#ftr1

Tagged by the fantastic @akindofmagictoo, thanks!!

ache + pain + burn (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“I’m not here to screw up your plan,” the stranger added, back stiffening slightly at her reaction. “You saved my life, remember? I’m not one for unpaid debts.”

“Do I look like a debt collector?”

“You look like a killer who was born too kind.”

Ailin took a deep breath, chest suddenly aching. Not with the pain that came from breathing, or from a racing heart. Something different. Something far deeper, burning somewhere past where her physical body ended.

hurt + pain (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

“Just go away,” snapped Dymas. “I’ve had enough for tonight.”

Zaul slapped him.

He didn’t think about it, didn’t even stop to consider. Just reached out and walloped him across the face as hard as he could.

It hurt more than he’d expected. Pain lanced across his palm, and and he squeaked in surprise.

Dymas topped over, tangled in his sleeping robe, and crashed into the bed with all the elegance of a drunken camel. He stared up at Zaul, clutching his face, his breathing labored.

sting (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“I wasn’t trying to hit a nerve,” muttered Ailin, uneasy.

“What?” Zaul flashed her a decidedly soggy grin. “Never seen a man cry?”

“Not without a knife in him.”

“You have problems.”

He was definitely right. But it didn’t sting like it should. She braced for it, for the familiar tightening around her heart at what, from anyone else, would be a criticism. But the shadowy flush of shame that was always ready to boil over didn’t come.

Bonus Words

heal (Firetide Rising 1)

Kina closed her eyes, trying to expand her awareness. It took her a moment, her own body fighting against her.

Her side pounded with deep, cold pain. Her aching left eye had swollen shut. She could feel every cut and bruise she’d gotten when the water dragon had collapsed the cave on her, and all of the stitches she’d never let properly heal.

She couldn’t feel the ocean. But what she could feel, she realized, was fire.

rest (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“I’m good.”

“No way that’s true,” Zaul raised his eyebrows, shaking his head slightly. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Last night.”

“For how long?”

Ailin hesitated. “Three hours?”

“That’s not restful,” Zaul informed her, crossing his arms, eyebrows crunching in what Ailin was pretty sure was concern.

“Of course it is,” she protested. “It’s a power nap.”

“Uh huh. When was the last time you slept before that? It doesn’t count if it was less than six hours.”

It definitely hadn’t been.

I tag (no pressure!!): @sleepyowlwrites, @sharraus, @shaheenarnitipsyart, @writeblrfantasy, @writingonesdreams, @drippingmoon and open tag for anyone who wants it!!

Tagged by the wonderful @akindofmagictoo, thanks!!

Gentle (Firetide Rising 1)

“But dragons,” said Kina, quietly. “Doesn’t that change things? An entire species we thought was extinct, and turns out they might not be?”

Tai grinned at her. It was gentle, and encouraging, and not remotely helpful to Kina right now.

“I know you won’t believe this yet,” Tai told Kina, “but you will find plenty of things in your lifetime that shake your beliefs to the core. Embrace it. Adapt with it. Enjoy it the same way you do a bright piece of coral or the patterns the sun makes in the waves.”

“Okay, grandpa,” said Aiko, hoisting a sandbag over his head and balancing it on one arm. Tai cheerfully chucked the mostly carved turtle at him.

Gleam (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Ailin poked her head beyond the bushes, checking the nearby paths. They gleamed gold with torchlight, empty save for clean-swept bricks and a few fallen flowers. Above, the top of the wall was devoid of life. Her timing was good tonight.

Glare (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“You’ll never leave the Oasis alive.” [said Dymas]

“That’s my problem, not yours,” Ailin shrugged, chest tight. For once, she wished she’d had more practice actually talking to people.

“Do you know who I am?” he demanded.

“Yes.”

“Then you should know if you harm me, the Oracle herself will find you.”

“Also not your problem.”

He glared at her. Ailin kept her head ducked, hair spilling over her eyes, hoping the shadows and flickering candlelight would hide her time traces. She watched him through her black coils, careful to keep her own eyes narrowed.

Give (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

“If I don’t report the all clear, your bosses fancy new paperwork gets leaked,” Zaul threatened. “Let me go.”

“Doubtful,” said an unfamiliar woman’s voice by his other shoulder. “You don’t work with a partner.”

Zaul hesitated. He shouldn’t . It was a dead giveaway.

“Of course I do,” he said, too late to be believable.

They chuckled, sending a terrible chill down Zaul’s spine.

I tag (no pressure!!): @pluttskutt, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @sleepyowlwrites, @the-orangeauthor, @shaheenarnitipsyart and open tag for anyone who wants it!

Tagged a long, long time ago by @rodentwrites, thanks!!

Clean (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Ailin poked her head beyond the bushes, checking the nearby paths. They gleamed gold with torchlight, empty save for clean-swept bricks and a few fallen flowers. Above, the top of the wall was devoid of life. Her timing was good tonight.

She took a running start, sprinting a half-dozen paces up the wall to catch a crack with her fingertips. The wall was showing some wear, small spaces opening between ancient adobe bricks. This section had more than most, and Ailin had carefully added several of her own a few years ago.

File (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Sunlight streamed over them, slanting in deep rays as the day began stretching towards evening. Sand hung in the air, glittering gold, swirling like firelight. It was warmer up here, even as the wind rustled through Ailin’s sleeves, buffeting her hair around her ears.

“Quite the view,” commented the young man, eyes sweeping across the skyline. They were high enough to get a good look at the sprawling city, the roadways and architecture laid out like a map sprung to life before them.

“I learned the city from up here,” Ailin admitted. “It’s easier to keep your place when you know the layout like a vulture.”

Pitch (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

She had two options for climbing. The first was slow and methodical, mindful of every movement, prepared to steady herself against any pitching time-sense from a fall before it happened. The second was simple speed, rushing through motion to stay ahead of the future.

Ailin tended to prefer whichever she wasn’t using.

Rasp (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

Dymas gaped at him, mouth hanging open. If Zaul’s ears weren’t buzzing with fury, he would have laughed. It had been a long time since he hadn’t wanted to laugh.

“How dare you speak to me like that,” Dynas rasped out, eventually.

“Fine. Maybe I’m done. You’re lucky I’m not Ailin, because without her you are screwed in every last infinite future Hazarys ever made.”

Whistle (Firetide Rising 1)

"What did you do, beat up the mast until it surrendered and let Tai go?”

“More or less,” Kina shrugged. She immediately regretted it, her shoulder stinging sharply again.

Erok looked up at her, clear disbelief on his face.

“She’s not joking,” Tai said, quietly. “She couldn’t lift the mast, so she destroyed the deck under it.”

Erok whistled softly, turning Kina’s arms over again to get another look at the gashes on her forearms. A few of them were still seeping blood. It was unpleasantly sticky and warm now that it was mostly congealed.

I tag (no pressure!!): @sleepyowlwrites, @akindofmagictoo, @thegreatobsesso, @the-orangeauthor, and open tag for anyone who wants it!

Tagged by the lovely @citywillow, thanks!!

ecstatic thrilled (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“Do people think I’m dead?”

“There hasn’t been an official announcement,” said Ailin, softly. “But yes. They do.”

“I suppose that’s good news,” Dymas groaned, shaking his head slightly. “Can’t say I’m thrilled to hear it.”

exit (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

“Go to hell,” said Zaul.

He had to move the chair awkwardly aside, and undo the bolt on the door before he could storm out. It seriously undercut the drama of his exit.

spice (Firetide Rising 2 passage from a textbook Kina is Very Frustrated with)

To understand magic, you must first understand the different flavors of focus. Some magic is sweet, some spicy, some may even be overcooked or spoiled. To use magic is to understand these flavors, to learn how to spice your food just so. As in the kitchen you can create all manner of meals, so in magic you can create all manner of flavors.

human (Firetide Rising 1)

What goes around comes around. But, really, what made that happen? Was it just the random will of the world? Kina didn’t see how it could be. Maybe sometimes, the will of the world was what she saw when people took action. Maybe “fate” was just people making choices.

That was all she had done back on that shipwreck, when she'd saved Tai. She'd made a choice. The others seemed to think that was fate. Well, maybe it was, if fate was the consequence of her making the choice to stay and help instead of swimming for the surface like she was supposed to.

But if fate was just a byproduct of human stubbornness, then she didn’t really see how the world had managed not to set itself on fire by this point.

jump (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

He was cornered. There was only one ladder, and the newcomer blocked it. The only way off the roof was jumping, and even Zaul wasn’t stupid enough to hurl himself into three stories of empty space.

I tag (no pressure!!): @sleepyowlwrites, @akindofmagictoo, @writingonesdreams, @pluttskutt, @asomeoneperson and open tag for anyone who wants it!

Tagged by the lovely @akindofmagictoo, thanks Zoe!!

rise (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

She [Ailin] stepped off the roof. The route to Dymas’s window was ingrained in her body already, the careful step-grip-step-grip patterns against the wall a familiar rhythm in spite of the timesense struggling to rise with every movement.

raise (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

Korchi fell into what was clearly a well-practiced fighting stance, sword up. He was smiling, just slightly, an animalistic curl gathering at the edges of his lips.

Knuckles white, Zaul raised his scimitar awkwardly, wrists burning with effort. A dark laugh rushed around the stands, and Zaul flushed, fury rising. His feet released, and he turned sideways, like his teachers had tried so hard to get him to do when he was younger.

rush (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Ailin took a deep breath, and turned her back on him, slipping the dagger away. There was no sudden rush of movement, no sweeping sensation from a surprise attack the second her eyes were off him. He just stood there, waiting quietly, seemingly oblivious to the terrifying absence of sensation in her time-sense.

How long had it been, since she’d turned her back on someone without so much as a flicker of violence?

rash (Firetide Rising 1)

He [Captain Akanu] looked at Kina a few times, and she hastily looked down at her food, trying to pretend she hadn’t been watching him. She doubted he was fooled, but he didn’t confront her about it.

Did he know? Tai had figured her out almost immediately. Had Captain Akanu, too? He'd said not to tell him about it [the dragon heist], and she had taken that to heart. But still, she wondered suddenly if he might have been able to offer her more insight into the situation.

Maybe if she had actually talked to him before her apparently extremely rash decision to go steal two dragons from under the nose of some of the most important people in the kingdom, she might have been able to take a more informed course of action.

I tag (no pressure!!): @sleepyowlwrites, @zmlorenz, @ashen-crest, @papercutsunset, @uraniumwriting, and open tag for anyone who wants it!

write (Firetide Rising 1)

Kina had never understood Destiny’s Will. How could one spirit, goddess or not, write the fate of every person? Had she and Tai survived the ocean because of Destiny? Or just stubbornness?

wrong (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)

Zaul sank back down, running still-freezing hands over his face.

What happened? He’d have to piece it together, if he had any chance at coming out the other side of whatever this mess was.

It had been like any other night of flippant crime. Make the meeting, hand over the papers, avoid the law. Profit.

And then…everything had gone wrong.

wring ring (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

I’m sorry,” Ailin whispered again. The fire overtook him, and Ailin couldn’t watch.

She slipped out, closing the door behind her, and fled. She didn’t look back, following the rooftops towards the wall. Behind her, a shout went up, alarm bells ringing as the Dumdarin scrambled to start the fire response.

wrist (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Dymas’s eyes widened, pupils dilating, and he stumbled back again, crashing awkwardly into the wall. His already pale face blanched further, going splotchy with panic as he raised his hands uselessly in front of him.

Ailin froze. She could kill him from here. A flick of her wrist, and the knife would sink into his throat. Or she could charge him, sweep his legs, send him through the window to scatter on the ground below.

But this wasn’t an arena. He wasn’t an opponent, to be stopped in the name of self defense. He wasn’t even armed.

I tag (no pressure!!): @sleepyowlwrites, @uraniumwriting, @viskafrer, @papercutsunset, @akindofmagictoo, @pluttskutt

hope (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“It’s done,” said Ailin. The words scratched unpleasantly. She wished it was just from the cold night winds and dusty sand.

She’d said it before. The proclamation that she’d done what they asked, even though the hope they’d show any real appreciation had died years ago.

But until now, it had always been true. When was the last time she’d actually lied to her parents?

home (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

Ailin couldn’t go home. Somehow, the revelation was almost a relief. After a lifetime of dreading it, of avoiding it, of hating everything about being there, suddenly she was free of it.

It was over. Everything that had come before, it was over. She’d slammed the door behind her, burned every bridge that would ever let her go home.

heal (Firetide Rising 1)

Carefully, slowly, Kina stood up. She wavered slightly, but didn’t fall, and dragged her flippers up onto dry sand. She was still in her diving gear.

She wasn’t bleeding, she realized suddenly. Her arms and legs should be covered in slashes and splinters from breaking through that shipwreck. But the cuts were old, mostly healed over, leaving occasional scars.

How much time had passed? A month? Two? Longer?

Had she lost memory? She’d heard of that happening to people who had near-death experiences.

hail (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)

“Honored audience!” boomed Lalit, spreading her arms above them in the announcers tower. “We begin!”

A terrible cheer echoed across the dusty pit, vibrating the half-wall against Ailin’s back, sending tremors through the soles of her shoes to bite at the balls of her feet. She shifted, re-centering her weight, flexing her toes to ground herself.

“Your defender tonight hails from the Oasis District itself!” Lalit waved grandly at the heavy doors on one end of the pit, waiting to open and reveal whoever the first fighter tonight was. “Will his ink stains turn to blood? Or will he prove too deft with a blade for his challenger to overcome?”

I tag (no pressure!!): @ashen-crest, @zmlorenz, @sleepyowlwrites, @winterandwords, @ink-fireplace-coffee, @afoolandathief, and open tag for anyone who wants it!!

I've been tagged by the incredible @akindofmagictoo, thanks!!

Damage (Deathdancer)

“This fight holds no yield,” said Lalit, looking down at them. “It will conclude when the winner concludes it.”

That was on Ailin, to wrap it this nicely without doing permanent damage. It was more dangerous for her, but at least she wasn’t supposed to cause any real harm tonight.

Drain (Firetide Rising 2)

“Someone tried to kill me,” Kina muttered. “There was a burning building nearby, I drained the fire for energy to get away.”

“And it didn’t kill you?” said Lito, with the same calm curiosity as a sailor asking what knot was your favorite to tie.

“Nope,” Kina shrugged. “Although I’m told it could have.”

Danger (Deathdancer)

Ailin's voice sounded like a strangers. She hated it when that happened, when everything went so numb that her mind locked itself in a glass box and the world went flat.

It was easy to be impersonal when emotions never bubbled to the surface, and that was dangerous. If you were going to do terrible things, you needed to understand the consequences.

Dare (Firetide Rising 1)

“How dare you use my own words against me,” said Tai, the corners of his mouth twitching in a failed attempt to hide his smile.

“I only use the good ones,” Kina assured him. “That’s why it only happens occasionally.”

I tag (no pressure!!): @ink-fireplace-coffee, @writingonesdreams, @pepperdee, @theres-bees-in-my-head, and open tag for anyone who wants it!