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After the last, will a certain cute Fae start to realize what has been missing from her hand all along...?\n\n(Warning! Devilish stories like this contain themes of blood, tragedy, and death. Read at your own risk!) ", "description_bbcode_parsed": "\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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brings the second in the trilogy! After the last, will a certain cute Fae start to realize what has been missing from her hand all along...?

(Warning! Devilish stories like this contain themes of blood, tragedy, and death. Read at your own risk!) ", "writing": "A Tinkaton stood at the edge of her village…\n\nThe pristine, pretty, placid place was a paradise that many a great warrior had strived for. It was an Elysium, fit only for those such as her; those so in tune with the natural order that they could proudly take from the planet, and mould the gifts it gives to works of art worthy of the landscape…\n\nAnd yet… She was one of those strange fae who had always desired more…\n\nThe sunlight seemed a little harsh. The greenery choked a little too much. And the happy laughter…\n\n...Perhaps not all paradises are the same, after all…\n\nBut the Tinkaton had no way to change it herself… And no understanding of why she felt the way she did… why she was not interested in gifts of flowers like her kin, nor why she crafted cutting weapons instead of the striking hammers the other smiths made...\n\nShe looked down at the thin blade in her hands… Something she’d made long ago, as part of her practice. It came in handy for slicing vegetables, or occasionally to prise up bark in the woods to search for binding sap…\n\nHer thumb ran along the edge of it carefully… Yet, not carefully enough. A bead of glimmering fluid started to form, before snaking down the side of her hand… It was clear and pretty as water, for a moment... then it rapidly clouded and darkened…\n\n“...red…” she muttered ponderously to herself… \n\n...why was the red so… enticing…?\n\n“Staring off into the sun yet again, Crescent Moon…?”\n\nCrescent lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder. The waifish form of… ‘Queenie’ stood there, with her usual haughty pose and haughty posse in tow…\n\n“My name isn’t…” began Crescent, before sighing and deciding to just leave it… Like many, she saw there was no arguing with the loudest brat of the village…\n“Perhaps if you stare hard and long enough, you’ll go blind. The world might be saved from more of your shoddy constructions if you manage that, eh…?”\n\nCrescent wasn’t listening. She’d returned to her meditative thought, trying to ignore the bullying, until the blade was smacked clean out of Crescent’s hands…\n\nThe quieter Tinkaton watched it clattered into the dirt, before looking up at ‘Queenie’ with a far more dangerous expression, crossing her arms and daring the leader of the village to do more. The haughty Fae very nearly took that dare, her fists curled and her eyes narrowed to furious points. But she forced a cruel smirk back to her face instead…\n\n“Ugly little blade makes me as sick to look at… As do you, Cressy~! No beauty, no art, and if you dare use it, your prey comes to you in tatters. Heh! With that kind of ‘talent’, no wonder you had to settle for a fre-…”\n\nA freak. Her favourite word for Cressy’s chosen.. ‘friend’. \n\nCrescent stood up abruptly, cutting off the word before it could be uttered. The gathered Fae, ‘Queenie’ included, took a collective step back. Crescent stared down at the smaller Tinkaton for a few long, tense seconds. It very well seemed she would finally snap and do something about that sharp tongue… Perhaps tear it out and sear it for a snack...\n\nInstead, her arm was gently tugged. She looked, and found a sunny Ogerpon happily offering the knife to his beloved ‘friend’…\n\n“You dropped this, dear! Heh… This knife is precious to you, I wouldn’t usually think you’d be so careless… Did one of the straps on your belt break?”\n\nThe group’s tension seemed to deflate as quickly as a popped balloon. ‘Queenie’ rolled her eyes and turned to stomp away, her face far more angry than smug by now. Crescent chuckled and took the knife, then put her arms gently around Pan to thank him...\nFrom afar, Twosa watched. Somehow, in the company of those who would eagerly call her ‘Queenie’, she didn’t care. Their submissiveness didn’t matter; only Crescent’s did… Another Tinkaton gently took Twosa’s arm and tried to tell her to let it go. She flicked the hold away and glared at Crescent from afar...\n\n“A freak.” she spat, though not loud enough so Crescent could hear… “A freak with a freak mate who will make freak children. It’d be better if she just used that knife on her own belly when the time comes…”\n\nThat at least seemed to make Twosa smirk. She turned and sauntered past the other Fairy types, snapping her fingers for them to follow…\n\n“Speaking of! I should check on how MY brood is doing… And it may be a brood of one for now, but… Even MY majesty started in the form of a humble ‘tot, eh?”\n\nShe laughed as loud as she could as she retreated. She resisted all urges to glance back and see if Crescent had listened…\n\n“Freak…” she muttered to herself, one more time, as if trying to convince herself...\nTwosa bolted upright in bed. She gripped her skull and whimpered sharply in pain, and then looked down at her hands…\n\n...bandaged… Sore. Aching. Right…\n\nShe had settled into a new ‘nest’ with Shuffle, the village’s premier blacksmith, and the only one to stay with her. Given how burned Twosa was, it wasn’t entirely a choice Shuffle could make; either she stayed with Twosa and helped her recover, or the poor Fae would wither and die from her injuries…\n\nThey’d managed to make a kind little hut, at the base of a quiet hillock. Yet, even though their village’s charred remains were long behind and the land blighted to the point of abandonment, it was clear that Twosa’s past had clung to her, no matter how much she craved a second chance like this…\n\nHer ‘kingdom’ had died in flames before it had ever begun. She tried to tell herself that a family would be far more of an accomplishment… But the thoughts only became convincing once she focused on Crescent and Pan… How undeservedly… HAPPY… they had looked...\n\n“...freak… Freaky little FREAK of a fairy.” she spat, as if getting rid of the last little bit of bile in her throat. Then she rubbed her eyes and pushed herself to a stand to peer around…\n\nShuffle was within the miniature mountain their hut was built into. She had set up a smithing station near a bubbling magma flow, and spent most of her time digging out new ore to shape into tools that they needed…\n\nNails to keep the boards of their furniture together. An axe to make the wood in the first place. A pick to get at the ore. That had all just been the start… Now her workshop was scattered with pieces and projects all in their own state of completion. Some were cooling, some were curing… All of them were being meticulously plied over by the astute Fairy, who was just removing a thin metal blade from her quenching barrel. She set it carefully aside and pushed her goggles up, rubbing her eye firmly…\n\n“Shuffle?”\nThe larger Fairy type turned and looked. Despite the heat that no doubt stung at Twosa’s scarred flesh, she had made her way into the mountain to find her. It was only a short walk, but…\n\n“...Twosa… In your condition, you need to stay inside as much as possible. You’re still on bed rest, in fact…”\n\nShuffle moved over and gently picked Twosa up. Carrying her bridal style, she returned through the tunnel and into the hut. Twosa couldn’t help but giggle…\n\n“...oh Shuffle, you’re so romantic… Speaking as if I was having a baby already…”\n\n“Mm, and this is just an obvious sign of you not being ready for it… You going to wander around in dangerous areas while you’re barely able to waddle, Twosa?”\n\nTwosa looked up thoughtfully as she was set on the bed. She hadn’t really considered what it would be like…\n\n“...that’s what I thought.” Shuffle muttered, shaking her head gently… “You have big ideas, but you miss a lot of details, don’t you?”\n\nTwosa’s expression soured a little…\n\n“Hmph. I see a lot more than what most ‘mons assume…”\n\nShuffle couldn’t help but smirk in turn. She reached out and patted Twosa’s head, and the injured Fae wasn’t sure whether to blush from anger or excitement…\n\n“Look… Just take the time to relax for now, okay? Soon you’ll wish you could, desperately. If you’re serious about this whole ‘repopulation’ thing, that is.”\n\nTwosa shuddered and looked down at her skinny figure. Shuffle had turned to walk into the small kitchen area and find some of the rations they’d set aside for her. She was saying something about ‘big responsibility’ and…\n\n...Twosa wasn’t paying attention anymore… The dream she’d woken from had put her mind in a reminiscing mood...\nOnce more, into that perfect and serene land that Crescent had so violently stolen from her… Once more into recalling how perfect it all was…\n\nShe wasn’t sure what joker put her up against Crescent, but Twosa had come out on top and become the Leader. It was a memory she savoured like a delectable tender of meat: Standing on that stage and making the crowd laugh at her hated rival…\n\n“Why… Do you not like Crescent anyway?” a Tinkaton asked curiously, looking down at Twosa. The village’s leader had her arms folded behind her back, trying to swagger. She glanced up at one of the half dozen or so Tinkaton who followed her around all day…\n\n...in a sickening moment, her stomach turned when she realized she didn’t know their names… She had never taken the time to remember them… Her little gang of yes-mons were ash, and not even their leader could recall what to put on their graves…\n\nThe memory was stark enough to throw Twosa briefly back to reality… She leaned heavily over the bed, her face going green… Yet no matter how much the words were burning in her chest, they continued to play, unbidden and acidic…\n\n“...Hmph. She’s an upstart Fae who thinks she’s better than the rest of us. Her and her slicing weapons and her… Freakish desires.”\n\nTwosa, in the memory at least, continued on. She sauntered through the village with an aura only the title she wore could command. But…\n\nAs she had said to Shuffle… She noticed more than most assumed. She waved as she passed by, and the other Tinkaton of the village waved back… Twosa could always hear them chuckling or glimpse them rolling their eyes when they thought she wasn’t paying attention…\n\nShe demanded respect, and she was… ‘given’ it… But she was well aware of what she did not truly have…\n\nTwosa nearly kicked the door to her hut open, startling the resident inside. The Leader stepped into the hut and straightened herself, trying to play it off as a grand entrance. Her gang filtered in behind her…\n\n“Ahh… Twosa…! You’re back…!”\nThe voice came from within the hut. Though it was a bit of a struggle, the half-term Tinkaton who was reclined on a cushion on the front room stood up and trotted over excitedly to stand proudly in front of Twosa. \n\nTwosa herself blushed and glanced away… The Tinkaton before her was as short as a ‘tuff, despite being obviously evolved. The tiny thing was as gentle and soft as a Mareep, and had a clumsiness with tools that made her adept for one thing; the belly that now hung on her front…\n\n“You’re supposed to call me Queenie, you know…” Twosa huffed, arms firmly crossed and her face turned away. She was attempting to appear aloof… but her mate didn’t seem to catch on, nor care. She trotted forward and took Twosa’s hand…\n\n“I need more cuddly, Twosa… My tummy is kicking so much today… You gotta snuggle me a little and calm them down!”\n\nTwosa’s face went far more red…\n\n...although in reality, it was still sickly pale under the bandages…\n\n“...name… I know her name… Dammit…”\n\nShe was hunched over Shuffle’s arm, head held above a metal pail. She had nothing in her stomach to vomit, but her body was trying anyway…\n\n“Twosa… Hey, TWOSA… Come on hun… You need to relax…”\n\nShuffle gingerly turned her over and stared down at the smaller Fairy. Twosa caught a glimpse of Shuffle’s expression… and was surprised to see genuine concern there… Perhaps even worry?\n\n“...Mnnhhh… Shuffa…”\n\n“Hey. Yeah. It’s me. You’re still feeling the effects of shock, and your injuries are just making it worse… You push yourself too hard, and this is what will happen… What are you so stressed about?”\n\n“...her name...”\nShuffle blinked and shifted softly in the bed. The food was abandoned in favour of making sure Twosa’s heart didn’t merely give out… To that end;\n\nThe Fairy Blacksmith gently curled her arms around Twosa… She was supremely gentle, despite hands that were rough from years of effort and mistake… She made sure not to put any pressure on Twosa’s scarred body… But she did hold her close, and try to calm her…\n\n“You’re okay… Alright…?”\n\nShuffle’s voice came gentler than it ever had… She was usually so gruff and short with her words… Now they brought tears to the distressed Twosa’s eyes…\n\n“You’re with me… I’m taking care of you. You’re not gonna die… Whatever the heck you’re so worried about, you’ll remember it as soon as you calm down…”\n\nTwosa sniffled gently and set her head against Shuffle’s chest, closing her eyes… She knew the blacksmith was mostly doing this to calm her, so she didn’t simply convulse and die there in the bed… But the affection… She wasn’t sure how she had forgotten what a soothing balm it could be on the soul…\n\nShe calmed… Slowly but surely, her breathing became steady again. Shuffle sighed, and though it sounded like a sigh of annoyance… there was more than a bit of relief in it…\n\n“...thank you…” was all Twosa muttered. Shuffle chuckled and very carefully set her down…\n\n“Don’t scare me like that. Didn’t want to have to think about being the only Tinkaton for miles. Every Poison type in the valley would be after me…”\n\n“...uh huh…” Twosa muttered, unable to stop a soft grin from spreading on her face. Shuffle rolled her eyes and glanced away, clearing her throat heavily…\n\n“Anyway… I’ll get you some food. For now, just… Rest. Stop straining yourself…”\n\n“...Fuelli…”\nShuffle paused and glanced over her shoulder, unsure of why Twosa had said the name… but the Tinkaton had passed out once more. Shuffle sighed and shook her head, then continued in her tasks… \n\nThe future was so unclear to Shuffle’s eyes… But she was starting to have a few hints…\n\n===\n\nThe days wore on, as they tend to do. Shuffle found a routine that prevented the waifish Fae in her care from trying anything foolish, no matter how blithe her spirit was…\n\nShe would awaken next to her, not allowed to sleep elsewhere much as she might have preferred her own bed to stretch out on. She would gingerly unfurl herself from around Twosa, and then move to the kitchen to make food for them both…\n\nMost days, it was a hearty broth to help both her energy as she worked, and Twosa’s recovery… But cooking it filled the hut with pleasant aroma, and often awoke Twosa far before she might have otherwise…\n\nShe’d get up, flirt with her mate, giggle about their future family… and then would either pester Shuffle until the soup was done, or eventually weakness would overcome her, and she’d have to be carried back to bed…\n\nWith that done, Shuffle could usually go to work. She would enter the cave and continue to craft the things they needed for a comfortable home. Indeed, as time passed, the hut she’d built was slowly evolving into a place of near luxury…\n\nThe creaking gate that acted as their door was replaced with silent hinges. Their sagging mat of cotton was replaced by a proper bed frame, and a softer cushion for them to rest on. Utensils were made, so they no longer had to sip from their bowls…\n\n...and, unbeknownst to Twosa, Shuffle had rigged a small bell in her workshop. Through a series of pulleys, it made a soft clinking whenever the adventurous and injured former village leader attempted to go out when she shouldn’t...\nShuffle showed up, nudged her goggles from her eyes, and put her calloused hands on her hips…\n\nTwosa hadn’t noticed that she’d emerged from her workshop. She was stood outside, walking with careful, small, weakened steps… But her eyes were sparkling in pleasure at the natural green forest all around their yard…\n\nIt was a gleam that Shuffle had started to recognize… And she couldn’t help but smile when she saw it…\n\nBefore, her demands for children were eerily cold. She always referred to it as repopulation, instead of raising a baby… It was clear where her focus had laid…\n\nAnd yet, more and more, that kind of talk had disappeared… It was replaced instead by softer, genuine excitement… Every day, as her body healed and became more and more primed for her task ahead, she seemed to grow all the more eager…\n\n“You’re not supposed to be out in the yard.”\n\nTwosa jumped and spun, nearly falling over with a gasp. She righted herself, and blushed horridly at being caught…\n\n“Well, please… I just wanted to get a little fresh air… And you haven’t built our porch yet…”\n\nShuffle rolled her eyes and glanced at the wide window she had built into the hut, providing plenty of pleasantly scented breezes for the bedridden, or supposedly bedridden, Fairy… \n\n“...Mhm… You know… If you want to go on a walk, I can take you…”\n\n“You can?!” Twosa perked, and then tried to clear her throat and speak with a bit more dignity… “I mean, of course… I’d love to go for a walk with you, Shuffle…”\n\nThe Blacksmith smirked and stepped forward…\n\n“...Mm, but I have one stipulation for you...”\n“Ah? OH! EEEK!”\n\nWithout warning, Shuffle scooped up the bandaged Fae and perched her upon her fluffy mane. Twosa wobbled… then giggled eagerly and cuddled… The texture of it was so strange… But not unpleasant in the slightest…\n\n“...like a burnt marshmallow…”\n\n“Eh?” Shuffle asked. She had placed her hands idly in her apron pockets and approached the gate around their clearing. She glanced up as she opened it to step onto the shaded game trail that had lead them here in the first place…\n\n“Your hair. The outside is… Tough? Or… Firm. Like I can push my hand through, but it takes some effort… Ah, and when I do, the insides are so soft and pleasant…!”\n\n“...heh. Yeah. The heat tends to make it melt a little. It’s made of thin filament of metal-like substances, so…”\n\nShe continued speaking on the technical details of how their species was adorned. Twosa stared quietly down, chin rested on her palms, as she listened with rapt attention.\n\n...she didn’t absorb any of it, nor did she care too much. But the subject seemed to bring passion out in the normally melancholic personality that Shuffle usually had. She wasn’t as dull as she appeared… merely happy to be on her own, and doing what she enjoyed… for no one but herself…\n\nTwosa’s expression relaxed from its excited dreaminess to one of genuine awe… She had admired Shuffle’s strength and focus, but as she lived with her, she started to admire… everything.\n\nShe wondered why she hadn’t taken notice of her before...\n“Shuffle…!!!”\n\n...memories, the village again… They wouldn’t leave her alone…\n\nShe had pushed open the door to the workshop and sauntered in. Her constant companions awkwardly packed themselves in, trying their desperate best not to be forced too near the blazing forge…\n\nShuffle herself was still facing her workbench, hammering something into shape. She didn’t turn to pay any attention to the village leader strutting back and forth, inspecting all the weapons that had been crafted…\n\n“Shuuuuufffle~ Our village’s premier blacksmith!”\n\n“Besides, perhaps, Orda. Calliope…” Shuffle said, her voice soft and bored. She brought her hammer down firmly and then stood straight to finally turn and face them, dusting her hands…\n\n“...Or even Crescent.”\n\nTwosa’s face soured instantly. She rolled her eyes and ‘accidentally’ flicked a box of parts off a table. Shuffle’s eyes narrowed…\n\n“...anyway…” the Blacksmith muttered… “What do you want?”\n\n“A weapon!” Twosa said, with the wide grin returning to her face, albeit a bit more spiteful than before… “And the others you mentioned… Heh, well I think you’re better than all of them, and the proof hangs on these walls, eh?”\n\nShuffle allowed herself a proud little grin, especially as the yes-mons that surrounded Twosa constantly all made (slightly exaggerated) ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at the various tools and blades she’d made…\n\n“Mm. You’ve never been a fighter, Twosa. You’re suddenly interested in knocking things out of the sky?”\n\n“Or on their smug little backsides. I can’t be a proud Fairy without a good way to defend myself, and my future children...”\nShuffle’s smirk turned wry. She turned back to her bench and picked up her tool again…\n\n“...I’m sure you can pay, so I don’t really care. Just get me the materials… What did you want me to make anyway…?”\n\n“Ouuuhhhh, I dunno… Hammer is a little boring, eh? Spear… Perhaps something fancy, like a scythe?”\n\n“Oh. A custom order… And one for a very specific purpose, hm?”\n\nShe brought her hammer down in the ensuing silence, filling it with ringing of metal against metal. Twosa’s face reddened harder, and she stomped, before pointing…\n\nHer pack of prissy Fae perked, and moved forward. Shuffle gasped as she was grabbed and dragged, struggling, to Twosa’s feet…\n\n“Don’t you get any wrong ideas, I’d NEVER harm any member of our village… Unless they had some plot to destroy US, eh?”\n\n“...Which Crescent does not.” Shuffle said. She’d stopped struggling, despite the fact she was overpowering her captors, to instead stare with dull annoyance. Twosa’s face lit with fury again…\n\n“Well, none you know about… As a leader, I’m privvy to some pretty interesting information! And let’s just say… Maybe I’ll NEED a weapon soon, hm hm hm?”\n\nShe spoke the last part with her hips swaying on each ‘hm’… She was good at being cute, and appealing to her underlings… But to her frustration, Shuffle wasn’t intimidated, nor attracted, nor even moved at all by the motion…\n\n“...Look you’re just a blacksmith, so do what I pay you to do, okay Shuffle?”\n\n“Yeah. Although I’m not going to take responsibility when the weapon is found in SOMEONE’S chest…”\n\n“Tch.”\nTwosa waved her hand to dismiss her lackey gathering. They released Shuffle, who stood up slowly, as if to emphasize the size and strength advantage she had over them all…\n\n...but she made no moves to retaliate. She just turned, picked up her hammer, and started working again…\n\n“...Feh. I’ll send you the specifications and payment by tomorrow. I expect it soon.”\n\n“I have a backlog.” was all Shuffle answered. Twosa glared at her… but decided she’d pushed enough. She didn’t want violence to happen to the blacksmith, after all. Not yet, anyway… the attitude was starting to get on her nerves…\n\nShe turned to leave, and her posse plodded out after her…\n\n“Maybe we need to do something about that one, hm? Doesn’t seem very loyal…”\n\n“Loyalty is one thing, Miss Queenie… But she does make a lot of really good stuff. And Shuffle is definitely one of the most productive blacksmiths… So you’ll be happy, no matter what she brings you, promise!”\n\nTwosa smirked at the words of her underling, and her stomping returned to more pleasant sashaying…\n\n“I’d better be… That uptight gal… Why doesn’t she have a mate yet? Hmph, when she acts like that, it’s pretty obvious she’s never going to get one…”\n\nTwosa smirked and lifted her hand…\n\n“Not like me, eh? Let’s go to market and find Fuelli something nice to eat… And maybe something cute to wear?”\n\nThe gathered Fairy types clapped eagerly… Twosa had laughed heartily…\n...now, as she rode atop Shuffle’s fluffy, comfortable mane, jingling below her with tools, as she enjoyed the sun-streams peering down at her through the leaves…\n\n“...are you alright up there, Twosa?”\n\n“...hmmmm…?”\n\n“I asked if you’re alright. You got very quiet…”\n\nTwosa’s troubled expression slowly melted into a far more dreamy one… She closed her eyes and sighed heavily…\n\n“...yeah, Shuffle… I’m okay… Just thinking about the past…”\n\n“Mm…” Shuffle responded, her voice thinning with concern… “Our village is gone, though. Those who survived are scattered, and those who didn’t are given their proper due. You really should be thinking about the future, shouldn’t you…? Especially If you’re anticipating a baby so heavily…”\n\nTwosa cringed at that, where normally she would become giggly at the mere thought… Shuffle paused and turned her head to glance back up at her…\n\n“...You’re going to be a good mama, Twosa… I’m pretty sure of that…”\n\n“...how can you be?” Twosa muttered… “Couldn’t save my other ones…”\n\nShuffle sighed and reached up to draw the smaller Fairy down into her arms…\n\n“...Yes, I know… We’ve been through a lot. But this is why I gave the demand I did when we were only just coming here… I don’t want to look back. We all lost something there…”\n\n“...what did you lose, Shuffle…? You always seemed content to be alone and doing whatever it was you wanted… Which turned out to be just smithing constantly…”\n\nShuffle smiled down at her… Twosa’s eyes sparkled softly at the gentle grin that so rarely showed, and yet… nowadays… It seemed to be coming more and more...\n“...Just because I also gained something from the fire, Twosa, doesn’t mean I didn’t lose my friends… My home. Sometimes what we have isn’t visible on a shelf or contained in a hut…”\n\n“...eh? What do you mean?”\n\nShuffle turned and began to carry her, bridal style, back up the path. The ambience around them was intoxicatingly peaceful… It was no wonder Twosa so longed to be out here…\n\n“Mmm…” Shuffle remained quiet for a time… And then she spoke carefully, as if explaining a concept to a baby…\n\n“Creatures… Fellow family members, loved ones… Even just accomplishments and memories. They seem insubstantial compared to something you can hold or forge or spend… And yet… Though there have been wars fought over gold, iron, and land… There’s been far more battles fought over love.”\n\nTwosa took all this in… She contemplated it… Held it like an insubstantial wisp of vapour, and watched it flutter away…\n\n“...Hrm, I don’t really get it…”\n\n“Do you not?” Shuffle asked, surprised… “You’ve never come across someone or something you’d die for?”\n\n“Goodness, no… I don’t want to die at all!”\n\nShuffle couldn’t hold back her laughter. She even reached down to softly stroke Twosa’s head. The smaller fae brightened again…\n\n“Never going to die, your children will keep you youthful forever, hm?”\n\nTwosa joined in the eager giggling… They continued home, and Twosa was set gently on the bed to rest once more…\n\n...but her dreams wouldn’t leave her alone… Memories flooded unbidden and seemed to surround her, staring down like a group of judgemental executioners...\nShe swung the blade a few times, laughing softly at the heft and weight of it…\n\nShe was stood in her village again. It was some time later, one starry night, where the ever present group of sycophant Tinka had returned to their nests, leaving Twosa to stand outside of Shuffle’s shop and play with her new scythe…\n\nShuffle herself couldn’t help but look subtly proud, even though most of it was overcome with worry about what this foolish fairy might do…\n\n“...It’s balanced, ornamented with silver and spinel… Sharpened to a razor point…”\n\n...thunder rumbled softly above them… It was going to rain, doubtless… There was already lightning flashing on the horizon…\n\n“Don’t go running around with it in the dark, hm? I didn’t put all that work into it just for you to trip and lose an eye…”\n\n“Oh PLEASE.” Twosa twirled happily, spinning the scythe with more expertise than Shuffle would have guessed the pompous Fae to have… but then, she WAS still a Tinkaton… “As if I’m going to be so clumsy… And besides, it’s raining, and Fuelli is starting to feel squeezes in that big, pretty tummy of her’s… I’m gonna be a mom soon. I won’t do anything to endanger that… Not even go after… You know.”\n\n“...Mhm.” Shuffle sighed, glancing up at the gathering clouds… \n\n“...well… stay safe. I don’t like this weather, and in an open plane like this, lightning m-…”\n\n“Arceus above, Shuffle… There hasn’t been a strike here in forever! You act as though we’re all on the edge of a cliff…”\n\nShuffle sighed heavily and waved her hand…\n\n“Fine, fine. Do as you like, and I won’t be held responsible. We already came to that agreement…”\n\n“We did, and I don’t need you to be responsible for me…!”\nShuffle stared at her for a few long moments… Her expression was a bit sad… like a parent who knew their child was being foolish, but… Well…\n\nYou had to be burned to learn not to play with fire…\n\nThe blacksmith turned and entered her hut again. She closed the door, and Twosa was left alone in the quiet night…\n\nSuddenly, the scythe felt much heavier. Twirling it didn’t seem as fun…\n\n“...bah.” she muttered, eyes closing. She tried to reinvigorate herself… She wanted to imagine the blade slicing through Crescent… The fear in her eyes…!\n\n...then… Then, once the fool was out of the way, then…\n\nShe blinked and realized she’d been wandering aimlessly with the wicked blade in her hands. She stared down at it, and something about its curved shape that was souring her thoughts by the moment…\n\n“Whatever.” she grumbled, and turned to walk towards her home once more. She chuckled softly as she twirled the scythe once…\n\n...then chucked it aside into the bushes in irritation…\n\n“I don’t need a weapon like that… I could beat her with my bare hands, but it’ll be better if she just LEFT, and got out of the way…”\n\nLightning flashed ahead, and rumbled the ground heavily… Twosa flinched and turned to look up at the clouds…\n\n...how had they gathered so fast? It wasn’t even a half hour walk from Shuffle’s hut to her own… And yet now lightning flared in the clouds, dancing across them constantly…\n\nShe stared, mesmerized by nature’s fury. But her heart began to pound…\n\n...something felt wrong…\n\nShe turned towards her hut just in time to be blinded by a flash… And deafened by a roar...\n...YOOOOOUUUUU…\n\n“HAH!?”\n\nShe rubbed her eyes and turned in place, trying to regain her sight. Once she had, she almost wished to be blinded again…\n\nFire… The dry summer grass caught like Mareep cotton and went up with a puff, trails of flames snaking from hut to hut with almost malicious intent…\n\nHad she heard things… Did it matter?! She spun once more and faced her hut…\n\nIt was engulfed, and one of the walls already sagged with the heat of the roaring blaze…\n\n“...F-Fuelli?”\n\nTwosa first began to walk, in a daze… Then she began to run… To sprint outright…\n\nShe burst through the flames without thinking, into the inferno that was her former home…\n\nEverything inside was being consumed… She began to cough immediately, her eyes stinging with the ash and smoke that billowed all around her…\n\n...she began to become slowly aware that her flesh was in agony… Her skin rippled and boiled away, even dripping off of her like molten metal… And the sinew underneath, though tougher, couldn’t stand this heat whatsoever…\n\n“F-Fuelli… Fuelli?!”\n\nShe stumbled forward, hacking softly and feeling her lungs start to sting. She pushed her hands out in front of her face, trying to clear a path…\n\n...she stopped, stunned…\n\n...a pair of legs stuck out, still as a doll’s, from under a fallen chunk of the roof...\nTwosa didn’t move… She merely stared, and her brain refused to respond until the searing heat all around became so oppressive that instinct took over…\n\nShe turned towards the front door… But the flames had grown all the worse. She couldn’t go that way…\n\nShe backed into the burning husk of her home and started to cough harder… She turned towards a soft rush of cool air, and followed it… She climbed up the debris… Her hands grasped blindly… Her body ached worse than it ever had before… She didn’t realize she was screaming, hoarsely, through the burning haze…\n\nFinally she escaped to the roof of her home… She turned, squinting through watery eyes to see flames on all sides. She rubbed her scarred palms firmly on her eyes and…\n\n...and when her vision cleared… When the wind shifted just right, and the smoke billowed out behind her… She could see her, so far away…\n\n“CRESCENT…!!!”\nTwosa sat up… Then she leaned heavily over the edge of the bed, and only barely held down her stomach’s contents…\n\n...week after week… Month after month… Her skin grew back, her flesh healed, albeit slowly and with so many medicated bandages that Shuffle had been forced to sell some of her forgings to pay for supplies…\n\nIt had done its job. Twosa was now nearly healed, besides the scarring to her once pristine, unmarked flesh. Yet she could breathe without wheezing… She could run about the yard and exercise without collapsing from exhaustion…\n\nBut no matter how much her body was rejuvinated… No matter how strong and independent she became… The fires in her deepest nightmares continued to flare…\n\n...along with the tearful, glaring eyes of her rival… She was leaving…\n\n...she was leaving without Pan…\n\n“Mm… Twosa?”\n\nShuffle opened her eyes tiredly and sighed, turning her head to look over at the trembling Tinkaton next to her…\n\nBy now, the hut had been properly adorned… The bedroom was now separate, the kitchen was fully featured… Everything had progressed, while Twosa’s mind slowly fell to pieces in the isolation…\n\n...she had planted flowers… She had taken to making small trinkets out of the scrap metal that Shuffle gave her… No hobby was enough to prevent her increasingly frequent thousand-yard stares at the stove’s fiery hearth…\n\nShuffle sat up and rubbed the side of her head… Then she drew Twosa close to her, and nuzzled into her mane…\n\n“Shuffle… Shuffle, I… I’m sorry… I just… I keep seeing...”\n\n“...mm, shh… I know…”\nOutside, in the depths of the night, Kricketune sang and Noctowls hooted gently. The stairs twinkled overhead…\n\nTwosa slowly relaxed from the edge of panic... She felt tears beading at the edges of her eyes…\n\nShuffle’s arm gently slipped around her, and drew her a bit closer… Twosa gasped… The firm embrace no longer hurt… Instead, it felt quite warm and wonderful…\n\n“I-I… I’m still so much weaker than before… I can’t even lift a hammer properly…”\n\n“Mm, your injuries will ensure that you’re never fully back to where you were… But you’re healed more than enough to…”\n\n“...T-To?”\n\nShuffle’s arm moved subtly, and her broad hand settled on Twosa’s midsection…\n\nThe former leader flushed and perked…\n\n“...do you… mean?”\n\n“...Mhm. I think… you’re ready for a child. If it’s still what you truly want, th-…”\n\n“YES!”\n\nTwosa spun in Shuffle’s grasp and pushed her face to the larger Fairy’s chest, hugging her firmly with both her arms and hips for how excited she was…\n\n“Yes yes yes, a thousand times! I want to look forward like you’ve been telling me, but a-all I can think about is… Is Fuelli in the f-fire, and…”\n\nShuffle’s finger gently settled against Twosa’s lips…\n\n“...Then tomorrow, I will give you something to pull you away from your past, Twosa… You don’t have to live in it any longer… Promise.”\n\nTwosa shuddered… She bit her lip…\n\nShe stared up with admiration, especially because it seemed Shuffle wasn’t doing this because she was ordered… She was doing it because she truly was putting her faith that Twosa would be a good mama… But...\n\n...for a moment, that distant figure was visible once more through the flames, glaring…\n\n“...D-Does it have to be… tomorrow?”\n\n“...huh?”\n\nShuffle gasped, and Twosa giggled. The hut was filled with eager noises and the soft creaking of the bed…\n\nIn the dim of the night, their child was conceived… And if it wasn’t then, they would play at it again…\n\nElsewhere, with most of the hive resting, Queen Velvet twirled her pen…\n\n“Aaaahuh… huhuh~ Heh… A wayward little ‘queen’… I’ve not had this much fun in so long…”\n\nShe glanced up at the guards, both of whom were dozing with their heads bowed. The Queen was supposed to be resting too, in preparation for her eternal duties…\n\n...but in the light of the glinting silver sliver outside… She put ink on the journal in the moonbeams…\n\n“...And so… They’re having a baby soon, one way or the other… I do so… Wonder… Heh… If that little ‘queen’ is really cut out for it…”\n\nShe slumped back in her seat, and chewed the end of her pen. She couldn’t help but envision the tightly bandaged little thing… She’d been so disappointed when the wrappings had come off…\n\n...her expression curled into an idle, mischievous grin…\n\n“...Suppose there’s only one way to find out now… Let’s see what happens~!”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "A Tinkaton stood at the edge of her village…

The pristine, pretty, placid place was a paradise that many a great warrior had strived for. It was an Elysium, fit only for those such as her; those so in tune with the natural order that they could proudly take from the planet, and mould the gifts it gives to works of art worthy of the landscape…

And yet… She was one of those strange fae who had always desired more…

The sunlight seemed a little harsh. The greenery choked a little too much. And the happy laughter…

...Perhaps not all paradises are the same, after all…

But the Tinkaton had no way to change it herself… And no understanding of why she felt the way she did… why she was not interested in gifts of flowers like her kin, nor why she crafted cutting weapons instead of the striking hammers the other smiths made...

She looked down at the thin blade in her hands… Something she’d made long ago, as part of her practice. It came in handy for slicing vegetables, or occasionally to prise up bark in the woods to search for binding sap…

Her thumb ran along the edge of it carefully… Yet, not carefully enough. A bead of glimmering fluid started to form, before snaking down the side of her hand… It was clear and pretty as water, for a moment... then it rapidly clouded and darkened…

“...red…” she muttered ponderously to herself…

...why was the red so… enticing…?

“Staring off into the sun yet again, Crescent Moon…?”

Crescent lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder. The waifish form of… ‘Queenie’ stood there, with her usual haughty pose and haughty posse in tow…

“My name isn’t…” began Crescent, before sighing and deciding to just leave it… Like many, she saw there was no arguing with the loudest brat of the village…
“Perhaps if you stare hard and long enough, you’ll go blind. The world might be saved from more of your shoddy constructions if you manage that, eh…?”

Crescent wasn’t listening. She’d returned to her meditative thought, trying to ignore the bullying, until the blade was smacked clean out of Crescent’s hands…

The quieter Tinkaton watched it clattered into the dirt, before looking up at ‘Queenie’ with a far more dangerous expression, crossing her arms and daring the leader of the village to do more. The haughty Fae very nearly took that dare, her fists curled and her eyes narrowed to furious points. But she forced a cruel smirk back to her face instead…

“Ugly little blade makes me as sick to look at… As do you, Cressy~! No beauty, no art, and if you dare use it, your prey comes to you in tatters. Heh! With that kind of ‘talent’, no wonder you had to settle for a fre-…”

A freak. Her favourite word for Cressy’s chosen.. ‘friend’.

Crescent stood up abruptly, cutting off the word before it could be uttered. The gathered Fae, ‘Queenie’ included, took a collective step back. Crescent stared down at the smaller Tinkaton for a few long, tense seconds. It very well seemed she would finally snap and do something about that sharp tongue… Perhaps tear it out and sear it for a snack...

Instead, her arm was gently tugged. She looked, and found a sunny Ogerpon happily offering the knife to his beloved ‘friend’…

“You dropped this, dear! Heh… This knife is precious to you, I wouldn’t usually think you’d be so careless… Did one of the straps on your belt break?”

The group’s tension seemed to deflate as quickly as a popped balloon. ‘Queenie’ rolled her eyes and turned to stomp away, her face far more angry than smug by now. Crescent chuckled and took the knife, then put her arms gently around Pan to thank him...
From afar, Twosa watched. Somehow, in the company of those who would eagerly call her ‘Queenie’, she didn’t care. Their submissiveness didn’t matter; only Crescent’s did… Another Tinkaton gently took Twosa’s arm and tried to tell her to let it go. She flicked the hold away and glared at Crescent from afar...

“A freak.” she spat, though not loud enough so Crescent could hear… “A freak with a freak mate who will make freak children. It’d be better if she just used that knife on her own belly when the time comes…”

That at least seemed to make Twosa smirk. She turned and sauntered past the other Fairy types, snapping her fingers for them to follow…

“Speaking of! I should check on how MY brood is doing… And it may be a brood of one for now, but… Even MY majesty started in the form of a humble ‘tot, eh?”

She laughed as loud as she could as she retreated. She resisted all urges to glance back and see if Crescent had listened…

“Freak…” she muttered to herself, one more time, as if trying to convince herself...
Twosa bolted upright in bed. She gripped her skull and whimpered sharply in pain, and then looked down at her hands…

...bandaged… Sore. Aching. Right…

She had settled into a new ‘nest’ with Shuffle, the village’s premier blacksmith, and the only one to stay with her. Given how burned Twosa was, it wasn’t entirely a choice Shuffle could make; either she stayed with Twosa and helped her recover, or the poor Fae would wither and die from her injuries…

They’d managed to make a kind little hut, at the base of a quiet hillock. Yet, even though their village’s charred remains were long behind and the land blighted to the point of abandonment, it was clear that Twosa’s past had clung to her, no matter how much she craved a second chance like this…

Her ‘kingdom’ had died in flames before it had ever begun. She tried to tell herself that a family would be far more of an accomplishment… But the thoughts only became convincing once she focused on Crescent and Pan… How undeservedly… HAPPY… they had looked...

“...freak… Freaky little FREAK of a fairy.” she spat, as if getting rid of the last little bit of bile in her throat. Then she rubbed her eyes and pushed herself to a stand to peer around…

Shuffle was within the miniature mountain their hut was built into. She had set up a smithing station near a bubbling magma flow, and spent most of her time digging out new ore to shape into tools that they needed…

Nails to keep the boards of their furniture together. An axe to make the wood in the first place. A pick to get at the ore. That had all just been the start… Now her workshop was scattered with pieces and projects all in their own state of completion. Some were cooling, some were curing… All of them were being meticulously plied over by the astute Fairy, who was just removing a thin metal blade from her quenching barrel. She set it carefully aside and pushed her goggles up, rubbing her eye firmly…

“Shuffle?”
The larger Fairy type turned and looked. Despite the heat that no doubt stung at Twosa’s scarred flesh, she had made her way into the mountain to find her. It was only a short walk, but…

“...Twosa… In your condition, you need to stay inside as much as possible. You’re still on bed rest, in fact…”

Shuffle moved over and gently picked Twosa up. Carrying her bridal style, she returned through the tunnel and into the hut. Twosa couldn’t help but giggle…

“...oh Shuffle, you’re so romantic… Speaking as if I was having a baby already…”

“Mm, and this is just an obvious sign of you not being ready for it… You going to wander around in dangerous areas while you’re barely able to waddle, Twosa?”

Twosa looked up thoughtfully as she was set on the bed. She hadn’t really considered what it would be like…

“...that’s what I thought.” Shuffle muttered, shaking her head gently… “You have big ideas, but you miss a lot of details, don’t you?”

Twosa’s expression soured a little…

“Hmph. I see a lot more than what most ‘mons assume…”

Shuffle couldn’t help but smirk in turn. She reached out and patted Twosa’s head, and the injured Fae wasn’t sure whether to blush from anger or excitement…

“Look… Just take the time to relax for now, okay? Soon you’ll wish you could, desperately. If you’re serious about this whole ‘repopulation’ thing, that is.”

Twosa shuddered and looked down at her skinny figure. Shuffle had turned to walk into the small kitchen area and find some of the rations they’d set aside for her. She was saying something about ‘big responsibility’ and…

...Twosa wasn’t paying attention anymore… The dream she’d woken from had put her mind in a reminiscing mood...
Once more, into that perfect and serene land that Crescent had so violently stolen from her… Once more into recalling how perfect it all was…

She wasn’t sure what joker put her up against Crescent, but Twosa had come out on top and become the Leader. It was a memory she savoured like a delectable tender of meat: Standing on that stage and making the crowd laugh at her hated rival…

“Why… Do you not like Crescent anyway?” a Tinkaton asked curiously, looking down at Twosa. The village’s leader had her arms folded behind her back, trying to swagger. She glanced up at one of the half dozen or so Tinkaton who followed her around all day…

...in a sickening moment, her stomach turned when she realized she didn’t know their names… She had never taken the time to remember them… Her little gang of yes-mons were ash, and not even their leader could recall what to put on their graves…

The memory was stark enough to throw Twosa briefly back to reality… She leaned heavily over the bed, her face going green… Yet no matter how much the words were burning in her chest, they continued to play, unbidden and acidic…

“...Hmph. She’s an upstart Fae who thinks she’s better than the rest of us. Her and her slicing weapons and her… Freakish desires.”

Twosa, in the memory at least, continued on. She sauntered through the village with an aura only the title she wore could command. But…

As she had said to Shuffle… She noticed more than most assumed. She waved as she passed by, and the other Tinkaton of the village waved back… Twosa could always hear them chuckling or glimpse them rolling their eyes when they thought she wasn’t paying attention…

She demanded respect, and she was… ‘given’ it… But she was well aware of what she did not truly have…

Twosa nearly kicked the door to her hut open, startling the resident inside. The Leader stepped into the hut and straightened herself, trying to play it off as a grand entrance. Her gang filtered in behind her…

“Ahh… Twosa…! You’re back…!”
The voice came from within the hut. Though it was a bit of a struggle, the half-term Tinkaton who was reclined on a cushion on the front room stood up and trotted over excitedly to stand proudly in front of Twosa.

Twosa herself blushed and glanced away… The Tinkaton before her was as short as a ‘tuff, despite being obviously evolved. The tiny thing was as gentle and soft as a Mareep, and had a clumsiness with tools that made her adept for one thing; the belly that now hung on her front…

“You’re supposed to call me Queenie, you know…” Twosa huffed, arms firmly crossed and her face turned away. She was attempting to appear aloof… but her mate didn’t seem to catch on, nor care. She trotted forward and took Twosa’s hand…

“I need more cuddly, Twosa… My tummy is kicking so much today… You gotta snuggle me a little and calm them down!”

Twosa’s face went far more red…

...although in reality, it was still sickly pale under the bandages…

“...name… I know her name… Dammit…”

She was hunched over Shuffle’s arm, head held above a metal pail. She had nothing in her stomach to vomit, but her body was trying anyway…

“Twosa… Hey, TWOSA… Come on hun… You need to relax…”

Shuffle gingerly turned her over and stared down at the smaller Fairy. Twosa caught a glimpse of Shuffle’s expression… and was surprised to see genuine concern there… Perhaps even worry?

“...Mnnhhh… Shuffa…”

“Hey. Yeah. It’s me. You’re still feeling the effects of shock, and your injuries are just making it worse… You push yourself too hard, and this is what will happen… What are you so stressed about?”

“...her name...”
Shuffle blinked and shifted softly in the bed. The food was abandoned in favour of making sure Twosa’s heart didn’t merely give out… To that end;

The Fairy Blacksmith gently curled her arms around Twosa… She was supremely gentle, despite hands that were rough from years of effort and mistake… She made sure not to put any pressure on Twosa’s scarred body… But she did hold her close, and try to calm her…

“You’re okay… Alright…?”

Shuffle’s voice came gentler than it ever had… She was usually so gruff and short with her words… Now they brought tears to the distressed Twosa’s eyes…

“You’re with me… I’m taking care of you. You’re not gonna die… Whatever the heck you’re so worried about, you’ll remember it as soon as you calm down…”

Twosa sniffled gently and set her head against Shuffle’s chest, closing her eyes… She knew the blacksmith was mostly doing this to calm her, so she didn’t simply convulse and die there in the bed… But the affection… She wasn’t sure how she had forgotten what a soothing balm it could be on the soul…

She calmed… Slowly but surely, her breathing became steady again. Shuffle sighed, and though it sounded like a sigh of annoyance… there was more than a bit of relief in it…

“...thank you…” was all Twosa muttered. Shuffle chuckled and very carefully set her down…

“Don’t scare me like that. Didn’t want to have to think about being the only Tinkaton for miles. Every Poison type in the valley would be after me…”

“...uh huh…” Twosa muttered, unable to stop a soft grin from spreading on her face. Shuffle rolled her eyes and glanced away, clearing her throat heavily…

“Anyway… I’ll get you some food. For now, just… Rest. Stop straining yourself…”

“...Fuelli…”
Shuffle paused and glanced over her shoulder, unsure of why Twosa had said the name… but the Tinkaton had passed out once more. Shuffle sighed and shook her head, then continued in her tasks…

The future was so unclear to Shuffle’s eyes… But she was starting to have a few hints…

===

The days wore on, as they tend to do. Shuffle found a routine that prevented the waifish Fae in her care from trying anything foolish, no matter how blithe her spirit was…

She would awaken next to her, not allowed to sleep elsewhere much as she might have preferred her own bed to stretch out on. She would gingerly unfurl herself from around Twosa, and then move to the kitchen to make food for them both…

Most days, it was a hearty broth to help both her energy as she worked, and Twosa’s recovery… But cooking it filled the hut with pleasant aroma, and often awoke Twosa far before she might have otherwise…

She’d get up, flirt with her mate, giggle about their future family… and then would either pester Shuffle until the soup was done, or eventually weakness would overcome her, and she’d have to be carried back to bed…

With that done, Shuffle could usually go to work. She would enter the cave and continue to craft the things they needed for a comfortable home. Indeed, as time passed, the hut she’d built was slowly evolving into a place of near luxury…

The creaking gate that acted as their door was replaced with silent hinges. Their sagging mat of cotton was replaced by a proper bed frame, and a softer cushion for them to rest on. Utensils were made, so they no longer had to sip from their bowls…

...and, unbeknownst to Twosa, Shuffle had rigged a small bell in her workshop. Through a series of pulleys, it made a soft clinking whenever the adventurous and injured former village leader attempted to go out when she shouldn’t...
Shuffle showed up, nudged her goggles from her eyes, and put her calloused hands on her hips…

Twosa hadn’t noticed that she’d emerged from her workshop. She was stood outside, walking with careful, small, weakened steps… But her eyes were sparkling in pleasure at the natural green forest all around their yard…

It was a gleam that Shuffle had started to recognize… And she couldn’t help but smile when she saw it…

Before, her demands for children were eerily cold. She always referred to it as repopulation, instead of raising a baby… It was clear where her focus had laid…

And yet, more and more, that kind of talk had disappeared… It was replaced instead by softer, genuine excitement… Every day, as her body healed and became more and more primed for her task ahead, she seemed to grow all the more eager…

“You’re not supposed to be out in the yard.”

Twosa jumped and spun, nearly falling over with a gasp. She righted herself, and blushed horridly at being caught…

“Well, please… I just wanted to get a little fresh air… And you haven’t built our porch yet…”

Shuffle rolled her eyes and glanced at the wide window she had built into the hut, providing plenty of pleasantly scented breezes for the bedridden, or supposedly bedridden, Fairy…

“...Mhm… You know… If you want to go on a walk, I can take you…”

“You can?!” Twosa perked, and then tried to clear her throat and speak with a bit more dignity… “I mean, of course… I’d love to go for a walk with you, Shuffle…”

The Blacksmith smirked and stepped forward…

“...Mm, but I have one stipulation for you...”
“Ah? OH! EEEK!”

Without warning, Shuffle scooped up the bandaged Fae and perched her upon her fluffy mane. Twosa wobbled… then giggled eagerly and cuddled… The texture of it was so strange… But not unpleasant in the slightest…

“...like a burnt marshmallow…”

“Eh?” Shuffle asked. She had placed her hands idly in her apron pockets and approached the gate around their clearing. She glanced up as she opened it to step onto the shaded game trail that had lead them here in the first place…

“Your hair. The outside is… Tough? Or… Firm. Like I can push my hand through, but it takes some effort… Ah, and when I do, the insides are so soft and pleasant…!”

“...heh. Yeah. The heat tends to make it melt a little. It’s made of thin filament of metal-like substances, so…”

She continued speaking on the technical details of how their species was adorned. Twosa stared quietly down, chin rested on her palms, as she listened with rapt attention.

...she didn’t absorb any of it, nor did she care too much. But the subject seemed to bring passion out in the normally melancholic personality that Shuffle usually had. She wasn’t as dull as she appeared… merely happy to be on her own, and doing what she enjoyed… for no one but herself…

Twosa’s expression relaxed from its excited dreaminess to one of genuine awe… She had admired Shuffle’s strength and focus, but as she lived with her, she started to admire… everything.

She wondered why she hadn’t taken notice of her before...
“Shuffle…!!!”

...memories, the village again… They wouldn’t leave her alone…

She had pushed open the door to the workshop and sauntered in. Her constant companions awkwardly packed themselves in, trying their desperate best not to be forced too near the blazing forge…

Shuffle herself was still facing her workbench, hammering something into shape. She didn’t turn to pay any attention to the village leader strutting back and forth, inspecting all the weapons that had been crafted…

“Shuuuuufffle~ Our village’s premier blacksmith!”

“Besides, perhaps, Orda. Calliope…” Shuffle said, her voice soft and bored. She brought her hammer down firmly and then stood straight to finally turn and face them, dusting her hands…

“...Or even Crescent.”

Twosa’s face soured instantly. She rolled her eyes and ‘accidentally’ flicked a box of parts off a table. Shuffle’s eyes narrowed…

“...anyway…” the Blacksmith muttered… “What do you want?”

“A weapon!” Twosa said, with the wide grin returning to her face, albeit a bit more spiteful than before… “And the others you mentioned… Heh, well I think you’re better than all of them, and the proof hangs on these walls, eh?”

Shuffle allowed herself a proud little grin, especially as the yes-mons that surrounded Twosa constantly all made (slightly exaggerated) ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ at the various tools and blades she’d made…

“Mm. You’ve never been a fighter, Twosa. You’re suddenly interested in knocking things out of the sky?”

“Or on their smug little backsides. I can’t be a proud Fairy without a good way to defend myself, and my future children...”
Shuffle’s smirk turned wry. She turned back to her bench and picked up her tool again…

“...I’m sure you can pay, so I don’t really care. Just get me the materials… What did you want me to make anyway…?”

“Ouuuhhhh, I dunno… Hammer is a little boring, eh? Spear… Perhaps something fancy, like a scythe?”

“Oh. A custom order… And one for a very specific purpose, hm?”

She brought her hammer down in the ensuing silence, filling it with ringing of metal against metal. Twosa’s face reddened harder, and she stomped, before pointing…

Her pack of prissy Fae perked, and moved forward. Shuffle gasped as she was grabbed and dragged, struggling, to Twosa’s feet…

“Don’t you get any wrong ideas, I’d NEVER harm any member of our village… Unless they had some plot to destroy US, eh?”

“...Which Crescent does not.” Shuffle said. She’d stopped struggling, despite the fact she was overpowering her captors, to instead stare with dull annoyance. Twosa’s face lit with fury again…

“Well, none you know about… As a leader, I’m privvy to some pretty interesting information! And let’s just say… Maybe I’ll NEED a weapon soon, hm hm hm?”

She spoke the last part with her hips swaying on each ‘hm’… She was good at being cute, and appealing to her underlings… But to her frustration, Shuffle wasn’t intimidated, nor attracted, nor even moved at all by the motion…

“...Look you’re just a blacksmith, so do what I pay you to do, okay Shuffle?”

“Yeah. Although I’m not going to take responsibility when the weapon is found in SOMEONE’S chest…”

“Tch.”
Twosa waved her hand to dismiss her lackey gathering. They released Shuffle, who stood up slowly, as if to emphasize the size and strength advantage she had over them all…

...but she made no moves to retaliate. She just turned, picked up her hammer, and started working again…

“...Feh. I’ll send you the specifications and payment by tomorrow. I expect it soon.”

“I have a backlog.” was all Shuffle answered. Twosa glared at her… but decided she’d pushed enough. She didn’t want violence to happen to the blacksmith, after all. Not yet, anyway… the attitude was starting to get on her nerves…

She turned to leave, and her posse plodded out after her…

“Maybe we need to do something about that one, hm? Doesn’t seem very loyal…”

“Loyalty is one thing, Miss Queenie… But she does make a lot of really good stuff. And Shuffle is definitely one of the most productive blacksmiths… So you’ll be happy, no matter what she brings you, promise!”

Twosa smirked at the words of her underling, and her stomping returned to more pleasant sashaying…

“I’d better be… That uptight gal… Why doesn’t she have a mate yet? Hmph, when she acts like that, it’s pretty obvious she’s never going to get one…”

Twosa smirked and lifted her hand…

“Not like me, eh? Let’s go to market and find Fuelli something nice to eat… And maybe something cute to wear?”

The gathered Fairy types clapped eagerly… Twosa had laughed heartily…
...now, as she rode atop Shuffle’s fluffy, comfortable mane, jingling below her with tools, as she enjoyed the sun-streams peering down at her through the leaves…

“...are you alright up there, Twosa?”

“...hmmmm…?”

“I asked if you’re alright. You got very quiet…”

Twosa’s troubled expression slowly melted into a far more dreamy one… She closed her eyes and sighed heavily…

“...yeah, Shuffle… I’m okay… Just thinking about the past…”

“Mm…” Shuffle responded, her voice thinning with concern…  “Our village is gone, though. Those who survived are scattered, and those who didn’t are given their proper due. You really should be thinking about the future, shouldn’t you…? Especially If you’re anticipating a baby so heavily…”

Twosa cringed at that, where normally she would become giggly at the mere thought… Shuffle paused and turned her head to glance back up at her…

“...You’re going to be a good mama, Twosa… I’m pretty sure of that…”

“...how can you be?” Twosa muttered… “Couldn’t save my other ones…”

Shuffle sighed and reached up to draw the smaller Fairy down into her arms…

“...Yes, I know… We’ve been through a lot. But this is why I gave the demand I did when we were only just coming here… I don’t want to look back. We all lost something there…”

“...what did you lose, Shuffle…? You always seemed content to be alone and doing whatever it was you wanted… Which turned out to be just smithing constantly…”

Shuffle smiled down at her… Twosa’s eyes sparkled softly at the gentle grin that so rarely showed, and yet… nowadays… It seemed to be coming more and more...
“...Just because I also gained something from the fire, Twosa, doesn’t mean I didn’t lose my friends… My home. Sometimes what we have isn’t visible on a shelf or contained in a hut…”

“...eh? What do you mean?”

Shuffle turned and began to carry her, bridal style, back up the path. The ambience around them was intoxicatingly peaceful… It was no wonder Twosa so longed to be out here…

“Mmm…” Shuffle remained quiet for a time… And then she spoke carefully, as if explaining a concept to a baby…

“Creatures… Fellow family members, loved ones… Even just accomplishments and memories. They seem insubstantial compared to something you can hold or forge or spend… And yet… Though there have been wars fought over gold, iron, and land… There’s been far more battles fought over love.”

Twosa took all this in… She contemplated it… Held it like an insubstantial wisp of vapour, and watched it flutter away…

“...Hrm, I don’t really get it…”

“Do you not?” Shuffle asked, surprised… “You’ve never come across someone or something you’d die for?”

“Goodness, no… I don’t want to die at all!”

Shuffle couldn’t hold back her laughter. She even reached down to softly stroke Twosa’s head. The smaller fae brightened again…

“Never going to die, your children will keep you youthful forever, hm?”

Twosa joined in the eager giggling… They continued home, and Twosa was set gently on the bed to rest once more…

...but her dreams wouldn’t leave her alone… Memories flooded unbidden and seemed to surround her, staring down like a group of judgemental executioners...
She swung the blade a few times, laughing softly at the heft and weight of it…

She was stood in her village again. It was some time later, one starry night, where the ever present group of sycophant Tinka had returned to their nests, leaving Twosa to stand outside of Shuffle’s shop and play with her new scythe…

Shuffle herself couldn’t help but look subtly proud, even though most of it was overcome with worry about what this foolish fairy might do…

“...It’s balanced, ornamented with silver and spinel… Sharpened to a razor point…”

...thunder rumbled softly above them… It was going to rain, doubtless… There was already lightning flashing on the horizon…

“Don’t go running around with it in the dark, hm? I didn’t put all that work into it just for you to trip and lose an eye…”

“Oh PLEASE.” Twosa twirled happily, spinning the scythe with more expertise than Shuffle would have guessed the pompous Fae to have… but then, she WAS still a Tinkaton… “As if I’m going to be so clumsy… And besides, it’s raining, and Fuelli is starting to feel squeezes in that big, pretty tummy of her’s… I’m gonna be a mom soon. I won’t do anything to endanger that… Not even go after… You know.”

“...Mhm.” Shuffle sighed, glancing up at the gathering clouds…

“...well… stay safe. I don’t like this weather, and in an open plane like this, lightning m-…”

“Arceus above, Shuffle… There hasn’t been a strike here in forever! You act as though we’re all on the edge of a cliff…”

Shuffle sighed heavily and waved her hand…

“Fine, fine. Do as you like, and I won’t be held responsible. We already came to that agreement…”

“We did, and I don’t need you to be responsible for me…!”
Shuffle stared at her for a few long moments… Her expression was a bit sad… like a parent who knew their child was being foolish, but… Well…

You had to be burned to learn not to play with fire…

The blacksmith turned and entered her hut again. She closed the door, and Twosa was left alone in the quiet night…

Suddenly, the scythe felt much heavier. Twirling it didn’t seem as fun…

“...bah.” she muttered, eyes closing. She tried to reinvigorate herself… She wanted to imagine the blade slicing through Crescent… The fear in her eyes…!

...then… Then, once the fool was out of the way, then…

She blinked and realized she’d been wandering aimlessly with the wicked blade in her hands. She stared down at it, and something about its curved shape that was souring her thoughts by the moment…

“Whatever.” she grumbled, and turned to walk towards her home once more. She chuckled softly as she twirled the scythe once…

...then chucked it aside into the bushes in irritation…

“I don’t need a weapon like that… I could beat her with my bare hands, but it’ll be better if she just LEFT, and got out of the way…”

Lightning flashed ahead, and rumbled the ground heavily… Twosa flinched and turned to look up at the clouds…

...how had they gathered so fast? It wasn’t even a half hour walk from Shuffle’s hut to her own… And yet now lightning flared in the clouds, dancing across them constantly…

She stared, mesmerized by nature’s fury. But her heart began to pound…

...something felt wrong…

She turned towards her hut just in time to be blinded by a flash… And deafened by a roar...
...YOOOOOUUUUU…

“HAH!?”

She rubbed her eyes and turned in place, trying to regain her sight. Once she had, she almost wished to be blinded again…

Fire… The dry summer grass caught like Mareep cotton and went up with a puff, trails of flames snaking from hut to hut with almost malicious intent…

Had she heard things… Did it matter?! She spun once more and faced her hut…

It was engulfed, and one of the walls already sagged with the heat of the roaring blaze…

“...F-Fuelli?”

Twosa first began to walk, in a daze… Then she began to run… To sprint outright…

She burst through the flames without thinking, into the inferno that was her former home…

Everything inside was being consumed… She began to cough immediately, her eyes stinging with the ash and smoke that billowed all around her…

...she began to become slowly aware that her flesh was in agony… Her skin rippled and boiled away, even dripping off of her like molten metal… And the sinew underneath, though tougher, couldn’t stand this heat whatsoever…

“F-Fuelli… Fuelli?!”

She stumbled forward, hacking softly and feeling her lungs start to sting. She pushed her hands out in front of her face, trying to clear a path…

...she stopped, stunned…

...a pair of legs stuck out, still as a doll’s, from under a fallen chunk of the roof...
Twosa didn’t move… She merely stared, and her brain refused to respond until the searing heat all around became so oppressive that instinct took over…

She turned towards the front door… But the flames had grown all the worse. She couldn’t go that way…

She backed into the burning husk of her home and started to cough harder… She turned towards a soft rush of cool air, and followed it… She climbed up the debris… Her hands grasped blindly…  Her body ached worse than it ever had before… She didn’t realize she was screaming, hoarsely, through the burning haze…

Finally she escaped to the roof of her home… She turned, squinting through watery eyes to see flames on all sides. She rubbed her scarred palms firmly on her eyes and…

...and when her vision cleared… When the wind shifted just right, and the smoke billowed out behind her… She could see her, so far away…

“CRESCENT…!!!”
Twosa sat up… Then she leaned heavily over the edge of the bed, and only barely held down her stomach’s contents…

...week after week… Month after month… Her skin grew back, her flesh healed, albeit slowly and with so many medicated bandages that Shuffle had been forced to sell some of her forgings to pay for supplies…

It had done its job. Twosa was now nearly healed, besides the scarring to her once pristine, unmarked flesh. Yet she could breathe without wheezing… She could run about the yard and exercise without collapsing from exhaustion…

But no matter how much her body was rejuvinated… No matter how strong and independent she became… The fires in her deepest nightmares continued to flare…

...along with the tearful, glaring eyes of her rival… She was leaving…

...she was leaving without Pan…

“Mm… Twosa?”

Shuffle opened her eyes tiredly and sighed, turning her head to look over at the trembling Tinkaton next to her…

By now, the hut had been properly adorned… The bedroom was now separate, the kitchen was fully featured… Everything had progressed, while Twosa’s mind slowly fell to pieces in the isolation…

...she had planted flowers… She had taken to making small trinkets out of the scrap metal that Shuffle gave her… No hobby was enough to prevent her increasingly frequent thousand-yard stares at the stove’s fiery hearth…

Shuffle sat up and rubbed the side of her head… Then she drew Twosa close to her, and nuzzled into her mane…

“Shuffle… Shuffle, I… I’m sorry… I just… I keep seeing...”

“...mm, shh… I know…”
Outside, in the depths of the night, Kricketune sang and Noctowls hooted gently. The stairs twinkled overhead…

Twosa slowly relaxed from the edge of panic... She felt tears beading at the edges of her eyes…

Shuffle’s arm gently slipped around her, and drew her a bit closer… Twosa gasped… The firm embrace no longer hurt… Instead, it felt quite warm and wonderful…

“I-I… I’m still so much weaker than before… I can’t even lift a hammer properly…”

“Mm, your injuries will ensure that you’re never fully back to where you were… But you’re healed more than enough to…”

“...T-To?”

Shuffle’s arm moved subtly, and her broad hand settled on Twosa’s midsection…

The former leader flushed and perked…

“...do you… mean?”

“...Mhm. I think… you’re ready for a child. If it’s still what you truly want, th-…”

“YES!”

Twosa spun in Shuffle’s grasp and pushed her face to the larger Fairy’s chest, hugging her firmly with both her arms and hips for how excited she was…

“Yes yes yes, a thousand times! I want to look forward like you’ve been telling me, but a-all I can think about is… Is Fuelli in the f-fire, and…”

Shuffle’s finger gently settled against Twosa’s lips…

“...Then tomorrow, I will give you something to pull you away from your past, Twosa… You don’t have to live in it any longer… Promise.”

Twosa shuddered… She bit her lip…

She stared up with admiration, especially because it seemed Shuffle wasn’t doing this because she was ordered… She was doing it because she truly was putting her faith that Twosa would be a good mama… But...

...for a moment, that distant figure was visible once more through the flames, glaring…

“...D-Does it have to be… tomorrow?”

“...huh?”

Shuffle gasped, and Twosa giggled. The hut was filled with eager noises and the soft creaking of the bed…

In the dim of the night, their child was conceived… And if it wasn’t then, they would play at it again…

Elsewhere, with most of the hive resting, Queen Velvet twirled her pen…

“Aaaahuh… huhuh~ Heh… A wayward little ‘queen’… I’ve not had this much fun in so long…”

She glanced up at the guards, both of whom were dozing with their heads bowed. The Queen was supposed to be resting too, in preparation for her eternal duties…

...but in the light of the glinting silver sliver outside… She put ink on the journal in the moonbeams…

“...And so… They’re having a baby soon, one way or the other… I do so… Wonder… Heh… If that little ‘queen’ is really cut out for it…”

She slumped back in her seat, and chewed the end of her pen. She couldn’t help but envision the tightly bandaged little thing… She’d been so disappointed when the wrappings had come off…

...her expression curled into an idle, mischievous grin…

“...Suppose there’s only one way to find out now… Let’s see what happens~!”", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Twosa's Full House (DarlonDemonic Canon)", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "text/rtf", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "3", "name": "Violence", "description": "Mild violence", "rating_id": "1" }, { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "5" }