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popatochisssp · 4 years

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Heya Poppy! I’m loving the new gem headcanons and was wondering if you have a diamond au too? Or any other stuff about the new gems? I love this au so much

Ohoho, of course I do! I do have the new gems’ Backstories, but since you asked about the Diamond AU specifically... UwU

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Cubic Zirconia (Undergloom Sans) emerges alone, in an abandoned Kindergarten galaxies upon galaxies away from Homeworld’s (known) reaches. He doesn’t stay alone for very long, and not too much later, Moissanite (Undergloom Papyrus) emerges too--another gem.

...Not that they...know too much beyond the fact that they’re both gems. They certainly have no idea that they’re both products of diamond replication experiments at this outpost, commissioned by the (recently ceased) Void Diamond and forgotten when The War began and other priorities became more important.

But! They have each other, so even if their origin is shrouded in mystery and there’s nobody else here on this dusty, deserted rock of a planet, they both decide things could be worse.

They go about their lives for awhile, poking around in things, bonding with each other, making guesses about their species and civilization from their bare-bones programming and the artifacts of the Kindergarten.

It passes the time.

And then, one day, the seismic activity starts.

The two of them have no idea what’s happening or what to do about it; if there’s anything to do about it, and it’s a stressful few cycles before they get any solid answers.

Raw Diamond (Horrorfell Sans), clawing himself up through the ground from the deepest, darkest caverns of the planet, is about as ‘solid’ as an answer gets.

Cubic and Moissanite shouldn’t know the newcomer at all, yet they find themselves automatically saluting, calling him ‘My Diamond,’ and Raw...

Raw is just as confused as they are.

He doesn’t know what’s going on either, where they are, what he is, who he is… he simply is.

He couldn’t know that he’s a forgotten project of Void Diamond’s, too, a new diamond meant to join the ranks with him and Brown and Gray as their empire expanded and needed more leadership. He was simply left in the ground to incubate without being refined or even cut.

(He's monstrous, huge even for a Diamond, and oddly formed with a crooked jaw that won’t open and a hole in his skull…but Cubic and Moissanite hardly know any better than he does what he’s supposed to look like, so no one makes any mention of it.)

Freshly emerged and very lost, it goes without saying that Raw wants answers. The Imitation brothers have a few, but nowhere near as many as he’s after, and he stubbornly demands to be shown around the Kindergarten and the outpost, to see it for himself.

And it all lights up for him in a way it never did for the two that came first, doors and sensors and screens coming to life, responding to the signature of a true diamond. There’s brand new access to everything, reports, records, files and procedures… they learn a lot about what they are, what they’re supposed to be and what they’re not.

They also learn how true diamonds are made, in full and not just halfway.

Raw is certain this is the answer. Cubic and Moissanite are the first of their kind, they barely have any programming, but a diamond…a diamond done right and not left unfinished like he was, surely they would know more and be able to make sense of…whatever it is they’re not getting.

The brothers aren’t totally convinced... but admittedly, they don’t have any better ideas and well…rough he may be, but Raw is a diamond…

Champagne Diamond (Horrorfell Papyrus) unfolds himself gracefully from a craggy cliffside on the abandoned planet, massive in size but otherwise perfect—and he does have some answers.

Champagne knows he is a Diamond and he knows of gemkind. He knows of their society and of their directive to expand their empire.

…What he doesn’t know is the answer to Cubic’s well-meaning query of ‘...what empire?’

Champagne has no clue where the hell all the other gems are, where this little rock is in relation to the Empire, if the Empire even still exists if this place has been abandoned as long as all the charts and data logs say it has been.

He wants answers as much as Raw does, possibly even moreso…but to even start looking for them, they have to get the hell off this planet.

As it turns out, what he lacks in inherent knowledge of their status and origin and social structures, Raw has a real knack for gem-tech, understanding the principles and functions of even the old and mostly broken down devices they have access to, enough to design a passable space-faring craft that they all pitch in to build.

The first world the quartet comes across is empty now, but was once uniquely occupied by both gems and by organics. There’s a handful of gem structures, Kindergartens, bases, et cetera--long abandoned and in disarray of course, but hiding lots of new data and potential clues to mine about what happened to gemkind, and more importantly, where the fuck Homeworld is...

(Like the lost city of Punt, it seems that nobody ever thought to store something as obvious as Homeworld’s coordinates anywhere in the days before warp pads--why bother? Everyone knew where it was.)

There’s a lot to repair and sift through, a whole planet’s worth of it, and there’s only four of them, so it’s probably going to take awhile…

So when Raw finds some old notes that this planet would be a good candidate to incubate a diamond if not for all the useful organic life on it, he nudges Champagne and jokes that all the organic life is gone now, maybe they should…?

To Raw’s surprise, however, Champagne is intrigued.

It could be something worth thinking about, actually… Another pair of hands, another set of eye-sockets… a diamond would be a costly investment, both time and resource-wise, but certainly more bang for the buck than a mess of soldiers or technicians that they really don’t need…

Plus, it’s something to do while they scour the whole damn globe for everything of use on it.

So... might as well try it.

A nice chunk of forest is summarily leveled by Cloudy Diamond (Horrorswapfell Sans) when he decides he’s good and ready to emerge—and while he’s certainly an extra pair of hands for the group, the eye-sockets…didn’t really work out the way they’d thought.

Cloudy, it turns out, is blind as a bat, a defective diamond—but still a diamond, able to interface with and access everything the other two diamonds can, if guided to it.

He sticks with Cubic and Moissanite, mostly, a quid pro quo sort of arrangement that works for everyone, at least until everything of use and worth is mined out of the artifacts of the planet, and it’s time to move on to the next lead: what seems to have been a military base on an almost entirely aquatic world.

Cloudy isn’t interested in visiting a water-world, not for a long-term stay like they’re talking about. He prefers solid ground beneath his feet at least most of the time...and he actually has very little investment in their Quest for Homeworld, so he decides that he’ll stay here.

The others question if he’s sure, and even offer to leave at least Moissanite with him to help him around, but he refuses. Aside from not feeling altogether right about splitting Moissanite and Cubic, Cloudy has his pride and he’ll manage just fine. He is a diamond, after all!

And so off the others go to the military installation.

Raw has a great time digging around in all the decaying ships and weaponry, Cubic and Moissanite explore the things left behind by the gems that were once upon a time stationed there, and Champagne researches.

Cloudy’s defect...weighs on him, though...

(Possibly because they kind of…created the poor guy, imperfect, and then left him there, which sucks… but Champagne is a diamond and doesn’t have half the emotional intelligence to realize the injustice of that is what’s bugging him.)

He somehow decides that it’s the defect itself that’s bothering him, that he failed to create a 100% functional diamond. But he didn’t fail, he could do it, if he tried again…which he’s not going to do, just to prove a point, to himself even and not anybody else!

………

That’s exactly what he does.

Pink Diamond (Horrorswap Sans) rises from the sea one day, kicking up a tsunami in his wake, much to the surprise of the others who were definitely not kept in the loop on this matter.

Champagne, for his part, is unapologetic and unashamed: Pink is a total success, strong and complete and perfectly formed (aside from, perhaps, the occasional, very minor glitching of his physical body... but that can surely be put down to all that water he was incubated beneath, smoothing his intended rose-cut over time into something more like a cabochon. That’s nothing to do with him...)

Pink, for his part, is happy to help and join the search for answers.

He dives right into it all without complaint…until…

Well...

Seeing Cubic and Moissanite, and Raw and Champagne…they get along so well, and his recent arrival hasn’t opened up any space for him in their dynamics.

He’s very pointedly the odd man out, and it’s enough to make a diamond quite lonely, quite aware that he’s the only gem here without a brother to call his own.

………

Taking a page from Champagne’s book, telling absolutely no one, Pink sets out to squeeze one more diamond out of this big ball of water, even though the planet’s resources are low after his emergence.

It’s not long before Olive Diamond (Horrorswap Papyrus) is slogging out of a dark, wet swamp, assisted by his brother—which is appreciated, because he seems to have a hard time keeping his legs to retain the ‘hard’ part of ‘hard light projection.’ Sometimes they’re solid light and sometimes they’re only light and maybe that’s what happens when you try to make a gem from a planet that’s running on empty...

Pink is delighted by his new sibling all the same!

Even so, a rule is made amongst the gems after that and agreed to by all: nobody makes anymore gems without telling somebody, no more surprises!

………

In retrospect, they probably should’ve decided on that rule a lot sooner, maybe a planet ago.

By the time they all return to the ghost world with a stockpile of newer tech and ships, they find Cloudy in the middle of a fully-operational and tidied up base, with everything rigged to accept voice commands and read out text, and a brand new shadow hovering around him.

Pepper Diamond (Horrorswapfell Papyrus) emerged from the ruins of one of the abandoned cities, Cloudy explains, and has been very helpful in the others’ absence, wonderful company—he told them he’d manage fine. > 3c

Well.

After all of that, the military base had been their last, best clue to finding Homeworld, or at least the remains of it, if gemkind were truly gone…

After a bit of discussion among the group, they decide to take communicators and ships and anything else they wanted/needed and just…go their separate ways, to do their own things.

Cubic and Moissanite set up shop on the first world they can find with sentient organics that will accept them, wanting to be around other people and to live peacefully.

Raw and Champagne choose to stick to their mission, going on the wild goose chase that is the search for other gems somewhere in the universe, even without any solid leads—the gem empire was expansive, but not As Infinite As the Universe-expansive, so they haven’t had any luck yet.

Pink and Olive are curious about other gems, too, but make it their mission to hunt down all the deserted bases, Kindergartens, and outposts in their neck of the universe and fix them up, restoring everything to its former glory as best they can—whether those places are promising in terms of leads/clues or not. It’s their heritage and they want to explore it and restore it, if they’re able.

Cloudy and Pepper intend to stay put on their birth world…but when Cloudy’s done everything he can on their planet, he gets a little bored sifting through the ruins of this dead world and wants to go find somewhere with living organics to stay instead. Pepper (reluctantly) agrees and they stumble upon a fledgling, primitive society that seems to think of these giant, shining and glowing immortals as some sort of deities… Oops, it seems as if they’ve started a colony of sorts on accident!

They’ll all keep on keeping on, and if anything interesting happens or someone needs a hand, they can reach the others to get back in touch.

…

Unbeknownst to the Outer Galaxy diamonds or the Diamond Authority back on Homeworld, a strange pair of Chameleon Diamonds—one Reverse (Gastertale Sans) and one Classic (Gastertale Papyrus)—are spat out of a singularity, somewhere in a galaxy in between.

They’ve got a lot of knowledge between the two of them, in the skulls behind their briolette-cut gems, but not a single solid memory, and their only clue is a whole lot of wreckage of some strange machine scattered around them in space.

They don’t know what they are, where they came from, how they’re alive, or what all this junk is…but once they make their way to a planet with gravity and stuff they can fashion tools and parts out of, they do figure out that they can cobble together a ship out of all this...

What better use of a couple of brothers’ time than a bit of adventuring, leisurely exploring the universe and any interesting lifeforms or civilizations they find along the way, with little more than respect of the Prime Directive to argue about? ;3

#skelegems #diamond au #undergloom #ug!sans #ug!papyrus #horrorfell #hf!sans #hf!papyrus #horrorswap #hs!sans #hs!papyrus #horrorswapfell #hsf!sans #hsf!papyrus #gastertale #g!sans #g!papyrus #Anonymous

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quilloftheclouds · 3 years

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12 and 10!

[Send me some numbers and I’ll summarize something from my wip!]

Ooohh, these are neat!

Describe or summarize from your wip…

12. A scene that marks a big change

A big huge change event that happens in Two Witches Woven is actually coming up shortly in my writing, so here's a fun summary without too many spoilers!

Dione kinda maybe takes the Siren's Soul without asking (yunno, like stealing) and uses it with her magic to destroy a device the Scientist built to help the Navy in taking over a siren Haven. Problem is... she ends up using too much magic from the artifact, and as a consequence, the Siren's Soul has to replenish that magic from somewhere...

It's a shame all the magic that's currently keeping her alive is the closest source. :o

10. Your newest character

He's not even basically a character yet, I just have a role and a name! And he's possibly not even canon!

Dakari Noyoko is a young but prestigious siren hunter who has worked with Rose on the occasional job where she's needed someone with similar expertise. Sindre may be her assistant, but his talents definitely don't align with siren hunting, so when Rose hears tell of a magical artifact protected by sirens nearby, Dakari is called in to help.

Many problems make themselves readily apparent when Dakari discovers some very important things Sindre's been keeping secret--plus, against all his wants, seems Sindy has a bit of a crush~

AND I ALREADY LOVE DAKARI DESPITE NOT EVEN WRITING A SINGLE THING WITH HIM. what is wrong with my brain

#stars i love dakari #i haven't decided if he shows up in the books yet #but i'm definitely writing a side story/short story with him #sindy is so weird with a crush it's great #they's so GAY #THE GAYS ARE BEING CUTE AGAIN #Quill's answers #summary asks #sindre #dakari #rose #dione #two witches woven #anchored souls

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whattodowithace · 3 years

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My Diamond in Red: Catch me if you can

Title: My Diamond in Red: Catch me if you can

Pairing: Reader x Donghun (ACE)

Genre: Action, fluff, slight angst, thieves AU

Word count: 4989

Writer: Kpopmadness (Ju)

I roll over in bed with a sleepy sigh, stretching my limbs out slowly as morning rays of sunlight stream through my window. A glimpse of the snowy mountains coming through my white curtains.

“Changmin, give me back the spatula!” I hear Ara yell from the kitchen. Making me smile as I throw the blankets off my body and head downstairs.

Ara chases Changmin around the table as he holds the spatula out of her reach. Eggs on the stove turning a dark shade of brown as their playful banter continues. This was a normal morning in our house.

“Not unless you apologize for what you said!” He yells back, stopping at one end of the table with the spatula above his head so she couldn’t reach it.

I walk up behind him and grab it out of his hand, making him jump and then whine as I hand it back to a gleeful Ara.

“It’s too early in the morning for you two to be bickering.” I tease him as I make my way to the coffee machine.

I tap Daejung’s leg as I pass. He sat with his legs on the table as he held a metal object he was fiddling with. No doubt a new invention he had decided to try.

“Feet off the table.” I tell him, making him grunt in annoyance but still shift his feet off the wooden surface in obedience. P

Changmin leaves the room and plops down in the living room, turning on the news. Which was a morning ritual of ours since buying this large house tucked away in the snowy mountains. Miles from people. And more importantly, authorities.

I just take a sip of my coffee when Changmin sucks in a breath.

“Guys, come look at this.” He says as he turns the volume up on the flat screen TV. The increased volume making us all turn our attention to the display on the screen.

I nearly drop my coffee mug and have to set it down on the table before walking closer to the television. My eyes wide with shock and my heart in my throat.

‘This is a rerun of last nights epic events of one of the top thieves in the world being taken into custody around midnight last night.’ The newscaster reported, the screen switching to a dark haired man with slanted eyes. ‘Kim Byeongkwan is one of the members of a well known group called A.C.E. A group of thieves the authorities have run themselves ragged trying to track down for the past six years. The group stole many artifacts from this Art Museum last night but not before Byeongkwan was caught in a head to head chase with an NYPD police officer. The rest of his members are said to have gotten away.’

I sit down on the lush couch behind me as they show Byeongkwan running from the police officer before the officer fires his taser, making Byeongkwan fall to the ground stiffly.

“So...is that the end of A.C.E?” Ara asks, the question burning in all of our minds.

A.C.E was our rival group, making every heist harder than it needed to be. But we hadn’t seen them in two years. Not since the Red Diamond heist.

“They always did go for more than they should have.” I mumble under my breath. A twinge stinging my heart at the thought of their leader.

“And that’s why we retired last year.” Changmin says matter of factly as he stands and goes to the kitchen to eat as if nothing happened. “We don’t want to spend our lives in jail like Byeongkwan no doubt will.”

I stare at the TV for a long time. Even though we were rivals, and even though we as the K4 had retired, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

A.C.E was considered the #1 richest group of thieves in the world. Us being the second richest. But the problem with being the #1 richest is it left you with a lot further to fall when you messed up.

But I couldn’t say I was surprised when one week later, the remaining members of A.C.E walked into our front door. Like a puppies with their tails between their legs.

~~~~

“No, no, absolutely not.” Ara snarled. “We are not helping you to get back your teammate.”

“And how do we know you won’t just turn us in once he’s free?” Changmin added, his arms crossed over his chest stiffly.

We all stood around a large black table with a blueprint of the prison Byeongkwan was being held in. All of us had our guard up. It’s not exactly relaxing when your rivals show up on your doorstep and ask for help. At the opposite end of the table stood Donghun. His dark dragon shaped eyes occasionally flicking to me. Which i tried my best to ignore by looking over the blueprints carefully.

“This isn’t exactly what we wanted to do.” Seyoon says briskly from his place by Jun. “But we don’t exactly have a choice.”

“Why can’t you break in by yourselves?” I ask, this time looking at Donghun. The question was aimed at him.

Donghun sighs and sits back in his chair, his fingers picking at the edge of the smooth table as he thought over his response.

“Because we can’t do this by ourselves.” He says, meeting my eyes. “We’re good. But we aren’t good enough to break into this prison. We need all the help we can get.”

“Well, excuse me for being blunt,” Daejung growls from the corner of the room where he observes us talking. “We haven’t exactly seen you guys around the neighborhood. It’s been two years.”

“And for those two years where were you?” Donghun shoots back irritably. He said it in response to Daejung but his eyes were locked on me. “We haven’t seen or heard about you guys since the red diamond heist.”

“They quit like cowards. That’s what happened.” Chan mumbles.

“Retired.” I correct, giving him an icy glare. “How did you even find us?” I ask. Hoping to change the tense subject for a moment.

Jun lets out a chuckle from his seat. “We have our ways. You guys aren’t exactly clever hiders.”

“Oh, so you can find us but you cant break into a prison?” Ara snaps. “That’s cute.”

“We’ll pay you.” Donghun says, stopping Jun from giving a snarky comeback. “Name your price.”

Me and my teammates let out a scoff. Changmin stands beside me and clinches and unclenches his fists.

“We don’t want your money.” He snarls.

“He’s right.” I say, giving him a pat on the arm, a gesture telling him to relax. “We aren’t interested in the pay. What we need is protecting. If we help you with this we want nothing to do with anything else you get yourselves into. We worked hard to get what we have, and we worked hard to get ourselves out so we could live our life without owing anyone anything.

“The K4 is done.” Daejung adds. “We want a normal life now.”

Seyoon scoffs, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Are you joking? What normal life? You’re all thieves! Society won’t excuse that if you are ever caught. You have no family, no friends. What normal life could you possibly be referring to?”

“One where we can just live for ourselves.” I tell him, my voice calm but cold. “We built this house away from people and authorities so we could do that. And we are a family. That’s why we’re all in the same house.”

I sigh and stand up from my seat, making the members of ACE tense as i stand. “We’ll help you get Byeongkwan out. But consider it our way of paying our deeds. We owe you nothing after this. So play by our rules and this should all work smoothly.”

I leave the room with my teammates following me. Leaving the members of ACE to come to terms with our proposal. Not that they had much of a choice. We were their only chance of pulling this last heist off.

````

Over the next several weeks we begin our plan to get in. The member of ACE stayed in extra bedrooms we had in our large house. Making everyone feel uneasy. But I felt it unlikely they would do anything to ruin their deal with us. We were the only ones helping them. In those weeks Donghun and i hardly spoke, unless it was about getting Byeongkwan out. The tension between us growing more and more as the days passed. But I wasn’t exactly interested in addressing it right then. So i left him alone.

Donghuns ideal time frame for breaking Byeongkwan out was a few weeks. I stayed by two months.

“Their security system is more complex then it looks.” I explain as i stand at the table looking over the blueprints for the hundredth time. “Getting in will take us two months. Maybe three.”

“We don't have that kind of time.” Donghun sighs from across the table.

“Well make time.” I snap. “The authorities are probably just waiting for you to make your next move. They know you’ll come for your teammate. If you want to do this the smart way, you’ll wait. Plus, it will take Ara that long to break into their security system.”

“The firewalls they’ve put up are intense.” She mumbles from her spot by her computer. Several screens lining the large desk she sat at. Illuminating her face with blue light. “They aren’t fooling around.”

“You can get in though, right?” Donghun asks. Hs brow drawing together in concern.

Ara sighs and looked away from her screens. She looked at me and then at Donghun. “If you don’t rush me then yes. I can get in.”

I smile and go to make my way to Daejung, who was working on a way to get Byeongkwan out with Seyoon. I wanted to make sure Daejung hadn’t poisoned Seyoon’s drinking water. The two didn't exactly get along.

I had almost cleared the hallway when i feel a hand close around my wrist and pull me into one of the guests bedrooms. This bedroom in particular i knew was Donghun’s. I let out a sigh, knowing all too well we had put off this talk a little longer than we should have. So i decided not to argue as i turn around and faced Donghun, who was leaning his back against the closed door behind him.

“We weren’t your only chance of getting Byeongkwan out.” I say bluntly. Tired of the silence that filled the room. “You could have gone to someone else. People more qualified than us and yet you came here.”

Donghun keeps his eyes trained on the floor. As if he would find answers in the way the wood floor shined in the afternoon sun. “This wasn’t just about Byeongkwan.” He says quietly.

I stay quiet, waiting for him to continue. I don't have to wait long.

“Where were you?” He asks, meeting my eyes. “I didn’t know the red Diamond heist was your last job.”

“It wasn’t planned that way” I tell him. “A few days after that we talked about quitting as a group. Talked about building a house in hiding that we’ve always dreamed of having.”

“But I didn’t know it would be the last time I would see you.” He says quietly. Hurt lacing his words making my heart ache.

“Donghun,” I say calmly. “I already told you this two years ago. We can’t be together like that.”

“That’s not an answer, princess.” Donghun says, his dark eyes narrowing.

I scoff and go to stand next to the window in the small room. I let out a shaky breath before continuing.

“I didn’t know the red diamonds would be our last encounter. But you and I chasing each other like cat and mouse on heists, just isn’t smart, Donghun.” I turn to see Donghun staring at me. His eyes sad.

“You kept chasing after prizes and toys, Donghun. The bigger the prize, the harder the fall eventually. And we didn’t want to end up in prison.”

“And what does that have to do with us?” Donghun asks as he takes several steps towards me.

“I’m a prize to you, Donghun. Not someone you love.” I respond bluntly. Hurt bleeds into Donghun’s eyes and makes his shoulders tight.

I feel my own composer breaking. After two years of being away from him I wanted to say I had control over my emotions for him. But I also hadn’t thought I would see him again. I cross the room and go back to the door to continue to find Daejung. Needing to get away from the room before I lost my strong composure. I leave Donghun staring out the window of the small room, hoping he would understand why we were a mistake waiting to happen.

~~~

Over the next two months, we work tirelessly on getting Byeongkwan out. The news calmed down about arresting him and things slowly normalized in the media. But getting him out wasn’t the problem. It was getting in. Ara had worked long hours with Jun trying to get in the building. Every time they thought they were in another firewall would come up, denying them access.

I couldn’t help but notice the way the members of ACE seemed to be slowly making themselves at home. Each member seemed to be getting along with the others better and better the more time passed. Sometimes I even caught Daejung, Seyoon, Ara and Chan all sitting at the kitchen table playing cards. Even though they swore they were actually working.

As the plan came together and the day drew closer and closer for us to rescue Byeongkwan, my relationship with Donghun didn’t improve. Our relationship staying icy and distant.

Two years of not hearing anything from each other took a heavy hit. Plus our conversation after their arrival only added to things. We kept to ourselves and didn’t converse more than needed. But I still caught Donghun giving me passing glances, which I wished he would stop so the wounds between us could heal.

Then one night I sat at the kitchen table with Daejung going over medicines we were going to be using to get Byeongkwan out of prison when Ara came running into the space, her eyes bright and a broad smile lighting up her face.

“We got in!” She says. Squealing in excitement as she runs back to the computer.

I pass a glance to Donghun, who was sitting on the couch watching the news. I beat him up and make it into the room first where Ara and Jun talk excitedly amongst themselves.

“You’re in?” I repeat, leaning over Area’s chair to look at her screen. Donghun comes in the room a moment later.

“Yep.” She says proudly. “We have complete access to all their cameras, security, inmate records. We have it all.”

“So we can safely go through with the plan now?” Donghun asks from beside me.

“We can go through with the plan anytime now.” Jun says. “Byeongkwan can be out before the end of the week.”

“And Daejung has what we need to get him out.” Ara cuts in, excitement filling her eyes. “And Seyoon has everything arranged after we get him out.”

I feel a rush of excitement light my chest as I look over at Donghun, who had a wide grin on his face.

“We leave in two days.” I announce. Making Ara jump up and race down the hall to tell the others. Excitement filling the house that night.

~~~~

The night before leaving, I wonder upstairs after dinner to go to the roof. We have designed the house with spaces for get aways. Places for when you needed alone time.

I zipped my jacket up closer around my neck as i stand on the flat roof staring up at the stars. The only lights illuminating the night coming from our house. But everything else was dark. Making the moon and stars shine even brighter.

I take in a lung full of air and let it go slowly. Enjoying the way the air made my head feel clearer and sharper. I don’t know how long I had been there when I hear the roofs latch open, making me turn away from my star gazing.

“I didn’t know you liked looking at the stars.” Donghun says as he steps onto the roof.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.” I reply as I go back to looking at the night sky.

Donghun slowly approaches until he’s standing beside me looking up at the sky with me. It quiet between us for some time. The only thing filling the silence being the occasional sound of an owl or wolf in the distance.

“We’re really doing this tomorrow?” Donghun asks. His question sounded more to himself than at me but I still nod my head.

“He’ll be out and then you guys can plan for your next big heist. Things will go back to normal.”

Donghun chuckles weakly before looking down at his feet, seeming to go deep in thought.

“I’m sorry about everything.” He says quietly. Making me look at him. “You have every right to want a normal life. And I judged you for that.”

I feel my lips turn upwards into a small smile at his change in perception. “You had every right to be angry with me.” I answer. “Not seeing us around to beat you guys probably left you feeling empty.” I tease, making him smile.

“It wasn’t the same without you there that’s for sure.” Donghun admits truthfully.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you.” I apologize, our eyes locking in that moment. I stuff my hands in my jacket pockets, suddenly afraid I would reach out and take his hands in mine.

“It’s okay.” He responds, our gaze holding longer than it needed to.

Donghun clears his throat. “What will you do when we leave?” He asks. I look back up at the sky. I hadn’t thought about when ACE left. My heart throbbing at the thought.

“I’ll think of something.” I tell him quietly. “What about you?” I ask, changing the subject.

Donghun shrugs, kicking at a shingle with his foot. “There’s always a new Diamond or painting to go after.”

“You guys are welcome to stay longer if you want.” I blurt out. Feeling my face go hot after the words had left my mouth.

Donghun’s lips quirk up in a sideways smirk. But his eyes show the sadness he was trying to hide behind that smirk.

“Thanks, Princess.” He answers. Making my face feel warm again.

I think the both of us had the same burning question in our minds but were afraid to ask it. What about us?

But with the mission just ahead of us, neither one of us was about to bring that up now.

I take in another lung full of air before saying, “I’m going to bed. We have a big day ahead of us.”

“Goodnight.” Donghun calls from behind me. His voice soft and sad.

I feel tears sting my eyes once I’m safe in my room but force myself to push them aside. To stick with my word of us not working. I force myself to leave the roof, my heart feeling heavy for it. But I force myself to realize that he would never stay for me and give up being a thieve. No matter how much my heart screamed for it.

~~~

I watch the cameras inside the large van Daejung and Changmin had spent all night remodeling to look like an ambulance on the outside. I had to give it to them, it looked good.

We sat parked a few blocks away from the prison Byeongkwan was being held at. Out of sight of the guards that circled the high fence around the building.

I watch as Donghun walks into the building without a hitch. Scans his fake ID, keeps his head down and makes it to the prisons kitchen, where prisoners were being filed in for lunch.

“If I could, I would apologize for how everyone in that building is about to feel.” Daejung says, his face held in a wince.

I chuckle but keep my eyes on the camera as Donghun joins the kitchen staff.

“Ara, turn the cameras off.” I tell her from over my shoulder. She gives me a grin and hits a button on her keyboard, switching the cameras from the kitchen to a large hallway just outside the cafeteria. Jun sits beside her, biting his nails nervously.

Donghun was the one poisoning the food. Not the kind of poison to kill anyone. Just enough to make everyone that ate at the cafeteria very sick and need an ambulance. And when you have more than 80 prisoners eating in one cafeteria, plus guards, you’re going to need a lot of ambulances.

“Start the clock.” Donghun whispers into the mic on my ear. Making me hit a timer on the dash.

The timer started it’s countdown; 10:59, 10:20, 10:00

It did no good to watch the seconds pass on it but I couldn’t help it. In ten minutes the prison was about to be the sickest it had ever been at one time. And we would be there to catch them. But among the sick people would be Byeongkwan.

I door to the van opens, Donghun quickly steps inside the back and takes his cap off. Ara watches the cameras as prisoners settle down to eat. Byeongkwan sits at a round table by himself as he stares down at his tray of food for a moment before eating.

“How much longer?” Donghun asks, tapping his foot immediately.

“Eight minutes.” Daejung answers. His hands pressed against the steering wheel.

Behind us, a cop car pulls up. Making my heart stop momentarily before I recognize the driver to be Changmin. Beside him is Seyoon.

We wait anxiously, the minutes passing agonizingly slow when I hear Ara say behind me. “One down.”

I turn in my seat in time to see a prisoner clutch his stomach and fall to the cafeteria floor in pain. Moments later others join him. Including guards. Not even five minutes later our radio goes off. Asking for ambulances.

I smile excitedly at Donghun as i slide into my seat and buckle up while Daejung turns on the ambulance lights and speeds off in the direction of the prison. Changmin behind us with his cop siren blaring.

Donghun and I pull on our caps and pull them down over our eyes once we’ve cleared the fence. Donghun opens the back to bring out a stretcher, once it’s out I quickly close the door to keep anyone from seeing Jun and Ara next to computer screens in the back.

We make our way into the building with Seyoon following us. Who was dressed as a guard who looked to be escorting us to our patient. We fall into step with each other as we keep our heads down and make our way to the cafeteria.

Moments after us several more ambulances pull into the prison parking lot. Paramedics rush past us to evaluate the sick in the cafeteria. Some lay with their heads on the table, some lay on the floor in agony.

I silently thank Daejung for being such an evil genius with these types of things. We find Byeongkwan in the corner of the room on the floor. His face white and his hair stuck to his face in sweat. His breathing rapid and irregular.

Donghun and I kneel down beside him while Seyoon kept watch. I pull out an IV from my bag and start working the needle into Byeongkwans hand. The other great thing about Daejung is he always made a cure for his potions. Byeongkwan would feel better in five minutes once the IV drip started.

Donghun takes Byeongkwan’s face in his hands, making him meet his eyes.

“Donghun?” Byeongkwan slurs quietly. Donghun presses his finger to his lips before motioning for me to help him get Byeongkwan on the stretcher.

We get Byeongkwan down carefully. Donghun and Seyoon pick him up while I walk beside him holding the IV bag. Nurses and doctors run around us, all of them puzzled as to what to do for their many patients. The effects would wear off in two hours tops. They would be left with nothing more than a headache. But it left us with enough time to get out.

I held my breath until we were outside the building. Byeongkwan groaned on the stretcher when the afternoon sun hit his eyes. A few guards standing outside eyed us carefully, their K-9 units alert beside them.

“Get in first.” Donghun whispers to me once we reach the van.

I pull the door open just enough to get inside. Seyoon and Donghun slide Byeongkwan in with me. Donghun climbs in and Seyoon quickly heads for the police car Changmin was in while no one was looking.

Changmin turns on his siren and pulls ahead of us, leading the way down the highway toward the hospital we were never going to reach.

I let out a breath as we get further and further away

away from the prison. My racing heart slowly coming down. Donghun smiles at me, making me smile back at him.

“You guys suck.” Byeongkwan whispers, rubbing his head with his hand.

“You’re welcome.” Ara snorts. Making all of us chuckle.

Our final heist as the K4, complete.

~~~

After making sure Byeongkwan could stand and ditching the van and police car we get into a new van that we had kept in our garage. The same one we used for all our heists for years as the K4.

All of us are tired and quiet on the drive home. Byeongkwan’s face is no longer white as a sheet and returns back to a normal shade the further we drive.

Donghun and I exchange lingering looks to each other as the drive continues. Both of us knowing this was our last time together in a heist.

We reach the house soon after, everyone remaining quiet as they go inside. Ace loads up their equipment and clothes and leaves the spare rooms they had once occupied bare.

I stand in the doorway as Donghun helps load equipment into their van. My heart throbs in my chest but I keep ignoring it as I watch him.

Once the last of the things is packed Donghun slowly walks over to me.

“You’re leaving so soon.” I say. Trying to keep the let down out of my voice. They didn’t need to stay longer, I knew that. Byeongkwan was fine.

“Yeah. We belong on the road.” Donghun says, keeping his eyes locked on mine.

“Thank you.” Donghun says, smiling at me. “For helping us. For everything.”

I smile back at him, even though it was a forced smile. “Just remember we don’t owe you anything now.”

Donghun’s smile wavers. We stare at each other a little longer before Donghun quickly steps forward and places a kiss on my cheek.

“Bye, princess.” He whispers in my ear. His lips resting on my cheek a moment longer before pulling away.

I don’t have time to respond before he turns and heads back to the van. Me and my team watch them pull away from our house. A feeling of loss lingering as we go back inside.

I go upstairs to my room, forcing tears down as I go to the window. Their van out of sight now. I collapse on my bed and stare at the ceiling, telling myself to get over it. That this was for the best.

I don’t know how long I lay there before I hear commotion outside my window, making me sit up. A second later I see my bedroom door open. Donghun stepping inside, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“You came back.” Is all I can manage to get out. Shock making my body freeze up.

“Seyoon is a bad driver.” He jokes. Making me let out a teary chuckle.

Donghun steps closer to me before taking my face in his hands and pressing his mouth to mine. I wrap my arms around his waist as our lips stay locked.

He pulls away only slightly to whisper against my mouth, “You’ve never been just a prize to me. You’re more than that. You’re the thing that gave me a reason to go for the red diamonds. Every heist has always been to get to you. Not the riches and glory.”

I let out a sob making Donghun hold me tighter as one arm went to my waist and the other wiped tears away from my cheeks.

“You were right.” He whispers against my forehead. “We can’t be together as thieves. But as retired thieves, maybe.”

Donghun presses a long kiss to my mouth before kissing along my jaw, making me weave my fingers through his hair.

“You stole my heart the day I met you. And I want you to keep it.” He whispers deeply against my neck, making me let out a laugh.

I take his face in my hands and kiss his nose gently, his brown eyes holding strong emotions behind them. Emotions I felt back.

“Do you think we can all live together without killing each other?” I ask him as I wipe tears from my eyes.

“If not we’ll just kick Byeongkwan out. He’s usually the trouble maker.” Donghun teases, winking slyly at me.

I laugh as I wrap my arms around his neck and bring his lips down to mine again. Retirement just got better.

#a.c.e #a.c.e x reader #ace donghun x reader #ace donghun #a.c.e donghun x reader #a.c.e donghun #ace imagines #a.c.e imagine #ace fanfiction #fanfiction #kpop fanfiction #kpop x reader #kpop #ace #kpop imagines #kpopmadness writings

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xparadisexlostx · 3 years

Text

So this is a little drabble in my verse with @stcriestcld. We never did really talk too much about how Beck got to SHIELD. There’s some dialogue in here I am not in love with because I tried to cut some length down. I might go back in an tweak it.

For some back story Beck works with a group who helped save her from her brother/mother (verse dependent). They masquerade as nuns under the name The Sisters of Holy St. Marciana of Mauretania but another common name is The Sisters of Emily, which pertains to their founder as well as some of their coded language. They operate out of several “churches” as well as a convent that is a front for their headquarters. This is just a glimpse into how Beck interacts with them that I thought was fun to write out. Plus it helps me get my mind around how Beck came to work for SHIELD despite zero qualifiers.

Exchanging favors for favors was always messy. Beck had known that from the time she was small. Witch’s deals weren’t unheard of in the magical community, but it would be a stretch to call them common. Her people didn’t tend to enjoy being held to anything--not laws or contracts--but Beck had always found that in a tight spot a clever witch could twist her words and strike a deal that wouldn’t turn around to bite her in the ass. In hindsight she should have realized that her silver tongue was bound to turn to lead at least once or twice.

When she’d picked up the drop she figured it would be the same as any other job: meet the client, make a plan, execute, and run. She’d done it dozens of times. Almost all of them, apart from the occasional retrieval of a magical artifact, were domestic violence cases. The wife of some asshole cop that no one was ever going to hold accountable for his violence, the queer kid being beaten down by their devout and religious parents, the foster teen tired of being abused in the home that was supposed to provide them refuge. The Sisters, and Beck in particular, were very good at helping people who wanted to disappear do just that. Beck agreed not because of a contract or any kind of payment, but because she’d been those kids. The difficult child with the saintly, blameless parent. That’s what most people had seen… but only because they didn’t want to see the truth. If she could help anyone trapped like she had been, she was happy to do it. After all, if it weren’t for the Sisters, her mother would have likely killed her years ago.

Beck pulled open the enormous oak door to the convent chapel and entered silently. Wood pews without cushions lined the barren stone walls up to the front, where people knelt with clasped hands murmuring softly. Wayward souls seeking the kind of religious guidance that places like this were meant to offer. They didn’t know---couldn’t know---what this place actually was.

She stepped out of the way as a small party of nuns walked two-by-two down the aisle in perfect sync. They positioned themselves in front of the wooden altar, fanning out so that there were six on either side of the entrance to the dias. A clock chimed in the distance, low and solemn, the bell sounding three times in total before beginning to echo off into the early night air. By the time the ringing had left her ears, the room was in total silence, and without looking at one another, the nuns began a slow, harmonious chorus in a language Beck didn’t understand.

Once the song began, she knew she was free to wander back into the aisle. She kept her head down, her hands clasped in front of her, and cautiously approached the left side of the chapel where dozens of flickering candles lined the wall. There the abbess stood, rosary wrapped around her aged fingers as they pressed together in prayer. Her eyes were closed, and Beck didn’t want to startle her. The witch lit a candle, mimicked the sign of the cross she saw them make a thousand times, and knelt at the altar beside the feet of the abbess in waiting.

It felt like she knelt there for an hour, struggling to sit still and quiet. Finally the singing stopped, and a gentle hand reached down and squeezed her shoulder.

“What can I do for you, child?” The abbess asked, and even in the silence, Beck scarcely heard her.

“Revered mother, I have come in search of a miracle.” She didn’t look up. Staring into the flames, she summoned tears to her eyes.

The abbess hummed. “What would you ask of our Blessed Mother?”

Beck didn’t particularly enjoy the song and dance, but she knew the script well. “God’s eyes are so much greater than my own. My sister has gone missing, but I know none of us can stray from the Lord’s gaze. Can he see her? Can he see my sister, Emily?”

The hand on her shoulder squeezed, and raised her head to look into the knowing grey eyes of the abbess.

“Dear child, you must be so tired. Come, we will pray together.”

Beck accepted the hand up and let the woman lead her out into the halls. There was a gate that separated the private quarters from the public area of the abbey, and she unlocked it with a skeleton key that looked older than the abbess herself. The metal groaned as the gate swung open, and Beck followed closely behind as they crossed the threshold and into the old stone corridors. They were dark, only lit by an occasional lantern hung from an iron hook.

When they came to a room near the end of the hall, the abbess opened the door and led her inside.

Beck waited until the door shut behind them to speak. “Out of all the people to contact me, I didn’t think it’d be you.”

She could hear the older woman shuffle through the darkness fearlessly, and then the sound of a match being struck, before a vibrant flicker of firelight came to life at the end of the little wooden stick. Abbess Fina transferred the flame to a candle and took a seat at a little wooden table. She unraveled her rosary and pulled off a bead, which she rolled between her fingers until it began to glow. It clicked quietly against the wood of the table, and streams of light shot up into the air, creating a picture.

“New target?” Beck tried not to be irritated by how cagy Fina was being and how long this whole thing was taking. It was why she rarely took jobs directly from headquarters.

The man in the shimmering picture was pale. His eyes were brown, similar in shade to his hair, from what she could tell, which appeared to have been disappearing for some time. His expression was deathly serious, and it looked like he was holding something. A file, maybe? She couldn’t be sure with the distortion.

“Your new boss.” Abbess Fina said. She saw the way the younger witch’s jaw clenched and the dark shadow that passed through those blue eyes. “Eleven years ago my people brought you here to this abbey. We hid you for months while you recovered, and when we gave you the choice to run off into the darkness or stay in contact and help us on our mission, do you remember what you did?”

Beck pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “I asked you to make a deal with me.”

“I tried to tell you no. Said I didn’t want to extort favors from you in the state you were in.”

“And I told you that you saved me, and if it ever came down to it I would return that favor… at any cost.” Beck didn’t like where this was going.

“Beck, I’m in trouble. We all are. Ever since New York was attacked the humans have been foaming at the bit, looking to punish anything or anyone they don’t understand because they never got to string up the idiot responsible for the whole mess.” Fina said. She looked older than Beck remembered, which was odd for a witch. Eleven years meant nothing to a skilled practitioner like Fina… but stress could kill anything, she supposed.

Beck fished in her pocket for her packet of cigarettes, her noise snarled up a little as she spoke. “Asgardians have been fucking things up since the vikings. Can I smoke in here?”

A wave of the abbess’ hand and the little window over the barren cot on the far wall flew open. Beck extended the box to Fina first, and the old woman gladly took one and lit it off the candle on the table. Beck followed suit, looking back at the image the bead was still reflecting.

“So what is this, exactly? And how do I fit into it?”

“The mortals have made up this---organization. They call it SHIELD. It---keeps track of us and-”

“No.” Beck said, her voice taking on an immediate edge.

“Listen to-”

“No.”

“Beck-”

“No!” She wasn’t one to yell, but the venom in that word made it echo around the room. Beck lowered her voice to a whisper again. “Are you out of your mind?! Out of all the witches on Earth you think it’s a good idea to feed me to these fucking wolves? Have you forgotten that my brother is still out there, half mad off sacrificial blood magic and looking for me? You saved me from him, and now you’re going to sell me out to a bunch of suits that will dig into my ugly past. He’ll find out. He’ll kill whoever he needs to, and he will drag me back to Cali and throw me in a hole so deep I’ll never get out.”

“Beck! Listen to me!” The abbess grabbed her hand and pressed it to the table. Her grey eyes blazed with intensity as they locked with Beck’s. “That is not what this is.”

“Then what is it?”

“SHIELD’s director has made contact with a few of our agents. I wouldn’t call him pleasant to talk to, but he says he doesn’t want any trouble, and for the most part I believe him. He’s well aware that the---sensitivity of the mortals could result in another witch trials and if that happens it won’t just be you that has to fear the wrath of your brother. Or your ex, for that matter.”

Beck put her head in her hands and groaned. It was true. Fenris and Harper both wouldn’t hesitate to go to war with the humans if they started killing witches. The other clans would have no choice but to get involved. It would be a bloodbath---and one she doubted the mortals would win. Witches didn’t fight in mobs of mindless hordes, converging on a single city, fighting out in the open. Cities would burn with no indication of who started the fire. Crops would shrivel no matter how well tended. Assassins would carefully pick off anyone that mattered. Chaos would be carefully cultivated, and when people were at their weakest, then armies would rise. Their only hope would be Asgard stepping in, but they’d be breaching a treaty thousands of years old with the witches. Even if they were willing to do so, it’d likely be too late.

She had a very limited love for mortals, but she loathed war.

“So what does your new friend suggest to stop this impending chaos?”

“Our visions aren’t unaligned, Beck. Director Fury has agreed that it’s best the magical world stay in the shadows where it is. At first he asked us to submit all our agents to this index he has, but I refused. Instead, as a gesture of good faith, I agreed to send him a handful of agents to aid SHIELD in its different departments. No--wait. Before you get upset.” The abbess squeezed her hand, and Beck looked back at her. Concern was writing lines into her tired face. “I made my own witch’s deal. With him. That I would send him aid, send him some of my best people, but with my own files. The deal forbids him from digging any further. Even if he suspects the information on them is nothing but lies. In return for your help, SHIELD will pay you and help protect your identity as best they can. Just like with any other agent. I’m just asking for a couple of jobs, Beck. After that, consider our deal fulfilled. We’ll extract you, and you’ll be free to do as you please.”

“But they’ll have my face.” She said, still not convinced she wasn’t marching off to an early grave.

“They can’t be any harder to shake than Fenris. And the deal explicitly states they aren’t allowed to track you or listen to you without consent. Please… I don’t have a lot of people I’d trust to be smart enough to swim with these sharks and walk out whole.”

“I want Boda to look at the file.”

Fina nodded. “Of course.”

This wasn’t going to end well for her. But she reached out her hand anyway, and Fina smiled as she shook it.

“Right then. So who is this guy?”

“His name is Harry Pearce. He’s in charge of the anti-terrorism department based out of London, England. He’s expecting you there in seventy-two hours.”

#the spacing on this is really fucked bc #on the theme itself it fucks it up #if i don't super space shit out #and then it's hard for me to see #and this sideblog isn't about looks #it's about being able to read shit and not get eye fatigue #i've only read through this twice there's bound to be spelling errors #at the moment i can't bring myself to give a fuck

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on-cerulean-wings · 4 years

Text

Verses

Hi, this is a post on the various verses (other than canon). Actual skin verses will be using Riot’s established lore plus my own added stuff. The rest are kinda my own spin on Quinn in the respective verse.

Phoenix Quinn: Wanting to understand more about the world, Quinn and her beast companion Valor decided to live life among the Targonians for some time. Hearing tales of the Ascended and the perilous climb that was Targon. Curious and determined, Quinn and Valor began the climb. The climb was beyond anything the two had faced and, with only a few paces until it's peak, Quinn collapsed and nearly tumbled off the mountain. Valor, tired as well, used the last bit of his energy to save Quinn from certain death and pulled her limp body to the peak before collapsing himself. Things seemed all for naught, Quinn staring up at the heavens that silently watched. She reached up, longing for something to answer. But, at first, nothing came. Then the heavens burst open in a bright, burning display. Before Quinn and Valor was the Immortal Flame. Judging the pair worthy, Quinn and Valor were empowered by the legendary Phoenix, becoming the Aspects of Rebirth.

Woad Scout Quinn: Member and main scouts of the Woad tribe, Quinn and Valor are the last thing the enemies of the tribe will never see. Part of an alternate universe Freljord, Quinn serves valiantly for her tribe, helping in any way she can. Valor was a pet gifted to her by her mother after a successful rite of passage to become a scout.

Corsair Quinn: Pirate for hire, keen eye even with only having one, and a damn good shot, Quinn left Demacia at a young age for the Islands of Bilgewater, wanting to seek out true freedom and prosperity. In recent times, she’s usually seen working with Sarah Fortune, but has taken side jobs for other aspiring pirate crews and

Heartseeker Quinn: Yeah no, sorry. I got nothing.

Modern: Former military ace pilot and soldier turned commercial and private airliner pilot, Quinn lives her life as best she can from her one bedroom city apartment. Valor is her pet falcon she occasionally takes for walks/flights.

Odyssey Quinn: Pilot for hire and lover of xenobiology, Quinn found her dreams among the stars at an early age. Her and her twin brother Caleb originally began training themselves to be conscripted into the Demaxian Empire to see distant stars from their coreworld home. This came to an abrupt end after getting in the midst of a crossfire between the Empire and the Syndicate where Quinn was injured and Caleb killed. With her brother and only friend within the empire dead, Quinn gave up the dream of joining the Demaxian ranks and instead became a pilot for hire and something of an alien tracker, capturing and trading alien animals off to the highest bidder. One such beast she couldn't possibly depart with was Valor, a juvenile skyscreetcher with a noble, albeit pompous, disposition.

Lunari Quinn: Born to a father who was a Lunari blacksmith and a mother who traveled from the Freljord and settled at Mount Targon, the twins Quinn and Caleb were an inseparable duo. Each grew up studying the history and traditions of the Lunari, though Quinn preferred the martial aspects while Caleb preferred the spiritual ones. Where Quinn became adept in bows and crossbows as well as other weaponry, Caleb became well versed in Scripture and prayer. Caleb had tried several times to have Quinn study more about the spirituality of their people, though such lessons never seemed to fully take root. While she believed in her people's ways and fought for those beliefs, she was simply inept in the ways of spirituality. Quinn had become a tracker for the Lunari in adolescence, primarily being tasked with missions to find suitable hideaways and points of interest for the Lunari, as well as the occasional search and rescue mission should any of her kin become captured by the Solari. Early into her young adulthood after some years of service, Quinn was tasked with retrieving a moonstone that had been confiscated and hoarded by the Solari. Caleb offered his assistance, wanting to personally see such an artifact brought back safely. Quinn had denied the request, but Caleb persisted until she finally caved and allowed him to come along. Locating the moonstone among a variety of other Lunari contraband that had been apprehended by the Solari, Quinn and Caleb moved silently to recover the precious stone. It was Caleb who originally retrieved it, while Quinn discovered a bird she grew an immediate fondness to: a lunar osprey that had been imprisoned in a cage of gold. Their moments of pause to admire their bounty proved lethal as Caleb was stabbed in the back by a Solari guardsmen. Quinn cried out as blood soaked the pristine stone. Dispatching the guard, Quinn released the bird from activity, retrieved the now stained artifact, and absconded. While her mission was ultimately a success, Quinn was found guilty for negligence and ultimately the death of her twin brother and one of the Lunari's prime devout pupils. Quinn made no plea for mercy nor forgiveness, instead hanging her head in the shame and guilt she carried, expecting her own life to be taken as payment. But instead, she was made to find atonement and reconciliation through further service. No longer a mere tracker, Quinn had been made to serve the Lunari without question as an assassin until such penance has been paid. Quinn still carried that guilt within her, but now with a desire to atone for it. Although she was guilty, all those who served the Lunari were precious. So to ensure she lived while she worked alone, Quinn was granted use of a crossbow crafted from the moonstone that was stained by her brother's blood. Whenever she wasn't on a mission, she would study, meditate, and practice her people's spiritual traditions. So many nights, she trained herself to seek the moon in the night sky, even on cloudy nights during full moons where she would meditate for hours, staring up at its face, trying to see all it offered her with her bare eyes, straining for hours on end, trying to absorb as much as possible. Eventually, such strains lead to blurred vision which she took as a sign. Ceremoniously, she gave her eyesight in a spiritual sacrifice to the moon to further her penance for the life she was responsible for losing. Eventually though, her spirituality blossomed and a kinship grew between her and the lunar osprey she had freed. He quickly became her eyesight that she had lost, a connection forming deeper than what could be seen on the outside. Naming him "Valor", the two now continue their service to the Lunari as assassins of their faith, Quinn living a life seeking penance not just for the crimes against her people, but the guilt that still laid heavy in her heart.

#OOC; Out of the Skies #verses;

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silverfootstepswrites · 5 years

Text

Middle Ground [2]

Stage 2: Desert Level

“Naruto.”

“Yeah?”

“What’re you doing?”

“Chewing on a leaf.”

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean... I can see that. Just... why?” he pressed.

Naruto, sitting on a stump, stared up at him, eyes wide. “This is supposed to have medicinal properties. It’ll heal me, like a few health points, I guess,” answered Naruto.

Sasuke stared at Naruto. Then pointed at Sakura who stood a couple feet away. Also staring.

“Why don’t you just go to Sakura instead of chewing on a plant?”

Naruto shrugged a shoulder. “An old lady in a cave told me this would heal me a couple points. So I wanted to try it. I guess I feel a little better,” Naruto answered.

Sasuke turned around to look at Sakura, who just shook her head.

“Where’d you even get that?” Sasuke then pressed.

Naruto’s expression brightened. “Oh! Off that big spider we killed yesterday.”

Sakura’s forehead wrinkled. “Why... how... How would a spider be carrying a medicinal herb?” she demanded.

Naruto shrugged again. “In its... inventory, I guess?”

Both Sasuke and Sakura turned around to look pleadingly at Kakashi. “Do you understand him”” Sakura asked.

“I rarely understand anything the three of you talk about,” answered Kakashi before burying his nose deeper in his battered book.

-----

Once their party united, they took the quiet merchant’s path through the forests. Where the biggest danger were the occasional mosquitoes that swarmed them whenever they passed by water.

After several days, the terrain grew more and more rocky. And the lush carpet of moss and plants began to turn scraggly. Withering up until all that was left was stone and sand. Soon, even those plants disappeared, and they found themselves on the edge of a massive desert.

“We don’t have the supplies for this,” Neji warned as they surveyed the area.

“And where are we even going anyway?” Sakura then demanded, turning to Naruto.

“Oh, shit. Did I not show you the map?” Naruto replied. He set his pack down to pull a map from inside. It was made of tattered parchment. He glanced around before Sasuke pointed at a slab of rock jutting out of the ground. Nodding, Naruto walked over to it to spread the map open. Everyone followed to look at it.

“So, we’re... here,” Naruto said. He pointed to a spot on the map. Neji leaned over to nudge Naruto’s finger into the right spot. Naruto gave a sheepish laugh. Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose.

“And we gotta go all the way up to the Deadman’s Peak,” explained Naruto. The tip of his finger traced a path through the desert, through a stretch of blue, and then up a jagged mountain range on the other side. “There’s an ancient temple that’s supposed to house a portal to the Abyss.”

“And once we’re there, what do we do? ‘Hey there, Demon King’ and-” Tenten interrupted. And then she made a jabbing gesture as she blew a raspberry. Neji snorted beside her.

“Well, no. I’m supposed to get some legendary weapon along the way. It’s at the bottom of the Sleeping Gulf,” Naruto recited as he recalled some sort of prophecy.

“Naruto,” Sakura called.

Eyes bright, Naruto lifted his head to look at her. “Yeah, Sakura?”

“Isn’t the Sleeping Gulf a sea?” she inquired. She pointed at the looping letters that spelled out the name.

Naruto glanced down at her finger, then back up at her face to nod. “Yep.”

Just to confirm that she wasn’t losing her mind, Sakura looked over her shoulder at the rest of the party. Neji shook his head, as if to warn her that it was pointless to have this conversation. Kisame also made a face as he squinted down at the map. Sasuke didn’t give her any sort of reaction- just stared off into the distance.

“Naruto, can you swim?” Sakura queried.

Naruto gave a cheerful “nope”, lips popping at the end of the word.

Sakura nodded a little. “Okay, well, do you have some kind of artifact to get us there, then?”

Naruto shook his head. Normally, this was the part where Sasuke made a sarcastic remark. Oddly enough, he remained silent. Instead, he began very slowly rubbing his temples.

Sakura nodded again. “Fine. Last question.”

“Uh-huh?”

“Then what are we supposed to do?” questioned Sakura, a sweet smile curving her lips.

Naruto shrugged. “I figured someone would come up with a plan. This kind of stuff always just works out, right?” he replied.

As Sasuke’s expression turned murderous, Kakashi, who had read the warning signs in his face, seized him by the back of the cloak. At the same time, Sakura grabbed his hand before he had a chance to grab an arrow from the quiver on his back.

“Okay. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page,” Sakura declared in a light voice.

“He’s gonna get us killed,” Sasuke growled.

“I know. I know,” Sakura sighed. She used her other hand to pat his back.

They both looked up when they felt a hand clap down on their shoulders. It was Kisame, who gave them a smile.

“I saw a town a few miles back. Let’s get drunk,” he suggested.

“Fine,” Sasuke agreed right away.

“Tenten, let’s go!” Sakura called over her shoulder as she followed after them.

“Wait for me!” Naruto yelled, scrambling to fold his map up.

They got uproariously drunk. The kind of drunk where the room started to spin when they turned their heads too fast.

“Tenten,” Sakura said, patting the back of the other woman’s hand.

“Yeah?” A smile on her lips, Tenten turned to her. “What?”

“I’m...” Sakura paused to hiccup and then tried again. “I’m so glad you’re here.” And then she leaned in closer. Tenten copied her.

“I mean, like.... do you- do you see what I have to put up with?” Sakura added. And then both of them looked over at Naruto attempting to chug down an entire tankard of ale. This wouldn’t have been that impressive had they not noticed the five empty tankards sitting beside him. His feat had gathered a small crowd of spectators. A roar of approval rose when Naruto banged his tankard on the table and demanded another.

Across from Naruto sat Kisame, who was the loudest voice encouraging him to keep drinking. Sasuke sat beside Naruto, still scowling. The plus side was that he didn’t seem intent on attacking Naruto anymore. Asuma had struck up a conversation with a troupe of traveling musicians on the other side of the tavern. His easy smile made it easy for him to ingratiate himself with almost anyone, Sakura had noticed. Kakashi sat in a corner where he had a clear view of both everyone in their party and the door.

Sakura’s eyes returned to Naruto when she heard him cough. He sputtered on his drink, drawing more laughter and some jeers as they urged him to finish. She wondered whether they had a tab riding on what seemed to be a rather intense competition.

“The bartender says that if someone vomits, we need to clean it up,” Neji announced as he set more drinks down in front of them.

“Lovely,” muttered Tenten. And then she shared a snicker with Neji as they stole glances at the grizzled old man staring at them from behind the bar. Sakura barely even noticed this interaction as she heard Naruto slam down his empty drink. Another cheer rose from the crowd that had gathered around his table on the other side of the room.

Sakura continued watching a little longer before she raised her right hand. Her holy symbol hung from a golden chain that she kept wrapped around her forearm. It was probably meant to be worn around the neck, but she preferred it closer to her hand. Plus, the gold eagle was a beautiful work of craftsmanship.

Tenten’s eyes followed her as she cast a little spell. Sparkles appeared around the tankards that had just arrived at Naruto’s table. None of the people who grabbed the drinks seemed to notice anything unusual.

“What was that?” asked Tenten.

“I purified their drinks. It’ll taste the same, but there’s no alcohol in them,” Sakura explained. She watched as Naruto and Kisame each took huge gulps. Their eyes locked and they both began chugging as quickly as possible. “That should keep them from getting too drunk. For now,” she added.

“Cool. Could you do that for ours, too?” Tenten then queried.

Sakura turned her attention to their tankards.

“I mean, yeah, I could,” she admitted.

“Well don’t. We need to get more drunk,” Tenten then instructed. She grabbed the handle of her drink. Laughing, Sakura lifted hers to knock it against Tenten’s. And then they looked at Neji, waiting. He heaved a sigh, a smile crossing his face as he obliged them with a knock of his drink too.

After another hour or so, Tenten complained of a headache and went to get some air. Before Sakura could suggest that Neji go with her, he turned to give her a pointed look.

“Go. Go,” she urged him with flaps of her hand. Neji hesitated to look around the room. He locked eyes with Kakashi before he looked at Sakura. Kakashi dipped his head. And then Neji was out of his chair to hurry after Tenten, who apparently was prone to starting fights when she drank too much.

Sakura watched him, a smirk on her lips. She hadn’t understood what Sasuke had meant all those weeks back. Why would Tenten be the reason why Neji was so tolerant of other races? Elves, especially sun elves, were well-known for their superiority complex. It was the sort of arrogance that rubbed most people the wrong way. But after spending every day together with them, Sakura finally got it. Caught the way his gaze lingered on her. How he smiled just listening to her speak. She wondered whether Tenten had any idea of the elf’s complete infatuation with her.

“Well hello there, pretty lady.”

Sakura clicked her tongue as someone sat down across from her.

Across the room, Kisame’s head perked up as he heard the slurred pick-up line. Sakura had the expression of someone trying to ignore a mosquito whining in her ear. In front of her sat one of the bar’s other patrons, who had been quietly sitting by himself up until now. As he leaned in to speak, Sakura wrinkled her nose.

Kisame slammed his tankard down. Wiping the foam on his mouth with the back of his hand, he got out of his chair. But as he took a step forward, he saw both Sasuke and Naruto shaking their heads.

“Don’t bother. It’s faster if she handles it,” Naruto assured him.

“Five gold that she sends him flying across the room,” Sasuke bet.

“Nah. She’s gonna set his cloak on fire,” insisted Naruto. And when they both noticed Kisame still standing, they motioned for him to sit. Grunting, Kisame eased back down in his seat, glaring.

Across the room, Sakura heaved a sigh. She had tried telling her unwelcome companion that she was waiting for her friends to return. And that she wasn’t interested in any more company. But the man just went on rambling about himself, her beauty, and mostly himself.

As she began to feel a headache building in her temples, Sakura spoke again: “Hey. Buddy.”

“Yeah, angel?”

Sakura finally looked up, resting her chin in her hand. “How about you go fuck yourself?” she suggested with a sweet smile. And then she opened her mouth to release a flood of black insects.

“Holy fuck!” the man exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

A few of the tavern’s other patrons jumped out of their seats too until they saw that the insects only followed the man as he ran around the room. Some grumbled as he knocked into their tables, sloshing their drinks. As the bugs caught up to him, they began biting his neck, his hands, even his face. Screaming, he burst out of the tavern, coughing when some of the bugs flew into his mouth.

He took off into the night, squeals of terror mingling with the fading buzz of insect wings.

Sakura closed her mouth. A funny look crossed her face. She spat out one last bug into her hand. It gave a pitiful whine as it took off into the air, trying to catch up to the rest of the horde.

Naruto and Kisame roared with laughter, fists banging against the table. Sasuke smirked as he took another gulp of his alcohol. He scooted over as Sakura settled in beside him.

“I’m curious about something,” Kisame suddenly said. Everyone looked at him.

“If that’s what he gets on the first date, what does he get on the second?”

Naruto burst into hysterical giggles. Sakura kept a straight face for about five seconds before she threw her head back and laughed too.

When Tenten and Neji re-entered the room a couple minutes later, they found Sakura and Naruto both howling with laughter. Naruto banged his fists on the table. Sakura sat with her head pillowed on her arms, just her back shaking. It almost looked like she was crying until she lifted her head and they could see her bright red cheeks.

“You should’ve told him to buzz off,” Kisame suggested. This was evidently not the first pun he had unleashed because Sasuke groaned, his forehead hitting the table.

The following morning, their party was back on the road. Although Tenten and Asuma winced a little at the sunlight, they seemed to otherwise be in fine shape. Even Naruto, who had earned death glares from the barkeep for drinking an entire cask, was sprightly as they headed down the dirt path.

Kisame squinted at Naruto’s back. And then he hung back a little to fall into step with Sakura. She shook her head when he offered his canteen of water.

“So.... Doc,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“You seem kind of winded,” Kisame began.

“Do I?” Sakura answered with a smile.

But Kisame went on. “Yeah. Almost like you’re tired from casting some kind of healing spell on all of us or something,” he observed.

Sakura looked away from him. But she glanced back when he didn’t say anything else. He was studying her. Black eyes narrowed as he seemed to measure her.

“Why would you burn a spell slot for something like that?” he wondered.

It was Sakura’s turn to give him a look.

“Is wanting my friends to not suffer weird to you?” she asked in return, scowling. Kisame stood dumbfounded as she trudged on. But then she glanced over her shoulder at him to add: “Besides, Sasuke whines non-stop when he’s hungover. Come on. We’re falling behind.”

-----

It took a full day to stock up on all the supplies they would need to travel through the desert wasteland. Once they ventured onto the hot sand, the complaints began. The only exception was Sasuke. As a fire genasi, he was part flame and therefore unbothered by any additional heat. His lack of discomfort offended Sakura, who spared no opportunity to glare at him.

“Sasuke,” she called.

“Yeah?” he heaved a sigh. Already rolling his eyes.

“I just wanted to let you know, from the bottom of my heart, I hate you right now,” she informed him. She squinted up at the sun, then at Sasuke’s sweat-free form.

“Thank you for that update,” he responded, not looking back at her.

“If we have to kill one more poisonous snake, I’m gonna lose my mind,” grumbled Kisame, wiping sweat from his brow.

“You know, if you remove the venom sacs correctly, those are pretty tasty,” Sasuke pointed out, gesturing to the long corpses strewn across the sand.

Sakura stifled a giggle as Kisame grumbled where Sasuke could shove those venom sacs. But that laugh disappeared as they felt a rumble under their feet. The ground beneath them began to shift. Slowly, they could see scales. Gleaming eyes. Sharp fangs.

They scrambled backward, grasping for weapons as a gigantic snake rose from its hiding place in the sand. It opened its mouth to let out a hiss.

“....Well... shit,” Kakashi muttered. Before anyone could talk strategy, Naruto charged at the enormous serpent, greataxe swinging through the air.

“I like your style, kid!” roared Kisame, charging right after him.

Groaning, Sasuke turned to Sakura to share at least one commiserating look. Instead, he found her chasing Naruto, trying to grab him so she could cast resistance over him. When he jumped out of her reach, Sakura ground her back molars together.

“Ah, screw it,” Sakura snapped. She extended her hand, holy symbol glowing as she conjured a spiritual weapon. Which was a spear that jabbed into the side of the snake. It let out a shriek of agony as purple blood spurting from the wound.

“Nice!” laughed Naruto as he brought his axe down on the snake’s tail.

The fight itself wasn’t so difficult. It ended rather cleanly with Naruto severing its head from the rest of its body. All was well until a young dragon stumbled out of its cave, drawn by the smell of blood. It opened its mouth to spray their party with fire. Tenten and Sasuke easily leapt out of the way. So did Kakashi and Asuma. Naruto was close enough that he grabbed Sakura and raised his shield just in time to protect them from the blast of heat.

But the flames engulfed Neji’s arm and shoulder as he dodged a second too late. Kisame grabbed him by the cloak and yanked him out of the way. He threw him to the ground, smacking his hair and clothes to put out the flames.

“Asuma, back me up!” Tenten called as she rolled out from behind her cover to throw several knives at the dragon. Some bounced harmlessly off the tough hide. One burrowed into the soft spot on its throat. It roared in response.

“Got it!” yelled Asuma in return.

“Naruto, get me to Neji,” Sakura said, shaking his arm a little. Without hesitation, Naruto grabbed her and threw her as hard as he could across the sand. She collided with Kisame’s back. She didn’t have time to apologize as she shoved past him.

Neji grit his teeth, good hand clenching into the sand. Through the singed fabric of his shirt, she could see his skin- red and shiny. Already blistering where it had come into contact with the flames. They could hear the dragon unleash another roar as it swiped its claw out toward them. Sasuke’s swords slashed down onto its foot. A shriek filled the air as the beast turned on Sasuke instead, momentarily distracted.

“This is gonna hurt,” Sakura warned. Before Neji could ask, she placed her hand on his raw skin and recited the spell that would knit his skin back together. The downside was that meant that all his nerve endings regrew together along with his skin. Sakura knew first-hand how excruciating it could be. Which was why Sakura was unsurprised when Neji cried out.

The dragon, which had been bashing the ground with a spiked tail, froze. Smoke puffing from its nostrils, it turned back toward them.

“Fuck fuck fuck- Sakura! Look out!” Naruto shouted.

As the scales around the dragon’s throat began to glow, Sakura could see more smoke billowing from its mouth. Throwing her hand up, she drew on her magic to cast a command spell on it. She wasn’t even sure whether the spell had taken hold before she screamed, “STOP!” as loudly as she could.

And for a moment, the dragon froze. It stood there, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.

“Cool. My turn!”

The dragon turned in the direction of the voice right in time for Naruto’s javelin to pierce its right eye. The screech that left its mouth made Sakura’s ears ring.

“Alright. Time to go, folks,” Kakashi announced, shuffling away from the dragon.

“Naruto, you idiot! Warn us before you pull shit like this!” Sasuke howled. He grabbed a fistful of Asuma’s shirt and hauled him to his feet.

“Sorry!” Naruto yelled right back as he fled.

Sakura’s gaze flickered from the enraged dragon to Neji still lying in the sand. As she tried to figure out how best to move him, Kisame scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder. At the same time, he did the same for Neji and threw him over his other shoulder. And then he began running as fast as he could.

A column of swirling flame erupted from the dragon’s jaws.

“Run faster!” she yelped, slapping Kisame’s back. But even as he raced across the sand, she could see the tongues of flames drawing closer and closer. Squeezing her eyes shut, she cast a shield around Kisame, praying that it would be enough to protect all three of them.

“Shit!” Sakura exclaimed as the flash of heat burned across her hand. The falcon emblem fell from her grasp, landing in the sand. But besides the stinging in her palm, everything else seemed alright. When she squeezed one eye open, she understood why.

Neji, barely conscious, had managed to conjure a sleet storm over the beast. As the snow and rain pelted the sand, they extinguished the flame. The dragon scrabbled for purchase on the slick ice that had covered the sand. It huffed more fire as it struggled to gain its footing. But after a moment, it skid on a particularly slick patch and fell to the ground.

“Eat shit, dragon tits!” Tenten howled as she raised her crossbow and unleashed a bolt in the dragon’s direction. The scaly beast writhed as the bolt drove deep into its side.

“Kill it! I’m almost out of spell slots!” Sakura called to no one in particular.

“Dibs!” Naruto whooped as he raised his greataxe.

“Put your back into it, kid!” Kisame reminded him. And then, a moment later, Kisame added in a smaller voice, “Oh, shit, the ice.”

“Oh,” Sakura and Neji both said.

Everyone watched as Naruto slipped. His momentum sent him barreling straight into the dragon, the blade of his axe plunging into the moaning creature’s chest.

“Oh, nevermind. That was good,” Sakura sighed with relief.

“OW!”

With its final breath, the dragon mustered enough energy to smash its tail into Naruto’s chest, knocking him to the ground.

“... sort of,” Sakura amended.

Everyone waited to make sure that the dragon had stopped moving before they slowly began moving. Tenten hunted down the weapons she had dropped in her hurry. And once she had collected those, she climbed atop the fallen beast to wrench her knives from its leathery flesh.

“Owwww. Sakuraaaa. Fix me!” Naruto whined, waving a hand in no particular direction. The front of his shirt was soaked dark red as his blood soaked through. It couldn’t have been anything too serious from the way he was both conscious and speaking. But Sakura still didn’t feel like risking it.

“Do you want me to take you over there?” asked Kisame.

Sakura glanced at him. She had forgotten that she was still flopped over Kisame’s shoulder. She noticed a faint scar running along the side of his neck, all the way from behind his ear, disappearing into his shirt.

“Nah. This one’s verbal. I don’t have to touch him,” she replied.

Closing her eyes, Sakura muttered the healing prayer that she had learned many years ago. Green light encased her hand. As the divine energy flowed through her, the red streak on her hand shrunk and faded. And from on top of the melting ice, she heard Naruto inform her, “Thanks, Sakura! I’m good!”

Kisame looked from Sakura to Neji. He scratched his nose as he thought. And then he said, “You know, you guys can get down now.”

“Don’t feel like it,” Sakura responded.

“Your shoulder is really comfortable,” Neji agreed.

Glowering, Kisame shrugged and sent both of them tumbling into the sand.

By the time they’d gathered their things (and Kakashi, for some reason, had harvested some of the dragon’s teeth of all things), it was time to start thinking about setting up camp. Kakashi started a fire while Asuma went to explore the dragon’s cave to see if they could take shelter inside. As Sasuke went looking for water, Sakura patted her bare wrist. She searched her pockets.

“Ah, shit, I think I lost my holy symbol,” she announced.

Naruto’s ears perked up. Throwing his head back, he cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Sasuke!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Tenten snorted, hand on her hips. “Naruto, there’s no way he’ll hear you.”

Ignoring her, Naruto tried again. Louder this time. “SASUKE!”

And then, there was a faint reply from far away.

“What?!”

Kisame let out a snort. Neji shook his head in disbelief.

“Sakura lost her holy symbol!”

There was a pause. And then Sasuke called, “Her what?”

Naruto wrinkled his nose. “Her necklace, stupid!”

There was an even longer pause.

“Then find it, stupid!”

Naruto tilted his head to one side as he considered that. “Oh yeah.” And then he spun around once, staring at the sand surrounding them on all sides.

“Where’d you last have your necklace thingy, Sakura? Sakura?”

Naruto turned back around to find Sakura squatting in the sand, her head in her hands. He rushed over to her.

“Are you alright? Are you sick? Is it because you don’t have your god necklace?” babbled Naruto, shaking her shoulder. It took Sakura a long time to raise her head. And when she did, she was pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

“Naruto.”

“Yeah?”

“....If I knew where I had my symbol last, do you think it would still be lost?” she questioned slowly. Patiently.

Naruto tilted his head to the other side, taking a long time to think. And then he looked at Sakura to shrug. “I don’t know. I’m not the one who lost it,” he answered. He looked bewildered as Kisame walked past to slap him a high five. Naruto’s confusion lasted for all of five seconds before he looked over and saw that Sakura was gone. He spotted her disappearing over a dune of sand, Tenten and Neji running not far behind her.

“Hey! Wait up!” Naruto yelled. He grabbed the sleeve of Kisame’s tunic as he took off.

“Why are you dragging me too?” demanded Kisame, scrambling to keep up with him.

“It’s not fair if Sakura gets a buddy and I don’t. Duh,” Naruto answered before he continued on in his mad dash through the sand. Kisame toyed with the idea of gnawing his own arm off to escape before he sighed and decided to follow along.

They scoured the sands for several minutes. It was easy to see where they’d been from the corpses of snakes littering their path. Some of them were missing. There were plenty of hungry scavengers in the desert who were probably glad for a free meal. Tenten kicked one of the snakes aside to check underneath.

“Dude, help me move this,” said Naruto, pointing at a giant boulder. Neji stared at him.

“Why would it be under there?” demanded Neji.

Naruto rubbed the side of his nose. “Dunno. Maybe it crawled under there? With god powers? Can it do that?”

Neji just continued staring at him. But Naruto started to really think now.

“Hey, Sakura, can your holy thing move on its own? Is it, like, alive?” wondered Naruto.

“I think Naruto’s saying something,” Tenten pointed out. Sakura straightened, dusting sand from her hands.

“Just ignore him. He’ll stop eventually,” muttered Sakura in return.

“Oh. There it is. Right by your foot,” Naruto pointed out a little while later. Sakura followed his finger. She squinted until she saw a little glint of gold next to Kisame’s boot.

For some reason, Kisame hesitated. His eyes darted from the gleaming symbol to Naruto. But when Sakura took a step forward, Kisame held out his hand to stop her.

“It’s alright. I got it,” Kisame assured her. He grabbed it and handed it over to her. Sakura accepted it with a smile. But as he turned away, he flexed his hand. Clenching and unclenching his fingers. Forehead wrinkling, Sakura began to wonder about it before she heard Naruto call her name.

“It’s gonna get dark. Let’s go back!” Naruto urged.

Sakura hesitated for one last second. Feeling her stare, Kisame glanced over his shoulder at her. His eyes sharpened for a moment as he caught her gaze. Sakura didn’t look away as she thought. Slowly, she offered him a smile.

“Let’s go, big guy,” she said.

After a moment, Kisame smiled, too. “Sure, Doc,” he replied.

They turned around and headed back in the direction of their camp for the night.

#writing #middle ground #d&d!au

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andersoncharm · 4 years

Text

If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple, This One Qualifies//Seblaine.

Para: If There Ever Was a Perfect Couple, This One Qualifies

Rating: PG.

Pairing: Seblaine.

When: Sunday, April 5, 2020. Early evening.

Location: Sebastian's Cambridge Apartment.

Notes: An evening in with Seblaine.

Warnings: Pineapple on pizza. Also, Blaine still can’t stop thinking of futures and weddings..

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine hummed lightly to himself as he cut up little pieces of ham for the homemade pizza he was making for his and Sebastian's dinner. Normally it was bacon and onion for Seb but, his boyfriend was insistent that Blaine make them his favorite for once. He had to admit as he popped a fresh piece of pineapple into his mouth that he wasn’t upset by this idea. He absently threw a piece of the freshly cut ham to Ras who gobbled it up, but left Blaine alone after that with the promise of more later. Then Blaine even offered Freya a little chunk of pineapple. She sniffed it, turned up her nose giving him a distasteful look but, as soon as Blaine dropped it to the hardwood floor she snatched it up and sauntered away, disappearing out to the balcony patio. Because of course she wouldn’t want to eat the fruit out his hand.

He was so focused on saucing the pizza crust with his own homemade version of BBQ that he jumped a little when long slender fingers reached over and snatched a piece of ham followed by a chunk of the pineapple.

“Hey, hey. Stop that, Seb. You’ll ruin your dinner!” He laughed pushing Seb’s hand away playfully, looking up at his freshly showered boyfriend's signature smirk as he popped the two pieces of food into his mouth. His light brown hair, still wet and swept back so that Blaine could see the mischievous smirk in all its glory. And his stomach did the same little flip it always did in times like this when he was reminded that he got to love this man for the rest of his life, no matter how short that may be. The little butterflies that stirred whenever Seb was around started to flutter when he let himself think of a future like this. Maybe one where they both wore silver rings on their heart fingers and got to call themselves Mister and Mister. He sighed and mentally shook his head. Damn Sam for putting that freaking idea into his head. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since last weekend’s Skype call. He made sure to give Sam some hell when they spoke on the phone a few days ago.

“It’ll taste much better once it’s all done, you know.” He rolled his eyes and went back to his cooking, trying not to focus too much on Sebastian's so that he could get his thoughts in check. He’d probably fail.

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian’s week had been a little hectic. He had been in the office everyday, going over court records and interviews, sitting in with the client his team was working with for a big case their professor was on. When Sebastian had won one of the coveted intern spots, Blaine had clapped and sang “So Much Better” from the Legally Blonde musical before covering his face and hands in kisses. Seb had smiled for days when he would think of the memory.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as fun or effortless as Elle Woods made it seem, he was just an irritating mix of tired yet over caffeinated. It had been two weeks and Seb and the team of interns weren’t finding any new leads. The professor they were supporting was getting more and more aggravated every day. Seb had actually been asked to leave earlier in the week because of his attitude. God, if his dad found out he was going to get fucking reemed. Sebastian was great at law school and had awesome grades and an intimidating reputation but, he was just...exhausted.

Blaine coming over to cook a fresh pizza was a welcome respite from the piles of documents and the harsh blue glow of laptop screens and the trite moaning of Harvard law students. He took a hot shower, scrubbed his skin with a body elixir that Blaine had made for when he was stressed. The scent of ink and stale coffee fell from his skin and was replaced by notes of chamomile tea and fresh french lavender. He threw on an old Lacrosse tee shirt and some grey sweats before he followed the smell of pineapple to the kitchen. Sebastian could see Blaine working hard on the meal. It was a nice scene, he looked serene and in place. He popped a few of the ingredients into his mouth and giggled.

“My dinner won’t be ruined. I’m starving. I haven’t had much besides crappy coffee lately.” Sebastian sneaked one more chunk of pineapple with a little laugh before he threw it up and caught it in his mouth. “This looks great, by the way.” He hopped up so that he was sitting on the counter opposite of his boyfriend and the ingredients. “How’re things? Feel like I’ve been stupidly busy lately.”

Blaine’s POV:

“Thanks, Seb. It’s not too fancy, but, I personally can’t wait to eat either.” Blaine sighed as he listened to Sebastian’s words of being busy and turned to put the rather incredible looking pizza into the preheated oven. He was pretty proud of this one, he had to admit. He closed the oven door and opened the refrigerator to retrieve two beers, one for him and one for Sebastian. They were fancy IPA’s that had some extreme name like Harpoon Leviathan and Blaine had to laugh to himself as he opened the tops of both and made his way over to Sebastian. He pressed himself into the space between Sebastian’s long legs and handed one of the IPA’s to his boyfriend and took a swig of his own, the coldness soothing as he swallowed. He tipped up onto toes and pressed a kiss to Seb’s lips before settling back down and leaning into Seb. His guy smelled like relaxation and it made Blaine smile that he was using his concoctions.

“You have been. But, you’ve done great things lately and should be so proud of yourself. I know, it’s all discouraging right now but, think of what you’ve done as a win, yeah?” He smiled and pressed his head into Sebastian’s chest.

He could feel the exhaustion rolling off of the taller man in waves and wished for a moment that Sebastian was a little bit more open with Blaine using more magic on him. Sure, he allowed tonics and elixirs and enhanced tea sometimes. But, there was a slim chance that he’d let him brew something stronger to help him sleep or that he’d let him use healing magic from his hands at all. He didn’t need to be physically hurt to do that, mentally exhausted would be grounds for some healing but Seb was stubborn and still a little nervous when it came to magic. Blaine couldn’t blame him. He tried anyway.

“You should let me heal you tonight.” He mumbled into Seb’s chest. His beer clutched in his hand, pressed against his own chest. “It would help with your whole attitude and refresh you. I promise I won’t hurt you, you know that, right?”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian kissed his boyfriend, took a swig from the beer and inspected the label. It was slightly sweet and carmelly on the back of his tongue. “I know I’m doing well,” He ran his fingers up and down Blaine’s spine as he talked. “It’s just that point in the year where everything sort of swells.” Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and took another drink. “I’m sure your lessons are just as intense.”

Seb ran a hand through his hair and stretched his back a little bit. He wasn’t scared that Blaine’s magic would hurt him, that wasn’t the problem. He was worried that he’d get attached and want to be healed or relaxed or wound up all of the time, that he would rely on the magic like a drug. Sebastian knew enough about himself to know that he had an addictive streak. He partied a lot when he was younger and made a lot of questionable decisions when he was living in Paris. “B, I know that you wouldn’t hurt me. I mean, I rarely even take Tylenol. Just coffee and the occasional cigarette for me. Sometimes we drink, obviously.” Sebastian really didn’t drink as much as he used to, he didn’t need to go out and party anymore. The two of them had even slowed down a bit from when they first got together and Sebastian was a nervous wreck who wanted to impress.

He shrugged his shoulders, chewed on his bottom lip and felt his cheeks redden with the slight heat of embarrassment. “I don’t want to make things all serious. I appreciate the offer, I always do. Just make me some tea before bed.” He cleared his throat and took another drink, the sweet taste a little more bitter now. “Tell me something new going on with you. There’s gotta be something witchy and interesting happening.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine shrugged, sure, he was busy. His father had taken to teaching him about cursed artifacts and Blaine was constantly in fear that he’d bring some curse home with him unknowingly. Lucky for him he was pretty intuitive and could usually sense something off. Plus, he was a good student, he paid attention even when he wanted to be playing music or anything else. He wasn’t really into the darker parts of magic. But, he knew he needed to pay attention. He needed to know how to fight the bad things off if they came for him or anyone he loved. He looked pointedly at Sebastian. “Sure, but it’s nothing you want to know about, trust me.”

Blaine could practically see the internal struggle as his boyfriend contemplated his offer. He knew he was going to say no, could feel it even as he offered it. But, he felt he needed to try. Sebastian worked so hard for everything and here Blaine was with a way to relax him and keep him sane. He wasn’t supposed to, of course, magic was for witches and potions and elixirs were for their human hunters who needed it from all the nightmares they were forced to see while in the field. He remembered Hunter’s fondness for Nightmare Stealing Sleeping Draughts. But it wasn’t for “normal” humans like Sebastian. But, Seb was Blaine’s and Blaine would do anything to keep him comfortable and safe. He chewed on his lip as he listened to him talk.

Blaine sat his beer next to Seb’s thigh and reached up and cupped Seb’s heated cheeks and gave him a comforting soft smile. “Sure, Seb. You know I’d never use it on you without your consent again unless something were seriously wrong.” Blaine could count on one hand the number of times he’d used magic on Sebastian without asking first in the last year and a half. Seb knew about them now and was good with it, but they made Blaine’s stomach drop thinking about them. The worst was their first night together Blaine had made Sebastian stay asleep so Sebastian wouldn’t wake up as he tried to cut him out of his life, and it had happened once on a date in public when Seb’s anxieties had taken over. And once more with some magical pomegranate that had led to a pretty intense and sexual night. The latter two weren’t so bothersome as Blaine mostly was calming the room where they were in one, and Sebastian had told him he ‘really enjoyed’ the night of the magical pomegranate. However, the first night still bothered him a little. He cleared his throat and tried not to think about it.

“Just know that the offer is there if you ever change your mind. And know that I wouldn’t overdo it. I just want you to be happy and comfortable. Tea it is. I’ll make sure to use my best batch of chamomile tonight.” He gave a grin trying to ease Sebastian’s apparent embarrassment before reaching and taking another swig of the sweet beer. He could stay in this position forever, the scent of sweet pizza and the pressure of Sebastian's legs resting beside him. His arms loosely around Sebastian. Forever reminded him of his conversation with Sam which reminded him that he did, in fact, have something to talk to Seb about.

“Oh! Yes, I do have something going on. Not really witchy or anything but, remember how I told you my Skype with Sam was useless?” He blushed involuntarily thinking about marriage and children and Sam’s teasing him about Seb. “Like, he couldn’t decide on a date or anything? Well, he called me on the phone yesterday and he’s picked a date finally. He’ll be in Ohio for Halloween to spend time with his family and then he'll be here in Boston the second week of November. He’d only be around a week and half so, we’ll still get to go to your mom’s for Thanksgiving.” He smiled, a little excited at the thought of Sam getting to meet Seb and wondering what Sebastian would make of his eccentric best friend. “I’ve missed him so much the last few years, I have to admit I’m excited. You're either gonna love him or think he’s the weirdest person ever. Maybe a mix.”

Sebastian's POV:

“I know, B. I trust you. Not to sound cliche but, honestly, it’s not you. It’s me.” Sebastian gave a small smile and leaned in to give Blaine a kiss. “I’m perfectly fine with tea. I’ve grown a little fond of it, actually.” He finished his beer and set the glass bottle down on the counter beside his thigh. “Oh? He finally made a decision? That’s great. He’s uh, getting a hotel right?” Sebastian arched an eyebrow. The apartment was his, sure, but, Blaine basically lived there. He didn’t want any strangers getting the wrong idea. Seb didn’t even want Hunter spending the night as much as he did. He was very particular about his space. “No cowboy boots under my couch, no thank you.”

He cleared his throat and waved his hands, god he probably sounded so fucking rude. “Oh, yeah, I know you’ve missed him!” Sebastian already had a feeling he was going to find Sam a little hard to handle. He seemed like the living embodiment of an untrained, hyper dog wrapped up in a package that looked like a golden, all-american Thunder god. “But, this is a DC household. Thor needs to stay somewhere else. Not that I think you’d do that without my input. I sound like a total douche, right now, don’t I?” Sebastian poked Blaine in the side. “I bet he and Hunter would get along great,though.”

Blaine’s POV:

Blaine let out a laugh and kissed Sebastian back. “Yeah, yeah. But, I do understand. Just remember what I said. Anytime. And if you ever want it, then I’ll never use it. Unless, you know, dire.” He grinned at the compliment, pleased that he could get the man that only ever drank coffee or iced tea to drink his special blends. He looked up when Seb asked if Sam was getting a hotel, the oven timer going off giving him the chance to tease his boyfriend a little for being mildly rude. He furrowed his brow a little exaggeratedly and turned to the oven before speaking. “Oh, I mean, I already told him he could stay with us that week. I mean, why would he waste all that money on a hotel when you have a perfectly good sectional right in the living room.” He paused for dramatics as he put the oven mitt on before pulling the pizza out. The sizzling cheese is the only sound in the kitchen. He turned to put it on a cooling pad on the counter and shot Seb a glance. His boyfriend seemed to be somewhere between shock and trying to figure out a way to tell Blaine he’d overstepped. He couldn’t really keep it up after that.

“Oh my gods, of course he’s getting a hotel, Seb. This is your house! I’m like the exception to the rule here. I know you don’t even like Hunter lounging around on the sofa, why would I invite my overly enthusiastic friend to sleep here without your permission.” He shook his head as he cut the pizza up. “No, Sam will be staying about five minutes away, silly.” He rolled his eyes, concentrating on cutting up the slices, still smiling to himself at Seb’s face. “You only sound a little douchey, but, hey, I get it and I still love you.” He kissed the tip of Seb’s nose for emphasis. “Of course I’d never do that. You know it, too.” He handed Sebastian his plate and grabbed both of their beers motioning for him to follow him to said sofa and tucked himself into the arm, his legs curled under him. Some true crime drama already queued up for the evening.

“For the record, my dear, know you love Diana Prince almost as much as you love me but, this is a Marvel house when I want it to be a Marvel house. Captain America is too important to me for you to take that away.” He winked, knowing that he probably loved Nightwing and Wonder Woman almost as much as Capt but, he liked the teasing anyway because Steve was his favorite. “Thor will be just fine at the Hotel.” He smiled and took a bite of his pizza, which was fantastic before reaching over and giving Seb’s thigh a little squeeze to show everything was in jest.

“I’m sure Sam and Buffy would actually get along pretty great now that you mention it. They’re both ridiculous.” he stated in response to Hunter. He grinned at his joke. He loved this, this feeling of contentedness. Once again, he found he could stay like this forever. He was utterly happy in this moment and his smile probably showed it. He reached out and took Seb’s hand in his, bringing it to his lips and placed a kiss against his knuckles. He grinned against his hand before gently putting it down in favor of the remote. “Eat your dinner, dear.”

Sebastian’s POV:

Sebastian raised his eyebrows and stared at Blaine for a minute. He knew he had to be joking. “Yeah, yeah.” He hopped off of the counter and followed the other man into the living room. “Well, I love you back. I’m weird about my space. You’re the only person that I don’t get annoyed with. That’s a pretty high honor.”

He settled into the couch and held on to his plate, the warmth from the pizza comforting against his cool skin. “We’re a house divided then. This must be how people who like different baseball teams feel.” Seb nudged Blaine’s arm playfully. “Buffy….he wishes. He will never have that level of style. God bless Sarah Michelle.” Sebastian smiled as Blaine gently kissed his hand. He chewed on his pizza and lifted one hand in faux praise in regards to Sarah. But really, Seb knew that Hunter worked insanely hard and was good at his job but couldn’t let himself get too mushy about his best friend. He was too tired for any more emotions that day. “This is awesome. Good job,B.” Sebastian kicked his legs up onto the coffee table and started his second slice as the dramatic opening music of their show filled the apartment.

/fin.

#if there ever was a perfect couple #seblaine #seblaine para #smythesm #para #seblaine witch rp

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years

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EoA ships fluff hcs

Whose gaze lingers?

Eleteo: Elena of course. She is the absolute opposite of subtle and she revels in the chance to look at her favorite wizard every chance she gets even when her abuelos, and Esteban and Mateo remind her she has to appear queenly in public.

Gababel: Isabel mostly. Gabe still tries to be respectful of her especially in the beginning of their relationship and while Isabel loves Gabe for more than just his looks she can’t help but stop and admire Gabe’s muscles. Especially during his workouts. And perhaps imagine how they feel under her grip.

Estenaomi: Esteban does. He can’t help it with how Naomi climbs the rigging and does various other tasks with such ease.

Estoma: Esteban does. He’s not above watching her walk away.

Who can easily tell the other is lying?

Eleteo: Hmm I feel like Elena would. She’s perceptive like that and Mateo tends to believe that Elena has the best plans and best intentions and so used to her expressive face, he would think she’s incapable. Not that she does lie to him but if it was in a regular conversation with someone else, he wouldn’t be able to tell whether she’s lying or not. Gababel: Gabe can tell mainly because Isabel gets flustered when she lies and she does so hate to lie to his face so she doesn’t really succeed at it.

Estenaomi: Naomi can. Esteban’s lies tend to get complicated and then he can’t remember what he said in the first place so it’s usually easy to suss out. Besides he starts to get the same problem Isabel has in not wanting to lie to Naomi in the first place. Estoma: Both I think. We've seen that they can pull of lying with ease (Esteban less so. But three years is still an impressive amount of time) but they know each other well too like how Esteban tends to hesitate or choose his words carefully so he’s not completely lying and Doña sounds too too smug when she lies.

Who goes around singing Christmas songs?

Eleteo: Elena, obviously. She’s the singer as we all know, but Mateo happily joins her because they are that sweetingly in sync couple that when one starts something the other joins in. Gababel: Isabel does because she’s a Flores and Gabe sometimes will just stop whatever he is doing and simply smile and listen to Isabel’s beautiful voice and gush that his girlfriend has the voice of an angel. Estenaomi: Esteban does while I feel like Naomi would sing those Christmas parodies like “Jingle bells batman smells” or whatever the Avalor equivalent is. And then they would start trying to top each other with even more ridiculous lyrics. Estoma: Esteban would. Despite his stuffy demeanor and telling Elena that Navidad isn’t here just yet.. he still can’t help humming it under his breath when the song gets stuck in his head. Who has to give one last kiss?

Eleteo: Elena does. She is such an affectionate person and Mateo is just so cute that even when he *has* to go and she *has* to attend to her duties, she tends to put it off as long as possible trying to get as many kisses as she can. Gababel: Isabel because as you can imagine, whenever Gabe goes off to battle, there is that little fear that this might be the last time she will ever see him and it just makes the moment more intense and she wants to make every last kiss count in case she’ll never gets another. Estenaomi: Esteban, he is such a dramatic boi and he keeps going for another grand dip or a spontaneous kiss even when Naomi is doing something as mundane as going ashore for a few minutes to get supplies. Estoma: Once more Esteban does. He says he can’t help it being overcome by beauty that he just get one last kiss. Honestly it sounds like an even more overdramatic interpretation of Zorro. Not that she complains.

Who starts gift shopping first and who hides the presents?

Eleteo: Elena starts shopping first because she’s eager and also she gets lots of ideas, each the better than the last like special spell books or new artifacts. Luisa often tells her not to go overboard. They’re other holidays where she can give gifts after all. Mateo hides them because he has a tiny mischievous streak and it drives Elena crazy when she scours the palace to look for clues of what he got her so she can know what to get him. But Mateo just has a twinkle in his eye and a secret smile (he hides them at Rafa’s. Elena still hadn’t gotten the idea that the gifts are not even in the palace). Gababel: Isabel gets shopping immediately with Luisa and Elena in a fun girls trip. Though she worries that the gift will never be enough or not a good show of how much she cares for him and his likes and all that though Gabe assures her that a gift will never be a perfect representation of their love for each other and shouldn’t be, but she still tries. Besides that she just really loves Navidad. Gabe is the one that hides the gifts (in the horse stables behind the manure) whenever Elena, Esteban and she team up to look for them. Estenaomi: It’s kinda hard since they’re traveling on a ship but Esteban is the one most likely to start shopping first for the gift to blow her mind away. Naomi is the one to hide them because like Mateo, it amuses her to watch Esteban fruitlessly search the ship for the presents (which are with her feminine supplies). Estoma: Doña starts shopping immediately though to be fair she likes any excuse to go shopping. She can get distracted in that she starts buying more stuff for herself before she remembers Christmas gifts. Esteban hides the gifts and it is supremely difficult because the more exotic gifts he has to order through her emporium and she’s there at the counter smirking at him with the ledger asking if the perfume is for her or someone else? Is the new dress for her or someone else? Etc. Etc. Somehow he has managed every year.

Who takes the longest getting ready? Eleteo: Elena, mainly because she has to look her 100% best at all moments, plus all the servants (and Esteban) start fussing over her outfit and hair and a million other things. Gababel: Isabel does because Gabe NEVER CHANGES HIS FREAKIN UNIFORM! Estenaomi: Esteban does. Mr. Hair gel and moisturizer needs at least at least an hour to prepare himself. Longer if it’s a formal event. Estoma: Actually pretty equal. Though sometimes they’d be petty if they feel one is wasting their time, they’ll take even longer.

Whose more likely to talk themselves out of a speeding ticket?

Eleteo: Elena. Mateo would be too flustered and shocked at himself that he drove over the speed limit and he’d apologize immediately. Elena is a fast talker and can talk to anyone, make them see her side and drive off. Gababel: Gabe I think. It usually doesn’t work though. He either tries to flatter or try to bond with fellow man in uniform. Estenaomi: Esteban. It also doesn’t work even though he unleashes his full charm. Naomi does too and it actually does work and Esteban is forever amazed. Estoma: Doña. From Esteban there is a lot of blustering, “Do you know who I am?!” Doña is better at playing people and being persuasive with her arguments. If that doesn’t work, maybe some discreet bribery.

Who kills the spiders? Eleteo: Neither. Both are the more humane capture and release types. Though I have no doubt that Elena may have accidentally killed some with her scepter blasts or her mood swings. Gababel: Gabe kills them though Isabel keeps telling him not to see since they provide a vital service to nature etc etc. Estenaomi: Naomi does since Esteban has phobia of spiders. Sometimes she’ll shove it in his face very quickly and he’ll fall over in his chair. Even if it is a fake toy spider. Estoma: Again, Doña cuz Esteban still fears spiders. Plus Doña’s like, I’ve handle an alligator, this is nothing. Some irrational phobias

Eleteo: Mateo is less scared about horses, but he’s still very wary of them like when they rear up or eat apples out of his hand. Elena has been trying to help him by going on romantic horseback rides and showing him how to groom Carmela. Honestly none of Elena’s fears are irrational. The only one I can think of is the dark, and we know where she got that. Gababel: Isabel has a fear lightning and thunder storms. It’s just so many things can go wrong like the lights going out or a flood or tree crashing and just all the noise freaks her out. Good thing Gabe always helps her out with lots of hugs and kisses in bed. Gabe has a phobia of geckos as we all know. They just scurry everywhere and are slimy and ugh he hates them.

Estenaomi: Naomi has a fear of clowns. I mean she won’t go screaming but and crying but she does tense up and always she always tells Esteban, “They are NOT funny.” Something about the face is disturbing to her. Esteban hates small bugs. Spiders, scorpions, occasionally a caterpillar he mistaken for a centipede. Sometimes Naomi teases him about having to kill it but as Ross once said, “It’s not like they’re 30 poisonous clowns.” Estoma: Same as above. Esteban hates small bugs. Doña has an irrational fear of frogs. Doesn’t know where or why but they are disgusting to her. One time he put a fake one in her office to annoy her and she wouldn’t go in until he removed it.

Pregnancy

Gababel: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HRmGYtFPUyg The first few times the baby kicked. Isabel was nervous but also over the moon. And more often than not, once word got out the baby was kicking the entire family would crowd into the room to feel her stomach. Including some servants like Armando. Even if it was in the middle of the night. Estenaomi: Naomi had very intense mood swings. And by intense,I mean she was tired and frustrated the entire time because Naomi hated being tied down and not being allowed to do all the work that she was perfectly capable of accomplishing thank you very much. This was more prevalent near the ending of her pregnancy as you can see here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MSdN25AaPu0 Estoma:(This under some AU or assumption that Doña is young enough to have kids) She got super sentimental whenever kids were around. Resulting in this https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=utiZvi-VBP0 It took a good 5 hours for her to realize that she had given away most of her stock to kids and their families for free. So she reluctantly put Carlos in charge Eleteo: Elena has some wacky pregnancy cravings that were non too appetizing for the rest of the Palace to watch her eat https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb5ICSzDB64 Luckily Mateo was a lot more understanding about it then Jesse in this clip but still, there were many exhausted days and nights as he searched for the right potato chips lol

New decade AU

Eleteo: Perhaps going back to the Mayan hero twins that Becky has been suggesting as they go to their mythical roots among the gods and goddesses.

Gababel: Medieval Times. I can’t help it, Gabe makes the perfect knight in shining armor and Isabel would be the princess or noble lady breaking society norms by being interested in science and stuff. Or a World War AU would work too. Estenaomi: late 1800s: The age age of piracy and imperialism. It would be so much fun for both of them I think with Naomi being the rebellious pirate queen and stowaway Esteban or Esteban being the morally ambiguous privateer.

Estoma: I was going to say Victorian Downtown Abby but the 1920s are so much more intriguing. I mean the Great Gatsby parties, the foolish rich people, the decadence combined with the danger of gangsters and prohibition.

#eleteo #gababel #estoma #estenaomi #elena of avalor #esteban flores #isabel castillo flores #elena castillo flores #gabe nuñez #mateo de alva #naomi turner #my hcs #my headcanons #doña paloma #headcanons

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borderlandscast · 5 years

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starwarscast rythian

this au is essentially rythian playing himself in a dnd game set in star wars, pre clone wars. everyone else is also playing themselves. the last post i did was listing the current cast’s characters and their species, plus a sneak peek into nilesy and rythian’s stats.

below is all my cleaned up and compressed notes on rythian’s timeline, trivia and backstory.

rythian:

honorable mention of this rythian goes here because i rarely return to this au (i blame all the ‘canon’ worldbuilding we’re finally getting on rythian’s species, now decades after the original books were published) and i’m still fond of him.

hold up your thumb and index finger. now put them together so there’s the a gap but they’re not touching. that’s how much less gayer he is than blcast rythian.

long haired; keeps it well maintained with lush products bc he’s kind of vain about it. has it in a french braid that runs down his back. if he ever suggested cutting it, a petition would go around to stop him. he still has the pale/grey stripe running down the middle of his hair.

he still can’t cook. if anything, he’s even worse at it. whether or not he deliberately plays it up is a running joke. it’s a mystery how he survived as zoeya’s padawan. zoeya jokes about watering him whenever others ask. he doesn’t appreciate it.

rythian’s full name is in the archives, and he never uses it. he goes by a much shortened version (thanks to the circumstances by which he arrived at the temple, and zoeya’s help). keep reading for why.

the slightest mention of a holocron (sith or jedi) or lost knowledge is the fastest way to summon him from across a room. he’s one of the best artifact hunters and puzzle solvers.

his main job in the jedi temple is a librarian, and he has a reputation as a strict but helpful master. don’t run any of the texts, and you’ll keep staying on his good side.

he’s actually younger than he looks; he became a master in his late teens, and zoeya had to make a solid case about him taking the exams to become a master that young. it distanced him from a lot of his peers.

now that he’s older, he gives slightly less of a f*ck, and is fairly outspoken as a grey jedi since he sometimes uses fairly questionable means to accomplish his goals (something zylus takes after him in that regard).

lightsaber is purple. he’s never been prouder. he uses the same style as obi-wan, but has a decent grounding in other styles to throw someone off if he ends up in a duel.

his species is exceedingly rare. to give you an idea of how rare, he’s the only chiss residing within the bounds of known, explored space; his species exists in a difficult to navigate, well isolated patch. it also causes him some minor grief whenever he leaves the temple, since most think he’s just a freak, mutant or a hybrid pantoran.

even funnier is that he’s the only jedi of said species, but is not the only force sensitive of his kind (go read timothy zahn’s latest triology, it’s got some good tidbits at last about how his species views and treats their force sensitive individuals). i know there was a canon chiss jedi padawan but the old star wars canon is a mess i’m not touching with a ten foot pole, or else rythian would have died of happiness to meet another one of his species even if neither of them know anything about them.

his arc revolves around gaining acceptance that sometimes things happen even if we don’t want them to, and that not all answers sought out will give happiness, including the truth.

his backstory was that his parents (a happily married trio, consisting of a fleet commander, a governor and a scientist) made the decision to give him away as a baby due to two events: restless political climate nearly resulting in baby rythian’s death from assasination, and his ridiculous force sensitivity, which immediately marks him for a risky career as a hyperspace navigator once he’s old enough to walk and talk. they don’t hold family ties once they start this career, so.

not wanting to risk their child’s life, his parents sneakily flag down a passing jedi ship carrying one jedi master zoeya (who is a sentient, old af tree, known as ‘neti’). she is very surprised that she is now in charge of an unknown alien infant but understands that for reasons unknown, he is now in her care. for who knows how long.

rythian spends his childhood at jedi temple. he matures way faster than the other kids, and excels in his studies. apparently, that’s normal for his kind, but it’s abnormal to others. it’s made even worse because nobody knows what species he is. he befriends a kel dor named will strife, another padawan after strife stops a couple of older teens from hassling rythian.

zoeya officially takes rythian as her padawan. she also secretly gives him an ecrypted disc containing a basic dictionary and guide to chiss language, the only link rythian has to his parents (aside from the hand stitched blanket and baby clothes). rythian never knows zoeya gives him the disc since it’s left on his bed. it’s the only knowledge he never contributes to the jedi temple’s extensive archives.

stuff happens to zoeya; rythian loses her as a master due to her past trauma catching up. he learns that he’s her third padawan (the second being lomadia, who is still alive); her first died hundreds of years ago, and zoeya’s memories keep overlapping so she’s confusing him for them. she leaves the order after her memory’s adjusted so she can start fresh as a civilian. the last thing she says to him before she goes for treatment are a string of numbers, and a single, nonsensical name. rythian is advised that it’s best not to find her or risk a relapse.

will strife voluntarily leaves the order as well due to pressing circumstances; i.e., a fabricated scandal with him and a well known politician (played by lalnable). rythian gradually accepts that everyone he knows and cares for will eventually leave him. he still maintains strife as a contact after strife takes up a career as a traveling merchant.

rythian takes a teen zylus as a padawan and resolves to do better than zoeya, as a mentor and parental figure. he did bring baby zylus to the temple after all. he keeps an eye on zylus as zylus grows up, occasionally nudging zylus to stay focused.

that said, rythian had his nose in a book during the candidate lightsaber matches, thus narrowly missing zylus leaving. zylus dropped by the libaray on his last day at the temple, which was where rythian found him and dragged him of to get him approved as his official padawan.

zylus successfully graduates, and to rythian’s great relief, he stays to work on the archives with him as a fellow holocron hunter and decrypter.

and then the chosen one, nilesy, arrives at the temple in search of how to best temper his newfound force sensitivity. in tow is ravs, a sith. rythian volunteers to be the sith watchdog, and nilesy’s trainer, and it’s not just because this is his golden chance to hit up a sith for secret forbidden lore or anything.

unfortunately, ravs has no interest in helping rythian unlock sith holocrons; he advises that his fellow sith buddy, daltos, might be of help but he has no idea where said buddy is. this greatly annoys rythian (unbeknowst, several months later, zylus has the honor of said first meeting).

ravs constantly hides in rythian’s room from jedi padawan nanosounds, who is eager to test her formidable lightsaber skills on a sith. rythian eventually gets used to ravs randomly chilling in his room.

he and ravs have a thing. zylus is completely oblivious to it, and nilesy pretends that he’s not aware of it.

rythian decides to go on holiday, which immediately sparks suspicion from everyone because everyone has to literally pry rythian from the archives on a daily basis. ravs secretly tails him, and sees rythian about to board a chiss ship.

afraid of losing him forever, ravs butts in, and discovers that rythain is meeting his parents, who also react to ravs like he’s a threat. rythian persuades his parents that ravs means no harm, and gets ravs permission to board as well.

rythian tries to reconcile with his parents’ decision to ‘abandon’ him, and their aloof attitudes after finally reuniting with them as an adult. he has no memories of them, to their disappointment. he eventually discovers in one of his parent’s offices, a hidden compartment containing two photos of him as a child and padawan.

he confronts his parents, and finds out that zoeya met his parents in secret one more time to deliver these photos. reassured that they’d made the right decision, they ask her to pass on a message: if ry’thia’nuruodo wishes to learn of his heritage, meet us at these coordinates on this day. we shall return yearly, without fail, until we are unable to. this was zoeya’s message, which she’d passed onto him, albeit incomplete.

rythian also has to contend with helping ravs make a good first impression; his parents don’t speak basic (or pretend not to, wanting to test if rythian retained his knowledge of his species’ language), and ravs can’t speak their language. they don’t approve of him having a relationship with ravs since he’s an alien and they don’t know what he’s capable of, but eventually concede that ravs will do since nobody else can match their son’s capabilities.

as for the issue of who exactly rythian’s family members are? i don’t know anything about chiss society so this entirely headcanon. their society is very rigid, and is based on doing your job correctly and loyalty to their houses (ie, family branches). all chiss tend to be fairly straight faced, calm and composed and intelligent individuals. rythian is an exception, which is why he doesn’t initially understand why his parents are so cold to him at first, but clues in eventually that they’re exceedingly subtle about their affection and praises (and insults, too).

his biological father is ry’aratalla’nuruodo (aratalla for short), cedef fleet commander. rythian takes after him in sense of humor, looks and height but inherited all his teeth from his other biological parent, sev’adira’csapla. very level headed, accomodating, quiet and grounded; rythian is a little intimidated by him, and assumes his dad has the final say in everything. this is utterly wrong and his dad is whipped by the other two parents.

sev’adira’csapla (vadirac, or adira) is a colony governor and ship provisions officer. nonbinary, goes by they/them. has a mean, petty and haughty personality, can also be called a tsundere. unfortunately, rythian gets his vanity and dramatic flair from them. he doesn’t get along with them, and the two spend a fair amount of time insulting each other (which adira actually enjoys).

radar’isoto’inrokini (isoto for short, a triple wordplay on ‘risotto’, ‘radar’ and ‘isotope’). rythian’s ‘mother’, in a sense. rythain gets his curiosity and love of knowledge from her. she’s like zoeya; full of optimistism, disarmingly charming, frightening when angered and is actually one of the sharpest minds around. she’s a exceptional mixture of physicist, linguist, biologist, geologist and chemist, being the chief scientific officer serving on the same ship as rythian’s dad. she gets along with ravs a little too well, and takes on the giant task of learning basic so she can communicate with him.

rythian leaves with ravs, having learned a great deal about chiss. he’s supposed to be a big secret since his parents spread a rumor that he died from ‘weak constitution’. he and ravs are to keep everything they learned and visited a secret.

rythian, nilesy and zylus learn of a secret mission to assassinate the sith who’ve been more or less friendly towards nilesy: minty, ravs and daltos. minty escapes, but ravs and daltos aren’t so lucky, resulting in nilesy, rythian and zylus interfering. the three let ravs and daltos escape, causing the three jedi’s standing to plummet within the temple. don’t worry, it doesn’t stay that way for long.

right after the above happens, the clone wars occur. rythian doesn’t meet ravs for months; ravs ghosts him. they end up reuniting on a mission much later when ravs frees him from a seperatist jail at the risk of compromising his cover. it’s a very emotional reunion. ravs is in hiding since he suspects a bigger conspiracy, and has been compiling clues and evidence. he and rythian agreed to meet up and share what they know.

rythian assists nilesy in further training his powers. unfortunately, without ravs counterpoint, there is no balance for nilesy. nilesy is confined to the temple since he can’t take part in any of the life threatening missions.

rythian takes ‘tom’ (angor) as his clone officer. tom assists him in piecing together transmissions and intelligence to send off. ravs passes him information every now and then. rythian is a dad to a clone trooper, okay.

order 66 occurs at the climax of the clone wars. the temple is under siege by a traitor jedi and the clones. rythian and any jedi on the scene attempt to escape. rythian almost dies when tom fails a will check to stop himself from shooting rythian due to order 66. nilesy and ravs pool together their resources and wills to save him.

when all hope is lost, nilesy ascends as a ‘chosen one’, bringing a fragile balance to himself since he failed the galaxy. through his connection in the force, he learns that the other chosen one (thanks, skywalker) went off the deep end. nilesy unlocks the secret of mortis, and drags the survivors of temple massacre inside before closing the rift.

rythian recovers, forgives tom, and stays on as nilesy’s teacher, having successfully saved several important texts and holocrons from the archives prior to leaving the temple.

nilesy wishes to join the rebels once he hears news of them.

i got this far before having to stop due to real life circumstances interfering, and felt that this was a safe stopping point as well.

#borderlandscast: extras #borderlandscast: star wars #long post

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tylerspicknell · 5 years

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My pitch for a Lars of the Stars and The Off-Colors spin-off series.

Alright, I've been doing some thinking, getting some ideas, and all that and here's how I think a spin-off should go.

It would take place AFTER Change Your Mind with Lars and the Off-Colors now on Earth again (though we will get flashbacks to when they were still on Homeworld and all that other stuff). But, they go through adventures that takes them back to space and also inside and outside of Beach City. It'll basically be a 11-minute series aside from the ocassional 22 minutes. They'll be more action and a lot more villains then in Steven Universe but it'll have slice-of-life episodes too like in the main series.

Now why would the show take place AFTER Change Your Mind? Because, Lars and the Off-Colors will develop their characters and eventually go from deformed misfits to powerful heroes that would rival the Crystal Gems themselves. In fact, they won't even join the Crystal Gems and will in fact become a sort of subsidiary or more specifically a THIRD Gem faction (along with the Crystal Gems and the Homeworld Gems). In fact, they'll get their own insignia's in the form of Lars's skull guages but with shooting stars behind it as crossbones (like a pirate skull and crossbones). They'll also get new outfits that looks pirate-esque with said insignia's.

Plot: Basically the show will be about the Off-Colors going from space pirates to a sort of Guardians of the Galaxy-like team of bounty hunters. You see throughout the universe there are more alien criminals then ever thanks to Homeworld conquering planets and draining their resources and thus causing inflation and in turn more beings resorting to crime. So Lars and the others now catch criminals with bounties on them (or the occasional regular criminal who gets his hands on Gem tech or an artifact to commit crimes) so they can one day build a bakery franchise but at the same time learning a mystery about their newest member: an alien whose never met another member of his species.

Characters:

Lars would of course be the main character and the leader of the Off-Colors team. He'll be his usually cocky self but is on the road to becoming TOO cocky. His development will lead to a perfect balance of self-esteem. He'll get a laser gun for a weapon storage room that he and the Off-Colors will find in the 1 hour episode and he'll also use his new Lion-esque abilities.

The Rutiles will basically be his second in command. They'll keep him and the other Off-Colors in check. Their development will be the fact that they need to learn how to do things individually even when the two of them are stuck together. Their weapon will actually be a trident with the top of a guandao stemming near the top. It'll basically be a weapon in the shape of their Gem that won't just fight but also defend.

Rhodonite's development will come from the fact that she needs to grow some stones (pun intended) and start being more brave and not so nervous and pessimistic about everything. This will lead to her occasionally splitting into Pearl and Ruby that will deal with their own problems (which I haven't figured out yet) that will lead to Rhodonite's own development. Her weapon will be a fusion weapon of a pickaxe and a sledgehammer which would become a pogo-stick with powerful jumps. She'll also use an alien kusarigama from the same weapons room as Lars's gun.

Parparadscha's development will come from the fact that since her sense of time is delayed her teammates risk their lives protecting her and that makes her feel guilty that they do all that and she'll feel useless in the team. She just needs to learn how to be more handi-capable and that her she means everything to her friends. Her powers would be of course her Future Visions that sees into the past with 100% accuracy and the ability to make fog or mist (compared to Sapphire's freezing power). She also use alien caltrops from the same weapon storage as Lars's and Rhodonite's weapons.

Fluorite will be special. I think that during Steven Universe they'll meet a new colorful Gem with butterfly wings that will decide to fuse with Fluorite and the two of them will become a giant butterfly-esque Gem named Rainbow Fluorite (or RF for short). In the show itself RF's development will the be same as Garnet's and that her components need to learn how to do things separately and as individuals. Her powers would be that the new Gem will know EXACTLY what to say and the other components will agree with her and thus speak MUCH more quickly as well as the power of flight. Plus, her Fusion weapon will be a giant cannon that will only be used in desperate times due to its sheer power.

I haven't come up with a name for the new alien member but I'm thinking more along the lines of Glocky or Moctoc. He'll be an alien with mysterious powers but is so simple minded (he speaks in broken English) he barely knows how to use them. But despite his simplicity he'll have a good heart. He joins the Off-Colors starting in the first episode after he runs away from one of the major villains: an evil scientist who in the first episode has an entire station colony under his control. But, it's later revealed that he runs away a lot but always comes back to the villain because he's the only one of his kind (he's never met another member of his species before) and has no where to go. But, hearing this the Off-Colors decide that he's a bit of a misfit too and decide to have him join them. His development will be him learning about his powers, heritage, and what he really is.

Sadie will also be a recurring character too, Her relationship with Lars will get more complicated as her touring with the Suspects will have her meet a fellow musician who she'll get mutual feelings for and makes her realize that her crush on Lars is kind of toxic. But, of course she'll end up with Lars anyway in the end.

Ronaldo will also be a recurring character. He'll get to live out his dream of being an intergalactic traveller through Lars and at the same time work on restoring the friendship the two of them once had.

Emerald will be the Off-Colors arch-nemesis (but eventual arch-frenemy). I believe that sometime in Season 6 she'll return and try to get the Sun Incinerator back. But, Steven or the other Diamonds will tell her that Lars can keep it "for as long as he lives" leading Emerald to come up with the conclusion that if she kills Lars and the Off-Colors then ownership of the ship will go back to her. Causing her to constantly come up with plans that will lead to the Off-Colors getting destroyed and getting her ship back. Furthermore, the new peaceful rule of Era 3 will lead to Emerald getting demoted to a mere ship-captain and her crew relocated to new positions....except for two.

Red Coral and Blue Coral will be the last two crewmembers Emerald will have left. They'll basically be a combination of Scratch and Grounder and Ed and Double D (with Emerald being the Eddy). Both of them would be cyclopses with one eye. Red Coral will be a short and fat but sensible and practical member of the trio and often getting annoyed at her crewmate's and boss's antics with sarcasm. Blue Coral will be a tall (but not as tall as Emerald) and skinny member who will be a dim-witted but good natured Gem who thinks the three of them as a little evil family. They both have flint lock guns as their Gems weapons that they summon from the Gems in their bellies and when the two of them fuse into the (two-eyed) Purple Coral the guns connect with each other to become a musket shotgun that fires heavier blasts. Ever so often there would be an episode starring Emerald and the Corals going through their own crazy misadventures and WOULDN'T feature Lars and the Off-Colors.

They'll also be a fem-fatale alien smuggler who Lars will eventually get mutual feelings for which will lead to a love rectangle between him, Sadie, the rocker, and the smuggler. But in the end Lars and Sadie will end up together while the rocker and the smuggler will end up together as well.

The main villain of the series will be a mysterious masked alien whose the high ranking officer in a galactic government. He'll have an obsession with the alien that will become an Off-Color as he states that he holds the key to unlocking the secrets the alien hides and is determined to get the Off-Colors out of the way to do so. He'll also have all of Lars's bad habits but amplified. In other words a perfect foil for Lars.

Steven and the Crystal Gems WILL appear in the series but only as secondary characters (only appearing in certain episodes in minor roles).

They'll also be two major Fusions in the series (or more that I haven't come up with yet): Sardoffyx (a Fusion between Rhodonite and Paraparadsca) and Fluorapatite (the Obsidian of the Off-Colors with all the Gems Fusing in one).

#steven universe #SU #Lars of the Stars #lars barriga #off-colors #rhodonite #padparascha su #fluorite #rutile twins #sadie miller #crystal gems #garnet steven universe #amethyst steven universe #pearl steven universe #ronaldo fryman

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thewritewolf · 5 years

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Clap of Thunder Chapter 27: Marinette and the Agrestes

Marinette joins Adrien for a long delayed visit with Gabriel Agreste. Although, I suppose technically the title is incorrect - there is only one Agreste appearing in this drabble.

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@adrinetteapril

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

It had been about a year since the last time Adrien had spoken with his father. When he was asked by friends and family, he told them that it was because he was trying to distance himself from his father and the shadow that he had cast. But Marinette knew the truth of the matter. Despite the years of neglect, despite everything, Adrien still cared for his father. His heart was big and full of love, even for that man. Which just made how everything had turned out all the worse.

They allowed themselves to be pat down as they entered the prison for visitation hours. French law was surprisingly quiet on matters of magic-based villainy, so it had been difficult for the courts to decide what to do with the first supervillain to enter into the justice system. There had even been talk about digging deep in medieval law concerning witches and warlocks, but ultimately the senior Agreste had been tried and convicted on charges of terrorism and attempted larceny. Which may have been promoted to grand theft if only the courts could determine the value of magical artifacts capable of granting wishes.

Regardless, Gabriel Agreste was now behind bars, where he would likely stay for the remainder of his natural life. Since then, his fashion empire had collapsed as investors fled in a panic, and his closest associates had gone under intense scrutiny by the media. Which included Adrien. She could never forget those months and what they did to him. The perpetual bags under his eyes. How hard it had been to bring a smile to his face. But eventually he was found innocent of any knowledge of his father’s dealings. But Nathalie was not so lucky and suddenly Adrien was stripped of even his cold and cobbled together family. The only mercy was the bank account in his name that his wages as model had been funneled into ever since he was twelve.

Adrien fidgeted at her side and she took his hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He may have insisted he would be fine going alone, but Marinette wasn’t about to let him face this by himself.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here, Bugaboo,” he admitted with a whisper.

“You had to face him eventually. Plus he is technically your father, so I get that you don’t want to give up on him completely.”

“Do you think this was a mistake?” He was picking at his clothes with his free hand and holding tight onto her with the other, eyes fixed firmly on the unadorned steel table in front of them.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll find out soon enough. The sooner we can put this behind us, the better.”

The door into the visitation area opened and in walked Marinette’s former idol, Adrien’s father and the terror of Paris for six years. He still held himself with the same stoic dignity, but he’d aged quickly behind bars. Where once his hair had been merely streaked with grey, now it was almost entirely given over to the color, framing a face covered in wrinkles and made pale from lack of light. Fitting for a monster that had hid in shadows for so long.

He took a seat opposite them, raising an eyebrow as he noticed their interlocking hands and the shiny rings on them. Not surprising, he would have to have an eye for detail to make it as far into fashion as he had.

“I see you’ve finally made her an Agreste, Adrien.”

Her husband rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Well… not quite.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow as Adrien trailed off under his father’s hawk-like stare. “What do you mean? You either married her or you didn’t.”

Marinette felt bitter anger bubbling up inside her. The first time he sees his son in how long and he is immediately back to interrogating him like he was a teenager again. “Actually, Adrien took my last name.” She cut Gabriel off by adding, “Since the Agreste name isn’t well liked in Paris right now.”

His glare was transferred to her, but she didn’t back down and merely met it with her own. This was her arch nemesis, after all - for both of them. The man who nearly killed Adrien when they were both fifteen, even if he didn’t know that. And here they were, having to chat with him as if he were just her father-in-law.

“I… regret that this is the case. No matter. I assume you are not here to talk about the shadow that looms over our family name.”

“No. I just wanted you to know what’s happening in my life, and… make sure you were okay.”

Folding his hands neatly in front of him, straight backed, Gabriel replied, “Then let’s get started.”

It took about two hours for them to bring him up to speed with the state of their lives. Adrien did most of the talking - Marinette didn’t trust herself not to get combative with her father-in-law and Gabriel was reserved as always. Occasionally, the conversation would drift to Marinette’s work, or Adrien’s current line of employment, but mostly it was kept to casual topics. Eventually, their time was up and they stood to leave.

“A moment, if you would, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng?” Gabriel asked as they turned to leave.

Marinette nodded to Adrien, who stepped out of the room after one long look to the both of them.

Before he could get his piece in, Marinette said, “You hurt him more than you can ever know.”

“Yes. I still believe my intentions were good, but I realize that…” he sighed. “I didn’t want to get him involved in any of this. It was all for his benefit. But none of that matters now.” He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. His looked back at her. “Please… watch out for my son. There is no one left to protect him.”

Marinette set her jaw and shook her head. “That was your problem. Adrien doesn’t need protecting. At least, not your kind of protection. You can rest assured that Adrien is finally surrounded by people who love him. Goodbye, Mr. Agreste.” She turned and left, never looking back at him.

Adrien was waiting for her just outside. “What did he want?”

“Nothing important. C’mon, kitty. Let’s get some ice cream, my treat.”

#Miraculous Ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrien Agreste #AdrinetteApril2019 #Adrienette #ml fanfiction #my writing #Clap of Thunder

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rosetowers · 6 years

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Ducklings as they grow up masterpost

hey, so i’ve made a lot of posts about how everyone grows up and for your convenience i’ve decided to put the important bits plus extra into one post.

this gets long to under the cut it goes

Huey

13-16: wears sweater vests because he’s a nerd. Around 15 he realises he’s asexual and is generally pretty chill about it and is generally not interested in dating. Puberty is fine except for when his voice breaks and for a while it just… randomly pitches higher. Donald gets how he feels since when he hit puberty the same thing happened (so between that and his speech impediment puberty was not fun for Donald). Huey’s siblings tease him relentlessly for it tho.

17-21: still wearing a sweater vest. Still not interested in dating, but people who talk to him are and his naturally sweet nature means a lot of people crush on him, not that he really notices (boy can tell from the next room that Louie has fallen in love again but can’t tell when someone is flirting with him smh). Is learning to fly from his mother and Launchpad, so he’s not only going to be able to fly expertly, but also be able to survive and repair/rebuild after any crash. Ends up about average height for a duck, like Donald or Scrooge’s height and gains some muscle.

21+: finally changed his look and now tends to wear overalls. At some point, Ma Beagle passes away and Huey is asked by Bouncer and Burger to take over, which ticks off Big-Time and a small group of the other Beagle Boys. the rest embrace his leadership and make peace with his family as he changes the groups from a criminal gang to model citizens. They do a lot of charity work like recycling, building homes for the homeless and raising money for the needy etc. and the Junior Woodchucks are flooded with the youngest members of the family. There are also a lot of turf wars with the Beagles who broke off, they call themselves the Big-Timers now.

Dewey

13-16: cycles through various adventurer-style outfits and does not suit any of them, mainly because he has dozens of zits and keeps having random growth spurts which makes him all gangly and awkward. Bi as hell and uses bad pick-up lines when he has a crush. Getting a more in-depth education on sailing from Donald. Has developed a tendency to jump onto high places and belt out musicals out of nowhere. Is also being taught to fight by Webby.

17-21: finally picks a look, tank tops and sleeveless denim jackets, and he’s also considering getting an anchor tattoo (don’t tell Donald). Actually looks pretty good since he turns out really tall (like, a head shorter than LP) and gains a lot of muscle, he loves being tall since it drives Huey crazy. Tries to be a suave, flirty adventurer, but can’t flirt to save his life, so it drives him nuts that Huey gets so much attention without even realising it. Loves to party, sneaks into clubs a lot.

21+: sticks to denim, does get the tatoo (Donald faints), still can’t flirt. When Scrooge retires they go adventuring together with Dewey working as skipper. Very capable on adventures now, what with the skills he learned with Webby and Scrooge, but often needs his uncle to drag him out of danger (and visa versa).

Louie

13-16: goth phase. He ends up with Scrooge and Fergus’ sideburns, and more or less looks like Scrooge did as a teenager. Wears a black, zip up hoodie over a green shirt, green hair dye on his bangs, and too much eye-liner. Gay edgy boy with a diary full of bad poems. Reads the Duckverse equivalent of Twilight and develops an unhealthy concept of romance where his type is jerks with heart of gold; falls in love with jerks with hearts of jerk super easily, cries a lot. Retains some sense of humor, mainly in the form of standing behind Scrooge and mirroring his movements, Manny sometimes joins in.

17-21: over his goth phase. Very confident, snappy dresser, wears blazers, scarves, and bling. Also really short and chubby and cute, loves himself. A good hustler and gambler (he cheats like crazy) to make some cash since he’s stuck as an unpaid intern at the Money Bin (Scrooge: you’re being paid in experience. Fenton: that means he’s cheap. Louie: don’t I know it). Has moved on from duck-Twilight to awful romance novels and duck-Fifty Shades of Gray. So he still has terrible taste in men and gets his heart broken (he eats so much ice cream). Can use his rep as “Love-struck Louie” to trick suckers into thinking he’s fallen in love with them for hustling purposes, but he has to be careful because this can backfire if he accidentally does fall for them. Also flirts to get what he wants and has a really good gaydar, no matter how deep in the closet someone is.

21+: turns out hard work really does pay off! When Scrooge retires to go adventuring full-time, Louie’s the only one with the experience and any actual desire to run the company. Wears tailor-made gray suits and silk, green ties. Remodels the manor and loves throwing lavish parties hosted by the ghosts of Beakley and Duckworth. Is actually a hard worker, pulling all nighters, as well as putting a lot of money into charity. “Recommends” the board of vultures who stopped Scrooge from searching for Della retire, replaces them with new members, including Gyro and Fenton, and makes Manny head of R & D. Also hires Webby as his bodyguard and keeps LP on as his chauffeur. Also finally burns all those romance novels and tries harder to protect his heart. For reasons i don’t fully understand, I love the idea of Louie and Mark Beaks becoming enemies. Like, maybe mirroring Scrooge and Glomgold; they take over the Billionaires club and spend their time there glaring at each other, whilst their bodyguards Webby and Graves (because I said so) are on hand to keep them from getting into a slap fight. The rest of their time is spent trying to outdo each other in new tech (and with Gyro and Fenton now being part of his board of directors there’s no end to the ideas to one-up the jerk).

Webby

17-21: doesn’t grow much, she and Louie end up around the same height as adults. Lesbian. Still loves the colour pink, and also denim jackets; wears a handkerchief wrapped around her head instead of a bow (like this but pink). As hyper and excited about the world and adventures as she’s always been, but thanks to the influence of her honorary siblings she’s ridiculously sarcastic. she’s also become a bit of a prankster, so everyone in the manor has developed a habit of slowly and carefully opening doors and cabinets in case anything jumps out, checking “treasure” for price labels, and making sure maps and documents relating to treasure and artifacts are what they appear to be. Duckworth and occasionally Della are often her partners in crime. Joins in when Dewey randomly starts singing. She’s in the process of officially joining SHUSH.

21+: as I said, she becomes Louie’s bodyguard, but that’s mainly an excuse to hang out with him, and is also her cover for her other job as a SHUSH agent, since Louie can actually defend himself just fine (she also keeps him awake during board meetings). Wears a black suit when on bodyguard duty and a pink catsuit on missions. Grows her hair out and ties it back with a pink bow.

Lena

16-21: pansexual. Generally wears a heavy coat over a dress and various enchanted items of jewelry that Scrooge lets her keep. BTW yes Scrooge has long since adopted her and is now her dad. About as interested in dating as Huey is, but might still flirt if she finds someone cute; having said that she’s gotten into more than one fight with Louie over a boy (but if the guy is interested in Louie she chases him off since he’s clearly a creep, Louie’s a kid after all). She’s generally a pretty chill person, but she does struggle to make her needs known to her family and is kind of closed off around new people. Has power over both dark and light magic (a connection to shadows and celestial objects, can travel through shadows and shape shift + general magic stuff), but for a while she has poor impulse control, even though she wants to use it for good. Luckily, she finds Scraps the familiar, and black and white corgi who protects her and tries to keep her from doing dumb stuff with her magic.

21+: develops into a powerful sorceress, recognised by various magical authorities as Empress of Light and Queen of Shadows. Wears black with various shades of blue and purple, wears long skirts and long baggy sleeves, generally develops a more elegant style. Outside Duckburg everyone believes her to be the town’s mysterious sorceress and protection, to its citizens she commands a certain amount of respect but is generally regarded as Lena McDuck, the girl who blew up Funzo’s when she was fifteen and who occasionally shows up out of nowhere, her corgi likes to be petted too.

#ducktales #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webby vanderquack #lena de spell

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demonwriterx · 6 years

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Daring Do and the Winter Pearl- CH 1

(Cover Art made by ChaosQueen2- Link to her deviant art. She is really good, she did like two covers of my fanfiction. https://chaosqueen2.deviantart.com/art/Daring-Do-and-the-search-for-the-Winter-Pearl-568661942?ga_submit_new=10%253A1445965919 )

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This is a new revised and edited version of my daring do fan fiction for the my little pony series. I actually started this in 2014!...Im not done with the series. but I started to remember it and I wanted to fix the plot so I redid the first chapter, I hope you all like it!

“Stolen Power”

Daring Do entered the maze of the Ivory Temple of the White Tiger. She had been searching for the infamous Winter Pearl. A delicate, white orb, rumored to bring about an eternal winter throughout the world, if its power be put into use. As frightening as that was, Daring Do had no reason to worry as she would recover the powerful artifact and put it in the Canterlot Museum to be admired by thousands. The Winter Pearl would also be under the watchful eyes of the Canterlot guards and the princesses themselves.

Daring Do wiped the sweat off of her brow. The humidity of the rainforest was beginning to wear her down. She had been traveling in the dense jungle for over twenty days. She had dealt with itchy mosquito bites, sticky quicksand and the occasional venomous flying snakes but she pushed through while following a worn-down map, made hundreds of years ago. She managed to stumble upon the map on an expedition to the sister temple, The Ebony Temple of the Black Jaguar. There was no treasure, instead, she found the map in a hidden chamber. Now, she stood at the entrance of the maze to the Ivory Temple. It was dark. The only source of light was the moon. In the tall trees, she heard the soft sounds of the nocturnal insects. Her ears went up when she heard a slight “snap”. She turned her head and peered into the trees. She scanned the tree line and saw a pair of yellow eyes. She instinctively went to her whip until she saw the pair of eyes fly up and perch onto a branch. She sighed when she saw it was just a native bird. She relaxed when she took the map out from under her pith helmet. The map showed her the path to the Ivory Temple but it didn’t hold a hint on how to navigate the inside of it.

In order to protect the treasure, the inhabitants of the temple created the maze to confuse robbers from stealing the powerful artifact. She placed the map back underneath her helmet, having fulfilled its purpose. She picked up a sharp stone from the ground and scraped it across the stone wall of the temple’s maze. Sparks of cinders flashed in front of her, making her smirk in satisfaction. She grabbed a convenient torch from off the wall. She took out a small rag from her saddle bag and a bottle of alcohol. She always carried a bottle for long adventures, just in case she needs a break. Unfortunately, she took a lot of breaks as the bottle was nearly empty. She used the last of it to dampen the rag before tying it to the torch. With the rock, she created a spark from off the wall and immediately lite it on fire. With the new source of light, she concluded she would have a few hours to make it in and out of the maze.

She titled her helmet down and began to determinedly traverse through the maze. Throughout the years of adventuring, she knew that there was always a secret to get through traps or mazes safely. All she had to look for was the hidden signs. Signs helped the inhabitants get through the maze safely while keeping thieves out. Luckily, Daring Do was not a thief. Her eyes narrowed on the walls, checking for any type of markings etched on the walls, floor of ceiling. She bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that each minute she waste staring at the walls, the torch will burn up and she’ll be trapped in the dark. She decided to take another look at the map. Her eyes scanned across the itchy page, trying to find a clue. Her eyes stopped at the middle of the map, which showed a crude drawing of the Winter Pearl. Above it, there was an upside-down triangle containing two lines, titled downward like a pair of claws swiped down on it. Her head shot up as she lifted the torch. She looked again at the walls and there, etched into a stone, were the two slash marks. She wasted no time as she galloped through the maze. She took a left, a right, another right and a left turn again, following the markings. She was constantly glancing at her torch, calculating the time in her head. The flame was growing weaker, which meant she only had less than an hour. She raced down the hall, taking another right turn before finally entering the chamber of the infamous Winter Pearl.

It was a large tower corridor. In front of her was a single aisle of stone, leading up to the pearl. The aisle was twenty-five feet in Below it was a dark abyss. One slip and a pony could fall to their deaths. Luckily, she had wings. When she looked up, she could see the tip of the pyramid as the moonlight perfectly landed on top of an ivory pedestal in the middle of the room. The Winter Pearl was embedded inside the chest of obsidian tiger, surrounded by tall white pillars. She noticed how the pillars acted like anchors, holding the tip of the pyramid up. She knew there must be a trap in place, as the pillars could crack and jeopardize the integrity of the structure. She slowly walked towards the pearl, tip toeing her way over to it. She didn’t want to accidently trigger another trap. She was only a hoof-length away from statue. She licked her lips in anticipation as she reached out. She froze when she heard a familiar hiss of a certain pet cat. She whirled around and found herself face to face with the animal kingdom’s monster ferocious wild cats…plus a pet cat.

“Daring Do, what a surprise…” a sultry voice said with a chuckle. Daring could practically see the sarcasm dripping out of Ahuizotl’s mouth when he spoke.

She blew a strand of her mane out of her eyes. “Ahuizotl.” She began with a smirk. “How nice to see you again, how long had it been? A month, a couple of months? I’ve been gone far too long without seeing your striking face.”

“Sixty-three days.” He said with a growl before shrugging his shoulders. “But who is counting?”

“Do you really think you have a chance to beat me, Ahuizotl? After all these years of trying and failing…when have you ever won?” She smiled.

“Hmm, funny. But if you believe I’ll be handing over the Pearl to you, you are more than mistaken. Miss Do.” With a snap of his tail, his cats attacked.

The black panther leapt into the air, its claws extended. Daring Do anticipated the attack, flying up into the air in a reverse somersault. She kicked the jaw of the large cat, sending it back towards Ahuizotl. It shook its head and roared in anger. Daring Do narrowed her eyes, glaring straight into the panther’s gold eyes. The cheetah and the tiger attacked in unison. Daring flew to the right, avoiding the cheetah’s attack. But the tiger slammed its paw against her head, sending her to the ground. She swiftly punched at the tiger, slamming her front hoof into its head and sending it off her, yowling in pain. The cheetah followed through, leaping above her. Daring Do leapt into the air, did a back flip and kicked the cheetah in the stomach. She sent the spotted cat over the edge but the cheetah was quick to hand onto the edge, barely hanging on. Daring Do flapped her wings, softening her landing as she touched down onto the floor with ease. Daring ducked when the panther attacked once more. With another swing, she grabbed onto the panther’s scruff and threw it into the tiger. The two cats collided, leaving them booth disoriented and out of the way. The bobcat was easier to take out. One buck and it skidded across the aisle. The white cat hissed and leapt forward. Daring Do prepared herself to deflect the feral feline, but it flew over her head, landing behind her. It was a distraction. Before she could react, she was grabbed from behind by Ahuizotl. She let out a scream when he squeezed her. Ahuizotl chuckled at her pain.

“Tsk, tsk Miss Do, you should know to never turn your back away from me!” He said with a snap of his very sharp teeth.

Daring Do painfully let out a smile. “W-well…y-you are an a-affectionate ugh..hugger…”

“You have gotten in my way long enough!” He tightened his grip on her, making her cry out. He let out a loud cackle as he watched her struggle in vain. “But, perhaps, if you beg…I will show you mercy, eh? Miss Do-AH!” Ahuizotl yelled out suddenly, unexpectedly releasing Daring Do from his death grip. She fell to the ground, coughing as she began to take in air. When she turned around, she saw Ahuizotl curled up in a ball, shouting and writhing in immense pain. His hands reaching to his lower back. Daring blinked when she saw a stallion in a black cloak and hood, walk over Ahuizotl and up to her. She let out a small smile, slowly lifting herself up, wincing as she did. She suspected Ahuizotl might have cracked one of her ribs.

“Thanks for the help.” She weakly muttered to the stranger. She heard the stallion chuckle, making her raise a brow at him.

“Help you…? Oh, no Mon chou.” The stranger said gently, with a smooth voice that could lull a pony to sleep. “He was in the way. Just like you.”

“What?” Without any warning, the stranger punched her in the side. She fell to the ground, clutching her side, writhing in pain next to Ahuizotl. She gritted her teeth, glaring hatefully at the stallion. “If you will excuse me, I have a mission to complete.” The stranger strolled up to the statue. She and Ahuizotl watched helplessly as the mysterious stallion plucked the statue off its pedestal, concealing it under his robe. Just as Daring feared, a trap was triggered. The pedestal began to crumble as the temple began to shake.

“Oh dear,” The stallion covered his mouth in mock horror. He snickered when he calmly stepped over them. “I would love to stay and chat but, I prefer to not be buried alive.” Daring growled when the stallion disappeared into the maze, leaving them behind. She clenched her teeth, mentally scolding herself for not seeing the cheap move. She forced her wings open and flapped. She slowly lifted herself up to her hooves. Pieces of the temple began to fall around her. She turned to Ahuizotl, who was struggling to lift himself on all fours.

“Ahuizotl! Stop acting like an idiot and let’s go! The temple is going to bury you if you don’t move your flank!”

Ahuizotl let out a disgruntle groan. He tried to lift himself up, but collapsed once more. “I cannot! He has done something to my back, I cannot move!” With pieces of ivory crumbling around them, he chuckled softly. His head resting onto the cold floor. “It looks like this is the end of me…Daring Do.”

Daring rolled her eyes. “Ever thought about going into drama club? Come on!” She placed his arm around her shoulder and attempted to pick him up. She flapped her wings desperately but Ahuizotl was too heavy.

“What on earth are you doing?” He shouted. “Leave me! You stupid, ungrateful pony! I do not need your help!”

“Is this how you always act when someone is saving your life!” She let out a grunt, trying to drag him out. His weight suddenly became lighter. She turned to see his loyal cats at their master’s side, resting his arms over their own bodies. With the new help, the cats and Daring Do began to run through the collapsing maze. She looked at the flaming torches. They were almost extinguished. She pressed herself forward, picking up their pace. With one final turn, they all ran out of the temple just before it collapsed into rubble behind them. Daring Do and the cats fell to the ground, exhausted. Ahuizotl let out a hiss of pain when they dropped him.

“Medigos! A little more gentle!” He growled at Daring who pulled herself out from under him, giving him a direct glare.

“Thanks to your lackey, I lost the pearl! Do you have any idea how much money I lost! Not to mention how powerful that thing is!” She shouted and stomped her hoof.

“Save your childish tantrum!” He argued. “He was not my lackey; I came on my own accord with my pets. We were following you to get to the pearl first and destroy it!”

“So, you were after the pearl! I knew it! And... wait, you wanted to destroy it? I thought you wanted to use its power.” She said, giving him a suspicious look, not entirely believing him. She knew Ahuizotl and how he was a liar. He snorted at her words.

“Of course, I wanted to destroy it! I heard rumors of a pony wanting to get his dirty little hooves on its power in order to plunge the world into an eternal ice age!”

“How do I know you are not lying…” She asked. He raised a brow at her.

“I know you like making jokes, but I cannot tell if you are being serious. You do know I value the heat and humidity instead of the cold! I despise the cold!”

“All right! All right!” She said, rubbing her forehead. “Stop acting like a foal, I believe you. If he wasn’t working for you…then who was that pony?” She had never encountered a pony that moved as fast as that stallion did. She let out a low growl; she wanted to get her hooves around his neck. He took her treasure and she was determined to get it back.

“I might know the identity of who took the pearl.” Ahuizotl mentioned slyly, gaining Daring Do’s attention.

“Who is it?” She demanded. Her question only made Ahuizotl laugh. She gave him a glare. She really hated his laugh. It sounded like a hyena, scrapping it nails against a chalkboard.

“Please, you have made me laugh enough for today. I will never tell you.”

Daring Do flicked her mane back. “Fine…” She stated calmly. “I’ll just leave you here then. Without my help you won’t be able to move for days from that hit you took.”

“You are bluffing. You cannot help me. You are not a doctor.”

“You’d be surprised at what I can do, Ahuizotl.” She said, giving him a playful smirk. ‘I’m more than just a treasure hunter.” She turned away from him, flicking her tail at him like a whip. She headed towards the tree line. “I really have to get going. Have a nice night!” She began to walk away, counting the seconds until he changed his mind.

“W-wait!” He called out. She stopped in her tracks. He only lasted three seconds. “I will tell you who he is if you help me.” She turned back to him. “But only if you heal me!” She bit her lower lip in thought and nodded.

“Deal. But you better hold still.” She walked back over to him and climbed onto his back. He cringed in pain.

“I asked you to heal me, not stand on me!”

“Would you shut up! This is the only way to fix you!” He turned his head away from her. Daring cracked her neck and placed her front hooves on his shoulder blades. With a deep breath, she reared back on her hind legs and struck down, hitting right between his shoulder blades. The sudden shock of pain made Ahuizotl leap up onto all fours. He whirled at Daring in a rage.

"What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me, you stupid, uneducated-!”

"You're standing, aren’t you?” she interrupted, holding a bored look on her face. He opened his mouth at her to argue but found himself in fact, standing on all fours. He shut his mouth. “Now it’s time for your end of the deal: Who was that pony?”

#Daring Do #Ahuizotl #fanfic #my little pony

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