Nip slip miranda

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Ceele strolled through the damp grass along the outskirts of the village, a spring in her step and the dwindling scent of dew following behind. It rained yesterday, which had prevented her from going out to gather supplies, but the mild morning air had been accommodating enough for her to get an early start and make the trip. She was glad she did.
One hand clutched her new prize to her chest, while the other held a fraying wicker basket filled with herbs and some edible roots she gathered by exploring the forbidden forest. Despite her reservations regarding where she chose to go, her excitement now lingered like a steady thrum of shifting stones, giving her energy that defied how long she had been walking. She all but pranced beneath the burgeoning night's sky, gleefully toeing the line between the dirt pathways of the settlement’s outskirts and the trees of unclaimed land. Normally, her path back home would never be so close to the village, but she was far too gleeful to mind. She had come back with a sense of fulfillment and a rare object—or if not rare, then hopefully of great value.
It was hard to point to any one specific reason that she came across the orb. There had always been a ‘draw’ during her travels, urging her that there was something missing in her life, yet it was no more than a mild whim to walk in a particular direction more often than not. Once she reached this part of the continent, she was compelled to wander, never quite able to explain why she obliged the sensation besides having nowhere in particular to be. Even when she finally settled somewhere, it stayed in the back of her mind, suggesting that she was close to whatever would make the pit of vacancy go away. She ignored it, purposefully distracting herself with her work and responsibilities, yet that could only last so long. When she awoke this morning with plans to resupply, and all of her newfound spots had been picked clean by wildlife, she turned to the depths of the forest where she was warned not to tread. It was all too easy to follow the subtle tug in her chest through the loose justification.
The urge to be somewhere grew unbearable with every step closer to the forbidden area. That sense of having a direction she needed to go became stronger and stronger, until she was well into land long since forgotten. She came across an overgrown depression in the hillside, and was entranced by the foreboding image. Something about the cave just…beckoned her. She was far too weak to resist.
Horrible tales echoed into her ears as whispers of fearful voices, warning and unending, yet but a dull drone compared to her hammering heart. She navigated the trees and brushed aside unkempt vines, stepping into the cavern with a mix of expectation and trepidation, then laid eyes on the small obsidian stone perched atop a crumbling pillar. The feeling of needing to travel somewhere…stopped.
The pull was absent, which was why she held the orb close instead of placing it into her basket. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but she recalled overheard tales of hidden gemstones, deep cavernous expanses, and the untold terrors that lay within. Comparing the scenes of those fables to the cave seemed foolish now; it wasn’t some torturous chamber, but a dusty depression in a small hillside. Besides, anything this pretty was sure to be worth a fair sum, and she needed the coin. Yet the thought of selling the precious-looking stone was a conflicting one. She shook off the thought for the time being, turning her attention back towards where she was going.
Shadows stretched and faded as the moon stole the last of the illumination afforded by the sun, replacing it with a calming glow that caressed the log frames and thatched roofs of various homes. A star-filled sky came into prominence as clouds lazily drifted away, revealing the promise of tomorrow’s fair-weathered arrival. It was too late for anyone to notice her treading on the edge of their town while lost in thought, but she was still careful not to get too close to the houses or livestock pens where people might be finishing the evening’s duties. It was best that they didn’t see her returning from a place she was told not to go. Still, her feet carried her near the dwellings as she took in the noises.
Ceele enjoyed the comforting chatter from a distance. Indistinct words floated freely. Meaningless gossip and warm goodbyes were exchanged between friends and family. Places of various occupations were dark and quiet, only the faint contented mewls and clucks of livestock coming from their pastures as they ate what was recently put out for them. No metal rang throughout the streets as it was struck inside a centralized smithy, no heated bartering came from an overactive trade house, and the crunch of dirt beneath transport or merchant wagons was absent, replaced by the rapid steps and yelps of children rushing to their homes before it got too dark out. It was all just gentle conversation and life drifting through the wind, taking the rustle of leaves along for the ride, just so she could hear it. Tranquil, in a word.
She wondered what it would sound like if she were yet one more voice within that crowd of kindness. Would it be loud like the larger cities? Would she struggle to maintain a thought with so many stray topics floating about? Would she once more yearn for the peace and quiet of solitude that she had grown used to, or would she immerse herself, free of judgment and laughing like the carefree young that scampered about? Did thinking about it even matter?
Her smile fell from its genuine intensity—still worn, but not as fully. She glanced downward as her stride lost its jubilant bounce, her tail losing its sway as her grey eyes examined the dry black scales that adorned her body against her wishes. It was the ugly hue of tarnished oil, unlike the skin of any other kobold she had met. Some had reds or greens, yellows or whites, while most were between a sandy tan or earthen brown. The rainbow of peculiarities was displayed by the lucky few, and she was one of them…
…Yet she was different in the worst of ways.
Even if she would rather any other colour, she supposed it was that way to make sure no one came near without accepting the unspoken risks. That was what her mother always said, anyway, though the woman hardly feared much of anything in her old age, and dedicated herself to giving her offspring all the love she had left to give—a perk of living a full life. She would always help her daughter bathe, complimenting the colour of what most were unnerved by. That was more than a decade ago now, however. Ceele’s parents had passed on while she was still young, and she took to travelling not long after, working at what she could to afford what little she needed. Never for long, though—just enough to get to the next town between where she was and where the urge to go lay. There were certainly moments she looked back on fondly, but the journey had taken its toll.
The crude material of her ‘dress’ was coarse, old, and heavy, but it helped ease the worst of spring's chill—even if it was more of a modified sack than proper attire. Still, it was all she had after the last of her clothing fell apart, and giving the repurposed material a name that reminded her of something else made it less uncomfortable to wear, somehow. It would have to do until she could afford a pitying seamstress or the like. Until then, she would pretend she didn’t look so desperate, even if it only highlighted her status and made finding work difficult.
But it did. The dishevelled garment was a far cry from the wonderful silks or breathtaking designs she had seen some women wear, harshly marking the distinction between herself and those of affluence. The clothing of commoners was also a leap in style and quality, so she couldn't say her attire was up to even modest standards. No matter how hard she squinted, and no matter how much she fantasized otherwise, she seemed every bit like the vagrant she was, down to the soil embedded in the curvature of her claws and the stains throughout her fabrics. She looked like a serf from the more oppressed lands, yet they too wore crude cottons, which said a lot about how she appeared to those who had never lived a life of servitude. It was obvious that she was an outsider. That she didn't belong amongst the rest. It made changing something as simple as her appearance all the more difficult; prospective employment always saw a young woman who seemed more likely to steal or swindle than make an honest day’s living.
There was one good twist of fate in recent memory, however, and she came upon the result of it after leaving the slowing bustle of the village behind. Her steps carried her through a small copse of trees on the outskirts of town, the small shaded path leading to the back of a large, carefully pruned clearing, a scattering of fruit-bearing trees providing even darker shadow than the already dim moonlight. She skirted along the aging fence on the border that kept predatory animals away, carefully hoisting herself over the barrier where a large vegetable garden she was responsible for tending resided. If one were to tell her she would be living in such an area several months ago, she would have smiled politely and walked away, yet here she was.
A modest, warmly lit home occupied the middle of the clearing, sitting front and centre when one approached from the village path. It looked quite cozy, surrounded by berry bushes that were just beginning to bloom as the last dregs of winter slipped away. A front patio displayed a nice table and well-loved chairs, the rustic appearance only adding to its charm as a place where friends and family spent the warm summer afternoons. A smithy to the left of the house functioned as an additional heated building during the colder months, but usually served as a storefront and to muffle the sounds of hammered iron, though that had become less common. An old stable was nearby, close enough to be accessible, but not so close as to disturb the once occupying animals with sounds of iron craft. It hadn't seen a horse in quite some time, apparently, so it was mostly a workshop for whatever tasks didn’t require fire or metal.
There was a long history attached to each little detail—from the scuffs along the wooden siding to the depressions in the ground where daily routine wore into the earth. Every fault suffered throughout the years was matched by a thousand quirks that made it feel welcoming, like the house itself was merely waiting for the next friendly face with one of its own. She knew that the inside of each building would look just as cared for.
Her concern lay outside, however. It was a comparatively miniscule space just barely visible through the sheltering trees, true, yet it was where her efforts turned into tangible results, and where a stranger’s trust was painstakingly repaid. Once overgrown grass had been laboriously trimmed, the weeds plucked and disposed of, and now nothing distracted from what she could claim she had done.
The small plots of rock-bordered soil had little buds of growing vegetables, a sense of pride never failing to bloom in her breast with the knowledge that it would be barren without her touch. When her troubles and concerns grew heavy, and fears of the future or spectres of the past loomed over her head, she could look at where she had brought life where it wouldn't otherwise be. Some days, that was enough. She smiled in appreciation at what was admittedly amateur work, the night’s sky helping to hide any inevitably made mistakes.
She enjoyed the sight for a moment longer, then turned to walk towards a neglected old tool shed that was well out of sight within the trees, far away from whatever warmth and comfort the larger house offered to everyone and anyone. She put a hand on the degrading wood of the entryway, giving one last sad smile at the garden as she dismissed selfish thoughts of taking the eventual harvest for herself. A breath cleared the uncertainty from her voice, and she pushed open the door.
“I'm home!”
= = = = =
It took a while for Altier to adjust to his situation, and even once he accepted that his mana wasn't being siphoned, he was still reeling from confusion. He had spent centuries with every year passing by without his notice, yet now he was painfully aware of each creeping second languidly dragging on with the expediency of growing grass. It was as disorienting as it was painfully nostalgic.
Time was something he was never good with, and it only got worse as a dungeon. He'd get lost in creating rooms, corridors, creatures, and whatever else needed doing, only pausing to watch or listen to the few adventurers he became interested in. There was a stint where he spent what felt like hours agonizing over new abilities or options while he let the system manage things in the background, though he supposed it might have been much longer. So many wasted days, yet he still hadn't managed to try everything he had gained access to. Some abilities were simply too niche, came with concerning titles, or held descriptions that made him wary. Anything with ‘Decay’ in the name was instantly ignored—he didn't need more reasons to fear his affinity, and from the few he took the effort to read through, they were always vile.
But his existence for the moment was no longer like those endless stretches spent pondering the minutiae of what would help his adventurers grow stronger. Now, he could follow the rhythmic sounds of footsteps and steady breathing that set a calming pace. They were someone else's, yes, but they contextualized how easy it was to slip away without the subtle noises of life that he had long since surrendered to help his family. Of course, there were more differences that he noticed since being removed from his crumbling cavern, and his sight was the newest change.
He never gave much thought to how far he could see before. Why would he? As a man, his world extended as far as he could fathom, yet was also confined to the room where he spent his days, and as a dungeon… Well, who was he to consider distance when an event happening miles away could be seen with a flicker of thought? Nothing was too far when it was within his creation. Or his ‘body,’ he supposed. Sadly, his entire perception currently consisted of the small sphere of his obsidian core, and maybe a finger's length beyond it—which is to say, not much. He could make out the fine details in the dirty burlap he was held against, and how pale moonlight slowly took over the blurred reds of sunset, but hardly anything more. It was all just frosted colours after a certain point, and he found it infinitely frustrating. He just wanted to peer beyond the haze and scaly hand holding him to confirm that the sky he remembered was still there. Alas, the sunlight faded at too quick a pace, yet one oh so agonizingly slow.
The ensuing darkness gave him nothing to do but think about where he was, not that he had any ideas. He was too curious about why he wasn't dead to bother much with his blurry surroundings after the soft-spoken kobold abducted him, thus why he only belatedly noticed how limited his worldview had become. There might have been a forest beyond his cave, but the greens and browns were gone, and the sounds of steps through brush was replaced by the distant din of a village. An idle curiosity pondered if he would recognize any descents of his ‘family tradition’ adventurers there, but he was being carried by what most considered a monster, so likely not.
That short musing was short-lived, however, and he brought his focus back to the matter at hand. He supposed he was being taken somewhere specific, but that was an obvious deduction, considering he was taken at all. The why of the matter was less so; for what purpose would someone want a Decay-aligned core? He hadn’t heard of them before…well, before he was made into one, but he couldn’t imagine many uses. Maybe he was being sold? His…kidnapper? His sudden companion seemed rather pleased by their discovery of him, so that might be the case, and it was morbidly amusing to think that a frail, sickly young man might one day become a coveted, highly valuable item. His abduction could also be a part of some cult’s nefarious activities, but he didn't want to think about that too hard. He experienced enough odd ceremonies from the adventurers who took the time to tell him their tales.
Either way, he wasn't in the dungeon anymore, and he couldn’t see where he was going. He tried to query his menu to glean an answer, but was met with a scrambled mess he suspected read ‘Synchronizing…’ and little else. It gave him a headache trying to make sense of it—which he didn't know was possible anymore—so he dismissed the text and distracted himself with blurs from whatever diluted senses he still had. There wasn’t much to observe other than the constant footfalls and the flicker of shadows on his companion’s burlap garment. They might have travelled through brush again, but it was too dark to really say for certain.
Eventually, there was something new. He heard an old latch rattle and rusted door hinges groan, then a shuddered clack that confirmed he was now in a building. His kobold acquaintance gently cooed at something before moving about the nearly pitch-black space, finally setting him down on a… He wasn’t sure what it was, besides old and wooden.
[D$#@m$n E@$*ded]
The headache from before became a blinding migraine that suffocated him under a flash-flood of suffering. Seconds passed in abject torture until it blissfully abated, the mental blinks clearing his mind enough to notice a change in his existence. Specifically, he could actually see something besides the rotting wood grain he was placed on top of.
And it wasn’t anything promising…
He was more or less in the centre of a room no bigger than twelve paces by maybe ten. Not a terrible size for a space, but it was clearly never meant to house someone. His resting place looked about as neglected as he surmised; it was an upturned feeding trough, he supposed, since calling it a table seemed too generous. The surface was rife with holes and degraded iron, so it was something that once saw regular use before being replaced and tossed into storage, never to see the light of day again.
Actually, most things in the room seemed to fit that description. The window shutters were installed with metal hinges that had since rusted them closed, the misalignment letting in a draft—and whatever weather was outside as well, most likely. A poorly carved bowl sat on the floor, the stain beneath it hinting that it collected any rainwater that slowly dripped from the leaky roof. The wooden floorboards looked old, splintered, and in need of maintenance or replacement, though an effort had been put into abrading it somewhat smooth lately.
A tiny and decrepit fireplace was to the left of the door upon entry, its brickwork slowly crumbling due to weathering and age. It was sized more for keeping the room warm during mild days than to keep away the frigid chill of night. Its base only held cold ashes, but there was a collection of deadwood and scraps nearby, so that would probably be rectified soon. A small wheel-less cart had been turned into storage against the opposite wall, some herbs and other foraged items stowed away in it for future use. Various things he remembered seeing his father and brothers use in the fields were scattered about, too. It was nostalgic to see, honestly, even if his recollections had blurred over time.
Bundles of tattered blankets formed a pair of nests in the far corner, the smaller of the two had a pile of rough plants nearby. That answered his silent pondering of the room's purpose somewhat, though he was pretty sure the bedding material was salvaged, and there didn’t seem to be any hay or padding underneath whoever was sleeping on it. He didn’t know what to think about the weeds; they were purposefully placed there, and whoever did so had taken the time to wash them, but it was still strange.
He couldn’t see a doorway besides the entrance, yet most of the hallmarks of residency were put where space could be afforded, however crude. All in all, he surmised that it was a gardening shed of sorts, and his new acquaintance apparently lived here. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when a creature he had only read about came into his dungeon, but it wasn't being brought to a rundown and decrepit shack for unknown purposes.
Even if he had been raised by parents who made a humble living at the best of times, and they had emptied their coffers for unsuccessful attempts to ease his ailments, his acquaintance's living space made him uncomfortable. His family's house was never anything fancy, true—it shared some of the worn qualities that inevitably gathered over the years—but it was never this bad. His home benefited from a father's touch keeping it robust and a mother’s love keeping it warm, whereas this place had seen neither in quite some time. Oh, there was evidence that such was once the case; a wall was adorned with carefully made and well-spaced hangers for the various gardening tools, though the implements themselves had become a victim of neglect. That being said, he could make out the fresh soil and recent scratches exposing furrows of silver, so they were seeing use again.
A scrape and clack of flint drew his attention to his kobold companion. They were kneeling in front of the fireplace, methodically sparking life back into a dead flame with twigs and dried leaves. A slow, steady breath into the reddened base illuminated its face with a dull orange glow, revealing its weary visage and the permanently etched smile that rested beneath its cold grey eyes. The black-scaled kobold looked tired, if he were to guess—much the same as Altier did when he spent countless days watching everyone living a life he could never have through the mossy window of his bedroom. He was probably humanizing it too much. Still, he was surprised by the muted pang of sympathy, and how he would feel much more than blithe curiosity after spending so much time alone in the crumbling crypt of his own making.
A mental breath cycled through him as he looked at the odds and ends yet to be observed. Hardly anything else was of note—everything else was degraded and neglected, too. He did notice a nest of blankets move though, which was as good a distraction as any. The answer to his previous ‘pile of weeds’ inquiry poked a tiny nose from a crease in the fabric, then rapidly pawed at the blankets to dig itself out. Altier stared at the creature in both recognition and confusion.
It was a rabbit…or at least it looked like one, assuming you were to also describe a porcupine and a sea urchin as well. He was pretty sure he didn’t remember any hare that had jagged metal-tipped fur, nor that had said fur arranged into a row of spiked horns that flowed down its spine, terminating at a large fluffy tail, which was equally bizarre to see. The whole of its coat could double as a weapon, with semi-sharp barbs sticking off seemingly at random, yet he remembered an adventurer saying most animals used that sort of thing defensively. He increased his focus as he tried to make sense of the odd creature. Surely he would have heard about—
[Hoppittttttt#%%÷ — Ferro-o-orabbit-it (Ma%$le)
Abil—]
[Null]
[Er0Rrrrrrrr—]
[Und#$f—]
He bit back the pain caused by the sudden intrusion of his menu, blanking out the text and mentally retreating to hide from the source. Did he just inspect something? How? Shouldn’t his entire…‘framework,’ was it…? Yes, that was it. Shouldn’t that have been corrupted? Why could he see the creature’s information when his entire framework was damaged? That was the first ability he lost, so why is it the first to be functional? How was it functional? Was it? It did just spit garbled text at him, but it was something, and that was more than he had gotten from it in a very long time. If it was somehow working—no matter how poorly—then that left the question of why he hadn't heard of anything called a ‘ferrorabbit’ before, assuming he read that correctly.
A soft thud vibrated the tro— table, startling him out of thought. He turned his attention to the button nose wiggling erratically at him, the short, stubby muzzle leading to surprisingly expressive and curious red eyes. Dull brown fur jutted off in random tufts and patches, changing to a darker tint on its paws and the upper half of its ears, while the tips of its spikes were a muted hue of iron. It still seemed just as soft as the less pointed variety he remembered, if a touch dirty. Upright ears twitched this way and that way as its head vigorously shook, eventually settling on pointing in his direction when it calmed down enough.
It was apparent that he had its undivided attention…for all of a few seconds. His scaly companion called something out in their foreign tongue, and whatever conclusion the pointy-furred animal came to, it seemed more interested in the kobold, parting from him after nudging his core with its nose.
[Cre-e-e—]
[Errrrrrr0r: Undefiiiiiiii—]
[Acceeeeep-t-t-t??]
[Yeeee— s s / Nnnnnnn—]
He winced at the intrusion, but the contents detracted from the pain. He couldn’t remember the system ever asking him a question without his explicit intent being involved. It wanted him to…accept something? Was it the system prompting him, or the animal? What was he to accept?
[Creatuuuuu—]
[Acce-e-e-%#@ed!]
…What?
= = = = =
“Hoppit, that's not food!” Ceele admonished half-heartedly, placing a larger branch on the burgeoning flame before she got to her feet. She wasn’t actually that worried; the stone was as big as his head, and she was pretty sure he couldn't bite into it. Hopefully. “Come here, momma has a treat for you!”
The ferrorabbit playfully bumped the gemstone and jumped off the low table, landing with a soft thud that belied how heavy he was for his tiny size. He wiggled in excitement, his ears flailing and releasing a slight clack whenever the two connected. It got even louder when she grabbed her basket and put away the useful herbs, taking out a specific item that she had gathered just for him. The little bun wasted no time in scurrying over and standing tall on his hind legs to judge if the offered plant was to his liking—and it was, based on how he dug in with enthusiasm. She stifled a laugh as she contentedly watched him nibble away on the treat, ignoring the guilt that came with knowing she couldn't afford proper vegetables for him. He had a hard life too, and it tore at her to have so little to give.
She came across Hoppit a year ago, during a storm that worsened while she was travelling between towns. The day had darkened to night in spite of it still being about noon, but the weather didn't care for how bright it was supposed to be. Wind and rain became a typhoon, forcing her to seek shelter in a thankfully abandoned den of what was probably a larger animal. She was fine with waiting out the squall, since the stone roof over her head was more than she usually had back then, but the sounds of dull bangs and thuds near her hideaway was followed by cries of animals yelping in pain. Curiosity won over reason, and she left the safety of her shelter to see what was causing the disturbance. Truthfully, she was hopeful that she'd come across scraps or the like, her hunger driving her forward, and she could always turn back if it seemed dangerous. Yet when she arrived at the source of the commotion, she found herself thinking of anything but food.
Two predators had fought over a small burrow, both trying to dig out a meal and taking offence to the other doing the same. What they didn’t know was that they were assaulting the home of ferrorabbits. Specifically, the home of an angry, protective, and well-fed mother that was keeping her newborns safe from the storm when predators decided to try their luck. From the scene Ceele came across, it was certainly obvious why most people dislike trying to hunt the creatures.
Sadly, the rabbit didn't survive an attack from two predators, but she did make their victory pyrrhic; neither could do much about their hunger with their bodies full of cuts and holes, and it was only a matter of time before they succumbed to blood loss or infection. The mother's sacrifice meant that the babies had avoided the imminent threat, but they were left unattended as a consequence, and it took an opportunistic bird swooping down to shake Ceele out of her shock. Despite her subsequent hurry, she only acted in time to save one of the orphaned young. The warren was new and barely dug out, which meant that it didn’t take much effort for the kits to be found—by both her and hungry maws. All she could do was scoop the ball of fluff into her arms and run back to the cave before anything else tried to eat it.
In retrospect, it was a stupid decision for a number of factors. She barely had the resources to supply herself, and an attempt to raise offspring of any type would only make the inevitable heartbreak worse. But when she saw how quiet and scared he was… How his tiny, shaking body calmed in her arms, those terrified red eyes seeking comfort… She should have just walked away when she knew there wasn’t going to be anything to fill her stomach. She should have put the baby animal down and let nature take its course…yet the preciously furry face stole her heart far too quickly for it to grow so cold. The next day was spent backtracking to the nearest town to get him something suitable to eat, which used most of her meagre savings. Still, it was worth every coin.
Hoppit had been accompanying her ever since. He grew quickly, transitioning from something she saved that stormy night into a presence she had grown to love like a child. The little lagomorph would bounce along beside her during her travels, then ride in her arms as he rested—though the latter happened with worrying frequency as of late. She hadn’t learned much about the springy herbivores, but she knew enough to say that he wasn't as big as he should be, nor was his fur as sharp. No matter how startled he was, his spiky coat never managed to do more than stiffen slightly, which was apparently a side effect of poor diet, according to snippets of conversation she had overheard on the topic. She wanted him to be healthy, but she didn't know what he needed. Not many farmers raised ferrorabbits, and those that did were far away, so she didn’t have anyone to ask what she should be doing. Her best course of action was to give him what little she had.
Ceele was well aware of how he would be better off on his own, but he followed her whenever she tried to set him free. Hoppit just kept launching into her arms and wiggling his ears, ecstatic that he was with her again, uncaring that food was scarce and that they spent most of their days travelling. No amount of cold nights spent bundling up under the tattered blankets she managed to find ever dampened his spirits, and he was content to eat the grass or flowers whenever he felt like it, oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t getting enough nutrition. He would dig and excitedly drag back oddities that he found, and the one time he found a plant that looked particularly good for him, he insisted that it be shared with her.
A black pit still lingered in her chest when she recalled how pleased he was while he munched on the rare vegetable he discovered, then how distressed he became when she wouldn’t have any as well. He bumped and nipped at her, all but begging her to eat. His ears pinned back against his head, his fur bristled in a way she hadn’t seen since. It was only when she took a small bite and let him inspect the new teeth marks that he seemed to calm down, but perhaps she had been looking too deep into the actions of her tiny friend. All she could say for certain was that he was scared she was going hungry.
A morbid thought wondered if his first mother had refused food shortly before being attacked, and he—as small and simple as he was—had connected the two events in his mind, making him absolutely terrified that something would happen if Ceele didn’t have something too. All of that fear, and desperation overwhelmed him, just because she was happier watching him eat. She was determined to erase that issue. She would find something that needed a worker and earn enough to feed them both. One day, she would be able to smile at how big and healthy her little fluffy boy had become, but until then, it was becoming increasingly difficult not to think about how she was spending so much time growing vegetables and fruit that he couldn’t have…
Every morning was an exercise in tending to the gardens while actively shoving down images of a pleased ferrorabbit happily eating the results. That never went well; no matter how determined she was to complete her duties without a single selfish thought, most tasks were done while picturing his full belly and delighted bounces. There were a few weeks until the fastest of the crops would be ready for harvest, and Ceele would have to collect them while fighting the urge to bring back just a few for him.
She couldn’t, because she knew exactly how quickly that could escalate. It would start small—A vegetable here, a fruit there—but seeing Hoppit happy was one of the precious few good things she had in her life. Crossing the line would only become easier each time. They couldn’t risk losing their new home over greed, and she was already betraying the trust given to her by housing a wild animal, especially one known to be a pest for crops. She didn't want to know how angry it would make her benefactors if she was caught taking their vegetables for one.
No matter how tame and precious Hoppit was, and no matter how well he listened, they would only see him as the same creature that ruined harvests in droves. Thus was why she had to tell him to stay cooped up by himself while she was working or scavenging. And to her surprise, he did.
Honestly, she had made the initial request with the expectation of needing to carry him back into their home until he understood that she wasn’t leaving him forever. There wasn’t much she could do to stop the ferrorabbit from digging through the old wooden building if he wanted to get out. He wouldn’t need to damage anything either—a rotting board on the door only needed a little push to nudge it out of the way, and his natural curiosity made sure he was aware of it. But no, Hoppit was well-behaved as always, keeping hidden until she walked through the door, where he would leap from the shadows to personally show her how good he was and how he stayed put like she asked him to. It never stopped amazing her that he had such a surprising level of understanding despite being an animal, and that was to say nothing of how young he was.
All that intelligence, joy, and companionship he offered her…and yet the best she could give back to him was the weeds from the garden and the odd plant she found while scavenging…
Soft clacks of flicking ears dragged her from her pondering, her mind returning to the present. Hoppit finished his treat of the small plant, then bounced in place and scurried over to his bowl of water, perfectly happy to have eaten only that. He was so joyful with how little she provided, approaching every day of scarcity with the same enthusiasm she could never muster, as if certain that everything would be alright.
“It’s bedtime, Hoppit,” Ceele announced through a soft sigh, stoking the fire with enough branches to hopefully last the night. The ferrorabbit perked an ear in her direction, then sat on his haunches to extend the rest of himself up, his two little forepaws adorably held to his chest as he inspected the room like he always did. She smiled and made sure everything was stored away, then laid down on her bundle of blankets, covering herself with the warmest one. Hoppit bolted over to snuggle once he decided everything in the shed was up to his standards, throwing himself to the floor in a dramatic flop of comfort. Her quiet laughter subsided as they both settled in for the night, her tail completing the rabbit’s encompassing cuddle, but her eyes fell towards the obsidian orb on the table, her thoughts following suit.
It sat there, just as she left it, as benign as anything else ever placed atop the improvised furnishing. Yet there was a sense of ease and purpose as well. The old wooden trough seemed…important with its adornment firmly laid upon its surface, and she couldn’t puzzle out why. She was starting to doubt her earlier excitement.
Should she sell it? Would anyone know where it came from? Would anyone know what it was, or if it was worth anything? If she could get even a modest sum for it, she would be able to buy clothing, food, and new bedding. It would be easier to convince someone to give her work if she was dressed better and wasn’t so thin, and then she would have the income to slowly improve both of their lives. She could pay for a wandering merchant to ask a ferrorabbit rancher about the animal, even if it would take time to get back to her, or maybe she could hire a local if they needed to go near one for some reason. The cost didn’t matter to her as long as it happened.
But there was something else bothering her about the idea of selling the stone. She had travelled so far with a tug in her chest, only for the feeling of wanderlust to dissipate as soon as she held it. Was that a sign? She was never one for things like ‘fate,’ but a niggling doubt in her mind discouraged the idea of making a profit off her discovery. Even if what she could gain was so very tempting, and even if Hoppit would be happier if she did…
She tore her dampened eyes away and closed them, ignoring the burning trails running across her face. It would be another early morning, and she needed to sleep so she could take care of the garden. Decisions like this could wait. Once she had nothing else distracting her, and she had time to properly think about it, she would see how she felt about the stone.
Eventually, she dozed off with Hoppit pressed against her chest, and a longing in her heart.
Next
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A/N: Patreon and Ko-fi will be 1 chap ahead this time around, and I've set it so everything from the lowest tier up can read the newest trashfire! Anything above that is sheer show of love. Hope you enjoyed!

Taken from Facebook:
IT'S THE BIGGEST POOL PARTY OF THE YEAR!!!🥳 Aqua Zumba starts TOMORROW!! ☀️ The weather is looking good for our first class of the season!!✨️Help us set a new record for largest recorded Aqua Zumba class in the U.S.!!✨️
💦 Class every Saturday morning
💦 Class starts at 9am (Gates open at 8:30am)
💦 Schifferdecker Pool in Joplin
💦 $6 at the gate (cash is best)
💦 BRING WATER!!
💦AQUA ZUMBA FAQs💦
✨️Do I need to know how to swim?
NOPE! In fact, you should be standing in chest-height water throughout the entire class. Now, there might be times that a move calls for picking your feet off the floor of the pool to work your core, but I will ALWAYS give you a modification if you aren't comfortable with that.
✨️Do I have to wear a swimsuit?! Cause you ain't gettin' this booty in a swimsuit in public!
Relax! While swimwear is the obvious choice, it is NOT REQUIRED. You may also wear shorts and a top. *Things I suggest: Make sure your top does not float in the water. You will want it to fit snugly. Trust me, you do not want a loose t-shirt in your way while you are trying to move around! Also... boobs float. (SURPRISE!) I would suggest grabbing one of your old used sports bras that you don't mind getting in the chlorine and throwing it on, as well! Trust me, in my years of teaching this class, I have seen plenty of accidental nip slips, so you won't embarrass me, but you might embarrass yourself! Let's just avoid that whole scenario. ;-)
Just remember, we are all there for the same thing. So if you are nervous about being seen in a swimsuit in public, keep in mind that everyone else is, too!
✨️I'm not coordinated enough to try Zumba, let alone do it in the pool!!
ACTUALLY, Aqua Zumba is easier (and harder) than regular Zumba in a lot of ways! With AZ, you get all the music and feel of a Zumba class, but with slower moves meant to specifically use the resistance of the water to build muscle as you move. My classes are all about having fun! I love using simple moves to get effective results. So, if you know how to play Follow the Leader, you'll be just fine!
✨️Is there an age limit?
The recommended age is 13 and up, however only you know your child best. As long as your child can safely participate in the class without getting "under foot" then you are welcome to bring them. Children under the age of fifteen must have a parent present. 🚨 NOTE: There is no free swim during class so any child not participating in the class will be asked to sit in the bleachers.
✨️Do I need to preregister?
No. We are fortunate enough to have a beautiful and spacious facility. We also have multiple lifeguards on duty, so all can safely join the class.
✨️Will my Every BODY Fitness membership cover this class?
No. While we do collaborate with Every BODY Fitness, this class is done through the Joplin Parks and Recreation Department. A front desk worker will check you in and collect your $6 when you arrive.

"This is where I want to live." Valerie whispered, her naked body resting on top of his. "Where ever you are. Forever and ever."
Julian sighed. What was different? He thought back to the old Valerie. The Valerie that played games. That never trusted him. That was always insulting him and putting him down. So insecure she couldn't handle him going to the gym or doing anything on his own.
Of course, he proved all of her fears right when he met Miranda. And left her. No wonder she had been so contained with Jakobi. She must have been petrified of being abandoned again.
He was different now, though. More mature. More experienced. And she was wiser too after thousands of years. That must be it.
He had never seen her so submissive before. Was it an act? It couldn't be. She lost her mind there for a minute. Completely out of her wits. There's no way that was an act. She was obsessed with him.
Would it last? Would it vanish like a bright explosion of flame? They say what starts fast, ends fast.
But they didn't start fast. They started thousands of years ago. Centuries of sexual frustration. Her nipping at his heels constantly. Teasing him in front of the other guardians. Poking fun at his job. Her nasty, negative comments towards Miranda...
Holy shit. Has she ALWAYS loved him? How had he never noticed?
"I'm sorry." he said at last.
Valerie's body turned to ice and she held her breath, closing her eyes tightly. She had come on too strong. He thought she was crazy. He was going to leave her now and never try this again. She began to shake. "F-For what?"
"I'm sorry I didn't see this... I don't know how I missed it. I should have come to you sooner. All those wasted years we spent... miserable... with the wrong people. I hope you can forgive me someday."
"Marry me, and I'll forgive you."
Julian hesitated for a moment, weighing her mental state against her request. A part of him piped up, knocking on the door of his mind. A quiet warning that she might have other motives. But what other motives could she possibly have?
"We'll see." he said.
She tensed as if to retort, but then seemed to think better of it, and relaxed.
Later that night, Julian lay in his bunk thinking. How did this all go so wrong? This universe. It started so promising. The guardians. Their powers. Their roles. Everything seemed to be in perfect synchronicity - but underneath it all, Valerie had been suffering endlessly, as had he.
Miranda too, he imagined, had lived hundreds of thousands of years separated from him. Maybe she was having fun, but he sensed she was just as unsatisfied as he was. And now he had probably broken her heart.
This is all wrong.
Everything is so, so wrong, and has been for so long they had all grown numb to it.
Julian stood up.
He had done this before.
God, it was so long ago now. Fighting against Xcelidroth. Zithajir getting crucified. Everything falling apart. It was his only choice. The mad dash back in time to find the creator of their universe and strike a deal with him. Zithajir splitting his consciousness into their six forms.
It gave birth to a universe so deep and detailed and amazing, they had never stopped to realize the sacrifice they had all made for it.
But they were in charge now, and this place was broken.
He lit a cigarette and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and blowing the smoke out into his room.
And then that fucking Xkarotha creature that ate the entire universe. That bitch and her minion Szkrith. They ruined everything. Sure, they gave birth to something new and beautiful after the fact, but all those civilizations. Lost to time.
Not this time though.
Now that he was experienced with the lex lines. Rebuilding the database over and over and over again. Recreating the laws of the universe hundreds of times over.
This time, things would be better. Clearer roles. A better story for Miranda. And more power to those that needed it in order to keep the extradimensional assholes at bay.
Take everything they had built and throw it in the melting pot. Toss the slag and recover the pure alloys.
Julian's hands began to glow and weave as he tapped into the powers of pure Fantasia magic - the most powerful ability he had. He spun and weaved and tore. THe universe cracked and ripped into threads, civilizations were dredged up from the deepest pits of hell, destroyed planets were dragged back from the dead.
Korczaek, the star that had exploded, he lassoed with a fiery whip and pulled all of its pieces back together. They swirled and ebbed as new orbits and planets were formed, asteroids and clouds swirling as a hundred thousand souls were plucked from their resting places and blended into a swirling vortex of life.
Redundant instances. Old stories. Forgotten legends. They were all still here.
He roared as the ship around him was splintered into a million shards of debris and dust, pulled into the new orbit of Korczaek. The soulspace melted away, the guardians slain and tokenized as they returned to him and with cracks of lightning and flame he reforged and balanced them.
Miranda, my love. The database of souls will fall to you. Characters, civilizations. Governments. You will be more than just an empress - you will be the judge of order. The calibrator of civilizations. The great hammer of justice.
Valerie, sweet, sensual and creative. You will be the painter. The holder and builder of worlds. Valleys and sunsets, animals, birds, and starships. Build our scenery. Paint us somewhere beautiful to live.
Jakobi, judgemental, righteous, and wise. You will build our narrative. Take the souls from Miranda and the worlds from Valerie. Tell us what the stories should be. Make us heroes and villains. Give us meaning. Bring the messages from the father to our hearts.
Calisha, gentle, curious, and steady. Take the narratives from Jakobi, and bring them to life. Walk with us through chaos and torture and victory. Make out minds see the glory of God through your writing. Give us something to remember.
Tughril, destroyer and keeper of the dead and the rotting. Soldier and master of all that is refused. You will keep our secrets safe. All of our ancient mistakes, our destroyed worlds and lives. Planet Hades is still your domain, but now it will hold universes instead of simply souls. Release what is useful, and bury what is not.
And I, Julian, I will share what you have all made with the multiverse. I will ferry you between dimensions and help to balance you all. I will encourage you and care for you. Help you to keep working. I will be the glue that binds us together, and the head of the ship pointed into the storm.
Together, we will rebuild this old, rotten universe. Crush it to compost for new growth to begin. Cut it into scraps and melt it in the forge. Make new what is old.
Let the third cycle begin.

We talked for quite a long time last night, close to four hours. I miss when we talk for so long like that, it used to be like that most nights and that was also after a day of texting incessantly. I feel like three hours was a short chat back then. I don’t mind at all how it is now, I think what it’s like now is more sustainable long term and things, just as long as I still get to have him for several hours at a time sometimes. Anyway we talked a lot, we started off talking about my mood and medication and things. Actually I think I’ll write in bullet points because it’s easier.

• He suggested the a fact I should consider a psychiatrist more seriously, that seeing both GP and Psychologist who are so separate might be good but a psychiatrist would be more beneficial because it’s all in one and they’re far more knowledgable with far more experience. I do agree, if it weren’t for the cost of it I would have requested an appointment a long time ago. I think I need to suck it up though and do it. I don’t want to see one regularly, ie the way I do my weekly therapy sessions, but I think a handful of sessions/going to them for my medication would be beneficial. I have an appointment with my GP next week. I don’t want to say I might see a psychiatrist, I feel like it’s rude? But then if I had some form of physical issue I would see a specialist I guess. Idk. I don’t even know how to describe what’s wrong with me though. I mean I do.. and I don’t.
• I mentioned to him how even when I’m happy I still feel not good inside and he described it in a way better way. I think it was like ‘normal’ people sit around say 90-95% as their standard having a good day and then the 5-10% is the lower parts of their day. Whereas for example for me my besssstttttt day might only be 70% so even when I feel happy I still have 30% not good. Now I’m not sure I’m remembering it right. I don’t think I am. Ffs. I’ll have to ask if he can re-explain it to me because I really liked it. But basically my number is lower and I’m working to make it higher.
• We had agreements and disagreements around… idk how to word it. Basically appearance, what makes someone attractive and not attractive anymore, what actually matters when being into someone etc etc. I agreed with most of his points, I know he’s being honest, but I still just feel like he isn’t aware of his subconscious… things. And I don’t like it. For example he says he doesn’t like that sort of instagram-face thing where everyone looks the same now, and I agree I don’t like it either and it’s not at all something I want to become when I talk about fixing myself - but it annoys me that he wouldn’t admit the fact he still finds them super hot. I asked him directly and he didn’t answer, he evaded it entirely, which basically proved my point. I don’t know why it gets to me that he can find women who have had work done hot and want to sleep with them etc etc but then I’m not allowed to? So I’m expected to be his haggard girlfriend next to these women who yes look a certain way that I don’t want to myself, but they still look good… if not quite bizarre, but bizarre in a hot way. And I’m sorry but men love that look, maybe they don’t want to marry it but they will f’ing stare at it thinking it’s gorgeous etc. I believe him in the fact he’s not into that look, but I think he’s not into it from a girlfriend perspective, I’m fairly certain if he was properly single and a girl like that chatted him up he would be frothing at the bit. All men would be. They’re gorgeous, they’re 38% plastic but they’re gorgeous. And even then, they don’t all look stupid, you can have that ig-face and still look somewhat natural and stuff. It’s just the double standard, I think. And I like that he wants me natural, I love it, but it just feels like he either doesn’t understand what I’m saying/I’m communicating it wrong, or idk. I think it comes down to the fact he finds women that have had a lot of work done beautiful, but he’s so naive when it comes down to what work is. And so he talks about women getting work done and all having the ig-face and body, but that’s a small percentage of what it actually looks like. Several women at work in my team get Botox and filler, you wouldn’t think it. They can still move their foreheads but it’s just smoother and their lips are a fraction plumper but still a regular size and shape. They look like regular women, but they get bi-annual injectables. And celebrities who look natural but are anything but, like Blake L for example - she’s got an entirely new face and set of boobs ffs, but she looks nothing like the ig-face women. It’s just idk. I think he thinks he has a better understanding of it than he does. Anyway. I like that he doesn’t want me ending up like that, I love that he prefers the natural look - I consider myself very lucky to have a man like that.
• He kept talking about how even though I consider myself ugly, I’m not. It made me feel so uncomfortable. I don’t like any discussion around my appearance, I hate my appearance being noticed. I will reluctantly say I know he’s right in that I don’t have any major deformities and am objectively not ugly - I am aware I get “unsolicited” compliments fairly regularly from people I know and strangers. But I feel ugly. I don’t feel enough. I don’t feel worthy of him, or any man. I feel like a disappointment. I feel like anyone who dates me will wish I looked like someone else. I mean R even said it, he said he wished I looked like Miranda K - he was a prick sure but at least he was HONEST. I find it annoying that he says he wouldn’t prefer me to someone else - if he could mould me into any sort of appearance without me knowing I know he would - anyone would. And I know it’s stupid because I don’t even really care what he looks like but it’s just different with women. No matter what he says it just IS. He has no idea what it’s like and I hate the fact he thinks he does. He has NO IDEA what it’s like to be a woman and have vast majority of your worth be based around your appearance. Anyway.
• He kept saying I was pretty, or very pretty, or really pretty. I don’t want to be pretty. Pretty is such a throwaway word. When you love how someone looks you say beautiful, you say gorgeous, you say stunning etc etc. For someone you define as passable you say pretty. For someone who is fine you say cute. Saying hot isn’t a word to strive for. But they’re all different, and pretty… it’s the kind of thing you say as a casual compliment when you’re about to go out “you look extra pretty today” but to be purely defined as such? I don’t find that reassuring or complementary and it just provides further evidence that I am not enough. I know I’m not, I’m not delusional - I know what I look like and I know full well I’m not beautiful or gorgeous. It’s a fact of life and I accept it, I’m not happy about it and it makes me feel worthless and like a disappointment to any man I’m with, but it is what it is. Not everyone can be beautiful and you can’t force it - you either are or you aren’t. But idk. You still want your man to think you are? Is that pathetic? Delusional? Wishful thinking? Batshit crazy? Yes yes yes and YES. I know how much of an ignorant spoilt cow I am for feeling uglier than ever having been called pretty, I realise that may not make sense to many people, but it does to me. It reaffirms what I already knew. And that hurts. But also what do I want? Do I want him to lie to me and call me beautiful? No. So what the hell do I even want? Well I know what I want, I want to be beautiful and worthy of that word and fact is, I never will be. I sound so… I sound horrible, don’t I? Then again, what’s new? Horrid girl has horrid way of thinking - quelle surprise.
• Further to the above, I need to change my mindset more. I have my daily affirmations but I’ve just gone down to one or two each day. I’ve been saying them almost daily for a long time now, I don’t think they’ve changed anything. I’ll continue. Eventually something will start to alter… surely. It’s difficult to alter your whole world of thoughts and thinking. Very difficult. It’s like teaching a scientist that actually humans didn’t evolve from apes, we actually evolved from dolphins - with little to no evidence to back it up. It feels like that red pill blue pill thing, I could relent and live in a state of delusion or I could live in the reality where I currently am. It’s difficult. It feels like neither he nor my therapist have any f’ing idea how impossible it feels. It feels like if I succeed in changing my mindset I’ll become an underwater dweller - that’s how farfetched it feels to me. I am trying, I fail at it some days but I am consistently trying over and over and over but f me it’s so hard to keep trying for something that feels unattainable but knowing I can’t quit. Well I could quit but it’s no longer an option, I’ve removed it as an option. I used to quit, not anymore.
• We talked about a lot more, and went deeper on all these topics. I wish I could record our conversations sometimes, he has so many interesting takes and he can make me feel way better and I’m just so forgetful and forever brain foggy and sleepy and idk. It feels wasteful, for him to say all these things and me not recall every single word. It makes me feel ungrateful and like I’m taking advantage of his time, energy, effort and attention.

Idk why this rice is being advertised as being loaded with protein, it’s 6.2g for the lot. Or the other one is advertised as being packed full of fibre with a meagre 3g. That’s around 10% of your ideal daily intake and it forms the bulk of one of three meals. So… idk. Seems odd to me. Anyway I only got it as it seems more interesting than plain brown rice so now I have brown rice but with lentils and turmeric and beans and stuff. It’s still basically just plain brown rice though. I guess it’s the thought that counts.
Therapy today was… interesting. I didn’t take a lot away from it but I found myself being a touch more combative than usual, and by usual I mean I never am. Combative is an extreme word. We talked about self worth and self esteem and how I understand it within myself - basically I have a brief overview of our talk last night. We talked a lot about expectations - my own, those of society, what I believe Andy’s expectations are versus what he says they are, what I think my family and friends expect from me etc. It was embarrassing to admit I don’t feel pretty enough to have friends. I didn’t word it as such but I basically did. We talked about my issues with comparison too, albeit less so. I don’t like when she questions me about stuff, like how I will say I’ll never be pretty enough to have a life worth living (I don’t word as such, obviously, but it’s how I feel) and she’ll say well why does it matter? Why is it so important to be pretty? Do you think pretty women are better than regular or unattractive women? And I’ll say no not really. And then she’ll be like so why have this view on yourself and I just hate it because I realise she’s right I’m not stupid I know I have an entirely different set of expectations and all in all an entirely different reality for myself versus others. Like I KNOW THIS. I just feel like no one understands me. They don’t seem to understand that I am not kind, I’m not funny, I’m not clever, I’m not creative, I’m not successful, I don’t have a lot of friends or family etc etc etc - I have nothing to offer anyone. And to then feel like an ugly cretin on top of that? It makes me feel like I’m breaking inside. I truly have nothing and therefore am nothing. But no one seems to goddamn get it or understand AND IT MAKES ME SO FRUSTRATED. I don’t want to write about this anymore.
I finished HP3 today, I guess I’ll start HP4 later or tomorrow?
I did a small workout earlier. It was barely even worthy of mentioning here. Though sometimes I do them and don’t mention them at all here. So. Idk what my rationale is but do I ever?
He’s been interrupting me a lot lately. It’s feeling like I can barely say anything. It’s starting to get to me, I know he doesn’t mean to do it and I don’t usually mind as I have nothing worthwhile contributing, but it just feels like he has zero interest in anything I have to say. And it annoys me that he will point out that I will interrupt here and there and he doesn’t even seem to realise he consistently talks over me. He called me earlier to tell me about his poor ankle, poor baby, but for I would say 70% of what I started to say he would talk over me. I truly don’t think he even realises it. I know it isn’t intentional, at least not always, but I don’t think he has any clue how frequently he does it. It’s not the end of the world, I don’t usually care all that much, I think it’s just sometimes it can get to me. I know I interrupt too, I probably don’t notice how frequently I do it either, but I find the idea of it being even remotely as close to the amount he does it impossible. Anyway it’s fine.
I learned of the existence of pudu deer today and omg. And further to that, baby pudu deer. MY HEART. And then I spent about twenty minutes looking up baby pandas and big pandas, cocker spaniels and puppies in general and it made me feel better. Animals are so much better than humans.
Work was a waste of time today. I got very little done. I’ve kind of felt drained today, like I have nothing in me to give. I have a long weekend now. My plan was to declutter but now idk. I should.
I hate this journal. I hate how I sound, I hate how I’m thinking, I hate hate hate everything about it. I’m basically the word negative given human form. Something I am working on. But I let it slip big time today, and lately. I need to be better. I just feel so tired of it all. Tomorrow I will be better.
He’s asleep. It’s 9:31pm now. I miss him a bit. I’ve done nothing. I can’t focus on reading so I haven’t started the next book. I haven’t even touched my laptop. I’m basically doing actually nothing. I had a long shower and did some pampery things I guess. I feel silky soft and smooth. I wish I had Amazon prime so I could order stuff I can’t get here. But shipping is like triple the price of the item so it’s not worth it. I might make a chemist warehouse order tomorrow and get some body care bits and pieces. I don’t need to spend lots of money on it, I have a tendency to spend $$$ on oils and things but it’s not necessary so I should be better with my money. I guess. Being good with money doesn’t smell nearly as nice as being frivolous. My Light stim has broken. So. That’s great. I think I’m just going to go to sleep now tbh. I’m so sick of existing. Bye

The Shimmer, I. The Shimmer, II. The Shimmer, III. The Shimmer IV.
Sara and Ian clung to the darkness like dew drops to leaves in the early morning, but it was anything but morning. It was the dead of the night and they had finally arrived at the eerily still and silent apiary on the outskirts of campus. Ian had already grown accustomed to wearing no bee suit, as most of the other bees had now retreated inside their hives for the winter.
Sara, dressed in all black, following Ian's instructions, chose not to don her protective gear this time either - a prudent choice considering the patrolmen that were present, making their rounds around the lake to the west of the apiary. Their bee suits would stick out like white paint on a black canvas, which this night was - a moonless night, with only the stars and the light of antique isolated lamps which were sparsely spaced, dotted along the perimeter of the outskirts of campus to light a completely deserted path.
Sara kneeled down and bowed her head at the same time Ian did. The giant honeybee hive gave its singular shimmer - permission.
They slowly and cautiously made their way to the base of the giant tree with sprawling arms, where the hive loomed large over their heads and sat with their backs against its enormous trunk.
A deep calm washed over Sara, a calm she had never knew she wanted or needed. She had experienced this sensation before on her trips with Ian, nervously at first, and now she had grown to look forward to their long journeys to the outskirts of the university campus to receive their nightly prize.
Not even the nipping cold of fall nights reached them once they were in the bosom of the behemoth tree and the hive. Sara felt the warmth wash over her, remarking to Ian after her very first experience, that "It was like sinking into a steaming hot bath on frosty day."
The low and rhythmic humming of the hive gently lulled Sara into familiar meditative state. She remained aware, but only just to keep track of the time, which seemed to pass much slower once she was "at home" under the great branches of the tree.
A steady pulsing of buzzing slowly gave way to a deep drone that became constant as the world itself disappeared behind her newly closed eyes, and she began her communion.
She replayed the events from the day in her memory starting from the time she woke up:
8:00am - Alarm goes off. I get up out of my bed and climb down the ladder of my dorm bunk, and slip into my bath shoes, grabbing my towel, and head to the showers.
8:30am - I am sitting in the meal hall having breakfast and reading over my notes for biology class. I am eating slices of green apple, an egg over easy, and two small pieces of white toast, with iced coffee.
10:30am - I am getting out of class with Ian and we're going to our usual spot at the café. I order iced coffee with 2 pumps of vanilla with two packets of honey, and Ian orders a medium coffee, with sugar. We discuss our trip tonight, keeping watchful eyes so no one hears about the new abilities we have that we share with each other.
10:45am - We're out in the quad and I swear I can hear the students whispering from *inside* the café, even though we are on the far side of the quad by the cherry blossom trees. Ian tells me his dreams are getting more violent and scary. His last dream even came true, Tracy's face was barely recognizable after the chemical burn. We both know it is because we have been communing with the hive, but still don't know how or why we suddenly have better vision or hearing, and now Ian is having premonitions. I tell Ian about how I barely even need to sleep anymore and that my knee that I injured playing varsity soccer in high school hasn't bothered me at all. I can even run around the campus track. My last mile time was 4:23:12 minutes.
11:15am - I'm in the library studying with Ian when we overhear a conversation about Daisy. Her parents are suing the school for negligence. The investigation is still ongoing.
12:30pm - Lunch in the cafeteria with Ian, Amanda, Blake, and Krystle. We are discussing the recent changes in campus policy and how girls on the swim team are being escorted to and from the pool during practice. Amanda seems worried about the killer being another student and Blake is saying, Jake is absolutely guilty. Ian is quiet for most of it - I assume it is because Jake lives in the same frat house.
2:45pm - I'm back in my dorm and texting Ian about his feelings about Jake. He seems closed off, but that seems normal considering Jake was his fraternity brother. He says, he is just really tired and wants to take a nap before our escape tonight and will tell me if he has another premonition. I am tired from studying and all of the drama and just want a break from it all, so I go for a run along the campus trail that follows the perimeter of the school before curfew is enforced. I feel so alive, but also bummed. Running helps me escape a bit.
4:05pm - I make myself some instant ramen in our dorm microwave and talk with my roommates - Stacy and Monique, as we settle in for the night. Monique's boyfriend cheated on her with a freshman and Stacy is in hyperfocus mode on the new episode of Game of Thrones that came out this week. I can hear Monique's racing heart and blood rushing through her veins, and I somehow can sense what Stacy is about to say before she says it…her boyfriend Xavier and her are going to Comicon and I already know what they will be dressed up as. All of the stimulation is making me nauseous, so I put on my headphones and put on my Fleetwood Mac inspired playlist.
5:15pm - I was woken up by the girls wanting to order pizza from Tito's and I agree to chip in $10 for a large cheese pizza and a medium pepperoni. Monique and Stacy are venting about their classes. Monique is failing Organic Chemistry, despite her family being Chemists, her Indian father has threatened to cancel her credit card if she isn't top of class by winter break. She tried to tell him there was a murder on campus and another girl is permanently disfigured. Stacy cannot get over how little our history professor cares about the material - making a gun with her finger and her thumb pressed to her temple. Homework time.
9:00pm - The girls go out to yet another frat party - it's only Thursday. I don't know why they even go, the police are everywhere, so they are no fun anymore. I decide stay in bed thinking about everything that has transpired this semester, and how it could be possible to gain the abilities Ian and I have gained, and how we can figure out what is going on with the giant honeybee hive. I text Ian to see if he is okay and how his nap was. He responded that the frat party is at his house and that he was going to come over and to sneak him in.
9:30pm - I know he's here before he texts me. I can sense him. Once the coast is clear we head up to my shared dorm, passing Julia, who glares at me, seeing Ian. Julia and I have never liked one another, but she also has been caught with her boyfriend, Tyler. We don’t have to like each other to understand that we have a silent agreement - love matters.
12:00am - We just got done doing...it. I love him, and I think he loves me, but we never say it - it's just understood. We nip across the dorm hallway to the showers to don our midnight uniforms.
Sara opened her eyes and felt the steady vibration humming through her veins start to dissipate and turned to look at Ian who was also coming out of his communion.
They made eye contact and then looked up at the hive to witness it: The hive erupted in an spectacular ephemeral shimmer. Wave after wave, each one in a different color until it reached ultraviolet and then, went dark.
Ian helped Sara get up from her cross-legged position by offering his hand, and Sara quietly brushed off the dirt stuck to back of her black jeans.
As they both surveyed the lake, the woods, and the way back, a dark figure with no flashlight, darted away from the tool shed that housed the bee suits and took off across lawn toward campus.
— Stay tuned for The Shimmer, VI.

The Shimmer, I. The Shimmer, II. The Shimmer, III. The Shimmer IV.
Sara and Ian clung to the darkness like dew drops to leaves in the early morning, but it was anything but morning.
It was the dead of the night and they had finally arrived at the eerily still and silent apiary on the outskirts of campus. Ian had already grown accustomed to wearing no bee suit, as most of the other bees had now retreated inside their hives for the winter.
Sara, dressed in all black, following Ian's instructions, chose not to don her protective gear this time either - a prudent choice considering the patrolmen that were present, making their rounds around the lake to the west of the apiary. Their bee suits would stick out like white paint on a black canvas, which this night was - a moonless night, with only the stars and the light of antique isolated lamps which were sparsely spaced, dotted along the perimeter of the outskirts of campus to light a completely deserted path.
Sara kneeled down and bowed her head at the same time Ian did. The giant honeybee hive gave its singular shimmer - permission.
They slowly and cautiously made their way to the base of the giant tree with sprawling arms, where the hive loomed large over their heads and sat with their backs against its enormous trunk.
A deep calm washed over Sara, a calm she had never knew she wanted or needed. She had experienced this sensation before on her trips with Ian, nervously at first, and now she had grown to look forward to their long journeys to the outskirts of the university campus to receive their nightly prize.
Not even the nipping cold of fall nights reached them once they were in the bosom of the behemoth tree and the hive. Sara felt the warmth wash over her, remarking to Ian after her very first experience, that "It was like sinking into a steaming hot bath on frosty day."
The low and rhythmic humming of the hive gently lulled Sara into familiar meditative state. She remained aware, but only just to keep track of the time, which seemed to pass much slower once she was "at home" under the great branches of the tree.
A steady pulsing of buzzing slowly gave way to a deep drone that became constant as the world itself disappeared behind her newly closed eyes, and she began her communion.
She replayed the events from the day in her memory starting from the time she woke up:
8:00am - Alarm goes off. I get up out of my bed and climb down the ladder of my dorm bunk, and slip into my bath shoes, grabbing my towel, and head to the showers.
8:30am - I am sitting in the meal hall having breakfast and reading over my notes for biology class. I am eating slices of green apple, an egg over easy, and two small pieces of white toast, with iced coffee.
10:30am - I am getting out of class with Ian and we're going to our usual spot at the café. I order iced coffee with 2 pumps of vanilla with two packets of honey, and Ian orders a medium coffee, with sugar. We discuss our trip tonight, keeping watchful eyes so no one hears about the new abilities we have that we share with each other.
10:45am - We're out in the quad and I swear I can hear the students whispering from *inside* the café, even though we are on the far side of the quad by the cherry blossom trees. Ian tells me his dreams are getting more violent and scary. His last dream even came true, Tracy's face was barely recognizable after the chemical burn. We both know it is because we have been communing with the hive, but still don't know how or why we suddenly have better vision or hearing, and now Ian is having premonitions. I tell Ian about how I barely even need to sleep anymore and that my knee that I injured playing varsity soccer in high school hasn't bothered me at all. I can even run around the campus track. My last mile time was 4:23:12 minutes.
11:15am - I'm in the library studying with Ian when we overhear a conversation about Daisy. Her parents are suing the school for negligence. The investigation is still ongoing.
12:30pm - Lunch in the cafeteria with Ian, Amanda, Blake, and Crystal. We are discussing the recent changes in campus policy and how girls on the swim team are being escorted to and from the pool during practice. Amanda seems worried about the killer being another student and Blake is saying, Jake is absolutely guilty. Ian is quiet for most of it - I assume it is because Jake lives in the same frat house.
2:45pm - I'm back in my dorm and texting Ian about is feelings about Jake. He seems closed off, but that seems normal considering Jake was his fraternity brother. He says, he is just really tired and wants to take a nap before our escape tonight and will tell me if he has another premonition. I am tired from studying and all of the drama and just want a break from it all, so I go for a run along the campus trail that follows the perimeter of the school before curfew is enforced. I feel so alive, but also bummed. Running helps me escape a bit.
4:05pm - I make myself some instant ramen in our dorm microwave and talk with my roommates - Stacy and Monique, as we settle in for the night. Monique's boyfriend cheated on her with a freshman and Stacy is in hyperfocus mode on the new episode of Game of Thrones that came out this week. I can hear Monique's racing heart and blood rushing through her veins, and I somehow can sense what Stacy is about to say before she says it…her boyfriend Xavier and her are going to Comicon and I already know what they will be dressed up as. All of the stimulation is making me nauseous, so I put on my headphones and put on Fleetwood Mac.
5:15pm - I was woken up by the girls wanting to order pizza from Tito's and I agree to chip in $10 for a large cheese pizza and a medium pepperoni. Monique and Stacy are venting about their classes. Monique is failing Organic Chemistry, despite her family being Chemists, her Indian father has threatened to cancel her credit card if she isn't top of class by winter break. She tried to tell him there was a murder on campus and another girl is permanently disfigured. Stacy cannot get over how little our history professor cares about the material - making a gun with her finger and her thumb pressed to her temple. Homework time.
9:00pm - The girls go out to yet another frat party - it's only Thursday. I don't know why they even go, the police are everywhere, so they are no fun anymore. I decide stay in bed thinking about everything that has transpired this semester, and how it could be possible to gain the abilities Ian and I have gained, and how we can figure out what is going on with the giant honeybee hive. I text Ian to see if he is okay and how his nap was. He responded that the frat party is at his house and that he was going to come over and to sneak him in.
9:30pm - I know he's here before he texts me. I can sense him. Once the coast is clear we head up to my shared dorm, passing Julia, who glares at me, seeing Ian. Julia and I have never liked one another, but she also has been caught with her boyfriend, Tyler. We don’t have to like each other to understand that we have a silent agreement - love matters.
12:00am - We just got done doing...it. I love him, and I think he loves me, but we never say it - it's just understood. We nip across the dorm hallway to the showers to don our midnight uniforms.
Sara opened her eyes and felt the steady vibration humming through her veins start to dissipate and turned to look at Ian who was also coming out of his communion.
They made eye contact and then looked up at the hive to witness it. The hive erupted in an spectacular ephemeral shimmer. Wave after wave, each one in a different color until it reached ultraviolet and then, went dark.
Ian helped Sara get up from her cross-legged position by offering his hand, and Sara quietly brushed off the dirt stuck to back of her black jeans.
As they both surveyed the lake, the woods, and the way back, a dark figure with no flashlight, darted away from the tool shed that housed the bee suits and took off across lawn toward campus.
— Stay tuned for The Shimmer, VI.

From the western horizon, I embarked on my beast, The sun glowing on my back.
My unicorn galloped, its six legs moving in a dance that could make it travel faster than any elf could ever hope to run. The mountain I rode towards looked daunting. Its steep carapace was shrouded in black stone, and I heard rumours that suspected the stone was older than the realm itself.
Looking back down the road I was travelling on, I saw the fires of the battle I had narrowly escaped. If I were to fail in my mission, I would be branded a coward, a fool who had placed too much trust in the old machinations of the wizards. Yet, deep in my heart, I knew that if I were to succeed, I would be a hero and a beacon of hope in these turbulent times.
The sky was ashen and greyed as I hopped off my mount. The rest of the journey would be too perilous for such a large animal to undertake. My breath caught in my mouth as I gazed up at the climb ahead of me. It was a hike heading into a steep rock climb.
The path of rocks and stone was hard to walk on, but I was no dumb elf who obeyed without thinking the word of our supposedly great Queen Kathreen. No, as I climbed up the steep embankment of the mountain stone, I could only think of the words my grand matron bestowed onto me.
“Unless the might of the gods tells you not to act, then you are to act like the creature you are. A free-thinking elf of house Yempari, daughter of Galadil, and you, my daughter, must always remember that.”
Her words echoed in my mind's eye as the crackle of a distant storm’s lightning brought me back to reality. The mountain was getting steeper as I neared its peak. I hoped that the Temple of The Lost God would still greet me when I reached the summit of this challenge. The air was cold on my skin, and the light fabric of my cloak did little to keep the temperature from biting at my skin.
The cold rock face demanded I lift my hands from its surface, but my will fought back. The immense drop that stared up at me kept my hands glued to the black stones like I had adhered them there with tar. I felt my small nose turning numb as the summit came into view, my hands fighting feverishly to drag my body upwards.
The summit met my shaking hands with snow and ice. Yet the immediate bite of the frozen cold didn’t force a reaction out of me as I scaled the rest of my body over the edge. I rested briefly, my heart beating with exhaustion at my completed task. My lungs heaved, trying to drag enough air into my system to sustain myself for a little while longer.
My head turned to try and get a bearing on my surroundings. The structure that surrounded me was beautiful. Its ornate architecture was decorated with murals of unknown creatures and locations. Cities too grand to be anywhere in Ethmelm reached up into the sky like vines draping from the trees of my native forest.
My legs pumped with energy, forcing my body to stand as I examined my surroundings. I seemed to be in an entrance courtyard similar to the ones I had seen in the Royal palace when I was younger. A statue of a peculiar creature was the centrepiece of the courtyard I had found myself in.
Atop a pedestal like some great king or god was an animal resembling a wolf sitting on its back legs looking at the sky. This creature, however, was smaller than any wolf I had ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon. It seemed to have no muscle, and its face looked smaller with a less pronounced snout than any wolf.
I stood in confusion at this statue for too long as I felt my legs begin to fail again. Rushing through a large entrance, I felt my body heat up as the air around it warmed to a suitable temperature when I crossed the room's threshold. In fact, after taking a quick glance around, I noted the complete absence of snow that blanketed the outside. Looking around more, I found the very thing I was looking for.
To most elves, it would have been some non-descript marks on the ground surrounding a dried-out water fountain. But I was a trained mage, and I knew a summoning circle when I saw one, and by the markings on the ground, I could tell this was the strongest summoning circle I had ever seen.
Sitting down on the hard surface of the structure, I began my incantations. I felt the world bend around me, time slow, and then speed up, the whole space distorting with the power the circle commanded of the room. I felt no need for nutrients or relief as I kept my chanting on pace for hour after hour. As my incantation continued, I noticed the fountain glow purple before transitioning through pink, red, green, and yellow. Finally, the fountain produced a tremendous golden light.
I felt the energy the circle commanded building up like water behind a dam or the string of a bow, and the whole room was waiting for the release of the power. As I neared the end of my summoning, I felt my summon being dragged through space, time, and even the presence of a god.
Finally, my chanting finished, and like an explosion spell had been let off in the room, the energy released. I felt the air around me rush past me as my body was blown from the ground. It wasn’t long before the hard cobblestone of the walls met my back with a crack. My body cried out in pain as I dropped back onto the floor. My normally pristine blonde hair became a mess, and my vision blurred when looking at the light emanating from the fountain.
I felt the mana levels of the room surge, my own body's mana being sucked into a vortex that was whirling in the centre of the room. My arms shook as if put through an unseen exertion. My legs buckled as if I had just climbed the mountain again. I shut my eyes as the pain and the light grew in intensity while praying my summon had worked, and this was the force I had conjured.
I shrieked in pain despite the knowledge that no one could hear me. My whole body felt weak and hurt as I lay there on the hard floor. I didn’t expect an answer to come to my whaling, but I received one as I crawled back to the fountain to see if my summon had worked.
“You alright? You look hurt.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
My car sped down the rural highway, the single lane, giving me little movability on the road.
My headlights blared out on the tree line that seemed to follow the road infinitely into the blackness of the night. A truck passed me with a woosh of air, and my small car shuddered. It was a shitbox, and I had bought it with the help of some of my parent's money. After all, I was a university student, and it wasn’t like I was swimming in cash.
The road was bumpy, and I had to avoid numerous potholes that had formed out of years of state government neglect. My parents said they feared for my life every time I travelled on these roads. The darkness, the road's degrading nature, the vehicles I travelled in and the trucks that sped down it, which were primarily made out of trucks carrying farm goods, all combined to make these drives particularly dangerous.
The lights of a service station illuminated the dark road, and I took my opportunity to pull off and grab something to eat. I had stupidly skipped dinner to impress my professor and get more work done. The door dinged as I walked into the small building. Looking around, I suspected that the place could have also been a roadside café during the daytime.
“Evening, sir; what would you like tonight?” the young brunette behind the counter asked.
“Just some of these and this,” I replied, sliding a packet of chips and a bottle of water across the counter.
“That will be $9.50, sir,” The clerk answered.
Fucking inflation, I thought under my breath as I fished out the necessary cash. Grabbing my items, I bid the server farewell before returning to my car. It was a cold winter morning, and the nip of the July air was causing frost to form on the grass. Rubbing my hands to keep them warm, I scoffed down my chips before swigging my water.
I always found driving late at night peaceful; there's something about the calmness of it all. No one else is on the road, barring the occasional truckie and kangaroo. It was just you and the trees in front of you. The rolling curves of the countryside gave way to a flatter straight as I tried to relax, with the tiredness of the day's work beginning to creep into my brain.
Suddenly, I felt like I noticed something on the horizon. I saw a strange thing standing straight up. I focused my eyes and realised it was a woman. However, as soon as I noticed her, she disappeared into the bush. Slowing down as I passed the spot where she stood, I saw nothing of her.
With a sigh of exasperation, I continued on my way back home, hoping to get back to my warm, comfortable bed. The environment melted into one as I drifted into microsleep.
The loud pattering of anti-sleep bumps on the side of the road suddenly awoke me as I eyed the woman I had seen before in the middle of the road, right in front of me, with only a mere 20 meters between me and her.
With a yank of the steering wheel, I forced the car to turn to avoid the woman. My vision suddenly lit up with the headlights of a truck barrelling for my passenger's side. I instinctively braced as my vision failed under the oppressive lights of the truck. I felt the whole car jerk violently, and my ears filled with the sound of crashing and metal breaking.
I expected to feel pain, and a lot of it, but instead, I felt nothing as the light died down into the light of what I could only describe as a waiting room. The place looked oddly man-made, and while I still had the memories of crashing into the truck, I had no idea how I had ended up in this place.
“Hello, child,” a tall, chiselled man said, his voice low but powerful.
“Uh… Holy… Like actually Holy…” I stammered as my brain tried to confront the situation in front of me.
“Child, you have been picked; my master understands that you died young at the age of only 20. I feel saddened, but this is not the end for you.” the angel, man, thing stated bluntly as I continued to stammer over my words.
“My master believes you pure of soul and has deemed that you could have done a lot of good… So that is why he will transport your soul and body to another realm. Now, my master does not govern this realm, but that does not mean that there will be no gods to punish you for indignities… Of course, however, there will be some minor alterations from Earth but nothing that you couldn't wrap your head around.” The angel finished as enough of my neurons finally connected to make a coherent thought.
“My… My parents, my family, my friends, what about all of them?” I asked to the angel's curiosity.
“I have been informed that if you go above what my Master and his kin, who are in control of this new realm, expect of you, then you may be given a second chance at life, but child, do not rule this as a certainty. You are dead, after all. If you come back and have not been given a second life, you will be reunited with your relatives here in the afterlife of this realm.” the angel spoke candidly.
“I… I Didn’t believe in god. How can I be granted heaven?” I murmured.
“My God is not the Abrahamic god you speak of or any of the gods his children believe in. Instead, my master believes in the utter sanctity of freedom for his subjects and their ability to choose their own destiny, whether it be a choice of god or creative passion,” the angel answered.
“Does that mean I can deny your master's offer?” I asked.
“Yes, and I will lead you through that door to the afterlife; otherwise, you can follow me to this door, which will drop you into your new realm.” The angel motioned towards two doors, one behind me that looked ornate and decorative and the other that sat on my right side, simplistic, looking like something you’d find in an office.
“I… I think I’ll follow you through that door,” I pointed at the unceremonious door. My curiosity peaked as a mechanism to stop my brain from collapsing into a pile of goo.
Walking up to the door, the angel seemed to grab a handle from nowhere and pull. A bright golden light flowed through the door into the heavenly waiting room. My curiosity beckoned me forward like a moth to light.
“Adventure is like honey to my Master’s children,” The angel said as I collected my nerves and stepped through.
Immediately after stepping through, I felt different; it was an indescribable difference, like a sense of wrongness and unbelonging. But as the light around me cleared and the world came into view, the unwanted feeling faded, and I felt accepted by this new world.
The room that greeted me was different from what I had expected. It looked like a mix between a church and an indoor atrium. Then, I noticed a girl sobbing in the middle of the room, wailing in cries of pain. My heart sank.
I took my first steps into the world as I nearly fell off the pedestal I was standing on. The room was cold, but not in an unbearable way; instead, it was just unheated, with no fireplace or heater to speak of. I was lucky that I had not been dropped off completely naked and still had the clothes on my back from when I died.
“You alright? You look hurt,” I asked, trying to comfort the human on the floor.
“Wh… What?” The woman asked, trying to get up.
As I approached the crawling woman, I realized she was much taller than any I had seen on Earth. However, her slim features and pointy ears really gave her true nature away. She was an elf, I gasped internally.
“You seem in deep pain. Can I help you?” I asked again as the elven woman tilted her head upwards to face me.
Elf, definitely an elf, I thought. God sent me to play fantasy with elves and, most likely, dragons, and I said yes. I huffed internally as the woman seemed to gain her feet.
“Your… No, it can’t be. I was meant to bring a force for good. Why were you sent?” the woman screamed, pale as a ghost.
“What,” Was all I managed to get out before the woman interrupted.
“Human, I have again punished this land with the presence of a human… Oh gods, Have mercy on my soul; I’m sorry,” She prayed.
“The gods have sent me to help you. What are you talking about cursing the land with a human? There are humans here?” I asked, puzzled at the reaction I was getting from the elf woman.
“No, the last human that appeared in this land was 4,000 years ago with The Hermit Mar’cus and his traitor elf Juffa. Human, please don’t kill me,” The elven woman pleaded. She seemed frantic as she tried to desperately increase the distance between each other without having the energy to do so
“I’m not going to kill you. I don’t even know your name, and I definitely don’t know where I am. So I’ll need you to help me,” I pleaded.
“You’re a stupid girl, Evie, for even thinking this plan would work. I mean, climbing this mountain just for the slight chance to save my people, and I get our desolation in return,” The elf whimpered to herself.
I was now beginning to feel an immense sense of being left out of an extensive conversation that I had just burst through the middle of with no information. All I had was that some bloke named Marcus and his elf companion had done something so terrible that the elven people were scared to this day of humans, and now the sight of me was sending this poor girl into a spiral of depression.
“Listen, I may not know your name or anything thing else, but I know I’m meant to help your people. If you don’t want that help, then I will go back the way I came,” I stated comfortingly, the bluff seeming to work on the elf.
“Well, if you insist, my people are in no position to choose who our saviour is,” Evie muttered as she began to walk out of the room.
Evie walked to a large arch that was meant as a doorway. Outside, a courtyard was whipped with mountain winds and snow, the air frigid with a cold bite. The jumper I wore when I was on earth cut some of the cold, but most still seeped into my skin. In the centre of the courtyard stood a statue of what looked to be a German Shepherd.
“Do you have dogs here?” I asked, pointing at the statue.
“Ah, so that’s what that creature is called… No, we don’t,” Evie answered gingerly.
Evie walked me to the edge of a cliff at the far end of the courtyard. The distant horizon was a clouded maroon, with thick black smoke rising from across the land as distant fires raged. Looking down, the mountain seemed to descend almost vertically for nearly a kilometre before flattening into some rougher but traversable terrain. Looking to my side, I saw Evie putting on some climbing gear and getting ready to descend.
The cold winds of the mountain chilled my face as I looked out over the immense drop. Evie had readied herself for the descent, and my breath held still in the air. Getting on my own gear, I prepared to descend, trying not to gaze down into the seemingly endless drop.
Now, I had climbed before. My earth studies were all about geology, so hiking in the Australian bush was just something I often did. Unfortunately, my great southern land is flat as a pancake in geologic terms, and any mountain with a sheer drop of over two hundred meters would be extremely rare.
Looking at my climbing companion, who was already scaling down the mountain façade, I realised it was thrown straight into the frying pan of my new life.
“Evie, do we have any rope or any other gear other than these picks and helmets?” I asked, the size of the drop beginning to creep into my nerves.
“How do you know my name,” Evie shouted back, worrying.
“You said it earlier when you chastised yourself,” I replied.
“Oh, no, we only have a couple of hours left in the day, and I’m on a tight schedule, so we have to get going now,” Evie informed me as she continued her descent.
Well, it looks like I will have to bite this bullet. I thought internally as I crawled my way to the edge of the cliff. As I descended with Evie a hundred meters below, the wind blew past me in gusts, rippling my loose clothing. I tried not to focus on the long fall that would befall me if I were to fuck up, but every now and then, while looking where to plant my foot, I would catch a glimpse of the long descent I still had under me.
“Human, you are so slow,” I heard Evie scold from beneath me.
“Well, I’ve never fucking done this!” I screamed while hanging on to a jagged piece of rock with my pick.
“Maybe it would be better for me to let you die on this mountain than to feel the scorn of summoning a human to these lands,” Evie replied as the sky began turning a darker blue behind me.
I had a few close calls on my descent, but every time I was close to slipping or came close to falling, it was almost as if the cliff bent and moulded to keep me from dying. The closest call came when I missed an outcropping of a stone with my boot, only to slip and fall for a second onto a jagged piece of rock that stuck out against the slope of the mountain that I hadn’t seen before.
The dust was still clearing from my landing when I realised that I hadn’t died a gruesome death. Lifting myself from the hard black stone, I examined the perch I had luckily found myself on. It was like it was made for me as it jutted out of the rock face just enough to catch where I landed. Standing on solid ground and looking down was a great deal of help as I could examine how far I had to go of this never-ending rock face before I reached the bottom.
The answer was that I still had a long way to go, but I had already passed most of it. Looking closer, I spotted Evie around 25 meters from the bottom. Looking at the tall elf’s movements on the rock face was like looking at a pianist performing a song. No motion went to waste as every movement was with purpose and knowledge that she would place a foot where she needed it.
By the time I had gotten back onto the rock face, Evie had almost reached the bottom as I tried to descend the rest of the challenge. Each foot movement down the steep cliff came with caution and fear as my brain tried desperately to keep me from dying. My pick looked worn as I had slammed them deep into the rock numerous times.
As I approached the bottom, I began to hear Evie talking to herself. It started with a murmuring before I could make out single words like “palace” or “Queen and “Mother”. Soon, I was hearing mostly completed sentences like “I’ve summoned a cowardice, weak, fool to these…” or “Evie, what will your sister think of you, your…”
“Took you long enough. Tell me, does the realm of the humans have magic?” Evie questioned as I finally reached the stable ground at the bottom of the cliff face.
“Uhm… No… Does this realm have magic?” I asked in return.
“Duh, stupid human, how do you think I summoned you?” Evie retorted.
I took some offence to being called a stupid human, but she was right. I thought it was mainly God's shenanigans that had brought me here, but it turns out it was also partly due to the elf’s magic. As we started our trek down the heavily forested base of the cliff, I felt hunger for the first time since landing in this fantasy land, as my gut churned and growled.
I, however, could clearly see that my elven summoner had no food on her person, and I wasn’t about to badger the woman who already seemed to have a dislike for me to feed me some of her rations. Instead, I decided to talk to her as talking is the easiest way to discover things when dropped in alien worlds.
“You said I wasn’t the first human in these lands,” I said as we navigated our way down a steep slope.
“Humans are foul beasts… I would have never thought it a good idea to summon anything if I knew that I had a chance of summoning a human,” Evie said sombrely.
“Do I look like a beast to you? I mean, I could barely scale down that mountain,” I retorted.
“It is not anything physically that makes a human a beast. Instead, it's the power of the magic within them and their imagination to use it for any means that makes them a beast. The Hermit Mar’cus was the most well-known human to step foot in these lands, and he proved to all of the races of humans the immense capacity for violence and destruction. He destroyed the old city of Rythol with a single explosion spell, killing 235,000 elves in seconds. He could summon the elements at his will and use them in enormous castings. For example, he burnt the entire forest of the east to weed the Treants out of hiding. Then he pulled the ocean forth over the fertile bay to create the Gevton swamps and starve the Animalia into submission. That is, the beastly and devious acts he committed on these lands show the might of the humans and to incite conflict amongst the races,” Evie explained.
“I’m sorry about that. I should hide if you don’t want me here. I could easily disappear into the world and never be seen again,” I stated solemnly as the trees around us thickened.
“No… Please… you’ve been summoned… I believe… I hope that you can help us… If I were to push you away, let you out of my sight and into the world. I… I would never be able to live with myself knowing I created the next Mar’cus,” Evie yelled, panicked at my statement.
I remained silent for a while. Evie was clearly working through some thoughts on this whole situation, and I wasn’t about to just put in my two cents and make her break down in this forest. She seemed kind and clearly cared enough for her people and land to feel threatened by me. So, instead, I just stewed in my own thoughts as the two of us walked down the slope.
It was clear my elven companion didn’t have the same stamina as myself, as the poor girl was huffing for air by the time we got to a clearing. In the corner of the clearing was what looked like a large six-legged unicorn resting itself against a tree. As we approached, the great beast rose from its resting place and instinctively put itself between Evie and myself.
The beast lowered its head, its great horn pointed right at me, ready to attack. This confused me a little as Evie stood close to a foot over me in height, with my estimations of her standing around 6.7 to 6.6 feet tall.
“Ythill, calm, man-friendly, allow him access,” Evie said, though the way the words came out made it clear I had some translator that was converting everything Evie spoke into English and that she must now be speaking a different language. Now that I think about it, why would alien elf people speak English with a strong English accent?
“Am I free to ride?” I asked as Evie hopped on the mount of her steed.
“Sure, But you’ll have to hold onto me,” Evie replied, a tinge of embarrassment in her tone.
“The journey to Janatha will be bumpy, and I don’t want you falling off,” Evie continued with what appeared to be a blush on her cheeks.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
How would I explain my summon to my commander, soldiers, mother or, most frighteningly, queen? I felt my body trembling with every thought; why was I punished in this way? Gods, all I wanted was my people's salvation; instead, I achieved our doom, my doom.
I felt the human's sturdy arms wrap around my waist, and my mind was filled with images of the small man. He was shorter than all but some male elves, standing only up to my chest. Unlike the stories of the first three humans to Corax, he seemed weak. The stories of incredible feats of strength or stamina all seemed impossible to my mind, and now I had a human in front of me. My young understanding of the world has been proven vastly incorrect.
However, As I felt the muscle of the human’s arm constricting around my body, I began to realise even with his small stature, the human, who I had yet to learn the name of, could most likely kill me with a single blow of his iron fists.
I pulled the reign of Ythill, so she understood to begin galloping, and the human barely seemed to blink. Instead, he seemed accustomed to the motions of my unicorn’s massive frame. Ythill could usually knock even the most season-unharnessed rider off her back. Still, the human seemed oblivious to it all, not putting any pressure on my stomach in an attempt to steady himself.
“Human, do you have unicorns in your world?” I asked sincerely.
The human seemed to take a while to answer as he watched the scenery of the fertile valley change around us. The grand rows of dunning crops that towered over us captivated the man's attention.
“Oh, you do… wait… No, we have… Smaller versions, we call them horses, and they can only fit one rider at most two, but that’s considered generous, but this… Unicorn seems like it could fit five elves,” The man answered cheerfully.
“Tell me, human. You seem to know my name, and I think we can get along better with me knowing yours,” I said as the human leaned against me.
“Are you asking me for my name?” The human asked.
“Yes, human. What is your name?” I replied
“Do you have any magic that will turn me into a slave for you? Because if so, I’m not doing it, and if you trick me, I will find a way to kill you for it,” The human said, clearly paranoid about my earlier anger towards him.
“I’m not a Fae human. You have nothing to worry about. I’m not going to use name magic on you because I only know summoning and searer magics,” I explained.
“Well, if that is the case, I will introduce my name to you,” He said cheerfully.
“My name is Murphy Himmelberg. But you should call me Murphy,” Murphy said confidently.
“Tell me, Murphy, how does your world work?” I asked as I reached the main road to Janatha.
“Oh, I don’t know what I can say to that; it's such a vast question. All I can really say is that your world is a lot more primitive than my own. I estimate that your people will trail us in technology for at least a thousand years. Tell me, Evie, how long do elves live?” Murphy asked, clearly seeing the confused look on my face.
“Your average elf will live to 500 years of age, but some can exceed 600. Most, however, die between the two,” I explained as the ride smoothed out on the less bumpy road.
“Ah yeah, on our planet, we age a little differently. Most people will live to their 70s, and on the rare occasion, someone will reach 100,” Murphy explained as my jaw swung open.
“How do you accomplish anything in such short lives?” I asked in astonishment.
“I guess we just make every second count. But it does mean that a thousand years ago for a human would be like…” Murphy paused as he did the math.
“6,000 years ago for elves,” Murphy exclaimed as the Queen’s spire of Janatha appeared on the horizon.
My throat dried at the thought of showing the human to the Queen. The rumours, the speaking of ill, and the possibility of banishment all swirled in my head. But then, if it felt like a warrior was battling these thoughts back with his sheer might, each thought was individually slain and killed.
I had experienced calming spells before, but this was different. Calming spells eliminate negative thoughts without caring for the mind they inhabit. This guardian, however, was like being wrapped in a reassuring hug from a parent or… No, it couldn’t be.
I turned sharply to face Murphy, but he was absentmindedly looking at the paddocks and fields of the farmland as we passed them at speed. He couldn’t, could he? How does this summon care for a stranger he just met and has only treated him with contempt at his nature?
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you, hum… Murphy, I’ve been harsh because of the consequences. I fear I will be punished for summoning you, a human, to these lands. I don’t actually think you’ll bring about this world's end” The words seemed to run through my mouth like water cascading down a waterfall, and yet I didn’t try to stop them.
“That makes sense, and trust me, I could tell you had no animosity to me. You seemed scared, although I didn’t know the exact reasoning until you blurted that out. However, you can trust me when I say whatever you’ve been feeling pales compared to the conflict of emotion I’m feeling,” Murphy said reassuringly.
“What do you mean?” I asked, as the human hadn’t at all seemed to be suffering any sign of mental sickness.
“Well, you see, yesterday, I was alive and going about my normal life on earth with my own family and friends. Then, one night, I died in an accident and met an angel of the god I never knew I had, and got sent through to here. Now, I’m riding on a six-legged unicorn towards a beautiful elven city with a gorgeous elven woman in front of me,” Murphy blushed as he realised he called me gorgeous, but I was too shocked at him meeting an angel to notice.
“Did… Did you say you were sent here by an angel?” I asked, hoping I had misheard the human.
“Yeah, after I died, an angel… at least I think that’s what it was told me to go through a door that led me to your realm. Is there something wro…” Before Murphy could finish, I kicked Ythill so that the unicorn would buck Murphy off its back. Murphy flew into the grass dazed as I jumped on him, trying to pull out a dagger I had carried for protection but now intend to use to fix the mistake I had made.
“What the fuck!!” Murphy screamed as he held my hand inches above his face.
“I’m sorry, human, but I’ve made a most grave mistake, and you must die as a consequence,” I hissed, trying to push with all my might the dagger towards the human's face.
“Is this about the angel? What is so bad about an angel?” Murphy questioned as he kept my blade unmoving with only one hand.
“The angels are the killers of gods, and they have been sent to avenge the mistakes and betrayal of Jaffa and Mar’cus. They have sent you to kill us all,” I screamed in rage as Murphy moved his other hand to the blade and effortlessly took it from my hands before toppling me over and resting on top of me.
“The angel and I don’t even know if that was what it was, is a servant of MY god, Evie; that god is the god of MY world; he told me himself he has no power in your realm. There’s no need to kill me over a misunderstanding, Evie. Please don’t act rashly, and let me talk next time. If you fear angels because they kill your people indiscriminately, then I will help you bring justice to your people; just don’t fucking kill me and let me explain, Evie, please,” He yelled in disappointment as I squirmed underneath him.
Soon, I gave up on squirming and let all my emotions flow through me in a cascade. My eyes began to water as I was overwhelmed with the many emotions I was feeling, from anger to sadness and embarrassment. Even the hint of lust at my human companion trickled down the wave, overcoming me.
Murphy, for his part, wrapped his arms around me in a hug and allowed me to ball my eyes out as I reciprocated the motion.
“Plea… Please for.. forgive me… Please, Murphy… I ask for your forgiveness,” I sniffed out as Murphy just kept holding me tightly.
“I do… And I understand you were scared and fearful. Calm down a little; I’m here for you… Now you need to get ready because I don’t know who this queen is, but she sounds like a bitch. I need you in the right mind to defend me,” Murphy chuckled as I felt an appreciative smile creep across my face before realising the human had called the queen a bitch and letting out an exasperated laugh as well.
When we reached the gates of Janatha, the sun had completely set. The great stone wall faded as the gateman's magic worked to let us through. The streets were bustling with life of all sorts, and Ythill navigated the dense streets easily.
“How many people live here?” Murphy asked as he looked around in awe of the place.
“I guess some 600,000 elves with maybe 100,000 other members of other races are also present,” I answered as a small Animalia wolf cub crossed the street before me.
“In my home world, there is only one species that can make a city like this, so it is fascinating seeing so many different people congregated together,” Murphy said in astonishment.
Does your world not have different races?” I asked, and we began to approach the central palace and spire.
“No, it’s just human; all other animals are primitive beasts,” Murphy answered as we reached our destination.
“Name and reasoning for entering the palace,” a guard huffed.
“I have a summon,” I said, pointing back at Murphy.
The guard's jaw dropped before he began to think for a moment about whether he should let what looked like a human into the palace.
“You are granted entry,” the guard shouted, and like the gate to the city, the large stone wall of the palace rippled away to reveal the courtyard of the queen's palace.
After we passed through a gate, an army of guards descended on us as we entered the courtyard. The guards seemed to come from everywhere as they surrounded the two of us in the middle of a wide open space.
Soon, that great nest that I had only seen a couple of times before appeared from one of the doors. The curtain seemed to be dropped in gold as the metallic exterior made the nest weight evident on its carriers. The burly male elves' steps seemed to be a struggle as the nest swayed before Ythill's head.
"Evie Yempari, glad you have come back from your desertion. Oooohhh, and it seems you have brought a friend," the queen's booming voice chuckled with glee as she eyed Murphy down through the gold curtains of her nest.
"Please come inside. This should be a fun discussion with the both of you," She giggled maniacally as I motioned Murphy to hop off Ythill.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Authors notes:
Yeah, I know it's an Isekai fantasy, but I promise that it won't fully follow the progression of the hero's arrival in the world. Getting welcomed by the people begins a haram, becomes ultra-powerful in magic, defeats either dark elves or demons and saves the land. Instead, I plan on having a much more Human/Earth Fuck Yeah story mixed with some human cynicism present in my other stories on this sub.
If this story isn't really suited for this subreddit, let me know where to post it, and I will post it there instead.
Anyway, here is the copyright speech about needing my permission to read my work. It's not hard. Just post a comment explaining what you want to use it for, and I will most likely grant it. Finally, please make sure you notify me when the story has been posted and mention me as the author. This is just a comment courtesy to do.

Also got Karen Alice and Bea fakes

Wizz has extreme moderation on male pictures, but I've seen women on the site literally in fucking thongs, with their entire ass out, but I literally can't even post a picture of myself in a tanktop bc of a nip slip? That's kinda bullshit to me. I was wondering if anyone knew about a site similar to wizz, preferably with less moderation.

So as we all know many girls regardless of dance skill fail i am not sure how the system works in terms of total points so i made my own up and would ove to see if anyone agrees with my list. Each tier has points and the higher points means the better the score. They are based on interview skills at pannels and with office visits. Also taking into accout how they carry themselves. This is no hate on anyone as i would probably score low😅
4 points-the brains 1 brennan- i feel like everything she says is so well thought out, she is also good at seeing her strenths and weakness 2 emma- so much dance knowlege and so humble and kind in helping rookies 3 tori-amazing dance knowlege and very verastile 4 hannah- i love how hannah was not afraid to speak up about mental health. 5 sydney- was a ballerina turned cheer and was on many seasons. Each improving so much and gave new rookies confidence
3 points- came across heartfelt 1 chelsea-maybe not the smartest but i always think chelsea was very heartfelt in her panel. She was cut because she never let kelli and judy get to her,period 2 jasmine- sge was so adorable, probably one of the very few kitty respected but she was brave for trying out 3 carissa- her panel she spoke about having to look after her sister. She might not be the best but she was always a hard worker 4 melissa- how could i not include, she had so many moments helping give girls confidence 5 tara- i was annoyed at her cut, she spoke about her freind being in an acident and you could see she was dancing for her
2 points- this is for the girls i think are smart but got set up or had a bad time 1 anne lux- okay i feel i am getting downvotes for this but i just think the nerves got to her. She can clearly dance and i feel charlotte in particular disliked her for no reason. She actually seems nice 2 alyssa- i do think she comes across as smart but the reason she messed up a lot was because she wasnt as invested as ashton. Ashton was very dcc style with edge. I think alyssa is softer 3 kat- this is blonde cat, i think its crazy they told her off for her dress, its not like she was about to have a nip slip. Her actual interview was good. Cut for no reason 4 victoria-stunning girl but and maybe its a generation thing as i am only in my 20s but how on earth did kelli not see victorias mental health struggles. Especially being best mates with her mom. Victoria is smart but was very vulnrable 5 aahley pro- i do think ashley had more potential than most. She had amazing tricks and looked so powerful, she seemed very down to earth. But kelli and judy just ripped her apart and made her nervous
1 point- the girls that look cute but i feel have less knowlege 1 meredith-its weird because i always love her softer style but she never seemed to be able to pick up quick. Her last season i felt she regressed a bit in her performance but she always thought she was the best 2 kelsey-this is 50 yard line kelsey, i kinda felt bad for her because she is probably the most beautiful dancer ever but as much as she liked cheer, she didnt get football 3 kat- this is cane kat😅, dont get me wrong i think she started off bad but now is badass but she even admitted that her dance knowlege is not there 4 kathryn dunn- tbh i think she was put in training camp because of her looks. She never danced that well because sometimes it was like she never understood her mistakes 5 ava- this kills because she is soo good, had she of not acted out i belive she would of made the team

Hello, wondering if you can help please. I have just got my first bunny, who is now 11 weeks old. I have had hamsters and guinea pigs all my life, and have always wanted a bunny, so my boyfriend and I have just got one. We are so committed to animal welfare, and giving our pets the best possible care (we also have a hamster), but I’m just after some advice please. We have had our bunny (male), for just over 3 weeks now. He is a free roam bunny, but has a home base to go into. Of course, we’re both very aware that bunnies do not like to be picked up, as they like to have all feet on the ground, and as prey animals, holding them can stress them out. However, we are conscious that there may be times he needs to be held, one example being that he is due at the vets this Friday for his vaccinations. He has already built a really good bond with us, and I believe he trusts us and feels comfortable around us. We spend most of our time on the floor with him, and he will happily play with us, take food from us, and even flop down next to us. However, there have been a couple of times I have tried to pick him up. For instance, he has just tried to jump onto a surface that wasn’t very stable, and looked like he was going to slip off. So I quickly went over to lift him down as I didn’t want him to fall and hurt himself. I have tried this on another couple of occasions, and each time he really struggles to get out of my arms. I held him horizontally across my arms, so that all 4 of his feet are supported. However, he really squirms, and just, he nipped me on my arm. I didn’t hold him for long on any of those occasions, I just wanted to gently try to get him used to the sensation, especially with the vets appointment coming up on Friday. And I hope to be able to hold him when needed in the future, for any future appointments, etc. I won’t be holding him on a regular basis for cuddles, as I know rabbits don’t appreciate this. He is quite happy jumping onto our laps when he wants to, and we don’t ever want to force him into anything. I just wondered if anybody did have any tips for training him to be picked up when needed? We have only had him for 3 weeks, so want him to do things in his own time. But I am worried that we may need to pick him up at times in the future, and I am a bit disheartened that he just nipped me. I know this is to be expected, but I don’t ever want to cause him undue stress. I’d be so grateful for any advice please! Thank you.

This repost of mine and Ashley’s first date as requested by Spaceman Spiff.
Due to 2 July being what it was, I posted the letter. And those who read it know her fate. It was something I had to do for me. My writings are not so much as a remembrance as it is sort of a therapy for me. These are my memories. I’ve never met anyone like her. Soulmate is the perfect term. This part of our story is another - like the party - that is etched so permanently in my mind that I can see and hear every detail as if it were happening now. Thank you for listening.
For you, Ashley.
I think we knew, at least I did anyway, that this relationship was going to be a good one. I’ve always been skeptical in the past and even though there was one before her that was very strong, nothing was ever as intense. I know what you’re thinking, intense ones don’t last…but they do when it grows over time, like ours did while she was deployed.
I guess our first date can almost be considered a continuation of the party, as it was next day. We had talked about going out at the party as it just felt natural.
I didn’t want that party to end. As we were leaving, we embraced and as I said, a kiss for the ages. It’s hard to describe - a lusty kiss? Not so much but that was there. More like one born of much promise and love to come. Or maybe it was just plain love.
With that, we parted. I don’t remember the drive back home, what I do remember is that she so totally dominated my thoughts. I was on cloud nine. I knew that she was the one.
I’ve often been asked what it was about Ashley that I loved so much. These questions are always so easy and yet so hard to answer. I could go with the generic answer of everything and of course it would be correct, but who wants that? Yet it is everything about her. She set my soul at ease. She got - understood - me. And I got her. I loved to watch her interact with my niece. That’s the ticket - the way they interact when no one is watching. There are so many things but it always boils down to fit, and this one fit perfectly. But I digress.
I had just enough time to get home and shower before my phone dings. It was Ashley. It’s funny how a single text could send one into orbit. It was a simple text saying she had a great time and couldn’t wait to see me again. Words right out of my mouth.
I called immediately. I know, against whatever ettiequte rules there were about response time. Didn’t matter. We talked for about an hour. Cloud nine all over again. I’ve yet to see anyone set my soul afire the way she did.
The day dragged on like a child waiting for Christmas. Slow isn’t the word for it. I kept finding myself thinking about her. We had made plans to go into Savannah for a little Thai and hopefully a great night out. She loved Thai and everything about it. I still have a few trinkets and things she sent me from her R&R trip to Thailand. Sigh.
I had spent the afternoon detailing my car - more so to keep my mind occupied and not wander as it so often does. As I drove to get her, I kept wondering if she was excited to see me as I was her. I needn’t had worried, because she every bit as was and then some.
I’ll never forget the way she looked when she answered the door. Absolutely beautiful - the kind of beauty you hang up on the wall and take down every now and then to look at. I think my jaw hit the floor. We greeted the same as we left off - a hug and a kiss. Cloud nine.
We were going to a little Thai restaurant in downtown Savannah. On the way she slipped her hand into mine. It felt as if it belonged there. Sort of like the way an an old, well-worn baseball glove fits one’s hand. Natural.
We parked in the old parking deck next to City Market. It was only a couple of blocks to the restaurant. The weather was perfect with clear skies. Being late October there was a little nip in the air. City Market was crowded with people watching the live band. Great music but for the life of me I can’t remember what was playing. She wanted to stop for a little while and listen to the music, so we found a place to sit and had a few drinks before making our way to go eat.
The restaurant is known for the best Thai in Savannah. It’s a cozy little place tucked away amongst the bigger buildings on Broughton Street. The atmosphere is perfect for a date. Just the right amount of light/noise. Perfect.
The food was delicious, but everything paled in comparison to the company. I got lost in her icy blue eyes. It’s hard to imagine that they’ve seen so much, but yet none of that showed. Maybe mesmerizing is a better way to explain it. Her smile was infectious. She could light up a room.
We talked through dinner and dessert. The conversation flowed so effortlessly without a single awkward pause. It’s like we’ve known each other for a long time. I guess technically we kind of did. Looking back, I do believe we made the staff kind of angry because we didn’t leave until closing time. I completely lost all track of time.
We ended up walking hand in hand down to River Street where we found a little bench. Most of the shops had long closed for the night, but the bars were open. Music was wafting out of the doors adding to the romantic night. A short ways away an old man was playing his trumpet in a way only a master could.
She sat close to me and put her head on my shoulder. We had a few drinks and just talked. A perfect night. Amazing food, weather, and the company of the girl of my dreams. It couldn’t get any better than that. Yet it did. I’ve been told that intense connections burn bright but not long. While that certainly can be true, but we weren’t new to each other. It’s as if we knew each other a long time. Technically we kind of did.
I loved the way she used to bite her lower lip. Not much, mind you, but just a little. She was into me. As we talked, she’d lean into me always was touching my arm or shoulder. Not in a sexual way, but the way one does when they like someone.
It was getting late and time to go. I can honestly say I can’t recall a better time. We never talked about the future or anything like that - those would come later. It’s not like we didn’t want that - just the opposite. We just knew. Implied is a better word. From there out our free time was together. Our friend Misty later told me that after the party and date she never had seen Ashley smile so much.
Seemingly as soon as we got in the car to leave we were back at her place. I hated leaving her. She leaned up against her door, biting her bottom lip, and was looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes in such a way as set my soul on fire.
She invited me in. Her apartment was small but beautifully done on the inside. I made myself at home on her couch while she changed into shorts and a tshirt. Gawd she could make anything look sexy. We tried to watch a movie but never made it though. This also was where she introduced her favorite beer - St Paulies Girl.
I awoke the next morning in her bed with her head on my shoulder and leg across me like I was a big pillow. We’d go on to spend many a night like that. Couldn’t have had a better night. From then on it was just us two. So ended the best night of my life.
Five months later she moved in.
**Thank you for listening to my memories. This truly is helpful in a dark time.