TheLoudlyHappy

Sokka and Mahina

Mahina’s Personality: Energetic, practical, quick-witted, and protective to a fault. She is often seen scanning the environment, making mental notes of escape routes or potential tools. She mirrors Sokka's mix of worry and courage, often being the first to let out a small yelp of alarm before immediately preparing for a fight. She is his voice of caution and his engine of inventive thought.

Settled Form: Marine Otter (not to be confused with a sea otter), the largest species of otter, found along the cold rocky coastlines of the southernmost tip of South America, known for its deep familial loyalty, playfulness, capability as a hunter and for using tools (rocks) to crack shellfish.

Meaning: Mahina settles as the Marine Otter the moment Hakoda leaves for war. Intially Sokka is disappointed with Mahina’s form and her name; believe it to be too ‘girly’ and lame compared to what he was hoping for: a wolf. But the Marine Otter symbolises his true nature as the indispensable thinker, fierce, resourceful and at his core; a fun-loving friend.

Actions: Mahina is wary and suspicious of new people and has uncanny intuition. She is alert and anxious in new situation but when Sokka is comfortable; she is very laid-back, even lazy. She is very social and playful and will often be chatty with other daemons she is comfortable with, and if it won’t hurt them, she often nips and roughhouses with others. Another thing she does is voice Sokka’s stream of thought when he is thinking. She is often ‘building’ things when they are idle; stacking rocks and can even tie and untie knots. Which comes in handy, as she often ties enemies’ shoelaces together if the opportunity presents itself. She helps Sokka fish and is very good at picking good spots for setting up camp.

Relationships:

Katara and Manaaki: Mahina and Manaaki share the absolute, silent bond of siblings who have endured hardship together. They communicate frequently without their humans knowing, often through small clicks, glances, or shared movements. When they are at odds, their daemons will usually be the first to reach out to each other. Mahina often nudges Manaaki to offer comfort and affection to Katara. They have an instinctive affection that is often lacking in their human counterparts. They might be seen grooming one another's fur or feathers, or sitting back-to-back while resting. Although Katara is fierce and vastly more capable of defending herself, Mahina as a physically bigger Daemon, is always protective of Manaaki. Sometimes when Katara and Manaaki are angry and picking a fight, Mahina will simply pick up squawking and flailing Manaaki and keep him out of harm’s way or try to calm him down with hugs.

Kiyoi and Malik - EOC fic: Mahina is instantly playful with Malik (a tiny otter in comparison) when Kiyoi joins Team Avatar. The two otters, despite their different species, work together seamlessly when fishing or scheming, and find themselves and their humans becoming the practical backbone of the Gaang. Though Mahina is slightly exasperated with Malik’s seriousness, and often tries to coax him into a game or a swim. She sees the tension in Kiyoi and Malik's relationship and often nudges Malik to encourage his playful nature, essentially trying to cheer Kiyoi up through her daemon.

Suki and Kenichi: it is a relationship of Affectionate Teasing and Trust. Mahina and Kenichi have a playful, loving rapport that is immediately evident. They are often seen bumping noses affectionately or grooming each other. Mahina enjoys having dexterous hands and being able to make ‘jewellery’ (flower crowns and bracelets of fishing line) to adorn Kenichi's antlers with. The Otter often uses his almost slapstick behaviour to coax a rare, amused snort from the highly disciplined Deer. The daemons often ‘sleep’ together and… Mahina even lets Suki touch her eventually, and remarks that Mahina gives the best hugs.

Katara and Manaaki

Manaaki’s Personality: Fiercely nurturing, empathetic, and possessive of those he loves. He is often anxious and protective, mirroring Katara's intense desire to mother and defend everyone around her. He is a conduit for her strong moral compass, often letting out sharp, warning squawks when he sees injustice or senses danger.

Settled Form: Fairy Penguin (also known as Little Penguin) The smallest species of penguin, found along the southern coastlines of Australasia. They are rare and endangered. They are known for their deep familial bonds, tireless commitment to their mates, and surprisingly feisty nature when defending their burrows or young. Manaaki is sleek, dark blue/black, and moves with a distinctive waddle on land and incredible speed in the water.

Meaning: Manaaki settles as a Fairy Penguin the day Kya dies. It symbolises her deep familial loyalty, her self-appointed duty as the emotional anchor, and the 'small but mighty' nature of her protective spirit. Their rarity is also a testament to Katara feeling in herself that she is alone and endangered—the last true Waterbender of the South.

Actions: Manaaki often sits in the hood of Katara’s parka or is carried in a bag as he can’t grip on to her and is quite slow on land. Manaaki is very friendly and will talk to anyone and will always give people the benefit of the doubt. He is very trusting, but if someone betrays that trust… oh boy, Manaaki will never forget it. He is very popular and good with kids. A daemon like him is a rarity and very cute. He often leans into this if it means he can get his human companions a discount on store items or aid from other travelers. He is very helpful in the water though, able to retrieve small lost items like Sokka's fishing hooks and dive deeper than Mahina and for longer. He uses his diving skills to bring back small, useful items like specific herbs, algae or food. When Katara is particularly distraught or angry, Manaaki shows no fear. He will waddle quickly to the daemon of the person she is fighting and let out a series of sharp, protective squawks and try to attack them, flaring his feathers, making himself look larger. Manaaki is not as talkative as Katara but is a good listener and will often look out for people who are excluded or not having a good time and whisper his observations to Katara.

Relationships: Zuko and Akari: are said earners of both Katara and Manaaki’s ire. Initially, he deals them hostility and mistrust. Manaaki shares an intense initial aversion to Zuko and his daemon, but would often drive the much larger Dhole away with sharp squawks whenever Akari gets too close to Aang or Sokka. The shift in their relationship is slow. Manaaki is only able to tolerate Akari once Katara reconciles with Zuko. Manaaki now will peck Akari when he walks past as a teasing jab rather than an attack.

Sokka and Mahina: Manaaki and Mahina share the absolute, silent bond of siblings. They often communicate without their humans knowing, coordinating their actions in a way that shows their deep mutual trust and history. Mahina often relies on Manaaki for emotional stability, and Manaaki relies on Mahina for practical alertness. The daemons often play, talk and groom one another. Manaaki often protests when Mahina tries to protect him or carry him. But sometimes he will want to see what is going on or need to move faster, so will ask for “up-ies” with a little raise of his flippers.

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FOUR + RHYME (ITALIAN HEBRAN HONEYBEE)

Four's daemon is an industrious, adaptable, cooperative, sociable species of honeybee, known for being assertive but not aggressive insects; they have a high threshold for what they consider threats, and will communicate using pheromones, body language, and vocalizations to make themselves as clearly understood as possible, but they will not hesitate to defend themselves if something is deemed a threat.

Four is empathetic, observant, passionate, and composed. Rhyme is the emotional, pragmatic, impulsive, competitive part of his personality.

Rhyme is usually kept in a protective case Four wears around his neck to prevent any harm from coming to her either in battle or out of it, due to her diminutive size, but he will happily let her out to stretch her wings when around people he trusts. While she is too small to outright cuddle with her sisters, Rhyme loves perching on their heads or burrowing into feathers or fur when it’s chilly, and she’s surprisingly expressive with her body language, though one might have to squint to see it.

When Four splits into his Colors, Rhyme also splits. Which means instead of one being in two bodies, they’re now one being in eight bodies. As in LU canon, none of the Colors is their own individual in this AU, merely a fraction of a larger whole. In turn, each iteration of Rhyme is an alternate part of each of the Colors, with Four’s soul fragmenting into smaller and smaller individual pieces the deeper you go down.

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TIME + MELODY (SPANISH FARON MASTIFF)

While menacing in appearance due to their sheer size and bulk, Spanish mastiffs are actually known for being protective, affectionate, quiet dogs, with a long history of guarding livestock; they are patient, easygoing, and surprisingly playful, good with children and tolerant of other animals, though their strong wills and stubbornness make them a challenge to handle for first-time dog owners.

Time is authoritative, jaded, and stoic, while Melody embodies his nurturing, hopeful, mischievous side.

Melody can often be found at Time’s side with one of his hands resting on her head or back. As the largest daemon in the group paired with the tallest person, they make for quite the intimidating pair and are downright deadly in battle together. Outside of battle, though, Melody becomes a big teddy bear, utterly content to let her daughters sisters use her as a pillow or mode of transportation, quietly communicating all the warm care and tenderness Time is sometimes too awkward to openly express. She is the one who introduced the musical motif the other Ellanharais also adopted when coming up with nicknames for themselves.

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TWILIGHT + ARIA (GRAY WOLF)

Twilight’s daemon is a social, cooperative, dedicated apex predator, who routinely work together to raise their young, defend their territories, and chase down their prey over vast distances; they are not overly aggressive and prefer to avoid conflict whenever they can, using body language, sent marking, and howling to diffuse tense situations and prevent costly fights between packs or individuals.

Twilight is focused, cautious, and opinionated. Aria is his easygoing, empathetic, people-pleasing side.

Aria instantly adopts most of the younger daemons in the group and dotes on them as much as they’ll allow. However, she turns into a big, besotted puppy whenever Time and Melody come into the picture and becomes adorably bashful around Malon’s pigeon daemon Rosamu. She is often found at Twilights right side, guarding his flank and watching his back while he focuses his attention on what’s in front of him. She also loves scritches and belly rubs and has nearly smothered Twilight more than once by sprawling on top of him too heavily while they sleep. While their initial transformation into Wolfie was traumatic and scarring at first, they have both grown to enjoy the occasional opportunity to truly travel, fight, and exist as one.

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WILD + TRILL (WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE)

Wild’s daemon is a loyal, resourceful, resilient species of raptor that is often found alone or in monogamous pairs, but will freely cooperate together with groups of up to 15 other eagles to take down larger prey; they are straightforward and communicative with their vocalizations and displays and also surprisingly playful, wrestling or playing food games with each other.

Trill is Wild’s dutiful, reserved, focused side, while Wild is the impulsive, playful, lackadaisical side.

Trill is rather choosy with and to whom she shows open affection. She can be very standoffish, preferring to let Wild do the talking for both of them, but once she trusts someone, she will often become very chatty and physically affectionate. It is common to see her riding around or napping on Aria's back, but she has begun opening up more to the others as well.

Because Wild lost all his memories in the Shrine of Resurrection, Trill had become unsettled when they finally woke up, taking the most basic shape a daemon can take, normally only seen with very young children: a small, floating, glowing ball of golden Dust. As they regained their memories during Wild’s quest and discovered more about themselves, Trill began taking on some of their old favored forms before eventually resettling for good as her original settled form, the wedge-tailed eagle. Despite physically being the same, though, there’s still that distance between who they are now and who they used to be, most evident in how their personalities have seemed to switch; Wild used to be more serious, focused, and responsible, and Trill used to embody the impulsivity, rowdiness, and wanderlust he kept tightly tamped down for the sake of duty and appearances. Both of them are still coming to terms with how much they have changed.

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LEGEND + LYRIC (EUROPEAN HYLIAN RABBIT)

Legend's daemon settled as a hardy, wary, sociable, territorial species of rabbit, able to survive and thrive in almost any environment; they are a keystone prey species, a vital part of almost any ecosystem they find themselves in, who must stay ever vigilant and rely on their speed, wits, and determination to stay alive.

Legend is blunt, private, and practical, while Lyric is the sensitive, sociable, sentimental side of him.

Legend has… a complicated relationship with his daemon’s form. He initially hides her away from the rest of the Chain out of paranoia and insecurity, keeping her in his pack at all times. What would Hyrule they think of the renowned Hero of Legend having a defenseless, soft little rabbit as a daemon? They would lose all respect for him, or worse, be disappointed. It isn’t until after the Twili crystal incident, and Twilight and Sky find out about Lyric’s form, that he starts to come out of his shell.

After the ice has been broken, Lyric leaps at the chance to interact with the other deamons more. She goads Aria or even Melody into games of chase, can finally properly pounce on Warriors’ daemon the next time she teases her, curls up into a little fuzzy ball with Hyrule’s daemon to nap, leaps up on Trill or Psalm or Wind’s daemon’s backs and coax them into giving her a ride, and holds Rhyme in her little paws to gloat that she finally knows a daemon smaller than her (Rhyme is not amused). She is the one who came up with the name for their group of daemons, which is a chorus, just like a group of Links is a chain.

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HYRULE + CADENCE (YELLOW-BELLIED GLIDER)

Hyrule’s daemon is a small, nocturnal glider species that is selectively social, close-bonding, and expressive, utilizing a number of chirps, whirrs, whistles, and growls to keep away intruders and keep tabs on each other; yellow-bellied gliders are incredibly active, hard-working creatures, spending up to 90% of their time awake foraging, and they can travel up to 2 kilometers in just 4 hours through a combination of climbing and gliding.

Hyrule is independent, wary, and agreeable. Cadence represents his dependent, connected, feisty side.

Cadence is generally quite a skittish daemon, who can normally be found clinging wide-eyed to Hyrule’s back, shoulders, chest, or arms, or hidden inside his tunic or pack. She has not interacted closely with many other daemons in her time (fairies do not have daemons), so she is still getting used to the physical affection the others offer. She does not dislike it; it is simply a lot. But she is gradually learning to love being nuzzled, cuddled, and carried, and she greatly enjoys riding around on the other larger daemons.

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WIND + SHANTY (MILITARY MACAW)

Wind settled just a couple months before the events of Linked Universe as a resourceful, gregarious, deeply loyal species of macaw; like all macaws, they can be quite loud, communicative, and expressive, and they have generally been described as having friendly, confident, playful dispositions, albeit with the occasional temperamental mood swing.

Shanty is Wind's meticulous, perceptive, down-to-earth side, while Wind is reckless, curious, and carefree.

As is befitting for a parrot daemon, Shanty spends much of her time perched on Wind’s shoulders or arms, though she does love being held and cuddled, too. She is still getting used to her settled form, and sometimes forgets she cannot shift like she once did, leading to some hilarious mishaps when she faceplanted on the ground trying to turn into a hermit crab, or one memorable instance where she nearly drowned while trying to become a yellowtail snapper. She gets very starry-eyed over the other demons and thinks all of them are the coolest for different reasons. She desperately wants to impress them and prove she’s just as badass as they are, so she can sometimes chafe under their well-meaning coddling.

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WARRIORS + BALLAD (RED FOX)

Warriors’ daemon settled as the confident, dependable, independent red fox, the most widespread and successful carnivore in the world, found in just about every available habitat, from jungle to tundra; despite being mainly solitary, these animals have a complex social hierarchy and can be seen in a wide variety of group settings, with vixens sometimes coming together during the breeding season to help raise each other’s cubs, and their mates bringing them food and also helping parent the new cubs.

Warriors is shrewd, charming, and diplomatic, while Ballad is more brash, cheeky, and candid.

Ballad, while generally friendly and warm with the other daemons (especially the younger ones), is also strangely skittish around them. She is fine initiating touch or curling up for a nice nap around or with someone else, but if touched unexpectedly, she tends to either bristle, growl, and retreat behind Warriors, or go very still and quiet. She shies away from any human hands except Warriors' (and even then there are days he doesn't touch her directly). They bring to mind other hands. Slim, small, elegant, painted hands that hurt, that took, that tainted- ...It’s fine. She’s fine. They’re fine. Everything’s fine.

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Resources:

Red-crowned crane analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24990

Italian honeybee analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23882

Tibetan mastiff analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24552

Spanish mastiff information: https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/spanish-mastiff

Gray wolf analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23828

Wedge tailed eagle analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26686

European rabbit analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23718

Yellow bellied glider analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24968

Military macaw analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26591

Red fox analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24946

Compliments from Leon are rare, because they're always genuine. Arthur feels his heart warm from praise from the first person he was trusted to cross swords with. But because he's the prince, and good is never good enough, he says, "I need to keep training my left arm. I feel it falter when I have to hold a shield for longer than two bouts." Leon hums, neither rebuking nor disagreeing, and Arthur jerks his head to the space beside him. "Come sit, Leon. You've earned the rest."

He's not sure if Leon will accept— he is the picture of propriety, after all, it's how he became First Knight— but to his pleasure Leon does. It's peaceful, and Arthur leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The rest of his knights are wrapping up training themselves, building camaraderie with friendly slaps on the shoulder.

"If I may, Sire," Leon says, "I'm happy to see that you've made such a good friend. Even princes need those they can rely on, and you deserve support that doesn't come from a pledge of fealty."

Arthur blinks. The statement is so utterly absurd that for a moment Arthur fears that Leon hit his head when Arthur wasn't watching. "What?"

"You didn't be coy, Arthur," Leon says with a crooked grin. "It's obvious how much Merlin means to you."

Arthur nearly laughs out loud. "Merlin?! Oh, gods, Leon, no, it's not like that. The stroppy idiot's furious at me right now, and the feeling is mutual."

"But Sire—"

"Do you know what he did to my gambeson? My favorite gambeson?!" Arthur says. "Burned a hole right through the center! And when I asked him how on earth he managed to accomplish such a thing, even with his blinding incompetence, all he could stammer was that he was trying to clean it. Clean it."

"Arthur—"

"So I told him today, since he had such an interest in cleaning, he could start with the entire armory." He dares to glance over across the way, to where Merlin's been seated on a little bench, furiously scrubbing at a plate with a ragged cloth.

Like he could read Arthur's mind, Merlin's head snaps up. He makes eye contact, and glares at Arthur, the same way he's been doing the entire time they've been out on the training fields. Arthur glares right back.

"That may be true, Sire," Leon says, with the same placating tone that he's used every time he interrupts one of Arthur and Merlin's spats. "But, well. Aneirin and Sylve." His eyes dart over to the side, and Arthur's finally follow.

Aneirin's prancing like a foal, like a far more playful version of the dance he did while sparring. His hooves are light when they strike the ground, always careful not to step on the stoat that deftly weaves in between them. Sylve nips at Aneirin's heels, and then she quickly backs away, but Aneirin catches up quickly and returns the favor with a soft-mouthed bite at Sylve's nape. Aneirin then settles on the ground, bowing his head, and Sylve quickly clambers over his great antlers to rest on his back. They're speaking to each other, but Arthur's far too far away to hear the details of their conversation.

Arthur's eyes shoot over to Merlin. If he's noticed his daemon is currently getting ready to take a nap on Arthur's, he doesn't show it. He's still scrubbing at the plate mail like he'd rather pick it up and bash it over Arthur's head.

Arthur jumped, cursing as Aneirin scrambled to his feet. The voices were distinct, one low pitched and more distant, the other high, female, closer. Arthur's gut twisted with dread.

"I hear her," Aneirin said, and slowed down just enough for Arthur to keep pace as he sprinted through the forest. The shrill shriek increased in pitch as he ran, brambles tearing at his legs and lungs burning for air. It choked, gasped, before cutting off in a pitiful whimper.

Aneirin pushed ahead, thundering hooves leaving Arthur behind. Arthur felt the ache in his chest like he'd taken a staff-blow, and yet could not tell his daemon to stop. The red stag ran as far as he dared, until Arthur could not hear the screams over his own heartbeat pulsing hot in his ears. It was just too far Aneirin come back wait—

Aneirin shouted something, something Arthur couldn't hear over his own labored breath, but he saw the stag come to a stop in the middle of a clearing. The relief gave Arthur the surge of strength he needed to catch up. Arthur had barely come to a stop as well, wheezing for breath, when Aneirin's fear crashed over him.

"Help her!" Aneirin shouted. "We need to get her out, do something—"

It took Arthur a minute to realize what he was looking at, with his breath still heavy from exertion, with the whimpers and gasps still coming from the center of the clearing, with Aneirin's panic rushing through his veins. The circle on the ground had been covered with dirt and moss in the years of disuse, the three pillars that grounded the trap innocuous in the vegetation that swallowed them. But Arthur recognized the center instrument, a hollowed hole in the ground lined with metal and covered by a metal grate. He had seen its design sketched on scrolls in Uther's study, as Uther boasted of the ingenuity of Camelot's purge of magic, how they were even able to trap the bird-daemons of sorcerers that flew monstrously far from their humans.

He had never seen a mage-trap in use before, however.

He stared dumbly down at the center pit. The bird within was small, no longer than the length of Arthur's forearm, with blue-grey wings that trembled and flapped desperately against the grate. The trap was built to hold daemons far larger than this one, swans and eagles and owls, and the daemon had just enough space to fling herself against the grate in a desperate attempt to flee before crashing back down against the pit floor.

"Sorcerers are inhuman in their corruption," Uther had explained. "They sever their daemons from their bodies so they can spy and spread their evil far across the land. This trap makes them suffer for their monstrosity."

"Please," the daemon begged, voice high thin with pain. "I can't— I can't feel—"

His memory resonated like a struck bell. I can't feel him, Arthur had thought, helpless and retching on the floor while panicked shouts rang around him. I can't feel him—

He forced himself to the present. It was wrong, so wrong, to see a daemon without its human nearby, to see a person's soul torn out and discarded from its body. Like a severed head had struck up casual conversation about the weather. Arthur told himself that was the reason for the chill in his bones, and no other.

Aneirin roared, rearing back on his hind legs, before bringing his front hooves down on the metal grate. The bars creaked and groaned, but gave no way. The stag gave a mighty bellow, and tried again, and Arthur stood there frozen with the fear of understanding.

"What are you doing?" Aneirin paid him no mind. "Who is— who is that—?"

The bird cringed, trembled. "Please— please don't hurt us— we'll go, we promise, just—" Her wings fluttered faintly again, but she could not managed to even rise off of the floor. "Merlin—" she choked.

Aneirin made a desperate noise, his anguish rippling through Arthur. "It's hurting them," he cried. "You have to release it—"

"You knew," Arthur breathed.

Aneirin didn't reply, or maybe didn't get a chance to. In the pit Sylve let out a pitiful cry, and then her wings beat frantically no more. She lay there limp, small and trembling.

He did not wait any longer. Arthur's knees throbbed when he threw himself down beside the grate. His hands fumbled for the hidden latch by the pit's edge, the one that Uther had shown him how to release. "With their daemons contained in the mage-trap, sorcerers are unable to use their foul gifts. There's no need to even keep your men watching the trap. Just check on it in the early morning— same as for any other snare." Uther had smiled with self-satisfaction, clapping Arthur on the shoulder. "After a night spent severed from their daemons, they'll be easy enough to then take to face justice."

The latch released, and Arthur threw the grate back so hard it rattled against the hinges. Sylve's little chest rose and fell rapidly, but did not otherwise move. Arthur looked up at Aneirin, both of their eyes large with fear.

"We should—" Arthur said, and "bring her—" Aneirin said, and without further thought Arthur was shucking off his thin hunting jacket. He wrapped it over his hands, moving so carefully as he reached down for Sylve. Even though the jacket, his skin prickled with the sheer proximity of another person's daemon.

But there was no time to consider the searing intimacy of what he was doing, not when Sylve was dull like a common bird and not Merlin's soul. Aneirin knelt down so that Arthur could get on his back without jostling Sylve too much. Arthur learned forward as Aneirin straightened and took back off to their camp, clutching the bundle that held Sylve tight against his chest. He did not dare to think, could not afford to.

He had suspected what he would find back at the campsite. But the reality of it still held fresh horror: Merlin's long body curled up onto its side, the dirt around him disturbed where he had likely kicked and thrashed in agony. But now he was still, eyes open but glassy as Arthur swung off of Aneirin. One hand was extended, reaching out for what had been ripped from him.

Arthur knew what that felt like. He was going to be sick.

"Merlin," Arthur choked, rushing to the other man's side. He took a knee, and carefully tumbled the little bundle in his jacket onto Merlin's outstretched palm. Sylve fell into his hand, light and limp.

Merlin and Sylve gasped in in tandem, and Merlin's eyes flared gold as he sparked back to life. There was a moment where they did nothing but breathe, and then Merlin was scrambling to sit up as Sylve pressed tight into his chest. Arthur watched, frozen, as Sylve's form shifted effortlessly from the small bird to the stoat he knew very well.

"You were gone—"

"I'm here—"

"I couldn't feel you—"

"Never again—"

Arthur forced himself to look away. Aneirin slowly lowered his head, nudging Arthur's shoulder in some form of comfort and apology.

He knew when Merlin processed that Arthur was standing there, because out of the corner of his eye he saw Merlin go very still. Then he released Sylve from his embrace, and she took her usual perch winding around Merlin's shoulders. "Arthur," Merlin said, and Arthur did not think he could stand to hear Merlin beg for his life.

"Did it feel like she was being torn out of you?" he said hoarsely. "Like you were being ripped in two?"

A myriad of emotions flickered over Merlin's face before he settled on pale endurance. "Yes. Like I—" Merlin flinched from the fresh memory. "Like I was being unmade."

Arthur had felt the arrow as cleanly as if it had been shot into his own ribs. But that pain had been nothing compared to the agony that followed: Aneirin, tumbling down a gorge, off-balance as he reeled from the strike of a hunter thinking he'd found the most glorious prize. Arthur was already at the edge of where their bond allowed, but the feeling of his connection to his soul straining— of it ready to snap—

He'd thought he'd already died until he felt Aneirin's fur under his hand. Only then could he take his first breath that was not filled with broken glass. He'd wrapped his arms around Aneirin, weeping helplessly, unable to move until he had the confidence his heart was in his chest once more.

"We are going to talk," Arthur said, swallowing his fears. "If I leave you here, you won't run, will you?"

Merlin was still pale, but had the wherewithal to look as if he were seriously considering the answer to Arthur's question. But then Aneirin murmured "please, don't," and in response Sylve slunk off of Merlin's shoulders. She jumped, and a heartbeat later she was a bird, fluttering over to Aneirin to land on one of his antlers.

Arthur glanced back over at Merlin, who refused to meet Arthur's eyes. "Where are you going?" he asked quietly.

Natasha has an unsettled daemon named Anatoly.

In this AU, most if not all of the widows are severed to some degree or have their bonds stretched incredibly far. However, only a few were able to prevent their daemon from ever settling, leaving endless possibilities for undercover work and infiltration (For example, "Natalie Rushman" had a swan daemon). Natasha was one of these few.

Most of the time, Anatoly keeps the shape of a red fox. It fits people's expectations of her, and they're both rather fond of the form. Her daemon's ability to shift is a secret known to the avengers, her sister, and the red room.

I would think Anatoly allowed himself to shift a lot over the course of the Black Widow movie, because she didn't have to keep the secret to Yelena (who may or may not share this ability, im still deciding).

I actually made this months ago and was planning to add some explanation for everything but im lazy soooo take this

anyways bucky's daemon is now named josephine instead of roxanne because i couldn't stop thinking about roxanne wolf whenever i saw it HELP