#cat's writing

[theunfortunatecatto]

posted my fic if yall like gore, body horror and ominous buildup to some unknowable payoff

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

to the mark heathcliff enjoyers out there

enjoy 💜💫

[thatonebirdwrites]

She's hard at work writing, okay?

[rustingcat]

love Lena's Space Log and your illustrations for it! do you read the chapters early and choose a scene to draw? or are you given a moment without context? so curious about how y'all collab!

Thank you so much darling😘

It depends on how much @mycatismyeditor managed to write in advance. I usually asked for the next one after finishing a piece and would get anything between a full chapter to a sentence with a general idea and a date (depends on how much in advance I asked it). Regardless, I choose the moment to draw based on what I got, which why sometimes I get a super early draft and get creative. When I do, Cat would actually add it to the fic itself which is really sweet of them (like the case of noodles Ripley, Ripley joining girl's night, Alex flipping the bird, and so on). Since we're close to the end, I currently have all the remaining dates with the basic idea of each chapter, and Cat sends me the advanced draft when they can.

For anyone who hadn't, go read this fantastic fic! And, of course, the best way to enjoy each chapter is with the companion art piece;)

Thank you for asking and taking an interest in our process. This project has such a special place in my heart, and I'm always thrilled to talk about it♥️

[anomaloc4ris]

hiii asking abt your genshin fics??? spill the tea

sdkjh okqy okay lemme cracks knuckles

ill hide my chest (and ill figure out a way to get us out of here)

lil trans diluc oneshot !!! okay so its basically about diluc, jean, kaeya, eula, and rosaria mainly, but albedos there too and so is barbara. theyre like yk childhood friends and shit, the seven of them, and theyre all trans 👍the oneshot is like. about that i guess ?? its from dilucs perspective and how they see all of it and rhgjhsgjkdrhgrjgr and basically just them. growing ig and discovering themselves and rhrjhgrgr and im sorry crepus i flipped a coin on wether you were a good father or not ;v;

yeah i just needed company now

the sillies !!!! told from the perspective of yaoyao, its a lil oneshot where yaoyao is having a bad day and then spends time with the other people in her group and they help cheer them up :3 i love them theyre so silly and oh the group is yaoyao, qiqi, nahida, paimon, freminet, mika, diona, klee, dori, and sayu :3 yaoyao is kinda mecoded but we ball ;v; shes my lil baby showering them in blankets and pillows and giving her a hot chocolate and telling her everythings gonna be okay

at the critical chapter (where i say i love you)

xingyunming oneshot :3 i think thats their ship name? anygays. yeagh. xingyunming fic with also xingyunling bc i ship many ships and also polyamory win so. basically xingqui being kinda worried about his date w chongyun an gaming so xiangling helps xem prepare :3 xiangling best gf fr 💪 theyre very silly all of them and grhhgrhghrhghr i love them. the date goes pretty well methinks gjob xingqui and xiangling

baby youre my best friend, best friend

rafischlnett oneshot !!!!!! fischl is. in love w their best friends. btw. theyre very gay and grhghrhgrh kinda wrote their relationship me and my qpps coded slightly? anygays yeah. just fischl being very gay for their partners (benny an razor). its really sweet in my opinion theyre so silly and gay for each other and grhghrghrr

id sell my own bones for sapphire stones (cause blues your favorite color)

silly luminette oneshot !!! i actually love luminette sm theyre my babies i hjrhjrhgjrhjrhjrhr also theyre both very aspec and lumine is kinda mecoded but we ball and lumine is actually so gay and lynette is also so gay and furina tysm for saving the day and lumines kinda not doing that well mentally tbh but its going to be okay methinks and theyre actually so gay for each other and also lynette x kirara x charlotte x xiangling are actually my beloveds and its open-ended bc idk what to do next and i love them sm

and when we find out whats wrong with me (could you tell me how im right for you?)

ohh god my main fic. its a chatfic and i love chatfics so im very happy i made it :3 ive actually been writing this one since. maybe summer of 2021 or 22? im not sure but this fic has gone through. many changes. this version however is the version i currently like the best plus im now planning it properly. its basically a modern boarding school au, where the students are divided into first year, second year, and third year. starting in first year, they are shipped over to Teyvat Boarding School, and stay on-campus till the end of third year. so like. a three year vacation. they have next to no contact with anyone outside of the school. oh god now that i think about it no wonder the main plot is happening- anygays yeah and they live in dorms with people in their year. however, some people are getting suspicious on the true nature of the school. anygays its also very gay and poly and aspec and trans and i love all of them sm and i love writing chatfics and theyre all so silly and grhghrghr

yeagh :3

[coolcattime]

An Outro to Mistwalker College [An OC Story]

Hi hi hi!

Welcome to the what is hopefully the first of a few different OC pieces I want to write in the world of Libris! This piece is co-authored by my friend @theiratlas, featuring our OCs, in our OC-verse world of Libris! Our OC-verse is D&D inspired, but doesn't follow official D&D lore (or really the rules), but most of our OCs are originally TTRPG characters of some sort!

I really hope you enjoy reading this piece, and if you have any questions, I'd love to answer them as I love to info dump about mine and Atlas' OCs (and they do too!) and would love to share more about Libris as well!

Characters: Medli Mistwalker (water genasi whispers bard), Idric Ba'lor (tiefling glamor bard), Anastasia Gulp (merfolk light cleric)

Addition Tags/Warnings: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Knife Wound, Blood and Injury, Descriptions of Violence, Drowning, Being Chased/Hunted, Impaired Mental State Due to Injury, Unconsciousness, Near Death, Alcohol, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Found Family, Running Away

Description: In the dark and fog, a bloody and battered student runs through the night, hoping to get off the island she'd known as home for her whole life before she ends up dead.

AO3 Link

Medli ran. Stumbling towards the docks, she clung to what little belongings she had managed to grab in her loop back to the dorms. The school’s fog and darkness made her all the more paranoid of where he could be now. Her mind leap to the pool, at least that's where she last knew where he was but, he could be anywhere by now. She was so sure he was still following her, that he wasn't going to stop following her unless she could find a way off the island.

Somehow escaping was the only thing her mind could grab but was that even possible? While Medli might be a strong enough swimmer, she couldn't exactly swim to the mainland, even if she wasn’t currently bleeding through her shirt. That left one plan, pray to see a ship, preferably one that didn’t belong to the college, and then stowaway, stay hidden long enough that it'll be more trouble to turn back. It was barely enough to be called a plan, more a desperate shaking hope in the mind of one currently terrified for their life.

So, she continued fleeing, with more panic than reason in her mind. She didn't want to die and that meant she had to keep running. It had been made very clear that only one of them was going to be alive by the end of the night, so, if she wasn't going to kill anyone and she didn’t want to die then she needed to get off Mistwalker and she’d need to do it quickly.

Sprinting between buildings she knew would make it a straight shot, catching little landmarks on the edge of the fog, she was, for once, thankful for having grown up here. Of course, she still worried that she was headed the wrong way, it wasn’t really possible to tell until she ran into something, doubt like that however couldn't take up space, not when so much of her was already cracking. Her head might be as foggy as her surroundings, but that fog was almost entirely fear, but that fear was pretty much the only thing keeping her moving, so she made peace with it.

Somewhere in the fog, he had to be hunting her. And she had no idea how well he could navigate the fog. Maybe not as well as her, she’d lost him in the fog before, but can't be sure she can do that again, not in this state. She had to just hope he was somewhere far away and would stay that way until she was gone, long gone. That kind of hope struggled against the weight of a terrified fear though. Afterall he was just as likely to be a few steps behind her as he was to be back at the college.

The sound of cobblestones turning to wood underneath her sandals was at least at little reassuring. However, her already shaky movements felt completely unstable on a damp surface. She had always been clumsy, and her current state wasn’t doing wonders keeping her upright. She wasn’t sure exactly how injured she was, but her whole body felt like it was shutting down. She could feel blood flow slowing but she wasn't sure if that’s actually a good sign or not. It did, at least, make breathing out of her torn gills a little easier though no less unpleasant. The right side of her back, however, was only aching more and more as she kept going, courtesy of the stab wound she was quickly realising must’ve been a lot deeper than it seemed.

The other injuries started to blend together, but there was no doubt they were slowing her down.

She was gonna last until she was off the island, wasn’t she? She felt doubt flooding into her cuts as she stumbled over her own feet once more, this time barely managing to push herself back up and grab what she’d dropped.

She did her best to push all the thoughts to the back of her mind, if only so she could instead focus on seeing what's in front of her. She was already on the docks, there was no point thinking anything at all when she could be so close to safety.

She looked desperately around for a ship, anything with easy access. There were always at least a few ships scattered on the dock, but usually those were just the ones owned by the college and she absolutely could not risk getting on one of those. Now she thought of it, it began to be hard to tell if she was even really seeing ships or just making things out of blurry shapes in the dark. Could this be as far as she goes?

No, there had to be at least one real ship, something she could sneak on board, something to give her the start she needed. So, Medli began to run once more, her heart pounding with every passing moment as she could've sworn the footsteps echoing weren't just hers, that his yells would be close behind.

She couldn't keep doing this, she had to check to see if her fate was truly sealed. She scoured her extremely limited view for any signs at all, of anything.

Then, she tripped.

In a moment of flailing panic, she assumed that was the end of the docks and she was about to take a fall into the ocean and lose what little bearings she had. But instead, her nose met with the hard wooden surface of the docks. Before a sob could even escape her quaking frame, she looked back, she realised what she had tripped over and began howling with laughter. Terrified, anxious laughter, but laughter all the same. She’d tripped over a gangplank.

She scrambled up it, half-crawling for the first few seconds, she didn’t care about getting to her feet nearly as much as getting on board the ship. Maybe staying low was for the best anyway as, when she got on deck, a lamp was lit. Someone was still on board, obviously someone was still on board why else would a gangplank still be out?

The idea of being caught by people actually on the ship was not quite scary enough to actually have an effect on her decision making at this point. If she was caught, she'd just have to talk her way out of it, whoever found her couldn't possibly have more worse intentions than where she came from. Though she did still instinctively slow her movements as she approached a door, it was definitely still better to hide without being caught. If they were already at sea by the time they caught her, then she might actually be safe.

She didn't know the exact layout of the ship, but descending stairs quickly led her to what in the darkness her eyes could just barely process as the hold.

Huh, that was odd. Normally she could see in the dark, but right now everything felt dark and blurry. She… she was probably just tired from running. That was the best self-soothing she could manage. She still needed a place to hide. There were barrels, that's where people normally hide themselves away on ships, right? That thought made as much sense as anything else right now. Honestly, now she had stopped running her head felt a little too heavy for thinking things through. Hiding in a barrel had to be enough. She just needed to find a mostly empty one.

Medli would explore the hold, eventually finding one empty enough for her to climb inside, her hastily packed bag pushing down on her chest and legs. She didn't remember it being so heavy.

Then, she blacked out.

If she hadn't, Medli may have realised she was not well hidden, more than a few of her belongings had spilt out across the docks when she fell and the lid of the barrel that she was holed up in didn’t rest anywhere near how it should.

All of that would prove to be far more of a blessing than a curse as Medli slipped into a state where, without help, she would slip away before she woke.

Up on deck, a crew member walked across the well-kept wood. The merfolk kept her way lit by an esca hanging down from the front of her head. The matching sharp teeth and slightly overlarge mouth of an angler fish on a humanoid face made her a striking sight especially in the dark.

She looked down, panning her eyes across the dock that they had currently anchored at, attempting to figure out what the commotion even could have been. She didn't see anything but as she looked over, she saw the door below deck ajar and groaned louder than even she thought possible.

The damn kids of this academy. Well, at least this time she won't be dealing with them alone. So, with another frustrated sigh, she headed out. Gunning towards the hole-in-the-wall tavern the rest of the crew had disappeared to, hoping to grab whichever was the least drunk to help her throw out whichever idiot students had decided to mess around on the ship.

* * *

Idric Ba'lor looked almost amused as he picked up a violin’s bow, seemingly dropped and abandoned by the side of his ship. It was at least the sixth completely random item he had come across in the walk across the dock, though a bow without an instrument was by far the dumbest. He reached down, keeping one arm steady and elevated, for it held the tiefling’s prize possession, a wine glass that would somehow remain full no matter how many slips he took from it.

Eyeing the bow once more, he twirled it in between his fingers for a second more, before turning sharply to face his merfolk compatriot.

“You’re definitely right, it’s got to be one of the students,” He remarked, trying to not sound as thoroughly annoyed as he was by that statement. The students of Mistwalker College were, to put it lightly and precisely, a bunch of utter pricks. Some of them were fine, obviously, but working a market stall for them was hellish and this wouldn’t be the first time some of them had boarded the ship to make nuisances of themselves. At the very least they should be easy to scare off and now he gets a spare violin bow out of it.

He shoved the bow into one of his pockets as he spun up back to his full height, wine sploshing wildly but never spilling as he did.

He cocked his head toward his newest crew member with the same cocky smile that became typical in moments of confusion such as these.

“You didn’t see how many got on, did you Anastasia?”

“No, just heard some crash and then saw the way below deck open,” She replied with a shrug. She doubted it could be more than one or two, she hadn’t heard talking or anything like that, but she couldn't be too certain. Idric took her words as good enough, hiding a grimace at the thought of having to deal with more than a handful of these bastards. He wondered if they were planning to try and steal anything but shook it off with a long swig of his wine. When he finished, he rolled his shoulders and took a confident step onto the gangplank.

“Well, no time like the present,” He said as if he was actually looking forward to this. He strode up to the deck, briefly checking behind him to make sure that Anastasia was following him and then paused at the top, leaning back on a railing until she was once again next to him. Then, he finally, subtly spat out a thought he'd been chewing on, “I thought you were heading to bed, you know, since you didn't come to the bar with us.”

“Oh, I was invited to that?” She mumbled out genuinely, stopping her movement all at once. Idric’s face lit up at her utter bewilderment.

“Of course you were invited, you're a part of the crew now Gulp,” He said gesticulating wildly. Anastasia blinked twice, almost totally lost in Idric's puzzled expression, but she filed that knowledge away for future use regardless and started moving once more. Idric, however, still found himself more than a little concerned, this was his ship after all, and she was the newest member of the crew. Despite the fact she’d never left an invite unattended, without one she'd ignore it with a genuine disbelief that she was invited. Or worse still, Anastasia had the frustrating habit of playing the role of an outsider any chance she got.

All of this was starting to get at The Balor’s captain. Was she not comfortable with the group? Did she not want to be a part of all this after all? She seemed totally at home reading the waves, at the navigator’s desk, or even just diving off the side of the ship to collect whatever random thing Kildrax dropped this time, but there had to be something or at least, the wine thought so. After a slightly too long gap, Idric continued. “And if you are ever confused about that kind of thing then you can just ask.”

“Ah, okay. Why did we come to this shithole?” Anastasia asked without missing a beat. Idric laughed sharply. He was used to asking himself that kind of question every time they had to sail the ship through that same bitter fog every time they came here, it only made things worse whenever in storms like these.

Of course, there was an answer, though given that this was Anastasia's first trip to Mistwalker she couldn't be expected to know it yet. As far as she was concerned, they'd come to an island full of annoying, full of themselves students in terrible weather, an island that not a single member of the crew could mention without grimacing.

“I have a friend here, actually! A couple years younger than us. Unfortunately, she lives here. Well until she can be persuaded to move literally anywhere else, I come here to visit her,” He said, half joking though he did sincerely wish that he didn't need to keep coming to this island. A wish that burned even clearer in his mind as the two descended below deck and the only thing out of place was a knocked over lantern by the stairs.

Really? Was it not good enough for the students to unsuccessfully try to steal from him during the day? Well, at least this whole ordeal wasn't as much effort on his part. He loudly drew his flail, dangling it in his free hand, carefully stomping his way down the stairs. Under the sound of his jackboot against the stairs, he quickly looked back at Anastasia, whispering. “I'm only planning to scare them, using a weapon against the kids isn't a great look after all. But if you could stand by the stairs and grab any that try to run off with stock that'd be wonderful.”

Anastasia nodded, mocking out a rugby guard.

Idric descended down into the darkened hold. The room seemed devoid of people, there was no obvious noise or signs of movement. Maybe they'd left when Anastasia had come to retrieve him, but if that was the case, they surely should have passed each other on the way back. Even if there was no one, it was still a good idea to give the place a once over, just to be sure. He walked around the crates and barrels, wine glass held tighter than his weapon, looking between gaps and listening out for any movement beyond his own.

Then, when he finally spotted it, he merely sighed.

“I'll give you five seconds to climb out of there on your own,” He barked, piercing through the silence with audible disappointment. There was absolutely no response, no talking back or even shuffling against wood.

Apparently, they wanted to do this the hard way. Annoying, but certainly within their rights. Well, if they weren't going to get themselves out of the situation, someone still had to. “Fine, since you'd prefer the kicking and screaming method.”

He strode forwards, barely taking five seconds to reach the barrel. Even without taking the lid fully off, he could see the shape of a person though no actual clear details. Whoever it was, they had guts, even with him looming over them, they managed to remain completely still. Actually, given Anastasia's hypothesis, perhaps they had passed out from whatever cheap booze they found a way of getting hold of. Not that it mattered, either way he needed them out. He slid the lid off with tail, beginning to talk before it clattered to the ground.

“I'm sure this has been very fun for you, but this isn't somewhere you can just-- Medli?!” He caught himself halfway through, a lump in his throat the size of the lid he just tossed. Inside the barrel was the unmistakable form of Medli Mistwalker. Of all the people he expected to find, she was perhaps below even the very bottom of the list. Yet there she was, head resting awkwardly on a backpack, apparently still asleep.

Of course, he wondered why exactly she was stuffed into a barrel, if she'd asked to leave, she would’ve been in a bed by now and they’d be halfway to the next port. She did occasionally have a strange way of thinking and an odd sense of humour - maybe she just fancied being a stowaway. He ruffled her hair. “Rise and shine kid, we'll get you a proper room, shall we?”

Medli did not even stir, a fact that at first was just odd. But then, as he lifted out the backpack, became so much more.

Idric's wine glass hit the floor loudly, with the wine staining through the wood immediately. Every thought he could try and manage left him instead with a white-hot static.

“Anastasia! Get over here now!” His throat immediately went hoarse. “We need help!”

The sound of running and several orbs of light filled the room as Idric scooped Medli's body out the barrel. Blood had totally soaked through her clothes, worse it was cold and dry, an incredibly bad sign. He fumbled to check her pulse, his own thudding in his ears making the task far harder than it should be. He'd barely managed to find it, to actually confirm his friend was still alive before Anastasia was kneeling next to him, muttering words and pressing a hand to Medli's arm as light flowed down from her lantern into the wounds. The bleeding stopped. Her breathing slowly began to clear. She didn't wake up, but she was going to live and that much allowed Idric's blind panic to shift into a far more coherent anger.

It was not an obvious anger, but it was there, just festering under the surface as he held Medli, a small teenager, battered and bruised in his arms.

Someone had tried to kill his friend.

That much was plainly obvious, she didn't get a stab wound from tripping over. It did, however, leave the question of why she had ended up in a barrel in the hold of his ship. Had it just been a coincidence? Someone dumping the evidence of a crime in a ship that would leave the island sooner rather than later. Or has someone intentionally tried to frame him by hiding his dying friend somewhere she might not be found until it was too late. He had no idea which was closer to the truth, only a certainty that someone had done this on purpose in the first place and that was more than enough to leave a familiar cold anger burning inside him.

Anastasia was still looking over the two with concern. For Medli, the reason for concern was obvious. Her magic was still new and something she had no idea the origin of. Though it had clearly helped, she thought it best to check her work. She didn't exactly trust it all just yet. Idric however, well, perhaps she didn't need to be worried about him, but seeing him with emotions like that, threatening to swallow him whole, she couldn't help herself from it.

Idric was a charming young man. He was a merchant and a bard after all, being charming was pretty much a requirement. However, he was also fully capable, and often willing, of being completely terrible. Now, to be very clear, Anastasia had never seen his anger taken out on someone who didn't deserve it, but that didn't mean it couldn’t happen. He may have said earlier that using a weapon against a kid wasn't a good look, but with the way his hand seemed to be resting on that flail handle, she questioned if that would be in his head if another student had done this.

And Idric thought about it, thought about storming into the college and just hurting people until he found the culprit. And it would feel good, and it would feel right at the current moment. It wasn't as if that harpy queen in charge wouldn't gladly break every bone in his body given the shot. It would mean leaving Medli though, and that was the last thing he felt like doing right now. Though the desperate need to hit something wasn't going away, he wasn't going to leave her alone until he knew she was alright. He picked up his wineglass once more and began twirling it in his fingers. He wished it was still full, but the movement helped to quell his want to hurt someone.

“Okay… okay!” He turned the stem quickly between his fingers, almost throwing it before thinking better of the idea. He needed to have a coherent thought, to actually think of what to do, but all he could think was that Medli had nearly died. He wasn't going to calm down, he knew he wasn't. He looked at Anastasia. “Go get the others, will you? I'm gonna take her to my room, but I need a minute.”

“Oh! Of course,” She stood up, beginning to walk towards the stairs, but pausing. She didn't quite know what exactly she should say, but that didn't stop her from trying. “And she'll be alright. I mean, she's clearly a fucking fighter, so she'll wake up in no time.”

Idric just nodded, not confident enough to verbally reply. And Anastasia left. He remained on the floor clutching Medli scared that if he let go of her; she'd just stop. He remained for a minute, until he was actually convinced that she wasn't going to suddenly drop dead. He stood, properly scooping Medli up to carry her to his room. He scooped her backpack onto his shoulder and picked out her violin from the barrel. He'd give her a room later, assuming she stayed, which he really hoped she did, but for now his room was fine. She just needed somewhere safe to sleep.

* * *

Medli’s body hurt. That was her first thought as she woke up, which wasn’t exactly a weird situation for her to wake up in by this point. Enough so that she didn’t actually move for a couple of minutes, happy and warm in bed having not had a nightmare for once. Then the sharp memories of what she was doing before falling asleep, or more accurately blacking on, came to mind, and she shot up. A sharp pain shot through her back, a small squeak escaping her mouth as she tried to cover her own exclamation of pain. She panicked, wondering how she’d been found and taken back to her own bed, what that would even mean for sure.

Then she realised where she actually was.

Or rather she realised where she wasn’t. She wasn’t somehow back in her room in the dorms of Mistwalker College, nor was she in the barrel she had climbed into. She was in a room that felt vaguely familiar, though she was sure in her fuzzy thoughts that it was somewhere safe. A bedroom lit by a flickering lantern on a bedside table next to her, one that she was completely sure was not a room in the college. The only places she would have woken up in the college are her own room or the sick room. So, was she still on the ship? She wasn’t sure if that made sense or not.

She forced herself to her feet, feeling wobbly but probably fine to at least check outside the door. Her body ached as she moved, though not as much as she thought it would have, now her back felt more like it was hit with a baseball bat as opposed to having been stabbed through. That felt like an improvement, even if she couldn't explain it.

As she approached the door, she could hear conversation on the other side. She tried to pick out any specifics, but the wooden walls muffled the words out into static. She took a breath. They were almost definitely talking about her, but that wasn't going to change, and just because they were talking about her, didn't mean that they were discussing something like throwing her overboard or returning her back. She'd just worry herself by thinking that way.

She cracked the door open, more than she needed to look through, but not enough to step through. The conversation was now properly audible to her, but she suddenly couldn’t pay much attention to it, instead the people she saw instead soaked into her mind.

Of the four, there was only one that she had absolutely no recognition of - a woman that Medli snap-decided looked as cool as she did mildly horrifying. She was blue and certain parts of her glowed in the dim light, most notably an angler fish's lantern hung down from the very top of her forehead. She had a long, thick tail that remained Medli of the kind a shark would have, but she also has legs, though they also reminded Medli of the type of legs a shark might have if made humanoid -- not that that really made any sense.

Two she recognised vaguely, a dwarf and water genasi man who she had seen around the docks before. Not often, they definitely didn't work on Mistwalker, but just whenever the markets happened to be in town. To be fair, she didn't go to the docks very often besides that, but it wasn't until now that she actually realised why that fact was true as, though his back was turned to her, she instantly recognised the last person in the group.

“Idric?” She asked, opening the door a little more and taking a hesitant step out onto what she now realised was the deck of The Balor. Idric turned on his heel to look at her, oversized coat spinning out in the same way a dancer's skirt would. And there he was, her best friend, the anger and worry he felt concealed behind as gentle a smile as he could muster. Medli felt all the relief in the world flood through her.

“Is this why you called us all here? You got a new girl?”

“She's seventeen,” Idric quickly cut across the dwarf's question with a sharpness both in his tone and the snap of his head in that direction. The quickness of this shift was matched by the quickness of the horror where there had previously been humour in the dwarf's eyes upon hearing the words. Medli felt a little unsure if she should do or say anything, shifting her weight between her feet as she fiddled with the edge of her shirt, acutely aware that she looked a mess. Everyone was staring at her. She couldn't tell if that was good or bad. She tried to focus on Idric, who was over again looking at her. “You should really rest, kid, you've had a rough night. I'll be through in a minute.”

Medli for a moment hesitated to move, worried about what was being said, but she trusted Idric. He wasn't gonna suggest throwing her into the ocean or taking her back to the college. So, with a tiny little nod of her head, she shuffled back into the room. She realised, with a little embarrassment, that this was Idric's room. To be fair, she had only been in it briefly, but she still felt a little silly for not realising straight away. Well, at least she could feel safe in it now.

The last unmuffled thing she heard before she properly shut the door was a very hurried apology, which she wasn't really listening to. She had much more serious things to think about, but worrying about too much of it was going to make her head hurt. So, she tried to only think of one problem at a time, all-while continuing to listen to the muffled noise outside the room as some kind of grounding method. First thing: her clothes were covered in blood. Looking around, her backpack was sitting on a desk alongside her violin and bow. Did she pack an actual outfit? It had been such a rush that it kind of blurred together and she really couldn't remember. She knew most of the contents of her bag were clothes, but she might've been panicked enough that she'd only grabbed skirts or something. Hopefully she had packed at least one shirt though, else she was stuck with bloodstains.

She opened her backpack, and she began to dig through. Clothes weren't the first thing she pulled out, but rather a thin blanket that she immediately clutched to her chest as she realised how lucky it was that she hadn't been wearing it, that it hadn't been bloodstained or damaged. She bunched it between her fingers, trying to remind herself that she didn't need to be scared anymore. No one was going to get her here. She tried to reassure herself like that, clutching her blanket close to her chest as a safety beacon, but it was hard. She needed to get off the island, then she'd be safe.

“Hey,” Idric said as he entered the room to find her standing rigid. He moved closer to her carefully, knowing how overwhelming the situation must already be. Medli tried to find the words to explain what she felt because she didn't have any. Everything was wrong. She couldn't cry. She couldn't do anything but stand scrunching her blanket trying to calm down. Her chest hurt. She wanted to cry. Idric stood in front of her. Was he going to yell at her? Was she a bad person for thinking her friend would yell at her? Her throat felt tight. Tears were stinging at the corners of her eyes. Idric hugged her. Medli began to cry. “It's okay. It's okay.”

It wasn't okay. Someone had tried to kill her. He couldn't even hug her as tightly as he wanted because of all the injuries. What else was there to say though? It somehow being okay now was the only comfort that really could be given. Medli sobbed. She felt safer in this moment than she had at most points in her life. Eventually Medli ended up sitting on the bed and Idric dragged over the desk chair to sit across from her.

Bruises had started to form on Medli's blue skin. While all her cuts and the more major stab wounds had been closed, dried blood still clung to her skin, some even matted in her blue hair. She felt gross. She looked a mess. Looking at Idric felt like a lifeline into normality. Same white messy hair, same twirling pretty horns in sea-shell-white, with one broken off and dangling around his neck on a cord. His eyes were probably the same too, but she was desperately avoiding looking at them.

“What happened, Meds?” Idric broke the silence softly as he was able. He felt that he already knew the answer to his question, enough of the answer was plainly obvious, but he needed to know what she felt comfortable sharing, if anything. Medli looked down at her knees, still bunching and lacing her blanket between her fingers. Her throat felt too tight to say words, but she did want to tell Idric. How was she even meant to start though?

“I… Clarissa. She said I had to do a test,” Medli started, her voice wavering as anxiety and a want to break down laced into her tone. Idric tensed almost immediately at even her name, though forced himself to remain quiet. She didn't need a rant about the absolute horror-story that ran the school, not right now. Medli didn't want to talk about the ‘test’ she really didn't, but at the same time she needed to. Nothing made sense if she didn't talk about it. “At sunset, she brought me to this room. Inside was Heather tied to a chair and she… she said I had to kill him.”

Medli's voice lost strength in the last words. The whole thing felt horrible. To be very clear, she did not like Heather. He was a bully, he called her names, destroyed her things, would hurt her if ever given the opportunity, hells he had killed at least one of her goldfish. But Medli didn't want to kill him. Medli didn't want to kill anybody, but Clarissa had handed her a rapier and called the task ‘easy’.

“I said that I wasn't going to, that I don't want to hurt people. And Clarissa got so angry, and started cutting Heather loose, said that there can only be one of us alive on the island by morning. So I just started running. Heather ended up catching up, and, and, and I guess he did want to kill me. I thought if I could get to the pool, it’ll be okay cause he can’t swim, but he caught up by the time I got there. I know he stabbed me and tried to block all my gills and hold me under so I'd drown. I think I ended up hitting him with a bit of tile, I don't really remember. I just don't want to die. So I thought if I hid on a ship that would be leaving the island then everything would be okay and that ended up being your ship and… that's it.”

Medli fell into silence. She was still scared. She was still on the island. And what if that meant she'd just die in the morning? Even in her panicked state, that felt almost silly, but it also didn't. It felt as silly as it felt possible. With her falling quiet, Idric found himself trying to articulate a reaction. He was seething, he had never wanted to kill Clarissa Mistbreaker more than in this moment. And had Medli not been right there sitting across from him, he might've done it, but she had fought hard that night for there not to be a murder. So, as much as he truly believed that the world would be better without that harpy queen headmistress, he wouldn't go and redecorate the halls with her own blood and gore. So instead, he focused on the much more important issue of making sure Medli was out of her reach.

“Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna send some of my crew to collect your stuff. And as soon as they get back with it, we're gonna leave. Away from Mistwalker, away from the harpy queen. Wherever you wanna go, and we're never coming back to this island,” He said with a gentle confidence. Medli felt a sense of relief rush in fast enough that she started crying again, though this time accompanied by her chest lightening. She was leaving and leaving with her friend. Something in retrospect she wishes she had done a long time ago, but she was finally leaving. The whole world of Libris, she had never seen any of it beyond the island she was now leaving. She was excited as she was terrified. But most importantly, Idric was there with her, which meant no matter how scared she might be, everything would work out. Idric hugged her again. Wherever they went, it would be away from Clarissa. This would be the last night she would ever hurt Medli. He'd make sure of it.

[zeldaismyhomegirl]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

My first fic for capri, a fadom I’ve been lurking in and loving for so long. Angst heavy, as most of my writing seems to be- and do mind the tags!

[catpella]

FFXIV Twitter was doing “What’s your WoL’s Search History?”

So I wrote up one day of Valle’s search history while working on adjusting Solstice’s coding in the Arcanist Guild’s labs...

- Carbuncle olfactory sensor equations - Nature of void storage papers - Nature of void storage +“Arcanist Guild” papers - Nature of void storage +“Arcanist Guild” -thaumaturge papers - Carbuncle void storage expansion equation - Retrieve items from void storage - Forcibly retrieve items from carbuncle void storage - Void storage ambient temperature - Can you eat something that’s been inside void storage? - Cost of fourteen pastries from The Bismarck - Cost of fifty pack of apology cards - Carbuncle void storage equation adjustments - Carbuncle behavioral priority adjustment

[writor-catto]

Reading LN + watching Ori series = me crying for a week and inspiring me to write this fic

This is kinda based on my art, which i have write a small thing about it. But the prompt for the last fic is accident get hurt, so this prompt for this fic is mild hurt/comfort. I don’t know if i’m proud of this fic much. I’m using google translation to write this fic, so forgive me if it’s hard to read.

[ Three days before the exchange came ] " Why?" Her body is aching, her throat is dried, the bruises have stopped bleeding, her left leg isn't okay at the moment, Catty looks down at her leg then sighed, leaning back to the cold wall. Tried to escape then get broken a leg literally, sometimes she needs to learn how to control her mouth when she is in danger place. EX looks at her then slowly sitting down, in front of her, staring down at the ground and mumbled something she can't quite understand. She tries to listen again before he finally said it louder. 

" What do you mean why? Why you are here? Isn't it obvious?" 

"No. I still don't understand why did you  kidnap me for." 

EX curled his hand into small fists, snarled at her 

" Because you two are a lover!! You and my dumbass brother!" 

She can't help but stare at him wide-eyed, tried to explain but her throat won't let her speak up. 

"We're just friends. A  friend who cares about other's health, a friend that worries that they won't get proper sleep or eat, just friend." 

But even though she can't help it but feels like she has been strangling when said those words. She and Xisuma? Both have a sleep schedule problem, which she agreed that she needs to fix it. But lover, that is something she can't understand, the admin is kind and sure, he cursed a lot which she doesn't mind it. The way he laughs at something silly and the way he cares other, she adores it. Does this mean she loves him? Catty didn't realize that EX was in front of her, pushed her down the cold hard tiles, pinned her down with a knife near her heart, but this time she doesn't feel scared anymore, because she knows that he won't kill her.

 "Are you going to kill me this time?"

She muttered out, staring at his eyes as he held the knife closed to her heart, his hand is shaking but didn't know if he wants to do it. He just wants her to fear him as others fear him! It feels like 30 minutes has passed, even though it is only 10 minutes have passed, EX can't bring him up to kill her, isn't this what he wants? Is this what he wants? Yes? No? He dropped the knife but didn't get off her, he was confused about all of this. 

"You're confused and scared, don't know what to do, which it's okay. I don't blame you at all " 

Catty whispered again, if her hand isn't tied together right now she would give him a hug and a pat on the back. In her eyes, she saw EX as a kid who just wants loves, friends but because of craving for those has brought him to this twisted life, where he can't have love or friendship. 

"Shouldn't you hate me for kidnapped you? For everything I did? What are you? A saint?! Deep down I know that you are scared of me, scared of the death! Everyone does!" 

EX growled out as he picked up the knife again and aims at her eyes this time, but her emotion stays still. She sees ... her

 "I'm not a saint, I never will. Why I said that because I understand what is going on inside your mind right now" 

"You know nothing about me! Shut up!"

 "You're confused, scared, wondering if it's worth it to kill me. What will you gain from killing me?!"

 A sharp burning piercing through her broken leg, again with that leg. Catty let out a hiss before closed her eyes, panting heavily, tries to open her eyes again but failed, everything keeps spinning around her as her conscious give up on her. ------- [ The exchange day ] After flies to the given location in the book, Xisuma land at the top of the mountain as he looks around, tries to find where are EX and his fellow hermit. Strangely, EX would do something this far to get what he wants but kidnapped a hermit? He has gone too far in this. Xisuma looks around once more before he sees his brother's shadow and flies down there, hoping that his plan will work. As Xisuma travels down, he noticed that there're only EX, he didn't see his friend at all, questioning what did he do to his friend. 

"Hello brother," EX said in a mocking tone, but deep down he knew that he wasn't considered as a family member.

 "Do you bring me what I want?" EX asked as he paced around to the admin, Xisuma just nodded 

"Yes, I have what you want. But where is my friend?" EX stopped in front of him with a smirk on his face, you can feel it through the helmet. 

"Oh, the hybrid one? I never knew you like the stubborn type of girl, brother" Again, the word brother came out like a harsh stab in the heart, like he was judging him. But like her? Catty is like other hermits, who cared for his health and willing to take time to listen to his rambling talk about the upcoming project. Around her, he feels like he can relax without getting worried about his admin works. Does this mean he likes her? Now it's not the time to think about it! "You didn't answer my question, where's she now?" EX let out a chuckle as he walked closer to the admin and whispered 

"What if I want her instead of your admin title then? Would you let me take her?" Before EX can finish talking, Xisuma has to take his sword out and swing at him. Of course, EX dodges it quickly and pulled out a diamond sword, getting ready to fight. 

---- The fight went back and forth, but Xisuma knew that he doesn't have much strength in his body, so to finish it off, EX swings Xisuma's sword away and pointed at him, smirking. Because finally, once he feels like he is better than the admin. "Any last words, brother?" Xisuma stays still, knowing that he will re-spawned again, he closed his eyes as he accepts his end. But ...Xisuma never feels the pain, he just feels the warmth, as he slowly opens his eyes 

"C-Catty?" 

EX tsk-ed as he let go of his sword, grasping her hair and pulled her head back, Catty let out a hiss as she glared at him but then he was whispering something in her ears before get-go of her hair and smiles at Xisuma. "Goodbye brother" That was his last words before he leaves the world. Xisuma has a lot of questions in his mind right now, such as why didn't he just take the admin title? Catty let out a wince as blood keeps dribbling out as she tries to stay focused, tries to understand what is he telling as those hand cupping her bruising faces. She tries to bring her bloody hand up, grasping his hand as her life depends on it, slowly bring up to his cheeks 

"You found me... You finally ... found... me"

 She let out a breathless laugh while tears slowly falling down her cheeks. Xisuma can't help it but lean close, whisper ' I found you' as tears falling down on his face as well. She can't help it but bring her bloody finger up to his hair, running her bloody finger through the lock, slowly placing an innocent kiss on his forehead before she feels the blackness consume her body.

[ Cat_ty was fell from a high place ]

Catty re-spawned back to her starter base, a small but cozy treehouse, she let out a small sighed as she listens to the wind, it's like it's welcome her back, she missed it. She hears a fainted meow before her door was opened, Oreo appeared as she quickly jumps on the bed and meowing at her, like blaming her for leaving so long. She scatch behind Oreo's ear and giving her tons of kisses and cuddling for leaving her so long. She missed this peaceful feeling and glad that the admin saves her. But peaceful wasn't stay long as the night came, nightmares after nightmares she keeps tossing and turning, she feels someone is calling her and the next thing she knew she was waking up with Xisuma sitting next to her, holding her hand. 

"X-Xisuma?" She whispered and looking around, it's her starter base, she is home now. "I went and drop some stuff for you since you were sleeping so I don't want to bother you much. Did you have nightmares?"  She just nodded as she remembers those times before, she knows that she is safe now but a lot of what-if questions in her mind, make her questions herself as well. Catty noticed that Xisuma is still holding her hand, it's warm, Xisuma noticed it too and let go of her hand, afraid that she would hate it but she quickly grabbed his hand and hold it. 

"Bad nightmares. I thought that I can get over it, but when EX kidnapped me, a small part of me was afraid and scared. I don't want to go back to that horrible place - god no. " 

"I'm here now, I won't let him harm you again"

 Xisuma whispered as he intertwined their hand together, not letting go. "I know it's a selfish request but.. can you stay here with me for the night?" Xisuma didn't say again as he opens her ender chest and pulls out a bed, placed next to her. Their hands still intertwined together as they whispered "goodnight". 

If in the morning, the hermits went and visit the missing hermit they probably just smiling and left. They don't want disturbing two people who are sleeping peacefully while holding each other closely.