#runa oc

[sweetpuppea]

I had to do it

original post

[cherry-bombart]

Cutting ego

[queenzee27]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜

Warning: None. Slight angst maybe...

"𝙷𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍...?!" 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕...

"𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚗𝚕𝚢, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚖. 𝙰 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙷𝚒𝚖...

"𝙺𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛"

𝙰 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎...

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚢, 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢. 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝. "𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊..." 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚖, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛. 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜. '𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝...𝚠𝚑𝚢...?' 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 "𝙰𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍- 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢.

𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜, 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚃𝚢𝚛'𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝙼𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚛'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑. 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚘𝚞𝚝?

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐?

𝚆𝚑𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛?

𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢...𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚜𝚐𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚍?!

•••••

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢!" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜. 𝙰 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚔?" 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚗 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚜 "𝚗𝚘" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 "𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝚑𝚎𝚢, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗." 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 "𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜...𝚒𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚔" 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢...

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏...𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙?" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙳𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 "𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙" 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑. 𝙸𝚏 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚗𝚡𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜' 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.

"𝚘𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚏𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚈𝚐𝚐𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚔, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚟𝚎

"𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕...?"

"𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 '𝚠𝚑𝚘' 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎, 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚢 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍!

"𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚓𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜..." 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 "𝙾𝚘𝚙𝚜! 𝙸 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝'𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝!" 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍'𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐

𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊-... " 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍...." 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒'𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜.

"𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 _𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎_ 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎?" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎' 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜" 𝚄𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛 "𝙰𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚄𝚛𝚍

"𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙰𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜?!" 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 "𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍" 𝚄𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝙰𝚔𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚒 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝" 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊

"𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 "𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝙾𝚍𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙....𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕..." 𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜

"𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎?" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚖𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚜𝚐𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍...

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝙾𝚍𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍!

𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛...

"𝙾𝚍𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙽𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛...𝙳𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚊" 𝚄𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡 "𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚢-..." "𝚊𝚖 𝙸 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚜𝚐𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚍?" 𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚐𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜' 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛!

"𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏" 𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗 "𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝-..."

"𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗; 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛" 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚢 "𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚡 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕...." 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗, 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎...

"𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍; 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚜...𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖"

...𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚕.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛?" 𝚄𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍, 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 "𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝙰𝚜𝚐𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚍; 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜" 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝙽𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚢 "𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚝𝚑; 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛-...."

"𝙴𝙽𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷!" 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢, 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎.

𝚈𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

"𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍." 𝚄𝚛𝚍 𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚕𝚢

"𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎" 𝚂𝚔𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍

𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚜 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙷𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕, 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊; 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢" 𝚅𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 "𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚒 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜' 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍.

𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝙾𝚍𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊?

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊?

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝙷𝙴 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊?

"𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜?" 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊, 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗!

"𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙰𝚔𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚒 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝" 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 "𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕" 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑. 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝....𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚍.

𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙽𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜. 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝.

'𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛...' 𝙰𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙼𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙿𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚁𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙾𝚍𝚒𝚗, 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚃𝚢𝚛?

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎. 𝙵𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏...𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 _𝙷𝚊𝚍_ 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝...?

[tiredsongdog-moved]

theres someone in your head waiting to fucking strangle you

[sweetpuppea]

SHES DONE!!!!!!!!!!

LOOK AT HER LOOK AT MY GIRL THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN

[sweetpuppea]

since I'm back missing my link it's time to remember the conversation I had with @monasticmaestoso about runas dubiously living status during ml and how the baroques would deal with that.

[sweetpuppea]

that "fire as healing" post got me thinking about ocs and elemental alignments (which i haven't been super consistent on) big post of me talking about my beloved characters below :)

and MAN does it fit to make my healer fire aligned. Calli is a dragon!! and I've never figured out her breath weapon when a pheonix-like firey renewal is right there!!! like imagine shit is Hitting The Fan and the healer puts away their staff and becomes a huge monster who bathes the battlefield in fire - just for their allies to jump from the flames refreshed and renewed. Callixion breathes fire now.

Which led me to think about ice and specifically jow it can refract light. Chirou's a fairy that can shrink and grow at will (between human and pixie sizes). He's also been consistently weak to ice and cold. and frankly I just think being weak to your own alignment/preferred element is cool. Guy who makes their weapon out of ice they summon but also deathly allergic to the cold (cant let his wings freeze!) I still really prefer them being gravity aligned though. Since he uses a heavy weapon it makes sense that he could affect it's weight/density on the fly to hit harder (like the heavy metal axe from fhsy). maybe he just has a slight affinity for ice, as a treat. (he could use it defensively too, he's already the tank they could go for a little icy defence + manipulate some density. as a treat.)

Tai has always leaned towards being earth/nature aligned. She was literally plant based before she was a girl. Doesnt have a primary weapon, focusing entirely on using plants to fight. (unintentionally really inspired by Flora Winx club) She also focuses on status effects and support via pollen and spores! imagine if a Marlboro or ochu was a beautiful woman. I've toyed with the idea of her dealing much more potent support spells by kissing her friends on the mouth (inhaling her own pollen and breathing it into them, mostly as a revival method like magic cpr) she's also a little gay and stupid and its very funny to picture her and tryo making out mid fight with little stat boost icons appearing over their heads

Tryo has gently leaned towards lighting which fits her dragoon/lancer status and focus on speed. also dramatic post + snap or slamming her spear to the ground to call on lighting goes brr. Alsox2 the pairings of lightning/fire for the childhood friends and lightning/earth for the girlfriends. She's also the most Dark aligned, having a rage/anti type form that she can drop into if she gets injured enough (physically or mentally - if she goes down or is sufficiently distraught it's monster time <3) which is doubly dangerous. she can't be healed since her body is shrouded in magic that's keeping her fighting and risks attacking allies and friends since it's hard to think straight. (very much a glass canon mode though, and even coming out of it shed still be injured or dying. I love my daughter who cannot keep herself out of harms way for shit. idiot self sacrificial dps)

And speaking of elemental dichotomy, Emi is somewhat light aligned, mostly just for the parallels to his sister tho. functionally he's a generalist, focusing heavily on magic. Mostly offensive, probably also time (haste + tryo's already high speed = whatever go my bozo.)

Reli is water :) i don't have any particualy special reason for this he's just blue and I think leviathan suits him. Water paladin man. I guess there's the lightning/water match-up for him and tryo since they're siblings but I only thought of that at this very moment + it excludes Emi so. He's not even part of this group I just thought about him while writing the others.

Runa doesn't have any particular alignment either, though she does shy away from dark magic (lowercase d, not affiliated with powers of darkness in the kh sense. theres lore reasons for thr disconnect but thats a different topic) because of the Trauma.

Baldr is the opposite, he would have learned about this world's forms of dark magic and hesitatingly at first, thrown himself into learning it. Even after he Got Better (tm) he'd still be so internally terrified of his own Darkness that a quick priority would be mastering/controlling it through practicing it. Eventually leading to him using it almost exclusively for defense and support (preferring melee for any sort of offense). Dark is also just cool to think about in this role. A cool shadow, the security of not being seen, the intangibility of smoke or shade. Darkness as shield instead of a corrupting force.

[sweetpuppea]

I keep thinking about ru and ru2 and the more I rotate her/them the more I think that during and beyond missing link ru2 would feel a gradually increasing disconnect with her body.

this was gonna be a shirt post but the autism took over and I wrote more fanfiction go figure

like, you mysteriously wash up somewhere, you dont know your name or really have much identity right now. even though you can't clearly remember your past life you dream about, you fundamentally understands that it's not you. You know your existence is strange too, somehow. It's not clear why for a long time but you can just feel something is off. But there's bigger problems to worry about right now (plot of ml probably). Time ticks on and you don't get older. You feel like you do, but the face in the mirror doesn't seem to be changing like those around you are. You can't see her face in those dreams, there's no reflections to check. But something deep knows it's hers, and that doesn't bother you as much as you think it should. You're similar enough anyway. Just not quite the same.

As time continues to pass and you get older but don't you understand a little better. Your heart is fuller now and sometimes, its easier to feel that little piece that isn't you. Eventually you're left with a child and a duty and you both leave to a safe isolated world. He dreams of her too, clearer somehow. He doesn't know her either but he can remember the faces of her friends. You feel a dull ache in her heart when he talks about them.

One day the child will be OK on his own and be ready to leave this island. It'll be time for her to leave too, for both of you. You know the cost, and with the time you've had it's easy to pay. Both of your wills have tethered you to the always strange half-life you've had till now. If there's more of her out there she'll need this part too, if she wants to Be again. But first, you take the long unused key, and delicately pull apart your own heart from the fragment she left you. Poor thing will have enough trouble on her own, she'd doesn't need a whole other lifetimes worth of memories muddying the water too. The imprint your heart has left will still have probably left her with the same faded dreams of your time as you had of hers, but not much to be done about that. Hopefully she'll have friends to help her through it all. Good luck, you wish you could have met.

I should give her a proper name. she's not runa.

other thoughts that didn't make it into this:

1. think it's similar to a nobody situation but they exist even less. she's not aging because not all of her meta/physical body is there. like through some projection or distortion only part of her ended up in ml, the rest continuing into the future where it eventually reforms completely in time for the twins to find her snow white style.

2. I think she gradually considers runa to be a (parasocial kinda) little sibling. We are similar, we come from tbe same place, but distinctly different people.

3. their skills and interests still overlap, ex. runa liked sewing and textile work and ru2 does as well, even though she feels like it's not her own? maybe she takes up another skill or hobby just to Feel Different

4. it's eeking into dysphoria territory a little but idk if I'll push it that far mostly just bc. I don't have that and would super know how to do that. maybe I'll still sprinkle in some extra pronouns, as a treat. (a beta runa was they/she for a while before I settled on she/her suiting her better.) actually the more I think about it the more yeah I think ru2 would at least consider the possibility. mess around the gender field for a little before settling in somewhere near the starting point, just more deliberate and comfortable about it.