mianite hanahaki au martha would know about caps whole Thing and this does not help. jordan hates that she knows, he is committed to acting like everything is fine and good and she is not helping. martha misinterprets the source of the hanahaki as sparklez knowing hes taking the wrong approach to the taint but being afraid to face the emotional aspect of the taints existence and takes his hostility and refusal to talk about it as proof that shes right. this in turn makes jordan more frustrated but hes not going to say anything because everything's fine actually and even if it wasn't its not like he can do anything about it without putting himself at risk of being found out
The Destiny Festival turned out to be THE big event in this world. Those who had lived in Valholl all their life and those who had taken refuge from the void there alike came from all over to Lightkeep for the weak long festivities, although attending in Lightkeep seemed to be a once in a lifetime pilgrimage for anyone who wasn’t royalty, rich, or world travelers. Most celebrated year by year in their own capitals with their own gods hosting the festivities. The first day was spent on the Ceremony of Destinies where the gods would be granted a temporary form of The Guide’s sight limited to their respective followers for the day to announce each participant’s highest potentials. For the inhabitants, it was a coming of age ceremony for the young, but for otherworld inhabitants, it was a right of citizenship.
As the newest arrivals, the heroes of the Realm of Mianite, or, as they’d come to be known, Heroes of two realms collectively with the heroes of Ruxomar, Evil God Slayers, or Star Fallen for the star they made in their suicidal stunt to get away from The Reaper, would be the first to receive destinies that day.
The Guide hosted ceremonies as Mianite gave his followers’ destinies first.
“First, Tucker. My champion. Three paths for you stand out among the ones that lay ahead.
First, The path of my paladin. Becoming more steadfast in your faith, standing by my side as my guard.”
The chatter among the crowd seemed to lean to this being expected. It wasn’t too uncommon, especially among god and champion when they’re like close freinds or parent and child.
“I would be honored, My Lord.”
“the honor would be mine, my child, but I’d like you to follow the second instead.
The next is the path of the hero’s journey. You walk that path already, and you would continue to serve as the protector to the weak.”
The crowd spoke like this were more odd. Not for a champion being a hero, of course not, but a champion of the weak was reserved for followers of gods related to chaos, sometimes those of balance in time of tyranny. It wasn’t unheard of. In fact, it was considered a good omen. there would be peace, as Destiny did not foresee any conflict between ruler and peoples.
“And finally is a destiny filled with strife, but one you’ve seen omens of in your past struggles. Your battle with my brother. Your fight with The Reaper. The sword at your hip, bearing the name of an alternate of the mother of the gods. You bear the destiny of a god hunter.”
The crowd was visibly shaken by this. That was a truly rare destiny. Usually it was one held by the mad or power hungry. It wasn’t the destiny held by a hero.
Some of the gods present called for immediate action, assuming Mianite had lied about a follower’s destinies and calling for punishment. The Guide, however, remained where she sat. There hadn’t been a lie. The crowd quieted after a few moments when it was clear she wouldn’t stir.
Next up was Sonja.
“My child-”
The Guide shifted her head. Most in the crowd new what this meant. He wasn’t the main god she currently followed, Mianite saw this when looking at her destiny but was attempting to hide it. Most assumed this meant she was a follower of The Reaper. However-
“... One who follows her own intuition before heeding any god, but willing to follow whichever among them she deems in the right, one who hears whispers of the void, I intercede for your intuition to announce the paths your destiny could take.”
That... that was unexpected. In the half month since the Star Fallens’ arrival, she’d been noted for being one of the most advanced thaumaturgists the world had ever seen. Such an individual heeded her own intuition over that of the gods who lived millennia longer than her? It was not a minority of the group that thought her a fool, but many still recognized that if she made it this far on her own intuition, there may be merit in her case. Many more would come to the same realization in hindsight.
“You walk a path towards becoming the greatest in your field of expertise. Your legacy will be that of pushing your field near it’s limits should you continue down it.”
The crowd didn’t react much. That was expected by most there. Most of the chatter came from those still shocked over the previous revelation.
“However, the whispers you hear will seek to corrupt you to his side. Be wary.”
Murmurs. That was an actual problem. The Shadows were slowly growing. It didn’t bode well if The Reaper had the potential to corrupt such a brilliant mind.
“Finally, Divisor Gains, my newest follower.
You’ve achieved much, enough for your legacy to be cemented. You will soon be presented with a choice that will define the rest of your life.”
Murmurs that the inventor would find love or have a revelation circulated.
Next up was Ianite and Jordan. Most expected this one to be fast. If he was as alike to Spark as he looked, it would simply be reaffirming his status as a devotee.
“My champion, while you remain steadfast as a devotee of balance, it will be a piece of any path you take but not the whole, for your destiny carries with it Justice.”
The crowd was nearly in uproar. There was only one tarot destiny of each type per generation.
“Your greatest destiny is that of equivalent exchange. You will gain what you desire most, and it will cement your legacy, but you will lose something equally.”
The murmurs took on a somber tone. A tragedy in the making. And it would indeed be a tragedy.
It moved on to Mot and Tom, directed by Ruxomar’s Dianite.
“Mot, it appears you’ve been slackin’ all these years. You aren’t half the businessman you could be. Pick up your slack a bit.”
“As you wish My Lord.”
Short. Demanding. Judging by The Guide’s lack of reaction, accurate. “My God, is that a lot of sexual tension in the way they’re posing while eyeing each other.” someone comments.
Sydney, My Boy, before you are three-”
The Guide moved her head.
“-Four paths. First, the path of a great treasure hunter. Second, a master smith. The third is to become one of my main subordinates, probably doing a mix of the two previous. Fourth...”
At first the crowd thought his hesitation was for dramatic affect. Then they noticed the smile fading.
“... Sydney, you are allowed to opt out of hearing these.”
“?? I want to hear it though.”
“... Okay. Tom. Before you is the path to the thrown of the nether.”
The crowd erupted. The Guide didn’t move leading to even more noise from the crowd and the gods. Blasphemy was called. The Guide remained in place.
No one noticed as Waglington approached Martha, tears in her eyes.
“You could become a better wizard then you’ve ever been. You could become a great scholar. You could even be a king. Any path you choose, you’ll succeed.
“Why are you crying then, Love?”
“I don’t know how the gods bear seeing this.”
“Martha, what’s wrong?”
“In a glance, I saw you die in my arms. So, so many times.”
Is it hard to figure out why i love this ship? I actually got into this ship because of @australet789 's art for it and so yea. Also the friends to lovers tropes i love so much!!!
2) Lukadrinette (Miraculous Ladybug)
Ok, I just wanna say, this is my True POLYGAMOUS relationship I ship. I love the idea of luka loving adrien AND marinette, marinette crushing on both boys, and adrien crushing on both blue haired talents. (Also i whole heartedly believe that if this relationship ever became canon, which it wont, luka would definitely know that adrien is chat and mari is Ladybug)
3) Grell x Undertaker (Black Butler)
I truly think that the crazy bastard known as Grell is perfect for the mentally unstable Undertaker... that is all...
4) Sebastian x (grown up demon) Ciel (Black Butler)
Ok, see i added the grown up part.... to be fair Black Butler was ORIGINALLY designed to be a yaoi between these two, but the publishers said it wouldn't sell.... (*coughs* beg to differ *coughs* )
5) Waglington x Martha The Mystic (Mianite Season 2)
Ok firstly, Mianite WAS a minecraft series on youtube started by Tom (Syndicate) and Tucker (iiJeriichoii) then Sonja (OMGitsfirefoxx) and Jordan (CaptainSparklez) joined. It lasted 2 seasons, season 1 was pure 1.7.10 vanilla, season 2 was modded 1.7.10. Waglington was originally a "Wizard" working with FyreUK in season 1, then in season 2 he basically just survival moded it. Martha is a none vocal character in season 2 and was Lady Ianite (Jordan's goddess)'s daughter, (shes like 30 something) martha and Waggles....
Ok mine were crappy after the first 2 but yea
Imma tag: @da-tasuky @tbehartoo @australet789 @chimpukampu @spatziline
I often get hit with those Mianite feels and the urge to draw one of the characters is real, so I finally did it and redrew a witch Martha I'd drawn ages ago!
The clash of Tucker’s attacker against his helmet rang out from the valley, finally alerting the wizard and the girls that he had disappeared from their group. Without words they all drew their weapons and sprinted to the source of the noise, Sonja pulling ahead of the other two as her feet pounded against the ground.
She whipped around the corner and dodged through what she could only assume to be pillars of some kind, reaching Tucker. The woman’s hood fell back as she raised her weapon against the person standing over her boyfriend’s prone body. A harsh scream rang out from her as she brought her sword down, grabbing the other person’s attention as they spun around and brought up their own weapon to block just in time. Sonja, having put nearly all her weight into her swing, was pushed towards the other’s face by the inertia of the blow. She took one look, and her jaw dropped.
“Tom?”
“Sonja!”
They unlocked their weapons and stepped back from each other. Sonja looked from the zombie man to her boyfriend on the ground with a dented helmet. “What the fuck, Tom?!”
“Hey, I didn’t know it was Tucker! I thought it was that girl again! I thought I’d knock her out before she found Jordan again!”
Two pairs of running footsteps snapped his eyes back to the treeline where Wag and Martha came into view, both halting as they took in the scene.
“Sonja, are you alright? What happened?” Martha asked, eyeing Tucker lying on the ground and Tom’s gleaming enchanted sword.
“This idiot decided to attack my boyfriend, that’s what.”
“I didn’t know it was him!” Tom protested.
Everyone sheathed their weapons as their nerves steadied. Sonja took a knee beside Tucker, inspecting the sizable dent in his armor and checking his pulse and breathing, releasing a breath of relief when they were both normal. She gently shook his shoulder, trying to bring him back to consciousness. “Wait, so where’s Jordan?”
Tucker sucked in a breath through his nose and his eyes blinked open, drawing Sonja’s attention to him. His eyes were hazy as he stared up at Sonja. “What...”
“Tom was an idiot. Are you alright?” Sonja said as way of explanation, taking her boyfriend’s hand and wrapping her free arm around his back as he tried to sit up. “Steady, Tucker.”
He tilted his head up to look at Tom, his face the very picture of disdain. “You’re an asshole.”
“Glad I didn’t hit you too hard.” The zombie man offered a hand, and Tucker smacked it away in favor of standing on his own, slowly as he regained his balance.
Tom gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “Anyways, Jordan’s back there. He’s very interested in the wall, for some reason.” He rolled his eyes with a grin. “He’s convinced that we’re back in Mianite or something.”
The others all stopped and looked at him. “What?”
He shrugged. “When I finally found him and we explored, we found a house that looks a lot like his old one did. It was next to a huge tree mountain and everything. But I told him it's impossible - we all destroyed that house with our cow wands before we went to save Ianite.”
“Tom, that doesn’t mean we can’t have landed in Mianite. I mean, now that I think about it...” Tucker trailed off, then shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“Were you going to say the place we stayed in last night was like our old base?” Sonja asked.
“So you thought so too? I thought I was just going crazy!”
Wag shook his head. “But like Tom said, that doesn’t make sense. We completely revamped your base, remember? It didn’t look anything like that when you left.”
“See?” Tom held his hand palm up, wrist bent, gesturing towards the wizard. “We can’t be in Mianite. Besides all that, I think we would remember if the ground looked like this!” He pointed to the blocks he was standing on, where spruce wood and nether quartz ore came together.
“Are you sure, Tom?” a voice said from behind him. He whipped around and met eyes with Jordan, who looked serious. Then the older man looked past the zombie and his face lit up. “Guys! There you are!”
“Jordan!” Sonja cried out happily, rushing towards him and crushing him in a bear hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright. You scared us, running away like that! Don’t do that again!”
He rolled his eyes, unable to hide his wide smile. “Yes mother.”
Once Sonja let go he was wrapped in the much gentler embrace of Martha, and he smiled at her when they parted. “I’m glad you guys are alright. After I left, I worried that... well, I thought that girl was going to hurt you guys. For being with me. So I’m glad you got away.” He smiled sheepishly as he cut off his rambling, rubbing that back of his neck.
Tucker shrugged, blinking hard to clear a few stars from his eyes. “She didn’t put up much of a fight, honestly. Didn’t seem like she wanted to hurt us.”
“She even healed Martha, after she fell and hurt her nose!” Wag added, glancing over at the mystic. “How’s it feel, by the way?”
The purple haired woman smiled gently, prodding her nose with her hand. “Doesn’t even feel sore. That potion she had really is some kind of miracle cure.”
Jordan’s eyes widened. “She didn’t try to hurt you? At all?”
“I mean, she seemed ready to impale Tucker if he kept yelling at her, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.” Tom snickered,
“Shut the hell up Tom.”
“Did you manage to figure out why she doesn’t like Ianite?”
Sonja shook her head. “We didn’t really want to stick around her after she went nuts.” Jordan’s shoulders slumped, even though he completely understood.
“So...” Tom drawled, tapping the point of his sword against the ground impatiently. “What now?”
“We need to find the others. Now that the six of us are together, we should find someplace to make our bases and start looking for Dianite, Mot and Andor.”
Tom perked up at his god’s name. “Then let’s go!”
He turned around and ran past Jordan, back the way they had come. Quickly his friends grabbed their stuff and followed after him, letting Tom lead the way since none of the others had a better idea.
The heroes ran for a long time, zigzagging back and forth as different landmarks caught their attention and they investigated. First they found a mountain like structure that looked suspiciously like a castle. The interior proved to be just as disjointed as the outside, and the lack of loot drove them away quickly.
After a good few hours of exploring, the group plopped down on a patch of grass and ate lunch, joking around with each other like they normally did. Even though the world was unlike anything the well travelled adventurers had ever seen, this at least was familiar.
Despite the laughter ringing in the air, both Tom and Jordan felt themselves on edge, both because of what they had seen while unconscious.
Tom knew the dream could not be real. It was all an elaborate fabrication of his guilt ridden mind, but that didn’t make it easier to bear. Even now, two nights later, he could remember every word that dream Dianite had said to him. Every nerve in his body was set on fire when he recalled how the power surged through him, inhuman in its intensity. But Tom was pragmatic, and he was sure that the dream was only that - a dream.
Jordan, on the other hand, had convinced himself of the exact opposite. That the Ianite he had encountered in the utopian dream world was in fact the real one, and that brought on a dilemma he was now turning over in his head, smiling and nodding along with his friend’s conversation absently.
Ianite had told him to never return, not until she was able to escape, whatever that meant. The man had decided that the goddess was probably experiencing hallucinations, trapped in a prison of her own design. Only a beautiful being like her could create a palace like that, and it was very in character for her to imprison herself. Ianite was so sensitive, and though that was a trait he loved about his goddess, it did cause her to blame herself for events beyond even her control. Could it be that she had trapped herself in that mansion because of something she did, and she was punishing herself for?
Jordan found it very likely. And so, if that was the case, he had to help her. He had to talk her out of it and bring her back to her senses. But he had no idea where she was in this world. Or even if she did exist on the physical plane. So that meant he would have to try and conjure up the perfect dream world again. And, once he managed to do that, he would have to find his goddess in the labyrinth of the palace, who was sure to be hiding again. And then he would be charged with the task of getting her to listen to him, and apologize for breaking his one promise to her and then make her see the illusion she herself had cast.
A daunting, near impossible task. But he plastered a smile on his face and followed his friends as they packed up and ventured further into uncharted land. If it was impossible, then he would just have to find a way to do the impossible.
As they ran, the land started to blend in. One set of mountains looked identical to the next, plains stretched on for miles and miles and they could only assume they were in some sort of forest biome when the quilted blocks rose from the ground in the form of oddly shaped structures that possibly resembled trees.
After hours of running on mostly flat ground, Sonja’s mind began to wander. Where were they trying to go? If the land looked the same no matter they went, was there any reason they couldn't just plop down in any old area and call that home? In Mianite, she had fallen into the world a little after Tom and Tucker, so the general area was already plotted out. And in Ruxomar, they all built close to Dagrun, in case they were needed by the king. Some of them had even lived in the town for a time before the Taint destroyed it.
So now, there was an unspoken rule that they would all have houses in the same general area, even if they weren’t their primary base of operations. But here, in this mismatched strange world, there was no pre existing town to build near, no easy place to set up shop. No friendly face to welcome them into the world and ease them into their new life before some inevitable problem occurs that requires ‘the sky people’ to solve.
If there was one thing Sonja knew she wouldn’t miss, it would be that expectation that was unceremoniously thrown on their group’s shoulders. Perhaps in this world, strange as it was, they could finally settle down and not have to rescue a god or defeat an eternal and all powerful being.
As she thought back to their arrival in Ruxomar, her eyes went wide and she spun around, walking backwards up a hill to address her friends. “Martha, I just thought of something!”
The mystic lifted her head to look up at Sonja, huffing and puffing. “Yeah?”
“You said that girl we met was familiar, right?”
Martha blinked. “Uh, her soul was, yes.”
Sonja kept walking backwards as she crested the hill. “Well, do you think she could be the alt of--”
“Sonja look out!”
As Jordan called out a warning, she took another step back and was met with empty air. With a panicked scream she pitched backwards, reaching out towards her friends with fear stricken eyes.
“Sonj!”
Her eyes closed, heart pounding out of her chest as she waited for the ground to meet her. But instead, hands wrapped around each of her wrists and she hung from the ridge, pain blooming in her shoulder.
She sucked in a breath and suppressed a cry of pain as her friends pulled her back onto solid ground, and immediately collapsed in a pile when they let go of her. Tears pooled in her eyes and fell onto her cheeks as she cradled her injured shoulder, taking deep breaths to avoid passing out from the pain.
“Sonja are you ok?!” Martha dropped to her knees beside her injured friend, looking at her with concern but unsure of what she could do to help. Sonja tried to smile, though it turned into a wince.
“I... I will be.” She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, opening her eyes as the pain faded to a dull ache. “What happened...” Her voice trailed off as she looked out at the drop she had almost fallen from.
The hill she had thought would slope gently downwards, like the dozen before it, actually broke off in a dizzyingly high drop that made their heads spin. Tom, always the daredevil, shuffled up to the edge and looked down, taking an instant step back. “That’s... yeah, that’s pretty high.”
That was an understatement. The hill dropped as steep as a mountain, into a valley surrounded by equally tall mountains as the one they were standing on. Small hills filled in the space between mountains and all six of them had the same thought.
“Well guys...” Tucker spoke, helping Sonja to her feet and digging around in his pockets for some spare blocks. “I think we found our new place.”
Martha breathed an audible sigh of relief, exhausted from their journey. The heroes grinned at each other as Tucker and Tom began building a rudimentary staircase down into the valley below.
Jordan laid a gentle hand on Sonja’s arm. “I’m sorry for hurting you...”
She looked at him for a second, then realized what he was saying and shook her head. “Oh, my shoulder was hurt before this! Got shot by a skeleton. But I mean, even if you were the one to hurt it, I’ll take an injured shoulder over falling to my death! So thanks for saving me.”
“You’re very welcome. I don’t think Tucker could have done it on his own.” He nudged her with his elbow, laughing with her as they descended down the staircase to follow their friends and start building their new life.
Once they reached the base of the valley, Tom grabbed Jordan by the arm and sprinted off with him, saying something about wanting to be the first to claim his mountain and wanting the one next to Jordan’s. The older man rolled his eyes but went along, just as curious as the zombie man about this mountain range situated in this crater in the world.
Sonja started towards Tucker, intending to take his hand and go with him to find a suitable place to build their joint base, but a slender hand around her wrist stopped her. She turned around and met eyes with Martha.
“Sonja, what were you saying before? About Star’s soul?”
The woman picked at her sweatshirt sleeve and thought about it for a moment. “Oh, I was going to say that maybe that girl is this world’s Dec. But I mean, the only things they have in common is the god they follow and that she was the one to welcome us into this world.”
Martha pursed her lips and held her chin, thinking. “It’s a possibility... but Star’s soul is very different than what I remember Declan’s being like. Though, I am very new at recognizing the nuances between souls. The only two I’ve actually been able to compare next to each other are Mot and Tom.”
They started walking together, following the others as they engaged in their conversation. “And for as many memories as I have of my father, I did not learn how to inspect people’s souls until he had already been gone for a few years.” Martha told Sonja.
Sonja tilted her head. “You know, I always found it a bit odd that Ianite immediately recognized Jordan when we met her in the end. I understand he’s the alternate version of her husband, but he had been gone for ten years, right? And he was how much younger than Spark?”
Martha shook her head. “Immortal beings like the mother and uncles experience time much differently than you or I do. To her, ten years is nothing more than a heartbeat.” The purple-haired woman’s eyes fixated on the ground. “She’s been alive for millennia. Losing Spark for ten years would be just as fresh of a wound as losing Steve is for me.”
Sonja bit her lip, slightly uncomfortable with the shift in conversation. Martha took a shaky breath and tilted her head back towards the sky.
“Oh, I’m so pathetic. I thought I could replace my mother and become the new guardian of balance in Ruxomar. But instead, I lost nearly everyone I cared about and abandoned the world entirely. Honestly, I’m surprised you five are still letting me follow you around.” Sonja heard a sniff, and laid a tentative hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, come on, don’t say stuff like that. I know you’ve lost a lot in a really short time, but you’re not pathetic or, I don’t know, cowardly for escaping a world that was crumbling beneath us. You wouldn’t have been able to do anything if you hadn’t come with us. But hey, think about this. Maybe you can train in this world, and we can find a way to rebuild Ruxomar from here.”
Martha glanced at her with a watery smile, wiping at her eyes. “Yeah... maybe we can. Maybe Dianite has an idea of what we could do... once we find him of course.”
Sonja studied Martha out of the corner of her eye. Her tears were mostly dried, though her eyes were slightly more moist than normal. Conjuring a smile onto her own face, she slung a comforting arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders and pulled her in for a quick one-armed hug. “You worry so much. C’mon, we’re young, we shouldn’t be worrying about rebuilding worlds and filling the boots of our immortal parents!”
The purple-haired mystic giggled, a hand in front of her mouth. “I appreciate that sentiment, but I’m not that young, Sonja.”
“What, you’re like 25? That’s not that old, Martha.” Sonja jokingly chastised, shaking her finger. Martha shook her head.
“I’m nearly 40, Sonja.”
At that, she stopped and stared wide-eyed at her companion. “Wait, what? I thought you were around our age?!”
“I never said anything of the sort,” Martha shrugged, crossing her arms. “But I understand your confusion. I inherited several... characteristics from my mother, one of which is slower aging. If I never ascend into godhood, I’ll probably live a life about twice as long as a normal mortal like you will.” Something about the way Martha said the word mortal struck a nerve with Sonja, but she pushed it down and forced a smile.
“Well hey, looking good!”
“Sonj! Come check this out!” Tucker’s voice echoed from above them, halfway up the nearest mountainside. She started towards him, then stopped and looked back at Martha as the other woman called out to her.
“Sonja? Would you mind... keeping my age quiet? I already feel like an outsider within your group of friends, them knowing would just add another reason to the list I don’t belong.”
Sonja raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
“Uh, sure, but you should know that you’re part of the group now.” She smirked. “You’re stuck with us, whether you like it or not!” Then she started up the mountain, leaving Martha behind with a small smile on her face.
Even with her injured shoulder, climbing the mountain was nothing. The cliffside formed natural staircases, and with a few blocks Tucker had placed on his way up she reached the summit with no trouble. She took his hand when it was offered and rested her head on his shoulder as they looked out over the valley together.
“So, I think we can build a small little house up on top of the mountain, make it look nice, maybe have a little pool, and then we can dig down and build out from there. It won’t be hard to get resources, so I guess that’s the one good thing about this weirdass world. I mean, if we wanted to, we could make a house completely out of diamond blocks!” Tucker laughed, turning to look at Sonja. “What do you think?”
She looked up at him and took in his excited smile and eyes shining, and her heart swelled with a wave of pure happiness as she pulled him down and threw her free arm around his neck, twisting her fingers into his hair as they met for a deep kiss.
Tucker, after a second of surprise, wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, curving their bodies together as they melted into each other. Sonja sighed contently and they broke apart, resting their foreheads together as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
“As long as we’re together... I don’t care.” Sonja whispered, and Tucker grinned and pressed a kiss to her jaw.
“Diamond blocks it is then.”
“Hey, lovebirds!”
They broke away from each other to look over at Tom, waving dramatically at them from the mountain straight across the valley from the one they were stood on. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over at them. “Get a room! Nobody wants to see you two eating each other’s faces!”
Tucker rolled his eyes and shouted back. “You’re just jealous!”
Sonja giggled and leaned into Tucker’s chest. This right here, the jokes and insults casually thrown around because they all knew it was in good fun, this was something they had been missing in Ruxomar. Sure, they were all still together most of the time, but more often than not they were all focused on their own thing. Blood magic, thaumaturgy, witchery, tinkering with their ME systems. Unintentionally, it kept them apart.
But now, they had back what they had lost when they left the world of Mianite. And if she could help it, Sonja would not let it go again.
“C’mon, Tucker, let’s start gathering those diamonds. Our base isn’t gonna build itself.”
“Gods, I can’t wait until we have the first Purge. I’m gonna kick Tom’s ass!”
“Sonj!” She heard her boyfriend shout in terror, and an explosion echoed out of where he disappeared.
Her feet tore up clumps of wet clay as she bolted towards the mountain.
“Tucker!” Sonja cried, heart racing out of her chest. Her body ignored the warning bells in her mind that were ringing and rushed to the point where Tucker had disappeared into the cliffside.
As she came closer, she heard the moans of several zombies echoing from further in and her eyes finally recognized a two by one tunnel entrance that her boyfriend had somehow spotted from the bottom of the hill.
“Tucker?” she called into the mountain, with no response. Tears of relief sprung into her eyes when she heard shuffling footsteps coming from the interior of the tunnel. "Tucker! You're alright!" She took a step into the tunnel, intending to grab her boyfriend and pull him into the light to make sure he wasn't hurt. She reached out and took hold of his arm, pulling him forward. He was strangely resistant to it, though, and when Sonja had searing pain pierce her forearm, she pulled away in terror.
The zombie that was responsible came with her, and she screamed more in surprise than fear or pain. Sonja lashed out and punched the zombie in the face, knocking it loose from her arm which hung loosely at her side. It stumbled back, but thoughtlessly ventured towards her into the sunlight. Its skin lit on fire, the smell of burning flesh stinging her nostrils. Faintly she heard footsteps running up behind her and the dull glint of a stone sword swinging through the air as Wag decapitated the monster with one clean swipe. The corpse exploded into dust and experience orbs, which crept towards Sonja and reinvigorated her with their little burst of energy.
A hand appeared on Sonja’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” Martha asked her. She nodded, taking a moment to catch her breath. Wag ventured into the tunnel cautiously, disappearing from their view for too many heart pounding moments before he reemerged. He had a hand wrapped around Tucker’s wrist.
Sonja rushed up to Tucker, gently easing him out of the tunnel and pulling him away from Wag. His head hung low, the brim of his hat hiding his eyes. His chest rose and fell with frightening speed and he was unsuccessfully trying to hide it. She positioned herself between Tucker and the curious probing eyes of her other companions
“Tucker?” Sonja whispered, grabbing him under the arms when her boyfriend’s legs collapsed from underneath him. “Tucker, you’re alright. It’s alright. You’re safe.”
“What happened?” Martha had come up from behind, her eyes shining with worry. Sonja waved her away dismissively, not taking her eyes off of Tucker.
“He’s fine. Can you go with Wag and grab some coal and wood and light up that tunnel? Tucker, can she have your pick?”
Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the half used wooden pickaxe he’d made the day before. Sonja eased it out of his tight grip and held it out behind her. The tool was taken and she heard footsteps retreating. She didn't know if Martha was going to actually mine what she had been told to; the woman had a habit of avoiding hard work sometimes, especially physical work. But she didn’t care; all that mattered was the man in front of her.
"Tucker, please, just breathe, alright? You're fine. Nothing is going to hurt you. Deep breaths." Sonja soothed, taking his hand when he reached out to her. After a near continuous stream of comforting words, his chest finally started to gain a stronger, more controlled rhythm and he wiped at his eyes before looking up thankfully at his girlfriend.
"Thank you, Sonj."
She smiled. "Of course. Do you mind telling me what happened?" She asked cautiously. Tucker bit his lip and took in a shaky breath.
“I thought that the mountain looked really familiar, so when I saw that tunnel, I just ran in. But... it was dark, so I didn’t see, but... a-a creeper was right in the room past the door, and I hit the wall and passed out and, oh god,” Tucker trailed off as he started tearing up again. He ducked his head again and wiped at his eyes with the backs of his gloves but Sonja took his arm and made him meet her eyes.
“Tucker. You are safe. Ok?”
“I know, I know, I just... Gods, why am I crying?!” His voice cracked and he buried his face completely in his knees. Sonja rubbed his leg, shushing him.
“It’s alright. You have every right to be scared. I understand. Do you want to leave here? I’ll get Wag and Martha and we can leave.” When Tucker nodded, she stood up and brushed the dirt off her knees, shuffling to the entrance to the mountain tunnel.
“Wag! Martha! Come on out! We’re leaving!” Her voice echoed back to her in an uncanny way, sending a chill down her spine.
“Sonja, come in here!”
“Yeah, and bring Tucker! This is something you two’ll wanna see!”
Sonja rolled her eyes. Of course nobody listened to her the first time. “Tucker is not going back in there! Now come on! We’re leaving you guys behind!”
Her friends didn’t respond, and she shook her head. Sonja turned to look at Tucker sitting against the cliffside. He didn’t look good, but he did have a grin on his face, which made this whole thing slightly more worth it. The woman turned on her heel and started back towards him, but Wag’s voice rang out from the exit again.
“Sonja, help us carry this stuff! There’s tons of great shit in here!”
“Diamonds and bows and arrows and potions!” Martha added, excited.
Tucker looked up at that, and the glint in his eyes clearly outweighed any fear he had been harboring. He got unsteadily to his feet and, grabbing her hand on the way past, pulled them both back into the now well lit tunnel.
Sonja wasn’t normally claustrophobic, but being in a one by two tunnel with another person pulling her along wasn’t what she’d consider comfortable. They took a tight turn and saw their friends strapping on various pieces of armor in a room at the end of the tunnel.
As they entered and descended the blocky stairs, Wag kicked over a near new iron chestplate to Sonja’s feet. She picked it up and examined it as Tucker seemingly completely forgot his fear and started picking through the chests and cold furnaces along the wall. He threw each item behind him as he decided its usefulness so that the good pile stagnated, and the bad pile grew to his height.
Sonja grabbed more iron armor pieces and suited up, allowing the others to sort out what they would take with them and what junk they could leave, and scanned the room. The torch in the center of the room cast elongated, flickering shadows of her friends on the walls, and the outline of arched doorways on both the left and right.
She swiped a couple of torches and began lighting up the room that was to the left of the foyer.
There wasn’t anything special in the room. It was nearly empty, just a box inside the dusty base with one corner slightly raised with a pillar in the middle. The pillar split halfway up, flowing from red wool on the ceiling to fence posts to stone slabs on the ground.
The sight suddenly reminded her again of her and Tucker’s old base, and she felt a surge of longing for the times in Mianite, a carefree and happy point in their lives. They had gone on picnics and walks along the beach and actually felt like a couple. She had felt like she was in love. Even when they’d been fighting to the death against Dianite, Furia and his other minions, they had been done together.
And now...
Sonja sighed and shook those thoughts out of her head. No need to dwell on the past when they could and would have that again. The woman scouted the perimeter of the room, finding a break in the wall that lead to a steep drop that Sonja couldn’t see the bottom of.
She was in the middle of considering a method to rappel down when Martha’s voice behind her nearly startled her off the edge.
“Sonja? We’re ready now, come take some stuff and we can get going like you wanted.”
The woman agreed, steadying her heartbeat as she joined them back in the first room. Her eyes widened at the sheer amount of stuff the other three had managed to find. Tucker was happily swinging around an enchanted diamond sword that, while it had a little wear and tear, was clearly still very deadly to one on the receiving end.
The task of sorting items - which Sonja accepted as they were passed to her - seemed to have done well in calming Tucker down, and he looked to have completely forgotten his panic. The grin on his face as he jokingly wielded his weapon against Wag both calmed her and irritated her. She found it very hard to believe he bounced back that quickly considering previous attacks had taken him hours or even half a day to recover his breathing.
Then he looked over at her and smiled, and her heart melted. She sauntered over to him and captured his smug smirk in a kiss, effectively igniting a small fire in both their chests. She broke it after a moment, smirking at his slightly dazed eyes.
“I, uh... Ready to go?” He asked, sheathing his sword with a dopey grin on his face.
Sonja nodded, but on a glance back at Wag and Martha, she noticed a small entrance to another room that she had missed earlier, obscured by the strange shadows the torches cast.
“Actually, maybe we should just explore this base, and camp here for the night. If there’s this kind of stuff in the main room, who knows what might be hiding further in, right?”
“Did you find anything that way?” Wag questioned, pointing to the lit room Sonja had stood in. She shook her head.
“No, but think about it. We never keep our good stuff just out in the open. There’s gotta be something in here.” She said with conviction, and Tucker nodded, albeit uneasily.
Wag shrugged and the group split in two. Martha and the wizard went through the larger tunnel to their right, while Sonja went to examine the tunnel she’d found, which turned out to be a short set of stairs. She moved to enter but paused, glancing back at Tucker who had a tight grip on his new weapon.
“You gonna be alright?” His eyes darted around, not meeting hers. He took a breath and steeled his nerves, nodding his assent. As she forged upward, she dispelled as many shadows as she could with what was probably an excess of torches.
Sonja reached the top of the staircase and placed a torch on the ground. Her eyes flicked over the small room in front of her, and opened her mouth to invite Tucker forward, lowering her iron sword.
She heard a telltale twang and pain bloomed in her shoulder. She cried out and dropped her weapon, stumbling against the wall as her legs gave out on her.
“Sonja!” the woman heard her boyfriend call, his footsteps pounding on the block stairs as he raced to her rescue.
----
Tucker had lingered a distance behind Sonja, enough where she would be able to completely light the way for him while still being close to give support if necessary.
Which is exactly what he did when he heard his girlfriend cry out in pain, forgetting his fears for a moment and pounding up the stairs into the dark room above.
He ran headfirst into a wall of darkness, blinking to try and rapidly adjust to the sudden lack of light. All Tucker heard was his heartbeat, the blood rushing around in his head and Sonja’s whimpers as she tried and failed to get up and remove the arrow in her shoulder.
“I’ve got you, Sonj, just chill for a second.” He bluffed, his voice much steadier than his heart. By now his eyes had made out a monster’s form in the darkness, and he pressed forward, diving into a clunky roll as it pulled its arm back and let another arrow loose, slamming into the wall behind him.
His roll took him further than he expected, and he slammed into the wall behind the skeleton. He awkwardly untangled his limbs and swiped at the mob blindly. A satisfying chink rewarded him, and the monster crumpled to dust as its torso separated from its legs.
Tucker sucked in a breath, adrenaline making his limbs feel like jelly. He wobbled over to Sonja, who was pressing her palm against the wound in her shoulder now that the arrow had burst into a cloud of smoke with the death of the skeleton.
“Are you ok?” he asked, kneeling beside her both to comfort her and to not let her know how badly he was shaking. Sonja nodded, hissing as she lifted her hand from the wound, oozing drops of blood but otherwise starting to heal. She grabbed a torch from the pile she’d dropped during the attack and handed it to him, telling him to place it and light up the room.
He does, and they sighed in relief as the light bounced off the walls of the relatively small room. No more monsters hiding in the shadows. Tucker helped Sonja to her feet, careful not to pull too hard in case he irritated her shoulder.
“Are you sure you want to stay the night here?” He questioned, eyes flicking back and forth over the walls, and more specifically the paintings covering all three walls.
Sonja nodded, keeping her hand over her hurt shoulder. “Yeah, I’m sure.” She smiled at him. “Tucker, I know you’re scared, but this is the safest place we’re going to find before the sun goes down. And I don’t really want to camp out in a tiny hole if I don’t have to.”
“I’m not scared!” Tucker insisted. Sonja rolled her eyes.
“Ok, sure.” She ventured towards one of the paintings, a detailed image of a white winged angel standing at the edge of a dark pit with fire deep below.
Tucker stood back to back with her, examining the painting on the opposite wall.
It was much bigger than either of the others, and the majority of the canvas was taken up by a bright white skull surrounded in flames. The vibrancy of the painting that must have been there for years stunned him. It looked like it had just been painted yesterday.
“You think the guy who lived here was an art fan?”
Sonja ran her fingers along the edge of the canvas. “Maybe. Or he was the artist. These are all so beautiful...”
They turned to get a look at the final painting. It depicted a set of scales, huge scales sitting against a backdrop of black star-speckled sky. On each plate of the scale stood a person: one was clad in all white with golden tendrils swirling around them, while the other was dressed in all black, with a dark red aura.
Tucker shuddered. Something about the painting, with its vivid details and uncanny resemblance to memories of Mianite sent a bolt of lightning racing through him, and without warning he spun on his heel and put his back to the art, pulling Sonja out of the room and back down the stairs.
“Oww! Tucker, what the hell?” his girlfriend screeched, slapping his arm away when they stumbled into the foyer.
“That room was giving me the creeps. Sonj, that painting looks like the Scales!”
“So the painter had a really lucky guess on what that would look like. That is no reason to yank my arm off! Ow!” she cried, holding said shoulder to punctuate her point.
“Sorry!”
They glared at each other for a tense moment, then a dainty cough alerted them both to the other half of their group standing to the side.
“Did we interrupt something?” Wag asked.
“No!” the couple told him simultaneously.
They raised a collective eyebrow, but didn’t comment. “We heard someone scream, are you two ok? Did you find something?” Martha eyed Sonja’s shoulder, and the other woman shrugged carefully.
“Just a skeleton, and a tiny room with some paintings.” Tucker hefted his diamond sword and examined it, trying to appear nonchalant. Sonja glared at him like he was crazy, then turned the question back at them.
Wag stayed quiet as Martha described the side room, which was actually a horse stable. At least, that’s what she assumed since the horses themselves were long gone. Her clue was the chest in the room, full of saddles and various armor. “I can’t imagine the poor things got out much, though. The room is so small, not much more than a tunnel really, it's unlikely they even had room to breathe! Poor horse ownership, really.”
Tucker opened his mouth to make some quip, how would Martha know anything about proper horse care or what the old owners of this base’s life was actually like, but closed it as a thought occurred to him. Back in Mianite, his and Sonja’s horses didn’t exactly have all the room in the world, and they had hardly taken them out of the base for a ride.
He decided not to say anything, and just let Martha talk.
“I’d like to give them a piece of my mind, cooping up free-spirited animals like that. Steve’s farm was bad enough, but at least he spent his time with them...” She trailed off and her eyes grew misty.
The rest of the group awkwardly avoided looking directly at the mystic as she bit her lip and tried desperately to hold back her sadness and tears.
It was a loud yawn that broke the silence that had fallen, as Wag stretched his arms high above his head, his right one landing nicely on Martha’s shoulders and pulling her in for a one-armed hug.
“If we’re gonna stay the night here, let’s actually make the beds and sleep, yeah? I’m exhausted from plundering.”
Tension dispersed, Sonja smiled and pointed over her shoulder. “There’s some wool in there.
Half an hour and four beds later, the two couples were cuddled up and the men started snoring as soon as their heads hit the pillow. The girls laid awake for a while in the dimly lit room, breathing deep and hovering just on the edge of consciousness.
Sonja didn’t think she would be able to sleep, half-wanting to stay up to make sure nothing else would come for her and her boyfriend, that he could actually get a good sleep here when he was clearly not happy to stay.
But the other half of her disagreed, and her eyes slid shut without her permission and she slipped closer to sleep.
Sonja wasn’t sure how close she was when Martha spoke, but she did know that she wasn’t happy to not be sleeping now.
“Sonja? Are you awake?”
She simply groaned as a response.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll be quiet.”
Her heartfelt apology made it hard to stay mad. Sonja sighed.
“I’m awake now. What is it?”
Shuffling noises, and Martha’s voice was clearer.
“Are you comfortable here?”
Sonja considered the soft pillow under her head and her warm boyfriend pressed against her back, with an arm slung protectively over her waist. Even though she was still kinda angry at him for hurting her shoulder more, she hummed blissfully. “This bed is pretty damn comfortable, yeah.” Her eyes slid closed.
Martha huffed through her nose. “That’s not quite what I meant. I mean, are you comfortable in this world?”
Sonja opened her eyes to the dim room again, slightly annoyed at being kept from sleep. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Do you feel... safe? Secure?”
“We stayed the night with a girl who turned out to be ok with murdering people for their loyalty to a god. I think that speaks to the relative safety of this world.”
Martha sighed in frustration. “I mean... oh, forget it. Nevermind.”
also for shelter au, what are the characters different opinions on their deities( is that the right word) and each other? Does it differ a lot now that they’re in a new world or are they the same.
Since, while they are in a different world, the Mianite and Ianite focused on in this au are the same two from the world Mianite, Tucker has the same opinion of Mianite as he did s1, Sanja's has slightly shifted, she no longer actively follows a god, but she sees him the same as a person as she always has. In a similar vein, Sparklez remains as devoted to Ianite as he has always had. Tom still hates Mianite but, as he now serves Ruxomar's Dianite, he no longer hates Ianite. Devisor Gains follows Mianite but works for Dianite. The two fill the role of a better god and employer than Ruxomar's Mianite ever was. Waglington is in a loving relationship with Martha and Andor doesn't have any followers yet, but as a god of journeys in all it's meanings and forms, he's sure to get people who start taking him as a patron soon.
As for 'of each other,' the group hasn't ever been closer. They shared being hunted by World Historian across the void for so long, the feelings of loss and betrayal when their screen selves cut their connections and never returned, having to work as a single unit with their limited resources to keep everyone alive in the most hostile environment imaginable. Tucker alone has about a million different complexes developed from having to manage the groups' effectively single witchcraft-connected health bar. having let it drop to half a heart once, nearly getting them all killed. The group has become a series of pillars structured so that nothing could possibly hope to knock the whole structure down, but if one were to instead focus on a single pillar, the entire thing would collapse.
Back on Tom, he does hate S1 Dianite. He hates him more than Mianite. He will not disobey his orders because it will bring about the chaos that he follows. However, if any of those orders put his freinds, his family in danger, he will not hesitate to take that power back.
That’s something he really doesn’t want to do. He’s not fit to lead a place as large as a dimension. Ruling goes against everything he stands for. Taking Dianite’s power back sets him down that road and eternity is a long ass time. No matter how much he’d try to avoid it, a war declared on him here, a failed inquisition there, being forced to step in against a tyrant violating human rights over there, if he came into power there, he’d end up ruling it all eventually.
He knows he’ll want to settle eventually. Maybe a lead designer or building prototypes for Ruxomar Dianite. Maybe a retirement living off the same treasure hoard he’ll be buried with, a blessing to any treasure hunters that come after him. Maybe a quiet smithy where he’ll forge weapons for future heroes. But immortality, ruling a dimension, he can’t see that. He refuses to out live his the others, to risk forgetting them in some unforeseen age to come.
As for the alternates, they all have favorable opinions of Spark and Spark of them, although Mot and Jeriah despise each other and Alyssa didn’t really have the best opinion of Jeriah either, although having spent a few years adventuring with him has eased that quite a bit. Their relations with their counterparts are mostly that of mentors although that’s begrudging for Jericho and Jeriah. The situation is flipped for Sanja and Alyssa.
