Ship: Yachi/Kiyoko Fandom: Haikyuu Major Tags: tags omitted Other Tags: tags omitted Word Count: 440 words
Liminal spaces, violence, blood, magic!
***
Ever since the days of Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest has been sacred ground. It is the testing place of heroes; it is the questing grounds of heroines.
All grudges must be laid aside before entering the forest. All electronics, plastic and iron too. Humans are not the only ones to walk this world and some places are sacred to more than just humans.
Yachi has prepared for her quest carefully. She stitched her clothes herself and packed spares. Biodegradable wet wipes, specially formulated to dissolve into earth, are tucked into one pocket of her bag along with a container of charcoal powder toothpaste. There is no metal in her clothing or her accessories. Even her jewelry has been removed.
She walks into the forest with a bow made of aged ash and arrows that are sharpened oak on one end and goose feather on the other.
Yachi’s not expecting to hunt. There’s food and drink in her backpack, dried jerky and oranges and waterskins. She has to have a weapon, though. The Forest rules say that she must not enter unarmed.
She steps into the Forest and pauses. The sky above is clear and blue but behind her, it had been grey and cloudy. When she looks up, when she looks back, she can see where the two climates meet and clash, grey and blue delineated as clearly as two paint chip cards stacked edge-to-edge.
Sometimes it’s winter in the Forest when it’s summer in the world. Yachi’s lucky to have not arrived in a land of snow.
She settles the bag’s straps more firmly over her shoulders and heads deep into the heart of the forest.
*
The stag is white as bleached paper, white as milk, but its horns drip blood onto the grass and its teeth are shark’s teeth, triangular and too sharp for a prey animal. The queen atop the stag is as still as death, seated side-saddle with one hand on the stag’s head and lips so pale that they seem bloodless.
Her crown is bones, her jewelry is teeth and she’s smiling at Yachi who cannot even think of running away.
“Kneel,” the queen says and Yachi’s knees buckle before this beauty.
She stays there, frozen, as the queen descends from her stag and reaches out to caress Yachi’s cheek. The cold of her fingers bite into Yachi’s skin but she is smitten. There can be no sweeter way to die than--
An arrow thunks into the queen’s chest and black blood spurts over Yachi. A dark-haired girl bursts from the bushes, grabs Yachi’s hand and commands, “Run!”
FILL: Team The Prince of Tennis, T
Fandom: Haikyuu
Major Tags: tags omitted
Other Tags: tags omitted
Word Count: 440 words
Liminal spaces, violence, blood, magic!
***
Ever since the days of Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest has been sacred ground. It is the testing place of heroes; it is the questing grounds of heroines.
All grudges must be laid aside before entering the forest. All electronics, plastic and iron too. Humans are not the only ones to walk this world and some places are sacred to more than just humans.
Yachi has prepared for her quest carefully. She stitched her clothes herself and packed spares. Biodegradable wet wipes, specially formulated to dissolve into earth, are tucked into one pocket of her bag along with a container of charcoal powder toothpaste. There is no metal in her clothing or her accessories. Even her jewelry has been removed.
She walks into the forest with a bow made of aged ash and arrows that are sharpened oak on one end and goose feather on the other.
Yachi’s not expecting to hunt. There’s food and drink in her backpack, dried jerky and oranges and waterskins. She has to have a weapon, though. The Forest rules say that she must not enter unarmed.
She steps into the Forest and pauses. The sky above is clear and blue but behind her, it had been grey and cloudy. When she looks up, when she looks back, she can see where the two climates meet and clash, grey and blue delineated as clearly as two paint chip cards stacked edge-to-edge.
Sometimes it’s winter in the Forest when it’s summer in the world. Yachi’s lucky to have not arrived in a land of snow.
She settles the bag’s straps more firmly over her shoulders and heads deep into the heart of the forest.
*
The stag is white as bleached paper, white as milk, but its horns drip blood onto the grass and its teeth are shark’s teeth, triangular and too sharp for a prey animal. The queen atop the stag is as still as death, seated side-saddle with one hand on the stag’s head and lips so pale that they seem bloodless.
Her crown is bones, her jewelry is teeth and she’s smiling at Yachi who cannot even think of running away.
“Kneel,” the queen says and Yachi’s knees buckle before this beauty.
She stays there, frozen, as the queen descends from her stag and reaches out to caress Yachi’s cheek. The cold of her fingers bite into Yachi’s skin but she is smitten. There can be no sweeter way to die than--
An arrow thunks into the queen’s chest and black blood spurts over Yachi. A dark-haired girl bursts from the bushes, grabs Yachi’s hand and commands, “Run!”
Spell broken, Yachi and her rescuer bolt.