the postman just handed me a smartwatch coz the hungarian government is giving free smartwatches to anyone over 65 ??? girl what😭

How to tie up a cute boy

(Highschool Au)

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Parts: 1  2  3

Word count: 4K

Warnings: Swearing, Scaramouche abuse, no Signora slander this time, shit humour.

Synopsis: "Why are you doing homework?" Childe groans, rolling off to the side and kicking off the blanket to expose himself in nothing but a pair of boxers. "I'm literally right here, naked and defenseless. Why aren't you taking advantage of me?"

Note: Unedited yet again besties. Tysm for reading :) I got Childe after losing him to mf MONA, istg it was the most stressful moment of my life.

The clock ticks with its pendulum, ridiculing you as it holds the time. The gentle whirring of the air conditioning in the background serves as the icing on the cake to your pent up aggression.

You try not to glare at your phone too much after receiving a text from Childe that told you not to worry, that his dad picked him up and that he was in the comfort of his home, letting the flu blow over.

It took a lot of convincing from his part earlier that morning to get you to go back and actually attend the rest of your classes, making sure to check up on him every break plus the additional "bathroom breaks" you usually never take while in class.

"I can't let you get in trouble for me." He murmured with a small smile that pumped your blood a little faster than usual. "I'm fine, really. Don't worry your pretty little head."

You do exactly that.

You don't even know why you're so worried. He's sick, not dying. Not to mention, you aren't even his girlfriend let alone his friend to care so much. 

Your intrusive thoughts don't waste any time. You latch onto the one thought that takes over. He's probably dead. Lying in his bed in a heap of pillows, passing peacefully while his parents are in the other room. He's dead.

Okay, he's not dead. You intrusive thoughts sure do one hell of a job. He'll be fine, and in no time he'll go back to being a reckless distraction in your life that you need to surpass. Just another obstacle to add onto the list of things life has thrown at you.

But for an obstacle, he sure is kind of cute.

You refrain from bashing your head on the desk. School isn't really a preferred environment on your list of top ten places to shrivel up and die.

Speaking of death and all that is evil, why is Childe always on your mind? He takes up every nook and cranny of your day, constantly, and truth be told it's starting to boil your piss.

Every time you close your eyes you see his smug smile, and hear his stupid laugh. He's an annoying little prick who gets a rise out of exasperating you. Yet here you are, terrified by the warmth that blossoms in your heart when you so much as hear his name.

The final bell rings at long last, conveniently before you bite your tongue to avoid screaming, and not another second is wasted once you launch yourself out the door. You dodge through the crowd of students in the hall that are buzzing in excitement from it being a Friday afternoon, and you would be too if you weren't so damn hung up over a ginger with a battlekink.

Locker in view, you make a beeline and spend the next two minutes fumbling with the lock in your hands.

"Woah there cutie," Lisa speaks up playfully. "At this rate you'll break the poor lock with your bare hands."

For a moment you're surprised at her sudden appearance, but then remember that it's normal for her to worm her way anywhere.

"It's just—this lock is being dumb okay? It has no reason being a pain in my ass but it wakes up every day and chooses violence." You hiss through your teeth, a sharp metallic ring invading your ears when you lose it and jostle the combination lock against the door of your locker.

Lisa winces, but smiles teasingly nonetheless. "Want me to give it a try?"

"Please."

Lisa has the door open at record speed.

"I love you Lisa." You confess wholeheartedly, gripping at your chest. "I love you so much—"

"Yeah yeah," She waves you off with a grin. "Now hurry up and go save your boyfriend from the common flu. Archons knows he won't make the night."

You flush at the word "boyfriend" and don't give much thought to the insinuation that lies within the rest of her sentence.

Sliding your skateboard under an arm, you spin on your heel just to bump straight into Scaramouche, who's won the scowl of the century on his face. He's the last person you want to see right now, but apparently the universe wants to have a pissing match with you.

"Give this homework to that idiot Ginger." He shoves a stack of papers into you. "Tell him that once he's done circling the drain, I'm gonna kick his ass." He then leans in, murderous glint in his eyes. "And if you ever touch me again I'll take a shit in your cereal. That's not a threat, it's a promise."

You shiver at the thought of him squatting on your Cheerios, hands becoming clammy as you try and justify yourself. "It was an accident."

Your pitiful excuse earns you nothing from the navy haired boy. "It'll be an accident when I murder your entire family, three generations over."

"Hi Mona!" You wave excitedly over his shoulder at the body of students that are totally not Mona. With elation he fails to conceal, Scaramouche turns to look at the speed of light.

You take the chance to make your escape—not before waving to Lisa, chuckling to yourself. He's down bad.

With great expertise you file your way through the flock of students chattering near the entrance. , you confidently place your skateboard down on the sidewalk, ready to—

Wait—where does he live again?

You sigh heavily, ignoring the sadness as you thank the universe internally for pulling the reigns on your disastrous plan. Checking up on Childe at his house? With his family present? Making a complete fool out of yourself? What are you thinking? The possibilities are horrendous. He probably doesn't even think of you like that, he just likes a challenge and you pose as one.

You turn away to make a run for it in the direction of your home, all the while ignoring the nagging worry in your chest for Childe. He's probably fine anyways, you don't need to check up on him, and if you did he'd likely find a way to spin it and tease you relentlessly.

Although somehow, the thought of being teased by him isn't as dreadful as you'd like it to be.

Suddenly, an idea graces you, one that guarantees your misery by sating your obligation to check up on Childe. A litany of curses escape your mouth. Genius really, the amount of ways you can think of doing something that'll end in your demise.

"Adeptus Xiao." You whisper apprehensively, already regretting your decision. "Adeptus Xiao." Glancing around your surroundings, you barely notice the shadow that looms over you at your backside.

"What do you want mortal?" Unbeknownst to you, he strikes out of nowhere, making you jump back several meters. You manage to muffle a surprised shriek.

Xiao is Venti's -6 ft boyfriend, the vicious epitome of an eboy. He has a scaled tattoo covering up the majority of an arm, a few piercing holes in his ears, all matched up with a disinterested look. Somehow, he always appears out of nowhere if you call out his name. It's sort of disturbing in a way.

His amber eyes pierce through you, forcing a shudder of fear and dread to lace your blood, almost as if he can sense you shittalking him in your head.

With shaky hands, you ask, "Can you tell me where—"

"No."

"You didn't even hear me ou—"

"No."

"Please?"

He refuses to at least pretend to think about it for a moment.

"No."

"Why?" You frown, stomping your foot on the ground childishly.

"Because." He retorts with a lack of interest, but doesn't further explain his point. English teachers must love this kid.

"Okay," You say slowly, casually inspecting his form as you come up with an idea, briefly remembering Lumine mentioning it to you. "How about I give you my share on almond tofu Tuesday."

The lack of interest on his face wavers slightly. Bingo.

"What do you want mortal?" Xiao mutters gruffly, arms crossed, face morphing into subtle annoyance.

You wrack your brain for a proper answer. You can't just outright ask him or it'll seem like you have a thing for Childe, which you unfortunately do, but you'd like to keep a semblance of integrity. Ah yes, the homework!

"I gotta deliver these to Childe." You outstretch the pile of worksheets in your hands. "Except I don't know where he lives. Can you tell me?"

Xiao's eyes glint with danger. "Did you summon me for the trivial task of giving you an address?"

You nod furiously.

"Do humans have no shame?" Its rhetorical. Expressionlessly, he closes his eyes with intent focus, doing what you assume to be locating Childe's exact location.

He blinks an eye open, reaches a hand out. "Give me your phone." Palm waiting.

You hand it over to him almost desperately.

One glance at your bubbly phone case and he doesn't even try to hide his distaste. He taps a few times, then hands it back to you almost immediately.

On the screen is maps, and Childe's home is about a fifteen minute walk away.

Your jaw drops in disbelief. "How did you do that?"

"Easy," He mutters, leaning back against the school gate as the remainder of students walk past the two of you. "Locating demons that need subjugating is but a simple task."

There's a pregnant pause. Demon.

"Childe's a demon?" You gasp, even though you've always had your suspicions. Hence the reason you invest so much in demon-cancelling charms.

"What? No." He mutters with a roll of his eyes, and you note that his irritation grows the more questions you ask. "I had a physics project with him last semester."

That's why the charms don't work.

Your mouth forms an o, in fear that if you keep this conversation going on any longer, he'll snap at you. Especially when your next line of interrogation involves how he's able to appear and disappear into thin air.

It's a magic trick you'll want to master whenever Il Dottore has another conniption fit in the middle of the hallways after Kaeya tells him he looks like he has skid marks.

"Thank you." You say instead, trying to preserve his regard, but by the time you meet his gaze he's already gone with the wind.

—

Childe's home is surprisingly humble, considering the amount of fat stacks of cash he carries around in his fanny pack so care-freely. It's a normal suburban home from what you can tell, a little bigger than normal with a double garage, neatly mowed lawn and a few forgotten decorations from the windblume festival. A series of water guns lay forgotten near the entrance, making their presence known when you stumbled upon them.

It's hard to remain unphased. Especially since such a normal looking home has bred someone as ruthless as Childe.

Maybe it not the home, you think. Maybe it's the way he was raised. You recall a few glimpses of his mother in middle school, but because of your worse for wear memory retention, you can't ballpark her personality type.

As your thoughts wander further down to his parents and early childhood, villain origin story and what not, you're pulled out of your concentration when the door opens. The possible implications of being here are most definitely not in your favor.

Childe's mother is a stunning woman in her mid-forties who sure as hell doesn't show it in that jaw-dropping sapphire dress, topped off with a brilliant smile that makes your knees weak. Like mother like son, you suppose.

With her sudden appearance, strangely enough, you can remember how good her tiramisu bites are.

You take a moment to respond, swallowing thickly, only to stare at her stupidly.

His mother doesn't waste another second before ushering you in, oblivious to your star-struck expression. "Y/N? L/N Y/N? My have you grown. I remember when you were only this tall." She lifts her hand up a little above her waist, the jewels on her fingers dazzling with every movement. "How is your mother doing?"

"She's doing alright, busy with the clinic." You're able to find your words, smiling back at her, able to get somewhat familiar with her warmth. "I hope I'm not intruding. Childe forgot some homework." You say, heaving the short stack up.

"Ajax?" She laughs, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe he's going by that now. I wonder when this phase will be over. He may act tough but he's such a softie, has the biggest heart."

You, in between concealed emotions and giggles that threaten to leak, try to hide the oncoming grin but it's impossible. "Well he's got you to thank for it."

"You flatter me too much Y/N," She fixes the up do, pinning back the blonde hair that deftly frame her familiar cerulean eyes. "I can see why he can't stop talking about you."

Her words make you waver momentarily. The fondness you've refused to share, the drawn out stares in the halls, the lingering touches, you don't want to acknowledge it but it's there. Whatever it is.

"I'm so sorry for cutting this short dear," His mother sighs, grabbing her keys off the counter and placing her wallet in an elegant handbag. "My niece is getting married and we're already late. I told Ajax I'd stay if he didn't feel too well but he said he could handle a headache. That boy, I swear, always tries to power through."

You nod in understanding, but wait a minute. A headache?

Scrunching up your face, eyebrows furrowed, you ask. "Headache?"

She frowns, applying another layer of her rouge lipstick hastily in a nearby mirror. "I know dear, how unfortunate. The school nurse said it's a migraine, and I shouldn't fret much, but a mother can't help but worry. If only he weren't so stubborn, like his father."

As if on cue, a loud honk comes from outside.

"That must be him!" She exclaims, hurriedly sliding in her heels, turning back to look at your awkward figure. "Ajax is in his room, it's the second door to the right upstairs. I've made some lasagna for the kids, you ought to have some as well, I'll be upset if you don't—" Another annoying honk cuts her off, to which she scoffs, shaking a fist. "That old man, I'll strangle him in his sleep. I must be going now, goodbye dear." She reveals a twinkling smile at you one last time, waving a slim hand before picking up her heels and making a run for it.

The door closes with an unceremonious thud, gust of wind in its trail, leaving a bewildered high schooler in its wake.

Snapping out of your haze, overwhelming tides threaten to drown you whole. Being in Childe's home, alone, with him a handful of stair steps and a wall or two away, your cheeks are set ablaze.

Now that his mother's gone, you take a second to really look. There are a few toys littered in front of the TV, home covered in with soft throws and coordinated cushions, a lazy sectional plopped right in the middle. The marks on the furniture with all the stories, the light hued mismatched frames hanging on the walls and on all the table, so many pictures of those that resemble him, his brothers, his sisters, his family. You can almost hear the echoing laughter in the halls, the childish squeals and pitter patter of tiny feet slapping the hardwood floor.

This is where he grew up. This is where he retires to after a long day full of gratifying fistfights. This is where he was raised to be who he is today, ambitious and reckless, with the absurd dream to one day rule the world. This is his home.

It's...like being wrapped in blanket, safe and cozy, surrounded by all the love in the world.

Absentmindedly, your fingers trace the outlines of a younger Childe, two missing teeth and eyes full of dreams, hugging the side of his father's shoulder because his small arms can't wrap around them. Not just yet.

You make your way over to the staircase, which has even more frames littered across the wall, one that falls short of hiding the marks of a green crayon—another slice of domesticity you aren't quite accustomed to.

The reality sets in, and you come to a conclusion. This home is definitely not an environment for growing psychopaths, Childe just beats the odds like he beats up kids on the daily.

Your fist hovers over his door as you contemplate abandoning the sheets on a nearby table, but his mother was so sweet and polite, so incredibly hospitable, you wouldn't have the heart to make a run for it.

"I can see why he can't stop talking about you."

Three consecutive knocks. If he doesn't answer, you'll leave them at the door.

"Mama," Childe's muffled groans stem from the other side, and oh, you want to revel in the grave undertone of his voice because it's certainly not a common occurrence. "I told you I'm fine. You can go okay? I don't want you to be late, just need to sleep it off."

You blink, lips curling, and then knock again.

"Mama," He whines again, and it has you grinning mischievously. He's a mommy's boy, he has to be. The thought envelopes your heart with a newfound fondness. "Just come in and hurry."

You eagerly take in the room once you slip in, eyes scanning over every little detail, until they zero in on the heap of sheets smack dab on the single bed, a pair of feet dangling off the edge, topped with a comforter thrown over leisurely.

Childe's facing away from you, head dipped in between his shoulders, probably trying to find a position that's more comfortable. He's shivering, sweating at the same time. His mother must've been too preoccupied to notice. This isn't the first time he's used his exceptional bullshitting finesse.

"I can't believe you lied to your mother," You cross your arms, leaning back against the door.

With a jerk, Childe flings into a sitting up position, wide awake and aware of everything that is going on, a stark contrast from nearly seconds ago.

He blinks at you in shock, once, twice, rubs his eyes a bit, relaxes, then leans back, out of it completely. "For a sleep paralysis monster, you sure are kind of cute."

"For and idiot you sure are an idiot." You snort back.

"Wait a minute," He mutters slowly, jaw dropping. "You're actually here?!"

Ignoring his question, you opt to slap the papers on his desk to ignore your clammy palms. "Homework."

"And here I thought you came here all this way to be my personal nurse." He smirks, recovering from his momentary shock fairly swiftly. Doesn't refrain from giving you that shit stain of a bad boy grin, even with a flushed face and concavity under his eyes.

"I can be your personal mortician instead."

"I didn't know you were into role play babe, but I'll take what I can get." He winks, but is punished by a sequence of coughs that earn a wince from you.

"Headache?" You tease after he quiets down, but he remains as cavalier as always.

He sighs, sides of his lips still arched upwards. "My parents barely have any time to themselves, it's so hectic with the kids. What kind of son would I be if I couldn't even give them this?"

He must've threatened Barbara.

"You're," You inhale, briefly letting the silence hang between you two, mulling over what you wish to convey. sweet.

"Irresistible? Hot? Sexy?" He starts casual, arrogant smirk widening.

"Kind of not a complete asshole, is what I was going to say."

"Careful girlie," He narrows his eyes on you, playful lilt in his tone. The comforter is allowed to slip past his shoulders to reveal the goods that lie underneath, the complete naked chest of a post-puberty highschool boy who sprays too much axe. Full pectorals are something to pay for, stringed with smooth muscles that ripple their way over his toned shoulders. "If you keep teasing me like this, I can't promise I'll be the nice guy."

"One more time from the top," You bite back, avoiding staring at him for too long. "Without the congested nose this time."

With great expertise, he weakly throws a pillow at you, and you watch it exceptionally land at your feet, barely grazing the tips of your socks.

"Impressive," You whistle, not impressed.

He pouts, shivers, then is dunking his head back into the welcoming embrace of his plush collection of pillows.

With a sigh, you plop down on his chair, grab a pen and begin calculating derivatives.

"What're you doing?" He doesn't even turn your way, voice muffled.

"Homework," You reply nonchalantly, trying to calm your nerves. "unless you want me to get you something to eat, considering you puked out your gogurt on Barbara's shoes earlier. Congrats by the way, you're hit listed by her fan club."

"Why are you doing homework?" He groans, rolling off to the side and kicking off the blanket to expose himself in nothing but a pair of boxers. "I'm literally right here, naked and defenseless. Why aren't you taking advantage of me?"

He really has an IQ below room temperature.

Burying the formidable obligation to clock him in the face on behalf of society, you slowly get up to approach his bed, to which he grins widely in disbelief.

Apprehensively, you climb onto his bed, and he scoots over, excitement as clear as day. His hair's a wild mess from all the shifting, almost makes you want to card a hand through it. Your heart nestles it's way in your throat at the sight of his blazing blue eyes.

You pity him for what you're about to do.

"Relax Childe," You lean over him with confidence you never knew you had to begin with, face hovering inches before his. Your fists strategically grip the comforter on either side of him. "We have all day after all."

Although you attempt to pay no heed to his quivering hand that snakes up to find solace on your hip, you momentarily shiver at the tenderness.

He's eating this up and leaving no crumbs. Closing his eyes in anticipation, his lips tremble when he tries to close in the distance.

Abruptly, you cross both handfuls of sheets over his body, tying them securely in place to keep him docile. He struggles in your grip, eyes snapping open in surprise. "Wuh-What."

"Did you really think you had a chance?" You cross your arms, stepping back to get a good look at your handiwork.

"Honestly?" Childe huffs, struggles some in his restraints. "I wasn't really thinking."

"Typical," You scrunch your nose up, unscrunch, and then exhale. "You stay here and I'll go make you some soup. Well, not that you can really move but you get the idea."

"You're really going to leave me here like this?" He pouts cutely, melting you, and the sick bastard knows of his power.

"Relax," You wave a hand, "I may be evil but I'm not Scaramouche."

Meanwhile, Scaramouche sneezes as he tries to ask Mona out, falling straight on his ass from the kick back, making a complete fool out of himself. Mona doesn't mind though, finds it endearing.

Back at Childe's room, he raises a brow, expectant.

Going through the five stages of grief, you do something you've been wanting to do for a while, succumbing to the immense feeling.

Closing in the distance between you two, you suck in a breath and gently tilt Childe's head to the side. He blinks quickly, not quite expecting your sudden forwardness, about to say something that doesn't matter as soon as you place a tender peck on the side of his cheek.

Time stops, the world coming to a halt completely. A moment made in history, one you won't ever forget, fresh in both your minds from forward on.

And then you stagger away as if you've been stabbed.

"Soup!" You squeak, appalled by the sheer boldness of your actions. "I'll go make soup while you rest."

Childe, frozen, stares at you incredibly confused, and then beams.

Dear Archons, what have you done.

“I Can’t Lose You” Tyler Rake Fan Fiction - Chapter 2

A/N: Alright so here is chapter two everyone! Lot’s of tension and bickering and banter in this one - but also some pretty raw and tender moments towards the end as Tyler and Kate start to realise their feelingsssssss.... i hope you enjoy! :)))))))))))

I stop in my tracks immediately, the sharp pain jolting all through my rib cage like being stabbed over and over again with every step that I take. I curl over at the waist, my hands clutching at my side as if that’s going to do anything at all.

We’ve been jogging through a heavily wooded forest area, where I’ve been desperately trying to keep up with him. But he is a giant man, and as I watch him running I realise he has to be over 6ft, at least. Whatever his height is, all I know is that one of his strides equals about 3 of mine. It also really doesn’t help that each time my feet hit the ground, a sharp pain shoots up through my ribs.

I hear foot steps coming back my way, followed by Tyler’s irritated voice.

“You need to keep up”

“I would if you didn’t break one of my goddamn ribs”

“I didn’t break your ribs, trust me. But I can if you wan’t, then at least you’ll actually have something to complain about”

I glare up at him through the disheveled hair that has fallen in my face. I don’t even bother fighting back, as that would take energy I really do not have right now. The pain is clouding my wits, I can barely think.

Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t have anything to say back, or the fact that I cannot stand up straight without gasping in pain, but something alerts him that maybe I’m not over exaggerating about this. Because suddenly he’s kneeling down in front of me, telling me he needs to take a look.

“Let me have a look then” he nods, his face bored as though he’s just trying to get this over and done with to appease me. His hand reaches for my torso but I swat him away immediately.

“Don’t touch it” I hiss

He sighs “Look we need to hurry, just sit down so I can check it”

I reach out for the tree trunk beside me, grimacing as I lower myself to the floor in defeat.

“I’m just gonna look okay, I’m not gonna touch it” he reassures me as slowly takes the hem of my shirt in his hands and glides it upwards.

I watch his face change as my torso becomes exposed, his eyes falling over my ribs. He looks slightly taken aback at the sight, hanging his head.

“Ah fuck” he breathes, and I begin to panic.

“Is it broken or not?” I demand.

“No,” he shakes his head as he takes one last look at my ribs before carefully pulling down my top “But it’s starting to bruise… bad”

I watch his face closely. His once underwhelmed expression is now riddled with concern and guilt. On top of that, he looks angry, but not with me this time. No. this time he looks angry with himself. The air feels heavy around us now, and I feel like I’m looking at a whole different person. For the past hour that I’ve known this man he has been nothing but unforgivingly brutal. He has had no time for sympathy, and the only look I’ve seen on his face majority of the time is rage. My brain ticks at one hundred miles an hour as I try to comprehend how the man who killed a room full of people is now kneeling in front of me so sheepish and small.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise how hard I-“ he begins to apologise, his voice and face coated and dripping with shame. I almost can’t believe that the word sorry is coming out of his mouth. But suddenly a voice from his ear piece cuts in.

“Tyler somethings wrong, hold your position”

His eyes dart back to mine nervously.

“There’s someone else in those woods. About 100 meters out. They’re closing in on your position”

I can physically see Tyler’s stomach drop as the reality of the words set in. He immediately springs into action, holding out his hands to try help me up of the ground. As I stand up, the pain tears down my side. The only thing stopping me from crying out in pain is the fear of whoever is closing in on us. I might be in severe pain, pain that I don’t think I’ve ever felt before, but I’m not stupid. If we stay here now, we will die. Tyler will die. I don’t know this man. But I am not costing him his life. I can’t.

“Can you walk-“

“I’m fine” I lie, through clenched teeth. He hesitates, knowing that I’m blatantly lying as he stares down at me.

“Tyler, run” I growl. Taking my hand in his, we both take of in a sprint, back tracking the way we came in. We’re going back to the car. Abandoning all efforts to stay quiet, we crash through the bushes and leaves. This isn’t about stealth, this is about survival. The threat of someone who wants us dead biting at our heels, I have no choice but to keep up with him or we both die. I momentarily forget about the pain in my side that I’m sure is only being made worse by the countless tree branches that I’m crashing into as we run. But Tyler is the one taking the brunt of the tree branches and leaves that whip at us as he leads ahead, clearing the way. But everything almost seems to move out of his way as the brute strength and force of his body demolishes any obstacles in our path.

All noise seems to have droned out as my only focus is running with everything I have in me. That is, until the sound of a sharp, whizzing bullet flies directly above us. It misses us, but lodges directly into a the tree trunk that is only a couple of centimetres above our heads.

A heavy weight pulls me down to the ground, and I realise Tyler has dragged me down behind a large boulder for coverage. Both of us pant heavily, trying to retrieve what little breath we can. I stay crouched down behind the rock as Tyler fires a few rounds in the direction of our pursuer faster than the blink of an eye. Then, he turns back to me, desperately fumbling with his vest until he pulls of a grenades.

“When I throw this, run” he tells me firmly, as he rips the pin from the bomb. It feels like slow motion as his long arms peg the detonating bomb over the boulder and away from us.

I can barely hear him screaming at me to run as the sound of the explosive fills the air around us. We both scramble, fighting to get up of the ground and hit the ground running in an immediate sprint.

I’m not even sure if I’m running in the right direction, all I know is that I’m moving with every last fibre of my being. I keep my head low, my arms raise overhead in some kind of bid to protect myself from the bullets that are speeding through the air past us. My only indication to whether Tyler is still even with me is the sound of his crashing foot steps as he runs behind me. Suddenly there is a break in the wooded area we’ve been charging through, and we enter the clearing where the car is sitting.

“GO, GO! GET IN THE CAR” Tyler’s voice booms from behind me as I speed towards the passengers side. As I rip the door open and thrust myself into the car, I look back to see Tyler guarding me. Once I’m in he fires a few final bullets and suddenly he’s bursting into the drivers side.

Before I can even gather myself, Tyler’s foot hits the acceleration and the car lurches forward so ferociously it almost leaps of the ground. The back end of the car drifts, swerving left and right as the wheels spin out beneath it, before it suddenly kicks into gear and we take of flying straight ahead.

Without warning, we burst into streets that are filled and bustling with civilians. I can hear their screams they all fly out of our way. People are everywhere, and I can hear Tyler shouting for the countless people on motorbikes to move as we narrowly miss every single one of them. Boxes of fruits and products fall victim to us on our path of destruction as the car ploughs straight through them.

I’m so busy desperately trying not to smack my head on the roof of the car it swerves and bounces that I have no time to prepare myself when Tyler suddenly begins shouting countless profanities. I look up ahead to see the end of the road being blocked of by three police vehicles. Tyler slams on the breaks, the car halting so abruptly that only a miracle that my hands on the dashboard stop me from flying through the front windscreen. Without even a second of hesitation, Tyler shoves the gear stick into reverse with such haste that I half expect it to rip clean off.

“They’re police!” I exclaim as we speed backwards, away from them “Tyler stop they’re police!”

“No they’re not” he shouts over the now wailing sirens of the police vehicles that are surging after us. I furrow my brows at him as he spins the car around until we’re out of reverse, before taking off again.

I turn in my seat, looking back at the police in panic. I thought I could trust Tyler. Why the hell is he driving us away from them. I narrow my eyes, and suddenly see that those men aren’t officers at all. They’re dressed in black clothing; and it doesn’t take me long to realise that they’re have hijacked those police cars.

Chaos ensues as two of the cars spin out of control, colliding with food stalls and innocent by standers. The same voice from before bursts over Tyler’s radio speaker. The woman’s voice shouts directions to Tyler, telling him to turn right at the bridge. When I turn back in my seat, I’m met with a giant metal gate that we are only getting closer and closer to. With no sign of Tyler slowing down, I brace myself for impact, unable to stop myself from letting out a scream as we smash through it. I stare ahead in shock, mouth wide open as I realise we just smashed right through those metal gates, and are still alive. I look over at Tyler in shock to see that he looks completely unbothered by the fact that we could have just died. This guy is a goddamn maniac.

Suddenly one of the hijacked police vehicles rams straight into the back of our car, sending both Tyler and I lurching forward. We both look back in panic over our shoulders to see the man who was pursuing is in the woods, is now manically driving behind the wheel of that car.

“FUCK!” Tyler shouts, making a sharp turn to try and throw him off, but it doesn’t work. This only helps him gain in on us, as he begins to creep up towards the passenger side.

The sound of smashing glass bursts into the air and I look over to see that Tyler’s window has been shot and broken. Shards of glass cover us both, as the man fires of a few more rounds in our direction.

I see Tyler desperately fumble for the gun on his vest, but the second he takes his hands of the wheel we almost spin out. This man is going to fucking kill us if we don’t do something.

“Give me your gun” I feel myself shout suddenly, as I reach for his vest.

He shoves my hand away, before turning the car down into another street.

“I SAID GIVE ME YOUR FUCKING GUN” Using all my might I reach over and snatch the pistol from his belt. All in one movement I turn in my seat and angle myself out of the window slightly.

“GET BACK IN THE FUCKING CAR!” I hear Tyler scream at me, but I’m not listening. My eyes are locked on the driver behind us. The second he see’s me, he aims his gun at me, but I beat him to it.

Squeezing the pistol, I send a bullet flying straight for his head. As it smashes through the front wind screen it narrowly misses him, but the shock still distracts him and his wheels screech as he loses control of the car. This gives us a small advantage and a small window of time to get away from him. I feel a hand on my vest as Tyler tugs me, yanking me back into the car. He speeds up, putting his foot to the floor. I watch as the man behind us struggles to regain control of his car, fighting with the steering wheel until it finally spins out and he collides with the side of a building.

Tyler suddenly makes a sharp right turn, pulling us into a virtually empty back street.

“Out!” he shouts as we both scramble with great urgency and anxiety. He grabs my arm and we take off running up the stairs of the apartment buildings next to us. We rush up the stairs in leaps and bounds, constantly checking over our shoulders but there is no sign of anyone following us.

Just when I begin letting the smallest inch of my guard down, and attempt to catch my breath, it is quickly whisked away again by Tyler shoving me up against the wall.

“What the fuck do you think you were doing back there huh?” He growls in my face, pinning my shoulders back against the wall. This is a vast change from the worried Tyler back in the woods. The Tyler who looked guilty for causing that giant bruise on my ribs. Right now, with the look on his face, he looks like he couldn’t care less if he did it again.

I grab at his chest, trying to push him away, but of course I can’t. He doesn’t even budge.

“That little stunt you pulled back there could have gotten us both killed”

“But it didn’t! We’re here aren’t we!” I challenge him, my eyebrows raised. He shakes his head at me in bewilderment.

“Don’t EVER do that again? Do you hear me? If I fucking lose you I-” He catches himself before he finishes his words. I stare up at him, heart racing for what he was about to say. For what he stopped himself from saying.

“If you lose me what huh?” I stare up at him “Why the fuck do you care what happens to me?”

His chest rising and falling heavily as he looks down at me, our faces only inches apart. Our eyes locked on each other, I watch his internal battle. For a moment I see the smallest, fleeting hint of weakness. Of softness. Why is he looking at me like that? But it doesn’t last long.

“I need my fucking pay out. Try anything like that again and I’ll kill you myself”

But his voice sounds unsure. Like he doesn’t believe his own words. With that he gives me one final shove before stalking away from me to the other side of the room. I’m unable to take my eyes of him as I try to swallow and comprehend whatever just happened between us.

Just when I thought he showed me a moment of tenderness, of care, back in the woods. His normal disgust and hatred for me is back again. My supposed ‘rescuer’, who couldn’t hate me more.

He turns away from my slightly, busying himself with reloading his gun. As he does, my eyes fall over his arm - more specifically the blood that is covering one of them.

“Tyler you’re bleeding” I blurt out. It’s not a lot, but enough to show through his sleeve. Enough to do damage if left unattended.

He follows my gaze, looking down at his arm where blood is soaking through.

“Yeah a bullet will do that to you” I replies nonchalantly.

Thinking that he has been hit with a bullet I rush over to him, but he waves his hands, dismissing me.

“Relax, it just grazed me”

“You still need to cover it” I urge, completely baffled at how little he cares about this.

“Why the hell do you care?”

“Well I wouldn’t want you to miss your fucking pay out now would I” I scoff, watching as he rips the bottom of his shirt with ease until he has a long strip of fabric in his hands.

I expect him to fire back an insult, but to my surprise, he smirks. The tension easing a little, I also find the corner of my mouth curling up into a smile.

“Since you’re so worried, tie this around my arm” he raises his brows, holding out the fabric for me to create a tourniquet.

I snatch it from him, as he holds his wounded arm out to me. I try to ignore his eyes staring at me, trying to intimidate me as I wrap the shred of t-shirt around his arm. I also try to ignore the realisation that’s dawning on me at just how huge his arms are. They’re practically bulging out of his shirt. Making a knot, I pull tight. Tighter than I probably had to, but he deserves it for being such an asshole.

He clenches his jaw, grimacing in pain when I do so.

“Watch it” he warns me, but I shrug at his comment acting clueless.

“Come on, it’s just a graze, right?”

He stares down at me, his lips slightly parted to speak but no words following their lead. I know he see’s me as just a money grab. Some rich guys daughter who he needs to return home for a big case of cash in exchange. But that doesn’t mean he gets to treat me like an idiot.

I stare back up at him defiantly, not wavering under the firm grip that his eyes have on me. Then, if I’m not mistaken, his eyes flicker down to my lips. He quickly pulls them away from my mouth and back up ti my eyes, so fast that if I had of blinked I would have missed in entirely. But I didn’t miss it. I saw it.

I don’t have more than a few milliseconds to begin trying to understand what the hell that means when gun fire sprays the building we’re in. Immediately Tyler springs into action. The Tyler that was bantering with me just moments ago is gone, as the switch flips in him and he jumps straight into his stone cold soldier mode.

We both crouch down below the windows of the room as he grabs my hand and leads me out of the room. Once we are away from the windows we both stand, he lets go of my hand, replacing it with his gun. Standing protectively in front of me, we stalk through the abandoned apartment building, snaking through each room until he finds one with no windows.

He turns back to me, hand on the small of my back as he guides me into the room. Once we’re inside, he stands me against the wall - gently this time - and raises a finger to his mouth, signalling to stay quiet. I feel my ears prick as footsteps begin to approach from outside the room.

Tyler hides right out of sight in the door way, and I hold my breath, praying that he doesn’t get hurt. If something happens to him, not only am I a goner, but I will never be able to live with the fact that he died saving me. I can’t. The footsteps get louder and louder and I feel the anxiety in my stomach clawing its way up into my chest.

Suddenly, Tyler strikes forward, and the man hunting us down is flung against the wall. In a series of movements that happen entirely to fast for me to even comprehend, Tyler knocks the gun out of his hand and pins him against the wall so ferociously I can hear the mans bones cracking against the concrete. A knife appears in Tyler’s hands seemingly out of no where, and before my eyes I watch him plunge the blade into the man’s neck. He delivers three more fatal blows, slicing the bloody knife across the mans jugular vein over and over again.

And then, it’s over seemingly before it even began. The man falls to the ground, landing at my feet, with blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Dead.  

I pull my eyes away from the dead body at my feet to look at Tyler, but there’s nothing much to see. He’s already moved on, completely dismissing the life that he just took like it was nothing. He signals for me to follow behind him in the hall way, and when I take to long he grabs my vest and forces me behind him. Staying so close to his back I may as well be attached to him, we take a few slow, quiet steps forward. But that’s only as far as we get before two more men come flying towards us from around the corner.

I stumble backwards as Tyler attacks the first man, taking only seconds to kill him with a fatal shot through the chest. When the second assailant approaches, Tyler combats him with his fists. It only takes one punch to disorientates the man, who stumbles backwards giving Tyler enough to aim his gun. I watch with my mouth open so wide in shock it my jaw may as well have touched the floor as Tyler fires a bullet straight through the man’s head.

Two bullets. He has killed two men with only two bullets in what feels like a matter of moments. Now that I’m learning how lethal Tyler really is, witnessing it with my own eyes, my mind flashes back to the room full of dead men that Tyler had mowed through to rescue me earlier today. Now that I’m seeing what he’s truly capable off, that doesn’t seem that far fetched. In fact, it seems like it would have been a breeze to him.

The sound of Tyler shouting my name rips me abruptly from my shock induced flashback. He lunges forward, scooping me up with one arm and planting me firmly behind him. It’s only once I’m being shielded by his giant stature that I see what he was yelling about. Another attacker had been coming up behind me with a gun, and I was second away from being just as dead as the men around us. But Tyler had stopped that. He had thrown himself in front of me, literally putting himself in the line of fire to protect me like it was nothing. Like it was a reflex. Muscle memory.

As Tyler wrestles with the man who almost killed me, movement to our left catches my attention. Realising another man is running towards me at full speed, I spin on my heels and begin sprinting. As I burst through apartment after apartment, I can hear the man hot on my heels. I have no plan. No where to hide. Just every atom in my body screaming at me to run. Until, I meet a dead end. As I burst into the room and head for the door that will take me out to the balcony that wraps around the entire apartment complex, I shake at the handle desperately, just to discover that it is locked.

Back pedalling as I fast as I can, I turn to run out of the room, but instead I smash straight into the body of the man chasing me.

“No, no, no” I begin to beg, each cry for mercy louder than the other as I try to back away from him. But I have no where to escape. With one blow he punches me, delivering a blow to my cheek so hard I can feel it swell almost immediately. As I stumble, clutching at my face, he wastes no time wrapping his arms around me, wrangling me to stay still and comply as he begins to drag me away.

All I can do is scream. When I do, the first and only thing that comes out of my mouth is Tyler’s name. It’s all I can say. Its the only thing that comes to my mind. Over and over again I scream, calling out his name. Begging, praying that he can hear me. That he will find me.

My arms and legs lash out maniacally, desperate to cling on to anything that will stop this man from taking me. Stop him from taking me back to my kidnappers. Stop him from taking me to my death. But something else stops him. One single gun shot bursts into air. Not only do I hear it, but I feel it. I feel it fly so close to my face that I can feel it’s hotness on my cheek. But it doesn’t hit me. Instead, my attacker suddenly goes limp.  His once suffocating grip on me going completely loose. As he falls, he takes me to the ground with me. We hit the floor with a thud, and the only reason I know I’m not the one whose dead is the fact that I can feel my goddamn ribs pounding even worse than before.

I look up to find Tyler standing in the doorway, his gun pointed at us. As soon as he knows the man is dead he drops his gun to the floor immediately, running over to me. I don’t know what it is, desperation maybe. Complete and utter fear. The fact that he had thought I was about to die. But for some reason when Tyler runs over to me, he scoops me up in his arms and holds me so tightly for a few moments that I can’t breathe. But I don’t care. As I’m enveloped in his arms, I’ve never felt more safe in my life. The sensation is overwhelming I feel like my heavy panting is about to turn into even heavier sobs.

“You’re okay, you’re okay I’ve got you” He chant’s over and over again in my ear, breathing heavily. For the next few moments we forget everything, clinging onto one another desperately. To scared to let go. 

He lets go momentarily, but only to move his hands to my face, holding it firmly.

“Are you hurt?” He panics as he scans me up and down, desperation on his face. When his eyes fall over the mark on my face from where I was punched he curses under his breath. 

“I’m okay, I’m okay” I nod and he exhales harshly in giant sigh of relief.

“You scared the shit out of me, yeah. Don’t ever scare me like that again” He tells me firmly as he can, but I can hear the poorly hidden shakiness in his voice.

As we stare at each other intensely, I see something I haven’t seen on Tyler’s face yet. Fear. He looks completely terrified. But not just terrified of anything… terrified of losing me… Everything he was saying before, about how he just need’s me for the pay check has gone out the window. No. In this moment, he couldn’t care less about his pay check, and there’s no hiding it. Right now, all he cares about is that I’m alive and safe, and in his arms. 

TAGLIST

@hp-hogwartsexpress​​

@s-v-e-l-t-e

@chickensarentcheap​​

@alievans007​​

@gazzan-a​​

@farihafangirls​

K ~ Four Seasons of K: Wall

October’s story, with the Blue clan. I have some backlog with these short stories, I’ll try to work on it.

The original Japanese text is kindly provided by blueseraphima, as usual.

Wall by Furuhashi Hideyuki

In a corner of Scepter 4's training ground, a wall had appeared. Seemingly made of logs stacked sideways, it was about 5 meters wide and 3 meters high. Metal fixtures and posts fastened it to the ground reliably so that it wouldn't so much as budge from a human's push or shove.

First, the troops went to Awashima and asked her about the meaning behind the wall's appearance. Awashima, as bewildered at the question as they were when they had discovered the construction, went straight to the office of the organization’s head and inquired about his motives regarding the installation.

"---Ah, that." The head of Scepter 4, Munakata Reishi, flashed an enigmatic smile as he acknowledged the question. "Well, it's, uh... fufu... a wall, I believe." "Yes, I assure you I have gathered that much, sir." "It is an installation borrowed from a certain place." "Uh-huh."

Indeed, the wall in question was a prefabricated construction that bore evidence of long-time use. It did look like an equipment belonging to some organization. Still, that didn't explain its purpose... or better yet, Munakata's intentions behind it.

Awashima waited for him to elaborate further, but Munakata offered no other explanation, just stared out the window at the autumn sky above, as if to purposefully avoid the questioning.

*

"...So... what are we supposed to do with this wall, anyway...?" "For starters, what's it even used for?"

The troops of the Swordsmen Division, lined up on the ground with Awashima facing the line and the wall visible behind her back, exchanged perplexed glances.

Only, among them...

"Mmn, isn't that..." "Yeah, sure brings back memories."

...there were those who looked at each other in recognition. The individuals in question were the two prominent members of the Swordsmen Division's elite unit, the Special Ops squad, Akiyama Himori and Benzai Yuujirou.

"Does this thing ring a bell for you two?" Awashima asked. "Yes, it does," Akiyama volunteered. "I believe it is a hurdle race wall."

To provide a demonstration, Akiyama broke into a light-legged jog on the approach to the wall and, kicking the tips of his boots against its surface, ran up it. Then, planting both his hands on top of the wall and using them as a pull-up point, he swung his body up, easily scaling the 3 meter wall and landing on the opposite side of it.

"The same equipment is used for training new recruits in National Defense Force. Back there, such walls were often part of standard running courses and training drills." "Ohh," the troops exhaled collectively, internalizing Akiyama's explanation and being impressed by his trained movements. There was a reason why that earned their admiration.

The thing was, fundamentally, the members of Scepter 4's Swordsmen Division had been selected and brought together mostly based on 2 conditions, those being you had to be a young man of about 20, give or take a few years, and you had to have aptitude for superpower. So long as those requirements were met, your personal history or origins mattered little. So if anything, the troops who, like the ex-members of the National Defense Force Akiyama and Benzai, underwent professional combat training in their previous line of work were in minority.

Moreover, since Scepter 4's main premise assumed utilization of your superpower when in combat, it could be said that even after enlistment, purely physical training was kept to a minimum and designed only to allow the recruits to reach the most basic level of physical prowess.

"So am I to take the Captain's aim with this is a boost of physical performance through more physical-geared forms of training, I wonder?" Awashima asked no one in particular with a pensive look on her face. "Aww." "Sounds like a tall order, if you ask me." Hidaka and Fuse from the Special Ops grumbled behind her.

Whipping her head to give them a withering glare, Awashima turned back to Akiyama and Benzai.

"Operative Akiyama, operative Benzai, can you make some time for me today after your shift is over? I'm planning to revise our training program, and I could use your input."

*

And so...

"Well then, first, Akiyama, Benzai... show them how it's done." "Yes, ma'am!"

A few days later, singled out by Awashima, Akiyama and Benzai took a step forward, breaking away from the line.

"On your mark!" Awashima ordered. "Ready... Go!"

Together with the command, the two broke into a run. The track they were running on was a newly built hurdle race course, circling the grounds. Under the ban on using their superability to reinforce their bodies, the two galloped in leaps, propelling themselves with just their raw leg strength, in full uniform and with the sabers strapped to their hip.

Their speed was about equal. Like two arrows fired from the same bow at the same time, they were advancing through the course shoulder to shoulder.

30 meters in front of them, there stood the wall. As if by some sixth sense, they kicked off at the same time, pushing up and scaling it.

"Ohh..." the troops stirred behind them.

The wall wasn't the only hurdle in the hurdle course. The track could also boast the typical obstacles used in track-and-field events, ditches dug to imitate trenches and nets strung to make one crawl under them - Akiyama and Benzai, running side by side at the exactly same speed, were clearing the hurdles with the exactly same movements. Completing one full lap took them about 3 minutes. The requirement to complete 5 such laps in one go was Akiyama and Benzai's own proposal as the ex-National Defense team. Passing in front of the lined up troops, they went for their second lap, scaling the wall together a second time. Their speed didn't drop any.

"Alright, now, Team 1, on your mark! Ready... Go!"

"Team 2, on your mark!"

A lap behind Akiyama and Benzai, one by one, the troops started on the course. The moment the previous team scaled the wall, the next team was given the go-ahead signal to begin pursuit, and if that team caught up to the team that started on the course before them, they were declared winners and were to continue pursuit of the teams in front, overtaking them one by one. Those were supposed to be the rules. Since none aside from a handful few were used to such physically taxing exercise, a certain number of dropouts was within expectations.

Only...

The result was far more dreadful than anyone could have expected.

What's worse, the aforementioned wall had literally become the insurmountable hurdle in the troops' path. On the first try on their first lap, only about half of the members were able to scale it. Although the rest were able to clear it on their second try after adjusting some things like the speed of the approach run, on their second, third and fourth lap, due to evident lack of stamina, those who simply gave up on overcoming it had started to appear one after another.

As a result, by the time Akiyama and Benzai had finished their fifth lap (arriving at the same time), there was no one left who could still run maintaining the pace, and Awashima declared the exercise suspended.

Most of the troops sank down to the ground around the wall.

"Huff, huff, huff... this is... just meaningless! Especially seeing that we could leap over a wall like this in no time if we just used our power...!" Doumyouji, another member of the Special Ops squad, grumbled, being a sorry loser, as he stretched out his legs. "Puff, puff... Our superpower is not... limitless though. And when push comes to shove, your physical endurance might be... what can make difference..." Kamo Ryuuhou, also a member of the Special Ops squad, folded his arms and nodded primly... except he, too, was gracelessly seated right on the ground.

"I had no idea our troops' stamina levels were this badly all over the place...." Awashima sighed, observing the troops, or rather, what looked more like heaps of corpses lying all around. "To be honest, it came as a complete surprise to us, as well," Akiyama and Benzai agreed with her, visibly discomfited. "From here on out, I'll have all the troops focus on building up basic endurance for a while. I ask you two to cooperate with me." "Ma'am, yes, ma'am." "Uwaaah~~~" Hidaka, stretched out on the ground, let out pathetically.

"Still..." Akiyama said in a voice barely above whisper, taking in once again the disgraceful sight his coworkers made, "To see through this state of affairs before even any of us field operatives could and make a preemptive move like this..." Knowing what Akiyama wanted to say by that, Benzai, too, felt great admiration as he said, "Yeah, that's the Captain for you... He truly is a frightening person."

Just then, a lone truck rolled onto the HQ premises through a side gate, carrying additional equipment Munakata Reishi had arranged for.

*

The 'Stamina Buildup Training Circuit', prepared for the Swordsmen Corps based on the first day's hurdle race, was to be put to use in the form incorporating Munakata's further proposals. Namely...

The wall was to be utilized in 'Candy Hunt', the hurdles in 'Bread Eating Contest', the tranches in 'Spoon Race', and the crawl sections in 'Scavenger Hunt'.

"Buwhoo...!" Akiyama, face white, chocked. Unexpectedly, he was positively no good at this game that required participants to find a candy hidden in a tray of wheat flour without using their hands.

"Uwooooo...!" On the other side of the field, Kamo, emitting an angry growl, charged the bread hanger stand, but the more he strained, the wilder the anpan, hanging by a thread, swung back and forth, not letting him put his mouth on it.

"Kamo-san! Remember that using your hands is against the rules!" Hidaka taunted, skillfully balancing a ping-pong ball in a spoon on the run. Having conquered the crawl section, he checked the slip of paper to find out what item he was to borrow for Scavenger Hunt.

"Eno, Eno, Eno---! Glasses, your glasses, gimme your glasses---!!!" Sweeping the glassed off the face of his fellow Special Ops squad member, Enomoto, who was spectating outside the course, Hidaka rushed back.

"Nfufu... Hidaka always gets so excited when it comes to things like this." "Well, the dude's basically a party animal." Two more members of the Special Ops squad, Gotou and Fuse, let lopsided smiles curve their lips.

"Things like this, huh..." Enomoto intoned, squinting accusingly at the course without the aid of his glasses. "...Isn't it just that the Captain wants to have a sports meet, no?" "Hey, you're only realizing it now, man?" Fuse couldn't help making the quip. "Nfu. He must be watching us this very moment on the monitor in his office and grinning like there's no tomorrow." Gotou himself broke into a wide grin.

As he did, Doumyouji, not looking enthused in the least, ran up to them from behind to comment, "But apparently, there are people who don't exactly share that view."

"Hey, you over there!" As if to prove him right, Awashima, who was observing the course, shouted to him right then. "You're in the middle of training! Cease your idle whispering this instance!"

"See?" Doumyouji said quietly to Enomoto's group. "Yes, ma'am!" he then replied loudly to their superior officer and made his way back to the course at a speed calculated to be just barely above the level where she'd snap at him again.

"Buwhoo...!" Benzai choked up ahead. "Hell yeah---!!!" Above the head of Hidaka, who came in first, decorative balls split open, spewing confetti to dance against the autumn sky.

My concert experience! [Pt. 3.1]

Hello jello~ I promise that this will really be the FINAL part. Without further ado, let’s jump back into it!

So, when the whole holding area thing was announced, we were close to giving up on our hard-earn tickets obtained from our *yet another BTS song title pun* Blood, Sweat and Tears due to the thought of needing to queue for SO long. The news blew up and everyone else were complaining regarding how illogical it was. Worst was also not being able to bring along your own water bottle so everyone had to queue for over 30 minutes to get 1 bottle of water as they only had ONE stall available for hundreds of us. It was honestly such a bad experience all in all. But things took a great turn-ish afterwards, I would say!

We were stuck in the holding area for a good 45-50 minutes. Luckily ARMYs were nice enough to arrange ourselves based on our queue numbers and the staffs put us in rows according to gate numbers. Soon after, we were finally being transferred to the National Stadium and my, did we look like a group of ants marching home. It took quite a while to finally get to our supposed gate - wherein we will need to queue AGAIN in order to get our tickets scanned and receive our wristbands. This — was when we finally get to step foot into the National Stadium and see the stage up close. All the hours, for this very moment!!

We were told not to run and instead walk in a proper line to our designated standing pen, but of course - everyone lost their minds and speed-walked. Most of them were rushing to get closer to the main stage, but we decided to stay around the most extended stage as we know they do most of their choreographies there and would often walk around the said area. There was still about 3 hours (yes, more waiting) to go before the show begins, so everyone just stood around. A lot tried to occupy or save a spot for themselves for when the show starts by placing their bags on the ground and then sitting next to it.

That was fine by me, but what annoyed me the most was a (foreign) lady who was about 6 feet tall, would not stop pushing me (a poor 5 footer) backwards. It was to the point where my back was arched, and due to our language barriers - she just would not stop. I said to myself, “great! Not only will I not be able to see anything even with the 5 cm boost from my shoes, my spine will also break in the process.” I was mentally preparing myself to have the worst night - as all I saw was the lady’s blonde hair.

Amazingly enough we met a Singaporean ARMY who got separated from her friends 2 rows in front of us (we were 6 rows away from the barricade) also due to the blonde lady blocking her way. We then made a deal (haha) with them saying that we will let her through and they will help bring us 3 forward (though I was the only short one among all of them including my sister and cousin). They agreed since they felt really bad for my unfortunate height gene. One of the girls reached out her hand as if she was offering a handshake - and so I responded but little did I know she was pulling me towards her and people had no choice but to let me through (lol).

Yay! I am now 4 rows away from barricade. Suddenly the lights went off and everyone started pushing - the force was going towards the main stage (as usual) and I was slowly being moved again (to 2 rows away from barricade). Then a few seconds later, the opening starts playing and AT LAST, the concert has begun! For the first 3 songs I was still stuck behind 2 rows, but in a blink of an eye - I felt my arm dangling over the barricade and my feet on top of a platform. I was so shocked to be brought all the way to the front and exactly right in front of where the extended stage ends. Thank God for Physics!

Everything was a blur and it happened so fast. I honestly could not even remember if they performed the entire setlist. Either way, I’ll insert photos and clips (if Tumblr allows? - kidding, I can only insert up to 10.. that sucks) below! Just a heads up, one of the members Jungkook (yes, the one Sir Chester mentioned in class while we were all casually reading his Twitter timeline) walked over to my area - like he was literally a few centimeters or meters (I don’t know) in front of me. That was one of the perks of getting barricade. I am so thankful to have been brought a bit closer by our new friends, but we should really thank the force of gravity (for making it possible for me to be pushed to the most front)

The highlight of the entire show however (honestly, everything should be considered as a highlight lol) would be my bias Jimin singing a snippet of his first self-produced solo song “Promise” a.k.a 약속 (yaksok) for us - which made the night even more special to me!

If you have plans to visit Machu Picchu here are tips to have the best experience possible. There is no need to stress over plans as the site is easily accessible despite its location in the middle of the Andes. We were successfully able to plan our trip to Machu Picchu only days before our arrival.

It was happenstance when we had five free days between Ecuador and Mexico. With the cheapest flights involving a layover in Peru we booked our flights to Cusco, the former Incan capital and gateway to Machu Picchu. To see the famous Incan citadel is a dream and we feel fortunate to be some of the few in the world to visit. It may be the well-beaten path, but we’ve never met a person with a bad thing to say about visiting Machu Picchu.

Tips For Your Visit To Machu Picchu

Bring your Passport

You will need your passport number to purchase tickets for your visit to Machu Picchu, but also you need to make sure you actually bring your passport to the site when you visit. The gate agents will check that the name and passport number on your ticket matches your passport, so don’t forget it!

Have your ticket printed

Again, the gate agents will be checking for your tickets before you enter Machu Picchu. You will need to hand them a hard copy of your ticket.

You can get your passport stamped

Another reason you may want your passport is to get it stamped! After exiting Machu Picchu you will find a small stand with a stamp and inkpad to document your trip to one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I read that it is 1 sole to get your passport stamped, but I didn’t see anyone paying. Nevertheless, you should have a few soles handy just in case. We chose to forgo because space in our passports is precious.

Purchase your tickets beforehand

You’ll need to purchase your tickets to Machu Picchu before you arrive. Tickets are limited to 2500 a day, and sometimes in the high season, these can sell out. It’s best to purchase tickets once you know for sure you’ll be headed to Machu Picchu. It’s possible to buy tickets in Cusco upon arrival, or you can even buy them in Aguas Caliente, but the easier and more convenient way is to buy them online. You cannot buy tickets to Machu Picchu at the gate. 

A quick Google search will yield many tour operators acting as a middleman to sell tickets to you. The cheapest option is to buy them off the Ministry of Culture website. We bought our tickets from this website, which actually doesn’t look like it’s been updated it since 1995, but it is indeed the real and cheapest deal! Be patient as the website can take awhile to load and make sure to switch it to English if you are not a Spanish speaker.

How to get the best price for your tickets to Machu Picchu?

Definitely try the Ministry of Culture website first. Prices are as follows.

Machu Picchu foreign adult: 152 soles

Machu Picchu + Montana Machupicchu foreign adult: 200 soles

Machu Picchu + Huayna Picchu foreign adult: 200 soles

Children under 8 are free of charge (with proof of age).

You cannot get the discounted children or student fare on this website. It must be done with a tour operator. See more info regarding student fares here.

Follow the steps and enter payment at the end. When you get your ticket number, write it down and take a screenshot of your ticket. I never received an email confirmation from the site, but because I had the reservation number I was able to get my hotel to access it and print it out.

If you want a no-hassle way to get to Machu Picchu try here. Services like this are a bit more expensive, but only by a few dollars.

There are two ways up from Aguas Calientes

Once you reach Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu town you still have some work to do to reach Machu Picchu. The site sits about 600m above the town and the valley floor.

Bus

Buses run regularly to and from Machu Picchu town to the ruins. They cost $12 or 40 Soles a person one way and it takes around 25 minutes to reach the top. This is tourist price gouging at it’s best! The road is bumpy and zig-zagged, so be prepared if you get motion sick easily. We were told that in the high season the lines to get on the bus can take one hour or more to board.

However, on the second day we visited Machu Picchu we walked right up to the bus and got on with no lines, so it just depends on the time of day and season. Buses start running at 5:30 am and you’ll have to make sure you’re on this bus if you want to catch the sunrise over Machu Picchu. Just be aware this is probably one of the busiest times you can take the bus up so you’ll likely need to be in line at 4:30 am.

Hike

You can also hike up to Machu Picchu from town. The hike up is steep, but stairs are well maintained and wide. It should take you an hour and a half to hike up. We opted to sleep in and be lazy so we took the bus up to Machu Picchu and hiked down.

The hike down was very enjoyable and took us 45 minutes, but we definitely had our New York walking pace on. The hike up/down from Machu Picchu is the free option, but depending on your physical ability it may tire you out.

There is no free entrance to visit Machu Picchu

Don’t think that you can hike up to Machu Picchu yourself and avoid paying to get in. Machu Picchu is literally located in the middle of the Andes and is inaccessible except by the entrance. Seriously, I don’t know how the Incas built this here because the location is scary as hell.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but you could die if you try to hike yourself in without paying. We overheard one of the guys telling stories about people trying to break in and risking their lives. Just pay the money – it’s worth it.

What are the hikes around Machu Picchu?

The fun doesn’t have to stop after you marvel at the magnificent Inca ruins. There are a number of hikes you can do to make the most out of your visit to Machu Picchu.

Huayna Picchu

The most popular hike to do is Huayna Picchu, or sometimes called Wayna Picchu. Huayna Picchu is the mountain directly behind every photo of the famous Inca ruins. It’s been nicknamed the mountain of death for its incredibly steep climb and terrifying stairs. Huayna Picchu is no joke and should only be conquered by the more experienced hikers.

Only 400 permits to climb Huayna Picchu are issued a day and usually sell out months in advance. Since we booked last minute there was no way we were getting a ticket to Huayna Picchu unfortunately. The 400 are split into two – 200 groups so that visitors are staggered by time. Tickets are purchased and combined with your entrance ticket to Machu Picchu.

Montana Machu Picchu

If you can’t get tickets for Huayna Picchu but want to hike try for Montana Machu Picchu (or Machu Picchu Mountain). 800 passes are granted per day for Machu Picchu Mountain so you are more likely to get a ticket here if you are booking last minute. Machu Picchu Mountain is definitely considered the less scary of the hikes as the trails and stairs are wider and not as steep, although it is a much higher elevation at 3082 meters above sea level.

The views at the top are to die for and we really enjoyed the hike. We both are decently fit and found the hike challenging at points, but not terrible. The hike up took us one hour and 10 minutes with stops for photos and took us about 45 minutes down. Round trip we spent three hours here with a packed lunch at the peak. These tickets are sold in conjunction with the tickets to Machu Picchu.

Sun Gate

The Sun Gate, or Inti Punku, was once the entrance to Machu Picchu. This hike is the least demanding of all the hikes mentioned and takes 3-4 hours round trip to complete. Once you enter Machu Picchu you’ll find signs pointing you in the direction of the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate is the only hike that is free with your ticket to Machu Picchu.

What should I pack for Machu Picchu?

Make sure to pack in layers for Machu Picchu as mornings and evenings can be cool, but when the sun pops up during the day things can turn hot. You’ll also be walking quite a bit so best not to arrive with a sweater on and nothing underneath. Here is our full Peru packing list.

Do you need a guide for Machu Picchu?

We had read a few times that we would need a guide to venture around Machu Picchu. While a guide is certainly helpful in providing you with information and leading you through the site it is not necessary.

If you do want a guide and don’t have one booked don’t worry. When you arrive at Macchu Picchu there will be plenty of guides outside the entrance offering their service to you.

Are there bathrooms?

There are no bathrooms once you enter Machu Picchu so prepare yourself beforehand. The only bathrooms nearby are located outside gates and cost 2 soles.

There isn’t much at the site

Other than bathrooms there isn’t much else at the entrance of Machu Picchu. There are two overpriced restaurants, a souvenir shop, and the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge. That’s it! So again, arrive at Machu Picchu with all that you will need for the day. We made sure to have a packed lunch for our independent day at Machu Picchu. Our day with a guide we enjoyed afternoon tea at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.

Stay in Aguas Caliente

There is only one property to stay at Machu Picchu and that is Belmond Sanctuary Lodge. At $1400 per night, this hotel may not be an option for everyone, and there is no camping at Machu Picchu. Your next best option to stay nearby is to stay in Aguas Calientes, ie the base town of Machu Picchu and where you will find the train station, restaurants, and all the hotels. There are many accommodation options in Aguas Calientes ranging from campsites to high-end properties.

We personally stayed at The Sumaq which is one of the highest rated hotels in the area and loved it. The Sumaq has a unique location right along the Urubamba River and is away from all the hustle and dare I say uncharming Aguas Caliente town center. The 5-star hotel is just a five-minute walk from the train station and will deliver and pick up all your luggage for you upon arrival and departure.

The Sumaq is elegant, comfortable, and beautifully decorated with decent WiFi speeds so you can enjoy Netflix after your long day (that’s what we did anyway!). Most of the rooms have a private balcony overlooking the river as well. The staff here are well trained and were able to answer all of our 20 questions about Machu Picchu.

Some of the highlights of our stay a The Sumaq was the daily tea service, complimentary Pisco Sours in the bar, and enjoying the cocktail making class offered. The Sumaq also offers half board which was great because we didn’t feel like leaving our hotel for dinner after our two long days at Machu Picchu. Their local food and presentation are fantastic, especially their ceviche.

How long should I spend at Machu Picchu?

The site of Machu Picchu is huge and in my opinion, deserves two days of exploring. It is incredible and looks unreal to the point it’s overwhelming when you first visit. It’s hard for me to even believe it was built hundreds of years ago as it would be hard enough to build in modern time.

That’s why we found ourselves visiting two days in a row. The first was with a guided tour around the actual site, and the second day was to hike Montana Machu Picchu and explore Machu Picchu on our own time. On our second day, we were able to sit above the site and allow for it all to sink into our memories.

How do ticket times work for Machu Picchu?

If you are booking your own Machu Picchu tickets rather than going with a tour you may notice that you either have two ticket times. Your first option is in the morning from 6-12 and your second is an afternoon visitor from 12-6.

In our experience, you just have to enter between the times shown on your ticket, but there is no one who is going to come to hunt you down among the other 2500 tourists to kick you out when your time is up. We had a morning pass and entered at 10 am and left the sanctuary at 2 pm. If you’re looking for the best value a morning ticket will ensure more time.

There are ATM’s in Aguas Calientes

You’ll find plenty of ATM’s to access cash in Aguas Calientes, so make sure you have the right travel banking details to avoid any problems while in Peru. While I heard that there is one ATM located at Machu Picchu we never saw one.

Do they sell Alpaca sweaters in Aguas Calientes?

While there are many small shops and stands to buy your typical Peruvian tourist gear around Machu Picchu I found the prices higher and people less willing to barter with you than in Cusco. Also, you can forget about finding any real baby alpaca in Aguas Calientes. So if you are on a mission for the authentic (and expensive) baby alpaca I would recommend shopping at authorized retailers in Cusco like Sol Alpaca.

Every seller will swear up and down that they sell real baby Alpaca, but it’s almost always a mix of adult Alpaca with acrylic yarn. Don’t let that put you off from the cheap sweaters they’re still cute, some are Alpaca (not baby), and it supports local shopkeeps. The real stuff is pricey, soft, and cool to the touch. Cameron was able to pick up a real sweater for about $88 USD while on sale, a good deal.

Bring the right clothes+sunblock

Don’t forget that you’re near the equator in Peru and that Machu Picchu is very high in elevation. You will most definitely need sunblock while visiting the ancient site to protect your skin. It’s also advisable to wear proper clothes while visiting. Depending on your interest you may be walking a lot and climbing many stairs so its best to wear breathable and loose clothing. If you are hiking either Montana Machu Picchu or Huayna Picchu I would recommend a packable daypack, shorts, hiking shoes, sunglasses, and a hat.

I saw a few interesting outfits while visiting Machu Picchu. Particularly some girls in heels trying to get the perfect Instagram shot. While they may have looked good I don’t think that Machu Picchu is the place for heels or anything not comfortable to walk around. Whether you’re hiking or not I would recommend good walking shoes.

When is the best time to visit Machu Picchu?

It rains often at Machu Picchu during the wet season (November – March) this makes for muddy trails and cloud obscured views. If you want the best chance to see Machu Picchu sunny and in all her glory you should plan to go in the dry season (May-October).

The busiest periods are from June to August. We visited mid-June and had clear sunny days, booked our tickets just days in advance, and didn’t find the crowds too bad.

Bring enough water!

Especially if you are doing any hiking and if it is the dry season. We brought two travel water bottles each. Take note that once you enter through the gate you won’t be able to purchase any water, but just outside you will be able to buy a few bottles for triple the price that you would down in Aguas Calientes.

Travel elegantly

The main gateway to Machu Picchu is the Peruvian city of Cusco.  But Cusco, as you may or may not know, is quite far from Machu Picchu and you will still have quite a journey to reach the ancient city. From Cusco, most people either hike the Inca Trail or take the train to Machu Picchu.

Hiking the Inca Trail

Hiking the Inca trail is one of the most popular things to do in Peru. It also books our months in advance, must be done with a tour, and is not cheap. The Peruvian government 200 passes per day to hikers so if you’re booking last minute you won’t be doing the hike. The hike is also hard work and you’ll probably arrive at Machu Picchu tired and ready for a shower. To hike the Inca trail will run you anything between $500-$1000.

Train to Machu Picchu

The train to Aguas Calientes is no doubt the easiest and quickest way to see Machu Picchu. The two main operators are PeruRail and IncaRail. Both of these operators offer different types of train service, from affordable to panorama view trains, to luxury.

We decided if we were going to Machu Picchu we may as well do it in style and went with the luxury option. The Belmond Hiram Bingham is a once in a lifetime journey and definitely the most carefree way to travel to Machu Picchu.

The train owes its name to the explorer, Hiram Bingham, who rediscovered the citadel of Machu Picchu. Once you arrive to Poyro station in Cusco you are immediately transported back in time to the 1920’s. The whole train is decorated in the style of the Pullman cars, each with polished wood, beautiful bronze details, and comfortable seats. There is a main dining car as well as a lounge area, bar, and entertainment area where the live band will play throughout the journey to and from Machu Picchu.

Guests on the Belmond Hiram Bingham are served neverending Pisco Sours as well as whatever else they may want from the bar. Three-course meals are also elegantly served on the white tablecloth and paired with wine. Truth be told it’s the first train ride I didn’t want to get off of, and that’s speaking for both journeys to and from Machu Picchu. The staff and the ambiance truly make you feel special and welcomed and I don’t think there is any other way we would want to travel to Machu Picchu again.

Sure, at $950 round trip the Belmond Hiram Bingham is far from cheap. However, we factored in that this price included the journey from Cusco, meals, drinks, bus to and from Aguas Calientes to the citadel, entrance to Machu Picchu with a guide, and afternoon tea. Regardless of all that the journey truly was enjoyable and hassle free from beginning to end. If you can swing it I would highly recommend following in our footsteps.

There is no bagcheck

We brought a backpack in both days to Machu Picchu expecting to have our bags checked but it never happened. I’m not saying to bring something illegal in obviously, but what I’m trying to get at is don’t be hesitant to bring in food, snacks, and whatever else for your journey.

There are no tripods allowed + selfie sticks

It’s true! Those annoying selfie sticks are banned at Machu Picchu – rejoice! Along with the banning of selfie sticks are camera tripods. If you are seen using these you will likely get yelled at by one of the guards. You’ll just have to get your photos the good old fashioned way and ask strangers to help you out!

Bring a good camera

You’re heading to one of the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World, so make sure to bring a good travel camera. Drones are not allowed at Machu Picchu.

Don’t expect llamas to be everywhere 🙂

A few guys on our train told us they expected llamas to be everywhere at Machu Picchu. I must admit even I wanted the ancient site to be overflowing with llamas everywhere. Sadly, (or happily, if you have llama-phobia), we only saw five or so llamas grazing around Machu Picchu. I saw more hanging out in Cusco with their Quechua lady owners than at Machu Picchu, so if you want to guarantee yourself a photo wait until Cusco and pay a few soles to take their picture.

Plan Your Visit to Machu Picchu

We rely on a few trusted websites that help save us money and time when booking hotels, flights, and car rentals. Check out some of our preferred partners below:

Wondering what to bring to Machu Picchu Check out our ultimate Peru packing list.

Travel Insurance: We never travel without travel insurance with World Nomads.  Natasha is a bit of a worry wart and would rather stay safe than sorry. World Nomads is ideal for flexible and great plans!

Water: It’s not advised to drink the tap water in Peru.

Guide Book: You may not have internet to do research in Peru. For wireless nights we typically turn to Lonely Planet.

Read: Turn Right at Machu Picchu.

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The post 25 Things to Know Before Visiting Machu Picchu (2019) appeared first on The World Pursuit.

Explorer’s Tale

Active isolationism…. That’s what they called it. An idea that had fumigated through the upper echelons of the elite, propagated through the ivory towers that dotted academia, and eventually found itself within the highest levels of government. A novel idea, a rather simple one, albeit one that was flawed and very much self-defeating from the very inception of its cause.

The very title, was something to be scoffed at. Merging two vastly different worlds and mindsets into a single cohesive thought process…. It was laughable, almost ridiculous to imagine as something that would really be considered as a legitimate policy…..

And yet here they were. Having ridden on the coattails of this newfound stance for a good few centuries now. Long enough that the Ranger and Scouting corps were recognized as a force to be reckoned with in and of themselves. Something to be respected, a position to be touted; as opposed to the initial reception of the dual-winged corps as something but a farce. A combination of political heavyweights butting into military affairs. Creating a joint venture that needn’t be created between that of the bureaucratic academics and the independent military. A joint venture that would last centuries, that now had a home of it’s own aboard the massive station that was the bulwark of their military might….

Within the halls of the superstructure of the station, a lone Ranger walks casually to one of the observation halls, and settles down on one of the benches that overlook the observation port. A flurry of activities can be seen outside of the viewing port, construction yards hastily putting together new ships, cargo and supply vessels attempting to dock with the station, a pair of HC-702v2 refits patrolling the general vicinity of the station, and an F-205 fighter squadron practicing emergency maneuvers just outside of the viewing port. The ranger gazes over the sights and activities,

It was here where Ellen spent most of the increasingly rare times she had away from her long range missions, as she walked along the wide halls within the superstructure of the station. Peering out to observe the constantly flurry of activity that constituted for a rather dynamic background view. Construction yards hastily assembling new ships, cargo and supply vessels docking with the station as well as many of the innumerable relay stations that dotted the space above the planet. There were even small-scale military exercises taking place, fighters and smaller frigates forming defensive maneuvers as they swerved and navigated around the tight corners of the stations and satellites above the planet. Navigating through the invisible ebbs and tides of their respective navigational lanes.

“Lieutenant Commander, the Endeavor is ready for launch, ETD, 2 hours.” A voice quickly made itself heard within her earpiece as she reached a hand to respond. “Affirmative, on my way now.” The Ranger responded, walking off, leaving the hallway barren and empty yet again.

Upon arriving in the massive hangar, the Ranger exchanged a few salutes with the personnel there, all the while, running through the final checklist as she headed to her ship.

“D2732-G1-Q3-S2910-P4. Quite a mouthful.” She murmured to herself, as she made her way out of the briefing room and onto the tarmac as it were, towards what would be her home and only means of conveyance home for the next few months. “VAI, you got everything the Administrator mentioned?”

“Affirmative, mission notes, and relevant information has been saved onto the ship’s local databanks. Mission related materials, equipment, and supplies are all packed up and ready to go.”

“Personal effects?”

“Loaded, in your quarters as per usual Lieutenant Commander.”

“Good.” She stood there, right outside of the craft. “Bigger from the outside. Let’s just hope we don't’ get too cramped in there, I don’t want a repeat of the Dujan storms.”

“Affirmative.”

Stepping onto the landing ramp she took one last look at the base, at his home. There was a part of her that understood the ramifications of this mission. This could be the last time she ever gazed upon her homeworld, or perhaps it could be yet another routine drift through space. Only time would tell.

Her craft felt small and insignificant in comparison to many of the juggernauts within orbit (a vessel that barely qualified as a frigate, 250 meters across from bow to stern, a smooth dagger-like craft with but a handful of decks and a prominent bridge at the aft of the ship, with most of its space relegated to fine tuned instruments, top of the line engines, and defensive countermeasures), but such was its necessity. It didn’t take long before she made her final checks leaving the hangar proper, and made her approach, towards the massive array of satellite-like objects arranged in a ring. Each satellite lit up in a dull red color, one after another, before a brilliant beam of light enveloped it’s center. The tiny craft moved into position, and with one swoop, entered the light….

One would imagine the actual travel to be somewhat life changing, but in reality, it felt barely any different than standard gate travel. Instantaneous and without much effect on the craft or its occupants.

This time however, it was clear something had gone wrong, severely wrong. Whether it was the coordinates or some error on the calculations’ parts it wasn’t clear. But the tiny vessel had seemingly emerged prematurely out of its designated corridor in space, right into the presence of what was an alien vessel, insectoid in design, and very much alien….

Any observers from space would’ve seen a massive ‘rip’ in the very fabric of physical space itself before this ranger’s craft zoomed out of it like a bullet fired from the barrel of a gun.

It had gone for a straight trajectory towards the alien craft before stopping but a few kilometers away from it, utilizing all of the inertial dampners and reverse thrusters it had available; any lesser vessel would’ve collided without a chance of stopping quickly enough. The craft looked mostly intact, but was smoldering, the engines flickering.

Whether or not the premature materialization of the wormhole was a product of this alien vessel’s own design, or perhaps simply a freak stellar anomaly was unclear. What was clear however was the real and pressing danger of inadvertent first contact…. The first in what could be several decades, no, centuries even - in recorded Ranger history.

“Ugh….” Ellen regained consciousness. The sudden deceleration having caused a blackout akin to several Gs of force being applied to her form. But thankfully with mitigation from the dampners, most of the lethal elements of such a rapid deceleration were avoided. “Agh! E-.” She stared at her surroundings, at the entire cockpit which glew in a dark amber red, clashed by the harsh blue of her console. It didn't take long for her to snap out of her stupor. “VAI! Sitrep now!”

“Lieutenant commander. It appears a spatial anomaly has knocked the Endeavor off course and has prevented appropriate QEC wormhole manifestation at the designated target coordinates. However I detect latent background energies, possibly the anomalous energy reading we’d detected from midway relays. Telemetry suggests quantum entanglement mechanisms were unable to hold a stable primary wormhole location, primary site was deferred to secondary followed by the tertiary site that happened to be within this sector of space. Main life support systems functional. Secondary life support systems damaged. Weapon systems, nominal. Repair systems, nominal. Primary Reactor Core power, nominal. Primary Sublight Engines, nominal. Secondary power modules, damaged but 41% functional. Primary Hyperspace engines, offline, damaged. Primary alcubierre drives, offline. Primary QEC-LR drives, offline. Primary Scanners and external sensors online. Alert! Alert! Unknown vessel detected! First Contact Protocols Breached!” The AI responded, its tone calm and measured all throughout, as it gradually had its tone grow considerably more serious and dour. Culminating in the sharp, alarming voice indicative of such a critical moment at the latter most statement.

“We’ve breached standard protocol,.... Article 7, but that doesn’t apply here being that this was an anomalous mishap…. Right, move on to Emergency Encounter Protocol. We’re treating this as it should be, an accident.” Ellen mulled over her options, very much glossing over the apparent threat of the Reach ship in front of her. The Ranger showing the tell tale signs of her people’s dysphoria when it came to the galaxies, the universe at large. Fearing their own breach of protocol, petrified of ostracization, legal action, or worse….

“Affirmative.” The AI responded once more, as Ellen nodded, tapping at her console with trepidation as the looming fear of the alien unknown began to sink in. The initial preliminary scans coming up with nothing but what their optical sensors and cameras had already informed them of…. The absolutely bizarre design, the aesthetic that was more alien than anything she’d encountered…

“I fucking told you I didn't want another Dujan storm situation…. Fucking hell.” The Commander griped, even under such conditions she was sure to maintain that unique uppity spirit. Perhaps that gave her brownie points in the vetting process for this job.

“Counter-indicative statement, Dujan storm was a result of terrestrial anomalies, not spatial failures of QE and FTL equipment.” The AI replied, before adding something that was very much appropriate for their rather unique friendship. “Yet another logical fallacy, but such things are appropriate for organics.”

The Commander scoffed out a sharp snicker, before a series of alarms began to blare within the cockpit yet again. “All drives are offline, sublight won’t get us anywhere if the damn alien ship can just catch up…. It’ll make us sitting ducks” She began as energy readings from the alien craft began to spike.

“VAI, are those scanning signatures or weapons arrays?!” The Ranger exclaimed, reading the live scans but unable to discern anything from the alien craft. As if it had passive and active cloaking countermeasures that even their advanced scanners couoldn’t penetrate…

“Unknown, Lieutenant Commander, with no preliminary data on this species to cross reference and extrapolate from…. Statistically speaking it is an equal probability.” VAI responded promptly yet again, barely giving Ellen pause for thought as she stared at the increasingly threatening alien vessel, and the limited data offered on her consoles.

“But this isn’t statistics VAI. Factor in organic innate responses. Certainty in security, when approaching the unknown….. In first contact scenarios - always assume aggressive intent.” Ellen spoke under hushed breaths as she began powering up the ship’s defensive countermeasures….. Whether or not the Reach ship was simply scanning them, or whether it was powering up its own weapons was unknown….

What would happen next however would either go down in Ranger history as the worst act of misconduct on record, a simple scout following protocol, or perhaps a selfless ranger out on the fringes acting on her heels to do the right thing….

“Any lifeforms on the vessel?” Ellen inquired, as the targeting systems were barely able to make sense of the vessel in front of them. The Ranger having to manually input telemetry data, correcting for every conceivable factor from stellar drift to actual distance as she awaited the AI’s response.

“Affirmative. Scans are able to discern organic matter within the vessel. Probability of a crewed vessel…..” VAI spoke, once again, with that cold bluntness that the Ranger had become so familiar with.

“Probability?” Tensions soon spiked as the weapon system’s powerup reached their full potential, the conversation between the pair limiting to but a scant few words. Every precious second needed to be saved.

“59.7%”

It was with that number, that estimation based on scant data…. That Ellen decided to halt the attack for now…. Long enough for the reach ship to react and fire the first blow…. The craft effectively gaining tactical advantage over Ellen’s inability to act out of line, to act in aggression against possible threats, or more accurately, to bring herself to ending the lives on that ship….

It wasn’t long however before she managed to return fire…. the 250 meter, dagger shaped craft briefly revealing a spinal canon that spanned the length of the ship, right at the blunted end of the aft of the vessel. It fired. At first, seemingly nothing as it unleashed wave upon wave of variable radioactive wavelengths to assess the vessel’s shielding systems before finally, a bright beam of ionized particles slammed into the Reach’s vessel. An ion blast meant not to destroy, but to disable and perhaps permanently incapacitate the sensitive systems onboard, giving the Ranger ample time to repair her own vessel and leave.

Ellen nervously glanced over to her console as if to see if his efforts had brought them any closer to salvation…. Her eyes practically glazing over the sensitive systems as if to turn away at the slightest inkling of a weapons lock from the enemy vessel….. But none came. In fact, the energy buildup seemed to have dissipated entirely. Ellen breathed a sigh of unfettered relief as she leaned back against his chair, her entire visage that of complete and utter exhaustion at what had transpired over the course of these few minutes….

But she knew it wasn’t over yet…. With an act of aggression having been initiated by the aliens (and reciprocated by her own returning fire), she’d have hell to pay if she didn’t come home with at the very least, a full technical and tactical report of this potential threat…. And being that the craft in front of her was disabled and ripe for the picking…. Her mission profile had suddenly shifted. From one of passive observation to active data-gathering. She continued to reason with herself about the transpired events, cross referenced it with every ranger protocol she could remember as she tried to find an ‘out’ for herself.

What happened next however certainly wasn’t expected…. Nor was it something that she’d believed was even possible. All she remembered at this point in time was hearing a number of blaring alarms indicating a hull breach, followed by successive alarms indicative of a boarding party, finished off by her bridge bulkheads being forced open. In but a span of what she imagined was half a minute, they’d boarded her. Disabled her, and dragged her onto their own vessel. Not after managing to capture her vessel, holding it within the alien ship’s massive hangar bay as they dragged Ellen off to whatever fate awaited her….

Thrown into a cell on the Reach ship, the same one she disabled but a scant half an hour ago, she struggled to recall the series of events that had transpired, as she tried to discern where she went wrong and most importantly, how she could get out of this mess…. And then she remembered, that black suited figure that had knocked her out in a single blow….

Protocol stated that upon capture, all Ranger elements must self-terminate. That included the ship…. And the ranger themselves.

Her thoughts were taking a rough turn just as VAI began a brief communique over her private comms.

“I’m with you.” It stated, short and simple.

“N-no. No! Y-you can’t. Protocol…. Y-you stay with the ship. If they take it, it, it will-”

“I’ve already taken the liberty of activating failsafe protocols. If any foreign attempts at tampering with sensitive equipment is detected, it will trigger the self destruct and a reactor overload. Sec 22-910-ext.”

“Y-you. VAI. You know what. What they’ll do to you, to me, to us, to the- Damnit! This shouldn’t have happened, why, how did this happen?!” She shouted in frustration, as her breaths were clearly intensifying now.

“Unforeseen circumstances. We will manage to persevere through the coming dark. I will stay. Regardless of what happens. Ad infinitum Ranger Caldwell.” There was a conviction in the AI’s voice, enough to give Ellen a pause for thought as she gritted her teeth in an attempt to stand up to what was surely to come.

“Ad infinitum….” She weakly replied as she sat alone in her cell, staring out to gauge her next move….

Fragment I, "Book"

I arrived after days of driving with a flat tire. This desert had me thinking about a flat-shaped skull, with it's fine, white sand and the scarace plants. I arrived... Where? There's a mountain in front of me, and I can hear a river running to my left. I walk for a minute, in search of the river, but as I walk, the sound doesn't give any sign that I'm closing in. The mountain looks the same, with fluous, red rocks, and with a man-sized crack located at about ten meters above the ground. I keep the crack at the back of my mind, and I begin my trek through the sands, in search of the river, and it's sweet water. Three hours go by. It's getting dark. I read somewhere that in the desert, it's good to have a heating source at night, for the temperature is simply freezing. I glance over to the mountain, and I instantly paralyze. The crack, it's still there, ten meters above the ground. As I look more carefully, I begin to realize just what happened: I was walking in place. Nothing moved from the place it was 3 hours ago. I look behind me, and I see my car, all rusty and dirty now. 'What the hell? So you're telling me...' I run to the car while cursing, and open the door with a massive creak. I immediately look at my car's watch, and stand stupefied. Two years passed since I left my car here. Defeated, I sit on the hood of my deceased car, and stare at the top of the One-Faced Mountain. 'How can that beautiful color that I've never seen before be produced by this peculiar and seemingly boring mountain?' I wake up next morning, with no memory of what exactly happened the day before. I'm in the back of my car, covered with a blanket, my cigarettes and lighter sitting on the frontseat, next to a freshly made sandwich. I light a cigarette, drawing it's smoke in my recently awoken lungs. 'I wish coffee still existed.', I say, but nobody was there to listen anyway. With the cigarette still lit, I pop my head out of one of the windows, and try to see where the hell am I. There's nothing outside. Nothing. No sky, no ground, nobody. I look down to my car, and find that my wheels have been stolen. 'Where am I?...' I try to scream, but there's no use, I can't seem to hear even an echo. Resigned, I pull my head back in the car, and for a fraction of a second, I see someone standing in the driver's seat, looking at me. In the next moment, I open my eyes and see that my hands are wrapped around the seat, as if they tried to grab onto something. 'I'm slowly losing my mind here. What am I supposed to do?' After smoking two cigarettes, I remember I have a radio in this old thing. Maybe that will help with anything. I start the radio, but nothing comes out through the speakers. 'Damn it.' I throw myself back on the backseat, and smoke another one while looking through the window, trying to find anything in that all-white sea of nothingness. I start to hear a distinct sound, one I thought I haven't heard in like two years. I stop my breath, and listen closely. White... White noise. Coming from that damned radio. 'Fuck. I really thought I know that sound.' While I finish my cigarette, the white noise starts to shift slightly, it's tone flowing at a slower pace. I listen to it, absent-mindedly. My eyes are closing, and I begin to hear... A river? The sound is detaching itself from the speakers and flies out through the window, shooting to a close distance, where it remained constant. I jump up and look at the time. '5:47 PM. It's getting dark soon.' I gather my strength and try to get out of the car. I'm in what looks to be... A jungle. The river is nearby, I can feel the ground shaking a bit from the high debit. There are lianas everywhere. Some sun rays manage to get through the dense treetops, lighting the ground in a perfect kaleidoscopic pattern. I break one of the lianas and as it falls, I am sprayed with a black liquid. From the taste of it, it's black tea. I coil the liana around my forearm, carefully holding the opened end, from where the black tea is seeping out of. I get back in the car with it and light another cigarette. When I lower my lighter, I feel a pair of eyes on the back of my neck. I turn around and see... A girl. As soon as our eyes meet, she vanishes. In her place, the remains of an eaten sandwich and an empty mug. I take the mug, and pour myself some black tea, while waiting for the dark to fall. 'This works. It's not coffee, but it seems to do the trick.' Asleep. 'Am I mad for trying to do this? Who in their right minds would even attempt to go at such lengths for an answer? THAT'S IT. Just an answer. And I do THIS to myself for it? Fuck. ' 'What?' 'I DO. But it didn't have to come down to this!' Awake. It's 2:47 AM. The jungle is gone. There's just desert around me. I get out of the car, pissed at the fact that I have no wheels left. I remember the white noise, and the cigarettes, and... The girl. It's raining, and with the rain, a familiar taste is starting to form in my mouth. Black tea, again. I get back in the car, just in time to hear a cute laugh getting out of it with a ghostly blur. I reach for my cigarettes and light one up. 'Hmm... I remember smoking just 5 cigarettes.' I count them up. Seven are missing, counting the one in my hand as well. 'Oh you. You took one, didn't you?' I finish playing with the smoke, and go back out. It stopped raining, so I begin to look around me for clues. The mountain is there, with it's crack, ten meters above the ground. 'The lianas. They can come in handy.' I rush to the car, gather my things in a backpack, along with a small, red box. I can't remember what's in it, but the idea of it being very important is deeply embedded in my mind. I take the lianas and drink whatever's left in them, and start strolling to the mountain's base. Looking up, the smooth surface of the mountain resembles a reddish-brown patch of skin, while the crack looks like a pair of lips. I throw the liana in the crack, and it closes around the rope. 'Impossible. How can rock move like that?' The rope instantly dries up, and the sound of the river returns. 'This was too easy. Something is not right.' I climb up, and enter through the crack, careful not to break any of my bones. I jump and almost stumble. Utter darkness. I'm under the mountain now. The river is louder in here, but I sometimes hear what apprars to be ebb & flow. I light my lighter, hoping to use some of it's light, but it's of no use. It barely penetrates the darkness, throwing some light on my fingers, but no further. I light another smoke. Eight. I breathe the smoke in, and as I let it out, the cave begins to lighten up, as if the smoke Is interacting with the dense darkness, neutralizing it. I'm in a natural hallway, but I can't seem to find it's end. The darkness swirls around me as I move, afraid of the smoke coming out of my cigarette. I see a dim light at the end of this nature-made hallway, and while extinguishing my cigarette, I watch my hand moving by itself, storing the butt in the side pocket of my backpack. Darkness, again. At least I know in what direction to go now. I walk, and walk, and walk, but the light is not getting any closer, just the sound of the river. I take another cigarette out of the pack, and light it up. I turn around, and I see her. 'Goodbye.', she says. I take a step back and fall. Black tea is flooding my nostrils, my mouth. I clench my fists, and squirm in an unending fall. I wake up in the back of my car again. It's cold, very cold. And I'm all wet. I look at the time, and it's... '6:47 AM.' Through the windshield, I can see the mountain with it's ghostly coloured top, and at it's base, a massive door, thrown open. I take my pack of smokes, and start counting them. Ten are missing, even if I knew I only smoked eight. Eight, and two missing. I have half a pack left. I get out of the car again, slightly pissed at the situation, and slam the car door loudly. Suddenly, the massive mountain gate started closing, as a reaction to what I just did. I grab my backpack off the ground, and rush through the closing door. Enveloped in the same absence of light. I start another cigarette, and the smoke starts to tear apart the black veil. Eleven gone, nine left. The smoke is more effective this time, for in front of me, a huge cavern is starting to form, mushrooms growing on it's floor. I take a wary step towards the center of the cavern. The sound of the river is booming all around me, but there's no sign of it anywhere. Halfway through my cigarette and my journey to the center, I take out my watch and take note of the time. '5:46 AM. 3 SEP' I was curious if the year was right or not, though. With just one smoke left, I look around me and I find myself in the center of the cavern. On the ground, I can make something out, peeking through the mushrooms. The broken lip of a well. I get closer, and it's like the sound of the river is pulling me inside the well. I look past the lip, and in the middle of the well, floating, was a perfect sphere of a peculiar black liquid. It pulsated, emitting that tidal sound I heard before. The sphere is rotating fast, throwing small particles of that liquid, spreading it around the entire cavern. With the cigarette almost dying, I breathe one last smoke in my chest, and blow it gently on the rotating water sphere. It started to calm down, the sound it produced slowly dimming off. I stare into it, and wonder just how many physical laws is this sphere breaking. Suddenly calmed down, I notice how the contour of a woman is forming in it. Black hair, black dress. White face, white eyes, red lips. She whispers: 'What are you looking for, stranger?' 'I had hoped you could tell me that. I'm on an endless run. I have nine cigarettes left, no food, and no coffee.' 'You shouldn't be in this place. Stop playing with my head.' she said. 'I honestly do not know where I am, or what I am looking for.' Who is this girl? I can't seem to remember anything related to her. 'Then leave. This is my place.' she shouted. 'Oh? What about my car? Isn't that MY place? Why were you in it then? Why are you smoking my cigarettes?'... Why is my voice so distant? 'That car is just the anchor back to your world. Now leave mine.' Awoken. I raise up from the hood of my car, and desperately search for my cigarettes. I look in the car, and notice a cup of hot coffee on the front seat, with my pack of cigarettes and lighter next to it. I open the door, and count my cigarettes. Eight left. 'Argh, that... Whatever she is.', I bellow out some anger, then try calming it with the taste of hot coffee. 'How did this get here...?' I wonder between sips. The clock shows 9:47 PM, but there's no darkness outside. I can't hear the river anymore. Looking through the windows, I can see the massive door, but the mountain apparently now has been cut in half, the shining top... missing. I see a single tree, right next to the entrance. I get out of the car, now familiar to the creaking sound it made. I see footsteps on the ground, leading to that tree. I don't mind them, and instead rush to it, hoping for some fruit. After running for one second, I almost hit my head on a branch, right next to the tree. 'This is a never-ending delirium I'm living.', I said. In it's bark, I can see some moving numbers, forming in new places while the damaged spot where they were previously located magically healed. I turn around and look at the footsteps. They stretch for a whole mile, with my car far in the distance as a destination. The thing is, there's a single line of them. Just one person, coming from the car to this tree. 'It's not possible. I ran beside a line. There should be two of them.' I sit down disoriented, and notice a small, spiked fruit, same color as the top of the mountain that decided to vanish over night. 'Should I really eat this? I'm so hungry though...' I take a bite of it while I'm studying the tree. The numbers start to slow down, and the leaves start to rustle. I finish the fruit, and toss it aside. The numbers come to an abrupt stop, forming a ring-like string around the tree. '20 21 5 19 20... And this one looks like a 9.' 'What the hell. Why do I have the feeling I was supposed to know what these numbers mean?' 'Boo.' she screamed, then started laughing. Startled, I look up and catch a glimpse of her, before she breaks into a murder of crows, flying away. The transformation was otherwordly. It was like every piece of her body was a crow, perfectly stitched to this branch that looked like a spinal cord. When she vanished, black liquid started running down the wounded tree, forming little balls of resin on it's bark. The sky is so blurry. The mountain... Looks like... It's growing back. I feel a drowsiness slowly taking over my body, and with the last ounce of force, I sit down with my back on the gate. 'Why did you eat that, stranger?', I hear her through the rustling of leaves. 'I was hungry... You ate my sandwich.', I replied. 'Go back home. I don't want you here. This place is filled with darkness and odd things, and they will eventually consume you. How many cigarettes are there left?' 'Eight. Not many...' 'You fool. You're going to get trapped in here.' 'I...', my body flowing on the ground. Unconscious. 'TU ESTI. ' 'What did you just say?' she asked, but I had no body to reply with anymore. Asleep. What the hell is happening? Why am I so obsessed with these dreams? Why do I need to find out? I'm running out of smokes...

Langkawi.

A postcard perfect island paradise

Captains Log Day 7 - 30/12/16 6:32pm. AirAsia Flight AK6321.

Escaping Pagoda life after several delays, gate changes and frantic bowel movements we were able to keep the innards of the captain’s stomach confined. We arrived at the island of Langkawi late and exhausted. Wikipedia break – Langkawi is officially known as Jewel of Kedah, is an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia.

After some initial hotel drama and a few phone calls to the Expedia pirates we were able to check in to our hotel. The clock had already stuck 10 and our options for food and intoxication were limited. In the spirt of adventure and despite the exhaustion, the Admiral and Captain went on a scout mission to explore the newfound land. The Captains 48-hour food poisoned fast was concluded with a mushroom soup and small personal pan pizza at Pizza hut. The first observation of the island was that of the reappearance of indoor kitchens and the concept of refrigeration of perishable goods. Feeling the energy slowly re-enter his body, his stomach was getting reacquainted with it role in breaking down food matter.

The first day on the island started once again with skipping breakfast, we were soon planning our adventures for the next few days. This Island had a LOT to do and explore. So without wasting any time on food, or any other necessities we were off and first up was the mighty Langkawi Cable car complex. The cable car takes you to a view point that is 708m above sea-level and is about 5 °C cooler than the lowlands. The total length is 2.2 km - The gradient or the slope between the Base Station and the Middle Station is said to be the second steepest in the world at 42°, right after Israel's Rosh HaNikra cable car. Here the views were special. Just breath-taking. #nowords (you might get this hashtag a few times in this log), photos, selfies and everything touristy later, we headed down and explored the remainder of the complex. First up was a Sky Dome which was a half dome like ceiling cinema – here we were shown a random film of us on a rollercoaster on mars – the graphics resembled rollercoaster tycoon 2 (a game released in 2002). Keeping the kids entertained we got into it and started putting our arms in the air and yelling as if we were in a normal rollercoaster. I don’t think the Adults in the show understood. Next up was the Sky Rex. A 3D ride which might be a law suit waiting to happen if the Jurassic park franchise find out. A train that’s taken to a 360-degree cinema in which we watch 3d movie Dinosaur park malfunction with T-Rex attacking our little car as it moved about on the spot. Once again the Adults did not appreciate the Admiral and Captain yelling about like the children. The last attraction to visit was the 3d art gallery. Known as Art in Paradise, this is the largest 3D art museum in Malaysia and the second largest in the world. Despite the Captain’s constant cringing at the tourist poses amongst the artwork, the Admiral managed to get in the mood and take a few engulfing art photographs. Finishing up a day’s worth of activities we left the complex only to see a road sign pointing to the Seven Wells waterfalls. Despite the heat and the 600 steps we had to endure the Admiral and Captain were hiking up to the waterfalls, here the Admiral took a quick dip as the Captain lulled around exhausted in the shade. Just when you thought that the day was packed enough, we were on-board a taxi to Cenang Beach, the tourist hub of Langkawi. This place was a girl’s best friend, shopping left right and centre, the next few hours was dedicated to grabbing gifts and pushing the haggling to the limit. Although there was an instance when the Admiral requested the shop keeper to lower the price to MYR10 when the item was only MYR5 #nowords. The day finished up with some Indian food at a restaurant which had rats, getting overcharged and a 50% surcharge on the cab ride home due to the late night fees.

Day 2 of Island life started early, this time we snuck in a running breakfast as our pickup arrived to take us away to the MegaSports jet ski tour. The jet ski tour consisted of 12 participants and 2 instructors. The tour involved you to pilot your own jet ski for 5 hours, as you hit the open ocean to visit 8 islands around Langkawi. This has to be one of my favourite experiences of my life, I cannot explain how fun it was #nowords. Open Ocean. Personal Jet ski. Top speed: 70 KM per hour. Recommended speed: 60kmph. Choppy ocean waters. Summer Sun. Most beautiful water. Picturesque surroundings. The Captain and Admiral were in heaven. Born to pirate, the next 5 hours involved almost capsizing 6 times, multiple instances of the jet ski feeling like it’s going to break, large portions of airtime and constant yelling at the top of our lungs. At some point the Captain, despite warnings from the tour operators discovered how to change the jet ski into sports mode, what ensued was a lot more airtime and a significant more amount of yelling from the Admiral. We were able to swim in a freshwater lake, swim in the ocean, see a random monkey fight break out and take some open water selfies. This is a MUST do for any visitor to Langkawi. Despite the instructor warning us to keep re-applying sunscreen the Admiral disembarked the jet ski looking like a lobster. Her legs looking like the Harvey Dent of Langkawi - half burnt to a crisp and the other half, white like a line of the Colombia’s finest. Up next was SkyTrex – a Jungle obstacle course. Unfortunately for the Admiral the words beginner or amateur does not exist in the Captain’s vocabulary, Intermediate course was selected (l33t >  Noob). Challenging, physically exhausting, arms weak, palms are sweaty and if we continued even for 5 minutes more there would be vomit on his sweater already – mom’s spaghetti. The next 90 minutes were spent, climbing on ladders to the top of trees, crawling through nets, balancing over Highwire and Ziplining across treetops. All done 22 meters above ground, with safety clips that needed to be attached and detached to metal wires as you proceeded. This was tough. At times the Captain’s arms gave up and he just wanted to fall. Sweat reached points of his body he did not know it could venture. Yet both Admiral and Captain continued – completing the course in above average time. Completing the course felt like body pump, CrossFit and boot camp session combined and completed in 33 degrees blaring sun. Drenched, limp but not defeated the Captain and Admiral headed back to the hotel. The sheer adrenaline still pumping through us, we decided to walk up to the famous Langkawi eagle. Departing the hotel with a 25-minute walk timeframe in mind, the walk took an exhausting 70 minutes. Unimpressed by the giant statue of the eagle, we convinced the staff at Papa Rich to feed us and we headed back for a much-needed rest.

Breakfast was a miss again as we slept to give the body some time to heal. The Admiral had entered Lobster life, her legs resembling the local rambutans, the Captain’s shoulders had also been cooked but, unlike the admiral the pain was non-existent. Without wasting any time, we left to visit the secluded and beautiful beach of Tanjung Rhu. The sun in full form was bleaching the beach with its heat, we decided to find some shade and sit. Here the captain decided to change into his bathers without taking off his shorts, the challenge was great and the result was a commando style Captain.  it was not long before the the heat became uncomfortable, we went to the local ghetto food store (making sure they had electricity and a fridge), here both the Admiral and Captain managed to stomach some of the food presented. Post our semi eaten meals, the Captain heard the calling of water vessels – following his instinct both the Admiral and Captain ended up at the jetty and were able to convince a local sailor to show them around the famous Langkawi mangroves. We boarded the speedboat and were off, the feeling of the air hitting your face as you criuse the most beautiful landscape is incredible and not able to be captured by camera #nowords. We sailed around, being taken to see the sea eagles and the Langkawi eagles feasting on chicken skin, then off to see some monkeys as they boarded, and possibly overran another tourist vessel. Next up was the Crocodile cave - nope I was not able to feed the Admiral to crocodiles, as there were none or ever were any. Followed by a bat cave, no not ‘THE’ bat cave (disappointment on the Captain’s face was evident) where we saw some hanging rocks (stalactites) and bats!. There were bats just doing the bat thing (no not fighting crime). As we left the caves, the Captain heard something move in the water under him only to see a GIANT (3 meters long at least) lizard as it ran into the cave. Thinking this could be Marvel and DC crossover, he left it and the tour continued. Last up on the tour was the Fish farm. Here some crazy fish farm guy took us around as he picked up and held crabs, sharks, giant squids and the infamous pufferfish. Personally, the Captain thought the guy was going to die. The Admiral on the other hand, feeling adventurous, held the crab and proceeded to pat a Sting Ray (we may have a new Steve Irwin on our hands).  The slimy and sandpaper texture of the Stingray failed to impress the Admiral and the Captain grossed out, refused to touch her ever in his life. The tour done and dusted the crew headed back to base, a quick dip in a cold pool, some room service club sandwich later they were on their way to Cenang beach to indulge in the party life. Going first to the local night markets, which were a sea of colour for all senses. The smells indescribable, it was looking like pagoda life was sneaking back in. We then headed back to Cenang, here disaster lifted its ugly head – when the captain went to withdraw money, the ATM processed the withdrawal but didn’t give any cash out. A stressful time ensued contacting banks and raising disputes. Stay tuned to see how this pans out. Breaking away from the mood spoiling experience we ventured to the beach where we were jet skiing a few days ago, we found a very buzzing night life, with beach bars and shisha cafes littered across the landscape. The Admiral pointed out a bar which had beanbags – fascinated we took a seat and asked for the menu, 5 minutes later, the admiral was sipping on a mojito and holding the shisha pipe, whilst the captain had in his had a GIANT bucket of Vodka and lemonade. I have to take time out to explain how big this bucket was – it was DOUBLE the size of the ones in Thailand with 450 ml of Vodka. The next 4 hours consisted of shisha and bucket sipping. Finally getting up heavily intoxicated and stumbling out onto the Cenang strip, most places shutting for the night we decided to pay homage to our roots and do a drunk maccas run. Tip: when in Aisa do not order the Prosperity burger at McDonalds unless you are looking for Pepper in the middle of 2 burger buns. The night was over for both of us when we boarded the cab and struggled into our room collapsing on our beds and passing out.

Hung over from the Captains bucket idea and dedicated to not missing breakfast on our last day, we entered the dining halls of our hotel 15 minutes before the breakfast was over. Still tasting last night’s Mcdonalds burgers, we sipped on our coffees and hoped the chatter in the room would just cease. With 12 hours remaining before our flight we packed up and left our bags and ventured to visit the unimpressive eagle once again, hanging in the mall to avoid the sun. The Admiral found a park and we lay in the gazebo surrounded by geckos (5) that were planning a civil uprising (tensions were high when we left). Here we rested before grabbing some kababs for lunch and moving to Starbucks for some WiFi and dirty chai latte like the Captain has never had before (a chai teabag dipped in milk and 2 shots of coffee). With nothing exceptional to report from the last few hours of the Langkawi adventure we departed for the airport, knowing that the closing hours of 2016 were inching closer.