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rpsocsandcanonohmy · 3 years

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Hunter’s Instincts

This is part of an ongoing story that can be read on AO3 here. This story is part of a larger ongoing series that can be read here. It’s not necessary but I would reccomend reading the beginning of the story for context purposes. This chapter is being published here for Whumptober 2021 @whumptober-archive

Day 7: My Spidey Senses are Tingling

“Got the coffee.” Hoyt entered the motel room and set out everyone’s orders in the few spare spaces on the table. “How’s it going?”

“Still haven’t found anything,” Sam murmured. “I’ve looked through just about every record in the digital archive. There are a few things that are close to it but not exact.”

“Can’t find anything in Dad’s journal either,” Dean said, closing the journal with a huff. “Maybe this isn’t even a case. Maybe some fucked up person did this and we’re wasting our time.”

“Aww, don’t say that. We barely started.” Hoyt took a look over Sam’s shoulder. “Do you think maybe the symbol we have is a kind of variant or combination of some other symbols?”

“It’s certainly possible,” Sam said. “That kind of thing doesn’t happen too often though. And I’m not sure what that would mean if it was. I mean, most of these symbols are attached to some kind of spell or ritual and there are some pretty powerful ones in here. If we’re looking at a combination...it could spell big trouble. Trouble we might not be able to handle.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Hoyt gently gripped his shoulder. “If half the stories I’ve heard are true, you’re more than capable of handling whatever this is.”

Dean glared at Hoyt even as he let go of Sam’s shoulder and picked up one of the books to do his own research. Whatever Sam said about them needing help, he didn’t trust this guy. What were the odds they just randomly ran into one of Walker’s friends a mere few days after the shit at the ranch? A friend with a history of hunting no less? How did that make sense? Dean wasn’t one to “throw shade” as the kids say, but if Hoyt was really Cordell’s friend, he would’ve been told about hunting way before he met Sam and Dean. And how much did they really know about Hoyt? Why was Sam just okay with him being in their space and bringing them coffee and being all touchy feely? Why the fuck was Sam getting that smiley look on his face? All Hoyt did was touch his shoulder and tell him there was some small hope.

He hated it here.

“So,” he said, probably a little louder than necessary. “How much hunting experience do you have, Hoyt?”

Hoyt shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t call myself an expert but I know enough to not get myself killed. Dad used to take me out, back when he could tell me what to do anyway."

Figures. He didn't even respect the craft. Why was he even here? He probably just showed up because he was bored. Didn't he have other things to do? Like rob a bank? He was about to ask their new “companion” just that when Sam let out a whoop of victory.

“I found it!”

Hoyt grinned. “I told you you could do it.”

Any elation Dean might’ve felt at whatever Sam’s discovery disappeared after that. Of course Sammy could do it. He didn’t need some lowlife cheering him on and giving him encouragement; that’s what Dean was for. Idiot. He maintained his Unpleased Glare while Sam rattled off facts about the symbol and what it meant. He wasn’t listening to the rambling; he didn’t need to. He could just ask Sam about it later. Whenever he stopped being focused on Hoty and his stupidly proud-looking smile and twinkling eyes that were wandering places!!! that they should not be wandering!!!! when Sammy was talking!!!!

Rude bitch.

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“Does he have to come with us?”

Sam groaned. “For the last time, Dean, yes. We need Hoyt as backup because we don’t entirely know what we’re walking into and it’s going to be a challenge.” Dean had been acting like a petulant child all day about Hoyt and it was really starting to grate on his nerves. “What’s your problem with him anyway?”

“Who says I have a problem with him?”

“Literally fucking verything you’ve said and done with him since we ran into him at the house.” He loved Dean but the drama queen act was a bit much. “Look, whatever you feel about him is gonna have to take a backseat right now. We have a demon running around looking to complete a very powerful spell that’s gonna cause a lot of panic and put a lot of people in danger. Hoyt can help. Just...be professional?”

“I am professional. Do you know a more professional and experienced hunter than me?” Dean said incredulously. “No. The answer is, no, you don’t.”

Sure, Mr. Dead-Guy-Robe-and-Hot-Dog-Underwear. “Well, act like it, okay? He’s just trying to help.”

Sam glanced out of his window and caught Hoyt waving at them. He waved back and watched as Hoyt sped ahead of them, weaving in between the traffic. He couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped when Dean growled.

“Fuckin’ show off,” he muttered. He smacked Sam’s arm. “You wanna talk about being unprofessional? He’s showin’ off how fast his janky truck is. How the fuck is that professional?”

Sam shook his head. “Just drive, Dean.”

“I’m just saying, he should be waiting for his superiors. That’s professionalism.” Dean then turned on the heavy rock station and cranked the volume so Sam couldn’t respond.

How professional.

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Hoyt got out of his truck and paused, looking around the area. The space was empty but the air felt charged, like something was just waiting in the shadows. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up and he could practically feel the goosebumps forming. He reached into the backseat and grabbed the shotgun with salt rounds that he borrowed from the brothers Winchester and made sure it was ready to shoot.

He just had that feeling. That same feeling that always kicked in when the monster was near. Werewolf, vamp, demon, whatever, it never mattered. His dad called it a natural Hunter's instinct, It’ll save your life one day, son.

Whatever. He followed that instinct right out of the life and into the military with his best friend twenty years ago. Now here he was, for some fucking reason, ignoring that instinct and waiting for his new companions to join him. If his spidey sense was right, they might be in for more trouble than they thought. That was never a good thing.

Where the hell were Sam and Dean? He wasn’t too far ahead of them and he knew Dean was a good driver. They should be here by now, shouldn’t they? Maybe he was being paranoid but being here alone seemed like a very, very bad idea.

As if on cue, a spirit flickered to life in front of him, wild eyes and a bloody smile just for him. “A strong candidate for the big finale. Mistress will be pleased.” Then it glowed and he felt a crushing force on his chest, causing him to black out.

Good ol’ Hunter’s instinct. Never fails….

#whumptober2021 #no.7 #my spidey senses are tingling #walker #supernatural #fic #ghosts #kidnapping #jealousy #hoyt rawlins #sam winchester #dean winchester

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maniacalmachinist · 5 years

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From Ice and Ash (pt 5)

En Route: Underdark – Instigation

According to Nia’s scouts and rangers, only 2 days left until their little caravan arrived at the Darkfrond Estate; they’d reach the cave entrance before the current day’s end. It was in this time Jamax slept and meditated, often reflecting on his memory of the tavern outing with Chamelia, and the oncoming Soldiers.

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Jamax canted his head at the three large tables that were hosting the Thelongar soldiers, two of which seemed to be the loudest, the last appeared quieter . . . their leadership perhaps. The half-orc waitress wasn’t enjoying herself, looking back at the barkeep who had a look of sympathy as she dealt with the rather rude customers.

“Oh hey, Tusker bitch . . . another refill for my boys.” He had smacked her on the rear as she walked off . . . there was rage in her eyes, and the Barkeep’s eyes went wide with horror. The orcan woman gave him a sneer while going to get the next round.

“I don’t understand Chamelia . . . what makes the humans in charge wish to do this?”

Cammi could only groan, “If anything, I wish I had an answer for that . . . has to do with some human-draconian war from who knows how many millennia ago. Sometimes I wonder if there isn’t some kind of sorcery involved . . . but for all the conspiracies, this one may just be blind, stupid hatred.” She then blinked, “What the fuck, did you actually call me Chamelia?”

He snorted, downing a drink and about to respond when something bumped him, “Wha-?”

“Now this here, ladies and gents, is what you call an eyesore . . . so out of place it makes me sick. A couple of Draks thinking they should wear something other than dregs.”

Jamax grumbled, and Chamelia shook her head at him, “Oh, I am so sorry . . . you know how it goes, leave the kingdom, different rules apply . . . some people overstepping themselves . . .”

“And look at this gents . . . a drak so low on the scale of value, even her hide reflects it.” There was a bit of jeering from the tables . . . it was apparent they wanted a fight, and from the look of the barkeep, he was ready to hunker down. Jamax stole a glance at the other table, seeming to pass whispers, and what looks like coin purses between each other. “Look scale-bitch, do you know who I am.”

She pondered a moment, “I’d say with the lack of décor, you’re rather low on the pole, and outside your kingdom, you’re no better than a peasant, and watching your fellows, it seems you’re the one stupid enough to confront your better.”

Jamax snorted, watching the soldier make the motion to draw a sword that wasn’t there, “Not so tough without your steel are you?” he grumbled.

That soldier flung a fist at him, promptly caught by Cammi, who roared at him, opening her maw and exposing a ball of lightening charging. She promptly snapped her mouth shut, dissipating the electricity, “I will tell you this once . . . and only once. You have no jurisdiction here, and neither do I . . . so no local guards are going to rescue you, and your friends have, rather intelligently, left your fate in my claws.” With that, she hauled the dumbass to his seat, just as the orcan returned, grinning tusk to tusk, then acted like she tripped, spilling the entire platter on the fool. The other soldiers were laughing, and some applauded as if the show was expected. Cammi then bowed, walking to the silent table, where she was handed one of the money pouches after a rather heated discussion.

“I get the feeling this is common when I’m not around.” He gulped down the juice, wishing it were a bit stronger.

“Oh, happens every few months when they have some freshscale in their ranks . . . you’d be amazed how much a human wishes to avoid pissing off a dragon, let alone dragonborn . . . and how profitable it is to keep my mouth shut so their superiors don’t lose one of their ranks.”

“You have that much pull here?”

Chamelia laughed, “Me? Oh no no . . . the barkeep, however, is one of the elders in this village. The money is either for his repairs, should it come to that, or it’s my tip for keeping the peace.”

Jamax choked a bit, “Ah, my mighty tutor . . . is a fucking bouncer.”

“I wasn’t expecting to this time, which is why I brought you, and dressed a bit nicer . . . “ She looked over herself, “Hmmmm, no stains this time . . . that’s a relief, would hate to be seen like that . . .”

“Uhh, be seen by who?” inquired Jamax, finishing his drink, then Chamelia tossed him the coin pouch.

“Here, go enjoy yourself . . . come back in a few hours.” Jamax could only shake his head, walking out of the tavern, but not before passing by what looked like another dragonborn; the male having a large yellowish horn jutting from his muzzle, and a distinct underbite to his jaw, coupled with cerulean scales. He merely nodded at Jamax, then panned his view, letting out a boisterous greeting in Chamelia’s direction . . .

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“Plans within plans!!” Jamax shouted as he came to, Nia almost jumping up and about to draw her weapons.

“Fels, Jamax . . . what the Lolth’s name has gotten into you?!?” She panted, trying to settle back down.

“The raptors . . . it was apparent there were just enough of them to take out the caravan, but they didn’t expect there to be any others.”

“Calm down, young one . . . what makes you think there is something afoot this close to the caverns?”

“Their communication pattern . . . you and yours had come through the same path almost a month ago, and I know raptors well enough that they keep to more central areas in the forests. Being near a road is akin to a suicide run for them, and they know it.”

“What’s that silverskin rambling about, my Lady?” inquired Har’kon, clearly agitated.

“Hold on a minute . . . stop the caravan! Jamax, continue, but this had better be good . . . “ The carts halted moments after the cry, and Nia glared at him; her eyes wide with both anger and urgency.

“Their nests stay closer to water and central areas of the forests, where trees or grass are dense so they may ambush. Their vision may be good in the moonlight, but with all the cover, there’s no such luxury. They’re also daytime hunters, so for them to attack near a road, at night . . . someone’s pulling their chain. They were waiting for us, then following until given the attack command. We’re likely being tracked as we speak.”

Nia darted her gaze to a nearby magi, shouting a command in Elven that sounded like “Ghost Eye” to Jamax. The mage nodded, and started a chant and joined by another magic user. An orb developed in front of the lead caster that shifted in swirls of black and blue, sending out pulses of arcane smoke rings from it’s epicenter. The rings seemed to attach and illuminate the elves and beasts pulling the carts, he then looked at his own hand and saw a faint glow. He then turned his eyes back to Nia, who was panning her gaze around the forest and road.

“Flying hells . . . Jamax, stay where you are . . . you were right.” She drew her blades, pointing in a wide arc around the caravan, then shouted something in Elven [ We returned, and we know you track us . . . cowards!], as he understood it.

There came a clapping sound from directly in front of the group, “Well well, Niavel . . . I had hoped this would be when you and yours had let your guard down, would have been more painless I’d think. Now, you’ll have to be awake for what will happen . . .,” chuckled a drow, stepping forth from the brush, a male by the tone of it, dressed in dark, but elegant clothes that seemed to bend light around itself. He raised a hand, and snapped his fingers . . . the familiar cries of velociraptors surrounded the carts, along with perhaps half a dozen small, dark-skinned humanoids, all with red eyes and some with thick black beards, carrying axes small and large. Behind the caravan came three more Drow in similar attire, faces covered, but lacking the effect of shifting light, and leveled their longbows at them.

Jamax could only look around, eyes wide with fear . . . “Your little slave lizard is a bit too observant for my tastes, Niavel . . . but, I’m not above adding another pet to my collection.”

Nia smirked, more of an act of bravado than defiance, “Jharrak Bladefels . . . funny, I would have thought this sort of thing to be beneath your interests. Guessing one of my cousins has you in their pocket . . . or the bedroom perhaps? And here I thought you were a noble.”

The velocitaptors slowly slipped out of the foliage, hissing and clicking in their primal “language.” Jamax looked around, and found a familiar silhouette among their numbers, a large raptor seeming to keep an arm from being presented to dangers. He grinned ferally with as half-assed plan as he could . . .

“My lady, this humble one requests to handle the beasts as I suspect their alpha is in our presence. I would hate to dirty your blades on such worthless beasts, and myself.” Nia looked at him confused, then followed his gaze to the raptors, grinning with a brow raised in concern.

“Mhmmm, please do dear . . . I would hate for your master’s loan to be wasted needlessly on something more important than peons of my enemies. Beast for beast, it seems.” She sent him a wink while looking at him, their foe ignorant of her action.

“Loan from his master . . . oh, is he your new bed toy, Niavel? Have your tastes fallen so low?” he shouted a command in elven and their adversaries began their dance. Jamax hopped from the cart, jumping in front of the raptor alpha, then replicated the sounds they had made. He kept his stance wide, glaring and snarling at their leader. The beast seemed to slink back, hissing at the dragonborn; the other raptors stepping back, hesitant to engage something that made their alpha go on the defensive. He continued to stare them down, barking calls similar to theirs while a struggle waged on behind him, swearing there was a shrill laughter of Nia amid the fray. Jamax then hunkered down on all fours, changing his strategy, and jumped just in front of the alpha, repeating the tones that he though would force the beast down. The alpha made a shrill whine, hunkering down, in what could be considered submission, then Jamax did what he could to order the raptors down rising to his full height while keeping his gaze on the alpha.

“Fucking Lizard, if you’re going to do something, fucking DO IT!!” came the shouts of Har’kon amid the clash of metal.

With his best understanding, Jamax barked out the sounds of the raptors, hoping the beasts would heed it to one degree or another. He stepped back, maintaining a threatening stance, clawing at the ground with his hind legs, hissing and growling. With that the raptors slowly got up and backed away, before charging back into the forestry.

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Jharrak, from his vantage point, witnessed the events unfold, the silver lizard making an obvious fool of itself. The rangers had gained command of the raptors a while back, their alpha loyal . . . well, obedient, to them alone. He watched the silver with mild interest, as one did a colony of insects, until seeing the raptors become cowed by the brute. His solders were on near even terms with Niavel’s troupe, but something appeared amiss with this Draconian slave . . . something was wrong. He figured it best to let events unfold without his presence as one didn’t become of high station fighting needlessly.

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Jamax waited but barest moments as the raptors fled . . . not quite what he hoped, but figured it best not to push his luck. He started to make his way to the nearest assassins, one of the “dark dwarves,” prying it off of combat with one of Nia’s cohort, giving the guard enough time to slay the small humanoid with a slash at it’s throat. “Keep at it Lizard . . . you just tipped the tide!” called the guard. He figured to run with it, engaging one of the Drow, crashing into it, pinning the lanky humanoid to the ground and driving his fists into it’s torso and face.

“Servant!! Don’t overstep yourself . . . we need one alive!” Commanded Nia. Jamax looked at the one before him, still breathing but groaning in pain. [Well, guess you am luck, friend] he uttered in his broken Elven. Jamax stood up, planting his foot on the beaten one and keeping that one pinned while Nia’s cohort overwhelmed what was left of the ambush . . .

#Dragonborn #DnD #Fanfiction

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preoccupiedpens · 5 years

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Dream Hunters Chapter 3: Back To Square One

SEVEN YEAR HAS PASSED, Daisuke has already taken the Seeker Trials. He already failed twice in a row.

The Seeker Trials is an annual event where the elves faces certain trials to test whether they could survive outside Maria Island. The trials involves three parts: a written trial regarding the general knowledge outside Maria Island, a puzzle trial about the practical applications of foreign objects and technology, and combat trial, where elves will fight each other to see how strong and creative they are. Thanks to the things Daisuke learned at the Seeker Academy and to the book that Cobalt gave him, he was able to pass the first two parts. But when it comes to combat matches, he always fail.

According to the law that the past councils made, an elf may only take part in Seeker Trials thrice in a row. Failing it for a third time will ban an elf from taking the trials for the next four years and may only take the trials every four years thereafter.

Daisuke is standing at the observation deck outside of the shrine of Maria. He was looking at the panoramic view of the village. There he can see the South Harbor. He could see a ship filled with the new and veteran Seekers that is preparing for departure. If only Daisuke had cleared his second attempt on the trials, he would have been there as well, he thought.

Never in his life has he have been so troubled. Clearing the Seeker Trials is like a matter of life and death. He doesn’t want to be part of the Elven Corps for the rest of his life. He definitely does not want to wait for another four years just to take the trials. He felt it was unfair that he only fails because of the combat trial.

“There you are, Daisuke!” said a female elf.

Daisuke looked to his right. “Oh, Riku. What are you doing here?” asked Daisuke.

“I was looking for you.” Riku answered. She looked around, then said, “You really like this place, don’t you?”

Riku is a friend of Daisuke he met at Seeker Academy. They met when Daisuke was being bullied by some senior elves. She was also a bullied elf since she was unable to use a power. Instead, she has a Rose Necklace which she uses to use Rose Magic. She has a short hair with a braid on the right side. Like every elf, she has a pale skin and unique swirling patterns on it. But whenever she uses her rose magic, the pattern on her skin glows pinkish red instead of bright green. Unlike Daisuke though, she already cleared the Seeker Trials on their first take.

“Come on. Sir Rango is waiting for us.” said Riku. “You don’t want to be late again.”

Riku and Daisuke rushed towards the Council House where they met their colleague Jack and their senior Rango.

“What? Even you Riku barely made it on time?” announced Jack while laughing.

“Shut up.” Riku said coldly.

Jack is another friend of Daisuke. They’ve met when Daisuke attempted to clear the trials for the second time. He is the youngest son of Durant, and has already cleared the trials just like Riku.

“You just got here early!” said Daisuke.

Rango, smacked their heads. “That’s enough you three. Now come on, we’ve got a new mission.”

“Yes, sir!” Riku, Daisuke, and Jack shouted in unison.

After graduating the Seeker Academy, an elf can be part of the Elven Corps. They may join one of any divisions available, from the main forces that will protect the island from outsiders, healers that may work at the medical center or support the warriors and seekers, to the logistics and intelligence division that would one day can gather information from other countries.

Rango, their superior, is a Seeker that has cleared the trials twenty years ago and left the island for various missions. He returned to Yora Village seven years ago after spending a lot of his years traveling the lands of Aria. There, he learned many things about humans’ and other races’ culture and technology. On his return, he decided to stay and become part of the Elven Corps as an elven warrior that would protect Maria Island from outsiders.

As they entered the Council House, they saw a lot of elves taking missions from the councils. Some of them have just graduated from Seeker Academy, while others are already Seekers that decided not to leave the island yet.

As they are walking towards Ananais’ office, Daisuke can hear the girls murmuring about Jack. Being tall and handsome, any female elves would definitely want to be with him. Jack was even nicknamed, ‘The Prince of the Elves’. Riku also grew up fine and had many suitors. She used to be made fun of when she was younger for looking tomboyish and powerless, but now she looks prim and proper, ‘The Rose among the Thorns’. And then Daisuke heard elves who are talking about him. Isn’t that the freak who already failed twice? Why does short-ears have to be with the two famous elves? Daisuke chose to ignore them and simply follow Rango.

Rango’s team received their mission from Ananais. Ananais is an expert in stealth missions that involves espionage and infiltration. During her days as a Seeker, she will always receive these kind of missions to gather information about human settlements. Today, thanks to her experience and expertise, she has been assigned to border control in Maria Island aside from her council task.

Simply by entering the waters of the island, Ananais’ team will be able to detect it. But for some reason, they were unable to detect that a small boat entered the island. And even failed to detect where the infiltrators are.

“Rango! Thank you so much for coming.” Ananais smilingly said.

“Hahaha! We’re only doing our part, Lady Ananais.” Rango replied cheerfully.

Ananais’ gaze went to the three young elves. “I see, you have been assigned with these young ones.”

“They’re quite a handful bunch, but they do manage to finish their mission.” Rango said, praising his team. His team blushed from the compliment.

“Hahaha. Anyway, for your mission, I would like you to investigate the delta of the North River.” Ananais handed over the mission report.

According to the report given to Ananais by her scouting team, they saw a human boat at the delta of North River. This means that they could have been infiltrated by human treasure hunters again. Being infiltrated is not something new. What they were worried about was that they were unable to detect the boat or any infiltrators. There were no signs of camps or traces of any humans, but checking the area is a must. Rango briefed his team regarding the information and devised a strategy on sweeping the North River.

After the briefing, they left the village straight to the northern part of Maria Island. They reached the river in about half an hour.

“Hey Daisuke! Isn’t this the place where you were found?” asked Riku as they reached the North River.

“You still believe that story?” said Jack.

“Well, whether that’s true or not, we still celebrate my birthday here.” Daisuke said. “This is actually my first time coming here when it is not that day.”

“That’s enough chit-chat, guys.” said Rango. “This is where we begin are plan.”

Their plan is to sweep the area up to the river’s delta while staying hidden. Since there were no signs of the humans, the humans could be hiding in the woods. And as Rango instructed his team, if they ever see anything suspicious or the humans, they must not act on their own.

Rango’s team communicated using a portable radio, a technology that was shared to them by their human allies from a country in Aria continent.

“We’re already near the delta, yet there still no sign of any humans.” Daisuke said over his mouthpiece.

“Just continue walking,” Rango replied. “And keep it quiet and stay hidden.”

As Daisuke was walking, he heard a crackling sound of tree branch. He stopped to focus on any unusual sound. And then an arrow flew over him. He narrowly dodged the arrow. He looked to his left and saw a male human with bow and arrow, ready to fire again. As he looked at bow guy, two men fell down from the tree. They had a net that was meant to catch an elf, but he was able to dodge it.

“So there’s three of you, huh.” said Daisuke.

Daisuke’s teammates heard it from the radio and quickly went to where Daisuke is.

“Is that really him? The dark-skinned elf?” Asked one of the humans.

“That’s him alright, catch him!” said another.

Daisuke got irritated when he was called a dark-skinned elf. “Hey! That’s racist, you know!”

The bow guy nocked another arrow, Daisuke stomped his feet and a mature tree suddenly grew, shielding him from the arrow. The other guys tried to use the net again to catch Daisuke, but he was able to escape by creating a tree directly under his feet. He was a few meters up in the air now, standing at the top of the tree he created. He jumped down and landed near bow guy. As bow guy tried to nock another arrow, Daisuke punched him in the face so hard that it sent bow guy flying. The strength of Daisuke was so unreal that the two other humans was not sure what just happened. Daisuke then used his power. His right arm was being covered with tree branches until it became a huge wooden arm. Too much mana was used, however, in just using this wooden arms. So he thought that he must finish the fight before he runs out of mana. He already used too much earlier when he created two trees for cover and dodging.

The two other humans did the only logical thing; they tried to escape.

With those arms, they thought that they will not be able to catch Daisuke. They also thought that Daisuke will not be able to catch them since those wooden arms will only slow him down. They were wrong.

Daisuke was now running side by side with the two men. He jumped and used his momentum to punch the guy on his left using his wooden arm. The guy was sent flying until the guy hit a tree. The other one tried to escape, but Riku caught up on them.

Meanwhile, bow guy got up and tried to run away, but Jack blocked his way. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Yaaaaaaah!!” Bow guy took a dagger from his side and tried to stab Jack, but Jack used his power to block the dagger by covering his left arm with tree branch that served as his shield. Jack then covered his right fist with tree branch and punched bow guy’s face, rendering him unconscious.

Back at the other guy who tried to escape was mesmerized by Riku, a fatal mistake from any newbie elf hunter. Riku used her rose magic, wrapping the hunter with rose plant filled with thorns. The guy writhed in pain as he was prickled with thorn all over his body. As Rango reached his team, he ensured that the other guy Daisuke sent flying was tied up. After confirming that there are now other infiltrators beside the three male humans, he congratulated his team for completing the mission safe and sound.

They reached the village soon and handed over the three humans to the elven guards and were sent to the prison room for the time being. Ananais congratulated Rango’s team and gave them their payment.

“You guys really worked hard. Let’s call it a day. You better rest now.” Rango gave his team their earnings and decided to call it a day.

After the three elves left the Council House, Ananais and Rango had a talk.

“So, how did it go?” Ananais asked.

“They were really after Daisuke.” Rango responded. “How did they even entered the island without being noticed?”

“I am curious to that as well. If not for Durant and his trainees near my scouting team, we will not know about it.”

“And they even knew about Daisuke. The only dark-skinned elf on the island.”

“Probably after the attack seven years ago. We handed over some prisoners to United Alliance. They could have told them about Daisuke”

Rango sighed. “United Alliance can never be trusted. They must be after it. The power inside Daisuke.”

“That is why I want you to do me a favor.”

#DreamHunters #Chapter3 #StatueOfMariaSaga #MariaIslandArc

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dingoat · 6 years

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The Right Way | Part Fifteen

[ previous | the beginning | next ]

Honestly, with Ulfran no longer having any regard for the long-term implications of abusing his use of the Force, and Ahuska’a’s utter delight in wreaking chaos and taking lives, breaking into the facility in which Kassandra was being held was almost too easy. Truly, they brought out the worst in one another.

The stir they’d caused in the upper levels left them reasonably free to seek passage to the wing they intended to break Kassandra out of; a few sharp bolts of lightning and a couple of slit throats quickly silenced guards and prisoners alike who tried to make their way more difficult. They felt invincible, and behaved as though they were.

When he finally saw her, Ulfran very nearly derailed their plans entirely. A snarl fixed upon his face and blue-tinged electricity crackled once more at his fingertips; only to be cut short with a savage cry of pain as Ahuska’a’s whip slashed against his hand. “You---!” he seethed, rounding on her, only to be whipped again to the sound of an infuriating bark of laughter.

“I saw that! Whatever business you have with her though, doesn’t matter now. You know why we need her.” The Bothan sneered at the man, who conceded her point but not without buffeting her back with the Force, just once. Her expression snapped to a glower, as it always did when he used what was, ultimately, a superior power against her, and she pushed past roughly to stare at the Chiss behind the containment field they now faced.

Kassandra stared up at the pair, not comprehending, a bubble of fear welling up in her chest. The fangy grin that leered at her through the purple tinged energy field was hideously unsettling, as was the harsh red gaze of the furious looking man just a step behind.

“Oh, hello,” Ahuska’a crooned as though meeting a new pet, tilting her head and waving a hand toward Ulfran. “Go on, lower the field. I want a better look at her. How do you two know one another, again?”

“We don’t…” Kassandra said quickly, backing up into her cell as the field went down, her own glowing eyes wide and reflecting her fear. She’d relinquished control of her life a long, long time ago, and had survived simply by keeping attention off her back, with obedience, raising the ire of neither her guards nor her fellow inmates. “I’ve never seen him before. Who are you? What… what are you doing…?”

Ulfran clicked his tongue and shrugged. “You mean to say Lyrisal never mentioned me…?”

Kassandra stared, squinted at him, even while she cringed away from the Bothan with the frighteningly hungry eyes who stalked ever closer into her space. “I don’t… know?”

“Not once. She never brought up the dearest friend of her training days?” Did he actually sound a little hurt?

Slow, disbelieving recognition dawned on the Chiss’ features. “Kane?”

“Ulfran, now,” he snapped abruptly, like the sound of his old name was physically painful, “…but yes.” A thread of satisfaction wove its way back into his tone.

Fear struck at her more sharply as the possibilities began to circle her imagination. Was this revenge? But the Bothan had said... “It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault, surely you don’t blame me for what happened, look at me! You left, you left, you great hypocrite, you can’t hold it against her for wanting-“

“Shhhhh shh shh,” Ahuska’a tapped a finger to Kassandra’s lips with a lazy smile, while Ulfran simmered behind her. “Hush, little puppy. We’re not here to harm you. In fact, you’re going to help us!”

The Chiss swallowed hard, flinching away, only to find her chin caught up in the Bothan’s clawed hand.

“We’re going to fix everything,” Ahuska’a purred, having put all the pieces into place and feeling quite thoroughly smug about it. She lifted Kassandra’s chin and stared at her thoughtfully. “And once we have, you two can fight over Lyrisal all you want.”

Kassandra made a tiny gasp. She didn’t understand any of this, but was suddenly desperate to know more.

In the timeline where Crow turned left, Ahuska’a, Ulfran and Kassandra plotted to raid the Ve’lora family vaults. In the timeline where Crow took the right path, however, Ulfran plotted alone.

He was working for the Kor’var family, under the arrogant thumb of the head of the household, Lord Hadrex. He was a peculiarly eccentric Bothan with a fondness for dark artifacts and an eagerness to ally with the Sith Empire quite uncharacteristic of his species. That being so, it was an easy matter for Ulfran to find his way onto the Bothan’s staff, and even easier to coax information from the him. Ulfran barely had to tickle his thoughts, so willing was Hadrex to wax on Sith philosophy and include an actual, genuine Sith in his plans.

As all self respecting Bothawui citizens did, Hadrex sought power. And the road to power he pursued was profoundly useful to Ulfran, as Hadrex had a pact with the terribly wealthy and influential Ronan Ve’lora after saving his life in their youth. Ronan, claiming to be forever indebted to him, promised the hand of his first born in marriage to the Kor’var line… but Ronan had a single son, and Hadrex had only managed to sire sons himself. He was desperate for a daughter.

It didn’t take long for Ulfran to piece together the fact that it wasn’t just political power that Hadrex was vying for- he, too, was after access to the Ve’lora vaults. Possibly for the exact same artifact Ulfran was. Suddenly his job was not just to secure the Shard; but to beat the unscrupulous, power-hungry Bothan to it.

Time was wearing on. If another year passed without a viable heir being produced, the Bothan Council would step in and nullify the pact, at no shame to the Ve’loras, for the good of the family. Hadrex was running out of time, and had begun seeking out less than legitimate ways to marry into the more prestigious family. And Ulfran was helping him. Find a Bothan; somewhere, out in the galaxy. No records, no traceable lineage, preferably little to no attachments… falsify some DNA sampling, and present her as a long lost heir, a youthful dalliance between Hadrex and household staff. The small burden of shame would be far outweighed by the benefit of taking on the Alora Clan name.

Ulfran, of course, saw this alliance as his way in to the fiercely protected Ve’lora family vaults… until, he realised who the young Bothan that Hadrex had discovered and set his sights on was.

For a man who’d shrugged off so much throughout his life, who had faced torments and darkness with his head held high, who’d helped excuse all manner of deplorable things, oh, it had been a long time since he’d felt such dread in the pit of his stomach. When he was shown the snippets of security footage sliced from a Mos Ila patrol droid, when he saw the little blonde Bothan being shielded from blaster fire by… by them…

“I beg you, my Lord,” Ulfran tried to keep his voice level as he pleaded with Hadrex, wincing inwardly at having to refer to him as such. “Don’t pursue this. This target will only bring trouble.”

SMACK.

Hadrex’s gloved hand backhanded Ulfran across the face, as he responded with a snarl. “Not if you do your job right, Sith. I don’t pay you for your opinions…”

Ulfran stepped slowly out of reach, and kept his flashing eyes averted. “But my counsel is not unfounded. I know who you’re about to cross, and if she is anything like the rest of them… there’s a reason we wanted minimal attachments…” he was cut short by another advance from the dark furred Bothan noble, the threat of another slap.

“So do not cross them! Make them believe there is no hope, I know you are capable of that. I want this girl, and you will deliver her to me posthaste.”

That wasn’t the only time he’d tried to persuade Hadrex to another course of action, but the Lord would have none of it, having become utterly fixated on Ahuska. Still, if he performed the job neatly enough, perhaps he could still see this through. Find the girl, have her marry, get in the good graces of the Ve’lora family and access their collection… and be gone, before Lyrisal’s damned crew inevitably discovered the truth and came searching. Perhaps he could avoid their wrath.

But he did not perform his job neatly at all.

He vastly underestimated the strength of Crow’s mind, when he tracked the Bounty Hunter down and tried to pull enough information from his head to pre-empt his and Ahuska’s future movements. No subtle in-and-out from the shadows; no, Crow had picked up on Ulfran’s presence near immediately, and the two men had locked in physical battle. Ulfran had staggered away less two fingers and a thumb, half burned, his own memories a shambles, mixed with what thoughts he had managed to pluck from Crow’s head... but most dangerous was the fact that he had entirely, completely made himself known.

Ulfran knew his time was limited.

He discovered, in Crow’s stolen thoughts, Ahuska’s desire to visit Lothal. He took a gamble and beat them there, where he began to lay down his plan. It wasn’t enough to simply kidnap her; the Deserters would be on his trail in a heartbeat. He had to fake her death, he had to make them truly believe she was gone—and against all odds, he succeeded.

Crow sat in the dew soaked grass, his back against one of the sheer, towering rocks that jutted skyward from the ground. He toyed with his blaster, passing it back and forth between his hands, as casual as someone mulling over what to have for dinner, but his gaze was locked out toward the horizon. His flat, grey gaze. The hot spark of life that burned so brightly behind his eyes had been extinguished.

Ahuska was gone.

‘I don’t want to see Dad like this again,’ Nela keened. ‘I know. I’m sorry.’ And Ulfran meant it.

He had taken Ahuska, and she had resisted savagely every waking minute. He had broken Crow’s spirit, and if not for his friends and his daughter, if not for Nela insisting something was wrong, the bounty hunter may never have left the plains of Lothal. He had assisted Hadrex in his lies and his forgery, he had convinced poor young Kovar Ve’lora that Ahuska would be a most exceptional wife. That he would be happy with her, and eventually, she with him. He had threatened Ahuska into compliance, and though he’d told himself repeatedly he would never actually follow through, that he would never truly make her forget the one she loved… he had it in him. Ulfran forced himself to acknowledge just how far he might have gone. Eyes locked so firmly on his job, on his end goal, the people he harmed along the way had begun to matter less and less. He agonized over the terrible things he did to meet his ends, but did them anyway, so what was the purpose of his self-torment? What good was his conscience, if he did those things anyway?

‘If you didn’t feel that way, you’d be someone different. You’d be the other one. It’s okay. We found you in time.’

----

Phewwww I’m getting so close to the end now! It’s weirdly challenging trying to summarise months and months of RP in a few paragraphs; I could carry on forever if I let myself! Boundless thanks to @humanrevolt for making all this happen with me and as ever for trusting me to write his characters in this monster of a tale. Thanks, too, to any of you out there who have actually been following this along! I hope it’s been some level of entertaining, aaa.

#swtor #swtor fic #star wars #bothan #bounty hunter #lothal #nines #ahuska #hadrex #ulfran #crow #sad crow is sad #it killed me when that bit happened #the right way #writing #my writing #aaa

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arrowheadproductions · 6 years

Text

The Harpies & Aristaeus

After the stable scene, Coach Hedge subjects the seven to an unexpected lesson that is somehow more awkward than it sounds.

No Archive Warnings Apply- Rated T

Relationship(s): Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Jason Grace & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase & Piper McLean, Percy Jackson & Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez & Frank Zhang, Coach Hedge & Everyone

Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Coach Hedge, Athena (Percy Jackson)

Read on Ao3

If you were ever curious how to piss off an over-enthusiastic, bat-wielding satyr, I could provide you with a proper step-by-step. It really isn’t that hard for someone of my expertise, because evidently, I am incredibly gifted in the art of frustrating people. Annabeth will vouch for this since she’s made a point of letting me know for the past 6 years. Any of my foes of past and present could probably give a similar reference, but with more bias to their reasoning.

Anyway, back to satyrs that are taking their chaperoning job way too seriously:

Step 1: Sneak out after curfew at the beck and call of your beautiful/amazing girlfriend.

Step 2: Fall asleep.

Step 3: Get caught sleeping beside your beautiful/amazing girlfriend.

So now, thanks to the biggest misunderstanding in modern history (I’m sure Annabeth would normally have a tragic Greek tale about a grander example of miscommunication, but I doubt she’d dispute me now), we’re grounded. I haven’t been grounded in forever. To be fair, I’d been missing for a while and just before that I was kind of thrust into almost dying in the second Titan War, but I’m a good kid regardless.

I don’t regret spending the time with Annabeth, because it’d been forever since we’ve had a moment alone. My heart pattered when I thought about how she didn’t scare when I mentioned the idea of New Rome. It upgraded to full-scale pounding when I pictured the way she’d kissed me shortly after and how it still made me feel like I was floating.

Frank found and alerted the media, because apparently everyone was pretty worked up over the idea of losing us. I mean, I do have a record of going missing and losing my memory now so I can’t say I blame them for the concern. Their tunes completely changed when they saw us sprawled across the clear door cuddling. Frank seemed pretty embarrassed, which probably would have been closer to my response too if I walked in on Hazel and him like that. Piper smiled like a Cheshire cat for reasons beyond me. Whatever it was, it made Annabeth super uncomfortable whenever she looked at her pointedly. Jason seemed pretty indifferent, if not relieved he wasn’t in my shoes. Leo was relentless as if a day ago I hadn’t almost attacked him when I thought he set the canons off on Camp Jupiter.

Coach Hedge was as scary as I’d feared, but I wouldn’t say that to Annabeth. I don’t think I needed to, because she rolled her eyes when she looked over at me while we were chastised. There wasn’t much heat in it though, which told me that maybe she didn’t regret getting caught either. You could tell she’d been through a lot, too much, in these past 6 months. She barely even hesitated as he laid into us with threats of contacting our parents. While I half-expected Athena to storm our ship, scoop me up, hang me, and turn me into a flag, I was more afraid of the idea of Coach Hedge calling my mom. My mom has made it really clear that she does not want any grandbabies yet.

I thought we were safe from humiliating punishment until that night, Coach called for a group meeting. Leo said we’d never actually done that before on Argo II, so I knew something was up. It had just been an incredibly long day of near-death experiences so the fact that Annabeth and I dozed off was so far from my brain. As she laced her hands through mine while we walked from the lower cabin to the upper deck, it seemed to be far from her mind too.

It should have tipped me off that everyone was sitting towards Coach like he was performing a one-man show. Gods, I would imagine his singing voice would be on par with Chuck Norris and Dog the Bounty Hunter, just like the rest of his personality.

He set down a whiteboard on an easel and I could tell Annabeth was immediately cued in. My girlfriend is such a Brainiac and while ADHD like the rest of the demigods, her attentions were always easily grasped through organized visual aid, especially when it was educational. She looked cute when she was learning. She looked cute all of the time, because duh, it’s Annabeth, but her eyes get super focused and she leans forward a bit, occasionally nibbling on her lip.

I, on the other hand, am not taken with graphs or statistics the way I am with her. Whenever she feels the need to recite whatever he said, I’ll listen much more carefully from her. She must have felt my gaze, because I’m being far from discrete. Being away from her for all of that time, even if it was really only a few weeks for me, made me want to capture every detail of her and force myself to save it in safe keeping.

I thought she was going to smack me for zoning out so badly, but her face goes a little dumbfounded at whatever Coach is preaching and then her gray eyes flash to me in… Horror? Oh Gods, what did I miss?

She gently reaches out and turns my head to face the very red and very sweaty Coach Hedge, who looks the opposite of happy at me (or someone directly behind me). It takes me up until that moment to see everyone else is looking at me too, except they seem mad too, which is weird.

“Jackson!” He hollered and that brings me back to reality at a crashing rate.

It’s probably useless to say I was listening and play along.

“I was listening.” Stupid.

His nostrils flared. “Tell me what I just said.”

I had one of those typical Percy Jackson moments. You know, the ones that make everyone around me gasp at my superior intellect and amazing capability of remaining hyper aware at all costs.

“Uh… Duh…?”

“Smooth.” Annabeth muttered.

“That’s what I thought.” He barked. “If you don’t get your head out of your bungle hole right now, I’m going to tie you to your mattress, so you can’t have another infraction like last night’s ever again.”

“Why don’t you leave that to Annabeth?” Leo snickered cheekily.

I felt my face turning hot while Annabeth gave Leo one of her trademark glares that sent him sliding into his seat to avoid her gaze. Coach didn’t seem impressed by the comment either, because he hovered over Leo and resembled an exploding bottle of ketchup.

“I would hold my tongue if I were you, Valdez. This talk is for all of you little horn-balls. I should expect this from the child of Aphrodite-”

“-Hey!” Piper said indignantly.

He powered on. “But since Annabeth Chase has been dirtied up, it can likely happen to any of you. So, that’s why we need to take a moment from all of this world-ending business and move onto a different kind of life-or-death.”

The glare he sent me when he said “dirtied up” made me want to sleep with my eyes open tonight. Or you know, forever.

“I have not been dirtied up!” Annabeth snapped. I admired her bravery, but we’d already gone in circles about how nothing even happened, and no one believed us. At this point, Coach Hedge was going to trust a son of Hermes not-guilty plea of pick-pocketing over us.

“Oh really, I know your mother wouldn’t be pleased about your recent deeds.”

“We didn’t-”

“-Save it!”

I could feel myself sweating and could practically hear my own heartbeat in my ears. The implication behind all of this was uncomfortable at best, even if we had been innocent. It was no secret that Annabeth was born from Athena, who was one of the Maiden Goddesses. In other words, she never biologically produced kids. While Aphrodite was definitely sex-positive when it came to her children, Athena was… Not. She saw more important values than love like battle strategies or instilling constant fear into her daughter’s boyfriend.

“Anyway, it’s time that I have a little talk with you kids. Nobody else seems to have so it’s up to me.”

Everyone around me got super pale and started stammering in disagreement. Me? I was just confused and trying to hide it. I mean, I can’t say I enjoy long conversations with Coach Hedge, but this had to be better than having to sleep outside in the rain or sharing a room with him, right?

“Why should we have to sit through this?” Frank stumbled over his words and wouldn’t look at Hazel.

“Because I am becoming very aware that you folks seem to think this is a romantic couple’s cruise and I will be having none of it.”

“I am not part of a couple.” Leo pointed out.

“Yeah, but don’t think I haven’t noticed the goo-goo eyes you’ve been making at Miss Levesque here.”

Gods, it looked like Frank was wishing his eyes were snipers by the way he was glaring at Leo. Leo seemed very aware of this and once again sunk down in his seat in an ill attempt to become less of a target. His rescue came in the form of Hazel placing a hand on Frank’s bicep. He looked down at her and calmed down almost immediately. I’m usually the last guy to notice this kind of thing, but maybe being in love has sort of made me more attune to other people in love.

“This ship will not become the playboy mansion!” Coach emphasized this point by referring to a poster with the word “sex” scratched over with red slashes. “So, in order to stop this, I’m going to give you the talk my old man gave me: The Harpies and Aristaeus.”

“So, looking at ugly harpies made you swear off sex?”

Everyone groaned. I bet some of them were wishing they’d never picked me up in the first place, because I was still lost. Coach Hedge looked like he was about 3 seconds from chucking his clipboard at me.

Annabeth smacked my shoulder and was glaring at me with that “can you be more stupid” look in her stormy eyes. A deep blush clung to her cheeks and the back of her neck and if she didn’t already look mad enough to throw me overboard, I might have commented on how cute it was.

Still, she clarified. “Aristaeus is a minor God that is a protector of many arts, Percy. A big one is bee-keeping."

"How is bee-keeping an art?"

Thunder rolled in the distance.

"Sorry." I murmured and tried to put the pieces together.

The bee keeper? That still sounded lame. And what did that have to do with harpies?

The harpies and the bee keeper.

The ugly bird people and the bees.

The birds and the- oh crap.

Needless to say, I felt dread. Like, titan-fighting dread. I couldn’t bring myself to look anywhere near Annabeth’s direction as it dawned on me. My sense of panic must have translated to the outside, because Coach seemed much smugger than he had been earlier. My tongue seemed to swell in my mouth and my face definitely invented its own shade of magenta for the occasion. Everyone else looked pretty stiff too, but it was hard to believe anyone could be more awkward than me about this kind of thing.

“I had that talk with my mom… A while ago.” I tried, and it was true. It was painful then, but something told me hearing it from a big and loud half-goat with my girlfriend right beside me was going to be infinitely worse.

“Well, if you’re such an expert, you’re going to point out and name every part of the female reproduction system.”

Right then, I wished that maybe, just maybe, Gaia would rise early so I wouldn’t have to live through this. Wow, super selfish and absorbed, I know, but you have to understand that this is basically akin to slow and brutal torture. And I have been tortured before.

Gaia is spiteful and probably saw this as a lovely little way to prolong suffering.

The diagrams were awful and graphic. Coach wasn’t exactly a stand-up comedian, so he wasn’t joking about me having to point out and name every part of the female anatomy. I was wrong about almost all of it, but I couldn’t give the legitimate terms for the parts of the male anatomy either, I swear.

“Is this thing upside down?” I asked at one point.

“Poor Annabeth.” Murmured Piper to Jason, who looked just as dumbstruck and confused as me. Annabeth had her head in her hands out of pure mortification and I was wondering if the entire purpose of this exercise was to embarrass me so much that my girlfriend would never want to so much as touch me ever again, let alone do anything resembling sex.

“Poor Annabeth, indeed.” Coach Hedge agreed after shouting at me for getting the term “clitoris” wrong for the third (or was it fourth?) time.

“Why does Annabeth even need to know this? Doesn’t she just have brain babies like Athena? I mean… Can she have kids the normal way?” Leo asked.

She scowled. “I can’t have brain children and even if I could, it would require an impossibly strong connection of intelligence.”

Everyone simultaneously turned back to me and Jason clicked his tongue. “Yeah, I guess that’s out of the question.”

“Hey!” I protested.

Consent was talked about, which shouldn’t have surprised me considering how many gross people live in the world. I guess I was just surprised that any sane person would be able to sleep at night knowing they’d just totally broken someone’s trust in mankind in such a violating way.

“NO MEANS NO!” He yelled over and over again. “MAYBE MEANS NO! MAYBE NOT MEANS NO! YES IS YES AND THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO IT.”

But it wasn’t, because he started grilling us on situations where consent was properly given. I passed this was flying colors, because honestly, I’m the kind of person that usually needs intense verification to do much of anything. You saw how long it took for me to admit I liked Annabeth. I know I am not always good with subtleties.

I glanced over at her, who also didn’t seem the least bit worried about this part. I gently took her hand and hoped that it reminded her that I would never hurt her.

Coach went on to explain protection, which seemed like it would be the most mild portion of this TED talk, but when he handed all of us bananas and condoms, I knew it was going to be bad.

“This seems excessive.” Hazel laughed nervously, which made sense since she’s not exactly from a time where even talking about this stuff is the norm. I can’t say I was too comfortable either. Plus, I was pretty perturbed about the fact that while everyone else had a full-sized banana, Annabeth had been given half of a carrot.

“I ran out of bananas.” Coach tried to justify but wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Sure.” I grumbled.

“If you don’t know how to put on a condom, you will die.”

Piper smirked. “Nice Mean Girls reference.”

We spent the next half hour explaining Mean Girls to him while simultaneously trying to take this fun little meeting off the rails. It worked a little bit and Coach even seemed to enjoy some of the smart remarks made in the movie, but he’d apparently drank a lot of persistence juice before calling us together so he was not being shaken from his original purpose.

It turned into a contest at who could put it on the quickest and the most secure. Annabeth was the first to accomplish this feat, but again, she had the smallest and most slender object to work with. I didn’t do as badly as Leo or Frank, who kept dropping the banana.

“It’s not really staying on.” Annabeth murmured and wouldn’t look at me.

Leo snickered. “Poor Annabeth again.”

This time, she thumped him upside the head and I would be remiss to say I didn’t support the reaction.

“Valdez, I’d hold your judgment since you can’t even seem to finish.”

I laughed this time.

Coach realized we were all having a little too much fun with this exercise and went on to explain the intricacy of orgasms, both male and female. I felt my stomach lurching again, especially as he was clearly trying to dispel any positive thoughts from the girls’ minds by harping over the fact that guys our age do not last long in bed. I was trying to find other stuff to focus on, like the impending mortal threats that were coming our way, but he kept reeling me back in by using me as an example.

“Take Jackson, here--”

“Please don’t.”

This didn’t stop him. “Someone of his anxiousness and stupidity would have no idea how to pleasure a woman. He’s better suited at maneuvering the Labyrinth than the vagina. He proved that earlier.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I can promise you, that the 15 seconds will not be worth it. And that applies to all of you boys.”

Needless to say, it got a lot worse before it got better. Frank was asked what the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy was, was given the hint that it started with an “A”, and then panicked and said “anal” instead of abstinence. Hazel took a solid 4 steps away from him then and I thought the big guy was going to throw up. Jason, Hazel, and I were then given a nice chat about how if we had children, they would be so powerful that there would be a quorum about whether or not they should even live. Leo asked if it was possible that he would accidentally light a girl on fire mid intercourse. The answer was yes. Annabeth was the only one born of a virgin Goddess present, so of course the majority of her segment focused on “purity” and “clear-thinking” and also the mention of her mother’s intense disapproval.

She’d told me about how her mom already claimed she failed her and I could see her flinch at the idea of failing her further, but then unexpectedly, her gaze turned to a hard steel.

“Hold on a second,” She said angrily, and I knew that look. I’ve been on the other side of that look many a time. She gave me that look a lot in our time of knowing each other, especially when I was being dumb about whether or not she liked me/whether or not I should admit I liked her.

“What is it, Chase?” He asked gruffly.

“This is ridiculous.” She snapped. “How is virginity, which isn’t even a physical or tangible thing, something that could possibly increase or decrease my value as a human being?”

“Well…” He started, but she didn’t let him continue.

“If Percy and I have sex, does that make him a terrible person and me dirty? Because that’s how you made it sound earlier.”

Hearing it point blank like that almost made me swallow my tongue and frankly, made my heart race a bit more than I’d ever admit.

“Not on my-” He was going to say “watch”, but she pushed onward with confidence akin to when she’s marching into battle.

“We talked about consent earlier, so clearly you understand the concept of it being my body and my choice at what I want to do with it. So tell me, how is sex more deplorable than going on life-threatening quests that could potentially rip me limb from limb? How is that encouraged, but something that is so biologically basic and innate is considered irredeemable? Do I suddenly become less if I decide I want to feel human every once in a while?”

“You don’t want to get-”

“-Pregnant, I know, and you’re right. I don’t right now, but I’m not exactly an idiot. There are ways of preventing that as we talked about earlier. That is all this should be about, though. Preventing pregnancy, preventing STI’s/STDs, consent, understanding the body, etc. Not guilt about a very natural and human experience. Given the lives we’ve lived, I’d say we deserve it.”

My mouth hung open like the hinges of my jaw had broken and I was left with an open cavern for a mouth for the rest of my life. I tried to shy away from Coach’s shocked stare as if to say, “don’t look at me, I didn’t tell her to say that”, but I couldn’t. I agreed with Annabeth, of course, because she should be the one to get to decide what she does. She’s proven herself capable of that more than a billion times.

I met her gaze while she sat back down and she closed my mouth for me, the smallest remnants of a smile lingering on her lips. Her stare was… hard to read, but I couldn’t seem to stop looking at her. Everyone else seemed to follow my lead, with Jason whistling slightly in approval of her tangent, Piper looking like she wanted to fist-bump her, Hazel smiled cautiously, Frank seemed relieved she shut Hedge up, and Leo looked a little scared and a little aroused.

Hedge cleared his throat as he muttered the words “meeting adjourned” roughly under his breath. Everyone made their move to get away from each other as quickly as possible. We could all probably use a moment to ourselves after that utter humiliation. In the end, Hedge ended up getting the short end of the carrot, so that was semi satisfying.

Annabeth and I walked to our respective quarters in silence and my mind raced on whether or not there was a good thing to say right now. What was appropriate for this moment?

"Thanks for stopping him before he got to sex toys."

"I literally cannot stop sweating right now."

"FYI: mine isn't the size or color of a small carrot."

Thankfully, she spoke. However, when she did, I couldn’t have seen it coming if it was right in front of my face.

“Do you ever think of me like that?” It was so rushed and abrupt that I’m not totally sure she even meant to say it.

I swallowed hard, but I knew if I didn’t answer quickly enough she was either going to get offended or annoyed and I didn’t want either right now after she’d basically saved us all from having to sign anti-pregnancy pacts.

“Sometimes.” I tried to make it sound casual, like I wasn’t a horny, sex-obsessed teenage boy that spent all of him time ogling his girlfriend. I definitely ogled at her, but not like she was an object or anything. She’s just insanely beautiful. Truthfully, I always felt lucky she’d have me in any capacity and didn’t really register that she might want me in that way. Also, I’m usually busy thinking about simple things like food or whether or not I’m going to die painfully in battle. But the thought occurred to me on occasion. Like when we go swimming and she’s climbing out of the water in a bikini or when she sits on my lap and wriggles around a little too much.

The time we made out in the strawberry fields and she placed my hand under her shirt made all the blood leave my brain just thinking about it.

“You?” I asked.

“Sometimes.” She affirmed and looked away and it was obvious in the dim lighting of the hallway that she was blushing again. I couldn’t help but wonder when in Hades she saw me like that, because I’m not exactly smooth. That didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful she did.

“So…” I rocked back and forth on my heels. “You… Want to? Someday? Not today. Obviously not today, but at some point in our lives you want to-”

Thanks, the Gods almighty, because she cut me off from that embarrassing tangent with a kiss. I felt myself relax against her immediately, because she wasn’t totally repulsed by me after both my inability to correctly label the female anatomy or my stupid tendency to make things more awkward somehow. Her fingers threaded in my hair and she tugged a little bit out of satisfaction. My hands found their usual residence on her waist. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and she smiled against my mouth when I inadvertently moaned in response. We stayed like that for a while, her tangling her fingers in my hair while pressing me against the door of my cabin, my hands playing with the loops of her jean shorts, everything seeming impossibly right with the world.

She pulled back and looked at me through sparkling eyes that danced with a knowingness that I will probably never fully understand or stop appreciating. She gently tapped her fingers along the back of my neck in a light drumming movement. She leaned up and kissed me again, this time chaste, which was probably for the best since Coach Hedge would likely be doing some kind of inspection soon.

“We’ll get there.” She smiled, and I wondered if she could feel my heart doing jumping jacks in my chest cavity. “Soon.”

Soon.

She opened the door to her cabin and winked at me before leaving me to the influx of thoughts that decided to attack my brain all at once, leaving me standing there like a big dumb idiot. I wouldn't even have been surprised if I ended up standing here all night out of shock and... Anticipation? She was always going to be miles ahead of me, but I was more than okay with that.

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo #percabeth #ap's fics #my fics #percy and annabeth #frank and hazel #jason and piper #jasiper

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