Soultember Prompt 3: First Words

Soultember Prompt 3: First Words

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: The first words your soulmate will ever tell you is tattooed somewhere on your body. Tech and Phee are about to meet for the first time.

  The concepts of soulmates always fascinated Tech. How could the universe know exactly who you would fall in love with or be extremely close to. The fact that someone could be distended to meet, that destiny it's self existed, was quite intriguing.

    He analyzed his words closely. "Hey now, got a name brown eyes?" Clearly their speech patter now informal. He'd have to correct that. The nickname brown eyes was quite strange. All clones had brown eyes. Well most.

    The writing rested on the inner part of his wrist. Tech liked looking at the tattoo. If fate existed then he had to at least live long enough to meet them.

    Phee questioned hers. 'A clone?' she wondered. It wasn't until the war that she knew she'd have to find him out of thousands of thousands of men. At least she'd have a big extended family.

    After the war, Tech knew he'd find them because of the missions they would go on for Cid. Well he didn't know but it just right.

    "Hey now got a name, brown eyes?"

    "Tech, However the phenotypic eye color for all clones is brown."

    Something felt familiar about the words.

    "Brown eyes?" Tech repeated.

    "Tech?"

     Wrecker shook Tech out of excitement. "Tech! You found her!"

     "Yes, I did."

     Phee smiled, "well it's nice to meet you, soulmate."

    "It is nice to meet you as well. Can we get on with the meeting?"

    "Tech, this is a big deal. The meeting can wait just a minute."

    "I do not know Phee. Our relationship should grow as we talk."

    Echo got ready to do damage control. Then Phee spoke, "I think that would be great."

    Hunter smiled softly. He knew this would go well. Maybe not in his head but in his heart.

    "I have questions to ask later on the statistics of your tattoo as well as your thoughts." Tech said l.

    "I can't wait, Tech." Phee smiled. Then meeting continued.

AI-less Whumptober Day 6: "It Should Have Been Me."

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Warning: Character Death

Summary: Runaan goes on a job. A young girl gets caught in the crossfire.

  Ethari did have a good feeling when Runaan left for him next job. He had put Rayla to bed and had made a cup of tea. He sat on a chair in the living room for most of the night. As the sky started to lighten, he started to pace.

    It was almost morning when Runaan returned home. Ethari was on his fourth cup of tea, using the same tea leaves, when the door opened. He was going to greet him, but the elf had already made his way to the room.

    The assassin slammed his bow down onto the ground. He quietly yelled in frustration and started to walk around the room. He jumped when he saw Eathari.

    "Are you okay?" Ethari walked over to him.

    Runaan opened his mouth to speak but couldn't. He instead collapsed onto his lover's arms. He cried into his shoulder.

    All Ethari could do was hold him. He hoped Rayla would wake up late. All any of them needed was to add her into the equation.

    "It should have been me."

    "What?" His voice shook as he spoke.

    "It should have been me. I should be the one we have to bury!"

    "Runaan, please don't talk like that. What happened?"

    He didn't answer. Instead he muttered the words again.

    "Runaan, talk to me." Ethari was trying not to cry. Sure, Runaan had come back to him hurt and unstable, but this was new.

    The assassin pulled back, out of the craftsmen's comforting arms. He looked at his own and apologized. "I forgot about the-" his voice broke.

    "Darling it's just clothes. Please, let me take a look at you. Are you hurt?"

    "It's- not, mine."

    "It's going to be okay. Let's get you cleaned up." Ethari stood and offered a hand out. When Runaan didn't move the craftsmen informed him that he'll be right back.

    He brought back a damp rag. "Here, give me your hands." He took Runaan's shaky hands and gently scrubbed them. The man was still trembling and tears were still falling from his eyes.

    Ethari wanted to take away his pain. He looked into his eyes and softly asked, "what happened love?"

    "There was this, this young girl. You get them Rayla."

    Ethari's heart sunk. That's why Runaan was so distressed.

    "She had" he paused "She came out of nowhere. I didn't, have time. The leader had aimed at me. He missed and" the words became sobs again as Runaan tried to explain. "I should have been me."

    "It's going to be okay." Light had begun to fill the room. It wouldn't be long before Rayla would wake up. "Breathe. Let's go to our room okay?"

    Runaan just grabbed him. He wrapped his arms around him tightly and didn't move. A door creeped open. Ethari listened to the footsteps as he tried to calm his husband. He didn't want Rayla to see Runaan like this, for both of their sakes.

    The footsteps got quieter and the door closed gently.

    Slowly, Runaan recovered. He laid on Ethari's chest, asleep. The man sat against the couch, trying to figure out how he was going to get circulation back in his leg.

    Rayla decided it should be okay to come out of her room. She shut her door silently and walked the hallway without revealing she was there. She came into the living room and looked at the two of them.

    Ethari had his head on the couch, even though it was uncomfortable. His arms were around his lover and Runaan's were around him. "Is everything okay?"

    "It will be."

    "What happened? Is he okay?"

    Ethari paused. "He, just had a rough night."

    "How rough because he was crying pretty hard earlier."

    "Very. He'll be okay. He might be off for a while but it'll be okay."

    "Okay. Are you okay? You look tired."

    "Yeah, I'm okay."

    Rayla seemed satisfied with that answer. She walked into the kitchen and returned with breakfast and a hot tea with just the right amount of sugar for Ethari. He smiled as she entered the room. "Thank you Rayla."

    She just smiled and handed the cup to him. "Can you bring me a damp cloth?" He asked.

    "Yeah" she whispered. After moment she came back to the room and handed it to him. "Here."

    "Thank you." He took bits of Runaan's hair into his hands and gently pressed the cloth against it to get buts of dried blood out of it.

    Rayla sat down near him with her legs crossed, "he'll be okay."

    "I know. Are you okay? This can be a lot to deal with."

    "Yeah I'm okay."

    "Okay."

    The room filled with silence. Eventually Rayla fell asleep and Ethari was alone again. What could he do about this? Nothing he could say or do would ever convince Runaan that it wasn't his fault. So he just had to be there, be a shoulder to lean on, be a chest to sleep on, and be arms that he could feel safe and loved in.

    Ethari took a deep breath then took a sip of his tea. He had a long way to go and the road would not make it easy. But no matter what, he would make sure Runaan made it through the rocks and breyers. Even if it meant holding his hand and walking through it with him.

AI-less Whumptober Day 3: Sensory Deprivation/Isolation

Fandom: The Dragon Prince

Summary: What if Viren hadn't told anyone where Gren was? What if he had just been left to die? (Fun fact at the end)

Warning: Broken bones and self injuries

    Gren hated the dungeon. His arms were tired of being upright and he could swear his hands were ice cold. He began to hate the taste of bread, even though he had liked it a lot before, as it was all he was ever given. Water had never been something he was so relieved to have.

    It was lonely. Very lonely. Gren tried to talk to the Moonshadow elf that had been placed in the dungeon. Even though he only answered once, the commander called it a win.

    Every time Viren came down the stairwell Gren wondered if he would be released. He knew that there was nothing he had done to be placed in the dungeon. His treatment has been unjust and when he was free he would make sure that the dark mage didn't go unpunished for his actions.

    The worst part was the silence. The Moonshadow elf wasn't good company.  He never spoke. Viren was the one who locked him down there. He hardly spoke to him as well.

    Gren heard nothing from the room further in the dungeon. With all the screaming from before the commander assumed that the mage had killed him.

    Now he was alone. It had been a while since Viren had come down the stairs. Gren didn't know if it had been days or just a few hours.

    Eventually he started to talk to himself to fill the void. He had been isolated from everything with no way to escape.

    After a while Gren's optimism couldn't help him. He was hungry and tired and scared; scared of dying alone. He missed the touch of another human being.

    His skin crawled because he hadn't been touched in what felt like an eternity. Gren craved a hug from Amaya or Corvus. It almost physically hurt how much he missed people. He was social and extroverted.

    People were his thing. The commander loved the presence of others. He loved talking to them and loved listening more. Now all he could do was talk and listen to himself.

    The conversations started silly and short. Then they stopped being silly. They turned into talks about life and death. It turned into him finally saying the things he was too scared to say out loud.

    Time was his enemy. Time ticked on as Gren wasted away, praying someone would find him and save him.

    Eventually he came to the conclusion no one was coming. There was nothing he could do to help them find him and no way he could escape. He gave up standing and collapsed to the ground, his arms jerking up. He yelled as pain shot though his wrist and arms from the quick movement.

    Gren began to breathe quickly. His chest quickly rose and fell as he heaved. He tried to pull his arms to his chest but was stopped by the chains. He screamed in frustration and slammed his fist into the wall behind him.

    Then one of his hands slipped out of the cuff. Still panicking he kept pulling in the other one. He looked down to see why his other hand had slipped out.

    Gren had already tried to break them back when he was first wrongfully chained up. But it wasn't the metal that had broken. His hand had.

    The commander's right hand had been broken when he struck the wall. He looked at his other hand and decided he had to break that on two.

    Blood dripped onto the ground from where his hands had cut open. Gren slammed the side of his hand into the wall over and over until he felt his thumb break. He slipped it out and tried to stand.

    It took a minute but Gren made it to the stairs. Then he forced his body to stay upright long enough to get get to the door. His legs gave and he fell onto the top step. He leaned against the door and waited for a moment before starting to yell and hit the door.

    "Help!" He screamed. No awesome. "Please" he whimpered.

    "Is someone there?"

    A voice. "yes! Please help!"

    "I'll be right back! Just hold on!"

    Gren smiled for the first time in a while. He was safe. When the door was opened Gren saw his saviors. A woman he didn't recognize stood before him. Behind her was the familiar face of Corvus. Near the door the interpreter could see Ezren. He sighed knowing he was safe.

Corvus moved to help Gren up. As soon as it was possible Gren grabbed the other and pulled him into a hug. It had been too long. He held him and cried. He didn't care about his hands all he wanted was to be around people. It was nice being warm again.

"Are you okay?" Ezren said as he walked over to him.

"I am now."

Note: Did you know that it actually is possible to dislocate your thumb in a way that can get you out of handcuffs/chains? The lower joint in your thumb is what needs to be dislocated. It's kinda neat.

Codywan Week Day 5: Sith Au

Summary: Obi-wan mysteriously disappears halfway through the Clone War. Cody is left wondering what happened to him and one day gets his answer.

Note: Mando'a used: Hut'uun (coward, the worst insult) and Cyare (beloved/loved). More at the bottom for after the story. Enjoy!

When Count Dooku told Obi-wan everything the Jedi had done to Sifo Dyas he started to think harder about his life. Slowly Dooku clawed his way in Obi-wan's mind and prospective.

They talked around the beginning of the war and now a year and a half had gone by. A lot happens in eighteen months. Including Obi-wan falling in love with his commander. He told him how he felt around six months before the Jedi disappeared.

Cody had a difficult time adjusting to his new general and even longer to realize Obi-wan was gone. The 212th watched his closely. They hadn't known that the two were so close.

Now, a year and eight months into the Clone War a new sith emerged. The Jedi panicked internally as they could barely contain the ones they had.

The sith was around 5'10 with auburn hair that had a single braid in it. He wore long, black robes with red accents. His face was concealed by a black mask. Some said he had bright red eyes while most said they were brown or burnt orange.

One thing was for sure. He was dangerous. Even if he didn't seem to be fond of killing things; which was strange for a sith; he could and would if necessary.

Somewhere in Cody's mind be wondered if it was possible for the sith to be Obi-wan. Even if it didn't make sense and Obi-wan would rather be dead than a sith, in the back of him mind he hoped it was him.

It made the clone sick to think about. Why would he want Obi-wan to be behind that mask? He knew that it was cruel to hope, but he did.

Learning he wasn't the only one was strange. Anakin and Cody had gotten close, both sharing the unimaginable loss of a loved one. Cody even told him about their relationship.

The 212th marched to the battlefield. As the fight raged on, they found themselves facing the new sith.

Obi-wan wasn't ready. He saw Cody's armor through all the chaos and suddenly he regretted everything. Designing to ignore it was his best idea.

Cody took one look at the man and sent a message over the comms, "Sith." That was all he needed to say. He looked back to the field and dreaded the fatality number this battle would have.

As the two got closer, Cody noticed something. The hair, the style, the almost knee high boots; they all looked familiar. His eyes had a look in them the man had long seen a few times. "Obi-wan?" He whispered. No that couldn't make sense. Obi-wan would never turn.

The sith turned to face Cody. The air was gone from the field as they realized something. No longer were they on the same side.

"Obi-wan!" Cody's voice ran through the field. This couldn't be happening. Obi-wan wouldn't do this to him. He wouldn't hurt anyone he didn't have to.

Obi-wan looked away. He never wanted to hurt Cody. He never truly wanted to hurt anyone. Dooku wanted control. He had wormed his way into the Jedi's mind and manipulated him into helping him.

Obi-wan Turned to face Cody again. They approached each other. "You fucking traitor!" The clone yelled, his voice cracking.

"I know." Obi-wan spoke softly.

As Cody approached the man he called off his droids. He allowed the clones to shoot them down, all he wanted to do was talk to his commander.

"Hut'uun! Take off that mask!" He swung to take it off but Obi-wan beat him to it.

"Of course, cyare" He let it rest in his hand.

"Don't you dare call me that!" Cody met Obi-wan's eyes. They weren't cold or hateful. They were just... sad.

Cody's hatred faded. Obi-wan was lost. The darkness had scuffed out the little flicker he had left. He wasn't sure what to do.

The clone couldn't just let Obi-wan drown. He loved him dearly but he couldn't let him leave. Resting a hand on the sith's shoulder, he sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"What?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Obi-wan was silent for a moment. Cody knew what to do. Carefully he switched his gun from kill to stun. Kenobi knew but didn't stop him.

Quickly Cody pulled his gun and shot Obi-wan. With tears in his eyes he turned back to his men. "Finish the droids off. Someone take Kenobi."

One of the men grabbed the man and took him into custody. Cody wasn't sure how he was going to explain any of this. He wasn't sure that he was right or that he should have given Obi-wan a chance. The truth would just have to come out when he was on trial.

@codywanweek

Another note: I wasn't sure how to write it but Obi-wan did fall because of manipulation from Dooku. I think that can be gotten from the story but I wasn't really sure and wanted to explain it lol.

AI-less Whumptober Day 8: Panic Attack

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Summary: After a bad day, Gabriel loses his temper and throws a vase at Adrien. Adrien realizes what happened the next day at school and struggles to stay calm.

Adrien couldn't focus. Even though he always liked history, not even that could keep him distracted. He started at the board but took no notes and didn't listen to the teacher.

    The night before had been stressful and not just because of the akuma attack. It was what came after that made things so much worse.

    The akuma had been simple. With the power to create monsters out of light, the victim had blinded the heroes for a while before they found away around it. The attack had started right before dinner and ended about 1am.

    Even simple things can take a while to fix. Ladybug and Cat Noir said their goodbyes and both headed home.

    When Adrien had arrived home he heard crashing from downstairs. Despite Plagg telling him not to check it out, he walked down the stairs. His footsteps were silent against the ground as he made his way to the ground floor.

    There was another crash. The child made his way to the source of the noise and gently opened the door to his fathers study. Gabriel held a smaller vase he had recently gotten because he had 'knocked over' the old one.

    "Dad?" Adrian asked softly.

    Gabriel sharply turned to look at him. Before Adrien could react there was a vase being hurdled in his direction. He tried to move but ended up being hit in the edge of his shoulder. The glass broke against the wall as the man shouted at him to get out.

    Adrian grabbed his shoulder and the door handle with his other hand. He ran out of the room, trying not to slam the door. He heard Gabriel call for him but he didn't care.

    When he got back to his room he looked at Plagg, "you were right."

    The bell broke Adrian's thought process for a moment. He looked at his non-existent notes and sighed. Placing the notebook back in his bag he looked at the time. It was almost the end of the day. He had one more class.

    As Adrian put his bag in his shoulder he winced. Wrong shoulder. He moved it to his other arm and got ready to leave the class. Nino stopped him, "you okay?"

    "Oh yeah! I'm fine!" Adrien smiled.

    "Okay." Nino sounded unsure.

    Adrien made his way to his next class. He sat down and pulled out his notebook. The room was almost silent. There was nothing to protect him from his mind, nothing to fill the void.

    After the boy had entered the room, he pulled off his shirt to see the damage. He was much calmer than he felt he should have been.

    "What happened?" Plagg asked, going to grab some bandages from Adrian's bathroom.

    "It was my father. He was destroying stuff in his study." He took the bandages out of Plagg's little hands and went to the bathroom to grab a disinfectant.

    "Did he throw something at you or something?" Plagg followed him.

    "Yeah, the new vase he got." He grabbed the spray from the cabinet and opened the cap. He sprayed it on his skin and placed a few bandaids on. He threw away the trash and changed into his pajamas.

    "Are you okay?" Plagg asked.

    "Yeah, just surprised." He laid down and fell asleep.

    Adrian wasn't sure why he had been so calm the night before. It didn't make sense. Why did this have to bother him now? He looked at the paper that had been placed in front of him. Then back at the time.

    Thirty minutes stood between now and when he would be going home. Adrian didn't want to go home. How would his father act? Would he apologize? Would he tell him to be quiet about it? Would he even say anything?

    As the questions ran though his mind his breathing started to speed up. He couldn't think straight. Adrian looked down at his paper and noticed he couldn't see straight.

    Plagg leaned against him, trying to calm him down.

    Adrian felt like he couldn't breathe, the questions still circulating in his mind . Would this happen again? What would have happened if he hadn't gone downstairs, hadn't left the room, hadn't moved?

    Tears fell from his eyes as his fellow students realized something was wrong. His breathing was out of control now. He brought one hand up to his chest. The teacher got on the phone and called the nurse.

    Alya who had been sitting behind him jumped off of her chair and came to his side. "Adrian? Are you okay?"

    The answer felt obvious, still he tried to shake his head yes.

    "Breath" she tried to comfort him by placing a careful hand on his shoulder but instead he flinched, shrinking away from her touch.

    "Did that hurt?" She asked, the concern in her voice growing more and more evident.

    Adrien nodded. The teacher led them to the hallway where Alya reassured him that she could take care of him.

    They stayed in the hallway for a while. Adrian pressed his back to the wall as he shook. He listened to Alya talk to him but couldn't understand her.

    "What's going on Adrian?"

    "I don't, want to go" his breath caught in his throat and he coughed. He felt sick. "home."

    "What happened?"

    "It's fine-" he leaned into her, grabbing her shoulders to stabilize himself. "Really, it's fine."

    "No, it's not fine. Alya rubbed her hand over his back, trying to calm him down. She let him stay there and cry for a while.

    As his breathing began to even out, he moved to look at her. She looked so, scared. "Are you okay?" He asked, voice still shaking and tears still falling.

    "Yeah I'm okay. I'm just worried about you."

    "I'm fine, a few things just piled up, that's all." He wiped the tears off his face. Alya handed him a tissue which he took. The two stood.

    Alya held her arms out for a hug. Adrien quickly expected it and they stayed there until the bell rang. She went into the class and grabbed their bags. She handed him his and walked him to the outside of the school building.

    "Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

    Adrien paused before answering. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you."

    "You sure?"

    "Yeah."

    "Call me if you need anything?"

    "Okay." Adrian walked towards the car. He sighed as he got in. Plagg hung close to him, trying to help keep him grounded. The boy stared out the window, unsure of what to do or what was next. At least he had Plagg.

Whumptober Day 1: "How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up?"

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Crosshair is blinded by an explosion.

Boom. Explosions come with fire and fire comes with bright lights. Bright lights are blinding, expectantly to someone with strengthened eyes.

Suddenly Crosshair couldn't see. The world just went black. He fell to the ground, grabbing his face. He felt around trying to find his gun.

The clone's eyes burned. They were watery and sore, and now he had a headache. It was the first time he really realized just how loud a battle field could be. Having no sight made Crosshair pay more attention to his other senses.

He felt the strangely warm ground under him and how it shook when the bombs went off. He felt the sweat and grim on his skin. The terrible smell of iron and smoke filled his nostrils and feld into his lungs. The battle was loud. Far louder then he had ever noticed before. Yelling, explosions, blaster fire, droids, and the screams of the regs he swore not to care about.

Hunter looked around him. No one was there. There was no one to cover him.

But that didn't matter. Regardless, he rushed over to Crosshair to retrieve him from the field.

"Crosshair! Can you stand." He knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"

"I can't see!" He yelled.

Hunter's blood ran cold as panic flowed through his veins. "It's okay!" He grabbed his and took him behind a nearby rock.

He placed him carefully behind the rock and grabbed his blaster with his right hand.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" The sergeant held up 4 fingers.

"Hunter I can't fucking see! I don't know!"

"Okay. It's alright."

"Why the hell would you ask that?! I told you I can't see!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know what kind of 'can't see'!"

Crosshair was shaking. What was he if not his sight? It was the reason he was created, his one use in the war was to be a soldier; to be a sniper.

"Is it getting any better?"

"No." Crosshair just about whispered.

"It's alright." Hunter looked around. He peaked behind the rock to see how far the droids had advanced. It was more than he would have liked. He shot a few then turned back to Crosshair. Now he just needed to figure out how to get out of there alive.

"What's going on?" Crosshair asked.

"It's okay. We just need to move."

"And where?"

"I'm working on that."

The woods weren't too far away. Maybe he could pull them there? Hunter could hear the air support flying in. He grabbed his brother's hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on."

Hunter started running. Crosshair has no idea where they were going. But even so, he trusted his brother to get him to safely. Then Cross heard the air support. Moving made more sense now. Had they been behind the rock, they likely would have been blown up by there own team.

As the bombs were released Hunter pulled his brother to the ground, covering him. As his ears rang, he pulled him back to his feet and got them into the woods.

Crosshair didn't know what was happening. "Hunter! Hunter what is going on?!"

A few trees deep into the woods, Hunter pulled them to the ground. "It's okay."

"Where are we?"

"The woods. We'll wait here until reinforcements get here. It's okay." He pulled his arm up and as he went to comm his brothers, Wreckers voice came over the device.

"Where are you?" His voice shook with a sense of uncertainty that neither had heard his a while.

"The woods. Cross and I got pushed back."

"We will be there shortly." Tech chimed in.

"Crosshair can't see. I don't know if it's permanent or not."

"Alright. We will get it sorted out."

"Thanks Tech." Hunter turned off the device and looked at Crosshair. He looked unsure, almost like he was scared. Because he was.

Crosshair was terrified. "What happens if it's permanent?"

The question took Hunter off guard. "I'm not sure. But it'll be okay. Is it getting any better?"

"A little."

"See, it'll be okay."

"Yeah, it'll be okay."

Soon the rest of the batch would be there. They would take a half blind sniper back to a medic and keep fighting until the battle was won. And when they returned to see how their brother was, Crosshair had never been so happy to see them