#this was originally the whumptober 23 day 4 prompt but i kinda left it and finally finished it now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ccieatchildren · 4 months

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TW: Branding Iron

Whumpee squeezed her eyes shut, already regretting her decision as she felt the heat from the prod warm her skin. Maybe her hand wasn’t the best candidate for the guild mark. Sure, joining them was like a dream come true, and the idea of proudly marking her as a member seemed cool at first, but now, when actually faced with the burning hot iron centimeters from her hand, she felt less inclined. God, it’s going to hurt so much isn’t it. She couldn’t do this. Whumpee snatched her hand away from on the table, cradling it to her chest.

“It’s okay sweetie, I promise it only hurts for a minute.”

Whumpee cracked her eyes open to stare at the person, the beauty, in front of her, the one who held her fate. She smiled at her. “I was scared too when I first got my mark,” the woman pulled up the left side of her dress, showing off her thigh. There, marked in white, was the guild’s emblem. “It hurt, but we have a few nice healing wizards to help subdue some of the pain and make sure it heals correctly.”

She dropped her skirt back down before coaxing Whumpee to put her hand back on the table. “We’ve all gone through it, and no one regrets it, I promise it will be okay.”

Whumpee hesitated, looking into the woman’s eyes, only to find kindness and warmth. She was sure then that the woman wouldn’t do anything to willingly make her experience worse.

“… Okay… Thanks.”

She clapped her hands together and turned behind her to grab a tray filled with various different colored powders. “Now, what color would you like?”

The young mage stared at the plethora of shades in front of her, mulling over her choice while trying to ignore the way the temperature seemed to increase around her.

“Pink.”

“Good choice! It’ll look so pretty on your skin, I just know it!”

Whumpee nodded absentmindedly, the fear crawling up her throat once again despite the woman’s reassurances.

She watched as the barmaid cleaned and disinfected her skin, slathering a thick gel over the surface in preparation. Powder was dusted thoroughly onto the back of her right hand, the color reminding her of her favorite eraser. Whumpee let the reminder of her writing cloud her thoughts, focussing on what the plot of the next chapter of her novel would be rather than the imminent pain in front of her.

“Okay, ready!” She patted Whumpee’s shoulder, “It’ll be fine”

“Now, I’m going to stamp it in three… two… one-”

A short scream escaped her. All she could feel was searing hot pain on her hand, and her instincts tried to pull it away from whatever was hurting her, but another arm kept it in place. She could faintly smell the scent of her own burning skin, her body dry heaving in response.

It hurts so much, make it stop!

However, before she could start full-on sobbing, a warmth spread throughout her whole body, centering on her hand. The pain ebbed away, leaving only a numb tingly feeling in its wake. Her fear and agony replaced with bubbly elation.

The stamp was taken away from her skin, and the woman across from her brushed off the remaining pink powder, leaving only the, now prominent, pink guild mark.

“There! Now you’re an official member of the guild!”

The barmaid brushed off the few remaining tears on her cheeks, “see it was only for a few short moments. You’re feeling all better already!” She pushed a strawberry milkshake towards her, when she had the time to make it, Whumpee wasn’t sure. “Here, on the house, for being such a good sport and as a welcome to the guild!”

She looked down at the mark, a permanent reminder of her new family. One that would have her back always, one that wouldn’t abandon her this time. Whumpee couldn’t help the smile that spread on her face and her squeal.

“Thank you!”

#my writing #whump #whumpee #Fairytail #lucy heartfilia #mirajane strauss #guild mark #this was originally the whumptober 23 day 4 prompt but i kinda left it and finally finished it now #whoops #cattle prod #i am now realizing a cattle prod is not the same thing as a branding iron #what if the guild mark was made through actually burning the emblem into the member's skin

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