Bonus Round 5: Myth & Lore

[referees]

Summer's a time for swapping stories around the campfire. With that in mind, this round draws inspiration from the stories humanity have told each other over the centuries.

This round is CLOSED as of 7PM on August 4 EDT. Late fills may be posted, but they will not receive points.

RULES

• This round does not have prompts. Instead, we ask you to draw inspiration from the wide pool of mythology, fantasy, folklore, and fable. An urban fantasy or supernatural AU? A re-imagining of your favorite folk tale? Characters swapping ghost stories or playing D&D? As long as your fill in some way incorporates the fantastical and/or supernatural, it's welcome here.
• Your fill still has to be about a ship from one of our nominated fandoms. What ships you create work for is up to you, though.
• To submit your fill, simply leave it as a comment as a reply to this post.
• Remember to follow the general bonus round rules, outlined here.

FORMAT

Bonus round shenanigans all happen in the comments below. Brand-new works only, please.

Required Work Minimums:

• 400 words (prose)
• 400px by 400px (art)
• 14 lines (poetry)

There is no max work cap.

Remember, this is a NO-PROMPT round. Format your fill comment in one of the following ways:

If FILLING:

If FILLING as a TEAM GRANDSTAND participant:

FILL: TEAM [YOUR SHIP], [RATING] Replace [YOUR SHIP] with the name of the team you belong to Write it exactly as it appears on the team roster (without brackets) or your team will not receive points Replace RATING with the rating of your fill (G - E) Place applicable major content tags and word count before your fill (when applicable) If no major content tags are applicable, make sure to state this-- even if including other additional tags NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY as a new, unchaptered work. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of the fill in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" alt="DESCRIPTION OF YOUR IMAGE"/> Visual example

FILL: TEAM GRANDSTAND, [RATING] Replace RATING with the rating of your fill, G - E, as explained in the rules Place applicable major content tags and word count before the fill, where applicable If no major content tags are applicable, make sure to state this-- even if including other additional tags NSFW FILLS: Please cross-link these fills and use clear tags in your comment. Written/text fills should be hosted at AO3 ONLY as a new, unchaptered work. Art/visual fills can be hosted anywhere. You may include a small safe-for-work preview of your work in your comment. To place an image in your comment, use this code: <img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE" /> Visual example

Posts not using this format will be understood to be unofficial discussion posts, regardless of what they contain. They, like all comments in this community, are subject to the code of conduct.

SCORING

These numbers apply to your team as a whole, not each individual teammate. Make as many fills as you want!

For fills:

First 3 fills by any member of your team: 20 points each
Fills 4-10: 10 points each
Fills 11-20: 5 points each
Fills 21+: 2 points each

All scored content must be created new for this round.

Etc.

If you're hunting through the prompts looking for what to fill, a good trick is to view top-level comments only.

Have a question? Check The FAQ first. If you still need help, feel free to contact the mods. Happy fanworking!

Comments

FILL: Team Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, G

[kiyala]

Aomine Daiki/Kuroko Tetsuya; Kuroko no Basuke
no tags; cardfight vanguard au
word count: 809

Kuroko is little more than a shadow when Aomine finds him, new and unskilled

"You're―you're not a ghost, are you?" Aomine asks uneasily. "I'm not good with ghosts."

"You're a powerful demon," Kuroko says, blinking at him. "You don't have any reason to be afraid of ghosts."

"Sounds like something a ghost would say," Aomine mutters suspiciously.

"I'm not," Kuroko tells him. "I'm… I don't really know what I am. I'm a shadow."

"Well," Aomine says, draping his arm over Kuroko's shoulder, "that's not such a bad thing. Why don't you come with me?"

Calling Aomine a powerful demon is a bit of an understatement. He's a Lord; a vanguard; his soul is brimming with so much power that it shows in the fifteen wings made of blades that grow from his back.

Kuroko stares at them openly and Aomine follows his gaze, grinning with pride.

"I'll let you train with me," he decides. "Maybe if you train hard enough, you'll end up growing your own wings one day."

Kuroko goes with it, because the offer to train with a Blade Wing like Aomine is rare and he knows better than to let the opportunity pass him by. When Aomine holds his hand out, Kuroko takes it, marvelling at just how warm and firm the grip is.

"Your hand didn't pass through mine, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're not a ghost. We're getting off to a great start already."

Kuroko ducks his head to hide his smile. "Pleased to work with you, Aomine-sama."

"Oi," Aomine frowns. "Don't do that."

"Aomine-kun."

"Better," Aomine sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Come on, then. Let's get started."

Training with Aomine, Kuroko quickly discovers, is brutal. He has an incredible amount of power that comes pouring out of him, and everything he knows comes to him so naturally, to the point where he doesn't even put thought into the way he fights. It's all pure instinct, and Kuroko stares in a combination of horror and awe.

"I'm never going to be able to do that," he says softly.

"Well, not if you keep holding yourself back. It's not going to be easy, Tetsu, but it'll be worth it."

So Kuroko pushes himself harder. He works as hard as he can, training late into the night. Aomine is thrilled, staying back to train with him too, to give him suggestions to improve his fighting style, to alter his stance, to learn how to select the best magic to respond to each situation.

It's still a fraction of what Aomine is capable of, but Kuroko can see his own potential taking shape, and it's an exciting thing. He's finally becoming something, and he knows that he wouldn't be without some sort of guide.

"Shadows don't have form without a light," he tells Aomine one night, as they're taking a break from training. "I feel like your light is so strong that it makes me strong, too."

Grinning, Aomine reaches over to ruffle his hair. "You need to take some of the credit too, you know. You've been working really hard. Actually, I have a surprise for you. Come here."

Getting to his feet, Kuroko lets Aomine lead him out of the training room and to a sitting area to the side. There's a sealed box sitting on the floor and Aomine kneels in front of it, peeling the runes off one at a time, letting them vanish into the air.

Inside, there's a long, curved blade in the shape of a wing.

"You've earned this," Aomine tells him, and Kuroko realises exactly why Aomine's hands have felt rougher lately, like he's been working with them. "It's a marker of you taking your first step. Your soul's just starting to fill up. It's a pretty exciting time, you know. There's so much potential. You never know how things will go from here."

He picks it up, and Kuroko touches it gently, marvelling at the detail carved into it, before he slowly turns around.

Aomine holds the wing in place, the bottom of it touching Kuroko's back. There's a moment of searing pain, as the blade wing fuses with Kuroko's body, and then it's a part of him. He moves it carefully, mindful of how close Aomine is standing.

"There," Aomine laughs delightedly. "You're already getting the hang of it. I thought that maybe I could spend the rest of the night teaching you how to use your wing in fights too."

"I would love that," Kuroko says sincerely, hesitating for a moment before he reaches out to touch Aomine's hand. "Thank you."

Aomine is left sputtering and blushing, as if Kuroko is the one with the power here. Smiling, Kuroko turns around and leads the way back to the training room.

"Shall we?"

"Yeah," Aomine says, clearing his throat. "Absolutely."