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sammysdewysensitiveeyes · 1 year

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"You don’t miss much, do you?"

Normally, coming from Sebastian that would be a sarcastic insult. But this time there was a grudging respect in Shaw’s voice.

“What can I say? We’re professional thieves.” And that’s really all they had been, no matter how Toad gave lip service to fighting for mutant rights. That particular Brotherhood was in it for the cash.

The cash was there for the taking when Pyro finished melting through the lock on the safe that had been hidden behind a false wall, well worth the slight headache that concentrating his flame to blowtorch intensity would bring. Cash, jewelry, some old books – crikey, was that a signed copy of The Great Gatsby?! Pyro snatched it up and tucked it under his shirt before Sebastian could say a word.

“Still, I admire how thoroughly you are picking the place clean. You’ve found hiding spots even I wouldn’t have thought of, and I assure you, my valuables are well protected.”

“The real valuables,” Shaw added when Pyro could not resist a scoffing laugh. He’d certainly stolen enough of Sebastian’s fine liquor recently, although mostly with Shinobi’s help.

“Whatever you say, Shaw,” Pyro said. “We’re just taking while the taking’s good, and we know a few of the tricks these rich fucks use to hide the loot.”

The rich fuck in question was Jonathon Chambers, the mutant formerly known as Empyrean. The Brotherhood had already taken quite a lot from his estate in the Florida Keys back when the man had first disappeared, as much as they could carry. Way back, in Pyro’s first lifetime. Chambers had been missing for quite awhile, and the Five had refused resurrection without proof of death, until a recent archeological discovery had changed things. A modern human skeleton found dating back to the Late Cretaceous period, which threw the academic world into an uproar and had Krakoans taking bets on which time-traveler it was. Beast had announced, after getting ahold of a DNA sample somehow, that it was the late Empyrean, and now he was in the queue.

Which meant that the Brotherhood was taking this window of opportunity to snatch away everything of value from Chambers’ abandoned estate, before he came back to claim it. Toad, Avalanche, Blob and Phantazia were all scouring the mansion, taking what they wanted, and tossing what they didn’t into a pile to sell. Or burn. There was a bonfire out in the courtyard of the furniture and clothing that the group had deemed laughably ugly, along with life-size portraits of the mansion’s owner.

And Sebastian? He’d overheard their plans to raid Chambers’ mansion, and agreed to keep both mum and lend them a boat, in exchange for access to island’s research lab (he and Phantazia could fight over the fancy equipment down there), and “dibs” on a limited number of antiques, fine wines and pieces of artwork.

“I must say, while I appreciate the greed on display here, I don’t quite understand the violence,” Sebastian said. Down in the courtyard, Blob was tossing a claw-footed sofa into the fire, egged on by a cheering Toad, and Avalanche was shaking the marble statues on the balcony off into the ocean. They had already done some damage to the house, with Blob-sized holes knocked directly through walls. Pyro and Avalanche were privately planning to shake the house to the ground and torch what was left, once Eileen got whatever she wanted from the sub-basement labs.

“Nothing to understand, we’re just violent assholes that have been cooped up on an island making nice for too long. Gotta let it out somehow, and this is a rare opportunity.”

Pyro didn’t think Sebastian knew about the Brotherhood’s previous association with Chambers, when they’d been guests at his supposed refuge for sick mutants. Pyro himself didn’t know all the details – he’d spent some time bed-ridden, going through one of his many bad spells before the Legacy Virus finally claimed him – but Avalanche’s explanation had been something about time travel and fighting the X-Men, as usual. The upshot was, charitable bleeding-heart Jonathan Chambers was actually a dick, and wound up disappearing into the time stream. Good riddance.

“The violence just seems a bit targeted, that’s all,” Sebastian said. “Almost like you knew the man. Let me guess, professional jealousy? Was he too successful as an author, Allerdyce?”

“Author!” Pyro scoffed. “If you could really call him that.” He pulled a copy of Chambers’ Fatal Attractions off the shelf. “This garbage was just flavor of the month pop philosophy. My books might be shallow, but at least I don’t pretend I’ve got something important to say.”

“But have you been invited on any talk shows?” Sebastian asked, smirking. Pyro ignored him, scowling down at the book in his hands and flipping through the pages with short, sharp movements. What utter tripe it all was. St. John hated celebrity books and vanity authors, no-talent hacks publishing on a famous name while working stiffs like him were banging out a living at 80 words per minute.

He hated liars. He hated smooth-talking wannabe messiah figures who claimed compassion and kindness and lofty ideals, and turned out to be just as self-interested, greedy and cruel as the rest of the world. And worst of all, Pyro had believed him. At his lowest, most vulnerable moment, St. John had believed that Jonathan Chambers was a decent man.

“There’s nothing personal about it, Shaw,” Pyro said. “Just a rich fuck with too much money, and some of it may as well be ours.”

Pyro walked out to the balcony, and tossed the book down into the bonfire. A pair of flaming hands emerged from the blaze to catch it, and began to rip out the rapidly blackening pages.

Beside him, Sebastian snorted.

“Oh sure, there’s nothing personal there at all.”

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baoshan-sanren · 4 years

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Part 21 - Epilogue? Epilogue.

“How To Communicate With Your Husband: A Narrative in Many Parts by Lan XiChen and Nie MingJue”

The Conference takes three days to wind down, despite the fact that the Chief Cultivator is chosen by the end of the first day.

The margin is narrow, but the elders carry a voice as well, and majority of them, unsurprisingly, side with MeiLing’s preference. MingJue thinks they will not soon forget the sight of her storming down the Nightless City halls with a saber in her hand, looking for something to fight, and would rather agree with her, than find out all the ways in which she means to retaliate.

In the end, it is three votes more in favor of Madam Yu, and she takes the Chief Cultivator seat calmly, as if she had expected nothing less. MingJue would have been happy to leave at that point, not caring much for any other complaints the rest of them may have, but the first issue brought forwards is the issue of the Wen Sect.

Jin GuangShan could not secure the title of His Excellency, and has obviously come prepared to make at least some people as unhappy as he is. He does not say it outright, that the Nie Sect is harboring the Wen remnants, but he talks in circles enough where more than half of the sect leaders turn nervous, and insist on knowing the truth.

MingJue has already made his peace with fighting another battle if needs be, and has no intention of yielding. He stands up, and calmly proclaims that the people currently residing in the Unclean Realm are, in fact, a branch of the Nie Sect from HeJian, seeking refuge from the war.

Jin GuangShan can hardly wait for him to finish speaking, before he is jumping back up, “See! It is a lie! There is no branch of Nie Sect in HeJian! There never has been!”

Sitting a step below MingJue, MeiLing clears her throat loudly, effectively cutting off the murmurs around the hall.

“Sect Leader Jin is remarkably well-informed. Pity he does not keep track of his own offspring with the same level of concern.”

Hush falls at her words, and Jin GunagShan slowly turns purple, his mouth working, but no words being formed.

“Lady Nie,” Jin ZiHan says, “We had agreed to keep this discussion civil.”

“Was I uncivil?” MeiLing says, her eyes widening, “I only thought I should speak plainly. Jin GuangShan can whore around as much as he pleases, that is for his wife to worry about. But I do believe that I have the right to question the location of his offspring, if he insists on questioning the location of mine.”

Another murmur goes up, now both Jin GuangShan and Jin ZiHan wearing the same shade of purple on their face, and MingJue does not know if he wants to laugh or cry. On the other side of him, XiChen is still cool and collected, although both his hands are tightly clasped in his lap. But on XiChen’s right, HuaiSang’s entire head is hidden by his fan, and he is laughing soundlessly, his shoulders shaking in mirth.

“Lady Nie,” Jiang YuXuan says carefully, “You have never married.”

“I am old, A-Xuan, not feeble,” she says, “A woman has never needed a husband to have a child. Or three.”

‘This is preposterous,” Jin ZiHun finally finds his voice, “You expect us to believe that you-- that you had--“

“Multiple children out of wedlock?” MeiLing says sweetly, and HuaiSang starts to sound as if he is choking.

“You are saying that the Nie branch from HeJian are your descendants,” Lan XiaoChun says calmly.

MingJue thinks he likes this man well enough, even if he is a Lan Elder. In the entire hall, he is the only one who does not look ready to swallow his tongue.

“Yes,” MeiLing says, “Illegitimate, of course, but I gave my sons the Nie name, as is my right, and they in turn, passed it to their many children and grandchildren.”

“And great-grandchildren,” Wen Qing says softly, from her place at MeiLing’s back.

“Quite correct, my dear,” MeiLing smiles up at her, “And great-grandchildren. How large is the HeJian Nie branch now? Remind me.”

“Fifty-six members,” Wen Qing responds promptly.

“Ridiculous! Ridiculous!” Jin GuangShan exclaims, “This is all nonsense! They are part of the Wen Sect, all of them!”

“Sect Leader Jin,” Jiang YuXuan says, “Do you have any proof?”

“I do not need proof! They are Wen!”

“That is enough,” Madame Yu says firmly, “This discussion has gone on long enough. Nie Qing had arrived at the Nightless City with the rest of the Nie Sect, as their healer. Her skills have saved dozens of men from every Sect. My own son is alive today because of her, and I will not have accusations thrown around without proof. Sect Leader Jin, sit down. We have many other matters to discuss, unless you mean to spend the winter in the Nightless City.”

Jin GuangShan’s color truly does not look healthy any more, and MingJue is afraid that the man means to drop dead in the middle of the hall. It would be no great loss to the cultivation world at large, but it would keep them all here at least another day, and he would very much like to leave the Nightless City for good.

“That is settled then,” Madam Yu says, “The QiShan farmland west of YueYang is next on the list. Sect Leader Yue, what do you propose to do?”

And just like that they are moving on, as if nothing of importance had happened. MingJue glances over to find XiChen smiling at him brightly, and feels his heart skip a beat at the sight. He thinks he will never get used to those smiles, as long as he lives.

“NaiNai,” he hears Wen Qing say softly, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“I would love some,” MeiLing sighs, “Fetch one for yourself as well.”

It is only as they are traveling back to QingHe that MingJue starts to wonder if perhaps, it had all gone off a bit too smoothly.

They are riding back, taking their time, as XiChen should not exert himself by flying yet. Approximately a third of the Nie Sect is riding with them, making a grand post-war procession across YueYang and YingChuan. Wen Qing had warned them to limit the riding as well, no more that six hours at a time, and although at this rate, it will take many days to reach QingHe, MingJue does not mind.

It feels very much like the trip they never got to take after their wedding, the one that was to take them back to Cloud Recesses. Although postponed once due to the war, Lan WangJi’s own wedding is to take place within a month, and MingJue supposes another trip must be planned, almost as soon as they arrive home. In the meantime, he enjoys having XiChen all to himself, for the first time since their wedding day. Their nights are spent in small inns, eating questionable spices and sharing cramped beds, and MingJue thinks he has never been happier in his life.

But he cannot help circling back to the events at the Conference, although he tries his hardest to put them out of his mind.

“Do you not think Madam Yu was too lenient?” he says, out of the blue one day, as they are half-way across YingChuan.

XiChen, who had been riding silently by his side, looks startled by the question.

“I am glad, of course, that it was all so easily settled,” MingJue adds, “But for her not to question MeiLing’s story seems... unlike her.”

It is the nicest way he can refer to a woman that he still wants to grab by the neck, and shake her vigorously for the entire Wen Chao incident, but he is trying. Heavens help him, he is trying.

“Ah,” XiChen says, smiling, “This has been bothering you for some time. I had wondered.”

“Was it obvious I was bothered by it? You did not ask.”

XiChen looks down at his hands, smile slipping away, and MingJue immediately regrets his words.

“You are always entitled to ask for my thoughts,” MingJue says, “but never obligated to do so. That was not a chastisement, do not take it as such.”

“I know,” XiChen says, “It-- it does not come naturally, this. I have learned long ago not to question unspoken things, and must unlearn it now. It will take time.”

He lifts his head, and smiles, something mischievous in the curve of his lips, “My husband should indulge me, and say things more often, without having to be asked.”

“You--“ MingJue says, spluttering, “I offer understanding, and get chastised in turn.”

“My husband is very understanding,” XiChen says, his meek tone at odds with the smile, “I am eternally grateful.”

MingJue wants to pull him from the horse, toss him on the grass, and kiss him until they are both breathless.

“Madam Yu has her own secret to hide from the other sects,” XiChen goes on, “A much smaller one than ours, but one she would dearly like to protect.”

MingJue perks up, then immediately feels ridiculous. He is no HuaiSang to get excited about other people’s secrets.

“I thought gossip was forbidden,” he says, and XiChen laughs.

“If you do not wish to know--“

“I do. I do wish to know. Tell me.”

XiChen grins, “As it happens, the Jiang Sect has also found a long-lost member of the clan. A cousin of one of the Elders had an illegitimate son, who had a son, who-- well, you are familiar with the method of these things.”

MingJue grunts. He still cannot believe that was the route MeiLing had chosen to take. She is lucky that he is shameless, otherwise he would have never been able to show his face in the cultivation world again.

“This long-lost member of the Jiang clan has a very rare, very particular skill. There has only been one other cultivator in the history with this particular skill, but this man was unfortunately killed by the Violet Spider, when the Nightless City fell.”

“She is hiding the Core-Melting Hand?” MingJue exclaims, and XiChen’s eyes widen.

MingJue can hear the men some distance behind him liven up at hearing the title, and shrinks down, feeling foolish.

“It is a secret,” XiChen hisses, and MingJue rolls his eyes.

Now it all makes sense. She probably did not have a plan when she had decided to spare the man’s life, and MeiLing’s bold strategy must have given her an idea on how to proceed. Still, he is dumbfounded by the revelation, and does not understand why she would risk so much for one man.

“Why?” MingJue says, but XiChen only shrugs.

“I suppose he is a useful weapon to have, for a Chief Cultivator. But MeiLing claims that both Madam Yu and Jiang FengMian seem fond of the man, for whatever reason.”

They are both fond of the man? MingJue does not need to know that. He does not want to think about the Violet Spider and Jiang FengMian both being fond of someone. MingJue does not know what crimes the Core-Melting Hand might have committed in his service to Wen Chao, but in his opinion, spending his life between the Violet Spider and Jiang FengMian is too cruel of a punishment for anyone.

XiChen sighs, “Would my husband think less of me if I insist that we stop for the day? I am very tired, and my back is sore. Perhaps my husband could find an inn with a large bath? One we could both share for a change?”

MingJue nearly swallows his tongue, and covers it up with a slight cough.

“Yes,” he says, “I believe that can be managed.”

“Good,” XiChen smiles sweetly, and rides ahead.

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #nielan #nie mingjue #ficlet #m #arranged marriage pt. 21 #AND THAT'S ALL FOLKS #unless i decide to wrote another 40k of side-pairings lmao #did i fall out of the cliche tree and hit every fic trope branch on the way down #YES #is it self-indulgent AS FUCK #you betcha #THANK YOU ALL FOR READING IT

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bluesfortheredj · 4 years

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You pull the fabric of your t-shirt loose from the shallow folds that had formed on your abdomen from sitting down on the sofa and give a quick glance over to Ben to make sure he’s not looking your way. Men’s t-shirts were always more forgiving thanks to the straight cut fit and you always got a size bigger to make sure nothing clung to your skin, although the soft folds that occurred when you were sat down were still inevitable, and somehow still managed to swallow some fabric with them.

“You alright over there?” Ben asks after seeing you fidgeting from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, yeah, just getting comfortable,” you reply, purposefully smoothing the fabric down to hide the real shape of your body.

“Come here,” he smiles, opening up his arms for you to lay across the cushions and onto his lap, “then you’ll be really comfortable.”

You couldn’t resist a cuddle with Ben so waste no time in draping yourself along the sofa so that your head can rest on his thighs as you continue to watch the telly together, and Ben is quick to begin stroking your hair with one hand while the other rests on your side; his fingers circling the fabric of your t-shirt to not-so-subtly lift it until he reaches the hem.

“You’re tickling,” you mumble sleepily.

“No I’m not,” Ben smiles down at you.

You grab the blanket from the arm of the couch and quickly shake it out to put over your body, purposely moving his hand out of the way so you can cover the small part of skin that was now exposed, and he frowns when he places his hand back down.

“I’m cold,” you sigh.

“I’ve heard that one before,” Ben replies quietly.

You let your hair fall across your cheek so you can cover your face from his gaze after his comment and although you know he didn’t mean it in a harsh way it still upset you. It was all your own doing to be honest, you had serious issues with how you looked due to your weight and had already used every excuse under the sun more than once whenever you and Ben got intimate. There were only so many times you could say the room was cold so you could cover your body with the duvet, and there was also a limit on how much you could use the ‘it’ll be romantic’ line when it came to turning off the lights so the room was pitch black. You’d already run out of excuses for keeping a t-shirt on the entire time.

“I’m going to go to bed actually,” you say after a couple of minutes, throwing off the blanket and tugging your top down to cover yourself, “night darling.”

You lean over to press your lips to his and he’s quick to turn it into a hungry kiss between the two of you, leaving you wanting so much more but feeling unable to do anything about it.

“Sorry,” you exhale as you break away from him reluctantly, “I’m tired. I’ll see you up there in a bit.”

You make a hasty exit and practically run up the stairs away from him only to throw yourself onto the bed in a heap of guilt.

“Urgh,” you groan as you roll onto your back and get your phone out.

Instagram had been both a place of refuge and torture for you; on the one hand you had the fleeting confidence boosters from the body positive figures that you followed who bared every curve and dimple to help you believe for a few seconds that you could one day be like them, and on the other hand there were the comments on posts of Ben’s that featured you in which some fans had compared you to a whale.

You wanted so desperately to treat your body with kindness, to be able to place a hand on your stomach and thank it for all that it does despite its size, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do such a thing and all you saw was this pouch of fat that hung down way too low on your body and made you look like a lumpy sack of potatoes most of the time. You place your phone face down on the bedside table before wriggling underneath the covers and letting out a huff as you throw your head back on the pillow.

“Is it me?” Ben asks from the doorway, making you jump.

“Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me!” you gasp as you sit yourself up a little.

“Sorry,” he mutters quietly, “but is it me?”

“Is what you?”

“Am I the reason you want to stay hidden when we have sex? Do you not trust me?”

“What…? Of course I trust you!”

“Then why?” he asks sadly as he walks over to the bed and sits on his side with his head hanging down, “I love all of you, and I desperately want to show you that.”

“It’s… I just…” you stutter, unable to find the right words, “for fuck’s sake I’m fucking fat, Ben. I don’t want you to see my stomach wobbling like a huge jelly every time we have sex, I don’t want you seeing my flabby skin shuddering each time you…” you let out a deep sigh and shake your head as you begin to cry, “I don’t even want to see it, so why would I put you through such a disgusting sight?”

“A disgusting sight? Is that truly what you think?” he asks with a mixture of sadness and anger in his eyes at you being so hard on yourself, “please tell me you don’t think that,” he adds in a whisper.

“It’s true,” you shrug, “people aren’t being mean when they compare to a beached whale, it’s just a realistic observation.”

“Realistic…?” he trails off as the anger inside him builds, “you are fucking joking me! Don’t you dare say such things! Don’t you fucking dare!”

He takes a deep breath while you stare at him with tear stained cheeks and his body visibly relaxes before he crawls under the covers with you and takes you in his arms as he kisses the top of your head softly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for shouting, I just… I can’t stand the thought of you thinking these things about yourself. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I wanted to pretend these thoughts weren’t happening; that I could go on avoiding the issue all the time.”

“Oh, (Y/N),” Ben sighs, rocking you side to side gently, “don’t you see, though? I love everything about you, and I mean everything.”

“How can you though? How can you love my flabby tummy when I hate it?”

He looks you in the eye to give you a stern frown for calling yourself flabby, then kisses the tip of your nose before replying.

“I can love your beautiful tummy because it’s part of you, and I love you unconditionally. I wouldn’t even care if you had a lizard’s tail or some shit,” he adds with a laugh.

“A lizard’s tail?” you chuckle as you wipe the damp remnants of tears from your cheeks.

“A lizard’s tail, monkey ears, a baboon’s arse, I wouldn’t give a shit because I love you so much.”

“That’s good to know,” you giggle.

After a short while of being in a silent embrace under the duvet, Ben starts to stir and his hands wander to your stomach where he strokes it sweetly over your t-shirt. He peels the covers away from you both then looks to you and notices the fear etched across your face.

“May I?” he asks, taking the hem of your t-shirt between his thumb and forefinger.

“I’m inclined to say no…” you answer honestly.

“But how about you say yes and see what happens?” Ben suggests, “and I promise nothing bad will happen.”

“Okay...” you reply nervously, “yes.”

“You can stop me any time, okay?”

“Right,” you nod.

Ben lifts the hem of your top slowly and the higher it gets the more your hands seem to shake as your sides, your palms becoming clammy from the fear that he’ll see your large stomach and be sick at the sight of it. All the little voices inside your head are screaming at you to stop him before he realises what a fat monster you truly are, but when you look up at his face and see a loving smile tugging at his lips you get confused. Why on earth would he be looking at you like that? It doesn’t add up, there should be some glint of disgust there, surely? He then leans down towards the blob and places a kind kiss against your soft skin, then for some reason he does it again, and again, until he’s covered most of the huge surface area and you’re left looking at him in utter confusion.

“What’s that face for?” Ben chuckles when he finally looks up at you.

“Well it’s just… Why are you being so nice about it?”

“Because you’re beautiful,” Ben frowns as if the answer is obvious, “and this part of you has been hidden away from me for so long that it’s got a lot of love to catch up on.”

“I… Hmm,” you reply, unable to find any words to say.

“Stop shaking,” he smiles softly as he takes one of your hands in his, “I told you nothing bad would happen.”

He places your hand back down on the bed and carefully lifts your t-shirt until he’s able to pull it up and over your head to leave you completely exposed to him, and although you’re quick to grab the covers and pull them up, he’s happy to just be able to feel all of you underneath them now.

“Love you,” he whispers as his hands run up and down your body that he’s never been able to explore before.

“Love you too,” you reply as the self loathing voices inside your head quieten down for the first time.

can I request Ben Hardy where the reader doesn’t like to get naked in front of him because of her weight issues. Whenever they have sex, she’s always wearing a shirt or making them go under the covers etc. Eventually when he asks reader tells him she’s insecure about her body and couldn’t imagine letting him see (particularly since fans have been nasty about her) and when she finally lets him, she’s all shaky and scared about him being disgusted?

@peachllobotomy @lv7867 @aynsleywalker @captainxholmes @pink-lemo @painthatiusedto @n3shama @itisjustmethistime @mamaskillerqueen @luvborhap @queenslandlover-93 @tenement-funstah @rogmeddows

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fluff

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sassysweetcollegegirls · 6 years

Text

In a Moment

Sometimes Keith looked at Lance and he wished he could pull the Cuban boy into a firm hug that would end with the two of them sharing a kiss that would settle whatever kind of fire it was that seemed to make Keith so pent up and frustrated that he was fighting robot after robot.

Today it was Keith’s fault not Lance’s that Keith was in one of his moods. At this point he was sweating and he was standing pushing the limits with a new robot that the Garrison had set up for training the cadets. Keith’s pushing it’s blocky body to the limits though he lost count on level 15.

His brains repeating what happened with Lance this morning making that fire that much angrier. :

Keith usually woke up earlier than the rest of the team his body always seemed to be stuck with the cold sweats and chills of the nightmares that he couldn’t seem to shake. Some of them felt so real like someone had actually pulled his skin from his body and just said “BROKENESS COMES FROM THE INSIDE” but Keith didn’t know how far inside that brokeness went anymore. He’d done some healing. Krolia had spent time with him and he had seen the life that she had with him before she left. She had seen him with Voltron. His team.

So when he had woken screaming at 3:30 and Kosmo had blipped in Keith shouldn’t have been surprised. Kosmo made rounds now. He was with Keith mostly but Keith knew at some point in the night his wolf woke and checked in with the rest of the team. His soft fur came up into the bed and a soft whine escaped from Kosmo. His head came to rest on Keith’s thigh. Keith stuck his hands in the coarse fur and closed his eyes “they are just nightmares boy.” The wolf huffed and looked at Keith before nudging his hand for harder scratches and to encourage him to keep talking.

“Your a ham.” Keith muses trying to keep the smile off his face,” your like Lance.” He swallows hard at the mention of the Cuban and Kosmo whines a little. “Let’s go running.” He offers and the wolf jumps at the offer.

Keith dresses in his running gear something he managed to pull from donations that had piled in to house the refuges before the base exploded. He was fond of the black leggings and hoodie that read CLASSIC. Had Keith been normal, had their been no war he thought perhaps he might have wandered around Targets looking for outfits like these on the daily. Warm,spandex and long enough for him to hide away in while still managing movement. His Blade gear had been like that but he wasn’t at the blades. Now here he was at 3:35 in the morning running from the base of the Atlas. His breath clouding the morning air. Kosmo kept time beside him. His fur glowing warmly in the darkness. Keith didn’t know why Kosmo’s glow was so comforting against the glow of the stars. Maybe it was because he knew what was past the stars now,

The two ran each of them pushing around corners and up hills. Keith didn't think about where he was going he just thought about getting rid of the nightmares that haunted him. Kosmo understood followed eyes open ready for whatever could come barreling out of the shadows toward them. Nothing came though and the two ran until Keith was falling.

He laid out on his back looking up at the stars blood pulsing through his calves trying to find air enough to speak but he couldn’t. He just lay there panting looking at the constellation’s and Kosmo stood above him waiting. He was patient. Looking down at Keith as if to say,” What do you need?” It took a few moments but finally Keith caught his breath able to focus on one star that seemed to shine brighter than the rest,” It all looks so quiet,you’d never know there’s a mega killer alien race out there.” he whispered and Kosmo huffed an almost annoyed sound. He laid there waiting to see if the sky would change if the Mega Killer Alien Race would fall from the sky. He knew what would happen if they did though. Everyone would have to rush to their Lions to fight and Keith wasn’t ready for that just yet. He wanted to lay on the desert floor and look at the sky and pretend for a few more minutes that he was just a kid with a weird dog that theorized Aliens and had terrible nightmares about a war he never fought in.

The sun started to rise and Keith blinked groaning he sat and looked at Kosmo who sat waiting patiently. “ Take us home.” He stood leaning on his knees as Kosmo wrapped himself around Keith and Keith closed his eyes letting the wolf blip them home.

Outside the Atlas people and ships were already mobile. Keith signaled Kosmo to stay close and walked aboard his muscles aching in a warm familiar way that meant he could be okay for a while. The routine was different now most everyone took breakfast in their rooms and Keith missed the team’s cheery mealtime activities but he never said anything. He just let his heart break a little as he watched everyone kinda disappear into their own worlds after the battle.

Hunk had gone back to helping his mom and dad and finding the rest of his family. He was often found in the kitchen and working with members of the coalition. Pidge was so busy with her dad and helping the Olkari that it seemed like she was almost six places at once when they had coalition duties. Shiro had somehow mangaged to find a whole crew and become the commander of the Atlas and that was basically like having the whole Garrison at his disposal. His parental duties had multiplied not only did he have the cast of Voltron but now he had the whole team on the Atlas too. Allura and Coran were always helping with the coalition and moving with the change of things. Helping with updates, Lions, anything that needed to be done they did. They tried learning earth customs and it was funny to watch sometimes as Allura would become obsessed or Coran would try to keep up with the cadets speech.

Then there was Lance. Lance was the one that seemed to just flow with everything. He had his family and the coalition and then there were the Fans. Lance had dozens of fans they would come while he was working or running or playing with his siblings. They always wanted pictures and to ask Lance about the Lion’s (he never let anyone inside the cockpit. Not after Nyma) but he always proudly showed off red and the rest of the Lion’s and recounted the many tales of how they formed Voltron just in the nick of time.

Keith often got to watch because he would be seated in Black or working on something with the coalition and he would see Lance with the fans. It wasn't hard to say he didn’t think it was a little cute a little weird but it was still cute. Seeing Lance throwing out all the animated details of how they saved the universe time and time again. It was always the things that made Keith smile the most. It made him almost happy to see Lance in that element. It made the weeks when everyone was to busy to meet for dinner or Lunch bearable.

Keith was thinking about this when he wandered down the hall toward his room. Kosmo was blipping every few feet so Keith felt safe. He kept walking until Kosmo stopped and Keith heard Lance’s voice and Jame’s.

Keith didn’t have a problem with Jame’s as much anymore but the guy still bothered him to say the least. So Keith was quiet as he peered around the corner to see Lance and James.

Lance back was up against the wall his eyes were blown open wide the blue almost hidden by the iris of his eye. James stood above him hand above his head smiling stance relaxed but possessive. Kosmo growled and Keith didn’t stop him because it was a soft growl almost like he was saying,” I don’t know what this is but he’s not supposed to do that right?” and Keith wanted to say “yes. He’s not.” but he couldn’t.

“You’ve been avoiding me Sharpshooter.” James purred.

Lance swallowed a blush forming in his cheeks,” What am I supposed to be doing?” he asked

“ You realize we don’t have to hide here right?” James dogged challenging the question with another question.

“ I realize, but what are ‘WE’ James?” Lance inquired a pained look coming into his eyes and Keith’s heart broke a little because his voice had dropped to a smaller sadder one

James didn’t really seem to have an answer. So he grabbed Lance’s chin and dragged the Cuban’s mouth to his. Keith's heart shattered.

Kosmo blipped forward growling loudly now. And Keith tried to reach out to stop him but his hand shook. He stepped out of the corner to call him back and that’s when he felt the wetness of his face. Kosmo had begun barking,” Kosmo come. “ The two men had broken apart Kosmo had been standing between Lance and James protectively and Keith looked at Kosmo desperately.

Lance saw him though his face streaked with tears through the sad and dirt and tired,” Keith....this isn’t what it-”

“it isn’t what it looks like?” he finished for Lance and James stood glaring at Kosmo who stood protectively guarding Lance,” Hard to miss read something like a kiss Lance.”

Lance looks pained and hurt and panicked and he’s looking at Kosmo who is still guarding against James,” Keith it’s jus-”

“ IT’S A KISS RIGHT? YOU DONT HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME LANCE.” Keith is shouting every bone in his body is vibrating and all the sound in the hallway stops. Kosmo quits guarding because Keith has raised his voice,” IT’S NOT LIKE I CAN’T GET FIVE MINUTES TO HAVE DINNER WITH ANY OF YOU THESE DAYS AND HERE I FIND YOU HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO BE KISSING THE BIGGEST FUCKING ASSHOLE ON THIS SHIP.”

“ Keith I swear to god. This isn’t.. Keith I j-” Lance is lost his eyes are wide with surprise because he hadn’t expected this kind of snap.

“Everyone is so fucking busy. And It feels like I’m the only one that misses any of you anymore.... Especially you...” Keith confirms as he wipes tears from his eyes and Kosmo reattaches himself to Keith. Keith manages to find his fingers curled in his short coarse fur,” Have fun with your new boyfriend Lance...” then just as easily as Keith blipped in he blipped out leaving Lance and James alone in the hallway.

That had been hours ago. Keith had since then gone to his room and cried. He had cried because he knew he was broken, and Broken means hard to love but he had hoped one day he could be brave enough to show Lance all the broken bits and they could figure out how to glue all the rest of the pieces in place. Now though it was Keith and Kosmo and a day filled with nothing but Coalition free activities because they had a scheduled day off today and because there was no invisible maze, no Castle of Lions. Keith had to hit the Atlas training deck which was different. He couldn’t lock every door and hide all day and have Hunk call when dinner was ready. There wasn’t that option anymore. Instead he had to move past the crowds of people to a space that was unoccupied. He looked at the different devices on the walls and then he noticed the bot.

The bot seemed to be the thing people avoided. It had a little sign reading “Attempt only if you are skilled fighters,” and Keith recognized the writing as Corans. Keith stomped forward pleased to find something that would challenge him and let the gears in his head click as the muscles made him feel.

“Identification please” The bot asked as Keith took down the sign and stood level with it. People were starting to pay attention to them. Kosmo has retreated to a corner of the floor where he could easily get up but still be out of the way. Keith didn’t care.

“Keith Kogane Paladin of Voltron. “

“Identification Number”

“52623”

“Confirmed: level of difficulty expert training sequence 1. “

Keith was prepared for the attack the long metal limbs though large were still swift as they attempted to get a hold of Keith in a very Coran type manner. Keith snorted because both he and Coran knew that if hand in hand combat ensued between the two of them Keith would win.... or at least he thought he would.

This robot was easy he was still able to think and hold his ground which allowed him to reason through his fire.

Why was he angry with Lance? Because it was James? The robot took a hard punch for that thought. No. Keith knew that Lance could have chosen anyone be it Shiro or Allura or James.SO WHY DID IT MAKE HIM ANGRY?

The robot stopped briefly to muster up,” starting sequence 7.” Keith was holding it off right now with sharp blows and blocks that were filled with anger and the Robot tried to maneuver behind Keith but he saw every opportunity and stopped it.

Keith had never looked at anyone the way he looked at Lance and seeing James. So possesivly poised and kissing the perfection that was Lance; Keith wanted to crumble. Like he felt like part of him died a little bit and had been mummified and left for someone to play with outside. That’s when Keith realized HE wanted to be the one who had Lance against a wall.

And this robot he was with now was locked in a block with him. There was a throng of people watching outside his mat. Their eyes were glued to his struggle with the bot. So far level fifteen seemed to be an even match for him. When the bot broke away Keith jumped back making sure to swing wide and leave himself room to settle. The adrenaline was starting to wear down his brain wasn’t distracted anymore, he was gunna need to shut this down and quickly. Keith looked for openings anything to use to his advantage that’s when he saw Lance.

Lance stood at the corner of the mat. His eyes were red rimmed and his nose was pink. Keith stopped completely his eyes fixed on the boy knowing he had been crying. It was ugly and he knew Lance hated when people saw him like this. So why? Why would the Cuban go out of his way?

“End training sequence” he called and the bot stopped all eyes around the mat looked at one another and then slowly they started to disperse. Lance stayed watching Keith.

There was Silence and Keith looked at the bayard in his hand. “You went running this morning... Keith all this training isn’t good for you...” Lance mused trying to start on something anything.

Keith shrugged,”I hardly ate before I met you guys...”Lance flinched and looked at the mat again and ran his hands through his hair. Keith loved Lances hair. He thought it was soft like a bunny’s.

“Keith...I-I’m sorry...” Lance stated clearly crossing the mat to join him. Keith almost wished he hadn’t because he wanted to draw lance into his arms and say it was okay. He wanted to hold him and not let go.

Lance had James though... so Keith bit his lip,” I’m sorry you guys were having a private moment and I wrecked it.” He responded. His hands hurt and he realized he’d dig holes with his nails into his skin.

“We weren’t though Keith... Jame’s into me, but...he only wants one thing from me.” Lance offered trying to sooth. It must have looked like he was going to cry again,” he makes me buy my own bandaids and drinks and he’s not intrested in if I like cake or pie or if Garlic knots go with every meal.” Lance was crying his tears were we’re hitting the mat and Keith eyes were wide,”he doesn’t yell at me when I get hurt, or ask me about Red’s weird lullaby’s. He doesn’t call me an asshole or a spazz, tell me not to miss my shots.”

Keith’s heart was beginning to ache and weep. The walls he had were shaking because these were things specific to him and Lance. He asked him once if Red had been singing to him yet and the Paladin had been in awe almost relieved thinking perhaps he’d been crazy and this was a new thing. Keith remembered how his eyes had danced then. He wanted them to dance again.

Yet he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop teasing, the poking fun because once upon a time that’s what had made them a team and Keith had hoped he was going to get those eyes to dance for him and here they were filled with tears. He was an idiot.

Keith swallowed every ounce of his pride and stepped forward. His head bowed. People were watching but they were all at a distance to far away and for once in his life Keith didn’t care what anyone thought. He wanted Lance to feel safe...and like someone cared.

His careful fingers full of dirt and sweat reached forward to unwrap the arms that Lance had so carefully wound around himself. His skin was so smooth and he was warm. Keith was gentle. Gentler than he’d ever been as he pulled those long arms apart. Once they were apart he carefully wrapped them around his waist. His fingers shook as he reached around Lance to pull him closer.

He smelled like sunshine. Like sunshine and old spice shampoo that shouldn’t even be a thing anymore and mint. Keith’s fingers found Lances hair and he tried not to gasp at how soft it was the dark brown strands were silken against his fingers and just like that the red Paladin was nestled into the crevice of Keith’s neck and shoulder sobbing. The

Lance clutched Keith tighter like he was some kind of life raft that was keeping him from falling to pieces. “He’s not you Keith. I love you...not James.” Lance was nestling closer still crying and Keith heart was soaring.

He clutched the Paladin in his arms tighter than he’d ever clutched anything in his life. Closer than he clutched anything in his life.

“Your my spazz... you do things without thinking. Your skins so annoyingly soft and you always know what to say when I don’t...You can manage a room full of children when I can’t even get Kosmo to listen. I suck at people... at loving... but god Lance I love you. I always have... I’m sorry I yelled... I’m sorry for being difficult to handle. I’m sorry I’m not emotional and affectionate like Hunk is... I’m sorry for a lot of things.. but this is who I am and not a single inch of me doesn’t love or care about you.” Keith let it all out closing his eyes just cherishing holding the boy in his arms because heaven knew if he would ever get the chance again.

Lance had stopped crying he was listening and Keith hoped that somehow Lance couldn’t hear the pounding of Keith’s heart. Keith kissed the spot on Lance’s head he could reach and closed his eyes tilting his head back hoping and praying to his lion to anyone willing to listen that he got to keep this moment for a while.

Lance shivered and drew away. Keith knew his moment was ending. He wasn’t sure what to expect so when he was met with blue eyes staring at him intently he just smiles a soft smile. Keith wants to kiss Lance he does but he doesn’t know if Lance wants him to yet so he settles and kisses his forehead not knowing what he’s supposed to do.

Lance continues looking at him,” you know your supposed to kiss me right?” And their is not one ounce of shame in the boy whose looking at him cheeks pink nose pink eyes red and Keith is blinking.

“Y-you actually want me to?” He stammers and a red color starts to creep up his neck.

“Oh. My. God. Did the Keith Kogane just ask if I actually wanted to kiss him.” Lance took a step back and Keith wanted to grip his waist and drag him back. He didn’t want Lance to leave his arms, not yet.

He reached forward desperate,” Lance...” he wasn’t sure what to say. His face was red and he kept his eyes down,” come back here... please...”Lance smiled and came back and Keith took his hand. The red Paladin was smiling.

Keith closed his eyes and set his forehead firmly against the other boys. He had kissed people before plenty of times but this was different. Lance was different. He wasn’t someone Keith just wanted to kiss he WANTED to kiss him. He’d thought about it maybe a hundred times since he’d met Lance. Every time he pictured it being something romantic and soft sweet. Not him covered in sweat, shaking, holding him afraid to move forward.

Lance waited silent willing to be patient knowing that Keith needed a moment,” if you don’t want to it’s okay Keith.” Keith could sense the patience but he could almost feel the hurt too. He knew Lance. He saw the affectionate and the loving personality. So he stopped breathing for a moment and thought of the number ten and counted backwards. Lance waited and he was patient keeping his forehead pressed to Keith and rubbing small circles in his hands. Just the presence was calming for him.

Keith opened his eyes and gently touched Lance’s cheek. Lance waited eyes patient searching his as gaze met Keith’s and his breath met his. All it took was Keith closing his eyes and reaching forward and his lips were there touching Lances. Lances lips were so soft and warm and Keith felt like he had been swallowed by some kind of vacume as he was kissing Lance.

Lance melted to Keith he pushed close curling an arm around the taller boys neck and leaning forward. The two met each other kiss for kiss, breath for breath. Keith realized he wouldn’t be able to let go of Lance in that moment. He knew; that he needed him. That somehow this cuban asshole who challenged every minute of his patience. Made him scared of a thing like a kiss. He couldn't let him go. Not for one second.

The broke apart and the room erupted in cheers and Keith had to admit he had completely forgotten about the audience. “ Shiro’s gunna kill us.”

Lance laughed kissing his cheek and Kosmo bounded forward to join their moment.

#klangst #klance #james voltron #voltron lance #vld kosmo #voltron keith #fighting #kissing #yelling #makeup #fluff #confession

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fftmime · 3 years

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Tirdas 3rd of Sun's Dawn (4E 202)

Alex once thought tales of drawn out battles were exaggerated. They broke out to the surface somewhere around midnight, and it's been hours since then. The powers brought against them steadily getting more severe. Wearing down waves of undead. Then giant, horrible, constructions of necromancy. All while a dragon circles above. When the more common undead started to grow thin, the dragon took more direct interest. The field is s chaotic, Alex can only get glimpses of Derkeethus at a time.

The Dragon Priest itself has long since taken to keeping out of view. A luxury provided by the immense amount of troops it is able to pull out of the very earth.

The dragon proves it is the true master here and ends up driving his own servant in to the sea to be crushed by the violent waves, ice, and rocks their battle has churned up in the sea. Alex doubts it was intentional. The dragon has clearly lost it's patience and is bringing more of it's power directly down on the island. Uncaring if it's own servant can withstand his master's wrath.

Derkeethus has long since taken refuge back in the exit of the barrow. Frankly, she's impressed he managed to keep up with the battle for so long before showing a ragged appearance. He's out of stamina to commit to the battle.

It's just Dragonborn and Dragon now.

And she's already aware how past her limit she is. Alex has hidden, scared, during the chaos many times to piece herself back together with magic. Each time avoiding examining her own wounds too closely for fear of what she sees. Luckily, her constant encounters with the undead as of late have trained her restoration to acceptable levels. A valid school of magic indeed. She just hopes her organs are all in the right place after this is over.

The spear Eorlund so carefully made is no use here, either. Alex isn't used to cowering behind rocks and pillars taking potshots at her enemies, but trying her luck simply stabbing the dragon in the throat got her arm nearly torn off. That she can summon and raise her own help from the leavings of the Dragon Priest's minions is the only reason she bought enough time to fix it. She can move her arm again. And feel her fingers.

Alex and the dragon nearly trade deathblows in the end. Alex striking true a moment sooner than it could. Yet just as she flesh has melted off it's bones, a group of men, simple men, spring out of the darkness at her. From one of their corpses, this spirit springs. Something had been waiting at the edges of battle for her to be worn down and nearly dead. Worse, it knows the men it rode in couldn't kill her even with that. Planning on using even their deaths to push itself closer to victory.

She's not sure what it even is. Or who sent it. Some reward for any number of things she's done, no doubt. It's plan is good, though. As weak as it is, she's barely able to hold back it's assault to close in. Which she must. It responded to no attack from afar.

Alex doesn't feel much like looting in the aftermath, but it goes well with giving the island a once over to be sure everything that should be dead is dead. She confirms Derkeethus was just fine. Resting inside the ruins from being pushed past his abilities. Frankly, it's only trying to keep up with her till now that let him go on as he did. Regardless, she's just happy he's fine. The remains of the dragon priest were easily confirmed. It's pile of dust and robe scattered among the rocks of the shore below. The only oddity was a crippled abomination of bone unable to rejoin the battle for missing so many of it's pieces. Trivial to finish off, at least.

A great wealth of artifacts and materials were left in the aftermath, but Alex feels nothing as she looks over it all. She'd rather just be home, and only takes the dragon priests's own staff to lock away for safety. The rest can be picked over by the vultures of skyrim for all she cares.

Both are ready to drop on the spot. If not for the archmage's privilege, she's not sure they had the strength to cross the frozen sea even with the college in view. When they left, the wind and waves were still violent with all the power that had been spent there. Being able to wisk themselves away with the power the position provides is a godsend. It takes them right to the archmage's own chambers as well. Where they can simply drop where they stand.

Alex at least spares a moment, before losing consciousness, to check on Derkeethus. If he needs any treatment. Any wounds he has not declared. It's a small miracle her mid combat treatments were enough. The argonian is well aware of his limits and when to leave a battle. He didn't take any grievous injuries with Alex occupying everything's attention.

When asked if she's okay, Alex says she merely needs some sleep.

#in character #narration #year 2

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amollion · 7 years

Text

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal log 1. I got accepted into the coalition military only as a simple deck serf my main duties are cleaning the vents of vermin that somehow make it onto the ships and breed. I also run messages, it’s good exercise but most of the officers don’t even look at me, I’ll show them I’ll make admiral in not time.

Personal Log 6. After helping engineer Lopya with the engine after being stuck in dead space for nearly a week I was promoted to bridge officer, I mainly work the coms console but it is a step in the right direction, i cant wait.

Personal Log 8. One of our explorer ships has found a new planet, this one is apparently unique and has all our scientists really excited. Not sure how it is unique because I always thought every world in the galaxy was unique but apparently this is one is special. My colleagues are talking about nothing else I might actually keep an eye on the com traffic to see what the fuss is about.

Personal Log 9. Well I read some of the com messages ( I know I’m not supposed to but curiosity got the better of me) and this new world everyone is going crazy over is apparently the only world which can truly be classified as a “Dead World” But life is not only surviving apparently its thriving. They think their might be intelligent life there, even if the air is toxic and the plant life poisonous and Maker only knows what the animal life is like. I shudder to think of what could survive there.

Personal log 13. The explorer team has gone missing, they were researching a new animal that lived in huge hives and it is believed the creatures may have discovered them. Not sure how I thought they were using this new cloaking technology that makes them invisible? Could these creatures see through it?

Personal Log 14. Workload today was insane, more com traffic than ever, our fleet is being redirected. But on the bright side if I make a good impression the captain might put me on course for deck officer level 2? I can only hope.

Personal Log 16. I’m not sure if this is good or not but our fleet has been chosen to search for that research team that went missing, why we should when we are an explorer fleet not a military fleet. I mean, we only have handful of actual soldiers on each ship, but then orders are orders.

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife's and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in case.

Personal Log 18. We landed on the planet at the researchers last known location, we found their base, it was hidden inside one of the hills over looking a herd of fluffy animals that made off “Bahhhh” sounds as they saw us. They were not hostile luckily, we assumed they were prey animals, wee went off to complete our mission. We found one of the trackers the researchers use sot hey don’t get lost, it was badly broken so the log could not be accessed, we bagged it kept on.

Personal Log 19 The nights here are cold, really cold. We set up air tight tents so we did not have to sleep in our suits and even with the heaters we were all shivering. Private Getr joked this was worse than the time he fought against some snow like monsters on a world going through an ice age. i could tell he was not joking, i hate this place.

Personal Log 20. Private Getr’s suit was split yesterday, some plant that has spikes cut his suit and he died in moments, he never had a chance to even seal the split. A pair of his comrades volunteer to take him back to the shuttle and off they go, we are three men down.

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Personal Log 22. We saw the natives, or at least what we think are the most dominant natives here. There were three of them, small and running around in one of the fields playing I think, is that playing or were they fighting for dominance? they were quite small and talked to each other in odd clicking noises. Then the older appeared, far larger than their young, they appeared out of the trees not far from us, then one of them started sniffing the air, no way could they smell us could they? We quickly left before we were discovered. But not before we saw the Hive, it was larger than any city I have seen, how many of these creatures were there.

Personal Log 23. Finally some other sign of the research team, an tent, only one but it’s a sign. We call inside but there is no answer, we slowly make our way inside and find what we feared we would. A body, His skin was the same as privates Getr’s when his suit split, he was holding a note though all it said was. “Run!”

Personal Log 27. Well I’m glad that’s over with and i can get back to my life, that world is now off limits to everyone now and is under strict quarantine level 10. The first planet to get that level. They even named it Kila, apparently it means death in one of languages spoken in the coalition.

Personal Log 30. Since my mission to Kila I have gain more responsibility and just yesterday they are giving me my own ship!! It’s only a snall support ship with a few hundred crew but I’m excited. Captain Elfre, i like the sound of that.

Captains Log 36. I’M BORED!!!! This support ship gets almost no mission, all we do is patrol and help the larger ships move into formation, I want a bigger ship!!!! Or at least something to break the boredom.

Captains Log 38. A whole quarantine fleet went missing a couple of days ago, I instantly knew which one before i even heard the planets name, it was Kila. By the Maker have they made it off the that planet? More fleet are being directed and we are on standby if we are needed. I have a feeling we will be.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Captains Log 41. The quarantine is breached the creatures have built ships and a lot of them, these hive ships were scanned and found our own technology on board. They are using our warp drives, did they figure out of they were built? How? Are these things sentient? We take up position to bar their path and we simply stare at each other, we send message after message to try and open a dialog but there is no response. Then over all our coms, a noise like screaming, is that Getr? Are they in my head? Only one word is truly heard. Hooman, our enemy has a name. The Admiral orders us to open fire and we unleash our weapons upon them, huge pulse cannons and missiles with enough yield to scorch a planet. Nearly all miss. How could they miss and those that hit seemed to only cause minimal damage. Wait are..their ships healing themselves? We scramble to reload and open fire again but the Hoomans fore first, we don’t recognize what kind of weapons they are using but they cut right through our armor, the flagship goes down having been hit by three separate enemy ships. The other captains are screaming orders or trying to regain some kind of control, I shout over the coms that I cam taking command and order the retreat. The war against the Hoomans, has begun.

Captains Log 50. The Hoomans are spreading and spreading fast, every engagement is the same, they break into real space, our coms go haywire and our fleet gets wiped out. We need a different strategy.

Captains Log 54. I have been given command of a new battleship, it is to be the new flagship of a invasion force into Hooman space. Our scientist have theorized that the Hoomans work on a hive mind command structure and if we wipe out the their main hive world Kila the rest will fall into chaos. I don’t know how they can know that as to my mind no Hooman has been captured alive or dead. But I am eager to go on the offensive for once.

Captains Log 55. Our first victory!!! We engaged the Hoomans on the edge of their space and wiped them out, we left the planet as we needed to save our resources for the homeworld but it felt good to drop a few nukes down there. We can do this, we can win!!

Captains Log 57. The Hoomans never seem to run out of ships, we have assembled the largest fleet in the galaxy and that has got their attention, their advance into our space has halted. I have their complete attention, and that terrifies me.

Captains Log 58. We lost half our ships in the last battle and the flagship is heavily damaged we have taken refuge in an asteroid belt to make repairs but the Hoomans are looking for us. They always know where to find us, they always know.

Captains Log 60. I can only engage the Homans one more time before I have to retreat and i am nowhere near their homeworld of Kila, they always seem to have more ships. The last engagement were boarded by them, I have seen every kind of species in the galaxy and we are all different, some are fast, some are strong, some are smart and so on. But never have I seen a race like them. They only have two arms and two legs which is the lowest number of any rce and it seems to work to their advantage. I saw on the security cameras our soldiers fight them in hand to hand and the Hoomans just danced around them. They moved like water and hit like avalanches, our new directive was never to engage them in close combat, you’d never win. Not that shooting them seems to work either, my bridge was breached by them and i shot one in the head with my pistol and it barley flinched, if it wasn’t for a guard with a blaster i would have been dead. Sadly that moment of saving my life cost him his own, he was hit my one of their weapons and his whole body evaporated. Not sure what is a worse way to die, being touched by one of these things or shot. This invasion is over, I’m ordering the retreat.

Captains Log 62. 2 months, that was all the time I bought while invading their space and once more they are on the offensive, consuming world after world and terraforming it so only they can live there. Trillions are now dead and how much further will they spread before they burn themselves out.

Captains Log 65. Our leaders are panicking, the surviving races are merging all their resources in some attempt to turn this tide. Our pleas of surrender and mercy go unanswered except for the usual response of the com screaming. But on some lighter note I go promoted to Admiral, my life long goal was achieved only because my predecessor shot himself when his homeworld was consumed by the Hoomans, his mate and youngling did not make it of world in time. They now expect me to win this war for them, I don’t know if I can but I am going to try.

Admirals Log 1, My first engagement as an Admiral with the race known as Hooman has ended in our utter defeat, we exited hyperspace right on top of them and they reacted as if they knew we were coming. Are these creatures just super fast or can they see the future? We retreated to Elixal Prime but my few remaining ships will not be enough to hold them off for long. I have already began evacuation but there are not enough ships, they will be here soon,

Admirals Log 5, Elixal Prime is lost, the moment the first of their hive ships arrived we had to abandon any hope of rescuing the population. I can only imagine what horrors they will face. We heard their screams over the com as we left.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 22. They are spreading faster now, faster than we can track them its like a damn has broken and their entire race is now searching for new worlds to consume. Do they eat their worlds? Is that why they are expanding? for food?

Admirals log 29 the Hoomans have conquered half the galaxy and there are too few of the surviving races with the ships to even try and stop them. Some are talking about surrender. How could we? These creatures are so deadly that even one setting foot on a planet spells disaster as if their whole body was made to house millions of viruses. My old friend was touched by one once, I’ll never forget what happened to him. His skin burned and fell off he bled form every part of his body, his screams, they still haunt me.

Admirals Log 40. Me and the other admirals have agreed that this war cannot be won, we have but one hope, all the survivors of the coalition have gathered in one system. There are only 50 billion left out of a population of thousands of trillions. But our scientists have built a war winning weapon, a huge beam cannon that can destroy fleets. It is very experimental as if uses the power oft he sun to fire. The plan is to use it to defend against the Hoomans in this system indefinitely, let them have the galaxy surely they will let us have one small system?

Admirals Log 50. I was wrong about the Hoomans letting us live here, because here they are, but there is only one hive ship just sitting there watching us. My ship is placed directly opposite it, Im sure i can take on one ship but I know, that silently out there, his friends are watching. Once more our coms go nuts, i turn it off, i have had enough of listening to the sounds of my comrades die over and over again. I open fire and before the munitions hit the Hooman hive ship turns and enters hyperspace. He’ll be back.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then...wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead...it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but...it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is...is...absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour.

Admiral’s log , We’ve lost, our final stand began an hour ago, 3 thousand ships gone, in an hour!!! How could such a race even exist? I sit here reading reports of what their world is like, no wonder they turned out like they did out of all the worlds in the galaxy this one has to be the most hostile one. I’m not going down without a fight though.

Admiral Efre grabbed his rifle and locked his log in the hopes that it might be found by someone who could read it and remember the struggle the galaxy went through. Perhaps in a couple of millennia when the Hoomans have died out. The Hoomans were cutting through the door now, his soldiers all got to their feet and readied their rifles. The pride he felt for them, even in their final moments they were defiant, even though there was nothing and no one left to save.

The door blasts open and we open fire, like before the Hoomans shrug off our shots like they were pebbles, a few go down but it doesnt stop the others. The run into us and…and? They’re not killing us By the Maker they want us alive! Are they going to eat us? One grabs me with its gloved hand and forces me to my knees alongside my soldiers and another enters like the others of it’s kind inside a sealed suit. It lowers itself to look me in the eye and raising a visor to show it’s face.

They’re disgusting, their faces…the proportions are all wrong and only two eyes? How could they see so well with only two eyes? The nose is pitiful in size I can only imagine how strong it was. And the skin, it looks wet like oil, is it acid?

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

#fiction #humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #humans are space australians #long post #scifi #amollion #apocalypse #war #virus #humans

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humans-are-seriously-weird · 7 years

Text

The Virus (Extended)

I wrote this again because I believed I could expand the story and see how it go.

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in case.

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour.

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

#humans are weird #long post #submission

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space-australia-stories · 7 years

Text

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in case.

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour.

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

#submission #long post #omg that plot twist #space australia #humans and aliens #aliens #humans are badass

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leadinkrose · 5 years

Text

Dark Steam

The door to the small pub opened softly, and closed gently behind the well-dressed man. Attired in dark velvet and a richly brocaded waistcoat, he looked around the room in disgust. The tall woman behind a bar flashed him a clean smile.

“Valiant! Come in and have a drink. It’s on the house,” she cried cheerfully. The man winced.

“No, thank you, my good woman. Just taking refuge from the night outside for a moment.”

She clicked her tongue in false disappointment. “Oh, come now, Valiant. That is awfully injurious of you. I’ve got a fine 12 year just waiting for you.”

Valiant sighed, clearly unwilling to spend any time in the dingy pub. However, the patroness was very persistent, and he eventually gave in to her encouraging looks.

“I suppose you do have a full inn for a reason.” She smiled at him, gesturing to a stool at the bar in front of her. He grimaced at it, pulling out a white square of cloth and laying it gingerly on the stool before sitting.

A full crystal-cut glass of rich, amber liquid clinked down in front of him. “Or would you prefer something red? Or warm?" She smiled a little too directly. "No? Well, what can I do for you?”

“I need information.” She didn’t even raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. “Yes. Well.” He coughed uncomfortably. “What do you know about Mr. Cipher.”

She froze for a moment, then shook herself out of it, speaking overly casually. “Not a name I’ve heard. New to London?”

Mr. Valiant leant forward on the bar, heedless of the stain threatening to encroach on his velvet half-cape. “You and I both know that you have a….close relationship with Mr. Cipher. All I’m looking for is a little information, and Miss Lockhart - you know everyone.”

Miss Lockhart put both hands on the bar, and leant forward, inches away from the man’s face. “Then know this. Stay away from Mr. Cipher. Even your….years of experience will not serve you against him.”

He spoke back with equal vehemence, a sinister whisper edged with desperation. “That is not an option.”

“What could you possibly need……oh.” She smiled suddenly, baring her straight, white, teeth. “And how is Miss Collet these days?”

He stood suddenly, the scrape of the bar stool loud in the unexpected lull of conversation. He looked around, and hastily reclaimed his seat. The noise began again, and was quickly restored to its former level. “I believe she is well, and in good spirits.”

“No doubt,” the patroness allowed, reaching for a cloth to polish a few glasses. “I hear that she is quite comfortable, and well stimulated, working for a nice young man in rose-tinted glasses.”

He raised his head sharply from inspecting the scotch and crystal. Seeing her satisfied smirk, he attempted to demure. “Of course, she is free to accept any commission. She is a brilliant…...she is brilliant. It would be a shame to waste her talents.”

“Agreed,” Miss Lockhart nodded, “I could certainly use her “talents” among my own girls…...I’m only having you on, Valiant.” She said, raising her hands in placation. “You are concerned that she is working for him - if you already knew this, why should you come to me?”

“How do I get her out of this deal?”

“You don’t.” She answered shortly, punctuating her words with a glass on the bar. “One does not back out of a deal with Mr. Cipher. There are consequences to those actions.”

“He will suffer the consequences of this deal as well. Where can I find them?” She looked him evenly in the eye for a long moment, before sighing, and looking down at her bar.

“The Tobacco Dock. 17th berth. Take the stairs.”

“Thank you,” he nodded to her, sliding off his seat and moving at a stately pace of the pub. A blur showed in the brief moment before the door swung shut, and she breathed out slowly. “May God have mercy on you, even if He did not once before.”

***************************************************************

Valiant approached the entrance to the warehouse warily, listening for telltale footsteps. It was barely more than a hole in the ground, but the billowing steam pouring out of the opening gave a clue to what lay beneath. Pausing beside a large coil of rope, Valiant snapped out a hand, snagging the shoulder of the young man standing guard. A moment's work with his elegant sword, and the man was handily stuffed into the centre of the coil. Looking around, he casually stepped up to two other men, warming their hands over a coal brazier, staring sullenly out at the grey river. He pushed one man onto the brazier, sliding steel through his throat before the scream could bubble up, and swiped at the man next to him. Unfortunately, a lucky flail caught the edge of the brazier, sending both it and his victim into the water below, the splash echoing in the narrow canal. Valiant cursed colourfully under his breath, sparing a look over at the maw of the entrance.

No movement came, and the sound of hissing steam and creaking metal did not change. He breathed out slowly, and advanced on the hole, keenly aware that he was walking down likely the only exit to this cage.

Passing through the thick fog of the entrance into the clearer, moist air of the factory, he spotted Lady Velden hunched beside a large pipe, the belching steam hiding her from the main floor. Flitting over to her, he crouched down, and whispered in her ears. “Lady Velden?” She jumped, a hand steadying the plant creature on her shoulder. "Goodness! Mr. Valiant! What are you doing here?”

“Have you seen Keris?”

“Miss Collett? Yes, I do believe I can see her just up there.” Lady Velden pointed up through the steam to a small platform dangling from a crane. From there one could see the whole factory, and a familiar form could be seen above the railing.

"Yes, Jeremy, I'm absolutely sure that the cable should be split and wired through the centre! Because the current won't flow through that resistor, but we will need every ounce of power we can channel into the core!" An indignant voice called down from the platform. "Look, just.......just don't touch that. I'm coming down."

"What the hell is she doing?" Mr. Valiant hissed, eyes fixed on the huge machine, lying almost completely finished in front of him. The creation took up most of the space inside the underground warehouse. Shaped much like a stately ship-of-the-line, the broad, open deck supported two enclosed cabins, one astern and one at the bow. The fore cabin’s door was ajar, showing a myriad of levels and switches inside - evidently the controls for the machine. The central deck was surrounded by low, sparse railings. The belowdecks machinery was currently on display, showing through large hatches on the sides of the craft. Two men shoveled coal into a door on its stern, steaming escaping both there and from the smoke stack of the aft cabin of the ship. Airship, Valiant corrected himself, with sudden clarity.

He turned to share his revelation with Lady Velden, and found that she had vanished. In her place stood several armed dock works, surrounding a familiar man, sporting red-lensed glasses.

***************************************************************

"Ah, Mr. Valiant. Always a pleasure." A charming smile was frozen on Mr. Cipher's face, but his eyes boiled with rage. “Perhaps you would be more comfortable in the office?” His tone brooked no argument, and Valiant didn’t offer one.

The office, it turned out, was a large landing, sitting at the end of the warehouse, about half way between ceiling and floor. Both men paused on the top step, startled - Lady Velden was already sitting at the rough table, sipping tea out of a tin mug.

“Ah,” she sighed contentedly, “It is frightfully difficult to find good tea on the docks. Well done, Mr. Cipher.” Valiant recovered first, grabbing Cipher’s lapels, and driving him against the railing of the office. “What business do you have with Miss Collett?”

Mr. Cipher plucked Valiant’s fingers off his coat, and pushed him back a few feet. He smoothed down his lapels, brushing off some invisible spot, and walked to the table. “She and I have made a deal.”

“A deal with you is little more than slavery. It is not worth the breath to make it,” Valiant scoffed.

Mr. Cipher smiled disarmingly. "My deals are always fair, and every participant is a willing one. She traded 100 years of service for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study my favourite object." He opened his hand to reveal a small brass box, plainly decorated with a simple figure of eight etched on top. Pressing a hidden catch in the side, it sprung open to reveal an inlaid silver circle. He closed it with a snap, carefully dropping it into the pocket of his waistcoat.

"And what, may I ask, is that?" Valiant asked, clearly unimpressed. Why, he himself had given away several pocket watches of similar value just that morning.

"It stores energy, Valiant!" Keris called from across the landing as she came down the steps. "Current, amperage, heat, every form of energy or power! I have tried pumping everything into that tiny box, and have not yet found its limit." She stared covetously at the device, fingers twitching as though already unpacking it. "What we could do with that, I can barely conceive....."

"100 years of service, just to study it?!" Valiant cried, crossing the distance between them in a moment, to seize her shoulders in his hands. She looked him deep in the eyes, hands moving to dislodge his. "You must learn to trust me,” she whispered. "Jeremy!" She shouted over her shoulder, sharply twisting out of Valiant's grip, and striding away to the machine. "Far too much steam is pouring out of the third engine, tighten that connector!”

"And what, pray tell, is this, ah, contraption?" Lady Velden inquired, stepping up beside Mr. Cipher. He jumped slightly, but covered his surprise smoothly as he faced her.

"Just a trifle, Lady Velden. A mere experiment. Plentiful water and stiff breeze should make for an easy and efficient flying machine. Young Miss Collet has been so good as to assist me in this venture, as an extension of our current relationship."

"Oh, then, would you indulge me? I have a bit of a head for science, and would dearly love to understand the mechanism a bit better. Now, this piece here...." Propelled by the unrelenting force of Lady Velden's curiosity, Mr. Cipher found himself drawn away to the far end of the machine. Lady Velden shot a quick glance over her shoulder to Valiant, and he nodded quickly. Appearing once again beside Keris, he whispered fiercely to her.

"What are you playing at?"

Rounding on him suddenly, she answered with equal vehemence. "I'm not 'playing' at anything! I was handling myself fine before you showed up. You shouldn't be here.”

"Do you know who you're dealing with? What you're dealing with?”

"Do you?!” She breathed out, looking around her to see that Cipher's men were suitably distant. She pulled a small box out of a hidden pocket of her bodice. She clicked open the device – the real one. "I took this from him half an hour ago. Once this machine is ready, I was going to fly out of here with it."

"She's got the device!" A voice roared from behind a steel panel, revealing a guard who had approached them unawares on his round. Keris swore, earning a scandalized look from Valiant, who nevertheless drew his sword immediately. Pushed behind him, Keris took off across the floor, yelling at Jeremy to open the valves. "Let's get this thing moving!"

Valiant turned away from her, sighing, and came face to face with five thugs, all muscle and dangerous eyes. He sighed, irritated, and allowed his cape to drop to the ground. They hesitated a moment before pushing forward with confidence. In spite of himself, Valiant smiled. A chance to use his full strength, not to mention the training beaten into instinct, was a welcome change.

***************************************************************

At the side of the machine, Keris threw a few switches and stepped back. After a moment of nothing, she searched frantically around the switchboard. "Why isn't it working? Everything should be connected by now!" An arc of electricity reared out, pushing her away from the switches and buttons.

Jeremy looked at Keris with concern. "You did properly ground this, didn't you?" Keris crossed her arms indignantly. "Of course! I put a thick grounding wire down, right...through...the floor." She looked down, before looking up again, wide-eyed. “Oops”

A massive explosion sounded, and a wave of steamed Thames water rushed across the workshop floor, knocking back the three men that Valiant was slowly pushing away with his blade. He turned, shocked, and barely managed to bring his sword to bear back against one who had found his feet remarkably quickly.

With a deep shuddering groan, the airship lifted clear of its moorings, rising slowly out of the pit dug for it. Jeremy sprinted to a large control panel, slamming a button. The roof split in two, creaking loudly as piles of dirt rained down from the bare yard above, just barely clearing in time to allow the rapidly unfolding balloon to snap into place. Grabbing a jutting piece of metal, he hauled himself aboard, and reached down to offer Keris his hand. Eschewing his assistance, she scrambled up herself – no mean feat wearing several layers of petticoats.

"Well, thank you for that enlightening experience, Mr. Cipher," Lady Velden politely inclined her head. She stepped hastily up to the side of the airship, now several feet above the ground. Valiant, abandoning his fight and leaping upon the deck, reached down for her. "Oh, no thank-you. I should manage this myself." She grabbed a long rope hanging down from the cabin of the ship, shimmying up it with practiced ease. At Mr Valiant's stunned look, she had the good grace to appear somewhat ashamed. "Yes, well, dealing with vine so long has led to some rather unusual perks.”

Shaking his head, Mr. Valiant could only muster a quiet "Always a delight, Lady Velden.”

Under Jeremy's careful piloting, the airship lifted swiftly in the smog above. Mr. Cipher screamed at his men to grab hold of everything, of anything, but within seconds all ropes and supports had slipped through his men's fingers. He shouted up at the four figures on the deck of the ship, the distance not masking the carefully chosen words he flung at them.

"No need to be bitter, Mr. Cipher," Keris responded, leaning out over the edge of the deck. "You'll have your deal still! I've left you our agreed payment in this box." She shoved a crate over the edge, and Cipher caught it, staggered slightly. He ripped off the lid to find a fine porcelain tea set and a large collection of thickly decorated silverware, placed inside a carved mahogany box, the lid currently open to full effect. Each piece was gently vibrating, and as Cipher watched, a hatch opened in the back, spraying a scented mist over the entirety of the box. A white cloth popped up from a long, scored line at the side, and wiped over the whole, leaving each piece shining.

"There!" Keris called down, "You're sure to be able to use that to serve for 100 years. If you take proper care of it, it might even last you 200!"

"Mind that you polish it each week!" Lady Velden added, not one to let a stiff wind threatening her hat and modesty stand in the way of her civil duty.

As the airship lifted out over the river, and the shouts in the factory faded into the sounds of London, Keris sighed contentedly, and pulled the small device out into the breaking sunlight. “I can’t wait to pull this apart.”

“Mind that you can put it back together again,” Valiant added from the safety of the fore cabin. Keris peered closely at the device, not minding Jeremy and Lady Velden as they leant over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I can always set things to rights.”

#original

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plotsandpromptsforall · 7 years

Text

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in case.

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour.

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

#submission #great work thanks for sharing

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revivedxfighter · 7 years

Text

A Grim Reunuion - RP with Vsd02c

@vsd02c

“Odd. The client should be here.” Harmony searches the desolate area around her with Melfina close by. She can’t help, but feel that something is up. Gene received the call from an unknown man. It’s a simple job and he insisted that Melfina is fitting for it. Even Gene was suspicious and insisted he went with her. That wouldn’t end well. Gene is brash, which got him into trouble more than once. He will likely make the meeting end in violence. Harmony rather avoids that for Melfina’s sake.

The argument was surprisingly brief and Gene threw in the towel. It’s for the best, at least in Harmony’s point of view. She was a soldier at one point, trained in combat alongside her studies as a physician’s assistant. That was years ago, but she’s not rusty in combat and her medical skills are in handy when any member of the Outlaw Star sustained injuries. The cyborg is also more mature compared to Gene, so it would make perfect sense to go out with Melfina on this job.

It’s no surprise to the entire crew that Harmony isn’t weak and she values Melfina like a sister. Harmony would make sure no harm to comes to the navigator. Even though she’s possibly the best guard for Melfina, Harmony can’t help but feel something is up. They’re far from city limits in the land of decaying aircraft remains and rusted parts of ships and machines lost to time and space. It’s the right place, and the perfect place to ambush.

“I don’t know, Mel. This…This doesn’t look good.” Harmony’s voice softens in case enemies are nearby. Her gaze shifts from the machines’ graveyard to the other woman. “Please stay close to me. Move slowly.” A slender hand brush long, dark bangs from her left eye. The bionic eye focuses on the landscape, zooming closer, crosshairs searching for any movement.

“This way.” Harmony pulls out her gun, just in case. She can’t help but think this job is all a ruse. Harmony wants to turn back now, but if they return to the shop, Gene will not let Harmony hear the end of turning down a job and losing pay. Harmony earned a steady amount with her jobs under Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. The pay was usually moderate, but Harmony saved some and used the rest to make sure no one starves and keep the shop running. It’s better than nothing. That should be good enough. The debt would be paid off over time with her method, or at least it made a dent in the heavy burden.

But to Gene, that isn’t good enough. Abandoning the job is out of the question, besides, leaving a potential client in the dust is against Harmony’s honor. It wouldn’t be right to not help. Yet…Why ask Melfina to be out here? Harmony would insist to go alone if the client wasn’t so particular on who is sent on the job. It was either sending Melfina or no deal.

Muscles tense when sounds of a disturbance reaches Harmony’s ears. Her left eye detects movement about twenty feet away from where both women stand. This could be trouble. “Melfina, please come this way.” Harmony quickly leads her to the open cabin of an abandoned space ship, now lying in pieces in its desert grave. “Hide in here and keep low to the ground. Stay quiet. I will come back for you as soon as possible.” The hiding place seems ideal. Melfina will be out of the scorching sun and sands blowing with the wind. Harmony gives her friend a reassuring smile before returning outside. Neither of them knew that someone else sought refuge inside, and Melfina fell into his trap.

Harmony moves quickly and silently, her eyes search the area, the focus mainly on the source of the disturbance. It’s around the large rock close to the canyon that encircle the wasteland. Her left pam sweats, gun held tight in both hands. Her heart pounds harder and harder, mind conjuring possible enemies. It could be a hungry animal, or it could be a desperate outlaw, bounty hunter, or any of the Kei Pirates. Harmony is willing to fight them off, but she’s scared. She’s worried that Melfina wouldn’t get out of here. Both have transmitters to communicate in case of emergencies. Better to be safe than sorry.

Harmony creeps closer to the rock. She turns on her heel, her back against the rock, looking bother ways. The young woman takes a deep breath, bracing herself for combat. One step at a time, closer to the hidden stranger. The gun is ready and she isn’t afraid to resort to using her body as a weapon.

On three…One…. She is so close now.

Two… Harmony’s finger curls around the trigger.

Three!

Harmony turns on her heels again and whips out to the area behind the rock.

Eyes widen to see nothing but a damaged wing, likely from a spaceship, creak as it leans in rustling dry grass surrounding it. Relief washes over Harmony and she lowers her weapon, eyes scan the area around her again. It looks like no one is here. Perhaps this is all a prank? It wouldn’t be unusual. It happened a few times. Teenagers bored out of their minds and up to no good, or drunk men were the culprits of such pranks. The blinding sun hits the cyborg. She cuses under her breath from the harsh light. It seems brighter than normal at this time of year in Heifong. A hand shades her eyes as she tilts her head back to the west.

The bright light reflects from the shining metal at the top of a cliff nearby. But…That ship. It doesn’t look beat up and rusted. It’s new, gleaming in brilliant gold. It looks like…It looks just like-

“The Shangri La?”

Time stops. Harmony’s blood runs cold. It all makes sense now.

“No. No, No!” Harmony scrambles away from the rock and runs back to where she lef tMelfina while activating the transmitter. “Melfina, this is Harmony! This job is a trap! Get out of there now! I’m coming back for you.” She speaks urgently in her microphone, running as fast as she can back to Melfina’s hiding place.

There’s no response.

“Mel, can you hear me? This is an emergency! We are not safe!” Still no response. Harmony’s stomach flips and she nearly seizes in fear. “Mel? Melfina, you have to answer me! Do you copy?” Harmony skids to a stop before where Melfina was hiding. An eerie silence and the hot air thickens. Harmony peeks in and doesn’t see Melfina, but there’s no sign of a struggle. She dials for the shop’s number.

“Gene? This is Harmony. You need to get here right away. Our coordinates are –“A bullet shatters the transmitter, leaving only static. Harmony didn’t have time to turn around and retaliate. Pain ricochets through her body from her left shoulder. The brunette cries in pain and electricity pulse through her after the pain.

Harmony falls over the side, her body lands in the hot sand, muscles twitching as the pain grows numb. This isn’t a regular bullet. The bullet is from a caster, the energy released shocked the cyborg. It didn’t take long to realize the other surprise. The poison capsule inside the bullet dissolves from her body heat, releasing its contents. She can’t get up, her body feels heavier than lead. But that didn’t stop the rising rage when she sees familiar faces.

Ron McDougall casually strides from behind the woman with his weapon in hand. The sickening grin on Harry’s face appears with arms tightly around Melfina to keep her from running away. Ron smirks as he watches Harmony struggle to return to her feet. Her approaches her and calmly picks up her gun that fell out of her reach.

“Halcyon…It’s been far too long.”

#vsd02c #OS!AU #this is way overdue but I got it done!#I hope you like it #Let me know if you want any changes

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nate-the-ok · 5 years

Text

Arm of Marco

A little fantasy setup. 10 pages.

Chapter 1: The Sacred Stew

The bitter taste of one`s own mouth, early in the morning. This was what troubled Foro as he slowly opened his eyes, and brushed autumn leaves from his beard. His bones creaked, his muscles groaned, and his body slowly came to motion, like the first few drops of rain brushing over pine boughs.

With his great hands, he grasped the two pine trees that stood next to the dried creek bed that he had fallen asleep in. He lifted himself up, and took stock of the land as birds and squirrels began to rustle around him, and climbing onto his kilt.

“Little ones…you seem fat and healthy…but my little brushswallows! What are you doing this far north? And at this time of year?” Foro jokingly scolded.

For a giant, food was the first priority after having slept off a night of Oakwater Brew. Foro plodded down the old dried river as one would down a cobblestone street, his calloused feet crushing smaller stones under his stature. All down his path to the river, the squirrels, brushswallows, and even a few rabbits gave chase, seeking refuge under his benevolent might, and this giant`s natural inclination to protect the smallest of the worlds` creatures.

“A fistful of leeks. Two dozen trout. A rather sizeable catfish. A fitting breakfast” he muttered to himself, bringing the horde back to his camp in his great sack, which hung from his back in a sling.

All it took was one great, soft, blow from the giant`s lungs to rekindle the fire and begin the process of boiling the stew. For the most part, with the addition of a few cattails and a splash of Oakwater, the stew would cook itself in but an hour.

Leaning back into another old oak, readying his pipe for a good toke of Softleaf, Foro stared back into the small cooking fire, and became half entranced by the flames, and half deep in thought. This was a common state of mind for the Lone Gifter, or such was the title the villagers in Glendale gave him. It was just, for he had much to think on.

Foro was the name his mother had given him, back in the time when he had dwelled in Karthsa, the homeland of his kind. Karthsa was a small province of the Kingdom of Olsyr now, and the giant clans that stood against the King`s armies scattered to the wind, or forced into submission. That kingdom, if you could still call it that, is the largest in the world of Myrros(Such was the name men gave it). It is ruled by an old, bitter man, named Oslo, and his numerous debtors. The only way he paid those debts, was to raid, plunder, and tax the lands around him, which spawned many wars and many enemies. Those enemies included all remaining kingdoms of Myr.

Yeunlun, or the men of wheat, were the most pious and generous people in the world Foro knew, which is why he chose to wander there. That kingdom bears the refugees of many a conflict, with vast lands both wild and tamed for all to live in relative complacency. The original inhabitants of Yeunlun are tall, blond folk, with soft voices tempered by the gentle sway of their language. Their craftsmanship is limited in the way of weapons and armor, but expansive in the realm of silken cloth and riverboats. They are ruled by a small cabal of sorceresses, who rarely ever openly emerge from their guarded palace, but are known to stealthily walk amoung the townsfolk and villagers, righting wrongs and healing the sick, gaining the respect of all who rest in the grassy hills and mossy forests of their lands. They are only diplomatic enemies of the kingdom of Olsyr, being too far away and divided by mountain fortresses of Dwarves to ever come into combat with their armies. The sorceresses despise King Oslo`s cruelty, and watch with great vigilance for his influence, throwing his emissaries back across the border with great bolts of fire and lightning.

Drifting into slumber, the sweet smell of his pipe quieting his busy mind, Foro was suddenly awoken by the rapid steps of leather boots on the ground.

“Hmm…it is a Wednesday…Marco?” he asked aloud, setting his pipe upright on a rock next to the fire, and lifting himself to attention.

“None other!” yelled the young huntsman, leaping into the lap of Foro before he could rise, startling the poor giant, and causing him to laugh in surprise. Foro grabbed him, the six foot tall lad`s torso filling his rough hand, and setting him beside the fire on a log.

“Oh you know I hate it when you do that!” marco giggled with a hearty laugh, gathering himself with a sigh

“Good. ‘teach a young buck like you to sneak up on an old thing like me” Foro scoffed, getting up to stir the stew and put on the leggings that had dried from his fishing that morning.

Foro had met Marco when he had just came from the war in Kartha, trying to settle into a patch of woodland behind Marco`s home. Marco was just a child then, and the villagers, despite being accepting of almost every foreigner, were suspicious of the giant, their kind not known to leave their craggy hills. It wasn`t until a warparty of centaurs, (a people long since befriended and allied to by Yeunlun since then) had raided the town that Foro earned his place. Marco`s parents were killed, along with a dozen or so others as the centaurs tried to take captives, but Foro came barreling in from the woods, brandishing a makeshift mace fashioned from a pine tree, hammering and slaying his way through the raiders, saving both young Marco and the town. Foro helped rebuild the town in the aftermath, even hunting and harvesting for the townsfolk, as most had been too badly injured or crippled to complete the work in time for winter. As the story of this noble giant spread across the wilder parts of the land, even reaching the ears of the sorceresses, Foro began to mentor Marco, and became like an uncle to him, as he became older. Nowadays, Marco hunts and traps for a living, and once a week, they meet to swap goods and stories. Foro was never fond of cities or larger towns (too many accidents could happen), but liked the cloths and metal wares Marco would bring him on occasion. Now though, urgent business, not just basic pleasantries, brought the young man to his good friend.

“So, whatchya got in that old rock of yours?” Marco blurted out, whipping out his own pipe and bag.

“leeks. Fish. A bit of the strong drink. And in your bag? Whatchya got in that bag?” Foro replied, sarcastically enunciating what he observed to be a failure of his teaching Marco how to talk to his elders all those years ago

“well…I have some brass bits, coin, a big old knife you could probably use and um…a birdcage”

“for a hot meal and a bear hide ill take the knife. A bird cage?” Foro asked

“Im not one for words so ill just show you” Marco said, untying the bag, and pulling out the gold cage.

Marco rose and placed the cage on the rock, unlatching the cage and bowing as he retreated, the little blackbird on the swing slowly hopping out. Foro was thoroughly confused, and he was about to ask Marco what all this was about, when, in a flurry of feathers and wind, the small bird exploded into a woman, enveloped in a dark red cloak, with long black hair flowing out of her hood. This was Verona. At one time, Foro too would have had cause to bow. But servitude is no longer his need.

Back when he first arrived in the wilder woods, he was immediately confronted by a small lady dressed in yellow, an even smaller girl dressed in the red standing behind her. This was especially strange, as Foro had taken extra care not to take any roads, and did not even know he had crossed into their lands, for there were no such markings in the deep woods. He was simply asked about who he was, and what his business in the land would be, and sent on his way with a gentle reminder not to eat any townsfolk.

Years later, the girl in red returned, slightly larger, just having attained much of her magical prowess. You see most people don`t know exactly how a sorceress comes to be, or where they even came from. They are simply benevolent rulers, who aide them in their times of need. The only reason they aren`t worshipped, is upon their explicit instruction not to. Foro however, was nine hundred years old, and while that`s only middle aged for a giant, that was long enough to hear rumors and witness happenings to piece together what he knew about the sorceresses of Nilasros. As far as he knew, or so the legend goes, when a beautiful young mother and father have a daughter, a sorceress visits them, stating her name and purpose. A poorer family might relinquish their daughter easily, as such a life would be a great honor to them, and a better existence for their daughter. A rich family, however, if beyond convincing, will have their child kidnapped, no matter how well they guard their daughter, a feather made of silver left in the crib in the morning. If the child is surrendered willingly, she is allowed to visit the parents from time to time. If the child must be kidnapped, the parents memories are destroyed, and they will forget, and deny, that they ever had a child to begin with.

The thirteen year old Verona paid the giant a visit into the woods, after she had experienced what mages called, “evalatio”. You see, an individuals magical ability is almost always acquired through decades of training, but for the particularly talented, and always the sorceresses, upon turning thirteen, a young girl can become incredibly powerful, gaining all of her ability and talent at once. This is risky, however, as these children, magical or not, are known to throw tantrums at that age. As such, they are locked up in the palace and mentored until they acquire the pure as snow and hard as rock temperament of her peers. Verona was clever, not cruel, and such trappings were a trifle to her. So it was that they shared a bowl of a similar stew, and the giant told her stories of bears and boars. She would laugh, and tell the giant about spinning metal stairways, great monsters hidden in kitchen drawers, and other fantastic stories of palace life. While their meeting was brief, they formed a small bond based on mutual curiosity into each other`s lives, and before she was returned to the palace, the two agreed to keep a correspondence, as best they could. Foro could not write on such small pieces of paper, but he agreed to leave messages on boulders for spying birds to read. Those birds, in turn, would deliver messages to Verona.

This correspondence remained comical for years. Foro took great delight in telling little jokes about drunken cows and confused porcupines, and she enjoyed telling stories about mischievous pairs of socks and pea sized dragons. As the years progressed, and her heart hardened, she began to ask Foro about the outside world. When tragedy struck in the wider world, he gave her all the information he could. Then, she demanded that he right some wrongs, and serve the people and the land that bore him. Foro obliged, unaware of her marbled heart, but soon, she became bitter, and Foro tried to joke with her, for old time`s sake. She rejected him, and he explained that he was sad for her, and that he wished her the best of luck in her studies. When she gained her independence, the first thing she did was visit him, and they had a serious quarrel.

The old giant had grown an attachment to her as he did to every other small creature in the world, and was sad and angry with her for throwing away her heart and soul, what made her special and innocent in her youth. Verona couldn`t understand, and couldn`t care about the giant`s thoughts, and claimed that if Foro helped her, the two of them could protect the world and change the way Yeunlun was ruled.

After the argument, they both sat quietly for a time, staring at their feet, when suddenly, Foro placed a few small rocks on a fallen log across from the two of them, and started to throw other stones, as a form of target practice. Verona zapped the first rock off the log, glancing over to Foro with a wink and a smile. Until the sunset, they threw rocks and casted spells, coming up with more creative ways to shoot rocks as time went on. Since then, they were casual friends, Foro finding a purpose in helping her with the occasional errand, and Verona realizing that she should never abandon happiness for work.

This was the first time Foro had actually seen her since that evening, and he couldn’t help but let our a gleeful guffaw after the two shared a hard stare.

“You know eventually red is going to go out of style” Foro joked

“I`m pretty sure animal skins are a bit last millennium” Verona smirked, Marco was alarmed that the two knew each other

Before she began, Foro raised his hand, and stopped her

“Now I know, little lady, that you must have pressing business…but surely it can wait, because the stew is almost done, and we have much to catch up on”

Verona was about to speak, but stopped, and considered, her urgent expression turning into a soft smile as she looked towards the campfire.

“oh fine you big oaf. I brought my own bowl this time” she giggled, pulling a small silver bowl from her cloak.

For a half hour or so, the three ladled stew into their bowls (Foro`s being a hollowed Maple trunk), munching and slurping with glee, as Marco and Verona became acquainted, and Foro learned of what had transpired since he had last been to a town.

“Milady do forgive me…I have never even seen one of your kind. I feel unworthy just to sit across from you” Marco explained.

“Oh cut it out with the formalities. You and I are going to be spending plenty of time together, and I could do without the whole “shock and awe” attitude most people have towards me. Just call me Verona”

“Oh… very well then” Marco blinked in astonishment, smirking. This sorceress seemed most unlike the others, and he was quite fond of the thought of having her as a travelling companion

“And why should he get so acquainted” Foro asked, plunking his bowl to his side, tossing a handful of logs in the fire

“The same reason you should stop adding to the flame. We are all about to embark on a mission of utmost importance in service to the land you draw such bounty from” Verona retorted, standing, ready to articulate the task she involuntarily recruited them into. Foro leaned back, along with Marco, ready to attentively listen, as they prepared a fresh load of softleaf into their pipes.

Huffing in frustration with what she viewed as a backwards habit, she began her oration.

“ A few moons ago, the king and queen of Sirina were murdered, by a sorceress dressed in black.”

The dark tidings alarmed Foro and Marco, the sunny and bright woodland almost turning dark at such news.

“a few days later, the kingdom of Olsyr invaded, and conquered the land without much resistance…and the new king of Olsyr, Ulther, raised his red banner above the palace.”

“A new king of Olsyr? Who is this man?” Foro asked, taking a troubled toke from his pipe. That even a giant could be so fearful, gave Marco no comfort.

While normally being annoyed at being interrupted, Verona gave her account of Ulther

“He is a young man, with a blond beard and long braids. He took the throne by challenge of combat from the old kings` son, slaying him with little mercy or dignity. His young blood craves destruction, and he has both the might of the worlds` greatest army, and…the power of the black sorceress at his side.”

“A black clad sorceress? Surely she cannot be from this kingdom” Marco piped up in disbelief

“Alas…she is a good friend of mine…who is deeply misguided by becoming “involved” with this man. Her name is Katia, and she was favored greately by my peers and teachers. Affection however, is the disease that has turned her mind, as it does us all”. Verona explained, nervously plodding the ground with her booted heel, clearly upset by recounting this tale.

“This is surely disastrous news, but little miss, how do the two of us figure into this?” Foro asked, not out of apathy, but out of befuddlement.

“well…I was going to lie to you and say that my associates ordered me to recruit you, and retrieve Katia. But the two of you deserve such honesty. The consensus among my peers was to stay, to fortify, to confront…and destroy Katia if she ever appeared in this land. I am the only one that believes she is still able to be redeemed, and I want the two of you to accompany me on this dangerous journey. I believe that if we can convince her to come back to the fold and abandon this madman, then we might still have a chance to survive his onslaught”

Foro and Marco were slow to consider.

Marco was the first to speak

“So, as I understand it, you want us to walk across half the world, just so we can find your friend, and possibly convince her to come back, which only MIGHT prevent the destruction of the kingdom?”

Verona became frustrated, and was about to retort when Foro smiled, and shrugged

“sounds like a pleasant adventure indeed”

Marco and Verona looked at him, puzzled

“I haven`t left this glade in over a decade. I haven’t even left these woods in two. I feel a strong need to go for a bit of a hike, to get a bit uncomfortable. I`m running out of stories to tell the badgers up the stream anyways” he joked, smirking and bringing his pipe up to his mouth

Chapter 2- Stones and Boulders

The three of them walked in a line abreast the road that led out of Yeunlun, and towards the mountains of the Dinmar, and the carved homes of the dwarves. Verona was clad in her cloak and boots, with only a small satchel of scrolls and food at her side (at the very least she had her hood down, confident that no one would notice her this far into the wild). Marco`s linen shirt and britches, covered by his own grey cloak and the straps of his bow quiver, were the hallmarks of his gear. He was never a wealthy person, and the hatchet he had strapped to his thigh was his only prized possession.

Foro, being a giant, carried most of the provisions they would need in a great pack he quickly fashioned out of elk hide and spruce saplings. He was quite the sight to see on the road, as not many giants could be seen, even in this land of refugees. At his side, each in their own individual leather wrappings, hung Foro`s secret. In the times before the coming of Olsyr, he was an apprentice to the shaman of his clan. Shamans were both feared and respected, even among the giants themselves, and are often the antagonists of many a children`s story in the lands around Karthsa. Giants were fearful enough on their own, but giants who could wield magic? Truly terrifying. Foro however, never was able to complete the training that took almost one hundred and fifty years to complete. He did however, gain many different skills that would prove useful on this journey. One of these little tricks were the clan stones that now hung on his side. Shamans would comb the hills around giant encampments for years, just to find a handful of rocks that would have the connection with the land adequate enough to become such powerful artifacts. Once they were imbued with the runes necessary, the use of these stones was simple. Simply smack them against a rock, or into each other, to produce a desired effect. Some spouted a bolt of fire. Others caused trees and grass to grow around them. Foro`s first and second stones had such effects, his last being that of wind, blowing a great gust in any direction he pleased. Powerful artifacts these were indeed, and many a foe the giant had slain with them. For this reason, they weighed heavily on the creature`s side.

“may I inquire as to our heading, little miss?” Foro asked, smiling as he did, quite pleased with the feeling of beginning a great walk.

“We make for the mountain hold of Din-Cher, where thane Holdir rules. His clan is strong and wealthy, and will provide for us the additional aide we might need…wouldn`t hurt to get some news on Ulther`s movements either” Verona explained

“The bearded little men were always a squirrely folk…never was able to get past the gates…pay good coin for fresh meat. Know a fair few hunters who make a good living selling to them” Marco piped up, shouldering his pack and cresting the hill.

“have you ever travelled past these mountains?” Verona asked

“Nope, can`t say I have. Always looked foreboding past those mountain passes”

“It is” Foro soberly said.

“Cold, rocky…sheep being the only thing to eat for miles. That is, until you get into Marxa.”

“The dead land!?” Marco exclaimed, alarmed that they were even going there

“It`s hardly dead…just quite unruly. Mostly bandits and ner do wells. People who would shed the comforts of home to not be found” Verona added, sarcastically mocking the boy`s ignorance, as if he weren`t her peer.

“But…the plague! The Plague that killed the fair king and queen, and killed and killed till not a fair face was left to be seen!” Marco repeated the nursery rhyme, and wholly objected to their travelling there.

“Aye, the plague is still there. But after forty years, it barely exists. Only deep in the darkest corners of its` old city could you catch it. Worry not little marco. We shall be safe, should we go there”. Foro had traveled there before, and actually found the little valley of a land to be quite pleasant.

“Set your eyes to the mountain ahead boys. Naught but a day and a half`s walk to the mountain. We will discuss what to do next there, and we may not even have to go through Marxa” Verona said, pointing to the off-colored peak in the range of mountains.

Marco became noticeably nervous. He was eager to explore the world, but not a place like Marxa.

As the trio approached the foot of the great mountain range, it did indeed grow colder. The became more bitter and crisp with every step towards the carven mountain. To Foro, it was most exhilarating. As they made camp in the last patch of trees before the mountain, Verona required some clarity.

“very well…we made good progress today. God I need to get these boots off”

“Likewise…hey giant! Do your feet EVER hurt?” Marco said, sitting beside Verona and unbuckling his straps, planting his hatchet in a patch of moss

Foro was shattering a dead spruce into firewood, and replied

“To be entirely honest…I don`t think Ive even felt my feet in a century. Ive done…a fair bit of walking in my time” He laughed, crouching down, sparking up a small cooking fire(small relative to him, that is)

“you know, I`m not even sure how many miles we walked” Marco wondered aloud,

“23 to be exact” Verona answered, confident as always

“Well, whatever distance it was, it seemed but a trifle with such pleasant company” Foro cajoled, setting a brace of potatoes and leeks into the stone bowl in the center of the fire.

Marco and Verona agreed, and began to lay out their own bedrolls, eager to have some of the giant`s famous stew.

As the stew boiled, and the night in the foothills set in, Verona and Marco were settling in, Verona telling Marco all about the wider world they would be travelling through

…”and the dragons, now those things are fascinating. They can be mischievous, sarcastic, and incredibly fierce. They keep to themselves though, nobody`s even seen one outside of their valley for almost a thousand years”

Marco listened with awe, for what he heard, and what he saw

Foro, pleased to add in a few comments here and there, was always short spoken. He was gleeful to have such companionship, and such a quest. No greater gift than a purpose could have been given to him.

Despite this, Foro began to notice another glow in the darkness besides the hot coals in the fire. He grew unsteady, and when he spotted a glint of an eye in the dark rocks just beyond the fire`s light, he hoisted a rock in his hand, and called out to Verona and Marco, who were deep in conversation.

“Something lurks in the darkness! Ready your weapons!” He bellowed

As foro ripped a log from the fire, throwing it in the direction of the eyes, Marco raised his bow, knocking an arrow

When the log landed, the beast was revealed. A great serpent, as long as Foro was tall, with grey scales and a huge, grinning mouth.

The sight startled Marco, his eyes widening with fear and his grip on his bow shaking. Verona raised her hands, a watery flow of light emanating from her wrists and ending past her fingertips.

For a tense moment, the serpent`s tounge flicked and slurped, calculating its next move as the travelers gawked in fear.

Foro could wait no longer, and he heaved the rock in his hands as hard as he could at the beast. This attack was dodged with ease, the creature slithering straight for the giant. It lunged, and bit down hard on the giant`s right leg, beginning to writhe and twist around him. Marco fired arrows as fast as he could, and despite the fact that he could pierce it`s hide, it did not seem to mind the pain at all.

“Hold it firm!” Verona shouted

Foro grabbed the snake with both hands , holding it taught as the teeth sank deeper into his leg.

Verona lifted her hands, the light in her hands waving rapidly, and surrounding Marco`s arrows that had planted in the creature. All of the sudden, the arrows were pushed through the creatures body, flying out the other side. The snake released its grip with a horrid cry, and slithered back into the darkness.

“Marco, another arrow!” she shouted again

Marco loosed another arrow, right between the beast`s glowing eyes. Verona`s magic forced the arrow through the air, and the creatures eyes glowed no more.

The morning came, quiet and soft, the bitter cold made moreso by the sight Marco awoke to. The beast`s rotting corpse lay astrune across a rock, which Foro sat against, nursing his wounded leg. Verona was hopping across the field of boulders, searching for something.

Marco set to boil water in the kettle, and was about to call out to Verona when Foro tossed a pile of meat his way.

“Snake strips. Sear`em. Season`em with salt. They`ll last us a bit” Foro grunted

“Ill get right on it…are you going to be alright?” He finally asked

Foro paused, lifting up the leather wrap and wincing when he looked at his leg.

“The thing was a Rockstrider. Aren`t supposed to even be here…the poison isn`t that bad to a giant. The two of you are lucky I was here, otherwise you would have surely been dead…all I can say is that my wound is infected, and I have…you know what you should probably look too. I need a moss that grows with blue flowers. As much as you can carry. It should be around where she`s looking. Go help her. Ill tend to the fire”

Marco rose to go rock hopping with Verona, who had already a fistful of the flowers in her left hand, and was bent over between two rocks foraging for more when Marco had made it over.

“How much of this stuff do you suppose a giant would need”? he joked, picking up a stray flower she had dropped

Humorless and groggy, she shoved what she had found in her belt and got up to

#my writing

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kjfulton · 7 years

Text

The Park

We'd all heard the stories: people went in and the farther they progressed the fewer stories were heard. In fact, beyond 5 miles no stories were propagated at all. The Park was part of a government initiative begun a decade earlier by some well-to-do politician bent on building his own prestige.

“A movement to end the barren expanses of wilderness where hikers became lost and mothers looked on with sadness.” His campaign slogan had been noble – inspiring even – but it all came to naught when we learned that the first installation bred barbarism.

I'm not certain how the idea had sprung up, between me and this friend. Perhaps drunkenly one night we'd stumbled onto the notion that a duo together could conquer the farthest reaches of this mysterious, lost estate. “Nobody knows how far in the development was done!” I remember Corey exclaiming excitedly. The idea that we could be the ones to both confirm its reaches as well as document the horrors within grabbed us both.

People milled about the entrance of the park, they always had. A wide opening that funneled into a narrow path, the playground in the front was always filled with people. Passersby stopped to eat lunch, children played eagerly about the well-maintained recreational equipment, and college students lounged and played sports on the pristinely groomed lawn. The park's opening only covered an area of about a half a mile – not too small for what people needed.

Corey and I crossed the street with a determination toward that small narrow opening into the unknown path. High school children were always testing the limits, usually at night, and eyes were always drawn to those brave enough to head toward that symbol of fatality. As we slowly strolled towards the pathway, our gait keeping a steady pace, eyes began to flick to us, until – eventually – as we disappeared into the wood, everyone was watching. Children whispered to their parents frightfully as they saw us progress into the forest known largely for oblivion.

The two of us rounded a corner and the radiant park vanished along with the shocked gallery. The hemmed in trees immediately cut off a significant portion of light and created an ominous feeling that penetrated to our bones. The fatally foreboding feeling along with the darkness dropped the temperature surprisingly.

“I'm glad I decided to wear a long-sleeve shirt,” I said with the attempt to emit a bit of a chuckle and cut the tension that had immediately overtaken us. Clearly I failed. The laugh in my words sounded as feigned as it possibly could. Solemnity at the gravity of the situation was written all over Corey's face and I understood its importance. I followed suit.

A short ways down the path we came upon a meadow with a merry-go-round overgrown with foliage, a small playground dilapidated and uncared for and – to our surprise – a few teenagers huddled in a circle on the grass. Sitting close together it was clear that they came here for illicit activity that had little outlet otherwise in the city. Even police officers wouldn't come in here anymore. The smokers gawked at us as they saw that we weren't there for them, but for the park itself. Their wide eyes stayed pinned to us as we continued on. The meadow alongside the path terminated at, again, a narrow opening left only for the paved trail that weaved throughout the park.

It had been the first thing built. “20 miles in!” The politician had exclaimed happily on camera. “We seek to eradicate the forests that for so long have swallowed those lovers of nature and ardent woodsmen. So, as commencement for this worthy cause, I cut this ribbon today to celebrate the pavement laid down as far as we thought right. For the next few years our glorious advent of job-creation will provide for those who can build, landscape, and otherwise manicure what is to become a beacon of hope for our fine city and – eventually – our great country!”

Most of the pathway was falling apart. For the first few miles there was nothing upon which to remark. A meadow here, a cleared space there for camping and barbecues. We were stunned, even, to come across a pool at one point. Entirely opaque due to the green vegetation that had made its home there, we looked in with curiosity as we noticed movement. Fish!

It wasn't until we hit that 5 mile mark that odd noises began to be heard. A significant fear had set in at 3 miles due to the eerie desolation. We'd even begun to spot the occasional dead animal lying in overgrown grass. The terror of how many more carcasses were hidden in the greenery remained unspoken. They were screams, howls. Some seemed to belong to those in pain while others were whoops emanating from clearly excited wild beasts. This is where courage arose and working to keep my voice steady I suggested that “Perhaps we ought to find some...weapons.” I hesitated on that last word. We didn't want to fight, but defending ourselves was suddenly seeming to be something that we would have to do. And soon.

While we continued forward we were each able to find thick dense staffs that would serve as bludgeons. We must have been about 7 miles in when we spotted it. Bafflingly. A faded yellow school bus with broken windows and flat tires. We emerged from the confined pathway to see an unbelievable amount of people. At least thirty of them lying behind the bus, perpendicular to it and placed feet to feet stretching about twenty yards. More were lying in front of the bus and, tied up, they all seemed dead.

As we approached a raucous group of young adults we noticed that not all those tied in line with the bus were dead. Some were moving, but barely. Gaunt and weak it was clear that they were there to die. The horror resided in the dead dragging down the living. Those still living tried to widen their eyes even further, with failure, at our arrival to this anarchic gathering of immensely free savages.

Jaws dropped on some of those standing and their eyes flicked to two tall men wielding staffs themselves and seemed to call out silently to them, “Look! Fresh prey!”

The two men quickly abandoned the gathering surrounding some weakened victim fighting in vain against a group of at least 7 men. They abruptly started toward us with speed unprecedented by anything in this forest. They weren't going to stop. From the corner of my eye I noticed Corey violently engage one as the other met the end of my baton his fragile head. I became certain of the stick's density as it collided with his skull and swung it around once more to smash him in the ribs.

Incapacitated, the others stood in awe and clear indecision as we gathered that we had, with ease, taken out the alphas of the group. Most of them hung back while one, scrawny and reticent mouse of a man approached us cautiously. “Who...the fuck are you guys?” He posed the question with such incredulity that we quickly understood how long it had truly been since anyone of athletic prowess and not merely mortally idiotic curiosity had poached their lawless refuge from society.

“Are you guys the farthest in this park?” I asked with the hope that we wouldn't have to penetrate even further into the deathly domain and risk returning through this violent group of hoodlums. He ignored my question.

“Well, the man-made impicites only grow to about 6 feet tall, but the naturally born ones can have a wing-span of at least that large.” We were now more confounded than ever.

“Impicites?” Corey enquired pointedly.

“Yeah. We don't worry about them too much since the laboratories have long since fallen to shit, and we've become accustomed to giving them those dumb enough to come in here.”

“No. No, no, no.” Corey began “You seem to have misunderstood. I wasn't asking how you survive with them, I was – Jesus! What are they? What are you even talking about?” The frustration and fear were bubbling up and out of his mouth.

“You guys should go.” The mousy man said. What terrified us was the sincerity in his voice. We looked to each other, unsure of whether we should take this warning seriously. We were trying to decide if this was something we truly wished to explore.

“What are impicites?” Corey asked again. Another man from farther back approached us with the glee and showmanship of a natural storyteller.

“None of us really know how they came about, or why the National Park Initiative included genetic laboratories built into the foliage of the forest, but these are beasts, I tell you. Winged creatures with eyes like glowing embers and skin the swallows light. Their gaunt builds display ribs, bones, and muscles that tear people to pieces. We don't even really know if they eat people, just that they like to take them apart. Long sharpened nails protrude from their large bony hands, and they screech at each other with words we can't really understand.”

“Stop. Stop. You have got to be kidding me. You expect either of us to believe that this park is filled with magical beasts that tear people limb from limb? Have you even tricked yourselves into believing this to absolve your haunted consciences of the horrors you've wrought?”

“Go” A faint voice called out. We looked around to see one of the tied up victims on his back reaching out to us. After a moment of surprise and sharing glances, we slowly walked over to the frail, dying man. “It's real.” He croaked with difficulty. “Flee, now, while you still can.”

The look Corey and I shared was one of simultaneously generated thought: this was the last person who would lie to us. It was a shared look of horror and realization, of acceptance of the situation. We took one last look at the violently liberated men, hardly in their twenties, simply to make sure they wouldn't follow, dropped our sticks, and ran with more speed and certainty than we've ever and since felt in our hearts.

We've not told anyone. Those seven miles back to the sunny park was the furthest either of us had ever run, and I run marathons for fun. As people saw us emerge from the dark, constricted pathway, out of breath and brimming with fear, they came up to us quickly with care in their eyes. “What's happened? Are you alright? What did you see?” Questions emanated from every direction and, as soon as we'd caught our breath, we took off again. Running, running from the fear that can't be explained.

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