Neri frowned as she organized her arrowheads and fletching, creating her arrows with care and setting them in piles on the ground in front of her.Â
Onyx and black fletching were her deadliest, coated with poison, sharpened to pierce through steel (before she coated them), and to truly make things overkill, infused with her own special blend of arcane and void mixed spells. There were seven of those, always recovered and repaired, these were the last resort and her most trusted arrows.Â
Sunstone and gold fletching weren't used that often, but were all blessed by whatever paladin or priest she could beg, bully, or bargain with. Davon had blessed most of these without any of the three. These weren't always recovered, and were made new before every outing anyways.Â
Nature magic coated the jade arrowheads with green fletchling, Arcane on the quartz with violet. Those she did herself, carefully infusing the stones before sharpening them. Like the Light-blessed ones, she made them fresh, replenishing and repairing her supply.Â
Her regular arrows had brown fletching and steel arrowheads, only a little sharpening needed to prepare them. Those she prepared by the dozens, and there were probably still not up to her idea of a perfect amount of arrows.Â
But her quiver, even when she prepared a back-up, only had so much room.Â
âYou look like you're going to war,â a voice at her door said, the dark-haired half-succubus crossing his arms as he leaned against the frame, âNot taking any actual back-up?â
âJust you. A void eaten world isn't safe for âOna,â she said as she inspected her bow, âJust sent her to deliver the designs to the Silvermoon shop, they'll get the news to the Valdrakken franchise. I left detailed instructions already for both Isabeausâ. So just need to pack up and ship out.âÂ
âI'm ready,â Morgan said, âJust my daggers and armor are all I need.âÂ
âYou sharpened them all?â Neri tossed him the whetstone, âAnd might want to take that pistol âOna built for you. I got the bullets here.âÂ
He blinked as he caught it, âHow are you good at this? I thought you hated it as much as Davie.â
âHe's good at it too. But he ain't pretendinâ anymore. I still am,â Neri put the bow down and reached in her bag for two boxes of the bullets she promised him, âI like it Mor. I've always liked running after âOna. And I love my shop and the title of Marchioness and the promise of beinâ Isabeau Navarre for the rest of my life⊠but,â she shrugged, âI'm a Sworn and a ranger. I like the hunt. I actually love adventuring. So he pretended that he was okay with going on fool adventures, and I pretended that I wanted the fancy life,â she glanced up at him, âI still haven't told âOna that I like her crazy adventures. So don't you dare.â
Morgan put up his hands in defense, âI doubt she doesn't already know, even with as dense as my sister can be,â he picked up the bullet cases and opened one, âObsidian?âÂ
âNot as deadly as my death arrows, but damn good for putting a spell in. No poison, but figured you had a nice trick to add anyways. Need me to show you how?âÂ
âNo. Leona taught me already. She helped me pick a new dagger recently.â
Neri grinned and finished packing up, âJust need to grab some smoke bombs and healing packs, then we'll be off.âÂ
âHow many antidotes to that poison do you have?â
âEnough plus five extra,â she stood up and threw her bag over one shoulder and tied her quivers across her other, âWhich is how many daggers and knives you have, right?âÂ
âMaybe we should take Leona, let her lug the extra gear.âÂ
Neri patted his shoulder as she passed him, âVoid-consumed planet. I ain't riskinâ her just because she's a good pack mule. âSides, I am taking Hope. Grab your gear and keep up. Or I'll leave you behind next.â She snapped, âEven half-demons have super strength. Come on.âÂ
He sighed and grabbed the shoulder bag she had packed for him already, âYour unicorn hates me. So why are we risking going to a void-consumed planet anyways?âÂ
âWhy else? To keep it from coming here.â
Morgan smiled as he followed after her, giving a slight glare to the unicorn that waited in the stables, who snorted angrily back at him.Â
Neri ignored them both, packing the saddle bags and tying the lead rope, âPortal's in Dornagol. We'll check in with Mira and grab the smoke bombs and healing packs before we take it.â
He nodded, slipping into the shadows as he followed her.Â
She didn't look back to see where he was, just knew that he was there. It was the same as when she first offered him a job and led him from the farm he hid at. A few years later he followed her to Atlas, let Mira meet him.Â
No regrets for either decision.Â
The day Stray became Morgan, he made another decision he didn't regret. Davon was the first mortal he trusted, Merry the first one he protected.Â
Mira, Leona, and Neri were all to be trusted and protected. He couldn't lose his new family like he lost the other Strays.Â
And if that meant following Neri to a world he knew to be overly dangerous with a very clear chance of the Confessor waiting on them⊠or worse.Â
Well. He at least knew that they were well prepared.Â
Audrey Hepburn and her good friend, French designer Hubert de Givenchy, on the set of Funny Face in 1956
[Hubert] had a reassuring, gentle and father-like manner which was so enjoyed by his staff, his friends and his family. Over 30 years he developed a close and platonic friendship with Audrey Hepburn, dressing her in public and private, helping her with her charities and offering tender care when she was dying of cancer. He sent a private plane to fly her back from America so that she could spend her final days at her home in Switzerland, surrounded by little posies of sweet-smelling lily of the valleyâher favourite flowers that he always sent to her. (Source: Independent)
Letâs hear for a woman who had to spend many years hiding that she lended her voice to a doll that has spend the last 60 years inspiring young girls.
Okay, so I don't play WoW anymore, but I did get this drabble in mind while trying to get back into writing (it was a really rough last semester of college), and I did want to give some sort of closure to a few characters, namely Davon and Stray (and a little bit of what's going on with Merry, Taladren, and Andre).
Here's the rundown on who Stray is and what happened at the beginning of Shadowlands (Neri's side and Davon's side) for a quick catch up (because it HAS been a long time since I did anything for WoW). According to what I looked into, it's a five year time jump between beginning of Shadowlands and beginning of the current expansion, so Davon and Neri are now 21 while Merry and company are 15.
The boy looked much different than he did five years ago. Aside from getting taller, he had accepted the more demonic parts of his heritage, and the lack of "treatments" the Confessor had once given him allowed his horns and tail, both a shade darker than his long braid of purplish black hair, to grow.Â
Araidne had offered him a job on the farm when he showed himself finally to her, a week after Neri had yelled at him before leaving after Davon. Years of working gave him a tan⊠not as sun kissed as the Lightdancer cousins, but no longer pale and hidden in the shadows.Â
In fact right now Stray was laying on the barn roof, arms behind his head as he watched the clouds. Below he could hear Andre working on his homework and Taladren practicing to take the knight exams, paths both of them took a year after Davon had left when Merry⊠actually Stray had no idea how Davon's sister managed to attract the attention of Moonglade (though there were suspicions). He only knew that dreaming was mentioned by the druid that came looking for her, and that she happily agreed to training. A few months after that Mira had arranged lessons for Andre in magic and for Taladren in swordplay.
Those few visits from Davon were painfully short. There was much the two needed to tell each other⊠and much that never did get said and saved for later, when they had time.
Still⊠Stray much preferred this strange family he had now, and he was grateful to Davon and Neri for pulling him away from the light cult. There were still nagging worries that he shared with his aunt⊠The Confessor disappeared after the events in the Shadowlands, and Mira could only find vague hints of her sister's presence. Whether or not it was safe for him to leave the shields Araidne had set up around her farmâŠÂ
He sat up at a familiar scent, grinning at the sun and freckled-kissed girl that had grown just as much as he had, "Neri!" he called down, "Decided to feed me to your teacher yet?"
"Decided t'stop whinin' an' make Davie stay yet?" She teased back, "Or you lookin' at t'new batch of farmhands Aerie hired for t'summer?"Â
He hopped down and threw his arm around her shoulder, "Nah. None of them taste as good as he does. Tempted to try his cousin sometime," he laughed as she swatted at him, "You came for his homecoming."
"Merry's comin' too. She's wantin' t'surprise him," she glanced over at the two teens, "Tho' I gotta feelin' she ain't stayin' long. Neither are those two."Â
"Think she's more like you and my cousin?" Stray nodded, "I figured as much. Andre's gotten over his trauma years ago. Mostly at least. He'll need them to keep the nightmares away."
"I don't even wanna thin' of t'trouble those three will get tangled in. An' Merry's worse than 'Ona ever was. Not t'mention Tally's got no sense of direction. I'm tempted t'take them t'Atlas an' have Darnath place trackers on all three."
 "Luckily Auntie placed those already. You three ended up fine," he grinned at the snort that earned, "Think Davon will stay this time?"Â
Neri gave a knowing smile, "Maaaaaaybeee. 'Pends on whether or not a certain half incubus can convince him to get back wit' Levi's caterin' business."Â
He shrugged and she rolled her eyes, but changed the subject to a safer topic before they went to help set up the impromptu party for the homecoming. Taladren and Andre came as soon as their lessons were done, talking of the letters that Merry had written them, years ago when they first started, they had terrible spelling and many mistakes, but soon she was writing just as well as any of them, and once more a rat from the docks had made something far more of herself. And this time without a dragon involved (though Stray suspected a certain dragonsworn had a hand in the druids noticing the girl in the first place). Now she was talking gleefully of the different animal forms she learned (she finally got her wish to be a wolf) and of the flying lessons in bird form.
âShe always knew she wanted to be a druid. She heard of the Harvest Witches the Gilneans had and that was one more thing that could connect her to her father,â Taladren sighed, âAnd then whatever happened in Drust just made it worse.â
Neri and Stray both stayed quiet at that, it was something that Davon never told them, except that both knew that the youngest sister, Doolie, had been lost along with Captain Branwen, and if Kit and Luce hadnât arrived in time and brought the three survivors to the farmâŠ
âI donât think it made it worse,â Andre said quietly, âIt just gave her more of a reason to get stronger,â he gave the taller reddish blond teen a Look, âI took my lessons for a reason too. You get tired of getting rescued.â
âAnd who was it that I had to pick up from theâŠâ
âAlrighâ you two,â Neri placed her hands on her hips, âGo get tâdishes from Levi anâ then go stanâ lookout. Both will be back by sunset,â she grabbed Strayâs tail before he slinked away, âAnâ you ainât runninâ. Gotta convince Davie tâstay, righâ?â she grinned, letting it fall after the boys ran off, âYou really do. He never wanted to be a knight or anything. He served his time⊠let him...â
Stray blinked at her, â... donât think I ever seen you nearly cry before,â he said quietly, then pulled his tail back, âFine. Iâve got to talk to him anyways.â
She crossed her arms and gave him nearly the same Look that Andre had given Taladren earlier and Stray put up his hands in surrender, earning him a grin and a kiss on the cheek before she linked arms with him and they went to join the teens in the look out, âAnâ youâre gonna tell him you love him righâ?â
âYou know sometimes I think my demon side got roped into a contract with you.â
âOnly cause you like doinâ what I tell you,â she grinned, âIt makes things easier. âSides, fixinâ my cousinâs love life is far more fun than anythinâ else I could do witâ you.â she winked, âMakes you all happy too. Your tailâs wagginâ.â
âShut up.â
âNope!â
Teachers have been trying to go on strike because of their basically unlivable wages, which are federally controlled.
The government took their right to strike away.
The teachers still wouldnât shut up, organizing protests and mini-strikes, basically (with the help of the students! One of the biggest protests was absolutely student-led)
Some of those who did were threated that they would be fired if they kept it up.
They kept it up.
Today several teachers were fired from a pretigious high school. One of them was pulled from class and was fired in the middle of the corridor, effective immediately.
The students, parents, and teachers pulled together a protest by this evening, demanding the firings to be made null and void.
There was a huge protest for the teachers on Wednesday, starting with a several kms long living chain in the morning, and culminating with such a mass of people in the evening that news outlets couldnât do live from the site because the sheer amount of cell phones in the area paralyzed the network
The government-funded media barely covered the protests. They were comoletely left out from the 10am news, and in the evening âthe egg museum has a new exhibitionâ was more important than the protest
The next day some school district offices sent out letters of reprimand to teachers who took part in the protests. Students formed a living wall, not allowing the messengers inside the school buildings, so they couldnât hand over the letters
This morning, the teachers who were sent these letters went over to the school district offices (with their lawyers) to pick up the letters personally. Some 1000 people showed up to show support, chanting âWe are with you,â âno teachers, no future,â â[name of superintendent] come out and talk to usâ
Update: the phone numbers have been taken off the websites of the school district offices implicated in the events, because they got so many people calling them to complain and tell them off.
The phone numbers are now circulating in social media
âIâm wearing a reworked antique tablecloth I got at a stoop sale, with a skirt and blouse underneath. Everything thrifted. Iâm very inspired by Victorian and antique furniture.â
The Army of Poland employed a brown bear as part of an artillery team in the Second World War. His name was Wojtek (pronounced "voytek") and he worked in the 22nd Artillery Company.
In spring of 1942, after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, thousands of Polish citizens and elements of the Polish military were deported from Soviet territory. They journeyed through Iran to British Palestine.
Along the way, they encountered an Iranian boy with an orphaned bear cub. According to the boy, the cub's mother had been killed by hunters. The teenage neice of a Polish general convinced an officer to buy the bear cub, which they nursed back to health and eventually made their mascot.
The bear was trained to perform a military salute, cuddle with soldiers on cold nights, and even march with them by standing on his back legs. He copied the soldiers in every way, even attempting to smoke cigarettes (he usually just ate them).
When the Polish army finally reunited with allied forces, they were assigned to join the invasion of Italy alongside the British 8th Army. However, the transport ships banned all pets and mascot animals.
The Poles refused to leave Wojtek, and got around the rule by drafting the bear into the army as a legally recognized soldier. He had his own personal records files, his own paycheck, his own dogtag ID number, and even held the rank of Private.
It wasn't symbolic, either. Private Wojtek actually participated in combat at the Battle of Monte Casino by carrying 100-pound crates full of artillery shells. It was a job that normal required four men, but Wojtek did it alone and perfectly, never dropping a single shell. His actions kept the artillery barrage well supplied until Allied forces finally seized the fortified mountaintop from Nazi paratroopers.
In recognition of his excellent performance, Private Wojtek was promoted to Corporal Wojtek and the 22nd Artillery Company made their flag the image of a bear lifting an artillery shell. They still use that flag today.
After the war, Corporal Wojtek retired to the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, where he was frequently visited by fellow Polish veterans, who game him cigarettes just like old times. He enjoyed a long and happy life, weighing over 1,000 pounds as any successful brown bear should. There are several memorials in his honor, both in Poland and Scotland.
I want to meet the legendary balls-to-the-wall WW2 Veteran who first said "LÄte PrĂvÄtÉ BĂ«ÂȘr McBĂšÄ rfÊçe CĂĄrĆĂœ TÄ§Ä FĂ»ckĂnÄ ĂxplĂžsivÄs"
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