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imyourbratzdoll · 1 year

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𝒎𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕

this is part 2 of just a bet.

summary - when the reader left steve after finding out she was just a bet, she found a new home and a new family, followed by meeting the love of her life, logan.

warning - fluff, angst, swearing.

the gifs I use aren’t mine, divider by @newlips

But every fairytale has a happy ending.

After everything that had happened with Steve and being a bet, I never thought I’d find love or trust someone again. But then he came along… Logan Howlett. Gaining the room's attention with his fluffy hair and bulging muscles, but what caught my attention was his ‘give no shit’ attitude and the fact that when we first met, he didn’t try to get into my pants or hit on me. Logan simply glared and snarled before walking away.

But I didn’t blame Logan for how he was because when he first met me. I was the same. I was closed off, and albeit I didn’t glare or snarl at him, I wasn’t exactly the friendliest, and it was all because of how one man and his friends managed to make me feel below myself and unloved.

Over the years, Logan and I would briefly talk if needed, I don’t know when it started, but one day I woke and felt my heart begin to skip a beat whenever I’d look at him or catch him staring. I found that my cheeks would constantly become a rosy pink around him, and it scared the hell out of me because this was how I felt with Steve before everything happened, and I didn’t want to go through that pain again, even if it meant shielding myself from love forever.

It took a while for me to warm up to Logan, especially when he began to warm up to me. Charles told me that I was special and that Logan has always been grumpy, but he’s been more closed off ever since Jean. Which was a shock once I learnt everything that happened between the two and how she still chose Scott even though she made Logan feel special and made him think he had a chance.

In my mind, all of this was a mess. I spent time building walls just for this burly wolf-like man to walk into my life and knock them down. I remember when Logan and I had an actual conversation with no snarkiness or sarcasm, and it was just peaceful.

I’m standing outside, tending to the flowers, the one thing that brought me peace when I arrived here. “You know, staring isn’t polite.” I turn my head slightly, looking at Logan, taking in his white tank top and jeans as he leans against a tree, a cigar held loosely between his lips. His piercing blue eyes stare daggers into me over his sunglasses.

Logan huffs as he pushes himself off the tree and walks over to me, “why are you always out here? Tending to these stupid weeds?” The deep rumble of his voice rolls off his tongue and sends shivers through my body.

I squint up at him, the sun blinding me. “It calms me. The only thing that’s brought me peace out of this hellhole of a world.” Without thinking, Logan takes his sunglasses off and puts them on me. My heart nearly bursts out of my chest at the action, “thank you.” I give him a soft smile before looking down at the flowers with crimson cheeks.

“Do you mind if I join you?” He grunts, the question startles me. I shyly nod, never expecting those words to leave the man’s mouth. The thought of finally having someone to share this with causes my heart to warm, hopefully.

Logan and I spend the next few hours talking, him sometimes helping me tend to the flowers or standing back watching me. His presence comforted me more than anyone’s had in my lifetime; for a second, it was scary.

I blink as the memory of our first real conversation flashes through my mind, and a gentle smile is brought to my face. “What’s got you all happy?” The sound of the familiar gruff voice still brings butterflies to my stomach. Logan walks into my view and bends down, pecking my lips. “Is there someone else I don’t know about, Mrs Howlett?”

My breath hitches, one at his taste and two as he calls me by my new last name. I give him a bright smile, leaning forward to provide him with another kiss as our eyes connect. “Only you, Mr Howlett. It’ll only ever be you.” The feel of his arms wrapping around me causes me to feel safe, my eyes closing as I give my complete trust to my husband.

I know you all may be confused about the big jump, but I couldn’t give away the goods straight away now, could I? As you’ve seen, Logan and I didn’t like each other immediately, and then we slowly began warming up to one another. You saw our very first genuine conversion and then straight to us being married. I won’t let you miss our big day, so don’t worry!

After our conversation, weeks went by of us continuing that pattern until he suddenly asked me on a date. At first, I was hesitant, and for obvious reasons, but he looked me in the eyes and told me he was a grown man and not a spoilt child. Just because someone else threw away a perfect toy doesn’t mean he will. And yes, he said toy, but I didn’t take offence to that because, honestly, what he said was sweet, especially from a man like Logan.

That day, he took me out on a picnic. Complimenting me on the pretty pastel yellow sundress I wore, he picked my favourite flowers and bought my favourite food. We sat, ate and shared stories. Our first date was when Logan found out how and who hurt me, and that was when I also learned about his past from him. He held me against his warm body when night fell as we watched the stars. That was the night we fell in love with each other, and many more dates came after before Logan brought me back to the exact spot of our first date and proposed.

I never thought I’d find love again, but Logan brought me back to life, and I’m grateful. Now the day of our wedding was my favourite, I didn’t expect a tough man like Logan to cry, but he did.

My dress trailed behind me as I walked down the aisle toward my happiness. My eyes lit up with joy as they connected with Logan, who had tears rolling down his face. When I got close, Charles handed me off, offering us a smile.

Logan and I looked at each other with nothing but love. Storm began to speak, and we both repeated what she said, never once taking our eyes off one another. Not even when we had to grab our rings before Storm could tell Logan he could now kiss the bride, I interrupt.

“Kiss me,” I whispered, my voice soft and full of love.

Logan raised a brow as he smiled, “You always order me about.”

“Kiss me.”

“Are you sure?” He murmured, his mouth curved into a wolfish smile. “Because once I do, I might not be able to–”

I grabbed the back of his head and yanked him down. Our lips connect and move with passion. His arms wrap around me, and large hands splayed on my back as he dips me. We both smile into the kiss as cheers explode from the seats. Logan and I slowly disconnect from one another, looking into each other’s eyes as we smile.

“I love you, Mr Howlett.”

“And I love you, Mrs Howlett.”

“Darling.” I blink as I’m brought out of another memory, and my eyes connect with Logan's blue ones. “Where’d you go again?” I offer a happy smile.

“I was remembering our wedding day.” Logan’s face breaks into a giant grin as he remembers it.

“Well, c’mon, there’s someone outside looking for ya, and Charles won’t tell me who.” I nod, standing up and walking out of the room with him. Our hands interlaced as we entered the main room. I tighten my grip on Logan’s hand as I feel the tension.

“Logan said there was someone here for me?” I watch as my new family gulps before Charles rolls forward and says a name I’d never thought I’d hear again.

“Steve managed to find where you were, and he wouldn’t leave until you heard him out.” Charles rolls toward me, grabbing my hands and ignoring Logan’s growls. “We did try and make him leave, Y/n. Please know we would never try to hurt you intentionally.”

“It’s okay, and I guess it was going to happen sooner or later.” I take a deep breath before turning toward the man who caused me trouble. “What do you want, Steve? I thought I told you to go to hell?” I hold back the smile, desperately trying to escape at Logan’s chuckle.

Steve rubs the back of his neck as he goes to take a step toward me but reconsiders as Logan glares menacingly and growls. “I came to say I regret everything, and these past few years have been hell for me.” Steve stands tall, squaring his chest, when he realises Logan isn’t leaving my side. “I want you back. Don’t you want to be mine again?” I scrunch my nose at the words that leave his mouth, quickly placing my hand on Logan’s chest to stop him from ripping the man apart.

I walk forward, desperately wanting to wipe the smug smirk that rests upon Steve’s face. “Steven, you would be the last man I’d ever get with if we were the only ones alive.” The smirk slowly slides off his face, but I don’t stop. “You may think you can get any woman you want even after ripping their hearts out and stomping on it because of how you look, but you didn’t always look like this, did you, Steve?” Feeling the anger deep inside, I get in his face. “Remember when you were just a little guy and women would mock you? They’d rip your heart out and pierce it with their heels because you weren’t worth their time.”

Steve gulps, looking at the group of people behind me for help, but all he receives are malicious smiles. Fear spiked within him when his eyes connected with Logan’s before quickly looking down at me. “Well, guess what, Stevie? You aren’t worth anyone’s time now, and god, I wish I could punch your stupid face for what you did to me.”

Steve smugly smiles. “Do it.” The taunting tone causes my fist to twitch. My eyes trail down his body before coming back up and connecting with his eyes. ‘Typical, men always think they know everything.’

“Alright.” I smile, pulling my fist back before a crunching sound fills the room as my fist connects with his nose. I watch as Steve falls to the ground and follow by leaning down, level with his ear. “You ever come near me again, and no one will ever find your body.” I stand and walk away, needing some air.

Logan’s POV.

‘Fuck, I desperately wanted to kiss the life out of my wife right now.’ I thought as I watched her leave, followed by everyone else. I walk over to the pathetic sack of meat on the ground. Swiftly pulling out a cigar and lighting it, I stand over him.

Steve slowly looks up at the intimidating man, blood dripping from his broken nose. “I do care for her. She’s–”

“Not yours,” I gruffly finish. “They are my rings on her finger. It’s my name she’s taken, and it’s my bed, she shares.” I growl out the following words. “She is mine. So whether you care for her or not isn’t fucking relevant.” I grunt, puffing out some smoke with every word I speak.

Steve swallows, a groan falling from his lips at the pain. “She was mine first.”

I roll my eyes, wanting to stick my claws through his chest to put myself out of this misery. “And you shouldn’t have been a dick. You made a bet and let her go, and that was your mistake.” Feeling done with the conversation, I walk in the direction my wife left. Leaving the mess on the floor.

The moment I spot her, I let out a sigh of relief and make my way over with long strides, needing my wife in my arms. When I reach Y/n, my arms instinctively wrap around her as I nuzzle my face into her neck. “Mine.”

She leans into me as she lets out a breathy whisper. “Yours.”

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

I hope you liked part 2 @paarthurnax59

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teyamsatan · 1 year

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Illicit Affairs | Chapter VII: Hoax

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: Tensions erupt when Neteyam confronts you about something he saw. His secret comes out at the worst time, leaving you both in pieces.

Warnings: (a little) smut (18+, Minors DNI), angst, mentions of blood mentions of death, injury, pills, pill addiction, opioid addiction, disease, cursing, some fluff + all the feels.

Word Count: 9,5k words (holy mother)

A/N: This is it, guys! Where tensions explode and secrets come come out, hearts are bound to be broken. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I put everything into it. I cried whilst writing it, I laughed whilst writing it, pretty sure I experienced the full spectrum of human emotions whilst doing this. Also, I have ignored my actual work to finish it, so if I fail my annual progression review, at least it would have been worth it. Let me know what you think, and as always, thank you for everyone who is reading is and asked to be tagged <;3

"My only one, my kingdom come undone My broken drum, you have beaten my heart Don't want no other shade of blue, but you No other sadness in the world would do"

“There are perks with being an Omatikaya, you know? You can make your bow out of the wood of the Home Tree… and you can choose a mate.”

Fuck.

“Lo’ak… be serious.”

“I am serious, Angel. You’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember. You have always been the only one to see me for more than just a freak, or a fuck-up, or a disappointment. You see me.”

The younger Sully boy gently cupped you face in his hand; he was caressing your cheek with his thumb. Using a little force, he willed your face upwards so you could look up at his face; you were surprised to see the intensity in his eyes.

You placed your hand on his arm, and you hoped by slowly massaging it, it would relax him enough to soften your following words.

“Lo’ak… I do see you. You are an incredible person. You have been there for me my whole life, and I will be forever grateful to you. You have been the only one who constantly chose the dark stuffy lab to the beauty of this world because the labs had me in it, you were closest to my mum and she loved you like you were her own. I think you are the most amazing guy there is and I think your mate will be the luckiest girl there is. But that’s not me, Lo’ak. You know that can’t be me.”

His hand dropped from your face and both of his hands took yours in them, squeezing them ardently.

“But it is you. It has to be you.”

“Kehe (no). Lo’ak, you are my best friend. I am your best friend. I love you so much, and I know you love me too, but the love we have for each other is not the kind of love one needs to be mated for life.”

You spoke softly, looking at him pleadingly, hoping that he would understand your words in the way that you intend them. You can see his gaze drop and form deflate, being replaced by a meek one, a shadow of his former self.

“Oh… I see.” He was now turning his back to you, trying to leave without looking you in the eye. You were not going to let that happen.

“I’m not letting you leave.” You say, keeping his hands tightened in yours. “We will talk about this, and you will recognise I am right.”

Neteyam was having trouble seeing as he was manoeuvring his way through the forest. He felt sick to his stomach and every heartbeat sent waves of hurt through his entire body, like shards of glass gutting him from inside out. How could his own brother do this? How could you do this? He has spent more than two months with you, every day, sending touches and glances your way that were begging to be seen, begging to be acknowledged. He secretly prayed that you would call him out on it, give him a reason to finally tell you that he’s loved you since he was 10 and yearned for your touch since the second his eyes fell on you again after a whole year apart. He wanted you to finally give him a reason to tell everyone to fuck off and let him finally live his life by his own rules, with you by his side.

Neteyam was shaking with tempestuous fury at the unfairness of it all. Lo’ak will always get everything just handed to him on a silver platter, won’t he? Freedom, to make his own choices, to live his life as he wished, carelessly and devoid of any forethought or responsibility. And now he got you, the woman of his dreams - and nightmares - and the future he used to fantasise would one day be his.

His legs were moving without any conscious input from his mind, and before long, he found himself on the way to the clearing you and him used to go to all the time. Your place, just for his and your eyes to see, just for his and your hearts to experience. As he was nearing, he heard soft sounds emerging from the spot, and he slowly, carefully approached with a bow at the ready and all his senses heightened.

“We were in the backseat, drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar…

I rent a place on Cornelia Street, I say casually in the car…”

Soft strumming and the most beautiful voice he has ever heard, a voice that he would recognise anywhere, for the rest of time, made him drop the bow he was gripping tightly. That song, Neteyam thought with a wince, and let himself remember.

“This piece of heaven is our Cornelia Street.”

“What’s Cornelia Street?”

“Well, it’s a place back on Earth where one of her houses used to be, but in this case, it’s a metaphor. Cornelia Street is to them what this clearing is to us.”

A month before your 17th birthday is the last day Neteyam saw you. He was coming to say goodbye. You didn’t know that, and, in your enthusiasm at seeing him after such a long time because of his training, or so he told you, you suggested coming here. Neteyam remembers everything about that day. He didn’t sleep that night, cried himself to sleep quietly in his family’s tent thinking of the possibility of not seeing you again, for a long time, perhaps forever. He had decided that his mum was right. Being around you was hurting you both, and maybe by leaving, both of you could heal and move on. He wouldn’t have to live with causing you more pain than you already had to deal with, and you wouldn’t have to go outside, something that you were only doing for him, it seemed. It was a win-win, he thought, and yet his heart was torn apart, coming apart at the seams of wounds that barely healed.

You were sitting on the ground, resting your back on a rock by the river bank, with the same guitar in your hands you have had since you were young. Neteyam thought he probably heard thousands of songs being played on that guitar, countless hours laying just like he was now, hearing you sing. He did not like humans, could not understand them, their world, their traditions, their beliefs, but watching you strum that guitar and singing about your love, a love neither of you could ever say out loud except in this way, he realised humans did some things right. Humanity did you right.

“We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go

As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead, leading us home”

Neteyam watched you intently, and was trying to assimilate the lyrics as best he could, knowing this was always your preferred method of communication, knowing that through these songs you are confessing your true, buried desires. You looked at him as you sang, giving him a big smile.

“And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again

That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend

I'd never walk Cornelia Street again”

A year and a half later, inhabiting a new body, you were not smiling anymore as you were playing this, the strumming on the guitar slower and more sorrowful, and your voice sounded hoarse, like you had been crying. Neteyam couldn’t believe that you would come here, in his and your secret place and sing the song you silently confessed your feelings to, after what he saw. He felt his anger poison his body, as his heart picked up pace and made his heartbeat ring painfully in his ears, muffling the sound of your voice.

“I never did walk Cornelia Street again after that day, you know? I kept my promise.”

Neteyam freezes in place, a shocked expression marring his features. You heard him, even with your back to him, even while playing and with the soft hum of the river to dull your senses, you knew. Felt him, his presence that charged this clearing like the air before lighting strike. He, however, does not seem to hear the hint of sadness in your voice, nor the sniffling that accompanies it.

“It took me a while to figure out you weren’t going to come back. It did not dawn on me right away. I thought you were just training hard, as you had been for years at that point, I didn’t think anything of it. I only figured it out a month after I played you this song, when my birthday came and you didn’t show. I waited all day. Way past eclipse, way past the point everyone else was gone and sleeping peacefully, I waited. I didn’t sleep that night. I was afraid I was going to miss you and no one would be able to let you through the door. It never occurred to me you wouldn’t show - not until the dawn of the next day. That’s when it hit.”

“I remember singing you this song, I was terrified. I mean, we talked around it all of our lives, I sang you songs, and I read you poems, and you’d sleep in my bed and let me attach myself to you in a way no friend ever would. But this song, I thought, would be the one. The one that would make us finally have to talk through it. The night before, I had watched an episode of Gilmore Girls, right? And it’s that episode when Dean pitches up at Rory’s school after she drops him hints that she’s in love with him, and he gets mad for one reason or another and then she screams at him “I love you, you idiot!”. And he drops all the stuff he was holding and rushes to her and kisses her, like really kisses her. And I remember thinking, I’m going to sing you this song, and this will be my “I love you, you idiot” moment.”

Neteyam walked slowly towards your form that was still turned around from him, and felt two forces tugging at him, ripping him apart. On one hand, there was the rage, and jealousy, the monster that wanted to scream at you, to hurt you for breaking his heart without even acknowledging it. On the other, there was deep sadness and grief, for the new information that he is receiving, for knowing what this meant to you, what he did to you, how he left you the day that you confessed, how that only strengthened his resolve. He didn’t know which was going to win.

“I never had any expectations. I was never delusional enough to think that you would ever choose me. But I did have dreams. And in the dreams, you told me you loved me too, and that whatever it was, we would always be able to work through it together. That day after my birthday, I felt like something ripped apart in me that I’ve never recovered from. I’ve lost so much of myself throughout the years, every time something new came up. I’ve been in pieces, broken and shattered, my whole life, and yet somehow you managed to walk away with the biggest piece. Because I could never put you in a drawer at the bottom of my desk, like all my other pieces. You were never truly gone, you were just far enough that I could never reach you, but near enough that I could never heal. I mourned you, mourned the me that you took with you, every day for months. Losing you broke me, Neteyam. You broke me. I will never forgive you for that night.”

“Well I guess we’re both fucking disappointed with each other then.”

Neteyam saw you shoulders hunch even more than they were and your head bow towards the ground. You hand raised to your cheeks and wiped something off your face, before you finally stood up and and turned around, facing him. Neteyam’s breath caught in his throat at the new sight. Your eyes were puffy and red, and tears marked your cheeks, so pronounced it was as if they would stain your face forever.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He felt his own tears threatening to spill then, pricking at his eyes painfully, begging to be released. There was so much pain inside of him, pain you caused him, pain for the hurt he knew he caused you, pain that felt like it will never diminish.

“You’re sitting here, talking about that night and this song, in this place that once meant so much to us, after giving yourself to another man, to my fucking brother, and you want me to feel bad?”

He saw your face slowly register his words, as if you were mulling over every word carefully, turning it in your mind, and saw how your face went from sad to cold and unflinching and a shiver ran down his spine. You rose an eyebrow at him, an expression only he seemed to have the power to coax out of you.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me. I saw you. I saw you in the forest, his hands all over you, I saw you running your hand up and down his arm. I’ve known he has been sneaking in your tent for weeks. What are you doing with my baby brother in your tent late at night, Y/N?”

FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF STAGE II: ANGER

“You honestly have some fucking nerve, Neteyam.”

“You do not get to come here, come to this place, or any place for that matter and demand an explanation from me. I don’t owe you anything. You fucking left, Neteyam! We’re nothing to each other. Whatever claim or right you might have had once to ask anything of me or from me is long gone.”

Neteyam stalked towards where you were standing, your words echoing in his mind. He was mad, mad at you for what you did, but also mad at himself. Because he knew you were right. He had no right to come here after abandoning you and the relationship you two had and be angry that you moved on. And yet he was.

He was so close to you now he could feel your breath fanning over his face as you looked up at him, panting with anger, lips slightly opened. He couldn’t help look at them, those lips he has dreamed about for years, the way they’d feel on him, their taste… your taste. It was driving him insane, being so close to you, knowing what he knew.

“Why? Why Lo’ak? You could have picked anyone else.”

You chuckled bitterly. “Really? So if I picked Akoa or Tärze, you wouldn’t be here right now, wouldn’t be mad and looking at me like somehow I betrayed you?”

“Or is it possible it doesn’t actually matter who it is, it’s not the fact that it’s Lo’ak… it’s the fact it’s not you.”

“You see, I think deep down you know it should have been you. I think deep down it kills you that you are not in my tent late at night. You’re not the one that gets to touch me.” he felt your hand place over his bare chest and run it down his abdomen until it reached his red loin cloth, which you slightly tugged at. He felt his cock twitch in response.

You don’t know what came over you. You came here to mourn, still reeling after your conversation with Lo’ak. You never expected to see him here, hear his presence while you sang the song that once signified hope and love, and now is just a bitter reminder of all you’ve lost. You definitely never expected him to question you over Lo’ak, or be so angry over something that would never happen anyway.

You were furious with him, furious that he never told you how he felt for you, and now he was clearly showing it to you by his displays of anger and jealousy. This was not how this was supposed to go.

You felt a sick satisfaction at his demeanour. You made him like this, this angry, nose flared and panted breaths, you had this power over him. Just the thought of you with another man drove him to this point, and you loved it. He deserved it, deserves much worse.

“You should leave, Neteyam.”

You started turning your back to him, but he took hold of your arm and kept you in place forcefully. His other hand went to your neck, and you felt him wrapping his hand around it and squeezing.

“No.”

You were shocked at his actions, and even more shocked at the immediate reaction your body had to him. You felt throbbing deep within you, and squeezed your thighs tightly together to accommodate for the feeling.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me. Did you fuck my brother, Atan (light)?”

He was still squeezing your throat, and you felt your pulse quickening when he moved and took a hold of you jaw, forcing you to look in his eyes. He looked mad, sad, desperate for an answer that would either mend or break him. You felt his intense stare in every cell in your body and felt yourself clench around nothing.

You wanted to lie, wanted to see him suffer at least some of the hurt he’s caused you. But you couldn’t, not with how he was looking at you, not with how he was holding you.

“Fuck you, Neteyam. I would never do that. Fuck you for thinking for a second that something like would ever even cross my mi-“

It wasn’t possible for you to finish the sentence, as his lips roughly slammed against yours, and you immediately, as if your body needed no input from your mind, raised your hands to the circle around his neck, pushing him closer to you.

You moaned into the kiss, and the sound removed any ounce of sanity or self-discipline from his being, and he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss and slide his tongue over your bottom lip, begging for permission.

He felt his hand drop back around your throat, squeezing, loving the feel of your quickened pulse, knowing he was responsible for it, for your swollen lips and dilated pupils, for the way you were squeezing your thighs together. You were his, to love, to touch, to do whatever he wanted to.

He was so hard now, his loincloth was constricting around him painfully, and he knew if he kept going, he was not going to able to stop himself until you were writhing underneath him, until he made you beg and scream his name over and over, all night long.

“Pathfinder, this is Devil Dog, come in, over.”

Fuck.

Your body ached at the loss of contact, as Neteyam removed his hand from around your throat and his lips from your own. He was panting, and tried to steady himself before he touched the little button on the radio on his neck, sighing deeply.

“I’m here, Devil Dog. What’s your post? Over.”

You turned your back to him, and took a few steps towards the river, trying to compose yourself. What the fuck did I just do? This was bad, for so many reasons, it was making you dizzy just counting them all. You couldn’t hear what Jake was saying to Neteyam, but it couldn’t have been good, it was very rare Jake would use the radio to communicate with his kids, you’ve only seen it once when there was a hunting accident that needed everyone’s attention.

“You need to get back to the village, now. We have a situation. If Y/N is with you, bring her back, too. Over and out.”

Shit, this can’t be good, Neteyam thought to himself. He looked over at you and saw you turned your back to him, hiding. You were good at that, pretending, denying, avoiding. Pushing your feelings aside was your favourite defence mechanism, had been ever since your mum died.

His eyes softened and he felt stupid for having doubted you, for spending so many weeks losing sleep over something that never even happened. Guilt also immediately pooled in his gut from the kiss, the confession, the implications of it, all of which things he would have to deal with sooner or later. The horror at the thought of the consequences of his actions made his skin crawl, but he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it, knowing his dad expected them to hurry.

“Hey… we have to get back, dad said to meet him in the village.”

You nodded weakly in his direction, and started making your way towards the village. Once again, he found himself having to clasp your arm by your wrist and turn you around so you could face him. You refused to look at him, so he cupped your face in his hand and raised you head gently so you could look at him. His thumb was ghosting over your lips, that were still swollen and when his eyes met yours, he saw a sadness so deep it made Pandora’s oceans feel like shallow pools.

“We need to talk, properly talk.”

You just nodded silently and removed his hand from your face, and the last thing he saw was your back, walking away.

You were deep in thought as you arrived in the village, and were pulled out of your musings when you saw a big commotion happening all around you. You have never seen the village like this.

There was a crowd of people by the big bonfire, so that’s where you and Neteyam figured to look first.

“…and no matter what comes next, we will stand and fight, together!” You heard big screams and ululating as Jake’s voice boomed throughout the village, above all the noise.

You saw Norm and Max, all the humans and avatars on the right of the Olo’yektan. On his left stood Mo’at, Neytiri and all their children, plus Spider. Lo’ak was screaming and beating his chest, whilst Kiri looked concerned, and Tuk was almost crying, with a tight grip on her mum’s hand. You made your way through the mass of people, reaching the foot of the large tree stump acting like a platform. Jake spotted you and helped you up, and you saw Neteyam following you from the corner of your eye.

Since the speech was done, people started dissipating, and Jake turned his attention to the pair of you.

“Last night, Neytiri and I spotted a star in the night sky that shone brighter than it ever had before.”

Panic rose in your chest at his words, words that you knew could only mean one thing. “The humans are returning.” you said, meekly.

Jake nodded in your direction with anger flashing across his face, before he composed himself.

“We knew this day was coming, but it is definitely different when it is finally happening than the image you had in your head.” you heard Norm pitch in from somewhere behind Jake.

“How long?” Neteyam asked.

“About a week?” Max said, and the man with such a kind and gentle face was scared, you realised sadly. Everyone was scared.

“Fuck.” Neteyam’s face was unreadable. The war he trained all his life for was finally on his doorstep.

“I need you to complete your Iknimaya before then. Tomorrow, you will go perform your first kill. You are more than ready. It’s time. When the humans come, I need you with me. With us.”

You couldn’t swallow the lump that has formed in your throat enough to speak, so you just nodded. You were not ready. The last time you were on an Ikran, you almost died. You felt the phantom pain on your left leg flare up, and you were terrified at the prospect of another flashback triggering as you were fighting for your life on top of the Hallelujah mountains, trying to make the bond.

The crowd eventually dispersed and everybody went back to their homes. There was a heaviness in the air, no smiles or singing tonight, no communal dinner where people animatedly exchange stories and anecdotes; you saw Na’vi hugging their loved ones, keeping them close at all times, as if letting go would mean letting go forever. The war was upon you, and with it, the possibility of loss and grief settled in the bones of every one of the villagers.

You felt sick to your stomach. A shiver ran through your entire body, and, at the weakness that enveloped your being suddenly, you knew the effects of all the pills you took to mitigate your symptoms have worn off. The dizziness you felt was more than just a weak headache you could ride out, but a sign your human body was fighting to maintain the neurolink inside the pod. You didn’t have much time.

“I’m gonna go to bed. See you all tomorrow.” You needed to be in your tent when you passed out, otherwise it would raise suspicion immediately and you couldn’t afford that.

“Hey, you can’t leave. We still need to talk.” Neteyam said, lightly tugging at your arm.

“Not today, Neteyam.” You removed your limb from his grasp and left without giving him a second look.

You were pulled out of the linkpod quite violently by your own body recoiling in agony. You felt a stupid ping of gratefulness at the fact that, although due to horrible news, at least no one was in the lab or adjacent hubs at the current moment. You struggled to get up, and found the walk back to your room excruciating, like no matter how much you walked, it was not anywhere in sight. When you arrived, you went straight to the bathroom and barely managed to make it to the toilet before throwing up, your body violently convulsing in on itself, trying to expel everything from your body. You haven’t had a proper meal in this body in months, so all your body was managing to get rid of was bile, bitter and acidic on your tongue.

When you were done, you pushed your body weakly towards the sink, and gargled the bad taste away with some water and mouth wash. You peered up at the mirror, and were alarmed by the face that met your gaze. You barely recognised yourself. Your face looked ghastly, the palest you have ever been, the hollows of your cheeks looking like pits of shadows and darkness.

Your under-eye bags gave away how little sleep you were actually functioning under, how little rest you actually got in the last few months. You looked truly sick, although you didn’t know how much of that was the virus and how much it was just you… ignoring your body like you ignored everything that you had to work through, everything that required healing and spiritual effort, and trading it for a easy-to-digest fantasy.

You made your way towards your bed limply and was comforted by the bottles of pills you saw on your bedside table, that will provide fleeting relief. You passed out on the bed soon after, happy that the suffering could be over for at least some hours.

You woke up a couple of hours before dawn, with a raging fever and chills running up and down your spine, and instead of struggling back to sleep, you got up slowly and put some clothes on, making your way towards the labs. Today was an important day, and you needed to be focused for it, you couldn’t afford the same thing as yesterday take place. In the medical ward, you scrambled in the drawers until you found what you were searching for. The holy grail, injectable morphine. You hastily grabbed a syringe and a needle, measured out the amount needed, shook the syringe to remove any air bubbles, and directed it to your arm, where you injected it in your vein. Placebo effect or not, you felt immediate relief, and you knew this would put you through the day.

Norm came to the linkpod to help with the neurolink, and he gave you a worried look as he watched you settle in.

“I think you should be taking a break from this.”

“Are you serious right now? The humans are literally circling the atmosphere as we speak, I can’t afford to take breaks now, you know this.”

“What I know is that you look about a week away from collapsing in my arms, and your Avatar won’t work without you, Ace. You’re always in the village, and you don’t sleep. You’re always running experiments when you are here. Look, I love your enthusiasm, and I love that you’ve finally getting outside and enjoying your life, but there’s also too much of a good thing.”

You were started to feel anger pick at your brain, much like the virus you were carrying with you everywhere you went.

“You made this for me. You made me this Avatar. You guilt tripped me into taking it. Now you’re unhappy I’m using the Avatar. Why don’t you make up your mind and let me know, Norm? In the meantime, I have to go.”

You lay in the on the pod and placed the metal frame on top of your body, and you couldn’t miss the tear that fell on Norm’s face as he closed the lid of the pod.

It was still before dawn when your consciousness woke up in the blue body you’ve come to love so much, and you couldn’t help feel immense guilt at the words you spat at Norm. He doesn’t deserve any of this; he has been a surrogate uncle for you ever since you were born. He made you an Avatar, he built you a guitar. He helped you go outside and live your life, he was always there for you if you needed to talk, or vent. He has always believed in you, in your capacity to help, to do good, to overcome your grief. You would have to apologise to him come nighttime.

You saw Jake make his way to you as you opened the flap to your tent. “Hi, kid.” Tensions were running high, you could tell, as Jake did not smile or make light conversation, as he always tended to do. He would always take the time to check in, to make sure you are doing well, which you appreciated massively. You loved having him and the rest of the family around. It felt like you belonged, for the first time in your life.

“So you, Neteyam, Akoa and Heesu will go and they will watch you perform your first kill. Early tomorrow, we will go take the Iknimaya, and then you will be able to join Neteyam on raids and scouting. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good, boss.” You saw him crack a tiny smile at that, and felt better you could still make him smile, even in these circumstances.

Neteyam came out of the tent looking… so good it made your mouth fill with saliva. He was holding his bow tightly in his hands, and he was adorning new jewellery, you noted. A beautiful black necklace, filled with beads and impressive craftsmanship, his red and green cummerbund tightly wrapped around his ribcage, and his knife tucked on his hip, all came together to bring about Neteyam Te Sulli Tsyeyk’itan, the future leader of the Omaticaya. But what really drew your eye, was a bracelet. A green bracelet that he kept around his arm, whose every bead and stone was imprinted in your mind, for the rest of time. Why was he wearing that bracelet, why now? What was he trying to tell you?

Neteyam found his gaze drawn to the girl next to his dad, the only girl that existed, as far as he was concerned. He barely slept last night thinking of you, of that kiss, of your confession, of the song, and he knew he had to make it right sooner rather than later. The humans were coming, not one of them knew what their lives were going to look like in a few weeks, and there was so much to set straight, the thought made him nauseated again. He had to tell you. Your eyes found his and he saw many emotions passing through them, and was happy to see at least one of them was passion, and yearning. You looked at him like you wanted to do things Eywa would disapprove of, and he felt himself twitch in pain for what felt like the millionth time recently.

Neteyam led the pack away from the village and towards the forest where you would have to make your first kill. He had no doubt in his mind you would do well, he honestly doesn’t know why it has taken so long to do it to begin with. You’ve been ready for weeks. After stalking quietly through the forest for a couple of hours, you found a herd of Yerik. Neteyam closed his gap on you and placed a hand on your back, smiling to himself at the way you shuddered when he did.

“You’ve got this. We’ve been through this and you are ready. Remember, keep a knee on the ground for support. Good luck.”

You nodded without looking at him, eyes plastered on one of the animals peacefully grazing on a bush. He saw you, focused and determined, aiming the arrow with precision and power, and he knew then you were made for this. You were made to be here, as one of the people, you were meant to be Na’vi.

You made quick work of the kill, and immediately got up from your crouched stance and made your way to the now fatally injured Yerik. You removed your knife from where it was placed on your chest, and repeated the words he taught you weeks ago. “Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi irayo (I See you, Brother, and thank you). Ngari hu Eywa salew tirea, tokx 'ì'awn slu Na'viyä hapxì (Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People).”

Perfect, just like he knew you would do. You were nervous, he noted, but you also seemed happy to have finally done it, after all this time training. All four of you made your way back to the village, the two men accompanying you carrying the animal by its legs. Neteyam wanted to talk to you, wanted to get you alone so he can finally tell you all the things he had to say, that he needed to say, the secret that has plagued him for weeks and that drove a wedge between him and his baby brother. Unfortunately, it seems like the universe fated you to never be alone with him again. Right after you arrived at the village, Jake took all of you to gun practice and through strategy meetings about how to plan an attack once the Sky People decelerated. Those lasted the whole day, and before he knew it, you left to your tent again, leaving him to deal with his dad on his own.

“Neteyam. Stay, I want to talk to you.”

“Yes, Senpul (dad)?”

“Did you tell her yet?”

“Not yet. I’m trying to find some time, but it seems like we are never together alone anymore.”

Neteyam saw his dad sighing heavily and was scared for the hell he knew would rain down on him sooner or later.

“Neteyam, you have to tell her. You have asked us to keep your secret, and we have. We have all participated in this, and I am getting tired of lying for you. The kids don’t want to lie to her anymore, your mother doesn’t want for this to be a secret anymore. She deserves to know.”

“You will tell her by the end of the week, or I will.”

Your body convulsed as your mind woke up in your human form, and you tried to hide it as best as you could so whoever was helping you get disconnected wouldn’t notice. To your disappointment, it was Max.

“Hey, sweetheart. How was it today?”

“Good, made the first kill. Going up the Iknimaya tomorrow, which can’t say I am particularly excited about.”

“Oh, honey, you shouldn’t worry about it. It’s going to be completely different than that dreadful day. You are going to be able to control it, you will be connected to it. Plus Toruk has never been spotted this close to the banshee rookery, so there will be nothing making your Ikran nervous.”

“Yeah, guess you are right.” You said, not wanting to tell Max that rationalising it doesn’t achieve anything except making you feel stupid for being scared. “Where’s Norm?”

Max looked agitated for a second, but tried to compose himself enough to appear nonchalant about the subject. “Um, I think he’s in his room, he told me he wants to read this book he still hasn’t gotten around to, if you can believe that. He's been here for almost 19 years, you’d think there’s be nothing new to do here anymore.”

You hoped you weren’t as bad a liar as seemingly everyone you have come across recently, otherwise your illness is not as much of a secret as you’d hoped.

“He told you.”

“Yeah…”

“I was such a dick. I have to apologise. I’ll go find him.”

“Maybe give him some time? He looked really upset, and I think he just needs to lick his wounds by himself for a while.”

“I didn’t mean it, Max. I am just tired and stressed because of the Iknimaya and the humans returning, not that that’s any excuse.”

“I know, honey. He will be alright, just give it time. Time heals everything.”

You could only pray that was the case, for Norm….and for yourself.

You woke up the next morning groggy, feeling sick from your illness and sick from all the pills you ingested last night. If this was starting to be a problem, it was a problem you were gonna have to deal with later. Pandora’s box can hold a couple more issues for the time being. You made your way quietly to the medical ward and found the morphine vial you used yesterday. Withdrawing a few more millilitres, you injected yourself in the arm with it, instant relief flooding your system. You sighed happily and thought this was probably the closest you’ve ever gotten to feeling euphoric.

Your Avatar body looked ready to tackle the Iknimaya, in all new garbs and a new necklace that Kiri made for you recently, as well as Lo’ak’s visors. Tuk and Neytiri were braiding your hair fresh, so you were all ready to go by the end of the eclipse. Feeling how nervous you were, Neytiri put her hand on your heart, and looked into your eyes and she placed the last feather in your hair.

“It will be alright, ma 'ite. You have done better than any other Dream Walker ever has. Even better than the Toruk Makto. I know you are scared because of what happened in the past, but you have grown so much since then. You are such a special child, a gift from Eywa. There’s light in you no darkness can snuff out, and you were made to be one of us. Do not worry.”

You let out a small cry and hugged the woman that could have been your mother in these 9 years after you lost your own, who has loved you and protected you every chance she got, that wanted to take you in the village and raise you as one of the people, but who you pushed away out of fear, out of terror at the possibility of more loss, more pain. She never held a grudge, she never turned her back on you, even after shunning them from your life, she understood you and welcomed you back with open arms as soon as you felt ready to join them. She saw you. You will never be able to repay her kindness.

“We’ll be with you. Kiri and I will fly and bring Tuk on one of our Ikrans. Spider, Lo’ak, Neteyam and Jake will come on their Pa’li with you and make the climb. It will be good practice for them. We all want to celebrate with you. We can all join you on your first flight, so this way it will be less scary.”

You were fully crying in the crook of her neck now, unable to believe the luck you had to having been born somewhere where the Sullys existed at the same time. There was a lot of pain in your life, but this family would always be your good karma, it seemed.

The climb was the most excruciating thing you have ever had to do. Every muscle in your body was pushed to its limits, and you were beginning to wonder how you were supposed to fight a huge animal after all of this. You understand now this is why this was the ultimate test of becoming a hunter, and why there were not many hunters in the Omatikaya. The thought brought a gust of confidence to your mind - you were doing this. You. You’ve gotten so far, further than any scientist on Pandora ever has. You grew up in a lab with severe agoraphobia and unsolved trauma and you still made it here. You will do this, because you have to. Because you’ve come so far.

It was taking every ounce of discipline to not continuously stop and stare at the beauty of the Hallelujah mountains, that you have heard so much about, but never experienced for yourself, and you realised you needed to swallow often to compensate for the dryness you felt from your mouth being stuck agape in awe at the beauteous miracle.

You found yourself peering up at Neteyam frequently throughout the climb, and thoughts about yesterday made your already drugged-out mind even airier. There was so much to think about, so much to talk about, but you couldn’t handle it right now. You couldn’t handle the consequences of that kiss and the hurt that would inevitably emerge from your star-crossed fate. You were dying. Although you didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to acknowledge the reality that your body was falling apart in front of you, it was happening. You probably had another couple of weeks before your heart gave out from all the strain the virus was putting on your whole body, just like it happened with all the other victims.

As if he could feel you, Neteyam turned around and gave you a nervous look. You wondered what he thought of everything, how he felt. Was he happy about the kiss? Did he regret it? In his defence, he has been wanting to talk to you for days and you avoided him, unable to deal with him at the moment. He will just have to be another trinket in the Pandora’s box until you finished the Iknimaya. Making it to a large suspended boulder before you, he stretched out a strong arm for you, and you took it, happy to have at least some physical contact between you. His touch has always calmed your nerves, from when you were children, and now, as adults, that still hasn’t changed.

He didn’t let go once you climbed next to him. Taking advantage of the fact you two were the last to climb, he took hold of your arm with one hand, and placed the other on your face, cupping it gently. His thumb found its way to your lips again, caressing them softly and you felt intoxicated from his touch. He brought his face close to yours and brought your foreheads together, breathing you in. You stood like this, staring at each other for a while, and it was like all the words you wanted to say to each other were spoken wordlessly. I love you. I see you. I’m sorry.

“Are you guys coming or what?” You heard Spider screaming from a higher up boulder, and you reluctantly let go. He squeezed your arm one more time, and then motioned for you to climb in front of him. You weren’t far off now, you realised, and felt your heart picking up pace in your ribcage.

Soon enough, you were there. You could hear thousands of banshees screaming and cooing, and you thought it was mirroring your internal dialogue quite well, loud and incoherent. Neteyam held a hand in front of your body as you made your way across a narrow ledge behind a waterfall, that connected the cave to the banshee nest.

“Ok, kid. This is it. Are you ready?” Jake began speaking and you were trying to focus on him instead of the panicked feeling rising in your chest.

As you were preparing to respond, you heard loud ululating from the sky, and immediately saw two beautiful banshees making their way to the mountain and settling in the cave you just left behind. You smiled at the view, excited that Neytiri, Kiri and Tuk could make it in time. They followed you to the nest and you brought your curled fingers to your forehead, greeting them warmly. I see you.

“Good luck, sister! I cannot wait to fly with you!” Tuk’s enthusiasm never failed to bring a wide smile to your face.

You looked around at all the people who have travelled so far to come and be with you on this day. Your family, for all intents and purposes. You felt tears coming, but pushed them away with a sigh, trying to toughen your resolve. You gave one last look to Lo’ak, who was watching you sadly, the pain from yesterday still fresh in both your minds. You loved him so much, and hoped he would be able to forgive you in time. You touched his gift, now resting on your forehead, and gave him a grateful smile and a wink. He cracked a small grin and you knew then that your relationship wasn’t totally in ruins.

“This is it, Atan. Now you must choose your Ikran. If it also chooses you, move quick, like I’ve showed you. You will have one chance. I will be behind you in case you need any help. Please don’t fall off a cliff, I don’t think my heart could take it again.”

You laughed a little at his attempt of diffusing a situation. It wasn’t his best attribute.

“Ok then, let’s dance.”

Neteyam watched as you made your way through the Ikrans, and how they all flew away in fear at your sight - beautiful banshees that made him miss his own and reminisce about his own Iknimaya. You looked ready - powerful and confident, like you have always belonged here, with them. You were swinging your yìmkxa (mouth binder) and approaching each Ikran forcefully, hissing at them to hopefully provoke the right one. Eventually, a big banshee, bigger than his and most others he’s seen around, turns around to face you and does not remove itself from your path in the same way all the others had. It is a beautiful animal, white and gold with purple and pink wings and green stripes on its head, it looked different than any other in the village. Fitting, he thought. This was it.

He heard a loud hiss coming from where you were stood. The Ikran hissed back wildly and charged towards you. His heart was getting ready to exit his body at its speed and power, and he was panting in fear and anticipation, ready to jump in at any moment’s notice, in case you needed it. He saw you remove yourself quickly, skilfully, out of the animal’s way and wrap the yìmkxa around its mouth. Good, first step done.

You then took a hold of your queue and jumped on the Ikran’s back, placing your thighs around its neck and squeezing with all of your might. The Ikran wrung its neck in an attempt to escape you, but you worked on this for months preparing for this day - you were not letting go. Neteyam saw the banshee make its way towards the edge of a cliff, and you wrapped the arm that wasn’t holding the queue around its neck for more support.

Neteyam felt like he was going to pass out from the stress, and saw the next moments happen in slow motion, just like almost 7 years ago when you fell mid flight: the ikran managing to drop off the cliff, his wailing scream and immediate desire to join you, the hands of his mother and father wrapping around him keeping him in place, his own ikran dropping from a cliff at the sound of his call, him removing his parents’ hands forcefully and running towards his banshee, scrapping his arm painfully on the rock and the stabbing throb that followed, the feeling of a fresh injury and blood spilling down his arm, and yet still, no other thoughts in his mind than the need to save you, to right his past wrongs.

He makes the bond quickly and before anyone could stop him, he’s in the air, flying around the rock and beneath it, trying to see where you could be. He was shocked to find you still on your ikran, holding for dear life while the animal was flying upside down, shaking itself furiously to get rid of you. He saw you drop the arm you were using to hold on to it, only managing to hold on by the strength in your thighs, and connected the queues with a loud yell.

“STOP!” He heard you scream. “TURN AROUND, NOW!”

He couldn’t believe his eyes. You made your Tsaheylu, upside down, mid-flight. He watched as the banshee turned around and made its way back to where his family was, and he still had no words he could say to explain or describe what he was feeling in that moment. It was beyond words. He felt his arm twitching painfully and he quickly looked at it and saw the deep scratch that was leaking blood and staining his loincloth where his arm was laying.

You did it. You actually did it. This little prick came at you with all her might and you still held on to her. You learnt a lesson or two from riding a banshee as a 13 year old defenceless human, and the most important lesson was: hold on for dear life. Good to see it came in handy. You also made it a point to thank Neteyam for making you hang upside down in trees to shoot down targets, you can see now it helped. You landed at the base of the rookery and watched as every one of your family members was smiling and yelling, cheering loudly for your accomplishment. They looked so happy, and you couldn’t help shed a small tear and the sight.

These were your people, for the remainder of this short life, and you were happy you got to do this before you went. Happy you got to see them together, for you. You looked around at Neteyam and couldn’t see him, but then heard a loud, excited yelp from behind you. He looked so happy and proud, your heart swelled at the sight. This man would be the death of you, you knew. You loved him so much, and you knew it was time, time to talk through it.

“First flight seals the bond.” he screams over the noise of the banshees and the waterfall. “Let’s go.”

The entire family called for their ikrans, and in less than a minute, you were airborne. You told your banshee to fly gently and straight, and held on tightly to her neck while you tried to adjust to all these new overwhelming emotions. The feeling of flying was incredible, so much more so than you remembered. Maybe because this time you were in control. The feeling of the Tsaheylu... Lo’ak was right, it was so much stronger than the Pa’li, the connection you had with this animal. You knew you were bonded for life, shared a kinship and bond no one could break until one of you died, maybe even after. The feeling of belonging, as you watched 5 other ikran fly alongside yours and help you through your first of many adventures in the sky. You felt grateful and happy to have made it so far before the inevitable end.

You made it at the village soon after eclipse, laughing and dancing while you walked back, hand in hand with Kiri who was rolling her eyes at you but joining in anyway. Tuk was holding your other hand, and you lifted her up and carried her all the way back while she played with your braids.

As you arrived to your tent, you saw the rest of the family go into their own, with the promise you’d join after dropping all of your stuff. Neteyam stayed behind, closing his distance to you and only stopping when he was so close to you his chin was touching your forehead. It was only then you saw his arm, dried blood spilt everywhere and marring his beautiful blue stripes. His loincloth was also red, you noted, and saw the gash that was the culprit, high on his arm, still red and bleeding, although not enough to justify this much blood. It must have been bleeding for a while.

“What the hell happened to you?!” You said with a panicked voice.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

You raised and eyebrow at him and rolled you eyes, and pulled him to your tent by his uninjured arm.

“Sit. I will clean and stitch it and then we can go for dinner.”

He did as he was told, quietly sitting on the ground while you gathered supplies: some gauze, disinfectant, numbing cream, stitches and a needle driver, as well as some forceps and scissors. He squirmed at the sight, and you rolled your eyes again.

“You drive me crazy when you roll your eyes at me, you know? I would kill to be the reason your eyes roll in the back of your head at night.”

You blushed at his words, and sat next to him on the ground.

“You have to stop, Neteyam. We can’t do this again.”

You turned your focus on his wound, and began cleaning it slowly so as to not injure him further.

“I can’t stop, Atan. I can’t think of anything else. I have so much I want to say to you, so much I need to get off my chest.”

He sounded sad, desperate for you to hear him out, his eyes pleading and pained.

“How about we talk, after dinner? This time, you can be the one sneaking in my tent late at night.” you said sarcastically, not having forgotten his outburst from earlier and realising you were still angry at him for it.

“Yes, please.”

You sat in silence the rest of the time, as you worked with skilled, focused hands. You stitched his wound carefully, so as to not leave him with a scar. When you finished, you smiled up at him, and reached your hand to touch his face, moving a strand of beaded hair from it and pushing it behind his ear. He was so, so beautiful. He brought a hand to your chin and was pulling you closer, when someone entered the tent without making their presence known, making you both jolt back in shock. It was a girl. You’ve seen her before in the village, she was a healer in training. Beautiful and skilled, she was a good singer and a good craftswoman, making a lot of the clothes the Na’vi hunters wore.

“Oh, Great Mother, here you are! Your mother told me about your injury, and I had to come find you so I could help!” She kneeled down on the other side of Neteyam from where you were sitting and touched Neteyam’s chest, moving him around looking for the bleed, that was no longer there.

“Oh, it seems much better now than what was described. I guess it’s true what they say, you really are that skilled.” She turned her attention to you and smiled.

“Thank you. I don’t think we’ve properly met.”

“You’re right, my bad! I’m Tiongli. Neteyam’s mate.”

It was so quiet in the room now, you were sure they could both hear your heart break into a million pieces.

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi @puffb4ll @sassy-persona @simp4ff @mommyneytiri @k----a27s

#neteyam #neteyam x reader #neteyam x human!reader #neteyam fanfic #neteyam fanfiction #neteyam sully #neteyam x avatar!reader #neteyam sully fanfiction #avatar the way of water #avatar fanfic #neteyam avatar #avatar twow #neteyam angst #neteyam smut

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trulybetty · 7 months

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oct' 26 x jack-o-lanterns

Prompt: jack-o-lanterns (something sweet this way comes p.II) Pairing: marcus pike x f!Reader Word Count: 3,305 Warnings: barely beta'd is the name of the game, all mistakes are my own. mentions of baking, a tiny dash of spice, no spoilers here 💕 Summary: maplewood, a small town nestled in northern bc where people flock to see the changing blossom trees and celebrate the fall season. after losing your job you find yourself a part of the community which includes the towns baker who left a less than stellar impression on you. AO3: linked

x. masterlist | something sweet this way comes part I

Something Sweet, This Way Comes Part II | Jack-o-Lanterns

The preparations for the Trick or Treat Parade were well underway, it was an annual celebration in the town’s main square, outside the town hall. Maplewood, while a small community, serviced a great deal of people outside the town. Many of its inhabitants lived rurally, meaning trick-or-treating wasn't feasible for many of the children.

However, before that could happen the mid month tradition of the Jack-O-Lantern Hunt took place. Businesses and landmark buildings alike all decorated or carved their own pumpkins and people would follow the trail visiting each location on their maps. It was a way to encourage business and bolster the festivities after Thanksgiving had passed.

Black Cat Books was no exception, Libby had been putting the final touches to the store's pumpkin when the bell rang above the door signalling a customer.

“Marcus!” she called out, “what do we owe this please?”

You rolled your eyes as the enthused cheeriness of your friend, you were currently engrossed in the latest shipment of fall mystery novels and the scanning of them into the POS system.

“Evening,” he greeted, looking a little out of his element in the quiet bookstore. “Actually, I was looking for a gift.”

“I can help you with that,” Libby remarked standing from her stool, “who is it for?”

“Sarah actually.”

“What’s the occasion? Her birthday isn’t until the summer isn’t it?” Libby asked, making her way around the counter.

You watched Marcus out of the corner of your eye as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “Not her birthday no, she broke her arm on the weekend at her soccer match down in Fort Nelson.”

“No!” Libby exclaimed, “poor girl, she lives and breathes soccer.”

“I know, so I thought I’d get her something to cheer her up. She’s always talking about her visits here. I was hoping you’d be able to recommend a book maybe?”

Libby looked thoughtful for a moment, “Hm, I’m not entirely sure.”

Before you could catch yourself you cleared your throat and grabbed a book off of the shelf behind you, “This one,” you said as you tried to be as nonchalant as you could handing it to Marcus, “Sarah was debating on this one the last time she was in here but said she was going to wait until she got paid.”

Marcus accepted the book, a soft smile on his face as he looked at the cover, “Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” you said, your eyes meeting his for a fleeting second before you turned your attention back to your work.

“So how are you managing at the bakery with Sarah out of commission? Isn’t Maria on vacation too?” Libby asked, referring to the bakeries' part-time weekday employee.

Marcus let out a sigh. “It's been a bit chaotic, to be honest. She was going to be right hand for front-of-house operations this week, and with the Jack-O-Lantern Hunt coming up, it's been really hectic trying to juggle everything.”

Libby took the book and got started on wrapping it, “What are you going to do? The hunt is this weekend.”

Marcus sighed, “I honestly don't know. We're already falling behind on orders, and there's so much to prepare for the parade at the end of the month on top of the pumpkin hunt.”

It was at that point that Libby, forever the matchmaker and opportunist, seized the moment. “You know, my friend here is pretty nifty with her customer service skills. Maybe she could lend a hand?" she said nonchalantly as she tied the final knot on the gift ribbon.

You choked on your own breath almost dropping the stack of books in your hands, “What? Me? Bu- but you need me here, Libby.”

Libby waved you off with a grin, “Nonsense. It's been pretty manageable here. And besides,” she gave you a pointed look, “it's a good opportunity for you to get to know the town better.” she finished with a not so discreet nod in the direction of Marcus.

You and Marcus exchanged an awkward glance, the tension palpable but it was vastly different than it has been in the past.

“Think about it,” Libby nudged as Marcus paid and took his wrapped book, thanking her.

He looked at you, a question in his eyes, “Would you consider it? I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need the help.”

You really wanted to decline, find some excuse, any excuse. But as Marcus stood there, looking genuinely in need and a bit vulnerable, you felt something shift.

“I'll think about it,” you said, realizing even as you spoke that your curiosity was already tipping the scales. Marcus nodded, a hint of relief crossing his features.

“Thank you, either way,” he said, exiting the bookstore with a small wave to the both of you.

As the door closed behind him, you looked at Libby, who was practically beaming.

“What are you up to Libby?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you volunteering to help him?”

“I think you might have more in common with him than you think.”

“Well, aren't you the little cupid,” you said, a bit sarcastically but not without warmth.

Libby shrugged, “When the universe gives you a nudge, sometimes you have to nudge back.”

“You really need to let up on those horoscopes.”

Libby gave you a weary eye roll, “Plus is it such a terrible thing? Baked goods and coffee on tap?”

The next morning guilt had you dragging your feet across to the bakery, with a good shove from Libby, to tell Marcus you’d help him with the front of house operations for the remainder of the week while he looked at finding someone else to fill Sarah’s position a little more permanently.

As he’d walked you through the point of sale system he used you realised it was the exact same setup Libby had and soon were able to catch on pretty fast.

“Seems like you're a natural at this,” Marcus said with a grin as you smoothly rang up a customer's order. “If you ever get tired of helping Libby out, you're welcome here anytime.”

As the days progressed it turned out Marcus mostly worked in the back, managing the oven, mixers, and other kitchen duties, which left you mainly responsible for front-of-house operations. This was a relief in some ways, reducing the awkward tension that had started building up between the two of you.

Marcus had said you could read between customers if you wanted to, but the bakery was so busy you barely had a chance to open the book you'd brought along. People were in a constant stream, some coming in to pick up pre-orders, others dropping by for their daily fix of coffee and pastries, and still, others had come out of curiosity, intrigued by the upcoming festivities.

Despite the business, you couldn't help but notice how different each customer interaction was compared to the bookstore. Whereas Black Cat Books was a haven for the introverted, the bakery was a social hub. Children would come in giggling, pulling their parents behind them as they pointed to the cookies and cupcakes in the display case. Old friends would bump into each other in line and strike up conversations as if no time had passed.

And everyone, it seemed, knew Marcus.

As each customer came and went, most had something kind to say about Marcus.

“Tell Marcus that the apple tarts were divine, would you?”

“Marcus helped fix my flat tire last week. Can you make sure he gets this thank you card?”

“Ah, Marcus makes the best chocolate cake. Did I tell you he was a lifesaver during the snowstorm last year? Cleared both my driveway and sidewalk.”

The anecdotes were small, simple moments that seemed to paint a portrait of Marcus you hadn't considered. Your previous reservations, based largely on a whole lot of stubborn pride, started to seem trivial in the face of what you were hearing.

While you had been busy contemplating whether he was too good to be true, he was, in fact, doing good in the community you were both a part of. Your wariness was beginning to wane, being replaced by a blossoming curiosity and a tiny little bit of a newfound respect for the man you'd initially written off.

Around mid-afternoon a couple of days later, Marcus finally emerged from the back, carrying a tray of freshly baked pumpkin bread. The smell wafted through the shop, and you inhaled deeply, feeling a sense of comfort that only a bakery could provide.

“How's it going out here?” he asked, placing the tray on a display counter.

“Busy,” you replied, “I haven't even had a chance to crack open my book.”

Marcus glanced at the book lying beside the cash register, “Well, I hope that's a good thing.”

“It is,” you found yourself smiling, “it's nice to be busy. Keeps the time flying.”

Marcus looked pleased, “I'm glad to hear that. I was worried you might find it overwhelming. Between the start of fall, Thanksgiving, Harvest, the Jack-O-Lantern hunt, then Halloween - it’s almost as busy as the Holidays around here.”

“You know, I’ve never heard of so many celebrations stuffed into one month.”

Marcus laughed softly while he continued to work on the display, “I know how you feel; I felt that way when I first got here. But it's a great way to bring people together and share some happiness. Who doesn't need more of that?”

“Speaking of community, they’ve all got something to say about you it seems Mr. Pike.”

“Oh?” Marcus raised an eyebrow, “Good things I hope?”

You hesitated for a moment, choosing your words carefully, “Let's just say I'm learning that you're very well-liked around here. People appreciate what you do, both in and out of this bakery.”

Marcus looked genuinely surprised, and then his face broke into a warm, appreciative smile. “Well, that's kind of them to say. I just try to do my part, you know? Small town, tight-knit community—it's what makes Maplewood special.”

Friday soon came around and Marcus had let you know that morning that the weekend was taken care of. Maria was back in town and had said she’d work Sarah’s shift that weekend, meaning it was your last day helping out at the bakery.

Despite your reservations at the start of the week, you had felt a little pang of disappointment when he’d made the announcement after you’d arrived that morning.

You were wiping down the counters when Marcus came out from the back again, looking a little flour-dusted but otherwise no worse for wear.

“How'd it go?” he asked, washing his hands in the sink.

“Busy,” you replied, “but good busy. I think I successfully managed to not ruin your business.”

He took the cloth from you, “It’s okay, I’ve got this, you can head out.”

You shook your head and took it back, “It’s okay, Libby has book club tonight, the less time I have to be there for the better.”

Marcus laughed as he crossed the floor to the shop's door, locking it, “In that case, knock yourself out.”

Marcus flipped the sign to close and you paused, realizing Marcus was watching you, “What?” You ask with a grin, unsure why he was giving you such attention.

He laughed to himself and shook his head, “If you’re not wanting to head out any time soon, how do you feel about lending a hand with a bit of baking?”

“You trust me?”

“I think you can handle it, I’ll do the heavy lifting.” he finished with a wink and before you knew it you were following him to the back of the shop.

Once you were both in the back kitchen, Marcus started gathering ingredients from various shelves and corners of the room. “We're making cinnamon rolls, a seasonal special.” he said, placing butter, flour, sugar, and a variety of spices on the counter. You also noticed a small bottle of orange food colouring and a bag of pecans.

“Cinnamon rolls? Not sure what's so seasonal about them,” you said, intrigued by the setup.

Marcus chuckled, “Ah, but these aren't just any cinnamon rolls. They're pumpkin spice rolls with pecans and an orange-coloured spiced glaze. Trust me; these are special.”

“Wow, sounds delicious,” you replied, starting to feel excited about the baking adventure.

Marcus handed you an apron, and you couldn't help but notice how his eyes lingered on you as you tied it around your waist. “You look good in that,” he remarked as he passed by to pull down a mixing bowl.

“Thanks,” you replied, unable to keep a smile from spreading across your face.

Marcus began weighing flour and pouring it into a large mixing bowl and explained the steps as he went along. “First, we make the dough, then we let it rise. After that, we roll it out, sprinkle the filling, roll it up, and then cut it into pieces. Easy as pie, or in this case, rolls.”

After you'd mixed the dough ingredients, Marcus instructed you on the proper way to knead it. To your surprise, he positioned himself behind you, placed his hands over yours, and began guiding your movements on the dough.

“Use the heel of your hand to push and fold the dough back on itself,” he said, his voice soft and close to your ear. “It's all in the wrist.”

You felt a wave of heat rise to your cheeks, your heart racing as Marcus's hands continued to guide yours in perfect harmony. You had been so wary of him just a few days ago, but now, the intimacy of this simple act was breaking down any remaining barriers. You were becoming acutely aware of the magnetic pull towards him you’d been trying so hard to ignore.

Finally, Marcus pulled away, and you took a moment to catch your breath.

“You're a quick learner,” Marcus finally said, pulling a baking sheet from one of the cabinets.

“Good teacher,” you mumbled, unable to meet his eye, feeling your face grow hot.

After rolling the dough, sprinkling the filling, and neatly lining the rolls on the baking sheet, Marcus popped them into the oven. While they baked, he mixed the orange-coloured spiced glaze, occasionally stealing glances at you and smiling.

“Want to try a taste?” he asked, offering out a spoon he’d practically made appear out of nowhere, or you’d been that focused on his hands as he stirred the ingredients.

Nodding, you leaned in to taste the glaze from the spoon Marcus was holding. As you did, a drop of the orange-coloured icing escaped, landing on your lower lip. Marcus looked at you, his gaze dropping to your lips. Time seemed to slow down.

“Hold on, you’ve got a little…” His voice trailed off as he gently reached up and brushed away the drop of glaze with his thumb.

Your heart pounded in your chest as Marcus took a step closer to you as he licked off the icing from his thumb. His eyes met yours, asking for permission, before flicking down to your lips. You felt the air grow thick with tension, a magnetic pull drawing you closer together.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Before you could answer, a sudden knock on the front door of the bakery shattered the moment. You both jumped, startled out of the intimate bubble you’d been in.

Marcus looked as confused as you felt, but then you took it as an opportunity to try and shake some sense into yourself. “I should go,” you said, quickly removing your apron and folding it on the counter.

Before Marcus could respond, another impatient knock echoed from the front. “Hold on!” he called out towards the door, his eyes meeting yours one more time as if to say 'don't go.'

But you were already moving, grabbing your purse and jacket. The spell was broken, but the lingering feelings remained as you felt the ghost of Marcus’ touch on your lips.

As pulled on your jacket you heard Marcus greet the knocker. “Bill, you know it’s past closing, right?”

“It’s an emergency, Marcus, I swear! I need a pie, I saw the lights on out the back and you’re the only one in town who can save me.”

You heard Marcus laugh, his attention now fully on Bill, who was from the art store down the street. Feeling like an intruder on the scene, you took your chance to slip out of the bakery with a quick wave to the two men, the bell jingling softly as you opened and then closed the door behind you.

You didn’t look back as you pulled your jacket tighter against the cold wind that swept down the highstreet, if you had you would have seen Marcus watching you as you looked both ways before you scurried across the street to the bookshop.

Once inside, you took a moment to catch your breath, leaning against the door. What was that all about? You had a swirl of emotions rushing through your head, none of which made any sense when applied to Marcus. You were still pondering it as you locked up the shop and made your way upstairs to the apartment you shared with Libby.

When you walked in, you found Libby sitting on the sofa, flipping through a magazine with a cup of tea by her side. “You're late,” she noted, her eyes still fixed on the glossy pages before her. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just lost track of time helping Marcus close,” you said, trying to keep your voice casual as you hung your jacket and kicked off your shoes.

“What were you doing, making out with Marcus in the back of the bakery?" Libby quipped, laughing to herself as she flipped another page.

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the suggestion, but managed to roll your eyes and offer a sarcastic laugh. “Please, I still don't see the appeal.”

“That's funny,” Libby said, raising an eyebrow as she set her magazine aside. “Because I haven't heard you say one bad thing about Marcus since you started helping out at the bakery.”

Caught off guard, you felt a quiet panic settle in your chest. You were usually so transparent to Libby, it made you uncomfortable how easily she could read you. “Well, I've been busy. No time for chit-chat when you're up to your elbows in doughnuts and the gossip of the neighbourhood watch.”

Libby eyed you suspiciously but said nothing more. “If you say so.”

“I do say so,” you affirmed, perhaps a bit too quickly. “Anyway, I'm going to take a shower.”

As you stepped into the warm stream of water, you let it wash over you, hoping it would also rinse away the tangled web of emotions that had sprung up so unexpectedly. Your mind replayed the almost-kiss, Marcus' eyes looking into yours, the touch of his hands over yours as you kneaded dough, and you felt a pang of something you couldn't quite place. Was it regret? Longing? It was too confusing to sort out, so you shut off the water, wrapping yourself in a towel in hope of pushing it all out of your mind.

As you looked at your reflection in the steamed-up bathroom mirror, you felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. Whatever it was that had happened at the bakery, it was over now. Tomorrow was a new day, and you would go back to your normal routine, back to your safe, familiar life you’d made for yourself in Maplewood.

But as you crawled into bed that night, the nagging feeling refused to leave you and you resolved to resume your long discarded search for job vacancies in Toronto in the morning.

Maplewood suddenly felt stiflingly small.

#october x 500 #autumnal offerings #something sweet this way comes #marcus pike #marcus pike fanfic #marcus pike fanfiction #marcus pike x you #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike x f!reader

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chaoscriess · 2 years

Note

Can you please write some maddy Perez x fem reader please! If you’re comfortable with it !

of course I can!!!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒! kissing, makeout sessions, sexual references, talking about sex

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒! hell yeah I love this, it's a lyric fic!!!! based on the song Body Like A Back Road by Sam Hunt. on mobile, format might be weird. lowercase intended, unedited, double periods intended. no paragraphs in this, I dont like to add them to lyric fics. reader has braids in the first part? but it's just to match up with the song

maddy perez x fem!reader

"got a girl from the southside, got braids in her hair."

maddy was so lucky.

𝘴𝘩𝘦 got you, of all people

you were perfect.

you, with your perfect braids in your perfect hair and your perfect fucking eyes and your perfect fucking lips- okay I'm getting off track

if someone told her that her life was actually a dream, and she was asleep, she would believe them.

you were just that damn perfect.

"first time I seen her walk by, man i about fell up out my chair"

maddy met you on the southside of town, at the park near your house.

she was there with nate, sitting side-by-side on the swings but ignoring eachother. they had just gotten into a fight, but didnt want to leave him. she thought he was the love of her life.

and then she saw you

roller skating down the concrete path in the park with the sisters you were babysitting

she swears to god she almost fell off the swing when she made eye contact with you

"had to get her number, took me like 6 weeks"

maddy spent 5 weeks and 6 days trying to get your number.

talking to your friends was ruining her reputation a little too much, so she went to social media after she got your name

it sounds a little pitiful, but she was desperate

you searched your name on every social media platform she knew of

finally, she found you

after hours of scrolling through your photos, she found a picture of your class schedule that you posted at the beginning of the year.

and she found out that she actually had a couple classes with you

"now me and her go way back, like Cadillac seats"

after she finally talked to you, she convinced you to hang out with her

and she even got you to join the cheer squad

pretty soon, you two became best friends, but both of you knew that you liked each other.

well, maybe you loved each other.

after months of knowing you, she finally kissed you

and that was the start of an amazing relationship

"Body like a back road, Drivin' with my eyes closed. I know every curve like the back of my hand"

maddy knew everything about you and your body

you were perfect.

sure, she's said that before

but she really means it

like, she pictures you when she thinks of the word 'Goddess'

she knows exactly how to make you and your body happy

she'd do anything to make you happy

"Doin' 15 in a 30, I ain't in no hurry. I'ma take it slow just as fast as I can"

despite how quickly it seems you two got together, it actually went pretty slow

you were the first person maddy 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 wanted to spend time with, to take things slow with.

not because she didnt know how she felt, but because she wanted to savor every second she spent with you

she wanted to be with you forever, but she felt that forever isnt enough.

forever will never be enough.

"The way she fit in them blue jeans, She don't need no belt. But I can turn 'em inside out, I don't need no help"

god, the way your ass looked in those jeans was just perfect

she could cum just looking at you in them

or in anything, really

she's taken them off of you so many times that she can do it with her eyes closed and one-handed.

she loves the way you look.

"We're out here in the boondocks, With the breeze and the birds. Tangled up in the tall grass with my lips on hers."

ending this on a sweet note

she loves going out to the country with you

surrounded by nothing but fields and trees

sure, she loves the city

like, a lot

but she loves being alone with you even more

in the city, someone is bound to interrupt you.

she wants you to herself, and the best way to get that is to escape, run away.

so you do

every few weeks, you travel past the city limit and down the back roads to your spot.

nobody ever interrupted you, it was perfect.

everything was perfect.

#maddy perez #maddy perez fic #euphoria x reader #maddy x reader #maddy perez x reader #chaos' army #chaos calling!

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wreywrites · 7 months

Text

Tiger Shark

Part 2: The Sea

Chapter 11

We watch in silence until the hovercraft has removed the last of the three bodies. I add three X’s to the Dead Chart, then decide it is as safe as it will ever be to refill the empty water bottle. Besides, only Taffeta and Tychus are left of the Careers. Zalea is still out there, and she made it very clear that after the stampede, things were no different between us. She’s formidable, but against two of us, I am confident we would beat her. And that just leaves the boys from Three and Twelve, neither of whom I have seen since the bloodbath. They could be anywhere, doing anything.

And then it hits me. There are only seven of us left. I return to the cave with the water bottle and grin at Mako as I go to our backpacks to add the tablets to the water. “They’re going to interview our people.”

He raises an eyebrow.

“Top eight,” I say, still smiling, opening the box of tablets. “Bring out the friends and family. Well, top seven, actually, since Tychus took out that other girl… Oh no.”

“What?” Mako is on his feet and at my side in a second. “What’s wrong?”

Silently, I hold up the second empty box of tablets.

His face sinks. “That’s not good at all.”

Before Elsie and Merritt said they’d gotten some, I’ve never heard of a tribute getting water-purifying tablets from a sponsor. I suspect that’s one of their ways to keep the Games from going on forever. If we can’t get drinkable water, we’ll get desperate fast, and then we’ll start fighting each other for anything we can get. It would sure speed things up if Mako and I were to now find ourselves without drinking water.

“We could boil it, you know, like how you purify salt water if you’re desperate.” Mako says, though from his tone I can tell he already knows what I’m going to say.

“The only one of the many items we need for it that we have is the pot.” I take a deep breath. “We’ve got two bottles. That’ll last a while if we’re careful. Enough time to plan the best course of action, figure out who’s most likely to have a way to get clean water, find them, and kill them.”

But as the day drags on, we realize that, for all we know, no one has a way to purify water. It would explain three tributes slugging it out by the river, being watched (and finished off) by a fourth, who did seem very interested in taking anything he could find off their bodies.

“Maybe that’s why Tychus killed Seven. Maybe she had some tablets. Or maybe they were running low and with her dead that’s one less person to share water with,” Mako says. “But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t he go back and kill Taffeta right away and then not have to share with anyone? Or kill her before he left? No, the cannon always sets everyone on edge, so he would’ve had to wait until after. But then why hasn’t he done it yet?”

As Mako settles in for bed that night, I add the twelfth tally to the wall and scratch an X under Six, Seven, and Eight. We are no nearer to figuring out who has water, and we have only one bottle left. I am tempted to just drink some of the river water. Maybe it’s fine. But maybe it isn’t. It’s just as likely to be full of some horrible bacteria or something as it is to be drinkable.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The next morning I double-check my math from the night before. I don’t exactly trust my brain in matters of math while on watch, but I am confident I am right. I leave the cave and find Mako starting a fire. He plans on trying to boil the water and seeing what happens. I don’t approve of this plan, but he doesn’t seem to care.

“Happy birthday, old man,” I pat him on the back as I walk by.

He snorts. “Thanks. Never thought I’d live to see nineteen.”

“Well you’re sure cutting it close with this whole water thing, but you’ve made it.”

We spend the day sitting in the shade of the trees, eating blackberries, drinking as little as humanly possible, and trying to come up with a plan. Finally, while the anthem plays the end of another deathless day, we decide to go after the Careers.

The next morning, we pack everything in the backpacks and hide them up trees. We scatter our firewood back around the tree patch and dump the coals out of the pot, which we then smear with mud and hide up another tree. We eat a breakfast of only blackberries because the rest of the food we have is dried or salty or both, which in no way helps our dehydration situation. Finnick hasn’t sent us anything since the binoculars, but I am kind of glad about this because I am sure bread, especially the sweet stuff, would make me thirstier than I already am. Though I wish I had something to eat other than blackberries.

We each take only one spear, hiding the other four in a hollowed-out fallen tree. Having run out of ways to delay the inevitable, we each take a last sip of water and start across the plains toward the cornucopia. We don’t even know if the Careers are there, but we don’t know where else to start.

Halfway to the cornucopia, a tiny parachute lands in front of us.

I open the box. Inside, wrapped in some sort of thin paper to keep it from bouncing around and breaking, is a vial about as big as my thumb with an eye-dropper lid. I stare at it, confused, then hold it out to Mako.

He snatches the vial and twists the lid off so desperately I’m afraid he’s going to drop the whole thing, spilling its precious contents, whatever they are. I only know they are precious because the Games have been going almost two weeks and the vial is small, both of which point to it being very expensive. But Mako does not spill any of it. He holds the eye dropper under his nose and takes a delicate sniff, then smiles.

“We can go back,” he says. “We’re good. Let’s go back.” And he turns and starts back toward the cave.

I jog after him. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s for water. I forget the name, but they’re drops. You just put a couple in, let the water sit for half an hour or so, and you’re good to go. Just like tablets. But this should last us,” he holds it up to the sun, gauging how full it is, “ten days or so, probably.”

I let out a sigh I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Thanks, Finnick.”

“And thanks to whoever paid for this. We owe you one.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Four more days pass. By my count it is the seventeenth day of the Games. Unprecedented. And I am getting tired of fish, blackberries, and buffalo jerky. Finnick hasn’t sent anything since the drops for the water. In fairness, I can’t remember any Hunger Games lasting this long. I can’t imagine the price of a bag of crackers, let alone some cream cheese rolls. It’s a good thing we don’t need medicine or anything crazy like that.

Fires are becoming commonplace. Every day we see three or four scattered around the arena, never in the same place twice. I think we all have the same idea: lure the others to us, fight them on home soil. It’s weird to think of the little patch of trees and the cave as our home, but I’ve grown quite attached to this place.

The next day we hear shouting on the plain, but never a cannon.

“I wonder what the people at home said about us,” I say that night as we put out the fire and gather the coals in our pot.

“All good things I’m sure,” Mako says. “I’m more curious who they talked to. Our parents, obviously.”

“Jade and Coral.”

“The fishing crews.” He laughs. “Can you imagine old Reefer on every screen in Panem?”

I snort. “Maybe they got him and Rizz at the same time.”

“And both drunk, if we’re lucky.”

Still chuckling, I crawl into the sleeping bag and drift off.

The night is uneventful. Mako says that a few buffalo have been wandering around the trees when he wakes me, but nothing worth worrying about. They’ve always left us alone in the past.

My watch passes just as quietly. In the morning there are several sets of hoofprints on the shore and around our fire pit area.

Mako rebuilds the fire, then wades out into the river until he’s up to his knees. We’ve had more luck spearfishing than regular fishing.

“I think I’ll go get more firewood,” I call, already heading into the trees.

“Sounds good. Don’t go too far.”

“I won’t.”

I wander through the trees. We’ve picked the area clean of fallen branches, so we actually have to cut firewood now, which is difficult with only a knife. But the work is better than staring at the fire all day.

I am on my way back to the shore with an armload of firewood and a precarious grip on my spear when I notice how quiet it is. How quiet it has been. It’s been several minutes since I heard any birds. I walk around the blackberry patch on the edge of the trees. The branches fall softly to the ground. I open my mouth, but the only sound is the sword slicing through Mako’s neck.

****

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Tag List:

@avoxrising @snow-dragon-rider

#wrey writes #the hunger games #thg: tiger shark #annie cresta #canon typical violence #character death #brownie points if you caught the foreshadowing or figure it out upon rereading #it was accidental

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belphegor1982 · 1 year

Text

I posted the last chapter of this on AO3 just before bed and completely forgot to post it here as well. Typical bird-brained Bel. But here it is now if you wanted to read it and missed it! I’ll ad the AO3 link in a reblog, as usual :o)

Jigsaw Pieces

Chozen, uneasy

Daniel, adrift

Amanda, sleepless

Sam, shaken

Johnny, fixing things

Daniel, not alone

Daniel can hardly believe his eyes.

Seeing Johnny and Chozen side by side, Robby flanked by Miguel and Sam, Anthony behind his sister smiling proudly – it’s just surreal.

Sure, they’re not literally all here; there are a few gaps where students should be if this were a class (like Chris, or Mitch, or Demetri who mentioned something about getting a summer job last time), but even if the group isn’t complete, Daniel’s surprise is.

These past ten minutes have been one hell of a roller-coaster. He can still feel the warmth of Amanda’s hands holding his, the breath that rushed out of him when he stepped into Mr. Miyagi’s room for the first time in eight years, the tightness in his chest that hasn’t really had time to loosen yet. Mr. Miyagi kept his most painful memories in a box, on a cabinet, but at least he was brave enough to open that box from time to time. Even after the burial, even after almost a decade, Daniel has refused to open the door to his bedroom. His own memories of Mr. Miyagi are everywhere – on the wall of his home dojo, in the power and grace of his daughter’s karate, in his own soul – but that empty room is the last, final proof that the man himself is gone forever, and facing this fact for real takes a strength Daniel’s never felt he had. Until ten minutes ago, when Amanda gently guided him in front of that door and said I’m right here. And stood aside silently, her presence both supportive and unobtrusive, while he took in everything – a thousand memories, a thousand reminders of what used to be and can never be again.

The last bonsai Mr. Miyagi was working on has lost much of its original shape, but it’s still alive. Amanda must have come in regularly to water it in the past eight years.

“Is it gonna be okay?” he hears himself ask across thirty-four years while staring anxiously at a different bonsai.

Mr. Miyagi answered calmly then, “Depends. If roots strong, tree survive.”

Between his dogged nurturing and the strength of its roots, the bonsai in question lived, and still thrives to this day. Sometimes Daniel wonders how old it actually is. But then Mr. Miyagi was always good at taking care of lost causes and pulling off miracles.

Mr. Miyagi was also the only one able to defeat both John Kreese and Terry Silver, and easily at that. Over the past week Daniel has sometimes wondered what he would have made of the current situation. He has wished, more than once, for his old mentor to make things right again, or even just to have his back like he never failed to even when Daniel was pretty sure he didn’t deserve this unwavering support. Maybe he would have approved of Daniel’s capitulation – maybe he would have advised Daniel to step off a lot sooner, before kids started to get hurt – maybe he would have urged him to keep fighting. But you can’t ask a dead man what he thinks. You can’t ask a dead man anything. Tugging on a ghost is as useless as trying to catch the wind.

Except…

Mr. Miyagi did leave something of his here, and not just in the mementos left untouched and the warmth of the little house, the wood and the shoji walls. Of all the people standing in front of Daniel in the bright summer sunlight, only two knew him well (Amanda and Sam), three met him in person but only have sparse or superficial memories of him (Chozen, Anthony and Johnny), and the rest only know him from a picture on the wall and second-handed accounts. Yet it feels like he’s here, standing next to Amanda, smiling fondly. Like he never really left.

Daniel is hit by a memory, like a flash, of Mr. Miyagi and him going out to fish the day after the Obon festival. No training, no karate of any kind – just the two of them, a little boat in a secluded Okinawa inlet, and companionable silence in the sun. Not that Daniel would have been up for much more at that point; his fight with Chozen the night before had left him black and blue and utterly drained of energy. The stakes probably had a lot to do with it. Daniel had never had to fight for his life before.

“I forgot to thank you yesterday,” he said at some point, and Mr. Miyagi turned to him, eyebrows raised under his hat.

“For what?”

“Well, you kinda saved my life with that little drum back there. If you hadn’t… You know. I think the outcome would’ve been very different if you hadn’t been there.”

Mr. Miyagi twisting the little handheld drum back and forth had not only reminded Daniel of the eponymous technique. The lone reedy taptaptaptap had grown into a loud clatter as everybody else picked up on it and banged their own drums, a clear show of support that had confused the hell out of Chozen. Daniel, bruised and bloodied and almost out of hope, walking the wire between almost laughing and almost crying, had drawn strength from his last reserves from that sound – and won, somehow.

Mr. Miyagi didn’t reply right away. He adjusted his fishing rod across his knees and nodded.

“Drum not save life, Daniel-san. You down, you pick self up. Drum just remind you… Not alone. Got people in corner. And me.”

And then, just as Daniel’s throat went a little tight, M. Miyagi tilted his head to the side and added with an eh face, “Figure of speech.”

Daniel grinned at that.

“Well, thanks for bein’ in my corner. And, uh – you know I’m in yours, right?”

“Hai.” Mr. Miyagi’s eyes softened. “Miyagi know.”

They’d shared a smile, then gone back to gazing at the sunlight winking on the sea. It had been a good day.

The people standing in Mr. Miyagi’s garden right now could all be holding pellet drums. The two situations are night and day, literally, but the emotions rising in Daniel’s chest are very similar.

Mr. Miyagi may no longer be in his corner, but that doesn’t mean he’s alone – not anymore, like Sam just pointed out.

All the students – plus Amanda – bow as one, like they’re waiting for the lesson to begin, like it hasn’t been almost two months since Miyagi-Do (and Eagle Fang) shut down. Eli, Robby, Abe, Sam, Bert, Miguel, all of them – even Anthony, for the very first time. Sam’s smile is beaming when she straightens up, her eyes very blue.

Daniel looks at Chozen on his left, a silent question – though what he’s asking exactly, he’s not sure. Chozen answers with a determined nod nonetheless. Its meaning is clear: both vow and encouragement. We can do this, all of us. And the thing is, Daniel is starting to believe him.

He hesitates for a half-second before turning to his right and meeting Johnny’s eyes. But the expression in them is familiar, if always surprising to see on the face of his old enemy/rival/frenemy/friend. The last time Daniel saw it, Kreese had just thrown the gauntlet at them, and Johnny cemented their alliance of circumstance with three words – We won’t lose – and a look that had helped quiet down the snarling mess in his chest of fury, fear, and retrospective horror at what he’d almost done. Because if Johnny Lawrence, cold and grim and with the bruises from Kreese’s stranglehold just starting to form around his throat, could stand tall and steady and say “we”, after everything, then perhaps all wasn’t lost.

Johnny doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. His small nod and the look in his eyes speak volumes. And just like that night last December, Daniel relaxes a fraction, with the beginning of a smile this time.

They bow to their students simultaneously, the three senseis, and as Daniel straightens up he can’t suppress a smile that seems to come from somewhere deep in his chest.

And a very distinct feeling of missing pieces, finally falling into place.

______________________

The end! I really hope you enjoyed this little story. I did writing it, even (especially) the parts that hurt :’) Please tell me if you did!

(Also I couldn’t help bringing Mr. Miyagi back a little, if only in flashbacks 💜)

#cobra kai #fanfiction #my stuff

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raw-lesbian-energy · 1 year

Text

Escape of the Palisman

Summary: When an adventure with Eda's staff goes awry, Luz and her friends must face a mysterious creature to earn the palisman back, or lose it forever.

Fandom: The Owl House (Star-Spotted Coat AU)

Pairing: None

Features: Self-Insert Character

Word Count: 4,713

Warnings: None

—————————————————————

Out of all the things she could’ve messed up, Luz was certain this was the worst of them.

After borrowing Eda’s staff to try and fly her and her friends to the Hexside vs Glandus match, she lost control and crashed into a tree. As a result, Owlbert had come off of his staff and fled, leading the trio on a chase through the thick woods.

Now, they stood at the mouth of a dark cave; one which Luz had seen Owlbert hop into mere moments before. She didn’t even hesitate as she walked right in, determined to find Eda’s palisman and bring him home safe. Willow and Gus followed along, watching around them warily as they trekked into the dark space.

“Wow, I keep stepping on a lot of crunchy twigs.” Willow commented. Luz glanced back at her, brow furrowing slightly.

“Those are bones, Willow.” She told her.

“Not if I never look down!” Willow replied, her gaze turning straight up to the cave ceiling. Not a second later, a figure raced by in the darkness, startling all three kids and making them huddle together. Luz felt something brush by her head, and she used Eda’s staff to push some hanging cobwebs away.

“This isn’t any kind of forest I’m used to.” She said, an anxious tone in her voice.

“That’s because this isn’t a forest.” Willow spoke up, drawing the human’s attention. She looked over at her friend, who was looking down at something on the ground. Following her eyes, Luz looked down just as three small creatures emerged from the shadows, revealing themselves to be the Bat Queen’s babies.

“It’s a nest!” Willow squeaked. Gus took a step back from the babies, while Luz’s fear actually faded away.

“Hey, I remember you.” She said. “You’re Bat Queen’s babies.” The trio of bat babies hissed in response, seemingly unable to actually say anything to her.

“Wait,” Gus piped up, continuing to back away, “the Bat Queen?” His anxious tone rang clear to Willow, who had also taken a few steps back.

“I think I’d rather take my chances with Eda.” She said. In their attempts to leave, both Gus and Willow walked straight into some low-hanging cobwebs, which quickly stuck to their hair and clothes. Luz didn’t notice either of them though, instead focusing on the young bats and kneeling down to their level.

“Hey, guys.” She spoke, keeping a calm tone. “We’re looking for a little owl, and-…” her words trailed as she noticed some movement in the dark, looking up and seeing Owlbert about fifteen feet away.

“There he is!” Luz exclaimed in relief. “Owlbert, thank goodness you’re okay. Come here, buddy; time to go home.” The small owl ended up taking a step back, and before Luz could move forward, a massive creature stepped out of the darkness. It put itself between Owlbert and Luz, and as the human looked up, she was met with who she could only assume was the Bat Queen. The trio gasped at the sight of her, unable to move as she marched forward and stared all of them down coldly.

“Hello, small human.” She spoke. Luz felt her body tense, but she managed to keep her fear from showing.

“Bat Queen!” She replied, gaining a cheerful tone. “Nice to finally meet you in person! So, funny story; see, Owlbert ran away, and I need to get him back. I’ll just grab him and we’ll-...” Luz’s gaze had gone from the Bat Queen over to where Owlbert was, only to see the palisman had been picked up by someone the human hadn’t expected.

“Evelyn?” She blurted. Both Gus and Willow gasped in surprise, as neither of them were prepared to see a centaur alongside the Bat Queen. Evelyn quickly looked up, eyes wide in panic before she realized just who had called her name.

“Luz?” She said, putting Owlbert on her shoulder. “What are you doing here? Did-…” the centaur trailed off as she noticed the staff in Luz’s hands, her ears pinning back and a look of terror appearing on her face.

“Did…you do this to him?” She asked slowly. Luz’s panic quickly surfaced, along with a mix of guilt.

“No!” She blurted. “No, I-I would never, I-”

“To be careless with a staff is very serious.” The Bat Queen interrupted her coldly. “We protect him.”

“But he belongs to Eda!” Luz argued. “And you owe her a favour, so-”

“Owl Lady was careless!” Bat Queen snapped. “Her staff left her sight, taken by human who steals, hurts, frightens!” Her words caught Luz by surprise, and her expression changed.

“What?” She said.

“He told me all!” Bat Queen cried, her eyes lighting up with yellow magic. Owlbert’s did the same in turn, and Luz felt a weight of guilt settle in her stomach.

“Owlbert, I never meant to hurt you.” She managed, focusing on the small owl. “Please, come back.” The glow in Owlbert’s eyes faded, and he let out a small hoot as he curled up, tucking closer to Evelyn’s neck as if to hide. The teen felt a sense of helplessness grip at her chest, and her gaze turned to Evelyn instead.

“Evelyn,” she started, “come on, I helped babysit Bat Queen’s kids! You know I’m a good person!” Evelyn’s ear twitched, her expression now a mix of fear and disappointment.

“Luz…you didn’t.” She replied. “The triplets told me; Eda and King were the ones who watched them. You were gone the whole night.” Luz felt her blood go cold, the guilt in her stomach worsening.

“No…” she murmured, “no no no, there-… there’s gotta be something I can do. There has to be some way I can prove I’m trustworthy!” Her eyes fell on Owlbert as she spoke, and the small palisman stared back before leaving Evelyn’s shoulder and flying to the Bat Queen. He carefully landed atop her head, and for a moment, both his and the Bat Queen’s eyes glowed yellow again. Once the glow ebbed away, the Bat Queen focused her gaze on Luz, glaring coldly.

“Trust must be earned!” She snapped, raising her wings. In a strong beat, she took off and flew deeper into the nest, landing on a podium of sorts that sat in the middle. Three small spires of flame burned around her, and they seemed to strengthen in brightness upon her landing.

“Trust shall be tested…through trials!” The Bat Queen declared. The flame spires roared with life at her words, lighting up the nest and cave around them. Luz, Willow, and Evelyn gained looks of worry at her statement, whereas Gus looked surprisingly excited.

“Trials?” He echoed, raising his flags. Willow was quick to move his hands down, walking past him and over to Luz.

“Luz, the Bat Queen is well known for her impossible trials.” She told her. “I’ve never heard of anyone winning against her.”

“But I have to get Owlbert back.” Luz argued. There was a tone of desperation in her voice, one that made Evelyn’s ears pin back. The human didn’t notice, however, turning her attention back to the Bat Queen.

“I accept your challenge.” She said firmly. Willow gained a look of hesitation, but it was soon replaced by determination as she looked back at Gus.

“And we’ll be right there with you.” She said. Gus quickly caught on.

“May the flags raise you up!” He added. The Bat Queen narrowed her eyes at the two witchlings, raising a claw at them and making a gripping motion. Her foot lit up with yellow magic, and soon both Willow and Gus were ensnared in sturdy webbing. The action was followed by cries of shock and protest, but the Bat Queen was unbothered by it.

“No helpsies.” She said curtly. “Evelyn, guard.” Evelyn nodded once, walking over and standing behind Gus and Willow to keep an eye on them. She kept a serious expression, but glancing down at the two witchlings, a gleam of guilt shone in her eyes.

“Now,” the Bat Queen spoke again, “let the trials begin!” Luz kept a determined expression, her grip on Owlbert’s staff tightening slightly. Just then, a soft chittering sounded to her right, and turning her gaze to it, she saw what could only be described as a spider-cow hybrid emerge from the shadows. The human’s eyes widened in horror at the sight, but her trance of fear was broken by a sudden clattering next to her, and she looked to see a bucket had been thrown at her feet.

“Milk the spider demon!” The Bat Queen ordered. Luz hesitated before she picked up the bucket, looking between it and the spider demon warily. Her gaze ended up turning back to Owlbert, who watched her intently, and that alone made the human straighten up. Facing the spider demon again, she leapt forward, only for the demon to jump over her and run off into the cave. Luz didn’t hesitate, scrambling to her feet and running after it with the bucket still in hand.

“If you run, you’ll just make this harder for yourself!” She called. Willow, Gus, and Evelyn watched the human nervously, but none of them could make a move to help. Thankfully, Luz managed to complete the trial after some struggle, and one of the three spires of flame quietly sputtered out. The human looked up at the Bat Queen with a determined gleam in her eyes, ready to take on the next trial.

“Remove bee’s nest!” The Bat Queen shouted, pointing at the cave wall. Luz noticed a dead tree hidden away in the corner, and a large bulb in the shape of a nest hanging about fifteen feet up. Not wasting time, she made her way to the base and began climbing up to where the nest sat. Willow was watching her nervously, but she soon heard murmuring and realized Evelyn was talking under her breath.

“No…Luz, that’s not the nest.” She whispered anxiously. Willow looked back just as Luz made a swing at the nest, only for it to detach and reveal itself to be a giant hornet. It let out a screech that startled Luz out of the tree, but she was quick to get back up and began climbing again. Both Willow and Evelyn watched her anxiously, but the two were soon distracted by the sound of struggling next to them. Gus was pulling away at his bindings with his flags, and he was actually managing to cut through a few of them.

“Hey hey hey!” Evelyn spoke in a hushed whisper, moving over and grabbing the flags. “Stop that!”

“Hey!” Gus exclaimed in protest. “Give those back!”

“Listen to me.” Evelyn kept her voice low, glancing at the Bat Queen warily. “I know you guys want to help Luz, but if you try to interfere, it’ll only make the Bat Queen angrier and the trials will get worse.” Both Gus and Willow froze at her words, their gazes turning to each other before looking back at Luz. The human was still fighting off the giant hornets, and seeing how hard she was struggling, both witchlings chose to settle and not interfere. The three of them watched as Luz managed to clear the hornets out, miraculously not getting stung in the process, and returning her attention to the Bat Queen. The demon still looked unimpressed, though there was a gleam of frustration in her eyes as the second flame sputtered out.

“Give babies a bath!” She ordered. Evelyn’s eyes went wide as the bat triplets let out screeches of protest, causing Luz to cover her ears and making Gus and Willow grimace.

“Whoa, hold on-” Evelyn blurted, “-the babies only listen to you, there’s no way this trial is fair.” The Bat Queen’s cold, hard gaze quickly turned to the centaur, and it caused a shiver to run up her spine.

“I say what trials are.” The Bat Queen stated firmly. Evelyn’s ears pinned back on instinct, but she grit her teeth and took one step forward.

“Then I’ll catch them!” She retorted, her voice wavering. “Y-Your trial said bathe the babies, not catch them. So the least you can do is let me-”

“No!”

Much to everyone’s surprise, Luz was the one to interrupt this time. She was staring at Evelyn, her eyes shining with guilt and frustration, and it made the centaur back up.

“I was selfish, and I hurt Owlbert.” Luz continued. “I need to do this alone so he knows I care about him.” Willow, Gus, and Evelyn all stared at her silently, none of them having anything to say to counteract Luz’s words. With that, the human turned back to face the Bat Queen and saw the babies were lined up at her feet. About ten feet to her left sat a wooden tub with soapy water, along with a small scrub brush. Luz decided to waste no time grabbing the babies to bathe them, though she was met with shrieks and bites of protest in response. It took her half an hour to clean them all, but sure enough, she pulled through and managed to finish the task. The last spire of flame flickered out, and with that, Luz stood tall in front of the Bat Queen.

“Okay, Bat Queen, that’s the last one.” She said. “I’ve done all your chores, and I’ve proved my dedication to Owlbert.” The Bat Queen narrowed her eyes at the human, but Luz simply turned her attention to the owl palisman instead.

“I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you, Owlbert.” She said softly. “I promise to be more careful. Will you come back home with me?” Owlbert stared back at her for a moment before letting out a small hoot, fluttering down from the rocks and landing in front of Luz. The human smiled as she went to pick him up, only for the ground to glow yellow and ensnare the palisman in webbing.

“No!” The Bat Queen cried. “More trial! Last trial! You must face me!” She spread her wings wide as a pillar of fire erupted from behind her, startling everyone else in the cave.

“What?!” Luz exclaimed, eyes widening in alarm. Evelyn felt a sense of dread wash over her as the Bat Queen lunged, scaring Luz and making her run.

“You will never get him back!” The demon shouted. At that point, Evelyn knew exactly what was happening and brought one hand up, drawing a spell circle and freeing Gus and Willow from the webs.

“What?” Willow managed, looking up at the centaur in confusion. “Why are you-”

“No time.” Evelyn interrupted, not even looking at them. “You two get out, I’ll go after Luz and m- the Bat Queen.” She gave them no time to respond as she suddenly ran past them, stopping beside Owlbert and kneeling down. She made quick work of the webs holding the small palisman, and with a grateful hoot, he flew up and landed on her shoulder. As soon as he settled, Evelyn quickly turned and raced out of the cave, rushing past Gus and Willow to chase after the Bat Queen.

Meanwhile, Luz ran haphazardly through the woods, frantically avoiding the swiping talons of the bat demon chasing her. Piercing shrieks echoed through the forest, but the human knew better than to stop and continued running as fast as she could go. She still clutched Owlbert’s staff in her hands, occasionally swinging it at the raging demon to defend herself.

“I won’t let you imprison Owlbert!” She shouted, ducking one of the Bat Queen’s claws. She glanced back as the Bat Queen flew upwards, only to feel something snag her foot and trip her up. She cried out as she hit the dirt, rolling onto her back to see her legs were now tangled in thick vines on the forest floor. A screech drew her attention back to the sky, and her eyes widened in horror as the Bat Queen dove straight for her. Not knowing what else to do, she held Owlbert’s staff out in front of her and shut her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable impact.

“Leave her alone!”

Luz’s eyes shot open at the voice, and the Bat Queen screeched to a halt in midair. Evelyn had rushed in and put herself between the demon and the human, and Luz quickly noticed Owlbert perched on the centaur’s shoulder.

“Evelyn!” The Bat Queen shouted in anger. “Step aside, now!”

“No!” Evelyn snapped. “I’m not gonna stand by and let you do this again!” Luz slowly sat up in shock, eyes glancing between the centaur and the angered demon warily. Thankfully, the intervention worked to her advantage, and she carefully started to work her legs out from the vines.

“This human hurt a palisman!” The Bat Queen roared. “She was thoughtless, and does not deserve him! He stays with us!”

“Luz completed the trials fairly!” Evelyn argued, stomping a hoof. “You can’t just go back on your word like that! It’s not-”

“She has not earned him!” The Bat Queen interrupted. “She never will! Trial is incomplete, she failed! Now stand aside!”

“NO!” Evelyn screamed, finally reaching her limit. “You always do this, every time a witch comes back for their palisman! You cheat them and hurt them all because you can’t let go of the past! For Titan’s sake, mom, not every palisman is like you!”

A deafening silence fell over the forest at the centaur’s words. Evelyn’s eyes widened in horror as she realized just what she had said, and Luz stared in shock at the Bat Queen. The human’s eyes quickly fell on the demon’s right foot, noticing an interlock similar to the one she’d seen on Owlbert’s foot earlier that day.

“Bat Queen…you were a palisman?” She spoke up, drawing both Bat Queen and Evelyn’s attentions. The furious expression the Bat Queen once held had fallen, changing to a look of guilt and pain as she landed and folded her wings in.

“Yes.” She admitted, hanging her head. “I was once part of a grand staff. A staff made for a giant! But I was broken, discarded.” Luz felt her heart sink, and Evelyn had her ears tilted back in sympathy.

“That’s why you’re so protective of Owlbert.” Luz muttered. The Bat Queen quickly snapped up, turning to face the human with her eyes glowing.

“I protect ALL!” She bellowed. At once, the trees around them lit up with small yellow dots, revealing other palismen that had been watching from the shadows. Many of them had cracks or chips, but some were missing more than that, and the sight of it made Luz’s heart ache.

“I made home in forest.” The Bat Queen spoke, her voice quieter as her eyes returned to normal. “I’m here to take the lost… the forgotten.”

“I understand now.” Luz spoke softly. “But Owlbert is not forgotten. He has someone at home who loves him very much.” The Bat Queen looked over the human for a moment before her gaze turned to Evelyn. The centaur’s breath caught in her throat, but she managed to relax and turned to Owlbert, who was still perched on her shoulder. With a careful hand, she picked him up, holding him in front of her in an open palm. All eyes were focused on the small owl, but Owlbert’s attention fell solely onto Luz. With a small hoot, he flew out of Evelyn’s hands and over to the human, landing on her shoulder and nuzzling her cheek. The Bat Queen looked at them with a gleam of longing in her eyes, but quickly turned away so it wasn’t noticed.

“Very well.” She spoke, drawing Luz’s attention. “Go, and take your friends.” Luz turned her gaze to the Bat Queen as she extended her wing, seeing Gus and Willow quickly running towards her. Both of them had scared looks on their faces, but other than that, they appeared unhurt. Luz felt a wave of relief wash over her, though she wound up distracted when Owlbert suddenly flew off of her shoulder and over to the path behind her. She turned around just in time to see him land on his staff, picking it up in his talons and carefully flying it back to her. With a small smile, she took hold of it, and Owlbert returned to his perch atop her shoulder. Luz stared at the palisman fondly for a moment, but her smile faltered somewhat and she turned her gaze to the Bat Queen.

“Bat Queen?” She spoke, catching her attention. “Do you remember what happened to your owner?” The Bat Queen hesitated, dropping her gaze mournfully.

“It has been thousands of years.” She replied. “I have forgotten.” Luz felt a pang of sympathy at her words, her grip on the staff tightening just slightly.

“If you ever want to search for the truth,” she told her, “I’ll help you.” The Bat Queen looked the human over with a careful gaze, but a small smile tugged at her lips.

“Thank you.” She said softly. Her gaze ended up turning to Evelyn, who briefly met it before looking down at Luz instead.

“I can escort you three back to the Owl Lady’s house.” She told them, stepping forward. “Come along, it’s this way.” Without looking back at the Bat Queen, the centaur began to walk down the path, prompting Willow and Gus to follow along. Luz wound up hesitating, glancing back to see the Bat Queen giving her a small nod before taking off and flying into a massive tree in the distance. With that, Luz turned and jogged to catch up, soon reaching Evelyn’s side and slowing to a walk.

“Hey.” She spoke, drawing the centaur’s attention. “Thanks for saving me back there.” Evelyn’s ear twitched slightly, her gaze going from the human to the trail ahead.

“No problem.” She replied.

“So, you’re really a centaur?” Gus piped up, looking up at Evelyn in excitement. Evelyn’s face changed to a look of confusion, and she turned her gaze to the smaller witchling.

“Uh, yeah?” She said, her tone carrying confusion as well. Gus was still staring at her, his eyes shining as he waved his flags around.

“How did you become one?” He asked. “Were you blessed? Cursed? Did you make a deal with dark forces?” The sudden statements caused the centaur to stop walking, bringing Luz and Willow to a halt as well.

“Uh…no.” Evelyn replied. “I was born like this, actually. Mom- the Bat Queen, found me in the woods as a baby and took me in. There wasn’t a note or anything with me, so I have no idea who my birth parents are.”

“So, you’re a natural born centaur?” Luz blurted. “But, Eda said that centaurs weren’t real.” Evelyn turned around to look at the human, her face an unreadable mix of emotions.

“Well, I feel pretty real.” She said at last. “So maybe the Owl Lady doesn’t know everything. Now come on, the house is just through here.” Without waiting for a response, Evelyn started down the path again, which prompted Luz, Gus, and Willow to follow along. Soon enough, the trio were back in front of the Owl House, but Luz couldn’t shake Evelyn’s words from her mind.

“Evelyn?” She called. The centaur stopped walking, standing at the edge of the underbrush and turning to face the human.

“Have you found any other centaurs?” Luz asked. Evelyn’s ears turned down, her gaze dropping to the side.

“No.” She replied. “I’ve looked around a bit, but caring for the palismen with mom has been a full-time job.”

“Well, if you ever get time away, I’d be happy to help you look.” Luz offered. Evelyn blinked in surprise, but a small smile soon formed on her face.

“Thanks, Luz.” She said softly. “Until next time.” With that, the centaur turned and disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving the trio alone on Eda’s doorstep.

——————

“Babies! To bed!”

Evelyn returned to the cave just as the Bat Queen gathered the triplets, settling them in their nesting branch. The sight of her mother caused a wave of guilt to wash over the centaur, and she quietly moved through the shadows of the cave to avoid being seen.

“And now, it’s time to have book before sleeping.” The Bat Queen said, hanging upside-down on the branch in front of her children. There was a pause before she coughed up a small picture book, opening it up and tearing pages out with her wing claws. With careful movements, she fed a page to each child, watching happily as they ate it up.

“Yes, consume, grow wise.” She said encouragingly. “Avoid paper cuts.” Evelyn felt a twinge as she watched the triplets drift off to sleep, but she kept silent as she went to settle in the small corner she had chosen.

“Evelyn.”

The centaur felt her whole body tense, and she looked up to see the Bat Queen staring directly at her. She quickly got to her feet, her legs shaking as she did so, but she managed to turn herself to face the bat demon. The Bat Queen narrowed her eyes slightly, and spreading her wings, she detached from her branch and flew herself down to the cave floor.

“Come out from the shadows.” She told her. Evelyn swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, but did as asked, carefully stepping out into the main light of the cave. She couldn’t bring herself to look her mother in the eyes, her arms folded over her chest in a protective manner.

“You were hiding.” The Bat Queen spoke. “Why?” Evelyn’s breath caught, and she had to take a second to be able to speak.

“I…figured you’d be mad at me.” She replied. “So I kept away.”

“You believe me to be angry with you for defending the human.” The Bat Queen guessed. Evelyn nodded, her ears pinned back in fear and her gaze still focused on the cave floor. Much to her surprise, however, the Bat Queen’s tone softened.

“I am not.” She said. “You spoke the truth; I let my past anger me. Owlbert had chosen the human, but I could not accept. You did, and you made right.” Evelyn looked up at the Bat Queen in shock, her wide eyes meeting her mother’s soft gaze.

“You have learned well, little one.” The Bat Queen continued. “You have come to respect and care for the palismen, as I have. I feel it is time now for you to have one.” Evelyn gasped, her eyes gaining a gleam of excitement as she straightened up.

“You mean…I can have my own palisman?” She asked, wanting to be sure. The Bat Queen nodded, and after a slight pause, she hacked and coughed up a small log of palistrom wood. Evelyn stared at the log in awe, carefully taking it and holding it like a baby.

“I kept safe until you were ready.” The Bat Queen explained. “I have seen you practice; I know you will make a beautiful palisman.” Evelyn felt her eyes start to sting, but a grateful smile was clear on her face.

“Thanks, mom.” She managed, meeting the Bat Queen’s eyes. “I’ll care for them with everything I have.” The Bat Queen smiled back at her, opening her wings and prompting the centaur to move in for a hug.

“I know you will, little one.” She replied, waiting a moment before releasing her. “Now, come rest. We carve tomorrow.” Evelyn wiped her eyes and nodded, still cradling the palistrom wood as she followed her mother into the centre of the cave. There, she found her proper bed with quilts and pillows, and soon enough, she had settled herself comfortably among them. The Bat Queen looked at her fondly before flying back up to the triplets, landing on the branch upside-down above Evelyn’s head. She adjusted her position slightly before wrapping her wings around the babies, sheltering them for the night. Her eyes glanced back at the centaur below her, noticing how she had carefully bundled up the palistrom wood and was lying protectively around it.

“Goodnight, Evelyn.” She quietly called. Evelyn glanced up, giving her a warm smile before closing her eyes again.

“Goodnight.”

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rusted-sun · 2 years

Text

“portals”

“shit! ow ow ow- GAH! WATCH YOUR AIM, BUDDY!”

“oh i’ll watch my aim once i’ve shot you dead for once and for all!”

“fucking hell!” chandler muttered under their breath, as they kept running from that damned player, all while trying to avoid to arrows being shot their way.

the player had been on the hunt for them all day, not letting them stop for a second to catch their breath and get healed enough for safe teleportation.

“if only i didnt have that damn wound on my leg” they thought, “should’ve watched my fucking step and now im sucked into this mess!”

as they kept running trough the dark oak forest, they dug trough their pockets in hopes of finding any loose enderpearls they might have had left. all they needed was one! just one and that would be enough! they needed to get home, and quick! or even anywhere! just away from their current situation would be enough!

“you can’t keep running forever! i can see the blood on your leg you know! you’re gonna break eventually, and i’ll be here waiting for that to happen.”

they kept desperately digging around and... bingo! they got one!

they turned around summoned as much intention as they could muster and slammed the pearl against a nearby tree. upon getting squished like a grape, the pearl opened a portal to what appeared to be a different world.

“oh you’ll be waiting for a while!”

they turned around and closed the portal just in time, before the player even had a chance to even attempt following them trough.

grasping at the nearest wall, chandler tried to get used to the rapid switch of body. it was never fun to feel it shift and change upon entering a different universe, especially when they felt their horns and tail get burned off in a cloud of ash. their scaly skin also melted away in said ash cloud and gave way for a more human-like skin.

once the transformation process was done, they finally looked up to see where they had landed from the portal hopping, since they didnt have enough time to actually think of where they wanted to go.

luckily they had ended up in the alleyway next to the apartment they had been staying at for a while now.

they took a step and- “shit!”

looking down at their scraped up leg they sighed, “guess the adrenaline finally wore down.”

clenching their teeth and trying to look as not in pain as possible, they stumbled out of the alleyway, and trough the building as they rushed to their apartment door, hoping they would be alone and could deal with this in peace without meeting any neighbors.

alas their hopes were futile as 112 was sitting on the couch, and turned to look at the door once its hinges creaked open, and her eyes widened once she saw and smelled the blood reeking off of chandler.

“god, you reek of blood! did a damn bear try to maul you again?!”

weakly shaking their head, they only replied with “medkit, quick... please”

after all that running, they had finally made their way to their bedroom and the relief they felt upon being able to lie down was indescribable, even though every part of their body was screaming in pain. at least they could catch their breath here and not be chased by an axe (and bow) wielding murderer.

and then their door opened, with 112 peeking trough “dude, sorry to interrupt your... whatever you’re doing right now but that leg isnt gonna clean itself. unless you want a nasty infection, that is.”

chandler could only glare at their companion and grumble about how they knew that already. 112 invited herself inside and placed the kit on their dresser and started digging trough it. a quite wince left her once she came to a realization.

“we do have a slight problem...” chandler narrowed their eyes. “we’re out of disinfectant... and painkillers,” she quietly explained.

“why do you need painkill- oh god nevermind!”

jumping at the voice, they turned their head at the door turns out they had been so out of it that they didn’t even notice dark coming home. great, just what they needed.

“cant you just... knock me.. out? i’ll be fiiine..." chandler mumbled, in hopes it’d lessen the concern of their little family.

“no we fucking cant! look at yourself! what even happened?!” dark demanded, but once he was met with a stone cold stare, he knew he won’t be getting anything out of his partner.

“okay fine, how about this, i go and get meds and 112 distracts actor from coming in so he doesnt make a scene.”

a hum of approval is all he needed to head back out. following his lead, 112 closed the door to their room and went back to sit on the couch and wait.

chandler was left alone.

they stared at the ceiling.

and stared...

and stared..

gasping softly as the perfect idea came to mind, they sat up a bit and reached over for their nightstand. opening the drawer and shuffling around a bit they found exactly what they were looking for.

enderpearls.

they weren’t sure how they managed to get trough the portal from the other universes unharmed and functional, but they arent going to question it now.

speaking of the other universes, that’s exactly where they’d be going now. this time actually in control of the destination. and so they squeezed the pearl in their fist, popping it.

“hnnggg” they groaned in pain as they clutched their head. horns sprouting from their head and tail emerging from their back rapidly. it’s always worse to get the horns and tail back, than it is for them to disappear. didn’t help that they had fallen on the floor due to the other universes bed no longer being there.

getting up from said floor, they clutched the windowsill and stared trough it. perfect! they’re in the end!

slowly waddling to their storage room, they began sifting trough the many chests until they found one with shining pink potions.

regeneration.

removing the cork, they downed it all in one go, instantly feeling their leg heal up, as well as any other minor wounds they might have endured during the chase.

speaking of the chase... what did the hunter do? hm.. oh never mind. they shrugged off the thought, not really caring for them right now, they were just happy to get rid of that annoying scrape.

looking back at the open chest, they noticed a few loose enderpearls and decided to pocket them. just in case.

they closed the chest and made their way to their bedroom, finally wishing to get some actual rest from the havoc of the day.

chandler spent the next while just staring at their ceiling. watching the built in glitters shine as they just relaxed and sank into the mattress, that they once again failed to notice their front door slam open and panicked steps come their way.

when darks hand clutched their shoulders they only blinked and focused in on his face over theirs, chandler let out a quiet “oh, hey.”

“oh thank goodness you’re alive. it took me forever to find you, y’know that?! couldn’t you have left a note on your bedside table before- oh nevermind thats not why im here.”

still in a tired haze, chandler just hummed, questioning what he meant.

“the player was seen at the witch’s hut. im told they were looking for information about dimension hopping. what on earth happened? are they the reason you almost bled out today as well?”

“... yeah, ‘twas an accident, i swear! i panicked. hard”

#chess writes #everyone is so outta character but fuck it im having fun #minecraft au #roommates au #only briefly tho

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charley-and-the-swap-machine · 2 years

Text

CATSM: RE-INK'D (Chapter 2: Part 2)

The author claims that someone was talking to her about how sheep were trees while she wrote this.

The Voice Of Susie Campbell

It may only be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell I'm going to love it here!

People really seem to enjoy my Edgar voice. Sammy says he may be as popular as the other two some day.

These past few weeks, I've voiced everything, from talking chairs to dancing chickens.

But this is the first character I've really felt a connection with. Like he's a part of me.

Edgar and I, we're going places.

-----------------------------------------

After pushing a few buttons, Henry opened the gate blocking off the music department.

"Hm, it's really dark in here."

Switching on the lights, he took in his new surroundings. They had certainly knocked a few walls out while he was gone, the room actually only an entrance to a much larger department. Henry took a look in one room, and saw a poster for a cartoon. It must've been made after he left, because he had zero memory of working on it.

'Angelic Anarchy'.. He read to himself, studying the poster. There was that spider that he was trying to remember from before- Edgar. His name is Edgar, right here.- smiling while sitting on a cloud, waving to some unknown viewer.

I didn't expect him to make it past the final sketch stage. Joey got him a voice actor? Wonder who it was. Couldn't expect someone like...well, him, to have such a deep voice.. Somewhere in the background, the other two were there, Charley with his usual dopey grin and Barley with his normal anxious expression.

Walking over to another room, he soon found himself before a flooded stairway. "Well, looks like I have to do a bunch of shit for one thing. Again. Yippee."

-----------------------------------------

You thought the author was going to write all this? Really? Chapter 2 doesn't even take that long in retrospect, so don't go complaining "oHhHhHhhHHhH iT wAs ToOo ShOrT" or something.

Anyways, insert some long, drawn out fetch quest sequence or whatever......

And Jack's here. I guess.

---------------------------------------

"Finally, I can use that stairwell. Jeez, that took forever....especially 'cause of that....dumbass ink monster and that valve. Nice hat, though."

As Henry turned the corner, he felt a hard, metal object slam against the back of his head.

As he went unconscious once more, he saw the figure from before standing above him..........

----------------------------------------------

"There we go, nice and tight. We wouldn't want our little sheep roaming away, now would we?"

Henry came to, his eyes readjusting once more. All these concussions were going to take a toll on him...

"Wakey wakey, little sacrifice."

Henry looked up at the strange source of the voice. Looming before him was some strange, pitch-black man in a dirtied robe that came all the way down to his feet. His hair was long and matted, coming down to his lower back. But what was most noticeable was his glowing facial features; Large glowing eyes, with an equally luminescent cheshire-cat grin, stretching across his face.

"AH! What- Who- Who are-" Henry stammered out, trying to break free from the restraints he just now noticed.

The figure grabbed his face, shushing him. "I must admit, I'm quite honored you've come down here to visit me. It almost makes what I'm about to do seem.........cruel."

"What the hell are you talking about!? Who are you? What do you want?"

"But, the believers must honor their savior.." The figure continued, letting go and pacing around a bit. "I must have him notice me." He turned back around to Henry, studying his face. "....You look....familiar to me. That......face...."

He shook his head. "No, no time for that now. Our lord is calling to us, little sheep."

Henry was as perplexed as ever. "Are you high or something? Who the hell is our lord!?"

"Have you not seen his face everywhere? Have you not seen my gifts to him?"

Henry soon drew the conclusion that he was, in fact, worshiping Charley himself. Couldn't ever picture that little guy being a cultist, or whatever.

"Soon, he'll free me from this....prison. This.....dark, ink abyss I call a body. I can hear him! Crawling, crawling above....."

He turned away from Henry. "Let us begin. The ritual must be completed! Soon, he will hear me.......soon, he will set us free...."

He left the room, and Henry was left tied up and confused as ever.

The intercoms soon turned on, and he turned to them.

"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep.

Rest your head, t's time for bed.

In the morning, you may wake.

Or in the morning, you'll be dead......"

A loud, familiar screech was soon heard, and the cultist began screaming. "NO! No, my lord! Charley, my lord, I am your PROPHE-"

What followed next was what Henry could only assume was "Charley" grabbing the microphone and bashing the prophet repeatedly over the head a few times, before it eventually broke. Well, bye bye, crackhead. Hardly knew ye.

The restraints holding Henry finally broke, and he grabbed the nearest axe. "I gotta get the hell out of here!"

He hacked and slashed at a few ink monsters in the way, moving forward, until he found himself in a large, ink filled room.

Unexpectedly, "Charley" rose from the ink. Startled, Henry immediately threw the axe at its head.

It broke in two, and they stared at each other for a few seconds....

SHIT! FUCK! MOTHERFUCKER! WHY THE HELL DID I DO THAT! SHIT- Henry cursed repeatedly in his head to the beat of his own running, as he rushed through the ink filled maze, the monster hot on his tail. HOW HAVEN'T I SLIPPED YET!? HOW LONG DOES THIS GODDAMN THING GO ON!?

He took a sharp turn around a corner and slammed his hands on the handle of a door, swinging it open and immediately slamming it shut. He pushed a board across it, and silence followed.

Is that it? Huh. Guess they never taught it to open doors.

Looking around the new, smaller room he was in, he tried to unwind a bit.

A can soon rolled from around the corner, and Henry tried grabbing a nearby board.

"H-Hello? Is someone there? I know you're in here!" He stuttered out. "C-Come out and show yourself....!"

The being that peeked from around the corner made Henry's blood run cold.

It was.....Barley? But....not....dead? His bandage around his eye was back, and he stared at Henry with an anxious expression, gripping onto the side of the corner. "Wh-Who are you?"

Henry dropped the board on the ground.

".....Barley?"

He blacked out soon after.

#batim au #bendy and the ink machine #batim #batim barley #batim charley #batim sammy #henry stein #batim edgar #‟pen to paper‟ 📽️

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monkeyd-lily · 2 years

Text

Supernatural: Makayla Winchester's Story

Wendigo Part 2

Macey's pov

Roy had us follow behind him in a single file line so we didn't step in any traps that may be lying around. He did the same thing when he would take me hunting.

It was Roy first (obviously), followed by Dean, Hailey, Ben, me, and finally Sam. Of course she had to be right behind him. Dean would look back at me every now and then, but I kept ignoring him. I purposely stared at Roy unless I was talking to Sam, that way Dean could see me looking him whenever he tried to get my attention. When Roy looked back at me and winked I could see Dean twitch for just a second, before he interrupted our staring with questions for Roy.

He sounded very condescending or like he was mocking Roy when he asked what kind of "furry critters" he's hunted before. It was mostly bears and deers.

"Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" My eyes couldn't roll back farther in my head if I tried. Out of nowhere Roy quickly yanked Dean by the collar of his jacket. The rest of us all stopped, it looked as if he was about to start a fight.

"What you doing Roy?" Dean didn't move or even try to push him off. He was waiting for Roy to make the first move.

He let him go and bent down to grab a big stick off the ground, he then used it to trigger a bear trap that Dean almost stepped on because he had to act like a child.

"You should watch where you're steppin...ranger." Roy gave him a sly smile before throwing back another wink at me just to annoy him and then continued on.

Hailey started to voice her suspicions about us actually being rangers and demanded to know who we really were. Dean gave Sam and me the nod to keep going while he answered her question. I rolled my eyes again, this time making sure to show exactly how annoyed I was. I didn't bother to look at his reaction. We don't owe her anything so why the hell do we need to explain shit? And why does HE have to be the one to do it? Why can't Sam? There's no other reason besides him just wanting to get in her pants. Fine, two can play at that game.

"I'm gonna keep going, we'll be here forever if we have to keep stopping to answer stupid questions." You could hear the slight annoyance in my tone. Sam gave me a sad smile, understanding why I felt the way I did, he always did. The kid just looked confused.

I grabbed Roy by the hand and ran ahead again, obviously keeping an eye out for more traps or whatever might've killed or taken Hailey's brother. After about five minutes we ran into a small clearing where there was a destroyed campsite. The tents were knocked over and clawed with some bloodstains. Before he could alert the others, I grabbed his face and pulled him in for a deep lust-filled kiss, which he returned with just as much hunger. We broke apart for air and just stared at each other. I slowly reached for his crotch and gave it a squeeze, my eyes never leaving his. He let out a groan as his eyes darkened and he slowly backed me up until I hit a tree.

"Well Mr. Hunter, it seems you've trapped your prey. What are you going to do?" I seductively purred into his ear.

"Oh baby, I'm gonna devour you." He leaned down and captured my lips in another hungry kiss. His hands gripped my ass so tight I thought he might leave bruises as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up. I hung onto his neck as he used both hands to unbutton and take off my bottoms. He held me up by my ass with one hand and the other he used to start quickly fingering me. First with one finger, then moments later he roughly inserted a second. We're out in the middle of the forest with god knows what out there so every second counts.

I started to unbuckle his pants as he got me ready but I kept twitching too much to focus. I guess he could sense I was having trouble and chose that moment as the right time. He removed his fingers and took his manhood out for me. It's been a while so I forgot how big it was. He was a little bigger than Nate but still not as long or thick as Dean or even Sam. I felt him make a couple of small bite marks before there was a nice hard smack on my ass. I felt guilty but I kept pushing it back down. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to feel anything. I don't want to think about Dean....and I don't want to think about Nate. I don't want to feel the guilt or the shame, or the hurt. I just want to feel...numb. Even if it's only for a few moments.

"Get ready baby girl, the Big Bad Huntsman is gonna destroy your pussy." Roy grunted. Faster than I could blink he completely shoved himself inside me. He paused as my nails dug into his shoulders in pain and kindly asked if I was ok. He always acted tough but would be such a sweet lover.

"Don't bother with that just fuck me!" He hesitated, obviously shocked. But quickly began ramming into me. His grip on my hips tightened as he got into his pace, slamming his cock in and out of me as hard as he could. Moaning my name every few thrusts. As he got faster I could feel myself getting closer to my release.

"Fuck!! Mace, baby. I'm gonna cum. Where do you want it?" Growled Roy.

"Mmm, me too. Just don't cum inside or on my clothes."

Suddenly, Roy put me down and turned me to face the tree as he pounded from the back. I could feel the tree bark scratch my hands from the pressure of his thrusts and the sting as he spanked me, but I don't care. I welcome the pain right now. "MACE!!", I heard Sam scream in the distance, they were catching up. I guess Roy heard cause he reduced his pace down to slow, more powerful strokes as he rubbed my clit making me clench around him. Seconds later I came. Through my temporary bliss, I felt him pull out and release all over my butt cheeks. It took him a few moments to catch his breath while I put my pants back on.

"Damn, beautiful, I missed that." I hated his eyes, they screamed happiness and love. Something I couldn't give him.

"Yea, me too." I didn't mean it. I felt bad that I didn't feel as bad as I should.

He kissed me one last time before the others emerged from the bushes. We acted normal and our clothes were back on, so no one would be able to tell. But of course, Dean knew something was up. Sam just had a little smirk as he looked between Dean and me.

"What the hell's going on here?" Dean shouted.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." I put my hands up as if he was a cop, trying to purposely be bad at playing it cool. I even "forgot" to completely cover the side of my neck with the bite marks. They weren't too visible though. Only one or two of them were done hard enough to leave a small imprint.

"Bullshit!! You! You stay the hell away from my sister old man!" Dean threatened.

"Are you sure you're her brother? Cause you sound more jealous than overprotective." Roy teased Dean, only irritating him more.

Dean was ready to kick his ass before I walked over and stood between them, trying to get their focus back to the campsite and finding Tommy.

"Listen! The two of you can duke it out later, right now we have a job to do." I was trying to be professional for once. After a stare-off, they both backed down and started looking around. But Roy had to throw one last jab at him.

He smirked as he squeezed my ass with one hand as he said, "Sorry baby, you're right.", and kissed me on the cheek.

Dean walked off with a sour face, and after a few minutes called Sam and me over to a spot a few feet away from the campsite, hidden in some trees. Dean showed us drag marks that disappeared into thin air going further into the woods, which was strange. He said it wasn't a skinwalker or a black dog like we originally thought. Before heading back to the campsite with Sam, Dean blocked my path. As he opened his mouth to speak we heard yelling in the distance. Someone was calling for help. We all rushed to find the source. Something was off though. When we got to the area it seemed like it was coming from, there was no one around, not even a blood trail to follow. It made no sense. We waited a few seconds and still, there was nothing. We all headed back to the camp. When we got there our stuff was missing. Whatever that thing is, it's smart. It led us away so it could steal our supplies. Roy tried to say it was some nutjob that came and took everything. But my brothers and I know better. Sam and I shared a knowing look before we pulled Dean out of sight to look at Dad's journal. We had the same thought on what it could be, a Wendigo. Dean argued that they're not supposed to be in this area so it couldn't be one.

"Think about it, Dean. The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice... We gotta get these people to safety." Said Sam before heading back to the group. He's not wrong, a Wendigo is serious business. They're terrifyingly dangerous and hard to kill, guns won't work. I have to get Roy out of here. I don't love him but I care about him and I don't want to lose anyone else. He's a good man. Despite him liking to push people's buttons every now and then. Years ago he took care of me when I ran away...I have to repay him. He found me out there cold and alone but took me in anyway. Had Dean not been close to finding me, I would've stayed with him longer. But then again, I wouldn't have met Nate.

"He's right Dean. This thing is gonna be hard to kill even without people to babysit, we need to get them out first."

"You're just worried about your little boyfriend." Dean angrily mocked.

"You sure you're not just getting jealous? Cause it kinda sounds like someone who's getting jealous." I finally teased him back using his own words. I left him there speechless, with a grumpy face. Much resembling a child who was denied the snack he begged his parents for.

"All right listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten more complicated." I walked back to the others with Sam.

"Baby don't worry, whatever's out there I think I can handle it." Roy's arrogance knows no bounds.

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad."

"She's right, we have to leave. Now." Sam added.

"One, you're talking nonsense. And two, you're in no position to be giving anybody orders!"

"Relax." Dean and I were trying to diffuse the situation since Roy and Sam started going back and forth.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, alright? We're trying to protect you."

"You protect me?! I was hunting in these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight!" Roy was getting more and more aggressive. I tried to stay between them as they were starting to get in each other's faces.

"Yea!? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you. And it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid cradle robbing ass out of here." Sam taunted.

"HAHAHAHA! You know you're crazy right?"

"Yeah? You ever hunt a-" He was cut off by Dean pulling him away.

"Chill out!!"

"EVERYBODY STOP! Just stop. Look, Tommy might still be alive. I'm not leaving without him."

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter during the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it; not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean declared.

"Great. So instead of making the smart move of getting everyone to safety, we're staying behind for a pair of legs." I snapped.

"Mace." He started to give me his sad puppy dog eyes.

"Forget it!! What are you waiting for? Huh? Come on, we have symbols to make and firewood to collect right? I mean if we have to sacrifice ourselves so you can get laid we might as well do it right." At this point, I was fuming. I just wanted to get everyone out of this damn forest. I mean I couldn't care less about Hailey, but that's just me being a petty hypocrite since I've been rubbing Roy in his face. But after everything that happened between us, back from before I first left and up until now, I felt justified. Even after reuniting, he still hasn't changed. He didn't even think twice about flirting with Hailey as soon as they met. In. Front. Of. Me.

After that, I stormed off to go gather firewood. I heard Sam and Roy start to argue about who was following me since they wouldn't let me go alone. Without turning around I screamed back, "No one follow me!!!". But of course, Sam didn't listen. After silently picking up wood for a few minutes I spoke, calmer now, "I thought I said I didn't wanna be followed, Sammy?".

"Did you honestly think any of us would let you come out here by yourself? Wendigo or not."

"I could hope." All of a sudden he grappled me in a bear hug from behind.

"Stop letting Dean make you sad. Please? You know he loves you more than anything, he's just really stupid and doesn't think sometimes."

"I know. It doesn't make it any easier." He didn't say anything back, just held me till the sun started getting too low. We grabbed all the firewood we could get and headed back to camp to help Dean finish drawing these Anasazi symbols to protect against the Wendigo.

Once we had finished and the fire was set, I sat on a log nowhere near it. Hailey and her little brother were over there. Sam stayed with me and Roy was watching Dean draw the last symbol, being skeptical the entire time. I looked over at them and locked eyes with Dean as he was already staring at me; sadness in his eyes. I looked away and laid my head on Sam's left shoulder. As if my eyes invited him, which they definitely didn't, Dean came over and sat next to me so I was squished between them.

"You wanna tell me what's going on in those freaky heads of yours?" He nudged me. I stayed quiet but Sam started to answer before Dean cut him off.

"No, you're not fine. Sam, you're like a powder keg man that's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent brother here, remember?" He joked at the end. "Macey baby girl you're not usually this mean unless it's personal, what's wrong?" I just rolled my eyes. The fact that he doesn't understand the obvious reason why only makes me more upset.

Sam brought up Dad to take his attention off me. How there were no signs of Dad; no messages or anything. Dean said he doesn't think he has ever been to Lost Creek. He noticed I still stayed quiet and tried to rub my back but I shrugged his touch off. That's when I spoke.

"So then why the hell can't we just get these people back to town? Let's hit the road, go find Dad. I don't understand why the fuck we're still here!" I hissed angrily. Sam agreed. Dean was silent at first but then got on one knee before us, with Dad's journal flat in his palm.

"This...this is why. This book. This is Dad's single, most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in there; and he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. Saving people, hunting things. The family business."

Sam argued he could tell us all this with a simple phone call. But maybe it isn't safe? There's a chance they could trace his location through a call if it's long enough. Lots of crime shows. It's what you watch all day when you're a....wife.

"Look, the way I see it. Dad's given us a job to do, and I intend to do it." Dean wouldn't waiver.

"Dean, no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer; it's the only thing I can think about." Neither did Sam, and it broke my heart to see him in such pain.

"Sam's right. Nothings more important than finding Dad and what killed the people we loved. Personally, not even death will stop me from getting my revenge. I'll kill them. If it's the last thing I'm gonna do I'm gonna fucking kill them." My vision went blurry as I started seeing flashbacks and felt tears brim.

"Okay. Hey. All right." Dean cupped my cheeks trying to get me to focus on him and not the memories while Sam stroked my hand. I squeezed his hand to reassure him back. I'm not the only one in pain. "Listen, we're gonna find them I promise. Trust me, big brother is gonna make them pay ok? But the two of you have to get a hold of your anger. The search could take a while and at the rate you're both going it'll burn you out before we find them." He rubbed soothing circles on my cheeks which did help calm me down. It made me more open to hearing what he has to say. We locked eyes again only this time mine wasn't as hostile. I didn't notice at first but this whole time his voice has been soft and soothing to me. It's the voice he uses when he feels sorry or he's spoiling me.

"How do you do it? Both you and Dad?" Sam asked.

"Helping them." He gestured the siblings by the fire. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. It makes things a little bit more bearable. I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." We all managed to crack a small smile. My smile took more convincing but after Dean playfully tried messing up my hair, I let it slip. It was a good bonding moment; until it was ruined.

There were cries of help suddenly from the distance. We all jumped up on red alert. But as long as we didn't leave the barrier we would be fine. The Wendigo can't cross the Anasazi symbols.

"It's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool. Stay put."

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy mocked.

"Yes Roy, inside the magic circle. I didn't sweat my ass off drawing them for nothing." Damn, maybe I am a little too snappy? All well. There were more calls for help before you heard a terrifying growl.

"Ok, that's no grizzly." Finally, a small shred of ego fell away. Boy was I dumb for ever thinking that.

The beasts whines and growls could be heard moving all around us. You could hear the whoosh of the leaves as he raced by, circling us. Roy's stupid egocentric ass started shooting at it. When it sounded like the Wendigo got hit.....Roy ran after it.

"ROYYY!!!!" I screamed after him. Please no. Please, please, please, please, please. This can't be happening!! This can't be fair. Please God no. Before I knew what I was doing, I was running after him. I screamed his name at the top of my lungs.

"ROYYY!! STOP!! DON'T GOOO!!!" At this point, I could feel the tears start falling down my face. I heard Sam and Dean yelling my name out a couple of yards behind me. I couldn't catch up to Roy, he was so fast. I haven't kept up with my training so I got winded very quickly.

"In the distance, I heard Roy say he saw it in a tree; but when I got to where I heard his voice coming from....he was nowhere to be seen. Or heard. I felt my stomach drop. The boys had caught up and thought I was injured since I wasn't responding. When Dean saw the look on my face he knew, and I knew he knew. It was the same face he had shown the day he saved me. Once again, I felt utterly broken inside. I'm cursed....I'm evil....why does everyone who loves me die? At the same time, I was in too much shock to cry anymore.

"M-Macey? Sweetheart?" I heard Sam gently call behind me, letting me know it was him. He slowly stood in front of me. I watched as his face turned more heartbroken at my unresponsiveness, but I couldn't care to do anything about it.

The only words I whispered were, "He's gone." before Sam carried me back to the campsite like a baby. With Dean on guard. When we got back he sat me on his lap and told me to try and fall asleep if I can. That he and Dean would be right here. But there's no way I could sleep, I'd still have nightmares. After a while, I came to my senses. Still numb but more alert. Less in shock. I got up from Sam's lap and started walking to the edge of the symbol where Roy left from. Then I just sat there, staring out into the dark. The boys would come back to check on me but I didn't want to be bothered. I stayed that way till morning.

After everyone was awake, they all decided to find the Wendigo's nest and save her brother. He has a decent chance of being alive since Wendigo keeps their food alive to make it last. At this point, I didn't care what we did. If we go after it, great I'll get revenge. If not, that's fine; less chance of me or my brothers dying. When it was time to go, Sam and Dean crouched by me. They both shared a look and kept asking if I was sure I was ok to go now. I told them it didn't matter if I was ok or not, 'we got a job to do' was my last word on it.

We started walking through the woods. Sam was at the back, then Ben, Hailey, me, and finally Dean in the lead. I tried to hide at the back but Dean grabbed my hand and kept me close to him the whole time. I held onto his jacket from the back. Until Sam noticed that the bloody claw marks on the trees looked weird. It turns out it left marks to lead us in circles. That's when we heard it around us again. At one point I saw it run by but it was hard to see since it blended in with its surroundings. I put my back out to a tree with my gun drawn, ready to empty the clip in it. Even though only fire kills them. As my gun was raised, I saw a drop fall onto my hand. It was blood. When I looked up...... Ohhh I wish I had never looked up. I just managed to dodge Roy's dead body falling on me; it had broken his neck. Everyone ran at Dean's commanding voice; everyone but me. I couldn't stop staring down at Roy's lifeless body. I just stared at his face. Another face I would never see again, never is again...I could feel my mind going numb, shutting my emotions down. I felt a powerful yank as Sam ran back and threw me over his shoulders, running away.

We wound up getting separated. It was Sam, me and Ben. And of course Dean and Hailey. We were running to catch up to them when we heard Hailey scream. We called out for them but heard nothing, not even the creature. It must've taken them. We found a trail of Dean's peanut M&Ms that led to an abandoned mine. Of course. We fell down and found Dean, Hailey, and Tommy hanging by their arms from chains. We freed them and began our escape. Hailey and Ben had to help Tommy walk.

"Ok, stay with Macey and Sam, they'll keep you safe."

"I make no promises," I mumbled. Dean ruffled my hair and told me to be nice and to stay safe. "Wait, where are you going?" The fear in my eyes must've been obvious. He looked at me, and without saying a word, gave me a reassuring wink. As if he was saying it was gonna be ok in that one small gesture. "You better come back," I whispered to myself.

"IT'S CHOW TIME YOU FREAKIN BASTARD!!" He shouted, trying to get the Wendigo to follow him. "Yea that;s right baby!! I taste GOOD!!".

The rest of us ran in the opposite direction. When we were close to the exit we heard it following us. We told Hailey and her brothers to keep going while we stayed behind. After they left, Sam and I hid along the wall trying to spot it but not be out in the open. It got quiet and I felt uneasy. Then we heard a big *clunk* to the right of us. When we looked, THERE IT WAS!! We dodged and Sam took a shot but missed. We took off and caught up with the others and told them to run. After running around we found a dead end as it was right behind us.

"GET BEHIND ME!!" Yelled Sam, as he stood in front of all of us with his arms spread to act as a shield. There's no way I'm losing someone else.

I moved in front of Sam and kept firing shot after shot. Till I had no more bullets left. I felt too empty to feel fear for myself. So I took out my pocket knife and stood there, waiting for it to try and kill me.

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed at it. "COME OOONNN!! LET'S GO!" I may be depressed and hate the world, but I'll be damned if I don't go out fighting. Taking whatever and whoever down with me.

"HEY! Stay the hell away from my sister." Out of nowhere, Dean shows up and shoots the Wendigo with a flare gun. Burning him alive. Sam grabbed me and shielded me from the heat of the flames.

"Not bad, huh?" He's always so cocky, but when you're the world's best big brother I guess you get to be.

"Dean!" I couldn't help it as I ran over and jumped into his arms. He grunted in pain from his injuries he got when the Wendigo got him earlier, but he didn't care it hurt. He just tucked my legs around him and squeezed me so tight I couldn't breathe for a minute. I let go but he refused to put me down, he carried me the entire time until we left the mine. We headed back to the ranger station and made a report since Roy and Tommy's friends died out there. We told the officers it was a massive grizzly.

Dean and I sat on the hood of the Impala while Sam and Ben gave their statements and Hailey thanked us. We were saying our goodbyes so they could ride with their brother to the hospital. All of a sudden, Hailey leans in thinking she was gonna give Dean a kiss on the cheek. I was sitting on his left side and he had his arm around my waist. I lifted my leg and blocked her entire body from getting any closer.

"Simple thanks works just fine Thanks. See? Bye now, you have an ambulance to catch." I shooed her off and she took the hint. I looked at Dean and he had the dumbest grin on his face. "What?" I asked slightly annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing. You just look cute when you're being territorial." He chuckled before kissing me on my forehead. Sam sat next to Dean and we watched as the ambulance drove away. "Man, I hate camping." Dean huffed.

Sam and I simultaneously answered, "Me too."

It was quiet for a moment. Then Dean spoke. "You two know we're gonna find Dad, right?"

"Yea, we know. But in the meantime, I'm driving." Smiled Sam. Seeing his smile brought warmth to my heart. Losing Roy was just icing on the cake, that I didn't need. I will never forgive myself...never. He may have been an ass from time to time, but he didn't deserve to die. Especially not like that. I don't know if I'll ever feel ok again. But I think that as long as I stay with my brothers, I'll feel normal and maybe a little happy; or at least close to it.

Dean thought about it for a second then tossed the keys in the air for Sam to catch. We all got up and got in the car and headed out on the road. I leaned on Dean's chest as Sam was driving. He started gently petting my hair and told me to get some rest, especially since I didn't before. I don't know where we're heading next but I don't care, as long as I got Dean and Sam I don't need anyone else<3

#spn #supernatural #samxoc #dean x oc

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christinesficrecs · 2 years

Text

It seems like forever since I did one of these. 🧡💙🧡

The Not So Beauty to Your Not So Beast by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 64.4K | Mature

“Mieczyslaw Stilinski?”

All eyes instantly turned to Stiles and he felt his stomach drop. They’d taken his dad. They’d actually taken his dad and were here to tell him so.

“Yeah?” he asked in a small voice, feeling ready to be sick.

The second he spoke, two of the four regular guards moved through the rows, the lead guard speaking.

“By order of his Grace Peter Hale, you have been selected to begin your employ under the royal house of Hale.”

Wait.

What?

Derek and Stiles, sitting in a tree…house. by DropsOfAddiction | 8.9K | Explicit

Then Stiles hears the growl, familiar and furious.

“Oh shiitake mushrooms,” Stiles groans, turning around. “Heeeeey Derek. Isn’t it a little past your bedtime?”

Derek looks as pissed as Stiles has ever seen him and it kind of gives him a little bit of satisfaction, so he snuggles closer to Ricky. Derek bares his teeth at them, thankfully still human and his nostrils flare wildly.

“You’re drunk,” Derek accuses him flatly.

“You’re drunk,” Stiles tells Derek nonsensically.

By a Law Divine by mirrorkill | 23.1K | Mature

Okay, so, kissing Stiles. That's a weird thing that Derek's doing now. He has no idea where it's even coming from, especially considering bickering and fighting is their usual state of existence. And then he does find out where it's coming from: A curse that's making everyone in town kiss someone they have mutual feelings for. …yeah, Derek's not even sure why he's surprised by that.

in the waiting room by CoraRochester, ravenclowkward | 29.7K | Explicit

In which Stiles has amnesia and falls in love with his husband all over again.

Don't Feed the Wolves by Amazonia_8 | 30.3K | Explicit

Stiles took the dare, because what else was he supposed to do when the whole lacrosse team was chanting his name? Even though the werewolf pack had left Beacon Hills years ago, nobody was stupid enough to set foot on the Hale property.

Except, apparently, Stiles.

Now he's got a feral werewolf following him around town with the sole purpose of claiming Stiles as his own.

Only Who Is Left by aussiebee | 11.4K | Explicit

It's been a long twelve months and Laura is finally putting her foot down about sending Derek, MSF doctor and perpetually self-sacrificial moron, home for a well-earned break. She manages to call in a favour to have Derek escorted by a SEAL team to Baghdad to get safely home.

No one is more surprised than Derek when he finds himself stupidly attracted to one of the SEAL team.

Wild and Reckless Breeze by GotTheSilver | 15.7K | Mature

In which Stiles is killing time working at a bookshop, Derek buys a lot of Chuck Palahniuk and they start hanging out, much to the confusion of Scott and the Sheriff.

My Words to Catch (like I'm trying) by secondstar | 6.9K | Explicit

Only Derek would inhale airborne Wolfsbane in an ancient temple and show up in Beacon Hills after leaving almost six years prior.

Stiles was not amused.

#sterek #sterek fics #ficrecs #fic rec friday

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cynettic · 3 years

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Stay with Me pt.3

Summary - You manage to escape from Scaramouche, if only for a moment before you realize there’s no escape. It only takes until you’re sitting back in your regular spot that you know what you need to do.

Pairings - Kitsune!Reader x Yan!Scaramouche

Warnings - Suggestive content, mentions of death, swearing, slight gore / blood

A/N - Its really hard to make this depressing while I’m vibing to Rasputin. Like no joke- I have it on one of the 1 hour playlists :D

Here you’ll find - pt.1 and pt.2

He’d left a key.

Scaramouche didnt make mistakes, not while he had you captive in the vicinity of his bedroom. He didnt have room for mistakes, not when you were watching his every movement while he was in your line of sight.

Sure, he mightve killed a person or two in front of you, but those were necessary mistakes. There was a sign on the door, it specified not to enter. You’d understand that, right?

Thats what he thought at least, lulling himself into belief after belief that you’d be there waiting for him every time. That you’d welcome him with open arms, even if there were chains ensnaring your wrists. That you’d accept your fate at his hands and submit yourself to him.

The Balladeer was a fool.

He’d kept you there for too long, and while you searched for an easy way to escape, time sent your head spinning. Into a spiral that begged only for the wind against your face, back laying on dirt with the familiar chirping up birds waking you up in the morning.

You wanted to go outside.

And when push comes to shove, you had to risk a little more to make it happen. Lure him into bed with kisses while your hands unbuttoned his vest. But what he believed to be alluring contacts was just your way of finding the keys hidden in the back pocket of his shorts.

It wasnt hard to find the one to your cuffs while he was asleep, cuddled in your chest with both arms around your waist as if to get you to stay put. You took the key, hiding them back in his clothing and hoping he didnt notice.

He didnt say anything the next day.

You werent going to wait any longer.

“Oh for fucks sake, why won't the goddamn door open?”

The room was left in tatters behind you, a little gift for Scaramouche once he got back. Turns out a pair of chains can smash up a lot of things, and rage can be used as a great source of strength when contained for such a long time.

But you’d done more than throw the blankets around, cut up the drawers and smash open the windows. Because your fists had bled red when you punched through the glass, puncturing your skin. Your knuckles were an ugly red, bruising already.

Ah, Scaramouche deserved a much better gift.

Gruesome as it was, you rubbed your knuckles against the pale walls. Till the blood stopped coming, till there was a nice little message for the boy which you held so dearly to your heart.

‘Balladeer.’

The first time you’d found out about him being a harbinger he’d told you not to call him by that name. You weren’t someone he associated with by work, you were a treasure to him. That’s why you continued to call him as he pleased, although the temptation always arose.

You were no longer his.

Shoving the door with your hand again, palm fiddling with the handle and groaning when it hardly budged. “Stupid,” you grumbled when the knob began to loosen. Backing up, you charged with your shoulder to the door, full force as the momentum broke the hinges. The door fell down with you along with it.

It was expected, you’d been stuck in the room for a long time, and thats considering you’d sat on the ground for decades. Your body was slight numb, muscles sore and unused for so long.

“You a-arent supposed to leave your room!”

A young man stood in the hallway along with a woman who looked relatively the same age. The two were wearing uniforms, flinching when you stood up from the debris and off the door. “Excuse me?” You asked, voice unnecessarily icy and stern. But you couldnt care less, you were going to get out of this house, damn anyone who stood in your way.

They both continued to shake when you walked towards them, staggering from side to side. The woman stepped up in front of the man, presenting a brave face. “If you leave the mansion, the harbinger will kill us all!”

“Well then I expect you should be on your way then. Actually…” you gestured to the maze of hallways. “You can lead the way.”

“What…?”

Your hand went limp to your side, an exasperated looking momentarily crossing your face before you sighed. “Im not staying trapped in that room, I’m sorry if that ruins your life, but frankly you're not the one stuck in there are you?” You took an extra step just to intimidate them, eyes wide to make the appearance of crazy. “It would be a great help if you showed me where he hid my vision too.”

“We can show you to the door…” The man began, “But the whereabouts of your vision are unknown, he wouldnt tell us something like that.”

A gift bestowed from the gods, a piece to help me thrive with my ambitions and pursue my goals.

Gone.

You really wished you’d taken to clawing out Scaramouche’s face instead, but you’d take what you got. Right now your main priority was getting out of this place, even if it meant leaving a piece of you behind.

“Door.” Your voice was raspy and there was a terrible feeling that crawled up to your throat, but you didnt have time to be emotional. “Show me where the door is… please.”

The conflict in their eyes dissipates by the time they lead you along, mumbling words between themselves. You didnt bother to try eavesdropping, you were so, so tired. You wanted to go home.

Anywhere. Anywhere but here.

It took a few minutes until you were standing in front of a grand door, almost twice the size of you and just as wide. You then began to notice the decorational plants and furniture that filled the empty space, there wasn't an inch of dust. Even though you could tell none of it was used.

“Hurry,” the man warned when you paused. “I dont know when our master is coming back, but if its soon, we’ll all be screwed.”

You couldnt feel your head as you numbly nodded, hand clenching the knob and flinging the set of doors open. “Thank you,” you merely mumbled, taking your first step out of the house in what felt like forever.

The days after that were a blur, the area around Scaramouche’s house were nothing but void. Empty and filled with forests and vast plains. You knew he didnt like people or socializing in general, but to this extent?

Your only option was to run.

Let your feet take you somewhere, anywhere. It was a constant pattern of running and taking breaks, leaning on a tree and gasping in a few breaths before you were again scurrying through the forest.

And yet you felt better than you’d felt in past months that you’d been stuck with Scaramouche.

Food became any boar you came across, the claws you’d spent so long hiding with Scaramouche coming to unleash a wrath beyond your comprehension. Till the animal was cut to shreds and no meat was left even to eat. You’d slaughtered it, without intention to eat or benefit for it, you’d killed it just to kill.

“I’m sorry,” you’d sobbed into the ground where you’d buried the harmless animal. Forehead pressed into the dirt as you pleaded for forgiveness to whatever archons would accept it. You couldn't even remember what archons you were supposed to pray to. “Forgive me- forgive me…”

But eventually you found your way around to somewhere you knew. Territory of Inazuma where you could find your way back, back home.

Where was home?

You’d been on the run from the vision hunt decree, abandoning your post for the Kitsune Saiguu for such a thing. Even now that you could return without a vision and as no threat under the decree…

You’d sacrificed everything for your vision.

Where were you to go now…?

Rain patted down, the trees providing only a slight cover as stray drops fell into your matted dirty hair. You didnt mind, it hid the tears that slid down your lifeless face, feet taking you into the far meadows of your hometown. Till you plopped down underneath a tree, knees curled to your chest and arms hugging them close. You were crying.

You were home.

____________________

“Awh,” a ginger haired murmured, elbow resting on the cool wood of the tabletop. “Is little Mouchie sad? I heard your kitty cat escaped~”

A death wish, even fatui that idly minded themselves around the bar knew it. Sipping cold drinks and swirling their cups, the soft chatter was nothing but a distraction from the main course of events. That being the smaller Harbinger who sat sulking in his seat, hunched over with a drink in hand. He’d drank far more than what was on the counter, but everytime he finished a glass, he’d smash it on the ground, watching the fragile glass shatter into pieces.

“I dont have a cat,'' was his only response, tone daring Childe to pursue further. To give him a reason to start throwing the glass in his face instead.

And Childe was an idiot when it came to challenging someone.

“No cat?” The rest of the drink in the taller harbinger’s glass was gone when he threw his head back. “Hmmm, I cant think of what else could’ve had you so enraptured in returning home then~!”

Scaramouche didnt respond, uneven bangs shadowing the bags under his eyes. “Stronger,” he said instead, elbow on the counter and hand outstretched for something. When there was no movement from the man managing the wine, the harbinger looked up. “I need something stronger to drink,” he repeated, voice seething.

“Of c-course!”

The glass was nestled in Scaramouche’s palm in no time, fingers curling around the circular form to down it in seconds. The drink merely slid down his throat in one movement, alcohol burning his senses. It didn’t matter, he was numbed by the growing rage inside of him.

Finally, he turned to the ginger haired boy, eyes hazily dancing along the counter till it reached his fingertips. Up his hand and along his arm, till Scaramouche was staring right into Childe’s eyes. “They escaped,” he admitted softly. “But it’s alright, because I sent something that’ll bring them back.”

Childe paused, raising his drink up away from his lips to pose a question. Hesitation danced along his features before he brought the glass back, he’d rather not provoke the shorter male any further. Wasn’t like he could interfere anyway.

____________________

“That… that…”

It was preposterous, having returned to that same spot for a day or two and heading back to the hometown you’d once lived in. The one Scaramouche had lived in. There shouldn’t have been an issue, you were solely gathering supplies for the sake of it, ambition driving you to travel far far away.

Out of Inazuma.

It was your new beginning, convincing yourself that you didn't need a vision. Finding some sort of purpose before Scaramouche shattered the vision and your life along with it. You’d seen how people had reacted when it had been ingrained in the statue, neutralized and broken. They lost hope, purpose and aspirations for anything new.

It’s not like the Raiden Shogun took my vision.

But you’d taken that fact for granted, expecting some sort of new start without Scaramouche. A victory, getting away from him just for a split second and getting out of Inazuma altogether, you’d never see him again.

Until you got his message.

“How the hell…” You crushed the note until it was just crumbled paper in your hand, slowly leaning on the stone wall. “Piece of shit… what kind of person even…”

Not only did he manage to find you, but without making his presence known, he’d tugged at your one weakness with an ease that had you down on your knees.

You threw the paper to the ground, deliberate as you stared past the alleyway. Pensive as you considered your options. Damn, what options did you even have? You’d been an idiot to underestimate Scaramouche, he wasn’t a child, you knew that… but archons he seemed like one when he was with you. Shown you a vulnerability he wanted only you to see. But maybe that had been part of his plan all along, until all you believed was his soft demeanor.

He may act like a child, but he’s a harbinger.

You stared down at the crumbled piece of paper in disgust.

Not only that, but he has no regard for human life.

Either way, you’d lived decades more than him. You could face him, you would present yourself to him just as he expected you to. Even when everything in you rejected the idea, sobbed at the thought of returning to that house, those chains. Being locked up and confined only for the purpose of coddling a small boy, a selfish boy, a cruel boy.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

You’d figure out a way, and this time you wouldn’t rule out the option of his death.

———————

Oh darling Y/n, how have you been?

I hope this letter reaches you rather soon, we both have much to discuss, no? About me, about you, and much more. You see, I’ve taken up quite a distaste to your little friends. Stone statues in Inazuma as small as Kitsunes truly hold no purpose, what will they do, come back to life? Haha, I should think not. I’ve already arranged to have them demolished, who knows what kind of material they might possess. Ah, and of course I’d show you the finishing product, unless you’re willing to come and have a chat with me once more? Under the Sakura tree like we used to, you’ve waited years, I believe you can wait for me?

I hope this letter reaches you in best interests. I’m always looking out for you after all.

Sincerely, your Balladeer

——————

It was raining.

Beautiful weather as you lay sitting there, feet crossed and tucked in the same you’d often do. After all, there was no need to fear the vision hunt decree or the Raiden Shogun. Let them come, let them take care of you before Scaramouche did.

You werent cold, not when the cold drops dampened your clothing, slipping down the length of your spine and drenching your face. Despite having lived in a luxury residency for such a long time, this was where you were most comfortable, enduring whatever the weather had for you, taking it with a smile. Because you were waiting…

The Kitsune Saiguu was a distant memory.

You were waiting for Scaramouche, the young boy that often bound into the field in lengthy strides, childlike wonder in his eyes. The one who’d cried when the other kids pushed him away, the one that just wanted to be praised. You’d held him in your arms, and now, even knowing the results, you wouldnt have done differently.

He was just a boy.

Just a boy when he joined the fatui, looking for praise that he was given. He created chaos and bellowed orders with a cruelty that was highly looked upon. Told that he was doing well, so he continued to do so.

He’s just a boy.

You wished you’d held him in your arms, if not only for a tad longer. Shield him away from the wrongness of the world, if only for one last time.

Banishing away your hatred for him was hard.

But you found it under the tree, rain soon dimming down to a clouded cold breeze that swept through the meadow. You’d hated him while stuck in the mansion, but you could now see it from a larger point of view. What he did was wrong of course, but you could remember him so vividly now. His small form giggling, tiny arms around your neck.

“Play with me!”

Was it your fault?

For not holding him tighter? For trying to rectify his bad doings and teach him what was wrong and right? Maybe if your grip was firmer, if you’d spoken to him about the warmth he’d given you that day when playing cards...

“Lazy ass.”

Burying down that pile of worry and insecurities, you took a deep breath in to relax. The edge of your lip perked up, only slightly. “Still terrible with your social skills arent you?”

Slowly securing a dry space under the three with you, Scaramouche sat down. His features were the same ones you’d grown accustomed to at his mansion. Rich clothes, sharp eyes, and the baby face that refused to go away. His movements were soft as he pulled out a deck of cards. The two of you didnt speak as he distributed them between you both. It was tense… no, it felt too much like the warmth form long ago to be tense. You only wished the situation to be different.

“I love you.”

But you could only offer a bitter smile to his words. “I love my vision,” you replied. “I love the Kitsune Saiguu, and I love my friends.”

His touch was gentle when his fingers came to gently cradle your cheek. Holding your face dearly as he peered into your eyes, his were soft. Different from the cruelty he held within, the hatred that burned and destruction that seeked to explode.

You saw a little boy.

Your hand came to press his hand further against your cheek, till you slid his palm to your lips. He appeared so calm when you pressed the first kiss, lips tracing the lines along his palm with all the care in the world.

But you needed to change your view, see him as the man he now was. As the man he had become.

“I love you,” he repeated, and you let go of his hand. It fell limp by his side, cards all but forgotten. There was a much more pressing matter at hand, because you truly needed to see him as he was.

It was necessary if you planned to kill him.

#genshin impact #genshin impact hc #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact oneshots #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #kitsune reader #yandere scaramouche #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #reader x scaramouche #scaramouche angst #writing #angst

781 notes · View notes

atlabeth · 3 years

Text

nightmares - mike munroe x reader

summary: It was a deal made by two almost-friends in the early hours of the morning after the worst night of their lives, when they realized that all they really had left was each other.

a/n: so this is once again. not my normal content but ive been on an until dawn kick lately and fell in love w the characters all over again. i dont know if anyone still reads or writes for this fandom but. here u go. enjoy

warning(s): lots of cursing, canon typical violence, mentions of graphic violence/death (but nothing too descriptive), mentioned depression, insomnia, and alcoholism, some heavy themes but its hurt/comfort so it ends in fluff

wc: 4.8k

You were running.

You were running, and it was freezing — fuck, it was freezing.

You knew your surroundings; how could you ever forget? Every fucking moment on the goddamn mountain was engraved into your mind for what you assumed would be the rest of your life, an assumption that had since been proven correct.

And now, against your will, you were back. Of course you were back.

A shudder ran through your whole body as that all-too-familiar screech rang out behind you, each second of it like nails on a chalkboard in the worst way. Your lungs burned like all hell but you couldn’t stop — if you stopped, you were as good as dead.

Some part of this fucked up thing was almost funny. Humans were always boasting about how they were the top of the food chain, how they were the height of evolution. There was nothing to keep an ego in check like being hunted by a supernatural creature.

Any thoughts of bullshit philosophy were dashed from your mind as you took a hard right, nearly falling over from the sharp curve of the mountain but just able to catch yourself. Your heart was thundering in your chest, the beats nearly lining up with your sprinting. You felt an intense urge to turn around, try and gauge your chances, but the thought of slowing down for even a second terrified you. It’s not like you needed to anyways — you knew exactly what was after you.

You were nearing the end of your road, both literally and figuratively. You stumbled over a tree root, your hands splayed out in front of yourself at just the right angle to keep your momentum going and, in some feat of luck, stay upright and running.

But your luck had just run out.

Your senses were proven correct as the harrowing cliff edge came into view, and a thousand things screamed in your mind at once as your demise stared you right in the eye. You barely managed to catch yourself, very much aware that the snow falling into the void could’ve just as well been you.

That fucking screech again, even closer than before, and you whipped around as you took an instinctive step back. Your hands patted around everywhere, searching for something to defend yourself, but you had nothing. No gun, knife, even the ground around you was devoid of rocks.

You had nothing. You had nothing to defend yourself from this goddamn nightmare creature, and you were going to die.

Your eyes darted around wildly in an attempt to find something, anything, to save yourself, but there was nothing. You took another step back and felt your foot slip, your breath catching as you barely managed to save yourself with a twist and a lunge away from the edge. The shock of the ground and the cold against your skin was just enough to remind yourself that you were actually alive. Another pile of snow mimicked the fate that seemed imminent as it trickled over the side of the cliff, and you screwed your eyes shut as you tried to shut your mind up.

Think, goddammit, if you wanted to get off of this fucking mountain you had to think—

The screech that pierced through the night sky was far too close for comfort, and as your head snapped back towards the woods you swore that your heart stopped beating.

It had caught up. You were out of time you were going to die but you didn’t have anything and you were going to fucking die—

A flash of white pushed off a tree and lunged towards you, teeth bared as it emitted that horrible screech. You didn’t even have time to scream, completely frozen in place as one clawed hand reached your neck, and you braced for the moment of release.

You shot up in your bed, breathing rapid and unsteady with a barely contained cry on the edge of your lips as your hand instinctively flew to your neck. You heaved an almost strangled sigh of relief to know that your head was still attached to your body (it might’ve seemed obvious, but… your head wasn’t exactly on straight at the moment, all jokes aside) and collapsed against the headboard.

You ran your hands across your face as you tried in vain to calm yourself down, ultimately having to turn on your lamp to ease your troubled mind that there was nothing going thump in the night.

It had been this same routine almost every night — horrible nightmare, wake up crying or screaming or both, and start the day at 3 am because you couldn’t fall back asleep.

It was exhausting. You were exhausted.

You knew you couldn’t go on like this, but what choice did you have? Therapy had been mandated by the police for a certain amount of time after the incident, but… it’s not like it had helped. How could it, when no one truly knew what you had gone through?

Well… that wasn’t completely accurate.

One person knew what you were going through, and you hadn’t said as much as one word to him since that night. You didn’t really… know what to say.

Hey. I know we’re not all that close, but I’m sorry your girlfriend and all your friends were killed by a Wendigo and that I made it instead. Hope you’re not going insane with grief. I’ll send you a card at Christmas!

...yeah. You had no idea what to say to him after months of no contact.

The relationship you had with Mike Munroe was a strange one, to say the least.

None of you were the same after that night on the mountain. The horrors of the mines would be forever entrenched in your head, flashes of the Wendigos appearing every time you closed your eyes. You and Mike were the only ones who made it off, and the guilt you carried everywhere was a burden you knew you couldn’t shoulder. And even after the physical scars had faded, you knew the mental ones never would.

Sometimes you wondered how you had even managed to get involved with the group in the first place — bonds that had been made in your freshman and sophomore years had somehow managed to stay strong enough throughout the rest of high school, strong enough to cement your spot in the friend group and the yearly lodge visits. You liked them all well enough, enough to go up to an isolated mountain with them for a weekend or so, but… yeah. Sometimes you did wonder what the hell you were doing with them.

But now?

Now, you would give almost anything to hear Sam’s laugh or one of her compliments, or tease Ashley and Chris about their very obvious feelings; hell, you found yourself missing Matt’s useless football facts. And even though Emily and Jessica weren’t always the nicest, you still had managed to worm your way into their hearts. Knowing that you would never get Emily’s brutal but helpful advice or get dragged to a football game by Jessica again?

If someone had told you the difference between life-long trauma and a completely normal existence was that blonde girl with the braids in your biology class, you might’ve thought a little harder before accepting that party invite.

The days after you were rescued from the mountain passed in a daze, questions and interrogations from police never sticking for too long. And it didn’t even feel like it mattered, the way none of them seemed to believe you.

They kept you separated from Mike throughout the whole process, and you were only able to catch glances of him when you were being transferred to different rooms throughout the long process. It really was like something out of a horror movie — a group of teens go up to a lodge in the woods, and only two return with a story of unspeakable horrors — and rather than try and work out what had happened, they seemed intent on pinning the deaths on you and Mike.

As if you weren’t dealing with enough after watching your friends get murdered by the monster of another friend, the people that were supposed to be helping you were instead trying to charge you with them. If it wasn’t so fucking infuriating, it would’ve been laughable.

The worst part? You could hardly blame them.

When you took a second to listen to yourself, to what you were spouting to the police, you sounded insane. If you hadn’t witnessed it all first hand, you wouldn’t have believed yourself.

You told them to go down to the mines. That the thing that killed your friends would be down there, and they could see it for themselves.

You didn’t know if that was the right choice. Hell, you might’ve been sending those cops to their deaths. But it was the only way you could think of to get them to believe you.

(You doubted they would go down there anyways. What was the word of two crazy college kids over actual logic? Not much, you imagined.)

You were in that damn interrogation room for what felt like forever until you were finally taken to a hospital to get your wounds treated. But even in the hospital bed, police were by your side asking about what happened every day of your stay. After your discharge, you were forced into custody until they got information that they deemed satisfactory.

By some miracle, you and Mike weren’t charged with anything. The news might’ve gotten hold of your story, but you didn’t know. You didn’t want to know. You didn’t ever look at the news after the tragedy, too afraid that you would see the smiling faces of your friends staring back at you, or pictures of you and Mike with news anchors trying to talk about how involved the two of you were.

If there was one thing worse than going through hell, it was other people trying to make a profit off of your spiral.

Your friends’ families offered their condolences, but not much else. You didn’t hold it against them. Your survivor’s guilt was strong enough to know exactly why they didn’t reach out further.

(You blame yourself for their deaths, after all. Why wouldn’t they?)

It was the same situation with Mike.

Maybe you had purposefully drifted apart from him, trying to build up walls of your own so that he wouldn’t be able to spring it on you first. You assumed he hated you after what had happened, and he had every right to. You might’ve helped each other through the night, but you had no other option. Now, everyone else but you was dead — people he cared about more than you — and you just couldn’t face that.

But as you stared at yourself in your bathroom mirror, you realized that you might have to.

You looked awful.

Weeks of sleepless nights were catching up to you, appearing in the form of

hollow eyes and dark circles, along with a slight discoloration of your skin. The scars from the mountain had mostly healed, but there was a particularly nasty gash on your cheek that was still showing — it wasn’t doing you any favors in the ‘looking completely normal and sane and not severely sleep deprived’ department.

You splashed some water in your face to try and wake up a bit, but the slight drowsiness that followed you everywhere seemed to be a permanent part of you now.

(It was almost funny, in a way. You were so paranoid and alert all the time, unable to fall asleep, and yet it was all you could think about in moments like these. You wondered when irony had become such a staple in your life.)

You had tried talking to therapists, your friends, your family, even searching the internet for advice on what to do after a life changing traumatic event. Nothing had worked.

The simplest solution had come to mind more than once, but you had pushed it aside with the determination to work through this on your own. But now, staring at yourself and seeing how much you had deteriorated…

You had to go talk to the only person who would understand.

You had considered turning around more than once on the drive over.

Because, really, what the hell were you doing? Showing up at his doorstep in the middle of o dark thirty because— because what?

Because you had a nightmare?

He had gone through the same thing you had, probably even worse. Losing Jessica right in front of him, having to cut off his fingers to get free, spending countless hours alone, dealing with the nightmare that was the sanatorium, and then…

Well, you had been in the mines with him and Josh when it happened. There was no doubt in your mind that the scene replayed in his head endlessly, just like it did for you.

Showing up… it was going to be a mistake. You knew it was.

For all you knew, Mike had moved on already. He was stronger than you, he always had been. Maybe your presence would send him spiraling once more, or maybe it would just earn you a verbal beating like no other. Mike had always been nice enough, but the trauma you had endured was enough to turn a saint into his own worst enemy.

You didn’t know what would happen. You didn’t know anything, and as you turned down his street you regretted more than ever not keeping in touch with him. Maybe then you wouldn’t be in this situation, scrambling after your last hope for salvation after slowly killing yourself over the past few months.

But there was no chance to turn back now, because before you knew it your knuckles were rapping against his front door.

The pause between your arrival and a response was so long that you considered leaving and pretending like this never happened, but just as you began to step back the door swung open.

You didn’t really know what you were expecting, but… he was there. The only other testament to the horrors of Blackwood Pines, and maybe the only person that could help you through this.

“...hi,” you murmured, swallowing the sudden lump in your throat as you looked the personification of your shame in the eye.

Mike blinked a few times, whether to try and wake up a little or out of surprise from his visitor you didn’t know, but it was a few seconds before he responded in kind. “...hey. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around.”

You chuckled dryly as you nodded. “Yeah. Sorry for the sudden arrival. I’m, uh… I’m kind of surprised you even opened the door.”

He huffed out a short breath in a facsimile of a laugh. “Not getting much sleep these days.”

“That’s something we’ve got in common.” You crossed your arms across your chest and let out a loose sigh, eyes wandering around in an attempt to think of what to say next. It should’ve been so easy, but… but for some reason, it just wasn’t.

“Guess so.” That awkward silence stretched out once more, neither of you knowing how to fill it. Thankfully, Mike continued to take the plunge, but it wasn’t without a slight barb. “What are you doing here?”

“I—” you stopped just as you had begun, because you really didn’t know. You had come here for help, but could Mike really do that for you? He was the same as you — a fucked up teenager trying to deal with something so far beyond him.

“I don’t know,” you admitted as you made eye contact once more. “I… I really don’t know. I’m out of options, and… I can’t keep going like this. So I came here to talk, or— or to try and get some help. I don’t know.”

That same silence filled the air once more, the night ambiance the only thing in between the two of you. You missed when that silence used to be comfortable, but… you could only blame yourself for it.

“So— so, what?” he asked, the beginnings of a frown starting to crease his brows. “You just— we go through all that together up there, and then when we get back down you don’t say a word for months. And now— now, out of nowhere, in the middle of the night, you just show up and ask for help?”

“God,” you muttered. When he put it that way, it was true. It was ridiculous, to expect his help after the way you had just left him to deal with it all on his own for a reason borne of your own insecurity. “You’re right. This was— this was stupid. I’m sorry.”

You had already turned to go when you felt a calloused hand on your shoulder, causing you to stop in your tracks.

“No.” His voice was surprisingly soft as he sighed, stepping back with a shake of his head to make room in the doorway. “No, I—” Mike paused for a moment, as if he couldn’t find the right words to say. “I’m sorry. You can come in. Obviously, you can come in.”

Your eyes widened slightly as you tried to hide your shock at the gesture, but you weren’t about to turn it down. You nodded, and he stepped aside to make space for you to walk in. When you did, you were met with a mess not unlike the one back at your apartment, save for the beer bottles. Clothes were strewn about haphazardly on every surface, so you took a seat on a clean spot on the floor, leaning back against a chair and pulling your knees up to your chest. You actually preferred it this way — it was grounding, in a literal sense. Mike pushed aside a laundry basket and did the same, but pulled one leg up and let the other lay extended.

“Why?” he asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had been accumulating once more. “Why did you just…” he gestured around with his hands to try and get his point across but ultimately settled with a sigh. “You didn’t say anything. You didn’t try to text, or call, or write, or— or anything. Hell, I would’ve probably jumped to get a messenger pigeon from you. But it was just… radio silence.”

You picked at the dry skin on your thumbs as you tried to come up with an answer. “I… I don’t know,” you repeated. “It was stupid, and it was horrible of me to leave you alone. I mean… I don’t know why I did it. I know what I’ve been going through, and I know you’ve been going through the same. So I don’t know why I didn’t try to reach out and see how you were doing.”

He chuckled mirthlessly as his eyes swept over the empty bottles that had accumulated on the coffee table. “I’m not the best with alone.”

“I know,” you said quietly. “I thought…” you shook your head as you looked at the ceiling. “I thought that you hated me. I know that you cared about them all more, you were closer to all of them, and… and I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me. That I would just always be a reminder of what you lost. And… and, I don’t know. Maybe it was my way of trying to move on. Was a stupid fucking idea, though.”

That got a genuine laugh out of him as he ran a hand through his hair. “I guess I get that. I dunno why I didn’t try to talk to you either. Maybe since you didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to either. This whole thing fucked me up.” His gaze moved to you. “Fucked us both up.”

“You can say that again,” you muttered as you tapped your fingers on your knees. “I can’t look anywhere without seeing them. I mean, I see that fucking…” you grimaced. “I see Josh, and I see what that thing did to him, and I just— I’m right back to step one.”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “...yeah. That was seven layers of fucked up.”

“You can’t just keep saying everything was fucked up,” you said dryly. “It was shitty, too.”

Mike snorted, some kind of slightly masochistic humor going on between the two of you. “Nothing really gets the point across like fucked up.”

“Guess you’re right,” you finally conceded with a small smile. “This is… this is nice. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to… I don’t know, to talk to someone like this.”

“It is,” he murmured.

Another pregnant pause hung in the air, but the silence wasn’t as uncomfortable now. Trickles of what it used to be like, of your old life, were beginning to poke through.

“I never hated you,” he said suddenly. Your eyes flicked up to meet his, and it was like his brown eyes were piercing through you as he continued. “I never did. After it happened… yeah, I was mad. I was fucking pissed, but it was never at you. You were my friend too, y’know? Even though we weren’t that close, we were still… we were still something. And I’m glad you made it. I just wish you hadn’t convinced yourself that you had to go through this alone. Maybe things would’ve turned out different, these past few months. For both of us.”

You nodded, choosing to avert eye contact first because you almost couldn’t handle the sincerity. Your heart sank a bit at the sight of all the beer bottles, and you knew that he was right. Maybe things would’ve been different if the two of you had weathered it together from the start. And so you said that.

“I still can’t help but feel like I’m to blame for—” you gestured around at the mess with a sigh, “for this.”

“Look.” His voice was raspy as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair, and as he met your eyes once more you were able to see how truly exhausted he was. With dark circles that matched your own, scars that were still healing, and a certain hollowness behind his eyes… It was like looking in a mirror. And it made you realize how fucked up the two of you had really become.

Mike had always been good at holding himself together, putting up his signature egotistical-douchebag-jock act in the face of anything that threatened to tear him down, and more often than not he came out victorious. But not even class presidents were immune to the horrors that they had faced, and it was taking more of a toll on him than you had realized.

“It’s not your fault. You— you did everything you could; I know I’m still alive because of you. Besides, we were idiot teenagers — we still are — and none of them deserved to die because of it. Not Hannah, not Beth, not any of them.” Mike shook his head and sighed. “Not even Josh. Man was fucked up even before all of this, but he didn’t deserve what happened to him. He needed help, but instead he got his fucking… god. I can’t even say it. But he didn’t deserve it.”

You let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding, the subconscious process having stopped because of the weight of his words. It was cliche, but you didn’t know how much you needed to hear those four words: it’s not your fault.

“Maybe you should be my therapist,” you joked weakly. But as you let your eyes trail back to Mike you bit your lip. He hadn’t included himself in that statement, and it wasn’t too hard to figure out why.

“Mike… it wasn’t your fault either. You’re not just saying bullshit to try and make yourself feel better, it really wasn’t your fault. What do they say? ‘Getting through your guilt is the first step to recovery’ or some shit? You deserve to be here just as much as I do.”

“But it was,” he insisted. “It’s easy for you to say that. You tried to stop it, I… I just went along with it. Fuck, I started it all. Hannah and Beth went missing because of me, Josh went out of his fuckin’ mind, and if he hadn’t brought us all back up there for his revenge plot then they wouldn’t have died. How is it not my fault? Why do I get to live when all of them died because of me?”

“Mike,” you sighed. “I… I don’t know. I don’t know why we made it back when none of them did, but it’s not your fucking fault, okay? You— yeah, that prank was fucking stupid, but— but how could you know what was going to happen?” You huffed a laugh that was only slightly unhinged. “People pull pranks all the time. Native American legend cannibal spirit things don’t try to kill people all the time. You can’t keep blaming yourself. It’s not going to help them, and it’s not going to help you.”

That silence stretched out once more as he took in your words. You didn’t know if he believed them or not, but you did. That had to be worth something, right?

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” he muttered, breaking the silence once more. “And I… I don’t know. I don’t know why it took almost fucking dying from those goddamn things, a— and seeing what happened to all of them...”

“I don’t know,” he repeated, leaning back against the foot of the sofa. “All the shit that happened, all of them dying — I don’t know how long it’ll take until we’re okay again. Hell, I don’t even know if we ever will be okay again. What happened up there was fucked up in the worst way, and the fact that no one believes us makes it a hell of a lot worse.”

You chuckled darkly as you cupped one hand in the other. “You can say that again.”

His lips twitched for a moment as if he wanted to smile but ultimately thought better of it. “I know we aren’t that close anymore, but the truth is we’re the only ones on this fuckin’ planet that know what really happened up there. We’re the only ones that will ever really understand what happened to us, and… and I think we’re the only ones that can really help each other through this shit.”

He met your eyes once more, something resolute in them. “So the next time this happens, because it will, if you don’t want to be alone… you can come here. Any time, any day, no questions asked. Just knock on that door, and I will be there. No more isolation, no more trying to get through this on our own. We gotta be there for each other, because we’re all we have.”

You nodded gratefully, a feeling of warmth slowly creeping through your body with his reassurance. “Thank you, Mike. You… you have no idea what this means to me.”

“I think I have some clue,” he murmured.

As you exchanged weary smiles, you saw a faint twinkle in Mike’s eyes. He was always the kind of person to help others, even if it was for the wrong reasons, and that was one thing that stuck with him after the disaster. And in that moment, a long lost feeling washed over you — safety.

You hadn’t felt safe in… well, it seemed like forever. Adrenaline and pure instinct were responsible for getting you through those twelve hours, along with an overwhelming wave of numbness and denial. But once all of that wore off, the nightmares had begun. Your friends, the Wendigos, the mountain itself — anything and everything that your mind could use against you, it did.

It was a living hell. You could hardly ever sleep anymore, horrific images always jolting you awake after an hour or two and keeping you awake for the rest of the day. It was no wonder Mike had ended up with a drinking problem — it was probably the only way he could sleep, the only way he could bring some form of peace to his mind. By some miracle, you had avoided that fate, but… you would be lying if you said you hadn’t come close.

But somehow, for some reason, you could tell that things were going to be different. Now that you and Mike weren’t avoiding each other anymore in the name of painful memories… you felt like things were going to be okay. Or as close to okay as you could get these days.

You weren’t alone, and neither was he.

He had saved your life on the mountain more than once. Now, he was saving you again. Just in a different way.

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77

ud tags: @kwyloz

#mike munroe #mike munroe x reader #mike x reader #until dawn x reader #until dawn #until dawn fic #mike until dawn #sadie writes #i always get so insecure when i post things that arent for atla #then i remember that. this is my blog and i can write what i want #lol

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iceprincessviviane · 3 years

Text

Eyes in the darkness

Paring: Yandere!C!Technoblade x BookwormEnchanter!Female!Reader

Type: Romantic (Technoblade is yandere). Trilogy - part one. Next part.

Warnings: swearing, possessivness, yandere, angst, injury, sugestive content, threats, blood, silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Technoblade was watching Y/N for some time, trying to stay in the shadows. Unfortunately voices and thoughts won against the logic and he want her now on his side forever.

Author's note: Inspiration from a lot of things, but especially: Hades and Persephone, Beauty and the Beast. This used to be oneshot, but I changed my mind, ut will be trilogy. English isn't my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.

Words in red colour are Technoblade's voices.

Words in blue colour are Y/N thoughts.

Y/N didn’t know when was the last time she ran for her life. Probably during one of the pillagers attack on the village or maybe in the Nether. But none of them was that type. Now she was being chased by something way much more dangerous than besties. At the moment, she’s being followed by the Blood God himself. Despite the aching and pain of her muscles and her throat feeling dry from gasping for air, Y/N was still asking herself how did on earth this happen?

~*~

Y/N always loved books and reading, she came to Smp two weeks after Foolish arrival. Actually her friendship with him leaded her here. They exchanged the letters and she was interested in staying somewhere for a while. After some time, she decided to come. Her divine friend already started to build his summer home and had few buildings done. She stayed there for few couple of days, they decided to build something for herself. She already have met most of Smp members including Dream Team, Bench Trio and rest, but owning home, place for stay was good idea. Sometimes Y/N liked to be alone. Eret allowed her to build something behind his castle, it was always nice to have someone close.

It took time before she ended house, it was cozy one with big field in front, farms, cellars and most important - library with enchanting place. It was huge, biggest part of the house with plenty of regals and reading spots. Y/N loved to spend there time and collectin more books or texts. Foolish had a lot of ancient scrolls or manuscripts and liked to share them with her. They could spend hours discussing about their favourite ones.

Books caused that Y/N met Phil, because he was the second person on the Smp, which had great collection from centauries. Shark god took her at trip to Tundra. Y/N was excited to meet such person and nervous too. Happily, everything went all right, Technoblade wasn't that time in home, so they had chilling conversation. Winged man was very curious about her skills and enchants. Of course during his travells and lifespan he met enchanters, but didn't paid much attention to them. Now, he could meet one in chill ocassion. Their three had a lot of talking, giggling and being wholesome. Phil promised to borrow more interesting books and Y/N said, that she can give some enchantments.

When Technoblade came back he immediately felt, that Foolish was there with... someone else... someone new. It smelled like pine and old paper, very nice. Phil told him about visitors and Y/N, he ignored it a little bit, but voices... voices liked this smell a lot.

'So strange.' 'Which woman can smell like that?' 'Where is she living?'

}*{

Y/N was peaceful person with no intention to harm anybody, staying in her place. She stayed in positive relations with almost everyone, providing needed enchantments and helping caused, that a lot of members were friendly to her. Y/N liked to hanging out with Bench Trio, although they were sometimes so chaotic. Usually she went mining with Ranboo, when it was needed, cutting trees with Tommy for his buildings and staying in Snowchester with Tubbo. That is why she came with almost everyone, when Tommy and Tubbo were in Dream bunkier fighting with him. Discs were just items, but... Dream's obsession, it was dangerous and teenagers were her friends. After that a lot of things changed. Putting him into Pandora's Vault was meant to protect them, but she was getting cold shivers each time she looked at black walls of prison. Knowing that everyone could be locked there...

After Egg's influence grew stronger she tried to find some infromations about it and how could ghe possible defeat it, but that took time. Foolish and Phil were so helpful handing their ancient texts, to make research. Suddenly with crimson vines everywhere, Smp became less safer, at least she felt it that way. More members were busy with their business and stuff, they finally could do them, when Dream was locked. For example Foolish agreed to build big mansion for Tubbo and Ranboo, which got platonical marriage and Tommy started his hotel. Meeting Michael was so wholesome and funny, little zombie piglin started to like her and at each visit she read him fairy tales and stories.

Y/N decided to not think about bad sides of Smp, just being busy and tried to help, if someone needed it. Before Doomsday wandering around could be dangerous, especially for La'Manburg citizens, because Dream and Technoblade were unpleasant for them. Now she enjoyed visiting almost everyone everywhere. After a few visits, she could tell that something was wrong, Y/N couldn't tell what, but it was almost like being watched, blaming Egg and vines was her answer for that, but actually why? Why did it do that? She would never joined their side. Never ever. Sometimes she spotted the Phil's corws, but that wasn't a s surprise, birds were telling him a lot of informations around the Smp. Easy way to know almost everything.

}*{

Y/N was heading to her house, stepping at Prime Path. In opposite direction she spotted Quackity, slowly walking by from prison direction, which was surprise. She smiled softly to him and he smiled back.

"What's up?" Big Q asked when got closer to her.

"It's good I am coming back home, need to eat and get some nap, and you?"

"I... ended some buisness." His face stiffened and his look became more serious.

Y/N nodded little unsure about his changed emotions. Suddenly she spotted that his sleeve is covered in fresh blood.

"Are you hurt?" She asked worried.

Quckity looked at his shirt as surprised as she and frowned, he checked axe which hanged down from his belt.

"I guess so then, but I don't know where did that come from."

"Let me take care of this." Y/N suggested with warm smile. "My home is closer than Las Nevadas."

After a few moments he nodded in agreement. They together headed to her place. Weather started to become stormy, dark cloud covered the sun, threating to start raining.

Then went inside, but when she was closing door, feeling of being watched hit her with dubled strength. House was in the spine forest, but fenced and had a gate. In filed were some farms, trees and small garden, but everything seemed to look normal. Big Q sat on the couch in living room and Y/N brought bandages, water in bowl and even healing potion. He rose sleeve, wound wasn't long, but deep, something cut his arm, probably weapon.

"It doesn't look good, but you will be okay." She said after looking at cut.

"Good." He sighed with relief.

"What did make it? Do you have an idea?"

Big Q looked dead in her eyes and remained silence. Of course he knew what, but he didn't even noticed the wound before leaving the prison. Well, someone will pay for this.

"Maybe working at Las Nevadas, you know... I am still building there." He spoke after a while.

"Oh... ye you have right, but be careful next time." Y/N suggested and started to work on cut carefuly. Starting on cleaning, then gently bandaged it.

"Thank you." Big Q said after seeing the results.

"No problem, just don't walk around with untreated wound." Y/N giggled softly.

He stood up and moved his eyes on windows. Black clouds didn't go away, even became worse.

"I will go now, weather is getting worse, I want to be in home before storm." Big Q said with soft smile.

"Of course, see you next time."

After he left, big storm came, darkness fell upon the Smp, rain and wind were too strong, for coming outside. Y/N decieded to take a chance and nap. She baked some cookies and sit down on a couch with another book, which Phil borrowed her. Only the torches gave light, sometimes thunderbolt stroke and filled room with unatural blue light. Drops hit hardly, making loud sounds, but Y/N was too much into a book. Two hours has passed and slowly night was coming. She moved eyes to meet clock, yep that was supper time, put the book away and up, Gods thr storm didn't let go. Y/N watched for a while outside, then go to kitched. She grabbed blanket and wrapped it around her posture, damn there were cold.

Again feeling of being watched kicked in. She was alone at home, that was sure thing. Outside was deep dark and behind the windows was the wall of the water. Y/N bite her lip and shook head, it was just her imagination, a feeling which stayed for no reason after putting Dream into Pandora's Vault. She took an kettle and suddenly was seeing something in the corner of the eye, something red and unusual in the spine forest. Her figure frozen when she moved back eyes. Deep in the dark, around sprouce trees in the line of forest, Y/N spotted pair of shinning, red eyes, high above the ground. They were locked at her figure.

'This has to be spider... or something else...'

Right after this thought, ceature turned back and disappeard in the darkness, cold shiver went down at Y/N spine. What was that? And why it was here? At least she was safe in home...

}*{

'More.' 'Training is boring, let's find someone to fight.' 'We demand blood.'

Technoblade sighed and stopped, voices today were very, very loud. That was why he decided to train, but during it, they became even worse. He hid sword and walked into home. Phil wasn't here today, he had to do something, but didn't bother to tell him what it was. Blade went back to home by his old path through the forest. His training place was near the cottage, but still hidden from common people. All members of Syndicate knew where it was. First of all he need to take shower. When cold water touched his skin, he felt like even his bloodlust became less, quiet hiss left his lips. He earned some chafings this week. Next, he changed his clothes to common and made a cup of tea, then sit in the kitchen. Immediately his thoughts went to Y/N.

Somehow voices were acting diffrent around her and he even found himself acting that way. They were focused around Y/N and he was more calm, like just her pressence was comforting him. Technoblade remembered their first meeting, it was common day, when someone knocked on the door. He opened it and rose his eyebrows in surprise, outside was standing fragile woman, without any armor and only with trident on her back. They shared awkward eye contact, when suddenly she introduced herself as Y/N. Of course he saw her couple of times, but it wasn't officialy. Y/N has known who was he for sure, she swallowed hard and looked down with shyness. Phil yelled across the room, that she could come in. Ah yes... she loved to read books and his old friend was borrowing her them a lot. Technoblade again felt the spine and old papers smell, for him, it could stay here forever. After short visit, Y/N took books, gave back book of enchantment and left.

Techno's curiosity has increased, when he heard about her more. She was peaceful, friendly soul, completly opposite of him, maybe that was, why he felt so... diffrent around her and voices too. Piglin hybrid enjoyed watching her from the distance, in the shadows, but lately... lately it wasn't enough. Now he wanted to breathe at Y/N scent, holding her close and pressed soft kisses at forehead. He was under voices pressure so long and now his salvation was so close. But what would he make it? As longer he has thought of that, a diffrent ideas came to his head. She was delicate creature, he had to get plan at all. Techno knew almost everything about her: hobbies, traditions, friends and fighting skills. Phil told him a lot about enchanters, they could make enchanting books after years of studying and had magic talent sometimes. As they knew, Y/N could enchant books at any spell, so she had to studied a lot. Technoblade sighed and grabbed his cloak, time to keep an eye on few things.

'Let's not go quietly!' 'Let's go quiet as grave...' 'Blood for the Blood God!'

}*{

That was busy week, Y/N could only one time saw Foolish and Phil, but whole Smp seemed a little bit diffrent... luckily she was able to go on mining trip with Ranboo and Eret visited her with a couple of books, which were about Smp. Now was afternoon and sun slowly started to set, she was heading to her house, where waited for her snow fox, which she found in Snowchester. Cute, little ball of fur stole Y/N heart immediately. When she finally stepped inside, Snowflake - that how she named it, ran into her squeaking high.

"What happend my little one?" She knelt down and pet it's head.

Fox looked at her with big brown eyes and squeaked once more, then jump into her arms.

"Oh oh oh... are you afraid of something?" Y/N hugged Snowflake and looked around. Everything in home seemed normal, door was closed, in a field same, animals were quite nervous, but everything was good. She frowned and stepped inside, then put fox into basket with small blanket.

"I will bring you some berries, you will like it for sure." Y/N smiled gently.

Unfortunately, she didn't have any at this moment in home, Snowflake was there only for three days, so she couldn't make berries farm so fast, because she had to set up a space. Luckily, she lived around coniferous forest, so didn't even hesiatate, Y/N just grabbed backpack and went outside. Sun was lower in the sky, but still it was warm and brightly. Birds were humming quietly and around was quite quiet. Berries bush weren't so far, she founed some, but in order to make supplies, decided to find more, then plant them around the house. It would spared the time and work.

"Y/N." She heard deep, lazy voice and immediately turned at it's direction.

The Blade was standing under big sprouce tree with satisfied grinn on his lips. Eyes locked on Y/N figure, which completly froze at the sight of him. She have never been with him alone, in tundra always Phil or Ranboo were around, now it felt... strange and risky, she still remembered what happend to La'Manburg citizens.

"Technoblade." Y/N spoke softly, being careful to not crack her voice, despite building feeling of fear. She noticed, that piglin hybrid under his royal, crimson cloak was wearing armor, probably not his best one, but still enough to win fight. Part of hair made into bun, rest were freely in his back and shoulders. From his belt was hanging netherite sword and netherite axe was sticking out from behind. She spotted, that his weapons were a little covered in blood, same as his sleeves and parts of shirt. He was killing monsters right? Or just hunting? Uncomfortable, awkward silence reminded between them, only forest noises distrubed it from time to time.

Voices were too loud today, too agressive, too greedy, killing monsters and pillagers wasn't enough, Quackity has already tasted his steel, well he deserved that after showing up in Y/N home. He had so much fun with him, but after that he needed some rest, comfort and calm. That is why without even thinking too much Technoblade went straight to Y/N house. He hoped, that everything will change, that he finally will has some break from voices, violence and killing. Of course he liked his way to be... but yes sometimes, you have to make a nap.

"Are you wounded?" Y/N asked quietly breaking the silence. After all, if he needed help, she would help him, without hesitation.

Technoblade's grinn became more sinister, he put hand on sword hilt and slowly tilted his head on right side.

"This isn't my blood." He said without caring at all.

"Oh, that's good then..." Y/N whispered, but he could hear that.

Piglin hybrid studied her posture, she had only trident at her back, backpack in left hand, no armor, no more weapons. Poor little girl, that's not how you are going outside your home, she was literally unarmed in his eyes.

"So... what are you doing here? Alone? In the forest?" Technoblade asked and moved closer to her.

The way he spoke these words, made Y/N shiver inside, outside, she grabbed her backpack harder. Surely there was nothing to worry about, she has never done something wrong to him or Philza, she wasn't dangerous or wanted to has any power. Techno is probably just passing by. Suddenly he was so close, now she could for real see the height diffrence, for the gods sake, her head reached around his breastbone. Y/N looked up only to meet piglin hybrid's burning gaze.

"I... I was collecting berries for my snow fox. Something scared her, so I thought that she will calm down after getting some and I ran out of them..." she suttered and swallow hard.

"How sweet." Technoblade commented and his smile widened.

"So... you are just passing by?"

"Not really."

Sudden grip on her chin caught Y/N off guard. Technoblade forced her to look straight into his eyes. His face stiffened a little bit, she hissed quietly, when claws touched harder gentle skin. Then she realised... Blade's eyes were red and she heard, that it could glow in darkness. Her skin became pale and pupils widened. It was him, that time during a storm, he was watching her...

"What are you doing?" Y/N asked quietly, without any clue, what was going on.

'She is so innocent.' 'We love her scent.' 'Let her know.'

"I have something to tell you." He leaned and immediately her scent hit him harder, resisting to take deep breath wasn't that easy.

"What excatly?"

"I was watching you for a while Y/N. Belive me or not I found that interesting, because your pressence is calming for me, I can fall asleep while listening your voice and push away my violence behaviour, when you are around." He stroked her cheek by his thumb and smiled haughty. "I am always getting , what I want and I want that so badly, you can't even imagine."

Y/N shook head and made few steps back, leaving his grip, couldn't belive what she just heard. That's impossible.

"I don't know what to say... I can admit, that I had strange feeling of being watching but... I blamed the Egg..." She looked deep into his eyes, trying to put everything together. "What do you mean, you are always getting, what are you want? How am I suppose to understand that?"

"Listen sweetheart, we can do this in two diffrent ways: good or bad. If you choose first one, fine politely you will go with me. Second way? Well I can be very convincing, when I want to." Technoblade frowned.

None of this options was good for her. Y/N sighed and her shoulders dropped. She couldn't do anything literally...

"Come on princess. I can take care of you, I promise, you will be happy." He gave her his hand, but gripped sword hilt harder.

Y/N always avoided the conflicts and argues, never has started any, that was easier and better way to live. She could take care of her interests, powers anf friends by being supportive or neutral. Technoblade's behaviour made her shiver and feel sick, there was no guarantee that he will keep his words, even if it were sweet and promising. Y/N knew that fighting him was pointlees, he were ten thousand better than her, she didn't even have armor or second weapon. But surrender just like that? Without any resistance? She always was determinated, miss 'you can always find a way, solution'. Not a chance.

"I think I have better option, which lay in the middle." Y/N smiled gently.

"Well, tell me then." Technoblade rose his eyebrows with curiosity.

With one smooth move, she put backpack on and immediately started to run. The Blade's pupils widened, he burst out laughing.

"It will be funny."

She has known, that she needed to lose him in forest. Going to home wouldn't help, because door or gate couldn't stop Blood God. Lost him and then ran away from Smp, at least her current living location. Y/N realized that she couldn't even ask for help anyone. Probably Technoblade would come after her friends, helpers, so that was it. Y/N versus The Blade, she was on her own.

'How did she dare to run away from us?!' 'Chase her, catch her.' 'Faster, faster, faster!'

It seemed like running away from Tommy for fun, came in handy and long trips with Ranboo caused her to move fast through forest. Y/N nimbly jumped over obstacles and avoid rocks or roots. Her pace wasn't the fastes, but she could hold it for pretty long time. She wasn't thinking a lot, just tried to run away as far as she could.

'Don't look back, don't look back, it will make you slower.'

Hiding could be good idea, but not now. As long as he was close, she couldn't stop at all. Breaking through the forest was only hearing noise, soon, she heard her heavy breathing. Heading to unknown direction wasn't so wisely, but Y/N had no choice. After a few minutes, she stopped to catch breath. Around was sudden so quiet, cold shiver went down at her spine. Too quiet.

"Already tired?" Technoblade's voice surprised her from left side.

She turned head, just to see him leaning against the tree. In his right hand he held sword, didn't even look like he was running.

"You can't outrun me little one. A lot of people tried, now they are dead." He aimed sword at her. "We can end this farce here. I am not mad, honestly, you made me smile a little bit."

"You will have to catch me, if you want me going with you." Y/N said and then continue to run away.

"Oh I will princess, that's what predator does to the prey."

Y/N started to feel really tired, muscles aching, throat dry from gasping for air, hair dispelled and cheeks red. She ran for a while, but now had to stop. Technoblade immediately appeared in her field of vision. He was walking carefuly, but still looked intimidating.

"Don't come closer!" She released a cry.

Piglin hybrid stopped about eight meters away. He leaned sword against the ground and looked at her with curious gaze.

'Here she is, our reward.' 'Let's finally take her with us.' 'We like that sound.'

"I think, I just caught you." A little grinn appeared on his lips.

She looked straight into his eyes. Her gaze full of fear met a calm and determination. Y/N didn't even want to think what would happend, if he fulfilled his desires. Gods sake, she was free human being, none could take her freedom, she didn't ask for this. In an act of desperation, with the last of her strength, she used her powers. Feeling of warm through fingers and energy drained from her veins, but then burning light. In Technoblade's towards direction flew literally fireball, but he was too skilled for this. He made a dodge and looked at Y/N with mix of proud and shock. She dropped to her knees, struggling to stay conscious, despite the pain at her whole body and tired mind and unclear vision. Technoblade immediately was with her, he knelt down and support her, by putting arm around her waist. Y/N leaned back against his chest, fatigue prevailed over reason.

"Enough for today princess. You run out, if you will keep resisting." He whispered calmly.

"Please, please... please I don't want this, I want to go home." Her voice was cracking, tears strimming down at her cheeks.

"Hush darling, everything will be all right."

Technoblade's body radiated warm, his tone suddenly was so calming and sleepy. She wanted to close eyes so badly, but still fear was too big.

"You are safe, nothing can hurt you I promise."

After this words Y/N gave up and lost consciousness. Sun went down and shadows became longer and darker.

}*{

Phil careful closed the doors, then walked quietly down. Technoblade sat in kitchen with cup of hot tea, he immediately looked at his old friend, his eyes were worrying.

"Y/N is good, she lost consciousness, because was too tired. You said that, she used her powers."

"It was literally fireball, but I dodge that easy."

"Well, now we know about her powers at least... interesting, what you are going to do, when she wake up?" Phil asked and sat in opposite site.

"I know, that you are not glad about this, but I will figure this out. She won't cause any troubles." Techno's voice became deeper.

Winged man sighed and looked at his friend. He knew what he was going through, when voices became louder and demanded blood, each moment of silence or when they were quiet, Technoblade cherished and tried to make it worth. Phil couldn't be angry or mad for his friend about that deed, but... he was torn.

"Come on spit it out. I can see that you want to tell something important." Piglin hybrid said slowly.

"We were through a lot of shit, we know each other for almost ages and we blew up the nation for gods sake, kidnapping isn't the worst thing you have done, but..." Phil started and looked at Techno. "I wish you best and everything good, but I don't know how will I act around. Y/N has come to me for books, we were talking about stuff, I gave her cookies and tea. How will I explain, that I am supporting your decision? And I am always on your side." Phil said aloud his worries.

"I will give her time to get used to. After certain amount of time Y/N will understand." The Blade was lost in his thoughts.

He was so greatful of his friend statement, but still a little bit unsure. This case shloudn't affect on their relationship or Phil's life. Honestly Technoblade belived that his pressence will comfort Y/N at least, as he said they were close and enjoyed each other company.

"Someone will notice her disappering. What then? And Ranboo is visiting us a lot." Phil sighed a little.

"I've got this, trust me."

"I trust you with my own life." Winged man nodded.

}*{

Sunlight kissed her skin gently, when it showed up on window. Y/N felt softness under herself and on her back. Quiet sigh left her lips, when she opened eyes. In the room was very bright, but for sure it wasn't her room. Immediately cold shiver went down at her spine. Still weak, she tried to lift herself, because she was lying on stomach. Bed was big, with good beddings and pillows.

"Don't move, you are still weak." Technoblade's voice was soft, but loud.

Y/N bite her lip and then lifted head. He was standing near the bed and observing curiously, looking completly diffrent. White, linen shirt and high waisted, leather trousers, hair braided tighly. In this version he was... more open and accessible, not so scary.

"Where am I?" She asked slowly and rolled at her back with quiet hiss. Muscles still hurt and throat was dry.

"In my house, in tundra safe and..." He cut off, while noticed that Y/N is trying to get up. "What did I say?" He stepped closer and sat on bed.

She sat unsure on mattress, just to met Technoblade here, he gripped again her chin, as in the forest and forced her to look at him. This time it was more gently.

"Darling please..."

"You can't take my freedom!"

His eyes darkened immediately and Y/N regreted her words. She swallowed hard, when Blade looked deep into her eyes.

"Of course I can and I will, if you don't behave good. If you didn't notice, you aren't chained or tied, but pretty comfy in my bed." He said slowly with threat in his voice. "Think about it."

Technoblade released her and got up. She looked down thinking about situation, yes he didn't tied her, but still it wasn't good case. Y/N just wanted to be free, do stuff which she want and meet friends. Maybe Smp wasn't perfect, but still now it was her home, there were a lot of wars or argues, but she still had house and persons which she cared about and this was mutual, now everything was unsure.

"I am just afraid... " Y/N whispered quietly.

"As I said earlier you are safe here, you are safe with me. Nothing can hurt you." Techno grabbed bowl with soup and came back. "Here, eat, you need to recover."

"Thanks." She smiled weakly to him, took bowl and started to eat slowly.

'Good girl.' 'She will behave for sure.' 'We can teach her a lesson.'

Y/N was napping for the rest of the day, Technoblade gave her one of their books, so she wasn't bored. Probably tomorrow or next day she will stand up.

The sound of closing doors, caused her to closed book and put it away. Piglin smiled gently and took off his shirt suddenly. Y/N eyes became big.

"Wait wait wait..."

"Calm down princess, I am just going to sleep, nothing else." Technoblade smirked for her panic.

"So... where shloud I move?" Y/N asked looking around the room.

"Nowhere. You are staying here with me."

Immediately her cheeks went slighty red. She looked at him curiously. His pink skin seemed gentle from the distance, a lot of scars marked his chest and arms. Some of them little, some of them large, the biggest one was through both sides of chest. Technoblade released his hair and came closer. Y/N moved to make him some space. He laid down, she followed his steps but remain distance.

"Goodnight." She said and turned back from him.

"Goodnight sweetheart."

He blow up torches near the bed and silence fell upon them. Not even a five minutes passed, when Y/N felt sudden grip on her waist. She froze, Technoblade hugged her and pressed kiss on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Quiet whisper left her lips.

"Snuggling and cuddling." He whispered softly.

Y/N couldn't help, she giggled quietly. Techno took this as premission, her back touched his chest and second hand slowly stroked her hair.

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