#warriors is thankful for the save but would rather it never happen again
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Violet without the Violet
Violet part 3 anyone?
SUMMARY: Warriors and the other adult heroes visit a bar for information and unfortunately the captain's reputation proceeds him. Swarmed by females, another Violet Incident is enacted to help him escape, since saying "no" very rarely seems to ever help matters for the captain
DISCLAIMER: There is flirtation and reference to um... working ladies. Yes, that sort. And yes, the flirting is between two of the boys but THEY ARE ACTING!!!! Neither party is comfortable with their performance but it is, unfortunately, necessary (for plot and humor reasons). There is no intended romance here, or linkshipping. All descriptions and observations by the characters is not intended to convey attraction in any way, but rather to provide description to the reader.
TLDR: Wars needs a save and flirtation is for humor and plot reasons, not for shipping purposes in any way, shape, or form.
Violet Part 3
There should never have been a repeat performance.
It was one thing when they were saving Twilight’s ass (and yes, he had every intent of holding that over the rancher to get him to shut up) and okay, maybe it made sense the second time, pieces falling into place, answers just at their fingertips that were so easy to grab at and use to speed up their escape, but a third?
Honestly, Warriors didn’t even have words for it.
Especially because this time was so, so much worse.
It was one thing to draw attention; faces like theirs, and dressed as they are, it only makes sense that they’d get a few people watching them here and again, but to call such blatant attention to themselves? He has no clue how Legend makes it work but this time has been the worst by far and he can’t even thank Legend for the save because he can’t even look him in the eyes.
Because this time he was the one needing the rescue.
And, well, Legend delivered. As he does.
He’s not even sure if this would qualify as what Wind would call “a Violet Incident” since Four had been nowhere near the situation, but still… he’d rather call it that than try to put some name to what did happen.
He’d honestly like to forget that it happened at all.
It was his world again, because of course it was. They’d arrived a few days prior, and this time, blessedly, far enough away from Castle Town that the captain was relatively sure that there was no chance anyone might recognize them or in any ways associate them with the first “Incident”. And that was so, except that didn’t last very long when they’d started looking into the monster issue.
Time had set the standard that when they came within close reaches of civilization: they were to inquire as to the current state of affairs of both the kingdom, the hero’s legacy and the current monster issues. It being the captain’s world, the answer about who the most recent hero was already answered, but that didn’t stop them from checking in on the two other points. For this reason, they’d split. Two groups, one consisting of Wild, Hyrule, Wind and Four, who go and speak with the youths about town, and the other five all heading to the local pub.
Typically speaking, pubs and taverns act as the main hive of gossip in most towns, with only the market ranking higher. Adults of all ages and walks of life gather within four walls to drink, eat, play, flirt, and share tales of what they’ve seen, heard and, of course, speculated, all loose in the tongue and eager to beat the blather of their fellows. It’s an ideal environment for picking up on local happenings and sometimes a lead or two as to where next they ought to be headed.
He’s a bit nervous about getting them all in, hence why the youngest four are out on the town instead of with them, but they enter without a hitch, the worst thing that happens being a few winks and whistles from the doorman which Time dissuades near immediately with a look.
Twilight is still shivering when they get to their seats.
They don’t sit together of course. The whole point of coming here is to get as much information as they can in one sitting, so the five of them split off in different directions, Twilight to the bar itself, since apparently he has an uncanny ability to charm bar-keepers, while Time sits at a table of people more his own age, who take one look at him and make room to let him join them. It’s good, those two have a talent for getting on well with common people, and Sky’s good looks and charm will no doubt help him do the same once he’s a bit more comfortable. Warriors’ biggest concern is Legend and his… winning personality, but that turns out to be for naught when the next thing he knows when looking out over the bar from his own position, he sees the vet engaging with a few of the…um, working girls. Not what he’d guess from his little brother, but if that’s the way the vet rolls he’s not about to judge. As long as they get what they need, he’s not particularly picky on how they get it.
As for himself, Warriors takes the part of the bar where the most people are gathered. Mostly young people but there’s a few older. Some know him, and some blessedly do not, but it’s little time at all before he’s got a few people locked in conversation and, as would follow, about six or seven girls all vying for his attention as he tries his very best to do his job. It’s not that bad, he really is used to it. The girls let their hands wander a little too freely and it does get warm fast with how close they’re all trying to press, talking over others to try and get him to talk to them and generally creating a flurry much faster than what would be usual in castle-town, but he’s used to that.
If Hyrule could see him right now, the traveler would be giggling his ass off and teasing him about his “lady problems” incessantly. Thank Hylia the kid is outside.
Generally speaking, Legend isn’t one for flirting. He never has been. Teasing incessantly and insulting particular people until they’re red in the face? Oh most certainly! He’s taken great amounts of pleasure in messing with Ralph and Warriors both in that way, but flirting with someone is a whole different concept. So even though Time is raising a brow at him from across the room and Twilight as openly staring when the bartender’s back is turned (and the woman is hiding a blush in pouring beer because the rancher apparently has Game) the vet is not, in fact, flirting with the bar’s working girls. Quite the opposite really.
“Oh yes, they’re awful,” one of them sighs, sipping on a drink he’d bought her and slumping against the bar while a second girl keeps watch over the rest of the room for a moment, “but they ain’t kickin’ up round here much of the time. Most times the girls an’ I stay in town, but they’ve started straying closer.”
“I imagine that makes work harder.” he agrees.
The gal snorts, somewhat unladylike, but he’s not one to judge. “You have no idea, sweet pea. Regulars won’t risk it when monsters are on the prowl. Funds gotta go to protectin’ themselves, you ken?”
He nods.
Woeking girls are easy to work with. As a kid they’d had a soft spot for him, and although he’s older now and in another world, he’s learned enough from the ladies in his own world to be able to peek past the veils and talk one on one with the ladies once they realize he has no interest in picking them up.
“It’s Honey’s corner of town that has it the worst,” the second girl, a tall and slender lass with hair darker than even Ravio’s, murmurs to him. “Closest to the woods.”
“Is that safe for her?”
The two ladies share a brief look and a chuckle before Rose, the one currently at the bar, answers him. “There’s a reason we call her ‘Wild Honey’, sweet pea, she likes the daring sort who’ll risk those woods. They pay well and she likes their type.” Rose shrugs, “It’s a choice.”
One they sound relieved not to have to make.
“How about you ladies?” The vet asks. “What sort do you fancy?”
Another chuckle, he’s used to that though, and the two turn to look over the bar as though to find a prime example. He’s not sure if he should be unsurprised or annoyed when they nod towards the captain, already swarmed over with girls and clearly struggling to hold a conversation around them with a couple of farmers. “That fella over there. Tall, bright eyes, strong muscles. I’d take him at no charge.”
Legend winces. No thanks. Not thinking about that.
The girls see and laugh, one nudging him. “Not your type, sweet pea?”
He shrugs. He doesn’t have a type and saying anything usually just makes trouble, but the girls laugh at him all the same, eyes glittering in a teasing way before they go back to talking.
It doesn’t take much longer to find out what the heroes need to know: monsters are becoming an issue in the woods on the east side of the village, the army has been too busy helping in the bigger towns to handle it, and it’s apparently making trades of all sort more difficult since no one who’s not incredibly stupid or incredibly brave is particularly keen on traveling around here.
That gathered, he thanks the girls, leaves them to their meal, and slides in next to Twilight to pass the information along.
The rancher listens to what he has to say, but there’s an odd smile playing about his face as he does so, and when Legend finishes, his brother nods, sips his ale and then asks, “Sweet pea?”
Violet eyes roll as he huffs. “I do possess some modicum of charm, rancher.”
“Sure you do,” Twilight chuckles. “My question is, is your husband okay with you weaponizing it like that?”
The smile in the rancher’s eyes, glinting dangerous and full of mirth, and combined with his words have the vet flushing near the same color as his tunic as he hisses his displeasure. “Warriors is not my husband and that was an act! To save your ass no less!”
Another smirk as the rancher glances over his shoulder. “Well, you might need a repeat performance, pretty boy over there is looking pretty swamped.”
And he is. Warriors is utterly and completely surrounded by females and looking more and more uncomfortable by the second as they caress and coo and push forwards until the captain is forced to stagger back and away from his conversation partners, who just watch and laugh. It’s disgusting to watch and while Legend would very much like to not ever don the role he’d accidentally created last time they were in this era, he’s very much inclined to march over there and tell all the girls to back up and scat. And Twilight knows, Twilight is watching and smiling with that gosh darned wolfish smile that says he knows he’s won this and-
“He’s not my husband, he’s my brother, same as you, and if you ever insinuate otherwise ever again, I will muzzle you, irregardless of your current form!” Legend hisses, and then hops off of his barstool and into the crowd, cheeks burning already.
Twilight snickers and settles back to watch the show.
Warriors, across the room, is not privy to the conversation his brothers have been having. It’s probably for the best, he’s quite out of his depth right now. Women have never been his area of expertise, despite what his brother’s might think, and the one thing he’d like more than anything right now is to just be able to disappear. Or run. The hands are more than a bit much and the very forward propositions that are dropped are making him very uncomfortable.
Saying anything is tricky, with all of them vying for his attention and talking over each other as they practically undress him with their eyes, which is a very odd and very unfavorable experience in his mind.
He’s not able to make out much of what’s being said at the moment, but he also has nowhere to go, back almost to the wall, and while they most certainly have the attention of the whole bar by now, no one is doing anything about the miniature mob of blushing beauties (and not so much beauties) that is verging on suffocating him. No literally, someone has a hold on his scarf and another girl is trying to snatch it from her and both are very successfully pulling it tighter around his throat and making breathing just the slightest bit difficult.
Oh golden gals, why him? Why not Sky? Why not Sky who finds it funny to mess with overly flirtatious females and play innocent and clueless before dropping adoring comments about his fiance and how much more amazing than anyone she is?
Honestly, the trick works like a charm, and he’s half debating right then and there to try it except-
Except he doesn’t have too, because a familiar form is pushing through the crowd, pink haired and not quite petite, but definitely struggling to get past. Warriors isn’t sure exactly how he manages to push through the girls around him to reach the vet in turn, but the moment his does, violet eyes catch his own with an apology all too clear in them before weathered hands catch the front of his tunic and a familiar expression appears on his brother’s face.
Oh.
Oh this is going to be one of those moments.
Oh crap.
“Link, what on earth is going on!” Yep, that’s The Voice the vet uses. “Who are all of these women?”
Warriors is not an actor. He is not a talented liar. He is, in fact, a very very bad liar and Wind makes sure to remind him of this whenever he can. He is an even worse actor, unfortunately.
In the past, it was easy, because in the past, when Legend pulls out this act, it’s on the vet to sell the thing and it’s the younger heroes: Wind and Four, who back him up. Warriors himself is a prop in these things. His only job is to stand there and let the others do what they have to. Look worried? Easy, he’s always worried about something. Look angry? Yeah, that wasn’t faked, someone trying to hurt his family and who stole something from one of his brothers’ graves is definitely going to make him upset. Honestly, the only reason he manages much of anything right now is because he very genuinely feels relief at Legend’s presence and the act that is a promise that the vet will get him out, no matter what the cost to their dignity.
He knows that from experience. He’s willing to sacrifice whatever dignity he has left, however, if it means escaping this nonsense.
“Darling, I didn’t know you’d be here.” Crap, back peddle, back peddle, that sounds really bad! That sounds like he did this on purpose and got caught and-
“I’m here visiting my father,” Legend responds, easy as you please, and nods over to Time who is watching with raised brows and starts just the slightest bit at the vet’s answer.
Oh crap. That’s a mistake. Pulling Time into this? Just kill him now, the only thing worse would be getting Twilight in on the act!
“I thought you were still out on a mission?”
Yes, yes, he is. “I am.” Excellent, brilliant, perfectly idiotic, Warriors! Pull yourself together and give Legend something to work with! “We’re here on assignment to look into the monster attacks in the rural areas. Why didn’t you tell me you’d be here? I would have made an effort to stop and see you and the kids.”
Okay, maybe not the worst thing in the world, some of the women around them have quieted down, although a few are still trying to compel him to turn away from the vet and focus on them instead. That, however, is a mistake.
A particularly loud shout has the vet’s face screwing up and the other shouting, in a voice that only very barely remains in character, “oh hush up, you hussy! Leave my husband be!”
O-kay then.
Legend has called him a couple of things in their little play acting nonsense escape methods. ‘My husband’ is a new one and also very, very odd to hear out of his brother’s mouth. Legend doesn’t seem all too comfortable with saying it either, hands tightening and knuckles white in the front of the captain’s tunic as he tries to maintain his composure.
“Your husband?” One of the women, he’s not sure which, there’s too many to track, laughs. “You wish. Captain Link isn’t married, everyone knows it! Go back to the streets where you belong you-” and he knows she’s going to say a particularly offensive word, and he knows Legend knows it too, so he interrupts then and there, hands slipping to rest on his brother’s waist in what he desperately hopes is a convincing portrayal of how a husband might hold his…. um… wife. “Who said I’m not married?”
He’s not, he’s never been married. He’s not sure if he’d ever want to be, all things considered, but he’s also never expressed that to the world in general and generally speaking, he tries to keep anything like that, about his personal life, quite to himself. The less people know about him beyond the uniform, the better.
“Come now,” one of the girls starts batting her lashes at him, “what would a lovely handsome thing like you be doing with a common street rat like this? You deserve better, Captain.”
That has him bristling. First of all, what’s wrong with being a street rat? Secondly, no one gets to insult Legend except him and Twilight, and even they only mean half of it. Most of the time.
“Excuse me?”
Fluttering fingers come to rest on his arm, gripping as the beauty before him all but forces him to meet her eyes, dark and lustful. “You could have your pick of any lady in the land, is what I’m saying. Why settle for someone like this? If you wanted an out, you didn’t have to accept this working girl, you could just as easily have chosen one of us.”
Oh.
Legend’s nose scrunches up in that way that makes Wind laugh and Warriors only very nearly avoids twitching a smile himself at the sight, even as Legend slips his hands out of his tunic to instead catch hold of his arm, the vet tucking himself against the captain’s side while scowling at the bold woman before them. “Excuse me?”
All softness leaves brown eyes as they drop to stare at the vet, lips curling in disgust. “You heard me, whore, buzz off.”
Long ears twitch and Warriors instinctively tightens the hold of the hand on the vet’s waist, fully prepared to throw the other arm around Legend’s front if need be to hold him back from the woman.
He’s seen cat fights, they aren’t pretty.
“I think you didn’t hear me,” Legend answers, sickly sweet and practically dripping rage, he can feel the tremor of the vet’s muscles under his hand as the other holds himself back, his only motion being to lift the hand not curled around the captain’s shoulder, flashing the rings he wears, “I’m his wife.”
“Those aren’t wedding rings,” the girl scoffs.
The vet lets go. Warriors lets him take the step closer to the girl, if only because he’s pulling off one ring and not all of them, so he’s not likely to actually try hitting her. On second thought, knowing Legend, he wouldn’t hit her, just chew her out. He forgets sometimes that the vet isn’t entirely like Mask.
One ring from the many is pulled off and shown, and he sees the moment the girl’s eyes widen, and of course he’s got to look and-
Golden Gals that is a genuine wedding ring, vet, what the crap?
Legend smirks, slipping said ring back over his finger and then all but plastering himself to Warriors’ side, which if it was literally anyone else would make his skin crawl, but knowing it’s his brother who’s watching his back makes it alright, for now.
“Genuine Castletown silver, darling. My Link wouldn’t hear of anything less for me.” The veteran purrs, settling back against the captain’s side as though he belongs there.
“Then where’s his?” The girl squeaks. The hands have decreased, some of them getting the point, and most backing away when seeing a genuine ring and what they think to be a woman he’s actually accepting. Well, he is accepting the vet’s presence and closeness, but Legend is most certainly not a woman.
At least, he’s pretty sure the vet is a man, he’s never said anything to make them think otherwise.
“You think wearing a ring on the battlefield is a good idea?” Legend, quite hypocritically, points out. “That’s how he broke his first ring. He keeps it safer now when he’s on the field.”
The girl sputters for a moment, eyeing with no small amount of jealousy the non-existent space between the vet’s body and his own and fisting her hands in her skirts. “A good husband would keep his ring on him.”
“Are you implying that my Link isn’t a good husband?”
Vet, please- he wants to beg- stop calling me your husband.
The only one to claim the other as their spouse before was him. He’d agreed when someone had called Legend his wife and he’d gone with it. Other than that they’ve dropped ‘darling’, ‘dear’ and ‘my love’ or some such nonsensical terms of endearment and let other people fill in the gaps, but Legend straight up calling him ‘my husband’ has got to be the most insane thing that has happened to him.
Time knows it too. Time is watching with his one good eye, and while there’s laughter there, there’s also something that tells Warriors that Time knows he’s been bested, by Legend no less, in making the captain flustered and embarrassed; a beloved pastime of a particular mask wearing gremlin. Time used to track how long he could make him fluster and fumble because of some prank and Legend has most certainly beat that, without trying.
Although, to be fair, the vet’s quite flushed himself, and the hand in the back of the captain’s tunic says that his brother shares his wish to be anywhere but here right now, and to be doing nearly anything else.
Actually, probably anything else, point blank.
“I’m saying,” the girl hisses, “he’s not your husband. I saw you with those street girls, you’re just one of them pretending to be his wife so he’ll be forced to leave with you or else be embarrassed! You know he never tells ladies no, so you’re trying to use that to your advantage!”
Wrong choice of words, wrong choice! Oh crap, the vet is coiled like a spring, and while Warriors can’t bear to look down and meet his brother’s eyes right now, he knows violet is snapping indigo as shoulders roll back and the vet sucks in a breath.
“Firstly, I can talk to who I like. The working girls are very nice here and I don’t see a reason I can’t be friendly with them. Secondly, if you know he can’t tell a woman no, for fear of her starting a war on him, why, in the name of Hylia, are you forcing yourself on him? And thirdly,” and he’s not sure how Legend does it, but a quick hand darts beneath hs tunic for only a moment and while the captain wears no jewelry at all save his earrings, Legend’s hand comes out again holding a chain and ring, glistening, bright and silver, although simple, “Wedding ring,” the vet taunts.
“We should go,” one of the other girls whispers, catching the arm of her friend only to be pushed off by the seething temptress.
Legend smirks, dropping his hold on the jewelry (somehow, despite the fact that the captain isn’t wearing it, it doesn’t fall) and instead catching hold of his scarf and turning violet eyes up to him. The look the vet casts up at him is soft and sweet and gentle and most definitely fake, because he’s never seen Legend make a face like that unless he’s lying to someone.
“Come home with me? It’s getting late, and I don’t think her majesty will mind if you…” the vet’s fingers walk up his chest to bop his nose gently, a coy smile touching pinched features “relax for a little bit.”
Time, across the room, chokes on his mead.
Twilight is red in the face and swallowing laughter up at the bar, where two working girls watch the vet with bright smiles and semi-silent cheers.
He doesn’t want to know. Holy cow this is…
Oh Hylia save him!
He must be flushing, he knows he is. He doesn’t exactly know what to do or say, but he nods dumbly as Legend twines a hand into his scarf, watching him through lowered lashes and looking downright sinful in a way he never wants to see again for the rest of his life.
“Sounds good,” he manages to choke out.
The vet smirks, tossing his head and shooting a victorious grin at the now very disappointed girls around them before heading for the door, leading the captain by his scarf as Warriors staggers out after him. He might look love struck, he might look shell-shocked, he’s not sure, but he knows the moment they’re out the door Legend is dropping his scarf and running a hand through pink hair and looking near about to scream.
Mood honestly.
“Mom! Dad!” And there are the gremlins. All four younger heroes are grinning like gremlins at them, and Wind’s grin is the widest. Not that Four’s smile isn’t somewhat terrifying as well.
“You saw nothing,” Legend hisses, dragging a hand across his face.
Wild cocks a brow, already moving to say something, but the vet doesn’t give him a chance, once more catching the scarf and moving for their inn, leaving the younger heroes alone on the street to cackle and coo.
He’s sort of shocked Legend doesn’t close the door to their room in his face, but then again, there are other people in the inn. Still, the vet doesn’t look him in the face after they’ve gotten in the door, and instead chooses to settle on the end of one bed and stare into space as though the goddesses themselves are there to receive the weight of his disappointment in their choices, and the fate they have doomed him to.
Warriors has half a mind to join him. He doesn’t though, because he’d actually rather not look at the vet right now, because he’s not sure he can without absolutely burning up on the spot.
Not that the vet looks any better, red as he is.
And it only gets worse when the other heroes all flood in a short while later, all grinning and teasing and generally making everything worse.
To be fair, he has his own (rather large) amount of questions, everything from why Twilight passes along an apology for “talking about your man” from some lady named Rose, why Legend immediately springs on the rancher, why the vet actually has a wedding ring on his hand, how he’d been able to produce another one for the captain, and just generally the hows and whys of the whole situation, but it will be a very, very long time before he’s ready to ask them.
And thank Legend. Legend deserves some thanks for that performance.
And the embarrassment, He owes Legend big time for that.
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Once more: THIS IS NOT LINKCEST!!!!! Warriors and Legend are both paying parts and hate, with every fibre of their being, having to do so. the reason it goes as far as it does is because they need to be both convincing and escaping, so Legend does pull out all the stops (well, not all, but you get the idea)
No, by the next part (inspired by @cantankerouscanucks) Legend and Warriors still will not look at each other.
Also, Twilight is just being a brother. He's teasing the boys because he likes messing with them, not because he in any way thinks they actually like each other in that way. He's just trying to get a rise out of Legend. They are all brothers, there is no inter-chain romance here, I swear.
#linked universe#linkeduniverse#lu warriors#lu legend#lu twilight#twilight is an ass sometimes#it comes with being a big brother#legend is done with the world in general#and twilight#warriors is thankful for the save but would rather it never happen again#legend and warriors are suffering immensely#NOT LINKSHIPPING!#ketto writes
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i love you too, my dear.
synopsis: reiner wakes up after the attack of eren yeager and paradis island on liberio and learns from his fellow warriors that you were badly injured. upon hearing this, reiner doesn’t know what to do with himself.
cw: small mention of blood, stitches and suicidal thoughts
words: 2.2k
Reiner didn’t remember much of what happened before the raid of Liberio. He only had small glimpses of a dark cave with only him and two other people… but who were they? He recalled their presence as well as the sounds of a man speaking above them, speaking of some devils and some sins, it reminded him of what he’d heard in his childhood.
As more of his memories came back, he remembered that one of the people he was with was an old friend. Or so did the young boy next to him said… but this old friend was the same one who raided his home and killed the Marleyan army. Surely the little boy was mistaken.
He was in a deep sleep, ready to finally die when the screams of his cousin forced him back awake and he found himself controlling the armored titan again, surrounded by nothing but the ruins of his home and the bodies of his people but as he was fighting the attack titan, only one question occupied his mind: Where were you?
Then he finally woke up, his head feeling heavy and his body hurting like he had just woken up from a 2 years long coma or the worst hungover of his life. He felt that the closer he was getting to the end of his term, the more he found himself in this position, it was as if the powers of the armored titan were getting too strong for him and could no longer be sealed in his body.
His friends, or rather fellow warriors, were all in the room, except for one of them. Seeing them made him regain some consciousness and finally he was able to recall everything that had happened and he started panicking, even more so when one pointed that this was not a dream.
He asked a thousands of question, panicked and worried. When he learned that his cousin had somehow ended up with the people of the island he almost dropped dead.
But what he definitely wasn’t ready to hear was that you had been badly injured during the attack and barely made it out alive thanks to a Marleyan soldier who saved you and helped you escape before you started losing blood but were thankfully taken to the hospital on time. However, your current state was unknown.
When he heard those words coming from Porco’s mouth, he felt as if the world had stopped spinning for a few seconds and everything around him ceased to exist, throwing him into an endless pit of loneliness and darkness. His first instinct was to think that finally his punishment for his sins had arrived and to punish him for the countless of people he had killed, his most precious person would be taken away from him.
But he didn’t want that to happen. So he got up and simply asked where you were, trying his damn best to sound as composed as possible even though he felt like he was about to collapse. Obviously being a simple civilian, you weren’t in the same department as the warriors. Reiner had to walk a few minutes before finally finding your room and he felt as if those minutes were never ending. Thoughts of losing you plagued his mind and tears wouldn’t stop threatening to fall from his eyes.
When he finally got into your room, you were sitting in your bed, eating hospital rations from one hand and holding a book in your other hand. Upon hearing the door, you shot a side eye to the other corner of the room, expecting a doctor for yet another check up, but you were instead met with your dear friend’s panicked and watery eyes.
“Oh, Reiner?” Was all you said.
Upon hearing your sweet voice, the tears that had threatened to fall from Reiner’s eyes for the last 10 minutes finally fell and rolled down his cheeks. He closed the door and ran to your bed where he got on his knees and grabbed your hand, squeezing it tightly inside of his own.
You looked at him quite dumbfounded, not being used to such a sight from him in particular but you let him cry nonetheless, thinking that maybe he was finally ready to open up to you. You gave him a little smile and closed the book you were holding with your other hand to come and wipe his tears.
“C’mon pretty boy, I didn’t think you liked me this much.”
“I was so worried...” He sighed as more tears fell from his eyes. “Porco made it sound like you were on the verge of dying.”
“Yesterday? I was. But they took care of me all night and well… I still feel tired but it’s better.” You grabbed his cheek to make him look up to you. “I’m more worried about you, Reiner.”
He looked at you like you were the brightest star in the lonely constellation of his life, and in a sense, you were. You were but a mere civilian with no particular asset to protect you from Paradis' attack which you almost died from. Reiner was the armored titan, Marley's shield. He was far stronger, far more prepared for anything and despite all that, you were still worried about him.
Such an angel that he didn't deserve but somehow still had in his life. He forced a smile as he rubbed circles on the back of your hand. Thruthfully, he was feeling like actual trash both physicially and mentally, but he couldn't afford to tell you the truth. He needed to be strong for you, because you trusted him and he acted as your shield. If he couldn't hold on for you then who would?
"I'm fine." He spoke in a rather low voice.
He got up from his knees before pulling a chair to sit next to your bed. You observed him as he did this. You observed his tired face and weakened body. You weren't here to see it, but you guessed that he had probably taken some hard blows from Yeager. But for some reasons, he hid it from you.
"How are you recovering?" He finally asked as he sat down, the sadness he previously bore on his face now replaced with the same blank expression.
"Well..." With your free hand, you lifted your shirt to expose your main wound.
Reiner's eyes looked at the big bandage covering your waist, a bloody spot could be seen through the fabric. You then shot a quick glance at Reiner who looked once again completely devastated. You chuckled at his expression and squeezed the hand he was holding yours with.
"It hurts like a bitch." You said. "I need to limit movements so the stitches don't break".
"How did it happen?"
"One of them did this to me with their blades. Judging from their expression I don't think it was on purpose..." You shrugged.
Reiner's shoulders dropped at this and he looked at the ground, feeling in despair again. His stomach twisted in pain and a knot formed in his throat, not daring to believe or trying to grasp the fact that someone from the island, with the possibility of them being one of his former friends, had hurt you and almost killed you.
Once again he felt like the weight of the whole world rested on his shoulders. He felt that this could've been avoided if he didn't insist on carrying with the mission after Marcel died, or if he actually managed to get the founding titan. If he didn't fuck up the mission and made the existence of a world beyond the walls known by the peope of said walls, could everything have been avoided?
Could your pain have been avoided? Or was it simply karma getting back to him? Because his constant emotional despair and the suicidal thoughts that ate his brain weren't enough, he needed to suffer more? He needed to see his loved ones suffer, just like the people of the walls saw their loved ones suffer when they breached wall Maria, 9 years ago?
Before he knew it, tears started falling from his eyes again as his heart beat faster and faster. His breathing became messier as well and he soon found it hard to keep breathing steadily. You noticed his change of attitude and clear panic, so you squeezed his hand again, hoping to bring him back to reality.
Feeling your presence, he looked up at you, eyes as watery as ever and tears falling all over his cheeks again. There was truly a lot of guilt and pain that he wasn't talking about, that he refused to mention with you. You wanted to be a good friend and help him through this but how could you if he kept everything to himself ?
"Reiner... are you o-"
"I'm so sorry... It's all my fault, I..."
"Wow slow down Rei. Last time I checked you're not the one who told Yeager to raid Liberio."
Reiner expected this kind of response from you. Obviously you wouldn't understand where he came from and what he meant, how could you understand when he didn't say anything and you didn't even know a quarter of what he had seen and done back there?
He never wanted you to know these things. Perhaps because some of his actions stemed from his own weaknesses that he always wanted to keep away from you because someone's shield shouldn't have any weakness.
It was weird to him how he managed to smile fondly at you while his eyes were still crying but even in his darkest moments, your sole presence managed to ease his pain. You were his light, a small glimpse of light in the infinite darkness that surrounded him, a small glimpse of light that he held onto, that kept him alive.
You were his everything, and he always knew that. But almost losing you only made him even more aware. He realized it now that the feeling he kept hidden were far stronger than what he'd imagned.
You were beautiful, so beautifil. And he loved you, so badly. Such love couldn't be contained, not anymore. Not now that he was aware of how badly he actually loved you.
"Fuck I love you so much, if I were to lose you I would go insane."
The words came out of his mouth naturally. You raised your eyebrows at the sudden confession before smiling at the man. Saying you were happy was an understatement, for sure. But you were kind of disappointed that you needed to almost die, to hear this man finally confess to you.
"Aren't you a little bit fucked up already, though?" You asked in your usual sarcastic tone, which surprisingly made the man chuckle.
"That's not the point..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, making you laugh.
You brought his hand to your lips before pressing a gentle kiss on his skin. He looked at you with a light in his eyes you hadn't seen in a while. A light that reminded you of the optimistic and enthusiatic young boy he was before the mission on Paradis island.
You pressed another few kisses on his hand, enough to make him feel better and more relaxed before looking straight into his beautiful amber eyes with a gentle smile.
"I love you too, my dear." You said, calmly.
You marked a pause as Reiner opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn't able to emit a single sound. A light blush spread across his cheeks which brought a smile to your lips.
"And I want you to stop worrying about me and start taking care of yourself."
"I..."
"Shush."
You leaned over him and gently pressed your lips against his cheek still humid from the tears he hadn't wiped yet. You kept your face close to his as you looked at his expression go from relaxed to slightly panicked as he realized just how close you were to him.
Then your lips curled into a wide smile as you closed the distance again to press a quick chaste kiss on his lips. A short yet affectionate kiss that he didn't really get time to return because you were already back into your former position before he could even realize what had just happened.
Reiner tried to gather his thoughts but he was unable to think normally. He just looked at you, with your clueless expression, acting like nothing happened, a small and subtle smirk on your face. It's like you enjoyed messing with him and Reiner wasnt sure if he enjoyed it right now.
"You're so cute, Rei, I could eat you." You said, giggling.
Reiner chuckled. He probably enjoyed it.
God was he lucky to have you. Despite everything he had done and everyone he had lost, he still had you. You, the best thing that has ever happened to him and the only one he had not lost yet.
He didn't deserve to feel this lighthearted, but he wanted to be selfish for just 5 minutes and relish in the warm and fuzzy feeling he felt in his stomach and the ounce of normalcy he currently had because he knew that it would not last and he would soon have to act as Marley's shield again.
But for now, he didn't want to be a shield. He just wanted to be Reiner Braun and relish in the little appiness he had been granted by whoever above had pitied him enough.
#i need to give reiner a break#not my fault being miserable suits him so well tho#i still love him#i listened to classical music while writing this <3#reiner braun x reader#reiner x you#reiner x reader#reiner braun x y/n#reiner braun x you#reiner imagine#attack on titan x reader
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This is a ask I saw in a ask list earlier, and I've been thinking of it all day. What song do you think would make a great fic?
Im going to be asking a few people. I'm actually really curious.
I got this questions twice. @regis-favorite-raven asked me too! Thanks to both of you.
It's a dangerous thing to ask me that, because honestly: I have too many stories and plot bunnies in my head and music is an easy trigger for more. So here we go.
Fires Fade by Miracle of Sound and Let there be fire by the Aviators
Those two would basically be the broken world arch in Witcher fanfic, starting with an ended world (and no the white frost would not be an ice age) and with re-awakening of either Eskel or Erland in the ruins, re-awoken after the world failed and now having to find a way to somehow free the world from the white frost's claws and maybe, just maybe also save it. It would be a rather dark tale, with a rather dark and cynical view on certain game events, as well as book events too. It would also claim that Alzur for all his madness saw what was coming and tried to arm the world with a new type of warrior, which sadly the world didn't want.
Fires Fade by Miracle of Sound.
Let there be fire by the Aviators.
Birth of an Age by Clamavi de Profundis and Past and Future Secret by Blind Guardian
The Dwarrow Saga. This would be a dwarven story, not set in fanfic but actually in it's own world, though I won't deny there are some inspirations that came from Tolkien's dwarrow. So there's that. It would feature a dwarven art of implanting magical crystals into someone to create powerful warriors. Gemlings are feared outside the dwarven lands, and most humans are shocked to learn that Gemlings indeed are humans. It would feature a warrior, who got implanted by a power-hungry lunatic, and while he could prevent himself from being controlled his mind is fraying rapidly. Pained and shaken, he searches for the dwarrow, because they might be able to remove the crystal. Halfway through his journey he encounters a dwarrow crystal smith who is willing to help him. The dwarrow in turn is looking for his vanished older brother, who never returned from the lowlands…
Birth of an Age by Clamavi de Profundis .
Past and Future Secret by Blind Guardian.
Under a coal black sun by Mono INC and The man who can't forget (cover by Gustavo Steiner)
Yes, I know that the Man who can't forget is already linked to Wheel of time. And this would be a wheel of time fanfic. A seventh age fanfic. A space fanfic. A Fanfic were the catastrophe happened, that threw the world back into the new coming of the first age (and as the first age is essentually our world, something must have gone horribly wrong). This would be the age where the Dragon falls to the dark, where the Dark one triumphs for a while, and the world is again shattered. It would feature space ships, channelers in space, the question whether others escaped the world in former cycles and whether the cyclical nature of the world is real. Except for the dragon and maybe a few heroes of the horn, most characters would have to be OCs, or maybe OCs where one might speculate whether or not we knew them in another incarnation. I have a space-ship in mind, the Valere - a sleeper ship - because in the end of the day we know: the grave is no bar to my call.
Under a coal black sun by Mono INC.
The man who can't forget (cover by Gustavo Steiner).
Totentanz by Die Streuner
This would be a story about a strange ghost near a village, a ghost that only attacks Witchers. After Eskel is severely injured when surprised by the ghost, Lambert goes to investigate. He has heard stories about this weird ghost before. As he dodges an attack himself, he slowly digs into the past of the village and learns of a girl, who had a short if hot affair with a Witcher but was left by said Witcher, and took her own life shortly after. Who was the Witcher… now take a guess. But he will have to dance with her, before the ghost can find rest.
Totentanz by Die Streuner.
Honourable mentions:
Windmills by Blackmore's night
This is practically my Erland theme song. The story of an old knight, who is still fighting the battle he swore to fight, even as the world around him forgot the danger they were in, and mocks him for it.
Windmills by Blackmore's night.
tagging: @do-androids-dream-ao3acc, @tigerlyla-of-metinna, and @andordean
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I Had You
Author: xxwritemeastoryxx
Pairings: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader
Word Count: 3.6K
Warnings: Character ‘Death’, angst. Canon Infinity War, first time writing for Steve Rogers counts as a warning. 🤣
Author’s Note: Coming in hot for the last few hours of 2022. I wanted to get this out so much earlier, but the damn data/wifi has been shit this week for some reason. Anyways, I wanted to get this one out before I managed to toss this in the 'purge' pile. I wasn't about to have that so I finished it. It's not my best, but it definitely isn't my worst fic out there. Any feedback helps since it's the first I'm writing for Steve. Thanks for reading and Happy New Year Everyone! The dividers are by firefly-graphics.
I do not and will not ever give permission for my fics to be copied and posted on other sites. Don’t do it. Don’t be that person that ruins it for me and everyone else.
Feedback gives me life and motivation for future things. While likes are appreciated, reblogs are gold. Seriously, if you enjoyed this in the slightest, please reblog ♥
When Y/N had first discovered her powers, she never once believed they would be used like this. She never believed she’d be fighting beside others in an attempt to save the world from a Titan that was hell bent on collecting the infinity stones. And if anyone had told her those exact words years ago, she would have laughed in their face.
What she had expected was to fight alongside the Avengers when it was needed. Her training may have not been as experienced as the others, but her regenerative abilities made her one of their best weapons. She expected to be the one to help diffuse a rather sticky situation. She expected to be put in the line of fire to help the innocent.
But this, she never saw coming.
Everyone on my position. We have incoming.
That was the queue to get to Steve. That was the queue to be there and be ready for whatever it was they were about to face. But no matter what Y/N did to try and break free from the battles that were going on by the barrier, she couldn’t. It didn't matter which way she turned to leave, she was met with more of the creatures that charged at her.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed between that signal and her continuing to help keep the creatures at the border. With each creature she killed she was met with a few more that surrounded her. And with each hit she took, she continued on.
At least that was until there was a shift in everything. An energy source blasted through the trees causing every human and creature to stop at the blast. Their eyes move straight for the trees. Everything within Y/N was telling her Wanda had destroyed the stone.
That should have been the end of it. There should have been some relief that the stone had been destroyed. Yet the satisfaction of the blast didn't fill Y/N as it should have.
But in the moments to follow, it was as if things had been reversed rather quickly. It left Y/N stunned when the energy source passed her again heading back into the treeline as if it never happened. And with that, silence eerily filled the air.
The creatures that fought so desperately to destroy them had stopped before they began retreating. As Y/N’s eyes began to scan the area around her, that’s when she first saw several of the warriors around her begin to fade into dust.
Her eyes widened in horror as she took it in before her. Her head shook as she turned in the direction Steve had last gone before he was calling out to all of them. Even looking in that direction, she saw others meeting the same fate.
Her hand quickly went up to her ear to call out to Steve, but her comms had gotten knocked out at some point. Even if she tried looking for it now, it wouldn't be fast enough. But it was as she began bringing her hand down that she noticed her hands began to flake.
Fear and panic filled her as she expected to completely disappear as the others had. Instead familiar pain rolled through her body as it began regenerating itself. She watched as the pieces that disintegrated before her eyes slowly heal. Without another thought, she began running.
There was now only two things that were going through her mind as she began running. There was a fear that the same thing was happening to Steve and her friends. She needed to get to them. Even if she didn’t make it in time, she hoped to see any of them for the briefest of moments. The other was the hope that if her body was fighting as it was, it could hang on long enough give up trying to disappear and she’d be fine. As she ran, memories began to flash before her eyes.
“You shouldn’t be so willing to put yourself in danger like that.” Steve’s voice carried into the room in the med bay. Y/N’s back was turned to him as he leaned against the frame.
Y/N scoffed and shook her head as she began removing the bandages that had been pointlessly put onto her skin. “That's a little hypocritical, don’t you think?”
“I meant denonating the bomb while being in range of it. Most people I know make sure they’re clear.”
“I had a job and I did it. Everyone’s safe and that’s what matters.”
“Except for you. I don’t even know how you’re even standing right now.”
Y/N zipped up her sweater once the bandages were removed and turned to face Steve to walk past him. “I’m all healed up Cap. So no need to make those worry lines permanent.”
Shock was written on his face trying to make sense of what just happened. Y/N had been through an explosion and had several injuries that should have made it so she was bedridden for weeks. Instead she was walking away as if it was another random Tuesday.
She pushed herself up over the small hill before making it into the treeline. For the briefest of seconds, she leaned up against the second tree she came across. But the moment her body leaned against it, it began disintegrating, forcing her to keep moving.
Even if she hadn't seen the others, everything within her was wanting and needing to see Steve. Her only goal was to get to him, to at least see him one last time. If he was safe, she could fight this for as long as she needed to. To keep fighting until whatever this was stopped. If he was gone, she hoped to hell that she could fight it off with whoever was left standing.
“Why didn’t you tell me you regenerate like that?”
Steve’s voice had caught her off guard causing her to stiffen as she looked over the city. It had been almost a year since Steve had tried lecturing her. He had never been able to put the pieces together. While some things could be written off as the cradle being used, other things left Steve scratching his head.
Soon the questions were forgotten when he began growing close with Y/N. While he had his moments of awkwardness, or even her moments of putting up a wall, they had found some way through it all to be together.
Y/N always kept her secret though. Very few people knew about her regenerative abilities and she liked keeping it that way. When it came to Steve…Y/N felt that telling him would change things. Out of selfishness, she wanted to hold on to that information for as long as possible.
It wasn’t until earlier today during a mission that Y/N had been burned by pushing a civilian out of the way of a plasma ray. Her body had been blistered and fried in many places. And if Steve hadn’t been kneeling beside her after the blast, he wouldn’t have believed if anyone told him that Y/N’s face healed right before his eyes.
She turned around to look at him. “Because you would look at me the way you are now.” Steve began shaking his head attempting to stop her, but she continued. “It’s not with pity or worry. You’re intrigued. Fascinated by the fact that now you have someone who can’t die on missions.”
“Believe it or not, I’m more hurt that you didn’t feel like you could trust me with that information.” He sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Who else knows?”
“Fury.” She watched as he rolled his eyes. “Hydra.” She watched as his eyes shot back to her at her words. “Nat, only because she stumbled upon my secret just as you had. Fury fixes my records anytime I’m in the med bay. No one else knows. It's why a majority of the time I take forever getting to the rendezvous point after missions. I wait until my face is healed so no one questions things.” She walked over to stand in front of him as he took in the details. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. Because I trust you with everything else.”
“But not this?”
She shook her head. “I was afraid that once you knew, it’d be me that would be put in the line of fire. Because in the world of ‘whatever it takes’ I’d be the ‘whatever’ every time.”
Steve shook his head and brought his hand up to her cheek. “I promise you that I would never do that to you. I hate seeing you hurt and I would never intentionally put you through that for the sake of a mission.”
Just a little farther. Was all Y/N kept telling herself. Her pace in running had slowed to a stumbling jog. Her feet no longer balanced as they used to be as her body fought to stay together. She knew at some point she'd reach the others. They had to be close.
She could hear the voices in the distance calling out to others. Every part of her being, even the pieces currently regenerating, was hoping Steve hadn't disappeared like the others.
"I know I've said this a time or two before, but for a moment there I really thought I lost you." Steve's voice held the weight of relief.
A weak chuckle passed Y/N's lips as she took in her surroundings. Her body aches in places from spending the last few weeks regenerating. "Got you three to stop fighting. Mission successful."
A huff of a scoff came from Steve as he shook his head. "Good to know your sense of humor never changes." Steve gently took a hold of her hand. "Tony thought he killed you." He watched as she opened her mouth to speak but he continued. "You've never been hurt that badly before. The other times you could walk it off easily. I've never once heard you cry out in pain like that. It's a sound I'd rather not hear again."
The echoes of Y/N's screams still played within his ears. From the moment the blast from Tony's repulsor. While it was aimed at Bucky and Steve, Y/N found herself between them, earning a direct hit to her chest. Something that should have easily killed a human that wasn't enhanced with super serum or wearing any armor.
"Doubt there would be a chance to pull off another heroic act." While her tone held humor, it was the truth. They were supposed to be on the run. Anything that put attention on them would get them caught.
"I wouldn't say there wasn't a chance." That caused Y/N's eyebrow to raise. The familiar look on Steve's face gives her more information than his words do. "Not saying for you to jump right in because you definitely need more time to heal. Just depends on how well you can stay under the radar. "
"I'm surprised you aren't out there already."
"Couldn't do it without you being there by my side."
There were several things running through Steve as he knelt on the floor in disbelief staring at the exact spot his best friend had been standing moments ago. One being what was happening now that Thanos had snapped his fingers. His mind was refusing to wrap around the events he had just witnessed as Bucky turned to dust. The other surge of thoughts was what if the same thing was happening to Y/N?
Y/N
It was the thought of her that instantly brought Steve out of his semi frozen state and began looking for her. He knew he hadn't seen her in the moments that Thanos had been there. While part of him didn't know if he should be relieved by that information or worried by it. If she hadn't been close by and the same thing happened to her, he wouldn't know.
"Anyone got eyes on Y/N?" He called
He could hear Rhody calling for Sam in the background. His ears could pick up on the other cries of disbelief at allies simply disappearing right before their eyes.
When Steve couldn't find her in his nearest surroundings, he began making his way towards where they had been stationed by the perimeter. If there was still a chance she was there, he'd find her. He refused to think about what it meant to lose Y/N and Bucky at that moment. Losing one was going to be hard. Losing both, his brain and heart couldn't even begin to form a string of responses.
His feet had only carried himself a short distance before he caught movement in the trees ahead of him. There was the sound of stumbling as feet shuffled forward. A moment later Y/N came into his view.
The second Steve’s eyes landed on Y/N he knew something was wrong. It was the way her brows were furrowed as her body attempted to piece itself back together as quickly as it could. He learned from experience that her wearing that look was never good.
The pain she must have been feeling in that second had nothing to do with the possible aches and pains that came from fighting during a mission. She never felt the normal pains that came with it like he had. Her body could easily heal itself within minutes. But the last time she had that look on her face, her body had taken weeks to heal after she had shielded him from a blast from Tony’s repulsor back in Siberia.
“Y/N?” He called out as he began quickly walking towards her.
Her eyes shot up to him and a sudden sense of relief had washed over her. He was still there and okay. He hadn’t disappeared like the other she had seen on her way over there to find him. He was still there and she hadn’t been too late.
Her feet moved into a run the moment her eyes landed on him. She needed to not only see him, but be in his arms. And the moment she was, she tried her hardest to wrap her arms around him. But the slightest pressure felt off. It felt wrong as her body tried to regenerate itself.
Steve hadn’t missed the way the particles had moved away from her just as it had the others. Just as he had seen with Bucky. He hadn’t missed the way her body was disappearing from the effect of Thanos’s snap. Or the way her body was fighting to regenerate itself just as quickly.
“I didn’t think I’d make it.” Y/N’s words were rushed. She needed to get the words out as quickly as she could since she didn’t know how much longer she could fight this off.
“I’ve got you.” Steve hadn’t missed the way her body tried to evaporate the moment his arms wrapped around her. She was going right before his eyes but her body was fighting it. The pieces that were quickly disappearing were regenerating just as quickly in an attempt to keep her together.
No one else has fought it off. No one else had been capable of doing so. Her body was working in overdrive to piece her back together when the stones were ripping her to pieces. If anyone could fight it, it had to be Y/N.
Steve slowly brought them down to their knees. The grip Y/N had on Steve lessened by the second before the slightest pressure reappeared. An ongoing cycle in the span of a few seconds.
"I don't know what's happening." The words were rushed as they left Y/N.
"You're fighting it." Steve's voice was soft. "We can find a way to stop it."
Y/N heard the hopefulness in his voice, along with the fear. It caused a sad smile to pull at her lips as she looked up at him. "We don't even know if there is a way."
"We'll keep trying until there is one." He promised. He brought up his hand to her face and as his thumb ran along her cheek he could easily see the way her skin disintegrated into nothing before her body fought hard to piece her back together.
The sound of the others finding them hadn't gone unnoticed by the two. But they kept their attention on each other. The next few moments were too important for them to look towards the others.
"What if I can't-" A jolt of pain shot through her, causing a scream to pass her lips.
With the scream, Steve's grip tightened on her. The ache in his chest grew by the second. He watched as her body regenerated at a slower pace in comparison to how it had been seconds before.
The pain that radiates through her body was like nothing she had ever experienced before. She had limbs ripped into and should have been dead on several occasions. Nothing she experienced as an agent and then as an Avenger had ever felt like this. Her body felt like it was being torn apart repeatedly as her body tried to keep up. But it was becoming useless.
“It hurts.” Her lips trembled as her body continued to fight against what was happening to her. "I don't know how long I can keep fighting it."
Steve's eyes looked over her face, taking in every detail of her. Everything his eyes landed on, he committed further to memory. As much as he hated to even begin to think of the words he needed to tell her, he knew she needed to hear them.
The string of thoughts that his brain refused to create earlier were now there in full force. He was about to lose both of the people he cared about most. He couldn't even begin to help Bucky and that ate away a part of him already. With Y/N, she could only hold on for so long before it became unbearable.
He couldn't keep her in the pain she was feeling. She couldn't stay that way until they found a way to keep her from turning into dust. He couldn't do that to her. Not when he made a promise to her. It was as tears began falling from her eyes that his mind had accepted what was going to happen.
He nodded his head, more to himself than to her. “Don’t fight it. It will happen quickly. The harder you fight, the more it will hurt. "
Steve had no idea if that was the case. He had no idea if letting go would be painless for her. But if it gave her the peace she needed to let go, he'd tell her whatever she needed.
Y/N shook her head slightly, particles drifting off more as she did. "I-"
"No goodbyes." He quickly added in to stop her from saying what she wanted. "I won't stop until we fix this. Always fighting to the very end with you, remember"
"Wouldn't have it any other way." A sad chuckle followed before she took a deep breath.
"Do you ever think about stopping?" Y/N asked as she packed her duffle bag.
Steve stopped mid packing the weapons bag before looking over his shoulder. "Stopping what exactly?"
Y/N shrugged her shoulders slightly. "The undercover missions? We're on the run and still doing missions." Her eyes moved up to meet his. "Have you thought about one day you'd want to stop? Have a life outside of the heroics?"
He actually had to stop and think about that answer. For as much as they had been doing side missions after the Accords went south, he hadn't been thinking about stopping any time soon. He had only thought about continuing to help those in need while avoiding the authorities.
"I can't say I have." He said with a slight nod of his head before continuing to pack the bag before zipping it closed. He turned his attention to her. "Have you?"
She added the last of her makeshift tactical gear before closing her duffle bag. "Not to stop now." She admitted. "But there will be a day that I will want to stop fighting. I just wonder if you'd be willing to stop with me?"
Steve closed the distance between them before wrapping his arms around her. The comfort of his arms around her was enough to bring a smile to her face as she looked up at him.
"The day you decide you're done, is the day I'll stop. But until then I will fight until the very end with you by my side." For as long as he'd known her, stopping wasn't in her nature. He actually had to be the one to convince her to take a break. If she was done, that was saying something.
A small smirk pulled at her lips. "With Sam, Nat and Bucky close by, right?"
A laugh passed his lips. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Y/N's eyes never left Steve's as she forced her body to relax. For the first time in her life she wasn't allowing her body to heal her as it had all the times before. She'd have to stop fighting. Not in the way she ever believe she would. She watched as his eyes glassed over before he blinked back the tears as much as he could.
Steve hadn't missed the moment her body relaxed. The moment it had, he watched as her body disintegrated just as fast the others had before. With the weight of her body gone, his hands and arms to drop quickly to his lap.
The reminants of dust laid around him. The silence that came with the snap was nothing in comparison to the silence with Y/N gone. And as he looked up at the others the same question laid within their eyes.
What exactly happened? And how the hell do they fix it.
All WorksTag (The tag to be notified for everything I write):
@mrs-maximoff-kenner @mizzzpink @friendelius @thatfanficstuff @mushroomelephant @23victoria @avengers-fixation
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@hellotvshowtrash @dpaccione @old-enough-to-know-better73 @elijahs-wife @kpopgirlbtssvt @theartofhotchinthesnow @bluebear142077 @thatweirdoleigh @loving-life-my-way
Captain America Tag (For only and all things Steve):
@fandom-princess-forevermore @freyathehuntress
#Steve Rogers#Steve Rogers fanfiction#Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader#Reader Insert#Captain America#captain america fanfiction#Captain America x fem!Reader#MCU#mcu fanfiction#Last fic of 2022#Steve Rogers Angst#Infinity War canon
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I figured it out!!
Can you write a story about legolas × teen reader, were the reader is a young elf about 15 years old and she is all alone in the woods when legolas finds her and decides with his father that it would be the best to train you for a warrior.
Also the reader has a tragic back story, something like the orcs killed everyone in the village and she is the only one that escaped.
Sorry if this is to long. Thanks
no this is the perfect length. my favorite fic dynamic is legolas discovers the joys of fatherhood and i hope yours is too
masterlist
The forest is quiet in this part of the countryside, even for an elf of the Woodland Realms. He can hear anything, the pricking ears of a fox five miles south, the crunch of bark as a hawk alights on a twig, the swaying of that aforementioned scrap of wood. All this, and he has yet to hear a single sign of sustained life.
What remains are the vestiges of a former age. There are statues of kings crumbling into meaningless rubble beneath his footsteps, their names long since forgotten by the generations who were saved by those very men. He takes care not to step too harshly upon the broken pieces of a crown, and the ghosts of these societies go on decomposing in peace.
He would know how it feels, to be so alone in this world. He is Legolas, son of Thranduil, once a part of a fellowship that has now long since parted ways. There were oaths he swore, protecting friends until the day they died, and now he walks alone through endless boughs and waving leaves.
The lands are emptying out by the day. The hobbits stick to their towns, their burrows weaving complex foxholes underground. Something must have happened to force their homes so deep beneath the surface of the earth, but even the eldest hobbits have long since forgotten what that could be. Now, grass grows green and thick over what could have been survival hideaways, and children bear calluses thick on their feet so they can run as far and fast as they please.
Thus, the hobbits have left this elf-prince. Gandalf sailed to the Undying Lands with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins; Legolas remembers meeting the elder hobbit some time before, on another quest with another ragtag company. He’d been rather rude then, he remembers. He wonders how those who survived that quest liked the idea of Legolas joining in this fellowship.
Gimli is out visiting them, the remaining pieces of the ancient dwarven families. The fellowship happened upon a mass grave of many of them, and Gimli will have to bear the news back that a great multitude of heroes have been dead for years. Legolas wonders how they’ll take it, if they guessed from the lack of messages and odd silence that there were no more dwarves in Moria.
Then again, he is rarely blessed with fully comprehending the scope of grief when it comes to others. Elves have different concepts of mortality. Their lives stretch out, century after century until death seems less like a vast, unknown enemy and more a peaceful close to so many years.
He’s had his time to learn it, though. A picture flickers into his head, unbidden: Tauriel, captain of the Mirkwood guard, leaning over the corpse of a dwarf. He’d died in combat, fighting one of the orc-chieftains who’d attacked the Lonely Mountain. Tauriel’s face had been twisted with grief, an agony that she had never before been forced to bear.
Legolas blinks the memory away once more. It does no good to ponder on the past, not when he’s had so much of it to control his thoughts. Memory has its merits, to garner wisdom, to remember old foes and familiar allies, but it can destroy if one lets it.
At other times, the forced impermanence feels as if it would destroy Legolas far more than the memories. How many dynasties has he witnessed rise and fall, how many civilizations and empires have broken down to fire? All the while, he stays. He watches, he waits, and life goes on.
Perhaps he will fade into obscurity, just like these ruined statues. Here walked Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil Oropherion, once a member of the Fellowship of the Ring, once a hero, once someone that could be considered a hero. The other races of men and dwarves and hobbits will forget all but a name, a whisper of silent elves who watched when the world burned and only offered aid at the last minute.
He will stay here forever, crossing a world that shrinks before his eyes, always alone, always a quiet shadow slipping between the trees. His footsteps are forever silent, never leaving a trace of who he’d been or what he’d done. Legolas doesn’t know that he could fix it if he tried, that even if he stomped his feet and clawed at his surroundings, some instinct would take over and he would never disturb so much as a fallen leaf.
Legolas walks on in silence. He has no destination, not yet. Perhaps man’s Fate will take pity on him and thrust a purpose before him, allowing his feet to move in earnest, his hands to stray to his bow and pull the string back.
Lost in thought about just what could guide his path, Legolas doesn’t notice the smoke at first. After that initial discovery, it’s impossible to ignore. The stench of it hangs in the air, thick as oil coursing from a broken lamp. Tilting his head up, Legolas can see a faint trail of it wafting out from a clearing, perhaps three miles to the north.
He adjusts his course automatically, his steps coming faster. At last, something to distract him from an elf’s blessed and despised eternity. It does not take long to find the source of the disturbance, it has heard him as well and is now hurrying in his direction.
They find each other about half an hour later. Legolas has his hand raised, ready to whip out his bow, but a moment later he relaxes. The threat has evidently already passed, but the figure stumbling out of the woods before him still needs help.
He considers the presence before him. An elf has appeared out of the forest, coming to an abrupt stop once she sees him. Her clothes, though as flowing and well-made as any elf’s, are tangled with briars, likely from her vicarious run through the trees. Her eyes are wide with fright, magnified by her young age. Judging by her limbs, all gangly and haphazard as a sapling’s, she’s just an adolescent, likely alone.
Definitely alone. Legolas can smell the reek of death upon the air, whispering out of the woods in the direction the girl had come from.
He cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowed slightly as he tries to sort out what must have happened. “Where is your family?”
The girl swallows hard. “Dead. Orcs attacked our village. We tried to fight them off, but there were too many. I am the only survivor.”
Legolas inclines his head to address her grief. “Orcs? Were they armed?”
She shakes her head. “They seemed to be in a defined group, clearly starving. Their desperation made them mad.”
This makes sense, at least. Most of the orcs were eradicated when the Ring was destroyed, but a few packs remained, roaming up and down the countryside. They are known for raiding villages in search of food, but most end up defeated. This pack appears to be the exception.
Regardless of the root of the problem, however, the problem still remains. Legolas cannot in good conscience leave this elf to aimlessly wander the forest, she’ll need supplies and a roof over her head lest she meet the same fate as her village.
So, he straightens his shoulders and ponders what must be done. “What’s your name?” He asks, voice as neutral as he can make it.
“Y/N,” she responds, “Y/N L/N.”
He’s heard of the L/N elves before. They’re all fairly renowned for their skill in battle, but they were distracted from joining greater armies by a moral call to help those in need. It would make sense that Y/N’s branch of the family settled in a smaller village, closer to areas that often face orc attacks.
“My name is Legolas,” he says simply, “you should come with me. Night will fall soon upon these parts, and it would do no good to be alone when darkness comes.”
Y/N nods, and follows him. At first, Legolas isn’t entirely sure where he should take her; shelter comes in many forms, and there are multitudes of villages sprawling along the countryside, even if only half of them can be counted on to be inhabited at this time of year.
Still, Mirkwood is not far off, and if orc packs are strong enough to take down even a small village of elves, his father should know. Legolas changes his path to lead back to the Woodland Realm, and within a few hours’ time, they’re crossing the familiar bridges to lead back to his father’s palace.
Y/N, evidently having never traveled here before, looks around with what would come across as apathy to a human but translates to ill-concealed awe to an elf. Legolas is somewhat robbed of that appreciation for this place, having grown up here, but he’s spent enough time away as of late that he can still appreciate the wooden carvings, the towering ceilings, the scent of riches and luxury that hangs from every crevice.
Most elves are not blessed with the ability to call on Thranduil’s time unannounced, but Legolas, being both a prince and a prince of this palace in particular, has that rare gift. His presence is alerted to the king, who sends the messenger back promptly with an invitation to enter.
His father’s receiving rooms still look the exact same. Even as time weathers the most sturdy of stones, Legolas wonders if this place will remain untouched by the years, gathering only dust instead of true age. He can remember being a boy here, nothing more than a child, then a young man, then whatever he is now, caught between ages, part of the immortal continuum that only elves seem to truly understand.
For now, though, Legolas is not here to understand his past, nor grasp at future straws. Once he has properly greeted his father, he extends a hand to his younger charge a few paces behind him.
“This is Y/N L/N,” he says, “an elf of the eastern woods. Her family and village were destroyed in an orc attack. I bring her to you for sanctuary.”
Thranduil inclines his head. “How far from our borders was this village?”
Legolas’ lips tighten imperceptibly– how like his father, always concerned with Mirkwood’s dealings alone, the rest of the world could rot away so long as it didn’t come to their gates– but Y/N answers instead, saving him from frustration.
“A few hours’ walk and nothing more,” she responds simply, “although we conducted trade with Mirkwood many times before. We lived in what was once Ema Thalor.”
“Ema Thalor,” muses Thranduil, “I remember their kind. Good warriors, with strong hearts. Very well then,” he concludes, “the matter is settled. Y/N shall remain in Mirkwood and receive training. Perhaps she can even join our guard someday.”
Legolas blinks in surprise. In truth, he had not expected his father to make such a decision so quickly, but then again, the king has relied on his intuition well over the centuries.
He bows once and leaves the throne room, Y/N behind him. She keeps her voice quiet, although it is tinged with a sort of awe.
“So it will go, then?” She asks, “I am to stay here? To train with your soldiers?”
Legolas chuckles under his breath. “I doubt you’ll be training with the soldiers quite yet. You still have several years before that point, but yes, you could if you wished for it.”
He gets it into his mind that it would be a good idea to test the girl’s current combat knowledge, so he gestures for her to follow him down into the training halls. The ceiling arches overhead, seemingly tall enough to host entire mountains. Many elves already occupy the space, but it’s not so filled that Legolas and Y/N cannot find a spare corner for themselves if need be.
Legolas draws a sword from a nearby weapons rack on the wall and hands it to Y/N, pulling his own from a scabbard on his back. She handles the blade fairly well, the leather grip held with an ease that only comes with at least some sort of familiarity.
He looks over at her, this half-wild creature of the forest currently glaring at him over a borrowed blade, and smiles. Perhaps purpose has found him after all, not in the shape of a quest or great trial, but in kindness. The deepest victories are often the smallest, but Legolas is beginning to think that he will fight for this one as long as he can.
requested by @valiantphantomangel, i hope you enjoy!
lotr/hobbit tag list: @rogueanschel, @retvenkos, @gods-fools-heroes
#legolas#legolas imagines#legolas x reader#legolas oneshot#legolas greenleaf#legolas greenleaf imagines#legolas greenleaf x reader#legolas greenleaf oneshot#lotr#lotr imagines#lotr x reader#lotr oneshot#lord of the rings#lord of the rings imagines#lord of the rings x reader#lord of the rings oneshot
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Unhinged Anon again, and thank you for the meme! I love that you went through the extra effort to add Macaque's jacked-up eye lol.
But also, your response has me straying ever closer to the brink of insanity, because now I can’t stop thinking about how MK and Macaque in S2E7 kind of parallel Azure and MK in S4E13-14.
It’s not a perfect parallel, of course, but…
A character who really, really wants to be a hero and help others ends up isolating themself from the people who care about them most and hurting/endangering those dearest to them, as well as the world in general, as they pursue more power (MK in S2E6-7, Azure in S4E12-14). A ‘hero’ who doesn’t realize their slowly becoming someone that, if they were to look at themselves from the outside, they would never call a hero.
Another character, who is technically their enemy but doesn't really want the ‘hero’ to go down a self-destructive path and sees their genuine desire to do good, throwing every ounce of flawed reasoning and self reassurance the ‘hero’ has ever tried to use right back in their face. Pointing out every hypocrisy, every step taken towards becoming something, everything, the ‘hero’ doesn’t want to be.
A ‘hero’ getting a reality check in the form of an ass beating from someone significantly stronger than them while said stronger being points out the mistakes the ‘hero’ doesn't realize they’re making. And this ass beating happens while the ‘hero’ is completely separated from their friends, alone with nobody but their enemy. *slowly rotates “It’s scary being alone” around in my head*
“In the darkness, the Warrior was forgotten by the Hero''. All of the isolating MK does in S2E6-7, unintentionally leaving his friends alone and vulnerable to the kidnapping vs S4E13 Azure nearly hitting Yellowtusk with the scroll while attacking MK and SWK. Bonus points for the snack area MK goes to having much better lighting and being above the theater where he leaves his friends, and Azure being well lit from his place high in the sky while Yellowtusk is on the ground and shaded by the forest. Bonus bonus points for an ‘enemy’ being the one to save the ‘hero’s friends, not the ‘hero’ himself. Macaque’s the one that broke the lamp and Tang had to shield Yellowtusk from Azure’s barrage.
And don't even get me started on how Wukong fits into all this.
Anyways, something something “The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends. That’s you bud” something something “Come on, Unkie Lion. You’re the big hero, right? Then prove it” something something the parallels between MK and Macaque are driving me insane, and I’m starting to realize that Shadow Play might be my favorite S2 episode. Anyways, hope you’re having a wonderful day! *waves from the precipice of madness*
DELICIOUS ANALYSIS THANK YOU UNHINGED ANON. Always a pleasure to see you here in my ask box!
So with Tang being the one to save Yellowtusk in 4x13 and Macaque being the one to save Mei, Pigsy, and Tang in 2x07, there's also the Lady Bone Demon being the one to save Macaque from death—rather than Wukong, whose whole motivation for power was to protect the people he cares about. The delicious irony.
We can even take this another step further and point to the Embrace Your Destiny special, where Wukong leaves MK and then gets possessed. Possessed Wukong then hurts MK and Macaque is the one who has to save him. Look at this parallel here for more fun!
#hmmmm I think 2x08 might be my favorite s2 episode with 2x05 and 2x07 really close behind#But it's because of sandy destroying the fucking bear mountain. It kills me every fucking time#Like cool ''Doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart.'' LIKE. COOL.#asks#lmk#lmk analysis#lego monkie kid#monkie kid#lmk MK#lmk Azure Lion#lmk Macaque#unhinged anon#Don't even get me started on ''it's scary being alone'' and how that plays into like. Into all of it. the whole fucking show#Abandonment and togetherness themes.#Themes of isolation#Leaving motif#Reaching motif#''We're stronger together'' ''I need to stop dragging you into my fights'' ''Wukong has to drag everyone else into his mess''#Like. How your close proximity to others enables you to hurt them.#It's scary being close to people and it's scary being alone#''You don't want to fight Azure cause people might get hurt—you don't want to not fight Azure cause people might get hurt''#it's the crack writing#the writing they put crack in#ANYWAYS CLEARED MY ASK BOX WOOO.
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As the title implies I have several AU ideas and can't seem to decide which one to start first.
Please note: All of the stories would happen before SkyClan gets driven out of the forest.
Dewstar's ambition: Dewkit is a young SkyClan kit with a great ambition: To become the best leader of his Clan, even greater than the great founder Skystar or his grandfather, wise old Whitestar.
After gaining his apprentice name, Dewpaw gets cocky during a training session with an older apprentice , causing her to get hurt worse than he thought was possible. As punishment Whitestar delays his warrior ceremony for two moons , causing Dewpaw's littermates to gain their names before him.
After finally becoming a warrior Dewpatch realizes that he's developing a crush on the she-cat he had injured but she doesn't feel the same way, instead pining after a tom from RiverClan. He really wants her to be his mate and comes up with a plan to gain her attention: He had to become the best mentor and then deputy. Will he succeed?
Hawkfoot's choice: Hawkfoot has lost her mate, the father of her three kits during a fight against ShadowClan and is anxious because she knows that they will have to fight for their lives sooner rather than later. So when a fellow WindClan queen, Daisytail tells her that she doesn't want to see her son dying needlessly , they come up with plan : Convince enough queens from both of the rival Clans so when the next fight inevitably breaks out , they will hopefully manage to convince the leaders to stop sending kits in battle too young.
Moons after succeeding with the plan she witnesses one of her sons saving a life of ShadowClan she-cat who is apparently expecting kits, nearly dying himself. The she-cat then reveals a shocking secret: The kits she's expecting are his and she wants to join WindClan.
Lavenderpelt's destiny: Lavenderpaw is a young ThunderClan apprentice with a kind heart and a knack for fighting. She especially loves to spar with her littermates and older apprentices.
After gaining her warrior name Lavenderpelt gets into an accident , breaking her leg which confines her in the medicine cat den for moons, causing her to fear that the leader will force her to become the next medicine cat, a role she never wanted.
One day she has a dream where she sees a mysterious tom who tells her that her destiny isn't to be a medicine cat, instead she will be remembered as one of the best warriors, but doesn't tell her anything more.
Who was that tom and how could Lavenderpelt become the warrior he predicted she'd be?
Troutstar's path: Troutfang is a young RiverClan warrior, full of energy and mischief. One day he gets seriously hurt during a play fight near a river when one of his friends accidentally pushes him into the water.
The experience causes Troutfang to become more reserved and cautious than before , affecting his ability to hunt and fight.
One day he sees a beautiful loner struggling to cross the stepping stones because of her pregnant belly. After helping her to the RiverClan territory she thanks him before padding away. He thinks that they will never meet again. However about half-moon later the patrol he's in comes across with the she-cat giving birth and helps her to the camp. Will she stay in the Clan or not?
Flowerstar's reign: After losing her sister, Mossfire in a fight for leadership of ShadowClan Flowerstem is grief-stricken but knows that the Clan needs her help. How will she react when an apparent sign from StarClan implies that she should be the next leader? What will happen when an outbreak of whitecough and greencough ravages the already shaken up Clan?
6. If you have another idea for an AU tell me.
#oc#warrior cats#warriors#wc au#fanfic#thunderclan#riverclan#windclan#skyclan#shadowclan#forbidden love#warriors oc#ancient skyclan
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<< Chapter 20 || Chapter 21 || Chapter 22 || From the Beginning || Patreon >>
Chapter 21
“Let all cats old enough to run the moors’ length come beneath the Tallstone for a Clan meeting!”
Crowflight opened his eyes. Somehow, he was inside the rain dens – he hadn’t put much thought into where he was sleeping the night before, and half-expected to be out in the middle of camp. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to wander into the den, but he was grateful; it was far too cold out at night to attempt sleeping in the open.
He pulled himself out of the den, shaking his pelt of the last remnants of his dreams. He recalled dreaming of he and Mudclaw out on the old moors, in the shadow of Longsight Rock. He remembered the chastising, the threat of never becoming a warrior. After that recollection, though, Crowflight wasn't sure what he’d dreamed of. Perhaps StarClan had shown him a mercy, and let him sleep in darkness for the rest of the night.
He spotted Mudclaw now, trotting away from the ruined camp barrier. Poppyfoot had Thistlepaw and Weaselpaw at work already, pausing only to follow the former deputy to the center of the clearing.
Crowflight’s gaze was on Mudclaw, however.
Did you really think that you were making me stronger? He wondered. Did you think you were a good mentor?
Do you finally, finally see that I am not my father?
He wasn’t sure about that. Crowflight padded up to the rest of the Clan, sitting down between Duskwhisker and Whitetail. He gave them both a nod before he curled his tail tightly around his paws.
Onewhisker was standing atop the Tallstone, his tail curled up high. He looked nervous – Crowflight realized that this was the first time Onewhisker had deigned to use the Tallstone to talk to the Clan as a whole.
Maybe he felt it wasn’t his place, without his leader name, Crowflight thought.
Onewhisker glanced down below. Ashfoot sat there, her shoulder caked with cobwebs and poultices, flanked by Barkface and Ryewhisper. Barkface certainly didn’t look pleased, and Crowflight guessed it was because his mother had stubbornly decided to listen in on the meeting, rather than rest in the medicine cat’s den like she probably ought to.
Ashfoot gave him a nod, and Onewhisker cleared his throat:
“Cats of WindClan, last night was almost a tragedy,” he announced. “We were lucky that the foxes were lean and hungry, and most importantly few in number; but something like this cannot happen again.”
Onewhisker’s gaze passed over the crowd. “Something we’ve sorely lacked since arriving is an equivalent to Longsight Rock, a place where we can hone our eyes and watch over our territory. Mudclaw has made me aware of the large boulder that sits atop the rowan’s hill – from there, one can view almost the entire moorland. I’ve decided to call his boulder Lakeview, and from now on, there will be a guard posted atop it every night.”
The Clan murmured.
“A good idea,” Smokewillow agreed, nodding his head. “We can’t afford anything sneaking up on us!”
“Agreed,” Emberstep mewed. “With more warning, those foxes wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
“Enemy Clans won’t, either,” Mudclaw meowed gruffly, his eyes burning. He sported several new scabs from the night before beneath his ruffled coat. “From Lakeview, you can see just about everything in our territory.”
Softbreeze sighed. “I wish we’d thought of it sooner!”
Crowflight glanced up at Onewhisker. The brown tom was listening, and Softbreeze’s words made his ear twitch.
“I would also like to commend all of you,” Onewhisker went on. “If not for your efforts and your skill, last night might have ended quite differently. I would especially like to thank Crowflight – without the risk he took, Ashfoot’s fate would’ve been in the paws of StarClan.”
Crowflight’s breath caught in his throat as the entire Clan turned to him and cheered: “Crowflight! Crowflight!”
Pride bloomed in his chest. He had done it all just to save his mother, but hearing the Clan recognize him, thank him – something they hadn’t even done for his efforts in finding them a home – made his pelt prickle with happiness. He ducked his head bashfully and did not raise his chin until they ceased cheering.
“While Ashfoot recovers, I will be setting up patrols,” Onewhisker stated. “Whitetail, you will be sitting first watch on Lakeview tonight. Go on and get some rest.”
“Yes, Onewhisker,” Whitetail mewed, dipping her muzzle.
“Smokewillow will take your place at moonhigh. That is all, for now,” Onewhisker announced. “The rest of you, come to me for your duties...”
The Clan broke up as Onewhisker crept down off of the Tallrock. A few, Bramblefur and Emberstep, moved to give Crowflight more congratulations. Poppyfoot took Weaselpaw and Thistlepaw back off to the barrier. The others went to get their assignments.
“Don’t let it get to your head, fluff-brain,” Duskwhisker chuckled, flicking her tail against Crowflight’s ear as she padded by.
Crowflight scoffed, brushing his fur back down with a paw. He wanted to say something back, but the gray shape of his mother limping over to him kept Crowflight’s jaws shut.
“I told Onewhisker to let you rest until sunhigh,” she rasped. “Mind sharing some breakfast with me?”
“Not at all,” Crowflight responded.
He let Ashfoot choose the spot, leaving her to rest as he went to fetch them some fresh-kill. Surprisingly, the foxes had left their prey alone – Crowflight imagined that they would’ve ravaged the pile had they not been defeated so quickly, or been so single-minded. He took a rabbit for them to share and returned to his mother, and Crowflight began to shred it into equal portions.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ashfoot sighed. “I’m not a kit...”
Crowflight, mouth tasting of rabbit’s blood, shook his head. “You shouldn’t be out here in the first place, Ma. Just let me help...”
He gave her a bit of meat, and Ashfoot tucked in. “So much better than those dusty herbs!” she breathed, licking her muzzle.
Crowflight watched her carefully tear at her share, trying not to use her shoulder. Guilt touched his belly at the sight of those wounds. “I should’ve been quicker,” he muttered. “You might not have been hurt at all.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ashfoot insisted. “I’ll be back to normal within the moon, Barkface’s promise!” She nudged him. “Things like this happen, Crowflight. It’s not always someone’s fault.”
Crowflight grimaced, unsatisfied with that answer. He tore at his fresh-kill, but tasted little of it. His mind was whirling as he watched his Clanmates go about their day. Barkface had called over Thistlepaw for some help, while Ryewhisper took Emberstep out of the camp with him, likely to help fetch more herbs before the frost killed them entirely. Smokewillow was leading away a hunting patrol, but not before stopping by the nursery to say good-bye to Robinwing.
“It all flows well, doesn’t it?” Ashfoot mewed. “When it works.”
Crowflight flinched, embarrassed that he’d been caught staring. He coughed. “You’ve done a good job, Ma.”
Ashfoot’s ear flicked. “Have I?” she wondered, her tail twisting. She sighed. “I’m sure I could do better in some spots...”
Crowflight gnawed on a rabbit bone. “I don’t think there’s a cat in the Clan that wouldn’t listen to you,” he admitted. He lapped at a bit of exposed marrow. “Whatever else might be going on.”
Ashfoot’s eyes narrowed, just a touch. “It’s that ‘whatever else’ that I worry about, son,” she confessed, her tone darkening. “I’m proud to be a good deputy, but that’s all I am – a deputy. A Clan cannot survive with just a deputy...”
Crowflight lifted his head. Worry shot through him. She doubts Onewhisker, too! His paws trembled.
“Don’t look at me like that!” Ashfoot hissed, quickly. She slapped Crowflight’s flank with her tail. “Onewhisker is a good leader, he has what he needs to do a good job, a great job, inside of him! Just...”
“Just what?”
“I’m not sure I was the right cat to help bring it out,” Ashfoot confessed. Crowflight followed her gaze – Onewhisker was talking with Poppyfoot by the broken barrier, though about what Crowflight could only guess. The lean warrior nodded and said something that made Poppyfoot look disappointed as she turned back to her work.
“You’re a great deputy,” Crowflight repeated, looking at his mother. Her gaze was full of worry, and that in turn amplified Crowflight’s worries.
“I wasn’t chosen to be WindClan’s leader, though,” Ashfoot pointed out. “Onewhisker was. I’m doing my best, that’s all I can do, but sometimes...” Her eyes darkened. “I wish that Mudclaw had taken my place.”
Crowflight looked at his mother, eyes wide with shock. “You can’t possibly think that!”
Ashfoot soothed him with a paw. “Mudclaw is aggressive, yes, but he was always tempered by Tallstar’s wisdom and experience. I think he and Onewhisker could’ve had a similar relationship, whether Mudclaw was allowed to become leader or not. They could have – should have – been able to learn from one another, and grow. Now, though...”
She trailed off. Crowflight swallowed. Now, Mudclaw is spurned and Onewhisker is leader. You’re trying to keep the peace between them, even if it means you’re doing Onewhisker’s job for him most of the time...
Seeing his mother so worried tore Crowflight up inside. He leaned against her, lapping at her coat, trying to pull out the stray bits of gorse that had caught in her fur from her nest in the medicine cat’s den. She smelled earthy and warm, and her purr reminded him of his days in the nursery, tucked in tightly by her side, when none of this was ever a problem.
“I’m sorry,” Ashfoot murmured. “I’ve always been too overprotective of you.”
Crowflight muttered, “Don’t worry about that. I’m not mad about it anymore. I get it, now.”
“I made it difficult for you to have friends,” Ashfoot fretted on. “I was always so worried about whether or not you were happy...”
“I am happy.”
“Are you?” Ashfoot asked. “Truly?”
Was he happy?
Crowflight lifted his head. How was he supposed to answer that? If he said no, his mother would be crushed – her eyes were glazed with pain, now, and Crowflight wondered if it was because of the conversation, or her shoulder.
“I’m happy right now,” Crowflight decided. “That’s fine enough.”
Ashfoot sighed. He could tell that it was not the answer she had sought – but Crowflight knew he couldn’t dare lie to his mother.
“I’m glad you seem to be friendly with Duskwhisker, at least,” Ashfoot mewed. She laid her head on her paws. “You two would always bicker as apprentices...”
“I bickered with everyone,” Crowflight reminded her. “I wasn’t a very good apprentice, remember?”
Ashfoot chuckled. “Now, now! Don’t start that – you were a fabulous apprentice. I remember when Duskwhisker would challenge you to a hunt and you’d be so cross if you lost...” She glanced sidelong at Crowflight. “Should we make up another nest in the nursery, or...?”
The fur along Crowflight’s spine tingled. “Augh!” he complained. “No, of course not! We’re only friends, Ma!”
Ashfoot only chuckled. She shut her eyes, looking content despite Crowflight’s reaction. “Alright, then...”
Crowflight lapped at her flank as the humor died down. Sunhigh was approaching, he knew. His time here with his mother, just the two of them, was running out. He had one more question that was burning a hole in his mind.
“Did... Did Deadfoot ever fight with his Clanmates?” he asked, quietly. “Was he anything like me?”
Ashfoot was silent for some time.
“No, son,” she said, finally, a sigh escaping her breath. “He was nothing like you... and I am sorry for making you think that was ever a bad thing.”
Crowflight, stunned, met his mother’s eye. She was looking at him with a gaze full up with apology, seasons and seasons worth of it, her whiskers trembling to their ends. When she moved closer, Crowflight didn’t pull away – they pressed their foreheads together, and Crowflight felt like a kit again, warm and safe.
“You are you, my dear son,” Ashfoot breathed. “And I am so proud of you...”
Her words made Crowflight tremble. They were all he had ever wanted to hear, from her, from anyone, and it made his heart crack and ache, in the best way possible.
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OC trivia + how they met!
Trivia first!
Sepia
Shamrock
Cerise
As for how they met? Hehe STORY TIMEE
Images flashing through his brain of him and another person, emotions bursting through his skull and a message ringing through his mind over and over woke Shamrock up in a cold sweat. Drat, he thought, yet another vision I can't interpret.
It was only another day. One that was supposed to be normal. Sepia casually walked down the dirt path to town. She didn't see the bushes move, nor did she hear the leaves unnaturally rustling with each other. She only noticed something was off when a sudden movement caught her off guard. Bandits!
Cerise would pledge her loyalty to anyone who saves her. Including a bunch of rogue criminals. When they found her huddling under a tree to stay warm, they offered to take her in, to which she gladly accepted. Afterall, Cerise was fine with stealing.
When he heard a terrified scream from just what sounded like the other side of of the forest, Shamrock dropped what he was doing and ran toward the sound. He knew that the area was near a camp of bandits and thieves and feared that an unlucky traveler had gotten jumped. He lunged into the battle with his sword drawn.
Sepia couldn't be more grateful when the green stick figure launched himself at the rogues when he did. He stabbed one of them in the leg and the rest jumped back and ran. Before she could utter a thanks, he grabbed her (bridal style) and pulled her away. Once they reached the town, he put her down and shook her by her shoulders saying that she must be more careful next time- someone might not be able to come to her aid like he had -before leaving Sepia at the gates, still slightly stunned. Shaking herself back into reality, she started giving chase to the stranger.
Cerise could barely think through the pain. Her leg had blistering pain shooting through it, but what's more is that lingering feel of betrayal. She was vulnerable, lying there with no defence, and who she thought she could look to for help had cold heartedly left her to die. She painstakingly picked herself up and began limping her way towards town, knowing that the woods that surrounded her was surely hiding traps or traitors.
Shamrock was surprised when he heard the sound of the brown stick figure running towards him. Pausing to let her catch up, he took the moment to study her. She had no scars, and looked innocent enough. That would probably be why she didn't fight back against those bandits earlier. Her eyes shined as she asked him if she could be his companion, and he couldn't say no to the childish stick. With a slight smile he introduced himself to which she did the same. Sepia seemed nice, hopefully she wouldn't run into too much trouble.
Sepia couldn't believe it! The warrior was her friend and travelling companion! As they walked to Shamrock's house, she was on high alert. Maybe she didn't want to be jumped again, or maybe she was hyperactive, but nevertheless, she caught a flash of darkish pink in the corner of her eye. She whirled around and saw a panicked stick figure scrambling away from them - or rather - away from Shamrock. She nudged him and he too, turned to face the injured rogue.
She couldn't believe her bad luck as the green stick figure walked slowly her direction. She knew that he'd probably leave her even more mangled, or worse. The brown one that she attempted to rob was there as well- surely she would edge on her death. "What are you doing here, you filthy thief?", asked the green one. Cerise looked at him, shaking with fear, then looked away, ferociously. She heard him draw his sword. She waited for the blow that would surely happen. Except it never came. She glanced back up. The brown one was holding back the blade, shaking her head, then whispered something to the other. With a slight growl, the green one lowered his weapon as the brown stick figure beckoned to me. "Come with us," she offered, "and don't cause trouble. At least until your healed." Mercy was a thing Cerise has before and it backfired, although there was something about this duo... She accepted.
That folks, is how their journeys together began.
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A’idan: what is their personal kryptonite?
Inge: if they could change anything, what would they choose?
Aïcha: biggest and smallest long term goal?
Kazan: what is one way to earn their trust?
[sorry I made this long! I’m just curious about them all honestly c: ]
What is their personal kryptonite?
I'd say reading between the lines. Or rather, people expecting him to understand the implicit meaning of what they say, which he finds akin to asking him to read their mind. (And for all his intelligence, he's rather bad at guessing what they meant because his idea of a normal conversation and/or interest very rarely is theirs too XD)
If they could change anything, what would they choose?
Interestingly, I think you asked that for my character the least likely to change things by way of miracle. If you gave her the power to change anything she wanted, she’d just... not use it at all. There are people she misses, things she wished had happened differently in her life, but Inge is the kind of woman that focus on the present with an eye on the future and doesn’t care much for what used to be.
She still doesn't know what to think of the Ascians or G'raha Tia (in both verses, be it Aïcha's or my FC's, she's learned about it) and is rather unsure that in their place, she would have attempted what they did.
Now if you asked her that question, but without her having a way to actually make that change, she'd say that she'd love to be able to come back to Golmore. Basically to lift her ban.
Biggest and smallest long term goal?
Broad goal, and perhaps the most ambitious in a way: to find out who she is beyond a warrior. Not really because of other people’s expectations but because it’s what she’s been for so long now that who she was before that feels like an half-forgotten dream.
And to be fair, she’s 35. When she discarded her dreams of becoming a famous dancer almost two decades ago to clear her father’s debts, she never thought she would one day have the possibility to live freely again. She went from saving him to saving the star and then, suddenly, nothing but peace and free will.
Small goal: she used to dance for the artistic aspect of it and she’d love to find a way to get back to her roots.
What is one way to earn their trust?
There isn’t. Kazan’s trust issues run deeper than the Mariana Trench. The closest thing from him trusting you at the moment would be him spending time with you without doing it for work, and the best way to get there is just to care about him, to show him subtly that you do and to be very patient with him.
One day, maybe, if enough people show him what caring about him means, he might consider giving them a chance and finally open up a little, but at the moment he sincerely doesn’t think that anyone would want anything to do with him if not for his martial abilities or possibly sex.
Thanks for the ask, @umbralaether! And no need to apologize, it’s a pleasure to reply :D
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Names and Burdens (Warriors)
Far from home, four cats sat to rest from their ordeal. Their fur under the moon almost made them look like family, or at least one very large cat with many heads as they huddled for warmth under the clear sky near the abandoned two leg nest that cast a shadow to hide them from the sight of whatever might be near.
“Stonepaw…Breezepaw… That was the most MOUSE BRAINED thing I have EVER seen in my life!” The two young cats closed their eyes at the words, lowering their heads just a moment at the reprimand from the only warrior that was there with them. The pair shivered slightly before Breezepaw moved with a bowed head from their huddle.
“I… I’m sorry Whisperclaw…” The little shecat apprentice looked up, expression not holding fear or sorrow but determination. “I would do it again though. That dog was after Timberfoot and we are to respect our elders, are we not?” Her mentor’s way of speech had rubbed off on her, that and the Medicine cat from their clan. The clan they weren’t sure they would see again.
“They were brave Whisperclaw.” Timberfoot spoke, standing up himself and limping as he had been the whole journey. “I would not have been upset if my death by that dog’s teeth would have saved you young ones though. They are just apprentices after all, and you’ve barely been given your first even. How many moons ago were you made a Warrior?”
“It’s been about seven moons, but-” Whisperclaw grit his teeth and dug his claws into the dirt. “I… I don’t blame her for not giving me an apprentice. I’ve made nothing but bad choices this whole time. I was supposed to go alone, but then you and these two…” He swiped at grass, frustrated with what had happened so far and upset by the result. They were meant to be home by now and that hadn’t happened.
“What’s done is done though, and in all honesty…” Timberfoot smiled softly, laying down with his bad leg out. “I think you three have all done wonderfully. I hope Starclan can see us, and can tell the clan what you deserve. Whisperclaw you’ve made it very clear that you can teach not just one apprentice after all.”
“Yeah!” Stonepaw jumped to his feet, eyes wide. “You taught me how to catch that bird when the wind was all crazy! And you taught me how to run better!”
“You taught me how to be careful in dangerous areas, and what to look for when we catch fox scent!” Breezepaw smiled and moved, brushing her side against the warrior’s. “I wanted to say thank you for that for a long time, but these past few nights have been too crazy and I was kind of scared you’d be mad… You always seemed upset.”
The tense moment became comfortable rather quickly, though the warrior and two apprentices turned to the elder with them. They had to make sure that Timberfoot was alright, though it was Breezepaw that seemed to take the initiative to move from the group and go to the small bundle she had carried. The herbs were good for the stiff and injured leg, and while the other minor issues she had tended were healed, she still checked on the warrior and her fellow apprentice.
“I’ve never seen a warrior apprentice so skilled at healing. Are you sure that you don’t belong back at camp?” Whisperclaw asked, stretching toes and a leg for the apprentice to appraise the healing of.
“I don’t think I could do this for longer than I need to. I really do like my duties as a warrior apprentice. I can’t wait for my full name!” Her tail swished and she smiled brightly.
“Well. I certainly don’t think that should be held from anyone.” The sound of a new voice brought the four cats to bristle, and without any communication the warrior and two apprentices placed themselves in guard positions around the resting elder, eyes wide and searching.
“I don’t see anyone.” Stonepaw spoke, just loud enough for the others to hear. The other two growled their agreement, carefully taking two more steps forward in their positions.
“You’re all quite vigilant and dutiful. Admirable for clan cats. I don’t mean harm though, so if you wish to calm then you may.”
“Up there! The twolegplace!” Stonepaw shifted to give his full attention to what he had noticed, a cat that nearly blended in with the sky. She sat calmly above them, too high to make an attack on them useful. “You won’t ambush us you rogue!” Stonepaw was brave to a fault. The she-cat laughed openly, but not in a mocking way.
“Yes, that is a good attitude for a warrior defending his clanmates!” She moved from her place, leaping with barely a sound as she landed before the four cats, her blue fur sporting the slightest white spots that almost looked like stars in the sky they were under. Her nearly white gray eyes were looking over the cats, startling the elder into sitting up.
“Who are you?” Whisperclaw growled, tail flicking angrily. She was too close to Breezepaw for his liking, and while the apprentice was brave he could see the nervous way her claws were digging into the ground.
“No one important to the rest of your clan.” She spoke, eyes almost shining white. Breezepaw stared at her long and hard before her tail dropped and her claws sheathed. Their eyes had met.
“Breezepaw?” Stonepaw moved, reaching out to touch her, his eyes staying on the strange cat before them. The female didn’t startle when touched, though she did finally blink after a few moments too long. A paw came up to rub her eyes.
“You saw then? Good, good.” There was a purr from the blue female, her attention turning to the cats around her. “You have a ways to go, and the road is very dangerous.”
“Wait, see what? Breezepaw-” Whisperclaw paused as the female looked over her shoulder, eyes watery, but with a wisdom that was usually seen in leaders, medicine cats, or even sometimes deputies. He calmed, and with that, so did Stonepaw.
The female lept back to her place, the soundless movement of her paws unnerving with the atmosphere that had crept in. Fireflies were in the air now, out of season it felt like, but still in the air as she stood before them. The soft rustle of leaves, branches, and grass filled the air as she looked down upon them.
“Though I belong to no clan.” Her words were clear, ringing out over the four under the light of the moon and stars. “I hold duties that are allowed to clans, should it be willed to me. And as it is willed this night, I take the duties of a Clan Leader.”
Breezepaw’s tail brushed the warrior’s nose, silencing his alarm while the elder remained speechless, staring up at the she cat addressing them.
“So far from their clan, their families and their loved ones, on a journey that has taken them moons away with dangers that could very well end them at a moment’s notice… Apprentices, please step forward. Warrior, what are the names of these two before me?” Her tone held no threat. It held warmth, though. Warmth that was fitting of their past leader. Whisperclaw swallowed.
“Stonepaw and Breezepaw. I am not their mentor-”
“This is known, and while they are not your Stars, those here will carry this to your home. Let It Be Known!” A shiver ran through the four cats, the two apprentices looking up at the female.
“With my authority, given to me by the stars. The dangers these cats have faced thus far will be watched and spoken of. The feats achieved by these cats and the duties upheld even this far from home has brought the voices of the stars to my ears and in my dreams. May the cats of the stars present look upon these clan cats and share tongues to their families and friends.”
“Stonepaw. For your plan, thought of with aid of your clanmates, and the bravery that saved the one elder you promised protection to moons ago. The stars have recognized you deserve this name no more. For the bravery that you have shown, and the dedication to your code, you have earned the name Wolfheart until the end of your days.”
The newly named warrior flinched slightly, eyes wide at the stripping of the Stone in his name. For such a drastic change… it was rare, but when it happened…
“Breezepaw. From the beginning of the journey, you have known it would not be easy. The warnings of your elder and the Warrior here have never swayed you or the choices you have made. Like your namesake, you have not been stopped, and nor shall you be stopped in the future. Warrior you may be, until this journey ends, the stars have willed it that you hold the duties of a Medicine cat. You care for your clanmates, and while quiet you are not afraid to say what is needed, nor defend as you see fit. From this day forth, you have earned the name Breezefang.”
The pair sat straighter, feeling the authority and even the eyes of many that were not there.
“Wolfheart! Breezefang!” Whisperclaw and Timberfoot called as loud as their voices could, feeling no wrong in congratulating the pair that were only until moments ago apprentices.
“Yours is a special case young warriors! For you are away from your clan and homelands. This means your vigil tonight will be most important, and the stars will it that upon your return, you hold another to show the love and dedication you have for that home and those cats that are not here.” The blue female moved down again, her soundless paws bringing her to the newly named warriors where ner nose touched them on the brow.
“It is the will of one burdened with purpose by the stars! This ceremony be shared among the stars until it reaches their home! When the time comes, Breezefang shall bring you all home. For now, the vigil before your journey continues.” As she spoke, the fireflies in the area seemed to leave in groups, startling the cats whom watched them leave in several directions.
“Be strong new warriors, for the journey continues.” Her eyes closed as she turned, stepping away from the four and slipping between some tossed aside items.
Breezeclaw swallowed, eyes watering. “Wolfheart… I… You… we…”
“I’ve never known that to happen before.” Timberfoot gently interrupted, limping toward the two as Whisperclaw followed. “But… I could feel something in that… Whisperclaw, see if you can chase her? I’ll stay with Wolfheart and Breezefang.” Their new names being properly used had it sink in.
“Was she a starclan cat? Or… Or a clan cat from somewhere around here? Are there clans beside our own?” He pressed close to the elder as the warrior moved off after the female.
“I’ve heard of other groups of cats with their own stars or their own ways… but this is the first time I’ve met any.” Timberfoot was careful as he lay back down, sighing a bit as he looked at the space the cat had gone. “I… I think I’m getting too old for these adventures.”
“No way! I saw you climb that tree when the badger got in camp when I was a kit! You carried my brother to safety!” Breezefang huffed while Wolfheart nodded. He opened his mouth to say something more, but the grass rustled and Whisperclaw came back.
“She’s gone. Her scent just ended around the other side. I don’t know if she got in the Twolegplace or what, but… I couldn’t see her.” He took a seat by the elder, looking to his paws. “I… I did hear something though. A whisper in the wind? I think I need to rest.”
“Go on Whisperclaw. Keep Timberfoot warm, we have vigil after all.” Wolfheart smiled and gave the warrior’s ear a lick. Whisperclaw seemed to agree, laying down with the elder and sighing before he closed his eyes, watching as the two new warriors took their places nearby to protect them from whatever the rest of the night would bring.
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Debts and balances: or how much does one man have to pay over the course of his life?
Good morning everyone! Today we’re going to be talking about debts, and why Jiang Cheng needs to shut the fuck up on debts because he is the one in the wrong pretty much the entire time.
Let’s start by acknowledging that I am not of this culture so I may perhaps state a thing or two wrong, but I also have several functioning brain cells to rub together and I pay attention so I will probably be more right than most of the “hot takes” I see on why Jiang Cheng is not actually in the wrong here. Because he is. He so is.
So, debts. First of all, there are multiple levels and layers of debts and to whom do you owe them too. So let’s start with the first one where the story is subtle about it and yet both Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu are in the wrong. We know that Cangse Sanren saved Jiang Fengmian’s life at one point when they were young. Life debts are big. To only be alive because of someone else’s actions is a debt that it is possible you will never be able to pay back. There are multiple stories of otherwise good people protecting the obvious villain because they owe that.
Jiang Fengmian’s only way of being able to pay back that debt after Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze die is to take care of their child and raise him how they would have. I.E, as a cultivator. This is not a debt that Wei Wuxian owes to the Jiangs. It is quite literally, the least of what Jiang Fengmian owes him and his parents to do.
Jiang Cheng cannot claim that Wei Wuxian owes them for his life. He is wrong.
Next debt that even Jiang Cheng does not try to claim, only his ever so pleasant stans, the fucking dogs. The fucking dogs that he does not actually give a fuck about.
Wei Wuxian does not ask anyone to do anything about the dogs. He is not in a mental state to. He is in a state of triggered phobia where his brain literally goes into run away screaming mode. This is also not funny and Jiang Cheng is a jackass for making fun of it whenever it happens. Jiang Fengmian is the one who decides that it’s better for the dogs to go. Even though Jiang Cheng is upset, he does not actually hold this as a lingering grudge against Wei Wuxian. He lets it the fuck go. And even if he didn’t, the resentment and anger should be aimed at the person who actually made a decision about it. Not Wei Wuxian. He does not give one singular fuck about his dogs later on. Let the fucking dogs go.
Third off: The Fall of Lotus Pier. There are different levels of blame that we can lay on this. Wei Wuxian is not close to responsible for this. Jiang Cheng knows this and elects to blame him anyway.
The first people we can lay the blame on the fall of Lotus Pier is the Wens, who came with ships, warriors, Wang Lingjiao to rile up the notoriously short tempered asshole Madam Yu, and Wen Zhuliu the Core-Melting Hand. They came prepared for battle and they got what they wanted. Madam Yu is the second one we can lay the blame on, for deciding to attack and demean Wang Lingjiao, not for making her do anything she didn’t want to do, because holy hell did she want to whip Wei Wuxian until he couldn’t move and leapt at the chance to do such a thing, but because Wang Lingjiao is a servant who was elevated by her lover and Madam Yu is a classist asshole. This is the only reason she flips out. Wei Wuxian did nothing wrong. Wei Wuxian does not have the blood of Lotus Pier on his hands, he is tied to Jiang Cheng and told to protect him at the cost of his life, a debt he does not owe.
The four debt he attempts to claim, the only one that might be considered to have some teeth if it weren’t for how much Wei Wuxian gives him back almost immediately. Jiang Cheng goes to distract the Wens from Wei Wuxian and ends up getting captured and losing his golden core. So first off, in this world a golden core is a lot to lose, I won’t deny that. But, first off, Wei Wuxian is only in danger because after being whipped a lot, then strangled, then having to run after Jiang Cheng multiple times because he would rather go die at Lotus Pier than listen to either of his parents and escape, he still goes into town to get them something to eat because otherwise Jiang Cheng would rather lie on the ground and die. Fucking great sect leadership there, huh Jiang Cheng? But yes, Jiang Cheng sees the Wens, sees them notice Wei Wuxian, goes off to distract them and then gets captured and loses his golden core.
Now we’re getting to some of the debts that Jiang Cheng owes and refuses to pay back, because that’s definitely going to get him far in this world. Wei Wuxian in his panic and attempt to find Jiang Cheng, finds Wen Ning, who after some struggles manages to convince him that he can sneak in and get Jiang Cheng back out. In addition, he also retrieves the bodies of Madam Yu and Jiang Fengmian. This is huge. Jiang Cheng now owes him both a life debt for again, saving his life at great cost to his own: Wen Ning is literally committing treason here, and also for restoring the lost honor of not being able to bury his parents properly. Wen Ning gives them a proper burial and later after the war he is able to lie them to rest in the Ancestors Hall so their spirits will be at peace and he will have fulfilled his fillial duties. By all means, the debt he owes Wen Ning in particular is so great that he should have taken in every Wen in those camps and sheltered them because it is as close as he will ever get to repaying that debt. And that’s just Wen Ning!
The next debt he owes and refuses to pay is to Wen Qing, a genius doctor and respected by Wen Ruohan, who uses the prestige and skills she has to protect both him and Wei Wuxian in at this point enemy territory when they are being actively searched for, being the new sect leader and head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang. She hides them and then later uses her skills to give him a new golden core so that he can go and fight back against his people, revitalizing his clan and eradicating hers. This is another debt that could only really be paid back by protecting her people if she came to him. He owes her literally his life, his power and his people.
The third debt he owes and refuses to pay is to Wei Wuxian, who more than overbalances the scales back in his favor by giving him his golden core. He pays his chance at immortality, his power, his strength, his cultivation, everything that he has to his name so that Jiang Cheng won’t starve himself to death over losing his core. In addition, he tells Jiang Cheng that this comes from a once in a lifetime favor from his mother’s master so even before when he didn’t know about the core, this is still a massive, massive debt, a limitless one time favor from an immortal that he uses Wei Wuxian’s chance to get and never actually thanks him. So at this point, his own golden core as a debt starts to seem a little hollow. Either way, it’s been repaid. An action you do in service of someone else is not a weapon you get to hold over their heads for multiple lives.
Moving on! The next debt he would like to claim is that Wei Wuxian apparently has no right to do things he does not approve of. Excuse me? Is he now a computer program that crashed? What the fuck Jiang Wanyin? Wei Wuxian has less rank than him, although Jiang Cheng is so high rank in this society that he only shares his rank with three other people and there’s no one above him so it would be very hard for him to not be, but he is still a person, with his own thoughts, wishes, dreams, hopes and beliefs. He is not an extension of your hand, to make your clan look good and stand behind you as a hammer to smash on people. Wen Qing goes to Wei Wuxian to ask for help for finding her brother, her people because they are literally being tortured to death. This is a debt that by all means, Jiang Cheng should be repaying. See that part where Wen Ning committed treason to help him and restore his family’s honor? See that part where Wen Qing literally gave him the ability to go back to war against her family? This is the point where anyone with honor would recognize this is the only thing I can do. I will throw myself on my sword if I must, but I must repay this debt to them. There is nothing less I can do. But Jiang Cheng has only the honor of a mangy cur and ignores this, and when Wei Wuxian goes to fulfill this debt, he tells him to stop. To him, his multiple life debts are an inconvience to shoving his nose so far up Jin Guangshan’s ass that he’s tasting what he had for dinner that day.
The next debt that he would like to claim is the death of his brother in law. This is a debt that Wei Wuxian would owe to specific people. This debt is to Jiang Yanli, Jin Guangshan and Jin Ling, one of whom is wanting to forgive it, one who is too small to decide at the time, and one who straight up does not give a fuck beyond advancing his power. Jiang Cheng is not one of these people. His sister is fine, she’s not his concern anymore, she’s a part of the Jin sect. The only reason why he died is that Jiang Cheng decided the best way to repay his debt to Wei Wuxian was to throw a temper tantrum and declare him an enemy to everyone, ripping out every support from under his feet. Regardless, Jiang Cheng is an asshole and does not get to claim this debt.
The final one of Wei Wuxian’s first life that he keeps hurling at him is the death of his sister...the death of his sister who chose to leap between Wei Wuxian and a sword. The death of his sister at a battle that broke out because Jiang Cheng has been with Jin Guangshan whipping the cultivation world into a frenzy against the Wens and Wei Wuxian because of power and jealousy. The battle that would have not happened if they’d left them alone. Jiang Cheng has been to the burial mounds. He has seen the farmers, he has seen the baby there. He has decided that rather than do anything to repay these various deaths, he will kill them on other people’s swords instead. Because he is also a coward and won’t pick fights he can’t win. In addition he likes to steal Yanli’s agency, she’s the one who chose to come, she’s the one who chose to get in the way and she doesn’t die with regrets. And she is not his debt to claim. Again, the one who actually gets to claim this death that Wei Wuxian is not responsible for is Jin Ling, who actually shapes up and decides that it doesn’t matter, he doesn’t blame Wei Wuxian for it. He forgives him his role in that space and moves the fuck on, unlike a certain sir stabby grape mcwhipinnoencts.
And then Wei Wuxian dies and any debts he may have still owed to Jiang Cheng, not that there were any, die with him. Jiang Cheng has no claim on him, he was not part of his sect, they were not brothers in any way, indeed Jiang Cheng called him his enemy. Even most people with far more real grudges at this point would let it go. Wei Wuxian is so dead that no one can find his soul, no matter how hard they look. He comes back to life and reaps the rewards of his actions, finding new allies, getting the chance to actually interact with Jin Ling and make his apologies, and in the end, settle down to a peaceful life with an adoring husband and nothing left to be repaid. If there is still a debt he owes, it is only to Mo Xuanyu, who gave up his entire cycle of life to let Wei Wuxian reincarnate early with his memories, a sacrifice he only asked for repayment in the death of his family. He may owe more still, but that is all Mo Xuanyu wanted from him in repayment for this great sacrifice. The cultivation world is in the wrong when they’re trying to persecute him again for the actions of his previous life, he owes them nothing anymore. The debts he carries towards Jin Ling are the ones he chooses to take on, feeling guilty that he grew up without his parents due to the world’s general actions and also no one else taking responsibility for how far things fell.
That is what Jiang Cheng finally realizes in the temple, crouched on the floor and sobbing like a spoiled child over the golden core sacrifice. Is that he is in the wrong and has been in the wrong the whole time. That there is nothing he can hold onto, no debt that Wei Wuxian ever owed him that he could demand to be paid. He built it all up in his head as he left his honor, his family and his dignity in the wake of his arrogance. And it’s a painful thing to realize, the consequences of your decisions, but all he can do is live with his own ruined reputation, his own loneliness and the fact that no one wants to be around him. He’s blacklisted by multiple matchmakers, his disciples are more like thugs, Wei Wuxian chooses every opportunity to get away from him and even Jin Ling likes him less and less over the course of the book, not forgetting that he seems to prefer Jin Guangyao to begin with as he actually talks to him sometimes and doesn’t hit him. Jiang Cheng refusing to pay his debts gives him exactly what a debt deserter deserves. No one has a reason to trust him. The one bit of positive character growth he does is giving up and not trying to reel him back in by telling him of the sacrifice. At this point, all it would be is just him trying to get another debt he cannot hold because it is long since repaid, never quite made up for what they gave him to make up for it, and worthless in the face of Wei Wuxian’s new life. Wei Wuxian owes him nothing and never has.
Also, just to tally up the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng on things given between the two of them, Jiang Cheng gives him: a lot of whinging on how unfair it is that Wei Wuxian is a prodigy, and a one time immediately regretted and held over his head sacrifice of a golden core. Whereas Wei Wuxian gives him: many lessons on how to be a kinder person that he ignores, the patience and tolerance of his stinkbug attitude, his love, his affection, his fucking golden core, his reputation, his blood, his livelihood, taking over his debts, trying to keep any of his actions from reflecting on the Jiangs even though if Jiang Cheng had repaid any of the debts he owed, there would have been no problems because if the Jin’s did decide to attack, Wei Wuxian would fight back and he can level battle fields on his own, his honor, his relationships, and even his life in the end, because if Wei Wuxian had ever turned on him like he claimed, he would have been a bloody smeared spot on the ground. And Jiang Cheng gobbles this all up and demands more with Wei Wuxian’s blood and tears dribbling from his mouth.
Would you give that much for someone who doesn’t treat you well? Would you find that a reasonable price to pay for someone who demeans you at every opportunity, who tells you you deserve your misfortunes and that no one likes you? Why are you surprised that in the end Wei Wuxian would rather walk away with people who care about him, why he gives up, leaves any opportunity for anything in Jiang Cheng’s hands. Wei Wuxian has given more than any person should for almost nothing. It is a sign of triumph and victory, of recognizing his own worth and value in the world and who he wants to be with, that he leaves, that he walks away with his head held high. He owes Jiang Cheng nothing, and Jiang Cheng will just have to fucking live with that.
#mdzs#jiang cheng#canon jiang cheng#let's talk about debt#long post#let's use fuck as a exclamation mark#modaozushi is the story of walking away from an abusive relationship and we should recognize that#no yunmeng reconciliation#wei wuxian#wei wuxian did nothing wrong#addressing common misconceptions when it comes to debts to be paid#let's stop excusing Jiang Cheng avoiding paying any of his debts
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Disappearance
Characters: Diluc, Razor, Xiao, gn!reader
Word Count: 4,133
Warnings: Slightly claustrophobic
Premise: The line between small upsets and huge quarrels can be a blurred one, and it’s often difficult to cope with in the aftermath.
In which there is an argument and the reader disappears.
Author’s Note: Thank you for your request anon. I really cannot stay away from angst, and this was right up my alley. Poor characters, how I love to torture you.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to write Razor, he isn’t in my list of characters I’m comfortable with. For one thing I find his broken speech quite difficult to deal with. I can’t tell if I find it irritating or not, or if it’s an example of good characterization or the “savage” stereotype a la Tarzan – sorry Tarzan I don’t like you. But I tried to make the effort and I hope it came out well! Though I still don’t feel quite comfortable with writing him. I hope I handled the dialogue well enough. He makes me think of San from Princess Mononoke.
Diluc
Diluc accelerated his pace as the Winery came into sight, his normally serene face breaking into a small smile.
It was the best time of day, the time when he came home, the time when he could finally see you. The two of you had been a couple for about five months, and though it wasn’t the longest of time, it was certainly the happiest Diluc had been, happier even than when he was a child with a family to call his own. You were his family now after all, something that you reminded him when he was in his darkest moods. You were his family now, and nothing could tear that apart.
“Welcome home.” Your voice was warm with happiness, and you threw your arms around Diluc the moment he came through the door. Diluc reciprocated the embrace and for a moment the two of you simply stood in the landing, the picture of perfect happiness.
“I’ve missed you, beloved.” Diluc whispered.
“I missed you too.” You replied, smiling softly. Your smile slipped however, and was instead replaced with an expression of worry. “You were gone so late tonight, I was unsure if something had happened to you. Really, I was about to go after you.”
“Well I’m glad you didn’t.” Diluc replied, tone firm though not unkind. “We’ve talked about this before my love, if something were to happen to me, which it won’t,” he quickly added, seeing your gaze cloud over, “but if it did I wouldn’t want you to put yourself in danger. I fight for you as much as anyone else in Monstadt, and for you to be injured or worse on my part, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”
“I know we discussed it and came to that conclusion.” Your words were slow, deliberate in tone. “But though I agreed to it then, I found tonight that I regretted it more than anything I might ever do. I cannot bear the idea of you somewhere near, hurt and crying out for help or worse…” you swallowed, unwilling to conjure the image to mind, “…I couldn’t bear thinking that you might be in a bad way and with no chance of rescue simply because I made a foolish promise. And while I was thinking about this all I came to the realization that I could never truly keep that promise. If you’re ever in need I will be there for you, no matter what. No matter what you said, what you think, it is the simple truth.”
“Please don’t do that.” Diluc replied, voice quickly becoming filled with emotion. “If there’s something out there that could hurt me like that, then how –” he paused, realizing his mistake, but you’d already caught it.
“How could I possibly defeat it?” You replied, a grimace replacing your smile. “You cannot treat me like glass Diluc. I’m an adventurer, a warrior in my own right. And I won’t be kept from saving the one I love the most, not when the only thing keeping me from it is his pride and a few words.”
The two of you said nothing more of it that night, but the argument hung in the air the next morning, continuing the awkwardness up until you left for your adventuring duties. Diluc did nothing to breach the gap. He was in the right after all. And besides, it was such a stupid little argument, barely one at that. In a day or two it’d be nothing, and then all would be well again.
This conclusion was sorely tested when you didn’t return to the Winery in the evening. As Diluc prepared himself for another night of patrol he began to worry slightly. Surely you weren’t avoiding him. About something so small? No, most likely you were simply late. You’d be there when he got home. If he was sure of anything he was sure of that.
Unfortunately Diluc was proven quite wrong. The doorway was empty at his arrival, you were nowhere to be found. A sinking feeling began to settle into his stomach, and Diluc found himself quite unable to sleep that night, instead tossing and turning this way and that, wondering if you were truly so angry over something that he’d seen as so small. It was the only logical explanation for your disappearance after all, though Diluc wasn’t sure what to do about it. Chasing after you seemed somewhat uncouth, and besides didn’t that always make things worse? No, he’d give you space, all the space you needed. If a week passed then he’d seek you out, but before then he’d let you be. No point in jeopardizing the relationship anymore than apparently he already had.
His promise to stay away for a week was nearly torn to shreds by the end of the next day. Were you truly so angry with him? How could he have hurt you so much? Diluc didn’t know what to do. During the day he tried to behave as always, keeping tabs on everything he could and busying himself as much as possible. At night, however, the feeling became more and more unbearable, and Diluc found sleep more fleeting than ever.
He kept replaying the argument, over and over again did he try to remember exactly what had happened. Was your tone of voice angrier than he thought? Was your expression darker? Had he been too curt, too dismissive, too demanding? What could’ve possibly caused you to simply disappear? It was unlike you; usually what arguments took place resulted in you trailing him more than anything else. Why was this so different? Turning onto his side once more Diluc closed his eyes. Tomorrow all would be well. Tomorrow you’d come back for sure.
You didn’t come back tomorrow, nor the day after that. Those days were some of the most anxious Diluc had felt since the immediate passing of his father. Work became unbearable, for words that one stood clearly on the page now swam before him, a sea of incomprehensible figures and symbols. Eating and sleeping too were utterly alien to him, and what those two days were mostly comprised of turned out to be him walking about in a stupor, too dazed and too worried to think about anything around him, anything other than you.
On the fourth day a knock came to his door, and with it came Katheryne of the Adventurer’s Guild. Her face was ashen, and she was fiddling with her hands. As Diluc gestured for her to sit down the anxiety that had been sitting in his stomach tangled itself into knots. What in the name of the Seven had happened?
“Master Diluc, we have some information, information involving your partner.”
“Yes?” Diluc’s voice was sharp and low, for he couldn’t bring himself to hide it. Collapsing into the opposite chair he tried to prepare himself for the worst, knowing that if you had left or, Seven forbid, been killed he’d never be able to move on.
“Well you see your partner, they went on an expedition, a commission rather. They were looking for bits of Noctilious Jade and Cor Lapis. Although these minerals are normally found in Liyue only there are a few reservoirs in Monstadt along the border of the two lands, specifically they can be found in certain caves behind the waterfalls that flood into the river. A merchant bought the rights to the land of one of those caves and, being a merchant, he couldn’t get it out himself, so we sent one of our own to mine it out for him, see if it was any good.”
“This is all quite fascinating,” Diluc replied, tone made sharp with worry, “but I can hardly see what this has to do with anything.”
“Your partner was the one selected. They went down to mine it but the entrance was the opening to a sharp drop and they fell down. We only managed to recover them this morning.”
The shock that ran through Diluc was something that he never wished to experience again. It seemed to pierce right through him, into the center of his heart. You’d been trapped. You’d been in need of help, stuck for days in the worst of possible situations, and he’d done nothing but loaf around the Winery. How could he forgive himself for something like that?
“May I see them.” He choked out, his throat constricted and burning.
“They are coming here right now. Thankfully injuries were minimal. Caves connected to water are the most dangerous kind, you can die and it can be impossible to retrieve your corpse. They were incredibly lucky.” And with that gruesome thought in mind Katheryne walked over to the door, opening it to reveal you.
Diluc had never moved so fast in his life. Instantly you were wrapped in his embrace. You returned the gesture just as fiercely, clinging on as if he was the only thing anchoring you, keeping you from collapsing from relief, from fatigue, from the terror that had yet to dissipate.
“Oh my love, oh I’m so sorry, so deeply sorry. Forgive me, forgive me for not being there. Forgive me.” Diluc whispered, practically incoherent. You were both shaking, and when you two collapsed in the chair closest to the fire there were no words for a good many moments. The terror you’d both felt was hardly over, and you both needed to be sure that this wasn’t a dream, that it was all over, and that you were going to be fine now.
“Diluc.” You finally whispered.
“Yes my love.” Diluc replied, a tremor still in his voice. You leaned into him, head perched on his shoulder, breath tickling his neck.
“I never want to quarrel again.”
Diluc reached over to cup your face. Raising your head slightly he leaned over, brushing his lips against yours, indulging in something he thought for a moment he might never be able to do again.
“Neither do I.” He replied, voice just as soft. “And remind me never to try to restrict you again, for if I’d not been such a fool I would’ve run to your side the very evening you were trapped.”
You smiled softly, expression conveying relief and tenderness and most of all love. Leaning in for another kiss you whispered something right before your mouth collided with his.
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Razor
Sitting at the edge of one of Wolvedom’s many cliffs, eyes trailed towards the far away walls of Monstadt, Razor wondered if he might’ve been too harsh.
It wasn’t that Razor wanted to quarrel with you, I mean you were the first and only person that he’d managed to build a sincere connection with. It was only that he’d grown up with a complete distrust of humans, and as much as he tried to bury that aspect of himself it still came to the forefront at times.
“I don’t understand what you’re so angry about Razor?” You’d exclaimed, face twisting into an expression of annoyance.
“Why do you like them?” Razor had replied, gesturing towards the people who had arrived with you, trampling their way through the forest as if everything belonged to them simply because they were human. He could practical smell the arrogance wafting off them, and it made his hair stand on edge. It was frustrating that he didn’t have the words to convey that to you.
“My guild members?” You’d said, glancing over your shoulder. “Razor I work with them. We’re going on a trip.”
“I want them to leave.” He’d practically growled, moving to take your hand in his. “I want them to leave, I want you to stay.”
“Well you can’t do that Razor.” You’d said, tone growing more and more exasperated. “And I don’t understand why you’re so hostile to them.”
“They’re human.” To Razor this was enough, but evidently the answer was hardly satisfactory to you.
“I’m human.” You’d pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Razor shook his head.
“You’re different.”
“No, I’m not. You just like me. And like it or not I’m a human, and a human who has a job to do. I can’t stay here, and I can’t stop talking to all other humans.
“Why not?” He’d shot back. “It would be better. Humans are bad creatures.”
“You keep forgetting who I am!” You’d exclaimed, shaking your head. “Whatever, I’m not arguing this with you. I’ll see you in a day. I hope that you can think about my feelings by the time this is over.”
Well the day had come and gone and there was no sight of you. Razor was too angry though to feel much remorse, no matter how much he missed you. You were probably busy anyways, talking to other humans, fraternizing with the enemy. For what else could humans possibly be? They cut down trees, killed the inhabitants of the forests. Even the wolves weren’t safe, for what farmer hadn’t taken a shot at one of them at some point in his life? No, Razor was not the one in the wrong. You were just too used to them. You couldn’t see it.
Still your absence sat wrong with him, and he found himself scouring the edges of Wolvendom the next day, trying to figure out what had happened. It wasn’t as if you didn’t know what he thought after all. And surely you wouldn’t abandon him so quickly, surely.
Razor was hardly so sure when the sun went down the next night. It seemed you were well and truly gone, though where he couldn’t tell. Maybe you really had decided to abandon him, decided he was too much of a burden, decided you preferred humans anyways. The thought ate at him, and he found himself walking around with a bitter taste in his mouth, unsure what to do.
Razor wasn’t sure what finally caused him to cross out of Wolvendom to look for you. Perhaps it was anger, perhaps it was guilt, perhaps it was that he at least wanted to say goodbye. No matter the cause however he still found himself walking on an unfamiliar path, as the woods shifted to plains. He felt vulnerable, uncomfortable without his familiar family. But it was too late to turn back now, and so he pressed ahead.
All sense of discomfort faded away upon running into you. You looked the worse for wear, covered in dirt, your clothes ragged. For a moment Razor wondered what could’ve possibly caused this. Perhaps there was a creature out there he was not aware of. Running up to you he wrapped his arms around you.
“You’re hurt.” It was more of a question than a statement, and you seemed to understand that. Returning the hug you sighed slightly.
“I was stuck in one of the shallow caves off of the Stormbearer Mountains. The passage we went through started crumbling, and I was the last one in line. It took some time to dig me out.” You laughed slightly, but there was a tremor in your voice, and you seemed ill at ease. “It was so dark in there Razor, so utterly dark. I couldn’t imagine being a creature down there, it all seemed to weigh down on me, and I thought it’d collapse and bury me at any second.”
Razor had tightened his embrace, the image seared into his mind. There was a visceral fear in his reaction, the fear of what you’d just described, but it was more complicated than that. To be down there himself was terrifying, but for you to be in that situation, and for so long, it stole the air from his lungs and weighed him down with such a sense of dread he could barely stand it.
“Humans sent you down there?” The tone of his voice was seething, but your reply was much calmer than it had been before.
“Yes. They did. But they also saved me Razor, you must remember that.”
It was something he hadn’t considered, and as he pulled away to look you in the face he pondered the implications. What he’d said was true, yes, but what you’d said was also true. They could’ve quite easily left you if they wanted, could’ve left you for dead and said there was nothing to do about it. Certainly some humans would’ve done just that, but they didn’t. Instead they helped you, for days they had dug, and thanks to that you were safe.
“I was wrong.” He said, tone straight, for it was a fact. He was wrong, at least about your people he was wrong.
“There are many evil people out there.” You said, expression pensive. “There are those who kill and rob and lie and think only about themselves. There are those who cannot see the world around them. But you can’t judge all of humanity by that. There are also those who care for every aspect of the world they can, who burden themselves with all the misfortune they see, so much it might break them. Humans are complicated Razor. So yes you were wrong, but I cannot say you were completely so.”
Razor said nothing, absorbing what you’d said. It was hard not think in black and white, something necessary sometimes for survival. But ever since you’d entered his life he wanted to try to understand you, even a little bit. And, especially after today, he’d do anything to make that effort a reality.
For though he understood little of humans and their ways he knew of one thing for sure. And that was the love he carried for you.
Xiao
Looking back it was such a stupid argument. Of course all arguments seemed idiotic looking back after what happened. But if all arguments were stupid, then surely Xiao couldn’t’ve picked a stupider one to have.
“I wish you’d see me off at the bridge.” You remarked, strapping the last of your equipment into place. You were off to do another commission, something about recording a rare species of lizard and taking photographs of some rare luminous mosses, and once again the topic of goodbyes had come up.
“I’m saying goodbye now aren’t I?” Xiao tone was as brusque as ever, but this time you didn’t brush it off with your usual smile.
“I mean it Xiao.” You said instead, turning to look him straight in the face. “I know you don’t fraternize with people, I know that you consider it a result of the burdens you carry. I know that and I don’t ask you to go and set up shop in Liyue or some such thing. I do ask you though to simply be there when I leave the city. It would mean a lot to me to have you there when I step out into the wilderness, especially when I’m going to be gone for two days. Can’t you do this for me, at least this?” You searched his eyes, expression pleading, but Xiao simply scoffed and turned his head.
“Saying goodbye here should be enough. Besides, there aren’t any people here. Would you really want me to say goodbye surrounded by prying eyes?”
“No one is going to pry.” You pointed out, voice flat with annoyance. “And to answer your question, yes, yes I would like you to be there to say goodbye. I love you dearly Xiao, more than I have ever loved anyone, more than I ever will. But I cannot love you unequally. I don’t ask for much, but I am asking for this. Please say goodbye to me at the bridge.”
But Xiao merely scowled, shaking his head violently. Huffing you turned around, everything set and ready to go.
“Sometimes I don’t know why I put myself through this.” You muttered; stomping your feet ever so slightly, and slamming the door to the room behind you.
Xiao’s sense of time was usually quite poor. To adepti days were more like minutes, and even months seemed as abundant as grains of sand. One of the things that had most surprised him about starting a relationship with you was how his sense of time was affected by it. The days with you were mere moments, and the days where you were gone dragged on and on, minutes replaced by endless boredom.
This time was no different, instead the feeling was exacerbated. Although the first two days were a blur, made meaningless by Xiao’s irritation over your final conversation, the moment the third day dawned and you were nowhere to be found time ground to a halt, and Xiao no longer became sure of what day it was, sure that a month must’ve passed instead of a few hours. You must’ve been more irritated than he’d thought.
Still the adeptus was full of pride, pride and principles. If you were staying away over something so petty so be it. He’d not be the one going after you, not when he was utterly within his rights. Why should he changed so over the request of a human? No matter how much he loved you a part of him chafed at the idea, and thus he did nothing, instead sulking the days away under the concerned eyes of Verr Goldet.
If he was filled with pride though, there was also anxiety. Day three came and went, then day four, then day five. When day six arrived Xiao’s will seemed to give up, and he spent his hours in a restless sleep, something highly unusual for the adeptus labelled the “Vigilant Yaksha”. It was if you had taken all his strength away, and what remained was nothing but anxiety and his quickly shattering anger. Surely nothing was worth this feeling of being eaten away by poison. Surely.
Night had fallen, and the moon had taken her silent vigil over the land. Xiao knew that he should get up, knew he should go after you. But it was as if he was chained to the mattress. His head was filled with static and he felt as if he were burning up. A headache had come on the moment he’d opened his eyes, and now he found he could do nothing but lay with his thoughts, each becoming darker by the moment.
He recognized the weight of your footsteps as soon as they came into earshot. Bolting up, all fatigue leaving him, he slammed open the door, taking the stairs two at a time until he finally came face to face with you.
If he was expecting something, it certainly wasn’t this. Though there was a smile on your face it was marred by the bandage on your forehead, and by the long gash on your arm.
“What happened?” The words came out in a rasp. “Who did this to you?” The weight had come back, and Xiao swayed slightly, feeling altogether faint, the range of emotions he was experiencing becoming overwhelming.
You pressed your hand to his chest, the other moving to cup his cheek. “No one did this to me.” You said, voice slightly hoarse. “One of the caves I was in collapsed, and I fell and hit my head while running away from the entrance. Thankfully it was nothing serious, and it only took them three days to get me out.”
Three days. The situation seemed torturous. Xiao was a creature of air, the mere idea of being beneath the earth was claustrophobic to him. It was to humans too, that he knew, knew from what he’d heard from Rex Lapis. The idea of you trapped underground, injured and unable to escape, it shook him to his very core.
Taking your hand in his he kissed your palm, silently thanking Rex Lapis and all the other archons for letting you come home. The situation, what you’d gone through, it was all crashing down on him. You were the most precious thing in the world, the one he loved most, the only person he would truly love, in all his years on this earth it would forever be that way. How could he take you for granted? Take your needs for granted?
“I’ll never fight with you again.” He whispered.
“I don’t know about that.” You said, smiling slightly despite it all. “Fights are hardly unheard of after all.”
“I won’t. Not about something so stupid. Not when…” he trained off for a moment, eyes clouding over. “… Anyways I won’t do it.”
“Does that mean you’ll say farewell at the bridge?” You asked, tone hopeful.
“I will.” Xiao promised. “I’ll do anything for you. For you are that which I love the most.” And leaning over to kiss you Xiao made a silent vow that he’d never let you go through anything like that. Never again.
#I never know the right time to post these#diluc#razor#xiao#diluc x reader#razor x reader#xiao x reader#genshin impact#genshin impact fanfiction#requested#scenarios#my writing
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“how are you so perfect?!” // karl jacobs fluff alphabet
a/n: the mcyt brainrot continues so i am coping with the fluffiest karl hcs my brain can summon,,,,,,, i am affection-starved send help please
summary: a look into the abcs of dating the one and only sweetheart karl jacobs!!! (fluff alphabet template by @snk-warriors)
activities - what do they like to do with their s/o? how do they spend their free time with them?
karl loves doing literally anything and everything with you; he just loves your presence and company so much!! whether it’s late-night target runs, playing minecraft together, or just collapsing into your arms after a long, late-night stream, being with you instantly lifts his mood.
beauty - what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?
while karl appreciates and adores everything about you, i can definitely see him being a sucker for your eyes. he loves how they sparkle in certain lights, how big and happy they are when you’re looking at him, how they crinkle when you laugh, and how your pretty eyelashes flutter against your cheeks when the two of you cuddle. he often finds himself getting all blushy when you guys maintain prolonged eye contact:)))) i think he’d also love your hands and shoulders too!!
comfort - how would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?
karl is no stranger to anxiety and is incredibly empathetic. the combination of these two things makes him the BEST person to have around when you’re not feeling good. if you’re sad, he’ll instinctively know just what to do to put a smile on your face again. he’ll crack stupid jokes or put on music and dance with you—anything to make you happy. if you’re anxious, he’ll talk softly to you and, if you’re feeling up to it, will hold you so you can safely come down from your panicking. he’ll definitely cradle the back of your head with his hand as he holds you close, just breathing with you.
dreams - how do they picture their future with their s/o?
karl is definitely the type to fall hard relatively quickly in a relationship. thinking about the future is sometimes scary for him, but with you in the picture, he finds it less threatening—beautiful, even. he doesn’t know exactly how he wants everything to turn out, but he does know that he wants you by his side through all of it.
equal - are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?
equality in a relationship is INCREDIBLY important to karl. he respects you so much and wants to make sure that your opinions and ideas are heard. the two of you 100% thrive on mutual communication and input.
fight - would they forgive their s/o easily? how do they fight?
i don’t see karl as the type to get upset easily; he’s pretty chill and is very forgiving since he hates conflict. i can see the odd argument popping up if he’s tired or stressed and accidentally snaps at you, but he’d be clinging to you five minutes later and begging for forgiveness (which, of course, you can’t resist giving him—he has an unfair amount of cute privilege).
gratitude - how grateful are they in general? are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?
karl is sweetie #1 and never fails to appreciate the people in his life (or let them know). you could get him a monster from the fridge and he’ll literally pepper your face with kisses while chanting “thank you thank you thank you” like you just saved his life or something. he’s such a cutie and never fails to show you just how much he appreciates everything you do:)))
honesty - do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? or do they share everything?
as i said before, karl thrives on communication. however, he’s often hesitant to tell you when he’s feeling down or upset. even though he knows you probably wouldn’t mind, he doesn’t want to drag you down or burden you with his problems. his tell for feeling down is getting really quiet, so if you notice this, a few gentle questions will get him to open up to you. he’s working on being more open because you always help him feel so much better!!
inspiration - did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? ex: trying out new things or helping them overcome personal problems?
without a doubt, you have both changed each other for the better!! he’s helped you appreciate the little things and the quiet companionship that so many people take for granted. he’s also been a huge constant and has helped you through tough times. you’ve been a huge calming-yet-brilliant force for him and have taught him that good things always come in time. y’all are really an unstoppable pair and mean so much to the other!!
jealousy - do they get jealous easily? how do they deal with it?
karl doesn’t get jealous as much as he gets insecure. if he’s feeling uncomfortable, he’ll just get super quiet. after all, who is he to stop you from having fun?? maybe you’re better off with this person in the moment,,,, anyway, you’ll have to make it up to him with a cuddle session and reassuring him about how much you love him between soft head kisses:)))
kiss - are they a good kisser? what was the first kiss like?
karl’s kisses are LOVELY—soft and sweet with his hands gently cupping your cheek or jaw or even holding your own. he just loves being able to feel you and be close to you. the first kiss probably happened during a cuddle session—he would just be so caught up in your presence and softness and scent that his face would move closer to yours without him even trying. you’d make soft, shy eye contact for a brief moment before his mouth met yours. help he’s so cute ajcividiahhdjfd
love confession - how would they confess to their s/o?
god, he’s SUCH a cheeseball—he’d either do it on your birthday, delivered with a shy smile and giant bouquet, or just blurt it out of nowhere at 2am while the two of you are tired and slap-happy out of your minds. either way, he says it with such hushed reverence that your heart forgets how to work for a few minutes. so many kisses after;))))
marriage - do they want to get married? how would they propose? what would the marriage be like?
like i said earlier, karl can get a bit overwhelmed when thinking about the future. however, he does know that he wants the utter joy you bring him every day to keep going. he likes the idea of a small, pretty wedding with the people you’re closest with, but he’s also fine with just enjoying what you have. as long as he gets to be with you he’s happy:)))
nicknames - what do they call their s/o?
i get the vibe that he’d call you by your first initial or “baby” when he wants to be more casual (but he somehow imbues “baby” with so much meaning,,,,, hhhh). uses “sweetie” sometimes and also “honey” after you’ve been in a relationship for a while. basically just uses the absolute CUTEST names,,, they come naturally to him bc he loves you so much:’))
on cloud nine - what are they like when they are in love? is it obvious to others? how do they express their feelings?
it is PAINFULLY obvious that karl’s in love with you. he’s always gushing about you to his mr. beast and minecraft friends, so full of fond stories that everyone groans at so much of a mention of your name (everyone secretly thinks it’s adorable tho). the two of you have had so many people compliment you on how cute of a couple you are—your joking, fond chemistry is palpable.
pda - are they upfront about their relationship? do they brag about their s/o in front of others? or are they rather shy to kiss, etc. when others are watching?
while it’s common knowledge karl’s love language is physical touch, he’s always considerate of your boundaries while the two of you are around others. he’ll likely keep pda to hand holding and an arm slung comfortably over your shoulder. it’s just enough to let you feel each other without being too clingy.
quirk - a random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.
karl is super unselfish—meaning his closet, nail polish—and yes, even his prized monster energy drinks—are also yours. he truly believes that sharing is caring, and it makes him incredibly happy when you’re wearing one of his iconic sweaters or giving him a grateful smile as he hands you half of his taco bell order.
romance - how romantic are they? what would they do to make their s/o happy? cliché or rather creative?
karl is a complete angel and always puts others first, meaning he’s an absolute GOD when it comes to romance. he’s always laughing and joking with you, and he never runs out of fun things for the two of you to do. at the beginning of your relationship, he’ll stick to the tried-and-true formulas of giant teddy bears, chocolate, and shared sweaters. as he gets to know you better, though, he’ll take pride in giving you super personal gifts and crafting special date nights he knows you’ll love. he’s the absolute sweetest:’’))
support - do they help their s/o achieve their goals? do they believe in them?
karl is your biggest fan first and your boyfriend second. he never fails to cheer you on every step of the way and remind you just how incredible you are when you’re struggling. he truly believes you can do anything—he is an angel. an ANGEL.
thrill - do they need to try out new things to spice out their relationship? or do they prefer a certain routine?
the two of you have a happy, comfortable rhythm in your relationship. however, you guys definitely try things together. watching a new cartoon, trying a quirky restaurant, or doing weird challenges with each other on stream never feels too much like stepping out of your comfort zone since the two of you are so in sync. even if something backfires, you’ve got the safety net of the other person to catch you.
understanding - how well do they know their partner? are they empathetic?
karl has incredible amounts of emotional and interpersonal intelligence. he believes in the innate dignity and beauty of all people, and LOVES getting to know every single bit of who you are. he’s completely committed to you, and is the perfect person to help you with whatever you’re going through.
value - how important is the relationship to them? what is its worth in comparison to other things in their life?
he considers your relationship to be the best part of his life. you’ve been with him through so much, and looking back, it’s incredibly clear just how much your presence in his life has changed him for the better. he loves you so much!!!!!
wild card - a random fluff headcanon.
karl often rants happily on and on about his newest cartoon or gaming obsession while the two of you are cuddling. he’s just so cute, and more often than not you’ll end up kissing all over his freckled cheeks and soft hair. he melts into you like a cat and the two of you just breathe the other in with pure contentment:))))) send help y’all are so cute:))))
xoxo - are they very affectionate? do they love to kiss and cuddle?
this goes without saying, but karl is a cuddlebug supreme. if you’re not super into cuddling, he’ll understand but try and ease you into it so that he can love you the way he really wants to!! copious amounts of cuddles, kisses, and affection are central to his ideal relationship.
yearning - how do they cope when they’re missing their partner?
poor karl gets so lonely without you!! you’ll facetime him when you’re gone for even a night, and he’ll pick up wearing one of your sweatshirts. “miss me that much??” you tease, and he can only nod and pout. expect millions of wish you were heres and miss you babys and can’t wait to hug u agains spam texted to you. lots of snapchats of him giving puppy dog eyes to the camera and cuddling stuffed animals will also be sent. he can’t help it—he just adores you and is constantly pouting until you’re back.
zeal - are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? if so, what will they do?
you’re karl’s everything, and he’ll do anything to make sure that your relationship is happy, healthy, and beneficial for both of you. thankfully, though, he’s such a sweetheart that making sure things are running smoothly isn’t much of a task at all!!
#karl jacobs x reader#karl jacobs#karl jacobs imagine#karl jacobs headcanons#mcyt#mcyt x reader#mcyt imagine#mcyt headcanons#fluff alphabet#fluff#x reader#imagine#headcanons
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Embers & Light: Chapter 43.5
Notes: So when I posted last week I realised a few hours later that I hadn’t posted the whole chapter! So, here you go. An early, albeit short, update. Thanks as usual to my beta @noirshadow, who is incredibly patient with all my E&L ramblings and makes sure my writing actually makes sense!
Chapter 43.5
Nesta
Cold air snapped at Nesta’s body as Sala flew her to Lorrian and Frawley’s. Cassian travelled behind her, trailing her path, the beat of his wings grating on her until she wanted to scream.
Of course, he hadn’t let her fly alone. He’d had to make sure that she was safe. That bond again, dictating his desires. Nesta didn’t understand why he couldn’t see that.
By the time she landed, Nesta had whipped herself into a fury that was frantic in its making—quivering with an energy that made her want to roar and sob until she was consumed with it.
“You’ve done your job,” she spat at Cassian, as he landed softly on his feet beside her with a neat retraction of his wings. “Now leave me alone.
They had landed just before the pine trees of the Eastern Steppes, where the forest decided to part for its witch and her home. The pine needles blocked out the sparkling stars above, casting the forest into smudgy shadows that made it near impossible for Nesta to pick her way across the ground, despite her fae eyesight.
When she stumbled, Cassian flared his magic to light the way but, thankfully, he did not dare reach for her. Loose roots and fallen branches created obstacles underfoot, but Nesta let her body tackle them blindly until she cleared the tree line and suddenly she could see again.
Nesta picked up her pace, storming along the paddock fence as the cottage came into view. The building’s shape was blanketed by a coal-night hue, save for the buttery light that fogged around Lorrian and Frawley’s bedroom window. Besides the smoke puffing from the chimney, the night was alarmingly still, as if had taken in a gasping breath in anticipation of what was to unfold beneath it.
The absence of Illyria’s fierce wind in Nesta’s anger felt foreign and infuriating, so Nesta walked faster, creating her own breeze. But the soft caress against her cheeks rather than the hurricane she longed for only served to sharpen the blade of her anger until it was lethal.
“Running away again,” Cassian growled from close behind her, his resolve to stay silent clearly breaking as Nesta stormed past the paddock entrance. He caught her wrist with a leather-clad hand and Nesta’s body jerked backwards as she was pulled towards him.
“Why are you fighting this?” he asked as she snarled at him with such savagery it sounded like a wild animal. His voice cracked like ice over a river. “Why are you fighting something that I know makes you happy. I can make you happy, Nesta.”
“Stop it,” Nesta cut back, the slash in her voice a warning just as much as her words. Because Cassian sounded so agonisingly sad it bruised her lungs, every breath coiled with pain.
“I’m not letting go,” Cassian told her, and they both knew the meaning was figurative as well as literal as he searched her face for something that would tell him to stay. “You can shout and scream and bite all you want, but you are not running away from me again. Not this time.”
Go home, Cassian.
“I don’t need someone to make me happy,” Nesta spat. “I can be happy independently of you.”
“You can have both.”
A cold, cruel laugh bubbled out of her. “Is that what you tell yourself every day when you pretend you can wear me down? Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing? That you’re hoping I’ll give in and accept a bond I have explicitly told you I do not want?”
Cassian didn’t let go of her. Instead, he pushed her hand back to her as if it disgusted him to hold onto her. Nesta caught how his black hair sifted, the strands shining in the starlight, just before she turned her back to him.
It wasn’t too late to catch the curl of his lip and the way hurt seized the green and brown of his eyes. “You think I lie to myself? Nesta, you pull the wool over your eyes every damn day!” The last three words were staccato, thudding after her as she all but spirited away from him on a storm wind. “You have wanted me since you met me. Admit it. You want me and I want you. It’s simple. It’s all simple if you’d just stop fighting—”
The audacity to insinuate that Nesta’s feelings were inconsequential was too much. It hurt more than anything else Cassian had ever said, the rest of his barbs merely needles to this blade. Because none of what was between them was simple. It was a tangled web of terror and confusion and a desperate need Nesta did not understand.
The ignorance—the implied slight at her intelligence—had Nesta whirling, cutting Cassian off mid-sentence. Magic thundered through her veins, her power barrelling to her palms. She had to expel it—had to let it out like a curdling scream. Without thinking, she flung out her hands.
Nesta’s magic flew, roaring silver flames closing the distance between them. All she cared about was making Cassian recoil when her fire sizzled into nothing millimetres from his face. All she needed to see was the froth of his anger as it finally boiled over and met hers.
But Cassian moved quicker than Nesta had ever seen him. Red light shot from his siphons but this time there was no shield like there had been all of those months ago. Magic barrelled from his chest, his shoulders, his knees, the backs of his hands to meet hers—all of that magnificent power channelled towards her.
Scarlet and silver lit up the clearing, bathing their surroundings like glistening blood. Nesta braced herself for the slamming impact, expected for them to both be thrown backwards, but that wasn’t what happened. Instead, her body was seized with a sudden vigour—like a wonderful, gasping breath. And their magic… it didn’t clash. No, their jets of power melded together, silver meeting red until it formed a smooth running stream. It glimmered, quiet and calm in contrast, like the calm and tranquil night sky.
It felt right and wonderful and infuriating. Even Nesta’s magic was betraying her. Even her power couldn’t help but want him, even when she was incandescent with rage for the warrior before her.
Unleashing a growl of anger, Nesta dropped her hands in defeat. They hung at her sides, a useless deadweight. She was panting hard, even though what she’d just done hadn’t exerted her—it had been easy and right and thrilling, as if she’d just woken up from a very long sleep.
For a moment, there was only silence. Cassian’s chest was heaving, his hair as wild as hers. His hands were still outstretched towards her, each and every one of his siphons activated and glowing. Like her, he was staring wide-eyed at the magic that hung overhead like a mist, their very own canvas of stars.
When his eyes flicked to hers, the shock in them was still stark. In fact, Nesta could have sworn she spied terror in them. He stepped forward—her Cassian—but Nesta stepped back. A disgruntled growl rumbled in the back of his throat, and then he was striding towards her before she could even think about moving away from him. Stopped when he was a breath away from her.
Pine and musk wound around her body in an invisible embrace and Nesta’s face crumpled at the familiarity of it. She wished she was curled up beside Cassian in bed, her limbs tangled in his, her nose buried in his neck. She wished she’d never challenged him for answers in the bedroom earlier. Wished she was still living in blissful ignorance.
Two calloused hands came to frame her face and Nesta couldn’t find the will to shake them off. Couldn’t.
“Nesta,” Cassian rasped.
Nesta managed to shake her head. Go away. Please.
Cassian’s expression broke even as it remained still. Nesta didn’t understand how, but it did. It was something behind his eyes—the faint flicker of his eyebrows as they dipped in and out of a frown.
But Cassian didn’t drop his hands from her cheeks, as if he knew she didn’t really want him to leave her. Brushed his thumbs over her cheeks—wiping away the tracks of fury that had fallen from the corners of her eyes.
“Do you want me or not?” Cassian asked quietly, after a long while. His eyes searched into her silver eyes—pierced her soul. Flames danced in the reflection of his irises. And Nesta knew that this was taking everything for him to ask it out loud. “Do you want me, Nesta?”
Run, run, run, the Cauldron mused in Nesta’s head, as it cast that sleepy eye on her.
Nesta shrugged out of Cassian’s embrace. Her movements were syrupy, as if the air around her had thickened, but still she managed to turn. Her entire body was shaking—whether it was from that leftover rage, or because her heart was breaking, Nesta wasn’t sure.
A sob heaved through her body but Nesta caught it before she made a sound. She couldn’t let Cassian see it. Couldn’t let him know how much she was affected by him.
Slowly, Nesta walked to the cottage. She was still coated in Cassian’s magic, his scent on her tongue both divine and hellish. And that alone made her want to cry even more. It served as a reminder that she was constantly at war with herself. This battle that had been thrust upon her, chaining her free will and making her question everything.
“Leave me alone,” Nesta ordered flatly, without looking behind her.
Nesta didn’t know why she expected Cassian to stay. To fight. But the sound of beating wings filled Nesta’s ears just as she reached the backdoor. It felt as if someone had closed a fist around her heart, squeezing and squeezing until the blood ran dry and veins popped under the pressure.
Frawley was waiting at the threshold, her expression grim. The witch held the door open in invitation.
But Nesta paused. Turned back to the paddock.
Cassian was gone.
Tags (let me know if you want to be added/removed): @arinbelle @superspiritfestival @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @mylittlebigplanet @biggestwingspan-az @bellsqueen @ekaterinakostrova @bookstantrash @prophecyerised @rainbowcheetah512 @awesomelena555 @wannawriteyouabook @lovelynesta @melphss @laylaameer01 @a-trifling-matter @grouchycritic7794 @thalia-2-rose @champanheandluxxury @swankii-art-teacher @princessconsuela02 @lavendergoomsltd @princessofmerchants-reads @jeakat @sjm-things @imwritingthesewords @nestable @inejbrekkxr @silvernesta @inyourmindeye @amelie775 @helen-the-weirdo @pizzaneverdisappoints @wishfulimaginings @trash-for-nessian @my-fan-side @sophilightwood @valkyriesupremacy @vidalinav @onceupona-chaos @inardour @thesunremembersyourface @teagoddess99 @ellies-iced-coffee @nehemikkele @misswonderflower @nessiantrashh @kawaiteacup
#acosf#acotar#nessian#cassian#nesta x cassian#nesta archeron#embersandlightfic#nessianfic#acomaf#acowar#duskandstarlightwrites#nessian fic#nessian angst
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A Chat about Chat
A short fic about how Chat came to be a singular being, written by yours truly.
By all means, this isn’t canon, it’s just my interpretation of things.
Word count: 1,863
Fandom: RTGame, Miitopia
(NGL I’m a little displeased with how I wrote the ending, but oh well!)
You know, there is this odd sense of irony in knowing how terrified Chat was of Magical John when they aren’t even human nor a singular being in the first place. Wait, so you didn’t know? Of how they became such a being in the first place? (They chuckle.) Then I suppose that means I’ll have to tell you their story. Well then, shall we begin the tale of Chat? (You see the twinkle in their eyes. They must’ve been waiting a while to be able to do this.)
> You nod. You’ve been waiting a while to understand Chat’s origins. Tonight, like many others, belongs to the storyteller.
> You shake your head. No thanks, you think you’re too tired. Dawn shall rise anew soon, and you will not waste your time with tall tales.
(They nod, pleased with your decision.) Then I shall begin to relay their tale.
Our tale begins in the vast lands known as Twitch, a domain that belongs to another, a far crueler being whose tale is for another time. It is a place where one is free to express their opinions and whatnot (as long as it suits the many whims of its Amazonian overlords, of course), and many are versed in the easy to learn, but difficult to master art of gaming. Many such masters have gained a large following, and even if they do not possess such skill, more often than not their humor and charisma paves the way to fame.
One example of the latter would be RTGame, a man of sizable repute. Aside from the frankly ridiculous story of the origin of his moniker, he is also known for doing some… questionable things for the sake of entertainment. There are still tales of his quest in the bathtub along with Gilbert (yes, the very same Gilbert on the quest to defeat The Darker Lord Khadgar!), the night of the Painted Wall’s Communion, the birth of Mr. Compost- But my dear, we are here for one of his lesser-known exploits, one that would change the world as we know it.
> You lean closer to the campfire, watching the storyteller with a renewed interest. Where does the tale lead? Where does it end? You need to know.
> It’s getting even later. You think some rest will be needed before tomorrow’s travels begin. Perhaps the rest of the story can wait another time?
It was a dark and stormy night. The then-Dark Lord Von Karma had just been unleashed upon the land, and I Want Die set along the path of salvation with his fellow party members, Mr. Bean the Warrior, Goofy the Thief, and Mint the Horse. He was pleased with the ease with which they vanquished monsters and saved (literal) faces, but the lack of actual conversation within the party had begun to get to him. Mr. Bean had nothing to offer other than a simple “Bean!” every now and then, and Goofy terrified him with all the “hyuck!” and talks of absolving the world’s many sins. Mint is a horse and therefore cannot participate in a verbal conversation unless you happen to understand what her neighs meant. She also happens to be the most normal member of the party, strangely enough.
Either way, I Want Die longed for a proper conversation.
And God took notice.
It was inevitable. The fourth party member was always going to join, whether he wanted one or not. It shouldn’t be notable in any way whatsoever, yet here I am regaling this tale to you.
It is not how Chat had come to join the party that I wanted to explain, but rather how they came to be.
Do you remember the man I had called RTGame? I hope you had not thought of him as irrelevant to our tale, as he is the patron saint of I Want Die’s adventures. Surely you know of the vast armory that belongs to the party? The various delicacies fed to the team? All his work. Along with his followers’ contributions, of course.
Chat was what he called his followers, the ones who watched his various endeavors as he traveled across the land of Twitch. Oftentimes the crowd would conversate with him (hence their name), offering jokes and sardonic commentary whenever he did anything remotely comedic. Other times, RT would have to tell them off for being such a rowdy bunch- the usual group of thousands could never keep quiet for long.
It happened that Chat witnessed I Want Die’s pilgrimage along with RTGame. They all looked upon him with a jolly sense of humor (after all, their master is well-versed in the art of comedy), some wondering where his travels will bring him. The others who knew how it would all end kept silent at the behest of RTGame. Either way, every single one of them was enjoying the show he had put on for them.
And came the time to summon the fourth member.
As per usual, RTGame withdrew into his workshop, closing the curtains around him so no curious onlooker could see inside. But that did not stop Chat from yelling their predictions and demands.
“EDGEWORTH” one cried.
Another begged for a certain “End Mii!”
“CHAT CALM DOWN!”
“!uptime”
“69420toesucker just subscribed for 5 months!”
“TURG”
RTGame smiled at them. He wasn’t surprised at all at their reactions, rather it was something he had hoped would happen.
“Alright then Chat,” he said, “here they are!”
His pale, thin hands reached out to open the curtains-
And unveiled a faceless, empty husk of a being.
Under any other circumstances, Chat would’ve rioted, demanded justice against the irony of sending a faceless doll to retrieve the faces of others. But they had no time.
Almost in an instant, the skies darkened. Clouds swirled up above with vibrant shades of violet, cobalt, magenta. Bright blue lightning strikes a tree and dissolves it into dust. Somewhere distant, something roars. The air feels thick- something magical, something electric is positively buzzing. Magic truly is in the air.
And thunder strikes once again.
The crowd is gone.
Silence fell. All that is left is the master and the doll, no longer an empty husk.
> You look up to the storyteller, their eyes reflecting the blazing flames. You have a feeling that you know how this ends, but you’d rather have them confirm it first.
> You’re sleepy. As tempting as it is to continue listening to their story, you must admit that the very idea of slumber is even more tantalizing.
RTGame had managed to do exactly what he wanted. Chat’s consciousness, placed inside of a single, physical being. A puppet controlled by a hivemind would not be very easy to control, yes. But the idea intrigued him. And wouldn’t it be better than having a large gaggle of people constantly behind him, watching his every move? It could help I Want Die on his journey too.
So it is settled. It happened that one of the members of his temple had just crafted a rather nice puppet, in case RT needed one. And he did come to use it. It does look a little plain, as both body and head are painted in the same shade of bright white. However, the face was not white like how it was in the beginning, but a disturbingly pitch-black space. No, that’s not the right word.
Rather, it was like a void had formed. That’s also not the right phrase to describe it either, as there were drops of ichor dripping down onto the ground, dissolving the once green grass. But I digress.
Chat broke the silence that had fallen between them, wailing as a cacophony of noises and emotions spilled out. Despite what RT had done to them, they were still determined to voice their opinions. Quite in character, really.
“RT WHAT”
“NO NO NO”
“!uptime”
“I'M ON TV!!!”
“bazingabanana just gifted 5 subs!”
“that’s kinda meta”
As their voices grew louder, ichor kept pouring out of the void. As expected, RT thought to himself. He still needs to act fast. So with a quick snap, he fastened a wooden mask the temple-goer made; the same shade of white, a pair of beady black eyes almost as dark and soulless as the void, bright purple ears.
The yelling and complaining didn’t stop of course. Still, as their voices were muffled by the mask, it was an arguably better experience than the previous ear-splitting wails. And it was less deadly too. Ichor had stopped dripping down onto the grass, which meant that the constant sizzling would finally stop.
Now, one last thing.
RT stared into Chat’s eyes.
This in itself wouldn’t have been quite a remarkable action had it been anyone else, but it’s Chat that we are talking about. The very sensation of doing something as simple as gazing into a hivemind’s many souls wasn’t anything ordinary, either.
It felt like you had just plunged one of your hands into ice-cold water in the middle of winter and not only are you freezing, you’re scared and you don’t know whether you’d come out in one piece.
They all stared back. Thousands and thousands looked upon RT, all different yet whispering the same things, each claiming to be an individual yet virtually nothing distinctive belongs to them. A true hivemind. It’s exactly what he wanted, but he wondered if perhaps other troubles would arise.
He let himself go from their gazes. It asks too much of him.
“Alright then, Chat. Ready?”
A gaggle of voices reply, sounding their agreements.
“OK then!”
--
I Want Die finally opened the inn door, after convincing himself that he’d like this new friend. That this one would be neither an anime villain, a comedy star or a horse. Someone with actual rational thoughts and words to speak.
In front of the door stood a short figure, clad in a purple mage’s robes. Their pitch-black eyes looked at I Want Die, and a chorus of voices came from their permanent smile:
“Hi, I’m Chat!”
And I Want Die wondered if he had forgotten to cross off ‘hivemind’ off his list of potential party members.
Chat’s introduction ends here, of course. But not their tale. The journey was far from over in fact. The party had yet to meet the Royal Court, witnessed the court’s love affair, or get kidnapped by the Dark Lord Von Karma. Even the party wasn’t complete, as it was only the first party I Want Die would encounter in his tale of redemption.
And it’s not the only story either. You haven’t heard of Magical John’s past life, or how Cupcake isn’t as pure as she seems. Gilbert’s fear of the kitchen. How Jefferson came to be, and Obama’s past life with Mr. Bean.
But I’m afraid I must stop here, for it is late already, is it not? Our journey must continue tomorrow. Let us rest. Goodnight, may the stars shine for you. (They head off into their tent, leaving you alone with the flickering embers of a dying fire.)
> You bid the storyteller goodnight. Perhaps they’ll tell you another one of their stories, underneath the moonlight once more.
#rtgame#magical john#well i wrote! dont like how the latter half was written but ok#miitopia#writing#rtgamecrowd
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