Me? Posting Two Days In A Row? What Kind Of Witchcraft Is This?

HELLO?! EXCUSE ME?! This is a roller coaster of emotions for me.

I started reading and I was like:

False? Ok, normal.

Then I saw Iskall and Cub and was, damn. A lot of hermits probably.

Then I was hit with Green Geckos and I needed a few minutes to recover because XISUMA?! HELLO???

THEN I THERE IS TEAM TIES!!! THERE ARE TEN HERMITS TOTAL AND I DONT KNOW WHO TO WATCH!!’

KSKFIABDBEJDKNWSN

All ten MCC Season 4 Kick Off teams!

May I get Tango helping Scott with his hair? (The way you draw them is absolutely adorable)

This is Tango helping Scott get ready for his Miku cosplay (tried to make it look like they’re in front of a mirror)

Day 5, dragons!

You ever just... accidentally come up with an au while doodling... and then draw another picture to go with the first... and then mean to jot down a couple of paragraphs on a concept and instead end up accidentally writing a 3200 word fic on a tumblr post? Anyways...

Most witches find their soulmate early on, taking a wander to seek them out before they ever begin their apprenticeship. And why wouldn't they? A witch's soulmate is the one whose magic resonates the deepest with their own, the other half that can draw forth unknown potential in each other's souls, and necessary for any ritual of notable power. It best suited a witch to find them early on to train together, and is necessary for the final test all witches must go through- summoning their familiar. A manifestation of their partner's soul that links them no matter how far apart they may travel.

But Jimmy always dreaded it. He'd seen many pairs come and go from the Roost, how they acted. Watched his own brother and sister find their soulmates, become something more than ritual partners. Then watched his other sister stumble upon her own, only to be told it was too late, only begrudgingly tolerated. A rare occurrence, supposedly. But the real issue was that, Jimmy wasn't sure which fate was worse. He'd thought he'd stumbled upon his soulmate once, and only felt relief when it turned out to not be so.

And so here Jimmy was, on his pilgrimage to the Circle years after his peers, alone, and more theoretical knowledge than practical about any spell stronger than curing a flu. They'd sent him off, but truthfully Jimmy wasn't even sure what the coven would do with him when he arrived. Supposedly help him locate his soulmate, but maybe they would simply kick him out. There was no completing his apprenticeship without them, though.

Lost in his own thoughts, Jimmy didn't hear the strange noises in the woods along the trail, or notice the way his horse's ears bent back in fright. Not until it was too late. A wall of flames burst forth mere feet in front of them. His horse reacted faster than he ever could, throwing herself up onto her hind legs and sending everything not strapped down to her into the ground, before bolting off back the way she'd came.

Jimmy struggled onto his knees, letting out a weak whistle for her to return, but she was long gone. In pain and most of his stuff gone, Jimmy barely had the energy to turn to his attacker.

Maybe that was too generous a term. The man who stumbled out of the woods looked as though he'd taken a worse hit than Jimmy did, soot covering him head to toe and more than a few burns in his clothing. An enormous witch's hat dragged behind him, all its structure lost. When he coughed a black cloud came out of his lungs. Jimmy winced. "Oh, nooo..." The man wheezed, collapsing into the road. "No, no, no, no, no..."

"Excuse me!" Jimmy staggered to his feet, caught between too many emotions to control his tone. The man jumped, eyes nearly popping out of his skull. The strangest little squeak escaped him. "What just happened? You've gone and scared away my horse!"

"Oh, shoot, I'm so sorry!" He stuttered. "I just-"

They both stumbled forward, meant to meet in the middle if not for both of their bodies giving out. Both foreheads cracked into one another and they were down for the count once more.

"Ow." Jimmy huffed while the stranger let out a pained groan.

He shook his head. "I'm really really sorry, I was just trying to practice a spell and it got way outta control and there was boom! And whoosh! And-"

"Slow down, please." A gangly arm was thrown up into the air, signalling the man to stop in a way he could hopefully see. The strange did stop, though little meeps escaped him, something that made Jimmy imagine a runner slowing down. "You're a witch, too?"

The stranger flipped over onto his stomach immediately, excitement in his eyes, and shoved a hand out towards Jimmy. "That's right, that's me! Tango of the Hermitage variety. Well, Evermore variety, now, actually. But that's neither here nor there. If you're on this road then I'm guessing you're heading to the circle like me, huh?"

Tango... He looked much older than one might expect for a witch making the pilgrimage to the Circle. Every coven did things their own way, and if Jimmy recalled right the Hermitage was way outside the Empire, but he didn't know anywhere that trained for that long.

There he went, getting lost in thought again. Jimmy shook Tango's hand before he could forget to. "Jimmy, of the Roost. And yes, I'm on my pilgrimage."

"Oh, lucky us then, to have some company!" Tango laughed, before it slowly died. Jimmy's brow knit with concern, head lulling sideways into an indent left by the stampeding horse. The man rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, well, I guess not that lucky."

"She took everything I had with her." He groaned. A hand was in his face once more, this time to help pull him onto his feet. Tango winced as he yanked up, swiftly releasing Jimmy to clutch at his forearm with- was his other hand metallic? Now that Jimmy was up close he could see the torn sleeve was not burned away, but cut.

He could ask later, right now Tango was in pain. Jimmy offered out his own hand for once that day, to which Tango relucately presented the wound. It wasn't pretty, deeper than the most superficial burns in other places, but nothing atrocious. Well within his abilities. A spell wove its way through the air on a hum, soothing the wound. He hadn't any flesh to heal it with, but a balm of music was good enough for now.

Tango let out a sigh. "Thanks. I'm kinda low on redstone after that kaboom."

"Redstone?" Jimmy balked, unable to hold back a nervous laugh. "No wonder your spell was so... explosive."

"Hey! that's just how we do it where I come from, songbird." He wagged a finger in Jimmy's face, though from the smirk on his face Jimmy guessed he took no serious offence. "Cheaper than lapis, and plays a lot nicer with ores than glowstone."

"I suppose, but your whole ritual could be washed away by a little drizzle."

"Well, that's what roofs are for!"

Jimmy laughed, "Well, I better get going. It's going to take the rest of the day to make it to the Circle on foot. You should probably go find your soulmate and see how they're doing."

At that Tango went stiff. The jolliness he'd carried in him until then ebbed away, and his gaze cast back towards the woods. "My soulmate, yeah, right... Uh, well, thing is... I mean, where's your soulmate, anyways? Your horse make off with them, too?"

Dread roiled in Jimmy's gut even at the mention, his shoulders slumping. "Ah, thing is..." It clicked then, in the back of his mind. His gaze shyly returned to Tango, who was doing a poor job of pretending to look for something. Jimmy shrugged. "Well, I suppose if we're going the same way anyways, would you join along?"

Tango head swivelled to him in surprise. It took him a moment to come to the same conclusion Jimmy had. When he did a sort of odd smile inched onto his face, something like sympathy but not quite. More comforting than infuriating like Jimmy would normally find similar looks from others who realized he was alone. A nod was shared between the pair, quiet, and they slowly stumbled into the first few steps side by side.

So their journey began. It took no time at all for chatter to return between them. About their pilgrimage so far, about the supplies they'd brought and lost. Tango interrupted to apologize more than once.

Along the way they stopped at a well to retrieve something to drink near a flax field. A few bolls was enough to weave a song that fixed up Tango's coat. Jimmy went to weave the last bit into bandages for the wound he'd soothed, but it had seemed fine on its own already, to both of their happy surprise. Maybe there had happened to be something freshly killed nearby when he cast the spell after all.

"I wonder how they'll do it?"

"Hm?" Jimmy turned to his companion, who was staring up at the sky absently.

"Find our soulmates. My master said they would. I wonder if they have some sort of crystal ball, or maybe you gotta play cards?"

"You mean divination?" A snort escape Jimmy while Tango snapped his fingers and whispered a quite "Bingo!" "Well, I suppose they must read your soul somehow. Our masters said that soulmates are connected by the thread of fate."

"Mine said it's more like making soup." Tango hummed.

Jimmy nearly tripped. "Soup?"

"Yeah! Soup! When you do a ritual your souls mix, and soulmates are the two souls that make the best soup."

"I don't think I like that explanation." He admitted, and Tango nodded in agreement.

"My buddy said it was more like finding the other end of a redstone circuit." His tone calmed, eyes on something in his mind rather than the road. "Like, there's a lamp, and you need two circuits to light it properly. He could feel the feedback through their connection..."

"I see..." It wasn't all that dissimilar in image to the metaphor of choice Jimmy's coven used. A lot more practical though, like everything else Tango had told him about his coven. More practical, less...

Romantic.

Tango made a noise, "Course I'm his best bud, I can't just let something like that go. You shoulda seen his face at the wedding when we lit up the whole arch at the exchange! I don't know if he wanted to kill me or hug me."

Jimmy felt something in him sink. He tried to brush off the strange disappointment, "So even in your coven soulmates tend to get together, huh?"

"Tend to?" Tango's face scrunched up, and he threw his arms out to the sky. "That's just the standard. The sound I made when I went to apprentice under Master Shubble and found out in the Evermore, weddings and soulmate ceremonies were two separate things!"

"Wait, they're the same?" Jimmy pulled a face not dissimilar to the hermit's own.

"The humans in town even call each other soulmates, even thought hey don't have one."

The more things are different... Jimmy sighed, "Great..."

Tango chuckled, something empty of humour. "I'll tell you a secret. I told my coven I wanted to train under Master Shubble to broaden my search or whatever. But really, it's because the Evermore is out in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing but frogs and flies. Less chance of running into someone who might be my soulmate."

"really?"

"Yeah." He groaned. "But you can't finish apprenticeship without a familiar, and you can't summon a familiar without a soulmate. I guess there's no escaping it."

"We could run off." Jimmy blurted out. Both men paused, eyes locking. "To somewhere remote like the Evermore, or, like, a remote town. Where no one will care if we're still technically apprentices. It'd be easy enough to run a ranch or something with what we got."

A sad smile stretched across Tango's face. "That'd be great. Thought about it a few times. Unfortunately, I got plans. And those plans involve spells you can't cast alone."

"Oh." Jimmy deflated. They began to walk once more. Truth be told, Jimmy hadn't decided what he wanted to do. But Tango was right, anything of any ambition would require the power of a soulmate.

Still... "It's nice to know." He mused aloud. "That someone else would rather be without a soulmate.

There was a long silence, during which Tango gave him an indecipherable look. Whatever he intended to say died on his tongue, though, as he faced back towards the road ahead. "They better have a feast waiting for us for our troubles!"

Jimmy laughed. "More troubles than they'd ever realize!"

As lovely as Tango's company was, it couldn't counter the oppressive air that befell them as the Circle tower came into view. They tried to converse but it fell away too easily. Fate loomed ahead, ready to sweep them away like a flood.

But they could at least bring one another comfort. As the tower neared so too did they to one another, until they were pressed up against each other's sides. When they were close enough that people came into view Jimmy's arm instinctively wrapped around Tango's like he always had done as a child venturing out into the market with his siblings. Tango responded in kind, locking their hands together and bringing his metal hand up like a guard to brush against Jimmy's elbow.

They could push through this, Jimmy thought. Just get it over with, and maybe they could help one another find their soulmates. Be there to stand between them, when they could. And then they can get their familiars and never speak to their other halves again if they could get away with it. They just had to get through this.

Almost directly in front of the gates, a Circle witch bowed in greeting, holding two leather garments. "Tango of the Evermore, Jimmy of the Roost. It's good to see you've made it here in one piece."

"Mostly." Jimmy chirped, all the while his hold on Tango's hand tightened.

"We're just setting up for your ritual now. If you would put these gaurds on and follow me, we can get started."

Inside was nothing like the Roost. From Tango's reaction it was nothing like the Evermore or Hermitage, either. The walls were pitch black except for a night sky reflected in them. What night sky, they couldn't know, as it was still dusk when they entered. They made Jimmy dizzy trying to discern his own location relative to them. More than once a toe stubbed.

At the heart of the tower was a room, given reality by the presence of several bookshelves and islands of garden tables. At its centre was a tree, which they were guided to. Upon its bark were countless spells, some worn to nothing and others freshly made, overlapping until they could hardly be separated from each other.

The Circle witch turned to them, brushing their hand along the bark. "This is the Tree of Life. Our coven has protected it for unknown eons, and upon it is the mark of every witch on the continent, past, present, and future. You two will place your mark here as well, today, and join your ancestors in the fabric of life."

"And then what happens?" Tango asks, voice tense. Jimmy ran his thumb over the man's hand. This is how they would find their soulmate? Did they appear int he mind's eye? In the stars or the leaves?

"Then your familiar will be summoned forth from your soulmate's soul, forever bound to connect you to one another no matter where your might be. In doing so, you will be able to resonate with one another at all times, and watch over each other."

Jimmy jerked back in surprise. "What? And we can do that on our own? they don't have to be here? What if they aren't done their own training?"

The coven witch's eyes narrowed, flicking to Jimmy, then Tango, then back once more. "I don't understand what you mean. Have one of you come along without completing your training?"

"Of course not!" Tango grumbled. "But our soulmates might not be? We haven't found them yet, can't you tell even that?" The tension of the situation was getting it him, Jimmy could almost feel it, squeezing on his own heart. Jimmy paused. Hold on...

"Your soulmate is right here?" They said, though it lilted as their hand hesitantly gestured to Jimmy. They looked deep into Jimmy's eyes once more, before nodding.

Jimmy and tango's eyes met, wide and searching. Soulmates... His soulmate was Tango? He didn't know what to feel, his mind choosing to go numb instead, before Tango's shoulder bumped his. It broke both from their trance.

"You're my soulmate." Tango breathed out, disbelieving.

"You aren't suddenly into the idea of marriage, are you?" It was meant to be a joke, but Jimmy still felt his heart clench. His friend had once said he never wanted to marry, adamantly repeating so over and over, and yet now he was at Jimmy's sister's beck and call like the words had never been spoken. It sank worry into his bones, as he looked into Tango's awestruck expression.

But he needn't be, and perhaps he should have known better, but in his defence he'd only known his soulmate for a few hours now. Either way, Tango gasped, almost gagged, and whipped his head back and forth so hard Jimmy worried he'd snap his own neck. "Of course not!"

They stared at one another, the situation finally fully sinking in. And then both burst, laughter filling the air.

Of course Tango was his soulmate. The perfect match for his own soul. What did the stars care for whatever other meanings people imagined onto their machinations, after all?

"Whenever you're ready." The Circle witch gently reminded.

They stepped forward, each taking one of the glittering red stones at the tree's base. It was one spell, Jimmy drawing the outer circle while Tango worked on the inner symbols. When it was fully drawn they stepped back and faced one another. Exchanging one last nod, Jimmy began to sing.

They started as a flicker. Jimmy could feel it in his own chest, while he watched it occur to Tango in tandem. Not a tug, but a brush, and a flutter as the lights grew. It felt like his soul was melting and pouring out of him to mix with Tango's. Like soup, he mused with good humour.

The lights burned their brightest before they dimmed into tangible shapes, not unlike metal being worked into form. Just as it reached the point where Jimmy could begin to discern the small creature before him there was another flash. Not of the ritual, but from the beast. When his eyes opened again before him was a little serpent, frilled neck bright like the sun, and body slithering on the wind. He put out his arm, and it bounced in the air until it landed, four sets of claws piercing into the leather armour.

Across from him he caught sight of Tango, beckoning forth a yellow feathered serpent. He yelped, having outstretched his dominant arm instinctively and receiving little needles digging into his flesh for his trouble. Lucky they were so small. A giddy feeling washed over Jimmy, eyes darting between their new companions.

"Dragons!" Tango practically cheered. "Oh, Impy's gonna be so jealous!"

"A rare form, indeed." The Circle witch agreed, before stepping aside. "And that concludes our part in your venture. We deem you full fledged witches from here on, free to do as you wish with your power- within our laws, of course."

"What now?" Jimmy breathed, suddenly overwhelmed with possibilities he never thought within his reach.

Tango made a little noise, and Jimmy was beginning to suspect he might have to get used to that. Not that it would be hard. "You mentioned something about a ranch, on the way here?" He said, head tilted and grin toothy. "I mean, we might be full witches, but I got a sneaking feeling we both have some serious practice to put in."

"I know a lovely little place." Jimmy said, lighter and more excited to use his magic than he had been in years.

"Then let's go home."

Also, here you go! My crochet projects this summer. The snake is done and has been done for a while. The other one is a Hello Kitty plush for a friend’s birthday. Which is tomorrow so I am a bit stressed I won’t be able to finish it.

But when I do, I will give you the final product as well.

I am going to. Explode.

Just something

i give you warden mumbo x creaking grian

THE BOY!!!

TANGOOOOO!!!

The ending :3

Sooooooo

I finished my visual assessment and I absolutely love it omg I call per it 5 winners 5 games

And tbh my fav is 3rd life and secret life.

Hope y’all like :3

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All ten MCC Haunted Hoedown teams!