CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

skyrim original character with star trek, fallout, and mass effect verses. dunmer. warhammer wielding arm of justice. mobile navigation.

[neomacaught]

   Hello, and welcome to Neoma’s blog! Remember a soothing memory, find somewhere warm to burrow into, and watch the beautiful nature passing us by! This is a small pinned post to declare activity and drafts level. If you’re new here, please peruse my links, and let me know if you need anything!

   🌋 Drafts: 7    🌋 To do: Replies, finish naming ancestors     🌋 Current Blog Priority: Low    🌋 Queue Until: September 1st, 3:30 pm

This was last updated 9/14/2022.

[coldofflesh]

          my heart aches for what could’ve been

[neomacaught]

zuufenrovaan​: 

       he didn’t expect her to understand, of course, but his frustration remains. the fur on his shoulders brushes upward along his jaw as he builds and releases a wave of tension. he intends not to try again until she’s finished speaking. when she is done, though, he finds himself nearly laughing. he catches himself before he vocalizes, but not in time to stop the flow of air. it all comes out his nose with a brassy-sounding honk.

       “nooo.” he tries to wrangle the smile forming on his face, but ultimately fails. his backpack swings down as he shrugs it off, and he opens it, pulling out a small hatchet. “mine. for wood.” he closes the bag and throws it back on. when it’s properly secured, he turns his attention back to her weapon and raises his hands. one fist jams itself into his opposite palm and twists, squishing an imaginary foe. “yours. for that.”

       finally, he tries wiggling his fingers again, as if doing it faster this time will make her understand. “up, mountain. not warm.” he would know. “wood for survi-val.”

   Well, even better — he has an axe especially for wood. No need to dull her blade, then. He even says, afterwards — yours, for that. 

   She mimics the motion, slowly, nodding in understanding. “Yeah...” But it would’ve worked, wouldn’t it’ve? It had a sharp edge and a good weight. That’s really all axes needed, to strip bark from trees, right? 

   “Doesn’t matter how much word you gather,” she says, next, lighting on to what he’s saying easily this time, “if you don’t know how to set a fire. Do you know how to set a fire?” She does — but she doesn’t have any charcoal with her, here. So maybe she’d be a complete, utter loss out here. 

   Anyway — “I’ll get you your wood. And then we’ll have breakfast, and then we can go. Alright?” A hand falls over his axe, as if to request permission to take it. 

[classically-lit-memes4u]

my greatest strengths are my heart and my capacity to love. also this big sword.

[neomacaught]

nabaidhean-neonach​: 

What is there to love? He doesn’t even remember who he was when he stumbled into the Queen’s dominion— soft and unfinished, too young to be a whole person yet, but too old not to have some character of his own yet, either… Surely…?

Tam Lin doesn’t know who his mother was, or how long ago he was taken from her, or from where, or…. Or whether she’s even dead, as he guesses she must be. But Neoma answers so certainly ( as he expected she would, ) that he can’t help but believe her.

He gives her a tiny, compliant smile. More of a grateful twitch of the lips than anything else, but it wouldn’t be enough to convey what he feels if he danced through the river, anyhow, so.

“That’s kind of you to say.”

   “I’m not just saying it.” 

   She’s not sure she likes how thin his smile is — how his shoulders are still stiff with something, and his eyes dart away. He doesn’t really believe her, does he? He thinks she’s being kind, and, of course, why wouldn’t she be? They care for one another... of course she wouldn’t be cruel. But... 

   “I believe it. Regardless of whether or not we’re friends. You’re the sum of her and another — a piece of her — the person she cared for, when you were too young to care for yourself. She committed to carrying you, to caring for you. Holding your hand, and bathing you, and teaching you to speak, and to walk. And part of her will ever live with you. Of course she loves you, Tam Lin.” 

   Loves. Not loved. Even past death, her feelings would remain. 

   “There’s no other option. And besides — you’re a sweet person. What mother wouldn’t be proud?” 

[theuniversesmind]

more positivity <3

[neomacaught]

thxemazingem​: 

Em squeaked as the dog licked xer ear. Xe giggled and ruffled Bjorn’s fur more. 

“Challenge accepted.” 

Xe held out xer hand. The teen had missed out on the monetary exchange, but no matter. Payment for xer meal was completely out of xer mind now that there was a dog here.

   The hand held out was totally covered in licks, of course. A wet nose, a wiggling body of fur — moments after the movement, Bjorn’s moved right into Em’s arms. 

   “Wow,” Neoma remarked. “Stealing my dog on my birthday? That’s got to be a new one.” 

[flowerytale]

Margaret Atwood, from “Late Poems”, Dearly

[neomacaught]

aviophobic​: 

His grin dies the moment he sees her prepare for confrontation, and Leonard looks this way and that, trying to see what it might be that’s put her on edge. He can’t see anything, but that doesn’t mean a thing.

“Not fast enough, I’m guessin’.” The doctor is in good hands. She’s capable, sharp, strong, and fast. Of course, Leonard would feel more at ease in a familiar environment surrounded by more of the crew, but he doesn’t - and never has - feel unsafe with her.

Now he’s located the correct location for cutting, he tries to be quick about freeing the rest of it, snipping briskly here and there and allowing his unease to motivate him, if not actually distract him. 

   There it comes — stalking through high grass bending at its ministrations — a creature. Red, burly, mountainous, like a dog with a hunch, though its legs are small and bowed, strangely. Neoma’s mind races, trying to figure out how to fight this thing — instantly, she puts herself between it and the doctor. 

   It growls — she narrows her eyes. Wonders, vaguely, how advanced it is. Does it have a language it can talk in? Should she be trying that, before weapons? 

   “We come in peace,” is her first instinct to say. 

   And it charges at her. 

   Teeth go for an arm — she hits it with her baton, drops backwards, with a stance that seems to be proud of what she’s done. Only — it’s not too unsettled by what should’ve been a stun. It’s back on its feet again, teeth glimmering in light. 

   “Uh,” Neoma says, because she feels like she ought to say something — she holds up her weapon again. “Beam outta here when you’re done. Got it?” 

[thoughtkick]

After all these years of bearing this pain alone, all I want is for you to hold me, and maybe put me back together again.

Sarah Doughty (via thoughtkick)

[neomacaught]

code056​: 

He thought, for a moment, that she was going to listen to him – but then her hand reached out to mess against his hair, very much an adult assurance to someone she clearly viewed as nothing more than a child. 

It irked him a little bit. He could be of use, he knew how to fight, even if he wasn’t exactly as good at it as some of the other kids back home. But, the more rational part of his brain knew that she had the benefit of experience on her side in comparison to himself, and she would make the obvious assumption that he needed her help instead of the other way around due to the gap in their age. It was a fair and logical conclusion to come to, no matter how it rubbed him the wrong way.

“They’re never good shots…?” Goro can’t help but echo under his breath as he cautiously watches her approach the man who had been following her.

She couldn’t really be going at him head on, right? No…No, she really was just going for it–

Goro only had a moment of hesitation from the stranger to act, ducking out of the way when bullets started to fly. It was over pretty much as soon as he was able to revert his attention back to the fight. The blood didn’t really bother him much, but he was taken aback by how skillfully she was able to handle the threat.

“…I guess you really didn’t need any help there,” he breathed out in muted awe, dusting his pants off as he got up and made his way over. “That was really something! I wasn’t really sure what to expect from such an old style of weapon, but you took him out so fast.” Ichigo would probably like to talk to this woman, get what pointers she could from someone who had real world experience with fighting out here.

“Does he look familiar to you?” Goro followed up, casting a glance between the woman and the body. “You said that they’re never good shots, so is this not the first person to come after you like this?”

   His chattering was nice, far better than the ringing of a firearm in her ears, and he bound towards her with energy aplenty, eyes shimmering behind large spectacles. She was glad he stayed back — he may be strong himself, in some way, but he was too child, in her eyes. Too child to see dangers like this himself. 

   “They’re never good shots,” she repeated — and then, hey, he repeated. Lookey there, her smile seemed to say. 

   Her boot tapped her sword. “No. Never seen him before in my life. But — you probably know how it is, don’t you? Scavengers come for you, young or old, man or woman or other. If you want to walk away from the fight, you learn to bring the fight to them.” 

   They thought with a gun, they could keep away a woman with a shard of metal. 

   They were wrong. 

   “What’s your name? What’re you doing out here, all alone?” 

[meolog]

in times of autumn

instagram

[neomacaught]

astraldestiny​: 

   “ I’d call that highly debatable but sure. ” She would have rolled her eyes at her if she wasn’t currently busy getting the water out of her hair. For someone who had spent days in worse weather conditions, she certainly still HATED being wet. Even her trips to Andoria had been nicer than this in her opinion. At least it seemed like the other wasn’t going to pick a fight, or even react frustrated to her attitude, not the reaction she would have expected, but ceratinly a WELCOMED one. She would keep that in mind in the future.

     “ Really? None? How’d you make it this far without even the hint of a gut feeling? ” She couldn’t imagine doing a single mission WITHOUT her instincts, without that feeling that kept her on her toes and made sure she got home at the end of the day. She would feel naked without it. “ Maybe you could learn a thing or two from me. ” She almost frowned at her own words, surprised to hear herself offer guidance to someone else. Since when was she offering to be a TEACHER to others? 

   Wow. Tough crowd. Naturally, Neoma didn’t begrudge her — but she noted it, all the same, a small quirk in her lips as she took it in, hands still rustling against her hair to dry it fully. Maybe a lost cause, when this weather was battering all around them. 

   “I tend to know people with good gut feelings. And I have other instincts, that’re good.” What instincts? She’s not sure. But she knows what the moment comes, something’s there, sometimes, that wasn’t there before. Something comes easily, naturally, where maybe it really shouldn’t’ve. “I’d like that.” A smile — like jasmines opening to the moon. Yawning and slow. 

[silvaris]

Golden Autumn by Rony Chidiac

[neomacaught]

fangsjustice​: 

Linus reveled in this sort of thing. It wasn’t exactly that he enjoyed a fight – people got hurt, died, that was never something to take genuine pleasure from – but if someone wanted to test their mettle against him, Linus would barrel into that challenge with a smile on his face. The violence wasn’t his passion, but the battle of wills and strength was.

And, hell, for all that she seemed like a stubborn sap, Hammer Lady was keeping up pretty well with his wild ferocity. Better than just well, as she put on more speed in order to pass him up just as they reached the tree line. 

What a bitch move. He liked that.

“Oh, come off it! You probably just happened to be closer! Getting to that bastard first means absolute bullshit unless we’re starting from the same place!” Linus complained loudly, though he kept his head on a swivel, looking for whatever foe had announced its presence with that shot.

There was no obvious sign of anyone else in the woods but them. That, however, didn’t mean they were alone.

Hammer Lady, however, seemed to be pulling up, letting down her guard.

“Oi, oi, you gonna give ‘em an opening just ‘cause they ain’t playin’ fair like you?” he snorted in disappointment, keeping his gaze trained on the trees. That arrow had to have come from up high; they’d been far enough away from the woods that it would have been the best option to go higher, giving the archer a better vantage point. But where, exactly, had they shot from? It wasn’t like they could go climbing every tree around here…

“You got anything on you that can start a fire?” Linus asked, darting his gaze to Neoma for a brief moment.

   He prodded, first, at the opening she was giving — which was fair advice, given from another, not taken from him. She raised a teasing eyebrow, almost danced at a sarcastic quip, stalled it for now — saved her words where they may fall deaf. He continued, though, giving her more than ample opportunity to begin anew, and... what was it he was saying? 

   ”Start a fire?” 

   Now — Neoma was not one to balk at fire. Coal pits and golden flames have been a constant companion of her life. From the mouth of the Red Mountain to the firesides that warmed her bed — she knew fire like she knew a companion, albeit a restless one. And though she didn’t know it factually, she had an instinctual hunch that this forest would regrow, were it razed, and stand ten times taller than it did before. 

   But... it seemed so foolhardy. Foolhardy, for nothing. 

   “Don’t be ridiculous. An archer would shoot you while you were bending over, prodding at the kindling. There’s a better way to cull them down.” Now, only if she knew what that was. She was used to working on an even playing field — not taking account of the treescape. 

[stephiramona]

.

[neomacaught]

mischievmagic​: 

At the first comment his face revealed that he clearly wasn’t impressed.

In short, he wasn’t buying it. Clearly, neither was she as she’d abandoned that excuse about as quickly as she’d spat it out. Jeremiah leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, giving her a moment to get her wits together. 

“Unless you’re expecting some sort of miraculous recovery I woudn’t count on it. Those wounds are deep and you’ll need time to make a full recovery.”

First and for most he wasn’t going to beat around the bush as far as that was concerned. Even though he was turning over a new page in his life, there was no need to be blindly optimistic. Grounded realism was his preferred course even as a simple farmer.

“You can stay here as long as it takes, unless you’d rather be moved to a hospital… I won’t force the pain killers on you, but the antibiotics are nonnegotiable.”

Proclaimed sternly, but not without some impression of understanding on his face.

   She should know she wasn’t getting away that easily. He had the stony look of a doctor, though she couldn’t quite remember when last she saw one. He was all serious lines, all consternation, and she sighed, in the sort of way she did when her daughters had worn her down and won their way. 

   “Alright,” she acquiesced — reached out for the bottle and scrutinized the label, as though reading it would do her any good, would change her fate any. 

   “But—” Her voice staggered, there, a bit, weighing it, weighing everything, feeling heavy and still and hollow, all at once. “I’d rather... not go to a hospital. If it’s all the same to you, that is.”