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theadventuresofgarlandodra · 10 months

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The Adventures of Garl and Odra Manyboots- The End of Silver Matilda

Prev.

“It is too fucking cold here! I hate Zayora!”

“Least you’re not too hot anymore like you were a few weeks ago.”

“Go fuck yourself, Garl.”

Sahsi’s teeth chattered as she attempted to smile, but it was too damn cold to do anything but keep marching forward.

Silver Matilda wasn’t far, the raven was consistently shifting and leaning forward in anticipation from where it perched on her shoulder. The hag was close. And she was waiting for them.

Wick was the only one not complaining about the cold. His jaw was tight, his fists were even tighter. Sparks would fly randomly out from the tips of his hair and around his scalp, but were quickly extinguished by the icy wind.

Turgut shook the snow from his eyes. “Keep your guard up, men! Er, women too! The witch isn’t far now!” he shouted the obvious.

When Kendrenal nudged Turgut, Sahsi thought the artificer was about to pull another prank on Turgut, but instead he plopped something in Turgut’s hands. “I’ve been tinkering this all morning while we walked, try it out!” Kendrenal said.

Turgut lifted it up to his face and frowned. “A… a monocle?” It was in fact a silver monocle.

“So you can actually hit things when you shoot your crossbow!” Kendrenal explained. “Try it!”

“My aim is just fine.” All the same, Turgut popped the monocle in place and blinked a few times. “… Huh. Well then. Perhaps I could shoot better than fine with this little trinket. Thank you, Kendrenal. How did you make this?”

“I always have some junk in my bag, pieces of glass, wire- it wasn’t hard!” Kendrenal shrugged. “You’re welcome!”

It really must be serious if Kendrenal was actually trying to help his other party members rather than piss them off, Sahsi thought to herself.

It came as just as surprise to her when they made the turn up the path and the blizzard just… stopped. The snow still whirled around the party, but this part of the trail was clear as a summer’s day.

The reason for the sudden change of weather was no doubt due to the three women in this eye of the storm. Sahsi shivered for a different reason now.

Three hags stood before them. The two bheur hags hadn’t bothered to hide their true faces, bone thin crones with frozen blue skin and hair coated in ice, but the woman between them hardly fit into the coven. A beautiful human lady, elegant with long brunette curls and dressed in noble finery, she looked more like a victim of abduction than a threat. But she wasn’t threatened by the two cackling bheur hags that had her surrounded. She looked content.

“Hello, hello, hello…” the woman chuckled and took a step forward. “My, it’s been a while since we’ve had so many guests. Welcome to the Gate.”

Odra stepped forward, her hand on her rapier. “Gate?” she repeated.

“The Gate is what we call this passage to Zayora. Oh, did you really think you were already there? No, my darling.” The lady shook her head and tutted her tongue. “This is the Gate. Pass us and you’ll be there shortly. But you’re not here to pass, are you?”

Sahsi glanced at Wick to ask for confirmation, but she didn’t need to. Wick’s hair burned white, and he was truly shaking with rage. She looked back towards the woman and steadied herself with a deep breath.

“We’re here on behalf of the young genasi you cruelly mutilated, Silver Matilda. We’re here to avenge him and all the others you’ve no doubt harmed and killed in your lifetime.”

The woman’s lips twisted in a dark smirk. “Little niece, you’re more of a bitch than your mother is,” she said. With a feral growl, the hag dropped the glamour, revealing her true shape- a bent, ugly demonic looking woman with ram’s horns that curled behind her ears and bright yellow eyes that made Sahsi think of rabid beasts.

“Niece?” Sahsi repeated.

“She didn’t tell you?” Silver Matilda cocked her head to the side and chuckled. “I was part of the coven that Genevieve's mother, Granny Dorcas, led. That made me her aunt, and it makes me yours too. Of course, when Genevieve killed Dorcas, I decided it was best to head to greener pastures.”

Before Sahsi could say anything else, Wick unsheathed his sword and stormed to the front of the group. “Do you remember him!? Do you remember Wax and what you did to him!?” he shouted.

Matilda blinked placidly. “… Oh, him? Eh, he brings forth thoughts of… subpar ingredients,” she said.

The wave of heat that rolled over the party from Wick’s body was enough to melt the snow on the ground and make sweat drip down Sahsi’s neck. But it wasn’t him that made the first move.

It was her.

“When you’re in hell, you’ll remember those who came in Wax’s name, and you’ll remember us ripping you limb from limb!”

Sahsi charged forward, leaping over Odra’s head and bringing her fingernails down across Matilda’s face. Her already sharp fingernails truly became like claws, ripping open the hag’s face and nearly taking an eyeball with it.

Matilda screeched as her skin burned with acid, marring her already terrible features. The hag sneered at Sahsi.

“It’ll give me great pleasure to kill you, girl.”

Matilda’s hand lit up with a spell Sahsi recognized as Magic Missile and she knew she messed up. But before she could hurl it, the spell sputtered out. Matilda gawped at her hand. “What the-”

Sahsi heard snickering from behind her… of course. Dullahan.

“Whoops. Counterspell. Maybe don’t cast it with so much juice next time.”

Sahsi was hauled back and out of the way by Thunderwarrior and the eye of the storm exploded into violence. Her trembling hands still dripping with hag blood, Sahsi stayed at the back and prepared her healing items and spells.

She really was becoming more like her mother every time she lost her temper.

The party charged forward, spells flying through the air like fireworks and blades slashing at the evasive hags. Matilda shouted something in Sylvan and bodies burst from the snow, skeletons and zombies coated in ice and weapons frozen in their hands.

Thunderwarrior tossed her head back and roared her battlecry before throwing herself at the undead army before her, Elphira and Tynos providing back up to tear through the hags’ foot soldiers.

Crowley twirled his mace in the air before he chased the bheur hag to the right. The woman’s spells zoomed past his head and before she knew it he was right in her face.

“Hello, and goodbye!”

The mace crunched right into her chest, knocking the air from her lungs. This did get him a ray of frost right to the chest, but Crowley seemed to shake off the spell with surprising ease.

The other bheur hag wasn’t as lucky- she never saw Odra coming, she was more focused on the gargoyle in front of her. Odra’s rapier stabbed her in the leg and when she instinctively went to clamp the wound, Garl bullrushed her and sent her flying… right off the side of the mountain, her staff bouncing after her while the woman shrieked.

“Byyyye, bitch!” Odra cackled.

Although the group was technically outnumbered, within minutes the undead’s numbers were decimated. The remaining bheur hag couldn’t keep up with the demand, and she didn’t see Turgut taking aim from behind her.

The crossbow bolt went right through the back of her head and she stood dumbly for a second before crumpling to the ground.

Turgut tapped his new monocle and looked quite impressed. “Hmm, I may have to keep this little bauble for a time,” he murmured to himself.

The last one standing was, of course, Silver Matilda. And no one was going to get between her and Wick without getting stabbed. The snow around the pair had melted, Wick burning so bright he was even singeing his own clothing. Silver Matilda threw her spells and sneered at the enraged genasi. She was weakening, but it was not enough.

Odra prepared her charge but Garl grabbed her by the scruff. “No kill stealing… not this time,” he said.

“Awwww…”

“Would you want someone to steal Calipher’s death from your hands?”

That stilled Odra and the goblin stopped trying to get involved in the fight. Matter of fact, no one really did. Everyone had surrounded the fighting pair, but no one was entering the fray. It was Wick’s revenge, and it was his alone.

It was a lucky blow when Silver Matilda fired off a magic missile that hit Wick right in the gut, sending him stumbling back. “Say hello to your pathetic little brother to me,” the hag growled as she threw her hand back, preparing to rip into him with her claws.

She hadn’t realized that Sahsi had been preparing her own spell. A gust of wind shoved the hag off balance, sending her teetering close to the edge of the cliff. While Silver Matilda struggled to maintain her balance, Sahsi rested her hands on Wick’s shoulders.

“Finish. Her. Off,” Sahsi whispered, her magic flowing from her fingertips into the genasi as she cast Guidance.

Sometimes all you need is just a little push to get the job done. By the time Silver Matilda recovered, she looked up to see Wick’s sword pierce her chest.

The air was pushed out of her and the hag just stared in shock. Wick smirked.

“I’d say tell him yourself. But you’re not going to where he is.”

Wick’s sword glowed like a hot coal and the hag’s flesh caught aflame. She couldn’t even scream. She just slumped dead. Wick withdrew her sword and kicked her burning corpse off the cliff.

There was a second pause.

Then Odra cheered.

“FUCK! YES!”

The group threw their hands in the air and all cheered together, the battle was won, and they’d won!

Garl didn’t wait for the cheering to finish. He started walking until he found a cave. “Hey, this is probably her lair- hurry up or I’m taking all the loot!” he shouted back.

“LIKE HELL YOU ARE!” Odra shouted after him, launching herself over bones and corpses to catch up. The rest of the group scrambled after them, continuing to chat and shout about the treasure that no doubt an old hag like Silver Matilda had stored up over the years.

Everyone but Wick and Sahsi.

Wick stared down the cliff where Silver Matilda’s body had vanished. He hadn’t cheered. He hadn’t moved since that hag had fallen out of sight. He just stood there. Silent.

Sahsi said nothing and allowed Wick his moment.

“… I’m sorry, Sahsi.”

That was not the first thing she expected to come out of his mouth. She tilted her head to the side. “Why are you apologizing?” she asked.

“Because you’re nothing like your mother, or Silver Matilda. Maybe… maybe not even all the hexbloods I’ve killed are like them.” Wick shuddered before he bitterly laughed. “Maybe on my way to avenge Wax, I became more like the hags than you. Because right now… I feel nothing. I don’t feel better. I feel nothing.”

Sahsi swallowed before she set her hand on Wick’s shoulder. He tensed but didn’t push her away.

“Did you cry for Wax?” she quietly asked.

Wick was quiet.

“You never took the time to grieve, did you?”

Wick finally shook his head no.

“… Now you can. And now you can move forward. Some of the things you did…” Sahsi brushed her fingers against her cheekbone, where his dagger has sliced her skin. “Well, you know. But you can’t take it all back. You can only move forward, and really, the only way to do that… is grieve.”

Wick was quiet and Sahsi nearly panicked, thinking she had said the wrong thing… and then she realized there was steam coming from Wick’s face.

He was crying. His chest shuddered and he broke down in sobs. He turned, pulled Sahsi into a tight embrace, and he wept.

Sahsi hesitantly returned the embrace, arms wrapped around his waist. Her hands stroked his back and she let him cry.

Let him grieve. Let him cry. And hope, just hope that he would be able to move on now.

#dnd homebrew #writeblr #spilled ink #short stories #goblins #short fantasy stories #fantasy comedy #fantasy stories #the adventures of garl and odra manyboots

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kozumekenza · 3 years

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house of memories :: two

:: kageyama tobio x f!reader :: playlist :: masterlist ::

:: taglist: open :: wc: 2.1k ::

the last you had heard of kageyama tobio, he was following his grandfather’s footsteps and leaving you behind to join the syndicate. a chance meeting throws him back into your life, along with all of the memories.

tw: alcohol, mafia elements, profanity

You’re shivering, the moonlight reflecting off of the tears on your face. You really shouldn’t look this beautiful while crying, he thinks, and immediately admonishes himself for the thought. However, he also finds it fitting. There will be a lot of tears where he’s going; a lot of break-downs, a lot of pain. But still, he doesn’t think it’ll compare to the breaking of his heart in his chest when he watches you turn away from him forever.

---

Kageyama Tobio is known for a lot of things; his cold exterior, his unforgiving nature, his skills with a weapon. He is also known for his unfriendliness, performing his job with a blank face and a calculating mind. He is known for having impenetrable walls and refusing to let people inside them. He is known for his detachment to everything around him; he doesn’t form connections with others, and his emotions are seemingly nonexistent.

Even still, he can’t help but feel devastation and despair when he watches you walk away from him yet again, four years later, slipping from his grasp for the second time.

---

After mumbling a quick apology to the bartender, who you now realize was Kageyama Miwa, you bolted to the dance floor and dragged Hana out of the club. She went willingly, asking next to no questions, her state of intoxication making her follow you with no complaints.

Now, as you half-carry her into your shared apartment, you can’t help but wonder what would have happened if you stayed. It was obvious that both of the Kageyama siblings recognized you, although Miwa’s reaction was far better. Hana falls asleep the moment her head hits the pillow, and you leave her with a bottle of water and painkillers for the morning, sighing as you do so. You can only hope that she doesn’t ask too many questions about your quick escape tomorrow. You aren’t ready to dive into your past with Kageyama.

When you finally crawl into bed, sleep evades you. Your night is spent tossing and turning, and when you finally do drift off, your dreams are filled with flashes of navy eyes and raven hair.

---

The weeks pass as the sweltering heat of summer finally comes to an end; suddenly, you and Hana are back to your normal lives as college students. She asks no questions about that night at the club, and you’ve pushed it to the back of your mind, practically forgetting about it.

The beginning of the semester starts, and with it, late night studying and weekends spent partying. Hana’s still going strong with the guy that has the membership, and you’ve finally met him, learning his name is Ushijima. He’s stoic and serious, but his love for Hana is obvious, and their relationship has progressed past late-night flings and one-night stands. You’re happy for her, even when she says that he’s not a college student, but a businessman who works under the CEO of a fairly well-known company. You know that’s true on the surface, but you don’t tell Hana that her newest lover is most likely one of Kageyama’s colleagues, whose job involves more guns and blood than it does numbers and desk work.

All things considered, he treats her well, taking her on extravagant and luxurious dates, picking her up in a Bugatti, and always bringing her flowers. He’s respectful whenever he sees you, and if you didn’t know any better, you would think he’s just a nice, rich man. You know that Kageyama probably told him about you, but you can’t be particularly bothered, especially when Hana’s eyes light up whenever she talks about him.

You start your fourth and final year of university without much fanfare; for you, it’s back to research work in the lab and long lectures on biology and medicine. You’re slightly envious of Hana’s path in nursing; she’s already working in the hospital and doing clinicals. Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck applying for medical schools while balancing your ever-growing list of lab write-ups and reports.

It’s a fairly normal day, a few weeks into the semester, when Kageyama becomes the focus of your mind once again.

You walk out of your final lab feeling exhausted; it’s already eight in the evening, and Hana’s on night shift, so you’ll be alone in your apartment for the night. Normally, you don’t mind, but tonight, all you want to do is crawl into bed without dinner and without completing any of the assignments that are due this week. Hana usually keeps you in check; reminding you of a lab report you have forgotten and keeping you company while you complain about your professors.

Your thoughts are interrupted when you spot Kageyama Miwa, leaning on a black Lexus, eyes on her phone as she waits outside your lab building.

Her eyes meet yours as she glances up, and she waves you over. Grabbing the straps of your backpack, you approach her. You aren’t sure what she’s here for, but you’re assuming it’s you. It doesn’t surprise you that she knows which university you attend and apparently, your class schedule. You’ve always known that Kageyama kept an eye on you.

“Hey, Miwa,” you greet her with a smile.

“Hey, y/n.” She pulls you in for a hug. “We didn’t get a chance to properly talk that night. I almost didn’t recognize you, it’s been forever.”

“Yeah,” you nod, “but I’m pretty sure you aren’t here to catch up.”

She looks slightly surprised and disappointed, and you know that you’re right. “Unfortunately not. Are you busy tonight?”

You shake your head. Homework can wait for tomorrow, and as long as wherever she’s taking you has food, you don’t really care. You’re more curious about why she’s here; what Kageyama could possibly need you for.

“Good.” She opens the passenger door of the Lexus. “This shouldn’t take too long.”

You get in as she goes around the other side and starts the car. “Why do you need me?”

She pulls away and you recognize that she’s heading towards Shadow. “Security issues. Personal files were leaked. Tobio’ll explain more, but he’s concerned for your safety.”

You snort at that. Kageyama Tobio, concerned. Hilarious.

You can see Miwa glance at you out of the corner of her eye, but she remains silent as she pulls down a side street adjacent to the club. A garage opens, and she pulls in. You note the multiple luxury sport cars inside as you follow her out of the garage.

She leads you down a hallway to an elevator, then up to the 30th floor. From what you can tell, the bottom few floors of the building are dedicated to the club, and you can assume that the top floors are for Kageyama’s personal use. You don’t think about the multiple basement buttons and what could possibly be down there.

A ding signals the end of the ride, and you step out into the foyer of a large penthouse. Miwa leads you past a kitchen and living area, up a sweeping set of stairs. You can’t help but admire the modern apartment; it’s truly beautiful, accented in neutral blacks, grays, and browns. For a second, you’re jealous of Kageyama for being able to live in a place like this, but then you remember what he does and the feeling disappears.

Miwa knocks on a door at the end of the hall, and it opens a second later. Kageyama is seated at a large mahogany desk, papers spread in front of him and the glow of a laptop reflecting on his face. The night lights of Tokyo can be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows opposite the door, and you marvel at the view for a few seconds. You note that Kageyama looks exhausted; the file leak must be really bad. Much to your own disappointment, you also note that he still looks as handsome as ever in a dark blue suit.

He barely looks up when the two of you enter, and Miwa clears her throat. “Bi, she’s here.”

The small giggle that leaves your mouth as a result of Miwa’s continued use of his childhood nickname causes Kageyama to look up at you, carefully assessing you. You know that you look like shit right now, your hair is messy from wearing goggles, and you’re dressed in lab clothes that have stains from previous chemical spills.

“Come sit.” Kageyama gestures to the seat in front of him, and you dutifully obey.

“Do you want something to drink, y/n?” Miwa’s still by the door, doing her duties as a host to Kageyama’s guests, but you shake your head.

“I’m alright, thank you.”

She smiles and pauses with her hand on the door handle. “You’re more than welcome to stay for dinner. We haven’t eaten yet, and I know I probably interrupted you heading home to eat.”

You grin, nodding. “I’d appreciate that, thank you.”

She leaves with an incline of her chin, the door shutting softly behind her.

You look Kageyama Tobio in the eyes, trying to decipher his feelings about you being here. You used to be pretty good; he never had to say anything for you to know what he was feeling. Now, you can tell that the years have made him cold and unreadable.

He sighs and leans back, interlacing his fingers in front of him. “I’m sorry.”

You shrug. Two simple words not only for the hassle of dragging you here and interrupting your evening, but for the past four years, starting from the second you walked away from him and continuing through the obvious surveillance he’s done on you without your permission. “You do what you have to do.”

He looks relieved to hear you say that, enough that he grabs a file and rearranges its contents, pulling out a piece of paper to slide across the table to you.

“So, as Miwa told you, we had a breach in security. Personal files were hacked from our database, and that included yours. I’m sure you know why you have a file.” You nod. “Yours contained information such as your personal history with Miwa and me, as well as your whereabouts and what you’ve been doing for the past four years. Addresses, emails, phone numbers, and social media accounts were also leaked.” Kageyama sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Under normal circumstances, I would not be concerned. Everyone involved in my business knows the risks and how to defend themselves. You, on the other hand, didn’t ask for any of this. I’m concerned the group that stole the file will attempt something with you, as the file is clear evidence that you’re important to both Miwa and me.”

Awful news so far, but you saw it coming when Miwa mentioned a security issue. “Do you know who stole the files?” Kageyama nods. “Did they take anything else?”

“No, just personal files. Didn’t touch mine, they know everything about me already. They only took yours and Miwa’s, which is why I’m so concerned.”

You nod along to his words. The hackers wouldn’t take such inconsequential information unless they were looking for someone close to Kageyama to use as collateral. Plus, they would normally take business information, not anything personal. Things in Tokyo’s underworld must be bad.

“What are you going to do?”

Kageyama gestures to the paper. “I know you’re in school, so I can’t simply lock you up somewhere until it’s safe again.” His small smile and dry humor makes you brighten up a little. You missed that side of him, with the short quips and ever-present sarcasm. “I’m proposing a security detail. Just two of my men, to keep an eye on things. You won’t even know they’re there. Plus, as you know, Ushijima hangs around your roommate quite a bit, and he’s under orders to keep an eye out as well. This,” he taps the paper, “is simply for your own knowledge. I’ve listed all the information that was leaked, as well as what to look out for if you believe you might be in danger. There’s also information on the two I’ll have guarding you, so you aren’t alarmed in case they make their presence known.”

You take the paper and briefly skim it. “Thank you.”

Kageyama’s smile is brief but genuine. “Again, I’m sorry about all of this. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”

You sigh. “It’s alright. Something like this was bound to happen one day anyway.”

It’s true; you’ve always known the risks, even though you haven’t been associated with Kageyama for four years, before his reign over Tokyo. You knew that even when you left, there was still a chance someone would trace back to you.

Kageyama stands up, his hand held out to you. “Want to go eat?”

taglist: @lilith412426

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shera-dnd · 3 years

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IT'S HERE! A whole week late, but I finally finished the last prompt for Rosebird Week. This time it's AU day and I decided to go with an AU no one expected or really wanted.

IT'S MATRIX AU TIME! LET'S GO!

Summer sat in her bed, head pressed back against the metal wall, and eyes closed, just allowing herself to feel the vibrations of the hovercraft as it flew through the complex hive of tunnels beneath the earth. It was strangely peaceful, and it helped ground her in the real world. It also let her listen to the steps of the rest of her crew.

She heard a set of them approaching her room and pausing at the door. It took a moment for her crewmate to actually open it and step in, but when she did Summer didn’t need to open her eyes to know who it was.

Raven quietly closed the door behind her and walked up to Summer’s bed, sitting next to her. Neither of them felt the need to greet each other, both just wanting to enjoy this silent moment, away from the constant barrage of information that was The Matrix.

“Hey, Raven,” Summer eventually spoke. It was a quiet call, a whisper just for her friend, “can I ask you something?”

“You wanna know if I believe it,” Raven answered, fully aware of the doubts that had been plaguing her, “if I think you’re The One.”

Silence returned to the room.

Yes, that had been Summer’s question, a question that had been at the back of her mind since the moment Ozpin called her by that title. It felt like unearned praise, and she couldn’t help but feel the weight of humanity’s survival resting on her shoulders.

“Yes,” she whispered back.

“I don’t,” Raven answered bluntly, “I think this whole chosen one deal is just absolute horseshit.”

That took Summer by surprise. She opened her eyes and turned on her side so she could look at her companion. Raven looked so different in this world, older, more tired, less composed. She liked this version more, it made Raven feel more human, more real.

“Then why do you even follow Ozpin in the first place?”

“Because as full of crap as he is, he’s still doing good work,” she explained, “we’re still saving people.” Raven turned too, meeting summer’s gaze. Her eyes were a dark brown, not the red they were in The Matrix, “we saved you, didn’t we?”

The two shifted ever closer, eyes still locked on each other in the peaceful silence of Summer’s chamber.

“I believe in you, Summer,” Raven added, so close to Summer that she could feel her breath on her lips, “chosen one or not.”

Before they could drift any closer than that, the door to the room was slammed open as Taiyang cheerfully declared, “come on, it’s about time our girl took a trip to the Oracle.”

~~~

That trip had gone as horribly as it possibly could. Lionheart had betrayed them, half their crew was dead, and Ozpin had been captured by the agents. Leaving Summer, Raven, and Qrow, with only two options. Killing Ozpin themselves before the agents could extract the information they wanted from him, or diving in to fight near impossible odds in a suicidal mission to save him.

In the end the choice was obvious.

The metal detectors in the building blared as Summer and Raven stepped in through the front door. One of the guards tiredly stood up and walked up to Summer, asking her to remove all metallic objects. She opened her white long coat and the man’s eyes went wide as he saw the amount of weapons she was packing.

A well placed punch sent the man flying off, and announcing the start of the gunfight. The guards in this room outnumbered, and outgunned them, but tied down as they were to the constraints of the Matrix, they never stood a chance.

Summer leaped from cover to cover, firing at them in mid air as their bullets tore the entire room to shreds. Raven didn’t have any firearms on her, but that didn’t render her harmless in the slightest. She would fly out of cover in the form of a raven, fly through the gunfire, and return to her normal form just in time to slice their throats open with her sword.

Soon enough they were the only ones left standing in the destroyed room.

Raven took the bag they brought in and together they marched into the elevator.

“You still haven’t told me how you do the bird thing,” Summer commented, casually despite the seriousness of the mission they were in.

“The same way you made your eyes silver,” Raven explained as she dropped the bag to the ground and started arming the bomb they had hidden inside, “you override the Matrix through your own self perception. Me and my brother just took it a step further. We change how we perceive ourselves on the fly, and the Matrix changes our form to match it.”

“So you see yourself as a bird, and then the Matrix turns you into a bird?” Summer asked, hitting the emergency break button on the elevator.

“Yeah, like that.”

Summer couldn’t keep herself from snickering as she pushed off the emergency exit on the roof of the elevator, earning herself a confused look from Raven.

“So you and Qrow are bird furries?” Summer asked playfully.

Raven groaned and finished arming the bomb. “Just shut up and focus on the plan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

~~~

Copious amounts of gunfire, and a catastrophic helicopter ride later, the three of them found themselves in a cramped phone booth down by the subway. Ozpin was bleeding heavily and was far too exhausted to stand on his own, but he still laughed deliriously.

“Do you believe it now, Raven?” He asked between his bouts of laughter.

Raven shook her head and picked up the ringing phone, handing it to Ozpin.

“We can talk about faith all you want once we’re out of here.”

The crazy old man put the phone to his ear and disappeared, his mind returning to his real body. Summer put the phone back in place and gave Raven some space.

“You go next,” she offered.

“Right,” Raven nodded, but there was still something in her mind. Her fists clenched as if she was trying to steel herself for something, “Summer, once we’re out of here, there’s something...there’s something I need to tell you.”

“More reason for us to get going,” she replied, just as the phone began to ring, she gestured towards it with her head and smiled, “come on, wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.”

Raven smiled back and took the phone, she barely had time to put it to her ear before the sound of gunfire rang through their ears. She was gone before the bullet could have hit her, but the phone itself was destroyed, taking Summer’s escape route with it.

“Ms. Moore,” greeted a voice behind her.

Theresa Moore. Summer hated that name. She hated to hear it used like this, because it wasn’t hers, not anymore. And there was only one person who still used it, the man that had interrogated her, the man that had captured Ozpin, the man that now had a gun aimed right for her head.

Agent Ironwood.

“You’ve been creating quite a lot of trouble for us lately,” the agent continued, “I think it’s time we put an end to that.”

Summer dodged the first bullet that came her way, quickly returning fire as she dashed for him. That speed that had felt like a fluke when she fought that other agent now came to her naturally, easily allowing her to dodge his gunfire, until she was up in close quarters with him.

They both put their guns to each other’s heads and pulled their triggers.

Empty.

Agent Ironwood threw the first punch, his fist somehow faster and more terrifying than any bullet could. She parried the blow with more difficulty than she expected, and hit back for no real impact.

Damn it, she had to be faster, stronger. This was the Matrix, the only limits on her body were those her mind imposed on it, she had to forget those limits if she had any chance of surviving this. Each attack he threw her way became ever so slightly easier to avoid, and every one of her strikes came back with just a little more force.

It was a lucky blow, but a good kick managed to crack his sunglasses in half. She could do this, she could actually win this. Maybe Raven was right, she didn’t have to be The One in order to make a difference.

That was until she was put through a wall, and then launched into the train tracks.

“Just surrender, Ms. Moore,” the agent spoke, jumping down to the tracks and pinning her to the ground, “let me put an end to this and it will all be over quick and painless.”

Summer could hear the train approaching, she could hear her own end right at her doorstep. But she couldn’t care about it right now, all she could think was how much she hated this man for using that stupid name.

“My name,” she began, pushing back against the agent until she was standing up again, “is Summer Rose.”

The train ran over both of them and Summer’s conscience scattered into countless white petals. For a moment her mind was gone, left to the whim of whatever program was responsible for controlling the winds of the Matrix, but slowly they began to gather again, the data that formed her body coalescing once again in the form of a woman.

Summer took a long shaky breath. That had been terrifying in so many ways, but it saved her life. In that moment she swore to herself she would never, ever try anything like that again. It was best to leave the shapeshifting to the twins.

Unfortunately she wasn’t given much time to recover, because a certain agent had just stepped off of the train, looking very angry.

She didn’t have it in her to keep fighting this time, so she ran as fast as she could. Dashing through the streets, Summer grabbed the first cell phone she could find and quickly dialled up the Beacon.

“Mr. Wizard, I need a way out!” She yelled into the phone.

“We’ve got your back, Ms. Rose,” Ozpin replied calmly on the other end, “let me guide you through this.”

She ran up and down buildings, out windows and back doors, pushing away people before they could be turned into more agents. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, her mind racing as much as her body as she chased the sound of that ringing phone.

It was right there. She could feel it. She just had to open the door and--

Bang!

~~~

The monitors inside the Beacon blared out a warning as Summer’s brain activity completely ceased.

“No!” Raven screamed as she ran to Summer’s terminal, “no no no no no!”

She climbed onto Summer’s seat, straddling her and holding her face in her hands.

“No! You can’t die too. You can’t!” Raven begged, tears falling onto Summer’s face, “the Oracle promised me! You can’t!”

Summer couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t. Raven refused to believe that.

“She said the woman I love would be The One,” she said, hands shaking, “so you can’t die here!”

Her breath was weak and shaky, her vision blurry from all the tears.

“I believe it, Summer. I believe in you. I believe whatever it takes to keep you alive.”

She didn’t know what else to do. Maybe there really was nothing else to do, but she refused to accept that, refused to sit there and let Summer die. So she did the only thing she could think to do. She closed her eyes and leaned in.

~~~

Summer’s eyes shot open. Instinct told her to suck in a deep breath and refill her lungs, but there was no air around her, there were only codes and programs to simulate it. She stood up, the ground beneath her just textures, sensorial information, and some physics related code. She could see it, the seams on the fabric of the world.

The Matrix.

Bullets were fired her way and she looked at them with almost curiosity. Their code was as clear as day, so easily read, so easily altered. She rewrote a portion of it and the bullets exploded into white rose petals.

Then came that program, Agent Ironwood, shouting as he tried to strike her down. It would have killed her, but she was faster than him now, she was as fast as she needed to be. With one hand she stopped every attack he threw her way, her face showing no sign of focus or exertion, simply the almost amused look of someone who finally got a joke they heard so long ago.

She had already won.

~~~

Her eyes opened once again, this time for good. After what felt like hours in The Matrix her eyes struggled to adjust to the light inside the Beacon, so for a few moments all she knew was that there was a dark shape standing over her, and that her face was somehow wet.

A hiccuping sob above her made clear what had happened while she was gone.

Summer reached for the woman above her, her thumb wiped away those tears, and she smiled.

“Thank you, Raven,” she spoke, as softly as she did in those quiet moments in her chamber, “thank you, for believing in me.”

#rwby #rosebird #rosebird week 2021 #rosebirdweek #summer rose #raven branwen #the matrix #matrix au #fanfic

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oscar-lime · 3 years

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Evil Oz / Salem reincarnates AU?

I'm not super sure what to call it yet... info under the cut because I've been planning this one for awhile now.

Feel free to ask me any questions about it!

• The rules for immortality are different. Salem maybe ends up in a soul different from hers that is meant to help her learn and grow. Maybe Ozpin has to live forever to learn a certain lesson as well (trust? Honesty? Just based on something he is known for doing wrong... I'm not sure on this one yet.)

• Instead of a merge, the more dominant soul in the body will eventually gain most of the control. The other will start to struggle to be in control at all until they are just a voice in the back of the other's mind.

• Salem took control of most of her lives by force... she hated not being in control. Oscar was her youngest host, and she ended up thinking back on her children... so she is now trying to make sure he is himself, and trying to make sure he ends up the body's main soul for a change. Even a heartless monster sometimes feels bad when she realizes her next life is a child.

• Oscar can control grimm, but it takes time and practice. Salem's magic is also extremely powerful, so he struggles to hold it in now since he does not know how to control it at all. (She just really wants him to hit the point where he can control the hound.)

• When using Salem's power to control grimm, Oscar's veins temporarily turn red/black (it's a gradient of both colors)

• "Hello Oscar, I'm Salem. Now leave this sad little farm and go to my castle." "*loud screaming*"

• Hazel is the one to realize Oscar is the next Salem. He has her inner circle. She gained them in slightly different ways in her past lives.

Hazel: Ozma sent his sister into another kingdom, then staged her death and made it appear to be a murder to cause conflict between the kingdoms.

Tyrian: Salem wanted someone ready to kill and cause destruction when she needed it. So she offered him the opportunity to kill whenever he wanted (as long as he followed her orders and didn't kill any of her allies.. she always provides him with grimm or prisoners to harm) and for her to hide him away from the law.

Watts: He could make whatever he wanted and she would provide the materials, but in return he had to help her with technology anytime she requested.

Cinder: She was offered revenge. Salem explained what huntsman and huntresses truly are to her, and offered to help her become strong enough to take revenge on the ones who ignored her when she needed help the most.

Emerald, Mercury, and Neo all still followed Cinder.

Roman was actually hired by Ozma for that whole thing with the trains, along with Adam and the White Fang. Ozma chose to destroy his school like that KNOWING it would cause conflict.

• Ozma is immortal. His inner circle is not actually aware of what he is planning. He wants to watch humanity tear itself apart.

• Of course even if they learn of Salem's existence and unite, it still benefits him since they would be fighting against her, and he could use the tension to draw in more grimm and doubt between the nations

• Oz is ALWAYS subtly feeding Ironwood's paranoia. He hopes James will cause a war for him amongst humanity.

• STRQ originally, like every other huntsman and huntress, believed they were doing good. They had no idea Ozpin had been manipulating all of humanity and the academies just to do his bidding. Some "criminals" are truly innocent. They just stood against Oz in someway so they were wanted dead or alive. If he gets them alive he makes sure to make them regret even daring to stand against him... and of course he doesn't want word spreading.

• Raven left when she found out Ozma's true intentions.

• Tai just settled down with his family and is staying out of it. He figures he has time before the world ends, Ozma can't work that fast right? His kids would totally have time to grow up. (He was heartbroken hearing them say they want to go to Beacon)

• Summer actually discovered Ozma's plans, and was killed for trying to fight against him. She wasn't aware of Salem, so she stood up to him on her own.

• Qrow couldn't believe Oz was bad, not after everything he'd done for them. So he stayed around. Ozma has his inner circle tricked into believing he is saving the world.

• Oz still gave out his magic. Two watchbirds are very helpful after all. The maidens are human, the potential they have to cause chaos and destruction is amazing! Plus then the relics are hidden, so Salem CAN'T summon the gods.

• Jaune died. Pyrrha found out something was fishy when she was supposed to be getting the maiden powers, so she got out of the transfer machine with her semblance when she and Jaune realized. She started out fighting Ozpin, but Jaune ended up taking her place because he had the big shield and told her to go warn the others about what was going on.

• So after the fall the group still travels on, just now they want to get the relics AWAY from Oz and to a safe place. They join up with Oscar + Salem's crew eventually

The lamp is the reason Qrow turns against Oz. When they ask what he is hiding the backstory reveals how he began to hate humanity with time, and the joy he took in watching them fight and destroy each other. Qrow is shattered by the truth since he was supposed to be the one hunting the kids down, but he then decides he has to protect them... and apologizes for not believing them.

Oz still has the upper hand though. Salem only has the fall maiden (the one with the hardest to find relic anyway), some henchmen, and a bunch of children. Oz has humanity already starting to argue and nations not trusting one another, plus the academies at his command. Atlas is going nuts because Ironwood is much more paranoid since Oz has been feeding into that.

• Leo did actually still have connections to Salem. His family was sent to live in her castle for their protection, and in return he snuck her team into Beacon. She gave the orders in her old vessel from her castle. But she made her way there around the fall because she wanted her team out safely. It's not always easy for her to find new minions after all, and she didn't want to lose the fall maiden.

• She had a team in the school to try and figure out what Oz is planning, exactly how he tricks the students, and where the relic might be hidden.

• Leo ends up killed by Qrow (poor bird man), as he is one of Ozma's most loyal followers before he turns and considers what Leo did a horrible betrayal.

The Atlas arc goes EXTREMELY different. Penny is sent to actually hunt down RWBY and co at first, but when she sees it's them she doesn't fight them very hard. She doesn't want to take them... they get away, and encounter her again when they head to Pietro for Maria's eyes. She prepares to fight them, but Maria and Pietro quickly stop both sides. After a long explanation of everything, Pietro and Penny are on their side (since Pietro already could see something was fishy just from his work on the inside)

The happy huntresses recongnize the main cast as fugitives right away and absolutely love them. They weren't sure what these kids did, but placed more blame for the main groups criminal status on authority instead of the kids. The group was happy to have allies to stay with and work with behind Ironwoods back.

Monstra pulls up (Atlas was raised, unfortunately) and RWBY, NOPR, and Qrow are like "Yeah that... that is our ride."

There was definitely still some bloodshed in Atlas. Qrow almost convinced Clover of the truth... buuuut then Tyrian happened and Qrow had the same reaction...

Now the group can't leave Atlas because Mantle is struggling and Qrow and Robyn got arrested.

Oscar is kidnapped by Ozma. He is trying to learn what Salem is planning, where she is hiding the relic of knowledge, and where she is keeping now her two maidens. Out of Oz's inner circle, he chooses to trust Glynda to do the right thing since for obvious reasons, Hazel is not torturing him this time around.

Oscar's outfit is different this time. Orange is his main color, so he keeps the orange. Maybe he gets some sort of cape, but with long sleeves for the cold he tosses over his farmer outfit. He could be influenced by Salem since she is a part of him without realizing and maybe change the gloves to red, and have some red (or red and orange) on his cape. I'm not sure the exact colors yet. Basically though his little cape thing is a jacket that just... doesn't really go past the sleeves. It was the only thing I could think of that wasn't just another hood, and the cape seemed fitting because of Salem's subtle influence. (Oscar does not want to kill people, Salem has no problem killing people. She will forcibly take control of him if she feels he is in danger.)

Silver eyes work a bit differently here. They are basically angels, and their power works best on grimm. However, if they begin to truly believe a human is just as bad as a monster or see them in the same light (even without realizing) they can do a bit of damage to them as well (Maybe turn a bit of them to stone, blast off part of them, badly burn them, etc.).

#please go easy on me if i missed anything... this is the first time i put so much work into an au so i definitely would have missed things #rwby au #evil ozpin #evil ozma #is that a better tag?#rwby #oscar pine #oscar pine au #rwby volume 8 #rip jaune #sorry this is a bit hard to read... it's long and i just pasted it here

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lesbian-percy-weasley · 4 years

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An Unlocked Door by Gay Natasha Saves The World on Ao3 (aka moi)

Series: At Least I Can Hold You (part 2)

Ship: Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood

Content warning: None

Description: Quidditch obsessed Oliver Wood would never cancel practice unless someone had died. Fred and George had to get to the bottom of it and learn things that were meant to be kept secret

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver never cancels quidditch practice. If he did everyone would assume that someone was dead or dying. That’s why the whole team was worried today when he never showed up at the pitch. After about 30 minutes everyone just went back to the Gryffindor common rooms.

But not Fred and George.

No they wanted to know what happened. They would kill at the opportunity to tease him into oblivion if he ever scolded them for being late again. Perhaps he had a project he forgot to do or got detention or was entangled in a steamy love affair. They didn’t know they were right about one thing.

If he was being honestly Oliver forgot all about quidditch practice his mind was preoccupied. It was Percy and his anniversary today and even if he had remembered about quidditch he would’ve canceled anyway and told everyone he had an essay to catch up on. He wanted to spend the day with his boyfriend, was that really such a tall order.

He got Percy a new quill as a gift. One of those expensive ones with a raven feather. It wasn’t as flamboyant as a peacock feather but it was still unique and special. Percy would enjoy it more anyways.

After his class he headed up to Percy and his shared dorm. Percy wasn’t there yet but that wasn’t a surprise. He did tend to stay after class for a bit talking to the teachers about assignments. Oliver didn’t understand it but he was studious like that.

About 5 minutes after Oliver got to the dorm Percy opened the door. He had a small package. Oliver knew that his family didn’t have much money and told him he didn’t have to get him anything. But it didn’t seem fair to Percy for him to get something and not give anything.

“Hi Lover.” Oliver said jokingly. Percy smiled “Hi baby.” He walked over to Oliver’s bed where he was sitting and snuggled up right next to him.

“Happy anniversary.” Oliver said giving Percy the meticulously wrapped box. It was obvious that he didn’t wrap it himself but Percy didn’t care. “Happy anniversary to you too. Sorry it’s not a huge gift.” Percy said while handing him the other box “You could’ve not gotten me anything and I would be happy, Perce.”

They both opened their gifts. To Oliver’s delight Percy had gotten him a small box of bonbons from a muggle shop near his house. Oliver had them once before when he visited Percy over the summer and loved them. Percy opened his to reveal the raven feather quill. He was so happy with it. He remembered rambling about quills to Oliver before and didn’t think he was really listening but it looks like he actually was.

“Thanks so much for the quill, Ollie.” Percy said embracing Oliver. Oliver hugged back and said

“Thanks for the bonbons. Happy anniversary, baby” “you already said that.” “I know but I wanted to say it again” Oliver looked Percy in the eyes and kissed him.

Percy returned it and before they knew it they were making out right on Oliver’s bed. “Did you lock the door?” Percy said during a quick pause. Oliver nodded and they continued.

Fred and George were looking all around Hogwarts trying to find Oliver. He wasn’t in his last class, he wasn’t in detention, no use checking the library the only person that ever hangs out there is Percy.

“Do you suppose he’s in the commons room?” George asked

“It’s worth a shot.” Fred replied starting to walk towards Gryffindor tower.

Once they got to the commons room and didn’t see him the next logical place would be his dorm room. They walked down the hall until they reached it and opened the door.

“Oi, Oliver we had qui...” Fred stopped talking right when he saw Oliver right on top of Percy. A great sense of awkwardness cascaded over everyone in the room.

They couldn’t believe it. Oliver was shagging their brother? They didn’t even know either of them were gay. Well they could’ve guessed Percy was but not Oliver. And didn’t Percy have a girlfriend?

Fred slowly closed the door trying to remove himself and George from the situation.

Meanwhile in the room, Percy felt like he was going to have a panic attack. Why wasn’t the door locked? Why did it have to be the twins? What if they told everyone and his mom found out? Oliver got up and told him “Don’t worry I’ll sort it out.” Leaving the room quickly and leaving Percy alone with only his panicked thoughts.

The twins didn’t get very far before they heard Oliver coming after them.

“Hey,” he called out “I need to talk with you two.” The three of them went into the closest isolated space.

“What the hell were you guys doing?” Oliver asked accusingly

“You missed quidditch practice. We were just making sure you weren’t dead.” George replied

“Fuck was that today?” The twins nodded

Oliver sighed heavily “Sorry about that. But you guys can’t say anything about what you saw.”

“We weren’t going to anyway. You know it’s really awkward walking in on your brother making out with your quidditch captain. We didn’t even know you two were dating.”

“Yeah there’s a reason you didn’t. Percy isn’t out to anyone besides me and Penelope and I don’t want you two making this harder for him.” Oliver explained

“He doesn’t need to worry about it that much.” Fred said “Yeah. Bill’s bi and mum didn’t seem to care.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told and besides the point it’s not your place to out him to anyone, understand?”

The twins nodded and Oliver started to walk away when George said “If you hurt him we’ll maim you.”

“Noted.” Oliver responded. With as much shit as they give their brother they were very protective of him.

“I never would’ve thought him and Percy would be a couple.” Fred whispered to George.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Oliver turned back to them

“Nothing, go continue whatever you were doing with my brother.” Fred responded with a wave.

Oliver rolled his eyes and started walking back up to his dorm room. Back to Percy.

When he got there he saw Percy laying in still silence in his own bed. Oliver rushed over to sit next to him.

“Percy I’m so sorry I forgot we had quidditch practice today and they were looking for me and I forgot to lock the door and...” “It’s not your fault.” Percy interrupted. “They’re nosy little bastard.” Oliver could feel the tinge of sadness in his voice.

“I talked to them and they said they wouldn’t tell.” Percy scoffed at this “I’m sure they were being serious, Perce. We both know they wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing.” Oliver took Percy’s hand.

“I just don’t know how I thought I could keep this a secret. Someone was bound to find out about it. But I guess it was better the twins than some other student.” Percy chuckled

“I guess that’s the thing about illicit affairs.” Oliver said “But aren’t you glad that it’s somewhat out?”

“Kind of. I still don’t trust them.” Percy mumbled leaning into Oliver. Oliver chuckled

“hey a first step is a first step and if that first step happens to be your younger brothers walking in on you kissing your boyfriend then so be it” Percy proceeded to hit Oliver with a pillow on his bed

The mood seemed to brighten after that. They spent the rest of the evening into the night talking about whatever. They were laying right next to each other when Percy turned towards Oliver.

“Happy anniversary, baby” He said before kissing Oliver

“You already said that.” Oliver replied in a mocking tone. Percy laughed and embraced him

There was a knock on their door. Percy got up with a groan and went to answer it.to his dismay it was Fred.

“What do you want?” Percy said annoyed

“What about Penelope” Fred asked curiously.

“She’s a lesbian.” “Ooooh okay. Got it. Goodnight.” Fred proceeded to walk away

Percy shut the door with a huff and Oliver proceeded to laugh. Percy tried to hold it back but he couldn’t help it.

It was all worth it for moments like this. All the secrets and sneaking around. He loved Oliver more than anything. Who cares if Fred and George knew? Fuck it who cares if all of Hogwarts found out. It was worth it for Oliver.

#harry potter #hogwarts #percy weasley #gryffindor #oliver wood #perciver #percy weasley x oliver wood #fanfiction #secret relationship #some angst #but mainly fluff

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gondorosi · 4 years

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The gradual separation of show!Jon from book!Jon - Part II

Magic

The showrunners deciding that magic is an unimportant part of the saga and to be relegated to the background is utter horseshit. There’s a bloody REASON direwolves and dragons reappeared in the world when they did, more or less at the same time. There’s a fucking reason why in Martin’s version Dany’s fireproof nature was a one-time thing, the dormant magic in her reawakening as needed BECAUSE dragons needed to be brought back into the world. Dany, Jon and Bran are the three most magic-sensitive characters in the whole story - and only one of them have anything to do with it in a significant manner (though significant might be stretching it). With Dany, her magical nature is only sporadically referred to (the dragons are the be all and end all) and Jon has nothing.

Show!Jon is a mortal man on every level, without a drop of magic in him. Book!Jon is no Bran, but there are three fundamental factors which show how deeply he is connected to the land.

Ghost: Removing Ghost's importance to Jon is akin to removing part of his soul. He isn't just 'big, white fluffy doggo'. Ghost is part of him, his familiar. Ghost is the physical personification of the magic running in Jon's blood, the proof of the Old Gods awareness running through Stark children's veins. Direwolves have a deeper, subtler and less apparent magic than dragons, but no less potent, and no less essential to Jon than her dragons are to Dany. Out of all the Stark siblings, Jon’s connection with Ghost and Bran’s connection with Summer seem to be the most symbiotic. All the siblings have strong bonds with their direwolves, molded to their own personality - Arya’s connection with Nymeria persists even across the sea in Essos, all legends of Robb in battle are accompanied by legends of Grey Wind and poor Rickon becomes so enmeshed in Shaggydog’s mind that there’s little to distinguish between boy and beast. However, perhaps due to the nature of their POVs and story arcs, none of the Starks save Bran and Jon have their journeys so closely aligned to their wolves. Which is why it’s nigh impossible to even consider Jon’s story moving forward without Ghost, especially post resurrection. The show omitted the obvious implication that Jon warged into Ghost before he died, had no role for him in the BoB, completely erased him in S7 and relegated him to a damn stray in S8. On the other hand, the show AMPED up the Dragon Queen part of Dany to the detriment of all other aspects of her character.

Warging: In a universe where Martin has tried his best to weave in strong magic with actual medieval politics, concentrating all Northern magic into one single character (whose surface they barely scratched) is utterly lazy storytelling. Jon's warging abilities are mighty and second perhaps only to Bran, though I hold the belief Arya is as powerful a warg. But unlike both of them, Jon seems to actively resist exploring his warging possibilities. Some of the resistance may be explained by his environment - with both the NW and the Freefolk considering warging to be something of a ‘black’ art or dark magic. Sure, the Free Folk are more open about it, with Varamyr envying Jon’s gift with Ghost in his thoughts:

“He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt. The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it.”

The show makes NO mention of it. Jon being considered a warg is a major reason behind half the NW hating and fearing him. I don’t remember the show ever bringing up the fact that Jon was feared - they seemed to make Thorne and Slynt’s animosity out of sheer spite and disgust at his bastardy.

The Lord Commander's Raven: This is a favourite obsession of mine. Old Mormont’s raven pops out at Jon at seemingly random moments, but for the reader bursting with conspiracy theories, the raven is just another nod to the fact that Jon has a far greater role to play in the story than is visible to the eye. There's a popular theory that Bloodraven wargs him from time to time, since Jon is the secondary piece on his chessboard. The raven has come to Jon’s aid atleast twice that I can remember:

When Mormont is attacked by the wight:

Jon tried to shout, but his voice was gone. Staggering to his feet, he kicked the arm away and snatched the lamp from the Old Bear's fingers. The flame flickered and almost died. "Burn!" the raven cawed. "Burn, burn, burn!"

Spinning, Jon saw the drapes he'd ripped from the window. He flung the lamp into the puddled cloth with both hands.

During the election for Lord Commander when Mormont’s raven flying to his shoulder is used as a sign by Sam to argue for Mormont’s approval of Jon as the choice.

Bastardy

Jon's entire sense of self is centered around two things:

Ned Stark is his father

He's a bastard

His entire character arc is trying live up to one of those and distance himself from the connotations of the other. His bastardy is the formative lodestone of his character and moral compass but in the EXACT opposite of how Catelyn and Westerosi society as a whole expect it to be.

However, there's a twist to that. Jon's inner desire is EXACTLY what Catelyn feared. He DOES want to be Lord of Winterfell. He DOES harbour resentment that Robb (seemingly) has everything handed to him while the best Jon can hope for is to die at his post, unknown and unsung. He DOES want glory and power and to exact some kind of revenge on a society which deemed him vile and detestable for no fault of his. All the elements for him to become the Starks' own Daemon Blackfyre is already present.

But there's one difference - Ned Stark is no Aegon the Unworthy. Even more than all of the above heart's desires, Jon wants to be like his father. He wants to do what is right. He wants his father to be proud of him. He wants to be nothing like the greedy, vengeful and lusty creature he's always been told he is. He wants to help people and stand up for the weak because that's who he is. At the very heart of it, he just wants to be loved by Ned as much as his trueborn sons. And thus he takes Tyrion's words to heart and wears his bastardy like impenetrable armour.

In show!Jon, ALL of this inner struggle is lost. Jon's bastardy is rarely affixed other than as a side. Show!Jon is a 'good' man. Yes, undoubtedly. But what makes book!Jon a great man is that he masters his baser desires to focus on what's more important. THAT'S what Jeor, Mance and Stannis all saw in him. That's why the Free Folk follow him. That's why half the NW will die for him (yes I know the other half will kill him).

When you have spent most of the show without anywhere referencing how vital the armour of bastardy, and being Ned Stark’s son is to Jon's psyche and sense of self, even the best directors will not be able to depict WHY the news of his parentage will have ripped out the ground from under him. Dany's quest for the throne is out there glaring at us thus atleast on paper making sense that having her undeniable right threatened will rattle her (I personally hate hate HATE the creative decision that Dany's immediate reaction to find out Jon's a Targaryen will be paranoia and concern for HER throne but I digress).

Intelligence, ability and cunning

Up until S4 and most of S5, show!Jon and book!Jon exhibited similar levels of intelligence and cunning. One of my favourite scenes is Sam trying to stop Jon from marching into Mance's camp to try and assassinate him. Jon gets in his face with his frustration and despair boiling and asks if he has any better ideas. At this point he's done a superb job commanding the defence of Castle Black but has also just lost Ygritte, Pyp and Grenn all in one night, a significant portion of the meagre Castle Black forces and is fully aware that they cannot survive another charge. He's beyond desperate and aware that his efforts are likely suicidal but he can't just retreat, lick his wounds and do nothing.

The show labours under the popular delusion that truly good guys can't be really smart, as being smart means preserving yourself and truly good guys will always jump into danger first to protect other people. Politics is bad so if you're a good strategist then you can't be a good person.

Both book and show characterizations of Jon have been criticized for being examples of the ‘Chosen One’ the ‘reluctant hero’ who turns out to be the right man for the job, and for painting ambition and the quest for power as negative pursuits. In the book however, Jon’s ambitions never really had a chance to form. He’s prideful enough in his abilities to believe he would be an immediate select into the elite Ranger ranks and is devastated when that doesn’t work out. By the time he’s come to terms with the fact that being Mormont’s steward means being groomed for command, the truth of the White Walkers is in front of him and that becomes his sole consideration.

To many readers, Jon’s election to Lord Commander was ‘contrived’ though I do believe Sam played the long political game as he believed his friend being in a position of power would lead to an easier path for him. However, Jon doesn’t crumple under the weight of the responsibility - his actions as Lord Commander are revolutionary enough to completely destabilize his support. The show entirely omits all the strategic parts of his negotiations with both Stannis and the Freefolk. Unlike show!Jon, book!Jon does not allow the Freefolk through the Wall only on the account of goodwill and the fear of a common enemy. He takes their children hostage to ensure compliance. He negotiates with the Iron Bank for a loan to stave off starvation come winter. He repopulates the Gift with Free Folk. He shelters, counsels and aids Stannis. He addresses almost every logistical and material issue he can think except for the most fundamental - his people.

On the other hand, there’s no strategic and political angle to Show!Jon in S6 and S7, instead being posited only as warrior extraordinaire.

'The greatest swordsman in the North' - but too naive to not keep the sister who tricked him almost to his death at arm's length. Brave, loyal and courageous beyond belief - but completely befuddled by politicking. Immediately trusting a sister he’s never been close to and who has been Littlefinger’s pupil for a considerable time.

Book!Jon's abilities as a leader are sorely underappreciated, especially considering that his tenure as Lord Commander saw the status quo of almost every aspect of NW life upended. The previous LC is killed in a mutiny. The Wildling army launch an attack. The Others finally rise. A King/King Claimant FINALLY takes the NW's warnings seriously. The Wildlings are brought south of the Wall.

Despite being a new beginning for all recruits, the Night's Watch is the one order in Westeros whose traditions and rules have not changed in millennia. Understaffed, under-resourced and facing a threat the likes of which people would struggle to comprehend, Jon does the best he can. His major mistake is one most young leaders make, and that is assume all of those under automatically understand his reasons for doing what he does.

Relationships

Brother:

If there's one role Jon takes more seriously than 'Ned Stark's son, it's that of brother. Book!Jon is pretty much the pinnacle of brotherly love - Robb's right hand, Arya's champion and dutiful protector to both Bran and Rickon. There's a subtle tragedy in this too - despite how much his siblings love him, all of them, including Arya, have othered him. He's brother, but only half. Snow, not a Stark. The last in the list. 'The last brother left to me' - as felt by both Robb and Sansa.

Book!Jon and Show!Jon are both shown to be loving, dutiful brothers but once again the show is incapable of portraying more than one character at a time in a certain way. Thus all of Jon's brotherly love is concentrated on Sansa, the sibling he was least close to. Show!Jon never mentions Robb after his death mentions Arya not at all when book!Jon never stops thinking about the two of them.

Maybe, maybe if the show had bothered to flesh out Jon Snow's emotional attachment to his home and siblings, his dilemma between his family and Dany wouldn't have been so shoddy.

Friend:

Book!Jon, despite his aloof demeanour attracts fast friends. His staunchest supporters in the NW are those who he befriended when he first stepped within the gates. He's the only one to ever have stood up for many of them. And it's his NW friends who do become truly brothers, as they see and stand beside him during his rise to leadership.

Show!Jon is no different - he's got his loyal friends but there was no apparent discord after him being elected LC. Which is surprising considering that this is the moment that Jon effectively decides to ‘Kill the boy.’ The Gilly baby switch storyline is completely done away with, probably because it is the one decision that very clearly paints Jon as grey. The book Sam struggles to understand this decision - in his mind his best friend would never have done that. Maester Aemon is the one who sets him straight - Jon is no longer just a brother of the Watch, he’s the Lord Commander now. He can no longer be taking decisions just as Sam’s friend.

The show never really dwelt on the chasm Jon’s position as a leader would have created with his brothers who till them were his equals. Book!Jon knowingly starts distancing himself and this is a flaw that comes back to stab him in the chest - again a misstep in one raised to leadership at a young age.

Lover:

This part will be a bit of a cop-out since at this point the only common love interest between the books and the show is Ygritte. The show axed Val, who’s one of my favourite secondary characters and my main preference for a Jon pairing pre-Dany. And of course, there’s far too much plot to cover before Jon and Dany even meet in the book (if they’re ever finished).

There are factions of the fandom who don’t think the Jon and Dany romance in S7 was set up convincingly. Admittedly that’s going to be hard for me to judge fairly as I’ve been in the Jonerys camp ever since ADWD made it clear how Jon was growing as a leader and as a magical touchstone in direct parallels to Dany. It definitely helped that Kit’s portrayal of Jon had FINALLY started to appeal to me once The Watchers of the Wall aired. I’d been one of the many fans who had been waiting for these two to meet on the show - and though I personally found the Jon-Dany relationship progression to be one of the few good things about S7, I can perhaps get why many neutral fans (i.e not commited to any rival ships for either Jon or Dany) think its out of character for them to be so involved so soon.

There are plenty of popular assumptions perpetuated by the show which have no backup in the original material - one of them is ‘dumb, lovable idiot’ Jon paired with the ‘awkward and oblivious as fuck with women’ Jon. Now, I’ll not deny that the latter portrayal works QUITE well with show!Jon (Kit’s face is the perfect cast for this characterization) but I just don’t see it working with book!Jon. The boy isn’t seeking out women but its not like he’s not around them. Alys Karstark was quite obviously taken with him, and I doubt Jon missed it, but there were far greater things of import to consider for both of them - I saw no awkwardness in the text. Jon dislikes Selyse and manages to be both cordial and deferential as required. Melisandre makes no secret of her fascination with him - there’s no bumbling awkwardness there either. And Val - he’s quite smitten and there’s some awkwardness there, sure but its hardly the bumbling variety.

As for Dany - considering that at this point the 7 seasons of the show is all we will ever have, I somehow think the softer show!Jon makes a much better pairing with the more hardened show!Dany. Its as if certain aspects of their personalities were flipped in the show - book!Dany is definitely much softer and gentle without her power and strength being diminished, whereas book!Jon is far more calculated and ruthless without compromising on his honour and integrity.

#jon snow #book!jon #show!jon #ASoIaF #game of thrones #nights watch #asoiaf val #jonerys

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moth-and-raven · 3 years

Text

CHAPTER TWELVE

I can’t sleep. And from my window, I see that Julian and Portia can’t either; the lights in the little cottage stay on long into the night. I hope they’re catching up, after a decade apart.

A piece of me wants to rejoin them. I felt so safe cocooned in the smells of Portia’s cooking and the laughter we shared. It drained away step by step as I returned to the palace. I trust both of them, but I miss them, too, even though they’re so close. It’s weird to be able to put faces to the holes in my heart.

I must’ve fallen asleep eventually, though, because I startle at the sound of a songbird greeting the dawn. We didn’t agree on an exact time to meet up again, but the earlier the better. With any luck, no one will be wasting the few days left before the Masquerade hanging around Lucio’s old rooms.

At least, no one but us.

The summer morning is cool and clear, buoying me down the garden path to the cottage. Julian emerges as soon as he sees me; Portia has to physically hold him back from running out to meet me. I laugh, seeing her strong, freckled arms wrapped around him from behind. She grimaces and releases him as I shut the door.

“Finally,” she grunts, though it can’t be later than six-thirty. “Nothing personal, but I’m already tired of hearing your name today.”

Julian pulls me into an embrace and spins around the small room, kissing my cheeks and forehead. “Good morning, my darling,” he murmurs. “What a sight you are.”

“Will you calm down, lover boy?” Portia rolls her eyes and swats at him, but I hear the smile in her voice.

He stops, raking his gaze over my face. “No,” he says softly. “I can't.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to.” She shakes her head and pulls a bundle of clothing from behind a chair. “‘Ian’ isn’t very excitable.”

“Ian?”

“Would you rather be Jules again?”

Julian looks closely at the clothes in Portia’s arms: a palace servant’s uniform, similar to her own, all cream and gold. “I need a different name?”

“Look, would you just let me have my fun?” she pouts, quickly turning it into a grin. “You’re Ian, my humble assistant for the day. That means you have to listen to me or I’ll fire you.”

“You wouldn’t fire me, would you?”

Portia eyes him up and down, as if thinking hard. “Yes I would,” she says. “You’re very fire-able.”

All three of us laugh. I can’t help but snuggle into Julian’s chest to feel the rumble of it. He nuzzles my hair, sighing contentedly as the moment passes. “I suppose I can let ‘Ian’ have the spotlight,” he tells Portia, taking the clothes from her. "At least for today."

“Good. I want to get up there soon. Did you have breakfast, Reyja?”

I don’t want to take her food, but I shake my head as she glances out the window at the sun.

“There’re some eggs on the counter, and an orange too, I think. I have some chores to do before we go, but they shouldn’t take long,” she says, moving to the door. “Ten minutes tops. Be ready by then?”

Julian nods.

Portia narrows her eyes at him, then at me. “Wait for me if you guys get done first, okay? You’ll be the least conspicuous if I’m around.”

Silence settles in the room after she leaves. I sit down on Portia’s perfumed couch; Julian starts to join me, then thinks better of it and ducks into the bathroom to change instead.

“Did you sleep well?” he asks. I can still hear him clearly.

“Not really. Too excited.”

“Nor did I."

I frown. "That's two nights in a row, isn't it? That you haven't slept?"

"Ahm… yes."

"Will you be alright?"

"This is nothing, truly. And I did sleep a bit. It'll tide me over, I promise."

I'm surprised by how fiercely I want to take care of him. I've never felt like that before. "If we get a minute, we should take a nap."

"Oh, darling, that sounds absolutely divine."

I lean on the back of the couch, resting my chin on my crossed wrists, watching the shadows he casts on the wall as he changes into his new outfit. Portia did the best she could finding clothes that would fit, but it looks like both shirt and trousers will hang loosely on him.

When he’s dressed, he reappears at the open door, doing up the last of his gilded buttons. “I was thinking about us.” He pauses, looking at me tenderly. “And I’m curious: would you have accepted my, erm, advances, from the beginning?”

“Like breaking-into-the-shop beginning?”

“Ha, had I not been so focused on tracking Asra down, I might’ve asked to stay.”

“Really?”

“I considered it.” He laughs. “You were in your element, my dear, with your spells and your blade. And in that robe too… I kept trying to think of reasons to come back, all the next day. If you hadn’t shown up at the Raven, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

“Is that why you were so eager to talk that night?”

“What, when I asked you to dinner?”

That is what he did, isn’t it? A date I didn’t even realize we were on. “Yeah.”

“Circumstances being as they were, I did find myself wondering about that pendant. That you were carrying it only made me more interested.”

I touch the smooth silver moon hanging around my neck. “You still can't remember what it means?”

“No. I don’t mind, though. If all it did was bring us together, it means the world to me.”

My heart surges, swelling with affection. He grins and crosses the room, cupping my cheek as he kneels to press his lips to mine.

“I never did get to say what I pictured doing with you, did I?” he asks, more breath than sound.

He didn’t, though I can hardly regret what happened instead. I don’t have to encourage him to go on.

“Hm.” He sits down beside me. “Aside from the obvious, as I so vividly demonstrated, they're the most mundane things. Like— like taking you shopping, or doing laundry together. Is that… do you find that odd?”

I shake my head and nestle against him. It isn’t odd; it’s one of the most soothing scenes I’ve ever imagined.

“And, and settling down with you at the end of a long day,” he murmurs. “Just like this, or maybe in front of a fireplace. Anywhere, really, so long as you’re in my arms.”

I let my eyes flutter shut as I inhale the scent of his skin, his hair. “We could read together,” I suggest. “Or play cards.”

“We could, we could. Would you let me take you out to dinner again, too? Show you off?”

“If you wanted.”

“Oh, I want the whole city, the whole world, to see us and know we’re together. And we could even take Nurlan up on her offer of seeing a show, couldn’t we? I’m no stranger to the stage, you know. I used to be quite the actor. That’s where I met her, in fact.”

A slightly less peaceful thought burrows between his words, grinning slyly at me. “That could be fun,” I say. “Did you have your own dressing room and everything?”

His heavy-lidded gaze turns sultry as he follows where I lead. “All to myself.”

“Do they let audience members backstage if they really, really want to visit?”

“My darling, I wouldn’t let them keep you from me for all the gold in the Palace’s coffers.”

I hum contentedly, admiring the image in my head: I’m already in his dressing room when he comes through the door, flushed and exhilarated from a successful opening night. I stand up to greet him and draw him in for a kiss that turns rapidly from celebratory to sensual. I’m sure he can taste my intentions.

His chest moves with the sigh he heaves. “So much I want to experience with you,” he says wistfully.

“We can.”

“Do you think so?”

I peer up at him, throwing one leg over his thighs as I tuck myself into his side. “Yes.”

“Well, who am I to nay-say such confidence, hm?”

I don’t think anyone has ever described me as confident, but he’s right. I feel it. I’m tired, but excited, and hopeful, and determined to see what happens next. Maybe this will be beyond my capabilities, but I won’t face it alone.

“Oh, I could spend a lifetime kissing you,” Julian murmurs. “I want to spend a lifetime kissing you.”

“It takes two, doesn’t it? We’d be kissing each other.”

“So we would.” He grins. “Shall we start right away?”

He’s dressed and ready to go. Portia will still be a few minutes. We have time, but I won’t waste any of it by saying so.

We’re in a somewhat compromising position when she returns: sprawled along the couch, Julian laying against me with my legs wrapped around his hips, so involved in each other that I don’t even hear the door. I should’ve known better — it’s already apparent that his touch, his very presence, blurs my caution into action every time. Even the looming threats of the Plague and the Masquerade pale in the warmth he spreads.

Both of us scramble to sit up in response to Portia’s beleaguered sigh, but she just shakes her head. “Come on,” she says. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner the two of you can have some privacy. Wait, where’s your wig?”

“Oh, erm.” Julian gestures towards the bathroom.

Portia rolls her eyes. “Put it on. Everyone knows to look out for a redhead. They won’t be expecting dark hair instead.”

Julian offers his hand to help me up, dropping a final kiss to my knuckles before breaking away to collect the wig Portia found. It washes him out a little, but he doesn’t look half-bad with straight black hair falling to his chin, covering his right eye. He smiles bashfully and does his best to tuck his new bangs behind his ear, but they won’t stay. It’s for the best: he’d be even more conspicuous wearing his patch, and this way no one can see, and be tipped off by, his plagued eye.

We follow Portia through the sunlit gardens to the palace, swinging our linked arms. “We’re probably gonna have to go the back way,” she explains, tossing the words over her shoulder as she fishes for her ring of keys to unlock the same greenhouse we left through last night. “Carmeline was telling me that they’re blocking off the whole suite for the party, so no one wanders up there accidentally.”

“What’s the back way?” I ask.

“This, the servants’ passages. They run all over the building. Sorry about your neck, Ian,” she says to Julian, smiling cheekily. “You’ll have to crouch down.”

He sighs, resigned to his fate.

“Reyja can give you a massage later, right?”

I certainly could, and squeeze his hand to tell him so.

“What a reward,” he says dreamily. He’s about to lean in to kiss me again when Portia smacks his arm.

“No more of that. Not while we’re here.”

“Ah, of course.”

“And stay close. It’s easy to get lost, the way we’re going.”

I lose my bearings after the first three turns. How anyone can navigate these twisting halls with no indication of where they are in the broader scheme of the palace is beyond me, but every servant we pass seems to know exactly where they’re going. It’s for the best that they’re so focused, and so busy: no one gives Julian a second glance. Maybe his disguise was unnecessary, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.

We follow Portia single-file, past living quarters and storage rooms and kitchens and closets. At one point we pass an armory, full to the brim with weapons long neglected to rust. A tiny staircase gives us pause; it’s barely wide enough for my hips, and poor Julian is nearly doubled over to avoid the low ceiling. But we manage to squeeze up the tight spiral and crowd together on the landing crowning it while Portia feels for the door handle in the dark. I call a small light to my palm to help her, but our bodies cast shadows too dark to see through.

She finds it eventually, and we stagger out of the wall into ash piled high like snowdrifts. We’re on the other side of the suite now, opposite where Portia and I explored before. My heart catches in my throat when I realize that we’ve emerged in Lucio’s bedroom itself, untouched for the last three years, stirring cinders into the air with our breath and footsteps.

It’s so quiet. Eerily quiet, like sound is being eaten before it can escape. I close my eyes against the force of the silence.

And Lucio’s spark flares into view, white-silver and red, the vaguest shape of a man, blurred at the edges. His form disappears when I open my eyes again, but his presence remains, angrier than he was a few days ago. I wonder if he knows what time of year it is. The Masquerade was held in celebration of his birthday, after all, and from what I know of him, he’s probably pretty upset that people are ignoring its origins and partying without him.

At least that gives me an emotion to latch onto.

I rest one hand on Portia’s soft shoulder, holding her back before she can venture further in.

“What?” she asks. I can hear the excitement and concern mingled in her voice.

“He’s here,” I say simply.

Julian’s pressed so close to me I feel him tremble when I close my eyes again. I do my best to ignore him, weaving Asra’s old spells into careful nets to keep Lucio from vanishing when we call to him properly. He knows we’re here too, I think, but he can’t see us. I enclose the space around us, sealing up the room. Win or lose, here we go.

“Ready?” I ask quietly.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we?” Julian whispers back, barely keeping his nerves at bay. Despite his eagerness last night, I can tell that this isn’t his favorite thing.

“Nope,” Portia says. “So let’s do it.”

“Okay.”

I call magical bindings to my fingertips, to hold him here when he manifests. I’d rather not use them if I can help it, because I know how much it will drain me, but needs must. Air mixed with fine particles of soot fills my lungs and I hold back a cough to call out to him: “Count Lucio?”

His aura flares red, searching through his former suite for the intrusion. But when he finds us, he recoils. Waves of fear and confusion replace his hostility even as he tries to stand his ground.

“Who’s there?” he hisses, but only I can hear him. His voice is reedy, a faint echo of what a living throat can make.

I ignore the question. He’ll find out soon enough. “We’ve come to visit you.”

“Uh-huh, sure. A palace full of toadies and not a single person comes up here until now.”

Not a single—? He’s been alone all this time? Three years, a floating consciousness with nothing else to do? How desperately lonely he must be.

“What do you want?” he adds peevishly. “I’m not really entertaining right now, y’get me?”

His presence is getting stronger, the more he funnels into communicating with us. He’s still unfocused, but I can almost see him when he moves. Behind me, Julian and Portia are frozen, holding each other’s hands, letting me work.

“That’s okay,” I tell him. “We won’t take long.”

“Hmph. Where else am I gonna go?” he pouts. “They’re shutting me up in here, away from the party.”

I wonder if he’ll manifest more quickly with flattery… “Locking you out of your own party?”

“Thank you! Finally, someone who recognizes how fucking stupid that is!” His shape roils like a thundercloud, smoke filling a glass vase until he almost looks solid. “The Masquerade is my baby! I may be dead, but I’m not gone!”

“That’s right,” I say, taking a hesitant step closer. “Um, speaking of… we had some questions for you.”

“Why d’you keep saying ‘we?’ There’s only one of you.”

Oh. “I… brought some friends. One of them might look familiar. He’s the one who wants to ask you about, uh…”

Lucio cuts me off. “Lemme see! Anyone who remembers me has shit to answer for, like—”

He stops dead the moment I take Julian’s hand. Both of them gasp, seeing each other for the first time. Julian’s skin is ice-cold, colder than usual, and his palm is damp with sweat, but he swallows bravely and raises his voice.

“Hello, Lucio.”

“Jules? ” Lucio says, the word dripping with incredulity.

“Now, you know I never liked that nickname—”

“Fuck my ass, it is you!”

“Erm.”

Lucio flows like quicksilver over the ash-stained carpet to shove his ghostly face into Julian’s. His eyes are the same piercing, plagued red, but his pupils are so pale as to be invisible.

“How fucking dare you?” Lucio shrieks. He tries to push Julian’s shoulder, but passes right through him. It only makes him angrier. “You fucking hack! I dug you outta the fucking trash to bring you here and wha’d’it get me, huh?! I trusted you, I gave you everything you fucking asked for! Why couldn’t you do what you said you would, asshole? This is all your fault! ”

I pull Julian back; he stumbles against me, flinching away from Lucio’s wrath. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“No! You fucking didn’t! You didn’t do shit and now fucking look at me!”

“Lucio, I—”

“Never should've trusted you. I thought we had somethin’, y’know? Since you were there for the arm thing and all. I should've called Naz-whatever instead.”

Julian swallows hard. “Nazali — erm, Doctor Satrinava — couldn’t have risked—”

“Don’t you dare fucking lecture me, Jules!”

Julian winces as Lucio launches into another tirade. I squeeze his hand; I could let go of him and he wouldn’t have to hear any of it, since it’s only through me they can communicate. But he squeezes back and draws a steadying breath.

“Look, Lucio, as nice as it is to hear your voice again—”

“And now you’re fucking mocking me? How dare—”

“— I really only have the one question. Then I’ll get out of your hair.”

Lucio crosses his arms, looking for all the world a petulant child just told he had five minutes until bedtime. “I’m gonna make the same promise you made me,” he says. “I’ll do ‘whatever I can.’ And apparently, that means I don’t have to do jack shit.”

Julian sighs. “Did I kill you?”

“You sure as fuck didn’t fucking cure me, did’ya?”

“No, I mean… at the end?”

“Pfft. You might as well have.”

The crunch of ash fills the silence.

“... But I didn't?”

Lucio shrugs.

“I didn’t kill you?!”

“I don’t know, okay?” Lucio turns his back on us and floats across the room to the soot-stained curtains, pawing uselessly at them as he tries to open the window. He grunts in annoyance and stares at the wall instead.

Julian presses his point. “You don’t know who killed you?”

“Look, I was kinda busy at the time. Dying and shit.”

“Do you remember anything?”

He scowls. “I remember someone coming in… someone tall, and thin. And pale. But… but I don’t think it was you. They weren’t… they weren’t human …”

I could shout for joy. I won’t, but I could. Julian is innocent! I knew he had to be! If there was someone else in the room before him, Lucio might have been dead before he even got there. That’s a mystery of its own, but I can’t help the relief flooding through my veins. Whoever it was, it wasn’t him. And right now, that’s as much of a victory as I need.

But Julian’s still worried, and still deadly focused on Lucio’s nebulous form.

“Hey, uh. I got a question for you, too,” Lucio says, shaking himself out of his patchy memories. “You owe me one, anyway.”

Julian nods for him to continue.

“You still in contact with that Skylar guy?”

Julian startles. “Skylar? I haven’t seen him in years. How do you know him?”

“Duh, he was here. Cared about me more than you ever did, too.”

“I… don’t remember that.”

Lucio smirks. “I sure as fuck do. Damn, if I hadn’t been, like, dying… he could rearrange my guts any day.”

I hadn’t realized Portia could hear him too, but she stifles a snicker behind her hand. The other, I see, is still holding Julian’s. Julian himself blushes, and clears his throat.

“Erm, I’ll be sure to let him know.”

“ASAP. He’s here, y’know.”

“What? How do you know that, if you can’t—?”

Lucio preens. “My good doggies were playing with Salsa a few days ago. I heard them.”

“You heard…” Julian trails off, then turns to Portia. I can almost hear his mind racing. “Pasha, is a tall man with dark skin and green eyes staying in the palace?”

Lucio interrupts before she can answer. “Do you think I’d be asking if he was actually here here? I just know he’s somewhere in the city.”

And Julian laughs, his shoulders loosening. Whoever this Skylar is, his presence must mean a lot to him. “I bet I know exactly where.”

—————

Skylar belongs to @ollifree.

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#the arcana #the arcana fanfic #reyja north #julian devorak #moth & raven

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noodlecupcakeswritings · 4 years

Text

Undercover - Chapter 13 (A LokixRaven AU)

Loki won the battle of New York and now rules over Earth after eliminating Thor and Hawkeye. The remaining Avengers have gone into hiding, waiting for a chance to take back their planet. Raven (OC) is their key to doing so.

This fic is pretty much porn and with this AU Raven and Loki have no previous history.

Please leave comments, kudos and reblogs if you like it. It really helps me out as a writer, lemme know if you wanna be on the taglist as well :)

Warnings: Murder, Violence, Language, Betrayal

Chapter 13

Raven’s P.O.V

The rising summer sun eventually awoke me. We’d slept out in the shade of the trees, naked and in each other’s arms. Anybody would have considered it romantic. I rolled over, facing him, and studied his sleeping face. Perhaps in another life I would have considered it romantic too, perhaps I would have considered the possibility of something between us. But he’d taken my planet by force and enslaved it. He didn’t deserve my love. Loki slowly awoke, his eyelashes fluttering as he opened his eyes. His gaze met mine and a soft smile spread across his handsome features. He was looking at me lovingly, his hand cupping my cheek tenderly. Whilst it was good for the plan, he was falling for me, if he knew the real me, he would be disgusted.

Loki leaned forward and kissed me, his fingers in my hair. We remained like this for a few minutes before Loki had to redress and begin his daily royal duties. I couldn’t keep him from that, but it had been nice whilst it had lasted. After I had also redressed, we headed back towards the palace. Loki insisted on walking me back to my quarters where we finally parted. Last night had been…nice. I liked to think if perhaps he wasn’t king, and I wasn’t an undercover agent, I would have wanted to take it further. I showered and changed into clean clothes before heading for the library. I needed to focus on the mission and not my personal feelings.

Inside the vast collection of books, I searched for Agent Collins. We bumped straight into each other. He seemed in a hurry and worried. When he saw it was me, he took my hand and led me deeper into the room. Nerves settled in my stomach. Something felt wrong. And one wrong move with this game and we’d both be dead. Once he was sure we wouldn’t be overheard even in an empty room he stopped. “He knows. He knows that there’s an undercover agent amongst his slaves,” Collins explained. Shit. Collins clasped my hand between his as if to reassure me. I probably looked terrified, I certainly felt it. “He doesn’t know it’s you though. And he won’t so long as we start being more careful.”

I was still worried. He could easily find out that it was me or Collins. Loki could easily take our free will from us with his sceptre and make us tell him everything. “I’ve planted the evidence on one of the other slaves for when room searches are conducted. Well copies of the evidence,” Collins explained. Whilst it relieved me that my life was to be spared, I hated the idea of one of those innocent women dying in my place. God only knew what he would do to them. None of them deserved that, none of them deserved to die for me. All of them had come here for a better life and I was to be their executioner.

“There has to be another way,” I spoke. “If he doesn’t find evidence, he’ll interrogate you one by one until he gets what he wants. And once he finds out everything, he’ll find other ways to use you. Worse ways.” “I can’t be responsible for murder!” Collins sighed, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder, “the fate of the world is in your hands. You knew that when you agreed to this mission, you knew the risks and the potential for casualties. One life to save everyone else’s. It’s a no brainer, Raven.” Recoiling in horror, I put distance between us. Those ultimatums were bullshit. And with my history…I didn’t need more blood on my hands.

“Raven, your here to do your job nothing else. All that matters is you and I staying alive at the end. I don’t think Fury would appreciate you getting sentimental,” Collins continued, his tone becoming threatening. “He can’t pull me without jeopardizing you and all the progress Shield has made. Besides, Shield is about saving lives, not putting them at risk to save our own.” “So you’d rather die?” I paused, sighing. That wasn’t a fair question. But we both knew the answer. No. “Which one of them did you plant the evidence on?” I asked. “Erin.” I nodded, seemingly accepting her fate. What choice did I have?

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

Later, Loki summoned all of us to the throne room. I had sealed their fate; nothing could be done now. The seven of us stood together in a row, the other six wondering why we had all been summoned together. Loki rose from his throne, approaching us, his sceptre at his side. “I apologize for interrupting you all, but this was something of great importance,” Loki explained, pacing back and forth down the line. None of us spoke, some of the girls exchanging confused or worried glances. There was obvious tension in the room. “It seems there’s a spy within my walls. A spy that threatens to take everything from us, a spy that threatens your safety,” Loki continued.

Next came the whispers and shocked gasps. I swallowed my nerves. A voice in my head was still telling me he would pull me out of the line and finally see through my facade. All of this would have been for nothing. I really would be nothing more than a disappointment. A failure. Loki stopped in front of me, meeting my gaze, which softened for a few moments. “I promise to keep you safe. I am your king and you came to me for salvation. None of that has changed. The threat will be dealt with,” Loki resumed. It felt like he was talking directly to me instead of the group. I forced what I hoped was a soft smile. He resumed his pacing before the throne room doors burst open. Two Chitauri entered the throne room, dragging a struggling Agent Collins with them.

They forced Collins to kneel before Loki. After our exchange in the library, I’d found the evidence in Erin’s room and put it back where it belonged. In the library, in a drawer on his desk. These women were not disposable like he had claimed. But he was. Their profession did not make them worthless. Slave or not, they deserved to live. He would die for Earth, for this mission…a hero’s death, as they would say. And I was the only one who would know the truth. He’d threatened me, threatened the progress I’d made. This was what he deserved. Collins directed his glare at me, which I had expected. It was a gamble planting the evidence on him. Either he’d try to drag me into this out of spite or he’d keep his mouth shut. After all, if we both died, the mission would be over.

“You thought you could deceive me for so long? That I wouldn’t find out? I always had my suspicions, but I didn’t think you would be so stupid as to try and destroy what is mine.” Loki spoke, his tone cocky. “This planet was never yours and it never will be,” Collins growled. “And I suppose there are more agents here? The pathetic Avengers are lying in wait for their moment?” Collins turned his attention back to me and I held back a warning glare. Looks like he was going to petty and spiteful. And he had the nerve to say Furry wouldn’t be happy with my behaviour. Yet here he was jeopardizing everything so I would go down with him.

“You didn’t think I came here alone? Fury sent her for backup, and he’ll send more,” Collins continued. Loki turned to me, and I could see the glimmer of doubt in his eyes. I met Loki’s gaze and shook my head. "I dont know what he’s talking about, my king,” I lied. Loki studied me for a few more moments as if trying to see my lie. He turned his attention back to Collins. “Another lie? Trying to shift the blame on to one of my slaves will not save you,” Loki hissed. I was safe, for now. Although that hint of doubt in his eyes would be something to worry about.

Loki drew his sceptre back, ready to kill Collins when I had an idea. An idea that would benefit Shield more than Collins. “Wait!” I declared. All eyes were on me, the slaves looking shocked. Loki looked about ready to kill me where I stood for interrupting him. “If he is a spy, wouldn’t you want them to know that you found out? That their mission has failed?” I continued. “What are you suggesting?” Loki asked. “Perhaps, a more public execution, my king. Perhaps his corpse should adorn the palace gates as a warning for any future attempts to overthrow you.”

Loki considered my words before a sinister grin spread across his face, “I like the way you think, my dear.” Loki ordered the Chitauri to take him outside to the palace steps before dismissing the slaves. As I headed to the door, Loki grabbed my wrist preventing my exit. It wasn’t a hard grip, but I was still nervous. I wasn’t quite out of this situation yet. “Yes, my king?” I asked innocently. “Did his accusation vex you that much? Is that why you suggested his death be public?” Loki asked. Partly. Also, Shield would see it and know the mission was now solely mine. They deserved to know that Collins had failed. And as far as I was concerned, they would never learn the truth.

“I wouldn’t want anything to come between us, my king. Not after last night,” I explained. Loki tilted my chin so that I met his gaze, “I can assure you, nothing will.” “I have no reason to betray you, not after everything you’ve given me.” “I know. It was just a lie, and you were an easy target because of how fond I am of you.” Loki leaned down and kissed me passionately. I returned the kiss, his body pressing against mine. Desire was thick between us, Loki seemed to hold back though. “Once this is done, I will come to your quarters,” he declared, his voice a little huskier. I nodded with a smile and let him go. The sooner Collins was dead, the better. Then I would be at less of a risk.

Loki and I exited the throne room, I headed upstairs, pausing at a window that overlooked the front of the palace. I watched as Loki exited the palace, switching his sceptre from one hand to the other. Collins was kneeling again, restrained by the Chitauri. Loki made it quick, stabbing Collins through the chest with the sceptre. I found myself smiling at the sight. Whilst I hadn’t been the one to take his life, it still felt good watching as he got what he deserved.

Taglist: @sweetfictionalworld, @therealityhelix, @darkprincessloki92, @skulliebythesea, @fizzyxcustard, @myownviperroom, @jana-banana-fana,

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of-muppets-and-men · 4 years

Text

A Rose and Her Thorns

A piece I finally found the time to finish.

Spring.

Arguably Raven’s least favourite season. Summer was always warm and inviting; never sullied by the rain. Autumn was cool, its winds delicate and gentle; not to mention the breathtaking beauty of the forest. Winter, while bitter and unforgiving, at least gave her a reason to hunker down in her tent; warmed by fresh tea and heavy blankets. But Spring?

Spring was what it always was: Groggy and Wet.

The near constant rain seeped into everything it could; her clothes, her tent, and more annoyingly, the earth. The ground became a thick field of mud, making setting up camp a pain. Trees and foliage damp to the touch, making campfires all the more difficult to light. Raven had been through this time and time again, and with every passing year, she hated it even more.

And so, Raven sat quietly, trying to enjoy a cup of jasmine tea. A steady beat of raindrops pelted the roof of her tent, causing the bandit queen to seethe. With a deep sigh, she took a slow sip from her porcelain cup. The tea brought warmth to her numb fingers as she relished in her favorite tea. But her bliss was rudely interrupted when she heard the loud stomping of boots headed towards her tent.

The Bandit Queen nearly dropped her cup as Vernal and two of her scouts came fumbling in, trodding mud with every step. Raven was surprised to see her scouts so badly beaten. They may not have been her, but they definitely knew how to handle themselves. One of them was basically being carried by Vernal while the other stumbled inside, clutching his ribcage. Raven half-heartedly walked over to inspect the damage of her comrades; Vernal dressed the injuries best she could.

“Who did this to you?” Raven asked abrasively “C’mon. Speak up.”

“No idea.” Her scout spoke “This chick just ambushed us out of nowhere. Didn’t even have time to fight bac-”

The well built man winced in pain as Vernal bandaged his broken ribs. His partner was nursing her concussion with a bag of ice. Raven scoffed in disappointment, but led onto the more pressing question.

“This woman… Was she a huntress?”

“Maybe.” The other scout piped up.

“What did she look like?” Raven questioned again.

“Short. Couldn’t see her face under her cloak though.” The scout explained.

“Cloak?” Raven spat, eyebrow cocked.

“Yeah… big white and red cloak surrounded by flower petals.”

The Bandit Queen’s eyes grew wide in realisation. She stood back up, fists clenched and body tense. A deep sigh followed as her subordinates looked on in bewilderment. Raven had long dreaded this would happen. The day she left her family, her team; she knew one day they’d come looking for her.

“You okay, Boss?” Her scouts asked in unison.

“Vernal. Get these two patched up in the medical tent. I’ll tend to this myself.” Raven declared.

Her lieutenant attempted to protest “Raven, Are you sur-”

“Yes, I am. Now go.”

A tone of voice Vernal knew well and she knew it wasn’t wise to stick around. The lieutenant ushered the scouts of the tent, hoping not to exacerbate their injuries. Raven ambled toward Omen, clutching her weapon’s scabbard intently. She fastened it to her hip, unsheathing the crimson blade. The red glint comforted her in its own strange way, a poignant reminder of her own strength. The Leader of the Branwen tribe resheathed her blade, donned her mask, and set out in search of the trespasser.

In a moment’s notice, she flew above the treeline. As much disdain as she held for Ozpin, this was far and away the best thing he’d ever done for her. Raven glided through the air, relishing in the freedom of flight. There she gazed upon the earth for a sign, any sign of human life.

And sure enough, a plume of smoke protruded from the canopy; an obvious signal to lure her in. The smoke was too thick to be just logs. No, someone had intentionally let it billow. A clever ploy at the very least. Raven dived back into the forest to better trace the source, noticing hints of flame through the damp thicket.

With a surge of magic, Raven returned to her human form and hid within the treeline. A move she’d learned as a child and perfected as a huntress; She laid an eye onto the clearing. And the lack of… anything, worried her. Other than the fire, there was nothing; no bedroll, no provisions, nobody. Every bit of this reeked of a trap. Raven gripped Omen tight; the mechanism swirled and locked in a blade. Hesitant to expose herself, the bandit queen waited for the perpetrator to act…

*Swish*

Three dust bolts flew past her head, embedding themselves into an adjacent tree six inches above her. Her cover blown, Raven blitzed out of the treeline. Her gaze zeroed in on the direction the bolts came from; a large oak tree. The closer she got, the silhouette of woman became more apparent within the branches. Another volley wisped past the brush. Raven sidestepped them before lunging at the trespasser. But before Omen could connect, the mystery woman exploded into flower petals. Raven’s eye widened in disbelief, only to sharpen once more as she turned around.

The edge of Omen’s blade nearly an inch from the woman’s throat; countered by the fact a blade hovered over Raven’s heart. A smirk formed on the Bandit Queen’s face as she breathed the woman’s name.

“Summer. Long time no see.”

“Likewise Raven. Do you… want to continue?” Summer inquired.

The old friends chuckled before resheathing their weapons. Their eyes remained locked on one another; hostility not entirely off the table. Raven could see her former leader’s eye glimmering in the shade; a sight that made her nervous.

“Let’s talk over there.” The smaller woman said, gesturing over to the clearing.

Raven nodded and followed Summer back into the dim light of the afternoon. With a couple cleaves, Raven had made a tree into something relatively comfortable to sit on. They awkwardly sat at opposite ends, facing away from each other to avoid eye contact. Silence enveloped them as they both pondered on what to say. After all, in the grand scheme, Raven had only departed one and a half years ago. Such a long time and yet equally not. But ever abrasive, the bandit queen started her inquiry.

“What the hell are you doing here, Summer?”

“A girl can’t catch up with an old friend?” the smaller woman answered coyly.

“You could… But I highly doubt you roughed up my men just for a chat.”

“Hmph… I missed your skepticism.”

Summer let out a deep sigh, her hands trembling as she did so. A thing Raven found odd to say the least. Summer, as far as she knew, was the most cheerful beacon of hope she’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. So seeing her former leader downtrodden was alarming to say the least.

“I really am here to talk, Rae. I have a thing I need to vent about. I can’t tell Tai and I sure as hell can’t tell Qrow, so if you could bear with it without bitching at me; That’d be great.”

It took a moment for Summer to realize she had begun to cry. She half-heartedly wiped the tears away with her sleeves, only for more to take their place.

A sight profoundly alien to Raven. In the many years she’d known her, she’d never seen Summer with anything less than a grin. And now to see her former leader falling apart at the seams, it… scared her. In ways she hadn’t felt for a long time.

Raven shuffled closer to her old friend, rubbing her back to calm her down.

“Summer. What’s wrong?”

A still teary Summer looked up at her old friend and managed to whimper out an answer: “I’m pregnant, Rae.”

Her answer lingered in the air for a spell; Raven’s shock telegraphed by her eyes. She didn’t know how to feel about it. Should she be happy? After all, despite her current position, this was still a momentous occasion. Or should she be angry? Considering Summer and Tai had been living together. A fact she knew as a result of her snooping. The latter would have to do…

“That’s… incredible, Summer.” A stale attempt at enthusiasm.

The soon-to-be mother didn’t respond. She only continued to lazily wipe away her tears.

“It’s no wonder you haven’t told Tai. The blond idiot couldn’t stop celebrating when I told him. Couldn’t imagine it happening all over again.” Again, Summer remained silent.

“Y’know Sum? I’m almost proud. Snatching up Tai as soon as I was out of the picture. Didn’t think you had it in you if i’m being honest…”

“Raven, stop…”

“No, I’m serious Sum. I didn’t think you had an assertive bone in your body, yet here you are carrying my ex’s ba-”

“IT’S NOT TAI’S!!!!” Summer snapped, standing now with her fists clenched.

Once more, Raven sat dumbfounded, “Not Tai’s? Then who’s?”

With her hood pulled over her head, Summer spoke: “Qrow’s”

Silver eyes shone through the shadow of her hood, fear and uncertainty shrouding their beauty. The mirror-like gaze matched by deep scarlet. Raven was at a loss for words. Today was turning out to be far more eventful than she had thought. She hadn’t seen anyone from STRQ in well over a year. Now, in a matter of a few fleeting minutes, her former best friend drops back into her life and tells her she's going to be an aunt.

But Qrow? Qrow?

Her pissant little brother was going to be a father. The cursed brat of the Branwen tribe. She could barely believe her ears. Raven stood in stunned silence while Summer gave that annoying look of hers.

“See my problem, now?”

It took a moment for Raven to find the words. Where should she start? Her entire perception of life as a student was just uprooted. Summer and Qrow. The thought of them together made her stomach churn. But how long had they been this way? And how did she never pick up on it? Too deep in thought, Summer piped up to give the answers she required.

“Second year.” Summer voiced.

“What?”

“We’ve been together since second year.” the little woman clarified.

“You’ve been keeping this secret for 3 years?” Raven fumed, nearly impressed by the resolve. “Does Tai know?”

“No. And It wasn’t our intention for it to be this way. We were going to tell you two when we graduated, but then you left… Tai was in a bad place and I chose to help him. We both decided it wasn’t the time or the place, which is why I’m here now.”

The Bandit Queen scoffed, her fists clenched with frustration, “So that’s why he stayed...”

Raven shot up from her makeshift seat, Summer puzzled at her sudden change in temperament. The Bandit that was once her friend started to make her way back to the tribe she’d left them for. The smaller woman followed close behind, intent to change her mind. Their boots sloshed in the mud as Summer grabbed her wrist.

“Where are you going?” Summer badgered.

“Home. I’m done with our little talk.” Raven snarled in response.

“Then you’re going the wrong way.”

Scarlet eyes whipped back, clearly laced with insult. Summer looked back defiantly, unfazed by Raven’s temper.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You have a home, but it’s not here. It’s back on Patch where your husband, daughter, brother, myself and now your niece are waiting for you.” Summer lectured, clutching her abdomen. “Your FAMILY.”

Raven said nothing in return. Only rolling her eyes as she pulled her wrist from Summer’s grasp. Family? What a joke. The wilds were the only place for her now, as much as Summer begged to differ. It was Qrow’s too, but he was a fool, just like Oz and the rest. Raven would have no part in it. She stormed away, back through the thicket and loose earth.

It stung. Watching her friend choose a group of lowlifes over the family they made. A low scoff wisped passed her lips.

“You were a lot of things, Rae. Strong, Stubborn, Proud. But I never took you for a coward.”

Coward. The word struck Raven like a punch. In a flash of rage, she lunged at her former best friend. Omen’s blade sliced through the air, narrowly missing Summer’s head. The Tiny Huntress flowed around the weapon’s edge, sidestepping it entirely. With a solemn look, Summer then kicked Raven clean in the jaw, sending her tumbling into the mud. In her anguish, she’d forgotten to engage her aura.

Raven rubbed her aching chin, looking up at the woman who beat her. Summer gazed back, her expression dripping with disappointment. And with a shake of her head, she left, dissipating into a shroud of flower petals, leaving Raven alone. The bandit picked herself up and made the walk back to camp.

Vernal stood waiting for her, pacing by the gate. As soon as her leader appeared from the treeline, she rushed over to assess what had transpired.

“Raven? Gods, what happened out there?” The lieutenant questioned.

“NOTHING.” Raven barked as she trotted back to her tent.

Vernal watched her leader vanish behind the vestibule. Raven tossed Omen aside in a pile of cloth. She angrily poured herself more tea, recounting the day she’d had. Gods above, she hated spring, but summer was becoming a close second.

#rwby #strq #hummingbird #flown north #hunter's dream #qrose #dusty rose #qrow x summer #summer x qrow #raven branwen #summer rose #qrow branwen

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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I will personally never understand why the "bird conversation" happened. Qrow basically shut it down, by (I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he did) saying they agreed to taking the ability. It feels like we're being told to take Raven at face value, despite other, more trustworthy charecters speaking to the contrary.

He did. Basic rundown of the conversation: Yang enters it pissed off, they learn all the revelations that the rest of the group got a few episodes back, Ozpin asks if this was “more or less what your mother told you,” Yang straight up ignores him and Weiss has to answer for her with, “for the most part.” This finally makes Yang angry enough to respond with “You forgot to tell everyone what you did to Qrow and my mother,” there are gasps and horrified looks from the group, but we get a shot of Qrow smiling and going “oh great”---he knows this secret isn’t a big deal but that convincing the others of that won’t be easy.

Ozpin explains about the power while Yang pouts on the couch. Nora angrily accuses Ozpin of “messing with us” (even though you all took way stranger things at face value... like reincarnation...), Jaune crosses his arm and adds “What else is new?” Despite these explanations with no downsides mentioned, Yang is still furious: “Why would you do something like that? I mean, what is wrong with you?”

She gets antagonistic enough that Qrow shuts her down and then explicitly states, “We made a choice. We wanted this.”

Ozpin then looks to Qrow and asks permission---“May I?”---in order to explain further, detailing that he needed allies to search for Maidens and keep an eye on Salem’s movements. The question heavily implies what should already be obvious: this was Qrow’s secret to keep and tell. Why is everyone gunning for Ozpin when Qrow, the person with the actual ability, likewise made the choice to keep that from his family? These explanations segue into the reveal that Ozpin created the first four Maidens and he ends his speech by admitting that “it was never my intention to lie to you.” He and Qrow share a knowing look as he admits that he “plays things close to the chest” which honestly, to me, reads as two war-worn adults acknowledging that this shit is complicated. You keep secrets, you tell lies, you do what you need to in order to survive and keep others safe. Look at these youngsters who think that non-stop honesty is always the way to go. Or is in any way easy even when it should be done:

Yang still looks pissed as hell despite thoroughly being proven wrong

and then makes her announcement that she’ll stay if Ruby stays, but no more secrets or half-truths. Ozpin agrees with “Understood.”

Which, obviously, the fandom has used as the go-to moment to damn Ozpin. You promised not to lie and then you did! Which yeah, that isn’t great. He should have been honest here in his inability to promise such a thing. However, that’s not the only factor in all this. We also have the fact that “no more lies or half truths” does not equal “tell us every single detail about this war right now that includes your very personal and traumatic history.” We have the issue that Yang and many of the others (notably Jaune) were unwilling to judge Ozpin fairly from the get-go. They decided that he was guilty before the trail even began and, when faced with evidence that proved all their assumptions wrong, decided to ignore it rather than admitting they were wrong. You’re going to trust a group like that with world-altering secrets? And we finally have the issue that Yang herself clearly doesn’t believe in her own ultimatums. Or doesn’t think they should apply to her. Keeping Raven’s Maiden power a secret? Turning on Ironwood to spill the beans to Robyn and letting her escape? I don’t put must stock in a character’s outraged, “You kept secrets and lied?” when they’re keeping secrets and lying too. The group’s inability to make the jump from “Wow. Sometimes we do need to keep information close to the chest” to “Oh. I guess it makes sense then that Ozpin would do the same thing” is one of the things that still characterizes them as naive, hypocritical, and downright dangerous given the stakes.

From a fandom perspective though, I’m not at all surprised that a completely unambiguous admission from Qrow---“We made a choice. We wanted this”---holds no weight. 1. Because he’s another adult that can’t be trusted (see: the group turning on him with their weapons in the snow) and 2. Because the concept of a “choice” apparently disappears whenever Ozpin is thrown into the mix. This is the same thing we’ve seen regarding Pyrrha, the claim that she couldn’t really make a choice. It was never a choice at all. She was manipulated/pressured/steered into being a Maiden so the choice is only a “choice.” Ozpin is still at fault. Now here’s Qrow, saying he made a choice, and fans tend to talk over that with, “No. You only thought you had a choice but I’m sure Ozpin did something off screen that puts him at fault” (see: Qrow saying straight out that Ozpin doesn’t know what happened to Summer and everyone jumping to, “No he definitely does and just lied to Qrow.” Ozpin’s off screen villainy is brought up with a shocking amount of frequency) The fandom takes headcanons and assumptions as fact, leading to an inability to attribute agency to anyone if Ozpin was at all involved in their choice. Ruby entering Beacon, Pyrrha deciding to take on the power, Qrow choosing to be a bird... all of it has been re-framed as Ozpin “forcing” them in one manner or another, which is not only untrue but a real disservice to all their characters. The only time Ozpin “forced” someone to do anything is when he forced Oscar to get involved in this fight, and that’s only “forcing” via unavoidable circumstances. Yeah, technically you could let the farm boy live out his life and just screw the rest of the world... but that would make you a villain via inaction. As someone who was given an actual uninformed choice via the God of Light, Ozpin does a great deal to make sure people know what they’re getting into. Checking at the very last second if Pyrrha is still willing to go through with this. Telling the group to leave now if they’re not wiling to help secure the relic. It’s just that he has to balance that transparency with the never ending risk of information falling into the wrong hands/someone else betraying him... which is no easy task. Do you look at the angry teenager who took her bandit mother’s words at face value and go, “Yes, now is a great time to tell them information that as of yet in no way affects them and would absolutely decimate their mental health at best and lead to them screwing me over at worst”? No. That’s stupid and dangerous and, based on how the group has reacted thus far, just going to make the whole situation that much worse.

#rwby #mymetas #oddnub

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katcadecascade · 4 years

Text

Storybook for the Gods

Fair Game Week: AU/Freeday

God AU

Ao3

They say the gods left to become the stars in the sky.

They say the gods obeyed the Brothers Grimm, agreeing that humanity was a failure.

They say the gods died and their children are doing a horrible job.

Qrow says that everyone should just shut up.

It’s one thing for the world to contain monsters and magic but no. Humanity loves, hates, fears, and respects the new religions the left over gods have made.

The Remnant Gods as they’ve been titled.

Technically demigods as good old Oz would describe but that doesn’t change the fact that the chain of godhood falls onto their shoulders.

Qrow can only speak for Vale’s side of the story, the dominion of the great and powerful Odin where he bestowed powers to his own children as he goes on his own journey for research and wisdom.

But nowadays he goes by Ozpin, the only old god that didn’t abandon the new gods of Remnant.

Qrow can understand why the god changed his name. No one would think a scholarly dressed old man is secretly the god of Vale, wielding a cane and not a spear. Disguises are necessary now that civilizations are slowly rioting against the Remnant Gods.

Tensions are as high as ever what with mortal heroes rising and fighting in the name of their people and not in the name of any of the gods. Qrow can’t blame them, Hell, he was once one of them.

Not anymore ever since Oz saved his life.

If Qrow had to pick a god to owe a life debt with, Odin had to be the best pick of the batch. No way was Qrow going end up in servitude for Horus, that war god has been raging Vacuo’s deserts for centuries. He did hear rumors that Fuji was still a beloved god, distance as she was ever since she chosen a mountain as her vessel.

Another elder god is from the north but no one has heard a peep from him in nearly a millennium.

That is until today.

Qrow is a relatively a new asset of dear old Oz, just shy of having a decade’s worth of experience under his belt as Odin’s black bird. So he wasn’t expecting much when he was flying through a winter coated forest.

The mission for the year is to find this rouge Valkyrie, rumored to be harboring souls away from their designated afterlife. As the crow flew above the dark trees, looking for any sign of the whisky sparkles of souls detaching from their bodies, a sudden cold breeze hit his face and along with it, a scroll.

It’s not often paper mail is delivered this way, nature spirits keep to their selves or to nature gods. Somehow a winter spirit by the chill of it knew who Qrow worked for and on the edge of the rolled paper was a cursive address of ‘To Odin’

Ominous, not quite, suspicious, only to his birdbrain but curious, oh he definitively is.

Flying back to the cottage, miles away from the rest of the forest and small towns still growing, Qrow keeps the letter in his peak, its edges flapping wilding in the cold winds.

As if already aware, Oz is waiting at the doorstep. His arm up as Qrow took his landing with ease.

It took two attempts for the god to nab the paper from the bird having fun playing keep away.

“Very funny Qrow,” Ozpin chided, finally getting the scroll.

As he unrolls it, Qrow hops off and wills his feathers back into skin, a rush of shivers getting his bones into its original shape. He dusts off stray feathers out of his hair, “Got it from the northern winds. Do you know what that means?”

“Nicholas,” he answers, his eyebrows knitting together, “he needs us in Atlas immediately.”

“Wait us?” Qrow peeks over the god’s shoulder and sure enough the letter is asking for Qrow by his title, Muninn.

Now that’s pretty curious. Gods don’t often seek help from other gods of a different dominion. Usually they get it through their own pantheon and even that is a hassle.

Just look at what happened between Thor and Loki.

“A magical shapeshifter isn’t exactly a secret among gods,” Oz explained. “Making two in this new world is even more of a gossip.”

Oh yeah, he didn’t take in account of Huginn’s rogue status. Raven is probably making waves in Mistral right now.

Still though, there are only a handful of people Qrow introduced himself as Muninn. A few of them were Oz’ old friends but also two humans he and Raven befriended.

Last he checked, Taiyang and Summer are on a sea expedition in the Burning Ocean.

Yeah, Qrow decided not to go with them for obvious flaming reasons.

So now he’s pondering over on why the son of Atlas is asking for him and his patron god for a visit.

“We’re taking the express trip right?”

“You’re always so eager for a fast travel.”

“What, do you expect me to flap all the way to Atlas?” Qrow flaps his human limps.

“As amusing as that is, no,” Oz chuckled. He pockets the letter and holds up his cane, “Nicholas needs us now.”

The intricate clockwork mechanism in the cane’s handle winds up and it ticks loudly as a green light pulses between the weapon and its creator’s hands.

As rune circles appeared below their feet, Qrow giddily bounces on his feet.

This was always his favorite part.

A rainbow of colors consumes the god and the shapeshifter and all they can feel is pulsating brightness as their entire beings are flying through the sky.

In a matter of seconds, Qrow and Ozpin find their selves at the foot of a temple built upon the highest mountain of the northern lands.

Only the oldest of gods know of this place ever since the real Olympus was tarnished when their namesakes left. The ruins of Olympus only had one resident, a power older than most gods.

The last son of Atlas has the power of a titian but its strength is a mere tale since the old man rarely leaves the mountain peak. Qrow may not know the reasons but it must be similar to Oz’ own lifestyle.

Elder gods have increasingly become isolated from the world, leaving the Remnant gods with all the pleasures and pains of warding over humans. It’s a hassle really, getting devoted to or smiting usurpers or whatever. Again, Qrow can’t relate since his god chose to live in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.

This lonely damaged temple is Nicholas’ choice and honestly it is a nice view.

Ignoring the Olympians’ rumble, there is a grand stone staircase that curves into the mountainside, covered in chilly fog as it dives down. Beyond that is the view of the tundra of Mantle, a white slate with dots of cities.

Qrow is very tempted to go free falling into the clouds, feel the wind rush at him as his heart races. He can picture it now, falling as a human only to shift into feathers right as the world is nearing.

“It’s not the time for that Muninn,” Oz lectured, lightly whacking his cane at Qrow’s leg.

Muninn, he’s only referred to that title when they have company.

Tearing his gaze away from the clouds, the thrill of flying, Qrow looks at the only temple left standing.

Walking out of the temple of Atlas’ son are two men.

The tall one of black hair is easily recognized by his lighting blue eyes. James, the son of Zeus and is also a major stick in the ass according to Qrow.

“It’s good to see you, Odin,” James greeted but his tone is always so grim and serious. His eyes narrow at Qrow, “Why did you bring your pet?”

“Hey, I got invited by name,” Qrow huffed, straightening his back to have some sense of pride. It still doesn’t compare to James’ height but it’s the intention that counts.

Qrow doesn’t care if James is a demigod turned Remnant God, he can still match his speed no matter the wind pressure. Hell, James is not the only god to question Qrow’s power as a former mortal.

Speaking of mortals, Qrow notices the second guy, someone he distinctly recalls meeting at the piers of Midpass, “Wait, hold up, you’re that boat guy.”

A chuck passes through pink lips, lightening up his teal eyes, “That’s not my official title but yeah, that’s me.” The brunet holds his hand out, “I’m Clover, son of Poseidon.”

“Yep,” Qrow shakes his hand, “boat guy for sure.”

From the humble smile and adorable cheeks, Qrow innocently mistook this guy as mortal. He didn’t elude power like James or Oz and instead just came off as a regular fisherman.

A cute one at that since Qrow, day drinking with his friends, threw a bunch of flirts at Clover.

That’s probably why he didn’t clue in the fact that Clover suddenly appeared before them right as Summer and Tai were boat shopping for their expedition.

“I knew you were a pretty bird but I didn’t think you’d be the Muninn as well,” Clover winked.

“I’m just full of surprises,” Qrow shrugged off, “something Jimmy here can attest to.”

James grumbles, “Let’s go inside already, Nicholas has waited enough.”

Due to pride alone, James walks ahead with Ozpin at his side.

Clover follows with Qrow, as if he’s more interesting than an ancient Greek temple, “So you’re really Muninn? That’s amazing, there are so many stories about you and you’ve only been a god for a decade or so.”

“Technically I’m not a god,” he corrected before James could but in, “I just serve under Odin.”

“Not all the time right? I thought you’d be traveling with your friends.”

“Nope,” he popped, looking around the temple’s interior.

It’s all white pillars and high ceilings. The place has typical fancy architecture that scholars would die for even if there are some dust and dirt here or there.

Qrow continues, “If I went with them then their ride would definitely fall off the ends of the world or fall into the river Styx.”

“What does that mean?”

He ignores the concern from Clover as they enter the last room. It’s set up as an altar room where a stage is under a skylight. On the stage is Nicholas, the son of Atlas, and a pale woman with white, shimmering hair.

“Welcome all of you,” Nicholas nods with a sad smile, “I and Fria thank you all for coming.”

“Nicholas, is something wrong?” James immediately asks, the room dipping a few degrees colder, “This is about the storms in the west yes? I knew there is something coming from the horizon, I can feel it and-“

A heavy laugh stops the lightning god. Nicholas’ smile grows just a bit, “You focus too much on bad news, James.”

“Someone has to,” James side glances at Clover.

He shrugs, grinning innocently, “I just think you purposely give yourself dark clouds.”

“That was one time, Clover.”

“Yeah and it nearly flooded Athens.”

Qrow has twin instincts to laugh at James but also be terrified at the casual mention of how he almost flooded a populated city. These gods and their temper tantrums really are ridiculous, even more so if humanity suffers from it.

Oz taps down his cane, gaining everyone’s attention, “So why are we here, Nicholas?” His eyes shifted to Fria, “Although I’m starting to understand.”

The woman beams and suddenly a veil of frost coat her hair as she grasps Nicholas’ big hands. Her own hands are small and decorated with frostbite but their held hands brings a warm feeling to the room.

“We’re getting married,” Fria announces, a loving gaze on her fiancé as they nudge closer together, “but we want something more than that.”

“We plan to start a family,” Nicholas explains and now the tension in the room is back as the guests realized just who these parents-to-be are.

A child between these two would have the lineage of a titan, a being far superior to a god, and, from the looks of it, a winter spirit.

Qrow recognizes Fria now, her winter powers eluding off of her effortlessly. It is that same breeze that found him and that coldness still clung to him as he stares at the faery.

“That’s too dangerous,” James warns with a thunder in his core.

Clover grounds his cousin with a steady hand on his arm, “They know that and,” teal eyes trace over to Oz, “you asked for Odin to do something about this right?”

The wise god of Vale steps onto the stage, looking wearier than Qrow has ever seen him.

“You’re both giving up your godhood,” the old man said.

“We want to be human,” Nicholas corrects.

Qrow blinks, “Oh.”

That’s something he has never expected to hear. A titan and a faery want to become human to protect their future child from infinite power and consequences.

For Qrow he gave up his humanity to protect himself, well that’s what he claimed after Raven left him. He believed that working for Ozpin would further help humanity or so he hopes.

Muninn built up a name as an omen to malice but Qrow recently sees he’s a harbinger as well. Maybe it was the powers or some part of Qrow that amplified the moment he swore oath to Odin. There has been a trail of bad luck following him.

His only solution is to stray away from humanity, protect them from a distance as Oz has done.

Now before him are two ancient beings deciding to give up their powers and live in a world where humans are slowly thinking for their selves, where the gods are no longer their priority. Instead their priorities are their families.

That is what Nicholas and Fria want.

Oz nods gravely, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Wait what?” Clover questioned.

“Of course,” James bitterly concludes, “If Odin can grant power to mortals,” he gestures to Qrow and then James nervously gulps, “then he could do the reverse for his fellow gods.”

Okay, from that perspective that sounds terrifying, Qrow thinks, but this is Ozpin they’re talking about. The old man has spent eons making mistakes with humans and gods and other magical beings but has chosen to repeat for it all.

For some reason Qrow is one of the first things Ozpin saves and for that Qrow trusts him forever.

“I’m not that great and powerful,” Oz assures, smiling kindly at James.

James does the quietest relieved sighs.

“Or am I?” Oz notes humorously.

An angry noise comes out of James, his shocked and fearful face making Qrow laugh out loud.

Ozpin returns the conversation back to the couple, “I can do it but your powers will have to go somewhere because I for sure won’t take it for my own.”

“We thought of that,” Fria nods. “The sky is a fitting place to place winter and strength into it. I’m going ahead and naming it an aurora, after my mother.”

“It’ll be lovely,” Nicholas agrees and then the couple turns to Qrow, “and there’s one last thing too.”

With everyone’s attention on Qrow, he has the sudden need to fly away before something awkward or unfortunate happens, “Um, hi?”

“You’re Muninn, the Bird of Memory,” he announces and since Qrow blinks and points at himself, still confused, the son of Atlas clarifies, “We want to forget our godhood. You can take them away.”

“What?” He, Clover, and James practically yell.

“He can do that?” James baulks.

“You can do that?” Clover awes.

“I can do that?” Qrow nearly chokes on his spit.

Oz, helpful as he is, only shrugged, “Well that is a theory now.”

“Please,” Fria begs, walking over to the shapeshifter. Snowflakes trail behind her as she reaches Qrow and takes his hands into her cold ones, “We’re tired of this eternity we wait in and once we become humans we can actually start living.”

Her eyes look just like that tundra their temple views over, cold and clean and goes on for miles filled with emptiness. Fria barely reaches Qrow’s shoulders but there is an ancient power in her being that makes Qrow shiver.

It would be a mistake to think of her as human with the snow on top of her robes and how her hair is literally a mist of frost. Yet the gentle slope of her face reminds Qrow so much of his tribal Chief. Both lived a long life and now they want rest.

“I’ll do my best,” Qrow says, his voice barely trembling at this promise.

The winter spirit’s smile warms up the room, “Thank you, Muninn.”

The ceremony gets started immediately because gods can be impatient like that.

At the stage area, Ozpin stands as the holy figure before the couple, their hands held together. James and Clover stand on the side of Atlas’ son. The two were chosen to be here today because Nicholas trusts them to take care of their people.

Qrow is on Fria’s side of the stage and he still feels out of place. They only need him for his powers which aren’t news to him. Nearly everyone Qrow meets wants to use him for one purpose or another. But this is for a good cause, he remembers himself as he watches the couple share tender looks and words.

Their vows are of the typical stuff that happens in weddings, promises to love each other and all that jazz. Qrow quietly chokes up when they promise to die in each other’s arms.

The concept of death is different between gods and humans. If a god dies… well actually Qrow doesn’t know. Gods just become nothing, absolutely nothing but dust.

For humans, Qrow once wondered where he’ll go because the gods of death had different rules and jurisdictions and he doesn’t want to learn any of that since he’s pretty immortal at this point.

Nicholas and Fria finish their vows and Ozpin wraps it up.

With a tap of his cane, a brilliant light captures the room and if Qrow squints his eyes he can barely see how the colors are moving around Nicholas and Fria.

The light dims and with it, the chill of the temple disappears from the temple. Fria has pinkness in her cheeks and she buries her warm hands into her husband’s white hair. Nicholas himself looks almost bigger now that there is no more weight on his shoulders, a cursed pain that haunts his bloodline.

Human, Qrow realizes and accepts.

All of the colors are swirling above their heads, blues and pinks and purples dancing together until Oz sends it up high, passing through the open ceiling and to the dark sky above. The colors blanket the night and its stars.

They all stand witness to the first ever aurora borealis.

“Muninn,” Oz commands and waves him over to stand in his place.

Right, moment of truth, he thinks as he is presented to the newly wedded and human couple. Even without their magic, their eyes are still old and weary.

Not thinking, Qrow carefully presses the tips of his fingers on their foreheads.

As far as Qrow knows, Muninn can do two things: turn into a bird and kick ass.

He doesn’t quite know where the memory association came from but then again other gods can say the same thing with their gimmicks.

It can be through sheer luck or coincidence or fate that led Qrow to this moment.

Memory is not a title Qrow thought he would bare and yet here he stands, feeling something tingle into his bones as a light glows from Nicholas’ and Fria’s foreheads. Energy flows from them and into Qrow and it starts to do more than buzz his bones.

He can’t breathe as images are passing behind his eyes.

It’s the old world full of magic that no human could ever imagine where nearly everyone is a demigod and nature spirits thrived without fear of pollution. The world has colors Qrow didn’t think existed and now it lives on through his head, an honor and a chain.

Qrow blinks away new tears as the two ancient beings give up their lives to finally get some peace in their souls.

It is all over before he knows it. They wanted to forget everything from their godhood so Qrow tries his best as promised. He leaves things in there, the knowledge of old friends and the joys and grief shared.

Fria will know how she felt when she first felt summer, how Nicholas brought her a literal ball of heat. Nicholas will know how light he felt the first time Fria made him laugh, a rusty thing in his lifetime. They will both know how they fell in love, when the sun kissed the sky as they held each other in their arms as eternity passed them by.

Lastly it is this moment, the details of the other gods will be vague but their hope and relief that this is finally happening will stay with them until their dying day.

Qrow lets go, his face wet and heart beating achingly slow. While his eyes are blurry he sees how young Fria’s and Nicholas’ eyes are.

The couple blinks slowly but their smiles are wide, like they know what happened but he doubts that, he just took away their memories.

Ozpin and James handle their retirement plans, something about sending them to Athens where Pietro, the son of Athena, will smooth out the details.

“Are you okay?” Oz asks and steads a hand on Qrow’s trembling arm.

He tries to speak but his tongue is heavy. His whole body shivers with the weight of winter’s rage. Qrow bites his lip harshly, snapping himself back into stillness. He manages to get out, “I’m good.”

Oz frowns at the lie but doesn’t argue. Instead he walks over to Nicholas, Fria, and James where he readies his spell and a rainbow flies them away.

“Qrow,” Clover warns with great concern but he waves him off.

“I feel fine,” Qrow says before he collapses.

The son of Poseidon catches him easily, his muscles proving its worth.

Muninn is known for his elegance and raw power. Black wings hold the winds of old and can cut through the toughest of stones. Right now that warrior is a twitching, gasping mess who’s clinging tightly to the only person grounding him.

“Qrow, hey, look at me,” Clover carefully guides a hand through black hair, making their eyes meet. He rearranges their bodies, complexly supporting Qrow’s weight to cradle the shapeshifter in his arms.

Two lifetimes are running around in the bird’s head, too much energy with no outlet and they are literally squeezing Qrow’s own memories into a peanut shell.

Wow, Qrow really should have thought this plan through but he didn’t want to ruin two gods’ wedding day. He’s not that much of an asshole. That and he didn’t want to be smited.

Too bad his brain is occupied with tearing itself apart to even think of a resolution. He has two brain cells and they don’t belong here.

Literally, Qrow sees nothing but never melting snow that is casted upon men and beasts alike simply because they wandered into territory of the winter faeries.

Another memory takes the reins, this time Qrow is crushed with the weight of the sky as Nicholas attempts to save his father from eternal punishment.

It didn’t work. Nicholas stood numbly as Atlas’ body dispersed into atoms at the moment the moon shattered, thus starting a territory war between the sky gods.

Now that’s a story Qrow never thought he’d learn, it would be really cool if he learned this in a less painful, mind aching, way.

“Hey breathe with me,” a warm hand is pressed to his collarbone, heating the skin as Qrow’s heartbeat flutters.

With lungs on fire, Qrow barely registers the rawness in his throat.

Has he been screaming? The wails of agony from the grieving son of Atlas rings between Qrow’s eardrums.

It hurts so much, an intense drumbeat in not only his brain but the rest of his flesh and blood and he just wants it to stop.

But gods don’t get that luxury do they?

Humans can live and die and rest while gods just keep on going and going until infinity yells at them to catch up already.

Somewhere in the raptures, Qrow questions why exactly he gave up his own mortality.

“Qrow, I need you to focus on me,” a blurry figure begs and closes the inches between them.

Their foreheads meet and despite the bright light returning, all Qrow can see are teal eyes.

Burning sea salt takes over all sense of smell as well as the sudden loud crash of waves at the portside. The little sea village in Midpass suffers from near endless heat due to the enchanting fire that rides the seafoam.

Qrow’s sight of that ocean is torn away as a familiar, gruff laughter catches his attention.

On the wooden pier are other fisherman but three visitors are out of place. It is mind boggling and an out of body experience to see Summer and Tai walk around with a Qrow joking with them.

This was a month ago and yet this version of Qrow appears years younger, cracking a wirily smile at Tai as Summer throws a mock punch his way.

He can’t recall what he teased them about because this isn’t Qrow’s memory, it’s Clover’s.

When the trio is passing by, Summer voices her desire to on a sea voyage. Tai, being logical for once, points out that they don’t have a ship.

That’s when the son of Poseidon heeds this call, friendly introducing himself as an expert boatman or seller or whatever because Qrow, both present and past, is not paying attention to the dialogue.

Past Qrow is ogling the sheer amount of muscles the fisherman has while Muninn, the ghost of the future, feels everything Clover felt.

It starts with piqued interest in the trio, all eluding different personalities and loud friendship but the dark haired man is who really catches Clover’s eye.

As a god of the sea, water orientated powers comes to mind. So it feels kind of out of place to sense a person’s luck scale.

Maybe Clover got the luck thing from his other parent, that’s not uncommon considering a lot of Remnant Gods have multiple heritages.

Anyway, only a god with this type of power can see how bad luck just reeks off of Qrow and finding this out is really ticking Qrow off.

He knew it. He knew that he’s nothing but a bad luck charm. Qrow was right in his argument with Summer that he shouldn’t tag along. He didn’t to be the reason his friends drowned or burned to death.

A new feeling takes over. Its strong warmth pushes aside the misery inside the black bird. This fast heartbeat, breath leaving lungs, it all happened when teal eyes met red.

“So you’re an expert boat guy, huh?” Qrow had said with a bit of slur. The drinks in this town were rumored to be a High John favorite and he wanted to taste. The results ended up being this flirt and wink, “I just so happen to love seamen.”

“Oh my fucking gods, Qrow,” Tai seethed.

Summer and Clover are busy laughing, a breathless energy making Clover feel lighter than air as he blushes furiously. With each laugh, the ocean rumbles, something Qrow did not notice before.

“I am so honored to hear that,” Clover returned a blinding smile once the urge to barrel over laughing is settled.

“He’s better at this I swear,” Summer giggled, “Well actually no, he can be terrible at this too.”

“Brat,” hissed Qrow.

“No, no,” Clover shook his head with a grin, “I think you’re doing just fine.”

“You sir are one in a million,” Tai rolls his eyes.

“Huh, in that case, lucky you,” Clover winked to Qrow.

In that tipsy state of mind, Qrow beamed, practically preening at being called the opposite of what usual mocks him day in and day out.

That’s when Clover’s emotions shift a bit. There is flustered wonderment at seeing Qrow just simply smiling like this is the happiest moment in his life.

A sudden need to see more of that smile bursts in Clover, a selfless urge to be the reason Qrow smiles or at least keep this man in the world a little longer than death will plan.

Clover’s bundle of positively is conflicting with Qrow’s confusion on the matter. It’s a bit flattering to witness this but it is also a bombardment of sensations he doesn’t know how to unpack.

The fleeting images of Qrow and Clover in that perfect sunlight fades away. The world returns to the nightlight temple, the aurora coloring the sky.

Qrow ever so slowly leans away from Clover just enough to have their noses brush up.

“What was that?” He asks.

With the couple’s memories, he felt drained but with Clover, he honestly feels better.

“I don’t know,” Clover admits, a blush setting on his cheeks, “I just wanted to stop your pain.”

Well it worked as his head feels less heavy. It’s somewhere in him still, the knowledge he took away from Nicholas and Fria. As for Clover’s memory, it probably wasn’t stolen at least that’s what he guesses.

“I didn’t,” a sudden horror is in his head, Qrow needs to check, “do you still remember how we met?”

“Of course,” Clover assures and he rubs his hands up and down Qrow’s arms.

“Cool, um what was all of that?” He swallows down the saliva building up in his mouth, “All of those feelings and stuff?”

Teal eyes go wide and his cheeks equally turn red, “Oh you would feel that too, um. It’s just my first impression of you.”

“…If this is about the seaman thing, I really could’ve said something better.”

A laugh surprises him as Clover’s chest shakes with each rumble, “It was one of the best pickup lines I have ever heard.”

“Okay that has to be a lie.”

“No really,” he shook his head, “You really impressed me.”

Scoffing, Qrow shifts out of Clover’s arm despite liking how it felt to be encircled by them, “Now I know you’re a liar.” He scuffles over to sit at the edge of the stage. Leaning back, Qrow rolls his neck to stare straight up at the skylight, “So that’s an aurora.”

The demigod takes a seat next to him, “It’s their last gift to the world.”

“Is it for the gods or humans?” Qrow asks. The memories of the gods have lulled itself to sleep in his head but flickers of a beautiful world with a full moon catches his breath.

Maybe they missed their old world and they wanted to put a bit of it back into reality.

“Well, why did you become a power?”

He snapped his head to the demigod, not at all seeing the connection.

Clover actually lays his back down, his arm crossed behind his head to watch the sky. He continues, “Was it for Odin or for something else?”

Only close friends of his know the reason. He and Raven were considered heirs for their Chieftain but after a tragic monster attack they lost most of their tribe. Ozpin was there to save those who remained and as their tradition, the twins owed him a life dept.

They unknowingly pled servitude to a hidden elder god, just their luck.

All Oz wanted was some company so Qrow easily agreed and traveled with him while Raven took care of their tribe. Along the way the god later revealed his true power and granted the twins immortality for their loyalties.

They became Muninn and Huginn, the Black Birds of Odin.

But Raven saw it all differently, not at first but gradually she grew to despise how Oz just isolated himself from the world. He could’ve saved the tribe before disaster struck.

Qrow had many disagreements with his sister but this was the pinnacle fight that changed everything. He picked Ozpin over the tribe that forced him to kill another kid to have a place in their brutal community.

To him, both gods and humans are alike through bloodshed and harshness and bitterness.

It didn’t matter to Qrow if he just ended up living a hundred years longer than fate planned. He wanted to get away from everyone, something he believed Ozpin once felt until they started taking initiative on saving other towns from monsters and chaotic magic.

“I used to think it was all for humanity, the good parts of it,” Qrow answered, “but seeing Fria and Nicholas, well, I didn’t think gods needed saving.”

He looks down at Clover, still gazing at the stars. Just like the first time they met, Qrow doesn’t see anything god-like in him, aside from the arms but his point still stands.

Curiosity takes over as Qrow asks, “Clover, would you ever do what they did?”

“I never thought to consider it until today,” he said, his voice soft and yet Qrow’s complete focus is on it. “Maybe if I met the right person,” Clover trails off and then teal eyes meet red again.

The memory of the ocean is at the edges of Qrow’s vision, enrapturing how stunning Clover looked in simple fisherman grab. That’s not something he’ll admit out loud, the amount of pockets are ridiculous.

Clover is undeniably handsome but he looks so human too, something that Qrow once was. The echoes of the demigod’s feelings mix in with his own, that sense of amazement at how utter goodness radiates off of him.

They may have met only twice so far and yet what is time compared to the immortals?

That and the single memories starts to bleed more than Qrow imaged. He felt Clover’s love for the ocean, its smell and feeling in his soul. How Clover was so charmed by Summer and Tai, instantly admiring their tenacity and enthusiasm for exploring.

The world looked different in Clover’s eyes. The same thing is said about Qrow.

In the memory, Qrow looked almost enchanting and not sleep deprived as he is normally. It’s weird to see himself look so human when he never appeared as joyful until he left the tribe.

Clover sits back up, “Qrow, I think you’re lovely.” He blinks at the sudden compliment and usually he won’t believe it but the glimpse in Clover’s head is convincing. “Meeting you just feels right to me, like it wasn’t just fate or luck that gave me the chance to see you again.”

His teal eyes are searching desperately for a reaction, any indication that risking his heart out will have a good outcome.

Qrow doesn’t know where this will lead, not at all as he drops a hand over Clover’s.

Not a lot can be said about the son of Poseidon, just lore and sea stories, but when he met the not-quite mortal Qrow was equally intrigued and wanting to get more of this fisherman.

He denied Summer’s teasing that it was a crush but now that he suddenly got invited to a wedding with Clover, finding out there’s more to his godhood and how kind he is, Qrow finds himself feeling very human.

Too long he spent his immortality alone, abandoned by Raven and Ozpin still keeping secrets. Summer and Tai were a drastic improvement in his life and now here he is, presented with something new and raw.

“Well,” Qrow settles, weaving their fingers together, “we have the rest of eternity to figure this thing out between us.”

#fair game week #fair game #fairgameweek2020 #qrow branwen #clover ebi #ozpin #my fic

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ryqoshay · 4 years

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How to Handle a Nico - The No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~1.8k Rating: T’ish? Time Frame: Summer break of Maki’s 2nd year of high school and Nico’s 1st year of college. Story Arc: “Beach Reunion” Sunscreen The No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe

Author’s Note: This was originally intended to be about a 100 - 200 word addition to the end of Sunscreen, but I thought I might be able to build a full scene around it. So I did.

I’m also hoping my readers have seen the LL movie by now, as it’s referenced a little bit here.

And here she comes… Nico thought to herself as she spied a certain meddlesome purple haired girl heading in her direction. Ughn… that smug face of hers… Unfortunately, Nico was busy tending the grill as her part of preparing dinner for the group and thus had no means of escaping the teasing she knew was incoming.

“Ne~, Nicocchi~,” Nozomi drawled as she approached “I heard someone was having a bit of fun earlier.” She emphasized the word heard, accompanied by a wholly unnecessarily waggle of her eyebrows.

“Shut up, Nozomi.” Nico grumbled, trying to make it obvious she was focusing on the meat skewers in front of her.

But of course, someone like Nozomi would never just let something like this go. “You and Maki-chan seem to be getting along nicely as of late.” She continued. “I haven’t even heard much of your usual study session bickering. Are you two perhaps making some progress I should know about?”

“No.” Nico dismissed flatly. “And you know the reasons why.”

“I see, well, that’s too bad.” At least that part sounded sincere. “I still think you two would make a cute couple, and you know I’m here to support you however things go.”

“I know.” Nico nodded. “Say, what’s that behind your back?”

“Oh, Elicchi and I just prepared some fruit kebobs” Nozomi revealed the food “with the extra sticks and thought the No. 1 Grill Master in the Universe would be willing to cook them up.”

“Wow, those look amazing.” Nico marveled. “I mean,” she puffed out her chest with pride “of course Nico would be more than happy to reveal more of her mastery of the flame.” She clapped her tongs together a couple times for emphasis.

Nozomi giggled and started to place the kebobs onto the grate.

“Wait, not quite��” Nico snapped up one of the meat skewers and turned it for inspection “well, maybe it’s fine. Uhm, hand me that plate so I can put these on it.”

“Here you go.” The purple-haired girl did as instructed.

“And don’t be stealing any of these before putting them out on the table.” The raven-haired girl warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Uh-huh…”

Once the plate was full, Nozomi turned and began to walk away.

“So that was it?” Nico couldn’t help asking.

“Hmm?” The other girl paused and turned to look back over her shoulder.

“I mean…”

The Cheshire cat grin returned. “Don’t worry, Nicocchi, the cards told me something good will happen very soon.”

“Hrm… Hey! What did I say about taking…” Nico was about to chase after Nozomi when she remembered the freshly loaded fruit kebobs that now needed tending.

“Oh, Mama just messaged me” Maki announced, retrieving her phone as the credits began to roll for the movie the girls had just finished “she says she’s sorry for not remembering earlier, but the staff moved all of the futons to one of our other places for some retreat a friend of hers hosted last week and they haven’t been able to bring them back.”

“So, we can’t all sleep here like the other times?” Honoka asked.

“Well, we could.” The redhead acknowledged. “I’m sure there are enough blankets, but there are four bedrooms we could use if we don’t mind sharing.”

“So kinda like our New York trip?”

“Something like that, though each room only has one bed...”

“That’s fine! Umi-chan and Kotori-chan and I can share one.”

“The biggest guestroom is at the end of the hall.”

“Alright, let’s go to bed!” Honoka cheered, grabbing the arms of her two fellow third-years.

“H-Honoka…” Umi protested verbally, though didn’t appear to offer any appreciable resistance. “You had better not start snacking on chips the moment the lights go out.”

“That was just one time!” The orange-haired girl pouted.

“More like pretty much every time…”

“Don’t worry, Umi-chan,” Kotori chimed in “I’ll be sure to check her bag for any contraband.”

“Kotori-chan!” Honoka whined. “You two are mean.” Though despite her words, she continued to drag her friends up the stairs toward the room she had claimed for them.

“Rin and Kayo-chin are fine with the smallest bedroom.” Rin proclaimed next. “We’re used to sharing a bed these days, nya!” She pulled the other second-year into a one-armed hug.

“Rin-chan…” Hanayo murmured but didn’t disagree.

“Actually, the remaining two guest rooms are the same size.” Maki explained.

“You’re taking the master bedroom, Maki-chan?” Nozomi asked of the host.

“Of course, I thought that much was obvious.”

“Then Elicchi and I will take whichever room Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan don’t use.” She tossed a quick wink to Nico.

“See you all in the morning.” Eli said before yawning and following her girlfriend.

“So, that leaves…” Nico turned to the other remaining occupant of the living room.

“You can stay with me in the master bedroom.” Maki offered quietly. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

If it’s alright? Nico thought to herself. Of course, it’s alright! This is how I wanted the room arrangements to be in New York!

But instead of giving voice to these thoughts, what came out of Nico’s mouth was “I suppose it can’t be helped. Nico will grace Maki’s bed with her presence tonight.”

“Or you can sleep on the couch.” The younger girl motioned to the mentioned sofa.

Nico giggled before striking a dramatic pose and held out her hand. “Lead the way to the master suite, Maki-ojou-sama.” She teased with the title she had heard used by the Nishikino household staff.

Maki rolled her eyes but took the older girl’s hand anyway as the two headed up the stairs.

“Ne, Nico-chan…”

“Mmm?” Nico looked up from the idol site she was browsing on her phone and took in a pleasing view.

Maki had just exited the bathroom, clad in her favorite purple pajamas with white stars and still drying her hair. She had insisted that since Nico was the guest that the older girl take the first turn in the tub and was now done with her own.

“About that offer of a massage…”

“Oh ho!” Nico couldn’t help feeling a bit giddy. As if sharing a room wasn’t enough to make her believe Nozomi’s prediction, this certainly solidified things. “Maki-chan is anxious to take advantage of the No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe’s skills already?”

“Just realized in the bath that I’m a little sore after everything we did today.” Maki admitted.

“Someone having a bit too much fun?” Nico happily added a sing-song tone to her voice.

“…” Maki puffed out a frustrated breath as she made her way toward the bed.

“Well, Nico is ready to provide the service, even if Maki-chan hasn’t paid for it yet.”

“You know I’m good for it.” Maki lay down on her stomach. “Besides, I’d probably end up helping you anyway, even without this; heck I’ve probably already paid for it several times over.”

“You sure you want to strike an attitude with someone about to give you a massage?”

Maki sighed. “No, you’re right. It’s just that cram school has been really stressful lately…”

“Yeah,” Nico said, getting up off the bed “I figured that when you upped your order from quad to quint.”

“Nico-chan?”

“Just getting you some water. I’ve read studies recently that say drinking before a massage may actually be better than after, as the water is already starting to work through your system when the toxins are released from the massage.”

“Hrm…”

“Trust me. Here.” Nico held out a bottle.

“Alright.” Maki accepted the water and drank a good portion of it before handing the remainder back. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Nico put the bottle on the nightstand.

“Anyway, this little vacation has honestly been the best break I could ask for…” Maki continued. “And… I’m happy you’re here with me for it.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Nico couldn’t help smiling at the unexpected, but by no means unappreciated honesty. “Nico always enjoys her time with her favoritest Maki-chan.”

Maki hummed an affirmative response.

“So, how thick are the walls here?”

“Hm?”

“Because…” Nico placed her hands on the other girl’s back. Immediately, she found one of the knots she had noticed earlier that day and pressed into it with her thumb.

“Ughn…” Maki pressed her face into the duvet.

“That’s why.”

“I’ll… be fine…”

“So you say…” Nico chuckled as the redhead was forced to muffle herself again.

As Nico found yet another knot, she wondered how hard she should work it. She had taught herself many advanced techniques over the years to help her mother deal with the stress of working multiple jobs, and nowadays to help a certain roommate deal with tensions stemming from things that made Nico jealous. As such, if she really put her weight into things, she could probably completely alleviate most of the smaller knots, if not a few of the larger ones as well.

However, it was almost time to turn in for the night and the group still had another day of fun planned as well as a long train ride back to Tokyo. She didn’t want to leave Maki too sore because as much as the tsundere’ish girl would deny it if confronted, she would want to participate in tomorrow’s activities. With this in mind, Nico decided to keep things on the lighter, more relaxing side. If Maki enjoyed the massage and its benefits, Nico could offer another one later that would leave the redhead unwilling to leave the couch the next day.

Of course, with that thought, Nico began imagining other things she could do to Maki that would leave her sprawled out on the bed, exhausted. For example, she could…

No. Nico shook her head. Focus. Now is very much not the time for that… We’re not even going out yet! … yet… She sighed with that last thought.

Having been lost in her own mind for so long, Nico suddenly realized that whatever conversation she had been holding with Maki had ceased, likely a while ago.

“Maki-chan?” Nico ventured quietly.

Silence.

Did she fall asleep? Nico smirked to herself before leaning over to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, Maki’s eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed to a soft and steady rhythm. Good thing I had you drink beforehand. Nico glanced at the mostly empty bottle on the nightstand. Or else you’d really be sore in the morning.

Now Nico faced a dilemma, Should she wake Maki so she could get under the covers or find something else to use and let her sleep? Hrm… Nico eyed the closet door for a moment before getting off the bed to investigate. Thankfully, her suspicious proved correct as she located a small collection of folded blankets. As it was summer, she chose the lightest one and brought it back to the bed.

As Nico spread the blanket over Maki, she noted that it was not the right size for the humongous mattress and as such, it didn’t leave much room for her. She could, of course, just retrieve a second blanket, but… After a moment, Nico shrugged and slid in close to the other girl.

“Good night, Maki-chan.” Nico murmured as she pulled her share of the blanket over herself and closed her eyes.

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #How to Handle a Nico #Love Live #fanfic

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somenewsarah · 5 years

Text

Betrothed

Requested: Yes: “Draco x raven claw reader, betrothed. She is a pure blood, her parents didn’t mind muggles until her mother was murdered by one during a trip to the muggle world. Her father grew cold and distant. He has some political power, so the Malfoys thought this would be a good time to approach him with the offer. The reader doesn’t mind it too much since she wants to make her father happy, but it’s complicated. Fred and George show her a time pranking people and she seems to form a crush on them.”

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Ravenclaw!Reader with bits of Weasley twin love c:

Warnings: Mentions of death, arranged marriage

Genre: Angst? With bits of fluff?

Word Count: 3K

A/N: I actually really loved this request, and I’m thinking about either doing a part 2 to this one, or making it a little series! Let me know what you guys thing and what you want!

Feet up, head back, eyes closed. The perfect way to spend your days inside the Ministry department. Your father is the head of the Magical Transportations department, and although you’re out of school for summer, you spend most of your days here, your nose stuck in a book.

“Y/N,” your father says, tapping on his desk which your feet are resting on. You pick your head up, raising your eyebrow. “Help keep me on track, yes? We should be gone here by five o’clock, no later. We must meet your mother for dinner.”

You nod, turning your attention back towards the ceiling. Your fifth year at Hogwarts had treated you well. You spent a lot of time in the library with your unlikely friend Hermione Granger. Together, you’d studied enchantments and spells as well as curses and hexes. You knew what they’d been up to, of course. In your opinion, they made it quite obvious.

One of your closest friends, Luna Lovegood joined Harry Potter’s new group, Dumbledore’s Army, as well as a few of your fellow Ravenclaws, but you couldn’t be bothered to join it. It wasn’t really something you thought you needed. If the time came to stay and fight for Hogwarts, you would do what you had to do. You always would.

Five o’clock rolls around slower than you would’ve liked, and soon, you’re on your way home with your father.

“So,” your mother starts. “I have an assignment.”

“Assignment?” Your father asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

Although your family is a pureblood family, none of you showed a particular interest in the dark arts. Well, not until recently, anyways. Your mother found she needed something more in her life- something to fulfill a space that you nor your father could ever understand. So, she starts going to secret meetings, traveling, having these ‘assignments’ that must be fulfilled. At first, you suspect an affair, but after a while, it seems your father is in on the meetings and the assignments, but they keep it all from you.

“Yes. I’m to go to the muggle world and follow traces of other dark wizards that are threatening our safety,” she explains. She eyes you carefully, but you say nothing.

“Why wouldn’t they just get aurors to do it?” Your father asks, picking at his food. The thought dawns on you.

“Because this isn’t an assignment from the Ministry,” you say, keeping your head low. Silence follows.

The next morning, after receiving your Hogwarts letter for your sixth year and having breakfast with your parents, you kiss your mother goodbye as she departs for her journey to the muggle world.

“Please be careful,” you say, hugging her tightly. “Don’t try and be a hero, okay?”

“I promise,” your mom smiles, kissing your forehead gently. “Take care of your father, make sure you write to him while you’re in school. He gets lonely all by himself.”

“He has his work,” you snort. “But I will. How long will you be gone?”

“Just a few months. But I’ll be back before you know it, okay? If things get bad, I’ll come back early.”

Your father joins the two of you, holding your mother’s bags in his hands. He sets them on the floor quickly and wraps you both in a hug.

“Hurry back to us.”

With your pockets full of galleons, you head to Diagon Alley to purchase your supplies for the coming year. The brightness of the alley has slimmed drastically- everything seems dead and lifeless, except for one corner. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.

You push the door open, and the shouts and giggles fill the air, livening up the dead scene outside. You wander around the store, looking for any of your friends or anyone you even considered an acquaintance, but there were so many people packed inside that you couldn’t distinguish any faces.

“Y/N!” Hermione bellows, waving at you over the sea of people. You can’t help the grin on your face as you push your way over to her, eyeing the love potion in her hand.

“Should I be worried?” You laugh, gesturing to the pink potion.

“Oh, Merlin, no,” she laughs, placing it back on the shelf. “I was just admiring the potion-making, is all. Fred and George have really outdone themselves with this place. It’s incredible.”

“It really is. Fred and George are the Weasley twins, right?” You ask, peering around to see if you could spot them. “I don’t think I’ve properly met them.”

“Oh, they’re right back here! Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Hermione grabs your hand, pulling you through the sea of Hogwarts students, all there for a different reason. She pulls you behind a curtain and up a small flight of stairs. There, sitting in the stairwell, are the Weasley twins. “Fred, George, I wanted to properly introduce you to my friend Y/N. She was instrumental in helping the DA last term.”

“Any friend of Hermione’s is a friend of ours. I’m George,” the twin on the right says, sticking out his hand.

“Oh, thanks,” you smile. “Y/N.”

“Fred Weasley,” the twin on the left says. You shake both of their hands, then look down at what’s in their lap. A small box sits between them, and they slowly deposit galleon after galleon, knut after knut.

“This really is quite the place,” you say, looking over the railing at the store below. “How long did it take to amass such an inventory?”

“We’ve been developing for years,” Fred, you think, says. “Started when we were just in our first year. Had a few setbacks with mum throwing out our stuff.”

“This started with… pranks?”

“Oh yes,” Hermione says, laughing like she’d had her fair share of Weasley pranks.

“If you ever need a good idea for a prank, you know where to find us,” George winks. “It’s our favorite pastime.”

School begins, and soon, you’re so swept up in classes and Lord Voldemort, and your absent mother that you don’t even realize that you’d stopped writing to your father.

“I’m sure he understands,” Luna says, her voice as dreamy and wispy as ever. “You’re not the only one who’s busy, you know. He does work for the Ministry.”

“Yeah,” you start. “I suppose I just feel bad because I promised that I would write to him before my mom left.”

“When is she coming back?”

“I don’t know,” you say, shaking your head. She’d only really been gone for a few weeks, though it felt like ages from having not heard from her.

“Mail is here,” Luna says. You look around, but it only takes a few minutes for the owls to swoop down. Somehow, she always knows. Your miniature barn owl, Didgy, drops a small letter into your lap. You pet her affectionately, and she gives your finger a grateful nip before taking flight back to the owlry.

“It’s from my father,” you say. “I’m sure I’m gonna get it big time for not writing soon enough.”

But you don’t. In fact, he hadn’t even noticed that you hadn’t been writing, because he’d received some awful news from the muggle law enforcement. Your mother had been found lying face down in a small lake, dead.

You set the letter down, fighting to remind yourself to just breathe. All you must do is breath. You cover your mouth with your hand, choking back a sob that builds in your throat. You know your eyes are watering, but you don’t make a move to wipe them, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to yourself.

“It can’t have been that bad,” Luna says. She reaches across the table and picks up the note. Her eyes scan it, and she folds it carefully and places it back on the table. “Death is such a funny thing. It’s never the same for anyone.”

The funeral is bleak, and there are several people there that you don’t even know. Your black dress skims the floor as you stand next to your mother’s casket, hugging person after person as they approach you, offering their own condolences.

The hollow feeling in your stomach doesn’t move. It sits there, festering inside of you, starting a fire for something you don’t even understand yet. But, you pull it together, holding your father’s hand as he stands next to you, stoic and pale, a hollow shell of the man he used to be.

You look around the funeral, noticing a man with long, white blond hair staring at your father. He taps his cane once, then turns on his heel. You watch as your father watches him.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry for your loss,” Harry Potter says, approaching the casket and you. “I’m here, should you need to talk.”

“Thanks, Harry,” you say, trying your hardest to muster a small smile. In fact, you see several of your Hogwarts classmates. Luna, Hermione, Harry, and Ron all came together, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, there to offer their deepest of sympathies to your father.

“Hey, you,” George says, walking up to you. He wraps you in a quick hug squeezing you gently. Your father still hadn’t returned. “How’re you holding up?”

“Um,” you start, your eyes filling with tears at the unexpected question. “Yeah, I’ve um, I’ve been better.”

“I’m so sorry,” Fred says, wrapping you in a hug next. “Please, if you need anything, we’re always at the shop, and we’re always here for you.”

“I just wish I could find a way to make today a little brighter,” you say, mustering a small laugh.

“Well, lucky for you, I think we might could help you with that,” George says, a gleam in his brown eyes. You tilt your head, looking up at him. “We’ve been testing something, and if you want, we could put it to the test.”

“What is it?” You ask.

“It’s a Memory Marble,” Fred explains. “The person who eats it will automatically share their most recent memory of the first person they see.”

“That sounds like it could easily go awry,” you say, wringing your fingers together.

“Or very well,” George smiles.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Fred and George allow two people at a time to come up to the casket, and they offer them their own marbles. One by one, you hear stories about your mother from people you never knew existed. About times she was drunk off firewhiskey and danced on a table at the Leaky Cauldrin, or how on your parents’ wedding day, they were so busy dancing in the bridal room that they were both late to their own wedding, and almost lost the officiant. You heard stories about falling outs with your parents, about how they wished they’d stayed in touch after school, or how their school days were the greatest.

Time flew, and soon, your father was back at your side, listening in to everyone’s stories like it was the first time he was hearing them himself.

“We need to have a talk,” your father says. He sits down at the head of the table and loosens his tie. You’re set to return to Hogwarts the following day, but were spending the night with your father. The funeral ended on a positive note, all thanks to Fred and George Weasley, and you were satisfied that your mother would’ve loved it.

“What is it? Does this have to do with the blond man?”

“Yes, “he starts. He holds a glass of bourbon in his hand, sipping it slowly. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to provide a life for you that your mother would’ve wanted, so I’ve made an arrangement for you.”

“What do you mean?” You ask, pulling out the seat to the right of him.

“When you are of age, you are to marry Draco Malfoy. I’ve made the deal with Lucius, and we both think it’ll be mutually beneficial for all parties involved.”

Your heart sinks, and for some reason unbeknownst to you, you think of the red-headed twins and how the possibility of ever being happy seems so hard to grasp. Draco Malfoy is a crude Slytherin in your year, and it’s rumored that he’s working very closely with the Dark Lord and is currently a Death Eater, and that alone scares you beyond belief.

Your mother’s last words to you float through your head. ‘Take care of your father.’

Maybe this is your way of taking care of him. So, swallowing your own pride and fear and regret, you nod. Your father sighs, taking another sip of the amber liquid that sloshes in his glass.

“Am I to meet him anytime soon?” You ask, a small lilt in your voice.

“Lucius is arranging a date to Hogsmeade this coming weekend when you return to school. It’ll only be you and Draco, so maybe it’ll be a good chance to get to know him,” he shrugs. His eyes are darker than usual as he straightens up. He doesn’t meet your eye. “I hope you know I’m doing this for your own good. The Malfoys aren’t bad people, despite their past. They can give you a prosperous future.”

With that, he stands from the table and retires to his room, stopping only once at the cart in the parlor to refill his glass.

Sighing to yourself, you take your leave.

Draco Malfoy isn’t at all what you expected. He’s very formal and polite. He holds the door open for you, offers you an extra coat for the long trek to Hogsmeade, which you gladly accept. It smells of rich cologne and some sort of musk that is nice, but you can’t quite put your finger on.

“I’m sorry about your mother,” he says, looking over at you as the two of you walk through the snow.

“It’s alright,” you swallow, keeping your eyes low. “Could we maybe not talk about that?”

“Sure,” Draco nods, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Before I say anything else, I also want to say I’m sorry for my father’s behavior at the funeral. He pounces on deals before he thinks them through.”

“And here we are,” you laugh.

“Here we are,” he repeats. He looks over at you, and you catch his eye. He’s actually quite handsome, with white blond hair just like his father’s, but his falls differently. It’s unruly and flops onto his forehead under his snow cap, and his eyes are a grey color that intrigue you.

“I suppose we should make the most of it,” you offer. You extend your hand to him, and he takes it carefully, almost testing the waters between the two of you.

You make it into Hogsmeade not ten minutes later, but the ten minutes are filled with conversation about the both of you. Draco wanted to know everything. Where you were born, what your favorite book is, how you feel about the uprising of the Dark Lord, where you stand on the issue of House Elves. You asked him similar questions, and found that you had a lot in common.

You enter the Three Broomsticks together, laughing at something Draco said. He helps you out of your coat as you shake the snow out of your hair.

“Y/N!” Someone bellows over the crowd. You look around, spotting the Weasley twins. “Hey, come sit with us!”

“Actually,“ you start, but Draco cuts you off.

“Sorry, Weasley, she’s with me,” he bites. It was a side to him that you’d heard about often, but not one that he’d been advertising with you. You look over your shoulder at him, then back at Fred and George. Your heart aches to go sit with them, prank with them, just to feel as alive as you did the first time you stepped into their store, but you hold your tongue.

“I’m actually good friends with them,” you start. “So, if you don’t mind maybe being a tad more pleasant?”

“Uh- I- yeah, I’m sorry,” he flounders. His cheeks pink up. “I didn’t know.”

“That’s alright. I know this isn’t really ideal for either of us,” you start carefully. “And I know that I’m a pureblood and I should care about that, but I really really don’t. It would really help me adjust if you treated people with common decency, and if there’s anything I can do to help you, I’ll be sure to work on it.”

Draco’s mouth falls slightly open, but he quickly composes himself. He folds his hand on the table as Madam Rosmerta brings around a tray of two butterbeers.

“Mr. Malfoy,” she smiles, setting one down in front of the both of you. “Enjoy.”

“Do you always get the royal treatment?” You ask, eyeing the warm beverage. “I mean, don’t most people order their own drinks and bring them back to the table?”

“Father planned this,” he explains. He’s silent for a moment, then reaches across the table and takes your hands in his own. “I will try my hardest to be ‘decent,’ as you say, if you will do something for me. This will be easier on both of us if you wipe any preconceived notions of me out of your mind. I have an awful task to achieve this year, and it might be a little easier if you helped me. I know it’s a lot to ask, and I would understand if you went running for the hills, but I’m sitting before you right now, telling you that I’m willing to make this work with you if you are. If something happens after this is all over and you find me foul, then so be it.”

Your eyes dart between his eyes and the hands that are clasped around yours. You soak in his words, your heart pounding against your chest. You know what the task is, your father told you before you left for Hogwarts, but you never imagined Draco would ask you to help him with it. You move your head to the side, your eyes locking with George Weasley’s. He offers you a weak smile before turning back to Fred.

Sighing to yourself, you turn back to Draco.

“Alright,” you nod. “Let’s do this. Let’s make it work.”

You would take care of your father no matter what, and if this is how he wanted you to do it, then so be it.

@hecatemacbeth7

#Draco Malfoy #draco malfoy angst #draco malfoy smut #draco malfoy imagine #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x oc #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #original female character #fred and goerge weasley #fred weasley #george weasley #weasley family #charlie weasley #Ron Weasley

444 notes · View notes

danurso · 4 years

Note

The adorkable blonde

Okay, i'll try to sum up the next stories cause this took me literally HOURS to make, and if i do the same for every single one of them i'll fucking die.

Title: The adorkable blonde.

Pairing: Jaune x Yang (Dragonslayer)

Status: abandoned.

Chapters wrote: 2

Total words so far: 10,170

Story:

I planned this story to be pretty simple and straightforward, it's set in a real life AU and it starts with yang being asked out by cardin, which she obviously refused.

Cardin was the captain of the football team and wasn't used to being denied by girls, unfortunately for him yang wasn't just any girl, and when he tried to get 'touchy' with her yang landed a direct punch on his stomach and walked away.

Yang wasn't just any girl, she was the leader of the boxing club, she could take down anyone be it boy or girl, she was the champion of the vytal boxing tournament last year, and would be this year as well if she didn't gave up from this year's tournament.

You see, the tournament she attended was on the same day as the ball of beacon, and because of it she lost the ball last year, but this year she intended to go to the ball with a very special someone. Said someone who just came in with her sister to greet her.

Jaune greeted yang along with ruby, there it was, the only guy who ever made her heart skip a beat, the only guy on this school she wanted to go to the ball with.

Ruby asked why did she leave so early and yang told her that she needed to talk with ozpin about dropping the boxing tournament, ruby asked why did she decided to drop the tournament and she explained that she wanted to attend the ball this year, she asked if yang already had a pair and yang told her that no, because she wasn't going to give up on the tournament just to go with a random guy who isn't going to take his eyes out of her babies, and she held her chest to emphasize her point.

Jaune instantly blushed and looked away making her grin and think about how cute he looks when blushing, she asked if he saw something he liked and before he could answer the gods saved him with the sound if a school bell ringing.

Jaune instantly says that he needs to leave for class before he gets late and vanishes in a split second leaving the girls back.

Ruby sighs and gives yang a disappointed look, and when the older girl asks about it ruby replies telling her that she's never going to go out with jaune if she keep pushing him away like that.

Yang felt a heat crawl up her face and tried to deny it, ruby said that they lived under the same roof their whole life and he knew about her crush on jaune, yang would try to deny again but blake suddenly came in and said that yang already passed the level of crush and was more head over heels for him, which ruby agreed while yang gave her a betraied look.

Blake deadpanned and told her to not give her that look, since everyone of their group knew about her crush on jaune except, obviously, jaune himself.

Yang tried to deny it but weiss joined them and when she asked what they were talking about and blake told what was the subject, she gave yang a tired loom and asked why didn't she confessed to him already.

Yang once again said that she didn't liked him like that and that even if she did liked, which she doesn't, it wouldn't matter because he and pyrrha are probably dating.

Blake reminded her that they didn't knew it for sure even though it was pretty obvious.

Pyrrha had feelings for jaune for all of the first year and nowadays they were always together, they sat next to each other in class and were always talking about stuff, pyrrha seemed to be a lot happier and didn't had more trouble to be around jaune, it was pretty obvious that there was something going on between them.

Weiss told her she wouldn't know if she didn't asked or tried to get closer but yang shrugged it off saying it was time for them to go to class.

During class yang had to suppress her jealousy feelings, not that she was jealous of anything, but there were some really ugly feelings wanting to leave.

At the moment pyrrha was sat very close to jaune, both of them smiling while making the exercices oobleck gave them.

Blake noticed how yang's expression was dark at the moment, she called her and asked what was going on, and with the fakest smile possible she replied that there was nothing wrong, blake told her she knew she was jealous and, unsurprisingly, yang denied, blake insisted and reminded her that they know each other since kindergarten and that yang always had her back, that at least once blake wanted to have hers.

She threw a few more arguments in and yang finally gave in, saying she had no idea what to do, she wanted to be closer to jaune but every time she tried to get closer she would get nervous and her yangstincts would kick in, making her tease him in some way, leaving him embarrassed and making him go away, and if that wasn't enough there was still pyrrha who yang was pretty sure was already dating jaune, so yeah, her options where pretty short.

Blake was happy that she finally opened up about it to her and told her they could talk about that later on her home, yang asked why and doctor oobleck intervene saying that it was because his class was for studying and not talking.

A few hours later and she's already leaving with ruby who asked if blake was going to sleep on their place, yang nodded and ruby hummed happily, telling yang that she was happy that she finally opened up about jaune, yang blushed and ruby answered the question before she could even ask, telling that she heard her and blake talking in class and she even called weiss to sleep over so all of them could make a plan for yang to get jaune's attention.

Yang didn't knew if she should kill or kiss her little sister, but she ran out of time to decide when qrow came in with summer after him, ruby instantly latched on her dad before he spoke a bit with yang, if qrow was home that meant her mother was home too, they talked a bit and qrow told her that she would need to borrow ruby till later, yang didn't had problems with that and so ruby leaved with qrow and summer, leaving back to go home alone.

At least that's what she thought, cause soon enough jaune came out of the school and joined her, he asked if she wouldn't mind him joining her on their way back, yang asked if he wasn't going to wait for pyrrha and he said that she's too busy with club stuff, and since his club dispensed him earlier he was already going back home.

Yang winced a bit, she knew neither jaune or pyrrha were at any clubs right now, perks of being the leader of a club herself and knowing most of the peoples in this school, she knew that jaune and pyrrha sneaked around the school every day while saying they had club stuff to do...honestly, why did she even bothered at this point, it was more than obvious that he and pyrrha were going out.

Yang accepted the company anyways and they started to walk back home, yang tried to break the awkward silence asking if he was quiet like that all the time or if he was just nervous of being around a cute girl like her, jaune blushed at that while yang mentally scolded herself.

Jaune told her that he was just nervous because its been awhile since they talked like that, just the two of them.

And he was right, yang asked about his family and he asked about hers, they talked a bit about her mother being back home and how tai must be happy like a puppy now that she's back. They managed to pull off a nice conversation, but after it ended there was only awkward silence again.

Yang was thinking about how could she pull another nice conversation like that, and asked about the ball, wincing right after because that was the first thing that came to her head. He replied saying that he had no one to go with and chuckled sadly asking who would even want to go to the ball with someone like him.

Yang ignored her mental screaming and asked who wouldn't want to go to the ball with him, he replied instantly asking if she would go with someone like him, she froze in her place, stunned and not knowing what to do, but in the meantime jaune sighed and started to walk again saying that it was just like that.

Yang catched up with him and tried to say that she would love to go to the ball with someone like him, jaune scoffed saying she could go with whatever boy she wanted, why would she want to go with him of all people?

'Because i love you dumbass!!'

She replied nervously, telling him that she just thinks it would be nice to go with him, jaune lokmed away and sighed, telling it was nice to talk but her needed to go now.

Yang was so distracted by the talk she didn't realized she was already home, jaune was her neighbor so if he came to his stop she came as well, and she walked into her home feeling like she just messed up her chance.

She walked in and greeted her mom who was cleaning her gun, raven noticed yang's long face and asked what was wrong with her, yang hesitated a bit but eventually spoke up, and asked how did she and her dad started dating.

Raven at first didn't got the question but yang explained that it would probably help her with a problem, raven sighed and told her the full story, about how she hated her dad at the start but eventually warmed up to him, to the point even just seeing his face would leave her flustered.

Yang chuckled imagined a flustered and embarrassed version of her mother, and by the end of the long story, raven had a small smile on her face, recalling how that goofball of taiyang managed to steal her heart, and out of nowhere tai popped up hugging raven from behind, raven headbutted him and told him to stop acting like an idiot.

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at her parent's antics, and she was feeling better after the story, so she thanked her mother and walked up to her room.

Later on, the room echoed with a loud "WHAT!?"

Blake, weiss and ruby were simply incredulous with the fact that jaune asked yang to the ball and she simply froze.

Yang reminded them that he just asked if she would like to go to the ball with someone...like him.

And once more they shouted, saying that it was the same thing and that she should have told him that she wanted to go with him.

Yang started to ramble, saying she knew that she messed up and that she shouldn't even bother anymore cause he already has pyrrha and she wasn't perfect like her.

Her friends and sister reminded her that she was just as perfect as pyrrha, and if she managed to control herself she wouldn't have problems to ask jaune to the ball.

Feeling the ego boost she just got from her friend yang stood up and declared that she would never let herself be dominated by. . .the. . .nervousness. . . .again. . . .

The girls just stared as yang started to talks slower and slower until she froze and started to drool with a hungry look. They got up and turned to where she was looking and found out the reason of why did she froze like that.

What yang was staring at was her window, but more importantly, what was on the other side of the window. They could all see through the window a shirtless jaune that apparently just came out of the bath with a towel wrapped on his waist, he picked up his phone on the table and walked away, and for that small moment yang could swear she saw the heaven of abs pectorals, jaune was a lot more defined than he let on.

All the girls had blushes on their faces and blake had to admit that jaune is hot, yang let herself fall face first on the pillow and screamed something between a curse and a plea, they had no idea what it was though since it was very muffled, when she finally stopped screaming she started to panic, she was already nervous before, how is she supposed to look at him now without remembering THAT.

Once again she started to mop about her low chances against pyrrha, but her friends didn't let her go far and promised they would find a way, and so they spent a good chunk of the night making plans that in the end didn't take her anywhere.

Later, when everyone was asleep, yang got up from her bed and decided to take a breather, she was really thankful that her friends were so excited about helping her but it did made her feel a bit. . .overwhelmed. so she left the room and leaved the house, sitting on the swing on her backyard.

That was her thinking place, where she came to sort things out, it was the place where she started to remember the good old times with she, jaune and ruby running on the courtyard, she remembered ruby trying to run after them and tripping half way through and how jaune cried while trying to help her, she always loved how caring he was with both her and her sister, but that's just how jaune was, he was kind to everyone.

"Yeah. . .everyone. . ."

Before she could go further into her thoughts she heard a voice calling her, she loomed over to the fence and jaune was standing there, asking if everything was alright, which she faked a nod and told him everything was okay

Jaune didn't buy the excuse and opened the door their parents made years before on the fence, walking into her backyard and sitting on the swing next to her.

She asked what was he doing up so late and he said he couldn't sleep and said cookies usually help him, he then offered some freshly baked vanilla cookies to her, they were her favorites.

Jaune asked what was wrong and she blushed a bit remembering of earlier, she told him she was okay, he didn't loomed like he bought the excuse but at least he stood silent and just offered some more cookies, she picked some more and ate, after that it was just silence.

Out of nowhere, yang thanked him. Jaune said it was no problem and it was just cookies, she said she wasn't thanking for the cookies and she knew what he was doing, jaune was silent for a moment as she continued, she said that wasn't the first time he does that, she leaves her home and sits down on the swing and then out of nowhere he pops up with some cookies and a willing ear to help her, hell he doesn't even like vanilla cookies, but he makes them anyways just because she likes them.

Yang thanked him for being her friend, she kinda accepted the fact that she would never be more like that and despite it hurting, it was better that way. She said she was very thankful of having someone nice like him as her friend.

Jaune replied saying he was just returning the favor, he told her how he was like a human repellent when younger and how his family were his only friends, that was until he moved and met yang, it was thanks to her that he made so many friends and it's because of her that he never gave up on anything he did, because he really admired her, and so that's why he was thanking her.

There was a moment of silence where the two of them had gazes locked, yang unconsciously started to approach him, she tried to say something but because she was leaning on a swing of all things, she accidentally lost balance and feel down, jaune tried to hold her but that only made him fall along with her.

When yang realized she was on the ground and on top of jaune, they both broke into chuckles at the disaster they basically were, and slowly, the chuckles started to fade and only silence remained, and their faces stood just a few centimeters apart.

Yang unconsciously started to lean closer to jaune, until her lips finally touched his, resulting on a mind blowing kiss, jaune froze for a second, but wrapped his hands on her waist and reciprocated the kiss right after, both of them placing as much emotion on the kiss at it was possible, yang's hands trailed up to his face and ended on his silky golden locks, the kiss started to get deeper and deeper, to the point their tongues were battling for dominance over the kiss, they were lost in a bliss, like they were on their world, but just like good things, their oxygen couldn't last forever and soon they had to break the kiss to get a much needed breath.

When yang got to breathe and her brain started to work, she realized her own position and panicked, she got up and screamed an apology before she ran back into her home.

On the next day things got really awkward for them, their friends tried to ask what was wrong with them but they both shrugged it off saying it was nothing.

But it was obvious that something was wrong, both yang and jaune had bags under their eyes and were avoiding each other like the plague, but no matter how much their friends asked they wouldn't give an answer.

After a long and awkward day, when classes were over, yang left the classroom and bumped on pyrrha who asmed what was wrong with her, yang still felt guilty for kissing jaune like that so she asked if pyrrha and her could talk alone, pyrrha didn't minded and so she followed yang to a more private place.

Once they were both on the rooftop pyrrha asked again what was the problem, yang sat down and held her legs against her chest, feeling a lump on her throat. Pyrrha sat down next to her and patiently waited for an answer.

When yang finally managed to gather enough courage, she started speaking, and said she was sorry. Pyrrha rose an eyebrow and asked why was she sorry, yang explained everything to her, about how she loved jaune and had kissed him on the day before, and then just stood silent waiting for pyrrha to lash her anger on her.

But against her expectations, pyrrha beamed in happiness and asked how it was, yang was confused and asked why wasn't she angry, pyrrha then also got confused and asked why would she be angry, yang told her she knew pyrrha and jaune were dating and pyrrha burst into chuckles, yang asked what was so funny and pyrrha told her they weren't dating. Yang proceeded to ramble about her crush on him, the time they spent together, how close they were and she knew that she and jaune were lying about having clubs just to have time for themselves.

It was all true, pyrrha was really close to him and she did have a crush on him during most of the first year, but right now she saw him as more of a close friend or even a brother than a romantic interest, yang asked what they did on the free time after school just the two of them, pyrrha giggled and said that if she wanted to know she would need to ask jaune himself.

That just added more fuel to the fire of yang's curiosity.

Pyrrha said she was very happy that she kissed jaune, all of their friends were already in a relationship already and only jaune and yang were still running in circles, yang blushed a bit asking if they were that bad and pyrrha sheepishly nodded, she said that ren and nora were dating for years now, blake had sun and ruby had weiss...even pyrrha was dating someone.

Yang perked at her in curiosity and asked who was the lucky guy, pyrrha fidgeted a bit as her cheeks reddened, and told her the guy in question was vergil, yang was in pure shock because she was pretty sure that cold ass guy would rather kill himself then get involved with anyone.

After a few minutes of pyrrha explaining how that happened and some teasing from yang, they got back to the main topic, and upon processing everything yang ang slumped, all this time she was getting so worked up for nothing, they weren't dating, and because she thought they were she wasted an amazing chance on the day before.

Pyrrha said to cheer up because it wasn't over yet, and that she could still make things right, yang asked how she was so certain that yang could do that, she was pretty sure jaune was angry with her at the moment, pyrrha said that jaune being angry with her was impossible, and when yang asked why pyrrha gave her a reply.

"because he loves you." yang's eyes widened as her face reddened, pyrrha's eyes widened as well as she covered her mouth, just now noticing what she just spilled. "oh god! oh my god i'm sorry! i wasn't supposed to tell you that!"

After that yang passed out, leaving a panicking pyrrha behind.

And that's all i wrote so far.

After that we would see jaune talking about his problem with a friend, they both setting things right, going to the ball and that's what i think it would end on.

Planned scenes:

1- a scene where yang gets into a fight, probably with cardin and jaune helps her to beat him and his friends, yang asks how did jaune knows how to fight so well and he admits that he's been taking private classes with pyrrha (who is the leader of the martial arts club) and that's why he's been staying on school after classes are over.

Yang asked why did he never told her that and jaune said he was embarrassed, because he was training to protect her, he knew yang was strong but he couldn't help but think that one day she might get hurt because of him, when they were younger yang helped him to deal with the bullies and got hurt because of that, and that's why jaune was training in secret with pyrrha, so one day if yang got in trouble, he could protect her like she protected him so many times, the result of this declaration is a very emotional yang pulling jaune into a heated kiss that soon developed into a make out session.

Fun facts:

1- From all the stories i have, this is probably the closest to being complete, but even so i still can't bring myself to finish it, and even if i did finished it, i would need to rewrite everything since the story is very old and has a lot of grammar problems.

2- Yes, the vergil dating pyrrha is the same vergil from dmc3 (cause i think at that point he was around her age) the reason he's paired with her here is because i already paired them before and liked the result, so i used here again.

How that first happened? Long story short, i had another story and made an OC called dante (no, despite the name he has nothing to do with dmc dante) i wanted to give him a brother but was too lazy to make another OC and since the story had a few things to do with demons (like most of my stories) i said "fuck it, i'll put vergil here until i make a new OC to be dante's brother."

Ironically enough, a few months later i gave dante a little sister and erased vergil from my next stories, but the dynamic i built for him and pyrrha in some of my older stories was really fun so i still used it a few times, just like in this story.

#ask me anything #ask me stuff #rwby #jaune arc #yang xiao long #jaune x yang #dragonslayer

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aphrodites-law · 5 years

Text

My Favorite

Trope: Soulmate marks.

Twist: Lexa doesn’t have one. Clarke does.

2/? - (Part 1)

A week passed at the hotel, but while Lexa glanced into the sitting room each time she walked by it, she never saw Clarke again. She went back and forth between the hotel and her apartment, putting her boxes away while the windows remained opened wide and the smell of paint slowly faded. Eventually she checked out of Griffin Hotel, where Jake gave her a cheery look before sending her off with a basket of fresh fruit from the breakfast buffet - a welcome gift, he’d said.

With her first classes to plan and organize, Lexa spent most of her time with her nose in her books and binders. She used the rest of it to familiarize herself with Polis, where she picked up a few habits in a matter of days. There was the grocery store with the peanut-butter pretzels that melted in her mouth, the bicycle path that cut through the park, and the coffee shop owned by Raven Reyes.

Raven ran a tight ship and was as welcoming as she was fascinating. Her two loves were space and food, and evidently she had combined them with great success. Her shop, Coffee on the Moon, was exactly what it sounded like - the best damn coffee Lexa had had in a uniquely decorated setting. The coffee machines were themed like space crafts, which Lexa had noticed were wildly popular with kids (and perhaps even more adults); the walls were painted in swaths of silvers and dark blues; and the art hung up was courtesy of local artists. In the display case, well-garnished sandwiches made with local produce rarely lasted the day, if even the rush of lunch hour.

Raven seemed to know everyone and everything, an unsurprising fact given her infectious energy. One morning, Raven had come into her shop without her prosthetic leg on account of the pain, she had shared casually, but not once in the following hour had Lexa heard her complain. She was an admirable woman, and Lexa was particularly fascinated by how quickly she had charmed Anya.

Anya, who wouldn’t admit to feeling lonely while her daughter was at summer camp, had surprised Lexa with a visit that had turned into a week-long stay. She’d met Raven quickly enough, and immediately Lexa had noticed the change in her demeanor. Usually always on her guard, Anya had seemed to... soften around the edges in a matter of minutes. It was clear to Lexa that Raven had caught Anya’s eye, not only with her wit but also her ability to run such a good business.

Unfortunately for Anya, who didn’t like to be surprised by her own feelings, she dealt with attraction rather poorly. That is, she’d be ready to snap if Lexa so much as implied there was something there. Lexa, however, could understand her need for caution: Anya was a working mother who would soon leave back to her home, hours away. It was hard to envision this relationship having a future.

And, surely, it would have remained that way had Raven not suddenly noticed the tattoo on Anya’s wrist and shown off her own: a depiction of the moon with the logo of her coffee shop covering the words she’d had since birth.

“Got it at twenty-five when my boyfriend of ten years dumped me for some chick he didn’t even know,” she explained.

When Lexa looked toward Anya then, she knew her friend’s interest was piqued for good. It was rare to meet anyone who had willingly tattooed their mark like Anya had.

“A decade gone to dust because some skinny redhead told him what he’d always hoped to hear,” Raven revealed with a snort.

“So you don’t believe in the mark?” Anya asked cautiously.

“Oh, I do.”

As equally confused as her best friend, Lexa invited Raven to sit with them at their table.

“I just don’t think the way we go about it works,” Raven elaborated. “Just because you meet - it doesn’t have to mean you’re right for each other at that exact moment, you know?”

“Or at all,” Lexa muttered.

“Well, I do think there’s truth to it,” Raven admitted. “It’s fucking beautiful, really, if we just see it as it is, but we have a messy approach.”

Lexa shook her head. “It’s just always seemed like... Do you love the person because of who they are, or do you love them because the words on your wrist tell you to?"

Raven smirked, like she had asked herself the same question a hundred times before. To do so aloud, however, was bold. “The way I see it? Just because your souls are bonded, doesn’t mean the relationship doesn’t need work. Sure, most movies show us it's happily ever after once the first words are uttered, but in reality the words are just the beginning. It's not easy to go from perfect stranger to soul-tied, you know?"

Anya rolled her eyes. "Cry me a river."

Raven shrugged. "If it weren't so taboo to admit you're unhappy with your soulmate, maybe some would realize it's because they're taking it for granted. My friend, Bellamy - his soulmate was this broody chick who straight up punched him for sleeping with her friend. Insulted the shit out of him; word for word the string of insults that wrap around his wrist four times. Anyway, she didn't give a shit when he showed her. Took them three years to meet again, and then another three to even like each other. Now they're expecting their first kid. But I think the best thing they did was to grow as people. The mark showed them the possibility for something life-changing was there - but they'd have to work for it first."

Lexa glanced at Anya, who had yet to look away from Raven.

"Look, I know it's fucked how you're treated," Raven continued, "but I don't think the mark itself is to be blamed. I mean, I think it was designed as a way to make life a little easier, that's all. But then… I don't know, most civilizations blew it out of proportion and turned it into something else. Decided that those who have it are better than those who don't - and backed up their points by turning the exceptions into the rule. That people without a mark are going to steal your jewelry or murder your kids one day, just because this one markless dude some thousands of years ago happened to be an ax murderer. Everyone loves to forget that ancient Egypt worshipped the Markless. They believed that they were in control of their own fate - freer. And don't get me started on the Greeks! They had whole temples dedicated to them. There's a reason the statues of their Gods didn't have marks, but nobody likes to bring that up.”

“Moral superiority is one hell of a drug,” Anya shrugged.

Raven chuckled. “I don't think anyone is better than anyone; it's just a bunch of people trying to be happy."

"Well, you're definitely an exception,” Lexa sighed. “I’ve been reminded of my place in the world enough times to know that.”

Raven was about to reply when the door to the shop opened. When Lexa saw that it was Clarke who had just walked in, her heart jumped in her throat.

“You’re back!” Raven exclaimed before getting up to pull Clarke into a hug. “How was it? How’s your mom?”

Clarke grinned in the embrace before pulling back to sign something. Lexa watched with rapt attention, trying hard to follow the movement of Clarke’s hands, but understanding none of her language in the end. She watched as Raven tipped her head back and laughed.

“Classic Abby Griffin.”

Clarke then pulled out a heavy paper bag from her backpack and gifted it to her friend, who immediately looked inside.

“Yes!” Raven turned to Anya and Lexa. “Best goddamn blueberry pierogi in the country!”

Clarke looked toward them as well and gave Lexa a small wave.

“You’ve met?” Raven asked.

Clarke quickly signed something. Raven blinked, then burst out laughing.

“Oh fine, just go, you idiot.”

Clarke bit her lip before dashing toward the coffee shop’s restroom. Anya got up as well.

“I’ll be right back,” she excused herself.

Alone with Raven, who was now counting the pierogi in the bag, Lexa’s curiosity got to her.

“Are you good friends?”

Raven turned to her and nodded. “Clarke and I got each other through everything. There wouldn’t be a Coffee on the Moon without her.”

Lexa found incredible strength in Raven’s ability to be so open. “I wouldn’t be here without Anya,” she admitted in turn.

“How long have you known each other?”

“Since college. Anya... just helped me believe that I was more than the missing part.”

Raven’s face fell. “Shit. I’m really sorry."

Lexa shook her head. “It’s fine. Just made me who I am today.”

“No, it’s not fine. You know - Polis doesn’t tolerate that. We have each other’s backs here, mark or no mark. I think you’ll notice when you start teaching the kids. They really give me hope.”

Lexa smiled. “I look forward to it.”

Clarke and Anya came back from the restroom together, not exactly chatting but... Lexa could tell they’d communicated something to each other by the small smile on Clarke’s face. Anya sat back down at the table while Clarke signed something to Raven.

“Oh okay,” Raven answered. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Clarke nodded before she glanced once more at Lexa, mouthed ‘bye’, and left the shop.

Raven turned to the table. “Okay, well, I need to put the pierogi in the fridge and make some calls, but let me know if you need anything.”

Lexa sat back in her chair with a sigh. She watched Anya pick up her cup of coffee and then smirk.

“She doesn’t have one.”

Lexa frowned slowly. “What?”

Anya chuckled, then took a sip of her coffee. “You’re so obvious, you know? I figured I’d check when she washed her hands.”

Lexa immediately sat up, hope blossoming dangerously in her chest. “She... doesn’t have-”

“Nope.”

Lexa worried her bottom lip before grabbing her phone. Anya didn’t seem fazed in the least.

“Are you buying a hundred books on sign language?”

Lexa swiped something on her screen. “Yep.”

Part three

#clexa #clarke x lexa #f: my favorite

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