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justagalwhowrites · 8 months

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Yearling - Ch. 15: Past

You and Joel have a conversation while on patrol. A continuation of Yearling ch. 1-14 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Mention of SA (not described) and general abuse. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ Only

Length: 5.1k

AO3 | Chapter One | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Kissing Joel.

You were kissing Joel.

It was all you could think, for a moment. Like all your head could hold was him, the taste of him, how soft his lips were - he didn’t seem like someone who would have soft lips but his lips were soft and gentle and sweet - the oddly soothing scratch of his facial hair on your skin. For a moment, all you wanted to do was kiss him, kiss him until the day you died.

You were kissing Joel and you were so close to him, closer than you’d been to anyone in so long and your body was starting to move of its own accord and Joel was pulling you against him and you suddenly couldn’t breathe. You didn’t want to separate from him but you couldn’t breathe.

He pulled away from you and you squeezed your already closed eyes tight.

“Sweetheart?” He asked softly. You could feel every twitch of muscle in his body, every adjustment his hands made against you, you were acutely aware of it all. “Hey, you’re OK, it’s just me, I’m not gonna hurt you. Just breathe, you’re safe, it’s just me…”

You opened your eyes then. His face was still close to you but not so close that you were touching, just close enough that you could make out the different shades of brown in his iris. You focused on that, on the other small details you hadn’t been able to take in before. The different shades of brown and gray in his beard, the creases in his skin.

It was Joel. You were safe with Joel. Even if he made you feel out of control, you could trust him. He was safe.

“You with me?” He asked, his voice soothing and gentle.

“Yeah,” you nodded quickly, still feeling a little breathless.

“Need me to stop touching you?”

You thought for a moment. You had to close your eyes again and stop looking at him to be able to actually focus on how you were feeling and not on him.

“Might be good,” you said eventually, opening your eyes again.

“I’m just gonna move your legs,” he said. “Then it’ll be hands off. You’re OK.”

You just nodded and let Joel maneuver your legs off his own and settle your feet on the ground before he moved away from you on the tree trunk. You opened your eyes again, part of you resenting the distance but the part of you that felt panicky and out of control calmed enough to let you take a full breath.

“Sorry,” you muttered after a minute. “I know it seems like I’m completely fucking insane…”

“It doesn’t,” Joel said gently. You scoffed but his eyes met yours, all soft and open. “It doesn’t, Bambi.”

You nodded but weren’t entirely sure you believed him.

“Let’s get the horses settled,” he said. “And we should head in. It’s been a long day.”

You nodded again, more certain this time.

You took your time getting Renaissance set up for the night. Focusing on making sure she was secure, comfortable, had enough food and water. Joel finished before you and left you alone with your horse. You gave her a scratch and she lowered her large head enough that you could put your forehead to her own. She huffed a bit when you did, pressing her nose into your chest like a nudge.

“What?” You asked her, pulling back to frown at her. She huffed again and you glared at her. “Oh don’t act like you’re some expert.”

She nudged you with her nose again.

“Yeah, yeah,” you sighed. “You’re right. As usual.”

You gave her a final scratch before finding Joel again.

He was outside, leaning against a tree, looking out at the woods. He looked back over his shoulder when he heard you coming, your hands awkwardly stuffed into your pockets.

“Ready?” He asked. You gave him a single nod. He gave you one back and led the way into the ski lodge.

You could tell it had been a nice place, once upon a time. The views, even through the dirty windows, were incredible. It made for a good place to keep watch.

“When you get here, you gotta fill out the log book,” Joel said. “Putting in that we ran into trouble from a scouting party but we don’t expect any more…”

“We don’t?” You frowned, looking back at him, your arms crossed over your chest.

“No,” he said almost absently as he made his notes. “He was tellin’ the truth.”

“How can you know?” You asked.

“I know.”

You were quiet for a moment, watching him.

“Where’d you learn how to do that.”

He paused his writing and looked back toward you.

“I’ll tell you if you answer a question for me.”

You watched him for a second.

“Fair enough.”

He finished writing and put down the pen before going to the couch in the middle of the room. It had clearly seen better days but you sat on the opposite end from him, anyway, bringing your legs to your chest and looping your arms around your knees.

“Where’d you learn how to do that?”

You said it again, more like a question this time.

Joel’s jaw tightened for a moment before he spoke.

“There were…” he paused and sighed. “For a few years after the outbreak, before Tommy and I made it to a QZ… Life was hard. Everything was fucking chaos, FEDRA was busy makin’ shit as bad as possible… We tried to make it on our own for a bit. Had to do a lot to survive. Learned quick how to get necessary answers out of people when we needed to.”

You nodded slowly, trying to process that. You’d been lucky, all told, in the outbreak. So far removed from the rest of civilization, you’d run into very little in the way of trouble. But what Joel was saying tracked with what you heard from traders, especially over the first few years of it. The people who had come from outside your corner of the wilderness told gruesome stories of what life there was like. The kind of people who were gaining power then. The kind of people like Mitchum.

You doubted men like Mitchum and his goons would give information away lightly. It made sense that Joel might need to drag it out of them with pain. And you weren’t about to hold torturing raiders against him.

“OK,” you said eventually. “What’s your question?”

He looked at you for a moment, his hands in his lap, before he took a deep breath.

“Need you to know I’m not askin’ this to hurt you,” he said slowly. “I’m askin’ because I can protect you. I want to protect you. I just can’t protect you from something I don’t know.”

You swallowed, hard, but nodded.

“Bambi,” he said slowly. “I need you to tell me about Mitchum.”

***

He wanted to hold you and he couldn’t. That might be the hardest part of this, there was nothing he could do to help you with it.

You’d kissed him and, for a moment, it was the best Joel had felt in years. It was like everything else has fallen away, like the rest of the planet outside of you stopped existing. All he wanted was to pull you closer, kiss you longer, hold you tighter, anything and everything to be with you as much as he could be. And then you froze. You stopped breathing and went stock still, like a startled animal, and he had to separate from you because what he wanted was hurting you and that killed him.

But this might be worse. He knew what he was asking you. But he needed to know. If these men were after you he needed to know what he was dealing with, needed to know how many there were, what they were capable of and why they wanted you. Because he was going to take care of it. He was going to protect you.

Your eyes were wide and on him and you pulled your legs a little tighter into yourself and he fought to stay on his side of the couch. Touching you would hurt you and he wasn’t sure how to help you. He just needed to stay away from you, at least for now.

“Joel,” you said quietly, pleadingly.

“I can’t keep you safe without knowing,” he said, an ache in his chest. “I wish I could but I can’t. I need to know about him, his operation, why he wants you back so damn bad…”

“You’re not gonna look at me the same,” you said, your voice thick.

“Sweetheart…”

“You’re not,” you cut him off. “I know you’re not and…”

“There’s nothing that someone else did to you or that you did because someone else forced you into it that’s going to change how I see you,” he said. “It’s not possible. So unless you’re tellin’ me that you… I don’t fuckin’ know, skinned puppies in your spare time before the outbreak, you’re not going to change a damn thing, not for me.”

You laughed a little bit.

“No,” you said. “Didn’t do that.”

“I’m not someone you need to be afraid of,” he said softly. “Promise m’not.”

You nodded and took a deep breath, tilting your head up to the ceiling for a moment before looking back at him, locking those wide eyes on his.

“It started in September of 23,” you said, your voice almost oddly steady. “I’d developed a bit of a… reputation with the more nomadic folks up that way. Everyone called me Texas, that’s what the first person I ever traded with called me and the name stuck… Anyway, people knew about me, knew that I’d trade horses. So it’s not weird that he showed up looking for me. It was weird that he showed up with a horse already and it was just him and it didn’t feel like he was after horses, not really, not from how he was talking. He told me he ran with a few guys, that they needed mounts and that’s why he was there but… he was asking about my set up, what I had there. He tried to act like it was for trade but there was something wrong with it. He set my teeth on edge and he just kept looking at me. Even when I had my gun on him he just kept looking at me like I was a piece of meat…”

Joel’s jaw tightened and he tried to ignore the way his heart rate picked up.

“I told him to get the fuck out and if I saw him on my land again I’d kill him,” you continued. “He came back a few days later. He brought a lot more men that time. I should have just fucking shot him the first time, I should…”

Your face twisted and you looked away as you almost spat the words at yourself.

“It’s not your fault,” he cut you off. Your eyes snapped back to him, almost like you were remembering that he was there at all. “You were kind. Not your fault that you were kind to someone who didn’t deserve it.”

Your jaw clenched for a second before you nodded.

“He came back,” you took a shaky breath. “I’m not sure how many men he had with them, they were split up, I had defenses in place and shit set up but…” You took another deep breath and closed your eyes for a moment, collecting yourself, before you opened them again. You stared at your thumbs over your knees. “I tried to fight him off. I did, I killed a few of them and I thought… I was overrun. There were just too fuckin’ many of them and there was only so much I could do.

“He took me back with them to a camp,” your voice trailed off and you looked off toward a wall, jaw tight. “I wasn’t anything special at first. There were a few other women there, one who was more of a girl… Guess it doesn’t take much for a bunch of men with guns and no laws to not kill each other all the goddamn time but you have to have something otherwise it’s a bloodbath. Keeping them fed isn’t enough, keeping them out of the elements isn’t enough, you need something that they think makes life worth living, something that makes them OK with blindly following orders. Turns out the best thing is something they can use to get off. Don’t really matter what it is, willing or unwilling, just that it’s a woman and she’s warm. And that’s all I was at first.”

Joel fought to keep his face still and calm, not show the rage that was ripping through him like wildfire, burning and devouring everything. Even the shame and the loathing that he held toward himself. He knew what it took to control men like that. He’d seen it all and sat silent while it happened, too numb to the world to give a shit back then. He thought it was an excuse. That, since he didn’t partake himself, that made him better and that was enough. But it wasn’t.

He didn’t even need think hard to picture what it would have been like for you. He’d been around that shit plenty, heard the screaming and crying and begging and pleading. It turned his stomach to think of your voice like that, to picture your face and your wide, desperate eyes latching onto him as he passed the men having their way, the nameless women thinking he would help because he’d never touched them. He never did.

“Mitchum took a liking to me,” you said. “I was always his first pick. Probably what kept me alive at first, they had to hold back with me because Mitchum would be pissed if I got killed. The girl died first, a few days after I got there. Another woman not too long after that. I managed to get away after about two weeks…”

“They’ve been hunting you that long?” Joel asked. You frowned, confused. He frowned, too. “The men you killed before Tommy and I found you, the man now, they’ve been hunting you that long?”

“No,” you shook your head. “No, they caught me quick. Within days. I didn’t cover my tracks well, I was distracted…”

Joel froze.

“How long…” he trailed off, not wanting to ask it. Not wanting to know what the answer was.

You watched him, shifting as you did, crossing your legs in front of you instead of clutching them close to yourself. You leaned forward a little, almost like you were examining him as he pieced it all together.

“They had me more than two years.”

He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed to keep from vomiting. No wonder you’d been so fucking terrified, it was a goddamn miracle you would even speak to anyone at all.You were still watching him when he opened his eyes again, your face softer than he deserved.

“You survived for two years?”

You nodded, your mouth a thin line.

“They got me back and Mitchum was personally offended that I’d managed to get away at all,” you scoffed a little at that. “Decided to teach me a lesson. He taught me several. But, in the end, it just made him more obsessed. He kept me for himself, after a while, but he’d share me with his right hand men. Sometimes some of the others, too, as a reward. That’s how I knew the man from today. He didn’t run with Mitchum’s crew, he was some prick from another group, one that did something big enough for Mitchum that I was apparently appropriate payment.

“I was the only woman left, for a while,” you sighed. “The others died pretty quick. Others came and went. One lasted a few months, her name was Alyssa. I liked her. Most only lasted a few weeks, a month at most. It was like they would just… turn off. I was so fucking jealous of that, that they weren’t even in their bodies anymore. I couldn’t do that, not really. I think that’s part of why he liked me so much, he liked for it to hurt. You can’t hurt something that doesn’t feel.”

“I’m so sorry,” he began but you cut him off.

“I don’t want your fucking pity, Joel,” you were almost glaring at him. “Knew you wouldn’t look at me the same…”

“It’s not pity,” he said. “You shouldn’t have gone through that. No one should and I’m sorry you did. That ain’t pity that’s just truth.”

You watched him for a moment, skeptical, before you continued.

“I got away last time with help,” you said. “One of Mitchum’s men thought he was better than the others because he liked it if it at least seemed like I enjoyed it, that fuck. But he helped me get away when we were moving to a new place. It was easier then, about half the men were out scouting like the group we saw today.

“I didn’t think he’d be looking for me, not for this long, anyway. He’s well equipped and has a lot of fucking assholes at his disposal. More than 50 total men last time I saw them, fewer than 100, but he has plenty of friends,” you clenched your jaw for a moment and looked out the window. “Joel, if he’s coming after me and he finds out I’m in Jackson…”

“No,” he cut you off.

“I can survive just fine on my own.”

“No,” he said, more forcefully this time. “No, you’re not leavin’. We know how to take care of ourselves, we’re well armed and we’re not stupid. You’re one of us now, not going to just let you leave because some fuckin’ asshole is threatening you. We can keep ourselves safe and that includes you.”

It was almost like you didn’t hear him at all, shaking your head and looking outside.

“Shouldn’t have settled there,” you muttered to yourself. “Should have fucking left…”

“Bambi,” Joel said, sharper than he meant to. Your head snapped around to look at him, your eyebrows drawn together. He wanted to touch you. He kept his hands on his lap. “No. You should have stayed. It’s safe there, the people and animals there need you, Ellie needs you, I need you.”

He said it without thinking about it or really meaning to, but he meant the words. Even though he wasn’t sure you were ready to hear them, he meant them. You looked him over, up and down, like you were searching for something.

“Joel…” Your voice trailed off.

“I do,” he said. “You think I like spendin’ time with just anyone? That I’m Jackson’s resident social butterfly?”

You laughed a little at that.

“I’m there because it’s safe and life’s a hell of a lot better than it was in the QZ,” he said. “It’s good for Ellie to be there, Tommy’s there. That’s what I had. When Ellie stopped talkin’ to me, there were some days… Seemed like I was living to pass her in the mess hall. Then I met you and… Seein’ you is the best part of my damn day, alright? Love that you come borrow the fuckin’ guitar all the time since it means I see you all the time. Didn’t ask Tommy to put us on patrol together but I was so damn happy when he did. Jackson needs you and Ellie needs you but I need you, too. Don’t act like you’re not worth us protectin’ because you are. So let us.”

The two of you sat on opposite ends of the couch for a moment, watching each other.

“Can I try something?” You asked softly. He nodded. You took a deep breath and then crawled across the couch until you were in front of him. “Just… Don’t touch me, OK?”

“OK.”

You sat back on your heels and leaned into him, until your lips were gently against his. You were soft, so damn soft, and he had to fight the urge to pull you closer, kiss you harder. Your mouth grew firmer, more insistent and you moaned into his mouth before you pulled back, your eyes wide as you panted for breath.

“I….” Your fingers traced your lips for a moment. “I need you, too. I’m sorry I’m so…”

“Don’t.”

“I am,” you said. “I know you’re not like them, I know that you’re good and you’re kind and that you wouldn’t hurt me I just…”

“It’s OK,” he said gently. “I understand.”

You sat back further from him, still close enough that he could touch you if you wanted him to.

“I wish you didn’t have to.”

You got up and went to your pack, pulling out jerky and peaches and water. You came back to the couch and handed him a peach. He frowned.

“I’ve seen what you pack for patrol food,” you said. “You’ll get scurvy.”

He laughed a little and ate the peach.

Things were easier after that, like you’d both decided that the the rest of the day hadn’t happened. You talked about music and movies and what shit was like before and it was light and easy, like he hadn’t tortured a man for answers a few hours earlier. Like you hadn’t kissed him on this very couch.

The two of you settled in to sleep early, Joel insisting on giving you the couch as he took the floor. You’d only been silent for a few minutes when you whispered his name in the dark.

“Hm?”

“Can I come down there?” You were still whispering, like it was a secret.

He paused.

“Course.”

He heard you moving, the squeak of old springs in the sofa, the rustle of the fabric of your clothes. You slid against his side and draped part of yourself over him. He slowly, cautiously, arranged his arms around you and you nestled closer. You nuzzled into his neck and took a deep, contented breath, making his heart pound. After a few minutes, your hand slipped up his chest and to his face, your fingertips trailing through his beard and into his hair.

“Bambi,” he breathed.

“Can I…” You were still whispering.

“You can do whatever you want with me,” he said softly.

You pressed your body tighter to his and pulled his face in close to your own before you kissed him. It was deep and needy and Joel could taste the fruit on your tongue. He kept his hands where you’d let them go before, his fingers pressing tight into your skin.

“I need you too,” you said, breathless, when you pulled away from him.

He kissed your forehead and held you close.

“Goodnight, Bambi.”

“Goodnight, Joel.”

***

You’d gotten wet again.

It didn’t take you long to notice it when you woke up this time, the cool slick on your skin obvious as you were wrapped around Joel.

“Bambi,” he said, his voice strained.

“I…” it took you a moment to realize what was happening. You were facing Joel and he was facing you, your leg hitched up over his hip. Your heart was racing and you were wet enough that you were sure Joel’s pants were wet, too. You shocked back from him, sitting up as you did, panting for breath. “I don’t…”

“Think you were dreaming,” he said, his voice gruff.

“I’m so sorry,” your face got hot and you tried to calm your breathing as much as you could. “I don’t…”

“It’s OK,” he said. “It’s…”

“I’m going to go check on the horses,” you took off before he could say another word.

You all but ran outside, going around to the building with the horses through the early morning fog. Renaissance gave you a tired whinny when you opened the door and you went over to give her a scratch as she pressed her large head against your torso. Your heartbeat started to return to normal and you scratched her neck. She huffed against you.

“Don’t have to be so smug about it,” you muttered. She impatiently stomped a hoof. “Hey. I’m working on it.” You stepped back and looked down at her. “Let me get your bridle, get you outside for the day…”

You put some of the tack back on her and led her out to a grassy area where she could graze.

“Hey.”

Joel’s voice made you jump as he caught up to you, stopping a few feet away. He put his hands on his hips.

“Hey,” you said, sticking close to the horse.

“Look, I understand that you weren’t exactly expecting that,” he said. “And…”

“I know it wasn’t you,” you said quickly. “I know it was me…”

Joel nodded slowly.

“Please don’t run off like that on me,” he said after a moment. You frowned. “If you need space from me, that’s OK, but just… tell me. Please don’t just take off.”

You looked at him for a second. It had been so long since you’d had someone else’s feelings to worry about, especially with anything remotely intimate, you hadn’t considered that it probably freaked him out.

“Right,” you said. “Sorry.”

The ride back to Jackson was almost as uneventful as it was agonizing. You could hardly look at Joel, not after… whatever you’d done this morning. Probably tried to dry hump him into oblivion only to freak out the second you were conscious. Because you couldn’t handle shit like a normal fucking person.

The only thing that kept it interesting were some clickers that you picked off from about half a football field away. Joel spotted them first and raised his rifle but you stopped him.

“Can I?” You asked. “Really wanna shoot something.”

“Go ahead, Bambi,” he smiled a little.

You shot the pair of them in quick succession, a strange satisfaction taking hold as you watched them fall to earth, monsters you were fully capable of felling. There was comfort in that.

When you got back to Jackson, you rushed to get Renaissance out of her tack and settled into her stall, ready to get home and put some distance between you and Joel.

You couldn’t trust your body around him. You’d do things before your brain caught up, things that you couldn’t control, things that felt dangerous and made your heart pound in panic instead of desire.

“Bambi,” Joel said quietly. You stopped your work, not able to help looking at him. “If you need some space… Just know that I’m still here for you. When you’re ready.”

You could only nod before watching him go, his horse settled for the night.

You tried to avoid Joel for two days.

Tried.

But your life had become so in sync with his, you ran into him everywhere. At the mess hall, on the street, when he came by the stable. He respectfully kept his distance, making eye contact with you, like he was seeing if you were going to talk to him again, and not pushing it when you broke away.

And while he scared you - the intensity of your feelings for him, the way he knew you now, how your body reacted to his - you also missed him. His kind smile and gentle teasing and soft touch. You couldn’t get him out of your head, the way he looked, the way he felt, the way he tasted.

That’s where your mind got stuck as you lay in bed, alone, two nights after you got back from patrol. Every time you closed your eyes you saw him there, the way he looked just before you kissed him. There was an ache between your thighs, one that was nearing pain, that was well past wanting and had pushed into need.

You needed Joel. You hadn’t needed anyone like this in so long - years - but you needed Joel. You needed his hands on you, needed his lips on your own, needed to feel him deep inside.

“I’m still here for you,” he’d said. “When you’re ready.”

You slid a hand down your body to the apex of your thighs and traced your clit, your sex warm and wet below your fingers. You took a deep, shaky breath and thought of Joel as you circled your sensitive nub, increasing the pressure, working yourself harder and faster. Your orgasm built, the ache in your body becoming more acute, the tightness growing.

But you couldn’t finish. There was some kind of roadblock keeping you from it, something stopping you from finding relief. And all you could picture was Joel. After a while, you gave up with a whimper and tried to sleep, but you couldn’t do that, either. You were too keyed up, too turned on, too needy.

“I”m still here for you. When you’re ready.”

“Fuck it,” you said, buttoning the shirt of Joel’s you were wearing to bed up and changing into a pair of shorts that weren’t wet with your own slick.

Jackson was quiet as you walked to Joel’s, everyone asleep for the night. You had no idea what time it was, just that it was late enough that you were an asshole for showing up at anyone’s house at this hour.

You all but ran up his front steps and opened his screen door to knock on the main one with a little too much force. You let the screen door fall closed and you paced, waiting for what felt like an eternity when a light inside switched on. You stopped pacing, almost centered on the front door as Joel opened it, a sleepy expression on his face.

He was wearing a pair of sleep pants and a t-shirt, his arms looking almost frustratingly sculpted, the fit of the shirt outlining his chest and stomach. The ache in you got worse.

“Bambi?” He asked, opening the screen door, too. “Everything OK? What are you doing…”

You couldn’t help it. You threw your arms around his neck and kissed him, pressing your whole body into his. You could feel every line of him you were so close to him and, for the first time, the ache eased. Joel was what you wanted, needed. It was like everything was going to be OK now that you had him with you. His hands went to your waist, holding you to him. He moaned into your mouth, his grip on you firm and strong.

You pulled back from him just enough to see his face, your eyes searching his. He looked a lot more awake now. You were breathless.

“Can I come inside?”

He panted and nodded before stepping aside and letting you into his home.

Next Chapter

A/N: Hiiiiiiii y'all :D

I think we all know what's coming (heh... coming) next chapter, right?

I hope you enjoyed this insight into Bambi's history, too. I don't intend on ever being too insanely graphic with it (though we will see more flashbacks with Mitchum) because I think we all understand what happened to her without going into detail. The violence itself was never the point, just how she heals and reintegrates into society and develops relationships after surviving it.

If you'd like to be alerted when I post, please follow my updates blog here and subscribe :)

Thank you so much for sticking with this story! I know it's been an incredibly slow burn but I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed sharing it. Love you!!

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#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #yearling #smut fic #joel miller x oc

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i-cant-sing · 1 year

Text

YRG pt 7

“Is it- true?” One servant asked. The knight raised a brow, as he fixed his armor. “What?”

“That she’s alive? The princess? Why the king is gathering his army?”

The knight shrugged. “Does it matter? We obey the king. He tells me to sharpen my sword, I do. He tells me to clean the horse shit off his horse’s ass, I do. He tells me to go to war with an enemy in a place no one knows? I don’t ask questions, I just fucking do. Or else he burns me to crisp. So I suggest you do the same, Berta.” The knight spat as he began polishing his sword, the servant leaving to join the rest of the busy workers, all running around the castle after Dabi had ordered that they were going to war. They didn’t know who or where they were going to war, and they didn’t dare ask the king, well aware of his temper. But they’d figured out this was supposed to be a rescue mission for you after they’d seen concubine Keigo finally sober up after weeks (if not months since your disappearance. Dabi forbade the word “died”) and he surprised them a little when he prepared (and he actually was good at it).

“Is the cavalry ready?” Dabi asked Shotou, who nodded. “Yes, as are the ships prepared to carry them. Well equipped and with enough space for everyone.” Dabi hummed in acknowledgement, before looking over the maps again, trying to figure out where exactly is AFO’s kingdom. The last time he went there was years ago when your mother was still alive. And at that time, he remembers going through land, but he cant find that route anymore, probably due to some quirk AFO used to hide his kingdom. “Did the spies find out where this mysterious island is?” Shotou shook his head. “Havent heard from them yet. They’re still at Emperor Kai’s castle, I should think that Kai isn’t announcing the whereabouts out loud. He’s not stupid.” Dabi shot him a glare. He knows Kai, knows he has spies there, all kings have spies in their homes. “Sure, but he is stupid enough to not come to me the instant that traitorous rat came to him.” Shotou was well aware of who he was referring to- your servant Tomura. “Well, then you know that if the emperor is aware that you know that he’s also preparing for war with AFO, then he must have a good reason for not telling you.”

“Yeah? What could possibly be a good reason to tell me that my daughter, my only child is alive?” Dabi was not in the mood to be accepting any excuses. “Don’t speak for others Shotou.”

The younger brother didn’t press further. “I still want to come along, help you find Y/n.”

Dabi shook his head. “I know you do, but you’re more helpful to me here. I cant trust anyone else with the kingdom while I’m away.” Shotou would bring up that their father, Enji, could help with overseeing kingdom affairs in their absence, but Dabi is already on edge as it is and… well Shotou’s not stupid.

“You’ll find her.” Shotou patted Dabi’s shoulder.

“I know.”

“Don’t be mad at her.”

A soft smile formed on his lips. “I’m not.”

At this point, all the man wanted was to wrap his arms around you and never let go.

The emperor had already reached the port. Kai remained on his horse as he watched his men board the remaining stuff on the ships, Hari by his side who made sure everyone was doing their job. Though Hari couldn’t help but let his eyes wander to Tomura who stood to the side, face expressionless, which annoyed Hari because he couldn’t read him.

How could he just stand there as if he hadn’t made the grave mistake of losing you, the emperor’s most important treasure?

Hari was well aware of Kai’s favoritism towards you, and anyone who really knew Kai would easily see why. Your innocence, naivety, everything- it reminded him of the emperor’s late daughter. Though Kai only came to know of her value when she was no longer in this world, Hari knew how much it pained him. The emperor may be good at covering his feelings, but Hari, his confidant knew- and saw what the emperor had gone through when he had lost his young one. That’s why Kai had been working day and night to find you.

That’s why Hari couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just kill Tomura, the man who was responsible to bring you to the empire as promised.

But as much as he wanted Kai to reconsider killing the traitor, he knew better than to question his emperor.

With everything now loaded onto the ship, it was time for Kai to board it, only to halt when he heard the sound of horses galloping in distance.

Turning around, he saw black flags with blue flames-

“King Dabi.” Hari said, and Kai gave him a nod and Hari looked back at the soldiers, calling them to take position.

“Be alert! Protect the emperor!” The army took their position, pulling their weapons out, ready for a massacre.

Kai never broke contact as Dabi’s knights neared, neither did his neutral face expression change when he spotted Dabi looking furious on his mighty dark horse.

When Dabi and his men reached them, the silence from both sides were deafening. The rulers locking eyes with each other as soldiers on both sides could feel their hearts beating loudly.

Kai didn’t break a sweat as Dabi glared at him. Why should he when Kai isn’t doing anything wrong?

“Going somewhere?” Dabi sneered.

Kai gave a nod. “I am.”

“Where?”Dabi asked, the smile dropping.

Kai remained silent. It was clear that Dabi was aware of his secret rescue mission. All that remains now is whether Kai should lie and possibly cause a war right here, right now, or tell him the truth and cause a war right here, right now.

“To AFO’s kingdom. I’m going to rescue princess Y/n.”

It was so terrifyingly quite, that not even sounds of nature could be heard. As if the birds and the bugs, the leaves and bushes, they were all holding their breath in anticipation.

“Oh? So you’ve known where my daughter is all this time?” Dabi pulled out his sword, as did his men. “And you decided to keep this information from me?”

Kai held up a gloved hand, signalling his men to hold, to not attack. “The information is news to me as well. Princess Y/n’s royal servant Tomura came to me a few days back and told me about her whereabouts. I only didn’t tell you because I am not sure if this information is true as well.”

Dabi’s glare shifted from Kai to Tomura. “Why should I believe you when that traitor still has his head?”

“Tomura hasn’t been killed because he’s the only one who knows where the princess is. With him dead, the chances of ever finding her slim to none. He came to me instead of you because you would’ve killed him the moment he set foot in your kingdom.” Kai explained, watching Dabi’s eyes full of distrust shift between him and the servant. But with distrust, there was also doubt.

What if Kai is telling the truth?

The seed of doubt had been planted, and now was Kai’s turn to change the narrative.

With his hand pointing towards the ships, Kai spoke. “You’re welcome to join us, King Dabi. We certainly have enough space for you and your men. The more, the merrier.”

Dabi stared at him for a few seconds before snapping his fingers and his men began retreating. “No need, we have our own ships. You may give us the servant so he can lead the way.” With Kai’s orders, his men also began retreating as the emperor got off his horse to speak privately with Dabi, who had also gotten off his horse.

“That is a reasonable request, but I must deny it. You see, I cant risk you chopping off the head of the one person who knows where this mysterious kingdom is. You can follow us.” Kai said with a small smile.

“Follow you? The man who hid knowledge of my daughter’s existence? Every single fiber in my body is screaming at me to kill you and that traitorous bastard!”

“But Y/n-“

Dabi cut him off. “You think you care more about Y/n than her own father?”

Kai shrugged. “I said no such thing. But if these past months have been clear proof that you’re making actions based on your feelings, and right now, that is not the best strategy to save Y/n. I know you think I have ulterior motives, and if I were you, I wouldn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth. But we have to put our differences aside, Dabi. Don’t be so distrusting of the man you would send your daughter to for training. Besides-” The emperor’s smile dropped. “-everyone knows about your strained relationship with Y/n. I’ve heard the last spat between you two was… very damaging. And for who?”

Who- referring to the little feathery whore Keigo.

“Careful, Kai. I can still bury your empire right here, right now.” Dabi threatened.

Kai didn’t waver. “You could try, but now is not the time to be blinded with your emotions.” He turned around, but casted a glance back. “And lets not kid ourselves, Dabi. You and I both know my men can harm you just as much. But Y/n wont benefit from unnecessary bloodshed.”

Dabi grit his teeth as he watched Kai return to his ship. The emperor puts on his gilded beak mask on.

If Dabi ever thought it was okay to prefer a concubine over his own daughter, then maybe I do care for Y/n more than her own father.

Soon enough, Dabi and his men, accompanied by allies like Bakugo and the barbarians, and Empresses Momo and her army set sail, following closely behind Kai’s ships.

Dabi stood on the starboard of the ship, gazing downwards at the water. His mind is occupied by multiple things- you, AFO, Kai’s intentions with you, the supposed “allies”, military strategies, but mostly you.

Are you well? Are you hurt? Do you miss him? Are you still mad at him-

“Dabi?” Keigo called, coming beside him. “What are you doing here? Come inside and eat.” Dabi didn’t move, and Keigo could see that his mind was elsewhere.

Wrapping his arms around Dabi, he kissed his ear. “We’ll find her, Dabi.” Keigo whispered. “We’ll find her and we’ll bring her home and then we will have a huge celebration and everything will be alright again.”

“None of this would’ve happened if I didn’t yell at her.”

Keigo looked at Dabi and he could see the guilt swimming in his eyes. “If I just hadn’t- made her angry, let her go- she would’ve been safe.” He paused. “What happened to us? She- she used to love me, was a proper daddy’s girl, Kei. Her eyes would lit up whenever she saw me and I would pick her up and waltz. She would tell me about her day, ramble on and repeat everything twice. But now… she won’t even speak to me more than a few words- those too out of courtesy and respect for the crown. Not me. She loathes me- I can feel it. And it fucking hurts because I know I’m the one who created this distance between us.”

“Dabi-”

“I put my only child in harm, Keigo. This is all on me.” He confessed remorsefully.

The two of them remained silent, the ocean air blowing through their hair.

Until Keigo dug his nails into Dabi’s arms. “Then you will find her.”

“Kei-“

“No.” Keigo pursed his lips. “No- I refuse to let you- you must find her Dabi, more so now. You must- you must and make amends with her. All is not lost. We can- you can still have everything. Y/n- she needs us right now, and when we find her, she will need you and she will love you more, and she will think the world of you. So get it- collect yourself. Be at one with yourself and find Y/n. I don’t care who you have to hurt, what you have to kill, burn the whole fucking world as long as you bring Y/n home.” He looked at Dabi, the king who’s pupils had dilated. “You understand? Fucking promise me Dabi-!” Keigo spat but was cut off as Dabi crashed his lips against his, Dabi’s heart swelling with love at hearing how much Keigo adored you.

“I promise you.”

“Position the cavalry here, and make sure the archers are present here. Make sure that there are soldiers surrounding the parameters of the island. The enemies could attack from any side.” AFO ordered his generals as he discussed military strategies. With Tomura escaping, AFO knew that he would be leading Dabi right to the island. But AFO was not worried. Not at all. He was prepared, and even if Dabi brought a couple of allies, they wouldn’t be able to defeat his army of Nomus.

What he was worried about was, well, you. Ever since your failed escape attempt, you’d been crying and refusing to eat anything at all. Your hunger strike is doing nothing but harm your own health.

And now that he sees a servant that was sent to your room with food return with a distressed look, AFO sighed. “She didn’t eat, did she?” The servant bowed before replying, “No, my King. The princess- she refuses to eat lunch. And the dinner sent to her last night, it also remains untouched.” AFO closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. How much longer will you keep this up? He cant focus on the war when all he can stress about is if you’ve eaten or not?

Sensing the distress of the ruler, Kurogiri stepped up to help. “My King, if you allow, may I handle this matter?”

AFO knows you’re not… exactly fond of him or Kurogiri at the moment but… what else can he do now?

He nodded.

Its worth a shot.

The Nomu watched in silence as you laid on the floor, tear streaks now dried on your cheeks, hair unkempt and greasy, complexion sickly pale, disheveled appearance over all. A chain around your ankle, long enough for you to move around the room, yet you continue to lie on the floor, mostly because you just don’t have the energy to get up. The lack of nutrients and dehydration, it was starting to take a toll on you, not only physically but mentally as well. How do you know?

Well, for starters, you could see your dead mother standing in the corner.

“Y/n?” She called out. You blinked.

She was right next to you, on her knees, a very concerned look on her face.

“Mama?”

“Oh baby, what have you done to yourself?” She whispered, blowing cold air on your sweaty forehead.

“Mama?”

“Hm?”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I cant stay for long, Y/n but-” She smiled sadly. “-I’m here now.”

You smiled back at her, even though you knew she wasn’t real, you still believed for a moment that she was.

“Y/n.”

“Yes, mama?”

“Have you been taking care of dad?”

“Mine? No. Yours? Also no.” You mumbled. “Dad and I fought, we always fight it seems. And grandpa? I- well- I’m mad at him. He kept me here, created more misunderstandings between me and dad and now wants to kill dad for revenge and apparently for “my sake” too.”

She brushed your hair with her fingers. “Seems like you’ve been busy.” She booped your nose. “Still, you’re the only one who can fix it all.”

“How?”

“You’ll figure it out. But the war mustn’t happen, Y/n.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Well I am a figment of your imagination, aren’t I?” She chuckled. You smiled as well. You missed her laugh. Its so delicate.

“I have to go now, baby.” She whispered, a cold kiss pressed to your cheek.

“Mama?”

“Hm?”

“I miss you.”

“I know, honey.” She pointed at the door. “You have company, darling.”

Just then, the door slammed open and your pupils widened at the sight of him.

“Y/N!”

Dabi.

“Dad?”

He rushed towards you, eyes wild as he took in your form. “Oh my- are you hurt?! What did he do?!” He asked checking you over for injuries. You looked so weak, as if the air itself was harsh enough to hurt you.

“You’re here.” You whispered. Dabi’s eyes softened, as he nodded. “I am. And I’m sorry that it took so long. But I’m here now, and I’ll get you out of here. Can you stand?”

With tears of relief in your eye, you shook your head. “I- I cant. Too tired.” Dabi nodded again before pulling out his water container, supporting your head as he helped you hydrate. “Better?” You hummed, smiling at him weakly as he laid your head in his lap. You missed him.

“I have an energy cube- this.” He pulled out a small blue cube. “It should give you enough energy to walk. I’d carry you, but I cant use my quirk without hurting you.” He pushed the cube towards your lips. You turned your head away. “It stinks. Like shrimp.”

He chuckled. “So? Come on, eat it. Then we can get out of here.” You stared at him, brows knitting together.

“Are you still mad at me?” you asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Dabi smiled sadly. “I never was, Y/n. I never truly could be. You- you’re a part of me-” “-and mom.” “-and your mom. You’re my daughter, my pride and joy, my most treasure jewel. You’re the most precious to me, Y/n.”

“I-.” You smiled sadly, nuzzling into him. “- can I ask you something? If you allow-“Always.”

“Did you- did you visit her? Mom?” You asked softly. “I know- you don’t like her, nor do you believe in talking to the dead but… I just wanted to know if you visited the royal cemetery behind my back? The caretakers sometimes forget to clean her tomb.”

Dabi looked into your hopeful eyes, his blue orbs just taking in your appearance. “I did.” He answered. “I talked to her, well I mostly confessed, begged her and god to help me find you. Don’t worry though, the caretakers looked well after the cemetery.” He brought the energy cube to your lips again. “Now, eat this so that we can get out-”He was cut off by you smacking the cube out of his hand and laughing dryly at him.

“Do you take me for a fool?”

Dabi’s brows furrowed. “Y/n-”

“Princess Y/n. How dare you talk to me like we’re equals?!” He shook his head, his hand coming to cup your cheek but you pushed yourself away from him, practically throwing yourself away.

“How dare you try to touch me?!” You shrieked. “HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO BE A KING, YOU IMPOSTOR?! SHIFT BACK NOW! SHIFT OR I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL DECAPITATE YOU MYSELF!! SHIFT!” The door opened and Kurogiri walked in. He nodded at Dabi.

“You can leave now, Himiko.” The impostor shifted back to a blonde girl. You remember seeing the servant before, when she helped Tomura with ironing your clothes. Kurogiri kneeled in front of you, looking at you with a slightly unamused look you imagine. “How’d you know?” How? How are you to explain that you know your father well enough to know that he would never visit your mother? How do you explain that he hated her so much that he didn’t even think she deserved to be buried in the royal cemetery, but rather in an unguarded, unmarked grave without anyone but you and Tomura to care for?

You laughed dryly at him. “What? You didn’t think I wouldn’t recognize my own father?” Kurogiri shrugged “You haven’t been showing many signs of intelligence; escaping, defending your father, going on a useless hunger strike are just a few examples.”

“Its pissing you off. I’d say they were pretty intelligent decisions.”

“All you’re doing is worrying your grandfather. He can’t focus on the war because he’s concerned about you.”

“Good. I don’t want the war to happen.”

“The war is going to happen, King AFO will win and your father will die-“ “No-” “Yes. And deep down, you know your he deserves to die. You know that it’d better for you to stay here, because you will never be a priority to him, just like your mother never was.”

“Dad didn’t kill her-”

“Perhaps not. But he never loved her, he humiliated her and you publicly when he started sleeping with that concubine. He made your mother unhappy, he kept you in the dark about your maternal grandfather, refused to let him contact you- his only grandchild, his only heir to this kingdom, his- his daughter’s only reminder. Are these not crimes but punishable by death? King Dabi may have not directly killed your mother but he was an accomplice to the murder, he never believed, let alone punish his concubine. He didn’t even believe you, his own daughter, his blood and flesh! What father would allow a murderer around his own child? He does not care about you, never has and never will!” Kurogiri told you. “This war? He’s not fighting it to save you, he’s fighting it to hurt King AFO! You mean nothing to him!’

“No!” Tears escaped your eyes. “You don’t know anything! But I’m telling you to stop this war. If you don’t- countless lives will be lost! Innocent people will die!”

“The people are prepared to die. Not that they will, your dear grandfather is very strong. You shouldn’t underestimate him. He will defeat King Dabi, and he will avenge your mother.” He pulled out another energy cube, placing it on your bed. “Eat it or not, I’m going to tell your grandfather that you’re well. I won’t let your stubbornness distract him.” He turned to leave, halting at your voice.

“Kurogiri, please. This war… it cant happen.”

He looked over his shoulder. “Your father has been begging for a war for a long time. Its about time he pays for the consequences, princess.” He said before leaving.

One of the knights rushed into AFO’s busy court, just as Kurogiri returned. AFO of course looked at Kurogiri first, the latter’s calm demeanor assured the king that he had taken care of the errand he was given. Then he looked at the knight who was trying to catch his breath.

“A-apologies for running in unannounced, my king! But they’re here!” He took a large gulp of breath in to compose himself.

“King Dabi is here!”

The court went silent as they looked to their king, awaiting his panic for Dabi had reached earlier than expected. But AFO remained collected, nodding his head as he turned to address his court.

“Prepare yourself. Alert the people about this as well, so that they may take necessary measures.” He started giving out orders to his generals, pausing to tell Kurogiri to release the several Nomus that are under his control.

“They won’t hurt my subjects, assure the people of that will you?” Kurogiri bowed his head before teleporting to carry out his orders.

By the time he returned, AFO sat alone on his throne, wearing his armor. Kurogiri walked closer to him, and couldn’t help but notice a certain amount of sadness in his eyes.

“Your majesty?” He called out, but AFO didn’t look up at him.

“Y/n reminds me so much of her.” Ah, the late queen. “From the way she looks, to her having the same mannerisms, the same affection for animals-” AFO chuckled. “-they even have the same furrow in their brows when their mad. Y/n… she’s just like her isn’t she?” Kurogiri agreed, because he thought so too. In fact, if it weren’t for your painfully annoying naivety, your rebelliousness, your incessant need to defend Dabi and your urge to make everything unnecessarily difficult for your grandfather, he’d say you were your mother reincarnated.

“I wanted to see her, talk to her one last time before leaving, just to assure her that I’d win, that she need not to worry her head over this matter because I’d take care of everything. Because I’d protect her. But-“ AFO paused, as if the words got caught in his throat. “-I couldn’t. I couldn’t because she’d beg me not to. She’d cry and cry and I just cant- I cant go to war with the sight of her like this Kurogiri. She used to cry like that for him too; my daughter- and now Y/n. They were always blinded by their pure hearted nature, always loved that bastard too much to see that he does not care about them.” Kurogiri will never forget the day your mother had died. King AFO, he was absolutely crushed. He had never seen him like this, the look of utter despair, utter defeat, as if someone had dethroned the king and cut off his limbs with an axe and left him to be feasted on by vultures. The king loved his daughter very much. She was the apple of his eye, his light, his only heir. He never wanted her to marry Dabi, but when she claimed that she had fallen in love with him, he couldn’t help but give in. He would’ve given her the world if she’d asked, but just a few months into the marriage and AFO sensed that he may have made a grave mistake. He gave her several opportunities to escape that marriage, to help her leave that ungrateful bastard, but despite everything, your mother just smiled and continued to claim that she loved Dabi until her last breath. AFO doesn’t know for sure if your mom really loved Dabi as much as she claimed to, especially after concubine Keigo came into the picture. He thinks that you may have been the main reason why she stayed in that unhappy marriage. Perhaps she thought that by birthing Dabi a heir, she might get the love and respect she deserves. But Dabi… he didn’t get rid of Keigo, or even tried to hide his affairs, not even for your sake. You were a child, a product of a broken marriage. AFO wasn’t sure how he felt about you initially, mostly because he thought you’d tied her daughter down in this nightmare of a marriage. But the first time and the only time your mother brought you over to her homeland, AFO (as well as others) were immediately enamored by you. You looked like your mother when she was an infant. When he first held you in his arms, he knew instantly that he was wrapped around your tiny finger for the rest of his life. He swore to himself and to your mother that he would protect you for eternity. But then, Dabi had the audacity to forbid you from visiting AFO, and a few years later, he banned AFO from ever visiting his kingdom, effectively cutting his contact with you, his only grandchild.

That should’ve been enough reason for AFO to start a war with him, but your mother managed to convince him otherwise, promising that she’ll talk to Dabi about this matter.

Later that year, your mother was killed.

And AFO never truly recovered from that loss. What father could?

“This war, she thinks isn’t necessary. She thinks I’m some monster who has it out for her dear father. But she’ll never accept it that Dabi- he isn’t participating in this war to save her. He’s coming because he wants to hurt me. He wants to take her away from me and rub it in my face that she will face the same fate as my daughter did. He wants to take her away so that he can tell me that I failed to protect them both.” He finally looked at him. “I won’t make the same mistake again, Kurogiro. I wont.” AFO stood up from his gilded throne. “I will kill Dabi today, and I will win this war. Your job is to protect princess Y/n. Teleport her to safety if need be.” Kurogiri bowed his head, as AFO continue. “And if things go south due to some unforeseen circumstances, I want you to prioritize Y/n’s life over mine.”

Kurogir’s eyes widened. “Your Majesty, that won’t be-“

“I know, but still. I want you to promise me, Kurogiri. Her life over mine. Prioritize Y/n over me.”

Kurogiri bowed, placing a hand over his heart.

“I promise, my king.”

AFO watched the shore from a distance, his army in position with him. His main order was to distance the enemy away from the castle where you were trapped in, guarded by a Nomu, some knights and Kurogiri.

“They’re near, my king.” One of the generals said, watching through his binoculars. “I count about 300 ships, about 200 baring King Dabi’s flag, 70 belonging to the imperial house of Yaoryuzu, while 30 belong to some barbarians.”

AFO didn’t respond for a few moments, simply staring ahead, before his lips quirked ever so slightly. “There’s more. Look again.” He said. The general was confused but he looked again, now with a few soldiers also searching the waters, tilting their heads a little and that’s when they saw it.

Like a mirage in the desert, when the heat starts to play tricks on your eyes, the wind dancing around to create an illusion, they were able to make out the faintest silhouette of very large fleet. It was as if there was a curtain, produced by nature to hide the enemy.

But AFO knew better. It was no natural phenomenon, but actually an invisibility quirk.

Tomura had mentioned about an emperor who was going to take you in before you came here. Perhaps, its him.

Its time to put an end to all of this.

AFO began giving out orders. “Prepare the canons! Archers, take position! Sakura regiment and Ume regiment, take formation A and charge forwards at command!” The soldiers took their respective positions, holding their breaths as they awaited the king’s next command. AFO wanted to attack first, end the war before it could really begin.

AFO counted down as Dabi’s ships came closer.

I love you, Y/n.

“FIRE!” The canons blasted, followed by- “DRAW!” The arrows flew, but neither the cannonballs nor the arrows ever hit the enemy because they all disintegrated in the sky high fire wall surrounding the entire perimeter of the island.

“What the…” The soldiers, and even AFO was momentarily shocked, and the enemy used that element of surprise to strike. One second the boundaries of the island were surrounded by hellish blue flames, and in the next, thousands of men suddenly lunged through the fire, completely unharmed and charged towards AFO’s army from all directions. On his left, he saw loud explosives going off in the sky, and he immediately spotted the brash blonde roaring as his hands fired blasts after blasts.

Must be a barbarian.

He heard another loud crash behind him, and there he spotted a massive army comprising mainly of female warriors, who were being led by a fierce woman wearing red and gold armor, indicating that she belonged from the imperial house of Yaoryuzu.

And then he heard the screams.

Whipping his head back to the front, he saw the villager’s house up in blue flames, Dabi appearing through the smoke, a manic grin on his face as he locks eyes with him.

Of course, leave it to Dabi to attack the women and children first. He’s a heartless bastard.

With a wave of his hand, heavy clouds appeared over the burning houses and poured rain. AFO’s face remained neutral as Dabi began inching his way closer to him, slaughtering anyone and everyone that stood in his way, even his own men. AFO stared at him dead in the eyes before smiling suddenly because right in the next moment, a Nomu flew and jumped right onto Dabi.

Guess he’ll have to wait for a bit until he can kill Dabi.

Although Katsuki and Momo were tearing through the crowds, swinging their swords and killing enemies easily, and had this been any other war, they might've even enjoyed it. But right now, all they could think about was finding you, both parties have the same motive but neither will attempt to work together to find you quicker. No, not when they wanted to play your "Knight in shining armour", because clearly, whoever saves the princess gets the favour of king Dabi and the love of princess Y/n. Clearly, when they find you, you will throw yourself at them and practically beg them to marry you.

Somehow they had found their way to the high towers where you were locked in, individually taking the opposite routes and hoping the other one dies before they reach you. They killed all the knights and the devoted servants that blocked their way until they stood at the opposite ends of the hallway, bloodied and staring at each other. Words did not need to be shared for the threat to heard-

Back off.

Of course, neither one would. Not when they're this close to making you theirs forever. The two charged at each other, swords drawn and quirks going off, all while neither one of them knew that Kurogiri had already teleported you to the secret passageways underground the moment he saw them coming for the hightower, and now all that was waiting for them in that room up there was the Nomu assigned to protect you.

So, whoever wins Bakugo VS Yaoryuzu battle will have to die at the hands of the Nomu.

Kurogiri almost wished he could watch it all unfold with AFO.

But no, he has to carry you to safety- he promised his king. He paid no mind to you sluring out threats as you went in and out of consciousness, clearly still persistent on starving yourself.

"I'd kill you... my dad- d-dad will kill you and the the- villagers-" you mumbled, eyes closed as your cheek rested against his chest, the man carrying you in his arms.

"Yeah? And then what?" He hummed.

"He'll kill- kill everyone and- and burn thi-s place to- to the the ground and it'll be-" you choked on a sob "-it'll be all my fault!"

"Well, you don't need to worry about that. Your grandfather is a skilled fighter, he will easily decapitate Dabi. Have some faith!" He cheered while you whined into his shoulder. "Now, now, princesses don't whine. I must say, I am excited for your princess training when the war is over. I'll personally see to it that you learn all the manners and ethics of royalty, your father didn't do a good job at finding you a good teacher."

"The late queen appointed me as her teacher, personally. You would be wise not to say anything about the princess's training lest you want a painful death, Kurogiri."

You both looked behind at the source of the voice, opposite emotions coursing through you both as you caught sight of him-

Tomura Shigaraki.

"Tomu~" you whispered, getting teary eyed as you looked at the once gentle eyed, lanky armed, always presentable, invisible servant to now a far more bulked up warrior with his hair unkempt and his eyes wild yet clear.

Kurogiri didn't waste another second as he opened the warp gate and teleported you out of there, Tomura calmly promising you that he'll find you soon. While it would've been easy for Kurogiri to escape along with you, he preferred to deal with Tomura now and be done with it.

Tomura charged at the man, and Kurogiri had his sword drawn out, teleporting just when the former neared. The shadowed man appeared around him and sliced the skin on his arm.

"So weak, its pathetic. How you were allowed to be near the princess is beyond me." Kurogiri said, dodging the swing of Tomura's blade, before kicking him in the stomach, making the latter cough blood. "You were never strong enough to be the princess's guard, or a servant. But I always did think that you'd be smart-" Tomura grunted before quickly jumping and stabbing the sword into Kurogiri's abdomen, but the taller man remain unfazed. "-Guess not." Kurogiri said, before swallowing the sword into his body, warping it to an unknown destination, Tomura's eyes going wide as his hand started to get warped too, but then... he smiled. A sinister grin stretched on Tomura's face as he spoke.

"And your biggest mistake Kurogiri is that you underestimate me." He said before grabbing Kurogiri's neck brace with both hands and disintegrating it until he reached his neck, destroying it too.

Kurogiri was now a pile of ashes at Tomura's feet.

What a waste... of my time.

Tomura thought before he began looking for you again.

On the other side of island, right in the middle, Dabi had just spent the last hour fighting the Nomu that was cannon balled on him. He finally defeated the monstrosity, and it had taken a slight toll on his body. And since AFO saw the battle, he was more than happy to send a couple more his way.

While Dabi began fighting those brainwashed giants again, AFO's mind was still preoccupied by the enemy fleets that were hiding behind an invisibility quirk. They were still nowhere to be seen, and AFO could sense they were plotting something.

AFO looked towards his castle, thinking whether he should call Kurogiri and deal with this hidden enemy and also check up on you, but decided against it because he did not want anyone to know where you were.

He looked back towards Dabi, to see if he'd been crushed to death or not, but instead found him hovering up in the sky, body ablaze and his eyes staring right back at him.

And then... he flicked his wrist.

In just a few seconds, the entire island was covered in smoke. It was dark and suffocating, and when AFO heard people screaming in pain, he could only imagine the horrors Dabi was inflicting on them.

The thick black air made it impossible to see more than just a few steps ahead, and everyone was swinging their swords at anyone and everyone, and those who weren't fighting, were killed by the lack of air.

AFO used his quirks to aid him in breathing and killing, years of training finally coming to use. But truthfully, he couldn't see where he was going even with his quirks. And that's how he ended up in front of you.

You were lying on the ground, unconscious, the side of your head bleeding slightly because after Kurogiri teleported you, your knees buckled and you hit your head on a tree branch.

With neither Kurogiri nor Nomu in sight, AFO couldn't help but wonder what possible trouble could've found them to leave you so dangerously near the battlefield.

AFO kneeled and placed his hand on your cheek, activating his quirk so you'd be able to breathe and not inhale the deadly fumes your father has spread.

He caressed your cheek, silently praying that you didn't inherit your mother's asthma. AFO was sure you hadn't, from the detailed reports he had gotten you never mentioned anything, but... he wouldn't put it past Dabi not to notice you dying to catch your breath.

Poor baby. AFO sighed before calling one of the Nomus (through telepathy) to come. He'd need someone to carry you to safety while he fights.

"Get your filthy paws off her!" Someone yelled from above, AFO barely missing the sharp feather that shot past him.

Keigo.

The winged concubine was hovering above him, wearing battle armour, a sharp contrast to the whore clothes he usually wears. The king remembered him from the last time he visited his daughter at Dabi's place, trying her absolute best to contain her tears while Dabi refused to welcome AFO because he was "busy with important affairs", only for them to hear Dabi and Keigo committing adultery in the court room, your mother hanging her head down in shame as she ushered AFO to move so that she could show him your nursery.

AFO never forgot nor forgave the humiliation he and your mother had to face, and it was even more insulting when he finally saw the bitch Dabi was sleeping with. AFO did consider at first that your father must be either blind and deaf or under the affect of some quirk to be brainwashed enough to think that Keigo was an acceptable replacement for your mother, or even for royalty. It wouldn't be wrong to say that years of resentment had AFO plotting for revenge against him as well.

Another feather shot past him, AFO only tilting his head slightly to dodge the arrow.

The corner of AFO's lips quirked a little.

This ought to be fun.

AFO looked back at your face, still unconscious, and a small part of him wished you'd be awake for this. You'd definitely enjoy this. Oh well.

"I said, get the hell away-!" Keigo's voice got caught in his throat, as if some invisible force was squeezing his throat. Like a fish out of water, Keigo thrashed in air, his hands on his neck trying to release the compression so that air could reach his lungs.

Without looking away from you, AFO spoke.

"Dont yell. I don't want you to disturb my granddaughter." He flicked his wrist and a small domain formed in which all of Dabi's smoke was vacuumed out instantly. The sky was clear, and so was the way he was about to torture Keigo.

AFO further constricted Keigo's throat, making him start to turn blue. In retaliation, he shot many of his feathers at AFO, raining down at him like arrows, but they stopped mid air before they could ever reach him.

"Now that could've hurt Y/n. Involuntary manslaughter... how should I punish you for that?" The king thought outloud, getting up on his feet and looking at the bird that was gurgling for air. "Perhaps, return the attack?" The feathers that had stopped mid-air slowly turned to face Keigo, all glintingdangerously. AFO grinned before suddenly opening his hand (that were controlling the feathers), prompting the feathers to shoot at Keigo.

The feathers revolved and attacked Keigo from all directions, and Keigo felt like he was trapped in a hurricane full of sharpened knives that slashed his skin from all sides.

A few moments later, the feathers stopped and Keigo fell to the ground with them. His armour had protected him from most stabs, but he was still bleeding.

"On to your next offence- killing my daughter and humiliating the royal family. Now, I don't have any evidence for the former except that Y/n accused you, and I don't really blame you completely for either crime because Dabi was mainly involved in it, you were just following orders. Still-" He sighed. "- You were an assailant. You assisted in a crime against royalty, you deserve to be punished." AFO flicked his index finger, lifting Keigo up in the air.

"I've always wondered what Dabi saw in you. Surely, there are prettier sluts than you- thats why he keeps his harem around, eh? It couldn't be possibly that you're strong or smart... and then it clicked! It's those larger than life wings of yours. The fiery red wings that compliment his blue flames. And not to mention how rare your quirk is... haven't seen any other winged humans that could actually fly. And knowing Dabi, that's all he views you as- a rare antique to own. A bird to keep in a gilded cage, if you will. So, thats how I'm going to hurt you and Dabi-" AFO chuckled, his hands making small movements to spread open Keigo's wings.

"I'm going to pluck you like a chicken."

AFO snapped his fingers as feathers began to be pulled slowly, one at a time, from the base painfully, making Keigo scream in agony.

You'd finally woken up by the sound of screams, heart pounding as you saw Keigo strung up in the air with his feathers being pulled out.

Too weak to move, you didn't realise someone was behind you until they covered your mouth, eyes widening in terror before calming down when you saw it Tomura. Placing a finger on his lips telling you to remain quiet as he began lifting you up to carry you out of there, only to stop when you let out an audible gasp as you looked behind him.

Nomu. The one AFO had called just minutes ago.

Tomura only had to take one careful step back to make it banshee scream, making Tomura drop you back down to cover his ears. At the monster's scream, AFO looked back, eyes narrowing at the sight of your traitorous servant.

"Oh, it's just you." He looked at Nomu nodding his head at Tomura. "Take care of him, will you?" You flinched when Nomu punched Tomura, throwing him far away from you. Tomura fortunately softened his landing and jumped back up, pulling out his sword. In order for Tomura to disintegrate the Nomu, he needs to get his hands on him long enough for him to turn into ashes but just before Nomu can crush his skull.

"Dont..." you whispered, eyes fixated on Tomura fighting for his life. Your gaze shifted to AFO,tears forming in your eyes as your lips wobbled. "Please... not him..." you begged, AFO's heart melting a bit at your pitiful sight. He'd give you the world if you'd ask, but getting rid of anyone that stood in his way to protect you was necessary. "Grandpa, please! I promise, I'll be- I'll be good! I won't leave! Ever! I'll do everything you say, just don't hurt Tomura! Please-!"

"Stop it, Y/n. The sovereign never begs." You heard someone say from behind you, making you turn your head to look at the familiar voice.

Dabi stood behind you.

"Have you learnt nothing from princess training? Or has someone been polluting your mind?" He looked at you, his gaze stern but you could see the way they lighted up when he saw you.

Daddy's here.

"Dad." You breathed out. His eyes softened visibly at the word. Oh how he had longed to hear that name again.

He smiled briefly at you before looking back at AFO and then at Keigo, who was still being tortured.

"Let him go. This is between you and me." Dabi said, hands set lighting up.

AFO raised a brow. "How brave of you to man up." He said before throwing Keigo so hard that his body slammed against a big tree, knocking him out. He looked at his Nomu and pointed at Tomura and Keigo. "Get rid of them both. Protect Y/n."

Dabi then launched multiple fireballs at him while AFO jumped back, dodging them all while making sure that you don't get hurt in the crossfire.

Seeing that as Keigo was unconscious and Nomu's full attention was on Tomura, you knew you had to butt in before it kills him.

With all your might, you got on your feet and staggered towards them, picking up one of Keigo's feathers. With unfocused eyes, you walked towards the Nomu, gripping the feather harder as you neared.

"Princess!" Tomura yelled. "Stay back! Stay back, Y/n!" Hearing your name, the Nomu turned around, only to find you holding the razor sharp feather against your neck.

Eyes cold, you stared at the Nomu.

"If he dies, so do I." You threatened, the Nomu's eyes widening. "I'll fucking do it, I swear to god I will. I'm so tired of this "protect Y/n" bullshit, I'm gonna end this stupid thing right here, right now." You slowly inched near the monster. "I should've died, should've killed myself years ago, right after mom died. You all failed to save her, made her life a hell, just like mine is now. My death, my doom is inevitable. But no one else should suffer because of me." You closed your eyes, hands moving to drag the deadly weapon across your neck when the Nomu screeched, falling to its knees, continuing to screech long after you'd dropped your feather.

The Nomu began crying, fat tears dropping down its face as you hugged it, the mutant wrapping its buff arms around you and lifting you up and close.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I had to do this, but you wouldn't have listened otherwise." It- or well, his tears continued to wet your clothes as you patted his head, and you signalled Tomura not to activate his quirk and kill Nomu. "Its okay, I'm- I'm okay. But you can't protect me without protecting the people I care about. Do you understand what I'm saying?" The Nomu sniffled before nodding, almost like a child. "I care about Tomura, and I care about the villagers. So you must go back to the villagers. The village is under attack, and its burning down. Won't you save them for me? Protect the people I care about?" The Nomu seemed hesitant to leave you at first, but you continued to manipulate him. "If something happens to them, I'll never forgive myself. I'll die-" that was enough for Nomu to agree and leave you behind with a very heavy heart, only after you convinced him that Tomura wasn't a threat.

As soon as the Nomu left, your knees buckled and Tomura caught you before you could fall on your head. "That was... incredibly stupid." He commented. You smiled lazily, nuzzling your cheek against his chest. "I missed you too, Tomu." He pulled you closer to his chest in response, having trouble mustering up the words to express how sorry he was for taking so long, to apologise for not recognising AFO's intentions from the beginning, for being the reason why everything was happening.

But you just looked up at him, staring into his eyes with a soft expression as you whispered "Its okay, Tomura. Its not your fault." And just like that, all was well in the world.

But your happy reunion didn't last long, as Tomura sensed that you were in danger, and in the next second, he'd spun you around to the other direction, gasping as the air got knocked out of him.

You pulled away from him immeadiately, eyes bulging at the large red feather protruding from Tomura's stomach.

"I-" Tomura coughed up blood before falling to his knees, you quickly catching his head before it could hit the ground. Tears falling down your face, you found it hard to breathe as you stared at the crimson staining his shirt

"I knew you'd move." Keigo's voice made you look up, confusion evident on your face. Did he... do this? Keigo walked towards you two, smiling warmly yet with an unsettling look in his eyes, before he grabbed you by the shoulders and hugged you. "I know it looked like I was aiming for you, but I wasn't, love. I could never hurt you!"

Oh no.

You pushed away from him, sobs wracking your body as you tried to help Tomura but far too perplexed as to whether or not you should pull out the feather stabbing him.

But you weren't given much time to ponder upon it as the moment your hands touched his blood, you were instantly yanked back.

"Oh no, honey. You can't let yourself get dirty by his filthy blood. Your father will think you got hurt. Come on, now. Don't fight me on this. Let's go back to the ship." Keigo cooed as he began pulling you away from an unconscious Tomura, and you dropped to the ground to resist Keigo, but he continued to drag you by your arms before eventually picking you up and carrying you. And even though both of you knew that you were far too weak to escape his grip, you still struggled to break free.

Luckily for you, AFO was able to hear your distress calls for help. The moment you wailed to be let go, the instant you called out for Tomura, AFO's head whipped in your direction, veins popping at the sight of that murderer's hands on you, not even looking at Dabi as he blasted your dad away to a distance.

The mere sight of Keigo carrying you crying and sobbing pushed him over the edge, because for a moment he imagined it was his own daughter that was crying.

He is not losing you again.

The deafening sound of AFO's blast made Keigo look back, just to be punched in the face with enough force for him to drop you (as your grandfather caught you and placed you to the side) and land a couple hundred meters away. You immediately scrambled back to Tomura, but the sight of him lying in a pool of blood made you hyperventilate and cry as you prayed and begged for him to wake up while holding his hand in yours, heart dropping to the pit of your stomach as you realised....

There was no pulse.

Meanwhile, AFO jumped over to Keigo again, punching him over and over again until he was an unrecognisable pulp, before flipping him over and he began ripping out the rest of his feathers with his bare hands.

"HOW DARE YOU LAY HANDS ON HER?!" AFO roared, all sense of control out the window as he grabbed hands and snapped them like twigs, Keigo howling in pain.

Suddenly, AFO was kicked off the bird man, Dabi being the culprit of course, who was equally as blinded with rage as AFO.

The battle of quirks began, but as Dabi had one quirk and AFO had an amalgam of quirks, the winner here was clear.

Dabi's fire turned black as he surrounded the two of them with high walls of flames before releasing powerful fire based attacks, only for AFO to use his quirk to create a vacuum and suck out all the oxygen to not only put out the flames but also deprive Dabi of air.

With not being able to either use his quirk or breathe, Dabi didnt have any other choice but to try his luck with hand to hand combat, but the lack of air was getting to him and AFO was a skilled fighter who was able to dodge all of Dabi's punches before he fell to the ground clutching his throat.

AFO stood over him, years of hurt and anger poorly concealed on his face. "Suffocating, isn't it? You've only had to suffer through for a few minutes of something you made my daughter go through for years. For fucking years!" He punched Dabi, who was turning blue now. "She was my daughter, my beautiful daughter and she didn't do anything to deserve what you did to her! You and your slut killed her for what?! For hate? For jealousy? Even if you hated her, had you no heart to have mercy for the mother of your child!? Hell, you could've divorced her, left her, thrown her out of the damn castle if you hated her guts but you could've left her to me alive! YOU DIDNT HAVE TO KILL HER!" He grabbed Dabi by the collar, kicking him in the face. "I've waited to avenge my daughter for years. Today, you will die." AFO pulled out his sword, aiming at Dabi's neck to behead him.

"DROP THAT DOWN OR Y/N DIES!" Keigo threatened, who despite the beating he just took was standing on his feet with one of his sharp feathers against your neck. "I swear to fucking everything, if he dies, so will she!" He yelled as he yanked you by your hair back, and pressed the sharp edge harder against your skin.

AFO's eyes met your face, but you didn't even react as Keigo shook you by your hair, the catatonic state you'd just slipped into as your eyes never left Tomura.

"You wouldn't. You'd never live-" AFO's words died down as Keigo began dragging the feather, drawing blood. "STOP IT! Y/N- OKAY! OKAY!" AFO dropped his sword and released his quirk to allow Dabi to breathe, but AFO couldn't stop staring at you. It just- why didn't you struggle or even flinch at the blade being dragged across your neck, however superficially, it still must've hurt.

Did Tomura's death really affected you this much?

That blank face, that hundred yard stare- it all pained him greatly because it was exactly how he caught your mother when he saw her the last time. And it haunted him all these years that he was so powerless and blind to help his child. That she was so clearly in need of his help and he didn't save her.

But not you. No, no. Even if he has to rewind time itself, he will do so to help you.

"Y/n, Y/n, princess- look at me! I promise you- ill fix this! I'll fix everything! You want Tomura? I'll fix Tomura- just tell me what you want-" but AFO was left at a loss for words once more when you looked directly at him, with the same blank stare but with big fat tears rolling down your cheeks, as if to say that you've lost everything and it can't be helped.

You've failed to protect me.

AFO really did love you, with all his heart and that's why that hopeless, dead look in your eyes hurt him far more than the sword driven through his chest because his heart was already broken by your state. He was far too concerned with you to be aware of his enemy taking advantage of his distraction.

As Dabi began burning AFO, whispering things in his ear, AFO was for once slightly greatful to Keigo for covering your view of your grandfather being burned alive.

He did not want that sight of him to be in your memory.

With AFO being dead and no one to control mind control the Nomus, they stopped fighting and the remaining army of AFO, despite knowing that their king was dead still fought hard until the end to protect their new ruler- you. But with the large armies of the enemy and without Nomus help, they lost.

After finishing off AFO, Dabi walked towards you and Keigo, cold blue eyes staring at you before furrowing his brows as he pulled you in for a hug, you remained limp against him, even as he stroked your hair and said soft words of affirmation to you, giving Keigo a victory kiss.

With your eyes meeting Tomura's dead body, your mind allowed you the mercy of relieving you of consciousness.

Soldiers on both sides, along with the villagers that had now been captured, all watched as King Dabi carried his daughter with one arm, while his other supported Keigo's frail body, walking towards his ship, where his allies stood.

As he was about to climb on the ship, one of his generals asked "Your Majesty? About the prisoners of war, should we sell them or keep them as slaves?" He was referring to the army and subjects of AFO who were still alive.

Dabi didn't look up from your asleep face, smiling softly as you reminded him of when you were a baby.

"Burn them."

What? Even his own allies, even the barbarians, even the ever insane young Empress Momo was surprised at that. Surely, King Dabi would follow the code of conduct for war. Surely-

"Your Majesty-"

"Burn them. Burn it all. Burn the entire island." He then looked up at his assassins/spies Aizawa and Hizashi, nodding at them to see to it that his order is followed before boarding his ship, where Kai carefully took you from Dabi's arms to heal you while other healers came to help Keigo.

With Dabi and Keigo being bandaged and you lying on their in between them, they smiled and kissed once more, their victory only sweetening more with screams of people being burned alive in the background.

War is over.

So... what do u guys think???

PART 8 IS HERE

914 notes · View notes

mommytauriel · 1 year

Note

Sihtric x reader where reader is a ward of Uhtred. Reader is the first person to show Sihtric kindness when he’s captured after the attack in episode 2 season 2 and from then on he’s been smitten. The problem is that King Alfred and Uhtred came to an agreement that reader would be married off to a lord so that way she’s taken care off if something were to happen to Uhtred. I just started watching the show so you can decide the rest.

+ · 。~ promised to another p1

pairing: sihtric x female! reader | genre: forbidden romance?, angst, fluff | warnings: slight cursing, I think that’s all | wc: 6.4K |

synopsis: You and sihtric just met and yet the feelings you felt for each other were so strong.

request: yes

note: Okay first, thank you for sending in a request! And I’m sorry for how long it’s taken me to get it out! I absolutely love this idea and I still have so many ideas for it, this will be a multiple part series, I am thinking 4 parts? I hope you guys enjoy!

Thank you @underragingwaves for letting me use the lovely gif!

Part one Part two

The weather is hot, the sun beating down on you makes your eyes squint and the sleeves of your dress stick to your skin. You hated it. At least there was the breeze of wind that helped with the heat. Weather like this reminds you of the days you spent with your father, playing in the gardens and fields of your home, your father's estate.

Your father was an Ealdorman of Wessex, a fierce warrior and a dear friend of the king. He loved nothing more than his family, his home and his King. So, it wasn't the biggest surprise when he died protecting what he loves, his family, his home and his king. You remember the day he left to fight, he came into your room and kissed your forehead. You were still in bed when he promised to return. He never did return, he died in the battle of Edington and a part of you died that day too.

You didn't stay in your home for long after your father's death, you were outside when it happened. You were sitting under a tree reading one of your father's favorite books when the king came, he crouched in front of you and told you the news. That you would be coming to live with him, and your younger brother would stay and learn to become an Ealdorman. You didn't have much of a choice, so you said your goodbyes and left.

Your stay at the castle was for several years, after a threat on your life that almost had you killed, King Alfred was filled with guilt and doubt. He couldn't have the only daughter of his late friend killed, killed in his home. So, despite a part of him disagreeing and the anger and shouts of his wife he did what he thought was best, put you in the protection of Uhtred.

And that brings you to where you are now, standing in a field watching Uhtred train King Guthreds men. You have lost count of the months you have been with Uhtred. Uhtred has been very kind to you, very understanding. He doesn't complain when you take a little longer to get ready or when you have them stop more often so you can bathe. He understands your position, you were raised and lived as a lady…and now you ride with him. It was a very different life.

You were standing in between Hild and Father Beocca, your fingers playing with your bracelet. You watched with squinted eyes as Uhtred bests Clapa once again. You enjoyed watching Uhtred fight, it reminded you of when you would watch your father train.

The content look on your face quickly disappears when you see a group of men on horseback approaching. You could tell by their attire that they were Danes. You absentmindedly move closer to Hild. Your eyes scan over the men as they dismount from their horse’s and step closer to Uhtred and King Guthred, one of them; the tall one closer than the others.

You don't bother paying attention to the conversation they seem to be having, instead your eyes wander to the Danes, scanning over them. Your eyes linger on one of them in particular, he was standing behind the tall one in front, his posture made him seem…nervous as if he didn't want to be there.

You tilt your head slightly as you look him over, curiosity in your eyes. He looked different from the others, and not in a bad way. His hair was pulled back and to be honest…he was quite pretty. He didn't look like the men you would see growing up is all you could say.

You blink a few times when you realize you have zoned out, you look towards Uhtred to see him leaning back, an unimpressed look on his face. You look back to the pretty Dane, only to see that he was already looking at you. Your eyes widen and you quickly avert your eyes away from him and to Uhtred.

After a few moments you look back at him and watch as he tilts his head slightly and his eyes rake over your body. His eyes met yours again and this time you weren't the first to look away. You feel a rush or satisfaction when you see his cheeks flush at the fact that you caught him. You look away from him when you feel someone touch your arm.

“You should join Lady Gisela in her tent and get out of the sun” Hild smiles slightly, patting your arm reassuringly, nodding her head towards Lady Gisela. Who seemed to be waiting for you, a smile on her face as she stood with a few other women. You smile at Hild and whisper your goodbyes to the warrior nun, who has shown you nothing but kindness and love.

Your hands went to your sides to hold up your dress a little, so you could walk without tripping. You send one more smile to Hild before making your way towards Lady Gisela. You kept your chin up and your shoulders back as you ignored the hungry looks from the Danes you walked past. You stop yourself from looking at the Dane that had caught your attention earlier, but when you feel a hard stare on your back, you can't help but look back, hoping to see the pretty Dane looking at you.

But instead, you see one of the other Danes staring at you as you walk away, specifically your arse. The look of disgust on your face quickly changes to a look of surprise when the Dane who was staring at you inappropriately, is bumped into causing him to stop looking at you. You felt your heart flutter in appreciation when you saw that it was the pretty Dane who purposely bumped into him. He noticed your stare and gave you a small nod before looking forward and catching an apple from the tall Dane.

“Lady Y/n are you ready to go?” Lady Gisela asked. You quickly looked away from the Danes and to Lady Gisela, who had taken a few steps to be closer to you.

“Oh yes I am, my apologies” you apologize with a bashful smile, your hands nervously playing with the fabric of your dress. Lady Gisela was a very kind woman, but she had such a strong presence that you couldn't help but feel a little nervous under her charming eyes.

“No need to apologize” Lady Gisela says with a knowing smirk. You start to worry that she noticed you staring at the pretty Dane. She doesn't say anything on the matter, she just links her arm in yours and starts to lead you to where her tent was, starting a conversation with one of the women that was joining you.

You glance behind you one more time to see he was already looking at you. When the two of you lock eyes you give him a small smile, before quickly looking forward before your small exchange would be seen by others. You tried to focus on Lady Gisela’s and the others' conversation, but your mind kept on bringing you back to thoughts of the pretty Dane. I really need to figure out his name, so i can stop calling him pretty Dane you think with a faint smile.

Cooling down in Lady Gisela’s tent was nice, you had missed spending time with other women. You of course had Hild, but the two of you were always surrounded by Uhtred and Halig. So, spending time with strictly just women was nice, and very much needed. You spent a few hours with them, eating, talking…well more like gossiping before you went to your own tent. King Guthred had asked for his sister, and you felt more comfortable being in your tent since it was starting to get dark.

You were alone in your tent for a few minutes, just resting on your bed that was covered with many different furs. King Guthred had been very kind and had made sure that your tent was satisfactory for you, and it definitely was. You were reading one of your father's books when Uhtred walked into your tent, sword in hand. You would have been worried that something was wrong if Uhtred didn't smile at you and lift up the sword sharpening stone.

The worry on your face disappears and you greet him with a smile, you can tell that Uhtred wasn't ready to talk so you go back to reading your book. While Uhtred sits on the wooden stool in your tent and starts sharpening his sword, focusing on his thoughts. This had happened a few times before, Uhtred coming to you to relax and quietly focus on his thoughts. The silence between the two of you was never awkward. You both felt very comfortable in each other's presence.

It was silent for a few more minutes, the only thing you could hear was the sound of Uhtred sharpening his sword and the faint sound of talking from outside your tent. You were nearing the end of the chapter; the main character was voicing her worries to her mentor about their enemies, and it started to get you thinking.

“I don't trust them” you say after a few more minutes of silence. Your eyes were trained down at your book, your eyebrows furrowed as you thought more about it. Uhtred stopped sharpening his sword and looked towards you, confused and intrigued. “Who?”

“The Danes Uhtred, i don't trust them.”

“You know you will be safe with me” he reassured you when he sensed the worry in your tone. He also had his suspicions about them, but he didn’t like that you worried about them. He wanted you to feel safe with him and not worry about such things.

“I know that Uhtred, but what if they want to harm you?”

“Are you worrying about me?” Uhtred wonders with a small smirk. Finding it adorable that you were worrying about him.

You huff in annoyance and close your book and set it by your side, annoyed that it seemed that he wasn’t taking what you were saying seriously. “Uhtred, I’m serious I can’t exactly protect you.”

Uhtred laughs warmly and stands up, setting his sword and sharpening stone on the wood table by his stool. Before he comes and crouches in front of you. He reaches for your hands that were in your lap and gives them a reassuring squeeze. “You don’t protect me, I protect you.”

“Stop worrying little flower” Uhtred smiles at you, squeezing your hands one more time before kissing your forehead and standing up. You return the smile even though you were still worried, you trusted Uhtred with your life, so you trusted his words.

Uhtred walks back to the table and grabs his sword before turning to look at you with a grin. “Now come join us and eat, Hild is worried you’re not eating enough.”

“If Hild keeps on feeding me so much I’m going to need new dresses to fit in” you say with another huff and a roll of your eyes. You knew Hild only had good intentions, but there was only so much you could eat.

“Well, that won’t do, I don’t have enough coin to buy you more of your fancy dresses” Uhtred jokes with a teasing smirk. He laughs loudly and moves to the side, dodging the fancy comb you threw at him.

“One, please tell Hild I will be staying in my tent and that I’m not hungry. Two, me and my fancy dresses are choosing to ignore what you just said.”

“Whatever you say princess” Uhtred says with one more last smile before leaving, nodding at your personal guard that stayed outside your tent at all times. Whenever Uhtred wasn’t with you, he made sure that your guard was with you. He never wanted you to be alone and defenseless again.

You let out a tired sigh once Uhtred had left, the heat from earlier and the long day you had, finally getting to you. You let yourself fall back against your bed and close your eyes. The soft furs of your bed just telling you to go to sleep, you ended up listening to them, and you drifted off in a peaceful sleep. Completely clueless to what was happening in the stables, not too far from you.

The next time you saw the pretty Dane was in the morning, and you were thoroughly confused at the sight in front of you. You were already dressed and ready for the day when you stepped out of your tent, you walked around the camp hoping to find Uhtred, Hild, anyone you knew really.

You stopped dead in your tracks, a look of confusion on your face. The pretty Dane that you couldn’t keep your eyes away from yesterday…was tied to a cart. Why is he tied up? You thought. What have I missed?

“Lady y/n” a voice brings you out of your thoughts. You look away from the tied-up Dane to an approaching Halig. Haligs voice gets the attention of the Dane and he turns his head to see who Halig was talking to, he sits up straight when he sees who it is. It’s you he thought.

“Hild is in her tent if you need her” Halig continues, he had assumed you were looking for her, like you usually do in the mornings. You give Halig a faint smile before glancing back at the Dane, who quickly avoided eye contact from you. “Oh, I’m alright Halig. Why is he tied up? Where are the other Danes?”

“Those bastards are dead, we're keeping that one over there as a prisoner” Halig responds with a proud nod, your eyes widened and you step closer to Halig, you really did miss a lot. “What happened?”

“Oh, right you were sleeping, well those bastards tried to kill Uhtred but- “Halig says as if it was nothing, but you are quick to cut him off, feeling very worried for Uhtred.

“Is Uhtred okay? Where is he?” You asked Halig anxiously. You were right, those Danes couldn’t be trusted, oh you hope Uhtred is okay. The pretty Dane deflates and looks down at the ground at the way you worry about Uhtred. Of course, a pretty woman like you was taken, and of course it had to be with the man he was sent to help kill, he thought with an annoyed scoff.

“He's in his tent” Halig tells her first and opens his mouth again to brag about how well he did last night, but you quickly walk past him. One thing on your mind, and that was to make sure Uhtred was okay. Halig just shrugs and walks back to the cart loading it.

You make your way through the camp and back towards your tent, Uhtred’s tent was close to yours, he didn't want you far from him. You turn the corner of your tent the same time someone else does, you jump back in fright, putting your hand on your chest. Uhtred laughs and holds your arms gently, so you don't trip. “Did I scare you y/n.”

You ignore his words and throw your arms over his shoulders, closing your eyes and pulling him in for a tight hug. You were so afraid that he was hurt from last night, so you were very happy to see him in front of you, seemingly to be alright. Uhtred’s eyes widen in surprise from your hug, but he's quick to wrap his arms around your waist and hold you to his chest. “Whoa I must've really scared you."

“Halig said the Danes tried to kill you” You voice out, but it comes out muffled because your face was currently shoved in his chest. Uhtred smiles now understanding, you were still worried for him. Uhtred rubs your back and whispers gently. “I am okay y/n, come on let's get breakfast, I’ll tell you what you have missed.”

You and Uhtred had gotten some fruit and bread and sat down at a table where Uhtred had explained all that you missed. And let's just say your worry for Uhtred did not lessen. If Kjartan sent men to get Uhtred once, what's stopping him from doing it a second time? You open your mouth to voice your worries but close it when you see Uhtred attention goes to Lady Gisela who’s walking past the two of you. Your eyes widen when Lady Gisela gives Uhtred a shy smile before continuing to walk away.

Uhtred turns to look at you and you raise your eyebrow, silently questioning what that was. Uhtred rolls his eyes and stands up, making you look up at him. “I have some things to do, Hild should be around here somewhere.”

“You mean you have someone to do?” You say with a mischievous smile. Uhtred laughs and shakes his head at your response, he truly has been a bad influence on you. He turns to walk away but turns back, forgetting that he has to tell you something. “Y/n, don't go near the prisoner, okay?”

“Okay”

You of course didn't end up listening to him. It was an hour or so since your conversation with Uhtred and you feared you would die from boredom. Hild was praying, Halig was with Clapa, your guard was training and Uhtred… well you didn't want to know what he was currently doing. Since everyone was busy, that means the prisoner was being guarded by a random man, a random man that you could easily trick.

If you were going to do this you had to make sure you were doing it the right way, you had no room for mistakes. A mistake in this situation would get you in a lot of trouble, and you really didn't want to be in trouble with Uhtred. Your fear of getting in trouble with Uhtred was calling you to stall and hide behind a tree, and out of sight from the guard and the pretty Dane.

You weren't scared of Uhtred, you just didn't want to disappoint him by not listening to him. You really did plan on listening to him, but your curiosity had gotten to you, and you spent the last 30 minutes making a plan of action. A plan to talk to the pretty Dane. It definitely wasn't the best plan, to be clear. But with a little luck, you would have your chance to talk to him.

You didn't understand why this Dane you knew nothing about had captured your attention. You knew he was dangerous and not on your side, was that what attracted you to him? Or was it the way he defended you in a way yesterday? You didn’t know, but you wanted to find out.

“I’m gonna take a piss, don't move” A voice behind you said, you looked behind the tree to see the guard talking to the Dane. This was your chance; you didn't even have to distract him. The guard snickers and walks backwards “Not like you could move even if you wanted to.”

You roll your eyes at the guard's remark, you watch as he walks through the trees and far out of sight. You wait a few more moments, just to make sure you would be safe and wouldn't be seen. You let out a nervous breath and step out from behind the tree. The Dane’s back was towards you, so he didn't notice you step out from behind the trees. You took a few steps towards the cart, only to step on a twig; alerting him of your presence.

The Dane's head swiftly snaps to look at you, as soon as he hears the sound of the twig snapping under your foot. You smile shyly when the two of you lock eyes, taking a few more steps to now stand in front of him. The Dane just looks up at you, confusion in his eyes, he didn't understand why you out of all the people were here…right in front of him.

“Here” You began as you crouched down in front of him, holding out a red apple for him; a gentle smile on your face, hoping that it would hide your nervousness. “I noticed you haven't eaten yet” You continued.

The Dane hesitantly takes the apple from her hands. He wasn't going to at first, but the warmness he felt from your smile and eyes told him that it's okay. You looked into his eyes, and you couldn't help but be surprised at the sight, he had two different colored eyes, one blue and one brown. How peculiar, but beautiful you thought with a smile. You spoke with a soft tone “I’m Y/n, what's your name?”

“I’m Sihtric” He tells you quickly, also looking into your eyes. You were so close to him, and he just wanted to memorize everything about you. His eyes widen when he realizes his mistake on the way he addressed you. “My Lady” he told you quickly and nervously.

“You can just call me Y/n” You smile widely, you find his nervousness adorable. You didn't expect a ‘murderous and dangerous Dane’ to get so nervous and shy in front of you. Halig had told you earlier that he's a ‘murderous and dangerous Dane’ but he didn't seem like that in front of you.

It was quiet for a few moments besides the sound of sihtric biting into the apple and the faint sound of birds in the distance, you didn't have much time you had to tell him.

“Thank you Sihtric”

“Shouldn't I be the one thanking you?” He says confused, motioning towards the almost finished apple that he scarfed down, maybe later he would feel a little embarrassed for eating in such a way in front of a lady, you really didn't care though.

“I mean for yesterday” You clarified, your smile still on your face.

“It's no problem my lady” He tells you, returning the smile with one of his own. You go to tell him that he didn't have to call you that but you close your mouth and look behind you when you hear footsteps. You sigh, you wanted more time with him.

“I should go, Bye sihtric” You give him a faint smile before standing up, ignoring the small ache you felt in your legs from crouching for so long. You grab onto your dress and rush off before you could be seen and before sihtric could respond to you.

“Bye Y/n” Sihtric whispered to himself as he turned his head to watch you rush off, a small smile forming on his face when you almost trip over the bottom of your dress. He watches until he can't see you anymore, he sighs and turns back around leaning back against the cart and hiding the finished apple behind the wheel. He missed you already, this isn't good he thought to himself.

You weren't present when Sihtric held a sword to Halig’s throat and swore his sword and loyalty to Uhtred. You were at a table reading and eating some fruit, let's just say you were very surprised when you saw sihtric walk past the table you were sitting at, following an annoyed Halig. Why am I always missing everything you thought with a huff.

You were watching Halig and sihtric walk away when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You flinch and quickly turn around to see who it was, you let out a breath of relief when you see it's a smiling Uhtred and not some creep trying to cop a feel. Why did he always have to scare you! “Uhtred!”

“I didn't mean to scare you, come on King Guthred wants us to join them to eat” Uhtred laughs we really need to work on her not being so jumpy Uhtred thinks. You really wanted to refuse but you knew you couldn't, it wouldn't be ladylike of you if you did. So, you sighed and stood up, holding your closed book to your chest. Uhtred smiles and wraps his arm around your shoulder and leads you to where King Guthred was sitting, Lady Gisela sitting next to him.

You had left the table a few moments after Uhtred did, claiming that you were going to your tent to cool down from the beating sun. Lady Gisela who had noticed your discomfort earlier on was quick to say her goodbyes with a knowing smile. You were grateful to have her in your life. You glance at Clapa fighting as you walk past the group of men cheering for him.

You sigh and hold your hands in front of you as you walk towards your tent, trying to ignore your guards' eyes that were on your back. He followed you almost everywhere if you weren't with Uhtred, he made sure not to stay too close to you, he knew you liked your privacy. You could see your tent in the distance, and you wanted to smile in relief, knowing that you could have some quiet and alone time in your tent. You pull back the flap of your tent and go to step in but stop in your tracks at the sound of someone calling for you.

“Lady Y/n” Sihtric Greets as he walks towards you, only to step back and raise his hands in surrender when your guard steps closer to him and pulls out his sword telling sihtric to stay back. Your eyes widen and you step closer to them. “It's alright Matthew, you can leave us.”

“My lady?” Matthew looks back at you with a confused look, his sword still pointing at sihtric.

“I will be fine Matthew” You reassure him with a small nod. Matthew looks back at you one more time, before setting his gaze on sihtric and giving him, a glare and he slowly lowers his sword. Matthew doesn't break eye contact with sihtric as he steps back and takes his usual position at the side of your tent. Sihtric gulps feeling slightly intimidated by your guard. You smile at the slight fear in sihtric’s eyes, little did he know how much of a softie Matthew truly is.

“Sihtric, we can talk inside” You smile motioning towards your tent, it would be nice to talk to him privately. Sihtric spares a glance towards your guard, before stepping forward and following you into your tent. Neither of them noticed a man hiding behind another tent watching the exchange, he didn't stay long before he rushed to tell what he saw to a certain Abbot.

Sihtric's eyes widen when he steps into your tent, and he takes in the sight. He had briefly seen the inside of Halig’s tent when he was showing him around earlier, and it was no way near as nice as yours was. Sihtric wipes his hands on his pants trying to show you that he was nervous, and to be fair, he wasn't the only one freaking out about him being in your tent. You were too.

It is highly inappropriate to be alone in your tent, if only your mother could see you now. She's definitely turning in her grave at your unladylike ness. You ignore your nervousness and walk over to the table that has a jug of water and a few cups, you fill two cups of water up and turn around, holding a cup out for him. “Here”

“Thank you, y/n,” Sihtric smiles as he steps closer to you, when he takes the cup in his grasp his hand brushes against yours, he's alarmed at how much your soft touch affected him, that's never happened before.

“I missed a lot in a short amount of time, you aren't Uhtred's prisoner anymore?” You question him even though you already know the answer. You move to sit on your bed, the soft furs comforting you. You take a sip of your water while your other hand plays with the soft fur.

“No, I swore my loyalty to him,” Sihtric said as his eyes followed every move of yours. He slowly took a sip of his water, cooling his dry throat. Sihtric stands still in his spot near the front of your tent.

“So, I shouldn't be worried about you killing me then? Or Uhtred?” You smile teasingly as you lean back on your palm. Your eyes not leaving his as you tilt your head slightly. Sihtric feels his heart start to beat faster at the sight in front of him, you looked so beautiful, the teasing smile and look in your eyes was making him feel things he shouldn't feel.

“Lady, I would never! I won't harm you or your husband.”

“My husband?” You laugh out with a confused smile. I don't have a husband?

“Uhtred is your husband, isn't he?” Sihtric questions, you find the way he tilted his head slightly as he asked adorable.

“No no no, Uhtred is like a brother to me” You stumble over your words as you try to get them out as quickly as you can. You and Uhtred? No way. Why would he think that? You stop leaning back and sit straight as you look up at him.

Sihtric licks his lips and tries to ignore the burst of relief he felt at your words. There was still a chance you were married; I hope you're not sihtric thinks. “Do…Do you have a husband?”

“No i don't” You smile thankfully, you definitely weren't ready for marriage. You look down at your cup of water, why was he asking? You look up from your cup and to his eyes he is very handsome and asking if I am married, why is this making me so flustered “Do you have a wife?”

“No lady, i don't” When sihtric says those words it's like music to your ears. Sihtric noticed the way your eyes lit up at his answer and he had to hide his smile from seeing your reaction. The tension was thick as the two of you stared into each other's eyes, neither of you wanting to break eye contact and neither of you knowing what to say.

“Why did you swear your loyalty to uhtred?” You wondered aloud, finally breaking the silence. Sihtrics eyes widen, and he falters a little, as if he didn't expect you to ask him that. You lean back on your palm and take a sip of your water that you had forgotten was in your hand, you were too distracted by his beautiful eyes, but then again who wouldn't be. God he's so pretty.

“A lot of reasons really” He cleared his throat and took another sip of his water. You could see a lot of emotions in his eyes as he thought about your question. You scooted over on your bed and patted the spot next to you. If he did feel comfortable telling you those reasons you wanted him to be comfortable physically, not standing on the other side of the tent looking at you as if you were going to pounce on him any second.

He hesitates but when you give him a comforting smile, he walks across the tent and sits next to you. Not to close, but close enough that had both of you feeling flustered. You noticed he seemed a little apprehensive as you playfully bumped your shoulder into his and offered him a kind smile. “We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, i know we met not to long ag-”

“My Father is Kjartan, and my mother was a slave” He cuts you off. You closed your mouth and made sure that you kept your face neutral at his confession. You definitely didn't expect that, and you didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by your shock. Sihtric looked down at his knees as he added “Kjartan showed me no love or care, I know what type of man he is, he's a terrible man. A man that I don't want to serve.”

“Lord Uhtred, He's a good man. I want to serve a man like Uhtred, not my father” Sihtric finally gets the courage to look at you, readying himself to see anger or disappointment in your eyes at the fact that he's Kjartans bastard son. But he just sees your kind eyes.

“Uhtred is a good man and he's lucky to have you. '' you tell him with a smile, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. Sihtric looks down at your hand on your shoulder before quickly looking back at you, giving you a smile of his own. “I think I'm the lucky one.”

“How so?” You voice out with a shy giggle, feeling very flustered under his gaze. His eyes were staring into yours, only breaking the flirty eye contact to glance down at your lips. Both of you absentmindedly leaning closer, you found yourself looking down at his lips before looking back up to his eyes. You were so close you could feel each other's breath on your face, but still not close enough, your fingers were just itching to pull him closer.

“Lady y/n, Lady Gisela requests your presence” Matthew called from the outside of your tent, causing you and sihtric to jump apart. The annoyed curse you mutter under your breath causes sihtric to smirk. I did not expect that from a lady sihtric thought, but then again, he also didn't expect a lady to invite him in her tent. You were full of surprises.

“I should go” you tell him with a nod, but your eyes tell him that you want to stay. Sihtric notices the look in your eyes and doesn’t stop the cocky smile to appear on his face. He stands up and holds his hand out for you so he could help you up. You take his hand and let him help you up, your hands still interlocked as he spoke “Of course My lady.”

“Goodbye Sihtric” You smile up at him, you sadly let go of his hand. You liked the way his hand fit perfectly with yours, but you needed to go. Hopefully I can hold his hand another time you think happily. Sihtric leans down and takes you by surprise when his warm lips kiss your cheek. Just as soon as it happened it was over, sihtric steps back and gives you a cheeky smile, saying one last thing before leaving. “Goodbye y/n”

Over the next few days, a lot happened, not to you…but a lot happened. Uhtred had made sure to keep you away and safe from everything that was happening. So, you spent most of your time with Lady Gisela and Hild and of course Matthew. You were surprised how much you had missed sihtric over the few days, there weren't a lot of chances the two of you could talk. Both Uhtred and Matthew were tense about everything that was going on so that had made them even more protective than usual.

So that left you and sihtric to longing glances, small greetings through the day whenever you had the chance to, which was rare. Sihtric had started to miss you so much he even thought about sneaking into your tent at night to see you…he didn't think about it much. He knew Matthew wouldn't hesitate to stab his sharp impressive sword through his throat.

The first time you had a chance to really talk to sihtric again was when you were walking towards your horse. Everyone was getting ready for the journey to Eoferwic, Matthew was with Hild helping her with getting her things, he was reluctant to leave you at first, but you had convinced him to go help Hild, saying something about how she wanted his help…it wasn't too hard to convince him after you said that.

You were petting your horse when you heard the sound of footsteps, you quickly turned your head; the nervous look on your face turned to a smile when you saw who it was. Sihtric smiles and steps to your side, bringing his hand up to pet your horse's mane. You smiled back and looked back at your horse before saying “Would it be weird if I said I have missed you?”

Sihtric grins and chuckles and looks at you, admiring your side profile. Your words made him happier than he thought they would you are really do something to me “I guess we're both weird because i have missed you to my lady.”

“I have said several times that you don't have to call me that.” You scrunch your nose before trying your best to glare at him, but the laugh that slips past his lips causes you to smile and laugh as well. You were slightly out in the open, so in the back of your head you were a little worried that the two of you being seen laughing and close would cause some problems, but his next words made you forget your worries.

“I know, but I like the way your nose scrunches up when I call you that. It's cute” Sihtric tells you after he stops laughing. Your eyes widen and you shyly look back at your horse.

“What?” Sihtric asks when he notices the look on your face. Did he overstep? The last thing he wanted to do was make you uncomfortable. You saw the panic in his eyes, so you stepped closer to him and placed your hand on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I've been called many things, but never cute.”

“Now that's weird” Sihtric flirts and tries to not make it obvious that he was looking at you up and down, admiring you. You had caught his eyes and felt a boost of confidence but before you could do anything the sounds of footsteps alerted you. Halig steps closer to the two of you, giving you a smile and nod before giving sihtric a heated glare. “Lord Uhtred needs you.”

“Goodbye Lady y/n” Sihtric said to you, making sure to emphasize the lady. You nod and mumble your goodbyes, watching as he takes a few steps backwards before turning around and walking off to where you assumed Uhtred was. You hoped you hid your disappointment well, and that Halig didn't notice.

Halig looks at you and asks, “Was he bothering you?”

“No Halig, he wasn't bothering me” you tell him with a reassuring nod. Halig nods and gives you one more look before walking off. When you make sure he can't see you, your lips spread into a smile as you think more about the pretty dane.

He definitely wasn't bothering me…

note: Hii! I’m back!! I feel like it’s been sooo long since I posted a fic! I have missed you all <;3

So this is the first part in my ‘promised to another’ short series. When I got this request I fell in love and so many ideas for it so I decided to make it into a short series! (The rest that was suggested in the request will take place in part two and then the other parts will a surprise on what happens 😉)

So there was actually more to this first part, I was at around 10.5k words and I wasn’t even done yet. So I decided to cut the first part into 2! The next part should be up next week idk!

Feel free to send some asks about this series. I would love to talk to you guys about it! ☺️

Please comment if you would like to be added to the taglist for this series or my tlk taglist in general!

So I have been pretty busy lately, but besides this short series and my WIP’s I have also started on another project!

I’m super excited about this! I have a series for osferth in the works! I cant wait to get the teaser out for you guys!

Please comment and tell me what you guys think about this! I would love to read all your thoughts!

Comments, likes and reblogs are very much appreciated!

Taglist: @clairacassidy @mads-weasley @haikyusfics

#the last kingdom #the last kingdom x reader #sihtric kjartansson #sihtric x reader #sihtric imagine #the last kingdom fanfic #arnas fedaravicius #sihtric the last kingdom #sihtric tlk #the last kingdom fluff

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dahliamalfoy97 · 1 year

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ETERNALLY YOURS- Kokushibo x reader one shot

Synopsis: this is an au where Kokushibo is still a demon but it’s more of a legend type thing and the villagers fear him because he steals girls at night and disappears with them. I’m not going to give too much away because I don’t want to spoil. You’ll just have to read below to find out what it’s about.

Warning: SMUT 18+ content, MDNI, kidnapping, mentions of murder and killing, loss of virginity, unprotected sex, oral sex, blowjob, penetration, praise kink, degradation kink, choking, blood, umm just explicit content so beware.

Word Count: 3,924

———-

They say he comes at night.

On the night of every full moon, the Demon of the Night will randomly kidnap a girl and that girl would never return. No one knew what this monster did with the girls he took but everyone had a feeling he either fed on them or killed them.

So everyone was terrified of him. Everyone except for you. You were curious of the man of legend. But you yourself wanted to be taken away from this place. You hated it here in your hometown. You hated the people. They had tormented you ever since your parents had died in a fire. You had been the survivor but you had been left with some gnarly scars specifically on your face. So you were often bullied and mocked for your appearance. Even the adults would take part in your torture. You hated everyone of them. And wished death would either come to them or to you. To save you from this never ending hell.

Since no one would take you in, you were left sleeping in a barn in a loft, up above the horses and cows. It often stunk and your clothes were always filthy and torn, but it was better than nothing. You often were able to sneak into the baths at night to avoid the townspeople. You had often wondered about running away from this hometown and starting a new life, but you were worried about how outsiders would see you. So you stayed.

It was a few minutes before midnight, the moon was full and brighter than ever. But tonight instead of it's usual white color, it was a deep red. You wondered if this would be your night. this had been a night you had definitely cleaned yourself for. For you didn't want to be filthy. You wanted to be ready for him.

Unable to sleep, you lie awake on the makeshift bed you had created from your clothes, staring out the window at the moon. Waiting.

Thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of the demon.

Suddenly, screaming fills the night outside. You get up to peak outside the window. Your eyes widen when you see the town in flames. You scramble up, and head down the ladder. You run outside but a hand grabs you, and you're yanked against the barn wall.

A tall figure has you pinned but you can make out the face because it's covered with a hood.

"Are you ready my love?" A deep low voice rumbles and you can't help but bite your lip.

"Are you him? The Demon of The Night?" You ask, desperately trying to get a look at what hid underneath the shadows of his hood.

"Yes, I've come to take you with me".

"Then please take me away."

Urgently, he scoops you in his arms, arms hooked underneath your legs, bridal style you are whisked away through what appears to be black mist. You cling tightly to him, not sure where he was taking you. But you didn't care.

He sets you down on what appears to be a bed in a darkly lit room. He sits beside you.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Not you, dear one. You're the only one I don't want to kill. I want you to be mine, my queen."

You shake your head covering your face, "but why me? I'm ugly. A monster. Were the other girls not enough for you?"

Ripping your hands away from your face, He yanks his hood down and suddenly you're met with not one but 3 pairs of golden eyes, covered in deep red sclera. You reach out to touch his face, with is marred with reddish flame scar like mark decorating the left corner of his forehead stopping right above his ear and then he had some more on his right chin. You weren't disgusted. But merely curious. You were sure most people would be repulsed by such a face. But you- you found him beautiful. He had long black hair that cascaded into waves all the way past his waist.

"You're not ugly, you are gorgeous," he growls, "Compared to me you are everything this world doesn't deserve. Those girls causes you harm. That's why I kidnapped and killed them."

You gasp, eyes widening, "you killed them for me?"

He holds your hands in his letting you continue to map him with your hands, "you prayed for someone to save you from that hell of a town right? For someone to make them pay for hurting you every day?"

Again you're taken aback, "how did you know?"

He presses a kiss to your right hand, fire shoots into your entire soul, you didn't know why a demon made your soul soar. Him, out of all beings was the one to send shivers of warmth down your spine, the one to make your twos curl. But here you were out of breath from just the small gesture alone.

"I heard your prayer, dear one. I heard you calling for me. Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Well it has to be possible if you are," you reply.

"You may not remember me from our previous lives. Because every time your memory is erased every time you are reborn. But you and I have been destined as soulmates for eternity. But since i am a demon and you are a mortal, life always seems to take you away from me. I can't die but you can. For I am not allowed to have a happy life for destroying so many. So it is my curse to always watch you die. But I am always finding a way to break this curse. But the only way to do that is for you to become a demon. With me."

"So why haven't I become one before?" You felt an immense pain in your gut even though you had no memory of your past lives with him. Something untethered bound you to him you could feel it in the way he touched your hand. There was an invisible string that connected your soul to his and you knew he was telling the truth. Your heart hurt to know he's been suffering this curse for so long.

"Because in your past lives you've had everything you've needed in your mortal life so you haven't wanted to become one. And something tragic always happens to you. So I've never had the chance-"

"Then take it now," you demand, "make me yours, Demon of the Night."

"Please, my name is Kokushibo, call me by my name, and you really want to bind your soul to mine forever and surrender your mortal life to me?"

"Please," you cry. "Please make me yours, Koku."

That's all he needs to cradle your face in his hands and to close the gap between you. You gasp when his hot demanding lips collide with yours ever so gently, yet all consuming at the same time. You move so you're straddling his lap. Legs booked around his waist as you cling to him in lotus like position. You wound your hands in his long hair, whimpering at how soft and silky it feels. He growls when you tug at his scalp, trying to pull him as close and the gentle rhythm is replaced with hungry, desperate one as you desperately try to press yourself even closer- as close as possibly could get your bodies with all the in between. You rock yourself against his hard length that's hidden underneath his purple kimono. You could tell he was massive with how heavy and hard he felt underneath you. You pull eagerly at his kimono wanting it off. But he pulls away.

"Not so fast dear one", he chuckles, his deep voice going straight to your core and you let out a whine. "I really need you to understand that once we do this, once we cross this line, there's no going back." His breath hovers above your exposed neck peaking through your flimsy shirt that did nothing to hide you since it was full of holes. You knew your nipples were pebbled against the fabric, just his mere presence was enough to turn you on.

"I know, I want this," you whisper, with determined fervor. "I may not remember my past lives with you, but something in my soul is tied to you and I know I can't live without you. So please let's not repeat the past. Make me yours so we can be together forever."

"You're absolutely sure?"

You nod, "one hundred percent."

With no further hesitation, his mouth on yours again. This time with way more force than before. His hands reach up, ripping your shirt into shreds and discarding it's pieces on the ground. He takes them both in his large hands and fondles them, you arch and moan into his touch. Coming alive with every kneed and tweak. It felt like you were clay in his hands. For him to mold and break. To tear and piece back together. His lips left yours to leave hungry kisses along your neck. You felt sharp scrap along your skin as his fangs grazed it. Nibbling on slightly enough to sting and leave a mark but not enough to make it bleed.

You were a mess in his lap, rocking and whimpering over his clothed member frantic for more of whatever he gave you.

"Please Koku, take me," you murmur in desperate pleas.

"Fuck, I already love hearing you beg for me," he rasps, against your skin. Nipping on your nipple, causing you to cry out.

He lets go of your breasts push you back on the bed, he towers over you, before leaning back down to kiss you again. He trails kisses down your body from your collarbone, down your stomach, his hands caressing running along your thighs, ripping the rest of fabric you wore off of you. Leaving you in just your panties, which were soaked already. His kisses move to your thighs, creating a path up to your center. Each kiss sending bolts of electrify. He pauses , hovering, over your clothed core. His gold irises glow in pride at the dampness of them. His index finger runs along the material.

"I can't wait to taste you, dear one. I can smell your sweet arousal from here and it makes me insatiable."

Immediately , he tears off your panties and wastes no time diving in, making you his own personal feast as he devours you with his mouth. His tongue swirling around your clit in delicious patterns. You grip his hair tugging him in deeper and eagerly grind on his face. Eliciting appreciative growls and hums that end you into overdrive with the vibrations.

"Shit, Koku, don't stop," you cry, head thrown back. Eyes shut. Immediately, you feel a sharp pain on your clit, your eyes blink open. Finding those golden eyes glaring at you in disapproval.

"Don't close your eyes," he growls, then he resumes, fûcking you with his mouth, as soon as he deems you wet enough, he inserts a finger. You whimper at the foreign feeling. For this was your first time.

"Koku," you murmur softly, "you should know I've never done this with anyone."

He stills immediately gold irises locking on yours with surprise, "you mean no one's ever touched you? You're a virgin?"

You shake your head, "no, you're my first."

He smirks, something feral brews in those eyes, "oh you have no idea how happy that makes me. That I'll be your first and I'll definitely be your last, and anyone who tries to look at you or even think about you. I'll kill them. You're mine, and mine only. You got that?"

You nod, tears forming in your eyes. For no one had ever wanted you. "I just can't believe you want me as yours. No one has. They've always said I'm ugly and that I'm a monster."

"Well those fuckers are wrong, they're the monsters. You are magnificent and absolutely beautiful," he growls, "you're a fûcking queen. A goddess meant to be worshipped. And that is what I'll do as your king and your mate I'm going to worship the fuck out of you."

You can't help but cry at this, you had never felt so desired. So wanted. Those cries turn into moans as he continues to eat your pussy, adding a second and third finger. Curling them around you to find your sweet spot. Once he does he begins fucking you mercilessly with his fingers. Stretching you out so good.

"You feel so good, Koku," you praise.

"No, you’re the one who feels exquisite," he grunts. With the combination of his praise and the rapid thrusts of his fingers, you feel yourself clenching around his fingers and coming undone.

You watch in a daze as he stands up sucking your juices off his fingers. He discards of his own clothes. Your jaw drops at how beautifully ripped he is. As if cut from marble. Every ridge and plane of his body was pure art. And his cock, it was massive. You immediately sat up and crawled to him, reaching out to grasp it but he stops you.

"You can do that another time ," he says. "Right now I need to be inside you. This night is all about making you feel good."

"But I want to make you feel good too," you beg.

"Making you feel good will make me feel good."

"Please," you demand again. "To thank you for saving me."

He grins, "okay. Since you beg so prettily."

You first reach up to touch his chest though, running your hands to feel the ridges of his chest. He inhales sharply. Feeling your warm touch against his. You truly were a miracle for his cold and dark heart. You press some kisses along his chest and down towards his awaiting cock. Which was standing hard and stiff against his stomach. You take it in your hands, gently stroking in. You didn't really know what you were doing, but something in you seemed to remember how to touch and please him. For he let out a groan of pleasure as you stroked his shaft. His cock much bigger than your hands. It was thick and girthy. Hot and heavy against your touch. Your thighs ached. You lean forward, running your tongue along his slit before sucking on his head slightly. Before licking along his shaft and along his underside. Humming in pleasure at his salty taste. You take him further into your mouth, hollowing your cheeks to take him in as far as you go. Choking slightly when it reaches the back of your throat. You pull off only to take him again setting a rhythm of bobbing your head up and down, gripping his thighs as you continue to suck him off.

He grips your hair to tug it out of your face, deep moans fall from his lips, "you're doing so good, goddess. Your mouth feels so good around my cock."

Tears spring from your eyes the deeper you take him, saliva dripped from your mouth. But you didn't stop.

"Keep going", he urges, guiding your head helping you keep a steady rhythm. "Such a good girl. "

His grunts become more erratic and you reach to cup his balls, squeezing them lightly. But when you do that he pulls out.

"You do that and you're going to make me cum," he growls. "I don't want to cum yet, not until I'm inside that pretty pussy of yours."

Shortly he's pushing you down on the bed, pulling me towards the edge of the bed. Spreading my legs wide. He grips his cock, stroking it. "You don't know how long I've been aching to be inside you. To make you officially mine."

He takes his cock and runs it up and down along your slit. Mixing his precum and your arousal together. Before lining up with your entrance.

"Since it's your first time, let me know if it hurts. I'll try to be gentle at first. But it'll probably sting just a little. But I got you"

"I've taken worse in my life, Koku," you assure him, "I'm sure I can handle you just fine."

That's all the encouragement he needs, to begin pushing his tip inside you. And god, just his head alone was big. It stretched you out in ways you had never been stretched before. Your walls clenched around as he pushed his way through. The stretch was unfamiliar and was a little painful but it felt good the way he filled you up. The way you two were connected.

"Goddamn, you're so fucking tight," he growls.

At last he's fully seated inside of you, once you've adjusted to his size he slowly pulls out before slamming in again. He grips your waist in his hands as he begins pounding into you. You reach up to pull him down into a kiss, your moans mixing with his grunts.

"You are so fucking tight," he growls. "I love the way your pussy hugs my cock, as if it’s specifically made to take my cock and mine only. Desperate to be stretched by me and filled by me.”

You whimper at his dirty words for they only seemed to heighten your pleasure. He felt so good. Every inch and vein of his cock stretched you out so perfectly. Each thrust seeming to go deeper and deeper.

"That's right, make those pretty noises for me, let me hear how I make you feel."

He hooks your legs over his shoulders. This angle deeper than before.

"Fuck don't stop, Koku!" You cry.

"Trust me, I'm not planning on stopping any time soon."

Soon, all you can hear in the room is loud slapping of skin, and a series of moans and groans and you lose yourselves in the feeling of each other. Both you so wrapped in how each other felt. Not being able to get enough, not wanting separate. Your hands were on his back, nails digging as he pounded into you with such animalistic speed. His yellow eyes glowed with pleasure and love.

Even though it was your first time, it felt like you guys have been connected before. As if the feeling of him being inside you was awaking some of those lost memories.

When he hits your spot, you cry out, every thrust sending you into overdrive.

"So fucking gorgeous," he praises, "every inch of you deserves to be worshipped."

You can't help but fall apart at his words, "Koku- " you whimper, "I'm going to cum. Mark me."

"With pleasure, my queen," with that his fangs find the skin of your neck and sink into your flesh. You cry out, the overwhelming sensation of his bite, his cock and his words is enough to send you crashing around him. Not soon after do you feel him releasing into you. You feel his hot cum filling you. "Look at how pretty you looks with my cum filling you up. You're so perfect for me, My Queen."

Feeling the adrenaline from the bite, you can feel the shift in your body as you can feel yourself beginning to change and all your memories come rushing back. You flip him over, so you're straddling him. You line him back up with your slit, before sinking back down onto him.

"'Now let me show you how much you deserve to be loved," you lean down to kiss him, biting his lip with your new fangs. You run your nails down his chest as you bounce up and down his shaft. This new position filled you up in new ways. It stretched you out even more deliciously. You looked down to see where you two were connected. Loving the sight. Then you meet his gold irises. "For you killed an entire village for me, and saved me. So now it's my turn to return the favor."

You quicken your pace, up and down. Swirling around his cock with your cunt. His moans become deeper. Your moans higher as his tip hits your spot.

"Take what you want, my Queen. I'm yours."

You can feel the pressure in your stomach building as you feel yourself clenching around him again. You slow your pace, to prolong the orgasm, wanting to make him cum first.

"Your cunt feels so good gripping me like this, you are so fucking perfect," he moans.

Sneaky bastard as he reaches in between to rub your clit, making you come undone again in instant. Feeling you tire, he starts thrusting up into you. Making you arch your back, and grip the sheets for purchase as he slowly but surely regains control. Flipping you back around so you're under him once again. Brutally slamming into you once more, this time his thrusts feel even deeper than before. The bed begins to creak underneath the constant movement.

"It's becoming too much," you cry out. But it's like he's lost all morality, as he's focused on bending and using you to his will.

"You can take it," he growls. "You'll take everything I give you," with that he sinks his fangs into you again and you cry out. Loving the mix of pain and pleasure. "Because you're mine for eternity now. So this body will become so used to my cock it won't be able to function without it."

"Koku," you sob, you cum again. immediately at the sight of your blood dripping from his fangs. The sight turning you on even more. "Give me everything you have."

His detaches his fangs from your neck. Shifts you once again, to where your stomach is pressed against the bed and your ass is forced upwards. He's slamming into you without any warning. He yanks your head up so it's pressed against his chest hammering into you over and over. You crane your neck and bring him in for another sloppy kiss.

He wraps his hand around your neck, squeezing lightly, causing your air to be cut off slightly and for your to tighten your walls around his cock even more. You loved how he was becoming more and more demonic. Not holding back a single ounce of remorse as he broke and mended you over and over.

“I’m going to cum again,” you cry.

“Do it,” he doesn’t stop his hard fast thrusts, “cum for me once more.”

“Cum with me this time,” you plead.

“God I love you,” he says.

“I love you too, Koku.“

Kokushibo lets out one last roar as you come together. He pulls out. And leaves for a moment only to come back with a wash cloth. Once he’s done, he lies down next to you, pulling you into him.

“Finally,” he says, give you a gentle kiss, “we’re officially together and nothing will ever separate us again.”

“I am eternally yours, Koku.”

#kokushibo #kokushibo x reader #kokushibodemonslayer #demon slayer kokushibo #kokushibo smut #uppermoonkoku #kokushibou #kokushibou smut #demon slayer #kny kokushibo #readerxkokushibou #kokuoneshot

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raina-at · 1 year

Text

Letters

Dear John,

Come back.

Don’t get married.

Half of all marriages end in divorce, you don’t want to get married just to get divorced again, do you?

You’ve only known her for six months. That’s nothing.

Is the sex that good?

Do you really love her?

Do you love her more than me?

Forgive me.

Come back.

Don’t get married.

I love you.

I miss you.

You make me better. Everything is better with you.

You think I’m the special one, but that’s not true. It was always you. You keep me right.

I know I don’t deserve it, but please choose me anyway.

Come home.

Please.

Sherlock sighs in frustration as he throws the paper to the floor. How is he supposed to do this?

Every time he tries to think of what he’ll say at the wedding, his heart hurts. His head hurts. Everything hurts. He has a recurring nightmare; he opens his mouth at the wedding and a horrid sort of wailing sound comes out, and everyone’s staring at him because they know it’s the sound of his heart breaking.

He needs help. But the only person who can help him is the one person he can’t ask.

So Lestrade it is.

*-*

Lestrade is surprisingly helpful, and Sherlock manages to write most of his speech with a few pointers from him. Lestrade reassures him that John will be happy, which is the end goal.

Sherlock is about to settle down to his microscope and some interesting slides from a necrotic horse liver when there’s a knock on the door.

Sherlock opens the door to an agitated John, who holds up a sheet of paper.

“Is this true?” he says with an odd, wide-eyed intensity.

“What are you talking about?” Sherlock asks, trying to catch a glimpse of the paper in John’s hand.

John thrusts it at him, and Sherlock’s stomach flips over when he realises that it’s the first draft of his best man speech. The one he threw to the floor. Where a nosy DI must have picked it up and...

He’s going to murder Lestrade with his bare hands.

He looks up at John. “Um…”

“Sherlock,” John says, eyes intent on his. “Is it true?”

“I never meant for you to see this, Lestrade-”

“Never mind that, now,” John says, taking a step closer to Sherlock and gently taking the paper from Sherlock’s hand. “Is it true?” he asks, softly but insistently, looking at Sherlock with an expression that’s almost… hopeful? Surely that can’t be true.

But he doesn’t want to lie anymore, so he nods. Just once.

“Oh,” John says, and surely the lovely smile on his face is a trick of the light. Surely the way he steps closer to Sherlock is all in his head, surely the hands sliding up Sherlock’s arms and cupping his face are a figment of his imagination and surely John’s lips against his have a purely medicinal purpose, breathing life and light into Sherlock’s entire body, his lungs, his heart.

“Oh,” Sherlock breathes against John’s lips as he kisses back.

He’s going to have to do something nice for Lestrade. And he’s going to hold on to that piece of paper. It’ll make a good first draft of his wedding vows.

Thanks for the tag and the idea, @calaisreno , I'm not ready for the fun to end ;-)

I actually wrote something else first, but I think that's going to be the basis for a longer fic, so have another TSoT fix it.

Tagging a few of the usual suspects: @helloliriels @keirgreeneyes @jrow @catlock-holmes @totallysilvergirl @topsyturvy-turtely @meetinginsamarra @jrow @thetimemoves @the-reading-lemon @discordantwords and anyone else who wants to play.

#johnlock #bbc sherlock #johnlock fic #my fic #may prompts #letters

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rkay07 · 8 months

Text

The One Who Speaks

C!Technobladex Fem!Reader

(You and Techno used to be best friends until he developed a crush on you now suddenly 10 years have passed and all you want is a glimpse of him)

Warnings - A/N: Physical Touch, Make-out session but nothing too heated.

FLUFF!

Word Count: 2.5k

Traveling to Philza’s place for your monthly visit was a nice time to reflect, maybe to do something different, maybe don’t travel through the ocean with nothing but your backpack until you come across a shipwreck to make a boat. Yeah, reflecting. Visiting Philza gave you a sense of peace, hearing his stories, seeing he’s doing alright after everything, seeing it’s possible to move on from things you thought would be forever. He gives you hope that one day you might move on from your own problems, like being alone 24/7, traveling to pass the time, and having this stupid “crush” on Technoblade. When you were pre-teens he all of a sudden stopped paying attention to you and all you could do was accept it, you left him in the dust on your horse, sent away to live with your aunt that was hundreds of miles away. You only started visiting Phil when you heard about the town being blown up, you wanted to make sure he was ok. He was like family to you, so one year ago you decided to make the trip to see him and now you go once a month to catch up. When you first went the first thing you asked him was, “Is Techno ok?” He smiled and shook his head softly, “Y/n, you know him…” he walked to the table you were sitting at with two mugs of tea in his hands, “Technoblade never dies.” You smiled with him, “I don’t know him now but yes. He never dies.” He pressed his lips together at your comment, putting one of the mugs in front of you. You thanked him, and picked it up to warm your hands, “Where is he, if you don’t mind me asking?” Phil looked at you with pity written all over his face, “I don’t mind and remember that, but darling I’m going to be honest with you.” He sighed looking down at his mug, “I haven’t seen him in weeks, he rarely speaks to me anymore…” Your eyes widened, you felt a rush of coldness washed over you. You became cold to the touch even with the hot cup in your hands, “I take that back actually,” You looked up from the mug, ready to take anything he had of Techno, “He checks on me from time to time, sometimes even spends the night but he walks around like I’m not there.” Your eyes soften at his words, sorry for what’s happened between them. You looked at his free hand, taking it into yours and squeezing it, “I’m sure he has his reasons.” He nods, flashing a quick smile. You were worried but you “knew” Techno and he would never neglect someone or something unless he had a reason to but you still questioned it when it came between you and him.

You were still miles away from Philza’s house, and wondering if you might have taken a wrong turn somewhere. You slow your horse down and take a look at your map, glancing in all directions trying to see anything familiar, then you see a landmark that’s on the map. You exhale, the anxiety dissipating as you put the map back into your bag. You snap the reins to walk again when you see a shadow on the ground, a shadow that could only be made if it was in the air. You have your horse come to a complete stop, sliding off and looking at the shadow then up into the sky. A bird was flying high in the sky, making circles around you. You whistle, bringing it down to you. The bird lands and you notice it was a crow! All you could think were negative thoughts, hoping to God that Phil was okay. You pull some seeds out of your side bag, pouring some on the ground for the crow. The crow hops over and sets a scroll down before pecking at the pile of seeds. You pick the scroll up, standing to look at it better.

My dearest Y/n, you’re probably worried that something’s happened to me but I couldn’t be better, I just wanted to give you a heads up that I’ll be having company over while you're on your way. I don’t know how far you are but I hope you aren’t too far. I would like you to see them before they have to go, Love Phil.

You smile down at the lovely note, thinking that Tommy might have been there but you have talked to him before at Phil’s house so who could it be. You ponder on it for quite a moment before your eyes widen and your jaw drops.

It could be Techno, you thought.

You roll the scroll back up and put it in your bag, seeing the wonderful crow ate all the seeds up, you chuckle and decide to give him more just out of likeness of the note. You get up on your horse, snapping the reins one last time before setting off to Phil’s house, which wasn’t more than a few miles away.

You see Phil’s house appear in the distance, grinning and kicking at your horse to go faster for this last stretch. All you could think about was possibly seeing Techno, finally locking eyes with him after all these years. You slow your horse down as you approach his house, hopping off before he even comes to a complete stop. You shake dust out of your hair and pat yourself down before knocking on the door. You knock on the door and wait for someone to open it for you. You turn around to your horse that’s neighing at you from behind, you try your best to shush him but he decides to be stubborn after a long and hard ride. You wave him off as the door clicks, you whip your head around to meet Tommy, “Tommy!” You yell, “Ay!” Tommy yells back pointing finger guns at you. You smile at him, raising your arms up to hug him. Laughing as he picks you up and spins you around in the house. Closing the door as he sets you down, “Come on, I want you to see someone.” He says, too fast for you to understand but grabs your hand just as quickly as he spoke pulling you towards the kitchen. Light-headed from the laughing and spinning you stumble behind him, trying to not fall to the ground. He slows down, walking into the kitchen. You keep your hand in his, waiting to see the one and only Techno but when you round the corner you’re met with a transparent figure, almost shiny with the sun beaming through it. You narrow your eyes as it turns around, “Guess you weren’t expecting me?” It says, you’re left speechless, mostly trying not to cry. It was Wilbur. Phil told you about the war, when Wil told him to kill him. Holding back tears, you cover your mouth, “Wil?” You knew it was him but you had to make sure. He nods, making you whimper. You walk up to him knowing you would go right through but you wanted to be close. You breathe out as you look at his face, so dark and light. You raise your hands, roaming the air where his face would be but all you could feel was freezing air. He brings his hands to your wrists, marking them with cold rings. You chuckle softly as tears fall from your face, trying to smile but wince at the every-longing want of his hands in yours. He was such a big inspiration of yours but when you heard he had turned evil it was hard to think of him highly. But then, you heard of his death and it shattered you. When you were little, he was always there for you, especially when Techno started to grow distinct, he was there. You missed him so much but now seeing him, his presence, you finally had closure.

You take a deep breath in and let it out, keeping your eyes on him as you step away. Walking backwards to Tommy, you look at Wilbur one last time as he waves at you. You give him a small wave back before he dissipates into thin air. You turn around to bury your face into Tommy's chest, he hugs you back with watery eyes. You could hear him sniffling, you chuckle, “It’s ok Tommy, he’s in a better place now.” He rubs his eyes and scoffs, “What do you mean, I know that, why wouldn’t I know that. I mean look at me.” You remove your face from his chest, as you look up at him, “I know you needed that as much as I did.” He scoffs again, “No I didn’t, I was perfectly fine without him.” You laugh, making him laugh too, as he shakily breathes in and out, “Oh, how I missed him.” You wipe tears off your face, “Me too Tommy, me too.”

You and Tommy were sitting at the kitchen table laughing when the both of you hear the side door open and loud boots fill the house as they stomp off whatever was on them. You look at Tommy with confusion but all he does is smile, making you even more confused. A loud nauseated voice booms through the hallway, “Hey Phil there’s a random horse eating snow in the front, it has a bunch of stuff on it too-” The giant stops in his tract, this time very real. When he sees you, he pulls his mask down from his face, “Y/n?” You stand up, your eyes not believing it, your mind not believing it, but your heart does. Your heart believes it’s really him, it’s really Technoblade. You clear your throat, not sure what to say, “Uh- hey-” You were always speechless around him, never knowing what to say, how to say it. He takes a step closer as he pulls his gloves off, “Uh…” He couldn’t speak either, his eyes were roaming your body, he wanted them to do all the talking. You and Techno stand there in place just looking at each other for a good moment.

Tommy stands up, making sure to make as much noise as possible, “Hey big guy, how was work-” Techno leans down to Tommy ear’s, “Get out.” Tommy mouths ok and walks off to the front door, saluting at you. You watched him as he walked and saluted back at him. You put your gaze back on Techno noticing he was a little closer than before. You don’t think you can hold it in anymore but with it being 10 years, you didn’t know if he felt the same way. You watch him as he stops just a couple feet away from you, your breathing becomes heavy, heat rushes to your cheeks. You open your mouth to speak but nothing except a chuckle comes out, he watches you look at the ground and to the side looking out the window. Every inch of you is on his mind, he takes his hand and brings it to your chin to draw your attention back to him. You look at him with doe eyes, thinking about all the times he looked at you with those same charming eyes. You pull away though not wanting to get too close, not wanting to feel the same urge you felt when you were just a kid. You look away towards the window for a second but he pulls you back, now arm around your waist and hand on your chin, keeping your eyes on him.

You find it hard to not look at him with your faces only inches apart, his long pink hair falling over his shoulder and into his face. You cave in finally, your eyes traveling his face for it has been too long since you’ve seen him, “Techno…” You breathe out, his breathing becoming just as heavy as yours. You find the back of his neck with one hand and the back of his shoulder with the other. Gripping at his shirt, he looks down at your lips, “Why did I wait so long?” Your heart flutters at his words as they roll off his lips and onto your own. You mouth I don’t know, giving him a weak smile. His lips part as he moves his hand from your chin to your cheek, running it along once before diving into a deep kiss. You took a breath before his lips crashed down on yours, interlocking your fingers in his hair. He pushes you against the table a little rough, “Sorry.” he says in between a kiss. You couldn’t care less about being rammed into a table but you loved that he cared for you, “It’s ok.” You whisper, keeping the kiss going and placing your hands on the table to brace yourself. He slowly snakes his tongue into your mouth as he finds your hands and intertwines them with his. You whimper at the feeling of his tongue roaming your mouth, you grip his hands tight, making him moan. He continues to kiss you like it was the last time you were ever going to see each other, touch each other. But he wasn’t going to let that happen, he wasn’t going to pull himself away from you ever again. He wanted you more than ever before, finally having you in his arms.

You slowly start to pull away but Techno wants one more long kiss before accepting your movement, resting his head on your shoulder. He needed that break as much as you did, his breath raspy and deep on your neck. You wrap your arms around him, as he does the same. You look up to the ceiling with tears in your eyes, happy tears. Happy that you finally get to express your loving feelings to this hunk of stoicness. He glides his touch from your waist to the back of your legs, picking you up and putting you on the table with no effort. You gasp when he picks you up, looking deep into his eyes to find love and affection. He pulls you as close as possible, making you wrap your arms and legs around him. You rest your forehead on his, smiling and giggling. He couldn’t help but do the same. Your smiles always gave him warmth, from his ear tips to his toes. He always liked that about you and it has never changed, even after all these years his memory of you has never faded. He leans back so he can see you better, scanning for any new details.

He cups your cheeks and rubs his thumbs on your skin. He’s hot to the touch, making you want to melt in his arms. A single tear falls from your eye, he’s quick to gently wipe it away, kissing where the droplet was then kissing your forehead. He looks down at you, taking an impossible step towards you, “I’ve loved you for too long, to give up,” He pauses and glances at your lips, “I’ll make it my life’s mission to never let you go…again.” Your breath hitches, you couldn’t believe he was saying this to you, finally. You let out a breath with a big smile and your head vigorously nodding at his remark. He smiles back with a sigh of relief escaping from his lips. He picks you up and spins you around for a moment then plants you on your feet. Your arms still wrapped around his neck, you give him a couple of nice soft pecks on his chapped lips. You were forever happy to have him by your side now, even if he had to work. The both of you hear the side door open, “Techno! I need your help with the hay bales!” Philza’s voice rang through the house before you both heard the door close and footsteps went down the outside stairs. You look up at him and pout. His eyes narrow down the hall towards the side door, “He can wait.” Before you know it you're off up the stairs to the spare bedroom Techno sleeps in, making sure to lock the door behind him.

#c!techno #c!technoblade #c!technoblade x reader #technoblade #technoblade x reader #technoblade fanfic #technoblade fluff #technoblade never dies

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swiftieblyth · 18 days

Text

Troublesome Twin: I Love You

Warning list-

hunger games warning, abusive family, mother died in childbirth with the twins, Arachne, Coriolanus Snow, Dr. Gaul, violence, and murder.

I think that’s all, let me know if there’s more!

Word count- 1725

Coryo woke and saw Y/N sleeping in his arms, her leg on his leg still as he gently rubbed his thumb over her thigh. Y/N let out a small moan, leaning more into Coryo, making him swoon at the love he gets from her, and the love he gives her back.

“Coryo,” Y/N mumbled, looking up at him with half opened eyes, face smushed to his bare chest.

“Morning my love.” He smiled, looking down at her with so much love. “How are you feeling, baby?”

“It really hurts, Coryo. It hurts worse than anything.”

“I’m so sorry, baby.” He cooed. “I wish I could take all this pain away from you. Make it my own.”

“No. I don’t want you to. I don’t want to see you in pain.”

“But I don’t want to see you in pain, my love.”

“I don’t care. I never want you to be in pain. I’ll always be in pain if it means you don’t have to be.”

“My darling, love. Anytime you are in pain, my heart is in so much pain, I can’t take it. Will you let me take care of you?”

“Of course, baby.” Y/N let out, nuzzling her head into his chest. “You never have to ask to take care of me. I always want you to take care of me. Forever and always.”

“I always will my love. And our little babies one day.”

“Coryo,” Y/N squealed. “We’re too young to be talking about kids.”

“Oh, but my love, I know I’m going to marry you. Make you my wife, my baby mommy, and Panem’s First Lady.”

“Oh, Coryo. I will gladly be your wife one day. And be the first lady. And my gosh would I gladly have your babies for you. Gosh I would give you a hundred kids if you wanted them.”

“Now, let’s not get crazy my love.”

“I’m sorry, I just love you so much! My medicine just makes me really crazy.”

“I know my love.” Coryo kissed her head, then started to get up.

“Where are you going?” Y/N groaned, wrapping her arms around him.

“Darling, I got to get up,” Coryo breathed, putting his hands on her arms, gently moving them.

“Why?”

“Because, I got to get you your food and medicine.”

“I don’t want it.”

“I know, but you got to take it my love.”

“Don’t wanna.” Y/N moaned.

“I know,” Coryo let out, kissing her head. “I’m gonna go get it for you my love.”

“Coryo?”

“What is it baby?” Coryo asked, looking down at her.

“Can you hand me my guitar?”

“Of course my love.” Coryo smiled, walking to it.

“I forget how the West was won

I forget if this was ever fun

I just learned these people only raise you to cage you

Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best

Clutching their pearls, sighing ‘What a mess’

I just learned these people try and save you

‘Cause they hate you

Too high a horse

For a simple girl to rise above it”

“That was beautiful, my love,” Coryo smiled, standing in the doorway with Y/N’s food and morphling.

“How long have you been there?” Y/N asked, sitting down her guitar.

“Since you started singing.”

“Really?” Y/N sighed.

“You sound beautiful, baby,” Coryo let out, walking to her and sitting on the bed next to her. “Why don’t you like it when people hear your music?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t think it’s good.”

“Darling, it’s amazing. You could make a career out of it if you wanted to.”

“I know. But I think I want to be the head gamemaker like my mother.”

“And you would be great at that my love.” Coryo smiled, kissing her head. “You’ll do great at whatever you want to do.”

“Okay, ready, baby?” Coryo whispered, as they walked in.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Y/N let out, squeezing his hand.

“Wakey wakey, my Capitol friends.” Lucky called. “I’m Lucky Flickerman and welcome to day number two of the 10th annual Hunger Games. Now, while most of you were getting your beauty sleep last night, something scintillating occurred. Bobbin from District 8, slaughtered.” Y/N held her breath as she tightened her grip on Coryo’s hand. “Which of these beasts slayed Bobbin from District 8? Either way, it doesn’t matter. 10 tributes remain. Reaper still at the top of the boards.”

“They’re not showing us what happened to that little boy.” One of their friends explained to Y/N and Coryo. “He clearly was killed right there. There’s cameras everywhere. It doesn’t make sense.”

“They said they were old cameras, Lysiie.” Festus explained. “Probably just another one of Coral’s.”

Y/N squeezed Coryo’ hand, looking up at him. Coryo looked down and saw the pain on her face as she looked down to her leg. Coryo nodded and sat down on the chair, bringing her down with him. “What can I do for you, baby?” Coryo whispered, kissing her head.

“Can you make the pain go away?” Y/N asked. The tears in her eyes and the pain all over her face made Coryo’s heartbreak.

“No.” He sighed. “I’m sorry baby. I wish I could. And if I could, you know I would.”

“I know.” Y/N sighed. “I just wish it could all go away.”

“I know, sweet girl. Do you want to go home?”

“I want to stay here with you.”

“Okay, my love.”

“What’s happening?” Y/N asked, as Jessup started to accuse Lucy Gray.

“What’d you do to me?” Jessup asked.

“Nothing!”

“Coryo,” Y/N whispered, desperately looking up at her boyfriend.

“Lyssie, what is he doing?” Coryo asked, carefully moving to get up without hurting Y/N who was sitting.

“Something’s wrong. He wouldn’t turn on her like this.” Lyssie explained, as Jessup started chasing Lucy Gray.

“Coryo,” Y/N squeaked, scared they were about to lose each other. Coryo didn’t respond, but he rubbed her shoulders.

“Jessup going after Lucy Gray.” Lucky explained.

“Go to the stands, go to the stands,” Y/N breathed.

“Stop running! What did you…” Jessup yelled. “What did you do to me?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Both tributes from District 12. The same district folding in on itself.” Lucky explained.

“Wait look,” Coryo let out.

“The foam.” Y/N cut in.

“I think it’s rabies. That bite. From that train. Send him water.” Coryo ordered.

“Wait, what?” Lyssie asked. “You remember the posters from the war?”

“Rabies. It makes you afraid of water. Send him the drone.”

“That will scare him.” “Yes. Away from her.” Coryo explained, as Y/N held one of his hands that was on her shoulder. “Jessup is done. Lyssie, you’re the only one that can get it right to him.”

Lyssie sighed, but went to her communipad.

“Ms. Vickers going for her communipad early.” Lucky commented.

“Thank you,” Coryo breathed.

“Sending a drone,” Lucky continued.

“Nothing to be proud of,” Lyssie stated to Coryo.

Everyone watched as Jessup died. Y/N let out a sigh as she felt Coryo relax a little and kissing her head.

Y/N shook and sniffled a little as she whipped her eyes. Coryo crouched down next to her and cupped her face. “Hey, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay. He was going to kill her. We had to get him killed.”

“I know. It’s not just that, I’m also in a lot of pain.”

“I know, sweet girl.” Coryo cooed. “It’s not quite time to take your medicine yet though. I’m sorry baby.”

“It’s okay.”

“Oh, look at this!” Lucky called, knocking them out of their moment to look and see the group cornered in on Lucy Gray. “The Pack doing what they do best. Packing it in. Lucy Gray is swarmed, cornered. Mizzen, propellering his net.”

“Coryo,” Y/N gasped. “Send her water.”

Coryo nodded and quickly reached for the communipad to send the water.

“Mr. Snow going for his communipad.”

Everyone watched as the drones flew in and knocked out some of the other tributes.

“These drones aren’t very good.” Lucky mused.

“Hey!” Someone called. “You can’t attack the tributes!”

“I’m just sending water.” Coryo let out.

“Again, a fall,” Lucky trailed on. “Ending a tribute's life.”

Everyone watched as Dill fell dead. Y/N and Coryo knew that Luncy Gray had poisoned the water she had just taken a sip from.

“Coryo,” Y/N squeaked, barely audible.

“It’s okay, love.” Coryo let out, wrapping his arms around her.

“We did that,” Y/N whispered as she buried her head in Coryo’s neck. “It was my idea. It was my fault.”

“Hey, stop. Stop this,” Coryo breathed, kissing her head. “None of this is your fault, okay? We didn’t know she was going to drink it. Besides, we have to do this for us. So we can be together forever. As soon as this is done, and we win, I can keep you safe for the rest of our lives.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more.” He let out, hand accidentally gracing where she got stabbed, causing her to hiss in pain. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry my love.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t mean to hurt me. It just hurts really bad.”

“I know, my love. I know.”

“Capitol citizens, I’m afraid I must interrupt our Games to announce a tragic loss, one that affects us all. Felix Ravinstill, son of our beloved president…” Dr. Gaul cut in on the screen. “Has, this morning, succumbed to his injuries sustained in the rebel bombing. Out there in the districts, they will be celebrating this young boy’s death as a triumph. I will not allow my Games to give our enemy such a victory. I swear to you, here and now, before the sun goes down tonight, a rainbow of destruction will engulf our arena. Even if it means there’s to be no victor in these Games.”

“The snakes.” Y/N breathed, trying to get up.

“Love, what are you doing?” Coryo asked, as he caught Y/N as she lost balance. “‘A rainbow of destruction.’ Coryo, it’s my mothers snakes. She’s going to send them in.”

“She wouldn’t do that to us would she?” Coryo asked.

“It’s not her.” Y/N breathed, fear in her eyes. “It’s my father.”

tag list here

Tag list: @uglyfish3rman, @Edb954, @joyfulyouthlover, @Warlike-morning, @melodyoflove99,

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pedrito-friskito · 9 months

Note

Hiiiiii

for your Sundae thing, I’d like to do the roll for a fic option.

Americas Ass Dice bc lol, Pedro character, and if you could combine a smut and fluff prompt that would be awesome, but if not just smut is fine.

this is such a cool idea ❤️

hi lovely!!!! ok so….this one got away from me. I rolled a smut and a fluff and we got “is this real? are…are you real?” for fluff and “take off your clothes before I rip them off your body” for smut. and I rolled my favourite medieval grump, Pero Tovar! thanks for requesting, sorry I took so long, but I hope you enjoy! 💕

take my hand - pero tovar x fem!reader

word count: 4.3k (it got away from me I’m not lying LOL)

warnings: canon-typical violence, war, fighting, pero is a bit of a simp, explicit sex, unprotected p-in-v (wrap ur shit even in the old days okay)

(gif by @pedrohub)

Pero finds himself in the middle of yet another war.

He follows William, because he owes his friend a debt — a life debt. If William had not bartered for him, Pero would still be rotting away in that cell, or perhaps the soldiers would have lit black powder beneath his feet just to see what would happen. He tries not to think about it too hard.

Regardless, he has followed William, and his friend has somehow lead them to the edge of another battle, one far too large and vast for them to steer around. Everywhere he looks, blood spatters and arrows fly. The glint of blades make his hands hunger for his own swords, the sound of metal clashing ringing in his ears as they inch nearer.

“There is no going around this, Pero,” William says, squinting into the fray. “I wonder what sparked such bloodshed.”

An arrow whizzes past their heads at that point, embedding itself in a tree not three feet from Pero’s horse. In response, the steed rears back, tossing Pero from his saddle before disappearing in the direction they’d come. “Stupid fucking creature,” Pero grits, wincing as he gets to his feet. William slides from his own saddle with slightly more grace, and claps Pero on the shoulder.

“All we can do is move through the fray, my friend,” William says, pulling the bow from his shoulder and nocking an arrow.

Before Pero can protest, William disappears into the battle and Pero’s view is quickly obstructed by the clashing soldiers. With a growl, he unsheathes the two blades at his back — grateful as anything that William had thought to return them to him — and darts forward, swords at the ready.

As he moves through the fighting, finding William a little ways into the crowds, an interesting memory tugs at his mind, nearly tearing his focus. He lifts his curved blade to block a sword aiming for William’s back — though they bare no colours, he knows the pair of them appear enemies to either side — and the memory sparks to life.

He was young, too young, when he left the village he had grown up in. Barely out of boyhood, he was conscripted as a soldier, forced to fight in a war he had no interest in fighting. His mother had wailed when they carted him away, his little sister hiding her tears in their mother’s skirts. Their father had died not a year prior, and his entire being had instantly filled with worry at leaving them alone.

Pero reached his hand out, calling to his family, when you suddenly stepped into his vision. You grabbed his hand, running to keep up with the soldiers carrying him off, and squeezed his fingers. “I’ll watch over them, Pero,” you promised, your eyes bright with tears. “Just come home to us.”

He’d known you since he was small. The house you lived in bordered his own, a small fence separating the scraps of land. You’d grown up together, in a sense, spending your childhoods running through the grass behind your houses, playing pretend in the trees and swimming in the river that snaked through the village itself.

He was barely a man, and you were barely a woman, but you had the ferocity of a girl beyond her years. Pero could see it, even then, and especially when you swore to take care of his family.

It made conscription a touch easier, knowing someone he trusted was looking out for his mother and sister. Still, he longed for home, and on especially lonely nights, he longed for you.

The night before the soldiers had come to take him away, you’d rapped on the back door of Pero’s house. His mother and sister were asleep, and worry had leapt into his throat when he first opened the door to see you standing there, your eyes shining with starlight. “Is something wr—” he started, but you shushed him and grabbed his hand, hauling him out the door.

“Come with me!” you whispered excitedly, and Pero let you drag him down through the grass, right to the edge of the river. He tried his best to ignore the spark of warmth between your twined hands, the sounds of the night filling his ears as you toed off your shoes, gesturing for him to do the same as you stepped into the water.

“What are you up to?” he questioned, but followed you, the water lapping at his ankles.

Your hands were still linked together, and you pointed up to the sky. “Look, Pero.”

He’d never seen so many stars. The open air in the fields generally offered some impressive night skies, but this was something else. Too many to count, little dots of light everywhere his eyes moved. And then, as he stared up, something shot across the sky, as though a star was trying to move from one spot to the next. He hasped and you clutched his hand with both of yours.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

Pero’s gaze lowered, catching on your face, upturned like his. Your expression of pure awe was nothing short of beautiful, and his heart climbed up into his throat.

He’d always known you, but for the first time, he felt like he was seeing you.

“It is,” he agreed, and his free hand slowly lifted, palm finding the curve of your jaw, fingers fanning across your skin. “You are.”

“Pero—” you started, your face tilting back down to his. He moved closer, testing, making sure you wanted this just as much as he did. When he paused, you pounced, and when his lips met yours, Pero swore he saw the starry skies above bursting with light behind his eyelids.

You stood there in the riverbank, water around your ankles and your arms finding their way around each other, kissing for what felt like hours. When the water grew too cold and the sky above started to lighten with the coming day, you parted and moved back onto the grass. Pero found a blanket for you to lay on and kept himself close to you, kissing you in different ways, finding which way you liked best.

“I heard rumours,” you said after you’d both broken apart, desperate to catch your breath, “that the King’s men are marching through the villages conscripting any men old enough to fight.” There was fear in your eyes, burning hotter than the starlight. “That means you, Pero.”

The realization had sent a chill down his spine and he’d nearly toppled back.

“Promise me something,” you continued, finding his hand and slotting your fingers through his. “Please?”

He nodded and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. “Anything, bonita.”

“Promise me you’ll come back.”

“I promise.”

The quiet thwip of an arrow zipping past his ear yanks Pero back to the present, deposits him back into the fray. His grip nearly falters as another blade connects with his own, but the memory of your voice, suddenly so clear, has him tightening his hold, swinging the blades down and around, the point of his own sliding through the gut of his attacker. The man falls with a groan and Pero can feel his heart hammering in his chest, rioting like a caged bird.

It’s been an age since he thought of you, thought of his promise.

It was not for want of trying. He fought the King’s battles for years, lost more friends than he cares to count. Your voice in his head kept him going most days, led him through each practice with his swords, every day growing more and more confident in his blades until they felt more like an extension of him than a weapon. He had to keep himself alive, keep himself whole, so he could one day return to your village, to his family. To you.

But the wars had other plans and soon enough, he was a man grown. There were other women, and he knew you would have had other men. You were beautiful as a young girl, and Pero would be the first to admit he’s often wondered how your beauty flourished over the years.

With every clang of his sword, he wishes you well, wishes you a happy life, a man that loves you, takes care of you. Maybe a house in that village you both grew up in, your own children running up and down the lakeshore where he’d first kissed you. He’s loath to admit he wishes he was the one to give you that life, but he wishes it for you all the same.

Men fall on both sides of him, and Pero continues through the fray. He’s lost William for certain now, and just focuses on moving forward, dodging blows on either side, spilling blood of his attackers with nearly every step.

Arrows fly from both sides and he swears he feels the sharp tip in his shoulder before he sees it. He growls, his left side exploding with pain and launches his curved blade in the direction the arrow came. It finds it’s mark, felling the archer that shot, and Pero barrels forward, ignoring the pain, lunging for the archer and pushing the blade deeper, yelling as he goes.

“Pero Tovar!”

Pero whirls, the voice familiar and unfamiliar all an once, his memory of you tinged with the battle raging around you. Surely he’s not still caught in his own head.

But it is you. Real as the arrow lodged in his shoulder, as the blades in his hands, the hot blood on his face. You stand before him, equally covered in the gore of war. A crossbow dangles from one hand, a short sword from the other, a quiver of bolts for the former strapped to your leg. Blood spatters across your face, a bleeding gash along your collar, the hem of your cloak ripped and caked with blood.

He barely notices the soldiers that rush past as he closes the distance between you two. Your arms open for him, your face pinched with a mixture of concern and relief as he stumbles into you. You hold him to you, tilting away from his injured shoulder, and Pero can feel your eyes everywhere, inspecting him, your hands brushing his back.

Somewhere, he finds his voice, and when he does, he’s that young boy on a riverbank again, not the scarred, war-torn man he’s turned into. “Is this real? Are…are you real?”

Above the din of battle, you laugh, and the sound is like bells. “Yes, Pero, I’m real.”

He tilts his head forward just a moment, until his forehead touches yours, until he can be sure. When he feels your warm skin against his, relief floods him, blocks out any pain he feels. “I thought you—”

You hush him, squeezing his good shoulder. “Time for that later,” you say, pulling back, your eyes darting around the battlefield. He sees a soldier barrelling towards the pair of you, but before he has a chance to raise a sword, you’ve lifted your crossbow and taken aim. The bolt makes a home between the soldier’s eyes, and Pero nearly topples over. “We need to get out of here.”

You stow your short sword, curling your fingers around his wrist. His mind flashes to William, his friend somewhere buried in the fray, and he must speak his concern aloud, because your head turns back to him, your eyes peering over his shoulder. You gesture with the crossbow. “Is that your friend?”

Pero turns, ignoring the pull of the arrow still embedded in his shoulder. Sure enough, there’s William, atop a new horse, shooting arrows left and right, dropping soldiers with every shot. He spots Pero, his eyes flickering to you beside him, and turns the horse in your direction. “Tovar, my friend,” he calls, bow hanging from his grip. “Who is—”

“Ride west,” you order, and the power in your command makes the hair on the back of Pero’s neck stand up. “Clear a path. My horse is beyond the edge of the forest, it’s a few hours ride to a safe place.”

Both men stare at you blankly, Pero hoping his gaze is full of admiration while William just looks confused. With a huff, you drop Pero’s hand, stalking over and turning William’s horse west. He opens his mouth to protest, but you smack the horse’s rear before he can get a word out, and off he goes.

“Come,” you say to Pero, offering your hand. “We need to go.”

He nods, takes your hand, and you start moving. William clears the path, as ordered, and it’s easier to get through than Pero is expecting. You lift your crossbow as you go, dropping more than a handful of men, and Pero manages to raise his sword more than once, blocking arrows from your body. Soon enough, you’ve reached the edge of the fighting, and you drag Pero into the trees. He follows you blindly, the ache in his shoulder more noticeable now, but he keeps going.

Eventually, you reach your horse, as promised. A chestnut mare that shakes her head at your approach, whinnying happily when you stroke her nose. You climb into the saddle with ease, offering your hand to Pero, and he takes it again, groaning as he clambers up behind you. You click your tongue at the horse, reins in hand as Pero slides his arms around your middle, mindful of the arrow shaft still sticking out of his shoulder.

It’s not an easy ride. Every trot jostles him, making the pain spark. Somewhere in the first hour, he reaches up and snaps the shaft of the arrow off, tossing it away. It makes it easier for him to lean closer to you, to fit his face in the curve of your neck. You smell oddly good, like blood and battle mixed with something so achingly familiar his chest goes tight with it. He tightens his arms around you, fingers laced together over your belly, and as he settles a little deeper into your back, your hand covers his, brushing over his knuckles in a soothing motion.

“Is that the place?” William calls after the second hour. Sure enough, a small cottage lies at the forest’s edge, obscured enough that you wouldn’t notice it unless you were looking for it. You nod, nudging the horse a little faster. She must recognize the place, because she leads you around the side of the cottage, where a small pasture is fenced off, and steps right through the open gate. You slide from the saddle, reaching up to offer Pero your hand, and he takes it.

Back on solid ground, safe from the battle, he can’t help himself. Your lips part, words on your tongue, but he stops them, takes your bloody face between his hands and kisses you. The world around melts away, and he’s only vaguely aware of the pain in his body, William’s horse brushing past, the win through the trees. For a moment, there’s only you.

It’s a deeper kiss than he’s ever given you. Childhood has melted from you both, kept alive only by the memories, from the affection he’s held for you all these years. Something in him stalls then, has him pulling back, a flicker in his chest when he sees the way you chase his lips, your eyes hooded.

“Gods, I’ve missed you,” you murmur, and the hesitation that made him stop, the thought that your own affection had waned over time while his had stayed alive, vanishes, and he pulls you in again. The taste of you is different on his tongue, more addicting, and it brings his body to life in ways he’s only learned since he left you. His mind races, forming images of all the ways he wants to please you, more than the teasing kisses he gave you on the riverbank that night, both of you too young and innocent to know what else to ask for.

William clears his throat loudly, and you break apart, though Pero doesn’t let you go far. He’s still close enough to feel the heat on your cheeks, and he noses at your hair as you address his friend. “We should get inside,” you say, your palm flattening on Pero’s chest. “Let me tend to your wounds and get us something to eat.”

A few hours later, and all is quiet in the small cottage. Your stomachs are full, thanks to you — a delicious rabbit stew Pero told you multiple times was the best meal he’d had since he left home — and your wounds have been tended to. Your collar needed a stitch or two, and Pero had to sit back and watch William’s careful efforts; his injured shoulder made it impossible for him to trust himself not to hurt you further. The blood has all been washed away, clothes washed and hung to dry, spares given to both men for the meantime.

You show William to one of the bedrooms, make sure he has everything he needs for a sound night of rest before returning to Pero. Silently, you offer him your hand, and he takes it. His heart riots in his chest as you bring him to the other bedroom. The air is heavy with promise, warmed by the fireplace in one corner, and your grip loosens once you’re inside. Pero steps toward the bed, the mountain of pillows and blankets all too inviting, but turns to see you hovering in the doorway.

“If there’s anything else you need,” you stammer out, your eyes glued to the ground. Pero’s brow lifts and he closes the distance between you quickly, pulling you through the doorway completely and shutting the door behind you.

“There is,” he tells you, knocking a knuckle beneath your chin, lifting your eyes to him. They’re just as full of stars as he remembers, just as full of wonder and promise. “You, bonita. I need you. But only…only if you’ll have me.”

Your breath rushes out of you, warm across Pero’s mouth. “If I’ll—” You cut yourself off, falling into his arms. He catches you and holds you close, the flat of his palm roaming your back, sliding down the curve of your spine, just hovering over the dip of your lower back, the swell of your ass.

“Move that hand lower, Pero Tovar,” you murmur, a slick smile on your face, “or I’ll move it for you.”

He does as he’s told, grabbing a handful of your ass through the thin linen trousers you’d donned after getting cleaned up. For a second, he thinks his mind is playing tricks on him, that the heat the greets his fingers when he adjusts his grip, slides his hand past the waist of your trousers, gripping your skin for real, that it’s a figment of his tired imagination. But then a moan slips out of you when he grips you again, your knees parting to let his thigh slip between them. Pero drinks down the noise, kisses you like he had when you’d first arrived, not so silently begs for more.

Your hands clench in his shirt, a soft cotton tunic you’d given him to wear. He can feel the bite of your nails through it, and he’s desperate to feel your skin against his. You tug at the material and Pero grins. “Tell me what you need, bonita.”

“Take off your clothes,” you bite out, reaching up with on hand and gripping his chin, nipping at his bottom lip, “before I rip them off your body.”

He moves as quickly as he can, the ache in his shoulder unnoticeable as he tears the tunic off, reaches for his trousers. You’re naked before he is, and his trousers are barely off his hips when he sees you, all of you. He can’t stop himself, grabbing you, pulling your body flush to his and bringing you back to the bed. He lays you out, lets his mouth rove lower than you lips, tasting the flesh of your chest, ducking your nipple between his teeth. He’s attentive, watching the way your body reaches to each touch he offers.

Pero sets himself beside you on the bed, his mouth moving back up to your own while his hand wanders. Your knees snap together when his hand travels past your hips, cupping the heat between your legs, trapping him there. He smiles into your kiss. “So wet, bonita,” he murmurs, letting one finger tease your dripping cunt, the heel of his hand grinding into your clit, “so sensitive.”

You whimper into his kiss, the sound like honey to his ears, and Pero buries his face in your neck, nipping at your pulse. “Wait, Pero,” you say softly, and he freezes, pulling back, searching your face.

“What is it?” he asks, using his other hand to brush the hair from your face. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no,” you assure him, shaking your head, chewing your lip. “It’s just…”

His brow lifts. “Are you…” He can barely get the question out. “Are you a virgin?”

“No,” you reply, lifting your hand and tracing a finger over his scar. “That’s just it, Pero. I tried…I tried to wait for you. I wanted you to be the first, but then…” You shake your head again. “They told us you were dead and I…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” he repeats, like the word is foreign to him. “Bonita, I never expected you to wait. I never expected to see you again, truth be told. The god of luck must be on my side, throwing you back in front of me like this.” He drops his head, presses a soft kiss to your shoulder, careful of the injury at your collar. “I wanted you to be the first, too, but I…” He clears his throat. “I can think of something much better.”

“What’s that?”

“Perhaps I can be your last, and you mine.”

Your breath hitches as you pull him back down to you, the next kiss you offer even deeper than before. Pero drinks you down, memorizes the tastes of you. His hand works between your legs, two fingers pressing inside you, finding that deep spot that makes your body jolt in his arms. He murmurs to you softly in Spanish, words he knows you understand, and coaxes you up to that peak, thumbing at your clit as you topple over, gripping his wrist tight enough he can feel his bones shift.

“Pero,” you groan out, your chest heaving as you come back down, your lashes fluttering as you breathe. “More.”

“More, bonita?” he prompts, pulling his hand away, licking his knuckles clean. He’s not shy about it, sucking the taste of you from his skin, dropping his face to your chest when he’s done, scraping his teeth along the curves of your breasts. “Tell me, how much more do you need?”

“Need you inside, Pero,” you reply, your body writhing beneath his, back arching into his mouth. “Need to feel all of you.” Your hand snakes down between your bodies, fingers wrapping around his cock. It makes his breath stutter in his chest, but he doesn’t let up his ministrations, nipping at your sternum. “I can’t tell you how many nights I laid awake, with my hand between my legs, thinking of where you were, the man you’d turned into, how well you’d fuck me if you were there with me.” Your other hand grips his chin again, lifting his head from your chest, your eyes locked with his. “Don’t keep me waiting any longer.”

“Sí, bonita,” he grits out, and maneuvers you both the best he can. He slides to the edge of the bed, pulling you into his lap. You’ve got him hard as a rock between your hot kisses and your heady touches and your dirty words, and his cock bobs against his stomach, sliding through the dip where your thigh meets your hip as you settle into his lap. “You like it like this?”

“I’m yours, Pero,” you say, your voice soft. “You can have me however you like.”

The words make something in his chest snap. Pero slings his arm around your waist and lifts you just enough to notch his cock at your entrance, groaning at the heat that instantly floods him. Unable to hold back any longer, he pulls you down hard, filling you to the hilt in one fell swoop, and the loud gasp you let loose is music to his ears.

“Mine, bonita,” he growls, gripping your hips in both hands, bouncing you on his cock. “All mine.”

Your words are gone, replaced with open-mouthed nods, your brows pinched together. You twine your arms around his neck, locking your fingers in his hair. Pero plants his feet on the ground, uses the floor as leverage to piston his hips up into yours, driving his cock deep into you, finding that same spot his fingers had grazed. It makes your body seize, your chest plastered to his, and Pero can feel the quick thump of your heart as you start to climb that peak once more.

He’s not far behind you, and when you clench around him, pleasure flooding your body a second time, he can’t hold back. Pero drops his mouth against your shoulder, bites down hard, and your responding moan has him spilling deep inside you, painting your insides with his spend. The feeling is almost too much, overwhelming in all the right ways.

“Gods above,” you murmur, your fingers stroking through his hair, your lips at his temple, “that was…”

Pero lifts his head and finds you mouth, giving you a soft kiss that tastes of salt and a tinge of copper. “Everything, bonita.” Another kiss. “That was everything.”

#my fics #take my hand #sleepover sundae #pero tovar #pero tovar x reader #pero tovar x you #pero tovar fic #pero tovar smut #pero tovar fluff

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glitchy-anime-fan · 4 months

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This might be just me, maybe I’m missing something, but I feel like some people who criticise EPIC!Odysseus for killing an infant but drawing the line at sleeping with Circe might not be taking into consideration how literally every event Odysseus has face since Troy has affected him as a person and how much guilt he’s continually facing.

To preface; THIS IS NOT ME HATING ON OTHER FANS!! I’m not trying to bully anyone or make fun of anyone, this is just something that has been in my head and I need to rant about it. This also only pertains to EPIC’s depiction of Odysseus, not any other interpretation of the character/story!

[minor grammatical edits made on 2/25/2024)

I saw a discussion on here the other day where the parties involved were talking about the changes made between the original Homeric story and EPIC. One of the main points of contention that I remember was how one of them said it rubbed them the wrong way that Odysseus was fine with killing an infant but didn’t want to sleep with Circe. I can totally understand why this may be an odd choice of morality to make, however, we have to keep in mind that the Odysseus from the Troy Saga is VERY different than the Odysseus in the Circe saga. Troy Saga Odysseus appears to be far more confident in himself and his plans; one could even argue that he’s a bit cocky. As stated by Odysseus in the ocean saga, NONE of his own men died in the battle which would add to Odysseus’ confidence and pride. This is vastly different than the grief stricken Odysseus later in the story, but more on that later.

Now the infant scene in question doesn’t necessarily set in stone Odysseus’ moral/ethical code; one could say the situation itself is an ethical dilemma (a problem with no one right answer). Odysseus is told by Zeus, king of the gods, that if he doesn’t kill Hector’s baby than Odysseus’ entire family (perhaps even kingdom) is in grave danger. However, Odysseus doesn’t make a decision right away, I’m mean the entire second song of the saga is Odysseus mulling over his options; kill an infant or risk his families safety. Neither option is preferable and I think “Just a Man” is meant to show that Odysseus isn’t a man who would readily kill a child, no questions asked, just because he was told to. In “The Infant and the Horse” Odysseus is ready to comply until he discovers that the “foe” he’s meant to kill is an infant. I mean, he literally pleads with Zeus to give him another option;

[ODYSSEUS, ZEUS]

I could raise him as my own (He will burn your house and throne)

Or send him far away from home (He'll find you wherever you go)

Make sure his past is never known (The gods will make it known)

I'd rather bleed for ya, down on my knees for ya (He's bringing you down on your knees for ya)

I'm begging please

Oh, this is the will of the gods

Please don't make me do this, don't make me do this

This part alone shows that Odysseus is, in fact, NOT fine with killing a child. Again, the second song in the saga is Odysseus going over his options and even asks for forgiveness when he finally makes his decision. I don’t know about you all, but I don’t think someone who’s okay with killing a child would ask for forgiveness. In this situation it’s very likely that Odysseus made the choice to protect his family and kingdom above all else, which I feel like is a valid choice in this situation. Odysseus was told, by a god, that him and his family would be killed should the baby live, I highly doubt Odysseus at this point was readily willing to try and call Zeus’ bluff.

It’s also not like the action didn’t affect Odysseus later. Again, I’m sure someone who wouldn’t have a guilty conscience about such a heinous act would ask for forgiveness. Similarly, two songs later in “Open Arms”, Polites brings up Odysseus’ guilt at the end when he says “I see in your face, there is so much guilt inside your heart”. Odysseus is clearly guilty about what he’s done, once again reinforcing that he is not “okay with killing an infant”. You can also pick up on it in the way Jay sings Odysseus’ songs following “Just a Man”; Odysseus seems to be more distracted or distant likely due to the shock of his own actions.

Similarly, we have to take into consideration literally every new traumatic incident Odysseus is faced with between the Cyclops and Ocean sagas. In the Cyclops Saga, Polyphemus kills a large number of Odysseus’ crew which would make this the first heavy loss Odysseus’ army would have faced since the war. I can imagine that this loss would have been a huge blow to Odysseus’ pride given the fact that none of his men died in the war. Similarly, since Odysseus is their captain and king, it’s fair to assume that Odysseus may see the deaths as his fault adding to his guilt.

Not only does he lose many in his crew, Odysseus also loses his best friend Polites which greatly effects Odysseus throughout the rest of the musical. In “Keep Your Friends Close” when the crew is scheming to open the bag of wind from Aeolus, they say “Everything's changed since Polites,” referring to how much Polites’ death not only effected Odysseus but also the crew. Odysseus becomes more and more closed off and distrusting which makes sense since it seems Polites was the one that mainly pushed Odysseus to be more open. This is another death that Odysseus can tack onto the growing list of reasons his guilt is eating him alive.

Side note: Odysseus also looses the support of Athena, his patron goddess following “My Goodby”. Athena has been someone who we can assume (given Athena’s story during “Warrior of the mind”) has been guiding Odysseus since he was a child so, even if Odysseus is no longer happy with Athena’s view on being a good warrior, it likely hurt him on some level to loose her. We have to keep in mind; Odysseus also thought of Athena as a friend not just a goddess and has thought this way since he met Athena. If we assume that Athena and Odysseus have never had a fight this bad until “My Goodby” then I think it’s fair to say that the outcome of the fight would negatively impact Odysseus. He may be too prideful to admit it at the time, but I can only imagine how awful it would feel to loose the support of a friend and patron deity at the same time.

I think one of the biggest blows yet for Odysseus comes during “Ruthlessness” when Poseidon and/or the Laestrygonians sink and kill everyone but Odysseus and his immediate crew mates (as in, the crew on Odysseus ship as apposed to those on the other twelve ships). As I mentioned earlier, throughout the ten years Odysseus and his army were in Troy not one of his men died. This changed when they faced Polyphemus, and only worsens when Poseidon attacks. Odysseus goes from having a crew of 600 (at the start of the musical) to 43 following this attack. Not only does he loose nearly all his men, it’s directly Odysseus’ fault it happened in the first place. Poseidon tells Odysseus directly that they “totally could have avoided all this had [Odysseus] just killed [Poseidon’s] son”.

Had Odysseus just listened to Athena at the time and killed Polyphemus, there would have been no one left to tell Poseidon about the attack; the god likely wouldn’t have known. Likewise, had Odysseus not let his hubris get the better of him and not told Polyphemus his full name, even if Poseidon found out his son had died or was left blind, he wouldn’t have known who did it. The whole situation is directly Odysseus’ fault and Poseidon is very clear in letting him know that. This obviously is going to add to Odysseus’ guilt exponentially since this time it truly was his own actions that lead to this scenario. Not to mention that had Odysseus just apologised, Poseidon might have been gracious to the crew.

Now there’s no saying what that would look like for Poseidon, maybe he would have only sunk one or two ships or maybe he was lying, who knows. The main point is that Odysseus was given another chance to get out of this peacefully, but he can’t swallow his pride long enough to say “I’m sorry”. Odysseus instead tries to talk his way out of it and Poseidon isn’t having it; this is another instance of Odysseus’ actions resulting casualties. All of this happens before the Circe saga mind you.

So let’s review all the instances that would be causing Odysseus guilt so far:

He’s been forced to kill a child to save his family and kingdom

He’s lost his best friend and a chunk of his crew to Polyphemus

He’s lost the support of his patron goddess who he has also seen as a friend since childhood

He’s lost 90% of his crew (give or take) due to his own actions

You cannot look at this and tell me that it would not greatly affect your mental health in any way. Odysseus is being weighed down by an immense about of grief and guilt as the story continues. It gets to be so much that in Puppeteer Odysseus tells Eurylochus that while he would like to leave Circe’s island, he can “hardly sleep now knowing everything [they’ve] done”, directly referring to the guilt that keeps weighing on his mind. By this point in the story Odysseus is so wracked with guilt that he would rather risk his own life to save the few men he has left that add anymore to his guilty conscience.

I see this as one reason why Odysseus rejects Circe’s advances. Odysseus went to save his men who were transformed because he already can’t sleep and doesn’t want to add any more guilt onto his mind. Do we really think he would change this stance just so he could sleep with a goddess? The thought of cheating on Penelope would likely cause Odysseus just as much guilt as leaving his men. This situation poses a similar dilemma to the very beginning of the story; Odysseus can either comply and free his men or not. In this moment Odysseus is in a lose-lose situation, however, he doesn’t let that stop him from trying to essentially create a third option that doesn’t add to his guilt.

And he’s successful this time.

Unlike he pleaded with Zeus, is seems that for one reason or another Odysseus is successful in pleading with Circe; he is able to create a third option for himself and his crew. He’s able to create a reality where his remaining crew survives and Odysseus doesn’t add anymore to his guilt.

Again, this is not about the original story, or other interpretations, this is solely based on what we know from EPIC. In short; Odysseus pleaded and begged with Zeus not to make him kill Astyanax, to give him a third peaceful option but failed. Odysseus is given a whole song about his own moral struggle in the options given to him and is then haunted by the guilt of his actions. He is then faced with the death of his crew due to his own actions, becoming not only a point of further guilt but also a shot at his pride. Odysseus looses Athena’s favour and looses Polities. While Odysseus may have begun to cave to Circe, I believe it was ultimately his love for his family and his desire to not add to his guilt that made him reject Circe.

Odysseus was never okay with killing an infant, he felt guilty likely from the moment he made his final decision. By the time he meets Circe, Odysseus would rather attempt to talk his way out (something that hasn’t actually worked till now) than add to his guilt. I’m truly not sure what I’m missing that, in the context of the musical, this isn’t obvious. Maybe it’s because I’m taking EPIC as its own story and not a one-to-one with the source material, who knows.

Sorry this got really long, I just needed to get it out somewhere before it plaques my mind anymore. Once again, I’m not trying to hate on anyone or bully anyone, this is just my own opinion on the matter!

#greek mythology #tagamemnon #epic the musical #epic the circe saga #epic the ocean saga #epic the cyclops saga #epic the troy saga #glitch rants #I feel like this was an intentional timeline for the musical #maybe it’s just me #idk

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