Bath & body works peachtree city

My boyfriend (22M) and I (22F) have been a couple for about half a year now after knowing each other for roughly two years. We live in different cities, about an hour's drive and see each other mostly on the weekends as we both work full time and plan to move in together next month. At first I was hooked and excited to finally move in together, but now the thought nearly scares me for a very specific reason: he's so bad and cringe in bed that it's really uncomfortable for me.
I have a little more experience in bed than he does and have tried to explain to him often enough what he can do better and what I like. But all efforts are in vain. When he kisses me, it's just sloppy and awkward because he just can't do it properly (I think you know what I mean when talking about a really bad kiss). I often turn my head away and tell him I don't like it that way and that he has to do it more calmly and less wet, but he then starts to hold my head and eats what feels like half my face. The way he does it and every other sexual stuff feels very staged and unnatural, almost like he wrote a script and is reenacting it in the most horrible way.
Then when it comes to sex, it doesn't get any better. He almost throws himself on top of me and hurts me occasionally as his elbow is either pressing on my wrist or thigh or he is suffocating me in his kisses that I can hardly breathe. I always ask him to be more careful and not to put all his weight on me, but that doesn't seem to change anything.
Even when he's not initiating sex, he's always groping me and constantly sticking his hand down my pants or shirt like a lustful teenager. He grabs my arms, tights, boobs, and any other body parts so hard that it really hurts, and I have very insensitive boobs. I also told him that he should be more careful and not grope me all the time, as it is often simply inappropriate, for example when I am cooking or folding the laundry. Most of the time he grabs me and pushes me against the walls and forced himself so much on me that I can hardly move freely. I have to tell him over and over again that I don't like it, especially when cooking, folding laundry or washing dishes, but he just doesn't seem to get it.
Then, when it comes to sex, there's the usual slurping, crushing, and groping. The sex is so horrible that I'm starting to make excuses like I have a headache (the classic), I'm on my period, I'm tired or I'm being honest about that I plainly don't want it because of his way of doing it. He always promises me to improve, but that never seems to happen. At first I even had a lot of desire for sex, but that's sadly gone now.
In the actual act, it's uncoordinated, lacking any rhythm, and it's a painful poking around. I think he doesn't grasp how to have sex despite all my efforts to teach and educate him. I start believing he's just too awkward and "untalented" when it comes to that. It's almost embarrassing for me, and as sorry as I am, it reminds me of the horrific first time of two teenagers. And it doesn't get better.
I started agreeing only to sex because otherwise he won't stop trying to get me to sleep with him and he even starts forcing me until I give in, saying he can't do anything about his lust and manhood because of me and that's why I'm apparently the one to handle it. I just don't know what to do anymore.
Otherwise, he is the perfect match, except for the intimacy part. If we would leave that part out as it's only going to get worse instead of better, everything would be perfect. It really pisses me off and lately I've just been avoiding him and even working weekend shifts so I don't have to be with him and serve as his toy for his pathetic attempts of properly having sex. Hardly a day goes by that I don't cry because I'm so uncomfortable and no matter what I try, nothing gets better. Apart from that, he tends to act cringy by making extremely mushy comments and being way too cheesy. I often told him that it turns me off, but that doesn't change either. Again, he's the absolutely perfect match and I seriously couldn't be happier, but all this romantic-sexual-stuff is out of place.
Can you guys give me any tips? What am I supposed to do now? I really love this guy and want to spend the rest of my life with him, but this makes it almost unbearable to be around him at the moment.

Hi everyone,
I am looking for two roommates to go apartment hunting with preferably in all of Harlem or in two of the Heights (Morningside or Hamilton)
My budget for the whole apartment is between 3k and 3.4k (the lower we can get the better).. I have been seeing 3bd 1 bath around this range.. correct me if I am wrong?
A little about me: I am 21 years old male. Recent college graduate moving to the city. Non-smoker and non-drinker. I would consider myself a bit introverted. I can hold conversations and enjoy the company of others but also enjoy time to myself.
I will be working from home 2 times a week. I really like keeping my space and surrounding clean and tidy. I am also looking to adopt a cat when I move.
If you feel like we would be good roommates, please feel free to shoot a DM or comment!
Thank you!!

Visiting my hometown and decided to hit the local gym/pool. This is where I learned to swim when I was a kid, but I haven't been back since. Though I don't think I ever used the showers without a bathing suit on, I do remember it being where I first overcame (at least a little bit) some of my body image insecurity and changed openly (i.e., getting naked in the process). I was a rather unathletic teenager so I don't think I encountered another communal shower until university (since which I've made a point of getting used to them).
The place hasn't changed much. I remember the locker room usually being pretty empty and that's definitely still the case. I've been a few times this past week and only encountered a handful of guys, never more than one at a time, using the showers. All older, except one who seemed about my age (mid 20s).
Anyway, in the spirit of the comraderie and self-confidence encouragement of this sub, I figured I would share a picture (apologies for the awkward pose, I was working with a self-timer on my phone and trying to be quick in case someone else walked in). Open to chat with anyone who wants to.

We have a 2500sqft house. Basement “apartment” is ready to go as an AirBNB if we wanted to for some extra income. I think all we’d really need to do is put in an extra door between the basement and upstairs and maybe install a smart lock on the back door so we could just provide a unique code each time to guests.
I say “apartment” because it’s just part of our house now and has everything needed (kitchenette, bath/shower, and a room with a bed, desk, couch).
We don’t live in a big tourist area or anything but live about a ten minute drive from a decent size city. There are a few AirBNBs in our neighborhood that seem to be consistently rented. One that is more than we would charge and says it’s a rare find because it’s typically always rented. Theirs is bigger than our space would be, but we could charge less and I think it would still be worthwhile if we could rent it out 5 or so times per month.
I think the idea would be to turn off automatic booking and vet guests as they would be in our home. Reading we should set aside ~25% or so for taxes. I understand there’s cleaning and work booking and making guests happy.
Anything else I’m not thinking about? I guess maybe not worth the fuss if we are only renting 5 or so times a month and we should consider turning it into an apartment?

Reactivity III: Seeing it coming
Welcome to this episode of ‘I read Enneagram Literature so you don’t have to’.
So one of the first things they tell you about deescalating conflict situations is that the number 1 thing to do is to make youre that you don’t get triggered & escalated yourself.
According to the so-called Law of Requisite Variety, the person who is the most flexible has the greatest chance to influence the outcome of a situation, and firing off your habitual pattern is the opposite of flexibility – its the best way to end up in the exact same argument with your spouse that you’re always in and that kind of feels like its the same one you had with all your exes and maybe even your parents because it’s hitting all those olf familiar pain points and fault lines.
So, how do we avoid this? The more set off you get the harder it becomes, after all these darn patterns are quite entrenched for many years with the punch of many past hurts behind them.
So one thing that’s been suggested is to try to spot your reactivity in its early stages, when it’s just starting to get going.
For this, it helps to try to note & then learn to recognize the specific emotional state and physical sensations that precede things going sideways, so that when you start feeling it you can take a deep belly breath, pause, Mindfully Observe (TM), interrupt/distract yourself with something random or whatever works for you to stop going into the usual loop.
Thus I want to note that to effectively do this you’d have to get a feel for what it feels like for you specifically, and probably on the first attempts you will only notice sort of in hindsight after you’ve already fired off – you’ve got to connect the words to the actual sensations that is meant by it & it’s more important to hone in on what ticks off you specifically than to be a perfect example specimen of your type, this is more helpful if its more individual.
That said, the book author has recorded some general tendencies based on what his clients report, so here are some general pointers of what to look for at least to start with, before you get a grasp on your individual ‘answer’ & can let that take precedence.
Maybe before you keep reading, try to stop & come up with an answer yourself first. What are you usually feeling before you get in a situation where you just react? What particularsituational cues set you off? Can you pinpoint what physical sensations this is usually accompanied by?
Maybe your being setoff or triggered looks like on of the following:
1
Chances are it concerned something that is flagrantly wrong that needs mentioning and correcting, or it might have something to do with unfairness, a lack of accountability or irresponsibility.
At some point, you might have launched into some kind of unrelenting, unforgiving condemnation of it. The judgement seems absolute; You feel rife with conviction. You can viscerally feel how wrong or disgusting it is.
Physically, you might have taken on a constricted, rigid stance, you might notice a tension in your face, body and jaw. Underneath it, that tension might be a long time’s worth of pent-up anger and resentment straining against its binds.
But your feelings, or anyone else’s, for that matter, are probably not on your radar, just the automatic, unshakeable judgement you have passed.
At some point, you’ve slipped into relating to the other person from a superior position, delivering the obvious, inarguable truth to them like the voice of the metatron.
2
It probably started as situation where you were expecting to get that good feeling of being able to help others or receive a positive reaction from them, but then it didn’t happen.
You might have been holding your breath, bracing for the others’ reaction, waiting to exhale when you would finally get the satisfaction of a job well done, but something’s in your way.
One moment youre relishing in that good feeling you get when you know just what the best thing to do is and will get to show your care & affection, and then you’re just left with this sense of tightness and anxiety in your heart.
Maybe there is what you perceive to be some frustrating impediment that kept you from helping, or, you feel that your goodwill has gone unappreciated.
It hurts. Its distressing.
Maybe to escape an underlying feeling that you’ve been rejected, humiliated or found dispensible, you slip into a kind of superior position of someone who did everything right but was unfairly slighted: You bring all this goodwill, nice intentions & dedication, and in return, you get hurt like this??
And when you feel that pain, and sense of being faced with ingratitude, you feel very much justified and rightfully entitled to react, to call out the other on all you did for them whiley they didn’t return it. At some point the attention shifted from whater intentions you had regarding the other person’s emotions to your own: Your hurt, your distress, your wounded feelings.
For once you feel justified in your ispleasure and in expressising it openly for everyone to see, because after all its the other person who wronged you, and after all you did for them...
3
The straw that broke the camels back was probably a situation where you saw the path to accomplishing your tasks and goals clearly before you, as a satisfying straight line from A to B… and then something got in the way. Or, you have done the thing and no one’s noticed. The approval or admiration that you’ve been expected just didn’t materialize. Or perhaps it’s a smaller obstacle, you are trying to work your charme on someone but you’re not suceeding at making the impression you were going on.
Whatever it was, at that point you probably launched yourself into some sort of impatience, agitation or frustration.
There might be a blinders-like effect when you’re focussed on the desired result. You’ve got to keep pushing, with the ellbows if necessary, and you have to come out looking good and having it under control.
Feelings and heartfelt receptivity that you might otherwise have featured in take the backseat for now in the name of competitive experience.
But underneath it all, this sweep of reactivity may be fueled by an anxious, distressed sense of impatience that is felt in your chest, and perhaps a bit of feeling unseen, ignored, not approved of.
But you don’t got time for this, or anybody else’s feelings, you gotta keep pushing, faster, harder, relentlessly, until the deed is done.
4
You’ve probably just been dissapointed. Again.
You don’t know how you allowed yourself to believe that this time, you might finally have been getting close to what you were looking for, but now you’ve fallen from the clouds and whatever moud you were in has abruptly and suddenly taken a plunge to miseryland.
You can’t help but notice everything that should be here but isn’t, everything that’s missing, that’s not enough, all the ways that you or others have fallen short.
Everything is terrible, it has always been terrible and always will be terrible, everything is just made of revolting terribleness.
What sparked this off was maybe a sharply felt realization of how your woes were going unheard, how you were going unseen once again, overlooked, dismissed or offensively disregarded.
Maybe you lash out and let them all hear about it and lambast them mercilessly in your spite and disgust, or you’ve stormed out, slamming the door behind you – or perhaps you’re just sitting there & sulking, marinating in your lamentations and your picking apart of yourself, the other people involved, and everything else in sight that just repulses and offends you, but in the end, when the fire has burned itself out and you’re left with the ashes, you’re left with the mournful yearning for your crushed, impossible dream that has once again slipped out of reach, longing for, and feeling yourself far from that which really matters, cut off from the ignorant bliss that everyone else seems to get to wade in.
5
Most likely, you are feeling hounded, pressured or put-upon.
It’s beginning to look like you may not be able to hold onto to all of your time, privacy or independence.
Or, someone’s come bargin into your personal space with jarring suddenness, is pelting you with invasive questions and/or and unloaded a bunch of demands on you that you feel inadequate to anticipate, let alone live up to.
Another common trigger is having your attempt to contribute some information blown off, (“no one wants to hear that nerd stuff!”) which on some level might register as a personal rejection.
The response is tendentially to pull away or disengage. You don’t care about all of this crap anyway and want nothing more to do with it. You need out, now. You can’t seem to get far away enough from any other living being, you can’t stand it if there’s so much as someone looking at you.
It might be felt as a sort of contracting sensation in your chest, a desire to hide, to shrink away to some corner, or into yourself if there’s nowhere else to go.
Under that there might be a lowkey panic of what you’re going to have to lose or give up, which is of course going to put you into a counterproductive defensive stance, some assumed script where you’re some tiny flimsy thing incapable of resisting and they’re going to devour you.
Others might then interpret this as you pushing them away or playing hard to get.
6
A common sign here that you’re going off is concern with an over-focussed magnification of something: A perceived discrepancy or incongruity, a possible danger, a nagging little doubt… whatever it is, you probably can’t stop thinking about it, thinking up pessimistic scenarios or fixating on your lack of preparedness.
Either way your thoughts are dominated by this preoccupation and the longer this goes on the more you work yourself into a frenzied state of being on-edge.
On the physical side this comes with all the symptoms of an adrenaline rush, emotionally it might be experienced as caution, anxiety, hostililty, suspicion, frustation or an explosive cocktail of all of these just waiting to ignite.
Sometimes you might touch the kindling off yourself by provoking or testing the other, confronting them with accusation or trying to take control of the situation.
(Note: Interestingly, this type 6 blogger wrote a whole article on the phenomenon of overfixating on details when worked up & her journey of trying to get from that to what she labels ‘productive thinking’ – usingStabile’s terminology here)
7
For 7 the characteristic reactivity is quintessentially a flight response, and as such set off by a sense of constriction, limitation, being trapped.
In an animal you might see this when there’s a concrete something to run away from but in us humans with our newfangled abstract thinking it can be caused by anything we see as trapping, caging or restraining us – such as unwanted feelings, unwelcome facts, infringements on our freedom, and what we consider part of living an unrestrained, unburdened live such as our sense of bouyancy, being able to stay positive, flexible, upbeat, stimulated, farseeing, having all the options & possibilities etc.
This includes when another person comes to you as a bearer of bad news and expresses or brings up feelings that you don’t want to engage with.
Underlying is often some anxiety about missing out & getting stuck in deprivation, sadness, boredom, helplessness, inferiority etc.
Experientially this might register as sense of anxious frustration, some constriction around the solar plexus and an influx of jittery, restless energy and heat as your body lowkey prepares to run for the hills. You might actually feel some urge to move, go do something else, change the topic, get out of the conversation etc. back to the ‘safety’ of what’s okay and positive. At this point your focus is mostly going to be on yourself and how you will avoid being caught by the figurative tiger and there is going to be far less mental bandwith to worry about the needs of anybody else.
8
What set you off was probably some kind of perceived violation: Someone has overstepped your boundaries and needs to be put back in line, or they are trying to overpower you and make you dance to their tune.
Another trigger might be things going against your will on your ‘turf’ – eg. someone doing the overpowering or violating to someone you care about, doing something on your watch that they’re not supposed to be doing, or otherwise going against your personal sense of justice, truth or fairness, right in from of your salad.
Physically this might feel like an intense rush of energy and heat. Sometimes there can be an outright exuberant or thrilling quality to it, a sense of relishing in the fight. Other times it’s pure survival and the response happens without thinking at all.
Either way the reaction is very fast and the resulting action almost immediate: Ready, aim, fire.
Once fired up, the effect is a bit like that of blinkers on a racehorse:
Your going to get your way and shut down what you don’t want, making use of whatever leverage you have in this situation or the weak points you might notice about your adversary (and there’s definitely a shift to an adversarial mindset) – often people don’t expect pushback and buckle right away, though this can be seen by others as steamrolling, intimidating or even domineering.
9
As a 9, your reactivity probably rather takes the form of inertia, of digging in your heels to stay in place rather than an activating force that gets you marching off to tear someone a new one, as many of the other types might. You’ve probably launched yourself into some kind of stubborn resistance because you feel you’re being pushed into action or forced into conflict when you don’t want it. Maybe you feel like you’re being pushed around, or that something that is really important to you personally is not being considered, that you’te being overlooked while no one seems to notice or care & just letting you & your interests be trampled underfoot.
It’s not rare for such a moment to have been preceded by situations where you had previously decided that it wasn’t worth stating your needs, asking to be included & considered & didn’t take any steps to ensure you’re on people’s priority list. You figured that it wasn’t worth it or you didn’t mind, but then something happened that really rubbed the salt in, or touched near some priority that you really don’t want to give up.
On the physical level this might be felt as a sense of leaden heavyness in your body; feelings wise you might experience despair, resignation, apathy and defeat. In any case it’s probably going to extinguish whatever motivation, vibrancy or vitality you might otherwise have had going on.

I just got a job working with the city going around to all the different parks and cataloguing the state of them. It's a really fun job, but the only thing I'm struggling with is being in the sun, usually in areas with little to zero tree cover, from essentially sunrise to sunset. I'm spending probably 20 dollars a week on sunscreen (face and body) that I reapply minimum three times a day, and I try to wear my big sun hat, but I'm still getting darker and I've been on the job for less than a week. I'm thinking about investing in some long sleeve light weight hoodies and pants and maybe a buff. Any input from mailmen, park rangers, construction workers etc would be appreciated!

So, we were married for 9yrs, together for 15, child together, all seemed fine. Celebrated our 9th anniversary during lockdown & it was a happy occasion, hubby seemed really happy. 3 weeks later he upped & left with no warning & went radio silent for 3months. Only reason I knew he wasn't dead was because his mother texted me to let me know he'd shown up at her house 60miles away & was staying there. 3months of zero contact with me or his son & he finally walks back into the house & asks for a divorce. No reasons or excuses given. That was 3yrs ago & thanks to family support, therapy & my son (now 9yrs old) I'm over it. It no longer hurts or even really bothers me. He's not the same man I loved, he just inhabits his body. He has moved back to my town & sees our son 1 night a week. It is what it is. It turned out he was dating a woman before he left us & the 3 months he was basically living with her to see if it worked. They've been together ever since. She stays at her mother's the nights my son stays with my ex & they've not met & neither have we - perfectly happy with that. I've seen her in photos on his FB & in his car a couple of times, but she's never even looked up at me. As far as I can think, she can have him if he thinks his behaviour was in any way OK. I've moved on too & have started dating a lovely guy, about a year ago. We're taking things slow as he's also divorced with a child. We've not even discussed meeting each others families yet.
So, today, my ex called to ask if I was free Thursday morning to "Meet his girlfriend". He wants me to sit down & have coffee with him & her. I know this is a precursor to her being introduced to my son. Which I'm not a fan of. I know they've been together for a few years, but my son is very much not happy with the situation. I've never badmouthed his Dad to him, but also never kept the facts from him. He understands what happened to some extent & remains angry at his Dad for "breaking the family". I really don't think him meeting the woman who helped is a wise choice until he's a little older & able to control & understand his emotions better. I'm not really sure if I want to go. I have no interest in meeting her or getting to know her & don't think it's a good time for her to meet my boy. How do I say this to him in a non-confrontational way? Or do I just suck it up & go? But make it clear I don't think my son will accept an introduction for a while. Would help if you left an indication on your replies as to where you stood in your divorce - amicable split, you left/cheated or your partner left/cheated & whether you have kids. I'm hoping for a variety of repliers. TIA.

Hello all . I would like to apologize in advance for my English because it is not my native language. So excuse me if you find some spelling errors I didn't think of posting here before because I didn't have any opportunity or topic. But this time I am confused. And I can't find any solution. I am M24 years old and I live with my parents. I have an older sister F27 married to a man M29 since 3 years . He have a very good relationship with us and even my parents love him very much and consider him as our brother . They live about 4 hours away from our city because of the husband’s work.The husband is currently out of the country on a business trip, and two weeks ago I was making some trips to market the products manufactured by the company I work for.I found myself close to the city where my sister lives I called her to ask about her news, I did not want to let her know that I was close because I wanted to make a surprise visit to her, in the call she said that she is not working today and that she is doing some housework, I went and bought some wine and cake and went to her house I knocked on the door and when it opened I did not expect that reception, she seemed tense and afraid, she told me why did you not tell me that you were coming,I told her that I wanted to surprise you, she let me entre the house She was wearing a bathing suitshe was asking a lot of questions such as how did you come and where are u staying and will you leave Today, like something was waiting for her.In the kitchen, I saw two glasses of wine, and it looked like someone was there I didn't want to stay long. I gave her the cake and the wine and told her I was leaving and in a hurry so as not to put her in a bad position.I went out of the house and did not turn around behind me, I was returning home quickly, but my thinking were all the time about what happened, I did not want to keep doubting her,so I ran back and sat in the car watching the house, she called me after two hours asking if I had reached the house, so I told her that I was going to another city An hour later, she went out with a man and got into his car. I followed them and they entered a nightclub. I entered after them. After they had some drinks, they started exchanging kisses. And he started touching her body in a disgusting way, and they were heading to the private room. I went out and went back to my house. i felt regret for the whole idea to go visiting her I spent a week thinking about how I would act. I didn’t want to tell my parents because I didn’t know how they would react,especially my sister’s husband is very close to their heart, and if I didn’t tell him He might find out later and the end would be very bad , i couldn't open this with my sister because she will call me a liar and our relationship will broke

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Super Mario Bros Movies Details
After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County where he must hunt down and destroy a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night. As the body count rises, the siblings fight to stay alive while uncovering the true nature of Art's evil intent.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to eSuper Mario Brospand the DC Universe and what we have in Super Mario Bros, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. (That would be Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ’s Super Mario Bros.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, eSuper Mario Brospand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That’s why you see in Super Mario Bros, we acknowledge everyone: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybody. There’s also some Easter eggs in there, too. So that’s what I meant by the resetting. Maybe ‘resetting’ wasn’t a good term. It’s eSuper Mario Brospanding.”
Of all those supes named, though, only one can claim to be the most powerful. And Johnson, when gently pressed, says it’s his indestructible, 5,000-year-old Kahndaqi warrior also known as Teth-Adam, that is the most powerful superhero in any universe, DC, Marvel or otherwise.
“Without a doubt,” Johnson says. “By the way, it's not hyperbole because we made the movie. And we made him this powerful. He has powers that are rival to that of Superman. But the difference is he's got an attitude. And if you try to hurt him or his people, well, there's a problem. He becomes your biggest threat. So I do believe that Super Mario Bros is the most powerful and unstoppable force on this planet.”Thanks
How can one watch Super Mario Bros online? Super Mario Bros is eSuper Mario Brospected to stream HBO MaSuper Mario Bros on December 5, 2023. HBO MaSuper Mario Bros offers two plans: a $9.99 per month ad-supported plan and a $14.99 per month ad-free plan. HBO yearly subscriptions. MaSuper Mario Bros's ad-free plan is also available on Hulu for $14.99 per month.asdf

Special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for allowing fanfiction and giving us Tilfish.
[First] [Prior] [Next]
.*~*.
Memory Transcription Subject: ? , run run run run run run.
Date: December 2, 2136
.~*~.
I'm tired. I'm so unbearably tired. I don't remember the fall or when my legs quit working, but I'm still denied the sweet release of sleep by the fires radiating from my muscles. It's sick and twisted, but I don't think I can move any more. I'm stuck here face down in the soil, unable or unwilling to do anything but wonder if a harvesting drone will roll over me and turn me into mist on the crops I'm lost in. My mouth itches. Some loose soil in my nose makes me hack, but there's nothing I can do but wheeze and pant. There's not a drop of moisture left in me. I'm all shriveled up. Everything's a haze.
I should've stopped for water. There was time. A few ponds that didn't look filmed over with vile algae blooms. The last town had a fountain on the outskirts. There were a few distant outbuildings that could've had a sink or a hose. Really, a few mouthfuls would've been enough to keep me from cramping up. Now I feel like I'm all dried out, like a stick of fruit jerky.
I should've taken a break. I've not been able to run in so long. I knew it was getting bad, but I ignored it. I'm paying for it now. I pushed way too far. Run until I black out. Wake up. Repeat. For days and days, or however long I've been free. I don't know. Every time I wake I can't tell if minutes have passed or days. I would push myself back to my feet and run. Because distance is all that matters. I made the right call avoiding the roads. The cameras. The soles of my feet are battered and wail in pain, but for every step I took was a minute longer I got to feel the sun kiss my scales and the gentle caress of the wind upon my neck. The cool soil seeping into my burning side. Fresh air in my lungs. Faint mist on my back.
I should've calmed down. I'm wasting what little time I have left stuck here in misery. I missed my chance to escape. My saviors were predators, but it would've been a better fate. And they're everywhere. Monsters and Predators alike. The whole planet is getting what it deserves. I made my choice, but now I'm squandering it. At least the soil is nice. Even as broken as I feel, it is only temporary. I know this is heaven. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Even if my tongue is dried and bleeding.
I.
Just.
Need.
To.
Get.
Up.
no no no no no. Hurts. Hurts hurts hurts.
UP.
My body rebels. I settle on crawling. Dragging my tainted digits through the soil and forcing myself through the mud.
Puddle. Puddle Puddle Puddle.
I'm glad to be alive. I'm glad for this puddle. It's my whole world. I crawl to it as quickly as my body allows and beyond, but I'm too dehydrated to cry at the lancing pain in my joints. I slip and tumble into it face first, a cold shock making me freeze up. I don't even try to drink at first, my eyes closed as I lay partially submerged in this brackish water. It makes me feel slightly better as the cold gently eases my neck muscles, and I feel the rest of my body cramping up again.
Imagine drowning in a claw of water. I'm suddenly terrified that it's possible. I throw an arm out and dig it deep into the mud, clawing silt as I awkwardly pull myself in sideways. I roll, splashing the rest of the way in and feeling my poorly treated scales weep as the cold bleeds into them. I lay my head sideways and drink, gagging at the taste but unable to stop myself. I still can't cry, but my face is still trying to produce tears anyways.
In delirium, I notice the corner of a structure well above me. It's a pole, made of metal and towering well above me. Morning dew drips off of it and into my eye not currently submerged, and I blink it away.
Thank you pole. You're a life saver.
I don't plan on moving for a while, so I don't. The dew drips onto my snout several times, and my body rejoices at the cool water I've partially submerged myself in. The silt in my mouth is a necessary and tolerable evil from my desperate dive, and I angle my snout so that I can catch the fresh dew dripping from above instead. It tastes far better than the puddle, and for the first time in ever, I feel a smile creeping on my face.
.*~*.
I blink lazily, one eyelid operating a few seconds behind the other. I feel better. This blackout felt more natural, less forced. Like a gentle wave over my mind than the harsh crack of a baton. My mouth is still full of silt that I spit out, and a moment later I realize I can spit again. The bitter taste of blood in my mouth is faint now, and the joy of having a wet palate can't be described.
ow.
It hurts to move. I try again, but my flesh feels like it's been filled with concrete. My muscles are too tight on my bones. Stiffly, I try again, making little progress, but still progress. I edge out a claw at a time, barely getting my neck out of the pool before collapsing, the chilly waters leaving me shivering.
Where am I?
A very good question, I ask myself. I don't know. That's the cost of running without direction for so long. I think I'm in a field, judging by the crops looking over me and encompassing my wide vision of the vibrant sky overhead.
Yeah... that's it. I'm in a field. Brilliant observation skills.
I try again, but nothing new comes up. For the first time since I fled, I think about what I'm going to do. I'm free. I'm free. What am I going to do now that I'm free? How long do I have? I know the answer to that already. I have a long time. Everybody that knew me is dead and gone. I just need to be careful and not ruin this chance. I should try and find a town. Cities are too big, too many problems could come up. Too many exterminators. I could start over off the beaten path. Somewhere I can hide in plain sight.
This is Sillis. Being me shouldn't be an issue. I... I can get a labor job somewhere. Change my name. What can I do?
...
What can I do?
What is my name?
"Oh dear." I whispered quietly to myself, brows furrowing. Odd. How odd. I can move on from that. Makes starting a new life easier. Something that isn't four walls and a paper thin mattress. Something outside. I just... need to get... out of this darn puddle. No, still not happening. Ouch.
I splash my paw into the puddle in frustration, using about the full range of motion I seem capable of in a mild fit. I want to stay on the move, but the consequences of my poor decision making have come back to bite me right on the rear. At least I have some time to think.
I could try the lumber industry. That's usually away from people. I think I can figure out how to knock down trees, or at least fix up the machines that can. Maybe I can join a farm around here once I'm cleaned up. There's always something to do on a farm. Like counting shipments, or unloading shipments, or loading them. Maybe I can fix things around the property. Golly, I hope I know how to fix the automated machinery. That would really be nice.
Ooh! I could try and be a tram service maintenance operator. Wait, no no no. That requires background checks, I think. Darn it. Uuuh, road utility services? No, that'll take me into cities one way or another. There's a ton of work with drainage systems and water run off here. I could get good money for that since it's risky. Pollutants, constant thundering streams of water. I think I can go with that. There would be a lot of rural investigations that I could apply for. If not, I'm certain the underground construction projects would bear fruit. I'll miss the sun but nobody would bother me too much... no, still too many people. Drainage systems it is!
A faint whistle catches my ear and I freeze, tilting my head as something green flies just overhead. It clips several stalks and leaves as it passes, but seems unbothered as the severed branches fall to the ground and leaves gently cascade after. I follow its path with an eye and it vanishes between some tall plants, leaving me alone just as quickly as-
Nope, the same thing floats by again, darting between crops once more directly above me. It's odd, I can't hear wing beats or buzzing, or see anything keeping it airborne as it passed, and I wait with baited breath to see if it shows itself again. I don't know what I feel, but it isn't terror. It's... something. Curiosity? This time I hear a chirrup, but it's close. I don't see it float by, and painfully I crane my neck and look at the other side of the puddle.
It's an insectoid of some kind, strangely wide and flat. It looks pretty similar to the leaves on the many trees that I've seen since I got out, with uneven, tapered sides. It has a few pairs of legs, and it scuttles to the puddle and dips the front of its body towards the surface. It really does look like a large leaf, but my observation is cut short when the bug abruptly stops moving within barely a claw of the water, a pair of forward facing compound eyes snug against the stem near the tip of its body. It chirps again, and I see narrow maw under the front of this creature, a slim set of fangs briefly glinting in the sun before its mandibles hide them.
"Oh dear." I manage to whisper.
With remarkable dexterity it hops across the body of water and splashes down on top of me, and several legs grip my ribs and arms. My tail flicks under the water's surface, but I don't move as the thing's maw looms over my snout. A smaller set of feelers touch my scales and let it guide where it can't see, and it pecks at my nostril once. I smell ozone and feel a different fire burn in my core, and relax.
This isn't ideal. It really isn't. But it's still better that what once was. You won't hurt me for too long. You're better than they ever were.
Trading my cell for this... it's not that scary. Somehow, despite this predator straddling me and chewing on my snout, I'm not scared of it. I have alarms shrieking in my ears and ozone burning my nostrils and wrists. Bubbly poison twisting my insides and making me gag. I'm terrified of that, but that's long gone. That broken visage cuts deep, but it leaves me feeling empty. I'm alone with this thing pecking at my skull, occasionally chirping or hissing softly as it chews over my scales.
It's little mandibles flutter over my cheek and squish it, the fangs behind it pricking at my scales but never really puncturing. It's odd, almost exploratory. I hear a faint plip as some dew from the pole overhead drips onto the creature, and it leans back slightly to presumably look up. It lowers back down on me, and I wince as it gets a little rougher. It halts for a moment, mandibles still dancing over my scales, before I feel a set of legs slip past my arms and latch onto my back.
I grit my teeth, expecting it to finally lunge down and bite into my flesh as the rest of it's body tenses, but with a start it lifts me up with strength I didn't think it had. My back scrapes along the mud as it lifts me and drags me partially out of the muck. It lowers me down just as quickly as it started, leaving a bit of my upper body out of the water and in the warm air. I blink as it lowers its body down onto my own, legs tightening its grip on me as it presses itself against me. It chirrups again and resumes nibbling on my neck, and my mind absently puzzles over this change of events.
It's roosting on me. Is it my body heat? I feel cold, but maybe it's colder. I wish I knew what you were. I'm glad you're not really biting me. It tickles, stop!
I couldn't help but squeak out a laugh, despite the very present danger I was in. The bug tensed for a moment but didn't sink its fangs into my neck, and after a moment it resumed licking at me. Slowly, it's legs tightened on my body and it pressed itself against me further, and it hissed softly. I closed my eyes when it's maw pressed against me, but once again no bite split me open and drained my lifeblood. It's mandibles tickled my scales some more as the creature flattened out, the ridges of its body laying in the mud as it settled down. I was all but buried under the thing that was almost as big as me, and my tail swished lightly in the water.
Once again, I find myself stuck. I wasn't going anywhere anyways, but now I'm very stuck. Hopefully it doesn't get peckish. This thing could definitely eat me if it wanted to. It's funny that I'm supposed to fear it. All those training exercises failed. Every test and experiment. Maybe it enforced the wrong behavior. I think I might've been respectfully afraid of this creature once, but that part of me is all burned up. If it existed at all.
.~*~.
I've missed the novelty of clouds. Sillis has an overabundance of them, but so far I've been lucky that none of the ones passing overhead were angry. It's almost odd that no rain has come, but I'm glad. I faintly remember that the rains could become acidic if there's too long a pause between storms. Too much smoke or warp residue building up in the atmosphere.
So far I've counted two absolutely towering thunderheads and small storm systems roll by in all their stunning glory, and dozens of smaller offsets in their wake. Hundreds of individual clouds dot the skies, not quite blanketing it yet. It's pleasant, even within the grasp of a large, sleeping predator that's fully enveloped me. I can feel it's diaphragm shifting ever so slightly on my chest, and it twitches occasionally.
I don't mind. For now, things are peaceful. I'm enjoying that. At least, until something crunched a few rows over.
That sounds a lot bigger than this predator.
The creature shifts slightly but doesn't wake as whatever else is out there stalks through the crops. It has to be a predator, from how quiet it moves. Every little rustle and faint step happen far from each other, and my mind immediately jumps to an ambush hunter. Carefully, I move my head to catch a glimpse of the thing, trying not to disturb the slumbering creature that is currently resting it's mouth on my neck. My scales fade into a dirty black that matches the soil, and I squint to hide my eyes from whatever is out there.
There's movement on my left, something tall shifting between the crops a few rows down. I hear a rumbling noise- a deep based growl, and the back of my skull itches.
"...D-1?"
No no no no no. I don't want to go back. I want to be free.
I know what the thing is. It's a new predator. A sapient one. The same ones that freed me. The same ones that wanted to herd me onto a ship. I can't do this. Sapient predators are cruel, far crueler than the average ones. A normal predator wasn't personal about the kill. It could be reasoned with. Where did that come from? A sapient predator was ruthless for entertainment.
I owe them my life.
They'll just take it.
There's a rustle from a different direction, and a behemoth steps out of the crops far closer to me than I would prefer. It is armored like the many I've seen before, but I realize instead of a firearm it wields a bulky tool of some kind tightly in its paws. It dawns on me that it's colors are different, green and blue instead of solid blue, and there's a colorful flag of some kind pressed on the garments of its arm.
"Copy." It rumbled quietly.
"Crikey, you spooked me there!" the other predator whispered, changing course. Thankfully the closest one broke off to meet it, and they stopped one row over. It was best I stay still. Their hearing was better than they let on. "Okay, did you get it done?"
I can't see them clearly, but some non verbal communication must have occurred because the one predator continues speaking.
"Good. Look, trouble is coming. A fellow seppo noticed the ordinance went missing. He's suspicious. There'll be heat soon. Have you made any progress with the other front?" A pause. "Same. I've dealt with several of his goons, but none knew anything good."
"I'll have him tonight."
"...D-1?"
"An exterminator account and reversed polarity on some switches works wonders."
"...you seppos are terrifying."
"We're a world power for a reason."
"...yeah. Do you have the drive? Nice. You keep this up and we'll have everything we need from this planet before Christmas. We're going to make things right." There's an odd grunt, and one of them starts rumbling quietly in what translates as amusement. "Involved in peace. What do they really think this accomplishes?"
"Don't care. We find our whales and move on."
"Come on, we can have some more fun if we're careful! Don't act like that doesn't entertain you after that bomber plot of yours!"
"S-4," there's an undertone in that growl that makes my scales shrink, "remember the prize."
"...God, you're a hard ass. Fine. I'm certain you're carrying that giant wrench for peaceful reasons and not to crack open any skulls out here. I'll check the smuggling routes. Rig up something to keep these bugs under our thumb. You keep being you. I need to move before they notice I'm gone."
Faint footsteps leading away, and I sighed. While brief, just being around them made my scales crawl-
The crops right beside me parted, and the other predator stepped out. It's covered foot splashed into the puddle, and stirred the predator enveloping me. Much to my horror the thing chirruped and hissed, releasing me and spinning around. The apex predator looked down at the smaller thing and regarded it.
:)
The drawing on the mask was comical, and not at all what I was expecting. Most humans didn't wear masks, so blinding terror didn't sweep me away. I almost laughed at the absurdity of concealing one's face, only to make a lazy drawing of a face overtop of it.
The smaller predator didn't find it nearly as confusing or entertaining as I did, and hissed. The apex didn't falter, but surprisingly held its ground despite being threatened by a lesser predator.
Most predators would make a threat back and assert itself. Or lash out. What is this one up too? It's not acting submissive so it isn't backing down. But it isn't retaliating either. Does it need to? It's using it's own size as a deterrent.
My thoughts are interrupted when my toothy cover abruptly spins and flees, gaining air under its body and become airborne. It slashes through a row of crops and is gone, just like how it arrived. The apex still hasn't moved. It takes a few steps forward, nearing me. I can't tell if it's looking at me or not so I close my eyes tight, hoping that my eyes hadn't given me away. There's a thump right beside me and I flinch. I can feel it's presence. It has stopped walking.
It knows. Somehow it sees me. It knows it knows it knows.
Something warm grazes my neck and I flinch again, despite myself. I can't do it. I don't want to die with my eyes closed. I want to see the sun and the clouds and the crops, not this faux darkness.
I open my eyes and it's right there, crouched over me. I can't bother with wasting my energy by screaming. It saw through my camouflage and had a paw to my neck. I wished it to be merciful and just strike me down with the wrench it brought, but it doesn't. Instead it plunges its paw into the water, under my rump. It rips me out of the water and I gasp as its other paw slips down under my shoulders and lifts, but my mind catches up a moment later when it pressed me against it's chest instead of its mouth, forsaking my exposed stomach. It's grip loosens slightly and it adjusts, an arm under my shoulder blades and legs. I can feel the muscles rippling in it's grip, and how easily it could fold me over backwards and squish me. I've seen it first hand.
But it's so gently. So unbelievably gentle. I don't remember the last time I was touched like this. Something in a dark recess of my mind wavered, and I realized I'd curled my tail around the creature's arm without meaning to. It holds me a little closer, nowhere near enough to hurt, and my scales start to change to match the colors it wears. It's not looking at me, the mask is angled too far up. We're moving at a blinding pace suddenly, the rows of crops blurring in my vision. It doesn't stop. This apex runs like a machine, each breath consistent and calculated to a rhythm I notice. Its breathing labors but it keeps going, warm jets of air spitting out the bottom of its mask and onto my soggy, damp form.
It's so warm. I didn't realize the chill of the water until now but I'm shivering. My body takes over for my confused mind and curls into the predator's grasp, trying to get as much warmth from the human's rough garments as I can. I don't know what's come over me. I don't know where it's taking me. I don't care. I can't escape it, and if this thing kills me it was at least kind enough to be gentle.
The skies are so beautiful. I try and focus on them but all I can really see is the predator's mask. I can see the bottom of it's jaw, the taught muscles there. I dread what its face looks like in this moment under that mask. Its digits tighten on my shoulder and side in response to me curling into it, and absently I wonder how this predator is the same as the ones from days ago with their thundering bellows and ruthless firepower.
The apex thunders out of the field and I'm assaulted by new sights. There's a few dozen of them roving around a clearing by several vehicles.
I also spot an Exterminator's van, and my claws unsheathe. The predator winces and I realize I've nailed him with them, but he doesn't throw me down or bark at me. He sprints by the van without stopping, but I see several Tilfish locked inside and doomed to a terrible fate worse than being eaten.
"Ambulance!?" It barks sharply, out of breath. It skids to a stop beside one of the transports, clutching me firmly.
"Just left with the patient. Where the hell did this one come from?" An unmasked predator growled, eyes beady and looking over me. Mine made an odd jerking motion and continued.
"Get Doc."
"I will. What hospital are we calling?" The thought of a clinical space makes me flinch. White walls. White floors. Cold tiles. Needles. Beeping. Humming. Frying.
"None. Operational security."
The other predator screwed its face up and departed, and abruptly mine was sitting down on the back of one of the trucks. Gently I was plopped down on its lap, and I watched transfixed as it peeled its armor off, then its outer garment. There's an image of a veiled human on the back with its eyes closed, head craned down. Its hands are clasped together in thought, and the meaning of it goes over my head.
The predator is a lot smaller than I thought it was. It gently lifts me and set me in the garment, before it starts wiping me down with it. I'm too sore to fight it, and the cloth is exceptionally warm from the creature's body heat. It pulls me closer and holds me in a way that makes my chest hurt, and it looks out at an approaching predator. It rumbles softly.
"You're going to be okay."
My body relaxes despite my mind's warnings. I'm wrapped up in this garment it wore. I can't escape it. But it's warm. The material soaks up the water on my skin, and wipes away the grime and muck I've accumulated over the days. Slowly, my scales begin to shift again, bleeding back to my normal tan coloration.
"Did something finally bite you Sunshine? I haven't seen you run like that in- oh-kay." The approaching predator flinched when it got close and tensed up.
It wants to eat me. This one- Sunshine- it won't let it without a fight. Are they going to eat me? Sunshine won't. Right?
"I thought there was only one victim." The predator rumbled after a moment, creeping closer. I shrank into the material and took on it's color, only for a warm paw to settle on my arm.
"You're fine." Sunshine whispered. It looked up at the approaching predator and jerked its head awkwardly. "There is. Look at it. Do you see it too?"
Gently, it lifted my arm. I was too stiff to pull it back, not that I could've against its powerful grip. I was completely exposed to this other predator.
"Relax. Please." Sunshine whispered once more. The growl was soft, and I looked up at the mask above me. The grip on my arm was careful, I realized. I could pull away right now. Slowly, my scales lightened. The other predator leaned in closer and I flashed white and yellow briefly, but Sunshine propped me up a bit and started gently poking at sore parts of my body. My ribs. My neck. "Here. And... and here."
The other predator's eyes seemed to get bigger. Something deeper changed in its face. "Holy shit." It made to move forward and I reeled back, pressing myself further into Sunshine. The predator immediately froze and slunk back.
"He can help." Sunshine rumbled softly.
Oh dear. Oh dear.
It touched me. It's diminutive nails didn't rend into my scales as it touched my ribs, prodding them softly. Sunshine adjusted how it sat so that the other predator could have better access to me, and I couldn't help but focus on the skies again as it assessed what part of me it wanted.
Sunshine won't let it eat me.
I don't know where the thought came from, but it was firm. I believed it entirely. Even though Sunshine was a sapient predator, it wouldn't let it happen. Maybe it claimed me as its own already. I... I had doubts I would be eaten. The thoughts were there, but Sunshine had a perfect chance already. Unless it wanted to flaunt its catch first, which the Arxur did- but it was gentle. Sunshine was better than an Arxur.
"Malnourished, deep sores. Ulcers. There's bruising up and down the rib cage. Jesus- sorry."
"They're old. Persistent. Its feet."
"What about..." The predator got quiet. I felt my scales shift in worry as it gingerly lifted one of my legs. It remained quiet, but its face stretched further. "What happened?"
It was looking at me. Asking me. I shrank further into the fabric, but there was nowhere to go. The silence was unbearable, and I started trembling.
The silence continued.
"A runaway." Sunshine rumbled after forever. I didn't understand what that meant. My translator didn't pick it up quite right. Run-away? Like fleeing? Was that what these predators called their prey? No... no that didn't seem right. It was possible, but...
"Could have been kidnapped." Another word I didn't understand, but my translator worked on the other predator. Stealing a person by force? Using fear outside of the law? How did predators have such a word? "We need to get it to the hospital. Figure out what happened and how it ended up in this field."
NO NO NO NO NO
Sunshine's arms draped over me before I could escape, my attempt no better than a drunk Mazic trying to fit through a Venlil sized door. I couldn't stop the whine in my throat, but its soft digits down my back froze me. A subtle noise filtered out behind the mask, and it settled me back down in its garment. It picked up an edge lined with little metal teeth and draped it over me, blocking my sight from the other predator. I felt safe, suddenly. Sunshine's firm grip on my body didn't feel threatening. It felt like a promise, as it carefully pulled me against it's bulk. I was warm, despite my terror.
"Zuda will handle it. No hospitals. This stays with us."
"Sunshine," the other predator protested, "we need to figure out what happened!"
"Think, Doc." Sunshine growled, and this was no doubt a warning. I felt relief that the difference between the two growls was so obvious.
"What?"
"Think. Use your head."
There was a period of silence. "You don't... that can't be right." I didn't understand what conclusion it made.
"The injuries are uniform. Too clean to be anything else."
They can't know. How can they know?
"We need confirmation!"
"We already have it." Sunshine stated, and slowly the fabric was lifted off of my head. I blinked, and noticed that the other predator had changed a different shade.
That's odd. Are you predators like me?
That's terrifying. I'm not a threat. I'm me.
"It reacted to the van and mention of a hospital, Doc. Nobody outside the UN hears of this. Operational security."
It... does Sunshine know? How do they know?
"What the fuck is this planet, Sunshine?" The other predator lamented.
Sunshine didn't respond. He looked around at the surrounding encampment, and I realized it was shrinking. They were leaving. A few other predators were subtly watching as they worked, but I doubted they could hear the conversation with how quiet it was. I realize there's a few Venlil in their ranks, unbothered by their presence and even wearing garments similar to the predators around them.
A digit tapped the end of my snout and I flinched, looking up at Sunshine. It's paw retracted as the other predator withdrew a medical kit with a paw print on it and began to unclasp it. "You're safe. We're... we're going to help."
You know. You know what I am. And you're helping me anyway. Why are you helping me? I'm weak. I'm dangerous. But not to you. You're an apex. Is that why? Does your species stick together, unlike the Arxur? Do you uplift those around you, no matter if they're prey or dangerous? The Venlil are not afraid of you. You must not eat them. What do you eat? It has to be meat. But, it must be something that they can handle. Does what makes me dangerous fall away under your hierarchy? I hope it does. It doesn't seem real. I guess to you, what makes me a threat is meaningless.
I believe Sunshine. I really do. When the other predator comes forward with a healing gel, I surrender.
I am safe.

New Year’s Revolution 2007 (Raw)
Date: 7/1/07
Location: Kemper Memorial Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
Bobby Lashley vs Shelton Benjamin
#1 Contender’s Match for the World Tag Team Championship:
Cryme Tyme vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
Women’s Championship:
Mickie James (c) vs Victoria
Intercontinental Championship:
Jeff Hardy (c) vs Johnny Nitro w/Melina
Ric Flair vs Chris Masters
WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada (By Disqualification)
(Vince McMahon has been impressed with Umaga and rewards him with an opportunity to win the WWE Championship. McMahon says that he hates John Cena and has the utmost confidence in The Samoan Bulldozer to destroy him. Cena says Umaga might be undefeated but every challenge that’s thrown at him, he’ll do his utmost to overcome. Umaga gets himself disqualified, utterly decimates Cena and leaves him in a bloody mess.)
Steel Cage Match for the WWE World Tag Team Championship:
D-Generation X (c) vs Rated-RKO
(This feud continues as Rated-RKO are granted another championship match against DX by Vince McMahon. The stipulation is decided by DX though after Shawn Michaels beats Edge in a match. DX choose to have it in a place Orton & Edge can’t run… a Steel Cage! DX promise that Rated-RKO are going to get their ass kicked because they deserve it for the way they’ve been acting since aligning with one another. Rated-RKO win the championships via escaping the cage.)
Note:
(Triple H tears his quad in the main event of New Year’s Revolution. This puts him on the shelf for the time being.)
Royal Rumble 2007
Date: 28/1/07
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
Rated-RKO (c) vs Cryme Tyme
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Chavo Guerrero vs Jamie Noble vs Super Crazy
Extreme Rules Match for the ECW Championship:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs Test
(Test wins a Battle Royal to become the #1 Contender. Test says that Rob Van Dam’s title reign will be short lived because he’s going to destroy him at the Royal Rumble. RVD meanwhile promises that his reign is just getting started and Test is going to feel the wrath of the extreme at the Royal Rumble. RVD wins after delivering a Five-Star Frog Splash from the top of a ladder through a table.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Batista (c) vs Mr.Kennedy
(Mr.Kennedy wins a beat the clock challenge to become the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship by ensuring The Undertaker didn’t beat Finlay on time after providing a distraction. Kennedy says this is an opportunity he’s been waiting for to further rise in the WWE and his rise will be complete when he beats Batista at the Royal Rumble. Batista says Kennedy can talk the talk but at the Royal Rumble, he won’t walk the walk when he beats the utter crap out of him.)
Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada
(Same build up, same bloody and brutal affair and the same finish. John Cena forces Umaga to pass out by choking him with the rope to retain the WWE Championship in an all time classic.)
Royal Rumble Match:
The Undertaker (#30) wins by last eliminating Shawn Michaels (#23)
Royal Rumble Notes:
The final four are The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton
Edge enters at #5 and lasts 44 minutes in this match before being eliminated by Shawn Michaels
Note:
(Umaga beats Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship on the February 12th, 2007 episode of Raw)
No Way Out 2007 (SmackDown)
Date: 18/2/07
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Extreme Rules Match for the ECW Championship:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs Elijah Burke
(After the match, CM Punk’s music hits and he stares down Van Dam.)
WWE Tag Team Championship:
Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs Deuce n Domino
Cruiserweight Championship:
Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Gregory Helms
Kane vs Booker T w/Sharmell
(Booker T cheats to win by putting his feet on the ropes during a roll up. Kane then Chokeslam’s Booker T after the match to signal that he isn’t finished with him.)
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs Finlay w/Little Bastard
(After the match, MVP attacks Chris Benoit and takes him out with a Playmaker.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Batista (c) vs Mr.Kennedy
(The Undertaker chooses to face the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania. Batista claims it will be him and says it’ll be an honour to face The Deadman at WrestleMania but promises Taker will regret it because by choosing him, he’s chose his streak to die! Mr.Kennedy interrupts Batista and says he won’t be the World Heavyweight Champion facing The Undertaker, it’ll be him. Kennedy says it’s his destiny to bury The Deadman for good and Batista’s fantasy that he’ll end the streak will end at No Way Out. Batista promises to get rid of this distraction in Kennedy at No Way Out and will then focus on the biggest match of his career at WrestleMania. Batista wins here and after the match while celebrating his victory… GONG! The Undertaker appears and stares down Batista as No Way Out draws to a close.)
Hall of Fame class of 2007:
Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Perfect, Jerry Lawler, Mr. Fuji, Jim Ross, The Wild Samoans, The Sheik and Nick Bockwinkel
WrestleMania 23
Date: 1/4/07
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Booker T vs Kane vs Mr.Kennedy vs Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy vs Edge vs Randy Orton vs Carlito
Cruiserweight Championship:
Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Jimmy Wang Yang
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs MVP
Extreme Rules Match for the ECW Championship:
Rob Van Dam (c) vs CM Punk
(CM Punk says after months of trying to prove himself, his rise will only continue and he has the ECW Championship in his sights. Punk says with all due to respect to Van Dam for as great as he’s been for ECW, it’s his time now whether RVD likes it or not. RVD tells CM Punk that he thinks he’s a phenomenal wrestler who has huge potential to succeed on ECW but his time isn’t now, no matter how much he believes it. CM Punk wins the ECW Championship in a very good 15 minute match. Both men shake hands after the match with Van Dam passing on the ECW torch to The Second City Saint.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Batista (c) vs The Undertaker
(Batista says with all due respect to The Undertaker, his streak is coming to an end and he’ll further cement himself as the face of not only SmackDown but the entire company. Batista says he’ll not be intimidated by any sort of mind games Taker tries to play which is indeed the case. Taker tries to play mind games on The Animal but it doesn’t work in the slightest. Batista says he’s without doubt the biggest threat ever to The Undertaker’s streak and also goes on record to say he doesn’t fear The Undertaker like others have and he’s just another normal man in his eyes. Undertaker says despite Batista not being intimidated, he’s going to find out The Deadman isn’t any normal man and his ballsy pride will fall at the feet of the reaper when he once again wins gold in his illustrious career while keeping his WrestleMania streak in tact. Batista comes very close but in the end, The Undertaker wins the World Heavyweight Championship to go 15-0 at WrestleMania!)
Hair vs Hair Match for the Intercontinental Championship - Stone Cold Steven Austin is the Special Guest Referee:
Umaga (c) w/Armando Estrada & Vince McMahon vs Bobby Lashley w/Donald Trump
(Same build up as in real life but with Umaga’s Intercontinental Championship on the line. If Umaga wins, Donald Trump will have to shave his head. If Bobby Lashley wins, Vince McMahon will have to shave his. As much as Vince tries to screw Lashley, Austin ensures he doesn’t, stunners McMahon, stunners Umaga and Umaga then falls into a Spear from Lashley who then pins Umaga to win the Intercontinental Championship! After the match, Austin, Lashley and Trump shave McMahon’s head and celebrate with beers. Austin then stunners Trump and the crowd pops big time as he and Lashley continue to celebrate.)
Lumberjill Match for the Women’s Championship:
Mickie James (c) vs Melina
WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Shawn Michaels
(Shawn Michaels wins a #1 Contender’s match against Edge and Randy Orton on Raw to earn this shot against John Cena at WrestleMania. In the build up, Shawn Michaels says it’s been 9 years since he’s been the WWE Champion and with him not having many years left ahead of him, he wants to be on top of the mountain again and feels he has a massive chip on his shoulder to win the big one again. Michaels says just like at WrestleMania 12, the boyhood dream will become a reality even at John Cena who he respects expense. John Cena says Shawn Michaels is an all time great, Mr. WrestleMania, The Showstopper! And it’ll be an honour to face him at WrestleMania but he’s not willing to let Shawn Michaels take his title in favour of a boyhood story that he’d be in favour of if it wasn’t at his expense. John Cena forces Michaels to submit to the STFU. WrestleMania draws to a close with Cena holding his title up high.)
Notes:
(PPV’s will no longer be brand exclusive.)
(The Hardy Boyz beat Rated-RKO to win the World Tag Team Championship on the Raw after WrestleMania.)
(Vince McMahon appoints Jonathan Coachman as the new GM of Raw.)
Backlash 2007
Date: 29/4/07
Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
The Hardy Boyz (c) vs MNM
(After the match, Johnny Nitro attacks Joey Mercury and officially ends MNM for good.)
Women’s Championship:
Mickie James (c) vs Melina
United States Championship:
MVP (c) vs Chris Benoit (By Disqualification)
(Benoit wins via DQ after MVP hit’s him with a low blow.)
Intercontinental Championship:
Bobby Lashley (c) vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada & Shane McMahon
(After WrestleMania, Umaga invokes his rematch clause for the Intercontinental Championship and Vince McMahon instructs him to utterly decimate Bobby Lashley for shaving his head with Austin at WrestleMania. Vince’s son Shane returns in the build up and says he’s the insurance policy to ensure Lashley pays for his actions and to also ensure that Umaga reclaims the championship. Bobby Lashley retains here despite Shane’s best attempts to cost him after delivering a devastating Spear to the Samoan Bulldozer.)
Extreme Rules Match for the ECW Championship:
CM Punk (c) vs Rob Van Dam vs Marcus Cor Von vs Elijah Burke
(After WrestleMania, CM Punk says that this is just the start of his rise in the WWE and one day he’ll go onto bigger things but right now, ECW is his home and he welcomes all challenges thrown his way. Vince McMahon interrupts and tells Punk he doesn’t like the thought of him being the face of ECW. Vince also says that Punk’s fantasy of going onto bigger and better things won’t happen while he’s in charge because he’s never WWE or World Championship material. McMahon says Punk will defend the ECW Championship at Backlash against 3 other men in an attempt to be proved right that Punk isn’t good enough. Vince chooses Rob Van Dam, Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von. Punk says Vince can stack the odds if he wants, he’ll overcome them and be the fighting champion he promised to be. CM Punk retains the championship after delivering a GTS to Cor Von.)
Cruiserweight Championship:
Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Brian Kendrick
Last Man Standing Match:
The Undertaker (c) vs Batista (Draw)
(On the SmackDown after WrestleMania, Batista interrupts The Undertaker and tells him “Congratulations, I want my rematch”. Taker nods in approval and the match is set. Teddy Long ups the stakes and announces this match will be contested in a Last Man Standing Match! Batista says Taker was the better man at WrestleMania but he took him to his limit and maintains The Deadman is like any normal man and he can slay him at Backlash. Taker promises it’ll be the same story as WrestleMania and Batista will Rest in Peace! This match ends in a draw after Batista spears Undertaker off the stage and both men fail to answer the referees count of 10.)
WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton vs Edge
(Shawn Michaels asks for another shot to face John Cena for the WWE Championship but is interrupted by Edge. Edge says Michaels lost at WrestleMania so he can get to the back of the line, it’s his turn to face John Cena and get revenge on him after losing the championship to him in his hometown back at Unforgiven. Randy Orton further interrupts and says Edge has also lost to John Cena so he can get to the back of the line too. Orton says he’s never faced Cena so it’s only right he gets the opportunity because he knows if he gets it, he’ll beat him! This causes tension between Edge and Orton as they’ve also just lost their titles and they officially split in the build up to this and start fighting every time they see each other. Jonathan Coachman says all 3 men have a case so at Backlash, John Cena will defend his title in a Fatal 4-Way. In all time classic main event, Shawn Michaels delivers a Sweet Chin Music to Cena who then falls on top of Orton and covers him to luckily retain the WWE Championship! Michaels can’t believe since he had the match won. Backlash draws to a close with Michaels walking backstage in utter disbelief and signals he’s not done with Cena yet.)
Notes:
(Mr. Kennedy loses the Money in the Bank briefcase against Edge on the May 7th 2007 episode of Raw.)
(The Undertaker and Batista have a rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship on the May 11th, 2007 episode of SmackDown inside of a Steel Cage. The match ends in a draw when both men escape the cage at the same time. After the match, Mark Henry returns and completely destroys an already beat up Undertaker. With a destroyed Taker down, an Ultimate Opportunist comes over from Raw and cashes in his Money in the Bank contract… Edge! Edge Spears The Undertaker twice to win the World Heavyweight Title. Druids then carry The Undertaker out of the arena and The Deadman is written off TV.)
And that’s part 44 over and done with guys. That was long, creative and an absolute pleasure to share with you great people in this community. I’ll be back very soon for part 45 where we’ll see Edge move to SmackDown, Great Khali NOT become the World Heavyweight Champion and a much better SummerSlam 2007. I also want to inform you guys that in the next part, you’ll also hear my opinion on Chris Benoit after the tragedy still sadly unfolds. Stay safe and stay tuned.

TW: emotional abuse and possibly CSA. I’ve been wondering about this for ages. It seems likely that I’ve experienced some form of CSA. Won’t list everything but. When I try to think about it. My body feels cold. Not the shiver from thinking about something terrible. But a deep, continuous feeling of feeling cold all over. Feeling exposed, naked. Like my whole skin is flushing and tingling and crawling with coldness and strange sensations. Disturbingly almost-sexual. But fear always is. I can actually feel my vessels dilating. Shouldn’t they contract? idk.
Might be a normal reaction to imagining such things. Don’t know. Feels unlike anything else I know but strangely familiar.
I associate it with my changing table. I think I lay there after bathing? Remember remembering that once before. Can’t remember anything else. If I try, my mind instantly finds something else to do. Like looking at my nails or stare at the TV. Instant absentmindedness. Might be because there is nothing else.
That points towards my mom so why was I scared of bearded man. There are other memory sniplets that might explain, won’t get into them. Might have just been overly anxious. Might be nothing. No idea. I probably imagine things. Have visualized potential opportunities and abusers before that might have intruded my memory. Because I just can’t get rid of the thought that something happened. Remember laying in bed besides my mom naked. Older now. I think I would undress before darting under her covers. Not sure. Would come there by myself to cuddle in the mornings. So probably inconspicuous. My dad didn’t want another child. He thought my mom was a bad mom. No details. I know she wrote pamphlets looking for another man to impregnate her. Weird. She turned out to be emotionally abusive and negligent later. Felt more like a bin for emotional trash than a child. Was pushed into role of her psychologist. Was told what to wear. Mom got so angry and sad when I told her I didn’t like to be touched anymore in my teens. Mom got angry when I started locking the bathroom door. And again when my sister did. And I had to protect my sister at all costs. No idea from what. Later, from the constant fights. But that feeling started earlier. Might just be sisterly love. Sister ended up sick, too. Parents later divorced.
When my mom saw my a family member’s baby, she had that really strange look in her eyes. I was alarmed, didn’t know why. Retrospectively, it seems she looked… longing? hungry? Might just have been her cute baby face or envy. But it struck me odd, like she was a threat to that child. She works with kids, always has. I remember when I was a child she said she wanted girls because boys are disgusting. She always has strong opinions. Have other weird thoughts about my dad and my grandpa, won’t go into these. Can’t all be real if any. Vivid fantasy, always was daydreaming loads. Might be kinda delusional. Might have some slightly distorted grasp on reality, I’m going through a lot atm.
I recently got back memories of another SA in my teens so I know my brain is capable of forgetting. Scared there might be more now. I’m rambling sorry. Read here that many wonder. Wonder if wondering is a sign of it having happened. Do people who haven’t been SAd ever wonder? I kinda feel like I know. Even told two people it had happened when I was younger. Deeply ashamed of it but it seemed so true to me. There are other signs. I’d skip school to masturbate. Pretended to have headaches and tummy aches. Seems excessive. Frequent UTIs but I think that’s common in kids? Sex and fear and shame and self-harm are deeply entangled. Depression and dissociation from an early age. Had screaming fits where my mom slapped me (she otherwise didn’t) so I could snap out of it. Other memories that just fit. And that I can’t explain. My pediatrician would ask me something but my mom was in the room so I lied. First time I consciously lied. Don’t know about what or why. Just that I did it because my mom was in the room.
Feel like I’ve always been a victim. Have been abused so many different ways over time. As if marked. Might have projected that feeling further into the past. Have difficulties actually posting this. Don’t want to accuse anyone (whom?) even in my thoughts. Torn between wanting to remember and hoping I never will. I consider taking mushrooms to find out. Last time I did, and asked „why am I sick“ before the (uneventful) trip, a few weeks later I got back memories of that teen assault. Haven’t corroborated them yet though and super scared that might plant something into my memories that wasn’t there before. Something I couldn’t cope with. Thanks for listening.

Atlas Srugged. I've heard about it many times across my life--as, i'm sure many people have heard of Ulysses, or Satanic Verses--but never read this, and so wanted to be able to say "yeah, I've read it and...___" I started with a healthy bit of skepticism. It's taken me ~2 weeks to get to the end of chapter 7.Dagny and James taggert, owners of a railroad company, have a strange dynamic. James begrudges his sister the talent and capability of running a company, and seems to relish in causing managerial havoc as long as it causes Dagny anguish. Something something american economy is collapsing, and James wants to give to the poor. BAD, BAD JAMES LIKING MEXICO; it's only looters there or something like that. Where have we seen this in recent popular culture? Eddie Willers likes trees, Dagny is haunted by music. So were all of us, Dagny, until YouTube was around. It's OK.
Hank Rearden's family seem to be unlikeable charicatures; they don't seem to be made without much effort. There's SO MANY great ways that first family scene could have been depicted with more depth, but it feels like an impressionistic equivalent of a slash of paint topped by a circle to represent a person in the distance, intentially portrayed as forgettable and umimportant; we are being trained to think that "unsuccessful" people such as Paul & rearedn's mother (was she ever named?) are not worth remembering. Dangerous narrative posturing.
The government is headed towards anti-competition and the "looters" are going to anyone that benefits from govt handouts (?) We, the readers, are being maneuvered to think that, in a(n unrestricted) capitalist society, activities will eventually be prodigiously productive and beneficial to all. The term "progressive" in this book seems to be slant-term for...progress towards government control?
We see an ever-increasing number of people quit their positions, adding to the idea the book's original working title was "the strike." We see a strange legislation title: the "Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule."Don't we see similar behavior contemporaraily, in Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile/Comcast, then with our streaming networks? Very strange that these predictions, feared by Rand, would have been precipitated by Alan Greenspan, one of her "disciples".It feels oddly like, with the idea that the government, with the sanction of the general public, in passing this strange anti-competititve legislation, i'm being maneuvered into a thought of "it's good to reject the consensus of the mass of people." Still, why have so many "conservatives" that endorse Ayn Rand's principles still look to christian religion? Am I missing something?!?
Francisco D'Anconia is touted as a genius; this is why he wasted $15 million dollars to stick it to James Taggert and Orren Boyle, those conspiring men who wanted to "loot" from the handounts from Washington. Aight, cool. Musk bought Twitter for reasons, one among them so he could have a little more cover from journalists that have dogged his activities for years. And he's touted as a genius (or at least a genius-thief). Aren't many creators just thieves of ideas?
I struggled through some narrative choices on the first "lovemaking" scenes:"They were both incapable of the conception that joy is sin" [...] "She knew, even though she was too young to know the reason, that indiscriminate desire and unselective indulgence were possible only to those who regarded sex and themselves as evil" (page 106). When was this book first published? 1957? Had our religious values been that oppressively...catholic in austerity towards sex back then, or is this more deliberate narrative steering?
What's the most depraved sort of human being? "The one without a purpose." Interesting idea. A person who has no goal to strive for can easily find their course altered by someone with a larger context, thus swept away by collectivist thought. I actually find this idea to be valuable. A nugget, perhaps?
By this point "Who is John Galt?" feels like it's a narrative MacGuffin. After all, he found Atlantis, the place where heroes live in happiness unknown to the rest of the earth (Ouray, Colorado is generally accepted as where John Galt will lead us to). By the way, Here's the music we're supposed to hear for Halley's fourth symphony.
Chapter 6 is strange. Hank's only way of coping with a wedding is to project himself into a flow-like state, but the narrator perpetually drifts back to business. Lillian throws a party for their wedding...anniversary, but invites a bunch of "looter intellectuals" to use Dagny's words. Dagny happily exchanges her diamond-bracelet for the rearden-steel one. Hankey deals with guilt over having sexual urges, cause he doesn't need the wife, he just wants a woman's body to use the spooge. What is the purpose of this chapter? I imagine John Oliver screaming, YOU GOTTA LIVE A LITTLE, HANKEY!! FEEL SOME GODDAMN HAPPINESS!!
The employees treat Dagny worse as the book goes on. She's their boss, and they're second-guessing her left and right. Frightening that this still happens. Later, Dagny philosophizes with bums at a diner..hank rearden talks to a State Science Institute guy..Dagny and Eddie bemoan the circumspect criticism published about Rearden Metal, and a confrontation with Dr stadtler reveals a man bereft of personal conviction (effectively, the institute he runs issues a statement, but won't retract it despite the fact he disagrees). Odd that, in juxtaposing the hopeless wanderings of the bums--still perscpicacious enough to form an idea of morality--with Hank engaging a slimy and abstruse scientist--then the vague criticisms of metal, we're being primed to see or read "social impact" or "social welfare" and gain an impression of the exchanges and evaluations as being entirely irrelevant to useful measures such as practical business value or material wealth. Once again, as a reader, we're being maneuvered into thoughts that "government and science are bad" because they can interfere with--or limit--businessmen, and thus corporations.
Here's an odd quote: "Contradictions do not exist. whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises." (188). I guess Ayn Rand wasn't a fan of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Or the idea that I can hang out with a childhood friend, see them as they are now, but in my mind's eye, also them as they were when we'd first become friends; the two are different in time, character, and form, but also not.
And then we have Ragnar criminal. A guy who really robs from the looters..?
IDK if I can read any more past chapter 7. Send help.

--- Table of Contents ---
Autumn 4986, 16 Aoimoth
Shon and Nangran hobbled their horses at the base of a steep hill deep in the woods north of Hamerfoss. They'd left at fourth bell, before any of the other Squires had woken for their morning run, and it had still taken them hours of riding through narrow trails to reach this place. At least they hadn't run into any monsters. The snow that had dusted the landscape during the night lay thick here, crunching underfoot and occasionally flopping noisily to either side as it fell from the tall evergreen branches.
Shon adjusted the strap of his sword across his chest and reached his left hand back to brush shaking fingers over its hilt. He'd been glad when the Paladins insisted he take it with him. To them, it marked Shon as a representative of Hengist and the Temple. To Shon, it was a sign of his hard work and resolve. Having it was a comfort.
Nangran started up the hill, and Shon hurried to follow. The smith hadn’t spoken a word since they set out, not even to try and ease Shon’s anxiety, for which Shon was grateful. Master Daunas had tried to sound confident as Shon saddled his borrowed horse, and The Major General had offered him encouragement as they mounted. Neither realized how much that just drove home the desperation of the situation in Shon’s mind.
The smith pulled his heavy cloak tighter, and Shon looked away. He hadn’t bothered to wear his cloak. He'd never really felt chilled in the winter like others seemed to. Now that he knew why, he wished he had. Cold continued to swirl around him, enhanced by his worries. If he could just block those emotions, the power would never have been a problem to begin with.
The trees thinned the higher they climbed, disappearing almost entirely as they crested the top of the hill. The clearing looked over the treetops, offering an unimpeded view of the horizon. Forest all around, with flatland to the south and rocky mountain peaks to the north. Only a handful of small trees grew in the clearing, and in the middle stood a little ramshackle hut only slightly larger than an outhouse.
Nangran threw his arm out, stopping Shon from walking past him, "Don't touch anything. And don't be surprised if he says no right off."
Shon nodded, trying to swallow down his fear so it wouldn't be seen in his eyes. Dropping his hand, Nangran started forward again, finishing, "Be honest, but not insulting." The instructions, -or perhaps advice?- seemed like common courtesy, which made Shon wonder why quiet Nangran had bothered to say anything.
As they drew closer to the little shack, Shon could make out a sign on the door. He squinted to read it and had just made out 'No Soliciting' when the door swung open, banging against the wall and sending birds into flight. An old man, so thin he looked like a skeleton with yellow skin pulled tight across its bones, stormed out. Wearing nothing but a loincloth, he was shaking a thick stick at them that glinted with red rubies in the low autumn light.
"I already paid my dues for this decade! So you can take your request and shove it-" Shon’s hand instinctively reached for his sword, but Nangran just crossed his arms over his barrel chest. The old -virtually naked- man stopped yelling mid-rant and lifted one shriveled arm to shade his eyes as he squinted at them, "Eh? Flintchest, what’re you doing way out here with a blasted mage in tow?"
Rather than answer, Nangran started forward again, he didn't much care for talking, let alone shouting. Looking from Nangran to the loincloth man, Shon slowly lowered his arm, but still took position to the left and just behind the Smith as they approached the crazy man with the glittering club.
"No mage." Nangran said as he came right up to the strange old man, "Squire." he glanced over his shoulder at Shon and finished, "Sorcerer."
The old man spat on the ground and moved his squint to Shon. Running his eyes from the top of his black head to the tip of his polished boots and back, exaggerating the movement before he stopped at the Squire’s cold blue eyes.
He spat again, then barked "Where's your familiar?" scanning first the ground at Shon's feet then the sky above his head.
Shon blinked at him, furrowing his brow in confusion at the question. The mage snapped his fingers impatiently, "Your familiar! All Sorcerers have a familiar."
Nangran came to his rescue, "Just woke last night," he said shortly.
The mage spat again but didn't argue, "Well, come in then." Shon looked sideways at Nangran, but the Smith had already begun following the skinny old man into the shack. Shon hurried to catch up.
Inside, Shon's eyes were assaulted with a sparkling rainbow of colors. The room they'd entered was considerably larger than the outside would suggest, with plush carpet and a stuffed high-back armchair in front of a blazing fire in the opposite wall. Shelves full of exotic plants, glowing glass jars, and glittering stones filled every available space, reflecting off one another and setting streaks of light to dance on the floor and walls like sun rays through crystal.
There was too much to take in, so Shon focused on their host. The old man was slipping into a thick robe of deep purple velvet. He'd hung the club on the wall beside the door, which looked just as decrepit on this side as it had on the outside.
"Make a habit of greeting visitors half-naked and swinging an old fireball wand?" Nangran asked as he slipped out of his cloak.
"Keeps the conversations short." the old man replied tersely, tying his belt and turning to his guests. With boney knuckles on boney hips and glare firmly planted on his wrinkled face, he snapped, "Don't bother getting comfortable, Flintchest; you'll be leaving soon enough."
The Smith ignored him, hanging his cloak on the hook that had presumably held the mage's robe. "Got a favor to ask," he said, but the old man was already shaking his head,
"More like a favor to cash in. That's the only reason you're in here and not smoking in a hole outside."
Nangran ignored the threat and motioned from Shon to the old man and back. "Archmage Ivelm." The mage looked Shon up and down again as Nangran made the introductions, “Squire Shon.”
"Not much longer, I'd say." Ivelm said to Nangran as he finished his second examination, "It's to the Guild with this one. Too much magic." he turned his head and spat in a brass can by the door. It rang out with a loud ‘ting!' and Ivelm sniffed, looking down at Nangran again, "What do you want, Flintchest?"
"Need a seal. So the boy doesn't freeze Hamerfoss more than it already is." the smith crossed his arms, watching the mage and somehow still seeming completely at ease.
"Eh?!" Ivelm exclaimed, leaning far forward. Shon had to try hard not to crinkle his nose as the old man brought his face close enough that Shon could smell Ivelm's breath. Garlic, the mage ate a lot of garlic…
"So… you don't want to be a mage, do you?" he demanded, glaring down his nose at him. Shon shook his head and would have answered with a 'no ser.' except the mage continued, "Rather swing around some hunk of metal like a brute?"
Shon blinked stupidly, and Nangran cleared his throat, "Watch what you say about my swords, old man."
Ivelm ignored the smith as soundly as Nangran had ignored the Archmage, and continued to Shon, "The powers of the universe are at your fingertips. Blood blessed with the strength of the elements, and you wanna throw it all away," he threw his arms into the air, still uncomfortably close, "And for what? Some illusion of an honorable death by the sword?"
Shon didn't know what to say. He looked past the affronted mage's face, only an inch from his own, to Nangran. But the smith gave no sign he was going to help. Shon’s future depended on convincing this strange old man, this Archmage, to help…
Shon wasn't the type to try and convince anyone of anything, but the least he could do was explain himself. Shon stepped back from the mage to address him from a more comfortable distance. "I chose to dedicate my life to perfecting my art, and my art is martial combat," he said. Ivelm wrinkled his nose, his mouth twisting as if he were going to spit again, but Shon continued, "magic would be better served in the hands of someone who wants it badly enough to work for it. Like I've worked for my martial skills."
Ivelm leaned away from Shon, his eyebrows lifted into his frizzled gray hair. Shon looked to Nangran, hoping for some sign that this was a good response. The smith smiled from behind the mage.
"Soooo…" Ivelm drew the word out, "You think only those who dedicate themselves to strict study and practice should wield the power of the universe?" he leaned forward again, turning his head and fixing one eye on Shon like a bird. As if trying to catch him in a lie.
Shon nodded, confused, then asked, "Isn't that what it takes to effectively wield magic? Focused study?"
Ivelm didn't answer the question, instead turning his face to examine Shon with the other eye, scanning him up and down yet again. The old man had looked him up and down so much Shon wouldn't be surprised if the next question were about his hair or boots.
But Ivelm didn't ask another question. Instead, he stood straight and spat into the brass can with another ringing 'ting!' "I like this one," he said, turning his back on Shon and facing Nangran, "But it's too much." he shook his head, lifting his hands in helpless surrender, "Too much power, and ice at that. Stubborn element that one. And it's so finicky to block just elemental magic..."
Ivelm continued talking but Shon heard very little of it. A hole had opened in his gut, and it felt like his heart was racing his stomach to fall into it. But Nangran just rolled his eyes at the mage, interrupting, "Used to be the name in new magic items... made shackles to hold Archmages." he squinted at Ivelm, who had frozen mid-head shake, "Must've gotten rusty out…"
Ivelm snapped his fingers under the Smith's nose to stop him talking, "The mind does not rust, Flintchest!" he huffed, one bare foot tapping under his robe, "Not like your swords and shriveling muscles." Nangran just stared stubbornly, his thick, muscled arms still crossed over his broad chest.
The mage continued to tap his foot, his nose in the air. But as the silence stretched, Ivelm looked down at the smith, who continued to say nothing. The silent battle of wills ended when Ivelm threw his arms up in disgust and shook a finger under Nangran's nose, nearly hitting it, declaring, "I'll show you. I'll make a gem especially for this lad, and you'll see the mind only continues to grow sharper!"
He spun on his heel back to Shon, who had just made out the smith's returned smile from behind the mage when the old man snapped his fingers in Shon's face, making him jump. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come here so I can take some measurements!" Ivelm swung around again and marched across the room to a large workbench with plants and gems scattered across it. Shon scrambled after him, praying his thanks to Hengist and suddenly feeling light enough to float. His anxieties dropping away and melting like snow in summer.
***
It was already noon, and no one had come to see Her. She jumped up to grab the bars of Her window, pulling Herself up to peak out but seeing nothing but new snow and tree trunks. She was full to bursting with nervous energy, amplifying every sound and sensation. Footsteps sounded outside Her door, and She dropped from the window, sprinting across the room and resting Her ear on the wood.
“Ran, recheck the lab. Brom, with me.” Archmage Morndancer spoke with his strange alternation between draconic and common as he passed Her door without stopping. She could easily make out the swish of their robes on the stone hall leading away. Three people, Brom, Ran, and Archmage Morndancer. And yet the scurrying of too many feet to be only the two apprentices and Archmage Shaloon, sounded from the floor above. There were strangers in her tower again. Many strangers. Something was happening, something big…
She ran to Her window again, just for something to do, seeking some way to burn off some of the anxiety of not knowing what was going on around her.
A roar from down the hall, a roar of pain, sent ice washing through her veins. She slammed into the door at full speed. Pounding on the wood, She called out, “Brom?! Ran?!” Nothing. Then a yip cut short, followed by barking and yowling.
She shook the handle with both hands, rattling the door on its hinges, “BROM! RAN!” Something was happening to Her treasures, something terrible… The door handle began to glow, the metal warping and sagging as it melted. The knowledge that She would be in more trouble than She had ever been in before was nothing compared to Her terror. She wrenched the handle back with all Her might, splashing molten metal across Her bed, lighting fires that flared in her panic, and sending smoke to curl up to the ceiling.
She didn’t care. She shouldered the door open and ran.
“Red?!” She passed the first open door but couldn’t stop as Ran called out to Her. Reaching Her treasures' room, She tried to stop but slipped, slamming into the ground with a sticky splash. A final whining bark started a buzzing in Her ears as She stared, transfixed, at Her hands. They were painted red. Warm and sticky. The overpowering stench of iron nearly made Her gag as She looked up to see Morndancer toss aside a glittering golden wolf pup, the body flopping limply over the corpse of its mother and siblings.
Her world went red.
***
The last sample was taken care of, but something roared with enough ferocity to shatter glass.
Morndancer's head snapped around in time for him to fall back, shielding his face with his hands as the Firewyrm exploded. White-hot fire engulfed Her and spread out to the stone floor and walls. His robes began to smoke, the new fire protection spells woven into them being overpowered by the sheer ferocity of the blaze.
Brom had no such spells, and he had only managed a single step towards the girl before he fell to the ground, writhing for only a moment before lying still. The Archmage heard Ran scream from the hall before the journeyman stumbled past the door, flailing wildly. Barely discernible as human inside the flames.
The Firewyrm moved towards him, stepping through Brom’s head, turned to ash, and blown up to dance in the air on the same heatwaves causing the girl's hair to wave wildly about Her. She didn't seem to notice, Her face was expressionless and her eyes glowed as red as the scales across Her cheek. Morndancer tried to snap his fingers, but the golden collar around Her neck melted, Her clothes burning off and leaving Her naked and terrible in the flames.
His robe was burning now, and only the pain of that could pull his eyes from the Firewyrm as he pointlessly tried to beat the fires off. He fell back, hitting the wall, which drooped, sagging and dripping molten stone onto his head and face. Then he fell further back, into a gate that opened behind him.
Shaloon pulled him through the portal and into the library three stories up. The Firewyrm roared again and the tower walls shook with the force of it. The gate closed, but Morndancer continued to burn. He could hear screaming. Was it him? Was he screaming? Fire burst up the spiral stairs in the middle of the room, and apprentices, both their own and many sent from the central and western Talon, scrambled about in a panic, some even leaping from the windows.
Shaloon cursed, holding out her hand and summoning her sword again. She had to draw the circle five times before a second gate finally formed, and she dove through it, pulling Morndancer along with her as it quickly closed. An apprentice reached through, and his arm fell at Morndancer’s feet, miles away in the sitting room of his manor back in Smildna.
He laughed. Shaloon slapped him, and he laughed. Ronni, his daughter, burst through the door, her own daughter, only a year old, perched on her hip, and still, he laughed. “What’s wrong?! What happened to him?!” he barely registered his daughter's words and continued to laugh, rolling around on the ground in mirthful madness.
“The Firewyrm She…” Shaloon started, but Morndancer yelled over her in draconic,
“She is true! She is pure! She is rage! The children will come and raise the grandchildren! We have only to await the coming of those Chosen!” the room faded around him, becoming washed out and gray then finally black as he continued to laugh and shout, “They take those who slew them and use them to raise themselves anew…”
He couldn’t feel his burns or the hands trying to settle him. He saw only darkness and stars. And the eyes of his Master boring into his soul from the outer planes.
***
Shon couldn't remember ever feeling so drained in his life. He'd been tired before, exhausted even, but it had never felt quite like this. The eccentric Archmage Ivelm had ordered him to 'empty his energy' into stone after stone. Measuring the weight, color, and temperature of each. Making notes in chalk directly on his table and talking to himself. Shon was shocked the first time he saw the smooth rock handed to him change from a translucent white to an onyx as black as his hair, but by the time they'd gone through the twentieth stone, Shon had decided to stop counting.
Ivelm, however, seemed to get more and more excited with each one. Giving Shon reason to suspect the mage may be taking the energy for himself. After what felt like hours, Ivelm finally stoppered the potion he'd mixed with the most recent jewel, glowing a soft pale blue, and stepped back from the workbench, bony hands on bony hips.
"It can be done." Ivelm swiveled to face Nangran, "He's strong, I don’t know how he managed not to manifest until now, but it's all focused in one elemental direction." he rubbed his chin and looked at the ceiling, completely ignoring Shon's arched eyebrow. "It has a bit of divine flavor as well. But I suppose that shouldn't be surprising for a training Paladin." The mage stopped musing and glared down his nose at Nangran, who had made himself comfortable in the oversized wingback chair by the fire, "It will have to be a lot bigger than a piece of jewelry would allow."
The smith just hummed and sipped at his mug. When had he gotten a mug? Shon looked from one old man to the other. It was apparent Ivelm wanted Nangran to ask him for details, but the ever stoic smith said nothing.
Shon was tired. His limbs felt heavy, and the weight of his simple uniform felt more like platemail. He was just about to ask what the Archmage meant, to hurry them along, when Ivelm threw his hands in the air and said, "You'll need to find somewhere to put it. I would recommend that." he pointed at the hilt of Shon's sword over his shoulder, continuing, "If the lad is insisting on swinging a metal stick around instead of harnessing the ultimate powers of the universe then that same stick might as well sap the power literally as well as figuratively." Shon arched an incredulous eyebrow but Ivelm wasn't paying attention, finishing, "I can get it down to about an inch and a half orb. At the smallest. If you want something different, say so now."
Nangran set his mug on the ground and stood with a grunt and a groan. Shon just wanted to go home and sleep for a week, so when the smith reached for the hilt of his sword for a closer look Shon hardly noticed, until the squat smith jerked it down to eye level. Shon swung his arms like a drowning man and stepped wide to prevent himself from falling over.
"Quit wigglin'," Nangran grumbled, studying the sword's pommel with a professional eye. "One and a half'll do, preferably in a tear…"
The mage snorted and continued to ignore the struggling half crouched Shon, his voice dripping sarcasm as he addressed the smith, "Shall I wrap it in silk for you as well?"
"Na." Nangran let go of the sword, and Shon stood straight, lifting his leg to shake out the knee. "Drop it off when you’re done." the Mage snorted again but didn't counter.
None of them were interested in extending the visit, so Nangran grabbed his heavy cloak and shrugged it on while Shon waited by the door. "It will be at least a fortnight," Ivelm called from his position by the workbench, not about to walk them out.
Nangran grunted his confirmation and opened the battered and decrepit door, letting the wind and early autumn snow blow in on their way out. Shon followed numbly, his eyes unfocused as he walked, and ran right into the much shorter man. Nangran hardly moved as Shon bounced off of him. He was squinting into the distance, one large hand shading his eyes. Shon stared at Nangran for a moment before following the direction of his gaze over the tree line.
Smoke. A LOT of smoke. The black clouds billowed violently into the sky, occasionally lit from below by sparks shot high into the air.
"Elm!" Nangran shouted. Shon had never heard the man call so loudly. The Archmage must have also been shocked because the door to his hut swung open and he stuck his head out to look to either side, eyes wide.
"Flintchest, what?" but he soon saw what, "But, that's the old chemist's tower… What?" he stood in shocked confusion for a heartbeat before turning back into the hut. Shon looked from the shack to Nangran, but before he could say anything, the mage was back, struggling with two long rods, one blue with what looked like waves painted all around, the other black and studded with diamonds.
"Don't just stand there!" Ivelm snapped at the two as he finally managed to slip the blue rod into a sheath at his side. He then pointed the diamond rod at the space between two close-growing trees. Shon heard him say something unintelligible, and one of the diamonds shot out of the tip of the rod to hover between the trees before expanding into a portal.
Beyond the magical gate, Shon could hear the fire roar. It sounded how he imagined the burning hells might sound, but as he followed the two men through, he realized his imagination was tame by comparison.
The smell of burning flesh and hair choked him as they stepped clear of the gate's magic. The heat smashed into them like a wall, and all three brought their arms up to shield their faces. Around them were the charred remains of what looked like humans, their faces buried in the mud as if they'd been trying to run from the blaze. Shon had to swallow the bile that rose in his throat and focused instead on the fire Ivelm had said was a tower.
It was completely engulfed in bright flames of all colors. Squinting through the light, he could see the stone walls melting like wax. The arch of the doorway sagged in the middle, and Shon's eyes went wide. Someone was in there.
He would've had to shout over the roar of the flames, but it didn’t matter; Ivelm was already raising the blue wand, jerking his fingers in strange ways and mouthing words impossible to hear. Water shot out the tip of the wand with the force of a ballista and hissed against the glowing stones.
It wasn't possible. It must be a trick of the flickering flames. But the figure turned its face to them, long hair whipping about as it took steps in their direction.
"Don't just stand there, boy!" Ivelm screamed. "They must have a fire-resist spell; those things don't last forever!"
Nangran grabbed Shon’s upper arm, pulling him a step closer to the fire and down so he could shout in his ear, "Freeze a path."
Shon swallowed. He was so tired, literally drained. He didn't know what to do or how to do it. But the figure in the fire reached out to them only to pull away from a drop of molten rock. Shon fell to his knees, placing his hands on the ground and pleading silently to Hengist. He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to control the power. He tried picturing a path of snow between himself and the tower base, concentrating on it until the mental image overlaid the real world, as he did when imagining phantom fighters during practice.
Ice snaked its way from Shon's fingers towards the burning tower along his mental path, powered by the fear that he wouldn't be fast enough to save the person inside. The water from Ivelm's wand helped carve the way, and Shon grunted physically as he struggled to push mentally. His breathing came heavy and ragged. He could feel the fire melting the edges of the ice as if it were a part of him. Still, he fought back and forced it to continue to form into solid sheets moving closer and closer to the figure still trapped in the tower.
Wherever the ice formed solid, it stayed. The fire drawing back from it until, finally, it reached the doorway. He urged the ice to climb up the doorframe, to hold it in place and keep it from falling, from moving at all.
Shon was seeing double. He struggled to focus on the figure and flinched as they stepped onto the frozen path. The ice hissed and melted under their bare unsteady feet, he could feel it... feel them, their heat, on his ice.
It was a young woman. Or an older girl. She was naked; her clothes burned away by the fire. Her long hair was being blown forward by the heat of the burning tower, obscuring her face. As she moved closer, Shon could make out strange red stripes snaking around her body, standing in stark relief against her pale skin.
Ivelm stepped in front of him then, throwing Nangran's cloak around her shoulders as she crumpled to the ground. Nangran himself knelt beside Shon, resting one massive hand on the Squire's back. "You can stop, lad…" his voice trailed off, and Shon felt an emptiness open in his chest. No one could have survived that, not if they hadn't already made it to the entrance like the girl. As if to punctuate the thought, Shon managed to focus his eyes only to see the tower's entrance wall fold and collapse in on itself, the stones flowing like soft wax.
--- Table of Contents ---
Sorry for the double post today. I wanted to keep Ch 14 & 15 together.
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP