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katedoesfics · 4 years

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Shadows of the Yiga | Chapter 29

The Champions were gathered at the ranch once more, standing outside of the barn. They were in the midst of a heated argument about their next move when the air stirred. There was a loud crack as if lightning split the ground, but there wasn't a storm cloud in sight. They turned to the source of the sound only to see Link on his hands and knees, gasping from the wounds that marked his body. To their surprise, he was not alone. Rusl stood above him, looking down at his son, his face pale. Their silent gazes moved between Rusl and Link before Daruk finally spoke.

“What the fuck?” he muttered.

Mipha hurried to Link, dropping to her knees beside him. Link tried his best to push her hands away, but she pushed back harder – easy enough to do in his weakened state – and began to heal him as quickly as possible.

“Where have you been?” Daruk hissed.

Link winced as Mipha worked, looking up to briefly meet Daruk's gaze. His eyes narrowed. “Working.”

Daruk scowled at him. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Saving the world,” Link growled. “Kicking Yiga ass.”

“It looks like you're the one that got your ass kicked,” Kit said.

Link spat blood at the ground. He pushed Mipha away, getting to his feet before she had finished healing him. She searched his darkened blue eyes, catching flecks of red still in them. When he turned his eyes to her, she tore her gaze away.

“So,” Revali started. “Are we going to address the giant fucking elephant standing right fucking there?” He gestured a hand to Rusl.

Their gazes moved back to Rusl. Link stared blankly at his father, almost as surprised as the first time he saw him, as if he hadn’t expected him to be there. His face creased in disbelief and confusion. And then, after a moment, anger, as his brows furrowed together. “You,” he hissed. “You lied to me.” It wasn’t a question. His teeth grit together. “You lied to Aryll.”

“I did what I had to do,” Rusl said sternly. “To keep you both out of this mess.”

“This mess?” Link sneered. “Aryll was eleven years old. I had to tell her her father died.” His nostrils flared. “Is this a joke to you?”

Rusl, too, started to grown angry at his son’s accusations. “Do you think I would have done this if I had a choice?” he hissed.

Link bit his tongue in an attempt to remain calm. Already, he could feel the darkness start to cloud his mind. He had to stay in control. His eyes flashed threateningly dark and he pulled his gaze away from his father. “Fuck you,” he hissed before walking away.

Rusl watched as his son disappeared into the barn, then turned his attention back to Link’s friends. They stared at him with a mix of emotions, though Revali,

Daruk, and Kit seemed to regard him with disapproving stares. His brows furrowed angrily, and in a huff, he turned and marched away in the opposite direction.

“He faked his death,” Kit said bitterly. “That’s fucked up.”

Urbosa frowned. “He wouldn’t do that without good reason,” she said. “There’s more to this than we realize.”

An uneasy silence fell over the group. Mipha stepped away from the group and hurried after Link. She found him in the barn where he was pacing angrily and cursing under his breath. He paused when she stepped over the threshold of the barn and met her gaze. His shoulders dropped, his stiff posture instantly relaxing as she approached him.

“Where’s Aryll?” he asked quickly.

“She went out back with Talon to help him fix some fencing.” Mipha hesitated when he did not respond. “Are you… alright?” She didn’t necessarily mean it in regards to his father’s sudden appearance. She studied his eyes carefully, but he seemed to be back to normal.

“Fine,” he muttered. While the darkness seemed to remain at bay, his emotions ran wild.

Mipha pressed her lips together. “She’s worried sick about you,” she said softly. “Goddesses, what the hell were you thinking?”

Link sighed through his nose. “I thought I could take care of everything myself.”

“How did that turn out?” Mipha said dryly. “Will you stop with this impulsive shit already?”

The corners of his lips tugged into a small smile. “I know,” he started, and the smile quickly disappeared. “I’m sorry.” He pulled his gaze away. “I wanted to do what I could before…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Mipha said.

Link glanced at her. He was not as confident as she was, but he didn’t bother voice his thoughts further with her. Though, if one good thing came out of it all, it was that Aryll would not be alone if something were to happen to him. At least she would have her father, no matter how much he hated him in that moment.

*****

Rusl leaned against the paddock fence on the other side of the house. He put out his cigarette on the wood post as Kit approached with two bottles in hand. He stood beside Rusl, popped open one of the bottles, and offered it to Rusl. He took it wordlessly, but offered a nod in thanks. They drank in silence for a moment before Kit finally spoke.

“So, back from the dead,” he said with a grin, but Rusl did not appreciate the joke. Kit’s grin quickly disappeared and he stared into his bottle. “You know,” he said after another moment. “I met Link and those stupid ass friends of his five years ago.” He smiled lightly at the memory, then chuckled. “They came stumblin’ in, barely after noon. The kinda guys I get at that time aren’t the kinda guys I thought they were.” He shook his head and drank his beer. When he finished, he continued. “Nah, these guys were dressed to the nines, lookin’ all fancy in their dumbass suits.” He shrugged. “Figured it was some kinda bachelor party still drunk from the night before, yanno?” He used his bottle to point in front of him, as if he were gesturing to the three men that entered his bar. “But I recognized them almost right away, of course. Who wouldn’t, right? Hyrule’s heroes. Except Link - he didn’t have that same dumb baby face I used to see on the news. Sure, he may have grown up a little bit since then. You know. Definitely not maturity wise.” He snorted and grinned, glancing over at Rusl, but Rusl did not meet his gaze. His eyes were hard as he stared at the ground, listening to Kit ramble on.

“Anyway,” Kit continued. “I was ready to totally exploit the hell outta them, you know? Come to my bar - Hyrule’s Champions drink here! What better way to take in new customers?” He took another sip of his beer. The bottle barely had a chance to leave his lips when he spoke again in a tone that suggested he had heard the most interesting thing in the world. “Turns out,” he started, “they had just left your funeral.” Kit let his words hang in the silence between them for a moment. He stared ahead, but felt Rusl’s gaze on him.

“He never left my bar after that,” Kit said softly. “For five long years, I had his beer cold, open, and waiting for him at his usual seat in the corner. Mostly, he’d just sit and stare at nothing. But sometimes we’d talk. Sometimes, we’d drink. Sometimes, we’d waste the night crawling around the city looking for something to distract us from life.” He paused. “Five years,” he repeated. “Five years I watched him drown.” His brows furrowed and he turned his gaze to Rusl. “That damn kid’s a mess, you know. I think the only thing that kept him going was Aryll. He did everything he damn well could for her. To make her life as normal as possible. Isn’t that what everyone deserves?” He turned his gaze away and finished his beer. “He sure as hell didn’t get that.”

“Do you think I need to be reminded that I’m a shitty person?” Rusl sneered.

“Nah,” Kit said, shaking his head. “I’m sure it eats you the fuck up.” He hesitated. “I just hope to hell there was a good fucking reason for putting him through all that shit. He deserves the truth.”

“I know,” Rusl said softly. He pinched the bridge of his nose, then hung his head.

Kit shrugged. “But I’m just a bartender,” he said. “I bring beer when times are tough, and sometimes offer a little wisdom.” He finished his beer. “If you’re gonna be back from the dead, at least be there. Stick around for a while.” He tipped an imaginary hat at him before leaving Rusl alone once more.

Rusl stayed where he was for a few minutes more, finishing his beer, before finally deciding to find Link, who he had admittedly been trying to avoid since he stormed off. He always hoped he could be reunited with his children again, though this was not the way he had imagined it. He couldn’t blame his son for being so angry with him, however. At the very least, he owed his son an explanation.

It didn’t take him long to find Link. Though it was still daylight, the barn was dim and cool. He shuffled inside without greeting.

Link glanced over his shoulder, but seeing it was only his father, he turned back to the stall where hungry goat eyes looked up at him. He tossed in the flakes of hay and closed the door. “What do you want?” he muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Rusl said. “I know things haven’t seemed fair -”

“Fair?” Link snapped, turning to face his father. “What would you know about fair?”

Rusl sucked in a breath in an attempt to remain calm with his son. “Look,” he started, but Link cut him off.

“No,” he snarled. “You have no idea what we’ve been through. There’s a damn gravestone with your name on it. You don’t get to talk about fair. You were gone. You left us alone. I gave up everything. I took on everything. I raised Aryll. I stayed up with her every night when she cried. I covered her ass when she got suspended from school. I worked a hundred damn hours so she could have a friggin place to live. And you think you can just come back from the fucking dead and everything will be the same?”

“Nothing will ever be the same,” Rusl hissed. “That’s what you don’t get, Link.”

“Then why don’t you enlighten me?” Link snarled.

“The Yiga are hunting you,” Rusl said. “They’ve been hunting you since the day you were born, and they won’t stop until they have you.”

“Well, I hate to break it to ya,” Link started, “but they already got their damn hands on me.”

“I know,” Rusl said through clenched teeth. He turned his gaze down at the ground. “I did everything I could to keep you and Aryll safe,” he said. “That’s why I was gone. I was tracking them down. I was trying to eliminate the problem, following Roham’s orders, but they got to me first.” He hesitated. “As far as anyone knew, I was dead. I should have been dead. I was there for years before I got out.” He pulled his gaze away. “I couldn’t just walk back into your life after that,” he continued. “You were better off believing I was gone.”

“I was, or you were?” Link hissed.

“What would you have done?” Rusl snapped. “If I came back?”

Link narrowed his gaze on his father. “I would have destroyed them.”

This seemed to be exactly the response Rusl expected. His shoulders relaxed slightly. “And that’s why I didn’t come back.”

Link stared at his father. He opened his mouth to speak, but his sister’s voice caught his attention.

“Link?”

Link moved his gaze passed his father to where Aryll stood in the doorway of the barn. Her brows were furrowed as her gaze fell on the man that stood between her and her brother. After a moment, a wave of realization washed over her face.

“Dad?”

Rusl hesitated, meeting Link’s angry gaze. He turned to look at his daughter over his shoulder and smiled at her. “Hey, Ary.”

Aryll ran to her father and jumped into his arms. It didn’t matter how much bigger she was since Rusl had last seen his daughter; he let her jump on him all the same and wrapped his arms around her. Aryll buried her face in her father’s neck and sobbed.

Link’s clenched jaw relaxed for the first time that day as he watched his sister and father together. Rusl kissed her forehead and she pushed herself away to examine him, as if to make sure he were real. Unlike Link, she didn’t once question her father’s appearance, but simply treasured the fact that he was alive and back in their world.

After a moment, Aryll turned her gaze to her brother, but Link’s hardened expression had softened. Aryll was grinning, wider than he had seen on her in a long time. However, her brows furrowed when her brother did not seem as overjoyed as she was.

“What’s wrong?”

Link shook his head. “Nothing.”

Aryll held her gaze on him a moment longer. She knew when he was keeping things from her, but in that moment, she didn’t particularly care. Her father was alive. Her family was whole again. She turned back to Rusl, grinning once more, though her vision had started to blur. She hugged him tightly again and cried quietly against him.

“Damn it, you’re not ten years old anymore,” Rusl said as he kissed her head.

Aryll laughed lightly. “Yeah, Dad, duh.”

Rusl pushed her away and this time, he seemed to inspect her. “Goddesses, I missed you grow up.” He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes.

“It wasn’t that exciting,” Aryll said with a grin.

Rusl frowned. He let his fingers brush her hair out of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Ary.”

She hugged him again. “I know,” she said. “I forgive you.”

They didn’t pull apart until Link stepped around them, and without a word, left them alone in the barn.

Aryll stared out the doorway of the barn and frowned. She sniffed and wiped at her own tears. “Why… what… What’s his damn problem?”

“He has every right to be mad at me,” Rusl said.

Aryll’s brows knit together. “No, he doesn’t. Why can’t he just be happy? He’s a fucking idiot.”

Rusl smiled. “Um. Language.”

Aryll’s expression turned suddenly guilty, and Rusl laughed.

“That’s what happens when you leave me with that idiot,” Aryll muttered.

Rusl frowned. “Why aren’t you mad at me?”

Aryll met his gaze. “Because I know you didn’t have a choice.” She turned her gaze back out the door. “Just like Link.” She sighed softly and met her father’s gaze again. “He knows that, too. He’ll come around.”

“I’m not so sure,” Rusl said. “I’ve kept a lot of secrets from him.”

“Link thinks he can save everyone,” Aryll said. Her voice softened. “He’ll die trying.”

“Yeah,” Rusl muttered. “That’s what I’ve been trying to prevent.” He sighed. “I’m pretty sure the last conversation we had -”

“Was about my summer reading project before I started middle school.”

Rusl smiled. “You hated that book.”

“I set it on fire.”

“Link let you play with matches?”

“Please,” she said. “He didn’t let me do anything.” She shrugged. “You know how that goes. I turned into a rebellious teen.” She grinned. “I think I gave him a few strokes.”

“No wonder he’s so bitter.”

Aryll frowned. “Yeah.”

“You can go back to being six years old, now.”

“I would love nothing more,” she said. “I’d much rather be coloring or something.”

“Painting my toenails?”

Aryll grinned. “I’m guessing you didn’t miss that.”

Rusl hugged his daughter once more. “I even missed the stupid peanut butter and banana sandwiches.”

#loz #botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #fic #fanfic #soty #shadows of the yiga #soty29

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ramblinganthropologist · 5 years

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Early morning surprise

Summary: Alistair Shepard forgot again. Luckily, he has a great family to remind him. Happy Birthday. retired Commander Shepard.

Setting: Post ME3. Al is loving his retirement and his kids.

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Fuck, he did not want to get out of bed that morning.

“Oww…”

Alistair Shepard groaned as he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. What was left of his left thigh ache and it felt like fire below what used to be his right elbow. Normally they acted up in the morning, but this was just insult to injury.

Slowly, he raised himself into a sitting position, back twinging a little from a sore muscle he needed to work out later. Outside his window it was a lovely spring day, or as lovely as the Citadel could make it seem like. After all, they were kind of on a space station – seasons were out of the question.

In the back of his mind, he knew there was a reason he wasn’t up an hour earlier and limping out the door. But it didn’t come to him as he pulled himself out of bed and walked out of his bedroom. It wasn’t a Saturday – those he knew. But it was something…

“What the hell am I forgetting?”

Maybe he was finally getting old. Even though he was in his 40’s, technically he was like… 11. It was hard to count when he had technically died and came back. Most days Alistair liked to joke he was getting ready for middle school now, but that day it ran hollow. He was feeling every day of those years running around in armor and then some.

There was low levels of noise coming from the living room – sounded like people moving. While he no longer carried an Avenger, he still had the senses to know something was up. His artificial leg helped him crouch behind the wall so he could use his better eye to take a peek. At least his old boot camp instructors could die happy he hadn’t forgotten anything.

That is if they weren’t dead. 2185 wasn’t a great year for anyone.

“Does this look ok, Dad?”

“I think so.”

Garrus and their daughter Dania – his Danny girl – were hanging something up on the wall. On the other side of the room, their son Marc was in the process of scrutinizing a balloon someone much taller than he was had tacked to the wall. It was a violent shade of blue, so that put Danny in the running.

The boy must’ve felt his footsteps, because he turned. One gray eye and an electronic blue one turned to face him. Then both widened and he waved to get his family’s attention. His hands were soon moving in what had to be their sign – the jig was up, red dad was awake.

Red dad was very much awake and wondering what was going on.

“Go back in your room, Pops. We’re not done yet!” Danny nudged Marc towards him. Her hands moved as she spoke. “Keep an eye on him, big guy. The metal one. You know he’s sneaky.”

With his human escort, Alistair had no choice but to walk back to the room he shared with his husband, son on his heels. Marc even closed the door once he entered, signifying how seriously the young man was taking his duties. He was a Vakarian alright – duty and precision.

Hopefully in 15 years he wouldn’t pick a name as ridiculous as Archangel when he became a vigilante of justice. Alistair had raised him better than that.

“Guess you’re not going to tell me what’s up then?” Alistair asked as he watched his son for a sign. The boy shook his head, then stuck his hands in his pockets. “Well, then. That settles that.”

So, he sat back on the bed. Marc took a seat in his desk, short legs swinging with the distance between the chair and the floor. Both his large eyes were pinned squarely on his father, reminding the redhead of a cybernetic owl. He was a very cute cybernetic owl, mind you.

Ok, Alistair may have been a little biased there.

“Can I at least have a hint?” The hands said no, as did the enthusiastic shake of the boy's head that made his neck hurt just looking at it. Ah, to be young and not pieced back together by modern medicine two separate times. “Darn. You're pretty good at this secret keeping thing, son.”

Being kept in the dark was worth it to see Marc smile like that. Alistair had to chuckle as he leaned back to wait for when he was all clear. Since he hadn't been all that awake to begin with when he had lumbered out of bed, his eyes felt heavy. Then they closed.

The next thing he knew, somebody was poking him in the side. It wasn’t a human finger – talon tipped and too bony. Wasn’t Garrus’ either – too small. That left only a few people it could be.

“Danny?”

“Wake up, Pops. We got something to show you.”

He cracked one eye open to check if he was within bumping range of his daughter. She cleared out of the way as he swung out of bed, yawning. He hadn’t meant to fall back asleep, but… well, he wasn’t 29 anymore?

That was his excuse anyway.

Danny chuckled as she watched him. “First human Spectre, huh?”

“You know I did shoot a Reaper in the face once.”

“Way Aunt Bo tells it, even you could’ve hit that one, Pops.”

Ok, yeah, true. But still, ouch. He was definitely going to need to talk to his sister about old war stories the next time he saw her. She could at least leave out his terrible aim a wee bit around the kids...

Unaware of his comically bruised ego, Danny chuckled and held out her hand. When Alistair took it, Danny pulled him forward. She had a spring in her step that made him pick up his pace, sore limbs and all. Her cheer was infectious in a way he didn’t mind catching.

And then she covered his eyes.

“Is this an ambush?” He asked, trying hard not to laugh. “Because if it is, I’m kind of biotic.”

“So are Marc and I, Pops.” Danny nudged him forward one more step. “Just keep walking.”

Last time he heard that, someone tried to shoot him in the head. Alistair didn’t miss that much. Still, he didn’t get the feeling someone had a rifle on him. So, he allowed himself to be led by the eager hands of his daughter. At least her long, quick strides worked out some tension in his leg.

They stopped in what he assumed was the living room. There was no noise anymore – someone had shut up. Dull anticipation built in the base of his stomach, but he didn’t fight it like he would have before in years past. Hooray for therapy.

Then Danny let go of his eyes.

“Happy Birthday!”

Oh… so that was what he forgot.

Alistair blinked back surprise as he looked around the room. His family had apparently been hard at work decorating for his birthday. Everything was the obnoxious shade of blue he loved so much, and someone had printed out cartoon hamsters in party hats. One even looked like his dear Saren, to the point it made his throat tight. He missed that little guy, but his successor Udina was handling things just fine back in his room.

Bo had a knack for naming animals.

“Were you surprised, Al?” Garrus was chuckling as he came up and gently kissed him on the forehead – much to the consternation of their children. “Oh, shh. I can do that, I’m married to him.”

Marc’s answer came a fraction before Danny’s did – we know.

“It’s not like you still act like newlyweds. Gross.” Danny stuck out her tongue. “Anyway, come on! There’s cake!”

Indeed – there was cake. Or rather two halves of two different cakes clearly marked for turian and human consumption so nobody wound up throwing up until Alistair’s next birthday. He got the one that smelled like food, which was alright by him.

Garrus had the not-food. “Is this the part where we sing?”

When he saw the look on his husband’s face, he held up his free talon. “Don’t blame me, Marc told me about it.”

The small human answered back, hands flying. Archangel sold me out.

That he did. Yet Alistair chuckled as he watched his family playfully argue with each other. Just watching them made his heart feel full and light at the same time. It was a paradox he had grown used to over the years, and one he wouldn't trade for the world.

“Less arguing, more cake.” was the final word from Danny as she grabbed a particularly large slice. After all, she was a growing girl. “Better hurry up before I eat it all, Dad.”

And so Garrus did hurry, scooping up cake as well as quick kiss to the top of his daughter's head. Alistair smiled as he watched the scene, once more feeling the sensation that he was glad to be alive. He doubted that feeling would ever change.

At least as long as nobody shoved his face in the cake. Man, he was glad that tradition had died out when he turned 30.

#Alistair Shepard #ramblinganthropologist's writing

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fleetwoodmoth · 7 years

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3, 1, and 29 for the ships!

I’m just gonna do who I feel like writing about since you didn’t specify anyone in particular ;P

1. How do they fall asleep? Wake up? Any daily rituals?

Jesse/Genji/Luna

Surprisingly Jesse is the first to sleep and not usually on purpose, he’s set into a schedule (at least when he’s home, he likes being able to not have to sleep with one eye open) and he can’t really break it. He has tried staying up watching movies or whatever but is always the one to pass out. Genji and Luna usually stay up later together, Luna because her sleep schedule is fucked and Genji because he can sometimes have a hard time with pain.

Jesse is always up first (again schedule) and making coffee, he is an expert at breakfast food. Genji is very sleepy in the morning and will hang on anyone nearby and Luna is just A Mess.

Katja/Zarya

Katja is a night owl and Zarya is an early bird. Luckily for Katja Zarya is also a heavy ass sleeper who she can crawl over to get into bed at like 3am, and can you say cuddle bug? Zarya will instantly envelope her smol gf as soon as she has settled in bed. Zarya is one of those early morning yoga and calisthenics kinda person so Katja will usually get up and make them breakfast before Zarya is done with her shower. Lots of sleepy kisses over french toast in the kitchen.

Si/Lenna/Nema

Si and Nema are more energetic compared to Lenna who is more of the quiet energy type of person so Lenna is usually getting ready for bed while Si and Nema talk with everyone in the kitchen/dinning room or playing cards in the sitting room. They do eventually make it upstairs and into bed where Lenna gladly welcomes her two sleep strong gfs who cuddle up to her. In the morning however it’s usually Si waking everyone up, Nema is normally pretty cheerful while Lenna is more in need of caffeination. If anyone wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares Lenna has this very calming incense she burns.

3. Are they open about their relationship? How do they feel about public displays of affection?

Jesse/Genji/Luna

They’re pretty open about their relationship, I mean it’s not like when they first got together everyone knew about it within a half hour cause Jesse can’t keep his mouth shut. PDA is different for different people, Genji used to be all about showing off, for a while after still coming to terms with his body he didn’t show any outward affection in public, but now he doesn’t mind it, sometimes even initiating it. Jesse however will not keep his hands off his partners (unless they say otherwise) he loves showing everyone who he is with. Luna is fine but anything over a chaste kiss and she will become a flustered mess.

Zarya/Katja

Definitely more private, more so Katja than Zarya because she is still very afraid of Talon and the possibility of them coming after the people she loves, Zarya respects this but she is also very proud to have Katja with her (yes because she loves her but also out of spite of the people who think Katja could be a threat).

Si/Lenna/Nema

They don’t mind really, Nema does however get over excited and...forgets to introduce Si and Lenna to everyone... Si is definitly all over her smol girlfriends, anytime anywhere in front of anyone she will give kisses. Lenna is more coy and Nema well she just shuts down cause she’s so flustered.

29. How do they handle disasters or emergencies? Minor injuries? Sickness?

Jesse/Genji/Luna

They stick together like glue in a disaster, they’ve endured so many that they’ve learned the best way to get through it is to do it together. Luna is a worrier, when anyone is injured even if it’s minor she will insist they seek medical help, Genji and Jesse are more understanding and insist on taking care of themselves. Sickness tho? They are dying, Luna they love you but this head cold is their end.

Zarya/Katja

Zarya is the first to jump to action, it’s what she did in the past and she will do it again to help those around her. Katja is more wary, usually following Zarya’s lead and not wanting to be separated from her for long. Minor injuries Katja doesn’t like showing she’s hurt because Zarya is surprisingly the worrying type, she’ll fret over Katja if she’s hurt. Sickness is just an excuse to stay in and have quiet time with each other lol.

Si/Lenna/Nema

Si and Lenna work for the chantry, a paladin and a cleric, meaning that in disasters they’re probably either called to help or volunteer for it. Nema will do what she can but a lot of the time she doubts her ability to be helpful. Minor injury isn’t much to worry about with a cleric on hand but sometimes Nema in particular will hide small injuries not wanting to worry anyone and it can... become bigger lol. Sickness however is when Lenna goes into mom mode, soup, tea, remedies, anything. If she’s the one sick Nema and Si will pamper the shit out of her cause she keeps them from killing themselves all the time.

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