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gaasaku-fanfests · 5 years

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Disconsolable Words

Title: Disconsolable Words Author: the-raging-demons Rating: T Word Count: 1.7 k Summary: Because sometimes, it was better to end a life without knowing what they looked like. Warnings: Themes of death Author's Note: I know the theme of death is heavily prevalent in Naruto, but in my eyes, it isn't explored enough; at least not in terms of what it means to the characters, other than an opportunity to grieve, a plot device, and forced characterization in the spur of the moment. Nor did I see many main characters weigh the risks of becoming a shinobi or ponder heavily about their loved ones dying, almost as if they were immune to it. Perhaps that's just me, and I still wish I explored it a bit more in this short one-shot. Enjoy!

Prompt chosen: "Those things you said yesterday...Did you mean them?"

Partner: scarletpom [pinch hitter]

She was on fire.

But it wasn’t one of those fires that would consume forests for years onwards nor, was it the type that would bring the downfall of an empire; and whether it was willingly or not, he never hoped to know.

In his eyes, it would’ve been a shame to use the fire to light up something as small and innocuous as a simple cigarette, though if one frequently smoked, an early death was as certain as the sand trickling down to the bottom of the hourglass. But her fire wasn’t meant to be wasted so recklessly, it could only be used once before it died out, and one lighted cigarette never killed anyone.

No, she was on fire, and for once it gave him a sight to grimace at. Her haggard breaths echoed in the expanse of the desert, overlapped by the eerie breeze of a deadened land. She was a cursed torch, a will passed down for generations that will forever burn, one that was meant to light the way for those who were lost in the dark. Cursed, because, against the winds of his unwavering power and vehement apathy, that will started to perpetually flicker out.

He vaguely remembers that sanguine colored evening, in which he encountered her, miles away from his village’s border. The way the sun was setting and the sky was on fire, tides of lava passing by in the place of clouds. And if he had one word to describe their encounter, red would’ve been the word.

For he appeared before her, in shades and hues of red, from the robes that camouflaged the blood of his attackers to his marooned colored hair. And through his hairs, the rays of the sun, they made it seem like it was ablaze. But in the woman’s view, she felt herself be the moth that was destined to burn in the sphere of his beacon because the light was bright, but it burned coldly against her skin. His cold jaded eyes, how dead they seemed against the ardor of that fated evening, and the sense of hopelessness settled sickly at the bottom of her pit, once again.

His first instinct was to kill the woman that was barely hanging onto life, to save her of her agony and give her a proper burial. To a certain degree, he held to be true that a vast majority of shinobi never did have a place, one where their loved ones could visit and remember them. He gave out an ever so faint, pained smile, as his eyes contemplated upon the numerous pillars that stood around them, like the pale decaying ribs of an animal’s cadaver, close to being buried in the sand. For every life he took or finished, for every nameless face he encountered dying in the relentless hell, he would build an unyielding pillar against the furor of the desert.

He had decided that he wouldn’t even bother to look at her face, just another person that obediently gave up their life, for the overall good of their village, in the name of glory and peace. He understood, how the general good of the population surpassed the needs of the individual, he deemed it quite honorable and yet foolish. There shouldn't have ever been a reason, to feed another lump of flesh and bones, on the never-ending pile of humanity’s sins and errors. But greed and fear, it was a far stronger emotion than love and compassion. History rarely remembers the benevolent feats of people, but people tended to strongly resent on the ills that were committed.

The young man knew, as he stared blankly ahead, there was once a demon that plagued the souls of this desert paradise.

He let out a shaky sigh, watching as the cloaked woman fell down to her knees, almost on the verge of angry and exasperated tears. She pressed a shaky hand against her abdomen, the blood trickling down from her pale skin, tainting the sand red. He didn’t know why, but for once, it vexed him to see a dying person in front of him. It bothered him that he even cared in the first place, especially at a faceless and nameless person.

“I’m sorry,” he simply muttered as he parted the sands below her to form a pit, watching as her body was simultaneously falling. The woman gasped, as the blanket of death wrapped itself around her, while cushioning her fall. He shut his eyes closed, wanting to negate the remorse within him, but he knew he hesitated at killing the woman quickly. The man could have snapped her neck in an instant, release her of her pain and sent her straight to where she was meant to go. But for a hidden perverse reason, he wanted to see her fight, keep her in a mess and save her from herself. He, for once, wanted to play god and decide if that torch was worth keeping alight or not.

“Your name.” And if in the end, she couldn’t last, there would’ve been a name to the person that for once, had caused him to doubt himself. Though he was starting to doubt that, soft sobs were barely heard, camouflaged by the hollow winds of what he considered a memorial to the fallen. He peered down, at least to catch a glimpse of her, but the shadow of the pit, it didn’t allow him to see anything. That’s what he told himself, but he knew his eyes had the power to see any scorpion that crawled on the desert at night. No, he chose not to see.

It would’ve been another face to plague him at night.

“Why are you doing this?” It was barely audible, but she had spoken.

“Your name.”

“Ah. So that’s what it is.”

“What is?” He whispered darkly, his patience wearing thin because if those were going to be her last dying words, he didn’t like it. To die knowing something that he didn’t, in his eyes that was akin to being blind. But he couldn’t force them out either, what would he do, threaten her to death?

“Please, if you’re not going to save or kill me, leave.”

“Your name.”

“It’s not worth mentioning.” To him those sounded like dying words, the torch giving its last flickers. It had lost all of its hope, right before him. He decided then, that a slow death would have been best, just to see it shine for one last time, tendrils of sand coiling around the woman’s body like snakes.

“Why.” It was a simple question that could’ve meant anything to the both of them. He could’ve been asking any question, from why was she here, why had she decided to give up, why was the world such a cruel and wicked place. She could’ve given him any kind of answer and he would have been grateful to know that she had at least spoken to someone in her dying moments, even if it was a sense of rejection. They had died feeling an emotion, died feeling human and not a weapon of war. That would’ve meant the world to him. He would’ve been happy.

And before the sand could cover her face, the words that still haunted him at night echoed in the darkened place of his mind. To know that he ever made her feel like that once more, to have forsaken her of her sense of worth, it catapulted him into a rage that not even the sun of that evening could rival against. Because for all those years, he engraved in his mind the words he had spoken to her, and promised himself a punishment worse than death if he ever went against them.

“Those things you said yesterday, did you mean them?” Her eyes always did shine with hope, and to him, that meant the world.

“There was quite a lot I said in the heat of emotions.” And in a split second, they returned to their vacant nature.

“Ah. Forget I said anything.” There was the infamous fake smile of hers, one that always looked like a dam holding in her tears.

“I mean everything I say. There’s never a hidden meaning. To me, those felt like the truest words I ever said in my entire life.”

“I’m…”

“You’re life is worth saving. To me, it will always be. That I vow to you.”

“I’m not worth saving, Sabaku no Gaara.”

He forced himself to see a familiar, soothing green glow, healing the wound at her abdomen, as the other punched the sand away from her. The tendrils of sand, the shook along with his hands, as if taking a bit longer would change the truth by the time he unhooded her. As he lifted her up, it was then in the regality of the sunset, pastel pink hair burning bright, he knew. She truly wasn’t worth saving by him, she was the torch that erupted his body in flames. He had no reason to play god with her. He never will.

Because Haruno Sakura was indeed a woman of wonder, one that needed no saving from anyone, especially not from him. She didn’t need his promise of false hope.

The gloaming slowly creeped above them as a depressing blanket of lost hope, the sun giving them its last rays. The cold swept between them, along with the remnants of that promised night, the bleak and bitter feeling emptiness washing over him. If he had a word to describe that evening, red would’ve been the word. But as he stared into those eyes, peering at him with contempt, disappointment, fear, and vigor; an intoxicating chartreuse of regret would’ve been the words for him.

And her eyes, they never did see the mess that he turned himself into. The way his lips quivered as he silently mouthed a range of atonements and pleas. Nor did she get to hear the blood-curdling and deafening screams of rage, ones that echoed in the haunted expanse of the desert. She only felt his touch caressing her face, a soothing one that comforted her to unconsciousness, as his thumbs rubbed her tears away. Because to her, death had always been an option, but it wasn’t meant to be in the presence of someone she cared about. In the end, despite what he believed, she was happy to see him, even if was one last time.

#GaaSaku #gaasaku-fanfests #GaaSaku Fan Fest 2018 #the-raging-demons #fanfic

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hermanwatts · 4 years

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Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 12 September, 2020

Necromancy, tomb-raiding, first contact disasters, and kaiju fill this week’s new releases.

Blood Craft (Black Magic Outlaw #7) – Domino Finn

For some investigations, you get nowhere relying on police.

When the supernatural rears its head in Miami, the sleuthing’s usually up to me, Cisco Suarez, resident necromancer and all-around hard case. All I ask is to kick back in paradise once in a while, spend some quality time with my girl, and maybe even find that special moment to pop the question.

But life doesn’t always play fair, and neither do monsters. Turns out, old grudges die hard. So come after me. Maybe I deserve it. But going after my family crosses the line.

It’s time to stop playing the sitting duck. It’s time to start a hunt of my own. Dressed to the nines and undercover at a silvan wedding, I’ll delve into the literal underworld to make the monsters wish they’d never messed with Cisco Suarez.

And hey, if I’m really lucky, maybe she’ll say yes.

The Carrion Hunter – Woelf Dietrich

The Northern Hemisphere is a toxic wasteland ruined by war between man and alien. It seems impossible for anything to have survived there. Australia and New Zealand remain habitable. But there lies the crisis.

Collected here are eight vignettes, snapshots of life on a dying earth, where humans and aliens co-exist carefully and with suspicion, and fragile alliances are forged only to shatter overnight.  

Originally appearing in the anthologies Interspecies: The Inlari Sagas, A Broken World, and Armistice, Woelf Dietrich’s short stories have now been collected here for the first time and with an introduction by bestselling author Adam Lane Smith who captures the spirit of science fiction beautifully as he unfolds and lay bare the heart of it to show us why we love the genre so much. 

Collateral Damage – Adam S. Furman

Destructive Battles Rage Between Hellish Kaiju and Giant Mech Protectors

A desperate father must rescue his son when a deadly kaiju rampages across his city.

When opportunists lurk and buildings crumble around him, the battle might be the least of his worries. Each minute means more destruction, and the clock is ticking.

The first in a new kaiju series where the ordinary collides with the oversized, Collateral Damage is based on a short story of the same title originally published in Broadswords & Blasters Magazine. Experience the first taste of this series with a punch to the gut. Mind the shadows — you could be crushed.

Fortune’s Fool (The Fortune Chronicles #1) – Jeff Boyd

He digs through the past to unearth his future. But will rocketing into the expanse blast him into deadly trouble?

Xenoarchaeologist Mark Fortune just needs one big find to be set for life. Roaming the post-apocalyptic galaxy in search of riches, the pragmatic loner believes he’s finally made the breakthrough of his career when he activates an ancient portal. But when he’s catapulted onto an unknown planet, he’s followed by a revenge-driven skybiker out for his blood.

For the sake of survival, Mark and the motorhead form an uneasy alliance until they can escape the strange and unforgiving world. But the only path back home pits them against a ruthless warlord in a flying space fortress armed with pre-holocaust tech and a horde of killer robots…

Can Mark tear down a dictator before his newest discovery is otherworldly death?

The Human Side (The Rocker War Book 1) – Robert E. Hampson

An asteroid headed toward Earth was not unexpected; multiple asteroids were a different story. And, when the “rock-throwing aliens” finally appeared, the people of Earth had to deal with a new type of war, where an enemy with powerful weapons held the high ground of space.

Dr. Tobias Greene felt guilty over patching up soldiers only to have them return to battle—until learning that his work was essential to the survival of the human race.

Master Sergeant Martin was a combat medic, trying to do his job and save as many as he could.

Lab Technician Kat Smith was forced out of her home and away from friends and family by the alien attacks. Her work was important, but would it be enough?

Jan and Li Janacek were trapped in New Mexico with their son, daughter, and eight other teens. They needed to get home…but home was no longer there.

For Arielle French, the aliens’ arrival was everything she had predicted, until they attacked. Had she misunderstood their motives, or was it all the fault of the humans who failed to behave the way the aliens expected

Technical breakthroughs might allow humans to resist the worst the “Rockers” could throw at them. But even if they could level the battlefield, though, would there be enough time left for Earth to show the Rockers what was really on the Human Side?

The Mortal Blade (The Magelands Eternal Siege #1) – Christopher Mitchell

A city ruled by Gods, a mortal champion, a misfit girl and a disobedient dragon…

Stolen from his home, Corthie Holdfast has arrived in the City of the Eternal Siege as a new Champion.

He must fight alongside the Blades, whose lives are dedicated to the defence of the City against the hordes of monstrous Greenhides; or die at the hands of the Gods who rule.

Maddie Jackdaw, a young Blade, faces her last chance. Thrown out of every unit defending the City, either she takes on a new role, or she will be sent to the Rats, a company of misfits given the perilous tasks beyond the Great Walls.

Her new role, if she takes it, will bring her face to face with her deepest fears, for beneath the walls, in a secret and hidden lair, lies a dragon, imprisoned and waiting…

Necromancy in Nilztiria – D. M. Ritzlin

The world of Nilztiria is an ancient one. Beneath its brilliant crimson sun and demon-haunted moons wondrous treasures lay buried, waiting to be uncovered by intrepid adventurers. Yet peril abounds as well, in the form of nefarious sorcerers, grotesque beasts, and inexplicable phenomena. Among the bold heroes and callous villains of Nilztiria are:

XEDROCH LOOR—A lusty rapscallion, his striving for glittering treasures and the embraces of lovely ladies invariably leads him into danger.

AVOK KUR STORN—A strong-willed, quick-witted barbarian who fears neither man nor demon. He laughs in the face of death!

KRYNMORA—This cruel yet beautiful sorceress thinks nothing of sacrificing human life to appease her demonic patron. She has an affinity for unnatural beasts, including her lover who was once a man!

VRAN THE CHAOS-WARPED—By his sickly green eyes he bears the mark of a sorcerous experiment gone awry, but he was also altered in more dreadful ways…

XAARXOOL THE NECROMANCER—Possessor of powerful artefacts and reams of forgotten lore, his expertise in wizardry is unmatched.

If you crave stories of adventure and wonder with a touch of gallows humor, look no further than these thirteen tales of Nilztiria!

Phenomena – Douglas Phillips

Amelia Charron is a neuroscientist researching brain disorders. She routinely uses astonishing mind-linking technology that allows her to enter the dream world of patients. Each night, Amelia acts as a guide through the bizarre wonderland of the mind – an assisted lucid dream. It’s a technique that reroutes neural pathways to heal the brain, but it’s not without psychological dangers for both the patient and the guide.

Orlando Kwon will do anything to keep the frightening voices at bay. Alien voices, he’s sure, but he has no idea what they are saying. The medical diagnosis: early stage schizophrenia. With his life in tatters, a referral to a specialized neuroscience team might be his last chance.

Amelia is startled by what she sees in her newest patient’s mind. Frightening dreams of an unknown world are accompanied by knowledge the man couldn’t possibly have invented and a language no one has heard. In a race against time, Amelia must uncover the deep implications for her patient, herself, and humankind – before Orlando inserts the final component into a strange device he feels compelled to construct.

Science Fiction and Fantasy New Releases: 12 September, 2020 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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