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bluegalaxygirl · 4 months

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Celestial Wedding (ZoLu X Reader) P2

Plot: Reader gets taken as revenge for Luffy and Zoro's defiance against the Celestial Dragons, they were just going to kill her to make an example but now theres a wedding????.

Warning: Bad language, Blood, Violence, Drugs, kidnapping, forced marriage and salivary.

Thank you to @herwritingartcowboy for the suggestion. Reader is Female and a gunslinger, Zoro X Luffy X Reader, Poly relationship, established relationship.

P1 - P3 - P4 - P5 - P6 - P7 - P8 - P9 - P10 - P11 - P12 - P13 - P14 - P15 - P16 - P17 - P18

The cold breeze felt nice but the blinding sunlight hurt the captains eyes, with a groan Luffy opens his eyes only to shield them with his arm blocking out the bright morning sun. "Luffy" Chopper runs over seeing the captain finally awake, Luffy turns his head at the noise and sits up noticing Zoro laying next to him just starting to wake up too. "Are you ok?" The Doctor asks stopping in front of Luffy who places a hand on his head realizing his hat is gone, jumping up he looks around soon spotting it on the floor close by so with a sigh of relief picks it up and putting it on "Yea i'm good. Is everyone ok?" The captain asks looking around the deck seeing most of the crew awake. Robin sat with Nami as they watched over a sleeping Usopp who had quite a few cuts and bruises while Sanji sat close by a bandage around his head while smoking a cigarette. Franky was repairing the ship while Brook brought over some equipment for him, a groan caught the captain's attention looking down to see Zoro sit up and rub his head starting to look around as well. A sniffle made the two look over at Chopper who had his head down trying not to cry while he clenched his fists to his side "They took Y/N" Their breath caught in their throat making Luffy scan the deck again seeing your not on the deck, how did he not notice you were gone? Zoro stands up and scans the deck as well putting his swords back on his side before noticing Robin walking over.

The black haired woman stops next to Chopper with a sad look "Where is she? what happened?" The swordsman asks remembering you were with Robin most of the fight, Luffy steps closer his fists clenched to his sides as anger boils inside him, not only did they attack his crew, damaged the sunny, but they took you too. "I'll explain it to everyone" Robin sighs with a sad look before walking back over to the others who have finished what there doing and sit down to listen and figure out a plan. The only person still not awake was Usopp who along with Brook weren't knocked out by the gas but by physical force. "Robin" Luffy sits next to Zoro crossed legged his fist resting on his knees becoming impatient. "I'm sorry Captain. Those men took Y/n, i'm sure they were bandits but some of the things they said where odd and their weapons had symbols on them, I know i'v seen them before but i can't put my finger on it" Robin places her finger on her chin as Nami pulls out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag handing it to Robin "Can you draw it?" The navigator asks watching as the woman nods and starts to draw the best she can. "Oh no my Y/N-chan" Sanji holds his hands to his heart earning a growl form Zoro who more than hates the cook fawning over you "What the hell happened?" Zoro growls turning his attention to Robin, those guys gave no indication of who they where, he couldn't tell if they were pirates or bounty hunters, so they didn't have much to go on if they were going to find you.

Robin hands the paper back to Nami who looks it over, Brook bending down behind her to have a look at the drawing of four circles each one having a star in the middle. "Me and Y/n were't fully out so i heard quite a few things. Their goal seemed to be only Y/n and it seemed like they need her in one piece and unharmed" It brought a sense of relief to Luffy and Zoro hoping you wouldn't be too badly hurt "But i... I don't want to believe it but some of the stuff they said indicate that they might be working for slave traders" An eerie silence fell over the ship, most of the crew in shock but Luffy clenched his fists tighter and gritted his teeth in anger, he remembers what happened on Sabaody and how they treated slaves. If looks could kill the people who did this too you would drop dead even though their miles away while Zoro glares at the ground, his eyes burned with the desire to kill. The silence was broken by Brooks gasp, Nami jumped at the sudden sound and turned to smack the skeleton for scaring her only to see the terrifying look on his face "Urm guy... That symbol is part of the Slave traders but, I remember seeing it on Punk Hazard too, they were responsible for taking the kids and giving them to Caesar" Franky looks up in surprise before standing a look of shock mixed with anger " Wait a minute man, marines took the kids not Bandits" Luffy stands stopping the upcoming argument "I don't care who they are, all i need to know is where they are" Zoro nods at his captains words standing up and placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder.

The crew knew their captain was beyond mad so nodded and stood along with the swordsman "The Marine Commodore in charge is part of the G-5 if i remember correctly" Nami places a finger on her chin trying to remember as much as she could as Luffy's hand goes to her shoulder "Then thats where we're heading" The captain lets a big smile show causing the navigator grab him by the shirt "What?" she yells in his face as Chopper cowers behind her "We can't attack a marine base that big" The doctor yells earning a laugh from Robin and Zoro "We're going to get Y/N back." Luffy's stern voice stops Nami form shaking him anymore, she stares at him hoping it was a joke, but she knew it wasn't, with a sigh she lets go "Ok, I'll set course" Luffy nods at her before turning to the rest of his crew "Lets get our strength back and find Y/N" The captain yells getting the rest of the crew to nod, with a small chuckle Sanji nods and heads off to the kitchen to start cooking. Once everyone had left the deck Luffy sits down next to the still sleeping Usopp, he hated seeing his friends hurt, but he's confident in their skills and even though the sniper can be a cowered he's still willing to fight for the crew. Zoro watches his captain for a minute before sitting down next to him and taking the mans hand "Luffy" The swordsman manages to get the captain's attention, Luffy prying his eyes away form his injured friend to look at his first mate with a small smile.

Seeing the worry on Zoro's face Luffy knew he had to say something. "Y/n's strong she'll be fine" The captain was mainly reassuring himself with those words and the swordsman knew it but nodded and wraps an arm around Luffy pulling him into a hug "I know" Zoro whispers rubbing the captains back, the Sunny starts moving changing course to head to the G-5 base, it'll be a big battle but their main goal is to find those with the blue stars and hopefully they will have information. Luffy sighs and moves to sit on Zoro's lap letting the green haired man hold him form behind, the captain relaxes against the swordsman's chest "Everything's gonna be ok" Zoro whispers into the captain's ear before kissing his neck and laying his head on Luffy's shoulder. Usopp groans while rubbing his bandaged head and sitting up, the snipers eyes land on Zoro and Luffy "Hay, your awake" Luffy smiles over at his friend who looks around the ship "What happened?" Zoro groans into his captains shoulder not wanting to answer the question but Luffy filled the sniper in on what happened and where their heading "What? a marine base? are you sure about this Luffy" Usopp asks getting closer to his friends face, Luffy nods with a smile but that smile soon fades as Usopp tries to convince the captain not to do it. "Where getting her back." The sniper tenses at Luffy's tone and demeanor change, feeling a heavyweight wash over him as his captains eyes go almost black. Usopp simply nods knowing there's no way of convincing Luffy, he just hopes he doesn't have to fight.

With a swift kick the bandit that tried to get closer flew into the metal bars hitting his back and yelling out in pain. The other bandits growled watching as you stand ready to hurt anyone who gets too close. You were almost at the Red line, and they wanted to make you look presentable but now that you've regained your strength you refuse to do anything they tell your or at least make it harder for them to do anything it. "What is taking so long?" The captains voice calls out walking down the steps before sighing at the mess you've made, several men where either knocked out or groaning in pain while others where standing around trying to find an opening. "Can't you do anything right? Just sedate her" The captain yells making the few who are still left standing jump in fear at their captains angry tone "We already used two needles" One speaks up as the Captain walks into the cell eyeing you, the man was right, the first guy managed to stab you in the leg with a needle but luckily not much went in, the other guy got you in the arm but you didn't react fast enough. Despite feeling tired and weak, the adrenaline running through your veins helped you stand your ground and fight off anyone who got close. "Give it here" The Captain holds out his hand to one of his men who hand him their needle and taking a step back as to not be in is way. "Now be a good girl and do as your told" The captain smiles gripping the needle in his hand.

Glaring and letting a slight growl leave your lips you back up pressing your back against the wall mainly so you can push off and kick him if he gets close enough. The captain steps closer his eyes scanning you over trying to see what your next move is but stops just far enough away to where you can't kick him, the thought of charging at him did cross your mind but you knew you wouldn't be able too with the short thick chain your currently attached too. "I'm guessing you know where we're going then... you should learn early on that defiance isn't acceptable" The captain takes a few steps closer but you wait until he grabs your arm to pushing off the wall you kick will all your might, your foot landing on his stomach but to your surprise he grab your leg and turns to the side pulling you closer. You gasp at the feeling of a sharp needle going into shoulder as his other hand lets go of your leg and grabs your neck slamming you back against the wall knocking the air out of your lunges. While trying to get some air back you try fighting him off you, grabbing is hand thats around your neck and trying to pull it off while using your foot to push against his stomach. Despite your effort the captain keeps his tight grip waiting for the drugs to kick in, it doesn't take long for your arms and lets to feel tired and weak along with your head starting to feel fuzzy. "There we go.. that wasn't so hard now was it?" The captain asks letting you go and watching your legs give out form under you, sitting on the ground you pant a little trying to regain focus as a fogginess clouds your mind.

The captain turns glaring at his men before leaving the cell "Hurry up, we're almost there" His men nod rushing over to you to start their work, one grabs your arms pulling you away from the wall while another un-cuffs your hands, this would be the perfect opportunity to escape but there's no way you can run let alone stand with your legs feeling numb. They wash your skin and hair before dressing you in a white short dress and finally put shoes on your freezing cold feet "What do you think?" One man looks you over before turning to the other who hums while thinking his eyes scanning your figure. "Tie her hair up, they seem to like it more when their neck is exposed" The man finally speaks putting new cuffs on your hands before holding onto the short chain its attached too. The cuffs aren't as thick as the last ones but with how tired your body is, it feels heavy making it hard to hold your hands up for long. The other man nods tying your hair up before helping you stand and making sure your steady on your feet, your legs where still weak but luckily you can stand and regain your balance quite easily. With a growl you elbow the man holding you in the side making him yell out in pain stepping away and holding his ribs, the one holding your chain pulls you towards him knocking you off balance, but he grabs your neck shoving you back into the wall. Their eyes burn with anger but you can't help but let a small smile show, even in your tired state you can still somewhat fight back.

Managing to catch his breath and rubbing his side the bandit glares at you "Gods lady do you want to die? You know who your going to right? a celestial dragon" The man rubbing his side grows threw gritted teeth, you knew where you are going but it didn't matter, you had to get back to your crew, to Luffy and Zoro. "I belong to no one but my Captain and my crew" you glare as the mans hand tightens around your neck pushing you harder into the wood, his eyes burn with anger before letting you go watching as you take a much-needed breath and bringing your hands to your neck to rub it. "Stupid girl" Both man growl the one holding your chain pulling it hard forcing your hands away form your neck before walking out the cell dragging you along with them. Walking up the steps you shield your eyes from the blinding light until they can adjust, the cool sea breeze sends a shiver down your spine and your exposed logs but it feels a lot warmer up top despise the cold wind. "Much better" The captain smiles walking over to you and placing a thick black collar with a blue ball embedded in it around your neck, you try to step back but the man holding your chain shoots you a glare while pulling you closer so the collar can close and lock around you. "Listen closely, girl" The captain grabs your face while holding a black detonator with a big red button on top of it bringing it closer to your face and waving it a little.

You gulp a little knowing it's a bomb collar but you didn't know there were different ones. "This collar works a little different, since your being difficult and are fighting back i have no chose but to put this one on you. I won't get paid if your dead so a chained collar is out of the question." You know the type he's talking about, all the slaves have them, if the chain is broken the collar around their necks explodes, It stops the slaves from running away. Since you have a tenancy to fight them every step of the way even knowing who your going too it makes sense not to have one on you, in case you deliberately brake the chain. You wouldn't do that though, you want to get back to your crew alive and in one piece, but they don't seem to be taking any chances. "It doesn't matter where you go or how far away you are, this will be able to tell your new owner where you are and if he decides that your no longer worth the trouble then they'll just press the button and BOOM" The captain yells in your face before shoving your face away making you stumble a little, the man around you laugh a little but your focused on the detonator in the captains hand, it has a small screen on it with a blue dot. So far you've been focused on only getting out and getting back to your crew but now it doesn't seem possible at least not on your own. "So don't go running off ok?" The captain smiles grabbing your chain walking you off the ship pulling you along behind him, with a sigh you nod knowing you need a new plan but the only thing you can think of is survived until your crew finds you.

Stepping off the ship and onto the red port you look up to see the large red line that splits the earth in two, the red earth so high it goes beyond the clouds. You didn't get a good look at it the first time you passed under it, having to go under and to Fish-man island in order to get over to the other side, being pulled along you soon stop at strange looking yellow elevator with the world government's symbol on it. It makes you sick that this place is home to the world government and the celestial dragons, how can they preach about justice and saving lives while slavery and torture are going on right next to them. Stepping into the elevator the Captain forces you to sit by pushing you down by your shoulder while some of his men follow. "Now be a good girl and stay quiet" The man glares waving the trigger around as a reminder, you only nod in response and look down at the floor as the elevator doors close. Getting higher and higher into the air your anxiety and fear raises up with it, your leg starting to shake a little but you as your dress moves up your leg a small smile appears on your face. The tattoo on your thigh brings you hope knowing your crew will always be there for you even if their miles away, it helps you stay calm and remind you that your strong, you can get threw this you just have to not show any emotion around the dragons. You can't let them see how your feeling and you can't give them any bad looks, If you want to live you have to turn it off, it's going to be hard at times and you'll want to scream at them or cry but you can't, once your crew comes to get you then you can fight them but for now you just have to stay calm.

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spacexseven · 2 years

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hey you know what? fuck it. im making another one of these. this one is chuuya.

when he gets the order to get close to you, he almost lets out a yawn in the middle of the executive meeting. like… seriously? all he has to do in this mission is make you fall for him? this is gonna be so easy he could cry! you poor, pathetic thing. you're not gonna have any idea what hit you when he gets done.or, thats what he thinks. the initial plan is just to throw money at the problem. thats what people like, right? hes SUPER confident, just peacocking around and grinning at you like he knows something you don't (pretty accurate to the situation). of course, you inevitably show little interest in what appears to just be some douche flaunting his wealth and expecting you to drop your pants over it, and hes lost.

the extreme confidence that he came into this mission with is gone. you don't? want? these nice things hes offering you? why Not? hes very confused and upset at this point. he had no plan b and his ego just took a MASSIVE hit. now, he's pissed. he'll show YOU! you're gonna like him so FUCKING much and then he'll KILL you and then he WINS. his pursuit gets aggressive quick. stalking you to find out your likes, dislikes, friends, favorite places, any information he can get. thinks hard about gifts you'd actually Like instead of just getting you the most expensive thing he can find. researches your interests and/or areas of study/work so he has things to talk to you about. and it all starts out as a pretty elaborate revenge plot, and hes extremely annoyed at you for making him do all this, but the thing about doing a lot to get close to someone: you might start to FEEL close to them, as well. being with you is. calm. easy. different from what hes used to in every way. it feels nice, to be with you. he falls for you WAY harder than you end up falling for him by the end of it. his loyalty to the mafia and his passion for you cross swords, and he does everything he can to find a compromise. up until you find out, of course. then you make the decision for him, you pack your shit as quickly as you can when he goes out to his “office job” and make a break for it.

you dont make it far. did you really think you could run away from the port mafia so easily? you’re cute, sweetheart, you really are. c’mon, please don’t cry, he’s not gonna hurt ya! he’s not mad! you don’t have to be scared, baby, please? just let chuuya take you home without a fuss, ok? it’s not like you have much say in the matter anyway.

- 🩹

chuuya and dazai rock paper scissors to decide who takes this mission and chuuya loses so he gets it :O all content for this au is tagged as #spy au 🐟

cw: yandere character, obsessive behavior, stalking, tracking devices, breaking in, implied kidnapping, deceit

despite how annoyed he might have sounded when he was tasked with this, chuuya's actually not so upset. this was a break for him from the usual tiring jobs he was put on, and honestly, he was curious as to what kind of person you were to have access to so much valuable information. on paper, you looked quite ordinary. nice smile, a pretty impressive resume, but...somehow he felt like he wasn't picking up on something.

the day he's set to meet you, he offers to buy you a drink and asks if you'd like to sit down and talk with him. he even smiles all pretty and he knows he's irresistible when he lays down the charm like that, but you only smile and say you're busy.

oh. he wasn't expecting that.

so, he decides he must be able to woo you with money instead. who doesn't like a new watch and luxurious cakes? but it keeps happening regardless. he brings you expensive gifts and casually remarks about his new bike, but you don't take the bait. each time you thank him but return the gift with a firm statement about not wanting such an expensive gift. and then you go and tell him you don't care about his bikes, "but that sounds pretty cool!"

you were so...infuriating. how could you be so callous to his efforts, when he's trying so hard to do this right? you could at least come out of this with wonderful memories and expensive items, even if you'd lose your job. he didn't have to stroke your cheek and get you things wrapped in premium paper. if he wanted to, he could just as easily blackmail you—as long as it gets the job done. but you were so ungrateful for his consideration. he swore he would get his revenge on you after this job was done.

you would wish you never met him.

the easiest (and fastest) way to figure out what you would actually like, according to chuuya, was by stalking you and rummaging around your place when you were at work. he bugged your phone and listened in on conversations, making a careful list of all the things you liked and formulating ideas for gifts you'd appreciate.

as expected, it works. you're touched by the genuinely nice things he gets you and you're impressed when you see him reading the same book you've been reading. suddenly, chuuya isn't so much of a pretentious asshole to you. he's softer and smiles more and...and he looks happy.

he feels happy, too. and it terrified him. you're definitely not what he expected, calm and cute when he's used to brashness. you talk to him about everything and you're genuinely interested in what he has to say, not just listening to poke fun at him. it makes him feel so warm. he could only hope you liked him nearly as much as he liked you.

but then you decide to run away.

some part of him tries to understand. what made you decide to throw all of this away? what made you feel like he wasn't worth it anymore? but try as hard as he might, he can't help but feel betrayed. maybe the mafia thing scared you, but you knew him! you've been dating for long enough to know that he wouldn't hurt you! he worshipped the ground you walked on, he got you anything you could ever desire, and he was still risking so much to keep you by his side. he loved you.

on the bright side, he thinks to himself, as he scours the streets for your new apartment, eyes glued to the blinking dot on his screen, at least now there won't be any more secrets between the two of you. he could go back to his usual job and you would be by his side. it would be the best of both worlds.

#yandere bsd #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bungo stray dogs x reader #yandere x reader #yandere bungo stray dogs #yandere chuuya x reader #yandere chuuya nakahara #chuuya nakahara x reader #chuuya x reader #yandere chuuya #yandere bsd x reader #bsd x reader #chuuya x you #ask 🐟#anon 🐟#bsd 🐟#dazai 🩹 🐟#spy au 🐟

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spahhzy · 1 year

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A light from the shore.

"Your soul is hollow." Came the icy voice of Weiss Schnee as she glared daggers at the still form of one Neopolitan whomst just stared at the broken sword, Crocea Mors as her and the rest of her team were held up in a shack waiting out the ongoing sandstorm.

"You should be rotting or still under that Cat's control, but no, Jaune just had to be a hero," Weiss smashed a wall to her left.

"Always the hero..." She muttered sadly, but Neo didn't acknowledge her. She just kept staring at the sword.

"Tell me this.. was all of this worth it?" Weiss said as she stomped up to the dazed Neo.

"Was what you put Ruby through worth it?" Weiss said as she pointed toward the still sleeping Rose laying on her sisters shoulder, who looked non-to happy to be sharing a shack in the middle of a sandstorm. Blake had daggers on her as well.

"No, it wasn't, and now you paid the price, and in consequence, so did Jaune," Weiss said with such venom as Neo still said nothing and Weiss fumed.

"Don't just sit their and stare pathetically at that blade, trying to be a victim, don't think I don't know about YOU and him...and how you chose revenge over him" still nothing.

"It amazes me how selfish you have been, how incredibly fucking selfish you are and can still be!" Weiss said said as she pulled out her own weapon but Neo didn't budge.

"I should kill you...finish what the cat couldn't!" Weiss said as she brought her rapier close to the still form of Neo whomst still stayed fixated on the blade.

Weiss just clutched the blade tightly as tears began to well into her eyes.

"But you're lucky...it's not what he would have wanted...he for some reason beyond sanity see's good in you." Tired and frustrated at Neo's ignorance, Weiss grabbed Neo by her collar and pulled her up the sword clacking to the ground as Neo's head followed with it, she tried weakly to grab it but Weiss held her In a firm grip.

"You may have fooled him, but you don't fool me. You left him heartbroken, and he sat with that and still...still he tries to save get you off that path but nooo, " She said with distaste before shoving her back down to which Neo just plopped to the ground next to the broken blade.

"And now look at where it got us...where it got you" Weiss said as she looked at all present.

"Revenge is an idiots game," She said to Neo, whomst widened her eyes and looked shakily back up to Weiss.

"That what he always told me, he learned that after his suicidal crusade to kill Cinder-the actual fucking cause for your pain!" Weiss as she Neo just stared up at her eyes widened in surprise.

"You know what he told me in the EverAfter while you were busy sending your pet after all the inhabitants, he held on to hope," Weiss said she dropped her weapon before pointing a finger at her.

"He held onto the hope of seeing all of us... but most importantly, he held onto the hope of seeing YOU!" Neo let out what Weiss could only describe to be a gasp.

"And the one fucking time he see's you is when that bastard cat is taking over your body!" She said to her as she recalled the events back in the everafter.

"But if their was anything I knew about Jaune is that he had a tenacity to never give up and Jaune would find a way...he would always find a way," Weiss said as she bent down to pick up her weapon at the shaken Neo, who was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, please save your fucking tears, you have no right to cry for him" Weiss spat "not after every selfish thing you've done to him" She than began to walk away back to the other side of where her team rests as the wind and sand clattered the small hut.

"Roman would be so proud of you, I bet," Weiss said with nothing but mockery as Neo just could do nothing but accept the words that came her way as Weiss just sat back down and rubbed her eyes of tears as a comforting hand from Blake rested on her shoulder.

Neo just looked back at the before sword touching it oh so gently, almost as if she were afraid it would disappear before her as memories of times, Good and bad began to flow like a raging storm.

#jaune arc #weiss schnee #neopolitian (rwby)#silent knight

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human-psyche · 8 months

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FORBIDDEN LOVE.

" he would burn the world but wouldn't let a spark touch her... "

characters: sasuke x hinata

genre: romance, angst, action

about: an unlikely bond forms between the kind hyuga hinata and the lone some uchiha sasuke at unexpected times, leading them to more than they could foresee: something that shouldn't happen but which does nonetheless, slowly.

PART I

THE FIRST TIME HINATA meets him outside the village after he left, it's at a motel when she's on a mission, alone.

The night finds her taking up temporary residence in a seedy little, traditional motel just off the coast of the Land of Tea. She doesn't care too much for the place, but it's late and she's exhausted, she has little money and so rents the cheapest room they have.

When she goes to check it, the owner's wife tells her that the only room left is a double room, which would mean that she'd have to share with someone else. Reluctantly, Hinata agrees and is given a key.

As she opens the door to the room, she's taken aback to see that it's already occupied…a lone figure looms there in the dark on his own. A boy, not much older than herself, sitting in a corner of the room cross-legged and with his sword at his side, silent and brooding, seeming lost in his own thoughts and unaware that she's present一 or so does Hinata think. She quietly assesses the situation and stays where she is, not wanting to draw attention to herself because it doesn't take her long to realize who he is: Uchiha Sasuke.

She has heard stories of him, how he's wanted by the Leaf's authorities and how he had become rogue in order to pursue his revenge.

She's certain he doesn't notice her yet and, hoping he would not recognize her in the lack of light inside the room and also given her almost non-existent interactions with him in the past when they were genin, the girl moves as silently as possible to the small bed in the opposite direction. She pleads to herself that he would not identify her or see her as a threat…then Hinata encourages herself to lay down and closes her eyes, trying to block out her fear.

The night goes by and still the boy doesn't move. Hinata begins to relax and eventually drifts off into a peaceful sleep that she can't fight against. She awakes early the next morning only to find the room empty. Where the boy had been sitting there's nothing but a discarded kunai, lodged in the wooden floor.

Hinata picks up the kunai and looks down: she's a tad bewildered to see that he carved something, a phrase. "What kind of person falls asleep in the same room with the enemy."

Suffice to say, she's both surprised and embarrased.

The dark haired female doesn't see him again soon but she would never forget that night at the motel and the unspoken, unexplained bond that developed between the two of them in utter silence…the plain, unadmitted comfort of staying in each other's company without a word or a sound. It had been a fragile, delicate thing一 one that had been shattered in the morning light.

. . .

The second time she meets him, she's assigned a mission to infiltrate a base of corrupt ninja in the Spring village, to steal a top secret document. She's incredibly successful so far, sneaking past guard after guard and making her way torwards her goal.

But as she nears the location of the document, Hinata gets caught off guard by a man who immediately recognizes her as a Leaf shinobi and thus she ends up forced into a fight she's not sure she could ever win…

Suddenly, the doors burst open and the boy she thought to be her enemy by association with Konoha walks in: again, Uchiha Sasuke. He quickly steps in front of her, simply clearing his way of useless burdens, though to her, it's like he's not willing to let the other guy hurt her. The guard gets taken by surprise and before she knows it or even has time to comprehend, he's fallen down to the ground, blood from Sasuke's sword splashing on the wall next to her.

Hinata stares at him in shock. She's convinced he would not spare her if she'd be an obstacle to whatever he's doing at the base coincidentally during her own mission, and yet here he is coming to her rescue. She's more conflicted when he grabs her by the arm and leads her out of the building just as it explodes on its own, never asking why she was there in the first place.

The two don't speak until they're far away from the foreign base and Sasuke finally stops to look at her. But before she can respond and say a "Thank you.", he cuts off any other communication by splitting the scroll with the document using his blade and disappearing with the other half.

That's how Hinata returns with only one half of the intended information and no solution to explain to herself why she continues to hesitate to raport him…

. . .

The third time Hinata meets him, their encounters become more and more complicated, as she witnesses him be wounded somewhere on her route back to Konoha from the Land of Water.

Sasuke feels the rain trickling down his face before he even opens his eyes, his body too weak from loss of blood. He doesn't know how he got there or how such a massive wound has appeared on him, he's too tired to recollect his last actions. But, he knows he has to get out of the storm.

At one distant point, he hears a delicate voice calling out to him. His eyes flutter open to find none other than the same Hyuga girl who's the only one naive enough to get close to somebody like him and not turn him in when this golden opportunity presents itself to her, standing before him with a look of concern and determination. Without asking any questions, she helps him up, and they begin searching for shelter.

Time passes and neither of them speak. They trudge through the forest and eventually find a cave hidden deep in the mountain range. The girl steps in first and makes sure it's safe before letting him in: he can barely hold his own weight and has to lean on her heavily as she guides him into the cave.

The Uchiha stumbles inside, dragging his broken body through the entrance to the cave untill he finally collapses down.

Hinata gasps and quickly runs to his side. Although she has limited medical knowledge and could never compare to Sakura, she's stubborn to help him. The shy girl quickly sets about gathering whatever she can find left useful amongst her essentials that she'd kept with her, hoping to treat his wounds.

"What are you doing." his voice's hoarse from pain, glaring at her as if she's joking with him. It's evident he does not like depending on others and is too prideful to show the extent of the damage.

She wrings her fingers, grasping at how to behave with him so as to not irritate him further. "I-I'm trying to help. You're injured."

"Why would you help me?"

"Why does that matter? N-No one should be suffering like this…I'm just trying to do what's right."

"…That's surprisingly noble of you, Hyuga." Sasuke nearly laughs, except his kind of insulting humour is bland, like he's merely making fun of her in that manner of his which lacks emotion.

Hinata works feverishly, tending to him the best she can. After a good interval of time, the task is complete and once that's over, she makes a fire.

Both of them sit together, eating and watching the storm outside…but Sasuke breaks out in fever due to the pain.

Hinata has some leftover herbs and a small jar of honey in her pack, which she uses with warm water to make a tea. After stirring, she adds a few drops of lavender oil and mixes again as she carries the brew back to the Uchiha. She urges the young man to drink it, promising the tea would make him feel better.

Although somewhat skeptical, he complies and she helps him sip the mixture until it's gone, however, an hour progresses on and no results…

In one of the more daring times of her life, Hinata embraces him in an effort to cool his fever.

As she holds his face in her hands while Sasuke deliriously calls out for his brother, something he would never do should he be awake and not semi-conscious, she brushes the sweat dampened hair from his forehead, finally allowing herself to acknowledge how handsome he is, for the first time; the Hyuga heiress touches his features with a kindness that only a timid but brave girl like herself could muster. His fever doesn’t relent, so she tries this method to alleviate his heat…nevermind that he would probably hurt her or push her away coldly if he were to be lucid given the fact they end up sharing the same blanket and he's so vulnerable in her hold.

. . .

a/n: share / reblog if you like! you can also follow me for more sasuhina content and art / fanart.

#uchiha sasuke #hyuga hinata #sasuke x hinata #sasuhina #naruto sasuke #naruto hinata #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfiction #romance #angst #action

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merakiui · 2 years

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MERA MERA HI I WANNA SHARE THIS BRAINROT I HAD

So basically its Scaramouche and Kitsune Darling and so okay Darling was never supposed to interact with the puppet. It was something Yae told her not to do but she cant help but be curious! And its asleep anyways so its not like... its not like coming over to look at it would be bad! And the Raiden Shogun didnt give a damn when she asked if she could go look at the puppet so she just. Went. Traveled all the way over and stared at the pretty doll and enraptured by his beauty. She would collect pretty clothes and knicknacks and gift it to the doll and sing songs and recite poetry and rant about her day near it. It was pretty relaxing. Also, even tho Kuni was asleep he could hear her and became enchanted with the songs she sangs and eventually he somehow gained the willpower to forcibly awaken. Darling is ofc shaken bc uh oh but Kuni manages to comfort her that its fine so long as she doesnt tell anyone since he's just interested in listening to ehr songs and stories. They spend a lot of time together that way. They later also gain a wandering samurai for a friend, and theyre quite the happy little trio. Kuni ofc wants to travel but he knows hes not supposed to even exist, much less be awake, as he is the Failed Puppet (he has vague memories of Ei or smth) but the wanderlust is strong. He gets the samurai and Darling to agree to take him out for at least short walks so he can see the world. He practically falls in love and the duo are happy to teach their homebound friend all they know!

Unfortunately, they begin to drift apart as Darling has to refocus her time and energy to her duties as a Kitsune Shrine Maiden and the samurai seeks the world outside more. Kuni takes to wandering out on his own and he meets awful people who negatively influence him. When his samurai friend is killed, he's devastated. Then he's enraged when Darling tells him not to seek revenge bc how could she not be angry at their friend's demise? Now, Darling's a kitsune, somewhat old at that so she's seen the passage of human lives and while they are dear to her its not something she argues with. This is "fate"- humans die, and those who pick up a sword tend to die on one as well. Its not something she argues with. But Kuni, having learned emotions from humans and being poorly influenced lashes out and Darling cuts their relations bc of that. Kuni disappears and Darling suffers in silence throughout her grief.

Cut to several centuries later when Darling is going to Watatsumi on Yae's orders to try and negotiate a peace deal or safe return of some Narukami soldiers as a favor to the Tenryouu Commission when she catches sight of the Fatui. Curious and dreading she follows them until she ends up in their delusion factory, and she quickly susses out that theyre using Orobashi's remains to do smth awful so she uses her kitsune magic to disguise herself to gather evidence then hightail it outta there when she feels cool, porcelain hands wrap around her and pin her down.

When she looks up she's greeted with familiar amethyst eyes on an ageless, perfectly sculpted boyish face she once adored long ago.

She never returns to the shrine, but the fatui left behind in Inazuma whisper of the Lord Balladeer acquiring a beautiful fox for a pet that wears a collar adorned with electro crystals that lays tensely on his lap or in his arms at all times. Possessiveness? Perhaps. The fatui know the few times anyone dared to approach it they were struck down by their Lord's electro, and the one rare time the little fox wandered too far from Lord Scaramouche they could hear the pitiful yips of pain when the collar shocked them to immobolize them.

AAAAA that’s so good!!!!

Scaramouche would absolutely treat kitsune!darling like a pet. The collar he forces you to wear hurts and is both a means of keeping you in check while also showing that you belong to him—that he owns you—but at the very least it’s fashionable. Only the finest of materials for Scaramouche’s most beloved pet. He’ll train you well, and if you don’t learn the first few times that electric shock will certainly teach you.

#genshin chit chat #yandere scaramouche

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robininthelabyrinth · 2 years

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NingenShikkaku (on Ao3): I've read a wild hc somewhere about how WRH is actually still alive and running a barbecue restaurant in Qinghe. I'd very much love to read something along that note. Preferably with Lao Nie also alive and running said BBQ with WRH.

Wen Ruohan had been struck down at last. He lay on the floor senseless, the dire wound struck by Meng Yao seeping into a growing pool of blood. Even if just left along, he wouldn’t last long.

Meng Yao, satisfied with what he saw upon his return, lifted up his blade once more to cut off the tyrant’s head.

“Let me do it.”

He paused, then glanced at Nie Mingjue – who was in a fair bad state himself, covered in blood, hair loose, eyes red, barely able to lift himself off the wall he was leaning against. Even his voice was cracking, pained and hoarse.

“The final blow was mine,” Meng Yao reminded him. That was important, after all; he needed the credit of killing Wen Ruohan to get back into the Jin sect – to preserve his life, even, after what he’d done to Nie Mingjue.

“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. “You will have all the credit. But…please. Give him to me.”

Meng Yao thought about it. Everyone knew the story of Wen Ruohan murdering Nie Mingjue’s father through shattering his saber, dooming him to a slow painful death by qi deviation – no doubt Nie Mingjue just wanted to play some part in the man’s demise, however minimal, in order to appease his emotions or perhaps his honor.

Anyway, he’d already promised Meng Yao the credit. He shrugged and lowered his sword. “He’s all yours.”

Nie Mingjue nodded and pulled himself to a standing position, picking up Baxia with a wince. “I’ll do it,” he said, then gave Meng Yao a pointed look that made Meng Yao roll his eyes: he wanted to do it alone, too? Really?

Fine, it didn’t matter. Compared to Nie Mingue’s original reaction to finding out about Meng Yao’s involvement – threats of murder and all, but for Lan Xichen’s timely intervention – not wanting Meng Yao to be present during his final revenge was fairly minimal.

“I’ll go help Zewu-jun,” he said politely, and left Nie Mingjue behind.

Nie Mingjue waited until he was sure Meng Yao was fully gone to hobble over to where Wen Ruohan lay clinging onto the last remnants of life.

“The things I do for family,” he muttered, pulling out a transportation talisman and dropping it on the body. “Each of us more stupid than the next…I almost hope you really do bleed out, you bastard.”

When nothing was left but the swiftly fading glow of the disintegrating talisman, he grunted in satisfaction and went off to find his camp. He needed medical attention, and fast.

As for Wen Ruohan…

Well, Nie Mingjue’s father had a rotating staff of doctors at his side at all times, each of them well trained in battlefield medicine to help deal with any consequences from the qi deviations that still recurred every once in a while, though luckily none as dire as either the one that’d initially struck him down or the one six months after that which had temporarily convinced them all he wouldn’t make it. By now, most of the time they worked as waiters at the restaurant Nie Mingjue had set up to entertain his father in his retirement – apparently, restaurant wars were nearly as bloodthirsty as night-hunts, only the gossip was better – but they were still skilled and trained. If anything, they would probably appreciate the challenge of saving a man who’d been pierced through when all his defenses were down.

Assuming they managed to save him, they’d be able to bind him, too, the way they’d bound Nie Mingjue’s father, cutting them off from accessing their cultivation, eliminating the source of the poison that had been driving them mad. As for what Wen Ruohan would do after he healed up and regained his sanity, after he learned that he was never being allowed out again…

Well, Nie Mingjue just hoped Wen Ruohan liked barbeque.

#mdzs #meng yao #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #wen ruohan #my fic #my fics #alt headcanons #lot of WRH today for whatever reason

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studentinpursuitofclouds · 7 months

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"For I come for your aid"

Totally spontaneous story because I listened to this YouTube video for about half an hour without stopping: 👇

https://youtu.be/KEFBJfEg1WM?si=rNKF4LYXQccAX00A

It's midnight, and my inspiration go brrrrr right now (heh 😅). OC Farmer Aelfdene belongs to @nimillaarts !

He walked further and further into the dense forest, far from Pelican Town, even far from Ridgeside Village. As if deprived of his own will, the young farmer followed the beautiful voice, the angelic singing that filled the Ridge Forest.

Without a sword, without elixirs, there was nothing on Julian to help him when he faced the dangerous monsters that still inhabited this untouched land. His blurred gaze, his eyes like two beautiful gems - one more beautiful than the purest emerald, the other like an azure ocean - both clouded, mesmerised. The singing grew louder and louder, and a thin voice could be heard, a sweet giggle that in a moment turned into a wicked laugh that boded no good. Julian paid no attention to it; he couldn't. As if he were a helpless puppet, he kept walking, deep into the forest, into the nets of the forest fairy that appears once a century to lure her chosen prey. What does the unkind creature do to these unfortunates? Kills them? Enslave them? No one knows, for they all disappear forever, as if they never existed.

The figure of Alelfdene materialised instantly before the young man who was walking helplessly into the forest. A tall, thin elf, eyes the same colour as Julian's, as beautiful as gems, looked worriedly at the man who could not see an elf in front of him at all. Without wasting a second, Aelfdene placed two fingers of his right hand on his friend's forehead, reciting an incantation in his native tongue. A moment - Julian stopped as if struck by an electric shock, and a second later he fell senseless, for Aelfdene had time to pick him up. Carefully laying him down on the grass, he watched the sleeping farmer's even breathing. The angelic voice that filled the woods immediately broke into a cursing, annoyance at the disruption of the hunt by the uninvited guest.

No matter how much the fairy swore in her tongue that she would have her revenge, Aelfdene remained impassive, knowing perfectly well that the creature would not keep her promise of revenge, that everything was just an empty threat. Finally, the creature disappeared with nothing, away from the forest, where was neither welcome by the other spirits themselves nor by anyone else.

Julian slept like a baby, sniffing quietly, not feeling threatened, not feeling the faint smoke forming above him. An ancient magic that was older than even the elves themselves. The flow of energy, the Moon and the Sun, the Deer and the Wolf, two strong spirits that guarded his peace. Spirits that Aelfdene can see.

"Strong magic, why it didn't warn its carrier that danger lay ahead?", Aelfdene could only guess. Maybe they knew he would come to Julian's aid, or maybe something else, something only they could see than any other mortal. The two Beasts looked at the elf closely, and in a second they vanished into thin air. Aelfdene had already realised that no one would answer his questions. What was left for him to do was to think of a way to get his friend to home, to the safe place, far away from monsters.

#farmer julian #farmer aelfdene #rsv #ridgeside village #goodnight everyone

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alex7paulmercer10 · 1 year

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Legacy: A Demon Slayer Story S1 Chapter 1: The Beginning

Note: This story is a fanfic and crossover with another Wattpad story by Rebecca Sullivan called Night Owls and Summer Skies. A really amazing and cute story that I recommend reading, oh and it also has a Webtoon adaptation!

»»-----　　-----««

Synopsis: 11 years since his mother was murdered by a demon, and after discovering a two-century-old family legacy, full of hatred, rage, and self-loathing, 18-year-old Tsukirou Kirigami vows revenge and becomes a demon slayer. However, a tough challenge presents itself as Tsukirou, and his best friend Haru are both stationed at Bellcrest High-school in the town of York, Maine. Can Tsukirou, who's never been to school before, Haru, who is somehow excited about the whole predicament, And their newest teammate Emma, pose as normal high-school students while simultaneously dealing with bullies, high-school drama, and protecting the town from Muzan's demons?

»»-----　　-----««

A long time ago when I was young, my mother got me a telescope for my 7th birthday that I could use to see the stars every night, and it meant the whole world to me. We only had each other back then, just me and my mom.

These were the dreams that I see every night, if only they could last forever...

But there is no time to dream...

Your dreams are nothing more than painful and sorrowful memories of the past...

Your pain will never go away until you cut that bastard's head off. When that time finally comes is the day you can finally rest in peace...

So go, Tsukiro Kirigami, prove to the world that her death wasn't meaningless...

AVENGE MOM'S DEATH!!!

Tsukiro woke up startled by the dream- no, memory, tears streaming down his cheeks as he gasped for air.

'Mom...'

He wiped the tears from his eyes as he stood up from his makeshift bed. He stumbled quite a bit as the boat he was on hit a large wave making it rock back and forth, not to mention that it was raining outside. The door to the cabin creaked open due to its rusty hinges as his companion for the mission entered the cabin and looked at him with concern.

"Another nightmare Tsuki?" His burgundy-haired friend, who was soaking wet even with the raincoat he was wearing, asked with concern in his tone.

"...Yeah, I'm fine, but how did you-"

"Everyone could hear you screaming from the main deck."

A small 'oh' escaped his lips as he looked away in embarrassment. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about Tsuki, the dream...w-what was it about this time?" His friend asked.

He hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"Same thing every night, except different, I mean they're always the same but the way they go each night is different." He clasped his head between his hands as his friend sat next to him on the bed and comforted him.

"T-They never go away..."

His companion stayed by his side and listened, doing his best to comfort Tsukiro from the nightmare he witnessed in his sleep.

'They're frequently getting worse. I'm getting worried for Tsukiro...'

"WE'RE HERE BOYS!!!" The ship's captain's booming voice called out that stood out from the sounds of the storm that was brewing outside.

"We're here, Haru get ready," Tsukiro said as he adopted a more serious and stone-cold expression as he got up and walked over to the corner of the room to pick up his things, especially his katana.

His friend, Haru, nodded albeit still showing concern for his friend as he too went to pick up his sword. The two walked outside and headed to the main deck. The captain, a large burly middle-aged man with a beard, wearing an eyepatch, eyed the both of them as they arrived on deck with their swords strapped to their waists.

"This is as far as I can get you boys, the island is right up ahead, all ya' gotta do is jump down to the shore and lay waste to those monsters."

They both nodded in agreement as they were nearing the destination of their mission. Both of them, as well as other groups of slayers, were sent on an emergency mission to a remote island in the Philippines where demon activity has been spiking for the past few months. A group of slayers was stationed on the island to exterminate the demons and ensure the safety of the inhabitants. However, approx. 31 hours ago they sent an emergency distress signal and a message requesting backup, as massive hordes of demons overwhelmed them and were rampaging across the island ravaging towns and people's homes eating and killing civilians.

"Nervous?" Haru asked Tsukiro.

"Fuck no. This is just where the fun begins."

Once the coast was in the ship's vicinity, Tsukiro and Haru prepared to take off. "Hold on, wait! I haven't got both yer names yet!" The captain called out.

They both stopped for a moment to look back at the captain.

"Name's Tsukiro, Kirigami Tsukiro." He said before leaping off the ship, hand on his sword's hilt.

"Kamado Haru," Haru said as well before taking off in a burst of speed after his friend.

*usually Japanese people introduce themselves by saying their surnames first.

The captain chuckled, "Godspeed to you boys...".

»»-----　　-----««

His eyes were sharp and focused as he and Haru made their way in the direction of the smoke and screams, leaving behind a trail of dust as they both ran at inhuman speeds.

The rhythm of his breathing changed, it followed a stronger pattern as he moved at a speed that normal people couldn't follow nor could they ever achieve if they didn't go through the training he and others did.

But Tsukiro and Haru aren't just normal people.

They were Demon Slayers. And right now the safety of people's lives rested in their hands.

Tsukiro skidded to a stop, a large demon with a bulky frame showed itself in front of him. It stood over 3 meters tall and had large burly arms, it barred its teeth at him in an almost creepy grin as it began to walk towards him slowly with its arms stretched out.

Entering a stance, Tsukiro took a deep breath...

Total Concentration Breathing...

He initiated a powerful jump into the air putting himself above the demon, he quickly unsheathes his nichirin sword as he began to descend from the air.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Style: First Form..."

The demon was almost instantly decapitated. Its lifeless and headless body fell to the ground with a thud as it started to slowly turn into ash.

"Dragon Hammer Flash!"

Tsukiro gracefully landed on the ground, he turned around to look at the demon's dead body and scoffed as he wipes off the blood from his sword using his sleeve.

2 smaller demons leaped towards him from the treetops aiming to get the drop on him. Tsukiro sidesteps out of the way and swings his sword upwards decapitating one demon. The other remaining demon tried to swipe at his neck behind him, Tsukiro removed his sword's scabbard from his waist and used it as he spun around and broke the demon's arms, before the demon could regenerate from the damage it was immediately decapitated by Tsukiro.

He sensed more demons nearby approaching, he didn't waste any more time as he quickly moved to kill the demons within the surrounding areas

»»-----　　-----««

Meanwhile with Haru

Haru was carrying an injured woman on his back, she groaned and gasped in pain as he quickly made his way down towards the beach where the medical unit is treating injured slayers and civilians.

'I've gotta hurry real quick, she's bleeding out and I don't have a tourniquet on me.'

A group of three demons was chasing him from behind, Haru halted to a stop as he turned around to face all three of them head-on.

"Water Breathing: Second Form: Water Wheel!"

In one fluid horizontal circular motion, Haru swung his sword leaving behind a trail of water. The demons didn't stand a chance as all three of them were decapitated at the same time.

Another demon appeared behind him and tried to lunge at him, only to be met by a knee strike to the face from Tsukiro and a sword through its neck.

"Thanks, Tsuki!"

"Dumbass, watch your back next time!!"

Haru then left to bring the injured to the medical unit leaving Tsukiro behind to deal with the remaining demons.

"*Shinsoku!!"

*Meaning: Godspeed

At a speed that rivaled lightning itself, Tsukiro dashed forward a great distance decapitating demons left and right that were in the way of the technique.

He checked his watch and saw that there were only a few hours left until sunrise.

'Only 5 more hours left until sunrise, which means that if I-We don't hurry and finish these bastards off, they'll retreat and have a chance to multiply again'

He perched himself on top of a tall building and observed the other smoke pillars and fires all across the island rising from the ground and turning the night sky orange and black.

He could hear other demon slayers fighting as they engaged in combat with the monsters.

Without wasting any more time, Tsukiro used Shinsoku once more to quickly close the distance and reach the source of the violence eager to kill more demons.

»»-----　　-----««

"Water Breathing: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust, Curve!"

Haru exclaimed as he landed a fast and accurate stab through the neck of a small, fast-moving, flying demon headed his way.

there were only 3 hours left until sunrise. Tsukiro, Haru, and the rest of the other slayers had already killed a great number of demons on the island, as well as rescued a great number of civilians. Although it can't be said that there were no casualties.

A total of over a hundred demon slayers have been killed during the battle, leaving the rest to finish the mission and secure the island.

Suddenly, the sound of thunder catches both of their attention.

'Bout' time one of them showed up!' Tsukiro thought.

'Nice! right on time!!' Haru thought.

It was a great relief indeed, because a Hashira arrived.

"I wonder who the corps sent?"

"Beats me, it better be someone strong."

A tall figure, covered in blood, lands in front of them.

"Ah! Tsukiro-kun, Haru-kun, glad to see the both of you are still alive!"

It was the current Thunder Hashira, Kazuya Kinoshita. A man in his thirties with short slightly spiky black hair, he was wearing a specialized version of the corps standard uniform with a military jacket to top it off. The one thing that made him stand out was that he had only one arm.

"Kinoshita-san!"

"Yo old man, bout time ya' showed up."

"Tsukiro! Don't be rude!" Haru scolded his friend.

A tick mark grew on Kazuya's forehead as he refrained from bonking Tsukiro on his head.

"I'm not old, I'm only 35!"

"Uh-huh, yep whatever you say," Tsukiro said nonchalantly.

"Ahem!-- So, status report you two."

"The rest of the civilians have been evacuated, the injured are being tended to as we speak, and we're still taking care of the demons because there's still so many remaining, but that won't be an issue anymore now that you're here Kinoshita-san," Haru spoke.

Kazuya nodded before turning to Tsukiro.

"What about you Kirigami?"

"Well, I've already wiped out the bastards in the west, and south of the island-"

"Wait! That fast?!!" Haru looked at his friend in astonishment. Well, it was expected from Tsukiro, always stealing the kill from other slayers, always finding ways to kill as many demons as he can.

"What are your instructions Kinoshita-San?"

"I'll be taking the lead on this mission, the two of you assist your fellow slayers and secure the island, kill every last demon you see, when the sun comes up we regroup along with the other slayers at the nearest town, understood?"

"HAI!" The two of them said in agreement.

With that, the three of them split off to accomplish what they came here for.

»»-----　　-----««

There were only a few minutes left until sunrise. With the help of the Thunder Hashira, they were able to wipe out the remaining demons on the island faster.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Style: Seventh Form: Dragon-Soaring Flash!!"

Swinging his sword upwards which took the form of a flying dragon, while initiating a powerful jump into the air, Tsukiro kills 4 demons at once.

'alright, that's all of them.'

Landing in a somersault to cushion his fall, Tsukiro stood up and wiped the blood off his sword. He then doubled over in exhaustion as he used his sword to support his body, keeping him from falling over.

'This whole mission took a toll on my body, I should've been mindful on how many times I use Shinsoku...'

"CAW! CAW!"

He looked above and saw his Kasugai Crow flying down from the air and landing on his shoulder.

"CAW! REGROUP! REGROUP! CAW! MEET UP WITH HASHIRA KAZUYA KINOSHITA AT THE NEAREST TOWN!"

"Alright, Alright, you didn't have to scream in my fucking ear."

His crow took off flight again leaving him on his own. With that, he pulled out his tactical phone, which is given to every single slayer in the corps for various uses, from the small bag attached to his belt. Opening the GPS, he checked the location of the nearest town and immediately headed there.

»»-----　　-----««

With Haru...

Haru found himself in a bit of a situation right now.

In front of him, a middle-aged couple was trying their hardest to restrain their teenage daughter.

"LORNA! Honey stop it!!" Her mother cried.

Her plead was in vain as her daughter kept thrashing around trying to bite her father's arm.

"S-Sweetheart, please listen to our voices, we're going to get you help, e-everything will be alright!?" Her father cried.

But still, their pleas fell on deaf ears as their daughter kept on thrashing and biting, her eyes were blood-red and foam was coming out of her mouth.

Haru turned to the Hashira standing next to him who was looking at the scene with sad eyes, "Kinoshita-San...what should we do?"

Before he could get an answer, Tsukiro arrived at the scene, he gazed at the couple trying to reach out to their daughter for a few moments, "What's going on here?" He asked Haru.

"Their daughter...she's been demonized" Haru responded. He felt great empathy for the family of three and how desperate the husband and wife were at trying to calm their daughter down.

Tsukiro however, unsheathed his nichirin sword from its scabbard and strode towards the family.

"Tsukiro?"

He finally stood in front of them catching their attention, he stared at them with cold blank eyes as he firmly gripped his sword. Seeing the blade in his hand, the couple held on to their daughter tighter.

"I'm gonna have to need you two to move."

However, they didn't understand him because Tsukiro was speaking japanese.

"They can't understand you Tsuki, try speaking in english," Haru suggested.

Tsukiro took Haru's suggestion and spoke again, this time in english.

"I'm afraid your daughter's been turned into a demon. When demon blood enters the body, either through open wounds or orally, they become demons. I'm sorry to say this, but there's no hope for your daughter."

This made their eyes widen, then they started pleading.

"N-No, not demon, s-she's good girl, there must be something you can do, p-please sir!" The father spoke in broken strings of english.

"There's nothing we can do, once someone becomes a demon they are damned to eat human flesh and blood for as long as they live."

He flashed his sword.

"I'm going to decapitate your daughter now, so please move out of the way."

This made them cry and beg even harder.

Tsukiro gained an irritated look.

"I said move..."

He pushed both of them away before roughly grabbing the daughter's hair and aligning his sword on her neck.

"TSUKI WAIT!!-"

*SLASH*

The daughter's severed head fall to the ground, much to the horror of her parents.

"AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

The parents screamed in horror and despair as they see their daughter's body slowly disintegrate into ashes.

Tsukiro sheathed his sword and started to walk away, "The mission's done, let's get out of here."

Haru stared at his friend's retreating figure in shock then stared at the inconsolable couple in horror before running after his friend.

The couple's cries and anguish-stricken shrieks echoed across the island as they tried to hold on to what was left of their little girl.

Kazuya sighed and pinched the bridge between his nose before giving out orders to the other demon slayers and kakushi on what was left that needed to be done.

»»-----　　-----««

Tsukiro was making his way down towards the beach, where the ferries were waiting to pick them up after their mission, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Haru giving him an angry look.

"What the hell was that back there?!!"

"I killed a demon, that's what happened."

"You killed their daughter in front of their eyes!!"

"Their daughter was already dead the moment demonic blood entered her veins."

Haru couldn't believe what he was hearing right now from his best friend.

"B-But, Tsuki you could've handled that more gently, what you did back there was out of line."

This made Tsukiro glare hard at Haru.

"Then what did you expect me to do Haru? Tell them sugar-coated lies? Give them false hope? Oh! Tell them fairy tales? By killing that girl, I stopped more people from getting killed and one less monster to worry about. We came to this island to do our jobs and we did just that so let's just go. "

Shrugging off Haru's hand, Tsukiro stomped away towards the beach leaving Haru to look at his friend with sympathy.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The other chapters are available on Wattpad and AO3, You can read them if you want, I hope you all enjoyed reading this!

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/328096383-legacy-a-demon-slayer-story

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43609503/chapters/109651689

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melancholic-hues · 2 months

Text

i loved you from the start

posted on AO3

kafblade week 2024: prompt - first meeting

fandom - honkai: star rail

rating - general audiences

warning - no warnings apply

category - f/m

pairings - blade/kafka

tags- kafblade week 2024 ; first meetings ; canon compliant

word count - 823 words

He stumbles into the deserted, empty town square, breathing ragged, clothing and mind alike in shambles.

He cannot remember what day it is.

He cannot remember his name.

He cannot remember how he got here.

All that remains in his mind and soul is the burning flame of hate.

To the woman in icy blue and a blindfold who’d impaled him over and over again as he rose from the dead each time, carving the words: “ of five people, three must pay a price ” into his every wound, not letting him forget.

To the man with black hair and wields that cursed spear, to whom he has dedicated his life — however many times he resurrects, gasping for breath and hands clawing for the stability he will never get — to pursue. Making sure they both pay the price forced upon them. He has long since forgotten why the pursuit was necessary, except for the boiling rage and vengeance that bubbled up every time he thought of that man.

The broken rock crunches underneath his boots, and he is met by two figures. A woman with wine-red hair and sunglasses on top of her head. Next to her stands a hulk of armor.

Before they can say or do anything, he lets the monster overtake him and draws his sword.

There is the faint taste of iron in his mouth and crimson in his sight. He cannot move, his limbs stiff and numb.

He must’ve died.

His head snaps up, eyes cracking open and gulping for air. He coughs, liquid dripping down the corners of his mouth and shoulders shaking. His arms are binded behind him, and he is on his knees, the sharp pieces of broken concrete digging into his skin and cutting him, only to be immediately healed.

He jerks forward, the monster in him ravenous and desperate, but the cold metal arms that chain him does not falter.

The woman steps forward, dragging a blade the same color as her hair behind her, and he is hefted up but still imprisoned. Everything rushes back to him. He had drawn his sword against them and lost. They had killed him and waited for his body to heal to talk to him. What do they want?

He stares at the woman, into her hypnotizing magenta eyes.

“ Listen ,” she says, and his entire body stills.

He is frozen in his spot, deprived of any self will except to focus on this woman’s words and to obey her every command. This is different from the other times someone had tried to placate him. This monster inside of him has never quelled, yet this woman’s gentle voice had calmed it with one word.

“I can always kill you again, otherwise I can’t bring you back.” She steps in front of him, her every action calm and collected and elegant. What is a woman like this doing in front of a mindless, revenge-filled beast like him? Her voice is honey and glue, and he is stuck holding onto every word she says.

“But I don’t want to.”

The woman leans down next to his ear and he has to resist the urge to shiver. She whispers everything he had ever wanted.

It is a deal he can’t refuse.

“What do you people want?” he rasps, his own voice hoarse and nothing like hers.

“Is there anything more satisfying than seeing how the undying die? That's what he said,” she answers, wry amusement in her tone.

He doesn’t respond. He has seen very pretty women throughout all his lives, but there is something especially captivating about her. Maybe it’s the way she carries herself. Maybe it's her unique appearance.

The woman nods, and the armor that binds him releases him. He stumbles forward a step then catches himself. He spots his sword, shattered to pieces, laying on the crumbling concrete ground a few paces away.

He picks it up, and the blade repairs itself. He returns it to its sheath. He does not have fond memories of this weapon, only those filled with agony and pain that are reverberated through the wounds on his body.

This… Destiny figure is up ahead, and he will be leaving with them. His hands don't leave the sheath.

“ Listen , Bladie, loosen up.”

Her honeyed voice washes over him and pulls on his strings. He is a mere puppet in her presence. His hands drop to his side. His shoulders relax, and the tenseness leaves his body. It drains out of him like water.

The woman has given him a name. Bladie — a nickname for Blade. Fitting, perhaps.

“ Listen , don’t think about anything at all.”

He nods.

The woman walks to his side, a smile on her lips. Yet, he thinks her smile looks very sad.

Maybe someone left her before they could listen to everything she had to say, he thinks.

Blade decides right there, then, he will listen to everything she says.

#melancholic-hues #writing-hues #blade x kafka #kafka x blade #honkai star rail #kafblade week 2024 #hsr kafka #hsr blade #kafblade #blafka

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pluppsauthor · 5 months

Text

A Chat about Revenge

Lukas lay there on the floor, unable to move. His body was bloodied and beaten, with no energy to spare. Even if he wanted to try to fight, he simply couldn’t.

He looked up at the man standing above him. He couldn’t believe that someone who was related to Bene could be so cruel.

“You know, has Bene ever told you about me? Beyond the fact that I killed someone?”

Lukas had no answer, and let his head fall to the floor. The man, however, continued.

“I know that is the only thing he ever told you. The fact that his brother devolved to a life of crime ever since our father died. But let me tell you the other side of that story.”

The man crouched down and held Lukas’ head up by his hair.

“See, our father didn’t die, he was killed. But every single person denied that truth, spouting the same lie. But I knew better, so I spent years tracking down the man who did it, the man who took our father from us. All I had left of me was this deep-seated need for revenge and retribution. I desired nothing but to bring justice for our father’s death.”

He dropped Lukas' head to the ground and continued as he paced around him.

“But there’s a saying when it comes to revenge: ‘When you take to the path of revenge, you should dig two graves. One for the accused, and one for yourself. As when revenge is taken, you are left an empty shell of a person. In a way, dead yourself.’ Of course, this was not the case for me, I only had one grave. My own.”

Lukas lifted his head up in a vain attempt to say something and get the man to shut up. He was battered and exhausted, he didn’t need someone yapping in his ear about something he couldn’t care less about.

“Shut up.”

The man looked down at Lukas.

“What was that?”

“I said shu-”

Before Lukas could get another word out, the man kicked him in the ribs. Sending him sliding across the floor.

“DON’T YOU INTERRUPT ME! MAYBE IF YOU HAD HALF YOUR WITS ABOUT YOU, YOU’D LISTEN TO ME! I know who you are, I know what you’d do if your life was to continue on its path! Because I was like you once, so obsessed with the past that all I could do was drown myself in agony! I’m telling you that Bene is a fool for taking you in his wake. He didn’t think twice about festering your obedient, self-sacrificial nature. For that was all he could see in himself, in his quest for my own head. Don’t you get it? How you don’t understand a thing about the world? The fact that you alone tried to fight me when I am of no threat to you? WHY DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THE PATH YOU’RE ON!?”

The man picked up Lukas’ tachi that lay several metres from him, out of reach.

“Do you know why I haven’t killed you despite being so much stronger than you? It’s because all I have left is regret. I didn’t resort to crime for my own benefit, nor was it to cause harm or misery upon other people. I did it to catch Bene’s attention, so he would have to confront me. But little did I know he would bring along some kid that was a walking, talking reflection of both him and myself.”

He threw the tachi, and let it slide across the floor towards Lukas.

“But if you don't want to listen, go ahead and kill me. Stand up, pick up your sword, and cut me down where I stand. Until you can do that, you can just sit there and listen to me. Because I don’t have much time. Any minute now, Bene will come crashing through those doors and kill me. If I can’t escape my past, I’ll at least try to save you from yours.”

As the man took a breath, preparing to continue his ramble, the door suddenly turned to ice and shattered like glass. Bene had arrived.

Lukas smiled, before resting his head on the ground.

“Ah, right on cue! I was just talking to this kid about how you'd come in here like that.”

“REIDEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!”

Bene shouted his brother's name with such anger and ferocity, it was as if the ground shook beneath him. Then, in an instant, he was right next to his brother. Then the world around them grew cold.

#my writing #writeblr #writing #Frequency: Wounded Reflection #original writing

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themculibrary · 1 year

Text

Fics With Titles That Start With L Masterlist

Lay Down Your Wings (ao3) - Sororising rhodey/sam T, 12k

Summary: They go on their next date - their first, technically, but they both agree that the evening in the pub had felt more than a little date-like - a few days later, and Sam finds it just as easy to talk to Jim as he had the first night. He learns that Jim has a mechanical engineering degree and is studying part-time for a theoretical physics one; he learns that Jim has very strict rules about the times of days he’ll drink coffee, and he learns that making Jim laugh is rapidly becoming one of his favourite things to do in the world.

God, Sarah’s never going to let him hear the end of this.

They decide to meet up again the next day, and Sam tries not to be too hopeful about where this is going.

leave the gun on the table (ao3) - Myrime steve/tony, bruce/thor, bucky/natasha M, 185k

Summary: Tony meets his soulmate under the worst possible circumstances. It is not just a kidnapping gone wrong. It turns out Steve and his gang picked him on purpose and they want some personal revenge. If only he had managed to say the words written on his soulmate’s arm before they threw him back out into the streets.

Left Foot Forward (ao3) - shatteredhourglass bucky/clint M, 22k

Summary: There was an unspoken rule among the Avengers that they didn't talk about Clint's soulmark. They didn't talk about it, they didn't look at it, and they didn't bring it up.

lesson learnt (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor bucky/clint T, 3k

Summary: Clint gets upset when his alpha's tell him that he can't go on a mission for Fury. He ends up going anyways to try and prove a point to his alpha's, and drags Bucky along with him. Things don't exactly go to plan.

Let it Be (ao3) - lucifersfavoritechild tony/stephen, past steve/tony T, 15k

Summary: While dealing with his son's car accident and a rapidly-dissolving marriage, Tony is drawn to Peter's surgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange.

Let Love Lead Us (Love is Christmas) (ao3) - Bucket_Burns steve/bucky G, 11k

Summary: The Christmas season will always be something special to Steve and Bucky.

Let’s Play House (ao3) - Not Applicable (not_applicable) rhodey/steve M, 4k

Summary: “So. Good morning, I guess.”

“Yeah, good morning,” Steve said, and he took a seat on the bed beside Rhodey. Rhodey was still just in his boxers with his phone resting on one leg, and he was twisting his matching wedding band around his left ring finger as he grinned warily at Steve. “So,” Steve continued, and he held up his left hand, “this happened last night.”

life in cinematic haze (ao3) - shatteredhourglass bucky/clint M, 13k

Summary: They get closer and Bucky gets a better look at the man, thinks maybe Sam had been expecting an archer in purple instead of a sword-wielder in black. The thing is, he met Hawkeye years ago, at an airport with his bow in hand and his head held high. They hadn’t spoken to each other but Bucky had seen the resolve, the vibrant life streaming from him as he’d given Steve a tight smile and pulled out an arrow.

He hadn’t met this.

Life In Reverse (ao3) - Lise T, 228k

Summary: Home is where you make it. Or, the AU where Loki falls to Earth after Thor, wanders around trying to work out what to do with himself, and somehow ends up working for SHIELD. (Mostly because supervillains are so plebian.)

Like an Arrow Through a Flock of Doves (ao3) - arsenicarcher (Arsenic), hoosierbitch clint/phil E, 68k

Summary: When he takes the rap for a crime committed by Barney and the Swordsman, Clint is charged as an adult at 17 and spends the next four years of his life without protection in prison. Enter one Neal Caffrey, who knows how to charm his way to whatever he wants or needs, and Clint’s life gets a lot more interesting. Pretty much, the story of Clint in prison, Clint getting out, and Clint, like always, finding his way to SHIELD, and Phil.

like clockwork, when it dies (ao3) - killerqueenwrites pepper/tony T, 3k

Summary: Tony jerks awake in a chair that feels a little too small, blinding light searing through his eyelids before he even opens them.

It’s off. Wrong. Sideways. He can’t put his finger on why.

The clock is ticking for both Tony and Peter, but Tony can’t help but feel that this torture wasn’t meant for him.

like sick flowers need the sun (ao3) - hoosierbitch clint/phil M, 7k

Summary: Clint hasn't felt this alone in a long time. Coulson's gone, SHIELD isn't a home anymore, and no one on his new team seems to like him. After a lifetime of being ignored, Clint's gotten good at demanding attention. He'll annoy and frustrate and piss everyone off until they notice him. To him, any attention—even the negative kind—is good attention.

This poses a problem when they all finally learn to just ignore him.

Looking at You (ao3) - NotEvenCloseToStraight bucky/tony E, 28k

Summary: Bucky doesn’t understand why no one ever says anything about Tony’s PTSD. A year after they have all come back, after they all hugged and made up, Tony is still jumping anytime someone speaks to him. His hands shake when Steve raises his voice. All he does is work and drink and apologize for being around. And nobody notices except Bucky, because he is looking. Constantly. Watching Tony as he goes through his day to day. Bucky looks and LOOKS, until he is having a hard time even wanting to look away from short spiky hair that begs to be mussed, deep brown eyes that always looks so sad, and perfect lips that Bucky just wants to kiss forever. Bucky looks for so long that now all he wants to do is touch and hold and fix everything. But Tony can barely be in the same room as Bucky, cant even look him in the eye. So Bucky doesn’t know what to do about Tony, but he is determined to do something. Because all he wants is to look at Tony, and see Tony looking back with a smile.

lost in the woods (and i wander on) (ao3) - shatteredhourglass bucky/clint M, 7k

Summary: “You want to talk about it?”

“I really don’t,” Clint says, and his voice doesn't crack but it feels like it should.

love carved out of caring (ao3) - luthien82 clint/phil T, 25k

Summary: It's just a normal day at the office: an alien invasion, the Avengers assemble and fight, and they lose radio contact with Barton. Except that this time, it's not really a normal day at all, as Phil Coulson finds out soon enough when he is confronted with a three year old Clint Barton and no idea what happened.

Love Is A Battlefield (ao3) - crumbcrash2000 steve/tony, tony/tiberius E, 53k

Summary: In Siberia, Steve looks on in horror as Tony watches the video of his parents’ murder. Expecting the worst, he is prepared to fight to defend Bucky, even through the shock of his own betrayal.

But Tony doesn’t lash out.

Instead, Tony cries, and Steve’s whole life falls apart.

love is like a stubborn youth (ao3) - owlvsdove pepper/tony T, 9k

Summary: The long-winded story of the meeting, hiring, working relationship, courting, and comedy goldmine that is Tony Stark’s relationship with Pepper Potts.

Lullaby (ao3) - Trumpeteer34 bruce/natasha G, 3k

Summary: After a battle, the team try to calm Hulk down. Natasha has an idea.

Or: Natasha's touch-therapy is called a "lullaby." The name had to come from somewhere.

#themculibrary #mcu #marvel #ficsl #ficsl masterlist #masterlists

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write-ur-wrongs · 3 years

Text

The Death of Me

Pairing: Geralt x reader

Word count: almost 4K - big whoops!

A/N: This was totally meant to be a drabble / blurb, but the story got away from me! A huge thanks to the sweet anon who submitted this prompt - I was beyond inspired and chuckled warmly throughout the entire writing process. This baby isn’t proofread so thread lightly!! I sincerely hope y’all enjoy this one :’)

Prompt: Heya! I saw your post about wanting to practice writing short stories so I have a small prompt for Geralt! What about: the reader and Geralt have always had a difficult relationship, always running into each other at the most inconvenient moments and hence disliking each other. However, while Geralt is passing through a village the reader comes barging into his room bloody and near death, only getting a chance to say “I didn’t know where else to go” before collapsing. I would be honoured if the idea inspired you :3

____________________________________________________

You’d never considered yourself unlucky but lately life had a funny way of throwing you for a loop, or rather, throwing you to the wolves. One wolf, actually. A damn, irritating, and arrogant white wolf.

At first, it was all business. You’d arrive in a village itching for a contract, only to find that a “legendary witcher” had already come through and taken care of every monster within a two-days ride. Furious, hungry, and broke, you set out determined to get as far as you could and as quickly as possible. Your determination got you far enough that you’d managed a full three months of contract work, but not far enough it seemed.

You’d been on your way to collect payment from your latest contractor when you’d heard the buzz on the street; a witcher had come through asking about work, and had been told to wait and see as someone else (a woman! A human woman!) had already committed to the case. Apparently, he was either incensed or bemused at the idea – the brute was very hard to read, so say the town gossips – but it didn’t matter to you. You beat him to it and now you get to eat. When you finally met with the contractor to collect your coin, you couldn’t help but swell with pride as they thanked you, eyes wide, for taking care of a monster no human ought to be able to handle. You could have sworn your pride had given you wings as you floated out of the inn.

That is, until you heard them mumble under their breath, “Thank Gods that lass was able to handle it! Had it been the witcher, I would have had to pay triple!”

“Thank heavens for cheap labour!” whispered their partner, raising their glass to cheers their big victory.

Suddenly whatever weightlessness you felt transferred onto your coin purse. Biting hard on your cheek you pushed up your chin, determined to remain dignified. But then you saw him.

Impossibly broad chested, rippling muscles evident beneath his leather armour, with golden eyes that reflected back to you with a cruel playful nature that made bile rise in the back of your throat. He held your gaze and raised his own tankard to you as you walked past him. His deep voice rumbled through you as you pushed the door open.

“Cheers to cheap labour,” you heard him say, and swore you could hear the smirk on his full lips.

Groaning furiously, you pushed the door so hard it swung back and slammed shut behind you with such force a flock of birds took off somewhere in town. Undeterred, you stomped off towards your horse and set off at a gallop.

I’m going to make sure I never cross his fucking path ever again, you thought searingly.

You were wrong it turned out, but how were you supposed to know that?

You’d gone years without actually seeing him again, but that didn’t mean you were free of him. You’d alternated winning and losing contracts to each other, and the pressure of beating him to the next one stressed you so fiercely you developed ulcers. That alone would have been enough to push you to murder had you not heard from another witcher that their brother, the great white wolf, was losing sleep trying to keep up with you. Knowledge of this fact spurred you on; after all, if you couldn’t beat him, it’s best to be even, no?

The next time fate brought you two together, though, you could not have been farther from on top. What made matters worse, is that you weren’t even in battle when your paths crossed. Your literal paths just simply… crossed.

You’d been riding east for many days and just as many nights. You were tired, sore, and somehow still soaked to the bone despite the fact that the rain had stopped at least a day ago. You were so tired, your muscles seemed heavy in your limbs, and you had to keep blinking hard to bring the spinning world around you back to its axis. As you rode through an intersection on the trail, the sun peaked out from behind the thick curtain of clouds just long enough to pull you fully into sleep, and right off your still-moving-horse’s saddle.

You honestly didn’t remember falling asleep, or off the saddle. You also had no memory of the moment another traveler, who was riding towards the intersection on the other trail, leapt off his mare just as you started your descent and caught you before you could split your skull open on one of the many rocks sprinkled throughout the street. You had no memory of the way he’d pulled you off the path, leading both horses behind him as he’d carried you over his shoulder. Zero recollection of him laying you down on a bed grass, tying your horse to a nearby tree, lighting you a campfire, or filling your pack with some bread and meat.

What you did remember, was the arrogant look on his face when you finally woke up. The condescending tone he took as he reminded you that you were ‘only human’ and had to take care of yourself accordingly was also seared into the annals of your memory.

You hated that he’d saved you almost as much as you hated the fact that you’d been asleep around him. Completely vulnerable for God knows how long and he’d been there to witness it all. Whenever the memory of the look on his face or the way he’d crossed his arms and tilted his stupid head as he condescended your humanity came to you, you couldn’t help but cringe even months after the fact.

***

Your saving grace came a full six months after your damned damsel in distress moment on the trail.

Well fed, well worked, and well travelled, you were taking your time enjoying the market in your town of the week. The work you did wasn’t glamourous, but it did allow you the means to afford a few luxuries every now and then. This time, it just so happened that your coin could buy you the sweetest gift of all: revenge.

The market was busy as ever, you could barely hear yourself think over the cacophony of voices and animal bleats bouncing around the square. Had it been anyone else, the conversation would have been lost among the noise around you, but when that voice came rumbling through the mess of shrieks and shouts, you couldn’t help but seek out the source. You didn’t know why you cared or why you were so surprised to find that the voice’s owner was none other than the White Wolf himself.

“You good?” you asked, making sure to tilt your head, hands on your hips, the same way he’d done the last time you’d met.

“Fine.” He practically barked, not even turning his head fully to address you directly.

The merchant, none-too-concerned with your arrival on the scene, continued as if uninterrupted. “I’m sorry Mr. Witcher, sir, but I can’t go any lower. This is the best I can offer.”

“I can’t pay that much,” he grumbled, hands closed into tight fists.

“I’m sorry-”

“Is this enough?” you interjected, knowingly offering forward far too many ducats.

“Y-yes!” breathed the merchant, looking quizzically at Geralt before picking three coins from your open palm, “thank you, madam...”

“Y/N,” you introduced yourself with a warm smile and a nod.

“Y/N!” Geralt hissed, at the same time, reaching out to push away your hand a fraction too late; the vendor was paid, and you’d won this round.

“What is it, Witcher?” you teased, as the vendor took his sword back for repairs, “been on vacation? Why so skint?”

“Been low on work lately,” he replied coolly, cat-like eyes boring into yours, “not as many contracts as there use to be.”

“Well, I’ll be,” you said, cocking your head to the side and pursing your lips in mock contemplation, “I can’t imagine why that’d be the case! Seems I keep running into monsters to kill.”

“Mmhm.” He hummed, narrowing his eyes at you.

Refusing to let him have the last word, you quickly turned on your heels and high-tailed it out of the market, shouting over your shoulder to the blacksmith to give any change back to Geralt before disappearing back into the crowd.

***

Being even should have brought peace between the two of you but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Your last interaction only fanned the flames of your rivalry. As the months turned to years without coming upon each other again, you still found yourself filled with unreasonable anger whenever you saw a mop of white hair cross you on your travels.

And not that you’d know it, but it turned out that Geralt wasn’t faring any better; finding himself frustrated and acting recklessly whenever he’d come upon anything that reminded him of you.

You were both completely obsessed with one another. Thoughts of the other constantly on the mind. Whether in waking or in dreams, you were both equally afflicted by an intense need to outperform, out run, and also, inexplicably, to impress the other.

It was that need to impress each other that led you to accept a contract you should have never even considered taking. You honestly wouldn’t have even considered it had the circumstances been any different but you’d been hearing about this monster for weeks on your travels. Tales of the mighty griffin tearing people to shreds had been circulating far and wide on this side of the Yaruga, and honestly, with every retelling you’d expected to hear that a witcher had handled it, but that never happened. You’d somehow managed to arrive at the village at the source of these stories before him and had an opportunity to literally rob him of this victory.

Granted, you were the only one who’d been attributing him with this win, but that didn’t matter, not to you. The only thing you cared about when accepting this particular contract was the knowledge that by taking it, you were preventing him from having it, and that was more than enough.

The shock on the villagers faces when they saw you accept the contract only added to your already inflated confidence. The sheer size of the griffin’s wingspan humbled you a little, though, and whatever grand illusions of an easy victory you’d carried into the forest were squashed along with a couple rib bones only moments after engaging the beast. In short, you were fucked.

Some might say that coming out of it alive was enough of a win. Those people would be morons, you thought as you stumbled clumsily back towards the lights of the village, clutching your split abdomen with both hands and blinking back blood dripping from your forehead. Every step you took came with the stabbing pain of additional tearing around your wound. You could barely think, your ears were blocked and caked with dried blood and dirt, your tears stung as they fell across the gashes on your cheeks, and every breath in felt like it could be your last. You’d never admit this out loud, but a part of you wished the creature had finished the job.

Perhaps the only saving grace here was that in your condition, you couldn’t hear the villagers as they pointed and gossiped. You didn’t hear the “told you so’s” or the lewd shouts coming from the drunk men as you stumbled into the tavern. You could barely hear the disappointment in the inn owner’s voice as they reprimanded you for accepting a contract, they knew you couldn’t complete. Rolling your eyes, you pushed your way towards the stairs as quickly as possible – which, as it turned out, was not so quick, praying that someone would call you a healer.

“… and to think a witcher arrived only hours after she went off to kill herself! Tsk-tsk!”

You stopped dead in your tracks, drops of blood falling across your brow as you interrupted the momentum you’d been building. “W-what?” you croaked, turning towards them as much as possible to make sure you’d hear them correctly.

“Yeah! And not just any witcher, lass, the Butcher of Blaviken no less! Checked in with us just as you head out. Had you waited half a day you could have saved yourself a world of – ‘ey! Now where’s she off to?”

As you registered this news, something inside you snapped. Before you knew what was happening, you’d made your way upstairs and started pushing your full weight onto every door you passed. The great White Wolf, the Butcher of Blaviken, was certainly arrogant enough to leave his door unlocked. You might have been wrong about the griffin, but you’d be damned if you were wrong about this.

Fortunate or not, you weren’t wrong about this. As you pushed your shoulder against the last door with whatever strength you had left, the door swung open with very little resistance. The heavy wooden door slammed loudly against the wall at the exact moment that your limp body crashed onto the floor.

“WHAT the fuck!” Geralt howled, leaping off the bed and onto his feet. His wild eyes assessed the situation in an instant, and he bound to you in barely two strides. “What the fuck did you do? What happened?” he asked as he flipped you over, so gently you were sure you’d already passed out and were now dreaming. Or maybe the blood loss was finally catching up to you and you were full-on hallucinating.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” you breathed, barely above a whisper, before losing consciousness in his arms.

Regaining consciousness was a slow, painful process. You’d come in and out of it a handful of times throughout the night, and flashes of what you’d seen before you lost it were coming to you in an almost dreamlike haze; terrifying images of the furious griffin, its blood-soaked talon shining in the setting sun as it reared back to strike you again, and warmer visions of Geralt, shirtless, running towards you with – could it be? – genuine concern in his eyes.

Now as the rising sun cast its glow across the room, you squinted painfully against the light. Your head felt as though it was full of cotton; heavy, and scratchy, and unnatural on top of your shoulders. Hesitantly, you ran your tongue over your teeth and were equal parts relieved to find them all there and disgusted at the acrid, mineral taste the blood left behind. Blinking slowly, you tried to bring up your hand to rub at your eyes, but stopped short as you felt the large bandage draped across your forehead.

Slowly, you started to register the other bandages, on your arms, your cheek, across your abdomen. Your eyes grew wide as you finally registered the man facing away from you in the far corner of the room. Geralt’s broad strong back was hunched away from you as he rifled through herbs and small glass vials looking for something. Inexplicably, you found yourself disappointed to see he’d put his thick black tunic back on. Horrified by that realization, you literally gagged, startling Geralt and pulling his attention squarely onto you.

His big dumb beautiful face was all hard lines as he looked you over, stern eyes flashing to meet yours before dropping back down to the vial in his hands. You couldn’t help be notice the way the muscles in in jaw rippled and tensed as he sighed. He was oozing disappointment and anger, and that infuriated you.

“Am I dead?” you ask, squinting at him a little theatrically as you squirmed and winced in your bed.

“No.” he practically growled, his body tense as he made his way towards you slowly.

“Oh,” you breathed, bringing your eyes up to his before adding, “this isn’t hell?”

To your immense satisfaction, his stern eyes widened into shock, but then something unrecognizable flashed across his features – wait, was he hurt?

“Why, because I’m here?” he shouted, as if in confirmation of your hunch, and slammed the damp cloth he’d been holding back into the basin.

“No, jackass,” you retorted, pleased that despite the position you were in, you still had some semblance of an upper-hand, “because a griffin fucking fileted me like a fish and some poor drunk is probably downstairs slipping in a pool of my blood right now.”

You’d kind of hoped that he’d laugh, or at least have a comeback geared up for you, but Geralt just stood there staring at you, his mouth in a tight line, nostrils flaring.

Uncomfortable by the intensity of his stare and the silence accompanying it, you decide to continue to poke the bear.

“Come on, what’s with the face, Geralt? Pissed I’m still alive? You know you could have just closed the door over my body, let nature finish the bloody job.”

“Fuck, no! Y/n!” he screamed, startling you out of the attitude you’d put on, “I’m pissed because you’re an impossibly difficult woman hellbent on killing herself! I’m pissed because you don’t seem to fucking care about what happens to you! You can’t keep doing this Y/N! Because one of these days you’re going to get hurt and you’ll be too far away from me and I won’t be able to fucking save you, again! I am pissed because I am losing my mind spending every god-awful day wondering if you’ve gone and gotten yourself killed! Fucking hell, woman! If you didn’t find me – I-if I wasn’t here, with these herbs – Damnit Y/N!”

You just sat there, mouth opening and closing like a fish. You couldn’t believe it. You didn’t know what to say. This man, your nemesis, was in front of you pacing back and forth, breathing heavily, looking like a maniac. His nostrils were flaring more than the monster that almost killed you just yesterday. Part of you wanted to correct him and demand he never address you as ‘woman’ again, but his wild earnest eyes kept you quiet. My god… was he crying?

Before you could say anything, Geralt sighed gruffly, ran his large hand over his face and stormed out, mumbling something about needing to get you more water.

Left alone with your thoughts, you couldn’t stop yourself from spiralling. You’d expected him to be angry – hell, you wanted him to be angry! You’d humiliated yourself twice over, enraging him would ease the blow – but this was… different. He seemed genuinely concerned about you. And what was with his whole speech? He spent every day thinking about you? Worrying about you? There’s no way.

Sure, you thought about him daily, but that was out of spite! You hated the man! Why else would your heart race whenever you thought you spotted him in a crowd? Why else would you actively seek out the most dangerous contracts? What, like you were hoping these contracts would draw him out, and therefore, closer to you? As if!

Your ridiculous inner monologue was interrupted by Geralt’s return. The horrible brute knocked gently on the door before stepping inside, and your heart had the audacity to skip a beat.

Oh, you thought, fuck.

“I need to change the dressing on your wounds,” he grumbled, not meeting your eyes. You nodded wordlessly as he settled onto the chair next to you. You watched him work in silence, praying he would attribute your insane heartrate and flushed skin to a pain response from his work.

“Geralt?” you tried, chewing nervously on your cheek, as was just finished up with the last of your dressing.

“Hm?” he hummed, keeping his eyes cast down as he fussed with the bandage on the gash across your abdomen.

“Thank you… for saving me.”

He finally brought his gaze up to meet yours, but said nothing in return. He merely grunted in acknowledgment. You didn’t know why, but his silence in combination with his inscrutable gaze encouraged you to keep talking.

“I honestly only took this contract because I didn’t want you to have it,” you admitted bashfully.

“What the fuck? No one was taking it because they weren’t paying nearly enough! Hell, and you’re just a human,” he fumed, throwing up air-quotes as he said it, “so what – they offered you a third of nothing?”

Laughing lightly, you shoved him with your elbow, “they offered me three whole ducats!”

“Oh, wow,” he laughed, low and rumbling, “so a big pay day for you, eh?”

“Shut up,” you gasped as pain rippled through you with each peal of laughter, “knowing I could screw you over was payment enough!”

“Well congratulations are in order, you did manage to screw someone over,” he chided.

“Me,” you stated dryly, gesturing widely at your busted up body.

“You,” he echoed with a sigh that seemed to deflate him.

He suddenly looked so small, sitting there next to you. You watched him as clenched and unclenched his jaw, rubbing his large hands up and down his thighs – was he anxious? You mind raced as you felt his eyes travel slowly up your body. You held your breath as he worked up the nerve to finally bring his eyes up to yours.

The moment his eyes landed on yours, something shifted. Whatever had been lodged uncomfortably between the two of you all these years had finally clicked into place. This change, albeit small, was palpable. His eyes dropped to your lips and lingered there. He was looking at you like he’d never seen you before. Like he was afraid he might never see you again.

Without speaking, Geralt inched himself closer to you and reached a tender hand to tuck your hair behind your ears before cradling your face.

“You’re not allowed to die, do you hear me?” he whispered, gently stroking your cheek with his thumb.

You gave him a quick nod and brought your hand up to his, nuzzling into the warmth of his palm before giving his hand a quick kiss.

“I need to hear you say it,” he begged, bringing himself even closer to you.

“I do,” you breathed, trying to sit up to bring your face closer to his. “I’m not going to die, not on your watch, but I’m also not quitting.”

“Y/N –”

“No! If I quit, you’d get lazy. Who’d push you? What would be your driving force?”

“Wow,” he scoffed, looking at you incredulously but fondly, “you’re so fucking arrogant.”

“And yet…” you said, quirking a brow flirtatiously as you pulled him closer by the collar.

“… and yet?” he murmured, letting himself be pulled closer to you. His eyes half-closed and his lips slightly parted.

“You love me.”

“I love you.”

And then he kissed you. His mouth claimed yours urgently but his hands were ever gentle, ghosting over your bandages and caressing your skin with a feather-light tenderness that would have brought you to your knees had you not already been bedridden. Any hesitation or doubt melted away under the heat of his touch as all those years of tension sprung apart catastrophically. The knot you had carried in your stomach unfurled into flittering fireflies, their heat traveling up your stomach to your chest as his hands worked their way into your hair.

You didn’t know when they’d fallen, but you let out a shaky laugh as Geralt kissed away the tears on your cheeks, his thumb swiping at the tears his soft lips failed to catch. Breathing heavily, he rested his forehead against yours; his hands cupping your face as yours captured his.

Gods – this man was going to be the death of you.

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theres-an-impulstor-among-us · 3 years

Note

I was looking through your older requests and stuff from 3rd life, and I remembered the one with Scott and Jimmy nearly getting sacrificed to Dogwarts and I thought hmmm...demons, red aesthetics, a generally more powerful side?

Basically, I think it would be cool to have a version of that with Sausage and fWhip trying to sacrifice Jimmy.

(And wow, Jimmy really can't get a break with religious tones after EVO, huh?)

THIS. is genuinely one of my favourite things i've ever written, if not THE favourite. i'm so so proud of it :D

cw beating, blood

…

Jimmy no longer has the energy to scream or fight. Having been beaten periodically throughout the day, his chest and neck are in too much pain for him to move. Sitting slumped in the tiny cell he’s been put in with his hands tied behind his back, all he can do is keep fighting against the dull pain all over his body threatening to drag him into unconsciousness.

All he can do is keep fighting to stay awake.

Finally, they come for him. Led by fWhip, Sausage pulls Jimmy out of the former’s base and out to the altar that’s been set up in the centre of Sausage’s castle.

Jimmy knows exactly what’s coming. Neither fWhip nor Sausage has made any secret of what they intend to do to him. And after a full day of being kept in a cell, hands tied behind him, beaten every time he tried to escape or fight back, he doesn’t have the strength to try and stop it.

As they push him onto the altar, Jimmy stumbles. As a response, Sausage hits him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. Seconds from passing out, Jimmy is powerless to stop Sausage from pulling him up onto his knees.

Coughing weakly, Jimmy slowly lifts his head to look at his captors. “Wh-Why are you doing this…?” he croaks. “What did I do…?”

“Sorry Jimmy, but Xornoth demands a sacrifice,” fWhip responds, and Jimmy can almost hear a twinge of genuine remorse in his voice.

Jimmy tries to push himself up in one final desperate attempt to escape but his chest and throat are screaming in pain and he’s unable to stop Sausage from pushing him back down and holding him in place.

“Please…!” he rasps, pulling weakly at the ropes binding his wrists. “Please…”

Neither of them respond as Sausage pushes Jimmy’s head down and fWhip lifts the axe.

Tears fall from Jimmy’s bruised eyes. He wishes he could fight back but he barely has the strength to stay conscious. If he has to die, he’ll die with as much dignity as he can.

“STOP!”

Jimmy again lifts his head, and though he can’t see very well through his blurred vision, he can make out a figure standing on the wall several blocks away.

“Pixl,” Sausage growls.

fWhip’s demeanour completely changes. All his remorse and carefulness disappears as he roughly hauls Jimmy to his feet by the scruff of his neck and holds his sword against his throat, angling Jimmy in front of him like a human shield.

“Don’t come any closer,” he says coldly but calmly.

“Let Jimmy go,” Pixl orders, lifting his trident and aiming it directly at fWhip. “Now.”

fWhip’s grip on Jimmy tightens. “You’re in no position to bargain. One quick movement and we’ll see how much blood the Codfather has inside him.”

Nausea rises in Pixl’s stomach at the grisly mental image. “I’m not saying this again, fWhip: LET. JIMMY. GO.”

“How did you know to come here?” Sausage snaps suddenly. “You live thousands of blocks away!”

“I told him.”

It takes Jimmy’s fuzzy mind a moment to recognise this new voice but when he does, his heart skips a beat.

“Scott?” A hint of surprise is audible in fWhip’s voice. “Why would you do that?”

“Because what you’re doing is barbaric,” replies Scott icily. “Now listen to the Copper King and let Jimmy go.”

“What do we do?” whispers Sausage to his ally.

fWhip narrows his eyes, his analytical mind trying to calculate the odds of him winning this fight.

As he does, he twists the sword in his hand and nicks Jimmy’s neck with the sharp blade, causing him to let out a semi-conscious cry of pain.

That sound triggers something in Pixl and he lets his trident fly. His aim is remarkable and it slams into a tiny piece of fWhip’s armour visible just to the side of Jimmy.

fWhip staggers back, releasing his grip on the Cod Empire ruler, who collapses to the floor like a stone. “Retreat,” he hisses to Sausage. “We won’t win this fight.”

Sausage, clearly needing no further encouragement, takes off into the air with his elytra, followed closely by fWhip.

Immediately, Pixl and Scott both rush to the unconscious Jimmy’s side. Scott pulls out his dagger and cleanly slices through the ropes binding Jimmy’s wrists, while Pixl carefully rolls him into a position on his back.

“Jimmy!” he gently cups his friend’s cheek as he leans close, trying to awaken him. “Jimmy, can you hear me?”

When he gets no reply, a horrifying thought occurs to him and he hurriedly checks Jimmy’s pulse.

“He’s alive,” he says in relief. “But only just.”

“He’s really beaten up,” Scott observes shakily. “How could fWhip and Sausage do this to him…?”

Pixl carefully lifts Jimmy into his arms and straightens up, making sure Jimmy’s head is secure against his chest. When he speaks, his voice is low and barely controlled. “I don’t know. But we need to get his injuries seen to as soon as possible.”

“Take him to his house,” says Scott. “Gem and I have been working on healing magic so I’ll fly over and get some of that to help him.”

“Okay. Good luck.”

“You too.”

As Scott takes off into the air, Pixl rushes back to Jimmy’s house and carefully lays him down on the bed. As he removes Jimmy’s gloves, he spots bulging red burn marks left over from where the ropes dug into his wrists.

This simple sight almost unleashes Pixl’s barely-contained fury. Tears of anger spring to his eyes as he gazes down at the bruised face of his unconscious friend, twisted in pain even in sleep.

He turns his head to look out at the darkness through the window. fWhip and Sausage needed a sacrifice for their stupid demon and they chose the easiest target. It makes Pixl’s blood boil to see them continually pick on Jimmy just because he’s unable to fight back.

A weak cough brings Pixl’s attention back to his injured friend. To his horror, he sees blood pooling at the corner of Jimmy’s mouth, so he leans down and checks his young friend’s breathing.

As he’s doing this, Scott returns, holding a leather pouch in his hands. “How’s he doing?” he asks worriedly.

“He’s not breathing well,” says Pixl quietly. “And he’s coughing up blood. A few more minutes and we may lose him. What have you got?”

“I have a healing crystal,” Scott reports, pulling a magenta crystal out of the pouch in his hands. “It should heal any internal injuries and ease his pain, but external injuries won’t be affected.”

“That’s fine. Do it.”

Scott moves over to Jimmy’s bedside and closes his eyes as he holds the crystal over Jimmy’s body. The crystal glows magenta, and similar-coloured energy starts to flow from it into Jimmy.

Pixl watches this with interest. He’s never had an affinity for nature magic and it intrigues him how crystals can have such magical properties. But soon his interest is outweighed by the relief that the colour has returned to Jimmy’s skin and his chest isn’t heaving so much anymore.

Finally, Scott lowers the crystal, which has stopped glowing, and tucks it back into the bag. “That should help,” he says.

“Good,” murmurs Pixl. “He looks like he’s breathing easier.”

Scott nods, not trusting himself to speak again.

A brief pause follows.

“I want to ask you something,” Pixl says, in a tone that makes it clear he expects no argument. “Why did you call me?”

Scott glances at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“You’re on their side. Why would you want to go against them like that?”

After a moment, Scott looks away. “Because a long time ago, Jimmy told me he didn’t want to look me in the eyes as I get sacrificed on an altar; I realised earlier that I didn’t want the reverse.”

Pixl nods slowly. He, like many others, heard about what happened on 3rd Life and even though he isn’t aware of specifics, he can’t help thinking that Scott’s remark is tied into that.

Scott lifts Jimmy’s limp hand and pushes back his sleeve slightly to reveal the burn marks that Pixl noticed earlier. He gives a deep frown as he tenderly traces the mark with his finger. “I don’t understand how they can do something like this to someone they once called their friend,” he murmurs. “No matter how much things have changed, he… They… You just don’t do that to someone.”

Pixl nods again as Scott carefully places Jimmy’s arm back down on the bed. As he turns to leave, he again glances back at Jimmy and hesitates. After a moment, he reaches out and gently brushes the bruise over Jimmy’s eye with the backs of his fingers, unable to hide a deep frown of worry.

“Why do you treat him so coldly all the time?” Pixl asks. “You clearly care for him a great deal and he cares about you. Why do you continue to push him away?”

Scott takes a moment to compose himself and steady his voice before he replies. “I’ve already gone through the pain of losing him once. I can’t do it again. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

Pixl almost argues but thinks better of it. “Okay. Thank you, Scott. For calling me and for helping Jimmy.”

“Of course. Goodnight, Pixl.”

“Goodnight.”

After Scott has left, Pixl locks the door behind him and pulls up a chair next to Jimmy’s bed. His friend’s face is a lot less pale than it was, though the bruise over his left eye and the thin cut in his neck are still very much visible.

Feeling a wave of affection and protectiveness, Pixl gently strokes Jimmy’s shoulder and takes a great deal of relief from seeing a small smile appear on Jimmy’s face in his sleep. Every instinct in his body is urging him to fly out there and enact vicious revenge on the people who did this to his friend.

“I’ll make them pay for hurting you,” he vows quietly. “I swear.”

#empires smp #pixlriffs #solidaritygaming #jimmy solidarity #smajor1995 #scott smajor #fwhip #mythicalsausage #vaunna’s requests

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grailfinders · 2 years

Text

Fate and Phantasms #256

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're building the knight of beautiful hands Gareth, most famous for the obscene amounts of damage she can deal after taking damage. In many games, this sort of thing is referred to as a "revenge mechanic", usually dealing extra damage after taking some yourself. Notably, D&D does not have any of those, so this will be fun.

Gareth is a Crown Paladin to protect her liege with her life, as well as a Cavalier Fighter to double down on the defensive prowess while dealing extra damage against anyone who doesn't face her down first.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: The Dreads Pirate Roberts

Race and Background

Gareth is a Human, but we like feats around here so she's of the variant variety. This gives her +1 Strength and Constitution, as well as proficiency with Sleight of (beautiful) Hand and the Tough feat for an extra 2 HP per level. When your best strategy is "throw yourself at the enemies' swords", you have to be able to take some punishment.

Like most of the round table she's a Knight of the Order, giving her proficiency with Persuasion and Religion. If you spend your life looking for the holy grail you're probably going to learn a thing or two about it.

Ability Scores

Strength is number one here. An entire section of your profile is dedicated to how much ass you kicked, so it's safe to say your lance did plenty of damage. Your Charisma is also high though. The whole round table loved you, and that Target Focus you got isn't a "maybe" sort of ability, so your spell saves have to be pretty solid. Constitution is also high up there on account of the whole "tank" strategy. This means your Dexterity isn't super high, but it's still above average to give you some beautiful hands. Tutors weren't that great back then (they wouldn't show up for a few centuries), so your Intelligence isn't great, but we're dumping Wisdom. You didn't make the greatest choices vis-à-vis friend-making.

Class Levels

Fighter 1: At first level, fighters get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. Lances are better on horseback, so Animal Handling and Athletics are good picks to help keep you on. You also get a Fighting Style, and defense is great for your big ol' armor, giving you a +1 AC to any armor you're wearing. You can also use a Second Wind as a bonus action to heal yourself for a bit.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get Action Surges once per short rest, adding an extra action to your turn! Hit harder, or take the dodge action to make yourself harder to hit! Easy level this time.

Paladin 1: Bouncing over to Paladin doesn't give ya a lot to start with, but you do get Divine Sense to sniff out magical foes. Demons, celestials, that kinda thing, up to 1 plus your charisma modifier times a day. You also get Lay on Hands, giving you five times your Paladin level in HP to hand out to allies, recharging on long rests. You can hand out any amount in your pool as an action or spend 5 HP from the pool to heal one disease or poison.

Fighter 3: Back in fighter, it's time to ride! As a Cavalier you're Born to the Saddle, giving you advantage on saves against falling off a horse. Plus, if you fall less than 10' you can land on your feet. Also, mounting/dismounting only uses 5'. You can also apply an Unwavering Mark to an enemy you hit that lasts a round. While the creature's within 5' of you they have disadvantage on attacks against not you, and if they do deal damage to someone else you can make a special attack against them next turn using your bonus action. You have advantage on the attack and deal extra damage. You can mark any number of creatures, but you can only use Strength Modifier special attacks a day.

Fighter 4: Man, only having three special attacks a day sucks! Lets use this Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Strength score for another one every day, plus more accurate and damaging lance attacks!

Paladin 2: For even more damage let's bounce back to paladin for another Fighting Style. Dueling adds +2 to your weapon damage with one-handed weapons. Lances are one-handed while riding something, but otherwise I'd suggest re-flavoring a war pick. For even more damage, you can use your Spell slots to create Divine Smites! Burn a spell slot after you hit an attack and add a ton of radiant damage to it, with the damage growing with the level of the slot. Oh, also you have Spell slots now, and you can cast spells with your Charisma. Divine Favor adds a little more radiant damage to attacks if you keep your concentration up, while Compelled Duel gives you a cheap and easy Target Focus skill as long as your fight's one-on-one and they fail a wisdom save. If you attack another creature, or another creature attacks the target, the spell instantly ends.

Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack! It's like an attack, but extra.

Fighter 6: Fighters get so many ASIs, it's kind of silly. I mean I'm definitely not complaining since it lets us bump up our Constitution here for 8 more points of HP. Again, not much happening here, but it's nice to have a bit of a breather.

FIghter 7: Seventh level cavaliers can perform Warding Maneuvers Constitution Modifier times a day, spending a reaction to add 1d8 to the AC of you, your mount, or a nearby creature when they're attacked. If they still get hit, at least they'll have resistance against the damage. Turns out all that armor's good for something after all.

Paladin 3: We took our sweet time getting here, but becoming a Crown paladin is worth the wait. You gain Divine Health for immunity to disease, as well as the ability to Harness Divine Power, letting you turn your Channel Divinity use into an extra spell slot once a day as a bonus action. Oh yeah, you can also Channel Divinity once a short rest in one of two flavors. You can issue a Champion Challenge, forcing nearby creatures to make a wisdom save. If they fail, they can't move more than 30' away from you until you are incapacitated or if the two of you get moved more than 30' away from each other. Alternatively, you can Turn the Tide to heal nearby creatures if they're bloodied. Both use your bonus action, and though the former is more in-character I wouldn't rule out the latter. I have no doubt in my mind someone has a "Do it for her" style posterboard for Gareth set up somewhere. One last thing you get are subclass spells. Nothing that special about these, though they won't use up preparation slots any more. Right now you get Command and Compelled Duel.

Paladin 4: One downside of the Champion Challenge is that is uses your Charisma to figure out the save DC, and your Charisma isn't great. Let's fix that a bit with this ASI.

Paladin 5: Extra attacks don't stack like that, sorry. At least you get second level spells! Warding Bond means you'll take half the damage another creature takes, letting you protect an ally while still triggering your Unwavering Mark. Ok, turns out there is exactly one revenge mechanic, we just had to jerry rig the damn thing. The second one's Zone of Truth. At least it's free. (You can also Find Steed now, in case reflavoring is making you break out in hives.)

Paladin 6: Sixth level paladins get an Aura of Protection, adding your Charisma Modifier to all saves made by allies within 10' of you. A +3 bonus is never something to sneeze at.

Paladin 7: Your last crown-based bonus is your Divine Allegiance, allowing you to spend your reaction to take damage for another creature's sake if they're within 5' of you. Annoyingly, this probably negates Unwavering Mark, but sometimes keeping the wizard alive is more important than showing off. Sometimes. Also, you can use Harness Divine Power twice a day for extra smites.

Paladin 8: Our last paladin level for a while is an ASI, which we're turning in for the Eldritch Adept feat. That's kind of a weird pick for a knight, but we needed that magic disguise ring somehow, and the Mask of Many Faces is exactly what we need, letting you cast Disguise Self for free as many times a day as you like.

Fighter 8: Another ASI already? Use this one to max out your Strength for the best damage and the most Unwavering Marks.

Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed saving throw. I'd save this for death saves, since literally everything else is already boosted by your aura.

Fighter 10: Tenth level cavaliers can Hold the Line, making your opportunity attacks reduce the target's speed to 0 on a hit, and you can also deal said attacks whenever someone moves anywhere in your reach, not just when they leave it.

Fighter 11: Our penultimate level is another Extra Attack from fighter, and yes, this one stacks like you hope for three attacks an action. That's six with an action surge, or seven if you have an Unwavering Mark attack ready to go. Fun fact: you have seven spell slots a day right now, so you can really go ham in a single round.

Paladin 9: Ninth level paladins get third level spells, like Aura of Vitality and Spirit Guardians. Neither of those are in character. Honestly, none of the spells you get now are in character, just smite. Just Fireball Smite.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You can attack seven times a turn, and smite every times you attack. That's a lotta damage. Whether you use a war pick or a lance that'll still deal just shy of 200 damage in a single turn, taking a boss from "a little scraped up" to "ms. paladin I don't feel so good" in six seconds. That also atomizes quite a few characters if they're not built for melee combat. Even if you don't spend them all in one place, smites are great, use em for crits when you can.

You are built for melee combat though, so you're pretty hard to kill. Your saves are decent thanks to your Aura of Protection, but you shine in nonmagical combat. With over 200 HP, an AC of 21, multiple ways to heal yourself, and damage resistance options, you are a lot of knight to chew through.

And your enemies will have to chew through you thanks to all the ways you force them to pay attention to you. Hold the Line, Champion Challenge, and Compelled Duel all force your foes to stay close to you, while Unwavering Mark and Divine Smites make you too big a threat to stay near without focusing on, helping keep the squishier members of the party safe and healthy to help support you and the front line fighters.

Cons:

Like a lot of melee fighters you have problems with Range, and I don't just mean because your lance can't reach the fucking dragon. Ranged fighters are the bane of your existence, since they don't have to get within 5' of you to hit you, negating a lot of your defensive buffs. Also, most of your powers have a 5-10' range, which is also where you're keeping all the enemies who want you dead. What this means is if your allies want your buffs they have to be right next to the enemies anyway, which completely defeats the whole point of drawing them away with Champion Challenge in the first place.

You also have limited resources, with most of your features only having five uses a day if that. That big damage round I put in pros is great, but using that leaves you with only 2 first level spell slots, crippling you for the rest of the day. That means you can't do it if you spend spells before the boss, and if something comes up after it you're also shit out of luck. On the other side of things, Champion Challenge works once a short rest which is less bad, but your weak charisma means there's a good chance a strong enemy can break out of it, so it's best used against large groups of weaklings.

But even then you still have problems, since now you're fighting the action economy. With only one reaction a round you have to pick what enemy you're getting in the way of, and it's usually hard to tell which one will be the biggest threat before it's too late.

#fgo #Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #DND #Gareth #Fighter #Paladin

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shuttershocky · 3 years

Note

hihi, if is not much, can you please summarize what happened on Darknights Memories? Or maybe point to a summary of it? Cause i had the worst possible idea to take some time away from ak right around the event and now i go a little crazy with all the random lore i see from your posts that referenciate the event somehow.... also, maaaany thanks for your ak posts, theyre always a delight to read!!

Hi there!

Darknights Memoirs was an extremely lore-heavy event, closer to being Chapter 6.5 than an event really. While there are many, many, many things to cover, I'll try to summarize the most important parts.

this will be a rather long post

W is a young Sarkaz girl who killed the original W, a mercenary in Kazdel. The mercs the first W ran with all had a bounty on their heads, and W intended to collect them. Realizing there was no way she could defeat the original W's comrades (Hoederer and Ines) however, she joined up with them instead as the new W.

It is sacred tradition among Sarkaz that when you pick up a fallen Sarkaz warrior's weapon, you assume their identity, with all of what that entails. W killed the original W and took his weapon, therefore she is W now.

Ines is a psychic, while Hoederer is an extremely capable fighter. Though they and W don't get along too well, they stick together for years.

Some time later, W, Hoederer, and Ines are hired to protect a caravan coming from Rim Billiton, which supposedly unearthed a massive, ancient landship.

The three are attacked and nearly killed by elite Sarkaz soldiers working for the Kazdel leader, Theresis. They are rescued by the landship's owner, who is an extremely powerful Sarkaz Warrior. The Sarkaz Warrior turns out to be Theresa, the deposed King of Kazdel and Theresis' sister.

Theresa welcomes them into the landship, which she calls Rhodes Island. Her organization is called Babel, whose goal is the emancipation of the infected. W becomes fascinated by Theresa the moment she lays eyes on her, and begins following her around to see what the former King of Kazdel is really like.

Theresa is a goofball and can barely fix an automatic door even with Closure helping her. Her two assistants however, are much more serious. Kal'tsit runs Babel's medical mission and W sees her as a bitch. Doctor runs all tactical operations, and W, Ines, and Hoederer are terrified by them.

Ines describes Doctor as some terrifying kind of unknown being, one who cannot see other people as people. The entire Sarkaz Civil War is just some sick game for them, and all people are only chess pieces. At the end of the day, Doctor exists in their mind as the only "real" person, with everyone else just a piece to be packed away once the game's all over. Despite this however, Theresa vouches for them with absolute trust.

W also meets an 11 year old Amiya in raggedy clothes. She works as Kaltsit's assistant, but is otherwise just a little kid allowed to live inside the landship.

Some time later, having successfully escorted Babel through Kazdel, Hoederer says its time for them to leave. They part ways in decent terms, and Hoederer gets the mercs their next job as Theresis' agents.

Close to three years pass, in that time the Rhodes Island landship is attacked, Theresa is killed, the Doctor goes missing, and the Babel operators are scattered to the wind. W is not a part of these events.

The Usurper King of Kazdel dreams of a Kazdel becoming a politically powerful nation, but the only way for a war-torn country of the hated Sarkaz to be able to do that, would be if all its neighbors were brought down to its level. Hearing of an Infected uprising inside Ursus called Reunion, Theresis sends his men to aid them and bolster their numbers, hoping to stir up conflict in other nations.

Hoederer, Ines, and W work for Talulah, with Ines noting that Talulah isn't exactly Talulah. There's a shadow behind her that only Ines can see, and it terrifies her. This foreshadows the Deathless Black Snake of Chapter 8. Theresis also sends Garcin, a Sarkaz warrior who was part of the elites that nearly killed the three mercs years earlier before Theresa scared them off.

Patriot talks with the three Sarkaz, noting that he too mourns Theresa's passing, and wonders how the old country is doing. Decades before, Patriot took his whole clan out of Kazdel because he did not see a future in Kazdel's endless wars. Unfortunately for him, he ended up going to Ursus right when it was on the verge of becoming Terra's single biggest war machine.

Chernobog happens. Babel has reformed as Rhodes Island under Amiya's new leadership, and clashes with Talulah's Reunion among the ruins of the city. Seeing her chance to get revenge on Garcin and make herself Theresis' only link to Reunion, W secretly meets with her former Babel comrade Scout whose team has already been massacred by Reunion, and strikes a deal with him. Scout must go alone and kill Garcin and his entire squad by himself, and in exchange, W makes sure Doctor makes it out of the city alive.

Recognizing it was a suicide mission but also the only way Doctor could make it out of Chernobog when everything went to shit, Scout takes the deal. This is also why we see Scout make a farewell letter to the one Vanguard operator in Operational Intelligence, the same one who spies on Hellagur and Patriot's meeting.

Garcin sees Scout approaching his team and asks for the lone warrior's name to know who could possibly be this stupid. Scout gives it, but not before saying that he's already won.

Scout singlehandedly kills Theresis' entire elite Sarkaz team, including Garcin. A very heavily injured and dying Scout nearly kills Ines as well when she finds him making it out of the ruins, but she's saved by Hoederer who finally kills Scout. Hoederer calls Scout an old friend and tells him to rest easy. Later it is shown in Chapter 8 that W lies and takes the credit for killing Scout, possibly to impress Theresis, as Scout was a living legend in Kazdel and one of the last of its renowned stealth masters (dude was basically a ninja)

As seen in Chapter 1, W upholds her end of the deal and lets Doctor escape. Realizing that some of the Sarkaz warriors have betrayed her, Talulah suspects Ines and has her killed.

Hoederer is shaken and leaves Reunion, returning to Theresis who is now in Victoria. W is now the sole leader of Reunion's Sarkaz warriors, just like she planned.

Hoederer and his unnamed assistant (possibly Ines who faked her death) report to Theresis. Instead of killing him for running away, Theresis is satisfied enough by the trouble that Reunion caused and places Hoederer under house arrest with him inside their little Kazdel embassy in Victoria. We are also introduced to the main manager of Theresis' affairs, the Confessarius. The previous Confessarius (possibly the one who worked with Theresa) is Operator Shining.

Hoederer explains to their assistant that this is basically perfect, because now they can easily spy on Theresis' movements. Hoederer unveils a machine they can use to send messages to any of Kazdel's old communication towers, which W now has total control of.

The end of Darknights Memoirs shows that W has been acting as a triple agent (thus all the Revolver Ocelot jokes). She's double-crossing both Talulah and Theresis, because her heart and loyalty have been with Theresa all this time. Knowing that Theresis almost certainly was involved with his sister's death, W worked to make Theresis rely on her more and more, just so she can be close enough to kick the chair from under him when the moment is right.

We last see W in Chernobog helping a pair of kids survive in the ruins. One of them has picked up a sword from a dead Sarkaz warrior to defend herself with. W tells the young boy what it means to pick up a fallen Sarkaz’s weapon.

This ritual is very important to note, because the leading theory about the sole reason Rhodes Island is being led by a 14 year old girl, is that Amiya was the first one to reach Theresa and pick up her sword.

#Arknights

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