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jangofctts · 4 years

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Sink Your Teeth In (Part 2 of Are You In Or Out?)

Rated: Explicit (Paz is in the next chapter DONT WORRY)

Word count: 7.5k

Warnings: mentions of violence, blood, the cold?, reader is in PERIL YET AGAIN, vaginal fingering, oral female receiving, unprotected vaginal sex (wrap them schlongs yall), brief hand jobs, swearing, angst, very VERY light choking, din is a sub sorta?? bottom energy

Summary: Well. At least you aren't dead. After a solo hunt gone wrong, you’re dumped in a cave on Csilla. Hopefully someone finds you before you freeze to death.

a/n: hey…so uh. HOW ABOUT THAT EPISODE HUH?!? aheM anyway--yall I just wanna thank everyone first off for all the love and support!!! I see all of your comments and tags and AH IM SO LUCKY TO HAVE ALL OF YOU GUYS. ALSO SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO @djxrxn THIS WOULDNT HAVE BEEN DONE WITHOUT YOU BB GORL

Well—

Here you are.

Taken by surprise by another bounty, further proving how irrevocably incompetent you are at this line of work. You blame the binders. An older, clunkier model—easy to pick if you’re clever enough and yes. Maybe you should’ve asked to borrow a carbonite chamber, but hey—where’s the fun in that?

Not much, as it so happens.

Your feet had been kicked up on the dashboard, dozing and unaware of the freed bounty creeping up behind the pilot’s seat. Something delightfully blunt smashed against your temple, jolting you into a brief conscious state where the only thing you could think before passing out again, was a resounding—

Oh, fuck me sideways with a fucking lightsaber—

The rest is hazy. A blur of colors and the fuzzy shapes of your bounty’s face sneering in amusement when she bound your wrists and ankles and left you in the cargo hold. Vaguely you recall your ship being commandeered, swung into an unidentified atmosphere and landing on said unknown planet Or planets. Planet hopping to cover up a trail.

The bitter cold, sharper than a needle through skin is what shook off the last dregs of unconsciousness. The bounty’s hand was hooked into the collar of your clothes, dragging your limp body through drifts of snow and ice. You would’ve fought back—should’ve even though each extremity felt like a numb block of lead. Not very useful in a fight…

Soon, the snow turned to mud and the mud to stone as a mouth of a cave slid over the impossibly blue sky. Dumped in a cave, and left to die—perfect way to bite the dust. Your bounty turned captor lands a sharp kick to your ribs, mouthing some curse in a language you don’t understand, and left without a second thought.

Seems about right. You have a knack for lying helpless and half dead in places you ought not to be in.

Two days and counting, you’ve been holed up in this blasted cave with no food, no supplies and no comlink. It’s going be a fucking chore to find you—nearly impossible. You’re lucky in that aspect you guess—you know enough bounty hunters to sniff out a a needle in a whole stack of needles, so all it is is a race of time against the elements and how long it takes for one of them to notice.

Aeris is no help. He left a day before you had—hired as personal protection for some syndicate leader halfway across the galaxy. Ives is in a similar boat, off-world and unavailable to drag your ass out of the hole you’ve dug. Which leaves…

You sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose between your forefinger and thumb. Anytime you even think of those two a migraine cumulates behind your eyes. It’s…it’s not like anything bad happened in the aftermath—there’s been no fallout or arguments with barbed words as weapons. It’s been quiet. Like stepping onto a sheet of cracked transparisteel in a library full of tight-lipped academics.

The questions lurk under the surface of every conversation and longing look cast your way. You’ll need to clarify and sort things out eventually, but fuck—it’s such a mess of frazzled heartstrings and fine strands of impossible thoughts that lead into an endless void of doubt. You’re shoving that emotional time bomb to the very back of your mind—everything is still so raw…

So you ran.

Picked up any and all jobs that the Guild provided just to escape the looming decision of confronting a certain pair of Mandalorians. That and with them having their own tasks to complete, it was rare to see them, let alone together in the past few weeks. A simple run in here and there in the halls of the Covert, but you were too busy to stop and chat—forced a chaotic schedule upon yourself as an excuse to avoid staying in once place at a time.

Coward.

The word knots in your stomach like gnarled tree roots escaping their prison of dark soil on untrodden land.

Maker—how did everything become so tangled?

You draw your knees up to your chest and release a long, drawn out exhale that echoes through the cave. You sniff and force the swell of tears that prick at your eyes away. You’re pretty sure they’ll freeze and you’re not hoping to find out.

The only good thing about being dropped on this Maker-forsaken, wasteland devoid of anything but snow, is the free ice for the nasty gash on your forehead. A nice little parting gift.

It’s shallow…you think—it stopped bleeding the night before and is now just a scabbed over, tender wound that throbs whenever you move your head too fast. Concussion maybe—a mild one.

Maker willing when someone finds your sorry ass they’ll have bacta. Or a blanket. Either would be peachy.

Sitting up with a wince, you shuffle to the mouth of the cave for the thousandth time and scour the skyline for a familiar ship. Or, any ship really. The only thing you do see is a lonesome wisp of cloud against the grayish blue sky much to your chagrin. You scowl and stalk back into your little hovel and slump back onto the ground.

The hours drag on, the watery light of the dying sun barely doing anything to warm you. Sulking is hardly what you should be doing—not great for the burdened mind and all that, but ah, it’s so fun to wallow in misery. You curl your knees up to your chest and you must slip into a doze because when you’re snapped back into the present, footsteps punch through the frozen tundra outside your cave.

Adrenaline crackles down your spine—the bounty changed her mind. Ultimately decided she’d be safer in the long run with you dead. Fine.

If this is where your grave is going to be, might as well get in one or two punches. What’s another black eye anyway?

A shadow flickers at the mouth of the cave, curling around the wall as she draws closer. A brown boot kicks through the snow and—

“Changed your mind? I—“

Your words die on your tongue as relief floods your veins. Din Djarin stands before you, a sight for sore eyes in these trying times.

Frost glitters on the burgundy chest plate, glinting in the dim sunlight that touches the mouth of the cave. A delicate feathering of the dainty crystals that no high end lace maker could ever hope to mimic curls up the front of Din’s visor and eats away at the edges of his cloak. His heavy step forward reverberates off the walls, some of that ease replaced by the prickle of dread. His silence is unnerving.

“Din,” you say again, just so he’ll say something. “I can—“

You move to stand, but he interrupts with a halting;

“Sit.”

Your mouth snaps shut and you drop back on the floor. This…is not good. His footsteps are heavy as he approaches you and every muscle in your frame tightens like a fist wrapping around your ribcage and squeezing. The precise edges of his helmet are not a forgiving sight and even when he kneels onto one knee you have to resist the natural urge to flinch. Like this, despite hunching over, Din is broad. All hard muscle and sinew amplified by the bulky layer of beskar.

Your tongue runs over the insides of your teeth as you track his hand that he thrusts foreword. You hiss and jerk away at the sudden needly pain when his gloved thumb finds the edges of your head wound. A low sound of disapproval filters out through the helmet in a low metallic buzz.

“You won’t need stitches,” he says. Din reaches into one of his various supply pouches and pulls out a tiny vile of bacta. He casually pulls off his right glove, unscrews the vile and smears the bacta over his thumb. This time you don’t make a sound, even though your nerves scream at the razor like sensation of his thumb working the bacta into the damaged flesh. He doesn’t ask how the injury happened and you don’t care to tell him. There’s a time and place for stories about battle scars and near misses—it’s much too fresh to be spoken of right now.

The brief torture finally ends after once last glance over for other presenting injuries. He finds none, replaces his glove and stands with a muted grunt. You know what’s next. You’d rather avoid it—you aren’t keen on the berating lectures—as deserved as they are.

“I found your ship on Sato 3,” Din begins with a growl. “Imagine my surprise when I found your bounty selling it for parts.”

Ah, there it is. You wince and study your fingernails. “Pile of junk anyway…”

“I thought you’d be smarter about these things,” he snarls, his sharp tone deadly enough to slice through bone. “Was the hole blown into your lung not enough for you?”

You swallow and bite your tongue.

The bristling Mandalorian, continues and jabs an orange tipped finger at you. “You are reckless.”

Your chest constricts as you look away, shame blooming in the pit of your stomach.This is a new facet of Din you’ve never encountered. You aren’t naïve—even the most docile of people can harbor a temper, you know that. And you know Din is by no means passive—he’s an elite warrior equipped with a small arsenal at his disposal. You don’t expect him to coddle you or treat you different than any other companion; but…but it’s hard not to take his ire to heart. Not when it’s the kind of anger that boils deep in your chest and erupts with molten streams that leaves scathing wounds and blistered feelings.

You chew your lip hard enough to taste blood and avoid his piercing gaze. You think if you do you might catch fire and burn to a crisp. “I’m sorry.”

The meek apology settles in the air like a heavy fog. Din’s anger still brews, looming and dark but he reigns in his temper and switches out the searing cadence of his words with chilly informality. You’re not sure which is worse.

“No more bounties.”

“What?” Your brows knit together. The fuck does he mean.

“No more hunts alone—“

You interrupt with a scoff. “You’re grounding me?”

He strides across the small space and plants himself on the opposing wall. “Until you’re competent enough, you have no business being out in the field. You might as well be bait at this point.”

“Competent.” You echo through clenched teeth.

His helmet dips, leveling a steady glare of indifference. “The Crest is a half cycle’s walk from here. In the morning I’m taking you back to Nevarro.”

“I’m not a child. You can’t just,” you throw your hands up in dismay, “ban me from bounty hunting.”

Din’s armor clinks together as he moves to sit. He rests one elbow on his propped up knee, extends his other and rolls his helmet to meet your eyes. “Your actions reflect the Covert now. We can’t risk discovery because of one stupid mistake or a careless loose end.”

That hadn’t even crossed your mind. Stars, you want to smack yourself. Your ship, as shitty as it was, hosted a good chunk of sensitive information, all encrypted and translated into binary. A mediocre slicer could hack through it in hours. Not exactly foolproof but hey, at least you had something. Good thing your bounty wasn’t in the market of selling stolen ships to the Empire.

“Din?”

The Mandalorian makes no noise of affirmation that he heard you. You sigh and take his silence as a go ahead and clear your throat. “How long was I gone for?”

Here, in the cave it’s been nearly three days, but the rest of it you’re not exactly sure. Hunting the bounty down took up at least a week or two and even longer to capture her and there’s no accounting for the time lost after your ship was commandeered. Your teeth roll over your bottom lip as you wait for him to respond.

“Almost two months.” He replies evenly. “Your transmissions were cut three weeks ago and I didn’t think anything of it. Comms are always patchy in Wild Space."

Leather creaks as his fist balls at his side. “You didn’t answer for days. Paz and I tracked the ship to Sato 3, but you weren’t there. Do you know how difficult it was to pick through all the planets recorded on your log?”

You blink and return to picking at your fingernails.

“You weren’t easy to find, I—“ He severs the rest of his sentence with a crackling sigh and tilts his head back. “You’re lucky.”

The hesitance lacing his words makes you bite your tongue, the snarky retort crumbling to ash in your mouth. Din doesn’t bother to filter his words—he’s blunt. Efficient and to the point when he does decide to speak. That…well that was different.

He was worried—

You rub at your cheek—numb with the cold and curl into yourself. Din was worried. Easily the most feared bounty hunter in the parsec, worried that he couldn’t find you.

A different cold—one that settles deep into the marrow of your bones and hugs your soul with a sheet of frost, makes a home in your heart. The severity of what could’ve happened replaces that sheen of hilarity and fuck. You were closer to freezing to death than Din finding you here—alone in some stupid kriffing cave.

Somehow the idea of that is worse than the brief brush of eternal slumber you had on Nar Shaddaa. Up to that point you expected to die young—no harm and no foul in it either. You had no attachments, no debt to pay—a drifter in an endless galaxy.

Now you’re here, buckling under the weight of mismanaged friendships and your uncanny skill at weaseling into any and all trouble.

Neither you or Din jump to fill the silence. The ashes of disaster settle in nicely with the frozen echo of an endless winter.

It’d been a couple hours shy from sunset when Din arrived, the sun providing weak light that hardly touched the mouth of the cave. Now as the shadows grow longer and with the temperature dropping, the two of you are swallowed up by the unyielding darkness of night.

Din shuffles and fishes out the solar light from his supply bag. It clicks on and warm, orange light illuminates the cave. It bounces off his beskar, fracturing the light like a million tiny suns in the tempered metal and in the impossibly dark visor. He looks up, and tosses the light over.

You catch it easily and despite the warmness of the light it emits, it offers no heat for your chilled fingers. You set it to the side and tuck your hands into your armpits.

By no means is the cave warm—the natural thermal vents kept the ground dry and free of the ice and snow that rages outside, but it doesn’t protect you from the occasion chilly draft that cuts through each layer you wear. Then again, you weren’t planning on taking an unexpected vacation on Csilla. No time to plan really.

You sigh and pull your knees up to your chest and cast a glance at your ever radiant ray of sunshine across from you.

He looks nice and cozy—leaned back against the cave wall, one leg crossed over the other while his hands sit intertwined just below his navel. The beskar must provide insulation—maybe a fancy heater in that bucket of his, or maybe he’s just too stubborn to show anything other than indifference.

Another bout of shivers tear through your frame and you’re certain Din can hear the enamel of your teeth clack together. You shove your hands deeper into your armpits and tuck your chin into your chest to preserve heat and pray that sleep isn’t far off—can’t be cold if you’re unconscious.

Metal scrapes over stone as Din readjusts himself and you can feel him looking at you. It’s not a terrible weight to bear; intense and analytic, sure and in the past it would’ve unnerved you. Now, instead of it feeling like he were peeling back each fibre of your soul each time he stares, it’s familiar. A pattern of sorts—

It happens each time Din wrestles with an uncertain question. He deals in absolutes, and it’s no surprise he rarely knows what to say to you.

“You’re shivering,” he states. You roll your eyes. “Are you cold?”

“Boiling, actually,” you snip. “Why else would I forget a jacket?”

A sharp hiss of air crackles through the vocoder. “Don’t get mouthy with me. It was a simple question.”

“Well—there’s not much to do about it,” you sneer, watching your breath condensate in the air. “I’m freezing, exhausted, and hungry.”

You know you’re being snide—but your nerves feel like they’ve been severed at the root with a dull vibroblade. You have neither the time nor energy to spare for simple questions. Din should understand that—seeing as he’s a man familiar with short temperament.

The space between you is ripe with crackling tension, and maybe—if you weren’t so fucking cold—you’d play the mediator. Thread stitches into the gash you both sliced into your friendship, as small it may be. You’ve lost friends over less—this could end up no different.

You sigh and turn your head. This is a problem for tomorrow.

Irritated and upset, you squeeze your eyes shut and chase after sleep. You slip in a doze faster than expected, any and all discomfort fading away a you toe the line between a deeper sleep and waking dreams. You think you imagined Din saying your name—Maker you can’t even escape him in your own fucking head—

It doesn’t end—like a nagging buzz that swells until it’s right near your ear. Spite spurs you to ignore It and exhaustion convinces you to drift further away. That is, until a hand, gentle and warm curls around your shoulder. You once again hear your name rumble low through Din’s helmet, but it’s much too difficult to open your eyes. Why can’t he leave you be? You barely feel the cold now…

“Stay awake.” Din sounds distant, in some other plane of existence despite the steady hold he has on your arm. “Maker—you’re colder than kriffing ice.”

“Go away,” you grumble through numb lips. Such a pest.

He’s talking—but the words don’t make sense. Muddled—split between that hazy line of dreaming and consciousness where you can’t decipher what’s real. His hands however—you can feel those plain as day. A bare palm cups your cheek—shreds through the layer of frost you’re positive has crystalized over your skin and rouses you to a more coherent level of presentness.

“Don’t quit on me yet—“

“Nah,” you mumble. “I’m hard to…to kill. L-like a scrap rat…”

Din grunts in response. “Rat is a compliment. You’re more of a spider-roach.”

The ends of your mouth quirk. It’s the best you can do—a full smile just might push you to the brink of death.

“C’mon—I won’t let either of us freeze,” Din sighs. His fingers find the magnetized latches on his cuirass and it slips off with practiced ease, the armored thigh plating following a moment later. He neatly sets it to the side and grabs his cloak to fasten it around you. With another sigh, Din shuffles in behind you and wraps an arm around your middle, nestling his legs and body snuggly around yours.

Maker—you don’t have time to bother about the intimacy of this because all you’re drawn to is the furnace like heat. Fuck, he’s so warm. You have only a second to enjoy it before your body begins to thaw—bringing forth waves of achey pain.

His chest molds to your back, both arms curling over your own arms that are scrunched up tight around your chest. You shake in his hold, vicious waves of cold clashing against his body heat—it hurts—like sticking your bare foot into hot coals.

You squirm, little gasps of discomfort slipping out that echo around the cave. Din shifts, tucking you further under his body until he’s nearly crushing you. It’s a bit tricky to breathe like this but hey—you’re not complaining. Not when your nose is buried in his soft undershirt that smells purely of Din.

Your fingers and toes still throb as they thaw, but it’s working. Cuddling Din Djarin to stave off hypothermia—sounds kriffing ridiculous.

“You’re still shivering,” he says. “I might…”

Your breath catches in your throat as he trails off. “Might what?”

Another shiver wracks through your body as his frosty helmet catches on bare skin when he dips his head in embarrassment. You don’t quite catch what he says and he doesn’t bother to clarify. “Forget it.”

You turn your head as much as you can, straining your eyes to meet the strip of visor. “Tell me.”

He mumbles under his breath again and cuddles closer, slotting his hips against your ass. “Might know…know another way to keep us warm…”

Oh.

A spark breathes to life in the pit of your tummy. You wiggle onto your back, your nose brushing the vizor. “Does it involve me taking off my pants?”

Din huffs, his hands, previously latched onto your hips, starting to crawl up your waist. “It could…”

You smirk and rock your hips back, eliciting a low growl that rumbles through his chest. With your whine of approval, Din’s hand slips between your legs and gives the meat of your inner thigh a squeeze. You let your knees fall open as far as they can in this position and it’s all Din needs to cup your cunt through the thin material of your trousers.

Crackling pleasure flood your veins as the heel of his palm grinds into your clit, and while the pressure is nice, it does nothing to satisfy. Only feeds the growing flames of desire with brittle kindling.

You pull at his undershirt and whimper, thrilled once his deft fingers, calloused and thick unlace your pants and yank far enough down to fit his hand. His fingers trace your outer lips, a ghost of a touch as arousal swells in your stomach. He parts your folds once your wetness begins to dribble out and coats his fingertips with your arousal.

Stars—you need him. You arch into him and whine. “Touch me. Din, please—“

You jerk as Din’s thumb swirls a slow circle over your clit, a rush of endorphins surging out like unrefined fire whiskey. Din’s head tilts to watch you writhe over his fingers and the sudden chill of his helmet touching the inside of your flushed neck steals away your next inhale. Goosebumps race down your entire being, adding to the influx of your excitement that pools in your lower belly.

Your hands tangle into his undershirt, pulling him closer until you can’t find where he begins and you end. His heart pounds in his chest, thrumming to the dance of your own heart that yearns to break free from your ribcage. Your breath catches when two of his thick fingers tease at your entrance. Your walls flutter around him as the slip in easily.

His fingers roll forward and stroke against something devastating inside of you, and he when his palm rolls back, it bumps against your clit with that divine firmness you need. Your cunt tightens around the two digits as they curl.

“Fuck. Can you hear yourself?” He pants, groping your breast to elicit a high pitched wail. “You always make—make such pretty noises.”

Butterflies erupt in your stomach at his words and fuck. You’re already dipping head first into release. A moment later you’re arching into his chest as every muscle stiffens in a crescendo of bliss, your stuttered breathing harsh even to your own ears.

Your quick pants fog up his visor as Din rests the crown of his helmet on your forehead, the metal a cool relief to your flushed skin. He slips his fingers out of your dripping cunt, your chest still heaving with exertion as the last strands of your high fizzle and ebb away. Din shifts and and snakes his fingers, still shiny and wet with your arousal, beneath the lip of his helmet and sucks them clean with an appreciative groan.

“Fuck—“ You breathe, pushing your face into his hand as he cups your cheek. Din’s thumb brushes over your cheekbone and swings his leg over your hips to hoist himself over you.

“Do you remember...” He starts, his voice buzzing through the vocoder. His fingers tickle down your cheek and trace the parted outline of your lips. “When you let me taste you?”

You nod, and it’s all you’re able to do. You’re not even sure you can formulate words, let alone voice them right now.

Din’s thumb pulls at your plush bottom lip, and you can’t help but slide your tongue along the digit. He grunts and slips his thumb into the wet heat of your mouth. “I think about you every night…how you came on my tongue—”

Your stomach flips as a rush of arousal sweeps through your tummy. You groan and you’re half sure you’re gonna dissipate into the floor from how hot your cheeks burn. “Din—"

He continues without missing a beat.

“You were so fucking wet for me—dripped all over my hand,” he murmurs, nuzzling his helmet, still chilly and frosted over, into the crook of you neck. “I want to do it again—can I?”

You’re nodding before he even finishes his sentence. He wasn’t the only one longing for his head between your thighs on those long nights apart. Remembering those plush lips and addictive touches could only get you so far and well—he’s here now. You said it once and you’ll say it again—there’s no chance in hell you’d be passing up this opportunity.

Din lifts his head and as you watch the light glitter in the reflection of the beskar, a sudden stray thought ricochets into the forefront of your mind. “Din, the light—your helmet.”

He pauses, his body tensing as he mulls over his options. “It’s—I—it’s ok…It’ll be ok.”

Din inhales a stuttered breath and casts a brief glance over his shoulder. It’s a dim light, kicked into the corner and laying on its side. From this angle, his face would be partially obscured in shadow…but still. There are easier ways to go about this. Ways that don’t risk jeopardizing the very foundation of who he is—what he stands for and what he so devoutly follows.

To say you know anything about his religion is laughable. Everything you know can fit on the back of a thumbtack and even still, you’re sure that half of that is still based upon rumor and speculation. But this—what Din is hinting at, you know is not something to be taken lightly.

He’s stripping his soul bare for you—allowing you to glimpse at that bleeding heart of his he guards so securely within layers of flesh and bone and impenetrable beskar. Din is gifting you his trust and there’s no where else to put it except for the space beneath your breast bone.

Yet, even still—this could mean nothing at all. You have no way to know the exact magnitude of what this means to him. If he’s alright with this, who are you to question?

He mumbles one last thing about the light and sits up. Goosebumps rush up your bare skin at the loss of the heavy warmth of his body. You whine and curl up closer to his legs, greedy for any spare iota of heat like you’ve been denied it your entire life.

Maker you hate this fucking planet—

Your attention snaps back to Din when he makes a noise of uncertainty. His hands are cupped around his helmet—hesitant, nervous and you suspect if Din’s hands weren’t plastered so tight around the metal, he’d be shaking. You chew on your lip and prop yourself up.

Cautiously, so as not to startle, you reach up and curl your fingers around his wrist. You can feel his pulse thrumming through his veins—alive, flesh and bone like you. Not some heap of sentient metal built for the horrors of war. You don’t know why you do it—just seems right to pull the fragile and vulnerable skin of his inner wrist to you mouth. You plant a gentle kiss there and smile when he cups your cheek.

“You don’t owe me anything, Din,” you say, staring into the darkened depths of his visor. “Least of all this.”

Some of that tension held in Din’s shoulders melts. He utters something in that clipped language of his people, and the only thing you can make out is your name. He lurches foreword and fuck—you’re terrified for a split second he’s gonna cave your skull in but instead he lightly bumps the crown of his helmet over your forehead.

“I want to. For you—only you.”

Din doesn’t leave any time to unpack all of that. He sits up again, wraps his hands around the beskar—

The metallic thunk of the helmet reverberates through the cave like a crack of thunder.

You were right.

You can barely see his face—if you really look, you can see the murky outline of his nose, dark hair and a sliver of his tan skin that the light touches. Attractive—but you knew that already. You touch his cheek and smile, your thumb catching over wiry facial hair and soft skin. Din makes a sound low in his throat and pushes his cheek into your hand.

“I still want to taste you,” Din says, his voice richer when stripped of that tinny vocoder. You like listening to him speak without it, you think, and it’s a damn shame you never get to hear it. “Please.”

Before he can escape and fulfill that fantasy, you yank him into a blinding kiss. He kisses the same—all wild edges and with desperation lining each motion—but there’s a new found tenderness here. Like he’s savoring each gasp and every brush of skin you grace him with like it’s your last night left in the galaxy.

He breaks away from your mouth and peppers kisses and nips down your jaw, then lower as you arch and expose the bare skin of your throat. There’ll be a plethora of bruises tomorrow, and with no hope to cover them either but fuck it—Din can leave as many hickeys and teeth marks as he wants.

If not for the cold still latching onto your very soul, you’d ditch the shirt; give Din better access instead of him needing to shove a hand up under and grope at your breasts. He gives the fabric an annoyed tug, but it’s fruitless. There’s no use when there’s better things to be sought.

He shoves your shirt as far up as it goes, shivering as he mouths down your stomach, licks around your bellybutton and sucks a bruise onto your hipbone. Your pants are already pulled halfway down—one sharp yank and they’re around your ankles and off in the next breath.

Cupping your knees with both hands he gingerly spreads your legs and drapes them over his muscular shoulders. Din rubs his patchy haired cheek along your thigh and hooks his hands under your ass, his ivory white teeth catching the light as he smiles.

“Fucking perfect—“ He groans, planting his lips over your inner thigh. His tongue swipes a wet line up, stopping just before your aching cunt to dig his teeth into the sensitive flesh. You jump at the burst of pain and shoot a hand down, tangling your fingers into the soft curls atop his head.

Din grunts and jumps to your other thigh, leaving no inch of skin neglected and without evidence of his teeth and lips. By the time his thumbs touch the outer lips of your cunt, the aching need for him is burning you from the outside in. He has to still your twitching hips with a calloused palm, and only after you settle does he surge forward.

His tongue meets your swollen clit, ripping a tangled cry from you vocal cords. He’s just as eager as the first time he tasted you, if not more—every action backed by needy abandon. He sucks at the bundle of nerves then sweeps his tongue lower. Din’s thumbs part your lower lips as he runs his tongue though your soaked folds, the tip of his nose bumping against your clit that send delicious sparks throughout your whole body. Little noises and breathy gasps fill the cave, encouraging Din to push his tongue deep into your aching entrance.

Your hand fists into his hair as your hips stutter and rock into the searing heat of his mouth. The noises you make are obscene, and Din is no better. Each pass of his tongue over your pussy is matched with his own deep moans that vibrated against your clit. Fucking hell he’s devouring you alive.

Your orgasm sneaks up on you, robs you blind and crashes over you in deep waves that drag you out to sea and never to be found again as you spill onto his greedy tongue. Your fingers are threaded tight in his hair as you squeak and press harder into his mouth, riding out your pleasure until it shifts and becomes raw and sore.

Din doesn’t pause for even a second—all too happy to stay put between your thighs for eternity. Your legs are trembling when you force his head away, a nice, tingly warmth settling into your limbs

A dark thrill rushes down your spine when he looks up, wild hair and mouth covered in your slick. If not for the low lighting you imagine his eyes would be glazed over and Maker you want him again. Din swoops down and presses his mouth to yours, the taste of yourself heavy on his tongue that slips past the seem of your lips.

You whine after he breaks away and sits up—an opportunity for your eyes to roam down his body. He’s still got his trousers on, a considerable bulge tenting the front. With a smirk you reach up and grab a handful, delighting in Din’s startled grunt. “Easy.”

You flash him a wry smile and give his clothed cock a playful squeeze. “Take them off.”

Din huffs and pulls at the drawstrings. “Needy.”

He says it with no bite and no coquettish retort on your end springs to mind—especially when his thumbs hook into the waistband and pull. A slow reveal of sun-kissed skin and a sparse happy trail that your eyes eagerly drink up.

Din’s cock bobs as his trousers fall around his knees, tip shiny and wet and curling towards his navel. You bite the inside of your cheek and reach out, a rush of arousal pulsing through your core at Din’s low moan. He’s heavy in your hand, deliciously thick and throbbing—and all of it for you.

Din gasps out your name as you lightly squeeze and stroke down, your pace dreadfully slow and teasing. Who knows when you’ll get another chance like this—a Mandalorian willingly on their knees for you.

Your other hand slips up his chest as you stroke him, intent on grabbing a handful of his thick hair that curls softly against the column of his neck. Your fingernail lightly scrapes across his nipple and he sways, pitching forward before he catches himself and straightens. Din’s eyes are squeezed tight, chest heaving with shallow pants as a smirk tugs at your lips.

“It’s ok, Din,” you whisper. “I won’t break.”

Your fingers twist into the hair at the base of his skull and guide him back. He slumps forward with a sweet moan, laying his weight onto your body that you’re all too happy too bare. His nose is nestled into the slope of your neck as his hands lock around the dip of your lower back while the other cradles the back of your head, drawing you into a loose semblance of a hug.

Something snaps and crumbles deep in your soul that bleeds the heartstring blues, humming with broken chords in the presence of Din’s soft fragility. Your hand moves from between his legs to instead wrap around the wide expanse of his back, squeezing him tight to your chest. You hold each other like there isn’t tomorrow to look forward to and you wonder if this is how it feels to fall apart. Two spinning halves of a supernova torn apart and destined to collide and shatter into a million fragments of dazzling light.

Yes, you’re scared he might blind you or burn you with his brilliance, but you can’t look away.

Your fingers crawl up his muscled thigh and settle on his hip. “Lie down for me?”

There’s no hint of hesitation or complaint as he maneuvers himself onto his back, patiently allowing you to clamber over his legs and straddle his hips. His cock rests on your inner thigh, pulsing and leaving a dribble of wetness every time it twitches.

“Good boy.” It’s subtle but it ripples out like a heavy stone thrown into a still lake. Din shudders and says your name in a cracked whisper. He rolls his hips, both of you groaning at the sensation of his cock running along your dripping center.

Another time for that game maybe.

Your desperation is running hot and wild to have him inside you and you know he’s in a similar boat. You grab the thick shaft of his cock and grind the tip of him through your lips, breath hitching when it extracts such a perfect moan from the man below you.

“Ride me,” he pleads, clamping his large hands over your hips. “Fuck—I need you.”

How can you deny such a request?

You line the wide head up with your aching center and slowly work him in. Shivers wrack through you, and Maker—he’s splitting you apart, molding your insides to the shape of him. Beads of sweat dot your hairline by the time you’re seated fully on his member, the both of you pushed even closer towards madness.

Din squeezes your ass and props his knees up, rolling his hips up into you. You whimper and tip forward, propping your palms over his chest as he sets the pace. You may be on top but there’s no changing the bold colors of power and lust that cloud his mind, fueling the brutal movements of fucking up into you. Your thighs burn already and Maker—why the fuck are you already tired? You’re not doing any of the work.

Quicker than lightning, Din curls forward and manhandles you onto your back. You squeak as he grips your thigh and yanks it around his narrow hips, thrusting in deeper. His right hand crawls up the front of your shirt and wraps his fingers around your throat in a loose hold. His thumb hovers over the dip at the base of your neck but he makes no move to press down—just allows the weight of his palm to do the work. And fuck—it works.

Choked garbles of his name pass through your lips as you buck and squirm in his hold, feeling your arousal begin to drip down the back of your thighs. You’re skirting the edge of sizzling release that alights your nerves with liquid wildfire. Your nails harpoon into the meat of his shoulders as your eyes squeeze shut. Din won’t allow it.

“Look at me,” Din snarls, yanking your head back by your hair. “I want to—to watch you cum for me.”

A blush scalds your cheeks but you listen. Your eyes flutter open for him, sliding to the dark shadows of his eyes that sweep you into their own gravity well with no hope to escape. You don’t mind.

“You’re so g-good for me—always so perfect.”

White hot light bursts behind your eyelids, and that’s all it takes. Your body seizes, your cunt squeezing impossibly tight around his cock as you cum. This one is different—steals your breath away and leaves you a broken husk of a person lost in most delectable forms of agony and pleasure. The cry of his name pierces the air only spurring the Mandalorian into a jarring pace to seek his own peak of ecstasy.

Din’s nose nuzzles into your neck, his pants hot and sharp against your flushed skin. “You f-feel so—fuck. Say—say my name.”

You leap to his request and with a playful nip to his earlobe, you whisper it to him with the sweetness of starcherrries and the promise of better things.

He tips over the edge, his hips faltering into no discernible pace as he cums. Din buries his teeth into the skin below your jaw, a mess of whines and begging gasps of nonsense as he fills your cunt to the brim.

Your harsh breathing mingles as you both lazily slip down from your high. He rests his head over your sternum, listening to your beating heart that drums in a wild staccato as your fingers carefully comb through his hair. If not for the ache in your hips you’d keep him here forever. Din pulls out and you both groan at the loss.

He doesn’t completely move away and you’re glad for it. He brushes his knuckles down the expanse of your cheek and dots a tender kiss to your hairline. Your name rumbles low in his throat as he shifts lower and gives your ear lobe a playful nip. His stubble scrapes along your neck, and you can’t help but giggle and squirm—but the weight of his body keeps you pinned. Your name slips from his lips a second time, breathy and drawn out in a sweet sigh, like he’s savoring the sound of each syllable and roll of the tongue.

Din lifts his head, only slightly—near enough that his nose bumps into yours and his lips scrape along yours that are still parted and wet. “I—can I tell you something?”

You cup his cheek and steal a kiss. It’s supposed to be quick—but instead he leans into it, guiding your mouth into a slow dance of sticky sweet movements that are caught in a slow draw, like crystalized honey abandoned in a glass jar. You’re enraptured by his touch—his skin mottled with scars yet somehow still unfairly soft. He smells of snow—like metal and soap and something gentler, that’s uniquely Din.

Fuck—you can feel your mind slipping away, wrapped up so snugly in his presence you almost forget to answer. “Yeah—anything.”

Crackling static suddenly rips through the cave, startling you both. A distorted voice chatters on the comlink that lies forgotten beside your pants. It blinks and the transmission ends just as abruptly. With a sigh Din brushes it off and tilts his head to tempt you into another kiss but—

Whoever’s trying to patch through is persistent.

His lip curls in a scowl and snatches the comm. “Jorhaa’ir.”

You only catch your name being mentioned twice as rapid Mando’a is exchanged. Aeris maybe judging by the tone, but no that’s not right.

“Wait—is that Paz?”

The muscles in Din’s shoulders tense, confirming your suspicion.

“Is everything ok?” Din doesn’t resist you when you pry the comlink out of his fingers and patch in. “Paz?”

Your heart skips a beat.

“There you are,” the comlink crackles and you smile. “You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?”

Stars—you didn’t think you’d miss hearing Paz’s voice. Your chest aches.

The conversation is short, he asks you how you are and when you’re coming home and in the time it takes to answer, Din is peeling himself from your body. While you're distracted, he pulls on his pants and sits at the edges of your vision.

You both pretend when you say goodnight to Paz, return the comlink and crawl into his arms that nothing has festered with savage detachment. You don't remember to ask him what he was going to say and he lets you forget. The golden heart that bleeds molten ichor slips from your sight and becomes shut behind walls of beskar and bushes of thick thorns and overgrown ivy.

He still holds you, but it’s the coldest you’ve ever been.

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#din is a certified bottom #ANYWAY welcome to pound town #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #din djarin x reader x paz vizla #paz vizla x reader #paz vizla x you #paz vizsla x reader #paz vizsla #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian #star wars #sw #fanfiction #sw fanfiction #my writing #are you in or out?

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kanonsarchivedblog · 3 years

Text

Happy Birthday, Kakuzu.

Word Count: 1627 Genre: Smut Characters: Kakuzu, Hidan Pairing(s): Kakuzu/Hidan, mentions of Kakuzu/Kisame, Kakuzu/Konan, Kakuzu/OCs TW: "Daddy" used as a term of endearment. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Silence. The room was quiet with the absence of Hidan, who’d left to explore the village and eventually find them some dinner. A sigh slipped free from Kakuzu as he worked the buttons of the cloak, unclasping it slowly as his mind wandered. They were working well together, he and the brat. Had been for a few years now, realistically; Hidan had lasted longer than any of his other partners. He couldn’t lie- it was nice, in a strange way, even if he got on his last nerve far too often. It was a perk that Hidan wouldn’t die, regardless of what Kakuzu did to him in the heat of the moment. The heavy fabric of the cloak settled across the back of a chair as nimble fingers continued to work, reaching up to remove the covering he used on his head, tugging it free. Now that was better. Kakuzu rolled his shoulders, grimacing at the tension that settled deep in the muscles. Maybe he’d cave and find a Tea House later, if they had the time. Oirans always knew how to use their hands. Hell, he wouldn’t even have to fuck them- just as long as they got the knots out of his back, he’d pay them for their time. But… He settled back on the bed, eyes falling closed for a moment. This was one of those rare times that Hidan wasn’t glued to his side. It wouldn’t take long- well… That’s a lie, but he could work quick, just for now. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t getting any- shit, that department was solidly booked, thanks to Hidan, and a few others. A smirk curled his lips as his hand wandered, slowly drifting up then down his chest, sternum, stomach. He could already feel himself stirring in his trousers. How annoying.

Then again, he’d always had a high libido. She’d never complained back then. Snowy tresses, a bright smile, skin holding a golden glow… Shaking his head, he forced the thoughts away. Going down the path of memories would kill his boner more than anything. Instead, he raised a hand to his throat, pads of his fingertips drifting against the exposed column. He didn’t like to be choked, not often- not unless he trusted whoever was doing the choking. Hidan had tried it recently- but for Kami’s fuckin’ sake, he needed to teach Hidan how to choke someone without trying to kill them. He didn’t bother taking his pants off- no point in it if this is gonna be quick. He had oil tucked away in an inner pocket of his cloak, but he didn’t feel like reaching over to grab it. Instead, he lifted his palm to his mouth, tongue lolling out to drag along the skin, wetting it enough to not cause an unpleasant amount of friction. Hips shifting, he reached down to take hold of himself. Half hard already- damn. Fingers drifted along the ridges of healed skin stretched across metal. Four of them, all along the underside of his shaft. He couldn’t remember when he’d gotten them done- well over a decade ago. But the sensitivity was still there, drawing a soft hum of pleasure from his chest. “Just like that,” he murmured, head growing hazy as lust began to filter through his blood. His thumb drifted across the head, pressing against the sensitive slit and glands, drawing a hiss of pleasure out. If he knew he’d had time, he’d draw this out- really work himself up until he couldn’t handle it. But that time wasn’t now. His fingers settled around the girth of his shaft- something Hidan had been surprised with the first time he’d seen him hard. He knew he was impressive- always had been. His hand began to move slowly, teasing a touch more as he felt himself grow harder. “God,” he whispered, brows furrowing as his hand sped up. Hot and heavy, it brought forth memories of the past. Of sharp teeth scraping along his collarbone, of the feeling of being filled. A groan spilled into the silence of the hotel room. Kisame had always been a good lay, there was no denying that. And, more recently, Itachi had joined them once- just once, but it was enough to see exactly how much he had Kisame wrapped around his finger. It had been impressive- he’d simply watched at first before joining. His mind wandered- to another set of blue locks, though these were longer and were paired with amber eyes. Many times, he’d coupled with Konan, the pair having worked too late and needing a reprieve from the paperwork. Taking her across his desk, her arms around his shoulders, face buried in his neck as he buried himself in her over and over. She could take it as well as she could give it. “Good girl,” he murmured to the phantom image in his mind. His hips began to thrust up into his palm, the head leaking, giving aid to the spit that had slicked his cock at first. “Good- fuck,” he hissed as his thumb drifted across the head once more- every other stroke, now. There’d been another one- one of their agents. She had ties to a clan of power in Kirigakure, a distant relative, with hair of raven and eyes of sapphire. She’d been wild- Hidan had been there for one of those romps. She’d ridden him like her life depended on it- no, like his life had depended on it, nails raking down his chest and their names spilling from her lips like a holy prayer. She’d taken them both at one point, Hidan behind, pressing her down against Kakuzu. She didn’t know who to call out for, and ended up a sobbing mess by the end of it. “Fuck,” he panted, the familiar coils of his release beginning to settle at the base of his spine. So close, so very close. His other hand reached up, settling around his throat, pressing down on the sides rather than against his windpipe- blocking off blood flow rather than constricting airflow. She used to do this, would hold him down and ride him until they were both near sobbing, overstimulated beyond the point of coherency. “Kakuzu,” she’d cry, her head thrown

back as she’d grind down, her thighs shaking against his hips. “Harder, please- please, kære-” “Ja, fanden-” he gasped, his release slamming into him, blindsiding him enough to have him shudder, lips parted, chest heaving. His hand stilled against his cock as he came, bosy tensing before relaxing. His blood thrummed in his ears, akin to a war drum. So lost he was in his bliss, he never heard the door open. Or perhaps that had been the plan, for the door to open near silently and shut just as quietly, the chakra signature hidden from the sensor. It was only when a chuckle spilled into the room that Kakuzu’s eyes snapped open, emerald gaze meeting lilac. “Just couldn’t wait for me, huh?” Hidan asked, head tilted, a smirk curling his lips. Kakuzu blinked, still slightly lost in the haze, as Hidan wandered over, cloak already discarded as he climbed atop the bed. “Or were you thinkin’ ‘bout that one bitch again?” “Get off.” It wasn’t an order- too weak to be one. “Nah,” Hidan settled on his knees, gaze drifting to the table. “I was gonna suggest we go out to eat to celebrate, but I think I’d rather give you yer present first.” “Present.” Kakuzu shifted, grimacing at the mess that had covered his shirt. Disgusting. “Why?” “It’s yer birthday, you fuckin’ old ass man,” Hidan replied, leaning in to brush a kiss against his lips. “An’ you get a present on yer birthday.” It took a moment for Kakuzu to put the pieces together before a smirk curled his lips. He reached up, cupping Hidan’s cheek in a surprisingly tender movement, thumb brushing against the alabaster skin. “On your knees,” he whispered into their shared space, watching the way Hidan’s eyes light up, his grin widening. “Sir, yes sir. Or- wait, you liked it when I called you Daddy-” Hidan’s voice is cut off with a sharp smack to the cheek. “Oh, fuck yes, Daddy.” “Get on your fucking hands and knees before I leave you here.” “I got hands.” “I’d tie you up.” “Bastard!” Hidan laughed as he rolled away to work on his pants. “Hey, question.” “Answer,” Kakuzu replied as he tugged his shirt over his head, careful to avoid smearing anything. His gaze drifted to his partner as Hidan successfully stripped off his pants. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. No, it was the lace that adorned his thighs, and the garter around his waist, both a deep emerald in shade. Huh. “Fucker. Do you wanna get dinner after this?” “Depends on if you can walk after I’m done with you,” Kakuzu replied as he reached over, fingers slipping beneath the band of the thigh highs, pulling it up before releasing it, letting it snap against Hidan’s thigh. A gasp pulled free from the feeling of the snap against his skin. “... Touche,” he murmured, settling back against the bed with a lazy grin, like the cat who got the cream. “C’mere, daddy.” “Fuck off,” Kakuzu snickered, shaking his head as he joined Hidan on the bed. He hovered for a moment, hands resting on either side of Hidan’s head. “Hey,” Hidan whispered, reaching up to cup Kakuzu’s cheek, careful to mind the stitches. It’s rare for them to have these moments. “Happy birthday.” Kakuzu leaned down, nosing at the underside of Hidan’s jaw so that he wouldn’t have to meet his gaze. “Thanks, brat,” he muttered, beginning to press kisses along the length of his neck.

#not safe m&ms #kakuzu #hidan #kakuhida #naruto fanfiction #naruto #akatsuki #this ended up being so soft #kakuhida smut #kakuzu smut #hidan smut

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starksvixen · 3 years

Text

Part 4 - Beskar and Broken Hearts

Masterlist

Summary: You and Din had admitted everything, all cards on the table. But it was all for nothing. After you had escaped Navaro, the Mandalorian started treating you the same, like the kiss never happened. Tensions had risen and hit it’s peak by the time you found her...Ashoka Tano.

Warnings: Lots of angst ahead, semi-unhappy ending,

A/N - I’m doing a major time skip cause *tension*. Also, I didn’t really have any ideas except for lots of squabbling between the reader and Mando so here’s the result.

“Wanna explain why you’ve been ignoring me?” the modulated voice speaks up from beside you.

“Not particularly,”

You move a bit faster, moving your hair to the side, free from your hood you had burned back on Navaro. The patch with the Mythosaur skull rubs against your bicep, something that you thought signified you joining Din’s clan. It was obvious his feelings had changed.

The Mandalorian grew cold, acting as if nothing happened. Like the kiss and three words meant nothing. Maybe he was just trying to spare you from embarrassment. But even that pisses you off, the thought of being babied making a dull static fill you.

You stop walking ahead at the soft cooing of the Child, the only reason you had stayed with Mando up till then. Gently, you take him from Din, not sparing him a glance as you walk with the tiny bundle in one arm.

Entering the small town, you look at its desolate state in suspicion. Din had been sent here in search of a Jedi known as Ashoka Tano. The name’s familiarity resounded within you, memories of the name being passed around during your time on Mandalore.

“You stay out here with the Child,” Mando says gruffly. “I’ll see if I can find the Jedi’s whereabouts,”

“You’re seriously benching me?” you hiss.

“No, you’re protecting the kid,”

And without another word, he walks into the city, leaving you in the dust. With a huff, you hold the kid close to your chest and walk towards the forest line near the outer gates of the city. Once you place him down, you find a rock to sit on, watching as the kid curiously held up anything that looked like food.

“Sorry, buddy, no frogs here.” you sigh, leaning your forearms against your knees.

It didn’t take long for Mando to return, only to be met with silence once again on his behalf. You could feel your heart race beneath your skin, your shoulders practically kissing your eyes with the fire radiating off of them. How the hell was he still silent about this situation?

Before any words could be spoken that you could regret, you shove the kid in his hands, mumble a poor excuse to get ahead, and let your feet take wind into the forest. You’re smart, staying close to the duo so you don’t get lost or encounter a threat alone. But being near that man, it made you crawl in your skin at his actions. Like saying those three words were nothing. Like that kiss didn’t mean something. It haunted you.

A rustle in the bushes catches your attention. On instinct, you twist your arm behind you and pull out the staff that rested on your back.

“Din?” you yell into the air.

“I only see a few beasts to the North,”

“No, that can’t be i-”

Yeah, that definitely wasn’t it. Because before you knew it, a sea of a cloak floats in front of you, white lightsabers at the ready. Barely, just barely, you block her attack with the staff, only to have the metal melt in your hands. As the Jedi pulls back for another hit, you kick her square in the gut before ducking to miss the next hit. The hiss of singed skin fills the air, it’s smell nearly making you gag as you brace yourself with the Earth.

Before you even had to think, the sound of light and beskar rang in your eyes. Looking above you, Din has his arms crossed to block the Jedi’s next hit, one that certainly would have killed you. As girly as it was, your heart fluttered at the protective move.

Swinging out of the way, you protect the Child with the small knife as the Mandalorian and the Jedi come to a truce.

“Bo-Katan sent me!” you hear Din yell, his blaster ready.

Slowly, she disengages, her hood falling gracefully towards her shoulders, looking at you and the Child.

“I hope it’s about him,”

Din paces back and forth at an alarming rate before you, the small light up ahead bouncing off the clean metal and refracting with each movement. Ashoka sits with Grogu, a secret communication taking place between the two of them, something you couldn’t help but admire.

As you lean against a rock, the searing pain at the top of your shoulder alarms you to your latest injury. Slowly, you peel back the singed jacket you had. It was a superficial burn, barely there. It wouldn’t even leave a scar. But the fear in Din’s voice would leave a scar upon your memory.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?” he mumbles quietly.

In the time you were looking at your wound, you failed to notice the beskar covered warrior crouching in front of you, med pack at the ready.

“Didn’t think you would care,”

“Cya-”

“You don’t get to fucking call me that. Not after ignoring me this entire time.”

“Let me explain...”

“You should have weeks ago...” you mumble.

With the snatch of your wrist, you place a bacta patch on your shoulder, shrugging your beat up leather jacket off and onto your lap. Ashoka coaxes you both towards them. Din offers his hand to help you up, but in turn you glare and stand on your own, tightly tying your jacket to your waist and following the Jedi.

She takes you to a more comfortable plateau, the trees offering safety, something you didn’t expect this deep in the wilderness. You sit beside the kid, gently scratching the space between his ears, earning a coo in return.

“Were you two speaking back there?” Din questions.

“In a way,” Ashoka responds. “Grogu and I can hear each others thoughts.”

“Grogu?” you and Din ask in unison. The poor thing didn’t know who to look at first, making you chuckle softly.

“It must be nice to hear your real name again, huh?” you whisper softly while peering down at him.

You listen quietly to Grogu’s dark...dark story. For the first time since you thought you were going to lose Din, you cry. Silently, of course, not giving way to hysterics. But the thought of your poor boy having to endure things that you yourself had faced, it broke your heart.

As the Child starts to fall asleep, he curls up into your jacket that lay on your waist, making you smile softly at the motion. With one hand, you gently pick him up to lay on your chest. In one swift motion, you stand and walk towards a tree with him close to you. Laying against the rough bark, you let your eyes begin to drift close. Not without seeing the glint of beskar staring right back at you.

It was early when Ashoka had risen you, the Child void of your chest, instead in Din’s arms. Your gaze quickly averts away from him, opting instead to follow Ashoka.

As you all walk deeper into the forest, you engage in quiet conversation with the Jedi. She obviously could sense the tension between you and Mando, subtly using probing questions to solve her mystery. But you were used to these types of people, you knew how to deflect.

Once you make it to your destination, and Grogu was placed somewhere comfortable, you watched intently as Ashoka tested his abilities. While your boy could take the rock floated towards him with ease, sending it back, or taking it, was the problem.

“He doesn’t understand.” Din interjects.

“Oh jeez...” you mumble, already sensing the long day ahead of.

“He does,” Ashoka reassures, stepping closer to the youngling. “He’s hidden his abilities to survive over the years. Let’s try something else. Come over here.”

You both take a step forward. The tense glance that Din sends your way forces you to take a step back, arms crossed in defense as you turn away. As the intense feeling begins to build, Grogu’s upset builds also. He softly whimpers at the sight of you two, refusing to make any eye contact.

“For this to work, you both need to be in harmony. Not fighting whatver lovers quarrel has settled upon you.” Ashoka says frankly.

“We’re fine...” you say, your voice void of any emotion.

Ashoka turns to the Child, a soft nod the only signal of their communication before she picks him up and walks away, leaving the two of you alone.

“We need to figure this out, for the kid,” Din says.

“Yeah, and only for the kid,” you scoff.

“What is with you lately?! What have I done that is so wrong!”

“Where do I kriffing start Din?!”

“How have I mistreated you?”

“It’s not mistreatment! It’s the lack of said treatment...”

“Dank Farrik!” he exclaims, his hands flying in the air. “Will you just spit it out already!”

“Fine! You’ve treated me like every other bounty you’ve dragged into the ship ever since our escape from Nevarro.”

The world falls silent, but your heart refuses to let up its song. You can feel it in your ears, your throat. The vulnerability that settles upon your shoulders is crushing you as you wait for a response.

“What I said back there...I never should’ve said it. I never should’ve kissed you like that,”

Your jaw clenches, your arms grip your own body tighter then before.

“Are you saying...”

“Its not true, what I said. We’re just partners.”

With a scoff and a quiet sniffle, you can’t bring yourself to glare at Din at the moment. All you can feel is a pain, wedging itself in your heart, deeper then any blade could.

“Just partners in crime, right?” you spit at him, turning away from the man that you knew you still loved.

A harsh sigh pushes through his encoder, his hands falling at his hips in frustration.

“I’ll pretend to be normal around the kid. But once he’s back with a Jedi, you’re dropping me off at the nearest planet.”

You wipe a stray tear away before walking off in silence.

Tag List: (leave a comment on the Masterlist to be added)

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#mandalorian #the mandalorian #mandalorianxreader #mandalorianimagine #mando #mando x reader #mando x you #mando imagine #din #djarin #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin imagine #din djaren fanfiction #the mandolorian #mandalorian x reader #mandalorian imagine #mandolorian x reader #partners in crime

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xxisxxisxxis · 4 years

Text

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-Eight

Words: 3k

Warning(s): explicit language, violence, substance abuse

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"H-Hi." Deana tries to keep her composure upon the sight of Nikki freshly off-stage.

He looks more pale than he was before heading to play, his sweat cloaked body shaking slightly.

His mother, her dark hair curled and bright red lips tugging into a sappy smile as tears bubble in her eyes.

Even without probably knowing the whole story, Axl and the guys know Nikki doesn't have a relationship with his mom, and the nightmare about to take place has them slowly leaning against the wall of the hallway, quietly looking down, uncomfortable with getting caught in the middle of this.

"What are you doing here?" Nikki asks, confused, more than likely questioning if its a hallucination from mixing too many drugs or not.

"I made the arrangement." Doc states chipperly, stupidly thinking Nikki would be happy. "An early Christmas present." He adds.

"I wanted to see you," She tells her son, taking a few steps closer, "I wanted to see both of you...I've already missed out on so much." She explains, looking at me. "I-I know the timing is off, but I really wanted to talk to you."

"No, the timing isn't off--" I try to assure her.

"--Don't waste your breath, Viv, she's just gonna ask for money and then disappear for another ten years." Nikki scoffs, brushing past her.

"Frank--"

"--That's not my name." He snaps to her.

"It's the name on your birth certificate, Frankie. Frank Ferana. It might not be as glamorous as 'Nikki Sixx' but--"

"--It's Nikki. Legally. It's Sixx. Legally. It's her last name. Legally." He refers to me and she clenches her jaw. "And any kids I have are gonna have that last name. Legally. I'm not 'Frank', or 'Frankie', and I'm certainly not a fucking 'Ferana' so don't even start that shit."

"You're still my baby." She tells him, trying not to cry. "I came all this way to see you." She adds, wrapping her arms around him.

I see the glimmer of a little boy in his eyes, for a split second, then it's quickly pushed aside and replaced with that of an angry, abused, hurt, scorned, abandoned dog.

And he's going for the throat in a moment the second she says:

"Oh, my Frankie."

He's shoving her off of him so hard she nearly goes to the floor.

"That's not my fucking name!" He screams at her, throwing his bottle of Jack at the ground at her heeled-boot covered feet.

He's storming off, Doc following after him, and Fred takes a breath and goes to Deana, to politely usher her out.

"That's fucked." Izzy mumbles, shaking his head slightly, going to their dressing room and I walk behind them.

"Nikki--"

"--Who the fuck do you think you are?! Huh?! Who the hell are you to bring my personal life front and center for every God damn body to see?!"

"I didn't realize you and your mother weren't on good terms." Doc tells him, honestly.

"You think I'm this fucked up for the hell of it?! You think I'm this way after growing up with parents who gave a shit?! Really?!" Nikki laughs humorlessly.

"Nikki, I'm sorry, alright?"

"No, you're not, you don't give a shit and you never have, you're just another greedy fuck getting his rocks off from the money in my pocket but I'm done!" He yells, turning to walk away. "You don't know what's fucking best for me, you don't care about me, you don't care about the band, you're not my fucking father and you sure as shit aren't my manager anymore so just go get fucked, Doc, you're fucking fired!" He calls.

"You're not fired." I assure Doc, wanting to go after him, but not able to bring myself to.

He doesn't want to talk to me about it.

I am surprised to see Axl rub his forehead and roll his jaw before stalking past me, Nikki's way.

"Where you going?" I ask him.

"I fucking hate my mom." Is all he says as he goes by.

I didn't know what exact issue Axl had with his own mother, but I'd later find out it was because her horrible judgment in men and what abuse she'd allow him and his siblings to endure from those men, along with her forceful hand in religion that she and Axl's stepfather enforced brutally on their kids.

"Did Doc really not mean to set that up?" Steven asks me when I get into their dressing room.

"No, he didn't." I reply.

"Is Nikki gonna be okay?" Tansy asks quietly.

"I don't know, Tansy." I roll my eyes and she furrows her brows, slightly.

"Do you even care?" She asks me and I look at her.

"Tans--" Duff starts.

"--No, I mean, really, Vivian. Do you even care?" She cuts him off.

"Excuse me?" I ask, practically seeing the dullness in her eyes of a mixed-drug high.

Without a doubt coke and smack.

"Of course I care, Tansy. Just because he and I are separated doesn't mean I want him to suffer."

"Way to take one for the team by sleeping with Duff, then, because surely that is the one thing that has to be done to prevent Nikki's suffering." She states.

"What I do and who I do it with is my business, Tansy." I tell her, crossing my arms.

"Sure doesn't sound that way when everybody on the same floor as you can hear nothing but, 'ahh, ahh, Duff, ahh!'" She mimics moaning.

"Maybe I'm staying under Duff so much because if I don't, you'll take it as an open invitation, and there really are some people you don't have to try to sleep with mandatorily based on their wallet size, Tansy."

"Just like there are some people you don't have to sleep with based on whether or not they're gonna be big rockstars or not." She shoots back.

"Wanna be the pot or the kettle?" I ask.

"I want you to stop adding fuel to the fire and then acting like your hands are clean while smiting all of us." She outbursts.

"Smite you for adding to his problems? Offering him drugs when he's already going down hill? Letting him think screwing another woman is okay--not even screwing her, having an entire relationship with her." I correct myself.

"Given the circumstances of your marriage, he needed an escape." She says next.

"Given the circumstances of your new-found smack-induced courage, you act like you need my fist to knock your teeth out."

"Viv--"

"--Then you'll really be laying on your back to get work."

"But at least I do work. What do you do? Aside from spend Nikki's money and sleep with his friends?"

"I'm not killing him like you and Sparkie have been with your junkie bullshit." I manage to keep myself from having an outburst, more concerned with Nikki's crisis with his mom.

"Not yet, at least." She mumbles as I'm walking out.

"Where you guys going?" Tommy asks as we head to leave for the bus.

"Um… about to pack our stuff up and head out?" Izzy replies.

"No, no, no, just because Nikki's parade's been pissed on doesn't mean ours has to be." Tommy suggests to them.

"Yeah, c'mon it's our last night hangin' out for a while." Vince points out, two groupies already under each arm.

"I was gonna check on Sixx." Slash explains.

"I'm fine." Nikki shows up, his hands on Slash's shoulders, tightly in an aggravating manner, making Slash chuckle as he twists away from him.

Axl isn't far behind, he and Izzy looking at the invitation to hangout with the guys one last time on this tour, hesitantly.

"What the hell," Izzy shrugs.

"So glad you said that, man, because we have a special surprise." Nikki grins, beckoning them with his finger.

"Stevie, c'mon!" Duff exclaims from behind me, Steven exiting their dressing room with Tansy behind him.

"You good?" He asks Nikki.

"Yeah." Nikki assures him. "I have a present." He adds, leading the guys to the double doors of what I assume is a bigger room.

Sure enough, he opens the door, and at least ten girls are lined up, naked, asses up, thick lines of coke down their spines.

Nausea nestles it's way into my stomach, but Tommy, Vince and Nikki look as if this is their promised land.

Even Steven looks slightly off-put by the brazen display.

Complete disinterest cascades off of Duff, a heavy puff of cigarette smoke leaving his nostrils with the huff of his unamused breath.

"Who's first?" Nikki asks.

Naturally, the guys look to their "leader," and Axl reluctantly rolls his eyes and walks over to the first girl.

It's like he refuses to acknowledge she's naked, his main focus is the line of coke on her back.

He snorts one-eighth of the line before deciding that's enough.

I don't blame him--the way his fingers hold at the bridge of his nose makes me wince because I know it probably burns like a bitch.

"Boo!" Tommy disappointedly calls to Axl as he walks out.

He's had his party.

Izzy follows.

"More for us." Nikki shrugs, smirking.

He looks at me directly in the eyes, heavy black liner sharpening the contrast of his hazel eyes as he keeps my gaze, spitefully unbuckling his belt and he starts unlacing his pants, making his way to the girl Axl was at earlier.

He is not…

Duff's snatching me out of the room only milliseconds before Nikki enters the girl in sync with snorting the line up her skin.

That was that.

It's a bittersweet draw to an end, "thank you" and "damn, I'm gonna miss you" seeming to be on everyone's lips as hugs and high-fives go around between all the boys once we get back to L.A.

I rub my lips together and smile softly as I hand Fred my purse to put in the car, sighing softly, smiling when he looks down at me.

"See ya later, kid." He tells me and tears swell in my eyes as I wrap hug him tightly, taking him off guard a little. "Don't kill each other...not even over that dumb shit he pulled tonight." He says, referring to the groupie cocaine platter.

"I'll try." I mumble, wiping my eyes quickly before stepping up to say bye to the guys.

Steven and Slash are pretty easy, but Axl just stares at me for a moment before reluctantly wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tightly.

"I'm sorry I was an asshole this entire trip." He mumbles lowly in my ear.

"I'm sorry I almost got you kicked off." I reply in the same low tone.

"You're one of the reasons they took us in the first place." He states, pulling away to look at me, cupping my face in his hands, grinning. "You're gonna keep up my lie that we're siblings, right?" He asks and I chuckle.

"You guys are gonna make it big and I need a meal ticket so of course." I shrug and his smile grows wider. "I love you." I tell him.

"I love you, too." He assures me, kissing me on the cheek, giving me one last squeezing hug before heading to their bus.

Izzy looks at me for a moment.

"Izzy." I say to him.

"Viv." He acknowledges me and steps to the bus.

Just before Duff can tell me 'bye', arms are locking around my waist, and pulling me against the person they belong to.

"Izzy?" I ask after a moment.

"We're not friends." He says, pulling away to leave, leaving me and Duff.

"Um, I'll see you later?" I offer and he rubs his lips together, his eyes over my shoulder, and I look to see Nikki and a woman that we'd picked up from the airport, getting into the car.

I turn back to face Duff, biting my tongue to keep my tears back.

"You can stay with me tonight." Duff offers.

"Really?"

He just smiles down at me.

I inhale the familiarly comforting scent of cigarette smoke as we walk into Duff's apartment, dropping my bags and running to the bedroom, face planting into the mattress, exhausted.

The weight of Duff's body laying on top of me making me laugh, his own chuckle further making me grin.

"I'm so tired." I tell him.

"Me too." He replies, and I turn over underneath him, wrinkling my nose.

"You stink." I say.

"I think I smell pretty sexy." He grins, teasingly.

"No." I shake my head a little, scrunching my face to my shoulder when he tries to kiss my neck. "Go shower." I giggle when he tries again.

"Come shower with me." He counters.

"I don't feel like it and I don't stink, so--ew, Duff!" I squeal as he takes his shirt off that reeks of sweat and rubs it all over my face and hair.

"What about now?" He asks and I pick up the pillow above my head and start hitting at him with it.

After a few hits are gotten in, he's getting off the bed, stretching.

"You coming?" He asks when he walks to the bathroom.

"I guess." I reply, following after him.

Once I get out and have one of Duff's shirts on, I go to the kitchen to grab some water before bed, the quietness of the apartment allowing different thoughts to invade my mind.

I can't help but wonder what Nikki's doing. Is he high? Is he drunk? Is he even still alive? They leave in a few days for Japan but I honestly don't believe they should go. They need help.

I think at this moment everyone's just trying to see if they can get away with pressing at them a little more without anybody snapping.

But by the looks of it, Nikki is pretty damn close to snapping, and Tommy anf Vince and Mick aren't far behind at all.

Nikki.

My heart tightens in my chest, remembering last Christmas, how he sat curled under our tree, shooting up.

He'd get strung out, then lay underneath the tree and stare up at the lights for hours.

"Are we gonna buy a Christmas tree?" I ask, looking at the empty living area.

"If you want to." He calls to me from the bedroom.

"I want to." I reply, going into the room and getting in bed while he follows.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You know, homey-ness and stuff." I add. "Especially if I'm gonna be here longer." I add and he falls beside me.

"I'll get a tree tomorrow." He assures me, kissing me chastely before yawning and getting comfortable, and I turn off the lamp and lay down, too.

He goes to sleep in no time, but two hours later, in the early hours of morning, I smile to myself in the dark room, Christmas lights from the street shining into the window, lighting up the room and cascading a comforting dim light over Duff's sleeping body next to me.

Reaching over, I run my fingertips softly against his cheek, pushing blonde strands of his hair out of the way, his eyes slowly blinking open slightly before a small tug of a smile pulls his lips slightly.

"Sorry." I whisper, not meaning to have woken him up.

"It's okay." He says quietly, closing his eyes again. "I love you, Vivian." He adds, his eyes staying closed, but he grabs my hand that's on his cheek, and presses a kiss to my palm, holding my hand when he's done.

I snuggle closer to him, laying still and closing my eyes, too, while I reply, "I love you, too," the way I wish I would have done to Nikki all these years.

Years later, while on what I presumed to be his deathbed, he told me that simple moment was what made him feel sure that I was the one. I took everything he had done up to that point with stride. But thinking he was going to die, reflecting on everything that could have been between us but never got to be, and hearing him tell me, "there's a ring I got you years ago when we thought we were gonna be together, but I never gave it to you. Mandy never knew about it. Linda doesn't know about it, but it's on my closet shelf and I don't want to go without giving it to you," broke my heart more than anything he could've done up to that point.

NIKKI

I turn over, seeing the silhouette of the brunette I picked up at the airport, her sheet-covered chest rising and falling with each breath.

A part of me feels irritated because her perfume is contaminating Vivian's side of the bed that still smells like her.

I've been reduced to plucking Viv's clothing from drawers or from in the closet and smelling it. That makes me sound like a fucking stalking creep, but it's the truth.

How the fuck did we get here, again?

Oh, right, me not able to keep my dick in my pants, and the woman I didn't keep my dick in my pants for, didn't keep her mouth shut.

I sit up, walking to the bathroom to piss. When I'm done I look at myself in the mirror and feel a little impressed.

I don't look as bad as I thought.

Well, kinda.

I splash water on my face, wincing at the dark circles under my eyes.

I end up staring at myself for God knows how long, remembering how Vivian would wake up and come in here to get me back in bed if I left her for too long because she didn't like sleeping by herself.

I smile a little, slowly closing my eyes, feeling her touch across my back, the softness of her lips pressing to the skin of my spine before her cheek presses to the same place before she sleepily mumbles out, "come back to bed."

Opening my eyes, for a split second, I see her. Standing behind me, green eyes peering at me over my shoulder, the feeling of her holding me...it's gone in a flash. She's gone in a flash.

My nose burns with the oncoming tears cooking up in my eyes, and I erase them quickly with another splash of water to thr face.

#nikki sixx #nikki sixx x oc #nikki sixx fanfiction #gateway drug #mötley crüe

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killshield · 3 years

Text

they’ve become quite the paradox. shield, unironically, and spear; unstoppable force and immovable object. two incompatible premises with an uncanny ability to piss each other off.

the intel that had fallen into ward’s lap two weeks prior would have been inconsequential to anyone else. it was an easy connection to make: one of sunil bakshi’s close associates, a low - ranking member of old hydra, apprehended by SHIELD agents during a routine sweep of a former base of operations. ward harbored no delusions as far as allegiance went; what he’d done to bakshi was enough incentive for anyone to flip. no coincidence that this follows so closely on the heels of roman briggs’ jailbreak. coulson needed the excuse, and ward’s schedule happened to have an opening.

a change in the very air between them as soon as they’re alone. charged; alive, like the air before a storm.

alone. curious, ward notes, that coulson doesn’t hide behind deathlok this time.

he holds up a photograph, a full - color freeze - frame printed off the footage from a surveillance camera. not an accident: a challenge.

“nice glamour shot,” he says dryly.

ward smiles. “should’ve had it framed. not my best angle, but —”

“c’mon, ward.” what curves the line of coulson’s mouth isn’t amusement. “let’s skip the pleasantries. we both know you’re not that modest. you wanted my attention? congrats. you got it. now tell me what you want with briggs.”

“it’s funny,” ward muses, disregarding the second half entirely, “you say that like i ever lost your attention in the first place. and here i thought you had bigger fish.”

“it’s a wide net.”

“is it.”

“you exposed yourself to break him out of a secure facility crawling with agents, most of whom would kill to see you back in a cage. why?”

again, the question is ignored. “you tried that. didn’t work out so well.”

“you wanna know what i think?”

“not really.”

another tiny, humorless uptick. coulson leans forward on the table, wary, measured where ward is relaxed.

“i think you might be just deranged enough to believe you’re actually doing him some sort of favor. that in your own backwards, twisted way, you’re setting him free, when all you’ve really done is take away his only chance at starting over.”

deranged. deluded. same song, ward thinks disinterestedly; different verse, albeit only by a key or two, if that. his brow arcs.

“right. a clean break, no more looking over his shoulder — sounds familiar. it’s a good speech. almost had me fooled the first time around. second time, not so much. don’t patronize me, coulson. SHIELD was neutralizing a threat, nothing more, nothing less.”

“and you took it upon yourself to willfully unleash that threat,” coulson says. “so i’ll ask again — why? i’m sure you did your homework. roman briggs is an unknown variable, a powder keg ready to go off. some might say he’s a liability. i know you, ward. you’re way too calculated to bet on that kind of horse.”

“see, that’s the difference between us.” ward cants his head a fraction of an inch to one side, arm poised, elbow bent, along the back of his chair. “where you saw a wild animal that needed breaking, all i saw was potential. an opportunity.”

“an opportunity for what? don’t tell me loyal henchmen are in such short supply these days that hydra’s resorted to bargain - hunting from SHIELD holding cells. oh, speaking of —”

“henchmen, or shopping trips? sounds like a date.”

“loyalty. you’re already slipping. how do you think i managed to track you down?”

“educated guess — ? bakshi’s guy folded like a cheap suit the moment you promised him protection. how’s he enjoying SHIELD custody so far?”

“you’re good.”

“and you’re predictable. you didn’t just come here to talk about briggs, and you definitely didn’t come without backup.”

a grim smile, peppered with skepticism. “but i’m supposed to believe you did?”

“well — yes and no.” something almost metallic flickers behind ward’s eyes, a hollow - point spark. slow pull to draw a cellphone from his pocket, his opposite palm mildly raised at the spasm of movement across from him: coulson, on reflex, twitching toward a weapon. ward regards him with another scant raise of brows and connects the call with the successive press of two buttons, then a third to put it on speaker. still watching coulson, he says, to the receiving end, “how are we looking?”

roman’s voice. calm, steady. “target secured. ready to move on your signal.”

coulson boomerangs his focus; ward, down to the phone, up again to ward.

“good. hold position and wait for the green light.” the way his mouth curves at each corner isn’t a smile, not even the facsimile of one. it’s a quiet taunt, preceding the ghost of something thoughtful that falls short of sincere. “you know, SHIELD still has a surprising number of active safe houses, and most of them really aren’t that hard to find. couldn’t have been fury, he was too cloak - and - dagger for that. so it must’ve been your call, huh? pretty careless, director. seems you’re already slipping.”

a muscle tic. the flare of both nostrils. otherwise, coulson is composed; ward will give him that. “quit screwing around, ward — what did you do?”

“yeah, i don’t screw around, you of all people should know that. and i haven’t done anything, at least — not yet. if he doesn’t hear from me in the next fifteen minutes, though,” he gestures with each hand, a blown out breath, mimicking an explosion. “different story. you’ll be down half a dozen agents, just like that. good people, too. i checked. so, the question is, are you willing to make that sacrifice just to take me in? you know you won’t be able to hold me. you never could.”

“you’re bluffing.”

“like i was bluffing with may’s ex - hubby? c’mon, coulson. maybe it’s been a while since we’ve exchanged christmas cards, but things haven’t changed that much.”

no. they’re past that.

“okay.” aside from the shadow that crosses his gaze and the barely perceptible curl of his lip, coulson maintains neutrality. or what passes for it. "then answer me one thing.”

a beat. ward waits, unmoved.

“what’s randall prescott have to do with any of this? what was so important that you and briggs went all the way to portugal to murder a guy who’s been off the radar for years? i’ve seen briggs’ file — they were in the same orphanage, back in the day, but after that, it’s quiet. no connections, or none that left a paper trail. so what is it about him? what’s the significance of executing a defected hydra agent and his wife in cold blood? on their anniversary, no less, but you probably knew that.”

“they had a falling out.” in deference to coulson’s look, he elaborates, “prescott and briggs. wanted to reconnect, dig right down into the roots of their true feelings. i’m not a shrink, but i really think they made some progress.”

“ah — so that’s what this is.” the look shifts from uneasily perplexed to comprehending, disparaging. “a revenge kick, just like you manipulated agent 33 into. figures. i mean, after you shot her to death, you were a clyde without his bonnie. should’ve known it was only a matter of time before you found yourself a replacement.”

the first slip of emotion — visceral, raw, but securely contained, effectively distilled — comes out in the brusque undercurrent of a scathing tone. “and what about you, coulson? you find your replacement yet, or can you still not shake the memory of rosalind bleeding out in your arms?”

a mirrored response. “i’m not the one who slaughtered her, you sick son of a bitch.”

“but she’d be alive if it weren’t for you. let’s skip the pleasantries.” ward’s jaw works at the curve, hard and sharp. the hint of a sneer. “as for what happens next, you have two choices. i get up, and i walk out, and you tell your reinforcements to stand down — or, six SHIELD agents pay the price. they’ll die quick, which is more than i can say for you. so what’ll it be? we’ve got about,” he tips his wrist, checks his watch, “nine minutes left. and trust me when i say, he isn’t the ‘no news is good news’ type.”

“you’re not walking out of here, ward. i won’t make that mistake again. it’s over.”

“shoot me, then,” ward invites, arms spread as he rises to a stand. “end it, right here, right now. you’ll still lose some of your people, but ...”

“i’m never gonna stop,” coulson levels out, as he, too, gets to his feet; levels, although emphasis catches on every word like his tongue is serrated, “you do know that, don’t you? that for the rest of your short, miserable life — no matter what you do, ward. no matter where you go, or how far you run, i will always be right behind you.”

“and that’s just it, coulson.” ward lowers his arms and smiles. no warmth reaches his eyes, nor the deep well of shadow around them. “you’ll never be able to catch up.”

he moves, and almost anticipates coulson to follow.

he moves, and almost expects an icer to the back. maybe a real bullet. maybe they’re past that, too.

he moves, and coulson stays.

at the door, he pauses to catch coulson’s eye one last time.

“give my best to the team,” he says. “you know — for old time’s sake. i’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”

#debrief.#au / a hybrid signal: both shelter and warning at once.#this is a mess but it's fine #mythscar #coulson tag.

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teamvnla · 4 years

Text

Cutscene ; Hunt

They had been mic’d up, they all wore their civilian clothes not wanting to draw too much attention. The fact they still had their weapons on them wouldn’t go unnoticed but it wouldn’t draw too much attention.

“Okay, I snagged one of these for you.” Russ approached Lye handing her a standard White Fang mask. “Kash and Van are going to act as higher up and we’ll be just your normal rally attender.” He explained holding up his matching mask.

“I know something like this is probably a bit uncomfortable for you, but just remind yourself that we’re doing this to find your friend.” He reminded quietly with a soft smile.

———

“You’re sure this will work?” Tarragon questioned as they were having their final meeting.

“Yeah, this isn’t our first rodeo.”

“What?”

“It basically means that this isn’t out first time doing this.”

“Oh, that’s a weird way to put it.”

“It an idiom, they’re all kinda like that.”

———

The two groups split, COAL staying in the suite to monitor from there and MKRL leaving to the rally, they had tested earlier to make sure that they were close enough to not have to deal with interference. As they continued making their way to the rally Kash spoke up.

“Who do we want for this job?” He asked looking to Van, this situation felt so similar to how they were just a few years ago. The main differences were the fact that they weren’t going to this rally as actual members and the fact that Russ was in the field with them.

“I think Hori would be good for this job.” Van responded after a small pause to think, Kash nodded taking a short moment to review what traits they had given to “Hori.”

“Hori?” Lye questioned.

Russ was about to explain before he remembered they were mic’d up. “I‘ll explain it to you later.”

The closer they grew to the warehouse they began to split up, Lye felt the nerves bundle in her belly.

“This way, you’re with me.” Russ grabbed Lye’s hand leading her to the main enterance, Van and Kash had separated heading to a back enterance making sure to stay steps away from one another.

———

Upon entering the warehouse each of the Faunus slipped on their mask, the ones Van and Kash had red markings respective of the Grimm closest to their trait.

He hadn’t touched the mask in so long, barely even able to touch it let alone throw it away. What was stopping him from just tossing it into a forest or river? Anytime prior he didn’t want to look at it, yet held onto it maybe for a time like this? It had also been a long time since he had been to a rally, he took a deep breath making his way towards the back of the room hanging more in the shadows.

The approach Kash was taking was the opposite, he was making his way through that crowds. A wide smile across his lips as he greeted and conversed with the rally attendants and organizer, he seemed like a different person from who Jae and the others had met at the Lavender Estate.

The rally wasn’t Lye had expected, she had thought it was going to be more secretive and cultish even. However, the atmosphere was excitable. It was a room full of excited chatter, she couldn’t help but watch curiously.

Her engagement was genuine, while his was more of a mimic of the obvious first attenders around.

“Pay attention to the entrances and exits, if we’re lucky then they’ll stick out easily. If not then maybe they’ll actually try to blend in.” Opal commented through the comms broadcasting to all four Faunus.

——

The three boys went through the rally trying to gain information in various ways, Lye managed to strike up a few conversation though they ended up about the rally speakers. Without realizing it she found herself separated from Russ, her attention left the speaker and began to look around for Russ.

She nearly stiffened feeling the strong presence next to her, the aura the radiated off of the presence was something she hadn’t felt from any of the other attendants.

“Is this your first rally?” The man asked, he was tall with broad shoulders. A scaled tail swayed under the deep cloak the man wore, more than anything the owl mask he wore stood out. They weren’t trying to blend in, or this one wasn’t at least.

“No, well my first in Mistral.” She responded she brought a hand up scratching the side of her neck bumping the earpiece she wore in an attempt to draw the attention of the group back at the hotel.

Opal turned up Lye’s mic, waiting to see if it had just been an accident.

“Oh? Where were you before?”

“Vacuo.”

“Were you apart of the Fang there too?”

“Yeah..” She paused.

“Tell him you’re a newer member.”

“I’m fairly new..” She gave a sheepish chuckle to seem a bit embarrassed. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you wearing an owl mask? I though members built off the standard masks?”

At the mention of the owl mask Opal tuned in the boys earpieces to Lye, the others of COAL focused in as well.

“Its actually from a group partnering with the White Fang.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m actually one of the original members.” He bragged a grin spreading across his lips. “We don’t give these mask to White Fang helping us though.”

“Wow, that really makes you stand out huh?” She commented, she was good at reading someone who was trying to flirt with her.

“Actually we’re looking for some people to join us for out next raid, are you interested?” He stepped closer to her wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“Me?”

“Yeah, even if you’re not much of a fighter I’m sure there something we could find for you to do. Especially for a cute bunny such as yourself. Meet me in the alley behind this place after the rally finish, then I’ll get you all filled in.” He had leaned in closer as if she was telling her a secret, she forced herself to smile sweetly and nod despite the urge to shove him away from her. As the man eventually let go and slinked off into the crowd he tapped her cheek affectionately, once he was out of earshot she turned away leaning into her mic slightly.

“Did you get all that?” She let her face drop trying to shake the feeling of the guy’s hand off her.

“Loud and clear, bun.” Cherry responded through the mic. “Try to keep track of who that guy starts talkin’ to, it safe to say he’s the one sent to scout people for whatever they’re planning or at least the one for this rally.”

———

Lye entered the back ally, her ears shifting at the sounds around her. If he was trying to induct her into his gang or whatever couldn’t he have chosen a better place.. Her gaze focused in on a figure further into the alley, he still wore his mask an cloak, it looked like she was the only one who came. The boys had made quick work with deferring the other people the man had talked to.

“You came.”

“How could I miss an opportunity like this?” She forced another sweet smile.

“Apparently you’re the only one who realized what a privilege this is.”

“Eh, not the only one.” Van stated hopping down from the roof into the ally way.

“Always one to make an enterance, aren’t you?” Kash commented coming out from where he had been hidden, a soft glowing ripple appeared at his feet.

“Hope you don’t mind the company.” Russ chuckled, a matching ripple around his feet. He had used his semblance to mask the noise.

Realizing what was happening the cloaked man took off down the alley, in a momment Van and Russ were after him. Kash was about to turn to catch up, but noticed Lye’s lost expression.

“Come on, you don’t want to miss the best part.” He commented grabbing her hand and leading to catch up with the owl masked man, with how the boys navigated the situation it was safe to assume that this wasn’t their first chase like this. They chased the man following him with ease, he had even resorted to running up onto rooftops in an attempt to lose them. He didn’t lose them, but he did surprise them not with the fact he did in fact run up the wall. A flow emitted from the bottom of his shoes, whether that was a semblance or a gadget they weren’t sure yet.

He paused on top of an apartment building, scurrying from edge to edge, the gap between the building was too wide for him to jump onto the next rooftop or to jump close enough to stick onto the wall of the taller building. Nothing to climb either, he couldn’t turn and run behind him no doubt they were behind him. As he made his decision to fight his way through this. Turning around he charged forward, pulling a giant shuriken form under his cloak, he launched it at Van before focusing his attention on Russ taking a swing. Van had ducked dodging the flying shuriken, his ears flicked he listened to guess which side it would come back on to decided on which way to go. Russ released his axe from his back shifting it into it’s hammer form as he swung on reptile Faunus causing him to dodge closer to Van. Realizing this he back up, also knowing he needed to be in the right spot for his weapon to return to him.

He lifted his hand up expectantly however the blade never returned to him, in a momment of confusion he whipped his head towards the direction it should have came from, only to see that Van had an arm outstretched. The rabbit had stepped towards where to shuriken would be coming from rather than a way, disarming him I immediately.

Van tossed the weapon to the floor behind him, both boys began to close in on him. He quickly darted to the left only to see Kashmere hop upon the roof closer than he expected, he quickly turned around only to be face with Lye who already had both her pistols trained on him. Cursing under his breath he turned taking off in Kashmere’s direction, that was only one not visibly armed probably his best chance to get away.

It’s seemed like the best answer in the situation, well until Kashmere started to pick up his pace and before the ice had started to form around his fist.

“Ouch. That’s gonna bruise.” Russ commented as he watch the ice gauntlet Kash had formed make contact with the lizard Faunus’ face.

“How much you wanna bet his nose is broken?”

“We’ll cuff him and bring him back to the hotel, unless you figured out somewhere else?” Russ spoke into his mic as he began to walk over to Kash and the now unconscious Faunus, prompting the conversation to where to take the man.

Van was about to head over until he noticed Lye, she was still frozen in the same position she had been when they cornered the man. “You good?” He asked softly brows quirking showing genuine concern.

“Yeah, yeah. Just surprised, I guess.” She muttered holstering her pistols with a small shake of her head.

#cutscene #🌿Weeping Willows🌿#[Muse;Van Marigold]#[Muse;Lye Marigold]#[Russet Bron]#[Kashmere]#[HZ-23]#[Cherry Tarragon]#[Opal Amas]

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wildefiction · 5 years

Text

Focus

WORD COUNT: 1,096

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Chris shows Reader the ropes, and after a briefly uncomfortable encounter she runs into Rob.

CHAPTER WARNINGS: Mild Flirting

A/N: Part 3 of my collaboration with @natasha-cole

THREE

Standing there listening to the music flow around the ballroom, it instantly set free the tension that had clung to your shoulders like a too-warm cloak. Closing your eyes, much like you did sometimes at home while listening to these guys, it almost felt like they were singing directly to you. Being able to relate to so many of their lyrics gave you a connection to the band you hadn't found with other musicians in years. As the final notes faded into silence, you opened your eyes. Intense blue irises fixed on your expression startled you briefly, prompting a nervous smile from the man on the stage. Flushing, you turned to Chris in search of familiarity, who still wore the same amused expression as he had initially.

Throwing a heavy arm around your shoulders, he began walking towards the far set of doors.

The two of you had walked only a few paces before people began to take interest. A woman with short, dark hair approached - a wide grin plastered on her face.

“Hey! I'm Kim - what's your name?” Stepping forward out of Chris’ embrace, you extended a hand to introduce yourself.

“[Y/F/N] - I'm here to help this guy for the weekend.” Jabbing a thumb over your shoulder in Chris’ general direction, you didn't quite notice the way Kim eyes widened, flicking up to meet his.

Excusing herself, Kim made her way over to the stage. Confused with her hurried departure, you shrugged it off as perhaps a bit strange, though not inherently bothersome.

Chris’ arm was back around your shoulders, his long, narrow fingers draped artfully over your collarbone. While you enjoyed the comfort of his touch, it was still new and the question of why he felt the need to maintain physical contact buzzed in your mind.

It took a minute for you to realize someone was talking to you.

“Oh, huh?” The delayed reaction made the man laugh, his pale peridot eyes crinkling around the corners. Gesturing towards the pearlescent guitar slung over his shoulder, you complimented the beautiful instrument.

“Hey, thanks - her name is Pearl. I'm Billy by the way.” Like Kim, his smile was welcoming and infectious. Spinning and pointing to the others on stage he introduced the other members of the band. Norton on drums, Borja, and finally, Rob - the man who'd been singing moments before. Looking up at the sound of his name, a small smile pulled at one corner of his face before he leaned back into his task; sound check resuming as the music began to play once again.

Back in the photo op room - music blaring from the speakers, Chris approached the computer you sat behind, camera in hand.

“Hey, c'mere a sec.”

Standing from the chair without taking your eyes from the screen - fully intent on finishing what you'd started- you didn't realize Chris was standing so close. Nearly tripping over his feet, you shoved him, his lanky frame rocking back on its heels as he pretended to be offended.

“Let's do some test shots, get metering established before things become too hectic. Here..”

Handing his camera out in your general direction, you weren't exactly sure what he was trying to get you to do.

“Dude, I don't shoot Leica, I have absolutely zero idea how to work with this.”

Chuckling under his breath, Chris followed you over to the other side of the room, one hand encircling your arm just shy of the backdrop. Lining his body flush with yours, he reached over your shoulder, pointing out the small nuances that made Leica different from your own set-up.

Thirty seconds into the crash course, the small touches began to distract you. How his fingers lingered over yours on the buttons of his camera and just how close he stood, his scent washing over you. If anything was a distraction, that would be it.

“Awesome, got it - thanks!” With a deep breath you spun, shoving the camera into his arms before striding for the hallway, throwing an excuse over your shoulder about needing to find some caffeine.

The air seemed fresher outside the room and [Y/F/N] took a moment to gather several lungfulls.

“It's just Chris, what's wrong with you? Get a grip.”

Muttering the mantra under your breath seemed to help you focus, and, after a moment to collect yourself, you set off down the hallway. It hadn't been an excuse to get some space, coffee was essential to function anymore. Perhaps it was all a placebo effect, but as long as worked, that's really all you cared about.

Spotting a familiar green sign, you joined the quickly growing queue. While this particular brand wasn't your favorite, it was still better than nothing.

Standing at the counter, adding cream and several sugars to the iced drink, you looked up as someone called your name.

Turning, you noticed the same man from earlier approaching. The one from the stage. Who'd been singing. Another deep breath and a smile quickly setting into place, you extended your hand - intent on shaking his and introducing yourself.

Instead, when he gripped your fingers, he brought them to his lips, the soft skin brushing across your knuckles briefly - those stunning blue eyes looking up at you from under a fringe of dark, thick lashes. Heat blossomed over your cheeks as he withdrew, drawing up to his full height of...huh, well, not as tall as he'd initially looked.

“Hey, I'm Rob - I uh..figured I should actually introduce myself...myself.” Raking a hand through his already disheveled hair had you relaxing immediately. Smiling at his nervous demeanor, you were quite surprised by how genuine he seemed in spite of himself.

Raising his own drink from the smooth wooden surface, he glanced around the open cafe, gesturing to a table in the corner.

“Wanna join me Y/F/N?” The look on his face was difficult to deny, and, so you accepted - pulling a chair over to sit on as you sipped at the coffee clutched in both hands.

“So, how do you wanna do this?” Rob's gaze roved over your features several times before settling on your face.

“Do..what exactly?” The puzzlement on your face must've been amusing. Rob chuckled, taking another sip of his drink.

“Chris mentioned you'd be helping this weekend - we've got some promotional stuff coming up. He said you'd be handling me..and I gotta say, I'm pretty happy with that.” The last few words were almost a growl, the challenging look in his eyes sending a shiver down your spine.

CHAPTER FOUR

TAGS: @wings-of-a-raven @jamielea81 @natasha-cole

#WildeFiction #Rob Benedict x Reader #Chris Schmelke x Reader #Supernatural Fanfiction #SPN x RPF

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warrior-thief-and-intelectual · 5 years

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Chapter 3

The Lumas’ home base is strange as far as towns go; it’s underground, consisting of a collective of buildings and homes carved out of the rock they’re buried under. It wasn’t scalding down here but it wasn’t freezing either, the temperatures seemed relatively controlled. It is lively and bustling with people going about trying to finish up their chores for the day. There are large, flourishing trees at each junction, and hanging from each building and between the trees are colorful pieces of cloth and items like streamers, with shiny treasure functioning as decor that also draws attention to show what each area is used for. It’s when you look to the walls that things truly get weird because what’s lighting up the open space isn’t the natural light of an open sky. It was free flowing lava, leaking out of the cavern walls. It seemed to disappear again once it reached the height of the hallways that lead to different areas, and along the floor was what looked to be black glass, covering up grooves on the ground. There were holes and cracks in which there was no lava, probably allowing air to flow in and out. Now the people, on the other hand, were tan or at most dark-skinned, and they all seemed relatively healthy and happy as they bustled about without a care in the world

Then the main door suddenly closed. “This is Incernia!” Vida exclaimed and grabbed Emily’s hand tightly as she excitedly yanked her in, excited to show her around and introduce her to everyone. Emily merely allowed herself to be pulled along, the sensations overwhelming. The thick scent of food hung in the air, food, and flavors Emily couldn’t recognize but was all too familiar to Vida.

“What is all of this?” Emily asked in a soft voice as if everything had been turned on its head a third time.

“I think it’s what would be called a… main plaza?” Vida answered with a confused lilt to her voice. She dragged the wide-eyed girl over to a stall and beamed at the man behind it. “I found someone! Watch her stuff,” she spoke up fast and handed all of Emily’s belongings over for safekeeping before the confused woman could realize or protest.

“H-how’d you?” she asked dumbfounded at how she didn’t realize that her possessions had been taken from her. The large man came back after securing her items.

“Huh? What’d’ya mean?” he asked once he came back.

“How did she take everything from my person without me noticing?” Emily clarified.

“Oh, Lil’ Vida ?” he began. “Don’ worry ‘bout it, happens to everyone. She’s got the fastest hands on the team,” he finished and leaned forward to ruffle Vida ’s hair. She laughed happily as a proud blush bloomed on her cheeks, almost bashful at the slight praise. She sticks her tongue out at the man.

“I’m merely good with my hands,” she replies and removes his hand from her hair. “I gotta go show her around now! Don’t give out her stuff for a mission!” she exclaimed as she started pushing Emily away from the stand.

“Don’t you have to pay?!” Emily exclaimed as she was being pushed away. Vida shook her head.

“We don’t really have the money or a reason for it. We trade, the only money we have is from outside trade and even then we prefer to receive stuff instead,” she explained briefly with a smile. “We think being alive to talk another day is payment enough, money would make things too complicated.”

Soon she had led the cloaked girl to a different stand. The air around it smelled amazing, almost heavenly, it was making her hungry and she had no clue as to why. The space this one took up was significantly more than any other in the area, and there was a lot of open space around it too. Constant steam from the inside was probably what was carrying the delicious scent.

“You seem a little overwhelmed,” Vida said when she returned, finally noticing how lost her friend looked, at least hoping they were friends at this point.

“It’s nothing. Just a lot to take in,” she tried to explain politely. “And what’s that smell?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“What smell? I don’t smell anything strange…” the brunette asked, really confused, what could she possibly be smelling that was throwing her off like that? There was nothing particularly dead around and the soil was a little far behind the building.

“I mean the only thing that really stinks around here, except for death and Thompson is the food, but like, food smells good so that can’t be what you’re talking about. I mean, I was just in there telling them that there was another person here now so that there’d be enough food for later,” she paused and looked at Emily, getting really close to her, to look her in the eye. “.....Do you have an enhanced sense of smell? Can you like smell things normal people can’t?!” she asked excitedly with a bright smile. Emily began to lean away and took a step backward in surprise and discomfort at having her personal space invaded.

“Ah…, no?” she answered in a confused tone of voice. Her demeanor portrayed questioning, probably only thinking ‘I’m crazy for thinking that but it would be cool!’

“I can’t smell like that. All that’s going on is that I can smell the aroma of… something and I just wanted to know what it is. It’s making me hungry but it’s nothing I am familiar with,” she had explained with a pointed look in her direction.

Vida backed up a little and blinked, trying to understand what Emily meant. “You mean the food smell? The smell of the food from the kitchen? The smell of fresh cooking food?” she asked slowly while trying to see if she could understand what the question was. Emily looked a little fed up with all the beating around the bush.

“Yes, that smell. That’s food?” Emily posed incredulously, she seemed confused. “Food does not have that aroma,” she accused and crossed her arms.

“What are you talking about? Food has always smelled like that,” Now Vida was confused. What did she mean, ‘food does not smell like that’? “Anyways, we should probably move on. You can stay with me at my place,” she suggested with a bright smile and began to walk. “You might wanna change your clothes after all,” Emily had decided to run after her once Vida had started to walk away, again. Following her through one of the tunnels along the wall, it was darker than the main room but it felt warm and comfortable.

Through the end of the tunnel was a spacious and well lit, red-tinted area. The light was yellow, mostly, and reflected off clear surfaces. There were roughly five houses. Vida continued walking forward to one of the houses in the room, pushing away the cloth that worked as a door. “You coming?” she asked as she held it open. Emily quickly rushed through the doorway and into the house. It was not as well lit as it was outside the building, but it seemed she would be lighting it up soon. Vida followed in and carefully let the curtain fall. “Welcome to my house, make yourself comfortable!” she spread out her hands and presented. There were built in shelves or cubbies in the walls and pillows and carpets all over. There were shiny, lamp like fixtures hanging from the roof, roughly three. It was nice but looked messy and Emily didn’t like messy, being an orderly and neat person herself. It wasn’t that the house looked bad, it just wasn’t as clean as she’d have liked. “Lemme get ya a change of clothes. You look about my size so I’ll find something,” She left to do so, going into a different room, off from the main.

“Quite unorganized and filthy, but I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a spotless house,” Emily muttered as she looked around, taking note of the ‘unique interior’. “What do you mean, ‘a change of clothes’?” she asked the other girl.

“Well you can’t wear your armor all the time, it would be heavy, and your clothes need to clean and dry,” she said what, in her own mind, was obvious. “So…. strip,” she peeked her head into the doorway with a smirk and winked. Emily stood there, gaping at her for being so bold and rude.

“E-excuse me?!” she exclaimed as she brought her arms up to cover herself, despite the fact she really didn’t need to. She has dressed more modestly than the host after all.

“Take it off~!” Vida taunted playfully as she walked over with her hands behind her back and the largest, most mischievous smile Emily had ever seen. Emily backed up in response. “And put this on,” her smile was no longer mischievous but merely playful as she held out a soft white cream colored dress. “This should do for today while you’re here,” her voice had a hint of hopefulness in it as she waited for Emily to take it. Pausing for a second, Emily hesitantly reached out and grasped the dress, taking it from her hands.

“...Thank you, where can I change?” she asked quietly as she held the light dress.

“If not here, the room I pulled it from,” she said and gestured with her thumb towards the other room. “If you want to bathe or just nap, tell me,” she said and moved away from the pale girl and sat down a pile of pillows on a carpet. Emily nodded briefly and carefully walked into the other room as if the floor would break under her, even though it was solid rock.

#dreamworlds #work in progress #original characters #original story #i swear its good #lesbians????#probably not #bi maybe #fantasy #adventure

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snappedsky · 4 years

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Borderlands: Skies the Bodyguard 3

Skies and the crew get help from Ellie. Previous! Next!

Chapter 3

Vaughn, Sasha, August, Skies, Loader Bot, and Gortys make their way through the seemingly endless desert known as The Dust. The sand is loose beneath their feet, making it easy to slip; the powerful sun beats down overhead, providing very little shade even with the many outcrops of rock around. It’s a hot, miserable trek but this isn’t the first time any of them have had to go across a desert. Besides, it’s not like they have any other choice.

“So who are we going see?” Vaughn asks.

“A mechanic named Ellie,” Skies replies, “this is…pretty risky actually cause she’s with the Crimson Raiders. But she had a chance to kill me once and didn’t so.”

“How do you know her?” Sasha asks.

“Not long after Jack’s death I ended up wandering The Dust and got heat stroke,” she explains, “Ellie found me and nursed me back to health before realizing who I was. But she decided not to kill me or turn me in…for some reason…”

“And what makes you think she’ll give us a car?” August asks cynically.

Skies shrugs. “I dunno. She’s a good kid; I think she’ll at least do it for you guys. Er, then again, she was Scooter’s sister…”

A heavy silence hangs over them as Sasha and August share a guilty look.

The quiet is quickly broken by the roaring of an engine and excited shouting. Everyone looks up as a bandit technical closes in from the distance, practically overflowing with Psychos.

“Roadkill!” one of them shouts as he bangs his buzz saw axe against the outside of the truck.

“Uh oh,” Vaughn squeaks.

“To the rock!” Skies orders as she frantically points at a nearby outcrop. “Go go go!”

They race for the rock and scramble to the top just as the vehicle screeches by. One of the bandits inside draws a gun and begins firing. As they take cover behind the rock, Skies draws her rifle and waits for the technical to come back around.

Poking her head out from behind the rock, Skies aims and fires a short burst. The bullets tear through the right front tire. The driver immediately loses control and crashes into the outcrop. Before they can have a chance to recover, Skies stands over them and fires into the engine.

“Move!” she barks as smoke starts to rise from the hood. Everyone leaps away just before the technical explodes.

“Phew,” Skies sighs, brushing back her hair and holstering her rifle.

“You really pull no punches, huh,” Vaughn comments, smiling shakenly.

Skies starts to reply but gets cut off by a blood curdling howl. A Badass Psycho bursts from the burning vehicle and flies right for Skies, his large arm wielding a buzz saw axe. She barely dodges his blow, draws her old Hyperion pistol, and starts firing, but the bullets puncture his massive body like needles.

The Psycho huffs as he stands up and lifts his axe again. Skies glares at him, ready to dodge again, when bullets whiz by and blow into him, knocking him to his knees. Before he can get up, Skies shoots him a couple times in the head.

She sighs as he falls to her feet and looks back at the others. Vaughn, Sasha, August, and Loader Bot all re-holster guns.

“Y’know,” Skies says, glancing back at the Badass. “I used to be able to take down these guys by myself.” “Yeah, well, you also had a giant cannon crafted to your arm,” Sasha points out.

“It was pretty giant,” she mutters agreeably.

They continue their journey, thankfully without any more incidents, and soon reach Ellie’s junkyard. It’s really more junk than yard, with all kinds of metal garbage surrounding a garage and a large crusher behind a tall sign reading ‘Ellie’s’

“Okay, don’t bring up Scooter,” Skies warns as they pass the sign. “And try not to piss her off.”

The second Skies steps into the garage, she hears the click of a gun cocking and immediately throws out her arm, stopping the others in their tracks.

“Ellie?” she calls out, her eyes carefully scanning the garage. It’s not large, but the lights are off, cloaking the room in shadows.

“Gimme one good reason I shouldn’t blow yer brains out,” a voice demands from somewhere in the darkness.

“Ellie, I just wanna talk,” Skies says calmly, “we need your help.”

“Why should I listen to ya? I let ya go once and I’m bettin’ that was a mistake.”

“Look, you don’t have to listen to me. I don’t blame you. Just listen to my friend. He’ll explain everything.”

Skies looks back at Vaughn and motions for him to step forward. He gulps but slips past her into the garage.

“Well!” the voice booms excitedly. “Ain’t you a hunk of man.” An absolute mountain of a woman stomps into view, a shotgun resting on her shoulder. She beams at Vaughn who looks up at her, stunned, with a similar expression as the rest of his friends except for Skies, who tries not to make eye contact.

“Name’s Ellie,” she says, “what’cher name, Muscles?”

“Uh…I-I’m Vaughn,” he stammers and points at his friends. “This is Sasha, August, Loader Bot, and Gortys.”

“You are the biggest human I’ve ever seen!” Gortys comments.

“Gortys,” Sasha scolds.

“Oh, I mean that as a compliment.”

“Well, and yer just the cutest, lil robot I’ve ever seen,” Ellie replies.

“Thanks!” Gortys chimes.

“So, what can I do fer ya?” she asks, “and how do I know I can trust ya, since ya be rolling with…her.” She glares venom at Skies.

“Heh,” Skies chuckles uncomfortably and backs away. “I’ll just…be over here…”

She quickly goes to the entrance of the junkyard while Vaughn quickly explains their situation.

“Ya opened a Vault!” Ellie exclaims in shock. “Impressive.”

“Thanks,” Vaughn smiles awkward. “But our friends disappeared inside of it and we need to find them. We just need a car to make it easier to get around.”

“Why not use the Catch-A-Ride?”

“Well, we’re uh not exactly Catch-A-Ride customers,” he replies.

“Hmm,” Ellie muses as she looks everyone over. “I guess ya do look a bit like bandits. And ya do have…questionable company.”

She takes a second to glare at Skies’ back.

“Alright. I’ll give ya a technical,” she says, “it won’t be cheap, but since ya opened a Vault, I’m guessing ya can pay for it.”

“We’ll give you anything,” Vaughn replies, smiling with relief.

“Come on inside,” Ellie smiles and waves for them to enter. “Ya can pick yer features.”

“Oh, I definitely want a minigun,” Sasha says as they all go inside, except for Gortys, who stops short and looks back. Skies is leaning against the entrance sign, staring at her right arm. She’s so focused on it, she doesn’t notice Gortys roll up to her until she’s tapping her shin.

Skies looks down at her with surprise. “Uh, Gortys. What-what’s up?”

“Why does nobody seem to like you?” she asks bluntly.

Skies chuckles awkwardly and looks off into the distance. “Well, Gortys, I was kind of a…horrible person before. I worked for a really bad guy and nobody really forgives me for it. Well, Vaughn does and Rhys too. But everyone else…well, I don’t really blame them. I deserve it.”

“Oh,” Gortys says then smiles at her. “Well, I forgive you.”

Skies looks at her, somewhat amused. “You don’t even know what I did.”

“That’s okay. I like the person you are now. Who you were before doesn’t matter.”

Skies stares at her, shocked. Then she kneels down, hesitantly reaches for her, and pats her head. Gortys beams at her and she smiles shakenly back.

“Skies, Gortys!” Vaughn calls to them and they look back. He points at a brown bandit technical that Sasha and August are getting into. “We got a vehicle.” Skies sighs as she stands up and nods at Gortys. “Alright, go to Loader Bot.”

Gortys rolls up to the others and Skies follows close behind. As Loader Bot helps Gortys into the truck, Skies approaches Ellie who glares at her darkly.

“Ellie, thank you,” she says, unwavering beneath her glare.

“Vaughn tells me ya’ll are going to Sanctuary to look fer help,” Ellie says.

“Yeah, w-well, I don’t think I will be…” Skies replies.

“He seems to trust ya. I hope that trust ain’t misplaced.”

“Yeah,” she sighs and looks back at Vaughn and the others. “Me too.”

Ellie’s glare seems to soften a bit. “Just don’t make me regret helping ya twice,” she warns, “cause if ya do, I’ll hunt ya down myself.”

Skies meets her eyes. “I’m…I’ll do my best.”

Ellie nods. “Now git outta here. Ya got friends to save.”

Skies smiles weakly before hopping into the back of the technical with Vaughn, Loader Bot, and Gortys; Sasha and August are in the front.

“Alright, which way to Sanctuary?” August asks.

“Just start driving,” Skies replies, “I’ll direct you.”

He starts the vehicle and takes off. Ellie watches quietly as they leave the junkyard and disappear into the Dust.

#borderlands #borderlands 2 #tales from the borderlands #borderlands fanfiction #borderlands au #myocs #myart

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soto-translates · 7 years

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Saiyuki Crossroaders ch2 pt3

And the last part of chapter 2 from the online novel Minekura Sensei began posting on the Zero Sum website. Unfortunately nothing new has been posted since 2013, so this is all I've got for now. If Crossroaders gets updated and I haven't started posting translations, please let me know! I wanna know how it turns out too...

My translations of previous parts are here: Ch1 Pt1 | Ch1 Pt2 | Ch1 Pt3 || Ch2 Pt1 | Ch2 Pt3

I think this every day, but we really should carry a watch around. Hakkai cast his gaze around the spacious casino floor, searching for a clock without turning his head. Well, Hakkai himself was the one who normally should carry the watch, but he was currently unable to do so. He was already carrying a cracked pocket watch. It was stopped forever, ever since the moment he lost his other half.

...Speaking of, in opposition to her mild appearance, Kanan had liked gambling. Instead of cute and modest ‘prayers to God’, it was serious gambling like mahjong and hanafuda(※７) that set her eyes sparkling. Thinking about it now, she was a bit of an odd girl.

But thanks to that, Hakkai had become a fairly proficient gambler too. He’d gotten elementary lessons in mahjong from her as well. Usually, women were influenced by their boyfriend’s hobbies; this was the exact opposite of that.

I wonder if she would be happy to know that she’s brought me this far...

His heart ached now, less with sadness than nostalgia. His own time was steadily marching on. It was lonely, but he had already accepted this truth.

I must buy a new watch. One that keeps track of the current time progression.

“......It is inconvenient, after all. Excuse me, do you have the time?” Hakkai turned to the player next to him as though letting go of unnecessary thoughts.

It was already quite late. They should meet up with Gojyo and Goku who were probably struggling on another floor, combine their winnings into one large bet, and finish up in one go.

The roulette table before him had already begun a new game.

Although standing out was ill-advised, thanks to the excellent blond panda-priest-sama, the gallery encircling the table at a distance had swelled to quite a number.

“What? That priest is still betting?”

“It’s amazing! I think he’s only lost once!”

“...Oh my! He’s quite a handsome priest.”

“Oh, right, there are young people winning big at the slots and poker too. Judging by the clothes, might they be with him?”

Hakkai’s smile stiffened for a mere 0.5 seconds.

...Why now, of all times, must their luck be so stupidly good...? And after I warned them so many times to win moderately.

That being said, their ability to be terribly lucky in strange ways was a blessing that enabled all of them to continue this dangerous journey. Blaming it would be inviting trouble.

But even so.

...No wonder he had been feeling stares prickling on the back of his neck. It wasn’t simply a person’s gaze; it was clearly a piercing observation. And it wasn’t from a single direction.

Hakkai mentally clicked his tongue.

It was time to reevaluate.

Gojyo and Goku must have won quite a lot, so in total they must be near their monetary goal. In any case they should leave the shop as soon as this game was finished.

Hakkai turned back to the table, throwing himself into his role in order to prevent the slightest impatience from showing itself.

Sanzo had placed an inside split bet, leaving his chips on the line between 29 and 32. The dividend rate for a split bet was 18 times -- in other words, a bet of 100,000 would return 1,800,000.

...If it won.

Sanzo’s bet was approximately 80% of their current winnings. There was a considerable amount laid out. Hakkai couldn’t risk deliberately missing.

29 and 32 were arranged at almost right angles to each other on the spinning board. Hakkai quickly confirmed the positions of the two numbers on the rotating wheel, and judged the timing he would need to flick the ball with his ki in order to make it look as natural as possible.

“--Could we have a minute?” Suddenly, two well-built men in black suits appeared from behind, approaching Hakkai from both sides as though to gently restrain him.

“......Ah, what seems to be the problem?” Hakkai turned to face the black suited men, acting as though he were genuinely surprised even as a chill ran down his spine.

“We apologize, but if we could have a moment of your time...”

“Ah, wai--”

“Over there. Please.” The men began to lead Hakkai away politely but forcefully.

The crowd buzzed at the disquieting spectacle, and even Sanzo tossed a brief glance over his shoulder.

Resisting now would worsen their impression of me, and would only set us at a disadvantage.

“--I understand; I’ll go with you. Did something happen?” Hakkai spoke in a slightly strained voice as though making sure Sanzo understood the situation. He disappeared in the direction of the floor exit, escorted by the black suits.

~~~

............Seriously?

Facing the roulette board and maintaining an aloof expression, Sanzo went into mental shut down. All at once, his sleepiness came back.

He couldn’t vacate his seat now; the betting had already closed.

Faking worry for his attendant and going after them was somewhat -- no, quite an unnatural move. If he was lucky he would win, but the chances of a split bet win were only about 5%.

Cloaking himself in pretend calm, Sanzo watched the silver ball skip over the wheel ... And before long the ball mercilessly settled itself into a completely unrelated number’s pocket.

A disappointed cry rose up from the crowd.

...I’m the one who’s disappointed. You’re all annoying.

Nearly 80% of the chips he’d won were collected up in front of his eyes. Sanzo’s anger meter was maxed out, but his was no time to let his temper out. The question was, what to do in this next game.

Sanzo could feel a strange nervousness and mistrust floating around both the gallery and the other players, thanks to the earlier questionable dealings. Not only would leaving now raise suspicion, doing so would mean they would fall substantially short of their monetary goal. That would be a waste of time and effort.

...However, even if he bet all his current chips, he wouldn’t earn much unless he aimed for a fairly high payout wager. And even if he did play such a hand, stage hand Hakkai wasn’t around.

Would adding Gojyo and Goku’s winnings to his own and betting it all on either red or black, as planned, fill the gap?

Remaining here was dangerous, but he had to wait until the other two came to him...

“--Oh, there he is! That flashy lond-bay(※８) over there.”

“Sanzo--!!”

Two familiar, out of place, outrageous voices plowed through the crowd and ran up to him.

“Sorry we’re late! Couldn’t really find a good place to stop.”

“But wow you’ve got a lotta spectators. So, how’s it goin’, Sanzo-sama?”

“Oh yeah, where’s Hakkai?”

Buffeted by the refreshingly bad-natured lines alternating behind his head, Sanzo ripped off his poker face and made an expression as though he’d eaten 104 stink bugs.

“......How about you read the situation a bit, you ID-10-Ts(※９)...” He knew he wasn’t allowed to bring it in, but how he wished he had his paper fan.

“--Huh? What kinda situation is this?”

“Hakkai’s been taken away by the black suits.”

“Whaaaat?! So, that means, the cheating --”

“Flaaaaash!!”

“Ugh!”

Gojyo’s palm smacked over Goku’s face.

As the gallery watched the impromptu comedic skit open mouthed, the roulette dealer seemed to remember where he was and rang the bell signaling the start of the next game. Around the table people turned their attention to the new game, and Sanzo explained the situation under his breath, frowning all the while.

“......They probably haven’t caught us out, but they definitely think we’re suspicious. We have no choice but to bet big on this game and clear out. Hand over all your chips.”

“...Seriously? You’re gonna bet all this even without Hakkai here?”

“Red or black...... And if we get it it’s twice the payout? That’ll be a lotta money, won’t it.”

“And if we miss we’re completely broke,” Sanzo said as though completely unconcerned, watching the wheel begin its neat rotations.

The other players began placing down their colorful chips one after another.

“...Wha, what’re you gonna do Sanzo?”

--Two choices, red or black.

In that case, he should think about it statistically. Sanzo quickly reflected on the outcomes of the games he had witnessed today.

Red, black, black, black, red, black, red, black, black...... Up until now the ball had predominantly fallen in a black pocket. So, in all likelihood, next would be red --

“Sanzo, bet on red, on red.” Suddenly Gojyo gripped Sanzo’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“......On what grounds.” Sanzo harshly tried to shake off the friendly arm. Next to his face, a crimson eye winked between hair the color of blood.

“It’s my image color.”

“--Black.”

Sanzo’s arm moved as though plucked and pushed the mountain of high-value chips onto the ‘black’ diamond-shaped mark. A low “oooh” rose up from the gallery.

“Bastard...!!”

“No more bets!”

The bell marking the end of betting rang out lightly as though to block out Gojyo’s protests.

“Woaahh, you seriously went for it!”

“Red is bad luck, in lots of ways.”

“What’s that supposed ta mean, you shitty monk?!!”

The silver bullet sparkled in the floor lights, drawing a glittering pulse over the spinning wheel.

“Uh, hang on. It doesn’t matter what number it stops on as long as it’s black, right?!”

“No matter how you think about it, black more unlucky I tell you...”

“Mind your own business, red roach. Go take a red shit and go to bed.”

“Don’t make it sound like I’ve got hemorrhoids! Besides, that’s mostly mine and Goku’s winnings. You’re gonna take responsibility if it all goes up in smoke, right Sanzo-sama?”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“Ohh, now you’ve said it! Prepare yourself to dance naked!”

“......Sanzo--”

“You like seeing naked men? You’ve got a wide strike zone.”

“That’s not what I meant--!”

“Sanzo,” Goku called out in a calm voice, and pointed to the lazily rotating wheel. “...It’s red.”

The silver ball was sitting on the roulette board, cradled in a red pocket.

The gallery went wild.

Goku stood frozen, a serious look on his face.

Gojyo tried to sink through the floor.

“--And this is why red is shit.”

Sanzo closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, crushing his long-empty soft pack of Marlboro Reds in both hands.

【To be continued】

※７ Hanafuda 花札: A card game in which players collect cards into sets in order to earn points.

※８ Lond-bay: Blond

※９ ID-10-Ts: Sanzo actually says 馬と鹿のツーペア (うまとしかのつーぺあ), which literally translates to ‘horse and deer two of a kind’. Combine the characters for horse and deer in one word, and you get baka, or idiot.

Soto Note: Sorry for any awkwardness in the gambling descriptions. I don't gamble, so I relied on sites like the two below to help give me an idea of what Minekura Sensei was talking about. http://www.casinotop10.net/roulette-terms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_poker_terms

#saiyuki #translation #crossroaders

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pooka-dragon · 7 years

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Medieval times

Okay, before I write the really angst story, I may as well write a fluffy fanfic. This is what happens when you watch Disney’s Robin Hood and when an idea pops into your head.

This is based on @shinyzango 2D Bendy AU, which Henry takes Bendy to a medieval times carnival, letting him experience the middle age times and performances.

So here we go!

“Henry, are we there yet? When can I take the blindfold off?” Bendy asked, having a frown on his face as there was a blind fold over his eyes so that he couldn’t see anything.

And he couldn’t use toon logic to look as well to peak through the blindfold until they got to the surprise.

“We’re almost there, bud. Just a few more minutes, okay?” Henry chuckled, patting Bendy’s head. Bendy just grumbled in response, folding his arms over his chest of being blindfolded for nearly a few minutes now.

“I saw this on the news and I figured you would love this.” Henry chuckled, knowing that the demon is not really happy at the situation right now. He pulled over to an exit before going over to park.

As Henry parks the car, he could see Bendy wiggling out of excitement a bit. “Are we there yet!? Are we there yet!?” Bendy said, hopping up and down from his seat. “Just hold on a sec, bud.” Henry laughed, helping Bendy out of the car.

“Okay, when I take the blindfold off, promise not to run off while we are here?” He asked. Bendy nods eagerly. “C’mon, Henry! I wanna see!” Bendy said, having a hold of Henry’s arm as he hopped up and down.

“Okay, okay, hold still.” Henry chuckled, taking the blindfold off of Bendy and when he looks at the scene.

It was a carnival, but it seemed different as men were dressed in some metal armor of some sort. “This is a medieval carnival, Bendy. In times where knights battle dragons, knights and rescue princesses.”

“Like the stories you tell me for bedtime?” Bendy asked, looking up at Henry and he nods. “Yeah, it’s like that.” He chuckled as he hoisted Bendy up, carrying him inside. Bendy just looks at the knights that stand by the entrance of the carnival.

“Alright, let’s see the schedule....the archery tournament isn’t until a few more hours, but the jousting is up pretty soon.” Henry said, looking at the large board that had the schedules for all of the activities.

“Archery and jousting?” Bendy asked and Henry nods. “Yep. You’ll love the tournaments, bud.” Henry smiled as they start to walk through the place. Bendy could see so many performers.

Henry and Bendy looks at one performer doing performance with knives. “....that doesn’t hurt his throat, does it?” Bendy gulped a bit and Henry pats his back. “Don’t worry. He’s done that for years to be a professional, bud.” Henry said, trying to comfort the little devil.

Bendy could only nod, but then they both jolted at the fire performer, a small group of people clapping for his performance. “That was close.” Henry chuckled nervously, wiping his forehead a bit as they continued.

When it came to the jousting, Bendy looks over to see what it was about. “So what does this tournament do?”

“Well, you see those two knights? They both are mounted on horses and they charge at each other with those large lances. The one knight that stays on their horse without falling off wins the round.” Henry explained, Bendy nodded.

“Does it hurt?” Bendy asked, looking at Henry. “Well, they are protected by armor, so it won’t hurt them too much. Yeah, they’ll be sore for awhile, but they turn out to be okay.”

They watched the two knights charge at each other. Bendy had his arms wrapped around Henry’s neck in tension, watching the two coming close to clashing at each other.

Both Henry and Bendy winced when they heard the ‘clang’ from the knights, seeing the black knight falling off. The crowd cheer as the white knight raised his lance of victory.

Bendy seemed to sigh with relief when the black knight slowly stood up. “That’s was close.” Bendy said, loosening his grip on Henry and he smiled, patting his head. “See, he’s fine, bud.” He smiled.

As they continued with the medieval carnival, Henry and Bendy sat at the table. “I’m gonna grab us something to eat, okay?” Henry asked and Bendy nods. “Now, I want you to stay put, okay?” Henry asked and Bendy nods once more. “Okay, Henry.”

Henry smiled and ruffled the top of Bendy’s head as he went to find them something to eat. Bendy sits at the table, waiting for Henry to come back with the food.

He saw something black disappear into a tent a few tents away from him, wondering what that went in there. As Bendy looks at the tent, he looks over at Henry who was waiting in line.

Maybe a few minutes won’t hurt him.

Bendy hops off of the table, and walks over to the tent before he slowly opened the tent flap to look at him. He could see a bunch of arrows in resting places, along with the bows resting on pedestals.

He looks around until he felt a large shadow loomed over him from behind. “What are ya doin’ here, kid?” A deep voice grunted, making Bendy froze in place.

When he turned, he could see a man that was very muscular, crossing his arms over his chest to glare down at him. He also had a long beard as tattoos covered his arms of the bows and arrows.

Bendy seemed to frozen in place, now very nervous and very agitated of the man’s mere size. “Uhhh....I...I....” Bendy slowly starts to back up a few paces, his form starting to melt--

“Johnathan, leave the kid be.”

He heard a feminine voice as a gentle gloved hand was placed on Bendy’s shoulder. “He got curious, nothing wrong with that.”

“What do ya know, Black Dragon. Ya don’t have kids.” The man grunted again. Bendy turned to see a young woman with black hair, all dressed in dark grey and black clothings. “Yes, but I know how kids feel if you keep glaring down at them.” She snapped a bit.

Johnathan grunts before leaving to his part of the tent. The woman sighed before looking down at Bendy. “Hey, you okay?” She asked softly, earning a nod from Bendy. “You know that you shouldn’t wonder alone in the carnival, little guy. It gets dangerous really quickly.” She said.

“I-I got curious is all of what the place was...and...” He noticed the black cloak hanging on a rack. “Hey, it’s the cloak I saw.” He said, which made the woman smiled. “Yeah, it’s mine.” She chuckled a bit before looking down and knelt down to look at him properly.

“What’s your name, little guy?”

“I’m Bendy! The dancing demon!” He smiled and the woman smiled. “I am Lily, but I am nicknamed ‘The Black Dragon’ here at the tournaments. Because like a dragon, I snatch the prize before the others can even get their hands on it.” She chuckled.

“...but you’re not a dragon though...don’t they have wings?” He asked and this made Lily chuckle a bit. “You’re right, I don’t have wings or breathe fire like one, but I am fast and swift like one. Just wait until the archery tournament.” She winks at him.

“Archery? Henry was just explainin’ that to me!” Bendy smiled, a squeaking sound being heard from him. Lily tilted her head a bit, but she smiled a bit. As she told Bendy a few stories of the tournaments she participated, Bendy heard a familiar voice.

“Bendy!? Where did you go!?”

Bendy winced. “Oh, crap. Henry. I promised him I would stay put, but I didn’t...” Bendy looks down sadly, but blinked when he felt Lily take his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll back you up.”

Lily walks out of the tent with Bendy, who was greeted by Henry. “Bendy, I told you not to wonder off.”

“Excuse me, sir. The little guy wanted to know about Archery, so I was telling him a few stories of the greatest archer of all time; Robin Hood.” Lily said, Bendy look up at him.

Lily secretly winked at Bendy and this made the little devil smile. “Yeah, Henry! Like the story you tell me before bed.” Bendy said. Henry looks at them both before sighing. “....please don’t wonder off next time, okay?”

“I’m sorry, Henry...”

Lily smiled, but turned her head when she heard the trumpets playing. “Oh, looks like the archery tournament is starting. Looks like it’s time for the dragon to strike...” She looks down at Bendy. “Wish me luck, little guy.” She ruffled the top of his head, making him giggle.

As Lily left, Bendy looks up at Henry. He sighs deeply, looking down at Bendy, but he knew that he couldn’t be mad at him. “...we better check out the tournament, huh?” He asked, handing Bendy a corndog, making Bendy nod eagerly.

00~00

The trumpets were blaring as they were out in a large open field, a group carrying flags to show the archer’s logo sign. Bendy and Henry watched the archers come onto the field, Bendy now shivering when he saw Johnathan come in on the field.

“Archers, line up!”

Each of the archers stood their ground. “The rules are as usual, the one archer that has the most score, wins this year’s tournament, along with the golden arrow to show them as the true archer!” The announcer said.

Bendy smiled as he looks at Henry, who smiled at him. “Can you see fine, bud?” He asked and Bendy nods, holding onto Henry’s hand.

“Archers, ready!”

They all pulled their arrows and rest them on their bows, drawing the arrows back.

“FIRE!”

Arrows flew in the air, some of them hitting the targets while some are missing. As the arrows kept trying to hit the targets for a few more minutes, the announcer raised his hand up to stop.

“Attention all! May the final archers stand forward for the final shooting! May I present the finalists, Jonathan Veil! Also known as ‘The Iron Arm!” The man stepped forward and bowed a bit, earning some claps.

“And Miss Lilian Hammington, also known as “The Black Dragon!’“ Lily steps forward and bows at the audience as well, earning claps as well.

“Will the Iron arm finally steal his way to victory? Or will the black dragon snatch the treasure and take it away? To make the contest more interesting, the target will be one hundred feet away! May the best archer win!”

Bendy seemed so tense when he saw the target so far away. Johnathan went first as he fired his arrow, which it whistled in the air as it made into the yellow target, near the bulls-eye.

Lily stood to the shooting rank, taking a deep breath. Bendy clings to Henry’s hand as Lily draw her arrow ready. She lets her arrow fly.

Bendy and Henry watches.

The arrow lands in the bulls-eye.

The crowd starts to cheer as Lily smiled and bowed to the audience. “May I present the champion of this year’s tournament, the Black Dragon!”

As the day comes to the end, the day coming to night time as Henry carried Bendy on his shoulders, who have seemed to have dozed off, his cheek resting on the top of his head as he snores softly.

The poor little guy was worn out.

“Henry, was it?”

He turned over to see Lily coming over, a bag in her hands. “I take it you two had fun today?” She asked and he nods. “Yeah, the little guy’s a little worn out.” He smiled, gesturing to Bendy.

Lily smiled as she hands him a small bag. “Here. This is for the Bendy whenever he wakes up, okay? I know he’ll like it.” She smiled. Henry smiled as he took the bag. “Thank you, I’m sure he’ll like what’s in the bag.”

Lily nods as she hoists her bag up, watching Henry leave the carnival as they head for home.

A few hours passed...

...Bendy woke up to find himself in his bedroom, still so late at night. He slowly sat up as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. As he looks at the time on his counter, he saw the bag.

He tilted his head before slowly opening to see what was inside and he was surprised at the sight.

It was the golden arrow.

It seemed to have a note wrapped around it as Bendy turned on the desk lamp to look at it better. He unties the note to look at what was written on it.

“Never stop believing in what you love.

May the dragon spirits guide you and Henry, to keep your bond strong.

Until then,

The Black Dragon”

It had a dragon symbol at the bottom, making Bendy smile at the note, then back at the golden arrow. He rests it back on the desk next to his bed, turning off the lamp and laid back down on his bed. A smile was on his face as slumber took over him.

There, I bring you fluff! As I said, this is what happens when you watch Disney Robin Hood, giving you a bit too much ideas. And I assure you that this will lighten the mood before my next one.

Until then,

Pooka Dragon

#batim fanfic #2DBendyAU Epilogue #shinyzango #2DBendyAU

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writingrei · 5 years

Text

fragmented memories | chapter 11

"Work…?" Inuyasha hissed.

"Yes. Kanna has located another jewel shard in a far off village. You will come with me and retrieve it," Naraku said.

"Kanna?"

"Oh, you're not familiar with her?" Naraku asked, stepping aside to show the girl approaching from down the shadows of the hallway.

The girl in pure white emerged with a mirror in her arms, in the glass of the mirror reflected the image of a village. It didn’t look familiar to Inuyasha, so at least it wasn’t the village that Kagome was staying at. In fact, it looked more like a small kingdom.

“Let us be on our way,” Naraku said, walking past Inuyasha down the short flight of stairs.

Inuyasha clicked his teeth, his breathing shallow and his shoulders tense as he began to follow Naraku begrudgingly. He and Kagura locked eyes, the solidarity of stressed shared between them radiating through one another. She watched them off, the boy with the red outfit disappearing with the man in the white cloak.

“Kagura,” Kanna said softly, her quiet voice somehow piercing through Kagura’s ears and alerting her to attention. “Inuyasha will not return from this situation safely.”

“What do you mean?”

Kanna stared off before taking a deep breath to say, “The fly will be trapped in the flytrap’s jaws.”

“What?” Kagura asked, a bit put off by Kanna’s ominous statement.

The young girl in white shook her head, turning around to go back inside. Her movements were eerie, and her white outfit in contrast to the dark surroundings of the castle made her look like a ghost.

Kagura stayed fixed in her spot, her heart pulling her in two different directions. Naraku hadn’t called her to accompany the two, and she knew that following Naraku without his authorization would leave them on more turbulent ground. She hissed her teeth, plucking a feather from her hairpiece to be carried off by the wind on it.

-----

“Sango!” Kagome shouted, letting an arrow fly as it shrouded itself in a bright purple light.

The arrow pierced through a demon that had Sango in its grasp, it shrieking and dropping her to the ground. Kicking up dust, the demon slayer raced to her Hiraikotsu that was jammed into the ground and wasted no time yanking it up and slamming it through another demon near Miroku, decapitating it where it stood.

“Kagome!” Kouga yelled from behind her, making her tense up.

He scooped her off the ground, making her squeal as yet another demon swiped for her with an oversized claw.

“Wah! Thanks Kouga!” she said, twisting over on her side so that their chests faced on another and so she could see behind him.

Pulling out another arrow, she aimed behind Kouga’s head, gritting her teeth from the pain that twinged in her right arm and then fired. Kagome blasted the demon’s head off, its body collapsing onto the ground. As Kouga fell to a landing, he shifted Kagome over to his right shoulder so his left arm were free.

“Move it, lowlifes!” He shouted, using the claws on his free hand to tear apart a demon they were falling at.

He reduced it to a pile of flesh in a matter of seconds, landing in the piles of flesh that was its prior body. Kouga put down Kagome next to him, her raising one of her legs awkwardly to not get demon blood all over her shoes.

“Kagome, why the hell are all these demons after us?”

“They’re probably after my piece of the sacred jewel, like usual. And since you have a couple too, it’s probably drawing tons of demons towards us!”

“So basically we’re a buncha demon magnets?”

“Yeah, for the most part.”

“Kagome!” Miroku called from near Sango. “Get behind me!” he said, his left hand firmly grasping the beads around his right wrist.

She nodded at the monk and then at her wolf demon friend, and they headed back to regroup. Kouga sped up, the shards in his legs granting him the ability to do so. Kagome skidded to a halt and gasped, shrieking out, “KOUGA, WAIT!”

He looked back at her, not being able to stop as a demon slammed into his side, throwing him away to slam through some trees like a piece of garbage. She could hear a sharp yelp from him fade as he got further away. Kagome could hear Miroku yell for her to hold onto something, and instantly she felt a harsh wind that tugged all over her. Panicking, she jammed her bow into the dirt as far as she could, hoping it could anchor her down to the ground. She faced away from the demon, shifting her quiver from her back to her front so that her arrows wouldn't be sucked out of it.

Kagome could hear the howls of the demon before it quickly ceased along with the vacuum of the wind tunnel.

"Kagome, quickly!" he yelled again.

Kagome yanked her bow out of the ground and sprinted to get behind him. Sango, Kirara, Shippo, Ginta, and Hakkaku were already there, the latter three cowering from the immense amount of demons around them.

Miroku unfurled his wind tunnel again, the black void dragging in the crowd of demons that dared to attack them. Within a few moments, the wind tunnel closed once more and the area surrounding them was cleared. It was a terrifying sight to watch these being sucked into the endless abyss in Miroku’s palm. Everyone sighed in relief, the fighters wiping the sweat off their foreheads.

"Man, this would be so much easier if--"

"Kagome, don't say it," Miroku said.

She looked up at him, sucking her lips in to shut herself up as he approached her.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but the more you think the way you currently do, the more you're gonna hurt yourself. Do you understand what I mean?"

Kagome nodded, rubbing away the sadness that rose on her face. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Don’t be sorry! You didn't do anything wrong, but-- just don't focus so bad on the 'if's. We’re going to get him back.”

Kagome nodded again.

“Hey, where’s Kouga?” Shippo asked, hopping onto the top of Kagome’s head.

They all looked around for a bit before settling on one spot when they saw the allied wolf demon running up to them.

“Dammit! Can’t believe I missed all that!” he shouted.

In a blur of wind, he sped up in front of Kagome, placing his hand on the back of her waist and pulled her close to him. She blinked in confusion as he pulled on the collar of her shirt, looking inside of it. “Did that monk suck up your jewel shards?”

Shippo slapped his hands on top of his eyes. Kagome shut her eyes and shrieked, her impulse taking over and let her throw a balled fist into Kouga’s face. It hurt her more than it hurt him, Kagome’s knuckles cracking from the impact. But her punch did its job, sending Kouga stumbling away from her, closer to her allies. Sango growled and slapped him on the cheek as hard as she could, sending him spinning on his foot with a red palm mark on his face.

Ginta and Hakkaku raced to his side to support his body before he collapsed on the ground from the sudden beating.

Can’t believe I just got hit by two women today…! Kouga thought to himself.

“Damn, we’ve got another lecher on our hands, it seems!” Sango hissed.

“Hey! I ain’t no lecher!” Kouga shouted, rubbing his cheek.

Miroku sighed, “I’m so disappointed to see this behavior from you.”

Kouga shot up to his feet, stomping over to Miroku and trying to tower over him with his height. “I didn’t mean it like that, hypocrite! Don’t think I haven’t seen the bullshit you’ve pulled!” he said, pointing a sharp accusing finger underneath Miroku’s chin.

Miroku banged him on the forehead with his staff nonchalantly, the anger on Kouga’s face becoming more apparent as he trembled with rage.

“Now, now, Kouga, this isn’t about me.”

“Why you…!” he grabbed Miroku by the collar of his robe, holding off the urge to hoist him off the ground and toss him into the distance. “I ain’t like you. I was just making sure she didn’t lose her jewel shards since you wanna wave around your wind tunnel like it’s nothing!”

“Don’t bring my wind tunnel into this,” Miroku said, the tone in his voice significantly less chirpy than prior.

“Cut it out! We don’t have time to fight each other!” Sango barked.

“Sorry, Kouga,” Kagome said, shaking out her wrist and hissing from the pain in her arm, her face a bit red with embarrassment. “I’ve never punched anyone before— you startled me! Sorry you had to be the first,” she finished, rubbing her knuckles on her cheek to numb the pain.

Kouga let Miroku go and huffed, turning face away. “You’re fine, Kagome. My bad.”

“Anyways, if this squabbling is over, I figured I propose we rest here for the night. It’s unlikely we’ll find another village so soon after leaving, and we should make use of this clear area that was so graciously cleared by the demons who attacked us!”

“Oh yeah! And we can eat some lunch now, too!” Kagome said, doing her best to perk up. She looked behind her, spinning around as she looked for her huge yellow bag. “Oh, there it is!” she said, pointing at it by a nearby untouched tree.

She dragged it over, sitting down in front of it, making sure she sat on top of the pleats of her skirt. “I think I’m running low on bento boxes so we might have to share,” she said, pulling some boxes out of her bag.

“Nah, Kagome don’t stress it. Us demons don’t need ta eat as much as you humans! Apart from that little tyke of yours,” Kouga said, pointing at Shippo.

“Hey, I am a growing boy! I need my food!” he whined.

“Uh-huh, yeah, keep tellin’ yourself that,” Kouga said sarcastically.

“It’s no problem. If he wants some food I’ll give him some,” Kagome said, handing a tiny bento box and chopsticks to him.

Shippo grasped for it eagerly, plopping down with the container on his lap to eat. He stuck his tongue out at Kouga and happily began to eat. Kouga growled and looked away. After giving her friends their food for the day, they all settled down near one another, some sitting on tree trunks of fallen trees.

Kouga sat up straight from his hunched over, folded arms and crossed legs position, immediately calling everyone to attention.

“Knew I was smellin’ somethin’. Naraku. Nearby,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Naraku?” Kagome asked, setting aside her foot to reach for her bow and quiver.

“Look! It’s Kagura!” Shippo said, pointing into the sky behind Kagome.

Their eyes were all drawn to her, seeing the woman gently making her way down to the ground. Everyone was tense, ready to be hostile for whatever she had planned. The incarnation hopped off of her feather, it shrinking and guiding itself back into its hairpiece.

“Yo,” she started.

“Yo…?” Kagome asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Look, I’ll make this quick. And I’m not here to fight either. Take this as a warning,” Kagura said, her tone sharp and to the point.

Kagome eyed her skeptically and with distaste.

Kagura took a quick glance around, making sure no Saimyosho had followed her before saying, “You need to hurry. Inuyasha is in danger.”

“Inuyasha?!”

“Yeah. Naraku’s taking him on a ‘mission’ but I’ve got the feeling he’s not going to come out of it alive.”

“What!?” Kagome shrieked. “Where are they now?!”

“I can’t be too sure, but when I left, they seemed to have been heading southward. They were on their way to a kingdom of sorts. I doubt they’ve made it there yet on foot.”

Kagome turned to her friends. “We’re heading out, now.”

“Wait, Kagome! This could be a trap,” Sango said.

“I don’t care,” she said coldly. “How bad could a trap go from Naraku anyway? Even if it is, we’d still be close to him. And if we can find him we can find Inuyasha.”

“It’s not a trap,” Kagura said, then sighed. “Look, I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m risking my life telling you this.”

“Why would you tell us this?” Miroku asked.

“Hmph,” she huffed, turning away and pulling out the feather again. “I may be part of Naraku, but my own ambitions differ greatly from his.” With that, a heavy gust of wind carried her from the ground and into the sky once more.

Kagome watched her off, seeing her head north instead of south like she told them. She shook her head and took a deep breath.

“Let’s pack up.” Her demeanor had immediately shifted, now that Inuyasha was in the picture again. Knowing he was in danger did not help her either.

No one dared to speak against her, they could feel a fire burning inside of her that refused to listen to them. A fire that refused to go out until Inuyasha was back on their team. Kagome’s team closed their bento boxes and handed it back to her so she could put it back in her bag. She slung it over her back and ran to Kouga who squatted when he saw her approaching. Stepping onto his palms, she positioned herself onto his back and held onto his strong shoulders.

Kirara engulfed herself in flames, growing to a much larger size to which Sango and Miroku hopped onto her back, Shippo joining them in Sango’s lap.

“All ready, Ka-go-me~?” Kouga cooed.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

-----

A few days passed them by, and yet Naraku and Inuyasha had yet to reach their destination. When he said that the village was far off, he definitely was not exaggerating. The tension between them was so thick, it could be cut through. It sat on Inuyasha’s lungs like a brick, it being very hard for him to breathe while he was near Naraku. He couldn't stand working for him anymore. Being near him made him want to retch.

Inuyasha slowly inched his hand to the handle of his Tessaiga, the only thing he could focus on was Naraku’s back facing him and his own breathing and heart pumping. The discomfort of feeling the jewel shard's surges of power run through him over and over was a sensation Inuyasha slowly grew used to, now only leaving the vague feeling of the jewel sitting inside of his throbbing heart.

His grip on the Tessaiga tightened.

It's now or never. If I kill him, I'll be free.

"Lower your hand, Inuyasha," Naraku said.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, his heart dropping like a rock into his stomach.

"Don’t think I can't feel your animosity towards me. It's pouring out of you like a river. If you try to kill me here, what do you think would happen? Do you think you'd succeed?"

Inuyasha's voice croaked, and he shut his mouth and grit his teeth. Naraku let out a slight chuckle, letting their silence continue. He didn't need to say it verbally, but Inuyasha could just hear the "I thought as much," all because he decided to hesitate.

For what seemed to have been hours later, they saw a large wooden structure appear on the horizon. Naraku continued to approach it so it came more into view before stopping, Inuyasha freezing at his halt.

“We’ve arrived. Inuyasha, kill everyone you see when you enter there. Leave not a single survivor."

“What?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. I’ll assist you on this. Not a single soul must be allowed to escape, they may be the one harboring the jewel shard,” Naraku said, turning around to look at Inuyasha.

“I’m not killing innocent people for a freaking-- a jewel shard!”

Naraku didn’t respond at first, but Inuyasha knew he let his tongue slip as he felt a harsh shiver run through him from Naraku’s glare.

“Such a poor choice in words.”

Inuyasha gulped hard, choking on it as a pained screech forced itself out of his throat as Naraku forced Inuyasha’s defiled shard to push his demon blood through his body, it taking over him. He tried to stifle his screams, hunching over and holding his face. His silver hair rose above his skin as his demonic energy multiplied, overwhelming himself.

The purple streaks on his cheeks seemed to bolden, as his eyes were consumed with a deep red, his golden irises disappearing completely. His arms dropped, his vocal pain having turned into feral snarls, drool dripping from in between his teeth.

Naraku smirked at the brainless demon before him, always impressed with his own power to reduce Inuyasha to a walking shell. Inuyasha drew his Tessaiga, holding the handle with an iron-tight grip.

“Inuyasha, slaughter everyone one those castle grounds. Every. Soul,” Naraku ordered again.

Inuyasha’s head did a violent twitch to the side, seeing the castle’s protective walls on the horizon. Without hesitation, he took a powerful leap in the direction of the kingdom, leaving a large cloud of dust behind him every time his heels planted into the ground.

Ten guards who stood near the top of the wooden walls quickly noted the hostile body rapidly approaching them. They wasted not a second aiming bows as Inuyasha and fired as fast as they could. Inuyasha raised his blade, using it as a shield as all the arrows either bounced off of it or missed him completely. The wooden walls and its gate barricading the kingdom came closer to him, and Inuyasha swung through it, crashing through the front wall.

Immediately, panicked civilians screamed in fear. Inuyasha could not hear them, he only saw human targets that needed to be mowed down.

“A demon!” they cried.

Part of the front wall that Inuyasha burst through crumbled down to the ground in a heap of wood, with a couple of the archers falling with it. The remaining archers turned around and continued to shoot Inuyasha, nailing a few arrows in his back. He yelped, staggering forward but looked back and glared at the archers. He reached back and yanked the arrows out of him before squatting and leaping up to the archers’ level. They all gasped, seeing that Inuyasha had just jumped up at least 20 meters to meet them.

He landed on the platform the archers stood, the poor soul that tried to shoot Inuyasha mid-air instead of backing away to the rest of their comrades met their untimely end by Inuyasha's sword upon his landing, dousing the blade in blood. The archers kept their aim on him, both sides huddled together near the large bowls of fire that decorated the walls’ corners with trembling arms until one fired an arrow.

Inuyasha merely stepped to the side to dodge it, the arrowhead planting itself in one of their allies. The slight panic of killing an ally gave Inuyasha the chance to exploit their distraction, growling and slicing clean through the archers to his left.

The remaining archers fired at Inuyasha from across the gap caused by him. He jumped over the barrage of arrows flying at him, landing on the other side and cutting them all down as well. More archers from other sides of the wall started to file towards him, so Inuyasha hopped back down to the ground, falling cleanly through someone’s roof. He spotted a family cowering in the corner, holding each other close to one another as the demon locked eyes with them. Inuyasha let out a garbled scoff mixed with a laugh and shot them a crooked smile.

Naraku slowly arrived at the sight of disaster, seeing some desperate people trying to climb over the large piles of wood that blocked off their exit. He could hear their cries for help, pleading for him to assist them. The half demon garbed in his white cloak only stared at them silently from underneath his hood. A noxious purple gas emitted from underneath the cloak, traveling into the walls of the kingdom. The people struggling to escape gasped, taking in the miasma, and their bodies immediately being reduced to skeletons. He hopped over them, letting himself inside the village that led up to the castle in the middle of it.

He stood in its blocked off entrance, making his miasma line the large walls surrounding everyone, ensuring that no one could escape. He spotted more archers on the wall firing at a target below them. Then he heard a loud howl before seeing the wall collapse along with the people on it. One of the bowls of fire tumbled down, setting the walls in a tiny fire before it erupted into a much larger one.

Inuyasha swung his sword almost aimlessly, tearing through houses and people to fulfill his orders. The walls were lit ablaze and began to crumble, the archers above either meeting their deaths in the flames, by the fall, or from Naraku's miasma.

After a while, the screams died out and Inuyasha was surrounded by silence and covered nearly head to toe with blood, some of it even matting some of his hair down. The only place he had left untouched was the castle itself. He took large leaps to reach it, not bothering to enter through its front doors but smashed through its ceiling. He was greeted by guards lining the walls with spears, prepared for his arrival. He didn't allow them to react, wiping them all out in one sweep.

Inuyasha savored their garbled chokes as they collapsed to the ground. He saw the princess huddled in the corner of the room, trembling in fear as her cohorts were killed in front of her, knowing she was the last person alive from those who lived on her castle grounds.

The demon took slow steps towards her, letting the blade of his sword scrape on the floor. He took in every ounce of fear from the young princess as she stared into his red eyes. Like this, he was no better than Naraku. Towering over her, he should see tears rolling down her face and her body shook horribly. He raised his sword, causing her to let out a final scream as he silenced her permanently.

Inuyasha stepped outside of the castle, his heaving returning to normally paced breathes as his senses slowly returned to him. His golden irises showed once again, even if his sclera were still blood red. He still felt violent, and craved to use his sword more but he reigned himself in, fighting off anymore urges to inflict more suffering. He saw the piles of corpses strewn about, either covered in their own blood, or turned into crumbling skeletons along the walls.

“Inuyasha,” Naraku said, approaching him. “It appears that there is no sacred jewel shard here. Your efforts were in vain.” He didn't sound the slightest bit disappointed, as if he foresaw this. As if he planned this. As if he knew.

“What do you mean, ‘there's no jewel shard here’?” Inuyasha growled.

“As I said. There is no jewel shard. I must've been mistaken.”

“You… You mean—“

“Look around you Inuyasha. Aren’t you proud? You achieved this result on your own. The lives taken, this village you’ve annihilated. And it’s all thanks to the gift I bestowed upon you.”

Inuyasha looked around him, finally taking in his surroundings. The smell of blood and smoke hit him in the nose, making him cover it to stop the awful stench. But if was too powerful to be ignored. The bodies strewn about, the lives taken, it was all his fault. He looked his Tessaiga— his hands. It was splattered with blood, innocent people’s blood. He couldn’t process it, as his mind went elsewhere at the sight.

The only thing snapping him back to reality as he looked at his trembling hands was Naraku’s sudden outburst of maniacal laughing. And he kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing.

-----

“Kagome, I’ve been runnin’ for at least a day and a half now…” Kouga panted. “Your nails are diggin’ into my shoulders!”

She didn’t respond.

Miroku and Sango exchanged concerned glances with one another before guiding Kirara in a bit closer to them.

“Kagome, you should really be easier on him. Let us take a break so Kouga can regain his breath,” Sango said.

“We can’t stop now, we have to get there soon,” Kagome said quietly.

“Kagome, we’re going to make to him, alright? But even so, I feel that if you keep this up, it could get a little unhealthy.”

She didn’t respond again.

Sango sighed, saying, “Kouga, stop.”

His stride immediately ceased, the group on the flying cat immediately going past him and Kagome. Kouga plummeted flat onto his face, taking hard and labored breaths as Kagome just sat on his back. Kirara turned around, bringing her friends back so they could regroup. Kagome had yet to move, and Kouga was in no shape to move in that moment.

“Kagome,” Sango said.

Kagome just stared off blankly. Sango sighed again and slipped off of Kirara’s side and stood next to her friend.

“Kagome…” she said again.

Kagome just croaked, but didn’t give a response.

“Okay, up you go,” she said, bending down and putting Kagome’s arm over her shoulder and lifted her to her feet. “Let’s take a walk, alright?”

Sango looked back at Miroku and Shippo, mouthing, Stay here with Kouga. They both gave affirmative thumbs up as she walked Kagome away with her, Kagome dropping her bag off of her back as they left. There was no real privacy in the plains they had managed to stop in, but Sango took Kagome out far enough away from the boys so that only they could hear one another.

“Talk to me, Kagome.”

Kagome's head was low, obscuring her eyes. Sango waited, almost about to say something again when Kagome finally spoke up.

“Sango, what's happening to me?”

“It's grief,” she answered plainly. “I think… you’re becoming a little less aware of how— of things that are happening around you, and you're shutting yourself off a bit. I understand what’s happening to you, I really do. And that’s why I don’t want to see you become me.

"We're all hurting from this, Kagome, and while I don't doubt for a second that you're hurting the most, you've gotta realize that you're not the only one looking to save Inuyasha. I don't want you to get so caught up in it that you end up hurting yourself more, okay?"

"Mmm…" Kagome whimpered.

Her nose sniffled and she pulled away from Sango.

"I feel awful."

"I can understand. I really can."

"I just…" she looked up Sango, revealing her face doused in her own agony and tears. “I can’t stand to lose him,” she said. Her voice was tired. The quiet, dull tone in her voice did not match the look of despair and suffering written all over her flushed red face.

Sango’s heart sank seeing Kagome like this, her face welling up too. Kagome lowered her head again and raised her arms a bit, trying to bring Sango in to hug her. Sango took the invitation and locked her in a tight hug, letting Kagome know that she was there to support her. They stood there for a while, until Sango could feel Kagome slowly begin to relax. Her tears started to soak through Sango’s collar, making an uncomfortable spot on her clothes. Kagome had her head buried in her friend’s chest, not wanting to pull away, but she knew she had to.

She still chose to avoid eye contact, but she could feel Sango’s concerned eyes burning into her.

“Better?”

Kagome nodded. “I’m better.”

Sango nodded too, guiding Kagome by the shoulders back to their group.

In their time gone, Miroku had seated himself next to Kouga, giving him some water which he’d fished out of Kagome’s bag. He spotted the girls, waving at them for their return.

Upon arriving, the first thing Kagome said was, “I’m sorry, Kouga.”

He gaped in surprise, shaking his head.

“The heck are ya apologizing for?!”

“I pushed you too hard! You shouldn’t run again so soon until you feel better.”

“Pssssh. Don’t get so down worryin’ about me! I can take it! I just needed a breather. You and your back sack just ain’t doin’ wonders for my back.”

“I’m sorry!”

“Hey! I said ya don’t need to apologize already… If you wanna go, I’m ready to go.”

Sango interrupted, “Buuuuuut, for the benefit everyone I suggest we take a break before we start up again, okay?”

Kagome nodded. There were no objections towards Sango. ———

Inuyasha dragged himself behind Naraku, his mind blank as he couldn’t process anything. Naraku was unbothered, he amused at Inuyasha’s suffering. The half demon’s Tessaiga dragged behind him in his hand, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Naraku’s laughter rang through Inuyasha’s mind, louder in his head than it was when he’d first heard it. It filled him with a rage so visceral— so unbridled— that he stood on the edge of picking up the Tessaiga to stab it through Naraku’s smug skull. It made him dizzy, and his head was pounding. Despite all this raw and violent intention towards Naraku, he hung low, not feeling it within himself to attack.

He could still hear their screaming, it becoming louder as the smell of their blood on his clothes coming into his focus. Naraku knew this was pointless. He did it to test Inuyasha, to see how he would respond to this. He responded wrong. He continued to follow him.

A familiar scene filled Inuyasha’s nose, making his ears shoot up.

“It’s that Kagome girl!” he exclaimed, swiveling on his heel to follow the direction of the smell.

Before he could start to escape, Naraku’s tentacles firmly wrapped around Inuyasha’s neck, choking him and pulling him back as more tried to bind him to Naraku. He coughed then growled, gripping his Tessaiga as he swiped to cut off the fellow half demon’s tentacles.

“I’ve had enough of this…!”

Chunks of the flesh fell to the ground, still squirming as Inuyasha freed himself and stepped back. Naraku shook his head, the only thing Inuyasha could see was his hood swaying. More appendages erupted from underneath the cloak, grabbing Inuyasha harshly and dragged him to Naraku. It was harder to break through this time, the tentacles feeling like firm but sharp bone that threatened to cut through Inuyasha’s skin. Inuyasha was dragged right up to him, far too close for comfort. He looked up at Naraku, who loomed over him, seeing his piercing red eyes glaring at him beneath the shadows of his hood.

“You do not go to Kagome. You will wait for her arrival here.”

—————

“What the hell? I see smoke up ahead!” Kouga exclaimed, alerting Kagome on his back.

“You don’t think…?”

“I’m gettin’ a bad feeling. I smell Naraku’s miasma from here.”

Kagome felt herself shutting down again, but she took a deep breath to bring herself back to reality.

“Kagome, are you alright?” Sango asked.

She gulped and nodded. “Let’s keep going.”

As the group got closer, Kagome could hear Kouga retching quietly.

“Dammit. I smell Inuyasha here too, and lots of blood.”

Kagome found it harder to swallow, as a horrible sinking feeling overcame her. She could already tell what the scene may be. A heap of fire lit up the sky and the grass around it. It was hard to get closer to what the structure used to have been.

“Miroku, Shippo. Get off. I’ll go above and see if there’s any survivors,” Sango said.

The two nodded, slipping off of Kirara’s back. Sango and Kirara took to the sky, doing their best to avoid the heat and flames. Sango scavenged the ground below from the sky above, seeing pools of blood in areas where there were no flames. After a few minutes of surveying, she returned back to the ground to rejoin her allies. All she did was shake her head silently.

Kagome bit her lip and mussed with her hair as she fidgeted.

“Kagome, I can still smell the mutt’s stench mixed with Naraku’s a bit further out,” Kouga said, trying to look back at her.

“I can feel a great demonic presence nearby, as well as most of the Shikon jewel!”

“Most of it?” Shippo exclaimed.

Kagome nodded.

“Kouga, you think you can follow Naraku and Inuyasha's smells?"

“‘Think’? Of course I can! Follow me,” he said cockily, starting to run again.

Miroku and Shippo hopped back behind Sango, Kirara following the wolf demon and priestess.

“There's a trail of blood on the ground!” Kagome pointed out.

“This just makes it easier…”

A forest came into view, and Kouga sped up as Naraku’s noxious odor and Inuyasha’s familiar scent got stronger. The group dashed into the forest, trying to dodge the trees while still speeding through it.

“We’re getting closer,” Kagome and Kouga said simultaneously.

Kagome’s breath hitched, seeing a flash of Inuyasha’s white hair.

Naraku came into view as well, and Inuyasha turned to look at them. His golden and red eyes were distraught as he stood next to Naraku, Naraku’s blade up to his neck.

“Inuyasha!” she screeched, at the top of her lungs.

Kagome hopped off of Kouga’s back, making him stop running in surprised. She sprinted past him, taking off her yellow bag and readied her bow and arrow in her hands.

“Kagome!” Kouga yelled.

“Kagome, wait!” Sango called after her.

Inuyasha watched the girl raced up to her, and he gritted his teeth. He brought up the blade of his Tessaiga between Naraku’s blade and his neck and pushed hard, destroying it. He jumped forward, to escape Naraku’s grasp, not even looking back. Kagome’s face lit up, seeing Inuyasha come to her. Her face then went pale in an instant.

A long arm grabbed onto Inuyasha’s lengthy hair that travelled behind him as he ran, making him stop short of Kagome. Kagome reached for him as he got pulled away again, his head craning back from the force of the pull on his hair. Naraku lifted him up, another sharp bone jetting from underneath the cloak and impaling Inuyasha right through his chest.

----

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#inuyasha #inuyasha fic #inukag #fragmented memories

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ladieslovingladiesandfics · 7 years

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Kunzite

Anon asked: Hey, I saw you wanted Descendants stuff to do. I also see you love Evie, just like ME! So like, you should totally do a Evie x evil kid reader because that would be amazing. Maybe the reader is Dr. Facilier's daughter or maybe even Scar's daughter or something

EVIE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!! So.....um...I decided to tap into the fairytale nerd side of my mind and delve into other fairytales Disney had yet to adapt and thus...well...thought of....stuff. I was also playing some fairytale-related puzzle games so that also gave me ideas haha. I’m sorry if doesn’t meet your standards. By the way, the reader is slightly based off of the tale known as Valissa the Beautiful.

Warning: None? Cute stuff? Witchcraft? Angsty stuff, kinda? Bad Russian? I don’t even know man.

Krasavitsa= Beautiful

Printsessa= Princess

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“And what, pray tell, brings you to my part of the forest, little lady?”

Evie glared at the figure in front of her, draped in a cloak of black and silver stars, symbolizing the night sky. The girl inhaled deeply, nails digging into her palms so hard they almost drew crimson drops of blood. "I'm here to ask you a question, witch."" answered Evie, slowly walking up the wooden stairs to the front of your cottage.

You sat on your porch, in a rocking chair, watching the girl walk up to you. She was scared, you can see that with the tremble of her lips and the droplets of crimson that was starting to fall from her palms. You couldn't help but hum in curiosity, your elbow on the armrest and chin on your knuckle. "And what would that be?"

Evie cleared her throat, before slowly reaching into her pocket and pulled out a small hand mirror. It was cracked in the middle. "I heard you could fix magical objects," she answered. "I thought you could fix this for me."

You hum in thought, slowly standing up and beckoning her inside. The moment the door shut, however, you felt Evie's body suddenly pressed against your own. You turn and her lips crashed onto yours, a sigh leaving her lips and the mirror being slipped back into her pocket. You chuckle into the kiss and drawback. "You know, you need to stop breaking your things just so we can meet." you taunt, drawing the curtains of your cottage closed. The relationship between you and Evie was a bit of a secret since you were considered an outcast by the rest of the Isle, being the granddaughter of Baba Yaga and all...and an orphan at that. Your mother had left your grandmother and came here to the Isle to marry your father.

You had a good relationship with your grandmother, she sometimes came to visit the Isle. She was neither good nor evil, a saint or a demon. She was just...a gray matter. After the death of both of your parents, Baba became your guardian...sort of. You mostly lived alone, and you didn't mind. Especially since Evie did her best to visit you whenever she could.

You pull the aid kit out of the cupboard and grab a few bandages and soothing ointment. "You don't need to put up such a bravado you know," you say, as Evie sat down in a chair. You gently dab at the cuts she made on her palms, putting bandages on them. "We're dating so-" "I have to keep up that act, my mother doesn't like you, remember? Some stupid grudge against your grandma or something." Evie huffed out, pouting adorably. "If she finds out we're together then..." she fell silent, causing you to glance up at her.

"Eve?" You ask, finding her silence strange. "Krasavitsa?”

“I’m leaving the Isle.”

You almost drop the garbage in your hands when she said those words, the horror began to fill your body. "Huh? Printsessa...what are you talking about?" "I'm heading over to Auradon," Evie answered, letting out a sigh as she toyed with the fabric of your table cloth. "They invited us over there, to study, yadda yadda and be good yadda yadda." she let out a fake gag, rolling her eyes. "I don't wanna go."

You toss the garbage away, now sitting in the chair opposite of Evie. Your hands reach across the table to hers into your own. "Evie...how long will you be gone?" "I....I don't know." Evie said with a sigh. She shuddered, "I...I think my mother knows, I think that's why she's sending me away."

Your eyes widen, magic beginning to thrum at your fingertips. Evie could feel it, flinching at bit at the surprisingly sudden radiating heat. You bite down on your bottom lip, willing the magic to fade. "I'm sorry...did I scare you?"

"It's fine. Don't worry...uh....krasavitsa?" Evie said nervously blushing, attempting to speak in your own tongue.

You smile gently brought Evie's hand to your lips and kissed her fingers. "You'll be okay. Hey, why don't I give you something before you leave?" you stood up, walking into your bedroom and began to dig through the drawers. You pull out a necklace, a oval of kunzite as the pendant. You walk back out and toss the piece of jewelry over to Evie, who quickly caught it. “There, think of it as a parting gift.”

“It’s....” Evie paused, before breaking out into a grin. “Cute.” she said. “Help me put it on?”

You walk behind her, slipping the cord on to her neck and fastening the clasp. “It’s a kunzite stone, it’s supposed to emit positive energies and release tension.” you say, and kiss her cheek. “Think of it as a little piece of me when you go to Auradon.”

“Thank you.” Evie says, her voice barely above a whisper. She tucks the pendant under her shirt, and sits backwards on the chair, all to just kiss you. “I’ll miss you.” she whispers.

“I know....I’ll miss you too.”

“I love you.” “Love you too, printsessa.”

“Oh! Can you fix my mirror now?”

“Alright, alrighty. Give me a minute.”

“How long has it been since that girl of yours left, huh?” Baba asked, sipping from the mug of tea you gave her. In her other hand was a framed photo of you and Evie, and she could not help but stare at it curiously. “She’s Grimhilde’s daughter, da?”

“Quite a while.” You answer, pouring your grandmother another cup of tea. “I miss her.” you say. “And yes, she’s the Evil Queen’s daughter. Doesn’t she gave a grudge against you?”

Baba let out a gruff sort of sound, “Bah, what do I care about grudges. They are nothing to me.” the old crone says.

“Y/N!”

You glance up at the sound of your name, and turn to Babe, thinking it was you who called her. Your grandmother only shrugs her great shoulders. “Wasn’t me.”

Who could it be? You look out the window, and saw...

Evie?!

Without hesitation you throw the door to your cottage open, seeing that Evie was running towards your cottage from the forest. Was this...real? “Y/N!”

“Evie!” you rush towards your girlfriend meeting her half way. You two embrace, with Evie burrying her face into your shoulder and your face in her shoulder. “I missed you.” you whisper as Evie sniffled.

“I miss you too, Y/N.” Evie drew away from you, something shining around her neck. It was the necklace you gave her! She still had it! She smiled, fingering the pendant fondly, “This kept me going.” she shly admits. “And guess what?” she pulled another necklace out of her pocket, looking just like hers. The pendant was also made of kunzite. Your eyes widen as Evie beams. “Let me do it.” she proclaims and fastens the necklace around your neck. “There...now you have a little piece of me with you.” Evie repeated those words you said long ago.

You only scoff, rolling your eyes. “I hate you.” “No you don’t, you love me. And I,” Evie presses her forehead against yours, your lips barely an inch apart. “Love you.”

The sound of clapping was heard behind you, and Evie and you turn to see Baba Yaga on the porch, smirking while clapping her boney old hands together. “Oh! You must be Evie, my new granddaughter-in-law, Y/N has told me all about you.”

“Baba! Please!”

“Let me tell you about the time she shat herself as a child-” “BABA!”

#disneys descendants imagines #disneys descendants #descendants imagine #evie x reader #ALL DA QUEUE-TIES

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gwendre-simoneau · 7 years

Text

Chapter 4

Jennet shielded her eyes against the mid-morning sun, examining the sight by her feet. “So.”

“Yep.” Next to her, Tamlin folded his arms.

“Well.”

He scratched his neck. “Uh-huh.”

“This is the monster.”

“You got it.”

The pair stared at the corgi struggling to remove its head from a stray boot.

“It’s really not that bad,” Jennet admitted, turning to Tamlin. “Now that it’s small, I mean.”

“No, it’s not.”

They watched it in silence.

“She was still heavy,” Tamlin pointed out. “I had to run with her all the way here. Just putting that out there.”

“Running was your idea.”

“True.”

The corgi was shuffling backwards in large circles inside the empty stable they’d found, shaking its head, still dragging the boot around.

Jennet glanced at Tamlin. “Fine, help the poor thing.”

He rushed forwards and gingerly pulled the boot from the dog’s head. It shook itself off, then gave an appreciative wag of its stub of a tail. Tamlin tentatively gave it a scratch behind an ear.

“I don’t think-” Jennet started, but the corgi wagged its stub even harder, showing no signs that it had slaughtered countless livestock over the last several nights. It fell over onto its back in its excitement, and Tamlin rubbed its belly fur. “Huh, it’s pretty cute.” Jennet knelt down next to Tamlin and gave the corgi a few pats. Then she giggled. “We kidnapped the legendary beast, and now we’re giving it belly rubs.”

Tamlin laughed. “Just eleven more to go, and then we can adopt them all.”

Jennet froze. “What?”

Tamlin looked at her and pulled away from the corgi, who whined in disappointment. “Well, that’s what we’re doing next, right?” Jennet didn’t respond. “Look, it’s harmless! We can’t kill them all! Look at her little face!”

They looked at the corgi, who sneezed, startling itself to its feet.

Jennet sighed, sitting down on her heels and brushing stray pieces of hay off her pants. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try capturing one more. The guy we saw in the hut will probably be on high alert, though, once he realizes one is missing.”

Tamlin grinned. “You hear that, buddy?” He picked the corgi’s front legs up and bent over so that the two of them were eye level. “We’re gonna get you a brother or sister!”

“Ugh, don’t phrase it like that. That’s what parents say when they’re pregnant.” Jennet patted the dog on its head.

Was this really a good idea? They still didn’t understand what was going on with the whole size-changing business, and besides, now that they’d caught one of the monsters, shouldn’t they report back to the queen? Surely the royal knights would be able to deal with this furry little menace.

Then again, if the knights had been able to take care of the problem, she and Tamlin wouldn’t have had to come in and bail them out in the first place. Hey, knights — I hope we don’t scratch your round table when we drop all of our trophies on it!

Jennet pulled herself out of her imaginary smack-talk to see Tamlin eyeing her, biting his lip as if holding back a smile.

“What?” Jennet asked with narrowed eyes.

“I’m going to name her.”

Jennet buried her face in her hands.

“Megadog.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” she groaned behind her palms.

“Hey, Megadog,” Tamlin was saying in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. “Wanna play fetch? Wanna play?” He conjured a stick and threw it across the stable. “Better than chasing sheep, huh? Yeah, you mega-sized dog, you!”

Jennet peeked out from behind her fingers. The dog pounced on the stick and gnawed on it before trotting back.

“Good doggy!” Tamlin cooed. “Good mini monster! Good mini-Megadog!”

“I swear I can see your intelligence dropping by the second.”

Tamlin threw it a few more times, and on the fourth throw, the corgi ran back and dropped the stick in front of Jennet.

Dog and wizard watched her with round eyes. She couldn’t tell who looked more eager.

“Don’t hurt her feelings,” Tamlin hissed.

She gave him an incredulous look before turning her attention to the dog. Crouching low to the ground and ready to run on its stubby legs, it looked more than ever like a loaf of bread with ears. “Hi, um…” she started. “Hi, Meg.”

Tamlin looked affronted. “It’s Megadog!”

“That word is never leaving my mouth.” She picked up the stick. “Fetch?” she asked awkwardly.

The corgi yipped.

“Okay, fetch!” She lobbed it over the low dividing wall and into the next stall. Meg stared up at the spot where it had disappeared from her view, cocking her head.

Tamlin shook his head at Jennet. “You’re bad at this game.”

“Yeah, who’d have thought I’d be better at slaying monsters than playing fetch with them? I was trained for one of those two fun leisure activities.”

Tamlin fanned his hand in the air a few times, and soon the stick came rolling out and around the wall on a strong, concentrated gust of magically-manipulated air. “See, girl? That’s where it was.”

“Okay, you know what you just did there? You just fetched the stick.” Jennet smirked and leaned back against the opposite wall, adjusting her sword sheath. “Pretty sure she’s training you.”

“See, that’s cat behaviour you’re describing. Megadog is definitely not a cat.”

Meg sniffed the air, then trotted around the corner where the stick had come from.

Tamlin groaned and Jennet laughed. “Remind me who’s bad at the game again?”

“Hello.” A deep-voiced figure in a hooded cloak stood up from behind the half-wall, Meg in his arms.

The pair screamed.

Jennet recovered first, jumping up and drawing her sword. “Put the dog down,” she said slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her partner stand up to join her, drawing his hands together. If Meg got dropped, Tamlin would be ready to magically catch her.

The man raised a hand in submission, Meg still tucked into the crook of his other arm, and drew the hood back from his face. “I just wanted to thank you for finding my dog,” he said.

Jennet resisted the urge to exchange a glance with Tamlin. This was the guy from the hut, all right. She lowered her sword, but kept a firm grip on it.

“Your dog?” Jennet repeated. “Awesome. In that case, I have a question for you.” She pointed at the corgi, who seemed perfectly content. “Is Megadog a stupid name for her or what?”

“Or, hey, better question,” interrupted Tamlin, before the flummoxed man could answer, “why are you sending giant corgis to attack the villages?”

“Oh, so we’re opening with an interrogation?” Jennet muttered. “Okie dokie, then. Question away.” She took her eyes off the stranger for a second to glare at Tamlin.

“What?”

“I’m just saying, there goes any chance of tricking him into spilling his guts.” She spun the sword hilt in her hand. “Figuratively, at least.”

“We suck at that kind of trickery.”

Jennet forced a smile. “But he didn’t need to know that,” she sang through clenched teeth.

“Whoops. See? Proves my point.”

“If I may?” the man asked.

“Be my guest,” Jennet said, still fake-smiling as she drew a dagger from her belt with her free hand.

The stranger looked closely at each of them in turn. Jennet shifted her feet, unwilling to let her guard down.

“To answer your first question,” he said, stroking the dog’s head as she reached her nose out to sniff an empty feeding tray, “‘Megadog’ is absolutely the worst name I’ve ever heard.”

Jennet pressed her lips together. She figured that answer earned him a less painful beatdown. But only slightly less.

“As for the other question, I didn’t send them. It was… an unfortunate byproduct of the experiments.”

Tamlin’s eyes lit up and Jennet shook her head at him. There would be plenty of time to learn new magic from the bad guy when he was behind bars. Speaking of which…

Tamlin looked at her with wide eyes. “I guess we arrest him? If we’re even allowed to do that without being actual guards. I mean, he just confessed!”

“Yeah, which is a little suspicious. What kind of game are you playing?” She took a step towards the cloaked man and flashed her dagger at him.

“Game?” He chuckled and let Meg jump out of his arms and into the feeding tray. “Who has time for games?” He stepped forward and — Jennet blinked in surprise — through the stable wall as if it was made of air. “There’s just so much to do.” He raised a hand towards them, palm out.

Both Jennet and Tamlin barely had a chance to take an aggressive step forwards before a bright flash burst out of his palm. The pair were thrown backwards and Jennet felt something collide with her head, knocking her out. She only had time for one last thought:

That’s it. Good taste in dog names or not, he’s going down.

#misfits and legends

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rpchive · 6 years

Text

105th Encounter-- Thread The Needle

welcome to Lob Corp fuckos

Nydins, Rio, Jay, and Maya are all gathered in the console room; Jay and Maya just sort of discussing casually. Collin steps out into the console room somewhat nervously as he notices the crowd. He has changed into a long deep blue cloak that cuts off right at the knees, with a creamy yellow trim around the wrists, collar, and hem of the cloak. The trim at the bottom sweeps up along the inverted v-cut of the cloak and forms a star pattern at the apex. A red gemstone button holds each sleeve and collar closed, while a simple zipper closes the front of the cloak. Under that he now wears a dark pair of pants with leather boots that are tucked underneath the legs.

Collin: Oh, uh... hey? Maya: Whoa, you changed clothes again! You guys have another party to get to or somethin'?

Rio swivels her chair around to look at Collin's outfit. "...Aww, he's got a little star thingy like Jay now! Is that our thing now? We should totally put those on the comms."

alienrabitt: Where'd you even get that? Well, I guess the IT made it, huh...? ...You look good. Collin turns slightly red and scratches the back of his head. "W-Well, it certainly beats the old jumpsuit, huh?"

idk where the actual drawing went but

something fresh for once!

can I say I’m actually midkey a huge fan of the trope of characters going through Some Shit and them changing their design after?

Maya: Anything probably feels better than that...I ditched my armband as soon as I got on this ship. The suits, not so much, but those are all mine anyway. Collin: Don't blame you there. So uh, what were you guys talking about? Maya: Not much. I haven't heard about anything going on in a while...guessing the trouble's waiting for us somewhere for once. Collin: Works for me. I would've been in a bad way if something had happened while I was still trying to recover. Rio: How are you now, anyway? Collin: I'm... better, physically at least. In terms of my magic, well... The good news is that I still have magic. I definitely can't channel any of the powers from the pantheon like I used to, but I can still do some things. I haven't really been able to test it all out too well since I haven't really been able to do much of anything until recently, though. I'm thinking I'm gonna need to make something that can help me use my magic more easily, but I haven't figured out what yet. Maya: Well hey, if you need any help, let me know. I don't know anything about magic, but I know plenty about building stuff that harnesses energy, so that can't be too different. Collin: Hopefully you're right. It'd be nice to have some help with that, since I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Clair comes into the console room briefly, though upon seeing the small crowd gathered there, she considers going back down the hall. She stands in the hallway, visibly debating how badly she wants whatever she's come for. Collin: Oh, hey Clair. Need something? Clair: I, uhh...I kinda...I know that the Operation is totally empty now, and I know that Zenith's...but Alzedeth's still out there...even if he still doesn't have a soul, as long as he's in that armor...we should...we should do something... Collin: ... Shit, I guess you're right. I'd sort of forgotten about him with everything else that's been happening recently. Maya: The way you looked when they dragged you back in, I don't blame you. Even I heard about that one...

Nydins: Alright, don't beat a dead horse; I'll take us back to OZ. Daedalus approaches the group from behind Clair, stopping a few feet behind her. "Ah, there you are. I checked your room but you were already... Wow, big group. Something going on?" Clair: ...I have to find Alzedeth. I can't just leave him like that... Daedalus: ... Yikes. Always heavy stuff, isn't it? Nydins: Hey; we wouldn't be superheroes if we got vacation days. ...Though I do like the little quiet gaps... Daedalus: Pretty sure constant danger does not a long life make. Whatever, I'm coming with you. Nydins: Guess we were closer than I thought. Looks like we're gonna touch down soon. Good luck out there... Daedalus: Sheesh, good thing I was right behind you guys. I swear it's like you're trying to leave me out or somethin'. Nydins: Sorry; I wasn't really expecting a field trip. But something like this should be easy enough, right? I mean, all you have to do is break the armor...

Maya: Jeez, sound like you care less, why don't you? It's still her brother, right?

Nydins: The divide between body and soul's hardly controversial. This is just clean up; I don't see why you of all people are getting invested... Collin: Nydins, this really isn't the time or place for an argument like this... Nydins: R-right...well, uhh, we're here, so...! Good luck...!

Rolling her eyes, Maya heads out the door, Clair nervously following behind her. Collin, Jay, and Daedalus follow them out. The layout of OZ remains as silent and emptied as ever, however the hallway leading towards Alzedeth's chamber seems to be covered in signs of some sort of struggle. Upon reaching the room itself, the group finds the floor littered with corpses, all of which in black suits with red ties and armbands of varying colors and letters on them. A hole has been blasted in the opposite wall, and the distant sound of a nearby airship can be heard.

Maya: I-it's Lobotomy! Why the hell are they here?! Daedalus: I'm gonna hazard a guess and say "the spooky suit of living armor". If those assholes want their hands on him, that can't mean anything good. Maya: But abnormalities have to be reported! They're taken in because they pose a threat to humanity itself! ...Some bastard from here must've been recruited when the place went to shit...damn it, we need to get on that airship!! Collin: But how do we sneak into something that's up in the air? Clair: They can't have taken off with me here. Alzedeth still only responds to me; he knows I've come to find him, so he'll try to get to me at all costs. We have to find where they're parked and board them! Daedalus: Alright, well let's go see what we're dealing with first. Hopefully they're still on the ground. The group heads off further into OZ, where they find a massive airship nearly the size of an entire floor hovering beside one of the fire escapes. Without hesitation, Maya jumps the gap between the fire escape and the rope ladder extending up to the doorway onto the ship, Clair hesitantly following behind her. Jay, however, seems significantly more cautious about the endeavor, and instead shifts to his original true form, waiting to see if Collin or Daedalus would rather ride up. Daedalus: Hey, listen, I appreciate the offer, but maybe turning into a giant star monster around a ship full of people specifically interested in capturing strange creatures isn't the best strategy... Snorting, Jay shifts back to his humanoid form. "If my arm gives out when I climb up this thing, don't blame me when I knock you off...though, uhh... you two should go first because of that..." Collin: No no, no one is falling to their death today. If flying up there gets you there safely, then do it. I'll come with you, just be careful about it. alienrabitt: ...Alright.

Jay shifts back once more as he waits for Collin. Collin climbs onto Jay and holds on tightly, while Daedalus hops over and climbs the ladder with Maya and Clair. Careful to keep his distance from the ladder, Jay waits until everyone else has boarded the ship before coming closer. The beating of his wings blows the ladder around quite a bit as he approaches, however he grabs it with his arms, steadying it properly for Collin. Collin quickly climbs over onto the ship and turns back around to help Jay on if he needs it. Shifting back to his humanoid form, Jay accepts the help onto the ship, letting out a sigh of relief as he touches the floor. "I hate heights so much..." Daedalus: Says the person who can fly. alienrabitt: Hey, I didn't ask for the wings! Or...most of this, really... Collin: It's alright, let's just get away from this ladder; the height isn't doing me any favors either. Do you know where we should be going, Maya? Maya: I don't...unless there's a Sephirah here, I have no idea where he could be... Daedalus: What about you, Clair? You said he'd try to get to you no matter what, right? How does he know where you are? Clair: He...I...th-that's something I don't want to talk about in a situation like this...

Maya: Can you just tell him to come to us?

Clair: He's trying; but he's got an entire ship's worth of people to mow through!

Maya: Don't do that! The majority of the personnel sent on these missions are fresh recruits; they have no idea what Lobotomy is! Call him off!

Clair: B-but if I do that, the ship will leave...!

Maya: And then we'll know where he is, because they'll have to unload him, and there will be Sephirahs! Collin: Please trust us. We're not gonna let Lobotomy take him away. Clair: ...What do we do in the meantime? Just...hide?

Azreldeh: Why not? I did that all the way here.

Azreldeh’s just this but in reverse

alienrabitt: STOP THAT!! I hate it when you do that!!

Azreldeh: Sorry! I would've said something sooner, but you guys kept complaining about your little issue, so I had to make a field trip. Anyway, you really wanna check this ship out before it sails? Collin: We're gonna have to if we're going to find Alzedeth, right? Azreldeh: Ohh, I was hoping you'd say that.

Snapping her fingers, Azreldeh summons forth Rio from the shadows, catching her by her arms as she tumbles from the shifted position and nearly falls off the ship. "Hey, R2; I'm gonna have to ask you for a favor real quick..."

Rio: I-I-I really don't wanna hear those words from you!! B-but, in my current situation, I really can't say no!!

Azreldeh: Oh, you couldn't have even if you wanted to...ugh, sorry, I'm getting into this like a job.

Smoothly, Azreldeh pulls Rio up into the ship properly, placing her hands upon Rio's shaking shoulders.

"...Right, so two things, I need you to find the loading dock, and I need you to check for Sephirahs."

Rio: B-but I'm not a part of their systems...! I can't do anything with technology that's not integrated into me...!

Azreldeh: Oh come on, how unique can Earth tech get?! You've gotta be able to do something here...!

Rio: ...I...can probably find one of those things, at least, but there's no way I could do both...

Azreldeh: ...What the hell are these Sephirahs anyway?

Maya: They're basically the core of Lobotomy; though I doubt any but Angela would be able to get very far away from anywhere the Corporation was stationed...

Azreldeh: Okay, but what are they? Humans?

Maya: I'd argue closer to androids, but more human than machine...it's uncanny...

alienrabitt: It's uncomfortable is what it sounds like. And what the hell were you thinking pulling Rio up like that?!

Azreldeh: What, and just let her fall? Collin: You know damn good and well what he meant. You can't just pull her into something like this and then immediately put her in danger! Azreldeh: Which is why I'm asking her to do something safe!

Clair: The task isn't the problem...

Azreldeh: Look, we aren't making any progress just standing around here arguing; c'mon! Let's get out there and kick some ass already!

Maya: Absolutely not! We aren't fighting /or/ killing /anybody/! This is a stealth mission!

Azreldeh: My favorite! Alright, so you and I can walk on in there, and...I guess everyone else will just have to hide or something...

Maya: ...They could pass as new, but Jay's gonna have to hide.

alienrabitt: I...yeah, okay. I guess I could just...be small or something. One of you has pockets, right? Collin: I've got space. Will you be alright like that? alienrabitt: It's less magic intensive; so I'd be better than I am now, honestly.

With that, Jay shifts into his bat form.

Clair: So cute...! Collin: He's always cute.

He opens a pocket on his cloak and holds it out for him to fly inside.

Flying up, Jay crawls into the pocket, his face barely poking out of the top as he squints up at Collin.

c-cute......

Azreldeh: Right, well, somebody should go with Rio just in case she gets caught; the rest of us can keep looking out here. If you find what you're looking for, turn the lights in the room off; I'll come right to you.

Rio: O-okay...just don't throw me or anything...

Azreldeh: Hey, not my fault nobody moved away from the door...

Maya's group heads off towards the right, leaving Rio and Collin with the hallway across from the door. Collin: Alright, so I guess we just... pretend like we know what we're doing? Rio: I think the goal at this point is just...try not to be noticed, and find a way to find out what Azreldeh was asking for...but I don't even know where to start with that... Collin: Are we looking for the loading bay or those... "sephirah" things Maya kept mentioning? Rio: She wanted us to find the location of both; but I'm not sure we could find those in an airship...even one this big probably doesn't have some sort of map; humans wouldn't need those kinds of things on a ship... Collin: Well, if I had to guess, it'd make sense for a loading area to be somewhere near the bottom of a ship, right? Rio: Yeah! Typically, for older human ships, they'd be at the lower or middle section of the backmost part of the ship. ...Though I guess they'd be modern ships for you, huh? Collin: What, you callin' me old or something? /He gives Rio a jokingly insulted look. Rio: I mean, you were originally...born? In the 70s, right? Physically, you might not be, but chronologically, by human standards... Collin: I was just joking, don't worry about it. I'm fully aware I'm technically the grandpa of the IT crew. Anyway, why don't we just head that direction and see what we find. Who knows, maybe one of those Sephirahs will be down there too? Rio: Um, alright...but don't you think a lot of people will be there? Alzedeth doesn't strike me as something that's easy to contain... Collin: I... guess? I'm open to ideas, did you have some other plan in mind? Rio: Well, if Lobotomy's half as observational as Maya makes them seem, I'd bet they have a security room even on their airship that's bound to have eyes all over the place. But if you'd rather not be in a place like that, I'd understand... Collin: No no, it's fine. I just wasn't really thinking about there being a place like that. Can you figure out where that is somehow? Rio: Not without being able to access parts of the ship; but modern human technology is so laughably primative in comparison, I'd have better luck trying to hijack the cameras remotely. Collin: Is that... safe? Surely they'd have security systems or something to stop that sort of thing. Rio: Well, it's either that or we just do this the old fashioned way and hope we find the room we're looking for by chance and guesswork...unless something can scan the ship for places with profuse amounts of electronics. Collin: Well, I... don't really think I can help you there. I guess we don't have much of a choice then. Just be careful, alright? Nodding, Rio looks around for one of the cameras, carefully opening up the maintenance panel beneath it and plugging in a wire she retrieved from her sleeve. Her visor flickers varying colors briefly before settling back to her usual appearance as she disconnects and replaces the panel. "...I think I know where to go, but also, I think there's just one Sephirah on this ship...I don't think she noticed me, though. She seemed occupied; it looked like she was with Maya and the others...I guess they convinced her to help or something?" Collin: My gut says that's wishful thinking, but who knows? At any rate, you lead the way. Let's find what we're looking for before things start going sideways. [Meanwhile...]

Maya: Azreldeh; that's not just some employee, that's--!

Azreldeh: Hod, one of the Sephirahs; yeah, I got that. I'm kinda in her head right now...and her everything else. You weren't kidding about Lobotomy being a bad place...but the good news is that I know where we need to go now! Too bad nobody can tell the others... Daedalus: I'm sure they'll figure it out. So where do we need to go, then? Azreldeh: Well, it's pretty much straight down this hallway, but there's also a bunch of employees up ahead, and the amount of them that are both alive and still in Hod's division..is very small. Needless to say, she's really upset about this since she kinda has a councilor role back at Lobotomy...

Clair: Do you think anybody would recognize Maya?

Azreldeh: None of the employees on this ship, but Hod does. She feels...guilty. Scared. And...angry? But not at Maya...her feelings are really complicated, but I don't think she wants to work with Lobotomy anymore, which is great news for you guys, and fantastic news for me!

in the market for a new body or somethin’? I guess it would be less magic intensive...

Maya: Don't think you can just walk out of here with her...Sephirahs are the brains of Lobotomy; arguably in a literal sense. Her body would give out within minutes of her being outside of Lobotomy's territory.

Azreldeh: Yeah, yeah; whatever...shouldn't we be going somewhere or something? Daedalus: Always the bleeding heart, huh? Alright, let's get headed down there before things get any messier. The group heads further down the hall, which is very much bustling with employees scrambling to get from one half of the ship to the other. Several of them try and stop Azreldeh to ask Hod questions; "has anyone contacted Angela with the updated situation;" "do you know if the abnormality is secured;" "should we still be sending suppression groups to the abnormality's holding area;" all of these Azreldeh answers rather coolly in passing. After clearing the hallway, however, Hod seems visibly overwhelmed with enough anxiety for the both of them.

"...We really need to get out of here before this thing lands...if it gets where we're going, Angela will..."

Maya: ...She'll recognize me, and she'll try to kill us all. She might even try to destroy the entire ship before we even land if she finds out I'm here...

Clair: ...But nobody recognizes you besides Hod, right?

Azreldeh: You're right. We should be safe so long as she can't access the ship's cameras or Hod herself...but Hod still seems uneasy... Daedalus: So we just need to work fast then, right? Find Alzedeth, get the other guys, and bail. That's not a super long checklist. Azreldeh: Theoretically, yeah. I'd say we're about halfway there now...Maya, you should go find the others and tell them how to find us. All you need to do is get back to this hallway somehow, and Alzedeth will be at the end.

Maya: But won't that blow your cover?

Azreldeh: Not if I keep Hod with us. Now get going, will you? We need to be fast; I'm sure those guys won't notice another scrambling employee running through.

Mulling it over for a second, Maya turns around and heads back the other way to find Rio's group. Daedalus: So what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Azreldeh: We'll all meet up at Alzedeth; so the three of us should just keep moving. Daedalus: Easy enough. I was expecting a lot more insanity around here, honestly. Azreldeh: This won't get chaotic unless someone figures us out. We should be clear until Angela finds us...or unless, hopefully. Daedalus: Go with "unless". I'd prefer us all not dying horribly, thank you. Clair: ...This is such a mess...why did I even leave him behind after we cleared out OZ?

Azreldeh: What would you have to gain from lugging your brother's soulless body around in a suit of armor that's gonna trigger half the IT if they think about it for too long? Daedalus: Not to mention that you weren't really in a position to pack your things before we got you out of there. It was sort of unavoidable, really. Clair: But if I'd had Alzedeth, then maybe--...

Azreldeh: Nope, gonna stop you there; you won't get anywhere thinking like that. Zenith wouldn't have been better off with his soulless body hanging around. I mean, what the hell would he have done with it?

Clair: Lived!! We could've had his body out of the armor; we had the sword; we had Zenith; if we'd just done something, then Zenith wouldn't have had to die!

Azreldeh: And your mom would still be alive too; just full of speedwell poison and a little angrier than she was before she saw you all again. Maybe you'd still be human too, but then what? So you and Zenith /don't/ fight your mom; that means that Jay has to, right? Another kleivenn? How do you think that would've ended when she already had so many others...? Daedalus: Clair, I get it; it sucks to think that maybe if something had gone differently, things would've turned out better. But at some point, you have to understand that playing the "what if" game is only going to hurt you in the long run. Latching onto the past is what made Alzedeth in the first place. If you don't learn to let go, it's just going to make you do something you're going to regret. Trust me on that one. Clair goes bitterly silent as she looks for a response she can't quite articulate into words, accepting that glaring at the floor would be a better decision than speaking her mind. Daedalus sighs quietly. "I'm sorry. I know this isn't easy. Doesn't help that we're sort of on a time crunch either..." Clair: ...I just don't want to let him go like this... Daedalus: There's nothing left for him here. I think you know that at some level. This was always just sort of... delaying the inevitable. Clair: But it's not fair! He didn't even get a chance to have a life; now suddenly I'm probably immortal, most of my family is dead, and I just have to...to move on?! It's not that easy! Daedalus: I didn't say it was easy. Shit, you've arguably got it just as rough as the rest of us honestly, and a lot of it being so recent isn't gonna make it any easier to push through it. That doesn't mean you shouldn't start, though. I was a complete nutcase because I literally could not move on from Aperture. I don't want to see you go down that same road; that's why we're all on that dumb soda machine together. We're supposed to look out for each other... or some other sappy bullshit like that. Azreldeh: Part of your problem is that you're just kinda sitting on all that grief, too. Jay did that once and it literally brought Demo back from the dead in the worst way possible. If you're this haunted by "letting Zenith down," you know everything that led up to that will...quite /literally/ come back to get you, right? You need to let go; and coming here to stop Alzedeth's just the first big step to doing that.

Clair: ...I don't know if I should thank you, or if I should be fearing for whatever kind of life I have now...

Azreldeh: I get that a lot.

Clair honestly has a really good character despite her being 100% combatively useless

Daedalus: Hasn't been that bad so far, in my experience- Wait... How do you know about that, Azreldeh?

Azreldeh: Maya told me about a lot of stuff that happened on the IT when she got drunk one night. She always talks about either things she's afraid of or her family when she gets drunk, so she doesn't get drunk unless it's /reeeeeally/ late. Daedalus: That sounds..... fun? Azreldeh: I mean, most of you are asleep at 4 AM, so it was either that or watch somebody sleep...

Clair: There's...rooms dedicated to doing other things, y'know...

Azreldeh: ...Yeah, but it's not as fun without other people around. Daedalus: Go bug the robots. They don't need to sleep, right? Azreldeh: Oh yeah, Chessman 5000 and the Cowardly Little Toaster would be great company for a gal like me. Daedalus: C'mon, I'm sure Rio has a crazy wild side to 'er. Azreldeh: I don't wanna think about how intricate that walking circuit lasagna is. Jeez, what's taking those guys so long to catch up...?

god, Azreldeh has some good lines in this one, lmao

Rio, Collin, and Maya have managed to find a series of hallways that leads around the one filled with employees, and, coincidentally, the majority of the airship, though the final hall seems to let out near the end of the crowded hall. Maya: Ugh, we really didn't have the time for that kind of detour, but there's no way in hell you two could slip past all those Lobotomy bastards... Collin: Sorry about that. I wasn't really expecting something like this when we left the IT... Maya: It's fine; we just...seriously need to catch up with the others. Collin: Let's not burn any more time, then. The others are just down this hallway, right? Maya: Yeah. They wouldn't go in without us. Collin nods and heads down the hall with the rest of the group. The two groups finally converge at the end of the hallway, where a large, metal door is bolted shut and sealed with a multitude of curious and unrecognizable security measures. Daedalus: ... Sure looks inviting, huh? Just need a welcome mat and they're good to go. Maya: So all we have to do now is...break in, destroy Alzedeth, and escape. Seems...

Azreldeh: Dangerous. Maybe even stupid. We might be killed.

Maya: Just a standard day in Lobotomy, then! Let's break this thing down. You can get in, right?

Azreldeh: Of course I have clearance. Nobody else is even in there, so this should theoretically be the easiest part. But there's also a ton of cameras in there, and everyone will get suspicious if they go offline...

Rio: How long has the room been unoccupied?

Azreldeh: Looks like...roughly an hour?

Rio: I'll connect with the cameras and replay an edited loop of the footage until you're done. It'll look smooth until we need to be gone.

Azreldeh: Man, I didn't expect you to be so prepared for a break in! We should try to steal something cool the next time we go somewhere! Collin: Please don't be a bad influence. We're not wandering cat burglars... Azreldeh: Hmm, but this door's gonna make a ton of noise when it opens; that's gonna be kind of a problem...

Maya: Mmm...I don't have anything that could muffle it either... Collin: I... think I can do something about that? Hang on...

He steps up to the door and holds one hand out to hit, resting his other hand on the opposite forearm. He takes a deep breath and stares intently at the door, which then briefly flashes with a blue light. "Okay, that's not gonna hold long but it should do the trick." Nodding, Azreldeh turns to face the massive door, swiping her right hand from right to left, which causes the bolts to roll back and the door to slowly unlock and open.

"Alright, demolition's turn! Rio's got the cameras; Clair...can go in if she wants; you guys better act quick if you can't do that trick again, though, 'cause we'll need to lock it back when we leave!"

Clair: I...I can't. I can't watch it. I'll stay here... Daedalus: Don't really blame you. We'll get this over with as fast as we can. Azreldeh: Alright, I'll...not totally close the door behind you, but I'll at least block the view. Good luck! Collin, Daedalus, and Maya step inside through the doorway. Alzedeth stands alone in the center of the room, quiet and immobile as ever. He does not stir when approached, only patiently waiting for something to happen. His armor has been stained with the blood of others, presumably the Lobotomy employees that dragged him onto the ship, but beyond that, there are no signs of any changes from the previous encounter. Collin: Jesus...

Daedalus: Who would've thought something could be so damn terrifying without even having to move... Maya: He doesn't even have any weapons on his person...if he doesn't fight back, all we'd have to do is break the armor and tear out his body... Daedalus: You have such a way with words sometimes.

Maya, 100% desensitized to any and all bullshit: let’s fight this bitch

Collin: I could probably break off pieces with spells, but it's probably gonna take quite a few hits. Maya: ...This feels so wrong. He's just soulless, not dead, right? Is it really okay to just...do this? Daedalus: What else are we gonna do? We can try not to hurt the body inside, but how's Clair gonna react if we just walk out with her brother's old body? Maya: ...I guess you have a point. We're just killing something that's already dead, huh...? Alright, let's get this over with... Collin: Alright, everyone get ready. Let's see if he's gonna do anything if I try taking that armor apart...

He wrings out his hands for a moment and then quickly slings out a gray bolt of energy from his right hand. The projectile strikes the left shoulder of the suit, weakening the connecting pieces attaching it to the torso. Alzedeth recoils at the blow, reaching up towards the area he was struck, but does little more beyond holding it. Daedalus: ... Shockingly peaceful for a blood-soaked suit. Listen, should I just... do one clean stab through this thing and get it over with?

Clair probably told him not to fight back

Maya: I...think that's probably for the best, unfortunately. Daedalus: Alright. Collin, weaken that chest plate. I'll do the rest...

Collin nods solemnly and throws another bolt at Alzedeth's chest. While the spell travels through the air, a single spear of white-hot flame flares into being in Daedalus' hands. He charges after the bolt, and right after it hits, he drives the spear straight through the suit's chest. Alzedeth stumbles backwards, shakily reaching for the spear protruding from his chest before collapsing onto his back, his arms falling with him. Closing her eyes tightly, Maya shakes her head, takes a deep breath, and heads for the door, exhaling as she does so.

Maya: ...Never gets easier, does it...? Daedalus: I hope it never does...

His spear disappears, and he turns to follow her out, Collin close behind them. As the group exits, Azreldeh closes the door behind them. "Alright, it's over, Clair. Now we just need to get out of here..."

Rio: ...I don't think we're gonna make it... Collin: What? Why? Rio: ...There's another Sephirah on the ship...you said only Hod was here, but...

For the first time since the group has seen her, Hod finally breaks past Azreldeh's hold, if only to whimper out a singular name: "Angela..." Daedalus: Well, this has been fun, but I think it's time to run like hell, right guys? Maya: We need to get off this ship now!

Clair: B-but what about the Sephirah that Azreldeh's in? Won't she die?!

Azreldeh: ...Oh, absolutely; if Angela finds her after all we've done, she'll be dismantled for sure. ...Oh no, why do you know about this too...? Quit making me feel bad for you, ugh...! Daedalus: Ah hell, if she's dying either way then either take her or don't. We can't waste time standing around! Azreldeh: Ugh, fine...I'm gonna look like a baby goat after this; but we really don't have the time for options!

Leaving Hod, Azreldeh pulls Rio closer after she disconnects from the cameras. The power goes out in the entire hallway as a massive red circle appears beneath the entire group, a smaller circle appears beneath Azreldeh, with four even smaller circles containing varying runes and symbols within them gravitating around it. In a flash of light and a powerful gust of wind, the group is returned to the IT, Hod and all, though Hod's now dysfunctional body collapses to the floor of the console room with Azreldeh, whose horns have shrunken down to tiny, gray nubs.

Nydins: Wh--what the hell?! Couldn't you use the door?! And who is that?!

Azreldeh: No...no time...we gotta leave...we gotta leave now...don't care...where we go...just go...

S1: ow the edge

S2: all redo: electric boogaloo

S3: panic attacks to the max

S4: self destruction for self defense

Nervously, Nydins spins back around to face the console, sending the IT off to an unknown destination. Collin: Are you okay, Azreldeh? That seemed like... a lot. Azreldeh: I'll...live. You should be worried more about the robot, I couldn't help it... Collin: Crap, what are we gonna do about her? Do you know what it is that ties her to Lobotomy like that, Maya? Maya: I don't...something to do with the intricate make of her body, I'm sure; but only A and C knew about that; and I...didn't really get to talk to either of them.

Rio: ...Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out; just stay away from Lobotomy.

Maya: Oh, I fully intend to for the rest of my natural life; you don't need to tell me. Collin: Should we take her to XL's room for now? Maya: I guess so...Sephirahs aren't built like an average android or robot, though, and they aren't entirely human, either...I don't know if she'll be able to do anything; repairing Hod would need surgery and robotics...

Nydins: Good thing she can do both of those things. To a point... Daedalus: Well, I'll leave voiding her warranty in your hands. I'm... gonna go lie down for a little bit. Rio: ...I'm sorry you had to go through all that. If there was anything I could've done to help without getting somebody hurt, I would've. Daedalus: Bah, don't worry about it.

He waves a hand absently over his shoulder as he walks out of the console room.

Collin: Here, I'll get Hod over to the- wait a second... Jay, you can come out now. Crawling out of Collin's pocket, Jay glides a bit away before shifting back to normal.

"You couldn't have done anything anyway; all you could do was look through the cameras, right?"

Rio: ...R-right! I guess so...b-but if I could've helped, I...probably would've done more! Collin: You did fine, Rio. Honestly you kinda surprised me with that bit about manipulating the camera feed. I didn't think you were so sneaky. Rio: Well, I...had to be to get around Greenfinger sometimes...n-not like that matters now...

Maya: Okay, I get that you're nervous; but you're tripping all over yourself like a drunken prom date suddenly. What the hell got into you?

Azreldeh: ...You don't wanna know that... Collin: What is that supposed to mean? Azreldeh: L-listen, we were in a hurry, and...and you guys needed to leave where you were as quickly and safely as possible; so I just...did that. I took everybody with us. Well, everybody close... Collin: ... What did you do? Azreldeh: ...I...I know, this is gonna sound ridiculous after all the other stuff I'd done; but, I mean, that place was a nightmare; they weren't just gonna dismantle her, what I saw made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't leave her behind; not after seeing everything she'd gone through; not while knowing what would happen if I left her behind, but those things don't have human souls; they're too much like AIs; so I couldn't really...put her...anywhere...else? Collin: ... Oh god dammit. Azreldeh: Well, I wouldn't really say a god did it, but, thanks for the admiration...?

Maya: Admiration; you're lucky he's not trying to blast you back to hell!

Azreldeh: H-hey, look, you guys are all about protecting the innocent and stuff, right? This isn't hurting anybody, I mean, Rio's still there too; she's just...got a roommate. Collin stares straight through Azreldeh for several seconds as he tries to process her words, until finally he turns to Rio. "... Are you okay?" Rio: I'm fine! I just...wish she'd asked first, but there wasn't really time for it...b-but I'm okay! Hod isn't bad, she's just...very sad. But if we can help her, then I'm okay with doing this until she can go back to her real body. Collin: ... Alright. I'm sorry. And you...

He turns to Azreldeh and starts trying to say something, but the words catch in his throat as his thoughts smash together in a pile. He shakes his head, giving up, and turns to leave the console room. Curling her tail around herself uncomfortably, Azreldeh hides herself in her wings as she quietly mumbles: "...I really messed this up, huh?"

next time, we uhh...pop the top on fixing Hod, and some other stuff happens! I think

#[S4]

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