be lying!” Mido shook his fist. “You hear me!”

For the first time in days, Saria smiled. Without another word, she ran across the bridge and out the tree hollow. For a moment, fear clenched her chest. She had always been told over and over that if a Kokiri left the forest they would die. Even after being told otherwise, instinct almost stopped her dead in her tracks. She pushed through it, however, and left the forest behind. She was still alive, and her journey had finally begun.

#The Legend of Zelda #Ocarina of Time #fanfiction #fanfic #alternate universe #alternate timeline #Saria #Link #Mido #Hero of the Forest #dark content #my writing #writeblr

[kathleenmarymulligan]

The Pink City! (or Kathleen Rides a Camel.)

Peacock Gate- City Palace

March 5, 2023- Wow. Nearly a month has passed since I last really wrote a blog entry. I did post some photos from our trip to Jaipur and will post some more now. But I’d better get caught up, because I have a lot to tell you about our 10-day trip to Kochi that is just now drawing to a close.

First, though, Jaipur. February-2023.

We went for two reasons:

Jaipur is part of the Golden Triangle: (along with Delhi and Agra)--part of any “must see” tour of India—and we’d never been.

We wanted to visit the Jawahar Kala Kendra cultural center there, a place that seems ideal as a tour stop for our project with Khalsa College students.

The city is lovely--and also chaotic, like so many big cities, especially in India. We chose an Airbnb outside of the city in the village of Amber, and that was a wise decision for us. It’s beautiful there, and the small hotel where we stayed was a wonderful oasis after a day of sight-seeing and meetings.

The garden of our hotel

The first day of our visit was our day to explore Jaipur proper after our very productive meeting at JKK. We “did” the sights: the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), the City Palace, and the Jantar Mantar (observatory created by Sawai Jai Singh II in the early 18th century.)

Palace of the Winds (the latticed windows were designed so that the women of the court could look out on goings-on without being viewed by the outside world.)

The City Palace

The observatory

My space geek husband particularly loved this place.

I’m glad we visited, but after a walk through the old city, I was ready for peace and quiet up the hill in Amber.

The next day, we were incredibly fortunate to tag along on a guided tour of sights in Amber by our hotel host. He had two friends visiting from Germany, a retired couple who have traveled to India many times over the past 20-30 years. Our host is a font of knowledge about the area, and as a local, knows all the secret little spots.

Two ancient Hindu temples.

The original Amber Palace (used BEFORE the one built in 1599 that everyone goes to!) We were the only people exploring these little-known sights, and they were fascinating. Standing in the long-deserted (and somewhat forgotten) rooms of the king's wives, the hall where he held court, the many halls and staircases--there was a palpable energy.

We ended the tour at The Amber Fort, which is (for me) the most worthwhile sight in Jaipur. It’s massive, and beautiful and while there were a lot of tourists, it is still possible to find moments of quiet where one can imagine the lives lived within those walls.

On the path up to the fort I heard music being that said one thing to me: snake charmer! I know—at this point, this ancient art has been pretty much relegated to tourist spots—but I had never seen one, always wanted to, and was thrilled to finally stumble upon one (well, I was careful not to stumble- as the guy had several baskets containing sleeping cobras on the ground beside him. ) It was high noon, so the snakes were not as inclined to cooperate as they are in morning or evening. But it was still a thrill for me – with the little extra excitement of a bit of danger…that cobra was only about 2 feet from where I crouched on the ground to watch. (Video in "Faces of Jaipur" post to follow.)

After we finished the fort, it was time for me to check off yet another item on my bucket list—and while David attempted to convince me that I did NOT need to ride a camel- I was undeterred. Our host brought us down the hill to the outskirts of the city- where I was able to have a very satisfying (and surprisingly comfortable) ride on “Pushbah”. Touristy? You bet. But something I wanted to experience once in my life.

After one more stop at an out of the way (and not too touristy) gem store (where I was able to pick up some beautiful earrings for the girl we sponsor in Kerala and her social worker—as well as one pair of citrine studs that I could not resist for myself) we were back up the hill for our final night in the hotel’s beautiful garden (with the illuminated Amber Palace seemingly close enough to touch.)

Thumbs-up for a rather perfect weekend (and a direct flight from Amritsar!) My motto for this Fulbright: seize the day. No matter how much we see and experience, we will not see nearly all of what this country has to offer. But I’m determined to do my best!

[dreamerstreamer]

Human GPS

Pairing: c!Technoblade x f!reader

Summary: [Dream SMP!AU] Technoblade really needs some books of mending, and you just happen to be the daughter of the village cleric.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: this a repost of the first ever story i posted when i first made my blog. this story takes place back when technoblade was still allied with pogtopia. i hope you like it as much as i did! <3

Technoblade blinked, his eyes squinting up at the clear, cerulean sky. It was about midday now, and the beating sun sat in the center of the sky, almost taunting him from where it hung.

If the sun is directly above me, he thought, then west must be… He frowned. Somewhere. Maybe.

He groaned and swung his legs off of Carl, the horse letting out a soft whinny as he hopped onto the ground. He had been travelling for what must have been close to an hour now, and he still hadn’t found a village. It was almost like the universe was trying to waste his time. All he wanted was to get his hands on some books of mending so he didn’t have to worry about any of his armour breaking, yet the world was sending him on a wild goose chase, anyways.

“Seriously,” he muttered, irritation gnawing away at his already dwindling patience, “how hard can it be to find just one cleric? It’s not like I’m asking to find a woodland mansion, or something.”

Letting out yet another long groan, Technoblade flipped open the pack he attached to Carl’s saddle. He pulled out a baked potato and bit in, allowing himself a few seconds of relief as he ate.

For a brief moment, he considered digging through his bag to look for a compass or—better yet—a map. But then he remembered that just prior to leaving, he had reminded himself that he was a human GPS and that “Technoblade never fails.”

He sighed. No compass, it is.

He took another bite of the potato in his hands, looking around at the terrain around him. There was a lush birch forest to his left and a barren desert on the opposite side. Just a little to his right was a river and—

Wait a second.

Technoblade froze, his jaw freezing halfway through chewing another bite of potato.

He recognized that river.

A wide grin split across his lips.

He totally knew where to find a village.

Doing his best not to choke, Technoblade stuffed the rest of the baked potato in his mouth and buckled his pack shut. With a grunt, he pulled himself back onto Carl, picking up the reins. “Like I said, Carl, who even needs a compass? I’ve got the map memorized, and my inner compass is perfectly calibrated.”

Carl looked back at him and let out an almost sarcastic sounding neigh that seemed to say, “Sure.”

Technoblade’s face rolled his eyes. He snapped the reins once, and Carl charged forward.

The human GPS never failed.

You let out an ecstatic cry as you pushed the last book in your hands onto the creaky bookshelf, stepping back to look at your work in pride. You’d been organizing the library for a little over half the day now, and you were almost finished. Each shelf was now in alphabetical order.

Dusting off your skirt, you took one last glance at the shelves before settling down at the table in the corner of the room, looking over the to-do list you had set out for yourself the night before. “Let’s see,” you hummed to yourself, “I already dusted all the tabletops, mopped the floor, and delivered that order to Mr. Hart. Now I can check ‘organize bookshelves’ off the list, too.”

You set the quill down on the table. “Meanwhile, dad’s out trading with Mrs. Lee and said he would be back soon.” You stared down at the page for a moment longer before sighing. A frown etched itself onto your features. You leaned your elbows on the oak tabletop as your gaze trailed out the church window and up at the cloudless sky.

You had lived in the village your whole life with your father, the village cleric. Everything was peaceful and you loved the familiar environment you resided in, but things had also become so… boring in the village. So bland, so dull. You can’t even remember the last time you did something fun. Sure, you were productive and made sure to help your father around his workspace the best you could, but you wanted more than this.

Please, you thought to yourself, squeezing your eyes shut in a silent prayer. Please, please, please let something new and exciting happen. At least just once in my life.

All of a sudden, you heard a distant rumbling.

You sat up straight, blinking awake from your reverie. What’s that sound?

The rumbling grew louder, and you could now recognize it as the galloping of a horse. Your thoughts were only confirmed by the loud whinny you heard right after the rumbles stopped.

You pushed your chair back, standing up from the table and walking over to the front window, crouching down to peek outside. You squinted, your eyes scanning around outside before they landed on an unfamiliar shape.

Your heart suddenly barrelled over in your chest.

Sitting atop a horse wearing diamond armour in the center of the village square was a stranger.

His back was facing you, but from what you could see of him, the first thing you noticed was the crimson robe hanging off his shoulders, cascading down his back like a scarlet waterfall. An axe was strapped to his back, tinted with a murky, violet hue. His hair was a vibrant shade of cherry blossom pink like nothing you had ever laid eyes on before, and on his head sat a golden crown encrusted with glittering gems. You wondered what his face looked like, curiosity bubbling in your chest.

Just then, he slid off his horse, landing on the ground with a small thump. He stood tall and proud, turning his head this way and that as he looked around at the houses around him, an air of regality surrounding him.

Then, he turned.

Your eyes only met for a fraction of a second before you immediately ducked down, hiding your figure from view in the window. The moment you were out of sight, you stilled, doing your best not to give yourself away.

He was handsome.

His face was calm and demure, reflecting his royal air almost perfectly, and his eyes, like his robe, were a piercing crimson red. They almost seemed to stare into your soul, laying every part of yourself bare for him to see.

He looked like a king in every sense of the word, and you just had to meet him.

Your heart was thrumming wildly in your chest as you struggled to regain your breath. You peeked over the windowsill carefully, glancing past the glass outside once more. The stranger had tied his horse to a post in the square and was walking around, glancing at the villagers here and there. Most of them seemed to be slightly wary of him—after all, it wasn’t everyday a king showed up at your doorstep. He seemed to be looking for something with the way he kept looking around him, his eyes sweeping over every inch of the village. Perhaps you could help him.

Slowly, you slid away from the windowsill and carefully clicked open the front door, stepping outside. The sun shone brilliantly on your face as you made your way toward the stranger. Once again, his back was turned to you, and you stopped a few feet behind him. Taking a deep breath, you mustered up what courage you had before speaking.

“Hello.”

The man turned at the sudden sound of your voice, his scarlet eyes piercing into yours. “Oh, hello.” His voice was deep, laced with a low rasp that sent a shiver down your spine.

Your offered him a warm smile. “Welcome to our humble village. I’m [Y/N].” You extended your hand, and he took it in a friendly handshake, smiling back.

“The name’s Technoblade.”

Your eyebrows quirked. “Technoblade,” you repeated. “That’s a unique name.”

“Thanks,” he said, jokingly adding, “I got it for my birthday.”

You giggled at that. He may look regal and intimidating, but right off the bat, it seemed that his personality was far from it. “You know what they say, a bad joke is always the best way to leave a good first impression.”

He frowned, feigning sadness. “Oh, c’mon, it wasn’t that bad.”

Your lips twitched. “Well, I laughed at it, so I’ll give you that.” His face lit up once more, and you felt your stomach churn with warmth. “Well, what brings you here?”

He gestured to the pack he had clipped to his belt. “Just looking to do a few trades, really.”

You looked at him in confusion. “A king? Trading with commoners like us?”

He blinked for a moment. “Ah, about that, I’m not really a king, per se.” He plucked his crown from off his head, tossing it casually in his hands. “The crown and robes are more for… aesthetic purposes, to say the least. I don’t really rule over my own country or anything.

Your tilted your head at him. “Where do you come from, then? I can only imagine you travelled for a while to get here.”

He shrugged. “It was kind of far, but it wasn’t a big deal, really. I never got lost.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Never?” you said.

“Never,” he confirmed. His grinned smugly, your heart reeling at the sight. “I’m a human GPS, if you will.”

You stifled a laugh but couldn’t hide your smile. What a dork. “Totally.”

His grin only widened. “Anyways, I’m from this place called Pogtopia.” You must have made a face at his words, because he laughed at you and god, even his laugh was pretty. “Yeah, it’s kind of a funny name, isn’t it? Well, I didn’t come up with it. My friends Tommy and Wilbur did.”

“They must be…” You looked for a good word. “…interesting people.”

He laughed. “It’s okay—you’re allowed to say they have bad taste in names.”

You giggled, your cheeks flushing in slight embarrassment. “Okay, yeah, their taste is pretty poor.” You glanced at him. “Are they the kings of your country then, since they named it?”

“Kind of. I guess you could call them kings, but they’re more like self-instated presidents, even though that kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a president.” You nodded, following along in agreement. “They’re trying to win back some land they were exiled from a while back called L’Manberg, although it was recently renamed Manberg, but there’s also Dream and his SMP, and—” He sighed, running a hand through his rosy locks. “It’s complicated. Basically, we’re sort of in the middle of this war, and I just kind of got roped into it.”

Your eyes widened in alarm. “A war?! Surely we wouldn’t get involved, right?” Your village, like many others, was a pacifist group of people, having no source of defense or battle skills to protect yourselves with. If this supposed war came all the way to your little village, all of you would surely perish.

Technoblade raised his arms in front of him, quickly shaking his head. “Oh, definitely not. You’ve got nothing to worry about, I swear.”

You pressed a hand to your chest as you let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.” Technoblade smiled at you from the corner of your eye, amusement lacing his lips. You suddenly straightened, another thought popping into your head. “What about you, then? Aren’t you worried?”

He laughed again, though it sounded more like a cackle. “Me? Worried? Nahhh.” He swung his axe off his back, being careful to point it away from you. “I may not look like it, but I’m actually one of the most feared warriors in the land. Tommy and Wilbur basically begged me to join their side so I can help them win.” He gestured to himself. “You don’t have to believe me, but I think it’s pretty clear to see I’m pretty much a god at PVP.”

You hummed, shaking your head. “No, I believe you. You do look like you could seriously teach someone a thing or two with that axe, but I really don’t think I need to feed your ego anymore.” You smiled bemusedly. “It already seems to be quite large on its own.”

His grin dropped. “Wait, please, feed my ego, I thrive off complime—”

A giggle escaped your mouth as you waved your hand at him. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Your expression grew a bit more serious. “But honestly, you’re not scared? Even a little?”

Technoblade shook his head. “Nope. A war is just a lot of fights lined up one after the other, and I’m great at winning fights. Heck, I could probably wipe out the other side in a heartbeat with what I’ve got in my arsenal. Tommy and Wilbur might just send me out by myself to do just that.”

“They would?” you said in disbelief. “Aren’t they worried for you, either?”

He snorted. “They were the ones who wanted me here to help them win, so they definitely aren’t worried.”

Your eyebrows furrowed. Well, that was no good—no good at all. Wasn’t a single person concerned for this man’s safety, not even just one? No matter how powerful he may be, this was a war you two were talking about, and wars don’t always go according to plan.

Suddenly, it hit you.

“I see,” you murmured. You raised your chin, resolve filling your veins. “Then I’ll worry for you.”

Technoblade stared at you for a long moment, stunned into silence. Panicking, you began to ramble. “You and your friends may have overwhelming confidence in you and your abilities,” you said, “but it’s still important that you recognize that sometimes things don’t go according to plan. That’s why you should worry, and if you won’t, then I’ll do it in your stead.”

When he still didn’t say anything after yet another moment, you felt embarrassment rise up in you. “I’m sorry, we just met and that was totally uncalled for of m—”

“No, no, really,” he abruptly said, shaking his head. “It’s all good. Seriously.” There was a slight pause. Then, he softly added, “Thank you. I appreciate your concern.”

His lips curled to form a smile, but this one was different from the ones he gave you before. Those ones were proud and teasing, full of mirth and some level of arrogance. But this one was softer, kinder. More genuine and real.

You liked this one more.

Still feeling slightly embarrassed from having just rambled about caring about a near stranger to his face, you quickly shifted gears. “W-Well, I should probably ask what exactly you wanted to trade for,” you said as your cheeks flushed pink. You lowered your gaze to the ground, trying to avert your eyes from his. “I can probably help you find whatever it is you need.”

Technoblade hummed. “I have a bunch of stuff with me that I can use to trade, but I’m looking for a cleric to get some mending books from.”

Your head shot up in recognition. “A cleric, you say?” Your lips curled into a small grin when he nodded. “I know just where to find him. Wait here for a minute, okay?”

As soon as he nodded his head once more, you had already taken off, bounding down the grassy path with your skirt trailing behind you. Technoblade’s gaze followed you as you rushed down the path, a pleasant warmth bubbling in the pit of stomach and he watched you run off.

Usually whenever he came to a village, the people he met were wary of him and hardly ever spoke more than the bare minimum to him. Most of them were intimidated by his appearance, others thrown off by his cockiness. And yet here you were, treating him like a friend when so many before you had done the exact opposite. You were kind, compassionate, and you saw more than just his arrogant exterior. You genuinely cared for the person he was underneath the crown and the robes. Not to mention, you were quite the sight for sore eyes.

Warmth blossomed in his chest and something fluttered in his stomach.

He was glad he came to this village.

To say your father was more than pleased to trade some books of mending for the stacks upon stacks of emeralds Technoblade had was an understatement.

“I thought you said you weren’t a king,” you said to him, your eyes nearly bulging out of your head when you saw him open his pack.

“I’m not,” Technoblade said, twirling an emerald between his fingers. “I just happen to be very wealthy.”

You shook your head at him, a smile gracing your lips. “You’re a maniac.”

He shot you a smug look. “Oh, don’t I know it.”

After he had traded for some mending books with your father, he had asked you if your village had a fletcher.

“Oh, I made a delivery to Mr. Hart earlier today,” you said. “Here, follow me.”

The trek to the other side of the village was short enough, and you were content to wait on the sides while Technoblade made some negotiations. Just then, Mrs. Lee spotted you and strode up to you.

“Good afternoon, [Y/N],” she greeted, her lips tilting into a familiar gentle smile.

“Hello, Mrs. Lee!” you chirped happily, turning to face her. “Thank you for the pumpkins, earlier today! I’ll be sure to give you some of the pumpkin pie I bake tomorrow.”

“Why, there’s no need for you to do that, dear.” She leaned close to your ear to whisper, “You know you’re my favourite of the youngins here.”

You blushed. “You know that’s not true.”

She held a finger to her lips. “It’s our little secret, alright?” She looked over your shoulder at Technoblade, who was still debating with Mr. Hart. “Looks like you’ve become acquainted with our visitor, haven’t you, dear?”

Your blush deepened. “Y-Yes! I have. His name is Technoblade and he comes from a country called Pogtopia. He traded for some books with my father just now.”

Mrs. Lee wrinkled her nose. “Weird name, the both of them, but never mind that.” She smirked at you, glancing just behind you. “He’s quite the looker, isn’t he?”

Your face exploded like a bright red tomato. “I-I, um, he’s. Um.” You took a deep breath and fanned your face, lowering your voice. “He’s handsome.”

Her smirk only grew larger. “I hope the two of you become even more acquainted then,” she said cryptically, patting your shoulder. “I’ll be on my way now, but do let me know how it goes, okay?”

You nodded dutifully, too embarrassed to say anything else. Mrs. Lee turned away and continued her way down the grassy path, smiling to herself.

If only you had seen the way he had looked at you.

Hours had passed since Technoblade had first arrived in the village, and the sun was just beginning to set. The two of you had visited just about every working person in the village, chatting away as Technoblade traded for whatever he needed from each person you two saw.

The two of you learned a lot about each other in the time you spent together. You learned that Technoblade wasn’t a huge fan of government and much preferred anarchy. He learned that you longed for something much more than your normal life in the village, but you had yet to discover what it was you wanted to do. You learned that he owned a dog named Floof. He learned the location of your favourite spot in the village. By the end of the day, it felt like you two had known each other for ages.

You secretly hoped that he would stay, but you knew that he couldn’t. The village wasn’t his home, after all.

You stood nearby as Technoblade strapped his pack back onto Carl’s saddle, chewing the inside of your lip. He climbed onto Carl, securing his axe on his back and picking up the reins in his hands. “Well, [Y/N],” he said, a hint of disappointment tinging his voice, “it looks like this is goodbye.”

“I guess so,” you murmured sadly, casting your gaze down at your feet. You had only known him for so long, but an overwhelming sense of loss filled you knowing that Technoblade was leaving and may very well never return. He was funny with his dry, dorky sense of humour and charming with his sharp grins and deep voice.

You weren’t sure you were quite ready to let go just yet.

“Um,” you spoke up, your voice cracking a little, “will you…” You peeked up at him, nervously biting the inside of your cheek as you fiddled with your fingers. “Will you ever come back?”

Something in Technoblade’s chest seized at the shy look on your face, your cheeks rosy and your gaze darting back and forth between his eyes and the ground. While he had originally only come in search of this village to trade with a cleric, he supposed he might always need more mending books in the future. Not to mention, he would also get to see you.

He smiled, letting out a soft laugh. “Yeah,” he said, “I’ll be back, so wait up for me, yeah?”

Your eyes lit up and an elated grin spread across your face. “I-I will!”

He chuckled at your giddiness, his own heart beating wildly against his rib cage. “Good.”

Sharing one last look with you, he snapped his reins and held on tight as Carl dashed forward, his gaze trailing behind him as he watched you wave your arms frantically at him. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at your enthusiasm, raising his arm to wave back at you himself. He kept waving until he could no longer see you, and only then did he face forward to find his way home.

The journey back was significantly shorter than the trip to the village, and before he knew it, he was tying Carl to his usual fence post. He was a human GPS, after all. How else would he have found the village—and you—with so much ease?

He tilted his head up, looking up at the rising moon in the east. Now he knew that the village (and you, his heart helpfully supplied once more) lay to the west, just beyond the birch forest, desert, and river. Above him, he could make out the shapes of a handful of constellations, the stars twinkling and winking down at him from space. He wondered if you were looking up at the same starry sky as him. He wondered if your stomach was full of butterflies, too.

“So,” he mused to himself aloud, his heart thump-thump-thumping in his chest, “[Y/N], huh?”

He was definitely going back.

#technoblade x reader #mcyt x reader #dream smp x reader #dsmp x reader #sbi x reader #mcyt scenario #mcyt fluff #mcyt x you #mcyt x y/n #mcyt imagines #mcyt imagine #mcyt fanfic #mcyt fanfiction #dream smp x you #dream smp x y/n #technoblade x you #technoblade x y/n #technoblade fluff #technoblade fanfic #technoblade scenario #technoblade imagine #technoblade angst #techno x you #techno x y/n #techno imagine #dsmp x you #dsmp x y/n #sbi x y/n #c!techno #mcyt reader insert

[botwstoriesandsuch]

OK SHUT UP SHUSH SHUT THE FUCK UP IT’S 1AM BUT SHUSH LISTEN! HEY, LISTEN!

I AM GIVING YOU THE TOOLS TO FIND THE EXACT DISTANCE OF ANYTHING ANYWHERE IN HYRULE, CUSTOM MAKE YOUR FIC JOURNEYS TO THE METER, FIND THE AREA OF ANY TOWN OR LANDMARK, OR JUST FIND OUT HOW BIG (or small) HYRULE KINDGOM TRULY IS ONCE AND FOR ALL SO GO AHEAD AND SAVE THIS POST TO YOUR DRAFTS CAUSE YOU MIGHT WANNA SEE IT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

 Ok so this all starts with THIS

FEAST YOUR EYES LADIES, LADS, AND GENTLEFOLK ON THE ONLY PIECE OF INFORMATION IN ALL OF HYRULE CONCERNING DISTANCE AND TIME. 

[Image ID: A screenshot from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, depicting a picture of Ash Swamp hanging in Impa’s house. The dialogue box from Impa reads, “Does it look familiar? From this village, you should be able to get there in a half day’s time.” End ID]

Impa states that it would take you half a day, about 12 hours, to travel from Kakariko Village to the depicted 13th memory, which is at Ash Swamp by Fort Hateno. 

Now here is where I took this information. I took it to

objmap.zeldamods.org

A fantastic online Botw map resource with tons of features like finding specific objects, and highlighting areas, and placing pins, and the basics of showing the locations of everything like shrines and korok seeds and all that. 

BUT the thing that we care about today is this ability, here:

DRAW!

With those widgets on the right, I can specifically mark lines and shapes and the website will give me the distance of it in meters!

“But Kip, if the map already gives you the distance of anything you want then isn’t this entire post pointless?” Ashshshshshhshh no, shut the fuck up, shush shut, no, stop, silence, I am high on caffeine and I haven’t slept for two days. No. 

As great as the map is, the exact ratio isn’t the best. Like, it tells me that the length of Hyrule is only 10km, or 6.2 miles. 

I wager that realistically, Hyrule would be a bit bigger than that. And THAT, is where I come in. Or, more specifically, Impa.

Impa states that it takes 12 hours to travel from Kakariko to Fort Hateno. (I am saying Fort Hateno and not Ash Swamp because I am going of the nearest prominent landmark location near the 13th memory, and I highly doubt that Impa knew the exactly square foot patch of dirt that Link needed to stand on to activate his memory)

According to Google, it takes around 10 to 12 minutes to walk a kilometer. (I am assuming Impa was referring to walking and not riding, because I feel like she would have said, “You should be able to get there in half a day’s ride” or something of the sort. So, walking it is)

So: 

12 hours divided by 12 minutes 

(Which is 720 minutes / 12 minutes)

gives us

60

The distance between Fort Hateno and Kakariko village is 60 kilometers.

Badabing badaboom, great job! We did it. BUT NOW this is where our handy dandy online object map comes in.

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Breath of the Wild map showing the area of Kakariko Village and the plains in front of Fort Hateno. A blue line highlghts the path from the village to a marker on Fort Hateno. The line reads “1.89km.” End ID]

[Image ID: A screenshot of the Breath of the Wild map showing the area of Kakariko Village and the plains in front of Fort Hateno. The blue line from the previous image is still there, however, there is now a more prominent yellow line. The yellow line runs from Kakariko village, but ends at a marker point at the location of the 13th memory at Ash Swamp. The yellow line reads “1.55km.” End ID]

So while this map doesn’t give me distances that are exactly to my liking, it DOES give me a measuring means that will stay consistent. SO! As you can see, the map says Kakariko to Fort Hateno is 1.89km. (And just to be safe, I also did the distance exactly to the point of the 13th memory as shown in Impa’s picture, which came out to 1.55km. But! It’s doesn’t matter anyhow, because) We’re going to round this to 2km for the sake of my sanity because surprise surprise! I actually suck at, and hate, math. 

So the map says Kakariko to Fort Hateno is 2 kilometers, but we know that in real life, the distance is actually 60 kilometers. So, if you want to use this object map effectively, you have to make a means of converting the “false” measurements, (which I will be refering to as “zelda” (kilo)meters, or zm/zkm) from the actual ones. 

So THIS is what I fucking did oh my god help me it took me way too long even though it was really simple in hindsight I was just stupid and spent two hours trying to get the ratio equations right when really all I had to do was divide, it was a whole thing, anyhow, read away. 

[Image ID: A screenshot of MATH oh my god it’s fucking math...BUT it’s kinda color coded so that’s nice. The top left of the page depicts text. In red text reads “zkm (Zelda km) = per the measurement on the objmap.zeldamods.org” and below that, in black text, reads, “Kakariko to Fort Hateno = 1.89 zkm ~ 2zkm,” which is underlines in yellow. Another line of black text reads, “Impa says it takes half a day’s time to travel from Kakariko to the 13th memory location AKA 12 hours.” Another line of black text reads, “It takes about 10-12min to walk a kilometer,” which is underlines in green.

Handwritten in blue ink is the equation, 

“12 hours = 720 min

720/12 = 60″ 

The 12 is highlighted in green, and the 60 is underlined. In green text, below it, reads, “It takes 12 hours to walk 60 kilometers.” In black text under this, it reads “So Kakariko to Fort Hateno is 60 kilometers.” Another line of black text under this reads, “So based on that, we can find the actual values of a zkm (Zelda kilometer).” 

Handwritten in yellow ink is the equation,

“2zkm = 60km

1km = 30km” [typo, I meant 1zkm = 30km]

The 60km is in blue, and the equation 1zkm = 30km is circled. 

To the right of everything, in bigger, yellow text, reads “So: 1zkm = 30km 1zm = 30 meters

The map of Hyrule measures roughly 10zkm (length) by 8zkm (height) [typo, I meant width] giving it an area of 80 square zkm.

Therefore, the “true” size of Hyrule Kingdom os 2400 square kilometers.” End ID]

SO ARMED WITH THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE, you can now use this map to measure whatever you want, and by converting 1zm to 30 meters, you can get accurate result as to what that distance is. 

Chart the roads, measure the rivers, the map even gives area tools for polygons, squares, and circles! This entire post was born out of a desire to see how long the characters in my fic should rest for when travel between different stables. 

Now before anyone asks, yes! 2400 square kilometers is fairly small. That’s around 930 square miles. I believe even Wales is more than three times bigger than that. BUT! Considering Hyrule is a medieval kingdom that’s actually pretty sizable considering the average size of a Kingdom was 100 to 900 square kilometers. 

And juuuust to double check, I ran the size though a Medievil Demographics generator, and 2400 (under the conditions of Fertile Land with 64% of the land being arable since I figured roughly 46% for lakes, the ocean, plus unusable land was more than enough to cover the Hebra, Death Mountain, and the Gerudo Desert. Which honestly is even MORE generous considering there are races that occupy these areas, but I digress) This still gives Hyrule Kingdom a good population of 108,000 people! Before the Calamity when all of its villages were up and occupied, of course. So the area is definitely more than enough, and can still give Link a more realistic amount of time to travel between areas (when you add eating and rest of course. Don’t make my guy walk for 10 hours straight from the Great Plateau to Hebra D: plz)

TL;DR: Hyrule is 2400 square kilometers; use the map, plus the conversion 1 zelda meter to 30 meters to measure anything you want; I am tired

Quick Edit: Please note that this conversion is for the purposes of people out there who need more realistic means of measuring distances for larger scale travel and such, like for writing fic journeys, or dnd campaigns. This conversion isn’t the best for smaller scale measure like buildings and such (EX: I’ve checked with buildings in Castle Town and the Coliseum, and they come out much too big, just a symptom of game design ratios not being perfect since it’s hard to balance consistent measurements and the immersion and plan a creator has for their game world!) So if you are measuring those smaller entities using the linked map, just stick with the given zelda meters! (EX: The Coliseum radius in zelda meters matches up nicely with the real world Roman Colosseum, beating it out by a few dozen meters!)

Also if you are a true believer in the interpretation of Impa’s dialogue as “half the amount of daylight hours,” see the reblogs!

#botw theory #cause it's technically a theory i guess #botw reference #botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #if my math is wrong just shoot me on the spot ok #loz #legend of zelda #hyrule

[atlabeth]

everything happens for a reason part 11 - zuko x fem!reader

Memories, where'd you go?

part 10 | masterlist | part 12

a/n: alternative name for this fic: y/n gets a crush on every pretty girl she meets. yue, katara, and now suki. she can't help it (and she questions why they're all connected to sokka in some way lmaoo)

anyways, this is kind of filler but it establishes some more with relationships and finallyyy gets us into ba sing se at the end. i know it's a lil annoying because there's a lot of episode-to-text writing, but i promise it'll get more freeform as it goes on

also i know that i just posted something yesterday but i have literally zero patience. like i cant hold chapters i have to post them as soon as i write them loll

wc: 5.3k

warning(s): some feels over zuko as per usual, but overall a pretty tame chapter

chapter title comes from memories by panic! at the disco!

Zuko could barely sleep anymore.

He didn’t know when his life became so complicated, but he wasn’t a fan of it.

Back when it was just him, his crew, and the open sea — it was simple. He had a job, a straightforward mission. Find the Avatar, capture him, return home to the Fire Nation and regain his honor.

Now, the waters were more muddied than ever. Now on the run from the Fire Nation just like the boy he was chasing, all he really felt nowadays was anger.

Angry at the world for setting him on this path, angry at the Avatar for refusing to see what was necessary, his sister and her friends for turning against him, angry at the waterbender for making things so damn hard.

He didn’t want to hurt her. A part of him wished that she had never come back into his life, if it meant he wouldn’t have to constantly be fighting against her. He hated himself for the thought, but maybe it would have been easier for her to remain a memory of a lover than his active enemy.

Late at night, when he was reaching fruitlessly for sleep that would never come, he saw her face. The carefree energy from their childhood morphed into the shock and disappointment from both the North and their fight with Azula, and…

It made him wonder what in Agni had happened to them.

He—

He didn’t know. The way he felt about her, it was different than anything he had experienced before. Zuko didn’t know what it was, but he understood that it was special. And now… it felt like he had just thrown it all away.

Zuko couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with her in that town — what he had done to her.

He had burned her to try and get to the Avatar, and he hadn’t even allowed a glance back at the damage he had done. He had heard her cry out in pain, pain he had caused, and he didn’t even look back.

What had happened to them? What had happened to him?

He kept telling himself that the mission was the only thing that mattered. And it was, wasn’t it? Capture the Avatar, regain his honor, get his old life back and finally be enough for his father. He didn’t have time for friends, or for these feelings he had, or— or for anything but capturing the Avatar. Because the Avatar was the key to everything, to his honor, and that was all that mattered.

But now…

Now, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He didn’t know what was right, or what was wrong, or what path was the one he had to take.

Zuko just wished things could be like they used to be.

~~~~~~~~~~

She didn’t really know when everything had become a mess again.

It all started out fine, like it usually did. Toph had become fully integrated into the group, any past squabbles put to rest in the name of a stronger friendship emerging between all five of them. Katara continued to work on Aang’s waterbending (oftentimes Y/N joining them in their sessions) while Toph slowly but steadily beat earthbending into him — literally.

They had all been working hard for so long that, by decree of Aang, it was ‘vacation time’. They would all get to pick out places they wanted to spend as a break, and after it was over they would get back to work.

Aang had chosen some sort of field with musical groundhogs, and Y/N had opted to revisit an Earth Kingdom village that she had passed through on her journey to the North. Sokka had complained the whole time about how they were ‘wasting valuable planning time’, but had finally conceded after the promise of ‘all the planning his heart could desire’ from Katara after their mini-vacations were over.

Y/N was actually feeling somewhat relaxed for once, but she had forgotten the golden rule — never let your guard down. Everytime she let her guard down, something bad happened without fail. So it shouldn’t have been any surprise with what happened in the desert.

Because after one trip to the Misty Palms Oasis and a journey into the desert with a professor to a long lost library, Appa had been taken by desert raiders.

It was… less than favourable. During their escape from the library, Professor Zei had insisted on staying behind, and now the five of them were stuck in the middle of the desert with no way out and zero guidance. Add some brewing tensions between Aang and Toph because of her being there when Appa was taken, and they had a recipe for a huge disaster.

And a disaster they had. Multiple disasters, actually.

There was only so much she and Katara could do to hold the group together, but by some miracle, they made it out of the desert with only one Avatar State mishap.

(And an incident with cactus juice, but… she didn’t really want to talk about that.)

....at least they had the information about the Eclipse. That was about the only thing keeping her together at the moment.

They had to get the information to the Earth King so they could formulate an attack with his warriors, but without Appa, they had to resort to more traditional methods of travel. Add in one passport problem, and that was how Y/N found herself braving the Serpent’s Pass alongside a refugee family with a baby on the way.

It was… intimidating, to say the least. Despite being surrounded by her element, Y/N didn’t feel any safer from the challenge that faced them. She took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on her fear the way her mother had taught her, as she followed the group, but her thoughts were soon interrupted.

“Hey.” She turned to see who the voice belonged to and was greeted by the girl that had teased Sokka early — Suki, if she remembered correctly. “I haven’t seen you around; are you with the Avatar or that family?”

“I’m with Aang,” Y/N explained. “I’m from the North, and they offered me a spot with them after they helped us defend our tribe against the Fire Nation. I’ve been with them ever since.” Suki nodded as they settled into a comfortable stride.

“That’s cool. Are you a waterbender?”

She gestured to her waterskin and smiled. “Yeah. I’ve been training with Aang and Katara ever since I left.” Y/N then turned her gaze back to Suki, raising an inquisitive brow. “Your makeup — what’s it for? I heard you talking about the Kyoshi Warriors back there; is that some kind of thing with Avatar Kyoshi?”

Suki grinned, her every expression heightened by the sharp reds and blacks above her eyes. “We’re a group of all-female warriors that use the teachings of Avatar Kyoshi and her partner Rangi to defend our home and the place she founded, Kyoshi Island. I’m the leader of our village section.”

“Wow,” she murmured, her eyes falling to the ground for a moment before finding their way back up to the warrior. “That’s really cool. You’re really cool.”

She laughed and shrugged. “Thanks. I’ve been training as a warrior for almost my whole life, so it just comes naturally. I like being able to protect people, and there’s no better way to pay back my home for all it’s done for me like protecting the whole village.”

“Wow,” she repeated with a small laugh of her own. “That’s really brave. I gotta say, I’m kinda jealous — I would love to see what would happen if Master Pakku met you all. Katara literally had to beat the sexism out of him in order to train to be a master.”

Suki chuckled. “Sounds like what I had to do with Sokka. Guess it’s a thing with Water Tribe guys, huh?”

At the mention of Sokka, she internally laughed. There had to be some kind of connection between the two of them, the way their interests kept aligning. “Sokka… he’s had it hard. I can’t blame him that much for any kind of attitude he had before he met you. Pakku, on the other hand? He had to have had something better to do than fight teenage girls.”

“You would think so, right?” Suki agreed. “And Sokka… I know. He’s got a heart of gold underneath all that, he just needed a little push to get it out.” As Y/N glanced over at the girl, noticing a slight pink tint under the white makeup, she gasped.

“La’s fins, are you two a thing?” she exclaimed with a grin.

Suki flushed even harder as she suddenly became very interested in the ocean around her, but she couldn’t help the smile on her lips. “No! I mean— yes— but… but—” she stopped to gather her thoughts before making eye contact again with a sheepish smile. “We’re not… really a thing, but… I do like him a lot. I didn’t really think I was going to see him again after they left the island, so this is really nice.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Y/N asked. “I can already tell that he cares about you — have you seen how careful he’s being with you?”

“Well—” Whatever kind of excuse Suki would’ve made up was interrupted by a rock falling out just under Than, one of the refugees they were with, saved in the nick of time with Toph’s earthbending.

“I’m okay!” he reassured, but no sooner had the words left his mouth before the Fire Nation ship in the distance started firing.

“They’ve spotted us!” Sokka yelled. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Aang flicked his glider open and deflected the blast, and Katara grabbed Y/N’s hand as they all began to run. Another blast rocked the mountain, causing several boulders to fall just above Suki. Y/N didn’t even have time to shout out a warning before Sokka tackled her out of the way, but it was ultimately more of Toph’s quick earthbending that saved him.

“Suki, are you okay?” Sokka brushed dust and pebbles off of her uniform as he examined her, and once he was satisfied he grabbed her hand and helped her up. “You have to be more careful! Come on!”

As the two of them caught up to Y/N and Katara, she gave Suki a knowing look. The warrior only blushed once again and glanced away.

After hours of navigating the pass, they were only about halfway through. Sokka made the executive decision to set up camp for the night to give everyone time to rest, and then they would get up at the crack of dawn to finish their trip. It only took a few minutes for Y/N to get a fire going, and soon everyone had settled in with their sleeping bags. Sokka got up from his spot as Suki wandered closer to the edge, and Katara nudged Y/N with her shoulder.

“Hey. How are your hands doing?”

“They’re fine,” she answered with a small smile, flipping her hands over as proof. Where there were once red burn scars on her palms only tiny white marks remained — one benefit to healing via waterbending was that most injuries were able to fade away completely after enough sessions. Her burns weren’t very serious and she was able to heal them almost immediately, so both her and Katara were sure that the marks would be completely gone soon.

The mental scars wouldn’t fade as easily.

“That’s good. And you’re taking care of them, right? Like, you’re not beating up people while we’re not looking?”

Y/N grinned. “No. I think I’ll leave that to Toph.”

Katara chuckled and nodded, turning her hands over in a final examination before nodding. “Good,” she repeated. The silence between them, although comfortable, stretched out for a little too long before she spoke again, this time much quieter. “He did this to you.”

“Katara…”

“I know,” she said. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this from me, or really at all, but… I’m worried about you. Zuko isn’t good for you. Every time we’ve run into him, he’s hurt you. And you deserve so much more than that.”

“You don’t understand,” she countered. “You don’t know Zuko like I do. You weren’t there when I was. I know you think I’m insane for still believing in him, but I— I can’t let go of him, Katara. I know the Zuko I love is still in there somewhere, and I have to try and find it. For me and for him.”

Katara’s eyes were full of nothing but sympathy as she sighed — it was obvious she didn’t believe her words, but in true fashion she was still trying her best to be supportive.

“Okay. I don’t understand it, but… I don’t think I can change your mind.” Y/N chuckled sadly and nodded, Katara’s piercing gaze meeting her own once more. “It’s just… Why are you playing with fire when you know you’re going to get burned?”

And for once, Y/N didn’t have an answer for her friend.

~~~~~~~~~

The night went by quickly, which Y/N was thankful for. It meant that the nightmares didn’t last as long.

After a quick headcount to make sure no one had fallen off the pass overnight and an even quicker gathering of their things, they set off to finish their journey.

It went just as well as she had expected — a giant serpent, the namesake of the pass, had attacked them while crossing through an underwater section. Thankfully, she was able to aid Katara and Aang in defeating it with waterbending with no casualties

But in the wake of one disaster there was always another, and before Y/N knew it a baby had been born. She was mostly there for moral support — Katara had it all handled, and Y/N didn’t expect anything less.

But finally, they had made it across the pass, and they were so close to Ba Sing Se that she could almost smell the city air. Sadly, though, that meant it was time for them to part ways — Aang to find Appa, and Suki back to her warriors. After some sad but hopeful goodbyes with Aang, it was time to bid farewell to Suki.

“Are you sure you can’t travel a little longer with us?” Y/N questioned, apparently not above pleading to try and get the girl to stay. “You’re— you’re amazing, and we’d really love to have you with us.”

“I can’t even imagine what travelling with the Avatar would be like,” she smiled, causing Y/N to get her hopes up for just a moment before they fell back down. “But I can’t stay. I have to get back to the Kyoshi Warriors.”

Y/N sighed, her gaze falling slightly downcast. “I get that. I just really wish you could stay. Or that I could meet your warriors. You seriously don’t know how cool you are, Suki.”

“Well, if you’re ever in town on Kyoshi Island, find us. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out and do you one better than just meeting them all,” she said with a grin. “I think it’d be pretty cool to have the first waterbending Kyoshi Warrior.”

Y/N was unable to prevent the heat rushing to her cheeks as she smiled shyly, once again averting eye contact. “That would be amazing. I’ll have to find my way back there after the war.”

Suki bumped shoulders with her, causing a startled laugh to spill from her lips. “We’d love to have you.”

“Wait, why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye to her?” Sokka questioned as he walked up to the two of them. Y/N winked at Suki and gestured at him with her head, walking off before Suki could protest to find Katara.

The conversation the two girls were sharing was an extremely thinly veiled excuse to eavesdrop on the lovebirds, and when they kissed Y/N actually had to hold back a scream.

Sokka deserved this. She knew how much he beat himself up over every little thing that went wrong, and it was about time he got to relax even for a moment. She only hoped that Suki would be in their corner of the world sooner rather than later.

What could she say? She was already fantasizing about life as a Kyoshi Warrior.

~~~~~~~~~

Although they had parted ways, they soon found themselves reunited with Aang to stop yet another Fire Nation threat.

“For the love of Kuruk,” Y/N murmured as she stared into the distance, her eyes wide at the sight of a large mechanical drill. “That was Ty Lee who just took down all those soldiers. And if she’s here, Mai and Azula are with her too. Guys, It’s one thing to stop this drill, it’s another thing to take those three down with it.”

“The question is, how do we do it?” Aang questioned.

“Why can nothing ever be easy?” Sokka lamented. His gaze remained trained on the drill for a moment before he realized theirs were on him. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“You’re the idea guy,” Aang said.

“Wait, so I’m the only one who can ever come up with a plan?” he protested. “That’s a lot of pressure!”

“And also the complaining guy,” Katara muttered, drawing a chuckle out from Y/N.

“Now that part I don’t mind,” Sokka admitted.

“Well, Sokka— you were a huge help in the North, and you figured out a way to defeat the Fire Nation during that eclipse at the library! Plus, there’s all that stuff that Katara told me you did before I joined.” She patted him on the back. “If anyone can figure out how to take that thing down, it’s you.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, his ego only slightly bolstered. “...okay. I think I can do it.”

“That’s the spirit!” she said with a smile.

Unfortunately, that smile faded as a young guard came running up to the wall. “Excuse me, Avatar and friends — I’ve heard that you’ve dealt with that… that pink girl down there before.” They nodded and he continued. “It would do us a great deal of help if you could come down and look at our injured soldiers, then.”

Y/N and Katara nodded in unison and started to follow the guard, the remaining three trailing after them. They ended up inside the wall, in what looked like an infirmary of sorts with all the cots and soldiers lying around, and the two waterbenders exchanged looks.

“You know what to do?” Katara asked.

Y/N hummed in acknowledgment, and they both knelt down next to separate cots. “This definitely looks like Ty Lee’s work,” she murmured as she bent water up from the pot and molded it over the man’s arm.

“What’s wrong with him?” the general questioned. “He doesn’t look injured.”

“His chi is blocked,” Katara explained. “Who did this to you?”

“Two girls ambushed us,” the soldier said, moving his arm as he regained feeling. “One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away.”

Katara sighed as she bent the water back into the pot. “You were right, Y/N. That was Ty Lee — she doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak point. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”

As if struck by lightning, Sokka lit up. “Oh, oh, oh! What you just said — that’s how we’re going to take down the drill; the same way Ty Lee took down all those earthbenders!”

“By hitting its pressure points!” Toph exclaimed with a grin.

The breakthrough brought a steely determination to Aang’s features as he looked out into the distance. “We’ll take it down from the inside.”

~~~~~~~~~

Like everything they did, it seemed so simple on paper. But now that she was actually inside the drill, it felt a lot more nerve wracking. Toph opted to stay outside where she could see and try to slow down the drill with the earth at her disposal, which left the four of them to somehow take it down from the inside.

Sokka led them through a hallway with a myriad of valves and pipes as he thought out loud. “I need a plan of this machine — some schematics that show what the inside looks like. Then we can find its weak points.”

“Where are we gonna get something like that?” Aang asked.

Sokka thought for a moment before he took his machete out and hacked a valve off a pipe. Y/N instinctively took a step back and shielded her face from the hot steam. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Someone’s gonna hear us!”

“That’s the point!” he exclaimed. “A machine this big needs engineers to run it, and when something breaks—”

“Someone will come down to fix it!” Katara finished with a smile at Aang, a sentiment the boy returned happily.

It was surprisingly easy to take down the engineer once he arrived — with a little bit of frozen mist on Katara’s end, they had the plans they needed. Sokka’s expertise combined with the blueprints got them to the beginning of the outer shell.

“Wow,” Sokka muttered. “It looks a lot thicker than it does in the plans. We’re gonna have to work pretty hard to cut through that.”

Katara crossed her arms. “What’s this ‘we’ stuff? The three of us are gonna have to do all the work.”

“Look, I’m the plan guy!” Sokka explained with a gesture to himself. “You three are the ‘cut up stuff with waterbending’ guys. Together, we’re Team Avatar!”

Katara and Aang looked wholly unamused while Y/N chuckled. “Team Avatar. I like it.”

“Thank you,” he smiled. “At least someone appreciates my genius.”

“Tui’s gills, why do you have to keep boosting his ego?” Katara complained. “Let’s just get this done before it gets worse.”

The three of them got in position — Katara and Aang on opposite sides so they could pass the stream of water between them, and Y/N making the point of the triangle to work on the other side on her own. They were hoping it would be more efficient being able to cut through both sides at the same time, but it was proving to be much more difficult than they had imagined — halfway through the three of them were already exhausted.

By some feat of strength they were able to completely cut through the brace, but their hard work didn’t pay off in quite the way they had imagined — when the beam only shifted a few inches she groaned.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” she breathed as she wiped sweat off of her forehead.

“At this rate,” Katara paused to inhale deeply, “we won’t do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall.”

“I don’t know how many more of those I have in me,” Aang said sadly.

A large creak suddenly rang throughout the large chamber, and they all looked up for the source.

“Did you hear that?” Sokka asked, already backing up to make an exit. “We took it down! We gotta get out of here, fast!”

Just as they reached the door on the other side, a crackle followed by the sound of a man’s voice dashed their hopes. “Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!”

A collective silence hung in the air between them, the threat now even more imminent as their situation sunk in. Mai and Ty Lee had proven effective in taking down any Earth Kingdom threat posed at them, and despite Toph’s skill they knew she couldn’t take down something like this on their own.

They either had to figure out a way to destroy this drill, or the Fire Nation was going to make it into the city.

Sokka ran back over to the brace and pushed against it, putting all his strength into the feat but to no avail. “Come…. on! Move!”

Katara started pacing around in a small circle, crossing her arms again as she tried to think of something. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

“Sokka, that’s not going to work!” Y/N didn’t mean to snap, but the grinding of metal on metal combined with her nervousness got to her. She sighed and ran her hand over her face. “I— I’m sorry. But it’s still not going to work.”

He groaned as he leaned against the brace. “We’re putting everything we have into busting these things, but it’s taking too long!”

Suddenly, Aang jumped up from the ground with stars in his eyes. “Maybe we don’t need to cut all the way through! Toph — she’s been teaching me that you shouldn’t put a hundred percent of your energy in any one strike. Sokka, get in a fighting stance.”

Sokka complied and as Aang talked through his points, he demonstrated it on Sokka. “You've got to be quick and accurate. Hit a series of points and break your opponent's stance. And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow. His own weight becomes his downfall, literally.”

As Sokka fell over from the attack, Katara lit up. “So we just need to weaken the braces instead of cutting all the way through—”

“—then I can go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow!” Aang finished.

Y/N helped Sokka up from the ground, his spirits not dampened at all. “Then boom! This whole thing goes down!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Y/N asked, flexing her fingers to refresh them for all the bending she was going to have to do. “Aang, Katara and I can handle the braces. Focus on getting up to the top before anyone sees you.”

He nodded and they all met each other with determined eyes. “Everyone inside that wall, the whole world — they’re all counting on us.”

“Here, take this. You need this more than I do. ” Katara took her waterskin off and handed it to Aang. “Good luck. And be careful.”

Y/N noticed a slight blush on her cheeks and she had to hold back her smile. That was definitely something she was going to tease her friend about later — when they weren’t trying to stop the Fire Nation from breaking into Ba Sing Se.

“I will,” he assured. Aang slung the strap of the waterskin around his shoulder and took off, and Y/N and Katara got to work breaking through the rest of the braces.

With the knowledge that they only had to cut through half of each column and the revitalization that came from having a plan, their work went by much quicker. Just when they finished the final brace, it all went wrong.

“Good work, Team Avatar!” Sokka cheered. “Now we— Y/N, duck!”

She didn’t question Sokka as she immediately dropped to the ground, something she was immensely thankful for as a blast of blue fire seared past her. Her eyes snapped up to the source of the attack and narrowed in recognition.

“Of course they’re here,” she growled as she pulled herself back up. “We gotta go, now!”

Katara and Sokka nodded and they all started running. Bringing up the rear, Y/N was able to hear Azula’s words right before they split off into an intersection:

“Follow them! I’m going to find the Avatar.”

Sure enough, when she allowed a glance back, Mai and Ty Lee were closing in on them. She flicked open the cap of her waterskin and bent some out, managing to freeze it at just the right moment to block the incoming daggers from Mai. Still running, she melted it quickly and let it fall to the ground before freezing it again, creating some ice on the ground that would hopefully give them a few more seconds of leeway.

“That should give us some time!” she yelled as they turned a corner, finally turning her attention back to the path in front of them. “Any idea how we’re gonna get out of this thing?”

“Maybe!” Sokka yelled back, slowing to a stop as they came to a dead end, a large hatch the only thing at their disposal. He started tugging on the wheel in an attempt to open it, and when Y/N joined in they were able to wrench it open.

“Slurry pipeline?” Katara frowned as she read the sign on the wall and looked at Sokka. “What does that mean?”

“It’s rock and water mixed together,” he explained as they looked into the rushing liquid underneath the hatch. “It means it’s our way out!”

Katara nodded and climbed in, Sokka following close after. The sound of metal footsteps got closer and closer, and Y/N ducked inside just as Mai’s knives clanked against the hatch. Never before had she been so happy to be floating in a stream of slurry.

The rest of their mission went by surprisingly easy — at least, on their end. All it took was some waterbending — earthbending, when Toph joined them — and encouragement from Sokka (though unappreciated by Katara). Whatever magic Aang was working at the top of the drill had done its job, because soon enough the drill had collapsed in on itself.

And now, they had reunited on the top of the wall overlooking the sunset. After the chaos that had been their day, it was nice to just relax for even a moment. And there was no better way to do so than with her friends.

“I just want to say, good effort out there, Team Avatar!” Sokka exclaimed as he threw an arm around Y/N’s shoulder.

“Enough with the ‘Team Avatar’ stuff,” Katara said dryly. “No matter how many times you say it, it’s not going to catch on.”

“I like it, Sokka,” Y/N smiled. “I’ve liked it this whole time.”

“You always appreciate my genius, Y/N,” he mused. “That’s why I appreciate you.” She laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder as he continued to list off names.

“How about… the Boomeraang squad! Eh? See, it’s good because it’s boomerang, and it has Aang in it—”

“Yeah Sokka,” Toph interrupted. “We got it.”

Aang grinned and scratched his head. “I kinda like that one.”

“The Aang Gang. Ooh, the Fearsome Fivesome!”

“You’re crazy,” Toph muttered as she walked away.

“Wait, Sokka—” Y/N pulled away from him and held up her pointer finger. “Aang Gang — what if we combine it, so it’s just the Gaang? But still with Aang’s name?”

And at that moment, Sokka looked more proud than ever. “Oh, you— you are a genius.”

“Oh, spirits,” Katara groaned. “Why do you insist on encouraging him?”

“You’re just jealous of our name-making abilities,” Sokka said haughtily.

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “You two are completely ridiculous, you know that? Let’s just get into the city before the trains stop running.”

Y/N and Sokka winked at each other as they all started walking, unable to keep the smile off of her face. She always thought it was amazing — they went through insane things every day, but at the end of it all she was always able to smile because of them. And as her gaze drifted towards the city in the distance, she hoped it would hold true.

She had no idea what Ba Sing Se had in store for her.

-

shit is gonna happen next chapter so i hope you all are READY bc im not

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

atla tags: @marianne1806 @brown-eyed-thang @akiris

ehfar tags: @chandies-sideblog @zacatecanaaaa @anzanity @randomthingssss @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @shanksfav @shephard17895 @ilovespideyyy @carisi-sonny @selfship-mishaps @i-belong-in-fandoms @ilistentotayswifttocope @i-make-questionable-choices @3leni

#zuko x reader #zuko x you #zuko x y/n #zuko #zuko fic #prince zuko #avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar fic #atla fic #avatar the last airbender fic #avatar x reader #avatar the last airbender x reader #atla x reader #sadie writes

[parker-razor]

many a dream about you

afab!reader x mando (no y/n)

5.2k words, 18+, EXPLICIT!! 

warnings: SMUT (extended warnings under the cut), mentions of injuries, unprotected sex (use protection!), very little editing

summary: when you and mando are forced to share a bed together, you end up having a dream that reveals more than you had hoped...

author’s notes: ahhhh! this is my first fic!! i’ll be honest, i got so excited i wrote most of this in one sitting. indulge me in some of my favorite smutty tropes about everyone’s favorite space dad!

extended warnings: oral (f receiving), wet dreams, thigh grinding, mentions of rough sex, multiple orgasms, overstimulation... i think that’s it

*****

Stars, you were exhausted.

You had just spent three weeks on the Razor Crest with the only bed available to you being a cheap mattress that might as well have just been a sack stuffed with sand. On top of the little sleep you were running on, you had just finished loading three bounties onto the Crest and into carbonite while Mando patched himself up. Dragging three grown men onto the ship and freezing them took all the strength out of you.

You finally collapsed into the pilot’s seat in the cockpit, catching your breath and giving your muscles a well-deserved break. Your eyes flutter closed as your body decompresses from the hard work and no sleep it’s been put through these past weeks. Mando had hired you just a month ago to look after the ship while he was away on hunts. Not to mention the little green gremlin he had adopted as his own, who kept you company and looked to you to get taken care of. It was much better than the life you had known; growing up on the outskirts of Tatooine was hard enough as is, but when your little shop had been pillaged and ransacked, you had nothing left on the small, desert planet. Mando had shown up just in time, sitting next to you in a dive bar.

*****

You had never seen one of his kind before, and to be honest, you were overwhelmed with the way he carried himself. He was big, towering over everyone he passed on his way to the barstools. You wondered why he even bothered if he couldn’t remove his helmet to drink, but you’d never ask. He sat himself just a few stools from yours, and after stealing a few glances with flushed cheeks, you finally opened your mouth to say something.

“Bounty hunters like you must be pretty busy on a planet like this,” you said, trying to talk over the loud band playing in the corner. “Not too many upstanding people tend to find themselves here.”

Slowly turning his helmet to face you, the Mandalorian said, “What does that say about you?”

Damn, you thought, he was quick to the draw.

“It’s not exactly my choice to live here. I’d give anything to get off this ball of sand.”

He says nothing, just turns his helmet forward again. You figure that’s the end of that, at least you tried. You can now say that you’ve talked to a Mandalorian before.

After a few beats of silence, he finally speaks. “Anything?”

You whip your head towards him, trying to figure out where this was going. Of course you wanted to leave, but you didn’t want to come off too eager in case he wasn’t serious.

“I mean, what do you have in mind?” you ask, trying to act as calm as possibly, but you couldn’t help but get a little excited at the prospect of leaving.

“I have… a son. He’s very small and can’t take care of himself yet. I don’t like taking him hunting, but I can’t leave him on the ship by himself,” he pauses, piecing together his words carefully. “I need someone to look after him.”

“So, I’d be his babysitter?”

“And ship sitter. Just keep it clean, nothing complicated.”

You pretended to ponder his proposition, but you knew you’d say yes almost immediately. There was nothing left for you here; no family, no livelihood, no friends. This was the best deal you had gotten in a long time. Except…

“So, what do I get in return?”

“I’d pay you, as much as I can afford. But you’d have your own bed and food.”

You’re sold.

*****

You’re brought back to the present when you hear Mando’s footsteps ascend the ladder to the cockpit. The child is holding onto him, smiling when he sees your face.

“How bad are you hurt?” you ask cautiously.

“I’ll live. Just a gash.”

“Well, I got the bounties in carbonite. But I gotta say Mando, I don’t know if I can sleep another night in a row on that shitty mattress.” He says nothing, and you haven’t figured out if that’s a good sign or a bad sign.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you making room for me! I’m just saying, I think we both need a proper rest tonight, especially after today,” you backtrack. You hear him sigh, nodding his head in agreement.

“Alright. I passed an inn on the way back here. Let’s see if they have any vacancy, hopefully with a bed better than the one you have.” You blush, embarrassed that you came off as ungrateful.

Mando was a mystery to you. He was quiet, a man of few words. It was especially hard trying to read him without being able to see any facial cues or expressions. Nevertheless, something about him exuded strength. He was much taller than you, but he was also just… big. Especially with all the beskar adding a whole other layer of strength. You couldn’t explain the attraction you felt for him. Something about how he towered over you, his visor boring into your face made you weak in the knees. How could you feel this way for someone who you’d barely talked to, let alone never seen their face?

He made you feel weak, but for some reason you liked that. Growing up on your home planet, you had to learn to fight for yourself. You were strong, with curves and muscles that showed just how tough life had made you. You never let a man make you feel less than or weak, always ready to defend yourself. But you liked that Mando made you feel small. It made no sense, but it also made perfect sense.

Sometimes at night, you’d let your hands wander. One hand wandered up to your face, whether to bite down on a finger or cover your mouth to keep yourself quiet, and the other down the front of your pants. Being around Mando so much made it difficult to wait until after he fell asleep to take care of the burning need you felt for him. You had your fair share of flings with the boys in your village, but none of them made you feel the way Mando did. With the most subtle actions he could make a heat blossom in your stomach and goosebumps spread over your arms. Sometimes the way he’d fly the Crest made you clench your thighs together; he looked so in charge in that pilot’s seat. Rubbing tight circles on your clit, clenching around nothing while angling your hips just right, you would be sent into orbit at the thought of his hands taking care of you instead.

After you and Mando had packed up your essentials, you got Grogu into his pram and headed off to the village nearby. You had no idea what planet you were on, but the flowering trees brought some joy to you. In the past weeks travelling with Mando, you had seen so many new things. You had never once left your home, and things like trees and streams had you in awe. You would never get used to how it made you feel.

The village was small, and it didn’t seem like there was anything else around for miles. You got to the motel, one of the larger buildings in the area. The lobby was small and surprisingly clean, much cleaner than the interior of the Crest. An older woman, the innkeeper you presumed, stood at the desk.

“We’d like two rooms. How much would that be?” Mando asked, not interested in entertaining niceties.

“So sorry sir, we only have one room available. A few of our rooms are under renovation, and there’s only one unoccupied that is fit to house anyone,” the woman said with a sickly sweet smile.

Mando sighed, obviously conflicted with the choice laid in front of him. He turned to you for your input.

“I- I don’t mind sharing a room. We don’t have to if you’re not comfortable, I just thought it be nice to escape the ship for the night.” You rushed your words out, feeling shy at the prospect of sharing the room with Mando. He had his own quarters on the ship, and you had yours, if you could even consider them quarters. After a few beats, Mando put some credits on the desk, and took the key the woman was offering.

Pushing down the excitement you felt, you grabbed your things that you had set down and followed Mando to your room. It’s not like you hadn’t been living in close proximity with Mando for the past few weeks anyways.

But this was different.

And you didn’t fully realize why it was so different until you opened the door to your room and saw that there was only one queen sized bed. Your jaw dropped, as you looked to Mando for his reaction. Nothing, as usual. He just walked into the room as if nothing had changed.

How was this gonna go? Were you just supposed to… share? The bed wasn’t puny, plenty of room for the both of you. But this was crossing a line that you didn’t even realize had been established. You didn’t really know much about each other and hadn’t been acquainted for very long. Not to mention the burning need you felt for him growing day by day.

And now you had to share a bed with him. No big deal.

Grogu’s cries for attention brought you out of your reverie of thoughts. You picked him up from his pram and placed him on the bed, allowing him to take in the room. The love and affection for the child had grown immensely since Mando had first introduced the two of you. You were initially shocked at how silently affectionate Mando was with him. You had never expected him to be the paternal type. You had yet to learn how the curious pair had found each other; a small part of you wondered if Mando looked similar to the child under his mask.

Mando had set his things on the chair in the corner and mumbled something about using the refresher. And as quickly as the door shut, you heard the shower turn on and the sound of beskar hitting the floor.

The realization that Mando was maskless, naked, just a few feet away sent a shockwave through your body. Was he tan? Did he have blond or brown hair? Was he truly strong or did the beskar just add extra bulk? You imagined he had scars littering his body, with chest hair dusting his front. The thought of it trailing down beneath his pants sent a shiver down your spine. Stars, your mind was in the gutter.

The sun had set, and Grogu’s eyes started to flutter and shut on one of the pillows on the bed. You picked him up and cradled him, resting your cheek to his. You savored moments like this; the ones that made your heart warm and full of comforting joy. Grogu’s breathing slowed, letting out snores every once in a while. You heard the shower shut off, and carefully placed Grogu into his pram, closing the top for him to sleep in peace.  

Mando stepped out of the refresher in a thin pair of sleep trousers, a similar shirt and, of course, his helmet. Your gaze made you realize that he was definitely not wearing underwear, not leaving much to the imagination. You felt your face heat up as you looked anywhere but at him, almost positive that your face has turned as red as the setting sun.

“Your turn,” Mando said as he sauntered to the chair in the corner. He placed his things on the ground, sat in the chair, and crossed his arms as if to get comfortable.

“You’re not sleeping over there, are you?” you asked.

“I… just assumed… I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Your blush was back with a vengeance.

“I don’t mind. We got this room to relax, and you sure as hell don’t seem at ease with the way you’re sitting.” He said nothing for a few moments before sighing and standing to walk over towards the bed.

Oh Maker, this is actually happening, you thought. What act was more intimate than sharing a bed with someone? Well, there was the obvious one, but…

You scurried to the washroom, desperate to cool yourself down and collect your thoughts. This didn’t have to be a big deal, and if you kept acting all standoffish like you had been, you’d chase Mando away with the bizarre energy you were emitting.

You splashed cold water on your face to calm your blush, brushed your teeth with vigor, and changed into your pajamas. Granted, they were much scantier than the ideal, but you hadn’t expected to be sharing a bed, let alone a room, with the Mandalorian.

Stepping out of the refresher, you see Mando lying in bed with the lamplight on. Maker, you wanted to nothing but climb in with him and lay on his chest…

His chest. This was the first time you’d seen him without all that bulky armor. Through his thin clothing you could tell he was strong, with broad shoulders and contoured muscle. His helmet turned towards you, and what you didn’t know was that he was eyeing you in your not-so-modest sleep clothes as well.

What you didn’t know was how Mando gazed at you when you held the child, cooing at him as he gently tugged on your hair or stroked your cheek. His helmet protected him from you finding out how often he stared at you in adoration. Your curves, your smile, your silent strength. Stars, he thought you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. But what you saw when he looked at you was a silent T-visor staring at you with no emotion.

After a beat, your gaze met the floor as you walked to the other side of the bed, closest to the window. You crawled under the covers, waiting for some quick comment or a reaction from the man next to you. Finally, he spoke.

“Are you sure you don’t want me in the chair?” he asked.

“Stars, Mando, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’d want to be as far away from me as possible,” you responded, embarrassed.

“That’s- no, not at all. I, uh, just wanted you to feel comfortable,” he stumbled. You had never seen him so lost for words, so taken back.

“I promise, Mando, if anything I feel more comfortable with you next to me.” Oh Maker, why did you just say that? That was the most upfront you’d been with him. Just as you were about to take back your words…

“I feel the same,” he responded quietly. Stars, if your heart didn’t explode at his words.

It was quiet for a few moments, until you said, “Well… goodnight Mando.”

“Goodnight.” He turned off the lamplight and shuffled deeper under the blankets. You were unsure if you should stay as close to the edge as possible or be truly comfortable and let yourself get a little closer to Mando. Before you could make up your mind, exhaustion overtook you and you drifted to sleep.

*****

Mando stirred in your sleep, disturbed by something he hadn’t recognized yet. As he continued to drift in and out of sleep, he heard something that he wasn’t sure was a part of a dream or reality.

Quiet mumblings came from your side of the bed, mixed with indistinguishable groans. His instincts kicked in, becoming fully awake to survey the room for any threats. It took him a moment to realize that as you slept, you had moved closer to Mando – much closer.

Your leg was draped over his torso, with your chest pressed to his side and your arm resting on his chest. But what he noticed most was the way your hips rolled, your core grinding against the side of his thigh. Looking at your face, he could tell you were asleep. Your breaths grew heavier, quiet groans turning into moans. Mando felt his pants grow tighter, not know whether or not to wake you from your obvious wet dream.

Mando froze when he heard you say his name while your hips sped up. “M-Mando, don’t stop… Please…” Fuck, you were dreaming about him. He wanted nothing more than to rub the growing problem in his pants, but he knew that crossed a line.

As your breath started to hitch, he could tell you were getting close. Just as you were about to cum, you jolted awake, breathing heavily while taking in what was going on.

You looked down at the scene you had caused, rendered speechless. Flooded with humiliation, you jumped out of bed and ran to the refresher as Mando shouted your name. You slammed the refresher door and locked it, tears springing to your eyes. Fuck fuck fuck, this was bad. Did you just ruin everything? Mando must hate you now.

“Please open the door, I’m not mad. Let’s just talk,” Mando said through the door, not wanting to reveal how he felt behind a slab of wood. You said nothing, feeling utterly mortified. There’s no way you could look him in the eye (well, helmet) after getting yourself off on his thigh in your sleep. Fuck.

After twenty minutes of Mando trying to convince you that he wasn’t upset and he just wanted to talk, he gave up. Sighing, he pushed himself off the floor and went back to sit on the bed. Though the tension in his pants had gone down, he couldn’t stop thinking about the sounds you made. He looked down to see that you had left a wet spot on his leg, causing him to groan. He had to stop himself from thinking that way, at least for right now while you were upset.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, you were in shock. You tried your best to recount what had happened, but it didn’t help that you were asleep for most of it. The dream you were having a blur; Mando on top of you, and the intense feeling of being filled to the brim. Then, you remember waking up to Mando staring down at you, putting two and two together, and that was that.

You realized that Mando was awake before you were, which means he was watching you… do that to him. He didn’t try to wake you up or stop you. He was watching you get off. That had to mean… he liked it. He liked seeing you like that. Right?

You slowly stood up from the bathroom floor, wiping the tears you didn’t notice had fallen down your cheeks. Taking a few deep breaths, you calmed your bedhead and opened the washroom door, rounding the corner to face Mando sitting on the bed.

He looked up from the spot on the floor he was staring at as he sat deep in thought.

“Are- are you okay?” he asked, uncertain of what he should say.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I was asleep and I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable,” you admit, eyes glued to the floor. A few moments of deafening silence pass, with you shuffling in the spot where you stood and Mando’s helmet fixed towards you.

“What did you dream about?” Mando asked quietly. The Mandalorian was normally so stoic and strong in his conviction that to hear his voice quiver in nervousness made your gaze shoot up to his.

“It’s… embarrassing. I don’t want you to think less of me.” Your face turned beet red, a trait of yours you didn’t realize you possessed until you met Mando. He was the first person to make you feel shy and flustered.

“I won’t, I promise. I just want to know… I need to know.”

“It was… about me. And you.” Mando rose to walk over to where you were standing, near the foot of the bed.

“What about us, exactly? You can tell me. Tell me everything.” You hesitated to meet his gaze, eyes wide and nervous.

“You were… on me. In me. All over me.” You felt yourself getting breathless as Mando got closer to you, as you retold your dream without getting too graphic yet still admitting that you had dreamt of him taking you.

“And was I gentle, or was I rough?” Mando’s voice grew husky, just as breathless as you. Maker, his voice made you weak at the knees.

“Gentle, at first. But the longer you went you got rougher. Much rougher.” Your voice dropped into a whisper as Mando found himself right in front of you, almost chest to chest. Your eyes dropped to admire his chest, what it’d look like without his shirt. You wanted to trace every scar that marked his skin, kiss him, bite him.

He grabbed your chin with his thumb and forefinger, drawing your gaze from his chest to his helmet.

“And which did you like better? Tell me,” he whispered through the modulator, but there was no filtering out how deep and raspy his voice had gotten, like you had never heard before.

“I… I was just happy you were touching me,” you whispered, in shock that this wasn’t just another dream. His hand drifted from your chin to your neck, caressing every inch of you. You closed your eyes, unable to believe that he was touching you without his gloves on.

Suddenly, both hands came to your waist and pulled you into his chest, your hands finding their place on his chest. You whimpered, never feeling so small, not knowing why you liked it so much.

“Do you want me to touch you, sweet one? Like I did in your dream?” he rasped.

“Please… please touch me, Mando.” He groaned at that, manhandling you so your back turned to the bed and quickly thrown onto the bed.

“I like hearing you beg, love. Beg some more for me.” You whimpered, flushed and embarrassed but in the best way. Mando yanked at your legs so they were hanging off the bed with him standing between your knees. His hands drifted from your stomach up to your breasts, squeezing them while his thumbs rubbed your hardened nipples through your shirt.

Unable to take it any longer, you sat up and yanked your shirt over your head as Mando did the same. His expanse of muscle was all you could think about, the thatches of chest hair made you want to run your hands all over him.

He dropped to his knees in front of you, playing with the waistband of your sleep shorts.

“Tell me, did I eat this sweet pussy of yours in your dream?” You moaned, unable to remember but wanting his mouth on you all the same.

“I want you to, but your helmet…” Mando grabbed the blanket that was at the end of the bed, throwing it so one end covered your stomach and the other fell near the middle of his back. Awkwardly, you saw him maneuver under the blanket to take his helmet off, and then your shorts.

Before you could say so much as a “please,” Mando’s mouth enveloped your cunt with his hot mouth. Your gasp was loud and ragged, not expecting him to feel this good. You felt him moan into you, licking from your hole up to the tip of your clit.

“Am I the one who made you this wet, my sweet one? You’re dripping onto the bed for me,” you heard him rasp under the blankets.

“Please, Mando, you feel so f-fucking good,” you gasp as he puts his mouth on you again. You reach under the blanket to grab his hair to pull him the exact spots you wanted his mouth to be. Maker, his mouth was immaculate. His tongue messily toyed with your clit, groaning in your cunt when you tugged his hair which sent vibrations everywhere.

When he found that one spot, just to the left of your clit, you started to feel that familiar tension in your stomach, the one you’d get when you’d touch yourself in the silence of night in the Crest. You tilted your hips just right as he sucked your clit into your mouth, letting out an animalistic moan.

As soon as you felt him hum into your cunt again, you were gone. You fell over a cliff higher than ever before as everything went utterly white, white in your vision and white noise in your ears.

Maker, you came so fucking hard. And through the whole thing, Mando licked and sucked at you, slowing down when you eventually came down. You felt like you were floating through the aftermath as Mando kissed the inside of your thighs, and through the reverie you were in you felt the tickle of facial hair on your skin. You smiled to yourself, finally able to know something about the appearance of the man you adored so.

Mando quickly put his helmet back on under the blanket before pulling himself over you, stroking your face with the back of his hand.

“Do you want more? Or do you want me to stop?” he asked. As spent as you felt, at the sound of his voice your body began rearing up for more.

“More. I need your cock, Mando, so badly,” you whimpered, feeling a brand new wave of wetness flood at the apex of your legs.

You picked your head up, finally wrenching your eyes open as you felt Mando start to take his pants off. You were very suddenly awake again when you saw his cock spring out. He was big, bigger than the boys you had taken by far.

“I- I don’t know if you’ll fit. I’ve never had a man bigger than you.”

“No, sweet one, you’ve only had boys. I can’t wait to be the first man who wrecks you,” he rasps into your ears as your hands wrap themselves around his neck and down his back. Stars, he was sexy, an odd mix of shy and domineering all at once.

He started rubbing the tip against your cunt, and suddenly you were on fire again. You had never tried to get yourself again after one orgasm, always too spent and high on dopamine to go again. So you never got to realize that once you had one, more orgasms were not very difficult to achieve. Until, Mando’s tip swirled around your clit and you could feel the coil tighten yet again.

“M-Mando, I’m gonna cum again if you keep doing that,” you whimpered, causing him to groan and only put more pressure on your clit.

“Then do it, my love. I want to see your face when you cum for me.” You let out a series of curses until you came again, slightly weaker than the previous one but it rocked through you. Before you could even come down, Mando thrusted himself into you in one go. You let out a yell bordering on a scream, feeling your pussy stretch itself to fit all of him. Stars, the burn of the stretch made you shiver.

“Oh f-fuck, my sweet girl has an even sweeter pussy,” he gasped as he started to thrust himself into you. “S-so fucking t-tight and w-warm, I’m not gonna last…”

Your eyes rolled into the back of your head as Mando’s thrusts sped up, slamming into you at an unfathomable rate.

“No no, look at me. Look at me while I’m making you feel good,” Mando growled as he grabbed your cheeks to make you look at his helmet. You tried so hard to keep your eyes open, but as Mando tilted his hips just right, jamming into your G-spot, you lost control over your body. You were saying something, but you were so far gone that you couldn’t decipher what it was.

“Is that- fuck- all you can say, pretty girl? Please? Please what? What do you need, fuck I’ll give you everything you want, just say the word,” Mando rambled, just as drunk on your pussy as you were on his cock.

“D-d-don’t stop, p-please don’t s-stop,” you uttered out, not completely sure if you were having one long orgasm or if it was building to something even bigger.

“I’m never gonna stop, baby, never wanna stop…” Without warning, an orgasm so strong racked through your body. You had never cum just from penetration before, but the way the hair at the base of Mando’s cock was brushing against your cunt as he fucked you sent you beyond the edge.

“Oh my fucking- stars, baby you’re so tight I can barely move… I-I’m gonna-“ Mando gasped as you felt him cum deep inside you, moaning louder than you thought he would.

You both gasped for breath, utterly exhausted from the best sex in both of your lives. Mando pulled out and laid next you on the bed, stroking your hair gently.

“I wish I could kiss you right now,” you croaked, voice almost gone from overuse. Silence fell over the two of you, and you wanted to take back your words, until…

“Close your eyes. And don’t open them. Promise?” he said.

“I promise, I swear I won’t,” you said, shutting your eyes with your heart leaping at the prospect of finally kissing him. After a few moments of the sounds of shuffling next to you, you felt a soft pair of lips meet yours. It was tentative at first, but after a few gentle pecks Mando caressed your face and kissed you with a passion so strong it took your breath away. You felt his mustache tickle your upper lip as he kissed like if he pulled away, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

When he finally pulled away, you reminded yourself to keep your eyes closed as he put his helmet back on. You pulled yourself over him, almost in the exact position you had found yourself in when you woke up from your dream, except this time Mando’s arm was draped under your neck.

“I’m glad we finally did that,” Mando admitted after a while. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first day you started living on the Crest.” You lifted your head from his chest and rested your chin on his right pec, gazing at his face.

“You mean that?” you ask.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

You grinned from ear to ear, thanking the Maker that this wasn’t just because Mando was horny and he had found you getting yourself off on him. He had wanted you, too.

“For a minute I thought…I thought you’d tell me to leave and never come back. I was so embarrassed to wake up like that. But… I guess it ended up helping us out,” you chuckled. You heard Mando chuckle too as his chest shook a bit, warming your heart.

“I will never ask you to leave. I want you to stay, I need you to stay,” he admitted quietly. “Plus, I don’t know anyone else who would take care of Grogu so well.”

“Oh, Maker, Grogu!” you exclaimed, realizing Grogu had been closed in his pram in the corner throughout the entire… act.

“The device is soundproof, he didn’t hear a thing,” Mando explained. You let out a sigh of relief.

“I don’t know, with those ears?” you laughed, hearing Mando laugh with you.

“Maybe they’re more for balance rather than hearing,” Mando replied, causing you to let out a loud laugh, making joy flood Mando’s body.

“We can only hope…”

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[jaigeye]

DEATH & DYING: Mandalorian Funerary Practices, Burial, Remembrance & Grieving

"Mando'ade usually bury in mass graves anyway. We all become part of the manda. We don't need a headstone." /  "Collective consciousness. Oversoul. We don't do heaven." ―Mirta Gev 

In ancient Mandalorian religion: “Arasuum is the god of decadence and idle consumption, battled in the creation myth in the War of Life and Death by Kad Ha’rangir, the destroyer god of change and growth, a force of creative destruction. If to live is to adapt, then something that remains forever, eternal, must be constantly adapting, never stagnating. To remain the same is to perish.”

Metaphysical Understanding of Life & Afterlife

Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la:   “Not gone, merely marching far away.” - (Tribute to a dead comrade.)

This struggle between idleness and change was reflected in the ancient Mandalorian belief in the afterlife: existing as a plane of spiritual energy in constant conflict between stagnation and growth, every Mandalorian who perished was believed to join the army of the afterlife, defending their families that dwelled in the eternal, peaceful homestead. Mandalorians believed that this home beyond death was the only place they could truly reach a non-transitory existence. 

The ancient gods were largely forgotten in contemporary times. 

The concept of a literal afterlife waned, in favor of a belief in the Manda. The Manda was described as an oversoul, a collective consciousness, and the very essence of being Mandalorian. 

To join with the Manda after death, a Mandalorian was required to be knowledgeable of their culture, and practice its tenets in their daily lives.

Practices:  Funeral rites, Burial, & Cremation

Cremation: 

The Mandalorian "kote kyr'am" or glory death was an event where Mandalorians honor their fallen warriors who died facing Jedi, or impossible odds. 

This was done to ensure that their warrior’s spirit may join their ancestors. The body was burned on an elevated pyre.

Clan members would shout war-cries to the sky, and speak loudly of the dead’s great feats in life. This goodbye ceremony was a night of mournful celebration; drunken feasting, and brawling, was common. Telling stories about the deceased’s life was important. 

It doesn’t matter what side a Mandalorian was fighting on, friend or foe; if one died in battle, they were due a warrior’s funeral. 

Ashes are scattered & not kept.

Burial: 

Mandalorians are pragmatic people. On Mandalore, most Mandalorians were buried as simply as possible within mass graves that had no markers. 

Private, single-plot burials for the dead are uncommon. 

Exceptions and Outliers: 

Among nomadic communities of Mandalorians, those currently fighting a war, or those who live on planets unsuitable to the practice of mass burial, cremation may be the accepted burial method even if one did not die in battle. Sustaining a cemetery and transporting corpses en masse can present a great challenge.

Some highly placed individuals, such as Mand'alor, were offered the option of having a marked grave.

Boba Fett wished to just set the Slave I on autopilot and allow the vessel, carrying his body, to drift in space. After removing his father's remains from Geonosis, Boba Fett buried them on Mandalore.

A notable exception:  “The helmet [of Fenn Shysa] was all he’d brought back. It was an apt memorial for a populist leader, to be commemorated in the same way as any ordinary Mandalorian.”  - His helmet was displayed on a pedestal.

Philosophical Understanding of Death, Grieving & Remembrance

Philosophy:

Death is another step in the process of life. For those left behind, it offers the chance for change, growth, and adaptation to life without your loved one. For the dead, it is but another step in the path.

Remembrance: 

"The armor I wear is five hundred years old. I reforged it to my liking, but the battles, the history, the blood all lives within it. And the same goes for every Mandalorian." "This armor is part of our identity. It makes us Mandalorians who we are." ―Sabine and Alrich Wren

The dead’s possessions, often their armor, are kept in memorial. If a full set of armor  couldn't be recovered, it was commonplace to retrieve smaller parts such as helmets, gloves, or plates instead.

Beskar’gam is passed down bilineally.  (A bilineal system is one in which two lines of descent, matrilineal and patrilineal, are both socially significant.)

Possessions have value. Jedi may value the metaphysical qualities of the universe, but Mandalorians see the physical as significant. The armor is a part of you. To pass down a part of you is a way to live on forever. 

Even if the Beskar itself is melted down and reforged, the metal itself does not lose the power of its inheritance. 

Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. “I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.” [Followed by repetition of loved ones' names.]

It was a Mandalorian custom to recite the names of loved ones and friends who have passed each night before sleep. This was a means of keeping their memory alive. 

The uncertainty of life meant that most Mandalorians celebrated the time they had at every opportunity, taking part in communal singing, drinking, and enjoying time with family. 

The concept of aay'han was a Mandalorian term that encompassed the joy of time spent with loved ones while remembering those who were no longer among the living, relatively similar to the Basic term "bittersweet".

Headcanons & Conclusions 

Death is not demeaning - is not shameful. 

Despair is something one must look in the eye.

In death, you become one with the masses. Whether cremated or buried in a mass plot, you become nameless, faceless. You don’t get a “Here lies...a good mother and friend..”. This is part of the point. 

By giving descendants your Beskar, you will be remembered as a protector. They will be safe, thanks partially to you. This is enough.

The meaning of life is that it ends. Death is a creative motivator. What better way to avoid stagnation than to live while you can?

The living may get a tattoo or engrave a symbol on their Beskar that was important to the deceased, to remember them by.

The Mass Graves might be something more akin to an underground catacomb, so more can be added over time.

Children are buried with the same gravity and respect as Mand’alors and war heroes.

Death is known. It is respected and known as an arduous mental, physical, and emotional process, both for those who succumb to it and those left to remember. Among Mandalorians-- to whom arasuum, the act of never adapting, is a sort of spiritual death-- physical death is not the end, only another part of growing and changing. 

- Any Mandalorian would be perfectly willing to ask, and be asked, what their own wishes for death are. Depending on their clan, home planet (or lack of) and condition of their life, they may prefer a certain type of burial or have specific requests. It’s not embarrassing or scary. 

- Mandalorians do not swaddle the grieving in their sadness. They are allowed to feel it powerfully, vividly, but they are also given tasks-- expectations -- rituals and practices to follow, so they might find a sense of purpose in death.

- They do not believe in the practice of beautifying a body for viewing. The mere idea of modern American standards of burial being applied to Mandalorian corpses would most likely be seen as deeply sacrilegious! Using embalming methods and protective caskets would be seen as a futile attempt to ignore the reality- it would be seen as an act of avoidance.

- Mandalorian clans often gather around the dead to wash, dress, and speak to them before they are taken away to be buried or cremated. This process can take anywhere from hours to weeks.  (Corpses are not an inherent health threat. They would know this.) Spending time with the body is powerful and helps to process grief. They do not see the body as a cursed, diseased object, but a vessel that once held their loved one. 

People spend time with their mothers, their brothers in war, their children. One might spend time brushing the deceased’s hair, telling them stories.

Sociologically, Mandalorians are staunch believers in the idea that it takes a village to raise a child. They take it quite literally. A neighbor, clan member or acquaintances death may be taken just as seriously as the loss of a very close loved one.

On the war-torn planet of Mandalore, where even before the purges the unwelcoming, life-resistant desert overtook the landscape, the only places with much lush greenery are the areas that are fertilized by the mass graves of Mandalorian people. These places are regarded with gratitude and to damage them or wage fights in them is seen as an unforgivable act. Death can be restorative. 

(anything above headcanons & conclusions is canon, all below is my own interpretation)

material i reference here: 

Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice

Legacy of the Force: Revelation

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire

General EU/SW Legends

Wookiepedia 

Caitlin Doughty, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

Caitlin Doughty, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory

#death tw #dying tw #funeral tw #burial tw #cremation tw #hi. #sw meta #mandalorians #the mandalorian #mandalorian culture #i want to be clear i just love this topic!!!! #i did NOT glean any of this information from any other existing cultures #i'd like to note however that the funeral pyre - which i picked up straight from #existing mando lore -- derives from viking..roman...hindu..and sikh burial practices #also among jains and buddhists. #anything above the headcanons and conclusions comes straight from canon #but id be happy to edit if theres something harmful either in my interpretation #or in canon notes that would be better left unmentioned altered or rephrased #this is mostly just me going wild about my interest in star wars + mandos + death LOL #but yes. enjoy. thank you #babygirl i will subject you to my interests #watch this get 3 notes like queen your interests are scaring the hoes

[lubdubsworld]

City Lights . ( Namjoon x OC)

Pairing : OC x Kim Namjoon.

Genre : Angst. Romance.

Rating 18 + 

Word Count : 2900

Warnings :  Mature Themes , Explicit Sexual Content . Slow burn. Like slower than a snail.

Summary :

Widowed and destitute, Son Yang Mi leaves the comfort of her small , secluded  fishing village and travels to the intimidating city of Seoul with her young son. She has a plan, one that involves finding a job, getting her son into a good school and building a life for herself.

Now, three years later she has a job , working as a live in house keeper for the Kim family, specifically for the son,  Kim Namjoon, a famous rapper and producer. 

Its a job that puts a roof over her head and she’ll do anything to keep it. 

But fate has other plans.

Chapter 1 ~

Akogare (ah-koh-ga-reh)Often translated directly as a sort of frustrated “yearning”, “desire”, or “longing” .

Seoul in summer was a sight to behold. I blinked back against the bright sunlight, staring out into the stunning skyline of the city as the sun rose over it , and although it was just a little past seven in the morning, the air was warm and invigorating. The mid July sun shone down with no mercy, and there was no trace of the rain that had lashed city just the previous night.

It had been three whole years but the relief that came from breathing fresh air, untainted by the damp musk of fishing trowels and sweaty men, was still unrivalled.

I shook off the feather duster in my hand, moving to carefully clean the wicker woven chairs on the artificial lawn in the balcony. Dusting the entire condo down was a mind numbing exercise in patience, so i tried to get it out of the way, early in the morning when my son was still asleep.

At six years old, Junsu was a bright , happy child. Summer vacation meant days sleeping in and evenings spent frolicking with the other kids in the building and he was content with being alone in our small shared room, reading or playing with his toys while I went about the day’s work.

I glanced at the clock, grimacing.

It was almost eight . And although Mr. Kim wasn’t due back home for another twelve hours, I felt a little jittery and nervous.

Kim Namjoon , renowned rapper, producer, writer , poet and what not. The apartment was his but he was usually on tour, traveling all over the world to promote his book and to perform in sold out stadiums. For an A list celebrity, he was surprisingly humble.

For the past three years, him and his model fiancée  Lee Mina had spent a total of maybe seven months in the condo. They were a sweet couple, or so I’d always thought , a bit formal with each other but clearly in love . Mr. Kim was a kind, soft spoken young man and I’d never heard him raise his voice unless he was in the company of his very dear friends.

Just a little over a week ago , both of them  had left Korea for the States , the tabloids screaming about a luxurious destination wedding in the Caribbean and I had been asked to take a few weeks off . The newly weds wouldn’t be back for quite a while and they would let me know when I had to come back to the condo.

I’d been toying with the idea of visiting my in laws in Gwangyog, maybe even dropping by to see some old friends there but yesterday , Mr. Kim’s mother had given me a call letting me know her son was coming home. 

[ 

The conversation went something like this :

Yang Mi, I hope you haven’t left yet?

No, Ma'am, I haven’t.

Joon-ah is going to be back tomorrow.

Oh, is Ms Lee arriving as well?

No, Just him He’s going to be alone.

Yes, Ma'am.

Please don’t mention anything about Mina or the wedding.

No ma'am of course not.

I’ll drop by later . Cook him something warm and filling. And make sure the house is cleaned well.

Yes, Ma’ am.

]

And that was that.

~~~~~~

It took the better part of the day to finish cleaning and setting up the house . I washed the window slats, changed the sheets, arranged the books that had been left scattered all over his bedroom. The walk-in closet was littered with a bunch of his clothes and I made sure his gym bag was stocked with fresh towels, spare clothes and his favorite head and wrist bands. 

For someone so careful and calculated, he was really quite a messy man. 

i did his laundry, making sure he had ample clothes at least for another two weeks, creasing the handkerchiefs and carefully removing lint from his jackets. 

I also carefully sorted out the feminine clothing from the laundry and from the cupboard, folding them neatly and placing them in the lowest shelf of the closet, where he wouldn’t find them. It wasn’t hard, hiding traces of his fiancee from the condo, because it had never really been her home. other than a few spare pieces of underwear and a couple of t shirts and skirts, there weren’t many articles of clothing belonging to Ms. Lee. 

But I still got rid of the bobby pins and hair ties, the spare lip gloss and mascara.

Junsu spent the entire day in our room, reading and drawing, only venturing out every few hours to grab a snack. I left him with his drawing tab ( a gift from Mr. Kim for his 5th birthday )  and his favorite book, asking the security guard at the end of the hallway to keep an eye on the door, while i went out to buy groceries.

Lots of meat, no sea food, healthy snacks and high protein fiber bars. I stocked up on sauces and bought a fresh batch of eggs, oranges and grapes . Mrs. Kim had sent a large amount of kimchi a few weeks ago and that was still in the pantry.

i stopped for a second, staring around at the almost deserted store. Most of the other housekeepers shopped at the bigger, more exclusive store on the other side of the residential complex. But Mr. Kim had a very selective palette, which meant that I had to be very particular about the brands i bought.

When i came back home at around six, Junsu was on the floor in the living space and i felt my heart jump in panic.

“Baby!! I’ve told you not to come out here when I’m not home!” I protested bleakly and he pouted.

“I need to show you my gift for Mr. Kim!!” He said softly. I smiled moving to put away the groceries and glancing at the clock. It was a little past six. I had to call Yungyu.

“Did you draw him something ? “ I asked curiously, checking to see if the beer shelf was stocked. probably should have done that before going out for the groceries, I thought regretfully.

“Yeah! Look!!” Junsu held his tab out and my heart dropped.

For a six year old, Junsu drew very well. And there was really no mistaking the very obvious wedding scene on the screen.

Oh, Good God.

“ That looks amazing honey.” I said gently. “ But, I heard that Ms Lee isn’t coming over this time..”

Junsu frowned.

“Why?”

“Well, I’m not sure. But remember how we spoke about saying the right things? When something upsets someone, we do not bring it up.” I reminded him gently. My son hesitated but nodded.

“Okay. I’m sorry. “ He said softly.

“No baby, its not your fault. It’s just that we want Mr. Kim to be happy right? We don’t wanna upset him...”

He smiled at that.

“When he’s happy, his dimples come out.” He said with a giggle. I laughed.

“yes they do... So let’s try and get those dimples out as often as we can alright? Why don’t you show him that picture you drew of yeontan the other day? He’ll really like that....”

“Okay...but i need to go color it!” Junsu yelled, already running back into our room. I watched him go before reaching for the phone and dialing, Yungyu, the chauffeur.

“Are you on the way here? ” i said briskly.

“Just starting from home...” Yungyu muttered, “ I’m supposed to be on vacation now! Why is he coming back so soon?” 

“Just hurry up !! We can’t keep him waiting!!” I said sharply, before hanging up. 

I made a quick check of all the rooms, filling up water bottles for his gym routine in the morning and stashing them in the fridge before moving to get dinner started. 

i set the water on boil for the stew, before moving to peel cucumbers for the salad. I chopped the cucumber , along with some fresh cherry tomatoes . I watched the water boil, thinly slicing an onion and adding it to the bowl as well. The dressing was pretty simple,  soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and sesame oil . I sprinkled some sesame seeds on the bowl, used the salad tongs to give the whole thing a nice toss and set it aside. 

I braised the chicken first , peeling and chopping potatoes and carrots to add to the stew . In a few minutes, the rich smell of lightly spiced chicken and garlic and perilla  leaves began filling the kitchen and I turned on the rice cooker as well. 

The door bell rang at six forty and i opened the door to reveal Yungyu. 

I grabbed the keys to the Palisade, handing them over to him.

“Did you hear?” He whispered urgently.

I frowned.

“What?”

“They say Mr. Kim called off the wedding!” He whispered, wide eyed. 

I glared at him.

“Who told you that?” i demanded...

“Seojoon from the gate said-”

“Why don’t you ask Seojoon from the gate to mind his own damn business?” I snapped. 

Yungyu looked suitably chastised. i felt a little bad. Yungyu was still young and curiosity was hardly a sin. 

“His flight lands at eight exactly. Hurry okay?” I said with a smile, ruffling his hair.

He brightened, peering over my shoulder into the house.

“Where’s the little one?” He asked curiously.

“ Painting something for Mr. Kim... Go ahead, hurry up.” I shooed him away, locking the door behind him. I fixed a plate of food for Junsu and sent him to eat, before moving to check on the stew. +

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` 

By the time eight thirty rolled around I had the table set and ready. I washed my face quickly in the small bath attached to our room , making sure I was dressed well. Junsu wasn’t allowed in the main house unless Mr. Kim specifically asked for him and my son usually stayed in. 

Junsu and I stayed in a bedroom , not large by any means but big enough for a queen sized bed, a table and chair for Junsu and small dresser where I kept a comb and a tube of night cream. I stared at my face, licking my lips as I smoothed my hair out. 

I glanced at the bed. 

Junsu was asleep , having dozed off while coloring his picture and I carefully extracted the tab from under his fingers, moving him around to lay on the soft pillows. I tucked him in gently, brushing the hair off his face. 

“In peace , I will lie down to sleep, for You alone will let me rest in safety.” I whispered gently against his forehead, kissing the soft skin. I felt my lips wobble , a debilitating wave of affection flooding me as the sweet scent of my baby, filled my senses.

 I would die for you, I thought fiercely, kissing him again. 

The sound of the front door opening made me jump. 

Swearing, i smoothed the fabric of my skirt, running to the kitchen. 

“Thank you for picking me up Yungyu, I’m sorry you had to cut short on your vacation.” Mr. Kim’s deep voice filled the hallway and I quickly grabbed a glass, filling it with water and placing it on the dinner tray.

“Not a problem, Sir. “ Yungyu’s cheerful voice responded.

“How are you going home?” Mr. Kim asked. 

“I’ll take the bus.”

A pause and then, 

“Here’s some cash. Get a cab.” 

I could hear the relief in Yungyu’s voice as he let out a , “ Thank you sir.” 

I fixed his plate carefully, the bowl of rice, the bowl of chicken stew, and the salad neatly arranged next to the napkin and the chopsticks. I heard him move across the condo, the sound of his suitcases as he wrestled them towards his bedroom and I frowned. Yungyu should’ve have brought those in for him. 

I finished reheating all of the food and carefully carried the dinner tray to the bedroom. 

Mr. Kim’s bedroom was right at the end of the hallway and the door was open. The full length mirror on the opposite wall showed him sitting on the small couch in his room, legs spread and elbows resting on his knees as he ran his fingers through his hair. 

I raised my hand, ready to knock on the wood. 

“Fuck!” He shouted, kicking out at the coffee table with enough force to send the furniture skidding half way across the room. 

I froze in the hallways stunned. 

“You’re such a fucking fool , Namjoon !!” He muttered angrily and I swallowed, turning on my heel and quickly walking back to the kitchen. 

Maybe I ought to wait till he asked for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn’t ask for dinner. 

I stayed sitting on the floor of the kitchen, waiting and lightly dozing as I heard him talk to his parents on the phone. I heard him open the liquor cabinet in his room, the sound of ice sloshing against glass, the sound of whiskey being poured carefully and i sighed. 

I had to get to bed. It was already a little past eleven. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime in the night, I woke up sweating.... 

Wondering what woke me up, I blinked groggily, glancing at Junsu. He was still sound asleep. 

Sighing, I climbed out of the bed, carefully making my way to Mr. Kim’s room, peering in carefully. 

He was asleep on the sofa.

I stared at the way his long legs stretched over the armrest, his lean hips twisted to accommodate his broad shoulders on the couch and I winced. He was definitely going to regret that in the morning. 

I stared at the half empty bottle of whiskey on the table and sighed, moving to take off his shoes carefully. He didn’t stir. 

I grabbed a pillow from the bed, carefully lifting his head and slipping it under. I placed a comforter over his shoulders, pulling it down to cover his legs. 

Force of habit almost made me brush his hair off his forehead but I stopped myself. 

The clock on the wall read three fifty am. God, I was going to feel terrible tomorrow. I carefully tip toed out, shutting the door behind me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I picked the comforter from the floor, carefully folding it and placing it on the bed, before grabbing the empty bottle of whiskey and glass . i could hear the shower running. The curtains were still drawn in and I tugged on the strings to get them to open. Sunlight spilled in through the floor length windows. The bed wasn’t slept in, so I opened the closet to grab a couple of towels, laying them on the bed for him. 

The bathroom door opened and i quickly straightened, wanting to race out of the room but it was too late. Thankfully he was dressed,  a pair of loose sweats and a loose t shirt . He was running a towel through his hair and his face brightened at the sight of me. 

“Yang Mi! You’re here....” He said cheerfully. 

“Good morning sir.” I said softly, offering him a small smile. 

He smiled brightly, hair damp and dimples deep. The white t shirt he had on was almost fully soaked through and he shook his head, sending stray water droplets all over the place, a few landing on my cheeks. 

“I didn’t see you last night...” He said casually, moving to drop the wet towel in the hamper, grabbing one of the fresh ones I’d laid on the bed. 

“I thought you would like your privacy sir, you looked exhausted.” 

He smiled.

“ Thank you for the blanket and the pillow by the way. And the shoes.” 

I bowed quickly.

“I’ll get your breakfast done, sir.” I bowed again before quickly getting out. 

I moved to the kitchen grabbing the oranges I’d got the previous day . Mr. Kim wasn’t fond of traditional korean dishes in the morning. He preferred freshly squeezed juice and toast, sometimes with an omelet perhaps. 

I fixed his breakfast quickly, setting it all in the tray . He was still moving around in the bedroom and I heard him drag his worktable to the windows, which meant he was going to stay in the bedroom. 

Pouring his coffee into a cup, I carefully picked up the breakfast tray , moving to his room slowly. 

I used my foot to knock on the door.

After a pause of a few seconds, 

“Come in Yang Mi!”

I carefully moved to the small table in front of the couch, placing the tray right in front of him. The scent of his body wash, green apple and strawberries, hit me hard. 

“Where’s Junsu?” He asked casually.

“Still asleep sir. It’s Summer so school’s out.” I smiled, grabbing his phone from the table to make space for his tray. 

The phone buzzed just as I was about to place it back down and I blinked.

 Mina calling.......

 I swallowed, not sure what to do, placing the phone down quickly.

“Uh..you have ...” I waved vaguely at the device before bowing again and moving back. 

“close the door on your way out, Yang Mi...” He said gently and I quickly obeyed. 

I moved to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee for myself. I stayed leaning over the counter and even through the locked door, I could hear him . 

“Just don’t call me Mina...i don’t want to talk about this!!!” 

I swallowed, glancing out of the window again. It was a bright, clear morning. 

A second later, the door to his bedroom slammed open and he stormed out. I watched him from my spot in the kitchen, his fists clenched as he rushed out to the front door.

The door shut behind him and I exhaled. 

Once I as done with my coffee, I moved to his room to clear the breakfast tray. His phone was still on the table.

It began ringing again just as I left the room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mrs. Kim.” i said respectfully, bowing . She gave me a short smile.

“Where’s Namjoon? I’ve been calling him for the past hour.” She pushed past me into the house and I bit my lips.

“He went out about an hour ago. He left his phone behind.” I explained.

She stopped, sighing. 

“Fine, I’ll wait for him. “ She moved to sit on the couch, glancing around the room. 

“Should I get you something ma'am?” I asked softly and she smiled.

“Get me a glass of lemonade, Yangmi.” She said brusquely and i nodded, running to the kitchen. 

“Did Mina come over?” She called out as I got the lemons out of the cooler.

“No ma'am.” i replied.

“Did she call?” 

  I remembered the phone ringing, how upset it had made Namjoon, how he had stormed out.

“I don’t know ma'am!” I said softly. 

She nodded.

“Okay. You can leave.” She said quietly. i bowed and went back into the kitchen. 

I peered out of the window as I fixed her a glass , and my eyes fell on a familiar figure, coming back in through the front gate. Even from this distance there was no mistaking the long legs and messy blonde hair. 

I bit my lips, mind racing.

 Mrs Kim and her son had a volatile relationship, to say the least. 

And something told me that Mr. Kim was probably not in the right frame of mind to argue with his mother, now. The man was upset but apparently, neither his mother nor his ex fiancée understood that. instead of giving him space they were hounding him. 

I hesitated for a second  before making a quick decision. 

I grabbed the tray with her lemonade and moved to her quickly.

“Thank you.” She said sharply. “ Turn on the Air Conditioner for me, will you?” 

I fumbled with the remote, grabbing his phone from the table , turning it on before moving to the front door and rushing out. 

I almost ran into him as he came out of the elevator , and i jerked back stumbling a bit to stop myself from crashing into his chest. He let out a , ‘ Whoa, “  his hands reaching out to grip my elbows. 

“Careful. What’s wrong?” He asked gently and I swallowed.

“Your mother’s here.” I said quickly, “ Sir.” 

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned. I swallowed.

“You can leave.” I blurted out. “It’s Tuesday. She has her charity work meeting at ten. Its almost nine. She won’t stay long....” 

His eyes met mine, lips parting in surprise. 

“I really can’t meet her now.” He said apologetically.

I nodded.

“Of course, I understand , sir. Just be back in an hour , she’ll be go-”

The elevator buzzed , the doors nearly closing over my shoulders and I flinched. He swore and stuck his arm out to keep it open. 

I stared at him before holding his phone out.

“Here you go sir. “ 

He chuckled taking it from me and shaking his head.

“i feel like a kid, sneaking away from my mom.” His eyes reached mine, twinkling, “ Who would’ve thought the quiet, timid Yang Mi would be my partner in crime. “ 

I didn’t reply, just smiled. 

And then he hesitated. “ Is Junsu awake?”

I blinked.

“Uh...yes sir,...he’s playing in the park downstairs with the other kids.”

“Great... Would you mind if i take him out for ice cream?”

I stared at him. 

“Oh..uh...of course not. Sure.. I mean.. he’ll love that... Sir. Thank you.. You don’t have to -”

“Consider it thank you for helping me with my mother.” He smiled again and i found myself staring at his dimples again. i swallowed. 

“in that case, he loves butter scotch.” I smiled. 

The dimples appeared and i bit my lips. 

“Thank you Yang Mi.” He said slowly. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note : Finally a hyungline fic !!! ugh... I’ve been wanting to write a Namjoon fic for ages and I really hope you guys will like this one :’( Feedback is much appreciated. 

#namjoon smut #namjoon au #namjoon hot #namjoon fics #namjoon x reader #namjoon fic #bts smut #bts fanfics #bts au #bts fics #houseofddaeng

[ichika27]

Saiyuki Reload -Zeroin- 08

The episode this time isn’t as intense as last week’s but I can already tell the one after this won’t be pleasant.

I’m actually kind of nervous about the next episode.

A lot of stuff happened this time, by the way. With Sanzo travelling away from his companions, we follow two different POVs which mean jumping from scene to scene with things happening on both sides.

Goku is finally awake. He could remember bits and pieces of being killed last time and his body is also pretty weak at the moment. Hakkai comes in to help Goku back up after he fell and was told that he'd been unconscious for three days.

He noticed Sanzo wasn't around and was told what happened (Gojyo is still mad about it) and that at the moment, Sanzo is probably with Hazel.

Goku got up wanting to go and find Sanzo. Hakkai tried to stop him but was pushed away and this reveals his terrible condition. Goku gets a bit of flashback of the fight and realized what had happened. He feels guilty and blames himself for Hakkai getting injured and Sanzo disappearing but Hakkai tells him not to think this way.

Meanwhile, Sanzo is off to somewhere and is quite in a hurry. Hazel and Gato are following him and it seems even they don't know what's going on. Hazel is just happy Sanzo is on their side and makes a comment about how the Seiten Taise is just as bad as what he's heard.

Sanzo asks where Hazel has heard of the Seiten Taisei and why he and Gato went back to the west. Sanzo realized there maybe a connection to the attack.

Instead of answering, Hazel makes a joke about how Sanzo wants to know more about him but says they have a lot of time for that if they travel together. Sanzo calls him annoying and says they should hurry back to the settlement before it gets dark.

Haha while this is cute with Hazel acting like this, I still wonder how much of this is an act and how much of this is just him not wanting to answer questions seriously.

The other three are also travelling. Hakkai had to tell them an unfortunate news: they're broke. Sanzo has the credit card they were using for the whole trip after all. They only have a bit more money for some food then after that, they'd have to find work. While Gojyo and Goku are not to happy with the plan, they agree to doing so anyways since Hakkai guilt tripped them lol.

Goku wonders if Sanzo is okay and is eating well wherever he is...

He is! He's with Hazel who has a good reputation and a lot of connections now so they won't go hungry. While their food is delicious, Sanzo thinks to himself that he'd rather have some chazuke instead.

We cut back to the other guys and they're not doing too well. Another three days have passed and they did some part time work but sadly, their money didn't last too long. They go unconscious in the desert from hunger... and wakes up in a village with demon inhabitants.

When they woke up, they meet this girl and her brother and find out that if they weren't demons, the girl say they would've been eaten. The girl tells them that the place they're in is a demon village and the brother tells them that humans are food there so right now there's none.

They explain that the human city is over the hill that acts as their fortress. The humans are keeping an oasis for themselves and defending it from demons.

Coincidentally, the human city is exactly where Sanzo and the others are currently. The human side's military have heard of both Sanzo and Hazel and are asking for their help. Sanzo, of course, says they're just passing by and he also noticed the huge amount of weaponry the people there has.

The guys back at the demon side are working and selling fruits at the market. The girl comments that they're actually pretty useful and they need to work to eat. Her attitude reminded the guys of Sanzo and they decide to just continue rather than think about it.

That night, they got to eat delicious food (which wasn't human, thankfully). They talk about how humans and demons aren't that different and says they do think so since Kougaiji doesn't look that different.

The girl overhears it and says that demons in the village think of Lord Kougaiji as their idol - kind, cool, and gentlemanly.

lol a Kougaiji fangirl, I see. Is this the only other time he’d show up this season?

Goku’s “real demon” comment surprised the girl and her brother. They explain to the boys that the demons in the village were already "reborn" - demons who succumbed to the minus wave, went crazy, but got their consciousness back but they think like the old demons now who see humans as food. The two say it'd be nice if the trio were reborn as well and this made Goku think of his other self.

Back in the human city, Sanzo continues asking Hazel about information. It's why Sanzo is with them in the first place but Hazel says he doesn't know where that person is at the moment but he think he's just around somewhere in Shangri-la. Sanzo wanted to leave to continue his search but Hazel suggest he stays with them since the guy Sanzo is looking for seems to know where Hazel is.

If Ukoku looks for Hazel then Sanzo will find Ukoku if they’re together.

The trio back at the demon village seem to be fitting in nicely. Goku thinks of how peaceful their days here have been compared to back then but it's cause they're not the "Sanzo Party" right now.

The girl appears to give them water and tells them that back then, they could still get water from the oasis but after the minus wave hit, the humans who arrived have completely shut them out. Now, the demons get their water transported from far away.

Back at the human city, Sanzo and the others are being told of what seems to be a lie: the humans are protecting the oasis from the demons who are planning to attack and take it away and are now asking for Sanzo and Hazel's help in finally exterminating the demons. Sanzo thinks something really fishy is going on.

An unfortunate event has happened on the demon side: the river has run dry and they no longer have a water source. The demons are angry as it wouldn't have been a problem if they still had the oasis. They decide that they should attack the humans and take back the oasis.

Goku and the others stop and reason with them instead - they have a car and could help the villagers get more water. While the villagers are happy to get their help, they knew the guys are just travelling and won't be there forever and so they'd need a more permanent solution. A fight could still happen in the future.

--

The guys really don’t function well when even one of them is missing. Hakkai points out they wouldn’t know what to do now without their leader. Gojyo is still mad about Sanzo leaving them when Goku nearly died and even now going off on his own. Goku on the other hand is pretty worried about Sanzo and is feeling bad about what had happened for things to be this way. Hakkai is trying to hold them all together.

Sanzo on the other hand is still mad about what happened to Goku and is still thinking about confronting whoever hurt the boy. He could tell Hazel knows something important and it’s why he’s with the other two instead of with his own group. Hazel is just happy about this cause he’s got a chance now to get Sanzo to join him on his quest. Sadly, Sanzo wouldn’t ever join him - Hazel doesn’t know Sanzo’s backstory and reason for going west. Sanzo has a reason: both work-related and a personal one. He’s just sidetracked right now as he wants revenge.

Also, the two talk about the person who gave Hazel info and yet neither one mention any name. Still, it seems they know they’re on the same page and is thinking about the same guy. Hazel even described what kind of person Ukoku is and while Sanzo’s reaction to this wasn’t shown, he probably recognized who it was about since he’s still with Hazel.

Goku remembers some stuff that happened while he was in Seiten Taisei mode which is nice, I guess? I wonder if there’s a way or a time in the future when Goku won’t need the limiter. Seiten Taisei is his real self, right? I mean I doubt he was “born” with the limiter on. Once that happens, maybe he’d remember his past and he’d have control of his real powers.

Demons eating humans... creepy. Makes sense as it seems that was how they were back in the day but now they’re just reverted back to that by the minus wave. They seem to be living happily and peacefully in the demon village but somehow it’s sad that if all demons were like that, there would be a need to separate demons and humans permanently.

Okay, I have not watched Reload/Reaload Gunlock seasons of Saiyuki (AXN didn’t air them after Gensoumaden and we didn’t have Animax when it was airing there) but I’ve heard of some stuff about those seasons. I’m guessing the girl is that girl since her hair is in pigtails. I don’t know how to feel about this lol.

Anyways, I have a really bad feeling about what would happen next episode. The demon village’s water source running out at the same time Sanzo and Hazel are in the human city being asked for help? I bet it’s no coincidence. The humans want a reason to attack the demons. Hazel still being kinda racist would likely believe the humans but Sanzo is already questioning things. He can be a jerk but Sanzo would try and see both sides and would see something wrong.

I’m already annoyed at hearing what the human side is telling Sanzo and Hazel and I bet I’d be pretty mad once I see them actually enact their plan. Demons who eat humans maybe creepy but it feels like compared to that which is their nature, the humans are just being greedy and choose to be. It’s hard to side with them like this. Although I wonder how many of the humans living there know of what’s really going on.

Next week’s episode is gonna be something. Also, the group might end up meeting each other on the battlefield so maybe they could fix things? As much as they possibly could since they can’t exactly make the two sides coexist peacefully anymore with the demons wanting to eat humans now and all.

I’m still excited so until next week again!

#saiyuki reload zeroin #saiyuki #sana_post

[honeyapplepi]

The Knight’s Court: Part Two

warnings: none

royalty au, in game au

> As soon to be ruler of their kingdom, Y/N L/N is newly appointed with knights to protect them. Y/N quickly comes to find out it’s hard to fall in love with someone you’re not supposed to especially when you’re betrothed to another.

sapnap x gn!reader, wilbur x gn!reader (later on)

masterlist | part one | part three

You made your way to Niki’s bakery. You had a basket filled with meats, cheeses, and other things to put on your sandwiches. You also brought bottles of orange juice and water. Niki was bringing the bread and desert along with a chess board and pieces.

Niki’s bakery was on the way to where you planned to picnic, so you two were going to walk together instead of meeting each other their. It was a pretty short walk the biggest distance being between the castle and the town. Niki’s bakery was small, but it didn’t need to be big with the population of the kingdom being so small.

Niki looked up from the display case when you opened the door. She smiled and grabbed her small wooden basket. “Ready?,” she asked you. You responded with a nod and linked your arm with hers as the two of you left the bakery. The two of you had small talk as you walked into the mushroom forrest nearby.

The two of you walked in comfortable silence until you reached a small pond beside a red mushroom. You pulled a blanket out of your basket and set in down on the grass. Niki and you then spent the next few minutes setting everything up.

“Do you want to go first or should I?,” you asked before taking a bite of your sandwich.

“I’ll go first,” Niki said before moving one of her pawns on the chessboard. You took a sip of your drink before moving one of your pawns.

“Yesterday, during dinner my father told me he hired knights to protect me,” you said as Niki made her next move.

“Why?,” Niki asked taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Apparently, there are rumors that L’Manberg wants to conquer us, and my father is afraid they’ll try something,” you answered her.

“They’re just rumors though, and my father doesn’t even know if they’re true, but he wants me to be safe,” you continued. Niki and you continued your game while eating.

“What if they’re cute?,” Niki asked.

“George said the same thing. I don’t know anything about them though, so they might be ,” you said smiling at Niki’s question.

“What time are you meeting them?,” Niki asked the two of you continue to eat and play the chess game.

“Not sure exactly. My father says they’ll be here this afternoon around 7, but they might be late or early. Traveling being so unpredictable,” you said moving another one of your peices.

“What if you’re late? You know how long our chess games take especially when we plan on playing multiple,” Niki said finishing off her drink.

“That’s why i’m hoping they’re late, but if they’re not George will stall for me,” you said. The game was starting to get harder so you had to put more focus into each piece you planned on moving.

“Are you sure that’ll work? George is horrible at stalling,” Niki said moving her next piece.

“Well I don’t think we’ll spend too much time here especially considering I just put you in check,” you said. Niki looked down at the board and frowned.

“How did you do that?,” she asked. You laughed quietly before going on to explain each move you made.

After explaining everything to Niki, you looked up to the sun checking it’s position in the sky. “one more game?,” you asked. Niki agreed and the two of you began a new game. It didn’t take long for you to win that game too. It wasn’t that Niki was bad you had just been playing for longer than she had.

“I should go. If I stay any longer George might actually have to stall for me,” you said to Niki starting to clean up the mess left from the picnic.

“Here take my basket, and i’ll take yours. That way you have an excuse to come by my bakery tomorrow with your possibly cute new guards,” Niki said once the two of you were done cleaning up.

“What if they’re both old forty year old men?,” you smiled taking Niki’s basket instead of your own.

“Then we will feel really stupid for having high expectations,” Niki said taking your basket.

“Not me, my expectations are on the ground,” you said starting to walk away with Niki.

By the time you got back to Niki’s bakery, you could tell you would just make it in time. “Looks like you’ll be on time, though I don’t know how your father will feel with you meeting new people in a crinkled attire,” Niki joked. You looked down at your clothes and realized you weren’t exactly royally presentable.

“It’ll be fine. Bye, Niki, I’ll see you tomorrow with my not cute guards,” you said beginning to walk away.

“Bye, Y/N,” she said waving at you as you left.

As you made your way into the castle grounds, you silently hoped your new guards were late and not coming from the same direction as you. You reached the fron door to see your father, his butler, and George standing on the steps. You smiled at them and went to stand between your father and George.

“You’re lucky your new guards aren’t punctual,” your father said to you keeping his poster proper even though you couldn’t see anyone in the distance.

“I was busy beating Niki at chess, which I’d say is a pretty good excuse,” you told your father.

“I’m so glad you made it in time. I almost had to make small talk with your father about my daily chores,” George whispered to you which made you laugh quietly.

Soon you saw two men on horses riding towards the castle. You couldn’t catch too many details about their face, even vague ones, but you could tell they were tired and most likely hungry. Once they were closer, and you could actually see them, you realized they were around your age and not what you expected at all. One of them was tall and had blond-ish hair while the other was a little shorter and was brunette.

“Thirty year old men, huh?,” George said to you quietly.

“Shut up,” you said to him.

You looked forward again watching the two boys get of their horse and greet your father. You watched as the two bowed to your father.

“Hello, I hope you traveled safely. I’m sure you’re hungry, so dinner should be ready soon,” your father said to the two boys. The brunette was about to respond, but the blonde interrupted him before he could speak.

“We traveled fine, and thank you so much for dinner we haven’t eaten since we left our village,” the blonde said.

“Okay, well my butler here will lead you to your rooms, and once you’ve gotten ready come down to the dining room,” your father told them. They were about to go off with the butler before your father spoke again.

“I’m sorry I forgot to ask. What are your names,” your father asked.

“Sapnap, sir,” the brunette answered him.

“Dream,” the blonde said.

The two then went off to find their rooms. Your father then began to go get ready for dinner leaving you and George behind. You two soon went inside George going to his room and you going to get ready for dinner.

#sapnap #sapnap x reader #sapnap x y/n #dreamwastaken #dream #wilbur soot #wilbur soot x reader #wilbur x reader #nihachu #sleepy bois #royal au #georgenotfound x reader #georgenotfound #dream smp x reader #dream smp #mcyt x reader #mcyt

[asweetprologue]

me lámh le do lámh - Part VIII

First | Previous | Next | Masterpost

They left the next day just after the sunrise broke watery through the clouds still lingering overhead, not wanting to overstay their welcome. The walk back to the nearby village was an easy one, the air still cool from the recent rain. The innkeeper hadn’t given their pre-paid room away to other guests despite the fact that they hadn’t used it for anything more than storage, which was a surprise. It was noon by the time they made it back, and they were easily able to secure the room for another evening so early in the day. Jaskier agreed to play at dinner, so they even managed to get a slightly reduced rate.

When they made it up to the room, Jaskier flopped immediately down on the bed, throwing an arm over his face. “Melitele, I could sleep for a week,” he groaned, slightly muffled. “I haven’t been this sore in years.”

“Good for you to finally get some exercise,” Geralt smirked as he checked on their belongings. Everything was where they’d left it, luckily. Geralt let out a breath of relief to see his potions all secure in their bag, the oathstone nestled amongst them.

Jaskier lifted his arm enough to glare at him. “As if walking day in and day out at your side isn’t work enough.”

“You’ve ridden Roach more than I have over the last week,” Geralt pointed out.

Jaskier put his arm down, head tilted to the side to look in Geralt’s direction. His hair spilled messily across the pale sheets. “I suppose I have,” he said, a small furrow appearing in his brow. The easy energy he’d had since they’d woken this morning was gone; now he seemed tense. His eyes lost their focus, his mind clearly going elsewhere.

Geralt didn’t know what to make of it. Clearing his throat, he said, “I’m going to go and see if they have any contracts for me. We won’t be stopping much over the next few weeks.”

At this Jaskier refocused, curious. “Where are we going next? We have all the pieces for the ritual, right?”

Geralt nodded. “The last piece is a location. We’re going back to Posada.”

*

The journey from the Brokilon to the Blue Mountains was one of weeks, rather than days. At this time of year the River Sodden and her many roads were wide open, and they were able to easily pass south under the Mohakams. This far south, spring was already giving way to summer, the warm vestiges of the Nilfgaardian desert winds finding their way to the pockets and hills of Angren and Rivia.

It should have been a pleasant journey. It was one they’d taken many times before, once Nilfgaard was no longer an issue, and they were both well familiar with the area. They kept the river to their south and traveled during the cooler parts of the day, stopping often. The wide river offered a constant source of beauty and convenience, and they were able to wash and fish regularly. Rivia, though not Geralt’s home by any stretch of the imagination, was friendly and offered plenty of places for them to stop and rest at the halfway point.

It should have been downright delightful, but instead it was… tense. Jaskier was quiet and contemplative much of the time, reserved in a way Geralt had rarely known him to be. He barely touched his lute, to the point where Geralt asked after it, only receiving a vague and unconvincing answer about saving the strings from the humidity. He spent the evening hours scribbling away in his journal, or simply lying and staring up at the stars. Sometimes, disconcertingly, he watched Geralt, especially when he seemed to think Geralt wasn’t paying attention. The furrow between his brow had grown to be near constant, and his shoulders had lost their easy swoop. When they spoke, something about Jaskier’s words felt needling, as if he was testing the waters for something. What, Geralt couldn’t even begin to guess.

He wanted to ask about it, but he found himself unable to find the words to do so. Jaskier didn’t seem mad at him—he knew what that looked like well enough, and this wasn’t it. He wanted to ask, but if he did it seemed possible, probably even likely, that Jaskier would admit that he’d figured out that Geralt was hiding something from him. He might even have realized the extent of Geralt’s feelings, or what the ritual really meant. Maybe Silvandrel had said too much, or Geralt had been too expressive, or too generous. Whatever it was, Jaskier was smart, maybe the smartest man Geralt had ever known; it wouldn’t take much for him to put two and two together. As he found Jaskier’s eyes lingering on him more and more frequently, it seemed also more and more likely that Jaskier was just trying to find a way to let him down easily.

Still, it wasn’t unbearable. Traveling with Jaskier in a mood was still better than traveling alone, and as always Geralt relished the chance to spend such uninterrupted time together. It was the best in the evenings, when their camp was already set up and the heat of the day had dispersed, and they had nothing better to do than sit and talk before both of them grew too tired to stay awake.

“What’s it like?” Jaskier asked one evening, lying on his bedroll with his ankle propped up on one raised knee. His lute was in his hands, a rare thing nowadays, but he wasn’t really playing it, just plucking a tune here or there. Testing the waters, it seemed.

Geralt was sitting with his back propped against a ragged tree stump, charred at the top where lightning had once struck. He looked up from where he was examining Roach’s tack, taking too long to reply as he was caught up in the image of Jaskier in the firelight. “What?”

Jaskier swiveled his head to look over at him, looking uncharacteristically pensive. “Being immortal. Or—not mortal. What do you even call a witcher, anyways. Semi-mortal? How long do you usually live? I’ve never gotten a straight answer about it.”

Geralt shrugged, the bridle dangling between his knees as he set his elbows to rest on them. “No one really knows,” he admitted. “Vesemir is… three hundred? We’re not sure, that’s based on references he makes, but Lambert swears sometimes he says things just to throw us off. Witchers don’t really… die of old age.”

“Surely some of you must retire,” Jaskier insisted. “Maybe not lately, but in years past…”

Geralt shook his head. “If they did, I haven’t heard of them. The Path is our life; we meet our end while on it. I know we can live for several human lifetimes, at least. I was older than you are now when we met.”

Jaskier’s mouth twisted in a smile that ached with bitter nostalgia. “I must have looked like a child to you.”

“You were a child,” Geralt laughed.

Jaskier threw something at him, and it bounced harmlessly off his knee. An acorn; the entire area was thick with oak trees. Clearing the ground beneath their bedrolls had been a pain. “Ass,” Jaskier chidded, but he was chuckling too. “I suppose we must all seem rather young to people like you though. Yennefer is the worst, she shouldn’t be allowed to poke fun at my very dignified salt and pepper and then turn around and call me an infant the next moment.”

Young man, Silvandrel had said, with that odd patronization that came only to those who would outlive most people they met. “It’s… not exactly like that,” Geralt allowed, studying Jaskier’s profile painted in orange and gold and dark dusky blue shadows. “Age isn’t the same as experience. There are eighty year olds who have done less in their lives than you had at twenty-three.” Jaskier looked over at him again, with a distinct expression of surprise and awe that Geralt was beginning to recognize as his reaction to Geralt giving him a compliment. He pushed on, turning his own gaze back to the tack in his hands. “I just mean, you don’t seem young, or inexperienced—at least not anymore,” he added, unable to resist throwing Jaskier a quick smirk.

“So Yennefer just calls me a toddler for her own enjoyment,” Jaskier said, squinting at him.

“Well, yes,” Geralt snorted. “But, it’s—you’ll understand. After. It’s not that you all seem young, necessarily, it’s just that you all seem sort of… I don’t know.” He shrugged. It was difficult to articulate the strange sense of fragility and youth that he associated with all humans, no matter their age.

“Temporary?” Jaskier offered, and Geralt grunted an affirmation. Of course Jaskier would be able to identify the feeling without ever experiencing it himself. Jaskier hummed in acknowledgement, and was quiet for a few moments, as if mulling that over. His fingers played over his lute strings, picking out a melancholy tune. After a while, he said, “It sounds a bit lonely. Knowing that almost everyone you meet will die a hundred years before you do. That they’ll never understand the way you view the world.” His eyebrows were knotted together as he contemplated the night sky.

Geralt bit his lip. “It… can be. Even amongst ourselves, we never know who’ll make it back after a year on the Path.”

Jaskier’s foot tapped the empty air where it hung over his knee. “Everyone I know, went to school with, taught with in Oxenfurt. They’ll all be gone before I will, if this works.”

Geralt felt dread unfurl within him, but this wasn’t something that he could deny Jaskier. This was the reality of Geralt’s offer, of what he was asking Jaskier to do. “Yes,” he said. But you’ll have me, he didn’t say, even though it burned at the tip of his tongue. You’ll have my brothers, and Ciri, and even Yennefer, and you’ll have me, always. That’s the point.

Jaskier looked over at him, eyes bright. He looked like he could hear Geralt’s thoughts, like maybe he was thinking the same thing. And then he grinned brightly and said, “I’ll outlast Valdo Marx by a century.”

Geralt couldn’t help the startled bark of laughter that left his throat. Jaskier launched into an excited diatribe against Valdo Marx, something about destroying his legacy after death, and Geralt allowed the babble to wash over him as he went back to fixing Roach’s tack.

After a while the conversation turned to other things, and they spent the rest of the evening in relative quiet. Eventually it was time to bed down for the night, and they banked the fire and crawled into their respective bedrolls. Just as Geralt was on the edge of sleep, Jaskier’s voice slipped through the quiet darkness around them.

“I don’t think I’m going to be.”

Geralt shook himself, turning to squint at Jaskier’s grey form, two aching feet away from him. His entire body itched to roll closer, but he focused instead on Jaskier’s words. “Hmm? You won’t be what?”

Jaskier let out a deep breath into the night air, soft like a secret. “Lonely.”

*

Posada was much the same.

Geralt didn’t know how long it had been since he’d been back. He knew he had been here post-Filavandrel incident, and he suspected Jaskier had as well, but they’d not returned together to the little valley at the edge of the world since the beginning. It had to have been at least ten years since he’d last been here on his own, but the small town was relatively familiar looking still. It had grown a bit since the war, likely as refugees from the south settled in the area, and there were new houses clustered around the outskirts. Still, the bones of it remained unchanged, and the inn was right where they’d left it.

They said nothing as they made their way into the town and headed in that direction. There was, so far as Geralt knew, no other place to find rooms for the night, so they didn’t have much of a choice. Stepping inside the small downstairs tavern should have been just like stepping into any other of the thousands like it that he’d been in, but it wasn’t. Things had been rearranged, of course; the furniture had been shuffled, and now a long table sat on the far side of the room before the fire. The small, cleared out space that Jaskier had stood in to sing was gone, filled with a cluster of tables and chairs. But the lone table in the back corner was, somehow, unmoved.

Geralt turned to Jaskier and found him staring at the spot as if entranced. He brushed his fingers against Jaskier’s forearm, and the bard blinked at him, startled back into the moment. “We should get a room,” Geralt said by way of explanation, and Jaskier nodded.

The man who arranged for their stay was not the one who had done so the first time, or the time after that, but his features were similar, so perhaps this was a son. He was amiable enough, and though Jaskier didn’t make any commitment to playing he offered them a fair rate.

Jaskier did end up playing, after they’d sat and eaten a quiet meal, avoiding the table in the corner in silent agreement. His fingers had worried at the edge of his lute case for a long moment, his eyes unfocused, and then something determined had steeled over his face and he’d stood.

There was a decent crowd this time around, bigger than the last time—the first time—that Jaskier had played here. Geralt remembered the stumbling notes, the ridiculous stories that spilled from the bard’s lips, unrefined. The way that the patrons of the bar had heckled him until he dipped sheepishly off the stage. He could understand why Jaskier might be nervous about playing here; even if no one remembered him, this had obviously been one of Jaskier’s first real performances for an honest audience.

It was like night and day. Jaskier had the entire room eating out of the palm of his hand in moments, as he always did, and his voice was clear and strong. Geralt recognized most of the songs, and almost all of them were about him, though he didn’t think any of the patrons put two and two together. Whereas Jaskier normally poked and prodded at Geralt throughout a performance to let everyone know that his muse was present, tonight he was subdued, letting Geralt watch quietly from a side table without dragging him into the proceedings. He might have thought that Jaskier had forgotten his presence entirely, if not for the occasional glance he caught Jaskier throwing his way, stealing his breath each time.

When he was finally done with his set and bowed his way out to the cheers of the audience, he made his way back to Geralt with his lute tucked under his arm. Jaskier leaned against the table in the space next to him, their knees just barely touching where Geralt’s was thrust out away from the chair. Jaskier looked down at him with almost a sheepish expression, giving him a quirked smile. “So. Three words or less?”

There were so many things he could say to that. So many things he wanted to say. You’re so beautiful, he thought, his eyes catching on the way Jaskier’s fingers wrapped around the neck of the lute, how his eyes shone in the low light of the inn. I loved it. Don’t leave me. I love you.

Instead, he said, a bit hoarsely, “Definitely more accurate.”

Jaskier laughed, some of that tension he’d been carrying for weeks breaking, and Geralt felt sweet relief at the sound. “Well I’d certainly hope so, after nearly thirty years of tailing you. At the very least I know my drowners from my nekkers.”

“At least there’s that,” Geralt chuckled, passing Jaskier a tankard of ale as he sat. “Glad to see you got something out of it.”

Jaskier took a sip of his drink, leaning his cheek on his fist. His eyes were bright when he looked at Geralt, and his expression was one Geralt recognized—he was bothered about something, but trying to keep his demeanor jovial. On anyone else, Geralt expected it would be an immaculate deception, but Geralt knew him. He wasn’t fooled by Jaskier’s court masks.

“Was it worth it?” Jaskier asked, taking another sip of his ale. His eyes left Geralt’s, flitting around the room.

Geralt frowned at him. “Was what worth it?”

Jaskier looked back at him, expression unreadable. “Letting an ambitious and no doubt obnoxious bard leave this tavern with you all those years ago.”

Geralt couldn’t help it; before he could think to stop himself, he had reached out to set his hand over Jaskier’s where it still held the handle of his cup. Jaskier jerked a bit at the touch, a drop of ale sliding down over their layered hands. “Of course it was,” Geralt said vehemently, not bothering to keep the earnestness out of his tone. Jaskier had to know. Even if he already suspected that something was afoot, even if this was some sort of test, Geralt couldn’t risk letting Jaskier think that he regretted a single moment of it. “You’re… Jask, you’re one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Geralt could hear the sharp intake of breath at that, could see the way Jaskier looked down at their overlapped fingers and blinked rapidly. A small smile stole across his face, though there was a twist to it that seemed almost sad. “I’m glad, Geralt. Truly.”

Geralt wanted to ask, And for you? Was it worth it? But the tavern goers were quickly heading out now that Jaskier’s set was finished, and it was obvious that they would soon be the last ones remaining. And he found himself afraid, as he so often was nowadays, of the possibility that Jaskier would say no, that he should have spent the last thirty years playing in noble houses and courting beautiful women, rather than trekking endlessly after a surly witcher. He knew that it would make sense for Jaskier to have regrets, but he found that he didn’t think he was strong enough to hear them spoken aloud.

So instead he transferred his touch to Jaskier’s wrist, giving it a light tug. “We should head up,” he said, and Jaskier nodded. They pulled apart, and Jaskier finished his drink, and collected his lute. As they both turned to walk up the stairs, Geralt found his eyes catching once again on the little table in the corner. It had sat empty the entire night, as if waiting for something—or someone—to fill its seats once again.

~

Almost done folks! Just two more parts, and tomorrow’s includes the last piece of art for this story! 

tags: @whereismymonsterlover 

#geraskier #geralt x jaskier #geraltxjaskier #geralt/jaskier #the witcher #witcher #big bang #fic #fanfic #writing #my work #me lamh #geraskierbigbang #multichapter

[gusu-emilu]

raven sun: Ch 1/3, 4.6k

for @mdzsbingo prompts “rarepair, mission, hostile, paranoia”

Ship: Jiang Cheng / Wen Ning

Summary: Wen Ning becomes possessed by a vengeful spirit. Unfortunately, Jiang Cheng is the closest target.

Rated M, contains nonsexual but dubconny dom/sub elements in later chapters

Post-Canon

Angst and Eventual Hurt/Comfort

Antagonistic Uncles to Less Antagonistic Uncles

Dom Wen Ning

for those who saw the golden core reveal and said “needs more degradation”

Swordplay with Suibian (and all its implications)

Jiang Cheng’s plans for this night hunt did not include this much physical contact with the Ghost General.

His plans hadn't involved any physical contact with the Ghost General. Nor did they involve his right leg being immobilized by a blast of resentful energy from a tiny figurine, or limping out of a crumbling farmhouse with Wen Ning supporting him, arm around his waist. But most things don’t go the way Jiang Cheng wants them to.

As he and Wen Ning hobble out of the farmhouse, each step sending a jolt of pain up Jiang Cheng’s leg, the figurine releases a fiercer storm of resentful energy. As if angered by their attempt to escape, it kicks up dust and shards of wood that fly around them as the house collapses.

A beam crashes to the floor.

Wen Ning grabs Jiang Cheng by the shoulders and leaps forward. His jump is so powerful that it propels them through the doorway and into the forest a few dozen paces away. Jiang Cheng lands on his stomach, the wind knocked out of him, Wen Ning on top of him. They slide across the forest floor, turning up earth, until they crash sideways into a tree trunk.

Ears ringing, Jiang Cheng draws on his spiritual energy to restore his breath. He tries to stand, impatient to check how the juniors fared the attack, but he can only push up against Wen Ning without going anywhere.

Wen Ning seems to be shielding him with his body, a gesture which is thoroughly insulting.

“Get off me!” Jiang Cheng growls.

He lets his anger grow, feeds on the frustration of being trapped. He ignores the disturbing sliver of comfort that the weight of Wen Ning's body brings.

“Get off!”

The weight lifts.

Jiang Cheng sits up. “Where’s Jin Ling?”

“I’m not sure. Jin-zongzhu and the others escaped the house before us.”

“At least they got out,” Jiang Cheng says tersely.

At least one part of this night hunt is going according to plan: Jin Ling is safe.

And, he must admit, he’s been almost as concerned with keeping the other juniors safe, too. He’d taken the blow of resentful energy for Lan Sizhui, managed to shield him just in time. He’d be injured for nothing if the Lan boy doesn’t make it out of the night hunt alive.

He would’ve thought that perfect Hanguang-Jun’s perfect little child—the “most promising disciple of his generation”—would’ve been able to hold his own on a night hunt. But if Jiang Cheng must run around saving the boy…fine. He’ll do just that.

Jiang Cheng’s right leg is still locked, completely immobile. He makes it to his feet with difficulty, but quickly enough that Wen Ning doesn’t have the chance to help him. Thankfully. A few more overly attentive, patronizing gestures from the Ghost General, and Jiang Cheng might let Zidian demonstrate why Wen Ning ought to keep an appropriate distance.

Calling for his nephew, Jiang Cheng starts to make his way back toward the farmhouse, which is likely little more than ruins by now. He wonders if he’ll ever make it there to find out. He can barely manage to limp, dragging his leg behind him.

“Jiang-zongzhu, let me help—”

“Forget it. Just go ahead of me. See how the juniors are doing.”

Wen Ning just stares at him. When he isn’t ducking his head and looking at his feet, his black eyes have a soul-searching steadiness that is both chilling and disarmingly gentle. It makes Jiang Cheng want to crawl inside of himself.

“…Thank you,” Wen Ning says. “For…A-Yuan—”

“I didn’t do anything for ‘A-Yuan,’” Jiang Cheng snaps, refusing to look at Wen Ning any longer.

Wen Ning remains in place for a few moments. Then he turns and runs away, chains clinking behind him.

Last month, Jiang Cheng had to help him put those chains back on after they got knocked out of place by a demonic boar. A lovely experience for everyone.

By now, Jiang Cheng has figured out that Wen Ning keeps those chains on not just to use a weapon, but also as some strange form of comfort. Jiang Cheng doesn’t understand it. But for some reason, he just knows it’s true.

After so many night hunts, he’s developed a disturbing level of familiarity with Wen Ning’s habits and expressions. It crept up on him slowly, a few threads woven in at a time. Yet another thing that was not part of his plans.

Unfortunately, spending time in each other’s company seems unavoidable. They are both committed to protecting their nephews. If A-Ling must be friends with the Ghost General’s only living relative, Jiang Cheng will just have to grit his teeth and endure it.

At least it’s somewhat useful to know how Wen Ning fights, as it allows them to coordinate their protection of the juniors more easily. But it’s still unnerving to know the finer details, like the exact way Wen Ning likes his chains arranged, as if Jiang Cheng ever wanted to have so much knowledge about the man.

He doesn’t even care about Wen Ning.

And if he owes a debt to Wen Ning—owes a debt to protect what remains of Wen Ning’s family, too—that doesn’t affect his feelings at all.

Doesn’t even enter his thoughts…

* *  *

As willing as Wen Ning usually is to defer to others’ judgment, admitting when Jiang Wanyin is right pricks a nerve. Still, they do need to look after the juniors first, and Wen Ning can do that fastest on his own.

Wen Ning also feels a bit guilty leaving Jiang Wanyin behind while he’s wounded—especially when he’d taken that injury for A-Yuan. But there will be time to heal him later.

Maybe it's because he doesn’t have Jiejie anymore, maybe it's because he has A-Yuan to look after, but Wen Ning has become preoccupied with caretaking. Perhaps it’s for good reason. He has the ability to protect others, and he knows the lost medical techniques of the Dafan Wen. What better use for his unnatural existence than to help others? What better way to atone for the past?

He arrives back at the wreckage of the farmhouse, but it’s deserted. He returns to the forest to continue searching for the juniors.

“Wen-qianbei!” he hears from bushes in the forest near the wreckage.

“A-Yuan?”

The juniors nearly leap out of the forest.

“Wen-qianbei!” Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi excitedly call at the same time. They shoot somewhat surprised glares at each other, then hurry over along with A-Yuan and Ouyang Zizhen.

“We’ve been looking for you!” Lan Jingyi says.

“Yeah, we were really worried!” says Ouyang Zizhen.

A-Yuan puts a hand on Wen Ning’s shoulder. Fondness warms him as soon he meets A-Yuan’s gaze.

“Are you alright?” A-Yuan asks.

“Of course,” Wen Ning says, almost wanting to laugh with the relief that washes over him at seeing that everyone seems unharmed. “I’m always alright. I should be asking you.” 

The juniors all seem so happy to see him. Even Jin Ling is smiling. He still isn’t quite used to affection from them, especially not from Jin Ling.

“Is everyone okay? Any injuries?” Wen Ning asks.

He’s met with a cheerful chorus of various variations of “We’re fine.”

Except from Jin Ling, whose smile is fading. “Where’s my jiujiu?”

Wen Ning nods over his shoulder. “Close behind. But he needs help getting here.”

Jin Ling flies off to find him.

After Wen Ning has checked the other three juniors for injuries, they start inspecting the ruins of the farmhouse to search for the figurine. But Wen Ning hangs back, a feeling of dread churning inside his chest, clawing at him.

He’d already felt unusually anxious for this night hunt before embarking on it. Still, he’d been able to face it.

But he hadn’t expected the figurine’s spirit to be this powerful.

The rumors about the figurine had all been similar, and had seemed typical for a mid-level vengeful spirit. Recently, a new footpath was created to connect two villages that lay a two-day traveling distance apart, with the abandoned farmhouse as the midpoint. If a lone traveler spent the night in the farmhouse, nothing happened.

But if a group of travelers slept inside, one of them would become possessed. The possessed traveler would accuse their companions of horrible deeds and attempt to murder them all in the name of retribution.

After some research, it was discovered that the family that used to live in the farmhouse had always gotten into fierce arguments—and one day, they all killed each other inside the house. The sole witness was a small figurine of an immortal. The figurine soaked up all the family’s hatred and bloodlust until it developed its own spirit.

And developed an aptitude for possession.

It’s possible that the figurine had destroyed itself when the house collapsed, but unlikely. The juniors will have to dig it up and figure out how to pacify it.

Wen Ning watches from a distance while the juniors search through the ruins. Anxiety continues to churn inside him. It’s different from the nervous excitement he usually feels about night hunts, having never gone on a proper night hunt before his death. And it’s different from his typical parentlike worry for the juniors.

The juniors should be relatively safe confronting the spirit. They have high cultivation levels for their age, and they underwent spirit-calming rituals as infants. Their risk of possession is low.

But Wen Ning is the perfect conduit for possession. To approach a spirit this strong would be like holding a metal rod in a lightning storm.

The memory of fighting against Baxia’s saber spirit still hangs heavy over him. Almost as heavy as what happened in Qiongqi Path. Despite Wei Wuxian having taught him how to maintain some autonomy while in the clutches of resentful energy and spirits, he still has so little control over himself.

He can’t get near this spirit. He could put everyone at danger if he does.

“They’re back!” Ouyang Zizhen calls. The juniors run over to the edge of the forest.

Jiang Wanyin and Jin Ling emerge from the forest. Jiang Wanyin’s leg doesn’t look any better. He’s still dragging it along behind him, with Jin Ling supporting him the way Wen Ning had a few minutes ago.

“Jiang-zongzhu,” A-Yuan says with a small bow. “Thank you for—”

“What are you talking about? I did nothing. Get back to work,” Jiang Wanyin says before he can finish. “The spirit is in that wreckage somewhere. We should deal with it fast before something else happens.”

A-Yuan glances back at Wen Ning, looking a bit disappointed. Wen Ning just shakes his head.

“That means all of you,” Jiang Wanyin says to Jin Ling when his nephew doesn’t move from his side.

With a mix of concern and displeasure, Jin Ling helps Jiang Wanyin over to a tree he can hold for support, then joins the others. The four juniors make to leave, then stop and look over expectantly at Wen Ning when he doesn’t follow.

Wen Ning should help them search for the figurine. Should help them pacify such a dangerous spirit. But anxiety freezes him in place.

A-Yuan seems to notice his discomfort. He smiles and gives Wen Ning a tiny nod, making gratitude swell inside Wen Ning for how perceptive his nephew is.

A-Yuan steps forward. “Wen-qianbei, Jiang-zongzhu, we can complete the rest of the night hunt. Facing the spirit on our own would be valuable experience.”

“We are an ideal team,” Ouyang Zizhen adds.

“Yeah, we can hold our own!” Lan Jingyi chimes in. “The four of us even escaped the spirit’s attack way faster than you guys.”

Jiang Wanyin frowns. A-Yuan shoots a chastising glance at Jingyi.

“You’re right,” Wen Ning says, feeling a bit more relaxed. “You’re all capable enough to handle this. I’ll stay behind to heal Jiang-zongzhu. The two of us will be close by if you need help.”

The juniors head back toward the wreckage.

Jiang Wanyin side-eyes Wen Ning. “Why so eager to let them run off without you? Is the Ghost General scared of a doll?”

His words wouldn’t bother Wen Ning so much if they weren’t absolutely true. “They’re all capable cultivators, and Jin Ling is a sect leader. They’ll be fine without us. But you need to be healed.”

“Worry about them first. I’ll last until the spirit is dealt with—and that’ll happen a lot faster if you put yourself to work.”

“They’ll be safer if both of us are on our feet and ready to help if they call.”

Jiang Wanyin sighs. “Fine.”

He winces as Wen Ning helps him to the ground, his back propped against the tree. Wen Ning kneels beside his injured leg. He lifts Jiang Wanyin’s violet robes and trousers up to his mid-thigh, revealing a black wound traveling from his ankle up to just below his knee.

“It’s a curse mark,” Wen Ning says in disbelief.

The skin hit by the curse is blackened and swollen, the muscle tissue immobilized. Currents of resentful energy snake along the wound’s surface like a second set of veins outside the skin.

It looks just like the curse mark Wei Wuxian transferred to himself from Jin Ling, but worse. Now both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin have received curse marks to protect a boy that the other cares about.

Wen Ning can’t decide whether he finds that surprising or not. He knows that Jiang Wanyin cares fiercely about his family, but he also knows that he isn’t the best at following through on it. And he definitely didn’t know that Jiang Wanyin might care about any member of the Dafan Wen.

He looks up at Jiang Wanyin. “This curse mark won’t disappear until—"

“I know how curse marks work,” Jiang Wanyin snaps.

Wen Ning takes a deep breath and reminds himself that Jiang Wanyin received this wound while protecting A-Yuan. “The curse won’t disappear until the spirit’s grievances are resolved, but I can apply a charmed tourniquet to keep it from spreading up your leg.

“…Alright.”

Reaching into his qiankun sleeve of medical supplies, Wen Ning pulls out the tourniquet and begins tying it around Jiang Wanyin’s leg, just below his knee.

Jiang Wanyin tenses as he continues tying. He isn’t sure if it’s because Jiang Wanyin is in pain, or if he just feels uncomfortable with Wen Ning touching him. Probably both.

“Don’t you need a windlass to tie a tourniquet?” Jiang Wanyin asks. Remarkably, it sounds like a genuine question, not criticism.

“The purpose of this tourniquet isn’t to stop blood flow, and the charm is very effective, so it doesn’t need to be so tight. It actually needs to be a little loose so your qi can flow to the wound and suppress the curse mark.”

“Hm.”

Wen Ning could explain more. Could explain how the charm was cast, how the material of the tourniquet was chosen, how it’s designed to last for hours. He enjoyed learning details like this from Jiejie when he was young, and now he enjoys teaching them to A-Yuan. He rarely has the opportunity to share his knowledge with anyone else.

But the topic of medical operations hangs between him and Jiang Wanyin with an uncomfortable weight.

He tries to fill the silence anyway. “Even if the tourniquet did need to be tight, my arm strength is probably good enough to tie it without a windlass. Not that…not that that’s good medical practice—it’s really bad medical practice, actually—so I wouldn’t do that anyway—”

Jiang Wanyin scoffs and turns away. “Just hurry up.”

Wen Ning finishes tying the tourniquet. “Done. Wait—”

Jiang Wanyin tries to stand up. Wen Ning presses down on his shoulder to keep him in place, which earns him a perplexed glare.

Wen Ning doesn’t want to return to the wreckage just yet. Not when he doesn’t know what to do about his dangerous susceptibility to possession. And Jiang Wanyin is the last person he wants to explain that to.

Thankfully, he has a good reason to stall: Jiang Wanyin still needs more treatment.

“I have some herbs that might be able to weaken the curse,” Wen Ning suggests.

“Fine. After that, you’re coming with me to go solve whatever that doll’s grievances are.”

Wen Ning pulls out a satchel of herbs that, at one time, would've smelled sweet to him. He begins rubbing them on the curse mark as delicately as his clumsy hands can manage, while Jiang Wanyin quite obviously tries not to flinch from pain.

“You aren’t here to heal me,” Jiang Wanyin says suddenly.

Wen Ning looks up, expecting to see Jiang Wanyin scowling. What he sees instead is a surprisingly calm gaze of careful scrutiny.

“You’re scared of something.” Jiang Wanyin continues. He speaks slowly, like it’s a question he isn’t sure he should ask.

Somehow, over the course of these night hunts, Jiang Wanyin has learned to read him a bit too well.

* * *

“Well?” Jiang Cheng says. “Is there some other factor in this night hunt that I don’t know about?”

Wen Ning looks unnerved by the question, but he just continues applying the herbs, swirling them in small, gentle circles—almost caresses—with his fingers. It creates a steady stream of pain that makes Jiang Cheng grind his teeth, but Wen Ning’s touch is light enough that it doesn’t hurt more than necessary.

That alone is enough to eat at Jiang Cheng. That Wen Ning is this careful not to inflict undue pain on him—that Wen Ning is helping him at all—when the man has no reason to care about him. Has no reason to be gentle with him other than out of condescension.

But Wen Ning has let down the mask before. Let his thoughts flow freely. Although Jiang Cheng hates to admit it, Wen Ning has hurt him before.

Since then, Jiang Cheng has tried to drop the mask a second time, to get Wen Ning to reveal the spite he knows lies beneath it, but he can only catch mere glimpses.

He knows he’s hurt Wen Ning, too. Knows he deserves nothing.

Knows Wen Ning despises him.

It would just be nice if Wen Ning acted like it.

“If there’s a reason for you to be scared of something,” Jiang Cheng says, “I think I should be informed of it. Unless you’re implying that I’d be of no use even if I did know.”

Wen Ning's jaw tightens. “I’m scared of being possessed,” he says coldly, without looking up. “I’ve lost control in the past, and I don’t want to lose it again.”

The honest answer catches Jiang Cheng off guard.

Visions of how the Ghost General might have looked like at Qiongqi Path flash through his mind—visions of how he might have looked as he slaughtered dozens of cultivators, as he drenched his hands in Jin Zixuan's blood.

Anger seethes through his veins. But something else rises in him, too.

Something almost like…pity.

Wen Ning lifts Jiang Cheng’s leg slightly to rub the herbs on the underside of his calf. His touch is still agonizingly gentle.

“You seemed fine on every other night hunt,” Jiang Cheng says, unsure how to respond.

“This spirit is especially skilled at possession.”

“If you’re so worried about it, what would you do if the juniors called for us right now? Ignore them and keep hiding?”

Wen Ning pauses, resting his hand on Jiang Cheng’s knee. He stares at the ground, his shoulders hunched. “…I’d go help them.”

“And if you get possessed?”

“A-Yuan knows what to do if that happens.”

“And if ‘A-Yuan’ can’t do anything?”

Wen Ning looks up at him.

“Then you can strike me with Zidian.”

A chill runs down his spine.

He’s struck Wen Ning with Zidian three times before—all in the same night, the night Wen Ning struck him with truth in the form of a sword’s blade.

He would strike Wen Ning with Zidian again if he had to. He wouldn’t hesitate. He knows he wouldn’t.

The only problem is that—

“Zidian can only exorcise spirits from the living,” he says.

The spiritual weapon can’t easily incapacitate Wen Ning either. Normal fierce corpses can be taken out in one blow, but Wei Wuxian, in his infinite brilliance, made Wen Ning several times stronger. Zidian would have to nearly destroy Wen Ning to incapacitate him.

Not that Jiang Cheng would have…hesitations about that. Not if it came to protecting A-Ling.

At least, he tells himself he wouldn’t.

Wen Ning is silent for an uncomfortably long time.

“You’re skilled enough of a cultivator to stop me,” he finally replies.

Jiang Cheng ignores how that makes the tiniest bit of heat rise to his cheeks. Silence envelops them again, and Wen Ning resumes rubbing the herbs into the curse mark.

Jiang Cheng has seen Wen Ning heal the juniors on night hunts before, but he’s never needed to be treated by Wen Ning. It feels strange to depend on him.

The thought gives him an inexplicable urge to kick something. Maybe Wen Ning. Maybe himself. He holds himself back for the sake of sparing himself another leg injury.

“What’s Lan Sizhui’s method to stop you?”

“…It’s not necessary for you to know.”

“If there’s a risk of you losing control and harming my family again, I deserve to know how to prevent it.”

Wen Ning’s expression hardens.

That came out more accusatory than he intended.

As if he cares. As if he was ever able to meet gentleness with anything but a daggered tongue.

“Unless you don’t truly believe I’m capable enough to manage it? Unless that was a lie?” Jiang Cheng continues, his tone biting.

He’s already dug himself a ditch. Might as well look like he intended it. At least dealing with an angry Ghost General is less sickening than receiving his kindness.

Jiang Cheng narrows his eyes. “Or maybe you don’t believe I’m reliable enough?”

“I do believe in your capability,” Wen Ning says sharply. It sounds like an insult. “But this has nothing to do with you, Jiang Wanyin.”

Jiang Wanyin, not Jiang-zongzhu. He’s losing Wen Ning’s respect. Good to know. As if he ever had it.

“Nothing to do with me?”

“No. This is personal, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Personal?” Jiang Cheng leans forward, already regretting the words he’s about to say. “Do you think the death of my sister’s husband isn’t personal for me, too?”

Wen Ning rises to his feet. At this angle, he towers over Jiang Cheng. The smallest bit of fear flares up inside Jiang Cheng’s chest, making him angry at himself for feeling any fear at all.

“I’m sorry,” Wen Ning says, raising his voice. “I’ve been sorry for sixteen years.” He gestures down at Jiang Cheng’s leg. “I’ve done all I can for your wound.”

He walks off, sinking into the forest. Rage and guilt erupt inside Jiang Cheng, biting at him like wolves.

“Wen Ning!”

Feeling every last bit of dignity leave his body, he manages to stand up and limp after him, using his sword like a cane and dragging his cursed leg behind himself. A pit grows in his stomach as he continues calling for Wen Ning.

Wen Ning—the one to apologize and walk away from an argument, something Jiang Cheng could never do. Just like how Wen Ning was the one to save Jin Ling in Guanyin Temple, the one to protect Wei Wuxian until the end. Of course Wen Ning is everything Jiang Cheng couldn’t be. Can’t be.

“The juniors are still at the wreckage!” he yells once he’s deeper in the forest. “Are you such a coward that you’re just going to abandon them?

“They’d be in more danger if I’m nearby,” says a quiet voice overhead.

Wen Ning is sitting in a tree, not bothering to look down.

Jiang Cheng sighs. He’s found Wen Ning, and now what is he going to do? Say he was wrong? Grovel at the base of the tree?

Having spent most of his life picking up broken pieces, always cleaning up Wei Wuxian’s messes, he should be better at putting back together the things he breaks himself. Instead he always cuts himself on the shards.

He thinks of how Wen Ning saved his life once. Thinks of how much A-Jie liked Wen Ning. The pit in his stomach deepens.

“Back then, maybe you weren't able to stop it from happening. I don't know,” he says, painfully aware of how much he’s stumbling through this already.

No response.

“But you need to snap out of it. You fought against Baxia’s possession in Guanyin Temple."

Still no answer. He'd rather just shake Wen Ning out of the tree at this rate. He grits his teeth, shoves down his impatience, and forces himself to keep talking.

"Look, you could’ve killed Jin Ling. But you didn’t. This figurine spirit can’t be any stronger than Baxia. You can fight it.”

Wen Ning shifts slightly.

“If you give up on this night hunt and the juniors…if you give up on Lan Sizhui—”

That gets Wen Ning to look down at him. He resists the way his body wants to shrivel up under that critical gaze.

“You’ve gotten control back before.” Jiang Cheng swallows and turns his face away. “You could do it again.”

You’ve saved A-Ling plenty of times. I trust you with him, gets stuck in his throat.

Wen Ning still doesn’t speak. The restless silence of the forest is too uncomfortable for Jiang Cheng to keep his mouth shut.

“What you can’t be doing is giving up on protecting the juniors! If you’re not an ally on these night hunts, then I’ll have to consider you a—”

“If it came to it, I would still face the spirit.” Wen Ning’s voice is quiet. Tranquil.

Jiang Cheng scoffs. "Good."

Wen Ning leaps down from the tree, landing with a loud thud. It’s a wonder his legs don’t break with the way he always throws himself around, as if he doesn’t care about looking after his body. Jiang Cheng finds himself startled that he wants to tell Wen Ning to stop doing that.

“I should still keep my distance from the wreckage if I can,” Wen Ning says. “Thank you for…I’m…I’m surprised that you—"

“Well, then don’t be so damn surprised,” Jiang Cheng hurries to interrupt before he has to hear more of Wen Ning’s deadly honesty. “We’re going back to the edge of the forest now.”

Wen Ning doesn’t try to support Jiang Cheng while they walk back. He isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but he’s grateful for the space either way.

Just before they reach the last line of trees, a loud boom comes from the direction of the wreckage, followed by shouts from the juniors.

Jiang Cheng tries not to panic.

Even if things get messy, the juniors can handle themselves.

He forces himself to limp faster—

“Wen-qianbei!”

“Jiujiu!”

Fuck!

“Jin Ling!” Jiang Cheng calls.

He tries to run toward them, but he can only limp so fast. He unsheathes Sandu to fly instead.

Can’t fly.

The damn curse wound must be distorting his spiritual power—

He turns to Wen Ning. “Come on!—”

His stomach sinks.

Wen Ning is frozen in place, staring blankly ahead.

Jiang Cheng grabs him by the arm. It trembles beneath his hand. “Wen Ning! We need to move!”

“I...I…”

“Now!”

Wen Ning sinks to his knees.

The juniors' cries grow louder.

Fuck.

#mdzsbingo #mdzsnet #theuntameddaily #chengning #jiang cheng #wen ning #ningcheng #mdzs #cql #the untamed #emilu creations #emilu fics

[meesa-hoe]

An Angel In Beskar

Pairing: Din Djarin x Fem!Reader x Paz Vizsla

Summary: Two Mandalorians find you near death in the middle of a desert on Tatooine and while you’re quick to warm up to the one in the mismatched blue armor, his silver companion is much colder towards you.

Rating: M but later chapters will probably be rated E for sexual content.

Word Count: 4,500

Warnings: Descriptions of hopelessness, violence, trauma, and minor injuries.

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! I’ve been working on this for a while and finally decided to post it here since I noticed there’s not a whole lot of Paz x Reader x Din stories and I absolutely love the ones that I have read. I’m hoping to have the next chapter up in the next week!

There is an established relationship between Paz and Din prior to them finding the reader.

‘May the Maker have mercy on my soul.’

There’s no point in you praying when you’re certain death is about to wrap it’s cold arms around your weak body. After traveling through the unforgiving Tatooine desert for days without water, your body is beginning to shut down and you fear that this will be your last night spent alive on such a cruel planet. Your thin dress and the scarf you had used to cover your face in an attempt to protect yourself from the scorching hot suns is your only source of warmth as you lifelessly lay on the sand and you wonder how long it will take for you to be buried deep underneath the soft granules.

You will soon end up like the ones who had perished in your village after it had been brutally attacked by bandits and raiders just days ago. Though you had barely escaped in one piece, you suddenly wished you had stayed so you could have at least had a quicker death, rather than slowly dying in the middle of nowhere. You had been foolish to think there would be another village nearby and tears finally trickle down your cheeks as you peer up at the moon, an intense feeling of despair seeping all the way down to your heart.

You miss your family.

The silence that surrounds you only makes you sob harder, loneliness eating away at you as you simply long for your family. Despite not living a luxurious life in the tiny village, it never diminished the love you had for the ones close to you. The images play on a loop in your mind--bodies covered in blood and lifeless eyes staring into your soul as you hid from the bandits--and you finally allow the physical and emotional pain to consume you.

In a way, it’s cathartic to let it all out without others being around to judge you, though it also has you longing for a comforting touch, whether that be a firm hug or someone just holding your hand. You’re reminded of the way your parents would comfort you and your siblings when you were younger, their voices always like soothing, cold water during the hottest days of summer and it only has you crying harder.

Once it feels like you can’t cry anymore and you’ve accepted your fate, you rest for the final time.

Hours pass--at least you think that as you barely cling onto life.

You don’t even realize you’re not dead until a quiet, filtered rasp manages to break through the darkness and silence that surrounds you, though your eyelids feel like they weigh a thousand pounds and are nearly impossible to crack open. It’s morning now, or maybe even the afternoon, judging by the way the suns ruthlessly beat down on you.

“How did she manage to get all of the way out here?” That hushed, soothing voice sounds a little further away and you wonder who he’s talking to until two leather digits press against the pulse on your neck. “The nearest village is days away on foot,” The person taking your pulse simply grunts in response and you finally manage to pry your eyes open when your curiosity threatens to overwhelm you. 

Who would be insane enough to trek through a desert on Tatooine?

Your vision is blurred, black dots floating around as you blink several times before it finally clears.

Instantly, you’re face to face with a t-shaped visor and--

A Mandalorian! 

Not just one, but two.

You think the lack of water and the intense heat has you hallucinating.

You had grown up hearing stories of the warriors, your oldest brother telling you how they were the strongest beings in the galaxy and typically not cruel to strangers who were innocent. There had been rumors of one living on Tatooine and as a little girl, you remember praying to the Maker that they would show up and rid your village of all the bandits that would terrorize your family and neighbors.

Even the Gods don’t want anything to do with Tatooine.

If you weren’t so exhausted and weak, you could have cried from relief and begged the two Mandalorians in front of you to save you, though your throat is far too dry and your mouth feels like cotton.

“What are you doing all the way out here, little one?” The blue Mando closest to you questions when he realizes you’re awake and you find that his voice is far more rough and brusque than his companion’s, though it’s not unpleasant in the slightest. After going days with nothing but your own thoughts to keep you company, you’re just happy and relieved to not be be alone

“P-Please... Help,” You manage to speak in a hoarse plea, tears spilling from your eyes as you clutch at the material covering the warrior’s ribs as tightly as you can, afraid that he’s simply going to stand up and leave you there to die. The way he leans in a little closer instantly fills you with hope and even though your face is mostly covered, you pray that he can see the desperation in your eyes and that he’s able to sympathize with you.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

He’s massive and wears scuffed up, dull blue and yellow armor that you think has seen several battles since it was forged; he’s all mismatched and terrifying, but in that moment, you see him as some sort of Beskar angel.

His armor looks far more worn than his companion’s as you lift your gaze to peer at him, though it only has you squinting your eyes in pain as the impossibly bright suns reflect off of the silver Beskar and you simply let your eyelids slip shut once again. You feel a hand touch the thick cloth that covers your cheekbone, your Beskar angel letting out a low hum as he assesses your injuries as much as he can with all of the fabric in the way.

“What are you doing?” The silver warrior questions, his tone now cold and your heart instantly shatters when he continues, “We don’t even know who she is and you want to bring her with us?”

“We can’t just leave her out here to die,” The Mandalorian crouched down next to you doesn’t hesitate to admonish him, his voice filled with sympathy and conviction, “The ship isn’t too far from here and I don’t mind carrying her. Who knows how long she’s been walking through this desert on foot.”

“We can’t just take in every stray you stumble upon. Besides, we don’t know her--what if she’s just another criminal? Tatooine is filled with scum.”

“Look at her!” The blue warrior instantly snaps, his voice tinged with anger towards his companion and you nearly cry upon realizing he’s willing to fight for your survival, “She’s so weak that she can’t even keep her eyes open and she looks injured. Who’s to say she wasn’t running away from a bad situation? Besides, if she does try anything, do you think she could really get the upper hand on two Mandalorians in her condition? She doesn’t even have a single weapon on her!”

You hear an exasperated sigh and before the shiny Mando can put up anymore of a fight, you feel clunky Beskar sliding under your knees while his other arm winds around your shoulders, bringing you off of the hot sand with ease. If your mind wasn’t so hazy, you would have marveled at his sheer strength, but you feel your body relax against his Beskar that has been warmed from the suns.

“If she tries anything, I’m putting her in carbonite.”

Instead of praying to the Maker for mercy like you had hours ago, you find yourself praying that the stories your brother had told you of Mandalorian are true and that these two strangers don’t have cruel intentions with you. The blue one carrying you seems nice enough, but the silver Mando with the quiet voice still has you on edge and you immediately tense up at the thought of essentially being frozen.

“You don’t have any slabs left available because you’re an impatient di’kut,” The blue warrior reminds him, sounding more amused than agitated and you hear a hint of fondness in his gruff voice, “Let’s just get her back to the ship and we’ll find out what happened to her.”

“Fine, but I’m putting the cuffs on her.”

The one carrying you is quick to shoot down that idea, “Unless you want me to give you a concussion, you’re not putting cuffs on her.”

Using all of your strength, you manage to curl your arms around your savior’s neck, your fingers pressing into the soft fabric covering his nape as you whisper out a meek ‘thank you’. It hurts your dry throat but you hope he can detect the genuine gratitude in your hoarse voice, tears filling your eyes as they crack open to peer at the silver Mando who’s trailing behind your savior.

His tilted visor is trained solely on your face, despite the fact that most of your features are covered by your white scarf and you can tell he’s still wary about your presence. For a moment, he fiddles with his cuffs before giving up with a tired sigh and you let your eyelids slip shut when you realize he’s no going to restrain you.

“Shh, little one,” The Mando carrying you intones, his rough voice soothing the ache in your heart as you sniffle, tears soaking your scarf, “It is safe to rest your eyes now. Once we get back to the ship, we’ll get some water and food in your belly again.”

That’s all he has to say for you to slump against his cuirass before you’re being tugged back into unconsciousness once again. You’re in and out of it for most of the journey and every single time you manage to pry your eyes open, the silver Mandalorian’s visor is fixated on you, putting you even more on edge until you fall back asleep again. Even with his gauntlets digging into your knees and shoulders, you find comfort in knowing that you have the protection of at least one Mandalorian and it’s the only thing that lets you rest as peacefully as your hectic mind will allow.

The next time you regain consciousness, it’s to the sounds of the warriors conversing with one another in hushed tones, perhaps in an attempt to not wake you up.

“Do you think it’s okay to take off her face coverings?” Your savior sounds hesitant as fingers graze along the material covering your jaw and something about it is endearing, “What if she has it on for a reason?”

He thinks your culture is similar to his--that you have to keep your identity concealed just like a Mandalorian--and if you weren’t so exhausted and in so much pain, you would have found this amusing. “Not everyone who covers their face does it because they’re sworn to a creed,” The silver Mando sounds just as entertained as you are, the terseness from earlier no longer lingering in his filtered rasp and when you finally open your eyes, you’re surprised to find how relaxed he appears as he sits on a crate adjacent from the cot you are laying on.

Your savior has his back to you as he stares at his companion, “I just don’t want to invade her privacy.”

“She’s probably wearing it to protect her skin from the suns.”

“You think so?”

“Ask her yourself.”

The blue warrior instantly turns to you, his visor tilted to the side as you stare back up at him with wide eyes, suddenly feeling sheepish and shy. Slowly, you manage to sit up on the cot with a pained whimper and reach up to remove your white scarf that is stained with splotches of blood. As soon as the cold air cycling through the ship kisses your warm cheeks, you let your eyelids slip shut with a relieved sigh, the stained fabric that had protected you from the unforgiving suns falling to the metal floor next to your feet.

“You must be thirsty,” The blue Mandalorian’s rough voice has you opening your eyes and you nearly let out with a loud gasp when he offers you his canteen, “Here.”

The water could have been tainted with poison and you wouldn’t have even noticed as you chugged the cold liquid, a few tears escaping your eyes at the immense relief that instantly floods you after going days without a drop of liquid. “What is your name?” He inquires once you’ve sadly finished off all the water, though the one in silver approaches the two of you and retrieves the leather canteen, wandering off to perhaps refill it.

You hesitate to give the stranger an answer, especially after all you’ve been through these past few rotations, but you think if he wanted to hurt you, he would have done it by now and you eventually whisper your name after a pregnant pause. His visor tilts further to the side as you stare at his scuffed up cuirass rather than his helmet, tears filling your eyes when he asks how you ended up in the desert.

“It is okay, little one,” He soothes your pain with that gruff voice as he towers over you, “You’re safe now.”

“M-My village, it--” The blue warrior places a heavy hand on your shoulder as the terrifying memories of your home being burned to the ground play on repeat in your head and something about his firm touch is incredibly comforting, “The raiders they… They killed everyone and burned down all the buildings. My whole f-family--”

You don’t realize the shiny Mandalorian is within earshot until he says something in a foreign language that you don’t recognize, though you think he must have asked about you when your savior repeats your name in a terse voice, along with a few other words. 

“Dank farrik,” The smaller of the two sighs before angrily shoving the canteen into your hands and they continue to speak in their mother tongue, sounding as though they’re arguing.

“D-Did I do something wrong?” You meekly question them after you take several swigs of the cold water, tears still drying on your cheeks as they both gaze at you long enough to cause your nerves to spike even more. Anxiously, you pluck at the loose threads on the hem of your skirts, feeling anxious underneath the intense stares of such strong warriors when you feel the weakest you ever have in your life. The blue warrior angrily shakes his scuffed up helmet before hastily stomping off of the small ship, leaving you alone with the silver, brooding Mandalorian that seems far more awkward around you than his companion.

The ruddy, orange tips of his leather gloves curl against his sides as he silently regards you for a few more moments. 

“Come with me,” He eventually orders with a slight tilt of his helmet, urging you to follow him as you scramble to your bare feet to obey his gentle command. He leads you to the hull of the ship and you nearly cower away from him as he leads you through a small walkway that’s lined with several slabs of carbonite, afraid that you’ve done something wrong. With the blue Mandalorian gone, your mind runs rampant of all the horrible things this stranger can do to you and your gaze lifts to the huge rifle strapped to his back.

You freeze as you wonder how many people he’s killed with it, or if he prefers to use the smaller blaster holstered against his hip.

Upon noticing that you’re not following him, he turns to face you.

“I’m... I’m not going to hurt you,” He quietly promises when he notices your hesitation, his visor lingering on you as you eventually trail right behind him again, still clutching the leather canteen between your clammy palms, “I just want to see if you recognize someone.”

The stranger comes to a stop in front of one of the slabs of carbonite and confusion floods you as he gestures to it like one would offer a prize, though fear and horror immediately has your heart in a frenzy when you recognize the Zabrak frozen in time.

He had been among the many that had terrorized your village for so long.

“W-What is he doing here?!”

“He’s the leader of the group of bandits that burned down your village and he is also a quarry of ours,” He quietly explains in an oddly gentle voice, watching as the canteen slips from your palms and onto the floor of the ship, “We managed to track him down the day after the attack. I am... sorry we were too late.” 

The shiny Mandalorian holds a hand up in an attempt to calm you as panic tugs at your heart to the point where it’s difficult to breathe properly and you quickly back away from the hunter, fleeing further into the ship until you manage to find the refresher. You’re grateful there’s a lock on the door as you sink to the floor, the hunter’s voice calling out to you on the other side of the door, though there’s a sharp ringing noise blaring in your ears that makes it damn near impossible to hear even your own thoughts.

The Mandalorian eventually gives up on trying to get you to exit the refresher and leaves with a defeated sigh. You’re shaking with fear as you keep reminding yourself that the you’re on the same ship with the cruel monster that orchestrated the attack on your little village.

That Zabrak is the reason why your entire family was slaughtered.

And he’s on the same ship with you.

You sit there in solitude for quite some time, listening to the two Mandalorians as they quietly talk to one another in the hull of the ship. The larger of the two must have a naturally loud voice and you can’t stop yourself from smiling when his silver companion occasionally shushes him when he speaks your name. It sounds like they might be arguing about something and you hope it’s not about you, but judging by the irritation in both of their voices, you’re certain they’re trying to figure out what to do with you.

Especially now that you have no home to go back to.

A deep sigh pushes past your lips you as you finally stand, the warriors’ argument ceasing when you move to the sink and turn the water on to splash some of the cool liquid on your face. The stark contrast between the cold water compared to the sonic shower in your home is lovely and cathartic after having gone so long with only ever really having warm water.

There’s a firm knock on the door, the blue warrior calmly reciting your name in an effort to get you to come out, “It’s okay, I just want to talk with you.” 

Dread floods your frantic heart as you dry your face off with the sleeve of your dress before hesitantly cracking the door open to stare at his scuffed up cuirass, too afraid that if you look at his helmet, you’ll only breakdown again.

“I am sorry for your losses, little one,” The Mandalorian sighs, holding his hand out for you to take in a friendly gesture that has you opening the door all the way. “I know all too well the grief of losing loved ones,” You take hold of his hand and he immediately strokes a firm thumb along your knuckles, the foreign touch comforting as he guides you out of the refresher and to one of the crates so you can sit down.

“Are...” You hesitate as you finally peer up at his tilted visor, fear wrapping around you like a vice, “Are you two going to leave me here?”

A sigh escapes him and your eyes widen when he rests a leather palm on the side of your neck, his thumb grazing along your jaw as he takes in your appearance for several moments. Though you’ve only been in the presence of the two warriors for a couple hours, you realize just how different their personalities are. Your Beskar-clad angel is massive, loud, and rough around the edges, yet somehow so gentle around you, while the silver warrior is placid, quiet, and constantly brooding, wanting nothing to do with you. 

You can’t help but to wonder what their relationship to one another is, if they’re simply close friends or something more, given how they’re simultaneously comfortable and dysfunctional around each other.

“No, we’re not just going to leave you in the middle of nowhere,” He sounds oddly sad as he pulls you from your thoughts, his voice the quietest you’ve heard from him so far, “We can either drop you off somewhere safer or you can stay with us for a little while and help out with certain things on the ship.”

You don’t hear the silver Mandalorian descending from the cockpit, his visor on the two of you as shock courses through you. “Y-You would let me stay?” His fingers twitch against your neck upon hearing the way your voice shakes, your eyes burning at the kindness he’s displaying, “But... I don’t think the other Mandalorian really wants me here. He doesn’t trust me.”

His blue pauldrons slump and you resist the urge to reach out and trace a silver indentation on the worn armor, “It’s not that he doesn’t trust you, we’re just not used to being around people who don’t want to kill us.”

You contemplate his words thoroughly as his thumb continues to stroke your jawline and after going several days without anyone to talk to or share your fear with, the touch is a warm welcome. “Well, after everything that happened to my village, I don’t think I have it in me to hurt anyone, let alone kill,” Your own shoulders slump, eyelids slipping shut as you remember how scared you had been as you hid yourself from the bandits underneath a pile of bloody, lifeless bodies.

You don’t realize you’re shaking until the silver Mandalorian makes his presence known by softly saying a word in what you think is their mother tongue, instantly earning his companion’s unwavering attention.

“Vizsla.”

You quickly pull away and wipe the tears from your flushed cheeks, a heavy hand lingering on your shoulder as the quiet Mandalorian speaks in that gentle rasp that sounds softer than usual and you feel bashful when his visor lowers to regard you. 

“I set the coordinates for the next stop,” He appears awkward as his fingers flex against his thighs, his visor still fixated on you as he offers you a sharp nod. The blue warrior chuckles, though you’re not sure why as his companion approaches the two of you, seeming to tense up a little more and you’re certain that the silver Mando hates you already.

“This is your last chance for us to drop you off at the nearest village,” He warns you as the heavy-infantry warrior gives your shoulder a firm squeeze, as if trying to give you some of his strength even though you feel devastatingly weak, “Otherwise you’re stuck with us until further notice. We can’t guarantee your safety.”

You try your hardest to appear tough in front of the hunter, though his helmet tilts to the side with what feels like amusement as you awkwardly shift on your feet, “I… I have no family left and nowhere else to go. I would rather be with you two than have to suffer alone in an unfamiliar village that may or may not be attacked by cruel people again.”

He hesitates, visor shifting between you and the Mandalorian at your side, before nodding and making his way back to the cockpit without another word, pulling a sigh from the blue warrior as he turns back to you, tilting his helmet in the direction of the ladder. “Come on, little one,” He helps you off the crate before guiding you to the cockpit, following close behind as you push yourself up the ladder. Before you can say anything else, you’re interrupted by an intense rumble coming from your empty stomach and you pray that he didn’t hear it, though judging by his snort of laughter, your prayers were unanswered.

“Once we make the jump into hyperspace we’ll get you some food. Flying can be a lot if you’re not used to it and I don’t want you throwing up all over the cockpit.”

A warmth blossoms across your cheeks as the metal doors slide open, his palm still covering the small of your back as he urges you to sit in one of the unoccupied co-pilot chairs. You quickly buckle in as the brooding hunter flicks some switches on the console, seeming completely at ease as his blue companion lazily plops down in the chair next to you, the two of them not bothering with their seatbelts. Briefly, you wonder how long they’ve been doing this--traveling with one another--and with how sure of himself the silver Mando appears as he easily guides the ship off the sandy ground, you think it’s been quite a while.

“Have you ever been off Tatooine before?” The blue warrior asks you when he notices how tightly you’re clutching your seatbelt the further the ship ascends and you force yourself to relax your stiff fingers. “N-No,” You quietly inform him, tearing your gaze away from the windows to peer at him instead, “I lived in that village for all my life. When... When everything happened with the bandits, I wasn’t sure where to go, so I just ran.”

His visor tilts to the side and as he continues to speak, you can’t stop yourself from wondering if he’s doing it to distract you as the ship breaks the atmosphere of the sandy planet. “Well, it’s a good thing we happened to be close by since the nearest city was at least four more cycles away on foot,” This information makes you shudder and instantly, you grow quiet, knowing that there was no way you would have ever made it if they hadn’t shown up when they did.

He seems to notice your melancholic disposition and is quick to change the subject, his filtered voice melting into something more lighthearted that has you weakly smiling at his visor. “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re here,” He tilts his helmet to where his silver companion is piloting the ship into space, “He doesn’t exactly make for the best company sometimes, always brooding and complaining. Besides, you’re far prettier to look at.”

Your cheeks immediately grow warm at his sudden coyness, though it only seems to exasperate the other Mandalorian as he sighs, his silver helmet shaking as starlight reflects off of the pretty Beskar.

As the old, rickety ship makes the jump to hyperspace, causing a queasy sensation in the pit of your belly, you think that maybe the two of them don’t make for bad company at all.

Perhaps there is some force in the galaxy that took mercy on your soul after all.

#I hope whoever reads this enjoys #and feedback is always welcome! #din djarin x reader x paz vizsla #Din Djarin x reader #Paz Vizsla x reader #Paz Vizsla x Din Djarin #the mandalorian #my stuff #let's be real #I'm just sharing this in case anyone wants to be a hoe with me