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swampstew · 5 days

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KillerCook Chapter 12

Welcome to Raven’s Reading Nook - a small corner of this blog dedicated to cozy story times. Join us in the family room as we sit around and browse our phones, and eat some Girl Scout cookies as we begin tonight’s story. Rated Mature for language. Minors DNI

TGIFF – thank goodness its fuckin Friday! A long and exhausting week now behind you after a delicious late-afternoon nap, you can finally get your weekend going! First things first, phone. No better feeling than laying snug in bed and scrolling. Snug as a bug in a rug, want a hug?

Laughing to yourself at the internal rhyme, your carefree tone drops as anguish roils in your stomach. There are several notifications on your screen banner. But the one that makes you feel like you’re going to scream is the notification for KillerCook going live.

An hour and a half ago.

You take measured breaths as you robotically punch in your passcode and open the app, praying to any deity willing to help to keep you from missing a chance at seeing them.

Your reasons for breathing.

For going on each grueling day.

You suck in air as the app connects to your internet, only to let out a whimpering sigh of relief when you see the live is still going.

‘KillerCook is live: Kid Pirates BACA it up!!’

“GODS THEY’RE SO FUCKING COOL AND AMAZING!!!!” you squeal into your pillows. Giddily kicking your feet into the rumpled sheets, you press the volume button to its highest setting.

“Gang, thanks so much, take a moment and give yourself a shoulder pat. We’ve been live for nearly two hours and we met the donation goal in the first 50 minutes. I’ve never had to improv so much in my [redacted] life!!” the head chef gushed to the camera. “We really appreciate the enthusiasm to see us strip down and crush things in support of our biker crew chapter. Each donation means a lot not only to us but to the people its going to help.”

“Now the finale you’ve all been waiting for,” Killer teased as he and the others began to dress down into the dangerously skin tight swim trunks they wore under their respective pants.

“The big squeeze! To recap, our highest donors would get the privilege of having their user name on the melon as we squeeze them between our thighs. Who should start?”

The app notifications were pinging so fast that it sounded like the alarm itself was having a stroke.

“You can’t vote for me all 4 times,” Kid rolled his eyes, “Try again and actually follow directions!”

After an unsatisfactory stalemate, Kid made the executive decision to direct the line up. Wire was the first man to squeeze his melon.

Wire’s swim pants left nothing to the imagination, probably a bit more than he intended as he wrapped his towel around his pelvis and lower stomach.

A round, plump watermelon sat snug in his lap, the lucky patron – NightmareBeforeAugust.

“Hope your head doesn’t pop for realsies,” Wire winked before making overdramatic stretching motions. Properly limber, he adjusted his seat crossing his calves over each other as the melon began to develop bumps and tears on the skin.

Clasping his hands shut and locking his ankles tight, Wire squeezed his thighs again causing the watermelon to split vertically. Juice sprayed and splattered across his lap and chest, little chunks of melon lightly hit his face from the force.

“Juicy,” Wire laughed.

Heat was the next victim. He wore slightly looser fitting swim trunks that came down mid-thigh. His toned legs were still visible exposing his thorny vine tattoos extended down his thighs stopping at the knee.

Pulling his hair back in a loose bun, Heat lowered safety glasses over his eyes and pulled a travel-sized bottle of tajín from his pocket.

“Really, Heat?”

“What? A man has needs.”

Doing a quick stretch routine, Heat nestled the watermelon in between his thighs. The patron, SlapMyMass_ND_CallMe, was inked across the fruit with bright silver marker.

“Hey is it cheating if I’m holding it with my hands? I just wanna make sure it doesn’t slide out or anything,” Heat asked.

“Heat is weak you heard it here first folks!” Kid crowed in the background, the sunny rays bouncing off his aviator sunglasses. Heat threw a bottle of sun lotion at the redhead.

“Only if you don’t use your hands to actually break it. I don’t know, I would say its fine but we’d need to see your watermelon up close and personal.”

Moving the camera so it was right in front of Heat, “Ok viewers, call his ass out if he cheats!”

Wire was barking with laughter, “OI! JaneyM1098 says: ‘If I’m seeing his ass I’m staying friggin silent, no one snitch!!!!’”

That made Kid and Killer roar with laughter. Heat looked unimpressed with everyone.

Clearing his throat, Heat adjusted himself until he was seated in a yoga position, commonly known as the boat pose. Balancing on his sitting bones, Heat clasped the watermelon vertically in his hands, bringing them to the upper part of his thighs just before the knees.

Hooking his ankles together quickly, Heat applied an immense amount of pressure that made the watermelon practically crumble between his thighs. Pulp and juice coats his hands and thighs – to which he grabbed his tajín powder and started lightly coating his hands.

“Heat not on camera Jesus!” Kid grimaced as the bluette licked his hands clean.

“Eat my shorts.”

“No [redacted] thanks.”

“Kid you’re up,” Killer threw a towel at the redhead’s face.

Eustass Kid has muscles for days.

His body a never ending river of waves, channels, and dips from the contours of his physique. The perfect amount of muscle to body fat ratio, a near perfect human specimen. Wearing a deep red bathing suit that really should be considered just briefs – they were a snug fit.

“I’ll bust this melon in less than 30 seconds,” Kid proudly boasted, lightly tossing his watermelon in the air. “Hey CraftyBitchNextDoor, I last way longer than that,” he winked at the camera, making the others groan.

Dropping to the ground, Kid leaned at an incline while raising his legs in the air. Putting the melon between his thighs, Kid put his arms behind his head and stuck his tongue out at the camera.

The watermelon put up no resistance as Kid’s thighs squished it, making the melon pop as the red flesh oozed from the rind and all over his body. Juice squirted out and hit his chest, running down to his lap and red chunks of flesh pooled with it as he laid back, proud of his accomplishment.

“That was 8 seconds babe!” Kid his hand up with the sign of the horns, waving it back and forth.

The notifications were beginning to buzz over the music.

“Ok these comments are way too horny for chat, you’re all perverts!” Wire admonished the viewers. “Killer let’s wrap this up, I can’t even say the things I want to say without your audience going [redacted] feral. Suffice to say, I want to shower up and clean this juice off me!”

“Oi don’t rush me, this is my show!” the blonde scoffed, peeling off his sweaty white stringer tank top. Sitting on the floor, Killer rolled the watermelon between his palms as if he was checking to find the fruit’s weak point.

Facing the melon forward so the top donator’s name was easy to see, “- _LickMeImUrLollipop thank you for being one of the most generous people that’s supported this channel. You’re donation was so large I almost wanted to deny it. I feel like I need to pay you back or something,” he chuckled.

“Ohh shit she answered!” Heat called out excitedly. “If you wanna make me dinner as thanks I wouldn’t be opposed.” Letting out a wolf howl, “Killer’s got a hot date!”

“Shut up Heat!” Killer’s neck was flushed red. “Hmmm we’ll talk Lollipop. For now, I’m gonna squish your melon. In the name of Bikers Against Child Abuse!” Killer placed the melon between his thighs.

“I hope you join us for another charity stream in the future y’all. You’ve impressed us so much and we know of a ton of places that can use help from people like you.”

Without further flair, Killer slammed his thighs together making the watermelon burst and fly apart. As red juice and flesh rained around the TikTok influencer, he took a moment to flex his biceps for the camera.

“Yeah, I did that. I slayed that!” Killer chuckled again. “Ok, I’ve getting too silly which means its time to say goodbye,” he stood up with his friends surrounding him.

“I love you all, catch you next time! This has been Faffaffaffa-Food with Killer.”

Live has ended.

Bonus: Pinned Post

KillerCook: Charities, non-profits, and other organizations near and dear to our hearts. Please consider donating, sharing the links, or spreading the word of these organizations to help them meet their goals.

Bikers Against Child Abuse - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=NW3T5W7Z66U8E

Planned Parenthood - https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/onlineactions/2U7UN1iNhESWUfDs4gDPNg2?sourceid=1000063

One Click for Palestine - https://arab.org/click-to-help/palestine/

UNRWA - https://donate.unrwa.org/-landing-page/en_EN

Grassroots International - https://grassrootsonline.org/donate/

Jewish Voice for Peace - https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/contribute/?sourceid=1002270

The Trevor Project - https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/contribute/?sourceid=1002270

Point of Pride - https://www.pointofpride.org/donate

Read on Wattpad | Read on AO3

#killercook #massacre soldier killer #eustass kid #raven's reading nook #firstmatesimp #kid pirates #heat one piece #wire one piece #op kid pirates #kid pirate nakama #killer one piece #eustass captain kid #tiktok #modern AU #eustasscaptainkid #ao3 writer #wattpad author #swampstew #swampstew stories

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marvel-ousnesss · 4 years

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The pirate and the witch (part one)

Pairing: Harry Hook x daughter of Narissa!reader

Word count: 2477

Summary: Y/N, an orphan VK who was taken to Auradon at a young age, returns to her old home by request of the crown prince. However, things tend to go south at the Isle of the Lost.

Warning: Mild cursing

A:/N: Okayy, here goes nothing. This is my first fic and I'm really excited about it. Comments and feedback (and title suggestions 'cause I suck) are appreciated. I think the whole story might have five or six parts which I'll be posting ASAP.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE DISNEY DESCENDANTS CHARACTERS NOR THE SANDERSON SISTERS. All credit goes to the creators, writers, and producers. Same with the HP charms, credit goes to J.K Rowling.

Part two Part three Part four Masterlist

I can’t believe I agreed to do this. Of all places, it had to be the Isle of the Lost. I look at the empty sky as I waltz my way through the lonely, and dark alleys; desperately trying to forget that the clock is about to strike midnight.

Even though I’m currently in one of the scariest places that I can actually think of, I pay attention to every detail as I walk. Particularly, I notice the poor construction of the buildings and the few people that I see asleep against walls or trash containers. Every minute that goes on here makes me wanna go back, yet I’m motivated to help make this a better place — or, at least that's what I tell myself.

Last week, my friend Ben approached me after a meeting he had with his father. He wouldn’t stop talking about how terrible the conditions at the Isle are and insisting on doing something about it before the preparations for his coronation. So we talked to my parents, the king and queen of Maldonia, and concluded that we needed to see the situation first hand to come up with a good set of solutions. But, given that Ben’s parents would never let him go, I begged mine to allow me, arguing that I could blend in, being a VK myself.

I grew up in Auradon, and not on the Isle, because my mother died years ago, in another realm. According to Fairy Godmother, she was one of the most dangerous villains ever seen, and one of the evilest. Yet, instead of abandoning my on the Isle, like most would have done, —and after some arguing between royals— the king and queen of Auradon allowed Queen Tiana and King Naveen to raise me as their daughter; but I never forgot the piece of The Isle that runs through my veins.

By this, I mean my magic. According to my parents, my mother was a very powerful witch. So, when I turned twelve and officially celebrated eight years on Auradon, I asked the king and queen for permission to learn magic; which they granted, under very specific parameters.

Since my powers have a dark nature, or so says Fairy Godmother, she asked the three forest fairies, Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather, to tutor me at their cottage —this being the only place where I’m allowed to use my powers.

…..

I arrive at the small loft —or should I say hideout— that the royal guard of Maldonia had prepared for me, and take off my black cloak, setting it on the bed, right next to the few notes I have taken. Finally, after the longest day that I’ve had in a while, I let myself fall on the firm bed and drift off to sleep.

Woken up by the sound of my alarm, I get up and get ready, repeating the steps of my plan like my life depended on it —who knows, it may.

Fairy Godmother warned me about the gang rivalry that has been going on for a while and told me about some VKs who have shown to be the most dangerous.

The one she talked about the most is Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Apparently, she is the leader of the most feared squad of the Isle; which happens to be formed by none other than the children of Jafar, Cruella de Vil, the evil queen, and well, Maleficent.

Aside from them, the headmistress mentioned the pirate crew that hangs near the docks, which is the biggest competition for the so-called ‘Core Four’. It’s most known members are Uma, Ursula’s daughter; Gil, son of Gaston; and Harry Hook, Captain Hook’s son (obviously). According to my notes, Uma is the captain and Hook is her loyal first mate.

I should be fine, as long as I stay away from their little gang battle. But, being as stubborn as I am, I decide that being part of this will be the ultimate Isle experience.

I do my best to blend in as I stroll down the market and grab a few things, earning a few glares and weird looks as I pay for them. I don’t like being the center of attention, so I put on my hood and avoid all eyes. Preparing to head back, I grab a small bread loaf from a stall to my right and, when the woman behind it is about to protest, I hand her a few gold coins.

Then, I abandon the market, unaware of the two sets of eyes that I have on my back, those belonging to a certain Arabian young thief and the son of Cruella de Vil.

I become aware of their steps lurking behind me when I’m a few blocks away from the market, so I walk faster and then I find myself running from them. I manage to keep them quite far until the two of them jump their ways to the ceilings above me.

I curse Fairy Godmother for not telling me about Carlos’ talent with parkour. She said he was dangerous because of his way with technology, nothing more. Yet, here I am, running from a thief and a thirteen-year-old geek who happens to be a fucking ninja.

I run and run, without looking up or behind me. I’ve always been pretty active, so I lose them after a few minutes. Nevertheless, I don’t stop running and continue in whatever direction my feet are taking me.

……

I should’ve taken a right. That way, I would’ve arrived at my place ten minutes ago; but my dumb ass decided to take a wrong turn so I ended up in the Sanderson sisters’ hut. And, just before I turned on my heel to make an exit, I find the three awful witches standing right in front of me, displaying wicked and hungry grins.

—What have we here?— inquires the redhead, — seems like today’s our lucky day, sisters. They’re both a teeny tiny bit big, but that’s what you get here. Kids are running out these days.

I try to run but my feet fail me, and I feel an electric shock running through me before blacking out. The last thing I hear is a chorus of excited voices singing ‘double food delivery, double food delivery,’ and a strong thunder of psychotic laughter.

I wake up in a small, round cage that hangs from a bronze chain, next to a boy who I recognize as a member of Ursula’s daughter’s pirate crew. What’s his name? Henry, Howard, Helio? Harry, the first mate, that’s it! Anyway, I look around for a possible exit, but find nothing but the front door, which is right next to the cauldron and the three witches —who remain oblivious to me being awake.

Minutes go by and they remain carried away by whatever they are brewing; at least until my cage mate decides to wake up all grumpy.

—Hit my nappeer, them howling witches…— he grumbles, trailing off; but it seems enough to draw their attention.

With wide eyes and wicked grins, they make their way to us with their arms intertwined. When they are close enough, the youngest takes a look at us and licks her lips and the raven-haired one pushes her nose against the bars and sniffs us, sighing in content when she’s had her fill.

— They’re so cute, Winnie, can we keep them, pretty please?— she asks, jumping in her place a couple times.

—You can play with them until the potion is ready, but not a second more. Do remember, — she sing-songs. — Youth and beauty, beauty and youth.

—Hear that? We’re gonna have a good time!— States the ebony-haired witch, as she pokes Harry, who’s still semi-conscious, with a wooden stick. That seems to fully wake him

— Oi, watch it!— he hisses while trying to dodge the harmless, yet annoying tip. He doesn’t have much success due to the lack of space, which amuses me a bit.

—Ooh… a feisty one! — grins the blonde one. —Too bad we can’t keep you, handsome; it would’ve been delicious.

The look on her face seems to be full of physical hunger, but I detect a not so faint tint of lust in her demeanor. The reason why, with those words and the witch’s obvious intentions, my face contours in disgust, which I immediately regret.

—What’s your problem, dear one— she says, as she surrounds the cage, — don’t like me talking ‘bout your little boyfriend like that? Didn’t mommy teach you to share?—. When she’s right behind me, she sneaks a bony hand through my hair and grabs a fistful, to which I reply with a groan.

As she is about to continue the teasing, Winnifred calls her sisters.

—We can’t feed them the potion yet — she scowls.

—Well, duh… my playtime hasn’t finished— replies the blonde.

—no, Sarah, were missing the knotgrass, the fluxweed, and the rat foot— clarifies the third sister, with her pointy nose buried in the cauldrons aroma, — it hasn’t turned green yet.

—At least one of you isn’t completely dense. Come on, sisters, off to the market we go.

As if on cue, they head to the door and close it behind them.

A faint ‘don’t go anywhere’ is heard from outside, followed by another chorus of wicked laughter.

……..

—Gaunnie hook ‘em— spits the pirate, stretching his arm in a miserable attempt at grabbing the hook that lays on the floor beneath us.

I shrug, and then proceed to peak my nails, — Might wanna get out of here first, Hooky.

—Any ideas on how, lassie?— he asks between gritted teeth, growing impatient and tired of failing at hook fishing.

— A few, actually, but the sight of you in front of me, struggling like that, is quite lovely and entertaining.

With my comment, his demeanor changes completely, becoming cockier and self-assured. This, although he’s still desperately trying to recover his signature weapon.

—Then come to the docks with me,— he smirks, as he changes positions to find himself sitting in front of the lock, and begins picking it with a rake that he had inside his left boot, — we’ll get hammered with me crew and, you know, keep the heid.

As he works, his nose wrinkles, his brows come together in concentration, and his lips tighten in a thin line.

—As tempting as that sounds, I do have things to do.

It would be convenient to go with him. Ben and King did me specific instructions for my little trip, and this would make it easier. However, it just wouldn’t be my type of scene. I feel like I’ve had enough ‘new experiences’ for a few years, maybe.

—Aww, lass, ya hurting my feelings,— he fake pouts and, to no avail, tries to use a different rake.

—Feelings? Didn’t see that one coming,— I mock, gently pushing him to the side, and claim my turn with the tricky lock.

He’s about to complain, but I shush him and close my eyes. Due to the wards placed on the Isle, my magic is significantly weaker than it is on Auradon, but I can concentrate enough to channel it thanks to a locket that the king gave me for emergencies.

I grin as the cage opens itself, and immediately jump down, followed by my slightly shocked companion. Before he can, I grab the hook by the handle, and point the tip at him, just to swiftly turn it around for him to grab.

With his hook safely in his hand, he approaches the table and grabs a book, together with what seems to be a shell necklace. Then, he catches up with me outside the front door. We walk in silence for a few blocks, given that there is only one way out, and he breaks the silences that lingered between us.

—So, you know me name, yet I don’t know yours— he glances at me with curiosity and caution, —ain’t fair, lassie.

—What can I say, Hook, you are quite famous around here. I, on the other hand, am quite a lone wolf.

—Haven’t given me an answer yet, doll face,

— Name’s Y/N, daughter of queen Narissa.

—Y/N,— he tries it out, —and how come you have magic?

—Let’s say I found a loophole in the barrier.

—Uma’s gonna love this, — he says, giving me a smirk.

—Assuming I go with you, that is. I said I had things to do — I quirk a brow at him.

Before he can reply, we hear three sets of boots approaching us in a rhythmic pattern. It can only be them.

— Shit, — grumbles the pirate, then he grabs my arm and pulls me behind him and into a dark corner.

We remain silent as the steps die down, and then continue walking.

—Now that was close, thanks Harry,— I say, patting his left shoulder.

—Ya know how to properly thank me, lass,— he shrugs. His cockiness is beginning to become annoying but, to be honest, I cannot say that I don’t enjoy flirting. So, I decided to follow his game.

—Kind of sad, really,

— Away on, dollface, the hell ya mean by that?

I give him a sigh and shrug, — I just thought your game was better. Can’t believe that you sway every girl off her feet with a thick accent and a smirk.

— I did just save yer little witchy ass. You’re a buck eejit if that ain’t impressive.

— Not a ‘buck eejit’, whatever that shit means. — I chuckle dryly, — I’m just not gonna fall for your oh so great pirate act.

He shrugs, seemingly unbothered, — same here, doll, mysterious past ‘n shit gets boring real fast.

— Yet, here you are, still following some like a lost puppy.

Between flirting, bickering, and some laughter in between, we arrive at the corner that connects the docks to the way to my place.

— As much as I enjoy your gentlemanly antics, time to part ways.

— You’ll come to the ship tonight, I know it.

— You know, you’re not even my type, Harry— I claim.

He is kind of my type, you know? Handsome, witty, cocky, and fun to be with. Not totally boyfriend material, but maybe just for a good time; a rest from Auradon’s Perfect Peachy Prince wannabes.

Without a second glance, I start walking to the building I slept in but, before I’m out of view, I hear him say,—You do one me one, little witch,— and I grin.

— See you ‘round, Hook, — I reply over my shoulder.

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drawing-way-outside-the-lines · 4 years

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Alroy ‘Roy’ McKinney *Supporting character.

Voice Claim:(Gerard Butler as Stoick) https://youtu.be/JubX9ybyjHs?t=25 (Right click on links and open in new tab)

Partner(s): Cathriona Breannna McKinney (Pictured here) Parents: Niamh McKinney (mom born Niamh, no surname) Conlaoch Belphegor Oisin McKinney (dad) Kids: Ronan McKinney, Eonan McKinney and Brandubh McKinney. Age: Ancient. Height: 195cm Body type: Big cuddly bear. Eye color: Gray/Auburn. Classification: (Immortal) Demon Known powers: Possession, Invisibility, Invisibility Awareness (The power to detect invisibility) Healing, Unhealing, Teleportation (The ability to move instantaneously from one location to another without physically occupying the space in between) Shapeshifting (The power to transform and reshape the form of one’s body.) Cloaking Shield Construction (The power to create shields and shield-like objects that hide targets.) Torment Inducement (the power to inflict torment and suffering upon others) Mental Manipulation (The power to manipulate thoughts, mindsets, and upper brain functions of others.) Pain Inducement (The ability to inflict agonizing pain by varying means.) Empathic Masochism (The ability to harm or inflict pain on others by inflicting damage upon one’s own body.) Psychic Navigation (The power to track people/objects with one’s mind and/or create mental maps of an area) Visual Linking (The power to link one’s vision to others.) Accelerated Perception (The power to perceive everything at accelerated rate.) Enhanced Senses (The power to possess extremely accurate senses.) Illusion Awareness (The power to be aware if one’s surroundings are false.) Telepathy (The power to mentally receive and/or transmit information.) Soul Removal (The power to remove souls from oneself and others) Necromancy (The power to utilize magic involving the dead, life-force and/or souls.) Tracking Evasion (The power to hide from followers and pursuers and avoid total detection/discovery.) Will Breaking (The power to shatter the will of others.) Corruption Inducement (The power to erode a person’s morality to the point of being evil.)

About: Leader, Stubborn, Resourceful, Determined, Authoritarian, Strong, Serious, Alert, Old-Fashioned, Responsible, Organized, Decisive, Principled, Intuitive, Confident, Intelligent, Strong-willed, Stoic, Admirable, Family-Oriented, Calm, Proud, Loyal, Rustic, Stern, Courageous, Firm, Generous, Honest, Private, Logical, Observant, Perceptive, Rational, Protective and Respectful . ~ Sexuality Straight. But doesn’t completely deny anything gay. ~ Is a very high regarded form of demonic Knight. Or a Knight of hell, so to speak. ~ Always wears a special pointy ring on his finger to show he’s one of the first generations of McKinney males. Only he, his younger brother, and their father has one. ~ Irish ~ His name means ‘ Red haired’. ~ Talks with a thick accent. ~ Is the head of the McKinney clan, only outranked by his father. ~ Smells of Leather, Pine and Cedar wood. ~ Into Alchemy and very good at it. ~ Has a rocky relationship with Brandubh/Raven, cause he tends to bend rules of their clan. ~ Has a couple of huge scars from where a demonic creature once hit him, while trying to kill his wife. Roy killed the beast and saved the maiden. ~ Can play flute and harmonica very well. ~ Is very into blond virgins. Don’t care if they are male or female. ~ Hates honey. ~ Is very warm-hearted although mostly he comes of as stern authority. ~ Gets very irritated with people who doesn’t follow rules. ~ Is a bit of a loner. ~ Is a wonderful cook. ~ Is actually quite handy with a needle and threat. ~ Very skilled at sword fighting and swinging a battle ax or battle hammer. ~ Loves his huge family/clan deeply and would do anything for them, his wife, nature and spends as much time in it as possible, horses, deer, owls, falcons, food, honor, rules, integrity, traditions, when people obeys him or the McKinney clan rules, mead, sea, battles and duty. ~ Does not understand peanutbutter? Why is it so sticky???? ~ Style: Pirate King? *Snort*

One gif to describe him:

Cathriona Breannna ‘Bree’ McKinney *Supporting character.

Voice Claim:(Bronagh Gallagher) https://youtu.be/R8k6siLmtA4?t=27s Singing voice: (Bronagh Gallagher) https://youtu.be/11FmCcUCS5A?t=47s (Right click on links and open in new tab)

Partner(s): Alroy ‘Roy’ McKinney (pictured here) Parents: Diseased. Kids: Ronan McKinney, Eonan McKinney and Brandubh McKinney. Age: At least 4000+ years. Height: 178cm Body type: Average, big boobs, juicy butt. Eye color: Light gray/green tones. Classification: (Immortal) Demon Known powers: Possession, Healing, Empathic Healing (The power to heal others’ emotional wounds and/or burdens.) Sleep Inducement (The power to make someone sleep by touch) Multipresence (The ability to be in more than one place at once.) Truth Inducement (The ability to force a person to tell the truth.) Astral Projection (The power to separate one’s spirit from one’s body.) Astral Trapping (The ability to restrain/trap astral beings.) Psychic Shield (The power to be highly resistant to psychic attacks.) Curse Inducement (The ability to place a curse on anyone or anything.) Telepathy (The power to mentally receive and/or transmit information.) Sensing (the ability to determine the location and status of other beings by concentrating on them)

About: Warm, Loving, Kind, Friendly, Caring, Sociable, Compassionate, Positive, Gentle, Honest, Sentimental, Helpful, Persuasive, Cooperative, Romantic, Selfless, Patient, Respectful, Sensitive, Forgiving, Tolerant, Earthy, Contemplative, Appreciative, Understanding, Open-Minded, Family-Oriented, Considerate, Nurturing, Charismatic, High-Spirited, Maternal, Adaptable, Balanced, Cheerful, Curious, Practical, Fair, Intelligent, Protective and Passionate. ~ Sexuality Straight. ~ Irish ~ Speaks with a sometimes thick accent, but for the most she tones it down. ~ Always wears a medallion her husband gave her as an engagement gift. ~ Always tried her best to help everyone around her. ~ Has a hard time accepting no for an answer when she wants to serve food. ~ Is very motherly towards everyone she meets. ~ Smells of warm Bergamot and whatever is cooking in the kitchen. ~ Is very into poetry. ~ Very skilled cook. ~ Even more skilled at baking. ~ Dislikes rudeness. ~ Talks a a lot. ~ Insists people call her Bree. ~ Is very close to her youngest son, Brandubh/Raven, whom she tends to pamper a lot, even if he kinda dislikes her being so sticky. He’s still very much her baby boy. ~ Enjoys walks in the rain. ~ Very skilled with a sword and bow/arrow. ~ Sometimes has a bit of a bar-maiden attitude. ~ Loves her kids, husband, her huge family/clan, animals. helping, supporting, dancing, nature, cooking/baking, Irish traditions, family gatherings, parties, protecting the ones she love, poetry, reading, picking flowers, making everyone feel welcome, cleaning, mead and slow roasted meat. ~ Can swear like a sailor. ~ Do not for one second think she wont kick your ass if you deserve it! ~ Style: Bar maiden?

One gif to describe her:

#Roy McKinney #Bree McKinney #demon #Irish demon #Irish demons #demons #immortal #supernatural #ts3 #sims3 #sims 3 #simblr #simographysup

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garleansecretary · 4 years

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Angel of Yesterday

Absinthe was walking back to the Bridge of the Curzes Revenge. Moments before she had a talk with Arden after their solo charge against the Word Bearers ended in them getting gravely wounded. She had realized how her own Plans were not only egotistical but also actively endangering her friends and Crew. And thus she had made a decision.

Bursting through the Door of the Bridge she grabbed the microphone of the Vox sytem and send a message to her crew which was currently split on their two Ships.

"Night Lords, Space Wolf, Word Bearer, Iron Warrior, Servs and Human Crew. Hear my message. I have to tell you that I was dishonest. I lied. My Goals never were to become Empress. My Goal was to die. I am no true Heretic. I never was. I can't agree with either System but I know that I still wish to protect the People who rely on Soldiers like us. Farmers, City folks no matter the age or planet. I want to save the people once more. I don't want to serve a Primarch. No Bureaucracy. No Kings and No Gods."

Absinthe became more and more passionate in her speech.

"BUT WHO I WANT TO SERVE ARE THE CHILDREN AND INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO GET PRAYED ON BY BOTH. We are no shiny Ultramarines. We are no benevolent Salamanders. We are killers, butchers. Traitors and Deserteurs. But we still can be Protectors. I will not lie to you again. Our help won't be appreciated. We will never get our own statues. But we will know that when Imperium and Chaos wanted us dead or integrated into their ranks that we protected the people while also staying ourselves!"

She stopped and sighed. "Those that wish to leave can do so freely. Those that leave can board the Deicide and leave. I will not hunt or judge you. Those that want to stay will join me on the Curzes Revenge... No. On the 'Claw of Retaliation'. Claw Commander Absinthe out."

Absinthe turned around, ready to face backlash and hate. To her surprise nothing of the sorts happened. On the contrary.

Nocturnus stepped forward. "Commander. I think I speak for everyone aboard our ships that we would go into the Warp and back with you. Look at us. We would be alone amd lost without you unifying us. You are our Leader. So lead us forward to a new path"

Absinthe saluted her crew, her friends. She truly was blind before. She didn't see how important they all were for each other. That she didn't need to find a new family. She already had one.

"I am honored to be your Commander. Okay lets go. Nocturnus. I want you to calculate a course towards the Atta system. The 8th world there is a Agriworld which will soon be attacked by Red Corsairs. We can thank our friend Anvil for this information given how long he worked with them. We will intercept them and kick Hurons sons off of that World."

Nocturnus didn't waste any time and started his calculations as Absinthe turned towards Anvil, Olaf and Pete. "Follow me"

Hours later, Absinthe was helping those 3 with preparing Drop Pods and Petes new Terminator Armor.

"Its my old Atramentar Power Armor. I don't fit into it anymore but it will serve you well. I can't think of a better Terminator than you"

"I appreciate the gesture Lord Absinthe."

Absinthe gave the Iron Warrior a short smile before turning her attention to a nearby servitor. "Prepare my Armor. And... Uh.. Put on the black cape. No skin."

---

The Agriworld of Atta 8 was peaceful even by our standards. Most potential Attackers were more interested in the nearby Ultramar Sector. That made big defensive builds unnecessary but that was a fatal flaw in this case.

The Corsairs coming was announced by rustling in the corn underneath the sapphire blue sky. A small farming town was their target. Score it and set up camp to raid the surrounding area that hosted the only spaceport of the planet. With the Sun in their back, the Corsairs landed in the fields. Their Ships looking like Blood Raven ships to the untrained and unknowing Farmers eye. Thus the Farmers didn't fear them once they stepped out. Nothing ever happened and noone expected Chaos Marines here.

"I greet you Lord Blood Angel! What makes you visit our small town?"

The Corsair Captain grinned, exposing his filthy, warp tainted Mouth. "Blood Angel huh? BOYS. APPARENTLY WE'RE BLOOD ANGELS"

The Corsairs laughter was disturbing and horrible. The farmers instantly realized that this situation could be very well their end. The Corsair Captain smirked as he revved up his Chainsword. "Oh whom should I kill first? I haven't met my Quota for Khorne yet and I don't want to keep the old man waiting hahahahahah"

The Townsfolk screamed and cried in horror as they ran. It was of course useless since Hurons Boys could just outrun them but pure instinct drove them forward.

The Pirates were about to rush after them when one of them turned to the Captain. "Boss. There are Drop Pods raining down nearby. Apparently they come from those two Night Lords Ships we picked up earlier."

"Night Lords here? What do they want here? Aren't they busy flaying on some fucking Hive World or getting killed by Tyberos or Guilliman? Ugh fine. Boys we hunt the farmers later. Let's take care of those Bat-winged idiots first."

As the Captain ended his speech the Drop Pods hitted the ground. Absinthe was the first and only to emerge. "Captain Teach i assume? I heard a lot about you and your Pirates."

"Heh. Heard that boys? The big girl called us famous. You must be that newcomer. Absinthe right? I faintly remember that you killed Captain Bellamy and his guys. Have to thank you for that. They were a thorn in my remaining eye"

Absinthe laughed. "Oh don't thank me. It will not make me spare you"

"Spare us? You and your 5 drop pods? We're 30 Marines and you are one big Night Lord plus 4. Give up lassie. Go home and flay some Prisoners"

Absinthe laughed as the sound of clicking Bolters was heard all around them. Out of the softly moving corn, more and more Night Lords stepped forth until they numbered 60. Then Pete, Olaf and Anvil emerged from their pods.

"Corsairs. I offer you a choice. Join me and fight for the people of the Galaxy or die like the Rats you are. Its your choice. Fight for a cause or die for a greedy Bastard that sees you as cannonfodder"

A moment of silence fell upon them. It felt like hours. The Corsairs thought. Then. One by one they dropped their guns and surrendered to Absinthe.

Only the Captain was too far gone. Corrupted by greed and the Warp. With loud screams he charged at Absinthe while throwing grenades behind him into the Village. "IF I CAN'T GET THE LOOT NOONE WILL"

He fell faster than he could realize that his life was over. With one fluid movement Absinthe had ripped off his disgusting head using her Lightning Claw "Protector", once a weapon of Terror used by Night Haunter it now would serve as a Tool of protection and peace.

While Absinthe stared at the dead body of the Captain, the others were busy putting out the fire the Grenades caused and building new Huts by using the Drop Pods in which the distraction came. Truth is that most of them were hiding there long before the Corsairs arrived. The corn had given them a perfect hiding spot to await Absinthes arrival so they could surround the Pirates. Everything went according to plan.

Soon the People returned. They had witnessed how the Pods dropped and returned after they were sure that the situation was peaceful.

"Thank you for saving us Master.", the elderly Man that greeted the Corsairs earlier now spoke to Absinthe. "What legion do you belong to?"

Absinthe sighed and removed the Cape she had put over her Shoulder to hide her Legions insignia. "I am Claw Commander Absinthe the Orphanmaker. Leader of the Night Lords 1st Claw."

Absinthe was prepared for screaming and attacks of hatred against her but all she got was a chuckle from the old man. "Orphanmaker? That doesn't seem fitting at all for someone as benevolent as you! You protected us and made us new Homes until we can rebuild our regular houses. Think about it my Lord"

Absinthe was surprised but smiled. "I will. Goodbye old Man. And tell noone of this. The Inquisition would execute you all probably."

"We won't spill a word", the elder and the entire village made a gesture as if they lock their mouths with a key and throwing the key away. A gesture Absinthe knew from Nostramo but remembered that it originated on Terra. As Absinthe turned around to leave, a small child. A girl no older than 7 approached her, trying to give her a doll made from straw and fabric. Absinthe kneeled down and smiled.

"That's a beautiful doll. Thank you. I'll make sure that she gets a nice place on my ship. I promise"

Absinthe and her men then returned to their Thunderhawks as well as the two new the Corsairs left behind when joining the 1st Claws Ranks. Only the Drop Pods were left behind and told the Story of the Night Lords that came to protect.

------

Later that Day. On the Bridge of the Claw of Retaliation, Absinthe was sitting in her command seat, holding the small doll in her hands and thinking about the mission and the gratitude the people expressed.

Nocturnus approached her after he took note of all losses and captures of the Strike. "That was good work Commander. We got new Soldiers, Gear and Thunderhawks. The Drop Pods can be replac....you look as if something is worrying you"

"Not worrying...just..that old man and the kid. They are right. Orphanmaker is a bad name for someone who wishes to help and protect People instead of killing and terrorizing them"

Nocturnus nodded. "Yeah. Hmm...What about Angel of Yesterday?"

Absinthe chuckled. "What? Nocturnus don't make me laugh. That's... What does arden always say? Cheesy?"

"No no. Think about it. You have returned into this world after 10000 years. You live after ideals that are nearly forgotten but to the People, to those you wish to protect, you are a Angel by living these ideals. Think about it. Goodnight Commander."

With that, Nocturnus left the bridge to Absinthe and the Servitors and humans that keep the ship on track.

"Angel of Yesterday.....heh. yeah...i can be that", The doll was placed on the command seat as Absinthe left for her quarters.

(@slaanesh-is-my-boy and @chapter-master-darius as promised I tagged you guys because you voted for the Corsairs)

#sfw #claw commander absinthe #Honestly i hope you people like this.#I tried my best and hardest #Had a big writers block up until now but i hope you enjoyed it

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jarienn972 · 7 years

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Only a Little Superstitious - Chapter Six

With my kids spending the week with my mother, I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet to get some writing and editing done. This ended up being a long chapter but there are a lot of little, very important things woven into his installment. Apologies to @killian-whump as there isn’t a whole lot of actual whump in this chapter - there is a little angst on Emma’s part, but don’t worry - I’m definitely not done with our injured pirate.

AO3 FF.net Tumblr: Chap 1 Chap 2 Chap 3 Chap 4 Chap 5

Emma tried not to dally too long in the bathroom, not wanting to appear rude and be late when invited to dine by one's host. At least she now felt a tad more presentable although there really wasn't much she could do about her filthy blood-stained clothing at the moment. She was quite certain that Grandmother Sarah Bending Willow already sensed she was hiding something by not immediately removing her leather jacket but she couldn't take it off until she was in the privacy of the tiny bath, shrugging it off and carefully folding it to keep Killian's hook concealed within.

Now that they were on the Sun Valley floor, she retrieved her cell phone for the first time in hours knowing she needed to check in with her family and trying to keep a positive outlook when she glanced down to check the battery charge level. 45 percent – not bad considering she'd been out of range of a tower for so long. It would at least give her a few minutes to speak to her parents before she'd have to try to scrounge up a charger somewhere. What surprised her more than the battery indicator was the time displayed – nearly 6:30pm here in Arizona which meant it was after dark back home. Had it really been twelve hours since she and Killian had met her parents for breakfast at Granny's? It didn't seem plausible – unless the portal had somehow altered time for them? So many things made so little sense right now…

She ducked outside with her jacket balled up and tucked under her arm just in time to see Ranger Littlecreek climbing into his SUV to head back to work for the rest of his shift. He didn't have much time for farewells, but he promised he'd check back with her as soon as he could and assured her that Grandmother would take good care of them. Not having had a clock at the way station and pretty sure her cell phone time wouldn't have been reliable up on the mountain, Emma wanted to ask him what time it had been when he'd arrived at the cabin, but she decided to save that for later. Her story already sounded like the ramblings of a crazy person. Why add fuel to that fire?

So, she kept her question to herself and instead tapped the speed dial number for her father's phone.

"Emma!" her father answered a little too enthusiastically. "I'm so glad you found a way to call back. Are you okay?"

"Dad, I'm in Arizona, not another realm. Just had to get to a place with cell phone service. And to answer your question, we're fine for now. A Park Service Ranger found us and brought us down to the home of his Navajo grandmother who was kind enough to treat Killian's wound with some natural potions and herbs. He's sleeping again now…"

"Why didn't you go straight to a hospital" David sounded confused at her decision.

"Honestly, Dad, I was a little bit afraid to. When you said that the man who stabbed Killian followed us through the portal, all I could think of is that he's already hunting for us. The first place I would start searching would be hospitals and urgent care locations and until we know more, I just couldn't take the chance that this mystery person would think the same way. Have you learned anything more about this pair that started this mess?"

"Not yet. Regina hasn't gotten back in touch with us yet, but knowing her, she'll get a name out of our prisoner. Hopefully, we'll hear from her by morning."

"Okay. Call me or text me as soon as you know anything. I've got to try and find a charger for my phone and maybe some clean clothes if I can get to a store around here, but please, let everyone back home know that for now, we're safe."

"Try to stay that way," David insisted. "I'll call you as soon as we know anything else."

"Thanks, Dad," she said as she disconnected the call just as a grumble from her stomach reminded her that their gracious host had offered dinner and she wasn't about to decline that offer.

She hadn't thought of herself as being that ravenously hungry until she'd completely devoured the offered bowl of stew and a piece of bread that she could only describe as a thick, puffy tortilla that had been flash fried in oil. It was warm, crispy on the outside and chewy inside and was a perfect accompaniment for the savory stew - so good that it had her desperately wishing to ask for seconds but she didn't want to appear greedy or disrespectful.

"I honestly wish there were words to describe just how much we appreciate everything you're doing for us, Grandmother," Emma thanked her.

"It is my honor to provide my meager services to someone who has been so dedicated to helping people," the elder woman replied with a humble smile causing Emma to nearly choke on her last bite of fried bread. Just what exactly did this woman know about her?

"I've helped a few people get through some tough scrapes…"

"You chose to become Sheriff," Grandmother explained her earlier words. "I'm sure your decision to enter law enforcement has aided many?"

"I guess," Emma deferred. "I suppose I've never really thought of it that way." Okay – it was about her being a Sheriff, not a savior.

"You're allowed to take pride in what you do. A little bit of pride isn't harmful." Emma had to stifle a chuckle at the old woman's advice. If only she knew what her work really entailed.

"Thank you for the advice. I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I'm dragging a drunk out of the alley behind the Rabbit Hole," she responded with a wide grin as the elder woman began clearing dishes from the table. "May I ask you a question though?"

"Of course, child. You may as me anything – except my age." Grandmother said with a sly smile on her lips.

"Your grandson said that you'd had a vision of someone needing help up on the mountain and that you'd been the one who sent him up to that way station earlier. Is that really how he managed to find us?"

"I used to see things all the time, but it has been many, many years since a vision has been so clear. I saw someone in distress near the summit trail so I asked Carlos if he would go there. He humors my eccentricities at times, but this time, I'm pleased that he listened to me."

"So are we. I don't know what we would have done if he hadn't come by… Would the man who attacked us have found us first or worse yet, would Killian have bled to death because I was too stubborn to call for help?"

"But those things did not happen. For now, you will be safe here, but I warn you that there is only so much I am able to do. I don't wish to frighten you but I am worried that the bleeding will not stop. The trouble is we only see what is on the surface, but below – below, I fear may lie a greater threat."

"What do you mean by that?" Emma wondered, a chill suddenly finding its way up her spine at the Navajo woman's mysterious choice of words.

"There is no way for me to be certain, but I fear that a piece of the blade used to stab him remains within…"

"Wait...," Emma gulped, all of her senses instantly heightened. "You think part of the knife might have broke off when it struck something inside his chest?" She didn't want to believe it. She knew her father had found the dagger after it had been dropped, but why wouldn't he have mentioned it was broken? Did it not occur to him how important that miniscule bit of information might be?

"I obviously cannot verify that. It is merely a feeling that I have."

"I'm inclined to believe that your 'feeling' is probably correct," Emma sighed, weary from exhaustion and a day filled with worry. "My father found the knife that Killian was stabbed with, but he didn't tell me it was broken. I suppose he assumed it happened when the attacker dropped it, but my gut believes you."

"I would prefer that not to be the case as it only makes the situation more grave for your husband. Every time he moves, that piece could shift position, inflicting additional damage - so, until it can be removed, his life remains in jeopardy."

"Story of our lives…," Emma muttered under a deep frustrated breath.

"You look completely exhausted, child. Why don't you try to get some rest while your husband sleeps?"

"That honestly sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Then go. You will need the rest as much as he does. Just promise me that when he wakes, you'll have him drink more of the tea. It may not be the most pleasant substance, but it is brewed from plants with antibiotic properties to hopefully prevent infection and the pain reliever it contains will also help him greatly."

"I may have to give him a rum chaser," Emma replied with a tepid laugh as she stood up. She collected her folded jacket from the chair beside her where she'd carefully placed it before sitting down to dinner, her body already screaming for a nap. "I'll make sure he drinks it though. This has been such a long day…," she mumbled as she withdrew her phone to turn it off, hoping to conserve the remaining battery until she could locate a charger. "You know, I really hate to bother you with this but you wouldn't happen to know where I could get a charger for my phone? I didn't exactly have the foresight to shove one in my pocket this morning…"

"I'm sure my grandson would know. I'll have him check to see what he has lying around."

"Thank you," Emma replied then before she could excuse herself, the elder woman reached out to grasp Emma's right hand, squeezing it tightly between both of hers.

"Perhaps we will soon learn the reason you were brought to us," the Navajo woman stated cryptically, a sentiment that rung in Emma's ears long after the words were said. She'd smiled politely and nodded, perhaps too tired to discern the meaning behind the odd gesture and statement. She understood that it was intended to be encouraging, but in reality, it left Emma slightly unsettled as she made her way down the narrow hallway clutching her jacket to her chest.

Trying not to disturb her husband, she pushed the door open slowly, then closed it behind herself before perching on a corner of the mattress to finally unzip and remove her boots – an act in which she took a likely unhealthy amount of pleasure completing. Wiggling her now freed sock clad toes, she heard a soft rap on the door. She padded over to the door and opened it to see the dark haired, hazel-eyed teen she'd briefly met earlier standing in the hallway with a handful of assorted cables.

"Hi," he said timidly. "Grandmother said you needed something to charge your phone. I didn't know what kind…"

"Hi, Joseph. That's partially my fault. I didn't really specify. Let's see if you've got one that matches…" She showed him the charging port on the bottom of her device and together they narrowed his collection of cords down to the proper one. "Thanks so much! I'll return it to you in the morning…"

"That's okay. You can keep it as long as you need it. My new phone uses a different one now."

"Thank you," she smiled as he walked away and she quietly closed the bedroom door again to get a little privacy.

The double bed took up most of the room so it required a bit of contorting on her part to reach the electrical outlet behind the nightstand, but it was worth the challenge when she saw the word "charging" appear on her screen. She dropped her jacket onto the floor next to her boots and started to unbutton the tattered remains of her blouse when she heard a weak, raspy "Swan?" from the bed behind her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized as she carefully sat back down on the bed, this time beside him, trying not to jostle it too much. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"I don't mind. I'm still quite tired…"

"Well, I hate to do this to you, but while you're awake, I'm supposed to have you drink more of the tea sitting here…"

"Bloody hell, Swan… I'm already wounded. Do I have to be poisoned as well?" Much to his disdain, his wife simply rolled her eyes, unmoved by his protest.

"It can't be that bad," she insisted, shaking her head as she lifted the mug of the now cooled liquid from the nightstand. It did have a rather strong, earthy odor to it, but it didn't really seem any worse than the untold number of potions she'd encountered since learning about magic. "Some of the concoctions that Regina has brewed up have been far worse than this – and this one has an antibiotic that you need. The wound is probably already infected since we couldn't exactly treat it properly right away."

"It's a good thing that I'm too fatigued to put up a fight," he relented, pushing himself into the most upright position he could manage without sending further bolts of pain radiating throughout his chest. Emma tried to guide him and urged him not to move so quickly.

"Easy – not so fast… The bleeding has finally slowed. We don't want anything to open back up…" She wasn't about to inform him that he might have a razor-sharp fragment of the dagger embedded inside his chest just yet though. She slid her arm around his shoulders to support him as best she could while she brought the mug to his mouth, allowing him to take a tentative sip. He grimaced as soon as the liquid hit his tongue, but she wasn't going to let him stop there. "It's going to take more than that…"

"Easy for you to say…," he grumbled as he begrudgingly took another mouthful of bitter tea, but that second swallow was all he could stomach, his face suddenly blanching as he was struck by a swell of nausea. "I'm sorry, Love… I cannot…"

"It's alright," she assured him, placing the mug back onto the nightstand before helping to ease his head back down to the pillows beneath him. "How about we both get some sleep and we'll worry about that in the morning?"

"There'll be no argument from me…," he whispered, the pain and fatigue already taking their toll on his lucidity. She made her way around to the other side of the bed, curling up beside him after turning off the bedside lamp, not even knowing which one of them drifted off to sleep first.

Morning came in the form of a bright light filtering through the curtains on the window above her head providing a rather rude interruption to Emma's dream. Blinking awake, she couldn't yet make out the time displayed on her phone but she guessed it was early based simply on how quiet it was around her. She could make out the slow, shallow breaths of her still sleeping husband beside her, noticing that at some point during the night he'd jettisoned the blanket off as it now lay in a crumpled heap at his feet. She wondered if he'd simply gotten too warm, which was highly likely considering the beads of sweat that glistened across his forehead and down his neck.

Leary of waking him, she sat up unhurriedly, contemplating whether or not she should take a moment to inspect his wound. She conceded that even if she did inadvertently awaken him, he'd be less bothered by the fact that she did so tending to his injury. He recoiled slightly as she peeled back a strip of the cloth tape holding the bandages in place, but he didn't stir. Beneath the layers of bloodied cloth, the edges of the puncture were still an angry red and the darkened appearance of the surrounding skin had her concerned. As much as she feared his unknown assailant locating them, she knew she might have to rethink her decision soon – especially with the knowledge that a broken piece of the dagger might still be lodged inside his chest cavity. She tried not to think about how much internal damage might have been inflicted while they were hiking down the mountain trail. Had she unintentionally caused him irreparable harm by forcing him to suffer through all that additional motion? Had her decision to not immediately get him medical attention endangered his life?

She buried her face in her hands as all the thoughts overwhelmed her, but she didn't allow herself to dwell on them. Pulling her head back together, she gently replaced the dressing over his wounded skin and tugged the blanket back over top of him. She tenderly caressed his cheek, her fingertips sensing his slightly feverish temperature as he turned his head toward her, seeking out her touch. His chest heaved as he drew in a deep breath, but she watched his face immediately contort as he grimaced through the obvious discomfort that even the simple act of breathing brought on.

"I'm sorry…," she whispered as the pad of her thumb absentmindedly traced the scar across his cheek, pausing when she reached the corner of his mouth. She hesitantly withdrew her hand, knowing she needed to let him rest, but she felt so listless – forcing herself to set her feet upon the floor and stand before finally managing to slip silently out of the door into the hallway.

She wasn't at all surprised that Sarah Bending Willow was already awake, rustling about the kitchen likely preparing breakfast. When Emma walked in, the older woman was scooping up a spoonful of a substance that looked like oatmeal, dropping it into a cast iron skillet and frying it a golden brown. She might not have known what exactly was being cooked, but the aroma was delectable, smelling of vanilla and something resembling popcorn?

"Come," her host invited her to the table as she noticed Emma lurking at the end of the hall. "I'm making sweet corn fry cakes and I've brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Mugs are in the cupboard right above the coffee maker so please – help yourself…"

"Thanks," Emma replied, taking quick strides directly toward the coffee pot, grinning as she opened the cabinet door to see the old woman's eclectic collection of mugs. No two were alike yet there was clearly a coherent theme – celestial objects. Suns, moons, clouds and even a few planets graced the exteriors of the ceramic and plastic mugs. Selecting one with an image depicting the big dipper constellation, she filled it two-thirds of the way with the steaming hot liquid and added just a splash of cream from the tiny pitcher next to the pot.

"I hope you slept well," the old woman said to her as she continued uninterrupted making the little cakes. "Your husband is still resting?"

"I slept quite well considering and yes, Killian's still asleep. I tried hard not to wake him while I took a quick peek under the bandages. It's looking really red and seems darker around the edges."

"I will mix up more of the medicine, but skin discoloration isn't uncommon with the turmeric and clove used in the mix. Were you able to encourage him to drink any more of the tea?"

"Only a few sips, but then he started to get nauseous so he stopped and went back to sleep."

"Very good. I know it isn't the easiest to swallow, but it is good for him."

"Most medicine isn't particularly easy to swallow," Emma smiled as she took a seat at the table, sipping the still too warm beverage. "And he tends to be rather stubborn when it comes to taking medicines anyway. Rum is usually his answer to everything."

"My guess is that his obstinance has served him well," Grandmother stated with a knowing smile as she flipped two of the corn cakes onto a plate and delivered them to the table, sliding them directly in front of her guest. "It seems to me that your husband has a very old soul – and an oft-troubled one at that."

"I guess you could say that…," Emma replied, almost sheepishly, not wanting to let on exactly how old of a soul Killian actually possessed. The old woman simply nodded at her response while reaching in to an open drawer behind her to fish out a fork.

"Now – eat," the elder woman insisted as she passed the fork to Emma's hand. "There is butter on the table and I can get you some agave syrup if you prefer them sweeter…" Emma cut off a small morsel with the side of her fork to get a taste of the creation, realizing that they were essentially a sweeter, crispier version of cornbread – and that they were delicious.

"Don't need to add a thing!" Emma gushed, both in response to the flavor and toward this woman's generosity. "These are amazing! I'll have to get the recipe from you because my family would love these."

"Ancient Navajo secret," Grandmother stated, seriously at first, but rapidly breaking into a wide grin. "No – not exactly… I've modernized my recipe with instant grits but don't tell my grandson that. Beats the hell out of grinding all that corn." Both women shared a hearty laugh as Emma finished up her breakfast while Grandmother continued frying more until the batter was finished. "Carlos will be stopping by soon for breakfast as well. He does every morning before heading out to the mountains."

"Seems like a pretty lonely job – just driving around a National Forest all day."

"It is sometimes, but he loves it. He says it allows him time to connect with the mountains – with our heritage and ancestors. The land you now know as the Superstition Mountains and the Tonto National Forest holds many sites sacred to the tribes. This land was once rich with magic, but not so much anymore. Centuries passed, beliefs changed and the magic left."

"Maybe it's still out there somewhere?" Emma suggested. "After all, some sort of magic did lead you and Carlos to find us…"

"I would like to believe that it is," the old woman replied with a noticeable hint of sadness. "Do you believe in magic, child?"

Emma had to pause before attempting to answer the question, not exactly certain of how much she should say on the subject.

"A few years ago, I would have said no, but then something changed. The son I'd given up for adoption found me and led me to a place where I was able to reconnect with my parents and then Killian unexpectedly came into my life. They all brought me the greatest magic of all – true love – so I guess you can say that I do believe in magic."

"It makes my heart stronger to know that someone does still believe. There's too much cynicism in our world today. The magic won't return if no one believes…" The old woman turned away as if she didn't wish for her guest to see the melancholy present in her eyes.

"Is Grandmother giving you her 'believe in magic' speech?" a voice asked as the mobile home's front door swung open and the tall, uniformed figure of Ranger Littlecreek stepped through, taking the same path directly to the coffee pot as Emma had earlier.

"Ignore him," Grandmother scoffed. "He will believe one day as well. He just needs the right person to guide him to the truth."

"I think I can relate," Emma responded with a half smirk curling on her lip.

"I may not know much about magic but I know a thing or two about helping out my fellow law enforcers," Carlos stated as he filled an oversized mug with coffee and then added a generous amount of cream and a heaping spoonful of sugar. "We keep a couple of storage bins full of donated clothing to help out lost hikers, wildfire victims and the like. It's nothing fancy, but I gathered a few things for you and your husband. I figured you might like to shower and change into some clean clothes. Hopefully I grabbed the right sizes too."

"I'm thankful for anything that's not caked with mud and soaked in sweat," Emma replied. "And I'm pretty sure Killian will appreciate anything not covered in dried blood."

"I thought you might feel that way. Bag's out in my truck. I'll go grab it for you and I'll bring in your husband's jacket that you left in my back seat too," he sat his royal blue mug with its bright yellow crescent moon image onto the kitchen counter and headed back out to his vehicle, returning seconds later with a jet black nylon backpack slung over his shoulder and Killian's balled up leather jacket tucked under his arm. He dropped everything onto the chair beside Emma and strolled over to retrieve his coffee while she surveyed the contents. Inside, she was surprised to find a couple of men's and women's tee shirts, two pair of basic black women's leggings and a pair of charcoal grey men's sweat pants. At the very bottom of the backpack, she even found a pack of unopened women's panties and two pair of men's boxer shorts with tags still attached. It was honestly far more than she'd expected.

"This is wonderful. Thank you so much," Emma said graciously. "I hate to keep saying this but I really don't know how to repay the kindness both of you have shown us."

"No payment is necessary," Grandmother insisted. "Now, if you would like to go bathe, I'll check on your husband."

"I would love that," Emma smiled, incredibly grateful for the change in their luck that led them to these amazing people, but they still had a long way to go, something she was instantly reminded of with the Ranger's next question.

"Quick question for you first, Sheriff – the man you think is hunting you – do you have a description of him?"

"I never really got a good look at him, but he was definitely over 6 foot tall, very stocky build – not overweight but just big. I know he had dark hair but that's about all I can tell you right now."

"That's fine. When you mentioned that someone might be out there stalking you, I checked in with a few colleagues last night for reports of unusual activity in and around the Superstition Mountain trails and found a report of a vehicle stolen from another trailhead approximately 10 miles from the way station you were in. Vague description given was a large, dark-haired man but the owner who witnessed the theft was too far away to do any better."

"Ten miles seems like an awful lot of distance away from us, but the man's description sounds close enough. About what time did that happen?" Emma wondered.

"The theft occurred just before the storm – reported approximately 12:30pm when the owners were heading back to their vehicle. Another hiker on the same trail gave them a lift down to the Ranger Station."

"Wait – 12:30? That was before the storm?" Emma was confused as it hadn't been that long after they'd dropped out of the portal and Arizona time was earlier than Storybrooke's… The timeline couldn't be right...

"Up there, yes. Storm rolled through about quarter to 1," Carlos replied. "If this is your guy, he was down here in the valley more than an hour before I found the two of you. The vehicle was found this morning near the bus depot in downtown Mesa. Unfortunately, their security cameras didn't pick up the vehicle when it entered so we didn't get an image of the guy to know for sure."

"Sounds like this guy knows what he's doing," Emma sighed. Odds were that this was the man who'd followed them from Storybrooke but where was he now? He could be absolutely anywhere in the Phoenix area by now which made her even more anxious to find a way home, but it was going to be a while before Killian would be able to make that trip – not without another magical portal opening up at least.

"Do not worry about this man right now," Grandmother told her. "He is not here and would not know to look for you here. Go and get yourself cleaned up. All this talk will wait for later."

#cs ff #cs fan fic #cs fanfiction #captain swan ff #only a little superstitious

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saffrongamer · 7 years

Text

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Review Script

*To be edited and slightly trimmed down*

*Will be very different after voice-over, video, and final cuts are made*

When I was growing up in the early 2000s I rarely had any exposure to many big game mascot franchises. The only ones I had seen were Mario 64 and pokemon at my cousin’s house or my sonic 3 & Knuckles CD for our family computer that used keyboard controls. And there’s no way in hell my tiny little hands would be able to reach any sort of playability on that PS/2 port windows XP nightmare dinosaur. Nooo, the only thing I really played as a kid was Spyro the Dragon on the playstation 1.

If you’re old enough to remember anything before the Nintendo Wii, then you probably remember going down to your local walmart or target and trying the demos for the latest video games.

You know,

looking directly up,

at a 90-degree angle,

with an impossibly short cable,

trying to play a children’s game. (echo in the background: WHY? LIKE WHAT THE FU-” *cut to next clip.*

Now I’m sure it sounds like I’m just rambling, and don’t worry I’ll get to that point, but I wanted to share my magical 2003 experience with one of my favorite games. The gamecube demo had a special disc on it. This magical little disc had several games and trailers to distract kids and fathers while mom goes and picks out some socks for tomorrow's Sunday Mass. For the older crowd, this preview disc had games like Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Soul Calibur 2, and Viewtiful Joe. While the kids they had Sonic Adventure DX and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. Of course, I chose the Boy who Hatched: Billy. Hey, I was a little kid, I saw colors, a silly name, and a chicken suit. What more could peak my interest?

So I gave it a try. And I died. I died a lot. The demo starts by having you roll down a curvy path to the beach. I constantly fell into the water. I don’t even remember how far I got before I had to stop. As mom called me away, I felt a mix of disappointment and longing for more on top of my terrible neck pain.

And so I forgot about Billy and his Egg rolling adventures for the next few years. By then I had my own Gamecube and several games for it like Mario Sunshine, Sonic Heroes, and Pokemon Colosseum. Every time dad and I would go to our local gamestop, I would poke through the games and see if I could find anything. Dad would try to speed me along by suggesting a game, and I usually would have turned down whatever he chose. Until one day he grabbed billy hatcher, not because it was at a wicked good price or that he knew I would love it. He just was getting my attention with it because he liked to call me a chicken as a kid and he knew it would rile me up.

So of course, I bought it and took it home with me. First thing that got my attention was that it supported multiplayer. As the older brother I was naturally used to thrashing my younger sisters in mario party, so what was another game to feed my dominance as the eldest child? My sisters and I loved it.

We rolled around on eggs,

collecting fruit,

hatching the eggs,

collecting animals,

attacking each other with the animals after spending an hour on one round

Basically Ark: Survival Evol-*T-Rex Roaring clip*

We had names for a few of them too. We knew some of their names from the manual, but we called this one Chelk, Bunnybird, Lion, Sharky, Ostrich… We weren’t very creative children.

I guess the point I’m trying to convey is what this game was for me and my siblings and how much we enjoyed it. I was never able to get super far in the main game cause I was a kid and I sucked at video games that weren’t Spyro the Dragon or Pokemon Ruby.

So what was the reason for that build up? Why did I ramble about quality family time with a video game about kids rolling around eggs? I don’t know. I don’t have a direct focus for this video. But I would like to talk about what I think of the billy hatcher game now that I’m an adult.

So Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg… How do I begin this? You’re a young blonde boy Billy who’s overslept for his outing with his friends. He and his friends see a small chick that is being attacked by a crow, so Billy beats the fuck outta it with a stick. It is then revealed that the chick is actually the Chicken God of MorningLand. Billy and his friends are then taken to the new world to be the chosen heroes. I guess this is a new approach to the Isekai genre, so move over SAO and No Game No Life Billy’s coming to take over.

After donning the hero’s rooster outfit, Billy Hatcher and his friends Rolly Roll, Chick Poacher, and Bantam Scrambled set off to free MorningLand from the evil crows.

Each level until the final boss is structured in the same method. With a few varied level challenges moved around. You arrive in the new level with a hearty “Let’s Go!” and set off to find the trapped chicken elders, roll them over fruit, and then hatch them to obtain this game’s power star; an emblem of courage. The next level will always be a boss fight. This is what I’d usually consider what a developer would have put into place in order to keep the game kid friendly. Like allow a child to do what they’re able to do and then beat the game for their own success. While the older crowd can appreciate value in getting all of the mcguffins and beating all of the challenges. But that didn’t really happen. You see. There’s only about 6 levels. You need about 20 or so emblems to enter the final level. So if you try to move onto the final level, the game will spit you back to the stage select after you’ve trudged your way through the sand stage until you have 20 emblems. Therefore, since you only have about 12 emblems, you’ll need to go through the stages to pick some levels. Now the structure for the other stages follows a mismatched order of this for a total of 8 emblems for each stage: collect X amount of giant coins, kill 100 crows, race an NPC, find and free the 7 caged chickens, and 1 or 2 actually creative levels for that stage. 3 of the stages have you save your captured friends before they’re blown up for it’s level 4. Then allows you to play as your friends. I always liked playing Bantam as a kid cause I thought he could grab ledges better.

Stages also follow the Sonic stage tropes we all know; Forest, Pirate, Volcano, Ice, Circus, Desert, and Chicken Heaven...

Once you reach the final level you dont need to free any chicken elders, you just travel to the final boss. And I’m sorry if this is your favorite childhood game, but this final boss is terrible. And it hurts any sort of story conclusion the game was trying to have. Your final boss is I believe named Dark Raven. You use a mechanic they taught you earlier in the level in order to beat his first form. You must roll over a dark patch on the ground until it is completely gone. You dont need to get all of the circles cleared, just the one. And believe me, you’re gonna have a hard time with this. The game wants the whole circle gone with not a single pixel left otherwise the circle reforms and damages you. This becomes incredibly frustrating when there are more circles placed down and you can’t tell which circle had which darkness. This is all going on while this snarky asshole raven watches you aimlessly roll around in front of him. His final form is just another giant raven, but “spookier” I guess? At first you can’t really do anything to him and the bird just rips off your chicken suit. But then Chicken God steps in and gives you some good ol’ divine intervention with a new chicken suit. But this one has a fancy light effect thing going on. Anyways now you must dodge the raven attacks and wait for the most damning mechanic of all to screw you over. You need to stand in the direction of the raven. Wait for it to fire a ball of light at you, press the B button at the perfect frame to catch it, and then beat the fuck outta it to finish him off. I died so many times to this thing just because I missed the perfect frame grab. You have zero room for error on this one.

After you save morning land the whole chicken world sings your praise and peace returns. But now we can talk about the interesting part of the game; the gameplay mechanics. Once billy has an egg his mobility is staggering.

You can press A to jump

Tap A again to bounce jump off the ground

hold A for a ground slam

press B to smash the egg down in front of you,

Hit R in mid air to do an air dash in the direction of your choosing

Press B on the ground to roll your egg forward and watch it boomerang back to you

Press R to accelerate yourself for an egg dash

Press A while you’re dashing for a long jump to fling yourself super far

These abilities can be super well executed with the stage design allowing you to travel extremely fast and perform nifty combos.

Each stage is littered with eggs of all kinds. They either have an animal inside to help you, or a power up. You don’t need them for about 95% of the game. They’re pretty useless. You just need to use your egg to kill things. And you only need the animals for 5% just to solve a few level gimmicks or wall blockings. The power ups are pretty pointless outside of multiplayer. Sorry if that cracks your egg.

But I still love the jester hat, please don't hate me.

Each level has 5 chick coins for each stage. These are a neat thing to hunt for, but are ultimately pointless. They allow you to use that level’s sonic egg that would have been normally unobtainable. These eggs hatch into none other than big name Sega characters. These are also pointless. They’re just the normal animal powers copy/pasted onto sonic, Nights, Chu chu rocket, and PSO character models. They’re a neat thing to see when they appear in multiplayer, but they’re no more helpful than other eggs.

Which brings me into the best aspect of the game; the multiplayer. You and your friends can play in either a death match with stock or just hatch animals. However, the animal hatching only goes to a pre-set amount of points. Which you can just steal and win instantly by killing your friends. Kinda just turns into another just deathmatch. And when the screen is all cluttered from splitscreen, it feels difficult to control the camera properly. Why do I like this gamemode again? Oh yeah, nostalgia…

Scattered throughout each boss level is a special egg that allows you to demo a small downloadable game. When you connect your GBA via a cable to your Gamecube you can play several games. Easy and Hard Chicken Shoot, NiGHTS, Chu Chu Rocket, and Puyo Puyo Pop.

Chicken shoot is bad, its just a terrible top down game where billy must roll an egg over some crows. Hard isn’t hard at all. NiGHTS is entertaining, I have no experience with the games yet, but I probably should give them a shot. I can’t do chu chu rocket since I’m a little slow, but my sister is surprisingly good at the game. But puyo puyo pop was great. Lining up colored dots to clear the screen against another player is very satisfying. It reminds me of pokemon puzzle league for the Nintendo 64. I probably should get the new game for the switch…

*GBA SP joke clip*

Last thing I want to discuss is why I think this game might have been so important for Sega when it came out. It was the first full game and original IP developed by Sonic Team for another system that wasn’t a port of a previous release. Sure they probably wrote “from the creator of sonic the hedgehog” on the cover just to push sales, but Yuji Naka’s name might not work as well as it did 10 years ago. His latest title was Rodea the Sky Soldier for the Wii & Wii U which I think deserves its own video at some point. This game was exclusively available on the Gamecube while Sonic Heroes, which released a few months later, was multiplatform. And hell, I’d rather play this game than Sonic heroes any day. And the reason why is so important, is because it was during the era 2 years after the dreamcast was discontinued and Sega went permanently 3rd party. I don’t want to talk your ear off about the 90s and the “console wars”, you’ve heard that all a thousand times before. But since then, Sega has created a variety of games that are only possible because of this relationship they’ve obtained with nintendo. Fans finally got the mario and Sonic olympic games series, and while I’m not remotely interested in them they must be doing well if they keep publishing them. But we also got Sonic colors in 2009, which is a fantastic game. And while some of the sonic games on the wii U were… lackluster, Nintendo paid for the development of Bayonetta 2 from Platinum for the Wii U. A series that sega had zero interest in funding. I could keep rambling on about them even slapping in the the gba demo download functionality, Sonic getting put into smash bros, or whatever nonsense I could come up with. But I just wanted to lament about one of my favorite childhood characters.

So that’s what I think of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. A lovable young boy with the ability to roll eggs. Sure, the game is littered with issues and I might only like it because of nostalgia. But I think it’s an amazing platformer nonetheless. Give it a try if you ever get the chance. I’d like to hope for a sequel, but the game’s poor sales have probably doomed any chance of that ever happening. But if you ever want to play as the boy who hatched in another game, he’s playable and makes cameos in Sega Superstars, Sonic and Sega All stars racing and racing transformed, Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders Zero gravity.

#saffron #review #script #Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg #SEGA #Sonic Team #Gamecube #Nintendo #Controller #2003 #Dreamcast #Sonic #Yuji Naka #Rolly #Chicken #Morningland #Demo #YouTube

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eternal-bruh · 7 years

Text

Why being caught in a Casual Loop is best to be avoided: I

Chapter 5

"And what's wrong with you now?" Linus has to take only one long look at them this morning to realize that something bad has happened and it is only going to descend into more shit later on in the day if his gut feeling is anything to be relied on.

He casts one inquiring look at Sappho, but the man shakes his head vigorously, declining with all his might any fault or involvement in these idiots' new and sudden bout of depression. Which is all the more alarming now that he thinks about it.

"If this has already happened did I feel like this too? Like, again?"

Long nose is close to rocking back and forth on his feet judging by his unfocussed eyes. He notices Linus' stare and takes a step closer, clamping his offending hands on Linus’ shoulders.

"Did you already say this before or will you say it again?!"

The native squirms under the wild stare filled with madness, but it proves to be an iron cage so he opts to just glare at the next probable culprit.

"What is he saying, Robin? And what did you do to break your crewmates?"

The woman has the nerve to blink and look amused of all things.

"Just a theory."

The official's eye twitches at the storm of gibberish the sniper is pulling. And now he is the one being rocked!

"What the hell is he even saying?!"

"He is asking if you think it’s possible to know the end of your own life and what are we doing today." The archaeologist informs him leisurely and Linus pauses.

"Those are completely unrelated!" With an almighty push, he manages to shove off the offending guy and huffs. Straightening his clothes, Linus clicks his tongue disapprovingly. They look like shit. And so he tells them.

"Well we sorry if we look this! Possible because someone had us sleep in a small box all last night!" Nami cries out indignantly, hands on her hips and expression stormier than the Grand Line itself.

Well damn it, she's become better at speaking, Linus thinks as he grudgingly cuts her off the list of possible victims of his curses.

Biting the inside of his cheek like a real mature person, Linus crosses his arms and turns his back on them.

"I suppose you will be grateful to leave here then."

He knows where they are supposed to be going, but that doesn't make it any easier to navigate through the palace grounds while once again hoping against hope that they will not be seen and any other curious idiot will stay out of his way. He knows just the right place in the north-west wing of the palace grounds, right next to the outer wall overlooking the ocean. That small corner where the sea meets the island's shore and is towered over by the watchtower and the palace itself. Where most windows don't reach and where guards usually come to laze around. A place no one will ask him too many questions about being in. Because during this unsettling night, Linus has quickly reached the conclusion that introducing the Strawhats to at least some people he knows will be inevitable and a pain in the ass if he won’t do it willingly.

Why? Well, he now – somehow, at least a little – believes that this obscure group really is here from so many years into the future and possesses knowledge of strange and new technologies that they do not. It will be stupid not to keep them at an arm's length and learn everything he can under the pretext that he is responsible for them. He wants to know more about the Devil Fruits as a whole, but especially about the captain's because those are his powers that he has swallowed and Linus has to make sure that the guy knows how to use them right.

They are way too quiet, he notices after a good while when the enjoyable silence leaves in its wake only a strange and awkward feeling crawling up and down his spine and it is starting to irritate the hell out of him. He opens his mouth more out of spite, but at the sullen looks behind him – minus the captain's, which is not that surprising considering that the kid is pretty much a clueless ball of gum – he decides against it for the moment. It doesn't matter anyway, because their destination is in sight and deserted as is expected.

"So... meat?" Luffy tries for the nth time that morning at breakfast when he was presented only a normal portion of a plate composed of fruits. So he has now decided to appeal to his ancestor because he can.

Linus frowns at the nonsense question. "What meat? We have no meat here."

Luffy's head tilts to the side out of reflex as the straw hat wearer processes the foreign words accompanying the relatively only one he knew by heart.

"No? Here?"

"No is no. And yes, not here Luffy. There's no meat here." Robin's kind smile for her captain looks too encouraging to Linus to be completely innocent, but what the hell.

"N... No?" The man tries and it doesn't come out as horrible as he had thought it would.

Most of the pirates nod supportively at his attempt.

"For your first word it was pretty good, bro!" Franky grins and offers him an appreciative thumbs' up.

The native shakes his head at their needless excitement and fixates a serious stare on Luffy's sunken face which he promptly decides to overlook.

"We fight. Now."

And without any further ado, Linus launches a swift rubber attack that is promptly counterattacked by a 'Gum Gum Pistol'. Luffy looks taken aback by the sudden strike, but he isn't one to refuse a fight. This is finally a language that he can work with.

Linus decides on a swipe with his foot next, but the straw hat wearer only jumps up and launches a massive series of punches that the other avoids by rolling across the ground.

Jumping back to his feet, Linus decides to close the distance and trap the kid but the other is fast enough to reciprocate and doesn't fall for it, much to Linus’ surprise. The kid seems pretty stupid at first sight, but fights must be an exception. Or so it seems. Not only that, but fighting rubber with rubber is a pretty stupid idea to begin with.

The Strawhats watch the exchange of blows with interest, finding it a pretty amusing twist of fate to see their captain fighting with somebody using the same kind of powers as him. It isn't like watching a mirror – it is more like looking at different kinds of levels of the Gum Gum Fruit. Until now Linus hasn't shown many impressive or amazing moves, but he can keep up with Luffy and not get tired out and this is saying many things. Rather, the native uses more rudimental attacks that are not even as closely creative as Luffy's are. In contrast, they have probably been developed throughout years of fighting with them. Linus isn't shouting attack names for starters, and he seems more concentrated on studying the younger's moves than knocking Luffy down.

Linus itches to take out his sword, but he supposes it will be kind of unfair to the kid so in the end abstains to do that. But the fight is becoming dull and the kid has some admittedly flashy moves that he can't see the purpose of in a fight where you have to conquer an entire island in under one hour. Of course, they can cause mass destruction perfectly, but that is the least one would aim for when invading towns full of would-be citizens. It looks to him like Luffy is used to destroying rather than keeping things intact and that is a shocking opposite to his own style. It makes him yield to finish the fight and put the kid in his place.

Concentrating on the trajectory the Luffy’s fist is going in, Linus crouches down to avoid it and slams his hands on the ground. He hears Luffy’s surprised yelp and he uses the momentum to launch himself in the air, reaching for his sword while keeping his eyes trained on the confused kid. He doesn't let him get away with jumping out of the range of his attack. Linus lands hard, makes the ground swell under Luffy and launches him into the sky, though he doesn't get very far when a rubber contraption ties around his middle and pulls him down towards the cold, now hard, ground.

The crew watches with mouths agape as their captain gets plastered on the ground quite literally and in what could only be a twisted turn of events. Even by their standards.

"Are you alright, Luffy?!" Chopper is the first to snap out of his daze, his doctor side taking over instantly. The small reindeer runs quickly towards the raven haired teen, officially ending the fight.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Luffy is surprisingly laughing while nursing a bump on his head.

Linus towers above him like an immovable statue, his face caught somewhere between undecided doubt and disgruntled curiosity.

"What was that?!" Nami looks from one Monkey to the other for answers, but her question is brushed off by one and blocked by language barriers by the other.

"What the hell was that?" Linus scoffs as he pulls his rubber sword from around the kid's middle.

Franky and Zoro watch it reform into a normal looking one with solid interest.

"You – it – rubber?" Usopp cracks the coconut open first, because no one else seems to be up on doing that.

Linus throws him an odd look that suggests he should have known about it by now.

"Of course. The ground, too. Don't tell me you don't know anything about your captain's powers!"

Everyone looks at Luffy. The raven head blinks and grins back at them.

"Luffy not can do that!" Usopp cries out quickly in a broken language.

Linus takes in their honest expressions of raw confusion and resists the urge to slap his forehead.

"Then what can he do?"

"Be rubber. That it." Sanji flicks his cigarette absently.

Undeterred by the answer, Linus crouches down in front of the kid and repeatedly slammed his hands on the ground. Luffy watches him with an odd expression on his face, but keeps his mouth shut because he does not want to make Linus mad. The pirate captain leans back when the other's head snaps up to glare at him.

"Now you. Think of rubber!"

"Think of rubber, shithead. And do the shit he does." Sanji clears up the message for his captain.

Luffy bites the inside of his cheek in concentration and does as he is told, but nothing out of the ordinary happens besides him looking very funny to his crewmates.

"That was on another level than usual!" Nami breathes out after a good laugh.

"Yohoho! Luffy-san was so serious for a moment there!"

Luffy throws his ancestor a betrayed look which the man only shrugs off, too immersed in the fact that the idiot can't do what feels like second nature to him.

"Why?"

"Luffy is only made of rubber. He cannot make other things that." Robin explains.

Linus' eyes widen. "Then he can't become normal either?"

The archeologist's eyebrows draw up at the question, but she shakes her head negative. Linus deflates and lifts his arm.

Robin takes the offered hand with only a second’s hesitation and probes it to confirm what Linus is insisting about.

"He feels normal. No rubber."

The Strawhats pale.

"Wow, how did you do that?! Can I do it? C'mon old man, show me!" Luffy's face is beaming in excitement, but Linus shakes his head.

"Can you clone yourself, Robin?"

Robin nods. "Only one or two. I tire out easily if I do more."

Linus exhales through his nose. "Then it's the same with you, too. Sappho has hundreds of these."

Usopp chokes on his spit. "Wha-!"

"How do you think he discovered all these things?" The native ruffles his hair in frustration. "That idiot made the Fruits imperfect!"

"He said that he made the Fruits imperfect." Nami tells Franky.

The shipwright rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Or maybe Sappho had to make them this way."

Robin relays the message to Linus, who looks a little more pacified at the suggestion but nevertheless thunderous.

"What other Devil Fruits do you have?" The official asks, shifting from foot to foot as he opts to change the subject before he can make up his mind and really kill the blond.

"I! Human Fruit!" Chopper announces, lifting a hoof.

"Then... he was a raccoon?" Linus blurts out, studying the doctor much more closely now.

The small pirate does not need to understand everything to know what the man has just assumed and he promptly cries out in protest.

"I'm a reindeer!"

Linus blinks at the furious face, but thinks better of it.

"So I suppose the skeleton and the blue haired guy have Fruits, too?"

"No, me has none!" Franky grins, pointing a thumb at his chest proudly.

The native looks up at the musician. "So you have some kind of animation Fruit then?"

"Oh, no! I am quite dead." Brook announces jovially.

Linus pauses to process this information and he turns to Robin, who seems to have become his designated helper.

"What was his name again?"

"Brook. He ate the Revive Revive Fruit."

The raven haired man chokes. "What kind of name is that?!" It takes him a minute to realize what he has just shouted out and he clears his throat in embarrassment. "Brook, why are you a skeleton then?"

"I was lost... and came back... late?" Brook tries to simplify matters as best as he can for everyone's benefit.

"And when he came back, his body was already a skeleton. That is the reason for his image." Robin adds mildly.

"I... see." Linus isn't sure if he really can, but this is indeed the most logical way of how things went. "You have one of the Fruits Sappho was talking about."

"Live forever Fruits?" Nami asks curiously, surprised to get a sharp nod in return. "But... Brook can die, right?"

The navigator turns her head in the skeleton's direction, looking for confirmation or a denial. Anything.

The musician nods slowly, his empty eye sockets seeming to narrow marginally.

"I can indeed die if my bones are turned to dust. I will simply have no body to return to."

"Brook says that he can die. If his body turns to dust." Robin translates for Linus.

The raven haired man shoots Brook a critical look.

"I suppose this 'Revive Revive Fruit'," the raven haired man makes air quotations with his fingers, "is imperfect as well. Here, the man born with it has been living for a thousand years already."

Usopp gasps audibly at the information while Robin occupies herself with listing all the other Fruits they know and categorizing them for later use. Nami slaps her hands over both Sanji and Luffy's mouths to stop them from talking and shouting questions, trying in vain to translate what Linus has just said.

Seeing no problem with their curiosity, Linus continues. "He was born one hundred years after the first powers appeared on the island and he-"

"So he's not some kind of living legend that's been here for... ever." Zoro tries to whisper to Franky a little more conspicuously, but it goes heard by the storyteller anyway and he is rewarded with an expectedly dirty look.

"He has been living for more than a thousand years, returning to his body whenever he dies. After a while it has become too deteriorated to be lived into so he started changing bodies, negotiating with their former owners over them. That's how he's been getting by until now."

"Immortality, huh?" Brook hums thoughtfully, though if he is going to be honest this whole story does not sit quite right with him. It sounds like a very long and lonely journey. And he thought that fifty years was a long time.

"This does sound a little wrong, but I suppose this is just the way things are." Robin's smile is devoid of any amusement as she sits down on the grass. "Does he negotiate with the owners before they die?"

Linus scratches his head, this subject a little out of his area of expertise, but mind fueled by the rumors and his own experience with the man.

"Yes. Negotiations are usually very extensive and can last a very long time." The native's mouth pulls tight and the hand that is absently rubbing the side of his head falls limply. "He is an eccentric man. I hear he's haggling for a woman's body next."

Sanji discretely files this u nder his 'valuable Devil Fruits that are already eaten' list.

"Everyone has their preferences, I'm sure." Robin tries to see the bright side as Linus doesn't look too positive at this point in the conversation.

The man sitting in front of her snorts and looks Brook in the eyes – or his soul's eyes, to be more specific. "That man brings his fear of death to the extreme."

"You look to know him well." Sanji remarks as he exhales a cloud of smoke. He crouches down and stubs the used cigarette on the ground.

Linus grounds his teeth, but doesn't deny it. "You can say that. My grandfather is friends with most of the Sages so I inadvertently met all of them when I was young."

"What did he say?" Chopper tugs on Usopp's pants, but the sniper shakes his head grimly before his gaze focuses on their historian.

"I didn't get most of it. Did you, Robin?"

The black haired woman closes her eyes and opens them back slowly. "Neither did I. He just used a couple of complicated words I've never heard before. But I believe he has met these Sages." She regards Linus with a serene expression that is meant to reassure him no secret plan is involved. "What are Sages?"

Linus grins slyly as he works to push Luffy off him. He swears that this kid gets bored way too easily, though he kind of understands where he is coming from.

"The five people that are said to live forever." He explains smoothly. "They tried calling them elders, but those five clunked everyone who said that word over the head because – ‘they are not old and wouldn't get since they are immortal so stop calling us that, you idiots'." Linus quotes, making sure to speak slower and revise any complicated words that might have slipped. "Clunk is when you hit."

"Yohoho, I see!" Brook laughs good-naturedly. "Though it sounds quite like the World Government we have in our time."

"Indeed." Robin's voice is decidedly heavier than before and she stands up with unusual stiffness. "It seems we might have another piece of the puzzle."

"You mean the Government might have copied them?" Nami crosses her arms as she looks over at the waves hitting the crumbling cliffs a few meters away.

"He said they were five, right?" Franky inquires and guffaws when he gets an affirmative answer. "I knew those idiots were just posers!"

"I kinda' doubt they're just that, Franky!" Usopp exclaims, looking around in fear, though it is obvious no shady old man from their time is there. Even so, after Enies Lobby, discussing about the World Government at any time is not making him any more comfortable.

Luffy's head snaps up when it seems that the discussion is set to some familiar tunes and he leaves his ancestor to his own devices as he saunters over to his friends' side.

"What's up?"

"It is entirely possible that they've gotten the idea of how to install and conduct an effective government from Raftel's example." Robin begins, her brown eyes wide and fixed steadily on the ground. "But there is always the possibility that one of them is a traitor and changed camps."

"Or will." Zoro adds, casting a furtive glance in the palace's direction.

"We shouldn't throw stones at anyone right now." Brook intervenes calmly. "First we have to figure out what kind of powers the rest of these people have. And associate them with the ones from our time."

"Brook-bro's right. No use pointing our fingers if we don't know in which direction." The crew's shipwright shrugs and the finality in his tone suggests they should drop the subject for now.

"What are you guys talking about?" Luffy's face is contorted into a truly painful kind of confusion that Usopp physically feels.

"Politics mostly. Linus said something and we started talking about the World Government." The sniper grimaces at the escalading groan that comes from his captain before he even finishes the sentence.

"Why can't you guys talk about something interesting!" The straw hat wearer slumps to the ground, defeated.

Chopper is next to him in an instant, fussing over whatever unseen injury the fight earlier might have caused him to fall to the ground for.

Nami pursed her lips at the pitiful show.

"Someone's coming." Zoro's urgent whisper and Sanji's suddenly lifted foot disrupts the easygoing haze they have been wrapped in.

Luffy's protests die as soon as the swordsman utters the first word and he looks up, gaze sharp and focused on locating the intruder.

Linus looks at their sudden agitation with raised eyebrows, not understanding one shitty fucking thing they are saying, but trying hard to make the connections. It does not go very well.

"So many people here! Is this a party without me you’re throwing, Linus?"

The voice comes from behind and Linus’ eyes widen quizzically while his heart stops for a split of a second. When his brain finishes making the connections and printing the results, he stares at the Strawhats' hanging jaws – again with the jaws, these people are much too easily caught off guard – and they seem to struggle between staring at him and at the newcomer.

Taking a deep breath because he feels that this is what he really needs right now, Linus turns around and bites back the waterfall of insults threatening to burst out of his mouth. Instead he opts to stare at the man crouched on top of the wall, standing against the morning sun and thus having his face partly obscured by the light. Which Linus is sure that is meant to make his entrance more ambiguous and mysterious, but in his eyes the guy is only ever pushing his luck. And this is the last damn time – he'll make sure of it.

"What the smothering hell are you doing here?" The raven head growls lowly, ignoring the whimpering and urgent whispers erupting from behind him.

The man on top of the concrete grins smugly and jabs a thumb at his chest. "Come now, is that the way to greet me?" The whine in his tone is almost amusing if the sight of his face wouldn't be too irritating to look at.

The intruder drops down from his perch and lands on the ground with a dull thud. Somehow, his closeness makes the Strawhats take a collective step back. Linus bites his tongue and decidedly doesn’t ask why their captain looks positively horrified at the moron he is just about to pummel.

"Well?!" Linus insists when all the idiot does is stand there like a restless child that just wants to intrude on something, but ends up being rightfully ignored. His jet black gaze studies the partially undressed man with as much criticism as he can materialize before he gets distracted. By the thing that most probably got the idiot so hyped up to search for and bother him.

"What is that shit on you!"

The Strawhats jump and Linus hopes that his roar goes unheard inside the castle.

The black haired man in front of him grins smugly and puffs out his chest which is partially covered in blue, purple and gold ink. "You like it? It's a phoenix, y'know?"

The simple question sparks a wave of anger in Linus and he clenches his fists, trying to calm down before he speaks.

"You got a tattoo on your wedding day?!" Screw calm, he still manages to explode like a volcano.

"A tribal style tattoo like they do on Shando-"

"You have to be ready in-" Linus stops and turns to glare at the sun for short a moment before resuming his rant, "two damn hours!"

"Did he just read the hour by the sun?" Usopp whispers to the closest person next to him.

Nami shoots him one of her usual looks that spells 'you're disrupting this dramatic moment', but shrugs. "I can too. I just need time to study its position to determine the exact hour."

"Yeah, but he did it in a second!" The sniper insists.

"What's got you so fired up today?" The taller native asks curiously, his eyes meandering towards the Strawhats. He seems to be too preoccupied with studying them to see the incoming rubber fist that hits him in the face a second later.

"You should have been preparing!" Linus draws back now that his anger has been well consumed in the screaming fest and places his hand over his face, silently wondering why on earth all shit is falling on him to deal with nowadays. "Why did you get a tattoo for anyways? Kallisto not interested enough?"

The other's face darkens a visible shade and he looks about ready to start stabbing Linus, but instead of that his shoulders slump and he sniffs.

"I thought it'd be romantic, y'know? Kalli said so..." He trails off and beams up again, like a light bulb switched back on. "Who're these guys?"

Linus rolls his eyes at the roundabout answer, but he is not at all surprised. Only concerned for the future of this kingdom. It won't be surprising if he'll end up being the one running all the shit in a couple of years, but for now the Monkey clansman remains hopeful. Maybe they'll find another idiot for the job. Going back to the present, he supposes that introductions are due but the faces of some of the time travelers make him rethink his decision. Their captain's pale and shaking form speaks volumes. But the intruding idiot is getting impatient and the kid opens his mouth right then so he doesn't have a choice in the end.

"These are my charges at the moment, the Strawhat pirates." He gestures to the group at large, recounting some of the names, but finding out that he has lost many of them from his memory. "Robin, Brook, sniper-"

"I am Usopp!" The long nosed man interrupts with a harrumph.

"Nami, right?"

The navigator sighs and nods. She knows that this is the extent of knowledge Linus possesses about their names at the moment, so she decides to take the lead and presents in turn the rest of her crewmates.

"Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Franky-"

"And that's their captain, Luffy." Linus finishes, throwing the slowly reddening kid a warning glare to keep his mouth shut.

Unfortunately, Luffy has been close to erupting for a while now and the sound of his name does not help him or his nerves.

Linus' companion makes a noncommittal noise as he returns the Strawahats' greetings.

"What's wrong with 'im? No matter, I guess. Nice to meet you too, Luffy!"

Luffy startles, his eyes wide and muscles stiff. He stares at the man with a specific kind of horror Nami associates with Thriller Bark or – in general – with seeing a ghost. Which is most certainly so in this situation. They've all been taken aback, but most rational thinkers that do not include their captain for obvious reasons, have soon realized that it isn't and couldn't be that person. Hell, everyone excluding Luffy has had enough time to make peace with that thought, but unfortunately their captain has a one-track mind that only blares through the alarms of one thing inside his head at a time. And this won't make Linus happy, goddamn it.

Face looking as if he has just discovered the One Piece, Luffy jumps to his feet and lifts his foot, intent to close the distance and catch the poor, innocent man in the most dangerous bear hug of all – his trademark, rubber one.

"Ace is that really you?! What are you doing here? Did the guy sent you here, too?! You really know how to speak this language!" Luffy's shouts are incessant as he struggles in Sanji and Zoro's twin holds on his arms and against Franky's massive fist clenched around his body.

"Luffy calm down, he's not Ace!" Nami tries, but her voice is too weak against that resolve swimming in his wet gaze.

Linus looks at Luffy and resists the urge to slam his head on a rock repeatedly. Next to him, the newcomer chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his head while he watches the spectacle in wonder.

"I see that I've got a fan."

The official is not so sure about that. Not in the mood to hear the reason, though still curious as hell why the kid has suddenly lost his mind, he turns towards Robin's serene figure at the edge of the stormy group and asks when he is sure that her attention is on him.

"What is he screaming about now? Again with one of your ghosts?"

The archaeologist smiles in bemusement at their predicament.

"Indeed. I am sorry, but our captain is very emotional about this. Can you clear this maybe?"

She hums and Linus could have said no, but now he is compelled to even if he has been compelled from the start anyways because he has to introduce the tattooed man standing next to him. But this doesn’t mean he likes it either way. Bracing himself for whatever the hell will come next from this unpredictable group, he gestures toward said man.

"This is Amon, prince of this kingdom."

Silence reigns as Robin finishes relaying to her captain the translation of his words. Of course, this spurs an argument between the blond and green haired pirates and the rest have to enter the fray because why not. And when their captain finally snaps out of whatever trance or deep thoughts he has been in and actually begins to listen to what Brook and Nami are telling him, his face drops heartbreakingly as he studies Amon with the biggest amount of disappointment and sadness Linus has ever seen in someone. And then Luffy starts rambling about this or the other in that broken language of theirs, rapid firing everything he is still confused about and probably complaining over the situation. Because everyone they have met looked like those ghosts of theirs and he pouts and dries his last tears until, finally, he stops. All of them stop. And Linus will never know how close he has been in his assumptions.

"And Linus’ best friend!” Amon adds happily in spite of the slightly awkward atmosphere, slinging an arm around the other’s shoulders which is promptly shrugged off.

Linus rewards the guy with a good old glare and pursed lips.

“No, he’s not. Just an irritating guy who needs to be constantly babysat.” The official spits and promptly ignores the string of complains falling from the prince’s mouth. He addresses the Strawhats. “His wedding is today, so I need to get him inside the palace. Stay here and don’t move. Alright?”

He sighs in relief at Robin’s compliant nod and she makes sure that her friends get the message as well. Linus won’t be caught saying it out loud, but the black haired woman has become quite an indispensable link between the two languages in this short time. She shoulders half of his workload and he’s very grateful for that. It is safe to say that he has been completely lost when he heard that his job is to keep them safe. He hadn’t known how to even communicate with them and suddenly Sappho and the other competent folk decide that he has to make friends with the so-called pirates. It took him all night to accept this new reality and make peace with the fact that he’ll have to teach them their language or possibly have him learn the continentals’. Which he is trying to, but it proves too difficult to just be fine with catching words as they fly around. So he makes up a plan that will hopefully not end with this whole place destroyed.

Ruffling his hair again, Linus turns around and makes to grab Amon’s arm but instead of a solid limb, his hand passes through it. The gaping hole around his hand remains small for a moment, shy tendrils of fire licking his rubber skin without any intent of burning it before the gap gradually extends and swallows the raven haired man’s whole body, leaving only a red bead behind that promptly falls to the ground.

Linus watches it drop with a blank range of what-to-do-next. Behind him, the pirates look on with grim faces, most of them being aware that such a possibility is thoroughly possible. Luffy bites his lower lip in an effort to not run out there and hug the man who so resembles his older brother both in appearance and in powers. Hell, he’ll go as far as to say that their personalities are almost alike.

The older Monkey clansman member rolls his eyes at the constant chuckling coming from seemingly all around before Amon reappears in a small storm of fire a couple of meters behind him.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Linus groans at the cheeky smirk on the guy’s face. Seriously now, he is not helping his situation at all.

Turning on his heels, he marches off determined not to lose Amon again and when he is certain that the fire user is secured in his iron grip he drags him toward the towering building. He opts to ignore the incessant mumbles and complaints thrown his way like a professional.

Nami shakes her head at the sight, not sure what she can say in this situation.

“Luffy, I need to make sure things are clear in your head for now.” Robin’s voice echoes around the clearing an instant later and seven people turn to gaze at their captain’s form, slouched on the ground in apparent defeat. The historian smiles indulgently and is willing to comply with any of his questions.

Luffy lets out a breath that sounds close to a snort and closes his eyes as if willing all the complicated things far away from him. A few moments of uncharacteristic silence later, he nods his head and opens his eyes to give Robin his full attention. But he speaks before she can.

“I know that’s not Ace…” His voice breaks on his brother’s name. “But he looks so much like him!”

“I know.” Robin agrees mildly, sitting down next to him. “As hard as it sure is, you must always remember that none of the people we meet here are in any way people from our time.”

Her words ring loud and clear, obviously addressed to all of them.

“They may be distant relatives, direct lines of ancestors and who knows what else. But they are not one and the same.” Twinkling brown eyes regard melancholic jet black kindly. “I know it brings back bad memories and it hurts to see them so close when they are not. It is a century too early for any of them.”

“So we have to keep calm no matter what we see.” Zoro concludes, cutting Robin’s speech short.

“This might be just what they need to mark us as spies. Let’s not give them that chance, Luffy-san.” Brook accompanies his input with a small laugh that is meant to lighten up the atmosphere.

Luffy looks to be thinking it over for a minute before a smile blossoms on his face and he chuckles.

“Yeah, you guys are right!”

With a small push he lifts himself off the ground. Once back on his feet, the rubber man studies their expectant faces and grins.

“I’ll keep my guard up from now on!”

Sanji snorts at the out of context promise, but Nami supposes this is as good as they will ever get and that has to count for something. She resigns herself to wait in the relative silence they have going on. She ignores the louder ones of their crew in favor of giving her rumbling thoughts a semblance of order. Sounds of the game of tag fills in the bouts of silence and prevents the general mood from descending into depressive again. Luffy and Chopper are certainly not undeterred by being told to wait and do nothing.

Linus returns fifteen minutes later when the game is reaching its climax and Robin clearly is going to win. The black haired man looks as if the whole world has just dumped a heavy boulder on him to carry up a mountain in the middle of winter, but at least his gaze is still burning with determination.

“You will eat lunch at the Monkey family manor today.” Linus clears his throat. “Where you will also be staying from now on, by the way.” The native blinks at the collective cheer Nami, Franky and Sanji give while the rest of the crew looks like their birthdays are coming. Swallowing back his curiosity, Linus continues. “But first, I have a few things to say to you.”

He pauses to make sure that Robin is listening.

“From now on you can walk through the city without problems. But please do not do anything to attract attention to yourselves!” He stops and glares at Luffy in particular. “You can visit Sappho whenever you want, but I’d suggest you do not go out there just because you are bored. There are also a few rules of the manor, but I will be relaying them as we walk.”

Robin nods and immediately starts translating for her friends. Linus occupies himself with studying the sparkling waters of the Grand Blue as their undulating waves splash against the rocky shoreline. He wonders if he made the right choice in the end, but seeing his charges’ considerably happier faces than before, he supposes that he is on the right track at least.

#opbigbang #opbigbang2017 #fanfiction #one piece #straw hats #luffy

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