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tyitri · 2 months

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Entangled Heart - Chapter 1

Pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley/Reader

Summary: The world had gone to hell a few years ago. No one cared about preserving other beings, endangered species. The crown of creation was quickly deemed a threat, and the hunters became the hunted.

The world changed, we were no longer at the top of the food chain. The plants were.

They passive-aggressively spread, allowing a new plant species, called the 'Verdantia aurea' or Goldleaf Fern, to thrive. No one knew it was an invasive species. Other regional plants died, throwing the world out of balance. Many still remember the initial reports.

It felt like the Seven Plagues of the End Times, written as if in the Bible.

You're part of that fucked ecosystem now together with a few survivors who made an oath to save humanity or at least whats left of it. One of them in particular doesn't seem to like you, everyone calls him Ghost. And you're pretty sure it's not because of the report when you were found nude, nestled between a bush of Goldleaf Fern itself by some Scientists.

Tags: Post Apocalyptic,Slowburn, No use of Y/N, Nicknames, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Mild Gore, Violence.

Wordcount: 2,6k

"What do you mean, you're in charge of the medbay for today?"

The chair you were just sitting on tilted backward as you suddenly got up. Your palms slammed onto the typical school desk that had been brought over from the neighboring facility. Old, wobbly, and already smelling musty from years of use. The table had seen better days, probably even before the apocalypse.

"Come on, Milow! Max! You two can't leave me alone with this group!"

You looked at the two of them with concern and disapointment. You were almost sure that Milow would accompany you, if you would ask Desperately.

"Your little sister needs help, so please don't let me hanging, maybe you coulds ask if one of the medics can switch-"

before you could even finish speaking, Max raised his hand to stop you.

"No chance, Ghost explicitly said I should keep an eye on the newcomers. Who knows what they might have brought in."

He took a sip from his steaming cup and looked at the locked door across the room. It had a sign with a radioactive symbol on it, at least you think that that's what is displayed on it. It had seen better days for sure.

"Milow, what about you?"

You looked pleadingly at the gaunt guy, silently sitting in the corner of the old sofa. He was currently solving a crossword puzzle in an old soggy newspaper, but Milow just shook his head and gestured towards Max. He wanted to stay with him

"Alright, I see. Fine, just great."

You narrowed your eyes into slits before a sigh escaped your throat and you repositioned your chair, sitting down in frustration.

The world had gone to hell a few years ago. No one cared about preserving other beings, endangered species. The crown of creation was quickly deemed a threat, and the hunters became the hunted. The world changed, we were no longer at the top of the food chain. The plants were. They passive-aggressively spread, allowing a new plant species, called the 'Verdantia aurea' or Goldleaf Fern, to thrive. No one knew it was an invasive species. Other regional plants died, throwing the world out of balance. Many still remember the initial reports. It felt like the Seven Plagues of the End Times, written as if in the Bible.

There were reports of wandering locusts searching for habitable areas. Fish died due to lack of food. The sun's radiation increased, making daily wandering through the city torture. Then the animals went berserk, attacking their owners as if they were all rabid beasts, and ultimately, people started behaving differently. Once at the top of the food chain, now they fought for survival. But against what? What was the cause of all this? If one glanced out during the day at the streets of Berlin, one could see golden reflections, a shimmer that might lure a greedy fool.

Too late the humandkind realized that it was a mere plant, the Goldleaf Fern that changed people, animals, and the whole ecosystem. No one knew what it really wanted, if it could even think, but in many eyes, it had a goal: to eradicate all life to create something new. There were some who thought differently.

"I won't forget that."

You murmured as a warning. Your feet swung onto the table. Coughing could be heard from the next room, a side effect when exposed to the spores of the Goldleaf Fern. Just recently, the 141 team had rescued a group of survivors from an old collapsed farmhouse.

They talked about being locked up, how the strange plant had blocked their way, as if it came from a completely different genus, the genus of Dinonaer, the Venus flytraps. But you had no idea about that, you couldn't remember anything, at least the two years you apperantly were out there and survived on your own. Milow and Max were in charge of medicine and gardening of useful vegetables. Secretly you were nervous that the tomatoes they harvested last week might turn into concious venusflytraps too. They, along with 6 others, observed the quarantined survivors.

If one of them was infected, surely they all were. Max talked a lot about the events in the quarantine areas when he had the chance to. People died left and right. It usually started with shortness of breath, then with ravenous hunger, and ultimately with plant-like growths and complete brain death.

Despite the morbid disease, Max could never stop making jokes. He teased you about believing as a child that if you swallowed the seeds of a watermelon, a tree would grow inside you. Now that horror had become a reality.

As you looked back at Max and Milow, they strangely raised their gaze as if looking behind you, observing something that made them uncomfortable.

"Morning, Lieutenant."

Came from Max, who then returned to his book. As you leaned your head back to look up at the lieutenant, you were first met with his cold gaze.

"Rookie, we expect you downstairs in five."

Lieutenant Ghost. That's how everyone else here knew him, nobody except for his closest friends knew his real name. Since your arrival, he hadn't been very hospitable or inclusive. You couldn't even answer before he was gone. He was very taciturn and seemed to enjoy making your life a living hell.

He was also in charge of assigning tasks, and more than once, he had given you tasks that were the worst. Cleaning the restrooms, getting rid of any biodegratable trash, so that no plants can access it or the guarding dayshifts. After those dayshifts everyone kept their distance. Understandable noone wants to sit or stand next to a sweaty and sleep deprived piece of shit. The few times he did speak to you, he only asked about your file, which wasnt ready when you departed in the USA, or if you had done your blood test yet. You could deliver neither, and honestly, it probably never would be, not with what the other doctors and scientists at the US base had discovered.

Even in front of Max, you kept the past at bay. After he flew to Germany for his medical studies, everything went downhill. Frank died, and you were left alone in a shitty suburb in the USA. A few old friends of Frank's, from his biker gang, occasionally stopped by, after all, they had known you since you were a child and you had worked in the diner next to their Gas-Station.

You would argue that it had been tough years, had you not retreated into the world of video games and occasionally attempted hacking for some money, albeit unsuccessfully. In hindsight, it would have been much easier to strip in the local pub, had you had enough courage.

You still remember the day when the spores took over their hosts. It was January, doctors suspected a simple flu wave. No one could have guessed that the affected people would become more aggressive, whole stores would be looted, and countless people would die. But once again, it was blamed on something else. Theorists blamed it on some radiation, others thought it was the video games.

No one could have guessed so quickly that it was an unknown plant species posing as a normal shield fern. Biologists only became aware of the plant when it was too late.

"So then Max, Milow, have fun nursing the sick."

You gave them a brief, not entirely serious, contemptuous look.

"Have fun searching for the sick."

Max repeated, grinning.

"Go on, your buddy is probably waiting for you."

He added smugly. Chuckling, you shake your head and leave the break room. The right corridor was guarded by a few other rookies, ensuring that no one left quarantine or entered without permission. So your path was the left one.

With heavy steps, you shuffle along the corridor, your gaze fixed on the wall. The wallpaper was partially torn, probably out of fear of mold or something similar. Sooner or later, everyone would succumb to the Goldfern anyway. A little mold should be the least of the worries. You disliked the smell of the building as much as its appearance. Musty and uninhabitable, but you'll have to manage. With a certain bounce in your step, you took the stairs to the ground floor and headed to the hotel reception, to Jade.

"Evening, Jade."

You lean half on the counter and grin at her warmly. Jade was one of the few female survivors here. Just like you, there were occasional issues with feminine hygiene products.

Since you weren't able to stock them up yourself yet, she was kind enough to share with you, as long as you shared your findings with her.

"Evening, Fern."

She smiled casually at you while checking a vest, as well as a revolver and a rifle.

"Ghost already informed me. Your first outing with the team, huh?"

Her long golden hair fell over her shoulder, down towards the rifle.

"That's right. He seems to talk a lot about me, if thats the case"

You show her a broad grin and accept the equipment she had just inspected and now passed over the counter.

"Might not be a good thing, Take care of yourself, okay?"

Her gentle maternal smile had disappeared, and she now looked at you warningly.

"You know me."

You respond amusedly and casually grab a packet of ammunition. The packet, you can barely grasp properly with your delicate hands; you can still remember when König teased you for it during training in the USA.

"I mean it, Fern. Ghost and his team have often returned without rookies."

You pause and then look at her. "You're just trying to scare me," you reply cautiously, laughing to lighten the mood. She, on the other hand, just shakes her head.

"The last one was shot because he went alone into a building and apparently had official contact with the Goldfern."

She emphasized the 'apparently'.

"Then it was probably his mistake," you say cautiously. Jade rolled her eyes and sighed strenuously.

"Fern, listen to me, even if Ghost and Price have command here, you shouldn't necessarily trust them or turn your back on them. With a snap, you're gone. If you're not worth it, you're gone."

She hissed and roughly placed a knife on the counter, which you promptly stuck into your boot.

Ghost seemed like someone who would shoot you in the head without a second thought if you didn't follow an order. Price, on the other hand, seemed different to you. Neutral. As if he cared about everyone. "Jade, hey. I'll be careful, okay?"

You shoulder the rifle and knock twice on the wooden counter, which wobbled a bit. Already musty.

"Until later."

You give her one of your familiar grins and then quickly head for the exit. Speaking of not following orders. you were late.

"Two minutes late, Rookie."

Atleast his watch was working. Ghost admonished you, looking at you disdainfully. You could be wrong, after all, he almost always looked like that.

"We won't let it happen again, Sir."

You assure, hoping that would be the end of it. He nodded to Price, who then pointed in a direction.

"We're patrolling within a one and a half kilometer radius."

He explained and marched with Ghost leading the way. Just the thought of it made your feet hurt. How much you'd give to sit in the break room with Max and Milo right now, browsing through an old comic or doodling in a magazine. You walked in the middle and kept an eye on your surroundings. You were just starting to register who was there. You could spot another rookie trailing behind Price and Ghost, playing the lapdog.

You knew Soap as well; he was close with Ghost and Price, also pretty team-oriented and accommodating. There weren't any more, probably not necessary anyway.

The world had changed, and honestly, you thought it looked more beautiful than before. Everything was overgrown. The Goldfern seemed to have an influence on the local flora as well. It spread faster and grew better.

Even during dusk, you could see the newly discovered property of the plants luminescing. Probably a mutation or a simple selection of plants that were no longer able to survive and had to find other ways to prevent going extinct.

Surprisingly, the life-threatening environment calmed you, as if it were something familiar, something rooted deep down in your heart.

Suddenly, you ran into the backpack of the person in front of you, and you stumbled back a few steps.

"Watch it."

he hissed, looking at you hostilely. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Soap, amused by your mishap. Price and Ghost had stopped. A figure sat on the road worn down by roots and vines. She was wrapped in fabrics and seemed to be twitching, as if crying.

"Why are we stopping?"

you ask and take a few steps towards the person. Soap held you back by the arm and shook his head.

"Nuh-uh, we don't do that."

Your brows furrow, and you look at him confused.

"Someone needs help, and we have beds available."

But before you could protest, the rookie sprinted ahead of the group and raised his assault rifle. "Damn it, hands up!" He shouted and aimed directly at the figure on the ground. A bit too intense for your likings. The figure stood up but made no noise, no sound.

"Are you deaf, hands up!"

Now Ghost and Price also drew their weapons, aiming at the figure wrapped in rags. You remained rooted to the spot. Soap followed. It's movement were too soft for it to be human.

As you examined the figure, something caught your attention. It seemed not to touch the ground; it seemed to be floating?

There was an unpleasant crack, and the figure seemed to lift its head; it was pale, bony. Its eyes milky. It didn't move on its own; it was as if it was being moved.

"Get back, that thing doesnt seem safe!"

You screamed and tried to reach for the guy. Everything happened so fast; a root shot out from the lifeless body of the figure and surged towards the rookie. The tangle pierced his stomach, and the root, which had formed barbs within seconds, clutched onto his back. A blood-curdling scream pierced through the seemingly pointless hail of bullets which had started only mere milliseconds ago, and he was dragged across the ground slowly, as if the thing was teasing and humiliating us.

The rookie desperately clawed at every uneven surface, hoping to fight against the monstrosity.

His horrified gaze fell upon us, who could only shoot and watch as he was pulled towards a small hole in the wall of the ruin, pleading bitterly.

"Make it stop, get me out of here!"

Shooting at the vine was futile; you'd either hit him or just the ground beside the root. It was a waste of bullets. You watched in horror as the rookie, who had just been alive moments ago, fought against his inevitable death.

"There must be something we can do, damn it!"

Just as you were about to go after him, a final shot rang out from Ghost's direction, abruptly cutting off the screams and pleas.

"Let's go, it's had it's fill,"

the shooter replied disgustedly, throwing you a brief warning glance, as if to say, don't make the same mistake as that idiot.

Just as you were about to turn your head towards the group, you heard a crack and a sound akin to the preparation of meatballs.

He had disappeared into the hole. All that remained were some shreds of fabric and the blood trail leading to his ultimate end. You could only stare into the darkness of the hole for a moment until Soap nudged you in the side and pulled you out of your stupor.

"Come on, we're not waiting long."

With those words, you absentmindedly continued with the others to continue the patrol.

#simon ghost riley #ghost cod #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #fanfiction #simon riley x you #ghost x reader

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mxvanrichten · 5 months

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Me after last night's Curse of Strahd session.

Session summary below, definitely some spoilers for later game stuff (Amber Temple).

Also, there's A LOT OF TEXT, I'M SORRY.

Here's a funny discord screenshot, but session recap is below the break.

The gang starts out at the end of a very snowy bridge that looks terrifying to cross. As we get halfway across the statue on top of the other side's archway, it turns into a large white dragon. The dragon is starring daggers into Silas and Silas only. It's paying no attention to anyone else. Silas feels this burn in his chest as it continues to stare. The group decides to keep going as Draz and Brandy surround Silas for protection.

Everyone makes it across. When we get across, the dragon turns away, but Silas sees his mother at the top of the hill ahead. She is waving for him to come up. His mother has been dead for a few years. He knows it's not really her.

From when the dragon appeared, he felt something telling him to come to the temple. This isn't the first time something has told him he needs to come there. As they all stand there, Silas suddenly throws up black sludge, and it's coming from his eyes and nose as well.

The group continues on up to the temple. The walk 5 hours in the snow. They're exhausted, especially Silas and Rudolph (who each took a point of exhaustion). They finally reach the temple, and Draz notices a side entrance.

After a bit of sneaking and hearing some voices, we eventually see some younger crew of the berserkers we met earlier on our trip. They are scared of us at first until Silas mentions the name of one of the people they met from their tribe. They relax and after some conversation we bed down for the night in this side room.

Watches happen:

First watch: Draz and van Richten have another wooden stake making practice session. Draz is getting pretty good at it. He tells Draz that he might make a fine monster hunter out of someone in this group, after all. He mentions to Draz that Silas has a lot of knowledge that could fare useful, but Draz needs to share his knew found knowledge of vampire killing with us to truly be useful.

Second watch: Silas and Ezmerelda chat about a few different things. Fashion, what the sun looks like, and how Rudolph thinks something is wrong with Silas ever since he died and came back. Ez is a little sus of him as well. She brings up even how pale Silas is, but he’s just like no I just look like this. (He truly does just look like that lol).

However, he does tell Ez that he has been experiencing strange things, hearing voices, and feeling drawn to the temple since he came back. He doesn’t talk about the deal he made to come back. I think he fully doesn’t understand everything himself. He then tells Ez that if Rudolph has something he wants to know, he's free to ask Silas himself instead of talking about him behind his back. He then let's slip, "I suppose he's probably avoiding me specifically now, though." That gets Ez's attention, and she's like,"I mean, he typically avoids most people, but why you specifically?" Silas then tells Ez about the letter he wrote and about his feelings for Rudolph. Ez is, of course kinda like ummmm what? Ew, why? about it. She even is like, "When has he ever even been nice to you??" Silas not really wanting to get into everything in his head he just says, "I guess I'm just fucked up. Idk." She just tells him to be careful, but she's also kind of sweet about it and tells him if I want to get "brownie points" with him (then proceeds to tell me that vr told her people say that even though he thinks brownies are gross and that she calls it meat pie points instead) that I should use any knowledge I learn about monsters to impress him and get his attention.

Third watch: Brandy and Kasimir. This watch literally had irl me giggling and kicking my feet during the whole thing. Brandy asks Kas if he's ever been in love. He says there was a girl once, so long ago he doesn't remember her name, but they only went on one outing together. He mentions she was a dusk elf, and Brandy says, "Oh, so she must've had your same beautiful skin tone." This, of course, flusters the hell out of him. She proceeds to tell him about the man she loves and was searching for before she ended up in Barovia while looking for him. His name is Samuel, and he's a pirate. We knew about him before, but she tells Kasimir that she loves him, but she's not sure he loves her back. He never truly made time for her and then just disappeared, and that's why she was looking for him. She is trying to figure out if she really is in love or not. It's been so long. She reaches out for Kasimirs hand. It's super cold, so she uses that to get closer to him. She scoots up next to him and asks if he wants to snuggle under her coat with her to keep warm. He is super fucking awkward, but eventually relaxes and lets her put her arm around him and they spend the rest of the watch snuggled up with small talk. It was literally the cutest thing I WANNA SCREAMMM.

The next morning, they prepare to start exploring the temple. Silas and Kasimir both wake up with headaches, Draz and Brandy can't remember anyone's names (this turns into a bit that actually continues to be so funny the rest of the session), Rudolph is seeing weird shit out of the corners of his eyes. Every seems to be affected in different ways. Silas is irritated from the headache and kinda gets snippy and with that and Draz calling him Sally and calling everyone weird names, Rudolph realized the temple is fucking with us.

We proceed on, with Silas’s use of locate object, they begin their search for the suns sword. He gets several pings of potential swords, so they pick a direction and head down some stairs. About halfway down the stairs, a voice tells us to stop, turn away, and leave. We attempt to communicate and reason with them. We can't see him, but we hear a voice coming from a statue up ahead. He tells us his name is Nefron. As we're talking him down, Brandy is sneaking behind the statue to see who's there. He ends up being this tiny creature. We talk him down, but Brandy gets caught sneaking, so he gets mad again. We think we're safe to cross but when we do a fireball gets shot at us. We fight him and some flame skulls for a bit, but Silas is eventually able to talk him into leaving us alone and we stop hurting him.

We move onto another hallway, eventually we come across a door and Draz is able to force it open.... THIS IS WHERE THE FUN STOPS....🙃😩

Silas’s mother is at the door, waving for him to come in. He just screams out loud, "YOU'RE NOT FUCKING REAL, YOU'RE DEAD! STOP IT!" This of course gets everyone's attention and VR just looks at him super concerned.

Silas, Draz, Ez, and Rudolph go into the room, and there are like 3 amber sarcophagi. We aren't really sure what to do, but suddenly, Silas feels incredibly drawn to one of them. He then hears a familiar voice. The same voice that spoke to him that brought him back to life. The same voice that's been in his head a couple of other times as well. He just hears, "TOUCH IT!" Silas freezes. He hears those words again. He doesn’t know what to do. The door slams shut. Splitting off Brandy and Kasimir outside the room. The voice demands Silas do as he's told, that he promised he would do this in turn for being brought back. As Silas has a full-on panic attack and just stands there crying and yelling, everyone in the room starts taking damage. He continues to say he doesn't want to, but eventually, it gets too much. He sees how hurt Rudolph is getting standing right beside him, and he finally gives in and touches it.

Suddenly, this terrifying being shows itself. It's floating over water, and Silas can almost feel himself floating in the water. He tells Silas his name. Sykane, the thing that brought Silas back. The thing Silas is bound to and must do as it says. Sykane explains what Silas must do in return for getting his life back previously. He must destroy Strahd and destroy Vampyr, who gave Strahd his powers. Then, after that, he must release Sykane and allow him to consume all the souls of Barovia whole, which would unmake them and Barovia. Only Silas hears all of this. The others just see a floating image of Sykane.

Silas is devastated. What has he done. He is thinking to himself he should have never agreed to come back. He should have stayed dead. His fear of death was selfish. After all that ends, Silas is returned to full health and apparently feels something different and new inside him. He runs off crying as the door opens......aaaaaaaand that's where the session ended.

Sooooooooooooooo yeeeeeahhhhh......

#curse of strahd #dnd #curse of strahd spoilers #dnd 5e #ravenloft #silas xavier #silas and rudolph

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