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SnK Chapter 134 Poll Results

The chapter poll closed with 1747 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by /u/_Puppet_, /u/berthototototo, /u/staraves and @momtaku.

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,675 Responses

Chapter 134 “Depths of Despair” was another solid chapter with an average rating of 4.52, making it the highest rated chapter of the volume and 15th highest since we started keeping records.

The art was incredible

The best chapter in the volume, bar none.

it was really fucking cool and a definite step up from Chapter 133. This chapter does well to inform you that we *are* at the final battle now, and nothing is stopping this story from crashing to a sudden end pretty damn soon.

This chapter, like every other in the volume, feels like it was stretching. I was actively bored reading it. With so few chapters left, does Isayama really have time to stretch this much? He has so many loose ends to tie up and it's concerning. He obviously wanted a volume cliffhanger with the alliance facing Eren so I hope that his pacing next volume is much tighter because this ain't it, chief

This has easily become one of my favourite chapters in the while manga. [...] Overall, it's as good as 112, 122, 131 and other popular "masterpieces" in my opinion

Bruh I have been waiting for this so long and Isayama fucking DELIVERED. I was so worried with all the build-up and sometimes sloppy pacing that the final Eren vs Alliance showdown wouldn't live up to the hype but NOPE, it was amazing and beyond expectations. The moment where the refugees realize that Paradis forces had come to save them?? Gold. Beautiful. 10/10. Isayama I am sorry for ever doubting you, you are a god and I am thankful for your existence.

Rank this chapter a 5 for the Source of All Organic YEEKS.

Is there any button to press in order to rate this chapter 20/10?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,692 Responses

It was a very close race, but “the crowd attempting to save the baby” ultimately came out on top and once again demonstrated the fanbase’s affinity for despair… or was it hope this time? In a close second comes Armin’s cliffhanger question to Eren, third place going to Reiner stomping the Beast Titan, which beat the rumbling scenery across the world by a single vote, which beat seeing the final audio by a single vote. If the extremely close results mean anything, this chapter certainly had something for everyone.

The crowd lifting the baby to safety is an image that will leave a permanent mark on me. I don’t have words to describe that scene.

Honestly, each goddamn panel is impacting, exciting or badass. I love the Historia scene, the chaos and destruction left me speechless, Karina and Mr. Leonhart's reflexion was heartbreaking, as well as the Marleyan general's.

“That Fucking Monkey!”

Reiner Helos was the most hype part of the chapter.

I could never really decide what’s my favorite scene or anything, it’s all just amazing.

as an eren stan it was rly brutal and eye opening to actually see all the innocent people and kids dying, overall it was a great chapter, just very gruesome

Reiners armored body slam and Levi’s monkey comment were best moments. Really appreciated seeing the worlds POV one more time.

I loved Reiner's moment but otherwise boring chapter.

I loved armin in this chapter he finally looks like hes acting as a commander.hopefully we will get more of this.

I love how much of other countries we get to see through rumbling, it helps to show more details for the wolrd building.

I liked Levi calling Zeke a “Big, furry bastard”.

We finally see Eren's new titan for doing something other than moving forward, and the beast titan scene was epic.

i cried when i saw the families saying goodbye. seeing eren as the founding titan hurts too.

Amazing. Literally lost for words. The last panel with Armin was so emotional/amazing. His character growth is phenomenal. Cannot wait for the next one

The tower guard's words were too much but I LOVED the moment with the baby on the cliff. I wasn't expecting something like that.

WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER'S MVP? 1,669 Responses

As well as earning the favorite moment this month, the crowd at the cliffs also scored a collective MVP, showing that teamwork does indeed make the dream work. Closely coming in second is Reiner, no doubt from his valiant attack on the Beast Titan, and in third place is the commander of the alliance, Armin.

ARMIN GOAT

I love reiner so much :D

CHADERENFTW

The final pages just shows why i love Armin so much

Karina's regret was one of best parts of this chapter.

Reiner such a badass.

Wow just wow, the crowd, the alliance with their shit together (for the most part) can’t wait to see how this ends

WE SEE HISTORIA AGAIN! FOR ONE PAGE… THOUGHTS ON HER GOING INTO LABOR? 1,666 Responses

28 months since we last saw Historia in the present time, and now we finally see her again. But is this one page worth the wait? 36.6% are glad that this plot point is finally coming back, 33.1% are glad to see her but wish we’d gotten her side of the story, 12.3% are glad it seems to be a real pregnancy, and 11.6% are done with Isayama’s handling of her in the story.

I thought she was only like five months pregnant.

i hope she survives this :(

I just want this subplot to be over.

It's alright? I still wish she would have joined the scouts in the final battle instead of the pregnancy tho…

I'm so disgusted by the whole Historia situation. The execution of this plot point was abysmal from the beginning and I hate it

None of the above options square with how I feel. Historia's perspective (in addition to Eren's) is being set up as the final "basement"; so while I can see why some are frustrated, it has actually piqued my interest to see where this may end up

EH is endgame

EreHisu would ruin the manga

Each chapter I become increasingly pessimistic about Historia as a character. In the beginning of this chapter when we got the close-up of her eyes as she closed them in pain, I was certain the next page would have her inner monologue as she thought back on how she got into this position. But instead it cuts away, us seeing absolutely nothing from Historia, and I'm back to thinking she really has no agency anymore. Even if she is super important in the ending and a pivotal player in determining the state of the world after the rumbling, it won't be worth what she's been reduced to. To be fair, she was in one scene in Return to Shiganshina, no scenes in Marley arc, and this arc... well, we know how she's been treated. So maybe I should have seen this coming, but it was still disappointing for Isayama to hint that she will have a role this arc like in Uprising arc, only for that to be a breeding machine.

Why Historia was crying when she was having a child?

She finally is realizing the regret of the pregnancy decision and that she once again chose something she didn't necessarily want to do.

her life was always miserable and I don't believe that she will get some ray of light. She was the happiest when she had Ymir by her side. Now, even if she survives and has her child with her, she will always feel the heavy weight of her decision and the blood of millions innocent people will always stay on her hands.

I'm dropping the series after this. It just hurts seeing a queer-coded character like Historia constantly being beaten and reduced to literally nothing. First it was Ymir's death. Then Zeke's plan that involved her having children to be eaten by them (WHY NOT HAVE ZEKE IMPREGNATE WOMEN? WHY MUST IT BE THE QUEER FEMALE CHARACTER?? WHO'S ALSO THE QUEEN?). Then all the talk about her as a mere breeder, as a not-so-walking womb. Then the awful, awful ship-tease with Eren. Then her not opposing Eren's plan?? This is just it. I was holding onto the fake pregnancy, but now I envy the people who dropped the series once they saw the first panel of her pregnant.

I am tired of Tumblr crying over Historia. You are taking this pregnancy plot way too seriously. Newsflash: women don't automatically lose their agency when they get pregnant, kinda problematic of you to think that's what's going on. Historia has a plan and we will hear it

I think this may be a HUGE death flag for her. I mean if he can kill Sasha off with a gun says who histortia can’t be killed off by child birth?

I DONT WANT HER TO DIE

Historia gets what she deserves. She agreed to help Eren and now A LOT of innocent mothers and children is losing their lives in the rumbling. Historia has their blood on her hands and she won't be free from it. I don't feel sorry for her, at all.

If there's any character, besides Eren, who has humanity's blood on their hands, it's Historia, and her labor acting as a prelude to the moment that will decide the fate of humanity is incredibly poetic.

Hisu's baby is definitely having a titan inherited. So someone with titan powers will die in the final battle.

Don’t care about her

Well I guess she aint faking it after all

She's committing to the bit. There's no baby, it's all an act

WHO IS THE FATHER AAAAAAAAAA

Why did she want this child?

...all i can think is why does yams draw mouths/teeth like that? it’s so weird...

WHICH OF THE NEW LOCALS HAVE YOU FOUND MOST INTERESTING? 1,669 Responses

We get to see new corners of the earth… just before seeing them crushed. 37.3% found the cliffside of chaos to be the best, 31.3% enjoyed seeing Onynakopon’s London-esque homeland, and 23.9% enjoyed the scenery of the shrines in what could be Hizuru.

the panel with the people praying in the shrine was amazing also the cliff, these rumbling chapters are really dark yet visually beautiful (maybe I'm sick for finding it beautiful lol). "

The Titans drove Pennywise off that cliff

I really liked how it shows the different places where the rumblings is effecting like the Snk London etc

I’m a little confused about the timeline and placement of the cliffs and where the Titans are. Can someone explain how the Titans were seen pushing people off the cliff sides (also how were so many people herded into the middle of nowhere to be shoved off the cliffs?) and then also seen heading toward the fleeing Eldian/Marleyans? Are those two different places, a montage, etc? Do we suspend some disbelief to take in the apocalyptic scene of people falling from the cliffs into the sea? The opening scenes had me a bit turned around.

These shots where absolute nightmare fuel and they did an amazing job at showing how horrifying this situation is

HOW DO THE DEPICTIONS OF THE RUMBLING IN THIS CHAPTER, INCLUDING THE CROWD HOLDING THE BABY AWAY FROM THE CLIFF, RANK IN TERMS OF DARK MOMENTS INVOLVING CHILDREN? 1,652 Responses

Let’s just rename the series “In the Depths of Despair”. 39.2% think this chapter ranks near the top of the darkest moments in the series, 28.1% think Ymir’s daughters cannibalizing their dead mother is the darkest, while 19.1% hold to the other incredibly dark rumbling chapter we got with Ramzi and Halil.

All are equally dark.

Eternal winner is Udo trampled to death by a crowd while trying to save crushed Zofia

Every scene of children's deaths are all gruesome. Not one tops each other.

the mother throwing her baby away hoping to save them made me feel something and it broke my heart

I didn't think the cliff scene was that dark tbh, it was actually faintly uplifting. Though I also felt that way after reading chapter 131, so maybe I think that about any tragedy Isayama depicts.

Kruger saw his entire Family burn to death

It's a dark moment but I also think it's sort of hopeful, that humanity isn't completely fucked and they're all eager to try save this child rather than let it fall and die.

The entire imagery of masses of people barely hanging for their lives at the edge of a cliff is so abyssmal and daunting. This is seriously peak bleakness SnK. I still can't believe that there are people that support Eren after this.

he opening panels of the Rumbling were some of the most horrifying so far, especially the one with the baby.

This was, to me, possibly the single most powerful moment in the ENTIRE series -- and that's not something I say lightly.

Very little about this manga shocks me anymore. This moment is really no worse or better compared to every other disturbing scene

All the above are horrendous. I cannot choose.

TV Tropes has an entry called Darkness Induced Audience Apathy and that pretty much sums up my feelings at this point. Everything is so unrelentingly bleak and miserable that I’m rapidly losing my ability to care about these characters and what happens to them anymore.

The Rumbling; Yam's biggest middle finger to the world. Can't wait for this shit to end so my life can continue. Forever Yeagerist, because I am free, and Floch did nothing wrong.

THE GENERAL AT FORT SALTA GAVE A SPEECH ABOUT HATE AND MISTAKES, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF IT? 1,663 Responses

In the face of annihilation, the general stationed at Fort Salta has an epiphany on the path that brought everyone there. A solid 60% of respondents thought it was a great speech – it covers perhaps the grandest theme of the final arc of the story and someone needed to hammer home the message. 27.3% liked the message of the speech but thought it was a little too ham-fisted for the moment, but 6.8% just thought it was silly.

The general at Fort Salta’s words were really... desperate. It showed the truth of Eren’s rampage as the founding and I think it showed that Eren was more than what he hoped to become. He shows no pity now: I don’t even think he cares about the 104th and co. anymore. Really dark and I’m living for it.

The parts with no speech was great. Isayama is great with visuals which I love. The Marleyan speech was very cringe unfortunately.

Great to see the world let go of their hatred for the enemy. Still, Eren's stubborn charge is pissing me off!

FUCKING FINALLY. All this bullshit and guilting of the children and Eldians and we finally get SOMEONE owning up that their bigotry is the fucking problem here. And of course, too fucking late. But that seems to be how real history is

Nothing unrealistic about desperate people about to die thinking of second chances.

Great message, but would've meant more if it came from a more significant character such as Magath

Great speech showing that people always have the biggest realization when it's already too late and you can only count on miracles

I think it was honestly fine, but one tiny change could have been made to make it flow more naturally and not be so jarring to so many people: Rather than having the general talk about "us adults", and how "we" used hatred, I think it would have been more natural if he only talked about himself. This is a very common trope in war movies, and we're all capable of reading in between the lines and understanding how what he says applies to the different characters and the world as a whole. For him to point it out for us is a little jarring

hammy, but on theme

I feel like it's isayama's way of forcing his audience to understand his narrative by spelling it out for us. indicating that he has failed as a writer to just make his narrative naturally understood

IF the rumbling get stopped are they gonna still gonna keep their promise

In context it is fine, but I'm cautious about it being the end solution.

It was a desperate man's final words, and it showed.

It was a fitting speech that showed the Marleyans were finally ready to let go of their hatred towards the Eldians. It also felt like last-ditch speech to try to move Eren into reconsidering flattering the whole world with the Rumbling, but knowing Eren, the speech wouldn't sway him at all.

It was way to convenient and unrealistic for the general and the liberio Eldians to realize that they were wrong and I hope they die. That is all.

It was good to see they realized how terrible they were but as a wise man once said... “It’s too laaate to apologiiize. It’s too laaaaaaaate! Ay. Ay. Ay.”

Its good because its shows the message of the series of trying to stop the cycle of hate by either changing our actions or by sacrificing others for the "greater good". Placement is not bad tho, the general is realizing it is the true end

It’s okay, everyone has their own opinion. The general's opinion just happened to be like that.

I understand it, but I’m also bothered by the suggested idea that it took total annihilation to make people decide to finally “be considerate” of each other. It also feels very black and white to me, some of the subtleties of this whole situation was lost I think.

It was a great speech and super satisfying moment to see non-Eldians recognize how they played a part leading up to this, but there's no guarantee there won't be residual hatred for Eldians once all of this is over.

i honestly loved it. i don't mind the cheese one bit

KARINA THINKS BACK TO A YOUNG REINER AND REGRETS HER ACTIONS AS A MOTHER. WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THIS? 1,659 Responses

There are many bad parents in SnK, and Karina has certainly been one of them. The majority of fans accept her seeking redemption, while 25% think it’s too little too late. 20.8% are willing to give her a chance if she proves she means it through her actions.

I liked the moment between Karina and Mr. Leonhardt. Awful parents unite. XD At least they showed a change of heart, even if it was too late.

Felt like she just wanted to live a normal life

Anyways, Karina saved the chapter. We've seen a more logical character evolution than in Annie's father, and at least she got to see Reiner again.

IF the rumbling stopped are they still gonna keep their promise

the attempt to make me feel sympathy for Karina Braun was just obnoxious

Only took advantage of the boy

I’m glad Reiner mom is realizing her mistake of using her son as a tool but there’s not really much she can do.

Fuck Karina in particular.

Am I the only one who thought that Karina and Mr Leonhart looked good together? 😳

WHAT DID KARINA MEAN WHEN SHE SAID THAT SHE USED REINER AS A TOOL OF REVENGE? 1,653 Responses

Karina mentions that she only ever used Reiner as a tool for revenge. 31.1% think he was a tool to use against her former lover, 19.1% think he was primarily a tool for Marley, but 47.9% believe it to be a mix of both purposes.

All of the above and perhaps just a general narcissistic “I’ll show all of you how special I am by proxy of my child. Reiner being a Warrior means I am a Good Mother TM”

Reiner was a tool to make Karina feel like she had worth in a world where everyone, from the man she may have loved to her nation to the rest of the world was telling her she was worthless.

Karina hated Paradis' Eldians for "abandoning" her and the others to the mainland and wanted revenge on them for that.

Clearly revenge on his father and if anyone thinks Karina intended on Reiner being used to get revenge on Paradis is really reaching to villify Karina.

She said it on panel: Why did Karl Fritz leave them in Marley's power?

I believe it's "both of the above", but with the revenge on Paradis being from Karina, not Marley, as an allegory for Reiner's father. She always talks about how Paradis abandoned the Eldians on Marley, and I figured this was her way of expressing the sorrow and anger at Reiner's father for abandoning her and Reiner. So she did believe Paradis were devils who abandoned them, but that was fuelled by her personal issue

I didn’t and still don’t understand what Karina means by revenge.

It was both but also to give herself a higher status given her self-hatred.

WHAT IS THE BEAST TITAN WE SAW? 1,668 Responses

That was unexpected! The Beast Titan showed up, but not in a way we saw anyone predict. A very close tie between it being Zeke’s beast being controlled/manipulated and it being a War Hammer formation created by Eren, with the former just edging out the latter. 14% believe Eren can make titans however he wants via the Founding Titan/paths, and 2.4% think this was just straight up Zeke.

Don’t know, very confused. But whenever I don’t clearly see the eyes of a character, I usually feel like something fishy is going on....

Eren ate zeke and took his power.

Eren using the WHT to generate a Zeke dummy, using Zeke's titan blueprints.

I think he used the Founding Titan powers, not the WH. Ymir/the founding titan is the one that builds the titan forms so I think that makes more sense.

I do believe eren is controlling him since his titan was attached to eren at the neck, and then reiner broke that off.

I think it's Zeke being mind controlled and treated like a puppet by Eren.

I think Zeke is crystalized somewhere in the Founders body and Eren is using him to create a zombie Beast Titan.

It could be Zeke in there, it could be a clone. Nonetheless it's a puppet and he still needs Zeke to do a complete exact rendition.

It took Eren all three powers of the Founder, WHT, and Beast Titan, combined to pull this off. The WHT alone can create anything with hardening but i doubt it could create another titan moving by itself.

It's obviously a War Hammer construct, but I can't stop laughing at the idea that the Alliance don't realise how vastly different he looks. It kind of reminds me of when they would go "There's no opening in the Armored Titan's armor, it's covering everything" even though there's clearly spaces in between where you can see the red muscle

YFW another Beast Titan clone shows up next chapter

if monke isn't a Warhammer construct, where the heck does he get those rocks?

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT EREN SEEMINGLY CONTROLLING THE BEAST? 1,656 Responses

So we’ve discussed what you think the Beast is, now what do fans think of the development from a narrative standpoint? Most fans are happy with this development finding it cool and surprising, with 17.9% being happy just to see monke again. 12.1% feel it’s another ability coming out of nowhere, and 9.4% don’t like Zeke being handled this way. 4.4% think Zeke is in full autonomy, which is somehow 33 more people than when that was an option last question...

ZEKE DEAD IN BEAST TITAN BODY AND EREN CONTROLLING HIM

I just wanna see Zeke :(

I was so happy to finally see Zeke but all along it was just a puppet Beast Titan :(

If Zeke is just going to be a mindless powerup for Eren to keep Levi or Reiner busy, he'd better have been dead. We already had the Warhammer doing that job, why this again?

Tired of the Eren OPness to be honest, its stale and old and overall poorly writter. It's clear from the start Isayama's willing to bend backwards to not only power up Eren randomly but to try and justify everything he does.

THE ALLIANCE CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON ZEKE DESPITE EREN STANDING WITH YMIR IN THE PATHS REALM LAST CHAPTER. WHY HAVE NONE OF THE CHARACTERS MENTIONED HER? 1,650 Responses

Despite us fans freaking out every time we see Ymir, the alliance doesn’t seem to care. 43.9% believe they’ve just been a little too busy to focus on the minutiae of the lore, while 39.5% just have no idea. 11.1% don’t think they saw her standing there in the first place.

Did any of them really know who the little girl was?

Easier to focus on what they know than what they don’t

Do they recognize her! Are they familiar with the iconography of this creation story? Either way, they’re probably at the “Oh look, Eren’s in his child body and standing with a little girl who is the progenitor of our race. This might as well happen.”

I'm pretty sure they at least discussed it and formed a plan in the plane

They don't wanna face the fact they have to kill Eren, plus killing the beast titan may be easier than killing the founding titan

They still are still not as informed of the relationship between Eren and Ymir, their first goal is to rid the connection of royal blood to Eren preventing further destruction

Wait, are you saying we as the readers can see Ymir but the others can't? in that case, Ymir may have appeared multiple times throughout this mess and yet we've only seen her for Ramzi's death and when the alliance were in paths…

Only Eren can see Ymir since he has the founding Titan, as well as Zeke since he has royal blood. The rest can see Eren because he has the founding Titan and is connected to all Eldians and Ackermanns via paths.

seems like they hold Zeke more accountable to the rumbling than Eren himself. Yeah I get it, he's their friend. But fuck that, humanity is at stakes, and when Zeke turned against the warriors, they accepted that they had to kill him, even if they didn't wan't to (especially Pieck), even if he was their comrade and leader, even if they grew up together, because it needed to done.

They’re saving it for when they discuss Levi’s hand

They're like Ramzi -- they have no bloody idea who this loli is.

Nothing to do with the question but I'm bummed the official translation for this image was not "THAT FUCKING MONKEY!" like earlier ones

Alliance are stupid Motherfuckers

THE BLIMPS CERTAINLY TRIED THEIR BEST, HOW WOULD YOU RATE THEIR PERFORMANCE? 1,646 Responses

Surprising no one (except for 5.6% of you from last month who predicted the blimps would deal a decisive blow), Eren tore through the bombing fleet like it was nothing. On a 1-5 scale from “Abysmal” to “They tried their best, okay?”, the plurality of you have decided to lend some sympathy to the squadron, with some erring on the side of neutrality. Low expectations seem to have prevented disappointment, as not many people are criticizing them in the write ins either.

as a WWI nerd I really disappointed by the airship "battle." Isayama has done his research on some aspects of early modern day tech (like the detail on the firearms), but then has the airships dropping what looks like submarine depth charges instead of zeppelin bombs (I was like--why are they dropping oil canisters?!) and then has the airships go down in Hollywood-style explosions from having rocks thrown on them.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART IN THE PLANE’S ARRIVAL? 1,659 Responses

35.4% of respondents loved Reiner’s dynamic entry, followed by 23.6% of respondents who loved Levi’s war cry of MOONNKEEEE. 17.1% were happy to see the image of Armin leading the charge that we’ve been expecting since hearing that final audio sample. 9.1% embrace the ongoing Avengers theme of everyone jumping into battle at once. 8.3% appreciated Onyankopon’s sweet fighter pilot moves, and 5.2% liked seeing the Eldian evacuees getting a glimmer of hope.

Finally, shoutouts to the handful of people whose favourite moment was Pieck bounding out with the bombs like a happy dog with sausage links.

This chapter was pure adrenaline. The Alliance's entrance in the plane was seriously badass. I can't wait for 135!!

Reiner with the Buddha's Palm. Respect!

I love how Levi is still so focused on killing Monke. Avenge your husband, sweetie.

Armin is finally grabbing Eren by the collar again and I like that. Safe to assume we're going to see more of the Eren vs Armin showdown now. Armin delivered a truly powerful line, "Which part of you is free" and I'm curious how Eren will respond to that

Reiner's transformation is probably my favourite one, and seeing the rest of the alliance jumping down in a tense but at the same time epic scene was priceless.

It was impossible to choose what part of the plane scene was the best, it was *chef's kiss* all of it.

PIECK TRANSFORMED AND GOT THE BOMBS IN THE CART’S MOUTH WITHOUT BLOWING THEM UP. IS THIS UNREALISTIC BASED ON THE WORLD’S RULES TO YOU? 1,602 Responses

Chekhov’s bombs are now in the hands, er, mouth, of Pieck Finger, via grabbing them from the plane and transforming into a titan while holding them. About half of fans had no issue with this, seeing that titan transformations are just summoning flesh around you. 17.5% did think the transformation explosion should have detonated them, and 30% are just wondering how she also managed to perfectly unravel the bombs midair.

Bold of you to imply Isayama cares about physics after the wet gun and the plane being ready in 5 minut... 1 hour excuse me.

Bombs are detonated through fire reacting to the gunpowder right? Do we know that the Titan's 'explosions' are made from fire?

Pieck has probably done this many times before, the cart titan is mainly used as a war mule after all.

She's just very very gentle ok ?

Cart titan has experienced in carrying things in different situations and the explosives shown could be improvised. Also, these types are initiated with fire and will not explode with any impact occurred.

I assumed that she let go of the bombs, transformed, then caught them. This does not bother me in the slightest.

I think it's kinda like Eren with the spoon, the objective was holding it, which is why it wan't damaged when Hanji noticed it. Same thing with Pieck and the explosives.

Rule of Cool, doesn't matter either way to me.

No, Cart Titan is especially a strange titan to begin with and a use for delicate and ambushing situations(read the chapters where Pieck transport Bertold in a barrel before the attack on Paradise)

It's kinda unrealistic, but falling from 50 meters with all your body burned and survive is way worse.

WAS THIS THE START OF REINER’S HELOS MOMENT? 1,615 Responses

Reiner being Helos has been a popular theory for a while, and now he seems to be acting as a hero to those left at Fort Salta. 54.4% believe this is the start of Reiner embodying the idea of Helos, while 12.9% are holding out for if he kills Eren. 27.9% don’t believe Reiner to be connected to Helos in any way.

Appeared as a small hope

Are people really still going on about Helos?

can he kill Eren? If he can, then hes Helos

H E L O S

What is Helos

Half-Eldian, half-Marleyan -- he represents so much more than Helos ever did.

He could be Helos, but I think Armin will be the one to save humanity, but Reiner can join him

I dont really like the whole X is helos thing, reiner definately is acting the part of the hero but i think its more redemption for reiner than trying to be some kimd of savior of humanity and i think that fots his character better.

The real "Helos" is not just Reiner, but the whole alliance.

He going to be Helos not when he kills Eren, but when he makes a sacrifice of some sorts.

He's not Helos, and will never be, but he is definitely a big hope

Who is Helos

Reiner does not deserve to be a ‘Helos’

HELL YEAH REINER

He'll do something sick

Helos was a fake hero, just a mask. Their is no comparison with Reiner's journey to maturity..

I won’t compare him to Helos. But this is sure a hero moment

Captain Suicide to the rescue

I think he’s helos but it’s gonna be armin who saves the day

I’m not sure if he’ll be helos but he’s still going to be essential to the story

Helos was a hollow and fake historical figure made up to push the "Eldians are evil" narrative. Reiner, on the other hand, is someone who was raised with a hatred for Eldians and committed atrocities because of it, but came to face his past actions and save the world as a true hero. Reiner isn't Helos, he's so much better than that.

WITH THE BEAST TITAN THROWING AT THE PLANE AND SKYDIVERS INDISCRIMINATELY, IT SEEMS LIKE EREN IS OK WITH KILLING ANY OF HIS FRIENDS. THOUGHTS? 1,630 Responses

The question of how far Eren would go to achieve his goal of freedom has plagued the community for a while, and this chapter seemingly confirmed his willingness to even kill his friends, as seen by the deadly projectiles that the alliance only narrowly avoided. 61.8% of respondents aren’t surprised by this, despite Armin and Mikasa, who were in the line of fire, being voted as very unlikely for Eren to willingly kill last month. While 16.6% were indeed shocked by this, 19.1% believe this can be explained away by Eren knowing his friends aren’t in any serious danger.

Eren has to kill everybody, the rest of the world and if they don't stop even the alliance. Otherwise this story will be worse then Game of Thrones Season 8.

Scared that eren is fine with killing the friends he wants to protect

ARMIN SEEMS TO RECALL THE 112 CONVERSATION WHEN HE SAYS HE WANTS TO ASK EREN ONE MORE QUESTION HE WON’T LIKE, “WHAT ABOUT YOU IS FREE”. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 1,636 Responses

Eren’s quest for freedom and Armin’s quest for understanding come to a head in this chapter’s cliffhanger question from the latter: “What about you is free?” More of you think he is still in the reasoning stage (37%) than those who think the question was an affirmation of his determination to say goodbye to his old friend (30.1%). Some of you think the callback to chapter 112 is indicative of Armin believing Eren to be controlled in some way (27.6%).

Armin is trying to manipulate Eren like what he did with Berthold but I think he will 100% fail .

Armin is really being built up here for an amazing redemption. These last three chapters we've seen him carefully being inserted into the pivotal role in the series just like in RtS. I'm 90% confident the biggest plot twist of the entire series is coming, and Armin is the catalyst as he's always been for every amazing moment in the show prior to chapter 91. I think the ending is going to blow everyone out of the water, and that everyone predicting a side to win is missing entirely how the manga will end.

I'm so happy to see that Armin is basically done coddling Erin. He's ready to take him out, especially since he's become the commander

in line with what kenny ackerman said, armin thinks eren is a slave of his own obsession.

Please stop blaming Eren for everything, he needs Help. It makes me sad to see Eren has to face his best friends, and I dont like Armins way of confronting him, it looks like Armin has erased his memory of his best friend…

He's a fucking clown, I can't stand his shit. Still selfishly trying to talk Eren out of it when he's causing the fucking apocalypse and asserted many times that no, he won't stop. Who cares about Eren's vision of freedom when he's killing millions of people ? Just nuke him, you're supposed to be the colossal titan ffs

Their ideas clash at the moment. However, Armin still believes that his friend behaves unnaturally and won't let go until he discovers the truth.

we have continuously witnessed Eren being a hypocrite it makes perfect sense why he would say that

We need Armin's POV to know if he's now fully prepared to kill Eren or not

What I think is that armin might think that eren is being controlled by the attack Titan

Perhaps to get a rise or reaction out of him? Or just a cool way to introduce himself to the conflict!

that seashell fucker joke of a commander still wants to talk rather than kill him when Eren repeatedly made it clear that he won't ever stop the rumbling.

Hoping to see how this ideological conflict between Eren and Armin will end.

THIS CHAPTER HAS AN EMPHASIS ON THE SURVIVAL OF CHILDREN. WHICH ONES DO YOU SEE SURVIVING THIS CONFLICT? 1,649 Responses

This chapter’s repeated motif of humans coming together to save children, especially infants, has been noticed by many. As for what it means for the survival of the ones in this chapter, the majority of readers believe Historia’s child is in the clear (81.4%). The children at the fort appear to have much less of a chance (32.8%), but are believed to be comparatively less doomed than the baby at the cliff (26.1%). On the bright side, only about a hundred of you (7.6%) think they will all perish.

Great chapter showing the contrast between a child being born in Paradis and a child dying on the other side of the world.

Sometimes people will trample each other to escape (as we've seen in Marley), but sometimes through the mindless fear people try and protect a tiny helpless thing for a few moments. Whether the baby lives or not it was amazing imagery.

The crowd trying to save the baby from the cliff as the Wall Titans arrived was very dark, but I still think Ymir's daughters eating their own mother is still the darkest moment in the series involving the children, while the runner-up is Faye's death.

we all theorized that the final panel was Historia's child but maybe it's the baby at the cliff. Eren might actually win and destroy the world, then through the wreckage he approaches the child and picks it up and tells it that's it's free

Cliff baby is toast

While the Rumbling is still as horrible as ever, this time it didn't feel quite as hopeless as when we saw Ramzi and his brother. The baby lifting scene was chilling and yet strangely inspiring.

damn bruh seriously the poor kids

MANY CHARACTERS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TAKING ON THE BLAME FOR THE CURRENT SITUATION, INSTEAD OF POINTING TO EREN. DOES ISAYAMA WANT THE WORLD TO BE AT FAULT INSTEAD OF EREN? 1,636 Responses

With the story presenting us a complicated situation, does Isayama’s approach lead to the wrong conclusions? Almost 70% of fans believe that he wants us to view both parties as at fault for the current situation. About 17% believe the hatred of the world is squarely to blame, while 8.3% think it all lands on Eren for his own actions. 5.3% think Isayama is just really clumsy with his messaging.

this chapter makes you realise that eren is actually at fault. I used to make more excuses for him, but this chapter really sealed the deal for me atleast. No one deserves this pain. It is not marley vs eldians anymore it is everyone vs Eren.

While it makes sense for them to feel regret, I still disagree that its their fault. Like look at Grisha's parents, they didnt do any wrong to deserve this. They just lived their life the way they were told to. Thats why i dislike the argumentations. Most people just were forced to hate someone they never met, so I dont this like the speech that much.

i think isayama states that the alliance is at fault too because they decided to still fight on eren's side until it was already too late and he activated the rumbling. not because they are killing people directly.

while I think that Eren is the main culprit of the Rumbling, true peace cannot be reached if everyone acts all high and mighty ""well, it wasn't MY fault"". After all this, the whole world has to be humble and willing to work together, otherwise it has all been for nothing.

I find it weird everyone (SC, warriors, the world) is blaming themselves for everything and readers are using their pre-death laments as a confirmation that Eren is right/justified. I don't like Eren being portrayed just like the product of his context, especially because he himself deny it and many chapters exist to reforce that (100, 121, 123, 130, 131, etc). I feel nobody is treating Eren as an individual, but as a force of nature coming to punish humanity for their sins. It's uncomfortable, because he's just a person like everybody else and not a god even if he has some god-like powers.

I don’t think the narrative is on eren side, but it also doesn’t absolve the rest of the world, the narrative shows that both sides have good and bad people, innocent and guilty, how each decision affect each character, and what they feel about it all. This story is about a cycle of hate, eldia used titan power to attack the world, then the world revolted and decided to attack eldia, now eldia (eren) attacks the world again, cycles have no end unless someone interrupts it, the question is; What is the most effective way to end this cycle?

Eren already lost. He wanted protect people on Paradis, his friends and Historia but it looks like his actions only have created more sadness and misery. A lot of people on the island died when the walls collapsed and now they most likely will have a civil war. Two of his closest friends are already dead and the rest feels depressed and miserable. The things for Historia don't look good either. Even if he fully rumbles the world, he will never really save anyone.

I think genocide is the solution to stop Racism

AS THE ALLIANCE PREPARES TO FIGHT EREN, ONYANKOPON IS MAKING AN EMERGENCY LANDING WITH THE PLANE. HOW WILL THIS GO? 1,638 Responses

Onyankopon flew the alliance where they needed to go, but the plane’s in trouble and he might be as well! 44.5% think he’s going to die or has already died in a crash, 41.3% think he’ll land with injuries, and 14.2% think he’ll be a-ok and join the onlookers for the battle.

Onyankopon is probably dead but I really hope he’s not.

WHO DO YOU SEE DYING BEFORE THE MANGA ENDS? 1,602 Responses

Going into the final battle, it’s useful to have some data on everybody’s predictions, as well as a follow-up to the same question that was asked for the chapter 127 poll, back in March. The characters who were voted more likely to die than survive are led by Zeke, who has a clear majority (78.1%), followed by Connie (59.8%), Onyankopon (59.2%), Levi (57.5%) and Eren (54.6%). Coming close, but still more likely to survive according to voters, is Pieck (48.9%), Reiner (47.9%) and Yelena (44.9%). Gabi (11.5%), Falco (15.1%), Armin (16.2%) and Historia (17.4%) are expected to make it till the end.

Interestingly, as we approach the end, every single character who was present in the March poll has increased in perceived likelihood of dying. Except for one, Yelena, who dropped 6.6% in votes, perhaps due to her injury rendering her a more sidelined and subdued character. The characters that the fandom changed their mind on the most are Levi (+39.1%), Onyankopon (+37.3%) and Connie (+23.8%). The characters that have remained relatively unchanged include Gabi (+3.5%), Jean (+1%) and Kiyomi (+1%).

if he kills Jean without giving him anything important in the whole arc I'm going feral.

I really hope there’ll be no casualties to any of my favorite characters

IM FUCKING SCARED TO SEE LEVI DIE

i hope reiner didn't die untill the last chap

I sadly think everyone will die besides the main three and levi since he’s an ackerman.

ARMIN, SON, PLEASE DON'T DIE. YOU'RE THE MOST PRECIOUS LITTLE BUNDLE OF HOPE. PLEASE DON'T DIE!! 😭

WE’RE STEALING THIS ONE FROM THE WIKI. ARE YOU MORE EXCITED FOR CHAPTER 135 OR THE SEASON 4 ANIME PREMIERE NEXT MONTH? 1,661 Responses

Monthly waits between chapters are rough, but so are the years between seasons! Luckily we have both with the next chapter and the Final Season coming out within days of each other. 57.9% are more excited for the next chapter following the pretty popular 134, and 42.1% are more excited for the anime to kick off.

FINAL SEASON HYPE LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO

Can't wait to see what will happen 135 and beyond!

I am overall completely hooked on the manga chapters, and I love Eren’s characteristic traits and mental strength. I am really excited on the final season.

can't wait for the final season!! It's going to be EPIC

Super emotional, everything seems to be leading to a tragic crescendo and all of this is going to look bonkers if MAPPA adapts it well for the final season

Incrediblesuperawesomethebestimsohypedineedchapter135

Cant wait for the next chapter and the final season!!

DESCRIBE THE CHAPTER IN ONE WORD 1,181 Responses

The top 5 words used to describe the chapter this month are below. As opposed to the usual superlatives as well as a resurfacing of pain, the standout this month is monke, thanks to Zeke’s return. We seem to be fully done with the recipe shenanigans after a few months.

Amazing [60] Monke [38] Epic [36] Pain [33] Awesome [31]

ISAYAMA RECENTLY ESTIMATED THERE IS 1-2% LEFT OF THE STORY. WHAT CHAPTER DO YOU THINK THE MANGA WILL END AT? 1,657 Responses

At the statue unveiling on November 7th, Isayama dropped another clue in the ever evolving mystery of when this series will end. His new estimate of 1-2% would translate into two more chapters (!). That estimate did little to dissuade our fandom from our most popular choice of 138.

Between Isayama's comments and this chapter, I'm really afraid there's 1 volume left and Isayama might rush everything, thus giving a shitty ending for everyone.

I really hope it doesn’t end at 135, there’s no way Isayama can muster a proper conclusion out of that unless it was all a dream or some dumb shit.

I'm confused as to how there is 1-2% left. Is Isayama really going to make Eren a cold-blooded killer after all the character development, I wonder. Honestly, I constantly feel like it's going to fast and that there are some things that need to go into more detail.

I fear the ending could feel too rushed if it really ends in ~4 chapters from now.

I'm glad we're closer to the ending. I just want to leave this series behind me and never look back again.

idk but i just dont want it to end too fast😭😭😭

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,657 Responses

The countdown clock is ticking away but there are still plot points to be completed and mysteries to be solved. To kick off what is likely the final volume of this series, nearly half of us hope the focus next month is The Alliance vs Eren (45%). In second place with slightly over 1/5 of the fandom, is interest in Eren POV (21.7%). Falco’s Flying Titan (9.2%), Historia (9.1%) and Zeke (8.1%) fill out the remainder of the pie with the smallest fraction (5.6%) wanting to know what is up with OG Ymir.

I still want to see Eren redeemed and saved, as that felt teased too much. Eren vs Zeke also felt teased too much. I also wanted to see Historia in action again. And how will Annie and Falco fit into the equation? And what of the titan powers? And the aftermath?

Kinda want to see this conversation between Eren and Armin more than anything

I want to see more Mikasa action.

i want armin to shift into the colossal titan and give spider-eren a big smooch on the lips

I personally would like to see Historia's pov because we still haven't gotten it and I want to know if Zeke is actually dead or not

I want to see more of Historia

v excited to see Zeke again, same w historia, hope eren pov is soon, liked seeing more of the world

Has Hajime forgotten Riko or will she have an interesting role in this ending? Can she be the child's mother in the end?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PLATFORMS DO YOU USE TO DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,562 Responses

It’s official, after months of steady growth since we allowed multiple social media to be chosen, twitter has finally dethroned reddit on the polls as the most popular platform to discuss SNK. The more distant third place goes to real life, which managed to overtake discord again after falling behind a little last month. And 38 snapchatters now! Are you multiplying?!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 479 Responses

this chapter got me fucked up.

Isayama: Hold my plum wine.

I haven’t seen anyone talk about it yet but in one of the manga panel you can see levi holding his sword in his way as if he had all his fingers back. So I think he does.

Save for chapters 130-131, the manga has been noticeably become underwhelming since 124. Like I implied above, there are many hints that this manga is going to have a GOT season 8 tier ending. Eren will be defeated and all the hate in the world will magically disappear. There will be some sort of unity between Marley and Cringevengers that brings peace to the world even though it shouldn't realistically be possible. And lastly, that baby near the cliff will end up living at the last moment and will end up being the baby from the final panel. "You are free", most likely being held by Armin or Reiner.

Go get him, Armin!

ALLIANCE HAS ME SO HYPED BYE

I wish it were longer but no thoughts my heart is heavy

I know Eren wants to destroy the world but HOLY FUCK.

I just, really hope that baby will be ok

I LOVED EVERY PANEL !!!!! I WAS FILLED WITH EMOTIONS WHILST READING 😭😭😭

I’m just really excited to see what’s gonna happen on the next chapter because everything is really chaotic and I’m just curious what’s the ending really like after years of making up theories and stories in my head.

I’m just so ready to see what’s really going on with Eren and which side will win. Also Armin is amazing in this chapter and his last question to Eren in this chapter gave me chills

I think Isayama is trying too hard to excuse Eren. Despite everything, he exterminted humanity instead of saving it. Other have gone trhough worst and would never have gone that far.

I’m not sure how to word it for English isn’t my first language, but it’s kinda sad to see a fictional world realize their mistakes/bad things they’ve done and how hatred can affect things

is the baby in the final panel (the « you’re free » one) the one that was saved or historias??? 😳

I'm so tired.

I think it will be more clear if we got eren pov sooner

I think that it doesn't make any sense if Isayama gave us Historia in labor for nothing. I want to know more about her and her baby, how have they been all these times after the squad left the island and before the rumbling. And Zeke, too. We haven't seen him for a while so i'm glad that he's back, but i think he's under Eren's control now. The chapter is kinda short for me. It's gonna perfect if we have more scenes of Historia and her baby, or at least Zeke's POV.

I think that we will have a lot of deaths in the next chapter

I think the current titan shifters will die. And then it will be reborn by historia's child. In short, the titan shifting powers won't end

I think this will end bittersweet at best

I think what Eren will do when seeing his friends are fighting him. Does him will hurt them back

Big fan of seeing Historia again, and that baby being held up is a very chilling image we haven’t seen the likes of for a few months.

I think with all the hype, it still was a setup chapter and I think the last 4-6 chapters will be monstrous and very bitter sweet.

I think zeke is there but only partially controlled, but the titan is formed by warhammer capability

I thought it was a very good chapter to end the volume off of. Now I expect the next 4 final chapters to be amazing Isyama writing we are use too.

I thought that it was interesting because we got to see zeke again and the alliance going to try to save eren and to fight again

I thought that that eren will go back to mikasa

I want a goodass ending

Rumbling hits Hiruzu but the base is still there? That can't happening at the same time.

SADDDDD

i have no idea I just stressed out with this chapter.

Safe pregnancy for Historia

THAT FUCKING MONKEY 🐒

the art is amazing but i'd like to see more dialogue

so much happened in a single chapter, i can't believe we're reaching the end

I've been here since 2013, and it's finally at the final volume, AND I'M NOT READY! ALL HAIL ELDIA! ALL HAIL EREN!

Isayama's art keeps evolving every month, it was live watching anime key frames before any color was applied.

it made me cry so much i hope it will have a happy ending

It was a rollercoaster of hype and regret lmao

yams says fuck dem kids

Can’t wait to see this animated

It was awful. All those big questions without answer... And I hate what he did with Hisu. I hate it as a woman.

It was cool like always hope isayama feels good like we do

It was cool, but it had some cheesy moments. Does the title suggest that History is in despair too? Is she having complications in her labor or is feeling guilty because of the rumbling? Or both?

It was cruel, it made me uncomfortable, I don't understand Isayama's joy in drawing scenes of suffering without a reason. And Historia, wow, I don't even know what to say, I still don't understand why she's pregnant.

wondering why she’s giving birth 2-3 months earlier, and why she lied to the mps. Unless it’s a premature birth but I doubt it.

astonishing, astounding, surprising, bewildering, stunning, staggering, shocking, startling, stupefying, breathtaking, perplexing, confounding, dismaying, disconcerting, shattering.

At last the end is near, but despite that the ending is not clear, it can end in so many ways but I don't think Isayama will disappoints us.

Avengers will beat the bad guy.

The biggest victims are always innocent children and that's the darkest and saddest part for me.

Great setup for the final battle, and that cliff scene broke me.

i tilt with helos theories :)

Armin and company, except Mikasa, are NOW ready to fight Eren to the death. Eren is also prepare to finish what he started, no matter who dies. Final result could go either way as Falco, Gabi, and Annie will come eventually, and their arrival will turn the tide one way or the other.

I hope armin and the gang can get through to eren :(

I hope eren kills them all

i hope eren win, to show the consequence of hatred

I just don’t care anymore

I just dont want that if the alliance wins, the marleyans and other races forgive eldia because that does not even make any type of sense

If it somehow wasn't clear before, this manga's message is about peace. It is NOT some n*zi propaganda, and it never has been. This chapter perfectly conveyed that.

Confusing but interesting alliance is making me angry they don’t understand Eren still think he’s being controlled

When a host for one of the Nine Titans dies without being devoured, their powers are transferred to an Eldian child through Paths. If one, some or all of the Nine Titan holders die during the current battle, would it be possible that the newborn, which is also of royal blood, inherits the Titan power?

Death Flags for Armin give me joy…

Why are men so afraid of letting lesbians be lesbians

did eren awake? will the wall titam fall off the cliff because it sweeps the area there? i always think about this, does eren have any secret plans behind this rumble? lol maybe, find a path tree and destroy it? lmao

downer chapter, I expected something better for the chapter where we see the final audio at last

Eren already won.

Eren and the rumbling is reminding me of Shin Godzilla

Eren best character

Eren goat, hisu goat

Eren holding his and historias baby in final panel seems more and more likely

EREN IS 100% THE FATHER AFTER THIS CHAPTER, IT'S NO LONGER EVEN A DEBATE

EreHisu would ruin the series

Eren, please stop the Fucking rumblimg. You killed A lot of innocent people.

Eren's eaten Zeke, and that's why he can form and control a beast titan. Sorry Levi, the only person that your gonna beat up is Eren yet again.

eren’s face with this dino titan just creeps me the fuck out, and i don’t look forward to the transformation being animated.

It was definitely surprising for me when I saw historia while some people predict she will die when giving birth although that could be a possibility I see her dying due to either old age or somehow her inheriting the beast titan since the Ymir curse exists

It was epic!

It was great but can we see eren and Mikasa moments in the upcoming chapters before the manga ends and also show some light on how to cure ymir's curse and stuffs

It was great to see Historia again.

It was necessary to show all the chaos Eren is doing, and i'm so excited to see the Alliance fight him!

It was really good set up for 135

all the violence !! Like was this even necessary ?? No ! Too much violence just "kills" the whole thing ! Damn it was just awful and a waste of time to read for me !

This is probably going to be the most disturbing episode in the show's history once it gets animated, even if it's heavily censored. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up having to put a disclaimer at the beginning as well. I can already see it now, God this is going to be insane...

This is the first chapter that has really felt like the end REALLY is here. The gang is engaged in battle with Eren, there is no turning back from this point. They will either succeed, or perish in the attempt.

This story used to have the character growth and the plot at the center of the focus. I'm sad that it is all blown away in favor of cheap spectacle.

This won't end well, for anyone. I know Isayama has something significant planned for Historia's baby (my pet theory is that all the titans will die without heirs, be recombined with OG Ymir, and then she can finally be reborn and GTFO of PATHS), but thanks, I hate it.

Armin already grew up. he was from a coward child and now he is a brave man. i wanna cry

Geez, I hope the alliance can stop eren

This is all a series of bad plot choices falling like domino. Are things gonna work out once we get to final revelations? Probably. Is it gonna feel earned? At this point I doubt it. I miss the passion in this story. Char. develp. has never been the finest but they've always been human. Historia's a uterus. Eren just cares about his freedom. Dialogue falls flat as if Isayama didn't believe in what he writes and he's trying so hard to force feed the reader. If the rumbling is the final stop why was half of this necessary when it gave no closure to any character? But if it isn't, we deserved a real build up of events.

Zeke finally back but we still didn't know if he being controlled or willingly

Zeke is not being controlled and instead helping his brother, Eren is going to win and killed some of his friends, Levi is going to survive, Historia is going to survive with her baby and showed up at the final chapter. That's all I'm sure at this point. Mark my words.

it was sad

It was so cool but very chaotic I feel like I need a flashback or something or a tiny break.

It was so depressing, I can't imagine how Isayama would end this manga in only 1-2 chapters, it definitely need more

Omg this chaoter make me cry and relived, im just relieved that marleyan know they are wrong, that paradis not a devil blooded

one of the best chapters

Poor pacing and seems like a lot of unnecessary convolutions to the overall message

Pure masterpiece! Thanks Isayama

The chapter is fine but ,The story is leading to an obvious ending .I want to be wrong about that . I want a satisfying end . But part of knows that is not possible , let's watch isayama handle this shitshow he created.

The chapter leaves you with just the right question.

ERREEHH REINEERR!!???

Even if I don't want many people to die, I think that everyone will die, humanity will go extinct :(

Ever since 133, it's two chapters which have amazing elements but ultimately falls off as dissapointing. The plot needs to move forward. I thought we were going to have Bertholttalk and Ackertalk. 132 was such a masterpiece of a chapter that it becomes a let down.

Everyone told Eren early on that he'd have to abandon his humanity to make a difference, to save Paradis- especially Armin. Regardless of whose on which side, its ironic that now Armin is the one who can't accept this.

Excitement😎

There are two panels where Levi and mikasa are showing a shocked expression, idk if it’s just coincidence but can this possibly be relating to the Ackerman instinct?

This chapter is amazing good job isayama thx for a another masterpiece chapter

This chapter is really intense. Also, I wish I could've seen Zeke's POV.

Waiting for royal blooded Armin

was good until it spoke

We miss you, Hange, fly high our angel

We're finally at the final showdown boys and girls

We're truly at the beginning of the end for my favorite anime/manga series, huh?

What a series!

What happens with Yelena when either Falco or Annie transforms on the ship? Kiyomi said she‘s ready to sink with it but Yelena?

i hope eren isn't the father

What’s up to come seems uncertain.

Where is Ymir

falco or annie is definitely gna come flying in sooner or later

I really hope we don’t get a peace treaty ending.

I really hope we get a good ending... not happy necesarily....but good.....

I really just don’t care anymore. Yet I come back for more every time. Curse my completionism nature.

I really liked it. Definitely worth the month wait.

I really love the detail from this chapter and my favourite was when seeing Isayama drawing all those colossal titans and those people being crush. That's so amazing.

The end is near. I think we'll see Eren's next (final) POV in the final chapter.

Very cinematic, impressive setup/start to the alliance vs Eren fight

Very devastating

WHY is historia pregnant? (idc about father) Please give us the real answer yams! It was nice to see final audio. I loved Armin’s final comments and can’t wait to see the EMA confrontation.

Wonderful chapter, it's nice seeing another of Armin's plans. Reiner decking the beast titan was hype. The babies and the rumbling were a great juxtaposition too.

Would love to see if eren is really being controlled or if he’s willingly doing this to be stopped and perhaps killed?

I still wanna hope Hänge IS alive

i still wanna know how the hell eren's titan moves forward. the only thing i can imagine is some of the big bois carrying him. i can't get over it

I suffer

#snk poll #snk polls #snk chapter 134 #snk 134 #snk poll results

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hihellogoodbyebruh · 4 years

Text

As Long as I’m Here, As Long as You Love Me

Pairing: Chris Evans x Black!Plus-size!OC

Summary: Chris is ready to take their relationship to the next level. Tatiana has her reservations.

Warning(s): Umm, discussions on racism and fatphobia. Slight angst, but a happy fluffy ending.

Word count: 1,454

Author’s Note: I wrote this like last year. Finally decided to post it. Writers and their insecurities right? No? Just me? Fair. I got struck by the thought about how a regular Black fat girl with a 9 to 5 might approach being in a relationship with a megastar. I hope y’all enjoy it :)

Tatiana was beyond relieved that her work day was finally over. The restaurant she managed was busier than normal. Damn playoff games kept the place packed, but she was so happy she wasn’t the closer that night. She was able to leave at a respectable 10pm which was good because Chris had sent her a cryptic message in the middle of her shift. He was finally back from finishing a press tour and she was happy they would be getting some one on one time after weeks apart.

“Have some exciting news. Can’t wait for you to get home. Love you baby girl.”

Tati didn’t really have a clue what the exciting news was. If she had to guess, she’d think he booked a vacation for them. He always talked about how he just wanted to take her away with him to see the world. She kind of hoped he didn’t though because while she loved his surprises, she needed to be able to give her job enough notice.

When she made it to her home, she saw his car parked in the driveway. They didn’t technically live together, but she gave him a key to her home once they got serious. He was always so busy with movie shoots, promotional shoots, and press tours that she wanted him to be able to come and go as needed. Her life as Assistant General Manager kept her working 10 hour days, so sometimes they didn’t see each other. It was hard work dating a celebrity, but Christopher Robert Evans was absolutely worth it.

Dodger’s paws were heard moving across the hardwood floors as she opened the front door. She was greeted by his adorable face as he licked at her and tried jumping on her.

“Oh that’s a good boy. You missed me? I missed you! You’re the goodest boy there ever was.” She told him in a baby voice while petting him and bending down to hug his warm furry body.

After playing with Dodger for a minute, he scurried off and she took that as a sign to find her man. She didn’t have to look far because the glow from the living room television drew her into the room. A peak over the large couch showed Chris laying horizontally, head resting on the arm as his chest moved with the shallow breaths he took while he slept.

Tati would never get over how beautiful of a man he was. She couldn’t help staring at him for a bit as she walked around the couch. His “smedium” shirt as she liked to call it, had lifted up slightly so his v-line and abs were showing. She set her purse on the little coffee table in front and gingerly sat on the space left on the couch.

“Baaaabbyyyyy, I’m hoooommeee.” She quietly sang, her fingers dancing over his exposed skin and under his shirt as she felt on his chest. “Wake up handsome.” She dug her fingers into his side to tickle him and he sat up out of his sleep.

“What the hell?” He blinked several times as the sleepy haze dissolved and a bright smile appeared on his face when he realized she was there. “Welcome home baby.” He leaned closer to greet her with a kiss.

“Mmm. Do I get to know the exciting news now or do I have to wait?” She asked, desperate to know what the secret was.

He chuckled, placing one of his legs on the floor and pulling her between his legs. “You truly have zero patience. You don’t want to get settled in first? Eat dinner? Have a drink?” He nibbled on her neck, teasing her. “Welcome home sex?”

Her neck fell to the side on instinct, before she collected herself and playfully mushed his head away from her. “Nuh uh. You aint about to distract me. We will get to all of that after. Tell me your secret, Evans.”

The smile on his face was infectious. “I was asked to present at the Golden Globes and I think it’s the perfect place to make our relationship public.”

The silence between them following his statement spoke volumes about her discomfort regarding his request. They had been dating for almost a year away from the public eye. He was a private guy and she had no interest in becoming paparazzi fodder for what she believed would just be a quick hook up with a hot actor. She never thought she’d actually be in a relationship with him. He was just supposed to be a fun anecdote she told her disbelieving grandchildren in the future about the one time grandma had sex with a famous Hollywood star.

“I have my stylist on stand by for whichever designer has the dress you love most. Your hair, makeup...everything will be taken care of babe.” He added, trying to sweeten the pot.

“Chris…” She began, biting her lip as she stopped to get her thoughts together. His hand reached out and grasped hers, his thumb rubbing soothing circles onto her palm.

“Talk to me. I love you. I’m not saying I’m going to be posting you on Twitter every day because I’ve always been private about my personal life, but I want you to attend red carpets and other events with me. I want to introduce you to others as my woman out in public. I’m ready. Are you really not?” Chris asked, his eyes imploring her for an honest answer. Of course she had to go and fall in love with a man that could see through your very soul with one look.

“I love you too. I want to do all those things with you. I just want you to understand what that would mean for us. You’re active enough on Twitter to understand how wild social media can be these days. I’ll never get rid of it because it can be a source of such joy and humor. I’ve built myself a great social media community. Those acrylic nail memes starring you and then the rest of your Avengers co-stars? A highlight. I remember when they took off.” A smile formed on her lips as she thought on the trending topic. She still has some of those memes saved on her phone.

“But people can also be horrible, disgusting and downright vile when they can hide behind a computer screen. I’m a non famous, fat, Black woman dating one of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors. For many people, you are the superior Chris of all Hollywood Chrises. By going public, I am opening myself up to a world of abuse just because I ‘dared’ date their white male hero.”

“I don’t give a fuck about what they think.” He interjected, ready to go on a rant but she cut him off.

“I know you don’t. I know. If I had any doubt, we wouldn’t be here right now. And I’m not letting some racist assholes keep me from living my life how I want. What I am saying to you is that there will be bad days. I will let the comments get to me. The comments will even get to you sometimes. I’ve been a fangirl. Not the nasty ones, but I’ve seen how they operate. Eventually it will die down some, but it won’t ever completely go away. This new and fresh information is going to have the fans and even the press going wild. It’s because I know how much you respect your privacy that I just want you to be sure.”

He cupped her face in both his hands and looked her in the eyes. All he could think about was how much he loved her, how much he wanted to take care of her for the rest of their lives. But he knew he had to go one step at a time with her or she’d bolt. He loved her so much that he could be patient with her.

“It may get rough, but I’m prepared to go through it all for you and with you. We can map out a whole plan if it will make you feel more assured. I’m in this for the long haul. You’re everything to me.” He leaned in to press his lips against hers, his thumbs rubbing her cheeks as he held her face. He kissed her with a softness that was full of tenderness and love. It may have been one of the most sensual kisses she ever experienced. She felt all the love he had for her and she hoped he could feel how much she loved him in return.

She knew as long as they had each other, they would be okay.

#chris evans #black!reader #black!oc #plus size oc #chris evans x plus size oc #chris evans x black!reader #chris evans x black!oc #chris evans x plus size reader #hhgbyebruh fics

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sero-sphere · 4 years

Text

Fucked Up Love ‘Triangle’

so, i started working on this thing back in april ( hence bakugous birthday and the cherry blossoms ) it just took me a while to edit it. srry

anyways, this is like so self indulgent but w.e, still figured id share!

(f reader x kami x sero, seroxmina) it aint a threesome tho

Word count: 3k

Warnings: Slight angst, finger banging, weed, idk im bad at tagging (also were saying everyone is aged up so y’all can relax. like you were so innocent in h.s)

You were currently huddled up on the hammock with your favorite blanket, as Kaminari gently pushed you back and forth. There was music playing in the background, and a video game that had long been forgotten still displayed on the T.V. It was Friday night, and as usual, you and your friends were all in Seros room smoking together. Bakugou, and Kirishima had already retired to their rooms for the night, so it left just you, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina. The relaxing atmosphere was abruptly interrupted by Mina, who jumped up and startled everyone.

"BITCH, don't forget we’re getting our nails done tomorrow! I'm going to head back to take off my nail polish so it’s easier for them. They always claim they don’t charge extra for that, but I swear I think they do.”

"Ok! Text me!!! I probably will need a wakeup call after tonight!"

"Oh, I bet you will!" Kaminari said with a giggle.

"Hush, I'll see you tomorrow cutie!" You said to Mina with a wink. You couldn’t even bat an eyelash before she was skipping down the hall, off to her room for the night.

"Why don’t you call me cutie?" Kaminari said as he got off from his position on the floor, and motioned for Sero to slide over, so he could claim Mina’s old spot on the bed.

"Because dipshit seems to suit you…"

"Well she’s not wrong" Sero added, laughing just as hard as you were.

Kaminari leaned back and sighed. “Whatever, I won’t be such a dipshit after my next study sesh with Yaoyorozu….when was that again?”

“Tomorrow morning……she literally just texted you like an hour ago to make sure you wouldn’t forget? You’re not helping your case man.” Sero replied as he lit up another blunt and passed it to Kaminari.

“Oh fuck! You’re right dude. I’m good for tonight I guess, I should head back so that way I don’t oversleep tomorrow…I might not make it in time for tea.” Kaminari was sporting his best puppy dog eyes, and pout. He motioned for you to sit down on the bed, and take his spot. He took one last hit, before he passed it to you and left, ( peering around the corner for Aizawa first ) heading to his room for the night, leaving just you, and Sero behind.

You were seated over by him on the bed at this point passing the blunt back and forth. Both of you completely zoned out in your own little worlds. Sero leaned over to grab his water that was on the floor beside you. At first you didn’t really notice how close he was, but as he leaned over you again to put it back, his eyes caught yours. His face was so close, moving closer and closer, until it was like the two of you were moving in slow motion. Your body was just moving on its own at this point, and the next thing you knew you were in the middle of a heated makeout session. His hands started to caress your thighs, and you could feel the ever growing situation happening between his legs, his jeans were growing tighter and tighter. Your mouths were still too preoccupied to speak, and your hands still wandered up and down his body. Your fingers moved from underneath his shirt, back towards the straining bulge in his pants. You felt as his fingers moved your panties to the side, and he started to stroke you.

“You’re already so wet….is this ok?”

You barely managed to mumble back that yes, it was indeed ok, before his mouth was on you again, kissing your neck ever so slowly. You couldn’t tell if it was the weed, or if Sero was really that skilled because not too soon after he got to work, you could feel your body start to tense in pleasure. After you reached your peak you pulled away to speak.

“Thank you Sero…let me…” You reached for the zipper to his jeans when you were both interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Y/N, it's past curfew and I can already smell what you guys have been doing. Go to your room for the night please, and next time you want to indulge in these types of activities, make sure it’s after I've already made my rounds. I’m giving you both the benefit of the doubt by not expelling you.”

------

The next morning you groaned as you heard your phone ringing. You forgot you told Mina you needed a wakeup call.

"Hey. Cutie...dream about me?" You answered as you rolled out of bed to get ready.

"Heh, maybe, you dream about me?"

Your eyes widened, and you pulled your phone away to make sure you heard correctly. The voice on the other end was definitely not Mina.

"What...Kaminari?"

"Yeah! I figured I'd call and wake you up. You and Mina have a thing and I didn’t want you to oversleep...."

"Thanks! I’m glad you called. I’m assuming you got up in time to study today?"

"Yup, bright and early! Oh, and Sero told me what happened last night, you got lucky… "

“Wait Sero told you what happened last night?” You were definitely confused. You hadn’t even had a chance to talk to him about it yet and he had already told Kaminari? With your luck the whole class knew by now.

“Yeah, he said you ended up staying for a while, and Aizwawa caught you two smoking while he was making his rounds.”

You were relieved, maybe he didn’t say anything about it after all. You decided to ask just to be sure. “Oh, yeah…that’s all he said?”

Kaminari giggled. “Mhmm, guess we’ll just have to make sure we have Bakubro’s birthday thing a little later tonight.”

"Oh fuck. I completely forgot about his birthday!"

“Well, I didn’t get him anything yet either. Wanna come with me after you have your nails done with Mina? We can get some ice cream from that place you like on the way back?”

"Are you trying to ask me out on a date Kaminari?"

“Maybe…”

“Took you long enough...”

---

By the time you had made your way down stairs after getting ready Mina was already waiting for you.

“Jeez took you forever!” She gave you a once over before she licked her lips and chirped “Wow, you look cute, whose is all that for?” You shot her a look and bumped your hip into hers, as she grasped your arms, and you both made your way out of the dorms.

“Yeah, I uh…. I'm going out with Kaminari after this, I'm a shit friend and forgot it was Bakugous birthday.” She knew just by your lack of eye contact something more was up.

She decided to test the waters. “So Kaminari huh? I knew you liked him, you were low-key jealous when he asked Ibara out at the sports festival.”

“Uhm, I was not!!” By the blush on your cheeks you both knew you were full of shit. “But in the meantime I have a lot to tell you about last night…..”

“Oh yeah, I heard that Aizawa caught you and Sero. You’re lucky you’re not expelled, girl.”

“Yeah. Well about that……”

You explained everything that had happened to Mina on your walk to the salon. There was a lot to tell. You were so confused. You really had never thought of Sero that way before. Honestly, you really did have a huge crush on Kaminari, but you were sick of him never asking you out. He would flirt with everyone all the time, you were no different, but he never actually asked you out before. You figured there was no way he actually meant it this time. You weren’t sure if it was all just a joke to him.

Sero was hot adamantly, and clearly you didn’t regret what happened between the two of you, it was just that, even after all that, you still didn’t think you liked him...at least not in a romantic sort of way.

“I think I was just horny more than anything else..”

Mina laughed. “Yeah, Seros weed has a tendency to do that. That’s how Bakugou and Kirishima finally got together after all…”

---

You and Mina arrived back at the dorms just in time for Kaminaris' study session to be over. Mina caught you as you licked your lips, watching as Denki winked and headed over to greet you.

“Oh, girl, you got it bad...I'll leave you too it..”

“Mina, I swear I'm never going to tell you anything again!”

Your ‘date’ with Kaminari went well. He walked you to a nearby shopping center, stopping for drinks along the way, and you both successfully managed to find Bakugou something he wouldn't blow up. On the walk back, Kaminari insisted you both take the long route, which ended up being the best choice. It lead straight through a park where you just so happened to catch the last of the blooming cherry blossom trees.

“Oh, Kami! I’ve never seen the cherry blossoms before...this is amazing!!”

“I told you the extra mile would be worth it!”

With him paying for your drink, and the walk through the park, it was actually starting to feel like a real date. Before you got your hopes up, you decided to ask him. You wanted things to be cleared up between the two of you, so you could then figure out the whole Sero thing.

“Uhm, Kami...is this like…. a real date? I know you said it was, but I didn't know if you were joking or not…”

“I know I joke around alot, but this is real...I mean, it's real to me! Why would you think it wasn't?”

“I dont know, you've just never asked me out before...you've asked plenty of girls...just not me…”

“Yeah, I get it. With them it was easy… I didn't really care if they said no or not...with you, I was nervous….”

So Kaminari did indeed ask you on a real date? You tried to push the whole Sero thing to the back of your brain and forget about it for the time being. You were having a great time with your longtime crush and didn’t want to face the aftermath of last night quite yet.

---

That only worked for so long. As you and Kaminari made your way back into the dorms, you both rounded the corner and ran smack dab into Sero. Who looked like he had seen a ghost. Your memories came flooding back and you immediately glanced down at your feet, hoping Kaminari wouldn’t sense the awkwardness lingering in the air.

"Hey dude, whats up?"

"Oh hey whats up?" Sero wouldn't even glance in your direction. He seemed to be ignoring you completely.

“Nothing, me and y/n just went out and got Bakubro some sweet gifts for tonight!”

“Oh...yeah I forgot about Bakugous birthday...I better go find him something...peace” Sero chucked up the peace sign and fucked out of there faster than humanly possible.

“Well that was awkward….I wonder what's up with him?”

“Yeah I wonder” You managed to mumble back.

---

All night at the party Sero was actively trying to avoid you. All you two did was get a little touchy touchy...it's not like friends weren't allowed to do that or anything. Hell, you and Mina even kissed before. Even you and Kirishima. (maybe that was just on the cheek but still) At one point he went out to smoke on the balcony, you took that as your chance.

"Wow, so I must really be a terrible kisser huh? You've been avoiding me like I have covid or something?"

“Yeah sorry...it's just…” He was cut off by the sound of the sliding door opening.

Mina went to follow you out there, but realized Sero was out there, and turned right back around. He waited awhile to make sure there were going to no more interruptions before he continued.

“It’s just... that shouldn't have happened last night and I'm sorry.”

“It's OK. It’s not like I wasn't willing...you don't have to feel guilty or anything. We're friends Sero I don’t want this to change anything....” You moved closer, and he actually looked at you for the first time all night. You could tell he was feeling guilty about something.

“That’s the thing...”

“What's the thing?”

“That we’re friends....”

“Yeah and??”

“And....I have a "friend" who really likes you and I should have been a bro, and fucking respected that. Fuck.” Sero hung his head low, and put out his joint, glancing out into the night sky over the balcony.

“Oh....” The two of you stood there in awkward silence. “Yeah...is that friend Kaminari?”

Sero looked back at you “Maybe….”

“Well I really like him too...we went out today, and I kinda realized he's even sweeter then I thought.”

“Oh, then what about last night?”

“Just because I like him doesn't mean I regret what happened. Ya know? I can't take it back. I get why it sucks for us though....I didn't really think about what he would say if he found out.” Now it was your turn to sulk.

“Yeah me either. I don't want to hurt his feelings, or break up the squad.”

The two of you were too wrapped up in your conversation to hear the door open this time. You both jumped when you heard another voice coming from behind you.

“Damn...break up the squad, this sound pretty serious!” It was Denki, as if right on queue, he joined you both outside.

With a quick glance to Sero, the two of you decided it would be best to tell him together. At first he just stood there silent.

“Denki?” You waved your hand in front of him. With no immediate response, you thought you broke him, your heart fell right into your stomach.

“You like me?....” He finally managed to mumble out.

“Uhm, yes...I went out on a date with you today didn’t I?”

“But, you also made out with Sero…”

“Uhm...Yes.” You dropped your head low, too afraid to look him in the eyes for this.

“And he fingered you?” Denki took a step closer to you at this point.

“Mhmm….” You felt so stupid, right when Kaminari decided to finally ask you out, you had to go and do something dumb like hookup with his friend. You were utterly defeated. Until he stepped closer to you and grabbed your chin, making it so you were looking him in the eyes.

“OK.”

“OK what??” You were confused.

He smiled, and moved a stray strand of hair from your face.“Just OK…”

Sero decided to speak up. “Uhm Denki? I don't think that's a valid response bro..”

Kaminari turned back towards Sero while you still stood there silent, feeling like you were hit with Todorokis ice.

“Well ok, it happened...You guys are just friends and I know you wouldn't try to date her or anything. You like mina anyway…”

“Wait Sero...You like mina???” Hearing that broke you right out of your trance.

“Well now that the cats out of the bag….” Sero sighed.

“What a fucked up love triangle..” Denki muttered.

“More like a square but...” Sero seemed relieved.

You glanced over at Kaminari who seemed a little confused. You leaned in closer to him and whispered “because they have four sides…”

It was like a lightbulb went off inside his head. “Yeah so, like you guys kissed, and finger banged. No big deal.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No...just as long as I get to do that tonight?” He smirked and walked forward to wrap his arms around you in a hug. “ I just want my turn is all…”

You returned his hug, and shouted as Sero was about to go back inside and leave the two of you there alone.

“Wait!!!I have another problem?”

Sero stopped. “What’s that?”

“I kinda already told Mina what we did...but she’s not dumb, she knew I liked Kaminari before i even realized it.”

“OK....” Kaminari chimed in, not following where this was going at all.

“OK, so now I know Sero likes her!....And she knows what we did, I don't want her to think he's like off limits or anything…”

“Oh yeah fuck!” Sero stomped his foot to the ground in frustration.

“Why is your weed too dank dude? Swear it makes everyone horny as fuck.”

The two boys stood there smirking at each other while you actually put your brain to work. “Let me think…”

---

After a few drinks you ran up to Mina. "Hey! So I don't want you to think I'm a total slut or anything… but..."

"Never girl! You do you!...You and Sero " She stuck her tongue in her cheek and motioned with her hand to make it look like she was doing something else.

“Oh my god Mina! No! So that’s the thing….I like Kami…”

“I fucking knew you did girl!”

“I told him that, and I told him about me and Sero and he's cool with it.”

“Oh... So now you're going to get finger banged by sparky?” She took another sip of her drink and looked at you expectantly...she was not going easy on your love life huh?

“That's besides the point..” You joined her in taking another sip.

“What is your point then chick?”

You decided to finish off your drink before answering her. “I'm not trying give you my seconds or anything... Cause I swear the whole me and Sero was like an unexpected thing....But…”

“But what!?”

“But I've been told that Sero might have a thing for a certain someone…”

“Who?”

“You! You dumb ass!”

“Sero...He likes me?” Mina looked like Kaminari did when he overused his quirk.

“Yeah! I hope you don't mind. I didn't know that when he had his tongue all up in me yesterday or I wouldn't have done it.”

She thought for a bit before whispering “This is one fucked up love triangle!”

You just rolled your eyes and watched as she downed the rest of her drink and bounced up off the couch.

"Where you off to?"

"Uhm? Do you expect me to just sit here after what you told me? Imma go get me some tape face action!"

You flopped to the couch laughing "Oh my god Miina...So you're not mad?"

"You didn't know. Plus you're hot, can't say I wouldn't makeout with you."

“I’d pay to watch that…” The two of you turned towards the voice that rudely interrupted you.

“Mineta!! Go away!” You and Mina shouted in unison.

Yep this really was just one giant fucked up love “triangle”

#sero x mina #sero x reader #kaminari x reader #bnha x reader #sero hanta #denki kaminari #mina ashido

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kikis-writing-world · 3 years

Note

damn an unexpected pregnancy sounds rough. Part of me is scared to have sex (even tho i aint having any rn lol) bc i dont wanna get pregnant. I dont wanna have kids. And i dont think i could go through with an abortion. I want to get my tubes tied but idk how old i have to be to do it. I wont be having sex anytime soon but its shit i think about every. day.

tw: mentioning abortions, unprotected sex, and our stupid patriarchal misogynistic society.

It’s a legitimate fear! And an abortion isn’t for everyone. I’m pro-choice, which means choosing what is right for you. It’s incredibly responsible of you to avoid having sex because you don’t want to be faced with that decision. Of course, there are birth control options but none are 100%. I’ve personally had 2 scares in my life (which were both negative) and in both situations I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that terminating would have been the right choice for me.

I loathe that the society we live in has it so difficult for women to get their tubes tied. I don’t think it’s a decision that should be taken lightly, but a woman shouldn’t have to wait for a certain age or a man’s permission to get it done. Idk what age you are nonny, but if you’re a young adult, you can look into if there are any doctors in your area worth talking to. If you’re serious about it, and I would assume out of your teens) there must be doctors who will do it if you prove you’ve done your due diligence in considering it. Even if you’re still young, you can talk to that doctor to find out more about it in general.

I am a little annoyed with her and the guy just because no protection was used. It was a full on dick appointment, she’d been off her B/C for a few months, and no condom was used. It was irresponsible and now they’re in this difficult situation. They’re old enough to know better (in their 30s) and neither of them made an attempt to be safe. I’m not saying they deserved the situation at all, just that had they been smarter, they likely wouldn’t be facing this challenge now. Everything else going on in her life, without putting to much of her personal life out there when it isn’t my story to tell, in my opinion is just not a great place to be in to have a child - but they say no one is ever “ready.” She just has to make her decision, and she has a few weeks to figure it out.

#Anonymous

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stusbunker · 5 years

Text

Known: Off Key

A Supernatural Dark Fan-fiction

Featuring: Demon!Reader, MoC!Dean x Female OC, Sam Winchester, Castiel, and Crowley

Series Masterlist

*^*^*^*^*^*

November 26, 2014

Crowley’s Earth Operations, Throne Room

There were things he had seen that would make a sane man rip his eyes out. But staring at the bruised and chained form of his mother was not something he wished to unsee. Crowley was the King of Hell, Master of the Crossroads and owner of the First Blade. He was the most powerful demon in existence. This shouldn’t be a problem, however powerful she was, she remained his prisoner. The undying resentment he felt towards her was only paralleled by a little boy’s need for his mother to love him.

His time with Dean must have kept him soft. He had been off the blood for months; this was just a momentary relapse. Crowley couldn’t be having, sentiments, about his whore witch mother. Could he?

November 30, 2014

The Bunker

The weeks since both CC and Dean had been purged of their demonic sides had fostered an indelicate dance. She remained in the Bunker despite the devastation she felt in the aftermath. Guilt, fear and grief bristled her already brusque demeanor. Once Castiel left with Hannah, the outward animosity dropped to a low simmer. She hadn’t divulged her spirit walk or that the knowledge of her origins had left her vulnerable to both Heaven and Hell outside of their heavily warded safehouse. It wasn’t their burden to bear. All the while, CC hadn’t felt the same, with either Winchester, as her stay lengthened; safety was enough for her to attempt to remain on their good sides.

Dean was unapologetic about the whole thing; CC shouldn’t have been possessed and somehow, their efforts had remedied the situation. He found himself speeding back to Kansas after the old case of Bobby’s, not realizing he was rushing home because he had somebody there waiting. He felt oddly rejuvenated after ending the shifter and he couldn’t wait to give CC all the twisted details of that mess of a family. Just the thought of her grinning had his foot leaning heavier.

That reunion was over and settled, but Dean had yet to earn much enthusiasm beyond a half-hearted greeting from CC. Strategically, Sam left them alone, unless they were heading out for a case. He knew they had to work through things, and nothing suggested they were done with each other; he gave them a respectable distance. They were just too damn stubborn for their own good.

“You know we really could have used you on this one,” Dean strongly suggested while he pealed his coat off, frustration reigniting on his bruised face.

“I don’t know why I need to say this again, but I am not hunting with you. It’s too dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, we lost a damn powerful witch and a lot of people died in the process.”

CC didn’t rise to the challenge, leaving the brothers quietly. She came back to the Library with the first aid kit, looking over Dean’s face as Sam settled down with his laptop across the table. “You guys made it out, that’s what matters.”

“Real nice, Chloe,” Sam muttered.

Dean pushed her hand away from his face to glare up at her. “What other people don’t matter? Are you just giving up on ever doing your job? On who you are, on what your family taught you?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” CC warned. “Can I finish?”

Dean didn’t answer, but sat still as she patched him up, leaving him with a bag of peas and a cold beer to judge in her absence.

Later that night, Dean was drawn down the hallway by the soft sound of singing. He knew Sam sometimes left music on, but it was too gentle and haunting to be a recording. The closer he got Dean realized it was more of a chant, the words lifting slightly before falling back to the beginning of the recitation. It was Chloe in a melancholy drone to the night air; words he would never grasp, but a feeling that struck him like a forgotten chord in the harmony.

CC sang out to those that went before her, those that couldn’t be saved. The regret and fear raced through her until tears burned in her eyes. She prayed for bravery and for guidance, to be wholly herself again, and to be the granddaughter and hunter she once was. As the air cleared and her voice ached from her efforts her unseen audience became clear. She wasn’t sure how she could sense him now, but there was no doubt that Dean was resting against her bedroom door.

“You can come in now, Dean. If you want.” She packed away her incense and bowl set, as Dean entered like a kid late to finals.

“Everything alright?” She gave him a look to not ask stupid questions. He watched as she dropped her eyes, darting to nowhere in particular for as long as she could; everywhere but back at him. “Hey, about how I snapped on you about Rowena? It’s just, I know you. You’re happiest when you’re giving it your all. This, hiding gig, it doesn’t suit you.”

Dean dropped onto her bed, casually throwing his hands behind his head as if he were waiting for her psychoanalysis and not a rebuttal. She leaned against the desk, one leg bent as she peered over at him, the Mark of Cain peeking out from his rolled-up sleeve. “Who ever said we’re allowed what makes us happy? That’s not a hunter’s lot. I don’t have to tell you, of all people, that one.”

Dean rolled to his side, patting the bed at her. She huffed and rolled her eyes but dropped onto the blanket and crawled into him all the same, burrowing face first into his broad chest.

“You think we could ever be happy?”

“In general, or you mean, like as an ‘us’?” Dean spoke into her hair, the thick strands soft against his lips.

“At all.”

“I don’t know. But I hate to see you stop fighting.”

“Yeah, sometimes it feels like the fight was taken from me. Like I was robbed. I don’t know how to be me and this other thing all together.”

“For what it’s worth? I’m sorry for what happened when she, when I–.”

“This isn’t about her, Dean. This is about figuring out whatever I am now.”

“You can still be you, Cease, trust me. You’ve always been remarkable, now you know where some of that comes from.”

CC thudded his chest with her head, laughing. “Man, you are laying it on thick tonight. Itching that bad, huh?” She leaned back to see his appraising smirk and eyebrow waggle. The light shifted, and he was that very breakable man again. Chloe knew she could hurt him in an instant and it terrified her. If it wasn’t for the Mark on his arm, he might have already been a casualty of her unhindered wrath. She didn’t want to let go, but holding on felt like chaining him to her, where all the consequences were unknown.

“Hey, if it’s just this tonight and this is all you need. I’ll be good.”

“But?”

“But I wouldn’t say no to less clothing.”

The next morning

Dean woke up with a sour taste in his mouth, CC’s legs thrown over his. Slowly he eased out from behind her with a quick peck on the tip of her shoulder. If she was awake, she didn’t let on; allowing him to leave guilt-free. He dragged his pants and boxers back on, not bothering with his belt. He fisted his shirts in one hand and his boots in the other, closing her door with a gentle click. He showered and found Sam, and his judging face cocked in Dean’s general direction, at the breakfast table.

“Did you at least convince her to ride along on the next case?”

“Pffft, no. Have you met her? I couldn’t convince her to do anything, ever.”

“And yet, here we are.”

“Okay, well maybe, I nudged her a certain direction.” Dean gave a considering pout before turning back to pour himself some coffee.

Sam pursed his lips. “If that’s what you’re calling it; I don’t wanna know.”

“Oh, you wanna, but I aint telling.”

“You done? Cuz I might have a line on something.”

Dean inhaled. “Whatcha got?”

Sam launched into the grizzly details of mutilated bodies while Dean tried to listen. Once his post-coital strut wore off, he felt a little sheepish about the whole thing. It was the first night they had spent together since he’d been cured. Nothing about it left him feeling any better about CC or whatever they had between them.

Hell

You had been coughing for what felt like a year. The chemicals in the air choked your lungs and burned your eyes; everywhere you looked was a sooty amber haze. Once you thought you were going to retch from its potency; it thickened filling your nose and throat until all you could do was swallow the poison down. Time quickly no longer held any meaning for something like you. You who had escaped Hell and lived among hunters, abandoned your post and killed your own kind. Despite having served the King while Earth-side; the rules remained the same. Deserters and mutineers earned their punishments.

You had to pay for what you’d done. The longer you clung to your memories of freedom, the deeper the ache of separation seeped.

December 2, 2014

The Bunker

Chloe had been sidestepping this long enough. Watching Dean going crossed eyed over research was not something that could keep her wandering thoughts at bay. She sauntered around the library table and let her hands roam his tense shoulders. He didn’t respond more than a slight grunt. He felt foreign in her hands, breadth and depth at odds with what her body knew to be true of his abilities. Slowly she saw him fall inch by inch into the sedation of her ministration. With the heat of her mouth on his ear, CC beckoned Dean into his room, hands pulling, while lips teased along his jaw. He hadn’t expected such a reception. When he finally had caught up, she threw him for another loop.

“Listen, there are some things we need to get straight, before we continue what we’re doing here.”

Dean leaned back, holding CC’s thick waist in his strong hands as he squinted at her sudden change of mood. “Okay, if this is gonna be a side of the bed thing, I’m flexible as along as I can get to my gun.” Dean nodded as CC bit both of her lips in mild amusement. “Not that kind of straightening, got it.”

As her warm hands rested on his chest she fiddled with the buttons on his thermal, trying to decide where to start. “Okay, well, how about we decide when it started and what we want from there?”

“Uh, okay, but I am not much for the semantics and anniversaries. We’ve had some fun and kicked some ass. Don’t really need more than that. Do you?”

“What’s important to me is you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.” While still pressing Dean against the door, CC reached up and tied her hair in a black silky ball at the top of her head. “So, when did you first realize I was possessed?”

Dean took her hands in his, dropping them to her side and rocking her upright, so he could stand up. Hunters’ instincts keeping him on guard, even if his knuckles were locked in hers. “I knew for certain when I cleaned your room and it was caked in sulfur, after the dead vessels at Magnus’s. Right after I got the First Blade.”

CC scooted back, breaking contact to pace in a subtle arc and fiddle with her knife handle. “Okay, I don’t remember that, at all. I’m pretty sure that I was already out of control by then.”

Dean’s stomach dropped. “I mean, there was that case that you lost time. North Carolina?”

“Oh, yeah, thought I lost my truck. You were a lifesaver. Okay, that’s longer.” Dean had squared his shoulders, he watched her now with a keyed-up disbelief, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for CC to unleash it all.

“How far back was it really?” Dean closed his eyes, unable to face her answer, knowing that hearing it would be painful enough.

“I’m not sure, she didn’t make a fuss or pack me away at first. I think, Santa Fe? Maybe earlier,” CC admitted, cupping the back of her neck and staring at her feet. Some hunter she was, letting a fucking demon joyride through her life for months. Though they had grown together, in hindsight it was still embarrassing, especially the parts she couldn’t tell him. Of when she watched them together and envied their spark, or the parts she would never tell anyone, when the demon inside Dean scared even the one that was inside of her.

“How much of this–” Dean broke off, with a disgruntled sigh. “How much of it was her?”

CC reached up to touch him now, his voice had cracked, and his jaw struggled against the bitterness. How could someone seem so far away while she could feel his body heat against her skin? He didn’t flinch, but he didn’t lean into the softness of her palm, like before. She watched him try and keep himself together and the space inside her ribs doubled, the walls falling away to more emptiness. “Enough.”

He turned away to clear his tears then, pinching his lips to try and center himself. The Mark’s rage began to build in his temples, failing against all the unwanted emotion and the truth he had to face. CC’s hand fell to her chest, she cradled it over her tender heart, trying, in vain, to stop the damage from spreading. Dean didn’t know how he felt, there was guilt, his old poor-weather friend, but this burden of loss was unexpected, and a new regret too damning to acknowledge. He wanted to pull Chloe to him, to let her dumb the ache.

The two of them together, felt wrong now, incomplete and lopsided. Dean wasn’t sure if she, the demon that had known him, was their missing piece or if they each had simply lost parts of themselves along the way.

A gentle knock on the door broke the moment, CC’s face tightening and Dean’s falling into a familiar lazy grin.

“Guys? It’s Jody.” Sam held his phone to his chest, tone even, but he missed nothing as they buried their feelings and put their game faces back on.

*^*

Next Chapter: Two Halves, Three Hearts

#known series #moc!dean #dean winchester #dean x reader #demon!reader #dean x female vessel oc #dean x cc

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shauds-archived · 5 years

Note

Impulse + Talia?

Was going to do Ras and Talia thing, but it wasn’t working out so I fell back on Talia and Jason, and it got a little long. Thanks for your request! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Talia al Ghul finds a boy stealing the Batmobile’s tires, she leaves him, trusting that Bruce will handle it. Then she finds the boy escaping from his school. Why she didn’t leave him there too, she’ll chalk up to impulse.

Or, the one where Talia kind of adopts Jason before Bruce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, she’ll chalk it up to impulse. Both her spontaneous visit to the City of Gotham, and the events that had transpired thereafter.

Meeting with the detective hadn’t been her plan, she’d just mean to check in, after troubling news that his partner had been killed and Richard outside of the public sphere for the time being. That the visit fell on the anniversary of his parent’s death was just happenstance. That she came across the car, the Batmobile as named by that insufferable boy, before she came across The Batman himself, even more so.

Bruce isn’t there, and she would leave it, continue her search for him elsewhere, if not for the fact that someone else is. At first she thinks it might been his Robin, but the child is much, much too small. And she very much doubts Richard was young enough still for such childish pranks.

It doesn’t take more than a glance at the child’s worn clothing, too slight build and cautious, hyper vigilant disposition for her to determine that he is either an urchin, or one of those for whom living care-givers make very little difference.

Already, one of the tires is missing, and as Talia, watches, too baffled by the sight to end it, he makes short work of the second. She waits for the security systems to engage, for Bruce to appear and halt the boy’s progress. Neither happens and the little vandal makes off with a second tire. And has the gall to come back for a third minutes later, twirling his tire iron and partly skipping as though he isn’t in the process of attempting to rob one of the most powerful men alive, like he isn’t coming back instead of settling with what he has already taken.

She’s acting on an impulse when she follows him, curious about where he thinks he can hide his prize’s from the bat, and then, about whether the small child will be able to get the tire up the fire escape and just how someone that young has learned such a diverse variety of vulgar language.

Small, but cleaner than she’d imagined it to be. There are poster’s covering over the larger stains marring the walls, the hovel’s only furnishings are a shelf piled with the tatters of what had once been books, the likes of Tolstoy and Kafka sitting innocuously besides children’s books, some pages written by hand, a small collection of audio tapes, and a framed photograph of a woman that Talia lifts for better inspection. It’s old, and the young woman bares the boy little to no resemblance. Merely a decoration perhaps and the worn smooth edges of the frame are from age.

When the boy returns, it’s sans a fourth tire, straining for breath and with the Batman following covertly at his heels. The child doesn’t see her exit, but she knows Batman does. He’s too busy fending off an attack by the child demanding he leave to come after her, and Talia can’t help but chuckle at the tenacity of the small boy right up until he’s effortlessly lifted up by his arm, any threat he’d posed nullified.

Hopeless though the fight is, there are many in the League of Shadows who could learn from that sort of persistence. If all of Gotham’s children possess that fighting spirit, perhaps there’s more to Bruce’s insistence on continuing to give his soul for the city.

’What’s the leagues interest in that boy?’

Talia’s brushing her hair out when she answers the phone call to her hotel room

”What a greeting, Beloved, I’m sure I don’t know what it is you’re speaking of.” Talia’s sets her brush aside and pulls her still damp hair over one shoulder tucking the phone between her chin and the other. “Perhaps if you were more specific?”

’Jason Todd.’ His voice is clipped, tight, not in a playful disposition then. ’The boy who tried to steal my tires.’

“Ah, and very nearly bested you in battle?” Talia chuckles and moves to looks out of the window at the sparkling city lights. “None that I’m aware off, I merely found his gall to be entertaining. I must ask, are all children in this city quite so precocious or was this boy an irregularity?”

The other side of the line is silent for a few moments it takes him to decide whether or not she’s being truthful, she takes the time to look at the spaces between the bright lights, at the shadows her beloved hides himself within while he protects this city. The shadows where most of its inhabitants dwell, out o reach of the light.

’We both know this isn’t your typical vacation destination, what are you doing here then?’

“Nothing of worth.” Talia shook her head, turning from the window, it was debatable whether anything of worth could be done for this city. “Not unless you would be inclined to suggest such an activity.”

There’s a snort and she can picture the put upon frown dragging down his lips. ’Goodnight Talia.’

“For the sake of my curiosity, what is it you’ve done with the boy.” She asks before he can end the call. “Are you scouting for Richards replacement so soon? You realize he’s need more training than your previous protégé at that age.” She hasn’t found any evidence that rumors of Robin’s passing are any more than rumors, but his lack of a presence may be due to something else entirely, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be returning to Gotham in the near future.

‘I dropped him off at a boy’s school.’ He sighs and there’s a burst of movement induced static, before he warns, ’But I’ll know if the league tries anything.’

”Of course, sleep well Beloved.” Talia returns the receiver to its cradle and pulls on a cord to turn off the lights, and then she gathers up the covers and rests against her pillows, where she lies, mulling over the night’s events until she falls to sleep. Her last though is of handwritten pages taped to worn books.

Early the next morning, before the sun rises, for no reason she can discern and no prior planning, Talia stops by Park Row before boarding the jet waiting to take her from Gotham.

The school where Bruce took the boy seems normal enough at a first glace. Like all the others of its kind, it doesn’t appear particularly comfortable, but there is bedding, an eating hall, facilities that all seem to be in order. Compared to where he’d been when her beloved had found him, the boy should have been grateful for the shelter and sanitation the place provided at the very least.

Why then is he making an escape out of the attic window?

She raises an eyebrow at the slight boy scrambling gingerly down the wall, right up until he drops down the last two floors and hits the ground with a jarring thump. Amid a litany of curses, he stands and brushes the gravel from his trousers, the same grime stained pair he’d been wearing the previous day.

If he goes missing now, Talia doubts Bruce would believe the league had nothing to do with it. Closing her suddenly tired eyes for a moment, Talia signals her driver to wait, then gets out of the car.

He’s stomping down an alleyway, still muttering to himself when she catches up with him.

“One would think a child in your position would be more grateful.”

”What the…!” He spins around, swinging a thin iron bar, but as soon as his eyes actually land on her, he trips over his feet in an attempt to keep the blow from hitting, a move that would have been unsuccessful had she not stepped from its path. He squawks as he falls to the ground in an undignified heap.

”Especially considering the fact that you’re likely to die traversing a sidewalk.” She shakes her head as he tries to pick himself up, she grabs hold of his arm and his sucks in a low breath when she pulls him to his feet. “I’ll return you to the school.”

”You with him?” he doesn’t wait for her answer before he yanks himself out of her grip and spins again to face her. “Like hell you will!” Talia has to work not to flinch at the bruising that mars his face. Fresher than anything he could have gotten before the previous night, the marks, green and dark purple both, continue down the collar of his shirt, to the bloody knuckles gone part-white from his grip on the bar. He notices her inspection and raises the bar defensively. “Try and take me back, I dare ya!”

”Batman will be displeased when he returns for you and finds you’ve disappeared.” She folds her arms and levels her gaze with his instead of on the bruising. She would have thought Bruce would have put more thought into who’s care he left the child in.

”Batman can screw himself, he’s just like the all the rest o’ em, adults.” The boy practically spits out the word, like it’s deadly poison, his whole face twisting into a scowl. “What, he wants ta keep up the supply of crooks or someth’n with that place? Well I’m out, I aint gonna learn to be no crook, no fuckin way, ‘specially not with that batty old crone.”

She keeps her expression blank and doesn’t comment on his inappropriate language. ”And you believe attempting to steal the tires of the Batmobile is less than criminal behavior?”

”Tires, not fucking museum exhibits like those assholes, and I don’t do it for shits and giggles lady; I just boost what it takes to survive. Car like that, he can prolly afford a couple new ones anyways.”

His scoff is high pitched in his frustration and stuff his hands in the pockets of his vest, when he turns his expression back on her; it’s more resigned than anything else. “You’re gonna call no matter what I say, aint ya?”

Talia doesn’t reply immediately, instead, she takes a breath and considers his question. Surely, her beloved would prefer having this child out of harm’s way for a time. There’s no reason he wouldn’t be more put upon by Talia removing him from the school than he would were she to remove him to a less hostile location, but where is the question.

Apparently her silence goes on too long. “Figures.” The boy huffs and starts tracing circles in the gravel with the tip of his sneaker. His posture betrays nothing other than resignation for whatever fate she decides for him.

It’s very convincing.

Then he tries to run away again and she has to grab a fistful of the grungy fabric behind his neck and press him up against the wall to keep him in place.

”Aw, come on!” He screams, throwing all of his not-considerable body weight into the twisting and pulling he does to escape her hold, his cursing a steady accompaniment to his struggles. None of it works of course, but it carries on for a good five minutes before his voice has gone too hoarse for and he has to focus more on his breathing than anything else. The technique is sloppy and he’s too weak for there to be any other outcome, but with a good training regiment and diet, there’s a good chance it might be developed. Not one of the people passing by stop to investigate, most don’t even spare a glance down the alley and those that do only cross the street.

”If you’re quite done.” Talia says once he’s gone silent, and he fixes her with a glare that borders on murderous, but doesn’t speak. She loosens her grip enough that he can set his feet back on the ground, but she doesn’t release him entirely on the very likely chance that he will attempt another escape. “You’ll be wise to watch your language from this point onward; such vulgarity will not be tolerated.”

Defiantly, the boy tries to jerk himself out of her hold in reply. Talia bites back on her a smile and turns him to start walking, keeping a tight hold on both his shoulders. Defiance can be unlearned, but the stubbornness and determination it is born of can be harnessed under the right conditions.

”’ll just bolt again later.” He mutters under his breath as he walks, once the school is in their line of sight, his shoulders sag and he cranes his head to look at her. “C’n ya at least tell Batman they’re gonna rob the museum tonight? Stuff’s old an they’re a buncha dumbasses who got no idea how to take care of it an ‘ts not like ya can just replace whatever they ruin in there. ‘S important.”

”I’ll have it dealt with.” She says. The tension in his shoulders returns bit-by-bit the closer they get to the school, and he drags his feet more. Talia increases the strength of her grip, a warning in case he thinks about running again, until they’ve passed it.

”Wait, the school.” When he tries to pull away from her this time, it’s to try looking past her, at the building they’re leaving behind them. “Where the fuck’re ya…”

”Your language Jason.” She warns and he almost stills at her use of his name, but she keeps him walking.

”How…?” He takes another look at the school before they turn away from it and start heading for the side of the road where Talia’s driver is waiting. “Did he tell ya? Hey, c’mon lady, I won’t run again, kay.”

”Even were I to believe that, you will be better off in my care than that woman’s.” The driver opens the door, not so much as batting an eye at his new passenger.

”We goin’ to Batman’s place?” Jason frowns, his brows furrowed, but he slides hesitantly into the car, with moving far enough towards the door so that she can slide in besides him.

”No you’ll remain with me until such a time that The Batman inquires of your whereabouts so that I may inquire of his planning capabilities.” As she says it, she again takes in the bruises splashed across the boy’s skin.

”’N if he doesn’t?” The boy’s brought his knees up to his chin, it’s good that the high quality leather is strain resistant, or the grime coming off his shoes would have been irreparable. She’ll have to find him something else to wear before they reach the jet.

”He’s made it clear he will.” She signals the driver to continue to their destination. “And he’ll likely put more thought into where he places you once he does.”

”Yeah sure he will.” Jason scoffs again, and turns his gaze to the window and the passing city with a petulant pout. “Big boob.”

Talia hums, but doesn’t find the insult harsh enough to scold him. She’s not sure where she’d going to take the boy once they’re on the place, or what exactly she’s going to do with him after that. It’s an impulsive decision and her planning shows for that, but it’s no matter, she’s confident she’ll have some sort of plan once she needs one. Her Beloved had warned the league off from the child, not Talia herself and she intends to return him if Bruce requests it. If he requests it. For now, she has some orders to issue regarding a museum.

#talia al ghul #jason todd #bruce wayne #fanfiction #mine #jason's thinks talia works for batman #or he wouldn't have gone so easy

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whitetrashjj · 6 years

Text

Lara’s birthday mutual appreciation rant

Anyway as of 50 minutes ago, it’s my birthday and I’ve been playing tennis all day so naturally, I’m drunk.

So feeling the love and affection right now, I thought why not show some appreciation to all my mutuals who are amazing and I love.

there is a good chance I’ll regret this when I’m sober but lets take that gamble

Let’s start with a blanket statement, which is how happy even having mutuals makes me. Things from seeing my mutuals on my dash to seeing my posts on my dash and even just seeing that little *reblogged from* you thing makes me smile. Every time any of you say my name in your tags, it just remind me that you are real people and that I am real and some how I am connected to all these amazing people from around the world. i don’t even care if sometimes you have to check my description to remember my name

Having an outlet where I can share my thoughts and feelings on these stupid things I get obsessed with is amazing, and the fact that even one of you would listen to my stupid rants means the most to. I honestly think this is something we take for granted and some times we focus to much on the negative but tonight we are sharing the love, because we need more of that in this world.

In all honesty I don’t talk to many of you, and the ones that I do it’s only been once or twice. Please don’t take this the wrong way, mostly I think that I’m not that interesting, so why would you want to talk to me ? If I ever drop out of a conversation randomly it’s because I think I’m boring you and I don’t want to bother you even if you messaged me first . If I never message you first I promise it’s not because I don’t want to talk, but more my brain tells me you only wanted to talk once about that specific topic and then never wanted to interact again. But I promise if you want to talk to me, I’m always game.

That fact that you all continue to follow me and support me even when i’m posting and talking shit, or go through phases of shows that you don’t watch, or post about characters or ship that you don’t like, or sometimes actively hate (*cough*murven*cough*), really does mean alot in this small little world and i want to thank all of you for it...

Now onto some specifics... in no particular order

@clarkegriffintitties - i followed you because of you’re url because eternal mood, lets be real. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this before, another drunk lara declaration, but not a single regret because you are officially my #1 crush, according to Tumblr. So keep doing your thang boo !

@eizagonzalezs - oh meg, a fellow cora hale stan. the literal reason I started watching the 100, you know back in the day when i thought they were canon and their names were the other way around. and ofcourse one of my murvensource gals. follow forever and eternal devotion !

@madigriffen - my other murvensource gal! i’m eternal grateful for you kat because I no longer feel like I’m single handedly coming out with murven content! im both shocked and impressed how quickly you have gained followers, but not at all surprised because you deserve every single on of them.

@blarke - maggie. you gave me this url. and that should be enough to express how much i appreciate you. but it’s not. you love for the boys from my old url, gendry and bell will always be remembered. and i wish you came and talked to me sooner because i honestly can’t remember what it’s like not to follow you, they must have been dark times. ALSO when I was stalking your about page when i first followed you i noticed our birthdays were one day apart, same year and all (different time zones but whatever) and that really excited me, so happy late birthday and hope you’re pumped for your 20′s!

@clarkebell - without a doubt one of my favourite mutuals. can i say, even though you seem like the sweetest most approachable people you intimidate the hell out of me. because you are pretty af, seem so cool and are all around just amazing. also i always love a fellow aussie, you are a blues supporter but i guess i can let that slide

@starboybellamy - i feel the thing i will always associate with you is the ‘my husband doesn’t understand the meaning of fucking hurry’ text post because it was the most unintentionally blarke thing ever. i always live for you’re bfsn, partly because you’re usually drinking and/or drunk and i respect that, mainly because you are gorgeous ..

@bellofthesky - i followed you because tumblr wouldn’t stop recommending you’re blog. and for once they got something right! despite me not having followed you for very long (5th most recent follow) you are one of my top 9 tumblr crushes. basically, i feel you’re content boo so keep it up xx

@bellarkes-hope - how long have we been mutuals? about a month. how long have i thought we’ve been mutuals? like all year. not much to say other than i dropped the ball, I've corrected that mistake and i’m now out here living my best life will you on my dash

@bb-8 - have i watched a single star wars movie? nope. did i squeal with excitement for you when you got this url? of-fucking-course! cody, you are the queen of icons and an amazing person. and anyone who loves anne bonny as much as i do will always be loved and respected in this house

@sanssa - a multifandom blog that is actually consistently multifandom? sorcery or just an icon? maybe both. Kyra, i feel like you were out there giving me love and supporting me back when i barely had any mutuals and for that you will always have a special place in my heart. i will admit i lost you for a minute there with url changes but i found you again of course you just moved to a different sansa stark url

@blueshirtbell - Isla you are probably the person who uses my name in the tags the most often and every time it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. also you’re comments on my bfsn are always so sweet and make me smile. you truely are a great person and i feel like everyone in you’re life is better off for it

@bellamynochillblake - you’re ship and let ship attitude is truly an inspiration, and lets be honest a massive relief at times when this fandom can become a negative mess!

@jarleene - as the author of some of my fave murven fics you will always deserve a special mention. when i saw you updated crazy recently i couldn’t stop smiling. that fic has been a slow process but worth every wait, i couldn’t care less if it ever gets finished because even having any of it is truly a gift!

@hvitserkk - desirae, you followed me soon after i followed you. why? i’ll never know. but you’re url alone is enough reason to love you. in this brief time i’ve already learnt so much from you about colourings and you are always my first stop to learn more! and eternal thank yous for getting me onto animal kingdom

@lieutenantshaw - im? not? worthy? im not sure why i feel this way.. maybe it’s the amazing edits or the whole aesthetic or maybe that your whole blog seems well thought out and clean and i feel like you looking at my blog would kinda be like that ‘damn bitch you live like this?’ picture.. do you feel like you’re blog is like that ? idk,, but if you are happy following me you do you cause it makes me feel good :)

the rest of my mutals - not because i love you less or don’t have anything to say about you but simply because i’m coming down, i’m tired and lazy as all fuck.

if you want a paragraph about why you are amazing swing into my ask box because i guarantee you I’ve got one ;)

@bellammy @p-tonkins @halfbloodduchess @the-most-beautiful-broom @octannibal-blake @failing-at-being-an-angel @diyozaa @niylvh @blakes-griffin @joncthanmurphy @johnmurphe @pandalandalopalis @izzycheeese @grumpymonty @tracylorde @bellamyblakesass @clarkesgrfin @a-timely-interruption @clorkegriffin @platonic-bellarke @abugonahotplate @smoakedvigilanties @beelarkes @inajohncriminalway @kaymarie195 @vixiously @otakujess @harpersmcintyred @the100lunarsship @vulgarvixen4 @head-and-heart @the-ships-to-rule-them-all @deadshotbellamy @fuckitforgendry @spaaleb

a few things before i go to bed..

if you read your paragraph and gone ‘damn girl that aint me’, so sorry i am drunk and easily confused

if i have tagged you and you are no longer/never was a mutual, many apologies and best of luck in your future endeavours

if you don’t like this feel free to completely ignore it, i wont mind :)

much love, drunk lara x

#t: ignore me #idk what to tag this?

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frivery · 3 years

Text

Birthday dragons? Another! It is 1:30 am where I am so it is technically Virgil’s birthday! Happy 5th birthday old man!

This one is going to take place in the past, where we go over a mission from when Virgil was about Vier’s current timeline age.

POV of Virgil, warning of sensitive subjects and dark themes in this piece. [blood, gore, death, etc] This is a really LONG piece.

Seated in front of the fire with the rest of his company, Virgil waited for the Commander to give them their instructions. He had insisted on going, despite the strange looks the others were giving his bandages. On the last run one of the bandits had gotten lucky and sliced a surface-layer amount of muscle from the outside of one of his legs. Yeah, it hurt like hell and bled like a stuffed pig but it wouldn’t stop him from seeing the mission through. The entire point was to work with the other companies to take down a monster, ever sword counted. Virgil glanced up as a tall tiefling entered the clearing, she was a military woman who had been the one to put out the call for sellswords in the first place. Mallory, her name was. The shadow-eyed woman glanced around the fire, eyes calculating and harsh, before landing on him and sticking there.

“I believe I specifically stated no imperials for this job.” she said, the manner in which she said it should be light but her tone was powerful and disapproving. Virgil narrowed his eyes in response, leaning forward on his knees to square his shoulders and meet the eyes of the woman who was looking down her nose at him. He didn’t have to say anything for his company to rush to defend him.

“Yeah, you said that, but he’s not like most imperials, see? He doesn’t even work with others of his kind so we thought it wasn’t an issue.” the company leader spoke up the loudest, her lightning eyes flashing with restrained venom. Kurile, an orc that was actually rather short for her kind.... something that could not be said for Mallory who stood taller than even the alabaster knight did. “He’s a good sword, was in the army for several years before he joined up, he’s part of the crew.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s good at fighting or not, I said no imperials.” the tiefling’s voice was aggressive and harsh, stomping down the short dominance struggle between herself and the orc with a fiery look that would rival an elemental. “I will not feed more parts to the monster, none of the companies are being allowed to bring their Imperial team mates, you are not getting a free pass to strengthen the beast.” he had thought she merely didn’t like humans, there were enough people that felt that way for it to not be odd, but her words made him doubt that now.

“Excuse me, Captain Firebrand, but what are we hunting?” he spoke up, unable to keep the inherent frustrated-challenge from his voice. Mallory looked at him like he was as stupid as a mayfly, snarling shortly as she laid a threatening hand onto her sword.... to adjust it.

“Does your company not know how to read a fucking missive?” she spat, glaring around the camp, she only continued when no one answered. “An emperor is our target.”

Virgil’s blood went cold as the ice that his home had been made from, swallowing thickly as he looked away for several moments and looked back at the Captain.

“I thought... that those were merely legends.” he said with uncertainty, she didn’t seem the superstitious type so he was feeling a little shaky in that belief now. The tiefling laughed, loud, and aggravated, and ugly as she put a hand to her chest and sneered at him. She was beyond done, and beyond pissed at their group.

“Legends? What snow-stuck rock have you been hiding under your whole life? To think that an imperial of all creatures could think that... what a dangerous notion to come to.” she was shaking her head, eyes narrowed and dangerous.

“Fine, come if you want. Know that if you fall that your corpse will then be absorbed and forced to devour your kinsmen, fool.” Mallory shoved a scroll into Kurile’s chest before turning and stalking off with the dangerous air of a pissed tiger. Virgil watched her as he went, sitting up on his stool now before turning to look uncertainly at his commander. He could feel the uncertain, grim, mood of his fellow company-men, even the Commander looked unsure of herself but she gave him a crooked grin as she crossed the camp to roughly mess up his short hair.

“Don’t worry about that nonsense, Virge, emperor’s are real but dying isn’t enough to make you become one. If it was every imperial would become a walking abomination when they died, wouldn’t they?” her tone became light at the end, the point seeming to ease some of the concerns of their companions and sooth his own worries. “Plus, you ain't planning on bitting the dust on us, are you?” Virgil looked up at his commander, before smiling sharply and shaking his head.

“Not anytime soon, Kur, you lot are stuck with me.” the Orc smiled warmly at him, winking at him before pacing away from the clearing center to read the instructions they had been given. Anticipated silence fell over the group as they waited for the briefing, everyone in the group sitting up when Kurile rolled the scroll back up and turned to address the group.

“Alright, we’ll be breaking up into two groups. We’re the bait, it’s our job to lure the beast to the waiting swords of the other companies. Gold, Tero, Light, and Weatherton, as our best swords, will join the waiting forces. Goldenight, you’re in charge, round up with the neighboring company.” the gembound infected Orc nodded, getting up from his place on the ground and gesturing with a tilt of his head for the party to follow him.

“That means that Merric, Virgil, we’ll be playing the bait and drawing the creature out.”

“With all due respect, commander, I would say I’m a better swordarm than Tero or Light. Why am I being put in the bait group?”

“I would agree with you, I might even agree if you said that they were faster runners, but what I need for the final stretch is someone who has been through hell and has the instinct to survive at all costs. Tero and Light are still relatively fresh recruits, I don’t think they have the gall for this mission.” Virgil couldn’t argue with that, they were still pretty new and young... but...

The imperial turned his gaze to Merric now, whose raised brow made it look like he was having the same thought.

“If Tero is considered a new recruit than what am I?” he ventured. Merric was the youngest of the party, both in actual age and in time he had been in the company for. If Tero was fresh then Merric was downright raw.

“I was under the impression you were in the Icewarden’s army before joining us, like Virge here. You Ice domain dragons know how to survive... plus, you are easily the fastest runner in the group so you have the best chances of outrunning the monster.”

“You aren’t going to chicken out on us already, are you new blood?” Virgil poked at the younger drake, eyes narrowed and smile sharp. Merric rolled his eyes, but shook his head good-naturedly.

“So, what’s the plan ma’am?”

“You’ll start us off, get the monster’s attention and lead it to the hewn city. There is a small, crumbled, guard-room built into the old gates, you’ll duck in while I duck out and continue leading the beast further into the ruins. Virgil, you will wait in the last building in the Hewn city, when I get there I’ll go in the door and you’ll leave through the sand-facing window and draw the monster toward the Daylight Sanctum.” the imperial nodded shortly in response, slowly hauling himself to his feet and trying to ignore the twinge in his leg.

“Are you sure about this, ma’am? A lifeless husk might be a little above our paygrade.” the half-elf commented uncertainly, causing Kurile to sling an arm around the teen’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry so much kid, I’ve got your back. We got this.” Merric still faltered and turned his eyes to Virgil now, familiar pale ice eyes shimmering with uncertainty. It felt like looking at himself when he had first been put on the frontlines.

“You were part of the Wardens?” he asked the younger drake, to which the half-blood glanced around before nodding. “Then you aint got nothing to worry about, you aren’t some untried whelp with shaking knees, you’ve survived a war. You’ll survive this no problem. Promise, you’re gonna be just fine and when we all get paid you’ll see it was worth it.”

Merric seemed a little less iffy now, but still anxious. There was only so much others can do, that was something he’d have to take up with himself when he faced the creature.

“Alright, since I’ve got the furthest to walk to get to my way point I’m going to go to my check point. Good luck.” leaving the shadows of the Shadow domain, Virgil began his slog through the heated sands. The sun beat down mercilessly overhead, no shadows for miles, and the imperial walked for ages in silence before reaching the hewn city. Strange cursed shadows, he had been here a few times before, which is likely why he was the one being asked to walk it. Dangerous during the day... deadly at night with unholy darkness and cursed creatures. While the Hewn city was dark during the day, it was ‘deeply overcast skies’ dark so he could still make out the buildings and terrain just fine.It was much cooler here too, the sand no longer blazing hot.

Virgil kept his hand on his sword-hilt as he walked the ancient, sand-buried road. The creatures here lurked in the sunken hovels of buildings but shied away from the harsh eyes of a seeing-target. It was highly unlikely anything would attack him now, under the gaze of the strict Lightweaver, but he kept his sword hand tense and ready just in case. Reaching the last building, a large, tiled, ruin that had 1 open window and the door was half-filled with sand, Virgil ducked inside the mostly intact structure.

Nothing inside, good, he had half expected a nesting lichwolf to bite into his face as he entered. Carefully, Virgil checked every corner and broken room of the ruin before settling to wait next to the window while facing the door. Now he just had to wait for Kurile to show up and then it would be his turn to bait a hulking mass of flesh across the sand wastes. Kurile had said ‘toward’ the Daylight Sanctum not ‘to’ so he wasn’t entirely sure how long he would be chased for before he reached the main force but... he’d have to make it work. He had never seen an emperor, he had heard that they were massive, collected, and deformed bodies of the deceased and decomposed imperials but that’s all he had heard... and who knows how accurate that is?

He was starting to worry that something had gone awry when the sensation of the ground trembling alerte him to something approaching. As it neared the shaking spread to the walls and the sound of massive, thrumming, stomping footsteps came with it. Like if a mountain could move. Virgil shifted slightly, readying himself, tensing as a frazzled Kurile slid into the door gracelessly. He froze on seeing her, on seeing them, she had a bloodied Merric draped over her shoulders and her eyes were alit with primal, instinctual, fear that made his adrenaline spike in response.

“Move.” she snapped at him, breathless. Virgil nodded, jumping to his feet and vaulting through the window just in time to feel the shaking of the building turn into an all-out quake. Rolling onto the sandy ground below, he quickly started into a fear-minded sprint towards his destination. The sound of the massive thing following him until causing his own fear to increase. He could feel every footfall in the ground, in the air, in his teeth and lungs and feet, the horrifying shriek it followed him with made his heart squeeze and shiver and his feet numb. It was like the dragon-voices of dozens of dying people, like getting chased down by a nightmare the size of a mountain. Virgil still hadn’t seen the creature yet, and something in his brain told him to keep it that way... but his instincts needed to see it. To know what he was running from, to know his chances. He glanced over his shoulder-

Gods he really shouldn’t have.

Massive was a word, it didn’t properly convey what this was. So unthinkably giant that even in his dragon form he would be, maybe, the size of one of its legs. Maybe. As a human? He was the size of a claw. As one of it’s putrid claws that were warped, and decomposing off it’s greying flesh. Huge open holes were torn into random places into it’s sun-thinkin and boiled flesh, hanging limply with frayed edges down and revealing the fetid insides of torn muscles, stain bones, and bug-infested insides. There was trails of browned, stained, decomposed blood dripping down from its wounds, its noses, maws, and its uncountable amount of different-element eyes. The worst part was the gnashing of several sets of teeth, belong to three separate heads that merged into the body at weird and broken places. A disgusting, stomach-churning, sight of the deceased imperial form turned into a shambling and devouring puppet to pure elemental corruption.

If he wasn’t actively running for his life he would have emptied the contents of his stomach right there, he couldn’t prevent the dryheaving as he turned away and tried to focus on running, though. The thing’s visage was burned into his eyes, he could still feel it, still see it’s putrid form even when he wasn’t looking. His body felt numb. How could his people turn into something like that? How could any God allow such a thing to happen? To exist? Sickness, disgust, horror, settled like weights in his stomach as his breathing became more frantic ad haggard.

How could He become something like That?

“There it is!” a voice, he opened his eyes to see the collected companies in front of him. That had been his goal, but now? He knew better, this was going to be a bloodbath, an absolute slaughter, despite the dozens of companies here for this it wouldn’t be nearly enough to fell what even the Gods themselves could not. Breaking through the front-line, the other sellswords rushed around him like a river would a rock. Only when the last of the group was well past him did he allow himself to stop running... and to up-heave the entire contents of his insides unceremoniously into the sand. Screaming, shouting, yelling, hurried orders being shouted to no avail followed him. These people were all doomed, but he swallowed his horror, his disgust, the sickness sitting on his tongue, and he pulled out his long-sword to join the assault. With every wave of fighter thrown at the massive creature it was another person down. Blood red was seeping into the sand and he was part of that, the huge hole he had already had in his leg before all of this started soaking through his bandages and pants and causing him to trail blood with every movement. His eyes hurt, as did his lungs and heart, the monster took up the entirety of his mind in a confusing way.

“You!” a hissed, familiar voice before a strong hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back just in time to miss one of the Emperor’s infected claws taking his head off. He gave the woman a weak, shaking look. Mallory.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded in a rush.

“Helping?”

“You are doing more harm than good here, if you fall that thing grows. You need to leave, hide. What happens here is none of your concern anymore.” he wanted to be able to argue, but he couldn’t. If he could become something like that... abomination then he was a liability. He nodded slowly, downcasting his eyes to the ground and trying to swallow another wave of bile as the creature’s disgusting form stained his eyes.

“Good, when this is over... do me a favor and bury those who died if you can. They wont become anything bad but... they’ll all deserve a proper burial.” just in case she didn’t live. Virgil nodded again without words, glancing up shortly when the tall woman put a hand on his shoulder before she ran back into the fray to grab the monster’s attention. Now... he had to get away. Would it chase him down if he left even with the army attacking it? Did it want him specifically? He didn’t know where he was going but Virgil sheathed his sword and ran from the field like a coward. The sound of shrieking, of fighting, growing blessedly more distant with every step. He must be weak because he was crying, sobbing like a whelp through heaving breaths that threatened to have him sick again. His every thought consumed by the dead, the bloodbath, and the nightmare his people were capable of becoming. He hadn’t even realized where he was going until the sun turned less harsh and he ducked into the same craggy house he had been waiting in earlier that day.

Kurile was still there, eyes wide as she stared at him before fearfully looking out the window from the direction he had come.

“It’s... it’s dealing with the army.” he breathed out, to which she glanced him over and nodded. Virgil crossed the sand-floor, dropping to his knees a few feet away from his commander. He wanted to cry, to scream, to damn the Gods for letting such a thing exist, his heart feeling both hauntingly empty and disgustingly full, twisted, at the same time. His mouth tasted like sand and death. He didn’t have the strength to make a sound. The imperial... the danger looked around the room and noted the form of Merric. Bloodied, battered. He crawled over to the younger drake, fearing him dead, but as he got closer the other’s ice eyes moved to look up at him. He felt overwhelming relief to see it, hand shakening relief. The half-elf weakly raised a hand to him, Virgil grasping that offered hand without hesitation as he settled to kneel next to the battered teen and hold the cool, grimey, hand in both of his bloody ones.

“You’re gonna be alright, Kid, I promise.” he whispered, though it was more to himself than to the injured half-blood. He had never heard any stories of half-blood humans turning into such a creature... and if that was the case that they couldn’t then maybe true-humans shouldn’t be allowed to exist anymore. Half-bloods were safer, and they weren’t cursed by the Gods to become nightmares in death. His tongue tasted of sickness at the thought and he swallowed painfully to try to rid himself of the ill feeling in his body. He would be more dangerous in death than he could ever be in life.

“Where are we?” the bloody half-elf asked, voice cracked by dehydration and sand.

“Hewn city, in one of the intact buildings.” he responded, Merric blinked drowsy eyes at him before glancing around the room.

“Where’s Kurile?”

“She’s keeping an eye on the window, she’s close.” Merric nodded slowly now, seeming to be more comfortable now that he was slightly more aware. He hadn’t gotten a very good look at the damage until now, a huge bloody gash torn into the half-elf’s andomion and his leg a crunched, twisted, mangled mess that oozed blood from random leaking holes punched by cracked bone. There was no salvaging that, Merric would be losing a leg... he just hoped it wasnt going to be him doing the cutting. The idea made his already upset stomach shift and the soldier put a hand to his mouth to settle it.

“That bad?” Merric asked weakly, he couldn’t believe that the younger drake was smiling as he said that... even if it was a meak attempt at one.

“There’s certainly some... damage, but you’ll be alright.”

“We... we need to travel soon. We can’t be here after nightfall, you’re both injured, we’d be easy targets.” Kurile spoke up, drawing Virgil gaze up to the orc as she paced the sand-floor. She was right, it was already a little darker outside. Getting caught here afterdark was asking for death on the best of days... right now? They might as well just end it if that was the plan. It’d be less painful.

“I can carry him, Kurile, I’m not bleeding too bad.”

“You left a blood trail right into our door, Virgil, fuck off with the ‘not all that bad’ bullshit, I’ll-” she cut herself off, silence following as she seemed to be listening for something. A tremble in the ground, the far off-sound of stomping feet... the blood trail had led the nightmare back to them. He had thought it mindless enough to not be able to track them... and he hadn’t been thinking about any of that when he had run. Kurile looked at him, her eyes lighting up with a primal hue.

“It’s going to find us.” she whispered. Virgil swallowed thickly, looking down at Merric who was giving a cloudy, confused, look to Kurile out of the edge of his eye.

“I’ll... I’ll be back.” he said, fear tightening his throat an threatening his stomach, he quietly placed the cool hand of the half-elf back onto the sand-floor before he got to his feet. Cutting away the extra material of his pants around the wound with his sword, Virgil stepped back outside and turned his eyes to the horizon. Not quite here yet, but soon. He’d have to be quick. Pressing a hand into the wound to further agitate it, the ice-domain soldier quickly turned away from the approaching doom and sprinted through the Hewn City streets. Blood followed his footsteps, more free and flowing now that the offending pant-leg was gone and the bloody-bandages exposed. The sound of the emperor was getting closer to the city, his ribcage was seizing around his lungs, pushing Virgil to double back and duck into a small, half-collapsed, room to wait out the storm. The footsteps were thunderous, the pace of the monster brisk and searching.

Looking for him. Was it just because of the blood... or was it because of what he was? The entire shabby structure shook as the nightmare passed, following the blood further into the Hewn City, Virgil held his hands over his mouth to keep quiet as he waited for it to just get a little further away... he could hear it destroying a building in the background. Now was his chance. Virgil ducked out of his cover, half-expecting dozens of glowing eyes to await him just outside, before turning and sprinting back towards the edge of the Hewn City and ducking back inside his original hide-out. Kurile had retreated to a corner, but Merric was much the same as before... too wounded to move himself. Virgil dropped back to his knees, crossing the sandfloor and carefully picking up the half-blood to move him further away from the door. Merric didn’t seem to care, seeming exhausted.

“We’re stuck here.” Kurile muttered, staring at the doorway that was continuing to get darker. Virgil could still hear the shrieking of the creature, could feel the thrumming of its feet as it continued to search for him.

“What are the chances that the monsters that usually live here will stay away due to the nightmare?” he whispered, to which the Orc just give him a blank look.

“Give me your cape.” she instructed, Virgil didn’t question it, he shifted the injured man that was now using his lap as a pillow and removed the fabric. The commander stood, crossing the sand-floor and placed a corner of the cape to the door-way... tacking it in place with one of her knives before doing it again... and again... and again, again,until the cape was tightly pulled over the doorway. It would keep the howling winds out, mostly, and it would offer a layer between them and outside... not that it would keep any insistent predators at bay.

“You can.. use my smock too.” Merric offered, his smock being a black-smith’s apron. Thick fabric, durable.

“No, Merric, it’ll get cold as night sets in and you’ve lost too much blood for us to be taking from you. Just save your strength.” Kurile paused, before looking at him.

“You should rest now, Virgil, so you have full energy for when night sets. I’ll keep watch.” He didn’t argue, though he didn’t know if it was possible to sleep right then. The soldier leaned his head against the old, dark, sandstone and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and rest while he had the chance.... surprisingly sleep came easy to him and it didn’t take long for him to pass into unconsciousness.

The howling woke him up, it was dark by now and the air had cooled significantly. He couldn’t see further than a foot away from him, the darkness impenetrable even when inside. He could feel the foot-falls of the monster still... but it was lighter now... further away then when he had passed out earlier. His entire leg felt sticky with dried blood, aching painfully as well. Virgil took a deep breath to prevent groaning from pain as he sat up. Kurile was to his right, only slightly on the edge of his vision, and Merric was asleep curled up against his non-injured hip. Kurile’s cape of orange had been placed over the wounded half-elf, Virgil worriedly placing a hand onto the teen’s arm to check for signs of life... he was certainly cool but he could feel a weak pulse. Alive, but getting worse. No words could be said here, the danger inherent, so the soldier closed his eyes and promised in his mind that if Merric could hold out until morning that they would do the rest.

The passage of time was strange here, the shrieking of the winds outside, the howling, the guttural screams of the Emperor were all horrifyingly sharp... and blurred together in his mind. He didn’t know how long it was, but the howling grew loud enough to wake Merric from his sleep. Observing him now, the half-elf was obviously in worlds of pain, writhing incapable of getting any comfort. It was surprising he was so quiet, really, many men in his position would cry, or scream, or beg for their mothers through hurried breath.... but the only sound from Merric was the occasional pained exhale. A blessing, anything louder and they would draw the attention of predators. Or worse.

Virgil carefully reached out and took the writhing half-blood’s hand into his, clasping both of his hands over the ice cold one that now relaxed in his grasp. He had nothing else to offer the pained teen, just his presence, and soon Merric fell back into a fitful sleep.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been, how long night had lasted, but as the darkness started to lessen so too did the heavy weight of danger. The rampaging abomination now far enough away that he could barely feel it in the sand. As the light came so too did the need to leave.

“Virgil.” Kurile’s voice drew him back to reality, he had been staring blankly at the covered door.

“You can let go now.” she whispered, voice gentle and tired.

“What?” he didn’t understand, blinking up at the orc as she stood, a look of pity o her features.

“You can let go of his hand, now. Merric’s gone.” he was stunned at her words, turning to look at the younger drake and carefully moving one of his hands to press along the pulse-point on his wrist...... cold, frigid, beatless. He felt drained, empty, hollow, he looked up dumbly at the Commander, who kneeled to gently pry his hands away from Merric’s, laying the cold hand gently onto the sand like the half-elf was asleep. “He had you to comfort him until he died, there are worse ways to go. He’s at peace now.” she said.

“I... promised him he’d be okay.” his voice cracked when he said this, but he couldn’t find the strength after all of this hell to cry. He had nothing left to give.

“I know, you gave him the hope that he’d be okay. He didn’t die afraid, it’s okay. It wasn’t your call.” she offered her hand to him, Virgil numbly taking it and letting her help him to his feet. He couldn’t help but look down at the still form of their comrade, he looked like he was sleeping now... but in a few hours his death would be apparent.

“We should bury him, atleast.” he protested weakly, but he didn’t offer resistance as Kurile pulled him to the door.

“He’s an elf, Virgil, they don’t bury their dead. He’s fine as he is, the Gods will see to him now. We have to focus on getting us out alive, that’s the important thing.” her voice was gentle, but firm. Virgil didn’t want to agree, he didn’t want to just leave Merric like this... but he nodded.

“what about the others... we don’t know if they-”

“We’ll reach that road when we get to it, just follow me, we’ll be okay.” she assured, Virgil didn’t have the energy to argue, or be upset. He just gave one last look at Merric, whispered a painful prayer to the Gods, and allowed Kurile to lead him back out into the Hewn city dusk. He knew, that if he lived to be older and wiser, that he would relive this day. That Merric would haunt him. He wondered how many others would get lucky enough in this situation to say the same.... but he didn’t feel very lucky.

0 notes

henisadventures · 4 years

Text

Psalmodie.

It started back in august, when I randomly came down from my room to show Sophie a song, I believe it was Pieces by Amanda Lindsey Cook. She told me she really liked it, and that if I like these kind of songs, one of here college friends is singing in a choir, in Lausanne. "Wait, I am gonna show you videos, we even have a CD! Do you want to sing in this choir? " —she asked.

At that point, I had no idea of what I am gonna get myself into. I never in a million years thought that this choir is going to give me friends, social life, unforgettable memories but most importantly it is going to evolve my love for the Lord. I said yes. I said why not, as Emily Wilson thought me.

Yeah, so we were watching the videos, and she told me to decide quickly if I would like to join or not because the first repetition is right around the corner. Also, even though I had like 0 language skills in French,I was like why not.

The first repetition day comes, I was SO nervous, you cannot imagine. I changed outfits at least 3 times, I was barely able to eat, but I had to, cause we were to leave after luch to meet Anouk.

Anouk is now my Psalmodie mommy, I love her to pieces. She’s been the helping hand I always needed, the reassurance that it is gonna be okay, and that „no, no problem if you dont know all the songs” that I replayed in my head every single time I had a doubt in the project or in myself.

Yeah, so we are there, going to Lausanne, I am about to meet 60 new people, there goes the social life hiatus, I am about to make friends there! Aha, yes. But it needed a bit more time, that I expected.

I enjoyed every single minute of every repetition. We started with the warmups, and the „I am so happy, Jesus is my salvation!”, was the first one that I understood. The other one, however I still have no idea about, honestly, what is the lyrics of the do, mi, so, do, do, so, mi, do thing?

Moooving on. We started to sing a new song, Christ est tout pour moi. When I tell you, this song is THE song for me. It was the first one, when I actually felt like I am in a movie. It was the best feeling ever, and we were just practicing. I felt like above the clouds closer to God every single time.

Okay, I have a confession, whenever JD or Marc was talking I didn’t understand 90% of them. Even during the concert, exept, when Marc was speaking in English which was the weirdest thing ever cause I got used to not be able to understand him.

Yeah so we were preparing for the CD recording. I had like 3 weeks to learn seven songs in French and luckily none of them was Garde ma bouche. Who am I joking though, I love that song now.

So, the recording days. I kind of knew a few people, but I was just guessing some names or faces. Oh gosh, it was a very hard but very precious two days.

When we were singing Vase d’argile, that feeling is something I will save into a bottle. It was the best thing ever. The whole two days were a blessing even though I was like extra extra sick a day before. It was a wild ride, but every single minute was worth it.

I am gonna be on a CD!!!!! I still get very happy about it whenever it comes to my mind.

Yeah so back to the repetition phase, we were finally singing Christ est tout pour moi again. I was missing it truly :( Then all the other songs I didn’t know about, AND that was the time I realized we are gonna do CHOREOGRAPHIES. Just imagine. I am concentrating on the lyrics, the melody, the correct time to sing, hand gestures (clap or snap) and then my feet. I was like ok ☺ No worries. Hahahhha, I was very worried.

Shout out to everybody who supported me during the preparation of the concert. Honestly, without you guys (and the Creator) , I wouldn't be able to survive.

Yeah, so the concerts were last weekend, a week ago Nathalie came over to help me with the songs, because 3 days before there were 2 songs that I had no idea about. Eh, lol. c’est la vie.

Thank you Nathalie again!!!

So the weekend comes. What a weekend.

I was barely able to eat. Literally I ate like 3 spoons of lunch after I was suffering with Rigo Jancsi in the kitchen for 2 hours. It was worth it though, everybody loved it.

Then Anouk and Samuel came to pick me up and we were on the way for the concert. My hand was shaking so much, I was either near of these three: crying, stroke or passing out. Only one of them happened, and it was not the stroke or the passing out. I was wearing the scarf and honestly I felt like a Bella. A Psalmodie Bella. I literally went to Giulia and shouted to her that ARE WE THE PSALMODIE BELLAS YES OR NO??

So I was trying to ignore the fact that I don’t know all the songs as much as I was able to, and I am not gonna lie, at some point I was able to. Because the atmosphère of the concert was sooooo so so so magical.

Let us see those concert songs, shall we?

✨Car toi seul est Dieu✨ The intro song, so amazing, I loved it very much. Little backstory, I was listening to this song every time I was cooking on Monday nights. I found a version on Spotify, I knew the alto and there was the perfect music for cooking. Alas! What was the thing I absolutely forgot? The 2nd verse. Haha. I knew the song perfectly exept for the second verse. I realized it exactly where you guessed: during the concert.

✨Bien compter nos jours✨ Ehhh. The song, that I had no full picture in my had until the Wednesday before the concert. Long, long song. I was genuinely frustrated but I acted like I knew all the words and the ending is very epic, 10/10.

✨Oui je crois (Le Crédo)✨ Another epic song, the standing up is just soooooooooo cool, I loved it but I absolutely forgot about the hand-moving part at the 2nd verse, lol. I thought I knew this song, but I had to realize that I was wrong…during the concert.

✨Christ est tout pour moi✨ This song could be my anthem for real. This song is a little more special than the others because it was the first song that I rehearsed really and honestly I felt like above the clouds. Still do, whenever I think about it. Tears of joy, feeling the touch of Heaven.

✨Vase d’argile✨ Oh wow, this song is just wow. When we were doing the recordings, I will never forget that 3 seconds of silence after we finished. This song is also everything we evern need to know. I love it so much. Now I see.

✨Jour de jugement✨ The third very very epic song. I didn’t know all the verses, but as before, I acted like I did. Very deep, very well built up. „la malédiction”… was just…wow.

✨Joie promise dès l’origine✨ This contrast was kind of weird for me, we had the 3 songs before, all very deep, all very epic and dramatic, and then, there comes this bundle of joy with 6 different instruments, all happy, after we were singing about Jugement day. We just casuallytold the people that „hey, actually, no worries, because there is somebody who was promised to save us the scary things!!!!”. Honestly I don’t know if it was intentional, but in my opinion it was brilliant like this.

✨Plus grand que tout autre nom✨Oh well, this song was the „I wish I was just over it song” for me because I was so freaking scared of this, honestly. Lyrics, feet, snap, when to stop, when to snap, when to change snap to clap and just in general sing correctly, etc, etc. It was the most stressful song for me but I loved it, it is a very nice song, and the improvisation on the 2nd concert was a very precious moment.

✨Le saint nom de Jésus✨I knew the refrain, that’s all. Very thankful that JD was singing with us because as I learend in my past 12 with the Gyermekkórus in Szeged, if you just look at the mouth of the leader, it is gonna be fine. Köszönöm szépen Nagyi!!!

✨Un Pére pour l’orphelin✨You repair the broken hearts and make dreams reborn. Thank you Nathalie for this because I had an extra smile on while singing this. I didn’t knew I like this song but is just such a nice and fun song, I realized cannot not like it.

✨Jamais loin de moi✨This was a very special song, because this is the eldest kid’s favourite. When we are walking home from school, or even just randomly playing we just randomly start to sing it. He loves it so much and I am so proud of him.

✨Ta bonté✨ This song was stuck in my head whenever I saw the sunrays through the clouds. It is just so beautiful, with all the instruments and just in general the meaning of the song. It is about the endless love of God. My favourite part in the lyrics was the ooooohhhhhhh

✨Garde ma bouche✨ The Goliat to my David. Guys. If I could learn the 75% of this song, than literally anybody on this planet is able to. There is no impossible. I will never forget, when on one of the repetitions, Marc was telling something like „Yes I know it is fast…” and at least 5 people looked at me with either laugh or pity… I was like „hahhahhahah yeah i know hahahahahha”. It was the time of true hopelessness. But. I aint no quitter, so I learned it. Second by second, word by word. And it became one of my favourite songs.

✨Bénis Dieu✨I have really ten thousand reasons to say this. One of them is Psalmodie.

✨Ne crains rien✨The baby-guitar song. That’s how I call the ukulele because it just looks like a ba-by-gu-i-tar. Okay so I didn’t know the lyrics, but luckily there were some oooooooh-s and the other parts – I gave them to the Lord.

✨Abondance de joie✨This song is just again a bundle of joy. And also epic. I loved SO MUCH when during the repetition before the concert we just kept on singing it without Marc. That was very funny.

✨Yahwe✨ I went to the concert of Collectif Cieux Ouvert and I heard it once. That was all I knew about this song, and because has been singing it since ages and everybody knows it by heart, we didnt rehears it so I was like, ok, I am just gonna follow the chef. It was amazing though.

✨Alleluia de Noël✨The last song. And also a very special cause the middle child has been singing it at home for so long. She loves this song so much. So do I. This song is the soul of Christmas. Here is the Saviour, he is born. And the way we were singing when we came down the stairs. I am forever thankful that we have a video of that because that moment is too beautiful to be only saved in our memories. Whenever I watch that video, my heart is filled with joy.

I cannot be thankful enough for this choir and these people who I am lucky enough to call my friends. I learned so much from them in this past few months, it is crazy. I love every single one of them. I didn’t know I needed Psalmodie until I found it.

Here comes the cheesy part:

Shout out to Lea for being my crazy friend, to Giulia for being the nicest Bella ever, to Nathalie for being there when needed, to Aurelie for the helping words and the notes, to Sebastien for not talking to me haha, to Anouk for being my Psalmo mama, to Lauraine for always smiling and talking, to JD & Marc for being awesome awesome leaders, to Theo for the magic tricks, to Marc for the cow-jokes, to Estelle for being the first person I ever talked in Psalmodie, to Vanessa for the unforgettable car-rides and honestly for every single person who is talking to me in English because I know it is hard just look at me struggling with French. This is an unforgettable experience. I love every second of serving the Lord this way.

I could go on for hours but that is all for today, if you read all that, you can come to collect your friendship award, I appreciate it very much, thank you for your time. 💛

Bénis Dieu oh mon âme !!

Á toute,

Heni

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ace2light · 5 years

Text

felt so down..

i wanted to talk to people so badly. by people, i meant those whom i am close with. super close with, esp him. i do have ppl whom are extremely close to me. but i dont dare to approach them due to as follows:

poon: he is with his friends, he wont have the time to entertain me also, well, there were times i couldnt control myself and texted him, i got a single word ‘ok’, i know where i stand, i backed off. i switched off my phone literally. idw to have more disappointment in my alrdy bad and sad mood. rather than unknowingly text him and anticipate he would at least ask how i am. i rather not meet with such a disappointment. well if he knows that i am really trying my best to cope with my feelings and thoughts, he would auto read this without me telling him. cos if i dont spam him, i go to insta, if i dont go to insta, i come to tumblr. these are the ways i penned down how i feel and what i think when there is no one to talk to me, no one whom i can chat with.

steph: in gasglow, i dont want her to be burden with my issues. she will know when she returns when we catch up anws.

chanel and jiawen: we are drifting apart. they are the ppl i joke ard with but no longer the ones whom i find to rant about. as i always hang out with poon, i dw them to feel i treat bf more than i treat my bff. i dont want them ti feel they are spare tyre.

sheena and sam: i scared i make them feel overwhelm with my issues. plus sheena is no coping well alrdy, idw to add to her problems.

mum: she no longer is my close listening ears. i nvr tell her many things, in fact, i nvr say much about myself anymore, except rant about dad to her. other than that, nth. idw her to worry about me, esp my studies. i didnt tell her i wasnt coping well in school lately also. she’s too busy dealing with my dad anws.

dylan: he is a gd friend, but then i am not comfy telling him too many things.

xx: i lose the position to rant to him. before i got into a relationship, he was always there when i was feeling down. be it normal classes whereby i am feeling sad or stress, he will buy me oreo (altho he say his house got unlimited supplies, so many times, he think i believe meh). he can chat with me for the entire night when i was feeling so lost about some issues in the past. he takes care of me like a little sis. often he is the one who can notice i am sad and try ways to make me happy. i always treated him as my bro. he is like my younger/older bro. because of many reasons, i distant myself from him. i dont want poon to be jelly about xx and me, neither do i want to make xx feel sad, so the best way is to distant from him.

it has been long since i felt like cutting myself. thankfully that feeling happens when i was on a cab, i have no access to pen knife. if not idk what would happen to myself. honestly, i just wanna just rot in bed tmr, i dont feel like meeting anyone, but cos i promise alrdy, i have to appear..

it is getting worst, i overthink. i overthink in my sleep also. idw to. idk how to tell my brain to gimme a break. i really wanna break free from overthinking. i even woke up from a worst case scenario about poon me and my parents. i was awaken by this dream today, it scares me but i didnt share with him.

what i feel now. towards poon. yes, i am his gf. apart from saying ‘i love u’, he technically did nth thru out the entire day i was down. i understand that he is with his friend. but i am feeling too low to even be considerate about it. at least, talk to me abit? make me feel a bit btr instead of just ‘i love u’? i know u love me and you mean it, but in times of this, too much of such phrases makes me feel i am not impt. i am just a person whom you have to say ‘i love u’ to a few times a day. for so long, i havent felt so lonely on terms of texting. i am a heavy texter to ppl whom i am comfortable in. he is one of them. i always felt a bit sad that when i am awake, he is asleep, why cant fate let him have a normal sleeping time? i really wish he was at least awake to text me when i am on my way to school or in school.. yes, he blame me that i didnt call him up or wake him up, but certain things, it doesnt comes from me, it takes his effort, not just mine. i mean if a person is asleep, what for wake him up for a casual chat esp when the reason is i am bored? this is so unreasonable.

just ytd issue. btn poon and me. when i started to put in more trust in him, he shakes it again. i trusted him to come meet me with monster also, in fact, i anticipated that, that was the encouragement i told myself, the only reason that keep me awake. the thought of my bf visiting me and delivering a drink i needed so badly that day. end up, he did come (make me feel i am his priority but i was guilty). before that, i was comtrolling my temper not to rage at him. honestly, what does he mean. well if i was in his shoes, it is very simple. come to the gf then meet his friends afterwards. cos he promise the gf to come alrdy, but didnt promise the gf to wait for her after her test. what was promise first should be carried out, what is so hard about it? for me, personally, whoever i made a promise with first, i go with the promise first. unless that person is fking impt to me, which is him, whenever he wants to meet last minute, i have to push some of my plans away just to meet him. i really hope he knows it is hard for me to lie all the time, i dont have so much lies in me to hide from my parents all the time. and in order to make a lie, i have plan ahead, if it is so last minute, i cant think of a perfect reason to lie. but he doesnt get it? he seems to take it for granted that i can meet him any time sometimes, that is what i feel. sometimes, i have to get back home early cos i cnt go home too late. one is my fears of going home alone late at night, second is i cant see shit at night, three my mum is worried for me too. one more thing, shouldnt he pull me into the conversation instead of asking me to try on my own? isnt it easier for him to pull me into a conversation with his friends rather than i awkwardly ask them weird qns? i just hate it when he force me to talk, and if i dont, he would get upset, like srsly, i didnt talk for a reason okay.

well i do appreciate his efforts, waking up before i go and caring for me. but if he’s gonna ignore me or forget about me when he is with his friends, i rather he dont show me i am his priority. cos it is fking hard to deal with when he isnt there to reply me all the time, reply as in a continuous conversation not a single word of trying to brush me off, yes, it might be a form of acknowledgement of it to me. but then, if i rant to him, do i really need an acknowledgement? hmm, i doubt so. i hate spamming him my feelings my thoughts cos he reads but dont reply me one by one, i hate that. if i tell you my feelings and thoughts fking reply, rants, at least tell me sth instead of a word ‘i reply later cos i chatting or gaming with my friends’ is still btr than a word, but ofc, make sure he replies afterwards lah, if not the words has no meaning.

it is so hard to not text a person whom you text all the time a day. it is not i didnt wanna text, i am so fking tired and disappoointed at the nonchalant, okay not even nonchalant reply, just a word answer seems like i am disturbing him and brushing me off. i tried to text him, but if i am gonna get a word, what for i continue, sometimes it is not i didnt wanna spam. it’s just i know he wont reply to every single thing, so i am avoiding that disappointment. it takes two hands to clap, he want me to do this, then prove to me, it is worth it. like spamming, you want me to spam, then reply everything lah, i know i say b4 he need not necessarily reply everything but who doesnt want to be replied, if not send for what?

he always wanted me to text him ‘i want him now’, why would i text a person asleep that? does he knows how much courage it takes for me to ask for things i want? for almost 10 years, i havent been living for myself, i live for others, i nvr really requested a lot of things. idk how and i fear rejections, imagine mustering tons of courage then got rejected. hell no am i gonna make myself suffer that. best eg, first time i asked him to bring me sth that is extremely out of his way for me, he came but didnt fulfil the things i want. seeing him makes me not angry but the sadness doesnt disappear.

i am like this now cos i want him to talk to me, even if it is for 2 mins, show that he tries to understand how i feel now. but nah, nope, i had enough of dissapointment today. i aint gonna on my phone until tmr. if he is late for tmr, i am so gonna ignore him for a day.

as much as i wanna blame him for having fun and forgot about me. but i cnt.

enough of him.

what cause me so sad and down. it is like i am awake but i aint doing my work. i dont have the energy to do so. i am so tired of everything.

academic failure. is extremely strong when i failed my CT.

stress. i m dealing with so many in schools but no one exactly knows what i am going thru.

home: i have to smile to maintain i am okay feels. one not to let my parents worry and not to anger them.

friends: i dgaf about them alrdy. i dont have the mood to deal with them.

him: i am just idk, extremely sad and dissapointed about it, how he acts/ treats me these 2 days, esp today.

wtv happens next, tonight, i wont gurantee. whether i harm myself or not. i cant be sure. controlling it is so hard. death to me aint scary, what i am scared of is the sadness ppl felt if i harm myself.

dont blame me to disappear. if he shown more effort, i wouldn't have disappeared due to sadness and disappointment. actually, would he even know i disappear?

or maybe, i havent been okay, cos i felt neglected by him... apart from my parents, only one more person can me feel so dead when i am alrdy unhappy, which worsen my sadness.

IF HE HAPPENS TO FIND TILL HERE, I SALUTE HIM COS I DONT EXPECT HIM AT ALL. which implies he knows how to find me when i dissapear.

0 notes

superjedders · 7 years

Text

Eye for an Eye [Overwatch Fanfic]

Drip! Drip! Stale water dripped from the rusted pipe into an old metal hubcap tucked in the corner of the dimly lit room. The cracked concrete floor stained with all manner of substances; from large black marks that could have been a resulting leak from an old oil drum or treads remnant of a car tyre, to the dark red marks which could have been left by a rusting piece of machinery or the stubborn stains from a bloody gunfight. Dust particles floated through the air, picked up by the breeze seeping through holes in the walls and ceiling, the occasional dry leaf screeching across the floor once swept into the winds embrace only to be tucked into a dark recess of the room and abandoned, no doubt crumbling into dust. Despite the dry atmosphere caused by the summer heat outside the entire room reeked of mould and mildew, choking the senses and drawing a rasping cough from the figure in the centre of the room. The wooden chair the figure was seated on creaked with protest as they shifted their weight slightly, another dry cough forcing its way through their lungs and near doubling him over before he hawked back, spitting bloodied phlegm to the side with a look of disgust in his eyes. Brown hues scanned the room for any sign of life, an annoyed exhale escaping them when only a rat scuttled past in the distance, pausing to drink from the rusted hubcap. His throat was drier than the Sahara right now, and despite the fact the water in said hubcap would have been filthy and warm the male found himself licking his lips and feeling envious of the rodent. Grunting he jerked his body, feeling the resistance of the tape binding his limbs and torso to the chair but taking some glee in the shrill shriek of the wooden chair legs grating the floor briefly startling the rat away from the drink. Dam rodent rubbing it in his face. Speaking of rodents… The door flew open with a loud bang, the shrill maniacal laughter unmistakable alongside the gentle step thump of a peg leg entering the room. The lanky Australian entered dragging a large metal drum behind him, the metal grating against the floor and leaving a trail before it was settled on the floor with a dull metallic thump. "I'll just…leave this here!" Turning around, wild eyes settled on the male strapped to the chair, a grin spreading across his pointed features as he ran his metallic hand through his thinning hair, the ends smouldering and causing a small amount of light. Stepping closer he hunched slightly with the movement, his peg leg dragging slightly before he crouched down to make eye contact with his prisoner, hands on his knees. "G'day cobber!" he said, noting the scowl crossing the mans grizzled features, stepping back with another loud cackle ."Hooley Dooley, ol' Roadhog did a real number on you mate! Just look at that shiner that's a beauty!" his hands twitched at his side before he reached to touch the large bruising across the male's eye. Brown hues settled on the rodent furiously. Yanking his head away from the Rat's touch, his breathing became heavier as he bit back on his annoyance letting his lip curl into a smirk "Aint nutin' compared te' what I'm gun' do t'ye when I get outta 'ere." He took a moment to draw a breath "An' just so we're clear…I'm not yer mate" the southern drawl of his words twisted into a growl, the tone only amusing the Australian even further. "Hahahaha! Now we're talkin'" he turned and hobbled past the captive towards a bundle of items set off to the side "Oo, what do have we here?" he said plucking the tattered cowboy hat and setting it on his head, whirling around and drawing finger guns with a wild grin "Howdy Partner!" he said, jokingly poking his left thumb through an invisible belt and awkwardly striding towards his captive, stopping to giggle before wilding firing his finger pistol around the room. He noted the annoyed look on his captive's face and turned back to the items "Oooo just look at this beauty!" plucking the silver revolver into view he admired it in the dim light before aiming it at the wall opposite and narrowing one eye "Finders keepers I reckn'.." "If y'all know what's good fer ye, you'll set that down and step off" Turning back to his captive he awkwardly dangled the weapon off his index finger, shifting his weight to once side "Oh yeah? And who's guna make me?" he grinned, trembling in anticipation, enjoying the fury in the man's features as he awaited a name. "Jesse McCree" The gruff, somewhat muffled, response certainly didn't come from the cowboy strapped to the chair, but from behind him. Whirling around his shoulders slumped as Roadhog entered the room, the large brute of a man easily carrying his large hook at his side, expression hidden by the mask. "Roadie! Must you ruin my fun?" Junkrat whined, watching as his partner in crime heavily sat down on one of the abandoned barrels with a grunt. "In case you forgot, this drongo is the reason we aren't rolling in cash right now!" The large man tugged a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and shoved it in Junkrats direction, watching the scrawny rodent pluck it from his grasp curiously "And what's this?" he asked, the paper rustling as he uncrumpled it. His eyes flew open before he spun towards McCree, holding the paper up and glancing from it to the gunslinger before a grin spread across his features. Jesse shifted his gaze from Roadhog to Junkrat, the wide-eyed expression that overtook the maniacs face told him exactly what the piece of paper was, the gunslinger leaning his head back and an exasperated sigh escape his lips. "You see this roadie?! We're rich! Filthy stinkin' rich!" The wanted poster was carelessly tossed in the air as Junkrat celebrated his new-found wealth, dancing around the gunslinger as the poster fluttered to the floor slowly. Jesse let a chuckle escape him, an amused smirk playing on his features as he relaxed in the chair. Well as much as a man bound to a chair could anyway. The laugh grabbed Junkrats attention immediately, the Junker in his face demanding to know what was so funny. "Y'all won't be gettin' a cent o' that reward money fellas" Jesse let a coy smile play on his bruised features, watching Junkrat try to work out why only to give up and demand answers from the cowboy. McCree kept silent, only answering when the Junker grabbed the front of his open shirt and practically spat the words into his face. Grimacing he tugged his face away from the Australian, wiping his cheek on his shoulder "Well if memory serves, there's a nice reward fer bringin' you fella's in too. I can't imagin' they'd be willin' to part with my reward money when you walk me in" he watched the realisation cross Junkrats face and stifled a chuckle. "Dammit! My riches! My money! My-" the grunt from Roadhog stopped the Rats rant, a nervous chuckle escaping him "I mean…our money" the approving snort from the hog settled his nerves, the anger returning "Grrrgh…now what do we do!" he asked, stamping his peg leg and folding his arms like a child throwing a tantrum. "We get rid of the problem. He's worth nothing to us now" Roadhog said, heaving himself to his feet and dragging his hook off the side. His heavy steps echoed slightly in the room, his breathing laboured as though every step was a struggle for the large man. The hook glinted threateningly in the light, the tip angled towards the cowboy who immediately began spouting his defence. "Now hold on!" he said, briefly tugging at his restraints again in the hopes of feeling some give in them. Brown hues stared at the hook which loomed closer and closer before the sharp tip was placed against his throat, threatening to pierce his flesh "Must be sumin' you fellas want?" he looked towards Junkrat briefly "Sumin' valuable?" The hope was to buy himself more time with the promise of valuables, the Junkers didn't know what he had in terms of possessions so it was time to make use of his silver tongue. "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Junrkat dove into view, shoving the hook away and ignoring the fact the hook snagged McCrees skin, a trickle of blood running down his neck. Pointed features, and the smell of burning were inches away from Jesses' "What sort of valuables we talking about cowboy?" Junkrat was leaning far too close for the gunslingers liking, more so because the Junker had placed both hands on each of Jesse's arms and was leaning heavily on them, sending a dull ache through the bones and muscles. "Well…" Jesse licked at his lips, reminded again how thirsty he was and pushing the thought to the back of his mind before glancing past the Junker and spying his Peacekeeper on the side "There's my gun fer starters…" he trailed off, wincing as Junkrat shoved backwards and scooped up the gun. "This?" he asked, sneering at the gun before laughing "Pah, it belongs on the scrap heap" he threw the gun carelessly across the room, the gun skittering across the floor out of sight "Next!" he barked. Jesse stared slack jawed as his gun was tossed aside, skittering under some old shelves out of sight. Trash? Anger was bubbling beneath his brown hues, not helped by the snapping of the Junkers thin, dirty fingers in front of his face. "Tick tock tick tock tick tock!" Junkrat giggled again "I'd hate to let old Pig face over there have another crack at ya" Jesse shook his head, strands of hair falling over his face as he desperately thought of something else he could offer as collateral for- he paused. What exactly was he offering collateral for? His freedom? His life? Time? He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and finally lifted his gaze back to the Junkers "I got an' old hoverbike y'all can have if ye' fancy it…" he could tell his offer was falling flat mid-sentence, the Junker yawning loudly. "Try again. Mate" he gestured towards Roadhog who twisted his hook, a reminder of what was to come if he failed to deliver something the Junkers deemed valuable. O O O O Jesse attempted to negotiate for another 10 minutes, everything he offered met with wayward comments or flat out rejected. The Junkers cared not for standard weapons, the cowboy couldn't offer them jewels and even attempting to falsify riches had just earned him another bone chilling laugh from the rat and a reminder to behave in the form of a fist to the gut from Roadhog. Staring down at the floor Jesse heaved a defeated sigh and shook his head "Y'all are impossible to bargain with fellas. I ain't got nuthin' else for ya…" he shrugged his shoulders, resigning himself to his fate. Junkrat had perched himself on an empty oil drum, mindlessly spinning McCree's hat around with his index finger as he listened to the cowboys offers. The gunslinger's words of defeat snapped him to attention, the hat carelessly frisbeed aside, skipping once off the floor before resting in the shadows "Aw, such a pity. Well you know what they say…if at first you don't succeed" he faltered for the rest of the saying "...blow it up again!" he jumped to his feet with another maniacal laugh before cracking his knuckles and skittering over to a box of wires and metal pieces practically throwing himself into the box before rooting around and tugging a circular item, which resembled a landmine, into view with a grin. Giddy with excitement, Jamison half stumbled back towards McCree, clumsily setting the device at the male's feet with a thump "This bombs for you!" Junkrat announced, cackling as the cowboy tried once again to yank free from his restraints, cussing at the pair while he did so. Junkrat turned his attention to Roadhog who was stood off to the side, gently running a large thumb over the hook edge and waiting for his moment with the cowboy. The Junker knew he and McCree had fought pretty hard and that the large man wanted his revenge on the cowboy. "He's all yours Roadie!" Junkrat said, leaping up onto the oil drum and swinging his legs, hunching forward and clasping his hands together, excitement etched on his features as Roadhog sauntered over, grabbing McCree by the jaw, tilting the chair back into its hind legs and raising the hook high above the defenceless cowboy. "I'm guna make you squeal" Hog spoke gruffly, enjoying the brief flash of fear in the cowboy's brown hues. Jesse forcibly settled his gaze into a determined frown, spitting at the hog "Fuckin' do yer worst Bacon bits!" he spat defiantly. Clearly his insult hit a nerve as the hook was tossed aside and instead a large fist collided with his face. The other large hand kept itself fastened around his jaw, his restraints stopping him from retaliating or defending himself as the Hog landed blow after blow. He felt his nose break after the second collision, a rib crack after the third blow to his chest and was spitting up blood after the fifth blow to his abdomen. Despite the pain he was in, Jesse had bit down hard on his tongue so to speak, not even a squeak of pain escaping his lips. Instead his brown hues burned with furious defiance. He wouldn't allow these Junkers the satisfaction of hearing his cries of pain, he wouldn't beg for his life. O O O O As Roadhog collected his hook from the floor, Jesse was granted a brief reprieve from the onslaught, taking the moment to catch his breath. Every inhale sent shockwaves of pain through his torso, each inhale a heaved wheezing sound before he hawked back another ball of bloody phlegm and spat it aside. A large shadow loomed over him once again, the Hog stood before him with the Hook in his grip. "Got somthin' to say cowboy?" the gruff voice drew a tired smile from McCree. Brown hues lifting slowly from the floor, his tired gaze settling on the hog as he shook his head slowly, dark tendrils already threatening to swarm his vision. "I aint got nuthin' more to say to you, pork chop" he rasped the words before he let his head lull back, a cocky smirk etched his face as he lost consciousness, Roadhog angrily raising his Hook at the remark. "Hold on!" Junkrat half fell off the oil barrel in his attempt to approach, scrawny limbs reaching to stop the hook much to the annoyance of the larger Junker. "You've got a lot of nerve interrupting me Jamison…." Roadhog growled, watching as the Junker scuttled about the cowboy with an air of excitement about him. "Okay okay, I know…but look!" he said with a grin. "So?" Roadhog snorted with a shrug. "Its valuable! And sooo shiny…." Junkrat grinned, his eyes glinting like a magpie as looked back to Roadhog. "You want that?" Roadhog asked, shaking his head with an annoyed snort as Junkrat nodded eagerly "Fine, stay here" Roadhog tossed his hook aside and left his partner in crime alone with the cowboy for a few minutes. O O O O Jesse awoke to the sound of insane giggling. The world blurring into focus he let a groan of pain escape him, his head moving briefly and his lips smacking together still desperate for some form of fluid to quench his thirst. "Hurry Roadie! He's waking up!" The urgent tone in Junkrats voice drew a frown to the cowboy's face as he tried to lift his chin from his chest, grunting as his neck protested the movement, muscles stiff from being hunched for so long. It was then he felt his left arm being yanked around, free from the restraints and yet being manhandled by larger hands than his own. Rolling his gaze over he noticed the two Junkers eagerly strapping his arm to a flat table they had wheeled over "What're ya doin' now?" McCree slurred, trying to tug it right hand up to rub at his eyes only to be reminded by the sharp tug of the restraint tugging further into his skin, that he was still a prisoner. Junkrat chuckled to himself "You had something valuable after all mate, once we have it we'll let you go." The snigger that escaped the rat unsettled McCree, but with his mind still struggling to process his surroundings brown hues closed against his will. The strap was tugged tight against his wrist, the other further up his arm tested to ensure it was tight before the Junkers appeared to be ready to begin "All set. Ready Roadie?" Junkrat eagerly drummed his fingertips together and licked his lips as he waited for the Hog to begin. "You're sure about this Jamison?" Hog asked roughly. The Junkers robotic hand planted itself on his scrawny frame, a false look of offense crossing his features "And what would make you think I'm not 100% certain hog?" "Well for starters, it's a left arm" Hog grunted, the two Junkers looking to each other then to the limb and back again. "So?" "What are you going to do with a left arm?" Roadhog asked, snorting once and clearing his throat as Junkrat took a moment to ponder the question. "Ah…well. I know exactly what I'll use it for…" Jamison trailed off, tapping his chin thoughtfully before an idea came to mind "Simple! I'll keep it spare. Never know when I might need it! Besides, whose to say it doesn't have some nice parts I can use to upgrade this rickety bunch o' bolts" he wiggled the robotic fingers on his right hand, the joints loose and creaking in places. It was actually remarkable a digit or two didn't fall off with the motion. "Makes sense I guess…" Roadhog said with a shrug, plucking a large blade from the table beside him. "Now that's a knife!" Junkrat said before his trademark cackle filled the air. O O O O Jesse had been teetering on the verge of unconsciousness when the blade carved into his arm. Immediately his eyes flew open as pain tore through his arm, his instinctive reaction to yank the robotic limb away met with resistance from the leather straps tying it to the table. "The fuck! What the hell!" his voice echoed in the room as the blade was lifted briefly, reangled and driven deep into his flesh, a cry of pain ripping free from the cowboy's lips. His body writhed, desperate for release, seeking to pull his arm towards him and cradle it until the pain went away. The restraints began to cut into his exposed flesh as he fought and bucked as much as he could. "You said you'd give us something valuable…no take backs!" Junkrat laughed over the cowboy's yells of pain, watching as Roadhog twisted the blade, trying to sever wires from nerves and grunting with exertion, blood splattering the blade and pooling across the table. The thick crimson liquid dripping off the sides and adding another stain to the floor. "Ya…ya'll…a…are fuckin'…insane…" McCree panted, gritting his teeth and biting down on another cry of agony. His breathing was becoming laboured, images of when he originally lost his arm flickering behind his eyelids every time he squeezed his eyes shut. The loud thumping of his heart was drowning out the sounds around him, blood pulsating in his ears, driving a pounding headache through his head so powerful he thought his skull would split open. Another nerve was severed from his arm "FUCKIN' STOP IT!" he bellowed, spit flying from his lips, his head tossed back as he yelled his plea to the ceiling "PLEASE! STOP!" he wanted unconsciousness to take him, but his adrenaline was sky high, his heart pumping so fast in panic that he feared it would bust from his chest. He was going to have to sit through the torture, sit through seeing the gleeful expression on Junkrats face, endure the stench of his own sweat, fear and blood in the air and hear his own scream reverberating off the walls accompanied by the heavy breathing from the Hog and cackle from the rat. This was what hell was like he decided. He also decided that if he got out of this alive he was going to make the pair of Junker pay severely for the pain they had caused him Sweat had pooled under his arms, soaking his torso, back and was running down the side of his face in beads. His complexion was paling with every twist of the knife, his stomach flipping as he felt nerves and tendons popping beneath the blade as Roadhog forced it through his arm, twisting violently. His voice was so hoarse from yelling it was actually surprising when tape was slapped down across his mouth by the hog. "Peace and quiet!" The Hog had snarled before resuming the torture. Screams muffled by the tape, McCree could only stare in horror as the hog continued his clumsy assault to remove his robotic limb. Why did Mercy have to fuse it with his nerves, why couldn't it be something simpler? His thoughts were interrupted as the blade was roughly inserted against and pushed to try and pry the limb off, another cry of pain muffled by the tape as light-headedness washed over him. O O O O He lost track of time, the pain exhausting, his yells of agony barely registering as anything above a rough groan. His head rested on his shoulder, his pale complexion highlighting the bruising from his earlier beating and complementing the sheen of sweat that soaked his face. Chestnut hair was plastered to his head, brown hues rimmed with dark circles and the whites of his eyes heavily bloodshot as he stared down at his mutilated arm. The metal limb was smeared with varying shades of crimson blood, the mixture of drying and fresh doing little to hide the mess the Hog had made trying to get the limb away from its owner. "You tried-" "Yes…" Hog growled his response, tossing the dull blade aside with a clatter and letting out a grunt of thought. "Wow I'm surprised you're still awake after all that mate!" Junkrat tapped the side of McCrees face with a grin, pouting theatrically at the weak groan that escaped the former Overwatch agent "I think he's upset with us Roadie…." He said before chuckling to himself, his laugh cut short as something exploded in the distance, drawing both Junkers attention towards the door. "What was that?!" Jamison was immediately twitchy and limped towards the door, grabbing his gun on route. "Keep going, I'll go check it out" he said before leaving the Hog and the Cowboy alone. Roadhog began to unfasten the limbs restraints, lifting the metal limb off the table and examining it, ignoring the whimpers of pain escaping from its attached owner, merely dropping it back on the table. McCree let out a pained yell which quickly tapered off before he looked at the Hog, resting his eyes for a moment. At this rate, the gunslinger just wanted them to lop the dam thing off and leave, they were dragging it out far too much. The door was opened with a hurry and slammed shut, Junkrat resting his back against it with wide eyes "Roadie we have company!" Roadhog grunted in annoyance "How many?" he asked "4…5 maybe" Junkrat edged away from the door, cocking his gun with a grin ready to fight as Roadhog stepped away to grab his own weapons "Let's go" he said gruffly, turning to leave only to pause as Junkrat scuttled in front of him and stopped him. "Hold on, we're leaving?" he asked, seeming irked to not be leaping full on into an attack. "Yeah, we're outnumbered. Come on Rat" Hog moved to push past the Junker only to stop at the Australians protests "But…but my….our treasure!" Junkrat looked back with a frown "We can't leave empty handed Hog! We walk away now and everything we've worked for will go up in flames! I can see it now first this, then our next big heist will-" a large hand was placed over the Junkers mouth to silence him. "Urgh do you ever shut up!" Roadhog growled the retort before shoving his gun into Junkrats arms as he pushed past and headed back towards McCree. Jesse let his eyes open again, sensing the large shadow loom over him once again. Strands of hair had fallen over his eyes as the expressionless pig mask stared down at him. Moments of silence before the hog grabbed the robotic limb with both hands and began to pull. The pain ripped through his arm and into his shoulder like an electric shock, driving fresh screams of agony from the cowboy's lips, his words muffled by the tape. He stared up at the Hog, yelling and yelling through the tape, as the limb was jerked around violently, yanked and tugged like a dog playing tug of war with a chew toy. He could feel wires and nerves severing violently, feel them popping beneath his skin, wires ripping themselves free as far up as his shoulders. A large hand was placed over his face, the hog making a final effort to rip his arm away. Jesse squeezed his eyes shut, crying out into the tape as Roadhog pulled hard, the tension building more and more, driving the pain into his shoulder and shock waving it through his spine. His vision was turning white, his senses fading as he felt unconsciousness wash over him slowly when the final set of wires and nerves severed and the limb was ripped free, the tugging ceasing. McCree slumped in the chair, gasping for breath, his chest heaving and tears escaping the corners of his eyes, meeting with the beads of sweat running down from his brow. His body began to tremble, brown hues staring vacantly at the pool of blood on the floor, the cowboy becoming dead to his surroundings as shock settled in. "Here" Roadhog tossed the bloodied robotic limb towards Junkrat nonchalantly, the Junker catching it and clutching it to his chest with a mad laugh before waving it around in front of McCree's face "Ta for the helping hand mate!" Junkrat cackled at his own joke before hearing approaching footsteps. "Crikey, we'd best move. Come on Roadie!" he handed the hog his gun, the pair fleeing the building with only minutes to spare. O O O O "Hostiles located, engaging targets!" The door was forced open, two Overwatch agents barrelling into the room with their weapons drawn and stern looks on their faces as they looked for the Junkers. At the helm was Fareeha Amari, drafted when Overwatch was recalled a few months prior. She held a pistol in her hand as opposed to her standard rocket launcher for once and was dressed in standard Overwatch blue, her dark hues scanning the area. Behind her Lena Oxton stood with both pulse pistols drawn and a serious expression etched on her brow before she glanced back "All clear luvs" shooting a smile at the two new recruits as they entered the room. Hana Song was quick to enter with her pistol at her side, Lucio skating in with a gentle pump of music radiating from him designed to increase the teams speed. "Any sign of those Junkers?" Hana asked raising her pistol before Lena shook her head. "What about Eastwood? Athena seemed pretty certain that we'd find him-" "Lucio!" Fareeha yelled out for the medic urgently, having moved on further into the room alone. The three agents shot each other alarmed looked before the Brazilian DJ boosted his song and the trio raced towards the voice, Hana and Lena skidding to a halt at the sight of Fareeha cutting an unconscious Jesse from the chair. "McCree? McCree can you hear me?" Fareeha let concern cross her features as she cut through the last of the tape and removed the tape from his mouth. Her hands gently placing themselves against the agent's cheeks and lifting his head "Jesse?" she said urgently, glancing over her shoulder "Lucio, come here!" she called, the DJ quick to skate over and switch his song to the healing melody they all knew. Hana nervously began biting her fingernails, the state of the cowboy unsettling her "This is all my fault…." She said quietly, feeling Lena place a hand on her shoulder, the Brit shaking her head sternly "It is, if I hadn't been over confident those Junkers wouldn't have gotten the drop on me and McCree wouldn't have had to step in" she placed her hand to her lips, biting down on her quivering lip. "It's not your fault luv, sometimes things happen for a reason. Besides, no matter what the circumstance McCree would have stepped in to help anyone. It's what he does" Lena said with a soft smile before looking back towards the cowboy and spotting the missing robotic limb "You know I blamed myself for him loosing his arm all those years back?" she said, noting the surprise on Hana's face "He came for me. It was my first mission with Overwatch, he shouldn't have even been in the area but despite everything he was there and fought for humans, omnics and Overwatch." She took a moment to adjust her visor "The mission was a success, but to ensure the hostages and I got out safely he drew enemy fire. I don't know the full details, he never told us but something happened and the entire south side of the power station went up. When we found him he was trapped and badly injured, so Genji and I had to-" she paused to draw a breath "-we had to amputate his arm to save his life. He lost his arm protecting people, protecting me and for so long I believed myself responsible" she said softly, watching as Fareeha and Lucio began to look over the cowboy's injuries. "Wasn't he angry with you?" Hana asked Lena chuckled "Oh he was furious for a while, but he needed time to look at everything. He accepted what happened, even thanked Genji and I for saving his life that day. It takes a lot to piss Jesse off, trust me" she smiled at the young Korean "You're not at fault Hana, and Jesse won't blame you for this" she said, glad to see Hana seemed to accept the small pep talk. O O O O "Hey Eastwood, you hear us alright?" Lucio asked, crouching down slightly and boosting the song to increase its intensity. The gentle yellow glow sending a small shudder through the fully healed agents as they watched their comrade for signs of consciousness. Fareeha taking the opportunity to ease him off the chair with Lucio's help, placing his back against the wall nearby instead. The pair crouching beside him and trying to rouse him. Jesse slowly opened his eyes, panic coursing through him immediately, his brain screaming at him to fight back now that the tightness of the restraints around his torso and legs were absent. Lashing out, his right arm was caught easily by Fareeha and pinned to his side only increasing his state of panic. "Jesse! Jesse!" the familiar yell of his name snapped his attention to the female who had pinned his arms to his sides so as prevent him lashing out, dark hues meeting his before he looked around. "You're safe now Jesse" Fareeha said with a small smile, watching the cowboy glance back to her before he exhaled in utter relief and relaxed against the wall with shuddering breaths. His brown hues drifted to his mangled left arm, a pained noise escaping him as he squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. "It's ok Eastwood, we'll get you patched up in no time" Lucio said with a grin, boosting his healing melody yet again, the song radiating from the DJ "Just rest up, let the beat do its job" he said, subtly bobbing his head in time with the music. Fareeha bit hard on her bottom lip, taking a moment to assess the state of the male before her. He was littered in bruises, cuts and that's without even looking at the mess of where his robotic limb had resided. "What the hell did they do to you Jesse?" she regretted asking the question immediately, the words having blurted past her lips without so much as a forethought. Jesse drew a slow breath, looking to Fareeha with a heavy expression. "Hell" he rasped, his voice scratched beyond recognition from his constant yelling and desperate need for a drink. He let his head lean back, thudding gently against the wall "They put me thru' hell" he wheezed, letting his eyes rest. Fareeha nodded gently at his words, placing her hand on his and glancing back to Hana and Lena, concern etched across her features "Take all the time you need Jesse, we'll get you home once you're ready" she said before glancing back to the cowboy and brushing strands of hair away from his face. The Junkers would pay for the suffering they caused. A simple glance to the other Overwatch members in the room told Fareeha that she wouldn't be alone in this conquest. All four of them, and no doubt Jesse included would want to see the two Aussies pay for what they had done.

#overwatch #fanfic #overwatch fanfic #jesse mccree #mccree #torture #junkrat #jamison fawkes #roadhog #dva #hana song #lucio #tracer #lena oxton #pharah #fareeha amari

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punkscowardschampions · 5 years

Text

Buster & Edie

Buster: I need to talk to you Edie: hot Edie: shoot Buster: Are you in a state to hear me or not? Edie: i got eyes n ears mckenna Buster: You know what I mean Edie: am i high, what you asking yeah Buster: Well, are you? Edie: when am i not, if you waitin for me be sober u gon be blueballed forever Buster: I just don't want to be talking to a brick wall Buster: Or repeating myself like it's my job Buster: Can you give me that or should we do this another time? Edie: i ain't indie i stay functioning unless i'm nodding Edie: and we wouldn't be flirting rn if i was so off you go Edie: i'm listening Buster: Alright Buster: Drew got lifted on St Paddy's night carrying fuck knows how much Buster: He could get as much as 14 years but I doubt it Edie: ha Edie: s'funny Buster: Do you want me to hit you up again when we know how long he's getting? Edie: nah i'll just pretend he got 14, fitting Edie: how old indie is yeah Edie: paroled himself into pen, ha Buster: No way that cunt'll get max Buster: He never does Buster: But sure Edie: you ain't need to tell me Edie: 'bout to be 16 right here Buster: I was more speaking my own frustrations, babe Buster: But you know Edie: tell me all about 'em Edie: peak daddy issues right now, i'll see u right init Buster: Shut up Buster: You've got a man for that Edie: you ain't Edie: omg are you coming out to me rn Buster: Obviously yeah Buster: Your sister's my beard, like Buster: Don't be an idiot Buster: Also I ain't got daddy issues yet so why we talking about me? Edie: makes more sense than what u playing as truth Edie: wanna talk about mine some more Edie: cool Buster: I wanna make sure you're okay Buster: So sue me, babe Edie: sweet Edie: makes no odds to me does it Buster: You tell me Buster: I ain't speaking for you Edie: he ain't been about Edie: i ain't about Buster: I know that's bullshit 'cause they saw you Buster: You could've come in, had a drink Buster: You still can Buster: Fight your way through the tourists, like Edie: i dun wanna cover up your homo ways w you boy i'm soz Buster: Fuck off Buster: You love it Buster: What are you doing that's better? Edie: my mans Edie: like you said Buster: I'm so offended right now Buster: But fine Edie: gutted Edie: any more sad news to get me juiced Buster: I don't reckon Buster: You did talk my sister into therapy though so nice one Edie: whey Edie: slainte Buster: Yeah Edie: vulnerability all round Edie: get u some ur so welcome Buster: What is that meant to mean? Edie: u tellin me my daddy going gone so u can pipe me, so sayin Edie: uncovering all her trauma Edie: 🙌 Buster: Bullshit Buster: Don't be like that Edie: like what Buster: Fucked Edie: boring Buster: If that's your threshold Edie: for your boringness Edie: yeah Buster: Fine Buster: I'll go then Buster: See you later Edie: toodles Buster: Yeah yeah Buster: You know where I am if you actually need anything or wanna talk, babe Edie: desperate Edie: what you actually wanna say Edie: babe Buster: 'Course Buster: You're that irresistible, Eds Buster: I've said what I came here to say Buster: You can't blame me for wondering if that boy can string a sentence together, like Buster: Who else you talking to? Edie: fun times Edie: lots of people Buster: Yeah? Buster: Good Edie: 'fact Edie: one of my lads 'bout to go in Edie: 🤞 they get the same pen, visit 'em both ay Buster: Someone's got to Edie: you know indie will Edie: probably ro too Buster: Nah Buster: They're both over it Edie: nah Edie: indie likes her free gear and ro likes her bit of rough Buster: You're out the loop, kid Edie: you're kidding yourself you think anything changed Edie: been here many times, u weren't about Buster: I know they have Buster: I've seen them both, you ain't Edie: oh babe Edie: no smart mckennas left Edie: so sad Buster: Don't patronise me, babe Buster: You wish Edie: don't play dumb Buster: Don't play like you know anything that's going on Buster: I'd say you'll see but we both know you won't Edie: i got bored of it Edie: wait til you on your thousandth rerun of everyone's shit, you will too Buster: Bored ain't the word for what I am Edie: nah Edie: go on then if ur so smart Edie: impress me with that vocab Buster: Fuck that Buster: I don't need to prove anything to you Buster: I'm smart enough to know it's not worth bothering Edie: that riveting is it Edie: well enjoy his downfall whilst it lasts Edie: dun expect me to join in celebrations Buster: I ain't celebrating nor waiting on you Buster: I've got plenty of other shit to do Edie: clearly Edie: clogging up my inbox inviting me for drinks Buster: I'm here for Rio I ain't here for you Buster: She wanted me to tell you so I have Buster: End of Edie: now u have Edie: probs suck ur dick well done u Buster: She doesn't need the incentive Buster: But thanks for caring Edie: disgusting Buster: You brought it up Buster: Don't if you don't wanna hear about it Edie: yeah just ignore it like it ain't happening with the rest Edie: cool Buster: There's not ignoring it or talking about my sex life as the only two options Buster: Again, you wish Buster: None of this is being ignored by any of my fam Edie: it ain't being dealt with either is it Buster: Speak for yourself Buster: I'm dealing with it every day Edie: no one making u do it Buster: Nobody's making you do anything you are either Edie: welllll i ain't fucking my cuz either so i'm good Buster: That don't make you good Buster: Hilarious maybe Edie: soz ill get to work so i can be up to standard Edie: options ain't limited Buster: Tell me something I don't know Buster: I can do anything I want Buster: How about you? Edie: you can Edie: i am Buster: Proud of you, like Edie: should be Edie: mixed messages otherwise Buster: That's not about to worry me Buster: I only came to deliver one message and it's done Edie: 💔 Edie: obvs Buster: Good to know Edie: relay that if you like Edie: get 'em all feeling good Buster: I don't chat shit anymore Buster: Sorry Edie: why u sorry Edie: idc Edie: they won't love it Buster: 'Cause I know you'd love me to pass this whole convo on but I ain't Edie: aw bummer Edie: so sad Edie: hit 'em with the round robin Buster: You always want me to be your errand boy Buster: So transparent Edie: you wanna be around em so much Edie: i don't Edie: both get what we want Buster: I wanna be here, I don't want them in my face Buster: And especially not on your account Edie: sure Edie: so transparent Buster: Funnily enough, your fam are really annoying Buster: You think you're the only one who knows that? Edie: also your fam but go off Edie: makes it weird when u think on it huh Buster: No, I'm talking about your mob Buster: They ain't my immediate Buster: I'm not seeing them all at breakfast like Edie: me either Edie: i'm as related to them as you are Buster: Bullshit Buster: Your saw your brothers the other fucking day Buster: What was that? A coincidence Buster: Come on Edie: Could be Edie: they were out on street alone Edie: i coulda been anyone Buster: They were outside the pub Buster: Lie better if you're gonna try Edie: on st paddys day Edie: do better if you really dont want ur kids missing Buster: If you were my kid I would Edie: hearteyes Edie: ain't that just what i wanna hear Buster: I don't give a fuck Buster: We're having a convo I'm not playing to an audience Buster: Your parents are shit, what do you want me to do? Edie: i dunna ring social Buster: Ring them yourself Buster: You're the one they failed Buster: It aint your brothers or me Edie: oh yh rest of em are golden Buster: Yeah, as good as they can be Buster: Nobody's perfect Edie: ha Edie: now u bullshitting Buster: No I ain't Buster: What's so fucked up about any of them? Go on Edie: long Edie: u wanted this list u should've given me 3 working days Buster: Keep stalling while you make up your bullshit, babe Buster: I'll be here then Edie: what i gotta make up Edie: your whole thing is evidence of the first and worst, like Edie: why i wasting my time telling u when u don't wanna hear Buster: There's nothing wrong with Rio Buster: But feel free to hit me with that list on the rest of them when you're ready Edie: oh god Buster: Is that all you've got? Buster: Good then Edie: all needs telling to u Edie: u dont care bout the rest of them and how fucked up they are 'til they of age Edie: end of Buster: You don't care about any of them so don't lecture me Edie: sure don't Edie: who lecturing you want the list so bad Edie: k bundy Buster: Whatever Edie: 😂 Buster: I'll see you around on your brother's twitter feed, like Edie: cute u care Buster: Yeah I know Buster: I've been told Edie: i bet Edie: ⭐ Buster: Feel free if you need the cash Buster: Low risk Edie: huh Buster: I'm a safe bet, babe Buster: Don't you know? Edie: u make me wanna throw up in my mouth a bit Edie: not rlly my thing but u make it work 4 u Buster: Yeah I do Edie: ick Edie: stop Edie: i just ate Buster: Good to know Buster: At least you're not gonna starve to death Edie: such a drama queen too Edie: how do u actually get laid its impressive Edie: b4 the whole incest vibe Buster: Talk about mixed messages Buster: Stop flirting with me, babe Buster: I liked it better when you were playing hard to get Edie: boiiiiii Edie: u think that flirting u need to watch out Edie: calling u repugnant Buster: Yeah yeah Edie: oh that's who u remind me of Edie: american psycho Edie: what was his name Edie: gets horny over card stock Buster: Good one Buster: You're funny Edie: i know Edie: imma rewatch Buster: Cute Buster: You don't have to miss me you can just come see me Edie: ew Edie: bateman Edie: ha Edie: funny Edie: indie would laugh Buster: I'll tell her Buster: See if she does Edie: aw Edie: domestic bliss Buster: Yeah Edie: gotta give it to yuh Edie: hustlin on the next Edie: been there Edie: clever Buster: What? Edie: got her good to go when u get bored of ri Buster: You're fucked Buster: She's a kid Edie: whatevs Edie: 4 years ain't a big deal Buster: Yeah it fucking is Buster: When she's 14 Buster: Don't fucking say shit like that to me or about me Edie: dry Buster: Sort your head out Buster: Seriously Edie: what Edie: i don't wanna fuck a 14 year old Edie: n i ain't Buster: Neither do I Buster: Fuck you Edie: cool Edie: keep it legal but dubious Edie: that's how u rollin Buster: Shut up Buster: You don't know what you're talking about Edie: sadly do Edie: u really splash it all over socials Buster: I'm not doing anything wrong Buster: Unlike that boy fucking you Edie: what u gonna do call garda Edie: who cares Buster: You have enough of an opinion about my moral code Buster: Sort yours Edie: oooo victim blaming hahaah Edie: have u for that the feminazis Buster: Give a shit Buster: What are you gonna do, tell on me? Edie: they sense that shit from mile way Edie: dun need to Buster: I'm so scared Edie: same Buster: It's been fun Buster: I gotta go Edie: it hasn't Edie: ✌

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fableweaver · 5 years

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Arc of the Blind Warrior

Traveling the trade road was interesting to say the least. The first day out and they found a caravan of Rhodin traveling the same road. Ian talked to those he could, at first they were wary, but when he mentioned Kree’s name they lessened their guard enough to tell him stories. None of the Rhodin in that caravan knew about the singing stone or Sapphira so they rode on.

The Rhodin unlike common folk also appeared differently in Ian’s strange sight. Most people appeared in shades of gray to Ian’s strange sixth sense. The Rhodin however appeared in shades of blue, the shades varying again on the person’s mood and thoughts. They only appeared in blue however unlike someone with the Elder Magic which appeared in multi colors.

Rork didn’t seem to take to the saddle much, getting saddle sores their first day out on the road. They slept along the roadside, wanting to save their coin and avoid people. As they traveled Ian kept asking the Rhodin about Sapphira, Kree’s name a password into the Rhodin camps. They passed through villages and towns, but never stayed in them. The towns with Sects were almost as dangerous as those without Sects, those without were sure signs of a presence of the Legion.

The weather grew colder and Ian could hear frost cracking on the ground in the morning. He couldn’t see the changes the seasons wrought anymore, but he felt the temperature change and the smell in the air shift to colder smells of snow. He didn’t know what the southern Mark was like, but he guessed it was a simple place of country folk.

The roads seemed safe and the more they spoke to the Rhodin the more welcome they became. At last after a week of travel along the trade road Ian came upon his first lead.

They had been hunting for a camping spot when Ian smelled wood smoke. He steered them towards a Rhodin camp, the sound of dogs barking a greeting. He heard the draw of a bow and stopped, sensing a man hiding behind the trunk of a tree.

“Easy friend,” Ian said. “We be travelers seekin a safe spot ta rest fer the night.”

“You aint my friend, friend,” the man answered. “Just turn your horse about and you can go on your way.”

“I be a friend o Kree’s,” Ian said.

“Aint heard o her,” the man said. It wasn’t surprising, not every Rhodin knew Kree personally. Ian listed a few other names that other Rhodin had given him. He heard the man relax his draw and step out from behind the tree.

“Sorry for the hostility friend,” the man said more cordially. “Names Radek.”

“I be Ian, this be mine son Will n mine friend Rork,” Ian said. He and Rork dismounted and Radek led the way into his camp. Dogs and children ran to greet them, but Radek shooed them off. He helped Ian and Rork settle their horses with his and then they gathered around the fire. Radek’s wife served them with goulash and bread, everyone eating by the fire. When they finished Ian began with his customary question.

“Have ye heard o a Rhodin by the name o Sapphira?” Ian asked. Instead of the initial denial Ian sensed a surprised silence.

“My name is Sapphira,” Radek’s wife said.

“Ah, I be sorry,” Ian said before a misunderstanding could take place. “I mean the un that were the lover ta Tony Bones.”

“Aye I ken of her,” Sapphira said wryly. “My mother loved the tale and named me after her. Of course I never lived up to the name. Sapphira had many children, each by a different man. Me I just married the first Rhodin lad that managed to flip my skirt.”

Ian heard Radek laugh at that and perceived him to kiss his wife’s cheek. Ian was finding he could catch on to people’s emotions a bit better now, and could see the slight change in both their aura’s of affection.

“Why do you ask about her?” Sapphira asked.

“I heard the tale of her n Tony Bones,” Ian answered. “I were wonderin what happened ta her.”

“Her n her treasure you mean?” Sapphira asked shrewdly.

“Aye, I baint lie that I be mighty interested in what became o the loot she seduced outta old Bones,” Ian answered and Sapphira laughed.

“Well way I heard it was her children split it among themselves when she died,” Sapphira answered. “It’s probably split among all the Rhodin by now, or found their way back to some lord’s trove.”

Ian hid his disappointment; maybe he could still find another lead. Or if he could find one of Sapphira’s decedents he could find where some of the treasure went.

“Don’t mind my friend,” Rork said lightly. “See we were just looking for a particular piece of Sapphira’s treasure. The singing stone.”

“Singing stone,” Sapphira said wryly. “Most are more interested in the diamond the size of an egg than some stone. I doubt you’d find any word about that since most interest is around the gold and jewels.”

“Wait,” Radek said and Ian felt hope flare again. “What about the Piper of the Lost?”

“What does that song have to do with a singing stone?” Sapphira asked.

“Think about it,” Radek said. “The Piper was said to ‘play upon a flute as old as stone’ why not made of stone?”

“A flute made o stone be what I seek,” Ian said interested. “A singin stone; that be what caught my eye in Bones’ story.”

“I think you have it right,” Radek said. “The Piper of the Lost is an old tale of the Rhodin’s based on a true story. The story goes though that a Rhodin man, a piper by trade, came down with the illness and he died along with his wife and children. To guide his family and those he traveled with to the afterlife he played his flute. Soon he leads all those dying of the plague to their rest, playing his stone flute to guide them.”

“The true tale is much worse,” Sapphira said grimly. “During the plague times in history the Rhodin were blamed for spreading the plague. Many were hunted down and burned in their wagons. There was one time when a whole caravan was burned during a gathering of the Rhodin, hundreds died in the blaze. The village that had committed the crime later succumbed to the plague all that lived there died. The Piper of the Lost is based on that village because it was said a song could be heard over the dead village after everyone had died.”

“Where be this happen?” Ian asked.

“Regis,” Radek answered. “In a town called Bellerose. The town moved a bit since but it is still there. I heard there is a barrow there for the dead from the plagues; it is where the most died of the disease.”

“Thank ye,” Ian said feeling a sense of accomplishment war with disappointment. What was he going to do now that the trail led into Regis?

“Why so interested in a stone flute?” Sapphira asked.

“It were a family heir loom,” Ian answered, he wasn’t even lying technically since he was married to Bailey and she was descended from Eileen who had owned the flute in the first place. “Bones stole it from another pirate what stole it from Daun.”

“It worth anything?” Radek asked.

“Only ta mine family,” Ian answered. “N we baint have much in the way o gold.”

“Well I hope you find what you seek then,” Radek said. “You and your friend are welcome to our fire and shelter for the night.”

“Thank ye,” Ian said and Rork murmured his own thanks.

The next morning they had a quick breakfast of bread and bacon before hitting the road.

“That tale be eatsome at ya ja,” Rork said as they rode.

“Aye,” Ian said wearily. “I wanna go back ta Bailey, but it would be better ta head south n search some more. But it be dangerous fer me ta head inta Regis what with a price on my head from the Grand Sect.”

“Those never be all that rightsome,” Rork said. “Not like they gots some drawing of ya or anything ja. And it will tell of a man and woman traveling together. I taint be all that shapely.”

Ian couldn’t help but laugh at that and nod.

“Aye well that be true, but we do make an odd couple Rork,” Ian said.

“Not all that odd,” Rork said. “And I have some connections that we can call on.”

“In Regis?” Ian asked.

“Hyria trades with Regis,” Rork answered. “I’ll admit, some of my kin be in the unwholesome trade, criminals like. We can look ta them ta seek aid if things become diresome.”

“Alright,” Ian said, having an innate dislike for law breakers as he was one to obey most laws. In Daun those who broke the laws were criminals or the worst sort, murderers or rapists. In Hyria he had gathered from Rork that it was a common pastime to break the law. In fact it wasn’t really breaking the law since Hyria did not have many laws against smuggling or theft. It was only in other kingdoms that their activities became illegal. And a Hyrian cares little for the laws of other kingdoms.

“I coggin we can get along real fine in Regis if ya want,” Rork said.

“Aye, but…” Ian trailed off turning north and thinking of Bailey.

“Ya miss her,” Rork said this in a knowing way, and Ian could hear just a touch of envy to his voice.

“Aye, but I also ken o the look on her face ifn I handed the song ta her,” Ian answered.

“Ya taint able ta see the look on her face,” Rork said and Ian winced.

“Aye but I ken it’ll make her happy,” Ian said. “N proud…” The emotion that over whelmed him for the moment stole his breath. Bailey would be proud of him, and knowing that sent a wave of warmth through him. Even if he failed she would be proud of his effort, to continue the quest that she had set out on. Ian could sort of understand now why she had wanted to leave Barrow Múr in the first place.

“So what be it?” Rork asked.

“South,” Ian said. “We head for Bellerose.”

“Alrighty,” Rork said, his voice giving the hint of a wicked grin. Though Rork hated traveling the road he seemed to know the roads well. He bragged that he had a great sense of direction, but Ian knew he spoke to the Rhodin about where to go.

They steadily made their way south, making better time as they didn’t seek out the Rhodin. It was only two days until they reached the border between Regis and the Mark. There was only a post along the side of the road, but guards stopped them and they dismounted.

“Names,” the guard ordered briskly.

“Rork o Loamy Downs,” Rork answered. “And this is Cian and his son.”

Rork had already devised a cover story for them and so had told Ian to let him do all the talking.

“Papers,” the guard said and Ian heard the rustling of papers. He didn’t know what this meant, but Rork seemed to know what he was doing. “What about him? Do you have papers?”

“He’s blind sir,” Rork answered. “They taint have papers in Daun ja.”

“How did he get this far without papers?” the guard asked.

“How do the Rhodin?” Rork answered. “I met him in Hyria n decided to take him on as an extra hand in my trade ja.”

“Which is?” the guard asked.

“Animal husbandry, can’t ya read?” Rork said and guard grumbled as he shifted through the papers. “Lookin far work ja in Regis.”

“Why?” the guard asked.

“I won’t go inta details ja,” Rork said. “But let’s just say I fiddled the wrong girl.”

Ian gathered unspoken words were exchanged with a look then.

“I can’t let him past without papers,” the guard said stubbornly. Ian didn’t hear went on next but he perceived Rork shake the guard’s hand and whisper something to him. “Ah right here are his papers,” the guard grumbled as he turned away. “Go on through.”

They mounted their horses again and rode past the post, Ian waiting until they were far away before he rode next to Rork.

“What did ye do?” Ian asked.

“Bribed him,” Rork answered. “Hope ya weren’t fond o that silver coin ja.”

“Nowt, thanks,” Ian said with a wry grin.

They rode on into Regis and Ian tightened his guard. He kept Will wrapped in his swaddle, a new carrying basket along his back kept him warm through the cold days. He didn’t let anyone see him; his Aldan features could cause trouble. Rork helped keep watch, and feed Will occasionally from the nanny goat. The little nanny goat seemed to have taken a liking to Will, often sleeping near Will’s basket in camp. Will seemed to be growing well, and Ian felt pride that he had been able to care for him so well.

Still Ian felt worried about their travel through Regis. He felt a change now, not in weather but in the mood of the people. There was a tense air between the two races of Regis; the Elmerians were growing restless under the Regarian rule. Ian only had to listen to the whispers and grumbles of men in taverns to know that the words of the Legion of the Creed were spreading. Thanks to the attack at the royal wedding and the pressure from the Regarians to hunt down the cult many were growing resentful of the harsh treatment.

Rork, commenting as always as if he didn’t want Ian to miss anything, said that most of the people they passed were Elmerian. The farms they rode by, desolate at the end of the Colored One, were operated by Elmerians. The villages however held the Regarians. Rork said they passed several homes of lords by these villages, great estates far from the road. They avoided these naturally and only stopped in the villages for food and directions. The Rhodin were less here, but not unseen and occasionally Ian and Rork would share their camp.

“Tell me bout Bailey ja,” Rork said one day as they rode. “Ye hardly jabber bout her.”

“Cause I be so worried bout her,” Ian answered. “Though I guess I baint need ta be. She be strong, I mean powerful in the Elder Magic. Ifn ye kenned I were strong she be much stronger. She be kind but ifn ye cross her or endanger those she loves ye’d best watch out. Pepper, her twin, be fierce, but Bailey she be tough. She be soft n kind on the outside but that just covers a hard heart.”

“A hard heart?” Rork said puzzled. “She be cold then?”

“Nowt, I just ken that deep down she’ll always do her duty o’er her love,” Ian answered. “There baint be anything wrong with that, n I love her fer it. I ken now why she does it, ta do what needs done. Ifn ye baint then ye have failed yerself n those ye love. I baint sure I can explain it. I just ken I understand her better now, n wish ta do the same. When I see her gain I ken she’ll be proud o me fer it.”

“What else?” Rork asked softly. Ian wondered why he was asking these things but he continued on. Speaking of Bailey was hard, he missed her the more he spoke, but at the same time it felt good to remind himself of her.

“She likes it when I kiss her just behind the ear,” Ian said. “She loves sweets, n apples, un time she hid a biscuit under the pillow fer later n I crushed it ta crumbs by accident. She baint be afraid o spiders but she hates lint fer some reason. N when she laughs really hard she snorts a bit.”

Ian kept going on about Bailey as they rode, Rork never once asking him to stop.

Here in the south there wasn’t as much snow, but it was still chilly and windy. They traveled at a steady pace, faster than the Rhodin wagons but not a breakneck speed of a messenger. It took them ten days from the border to reach Bellerose, the day still young when they rode into the village. It was much like the other villages they had ridden through, twenty odd houses, a few shops, a post, and a lord’s manor sitting on a hill over the village.

Rork started to ride towards town but Ian stopped him.

“Where ye goin?” Ian asked.

“Inta town,” Rork said. “We need ta settle in the inn afore we go a looky loo far the mass grave ja.”

“Nowt, I baint want the Regarians ta catch onta anything fishy like,” Ian said. “We find the grave first.”

“But it’ll be dark soon,” Rork said nervously.

“Baint worry Rork,” Ian said with a grin trying to make light of the situation. “I’ll protect ye from the ghosts.”

Ian saw Rork’s aura shift and he realized he had said too much. Not that he had frightened Rork, but that he had just inadvertently said one of those things that only made Rork more attracted to him. Guiltily he turned away towards the road. He searched with his senses and found a few gnomes, summoning them over with a touch of power. The little earth spirits leapt up onto his horse, two settling before him and a third hanging onto Will’s basket. Ian heard Will laugh and knew the gnome would be making faces at the baby. He left them be, unconcerned that the gnome would harm Will.

“Can ye lead us ta where many men be buried?” Ian said to them. He found working with the Wild Folk that being polite helped a lot. He felt them nod in answer and one scampered off. The other sat on Ian’s saddle horn, guiding him with a tap on his hands. They rode around the village toward a great hill that rested about half a league away. The hill stood far from the Lord’s manor, practically out of sight of the village.

They rode around the hill, Ian feeling He Who Burns was sinking lower in the sky. A cold wind was blowing, rattling the branches of the bare trees and sending the leaves on the ground rustling across the road.

“Ya be sure bout this?” Rork asked nervously.

“Aye, baint ye worry Rork,” Ian said sure of himself. They stopped at the foot of the hill Ian able to sense a blocked opening before them.

“Ian we taint able ta move that,” Rork said. “There’s a huge boulder over the entrance.”

Ian ignored him and dismounted walking up to the blocked entrance. He sensed it was square entrance supported with wood beams. A great rock had been moved to block the entrance. Ian put his hand upon the stone, feeling the power of this place. It was not a meeting of the lines, but it was a place of certain earth powers. Ian could feel gnomes gathering around here, many of them joining him at the boulder.

“Can ye open the way?” he asked them. He felt them answer a yes, but they needed power. Shivering Ian drew the power they needed from the aether and fed it to them. The gnomes swarmed up over the rock and Ian quickly stepped back. There was a grating noise and a rumble, then the rock split open with a thundering crack. Pieces tumbled down, opening a gap big enough for Ian to fit through if he turned sideways.

Ian knew Rork was staring at him. For all his talk of magic and the Phay this was the first time Rork had seen Ian do anything of a substantial working. Ian ignored him, his mind on the opening. He stepped through, carefully moving so Will strapped to his back didn’t get caught on anything.

He heard Rork dismount and scramble to light a lantern, but Ian went on not needing a light. It was strange, he knew he entered a dark place, but his alternate vision did not change. If anything it grew better surrounded by walls strong in the earth powers. He could perceive the walls around him in muted tones of brown, though details eluded him so it was not the same as sight.

He walked through a short tunnel into the heart of the hill and there he found an open chamber. The room smelled of dust and decay, it smelled of things long dead and forgotten. The cavern seemed to be a manmade hollow in the hill, the rock walls carven and even. Ian guessed this was someone’s attempt at a mine before it became the home to the dead. Ian could sense a lot of the gnomes moving around the place, but as he took a step his foot encountered something. He knelt and felt a skull near his foot and he quickly pulled back. Rork came up behind him a gasped.

“What do ye see?” Ian asked.

“A big pile o bones,” Rork answered. “Ye taint expect ta sort through them do ya?”

“Nowt I ken a faster way,” Ian said. “Hail!” he shouted and dust stirred at his shout. All the gnomes in the cavern turned to him. “I seek the March o the Phay, can ye find it?”

There was a flurry of activity then, dust swirling and bones rattling as the gnomes dove into the mound of bones. Ian wondered what it looked like to Rork who could not see the gnomes. The Wild Kin could have an effect on the physical world as they chose, but since most people could not see them they only saw the effects they had. The stirring of leaves in the wind, dust devils, heat shimmers in the distance, or even that slight movement in the corner of the eye that one couldn’t quiet catch no matter how fast they turned; all these could be attributed to the Wild Kin.

Now though with Ian’s prompting and touch of power the gnomes were moving more than they normally would. At last they settled down and one stepped forward out of the group. It shook its head and then ran off as if it had lost interest suddenly. The others did the same, going back to their normal lounging around or exploring nooks and crannies.

“Well?” Rork asked nervously.

“It baint be here,” Ian said heartbroken.

“We tried Ian,” Rork said with a clap on the shoulder. “Might be we should go inta town now n see what we can stir up ja.”

“Aye,” Ian said but he had little hopes of finding anything.

They left the grave, but since the entrance stone had been broken they couldn’t reseal it. They rode back down the road and Rork led the way to the village. Evening had come and the villagers were all about, heading for the local tavern. They headed there as well since the tavern as always was in the local inn. A boy was sweeping the stable yard as they rode in, leaping to take their horse’s reigns.

“Be there any vacancies here lad?” Rork asked as he dismounted.

“Aye since the seasons dropped,” the boy answered as Ian dismounted. “Why do you ride the small one if you’re the taller one?”

“I taint like havin something so big between my legs ja,” Rork answered with a chuckle. The boy didn’t seem to get the joke so Rork took their saddle bags. “See the goat is settled too.”

“Yes sir,” the boy answered as he led the horses and goat off into the stables. Rork led the way into the inn, the smell of roasting meat and beer greeting them as they entered. The room was loud as well, many men talking and laughing.

“How can I help you strangers?” the innkeeper said as he approached them.

“A room ja,” Rork answered. “I take it ye have plenty?”

“Sure do sir,” the man answered. Ian gathered he was Regarian by his accent, though he could tell little from the gray shape he sensed other than that he was fat. “It’ll be two royals a night.”

“Two!” Rork said. “My good man just because it is the off season taint mean ya can charge n arm n leg fer a room.”

Ian left Rork to the haggling and slipped in past the innkeeper into the tavern. Negotiating the room was difficult, the gray shapes he perceived as people kept moving and blurring together. He stepped on a few toes and nearly knocked someone over until he found a seat at table. Two other men sat there and seemed surprised a stranger had joined them. Stranger still Will had started crying due to the noise of the room.

“Evenin,” Ian said. Sliding Will’s basket off his shoulders he unwrapped the babe and settled him on his knee. Once free of the basket in safe in his father’s arms, Will settled down enough to suck on his thumb and look around the room in curiosity.

“Evening,” one of the men said getting over his surprise.

“My name be Ian neighbor,” Ian said nodding in greeting. “This be mine son Will.”

“Names Gerald, this is my brother Gilbert,” the man said. “What brings a Daunish man to Regis?”

“My employer, that Hyrian feller talkin with the innkeeper,” Ian answered. “He be an animal healer what be lookin fer work. I just be his servant.”

“With a child?” Gerald asked.

“Mine wife died,” Ian answered. “I be all he has n a man’s gotta work. Lucky Rork baint care that I have him. What o ye?”

“We’re cobblers,” Gerald answered, seeming to do all the talking for his brother. “You’re blind aren’t you? What kind of servant is blind?”

“I be a good cook,” Ian answered. He guessed the brothers were Regarian as well, getting better at identifying things without sight. He saw Gerald’s aura shift slightly to a doubtful shade, darkening to disgust. He assumed Ian was Rork’s lover. “Rork said he heard tales bout this village.”

“What tales?” Gerald asked, on edge but seeming to like this change of subject. Provincial people loved talking about local legends.

“Bout the hill n plague all those years ago,” Ian answered. “Be it all true that all those people be dead in that hill?”

“True as true,” Gerald said. “Some say that hill is haunted by the dead.”

“No uns gone ta look?” Ian asked.

“We all stay away from there,” Gerald said. “You’d best too if you know what’s good for you. Nothing but bad spirits up there.”

Ian nodded and felt a hand on his shoulder. Ian turned to see Rork standing over him.

“Come on I got us a room n a private meal ja,” Rork said. Ian saw Gerald’s aura darken even more, but he ignored him as he followed Rork through the tavern and up the stairs to their room.

“Ye were jabberin bout me Ian?” Rork said crossly.

“Sorry,” Ian said. “But they caught on quick like ta yer tastes.”

“Cause I be Hyrian,” Rork said. “Everyun coggins what we be like ja.”

“Sorry Rork,” Ian said.

“I taint be mad Ian,” Rork said. “It just means I shouldn’t stay too long in this village ja. Regarians be even touchier then the Markians. They don’t even romp in bed like them. Sorry but it looks like we’ll have ta get outta town real quicksome like.”

Ian could only sigh defeated. It looked like he was going to have to go to Bailey empty handed, the trail had gone cold.

They sat at the table and ate their meal of stewed beef and potatoes and white bread. Ian found the food flavorless, not even a hint of herbs or spices to the meal. When they finished Rork took their dishes down to the kitchen and Ian fed Will from a milk bladder. After Will was fed he settled down in Ian’s lap playing with his rattle. Ian watched Will’s changing aura feeling as though he could see him growing.

Not for the first time Ian thought of Matt and Bailey when he looked at Will. He missed them both and worried. He wondered too if Will missed his mother and brother, and Ian felt a pang to know his son didn’t have his mother nor Matt have his father. He sat feeling his eye begin to water with tears thinking about Bailey, a hollow ache in his chest. Rork came back at that moment and stopped, Ian quickly drying his eyes.

“Ya be alright?” Rork asked putting a hand on Ian’s shoulder.

“Aye,” Ian said and Rork seemed to understand everything in that word.

“I only got us un bed ja,” Rork said. “Hope that be alright.”

“As long as ye keep yer hands ta yerself,” Ian said jokingly, but Rork just nodded. Ian sighed again and they went to bed. They just kicked off their boots, and Ian took off his ceramic mail. Ian settled Will in his basket to sleep, afraid of rolling over onto the child while he slept. He and Rork lay back to back, but Ian could still sense Rork’s tension even when he closed his eyes.

Ian tried to sleep, but Rork’s tension wasn’t helping. Ian tried to snore a bit, making his breathing even so Rork thought he was asleep in attempts of making Rork sleep. He felt Rork shift next to him, rolling over to his other side. Ian thought he was just settling to sleep until Rork put his arm around him. Rork moved in close, sliding his hand up inside Ian’s shirt.

“Rork,” Ian said warningly and Rork stopped, Ian feeling his breath on the back of his neck.

“Ya were awake,” Rork said regretfully withdrawing his hand. “Sorry, sweet dreams.”

“Dreams!” Ian said as he sat up struck with inspiration. Why hadn’t he thought of that? He hurried to retrieve his boots, groping around blindly for them. He pulled on his cloak, but left his mail off, deciding he wasn’t going to need it.

“Dreams?” Rork said puzzled. “Ian where ya be going ja?”

“I have ta go back ta the hill,” Ian said.

“Can’t this wait?” Rork asked but Ian didn’t answer. Ian wrapped Will up who started to cry at the rude awakening. Ignoring Will’s cries Ian put him in his basket and pulled him onto his back. He practically ran out the door, Rork hopping around still trying to get his boots on. Ian hurried down to the stable and found Enbarr simply because he was the biggest horse stabled there. Ian didn’t bother with a saddle; he pulled himself up onto Enbarr’s back and urged him on. Enbarr trotted off just as Rork came stumbling out of the inn.

It was just after nightfall and the tavern was still loud and full of life, no one but the stable boy saw the two men ride out again. Ian headed back for the hill, finding it by memory. Will’s cries tempered off into whimpers as they rode, but picked up again when they reached the hill. Ian dismounted and tied Enbarr’s halter to a nearby tree. He took Will down as well to comfort him, Will rooting against his chest looking for a breast.

“Sorry Will,” Ian said softly. “I baint mean ta wake ye but I baint wanna leave ye alone.”

Will only answered with a hiccup and Ian held him closer. Rork caught up on Puzzle, ridding at a full gallop. He came to a halt in a cloud of dust, leaping off Puzzle’s back and stalking over angrily.

“What’s gotten inta yar head?” Rork shouted.

“Dreams,” Ian answered. “Back in Barrow Múr me n Glen accidentally slipped inta a trance n dreamed o the past. I kennin I might be able ta do it again here n see what happened ta the song.”

“Ya sure?” Rork said sounding worried.

“I can do it, it baint take long,” Ian said. “Come on.”

He went into the hill and Rork followed reluctantly holding onto Ian since he couldn’t see in the dark. Inside the grave it was just as they had left it. Ian pushed the bones aside and sat down on the ground, Rork kneeling next to him.

“I’ll be goin inta a trance,” Ian said. “I won’t sleep fer long.”

“Should I hold Will?” Rork asked.

“Nowt, I can do this with him,” Ian said. “Just make sure nothin disturbs me.”

“Aye,” Rork said sounding scared. Ian lay down with Will on his chest and closed his eyes. At first he just laid there, doing something that he had only done by accident before on command was harder than he thought. He concentrated on the earth powers around him and slowly he began to feel his body relax. It was a bit like falling asleep, but Ian felt a slight shift as his spirit left his body.

He looked around but saw nothing. His sight had returned in the dream but at the same time he had that strange sense so he could still see in the dark. Around him was nothing but the earth of the hill, a feeling of suffocation starting to make him panic. He saw things as the gnomes did, the little creatures moving through the earth exploring rabbit warrens and mice dens.

Then light came in. Ian watched as miners broke into the hill and dug out the earth, moving the stone and earth to get to what lay under the hill. Ian watched as the men worked seeming to see things in snatches as the tunnel and chamber were dug. He saw the miners give up quickly when it became apparent there was nothing worth digging for and once more the hill was left alone.

The gnomes returned to explore the tunnels of men. Ian had no idea how long he watched the gnomes, time in dreams seemed to move strangely and he was underground away from the sun. The sound of a song made him turn, all the gnomes turning at the sound as well. From the entrance tunnel came a man of smoke playing a flute. He was burnt all over his body and a pall of smoke hung over him. He marched into the center of the cavern and continued to play, slowly more joined him.

The people crawled after the piper like rats on their bellies. Ian saw their skin covered in weeping sores and blackened with disease. The people followed the piper mindlessly; Ian was able to see the song holding their spirits in thrall. Hundreds crawled into the cavern, crawling over each other to huddle at the feet of the smoking man. When the last crawled in the song seemed to reach its peak.

With a sigh of relief all those in the cavern died together. Ian shivered, feeling his own wayward spirit seek to follow them onto the lines into the aether. With an effort of will he drew himself free to see the Piper still stood. He had no eyes, yet Ian knew he was looking at him.

“What do you seek here wayfarer?” the man asked, his voice a grating rasp from his burnt throat.

“I seek what ye hold,” Ian answered. The Piper looked down at the pipe and Ian did as well. It was a flute carven out of green soap stone; intricate carvings in tiny detail that made one want to examine it closely. Despite being held in sooty dirty hands the swirling green stone was not even marked or stained.

“It has guided us,” the Piper answered.

“Why did ye kill em?” Ian asked.

“They were to die anyways,” the Piper answered. “Though they killed me and my people. Now they will ride the wheel.”

“Ye should go as well,” Ian said.

“I will, to see her again,” the Piper said sounding sad. “Here, I give you what you seek.”

Ian tried to take the flute that was offered to him but it slipped through his hands.

“I can’t,” Ian said regretfully. “I only be here in spirit.”

“Then I am sorry,” the Piper said.

“Good rest ta ye,” Ian said to him. The Piper nodded and lay down in the center of the pile of bodies.

Ian once again watched the cavern again. The sound of stone being moved over the entrance told of others sealing away the dead. Ian was left alone to watch the bodies rot. He was glad the bodies turned to bones quickly in his dream, and he could still see the stone flute perched on the breastbone of the Piper. The gnomes moved around the bones of the dead curious rather than disturbed.

Time once again moved in an undetectable pace until once again a sound disturbed the peace. This time it was the sound of cracking stone. Ian turned to the entrance where lamp light flooded the cavern and three men walked into the cavern. He could see them clearly in the dream. Two were Elmerians, shorter drab men than their leader. The one in the middle was Regarian, a tall man with blonde hair and a mustache.

Their clothes and gear were dated, though from how long ago Ian did not know. The two servants set up lanterns as the Regarian stood studying the bones before him.

“Amazing,” he said at last.

“What was that master?” one of the servants asked.

“I am just amazed Rupert,” the lord answered. “All these people died over a hundred years ago, yet look at how the skeletons held together. There must have been no scavengers here to disturb the bones.”

Ian knew from watching that there had been mice and insects feeding on the bones, but these had been so small they hadn’t disturbed the bones.

The servants continued to set up lamps as the lord sat down to take out a drawing pad. He began to sketch the bones, the sound of charcoal over paper eerie in the grave. Rupert however finally spotted the flute in the center of the bones. He glanced at it and then at his lord. The Regarian was drawing the bones right in front of him, starting to take out a string to measure the bones.

Rupert walked around the pile, trying to look discreet. He couldn’t reach the flute however as it was in the center of the pile of bones. He tried to reach out but his foot shifted the bones and the Regarian looked up at him angrily.

“Rupert!” the Regarian shouted. “Do not disturb the bones. What are you doing anyways?”

“Nothing Lord Bellamy,” the man answered withdrawing. Bellamy glared at him but turned his attention back to the bones. That was when he too saw the flute. Excited he set his drawings aside to walk around the pile. At last he carefully stepped into the pile so he could snatch the flute from the Piper. The pile shifted slightly, but remained where it was as the lord stepped free of the bones.

He looked at the flute amazed, turning it around in his hands.

“What is it milord?” the other servant asked.

“A flute,” Bellamy answered. “It is of Aldan workmanship. How on earth did an Aldan flute come to rest in a Regarian mass grave?”

“I heard tell that Rhodin be buried here too,” the other servant answered. “They are known thieves.”

“Yes that could be it,” Bellamy answered. He was examining the flute in total fascination. He hesitantly put it to his lips and tried to play it, but no sound came out.

“It is beautiful all the same milord,” Rupert said, his eyes shining as he gazed at the flute. “Even if it doesn’t work.”

“Yes of course,” Bellamy said as he slipped the flute into his pocket, glaring at Rupert. “I think we’ve done enough for the day, we should head back.”

“Yes milord,” the other servant said. Lord Bellamy left the two men to gather the lamps as he left, carrying the flute with him.

Ian had seen enough and knew it was time to turn back. It seemed waking however was going to be just as hard as getting to sleep. Ian struggled through a smothering cloud of darkness, feeling lost as he sought his body. Then a pale gray thread of light seemed to pull him along and he found himself once more. Ian returned to his body startled to find he could barely move. He groaned and tried to rise, feeling a stiff hose had been shoved down his nose and throat.

His sixth sense came back to him and told him Will sat on his chest. The babe laughed as Ian opened his eyes and he felt a tiny hand on his cheek.

“Ian!” Rork shouted sounding utterly relieved. Rork knelt next to him leaning over. He took the hose out of Ian’s nose and Ian gagged as it left him.

“What were that for?” Ian asked his voice dry. Rork first helped him drink some water; Ian feeling like his muscles were made of unbaked dough.

“Ya’ve been snoozin far a long time Ian,” Rork said.

“How long?” Ian asked startled.

“Three weeks,” Rork answered and Ian felt a wave of shock. “I had ta put that tube down yar throat sos I could feed ya. It be what I’d do far an injured animal.”

Ian realized he was naked wrapped in a big blanket, a diaper the only thing he wore under the blanket. Ian felt a wash of shame at that and he knew Rork had been caring for him intimately. He felt Rork reach out and gently brush a lock of his hair off his forehead. The gesture was so tender Ian knew that Rork’s feelings had only deepened while he had cared for Ian.

Ian turned away feeling guilt catch in his throat. Rork knew him well enough by now to know why he turned away. Ian turned his attention to Will and felt his heart swell to feel how much he had grown. Will was now sitting on his own, and was quite the weight on Ian’s chest. Ian smiled as Will said some childish nonsense as his little hand tugged at Ian’s beard.

“Thank ye Rork,” Ian said. “Fer carin fer Will while I were gone.”

“I did it far ya Ian,” Rork said softly before shifting to a more brisk business like manor. “Now let’s get ya cleaned up n dressed.”

Ian nodded as Rork picked Will up and set him aside. Rork unwrapped him from the blanket and helped him sit up. Ian felt like he was the babe now, weak and hardly able to move. The cavern was warmed by a fire, Ian able to sense the salamanders of the fire. Rork helped him sit up and then took the diaper off. Rork washed Ian from a bucket of water with a wash cloth. Ian could tell immediately Rork’s touch was anything but business like.

“Rork,” Ian said with reproach. Rork only sighed and hurried to finish washing him. He helped Ian dry off and then don some clean clothes. Rork helped him sit by the fire leaning against the cave wall. He fed Ian a porridge of wheat and goat’s milk. Ian ate knowing this was what he had been feeding Will as well because soon Will was voicing his own hunger. Rork laughed and brought the child to sit in his father’s lap and he fed them both.

“Sos what did ya see?” Rork asked when he finished feeding them. Ian told him what he had discovered and Rork listened pensively. “Bellamy be the name o the local Baron. Ya ken he has the flute?”

“Maybe but my guess will be it moved on,” Ian said. “Somewhat like that would be sold er used as a dowry fer sure. Maybe it were even stolen, that servant Rupert were really interested in it.”

“I’ll go inta town n ask round bout the lord,” Rork said. “I can get the history o the Bellamy house n find out who that lord had been.”

“I can go with ye,” Ian offered.

“Naw Ian ya be weak still ja,” Rork said. “Sides which I told the locals ya ran off so they didn’t coggin ya were alone here n vulnerable when I been gone. They coggin me now too sos I’ve got their trust. I can figure out what ya need ta coggin. It be early now, dawns just rose. I should get goin.”

“Ye sure?” Ian said.

“Taint worry,” Rork said with a laugh. “I can handle myself. There’s plenty o water n porridge still by the fire. I’ll be back by lunch.”

Ian nodded as Rork stood and gathered a few things. He left Ian alone with Will.

“Well I guess it be just ye n me now sprout,” Ian said to Will. Will answered with a wordless grunt and Ian had an idea. “Hey Will can ye say Da?” Ian said in Daunish. For the morning he sat trying to get Will to speak, Will answering occasionally with wordless shouts or grunts. Ian was so taken with the noises he didn’t mind that Will wasn’t able to form full words. Every time he came even a little close Ian laughed and congratulated him.

It didn’t seem long then when Rork returned, and he was limping. Years of seeing his mother hide her injuries told Ian Rork had tried to do the same.

“What happened?” Ian asked trying to stand, but he was too weak.

“I be all goody good Ian taint worry yar head,” Rork said, his voice laced with suppressed pain.

“Bullshit,” Ian said. “Sit down Rork n tell me who did this ta ye.”

Rork sighed and sat down heavily, dropping his pack.

“I taint be so popular in the village,” Rork answered. “The Elmerians taint mind me, special since I can see ta their animals durin the winter. The Regarians though… well I stopped goin ta town awhile ago. Got all my supplies from the Elmerian farmers. But they wouldn’t coggin bout the lord so…”

“I be sorry Rork,” Ian said horrified. “Ye alright?”

“Aye I can take a beatin mate taint worry bout that,” Rork said wryly. “N I even got what ya needed. See a pretty lass coggin what ya needed ta coggin, only the men taint liked me jawin ta her. Nawt like I were gonna do anything ta her, I mean she taint my type after all.”

Ian would have found the dry joke mildly funny had Rork’s voice not been choked with pain.

“Anyways she told me that the lord was probably the first lord Bellamy,” Rork said. “After the plagues swept the lands there were many holdins without a lord so the king o Regis assigned new barons. He chose Bellamy for here. He were a scholar afore and when he heard there was an old mass grave here he came ta study it.

“Well old Bellamy continued his studies til he got inta a school that were in Versae. He gave the title ta his brother n went ta the school ta study.”

“What bout the song?” Ian asked.

“She taint coggin bout that,” Rork said. “My guess is he took it with him. The servant ya mentioned weren’t in her story, I coggin if he did any wrong by the lord like stealing she’d coggin bout it.”

It wasn’t iron clad, but it was enough.

“Versae,” Ian said softly. “That be Cair Leon now.”

“It were part o Alda afore that though,” Rork said. “Could be the lord Bellamy passed on the flute ta the Aldan. They could have it again.”

Rork said this with both excitement and bitter resentment. He knew that could mean Ian would go to Alda, and Bailey.

“Might be but I wanna check Cair Leon first,” Ian said. “No stone left unturned.”

“Well it’ll be some time afore ya be ready ta ride,” Rork said. “Ya be weak as a kitten now. N it be winter.”

“Aye,” Ian said wearily. “Un step at a time. Sos let’s get a look at yer wounds Rork.”

He might have argued if he hadn’t been so beat up. Instead he let Ian help him out of his shirt and prod at his bruises. Ian couldn’t see the damage, but feeling along Rork’s back and sides he found a few cracked ribs.

“I be guessin ye be bruised black n blue Rork,” Ian said. “How many o them were there?”

“Six,” Rork answered and handed Ian a pot of salve. “Rub that on my back. I managed to break at least un o their fat noses, another I scored a glorious cock punch on.”

Ian laughed as he started to spread the salve on Rork’s back feeling him shiver under his hands. Rork was silent and Ian decided not to say anything, guessing how he felt. Ian finished and Rork quickly pulled his shirt on.

“Be there anything else I could help ye with Rork?” Ian asked out of guilt. He heard Rork’s silence, the unasked question lying between them breathless.

“Could ya hold me?” Rork asked quietly. “Just that.”

“Aye,” Ian said. He sat back against the wall and held his arms open to Rork. Rork rested his head on Ian’s chest, snuggling against him much like a dog seeking the comfort of its master. Ian held him, ignoring the shivering sobs of the man in his arms. Rork’s breathing grew even and Ian heard him fall asleep.

Will however grew restless and Ian had to carefully reach over to pull Will over to him and settle him in his other arm. Will fell asleep too, and Ian wasn’t far behind, his mind slipping into a thankfully dreamless slumber.

#fantasy #series #writing #please read #fairies #dragons

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