A/N: FOXFIRE WILL BE UPDATED TOMORROW! Its written, I just need to edit and polish.
Then we'll have some Elden Ring updates and RWBY relatively in that order.
Who knows, I might be able to update even more rapidly depending on the feedback this gets. After all, the site has no notifications and that silence hurts my drive to write.
Shadow of the Erdtree has nearly been beaten, I'm refraining from burning *SPOILER* just to clear up the last NPC quests and exploration. Bayle was a glorious fight, I'll not say more there for fear of spoilers. Especially given what's come to light in the Lore...
In other news, I have a vehicle again...I just owe a lot of money on said vehicle after the repairs. Now I need the bloody brakes fixed and the AC besides. I can live without the latter, though it'll be hot and uncomfortable. The former...not so much. Truly, the world runs on money these days, and this is what I get for having the same car for so long. Still taking care of my sister until mid-July, so that's eating into my time as well. But once that's done, I'll finally have more time to write...
...I hope. If not, I just might shatter like the Elden Ring.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
As ever, I own no quotes, references, themes or memes. Not a wit or one. They're tributes, one and all.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Spoilers for Shadow of the Erdtree; vague as they are.
Seriously! ACTUAL SPOILERS!
Consider this a teaser for another upcoming chapter for an already written story. You know the one.
"Kindly Miquella, you have cast aside something you shouldn't.
Something you mustn't lose under any circumstances.
Love."
~?
Shadow and Light
St. Trinna opened her eyes.
And in opening them, she understood the truth.
Realization was slow to come, a wary, sluggish thing, an act she could scarcely comprehend, but come it did.
Strange indeed, how very strange; she could feel her heart breathing; Feel her lungs filling, gasping for air she'd not needed in so long. She remembered the pain. The agony. Being ripped apart, cast aside, rooted in the ground and left to fest in this stone fissure.
Life had been a walking dream ever since, a hellscape of suffering.
And yet she did not hate Miquella for what he had done to her.
How could she, when they were one and the same?
Kindly Miquella, who wished to become a god. Foolish Miquella, who understood not the prison of Godhood. Lonely Miquella, who had cast aside everything, his loves, his doubts, his anger -even her, the other half of his very sou!- all in pursuit of a grand unattainable dream he could no longer reach. Aloof Miquella, who had already devoured something he should not, and become something so much more. Arrogant Miquella, who ever now strove for more, heedless of the disaster that watied...
"Can you hear me?"
A hand touched her pale cheek -how strange it was to feel again after growing numb to it all- drawing her back to reality, and unbidden, she felt her face warm.
Right.
Remember.
Rise to your feet.
She stood unsteadily, unused to having legs after so long. When she stumbled, a golden hand caught her, looping around her waist. She gasped and clung onto her savior's chest, only to balk, not just their warmth, but what -who!- she saw supporting her. For a fleeting moment she thought it might be Godwyn, so bright was he, such did he shine even here in the depths.
But this was not Godwyn. Miquella had tried to save him time and time again, only to fail.
No...this was someone new. A newcomer, to the Realm of Shadows.
Ah, yes. She remembered him now.
Her champion.
He who had drank her poison six times. He who understood her words. He who had sat with her for so long, listening.
He whose name she did not even know, for she had not thought to ask.
He who smiled at her now, and let her stand on her own power.
Trinna thought she might like this man.
She liked him very much.
"What," She still spoke slowly, haltingly, such was her way. "Have you done to me...?"
"Gave you a new body." whiskered cheeks dimpled in a smile as he winked once an flashed a marked palm her way, allowing her to glimpse the Rune Ring wrapped around his finger therein. "Really wasn't that hard with all the runes I've got. See, I got this idea from this dragon priestess I met and . 'Course, that was before I convinced her to take a nap, she'd been awake for thousands of years an' all...
Dragon Priestess? But that meant-no! Don't focus on that! Panic flowered in Trinna like the lily she no longer was. "Miquella!" she grabbed at him. "You must stop-
"And I will." The Glowing One smiled and held out his hand for her. Her, and only her. "Shall we go?"
Trinna dithered. "I should not exist. I was never meant to exist. I...shouldn't be alive."
The Gold One tilted his head. "Yet here you are."
"But I don't deserve to-
"Nope." he held that same hand before her face, fingers splayed. "Nope!" he repeated, louder now when she made to protest. "NOPE!" a final shout stole her breath away, such was the heat of his glare. "We ain't talking about refusing to exist or un-aliving yourself. You're here. You're breathing. You have thoughts of your own. That means you deserved a chance to be someone, and if anyone says otherwise, I'll smack 'em."
...do you mean those words?"
Naruto squinted at her. "Never go back on 'em, soooo...
A light laugh bubbled up in Trinna's heart and escaped her lips.
She inched forward, and when he didn't move, she dared to reach for his palm, then his hand hand proper, burning bright.
Quietly, timidly, she curled her pale, violet fingers around his...and held tight.
For in the Shadows, he was her Light.
A/N: Protect the poor dear. She didn't deserve what happened to her. Really, she didn't.
No previews this time. I'm exhausted. Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write.
So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...Review...Would You Kindly?
Hope you enjoyed this, and may your day be filled with lots of luck!
Warm regards,
~Nz.