Wicked_Fiction

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #12

Torin’s approach to Farengar’s quarters was a masterclass in misdirection. He didn’t simply slink into the shadows; he weaponized his own perceived innocence.

Before even glancing at the staircase leading down, his eyes swept the area, identifying the key individuals closest to the en...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #11

Three days later, the great hall of Dragonsreach was alive with the low hum of conversation and the flicker of torchlight. The banquet in honor of Harbinger Askar was a somber yet grand affair.

The Companions, veterans and whelps alike, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the ruling class of Wh...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #10

Watching the pyre burn over the Skyforge, I honestly didn't know what to feel. It’s not like Askar and I were close. I’d fetched him mead, sure, and he’d give me that slow, silent nod in the mornings. But that was about it.

So why did I feel this weird, hollow ache in my chest?

...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #9

The familiar, rhythmic clank of Farkas’s armor echoed through the stone corridors of Jorvaskr as they made their way toward the training yard. Torin followed, the weight of his hammer and shield a comfortable, familiar burden.

As they passed the Harbinger’s quarters, however, he slowed....

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #8

One week later, Torin sat in his room, yet again surrounded by a sea of paper rolls he’d “borrowed” from the Temple of Kynareth.

At this point, he had to wonder if the priests even cared for them, or if they just generated an endless supply for aspiring vandals like himself. But that ...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #7

Having finished forging and tempering all the pieces for the strange drill, Eorlund took his time assembling them, his thick fingers handling the small gears and pins with a surprising delicacy.

It was an attempt to better understand the tool's function through its form.

Once it was f...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #6

Sitting cross-legged on the cold stone floor of my room, surrounded by a chaotic nest of paper rolls I’d “borrowed” from the temple of Kyne, I stared wide-eyed at the Dwarven spider laid out before me.

Its internal parts, the ones I’d managed to carefully pry from its interior with ...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #5

Ulf sat by the central hearth of Jorvaskr, the rhythmic shhhk-shhhk of his whetstone against the small bone in his hand a familiar comfort. The firelight danced across his weathered features, highlighting the stubborn streaks of red in his white beard.

His gaze, however, ...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #153

Standing at the shore with Blamenco, Gale’s eyes still held that ridiculous, stunned gleam—the kind a man gets when he realises he’s accidentally inherited a small country.

His ship bobbed lazily in the distance, a speck of home and trouble both.

Even after handing Blamenco twen...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #4

The walk back to the road was a short, grim procession. Around them, the warrior’s comrades—a dozen men and women draped in similar dark metallic armor or thick, practical furs—moved with quiet efficiency, finishing off the last of the bandits and securing the area.

The clatter of ste...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #3

The world became a blur of green and brown, a punishing gauntlet of slapping branches and treacherous ground. Camilla’s lungs burned, each breath a ragged sob as she crashed through the undergrowth.

Her arms, locked in a vice-like grip around the swaddled infant, were the only part of her...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #152

As the three of them treaded deeper into the dark passage, the flicker of torchlight danced across slick stone walls, warping their shadows into long, twisting shapes. Water dripped rhythmically from the ceiling somewhere ahead, echoing like a lazy metronome in the tunnel’s still air.

Gal...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #2

As the endless, snowy jagged terrain finally gave way to patches of mud and then to stubborn, lush greenery, I couldn't help but sigh. Or at least, I wanted to. I'm not sure my infantile lungs and vocal cords were properly equipped for a sigh of that much profound relief.

Seriously, the con...

Made in Cyrodiil, Forged in Skyrim #1

Author's note: this one's been living rent free in mind for some time now to the point that I can't even write proberly without my mind wandering to it, so I went ahead and got it started to get it out of my system...

I'm not even sure if I will actually invest a lot of time into it, or ju...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #151

The tunnels beneath the mountain stretched endlessly, winding through damp stone and mossy walls like the inside of some enormous beast. The air was heavy and cool, smelling faintly of salt and earth.

Gale’s torch flickered in his hand, casting long, dancing shadows that made every rock l...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #150

The man squirmed and wobbled like a trapped seal, his hands flailing as he tried to peel off Gale’s expanded cloak. Every tug made his cheeks jiggle, and his grunts echoed through the glowing mushroom-lit cavern.

Gale stood there watching, arms crossed, expression deadpan.

It was ha...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #149

After what felt like an eternity of damp walls, dripping water, and Gale’s torch sizzling every time a stray droplet smacked it, the tunnel finally opened up.

And not just opened up—a whole damned underground chamber sprawled before him. The ceiling arched high, shadows playing in its c...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #148

As Gale hopped off the sloop and landed on the sand with a soft thud, he turned back to see Ebri and Risa on deck, waving at him like doting relatives sending a kid off to school.

“A couple of lazy bums…” he muttered under his breath, waving halfheartedly back before shoving ...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #147

Two weeks later, the sea had finally decided to stop trying to murder them.

The weather was mild, the sun was lazily draped across the horizon, and the wind pushed against the sloop’s ragged sails like it actually wanted to help for once. Gale stood at the helm, posture relaxed, one hand ...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #146

Gale stood before a thick, towering tree, rapier in hand, his expression far too smug for someone about to commit deforestation. With a single flourish, the steel whispered through the air, and the tree fell from the base, crashing in slow motion.

Another flick of his blade, and every branc...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #145

Gale jabbed an accusing finger so close to Ebri’s nose the old man went cross-eyed.

“Never mind all that flower nonsense! What’s next, huh? You’re gonna tell me you found Risa too? And she’s just sittin’ pretty in some cozy little cabin not far from here, sipping tea, safe and s...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #144

Gale trudged forward with the look of a man who’d seen too much and cared too little. His boots dragged through the damp soil, shoulders slouched, cloak hanging heavy.

Two goblins clung stubbornly to him—one latched to his leg like an over-affectionate toddler, the other sprawled across...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #143

After what felt like an hour of wandering aimlessly, Gale decided he must’ve been walking toward the “center” of the island. At least, that’s what he told himself, since with all this fog he could’ve just as easily been pacing in circles like some idiot looking for a bathroom in the dar...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #142

The first thing Gale felt was sand. Cold, wet, gritty sand clinging to his face like an unwanted lover.

He groaned, cracked one eye open, and was greeted with… white. Just endless white.

At first, he thought he’d gone blind—maybe the sea finally claimed his eyesight out...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #141

Risa leaned against the railing, arms folded, eyes drifting between the eternal pose in her hand and the man wrangling ropes like he was trying to wrestle a very stubborn snake.

Gale stood by the mast, barefoot on the deck, shirt loose and his tattoos catching the sunlight. His face was set...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #140

In the quiet of Marineford, with only the muffled bustle of paperwork and distant shouting from the training yards below, Sengoku sat hunched behind a fortress of documents, fingers steepled beneath his chin. The setting sun threw long shadows across the floor of his office, painting the room in ...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #139

The pirate captain sat cross-legged on the floor, still tied at the wrists, a map of Risky Red Island stretched out in front of him. Gale crouched opposite, jabbing at the parchment with the blunt end of a knife like a teacher pointing with a ruler—except this teacher looked two seconds away fr...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #138

Gale stared down at the tied-up pirate captain, and his eye twitched so hard it felt like it might pop out of his skull.

The man was looking at him with puppy eyes. Not figuratively. Literally. His face had morphed into the head of a tiny chihuahua, complete with floppy ears, wet nose, and ...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #137

Fists met flesh. Over and over.

Each time the elder’s son swung, it was like getting hit by a battering ram wrapped in steel. The first punch cracked against Gale’s ribs and made his vision blur white.

The second blow rattled his jaw so hard he was pretty sure one of his teeth was...

One Piece: As Heavy as a Gale #136

Gale watched as two broad-shouldered villagers hauled the limp body of the second grandson out of the ring, one dragging him by the arms, the other by the legs. The man’s head lolled around like a sack of rice with a bad seam. The crowd was silent for a beat, then erupted into cheers.

Gal...