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Challenge #04545-L161: Prejudice's Shadow

They did not speak, childhood illness stole their voice. But the Harukh village didn't care. This human had always been kind to them, helping them when illnesses or injuries came their way. They also made it clear to so-called "heros", this human who could not speak was not going to be mistreated. The human, for their part, kept trying to make it clear, wordlessly, they didn't NEED "saving". -- Anon Guest

[AN: Harukh are mostly nomadic, so this place is a statistical outlier]

The Harukh steppe lands are cruel and harsh. Life there is hard. The plants that eke out an existence there take years to grow to the point where they're useful. The animals were tough, armoured, and armed. Even the herbivores have tusks, claws, or horns to defend themselves.

That doesn't mean that the Harukh always share the same qualities.

Their reputation for being violent raiders is due entirely to people moving in to their territories and 'civilising' the land that the Harukh had been farming in their own way for generations. Which is roughly equivalent to returning from a holiday to discover that someone has built and sold out an apartment complex where your home used to be. You would also get violent under such circumstances.

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Challenge #04544-L160: Homicidal Weather Patterns

They were visiting Earth. The skies turned a strange greenish hue, the winds went quiet, even the insects went still. The human grabbed their friends and swiftly dragged them to a metal bunker with only two words. "Twister's coming!" -- Anon Guest

Visiting the aptly-named Terra is not recommended for level three Havenworlders and above. Those undergoing resilliance training must do so under strict supervision from an epigenetic advisor. Why?

Well. Even in the most civilised and tamed areas, there are unexpected

Challenge #04543-L159: Recompense

They were very thin, hungry, but afraid to ask. They were told these strangers made you pay more than your money for their aid. And she had very little money to begin with. -- Anon Guest

There were a lot of stories about these invaders from the stars. How they did terrible things. How they ruined worlds. How they ruined lives. How they preyed upon the weak and the vulnerable and did despicable things to children.

Eidel had been hiding for weeks,

Challenge #04542-L158: All Due Respect

Careful to whom you speak, and the tone of use. Just remember insult is rarely forgotten, and not all retribution is swift. -- Anon Guest

Night Watch, ten years before the significant event...

Officer Druempf almost missed the moving shadow in the half-light of dawn. "Halt! Who goes there?"

The shadow slowed, sighed and straightened, revealing itself as that double-damned devilborn. The alleged lordling who was the most infamous student of that Elf's school in the landscaping place. "It's only me, Officer,

Challenge #04541-L157: Heroic Celebration

Wraithvine hates goodbyes, really hates them. But not all goodbyes are sad. This one, as ze left a wedding they had been invited to, was happy. They knew this family, they would meet them again. So it was not goodbye, it was "See you later." -- Anon Guest

Heroes tend to have open-air weddings in large fields, or take over an auditorium for the ceremony. Mostly because of all the people wanting to wish them well. There's other decorations to make it

Challenge #04540-L156: Restful Sanctuary

Each night the songs started. Soft, gentle, soothing. These songs eased the tired Wizard and hir dragon friend to sleep, along with the gentle purring cat in the Wizard's lap. -- The New Guy

[AN: Mature Elves don't sleep. They meditate.]

The world is large, and full of perils. One would expect that from a world made for Dragons. What's less expected is the occasional island of succour.

This is the Singing Forest. Legend says a great hero once placed a piece

Challenge #04539-L155: Something-something Power, Something-something...?

'You may find after a time that the having is not so pleasing as the wanting. It is not Logical but I have found it to be so.' More or less a 'Spock' quote . Have fun. -- She Who Knits

[AN: Unfun Fact - My mother rubbed my aspiration failures into my face with this quote at every opportunity. I am desperately trying to not let that flavour this story. Wish me luck]

Hail to the Chief Executive Officer, they who

Challenge #04538-L154: Singer For Supper

You need or want something non standard or they do not sell what you want in the usual retailers. Bespoke, Made to Measure, Made for you to use. Or for you to gift to someone. -- She Who Knits

Automation is great for standard things. Everyone agrees with that simple fact. You can replace broken things with a near-identical copy, at a relatively cheap price. This applies very well to things, especially things of common use.

Furniture, vehicles, housing... even shaped foodstuffs,

Challenge #04537-L153: Please Don't Make Me Laugh

They say laughter is the best medicine, but that's not quite true. It's just a good aid to proper care. -- Anon Guest

Let me get this into your head - laughter is not always the best medicine. Just try doing it when your next breath is being debated by committee. Metaphorically, of course. It's just as difficult to breathe when it feels like you're allergic to air.

I'll spare you the sordid details of abundant mucous generation and leave you with

Challenge #04536-L152: Desperate Motivations

To get to where they are needed, they must travel through the maelstrom of lightening, heavy rains, winds, ... and worse. -- Anon Guest

The world was full of scars like this. If 'scar' could apply to an eternal cyclone guaranteed to repel travelers from attempting to breach it. In the middle, in the eye of that permanent storm, was the floating island of Aljanna. A paradise lost to most of the mortal world.

Legend held that they were safeguarding a mighty weapon.

Challenge #04535-L151: Blown Back

The first hundred times didn't work out so good, but this time it will. -- Anon Guest

If at first you don't succeed... the saying goes. Sometimes, try, try, and try again, is not the ideal solution. It's that kind of philosophy that results in history's echoes.

Again and again, those who rise to power seek to create their ideal society by forcing the populace to adhere to rigid rules or face harsh punishment. Again and again, the populace rebels and the

Challenge #04534-L150: Ameliorative Measures

They said the eclipse would only last minutes. It's been a century. -- Anon Guest

We know the sun is still there. We can see its corona around the shadow of the moon. We're lucky that we have the technology to grow crops without sunlight. We're very lucky that our energy sources aren't causing more problems than they solved.

If this had happened half a century earlier, we would be looking to our extinction in a mere handful of years.

If it

Challenge #04533-L149: Sweet-scented Poison

I got these new flowers today. They whisper to me, while I sleep; whisper secrets nobody can know. -- Anon Guest

They look like nice flowers, don't they? The way they gleam in the light. They're so pretty. I received them in an opalescent vase three months ago and they haven't wilted. They only need fresh water once a day. They're beautiful... and they're driving me mad.

They whisper to me whenever it's quiet. Soft words that I can barely understand. They're

Challenge #04532-L148: Surprising Discovery

There is a hollow world held together by the great spider web, spun by countless arachnids led by their queen -- Anon Guest

The Impossible Nebula should not exist. Nevertheless, it exists anyway. If there's enough gasses orbiting a sun to provide air to breathe, with asteroids mixed in, it should form a planet. Or even two of them.

Humans and other Deathworlders have made a sport of navigating the entire orbital circuit without major injury.

Most of the landmarks, stopping points,

Challenge #04531-L147: Oh, the Deprivation!

Poor, poor, pitiful me. -- Anon Guest

This had to be the worst day. She couldn't find any of her servants. There was nobody to dress her and she'd been wearing the same nightgown all day. Nobody had fed her breakfast. None of her tutors had come to give her any of her lessons, and she was well overdue for Elementary Dressage.

She had had the rudest awakening with a slave grabbing her out of her bed and setting her loose -barefoot!

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Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #04545-L161: Prejudice's Shadow

Challenge #04544-L160: Homicidal Weather Patterns

Challenge #04543-L159: Recompense

Challenge #04542-L158: All Due Respect

Challenge #04541-L157: Heroic Celebration

Challenge #04540-L156: Restful Sanctuary

Challenge #04539-L155: Something-something Power, Something-something...?

Challenge #04538-L154: Singer For Supper

Challenge #04537-L153: Please Don't Make Me Laugh

Challenge #04536-L152: Desperate Motivations

Challenge #04535-L151: Blown Back

Challenge #04534-L150: Ameliorative Measures

Challenge #04533-L149: Sweet-scented Poison

Challenge #04532-L148: Surprising Discovery

Challenge #04531-L147: Oh, the Deprivation!