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youseissi · 4 years

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The Dark Witch Next Door

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺:

The man that just moved in next to Hongjoong might be too kind for his own good and the witch's totally not worried about him.

Kim Hongjoong is a dark witch that specializes in potions and when herbs from his garden keep going missing he's pretty sure Park Seonghwa is the culprit. After all who else would need fern flowers besides the white mage living next door.

Pairings: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa

Tags:

Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Onesided Enemies to Lovers, Light Angst, someone dies but not really, tsundere hongjoong, Necromancy

Notes: This is the first story in a series of short stories for a witch au.

Warnings: Non descriptive gore (necromancy).

Arcana Series: TDWND ✧ TWND ✧ TBC ✧ AO3

Hongjoong counts the little sprouts on the garden floor. He finishes and starts over not quite satisfied. And then one more time. A couple of them were missing. Again. It took weeks to grow those and every single time at least a couple of them went missing, if not up to half of the batch and he needed those. He didn’t have time to wait for another month to continue to brew his potions.

He knew who always did this and, unlike that doofus, he had actual clients to tend to. Saying that Hongjoong, the village's dark witch, was furious was an understatement.

“Having problems with wild animals again?” His neighbour’s annoyingly angelic voice sounded over the fence. Ha. As if it wasn’t that little familiar of his that snatched all his ingredients away.

“I guess so, you don’t happen to know anything about it, do you?”

“Haven’t I answered this question a few too many times before? My answer haven’t changed.” Seonghwa replied, a soft smiled contradicting the tone of his words.

“Yes, yes I know. I just feel the need to ask since these herbs…”

“Are very important ingredients for very expensive potions, I’m aware.” The white mage completed his phrase with a chuckle, having heard the speech way too often. “I really don’t know anything, but I’ll let you know in case I do.”

His two tailed cat chose this moment to cut in between them, sprinting between Hongjoong’s feet and jumping onto the fence, mewling quietly for its owner and Seonghwa promptly took it in his arms excusing himself.

Hongjoong just hummed in response, going back to tend to his destroyed garden. One day he would catch the older in the act, he promised to himself mindlessly as he plucked the remaining blossoms and replaced them with new seeds. It had to be him, after all who else would need fern flowers besides the white mage living next door.

✦

“That’ll be fifteen gold pieces for a good harvest potion, per field of course.” Hongjoong declared matter of factly as he wrote down on a piece of paper with his crow feather quill, doing the math for how much the final price would be.

“Can’t you lower your price? Isn’t that a little too expensive? People are dying, you know.”

Yes, he knew. Tough luck, that was the cycle of life for a mere mortal, get over it. He couldn’t lower his price for a simple reason like that as Magic wasn’t free for him either. Every single ounce of mana needed a sacrifice to be turned into magic. No matter the use, it had a price, always and forever that was the universal truth for every supernatural being. So the whole town could die if that was the case, but he was getting paid for his sacrifice.

“I’m aware of the situation, this is the best price I can do and it’s already severely lowered. Also I need at least half the pay beforehand for ingredients. Would you like some tea while you go over the papers?”

“Sure…”

Hongjoong didn’t stay out of the room for long, just quick enough to grab the already boiling kettle and pour the tea onto some fancy china cups he used for clients, but immediately he knew something was amiss when he stepped back into his living room.

“Have you reached a decision?” He asked with a fake condescending smile.

“I- I’ll speak to the other farmers.” The villager sitting at his couch mumbled.

“Okay, just decide before the next moon cycle or it’ll damage the quality of the spell.” Hongjoong warned eager to get it over with, gathering the papers from the table before getting up to show his client to the door.

He opened the door facing away from his seated guest slowly, stalling a bit until he heard surprised gasps turn into loud screams. The smile in his face turned genuine as he turned back to face the distraught villager.

“What have you done to me?” His guest exclaimed frightened off his mind as he stared at his arms, little mushrooms growing not only there, but all over his body. A harmless prank, if you ask Hongjoong he deserved much worse.

“A little curse, this one for free even! I don’t take kindly to thieves around here, if you could please put back the bottles you took from under the window sill.” The dark witch replied with a fake sweet tone, smiling wide.

“Here, here just stop it please!” The man took out of his jacket pocket a few bottles and even a little jar of stardust that he hadn’t noticed it was gone, surely more valuable than any service the man could buy. Tending to humans was so bothersome, perhaps he’d only take requests from unworldly beings from now on.

“Good boy, now come closer so I can undo the curse.” Hongjoong commanded.

Naively the man rushed to his side and the witch only pushed him out the door, swiftly closing and locking it up on his face.

The man knocked loudly and yelled angrily, with empty threats of burning his house or some other stereotypical bravado humans liked to throw at them. A real witch has nothing to fear against such bigoted ideas, as if his small territory wasn’t strongly protected already.

He giggled as he took the cups back to the kitchen. On one of his windows the neighbour’s cat sat there staring judgmentally, his two tails swinging uncoordinatedly against one another. Not that he expressed any judgment, but Hongjoong just felt his disapproval somehow.

“What? It’ll wear off in a week, stop staring at me.” He excused his actions annoyed.

The cat only started back, letting out a yawn and pawning at his ears. The back of his paws a familiar blue and green that could only be found on the dark witch’s yard.

“You little…”

The smart kitty ran away before he could finish cursing under his breath.

✦

Usually at that time he'd be having tea with the herb thief that was his neighbour. Not that he enjoyed his company or anything, or at least he wouldn't admit to it, it just became their ritual not long after he moved in. Seonghwa knocked at his door with a basket of baked goods inviting him out for a cup on his first day and it stuck. The man might be a petty thief, but he did make great cookies.

The dark witch came out to his front yard with a spring in his step that day, excited to confront Park Seonghwa about his sneaky familiar. He had caught the pesky little animal red handed! He even brought out his favourite cups, brewed his fancier tea leaves, the ones he had imported from lands far beyond their little edge of the forest, and spiked it just the littlest bit with alcohol. Hongjoong was one to celebrate his victories in life no matter how small they were.

Yet as tea time approached Seonghwa’s voice sounded through the fence just out of his sight, covered by the wall of mismatched planks that were higher at the side of his small outdoors resting area. It seemed the white mage had guests. Rude ones for that matter, did no one respect tea time anymore these days? A sacrilege if you asked him.

“Oh dear, what has happened to you?” The mage asked, concern loud and clear on the other side.

“The evil dark witch! He has bestowed an horrible curse upon myself, can you believe it? But that is not the reason I come to you today, no need to worry about such trivial matters.” A familiar gruffy voice answered and Hongjoong groaned quietly at the reappearance of his former client, if the cheapskate could even be called that. Humans like this one just did not know when to give up.

“I’m sure he must’ve had a reason, have you done something to offend him again?” Seonghwa still seemed very concerned with that matter regardless it seemed.

“Not a thing! I swear that witch is the devil.” The villager exclaimed as if it was true and Hongjoong had to remind himself that it was rude to interject into conversations he was not invited to. It took him all his self control as he had quite a few things to say, most of them not pretty words, that's for sure.

“You should be more careful from now on, let me take care of this for you.”

A moment went by without voices, Hongjoong sipping on his tea slowly. Seonghwa’s tea would get cold if he didn’t hurry up, the witch thought impatiently.

“Oh, honorable white mage, I’ll forever be in debt to your generosity.”

Tch, his curse wouldn’t get to last a week it seemed. The overly polite flair in that man words annoyed Hongjoong so much he considered muting the man for a few days. Give him a scare that made him think twice before speaking.

“That’s nothing, please. Now why have you come here? You mentioned you had something to ask before.”

“I fear I might fall into even greater debt for I’ve come to ask for a favor, if you’d be so kind to hear me out.”

A favor? If it was the same he had asked from the dark witch than that man really had no shame downplaying a service like this. Seonghwa shouldn’t have bothered undoing his curse, now it’ll only waste him more energy to cast a new one. Making little of a witch’s work, there was no worse offence and Hongjoong was expecting the white mage to repay the man in kind.

But it did not come, the situation developing in the complete opposite he’d expect. The man did ask for an enchantment that assured a good harvest, the last few ones having been miserable it seemed, and the village starved under his rule. Seonghwa seemingly empathetic agreed to go and asses the situation for him, to see if there was anything he could do and of course there was.

The way Seonghwa was talked to unsettled the dark witch, he’d better charge a great sum, because of course he could help and at a much quicker and effective manner than Hongjoong could. But at greater cost as well.

If he were to do something to this degree for free, where would he draw the line? There was a difference between being kind to being a pushover and it needed to be clear. At least that's the work ethic witches had to live by, magic was an expensive craft after all.

Soon enough the sky began to darken, Hongjoong not quite knowing if he should just go back inside. It wasn’t like they had arranged anything, he only came out to his yard out of habit. Who would even want to meet Park Seonghwa, the stupid fern flower thief that kept undoing his curses? Not him, that’s for sure. The fancy tea he had put out for him had gone bitter after the first hour anyway.

The witch was about to go back inside, the dishes floating back through the window at a wave of his hand when Seonghwa finally appeared, passing by the dirt road in front of his house.

“Oh, Joongie! Have I made you wait? I’m sorry, I should’ve let you know I’d be busy.” The older said with regret, but all Hongjoong could focus on was since when did the white mage called him by Joongie ? It short-circuited his brain for a few seconds before he answered with a rosy tint to his cheeks.

“It's not like I was waiting for you, I was just enjoying my afternoon tea. I finally made some from that exotic blend you’ve been nagging me to make, but oh well guess it’s too late now.” Hongjoong downplayed it as he got up to follow the cutlery inside.

“Aw, you ought to make it again tomorrow.” Seonghwa whined bringing a hand to rest on Hongjoong’s shoulder to keep him there.

“Hmmm… I don’t know, I already wasted a lot of it today.” Hongjoong tried to answer calm and collected, but a thumb rubbing at the base of his neck had him sidetracked.

“Please? For me?” The white mage pleaded with his best puppy eyes and Hongjoong started feeling very suffocated all of a sudden, heat crawling up his neck and tightening his chest.

“Oh, get over yourself, Park Seonghwa.” Hongjoong muttered under his breath, inaudible to the older as he retreats inside hurriedly. Stupid charming mage with his stupid starry eyes. If his ears burned red it had nothing to do with him.

✦

He did not make the tea the next day, or the next one, or the next next one, or…

It had been over a week before a day came that Seonghwa did not start the day announcing he’d be busy and to not wait for him. Hongjoong appreciated the daily notice, as excessive as they sounded, not particularly curious for what was keeping the mage busy. It was probably just a busy time for his business.

When they finally sit down together again the long awaited reaction to his findings were quite underwhelming, the older just chuckled at how worked up he was, but Hongjoong did not relent.

“If I catch this little rascal anywhere near my herb garden again...” He threatened, trying to express how serious this was to him as he poured himself more tea.

“Yeosangie likes sweets, it’s not his fault! I’ll try to discipline him better from now on.” The white mage continued to make light of it with a soft smile, not convincing Hongjoong for one moment that he’d tell off his beloved pet.

The dark witch eyed the cat resting over his fence with distraught and Seonghwa made a motion for the cat to jump on his lap, stretching his arm to catch him into a protective hold as his shirt swayed around obnoxiously. Usually what would catch the witch’s attention was the veins popping in his hands, the way his collar bone poked from under his skin and his muscles flexing, Hongjoong wasn’t blind after all even if he liked to pretend he was.

But that wasn’t it today. Seonghwa quickly fixed himself, noticing where the other’s eye fell and how his expression turned sour.

“Working a lot lately?”

“Yes, I suppose it’s been busy.” The white mage averted his eyes.

“And getting fairly rewarded, I assume?” Hongjoong asked, even though he could guess the answer. He wanted to reach and touch the plethora of scars covering from the tip of the other's fingers up his forearms, he almost did.

Hongjoong was a dark witch for he poured his magic into potions and that dealt with the dead rather than the living. A technicality really, only categorized by the facts that all his ingredients were either already dead or would be by the time his potions were done.

Yet for white magic as it affected the living it required live sacrifices. Seonghwa didn’t look like the type to use animals and such, the practice was not well seen by the community to start with and he didn’t keep any besides the cat as far as Hongjoong knew. So there was only one source left to drive mana from. Himself.

“I only wish to help, it’s no trouble.” Seonghwa dismissed his worries with a weak smile.

Hongjoong considered it to be all the trouble, but oh well.

“You are an absolute fool Park Seonghwa.” His voice came out harsh and sharp, Seonghwa immediately hurt by then. Not offended, just sad to have upset the dark witch so much.

Hongjoong got up quickly to go back into his house not feeling in the mood for tea anymore, a pout and puffed cheeks hidden away from his companion.

✦

“Mister! Don’t you think you poured more blood on his field? Pour some more on mine too!”

“What?” Honestly Seonghwa was getting a lightheaded at this point, this was supposed to be the last one for the day.

“Oh, mine too! I don’t think you did enough today.”

“No! Mine is more important, don’t listen to them!”

“Wait, I’ll-” The white mage tried reasoning, but soon a crowd started forming and it wasn’t long before it started going out of control, no longer just words being used to try and grab his attention.

✦

The dark witch was drinking his precious tea with a different guest from faraway that eventful morning. Very far away considering how painfully slow it was to make a gateway from the underworld, be it through a spell or potion or however method used. It was a long time coming that meeting, months in the making.

The summoner in front of him talked excitedly about all the new pets he found on his latest journey there, eager to show the hellhound he had the pleasure to domesticate and Hongjoong was about to scold Mingi for even suggesting conjuring one on his living room close to all his precious tomes when he felt a crippling cold at the back of his neck, an eerie omen and he just knew something had to be wrong.

His neighbour's cat appeared tapping frantically at his window not an hour later, paw scratching at the glass with sharp screeches and desperate mews to catch his attention.

Oh, humans. Such selfish creatures, they just couldn't help themselves, could they? Once they found something that gave them even the littlest bit of edge over the others, any way to make their lives easier without working for it, they needed to capture it, hog it for themselves, grabbing and pulling without a care for the source.

And that was exactly what they did in this case with the treasure that was Park Seonghwa. The villagers fought nail and tooth for a piece of him, blunt claws showing themselves to paint the fields red till there was no more, leaving his remains to dry up. 'It can't be helped', they thought as their precious magic spell could no longer work for them, losing interest without a second thought.

With blood and flesh at his feet the dark witch saw red with rage, cursing at their fields, at the air they breathed and at the water they drank. He cursed and cursed till there was nothing left uncursed, loud cries and screams sounding all throughout the small village cursing back at him uselessly, but they did not dare raise a finger against him as they knew Hongjoong wouldn’t be merciful like their beloved white mage.

All the pain and misfortune that would befall the village served them right, the witch laughed through tears.

✦

“You’re so lucky I have a necromancer friend that owed me a favor.” Hongjoong continued to tell off the white mage that struggled to look up at him with the unusual height difference, his head laying on their garden table surrounded by flowers to cover the gruesome details of his severed neck.

“Yes, yes I’ll be sure to repay Wooyoung properly once I’m back on my feet.” Quite literally, the bodiless head meant. “Speaking of that, when do you think that will be?”

“It looks like it might take a while, we’re not paying for it after all. And he’s been very preoccupied lately with a jinx that went south.”

“Oh really?” The mundane chit chat was oddly nice, the witch had been extra prickly since the incident and Seonghwa had no choice, but to listen to his nagging now. Not that he minded, if asked he’d tell without an ounce of hesitance how much he loved to hear Hongjoong’s voice, be it sharp remarks or embarrassed squeals.

“He’s been using up all his energy trying to exorcise his boyfriend for a month now.” The dark witch commented absentmindedly as he stirred some powder into the bowl in his hands.

“Oh my, what a predicament. I think I have a spell that might-”

Seonghwa did not manage to finish his phrase as a spoon full of soup was pushed into his mouth.

“Even after all this you’re still wanting to help people? For free? Haven’t you learned your lesson?” Hongjoong asked incredulously.

“Haha, I’m sorry I guess it’s an habit.” The older just chuckled. “Are you mad?”

“I am! You need to take better care of yourself! It’s not like I really care about what you do or anything, but, you know… I- I… I don’t know what I’d do if you really died. Be more considerate.”

Seonghwa swore the blush in the younger’s cheeks was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He might just die a few more times if it meant he got to hear such words and see the expression again.

“You’re too kind, Joongie.” The comment only earned him another forced spoonful of soup through his smile.

#kpop fanfic #ateez fanfiction #ateez fanfic #seongjoong #kim hongjoong #park seonghwa #ateez #witch au #long #long post #my writing #youseissi #SleepyFairyAO3 #Arcana Series

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carriagelamp · 4 years

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February 2020 Book Review

The Last Wish / Sword Of Destiny

Let’s start with the books that currently have me in a stranglehold. I apologize to everyone that actually follows me and watched me descend into fandom pits but whatcha gonna do. So, I was aware of the video game when it came out, but not being a prolific gamer I was intrigued but never bothered getting into it. Then the Netflix series came out, and I was again intrigued... but I suck at sitting down and watching shows. So what the heck I decided, it’s probably mediocre hypermasculine high fantasy but let’s try a book to see what the fuss is all about.

Good god. Guys. It’s real good. And so fucking different from the show. Geralt is actually a really emotional, well-meaning guy who’s starved for positive social interactions and is just trying to do his best. And the books’ consistent themes of colonialism, environmental destruction, forced extinction, and changing eras is... chilling and fascinating and honestly a little too relatable at times. These books have made me laugh and shout and frankly sob. Still a little sexist, cause 90s fantasy, but Geralt is so not the gruff, heartless, manly man character I thought he would be. I am so deeply into these and have just cracked the spine of the next book in the series. If you like high fantasy, I can’t recommend these enough.

The Silver Eyes

I just learnt that there were Five Nights At Freddy’s books, and honestly picked this up from the library as a joke for my brother. We’d played the games back when they first came out, and were into the lore, but lbr they’re more of a meme at this point. Anyway, we ended up reading this out loud to each other, a chapter a night, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Probably wouldn’t have liked it as much on my own, but the main character was complicated and messy, and the book’s way or portraying trauma was neat. It was nominally horror, and did have the occasional chilling moment, or times it was fun to speculate, it over all it was pretty run of the mill middle grade fiction.

FRNK

Probably the best graphic novel I’ve read this month.

I was howling with laughter while I read it. Good quality Belgium comics, always a treat. This story is about a modern day boy, Frank, who is accidentally thrown back into prehistoric times, where he’s stuck with a bunch of cavemen who haven’t invented the concept of vowels yet. Admittedly my French isn’t great, so it made trying to decipher words with half the letters missing a challenge to say the least, but plenty worth it. I really want to get my hands on book two. I believe there’s an English translation, and I’d recommend giving it a try.

Best Friends

A neat little graphic novel that addresses common growing up issues, about what it means to be friends, stay friends, how to cope with people changing and when it’s time to walk away. Anxiety, being yourself, fitting in, all that sort of stuff. It’s a quick read, very pleasant, and has nice art.

Karen’s Witch

Another cute graphic novel with charming art. I read this at the store while I was waiting for a prescription to be filled. It’s about this five year old (or thereabouts) who is absolutely determined that her neighbour is a witch and by god she is going to prove it or at least scare herself and her friend silly in the process. A fun little read!

Endling: The First

The second book in the Endling series, and all my praise for the first book apply here as well. A super unique high fantasy that gives extinct and threatened species a voice. The book explore themes of war, environmental destruction, sacrifice and loss. You really get to see how much Byx has grown and how much she needs to continue to grow. This book has me so excited for the third, I haven’t read such an emotionally rewarding quest novel in a long time.

Bleach

I found out my library has a billion books of this series and decided to jump into it again for the first time in over a decade. Honestly it’s even better than I remembered? The art is absolutely stunning, Ichigo is such a power fantasy hero, and it’s one of those series with a lot of really loveable characters and a lot of heart. Ichigo is a good guy who you actually feel good liking, which can’t be said for all shonen protags by any means. This is just such a classic and it holds up man. And if you like manga and have never read it? Jump in and enjoy a normal human getting supernatural powers and kicking absolutely enormous monsters’ asses.

Dinotopia: Sabertooth Mountain

This was my favourite Dinotopia book as a kid, and it was still fun to reread. The world of Dinotopia is one separate from the rest of the world, where humanity lives in perfect harmony with many prehistoric creatures that have managed to survive and evolve on the island of Dinotopia. This story is about a crisis brewing, as the sabertooths are cut off from their food supply and are in danger of not only starving but of bringing death to the rest of the mountain as well. While surveying the situation with his older sister, the main character finds himself falling from the airship in the middle of a storm, directly into the valley of starving sabertooths.

I read a bunch of this author’s graphic novels, and they are such feel-good queer lit. This was probably my favourite of the lot, but I also read Tea Dragon Society, Aquicorn Cove, and Princess Princess Ever After. Taking place in a picturesque mountain community, it’s about a girl meeting a guardian dragon who accidentally fell asleep in the mountains a century ago rather than watch over the village like intended. It’s about coming to terms with and loving yourself (and also about super cute little tea dragons).

Just Jaime

Another story that focuses on the complications of middle school, and how friends can grow and change, and when sometimes friendships become toxic and cruel. These are novel/graphic novel hybrids that are very visually appealing, and really do manage to tell very heartfelt stories. This one takes a side character from the earlier two books, and turns her from a very one dimensional, somewhat annoying character, into a fully realized person with her own issues and her own need for growth.

The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up / The Life-Changing Manga Of Tidying Up

Given that I’m not really a non-fiction person and DEFINITELY not a self-help book person, I really enjoyed these (though I didn’t read Spark Joy). I read the manga first, out of curiosity, but enough of it struck true that I decided to try the book as well. Have I cleaned anything up yet? No. But honestly, I can genuinely say that despite being repetitive at points I do truly feel like I got a lot of good out of it, and I feel much more excited and prepared when I do decide to do a big clean next. It really does reframe the relationship you have with your belongings and with yourself. I genuinely love the concept of “sparking joy”.

Bigfoot Boy: The Sound Of Thunder

Technically the last book of the series, whoops. Though honestly having read it I didn’t feel like I missed that much. It’s a Canadian graphic novel and I had... mixed feelings about it. Interesting and exciting in some ways, but the pacing was odd, and honestly I don’t think indigenous voices went into making it (I could be wrong but...) and it reads as kinda... eugh. Problematic. Having a none indigenous author write about a white boy being the guardian of a first nation totem and turning into a bigfoot isn’t a super cool optic.

Bloodchild

I was told “hey this is a really fucked up short story” so I read it, and guess what? It was a really fucked up short story. Would recommend if you want weird alien sex slavery bullshit-- it was a wild ride. And the overall themes obviously went a lot deeper than that, but honestly, it’s like a few dozen pages long if you wanna dig into all the philosophical shit, just give it a read! Uh, heavy content warning, tw tw tw, but a really bizarre, unsettling look at gender and power dynamics and oppression through a scifi lens.

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIHM

I hadn’t read this book since elementary school so I reread it on a whim. It really is such a charming story. As far as animal stories go, this feels almost like the platonic ideal. Mother mouse is worried about her sick son and winds up compelled to seek out the mysterious rats who live in the rosebush for help, and is not only thrust into her own adventure but learns about the strange past her late husband shared with the rats of NIMH. It’s such a relaxing read, while still managing to be exciting and compelling.

Exploring According to Og the Frog

And one last animal story to round us off. I’d read one of the Humphrey books last month, and check out a couple more from the library for fun. I didn’t enjoy Mysteries According to Humphrey that much, but this one was charming, showing the world through Humphrey’s frog friend Og instead. The same charming type of adventure, but being a frog, Og has a very different attitude and view of the world, which was fun. Very cute elementary kid lit.

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castlebay-crossing · 4 years

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The Villager in Tent Three: Chapter One

Summary: When Aisling leaves her hometown for the island of Castlebay, as part of Tom Nook’s Deserted Island getaway package, all she expects is sun, sand and plenty of solitude. But when she gets there, not everything is as the brochure said. Secretive villagers, judgemental neighbours, and an antagonistic photographer turn out to be the least of her worries, however, when the mysterious villager in tent three turns up dead one night after a vicious storm that left the only plane off the island grounded. Someone on the island is a murderer. And it’s up to Aisling to work out who it is. Before they come after her, too.

Warning: Major character death, some description of violence

Other Links: Readable on AO3 and FFN.

A/N: Here’s the first proper chapter! I had a lot of fun with this and I’m looking forward to deepening the plot and bringing lots of little details in! Thanks to everyone who read so far and liked/reblogged, it made me very happy! I hope this next chapter doesn’t disappoint!

.-.-.

The plane had nine seats – eight for passengers and one right at the front that I assumed was reserved for an air steward. But as I quickly found out, an air steward was a luxury this old rust bucket would be lucky to have. It came as a mild surprise that they’d even bothered to fit seatbelts.

Ducking my head to avoid smacking into the low-hanging arch, I took a deep breath in for courage. The other passenger sat close to the front, fiddling with the settings on his camera. I squeezed my hips through the narrow aisle, offering him a smile he didn’t return.

The intercom crackled into life.

“Good morning, passengers, this is your pilot speaking.”

The pilot had an odd quality to his voice. It was guttural and slightly hoarse, like his vocal chords had been rubbed with sandpaper. I jumped into the closest seat available as the door sealed shut behind me.

“Welcome aboard Dodo Airlines towards our destination of Castlebay Island. Flying conditions today are good, with excellent visibility and a steady windspeed in a north, north-westerly direction. Our journey time today will be approximately one hour and twenty minutes, arriving into Castlebay Island at 11:50 AM. Please note that there will be no in-flight services or entertainment.”

Good thing I’d brought a book.

“For now, sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.”

As the plane whirred into life, I hauled my bag onto the seat next to me. It was strange to think that my entire life was packed into this bag. A life condensed to its basics. Everything I had done – everything I was – came down to a dozen changes of clothes, some toiletries and a few books. No electronics. The brochure said they wouldn’t function properly on the island. Not that it mattered. It would be too risky to bring them.

The plane was moving now. I’d flown before, many times, but nothing compared to the noise this tiny plane made as it rattled down the runway. The words in my book bounced, making no sense, and wriggled around my head like earthworms squirming in the dirt. The engines turned, and with a noise that sounded like a rumble of thunder, the plane lifted into the air. We jerked, buffeted by a sudden wind, and I grabbed the armrests, my heart thudding against my ribcage.

The plane steadied. I relaxed, feeling the vibration cease. I rested my head against the window, the whir of the propellers almost soothing in its consistency. I could see patchwork fields and silvery rivers, dotted with the occasional settlement of houses. After a few minutes, it all melted into a deep blue slab of ocean, daubed with thin wisps of cloud.

I tried to go back to reading. It was easier to fill my head with someone else’s words than my own. I’d spent weeks trying not to think too much about where I was going, but now it was nearly impossible to stave off. Exactly how “deserted” was Castlebay? The brochure said accommodation was “available” and food was “plentiful” – I wouldn’t have agreed to it otherwise – but what that translated to, I had no idea. Accommodation could be anything from a tent to a five-star hotel, although the latter I doubted. And what about other island dwellers? The fact Tom Nook was running a service largely pitched at Animals had been ticking around my brain for days. Most of the time, Animals and humans didn’t cohabitate.

Something clicked. One, twice, three times. I lifted my head out of my book and found I was staring right down the barrel of a camera.

I covered my face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The other passenger lowered his camera, grunted angrily at the resulting photograph and turned away again.

“Excuse me,” I tried again, trying to inject bravery into my voice. “What are you doing taking my picture?”

The photographer’s shoulders heaved. “There were no good shots from this window.”

“So what does that have to do with taking my photograph?”

“Needed to photograph something to make sure my settings were correct. It looked like a nice composition.”

I blinked. “May I see it?”

“I deleted it. You were pulling a face.”

“I see.” I said stiffly. “Well, listen, please do not photograph me again. I really don’t like it.”

He didn’t reply, already twisting his back and arms like a contortionist to point the camera at the window of the seat behind him. I looked down at my lap. The book had suddenly lost all its appeal.

“Why are you going to Castlebay?” I asked.

He took so long to answer I though he was either ignoring me or hadn’t heard me.

“Work,” he said eventually.

“Oh? Who do you work for?”

“Slice of Leaf Nature Magazine.”

I hadn’t heard of it, but I wasn’t about to admit it. “That’s cool,” I said, hoping it didn’t sound as limp to him as it did to me. “Are you well known?”

“In my field.”

“What’s your name? Maybe I’ve heard of you.”

Three more shutter clicks. “Morgan Stacey.”

“Nice to meet you, Morgan. I’m Aisling.” The name still didn’t sound right, like it was too big to fit in my mouth. “Will you be staying long?”

He pulled the camera back down and adjusted the lens. “Three months.”

“Long enough, isn’t it?” Now that I’d started talking, I found that I didn’t want to stop. “It’s scary though. But exciting. Like starting life all over again. But I suppose—”

Morgan sighed loudly, fixing me with a cool stare. “I’m sorry, but I’m actually very busy. I have a lot of work to get done. I can’t be spending all this time wittering on.”

I was surprised by the strength of my disappointment. I shrunk back into the chair and half-heartedly lifted my book again. Minutes unfurled, like molasses dripping from a spoon. I couldn’t concentrate. There was nothing much to see beyond the wing of the plane, cutting into the blue ocean like an iceberg. This was a small plane and the ocean went on for miles. Tendrils of nerves twisted in the pit of my stomach. What would happen if we went down? Would we ever be found?

I leant against the headrest and tried to regulate my breathing. What had they taught me? Breathe in four seconds, hold for seven, exhale for eight. It was hard to focus on worrying when I had to concentrate so hard on counting.

Slowly, my body relaxed. Darkness clung to the edge of my vision, soft as velvet, and my surroundings blurred like the dipping of an artist’s brush. I must have dozed, because the next thing I knew, the intercom crackled back into life.

“Attention passengers, we will soon be making our descent to Castlebay Island. At this moment, we ask that you fasten seatbelts securely in preparation for landing. Passengers flying with Tom Nook’s Deserted Island Getaway Package should note that they will be met at the airport with further information. Thank you for choosing Dodo Airlines.”

The Fasten Seatbelt light above the steward’s seat dinged and I wriggled upwards, trying to work out the crick in my back. Morgan was busily packing away his camera and wouldn’t look at me.

The weather had turned. Everything was steely grey; clouds rose like mountainous peaks and raindrops simpered against the glass. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t pick out any landmass through the packed layers of cloud.

The descent started quickly. The plane roared, leaving my ears ringing, then tilted. The clouds rose up to meet us, and as we dipped further, I tried not to look. I didn’t mind flying, but the landing made me nervous, worry fizzing in my stomach like popping candy. I glanced across at Morgan, but he was staring out the window, enraptured.

We were approaching the ocean with frightening speed. I could see something in the distance – land, I hoped – but we didn’t seem to be flying directly towards it. We were still descending towards the ocean, getting closer with every hitching breath.

“We are now approaching Castlebay Island. Please prepare for landing.”

A squeal left my lips and I shoved my hands over my mouth, as if to try to cram it back in. With a sudden drop, my stomach felt like it been detached from the rest of me and had become fully buoyant. I was engulfed by a strange feeling, like gravity gave up on holding me down. It lasted only seconds. Outside the window, I saw the plane unfold two sets of floats. Then, we slowed, almost to a crawl and the ocean was at my eye level.

We hit the water with a judder, shuddered upwards, and then came down again. With another roar, the plane slowed and then smoothly surfed forward. Morgan turned around, a deep frown creasing his face.

“Have you never ridden in a seaplane before?”

My stomach lurched and heaved. The water, separated only by a thin frame of steel, looked tar-like so close. I gasped and gripped the armrest.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

.-.-.

“Try not to feel too bad.” Morgan said as we climbed from the plane and up onto the dock that stuck out into the water like a splinter in the finger. “You got most of it in the seat pocket, after all.”

“Shut up,” I said weakly. “I didn’t realise we were coming in on a seaplane.”

“Hmph.” Morgan folded his arms. “You won’t last five minutes on a deserted island with that weak a constitution.”

I wanted to snap back, but my churning stomach gurgled again, and I clamped my mouth shut. It was slightly better out in the open, but what I really wanted was a sit down and a glass of water. Weren’t we supposed to be met by someone at the airport?

I wandered partway down the dock, watching the water rush between the gaps in the wood. The dock opened out onto a stretch of beach, horseshoe shaped and framed by trees. Further beyond that, the island rolled away into hills and grassland. But not a single other person. Panic surged in me like a wave at high tide. Were we actually deserted? Left alone out here with nothing and no-one to help us?

Then, a voice.

“Greetings, greetings!”

I’d seen Tom Nook on his brochure, so I recognised him immediately as he hurried along the dock. “A warm welcome to Castlebay Island! So very glad to see you arrived in one piece, yes-yes!”

I forced a smile. “More or less. You must be Tom Nook?”

“That’s correct.” He extended a paw and I shook it. “Aisling, is that right?” He pronounced it wrong but I didn’t correct him. “You ordered the full Getaway Package?” When I nodded, he looked at Morgan. “So, this young chap must be our photographer, yes-yes?”

“That’s me. Morgan Stacey.” He briefly shook Tom’s paw. “Nice to meet you.”

“You booked on the three-month package, yes-yes?” He didn’t even wait for Morgan’s reply. “Excellent, excellent! I’ll have you both follow me up to Residential Services.”

He was off, waddling up the dock without a second’s hesitation. He was surprisingly fast. Morgan followed, making quick work of the distance, while by comparison, I had to force myself to catch up.

Rain spat from the leaden sky. I wanted to take in the island, be awe-struck by its beauty as the brochure promised, but as I slid across slippery sand, my stomach in knots, I was distinctly underwhelmed by the whole thing so far.

At least it was a short walk to Residential Services – I counted around six minutes. I expected a building, but it turned out to be a glorified green marquee pitched in a small clearing, surrounded by trees and loose boxes. Tom Nook joined up with two other animals in identical shirts, chatting freely in Animalese, while Morgan and I hung back awkwardly.

“We’ll keep this short as the weather doesn’t seem to be on our side today!” Tom Nook said cheerily. “On behalf of Nook Inc, we’d all like to thank you for choosing the Deserted Island Getaway Package. We hope you will be very happy here.”

A chilly wind picked up. I shivered, wishing I hadn’t worn shorts.

“As part of your orientation, we have prepared you some Welcome Packs that contain everything you need to know about the island.”

One of the smaller raccoons pushed a heavy bag towards me. “This includes a tent and some basic amenities,” he chittered. “There’s also an information pack detailing all the services we offer – including buying, selling and renovating!”

“And this…” Tom Nook handed me something, then plopped an identical one into Morgan’s hand. “…is our special Nookphone. You can use this for keeping in contact with residents and services, find guidance for island living and it’s even programmed with a map and a camera!”

“That’s… that’s very kind, thank you.” I said in a near-whisper. I couldn’t deny it felt good to have a phone in my hand again, feel connected to the world, even if, for now, the world only reached the corners of this little island.

“It is very kind.” Morgan agreed. “But I have no need for it. I have my own phone.”

Tom Nook’s nose twitched. “I’m sure you saw in the brochure, my dear Morgan, that regular phones don’t work on Castlebay Island. Signal doesn’t reach this far out, yes-yes!”

Morgan cursed under his breath, sharp words that didn’t seem right to be said in front of Tom Nook and the younger Nooklings. However, Nook carried on, seemingly unbothered.

“We will also offer workshops on crafting, fishing, bug-catching and all sorts of other fun island activities!”

It was so much to take in. A dull ache drummed at the back of my head. My legs still felt like jelly. Please let this finish soon so I can lie down somewhere.

Tom Nook looked at me sympathetically. “Although, perhaps it might be best to have you both set up your tents and get some rest before we get into the nitty-gritty, yes-yes?”

I managed a grateful smile.

“The entire island is available for you to set up your tents – though we do ask that you be mindful of other villagers and not pitch too close to their space. You can check their locations on the map already programmed in your Nookphone.”

“Other villagers?” Morgan frowned. “I wasn’t aware there’d be other villagers here. It was billed to me as a “deserted island” getaway. Doesn’t “deserted” mean “no other people”?” He said the last part with a pointed glance in my direction.

“Yes-yes! We currently have three other villagers pitched up!” Nook trilled. “It’s a very popular excursion at the moment! I’m sure they’ll be very pleased to meet you.”

What was that old expression my mother always said? Kill them with kindness. It worked like a charm on Morgan, whose cheeks pinkened.

“Well I suppose it can’t be helped. As long as no-one interferes with my work.”

He turned and stomped away, without saying goodbye or thanking Tom Nook. That left me alone with him and the two younger Nooklings. My words died in my mouth.

“Better get going, Miss Aisling!” Tom Nook said. “We’ll get plenty of time to get to know each other later, yes-yes?”

I nodded wordlessly.

I walked for a few minutes, only as far as it took for me to be certain I was far enough away from Nook and the Nooklings. A tree had been uprooted here, branches and stones littered the ground, and against a backdrop of dark skies, this wasn’t the sort of paradise I had been expecting. Something trickled down my cheek and I wasn’t sure if it was rain or tears.

The Nookphone buzzed. A tiny red notification popped up over the map icon. I pressed it, bringing up a map of the island. It looked much bigger than I originally expected, at least a couple of miles long in either direction. Four symbols showed up on the left-hand side of the screen:

Bill (Tent One)

Muffy (Tent Two)

Withheld at Villager’s Request (Tent Three)

Morgan (Tent Four)

Long-pressing the icons showed the location of each house on the map. Bill’s house was close to a bridge by the eastern river. Muffy’s house sat in a patch of flowers near to Residential Services. Tent Three didn’t show up on the map, no matter how hard I pressed. And Morgan seemed to have set up at the very top of the island, close to a rocky outcrop and a few minutes away from a thick cluster of trees.

My body ached. I needed to set up my own tent. Here was as good a place as any, I supposed, even though the area itself left a lot to be desired. The tent was simple enough to set up – Tom Nook’s capsule technology was pretty much legendary – and came with a small pink radio, a lantern and a camp bed. I tested it gingerly. It seemed to hold my weight alright, even if it wasn’t the comfiest thing in the world.

I set the radio to a random station, lay back in the camp bed and let sleep come for me.

#Animal Crossing #Animal Crossing fanfiction #Animal Crossing murder mystery #The Villager in Tent Three #Animal Crossing New Horizons #New Horizons fanfiction #Animal Crossing fanfic #I hope you enjoy!

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thetravellingvagrant · 5 years

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Day 2: London-Lima - In Which I Eat Chicken, Steamed Vegetables and Airline Seat

We were awake early again, today. Thanks in part to having gone to bed at like 10:30 the previous night, but also Sam's zeal for being far, far too early for things, we found ourselves awake, packed and ready to leave far, far earlier than we needed to be in any reasonable sense.

After a brief, though lively, discourse on whether or not we should spend extra human money to check our bags in to the hold (myself landing firmly on the 'nay' side, having literally never been stopped in an airport for my baggage being too big and Sam...quite vehemently taking up the contrary position because she estimated that her rucksack was a few centimetres over the length that was apparently allowed despite not even measuring), we jumped aboard the airport shuttle, once more, dropping another £8 into the swirling, ravenous vortex into which all of my money seems to have gone in the build up to this trip and soon we were back in Gatwick airport.

We breezed through security with minimal issues, save for my bag flashing up a false positive for contraband (which was especially confusing as all of my contraband was in my anus) and Sam struggling to use the passport scanners for a length of time which, by her insistence, I am not permitted to describe as hilarious.

Soon, though, all that faffery was behind us and I was ready to board my first ever long-haul flight-

To adventure! (Not pictured: Peru)

Or at least I would have been, if it hadn't been delayed by an hour and forty minutes.

...To adventure! (Not pictured: Punctuality)

We whiled away our extra time without too much difficulty by buying a ludicrously expensive airport lunch (£9 for a plate of chips and a smoothie- get fucked, Gatwick) and abusing the restaurant's generosity with regards to letting us stay after having finished our meal to a borderline unreasonable extent before finally, finally actually getting on board our flight. Now, I'm sure that the sharper eyed amongst you may have noticed that at no point in this entry have I mentioned anything about us being made to check our bags into the hold because they were too big, which would definitely have been a weird thing for me to omit, had it happened. Weird, that...

Having now, at the point of writing this post, experienced the entirety of a long-haul flight, I've got to say that apart from being longer, its really not all that different from a short one. It's not really comfier or nicer to any significant degree and you're still most likely going to have some absolutely witless bastard sitting in front of you who, for some ungodly reason, thinks that it is perfectly acceptable plane etiquette to spend the whole duration of a twelve and a half hour flight, continuously reclining and de-reclining their seat, directly into your knees, like the classless animal they so obviously are. The only real differences in fact were the entertainment system and the food they served.

The entertainment system (and I use both the words 'entertainment' and 'system' incredibly loosely) was comprised of a tiny little screen in the back of the seat in front, sporting a resolution which would have made 2007 blush with embarrassment and an assortment of recent-ish films of wildly varying quality for the “enjoyment” and “amusement” of “all”. I'm poo-pooing it, but in fairness I did spend literally the entire flight watching these movies, wowed by the novelty of it all- despite having better films, which I was more interested in watching, at a better resolution, on my phone- and it did pass the time very effectively. I'm not sure quite what the brainwashing, rapturous effect the system had over me quite was, but it did make me sit through the entirety of Aquaman without being continually sick or beating my head bloody against my little fold-out table, desperately wishing for either the film or my life to end, so it definitely was quite potent.

The food was about on par with the entertainment, honestly. Quite shit; around the quality of your average mid-range microwavable meal from Tesco, but again, wowed by the novelty of being served essentially a free meal, and myself being essentially a posh tramp and willing to accept any offer, provided it's free, I did quite enjoy it. Even if it was incredibly difficult to eat, with the arsehole in the seat in front reclining themselves directly into my steamed vegetables, over and over and over again.

Finally, though, mid-way through watching Mary Queen of Scots (which I was and still am quite annoyed at having to switch off halfway through) we landed and filed off the plane into Jorge Chavez International airport and straight into a witheringly long and crushingly slow moving passport control line. It took us thirty five minutes to pass and this meant that we were now in danger of missing our connecting bus to Miraflores and having to wait an hour for the next one, which we both agreed, sounded fucking terrible after being on a plane for half a day.

We darted out into the terminal, wading through a veritable sea of opportunistic, aggressive and downright annoying taxi drivers all utterly desperate to definitely rip us off for as much as they could, for sure, and stumbled, pretty much entirely by luck to the bizarrely well concealed stop for the airport express bus, which we did just about manage to catch, if only bt exponentially less than the skin of our teeth.

After a further forty minutes of bussing, we were spat out into the city, with only the weakest of google maps signals to guide us to our Airbnb. Being the brave hero that I am, however, I led us to our correct destination with ease, only ringing the doorbell of a single incorrect house and nearly falling over on Lima's weirdly slippery pavements twice in the process. God I'm good.

We checked into our apartment, which was very much the Asda basic brand of accommodation (shower, toilet, bed, cupboard, single mawkish bit of wall art reading“follow your dreams, they know the way”) and almost immediately left once again to make, what was supposed to be a quick jaunt to a local supermarket, but actually ended up taking over an hour to complete, thanks, in part, to my being unable to figure out how to lock the door of our apartment and having to be shown by our neighbours- two admittedly quite nice Peruvian metalheads who had been blaring Motley Crue's Kickstart my heart out of their phone on the landing, at the time. By the time we returned home, it was close to 5am, UK time, which I was very much still on and so, after a sad little interlude of eating several fistfuls of lacklustre Peruvian crisps in order to have some food in my system to take my Malaria tablets with

...To adventure I guess. (Not pictured: Joy)

and a very, very welcome shower indeed, we went straight to bed and, honestly, that was my favourite bit of the trip so far.

#travelling #vagrant #lima #peru #ba #british airways #long haul #aquaman #mary queen of scots #iquitos #cusco #travel #photography #sad #tired

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enixamyram · 5 years

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Curious Archer Christmas Chapter 3

“Alice! Lucy's here.” Robin said, leading the younger girl into the kitchen where Alice was just finishing the last of the mornings washing up.

“Oh! Perfect!” Alice quickly grabbed the nearest tea towel and dried her hands.

“You're house looks amazing!” Lucy gasped, looking up over the decorations lining up against the wall leading through the hallway and into the kitchen. “We haven't even started unpacking ours yet.”

“Yeah, Alice got a little ahead of everyone else.” Robin smirked, walking over and grabbing Alice's coat off the back of one of the table chairs on her way. She handed it to her, kissing Alice's cheek softly.

Alice paused short of grabbing her bag from the counter, glancing back at her wife. “You sure you're okay with us going ahead without you?”

“Of course. You've already gone this far.” Robin grinned, waving at the room where little bells were hung over the kitchen windows. “Might as well finish it off. And I trust you to do as good a job with the tree as you have with the rest of the house while I kick back and relax.” Alice still looked hesitant. Robin reached over, rubbing her arms and smiling. “I mean it. Plus, I haven't had a chance to have a proper evening with Leah in a while so this will be a nice chance to catch up for us.”

“If you're sure.” Alice repeated, then leaned over and kissed her softly. “Won't be too long.”

“Have fun!” Robin called. She followed them through the hallway and stood in the open door to watch the pair heading out.

“You didn't want to have a drink or anything before we went, did you?” Alice asked, just after Robin shut the door behind them.

“No, that’s okay. I'm good.” Lucy grinned, bouncing a little on the spot. “So let's go!”

Alice giggled, watching Lucy skip slightly ahead of her, in between the animal ornaments and down onto the open streets. It really was lucky to have Henry call the other day. Alice didn't know where to begin looking for a real Christmas tree and while she was able to turn two of their garden bushes into colour changing trees for the front decorations, they were both quite small and couldn't really be called actual trees. Robin probably would have figured something out for them, but Alice would be lying if said she wasn't enjoying being in charge of everything this year.

“Alice?”

“Coming.” Alice said, quickly snapping out of her thoughts and following her out through the front gates. “Sorry about that.”

“It's cool.” Lucy nodded. “So, are you ready to get your perfect tree?”

“Yup!” Alice grinned, looking down at the smaller girl – wouldn't be long before Lucy would be almost eye level with the way she was growing the past year. “You guys already have yours?”

“Yeah, dad grabbed one yesterday just before he called you.” Lucy shrugged. “He's really into it.”

“Aren't you?” Alice blinked.

“Oh yeah, sure. But just not as much as dad.” Lucy said with an amused eye roll.

Alice did a small double take, staring down at Lucy curiously for a moment as they made their way towards the edge of town. “You guys must have had the chance to celebrate Christmas a bit back in the Enchanted Forest, though, right? What with Henry being from here originally.”

“Well, sort of. We kind of celebrated a little but nothing like this.” She waved towards some of the houses who had seemingly copied Alice and gotten their outside decorations set up early.

“How did you celebrate then?”

“We had a big fancy dinner with Tiana and everyone all gave one other person a homemade present.” Lucy explained. “The year before the curse, I gave Tiana a flower crown.”

“That sounds nice.” Alice smiled sadly. “I wish I could have visited you guys more.”

“Why didn't you?” Lucy asked.

Alice paused, thinking the question over carefully before answering. “Papa didn't have very many friends left after I was born. He gave up his ship and his crew along with it and spent his whole life looking after me back in my tower. If I went to the castle then papa wouldn't be able to, because of the curse on his heart, so it didn't really seem fair, especially since he was much closer to everyone there than I was. And I still had Rumplestiltskin and Robin to keep me company anyway, but he didn’t have anyone else.”

“I'm sorry you had to be separated for so long.” Lucy said quietly, then added brightly; “It must be nice being together again!”

“It is.” Alice beamed, immediately her earlier sadness fading away.

They kept walking passed the last few houses set up in this area while Alice began to happily describe the things she planned to do with her papa on their first Christmas together here in Storybrooke – after she had spent some quality Christmas time with Robin first, of course. And Lucy responded by describing what her Christmas was going to be like. It was going to be a lot busier than Alice's. The morning was going to be with her parents, and lunch was going to spent going with Emma's family to the Nolan farm, and finally, then a calm dinner spent with Regina before retiring home again.

“Won't you be tired?” Alice blinked, thinking to what Robin said about her favourite Christmas being a nice easy-going and relaxing one where you didn’t really have to do much all day.

“Probably!” Lucy grinned. “I can't wait!”

Before Alice could say anything else, they had reached a large fenced off area with a dozen brightly coloured Christmas trees wrapped around the fences gaps, flashing brightly and attracting any attention the large sign overheard missed. Inside the gated area was over a dozen trees, all bright green and waiting crowded into the small space just a little way away from the rest of the town’s houses. Otherwise there wasn’t much else to it, but Alice could feel a genuine joy coming from the simplicity of it that made her instantly smile as they approached the front entrance.

There were a couple people that could be seen wandering in between the trees, examining the barks and leafs with fine details and talking deeply about each of them like it was a life of death decision they could only make once. And they barely paused to talk to anyone that hadn’t arrived with them, though they certainly weren’t unfriendly about it. There were a couple large families grouped together, but more than that, there were a lot of fathers out only with their kids. Most of the kids were young, and they were running around without control while their dads struggled to keep an eye on them while they also searched for their own perfect tree.

“Have you ever gotten a Christmas tree before?” Alice asked as they stepped through the gates and into the first set of trees.

“No.” Lucy said, looking around slowly. “Mum never saw the point of cutting a tree down just for a day.”

“And now she does?”

“Dad wore her down.” Lucy grinned.

“Can I help you young ladies?”

They had just started down the first line when they heard the voice, drawing them to a stop. The girls turned around to find an older man stepping from in between the nearby trees, making his way forward and light brushing himself down. It wasn't someone either of them recognised. But he had a bright and friendly face and Alice wondered if he hadn't intentionally grown a grey shaded beard in order to go with the overall theme of the season. He was tightly wrapped in winter clothes and was quite large, making Alice wonder how he had squeezed in between the trees so easily without them noticing.

“We're fine.” Alice said, repeating what Robin always said whenever they went shopping and were offered assistance. “Just looking.”

“No problem, just come find me when you're ready to buy something or if you need any help at all.” The man said, nodding his head and turning to a pair of newcomers who looked completely lost the second they stepped through the gates.

“So,” Lucy said. “Dad always said the most important parts of finding a tree, are looking at the shape, size and colour.”

“They all look the same to me...” Alice mumbled, glancing around and pulling a face.

“Yeah, me too...” Lucy admitted before shrugging. “Guess that means they're all good?”

Alice wandered towards the trees nearer the back and paused in front of them, reaching and feeling the rough leaf stretching towards her, taking it between her fingers gently. They were all very nice, brightly green and tall and healthy, just like she imagined... And yet something just wasn't right about any of them. It was like they looked the part, smelled the part and physically felt the part... But there was a second feeling that was getting in the way and telling Alice that they still weren’t what she was looking for. A spiritual feeling. Like Alice could see the trees aura and sense that it wasn't the right tree after all.

“Found one?” Lucy asked, stepping up beside her.

Alice sighed. “No. None of these.”

Lucy paused, looking up at the trees and frowning. “What's wrong with them?”

“They're just not right.” Alice explained, waving her hand helplessly before moving along the line and tracing her hand gently over their branches as she went.

Lucy trailed along behind her, watching as Alice took her time examine all the trees she passed with a gentle touch. They continued to all look the same to her, so she couldn't understand what it was Alice was looking for. When her dad had picked up their tree, he'd barely looked past the front view he had of it before paying the seller and dragging it onto the back of Granddad David's truck to get home as soon as possible. So Alice taking her time was not only weird... It was also kind of boring.

“Any luck?” Lucy pressed as they turned a corner and started down a new line of trees, once again all looking exactly the same as their neighbours.

“Not yet.”

Lucy huffed and slouched slight, stalking after her. She'd been the one to volunteer herself to help Alice find her perfect tree but she hadn't expected it to take so long when she did. What was Alice even looking for?

“How about this one?” Lucy asked, stepping up to one of the largest trees near the front.

“No... Not that one.” Alice mumbled, walking passed her.

“One of these?” Lucy said, dancing around her and waving at three perfect clone-like trees standing side by side each other.

“No...”

Lucy let out a long breath from between her teeth, letting Alice drift passed before rolling her eyes. This was getting really dumb. What exactly was it Alice would hoping would happen? One of the trees would step out and start dancing in front of her, begging to be picked?

“Alice. Maybe you should just, magic your own tree? Like the ones in your garden.” Lucy suggested, trailing after her.

“It wouldn't be right.” Alice explained. “Those are just little decorations I made out of a couple of bushes. I need a real proper Christmas tree for our first year together.”

Lucy rolled her eyes again, this time being caught by Alice and flushing guiltily in response. Luckily Alice noticed, but didn't mind. It wasn't the first time someone had given her that kind of look or thought her odd for the way she did things. That didn't change anything for her. They were here for her and she was going to take as much time as she needed in order to find her perfect tree. She had her reasons for dragging it out. It was around here somewhere, she could practically sense it, but it was being confused with all the similar trees around it and Alice just needed to take some time to track it down.

“Alice... Do you think maybe we should try somewhere else?” Lucy asked after they had wandered around in a complete circle. “Maybe you should check the woods and see if there are any that haven't been uprooted or cut down yet that you like?”

“Maybe...” Alice sighed, finally coming to a stop. She still had a strong sense pulling at her, but she couldn't seem to find where it was coming from. She was beginning to think that maybe it was actually just her imagination was getting the best of her. Alice had let herself get a little carried away in her excitement so it wasn’t quite so farfetched to say it was all in her head.

“Want to go round once more?” Lucy sighed.

Alice nodded, eagerly walking ahead and once again reaching out a hand to stroke over the remaining trees. If anyone ever got in her way, she calmly stepped to the side and waiting for them to pass before moving back to her place and resuming her quick pace around the gated area. Lucy followed behind, feeling more and more like this quick favour was turning into an irritating chore. She was seconds away from pulling out her phone and calling her mother for an excuse to leave, when suddenly Alice came to a stop in the furthest corner from the entrance, staring at a pair of trees pressed closely together side by side.

“Found something?” Lucy asked, moving up beside her.

“I think so...” Alice mumbled, reaching and touching the trees but even they didn't feel right. Yet there was something here...

“Alice?”

Alice ignored her, pushing one of the tree branches aside when she thought she had caught sight of something hidden in the back behind them. When she realized there was definitely something there, Alice didn't hesitate, grabbing the two trees and moving them out the way to reveal the one behind them.

It was skinnier than all the other trees and a lot of its leafy branches had touches of brown along the tips that grow more obvious and visible the closer you came to the top. There were also a dozen patches along the bottom of the tree that were bare and broken like someone had stolen stretches of it and snapped off the rest. It was a little sad looking and Alice was momentarily distracted by its appearance before she felt the very thing she had been searching for, that sense she had been following… It had led her to this tree.

“Ugh,” Lucy said, pulling a face and wrinkled her nose like she could smell something foul. “That one looks half dead.”

“Looks are misleading.” Alice said softly, crossing her arms and smiling at it. “This is our tree.”

“Wait, seriously?” Lucy blinked. “But... It's ugly.”

“No, it's perfect.” Alice said, turning and waving down the man from earlier, waiting for him to approach before happily waving back to the tree. “I'd like this one, please.”

The man did a quick double take, opening his mouth like he was going to question her, then thought better about talking client out of a sale, especially over one he would never be able to sell otherwise. Instead he forced a smile and politely asked for half the price of the other trees, accepting Alice's money and asking if she needed help getting it home.

“No, thank you. We can manage.” Alice beamed, watching the guy wander off, shaking his head as soon as his back was turned to her.

“So...” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “How are we getting this all the way back to yours? Should I call my dad?” She couldn’t help but worry it would collapse into dust before they were even halfway but chose to keep that thought to herself for now.

“I got it.” Alice said, taking a breath and flicking her hands out in front of her. She shut her eyes just as the smoke gathered around the three of them. Once it had cleared a moment later, they found themselves back in Alice's home, standing in the middle of the living room with the tree already settled in its chosen corner.

Lucy glanced around in surprise before looking up at Alice and smiling. “I love magic.” She grinned.

C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S

When Robin came home, early that evening, Lucy had already headed off back home. She had stayed a few extra hours to accept some biscuits and sweets Alice offered in payment for her help, but had declined Alice's other offer to help decorate the tree. Lucy loved putting the decorations on the tree, but she was still secretly afraid that if she so much as lightly touched the tree then the brittle bark would fall apart at her feet and the last thing she wanted was to have that on her conscious and feel at blame for ruining Alice and Robin’s Christmas. She still didn't quite understand what Alice saw in it, or why she thought the fading old tree was something special when it really looked more like compost than a real Christmas tree. But Alice seemed to really believe in it, so Lucy kept her mouth shut, ate her reward, gave her a hug goodbye and head off for home, looking forward to telling her mum about what happened. Maybe she or her dad could explain Alice's weird decision.

So when Robin stepped inside the house, she paused to dust her feet off on the mat and shivered against the cold breeze chasing after her. She eagerly slipped into the living room to escape it and searched for the warm fire to heat her goose pimpled skin. She barely noticed the last of the boxes had finally been cleared out and didn't even glance in the corner as she dropped down by the fire, holding her hands up and breathing a sigh of relief. She loved this time of year, but she hated the cold weather so damn much. But then, she also hated the hot weather.

Summer was too hot and winter was too damn cold. Yeah, Robin was definitely more of an autumn person.

“You're back!” Alice said, stepping into the room and grinning. “Have you seen the tree?”

“Oh, right,” Robin stood, rubbing her hands together and turning with a big smile. Only for it to drop again as soon as she could sight of it.

Unlike everything else in and outside of the house, Alice seemed to have decided to do a minimal job on the tree. It had a very thin line of tinsel and only golden bobbles hanging from a select number of the tree’s strongest branches, with a bright white and silver angel balanced at the very top, along with fake snow and tinsel flakes lying around its base. It was all nicely done but the lack of decorations made the tree itself stand out more, which would have been well enough if not for the fact that the tree wasn't the fluffy and bright green that Robin had been expecting Alice to get. Instead it was a rusty brown in some places and broken and bare in others. And even though Alice had clearly done her best to cover those parts with the choice decorations she had used, it was impossible to hide them all.

“What do you think?” Alice asked, moving to stand behind Robin, sliding her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.

“Nice.” Robin said quickly, glancing slowly up and down at it. “Were there... Not many left?”

Alice shrugged against her. “No, not really. There were plenty of others but this one kind of called to me. Like I could sense something in it.”

Robin struggled to find the right words. “Um... Sensed something? Like what exactly?”

“I don't really know.” Alice said, letting go to stand beside her and still smiling proudly. “I think it might be something to do with my magic. But I can just tell there's something about this tree. The others were all fine and they'd get good homes, sure. But this one has something that made it stand out. Something that deserved to be taken in.”

“Oh. Cool.” Robin nodded.

“You don't get it, do you?” Alice asked.

“Not really.” Robin admitted. “I mean... Could you use your magic to make the tree healthier, maybe?” Alice hesitated, opening her mouth nervously. “You don't want to?”

“It's just. It's not unhealthy, Robin. It's just older than the other trees.” Alice explained. “I don't see why it needs to be changed. The brown shows its years and the missing parts are like its scars. They show it's been through a lot but it's still standing, tall and beautiful as ever.” Her voice took on a prideful burst and she beamed up at it again.

But it's so ugly! Robin internally screamed, then shook her head. What did that even mean? Who cares if it wasn't the prettiest tree? Alice was right, it was experienced and there was nothing wrong with that. And could Robin really complain about the tree she got when Alice had put so much thought and effort, not just into them, but the whole house? No one in town had worked harder than her, and she hadn't asked for anything in return. There was no way Robin could demand she get rid of the tree after all that. “I like it.” Robin lied, smiling and sliding an arm around Alice. “You picked a great tree, love.”

Liar. Alice thought, but smiled back and kissed the side of Robin’s mouth. It was okay. Whether or not Robin could understand her, Alice stood by her decision, still very sure from the good feeling she got from it.

#Once Upon A Time #Curious Archer #Alice Jones #Robin Mills #Lucy Mills #Mad Archer #Curious Archer Christmas #OUAT Fanfiction

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gogogoats · 6 years

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Request Fic 8

For @keylimecliche, who knows what she did. For the rest of you, enjoy this ~~mystery ship~~ and don’t blame me!

ooooo

Four years is a considerable age gap when one party is eight and the other twelve. It is somewhat less insurmountable when one is eighteen and the other twenty-two. It is nothing at all when one is twenty-four and the other twenty-eight.

No, the difference in age was not what kept them apart. Other things did, certainly. His station in life, and hers. His duty, and hers. The importance of him marrying well, and the inconsequence of her marrying at all.

His lack of feelings for her.

Jane could not place the moment when it all began. When her straight-forward plans in life wobbled off their course, slowly at first, until suddenly they were careening wildly downhill with no means of correction, no method of arresting the momentum.

No, Jane was volunteering for royal guard duty and throne room service long before she realised, and by then the damage was done. No matter how many nights she spent laying awake, examining the workings of her own mind, the conclusion drawn was always the same.

She loved Prince Cuthbert.

It was a painful realisation, one that filled her with disbelief.

How could this be? How had he worked his way into her affections, so duplicitously, so effortlessly, so . . . unintentionally.

He was not a handsome man. Jane could not say that she had been swayed by his looks, caught off-guard by a miraculous post-pubescent blossoming. He was still too red, too pimply, too awkward.

He was not generous. A life spent watching his father haemorrhaging resources like a wounded beast at the end of a hunt had made him tight-fisted, over-correcting for the king’s generosity by reacting with scorn towards anyone asking for help.

He was not fair. He still envied his younger sister whenever their parents showed her any kindness or affection, still deflected the blame for his mistakes onto others.

He was not brave. Many a time Jane had shielded him from imagined danger while he cowered on the floor. The fateful day she had rescued him from Dragon had simply been the first of many that she would come to his aid, and he resented her for all of them.

Oh yes, he resented her. Jane was under no illusion that he felt any kindness towards her. If he saw her as a woman at all it was not as one worthy of his notice, only his contempt.

Which made the erratic beating of her heart whenever he drew near an even greater mystery.

There was no sense in making any effort with her appearance, no point at all in patting down her hair or tugging at her tunic before entering his presence. And yet she found herself doing so each time, as though she would somehow catch his notice that day when she never had before.

Cuthbert would have his choice of beautiful, accomplished, delicate women, and had in fact already rejected two princesses as not being ‘good enough’ for him.

If her fellow knights noticed her preoccupation with her looks around the Prince they remained silent, although Jane suspected that they would never imagine her harbouring such feelings.

Not for the prince who snorted when he laughed and sneered at Jane for doing the same. Not for the prince who insisted on addressing everyone by occupation rather than name. Not for the prince who had, in his late teens, gone through a phase of calling her it.

Yet there she was, helplessly, hopelessly in love. With that prince.

It was humiliating, to say the least. She could do well enough, if she had the inclination. Several young men had approached her over the years, and some did not even object to her choice of profession.

But no. Jane had eyes only for the prince, as much as admitting it made her want to pluck said eyes from her own head.

It was not that he was entirely without redeeming qualities. In her defence he could be a decent person when he chose to be.

The castle was filled with cats now. There was often one settled upon his lap whenever he sat down. They twined around his feet wherever he walked, meowing loudly over his conversations to demand the food from his plate or a scratch behind the ears. He knew them all by name and never, ever lost his patience with them.

In fact, Jane had never seen him show anything but kindness to any animal since the long ago incident with Smithy’s Pig.

He was protective of Lavinia, in his own way. When their parents first raised the subject of marrying her off to a neighbouring prince, Cuthbert had protested as loudly as his sister, insisting that she was too young, and not at all ready.

He was not entirely unsympathetic towards the plights of others. Although he curled his lip whenever a farmer or businessman came seeking financial aid, Jane had spied him on more than one occasion slipping a coin into the hand of a hungry child or destitute mother. It had surprised her, the first time, until she remembered how much he hated to see suffering. It seemed he felt even the commonest of people deserved better.

He was desperately insecure, far more aware of his own shortcomings than Jane would ever have given him credit for. He had been well in his cups one night when he had let it slip. They had been alone at the time and he had confided in her, slurring so drunkenly that it had taken Jane several moments to process his words.

He knew he was not handsome, or brave; that he was jealous and selfish. That no princess would find happiness with him, nor could he ever deserve one. He was desperately afraid of failing as king, convinced his people would hate him, if they didn’t already.

It was a knife in Jane’s heart, hearing him speak so badly of himself. If there was one thing Jane had always had on her side it was confidence, the belief in her own abilities.

She had done her best to restore Cuthbert’s confidence, lowering her guard at the risk of revealing her own feelings as she told him all that she admired in him.

There was no way of telling how much, if anything, he remembered the next day. By the time she had escorted him to his chambers and handed him over to the care of his servant he had scarcely been concious. But it seemed to Jane in the days and weeks following that he was just a little kinder, a little more polite, and perhaps even a little more patient with her.

She did her best to quash the fragile hope that bloomed in her chest, reminding herself that she was the opposite of everything he desired, and that he was so far from her reach that he might as well have been the moon.

But she never quite got past the stabbing pain in her heart when he smiled in her direction, never stopped delighting in the sound of his laugh, never ceased to enjoy his excitement when he found a new litter of kittens.

Because Jane loved Prince Cuthbert, she was his most loyal knight, and she could never quite convince herself that it was an entirely bad thing.

ooooo

That’s right, she requested one-sided Jane/Cuthbert!! What can I say? Some people are just twisted. >___>

#jane and the dragon #jatd #request fics #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic

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pamphletstoinspire · 5 years

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THE PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING: PART 20 MINI-COURSE ON PRAYER BY DAVID TORKINGTON

The morning offering and its implementation, with which we should always begin our day, is not just a nice pious practice for those who have the time to do it but something on which our ultimate destination depends. It is the place where the whole of the forthcoming day is dedicated to loving God through a continual process of prayer, self-sacrifice and the service of others. In this way all that is said, done and suffered, all that is enjoyed and celebrated is offered in, with, and through Christ to our common Father. This is the new worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), that Jesus promised to the Samaritan woman. By participating in it we are called to take part in the priestly action of Jesus every moment of every day of our lives

The Whole of Our Life Should Become the Mass

For the early Christians, this daily endeavour was offered together with the daily endeavours of all their brothers and sisters at their weekly Mass. What they received together as they offered all the sacrifices made during the previous week, enabled them to receive all the graces that would sustain them spiritually for the forthcoming week. If we only follow their example then our lives will be irrevocably changed, as we exercise our priesthood every day of our lives. For as the great theologian Karl Rahner once put it:

“The Mass should so form us that the whole of our lives becomes the Mass, the place where we continually offer ourselves through Christ to the Father to receive what we then share with others.”

When this profound and mystical spirituality is practised within the mystical body of Christ by all, from the Pope at the top to the humblest lay person at the bottom, then everyone will be open at all times to the love of the Holy Spirit. ln the early Church when a higher percentage of Christians than at any other time in history were committed to living out this mystical spirituality, their very presence had an enormous influence on the Greco-Roman world in which they lived. The unprecedented example of unbridled selfless charity and all the gifts that charity brings with it converted the ancient pagan world into a Christian world in a comparatively short space of time. The same can be done today. But only the Holy Spirit can do it. It is our privilege to allow him to do it through us, through the quality of our daily prayer life.

Personal Prayer and the Liturgy

If you read the historians and the liturgists of early Christianity who had such an influence on the Second Vatican Council, great emphasis is placed on public liturgical worship. However, this emphasis has often been to the detriment of the personal and daily prayer that enabled the first Christians to participate in the liturgy with such effect. This aspect of early Christian spirituality is regrettably all too often dealt with only as a footnote, or as a brief appendage under the heading of ‘daily devotions of the early Christians', or some other such title. It is quite evident that before, during and after the Council otherwise well-meaning scholars, theologians, liturgist and historians have failed to grasp the crucial importance of the personal daily spiritual endeavour of ordinary Christian men and women most of all in their daily prayer life. Many have failed to realise that the celebration of the Mass depends for its efficacy on the quality of the personal prayer life of every single individual participant.

A Lesson from Fr. Josef Jungmann S.J.

Let me make my point by quoting from one scholar, who did not make the mistake of many of his peers, perhaps the greatest liturgist of them all, Fr Josef Jungmann SJ, whose words have all too often fallen on deaf ears.

“In the present day liturgical movement, primitive Christianity is often held up before our eyes as a model, an exemplar of liturgical observance. We are to believe that Christians of old, contrary to the tendency of modern individualism, knew no other, or scarcely any other form of prayer than liturgical prayer. Unfortunately, this ideal is not correct. The idea that the life of the primitive Christians revolved exclusively around the liturgy is not correct. And it cannot be correct, simply because it would be unnatural and in contradiction to the Gospels. How could the Christian life exclude private and personal prayer? It is a gross exaggeration to restrict the prayer of Christian antiquity to liturgical prayer alone.”

It is the quality of the spirituality and most particularly of the personal prayer life of the participants, before they even enter the church on Sunday, that makes the Mass what it is supposed to be. It is this that animates it, brings it to life, and brings it to perfection in, with and through Christ who presides over it. If Mass is said without all involved being animated and inspired by deep personal prayer it will never become much more than an empty performance. When I was a small boy during the Second World War, I remember the sirens going off shortly after the Mass had begun. The priest simply carried on, and the people did not rush to the shelters despite the sound of bombs dropping all around us. It was the most intense and prayerful Mass that I have ever attended. Everybody prayed in those days before, during and after the Mass. Do we need another world war to fill us once more with the ‘Faith of our Fathers'? The following Sunday the Parish priest said that the imminent threat of death enabled us all to experience the Mass as our forebears had experienced it in penal times when at any moment priest and people could be carried off to their death by secret agents of the King or Queen.

A Lesson from St. Justin

The same was true for the first Christians when the Mass that we can take so easily for granted could mean imprisonment, torture and death for those who took part in it. But nothing could keep them away from offering themselves with their brothers and sisters in, with and through the One, who had given his life for them. The Parish priest went on to explain that when St. Justin was writing about the celebration of the Mass in the second century, he said that when at the end of the Eucharistic prayer, the priest recited, “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever” the Amen of the faithful was so loud that it nearly raised the roof. Their ‘Amen' was so strong, so loud and so vibrant because the priest was not just summing up the offering that they were making at that Mass, but the offering they had been making with every fibre of their being at every moment of their lives, in and through all they said and did each day during the previous week, long before they entered the church for their Sunday Mass.

The Prayer Without Ceasing

The early Christian liturgy was deeply inspiring, vibrant and spiritually re-energising, not because it was correct in every detail, or verbally faultless, but because it depended on the daily personal prayer of the faithful, and the profound mystical spirituality that it generated. It was this that transformed all and everything they said and did into ‘the prayer without ceasing’. The daily personal spirituality of the first Christians was intense and all-consuming. It contained one vital ingredient on which the whole success of Christianity depended, and still depends. Whether the believers were at prayer, at least intermittently throughout the day, practising regular fasts or serving the poor, they were essentially turning away from self and towards God. They were doing this as they turned to him directly in prayer and indirectly through the neighbour in need, and they never forgot that this charity began at home, nor should we! In doing this they were practising at all times the repentance that St Peter had called upon everyone to practise on the first Pentecost Day, so they could at all times be open to receive the Holy Spirit. This is what they meant and understood by ‘the prayer without ceasing' that is to be practised every day of the week and offered at the end of that week, in, with and through Christ to our Father in heaven. Amen!

I have now come to the end of the second part of my mini-course on prayer. Before moving on into mystical prayer please listen to my podcast – Retreat Belmont Abbey 2. From Meditation to the beginning of Mystical Contemplation on my website. If you have the time you may also like to listen to the lecture that I gave to the Discalced Carmelites of the English Province at Oxford.

These ideas are developed further in my two major works on prayer – Wisdom from the Western Isles and Wisdom from the Christian Mystics, and Wisdom from Franciscan Italy that show how deep contemplative prayer grows to perfection.

#daily prayer

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momorabu · 6 years

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Viidog Code Event Story - 無人島に隱された秘密 / The Hidden Secret on the Deserted Island

This was supposed to be June’s post but somehow it gets delayed to almost the end of July to be completed =w=“ (I’ll see if I can complete two posts in August in order to catch up ^^;) Finally, it’s time to know Class 3 and Class 1 abit better with this event story~! And it’s going to be even more fun and adventurous seeing that the detectives are going camping on a deserted island~ +W+

As always, the summary of the story can be found below. Translation may not be 100% accurate due to my poor Japanese skills~

Chapter 1: 無人島上陸 / Alighting on the Deserted Island

The story started with the fisherman bringing a group of the detectives to the deserted island on his boat. The detectives were here to research about the island, which would be a difficult task and it seems like the detectives had been getting similar work like this recently. The fisherman had heard that the detectives would be returning on the same day, and thus asked Rudo whether it would be hard to complete the entire researach about the island in just one day. Rudo replied that they planned to split the research into several days, so for today they just planned to research the lower part of the island for now.

Rudo noticed that Kotaro was silent throughout the whole trip to the island, and thus worried whether he was uncomfortable due to motion sickness on the boat. But Kotaro assured him that he’s alright since he had taken the motion sickness medicine earlier on, and had a question for Rudo instead. He wondered why Rudo had specifically requested a fisherman to take them to the island when Kotetsu and he could both operate a ship and take them there without the help of a fisherman. Rudo answered that this was what Shu had planned and thus felt that perhaps Shu had something in mind when he did the arrangement. Rudo was also worried about “me” being tired from not being used to travelling on the boat and informed us that it would take another 1 hour before we reach the dock on the island. He was actually glad that “I” was able to join Class 3 to work together~ ^^ (Sounds like Rudo had been looking forward to such a day actually ^/////^)

When we finally landed on the island, Sousuke was really excited as he exclaimed that the sea made him feel good that it felt like his heart got cleansed by it. Kotaro bumped into Sousuke, which made whined that he’s going to fall into the sea. But Kotaro coolly replied that he’s going to throw Sousuke if he continues to make a din, and also that he was actually blocking the road for the others to get off the boat. Sousuke apologised and changed the topic to about fishes instead since for him, making sure that they have enough food was the number one rule on living on the deserted island. He had even wanted to catch some octopus to make some takoyakis on the beach. (Erm... did you even have the ingredients and machines to make takoyakis?)

Rudo informed them that their task today was to research about the ecosystems on the island (Eh? It sounds like they’re biologist rather than detectives suddenly OWO”). From the words of the person who gave them this job, this island belongs to his great grandfather, and it had been a 100 years since anyone had stepped foot on the island, which sounds like it can be a treasure hunting trip in Sousuke’s ears. The client had planned to build a resort on the island and thus required information on the island, such as the plants and animals living on the island, the quality of the ground here, and any other information the detectives could gather on the island. Shu had requested “me” to come with Class 3 so as to assist them as part of “my” job as an assistant, as Class 3′s members will be working on their parts based on what they’re good at.

As the island was really huge, Class 3 would be splitting up to research the island in groups. Sousuke and Kotaro would be walking along the beach and researching in that area, so Sousuke quickly ran off leaving poor Kotaro behind. As the beach was really long, Kotaro informed Rudo that if they feel that they’re walked too far from the starting point, they would return instead. Rudo and “me” would be making the base camp in the area we were currently at. There would be a second team coming later on (and here I was wondering where’s Kotetsu and Kaname ^^;), so we would also be assisting them to carry the stuff they’re bringing over, and also set up a tent for Sousuke and Kotaro to rest later on~ (This really sounds like a camping trip for me ^^~)

As there aren’t any chairs around, Rudo looked around for some flat stones to be used as stools. He was surprised when he saw that “I’ve” brought along a picnic sheet... and it has rabbits print on it, and get to know that “I’ve” bought this when “I” was on a hiking trip with Class 2 in the past. (Rudo looks like he’s really fond of the picnic sheet~ He really likes cute stuff I guess~ ^///^)

Rudo told “me” that Hijiri had showed him the video he had taken on Class 2′s break day, and remarked that he felt his heart was healed just watching the kids enjoying themselves, adding on that it seems that he had went back to the time when he was a kid himself. Hijiri had invited Rudo to join them the next time Class 2 was on break, but Rudo wondered whether he should go since he knew that Yu from Class 2 was quite afraid of him... (Awww~ TWT) “I” offered to go along with him in that case, which made Rudo felt more at ease since he knew that “I” would help to ease up the atmosphere if “I” was there with them ^^ Therefore, Rudo decided that he shall tell Hijiri about this matter when we’re done with their work, and invited “me” to go along with him as well~

Chapter 2: 船出と祈り / Praying for the Boat Venture

In the meanwhile, Kaname and Kotetsu were still back on the dock on the main street, with Kaname being silent and feeling worried about “me”. He hoped that his feelings were able to reach “me” and become a power to protect “me”. Kotetsu was, in fact, alright with Kaname’s actions, since at least he was quite rather than being all fidgeting and worrying like earlier on. Kaname was still pissed about the agency sending “me” to the deserted island when there’s a possibility that ferocious monsters could be hiding on it. Kotetsu felt that Kaname might be thinking too much but Kaname rebutted that it won’t be weird if there’s a tiger or two living on the island since the island had been abandoned for up to 100 years. Kotetsu tried to assure Kaname by informing him that he used to go to neighbouring islands for fishing since there’s alot of fishes there and it was a quiet place to fish. He had not encountered any tigers in his experience, and at most he had only encountered wild boars on the island ^^; (Side information from Kotetsu: Wild boars could swim and thus could land themselves on these islands. Even though tigers could swim as well, they can’t swim long distances and land on different islands ... Do wild boars swim long distances?) That doesn’t help to ease Kaname’s worries though, as he now worried about “me” being chased after by wild boars instead ^^; Kotetsu tried to assure Kaname again by telling him that Sousuke would step in and help to fight the wild boar in that case, even joking that such a scene would be even more interesting than a snake fighting a mongoose. Kaname’s worries don’t stop here though as he thought about “me” being surrounded by a group of wild boars next... (Kaname’s worries just doesn’t stop... =w=“)

Kotetsu finally got frustrated with Kaname’s worrying, and cautioned him that they won’t be able to continue with the investigation if he continues on in being like this. Kaname rebutted that he just can’t feel at ease as long as he kept imaging all the possibilities that could happen on the island. He complained why “I” have to entrusted with this mission when other people such as Kuki or Shiro could take on the mission instead... Feeling that it’s probably worthless if he kept on worrying, Kaname offered to help with preparations on the boat instead.

Shu came to check on the two of them later on, and Kotetsu informed him that they’ve prepared everything that Shu had told them to prepare. Senri was worried for Shu as he asked him whether he was indeed going to the deserted island too since Senri didn’t think that this was a trip that requires Shu to make his way down personally. Shu explained that there was a need of help this time round due to how large the island was, and since Shu had the free time currently, it was obvious to him that he should lend a helping hand, as it was always better to have more people who were knowledgeable about this area to tag along. Senri was still not pleased as he grumbled why Shu had to take on such a hard labour mission, when Rui could do the same too... (Sounds like Senri would rather Rui take on this mission rather than Shu =w=“ It’s not nice to push matters onto Rui as much as I don’t like him very much =w=“)

Kotetsu who was listening to their conversation dissed that he seems to have heard something similar just now~ (Haha, he’s totally referring to Kaname when he complained that why “I” should be the one who take on this hard labour mission rather than Shiro / Kuki XD)

Kotetsu wondered why Shu had asked a third party to help prepare the boat for this mission too when Kotetsu could do it himself, but Shu answered that it would be a waste of time if Kotetsu was the only one who did it, and thus he split the members into two different groups to increase the efficiency of this mission. (But because of Shu’s plan, it caused Kaname to endlessly worry for “me” =w=“) When they get to know that Kaname was helping with the preparations for the boat, they had a bad feeling when they realised that Kaname had zero knowledge in regards to anything about a sailboat... And just at that moment, Kaname was getting scolded by the fisherman for pushing a button that he was told not to touch ><”

Shu realised that Senri had stopped asking him to stay out of the mission, to which Senri replied that he would not disobey Shu’s decision. However, he would tag along too and would help as an assistant to Shu just like “me”. Later on, when Senri was taking out his handkerchief to help to clean Shu’s dirty hands, he accidentally dropped a flyer from his pocket. It was a flyer given out by a family on the streets just now, and they were looking for their missing father. Senri remarked that recently there had been a rise in missing people who were related to the trading industry, and thus wondered perhaps this missing father was involved in a similar incident. He had given the family the company’s name card and guessed that perhaps the family’s case might be one of their jobs too in the near future if they enlisted their help. Shu replied that while they would definitely give in their all if the family had approached them about it, but for now, what they should do was to focus on the job they’re currently working on.

Chapter 3: 調查リーダー / Investigation Leader

Back on the island, “I” had fallen asleep earlier on and woke up to Rudo looking over “me”. He explained that “I” must have fallen asleep due to fatigue and even offered “me” some tea using the water from a fountain he had found nearby. Actually, it was the first time for Rudo to be taking on such a mission, as he remarked that Sousuke and Kotaro were both more experienced than him in such outdoors mission. He assured “me” not to worry, and to always approach him if “I” have any queries about the mission. (Aww~ Rudo is really such a kind-hearted guy ^^)

Just then, Sousuke came back to the base camp, claiming that he’s the first. This mission reminded Sousuke of the time he was camping when he was a policeman, and told us that he would have to run on the beach with a full set of heavy equipments, adding on that it was indeed a training that trains the entire body. Rudo noticed that Sousuke was carrying a wooden box and asked him what it was, to which Sousuke replied that he had saw it floating in the sea and thought that they could put the fishes and octopus they’ve caught just now into it to use it as a cooler box.

Sousuke had reached the checkpoint of the research pretty soon since he had been running along the shoreline. From his research, he had found some animals residing on the island, such as squirrels, mice, snakes and lizards. He added that the sea was really beautiful here and there’s alot of fishes here, making this island a really good spot to build a resort on. Rudo remarked that the client would be happy to hear about it, remarking the scenery here made one feel at ease. In fact, Sousuke felt that this place had such a relaxing atmosphere that he could even take an afternoon nap here. Unknowingly, that was exactly what “I’ve” done just now, and “I” felt embarrassed and guilty about it that “I” blushed >////<

Kotaro returned soon later on, with information about the plants on the island. Most of the plants were common and harmless, but there’s a red flower that gets Kotaro’s interest as it was an uncommon plant seen back on the main island. In addition, Kotaro had also found a cave on the island, which the team decided that they might look into that later on. Seeing that the second team would be arriving soon, Kotaro suggest that we should set up the base camp and tent in preparation for their arrival. (Wait... I thought Rudo and “me” did that already. Welp, guess we didn’t do much when Sousuke and Kotaro were researching =w=“)

Sousuke was hungry and got dissed by Kotaro instead, saying that Sousuke had just eaten breakfast not too long ago. Rudo informed us once again that the investigation this time was a combined mission of Class 1 and Class 3, with the addition of “me”. Shu had instructed Class 3 to lead the investigation, and Rudo had decided to appoint Kotaro as the leader for this investigation this time round. However, Kotaro didn’t seem like he wanted to take up this role, that Sousuke had to encourage him to take it on, saying that this matters to him too seeing that his partner was being instructed to be a leader. (I guess Sousuke was really happy for Kotaro’s sake ^^;)

Rudo told Kotaro that the reason he had picked him was because Kotaro seems to be the one who’s the expert in terms to these related outdoor activities. With the leader decided, Sousuke was in high tension as he excitedly suggested that everyone should hold a party in memory of Kotaro being instructed to take on the role of the leader for this mission, even wanting to make an octopus bun for it XD (And I was surprised that Sousuke had actually brought along the machine to make takoyakis and even the flour and eggs as well, I guess it’s really possible to eat takoyakis here after all~ ^^;)

Rudo told the two of them to take a break from their research for now and rest well instead, cautioning Kotaro to take care of his body well since he was the leader of the day. In the meanwhile, an octopus had found his way into Sousuke’s outfit, and he yelled at “me” to help him to take it off. Kotaro saw that commotion and sighed, saying that unfortunately, this was not the time for him to take a break after all... ^^;

Chapter 4: 本格始動 / Actual Operation

The second team finally arrived onto the island~! Shu and Senri was surprised when they smell the scent of the takoyaki sauce when they got onto the island. Kaname was worried about “me” throughout the entire trip and felt at ease when he saw “me” safe and sound. As Kaname had quickly helped to prepare everything ready for the voyage, the second team had arrived earlier than expected, which was great for Kaname since he was yearning to see “me”.

Kaname noticed that Kotaro seems more tense than usual, to which Sousuke helped to explain that Kotaro was appointed as the leader for this mission overall, and thus he was really working hard to make sure that the mission would be a success. Kaname agreed that Kotaro was the best person suitable for the role of the leader for this mission since there’s no one else who knew more about the outdoor other than him. He explained to “me” that the investigation leader would be decided on every mission in accordance to each individual’s speciality, and this was done to increase the efficiency of the missions. Most huge missions would still be under the lead of Rudo, but if there’s a special mission like this that suits a certain’s member’s speciality, that person would be the leader of the mission. As Sousuke had been a policeman before (new information about Sousuke!), he’s good at tracing and patrolling, and would usually be the leader for such missions (which is actually quite frequently~). Kaname’s speciality is his knowledge on plants, especially flowers. and also looking for stolen gems and artwork, as well as musicial instruments too.

The two remarked that as it’s been a while since Kotaro was appointed as a leader, he may be abit nervous about it. Sousuke decided that he shall send some takoyakis he had made to Kotaro to cheer him up~

Kaname is still recounting how he’s worried about “me”, and even talked about how he had imagined “me” being attacked by ferocious creatures ^^; Sousuke assured him that if that ever happens, he would first help to attack the creatures instead, even wanting to do that in real life to show it to Kotetsu, who joked about Sousuke earlier on with Kaname ^^; (I guess the part where Kotetsu said that the scene would be like a snake fighting a mangoose?) Kaname advised Sousuke not to be violent to the creatures since they’re here to research about the eco system afterall, to which Sousuke said he won’t hunt them but he would want to fight them and become friends with them... ^^; Somehow he even tried to get Kaname to be the judge for the match, which Kaname surprisely agreed to XD But Kaname said that if the match gets too dangerous, he would protect “me” instead, which Sousuke replied he would protect “me” together too, since “I’m” their very precious assistant >////< (That’s so sweet coming from these guys~ ^////^)

(Haha, Kaname sounds like he’s jealous about Sousuke who gets to say such cool words about protecting “me”. He affirmed to “me” again that he really values “me” and would protect “me” at all costs, even asking “me” to rely on him even more >////<)

On the other hand, Kotaro was reporting to Shu about the workflow for the mission. Kotetsu was preparing the devices required to investigate the sea water, which would be used later on for the mission. As this was the first time Kotaro is leading the mission when Class 1 is working together with Class 3, he urged Class 1 to just say what’s on their mind if they have any questions for him. Kotaro had planned to investigate the island until the evening, when the boat had arrived to pick them up. As there isn’t much time left till then, Kotaro decided to split everyone into three groups to carry out the investigation.

First up was the “sea” team, which consisted of Shu, Senri and Kotetsu. They would be checking on the sea water and the marine creatures in the sea, and the leader of that team would be Shu. Shu and Senri would be researching on the sea water, since Shu had done related tasks before when he was working as a police. (Is it me or maybe part of the staff here were ex-policemen OWO”) Kotetsu alone will be investigating the marine creatures instead.

Next will be the “hill” team, which would consists of Sousuke and Kaname only. Kaname will be researching on the plants and flowers (since that’s his speciality), and Sousuke will assists him. Lastly, Kotaro, Rudo and “me” will be forming the “camp” team, which will continue to set up the base camp while the other two teams were carrying out their investigations. We would also plan and calculate how many days it would take to research about the entire island.

(Shu’s verdict for Kotaro’s plan? It’s perfect XD)

Chapter 5: 助手の奔走 / Assistant’s Work (lit. Working around)

When the teams carried out their tasks, Kotaro asked “me” to deliver water to the guys instead since setting up the basecamp requires lots of physical strength. (I guess Kotaro just didn’t want “me” to do such hard labour as a female ^^:) While “I” went to get water from the fountain and deliver to the guys, Rudo and Kotaro will set up the tent for the basecamp instead.

Over at the “sea” team, Kotetsu was fishing when Senri asked him if he had any tips on fishing. Even though Kotetsu had been fishing by habit usually, he guessed that perhaps timing was important to land a catch. If one pulls the fishing rod too early, the fish would escape before they get caught, and if one pulls the rod too late, the fish might have already been gone after eating the lure on the hook. When Kotetsu was about to show Senri how to fish, he ended up throwing the fishing rod when he saw “me” appear XD “I” went to pick up the fishing rod, and was about to touch the fish on the rod when “I” got yelled at by Kotetsu. He apologised for that later on and explained that the fish was actually poisonous, so he was actually cautioning “me” instead. Even though Kotetsu was doing better in facing “me” than during the time when we first met, he would still get shocked if we met suddenly, and thus him throwing the fishing rod away was just part of his reflex kicking in ^^;

Seeing that I’ve brought water for them, Senri asked “me” to take some over to Shu too. When “I” met Shu, he had a message that he wanted “me” to pass over to Kotaro, saying that at the speed of them investigating, they would have a result on the quality of the sea water by evening if nothing crops up. Kotetsu also had some findings on the fishes he had caught. There are currently five different fishes that he had caught, and they were all edible. Even though Kotetsu had wanted to catch small fishes and then use them to catch larger fishes, that would take a long time and thus he won’t be able to do that today. The guys thanked us for the water, and Kotetsu told us to look forward to the catfish barbecue later on~! (Guess that means that he would be catching lots of catfish for that ^^)

However, Kotetsu seems to have noticed a boat but decided to shrug it off instead...

Next would be heading into the forest to find Kaname and Sousuke~! Kaname was glad to see “me” and thanked “me” for the drinks, remarking that was actually quite hot at the south part of the island. He remarked that Sousuke was with him a moment ago but had felt uncomfortable after that, when he had eaten poisonous mushrooms that are grown in this forest. Luckily, the mushrooms are not too poisonous, so Sousuke was back to normal soon... and went hungry again ^^; After that, Sousuke claimed that he had saw a wildboar and had went into the inner part of the forest chasing after it. (One might thought that Sousuke might have imagined seeing it, but Kaname assured “me” that the mushroom does not have the effect of making people hallucinate ^^;) Therefore, Kaname was just staying in place and continuing with his investigation of the plants while waiting for Sousuke to return in the meantime ^^;

Since “I” was interested in Kaname’s findings, he decided to show “me” the plant he had found, and taught “me” that odd and even number of leaves on a plant will give an indication on how much flowers / fruits it would bear. Kaname had noted down his findings, especially on the rare plants he had found. He decided to let “me” deliver his notes to the base camp, as well as inform the guys over there about Sousuke’s circumstances.

“I” returned to the camp to find that it was already set up and Rudo and Kotaro had already calculated how much time it would take to investigate the island. Like what the fisherman had said when he took us here, it would take roughly three days for a thorough investigation. What puzzled Kotaro was how did the fisherman knew that it would take them three days? O.O”

Chapter 6: 明かされる任務 / The Mission that was Revealed

As the sun began to set, Kotetsu was glad to see that Sousuke had returned and informed him that he had a large catch today. Sousuke was about to touch the catfish when he gets yelled at by Kotetsu (again XD) that they’re poisonous. Kotetsu had knew that Sousuke had eaten poisonous mushroom earlier that day, and warned him that he doesn’t want to get poisoned again ^^: In the end, Sousuke lent a helping hand to Kotetsu to carry the fishes back to the base camp.

Shu and Senri had also returned to the base camp and handed their records to Rudo, noting that there isn’t anything abnormal about the water. Senri had done what he can do to help since he doesn’t understand what the report means anyway as they’re all numbers arrange in columns, and that made Shu smiled as he told Senri that he would teach him about calculating those if there’s a chance next time~

Kaname had returned earlier on and was now at the beach nearby sketching a flower that only blooms in the evening for the research. It was a flower which was red and had seven petals. (This may be an important information later on~)

However, there’s a problem right now. The fisherman who was supposed to come and pick us up had not arrived, and Rudo wondered what had happened that cause the delay. As since there’s no other way to go back right now, the group would have to stay overnight on the island. Kotaro had found something amiss all this while, and asked Shu for the actual reason they were brought here. Kotetsu had also noticed that the fisherman’s boat seems to be patrolling around the island like it is supervising the detectives, and wondered perhaps it was related to this matter as well.

Shu finally announced the real reason that the detectives were brought onto the island. Researching about the island is a hoax, and a bluff to cheat the pirate crew called “Pudel”. “Pudel” is a pirate group which will carry a large scale of pirate activities, and their members had never been caught before, making it uite a unique group. The detectives’ client for this mission was none other than the police, rather than the island’s owner, and their actual mission was to uncover the reason why this pirate group was able to commit their crime perfectly without a trace. The police had suspected that there’s a spy within the police headquarters and thus decided to recruit the detectives to help them investigate about the pirate group instead. The police’s latest findings had traced the pirates to be around this area. It was told that the pirates would definitely stay on this island for a night before committing their crime the next day. Therefore, it can be deduced that the secret to the pirates’ perfect crime might be hidden on the island. Also, it seems like the key members of the pirate crews were all kenrouzoku, and since the detectives were kenrouzoku themselves, perhaps they could deduce and predict the detective's actions better than the police.

(Aww~ Sousuke was so disappointed when he realised that the island investigation was a bluff D:)

After knowing about the actual mission, Rudo argued that it had been too dangerous bringing “me” along to the island. (Thank you Rudo for being concerned about “me” T////T) Shu agreed and guessed that Kuki would definitely be mad when he heard about this later on, (So Shu kept it as a secret from Kuki =w=“) but felt that bringing “me” along was necessary to bluff the enemies even further. The overall leading of the group will still be under Kotaro and they planned to get in contact with the people related to the island and talk to them tomorrow. The time limit for this mission will be at noon, when Mamiya came over and fetch them.

Chapter 7: サバイバルディナー / Survival Dinner

Everyone gathered around at the base camp when night falls, and were informed about the actual mission they’re tasked to do. Kaname had heard about the “Pudel” pirate crew, and was surprised to learn that we’re actually going to chase after them. Shu corrected him that we’re not actually going to chase after them and capture them as that would be the job of the police. What the detectives are tasked to do was to find out how did the pirates managed to escape from the police and their secret techniques in doing so. The detectives learned that the fisherman who brought them here was actually a member of the pirate crew as well, so that’s why the fishing boat was patrolling around the area supervising them OAO.

Kotetsu told Kaname to stop worrying over “me” and focus on his work, to which Kaname apologised and explained that he can’t feel at ease when it came to matters regarding to “me”. Shu remarked that Kaname was too deeply affected by “my” presence and that would end up being a weakness of his... When the guys were discussing about this, “I” was busy helping out with the cooking, and Kotetsu decided to to prepare for the catfish barbecue as well since he had promised “me” that in the afternoon ^^

Kotetsu had lit up a campfire and decided to use that fire to cook the rice. “I” was tasked to look over the pot while Rudo went to prepare the fish together with Kotetsu. Kaname also came over to help, but got dissed by Kotetsu instead that he had not even barbecued anything before ^^; Actually Kotetsu was worried about Kaname being poisoned accidentally since the catfish contained poison in them. Kaname insisted to help, and suggested that Kotetsu would be the one in charge of removing the poison while Kaname helped to spear through the fishes with the sticks to barbecue them.

(It’s cute that Kaname actually whined that he felt uncomfortable touching the catfishes though XD)

When it’s dinner time, Kaname complimented that the miso soup was delicious, thinking that it was made by “me”. Turned out that it was made by Rudo instead, which impressed Kaname even more~ Kotetsu also praised Rudo on his skills on preparing the fish, and remarked that perhaps Rudo has the talent to become a master chef ^^ Rudo also praised Kotetsu back on his cooking skills, but Kotetsu didn’t think that what he had done as cooking, as all he had done was removing the poison from the catfish and spearing them through the stick. For Shu, everything was delicious and he commented that it was rare to be eating while being surrounded by the nature, as he hardly goes outdoor even when he was on a break.

Senri wasn’t around as he was away attending to another emergency job nearby (Hmm? What can he do on such a deserted island like here though?). The others had suspected that he might be looking for clues regarding the pirate crew, but Shu firmly replied that Senri won’t be someone who will do that, and asked the guys not to persue the matter any further. (I guess things will be revealed when Senri spoke about it?)

“I’ve” also made desserts for everyone, which were made of the cranberries and raspberries found by Kaname. Shu offered to make green tea for everyone, and remarked about the times when he used to drink green tea frequently when he was working as a policeman, due to his senior saying that green tea can help one to focus more than coffee~

Chapter 8: 作戰會議 / Operation Meeting

After dinner, Sousuke decided to create some beds before bedtime. Kaname agreed to that as well, as there’s no way he would allow “me” to sleep on the ground. The guys decided to lay their extra outfits below “my” sleeping bag to create a bed and also inflated an emergency float to be used as a pillow. Kotetsu looked at them fussing over “me” and dissed that they’re being “helpful” XD

As Kotetsu began to clear the dishes, the rest of the detectives proceed with the meeting on discussing their plans for tomorrow. Shu had hoped that they would be able to find their “target” before the time limit and thus decided that they shall look at the places that could be used as a hideout on the island, such as water fields, caves and the forest. Thus, a search team would be created for tomorrow’s investigation.

Shu had deduced that someone must be hiding on the island, but whether that person was a member of the pirate crew, it wasn’t something that Shu would be sure of until they found that person. He had sensed someone’s presence on the island, but wondered it might be him mistakening something as a person, and remarked that the “person” seems to be very afraid and a careful person. If that person could be talked to and persuaded, Shu decided that he shall appoint Senri to be the one to talk with that person, as Senri was good at talking with a relaxing voice to win over one’s heart easily. Even though the person seems like he’s afraid of the detectives, there’s still a possibility that the person is related to the pirate crew, so on the safe side, the detectives would be split into the “negotiation team” (Class 1) and the “decoy team” (Class 3). As there’s too many people in Class 3 and the negotiation team is much safer, Rudo decided that Kaname and “me” would be allocated into the negotiation team together with Shu and Senri.

Rudo told Shu to rest for the night when the meeting was over, saying that the members of Class 3 would be taking shifts in making sure that the fire was burning and looking out for them throughout the night. Rudo was the first person on duty, and when “I” came over to talk to him, he apologised for getting “me” involved in a pretty dangerous mission this time and imagined that Kuki must be so angry about it now that his hair is raising ^^; (Kuki is really behaving like a big brother or say father to “me” ^^;) Rudo was also in the dark about Shu’s actual motive in coming to the island and guessed that in order to prevent the targets from suspecting them, Shu had to lie and hide the facts first from his own comrades.

Rudo had a request for “me” at such an “emergency”, and it wasn’t anything related to the job. He had wanted to invite “me” out and “I” readily accepted it. Rudo praised that “I’m” good at making desserts and blushed when he realised how happy “I” was on receiving the praise ^^

When “I” was about to head for bed, “I” noticed that Kotaro was setting up a tent for “me”. He told “me’ that Kaname had requested him to set up a tent for “my’ usage. There was still one more pole to be set up for the tent, so Kotaro asked “me” to help out while he taught “me” how to set up the tent.

When all was done, Kotaro asked “me” how had “I” felt about him today. (Eh?/ It’s kind of sudden to be asked about “my” impression of him OWO”) Obviously, it was none other about how he was like as a leader for today (And to think I was expecting some Doki-Doki scenes =w=“) He was disappointed when “I” could not think of anything at the moment, and told “me” to inform him immediately if “I” had thought of it.

(I always thought Kotaro was cool and can be kind of mean, but I guess he can be kind of sweet seeing that he did help to set up “my” tent and was interested to know “my” feedback about him as well, even if it’s work-related ^^;)

Chapter 9: 早朝探索 / Morning Investigation

The next morning, Kotetsu was amazed by what Sousuke and Kaname had done specially for “my” sleeping bag, noting that it seems like a little hill ^^; Seeing that Kotetsu was about to head for a walk in the morning, Sousuke suggested to go exploring in the mountains together, to which Kotetsu happily agreed to, since he thought that they might be able to find the bed which their targets are sleeping in if they’re lucky. They decided to leave a note to inform the others about their whereabouts and set off.

When they were in the forest area of the mountain, Kotetsu spotted a mushroom and was about to reach out to it when Sousuke stopped him, warning him that it’s actually a poisonous mushroom even if it looks edible and Kotetsu will get a stomach ache if he had eaten it. Sousuke remembered that Kaname had told him that the mushroom was only slightly poisonous and it can still be eaten if they cooked it to remove the poison. However, it would be terrible if one had eaten them raw or half-cooked instead. Kotetsu dissed that it seems like getting a stomach ache from eating a poisonous mushroom can be considered an important experience, which Sousuke happily agreed to without realising he was being dissed, and said that he could feel that his skills in managing dangerous situations had increased ^^; The guys decided that they shall pick the mushrooms they’ve spotted and let Kotaro to choose from them later on.

Suddenly, Kotetsu noticed that something had moved somewhere near them. Sousuke had thought that it’s small animals like squirrels, weasels or hamsters, but Kotetsu was wary and thought of the possibility of their target finding them. Kotetsu later realised that it can be hard being Sousuke’s partner and was relieved to know that his partner was Kaname... since Sousuke had landed himself in a swamp and need help in pulling him up. When Sousuke was saved, his legs and trousers are soiled, so Kotetsu suggested that they head back to camp to get cleaned and changed.

On their way back, they came across a stream and from the flow of the water, one could gauge where the mountain was situation. Sousuke was disappointed to find that there wasn’t any fishes in the river, but Kotetsu told him that there was fishes initially, but they had all escaped quickly when Sousuke jumped into the river ^^; Kotetsu spotted some fishes that can be eaten and decided to go fishing, even making some fishing rods on the spot using the branches in the forest for themselves. As they started to fish, Kotetsu remarked that Sousuke has a great eyesight and could spot the fishes easily in the river. With great timing, he managed to catch a fish just as the fish was eating the bait, and was praised by Kotetsu who told him that he had great reflexes. Sousuke was embarrassed and blushed, commenting that he seems to be praised alot by Kotetsu today XD

Chapter 10: 右腕の責務 / The Role of the Right-hand Man

Back at the base camp, the others had awoke and got to know that both Sousuke and Kotetsu had gone walking in the mountains together. Guess that they’re working hard looking for leads even while taking a while, Kaname decided to go exploring too, and Senri agreed to go along with him. Kaname had thought that Senri would be accompany Shu who had woken up too, but Senri cooly replied that it’s not like he sticks to Shu all the time, and there would be times where they were move about separately. Since Kotetsu and Sousuke had head into the mountains, Senri and Kaname decided to walk along the seaside.

Senri remarked that they might be able to meet the person residing on this island, and referred to a missing person flyer which he had taken the day before. He explained that he had gotten this flyer from the wife and son of the missing person, which was the boss of a trading company. Senri had found it weird that the man had went missing at the same period when the pirate crew had started to cause troubles on the sea, and from there, Kaname deduced that there might be a possibility that the trading company had worked together with the pirate crew, and was involved in the sea robberies. However, Senri voiced out that he had researched on the company and learned that it had been doing well and earning profits every year, and thus doesn’t think that the company would risk themselves so much just to earn from the robberies. Instead, Senri deduced that the boss might be threatened and forced to aid the pirate crew. Kaname was convinced by Senri’s reasoning, and guessed that those trading ships were already part of the pirate crew, which helped to let them escape from the police easily.

However, this was still a tough case to crack, and as much as Senri doesn’t want to get Shu involved, he could not find any reason to persuade Shu from not doing so. The two of them decided to search around the beach some more and head back to the base camp when they’re found something, seeing whether that would help the team in setting up an operation plan.

Remembering that Senri had gone out yesterday night, Kaname asked him whether he was out alone searching for clues instead. Senri admitted that he was indeed looking for clues, as he felt that his role was to pluck out the seed of danger before Shu starts with his operation. Senri had realised that Shu had taken on this case before they head to the island, and feared that Shu would not talk to anyone about this case if he had not found any important clues that the island is involved with the pirates’ activities. Therefore, Senri decided to do what he can by investigating alone before Shu spoke about the case. This was Senri’s decision, and he was glad to be of help to Shu. (Senri seriously values Shu very much~ ^^;)

After hearing Senri’s words, Kaname asked him why he was able to be so strong. Kaname wanted to be strong too and protect “me”, his partner Kotetsu, his comrades at the detective agency and everyone around him, but he realised that he was always blinded by his desire to protect everyone and could not see things clearly around him, and ended up making worthless efforts every time. He felt that even if he had the best plan and the best skills, he would end up causing trouble for everyone, and thus he really envied Senri for being to do what he wants smoothly.

Suddenly, they realised someone’s presence nearby. Senri feared that they might scare off the person if they approached him, and guessed that the person won’t be able to eavesdrop on their conversation at the distance he’s maintaining between them. After a while, Senri could not sense the presence anymore, and guessed that the person must have escaped after all... (Aww... That’s such a pity D:)

Chapter 11: 逃げる影 / The Shadow that Escapes

Senri went to get in contact with Shu and informed him that they had spotted the target. Kaname was trying to trace him now and had let Shu where the target was currently located. Turned out that the target was near the cave which Kotaro had spotted yesterday, and Shu pondered whether they should join in the chase after the target or wait at the cave to make sure the target won’t be able to escape when he reached there. Kotaro had noticed that the target was staying alone on the island, and doesn’t seems to have any accomplices who worked with him here. But, there was still a possibility that his comrades were the pirates, and thus it was best that they capture this man first.

Kotaro instructed everyone to head towards “Point E” and advised them to prevent getting themselves involved in fights that were not needed, since their only aim now was to capture the target. Rudo nodded and remarked that if he was the one in charge of leading now, he would give the same instructions as well, and praised Kotaro for giving good instructions. That ended making Kotaro blushed as he thanked Rudo for the praises XD

Kaname and Senri had received the instructions as well, and Kaname noted that “Point E5″ was an area that they’ve not investigated yet. Senri remarked that person was trying very hard to escape from them as they chased after him, and deduced that the possibility of this person being involved with the pirates seems to be very high. There was also a possibility that the man had thought that the detectives were pirate crews instead too...

Kotaro and the others went into the forest and managed to block the person’s escape route. Kotaro talked to the man, telling him that he guessed that the man had been the Pirates’ hostage for a long time even if he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to be captured by the pirates anymore, and thus when he spotted the detectives, he thought they’re the pirates too and tried as hard as he can to escape from them. Kotaro tried to persuade the target to be captured by him so that he can finish his mission, but of course, the person doesn’t want to be captured, and thus run away again from them... =w=“

Seeing that the target had run into the cave, Kaname asked Senri whether it would be better if they followed him inside. But Senri asked him to calm down instead and told him that the man had now hide himself in the cave because he was scared as deduced by Shu. He got even more scared when he was confronted by so many men, and thus went onto a rampage and hid. Senri proposed that he would try to talk to the man at a distance away from him, and learn more about him. Kaname agreed to this plan and asked Senri to be careful. (I guess he might be worried that the man will suddenly attack Senri ^^;)

Senri went near to the cave while still maintaining a safe distance, while Kaname went further away from them. Senri told the man that there’s only him and the man now in this area, and tried to persuade the man to talk to him. He assured the man that they did not have any weapons, and would also protect the man to return him back to the main island safe and sound too.

The man finally spoke after being persuaded, admitting that he was roped into helping the pirates, as he cannot choose to reject them. He was originally the boss who operates the trading industry, and in his eyes, the pirates were a scary presence that could not be forgiven. The man pleaded that he had not wanted to commit such acts at all, but he crumbled due to fear and ended up being forced to help them. He had also felt that he had worked too much in his life that he was always busy and hardly returns home, and felt that perhaps there wasn’t a spot for him in his family anymore... (That sounds sad TWT) Therefore, the man decided that he shall not return tot he main island, and would try his best to escape for now, before escaping to another place when things had tide down.

Senri was stern as he told the man that his family isn’t considered that important to him since he’s giving up on going home so easily just because he’s being threatened. He asked the man whether work is really the most important to me, as Senri felt that it wasn’t deep down in his heart. Senri showed the man a flyer and told him that he had seen the man’s wife and child giving out flyers on the streets looking for him, and were still waiting for his return. So, it was only the man’s misunderstanding that he has no place in his family. But the guy wasn’t easily convinced, saying that he’s not sure that the flyer is real and he’s not confident of himself, saying that he’s a terrible husband and father.

Senri replied to the man that they don’t have to specially make a flyer just to lie to him when they could just capture him by force since ultimately their goal was to capture this man who was their target. He tried to convince the man once again that his family were indeed worried about him and looking for him and told him that it’s impossible to create such a heartwarming flyer if his family does not care about him.

Since the man had said that he won’t be returning home, Senri remarked out loud that he shall head back to the island and tell the man’s wife about the man’s whereabouts here, as he felt that he had the responsibility to do so. However, there would a possibility that the man’s wife would get worried and came here by herself, landing herself in danger of being captured by the pirates who frequent here. Senri said that the consequences won’t be related to him anyway and bid goodbye to the man. That made the man decided that he shall head back once to the main island and tried to set things right, since he knew that he won’t be able to go back to anything if he had continued to escape from the pirates on the island. Even though he doesn’t know whether he would be forgiven for his actions, he wanted to try and talk to his family once again.

Chapter 12: 明日への船出 / The Boat towards Tomorrow

Senri, Kaname and the man returned to the island, where Shu and the others were waiting for them. Shu praised him for a job well done, but Senri smiled and replied that it was just something he had to do for Shu. Shu asked the man why he was being brought to the island, to which he answered that initially, he changed the course of the trading ships in order to escape from the supervision of the police, but he ended up encountering the pirates when doing that, and was threatened to assist them. Senri deduced that it’s possible, since most trading ships just want to ship their goods faster and didn’t want to the police to stop them and do checks on them, and guessed that perhaps other traders were also being forced to do similar things on other deserted islands.

Senri assured the man that he would be safe and won’t be blame since the man himself had not want to help the pirates but was forced to, saying that the police would not treat a victim like him as a criminal. However, the man knew that what he had did would not forgiven in the trading industry, and saying that he’s going to work even harder at work in the future to regain the trust that was lost in him from this incident. Also, he’s going to treasure his family very much from now on, which pleased Senri that he said that. Senri replied that though he had lectured the man earlier on, Senri too knew the feeling of losing something / someone very important to him as it had happened to him before too.

As the case came to a close, Shu remarked that this was what they can do in their powers at this point of time, and felt that what they’ve done was right. This had always been Shu’s vision when operating the detective agency, and was also this vision that had saved Senri (probably to referring to Senri’s past I guess?). Rudo thanked Kotaro for doing a good job in being the leader for this mission, to which Kotaro replied that he doesn’t felt that he had done much this time round. But Rudo felt that Kotaro had already did what he could do as a leader, by giving good instructions to the members to carry out their jobs, and to follow up to assist them when required. Seeing Kotaro’s instructions for this mission and his actions later on, Rudo remarked that he looks forward to Kotaro’s growth as a detective and leader in the future.

Kotetsu had felt that he had not done much in this mission too this time, seeing that he had only ventured in the forest and went fishing XD Seeing that Kotetsu was with Sousuke just now, Kaname asked him where is Sousuke now as he was nowhere to be found at the base camp. Kotetsu sighed and replied that Sousuke had shouted that he’s going to fight a bear and win a wild boar before running off, and wondered whether Sosuske had eaten a poisonous mushroom yet again XD

The guys spotted a very familiar rental boat coming their way, it was the boat the detective agency had always rented! Seems like Rui was on their way to fetch them up. They get in contact with Rui, who informed them that Class 7 had been activated and was diverting the enemies attention so as to allow Rui to have the opening to come and fetch them. Shu guessed that Class 7 had done that because they were so worried about “me” and wanted to leave the island as soon as possible. Kotaro decided that their best plan now was to escort the man back to the main island, and as Sousuke was now here, they decided to leave him behind, since Sousuke seems like someone who could live well on the island. (What?! Poor Sousuke XDD)

As they went getting onto the boat, they heard a familiar voice apologising for being late (it’s Sousuke!)~ But Kotaro ignored his cries and urged everyone to get on and for the boat to set off XD Kaname called out to Sousuke to hurry up as he’s going to be left behind XD

On the way back, "I” caught Kotaro looking at “me”, and he said that he just felt that “I’m” someone who can be really hardworking and more reliable than Sousuke. However, he told “me” not to get near him or bother him when we’re back at the detective agency. (.... That’s cold, Kotaro TWT) Kotaro was firm in his vision that he can do everything on his own, so as to get “that person” to think well of him as a member. (I think he’s referring to Rudo ^^;)

And that’s the end of the story, it’s kind of sad Kotaro is pushing “me” away again at the end of it, when I thought we’re going to be just abit closer =w=“ Well, at least Kotetsu is warmer to us now, and I do enjoy Kaname worrying and caring for “me” always, and Rudo too for looking over “me”~ ^^ Sousuke was being a silly guy as always XD

It’s interesting that Senri actually gets quite a large limelight on him this time seeing that he’s the overall key person who helped to resolve the case. I still feel that Kotaro doesn’t shine quite as much as I like to seeing that he’s the main character for this event story and the leader of this mission, since I would really want to know more about him D: Such a pity...

The story was at least fun to read this time round, seeing that the event story on the cruise ship the last time round was abit of a boredom. Sousuke was really funny and entertaining, and I do enjoy Kotetsu’s disses XDD Class 3 is really quite a bunch of guys with interesting personalities together ^^

#VIIDOG CODE #event story #summary #translation #otome game #VD:event #VD:translation #class 3 #class 1

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