a strange rock that bears an odd tree

and washed away the hordes that built the city tall

https://archiveofourown.org/users/traipsingexodus

https://www.fanfiction.net/~traipsingexodus

i doubt they care about simple words

but simple words might be too much regardless

it seems i went and did something wrong

so now i’ve gone and fixed it

“jewel of the desert” is now part one of “sons of the alpha”

expect part two: the alpha’s reach, some time after “honor, courage and rectitude”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13633704

A little tale of what we take. For granted, even.

It was out here on the shore that things could become perfect. Here, quiet time was achievable. Here, where the rhythmic sound of the lapping waves and quiet calls of wingull washed over the noise in Karan’s head. She placed one foot out in front of the other again and again. She teetered one way and then the other, but kept her footing just the same. These sets of sticks stuck out of the sandy shore and formed her tightrope above it all. The grains of sand below her became the city and it’s neverending bustle. It became the quest for food and the constant search for a temporary home.

Dark alleys, lost cardboard boxes, empty flats - all of it could be a place to lay her head for an evening or three. But never much longer. She did a little pirouette and nearly came crashing down to the city below her. The endless sand clamored up at her, and begged her to fall, but still, she kept her balance and teetered on.

The shore put her heart at ease and the dying sunlight made her shadow grow long and stilted. She paused her balancing act to watch the sky melt into an endless array of hues and shades and smiled.

Quiet moments, stolen away from the greed of the city somewhere beneath her, somewhere far, far away.

There was little food here, and even less that she could call shelter. The shore was no place for her kind. But she found the snow-capped mountains unfriendly and the sleepy nothings of the little towns she passed on her way here and back too slow for the appetite for vibrance that squirmed in her belly. It was the shore, the city, and nothing more for her. With a wistful sigh at the dying sun, she hopped down from her tightrope and felt the sand dig itself around her clawed toes.

I am not dead. Short vignette to follow.

It was done now. Beyond done. Done and done, as they say. Frederick stared at the glittering heart piece on the table in front of him. Lara was gone, and this was all that remained.

They said that the rest of the body would rot away and leave nothing but it behind, and that this little strange gem-like piece lodged in the chests of Gardevoir everywhere would be all he’d have to remember her by. That, and the memories.

He was warned - the memories were what drove the surviving partner mad, but only when the piece was present. Whispers of times long past drifted across his mind and broke the surface of his thoughts into ten thousand tiny ripples. Each of them echoed feelings and set his head alight with colors of the moments that time stole from him when it declared he’d had his fill.

A single finger ran down the length of the gem and left a wake of bittersweet memories in his mind’s eye. The times he had been happy with Lara at his side, the times they’d fought, suffered together or apart - time, all of it, stretched itself out in his head and overwhelmed him. So much time had passed, and it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.

He picked the piece up and clutched it close to his chest. For a moment, he could almost feel her heartbeat through it, in rhythm with his own. A fleeting glimpse of times he’d never have against except through the whispers that come through windows bearing sights of blooming greenery and snow-capped homes. The quiet mutters of early mornings and late nights. The horribly familiar smell of lavender that saturated her pillow and fine hair.

Frederick swayed in his seat and felt the chair beneath him wobble. The walls shuddered and the gem pressed against his chest grew white-hot in his hands and against his skin. With a shout, he dropped it onto the table and panted. Sweat dripped down his scalp and his joints ached. He rubbed his wrinkled face and wiped his baggy eyes.

It was done. Beyond done. Done and done, as they say. It was done twenty-seven years ago, and every day he remembered it like the first. Lara was gone, and this was all that remained.

do you like hurting other people?

i’ve been dead

but now i’m alive

here i go again

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7991302/chapters/18289177

it's finally done

thought you should know it

i hope that it's good

turns out

i have two chapters

because i forgot to post a new work

here’s number one, a story of ruins, lost secrets and knifecats, Jewel of the Desert: http://archiveofourown.org/works/13633704

so it goes

we start again

welcome to unova

get your guns and bring a friend