I was tagged @natalieironside and given the words inscribe,terror,star, and joyous. Thank you!!
FromRemnants:
INSCRIBE
He laughed again, his face pressed into her hair, then slowly disentangled himself. “Maybe later.”
“Later,” she agreed, a bit too enthusiastic despite the sudden weight on her chest. It wasn’t doubt, or panic, or even fear. The only way she could describe it was a terrible sense of foreboding, like maybe fate was finally done waiting for her and had decided it was time to drag her towards the inevitable conclusion to her tale.
TERROR
“Radka!”
She jerked her head up to find him sprinting towards her, bag and rifle abandoned behind him. A sudden, violent terror seized her. Stand up, stand up—her boots slipped, sending her sprawling backwards. A gun fired to her left and ice shards exploded to her right. She shrieked and covered her head as the fragments pelted her.
STAR
These were the people who deserved more. These were the parts of Kethyia she would die to protect. Fate wanted a life to restore balance, and she would give it one—her own. She would force it to be satisfied by that. Or else she would tear through the very fabric of fate and rearrange the stars to fit her needs.
JOYOUS
“Say the word, and we can leave,” Damir said quietly.
“You better not be saying that because you want to leave,” she teased. Her tone was slightly off, but nothing that couldn’t be blamed on tiredness. She wanted to enjoy every last second with him and wouldn’t allow fate to take that away from her.
Another lawkeeper was down. The third was crouched over them, along with two newcomers, attempting to help. Ailin couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead.
If they were alive, they had better help than she could give. And if they were dead, it didn’t matter anymore.
Ailin charged past them, leaning forward, using her weightto gain the momentum her trembling legs couldn’t. She half-sprinted, half-fell down the hallway, panic rising.
Everyone is going to die.
Heavy (Deathdancer - Ailin POV) fun fact this is currently the book’s first line
Ailin stood in the dust. Knives heavyin her hands, she flexed her toes as the crowd cheered.
Lift (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)
Ailin slipped back into Aramzind proper, scorching wind liftingher robes as she hurried away. She was a fool, no matter how she looked at it. But if, by some incredible twist of time, she pulled this off…maybe this was her way out. Maybe this was how she left it all behind her, and never looked back.
Pressure (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)
Curious how she’d [Ailin] react, Zaul reached for her hand. She took it easily, fingertips settling between his knuckles. She squeezed, but it didn’t hurt this time, the force distributing through her long fingers, pressing into the more padded parts of his hand, between the bones.
He squeezed back, keeping steady pressureas they headed into the crowds around the gates, leaving the Oasis behind.
“Are you lot safely hidden away?” Hita asked, glancing over Zaul’s shoulder as a small group passed them, chattering happily. Ailin’s head didn’t move, but her eyes followed them along the street. “Do you have a place to get off the street?”
“Hidden,” said Zaul. “If I say ‘safe’ I’m afraid I’ll jinx us.”
“You should stay with me and Bala,” suggested Hita. “It wouldn’t be hard to sneak you in, and no one would guess your important friend is associated with me.”
It was more temptingthan Zaul cared to admit. Hita and Bala lived in an apartment on the edge of the Oasis, near one of the guard houses. Ailin could get from their roof to the wall in three jumps, and it would be nice to have proper furniture around them again.
It was also a huge risk.
Train (Deathdancer - Ailin POV)
“Ailin, not everything is a pit fight,” said Zaul. His footsteps moved out of the center, and the bed creaked with his weight. Ailin didn’t turn around, staring blankly at the dark wall.
“You have no idea what it means to fight for your life,” she snapped.
“You’d be surprised.”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Ailin rounded on him again, face flush with heat. “You mess up in training, your teacher isn’t going to run you through to teach you a lesson. Do you even know how to stitch yourself up with whatever you can find? You don’t spend all your time looking over your shoulder in case the shadows are full of knives. You have no idea how to actually survive because you’ve never even had to.”
Zaul gaped at her, mouth hanging open, and for once in his life didn’t speak. The silence rang between them, Ailin’s ears buzzing, and shame settled into her stomach like wet sand. All the fight sunk out of her, leaving her heavy and hollow.
She had no right to be angry that Zaul didn’t have to fight like she did. Who was she, to wish that on anyone? Especially him.
Turn (Deathdancer - Zaul POV)
The other two stayed silent, watching him, clearly waiting for him to continue.
And Zaul, being Zaul, obviously obliged.
“Come now, or don’t come at all.”
Dymas blinked at him.
“I heard it. I know how it sounded. I will not apologize.”
Ailin frowned, eyebrows drawing together over shimmering eyes, but Zaul didn’t think this was the moment to explain the joke.
They both looked at Ailin. Her eyes were alight with stars. It would be beautiful, if Zaul weren’t learning her eyes only looked like that when she was either very worried or losing control.
“You could stay,” Dymas offered. “You-”
Ailinturnedher back on him, facing the window, movements sharp as glass. Zaul’s skin prickled, all the hair on his arms standing up. It wasn’t a dismissive movement. It was a prey response.
“Fine,” snapped Dymas. “Ignore my-”
Ailin was moving. Putting herself between them and the window.
A shadow shifted. The pane flew open.
Dymas squeaked again, as a figure in a tight-fitting suit lunged for him.
Ailin was in the way. She already had daggers in her hands. How had she drawn them without Zaul seeing?
Dymas was bellowing, calling for the guards. Zaul retreated, dragging the man towards the door, Ailin’s words echoing in his head. They’ll send someone effective.
Apparently, effective had arrived.
Tease (Deathdancer - Ailin POV) she’s teaching Zaul how to use his incessant talking to his advantage in a fight
“You do realize you just gave me an excuse to literally never stop talking?” said Zaul, his entire face lit up with a smirk now.
“I’ve created a monster.” Ailin probably should be annoyed, but she just chuckled with him.
Zaul moved, starting to circle. She moved with him, slower than he wanted, forcing him to adjust his pace.
“I created the monster all by myself,” he informed her. “You just set it free.”
As much as she wanted to teaseback, Ailin didn’t answer.
I was tagged by @the-writing-avocado! Thank you! My words are sleep,belief,memory, and photograph.
FromJust Jane:
SLEEP
“Where are you headed so late at night, Jane?” Wilamin asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I can’t sleep. I’m going for a walk.”
“With Isaac?”
“Maybe.”
Wilamin pursed her lips but couldn’t say anything in front of her patron.
She cast a glance at the man, then turned away from him so she and Wilamin had something like privacy. “It’s nothing nefarious, I’ll be back in a bit.”
“I don’t believe you,” she replied. “Be careful.”
BELIEF
“What the fuck?”
She startled, stumbled, and landed on her ass. The man who’d spoken was standing in the doorway in just knee-length trousers, his brown skin shiny with sweat and his black hair pushed back from his face. The earthquake must’ve interrupted his workout.
He noticed her. “What the fuck did you do?”
“Nothing!” she said, scrambling to her feet.
He gestured to her clothes, expression pinched with what Jane would call annoyed disbelief.
MEMORY
Kell’s boot scraped the dirt as he adjusted his right leg, failing to hide his grimace. “May I ask about how efficiently you killed that imperial soldier back there?”
“Sure, but there’s not much to tell,” she replied with a shrug. “I picked up some things while living on the streets but most of it was just instinct.”
“You’ve never had any training?”
“Nothing formal. My friend Isaac always says that if you’re going to choose violence to solve a problem, then you have to mean it,” she said. A memory of Isaac showing her where to place her fingers on someone’s eyes to best pop them out of their sockets flashed through her mind. It had been one of the first things he’d taught her.
Nothing for photograph, which isn’t surprising given it’s set before the invention of photography!
I really ought to be compensated for how little I sleep, and no, the unfortunate ability to maintain my grasp on reality after too many hours awake does not count. @spacetimewraithwrites(tagback)
decision(summon story d0)
The Dusk wasn’t really part of the city. At least, it didn’t behave like it was. It started in amongst the other buildings, and then it continued past the city wall, eating through it and plowing through the countryside. The river ran along the opposite edge of the city, which, like most architectural decisionsmade, had been on purpose.
Zan couldn’t imagine if the factory district had been perched along the river, instead of rising up like man-made mountains trailing off to the north. It would ruin the view, for one thing, but more importantly, the river wasn’t contaminated further by the billowing smoke or leftover ash and soot. As it was, the Dusk consumed the sky in its corner of Sinderport, claiming its space like a beast claiming prey.
dark(dirt in the doing)
Jet watches her gulp at her coffee before drinking his own at a slightly more moderate pace. Rune dumps her mug in the sink and sighs, running a hand through her hair. Belatedly, he sees she’s got darkred streaks in it, peeking out from underneath the ends. It suits her instead of looking out of place. How he knows this is beyond him. He finishes his coffee and tries not to have any unearned thoughts about this mysterious girl.
“You done? Let’s go.”
He’s really losing his touch, letting her just tell him what to do. Shadow could tell him he’d taken notes for him on a day skipped and he would’ve responded much less placidly. Just because it’s a girl shooing him out of her apartment doesn’t change his personality. Supposedly.
drop(dirt in the doing)
Cam backs up one step, then moves forward two. “You should come home, Cloud. You know how Max is. He’s really unhappy about you being away. He’s-”
Rune cuts off his next sentence with a fist to his stomach. Cam doubles over and she kicks him hard in the knee. He dropsto the ground with a cry. “Max doesn’t get everything he wants and I’ll fling myself off a bridge before I return to that house. You can tell him that.”
“He’ll just come after you himself,” Cam says breathlessly, looking up at her. What a pathetic guy. Two hits and he can’t even get up. “You know he will.”
“I know.” Rune sounds so resigned that Jet tightens his grip on her wrist instinctively. “And then I’ll fling him off a bridge, instead.”
door(the sleepy stash, 2021)
The room was a room. Sometimes it had walls. Sometimes the doorlocked. Sometimes I was in the room when it blinked and for a microsecond I was a cosmos. But then I opened my eyes. The room was a room.
drunk(dirt in the doing)
So he’s wandering the streets just after sunset while not being nearly as drunkas he would like, and of course, as luck would have it, he stumbles into a fight. And he’s Jet. He doesn’t walk away from a fight. Not before. Not now, either. He fends off the attackers’ fists with ease despite his clouded mind, instinct taking over where reflexes are slow. Soon enough, both sides of the fight part ways and scurry off in opposite directions. Jet leans against a wall and breathes out slowly, feeling the adrenaline leak out of him and the weariness he can’t seem to shake build back up in his body.
He’s so tired.
dare(I don’t have the words, 2021)
limitless, really, are the options here. I have every color from which to choose and a million moments to reflect on and move into the spotlight and explain precisely what I mean when I open up my tiny fists and place my train cars down. this track, for instance. I know where it goes. or that one. I see where it’s been. and the newest one, over here? it runs through the tunnel under the mountain where only dragons dareenter.
