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yostresswritinggirl · 3 years

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It is time. This took a while but I figured I should give you guys the closure you've wanted, even tho uh it's not really a closure lmaooo. Here's the first part for the new readers!

Xiao's Personal "Chef" Travel Edition

Xiao with a Reader who is not only his Personal Chef but assistant, adventuring together

General/Preparation

A visionless chef with an adeptus by their side, going in a routeless journey together to savor the world that had once been pulled away from their grasps.

It must be the cause of the recent ressurection and defeat of the Lord of Vortex, immobilizing him once more for thousands of years. And in the window time, there would be less worries for the Qixing and Liyue Adepti to worry about. Think of it as a day-off for the Adepti, and a vacation for you.

While you carry with you no traces of elemental blessings and an enthusiasm for swordplay, the blessed Sigil of Permission given to you by your adeptus (whom claimed it was created by Rex Lapis himself before his untimely death) grants you a special connection with Xiao.

Sadly a vacation from Liyue does not mean a break from the constant voices of demons within Xiao's mind. And you've prepared him the medicine necessary to soothe his mind even if temporary, three bottles to be exact, all of which can last him several months.

He looks at you with confusion and silent question, of which you waved away because you had prepared this batch in your room in the Inn to make sure he doesn't run out of stock.

He doesn't tell you this but lately the voices had been not intrusive while he gets distracted by your presence. Like a soothing balm, to numb the effects of the pain. It's still there but not as annoying.

Your adventure or journey usually lingers around Liyue for the first parts of it, looking around the nation to enjoy the sceneries without thinking about errands or protecting the villages from impending doom.

Xiao already uh announced his indefinite leave to the other adepti beforehand, but well, when you wanted to visit their domains, which you countered was PERFECTLY safe (almighty Sigil of Permission has lots of perks) it was a very awkward time for him upon meeting them again. It was inevitable because of the energy the sensed from Xiao and your Sigil.

"Hello again, Guardian Yaksha, were you not on leave?" "Y-Yeah... we're just... passing through"

Field trip with the Adepti!!!! Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper brought you around their domains as if to test you, like Ganyu's trials, while also flexing their achievements and who has the best domain. Humans are rare, but you are a mortal who carries the last blessed Sigil and you're tamed in the ways of the adepti because of your exposure to Xiao.

Cloud Retainer not only teaches you the glory of gliding, but she also has cute and embarrassing stories of Xiao from way back! Xiao is in the background trying not to scream or rage at the ensemble in front of him-

"He really likes collecting Qingxin flowers, always bringing one whenever he comes back from his exterminations. He even offers one to Morax everytime." "Yes, yes, such flowers grow common before, right?" "Wha- (Y/N), what do you think you're writing down in that book?!"

"The devoted that carries the last essence of Morax's powers. We've heard much about you from your adeptus, it is relieving to finally put a face to your name. Tell us, child, what is it that you seek in our domain?"

They pretty much just outted that Xiao talks about you to the others, and he- he's just so done. He's either going to hide, leave the area or pull you out of the conversation before someone *coughCloudRetainercough* starts embarrassing him in front of you.

Once you've gotten the supplies you wanted to collect from Liyue's wild lands, like flowers or ores, your little party will start going further away from the familiar nation.

Comfort on the Streets

Being the chef in the party, a lot of the time, resource collection stops you short from travelling despite the many prepped ingredients you had carried with you. There's a lot of things laying around and you just couldn't let such opportunities go. Your adoptive mother Verr had taught you to indulge in your curiousities, as a mother, as a traveler, and as a cook.

Xiao takes the brute force, the frontline of being the tank and general fighter of your band. He indulges himself with unhinged strength so long as he was sure that you were perfectly safe from his own barrage of offense. You think in the back of your mind that he's enjoying the exterminations but in his mind he indulges himself with your cheers and praises after fending off some pesky slimes that strayed too close to your temporary camp.

Xiao does not need rest and barely breaks a sweat but you're quite fragile of a human being, you still need rest and consumables, things that you had the luxury of despite working in the Inn. Here you were alone to carry your own weight and care for yourself. You look up from the boiling pot that was settled over the bright campfire to see Xiao's figure coming into view, a freshly killed boar in hand as some kind of offering for your sacred stomach.

You guess now the caring isn't one-sided.

When taking things into careful detail that requires precision and undivided attention, it seems the voices of the demons and revelled gods in the depths of his mind disappears, more so under the presence of you.

So it was the perfect opportunity now that no other errands hold you back, to teach Xiao how to make the infamous Almond Tofu.

When you teach him survival he takes into consideration everything despite the bored/blank face he dons.

Oh but he still prefers your way of cooking, he can never get the same soft texture of the jelly that you easily make.

Xiao doesn't really need to eat but he's glad to be your taste-tester for the new dishes you cook from the random, probably edible, ingredients you find here and then.

The stew continued to boil with bubbles popping despite the fire under it extinguished for a while now. It was an unnamed soup you concocted from the various seafood you've gotten from the ocean paired with the meat the adeptus hunted.

It was delicious. Despite being a palette he was not used to, it was something he can stomach. And despite the different meat mixed in, the flavours didn't clash like he thought it would but instead blended the tastes quite well. Xiao hums as he sips the soup politely, tilting the bowl as he gulps down.

"It is manageable, despite your first try, I can see this being sold in one of the restaurants in Liyue Harbour-" he turns to you as he proceeds to hold out his bowl for seconds when he stopped in his tracks, eyes slightly widening a crack at the sight of tears free falling off your chin.

The spoon on your hand was slack, eyes distant yet dilated as you silently cried. When you felt the glove of his hand cup your cheek, tilting your head to make you face him, your expression cracked to that of grief melded with forced laughter. "It's... it's just like what mum used to make." You sob, and his hand wavered from its touch.

Travelling reopened old wounds. For you and for him.

Xiao doesn't NEED sleep nor does he WANT it, despite the many times you had caught him dozing off in the middle of the day during your work at the Inn. Such occasions usually meant that there was an event that needed his aid the night prior.

Your guardian yaksha usually stays up to keep watch and when you wake up, you would find him spaced out or in the brink of passing out, desperately holding himself together

But there are other times when he feels more restless and not content with just standing guard to make sure you are protected—

Those moments are when you are held in his arms, him resting against a tree and you resting against his lean chest, travel blanket laid over the both of you. When the terrain allows it, the sleeping bag would be under your bottom and legs for extra comfort.

When you can't rest, he whips out his flute to play you a soft tune hoping to lull you to sleep. If he sinks into the comfort of the mood, he'll continue playing much softer to prevent waking you up so early

But the guardian yaksha can buckle at the temptation of comfort, a humanistic desire fuelled by the assurance that in his arms you are absolutely safe-

And you two lay under the stars in peaceful slumber. Good night~

Combat-side of Travelling

Kicking the bottom shaft of the jade spear, Xiao swiftly catches it with his other hand, a small smile aimed for himself at the expert action before he raises his eyes back at you where you lay splayed on the floor. Drenched in your own sweat and desperately breathing. A long, wooden stick discarded by your side.

You pried your eyes open when the rays of the sun suddenly stopped invading through your thin eyelids, the shadow of the Yaksha looming over your form with a rare triumphant smirk. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say-"

"I told you so."

"Oh hush you!"

His soft laugh was melodic and it made you break a smile despite the exhaustion.

We've already established beforehand that Xiao is your main dps here and you're just support/utility. But you've expressed your desire to AT LEAST pick up some weight, asking the man to help you hone your weapon proficiency, even if you knew he'd decli-

He accepts. Oh. But it's not about swords sadly, it's for polearms. Since it's the weapon he uses, it's the only thing he can teach you.

Will be CONSIDERABLY gentle in training you compared to his massacres, and will be ever so patient so long as progress is made. Surprisingly, Xiao is actually a really good teacher, and you'd find his points to be precise and on the spot.

He'll be there on the side as you try to fight off a hydro slime for the first time, with the aid of your cheap spear you both from the nearest town over. If you get cornered, he'll be there to instantly swoop in. Fortunately you managed, and he gave an approving nod.

Despite his acceptance to teach he's not gonna let you fight actual threats because he doesn't wish to risk your safety. And you're still gonna be a hundred feet away as he does his job

If he ever managed to hurt you himself, it's... it's not gonna be good, not good at all for the both of you... luckily that hasn't happened! Uh, yet lol

Just admire him from afar, he looks pretty anyways, although the black particles that seem to surround him before the end of the fight

But he'll always come back to you, with a slight limp you always notice despite his attempts to hide, and you'll be there to heal him up

Like a knight to his princess? Or healer, more so

And the process rinses and repeats at your generally peaceful trip

"Oh, oh, I see it! Uuup there!"

His honey amber eyes follow where your fingers point, high and up against the cliff until he sees the glimpse of the swaying violetgrass. No orders needed to tell him what the objective is, but as you place your hand on his elbow when he was about to leap, you had different plans.

"Woohoo!" Please be careful, he shouts in his head as you rode the tides of his Anemo currents, gliding over to where the violetgrass awaits for your plucking hands. When the glider retracts as you grip the cliff face, you broke the stem of the flora. A eureka in your voice as you held it up like a treasure before pushing yourself off the cliffside.

The wind on your back was not harsh, carefully constructed and maneuvered as you seemingly float down into the arms of the awaiting Yaksha, as per routine of your retrieval, "Thank you!"

"Is it in good condition?" It didn't bother you that he has yet to put you down, nodding with a grin as you gently waved the perfectly grown violetgrass in your hand. Satisfied, he turns around to go back to your route when

golden, brown and white silhouettes entered your peripherals among the turn.

"Eh?"

"Ah?"

"Traveler, Paimon and Zhongli?"

"Well, it is the most intriguing that we meet again this far out and in such a circumstance, Xiao and (Y/N)."

Party gained 2 ½ members!

I noticed upon writing that after you started travelling with Xiao, the formality in your tone of speaking started to dissipate. Easing into the comforts of your relationship with him, Xiao is relieved.

@kookieyachi @moaa @dandelion-dreams @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @snackgod @rxsalinee @cala-ran @wind-wheel @witchsungie

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #xiao x reader #genshin impact xiao #exile.goblet #exile.flower #sojourner specials #reeeee part twoooo #oh gawd this may not be good as i wanted it to be aww

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mimssides · 3 years

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Never Met You

Chapter 6: Nostalgia

Memories can heal and hurt. They fill their lives and form their opinions and growth. They shall give themselves time to remember.

After the ambush, the castle had been under high alert. The king’s meetings had been reduced to a minimum and he was to stay in his own now heavily guarded wing. It had been a relief to hear Logan simply agree with Janus’s proposal. Unlike Roman, who was anything but happy with the measurements Janus, Green and Virgil himself had come up with, Logan had seen the reason behind it and was following their instructions as well as he could.

Now Virgil had time to rummage through the castle and check it from bottom to top. While Janus was coordinating the court, he had begun to search for possible breaches, questioning his way through the servants, guards and the workers in the courtyard. Janus had sent Green to go with him. Despite the short time Green had spent here he had made a few connections already and Virgil could use all the help he could get when he was talking to people.

Socializing was just not his thing. He was a guardian first and everything else second.

Right now, they were training though. Virgil had wanted to see how fit Green was and got pleasantly surprised by his ability to keep up with him. Not many could do so and it made it easier for Virgil to let him be close to Roman. It was hard for him to let anyone close to Roman these days. Especially, after the whole assassination attempt.

“Not, hah, as good, hah, as yours,” Green panted and leaned forward to catch his breath.

Virgil smirked and shoved him just when he straightened up. He stumbled, caught himself and giggled like a child before he shoved Virgil back. They continued nudging and shoving each other as they walked to the edge of the racetrack and sat down. Virgil had two water bottles taken with him, one for Green and one with a straw for himself. With no comment he shoved the straw under his shawl and drank as Green did the same.

“Is it very hot?” Green asked looking over the training grounds.

Virgil fiddled with the hem of his shawl and stared just in front of himself. He knew what Green was talking about.

“I’m used to it. I know how I have to breath that it doesn’t bother me. Also, the snake has made them give me one which is lighter and easier to breathe through. So, it’s fine.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw Green nod. He shifted and spawled his legs in front of him and leaned back. Something told Virgil that he had dropped the topic and he felt himself ease up a little. He never liked to talk about his face. It was just a sore topic.

To get himself into a better mind space, Virgil decided to focus on something else. Quietly he went through the last few days, over what he had seen and learnt. Frustratingly, not much had come to light about the intruders and all possible points of entry had been guarded thrice as much as before. There had been no new breaches but in the light of King George announcing he would hold a meeting with Logan in two weeks' time, it might only mean that they are waiting for the outcome of said meeting. Logan had invited him for the meeting and offered to meet him at the boarder but the King had insisted of coming to Theana and meeting Logan there in person. While that meant a lot of preparations and much more nightshifts for Janus, it lightened Virgil’s worries immensely. Like this he knew that there was top security with no intention of harming their king or prince.

Green shifted next to him, pusing one leg under his butt and leaning forwards as he looked down to the green grass. He let his hands run through the single blades and smiled.

Two days prior Virgil had seen him for the first time together with Patton. The boy had excitedly run up to him when they were questioning a farrier. The second when he had spotted Virgil, he had stopped and almost toppled over because of his sudden halt.

Virgil was used to the reaction; many people were scared of his appearance and he did not expect this little child to be any different. And yet, when Green called for him, the boy had come closer and had watched Virgil carefully. Shyly, he hid behind Green’s leg and gave him a curt wave.

“He’s not dangerous, kid. You can say hi,” Green said to him in a voice so warm it could have melted butter.

And to Virgil’s surprise the boy came out of hiding and actually said hi to him. And after he had said hi awkwardly back and almost died of pureness this kid radiated when he smiled at him, Green had praised Patton fondly for being so nice and brave with a stranger.

Virgil wasn’t quite sure if encouraging this kid to talk to strangers was a great idea, but at the same time he could see how much Green cared and how close this boy was to him. He talked and acted like a father around him and in Virgil’s mind that rised a few questions.

Green did look quite unassuming in his white tunic and the brown trousers but he had an air of strength and might around him, which was hardly deniable. And yet he gave himself as a simple man who just liked feeling the grass on his skin.

“You like to get dirty,” Virgil stated.

Green looked up and with no hesitation responded: “Oh honey, you haven’t seen anything dirty of me until you have seen me in bed.”

Immediately, Virgil swatted him in the arm and Green cackled loudly at the way the tips of Virgil’s ears flushed. He was close to simply get up and walk away but did not do so as the curiosity was too big. He really wanted to know what Green’s secrets might be.

“No, seriously now!” Virgil insisted and punched him again for good measure. “Why do you enjoy the ground work so much? Most soldiers don’t mind getting a bit dirty and all, but you seem to thrive in it.”

Green chuckled and scratched his chin. It was stubbly and the moustache didn’t look nearly as well kept and pristine anymore as it had when Virgil had met Green for the first time. And yet somehow Virgil found that the work seemed to make him look happier and more alive than before.

“It’s gonna sound strange to you,” Green admitted after a few moments while looking over the training court, “but I didn’t get to get messy all that often as a kid. I couldn’t go outside and sit in the grass or role around in the fields. I was – preoccupied with other things. So, this is like a second chance for me and I’m having the time of my life doing this, quite frankly.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, I know it’s weird, you don’t have to rub it in, Brooding Beauty-”

“I didn’t- Brooding Beauty? I – What?” Virgil stammered at the nick name.

Again, Green chuckled and Virgil was considering to just walk away again. Yet he decided against it and took a deep breath before he looked down to his knees. It was always on his mind. Always something that kept his thoughts moving and one of the few things he could not talk about with Janus.

“You need to swear that this is going to stay between us, man.”

The rustling of the grass next to him told Virgil that Green had straightened his back and was now watching him closely. Somehow it felt familiar.

“Prince Roman said something along those lines when we first met.”

The wind was blowing his hair away from his eyes. Not far away from them he could hear the carriages being pulled around, people walking and talking. And yet there was no sound that could have given away Green’s presence next to him.

“I – I thought. I mean it’s said that he met you when you interrupted his carriage on his way to Sictes because you were chasing away some sheep thieves? When would the prince have had the time to say something like I just said?”

Virgil smiled. He looked up to the sky. The sky was a steely blue, no clouds but no clear sunlight either. It was like had been on that day.

He had run after the thieves because they had taken a lamb and he wanted to bring it back to its mother. On his chase he had crossed the road and apparently startled the horses on the prince’s carriage. He hadn’t even noticed as he ran through the underbrush. His focus was solely on the two men in front of him and as suddenly arrow after arrow was raining down on them. He barely caught himself from being hit as well. On was pinned against a tree as the other got hit in side and stumbled, dropping the poor lamb. Quickly, Virgil had shot forward and caught it barely before it could run away and possibly get lost mercilessly in the thick forest.

“And who might you be? Another thief? What are you doing chasing those buffoons?”

Virgil shivered. The voice was unmistakable and the tone harsh and cutting. He lifted his gaze, cradling the little animal closer to his chest and watched of all the people who he could have come across in the forest no other than Caroline Leto. A woman, no taller than 5 feet 2, black hair pulled back in a ponytail, greenish tunic and pants blending in perfectly in the background, a short bow in her hands which was pointed directly at Virgil’s forehead.

Even if Virgil had wanted, he could not utter a single word in that very moment, as someone crashed against his back from behind.

“Prince Roman had gotten out of the carriage the second it had halted completely,” Virgil continued to tell and finally looked up from his knees to meet Green’s gaze full of wonder. “He had spent more than a decade in the castle and it had been all too much. Too much of his parents, his responsibilities and his fate. He needed to get out, which was why he had agreed to the journey in the first place. So, when something happened that felt new and like an adventure to him, he didn’t hesitate for a single second. He got out to chase us, and out ran his guards with ease. I almost fell over when he crashed into me but caught myself and then helped steady him. I remember how he looked up at me, I think my – uh my scarf had moved down a bit and it caught his eyes. He didn’t look at me like other people did, with fear and disgust and all that. But with awe. And then he looked to the queen. And you know what he did then?”

Breathlessly Green said: “Did he smile at her?”

“That bloody bastard smiled at the so called ice queen and told her that her aim was amazing. She just raised an eyebrow and was about to threaten the both of us and he just kept being charming and friendly towards her. He stood in front of me to shield me from her arrow. And that had her finally convinced to lower her weapon and look at him more closely. I think she at first hadn’t recognized him, and only now realized who he might be. Since, you know, the Thea family hadn’t attended any public event in over a decade, so most people didn’t actually know how Prince Roman looked like as a grownup.”

Virgil paused for a moment, the flash of clarity in Queen Caroline’s eyes rushing through his mind. It was an image for the ages.

“She was surprised and said to him that she hadn’t imagined their first meeting to take place in a forest like this. And Prince Roman laughed and said he didn’t think so either but that he enjoyed it far more than a stiff and cold thrown room. And then they just chatted for a bit. As if no one hadn’t threatened the other with a short bow a mere moment ago. I was dumbstruck and couldn’t say anything, when Prince Roman asked me if I could help them getting the two thieves to his carriage so they could be dealt with in the next town. I just grabbed one and the prince took the other as Queen Caroline followed us and reminded the two thieves that they couldn’t flee anywhere with her weapon. They were then put in the carriage and Roman took one of the horses of his men as the Queen took another. They escorted me with the lamb back to its herd and asked me to come with them to the next village. On the way to there, I was walking next to Prince Roman and quietly listened to him and the queen talk. She was rather cordially and smiled quite a bit when she heard him speak. She praised his astute eye for her aiming skill and asked him if he didn’t mind that his clothing had gotten all dirty and ripped. And there it was when I heard the prince say that he didn’t mind his clothes getting soiled.”

“Muddy and ripped clothes are proof that one has walked the world, are proof that one lives and experiences things. They are testament to our lives and I until now I have been kept in a pristine little cage behind glass panes which kept all weather and wear away from me.”

Minutes of silence followed. Virgil didn’t mind. He could think that Green was letting that information slowly settle in his mind.

“You care for him.”

Green looked over to Virgil with wide eyes. Virgil stared back and continued: “J said that at first he thought you didn’t like Prince Roman, as you tried everything to avoid meeting him. But seeing how you act around him, after Prince Roman telling me himself that you were nothing but kind to him, I now see that J miscalculated. You care about him far more than you would like to admit. And I don’t know why but I am grateful for it.”

Green swallowed.

“You are?”

“I am, yes. He can need all the help and protection he can get. He’s can have a terrifyingly low sense of self preservation. J always says it runs in the family,” Virgil said and pulled his eyebrows up.

Green cleared his throat and laughed half-heartedly. With a grunt he stood up and Virgil did the same. It was time for them to continue with their day and get around to check the guard stations for unusual sightings.

***

I can go.

█████ was pacing around in his room. He knew it was the smart thing to do. He knew Roman was a better diplomat than him and he had a better way with words than him. It made sense to send him on this mission and not go himself or send Logan or Janus.

But Roman was his only ███████. He was the only one left in his family and letting him go for the very first time ever was not as easy as Janus and Logan made it out to be. Especially, not now. Not when he wanted to ask Logan-

“You wanted to see me?”

Roman had entered █████’s chamber. He was already wearing his outfit for the journey to Sictes and █████’s heart ached. Slowly, he turned around and closely looked him over. He looked cleaner and more put together than █████ himself did. He reminded him more and more of their Roman’s mother.

“Aww, look at fancy you!” █████ said teasingly but the wetness sparkling in his eyes betrayed him.

Roman sighed and walked up to him. They looked at each other for a moment and eventually █████ lifted his arms a little while shooting Roman a pleading look. Roman easily complied and pulled him into a hug.

The whole situation was hard on Roman as well. In all those years they never had left their homeland nor left each other's side for a whole month. This was new and scary for both of them but it had to be done. Roman had promised to help █████ as well as he could in his times of needs.

“I have to go, ███. You know I need this,” Roman mumbled into █████’s neck and he felt him pressing him even harder against his chest.

“I know,” █████ mumbled back before he finally let them part from the hug. “I know you have to. This place always haunted you more than me. And I’m glad I don’t have to deal with Caroline.”

Roman could not help himself but snickered at the comment and shoved █████ in the shoulder. They laughed for a moment before █████ guided them towards the sitting area and sat down with him on the divan. They remained quiet for a short while, just relenting their own thoughts and enjoying the other’s presence.

“You are sure you can do this, right?” █████ said in a small voice.

Roman bit his lips and took █████’s hand. He squeezed it, let go and signed: “I’ll be fine.”

Around █████ he dared to not talk and sign as much as he pleased and █████ was glad that Roman still felt comfortable enough around him to do that.

A tap on █████’s shoulder. He looked over. Roman signed concerned: “Will you be fine?”

He took a deep breath and folded his hands in his lap. Would he be fine? There was Janus. He was like a brother to █████ at this point. He knew so well what was going on in his head, could predict so easily what others deemed to be unpredictable about █████. He would take care of Roman. He had promised so and █████ knew he would do anything to keep that promise.

And then there was of course Logan. Logan, who had accepted the position as his Military Advisor at first, later also the title of his International Relationships Advisor and even as his Council for the Education System. Logan, who was loyal, smart and lovely. Logan, who had begun to flirt back three years ago. Logan, who had finally kissed him the first time two years ago. Logan, who had told him that he loved him right after that first kiss.

“I think, I will be fine...” █████ said with a smile on his lips and he took something out of his pocket.

Roman watched as █████ fiddled with a box and suddenly realized what it was. He inhaled sharply and █████ looked up to him, his hands tightening their grip around the box.

“You’ll ask him?” Roman said breathlessly and stared at the little box.

█████ simply nodded and exchanged a look with Roman. They hadn’t been together for a long time. The burden Logan would have to carry as part of the royal family was huge and no one knew that better than them. They had lost their Roman’s parents because of that burden.

And yet Logan made █████ happy. Roman could see it every time they spoke together and, in every moment, when they managed to catch a glimpse of the other during meetings. They gave each other a safe place to retreat and a strong shoulder to lean on on bad days.

Roman began to grin and put his hand over █████’s to stop him from clenching his fist anymore.

“It’s about time. He’s certainly eager to finally spend every night with you!” Roman joked.

█████ simply grinned at the comment and fiddled a little more with the box. On other days he would have complimented Roman’s slightly suggestive jab but right now he was simply too nervous to do so.

“We both know that he will say yes. There’s no need for you to be nervous,” Roman reassured him as █████ didn’t say anything else.

█████ huffed and shook his head still staring at the box in his hands.

“I know,” █████ said bitterly, “he will. But – This is going to be so much on him and I – I’m thinking of making it even harder for him, Ro.”

Roman blinked and █████ looked at him seriously. They had the same thought.

“In case of your death you want him to become king in my stead, don’t you?”

█████’s lips were pressed together in a thin line and Roman let out a long breath. Then he let out a laugh and leaned his shoulder against █████’s side.

“He makes a better king than both of us combined me, ███. I’m not going to fight you on this. If anything, I’ll encourage it even,” Roman told him softly before he fixed █████’s unruly bangs.

█████ let Roman fuss over his hair some more. He truly had inherited their Roman’s mother’s elegance and warmth and █████ tried to indulge in it as long as he could until Roman would undoubtfully have to leave. And he knew that Roman indulged in it as well.

***

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Nothing new had been seen and they had to head back as empty handed as in the last few days. Green was quieter during all of it and Virgil was questioning himself if it had been something that he had said this day when Green suddenly started to talk on their way towards his quarters.

“What gave you the idea that I care about the prince? What of my behaviour gave it away?” he asked rather quietly.

For a moment Virgil mused and then replied: “I think it’s a bit the same behaviour you show around the boy; you soften your tone and have the patience of a saint. Frankly, I think it’s your fatherly side that is coming through.”

The steps next to Virgil stopped abruptly. He stopped immediately as well and turned to see Green’s mortified face. His breath hitched, sweat started to build up on his brows. Virgil did not hesitate and after a short “Can I touch you?” which was answered with a nod, he pulled Green away from the street into the little room he called his. Slowly, so very slowly Virgil managed to get Green grounded again as he told him how to breath and had him drink two glasses of water. The first one he almost completely spilled due to his shaking hands but the contents of the second glass made it almost completely into his mouth.

Several minutes later, after the panting and shivering from Green had subdued Virgil sat down next to him on the bed. Green let himself fall backwards on the bed and Virgil watched him closely. To his surprise Green’s eyes met his and were clearer than he had expected them to be after such an intense stress reaction.

“What on earth gave you the idea that I could be a father?”

Virgil furrowed his brows.

“I told Janus that I didn’t have anything to do with kids-” Green spoke further but Virgil cut him off.

“J asked you if you worked with kids. At least that’s what he told us and that’s not the same thing as being a dad and the way you treat Patton reminds me of how J’s father treats kids. He is like the only good reference I have for a father figure and you check all the boxes. Sorry, I assumed wrong. Didn’t think you’d freak out that much but, uh, sorry, it’s – it’s fine! You don’t have to tell me anything about this. I was out of line.”

Green had closed his eyes. He threw his arm over his face and only his mouth was visible now. He began to grin bitterly.

“We were trying.”

It had been so quiet that Virgil had almost missed it. Almost. But he heard and his mind was racing.

These three words told him so much more about the mystery man than he had ever expected to find out. There was a we, a partner of sorts who was close enough to start a family with Green. But this partner was no longer in the picture. But why? How had Green, who fought quicker and harder than most people he had ever met, lost this partner?

And more importantly, how did Green cope with such a loss on his own? Looking at his still body, at the tenseness in his arms and the forced smile on his lips he wasn’t dealing well.

With a broken voice Virgil mumbled: “I’m so sorry, dude…”

A snort.

“Whatever for, Gloom and Doom? You’re not the one who took him from me. Took my life… It’s fine. Don’t tell Janus, the prince and especially not the king. They’ve got better things to worry about. They shouldn’t waste their time on some stupid no one, who is dealing with things that can no longer be changed. It’s fine.”

He lifted his arm and sat up.

His eyes darted down to his feet.

He lifted his gaze and met eyes with Virgil again. A little smile, sincere yet small.

“But for what it’s worth,” Green said and put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “thanks for thinking I’d be a good dad. Didn’t think I’d ever turn out to be good enough for that.”

___

Link for AO3, Taglist, Masterlist, and next Chapters are in my first reblog!

#intrulogical #remus sanders #virgil sanders #background romantic anaroceit #janus sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #fantasy au #Never Met You #theft #suggestive language #nothing too harsh but there's remus I guess?#eir writes #please reblog

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blue-and-dog · 3 years

Text

The Beast in the Mountains (A Sengoku Basara One-Shot)

Note: This story is centered around my fanon that, post-Sekigahara, Mitsunari and his family fled into the mountains to live in hiding for several years before his death. A wife is mentioned, but for the sake of this story I keep her ambiguous so you readers who have an OC shipped with him can just slap her in there. :D Shiranui’s profile is here.

TW: BLOOD, ANIMAL ATTACK

[[MORE]]

“That’s a good size fire; try and keep it like that for now.”

The group of men sat around the small fire; four dirty, tired, ragged men on the run from proper society, obscured by the darkness of the mountain’s dense forest, barely illuminated by the small fire. Sadanobu continued.

“Any brighter and we risk attracting animals. I’m already worried about smoke flowin’ through the treetops.”

“With how thick these trees are?” Gaku chuckled, “I’m surprised the moonlight even gets through here. We’ll be fine. We just gotta make sure to put it out before we call it a night.”

“You sure no one’ll find us up here?” Naofumi asked, as usual fidgeting with his hands out of anxiety.

“Relax, I did some scoping out of the town not far from these mountains,” Matazaemon shook his head, “They’re superstitious folk. Somethin’ about an old legend saying there’s a guardian spirit that lives on this mountain. People who go too high up the mountain end up in its territory and meet a horrible fate or some shit like that. That’s why I wanted to set up the camp so high up.”

“Besides, we’re not staying long...” Sadanobu pulled out the thick sack from behind him, “We gotta get to my guy in Kyoto and pawn all this off.”

Another successful heist for the unlikely group of criminals; two army deserters, a farmer and a gambler, able to pool their strengths and successfully rob their way across the East. Traveling nobles, temples, inns—nothing was safe. The country was a mess—they were just taking the opportunity to help themselves.

“That last temple was hidin’ some good loot!” Gaku said excitedly, “I still can’t believe how lucky we got! Lemme see again!”

Sadanobu rolled his eyes, but smiled and passed the bag to Gaku, who excitedly opened it, tilting it toward the light of the fire to see the inside; the head of the gold Buddha glittered back at him. “We got enough goodies in here to eat like kings for weeks!”

“Man, I haven’t eaten a decent meal since the Toyotomi...” Sadanobu sighed and leaned back. “It’ll be nice...”

“Hey, yeah, you were a Toyotomi guy!” Matazaemon laughed, “I was Oda! I know your pain.”

“You’re kidding! You don’t strike me as an Oda guy.”

“And you don’t strike me as a Toyotomi!” he cackled back, as the two howled in laugher. Gaku and Naofumi chuckled along.

“You know, you two never talked about your army days,” Naofumi pointed out, “We got time—why not start now?”

“It’s really nothin’ much,” Matazaemon shook his head, digging through another bag to grab a rice ball and start distributing them amongst the group, “I joined up so my old man didn’t have to, wound up havin’ to do a lot of killing and burning and pillaging that I really never wanted to do. Watched all the major generals shining above everyone else, while the foot soldiers were trampled beneath them. Date, Takeda, Uesugi...they were the kind of guys that really made war seem like a fun time.”

“I know what you mean,” Gaku replied, “They made it look like something we should aspire to. I almost joined up with Date myself, but...when folks from the Date came around enlisting able-bodied men, I took off so my mom wouldn’t have to see her only son die for the sake of some egotist who just wanted more land for himself. I wonder how she’s doing...?”

“That’s the thing about these generals and daimyo,” Naofumi shrugged, “They shine brighter by standing on the backs of their soldiers.”

“Oda was a complete monster, though,” Matazaemon grumbled. “All of his inner circle were. Moment I got news Akechi killed him, I took the opportunity to turn tail while everyone was scrambling around. Never looked back.”

“Similar to my story,” Sadanobu nodded, “Hideyoshi was a creep...even standing near him put me on edge. And his supporters weren’t any better.” He leaned forward, looking down into the fire. “I remember one day, when I was training...apparently his general, Ishida, didn’t think I was making enough progress. By some mercy, he kept his sword sheathed, but he beat me with the sheathed weapon in some twisted attempt to strengthen me. All it did was strengthen my resolve to get the hell out of there soon as I could. Glad he’s dead.”

“Is he, though?” Naofumi raised an eyebrow. “I thought it wasn’t confirmed.”

“He and his family were in Osaka castle when some folks raided it after he lost Sekigahara. The whole place went up in flames; there’s no way an impulsive guy like that had any escape plan to get out of there undetected. There were so many burnt corpses in the castle afterward once the fire was under control; he had to be among them. He wouldn’t have run. He never ran.”

Naofumi closed his eyes in thought. “Maybe. There’s always a chance.”

“Don’t even start. I don’t wanna think about the possibility that that asshole’s still out there somewhere. And even if he is...he’d never willingly show his face again.”

The wind seemed to whisper above them. And a rumbling came from the woods around them.

“What was that?” Naofumi looked up, now apprehensive.

“Probably just an animal attracted to the light,” Gaku reached toward the fire, grabbing a burning hunk of wood from it as he stood up. “Wave this around a little bit and they’ll be gone. I’ll do it.”

Gaku turned from the group, heading through the brush, waving the burning wood around to light his path. Big, dramatic steps and stomps to intimidate whatever was near, his companions watching from afar.

Then, his head perked up, as if he spotted something. But before he could speak a word, he let out a choked-off cry, the flame dropping and going out.

“Gaku!” Matazaemon cried out as the group stood up, on high alert. Then, the loud thumps of quick but heavy footsteps, and a vicious bark and snarl, as a large, white blur lunged forward, biting Matazaemon by the arm; the force knocked him to the ground as he felt the arm pop out of place. He howled a mix of pain and fear.

Naofumi stared in shock and horror at the large wolf now viciously yanking Matazaemon to and fro like a rag doll, blood soaking its teeth and maw. But Matazaemon’s screams finally snapped him to attention as he pulled out his knife, plunging it toward the beast’s side in a panic.

He missed the stab, but the blade did slice the wolf’s side, as it let go of his friend and instantly turned on him; its jaw snapped open, going for his throat, and as he fell back, he looked to Sadanobu for help.

But Sadanobu had fled. Even as the wolf snarled and tore into him, Naofumi could hear footsteps approaching, and hear something slice into Matazaemon, silencing his howls of agony.

Sadanobu blindly pushed his way through the brush, his face a mix of fear, of terror, of snot and spit, while he tried to process that he was alone now, on this mountain, at night.

The Beast of the Mountain was real! That was no ordinary wolf! That thing...that thing was a monster! So fast, so strong! He had to leave its territory.

He had to get down the mountain.

He tripped in his panic, falling and rolling a ways, before finally sliding to a stop, staring up at the break in the treetops to see the moon. He began to sit up, but froze.

Footsteps. Two feet.

He began to hyperventilate, wondering if the beast had changed form, to come after *him.*

But the moon began to make his pursuer visible. And he could see those thin, angry eyes glaring down at him.

Those thin, angry eyes from all those years ago.

And he began to wail.

“IT’S YOU—“  SPLURCH!

That one slice caused his insides to burst out of him, as he fell back, gurgling his final sounds, the world around him becoming black.

....

And Ishida Mitsunari flicked the blood off his old sword before sheathing it again. His intuition had been correct; the noise and dim light he saw from his home wasn’t just his imagination playing tricks on him; someone had the audacity, once again, to venture that high up the mountain. And they needed to be dealt with swiftly, before he risked them finding him.

Grabbing the body by the leg, he began to drag it back with him toward the campfire. As he did, he whistled a short whistle, as the snarls and barks from before were replaced by panting; he found the wolfdog standing by the other two bodies, his curled tail twitching in satisfaction. Dropping the first body’s leg, Mitsunari knelt down.

“Come here. Let me see.”

The dog padded forward, allowing Mitsunari to get a closer look. Removing his right glove (revealing a hand scarred from burns), he ran a hand along the wound in the dog’s side; the dog let out a small whimper, but didn’t panic.

“...it’ll scar, but it’s nothing serious,” he muttered, “We’ll treat it when we get back home. Good work, Shiranui.”

His children had named the dog when he brought the pup back to their home two years prior, having found the pup attempting to steal one of the pheasants he had hunted. Now fully grown, it was clear the dog took mostly wolf traits...but, at his core, Shiranui had always been a loyal dog...especially to his master.

Once certain the wound wasn’t serious, Mitsunari turned his attention to the bodies. Retrieving the last one from a ways away, he wasted no time rifling through their pockets and satchels for supplies. Medicine, food, tools...anything usable, he gathered into the largest bag. As he came across the sack containing their ill-gotten gains, he pondered the contents for a bit...before shaking his head. He had no need for any of this. Gold and the like wouldn’t keep them alive. Wouldn’t keep them safe.

One by one, he dragged each body a ways up to the cliffs, before rolling each body over the edge with one smooth motion, watching them get swallowed by the darkness below as he listened to the impact of them striking the cliff side, the stones, the tree branches....and lastly, he tossed the sack of treasures, too. Good fortune to whomever finds them, he supposed. It didn’t matter to him either way. Either way, the Beast of the Mountain had maintained its status as something to be feared.

Returning to the camp and snuffing out the fire, he let his eyes readjust to the darkness, before looking to Shiranui’s bloodied face.

“Let’s wash your face before we go back.” His wife hated when the dog came back from its hunts and meals looking like that.

After stopping by the stream to clean off the dog’s face and wash the wound a bit, they began their quiet trek back home, their loot in hand. Nearly three years of this life...and sometimes, it was still wildly unfamiliar to him.

He should have died at Sekigahara. He should have taken his life when he failed to avenge his lord.

He should have.

But he didn’t.

Now he was a spent match; the fire of battle had long left him, and now he was smoke, drifting about his new life, though sometimes, that little fire would come back. Sometimes, he would remember why he lived.

Off the beaten path, past the troublesome terrain, there stood a small house. His house. It was no Sawayama, it was no Osaka Castle, but it was home. And it was here that he quietly slid open the door, only to flinch slightly, startled by the shape of his wife’s feet in the moonlight shining through the door. In her arms, the smallest of his children, his only daughter, little Tatsuhime, fast asleep and undisturbed.

“...how close were they?” his wife asked in the softest of voices.

“Close enough to be a problem,” he replied. She could tell he was willfully omitting details. Details that would distress or upset her. He clearly didn’t want to elaborate further. Other than, “Shiranui’s hurt. I’ll stay with him tonight.”

She gave a quiet nod, quietly vanishing into the tiny hallway, as she, too, was swallowed by darkness.

Mitsunari retrieved a cloth, taking a seat against the wall and beckoning the dog over; Shiranui obeyed, laying down as Mitsunari pressed the cloth against the wound. The dog rested his head on his master’s lap, while Mitsunari rested his own head against the wall.

He could faintly hear the rustling of his wife setting Tatsuhime down to sleep; undoubtedly between her two older brothers. His wife was then rustling into bed as well.  He didn’t know when he’d sleep.

But until then, he’d remember why he lived.

#sengoku basara #ishida mitsunari #Mitsunari Ishida #fanfic #basara #Sb fanfic #blue writes #fan fiction #fanfiction #capcom

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elaraves · 4 years

Text

Lost Light

With much effort, Elara managed to squeeze through parts of the ruined city wall. Ahead of her was the wilds, untamed and dangerous to go unarmed. The tops of the trees that lined the edge of the woods waved to her. She gave one last look up and behind her to make sure no Cabal was sitting in wait at the perimeter. All she found was more ash and destruction. She couldn’t help but feel sad and scared. Her home and people were in ruin and she only had her Ghost to accompany her into the unknown.

Calm yourself. She took a moment to breathe. Question seemed to notice her hesitation and remained silent.

Her fiery eyes flashed open once more and she dashed for the treeline. She ducked under and behind the brambles and peeked back towards where she was. Nothing had changed. No one was pursuing her. She stood and continued her stealthy trek onward.

EE:// Outskirts // 4 Days after Tower attack

She had to find a weapon and rations. Anything to help sustain herself. She was tired of picking berries that Question told her were safe. It was growing colder the further away she moved from the City. She didn’t even know where she was heading. She could also hear the sounds of Cabal, Fallen, and various other predators out beyond where they camped at night. Question always looked out for her and she was careful not to draw unwanted attention to them, but she definitely didn’t sleep much anymore.

“Evie look!” Question gasped.

She stopped and looked up. A beautiful brown falcon was perched above them. It looked well cared for and fed. Strange. It was looking intently at them and screeched, before taking flight away.

“Weird. Was it looking for something?” Elara wondered.

“As long as it doesn’t try flying off with me,” Question stated.

Elara watched where it flew to, and continued walking the same path. Once they reached the edge of the ledge they were on, she came to a dead stop and gasped.

A moderately sized campsite was set up right under them. A handful of corpses were scattered amongst it. The area looked destroyed and ripped through. There was a struggle, but ultimately they were all slain.

“Those are.. Guardians,” Question gasped.

Elara quickly skidded down the gravel incline into the camp. Hurriedly, she moved to check to see if any were still alive.

“They’re all dead..” Question said after a quick scan of the area, “This is horrible, they didn’t have a chance without-“ Elara faced him and he stopped. She assumed he didn’t want to scare her anymore with the truth. It didn’t make her feel any better.

“I’m going to see if there’s anything I can salvage to help us. Scan this area to identify them and mark the location for a later date,” Elara stated, “I want to bring these names back with me and allow a return for a proper burial.”

Question nodded and immediately got to work while Elara dug through the few crates they had. She managed to grab a decent amount of rations and some unused ammo clips. She found a functional hand cannon on a male Hunter and SMG on a female Titan, but she didn’t dare shoot them yet out in the open here. She looped them on her belt and turned to watch Question. He was currently hovering over another female Warlock.

“Anyone we know?” Elara questioned.

She was afraid of the answer, but she had to know. Out of everything, she was most terrified of finding a familiar face among them at this moment.

“No. Nothing more than passing names and faces,” Question answered.

That didn’t make her feel any better either.

She looked over the Warlock again and knelt beside her body. Her hand was outstretched towards something. Elara looked to where she was reaching to find a discarded sidearm. She picked it up and placed it firmly in the Warlock’s hand, before resting it over her chest. She hoped it was a nice symbolic gesture of respect, but this stuff was never familiar nor easy for people like her.

Elara looked at her closer. The Warlock’s helmet remained almost untouched, with only minor chipping on a portion of the outside rim of the visor.

“I’m sorry to do this. I didn’t want to disturb anyone here,” Elara said, reaching a hand for it.

She carefully removed the helm to find she was another Awoken. She had short red choppy hair that stood on end and a clear, soft face. What startled Elara the most was that the small waves of light that danced under the Awoken people’s skin were gone from her. Elara removed her own broken helmet and replaced it.

“Goodbye, cousin. Thank you.”

She stood again and turned to Question who was quietly watching.

“Are we all set here?” she asked him.

“Yes. I’ve got everything you asked for.”

“Good. Let’s keep moving.”

They continued on in silence.

EE:// Twilight Gap // 1 week after Tower attack

The two had managed to travel a far distance in the amount of time they’d been on their own. They even managed to hit the mountain ridgelines that afternoon. Elara still had a fair amount of rations carefully saved, but that was about to get more difficult. It was going to take a lot to keep her stamina up. Cabal ships were frequently passing through this area as the days passed, which kept her even more on edge. She told Question to keep scanning for ships they could commandeer as they went.

As she crossed over a crest, she faced a familiar sight. The falcon from days prior was perched off of the rock wall in front of her. It turned its head at the sound of her arrival, let out a cry, and took off further down the mountain.

“Is it following us?” Question said, also noticing it’s presence.

Elara continued down the ridge to the mountain pass where the bird flew. Something was telling her she should follow, but then again she could be going crazy out here. She already respected the Hunters ability to live out here on their own, but now she really understood how easy it was to lose yourself. They’d probably be the only ones that had a chance now..

She pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She had to remain optimistic for herself. If not for her, at least for Question. She had to see him safely through this.

She came across a ledge that led into a large opening of the mountain pass and jumped down. She walked further down and around large clusters of rock. The falcon was gone. She continued looking.

“Evie up ahead!” Question alerted.

She looked up in that moment and saw it. Two Cabal psions were perched overhead, keeping watch over the area. They were alerted to her presence with Question’s voice and took aim at her. She turned and dove to the ground in a flash as the two rifle shots whistled in unison.

Not fast enough..

She felt a knock on the top of her helm and was tossed backwards. Sharp stinging pain erupted from below her right clavicle. She heaved her chest upwards to a sitting position and pushed herself up against the stone she was hidden behind. Looking down, blood was already pouring out of her ruined armored robes.

Shit!

It was the only word running through her head. She managed to dodge lethal blows, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the bullets completely. The sound of alerted Cabal legionaries and their war dogs arrived immediately after the gunfire.

Elara pressed her left hand firmly over the entry wound, a sharp cry escaping her lips. She looked down again through the pain to find her palm soaked in blood. She pressed down harder before carefully pulling the SMG from her belt and flipping off the safety with her free hand.

“Evie, you’re hit! Let me look at you!” Question cried in front of her.

She turned behind to get a better line of sight. The war dogs' snarls were close.

“No get back!” she yelled at him, firmly nudging him backwards with her gun hand. More pain cried through her shoulder at that protective gesture. She moved to hold her arm steady.

As soon as she saw the first canine turn the corner, she opened fire. Countless followed on either side, all slumping to the ground, but more kept coming. Her heart beat faster in fear, she was going to be swarmed in any moment.

“Elara!” Question urgently yelled. He was serious now, he only ever called her by her real name when he was.

“I said get away! Hide!” Elara yelled in response, while glancing back at him.

He remained hovering behind her shadow. In a flash, she turned to face him. Grabbing him from the air in her bloodied fist, she tossed him into cover in a bramble bush a few feet behind her. She felt a pang of guilt for throwing him in his battered state, but she didn’t want them hurting him.

She turned back around and was immediately thrown to the ground. Teeth and claws ripped at her person. She screamed and released more bullets into the dogs, before the pain unintentionally caused her to lose grip of it. She attempted to claw back over to it, but the dogs began pulling her by the legs in their maws back to their owners. She kicked to try getting them to open their bites, but it only received more.

A large figure shadowed over her. A Legionnaire looked down at her and shooed his last remaining dogs away. Elara quickly grabbed at her hand cannon and fired.

Click. What? Click click. No.. the safety is still on!

The Cabal soldier gave an alienated laugh and swatted her gun aside. He pressed one foot down upon her chest, immediately receiving a wheezing exhale from her. She couldn’t breath. She punched and clawed at him, anything to try to get the weight of the mountain off of her. She only received a slug rifle in her face.

This is it, I’m dead…

She braced for the impact.

Bang!........ Bang!

She looked back up. That wasn’t against her and it was close.

The Cabal was looking in the direction the noise came from as well, his dogs already running off barking away from sight. He moved off of Elara and yelled something in his native tongue into the air. She gave a heavy exhale in relief as she could breathe again.

Pow! The air in the Cabal’s armor hissed and he collapsed to the side, silent and unmoving.

Whoever that was, they were helping her.

She turned over and pushed herself up somewhat to her unsteady feet. The pain in her shoulder and new punctures across her body screamed and her vision grew hazy. She didn’t need to look down at her wounds to know she was on the verge of bleeding out. A few more cracks of gunfire cut the air and the wind grew silent again. She grew dizzy as she scanned around for her tossed weapon and her ghost. She caught sight of her hand cannon, and reached down towards it before falling face first into the dirt. The sound of footsteps approaching alerted her and she turned to face her unexpected savior.

A cloaked figure, bathed in browns and red with multiple glowing eyes was hurrying to her. She blinked to fight the haze in her head. An Eliksni helped her?.. There was no way.

“Question,” she muttered aimlessly in an attempt to call him to her. “Question..”

It didn’t stop coming. She grabbed the gun from where it lay on the ground next to her and aimed after quickly flipping the safety off. She continued trying to call out to her Ghost.

Her arms gave up before her eyes did. She saw their well worn boots before the darkness of unconsciousness swallowed her.

#destiny #destiny 2 #short story #fanfiction

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changingourdestiny · 5 years

Text

Changing Our Destiny: Cayde-6 Birthday Special ♠

Summary:

Rae has found out from Ikora that some Guardians celebrate the day they were revived by their Ghost as a birthday of sorts, and that Cayde’s revival day is coming soon. So Fireteam Paralight put their heads together to decide on what they should do for the Hunter Vanguard for his revival day.

(Shout out to @aislinavalbane for the idea of making September 5th Cayde’s birthday!)

“Ugh…it’s no use! I can’t think of anything that would work!” “I still think we should consider the ramen cake.” “Blaze, for the last time, we are not baking ramen into a cake.” “Why not?!” “It’s weird and sounds gross!” “Have you ever EATEN a ramen cake?” “No! Because it sounds disgusting and I don’t wanna vomit!” “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!” “Well, have YOU ever had a ramen cake?” “I…uh, I mean…you see…Adam, back me up here!!!” “How come whenever I hear the sound of Guardians plotting something strange, it’s always you three?” Fireteam Paralight looked up from their pile of scattered-about notes to see Ikora looking down at them with a curious expression. It was mild early-September afternoon and the three friends were sitting under the tree outside Banshee’s gun stall with several pages of notes strewn across the ground involving decorations, food ideas, and a poorly drawn picture, which was of a large appalling-looking cake made of noodles and other ramen ingredients and the words ‘Super Awesome Ramen Birthday Cake’ scribbled above in what looked like crayon, that was being held up by Blaze. “Trust me, Ikora,” Stormbringer began, appearing beside Adam, “I’ve been asking that question myself ever since we formed this Fireteam.” “What are you up to this time anyway?” Ikora asked, raising an eyebrow, “And Blaze, what is that abomination you’ve drawn?” “NOTHI-wait, ABOMINATION?!” Blaze exclaimed, hiding the drawing behind her back, as Adam fell face-first onto the pile of papers in a starfish position in an attempt to hide them. However, the force of the fall caused a stray page to fly forward onto Ikora’s foot. She picked up the page and read it aloud, “’Operation: Cayde Birthday Plan’? Is this related to our discussion the other day?”

A few days prior…

“Got those books you asked for, teach!” Ikora was alone in the meeting room of the tower when Rae came in with a stack of books in her arms that piled up so high that the poor Paragonialan could barely see where she was going. “Ah. Thank you, Rae.” Ikora took some of the books from Rae and helped her set them on the table. “Where are Zavala and Cayde?” Rae asked. “Zavala has gone looking for Cayde. He sneaked out of a meeting without Zavala noticing.” “Did you notice?” Ikora just winked in response as she began flicking through one of the books. Rae sat on the steps nearby, flicking through her journal to see if she can learn any new facts about her past. She arrived on a page that was apparently about her birthday. She almost did a double take when she saw her age, “Uh, Ikora? You know how Paragonialans live forever?” “Yes.” “I…just figured out my age…” “Well?” “…I’m over 800 years old.” Ikora glanced at Rae with a surprised expression before chuckling, “Well, I suppose I can no longer say that I’m getting too old for certain things now. You look great for 800.” “Thanks!” Rae laughed, “That reminds me…when’s your birthday, teach?” “Guardians don’t really have birthdays, per se.” “WHA!?” Rae jumped up in surprise, nearly falling down the steps for the 100th time. Ikora wiggled her ear, “Congratulations, I believe you’ve stolen the title of ‘Loudest Guardian’ from Shaxx.” “Guardian’s don’t have birthdays?!” Rae exclaimed, her jaw seeming like it was going to hit the floor. “Well, most Guardians don’t really remember their birthdays after being revived.” Ikora explained, “But I believe some Guardians celebrate the day their Ghost revived them, or the day they arrived at the tower. I don’t usually celebrate anything like that, nor does Zavala. But I believe Cayde celebrates the day he was revived the odd year…well, by ‘celebrate’ I mean he usually goes to Spicy Ramen for longer and Zavala lets him get away with it. I think it’s coming up soon actually. 5th of September.” “Hmm…” Rae seemed to go into though for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face. “I know that face.” Ikora began, “That’s your ‘I’m plotting something’ face. What are you up to?” “Oh nothing!” Rae smiled, “I need to go ask my Fireteam something. See you later, teach!” Rae hopped up the steps, nearly tripping on them again, before leaving the meeting room. Ikora just sighed as she left. “Maybe it was a bad idea pairing her up with Blaze of all guardians. That hunter is beginning to rub off on her.” Ikora muttered as she returned to her books, trying to get some reading done before Zavala returns with Cayde.

Back to present day…

“Uhh…maybe?” Rae replied, a sheepish look on her face, as Adam got off the pile of pages. Blaze helped the Titan neaten them up as Rae stood up from where she was sitting under the tree, “You said a few days ago that the 5th, tomorrow, was the day Cayde was revived, and I wanted to do something for him. So for the last few days, we’ve been trying to think of something but…we keep either drawing blanks or the stuff we come up with doesn’t seem good enough.” “Ah, I see.” Ikora muttered, glancing at the page in her hands before smiling, “Well, if I may offer some advice, while Cayde is quite eccentric, he’s not that fussy about these things. Even with holidays like Dawning, he’s not fussed about it, but I do notice that he perks up a bit more than usually when someone gives him something small as a gift, or even just wishes him ‘Happy Dawning’, or the like. If you really want to do something for him tomorrow, even doing something small like giving him a small gift would make his day.” “Huh…yeah…yeah, that’s good! Thanks, teach!” Rae smiled. “No problem. And best of luck.” Ikora turned and headed down towards the meeting room. “So…now what?” Blaze asked. Rae smiled to herself before turning to face Blaze, “I have an idea!” Rae got one of the blank pieces of paper and folded it in half, “Ok, here’s the plan!”

The next day - 5th of September

“You sure you two got everyone?” “As many as we could! Adam did his part and I did mine. Heck, Adam even went to the Reef to ask Petra for hers too!” “Good. I finished my job too. They even gave me this little envelope for it.” Fireteam Paralight were conversing excitedly in the meeting room when Zavala and Ikora walked in. “Now this is something.” Ikora began, “Not only do each of you have your plotting faces on, but you’re all here before Zavala and me. Even Blaze is up before midday for once. You three are definitely up to something.” “Is this related to why you needed Ikora and I to sign that piece of paper?” Zavala asked, “I’ve received word from other Vanguards that you’ve asked them to do so too.” “Maaaaaybe!” Blaze grinned. Rae whispered into Ikora’s ear and her confused look turns into a look of realisation and then a smirk, “Ah, I see. Nice thinking.” “Oh! Everyone shut it!” Blaze exclaimed. “You’re the only one talking?” Ghost spoke up. “Shush! He’s coming!” Cayde strolled into the meeting room and glanced confusedly between the Vanguards and Fireteam Paralight – the three Guardians having excited expressions on their faces. “Ok, I don’t know what these three are after doing but I swear to Light, I had nothing to do with it.” Cayde explained to Ikora and Zavala. “They’re not in trouble.” Ikora replied a small smirk before nodding at Rae. Rae walked up to Cayde with a smile and handed him a blue envelope which had his name on the front, “Happy Revival Day, Cayde.” Cayde seemed surprised at the gesture at first before chuckling, “Alright, who let it slip? It was Ikora, wasn’t it?” “Open it, open it! I wanna see!” Sundance appeared beside Cayde, eagerly bobbing up and down. “Ok, ok!” Cayde laughed as he opened the envelope and pulled out its contents.

Inside was a paper card with ‘Happy Revival Day, Cayde!’ written in colouring pencil on the front along with a crudely picture of Cayde and other smaller pictures of other Guardians and friends of theirs; Fireteam Paralight, Zavala, Ikora, Eris, Petra, Shaxx and Amanda. On the inside of the card were the words, written in Rae’s handwriting, ‘To Cayde, Happy Revival Day to the coolest Hunter and Vanguard!’ followed by signatures from everyone who was featured on the front of the card. Near the bottom, Cayde noticed two small messages: ‘P.S: Blaze drew the front, so if it sucks blame her. Rae’ followed by ‘Which it doesn’t! Don’t listen to her! Blaze’ Cayde laughed as he read the card, “Is it bad that I immediately knew it was Blaze who drew the front solely because of the art style, or lack of I should say?” “Hey!!” Blaze yelled, playfully punching Cayde’s shoulder. “Remind me to get you art lesson’s for your Revival Day, Blaze.” Ikora chuckled. “There’s also another thing in the envelope!” Rae grinned, motioning to the blue envelope. Cayde reached inside and pulled out several small pieces of paper. “No way…you serious?!” Cayde stared wide-eyed at the small pieces of paper. Each one read ‘Voucher for any meal at Spicy Ramen for free!’ “I told the owner your Revival Day was coming up, and he gave me these coupons for the restaurant to celebrate.” Rae smiled. “It was all Rae’s idea.” Blaze added, “She literally had stacks and stacks of possible ideas for this.” “Ah, well…” Rae scratched the back of her head, a sheepish smile on her face, “I just wanted to do something and-” Rae was cut off by Cayde hugging her tightly, “You are awesome, you know that?! Thanks, Rae!” “N-no problem!” Rae blushed but happily returned the hug. “That settles it!” Cayde exclaimed, “We’re going to Spicy Ramen right now! Paralight, Ikora, heck Zavala you come too! Let’s go!” Cayde practically dragged Rae by the arm as he ran out of the room, Blaze and Adam trailing behind. “Well, we might as well make sure they don’t cause trouble.” Ikora spoke up as she and Zavala followed them out.

Happy Birthday, Cayde-6! 5th September 2019

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grimtwin · 5 years

Note

Favorite ZoNa moments?

All of them of course!

Their first time meeting! Zoro saves Nami from Buggy’s crew as they made to attack her for refusing to kill Luffy. Fending off something like five or six attackers easily, Zoro casually asks her if she’s okay.

Then on Usopp’s island, where Nami and Zoro are trapped behind an oil slick. Nami steps on Zoro so she can safely cross, while Zoro gets stuck. A short while later, when a couple of Zoro’s are taken from him, Nami tries to retrieve them. Even after taking a brutal hit from Jango, she’s able to kick Zoro’s swords to him, which kind of annoys him, but she has this cheeky, “is that how you thank someone?” line, and Zoro gives her his thanks, before whooping ass. That and his terrified reactions every time she’s attacked during this fight with the Black Cat Pirates.

Then we jump to Arlong Park for a few more scenes. This is one of the biggest shipping moments for the two, for a lot of fans. After getting nearly bisected by Mihawk, Zoro’s pretty banged up, and gets taken prisoner by Arlong’s crew. After some cheeky back and forth between Zoro and Nami, Arlong says some pretty fucked up things about Nami being a cold hearted witch who would even forget Bell-mere’s murder for money, which clearly upsets Nami. That doesn’t go unnoticed by Zoro, who then throws himself into the water. He’s bound at the legs, with his hands tied behind his back, and one of the most gruesome wounds we’ve ever seen in OP...so no way is he getting out of that. Until Nami dives into the water and drags him back up that is. Kudos to Nami’s strength here btw, she’s gotta be strong as hell to do that. Anyway, Zoro calls Nami’s bluff here, telling her he knew that she couldn’t have let him die and to stop acting cool which infuriates her enough to stomp on his back. She then asks why he has so many bandages on, and in the English dub, he flirts a bit by saying he didn’t have another shirt and didn’t want Nami to be distracted by his chest/abs, to which she immediately punches him as hard as she can in his Mihawk wound.

After a dramatic flashback and Nami stabbing her arm to slice away the Arlong tattoo, Luffy and the crew go to kick Arlong’s ass. It’s here were we get the next short, but sweet moment that I like. Zoro’s wound has been hit a few times, he’s got a stupid high fever, is damn near dead on his feet at this point, but he’s fighting Arlong in order to give Sanji and Nojiko time to save Luffy’s life. He gives Nami a thumbs up, saying he’s good, but in his weakened state, Arlong gets the better of Zoro, and is holding him by the throat. Its then that Arlong tears away Zoro’s bandages, and that’s when he, Nami, and the rest of Cocoyashi’s villagers see just how fucked up Zoro is right now. Zoro’s got this death glare that startles Arlong to his core, Nami’s lets out a horrified gasp, and Arlong knows he has to kill Zoro here and now because it’ll be too dangerous to let him live. Well...that is until Luffy finally shows up, freed from his stone prison at the bottom of the ocean, grabs Zoro by the shirt color, and throws him several hundred yards to the back of his head lol.

I suppose the next instance would be at Whiskey Peak. The crew has just made it to the Grande Line, and survive a hellish wave of storms...all thanks to Nami, and no thanks to Zoro, who was napping. When he wakes up, Zoro is interrogating Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9, who jumped on their ship, and just when he’s about to uncover some secret, Nami shows up and beats Zoro’s head in. She’s pissed he was sleeping during all the chaos, and even though Zoro tries to get tough with her, she just beats him some more. We all know who wears the pants...or short skirt in that relationship. Later, the crew are happily welcomed into Whiskey Peak’s village, where a massive party is thrown for them by the villagers. The crew is having a grand ol’ time, drinking eating, partying their asses off and we see both Nami and Zoro engaging in a drinking contest. Zoro “goes down” around the 13th tankard of booze, while Nami “goes down” around the 15th. It’s then that we learn that the village is one of 100 Bounty Hunters, who aim to kill/capture pirates making their way into the Grand Line. Just as they unveil their big secret, Zoro appears on top of a house, in one of the most bad ass moments of his up to this point in the series. He was faking being drunk, saying no way would he trust a village welcoming pirates into their midst. He then announces he knows they are Baroque Works, and proceeds to beat the shit out of the entire village in a dope ass fight.

And after that tussle, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine’s Day show up! It seems they have an intruder in their organization, and it’s Miss Wednesday, aka Princess Nefertari Vivi of Alabasta! They’re on the hunt when Mr. 8 pleads with Zoro to go save her, as he is actually Igaram, Vivi’s royal guard. It’s then that Nami appears, agreeing to help Vivi..but at the cost of one billion beri! Zoro questions what she’s doing there when Nami says the same thing he did earlier, that she couldn’t trust a town welcoming pirates, and that she could handle way more booze! These two are can handle their drink alright. Nami and Igaram negotiate, and after coming to terms, Nami commands Zoro to go save Vivi! He immediately refuses until Nami counters that her contracts are HIS contracts as well, and that Zoro still owes her payment for the money she lent him at Loguetown. She guilt trips the ever loving hell out of him, and Zoro has no choice but to run off and save Vivi.

Now we’re at Little Garden, the isle of giants and dinosaurs. The Straw Hats food reserves are low at this point, so Zoro and Sanji decide to have a contest of who can bring back the bigger dinosaur and most meat, very much like Dory and Brogy did 100 years prior. After some running around, Zoro kills his prey and is trying to make it back to the ship when he gets lost; big surprise right? During his search for the ship, he suddenly sees Nami leaning against a tree and happily calls out to her with a big ol’ smile on his face...but cut to black. It was all a trap set up by Mr. 3! A wax dummy of Nami, who has now captured Zoro, Nami, and Vivi! More stuff happens with the other characters, before we’re shown that Nami, Zoro, and Vivi are attached to this big candle with a spinning top that, as it melts, will spray a wax coating over the trapped victims, turning them into statues. Zoro being cool as shit, decides that if they’re just going to die as statues, he’ll cut his feet off and go kill Mr. 3 before this can happen. Just as he goes to do this, an action which horrifies both ladies at his side, Luffy, Usopp, and Carue show up, and Zoro stops about half way through his legs. The pooling blood freaks Nami out, who berates him. A short while later, things are looking bad for Luffy, Usopp, and Carue, so Zoro decides if he’s going to become a statue, he’s going to strike a cool pose. Again Nami gets angry with him, and Zoro jokes with her that she should have taken a better pose too. All three, plus Brogy are completely encased and wax...until Usopp, Luffy, and Carue set them on fire! The wax melts, Zoro, Nami, and Vivi burst out of the towering flames, and take out Ms. Valentine’s Day and Mr. 5 in one shot!

Next, we fast forward to the Alabasta Kingdom. For years, Shichibukai and leader of Baroque Works, Sir Crocodile, has engulfed the country in a civil war, all for the goal of gaining access to a poneglyph, a stone with the location of an ancient weapon known has Pluton, carved into it. And under his employee are the assassins partners Mr.1, Daz Bones, and Miss Doublefinger, Zala. During all the chaos of the final battle, these two would become Zoro and Nami’s opponents, tricked into following the Straw Hats away from Princess Vivi. Zoro tells Nami to stay quiet and hide, but it’s the assassins golden rule to take out those that are weakest first, so they immediately go to attack Nami. Just before Mr. 1 is about to cut her down, Zoro comes to her defense just in the nick of time once more! (In the anime he gives her a cocky grin) The two separate to take care of their own battles, both bloody and brutal, and after Zoro and Nami prevail, Zoro collapses in the street in need of a nap from blood loss. Nami finds him soon after and smacks him awake, but since she’s had her foot and leg stabbed through by Miss Doublefinger’s needles, she can’t walk to well, and gets a piggy back ride from Zoro as they search for Vivi and their friends.

Onward to Jaya! This one is short and sweet. After Luffy and Zoro take a massive beating from Bellamy and his crew, a fight that held no meaning for the Straw Hats so they just didn’t counter, Nami is thoroughly pissed at for being mocked and made a fool of. Later on, when Luffy goes to confront Bellamy for stealing Norland’s gold, Nami asks Zoro why he didn’t go with Luffy to fight. A small, but cute, argument breaks out between the two. They fight like an old married couple! Just get hitched already dammit!

Further still, it’s up to Skypiea! Here we have a lot of good moments between the two. After Pagaya and the people of Skypiea rat the Straw Hats out to Eneru, the Going Merry is attacked and dragged off by some massive sky shell fish. And on the ship, are Robin, Chopper, Zoro, and Nami, where they’re carried to an area where they are meant to be used as sacrifices for Eneru and his warriors. While trying to leave the sacrificial alter, the crew is attacked by Sky Sharks, which try to eat Zoro right away. He gets soaked during the scuffle to kill the sharks, and strips his shirt off, to which Nami goes into his room and then tosses him a new, dry one. Nami warns Zoro that God and the guardian priests are in the forest and are too strong to compete with, but Zoro tells her he’s never prayed to any god because he doesn’t believe him him. Chopper thinks this is cool as hell, and Nami cries, saying she doesn’t know Zoro lol. So Nami, Robin, and Zoro leave the alter to go check some things out, and during their trip, some delightful arguing and banter takes place, and Zoro saves Nami from several sky sharks and a sky alligator trying to devour her. He had been taking the lead on their journey but slowed down to walk behind Nami so he could protect her more easily.

Later on, during a hellish battle set up by Eneru, involving his forces, the Straw Hat Pirates, and the Shandian Warriors, Zoro are fighting alongside with the gargantuan sky snake Norla. In the ensuing chaos, Norla swallows Nami and Aisha appear in the midst of the battle, and are attacked by some goat men under Eneru’s command. Zoro, Wiper, and Gan Fall protect them...but soon after, Gan Fall, Nami, and Aisha are immediately swallowed by Norla. In a fit of anger, shock, and urgency to save Nami, Zoro tries to swiftly deal with his opponents at the time, Ohm and Holy, who activate a cage of iron cloud barbed wire to trap the combatants inside, while also fending off Wiper’s attacks. After defeating Ohm and Holy, the ground beneath his feet is blown away by Eneru and everyone falls to an area below. In all that, Norla spits up Gan Fall, Nami, but then Eneru attacks the snake, and fries it with a massive electrical attack. Zoro, seeing this, is terrified for Nami, until she pokes her head out from behind a rock, revealing that she’s fine. Zoro almost looks annoyed that he was caught looking so scared.

I could continue on, but this is crazy long as is...so this is a good stopping point!

#Zoro #Nami #Gust Sword #Sword Gust #ZoNa #One Piece

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scottishhellhound · 5 years

Text

Saturday morning found Aislinn pounding on the front door of Drake’s home. It was a large solid oak affair, framed by two thin, fogged glass windows. She peered into one, willing the window clear so she could see inside, not that it did, but she could hope. Her incessant pounding produced no answer. There was no movement in the house at all. Not even Drake’s ‘guardians’ seemed to be home, which was the most troubling part. Ash and Willow never left home. Not wanting to stray far from their garden.

A conversation she had had with James at school a few days prior had eased her fears at the time, but she was kicking herself for not checking on her friend sooner. James had mentioned seeing their fight in the hall, and had suggested that maybe Drake was still cross with her or he was sick. She’d accepted the first suggestion, and ignored the second, since Drake never got sick. It also wouldn’t be the first time she and Drake had gone a few days without speaking to one another after an argument.

Now though, seeing the house so empty and still, brought back the initial worry she had had tenfold.

Aislinn was supposed to be meeting James and Diana at Diana’s house, to work on a project for Science. She had called before leaving her house, letting them know that she had wanted to stop by Drake’s first, to see if he was all right. So she had a few moments to take a look around. See what she could see.

After waiting a few more moments with still no answer to her knocking, Aislinn turned from the door and jumped off the porch. Her blue backpack thumping against her back. She spun back around to look up at the house, lush green grass soft under her shoed feet. Drake’s home was two stories high, done in brick along the bottom two feet of the house, and white stucco everywhere else. There was one large bay window in front, closed off by curtains, that she knew was the living room. Further down from those were two smaller windows which belonged to two of the four bedrooms. Their curtains were also drawn. Another concern.

Aislinn glanced up and down the street, ensuring the coast was clear before moving back toward the front door. She crouched down, so she was eye level with the lock, and taking another quick look, brought her hand up and placed it flat against the lock. A moment of concentration, then a flash of light and a sharp crack of electricity. Lightning jumped from her palm to the lock, blasting it apart.

The heavy door swung inwards on silent, well-oiled hinges, revealing a dark and empty living room. No signs of life. Just silence. Like a graveyard after twilight.

[[MORE]]

She stood and walked through the door, feet quiet and hands loose at her side. There was a thin layer of undisturbed dust on every visible surface and object in the house, and Aislinn dragged her finger along a table as she passed by. 'No one's been here for at least a week!'

A quick walk through of both levels of the house confirmed her fear. Dust everywhere, beds not slept in in days, house clean, but unlived in. The eerie quiet of the house made the hairs along Aislinn’s arms and neck stand on end. She moved through the house as quick as she dared. Checking every room for any signs of what might have happened to the homes occupants.

Finding nothing inside, she made her way to the back yard, to see if she could find any clues there. As she pushed open the back door, green eyes widened in horror as she took in the once immaculate garden.

'Great Mother Gaia... what in Olympus' name happened here?'

Deep, thin furrows trenched the ground, as if slashed by a blade, and several scorch and burn marks marred the lush garden. Splashes of silver blood on green leaves and colourful petals drew her eye around the decimated yard.

But most damning of all, were the two empty mounds of soil, at opposite sides of the garden, where two trees once stood tall and proud.

An ash and a willow tree.

'Shitshitshitshit!'

She ran back into the house, making for the front door.

The missing trees at least meant that Ash and Willow were still alive. j

Just no longer here.

The damage to the back yard indicated a fight, which going by his absence, Drake had very obviously lost. As she walked through the house, her mind racing with worry for her friend, she took another quick look at everything, making sure she hadn’t missed a vital clue.

She'd need any detail, no matter how trivial, if it came to calling her father. She hoped that it wouldn't have to go further than her next step.

She came to a sudden halt as she stepped back onto Drake’s front porch, forgetting to close the door, as she was thrown right back to Monday morning.

The once lush green neighbourhood was now dead and gray. Ground dried and cracked, as if it had faced a ten year drought. Trees like skeletons, white and dead, lined the street. No leaves graced their branches, and none littered the ground. It was as if they had never existed to begin with.

Her eyes widened further, as in the distance she could see a thick, miasmic fog rolling in, covering the street. It engulfed cars and hid the ground from sight, as if it were a living, breathing entity, intent in swallowing the world whole.

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, flipping it open and hitting the number ‘1’, before bringing the phone to her ear. It rang twice before someone picked up the other end.

“Hello?”

Aislinn sighed in relief as her mother’s voice drifted over the phone. Tone soft, but Irish accent much thicker than Aislinn’s own.

“Mum, I need you t’do me a favour.” Aislinn’s voice was tight with concealed panic. A fact that her mother picked up on.

“Is everything okay sweetheart?”

“I don’t know yet, I’m goin’ to try and find out. I need you and Mark to stay inside today.” She begged, her voice hitched and panicked. “Lock the doors, close the curtains, and don’t go anywhere ‘til I call you back and give you the all-clear. Okay?”

“Aislinn, what’s going –”

“Please mum! I need you to do this for me.” Fear had her voice cracking, and she had to fight to keep the lightning gathered in her opposite hand from arching across and destroying her phone.

Her mother’s voice cut across the phone, quiet and soothing. A mother calming her child from a nightmare. “Okay sweetie. Call me soon to let me know you’re okay? I love you.”

Aislinn heaved a sigh of relief, not for the first time thankful that her mother was so understanding, and accepting, of her rather unorthodox heritage. “Thank you. I’ll call you back soon. Love you too.”

She flipped her phone shut and slipped it back into her pocket, quickly getting back to her original plan.

Aislinn stepped off the porch and into the fog that was now swirling around her knees, covering the street in a blanket of dismal gray, dampening all sound. She took careful steps on what used to be Drake’s front lawn, skimming her feet across the dirt, seeking out soft ground. Something she could draw in.

She rubbed her laurel wreath and winged pendant again as she searched, hoping to find what she sought. She needed answers.

Fast.

Hermes was her best shot. He knew everything there was to know about anything.

Aislinn stumbled when her foot went from hard, unforgiving stone, to a softer almost clay like surface. Smiling in victory she reached up to the tree she had stopped next to and snapped off a branch.

Crouching down next to the tree, hand feeling along the ground, she cleared a patch of the soft clay, big enough for the image she needed to draw. The butchered Caduceus symbol, while messy would serve its purpose. She pulled her back pack off and ripped the zipper open. Yelping when the skin of her finger caught on the teeth in her haste, blood welling along the wound. Sticking the digit in her mouth, she searched with the opposite hand, crowing triumph when she found what she was looking for.

She removed her hand, a bottle of bright blue sport drink clenched in it. Biting the lid with her teeth, she pulled it open, and turned back to her drawing. Holding the bottle above it, she squeezed out as much as she could. It wasn’t the greatest offering, but it would do. She dropped the now half empty bottle back into her bag and closed her eyes.

“Swift-footed Hermes, son of thundering Zeus, and Maia, daughter of Atlas. Your sister calls now for your aid.” She shook her head as she stood, hating the formalities. She took a steadying breath before continuing. “Hermes, Adelphos, please. I need your help, I don’t know what’s goin’ on. Drakon is missin’. I haven’t heard from him in days. His backyard looks like a war-zone. I am freaking out here!”

Silence followed her words. No leaves shaking in the wind. No bird song flitting through the air.

No cars.

No sounds.

No life.

Aislinn’s hand opened and closed, as if seeking something to hold for reassurance, the silence pressing on her like a physical weight. Her breath started coming shorter and shorter, panting as she tried to fight back the overwhelming fear she could feel creeping up her spine. A skeletal hand dancing along her skin.

Before the silence could press in on her further, she heard a soft sound approaching where she stood. The sound growing louder as it came closer.

She crouched a little into the mist, hiding her hands, and the lightning she gathered there, below the thick, swirling grey fog.

The sound of wing beats filled her ears and she sighed in relief, rolling her shoulders, shedding the feeling of dread from her skin like a cloak. The lightning vanished from her hands, and she stood straight and tall, turning to smile at the approaching god.

Hermes – god of thieves, merchants, and travellers – landed with a silent grace and a teasing grin, golden-brown eyes dancing with merriment.

“Thank fuck!” She threw grateful arms around Hermes shoulders, hiding her face in his neck briefly, taking a moment to centre herself. Strong arms wrapped around her, helping to calm her racing heartbeat, and still her mind.

Though not as panicked as she had been, her words still came out in a tumble. “Hermes, the world’s gone crazy. I don’t know what’s goin’ on. Drake’s missin’. Ash and Willow too. There was some kinda fight –”

Hermes placed his hands on Aislinn’s slim shoulders, stopping her mid-sentence, pushing her back a step so he could see her better. “Easy, Aislinn. Take a breath, and start from the beginning. Starting with why you’re in the Underworld unaccompanied.”

Aislinn blinked up at her taller brother. “Why I’m what? The Underworld? Hermes, I’m not in the Underworld.” She shrugged his hands off and gestured around them. “I’m in- we’re in the Upper Realm.”

Hermes raised one eyebrow at her, casting a quick look around them. “Fog, petrified trees, the chilling damp of an abandoned grave-yard? Sure seems like the Underworld to me.” He placed his hands on his hips, head tilting to the side as he watched Aislinn’s mouth drop open in disbelief.

Aislinn tugged on her hair, pulling the red strands taut, as she counted backwards from ten. First in Latin.

Then Russian.

It only helped a little.

“Why,” her words were slow and careful, as if explaining something to a small child. “Would I call you, of all people, to the Underworld for help, when I’m usually down here visitin’ those who have the power to do somethin’ in that realm? Just think about that for one second, Hermes. Go on. I’ll wait.” She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped one foot in her annoyance.

The god glared at the shorter demi-goddess, warm honey coloured eyes flashing a deep, harsh gold for half a moment. “Watch your tone with me, girl. I’m a brother that loves you, but don’t let that fact let you believe I’ll let slights slide.”

“Come on, Hermes! When have I ever called you in a panic? Look around you.” She gestured at the area they were standing in. The petrified trees, the desolate ground that was scarcely visible through the soup like fog. She grabbed the god’s shoulders and turned him around, so he was now facing the house that had been at his back. “This is Drake’s fuckin’ front yard. In the UPPER realm!”

Hermes paused, taking the time to look at his surroundings with more scrutiny. He turned a slow circle, taking everything in. “What in Kronos’ name…” Wide eyes landed on Aislinn after completing his inspection.

“You think this is bad, this isn’t even the real reason I called you. Check out the back yard. I’ll wait here.”

Hermes raised a hand and a portal of black nothingness swirled into existence. Staying inky and black until it solidified. Aislinn watched as Drake’s back yard came in to view on the other side of the portal. Hermes stepped through, eyes already going wide as the Door swirled closed behind him.

Aislinn took a moment to breathe, letting her eyes close and her chin drop to her chest. Relieved that she might have reliable, divine help. She didn’t have to deal with this alone. A part of her wished she didn’t have to deal with it at all.

When she opened her eyes, she had to blink several times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. The fog was dissipating, the ground beneath her feet becoming more visible by the second, and grass returning, shoots of green sprouting out of the ground before her eyes. The bark of the tree next to her was returning to life. The stone like bark becoming brown again, leaves sprouting from the branches faster than she could count. Between one breath and the next the world was becoming right again.

Not even ten seconds had passed, when she heard her name being called in the distance. But not from the yard behind her.

Her head shot up fast enough that her neck cracked. Eyes widened as all the blood drained from her face, at the sight of the last two people she wanted to see right now.

Diana and James.

Diana. Her mortal best friend, who doesn’t know Aislinn isn’t human.

And James. An unclaimed demi-god.

Fuck.

#writeblr #my writing #violetvineyard #urban fantasy #new adult fiction #original story #original characters #original writing #sidhe writes #wip: godlings #the plot thickens #writeblr communtiy #writers of tumblr #writers on tumblr

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randomfandomfamily · 5 years

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A very long--and I mean really really super duper loooong--post about ROTG 2

So, I’ve had this idea about a second Rise of the Guardians movie for a long time (I mean, who hasn’t, right?). But I thought about it so much that I’ve started a Google Doc to put every new detail down so I didn’t lose anything as the weeks and months passed.

And since no one I know wants to listen to me rant about this movie (again) I’ve decided to share it with the lovely world of Tumblr. And although I don’t necessarily expect anyone to read it all the way through because of how lengthy it is, I still appreciate you even if you read just a singular bullet point.

I did a lot of research from the books, sifting through several websites and even Wiki article or two. I think I’ve comprised a decent outline for a movie, but I am also just an overly enthusiastic fan, so please feel free to call me out on my obsession.

That said, click “Keep Reading” if you feel like exploring over two-thousand words’ worth of crazy frantic writing.

Pitch Black Origin

Kozmotis Pitchiner: Guardian of Innocence

Much like the Kozmotis in the novels, part of his job was to guard a cage full of certain undesirables.

Over time, children started losing their innocence younger and younger, giving Kozmotis nothing to protect or derive any power from. Being a guardian with nothing to protect made him feel obsolete, thus growing angry and bitter.

Like the other Guardians, Kozmotis’ personality reflected the aspect childhood he guarded. He was kind and believed in the good of others, making him gullible at times--and perhaps a little naive.

Since his personality reflects the fragment of childhood he guards, as innocence among children began to dwindle, so too did Kozmotis’ kindness and compassion for others.

In his rage, Kozmotis opened the cage he was supposed to be guarding and caused the Dark Ages. For this, MiM took his title as guardian, making Kozmotis even more malevolent than he already was. This anger warped him and turned him into Pitch Black, an entity of Fear rather than Innocence.

This concept was adapted from the novel, in which Kozmotis releases a horde of Fearlings that posses him. However, in the first movie, Pitch uses Fear as a weapon. They are manifestations he creates himself, and not separate beings that posses him, thus the slight change in the story.

MiM sent the remaining Guardians (North, Bunny, Tooth, Sandy) to strip Pitch of his power, resulting in his disappearance until the time when the first movie is set.

Mother Nature

An ancient spirit and a messenger sent by MiM.

She informs the Guardians of their new mission which, to their surprise, is saving Kozmotis Pitchiner.

Her powers include controlling/ becoming elemental forces, plant manipulation, empathy, and healing.

Her position is one higher than the Guardians’, but lower than MiM.

Though she has never met any of the Guardians face to face, she is very familiar with Jack Frost due to his constant use of the winds to travel and frequent manipulation of the weather. Jack, like the other Guardians, has never seen her before, and is uncomfortable with how much she seems to know about him.

Mother Nature tries to talk with Jack, which makes him suspicious of her, but she genuinely just wants to talk with him. She comes to realize that the reason Jack is so weary of her talking to him is that none of the Guardians had done it prior to Pitch’s attack, so it is understandable that Jack would question her motives.

She is actually infuriated with the Guardians for their lack of contact with the young soul, demanding an explanation from them. Upon hearing several bland excuses--inexperienced, mischievous, never had time--she tells them how much Jack had seen in the past three hundred years, like war and slavery and watching kids grow up around him and passing away.

Though she’s certainly full of sass and attitude, she also plays a motherly role to Jack once he’s more relaxed around her.

Katherine

A tribute to the Katherine in the novels, she is the key to defeating Pitch Black and bringing back Kozmotis, although she doesn’t realize it yet.

She is introduced to the Guardians by Jamie, with whom she goes to school with.

Jack, still sort of a wandering spirit, oftens visits Jamie and his friends. After explaining what’s happening with Mother Nature and Kozmotis, Jamie remembers a friend his, Katherine, who is frequently plagued by nightmares.

Jamie and his friends arrange a secret meeting with the Guardians under the guise of a sleepover.

Katherine is extremely skeptical of Jamie and friends’ story of the Guardians. She, like most children, believes in Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, etc. but the idea of them saving all the children of the world from a villain named Pitch Black seems ridiculous.

After seeing the Guardians, Katherine no longer thought the Pitch idea was so far fetched, but it did take a little time for her to start believing in Jack Frost.

Katherine finally tells Jamie that she will help the Guardians save Kozmotis, especially if it will get rid of her nightmares.

Finding Pitch Black

Mother Nature informs the Guardians that Pitch is still being held hostage by his own fear. Meaning that they are going to have to conquer the Nightmares once again in order to save Kozmotis.

Pitch’s realm has always been in the shadows. More specifically, the Boogeyman was well-known for hiding under beds, leading the Guardians and Mother Nature to believe that path that will lead them to him resides under Katherine’s bed.

After finding their way to the Nightmares’ domain, they come to realize that there is no source of natural light that is staying lit for very long. No sunlight reaches the tunnels, a torches burns out faster than it should, and Mother Nature’s bioluminescence fades almost instantly.

However, once Jack joins them in the tunnels, they soon realize he is radiating blue light. This magical light is what gives them visibility on their journey. Mother Nature explains the aspect of childhood Jack protects is what causes the light to appear when surrounded by Fear.

In the first movie, when Jack was overwhelmed by the Nightmares, he actually appeared to be glowing (we can see the blue light shining through the wall of darkness). This detail is a nod to both this scene and his former identity Nightlight in the novels.

This also serves as a symbol to the correlation between Fear and the aspects of childhood that the Guardians protect. While Fear can damage Hope, make us lose sight of our Dreams, and forget the things that make us happy, it also plays a huge role in the aspect of Fun. Activities such as riding roller coasters, climbing trees, swimming in lakes, etc can be enjoyed in spite of being afraid. In fact, most times, it is this adrenaline that makes things fun in the first place, which is why Jack shines so brilliantly amongs all the Fear.

While he can radiate light and use his power over winter at the same time, it drains him to the point of exhaustion (as seen in the first movie), so when confronted by Nightmares in the tunnels he is torn between fighting and illuminating the battle.

Of the five Guardians, Jack is still the one that finds it easiest to talk to children. Katherine is adventurous, much like Jack, and they get along fairly well. He has been the one watching over her for most of the journey. Mother Nature is perhaps the only other member of the group Katherine talks with openly, mostly due to her motherly tendencies.

The Guardians’ Relationship With Pitch Black

When Kozmotis was Guardian of Innocence, he was well-liked and respected by his fellow Guardians. Jack, at first, doesn’t understand why they are helping Pitch Black considering all he had done to them. But his fellow Guardians explain along their journey that it’s not really Pitch they’re helping, but rather a friend they’re saving.

Since Innocence ties in so closely with Wonder, Kozmotis and North were perhaps the closest of the original five.

North, though clearly ready and willing to save Kozmotis, also seems very hesitant to talk about him at all. As close as they were, North never really got over Kozmotis’ disappearance.

The other Guardians are willing to discuss Kozmotis and explain who he was to them, but North simply refuses to do so. His unwillingness to talk alludes to the nesting dolls in the first movie, representing North’s layers--or walls--that he has built up, especially around the subject of Kozmotis.

During Kozmotis’ decline in power he frequently visited Tooth, who was an unending well of optimism, to try and cheer himself up.

Pitch had to have known the power the teeth held before the Dark Ages, otherwise he never would have found out (due to MiM revoking his title). If he visited Tooth while a Guardian, it would explain the knowledge he had about the teeth in the first film, and how he was able to use it to his advantage.

Sandman wasn’t nearly as close to Kozmotis as North was, but the two of them certainly respected each other. Kozmotis communicated with Sandy easily, often interpreting for the others, or alerting them when Sandy had something to say.

The rivalry between Sandy and Pitch doesn’t occur until the Dark Ages. Despite how much they respected each other, Sandy had zero hesitation about bringing him down, which is what made Pitch so afraid of him in the first movie.

None of the Guardians consider Pitch and Kozmotis to be the same person. Sandy explains that as soon as Pitch rose to power, their friend completely disappeared. In their eyes, Pitch using Fear as a means of power was just the same as killing Kozmotis.

Bunny, surprisingly, was good friends with Kozmotis. He would often use Kozmotis’ nativity and gullibility against him in terms of practical jokes. Kozmotis would often retaliate by pulling his own pranks.

Jack is surprised by Bunny’s explanation of Kozmotis, particularly the part where Bunny partook in childish antics with him. It seemed incredibly out of character for him, although we do see those traits returning in Bunny at the end of the first movie (especially in the scene with Sophie).

It is implied that Bunny’s hatred of Jack was never really about Jack’s trouble-making personality (though he was still angry about the Easter that Jack ruined with a snowstorm) but rather, Jack reminded him a lot of Kozmotis

Bringing Back Kozmotis

Ultimately, the key to defeating Pitch is the same as it is in the books: Katherine.

Throughout the movie, she proves herself to be very brave. She is the first to jump down the dark tunnel under her bed and she is more than willing to help fight off the Nightmares.

She isn’t sure how she’s supposed to help defeat Pitch, but she promises to try, no matter what it takes.

Once they find Pitch in the heart of the Nightmares’ tunnels, he doesn’t seem to be in any position to attack them. He is nearly completely incapacitated and overwhelmed by the black creatures he created.

The Guardians do their best to fight off the Nightmares, but they keep returning, fueled by Pitch’s own fear. Admist this chaos, Katherine approaches Pitch. Jack, who is still unable to fight, accompanies her, mostly to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.

Katherine, rather than fight Pitch, opts to sit with the panicking ex-Guardian instead. She actually says very little, which surprises Jack.

He sits with them, listening to Katherine talk to Pitch in hushed tones. She assures him that he has nothing to be afraid of. Pitch replies that he certainly does have something to be afraid of, he is literally surrounded by fear.

Katherine replies by simply that he should get back up anyways. No one ever beat Fear just by sitting down. It isn’t until she directly addresses him as Kozmotis, which no one has done since the Dark Ages, that he does finally decide to join the fight.

The end result is one last battle against the Nightmares, much like the end of the first movie, but with a more definitive end thanks to Katherine.

Pitch isn’t able to do much, but with Katherine and Jack assisting, he is able to banish his fair share of Nightmares, which became increasingly easier thanks to his rapidly dissolving fear.

Throughout the fight, Pitch has less of a dark aura. He becomes less pale and his dark robes become something lighter and more refined.

Pitch Black is gone, and once again replaced by the Kozmotis that the original four knew in the past. He is no longer naive, as that is something that can never be retained, but he has certainly changed. Once they get Katherine safely back home, the Guardians and Mother Nature reconvene at the North Pole to discuss Kozmotis’ place among them.

Man in the Moon makes one last appearance to inform Mother Nature that her duty with the Guardians is done, and to tell them exactly where Kozmotis belongs, which is alongside the other Guardians.

Kozmotis is no longer the Guardian of Innocence, as that was lost long ago. But through Katherine’s influence, he has become the Guardian of something else: Courage. He will never be what he once was, but he will have the opportunity to help children as he did hundreds of years ago.

(hey there! you made it to the end! you are a very patient person, i hope you know that. apologies for the long post, but just know that i appreciate you reading this even if you disliked the idea. i hope you have a lovely morning, afternoon, or night you beautiful human being!)

#rise of the guardians #rotg #rise of the guardians 2 #rotg 2 #movie idea #plot idea #movie outline #plot outline #i actually have no idea what i'm doing with my life

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satyrykal · 5 years

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Departure Chapter 2 - Back from Hiatus!

Title: Departure

Author: Satyrykal

Pairing: Natsu x Lucy

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Rating: M

Spoiler Warning: Not in the canon-verse, but pays homage to ideas in the Alvarez arc.

Summary: Natsu has been by her side for years - her faithful guard and the man she was never supposed to fall in love with. Lucy is bound by duty and custom, promised to another - yearning for freedom outside the confines of her grandfather’s court. So when the drums of war throw the kingdom into disarray, they make their move – consequences be damned.

Read the story here, or preview the excerpt below!

Running Chapter Timeline:

1 - 2nd July, X494: Lucy 23, Natsu 25

2 - 2nd July, X484: Lucy 13, Natsu 15

CHAPTER 2 Excerpt – The Beginning

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." – Nicole Krauss, 2005

2nd July, X484

Once upon a time – not yours or mine – lived a girl spun from stars and sunshine.

This is her story.

The sun beat down from overhead as she raced across the field, wind pulling her hair free from its braid in strands of gold. Meadows of summer daisies and lupines passed by, shaded by the thick canopy above as the King's Wood gave way the high grass of the garden green. Her hands were tight and sweaty against the reins as she leaned forward, fingers digging into the fine leather as she urged the gray spotted mare onward.

"Come on Nikora, it's you and me now. Till the end." She whispered, her thighs straddling the horse, savoring the familiar burn in her quads as they galloped faster. She was answered by a thunder of hoofbeats as clots of dirt flew behind them as they tore through the tree line.

Lucy gave a whoop of laughter and charged past the crop of ancient oaks that hid the castle from view. Her eyes flashed amber as she took in the grand turrets, the palace's marbled façade imposing as it loomed ahead.

The gates grew closer as she sped through its arch, giggling at the calls of the sentries that greeted her as her pace slowed to a canter – still fast enough that some raised their voices in warning. Still, it wasn't until the stables were in sight that she reared the mare.

"Slow girl, gentle." She coaxed, lightening her hold until Nikora had geared to a trot, a gentle double beat as she wove her way past the other evening riders.

Smiling softly at the passersby, Lucy kissed her horse's mane – brushing the coarse white strands through her gloved fingers. She breathed deeply, taking in the earthen scent of grain feed and wood before wrinkling her nose at hint of manure that hit her last.

As they came up the walkway, a handler met her to lead her to the mount's stall.

"I've got it Igneel, I can get her ready and comb her down on my own." She told the older man, trying and failing to keep the reins away from him when he reached them.

Igneel cut a tall figure, with broad shoulders that stretched the leather of his jerkin. His hair was pulled sharply back, cascading down his back like liquid wildfire. Lucy had always thought the older man was handsome, though the long scar through his right eye and cheek below it gave him a menacing aura. It had taken some time for her to warm up to the former warrior.

She'd met him shortly after he'd taken over as the royal beastmaster half a decade ago, gaining his attention when the young royal continuously snuck out to the stables when she should have been minding her lessons. However, instead of returning her to her governess as was expected, he'd simply boom with laughter – allowing her to bob between the various stalls as she played hide-and-seek with some poor, harried palace guard on her protection detail.

He'd always had a soft spot for the princess, indulging her love for riding and the measure of freedom it afforded her.

When she continued to whine and fight his grip on the horse's lead, he just grinned shaking his head at her, a piece of hay anchored between his teeth.

"Off you go then Princess, not worth my time to convince you otherwise." He chuckled, patting her leg as he went back to his tack, wiping dirty hands on his stained smock. It wasn't his job to act as a common stable hand, but he'd always doted on the girl.

She beamed at his idle dismissal; teeth white and lips pulled wide as she dismounted – directing her horse back to the corner stall. Grabbing a bucket, she placed it by Nikora who dipped her muzzle into the water immediately, long tongue slurping as she drank greedily.

A few minutes later, Lucy heard a rattle on the path outside as another couple of mounts came into view.

In front was a young girl of about thirteen with a head of smooth blue locks, tied back neatly though a few wisps brushed her pale cheeks. Her legs were looped through the horn of her side saddle, covered by the folds of her sapphire skirts. The newcomer frowned, scanning the space until her gaze landed on a pair of guilty brown eyes peeking out above the corner booth.

"Lucy you promised you would stay with us this time!" The blunette called out, glaring at her friend.

The blonde smiled sheepishly when she was caught, gesturing to her mare.

"I meant to, but Nikora wanted to go faster, and I couldn't tell her no. She's wind-blown." Lucy answered, placing a sugar cube under the horse's mouth. The mare licked it up unhurriedly, tickling the girl's palm.

"Don't yell Juvia, we're already here." The third rider scolded as she too, came to a stop – expression exasperated.

The girls blushed slightly at reproach in the older woman's voice, her own aqua locks held back by a laurel braid that started at her temples, nostrils flared slightly as she peered down at her errant charges.

"Sorry Aquarius, I will keep that in mind." Juvia apologized bobbing her chin down once in respect before dismounting with a nearby page's help. Unlike her friend, she followed decorum as befit her station. She thanked the boy absently, not noticing his stuttered reply as she walked over to the young royal, lifting her skirts up so they did not drag across the mud.

"We saw you riding astride, you know your father would be upset if he found out." Juvia told the princess quietly when she reached her, resting her chin on the wooden divider of the stall as she watched her. Lucy shrugged, still brushing her horse down in broad strokes.

She found the action calming, loving the warmth radiating under her palms.

"Then don't tell him. Beside, I only ever do it on castle grounds – never when it really counts. I just love being able to fly over the hills. The whole world just blurs into colours." She breathed softly, dreamily. She fumbled with her gloves monetarily before yanking them off so she could feel Nikora's coat beneath her fingers.

Juvia nodded once, shoulders slumping.

She had expected as much. Like Igneel, she knew little changed the blonde's mind when it was set.

"You know I never do. I'm going to go back to my rooms to clean up. The representatives of the Mermaid Heel Corps will be arriving by supper. The king says we're to join them at the table." The blunette trailed off, hoping to entice the other girl to come with her.

Her words had the intended effect.

Lucy's ears perked up; her dark irises bright in the light streaming in through the rafters.

The Corps were warrior priestesses of the faith. They had guarded the Temple of Nirvana – deep within the Woodsea – for millennia. Though women were scarcely allowed to join in battle ranks within the borders of her own nation, sacred rights kept them outside the scope of the king's jurisdiction.

"I'll finish up quickly too then." Lucy promised, her cedar eyes shining as her hands indeed flew through Nikora's fur with renewed vigor.

Growing up, she adored hearing about the holy maidens – their exploits transcending fact to legend. They were named for the Nirvana of the Sea who had sent her daughters above on land, changeling sprites who created the first temple order.

Lady Aquarius, her governess, had grown up north of the great Eastern Forest in a township marking where the Clover River spilled into the ocean. When her village had been slaughtered in a raid, the priestesses had taken the older woman in until reinforcements arrived from the capital.

A childhood friend of the late duchess, the stoic blunette had shifted to the palace a decade prior, quickly settling into the role of guardian for the motherless princess. Sometimes when her charge begged, she would display some of the fighting forms she had learned whilst living in the Grand Temple for the little girl.

Lucy was torn from her musings when Juvia waved a manicured hand in front of her face, catching her attention. Eyes crinkling in laughter, the blunette twiddled her fingers in farewell before turning, petticoats still lifted carefully to keep them from the dirt. She sped up the hill to the main castle, Aquarius following at a more sedate pace.

Across the stable, some groomsmen were feeding their horses and putting away the ladies' gear – they movements practiced. Lucy preferred to do it herself, she liked the smell of the hay and the shine of her mare's coat when she was properly brushed down. She liked how this corner of the palace ground made it seem as if she were beyond its towering walls.

As she finished, she wiped her hands on a washcloth a squire had offered her, smoothing flyaways on her head the best she could – her appearance bedraggled. Still, she wasn't too worried, knowing she would be required to change her clothing once she returned to her chambers prior to dinner.

She was latching the mare's gate when she heard neighing coming from a stall near the exit.

Until recently it had been empty.

Curious, she patted Nikora's velvet nose before making her way to the noise. Inside was a tall, beautiful creature with a rick black hide, a single white stripe dabbed its nose and pooled at its feet. Sensing her, the stallion snorted jerking its muzzle in a circle.

Lucy paced back. She pressed her lips together, rocking on the soles of her boots before shifting closer step by step.

"What a gorgeous fellow you are." She breathed, stretching out her palm so he could sniff her. He whinnied loudly in response, as if unsure whether to trust the stranger in front of him. When he didn't bite however, the girl tried to reach further, stepping up on an old crate in order to lean over the railing.

His reaction was immediate.

The stallion reared its head and pawed the ground at her approach, gnashing its teeth. Startled, she lost her footing slightly, catching her riding gear on the lumber and throwing her balance. She grabbed for the side wall, only to miss, her palms grazing the splintering wood in vain.

For a moment, it was as if time stopped.

End of Excerpt

Read the rest at Fanfiction.net!

Chapter 1, 2

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doginshoe · 5 years

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The Draconian Huntress VI

Thanks so much to @bonneyq for being a beta for this! Please check out her writing!

Her last arrow whizzed through the air and burrowed itself deep into the Goat head. The force split throw bone as it landed right between its eyes and exploded into a bloom of light. It tore apart the flesh of the beast. Blood spilled from the embedded arrow, the Goat head bleating out a cry that was cut short as it sunk. The head of the beast lolled around as the other two, Serpent and Lion, kept fighting whilst paying no mind to the mass of flesh that weighed it down.

The animal was crazed.

No attack would keep it at bay, even with Gray’s ice leaving large gashes as he worked with Juvia or Lucy’s many arrows that sunk into its body wouldn’t make it flee.

It didn’t make sense.

Their hunt was relentless as it roared with untamed fury, yet its injuries would usually have the large beast scampering away; admitting defeat and looking for easier prey. Lucy rolled away from a breath of fire as she studied the animal before her.

It slashed with its large front paws, the claws sharp enough the rip through muscle with the ease that one would have tearing through fresh dough. The jaws gnashed and snapped, the Serpent head blowing harsh bouts of hot flames mindlessly as the wings on its back spread out and flapped madly. Its was fighting as if it had been overcome with bloodlust, possessed by dark evil. The archer moved cautiously, her mind calculating and focused on every movement and cry on the battle in front of her.

She could see Juvia waning. The guardian was a protector of water, her abilities not made for the exhausting constant onslaught of a fight. Wendy stayed a few paces back, the girl dived and dodged as debris flew through the air.

“Watch out!” The young girl called out for her teammates occasionally to look out as she didn’t have the skills to verse such a beast in combat, Lucy noted that she’d have to teach the diplomat to handle herself with a bow in the future if they survived.

Gray fared much better with the accompany of Juvia’s water, but it simply wasn’t cold enough for him to muster a finishing attack against a creature of its size in the muggy weather of the forest that grew as they approached the desert land of near the kingdom of Draconia.

Despite their disadvantages already against the beast, Lucy could sense the greater threat of exhaustion overtaking her friends.

Their night’s rest had been close to nothing from the attack of the Goblins and they had been travelling all night as well as the day prior, which the sun that began poking up over the tall trees told her. She guessed there would only be a few more hours of travel before they reached the end of the East Forest. Their lack of rest and the recent events showed in the slowing of Wendy’s movements and how she would occasionally stumble. It was present with the way Gray’s shoulders heaved as he panted after every attack.

The archer could feel it herself with how her gaze would become bleary. To make unfortunate circumstances worse she had shot every arrow she had and was left without means to attack.

Lucy shook her head, clearing her thoughts before her brows narrowed at the rampaging monster was bloody and beaten. It swiped a large paw at Juvia. Gray shot forward an ice sword coming up to pierce through the skin impaling itself as he kneeled, the force slamming him down.

It growled ferociously, the Serpent snapping it’s large jaws and giant teeth, before a wave of water was sent crashing it back so the winter sprite could roll from beneath the paw, sword still buried in the flesh.

Lucy ran to them, ducking from a gnashing Lion head and skidding under striking paw, blood dripping down her face as it fell from the injured appendage.

“Lucy!” Gray yelled. Ice spikes shot out from his hands as he stood over a kneeling Juvia. The flurry of sharp icicles were like glass as it sliced up the beast in front of them and it took huge steps back as it roared in pain, trying to hide behind the foliage to stop the shards from slicing open its flesh.

The archer came to a sudden halt beside them not wasting anytime as she stared at them. “Can you both still fight? I have a plan.” Gray’s dark eyes immediately glanced down to Juvia who nodded slowly as she stood up with a shaky breath.

“Juvia,” the water guardian took a breath, a weak smile coming across her face, “Juvia can still fight.” Gray’s stare lingered on her for a second longer before he nodded towards Lucy.

“We are going to have to kill this thing.” Lucy gestured towards the fiend that stumbled forward, blood loss finally affecting the giant beast. “One last attack, okay? Gray, I need you to freeze the Serpent. I’m gonna take on the Lion.” She turned her body towards the beast, her eyes set into determination as she watched as the monster got back into its senses.

“Lucy, are you-” a giant roar cut throw the air and all of them froze. “Just don’t die,” Gray murmured and he gently hoisted Juvia up - her white dress fluttering from the movement. The Water Guardian blinked shyly at him before a large smile took over her face and took her stance beside him, ready to attack.

The archer sent a sideways glance at the both of them as they stood merely inches apart, a smirk pulled on her face as she sneered, “You just don’t get distracted.” Gray sputtered but the approaching growl had her waving him off. “I’ll need some ice from you, something sharp and a jump to get up to that thing.” She pointed.

He glared at her before an Ice Flamberge was put together before her eyes: the sparkle of particles coming together to form an ominous glow before it settled and the familiar ice blade was there. Lucy reached out and gave it a quick once over.

“Good.” She nodded in approval.

A burst of flames tore the party apart as they respectively dodged to either side. Lucy took off into a sprint to closed in to the monster. The claws swiped out for her, Wendy screaming for her to fall back as the young girl watched from across the rushing water on the bank.

However, even with the distraction, she kept on as she faced off the Lion head as Gray and Juvia kept the Serpent distracted.Lucy trembled, her icy sword burning her hand and she hoped it would be strong enough; until the Lion Head, gnashing its jaws, let out an earth-shattering roar that reverberated throughout her being. Lucy growled back as she slashed at the bloody maul that threatened to rip her apart as it snapped up at her head. She rolled to the side, her breathing uneven and hard.

This was the last moment, now or never.

The large paw came down again on her and Lucy grabbed hold of the ice blade already stuck inside and twisted it, a pained loud and unearthly sound echoing in the forest, and she pulled it from the flesh with a loud grunt, as the blade had been deep.

Blood poured from the wound and sprayed her clothing, the sticky liquid matting her hair along with the mud - but it mattered not, not when there that beast was still alive. Lucy sidestepped quickly and charged at the beast head on.

“Gray!” She screamed as she leaped into the air and her feet met the cool solid blocks and she pushed from them. With both swords in the air she swung down into the neck of the Lion’s head.

Time seemed to slow as she pushed the ice blades deep into the beasts throat while she was airborne. Lucy could hear her own cry as she flew through the air, the faint sound of rushing water and feel the temperature drop before she was falling. She tightened her grip on the swords as gravity yanked her down and a piercing roar erupted from the Lion head.

The blades slipped, but before they could fall loose Lucy heaved herself up using the wild mane as an anchor. The archer mounted herself, gripping the matted hair furiously before pulling the Flamberge free with as much strength as she could. Crimson blood splattered from where the sharp blade had embedded itself through the tissue and ripped up the muscles with its winding curves.

The sorrowful roar turned to a gargled whine as the beast stumbled, legs giving way, trembling.

“May the light give you mercy,” Lucy breathed, as she heaved the Flamberge sword above her head, aiming at the beasts nape.

A second later, blood oozed down and soaked into the ground, the beast gurgled a hopeless whimper, and then she striked. She channeled the light that thrummed in her veins as she drove the icy blade deep into the beast. It glowed brilliantly as the magic coursed down the ice, cracking as it plunged into the thick muscle of the animal.

Lucy shuddered as the power drained from her. “And guide your soul to the heavens to be judged.”

A startled cry ripped through the air and blood was hacked up as it thrashed around in anguish. Lucy grabbed wildly for the mane as the beast was burned by her magic from the inside, the stench sizzling flesh invading her nose and making Lucy make a disgusted face at the awful smell. It was pungent, but she could not let go.

The beast stumbled, the two heads weighing it down as they lolled pathetically at the bleeding Lions side, the ice encasing the Serpent’s head adding more weight which had it falling to one side. The wings at batting wildly as it tried to retain its balance, but its injured paw gave way and it crashed down. The archer being brought down with it as it collapsed, the whines becoming soft echoes before they ceased entirely and the forest turned silent once again.

Lucy coughed as she pulled herself up from the dead heap of the creature on the floor. Dust fogged the air and burned her lungs but she was okay. She stood on shaking legs, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins as she hobbled over the beast. She looked around at the carnage of where they had battled. Tree’s were toppled over, the earth charred in some places with dips in the dirt from where the beast had scratched at the ground.

The archer peered through the dust, the blood pool from the Lions throat soaked into her boots as she waded her way through the destruction. As the air settled she could make out the three figures of her friends bounding towards her. A weak smile crept on her face as all her strength slipped from her. The fight was over and she had kept them safe. She waved at the as she stumbled forward but their panicked faces caught her off guard as their paces quickend.

“Lucy!” Gray yelled, there was a hiss in the air from behind her, “Watch out!”

She barely had time to react as the Snake sunk its fangs into her thigh, the bite tearing clean through her muscle as a scream was wrenched from her lungs. It had been the tail, the pure black jaded snake head that had kept to the shadows. As it pumped poison into her Lucy could only grab her bow and shove the sharpened curved end deep into its skull. The fangs retracted, the Snake stone dead as she pierced its brain.

Lucy collapsed onto the ground, her whole body shaking violently.

Her friends were by her side a moment later, Wendy ushering the archer hands away from the wound as worried tears gathered in her eyes. The young girl quickly tore a strip of cloth from her skirt as she desperately tried to make tourniquet to stop the copious amount of blood that stained her hands and made a puddle beneath Lucy. Black venom already curled into her as her spidery veins turned dark around the two puncture wounds.

“We have to slow the venom,” Wendy stated quickly as she fumbled with the tourniquet, her hands shaky. A soft hand came down on the young girls shoulder as she looked up into the deep blue eyes of Juvia. Wendy tried to even her breathing as the soothing presence of the Water Guardian washed over her.

“Gray,” Juvia called, “Freeze the wounds.”

Gray was quickly on the other side of Wendy as he tried to cauterise the puncture marks with his burning cold ice. The Winter Sprite cursed as he stared at the large gashes that nearly went clean through her flesh whilst he worked in sealing over the wounds - Lucy crying out in pain as he made a bandage of ice over her thigh, stopping the blood and slowly freezing the venom to a crawl.

She could feel the venom coursing through her leg, even with Gray’s ice slowing down its affects she could still feel the creeping burn of the poison as it felt like it was paralysing her. Lucy felt dizzy, her vision blurring with exhaustion and the shock of what had happened. She should’ve been paying closer mind to what was happening around her. It was in her training - Erza would knock her upside the head for being so careless.

Lucy choked. “We-We need to move. Our supplies..”

Wendy soothed her as Lucy tried to stand but Gray only shook his head.

“She’s right. We lost our equipment, most of her food. Spending more time out here will leave us cold and hungry.” Gray’s eyes stayed trained on the black veins that inched further with every passing second. “There is nothing we can do for Lucy out here. The faster we get to Draconia, the better chance we have at getting help.”

Wendy nodded in agreement.

“I’ll be there, Gray. Wherever there is water you know I will be there.”

Juvia dropped back into the river, her figure disappearing into nothing as she became one with the rushing water. Gray watched her go, but stopped as he hoisted Lucy up, draping her arm over his shoulder to help her walk. She hissed as she was brought up but made no other sound of complaint as they begun walking, Wendy staying close to her side as she held Lucy’s bow for her.

#the draconian huntress #lucy heartfilia #nalu #ft fanfiction #fairy tail #gray fullbuster #wendy marvell #juvia loxar #fairy tail fanfiction #fairytail #my writing #doginshoe

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p-artsypants · 6 years

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No, You Go First (4)

What is this story anymore? I have no notes! It’s writing itself!

FF.net | Ao3

—

It was amazing how stubborn vikings were. Astounding, really.

It had been several weeks since Astrid’s accident in the ring, and yet the whole village seemed to forget that she was a great dragon warrior just prior to her incident.

Hiccup arrived at the forge one evening, after a full day of work, only to pick up his sketchbook. “Evening Gobber,” he greeted.

“Evening lad!” Gobber smiled with a keen look in his eye. Hiccup didn’t dwell on it and made his way to the back room.

But what awaited him there surprised him, to say the least. “Astrid?”

Indeed, the young woman was sitting at his desk, reading a book. Nothing of his, thankfully. Her arm was still in the sling and her hair was tied up sloppily, since she only had one arm to use.

She looked at him, bags under her eyes and skin pale. “Oh, Hiccup. I didn’t think you worked today. I’ll get out of your way.”

“No no,” he waved her off. “You’re fine, I’m uh, I’m just grabbing this.” He took his sketchbook and put it under his arm. “Uh…why are you here?”

“I’m hiding.” She said softly. “My mom has me up everyday doing household chores. She keeps saying that I’ll recover just fine, and I’ll kill the next dragon…but like, she’s also trying to train me to be a housewife.”

Hiccup hugged the sketchbook to his chest. He still wasn’t used to this version of Astrid, the side of her that had taken to speaking openly with him, despite his reputation.

“Sorry for dumping all that on you.” She added with a shrug.

“Hey, it’s cool. I’m used to people throwing garbage at me.” He grinned.

She returned it before it fell away. “But you’ve been off the hook since the eel thing.”

“Eh…kind of. Instead of outright ‘get off my lawn, pipsqueak!’” he yelled, “It’s more like, ‘careful, Hiccup. Don’t push your luck.’”

“I don’t follow.”

“People are just being passive aggressive with me now, instead of outright nasty.”

“Which would you rather have?”

He shrugged. “Neither, that’s why I…” hang out with Toothless, was what he was going to say. “That’s why I hide.”

She hummed. “Since they’ve gotten passive aggressive with you, they’ve gotten nasty with me.”

“Oh Astrid…”

“I try to buy cloth and thread for my sewing lessons and Haggard goes, ‘this cloth is only for good girls that kill dragons, you get the scraps’. And when I try to buy food for my cooking lessons, same thing, ‘You get yesterdays bread. I don’t sell my apples to failures. Only real vikings deserve my potatoes.’ If my arm wasn’t in a sling, I’d…I’d…” And just like that, she lost all her fire power. “My dad won’t even talk to me anymore.”

Hiccup frowned. “That sucks balls, Astrid.”

She managed to smirk. “Well, I’m glad we agree. What did you do? When you were...at the bottom?”

“Well, as the chief’s son, shop keepers were never really rude to me...because they never knew if I was buying for me or for dad. But they weren’t always friendly. I tried humor, tried turning my reputation from ‘Hiccup the complete screw up’ to ‘oh there’s Hiccup being silly again...’” he sighed. “It didn’t work. Honestly...I just took it. I know that’s the worst advice ever but...it’s all I got.”

She groaned. “Well, thanks anyway.”

“And you’re not at the bottom.” He added. “Before this eel thing, before my dad gave me a job...I had no one. Sure, dad tried to be there for me, but unless it had to do with killing dragons, he couldn’t care less. Gobber was pretty okay, but I think he tuned me out most of the time...and even when he tried to make me feel better, he only ended up making me feel worse. And he always tried to discourage me from my inventions.”

“I can see why...” Astrid muttered.

“But...then you came along. You were someone I could bounce ideas off of, someone who I could just...talk to, you know?”

She nodded, meeting his eyes.

“So, I’m just trying to say...even if you feel like you’re at the bottom, you still have me. I think you’re amazing.” He blushed at his confession, but smiled regardless.

She returned it. “Thanks Hiccup. You’re not so bad yourself.”

Hiccup held his breath as a dangerous thought came to his mind. He had already shared Toothless with his father, and therefore, the most powerful, ferocious, dragon-hating person on Berk. But now, because of Astrid’s incapacity, did she hate them as well? Well, he might as well find out now. “Hey, so what are you doing for the rest of the day?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. I was planning on hiding back here.”

“Want to hide with me instead?” He smiled uneasily.

—

Astrid followed Hiccup through the woods, off by Raven Point, she noted. Passed her old training grounds where the trees bore the wrath of her axe. Passed the flat rock where she and her father used to go camping. Finally, they came to a cove, nestled in the quiet sanctity of the forest.

“This is my sanctuary.” He began, halting in movement. “My dad comes here sometimes, but I really only share it with one other, and now I will share it with you.”

This puzzled her, because as far as she knew, he didn’t have any friends. “Who?”

“Do you have any weapons on you?”

“What?”

“Any weapons? Because you’ll have to leave them out here.”

“Uh, yeah, I have my knife?” She took it from her belt and handed it to him. He placed it on a boulder for safe keeping.

“Okay, just…don’t freak out, okay?”

“No promises…”

Together they descended into the cool air of the cove. Hiccup noticed that the fire pit in the little shack was empty, and by extension, his father was absent.

“This is…nice.” Said Astrid with a peaceful sigh.

“Oh…just wait.” A nervous tremor shook his voice, as he scanned the area. “Tooooothless…” He sang.

A pair of rabbit like ears popped up from behind a boulder by the water. Then suddenly, a large black dragon was bounding towards them.

Astrid shrieked.

Toothless skidded to a halt, tilting his head.

“No no no, it’s okay!” Hiccup assured, reaching out for both of his friends.

“Hiccup! What!?” She pointed a finger at the dragon.

Toothless slunk closer, his nostrils pulsing.

“This is Toothless…he’s my friend.”

“You…you have—ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?” Her voice echoed in the cave. “I can’t believe this. You really are a dragon sympathizer! And all this time…those tricks! Those were all from him, weren’t they!?”

Toothless recoiled slightly, his pupils wide.

“Astrid, would you listen to me?” He said patiently.

Seeing that the dragon was not currently a threat, she simply huffed and rested her good hand on her hip. “Fine.”

Toothless lowered himself to be scratched, and purred contently.

“So…do you remember that night that I said I shot down the Nightfury?”

“Yeah?”

He gestured to Toothless.

Realization dawned on her as she gasped. “You mean that’s a…you really did?”

“Why does no one believe me?” He said, mostly to himself. “Yeah, and…he was injured. I saw him in pain and just…I couldn’t kill him. So I let him go. He couldn’t fly, so I just took up taking care of him…and now he’s my best friend.”

Toothless wiggled in excitement over the declaration.

“Everything we know about dragons is wrong. They’re kind, loyal, and intelligent creatures. Toothless showed me. And, I tried to tell you…in a way.”

“You…did…” She agreed, hesitantly. “You said they were capable of other feelings, but I…I didn’t imagine this.” She gestured to the dragon who had rolled over on his back.

“Neither did I. Not until him.”

“Wait,” she began, “you said your dad comes down here sometimes?”

“Yeah…”

“So…he’s okay with this?”

“Yeah…he wasn’t in the beginning. But I told him I couldn’t kill Toothless, and that’s what got me out of dragon training. And once I came up with the eel thing, he was…willing to let me keep Toothless in my life. He said I was safer with him around even. You know, from other tribes and stuff.”

“I can see that.” Astrid amended. Slowly, she reached out her good hand and laid it on Toothless’ snout. The dragon vibrated in excitement.

“So, you want to go for a ride?”

“What?”

“You, me, Toothless, a sunset cruise through the clouds?”

“I…” Was she seriously considering this? Hiccup, who had been the weird, near outcast of the village, and a Nightfury, the most horrible dragon she’d ever heard of. And yet, he gazed at her with warm, friendly eyes, and waited patiently. “Yeah. That sounds…awesome.”

He climb up on the saddle and offered a hand down to her. Carefully, she climbed on behind him, wrapping her good arm around his waist.

“Hang on tight.”

She tightened her hold and nodded against him.

“Alright Toothless, let’s take this leisurely, shall we?”

Astrid held her breath as the dragon crouched, his wings unfurling at his sides, and then leapt, the land falling away rapidly, and her stomach left behind.

She was shouting, “Oh gods! Oh!” And her fingers dug into his chest.

“It’s okay!” He assured, his hand resting on top of hers. “Are you looking?”

“Is it safe!?” She screamed back.

“Yes!” He laughed. “Even if you fall, Toothless will catch you. Don’t worry!”

Carefully, Astrid peeled her eyes open and looked around, taking in the world around her. Clouds surrounded them, like sailing on a ocean of fluff. She raked her hands through the billowing whiteness, only for it to dissolve around her fingertips.

“Clouds are made of water…” she said aloud. “I had no idea.”

“It threw me for a loop the first time too.” He agreed, reaching his own hand out.

“I would have spent my whole life thinking they felt like cotton.” She laughed. “We’re the only ones who know this.”

“Kind of fun, huh?” He glanced back over his shoulder. “I took my dad up here too, during the afternoon.”

“Really? Stoick the Vast on the back of a dragon?”

“Crazy, I know. It took him a couple of weeks to consider it, but once he was ready, we took a lap around the island. Maybe an hour’s flight at most. He liked seeing the village from above, said it made him feel like a true guardian of Berk.”

“You flew over the village during the day? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“We were far enough away that no one would be able to see us on Toothless’ back. Who knows, they might have thought he was a bird instead.”

Toothless warbled, not appreciating the insinuation.

Hiccup laughed lightly and urged Toothless higher passed the clouds. Up where the air was clear, and the stars twinkled against the inky sky. Where streaks of color rippled in the wind, dazzling greens and vibrant blues.

“Wow…” Astrid whispered in his ear. She hugged him a little tighter, and rested her chin on his shoulder. “This is amazing…”

“Yeah…” He whispered back, more at her touch than at the sky.

She shivered a little.

“Are you cold?”

“A little…”

“Do you want to go back?”

“No way!” She protested. “I’ll just scoot closer.” And she nuzzled against him.

Hiccup couldn’t keep the ecstatic grin off his face.

For a while, they flew in silence, the wind speaking volumes for them. After a while, Hiccup turned back towards home, and they saw the flickering lights that decorated their home.

“Gorgeous…” She said again. “If you ever want to bring me up here again…” She began, letting the suggestion hang in the air.

“Whenever you want, just say the word.” He insisted.

“Thank you, Hiccup. You…you’re the best.” She rested her forehead on his shoulder to hide her blush. What was this? She couldn’t be developing a crush on him, could she?

Would that be so bad? Sure, he wasn’t exactly manly by most definitions, but he was always kind to her and did his best to make her feel better. And despite her failure in the ring, he still treated her as an equal. Maybe it was because he understood, or maybe he was happy she hadn’t killed the Nightmare.

They looped around the island again, darkness encroaching on all sides as the sunset faded and the torches from the village hid behind trees.

“Hiccup?” She asked, honestly. “Would you still have been my friend if I had killed the Nightmare?”

What a loaded question. He thought for a moment and questioned her right back, “would you still have been my friend if you were a raging success? Would you have still continued talking to me afterwards?”

“I…I hope so. It wasn’t my failure that brought us together in the first place.”

“True,” he agreed. “It’s just…food for thought.”

“I like you Hiccup, eels or no eels. Failure or not…you just get me, you know?”

Hiccup was lucky that it was so dark out, or else she’d easily see how red his face had become. “I think you get me, too.”

“You’re my best friend, Hiccup.” She declared. “Hope you can live with that.”

“I’m your…? Really?” He turned to glance at her.

“What? Don’t believe me?”

“No, not really. I didn’t think I could be anyone’s best friend.”

“Yeah, well, tough beans.”

He laughed, his shoulders jostling. “Okay okay…thanks Astrid. Unfortunately, Toothless has already fulfilled the role as my best friend…but you’re a close second.”

“Beaten by a dragon,” she scoffed, shaking her head.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” He muttered back.

The punch that nearly knocked him off of Toothless was well deserved, to say the least.

Finally, they landed back in the cove. The moon was just a sliver and reflected in the bay.

The duo were surprised by the fire going in the little shack as Stoick reclined in his chair. Toothless bounded over to him, begging for scratches.

“There you are, you over grown lizard!” Stoick greeted happily, complying with his pleas.

“Oh, hey dad.”

“When you didn’t come home after work, I figured you were with Toothless…I didn’t expect Astrid to be here too.”

Astrid hunched her shoulders, folding her good arm over the injured one. “Hello chief.”

“Astrid,” he greeted with a nod. “What’s wrong lass? You look guilty.”

“I…” She glanced to Hiccup, seeing him gesture her on. “I just assumed…everyone else in the village hasn’t really been…fond of me lately.”

“Ah.” Stoick nodded. “I see. Still sore about the match, ah?”

“Yeah.”

He stood, “well, as Chief, I try to keep a totally unbiased opinion about everyone in the tribe, no matter their faults or failures.” He stood in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “And in my totally unbiased opinion, you are a viking. You fought bravely, even without a weapon.”

“That’s what I said!” Hiccup chirped.

“And he’s right,” Stoick continued. “It’ll sting for a while, but we vikings are a proud, stubborn people. Soon enough, someone else will make a mistake and everyone will be mad at that instead.”

“I don’t like that idea…”

“Look, the chief and his son are on your side. Just worry about healing, and everything will be fine.”

Astrid wiped her cheeks quickly, hiding that she had become emotionally undone by their kindness.

“Hiccup, why don’t you walk her home?”

“Ah, yeah, I can—sure!” He laughed nervously. “After you, m’lady.”

Once they had departed from the cove and headed into the woods, Hiccup leaned a little closer and spoke softly. “Are you up for a little teenage rebellion?”

Her cheeks lit up at the insinuation. “What do you have in mind?”

—

They hurried through the dark, hand in hand as nerves frayed and heartbeats pulsed. They shouldn’t be doing this. If they were caught, there would be steep consequences.

“Are you sure about this?” Astrid asked with a giggle. Even in her anxiety, she was thrilled.

“Yeah, come on, it’ll be fun.” He urged. “But we have to be quiet.”

The Kill Ring was unguarded, as the watchmen circled the village every hour. The cage on top was open as well, allowing villagers to spare down there as they wanted between training.

“Alright, they’re heading up towards the Great Hall, we probably only have a half an hour before they come back around.” He met her eyes. “Ready?”

“You’re insane, but yes.”

Quietly, the duo made their way over to the entrance and slipped inside.

“Would you like to do the honors first?”

“Okay…which one should I pick?”

“Totally up to you.”

Astrid nodded once and made her way over to the lever on the far side of the ring. With a tug, the ballasts raised and the doors opened. The Nadder, who had up until that moment been sleeping, chirped curiously and peeked out.

“That’s it…that’s a good girl.” Astrid said soothingly.

The Nadder recognized her from training and squawked.

Astrid hushed her softly. “It’s okay…it’s okay…” She spread her arms so the dragon could see she was unarmed.

The Nadder curiously sniffed her, apprehensively waiting to be struck, but it never happened.

“Okay,” said Hiccup. “Now reach your hand out, and turn your head away.”

She complied, and just stood there rigidly.

Ever so gently, the Nadder touched her nose to her hand and exhaled a warm, smokey breath.

Astrid relaxed, and looked up to the dragon with fondness. “Hi there,” she whispered. Then with slow moments, she scratched the dragon under her chin and watched as she fell into a puddle of rumbling goo.

“That’s a good girl,” Astrid cooed.

Next, Hiccup opened the cage for the Gronkle, and likewise, it blearily stumbled out of it’s cage. Hiccup approached it carefully, hands outstretched. “It’s okay…” From behind, he gave it a little push. “Go on, you’re free.”

The fat dragon wriggled in happiness as her pupils dilated. She gave Hiccup a little nudge and then took off, buzzing off into the woods.

The Nadder watched as she left and chirped happily.

“You can go too,” Astrid urged. “Get somewhere safe.”

But the Nadder stayed by her side, just watching with anticipation.

Hiccup opened the cage to the Zippleback and the Terror, and both hesitated before taking off into the woods as well.

“Alright, one left,” Hiccup nodded. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Astrid frowned, her hand hovering over the door. “Do you think he’ll remember me?”

“He might…but I’ll be here, and so will the Nadder. She won’t let him hurt you.”

Nodding once, she agreed and pulled the lever.

After all the ruckus from the other dragons, the Monstrous Nightmare was very much awake. But he did not burst forth in flames and smoke. Instead, he stomped out, and scanned the ring in the faint light of the stars, his gaze falling on Astrid.

He hissed, coming closer dangerously, but Astrid stood ramrod straight, not to be frightened. He sniffed her, sensing her fear, but did not attack. Finally, he nudged against her bum arm and took off into the night.

“Wow…”

“Yeah…crazy…”

Astrid patted the Nadder fondly. “You should go too girl, it’s not safe for you here.”

The Nadder squawked in protest.

“I know we just met, but I don’t want you to get hurt anymore. There’s a nice Nightfury in the woods you could be friends with, if you want.” She knew the dragon probably couldn’t understand her, but she said it anyway.

Finally, the dragon took the hint and flapped off, leaving a heavy feeling on Astrid’s heart. “Would have been nice, having a dragon like you.”

Hiccup smiled at her, “well, Toothless will just have to take you in.”

They began to depart from the ring, but a light by the entrance stopped them.

“The guard!” Hiccup whispered, before grabbing her arm. Quickly and quietly, he hurried over to one of the cages and hid, pressing her between himself and the wall.

“Hiccup…” she tried to wiggle free.

“Shhh…” He hushed quietly, peering between the crack in the door.

“Oh gods…they’re all gone?”

“Looks like it. I bet it was a prank by those Thornston Twins.”

“Yeah…sounds like something they’d do.”

Hiccup held his breath as they came closer, their light reaching into the cages. He pressed himself closer, and looked to Astrid in apology. Their noses were almost touching.

“We’d better tell the chief.”

“Alright…he’s not going to happy about this…”

Hiccup kept her pressed against the wall until the light of the fire faded. Then he relaxed. “Okay, we need to scram.”

Astrid fisted his tunic in her hand and spun him to slam against the wall.

“Ow! Why would you do that!?”

“That’s for man-handling me!”

“Sorry I just—“

She cut him off by swooping in and pressing a rough kiss to his lips. “And that…is for everything else.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Hiccup.” She winked before running out of the arena.

Oh gods, what had he gotten himself into now?

#how to train your dragon #httyd #fanfiction #hiccstrid #no you go first #hiccup #astrid #toothless #romantic flight

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readiceprincess · 6 years

Text

Chapter Six

“Even if I did believe you, which I don't, how do you explain that portrait of Celia in your attic?” Sibyl snapped as they sat her down in their living room. Prince of Faerie, as she liked to call him, sat on the dusty coach with dismay. Reeve stood in front of her.

“We can't. It was there when we got here. We're assigned to guard it so nothing like this,” he pointed his thumb back to the prince, “happens.”

“Who is he?” Sibyl motioned her head to the blond standing next to Josephine. The man blinked, pointing to himself.

“Luther, our adult mentor,” Reeve answered. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, give us a chance to explain. This got out of hand.”

“You expect me to believe you?” She scoffed. “I don't want to know about anything involving you two.” Sibyl jumped to her feet. Reeve side stepped her. “Get out of my way.”

“Not until you give us a chance to explain.” His eyes begged her to listen, gold speckled in them.

“No. I've had enough,” she snarled. “Adios.” She tried to leave but he side stepped her again. His face darkened, going rigid. But his eyes were vivid and bright.

“I can't let you leave.”

“Oh and what are you gonna do to stop me?” Her hands were on her hips. “Move it Reeve.”

“No.”

Sibyl raised her hand to slap him, but Reeve grabbed it midair. The tingle under his touch made her gulp. “Trust me, Sibyl, I will make you listen if I have to,” he warned through clenched teeth, eyes blazing. Fear swept over her. She had no clue what they were capable of and she didn't want to find out the hard way.

“Oh show some manners Reeve,” Luther's liquid voice chastised. He had a slight European accent. “Don't scare the poor thing.”

“Too late for that,” she muttered, wrenching free of his hold. Sibyl stepped back and took a seat, defeated.

Luther sighed, shaking a finger at Reeve. “Your mother would be so disappointed in that tough act.” Then he looked to Sibyl with cloudy gray eyes. “Trust me, he wouldn't hurt you at all.”

“But she doesn't know that,” Reeve countered, fighting a grin.

“Again, disappointing your mother.” The blond stepped forward, clearing his throat. He was the kind of man who's laugh made girls swoon with a sort of laziness in his eyes that gave him a far off dreamy look. He had a straight nose and soft lips. With a slight subtle smile he held out a hand as if he was holding a ball.

“Do you remember the fairy tales you were told as a child?” he began with a voice meant to tell stories. Sibyl nodded, eyes narrowing. “Those aren't just fairy tales.” A light appeared above his hand. She gasped and leaned forward, mouth agape. “The Grimm brothers were the first. They discovered they weren't stories but as real as you and I. You see for centuries people were telling stories and fairy tales all over the world, but when they went around to collect such tales in Germany they discovered the truth.” The light turned into a sphere.

“Our world is parallel to another. It's connected through gates.” The sphere showed Earth and white strings coming out from various places. “Through these gates we can travel between worlds. Prior to the Order, this was how stories were told. People would open the gates, catch glimpses, and turn it into a story. This is why we have so many different interpretations. And when these stories are told more live on in this world, which some call Faerie.

“But these gates need to be protected. If not then anything can go in and out. We, the Grimm Order, must watch over these gates and ensure the peace between Earth and Faerie is kept safe. There are many of us. Some travel, and some live normal lives while fulfilling our duties under the guidance of our Oracle.” An image of a dark woman with closed eyes appeared. Her hair was long and white, flowing around her, her skin was tree bark. “We each have different duties. There are the council members for each clan, guardians like Reeve, Josephine, and myself, sweepers who cure and heal, and Key Masters. That's what you are.”

“What does a Key Master do? Do we have key blades?” she asked in a breathless voice.

“Since I have on idea what a key blade is I’m going to say no. Key Masters are essential to the Order. Their touch can unlock any gate. That's why when you touched the painting - a gate - you brought the prince here,” Luther explained. “And we'll have to send him back. War could break out if the wrong accusations are made.”

“War?”

“There are Fae,” an image of a goblin like creature appeared in the sphere, “who've taken residence on Earth. Some stay hidden from humans and others live among them. Some hate the Order and others hate Faerie. If word were to get out that a prince was here they would hunt him down.”

The prince squirmed in his seat. “I'm not going back. They tried to marry me off,” he grumbled.

“Well you can't stay here.” Reeve reminded.

“As I was saying.” Luther cleared his throat. He dropped his hand and the light and sphere disappeared as well as the magic of the moment. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Now that you are aware of your... Powers. Well, some of them-”

“Some of them? The fact that you said powers was weird enough but that's just... Freaky. Now if you'll excuse me-” Before she could make a run for it, Reeve pushed her down in the seat. Although it was a small gesture, she suspected he was hiding incredible strength. He said he was a knight, didn't he?

“I thought you said he couldn't hurt me,” she grumbled.

“Wouldn't not couldn't. Did he hurt you?”

“Well no.” Except her butt, not that she'd admit that aloud.

“Then why complain? Besides, we're not done, Miss Bix.” Luther smiled with slight amusement. “There are different classes in the Order. While you will have certain powers as a Key Master you will also have other...” He saw the look in her eyes and continued with, “abilities depending on your class. And there's a way to master these... talents.”

She crossed her arms. “And that is?”

“You need to be tutored.”

Her jaw locked and she narrowed her eyes. “Do I have any say in whether I want to 'learn' or be a part of your little cult?” She rose but Reeve pushed her down again. More butt pain for her.

“Okay one: no you don't have a choice because you brought the fricken prince here. No offense your highness,” Reeve grumbled.

“None taken.”

“And two: it's not a cult. It's a secret organization saving the world from unknown catastrophe every day.”

“Reeve's right. You've unlocked your powers, and as punishment you'll have to watch over the prince.” Luther moved out of her viewpoint to motion to him. He grimaced, looking Sibyl up and down with a wrinkled nose.

“What? I demand to be left alone,” he protested.

“Same here, bud,” Sibyl grumbled. Luther stepped back into place, leaning over to Sibyl.

“As for your mother,” he whispered. “There is not much we can say on the matter until you've proven yourself to the Order. If you put your trust in our hands, Miss Bix, we'll help your mother.” He offered his hand, wearing a slick red glove.

“Why do you guys wear gloves?” she whispered without thought.

Luther straightened, withdrawing his hand. “Our powers are enforced through our hands. Your hand touched the painting and you released the prince. And I bet you've felt them pulse with power. There are many things we can do with our hands so we protect them. You should do the same.”

“Now,” he held out his gloved hand again, “Are you willing to put your trust in our hands?”

Sibyl stared at the red glove. None of this should be real. It couldn't be, yet how could she explain what she saw? Still, what did this have to do with Celia? Finding answers meant trusting them. If magic and Faerie were involved then there was no way the doctors or police would figure out what to do. And besides, what if her life was on the line?

“I have some questions.”

“I’m sure you have many, and we’ll answer them in time if you trust us and work with us. We can help you harness and control your powers. Who else can do that?”

“Look I just want to know what Celia has to do with all of this.”

Luther hesitated, so Josephine stepped in. “Your mother isn’t from earth, Sibyl. She’s from Faerie. And you’ve inherited some of her abilities. Those pills she was taking? That was to keep her human. Trust me, the doctors won’t be able to help her. But we can.”

Wasn’t this such good timing? What if they were responsible for her overdose? Her lips pressed into thin line. It was decided. She wouldn't put her complete trust in them. The moment she suspected something wasn't right she'd back down. Sibyl took his hand. There was a tingling sensation as she did so.

“Okay here's the deal: I'll learn about the Order and work with you guys until I get Celia back. The minute I suspect something's wrong, I'm out. Got it?”

Luther turned to the twins. They nodded. “Deal. But you have to watch over the prince.” He let her go, shaking his hand at his side as he stood. A strange sensation ran down her body, starting at her hands.

“Thank you, Sibyl. I think it'd be a good idea for you to leave and get some air. You need to collect your thoughts, yes?” Luther turned his attention to the prince. “Now your highness, what are we to do with you?”

“I told you I'm not going back,” the prince reminded. “I don't want to marry that woman.”

“Please tell me you were kidding about me watching him?” Sibyl asked, leaning her head to the side to get a view of him. At least he was hot.

“We agreed on it. You can't break a deal,” Reeve pointed out. He looked at the grandfather clock on the wall.

“He has a point,” Luther added, then turned to the prince. “If you're going to stay here I suggest you break it to your parents, your highness.”

The prince pouted, sinking in his seat. Reeve scratched the back of his neck.

“Why don't we go to the pep rally? That'll get our minds off everything.”

“Can't. I'm suspended and not allowed at any school events.”

“What's a pep rally?” the prince asked, straightening.

“Something you can't go to dressed like that,” Sibyl said as she stood. “That's a nice suit.”

The prince smiled, pulling on his waistcoat. “Why thank you.”

“No I mean, that's the kind worn for special events. But you have some pretty wild colors there for the 1860s. Faerie’s in the Victorian era?” Sibyl continued, leaning towards him and studying his suit. He looked from side to side, tugging on his cravat.

“Pardon?” the prince squeaked. Sibyl moved away.

“The Victorian era. My mom was a costume designer. She specialized in historical costumes and I got to help her. The style of your clothes is from the Victorian era. The 1860s to be exact. I'd say early 1860s but with a simpler and more colorful touch. Maybe even 1850s. It's weird.”

“You know your stuff,” Josephine noted. “And you're right. Faerie’s stuck in 1859.”

Sibyl narrowed her eyes. “What was going on before you came here?”

“It was my coming-of-age ball where I was to choose my bride. Ridiculous since they picked her years ago.”

The room was silent.

“Okay even I know that's not good,” Sibyl breathed.

“No!” Reeve grabbed his hair in disarray. “Luther?”

“Get him in Earth clothes so he can blend in more. Word has to have spread by now so don't let him out of your sight. I don't know if we can disguise him but we'll try. Josephine, you and I are going to contact the council right away. There's no time to lose. Come on.” Luther and Josephine walked out of the room and down to the basement, leaving the three alone in the living room.

“So... Should we go with um....,” she motioned to the prince. “Prince of Faerie or whatever.”

“My name is Westley.”

“Westley then.” Her attention turned to Reeve. “Give him some of your clothes. We can go to the mall and buy clothes for him. He can't be seen in that. I'll get my car.” Reeve forced a smile and she saluted them, leaving. The prince crossed his arms, tapping his foot.

“What an odd woman,” he commented as he stared at her through the window. “I like her.”

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preppymayhem · 7 years

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What happens at a boring day of work

Per my tweet about plotting out a Gundam Wing “Anastasia” AU here is a pseudo wikepedia plot summary that I came up with. It is pretty much just the plot and not so much full character or emotional beats

~*~Another AU timeline~*~

Sanq is a country in ruin, barely surviving under occupied rule by the Unified Alliance and having survived two devastating revolutions.

The first dispatched the monarchy, lead by the Crown Prince. In the chaos, the fallen monarch’s chief advisor attempts to steal away the young princess but is killed at the border and the princess is assumed dead. The Prince (greatly reviled in the wake of the coup) sheds his name and takes up post in the new oligarchic regime as a mercenary.

The second revolution, sparked by the assassination of a reformist leader leads to an uprising from the universities and plunges the country into a civil war, which only ceased when the Unified Alliance came in and squelched both the oligarchy and the student revolutionaries.

5 years following the end of the civil war, Relena graduates from a Catholic boarding school in the distant hills of the country. She is given guidance to go into a convent as unlike other classmates she has no family or further prospects to speak of the. She thanks the nuns and apologizes that she did very little to earn her keep while there and asks again whether they can tell her anything about who she was prior to arriving at the school.

The nuns exchange a glance and finally told Relena that while they couldn’t speak to who her family was and that while they did provide her education for free, her boarding had been paid upon her arrival by a benefactor going only by the name “Pagan” who they don’t know the exact identity of, but think might be in Berlin.

In light of this, Relena opts to go to the city as opposed to the convent as originally planned. On the way she meets a traveling writer. Their meeting is short, but she tells him her story and the writer intrigued and remembering that the dead princess’ name was Relena parts ways with her and wonders whether she was the lost princess. He circulates the rumor, which ends up getting to Marion Darlian, the widow of the chief advisor, now in Paris. Intrigued, she approaches a Marquis in the Alliance who is the last surviving relative of the royal family to help ascertain the truth, as she had been a guardian of the princess prior to fall of the monarchy. The Marquis agrees and offers a tremendous reward for anyone who can restore the Crown Princess (named posthumously due to her brother’s betrayal).

Back in Sanq, the capitol is abuzz with the news that the Crown Princess might be alive. Two former revolutionaries from the second revolution, Heero and Duo, who have been sort of rival con men make a deal to try and fake a princess to get the reward and get out of the country once and for all. Relena is guided Heero’s way as a person who can provide her papers to get to Berlin to find Pagan. Heero and Duo both ascertain that Relena could be a proper age. They agree to provide her papers if she goes along with the con. At first she is intrepid, not willing to defraud anyone, but they convince her that it is just a bored aristocrat’s game, no one honestly believes the princess or any of the royal family is still alive.

Meanwhile, agitated and angered by the resurgence of interest in the royal service, Zech Marquise (formally the trecherous Crown Prince) comes down harsh on anyone who portends to be his presumed dead sister. He finds that pretty much all of them are frauds. Until he accidentally bumps into Relena in the square on the way to the train station, and mistakes her for his sister, he dispatches his second in command to tail her until she can determine that Relena is not his lost sister.

Noin meets up with the trio, who almost get caught at the border, she gets them through, not immediately addressing her association with Zechs. She gets them through and agrees to help guide and train Relena to try and trick the Marquis. as well as get them in touch with a Sir Peter Fagan in Berlin, who could get them in with the Marquis.

Noin, having grown fond of Relena, sends a message back to Zechs that she doesn’t think Relena is the real princess thinking that that might spare the girl and Zechs’ emotional state. She fears that if the princess really is alive, then Zechs would fall a part under the weight of his betrayal.

On a stopover, Heero catches Relena amidst a nightmare. She confesses that she has had them over her entire life and doesn’t know what they mean. She asks why he doesn’t sleep and he states he never could, it was trained out of him. Unlike Duo, he was groomed as a soldier, originally under a failed anti-monarchy group and then as a revolutionary in the second revolution. He tells her that with the reward he could finally disappear. Relena presses, but they just sit quietly with each others demons.

They reach Berlin. Noin goes and tries to locate Sir Fagan, Duo to reconnect with his old flame Hilde to obtain more papers to get them into Paris, and Heero accompanies Relena when they try to find Pagan. It leads them to an old house just outside the city, that serves as a weird antique museum. While in the store, Relena finds an old music box, this sparks a brief memory, and an old man comes from the back.

He identifies himself as the mysterious “Pagan” and reveals to Relena and Heero that he believes that she is the lost Crown Princess. Heero scoffs and Relena, still having no real memory isn’t sure if she believes him, but she asks him how she got to St. Gabriel’s, and he states that he witnessed a man’s murder and her near by, hiding in the trunk of a tree, the man in his dying breath gave him the instructions and an account and so he did as asked, it was only later after he learned about the monarchy’s fall that he began to wonder whether Relena was actually the princess. Relena asked what had happened, but the man shook his head, saying it was too terrible and that if she was the princess that she never remember what happened. Pagan agrees to accompany to them to Paris to confirm the truth.

Relena discuss the monarchy, Heero who was skeptical, admits that at the very least the monarchy had been slightly better than the regimes that followed. He recounts the one time he spotted the princess when he was young. He says he doesn’t think that it is her and not to get her hopes up. She agrees, but states that this would no longer be about a simple con for money. Either way, the Marquis would have the answer.

When they meet up with Noin and Duo (along with Hilde), it is revealed that Pagan is Sir Peter Fagan. On their way, Pagan provides Relena a lesson on the history, but stops short the fates of the last royal family. Noin realizing that per Pagan’s story it is becoming less likely that Relena is a fraud, and is actually a princess, writes a letter to Zechs telling him the truth, but decides to not send it. She hopes to convince Relena to keep it as a con. However the letter is mistakenly sent and Zechs, upon receiving it, sets out to see Relena herself, and put an end to it whether she is real or not.

When they reach Paris, they meet other former revolutionaries and plan to crash into a ball in honor of the Alliances’ bicentennial to meet the Marquis. The night before, on a walk throughout the city, Relena reminisces on her life, when she runs into Zechs. They both freeze, and Zechs having gotten a longer look, realizes that she is his sister. However before he can get his gun from his holster, Heero intervenes, and Zechs leaves. Relena in shock over the encounter stumbles back and remembers most of her past though how it all ends is still murky. Heero believes her and stays with her through the night.

Noin meets Zechs, who laments that he was unable to dispatch her. Noin tries to convince him to let her be. There is no throne to be restored to and shouldn’t he be happy his sister survived. He says she would have been better off having never come back, but he would not let her continue to be a potential pawn for the Alliance to continue to exert its control.

On the night of the ball, Heero escorts her. Relena asks him whether he hates her now that she is a part of the royal family he was groomed to hate. He admits that no, the royal family is something of the past and that she is who she is, something completely separate. He tells her that knowing may be one thing but don’t let herself be trapped by it. She asks whether he really had to go, but he says that now more then ever there is no place for him.

The Marquis is in the ball, disgusted a the performance of a fake princess, when he spots Relena across the room. He meets with her and asks her who she is. She tells him that she hopes he can tell her, but the Marquis states that he is just the one to put the money at, that it was Marion Darlian who was looking for her.

Upon meeting Marion, Relena realizes that she remember her as she was often sent to live with the Darlians due to the many threats to the royal family, and that the Darlians were essentially her parents.

The Marquis proposes that now that she has been found, that as the Alliance had been an initial supporter of the monarchy, that it would restore her crown and she could lift the occupation of Sanq. Relena unsure of this responsibility, muses whether there was really a place for her there.

On the night before she was to make the claim official, Zechs sneaks into her room, he confronts her and calls her a liar and a fraud. Relena remember the final days of the monarchy and that she had seen Zechs hesitate to kill their father only to accidentally kill their mother when she blocked his shot. Zechs had meant originally to only convince his father to abdicate and form a more representative government, but was spooked into shooting while his mother tried to talk him down.

Heero comes in having regretting not settling properly, he moves to protect Relena, but she stops him. This was her battle not his. Relena tells Zechs to kill her if that will lift his conscience. Zechs shrinks back and later turns himself in as the traiter, Milliardo Peacecraft the disgraced prince.

At a private trial, the Alliance leaders threaten execution, and also tell Relena, that she could have no power as restored queen. Relena said that she never sought a crown, and that her only wish for the country would be the vision of the assassinated leader whose death had sparked unrest. Her final bargain for not taking the crown was to restore Sanq to its people and to pardon her brother.

On the way out, Zechs asks her why, and she says it was the right thing, vengeance was not useful, but however she is not Relena Peacecraft and he is not Milliardo Peacecraft so as far as she was concerned they were strangers and should go there own way.

Cuts to scene of Relena leaving Marion’s home. Marion asks her if she really wants to leave so soon, and Relena said that while she is glad she found her past, she had to find her future.

At a train station, Heero is waiting, and she meets him there and it ends on them embracing in the station.

#weird fics that happens when you show up at work #plot summary #I don't know if I will ever truly write this #so I am not tagging it.#this obviously is missing the true romance beats as well as sub characters and subplots #But hey #I came up with all this today

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thecrimsonarcher · 6 years

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The Zion Mountain Chronicles--Testimony from Sandra “Sandy” Hunt, former member of the Grundy Rescue Squad

It happened every night over the course of several days, starting not long after sunset. It would always come from the same place, a wooded area that was behind the strip mall that used to house the Pig. By some miracle, a small portion of it remained untouched by the flames, a sliver on the hill’s peak. We all believed that’s where it would frequent, possibly where it would “nest” during the daytime. Scary thing is, we never saw it the entire time we were there. Judging by the sounds it made, that thing was huge. How in the hell could something that big hide itself away so easily?

We weren’t stupid. We knew exactly what it was, except for the guys who came in from out of state to help us put out the fires and with recovery efforts. They had absolutely no idea what they had walked into. Poor bastards. They were under the impression Zion Mountain was a quaint little resort town, a facade created by the travel brochures they might have seen at other area attractions. We locals knew better than that. We knew the real Zion Mountain, the one controlled by the cult. I guess that was the real tragedy, huh? On the surface, they wore a mask to cover up the fact they were suffering. It’s sad. They didn’t even realize themselves just how much trouble they were in. Maybe it was ignorance. Maybe they were being naive. Maybe they knew the entire time, but by that point, they had fallen so deep into a hole they couldn’t climb out of. Either way, it was an awful situation that put us all at risk. That thing they brought into this world, the monster they called God, terrorized our camp.

I’ve heard so many stories about this thing, so many that I have no idea which one is true. Now, the one I grew up with claimed their God, Kalona, lived in the mountains outside of town. Some say it lived at the highest peak in the Unicoi Range, Hawkins Bald, where it would look down on the valley and watch over the people of Zion Mountain as their guardian. He would only come down from the Unicoi Range if they were ever in trouble. Kind of ironic when you think about it. They somehow fulfilled their own prophecy. Kalona came down from the mountains all right, but it wasn’t to save them like they said in the old stories. It burned them to death, it viciously maimed them, it hunted them down as they fled for their lives, and even ate their remains.

You’ll never forget that sound once you hear it. This thing made a wide variety of ungodly noises that would send the hair on the back of your neck on end. Right as the sun began to set over the mountain, that’s when the psychological warfare would start. It would last for hours and hours upon end without letting up, it’s end goal being to make us leave Zion Mountain. No matter how terrified we were, we weren’t going to let Kalona win. Not this time. We all had a personal obligation to help the families find the closure they needed and we were going to stay until the last body was recovered.

During the first night, we decided to make a temporary base of operations in one of the few surviving buildings in town, a Dollar General that had opened across the highway from the Unicoi Outlet shopping center a year before. By some miracle, it suffered minor damage, namely to the windows at the store’s entrance. Would you believe they had been riddled with bullet holes? Even stranger, the interior of the store appeared to have been mostly intact and there were no signs of customers or employees by the time all hell broke loose around 8:15 on the night of June 13th. In fact, the front door was locked. Dollar Generals typically stay open until 10 PM, yet this location’s hours of operation were completely different from the rest–8AM to 7PM. We all thought that was a bit weird, but come to think of it….a lot of businesses in Zion Mountain were like that. We never could figure that out.

The second night, we were all gathered in the parking lot, getting ready to have supper. Over the course of our occupation of Zion Mountain, there were many people(wonderful people, I might add) who were generous enough to volunteer their time and resources to help all of the first responders involved. Even if that meant getting a hot meal catered to us after a long day of recovering body after body after body from what little remained of the town, every small gesture meant the world to us. When everything seemed to be lost, I was comforted knowing that there was still a small bit of hope left in an even more hopeless situation. Maybe the people here had strange views we could never understand, but….they didn’t deserve to go like this. No one does. This was something they couldn’t have done to themselves. It was a decision someone made for them. Almost everyone in the Grundy Fire Department felt the exact same way. This wasn’t an accident and it sure as hell wasn’t something done to willing participants. The revelation sent many of us into a deep depression when it was all said and done, that human beings would be capable of such cruelty, to put their own fellow townspeople in harm’s way just to satisfy their evil god. There was no other reason. There was no other justification for it.

We were standing in the parking lot when we heard it for the very first time on the second night. The smoldering ruins of Zion Mountain were silent that night as the sun began to set over the mountain. As far as we knew, the entire strip mall where the Pig was located was empty. The parking lot was suspiciously absent of any cars, which we thought was really strange.

As it moved down the mountain, the sound of small trees being snapped and making impact with the rocky, steep terrain beneath the weight of this thing echoed across the hollow remains of town, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and listen. Branches from the taller trees broke off, sliding down the side of the mountain, some making impact with the concrete below, where the old loading docks for the stores once stood.

Whatever in the hell this thing was, it was huge. Sure, the Unicoi Range was no stranger to animals that were pretty good sized. In fact, I can recall reading the paper and seeing where a teenage boy shot a wild hog that was roughly 600 pounds about a year or so before the incident had taken place. There were black bears, wild hogs, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes that were as big around as a man’s arm up on the mountain, but nothing that ever lived or existed before or since was as big as this thing.

It started out as a deep growl that rumbled like a rolling thunderclap across the smoldering ruins, gradually becoming louder and louder until it was the only sound we could hear. All of Zion Mountain fell into a nervous silence, terrified and unsure of where exactly the sound was coming from. Even the lone whippoorwill that had been calling off in the distance prior to this hushed itself, scared of what was about to happen. The way the mountain stood behind the shopping center, it was almost like a natural amphitheater, amplifying any loud noise coming from it. For all we knew, it could’ve been further down the mountain. It was getting dark and we could barely see what was going on across the highway from us, making the situation even more tense than it already was. Not once did I take my eyes off the mountain. Was I terrified? Absolutely. We had no way of knowing at the time this was more than likely what caused Zion Mountain’s destruction. I had no idea we were that close to Kalona. I don’t recall when I came to that conclusion, but when it finally “clicked”, I was deeply disturbed. It could’ve easily came down from its nest and took us all out at once, but…it didn’t.

And then, that’s when all hell broke loose. The growls suddenly stopped and it let out this….loud, bellowing roar that became more and more high pitched, like a bloodcurdling scream, stopping everyone dead in their tracks. Once it started, it wasn’t letting up. It screamed and screamed into the coming darkness, its loud wails echoing across the plain. It was like nails on a chalkboard at times.

From that night on, it became a regular occurrence we had other choice but to put up with. Starting at dusk, Kalona would start making its ungodly howls before finally stopping at 2 and 3 in the morning, leaving us so unnerved we couldn’t go to sleep. Sleep was out of the question when we spent most of our time dealing with the trauma of having to dig up the remains of our loved ones and being afraid for our lives. The stress became too much for some people, causing them to leave Zion Mountain and never look back. A few had to be hospitalized after suffering from nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, heart attacks, and in one case, a stroke.

Despite my personal ties to Zion Mountain, I refuse to go back so long as Kalona still haunts the Unicoi Range. Considering the bullet holes we found at the front entrance of the Dollar General, were they trying to defend themselves against Kalona, who suddenly came down from the mountains as the legends spoke? Was something far more sinister at play here?

–Testimony from Sandra “Sandy” Hunt, former member of the Grundy Rescue Squad

#my writings #the zion mountain chronicles #lovecraftian horror #southern gothic #tw: disturbing content #psychological horror #writing #creepy #you ever hear a panther scream in the dead of night?#that's what Kalona sounds like...sort of #nightmare fuel #I doubt anyone actually reads this #Tennessee #appalachia

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game-refraction · 7 years

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Game Review: The Legend of Zelda - Breath Of The Wild (Switch)

“It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” was the only instructions given to Link when we were first introduced to the character, and series, back on the original NES. That all too brief bit of advice actually told us quite a bit. The world was in peril from some sort of evil, and that Link would need to be well prepared for it. It is that same underlying message of being prepared that is introduced to us all over again in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and it couldn’t be truer. Breath of the Wild is not only the most wildly ambitious and incredibly polished entry in the Legend of Zelda series, it’s quite possibly the greatest Legend of Zelda game to date.

I consider myself a fairly big Legend of Zelda fan, despite not fully completing a few entries in the series. My favorite, up until Breath of the Wild, was Wind Waker as not only was it as near perfect to an adventure game as you can get, it just had a level of polish that most developers can only dream of having in their games.

Right from the beginning of Breath of the Wild, you are told very little. You are given a few hints on the plot and then set on your path. You know that Princess Zelda is out there somewhere and that Ganon, or as he is called here; Calamity Ganon, has taken over the kingdom. You’ll come across a few gameplay hints via the loading screens or from various NPC’s that litter the world, but a lot of it, and I mean a lot of the what’s and how’s, are left up to you to figure out, and the creative fun that comes with doing so.

I’ve heard a few stories about how some players tackled certain objectives, despite how complex or simple the more traditional methods would be. One such example left me rather impressed. During one of the Dungeons, a player couldn’t find a second power node to open a door. They noticed that both platforms required electricity to run and they, in an act of desperation, came up with a rather impressive trick. When Link is out in a rain storm you have to be worried about wearing metal when you hear thunder about as you can get struck by lightning. Using this logic, they placed metal weapons from one node platform to the next. Upon placing the node on the platform, it transferred enough power to the adjoining platform and powered the door. During my playthrough, I had no problem finding that second node, but it’s nice to know that no matter the player, you can find your own way. I lost track of how many times I had an idea and it paid off, with the game at no point telling me I could play that way or forcing me down one direct path of reasoning.

It is in this creative ingenuity that makes the open world of Breath of the Wild so fresh and original. Sure, the world abides by a few open world gameplay designs like collectibles strung everywhere and points of interest allowing for fast travel and map revealing, but it is the way in which you interact with this world that is unlike anything I have ever seen. Want to bake apples? Hold a torch under an apple tree. Want to cook some fish or sear a steak? Throw it on the ground while visiting Death Mountain. You can freeze meat with an ice arrow or throw a metal weapon at an enemy in a storm to have lightning finish the job. There are so many different ways that the environment will affect either Link or the materials of his weapons or items that I could just go on and on, but I’ll leave the rest for you to discover on your own.

As you explore the massive open world around you, you’ll often rely on your paraglider, an item you’ll earn within an hour of starting the game, should you stick to the main path. The paraglider allows you to glide on the wind currents to essentially fly around the map. Should you need to reach a higher location you can simply just scale the surface. These feats of exploration are held in check via a upgradeable stamina system that also limits how far you can run without becoming winded or swim without drowning. The wall climbing is also limited to outdoor areas as climbing up walls in dungeons or shrines are just not possible, it’s also worth noting that rain will prevent you from scaling surfaces as well, but oh, we shall talk more about the “rain” later on, don’t you worry. The game also has a 24 minute day and night cycle that changes the locations of various NPC’s, merchants and even what types of items and enemies you can find nearby. Even certain side quests and various shrines are only accessible at key hours in the day.

Before I get too involved talking about the story, weapons and various other systems the game has to offer, I want to take a moment and talk about how gorgeous this game is. While I am playing on the Nintendo Switch, the game still looks rather impressive on the WiiU. As I mentioned above, Wind Waker was my favorite pre-Breath of the Wild Zelda game and a lot of that had to do with the art direction. Breath of the Wild grabs ahold of the look that Wind Waker contained and finds a nice middle ground between that and the previous Skyward Sword. The game has an almost anime inspired look to it, with characters looking fully animated and having remarkable detail even among how simple their designs can be.

Regardless of traversing cliffsides above lakes of lava or racing through the forests of Hyrule on the back of Epona, the widespread environments of Breath of the Wild are stunning in their beauty as well as the secrets that hide around almost every corner. The lighting and shadows that come with the day and night cycles can drastically change the look and feel of your surroundings and standing on a mountaintop to see the fog creep over the mountains is something else.

The Switch runs the game at a modest 900p, while both the WiiU and the handheld nature of the Switch run it at 720p. The WiiU version does have a bit of slow down even at 720p and the Switch, while docked on the tv at 900p has comparable slow down as well, mostly in areas that have lots of shadows in play. I never noticed any slow down while playing via the handheld mode of the Switch, but this could be due to the game running on Switch hardware at 720p. I also noted that playing Breath of the Wild via the WiiU gamepad’s screen is mostly blurry and I would recommend sticking to the TV mode for that console if at all possible.

The Legend of Zelda has always had tremendous sound design and Breath of the Wild ranks up there with the best of them. Each selection of music or sound effect is absolutely perfect and they even throw in a few classic sounds in some really interesting places. I love the musical melody that plays when your Sheikah Slate is scanning the map, or the ping your arrow makes when you get that critical headshot. Several characters of the game also feature some terrific voice acting that I wish happened more often throughout your journey.

As the characters you’ll interact with all have remarkable animation and detail, so do the various enemies you’ll encounter during your 60+ hours with the game. While there isn’t a staggering variety in types of enemies, the small details that encompass them will make you enjoy each encounter despite how repetitive it can get. Should you disarm your foe and then pick up their weapon, they will lash out with surprise and anger, pointing at you and shocked at what just occurred. I had an enemy retreat to set his wooden club on fire to attempt a better tactic against me, except I threw an explosive barrel at his face and he flew off the cliff. The personality given to many of the game’s foes is fascinating and can lead to some rather fun ways of dealing with them. One of my favorite moments was when I took a Cucco from a nearby village and caused a Lizalfos to indirectly hit the Cucco four times causing a massive army of Cuccos to unleash chicken hell on it, he didn’t last long.

After you break away from the basic Bokoblin’s and Moblin’s, you’ll start to encounter the Guardians, giant pillar looking enemies that can be stationary or mobile, should they still retain their spider-like legs. At first, they can be incredibly intimidating, but once you figure out a neat trick you can do with your shield, I started to go on a killing spree collecting all the rare items they would drop upon their destruction. Also, upon upgrading my stasis rune to freeze enemies, I found that I could halt them in their tracks for a few precious seconds and start chopping off their legs, crippling them in sheer delight.

There has been some talk about the weapons in Breath of the Wild as for the first time in the franchise, we have weapons that can break during combat. Each weapon has a variable limit to how many fights it can withstand and this can make or break your experience. Early on you will find weapons that will break after an enemy or two and later on you can find weapons that can outlive dozens of foes with even the Master Sword needing a small recharge after a certain amount of abuse. Eventually, you’ll find weapons that can be repaired, but I didn’t find them to be that much better than the disposable ones littering each and every battle. I often would revisit shrines to grab a few more Guardian weapons; glowing blue spears, axes, swords, and shields, as they can last fairly long and deal out some nice damage, plus it helps that they look really cool. Breath of the Wild has a vast amount of weapons for Link to wield, which is a huge change of pace from prior entries. I never found myself bored with combat as there was just a tremendous amount of variety in how to dish out damage to an unsuspecting foe and attempting to master the dodge and parry systems can be rewarding as well.

With the world being much bigger than anything else Nintendo has ever made, closing the gap between you and a nasty little Bokoblin can be made much easier with a solid arrow to the face. Link’s bow is far more essential this time around than ever before in a Legend of Zelda game. Arrows come in regular, fire, ice, shock, bomb and the ancient Guardian arrows that can one-shot almost anything. Jumping in the air and unleashing your bow will freeze time as long as your stamina holds out. I approached a small Moblin camp that had 2 of them sleeping while another kept guard. I paraglided in from a nearby mountain and dropped from the sky with my bow at the ready. The added time the slow down mechanic gave me allowed me to headshot the guard and fire off two arrows at explosive barrels that were just a few feet from the sleeping duo. Needless to say, the camp exploded in a flash of yellow and orange.

Working alongside your arsenal of swords, axes and bows, are Runes. These are special abilities that Link has access to via the Sheikah Slate, an ancient tablet that can learn new skills and be upgraded later on. These Runes are all available within the first few hours of the game so that you can freely tackle any of the Dungeons or Shrines in whatever order you see fit. The Runes that Link will have access to are Bombs, Magnesis, Cryonis, and Stasis. Bombs are pretty self-explanatory, but it’s the other three that really shake up the Puzzle dynamics here. Magnesis lets you lift and move metal objects around, Stasis lets you stop time to objects and enemies, and Cryonis creates ice platforms out of bodies of water. Several areas of the game force you to use these powers in tandem to one another and can lead to some very creative methods to solving puzzles. Later on, you will use the Sheikah Slate to take pictures or utilize the Amiibo compatibility.

Breath of the Wild’s large open world has a lot to explore and you’re going to be picking up a ridiculous amount of items and resources everywhere you go. The room you have for weapons is fairly small early on but can be upgraded to allow more space, which is great considering how fast some of your weapons can break. The resources you gather like fruit and meat can be used to cook meals that grant more health, temporary hearts and other buffs like extra stealth or boosted stamina. You can use monster parts like tentacles and bat eyes to create Elixers that do roughly the same things but without the health recovery. The cooking is incredibly addictive and the music and charm of the food bouncing around in the pot makes this a system that you’ll want to use, rather than need to. You will also outfit Link in a variety of outfits that have some sort of stat like extra defense, better stealth, or surviving harsh climates. Several outfits and weapons are also locked behind the use of Amiibo’s, which also work as a method of collecting resources as well.

Breath of the Wild changes up the themed Dungeons of Zelda’s past by making them giant mobile animal shaped mechs from a long passed civilization. These animal shaped fortresses are called Divine Beasts and there are four of them. As you progress from the start of the game, you’ll find that Link shares a history with the custodians of these Beasts, a group of warriors that attempted to help Link and Zelda stop Calamity Ganon 100 years ago. Considering the world is currently ruled by said evil gives us a clue as to how well this attack went.

While the Dungeons are very creative and well designed, they sadly don’t last too long and can be cleared in well under an hour. Once you discover the map in each Dungeon, you can alter sections of the Beast to allow access to sections of the Dungeon that are normally blocked. The Divine Beast Vah Medoh, the Bird, as an example, can tilt left, right, or just remain straight flat. Despite the disappointing length to these locations, they are still very engaging experiences that I still rather enjoyed. I would say that my biggest complaint regarding them is their lack of variety inside each of the Divine Beasts as they look nearly identical from one to the next.

While the Divine Beasts were once used to destroy Ganon, here they are actually tools to be used by Ganon himself and conclude with a boss battle with one of his minions. Each Boss has an elemental effect that is paired with the type of Divine Beast they inhabit. While these encounters are fun and engaging, I had harder battles with some of the Lizard enemies found in various areas of the map. Each boss has a few phases that are rather easy to figure out and I honestly can’t remember if I died once during these encounters, or had much of a challenge provided to me. I still think they are rather entertaining, I just wish the fights were a little more challenging.

Despite the short length to the Dungeons and somewhat disappointing Boss battles, the real stars of the show in Breath of the Wild have got to be the Shrines. These 120 locations offer up combat challenges, puzzle rooms or just a simple room containing a chest. The combat challenges range in difficulty while the puzzle rooms are where the Shrines truly shine. These elaborate puzzles make great use of the motion controls that Nintendo has perfected here. I’ve had to tilt my controller almost entirely around to solve a few rolling ball puzzles or swung it like a golf club to send an orb flying. I’ve been stumped by a few puzzles like one where I had to transport an Ice Block from the start of the Shrine to the end, carrying it in my arms until I had to drop it to use Magnesis to block a wall of fire. I sat there wondering how I could move the Ice Block with my hands full using Magnesis until I figured out that I had to fail certain aspects of the objective to succeed.

I wish I could say that the underwhelming Dungeons and Bosses were the only issues I had with this near perfect masterpiece, but sadly, no, there are a few more problems with the game I need to mention. I’ll start with the biggest problem I had with the game; the rain. While I really loved the elemental effects that the game can offer with regards to creative game design, the rain can become more bothersome than anything else in the game. See, you can’t climb during the rain and often upon nearing the top of a mountain or needing to climb to find a Shrine or some other motivation for the tough climb, I’ve had rain storms show up suddenly and cause Link to just slip and fall off the mountain. While I didn’t find this to be game-breaking, it did lead to much frustration and often I would just give up on that area and move on to something else. Had some type of climbing claws or a climb-during-rain perk for the upgraded Climbing gear been made available later on in the game, I could have dealt with it, but as it stands now, rain can put a damper on how fun this game can be.

As for Link himself, he can be quite the problem as well. I’ve had to run away from various enemies and have had him auto-climb a tree or a rock or if you got too close to the camera and initiated the auto-climb, it can be a split second mistake that can cost you your life. While the auto-climb is great when you’re falling to your death and glide into a wall, it can be disastrous during a combat encounter, especially against enemies that can one-shot you. I also had an issue with the recovery speed of Link when he gets knocked down. Many times I would be knocked down by a Guardian or one of the Lion flavored Minotaurs, and before I could get up I’d be blasted or hit all over again. I don’t mind challenging combat, but at least let me get back up and get injured due to my own mistakes and not poor game design.

I’ve spent the better part of three days writing this review and wondered if I would award a perfect score to this game or not. While it has its flaws, it still is a game that I constantly think about and count the minutes in my work day till I can get home to play it again. I converse with friends and co-workers endlessly about this moment or the next, eager to see how someone tackled a particular foe or puzzle. Yes, the rain can be bothersome and yes Link can cling to a tree or rock during a crucial battle, but in the end, Breath of the Wild is a fantastic experience and worthy of the highest score I can possibly give. A game like this, one that raises the bar in so many areas, needs to be awarded praise and recognition. This is a game very untypical of Nintendo and it can be rare to see this type of genre redefined. Even after beating the game and tackling every Shrine the game has to offer, I am only just getting started, and until then, you’ll catch me east of Hebra Tower playing Snowball bowling for another 300 Rupees.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was reviewed on a retail copy of the game, and comments regarding the WiiU version were from observations of seeing it in action. All screen captures were taken from the Nintendo Switch via its upload to Twitter function.

Game Review: The Legend of Zelda – Breath Of The Wild (Switch) was originally published on Game-Refraction

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