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rebelspykatie · 9 months

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Soulmate AU Part Five - The Final Part

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Alternate Ending

There’s a display of dnd handbooks and supplemental materials right beside it. Beyond that, Eddie spots a fantasy section overflowing with worn paperbacks that he can’t wait to sort through.

Steve follows Eddie around, pointing out all the things Dustin loves, listening to Eddie ramble on with a fond, soft look on his face, and carrying everything Eddie has expressed an interest in around the store, including a brand new set of black and red dice. He never looks bored or disinterested, just patiently sits beside Eddie as he goes through stacks of paperbacks, nodding along to his stories and flipping through a magazine he found.

When they get to the counter, Eddie doesn’t expect Steve to whip out his wallet and pay for everything Eddie has so much as even touched, but he’s brushed aside and knows better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. He’s not going to let Steve pay for things all the time, but it’s a nice surprise that he’s willing to shell out for all of Eddie’s nerdy little treasures.

When they climb back in the car, Eddie mutters, “Thanks, Steve. This is the best date I’ve ever been on.” It’s the only date he’s ever been on, though, so perhaps the sentiment doesn’t count.

“It’s not over, yet.” Steve’s smirk is mischievous as he backs out and gets back on the highway.

They end up at a tavern a few miles away. It looks like a cottage from the outside, but inside, the staff are all dressed in medieval themed attire, lots of tunics, capes, and leather straps. It’s not quite accurate, but it’s probably the best they could do on a small town restaurant budget. The patrons are a younger crowd, which leads Eddie to believe this is typically a family spot intended for kids. It reminds him of Wayne doing his best to play dress up with Eddie for his birthday as a kid, just trying to make Eddie happy despite not understanding any of it.

A warmth that’s starting to feel like home is resonating in his chest, wrapping around his heart like a hug, a tether to the boy beside him. Steve endeared himself to Eddie with one perfectly planned date, crafting the entire evening around Eddie’s interests. It loosens the last thread of doubt he had about Steve. He’s doing everything in his power to prove that the universe didn’t get it wrong.

The conversation flows easily, the two of them getting to know each other beyond surface level rumors they picked up in the hallways of Hawkins High. Eddie learns more about the rocky relationship between Steve’s parents and how that affects the way he views the soulmate bond. Steve gets a detailed reenactment of a recent campaign, tugging on Eddie’s shirt sleeve to prevent him from climbing on the table. Eddie learns more about the hoard of children Steve babysits and how awkward it still is seeing Nancy every time he drops off Mike.

At some point, they spot a table with supplies for kids, coloring sheets and paper crowns. Eddie grabs a crown and places it gently on top of Steve’s hair. He makes a cheeky joke about King Steve, making sure Steve knows he’s joking. They have a foam sword fight in the play area while they wait for their dessert, chasing each other around until Steve’s crown is crooked and they’re laughing so hard their sides hurt.

It’s the most fun Eddie’s had in a long time.

When they get back in the car, there’s a quiet calm that settles around them. Eddie ends up dozing off along the way, jerking awake when Steve shakes his shoulder after he turns the car off outside of the trailer.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Eddie says, “This was perfect, Steve. I know the universe magically knows that we’re made for each other, but I think this is the first time I really believe it.”

Steve grabs Eddie’s arm, fingers running over where the band is resting, covering up the mark on his wrist. He doesn’t even know why he put it on earlier, maybe just habit, or maybe he was still waiting for Steve to change his mind. He glances up at Eddie’s face before returning his gaze to the band, undoing the clasp and letting it fall away from Eddie’s wrist.

Eddie wants to memorize the look on Steve’s face. The awestruck wonder that takes over when he sees his name for the first time. Fingers trace over the lettering, soft whispers along Eddie’s skin. It’s the first time anyone has seen it besides Wayne, who held him on the night of his eighteenth birthday as he cried himself to sleep and bought him the band the next day.

“I believe it, too,” Steve whispers. And Eddie doesn’t have time to think about anything else before Steve tugs on his arm to pull him closer and kisses him. It nearly knocks the wind out of him, a mixture of surprise and joy bubbling to the surface. It’s chaste, just a soft press of lips together, but Eddie has so much pent up energy he’s grinning against Steve’s mouth, practically vibrating out of his chair.

He wants to crawl over the console and press Steve into the seat until they devour each other, but Wayne is probably waiting up and will knock on the window and shine a light in like a cop or some shit if Eddie takes too long. Especially since he’s wary of Steve after the whole crying on Eddie’s birthday thing.

A first kiss seems like a great place to end the night anyway. He pulls back, resting his forehead against Steve’s, basking in the moment. “I’m going inside now, but next time, I’m planning the date, okay?”

“Deal. Thank you for the flowers. I feel pretty enlightened after this, so I think your mom was right about them.”

“My mama would have loved to meet you.” Steve squeezes his hand. “This is as close as we’ll get, but I think she would have approved of you.”

“You think so?”

Eddie nods. “She approved of anything that made me happy.” He kisses the tip of Steve’s nose, then climbs out of the car. “Now let me go grab your flowers and I’ll be right back.”

He brings them back and kisses Steve one last time through the open window of his car. “Get home safe, sweetheart.”

He waves a final goodbye as Steve pulls away, that giddy feeling resurfacing. He can’t predict the future, but he knows that the feeling he has right now, knowing that Steve is on the same page, is the best feeling in the world.

💜💜💜

Thank you all so much for reading this!!! I hope you like this ending and get some joy out of this because I had so much fun writing it. I’ll be posting the whole thing to AO3 this weekend once I clean it up.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #katie writes

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rui-drawsbox · 9 days

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Okay obligatory DnD person as per the Dungon Meshi post(dnd/fantasy au + our life is amazing and I love it) but also I just wanted to say that there is a subclass of elves in dnd called aquatic elves that are kind of a happy mix between a mermaid and a, well, normal elf. I stick more towards spooky rather than nautical campaigns myself, so I’m not too familiar, but if I remember correctly they’re amphibious but with two legs rather than full mermaid.

Also obviously please ignore if you have different ideas but based off of what people have written about battle roles I could absolutely see some subclasses for the four!

Derek I could absolutely see as a Paladin(subclass possibly being oath of devotion or glory) basically the more defensive tank guys bound by an oath they make to themselves or someone important to them, which gives them a little spellcasting as well as actual auras that buff their allies later on.

Baxter I could see being a Bard (College of Swords), or what I kind of think of as a sort of battledancer. It would be a little less of a full spellcaster, but you can do special flourishes when fighting with a rapier which I always imagine as pseudo-dancing, plus he’d still get all the flashy bard spells. And to top it off, Bards actually use their charm(charisma stat) to cast spells which just screams Baxter to me.

Cove is a little harder but if you were going with him having a fish/animal companion while still being a melee fighter a Ranger(Beastmaster or Swarmkeeper) would be a good fit IMO, obviously with the Cove Creater he’s harder to pin than Baxter or Derek, but Ranger is pretty flexible. You basically get to choose a companion that’s from the land, air, or sea; and they can help you out in battle and follow you around, or as Swarmkeeper he could have his swarm be a school of fish.

Ruri is obviously a bit harder because you know your OC best, but if you really wanted to lean into more into the familiar/animal buddy route. Druid(circle of the shepherd) is always a fun choice! It’s kind of like the more spellcaster version of rangers’ Swarmkeeper where you can summon a lot of critters while still having some super strong elemental spells.

But anyway! I hope this wasn’t too long, I saw some (kinda) DnD our life content and I couldn’t resist! But thank you again for the adorable art of the main boys(and your lovely OC!) in a fantasy setting!

Second ask from dnd anon:

Oh! DnD anon part two!

But basically the theoretical party composition would look like:

Derek = Tank/Damage

Cove = Weapon Damage/Companion(s)

Baxter = Spells/Weapon Damage

and Ruri = Healing/Spells.

Also one last note about Druid is while druids have a lot of elemental spells (create water, spike growth, etc.), they also have the ability to do something called wildshape, where they can shapeshift into an animal for either out of battle(wildshape into a mouse to get under the crack in a door, then returning to normal and unlocking it) or battle (at later levels imagine fighting a spellcasting bear or even dragon) but also has more silly implications like wild shaping into a songbird to sing with Baxter, or a cat or sloth to ride on Cove’s shoulder.

got these asks a few days ago but i let them marinate in my brain hope you dont mind anon KJDSAUH

anyways AQUATIC ELF THATS PERFECT i tried to stick to what i knew about dumenshi rules in that post but for my first fantasy AU ideas i was going to do Cove a half mermaid (Cliff human x mermaid Kyra or elf Kyra [shes just so pretty its insane] x mermaid Cliff) that lived in a house right on the beach lmao, im happy that actually makes sense somewhere in dnd

i tried to look at the aquatic elves wiki from the forgotten realms fandom and omg so much text in the main page

also paladin Derek canon‼‼ imagine he does his oath to his brothers right after something dangerous happens to them when they were kids (im not saying his parents should die but im not saying they shouldnt--)

and bam!! tragic backstory 10x worse than his canon that is already bad enough :DD (try to make him feel less responsable now i wanna see that)

baxter turn rn. DO YOU THINK HE WOULD PLAY VIOLIN? I WANNA SEE THAT (<-this person didnt thought about drawing him with an instrument until it was time to write her thoughts) anyway it would def be a fancy instrument, daddy and mommy wanted to keep appearances i bet

one his spells makes his sword and moves shine and when hes under the sun his enemies become fucking blind

everything about him screams I HAVE MONEY but everytime people try to rob him he just rolls a nat20 in persuasion and they end up giving him money

and omg just imagine Cove's school of fish are all his pet fishes from the game JGASDFJK

im also. not discussing roles when the most i know about dnd is bg3 and i just finished 2 playthroughs. if you say ruri is a druid she's a druid, she makes super artsy flower fields and decorates every tree she sees with organical paint or smth jkfhds

Ruri's forest has a tree that connects with the ocean and they both just hangout sometimes (as if theyre not together 60% of the time already)

DRUID RURI THAT LIKES TO BRAID COVE'S HAIR WITH LITTLE POPPIES‼‼‼

MERMAID COVE THAT LETS RURI (otter form!!) RIDE HIS BACK WHILE HE SWIMS‼‼‼‼

mermaid cove humming a song and ruri falling to the river in trance/j

anyways anon i agree with everything tbh, there's so many ways to do a fantasy AU and i adore the dnd version (id kill for a dnd group or smth in my city)

i also have another fantasy au more vanilla but not-really. basically isekai baxter LMAO mostly an excuse to make ruri and baxter being domestic but before baxter developed any real domestic skill JHASFD

#rui draw smth #our life #olba #our life: beginnings & always #baxter ward #cove holden #derek suarez #our life mc #olba mc #anyways mermaid cove will always be on the back of my brain waiting until i feel like drawing him #for baxter and cove i just say silly stupid things and when it's derek's turn i kill his parents. lovely

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inkperch · 5 months

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Okay, fic pitch:

All of Fe3h is a DnD campaign by the four saints in modern au, spiralling wildly out of control-

Sothis is the Dm, her kids are all. Slightly concerned about the fact she made her own spine the main mcguffin infinity+1 sword.

Edelgard is Cichol's character, he heard his sister had managed to bribe their mum into making her old character from last campaign head of the church, and immediately started plotting.

Dmitri is Indetch's, he gave him the weapon breaking gimmick specifically so he had an excuse to give his character more weapons, only to learn Sothis had learned her lesson about giving him access to a crafting system-

Claude is Macuil's, he's single handedly responsible for worldbuilding all the non-Fodlan regions cause Sothis asked for a hand, and is immensely pissed that the other three keep finding ways to stay in Fodlan, to the point he went 'fuck it, my characters from Almyra, he's gone home and if you wanna get him come get him.'

Byleth is Cethlean's, she's so utterly busted narratively because granddaughter privileges, and Edelgard is so obsessed with Byleth bc Cichol.

Shez is Serios, she wanted to do a full alignment flip from last game, but as she was making her character she was like 'Jeez, these guys are like. Super boring. I'm just gonna make Shez a random Mercanary- no, I'm keeping their skills the same, I've already finished their stats dammit, I'll just. Mystery box thier past, there we go.', and Sothis freaking ran with it-

#sothis fire emblem #fe3h serios #seteth #Indetch #Macuil #rhea fire emblem #flayn fire emblem #fe3h

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transjarlaxle · 7 months

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i dont know much about BG3 but i do love AUs, so... what roles would your main OCs play in a hero/villain au? :3c

i stopped in the middle of drawing oc nsf// to answer this bcz i completely forgot about it ngl<3

but listen anon you are SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE so i'm gonna break it down for you okay here we go

now. i am going to talk about the ocs i'm mostly using for bg3 because theyre the guys im talking about most these days and most of my other ones are specific to other kinds of content. THAT SAID, i have two(2) ocs who are FOR hero/villains settings, and they are:

Jury, indie villain-turned-hero. she utilizes photokinesis and limited flight as a front-line fighter - she'll use her light to form wings and a hammer to burn and blind her opponents and create openings for her teammates. she's pretty independent at this point but i originally made her for bnha, and yes she gets to kiss aizawa there.

Vindicator, my main Sidestep for Fallen Hero. He's most often a version of Jesse O'Shea, who is my self-insert oc that i use in pretty much any IP. His build focuses on subtle manipulations over strength of mind, arrogant/ruthless/daring, and his main situationship is Ortega, but sometimes Herald. please play fallen hero it makes me insane

ALRIGHT now that they have been mentioned - the dnd/bg3 crew :3

i imagine this is going to have to be a sort of avengers / justice league situation, with a sort of suicide squad / league of villains thing happening on the other side. so, with that in mind:

reaper is The villain. i haven't talked about him here much, but he was my original Bhaalist oc from like four years ago, before i even knew baldur's gate was a thing. he's a death cleric, commits murder as an act of worship, and in my homebrew world, is one of five members of a cult dedicated to an undead chaos goddess. so in this AU, i imagine he's one of the leaders of whatever Bad Guy team exists here, in charge of getting the band together and whatnot

rumari is also a villain. they grew up as an assassin, which translates well to this AU - raised as a blade, to be wielded by whosoever is in charge at the time. depending on who they end up around, they might be reformable - but most likely not. i imagine they're the sort of loki-type, the one that the heroes capture and banter with, the one they lock in the glass box, but they always escape to cause more problems<3

leorin and kaz are the villain lackeys. they're part of the evil elf squad with rumari, and theyre the ones to match up with the heroes in the big end battle. leorin is a dark magician type, corruption and fire and whatnot, and kaz has a big fuck off sword and heavy armor - he's the tank. they don't get as much screen time as the others, but they're usually in the frame together, and banter a lot, so all the edgy teens ship them

kaine is the wild card. they're introduced late in the series or one of the sequel films, and it's a will-they-won't-they thing - they're a free agent, and they're easily swayed by power and promises of freedom, so there's probably a long arc of them working alongside the villains. most of the heroes want to take them out bcz of how big of a threat they are, but theres one or two (gale? wyll?) heroes who Believe In Them.

max is the face of the hero squad. i mean, he's The Butterfly Knight - he does the tv appearances, the sponsorships, the press releases, all of it. and he loves it! and he's not Just a face - he has the power to back it up, but his powers are really more showmanship than anything.

if max is the face of the group, etienne is the backbone of the operation. he's not a leader, but he's a guide, and he's adept at strategy and keeping his team safe. he willingly allows himself to fade into the background - which is also an advantage, as it allows him to absorb much more information than he would without max as a shield.

kit is the old guard. he never wanted to be a hero, and still doesn't. he was caught in the middle of one high-publicity incident when he was in his 20s, and got a lot of attention from it, but never became a hero, and did his best to fade into history. but when the threats begin to resurface, the new generation digs him up, and due to his situations and his mindset, he finds himself taking on an advisory role. he's the one that you Know the villains don't wanna fuck with - and he gets an arc that really shows the extent of his abilities, where he has to keep everyone else alive after a grave miscalculation of some sort, and it's like, oh, he's the one to watch out for.

honorable mention:

the warhawk is the free agent. he's a vigilante, and most of the time, the heroes clash with him because of his disregard for the law. the only law he follows is the law of the land, and he lets people know that, but when they really need him, he's there<3

#ask #THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS<33 SORRY IT TOOK ME 84 YEARS #i'll queue this a couple times cuz i know i got sent this in the middle of the afternoon #and i am posting it at. 3:02 am #ummm #bg3 #dnd #dnd 5e #jury #jesse o'shea #reaper #rumari #leorin #kaz #kaine silva #maxim #etienne #kit creedmoore #the warhawk

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skylardoesthings · 5 months

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✨ | Sky's XY(Z) dnd au | ✨

Or as i like to call it, "Skylar's way of coping with stress"

Anyways here are the character their races and classes, for the characters i have figured out at least,

[NOTE ! My au is like a campaign being played, so look at this au as "Ash and the gang playing dnd for shits and giggles" instead of "ash and the gang as dnd characters"]

– | — | –

Ash ~ Human | lvl 13 Dream Druid + lvl 7 Echo Fighter

Serena ~ Changeling | lvl 10 Ancestral Barbarian + lvl 10 Collage of Eloquence Bard

Clemont ~ Tiefling | lvl 8 Life Cleric + lvl 12 Archivist Artificer

Bonnie ~ Pallid Elf | lvl 20 Arcane Trickster

Sawyer ~ Half Elf | lvl 20 Wild Magic Sorcerer

Korrina ~ High Elf | lvl 20 Beast Slayer Ranger

Favoured Enemy; Undead

Favoured Terrain; Forest

Miette ~ Forest Gnome | lvl 20 Moon Cleric

Nini ~ Human | lvl 20 Great Old One Warlock

Mairin ~ Lightfoot Halfling | lvl 15 Scout Rogue + lvl 5 Swarmkeeper Ranger

Favoured Enemy; Constructs

Favoured Terrain; Grasslands

Shauna ~ Lightfoot Halfling | lvl 20 Collage of Glamour Bard

Tierno ~ Tiefling | lvl 14 Battle Master Fighter + lvl 6 Collage of Swords Bard

Alain ~ Swiftstride Shifter | lvl 20 Beast Barbarian

Trevor's role is the Dungeon Master! Hence why he isnt on the list. But he does have a NPC he plays as like, his insert whenever the players aren't figuring things out, and his character is a; lvl 3 Thief Rogue Goblin, who causes trouble whenever the plot calls for it

Some other characters i have figured out but no idea what to do with slash how to add them in;

Viola ~ Satyr | lvl 20 Swarmkeeper Ranger

Favoured Enemy; Feinds

Favoured Terrain; Forest

Grant ~ Earth Genasi | Way of the Four Elements Monk

Diantha ~ High Elf | lvl 20 Oath of the Crown Paladin

Sycamore ~ High Ef | lvl 20 Archivist Artificer

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bokettochild · 12 days

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Weekly check in with stardust

i have been creating a lot of stuff and im nearly done with my online science course and should be done by the end of this week!

the other week was eid and ur girlie made sweets, dressed up, visited a friend, and made Mario Lego B) I also got stickers for my laptop but that's unrelated lol

also we made bakhlawa and makrout they are literally my favorites lol, even the people at my friends party seemed to really like them too lol

apparently I look really good in olive green so that's like also a major win for me

the stickers are like vintage looking florals ones lol

btw I've been working so much on my four swords DND au, I'm not sure what to call It tho? I was thinking like "Four Keys" because the swords are literally keys to a secret realm or whatever

btw have u had any good recipes recently? Im fasting just because I can and rn I'm just thinking about food lol

i made a fajita tonight using colored peppers too lol

if u have any good recipes please tell me I love hoarding them

btw, I have one character left with enough space for an additional trauma/mental issue on my roster for the au so honestly just send me a few different ideas for them and I'll probably choose one lol

btw the dudes got the thickest Russian accent, is very brutally honest, soft and gruff, non nonsense and needs to adopt every small thing in sight or else he will die because this is how he's coping.

he was stuck in like an iceberg for like 200 years (there's a wholes Tory behind that) and then we he emerged (thats also a story) everyone he knew is kinda super dead because of the passage of time

*someone saying something stupid*

"Your voice, very ugly, please, do the shut up :] "

thats him in a nutshell^

also remember to do wrist and finger stretches for writers and artists

also I acquired a glass orb with glass art inside <3 o r b

also what's legend's irrational fear?

also I love legend being like, an actual good influence on wind in his own weird way

i want them to bond more, maybe do a whole stealing heist from some knights-

im not asking u t write it but I just wanted to share lol

i hope you've been doing well, u seem to be lol

also do u like wearing jewelry? and if so how often lol

Wow, that's a wall! (pos)

I'm glad you got to enjoy some nice food, time with friends, and dressing up! Also, it sounds like you're having a ton of fun creating recently! I am as well, but it's slow going as I'm working on a multi-chap that's very demanding about where and what is supposed to happen (I did this to myself but the results are fantastic!)

"Four Keys" sounds like it has great potential as a title! I like it! I also love the Russian accent. the character is giving slight Captain America vibes, but only for backstory, and I love the concept so much!

As for a irrational fear..... ma am I bad at those I rationalize anything so... maybe large empty spaces? Usually those are indicative of a boss fight in his mind, so just having one that isn't hiding some threat throws him way off. He's also insanely wary of any room with a tiled floor. Because >:)

I also love him and Wind! The fact that they're both on the younger side here but also both accustomed to being the person others look to gives great opportunities for them to bond and interact. Legend has a lot of experience to share but he's also not up on a pedestal like Time or Warriors is, so there's more opportunity for direct communication and less a need to impress. (I actually just finished writing something with them, as it happens!)

I'm honestly not the best baker in the world, or cook in general (I'm still building up my recipe book after leaving my parent's house) but I can share my mum's bread recipe! It's very good, for every day, or to make into rolls for the holidays and with nice meals!

Recipe makes 4 large loaves btw

Dissolve 2 packages of dried yeast into 4 cups of warm water.

In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup soft butter with 1/2 cup of honey (you can also add 1/4 cup of molasses for super dense rolls/loaves).

Once the honey-butter is combined, add the yeast water to the bowl

Scoop in 6 cups of whole wheat flour + 4 cups white flour.

Mix, knead, and set into greased bread-pans, or roll into balls on a cookie sheet.

Bake loaves for 35-40 min at 375 F, or rolls for 10-15 min at the same.

After you remove it from the oven, brush generously with butter before they cool, for extra flavor and to preserve moistness.

Hope this one makes you happy! It's great to use in sandwiches, serve with soup, or eat with jam, or alone!

#asks and answers #stardust my beloved

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traveleroffarawayplaces · 1 year

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Flipping through the different point of views.

FULL CHAPTER LIST

Main navigation center

My Fic MasterList

((note, chapters will get links when the chapter comes out!))

Ch 1: (Modern au)- Memories of Light. <Sky POV> Ch 2: (DnD au)- When the Time comes. <Time POV> Ch 3: (Future au - Era of Wars)- Through the glass. <Wind POV> Ch 4: (PJO/percy jackson au)- The short, quiet kid of a god. <Four POV> Ch 5: (POTFS/palace of the Four Swords angst)- Remember, recall. <Legend POV> Ch 6: (God au)- Keep up little fighter. <Hyrule POV> Ch 7: (Apocolyspe au)- Don't leave me. <Twilight POV> Ch 8: (Immortal au)- Calling my name. (I know your cry.) <Wild POV> Ch 9: (Powers au, kinda like an mha au)- Kingdom's light. <Warriors POV> Ch 10: (Related/Family au)- Protect them. <Blue POV> Ch 11: (Good ending au)- Life of puns. <Green POV> Ch 12: (Corruption au)- Reborn out of fire <Red POV> Ch 13: (Cursed au)- Coming, calling. <Vio POV> Ch 14: (LOZ Companions universe)- The confusion ensues. <Shadow POV> Ch 15: (Dink isn't evil au)- I'm sorry old friend. <Dink POV> Ch 16: (Regular au)- Take a rest. You have done all you can. <Malon POV>

#navigation #fics of kit #lu aus #linked universe aus #I cannot name them all.#so uhm #yea XD

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vagueandominousvibes · 2 years

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Welcome!

I’m Kalh (she/her, fae/faer). I’m 25. I talk a lot about my sister and my partner, both of whom I love very much.

I’m asexual and biromantic. I’m a D&D Dungeon Master on holiday, a fanfic writer, and a fanart illustrator. I’ve been obsessed with elves and elvish creatures since I learned to read (Elfquest, The Silmarillion, Legend of Zelda, D&D — you name it). I love winter, brown bears, trees, and moss, and will romanticise any of these if given the chance.

I’m also the artist and writer behind the Links Winter AU, the writer of the Four Swords fanfics Just close your eyes (don’t leave me here alone) and Every Day is Christmas if the Vibes are Right on Ao3, and the writer for the various stories over at @interactivestorytellingwithkalh .

If you want to talk to me, feel free to send a message or an ask (anon’s on)! I love interacting with people!

Please be aware that English is not my native language. Like any other non-native speaker, I can make lingual and cultural mistakes. If I do, please send me a polite ask/message so I can acknowledge and correct it!

(List of fanfics, major posts, and tag overview below the cut)

Tag Overview

#random things ive said to make my sister laugh — the stupid things my sister and I get up to, in text format (you may not believe it, but I’m actually the older one)

#at my partner's — exchanges between myself and my partner that, to me, sound delightful taken out of context (and I want to keep them and be able to look fondly back at them)

#kalh has friends — amusing exchanges with my friends that I want to remember

#fae victim count — the fae victim count

#kalh is on the loose — vaguely analytical posts, often related to casual literary/cultural analysis (these tend to get long)

#kalh’s fragments — short stories and drabbles, some of which are more ominous than others

#kalh’s notepad — story ideas, worldbuilding, theorising, things I’d like to keep track of for myself, etc.

#personal — I have bared my heart to you so please treat it with care /hj

#don’t reblog — posts I’m kindly asking you to please not reblog

#my art — my art!

#writing — things related to the process of writing

#fanfics — good fanfics I’ve read and highly recommend, or fanfics I've written

#links winter au — things I’ve reblogged from @winterlinksandotherlinks or posted about the process of its creation

#monsters&marvels — an LU AU based on an academic area of study within medieval literature and culture

#just close your eyes — asks and posts related to the Four Swords fanfic ‘Just close your eyes (don’t leave me here alone)’

#knights lodge au — asks and posts related to the Four Swords Knights' Lodge AU and the fanfic 'Every Day is Christmas if the Vibes are Right'

Fandom Tags

#loz, #lu, #lotr, #elfquest, #dnd, #four swords, #riordan, #ofmd, #moomin

Major Posts (casual literary/cultural analysis)

On Franz Kafka’s The Trial

Skyward Sword: A Fun Theory About Deity-Like Link

In response to Skyward Sword: A Fun Theory About Deity-Like Link

List of Fanfics (posted on this account)

Among the Crags (Vio Link/Shadow Link, Modern AU, 439 words)

Don’t Know if We’ll Live to See the Sun (Vio Link/Shadow Link, options for other ships, speculative one shot, 433 words)

Four (character study for #monsters&marvels, 631 words)

You can find more of my works on Ao3, including the main story for the Links Winter AU.

Last updated: 16th December 2022

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singingvio · 7 months

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“Roll for seduction.”

“You sure you want to do that?”

Y’all probably know what scene they’re on. (DND AU)

#my art #fanart #four swords #shadow link #vio link #dungeons and dragons #legend of zelda #Four swords dnd au

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indigos-stardust · 23 days

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Bad quality doodles for fs Dnd Au

think of this as a preview lol

#fs #fs DND au #my art #four swords #four swords art #fs art #four swords manga

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raayllum · 3 years

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luck

summary: Callum and Rayla meet at a DnD club. Modern AU.

a/n: the fluff y’all wanted, inspired by the sdcc 2020 dnd skit the voice actors put on! link to that here for anyone interested. (15:07 timestamp) - happy halloween!

length: 3k

Technically speaking, Dungeons and Dragons was more Ezran than Callum's thing. He'd been the one to get into it, finding Magic the Gathering not present enough and always one for a good consistent story. And then Ez, with Bait on his lap, had found a local Dungeons and Dragons group looking to get started a fifteen minute drive away. He'd begged and bribed for permission to go, and thus Callum had gone to the meetings with him for three reasons.

One: he wasn't about to let his twelve year old brother go a meeting with some adult members all by himself, although his conscience was eased by the fact the DM was Claudia's old grade 12 science teacher, Aaravos, who was nice if eccentric. Two: Ezran flat out needed a drive there after school at four, and Harrow wasn't usually home by five, so Callum was the best case chauffeur—even once Claudia and Soren joined later, waggling fingers maniacally and talking about stats that went over Callum's head in the established carpool. (Soren had been roped in with promises of a sword.) And three: there was a very pretty girl there named Rayla.

read the rest on ao3

#rayllum #happy halloween #modern AU #sdcc 2020 #AU #my fic #fic #two oneshots in one day is never happening again i hope we all know this

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ashtonq247 · 4 years

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SOKKA CENTRIC FICS

Here are some Sokka centric fics! Most of these works are not labeled as Sokka centric and so it’s very hard to find! There’s only 64 fics out of 15019 fics

Keep in mind I did not do any Zukka or Tokka fics bc I did not want to wade through that esp bc Zukka fics are 80% Zuko centric. It’s also possible that I missed some fics as, again, they are kinda hard to get a hold of. I literally had to block the Zuko tag at one point bc if Zuko was a character in the fic, it was going to be about Zuko, and it was just a lot to wade through to find that one fic where Zuko was a character but wasn’t the main character. I think my chrome shut down at some point which could have caused me to not include some fics. Basically I’m saying I didn’t get everything but I got MOST of it. Like 80% of it, even if I didn't include things I personally don't really like to read-sorry. Show this to anyone who says Sokka isn’t underrated! my man got 64 out of 15019 fics!

Also, PLEASE KUDOS THESE STORIES 👏👏👏👏 so many of them have far too little kudos and deserve more love! I think bc ppl are kinda bad with tagging, some of these stories hardly get any hits! Give them some love. And reblog this so other Sokka stans don’t have to wade through so much fics like I had to (seriously I’ve seen some crazy fics you would not believe *shivers*) bc it’s hard to find a needle in a haystack

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Aang

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14326722 - cute tickle fight (pure fluff :DD)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14984378 - Aang and nightmares, and Sokka and his big brother instincts

https://archiveofourown.org/works/488040 - Sokka and Tenzin, Sokka gets the news that Aang died (set in LOK)

-there is very little Aang and Sokka fanfic, let alone Sokka centric Aang and Sokka fanfic :(

Toph

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1885884 - Sokka makes smth for Toph

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15472509 - Toph dreams abt the airships

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720889 - “In the bad dreams, he loses his grip. In the worst ones he lets go”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25229905 - Sokka teaches Toph to write her name

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14718887 - Toph and hands, Sokka being her favorite hand to hold

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53498 -Sokka stuck in a cave

-there’s quite a lot of Toph and Sokka stories, not necessarily abt Sokka tho. They kinda go hand in hand, so it’s not really about one or the other.

Katara

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15288189 - before they leave to fight Azula/airships

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946611 -Sokka sick fic :)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22005709 -katara apologises for what she said to Sokka

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2277381 - Sokka wants to teach katara how to fight (also this is the first atla fanfic on AO3 that isn’t fucking weird lol)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2523782 - the gaang is too young and too starving :(

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18452795 - the only bender!Sokka story that has interested me bc it doesn’t take away from his character. It’s also vry satisfying to read

https://archiveofourown.org/works/404527 - Sokka’s feelings after his mom’s death- childhood

https://archiveofourown.org/works/404522 - “After the war Sokka says goodbye to his sister and the Southern Watertribe

-I wish there were more Sokka and Katara stories of before they met Aang.It’d be cute and angsty.

Zuko

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25243948 - The gaang plays hide and seek/train, Zuko and Sokka team up to make a prtty good team- Sokka is rlly bad ass in this ;D it’s one of my favorites ngl

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24809161/chapters/60002182 - fire nation sokka- oof this one hurts :,)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22305031 - like the only modern au that I rlly like, featuring Sokka on cactus juice and… McDonalds employee Zuko lol

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462145 - Sokka gets kidnapped. Sokka is… very Sokka ish in this

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475717/chapters/51180856#workskin -Zuko is a fire nation spirit, featuring Jet

-Zuko and Sokka stories tend to be well written, but it’s rlly hard trying to find a story with both of them that isn’t Zuko centric, and even some of the stories I have here are borderline Zuko centric

Suki

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270624 - what Sokka feels every full moon

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1338157 - stars, and both suki and Sokka contemplate being away from home

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24423484 - “Sokka and learning to let himself be loved”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/648200 - “she should be jealous, she knows, of this ghost that clings to sokka”- it’s short but I love this one

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25290874 - set right after boiling rock before they go back to the air temple.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/334919 - Sokka and suki dig up the secret library and try to strike a deal with its caretaker

The gaang

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14348382 -basically a re telling of the Sokka’s master ep, but in Sokka’s POV

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16303286 - the meaning of tattoos, and non bender tattoos

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426670 - “the gaang has a sleepover and Sokka manages to reforge bonds between the four nations while he’s unconscious”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22252 -Sokka thinks of his place in the gaang (set after season 2)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439972 - the gaang needs a potty brake and Sokka is annoyed (pure fluff :DD)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24559357/chapters/59308846#workskin - spirit sensitive Sokka! Very interesting I’m invested and there’s only 2 chapters so far TvT (featuring Sokka w/ white hair 😩👌✨)

Hakoda

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25004614 - Sokka being a child soldier, and Hakoda’s regret

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22964113 - “how all the members of team avatar discover their bending abilities”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25003291 - “Sokka gives himself his first warrior’s wolf tail” (pure fluff :DD)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24580543 -Sokka throws his first boomerang https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720004 - why Sokka never grew his hair out- child soldier/ insecurity stuff

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384172 - Sokka tells his dad about Yue

Piandao

https://archiveofourown.org/works/686093 - Sokka asks piandao to continue training him

https://archiveofourown.org/works/582971 - Sokka visits piandao to make a new sword and ask a question

https://archiveofourown.org/works/570663 - kinda piandao centric, but also Sokka centric? Piandao’s backstory and father figure feels :)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/566995 - Sokka believes he’s simply ordinary, nothing special about him

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580402 - “we do not induct children into the Order, Piandao!”

-there needs to be more Sokka and Piandao fics and I’m pissed because there’s more Zuko and piandao fics then there is Sokka and piando what kinda bs is this??

Yue

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2676488 - kinda Yue centric but like Sokka centric too? It’s about her sacrifice and why, and the love she feels for him

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3443258 - it’s a full moon the night before Sokka and the other councilman judge a blood bender (set during that one ep in lok with that blood blender dude)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24872200 - Sokka and Bumi (katara’s kid) have a sleepover. Sokka and old wounds

-I’m surprised there’s not more of them. Yue is always mentioned in Sokka centric fics, but not really the center of it

Other

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24059851/chapters/57900052 - Sokka and Momo. I think this is spirit sensitive Sokka story abt Sokka being able to process his grief (also friendship with Momo yes)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/567004 - Sokka and boomerang, right after the war

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064682 - an au of sorts, dealing with a spirit in the southern water tribe that steals ppl. And like it’s sorta the only Kya and Sokka fanfic out there?? As far as I’m aware anyway

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25209895 - a Sokka character study: he has more to him than meets the eye

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24636988 - Sokka before Aang, this is explaining why he’s the way he is

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12611212 - Sokka meets a wolf spirit in the spirit world who questions his worth

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17201468/chapters/40447214 - haven’t actually read this srry all I know is that it’s time travel au, Sokka centric, and is one of the only stories with a lot of chapters (11 as of now)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/331690/chapters/535433 - “a series of unrelated drabbles centered around Sokka and his awesomeness” -29 chapters as of now (I haven’t read this one either)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/155711 -finally a story where Sokka is a strategic genius using his brains to help his friends and politics- set after the war

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992618 - Sokka and Space Sword, an interesting take for what happened after the war, where there isn’t rlly any good guys in war, and Sokka tries to find his sword

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2960030 - set after the war, Sokka returns to the South Pole and finds himself again as just the regular guy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24722083 - Sokka’s thoughts on himself

https://archiveofourown.org/works/259980 - an au ofsorts, Katara dies by Azula and Aang is missing, and wars don’t just end- Sokka is vry cool in this

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7547833 - Sokka and Kya II- Sokka has to sit through kya’s singing of secret tunnel (pure fluff :D)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/887394 - Sokka and Kaatang’s and One of Toph’s kids (Sokka babysits, also HE INVENTS DND WHAT MORE COULD U WANT!!!) pure fluff :DD

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4949257 - Uncle Sokka and Bumi’s relationship oof

-Uncle Sokka is highly underrated and so is Sokka’s relationship with his mom. I will also never get enough of character study fics

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What have I learned?? People who are writing a story about Sokka should tag that story as SOKKA CENTRIC. It’ll give ur fic more love, and make it easier for ppl who love Sokka to find a fic about him. Also, on tumblr you see all these great analyses on Sokka, with theories like Spirit sensitive!Sokka, or Sokka working for the white lotus, and yet there are hardly any fics on it??? The untapped potential?!?! We also have no idea what Sokka does in the future (still salty LOK) so this gives us a lot of room to imagine and create stories! Like I need a fanfic on how Sokka does wtf??? You’d have thought that with this atla renaissance and people gaining a new found respect and admiration for Sokka’s character, that there’d be more Sokka focused fics, but nope :(

I’ve noticed that those who like Sokka don’t contribute to the fandom fic wise and guys we gotta step up (like I’m one to talk lol I’m gonna try and write some fics I swear!)

Also if you still want more Sokka fics I suggest searching in the tags bender Sokka, water bender Sokka, and fire bender Sokka. I also suggest that you go to fanfiction.net. I know it’s old, but so is this fandom, which means a lot of fics are there too. It’s easier to wade through the fics on fan fiction.net than AO3 simply bc of how little tags you can put there, so if Sokka is tagged, you know he actually plays a part in the story (no shade on AO3 I love it but sometimes it’s hard to find stuff bc the tagging system relies on the people knowing how to use tags, and the avatar fandom does not, but that’s bc it’s old)

Anyway, LOVE SOKKA MORE and don’t forget to reblog and let other ppl get access to these fics bc I know I would have loved it if someone made an entire list! (And organized it lol I never thought I was capable of organizing)

And now I'm gonna tag the ppl who commented on that one post who wanted me to make it @talonsandsuch @ships-and-shitty-decisions @dearestpartnerofgreatness

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yourdeepestfathoms · 4 years

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Beside The Dying Fire (part four)

[DnD AU with the tour!verse]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Word count: 3397

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

The sloshing of mud was REALLY starting to get on Katherine’s nerves.

After sleeping through most of the day, Katherine and her companions were on the move. But because of the heavy rainfall the roads had been reduced to an ankle-deep mass of mud and slime. The wetness wormed its way into Katherine’s fur shoes, completely ruining them, and she guessed it wasn’t much better for Joan, who couldn’t even wear shoes. Her hooves and the white skin around her feet were a dark brown color, and Katherine wondered if it would be stained that way forever.

The tragedy was still weighing heavily in all of their minds, especially Katherine’s. Everything kept replaying in her mind- the fire, the violence, the screaming, Anne’s death… Anne may have been silly and loud, but she was still her cousin. They grew up together. And now she was gone.

“Kat?”

There was a gentle touch on her shoulder; Katherine turned her head to see Catalina, looking worried. She quickly wiped her eyes with her knuckles.

“Yeah?” Katherine said in her best not-upset voice.

“Are you alright?” Catalina asked.

“Yeah,” Katherine said again, this time slightly weaker.

Catalina frowned and took her hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

Katherine sniffled lightly and nodded.

But nothing felt okay. Not anymore. Her home was burnt to the ground, so many of her friends and family and neighbors were dead, she didn’t even know what happened to her father… And now she was on a mission to stop a war that she didn’t even know how it started.

For nearly the entire day, they walked on in solitude, Katherine and Catalina hand-in-hand, the sounds of the forest and the occasional flitting birds their only other companion. Therefore, it was almost a surprise when they all heard the clip-clop of iron-shod hooves, and the rattle of wheels rising from the road ahead.

Soon, the source of the sound comes into view, a handful of riders leading four heavy, covered, ox-pulled wagons: a merchant caravan.

Katherine got a better look as the distance between her group and the caravan slowly closed. The outriders were clearly ready for danger, clad in vests of boiled leather, swords and maces belted to their hips. A few others sit in the wagons, children mostly wearing sturdy, well-made traveling garb.

At the head of the caravan were a man and a woman, both rippling with tension. Katherine sized them up as they approached, but none of them bore the wolf marking of Henry’s troops. The woman was a hard-faced and dangerous-looking centaur, armed and armored in the same fashion as the outriders, with a wide-brimmed kettle helm on her head and the equine body of a muscular shire. The man, on the other hand, was a rather short air genasi with pastel blue skin and halo of crystals growing from his head.

“Hail, friend!” The genasi shouted, earning a disapproving look from his centaur companion.

Katherine dared to wave back. “Hail to you as well!” She responded. The caravan guards seemed to relax visibly as she did so.

“Well met, girl!” The genasi replied as he halted his caravan before the trio. “We haven't seen a lot of travelers on the roads these last few days. What with the war and all.”

The centaur woman beside the caravan master kept her distance. As far as Katherine could tell, she was entirely preoccupied with scanning the road ahead for threats. Judging by her expression, she seemed less than amused by the momentary stop.

The caravan master extended his hand to Katherine. "I am Gale of Edinburg, this is my caravan, and the centaur next to me is my associate, Gaddison. You must excuse her; she thinks threats are everywhere.”

“They are everywhere,” The centaur replied bitterly, stamping one of her back hooves. She glanced at Katherine’s group and her furry ears pricked up in surprise when she saw Catalina. “You’re pregnant.”

Catalina groaned. “God, is that my entire personality trait now?” Katherine rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, and Catalina crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance.

“I don’t mean to offend you,” Gaddison said. “I’m just impressed to see that you’re out in these conditions, that’s all. War rages everywhere.”

Catalina ruffled the feathers on her head. “I can take care of myself. I’m very strong.”

“She is,” Katherine nodded.

“Well, that’s good,” Gaddison said. Her eyes slid over to Joan, but she didn’t say anything.

“By any chance, do you know what has caused the war?” Katherine asked the caravan master.

Gale blinked a few times. “I do not.” He said. “I don’t think anyone does.” He swung his head to the rest of the caravan, but they all either shrugged or shook their heads.

“I see.” Katherine said.

She and the two caravan masters chat for a little while longer before the wagons take off again in a grinding of wheels, stomping of hooves, and squelching of mud. It wasn’t long before the caravan was just clouds of dust in the distance. Katherine and her companions began their trek once again.

Hours passed. The sun began to set and the last of summer’s humidity weighed thickly in the air. It would be autumn soon, which meant cooler temperatures, but more wind, rain, and snow. Katherine wasn't sure which was worse.

That being said, the sight of a large building up ahead, with brightly lit windows and smoke coming out of its chimneys, and a surrounding village was welcome indeed.

The smell of farm animals and manure floated on the wind, getting stronger and stronger as the trio got near. Bleats and snorts and clucks whisked around the village as they entered. Some people glanced over, mainly at Joan or specifically Catalina’s stomach, but didn’t stop them.

They soon came to a two-story hall accompanied by a row of stables and surrounded by a waist-high stone fence. Sounds of music and laughter spilled out of the open windows, and a bright watchfire burned at the fence's gate, next to a crudely-painted wooden sign of a sleeping creature, hung from an iron post set into the gatepost.

“The Sleeping Dragon Inn,” The sign said to them in bright red letters visible by the light of the watchfire. Katherine and her companions made their way past the fence, through the courtyard, and into the main hall.

The high-ceilinged common room of the Sleeping Dragon In was bright and filled with the stink of spilled ale, roasting meat, and burning wood--all the aromas of civilization. Maybe half the benches in the big room were empty; the rest were filled with merchants, caravan guards, and other travelers, each busy with their own amusements, whether that be food, drink, dice, or song. A few glance over and whisper something to each other, but don’t speak up directly.

Katherine walked up to the bar. Behind it stood the stout, scruffy dwarf innkeeper, idly polishing a bottle of some dark fluid she had never seen before. She asked him for a bed for the night for her and her companions.

In response, the innkeeper rattled off a long list of options and their associated costs, from the expensive and luxurious to the downright squalid but cheap. Katherine ended up purchasing a comfortable private room and plain dinner for fifteen gold.

Katherine and her companions sat down at a booth as they were served a supper of thick brown bread and a bowl of stewed game birds seasoned with a tiny dash of valuable black pepper. Katherine was given a tankard of freshly-brewed ale, while Catalina and Joan were given a simple glass of water.

“Do you think they’d let me have some ale?” Catalina asked Katherine, not at all joking.

“Absolutely not.” Katherine said instantly.

Catalina wrinkled her nose. “Come on! Just one drink!”

“No.” Katherine said again, and Catalina huffed in response.

Katherine looked over at Joan, and saw that she was looking all around the inn. She appeared to be searching for something, but stopped when she noticed that Katherine was watching her. She slumped down in the booth and nibbled on her bread.

After they ate, they were shown their room on the second floor, which was, admittedly, a little cramped, but it had four walls, a roof, two cots with a straw mattress, and a bed, which was all they really wanted.

“We’ll go to the market in the morning,” Katherine said. She and Joan had taken the cots, while Catalina got the bed. “We may need to purchase some things before we get moving.”

“Sounds good to me,” Catalina said, and Katherine heard the sheets she was laying on crinkle when she shrugged.

“Alright, let’s all get some rest,” Katherine said. “Goodnight.” She closed her eyes and dreamt of fire for the rest of the night.

------

Colorful flags of different trading companies fluttered in a strong wind above the market square, which was bustling with activity that morning. Though Holm was fundamentally a small town, a fair number of traders bearing mundane goods such as grains, dyes, and cloth were stopped in the square, as did monster hunters and treasure hunters offering hard-to-appraise finds from nearby ruins. The merchants mostly traded from impermanent tents open at one side, but some wander through the crowd and act as their own auctioneers: “Who will give me fifty, fifty for a silver ring from the time of the ancients? Fiftyfiftyfifty thank you fifty-five-fifty-five-fifty-five I have fifty-five…” The air was sweet with the smells of cinnamon and curry spices from the south, and stinky cheese from the north.

Currently, Katherine was in a tent that sold clothing, and was squinting at a big, jaunty lime green hat with a huge feather. By her side, Catalina ran her hands over a golden robe while the shopkeeper eyed her suspiciously, probably wondering how she would fit in the cowl. When Catalina noticed this and the glances her belly was getting, she scowled and stomped over to Katherine.

“I hate it here,” The Aasimar grumbled.

Katherine reached up a hand to massage her friend’s shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sorry, honey,” She said. “I have enough to buy some fresh clothes for all of us. Would you like some?”

Their clothing seemed to finally be fully dried from the perpetual wet of the rain and river, but still bore the stink of smoke and burned flesh. Several people seemed to notice this by the way their noses wrinkled when they would pass by too close by.

“No, it’s okay,” Catalina said, tugging on her black nun’s robes. Her pregnancy was easily seen through them, earning a lot of incredulous and judgemental stares.

“Are you sure?” Katherine asked. “I don’t mind, really.”

Catalina shook her head. “I’m good.”

“Hm.” Katherine said. “Alright.”

Just as they’re about to walk out of the shop, they hear a halfling woman cry, “Thief!!!”

Katherine spun around to see someone in a drab brown cowl brazenly running off with a basket of red apples, leaving a large gap in the offerings of a halfling’s fruit cart. They easily bobbed and weaved around all the townsfolk who try to get in their way. The halfling uselessly shouted, “Thief! Thiieeef!” until she started to lose her voice.

The thief was about to get away when a huge mountain of an orc stepped in their path and they fell backwards. The hood came off, and Katherine hissed underneath her breath.

“Oh, shit,” Catalina said helpfully at her side. “That thief belongs to us!”

Townsfolk rushed to pick up the fallen apples--the “count of five” rule seemed to be an old tradition for judging the edibility of fallen food in Holm. Then they return the fruit to the halfling, because honesty must also have been a tradition in the town.

Two of the town guards show up, but Katherine and Catalina have to step in before they can strong-arm the thieving albino Tiefling away.

“I am so sorry about her,” Katherine said. “We should have kept a better eye on her.”

One of the guards looked Katherine up and down. “This rat belongs to you two?”

“Yes,” Katherine said. “I am so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Thankfully, the guards took mercy on them and left them with just a warning. Katherine breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone, then gave Joan a stern glare.

“What were you thinking, young lady? Stealing?” She said.

“Sorry,” Joan whispered, her ears drooping. “I-I just thought that we would need some food… Especially Catalina.”

“Rude.” Catalina said. “But fair.”

Katherine sighed again, then knelt down in front of Joan, since the little Tiefling was so short. “Then I can buy some. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Joan nodded, avoiding eye contact. Katherine ruffled her hair, then stood up straight. A few people were muttering and glaring at Joan, but the whole matter of the thief was quickly forgotten when a man down the street shouted, “Death cloud!”

Katherine blinked, looking around. To the east, she could see a dark purple-and-black cloud on the horizon. The cloud looked big, maybe as big as the town. And judging, by the sudden pandemonium broken out through the market, its appearance was not a good thing.

Immediately, the merchants broke down their tents, and many market patrons hurried into their houses and basements. Shutters snapped shut all down the street. The animal sellers hastily bargained with landowners, then pushed their sheep through storm doors into basements. A baby cried madly despite her mother’s tense reassurances. Some people uprooted flowers as they passed them; they’ll be no good to anybody else soon enough.

“What’s going on?” Catalina shouted over the panic. But the only answer she got was more screaming and yelling.

Joan yelped loudly as someone stomped on her tail. Katherine was shoved into Catalina, and then promptly got her foot trod on. They were all going to be trampled if they didn’t get away soon.

“Oi!” A voice suddenly called out. “Get in here!”

The three of them whirled around to see a man waving from out of his front door. They hurried over and inside the safety of his home.

The house was filled to the brim with artifacts and art. Various geared axles from larger defunct automated artifacts, and some compelling-looking sleek metal cylinders etched with symbols that look very powerful gleamed in the light cast from conjured glass orbs all throughout the rooms. A whole alchemy set, composed of vials, beakers, and burners that laid out across a mahogany desk; a sculpted dragon egg, which was swaddled in some sweaters; a torc of life and death from an old laboratory; some rather fancy clothing on mannequins; an assortment of spare automation parts; and, of course, a shined bookshelf packed full of hefty tomes of magic- all of these things decorated that household that pulsed with magical energy.

Their savior was a young wood elf man, swathed in forest green robes with sparkling gold hems. He had bronze skin that was speckled with blue and pink paint, dark coppery hair, and deep, rich brown eyes. An amber sparrow earring dangled from one of his pointy ears, and he was wielding a hand-carved paintbrush. He hurried around the house, slamming shutters and curtains, but then turned to them with a warm smile after he finished.

“That was close,” He said. “You three must be travelers. Mostly everyone in the area knows about the storms.”

“What was that?” Catalina asked.

“Death Cloud,” The elf said. “It’s been going on for a few years, now. King Henry conjured it over our village after we refused to fight in the war with him. Better than being raided and killed or kidnapped, I suppose.”

Katherine winced internally. So other villages were being terrorized by Henry, too. She wondered what would have happened if Ghent had gotten a Death Cloud instead of being raided.

Would Anne still be alive?

“Anyway, I’m Hans Holbein,” The elf said with an elegant bow. “Who are all of you?”

“Katherine Howard,” Katherine said. “These are Catalina and Joan.”

Hans swept his eyes over the three of them, focusing on Joan. “Stars above,” He murmured. “An albino Tiefling! Wow, I’ve never seen one before! I didn’t even know they existed!”

Joan shuffled her hooves, glancing up at Katherine with an anxious expression. Katherine patted her head comfortingly.

“Hokka, banos,” Came a deep, rumbling voice.

Katherine’s eyes widened as a large stone golem came lumbering out of one of the other rooms. Its rocky grey body was covered in clumps of moss and streaked in green engravings. Its eyes were glowing bright green as it stared down at the trio.

“Hokka, slogeils,” It said.

“Woah,” Catalina said.

“Oh, right!” Hans presented the golem with a grand gesture of his arms. “This is Rocky, my two ton enchanted stone golem!”

“You must have been feeling very creative when naming it,” Joan said.

Katherine felt a jolt, but Hans laughed loudly, clearly not offended.

“You are absolutely right, little one,” Hans said.

Outside, the storm began to pick up. Katherine heard the wind buffeting the house and heavy rain pelt down on the roof. There was also the sizzling of something. Hans ran over to a ladder leading up to a loft and peered through a periscope. He whistled.

“It’s real bad out there,” He said, then looked over at the trio. “Wanna see?”

One-by-one, they each took a look through the periscope.

Katherine watched as the black-and-purple cloud engulfed the entire town, building by building. At the cloud’s touch, flowers withered, trees dropped their leaves, and wooden shutters blackened as though charred. Black raindrops fell against tree trunks and melted the bark in grooves.

Finally, the cloud came for Hans’ building, blocking her view of anything but its own darkness. She quickly stepped back, and Hans retracted the periscope and shuttered the hole.

“Looks like there’s nothing to do but wait,” Hans said. “You all can stay with me until the storm ends. Make yourself at home!”

------

It’s been two days since the Death Cloud rolled into Holm and Katherine had raging cabin fever.

As hospitable as Hans and Rocky were, she hated being cooped up inside when she had a war to stop (even if she didn’t exactly know how to stop it just yet). She read Hans’ wide collection of books, painted, and even tried casting spells, but nothing could get rid of her boredom. She was ready to go back out and continue her adventure. So, on the second day, she approached Hans.

Hans was in a small alchemy room, grinding up some fire salts in a mortar and pestle. Joan was asleep in their bed chambers, curled in a small ball, while Catalina was reading peacefully. Surely they wouldn’t mind Katherine’s plans.

“We need to get going.”

Hans’ ears flicked up and he turned to Katherine with confusion on his face. “But the storm is still going.”

“Hosa, banos. Hosa, rauo’nd.” Rocky interrupted to offer a plate of deviled eggs it prepared itself.

“Thank you,” Katherine said, taking one. “And I know,” She continued. “But we really need to get moving again. We kinda have a mission.”

Hans raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” He put the mortar and pestle down. “I suppose I have something that can help you get through the storm. Come with me.”

Hans took Katherine to his bedroom and presented her a selection of masks and waxed clothes. Katherine ended up choosing a stag mask and fresh fur clothes, Catalina chose a hare mask and padded light armor, and Joan chose a bird mask and grey robes. Hans stuffed the noses of the masks with incense and herbs that he said would protect him from the poisonous fog outside in the storm, then handed them a small, pocket-sized tome of spells.

“Just in case,” He said. “You three be careful out there. And remember me when you’re legends.” He flashed a smile.

“Thank you, Hans. You too, Rocky,” Katherine said, dipping her head. “We won’t forget this.”

“No problem,” Hans said. “Go on, now. Good luck.”

Katherine nodded, opened the door, and then ventured into the Death Cloud with her companions.

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