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 Grandstand, G

[yrindor]

Relationships/Fandoms: Nitori Aiichirou & Sugawara Koushi, Sugawara Koushi & Yagami Tomoe (Free!, Haikyuu!!, Prince of Stride)
Tags: supernatural elements, blood loss (no blood though), child Nitori, healer Suga, Wraith Tomoe
Wordcount: 999 words

"Papa. Papa!" Nitori whispered urgently as he shook Suga's shoulders.

"What is it, Ai?" Suga asked, immediately awake. It was unusual for Nitori to wake in the middle of the night, much less to wake him.

"There's something scary outside."

"What do you mean."

"The spirits are all coming inside. They're scared."

"Of what?"

"They don't say, but they've never been like this before."

Suga looked out the window, but he didn't see anything in the dark forest. Perhaps more worryingly, he couldn't sense anything nearby either.

"Do they know where it it?" he asked.

"Nearby."

"Do you think you could show me?"

"Yes, Papa."

Suga wanted nothing more than to double-check the bolt on the door and keep Nitori and Shiro safely inside, but he needed to know what was outside, so he thought a brief prayer to any deity that happened to be listening and ushered his child out the door ahead of him..

"He's right over here, Papa," Nitori said, taking Suga's hand and leading him around the side of the house.

As his eyes adjusted to the night, Suga saw a dark shape sitting against one of the large trees that bordered their cottage.

"He's right there, Papa" Nitori said, pointing directly at the shape that had drawn Suga's attention.

Suga shivered. He had no gift of the Sight himself and could see only the mundane world. Nitori was blind to the mundane but could see some of the spirit world. Beings that could cross the boundary between the worlds and exist with a foot in each were rare, and Suga would cross none of them lightly.

But he was a healer, and he couldn't in good conscious ignore the unconscious wraith in his backyard. He cautiously approached, but it wasn't until he was standing right next to it that he noticed the two dark punctures on its neck.

His blood froze in his veins.

"Ai, don't let go of Shiro," he ordered as he looked around. He didn't see anything, but that meant nothing. Especially at night when their powers were strongest, vampires could come out of nowhere silently and without warning. For all he knew, one could be sitting right above him, watching and waiting to strike, and he wouldn't know until it was too late. He had a healthy respect for many of the creatures of the forest, but vampires were one of the few he truly feared meeting on their terms.

He looked nervously over his shoulder to reassure himself that Nitori and Shiro were still there, then caught himself and forced his nervousness aside. Vampires could sense fear, and if there was one still lurking nearby, the best thing he could do would be to get everyone back inside as quickly as possible. It was not the time for fear.

He took a moment to study the wraith before him. It seemed to be cloaked in shadows that danced and slipped every time Suga tried to look too closely, as if it were only half-present, which Suga supposed, would be an apt description. It hadn't moved since he had come outside, but he didn't think it was dead. It wasn't uncommon for vampires to drink until their prey fell unconscious from blood loss, but he had never heard of one killing its prey.

He tried to pick up the wraith to carry it inside, but the shifting shadows were more than just a trick of the light, and the sensation made him feel ill.

"Ai, Shiro, can you help me?" he asked, careful to keep his voice even lest it shake and betray his fear.

Between the three of them, they managed to wrestle the unconscious wraith onto Shiro's back and back inside. They set it down gently on the floor by the fire, but from there, Suga was at a loss. He had never been so close to any border creature before, and he had no idea how to even begin treating it.

He was still standing there several minutes later when Nitori nervously said, "Papa?" Immediately afterward, Suga felt the magic in the house fade, almost as if something were absorbing it. Before he could respond though, a few shadowy fingers reached out and wrapped around his ankle. He felt a sudden chill where they touched, as if they had drawn the warmth right out of him.

"Healer?" the wraith asked in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere and echo deep in Suga's bones.

"Yes," Suga replied as he helped the wraith to sit up. An aching cold settled wherever their bodies touched.

The wraith reached up with a shadowy hand to touch the punctures on its neck. "Kyousuke," it growled, the sound filling the room and echoing low off of the walls.

"You know him?" Suga asked. It wasn't a name he had heard before, but there were many he didn't know in the forest.

"That would be one way to put it, perhaps," the wraith said as it struggled to its knees.

"Perhaps you should rest for awhile?" Suga suggested.

"I will be fine, Healer," the wraith said, wrapping its arms around Suga. Its shadows, thick and tangible as wings, mirrored the motion.

The chill was immediate and all-encompassing. Suga's bones ached and his limbs went numb as the chill set in. Just when he was starting to worry the cold would kill him, the wraith released him and stood, all traces of its earlier weakness gone.

"Thank you," it said as it left through the closed door.

"What was that, Papa?" Nitori asked weakly once the last of the wraith's shadows were out of sight.

"That, was a wraith," Suga replied, struggling to force the words out around his violently chattering teeth.

They all shared a bed that night, Suga and Nitori, and Shiro between them. The fire roared in the hearth as the shivered under a thick pile of blankets, and by morning, the worst of the chill had faded.