I have to ask, any lesbian stuff yet?

All right, let's get under way.

Last time, Freya went out to a village on Fenris, called Hosanger, to see how her people lived. She ended the trip by finding a nice little hot spring cave, and scaring the high holy gobshite out of some locals who were going to try to walk home through a blizzard.

Minutes later, she was sitting on the bench of the gunship, excitedly recalling the day’s activities to a patiently-listening Bjorn and the other Wolves from that morning. “And the food! I mean, there’s only so much you can do with mammoth, but it was still great!” she eagerly proclaimed.
Bjorn smiled slightly. “I’m glad you had a good time at least, little pup.”
“I did!” Freya’s grin shrank a bit. “I was a little upset at the conditions of the town’s slaves, though. To see such horrible conditions forced on them…”
The ancient Marine narrowed his eyes. “How is it different from the way we employ skjalds?” he asked.
“Well, skjalds live like kings compared to the slaves I saw,” Freya pointed out. “But…well. I know I don’t have any real grounds to complain, either, but it’s just…new.” She sighed. “No slavery on Terra, after all.” She glared up at Bjorn. “You know, that question goes both ways. What do you think the difference is?”
Bjorn crossed his arms over his armored chest. “One is not allowed to be a skjald unless you were already a warrior or their child, lass. And skjalds are well-compensated.” He jerked his head back at the village. “This is how our people live, lass, and have for ten thousand years or more. Neither you nor I shall change it.”
Freya’s return glance was cool, but she understood. “All right.” She settled back in her seat. “One guy nearly figured out who I was. He was the local keeper of records.”
“Oh? Did you tell him?”
“No.” Freya snorted. “He thought I was a Valkyrie. I didn’t dissuade him, I just left.”
“Mmm.” Bjorn thought it over before sighing in irritation. “No harm done, I suppose.”

woo! whh is back!

“I tried to keep from rocking the boat.” Freya tugged her gloves off. “Thanks again, Bjorn, the gloves were perfect. And nobody even looked at my outfit funny.”
“Good, lass.” Bjorn rubbed his eyes in a moment of distraction. “Will you wish to come back?”
“Not to the village, no, but that little hillock over there is of some interest,” Freya said. “Near where you picked me up.”
Bjorn glanced at her, curious. “Why?”
“Just something that caught my eye.” Freya shrugged innocently. Bjorn took in the air, but found nothing wary in her scent.
“Very well, little pup, keep your secrets.” Bjorn glanced down at his wrinkled hands. The scars of ten thousand battles crisscrossed their backs. He clenched one fist in a flash of irritation, but kept it well-hidden. Freya wasn’t the target of his ire. “We should be home soon.”

>>20823891
Wasn't there one implied maybe lesbian couple?
>>20823987
WHH left?

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>>20824028
Actually, we experimented with making Lyra a LUG, but decided that it wasn't really characteristic.

Here's the gang arriving on Prometheus.

I had totally forgotten that you were about to start a new thread today. Unfortunatley I'm sick and my vision is swimming and I only got three hours of sleep last night. Will read when I feel better though, Road Trip is always apprieciated.

>>20824187
Thanks, man, get well soon.

>>20824195
Thanks, I hope you will have a good thread (and I'm already intrigued by what Björn (translates to 'Bear' if anyone didn't know) is thinking about).

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>>20824249
Oh, you'll find out what's on his mind, I wouldn't drop that and not pick it up later.

On another note, if we could keep the thread alive until the 25th, that would be great, because then the thread will have existed during Ahriman's and my 1-year writing anniversaries: he wrote Tales of Victory one year ago yesterday, and I wrote Meeting Vulkan on the 25th of last year.

Alex was browsing his slate when the lights in the room suddenly went off. He looked up to see Freya’s cloaked outline in the door for an instant before she closed the portal. Alex grinned and set the slate down. “Someone had fun,” he said quietly.
“Sure did,” Freya whispered from above him. He was used to that by now, he didn’t jump. Freya was somewhat disappointed. Alex slid warm hands around her back and pulled her down to him, hugging her close.
“Good,” he said softly. She buried her face in the thick shirt he was wearing and just enjoyed the moment, breathing in his scent and listening to his body. She draped the cloak over them both and snuggled down on top of him with a contented sigh.
“How was it?” Alex asked.
She pulled her gloves off and dropped them on the bedside table. “Good. Educational. I really liked it,” she said quietly. She returned to stillness, one ear flush against him chest. “Got weird near the end.”
“Yeah? How?” Alex asked.
“Well…two or three different people mistook me for a Valkyrie or a nature spirit,” Freya chuckled.
Alex frowned. “What’s a Valkyrie?”
Freya paused. “Uh…it’s part of Fenryka mythology. A divine female spirit that comes to comfort the fallen warriors and assists the Guides in taking the fallen to the Fang.”
Alex looked down at the mess of red hair and three thick braids on his chest in the dim light of his slate. “And how did they get that impression?” he asked.
“That’s just what people believe around here,” Freya said.
She sat up on him and slid off to the side, pulling the cloak free. Alex followed her with his eyes, curious. “Did you do something that made them think that?”

>>20824306
I'll make sure to delete my bumps after they have served its purpose.

>>20824082

Characteristic? Her father is named after a gay poet and a poem about buttsex, and the Rock is named after a former Gay Bar in Nottingham. How characteristic do you want it?

>>20824398
No, the scene wasn't characteristic. Lyra could well be bi for all I know.

Freya laughed again, a bit sleepily. “Maybe the third time, but only so the stupid fuck didn’t get his skin frozen off in a blizzard.”
“What was he doing?” Alex asked.
“He and his girl were about to cross an open snowfield. I could HEAR a blizzard coming, so I convinced them to stay put.” Freya slumped off of him with a weary giggle. “I wish I could take you there, Alex, there was so much going on! I want to show it to you!”
Alex smiled and found Freya’s hand in the dark. He gave it a good squeeze and lowered his voice, mock-serious. “Any run-ins with the wildlife?”
Freya shook her head in disappointment. “No. Maybe I can go hunting with Bjorn later.”
Alex glanced over at her. “Uh, politely refuse if he asks me to come along.”
“Pssh. I wouldn’t let some mean old elk shred you,” she joked, squeezing him back. She rested there a moment longer before pulling her boots and wrap off and tossing them in the hamper for cleaning. “All right. Big day tomorrow. Gotta rest up.” She stood and slid the rest of her clothes off for her shower. “Hmm. Where’s Remilia and Venus and Jake?”
Alex, already cleaned and shaved, just got under the sheets. “Venus and Jake have been up on the observation deck. Remilia’s watching holos.”
“Sorry you guys are getting bored,” Freya said apologetically.
“Well, we’re not, really,” Alex hedged. “You won’t be gone every day, will you?”
Freya shook her head. “No. Tomorrow, we’re headed out to the islands, then dinner with the Twelfth in the Great Hall.”
Alex settled down on the bed. “All right. That should be fun, huh?”

>>20824398

Teh writefags hate teh gays. Like Meyer.

>>20824571
>any part of /tg/
>hating lesbians
I don't buy it.

As the sun rose, the teens assembled in the Great Hall for breakfast, long after most of the Wolves had already departed and their own workouts had concluded. The cavernous room was almost completely vacant now, save a few skjalds scattered about the place cleaning up, a pair of Long Fangs discussing something over a map-slate in the farthest corner, and the travelers. Freya took the opportunity to show off some of the more interesting trophies, of which the entire room was absolutely packed.
Twenty minutes later, clad in the lighter versions of their thermo gear, the boys were waiting in the lower hangars of the Fang for their departure. Venus, of course immune to the cold, was just in jeans and a shortsleeve shirt, while the iceworlders adopted simple jumpsuits that could seal at the cuffs and neckline, in case of severe and unexpected downpours.
As they boarded the gunship de jure, Freya paused to accept a sizeable crate of supplies from a skjald that had met them there. When Alex glanced over the box and raised a questioning brow, a secretive Freya replied: ‘in case the weather stays nice.’

Soon enough, they were soaring over the waters that surrounded Asaheim, until the whole world was blue and grey skies and white-capped waves. In under an hour, the gunship was circling a jagged little island, with pads of thick green foamy plants and massive flocks of birds wheeling overhead.
The gunship settled down on a thick spur of rock on the top of the stubby island and wheeled off, as the five teens made their way down to the shore. Freya heaved a massive tarpaulin down to the rocks with the crate in Venus’ arms. When they were just above the waterline, Freya spread the tarp out over the stones and weighed it down on the edges and corners to keep it from tugging free in the wind.
Venus set the crate down and cracked it open. “So…do we get to know what this is, Freya?” she asked, pawing through the plastic bags inside.
Freya grinned happily and pulled forth a narrow metal pole. “Fishing gear! Dad used to take me fishing on this island every week like clockwork when I was here last. We’d sit here and fish the schools that circle the island until sundown, then bake the fish over an open fire and chow down.”
“Cool,” Remilia said. “Are there five rods?” she asked.
“Seven. Thought a few of the guys from the crew might want to join us, but they got called away,” Freya said with a shrug. “Oh well.”
Andrew tugged out a massive mil-spec plastic box from the crate. “Hell of a tacklebox,” he grunted.
Freya giggled. “Open it.”
Alex palmed the latch, but the box didn’t open. He glanced down at the panel. “Uh, I can’t.”
“Oh.” Freya palmed it instead, and it beeped. A moment later, with a hiss of pneumatics, the box swung open.
“Is…Freya, what the hell?” Remilia gaped. Freya was extracting a Kardil-4 pattern autorifle.
“In case the fish fight back!” Freya said happily.

The others exchanged worried looks.
“They never do, not in all the years I came here,” Freya soothed them. “But better to have and not need than need and not have, eh?” she asked, slapping a magazine into place.
Alex stared. “…And for those of us who do not wish to risk life and limb, what’s today’s activity?” he asked bluntly.
Freya’s grin drooped a bit. “You don’t like fishing?”
“Never tried, but…fuck. You’re not making it look safe,” Alex accused.
“Bah, this is a precaution!” she said, setting the rifle down.
“Against what?” Alex demanded.
“Krakenspawn, primarily. Don’t worry, I can smell or see them coming two knots off,” Freya said. “And the Thunderhawk is close.”
“How humans survive on this rock, I’ll never know,” Jake said, fingering his fishing rod. “The hell does this work?”

>>20824306
It will be done

Freya set about instructing the others in how to bait and cast the tools, and soon enough the turbulent waters outside the rocky shore had five little plastic bobs floating in them. The wind died down to a whisper as the sun crawled higher. Alex and Jake found the temperature still quite unbearable, and wisely elected to retain their thermo kit.
“All right, I admit,” Alex said as he cast his line out again. “This is actually pretty fun.”
Jake shielded his eyes against the glare off the water. Even through his sunglasses, the light was overwhelming. “What are those arrow-shaped things in the distance?” he asked.
“Dactyls,” Freya explained. “Giant reptiles that eat fish.”
Jake stared. “Too cool.”
Freya nodded. “Biggest one ever recorded was half again the size of a Stormbird.”
Remilia took a drag from her water bottle. “You sure there are actual fish around here?” she asked, glancing over the water.
“Of course!” Freya said. She tapped her temple behind her eye. “I can see them through the water. We should just be casting closer to shore.”
Jake did so, casting only a few feet away from the rocks, careful not to let the line fray on the sharp volcanic stone. Sure enough, within minutes, the line was jerking. “Uh, what do I do?” he asked, pulling on the rod.
Freya gestured at the handle on the side of the line. “Turn that when the line loosens!” she said.
Jake rose to his feet and started reeling. He nearly pitched back down to the ground as whatever he had hooked pulled back. “Gah! Little help?” he asked, planting his feet and cranking at the line.

Remilia stood too and gripped the rod, helping him balance as he reeled. Something white broke the surface for an instant where Jake’s line had entered the water. Jake gripped the handle tight and reeled in as the line went slack, as the others pulled up their own lures to watch.
After nearly five minutes of panting effort, Remilia and Jake hoisted their prize aloft. Jake gripped the thrashing fish with both gloves and tried to weigh it down, but it twisted until it nearly broke free. Remilia grabbed a knife from her kitbag and plunged it into the fish just behind the skull, ending its writhing. Jake gingerly released it and slumped back. “Thanks…Remilia…” he panted, sweat pouring off of his face.
The blond athlete nodded. “No problem,” she said roughly, wrenching the knife free.
“And to the victors go the spoils,” Freya said, walking over with a peeling knife. “You wanna do it, Remilia?” she asked, offering up the blade.
“Nah, you can do it,” Remilia said, rubbing her hands clean on a towel.
Jake slumped back against the rocks. He stared at his gloved hands. They were visibly shaking from the exertion. “I’ve never gotten into a full-contact wrestling match with my food before,” Jake noted. He peeled his hat off and shook the sweat from his hair. “Whoof. That was hard,” he panted.

>>20824683
>>20824571

It's self-evident. We must counter the anti-gay bias here.

Venus set his water bottle next to him on the stone. He grinned up at her, still a bit shaky. “Thanks, babe.” He opened the cap and downed a few gulps as Freya set about busily dismembering the fish.
“Trick is not to cut too deep, but not so close to the skin that you wreck the knife on the armor scale,” Freya muttered, tongue clenched between her lips. She was trying to peel the skin of the animal back with the little knife she had packed, with little success. “Fuck. Wish I had brought a chainsword,” she said.
Remilia slid her own knife into the fish’s gills and held it there as Freya finally made some headway on the skinning. Alex watched the gruesome display from his own perch on the rocky shore. “Remilia, where did you learn how to skin a fish?” he asked.
Remilia paused her eviscerating to reply. “Last time I went home to Inwit, we went ice-fishing on the In-gui-teh glacial rivers,” she said, blowing a drop of sweat off her nose. “I mean, it was eleven years ago, but you never forget,” she said, going back to it.
Venus crouched next to Jake and rooted through her bags for a firestarter. Jake capped his water and set it down, cracking his knuckles under his gloves. “Oof.” He wiped some fish slime off of his jacket with a tissue from the bag. “So, you ever had fish cooked like this?’ he asked.
“Nope, this will be new,” Venus said, lifting the little plastic device. “Ah hah!” She slid it in her pocket and stood back up. “Hey Alex, help me grab some driftwood and we’ll start a fire, huh?” she asked.
Alex obligingly rose from his seat and started gathering some of the sun-and-ice-bleached drifts of wood around them.

No lesbians? Fuck this shit.

They stacked them in a circle as Jake wobbled back up. Freya and Remilia hacked the rest of the scales off of the fish and started boning it as Venus stuffed some leaves into the middle of the wood. “Jake, can you grab the cooking bits from the crate?” Freya asked over her shoulder.
“Sure,” Jake said. he walked over to the crate and lifted a wide metal pan from the crate, glancing over the sky as he did. Aside from a few more dactyls in the far distance, the weather was as clear as could be, without a cloud in the sky. He looked back to the contents of the crate and grabbed a few metal forks with long, slender handles as he did. “This all of it?” he asked.
Freya glanced over. “Yeah, bring it over to me,” she said. She drew her knife back and sliced a thick slab of white meat off of the fish. Its watery blood sluiced down into the cracks of the rock beneath them as she hauled it free. “All right…put it down there,” she instructed. Jake set the pan down and Freya dropped the piece of fish-meat onto the metal surface with an audible *splat.*
“All right,” she said with relish, glancing over at where Venus was applying a little fire to the wood. The bone-dry wood erupted into a roaring blaze in under a minute, and Venus slid the lighter back into the bag. “Remilia, grab the plates?” Freya asked. She sank into a crouch near the blaze and let the warmth seep into her chilly fingers.
“Yep.” Remilia dug around in the crate and extracted five metal kitbag plates, and a few handfuls of cutlery. “Anyone running low on water?” she asked.

“No, thanks,” Jake answered, hefting his half-full bottle. “How long does fish take to cook?”
“Not too long,” Freya replied, watching as the flames ate away at the wood. “Just gonna let it heat up a bit more.”
Alex walked up to the edge of the rocks and peered out over the waves. The water was calming greatly, compared to how it had been when they arrived. The endless blue stretched out to the horizon, in every direction, unbroken by land or ships.
The fire popped and hissed as Freya put the pan over it on a metal frame. “There you go.” Freya kicked back and lay down a few feet from the little flame, a satisfied look on her face. “Nothing like eating something whose ass you just kicked, huh?”
“It does grow on you,” Remilia said with a grin. “Too cold to do it anywhere but the equator back home, but we did it.”
“Yeah? Any good stories?” Freya asked.
Remilia crouched down by the fire and cupped her hands over each other in her lap. “Not really. I was just an eleven-year-old kid, the one time I remembering being on Inwit. All we really did was hunt Ice Hounds from the back of a Stormraven with a Stalker bolter, and even then I didn’t shoot it.”
She rocked back on her heels and crossed her legs. “Still…that was the best lunch.”

Freya chuckled. “Every time I came home before, we’d go hunting or fishing. The Legion’s too big to get its food from hunting alone, now, of course, because we’d pick the continent dry if we tried, but still.” She wiped fish goo from her arms and rinsed with a towel. “One of the best times I ever had was when I was about…this high off the ground,” she said, holding her hand a few feet high. “I was out on the Koromi ice fields with Dad, and for some reason he was wearing his armor. We were tracking an Elk, which might not sound so scary until you realize that Fenrisian Elk are about eleven feet tall and with antlers made of broken glass and diamond chips, basically,” she quipped.
She stared up at the sky with a happy grin. “Let’s see…we were losing the Elk over the snowdrifts. I just couldn’t keep up. So Dad says ‘you don’t get to complain about this later,’ picks me up, and sits me on his pauldron, then takes off so fast my hair was probably standing out straight behind me.” Freya giggled. “That was awesome.”
“And you did, of course, catch the Elk?” Venus said drily.
“Fucking thing probably felt like it got hit by a tank,” Freya replied with a smile. “Man, I hope we can get out hunting while we’re here.”
“Sounds like fun, but a little too risky for me,” Alex said. “Unless you can guarantee that we’d be safe.”
“Nope, sorry,” Freya said regretfully.
Alex shrugged. “Oh well.” He glanced down at where the chunk of fish was roasting on the pan. “Is it ready?”
“Nope, gotta flip it,” Freya said. Remilia reached for the fork.
“Here, let me just…fuck,” she said. The fork’s tines tore through the fish’s baking flesh. Remilia tried again with similar results. “This may be a problem,” she said, staring at the cooking fish.

>>20824879
Oh, its not about anti-gay, only anti-lesbian. /tg/ don't give a fuck about gays, but if at least two ladies aren't mashing their tits together, there's gonna be trouble. Especially if you're dealing with underaged girls.

Venus coughed. “May I?” she asked.
“If you wanna have a crack at it,” Remilia said, extending the fork to her.
Venus ignored it, and instead simply reached through the flame to grab the pan and jerk it laterally, neatly flipping the fish over. She pulled her hand back – unscathed – and smiled coyly. “Salamander.”
“Right,” Remilia said, shaking her head. “Of course.”
Freya chuckled at Venus’ smug grin. “Nice.” She sat up and tossed a small piece of wood onto the guttering flames. “Your hand okay?”
Venus scoffed and turned her hand around so the others could see it. It was completely unmarked. “Just fine, thanks, that was way below the level where I’d actually feel it.” Jake raised an eyebrow at that remark, and idly wondered exactly how hot the iron had been when she had scorched herself back home.
Alex refilled his water bottle from the little charcoal-filtered pitcher in the crate. “All right…who wants what?” he asked, pulling out a small bag of assorted cookies.
“I’ll just have fish, I think, the one I caught was huge,” Jake said, eyeing the massive chunk of the animal that Freya hadn’t even thrown on the pan yet.
“True ‘nuff.” Alex tossed a cookie to Remilia and to Venus, and selected one for himself. “Think it’s done?”
“Just about,” Freya said, poking it with the fork. “Remilia and Jake, you guys did the work, you get first portions,” she said, grabbing two plates with her free hand.
“Cool.” Jake took a plate as Venus grabbed the scalding pan and Freya pulled a chunk off. He caught it on his plate and set it down to cool a bit as Remilia did the same. “Thanks, Freya.”

>>20825082
I assure you that none of the three of us are homophobic.


Navos, you wanna take over with some Ghosts?

>>20825092
No one called you homophobic, I just said that /tg/ loves itself some lesbos.

>>20824879
>>20824937
>>20825120

Epic thread derailment in 3, 2, 1...

Oh, and I almost forgot, if you wish to drop by and see the work behind the scenes, feel free to do so, in the semi-official 4chan writefag channel on Rizon, #writescribbles

>>20825087
Liked the story so far, nothing really special has happened to comment on. Just some slice of life (which I like).

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>>20825187
Yes, that's what I'm shooting for. No action (yet), no sex, just five friends hanging out teaching the hiver how to fish.

But do recall....
It's Fenris.

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>>20824937
I redress the balance

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>>20825211
I cast lay on hands

My turn! Last thread, Furia finds out how shitty life can be, and tries to find a way out.

---

It was seven o'clock in the evening and Simon had just finished eating with his parents. The Henderson family had dispersed for the night and Simon was about to go to his room when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” he announced, making his way to the entrance as it rang again. He looked at external camera screen for a moment to see who it was. Realizing who was at his door, he quickly opened it. “Furia, I thought you were sick. Are you alright?”
The redhead nodded, her hands in her leather jacket’s pockets. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” Simon continued, looking at her a bit worried. “You look a bit pale.”
Furia chuckled at that. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later.” She paused and smiled at him. “You wanna got to that museum still? Its open for two more hours.”
Simon didn’t answer immediately, sensing something was wrong. Before he could ask her, he heard a noise behind him and turned. His mother stood a few feet away, looking at them both.
“Furia, how nice to see you. Are you feeling better?” she asked.
“Yes Mrs Henderson, just had a long day thats all. I was hoping to steal Simon for a bit.”
Simon’s mother tilted her head to one side, clearly not sure about the idea. “Its a school night you know.”
“I promise I won’t keep him up too late.” Furia smiled even harder, trying to look as friendly as possible. It began to slowly backfire as it looked more like she was trying show her teeth in anger.
Mrs. Henderson nodded, realizing she couldn’t keep her away even if she wanted to. “Ah, alright. Simon could use the time off anyway.”
Simon, seemingly having his choices picked for him, could only shrug as he put on his shoes. The moment he was done, Furia pulled him outside, closing the door behind him.

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Daddy's very angry...

“In a hurry?” he asked. She smiled at him as she walked to her car, saying not a word. “Furia, what’s wrong?” he asked again, “I know somethings on your mind.”
She opened her car door and turned to him. “Are you going to keep talking or are you going to get in the car? I’m gonna leave either way.”
He wanted to say more, but as Furia started her car he realized he should hurry. He ran to the passenger side and got in to the old red vehicle. A second later, Furia lifted off from the small driveway.
The drive was particularly quiet as neither said much. Simon withheld the questions he had, not wanting to anger Furia since she obviously was hiding something from him. Furia didn’t say much as she just wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment with her boyfriend.
They arrived to the exhibition within minutes. The place was still packed even this late into the evening. It seemed the show had been a large success with the way things look. Ancient terran history was becoming a popular subject since the end of the crusade and recent finds deep within the planet had was the keypoint at the show.
It seemed that archeologist had found a deep underground vault holding a fortune of art and books, untouched for several millennia. It was even suggested some of the pieces found went back to M15, making it one of the most important finds in recent history. Instantly famous, lords from all over Terra and some of her uncles funded the project. It was meant to be the beginning of a new Era of discovery, one hopefully without war.

After parking the car, both made their way to the large entrance. Furia put on a cap this time around, making her quite less identifiable to the masses. Although she was rarely recognized, she was going to do her best not be seen. She couldn’t handle the attention at this point, not after everything that had passed today.
The couple got in quickly enough and began their slow walk down the large hall. There were several hundred pieces of art and books on display, still only a third of what had been found. These pieces seemed to be those most well preserved, while others needed work to be properly displayed for the public
The art varied in several forms. Some were blocky and strange in color. Others were great in details, picturing important moments in history that was lost to the current era. Even some Furia found to beautiful, photographs of ancient Terra when it seemed to have large forests and lakes.
In the center of the hallway was a collection of sculptures that were also found. These were in poorer condition, but researchers believed that some of the pieces were put into the vault in such a condition. This evidence pointed to a common theory that humanity was on the brink of destruction, and these pieces were put deep into the earth to protect the culture from the ravages of war that was too come.
“Cool,” muttered Furia and Simon agreed as they walked slowly through the hallway, from one piece to another.
They came to a painting of a half naked man, mid yell. He was covered with blood, seemingly enraged in a war torn battlefield. Simon looked over the nearby information panel on the side of the picture. “Apparently, this was one of the last pieces to be added to the vault before it was closed,” he revealed to Furia.

She nodded beside him, seemingly entranced by the picture. The man’s rage obviously had brought upon him great destruction. Was he yelling at the destruction around him, or just an effect of the power he controlled? She found it strangely fitting with her current situation. She could only wonder what had happened to the man in the painting.
“What is it?” Simon asked beside her. Furia shrugged, unsure herself.
“The painting. I like it. Says a lot you know?”
He smiled at her. “Didn’t think you’d like this kind of thing.”
“Well, this is a week of firsts so far,” she said quietly.
As time went by, the duo looked at more paintings and pictures, sometimes even discussing to each other the possible meanings behind the pieces of art. Some majestically beautifully, others confusing in their presentations. Furia wasn’t sure if she hated it or loved it.
They left over an hour after they had arrived, making their way back to Simon’s place as the clock ticked 9:00 pm.
“Mind if I stick around?” she asked, not yet ready to go home.
Simon nodded slowly, still wanting answers of what had happened. He guessed this was her way of doing so.
He opened the door and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Lets go to my room, okay?”
They made their way up silently, only alerting his parents that they were back. As they got to his room, Simon closed the door and turned on the lights.
“Turn those off,” she ordered. “My eyes hurt.”
“Uh, sure,” he muttered as he turned them back off. Furia threw her jacket unto a nearby chair, making it the only piece of clothing hanging around in his room. His room was neat and tidy, everything well organized compared to hers. She smiled at how different the two of them were. Yet, she was here with him right now.

“So, what do you wanna do?” he asked her, walking up beside the redhead.
Furia smiled as she pushed him onto his bed. Simon stared as she jumped on the bed beside him. Within a second, she was straddling over his waist, grinning at him.
“I got a couple ideas,” she muttered.

---

A mere hour later, Furia fumbled with a cigarette in her mouth. She couldn't light it up because Simon’s parents hated smoke in the house. So instead, she nibbled on the end, trying to feed a craving she couldn’t control.
She sat on Simon’s bed, curled up with her back to the wall. She wore nothing at all as she stared forward, deep in thought. Likewise, Simon lay beside her, reading over a large list of side effects that Furia gave to him. It took him several minutes to read through the list before he put it down and looked at her.
“I-I’m so sorry.”
“Not your fault,” she replied. She laid her forehead on her knees, looking down at herself and sighing. “You can’t blame yourself for everything that happens to me Simon.”
“I know, but I was all for the pills in the first place. If I knew about this...” He paused, unsure on how to continue. “I want the Furia I have now over this.”
She smiled weakly. Slipping under the covers beside him, she rested her head on one of the pillows. “Thanks Simon.” For the first time in over three days, she felt at peace with herself. “Sorry if I pushed you into this,” she whispered.
“What, the relationship or the sex?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “I guess both when I think about it.”
He chuckled at that. “Well, I chose to be with you remember? I wanted this, no matter how bad it gets. And the sex, well.” He looked at her and shrugged. “I wasn’t too bad was I?”

>, no matter how bad it gets.
Wow, that was a risky thing to say.

Furia paused and reflected on what Simon just said. She wondered about how far he would go to stay with her, and wasn’t sure if she should take it as a compliment or a warning of how tough it was now.
Still, she smiled to herself. She had previous boyfriends before and only one had gotten as far as they just did. However, Simon had done little before she had met him, so everything was a new experience for him. She shrugged as she formulated an answer in her head.
“Better than my last boyfriend,” she told him, hoping that would make him a bit more confident.
“That’s good, I guess,” he mumbled. “You seemed to enjoy it.”
She raised herself on the bed and turned to him, balancing herself on her elbows. Raising an eyebrow, she smirked at him. “Getting pretty confident in your abilities, are we?” she asked him.
He shrugged, smiling back at her. “You were the one moaning loudly. You seemed to like it as much as I did.”
“Hah. I was just doing that so you wouldn’t feel bad,” she lied.
“Yeah, well maybe I should ask my parents for a tie breaker to the situation.” Furia shook her head at that as she smiled to herself.
“Oh yeah. ‘The daughter of a primarch just fucked your son. How do you feel about this?’. Best way to get on their side.”
“Well, its not like we can hide it,” Simon muttered beside her.
“What? You are going to tell them?” she asked him, genuinely surprised by the thought.
“Won’t need to. As I said before, we were kinda loud.”
Furia instantly facepalmed, suddenly realizing the truth behind the matter. “Oh shit, they heard us didn’t they? I’m so used to soundproof walls.” Angron had built his house with the idea that sounds shouldn’t be heard outside of certain rooms. This was mainly for the majority of the household that they would not be startled if he ever got angry.

Simon chuckled beside her. “Yeah, maybe we should have done this at your place.”
She bit her lip, not liking the idea. “No. I... don’t want to go home tonight. I just don’t think I could face my dad right now. Not after everything that happened. I rather face your parents about this then go home.”
“Because he lied to you?” Simon asked her. She shook her head in response.
“Not entirely because of that, but it didn’t help. He did it to protect me. He didn’t want to stress me out like I am right now. I just don’t think I could see him tonight and not break down in front of him, blurting out everything I learned. I can’t tell him I know the truth.”
“Well, you can stay here tonight. Just need to tell the parents.” Simon got up and began to get dressed.
“You sure it won’t be a problem?” Furia asked him. She already felt a bit out of place in the Henderson household. It was too clean.
“My parents want me to be happy. If I tell them I want this, they’ll be fine with it. Just got to be sure they don’t freak out, thats all.” Fully dressed, he walked to his door and smiled at her. “I’ll be right back,” he told her and left the room.
Furia sat in the bed, still munching on the cigarette. Sighing, she put it back into its pack and grabbed her phone. She still needed to tell him she wouldn’t be home.
The phone rang for several moments before someone picked up. But the heavy breaths on the other end of the line, she knew it was her father. “Hello?” he said. Her stomach instinctively clenched again, but she willed herself to hold it in for the time being.

>>20826071
Stop making me wait long periods of time between posts damnit! I want to read your story Mr. DarkMage

“Dad, its me.” Furia bit her lip, already having trouble talking to her father.
“Furia? I checked your room and you were gone. I thought you were feeling ill.”
“Yeah, I was for a bit, but then I got better. I wanted to see Simon so drove over. I just called so you wouldn’t worry.”
She heard him grunt on the other end. “I guess you are also calling to tell me you won’t be coming home tonight, huh?”
She grabbed a handful of her hair, holding it tight as if she expected her head to fall off. Realizing that she would have just gone home instead of calling in the first place, he was right. “Yeah, I’ll be staying here for the night,” she replied, steeling her voice.
He chuckled, making assumptions of what that meant. “Well, have fun with Simon. Get better alright?”
“Yeah, sure dad,” she whispered. She said goodbye and shut her vox off. Her stomach pains disappeared soon after and she realized the side effects seemed to be calming down. At least the nausea was for the time being.
This gave her an unfortunate reminder. She shed the bed sheets and got up, grabbing the pills from her jean’s pocket. She popped one into her mouth and swallowed, hating that ever present bitter taste it left.
Simon walked back into the room as she put on some clothing, covering the essential. “You alright?” he asked her and she waved him off.
“Fine. Called my dad. Told him I would be here for the night. How are your parents taking it?”
He shrugged at that. “Didn’t mention anything about noises, but I could see my dad grinning as they watched their shows. Mom asked if you wanted anything for the night.”
“Nah. Made my call, took my pills, ready for bed.” She laid back on Simon’s bed, choosing to lie on her stomach for the time being.

Simon walked over and sat down on the mattress. “You going to keep taking the pills?” he asked her.
“No choice. It’s either that or maybe ending up in jail. And I rather be out here.” Furia withheld the piece of information that it was also to stay with him a bit longer.
“So that’s it? Going to take the pills for the rest of your life?”
Furia hadn’t thought of that at all. When would she stop taking the pills? She guessed never and the condition keep growing on her. She would be Furia physically, but mentally she would no longer exist.
She buried her face into a pillow. “I don’t know Simon. I just don’t know.”
Easing off the question, Simon stood up and walked into his washroom. Within a few minutes, he had prepared himself for sleep and slipped into the sheets with her. For several long moments, both played with the space available, pushing the sheet around till eventually they became a tangled mess of limbs. yet somehow, they had become comfortable within each other's grasp. At this point it didn’t matter, they had been more than personal.
“If it means anything,” Simon whispered to her, “I’ll still love you, even if you do change.”
She tightened her grip around him. “Shut up and go to sleep, Simon.”

---

>>20826200
Now I feel bad, since I got to go for a bit. I got more material to post after I come back in an hour, so hope you keep reading.

File: 1348349949824.jpg-(208 KB, 728x766, Freya_Miranda.jpg)

Freya hunting down witches (simply bullying/molesting Miranda).

>>20826598
Cool! You went with the missing eye instead of the third one, huh?

That's rad. What's the next one? I know DarkMage would like a Furia.

>>20826612
Next would be Furia or Furia / Hana.

>>20826612
>What's the next one?
Lesbians.

>>20826883
>>20825211
>>20824937
>>20823891
I see a recurring theme in this thread.

“Is this the first time you’ve had fish?” Freya asked.
Jake laughed aloud. “Hah! Can’t blame you for asking, but no, in fact, it isn’t. I had a fish when I was over at Vulkan’s for a dinner once. Blew my mind,” he said. He waved cold air over the fish and sliced off a piece. He stared at the chunk of food on his fork and made a brave air. “All right. Moment of truth.”
He bit into the white flesh and chewed, making a great show of consideration. The others exchanged patient glances. “Hmm. I have…no idea what this tastes like,” he said at great length. He bit it again. “Fucking delicious, though,” he added.
“Excellent.” Remilia dropped the rest of the edible fish into the pan and started cooking it. She turned back to her own food and bit off a steaming morsel. “Mmph. Awesome.”
“Good,” Freya said primly, as if the compliment was laid upon her entire planet rather than one hapless fish.

>>20827262
I don't see what you're getting at.

As the rest of the fish cooked and the other three dug in, Jake finished his own food and pulled some water. “If you all don’t mind, I think I’m gonna climb the rocks a bit,” he said. He jerked a thumb over his shoulders at the piles of craggy pumice in the middle of the wave-scoured island.
“Sure,” Freya said, waving him away. “Nothing vertical without a rope, now,” she cautioned.
“Yep.” Jake brushed his hands on the side of his pants where the oils would eventually flake away from the treated fiber. “Anyone else want in?”
“Sure,” Remilia said. She finished her own fish and followed Jake as he slowly wended his way up the rocks. The island was small, only about four hundred feet high at the peak, so they would be able to see the LZ from their route.
Jake cinched his gloves and grabbed a rough piece of wood, using it like a walking stick. “Not quite a basalt pillar, but it’ll do, right?” he asked Remilia as they climbed.
Remilia snorted. “Sure.” She pointed out at the peak of the hill. “Up for a race?” she asked, her voice laden with innocence.
Jake turned to look at her.
She grinned. “No, huh?” She clapped him on the shoulder and started up ahead of him on the rocks. “Here, you got a camera or a vox or anything on you?” she asked.
Jake patted one pocket. “I do.”
“Cool.” Remilia tested a chunk of grey pumice with her hand, then wrenched, pulling it free, and tossed it aside. She gripped the hole in the stone it had left instead, and nodded, finding it sufficient.

Down below, Freya finished off the last of the fish. “All right. Do you guys want to head out now, or fish a bit more?” she asked.
Venus grabbed the pan out of the dying flame and set it aside to cool. “Let’s stay a bit longer,” she said. She glanced up at the open sky and scanned the endless horizon. “I want to appreciate this view.”
“Works for me,” Freya said. She grabbed her rod and walked back down to the edge of the water.
Venus leaned back against the rocks behind her and settled down, watching the waves. “I wish we had views we could see like this back home.”
“Nocturne had oceans,” Alex pointed out.
Venus shook her head. Her black ponytail shook on her shoulder. “No, Terra. They boiled off the oceans before Uncle Rogal built the last wing of the Palace.”
“Ah, yeah.” Alex sat back down beside her. “You nervous about tonight?” he asked.
Venus looked away for a second. “A little.”
“I mean, I’m sure we’ll be safe, but it’s just gonna be…so awkward,” Alex said. He sighed to himself. “I don’t know how to tell Freya.”
Venus winced. “I guarantee she can still hear us at this range.”
Alex slapped his forehead. “Fuck.”
Sure enough, Freya’s shoulders rose a fraction before settling back down. She cast her bait into the water once more and crossed her legs for a long sit.

Venus pulled out her vox and snapped a picture of the skyline. “You know, I avoided the opportunity for us to dine on Prometheus with more than a few Brothers at a time because for the Salamanders, mealtimes involve a recitation of lore from the Creed. I didn’t want to make people awkward. I know for a fact that that isn’t the case with the Wolves. I suspect that there’s not much to be worried about.”
“Right.” Alex rose to his feet and patted himself off. “All right.” He walked down to where Freya was sitting and squatted down behind her.
“Hey.” Freya flicked her rod again, sending the little red plastic bob into the water.
“Hey.” Alex fidgeted for a moment. “Look, I’m sorry, I should have come to you first. Is there anything I should know about tonight?” he awkwardly asked.
Freya shrugged. “A few things. I would have told you before the dinner anyway.” She reeled up a bit of slack line. “First of all, you guys will get called into the Hall after I do. I wouldn’t want you to sit through the prayer.”
“Okay.” Alex crossed his legs too, and uncapped his water bottle. “What else?”
“Not much. I expect that a few of the Brothers at the High Table will be constantly asking questions, about Terra mostly. The Rout doesn’t go to Terra too often.” She looked over at him and grinned faintly. “Remember what I said when you asked me what it would be like to come here, back when Remilia was living with me?”
Alex thought for a moment. “Uh…you said someone might ask me if I wanted to be inducted into the Wolves,” he remembered.
“Heh. Yeah, I suspect so. Maybe a few drinking contest challenges too, and someone’s gonna poke wise at us sharing bed before getting married, you can bet on that,” she chuckled. “But it’ll all be older brother stuff. You’ll be all right.”

>>20827262

Yeah, and we won't stop until you or SE gives us a Lesbian Fapfic!

And also, can you please get rid of that bullshit grimderp WHH writefag? His shit is counter to the entire setting, reads more like a poor mans Gaunts Ghosts, and doesn't even have any of the Daughters in it. And SE writes his characters better than he does.
Just dispose of him, and replace him with someone new and competent whowon't ruin the setting.
Does anyone else agree with me?

>>20828226
>Just dispose of him, and replace him with lesbians
FTFY

>>20828226
We've had some other anons tell us he's the only one who bothers to reference the canon enough.

You can't please everybody.

Alex nodded. “Okay. Thanks.” He picked up his own fishing rod and replaced the bait. “Mind if join you?”
“Just move a few feet away so we don’t cross our lines,” Freya said. Alex scooted a small distance to one side and cast his own line, leaving the two of them in silence.
Far above, Remilia reached the top of the volcanic hillock in the middle of the tiny island. “Hell of a view.” Jake walked up behind her, panting a bit. “Here’s a pic to send to your folks, huh?” she asked.
Jake nodded, out of breath. “Yeah, hang on…” He pawed the camera-vox out of his pocket and pressed a few runes. He snapped a few holos of the horizons, and tilted his vox back to capture the circling dactyls as well. “Those things are so cool.”
“I know. Did you see any on Nocturne? They have creatures called dactyls there, too,” Remilia pointed out.
“Really? Are they related?” Jake asked, handing her the vox.
“No idea. Doubt it.” Remilia snapped a picture of their impromptu campsite down below. “Here, smile!” she said, snapping a holo of Jake too.
Jake blinked away the aftereffects of the flash. “You caught my bad side!” he joked, snatching away the vox. “Here, I’ll take one of you to send home,” he said. Remilia crossed her arms over her chest and grinned at the camera as Jake snapped a holo.
“Cool, thanks.” Remilia spun on her heel, trying to get her bearings. “Which way is the Fang from here?” she asked.
“Should be due north,” Jake said. “Hell if I know where that is.”

>>20828323
>You can't please everybody.
Well there is one way, but you're not gonna like it...

Below, Alex idly cast his line again. A sudden tug on the end brought his attention down to the water. “Hey, I got something!” he said.
Freya leaned over. “Yeah, you do!” She set her own rod down. “Reel it in!”
Alex stood, bracing himself against the rough rocks. “It’s huge, whatever it is,” he grunted, pulling the line back in. He nearly toppled over as the animal on the other end pulled back.
Freya moved over behind him and wrapped her arms around his midsection, anchoring him. Alex reeled up the line, inch by torturous inch. Venus stood and walked over to watch the spectacle. After a few more minutes of reeling, a distant white blob broke the water and splashed back down.
“Looks like you nabbed a bladefish,” Freya grunted. “Good eats.”
“Think we’ll let it go, though?” Alex asked through clenched teeth.
“Probably.” Freya reached around him to grab the handle of the rod over his own hands. “All right, reel it up!”
Alex hauled on the handle, pulling the distant fish up another meter. “Get over here, you scaly little fuck,” he growled.
“The hell are those?” Venus suddenly asked, pointing out over the water.
The tone of her voice grabbed Freya’s attention. She tore her gaze from the battle of Alex versus bladefish to follow Venus’ pointing finger. A distant blob of grey was moving around in the water, nearly a kilometer away.
Freya’s eyes went wide. She grabbed Alex’s rod out of his hands and stepped aside, and he nearly stumbled from the sudden loss of balance. “Freya, what the hell?” Alex asked, panting.
“Quiet!” Freya snarled. She stared into the distant grey blob and listened carefully, drawing deep breaths of the fading wind. “FUCK! Call the gunship, Venus!” she snapped. She reached up to the fishing line on the rod and snapped it with one bite.

“Freya, what’s happening?” Alex demanded. Venus scooped up the recall beacon from the crate and tapped the button.
“Krakenspawn are coming!” Freya said, tossing the rod into the crate and running over to their campsite. “We are packing up and LEAVING!”
Alex paled. “How long do we have?” he asked.
“Maybe ten minutes,” Freya said. She dropped the rods into the crate and rolled up the tarp, chucking it in. “Come on, come on! Venus, go get the others!” she over her shoulder. “Alex, break camp!”
“No arguments here,” Alex muttered. He ran over to the metal pan and rubbed the fish goo out of it with a cloth.
Above, Venus hurdled a few low rocks until she was within sight of the other two, still up snapping pictures on the hilltop. She inflated her lungs and screamed. “GET DOWN HERE!” Her superhuman voice carried up to the other two, startling them both. Remilia stared down at where her cousin was urgently waving.
“Uh…” Jake said. “Sounds like an order.”
Remilia looked over to where Freya and Alex were frantically packing. “…Time for a dust-off,” she muttered. “Jake, how much do you trust me right now?” she asked, turning to face her friend.
Jake stared at her. “Uh…a lot?”
Remilia slid her arms under Jake’s shoulders and pulled backwards until the taller man fell back against them with a startled gasp. She shifted one arm below his knees and threw herself off the hilltop, landing on the ground beside Venus nearly thirty feet below.
“Sorry,” she said tightly, letting Jake back to his feet.
“No, no, it was quite…heroic,” Jake said weakly, easing back up.

“Krakenspawn, inbound fast,” Venus said, concern for their wellbeing overriding her amusement at the look on her lover’s face. “Gunship’s inbound, get down to the camp and help us break it down,” she said, already jogging off.
Jake and Remilia followed her, stopping to help Alex pack up the camp. Venus rolled her sleeves up and brushed the lingering embers aside, extinguishing the flames. Alex and Jake manhandled the few other pieces of equipment they had brought with them into the crate as Remilia and Freya opened the mil-spec case up and extracted the autorifle inside. “Hoped I wouldn’t need this,” Freya muttered, slapping a magazine home and chambering a round.
Remilia brushed her cousin aside and withdrew two small stub pistols, tossing one to Venus. “ETA on the gunship?” she asked.
Freya grabbed the recaller from the ground next to the case. “Eight minutes.”
“And the fish?” Remilia asked, staring at the growing grey blob.
“Kraken. And eight minutes,” Freya said.
“Fantastic.” Remilia straightened up and slid a magazine home, tucking a few more in pockets.
Venus clamped the crate shut and hefted it with Freya, carrying it up to the flat rock they had been using as a landing zone. Remilia dropped the gun case on top of the crate and stood behind it, eyeing the water. “What were you saying about the trip to the village not having any interesting wildlife encounters?” she asked drily.
Freya managed a tight laugh. “Funny.” She sighted down the rifle and leaped up on top of the four foot cubic crate. “All right. Krakenspawn are all mouths and tentacles, but they can cross short stretches of land if they’re trying to. Just aim for center of mass and remember to triple-tap.” She sighed. “I should have asked the gunship to stay, damn it.”

>>20828226
so what if it's slightly grimdark, it's still a good story. also, AA's stories are the only ones that show the emperor or the primarchs doing thing that don't involve the girls.

All right, taking a quick break for now.

What do you all think of the gang's brush with real Fenrisian Tyranids? I mean Kraken?

>>20829850
I didn't get a sense of danger myself. Descriptions were good though.

>>20830727
>I didn't get a sense of danger myself
Really? That's surprising. How could I have made it seem more real without having someone get maimed?

>>20830744
Tentacle rape followed by lesbian sexual healing.

>>20828353
with lesbians

File: 1348370745732.gif-(2.97 MB, 400x307, Zangief enunciates.gif)

>>20831025
Well, I'm not saying its lesbians...
But its lesbians.

>>20830744
could also have been a failure on my part as a reader.

File: 1348370837330.jpg-(80 KB, 500x500, 1332377663238.jpg)

>>20831055
BUENO

>>20830744
not who you're responding to, but it was a bit quick.

The thing with scenes like this is the suspense, and you need to give that time to build. What you have is very good imho, but think it could use a few more paragraphs of build up before the rescue arrives

>>20831337
Hmmm.

All right...I tell you what, I'll rewrite a chunk and put the modified version in the wiki.

Like all the daughters, Furia awoke fully rested in the middle of the night. For the following hours, she stared all around her. At Simon, the ceiling, herself. Her mind began to rethink of everything she knew right now. She put all the details in front of her with one object: finding a way out. She knew she couldn’t give into to the medication, and going to jail was not something she was planning on doing.
Still, it drove her crazy as she couldn’t see a way out. She wasn’t a planner. She couldn’t figure this shit out on the fly. She was a fighter when it came down to it, and thinking wasn’t a particular forte for her. Thankfully, she had a good friend that could help her out and keep a secret.
As sunlight streamed into the room, Furia knew it was time to leave. She somehow managed to slip off the bed without waking Simon, a first for her. Putting her clothes on, she tiptoed her way out the door without making any noise. Once outside, she felt a bit calmer as she walked down to the entrance, hoping not to wake anyone else up.
She thought she had made a clean getaway as she walked towards a door, but a small amount of noise behind her signaled her otherwise. She turned quickly, wondering if it was Simon, but instead found a robed Mrs. Henderson staring at her. The two exchanged a long glance, wondering what was going on in each others heads before Simon’s mother broke the silence.
“Do you want some coffee?” she asked. Furia knew it was a trap. She was going to have to sit down and listen to whatever she had to say. The redhead knew she had to owe her that much. She didn’t want to piss off the parents so quickly.

“Uh, sure.” Mrs. Henderson led her to the kitchen, where she moved towards the many appliances adorning the countertops. Furia sat down at the table, waiting patiently as she smelled the coffee brewing nearby.
“Sleep well?” the older woman asked. Furia paused. Simon’s mom knew full well that they had shared a bed tonight. She wondered if it was a trick question, but figured the best way out of this was to be honest.
“Yeah. It was a bit tight but we managed.”
She chuckled at that. “Reminds me of when I first shared a bed with my husband. I had to figure out how to eventually tell him he snored. I hope Simon hasn’t gotten that from his father.”
Furia smiled at that. “No, not that I noticed.”
“Thats good,” Mrs. Henderson said. Soon, she walked over with two cups of hot coffee, handing one over to Furia. “Milk?”
“No thanks, I like my coffee black.” She took a sip and enjoyed the warm feeling. It was good coffee, better than anything she got at home.
“So, Furia, I wanted to talk to you about Simon.” Furia saw this coming a mile away, putting down the cup as she prepared herself for whatever was coming.
“Now, I don’t mind what you two did last night. I really don’t. I was about the same age as well,” she started. Furia nodded slowly as she listened, happy that this was going better than what she was expecting. “And in the end, all I care about is if Simon is happy. Since the mugging, my husband and I have just been cautious with him, so its nice to see him hanging out with someone like yourself.” She sipped her coffee for a second before continuing. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what are you looking out of this relationship?”

Furia stared at her, suddenly caught off guard by the strange question. The thought never had occurred to her. “I don’t know. To be honest, I never considered it. We were both kind of pushed into this by ourselves.”
“I figured,” Mrs Henderson commented, “I had this idea that you two started dating because of the emotional duress of the mugging, feeling it would be best to cope with someone who experienced what happened.”
Furia never thought of it that way before. The idea suddenly made sense to her. “I guess?” she said, unsure herself in the end.
“And again, I don’t mind. But I want you to promise me something.” Furia nodded slowly, listening to every word carefully. “If it ever gets hard, and you ever feel that you are hurting Simon in the slightest, I want you to leave him alone. Alright?”
If this was Furia from a week ago, she would have broken something from that comment. She never wanted to hurt Simon, and the very idea made her angry. But the medicated teenager didn’t react as harshly as she would. Instead she nodded, understanding her with recent events in her life. “You want me to stop seeing him altogether. I get it.”
“I just don’t ever want to see Simon hurt. Once was enough,” the mother explained. Furia finished her coffee and stood up.
“Thank you for the coffee, Mrs. Henderson. And you shouldn’t worry. If I ever feel I am hurting Simon, I would stop immediately, no matter what.”
Mrs. Henderson sighed, seemingly happy that it was off her chest. “I hope you understand. It’s a mother thing. Your mother probably does the same.”
Furia paused at that, looking away from the elder lady. “I never met my mom. She died when I was young.”
“Oh,” Simon’s mother blurted out, suddenly feeling very awkward about bringing the topic up. “I’m sorry.”

“Its fine. Goodbye Mrs. Henderson.” Without another word, Freya walked to the door and left. The idea of not having a mother rarely affected her, yet every once in awhile it did. Most commonly seeing some of her cousin’s like Venus or Faith with both their parents made her hate them even harder. She wasn’t sure if she disliked their good fortune or her lack of it.
She was back home soon after leaving the Hendersons. She walked in and initially saw no one, which she was glad for. It was likely that he had some sort of legion work to complete, or was too restless to stay at home. Or maybe he was out brutally destroying some poor scientists laboratory.
She paused at her doorway, suddenly wondering if there had been a change in her father since he had started to take the medication. He did seem less likely to explode at times, which she never gave much thought beforehand. It might have reacted slower with someone like him, since most of his rage seemed induced to his “upgrades”. She shuddered for a moment.
She didn’t like the butcher nails. They freaked her out in her youth till he had them removed several years ago. Yet its effects seemed to hold his mind to this day.
She was so much deep in thought that she didn’t notice the giant astartes walk up to the entrance. The astartes was easily seven feet tall. He wore what seemed to be ceremonial astartes armor under a brown robe. The armor was a bright blue and white, and usually worn by astartes in civilian population who disliked parting away from the wearing armor in general.
He paused and looked at the daydreaming teen for a moment. His face was hidden behind an astartes helmet as he stared her down with glowing blue eyes.

“Furia. Furia. Furia,” the booming voice of the space marine repeated in the hallway. Still, the redhead seemed distracted she thought about her father. The marine paused, raised one armored foot and slammed it into the ground. The floor shook so violently for a moment that Furia toppled over from surprise, landing on the floor. She seemed puzzled as she noticed the large astartes staring at her for the first time.
“That got your attention,” the marine mused as he walked over to the downed girl.
“The hell is your problem Kharn,” she blurted out, clearly not pleased with his antics.
“Just trying to get a glimpse of your panties,” he said calmly.
Furia instantly covered her groin, but then noticed she was wearing pants, not a skirt. “Asshole,” she muttered as she stood up. The large warrior chuckled at her as she brushed herself off.
“Just checking to see if you are still with me,” he told her. Raising an eyebrow at him, he elaborated without her asking. “I heard what happened. Sorry it came to this. You know, being on drugs.”
“Yeah, well fuck it. First my dad, now me. Guess being the voice of reason around here gets you a free pass from being medicated huh?”
“Only when I’m around humans. I get really friendly with orks though, thats for sure,” the large warrior joked. Furia grinned at that, usually enjoying shooting the shit with Kharn. She rarely ever saw him since he usually ran things for the legion across the galaxy when her father was at home.
“So what are you doing here Kharn? Aren’t you supposed to be out there in the galaxy, employing some ruthless justice?” Furia asked him.

He shrugged, massive shoulders moving ceramic armor plates easily enough. He stared at her behind his helmets eye slits. “Lord Angron asked for my return while the legion recuperated from battle. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough when I get my new orders.”
Furia smiled softly at him. “Well, hopefully not too soon.”
He grunted at her, shaking his head. “I know you are trying to be nice, but its strange to see you like this. Not the Furia I wanted to come back home to.” He paused for a moment and whispered softly. She was sure he didn’t need to as they were probably the only ones in the house at this hour. “Did you at least kill the bastard?”
Furia seemed a bit shocked by the question, wondering what Kharn wanted to hear from that. She shook her head slowly and Kharn grunted.
“Well, too bad. Guess the justice system will need to take care of him.”
“Do you think,” Furia started, a bit of shakiness to her voice, “that I should have?”
Kharn stared at her through his helmets slits. She couldn’t see them, but she was sure he was scrutinizing her intently. “Afraid, aren’t you?”
Furia didn’t say anything as he kneeled down to her, face to face. The white helmet with red eyes stared at her deeply. She wanted so badly to turn and run away, but she knew that if she did she would never hear the end of being a coward till Kharn died in battle.
“The first kill is always the hardest. I remember it was difficult for me the first time I killed someone, so long ago now.” He paused and chuckled. “But you know what? I don’t even remember how I did it. Don’t remember who it was, how I killed him, how I felt. All I know now is that after the first one, it’s pretty easy afterwards.”

She said nothing for a moment as she stared at him unblinking. She felt slightly nauseous, unsure if it was was the medication or the topic. All she knew is that maybe she was lucky not having done the deed herself yet.
She slowly whispered to him as she didn’t look away from him. “You are one crazy fucker Kharn.” He nodded slowly at her, and she could imagine he was grinning in agreement. Silence followed for several moments as neither felt it was worth continuing the current conversation.
“Is Angron home?” she asked him eventually and he shook his head.
“Nope. Told me to wait here till he came back. Not sure where he went.” All Furia could think of is that her father was making some poor medicae scientist’s day a living hell. “Don’t you have school?”
“Unfortunately. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go change it to something more ‘feminine’.”
“How unfortunate,” Kharn muttered as she walked away.

As she got to her room, she ditched her clothes quickly as she began to feel sick wearing them. She realized that she had puked twice and had sex with the same clothing in the last 24 hours without changing. Even she had limits of her uncleanliness, immediately throwing everything she was wearing into a laundry pile.
A quick shower was needed as she felt physically better minutes later. She got out her school uniform, hating it immensely every time she put it on. It wasn’t hard for anyone to understand that Furia wasn’t the most delicate girl in school. She hated the neat and tidy female uniform she was forced to wear every day.
Still, this only gave her the passion to itemize it in a way she would enjoy, usually going with spiked arm bands or belts with buckles that didn’t follow school regulations. Today was no different as she slipped on a large leather belt with her father’s legion symbol as the buckle, two massive jaws chewing down upon a planet. Instead of the usual armbands she wore, she slipped on fingerless black gloves. Simple, yet to the point.
Kharn was still waiting at the entrance as she made her way down soon after changing. “Have a nice day. Don’t have a rampage,” he told her, and Furia only gave him the finger as she left.
“Fuck you Kharn.”

---

I'm done for the time being. Hope you guys are enjoying the crazy Kharn I wrote in.

All right, my friends, we would appreciate it if you kept this bumped for about eight hours or so, so our New Zealander compatriot can see it when he gets back.

>>20833530
That depends on whether or not lesbians are waiting for us at the end of that 8 hours.

>>20826598
Stop making me jealus over a person that does not exist (Alex) because he has a waifu (Freya) that I cannot has and also doesn't exist!

>>20826329
Sick guy here, I'm awake and have read this far (and some of the inane bs of the lesbian proponents). I think you have captured her dilemma real well, and has written it well enough that her choices seem, no matter what she pick, really shitty. I feel pity for her.

File: 1348387976133.jpg-(46 KB, 266x380, Donte the Doomancuddler.jpg)

>>20834081
>lesbians
>inane
FUCK
YOU

>>20829850
I'm with this guy
>>20831337
The writing is good overall, no complaints about that, but there were no sense of danger.

>>20832144
Mrs Henderson (are they descendants of Old Man?) really is motherly, meddeling and potentially fucking a relationship up. Well written!

>>20832739
>Hope you guys are enjoying the crazy Kharn I wrote in.
I did. I wouldn't mind if she got input from more people to give her a sense of perspective of what kind of woman she wants to be. For instance: more talk with Kharn to give her insight of where she might end up if she is unmedicated, more talk with the doctor and/or Mrs Henderson to nudge her towards medication, and in the end she has to make up her mind on what she wants to do.

And I'm sure you already have something planned out, just throwing in my two thrones.

>>20834413
I don't mind if people joke around in a thread, it's amusing. But so far the writefags have gotten very little response to what they have actually written besides "Hurr, needs more lezbians!"

So yes, it is just inane bullshit you guys have been spouting. Give them some fucking response on the material written at least!

bumping to read more of ahriman's goodness :D

man guys i hav a story i think you could base some shit off of

>with gf
>start gettin hot n heavy
>she calls me a fuck
>i call her a slut
>she takes off her shirt
>i take off my pants
>she goes to blow me n wraps my cock around my dick
>loving it
>cant cum in the hour she dojn this
>feelbadman

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>>20834802

File: 1348391186273.png-(88 KB, 480x480, 1345689098116.png)

>>20834802
>wraps my cock around my dick
U WOT M8

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>>20834802
good god man ,did that not hurt!?

>>20834802
>lasts an hour through foreplay/sex
>feelbadman

You're a virgin, aren't you?

>>20834872
>wraps my cock around my dick
No, I think he's Slaanesh.

File: 1348391920658.jpg-(23 KB, 290x320, pain.jpg)

>>20834872
not>>20834802
but
im not a virgin by any means
but i can't last very long when
my penis is in a girl's warm wet mouth
just sayin...

>>20834901
>>20834830
What, you've never done chickenplay before? Buncha prudes.

>>20834802
>wraps my cock around my dick

Okay, I laughed.

>>20834917
Cockplay, you mean?

>>20834921
Roosterplay would have also been apt.

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>>20834802

>>20834935
Humans don't have a baculum.

>>20835627
You -can- break it though.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-you-really-break-your

>>20835653
>>20835653
>>20835653
"Usually this occurs during regular vaginal sex with the woman on top, but it can happen in the missionary position or during sexual acrobatics. We had this patient who suffered penile fracture after running across the room and trying to penetrate his wife with a flying leap."

A true Assault Marine.

>>20835653
That's not even a break though.

That's a deep tissue bruise. Painful as shit, and you'll sure as shit wish you broke it. I only say this because I've had a few deep bruises, and the doc was right. With the therapy afterwards, I wish I did break the bone instead of had the tissue injured.

is the "something bad happens while on the hosts planet" a recurring theme or am i just jumping to conclusions.

also for all the lesbian lovers out there, come up with a fleshed out proposal for the plot and character development and maybe a writefag could do it for you

>>20836300
>is the "something bad happens while on the hosts planet" a recurring theme or am i just jumping to conclusions.
It is to reinforce the fact that they are on a death world, I think, and bad shit happens on a daily basis. Though Venus and company was subjected to criminal elements and not natural ones.

I just woke up and read the rest of this thread. Amazing.

>>20836300
What he said.

>>20834653
I think I'll do this for a bit, but the plots wont be as standard as you guys might think.

>>20836431
Precisely. Nocturne was a world sculpted out of hellish clay, a world that was made safe for its residents in SPITE of its climate...and they were in danger because the people had grown restive. Fenris is a world where the people are in danger because of its climate and critters, but the residents would worship them if they knew who they are.

But fear not. We're working towards a conclusion that I hope will satisfy.

All right, I'll post the modified version.

The group fell silent as the grey mass of waves and foam grew closer. “Can you tell how many there are?” Jake asked, nervously wringing his hands over his waist.
“Forty? Fifty?” Freya said, staring into the water. “Too many.”
Alex grimaced, anger at his predicament spilling into his voice. “Got any more guns?”
“I wish, baby,” Freya said softly. Her fingers tightened on the gun as her predatory instinct flared up. Venus arranged a few magazines of ammunition for her pistol on the crate-top beside her and balanced the weapon on her palm, feeling it out.
“Wish I’d brought the hardware that came with the formal uniform,” she said under her breath.
Remilia chuckled through her tension. “But we already had cooked fish today,” she reminded her.
“Mmm, pan-seared sea monster,” Venus said.
A distant ripple presaged the front of the swarm of monsters. A few creatures roamed out in front, their passing churning the blue water white.
Jake shivered. The prospect of hive living was suddenly much less unappealing.

Alex crouched beside him, slowly flexing and relaxing his hands. “How big are these things, Freya?” he asked, his throat tightening.
“Depends on age. Five to twenty meters before they molt…” she said, flicking the scope open and sighting it. “Maybe a hundred meters when they’re older.”
Jake’s heartrate spiked. “…And you can kill them with a rifle?” he asked, trying not to sound distracting.
Freya bared her teeth. “I can. You just need to know where to shoot.”
“And where’s that?” Venus asked.
“Seven or so centimeters above and between the forwardmost eyes,” Freya said. “Soft spot in the cartilage.” She breathed in deep, scenting the monsters. “I’d say…forty five or so.” She gripped the rifle until her knuckles turned white. “Guys…I’m sorry. I swear this has never happened while I was here before,” she said, somewhat bitterly. “Just my fucking luck.”
None of the others felt the need to say anything. Remilia sat down with her side to the crate, looking into the water. The small fish they had been seeing, and the larger bladefish that had been eating them, were gone. They had fled the coming kraken, and Remilia couldn’t blame them.
Jake scanned the shy with hopeful eyes, wondering where the gunship was. “What I wouldn’t give for a teleporter.”
Venus met his eyes through her glasses. “Don’t give up, Jake,” she said softly. “We can hold them until the gunship gets here.”
His face was a mask of nerves and fear. “Not how I pictured this going,” he said tightly. “Tell me you can shoot that thing.”
Venus slowly raised one eyebrow. “I can,” she said flatly.

“Of course,” Jake said. “Sorry. I’m just scared,” he admitted.
Venus squeezed his shoulder. “So am I.”
“You don’t look it,” Jake said.
She stared out over the water. “I’m just good at hiding it.”
Remilia suddenly jerked her head up and stared at the horizon.
The rumble of engines in the air alerted them to their approaching salvation. The gunship appeared, flying over the wavetops from the opposite direction as the krakenspawn. Freya lifted the recall beacon and pressed the button on the end, and the small flare in the other side started spewing red smoke to mark their location. She tossed the beacon behind them and sighted down her rifle again, hoping that the pilot would realize the gravity of the situation.
It seemed he did. The engine sound suddenly grew much louder as the pilot realized what was happening and opened the throttle wide. He shot forward, racing towards them.

The first krakenspawn broke the water, nearly a hundred meters away from the island and growing closer, though still nowhere near enough to climb the rocks. The creature looked like something out of nightmare, with thick purple lines of flesh between plates of chitinous armor and tentacles that ended in wicked barbs.
Both boys swallowed. Freya clenched her teeth.
The gunship didn’t even slow down as it approached. Instead it shot overhead, slowing to unsling its assault cannon. The cyclic weapon opened up, firing a sheet of mass-reactive shells into the swarm of animals. The cohesive swarm disintegrated as the anti-tank weapon ripped holes in the first cluster of krakenspawn.
Venus allowed herself a sigh of relief, but mere moments later one of the spawn erupted from the water and landed on the shore, having somehow eluded the gunship’s cannon. The monstrosity flailed about a little before sighting the cluster of teenaged vacationers. Freya let it get that far before blowing three neat little holes in its forehead.
The report of the gun made the unaugmented party members flinch. The creature slumped over and died, sloughing back into the water with a splash.
Remilia snatched up the recaller, ignoring the smoke, and pressed the button again. The gunship slowly flew backwards, still firing. It slowly settled down on the edge of the clearing and the ramp swung down. Two uniformed skjalds leaped for the, sweeping the LZ for clearance. Before anyone could say a word, Freya stomped up the ramp. Venus and Remilia grabbed the crate and lugged it aboard as Alex and Jake scrambled up behind them. Freya ripped the cabin hatch open and stormed into the cabin, watching the krakenspawn flail and try to climb the island.

As the two skjalds climbed aboard, the ramp lifted and the gunship took off, heading back to the Fang. The pilot turned to look at Freya. “Are you all right, Princess?”
“When I recall your gunship and you see that we’re on the verge of being attacked, I never want to see you pausing for target practice before extracting us like I’ve ordered you to, is that clear?” Freya snarled.
The skjald recoiled. “Princess?”
“One of the spawn made the shore while you were off merrily blowing holes in its kin,” Freya said darkly. “I had to kill it myself. What would have happened if I hadn’t had a rifle with me, pray tell?”
“My apologies, Princess, but we were outnumbered fifty to one,” the pilot said, trying to keep the defensiveness out of his tone.
“Sure.” Freya closed the hatch and dropped the rifle into the case. Venus and Remilia passed her their pistols and she dropped them into the case as well. It closed and sealed with a *click.* The two uniformed skjalds set their weapons down on the benches beside the hatch as Jake sank into his seat, head in his hands.
“Ugh.”
Venus sat beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be all right,” she murmured.
“Yeah, we’re all okay,” Jake said into his hands. “Just…fuck.”
“Never had someone fire a gun that close, huh?” Venus asked.

“Is it always that…loud?” Jake asked.
“Yeah.” Venus squeezed his shoulder, looking for some sign that he was recovering. “Do your ears hurt?”
“Not now…just…” Jake trailed off.
Alex sat down on his other side with a heavy sigh. Venus leaned on Jake’s shoulder and slid an arm under his own arm, gently lacing her fingers with his. “You’ll be fine.” Alex closed his eyes and ground his hands into his eyes, feeling the adrenaline bleeding away and leaving his arms shaking.
Remilia sat down beside the skjalds and stared at the others, going through the motions of making their stresses go away. She clenched her hands and willed her own shakes away. Without any real mystery as to why, she found herself wondering where Kines was, and how he was doing. Remilia closed her eyes and tried to picture the look on his face when she told him what she had been up to, and smiled at the image.

Freya plopped down next to Alex. “Well, guys, I’m really sorry about this,” she sighed. “I knew there was a tiny possibility of this happening, but this was just…” she trailed off.
Remilia shook her head, eyes still closed. “Nobody’s mad, Freya. It happens. I guess?”
“Yeah. Welcome to Fenris,” Freya said, somewhat sullen.
“Fenrisian fishermen must be the manliest sons of bitches around,” Jake suddenly said.
The skjalds and Freya chuckled. “It’s true,” Freya confessed. Alex managed a grin.
“Estimated Time of Arrival is twenty-seven minutes, your Highness,” the gunner called from the cabin over the PA.
Freya stood, cricking her shoulder where the report of the autorifle had impacted it. With her strength, the recoil hadn’t injured her, but the weapon was made for Blood Claws, who were usually half a meter taller than her. “Guys, I feel like I have something to make up for here,” she admitted.
“Quit it.” Remilia looked up at her and frowned. “It’s Fenris. Fish happens.”
“Stick that on a travel brochure,” Venus said.
Freya sat back down, smiling sheepishly. “I’m glad you guys are so cool about this.”
“I don’t know, Freya,” Jake said quietly, clenching his hands over each other. “That thing’s gonna be in my nightmares for a while.” He looked up at her. “Can we not go fishing again for a while?”
Freya wilted a bit. “Of course.”

All right, there's the revised version.

Bjorn the Eldest, presiding Wolf Lord, slowly paced his room in the Fang, reading a message on his dataslate. “A week and a half before the ship arrives, and then…hmm,” he said to himself. A loud knock on the door announced a guest. He switched off the slate and halted his pacing. “Come.”
Freya walked in, closing the door behind her. Bjorn spread his arms. “Little pup. How did your fishing expedition go?”
“Horrible. We were attacked by krakenspawn,” Freya said. She was very careful not to sound like she was accusing Bjorn. “The bastards actually made it ashore before the gunship got us out of there.”
“Oh? So much for that trip then,” Bjorn said. “Are you all uninjured?”
“Yeah, though Jake and Alex are a little shook up.” She sighed. “I don’t blame them, they’re not fighters. The gunship’s pilot and gunner paused their pickup to fire on the krakenspawn, though, that pissed me the hell off.”
“What did they do?” Bjorn asked, his brow creasing.
Freya snorted impatiently. “We signaled for a pickup. They flew over our heads and fired on the krakenspawn, and Remilia had to hit the recaller again before they came to actually pick us up. The spawn had actually managed to get ashore by the time they stopped jacking off and let the ramp down.”
“Disappointing,” Bjorn rumbled. “I’ll have a word with them.”
“Thanks.” Freya sank into a massive chair and ran her hands over her face. “I will never complain about not seeing enough wildlife when I go to town, I promise,” she muttered.
Bjorn nodded once. “Perhaps later you could return?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Freya said. The Juvjk dialect lent her words a melancholy tone. “I feel like shit.”

Bjorn sat down as well. “Why?”
“I jeopardized their lives, Eldest. I shouldn’t have done that,” Freya confessed. “It’s easy for me to forget sometimes that the boys especially can’t really keep up with me sometimes. I didn’t even bring guns for them.”
“I don’t follow,” Bjorn said. “Did they slow you down somehow?”
“No!” Freya stared at the floor. “Look, I just feel awful for putting them in harm’s way.”
Bjorn slowly stood again, looking down at the redheaded girl with an air of remorse. “Are you telling me that you regret taking them on this trip to go fish…or to Fenris? I can not tell, from the sense of you,” he said quietly.
Freya closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Yeah. I guess it did sound that way, didn’t it.” She huffed. “I don’t regret bringing them here. I truly don’t. But the trip today was supposed to be a chance for them to experience the parts of Fenrisian life that I enjoyed so much with Dad last time I was here. Instead we nearly get eaten.”
“Little pup, I don’t know how to tell you this, but most of the struggles of life on Fenris involve nearly dying in some way,” Bjorn said, sternness hardening his words.
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Freya stood. “So what do you recommend? We leave early? I just confine them to the Fang?”
“‘Confine’ sounds like a punishment.” Bjorn opened one hand and extended it to her. “Let them dine with the Brothers tonight. If we can not make them feel at home, then speak to me again. Until then, however…I think it too early to make a decision.”
“You’re right, Bjorn.” Freya stood. “All right. Thanks. I needed someone to talk to.” She yawned as the day’s exertions took their toll. “Would you mind terribly if I showed them the skjalds’ quarters? The rec rooms, and such?”

“I care not. Ask before you go.” Bjorn cocked his head. “You know that the skjalds find precious little free time here.”
“I do, but I feel that it’s as much a part of the lives of the residents of the Fang as anything,” Freya explained.
“Then of course you may, little pup.” Bjorn nodded once. “Now…if you would, I was reading an important message from Terra.”
“Sure.” Freya turned to go. “Nothing bad, I hope?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Quite the opposite; reinforcements from Terra are on the way to here and some of our field deployments,” Bjorn said. “I will speak to you tonight.”

Darkmage if your about any ETA on ghosts of rage goin up on 1d4chan?

Darkmage had to step out for several hours, so I guess I'll keep going. Any feedback?

Above, Venus sat down next to Jake on the bed in their suite. Jake was feeling a little better, but the afternoon’s activities were clearly staying with him. “Do you want to take a nap before dinner?” she asked.
Jake shook his head. “No thanks.” He straightened up, staring into space. “You know, even living in the hives I never saw someone firing a gun up close?”
“It’s scary the first few times,” Venus said.
“I wasn’t home when it happened to my neighbor. Did I ever tell you about that?” Jake asked.
“You started to, on Nocturne.”
Jake nodded. “Right. I was at work when someone walked up to my neighbor when he was opening his door to go to work, and just unloaded a shotgun into him at point blank.”
Venus shuddered. “Horrible.”
“Yeah. The killer just stepped over him, took my neighbor’s stereo, walked back out and drove off.” Jake sighed. “He got caught half a klick away, trying to fence it. An Enforcer Widget caught the sound of the shot.”
Venus blinked. “A what?”
“A Widget. Disguised camera and audio pickup built into the traffic lights. I mentioned them at the dinner in Skarokk,” Jake reminded her.
“Oh, yeah.” Venus looked over at him. Jake was still staring at the wall. Venus sighed. “This has been a wild trip, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Regret it?”
“Hell no.”
“Good.” Venus lay down on the bed and held out an inviting hand to him, brushing his arm. He looked back at her and cracked a tiny grin. Shucking his jacket, he slid down and rested his head on her proffered arm.
“Thanks, baby,” he said quietly, closing his eyes. “…Maybe I will take a nap.”
Venus scooted closer to him and entwined her legs with his. Through his thick thermo clothes, she was nothing more than a comforting warmth. “Okay,” she said softly. “Sleep tight.”

>>20838538
Not really tbh i'm enjoying what your doing but other than that what else can i say?

you are trying to drive the girls "more than human" part a bit too much imo though so watch out for that

>>20838625
Too much so? How do you mean?

_________________


Remilia leaned on the frame of Alex and Freya’s door as Freya returned from her status report to Bjorn. “How was it?” she asked as he cousin rounded the corner.
“I’m starting to regret taking you guys outdoors at all,” Freya grumbled.
“Come on, don’t be like that,” Remilia said crossly.
Freya puffed an out an aggravated breath. “Fine. I can’t obsess over it.” She looked at Venus’ and Jake’s closed door. “Is Jake okay?” she asked.
“He’ll be fine, he was just a little shaken up.” Remilia nodded solemnly. “He’s gonna nap, I think.”
“All right.” Alex emerged from the room, tousled a bit from removing his thermo kit and slipping on a more normal pair of pants and a tee. “How about you, baby?” Freya inquired.
“I’m just fine,” Alex said with a shrug. “What did Lord Bjorn say?”
Freya glanced down at the floor for a moment. “Not much. He said we should dine with him tonight before I decide what to do next.”
“Smart.” Remilia rose from her slouch. “All right. We’ve got four hours. What do you guys want to do?” she asked.
“I think I just wanna read in bed for a while, actually,” Alex said, stifling a yawn.
“Me too,” Freya said, walking past him into the room.
Remilia paused. “Uh, guys, do you mind if I read with you? I just don’t really want to be by myself right now, you know?”
Freya’s senses detected a slight urgency to her request. “’Course not,” she said.
Her cousin nodded. “Great, thanks,” she said, disappearing into her room.

>>20838685
the part where freya was talking to alex about enhanced senses - its there but its not showing off and your not mentioning it always.

your fishing trip on the other hand has venus being heat proof, remilia being immune to fall damage and freya being expert marksman - its too many too soon after each other and too obvious.

though to reiterate that is just my impression

>>20838800

I don't know, those are all pretty reasonable things to happen, particularly in this environment. Freya's already been established as probably one of the most combative of the daughters, so her being a decent shot is pretty feasible. Venus has had abundant screen time emphasising her heat thing. The fall is a bit odd, but frankly they're daughters, we've always known they were physically superior.

>>20838850
Hmm.

I understand what you two are saying...Really, I only put that stuff in there because people were saying the Fenris bits felt too safe. I thought maybe I should put some stuff in there to remind people that it's a very dangerous planet.

Seems some people think I went overboard. All right, I'll take it under advisement.

Ahriman and Darkmage should be back soon, also.

A few hours later, Jake awoke as a bead of sweat worked its way past his eye. He lifted his head to see Venus fast asleep across from him. He gingerly rose from where he had lain down on her arm and dried his forehead. He always woke up hot when he fell asleep that close to her.
He pulled his thermo kit free and started dressing for the evening, glancing over the clock as he did. Early. Plenty of time. Good. He grabbed his slate as he finished and opened his messages.
Venus stirred on the bed as he did. “Mmmph. Hey,” she mumbled, propping herself up.
“I wake you up?” Jake asked idly, paging through to his inbox.
“No. Anything new?”
Jake laughed aloud as a message from his parents came through. “Check this out. It’s a photo from home! My cousin Alice got engaged!” he said, passing Venus the slate.
“Really? Cool!” Venus said, taking the slate. Sure enough, a picture of a radiant young woman standing hand in hand with a dark-haired man a few years her senior appeared on the screen. “Have I ever met them?”
“No, but you will when we have the going-away party when we get home,” Jake said. “That’s Alice and her fiancé Hajime.”
“Cute couple,” Venus said, passing it back.
“Yeah. Alice is my mother’s closest, by a lot. She has an even younger brother who’s a few years older than me,” Jake explained.
“I know basically nothing about your family on your mother’s side,” Venus noted.
“You’ll meet them when you go home with me after the road trip. That weepy guy there is my grandfather Eric, he’s a Fists Battle Group vet,” Jake said, opening a new picture.

>>20838882

I think it worked. We also got a bit more dissociation between the daughters and the regular humans, although I think that might have been handled a bit differently. There's a lot of screen time on the psych effects, but the actual events blew past pretty quickly.

>>20838929
Well, that part I left in because it was supposed to feel that way. The time between the gunship arriving and their lifting off was less than forty seconds.


Thanks for taking the time to consider the work, gentlemen, it's a gesture we universally appreciate.

“Huh.” Venus looked it over. “Where’s your mother’s mother?” she asked.
“Losing a battle to a viral infection in the hospital, last I heard,” Jake said glumly.
Venus winced. “Sorry.”
“Eh.” Jake turned off the slate. “All right. Well. I feel a lot better,” he said, standing up. “Wanna go hang with the others before dinner?”
“Sure,” Venus said.
Jake turned to put nicer shoes on. “So…you know, I don’t think I know Misja’s family at all either.”
“Well, Mom’s the youngest of like…eight siblings, half of whom aren’t even living on Terra,” Venus explained as she slid her bra off for something less sporty. “You’ll meet them all eventually, they make a point of coming home every so often.”
Jake grinned to himself. “We’ve gotta be lucky that way.”
“Huh?”
“How many of your cousins have such close kin on their mothers’ sides?” Jake asked. “And me too?”
“It’s a thing to treasure,” Venus agreed. “I’ve never even met Lady Guilliman, or Lady Angron, for that matter. I’m not sure even Furia ever met her mother.”
“Really?” Jake asked. “I remember you telling me Lord Guilliman married first.”
“Oh, he did, but he married a woman from Macragge, not Terra, and she’s Lady Regent of Ultramar, so she’s hella busy.” Venus finished changing and grabbed her slate. Jake did the same and opened the door. “All right. Let’s go track down the others.”

As the hour approached, Freya glanced over the clock by her side and switched her slate off. “All right, guys, any questions before I head down there?” she asked.
The others looked up at her from their places in her room. “Yeah, what do we have to say?” Alex asked.
“Not a word, unless you want to. If you’re asked, just smile and shake your head.” Freya dropped her slate and pulled her cloak off the chair back. “Won’t need the dress, just the cloak will do…”
“Any rules of etiquette we need to know?” Jake asked.
Freya paused to look at him funny. “Have you ever seen Dad eat?”
“Point taken,” Jake said.
Freya shrugged the cloak on. “Just remember that the rules of the Hall are absolutely sacrosanct to us. There are members of the Rout that would rather go punch an Ice Fiend than deliberately insult an invited guest. You guys will be fine.”
Remilia set her slate aside. “Should we come down with you?”
“No, just wait ten minutes and follow me.” Freya pulled the gloves and hood on and left the rest of the outfit behind. “All right, off I go.” She leaned over to give Alex a kiss before heading out the door.

Turning to go down the hallway, she noticed Mustafa and Bletcher in their day uniforms, directing a trio of servitors to lift their boxes. She spoke up as she approached. “Heading out, Generals?” she asked.
“We are, your Highness,” Bletcher answered. “The wars of the Emperor call.”
“Very well. Good hunting, gentlemen,” she said as she walked past.
“Thanks for having us, your Highness,” Mustafa said after her.
Arriving at the lifts, Freya descended into the depths of the fortress, letting a tremor of excitement work its way through her belly. The afternoon’s terrors would be made up for, she was sure.
As she arrived outside the massive wooden doors, she paused and settled her nerves. The scents and sounds from the Hall were overwhelming, and she felt her blood pump a bit faster as the senses of belonging and desire alike filled her. “Here we go…” she said softly.
An exiting skjald spotted her and held the door for her as she approached. “Princess, the Brothers await you at the head table,” he said respectfully as she passed.
She nodded her thanks and entered. As the door swung shut behind her, she hesitated, taking it in.
Not a thing had changed since that morning, of course, save the room’s occupants. Where before there had been almost no men in the colossal room, now it was a sea of light blue armor and robes. The hundreds upon hundreds of massive tables were ringed with tens of thousands of Wolf Brothers, and she knew from experience that the room wasn’t even large enough to seat a tenth of the Legion.

A few heads turned as her scent mingled with those of the room’s other occupants. She had emerged halfway down one of the massive room’s sides, with the Head Table at the left extreme and a raised – currently open – podium large enough for ten to stand upon it at the other. The nearest table of brothers rose and called their greetings as they recognized her. She waved happily as she walked down to the Head Table, where Bjorn was already awaiting her, along with Konnar and a few others. Every table she passed bade her pause and tell her tales, and she refused with her eyes leaking tears of joy at every step. The sense of belonging that had been building in her since she had arrived in-system was pushing aside all else, until it broke free as she passed a table full of her father’s warriors.
She hesitated as she passed, allowing them to approach, some with nothing more than sly or happy grins, others asking questions, others yet allowing their appearances and senses do the talking. A she sniffled back more tears as they did, shaking many proffered hands. “Thanks, guys,” she said softly.
Freya left them behind and reached the Head Table, taking a seat at the left hand of the empty throne where her father would have sat. The seat at the right was also vacant, since it would have been filled by her mother. Bjorn, sitting to her own left, rested a hand on her back in silent support, a tiny smile breaking his scarred visage. “Feel good to be home, lass?” he asked under his breath.
Freya bit back a happy sob. “You have no idea,” she said through her joy.
The room gradually fell silent as Konnar rose. “Brothers!” he called. “Hear me.”

The Wolf Brothers halted their joking and talking as Konnar spoke. “Heed now. Even as our pack roams the stars and brings the greenskin low, we are made stronger once more, as our Sister returns. Make her feel welcome!” he proclaimed.
An ululating and throaty cry of welcome tore from every corner as the assembled Space Marines welcomed their little sister home once more. Freya looked down to hide her tears, thought better of it, and rose to her feet, allowing the full sound to reach her. She beamed from ear to ear at the tables of her pack calling their greeting to her.
As she sat back down, Konnar waved for silence. “As I am sure you all know, we are called upon once more by the All Father on Terra to bring his enemies to their knees. And so we shall! Even know, nine of our thirteen Great Companies ply the stars and root the enemy out from their holds. When they return, with new tales to tell and scars to show, as the Imperium grows ever more secure, let us now hold them in our memories, for not all shall return to us.” Konnar allowed a glint of cerulean light to play though his eyes as he closed them, bowing his head in silent memory of those who had left, and those who would not return.
The room fell silent as the men did as they were bade. Freya dipped her head over the bare table as she joined her brothers in prayer.

After a moment, Konnar spoke again. “Dignitaries from Terra, Nocturne, Inwit, a Rogue Trader Fleet, the Imperial Army, and more besides have visited us over the last few days, as guests or allies or both. Some have gone, some will join us for a supper tonight, and either way remember them well. Show them our hospitality, as we are all kin beneath the Emperor’s just hand. And brothers, as new dispatch orders from Terra arrive, and reinforcements come from Terra or our own camps, remember always our mission and name.” His Juvjk words grew harsh. “For the Emperor and Mankind, we are the Wolves of Fenris.”
“Vlka Fenryka!” the crowd proclaimed, to muted applause.
Bjorn leaned over to where Freya was listening enrapt. “Little Pup, go get your friends, this is the perfect time for them to join us.”
“Yes, Eldest,” Freya whispered, wiping her tears away.
She rose and discreetly made her way back to the door, cracking it open. Alex and the others were standing there, all looking a bit unnerved by the animal roars and foreign words they had heard chanted from the other side.
“Come on in,” Freya whispered. “The prayer’s done,” she said.
“All right,” Remilia answered for them, leading the others into the room. A few heads turned and nodded polite respect to them as they passed, heading up to the table at the head of the room. Konnar had retaken his seat, awaiting the rows and rows of skjalds and servitors that were now bearing food up to the head of the table. As per the tradition of the Fang, the Wolf Lords were granted their food last, but had the largest portions. With so much of the Fang empty, it wouldn’t take long for their own food to arrive.

The teens took their seats at the end of the table, which had been left open for them, as Freya sat back down next to Bjorn. Redwind, who had elected to remain until his ship departed the next morning, nodded politely at them as they sat. “Hello again, friends,” he said in Gothic.
“Hello, your Lordship,” Alex replied. “Good to see you.”
“How was your trip this afternoon?” Redwind asked.
“Well, we were attacked by krakenspawn,” Alex said.
Redwind raised one eyebrow. “Oh? That’s always good exercise,” he said.
Alex stared at him. “For a Space Marine, maybe!” he said.
Redwind conceded the point. “Fair enough.”
Alex shook his head and fell silent. Down the table, Freya winced, but kept her lips sealed.
Bjorn leaned back from the table as the servitors deposited the food before them. “Freya, have you given thought to staying on Fenris after your future education has ended?” he asked.
Freya nodded. “I think it would be worthwhile, Eldest Bjorn. I really do think so. But I confess…I don’t know what I would do here. I could never keep up with you or any of the other Wolf Brothers in battle. And if I can’t fight with you, what would I do?” she asked. She lifted her leg of grox and tore off a chunk with her teeth.
“A reasonable question, Freya, but you will always be this system’s Blood Princess,” Bjorn said. “Perhaps you could administrate or even train at one of our Aspirant camps.”

Freya nodded. “Possible.” She paused to swig at her drink, noting the others’ eating with a hidden grin.
Remilia at least seemed comfortable eating with her hands, and Venus seemed to be ignoring the sounds and sights of the rest of the room, but Alex and Jake were both looking a bit stunned at the size of the portions they had received, and were much more hesitant. A Long Fang at Remilia’s side was also barraging her with questions.
“I would, if I were asked, but I honestly don’t think that politics are my future,” Remilia said. She glanced over her plate to answer the Long Fang’s question about her own post-college plans. “And besides, I think I’d play more to a business future. You know? Rulership isn’t really my thing.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Lady Remilia,” the Wolf said. “I’m sure the Dorn family is as strong in guiding political tides as they are behind the stock of an Assault Cannon.”
“You’re too kind,” Remilia said. She searched for an easier topic. “Do you know what the Astropathic turnaround is for this planet from Terra?” she asked.
“It varies hugely on the tides of the Warp. A day? A year? It’s nearly random,” the Fang said. “The average time is a few days. The tides are cooperative right now, though. Two days, I would say,” he added.
Remilia nodded. “Good. I’m awaiting a message from home.”

Alex, meanwhile, was fielding a few questions of his own. The Wolf at his side, a member of Redwind’s inner circle perhaps, was politely interrogating him about his relationship with Freya. “An athletic meet at your school?” the Wolf asked.
“Yes,” Alex said, cutting into his dinner. “I’d sort of known her before, but that was when I asked her out.”
“What does that mean?” the Wolf asked.
Alex blinked. “What? Asking her out?” The Wolf nodded. “Er…it’s going with them somewhere in a romantic context, I guess,” Alex fumbled. Did they not have courtship on Fenris?
Freya sensed the rising awkwardness from that end of the table and cringed internally, but there was precious little she could do at that point. Perhaps fortuitously, Lord Redwind spoke up at that point. “Lord Carlin, do tell. How exactly do schools work on Terra? I understand you and our little sister met there,” he said.
The rugby player nodded. “Well, it used to be more varied, but it’s pretty standardized now. There’s twelve or thirteen standard grades of mandatory schooling, then you can go and get a degree if you can afford it – many can’t.”
“I see.” Redwind polished off his food. “And that’s where Sister Freya is going to be for the next few years?” he asked.
“Yes, she and I are going to attend a Terran college together for a while,” Alex supplied.
Redwind hesitated for an instant, his eyes darting over to where Freya was happily munching away on her own food and speaking to Bjorn. Alex noticed, but suddenly, he didn’t feel like explaining his relationship to yet another person, especially since its endpoint was still nebulous. He turned his own eyes back to his food and resumed eating.

As the meal ended, the five travelers stayed in their seats after a subtle gesture from Freya. The tables below were getting rowdier as the Wolves took to the evening’s drink, and a few tuneless songs began from some of the long wooden benches. To the surprise of the non-Fenrisians, the assembly broke up gradually, rather than all at once. Some of the Wolf Brothers took off as soon as they were done, leaving their dishes behind and nearly racing for the doors, while others lingered, telling stories, drinking, or doing something else. As Bjorn rose, however, many of the Brothers below paused and climbed to their feet in respect. When Bjorn walked out, returning to his own quarters, the room resumed its air, and the tone of conversation grew much louder.
Venus shot a glance Freya’s way, and Freya nodded, rising as well. When she stood, the reaction was greatly different, with many of the Brothers actually pausing to call out something or other in Juvjk as she passed. She acknowledged the hails with cheerful waves and toothy smiles as the others filtered out behind her.
Once safely in the halls, Freya let out a breath. “Man, I missed that,” she said.
Remilia spoke up. “I can see why. It must be great to be back, huh?”
“You bet,” Freya said. She spun on her booted heel to beam ecstatically at the others, and somehow didn’t notice their varying levels of disquiet. “So, what did you guys think?” she asked.
“I think your brothers can probably still hear us,” Venus said under her breath. Freya nodded and lead them down the halls to the lifts.
“To answer your question, that was pretty intimidating,” Jake said.

>>20838190
I'll get right on it! Didn't know you were waiting for it.
---
Leaving her house, she made the quick trip to Imperator High for a long day ahead. But for the first time in a while, she had arrived early to school. All according to plan as Furia had to begin her hunt. She needed to find the one person that could seemingly help her at the moment. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard for her to find the Prime Daughter.
Isis usually hung out before class near her own locker. Alongside her were two more of her cousins, Morticia and Faith. She ran up quickly to the trio, having no trouble dodging incoming traffic as most students parted ways when Furia came running.
Isis saw her coming by the corner of her eye and turned as she arrived. Morticia smiled as normal, always happy to see her. However, Faith backed up, still remembering their last encounter. Furia paid her no heed as she looked at Isis directly.
“Icy, we need to talk,” she said, giving her a solid stare. She glanced at her other cousins. “Alone.”
Isis didn’t move for a moment, looking Furia over for a bit before saying anything. The two stared at each other for several moments, a internal battle of wills going on. Having enough, Isis gave in to her curiosity. “Alright. I’ll be back in a moment ladies.” Morticia and Faith stared as the two left, wondering what that was about.
Finding a empty side hallway, the redhead sighed as Isis looked her over, seemingly worried. “Furia, what is going on?” she asked her.
Furia clenched her fists for a moment, unsure of how to tell her. It was one thing confiding with Simon who wasn’t part of her family, it was another talking to her cousin who was supposed to be the best among them.
“Do you know what happened to me on Sunday? After the incident?” she started.

Isis nodded slowly. “A bit. Heard the treasury sat down with you, giving you a speech. Not sure otherwise.”
Furia sighed as she took out the Xelaratin pill bottle and handed it over. “I’m on these now, they control my anger right?” Isis nodded slowly, then Furia took out the side effect list. “It causes all these among other intended effects.”
Isis glanced at the paper and whistled. “Wow. That is one long list.”
“Yeah, and I’m only getting some of them for the moment. You probably noticed the changes yesterday.”
Isis nodded once more, handing the paper back to her. “Yeah, my father was asking about you. Asked me if you were acting strangely since Sunday. Wasn’t sure what he meant initially, but you were pretty calm yesterday.”
“Unnaturally calm. I liked it at first, then the side effects took hold. Long story short, I find out what these pills actually do to me.” Furia paused, looking at her black haired cousin. “Isis, I can’t keep taking these. I’ll cease to exist if I do.”
“Alright, simple enough. Stop talking them,” Isis stated flatly.
“And if I have another ‘incident?’” Furia asked her. “If I fuck up again and it gets bad enough, I can go to court. I can end up in jail. And then what? My life will be over just the same if I keep taking these pills.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t see a way out. I want your help to prove me wrong.”
Isis stared at her conflicted cousin. Furia clenched her jaw as she waited patiently for her cousin to answer her. The silence was slowly killing her inside as her the Prime daughter seemed lost in thought, thinking of something while the redhead could only stare.
After a minute, Isis nodded and Furia almost jumped in joy at the signal. Outwardly, she remained still, not giving away her sudden happiness.

“Alright, I have some ideas. Give me some time to plan this out, but you need to tell me you are ready to do anything to get out, alright?”
Furia grunted, crossing her arms. “You kidding me? I’d go fight Kharn if I have to.” The idea itself was suicidal, but Furia meant it when she said she’d do anything.
Isis chuckled at that, shaking her head. “Nothing that drastic yet, but it might get close. I’ll see you later today, alright?”
Furia only nodded as they both went their separate ways. She wondered throughout the day what Isis was planning, but could only wait impatiently for her to return.
Thankfully though, she didn’t spend much time waiting alone as Simon eventually found her between classes. She was at her locker, waiting for traffic in the hallway to clear up before going to class. He walked to her slowly, his usual shy self having returned for a new day. “Hey,” he said quietly, afraid as if someone else would hear them in the booming crowd around them.
“Hey Simon, something wrong?” she asked him, but already knew what was on his mind. He shook his head rapidly.
“No, just thinking about last night, thats all.”
She smirked at him, patting him on the shoulder. “Nothing to think about, alright? Now quit looking like you got something to hide before one of my cousins notice.”
He straightened his back, making it even more obvious to anyone. She made a note to teach Simon how to lie properly at a later date. It wouldn’t matter with her psychic cousins, but it would be a start.
“Did you have a conversation with my mom before you left?”
Furia looked at him quizzically, clearly confused with the question. “No,” she lied. “Why?”
“I had a dream where I was in my room and you guys were talking about me. Not sure about what exactly, but I felt it was about us.”

Furia chuckled at that. “You’re being paranoid, Simon. I don’t have such thoughts and I’m the celebrity here, remember?”
He smiled at that. “Everything okay with you though?” he asked her.
“Yeah, sorry I had to leave. Needed to change and shit,” Furia told him.
“I figured as much when I woke up. Almost thought I dreamt all of last night,” he commented to her.
“Yeah, past couple of days feel like a dream for me. A bit surreal.”
He looked at her strangely for a moment. “I guess that musuem must of rubbed off on you for you to use such a vocabulary.”
“Keep talking like that and there won’t be another last night, got it?” she threatened him quickly, but made it out to be a joke.
It was lost on Simon as he remained quiet until class started.

---

It wasn't until the end of classes till Furia saw Isis once more. Her day so far was above average to her normal routine. She hadn't yelled at anyone yet and had been calm most of the day. She was beginning to like her current attitude, if not for the ever reminding fact of the consequences in taking Xelaratin.
Already, rumors of her change had spread around the school. Most students didn’t seem to bother her, but other gazes lingered far longer than she would normally allow. She would usually sneer, growl and make them stop, but she no longer seemed to have it in her to do so. Instead, she could only walk by quickly, ignoring them.
She was walking so quickly, that she didn't notice the shadow looming beside her car as she speed walked to the door. As Furia dug into her pockets to get her car keys, the shadow moved up beside her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

Furia didn’t scream or yell in surprise. Instead, years of having to watch out for Freya and Hana ambushing her made her quick to react. She instantly spun around and grabbed the shadow’s wrist with her right hand while another hand reached forward and grabbed the attacker’s shirt. In a flurry of movement, Furia used her momentum, launched her target around her and pinned her against her car with the person’s arm held behind them.
It was only a second later did she notice that she was holding Isis down. There was a brief moment where Furia was crushing her with her own body, and sudden awkwardness set in for her. She instantly let go and backed off, feeling suddenly very guilty of hurting her. Isis pushed herself back up rubbing her face which got the brunt of the impact.
“Damnit Icy, almost knocked you out. You should know better than to do this shit,” she scolded her.
Isis stared through her left eye as she rubbed the other with her hand, clearly not pleased with her red headed cousin. “Yes, my mistake on being discreet’,” she grumbled. Pointing behind her, Isis nodded slowly. “Hey, I got that new album from ‘The Kriegers’ today. You wanna listen to it in my car?”
Furia stared at her, not getting the signal she was giving. She shook her head, clearly lost with that statement. “What? What new album? They are on hiatus aren't they? And what about what we talked about earlier?”
Isis groaned slightly as she rubbed her eyes slowly. “Its a new SECRET album. Only certain people are allowed to hear it, you know? Someone like YOU should come listen to the SECRET album in my car. Right NOW.”
Furia nodded slowly, wondering if she had slammed Isis in the face too hard. She followed her to a nearby car, still not getting what she was referring to.

Unlike her own car, Isis’ vehicle was brand new. Her father probably gave it to her as a gift, as it seemed to be a newer model from that year. A solid grey like her chapter colors, the black tinted windows were a nice touch, something Furia told herself she should put on her car.
Isis walked around to her door and got in, and Furia did likewise. She sat down on the nice leather seats and realized that it was quite real. The car was clearly custom made for her to get real animal hide, imported from elsewhere in the galaxy. The entire vehicle lit up as it detected the two new heat signatures. Isis flicked upon the touch screen on the dashboard, clearly doing something while her guest watched.
“Icy...” Furia began, but a single had from her taller cousin stopped her. A second later, Furia hear some high pitched ringing that disappeared an instant afterwards. “What the hell was that?”
“Just something to overload anyone trying to listen in, thats all.” Furia looked at her strangely as Isis began to explain. “I don’t have proof on it, but I have the feeling that some of us might be bugged by the Treasury for security reasons.”
“You think the Treasury bugged your car?” Furia asked her, and she laughed at that.
“Oh, not my car. I check my car every month and always know who touches it. Its for you mostly.”
Furia looked at herself and back at isis. “You think I am bugged? Seriously?”
Isis shrugged. “You had a run in with them just over two days ago. You don’t think they are just a bit curious on how you are taking being medicated?”
Furia paused as she realized some truth behind the statement. “Alright, I guess. So we okay to talk in here then?”
Isis nodded. “Yeah. As I said before, I just overload any sensors nearby so we should be alright for a few minutes.”

Furia didn’t understand how that would work, but she didn’t care, having more important things to talk about. “So I figure you have something important to tell me since you dragged me in here. Hopefully about my ‘situation’.”
“Right,” she said and looked at Furia steadily. “How far would you go, out of curiosity?”
“What?”
“I’m asking you how far would you go to get rid of the pills and not end up in jail. You ready to do anything to stay away from either? Ready to give up anything?”
Furia looked at her cousin, unsure of how to respond to such a request without repeating her last statement. “What are you getting at Isis? You should know that I wouldn’t have come to you if I wasn’t ready for the extremes. Come on, tell me already.”
“Alright, I got a couple ideas,” she muttered. “Why not just take the pills and wait for future versions have less side effects? Don’t you like being calm and, well, normal?”
Furia shook her head. “It ain’t me, alright? Its nice and all, but it feels so weird. Plus, if they pushed it on my father and myself, then they must think this is as good as it gets. Maybe the side effects are just because of my primarch origins. Maybe its just because its a shitty drug. I don’t know.” She paused and shrugged. “Being nice and all isn’t for someone like me. We have enough ‘nice’ cousins, I rather be different in the end.”
“What about psyker help? Can’t Magnus possibly do something like he did with Simon after the mugging?” Isis asked her, but Furia shook her head once more.
“I don’t know about that. That sounds way too fucked up, even for me. I mean, this anger of mine is so deeply rooted that it probably would take a lot more than a simple psyker intervention.”

“Deeply rooted?” Isis asked. She never knew where the origins of her cousin’s anger came from, thinking it was probably just genetic.
Furia thought back to her childhood for a moment, and growled at the thought. She didn’t think much about it anymore. “Yeah, lets just leave it at that, alright?”
Isis nodded slowly, backing off from the topic. “And you can’t stop taking the medication without horrible consequences, there isn’t much choice in the matter,” Isis sighed as she looked over at her cousin. “You leave.”
“Come again?” Furia said, not sure if she heard her correctly.
“You leave it all behind and go elsewhere.” Furia looked confused still as Isis elaborated. “You stay, you either have to take pills and turn into a shell of your former self, or you end up in jail. I’ll be honest when I say that I don’t think you will stop these run ins with the law without the medical help.” Furia nodded, knowing full well that she already wanted to go on a rampage about things, but couldn’t muster up the fury for it.
“So instead,” she continued, “you leave. You somehow get away from all this and live out your life till you can figure out how to control yourself.”
“Alright, I get it. Its not a bad idea, if it wasn’t impossible,” Furia commented.
Isis smirked slightly. “Difficult, not impossible. Remember, I think several steps ahead. I wouldn’t have come to you with this alternative if I didn‘t think it was possible.”
“So what’s the plan then? I somehow fly off into the galaxy?” Furia couldn’t believe what she was hearing, so her seriousness of the situation was non existent.

Hi. Loving the work, but I’ve noticed a few canon mistakes.

>her father’s legion symbol as the buckle, two massive jaws chewing down upon a planet

I’ve got a copy of Betrayal, and thanks to it it’s now know that the two separate jaws symbol is from the heresy, the broken (two seperate) jaw representing the World Eaters having broken from the Emperor and the Imperium. Pre heresy it is a single jaw surrounding a planet, as seen in the FW Models.

>A solid grey like her chapter colors

The Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus have never used a dark grey colour scheme ever. They used either Pearl White (for the Luna Wolves) or Deep Sea Green (For the Sons of Horus. And they are a KLegion (100,000 Warrors) not a Chapter.

Also, I’m glad the grimderp writer hasn’t showed his face. The work here is far better with him gone, and I hope he stays away forever.

Keep on writing writefags!

>>20843066
Thanks for the info on the Legions. I'll make the changes.

And once again, its a matter of opinion. I like his work!

>>20841292
I've been reading up to this point. I think I would've liked some more interaction or REaction between the spess voffs and Jake and Alex. I don't know what, perhaps a curtesy yell from some of the yiffs? Otherwise it was a pleasant slice of life story.
>>20841552
It's almost 2 am here, I'll think I read your story when I wake up, and provide some feedback.

>>20843066
bit harsh aye? remember each to his own

besides you never know whether ahriman's story will have a major plot twist that makes it awesome, like isis stowing away on the relief force's ships and then going badass soldier on orks threatning julius

>>20843066
You, go away. Ahriman's Aide is badass, and his stories are badass.

“Not exactly. The first phase is to make everyone trust you. You need to try harder in class and make an effort to pass school, without your name pulling you through. This also includes make friends with people that wouldn’t call you one.”
“Such as?” the redhead asked.
“Faith, Hana, maybe even Victoria.”
Furia groaned at the thoughts. “That might be harder than you would imagine. What’s after that?”
“Well, the next phase would be to get you to enroll at Kourtney. If you can pass the first phase, you should have enough people to vouch for you to make it seem like you have changed for the better. I will say I trust you enough to share a room with you, with the idea that I could look after you in case anything happens. This part should be easy enough, since the school probably wants the publicity of royalty attending anyway.”
“And then?” Furia asked, wondering how much crazier the plan could get.
“Well, I don’t know if you know, but the area around Kourtney is famous for two things: the school, and the largest starport on Terra.”
Furia suddenly realized what she was getting at. “Oh,” she muttered. “I guess I really do get to fly away.”
“Exactly. We get you aboard one of the many thousands of ships that fly in and out every day to a cruiser bound out of the system to somewhere else. And by the time they track down, you can be on another ship by the time they find the first one. You can be lost within a week or two from their standard radar, totally off the grid.”

Furia stared at her cousin for several seconds as she took it in. “You know this plan is crazy right?” she told her.
“I asked you how far would you go,” Isis responded.
Furia grinded her teeth for a moment and nodded. “Fuck it, why the hell not. I got to do something.”
Isis looked at her, clearly surprised. “I thought I would need to convince you a bit more before you decided to give up everything.”
“Yeah, well,” Furia muttered, “you don’t know the fucking hell thats going through my mind this past couple days. I rather try something loud then die off silently.” Furia looked at Isis, the tone of the conversation suddenly different. “Do I need to convince you now on helping me?”
“No. I don’t see any other possibility you would accept without some negative impact. But you seem totally ready for this. To give up everything? Even Simon?” Isis asked her.
Furia paused at that thought. She would need to give him up, even if he was the greatest thing she had. But remembering the conversation from this morning with his mother, she couldn’t let Simon go through the hell she was about to conceive. She nodded solemnly.
“I can’t keep hurting him like this,” she whispered. She looked over at Isis and nodded. “Where do we start?”
---

I'm basically out of material so far, but I am writing on the free time I have right now. This was where I wanted to take the plot from the get go, so I'm curious on what you guys think of the idea.

>>20843338
so long as at somepoint furia breaks a treasury guys jaw i'm interested in it

>>20843066
Fuck you, I like war porn and I eagerly await writing from my favorite kiwi

>>20843338
NOOOOO!!!!

okay I like it, but it's giving me feels. So many feels.

This is how tragedy/drama should work. That feeling of being trapped by terrible circumstances.

Freya nodded. “I understand.” She looked back at them, to see Jake avoiding her gaze. “Are you all right, though?” she asked, surprised.
Jake nodded. “Yeah, that was just really overwhelming, you know? So loud…and a room with several thousand Astartes in it, too.”
Venus tilted her head. “Pretty much all anyone asked was what Terra was like. How about you guys?”
“Everyone just asked me about my relationship with Freya,” Alex said. “I mean, I understand why, but…” he trailed off.
Freya turned away, disappointed. “Okay. Well, we won’t do it again,” she said.
Remilia and Venus both winced at the suddenly morose tone of her voice. “Look, Freya, don’t take it personally,” Jake hastened to say. “I’m a bit shaken by the kraken. And it’s just a little off-putting being around that many Space Marines at once. Shit, I never even saw one until four years ago.”
“Yeah, I know.” Freya sighed. “I think I’ve just been sort of…operating under the assumption that there was a way I could make you guys comfortable here, that’s all.”
“I’m sure we can, I just don’t think communal meals are going to happen,” Jake said. He grimaced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just wasn’t ready for that.”
Freya shifted her shoulders, thinking. “All right.” The lift carried them up to the level where they were staying. As they moved down the hall, Freya lagged behind the others. She paused as they reached their rooms. “Look, guys, I’m not gonna figure this out on my own. What can I do to make this more interesting for you all?” she asked, point-blank.
The others exchanged looks. Remilia spoke up. “Frankly, Freya, the best time I’ve had yet here was when were out climbing. Is there any other place we could go like that?”

“A few, maybe. We could try out on the mountains a bit, but…” Freya sighed again. “That’s pretty dangerous. The Ice Fiends live out there.”
“That sounds like a great name for a rugby team,” Jake commented.
Alex blinked. “It…it DOES.”
“So you guys aren’t mad?” Freya asked.
Venus waved her off. “’Course not.” Remilia shook her head as Jake opened his door.
“Yeah, it was just a little much to see the Wolves like that,” he said.
Freya nodded, eyes downturned. “Okay.”
Venus thought for a moment before following Jake into their room. “Hey, Freya, is there a separate kitchen for this level?” she asked.
“A kitchen? Uh, no, the skjalds cook for the entire fortress from the levels between here and the hammerhold,” Freya said.
“Hammerhold?” Venus asked.
Freya explained. “It’s like an armory. The Iron Priests are quartered there.”
Venus grinned. “Cool. Can I check it out tomorrow?” she asked.
Freya thought for a moment. “Sure, that would probably be okay,” she decided.
“All right, I’ll do that,” Venus said. Remilia walked into her own room as Venus ducked into hers to change.

Freya sat down on her bed and stared at her feet as Alex went about changing his own clothes. As he undressed, she shucked the thermo shirt she had worn, her knuckles white on the plastic and metal weave, with her eyes locked downward. Alex noticed. She was either sad or angry, and he couldn’t tell which yet. “Are you in for poker tonight?” he asked, knowing full well that she could tell his casualness was forced.
Apparently she was in no mood for games. “This isn’t working, is it?” she asked sullenly.
“Stop.”
“I mean it! You guys nearly get eaten at lunch and you’re scared of the people you’re having dinner with!” Freya said angrily. She glanced back at him as she rose from the bed to pull a different shirt on. “I mean, the Fang is huge, there’s tons of places to show you in here, but outside?” she grumped. “Nothing. Nothing safe.”
“The rock-climbing was safe,” Alex pointed out.
“I guess.” She sighed again, sliding a thick cotton shirt on. “All right. Venus is going to check out the hammerhold tomorrow…I told you about that, right? What do you want to do?”
“Well, I was wondering if we could go see that cave you mentioned before,” Alex said. “Outside that village place.”
“Oh.” Freya thought for a moment. “That actually sounds pretty cool…but if there were people there we’d have to bail.”
“Why? Nobody here knows who you are,” Alex said. He looked sharply over to her. “Unless you identified yourself to someone there?”

Red strands waved as Freya awkwardly rolled her shoulders. “Kind of? I mean, they don’t know I’m King Russ’ daughter, but I may have let on to a few people that I’m not human.”
Alex looked away. “That’s bad.”
“I doubt they’d be there, though,” Freya assured him. “We can check it out if you want.”
“Okay. Remilia and Jake can come too, right?” he asked.
“We all can,” Freya said. “If there’s someone inside we can just keep flying and go explore the mountains a bit.”
Alex nodded. “Great.” He paused as Freya moved to the door to rejoin the others. He slid an arm around her waist and held her still for a moment. “Feel better?” he asked.
“Yeah, I do.” Freya looked back at him over her shoulder, the germ of an idea forming. “All right. Let’s go.”

>>20845205
Oh this can only end poorly.

The next morning, after the poker game broke up and the group bedded down, Jake stirred to wakefulness. Something hot and soft was touching his wrist and moving the sheets. “Venus?” he slurred, looking around in the darkness.
She winced. “Sorry,” she whispered, as she slid back into bed. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
Jake sighed. She had just been in the head. One of the few drawbacks of sharing a bed. He glanced at the clock and groaned to himself. He wasn’t supposed to get up for another hour, and Venus wasn’t going to for another half an hour. The winter days of Fenris had thrown their schedules for a loop. “Well, I’m not going to fall back to sleep,” he said, sitting up in the bed.
“My bad,” Venus said. She opened her eyes, adding a second set of red lights to the room, which had previously been lit only by the clock.
Jake looked away, blinking afterimages out of his vision. “Not a problem.” He sat still, feeling the cool air of the room on his bare arms. The thin shirt he was wearing still had a little of her heat in it. The cold wood headboard against his back chilled him. Wood on the Fang. He wondered how much that had cost.
“Something wrong?” Venus asked.
“No, just thinking about stuff.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the inky darkness. “You looking forward to school?”
“Absolutely,” Venus said with quiet happiness. “I can’t wait.”
“I’ll be an employee, not a student, so it may take a while to get a degree, but…me too,” Jake said. She reached over and gently stroked the back of his hand with one fingertip, leaving a trail of heat behind it. He smiled and he knew she could see it, even with her eyes narrowed to slits.

>>20845262
Eventually sure.

In the meantime, have some warm and fuzzy feelings.

File: 1348454953539.jpg-(47 KB, 641x848, 40kpdm1.jpg)

There needs to be more porn of this.

>>20845291
Cultist always gives me warm and fuzzy feelings. She's adorable like that. Speaking of Cultist, do you think Colossal Fagot is going to feature/cameo her in BooneQuest if he hasn't already?

He looked down at her face, seeing the two tiny red lines in the complete darkness. He slowly moved one hand over to her chin and tilted her head, looking at her eyes. One of the slits narrowed a bit and the other expanded slightly as she raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t move. “You know, I can’t get over how cool that is,” Jake said faintly, tracing his hand over her cheek. “I can’t even see you except these two little red parts.”
Venus laughed under her breath and caught his hand. He leaned over her and continued. “I hope whatever apartment we get on campus at Kouthry has a really high-end air conditioner, so we can keep this up,” he said, gesturing at their sleeping arrangements. She smiled and flicked her fingers in the darkness. The infrared sensors in the thermostat caught the movement and plunged the temperature of the room down thirty degrees. Jake slid back down under the covers and entwined himself with Venus.
“If you don’t mind?” she asked sleepily.
“Why would I?” he said quietly, resting his head on her shoulder. He closed his eyes and relaxed, letting her fiery heat push back the room’s chill. She slid one hand back behind his head and ran her fingers through his tight curls, then gently held him to her chest.
“All right…” she said. His body always felt so cool to her.
“I’m glad you smell good,” he said blearily.
Venus slowly tilted her head down to look at where his face was buried against her. “Come again?”
“My second girlfriend never took care of herself, or used bad soap, or whatever, but she always smelled like sweat.” He draped one arm aver her flank to wrap around her back. “You just smell good.”

>>20845430
Ah, barely-awake pillow talk. It makes you say the weirdest things, that make so much sense to nobody but you.

Venus nodded. “Ah.” She set her head back down. “What was her name?”
“My ex? Fais Calet,” Jake said.
“The Tallarn exchange student?” Venus asked. “Didn’t know you two were an item.”
“For a few months. I wasn’t going anywhere long-term with her,” Jake said tiredly, “but I was rebounding from Hana and she put out and she didn’t hate hivers, so…yeah.”
“Mmm.” Venus considered that. “I knew I wasn’t your first, I just didn’t know her name.”
“I got…you know…” Jake yawned.
“Yeah, you showed me,” Venus said. After their first night had been unprotected, Jake had discreetly provided her with his chart from the doctor he had visited after getting dumped by Fais. Venus, of course, had been a virgin.
Jake closed his eyes and held still against her until his breath slowed a little. Venus relaxed and listened to the faint sound of his watch in the box on the nightstand mingle with the regular sound of his heart and breaths in a quiet rhythm of sound. The two of them just lay there, dozing in each others’ arms, until the alarm sounded. Venus rose to bathe before going to the gym, and after a moment’s thought, Jake did too. As fun as it was to snuggle with his girlfriend, it was always a bit sweaty, and he certainly wasn’t going to sleep again.

Down in the gym, Remilia leaned on the ropes of the simple sparring ring the skjalds used, stretching. Freya was already there, but she was forgoing the ring for a simpler workout. Remilia glanced over the skjalds in the room, wondering if any would find the stones to challenge her, when Venus walked in, bag slung.
“Hey,” Remilia called. Her world turned red as Venus looked up and smiled.
“Up for a bout?” Venus called back, ambling over.
Remilia paused. “Sure, why not?”
“Good.” Venus dug around in her bag for a towel. She stopped when her fingers brushed the little containers of bloodpaint. “Hmm…” She looked up at her cousin. “Hey, have you ever seen me in paint?” she asked.
Remilia blinked. “You mean that blood stuff?”
“Yeah.” Venus straightened up. “Just for fun,” she said.
Remilia shrugged. “Don’t think so…if you want to, sure.”
“Great.” Venus walked back to the shower. “Be right back.”
“Uh, Venus, that’s the men’s showers,” Remilia called after her.
Venus looked around. “Is there a women’s shower?”
“Not that I know of,” Freya said, walking up to her. “No female skjalds.”
Venus huffed. “I don’t want to go back to my room to change, either.” She pondered a moment longer, then just shrugged. “I’ll just put it on my face and arms only,” she said, walking over to a mirror in the corner of the room.

As Remilia limbered up, Freya noted the boys walking in. They angled for the free weights, as Alex continued his now-daily instruction of proper technique. “All right, do you want to try the fifteen kilo plate now?” Alex asked, as he assembled his own dumbbell.
“Sure, but let’s do leg first, it makes sitting lifts easier,” Jake said, putting a few plates on a well-worn leg lifting machine.
“If you want,” Alex said. “Say…check the ring.”
Jake glanced up to see Remilia tug her tank top off from over her sparring bra, and apply a quick wrap to her ankles and wrists. “Huh. She gonna box someone?” Jake asked.
“Looks like it,” Alex said. He turned back to his own weights and started lifting.
Freya sat down next to them. “Hey, guys. I was thinking we could go out to the hot springs I spotted the other day, if you’re up for it.”
“Sounds good,” Jake grunted from his machine. “You bring a bathing suit?”
Freya blinked. “…shit. No, I didn’t think we’d have a chance to go swimming,” she said.
“Dark underwear would work, don’t sweat it, and we all brought towels,” Jake pointed out, feeling his leg muscles sing. “When do you want to go?”
“Right after lunch, if that’s okay,” Freya said. “Venus wanted to tour the Fang a bit.”
“Cool, then it sounds great,” Jake said. He wiped a bead of sweat from his eye. “Thank the skjalds for letting use their gym, huh?” he asked.
“Sure thing, but look at this place,” Freya said, taking in the massive gym with a sweep of her arms. “Place is nearly a graveyard with so many skjalds off crewing the Legionary ships while the Great Companies are out and about.”

“Still,” Alex said. He set the weight back down and tacked another two kilo plate on the end. “How about you? You ladies done?”
“Nope, Venus and Remilia are gonna spar,” Freya informed them.
Both boys’ eyes darted over to where Venus was still fiddling around with her appearance in the mirror. “Really?” Jake asked. “That’ll be interesting.”
“You guys should fight me four-on-one,” Freya said with a predatory grin. “Group combat is always interesting.”
Jake looked at her askance. She deliberately flexed one calf muscle, and Jake had no doubt that a single kick from her could have broken him in half. “No, thanks. Maybe if we were on Nocturne, right after a radspike, but shy of that, I’d rather fall down stairs,” Jake said, resuming his leg lifting. “I’d probably break fewer bones.”
Freya leaned over and nipped his ear before rising. “I’d be gentle.”
“Uh huh,” Jake said drily.

Over in the corner, Venus finished applying the bloodpaint. She had stripped down to shorts and sparring bra, with the paint applied only over her face and arms in an abbreviated version of the more intricate design she had chosen when fighting Isaac. Ignoring the blatantly lustful glances she was catching from most of the skjalds close enough to see her through the forest of support columns and exercise machinery, she tucked her things back in the bag, though she left one small vial of paint free. She dipped a thumb in the paint and dragged thick, ugly lines across her upper chest and triceps, in a paint that would be invisible once it dried a bit, but was laced with just as much of the tiny plastic bits that relayed the light. She hoped the effect would be worth it.
Tucking that away too, she walked up to the ringside and leaped clear over the ropes into the ring, landing behind Remilia, who had been looking away. Remilia turned and started at her cousin’s suddenly daemonic appearance.
“Fuck, that’s…quite a get-up,” Remilia said, staring at the assemblage.
Venus cracked her knuckles and kicked her exercise sandals off, taking a step back and settling into stance without a word.
Remilia rolled her eyes. Venus was clearly exercising her theatrical side. Still, Remilia had to admit to herself that the effect was intimidating.
Venus’ eyes brightened as the blood started pumping faster. She clapped her hands together once and advanced a pace, clearly taking the initiative.
Remilia had none of it, swinging a vicious blow at Venus and following up with a low kick. Venus parried the punch and side-stepped the kick, turning her momentum into an advance. She lunged towards her cousin, throwing all her might into a cruel elbow strike.

Remilia caught it square on the sternum with a creak of bone. She choked, lurching back in surprise and sudden pain. Venus followed up with a quick forward step, and raised her arms like she was going for a headlock…then stepped back. “Too far?” she asked under breath.
“A bit,” Remilia coughed, spitting a drop of blood from her lips. “Just…hang on,” she said, clutching her chest. Venus lowered her guard, stepping back to the ropes.
“…Fuck,” Alex observed.
“I think it’s the paint,” Jake said weakly. “She wasn’t like that when she was teaching me.”
“She taught you how to spar?” Alex asked, looking over at his friend.
“Just some basic poses, no real combat,” Jake said. “Just for fun.”
“Mmm.” Both boys looked up at where Remilia was straightening up, clearly in pain. Her superhuman biology was accommodating her injury, though, and even an Astartes couldn’t heal as fast as a Lady Primarch. A few drops of blood oozed from her lips as she ran a hand over her tender chest and nodded once, putting her hands up.
Venus nodded back, slowly circling her cousin. Remilia swept her leg low and raised her hand at once. Venus simply leaped the leg sweep and leaned back from the guard, her eyes following her cousin’s movements. Remilia stood back and raised her fists to her chin level, guarding, but Venus seemed content with fighting on the defensive for now.

Freya sat down at the ringside, observing closely. Her senses alerted her to some tissue damage in Remilia’s chest, something that could have hospitalized a human. Then, if Venus had hit a human with that blow, it would have killed them.
In the ring, Remilia advanced, firing off jabs in rapid succession, trying to beat back Venus’ guard. Her ebony partner blocked or dodged most, but one snakelike shot caught her on the jaw, and she lurched back from the force of it. Remilia followed up with a cross to Venus’ guard and a salvo to the ribs, pushing Venus back another step. Venus was in it now too, striking back as often as defending. She was deliberately avoiding the spot she had struck before, but that was the extent of her restraint. The air between them was thick with flying fists.
Jake watched, mesmerized. Alex set his own weights down to see the battle. The skjalds in the room weren’t even pretending not to be watching; some were placing bets.
The paint was dried now. The light from her eyes bled into the red across her face and upper arms, and through the invisible paint on her chest. The effect was subtler than the one from before, but the invisible paint on her chest was aglow with dimmer light than the red paint higher up, making it look like there were bloody gashes across Venus’ chest. The artificial blood was joined by a few drops of the real thing now, as minor injuries piled up on the two of them.
Remilia was losing her breath. The damage to her chest was slowing her down, too. More and more of Venus’ blows were getting to her, and she was starting to get a bit dizzy. She stepped back, trying to get her bearings, and raised a middle guard, hoping she could block anything Venus used to follow up.

It didn’t work. Venus took advantage of the open space to leap forward with a knee thrust that could have bent a car door around it. Remilia managed to divert it, sending Venus to her hands and knees beside her, but that had been the idea. Venus continued the motion, sweeping her other leg around her lowered body in an arc that dropped Remilia flat on her back. Venus finished the roll and levered around on her arms like pivots, and rolled over one planted knee to land squarely on top of Remilia’s waist. In an instant, Venus’ hands were at Remilia’s throat, clenched just tight enough to send the message.
Remilia tapped out. The room erupted in applause from the watching skjalds.
Before her hand had even finished the motion, Venus was off her, grabbing her by the shoulders and lifting. Remilia staggered to her feet. Her cousin’s daemonic mask of bloodlust cracked and melted away into an expression of regretful concern under her paint. “I’m sorry, Remilia, I didn’t mean to break the bone,” she said quietly.
Remilia coughed, wiping away the blood oozing from her mouth and nose. “Yeah, that hurt like a sonofabitch,” she muttered. “If I had been advancing that could have killed me.”
“I’m so sorry,” Venus said sadly. “Can you forgive me?”
“Of course,” Remilia said tiredly. Venus gingerly offered her a hug across the shoulders and stepped back.
“All right. Let’s get you looked at,” Venus said, vaulting the ropes a moment later.
“No need,” Remilia coughed. “I can feel it, it’s set. Right?” she asked, pausing to let Freya get a good look at her.
“…Yeah, you’re good with a bit of rest,” Freya said, peering at her taller cousin’s torso.

“Hell of a fight,” Jake said, walking up. “I find myself saying that a lot around you three,” he joked. “You gonna be all right, Remilia?” he asked.
“Sure, sure, right as rain with some milk and cookies,” Remilia said, waving his concerns off. A ribbon of blood worked its way out of her mouth as she said it. “Imma shower now.”
“Unisex showers,” Jake pointed out. “Remember you told us?”
Remilia paused. “I’ll be fine,” she said after a moment. She turned to glance at the crowds of skjalds in the room. “Just fine,” she said with a smirk.
As she vanished in to the showers with most of the others, Freya grabbed her own towels and headed out to the lifts. Not that she didn’t trust the showers, but she wanted some time to think before they went off to breakfast.
In the empty liftcar, she rubbed her finger over chin and thought. The day’s diversions would hold them, of course, but what about the next several weeks? She was running out of ideas. Perhaps another fishing excursion, only at the equator and on a larger island? Maybe a tour of the more open parts of the fortress?
The doors opened and she walked up to her room, still deep in thought. She unlocked her door and walked in, heading straight into the bathroom and getting to it.
As the water poured down, her ears alerted her to someone opening the bedroom door. The rushing water and the fans had washed away the scent, so she just shrugged, assuming it was Alex.
As she finished up, she clambered out and started drying off, when the oddest scent reached her nose. She paused, trying to identify it. Whatever it was, it was sweet. Maybe…honey?

Curious, she wrapped herself up in a towel and pushed the bathroom door open. There, sitting on the table in the middle of the sitting room, was a small, steaming cake, on a plate with a few little cups of honey in them, and a note, in Gothic.
Her curiosity piqued, she walked over to it and lifted the note. ‘Freya, don’t let yesterday get you down. Someone once told me honey is a delicacy here on Fenris, so please enjoy. Venus.’
Freya glanced down at the fresh little cake and finally identified the scent of the person who had deposited it there: one of the skjalds who had served them at dinner the previous night. Venus must have spoken to him while she was chatting with Bjorn. The pretty redhead smiled to herself, shaking her head. “Nice, Venus,” she said. She sat down next to the table, glancing over the food. “I appreciate it.”
Alex wandered in, his hair glistening in the room’s lights. He had the breakfast they had requested be sent up to them in his hands, he must have bumped into one of the kitchen serfs in the lift. “Hey, babe…you order breakfast already?” he asked, spotting the food.
Freya tucked the note into the folds of her towel. “No, just a gift from someone,” she said. “Honey is worth its weight in gold around here.”
“Really?” Alex asked, sitting beside her.
“Yeah, this planet redefines ‘killer bees,’” Freya said. She picked up one of the two little cups of hot honey and poured it over the cake. “Want some?”
“Sure,” Alex said, breaking off a piece. He set the other food down next to it. The two of them sat beside the table, slicing pieces off and eating as their hair dried.
“Mmm…it’s even tastier if you imagine the epic battle that was waged to acquire the honey,” Freya pointed out.

Alex swallowed with some effort. “Unless it’s imported.”
Freya glared at him. Alex blinked. “…though of course Fenris would produce its best for its Blood Princess,” Alex finished.
“Nice save,” Freya said drily. She finished off her cake and rose, bunching her towel. “All right. I’m gonna change before we eat the stuff you brought.”
Alex stood too, sliding his arms around her waist as the towel fell away. “Hey. Are you feeling better?” he asked.
She squeezed his hands. “Much.”
“Good.” Alex let go and stepped back. “All right. Let’s ditch this in the laundry and get ready to explore, huh?”
“You want to see the hammerhold too?” Freya asked as she slid fresh clothes on.
Alex scooped up their clothes and unpacked the rest of the food she dressed. “Sure, why not? Sounds pretty awesome.”
“It is pretty awesome, though…I have the weirdest feeling that Venus might actually not like it much,” Freya confessed. “Where she’s from, equipment maintenance is pretty much sacred. Around here…not so much. It’s almost a chore to some of the brothers.”
Alex shrugged on a nicer shirt. “Can’t imagine that Venus would hold it against them. Do you think they’d hold it against her?”
“Not in the slightest,” Freya said. “They’ll understand. Different Legion, different rules.”

Venus waited outside the lift down to the depths of the hammerhold with the others, tapping her finger on her belt. She was getting pretty eager to see what the Wolves did in terms of equipping. Freya emerged from her room with Alex in town, up the hall. She had apparently decided to use something more utilitarian than the Fenrisian cloak and wrap today, using a simple tunic with a broad leather belt over it. The pair arrived at the lifts where the others were waiting. Freya wasted no time in marching right up to Venus and aggressively hugging her. “Thanks, Venus.”
Venus winced as Freya accidentally squeezed her bruised shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
The others stared. Freya left explanations to Venus. “Just a breakfast suggestion I made,” Venus said as she pressed the call button.
Freya’s green eyes turned to Remilia. “How’s your chest?”
“Recovering,” Remilia said. The crater Venus had left was already healing, Freya could see. “I’ll be fine in a few days.”
“I still feel bad for going overboard like that,” Venus admitted.
“Stop. We were fighting.” Remilia shrugged with a hidden grimace. “So…uh, that stuff you were wearing was bloodpaint?”
“The red stuff was, the clear stuff is just a modified version of it.” Venus turned to look at her with a sly little smirk. “Got the point across, did it?”
“It was pretty intimidating,” Remilia allowed. “Do all Salamanders wear that stuff?”
“No, actually, most of them never use it, since you have to wear it under armor and it can obscure your honor markings. I just like it,” Venus said.
Remilia made a noncommittal noise and walked into the elevator. Together, they descended into the heart of the fortress.

Venus peered over the array of arc welders in the insulated racks before them. “How many dedicated stations are there for internal repair?” she asked the Iron Priest beside her.
“Four hundred, but some are dedicated to a specific task,” the Priest said. The Wolf was so heavily modified with augmetics that Remilia was a little taken back, looking him over. Didn’t the Wolves usually eschew such devices?
“Like Dreadnought maintenance?” Venus offered.
“Yes, that is one of them,” the Priest replied. Venus nodded, looking at the welders with a master’s eye. The electric arc contacts on most showed good maintenance and regular clearing, but a few looked like prized possessions, stripped of even the tiniest offending speck. She couldn’t disapprove.
Behind them, Freya looked over a few pieces of armor that had been set aside for stripping and scrap. A mixture of at least five different types of gear were present, including what sure looked like an ancient artificer-ed Type Four armor piece. She wondered what sort of damage it had taken for the Legion to forego that relic.
Remilia walked up to her and joined her in staring at the armor. “Wow. Is that a Four?”
“It is.” Freya leaned up to it, scanning the surface. “Acid damage. Must have been fighting some xenos filth with acid sacs.”
“Mmm.” Remilia straightened up, looking at a small workstation beside the pile of armor bits. The whole room was lit by brilliant lights set into the ceiling, with small sconces in the walls providing extra illumination. Massive red and blue banners decorated the metal walls, covered in elaborate sayings in High Gothic and Juvjk. The numbers Six and Two in binary and Gothic and Juvjk alike were everywhere.
“Sir Priest, may I ask? What do the numbers six and two everywhere signify?” Jake inquired, clearly wondering about the same mystery as the girls.

“Ah.” The Priest raised one mechadendrite to point at the tapestries and wall hangings. “The number six is our Legion number, of course…and the two symbolizes the union of the Priests of the Iron and the Priests of the Red Planet, with whom we exchange our data and build our accoutrements of war.”
“Oh, I see. My grandfather was a techpriest on Mars,” Jake offered. “Canstrides Seminary.”
“I see. Is that how you learned to read binary? Most can’t,” the Iron Priest said.
“Well, I only know a few numbers,” Jake said modestly.
The Priest noted the girls’ scrutiny of the armor. “Princess. The armor was retrieved from a ship we took four weeks ago.”
“A ship?” Freya asked curiously. “How do you mean?”
The Iron Priest walked up behind her, the echoes of his heavy footfalls muffled by the thick tapestries on the walls. “We were awarded part of a Space Hulk to do with as we saw fit for a joint retrieval mission with the Skitarii. We found some damaged armor components aboard. As near as we can figure, they were looted from the fallen by a pirate, whose ship then collided with the Hulk as it attempted to enter the Warp.”
“How foul,” Freya said coldly.
The Iron Priest nodded. “The fell hands of the Warp do not discriminate hero from parasite.”
Jake leaned over the armor pieces, careful not to touch them. “Acid damage?”
“The battle in which they fought was against a race of xenos with chemical weapons,” the Priest said. “Or so we believe.”

Behind them, Venus ran a familiar hand over the grip of an oversized contact welder gun. “Good times,” she muttered to herself, ignoring the repartee between the Priest and the others.
“Pardon?” the Iron Priest asked, raising his voice a fraction to be heard.
“I recognize these. Got one in my basement, too,” Venus said, flipping up a panel on the welder. “Hmm. Stygies 4. Solid kit.”
Freya stood behind her, watching Venus’ detailed inspection with a grin. “So, how does the hardware of the Rout live up to Salamander standards?” she asked under her breath.
Venus hid a grin. The Iron Priest HAD to be listening. “Acceptable,” she said. “But the product is more important than the tool, certainly,” she added. “Do you think Lord Bjorn would clear us to use the range if we asked?”
“Hadn’t thought to ask. I should.” Freya nodded sagely. “When we get back tonight.”
“Sure thing,” Venus said, straightening up. She turned to face the Priest. “Iron Priest, thank you kindly for the tour,” she said.”
“Honored, Princess,” the Priest said, in the stiff electronic tones of his kind.

As the group moved to go, however, the Priest stopped them. “Princess Venus, perhaps you could share a bit of how the Tech-brothers in your own Legion work their forges,” he said politely.
Venus thought for a moment. “Well…we have nine forges instead of one, of course…what do you mean specifically?” she asked.
“Whatever you wish to share,” the Iron Priest said with a shrug of his mechadendrites. “Perhaps some of your methodologies?”
“Oh, well, sure,” Venus said. “Let’s see…well, our principle forges are in the major cities, in the castles, plus one each in the wilds of Prometheus and Nocturne,” she explained. “So that’s the big difference, that they’re in population centers instead of a fortress, by and large.”
“Ah.” The Priest nodded. “Is it a truth that every single one of your Legionnaires must memorize the schematics for the latest designs of carapace and Power armor?” he asked. “I was told that once by a member of the Eighteenth when we fought together against the Dark Eldar on Felger’s Fortune, and barely believed it.”
“No, not quite,” Venus explained as the others listened in. “Scouts need only memorize carapace armor and basic weapon schematics. The things you have to retain get more complex as you ascend the ranks. So a Seventh Company recruit would only need to know bolter pistols, carapace…maybe a few knives. A Fire Drake would need to know Terminator armor, power armor, carapace, and about seventy different weapon designs.”
“I see. We do things very differently indeed, then,” the Priest noted. “Here, it is the Blood Claws who must undergo extensive trials of memory, while the Long Fangs and Wolf Scouts usually only bring such responsibilities upon themselves if they have Terminator honors.”

“Oh, interesting. Why do you do it that way?” Venus asked.
“Because technology of the sorts that we rely on every day simply aren’t a part of life for Fenrisians,” the Iron Priest said, his voice filter lending his words an unintentionally cold edge. “We would have no Iron Priests at all if some Blood Claws did not manifest an increased interest in their workings and artifice while undergoing their training.”
Venus nodded. “Yes, that’s true. Well. Thank you kindly for your tour and sharing your knowledge,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
“An honor indeed, Princess. Thank you for visiting,” the Priest said, returning the gesture. “Should you happen to encounter Tech-brother Ner’el, of your Sixth Reserve Company, pass along my reminder, if you would?”
“A reminder?” Venus asked, puzzled.
“His debt goes unpaid,” the Iron Priest said. He noted Venus’ increasing confusion. “Worry not, he will know of what I speak. Enjoy your stay,” he said, turning back to his labors as if they had never been interrupted.

The group wended their way back to the lifts, pausing to allow Venus to drink in the details in a few places.
“Kid in a candy store,” Remilia chuckled.
“I know, right?” Venus said, staring at a partially-dismantled assault cannon case ejector. “I’m afraid that if Kouthry has a machine shop I’ll just skip classes to hang out there with the mechanical engineering kids.”
“Hahahah! Oh man, I can see that,” Jake laughed. “That would scare the shit out of the teacher!”
“‘Oh no, a Salamander is here to judge our students!’” Alex pantomimed.
“‘My tenure!’” Jake continued, clutching at a phantom diploma.
Venus half-heartedly glared as the other four laughed. “It’s not funny, damn it,” she muttered. “We’re a very task-oriented Legion.”
“Ah, we’re just kidding,” Alex said, waving her concerns off. Venus huffed.

After a brief lunch in their rooms, the group picked out the clothes they would be wearing to the Cave, and assembled on the launch bay they had arrived in to await a ship. As Freya chatted with the pilot, Remilia hefted the stack of towels they had brought, and Alex stared into the box Freya had placed alongside the towels. “More guns?” he asked.
“Heh. A few, and one or two other things,” Freya said as she rejoined them. “The area we’re going to is one of the safest on the planet, but it never hurts to be prepared.”
The pilot jogged up, helmet slung. “We’re ready to head out, Princess,” he reported, snapping off a salute. In Juvjk, he continued. “Are you certain you wish to go a place so close to a local settlement?”
“Yes,” Freya said in Gothic, suffering no argument today.
“Very well,” the pilot said. He tapped a rune on his wrist-mount cogitator and the ramp of his ship swung down. The teens trooped aboard, lugging their cargo behind them.
As Freya sank into her seat, she felt a little tremor of apprehension. If there were people there, they could just leave, of course…but damn it, they deserved to have something go right.
Venus dug around in the box. “Are these firestarters?” she asked.
“Yeah, the cave is naturally ventilated, but there’s no lights inside. I thought we’d bring torchers, just in case someone put sconces in there. I would,” Freya said.

Alex cracked his knuckles as the ship dropped through the atmosphere. “Won’t people see us approaching the village?” he asked.
“We’re not. We’re terrain-flying over a frozen lake, with the hills between us and the village. We’ll be fine, and if there are people there, we just go fly somewhere else for the afternoon,” Freya said. “But it’ll be clear.”
“Uh, can we go even if there are people in it?” Venus asked.
Freya looked pained. “It…that’s not really viable.”
“Why wouldn’t…oh.” Venus looked sheepish for a moment. “Right. Glowing eyes and foreign tongues. Of course.”
“Sorry.” Freya shrugged again. “The locals wouldn’t know what the fuck.”
“It’s fine.” Venus unclipped her harness and wobbled over to the box in the turbulent transport. “All right…let’s see how this looks,” she said, reaching in. “Hmm. Seven torches and a pack of patches…any chlorine?” she asked.
“Why would we need chlorine?” Alex asked.
“Do you know what’s been in that water?” Venus asked pointedly.
Alex shuddered. “No.”
“Well, I can guess,” Venus said firmly.
“I brought some rapid-dissolver water purification tablets, for when the Wolf Brothers need to purify a whole lot of water in a hurry in the field. We should wait outside while it’s working, though,” Freya said. “They smell terrible, and in a confined cave…”
“Good call,” Venus said, sitting back down.

All right, friends, I'm wiped. See you all tomorrow. Someone keep this alive, please.

What would happen to the Daughters when the Heresy comes around?

Angela would probably hate Isis forever for what happened to her dad, Morticia would become a swollen, bloated, bedridden thing that can barely speak, wanting to die but unable to do so herself, Furia would die and drive her father into a rage of grief...

>>20848374
That isn't How this works

>>20848374
This is the Alt-universe where Heresy was replaced with high school girl SOL faffing about and 21st century vernacular.

>>20841552
And now it's morning! Time for breakfast entertainment (also bump)!

>>20848692
>This is the Alt-universe where Heresy was replaced with GLORIOUS high school girl SOL faffing about and 21st century vernacular.
ftfy

>>20843338
Uh, isn't that plan extremly, overly elaborate when she has a much easier alternative? Can't she just take a sabbat year and have her dad ship her off somewhere? He would understand if she wanted to control her rage.

Otherwise I like the writing and the decision she has ahead of her. Would read moar!

>>20848106
And now I'm done with your writings!

Still your ever-pleasant-to-read slice of life stuff that I keep coming back for more. In particular I liked Venus's gift to Freja as it is details such as that that makes friendships in stories believable. I also liked the fight in the gym as... well, teen girls in shorts and sports bra fighting, what's not to like?
>"'My tenure!'"
I smirked at that.

>>20849913
He would, but the fact is she nearly tried to kill someone. Most people at the moment don't trust her, and since the medication is an easy enough alternative, why should they even take the chance? Hope that explains my thought process.

The coming months proved to be a challenge for the medicated teenager. Furia had to suddenly convince her peers and authorities that she was actually changing for the better. She still remained on the medication for the most part, making the transition from troublemaker to a model student much easier.
Some of Xelaratin’s side effects disappeared, yet she still remained nauseous from time to time. New ones came up, like forgetting where she placed her car keys or a simple chore she usually did. And if she would ever felt the reason to get really angry, her arms would shake and twitch instead, while she remained totally calm otherwise.
However, more important side effects began to show slowly. Her mind drifted from topics more often and she became apathetic to causes around her. Her relationship with Simon began to suffer as well, but both knew why it was happening. Even her libido took a dive, but that didn’t stop her to try. She tried her best to seem like she cared, but deep down it was only a matter of time before she stopped altogether. It might be a few months, might take a decade, but eventually she would stop caring about them.
In the time since the plan’s inception, much had happened to the the Royal family as a whole. In particular, Morticia was shot, making it one of the biggest news stories of the decade. She wasn’t sure if it was the event or the pills, but Furia nearly had a mental breakdown in the following week. A part of her wanted to go and hug the shit out of her weak cousin, while the pills tried their best to keep her apathetic. So instead, her mind began to fracture under the tension, making her have adverse effects against the pills. She began to stress out instead of remaining calm, and knew only one escape from it all: more drugs.

It didn’t last long before Simon and her father found out. Simon was one of the few things that kept her stable, so him threatening to leave her was enough to make her stop. And her father could smell it easily enough in the house, so he threatened to stop her from going to Kourtney, something that she couldn’t let happen.
The only thing that she focused above all else was the plan. It drove her through her to perform well in her studies and keep her as friendly as possible to people around her. And she told no one. Other than herself and Isis, no one else knew about the plan. She couldn’t even tell Simon, not because she didn’t trust him, but how it would break his heart to hear the idea of her leaving him. That would be one bridge she wasn’t ready to cross.
Instead, she began to tackle the most direct one: making her enemies trust her. Between all of her cousins, there were three she would have to talk to personally in reconciling with as Isis had named. That was the plan before school ended.
Faith was the first on her list, as she knew full well the devout girl was more scared of her than anything else. She already had a plan on how to get the girl to trust her a bit more than normally.
It wasn’t hard to find her, as every morning she was always in a lonely corner near in the back of the library, reading something or another that had to do with her beliefs. The area was quiet that school morning for apparent reasons. Furia walked softly till she arrived at her destination, finding the religious girl reading deeply into a large book.
“Faith,” she said, startling the girl. She looked up, having not noticed her till she announced herself.

“Wha- uh- Furia?!” she mumbled, seemingly confused by her presence. “I’m sorry, you scared me.” It was quite obvious that she was still scared around Angron’s daughter, but didn’t say so.
“Not sure how. This place is so quiet I can hear the entire room,” Furia commented, and Faith could only nod silently. “So, you have a moment?”
“About what?” Faith asked, actually curious on why her angry cousin would be talking to her so early in the morning.
“Well, I just came by to make a truce really.”
“A truce?” Faith repeated, a bit surprised by the notion,
“Yeah. I’m figuring out lately that this hatred between us is just stupid. I don’t want that feeling around anymore. You are family so I’m going to try to be nicer, alright?”
Faith stared at her for several moments. “I’m sorry to say I don’t really believe you.”
“Well, shit,” Furia commented in return. She actually didn’t expect that response at all. “Why not?”
“You are really asking? With our history, you are probably just trying to plan out a huge prank on me, starting by making me trust you. I need some proof of this change of heart.”
Furia grumbled for a moment before responding. “Alright, what do you want me to do?” she asked, ready for anything.
Faith thought for a moment then nodded. “Stop freaking out if I talk to Simon.”
Furia paused, then grinned at her. She could live with that. “Fine. You can talk to Simon and I promise I won’t get mad.”
The smaller girl stood up and brought her arm forward. “Shake on it?”
Furia stared at the smaller hand and grasped it tightly. She shook it carefully, showing full well that she could hurt Faith right now, but chose otherwise. The entire event didn’t last more than ten minutes, yet Furia left with feeling successful overall.

I'll be gone for a bit, but I got a bit more material before I am officially dry.
On a side note, I got the wiki page up and running: http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Ghosts_of_Rage_%28Warhammer_High%29

bumping to do review of the writings later

>>20850629
Fair 'nuff

>>20851016
And the Treasury seems to get off on fucking up the Daughters' lives.

>>20850742
And now I've read your new material. And god damn, that medication really sucks for her! You wrote that very well imo.

bump rations for trip into hell are being distributed

All right, I live once more. Plenty of fresh material in the hopper.

The gunship arrived at the little hillock. The teens slid their jackets and thermo coats on, and hauled their towels and other accoutrements free of the gunship’s interior. The gunship took off to the other side of the lake, its atmospheric camouflage of grey and blue with deep blue Wolf colors blending in with the snow. The pilot left the vox open to reach them if a quick dustoff was needed.
Freya crept into the little crevasse, looking for occupants. There was nobody. The sound of very distant running water reached her ears, and a draft of hot air blew over her face, as she walked into the rocks. The scents of sulfur, a hint of hydrogen gasses, and the much fainter scents of people and even a little fire mingled together. She’d have wagered nobody had been there since the storm.
“It’s clear,” she said in relief. When nobody entered, she poked her head out. “Guys?”
“Anyone got the torches?” Remilia asked. She was rummaging around in the box. She paused as her fingers brushed wood and plastic. “Wait, these are real torches? I thought you meant torches like…you know, a lightbulb.”
“Wood torches, not flashlight torches,” Freya said. She swiped one and grabbed the matches. “Everyone get one and light it,” she said, suiting actions to words.
The group selected torches and walked in, Freya at the lead. The path beneath was jagged, so everyone kept their boots on. The snow gave way to a slush of half-melted ice and mud, churned up by passing feet.

The cave widened up, around five meters in, from a narrow hallway to a broader chamber. Freya’s eyes detected good places for the teens to set down their lights, and they did so, as Venus’ eyes settled on the waters below.
“Beautiful,” she whispered. The waters bubbled up from the black rocks below, from invisible cracks in the stone. It wasn’t the stereotypical ‘natural’ springs of a resort, but instead the undiminished volcanic water vent that it truly was. The edges of the little pool were jagged pumice and obsidian chunks, and the water spilled out of the main, overfull crater into a smaller, but much deeper one beyond it. The large, roughly circular room was around twenty meters across, but a dark hole on the far wall from the entry suggested deeper caverns. The water in the main crater was just under one and a half meters deep at the center, the smaller one beside it four times that in the middle.
“It’s awesome,” Remilia said. “How did you find out about this thing again?” she asked.
“A guy in the village told me,” Freya said. “Anyone else smell fresh air from deeper in the cave?” she asked.
Venus poked her head through the hole in the back wall. “There’s another vent back here. Only about forty centimeters deep, but it fills most of the room.” Her eyes and torch filled the room with flickering light. “It looks like there’s a crack in the ceiling.”
“Good, so it’s safe to use the torches,” Freya said. “All right, everyone out, I’m going to drop in the capsules,” she said. She scooped the little chemical caplets out of her pocket and dropped them into the water as the others walked back out.

She rejoined them, wrinkling her nose at the nasty smell emanating from the caves behind her. “Yuck.”
“The Mechanicum can purify oceans with that shit when they terraform, but they can’t make it smell like anything other than packing peanuts on fire,” Remilia said drily.
“It would probably offend the Machine God,” Jake said with a chuckle.
As the smell passed, Freya hesitantly inhaled at the entryway to the caves. “All right, we’re good,” she said. They walked back in to the caves and started laying out towels.
“Man…I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in a hot spring,” Remilia said, testing the water with one finger. “That’s pretty steamy, too…what do you think?”
Venus and Freya stuck their hands into the water. “Hmm…about three hundred fifteen kelvin?” Freya hazarded. “So, a hot shower.”
“Cool,” Jake said eagerly. He walked back into the other cave to start undressing. Since none of the five had brought swim suits on the trip (entirely reasonable when touring volcanic and arctic wastelands), they had decided to adopt Jake’s idea of dark underwear, and in a few moments, all five were sitting in the water of the larger pool.
Venus leaned back against the side of the natural pool, relaxing. “The funny part is, this just feels like water from the tap for me,” she said drily.
“Well, take my work for it,” Freya said, letting her braids out and breathing in the clearing air. “This is awesome.”
“I was afraid it would turn out to be a wading pool or something, but this is really deep,” Jake said, gingerly probing the floor with his foot. “I’d be over my head in the very center.”

Alex closed his eyes and plunged his head underwater for a moment. He came up and blew water out of his nose. “Phew, that’s hot.”
Venus’ eyes lit the water where Remilia was sitting. She was sitting back with the water up to her chin, eyes closed, just soaking. “This…people pay a lot of money for this on other planets,” Remilia said, dreamy.
“You guys are the lucky ones,” Venus grumped.
Jake splashed over to her and sat down beside her, sliding one soggy arm over her shoulders. “Ah, come on, just enjoy the novelty of it,” he said softly.
She rolled her eyes, but had to grin. Remilia reached into the pile of clothes and towels behind her and flailed about for a moment. “Ah hah, here we go!” she said. He pulled out a thin glass bottle. “Bottle two. If nobody minds?” she asked.
“Where did you get that?” Jake asked.
“Same place as the one from your birthday, Jake, just better hidden,” Remilia said coyly. “I hope plastic cups work for people,” she said, fishing some out.
“Do be careful, Lady Dorn,” Alex said with theatrical weariness. She looked back at him and arced a brow. “Champagne, half-naked teenagers on vacation, a hot spring…if we’re not careful, this will turn into something one might find on the tawdrier parts of the net.”
The others stared.
“I mean, not that I would know,” Alex said, all airs.
Remilia laughed aloud, passing him a cup and filling one for herself. “You’re all heart, Alex Carlin.”

“Would you guys laugh at me if I asked what the drinking age was on Fenris?” Jake asked mildly.
Freya snorted her drink out her nose and spent a few moments coughing before she could answer. “Y-yes,” she managed through a nose full of bubbles.
“Just checking,” Jake said.
Remilia lifted her cup as Jake waved one away. “All right! To the road trip, leg two!” she said enthusiastically. Four glasses and Jake’s empty cup met over the depths of the pool.
As the others pulled their hands back, Jake coughed lightly. “And to Morticia being all better when we get home,” he added.
“Hell yeah,” Venus said, sending her cup back in for round two.
They drank and settled back against the edge of the pool, enjoying the soak. Venus drained her cup and smacked her lips. “Mmm. Good stuff,” she said.
Remilia giggled. When the others looked her way. “I’m sorry, forget it,” she said, waving her hand. “Just a funny thought.”
“Mmm.” Freya poured herself another cup and sipped it more slowly. “So, guys, what’s everyone gonna do tonight? Getting sick of losing to me at poker?”
“But that hasn’t happened,” Jake said innocently. Freya glared at him. “Well, not very often,” Jake said in blatant false modesty.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Jake, where did you say you learned? Darts, cards, the match trick…”
“Middle school, my friend, all middle school,” Jake said.
“What the hell middle school did you go to? A magnet school for illusionists?” Freya asked.
Jake laughed. “Hive Tetra Middle School 19889,” he said.
“It didn’t have a name?” Alex asked.
“Nope.” Jake shook his head. “Just 19889. Hive schools are basically factories,” he said, unconsciously echoing the discussion his parents had had with Vulkan a few weeks before.
“Horrible,” Remilia said. “No way to treat kids.”
“Nope.” Jake sighed. “No, it isn’t.” He peered over at her. “How about you all? What school did you go to?”
“We all did different stuff. Morticia and Kelly had private tutors, some of went to private schools, some went to upper-crust public schools…” Remilia shrugged. “I went to a private school down the road from Imperator.”
“I went to a very small public school,” Venus said from beside him.
“I went to a private school for the second two grades of middle, had a tutor for the first,” Freya put in.
Alex shook his head. “Homeschooled, but by a small group of tutors.”
Jake nodded. “I remember the looks on my parents’ faces when I won the award. They were so proud…” He smiled at the ebony war goddess next to him. “Worked out all right, too.”
“I bet they were,” Freya said. She stretched, letting rivulets of water work their ways down her arms in the shimmering light. “Mmmm…anyone getting uncomfortable? Is this too hot?” she asked.
“Nope, I’m great,” Jake said. Venus and Remilia sounded their approval too.
“I’m too dry,” Alex said, pouring another cup. He tossed down a quick slurp. “Problem solved.”

“So…Jake, tell me about the rest of your family,” Remilia said.
Jake thought. “You know my parents?”
“We met on the landing pad for the ship to take us to the Tide,” Remilia said.
“Right. Well, my father’s a designer, my mother works for the Cube,” Jake said. “Hmm…I have an uncle Walter and an aunt Alice, my mother’s siblings…my uncle is actually still in college, my mom’s family was really far apart. I think you guys would really like uncle Wally, he’s a funny guy,” he added. “He and Alice both work in an aircar factory in my hab.”
“Factory work,” Freya shuddered. “I couldn’t survive that kind of repetition.”
“Yeah, I dunno how they do it,” Jake said. “Well...Alice just got engaged to her boyfriend, Hajime,” he said, rubbing his chin. “My mother’s parents are both still alive, Grandma Christine worked for the Imperial Estate as a menial, Grandpa Eric served in the Crusade with the Fists.”
“He was a Space Marine for Dad?” Remilia asked, wide-eyed.
“No, I meant it literally. He served the Fists,” Jake corrected. “He was one of Lord Dorns’ tenth- or eleventh- string assistant officers’ personal secretary. Started out as Praetor infantry, lost a kneecap to a Hrud Dissolver Cannon graze.”
“Gross,” Venus said. “Poor guy.”
Jake smiled ruefully. “Ah, he’s tough as nails. Got right back up and shot the bendy fucker, but he was done fighting after that. He had a paper degree – rare for an E-3 enlisted back then – so they stuck him behind a desk and he retired one year after the Crusade ended and they demobilized all the Praetor artillery regiments.”

Alex nodded. “You all know my dad, sadly…let’s see. My mother used to work for one of my paternal grandfathers’ trading companies on Proxima Station.”
“Isn’t that where Captain Roemer was from?” Venus asked.
“Yep! It’s a decommissioned O’Neill cylinder ship that they ripped the engines out of and stuck some extra hydroponic labs in there. They use it as a way-station for megafreighters passing through the Centauri cluster on the way to Sol to deliver the tithes,” Alex explained. “Grandpa basically owned two small trading companies that sold shit to the freight crews, and Dad met Mom there around twenty years back.”
“Huh. Before the Crusade ended, then?” Venus asked.
“Yeah. Hard to imagine how much it’s changed,” Alex said.
Remilia let herself slide forward on the rocks until the water was nearly up to her chin again. Her soaking hair swirled around her in the gentle current. “Heh…if we’re in family story mode…my mother helped found one of Uncle Fulgrim’s charitable foundations. He laid the groundwork out for it almost five years before the Crusade ended, since he sort of suspected it was going to happen, you know. Mom and Dad had known each other for years before then, though. She’s Terran, not Inwitan.”
Freya nodded. “Mom, the Queen of Fenris, she’s actually half-Fenrisian herself. Her father was a skjald of the Rout who was re-stationed on Terra to train the Household Guard of the Paternova. He met my grandmother, a servant of the House, and Mom happened. Dad met Mom around…twenty seven years ago. Dad, not that you’d notice, has a soft spot for girls with red hair,” she said drily, poking at her head.

“Well, they were head over heels for each other…it was only after the Crusade ended that she could have a kid, though, obviously. We’re not genetically compatible with humans…all of us, anyway,” she finished.
“I am,” Remilia said. “Gotta be careful.”
“Hope Kines never finds it out the hard way,” Freya teased.
Remilia flushed red. “Freya!”
“What? We’re all happy for you,” Freya said, as the others nodded or exchanged sly looks. “Can’t hide anything from me, remember?” she added. Remilia remembered her own words in the diplomatic lounge from the Palace, only a few months before.
“Talk about something besides me getting laid,” she mumbled, sinking deeper into the water to hide her blush.
Venus chuckled. “Dad met Mom on Nocturne, but it was only after she moved. She’s from Terra originally, she moved to Themis as an Administratum liaison. She met Dad at a ceremony to commemorate the induction of a fresh batch of about two thousand initiates, and they fell for each other at first sight.”
“That’s cute,” Freya said with a grin. “They got married before the Crusade ended, didn’t they?”
“Engaged. Dad knew it was drawing to a close. I was a surprise, I’m told, but a welcome one. Even Dad could only look forward to leading a Legion for so long, knowing peace was within our grasp.”
“I wish Dad felt that way,” Remilia sighed from the water’s surface. “He misses leading the Legion.”
“So does my Dad,” Venus replied. “I think…after I graduate and find work he’s going to move back to Nocturne and raise the banner again. Just long enough to shake the dust off and go explore the dark spots on the map for a while.”
“Probably do the Imperium some good,” Alex said. “We can always use more worlds.”

Venus downed her drink, setting the cup aside for the moment. Remilia glanced up at her and stifled another giggle. Venus looked over at her, feeling somewhat piqued. “What, Remilia?”
“I’m sorry,” Remilia said, grinning in self-reproach. “It’s just…you went with the black bra and panties, and it’s dark as hell in here, so it looks like your eyes are just floating in mid-air,” she said. “Sorry!”
Venus huffed a sigh. “Come on,” she muttered.
Jake slid his arms around her waist and hefted her up, depositing her in his lap. “There, now you’re visible against my ghost-like flesh,” Jake deadpanned.
Remilia’s giggles escaped, and she slapped the surface of the water in her mirth, sending water crashing around the pool. “Jake, don’t say that,” she laughed.
“Yeah, ghosts don’t have flesh,” Alex said suddenly, and the others laughed too.

>>20852153
>Jake slid his arms around her waist and hefted her up, depositing her in his lap.
I would be so mad jelly if I were there...

I really like that they exchange family history like that, but I'm sitting on needles just waiting for the Big Fuck-Up to happen.

>>20851043
which kinda makes sense. Those who are supposed to be responsible for controlling the behavior of another tend to want to exert that control whenever possible. Or so I've heard.

Jake wiped water off his face from Venus’ hair. “Oh, man…this is great, you guys,” he said happily, squeezing his girl around the middle. Venus snuggled back against him.
“Yeah, this is a lot of fun!” Remilia said. “Wonder if there’s a hot tub on the Tide.”
“Actually, yeah, there is,” Venus said. “Standard on all patrol ships that size. It’s for physical therapy of crewers accepting augmetics after injury, though, so nobody here gets to use it.”
“Awww.” Remilia settled back down against the rocks and crossed her legs under the water. “Well, guys, I want to thank you for bringing me along. This was exactly what I needed.”
“We’re glad you came,” Freya said contentedly, snuggling up beside Alex. He slid an arm down her back and held her close in the steamy air. “Are you guys enjoying yourselves on the trip so far?” she asked. “I want to think this was a good idea of mine.”
Venus nodded and smiled. “It’s been rough in places, but…definitely worth it.”
“Yeah.” Jake squeezed her hand under the water. “I’d rather be here than home, with or without you guys.”
Alex nodded in silence, though of course everyone present knew his own trip had been far more turbulent. “It’s been worth it,” he said at last.
“Good.” Freya wiggled up next to her lover and let his broad arm slide down her flank. “Anything catch your eye in the Hammerhold, Venus?” she asked.
Venus chuckled. “No, but it’s always fun to see how the other guys do it.”
“Bet Farah would have loved to be there,” Remilia said knowingly.
“You bet. Hana too, probably,” Venus said. Her physiology was protecting her from the alcohol’s effects, as it was with the others, though Alex wasn’t afforded that luxury.

Freya downed her third cup and set it down. “Well…here we are,” she said, in a movie trailer voice.
Remilia chuckled. “When I move out of the house, I’m installing a hot tub in whatever I buy,” she said.
“You’ll have to have us over,” Venus quipped.
Jake leaned up to her ear and whispered, so faintly only she could hear it. “Any tub you’re in is a hot tub, baby.” Venus bit her lip to stifle a laugh.
“Is the smell getting to anyone?” Freya asked.
“What smell?” Jake asked.
“Okay, it’s just me then,” Freya said. She waved her hand in front of her nose. “Sulfur gas from the vent. Not too bad, but it’s there.”
Alex inhaled. The smell was so faint he almost couldn’t sense it. “Not really getting it yet.”
“All right, I can just head out if it’s too bad,” Freya said.

>>20852715
Why do I get the feeling that something horrible is about to happen.

As the bottle slowly emptied and the afternoon wore on, talk turned to home again. Freya spoke up from Alex’s shoulder. “Do you think everybody else is enjoying their time away?”
“The ones who took some,” Remilia said. She shook her head, sending wet blond hair all around her. “Angela sure didn’t. Straight to work for her and Hana.”
“And Kelly…I still feel awful for her,” Venus said sadly. “I hope she’s okay when we’re back.”
Freya nodded. “She’s tougher than she thinks.”
“What’s Hana doing?” Alex asked.
“She went straight to a four-week seminar thing, I forget the subject. We can ask when we get home.”
“I wanna hear about Miranda’s vacation!” Jake said. “An entire planet of resorts sounds fucking awesome!”
“I’d settle for a day or two at that beach,” Remilia said dreamily. “That orbital photo was just plain sexy. An entire inland ocean…”
“I’ve never been to a casino, either,” Jake said wistfully. “I have a feeling I’d do pretty well.”
“Trust me, Jake, nobody goes to resort worlds and comes back richer, not playing a game of luck like Poker,” Remilia said. “You’re good, but you can not believe the shit professionals do. They piss themselves at the table so they don’t have to get up, they use augmetics that show hormonal levels in opponents’ blood, all kinds of shit to get ahead.”
Jake leaned forward, his expression intense and focused. “Then the solution is clear.”
Remilia blinked. “What?”
Jake’s voice was rough and flooded with conviction. “We must transplant Freya’s nose onto me somewhere I can conceal it under my clothes, then set me loose on the casino.”
Freya fell out of Alex’s arms, laughing hysterically. Venus snorted champagne onto Jake’s chest as the Remilia and Alex fell about laughing.

Freya managed to calm herself, staring at Jake in naked disbelief. “I can’t handle what you just said,” she said, gasping past her laughter.
“Ah well,” Jake shrugged sadly. “I’ll just have to make good on what I have, regretfully.”
Venus blew the alcohol out of her nose. “You know, Jake, I’m proud of you,” she decided.
Jake glance up at her. “How so?”
“When we met, you were so scared of us all that you barely even smiled around us,” Venus recalled. “Now, here you are.”
“Perseverance overcomes all obstacles,” Jake said. “I just kept at it.” He squeezed her hand and smiled up at her near-invisible face. “The payoff has been well worth it.”
“You should write self-help books when we get back to Earth on how to overcome social unconfidence,” Remilia suggested.
“Hey, yeah, I could ask Angela how she got published,” Jake said.
Freya’s watch beeped. She sighed. “Well, guys, it’s dinnertime. We should head back, I think,” she said, rising from the geothermal tub. The water glued her long red hair to her flanks like a shroud. “That was still a lot of fun. We should come back if we get the chance.” Suddenly, she froze in place, her eyes wide and staring. She hissed for silence and gestured the others to stay still. “…FUCK! Someone’s coming!” she said under her breath.
“Uh oh,” Venus said, scrambling out of the water. She scurried over to the towels and scooped one up, hurriedly drying herself off.
The others jumped out too, stumbling a bit as the alcohol took its toll. As they dried, Freya moved up to the entrance and listened. Two voices, one male and one female. Not voices she knew.
As soon as she judged them close enough, she started yelling. “We’re a bit busy!” she said in Juvjk.

The footsteps outside stopped. “Ah, lass, don’t do this to me! It’s an hour from the village!” the man complained.
“Just give us a moment to clean up and we’ll be gone, we were done anyway!” Freya called.
“Like hell, it’s freezing out here!” the woman scoffed. The footsteps started up again. “We’re coming in, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.”
“No, you AREN’T!” Freya yelled, baring her teeth in defiance.
Venus pulled her shirt on, hurriedly slapping her sunglasses over her eyes. Just in time, the voices arrived. A Fenrisian man of twenty or so and a woman of the same age entered the cave, glaring at them.
Freya stomped out of the water and walked right up to the man, hiding her fangs with an effort. “Has privacy no meaning to you, fool?” she snapped. “My friends are dressing here!”
“Bah, no man owns this place, girl,” the man scoffed. “Now if you’re done, begone.”
“Neighborly of you,” Freya said coldly. Her hand closed over the man’s like a vice, making him pause and gasp. “I said you should wait because not doing so is bad for your health,” she snarled.
The woman slapped Freya across the face, shocking her into releasing her grip. “Hands off him, bitch!” the woman said angrily.
Alex stared, one arm hanging out of his shirt. Freya slowly looked back at her, her hands clenching into fists. “Wrong move,” Freya said darkly, and hauled off with a quick jab that knocked the woman flat on her ass. In a blur of red, she spun to the side and cold-cocked the man, sending him sprawling.
The others finished dressing as Freya dried herself off and left the two Fenrisians reeling on the floor. She marched past them with the others in tow as Alex doused the torches in the water and left them floating.

>>20853153
Oh shit nigga!

I'm sure Freya will not at all be devestated by that development when they get back home.
>“We must transplant Freya’s nose onto me somewhere I can conceal it under my clothes, then set me loose on the casino.”
I chuckled again.

Freya is really not doing any favours for my warrior woman kink.

The Thunderhawk was swooping in from the horizon as they emerged, and Freya breathed a sigh of relief that the natives hadn’t seen it. Alex cleared his throat nervously. “Exit notwithstanding, Freya, that was the best time we’ve had since we got here. And yeah, we should do it again.”
“I agree,” Freya said, and to the others’ relief, her voice was free of anger again. “Maybe next time we won’t be disturbed by morons. Honestly. Does nobody respect common courtesy around here?”
“Would you want to lurk about outside while people took their time dressing in there?” Remilia asked. “At least they didn’t seem to notice our clothes.”
“Hmph. Oh well.” Freya shielded her eyes from the backdraft of the Thunderhawk as it landed, and they climbed aboard.

After a short flight back and a dinner in their rooms, the group parted ways for the evening, retiring to write home or just unspool…and in Alex’s case, walk off the champagne. He opened his slate’s message box after settling in and noted its contents with surprise. “Well, hello…two messages from…no, three messages from Terra. One from Mom, two from New Cyprine.”
“What do the Cyprine ones say?” Freya asked from the other side of the bed.
“Hmm… ‘welcome, transfer student, to blah blah blah…we acknowledge your request to room with Lady Primarch Russ…durr durr durr…just acknowledgements and approvals.” He opened the next one. “Hmm. The other one is a campus map and some information on where people coming from ships should go.”
“Wait, really?” Freya asked, scrambling over to stare at the slate. “They acknowledge a freshman asking to room with me with a form letter? Hah! Wanna bet this was just some school admin drone’s busywork and he didn’t even look at the names?”
Alex chuckled. “I don’t take sucker bets.” He set the slate down on the bed before she could pull away and ran his hand over where the local had slapped her. “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine, I didn’t even feel it,” Freya said with a shrug. “And they got theirs.”
“On Terra, you’d have kicked their shit in,” Alex pointed out.
“And this is Fenris.” Freya sat down next to him. “I’m fine, baby, really.”
Alex nodded. “All right.” He picked the slate back up. “Hmm. One from Mom…she got a form letter from Cyprine asking for confirmation and so forth…I listed her as my emergency contact,” Alex explained.

“All right.” Freya sipped from the ice water on the nightstand. “You gonna send a reply?” she asked.
Alex sighed again. “No.”
“Really? Is your Mom not going to want to know what’s up?” Freya inquired, cocking her head.
“Probably, but…” Alex trailed off. “I’m just putting it off, aren’t I?” He tapped his hand on the slate. “All right…I’ll record the message then send it later, so it’s not hanging over her when we’re coming home.”
Freya paused him, squeezing his hand with a concerned look in her eyes. “How can I help? Or should I even be here?”
Alex looked away.
“All right.” She rose from the bed. “I’ll just watch a movie with Jake and Venus or something. Take your time.”
“Thanks, babe,” Alex said, already dreading his task.

As Freya closed the door, he downed the rest of her water, trying to calm his nerves. “All right, Mom…” he said under his breath. “Let’s hear it.” He opened his transcriptor.
“Hi, Mom, it’s Alex…obviously…” he muttered. He closed and deleted the recording. “Take two…” He pressed the record button again. “Hi Mom. Not sure when you’ll get this, the tides are pretty high, but I should be home fairly soon, and I wanted to make sure you got this in case I went straight off to Orientation with Freya. I’m safe on Fenris, if that’s even possible.” He stood up and started pacing. “Last few days have been pretty crazy. I’ll hold off on a full explanation until we’re home, though.” He paused his wandering and swallowed.
“Mom…when we were on Nocturne, Dad tracked me down. I specifically told the son of a bitch not to, but he did, and now…” His words failed for a moment, and he paused the recording to choke off a sob. Bitterness and regret rose to choke off his voice. When it passed, he resumed. “It was right before we left. We were at dinner, and Dad…Dad said…fuck him to hell, he didn’t even say it to me. He said to some random fucking stranger…‘I had to choose between inheriting the Fleet and going to college.’” Alex squeezed his eyes shut. “I asked him what he meant, and he repeated himself. I snapped, I said I wouldn’t make that choice, and I stormed off. He disinherited me.”
Alex slumped down on his bed. “I’ve agreed…hang on,” he said, stabbing the slate again. The recording paused as he wiped away tears. “I agreed to live with Freya at Cyprine…I bet I told you. God…Freya is about the only thing keeping me sane right now,” he sighed. “I love her…”

He trailed off, aware he was becoming maudlin in front of his mother. “All right. Well…” He opened his eyes again, staring at his clenched hands and consciously relaxing them. “Mom, I wanted you to know because…well, it’s pretty obvious. Dad’s made his choice…” he laughed bitterly. “Ah, well. I’ll see you when I get home, I promise. I love you, Mom,” he said, turning off the recorder.
Freya was watching a holo with the others when Alex knocked. She rose and padded to the door, taking in his drained and unhappy sense with a single sniff. “All right…I’m done,” he said heavily.
“Don’t be alone,” Freya declared. She held the door open to let him in. “Watch unbearably bad zombie movies with us.” Alex managed a feeble grin and followed her into the room, where the others were huddled around Venus’ slate.
“What are we watching?” Alex asked as he sat beside the others.
“Tonight’s film is ‘The Incredibly Evil Birds,’” Venus announced, sliding her glasses on to halt the glare from her eyes.
“That exists?” Alex asked.
“Unfortunately,” Remilia said. Alex smiled at the sight of the four others lying together on the bed, staring at the propped-up slate from the other end.
He withdrew his vox and snapped a picture. “There.”
“What was that?” Venus asked.
Alex sat down beside the others. “Just commemorating this.”

Drawfags: if anyone would be willing to do a pic of the three girls and Jake on the bed watching shitty movies, either from the perspective of Alex's camera or from some other angle with Alex in the picture or not, I will extoll your generosity and do a free poem of the subject of your choice for you.

>>20853347
>Alex sat down beside the others. “Just commemorating this.”
That sounds like a very good place to stop for today...
Oh god, I hope you don't stop for today!
>>20853393
I got another idea: draw them when they are in the hot springs!

>>20853550
I'm stopping for chores. I'll be back in three hours.

>>20832263
Butcher's nails cannot be removed without killing the subject. See the audio drama titled Butcher's Nails.

>>20853938
For those of us not in the loop; what is Butcher's Nails?

>>20853958
The combination of cybernetic implants, small-scale neurochemical modifications, hypnosis-conditioning, and reflex training that turn normal Astartes into World Eater Berserkers.

>>20854032
Gotcha!

>>20853938
Perhaps they were just disabled, rather then actualy removed.

>>20853938
>>20854225
I heard this from our resident Loremarine, and the closest idea I could come up with was having them disabled. Who knows, maybe this alt-universe has better healthcare.

As the sun rose the next morning, and the five returned from their workout, Freya halted Alex in their room. “Babe, do you want to go back to the hot spring today?” she asked.
Alex paused, one hand on the doorframe. “Sure,” he said, wiping a bead of water out of his eyes. “When do the others wanna go?”
“I mean you and me,” Freya said. Alex smiled.
“Yeah…that sounds good,” he said. “When do we leave?”
“After lunch, no hurry,” she said, flopping down on the bed. “I spoke to the others after we finished that…abomination of a movie last night, and they’re just gonna check out the firing range today anyway.”
“Is Jake going to be alright?” Alex asked.
“He should be fine, Venus isn’t worried,” Freya said. “Nice of you to be concerned, though.”
Alex shrugged. “I gotta say, I didn’t have a whole lot of time for him at school, but he’s good people.”
“And he makes Venus feel like she belongs,” Freya agreed. She sat up. “All right…do me a favor before we go, and go grab those towels from before? I need to arrange transport with Bjorn.”
“Sure,” Alex said, making for the door.