Full doors for polaris ranger 1000 | | Guild Wars 2 Card Game: Heroes of the Mists

Pt 1 If you haven't read it.

Pt 2 If you haven't read it.

Pt 3 If you haven't read it.

Hope you enjoy Pt 4 and happy reading!

*Flick* "Aligning descent profile for re-entry." I had made all the final preparations
*Flick* "Prepare for comms black out in 10" William began the countdown.
"9"
"8"
"7"
"6"
"5- when you get back I absolutely *have* to show you this really old movie, interstellar, its a classic" Will interjected.
"4-Oh my stars we're about to enter the atmosphere of Ix-5 at 7km/s and all you can think about is showing me some old movie when we get back?!"
"3- Fine."
"2"
The plasma had begun to lick around the edges of the heat shield and up onto the windows.
"1"
The comms began to make a static hissing sound.
"Just breathe." Will muttered to himself.
The whole shuttle began to shake violently.
"PASSING MAX-Q" Will had to shout to be heard over all the rattling.
Just like that, it began to quiet down, the fiery inferno of re-entry plasma died down and we began our coast down to find a suitable landing spot. Comms had also returned.
*Click* "I'd just like to let everyone know that we made it through re-entry just fine." Will had radioed back to the ship.
The sound of faint cheers from bridge could be heard.
"Engaging cloaking device" *Flick*
A loud hum could be heard as the cloaking device not only prevented us from being seen by eyes, but also seen by any radar, sonar, or other means of detection spun to life.
"So where should we land?"
"Oh just a few more kilometers to shore, then I'll just find a nice, secluded spot and we'll spend the next couple of days getting to know the locals!" I responded gleefully, as this was my first time with a civilization that didn't just learn how to farm.
After carefully gliding down we landed in a patch of grass-like vegetation. Will pointed out all the leaves were all black, to which I responded by telling him that the vegetation had to adapt to capture more of the light spectrum than the vegetation on Earth, because of the dimmer, red dwarf this planet orbited.
We had set up the basics, communications equipment, synthesizers, and a variety of other scientific tools.
"Hey, remember when you said you wanted to see an example of human food! Because I do!" Will exclaimed giddily.
After plugging in a drive and pressing a few buttons, the machine whirred to action, printing out a most unusual dish.
"So keep in mind this is just one dish out of... out of well I don't really know how many different kinds of dishes we have, all you need to know is that it's a very large number... But here's too hoping you enjoy it!"
What came out were this white, almost sphere like but more so a squat raindrop shaped... things. Will called them "Dumplings", and they smelled delicious, though he had dipped them in this brown liquid he called "Soy Sauce" that I really did not care for as far as smell goes.
I carefully picked one of these dumplings and bit into it.
"Oh my" I said, albeit muffled by the food.
"It's good isn't it! I told you!" Will grinned.
"That's quite the... texture. I don't really know how to process this. It's so soft and yet firm. Nutrient packs are so much easier, they don't make a mess and they're just so efficient, I mean, you could probably play around with the recipe, make them tastier. Right?"
"You just don't get it do you." Will said, shaking his head.
"Oh well, more for me." He grabbed at my half eaten dumpling.
"Hey! That's mine!"
"So you DO like it then!"
"No, just, ugh, leave me and my dumpling alone, I've already had my Nutrient Pack for the day I'm going to hibernate now."
Will rolled his eyes at my response.
"Fine." He said in that same begrudging manner as before.
I walked on over to the hibernation chamber, a circular area just big enough for me with a warm, gentle breeze flowing over. As I was going inside I heard Will behind me closing up the door after bringing everything inside.
"Wait... you were going to tell me about.... sleep..." I muttered out.
"Oh yes so hold one, could you just fully wake up for a little bit so I can explain, so your species, and for that matter every other alien species I've met, sleeps one hemisphere or one part of their brain at a time, but humans sleep the whole brain all at once."
"What's that like?" I replied, still in the grip of hibernation.
"So for starters we are like, FULLY unconscious the whole time, we can be woken up but we have a very, VERY limited understanding of what's going on around us. We also go limp so we don't move around accidentally, we still do. It's not perfect but it works enough to where I can say, "yeah we go limp"."
"But aren't you... what happens... if... someone ambushes you at night?"
"In all likelihood unless we happen to be right next to a weapon or something good enough, we die."
"Oh my. How... how did this not drive your species extinct?"
"I'm left wondering that same question too Tomō."
This might be the first time I've heard about a human ever being truly defenseless. Will had disappeared off into another room to change, returning in only a pair of shorts. Which left me examining his exposed torso. Human skin is wrapped quite tightly around the internal structure, and there seems to be very little, if any, loose skin, it also seemed to only be composed of one layer, most others I've meet without loose skin have special layers that can break off. Perhaps humans might be less sturdy than I had come to expect. No no that can't possibly be true I thought to myself, or as much as I could with half a brain working.
The morning was punctured by this infernal clattering from Will's bed, his arm swung up and smashed down on a small table next to him, causing the sound to stop.
"What was that?! Did someone find us?!"
"No... it was just my [Yawns] Alarm, we need to be startled to wake up and that [Will yawned again] was the startling noise."
Will climbed out of bed, shuffled over to another table (Those humans have a lot of tables) grabbed a fresh change of clothes and made his way over to the bathroom to change.
That's when I heard it, a loud SHHHHH sound from the bathroom, I made my way over to the locked door and shouted:
"EVERYTHING OKAY IN THERE WILL?"
"YEAH, JUST TAKING A SHOWER."
"A WHAT?"
"SHOWER"
"WHAT'S THAT?"
"I DON'T CARE FOR THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW."
"OH OKAY."
I shuffled back over to my hibernation chamber, pulling the divider closed I took in a bath of UV sterilizing light and changed out of yesterday's uniform, and into todays, which on scout missions is always a set of cloths made to imitate the look of whatever cloths are common on whatever world we're scouting. In this case it was a brown turtleneck sweater, some black pants, 6 pairs of gloves as the basic orbital scan of their unencrypted communications revealed they obsess over cleanliness, often sporting multiple pairs of gloves for specific tasks, kept in separate pockets, land lastly, a sort of shawl like piece of fabric, apparently used to protect yourself from the midday dust and wind storms.
The disguise of our more... alien features was provided by some makeup, changing our skin to a sort of pale grey. We also made use of some printed prosthetic noses, wigs, and ears, which made our faces impossible to distinguish from the local inhabitants.
Once I had finished applying all my disguises, I exited my chamber and walked over to where Will was, standing by the synthesizer watching it print up a breakfast.
Will, who hadn't even donned the appropriate clothing at this point (he was wearing a simple outfit of black shorts and a grey t-shirt), was oddly enough, sopping wet. His hair had turned a jet black color due to its saturation of water, releasing its store down his face and his neck, resulting in the back of his shirt, and the front collar turning a visibly darker shade and sticking to his body, at this point I also noticed that his skin was covered in beads of moisture glinting in the sun.
"Why are you so wet?" I asked him.
"It has to do with a shower, I get myself under this sort of, simulated rainfall, only the temperature is nice and hot, and use soap, not the same kind you use to clean your hands, but the function is still the same, I then put some stuff in my hair which gets rid of oily build up, the water rinses everything off, but by the end I'm soaking wet, I will need to dry off properly though before I put on all the disguises."
As he grabbed his tray with his hands, still damp from the shower, and the skin around his fingers was all shriveled up.
"Your fingers look like mine now! See!" I asked, moving right up next to him to better show him my fingers.
"It just increases the surface area so I can grip things better underwater, only happens if they get wet."
"Why wouldn't they be like that all the time?"
"Once again I'm left wondering that question myself."
"So what's on the menu for "break-fast"?" I asked
"Well for starters, it's just one word, breakfast, and secondly, I'm having two slices of buttered toast, an egg, and a black tea. Standard human breakfast, though Coffee is more popular."
"Black tea...?" I had heard of Coffee before and its danger to other species, and was hoping that this tea drink lacked any of this substance known as Caffeine.
"Yeah just a little caffeine to wake me up."
"CAFFEINE?! That's... that's a.... that's a Class IV chemical weapon! They banned that centuries ago! How?! What?! Oh my... Oh my..." I began to hyperventilate.
"Relax! There's only what... 50 milligrams in a cup."
"FIFTY?! FIFTY!?! ONLY FIFTY?!? THAT'S TEN TIMES THE DEADLY DOSE! WHAT ARE YOUR THINKING!" I shrieked, though deep down I did take note of how that was less than that of Coffee.
"Shhh, you'll risk us getting caught, calm down, don't worry I'll have the cup disposed of properly, I've done this every day and so far, no one's gotten hurt." Will said in his standard, nonchalant attitude that has become so typical of him, a tone which did not seem anywhere near appropriate for the situation.
"SO FAR?!" I was not heeding his instructions to calm down, it's typically very hard to do so when faced with something that could lead to a violent death.
"Look, look, it's totally harmless for us humans, besides, the Federation strictly manages our recreational use of substances highly dangerous to other species, such as but not limited too: Caffeine, Capsaicin, and Cocoa. I make one wrong move and my ass is sent to jail."
I was shocked, frozen with shock, at least I wasn't screaming but I felt like I couldn't move a muscle. Capsaicin was last used by the Rx'lac to murder billions, Cocoa I hadn't heard of before so it must have been something unique to Earth, but it terrified me still. In my frozen state I waited for the cup he drank from to be destroyed, and at this moment I began to regain my motor functions.
After rigorously drying himself off with a towel and this awfully loud machine he pointed at his hair, Will began to
"Now, could you help me apply the makeup?"
Human hands, while much sturdier than what most of us use, in the case of Captain Reloxyn, she has 6 tentacles which can vary their diameter, and in the case of Zorxians like myself, we have the two hands attached to their respective arm much like a human, but the geometry of the fingers themselves are different, each finger is made up of 3 fluid filled sacs, attached one after another in segments, each sack is attached to the previous with a variety of muscles, which gives each joint the ability to make movements with a full 120 degree range of motion, in any direction. While this makes them far more fragile, due to the lack of skeletal structure, this makes us quite dextrous.
But yet, I noticed that Will's right hand, arm, and ankle were already painted, which puzzled me, if he could paint his right side, then why couldn't he paint his left?
"Do you really need my help? You did just fine painting the right side of your body."
"Tomō, do you really know so little about humans?"
"You know you're the first human I've met!"
"Humans tend to have what's called a dominant hand, what it means is that there's one hand I am really good at using, and another that I'm not so great at using, I *could* train myself to use both hands equally well, but I never really had a need, and even when it would've come in handy, there's always been someone else who can help me. Like you!"
"Aww, thanks!" I responded.
"In my case, my dominant hand is my left one, fairly uncommon. Only about 10% of people are like that, the rest are right handed, and a very small number are born with both hands being of equal capability."
"But you really should get on it with the whole training your right hand. There won't always be someone to help you."
"And yet there always has." Will responded jokingly.
"We ready?" I asked.
"Just have to get some things ready, hold on, if this society is so obsessed with cleanliness, how come they don't wear face masks? I doubt they've gotten to a point where they've already eradicated all diseases. That should take them at least another century."
"Oh, this is the really cool thing about this planet! So basically, airborne diseases never evolved! They just... don't exist here!"
"Absolutely fascinating." Will responded.
"Everything we need is now in the bag." He pointed to the black bag slung over his shoulder made from the local flora.
"And we should be ready to go!" Will enthusiastically marched over to the shuttle door, opening it at saying;
"After you!" With a look of pride on his face, odd, if anyone should be proud, it should be me, after all, this mission is already off to a good start considering he's a rookie.
The red light of Ix bathed the planet in this warm glow, Ix was rare for a red-dwarf system, as most habitable planets are tidally locked, but we marched through the woods, noting observations of the local ecosystem that we stopped periodically to jot down in our notepad.
About halfway through the forest Will stopped suddenly, turning back to face me.
"You forgot to tell me what bridge came up with for our secret identities? Oh stars, saying it like that makes me feel like some kind of super-spy!"
"Oh yes, I must have gotten distracted..." I reached for my communicator.
"Okay, so we're two hikers, you named Po'ol and I named Gra'aul, and we just finished up a nice long hike and so we're off back to Hl'Ix, population 12.8 million, and about a 2 hour train ride. Oh by the way, I have to share the language file hold on... yup that should do it! Congratulations you are now fluent in Ix!"
A requirement of working for any Federation job was the implantation of a language chip which allowed the user to become fluent in all 608 languages and, what they called "Significant Dialects" spoken in the Federation, though for people working on exploration vessels like me and Will, we had access to a file sharing system so we could download new languages for the planets we visited after the central computer processed them.
"Thanks!" Will responded from a meter or so ahead of me.
We continued our march down to the road, where we walked parallel to it as cars zipped by. Eventually the forest we had landed in cleared way for farmland, which after about 5 kilometers or so more walking, started to turn to houses with expansive yards, which gradually became smaller and smaller as we neared the center of town.
"You getting tired yet?" Will asked me, we had decided it was best for him to walk behind me, so we could make sure we stayed together.
"Yeah, but just a bit longer until we make it into... whatever the name of this town is."
"Alright."
We continued to make our way into the town, named Urup and with a population of about 3 thousand. When we got there it was almost devoid of any activity, and the wind had started to pick up, which carried in dust. Thankfully we anticipated this, having donned contact lenses to keep debris out of our eyes, and using the shawl to cover up our mouth and nose. At this point will stopped to pull out a small, and very thin, weather sheet, which he released into the wind. This device would record the weather conditions as it gets carried by the wind. Just after doing this, he turned to me and said,
"Weather at time of release: Temperature: 10 degrees Celsius. Wind speed: 56 Kph, rising. Feels like: 5.2 Degrees Celsius, falling. It wasn't able to get a good reading on dust concentration because it's rising too fast so that should tell you everything you need to know."
The wind nearly blew Will's shawl off, but he grabbed it just in time, and me, being too focused on Will, had let my own shawl blow away in the wind, and while Will had tried to reach for it, the wind carried it away far too quickly for him to get it in time, only missing his fingers by a handful of centimeters. I quickly covered my mouth with my sweater, though this did leave part of my midsection exposed to the elements, a suboptimal position to be in during a dust storm of this magnitude.
"Dammit! Almost had the blasted thing!" Will shouted, the rush of the wind was beginning to drown out our voices.
He put his hand in one of the many pockets on his pants, that's something everyone can appreciate about Ix fashion, anything below 10 pockets is simply unacceptable. Anyways, Will pulled out a small pair of scissors, and quickly removed his shawl.
"What are you doing you can't remove your shawl in these conditions!" I shouted back at him.
"I'll be quick, don't worry!" Will responded as he cut his cloth in two.
"Here!" He said handing me the now removed half of his shawl, and quickly covering his face with the remaining half.
We continued on, though this time much slower than before, as we didn't want to loose our balance and be toppled by the wind. Never before had I ever had to deal with wind this intense, no wonder they assigned the human.
"Squat down! Boundary layer winds should be slower!" He shouted to me while bending down to waddle his way across the street to the hotel.
Squatting down only provided minimal relief, as I suppose one would have to crawl to truly take advantage of this effect. Slowly but surely we made our way across the road, over to the hotel. Opening the first set of doors we were met with a powerful blast of air, which prevented any dust from getting in. Only until after the doors had closed, and our clothes were sufficiently purged of any particulates that had somehow lodged their way into the remarkably dense fabrics. Eventually though, the blast died down, and the second doors opened automatically.
The doors opened to reveal an interior with a largely brown, beige, and black color pattern. The whole lobby was lit with a quite warm color tone, with the lightbulbs occasionally flickering and all the windows had been sealed off behind steel plates. Eventually Will turned his head to face a desk spanning quite a large distance, located just in front of a large board with all the room numbers located next to a light.
We could vaguely hear someone talking to another person, emanating from behind a door marked "Employees Only", Will glanced at me, pulling my attention to his gloves, which he began to swap out for a new pair. I quickly followed suit. Eventually, just moments after I finished putting on a new pair of gloves, one of the people from behind the door exited.
"Why on Ix would there ever be customers walking in during the middle of the storm! We issued the alert 2 hours ago!" The woman said to the man who stayed in the room as the door closed behind her.
Turning around to face the two of us, and walking over to the main part of the check in desk, she began to speak to us.
"Hi my name us Za'ul!" She said, showing us her name tag.
"Now what can I do for the two of you! Must've been miserable trapped out there in the storm!"
Will began to approach the desk, seeing this I decided to sit down and catch my breath, the 10 kilometer walk had exhausted me, it was remarkable to see Will barley fazed by it.
"Hi my name is Po'ol and this is my hiking buddy Gra'aul, we just finished up the most beautiful of hikes through that nearby forest, so we're on our way back to Hl'ix! I was wondering if you could get us a room please and thank you ma'am." He said in a sort of folksy manner, not too dissimilar from the way Za'ul spoke.
"Alright you want one bed or two?" She responded.
"-Two please." He said, almost cutting Za'ul off.
"All right! You want first floor or second floor?"
"Oh second floor would be lovely."
"Well here's your key and have a lovely stay!"
Will walked over to me.
"Got us a key for room 203, here's your key" Will had switched from his folksy mannerisms to a soft whisper, but I just let the key hit me, I was far to tired to catch it.
"Well I see our hike took quite a bit out of you, so just come up when your ready, I got the bags don't worry."
I nodded my head in silent agreement, I was exhausted, but I knew I should probably go upstairs to the room with him.
"Hold on.." I said, slowly lifting myself up onto my feet and carefully making my way over to the elevator.
Standing in the cramped elevator I noticed Will suddenly had this terrible and persistent oder.
"You okay?" I asked him
"Yeah... why do you ask?"
"It's just... you smell kind of... bad."
"Oh!" He chuckled with that same old chuckle I had heard a million times before.
"Yeah, uh, I'm sure after I explained to you what a shower was you were probably perplexed as to why we don't do the standard UV bath, but basically humans smell bad after a long day, or after a long enough, or intense enough period of physical exertion. Showering gets rid of the smell. I did notice the Ix had only a single layer of skin, and hopefully this means they too have the scent issues that humans have, and thus also make use of showering."
"I see. Can you take another shower when we get to the hotel?"
"Tomō! That's... don't say that to other humans okay, you can be direct with me like that but... a lot of other humans will not take that kindly. Just letting you know that."
ding
The elevator had made its way up to the second floor.
"Let's see, 203... 203... here it is!"
Will unlocked the door and opened it.
"Oh thank the stars they have actual beds and it wasn't just a translational error!" He cried out in relief.
Will ran over to the bathroom.
"And they have showers too! Just Wonderful! Don't worry a shower should adequately clean you too."
"Oh I brought my own portable UV sterilizer, I'll be fine."
"You just relax down I'll take care of the report back to bridge."
I made my way over to the beds and just collapsed into it. Hibernating while laying down was not ideal, but at this point I'd do anything not to be on my feet anymore. Eventually I decided that I didn't care for lying face down, and instead rolled over to face Will, just to make sure he didn't botch the report.
Eventually once he finished his report, he walked over to the rooms corners and placed the sound barriers, which would cancel out our voices making sure nobody heard us. Which he, well, I was supposed to do first thing upon entering, though I was far to tired, and Will must've only just noticed. You know, when he first got here he really just annoyed me to no end, but now, he's really settled in and has gotten really into the hang of things, and sure, he's weird, but you know what, he's a human, he's not weird, just... different.

I think I'm going to leave it off here, I know I promised some action but this is just where the story lead me, and it was already getting long. Part 5 will be out tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading!

I moved in with my BIL a few months ago after leaving my wife, having only agreed because he promised me my own room with privacy and it’s own bathroom and a back entrance so I could smoke outside and none of his gf’s kids would be bothering me, we agreed that for that I’d pay $300 a month. Literally none of these things were true. My “private room” ended up being a mattress in the corner of the subfloors living room where his gf’s kids have bedrooms. I was immediately scolded the first time I used the back door to smoke. And I’ve caught him going through my shit at least 2 times that I’m certain of and keep finding things around my bed that aren’t mine so who know who’s doing what with my stuff when I’m not there. Now comes my real beef with him. There was a family dinner I couldn’t attend because I had to work and since I’ve had to start rebuilding my life I’ve had to buy lots of stuff online which resulted in my reuse of a large box as a trash can, apparently he took pictures of all my stuff and showed it off to the family trying to i guess shame me saying how disgusting I am when it was literally just a box full of boxes and some takeout bags. Since then I haven’t spoken to him or really stayed at their house, I think I’m the last 2 months since it happened I’ve slept there maybe 7-10 times out of necessity. I just got back to town and he keeps calling and texting but I’ve just been ignoring him since I get my own place in a few days. Honesty, I don’t think I should pay him but I’d bet the rest of the family would probably say I’m in the wrong.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
I did not give the Bible the time of day before believing in Jesus with my everything. I just don't recall ever sitting down to read it before, and if I did, I know I didn't do it with an open mind.
I merely believed what other people had told me about it, and many of those, not all, told me it was written by man to control the masses. Some told me they were good moral stories, as if it was wisdom from fiction. I likely read a page or two, and just took them at their word, not interested enough to find out on my own.
I know there are Christians that don't read the Gospel as much as people that don't believe Jesus is the Son of God. Satan Himself knows Scripture better than anyone, he was there through all of it. Take from that what you will.
It wasn't until I believed by faith and received the Holy Spirit that the Bible started reading clearly, as if someone nearly blind put on glasses for the first time.
If someone came to me, and asked for some verses to help introduce them to God, I'd pick the ones below to share with them. I'd pray for them out loud before sharing them, asking the Father, in the name of the Son, to open our eyes, ears and hearts to the Word. It wouldn't matter if they bowed their head, the fact that they are willing to listen is already a sign of respect that most won't offer Him.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4‭-‬5
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:12‭-‬13
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:22‭-‬23
I and the Father are one.” John 10:30
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Genesis 4:6‭-‬8
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Romans 10:9
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; John 14:16
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 14:26
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1‭-‬2
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36‭-‬40
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19‭-‬20
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] Matthew 6:9‭-‬13
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38‭-‬39

Hello, Brokey here, So as everyone knows the interest rates are through the roof and my weekly payments on my mortgage have increased to the point that we cannot cover it every week, its not eating the offset account and by next month it will be gone,
So iv got to ask, what happens if i cannot pay the full amount? I am prepared to put my tax money + withdraw super (and cop the tax) to help but that money doesnt come in over night,
29yo couple with 2 kids and a small house in sydney with a 580000 loan, Repayments 2years ago when we bought where 600ish and now approuching 1000, Our loan % is just over %80 so our offered rates suck
Besides the obvious “down sizing” we have tried asking for a rate decrease which knocked .25 off but its since increased and appears to be about to increase again,
Happy to take any and all advice here

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
I did not give the Bible the time of day before believing in Jesus with my everything. I just don't recall ever sitting down to read it before, and if I did, I know I didn't do it with an open mind.
I merely believed what other people had told me about it, and many of those, not all, told me it was written by man to control the masses. Some told me they were good moral stories, as if it was wisdom from fiction. I likely read a page or two, and just took them at their word, not interested enough to find out on my own.
I know there are Christians that don't read the Gospel as much as people that don't believe Jesus is the Son of God. Satan Himself knows Scripture better than anyone, he was there through all of it. Take from that what you will.
It wasn't until I believed by faith and received the Holy Spirit that the Bible started reading clearly, as if someone nearly blind put on glasses for the first time.
If someone came to me, and asked for some verses to help introduce them to God, I'd pick the ones below to share with them. I'd pray for them out loud before sharing them, asking the Father, in the name of the Son, to open our eyes, ears and hearts to the Word. It wouldn't matter if they bowed their head, the fact that they are willing to listen is already a sign of respect that most won't offer Him.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4‭-‬5
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:12‭-‬13
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:22‭-‬23
I and the Father are one.” John 10:30
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Genesis 4:6‭-‬8
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Romans 10:9
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; John 14:16
In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 14:26
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1‭-‬2
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36‭-‬40
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19‭-‬20
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] Matthew 6:9‭-‬13
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38‭-‬39

From here:

One of the key elements of modern alphabet ideology that distinguishes it from gay rights is the denial of biological sex itself. Gays men are attracted to men. Gay women, women. Bisexuals to both sexes. What distinguishes gays from heterosexuals is simply their attraction to different body parts.

Again, what separates that from heterosexuality? How is heterosexuality not that?

Modern alphabet ideology denies sex itself as a category. Transhumanism is about “freeing” people from their bodies as if we are Cartesian souls shackled to flesh that must somehow be sloughed off. We are pure will, and the proper role of the body is nothing more than to provide pleasant sensations.
It is this same sort of claim that is now being made by “Minor Attracted Persons” activists, who claim that there are willing children who would engage in sexual relations with adults. The United Nations implies, without explanation, that children are capable of consenting to have sex with adults, and some psychologists have argued that such relationships can be healthy under the right circumstances, as long as no coercion is involved.

But that isn't what it is about. This is full of lies.

The regrettable truth is for much of the early gay-rights movement pedophilia was considered by many as just another oppressed identity. The ugliness of that truth is detailed in a 2001 Regent’s University Law Review essay by Steve Baldwin, “Child Molestation and the Homosexual Movement.” I take issue with some of Mr. Baldwin’s conclusions, but his factual presentation of pedophilias’ historical presence within the gay community is well documented….

Except the thing is full of lies so why trust it?

You see, despite claiming otherwise (and despite a deeply dishonest Associated Press “fact check” challenging the reality), Connecticut’s proposal to change the definition of “sexual orientation” in CT HB6638 does indeed open the door to the inclusion of pedophiles (not legalizing the actual pedophilic practices yet, but the sexual attraction to children as a recognized and legitimate paraphilia) as a protected sexual orientation.

But you say it's debunked. What evidence do you give otherwise?

His body of work and biography is impressive. A former Army Major, he describes it in a letter to the Connecticut State Legislation in submitted testimony regarding CT HB6638, a law I wrote about earlier:

Why can't you link to it?
Ah, here is how it begins:

What do you do if you spend your entire career standing up for gay civil rights, only to watch the movement get hijacked by an ideological group that wants to upend the basic moral framework of society?
It would be a tough call for a lot of people, but there is a growing movement of gay rights activists who are pushing back hard against the alphabet mob who are trying to sexualize children.
It’s a sure path to ostracism and a sure path to self-respect.
One such individual is Jeffery M. Cleghorn, an attorney who has spent his life working to defend gay rights and to help gay families navigate legal issues.

Except this is the only lawyer I can find with that name. Sounds like bullshit.

A Reddit subgroup for detransitioners has over 47,000 members and the stories many share are gut-wrenching. Yet the LGBTQ+/Transgenders who hijacked the former gay rights movement treat these young homosexuals with scorn. Not one single LGBTQ+ group provides any support resources to detransitioners. Each of these stories began with a young person, often a child, “identifying” as a different “gender.”

Mainly because groups like that are fake. And why don't you mention the ex-detransitioners?

HB6638’s expanding the definition of “sexual orientation” to apply to all sorts of ill-defined “identities” (like people who identify as “queer” or “non-binary” genders) makes no sense. Defining sexual orientation according to self-identity makes no sense. One need look no further than the NAMBLA website where a July 2020 essay “Has the Gay Movement Failed?” critiques the 2018 book by Martin Duberman of the same title. The book lays “out the sharp differences between the movement’s earlier liberationist agenda versus its contemporary assimilationist platform.”

What? How is age the same as gender? Gender isn't defined by age?

I shouldn’t have taken a sh!t ton of Benadryl at once. Well, i did.
i only took 400mg (seen reports of people who took 1000 mg)
First thing i did was walk back into my room (i got the pills from my moms bathroom)
It kicked in pretty fast.
it first felt like the world was filtered and it kept getting brighter then dimmer. I felt super tired and sinking in my bed, i couldn’t move a muscle for my life (i was so lazy)
In the corner of my eyes there were these flashing lights, almost like lightning bolts
Not long after that, i started seeing little black bugs, looked like fruit flies. These fruit flies were flying around in my room, there were hundreds of them.
One would occasionally fly into me or into my ear (i actually felt them in my ear it was crazy)
There was a black dot on the painting in my room from a marker
I noticed the black dot crawling up and to the side, i couldn’t tell if it was a real bug or not
it would jump off the painting in a downward motion just like a fly would, then it would reset back to the same spot on the painting.
I kept seeing shadows out the corners of my eyes which scared the absolute crap out of me.
The weirdest part was that i kept daydreaming and actually thinking i was at my school, totally forgetting i was in my room. I was convinced i was in class until i remembered i was in my room.
i didn’t physically hallucinate my math teacher at my desk, but my brain apparently thought he was sitting at my desk. I was hearing him talk to me, that’s was an auditory hallucination, I was having a full blown conversation with him until i realized nobody was there
I have this empty fish tank in my room, there was this giant wasp crawling around in it. This giant wasp was crawling around on the drift wood and the sand, it looked so real
I kept seeing this translucent figure crawling into my room through my window (which was closed)
I felt like i was dory from finding Nemo. Whenever i’d text a friend i’d forget what i was typing
I would keep hearing knocking at my door and my name being called by members of my family
I felt heavy as a rock, i was too lazy to move a muscle. When i finally decided to plug my phone in, i dropped the cord of the charger and heard a voice coming from one of my dead friends (died a long time ago) I was responding and talking to him thinking there was someone there. I don’t exactly remember what the conversation was about
DONT TRIP ON BENADRYL IT MAKES YOU GO CRAZY AND FORGET WHERE YOU ARE. I KEPT THINKING I WAS AT SCHOOL

Got a package dropped off at the unit next to mines garage. They (delivery people) went to their front door to ring the bell and say there’s a package at the garage.
Says my name and address, one unit over. He rang my bell two hours later after he saw me looking around for it.
Just curious on others’ thoughts.
It was an escooter box that shows what it is, abd about $1000

Previous
Shiny and new as they looked, my engineering brain couldn’t help but feel repulsed by these strange vehicles. Their small wings and awkward shapes made for something that would never get off the ground. At least, not assuming gravity was in play…
Come to think of it, my ship’s centrifugal gravity definitely wasn’t behaving normally right now. I spent enough time in NASA’s astronaut washing machine to know what a G felt like, and this most certainly wasn’t it. Remembering what the calculations for gravity were, I quickly shambled over to the ship’s computer and from a large filing cabinet beside it produced a pen and notebook—the classical instruments of science, engineering, mathematics, and pretty much everything else I was ever halfway good at. Then, further rummaging through the artifacts, I produced a stop watch and placed my thumb upon its trigger like an old movie villain about to activate my murder mcguffin
Holding out the pen so that it was just in line with my roughly five-foot high shoulder, I dropped it and began timing the fall with my stop watch. As predicted, the pen fell for much longer than it probably should’ve, hitting the floor with a muted click. 2.86 seconds for a fall of 1.52 meters… either I’m doing it wrong or that comes around to about one third of earth’s gravity… Concluding semi-logically that the gravity simulator in pod was interfering with the outside, I once again accessed the monitor and typed in the command for a full diagnostic:
`Loading…
…
Matter-Antimatter Annihilation Engine… 32% Integrity
Thrusters… CRITICAL ERROR
Centrifugal Gravity Simulation System… Non-Functional
…
WARNING: (2) Antimatter canisters are currently dislodged`
While my gravity hypothesis being false was mildly disconcerting at best, the engine troubles seemed a much more salient problem at the time. After all, if even one of those canisters was ruptured, it’d probably bring down the entire hangar, let alone my pod. Immediately scrambling back down the hall and all-but-kicking open the door, my mouth grew somehow drier than it had been prior to my awakening as I gaped in sheer bafflement at the sight before me.
For what it was worth, the computer was right about those antimatter cartridges. Lined along the wall connected to the main reactor by a series of tubes were 12 half-cylindrical imprints, 10 of which held empty canisters once containing the antimatter. Strangely enough, however, the other two were nowhere to be seen, which in itself was an indicator that something was very off here. This door shouldn’t have been opened since those canisters were loaded in, but the oddly-shaped toolbox on the ground beside the reactor told a different tale altogether.
Kneeling down beside the strange assortment of unfamiliar gadgets and plucking up the topmost one—a screwdriver analogue of some sort it appeared—I immediately noticed the object’s strange weight distribution; somehow both too light and too heavy at the exact same time. It didn’t feel like something designed for a human to hold, let alone properly use.
“Where the hell are these things sourced from; Uncanny Valley?” Permitting myself a snide half-chortle regarding the quip, I turned toward the reactor and began inspecting it for damage. What I saw wasn’t particularly concerning. Every piece there looked completely normal—pristine, even. However, it was what I distinctly didn’t see that concerned me: which is to say, about half of the original parts. The wiring panel looked like it had been pried open with the business end of this ‘screwdriver’ and inside just about everything had been meticulously detached, leaving behind little more than my own reflection on it’s curiously-pristine face.
None of it made any sense. There was real gravity and clear signs of people here, so I had to be either on a planet or a large space station occupied by humans, but that wasn’t possible; the nearest radio broadcast was from several light years away. Unless we had somehow cracked Further-Than-Light travel (because “faster than light” is an oxymoron and I will die on this hill) within only two centuries, there was no way a human crew would be this far away without broadcasting something.
I gulped dryly, feeling the recycled air traveling slowly down my throat like a snail made of sandpaper, highlighting as it passed an odd itching sensation on the skin just below my navel. Careful not to damage my lab coat, I quickly unbuttoned its top two notches and pulled down my t shirt to observe the pain’s source.
Since when did I have stitches on my chest? even stranger; the small line of stitches lined up precisely with that dream…
Finally, the realization struck me, and it didn’t pull the punch either. That wasn’t a dream. These tools weren’t from Earth. And whoever the hell was here with me…
The sound of a steel door in the hangar bay being shoved open quickly brought me back to the window, where just outside three figures could be seen approaching my ship. Two of them were carrying what looked to be rifles of some description, and the one between them wore an icy-white lab coat not entirely dissimilar from my own.
They’re not human

A lot of people are hating on it, but as someone who bought a Quest Pro for work - I am very excited for this product.
It's going to push competition to the next level. You cannot deny the level of engineering and execution that went into this.
Think $3,500 is insane? It does more than Varjo's highest end device at half the price and without a subscription AND operates as a standalone device.
Apple is positioning it as a new way for computing and I am all for it.
Don't get too stuck on the whole competition element for things. Meta is still in the lead in this field, and when it comes to a device that will function with windows - this will serve as a great inspiration.

Imagine if the Quest Pro were announced with all of these features! I bet your diaper would be full, buddy.

Edit: Before you comment about gaming, we all know that isn't apple's focus. It has potential with gaming, but that isn't the priority of the device and it isn't what will make this product have such a large impact. This product will have a large impact because it opens the door to much more in the future and changes the lens that people look at VR devices. This is how you make it mainstream. Just wait and see a few iterations down the line.

I have a set of Akrobat shelves: 3 full width units, 1 half unit, 8 drawers, 2 glass shelves, 2 glass doors. Where would the best place to sell them in New York City area be? I have been moving around with them for a while and they aren't going to fit in my next apartment.

First Issue!

Author's Note: So... its been 3 months. I still live and my writing gobo too. Also I just recently realized its been a bit over 1 years since the series has begun so.... HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE! I hope you'll enjoy the read and please let me know if you'd like me to do anything specific to celebrate 1 year of Beast World. You can support the series by donating my writing gobo a cookie here!

Another morning came upon the Tuskir settlement, which's inhabitants have been shambling about with a bit less tension in their steps.
The perimeter walls of their small village have been reinforced by Runhar's earth molding magics. Rok and Brekda have been assisting him in keeping the perimeter watched at all times.
This precaution was necessary as a lot of the Tuskir village's able bodied fighters have been rendered less than optimally effective in combat. Although generally safe, a small tension filled thought gnawed at the back of their minds. The chance of a second assault was something the tribe considered.
Honestly, at a first glance this would be a most opportun time to assault the place, especially with their elder and most skilled healer, Urla, still mostly bed ridden due to exerting herself when healing others.
Still, they tried to go back to a normal state of operating as best as they could, having to make certain compromises. Discussing among themselves the whole group decided to give as best an aid as possible to the two wounded Hay-yen that they still found alive within their walls, asking their previous captives, the ones more willing to co-operate to take care of them. The procurement of constant supplies of food and water up to the present time made them quite willing to assist.
During this time Michael had been spending his time along Zurra and Woh. Zurra, having taken on the responsability to assist the, hopefully temporarily, crippled hooman, has been going about this task while giving aid in any other mundane endeavors like taking care of the children along side Runny, Brekda's wife.
In one such moment did Michael find a moment to reflect upon the situation as he was left at the base of Spek's tree alongside Woh. Still, contemplation would have to wait as the human's amphoran companion seemed rather excited for chit-chat, indicated by repeating irregular and excited croaks leaving her throat.
"Michael! Michael! Its been a few days! Can you walk, yet?" Woh asked her question with such a light hearted and casual tone as if she expected Michael to grow back his legs if he actually lost them.
The young man, taking a moment to process the question, shook his head while arching an eyebrow. "Pfft. I'd wish, honestly. To be fair they hurt as all hell, but I am glad whatever herbs Zurra's been reapplying my bandages with have been numbing them. I don't know how well healing magic will work to help me if... at all, but I have been terrified that... I might not walk again. At least... not properly." Michael said choking a bit on his words.
Nervousness washed over him as he looked down at his wrapped up legs, faint blood stains covering them here and there. He only looked at his legs once when Zurra was changing the bandages, he was numbed up good, but the sight of them was something too visceral to not make his mind aware of the pain he should be in. Although suppressed, he could feel his legs burn in a muffled agony.
The mana burn had turned the young man's skin and toe nails to actual ashes that Zurra had to clean off, a rather painstakingly slow endeavor due to how caked in blood the ashes were. From bellow the knees the young man was akin to one of those skinless statues showing the human's body muscular fiber, only minor patches of actual skin hanging on here and there.
Woh kind of grew silent for a moment, before shaking her head as her big round eyes looked at Michael. "W-well don'tcha worry! Even if you can't walk we're here, s-so... we'll be able to help! If I was bigger I wouldn't mind lugging you about like a sack of timber! 'Cause you'd be the best sack of timber to ever be and 'cause we're friends." Woh said with a happy croak, trying her best to cheer up the young man.
Michael snickered and smirked and he shook his head, petting Woh's covered back. "Thanks. It'll be my honor to do my best interpretation of a heavy sack, but I'm hoping I can be fixed." After taking a moment to lean back against Spek's trunk and to look up at his crown of branches and leaves, the young man took in a deep breath. "Woh... I'm going to need your help with something. I know you might be not too happy about it, but if you'll allow it...I'd like us to make some vials of your poison, even if it is distilled with some water."
"O-oh... uhm... well... uhh... ya been sayin' that it doesn't do you much harm and... it has been helping you fight, so maybe I don't mind if we make a small bottle or two of it, but ya gotta promise to still be careful, ok?! Ribbit, last thing I want to do is hurt you with it." The tiny pink frog like woman said with a small croak of worry leaving her throat.
Michael sat silent a moment as he looked at his hands and forearms and at the slight yellowish hue they had. His skin has taken to the color just recently, bit by bit. His brown irises with eyes ever so faintly yellow as well, would look at Woh, a small smile accompanying it, although preceeded by the human sucking in his lips slightly. "Y-you won't be hurting me. You can trust that. Hell after what happened, you're the last person that could do that. So no need to be afraid. Whatever choices you make, you can do me no foul."
Woh looked at him, with an ease washing over her tiny form. "Fair enough then. Say. Since its been kinda borin' around 'ere, mind using your magic thingy, what ya called it... ah! Your phoon! To put on that one song you said it is about happiness and not worrying? I liked how it sounded."
"Hah. Gladly. We'll be around here a while, at least until Zurra wants to do my physical therapy. Still kind of regreting telling her about that when she asked about what my kind do to help maintain one's muscles when they can't train and how to deal with pain." Michael said with a small laugh, followed by a grunt of discomfort caused by a stab of his sore body at itself due to the contracting muscles. He'd soon go through his phone and put the tune in question to play on repeat.
"Hah~ there it is... I don't get why, but the song does make me happy. Thanks!" Woh said with a greatful ribbit as she laid down inbetween some of Spek's roots and using them like a lounging chair. She would look up at the tree for a moment too, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to it.
The day would go on to pass as calm as can be, until the late afternoon, when Runhar nearly had a scare for a moment, when he saw torch light coming from deeper within the woods. Still, with a sniff of the air and feeling the scents of Gharna, Oinna, Azhul and Yenna, the guard captain would calm down as he then asked Rok to prepare opening the gates.
When the group came within sight they could be seen pausing as they looked about, their heads clearly turing to examine the surrounding outskirts of their village on the outside.
"What in the name of The Hunt Father happened?!" Gharna yelled out eventually as they got closer, their pace having increased as they saw their home in shambles. "The wall is lookin' like a mess. Is everyone alright?"
"Most, aye!" Runhar yelled and after a moment paused. "Come, there's more to discuss!" The guard captain added as he descended from the watch tower he had climbed up on while on watch.
The group of four was eventually welcomed in and after a quick retelling of their journey and a quick stock of what they brought, which was pulled to storage, Runhar would recount the events that occured here. The whole endevour was burned upon his mind... he couldn't help himself to not go into details, some of which made him visibly look saddened or furious. He eventually even backtracked to what happened to Spek and... how it happened.
To say the least... it was a lot to process, and the news about Spek becoming a... tree... had a mix of reactions.
"Gah... the situation is shite, but I'm kinda pissed I missed ma' using the family technique. I still can't do it nowhere as good as her. Got the getting bigger part down somewhat though." Azhul said with a huff.
"S-seriously? That's yer first concern?!" Gharna added with a snort as she stared up at her bigger hunt sister.
"What do ya wan' me tha do?! Cry about it? I feel like shite, but I ain' gonna break apart over it. Not when we have tha keep things together." Azhul oinked back in retort.
"I-... I have to agree with Azhul. I will check on Urla and see to who's still wounded. If Michael is taken care of at least somewhat for now, I will see to make sure everyone else that can be dealt with quicker, is up on their two feet!" Oinna said with a determined huff as she excused herself and trotted off.
"I'mma be sleepin' a bit. Sleepin' on the road has been a pain." Yenna added with a half dozing off snort as he left. Although he was hit by the initial shock of the situation as well, it only added to the mental exhaustion that traveling has taken on him.
Azhul and Gharna were still lightly huffing at one another, until the latter's eyes sparked with a realization. Gharna's eyes would look at Runhar. "Say, cap'. Ya said Zurra's been takin' care of Michael. Thought we should talk with her, too. Where's she?" She asked very curious, a snort leaving her flat nose.
"Ah... think she might be in his shack with 'im. She said that she wanted to do- " Before Runhar could finish his sentence properly, Azhul seemed to be hit by panic.
It didn't take long to the large Tuskir woman to realize what Gharna was asking and partially hearing Runhar's reply, sent her in nearly a frenzy of embarrasment. "DO HIM?! MA! STOP!"
On the way here Azhul tried telling herself it wasn't possible for something like this to happen, but as her heart rate spiked she attempted to take off toward's Michael's hut.
The nearly stampede like charge though, would be prematurely stopped by Gharna, who wrapped her arms arounds Azhul's waist. While trying to not snort out of sheer amusement, she coughed trying to sound serious. "Wait a wee moment. If ya barge in there while she's doin' him, ya really want tha see that? Might be better to see what the situation... pft... ahem... is... quietly."
Runhar a bit surprised by this whole situation, wanted to finish his sentence, only to be interrupted by Gharna's clear gaze to not utter another word. He even took a moment to chuckle internally, appreciating the bit of amusement after the shit show they have been through.
"Y-yeah... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... Don't wanna make it worse... oh... h-ho... Hunter Father... please don't let it be too late." Azhul muttered as she walked at a really fast, yet quiet pace.
Gharna would follow up after whispering some words of thanks to Runhar. "Ya kno' can't really blame her, if Michael faught like Runhar says he did. Yer mother did always... pft... ahem... a-appftt... preciate a... ahem... sturdy warrior type o' man."
"I will wrangle your throat if ye utter another bloody word." Azhul said to Gharna, without even looking back.
Still, as they approached Michael's hut and listened, Azhul's expression would only change to that of someone who has seen or heard the most disturbing of the secrets held by eldritch gods of the cosmos.
The sound of a creaking bed frame, the moans of Michael in a mix of pain and pleasure and the groans of Zurra as if she was riding a most unruly beast. The trifecta of trauma had fully hit Azhul into a silent stunned coma as he charge stopped to a full halt.
"Agh- god... you're working the knots out of me." Michael could be heard groaning in pain before letting a grunted moan of relief.
"Told ya boi. If we huff... just changed positions a bit and ye gave me a pointer or two... I could get ya done. Ya ain't so different from any ol' tuskir man. Huh... yer givin' me a bit o' a workout." The older smithy woman could be heard lightly panting.
Gharna got silent as well, feeling embarrased as all hell, but nowhere nearly as bad as Azhul, who seemed to have been shell shocked, her eyes staring into nothingness.
"O-oh! Oh no! Hah! That's sensitive t-take it easy on me a bit! Hah!" The young man groaned, which prompted Azhul to crumble to her knees.
The sudden sound of the short fall made the sound from the hut stop. Heavy steps would soon approach the door and open it, as Zurra looked out towards the two.
"Oh! Yer back! Glad to see ye two fine an' well. Uh... what are ya doin'?" The old Tuskir woman asked as she stretched herself a bit, then popping her knuckles.
The two younger women stood silent, until Gharna could finally utter something. "We-... uh... we're good. W-what... uhm... what were ya doin'?" She said nearly choking.
"Ah. Just givin' da boi a massage. After the fight we had he's in shambles if ya haven't 'eard. Gettin' a wee bit tired, so I could use a hand." Zurra said most casually.
To this reply, Azhul go on her palms as well and pressed her snout to the ground. "Thank ye, Hunt Father... oh huh... thank you..." she said whispered, in a slightly whimpering tone, with sighs of relief leaving her.
Gharna calming down too, nodded. "Ye. Gladly." As she passed by Azhul though, she snickered and whispered to her. "Nearly had tha call 'im daddy there, ay?" She asked before stepping up and inside.
Azhul took a moment to calm down, as she contemplated the repercussions of murder, before approaching the shack and talking with her mother. Glad to see one another, the two went into detail about all the events that happened, together with Michael, who was happy to see them both her and Gharna.

There's been so many for the past two weeks. Everything from 'I don't get compliments', 'I don't get touched', to 'I hate my life as a guy'.
Honestly. Get new friends. I get that it's hard, especially to make friends as an adult. But supportive people aren't going to fall out of the sky. Join clubs. Do things you enjoy. If you want compliments, give compliments. If you want someone to hold open the door for you, make a habit of opening the door for other people. If you don't want to be seen as a threat in public, don't do things that made you feel unsafe when you presented femininely.
If you surround yourself with dickheads, your life is going to be full of dickheads.