#and the guards come and promptly drag them away to the death pit no questions asked LOLLLLFKJDF

[magioffire]

"I'm not dead, you loon." Styx complained as she was carried away.

"Nope, you're dead."

"Go to the death pit until you stop smelling like death."

[nubi-simp]

stolen patagium (piglin!techno x bat!reader) Part 1

~3k words. Definitely not for those who cannot handle sad well.

For you, your wings were part of your whole identity. They were your pride and joy, and you flaunted them everywhere you could. You adored your near-transparent leathery wings that stretched around you like a blanket.

However with your wings came a few setbacks. Because of your hybrid, you were nearly blind, only able to see silhouettes at best. Sound was something that surrounded you- it helped you see, or rather know where things are. Due to this, you relied heavily on friends to help you through unfamiliar places, though you had nearly mapped out all of the towns nearby from flying around on your own.

You were currently laughing and shrieking with Tubbo and Niki, playing in the small spring near your house, splashing and chasing each other merrily. The day was sunny and warm, perfect for a short outing before the upcoming storm tore through the land. Sitting a ways away was Phliza, Techno and Tommy were talking about god knows what while Wilbur sat soaking in a small alcove in the pool, having had enough of being dunked into the water by you and Niki.

Your head was suddenly splashed with cold water, causing you to shriek and squawk awkwardly as Tubbo laughed and Niki moved quickly away from you, trying to escape the accusation you would inevitably shout at her, half shouting and half laughing to never, ever do that again. As the day melded into the early evening, the sunlight was disappearing ever more as thicker storm clouds rolled in front of it. Almost immediately after the last cloud covered the sun, the thunder started and the clouds lit up momentarily with lightning that had yet to hit the ground. You groaned as you knew this was a sign to head back into the safety of your own home. Frowning you looked at the vague figure of Tubbo and Niki before asking them if they’d help you get back home without tripping over spare rocks and twigs.

“I can’t, I’m meant to help Tommy and Phil pack up the picnic we had,” Tubbo replied patting your back before moving to help the aforementioned people with said picnic. You looked towards Niki while sighing,

“It’s ok Niki, I know you don’t know the way back to my house.” She apologised before quickly helping me out of the water, said her goodbyes, and promptly left to her own home. You looked around at the remaining figures before making your way over to Techno himself intent on asking if he could help guide you home. Halfway over to him, it started to rain, causing the ground to quickly become slick. Your own wings curled tighter into your body, the cold droplets of the rain feeling like ice on your skin.

You paused, knowing that you would most likely slip and fall if you continued without a guide and shouted, “Techno! Can you come here please?”

His figured seemed to appear out of thin air as he approached, making enough noise to let you know he was there in case you hadn’t seen him approaching.

“Yes?” his reply came out roughly, most likely a little sore from talking nearly all day.

“Do you think you could help me get home? There’s so many stray stones and twigs that I’ll trip at least three times if I try to get there myself.” Your voice was pleading, and you were half preparing to crawl home in case he said no before-

“Yea, I’ll help you.”

You breathed out in relief, “Thanks so much! You don’t know how much you’re helping me.”

He simply looked at you and made an expression your half-blind self could assume was a smile, before setting his arms on your shoulder, and pulling you forwards into the more dense woods that lead to your house. Every now and again he’d call out that there was a fallen stone or branch, and helped you clamber over them when you asked for assistance. The rest of the walk back went fairly okay- or as okay as it could be when the rain came down harder, sheets of it hitting the ground so loud it was hard to hear your own voice, let alone his. You briefly lost your footing going down into the valley your house sat in, and Techno’s strong hands helped pull you back up. It was now no longer an aimed walk back to your house, as now you were both walking as quick as was safe for you, trying desperately to get out of the rain as fast as possible.

Once reaching your covered porch, you quickly set your outdoor fireplace up and lit it, intending to dry your clothes a little bit before going indoors. You looked over at Techno, smiling, “You ought to stay for a little to see if the rain lets up before you head home.”

He began to protest that he would be fine, that the wait would only make it more wet outside, when you shushed him and reminded him that the last thing he needed was to get sick from wet, cold clothes. Grabbing a set of plain, dry clothes, you paused, before grabbing a second set for Techno. Turning back to the fire pit, you handed him the clothes and motioned to the clean, dry towels near him saying, “There’s a small area on the other side of the porch you can towel off on and change into dry clothes, I promise I can’t see that far away especially in this heavy rain,”

You chuckled at the darker shade that crossed his face when you finished talking, and promptly went to grab a rack to put near the fire to dry out the wet clothes. Dragging it over, you noticed that he’d moved, presumably to do as you suggested. You stood, not wanting to wet the seats with your dripping clothes when you faintly heard footsteps belonging to Techno come closer. Turning you spotted his large figure in the dry clothes you’d provided, a towel thrown around his hair.

“Feel better?” You asked, smirking.

“Much,” he replied before sitting back down on the same couch he was on earlier. You nodded, before going over to change your own clothes. As you stripped of the uncomfortable clothes, you felt the hairs on your neck rise. There was something watching you. Not one to ignore instinct, you quickly wrapped yourself in the towel, not bothering to grab the wet clothes as you walked quickly over to Techno.

When he looked over towards you, you could tell that he was blushing at your form, his mouth opening to ask before-

“There was something watching me over there, I figure that I’d be better off near you than alone,” He shut his mouth quickly before nodding, looking away to give you privacy as you changed near him, feeling much safer than before. Clearing your throat you sat next to him, signaling that you were done with changing. He looked over before chuckling at your disgruntled expression. You tended to be fairly suspicious of everything since you couldn’t trust your sight and with the storm raging next to you, you were down to three senses, none of which were very helpful.

As the night dragged on, so did the storm. You and Techno had both since moved inside, the hairs on your neck having risen again. This time Techno was aware of the presence as well, which calmed you to know that you weren’t going crazy. Having moved inside, of course then did the rain begin to let up momentarily, letting the dim shine of the moon come through the clouds. It seemed the the storm had let up, and you looked over to Techno, knowing that he would want to go home as soon as possible.

“Would you mind looking around the house to make sure that the thing that was watching us is gone before you go? It’d help me out a lot,” You questioned, using your puppy eyed-look to influence him more. He just looked at you flatly before agreeing and letting you pamper him a little more before heading back out.

__

After agreeing to look around your house, Techno finally managed to escape your doting nature by saying that the more he waits the more of a chance the thing watching you and him had left.

You grudgingly let him go, and he inspected the perimeter of your house thoroughly, before out of the corner of his eye he saw a shift in the trees a few yards away from your house. He tensed, honing in on the figure before quietly equipping his sword. At the reflection of the moon on the enchanted blade, the figure quickly shrieked and took off, with Techno hot on it’s heels.

__

You heard him yell out, “Found it!” before taking off, and you assumed that it was taken care of. You relaxed your tense shoulders before moving to clean up the small mess of food you and Techno had made earlier. Once done, you figured that it wouldn’t hurt to have a little extra protection tonight, as you drew the blinds and curtains, before leaning chairs against the doorways of the house and locking the doors.

Content that you were safe enough, (as you could never be completely safe in this area) you blew out the main candles before going and laying on your makeshift nest, which consisted of various grasses and hay, as well as a soft pillow given to you by Niki. As you finally drifted off, your winged form relaxed wholly, completely unaware of the dark figure that had been in your house before you had even come home.

__

Techno was on a high of adrenaline, having chased and successfully caught the dark figure. After catching and interrogating the creature, he was running as fast as he could back to your house, praying you were still awake or at the very least, able to defend yourself well enough until he got there himself.

__

You awoke to a rough set of hands on your shoulders, trying to tie you down to the bed. You thrashed, unable to see a thing, but able to locate just about everything in the room from the sound you were making. There was someone on top of you, pinning you down with their own weight. A cruel whisper in your ear promised to be gentle if you stopped fighting, making your blood run cold. You feared the worst, rape, death, perhaps both- but nothing prepared you for the icy ball of dread that dropped into your stomach as the stranger caressed your wings. Your eyes teared as you screamed as loud as you could, hoping the noise would either catch the creature off guard or alert someone to your situation, but the creature ignored your scream, intent on checking that your wings would indeed catch a fair price.

__

At the sound of your scream, Techno ran even harder, having told Phil of the situation as he was sure the he would need backup to either comfort you or kill the creature after your precious wings.

__

After a frantic message from Techno, Philza was on his way over to your house as fast as possible, slicing through the air with his wings as he fought against the wind currents- they were strong because of the storm but Phil was stronger, intent on helping his friend, and your precious wings as he knew exactly what the horrible creatures were after.

__

You were struggling against your binds as the creature had decided that your wings were worth the fortune he would get selling them, before getting off of you and grabbing a metal saw. You blacked out when he made the first in-out pull of the saw, the pain shooting through your body so intensely that you would rather have died than experience again. Even as your body blacked out, you could still feel the drag of the saw’s teeth in and out on the base of your wing. Your screams were no longer out of fear, but of unimaginable pain when you woke up.

As the man sawed through the wing, you’d managed to run your voice hoarse and screamed until you’d vomited. Instantaneously, you felt a weight off of your shoulder blade, and you knew immediately that your wing was gone.

Your mind was reeling, hardly acknowledging the pain of the man behind you beginning to saw your other wing, and the only thing your mind could think of was no. Your wing was gone. It was just gone.

Your screams fell silent as you finally, finally, blacked out completely, body giving up from the overload of pain and pure unadulterated terror.

__

Techno reached your house, with Phil swooping in hard, and the both of them could smell the sickening scent of blood and vomit before even opening the door, quickly disregarding the chair that was leaned against it, rushing into the small walled off area you called your bedroom.

There, on the hay was your body, prone and mutilated. The window next to it was shattered and empty, the thief long gone with your wings in arms. Techno could barely take in the scene before him- he and Phil had both seen bodies ripped apart, but the sight of you made Techno feel as if he was back in time, younger, seeing the first dead body in his bloody history. But you couldn’t be dead, you were still gushing blood as he leaned down to press his hands against the- the stumps left from where your wings used to rest. He took one look at Phil and Phil knew that he was not going to be the one who looked for your thief. Sighing heavily, Phil sent a nod towards Techno as he shot out through the window, in pursuit of your wings.

Phil quickly made a makeshift swing around his neck before carefully placing your body inside of it. After securing your lifeless body to himself, he shot into the sky, heading towards one of the only people he knew could help- BadBoyHalo’s house.

__

BadBoyHalo was not necessarily suprised at Phil’s arrival at his house, but he was horrified at was Phil brought. Looking at your mangled form, Bad pushed away his horror and tears as he forced himself to attend to your body, bandaging your stumps before moving on to the welts from the rope you’d been tied with, to having Phil help move your body so he could check that the more intimate parts of your body had not been hurt. Ordering Phil around felt strange to Bad, but Phil was more than willing to scrounge up the resources for a healing potion.

__

You woke up screaming, sending Phil rushing into your room to check on you. At the sight of another person you trembled, scooting back quickly, maneuvering your wings out of the way-

You froze. Phil could tell by the look in your eyes you’d remembered. Your chest began to heave as you looked over your shoulders to find nothing. A sob tore it’s way through your chest, the sound involuntary as your eyes beheld what was left of your wings. Nothing. You whimpered, and locked eyes with Phil, and before you could blink he was at your side, hold you as you screamed and thrashed into his body, bawling your eyes out. He whispered to you that it would be okay, that they’d be back, but you couldn’t listen, bile rising from the back of your throat at the thought of never being able to fly again.

Now that your body wasn’t running on pure fear you could feel every pulse through what was left of your back, the raw feeling of the bandage pressing harshly on you.

Having been woken up from the long night of bandaging you up by your screams, Bad finally managed to come in to give you a healing potion and, mercifully, a sleeping potion. Taking both gratefully, you quickly lie back against Phil, crying into his side as he tried his best to comfort you.

__

When Techno finally found your wings nearly a week later, the things he’d done to the thief were unspeakable. Needless to say, the thief was in now in pieces, and what was left of the man was buried alive. He’d been seeing red the entire time- he could hardly kill the man slow enough.

He was now gently wrapping your wings in the softest cloth he’s managed to find at the nearby village, taking extra care not to harm them. He fixed a sort of harness to himself so he could carry the wings on his back before heading back to you- or what he hoped would still be you.

__

Your thoughts were filled with poison. You’d been moving through the week without life, a mere husk of your former self. Hardly eating, and spending most of your time sitting on the roof of Bad’s house-clinic staring at the sky with a dead expression. You were no longer upset- you coudn’t feel much of anything past the pain and mourning of your wings.

You’d spent the next few day doing the same before you were woken in the night by a noise. Quickly scrambling up, you looked around your still-lit room, searching for the intruder. Your heartbeat quickened as you left the room, anxious to avoid anything that could even hint towards the night you’d lost your wings. Stepping into the kitchen-den area, you saw Phil and Bad both awake, speaking to-

Was that Techno? And what was in the massive bag he was holding so carefully? Clearing your throat, all of the men looked at you- and yes, it was Techno they were talking to, though at the sight of you, Techno quickly left with his bag, making sure the bag didn’t hit the walls or ceiling. Shifting your eyes back to Bad and Phil, you worked up the nerve to ask the question burning through your lungs. They told you that there was going to be an important discussion about what would happen after Techno returned.

“What now?” you rasped, voice thick from mourning and restless sleep.

It was silent except for the return of Techno into the room, as Phil sighed. Locking eyes with Techno and Bad, he seemed to steel himself before turning to face you fully.

“If it were possible, would you want your wings back?” he asked quietly, and my heart froze. To have my wings back? To have what was missing from you returned? You choked back a sob- steadying yourself on the counter next to you, barely keeping from collapsing onto the floor. Suddenly the pieces fell into place.

The bag held your wings. You gasped a sob out as the men looked at you. If. If they could re-attach them. You faintly nodded, feeling yourself separate from the situation. You couldn’t dare hope for something like that.

Managing to reassert yourself you looked at them, helpless, and whimpered a pitiful, “Please,” before you could convince yourself otherwise. Techno moved closer to you, before abandoning his hard exterior in favor of comforting you.

__

Days later, your wings were reattached. A week after that you moved to newly built house near both Techno and Phil. Months passed and you were finally strong enough to relearn how to fly. A year passed, and you were nearly as healthy as you were before what had now been dubbed ‘the incident’.

____

should i bother with a part 2?

[the-witches-you-couldnt-burn]

When it all falls down

Hi guys! The next chapter is here! I just wanted to say I don’t really have a update schedule so it will most likely be updated every few days. I’ve pre-written most of this fic (or at least planned it) so as long as I don’t lose motivation it will be completed!

Ao3

Story Masterlist

——————————

CHAPTER TWO: The call from the catacombs

Warnings: threats, mentions of kidnapping & death

“I don’t need guards surrounding me constantly, father. I may be of royal bloodline, but I am no weakling.”

He was the crown prince and a trained assassin, yet he was babied similar to when he first arrived at the manor. His family smothered him.

After the coup he was taken into his father’s protection, and although he was born of his mother’s sexual misdeeds, his father treated him the same as his brothers. The first of his father’s charges that he met was Timothy Drake. Drake took part in Wayne Trading and became a successful merchant (but the majority of Gotham’s coffee supply mysteriously disappeared overnight). Then Damian met the Wayne clan’s eldest ward Sir Grayson, he was a famous knight in not only Gotham but Blüdhaven too.

He bonded with them along with his new sisters; Lady Barbara from the Gordon House, Stephanie Brown, Helena Wayne (his toddler sister by blood, conceived from his father’s Union with Countess Kyle) and Cassandra Cain. He had met Cain prior due to her mother being Lady Shiva, a close associate to his mother and grandfather. The reunion between Bruce’s third male charge and the young prince was awkward to say the least. During Jason’s MIA period of his life, he was ‘taken-in’ (aka kidnapped) by the royals and took on a guardian role for Damian (who was only a toddler at the time). The two silently conversed and as the tension faded it lead to constant rough housing and insults being thrown.

He lived and learned from his family until he was nineteen. At nineteen he had an argument with his father about his family’s smothering nature. Lord Wayne agreed they were being a bit much and lessened the security presence that followed his only blood son. After which he was promptly kidnapped by his mother and forced into an arranged marriage, to which the Wayne clan wasn’t even invited to witness.

And now here he was, months later, married and without the ability to contact his found family. Here he was drinking fucking tea with his ‘chosen’ bride. Not much had changed between the him and the bluenette, they were just two strangers joined by a forced union. There were no loving touches, longing glances, consummation of marriage or any connection other than a bond between respected acquaintances.

They communed under the watchful eye of the palace servants. “Spies.” Damian hissed, seething under his breath. “They are nothing more than rats feasting on gossip.”

Marinette sat across from him, posture straight as a board. The couple were separated by the cotton tablecloth that was decorated with a vase of lilies and porcelain plates. A small feast fit for at least twelve sat before the two of them, all were delicacies from across the country and beyond the borders. Her pinky pointed outwards as she sipped the piping hot moli longzhu, a playful smirk danced across her features.

“Your mother has made sure that they have nothing else to eat other than hearsay.”

Although he had been tempered by his father’s teachings, a fire flared within him. If anyone heard her it surely would be reported back to his family; the aftermath wouldn’t be pretty. No this wasn’t him protecting her, he was protecting himself, if someone heard her and it spread another ‘incident’ could occur. No matter the outcome, it wouldn’t end well.

Marinette tilted her head, raising an eyebrow at him, delivering a silent plea for him to challenge. He huffed looking away, her words were treasonous but true.

“You shouldn’t talk like that if you’d like to keep your tongue.”

“Aw, I’m glad to see you are looking out for me.” She quipped back, hand against her chest, mocking him. Her smile was wide and her eyes crinkled as she laughed. ‘Either she was insane or stupidly brave’ he thought as he watched her, ‘what had mother gotten him in to?’

“I’m looking out for myself.” He stood up and brushed off dirt from his garb. “If you make a fool out of yourself, it reflects badly on the Kingdom and I. You said yourself, you wouldn’t burden me through the bonds of matrimony, so don’t make this harder then it already is.”

She sat there in shock silence. Her jest was nothing more then that, she never meant it to cause him harm. She didn’t mean to burden him. She eyed him as he walked down the path. She sat in the pagoda, alone. ‘He was right’ she thought, ‘I need to be careful with my words. Not only for my safety but for my people also. I don’t want my actions to cause them harm.’

Later, when she finally saw fit to reenter the castle, she wandered the desolate hallways. League Castle held few materialistic decorations that didn’t serve a functional purpose. So paintings were no where insight. The only form of artwork she knew of was a sculpture of the late King, his majesty Ra al Ghul.

She looked down at the sculpture from a second story window. It lived in the confines of the royal gardens, atop a grand fountain display. She remembered hearing of the coup when she was just a child. ‘The King was killed and the prince was exiled’ but Lady Talia still ruled and the prince is back from his supposed banishment. It didn’t make sense. And for that matter why was a ten year old exiled in the first place?

Her arm was yanked, spinning her around to face the she-demon herself. The Mistress’ nails threatened to break her skin, they were sharpened and resembled animal claws. The woman’s dark eyes made Marinette uncomfortable, ‘she seems to be on the verge of being unhinged.’

“Come.” It wasn’t like Marinette had a choice, Talia dragged her down the hallways. She stumbled every so often as she tried to keep up with the woman’s strides.

The two came upon a dead end. The bluenette looked forward confused, and before she could even question it, the bricks separated revealing a dingy staircase that descended into darkness. Turning towards her captor, she saw her grab a nearby torch that lit the hall, a brick slowly slid back into place. They followed the spiraling decline until they reach the bottom, the air down here was moist and musty.

The fire only lit a few feet in front of them. They had gone from walls made of polished marble brick to decaying wood and cracked stone. The flooring creaked underneath their steps, the torn carpet was worn by those only travelling one path. She held her breath trying to avoid breathing in the damp air, mould growing at the corners of the walls. Realising she hadn’t said anything until now, the shock of Damian’s words and her abduction by his mother had kept her silent. “Lady Talia? Wher—“

“Hush child.” The venom dripping from her tone was the opposite of one used to shush a toddler, Talia’s hand covered Marinette’s mouth, silencing any objections; the heat of the nearing flame caused her to flinch. “You must learn your place.”

‘Did she know!? Did she hear me?’ Her silent scream reverberated through her mind. The seed of dread in the pit of her stomach grew vines that restricted her limbs causing her to stumble. Her heart clenched, it now felt made of lead and weight heavily within her chest. It’s beating was similar to a drum. But still the dragging continued.

They happened upon a room. Said room looked to be an older, more dilapidated version of the castle’s throne room. There were torn tapestries and fractured tables, it was like the souls of the ancient couldn’t escape this place fast enough. It’s whole atmosphere was eerie. “This castle was built from the ashes of the former empire.”

Marinette suppressed a gasp, she was right. Everything and everyone had told her she was wrong, she saw the shaking of their heads and heard them debunking her theories. The king was alive and the prince was never exiled.

The king was alive.

Taglist:

@thesunniestdays @jayjayspixiepop @toodaloo-kangaroo

[lillotte17]

The Sword

Next part of the SPOP AU!! It didn’t end where I wanted it to, but this got real big REAL quick, and this was a good place for a break. 

Uthvir, Tasallir, and Venavisimi belong to @feynites

Elana belongs to @lycheejellytea

~

More than ten years pass, and in that time the Horde grows, and Aili grows, and yet somehow the war keeps dragging on. No matter how hard their soldiers push the rebels back, the Princesses keep finding ways to stir up trouble. Harassing their outposts, destroying supply lines, and instigating fights in territories already under the protection of Lord Dirthamen.

Disturbing the peace.

But not for much longer.

Aili is a senior cadet, and her team is an exemplary unit. Her squad is fast and efficient, and once they graduate and start getting real assignments, they are going to turn the tide. Monstrous amounts of magical firepower against them or no, they are going to wipe those Princesses off of Etheria once and for all.

And at last, the world will be safe.

For now, though, it is just another day of fighting drills.  

She pulls her hair back into its customary ponytail as she trots out of the locker room and down the hall to the simulator that her team has been assigned today. The rest of them are already geared up and in position. Elana is focused, fiddling with the specs on her training goggles. Venavisimi is eager, shifting on the balls of his feet. Tasallir looks…like he does not want to be here, which is typical. And, of course, her best friend is…

Aili groans internally.

"Pst," she whispers at Ana, "Have you seen Uthvir?"  

The redhead shrugs.

"They're your shadow, aren't they?" Vena snorts.

Aili runs a hand over her face in exasperation. Uthvir has dealt with a lot of trials and tribulations growing up in the Horde. Not least of which was trying to live down the moniker 'Applesauce', once they had realized that it was, in fact, a ridiculous name for a child. She gets that they feel a need to press boundaries now and again. Not in rebellion, precisely, but as a means to test the limits of how far they can reach in any particular direction before someone shoves them back in line. She gets it. Maybe better than anyone else.

But she still wishes they would try to show up to training on time.  

"Uthvir is missing again?" the drill sergeant frowns is disapproval, scribbling something down on the clipboard in their hands.

"They're just running a little behind," Aili assures them hastily, "They'll be here any second now, I'm sure of it."

The officer hums in disbelief, rolling their eyes.

"Alright cadets," they continue a moment later, "Today you'll be on a stealth mission through the treacherous Whispering Woods that surround the Rebel fortress Bright Moon. Keep your guard up! The terrain shifts at random intervals, and the Princesses will attack you without warning or mercy. Your mission is defeat the Queen, and liberate Bright Moon in Lord Dirthamen's name."

They turn to press a few buttons on the keypad behind them, sending the door to the simulator open with a hiss.

"Begin!"

The team moves into the room the same way the always do. Aili rushes ahead to take point. Vena and Ana slide into their usual positions behind her, each one covering a flank. Taz brings up the rear, a ranged fighter by both preference and necessity. A rare mage in the Horde. Typically, Uthvir is her right hand. Scouting ahead so that Aili can safely lead the others through their intended course.

But today it looks as though she is going to have to do without.

She grips the staff in her hands. Annoyed.

Still, things move along smoothly enough. They have all done this before. Her squad sticks to the relative safety provided by the cover of 'trees', keeping a sharp eye out for the bots designed to play the part of rebel insurgents. A bit of the scenery shifts, but nothing too drastic. Vena steps on a floor tile that blinks red and falls away, but Ana catches hold of his arm and yanks him back to safety. No harm done.

And then everything goes quiet.

Aili holds up a hand to halt the rest, sensing something shifting above them in the shadows. It does not seem like a bot. Or at least, not like any bot they have encountered before. She narrows her eyes at the fake metallic canopy, weighing her options. There is something oddly familiar about the way the thing following them moves. If she could just-

A laser blast fires behind her, followed by a loud shriek.

"Tasallir!" Vena exclaims, exasperation and worry mingling in his voice. "Why are you always the first one down?"

"It is hardly my fault we were just standing around waiting to get shot!" Tasallir protests, glaring down at the blinking red X on his chest plate.

"Oh yeah?" Venavisimi grins as Ana helps their comrade back to his feet, ever careful to only touch him where his skin is covered by armor, "And what was your excuse the last three times it happened?"

"I do not-" Taz begins before Aili cuts him off, her eyes still fixed on the trees.

"Guys! This is really not the time for-"

The laser fires again, and Aili barely manages to raise her shield in time to block it. The others turn to see a swarm of spider-like bots descending from the branches, each one projecting the twisted snarl of a feral princess. There is a general outcry of dismay.

"Run!" Aili shouts, leading them further into the room and away from the barrage of gunfire.

Ana turns and tosses a grenade at their pursuers. Vena manages to get a grappling hook around the leg of one bot and tug it down out of the trees at Aili's feet. Their de facto leader promptly jams the end of her staff into its core processor before kicking the wreckage to one side.

"We're almost there!" Ana pants out.

Sure enough, a clearing opens up a few moments later and a huge robot descends from the ceiling, the cackling face of the wicked Queen of Bright Moon leering down at them.

"Don’t let her pin you down!" Aili commands, leaping into the bot's direct line of sight in order to distract it from her squadmates. As instructed, the other two fan out, doing their best to flank it. However, the bots from the fake forest burst into the clearing behind them shortly afterwards, drawing Ana and Vena away.

Aili grits her teeth. Right. Up to her, then.

She targets the bot's numerous spindly legs, ever the weak point on this model, and continues to dance just beyond where its turret lasers can fire on her. Several of the tiles beneath her feet begin blinking a warning that they are about to fall away. Darting past them, she quickly uses her staff to vault up on top of the robot's head.

With all her strength, Aili kicks the turret closest to her, snapping it off from the rest of the bot's body and sending to crashing to the floor below. Then she turns and jams her staff into the groove where the head pivots from, prying away armor and wiring as she goes. The robot falters. Sways. Makes a few sputtering beeps as though it might be in its death throes.

And then a spear comes flying out of nowhere and hits the robot dead-on in its optic's unit.

There is an angry crackle, followed closely by an explosion that tosses Aili halfway back towards the trees, yelling and cursing all the way.

She hits the ground hard as the bot crumples in on itself. A dozen of the tiles on the floor beneath it begin flashing red. Gasping and sore, Aili scrabbles away from them on her hands and knees as they begin to fall away, taking the 'Queen of Bright Moon' with them. Her hand tightens one her staff.

The bot might be down, but she still has some butt to kick.

"Uthvir!" Aili growls in irritation as a figure in red jumps lightly down from the simulated canopy, "You dirty cheat! That was a cheap trick and you know it!"

The dirty cheat in question saunters over to her with a smirk that speaks of anything but contrition.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Aili demands, struggling to get back to her feet.

Uthvir merely grins wider, revealing a mouth full of very sharp teeth, and points at the tile she is standing on.

Aili looks down just in time to see the lighting flashing beneath her feet right before it vanishes. She turns her staff at the last second, propping it against the edges of the pit to catch herself, but it is a near thing. She curses under her breath.

Uthvir laughs. Delighted. Coming to the edge of the hole she has fallen into and peering down at her with an expression of unabashed amusement.

"Aw, look at you hanging down there like a little bat," they snicker, leaning over the edge and looming over her. "Hey Aili."

"Hey yourself," she grunts. "And just how long were you lurking in the shadows while we did all the real work?"

"The entire time, naturally," they smirk, inspecting the sharp points of their nails. Nonchalant.

"Hmph. Typical." Aili frowns.

"Always such a sore loser," Uthvir tuts, still smirking unrepentantly.

"I didn't lose," Aili insists loudly, "You cheated. You waited until I had it on its knees, and then you stole the kill shot!"

"The ends justify the means," Uthvir shrugs, "Isn't that what they're always teaching us? It doesn't matter how I got the shot, only that I did."

"It was supposed to be a team effort, Uthvir," Aili rolls her eyes.

"And you all played your part as my distraction marvelously," they commend with a chuckle, extending a hand to pull her up, "Now come on and get out of there. You look absolutely ridiculous hanging down in that hole trying to scold me."

Aili snorts.

"Ass."

~

Back in the locker room, Aili puts away her gear and wipes away traces of sweat with a damp towel. Uthvir tosses her jacket at her face, and she catches it with one hand. Still frowning at them in disapproval.

"How long are you going to sulk?" Uthvir wonders smilingly, walking over and playfully poking at her cheek. "If it is any consolation, I was prepared to step in and assist you all, if the situation had called for it."

"Oh yeah?" Aili says, folding her arms across her chest, "You mean like when Taz got shot?"

"Tasallir is always getting shot," they reply with a dismissive wave of their hand.

"You can't just throw people away like that!" Aili insists.

"It was just another dumb training exercise," Uthvir says with a roll of their eyes, their amusement draining away at her tone, "Besides, some people are expendable. Others are not. That's just how the world works."

Aili sighs.

"You're right," she concedes, "I shouldn't get so worked up about a drill. I know you wouldn't abandon us in a real fight."

She lightly shoves them in the shoulder.

 "Don't start quoting things the Commander says, though," she sticks her tongue out in mock disgust, "It's creepy."

"Maybe I want to be creepy," Uthvir grins.

She laughs, and they join her.

"Well, Creeper, the shot you landed on that bot was awesome," Aili beams at them, "Your aim just keeps getting better all the time."

Their chest puffs up a bit. Clearly pleased by the praise, but not quite willing to admit it.

"Well, of course it is," they say with a proud tilt of their chin, "Someone around here has to carry this team."

"Psh, good luck carrying us when you're hiding in the treetops," Aili snorts, throwing an arm around their shoulders and mussing their hair a bit, "Besides, we both know that in a fair fight, I'd totally beat you."

"Perhaps," Uthvir hums, their expression verging on mischievous as they lightly push her away, "But if that were true, it would hardly be an incentive for me to fight fairly, would it?"

Aili takes note of the gleam in their eye and preemptively begins backing away from them.

"No," she tells them firmly, "No, no, no. Uthvir, don't you dare-"

But it is too late, they have already surged forward, grabbing her about the middle and tossing her over one shoulder like a bag of flour. Aili squeals in protest. Uthvir laughs, running the length of the locker room with their prize as she attempts to wriggle her way to freedom.

"Argh, when are you going to stop doing this to me?!" Aili complains, reaching down and pinching their waist. Uthvir jerks slightly, but only tightens their hold on her. They start another loop around the locker room benches.

"Maybe I will stop toting you places when you stop being so absurdly small," they snicker.

"You're only two inches taller than I am!" Aili reminds them hotly.

"Two whole inches!" Uthvir agrees happily.  

"Aili," a soft cool voice calls from the door.

Uthvir immediately drops her on the floor and goes rigid.

"Ow!" Aili grouses. Then she sees the person who has come through the door and leaps to her feet, right hand automatically rising in a crisp salute. "Commander Ghinan'nain!"

"You are a senior cadet now," Ghilan'nain reminds her, gliding further into the room, "You did well today. I heard you completed your course in record time. But you should curb your penchant for indulging Uthvir's childish antics."

"Thank you, Commander," Aili replies with a nervous grin, face flushing with pride, "But you know, I can't take all the credit. My team worked really hard, and Uthvir landed the kill shot on the Queen!"

"Oh yes," Ghilan'nain drawls narrowing her eyes at them, "Believe me, I was informed of the way they neglected to arrive on time for their training session and then proceeded to disrupt your team's entire battle plan in some misguided attempt to earn themselves some shred of glory. Pathetic."

"That was not my intention," Uthvir insists in a low voice, eyes on the ground, "I was just thinking that maybe if we implemented a different strategy, we could-"

"Silence!" Ghilan'nain hisses, the dark coil of her magic curling around Uthvir's wrist and twisting painfully, "You were doing what you are always doing- impeding Aili's progress! I have been generous up until now, but do not be so foolish as to think that my patience with your floundering is without limits."  

They wince as the magic tightens further and they begin to lose the feeling in their fingers, but they know better than to cry out.

"…I apologize, Commander Ghilan'nain," Uthvir says, bowing their head, "It will not happen again."

"See that it does not, little thing."

The magic recedes and they stumble a half step away.

"Aili, walk with me," the Commander beckons, turning to head back out the door.

Aili looks uncertainly between her mentor and her friend for a moment. Uthvir shrugs. Despondent. She reaches out and takes hold of their uninjured hand, squeezing briefly in apology and commiseration before trotting out the door after their commanding officer.

"You wanted to speak with me, Commander?" Aili asks once she has managed to catch up.

"Lord Dirthamen has been watching you," Ghilan'nain informs her with an air of cool pleasure as she continues down the hallway, "He sees what I have always seen; that you are an exceptional cadet with great promise. A perfect candidate for Force Captain."

"Force Captain?" Aili gasps in surprise and delight.

"That's right," Ghilan'nain replies, golden eyes crinkling in what might even be a smile, contorting the odd star-shapes of her pupils in a most unpleasant way, "He has decided to grant you the honor of leading the attack on the Rebel fortress of Haven."

"You mean…my team is finally going to see real action?" Aili presses eagerly, grinning from ear to ear. "That's so great! I know they're all going to be so excited. Just you wait, Commander, you won't regret giving us this chance to-"

"Aili," the Commander cuts off her chattering, "The chance is for you. Not your team."

"But…I have been training with them my entire life," Aili frowns, caught off guard by the revelation, "With all due respect, Commander, how can I be expected to lead a squadron full of soldiers I barely know?"

"You will adapt," the Commander shrugs, "Your team is not ready. Hardly a training session goes by where Tasallir is not incapacitated in some fashion. Elana and Venavisimi are loyal, but sloppy. And Uthvir… Well, their litany of deficiencies are hardly worth listing."

"I know Uthvir could do well in the field," Aili assures her, "They just want a chance to prove themselves. I think it's just that they're just so smart, and they get bored doing the same drills all the time, so…"

"If they were really so clever, they would have worked harder and proven that they were capable of following orders," Ghilan'nain says dismissively.  

"But…" Aili frowns.

"Is this promotion not what you have always wanted?" Ghilan'nain asks, reaching out and carefully brushing a few stray curls back from Aili's face. "Have you not been striving to reach these heights for as long as you can remember?"

"Yes," Aili admits with a long exhale of breath.

"You have earned this, my child, " the Commander coos, pulling a badge with the symbol of the Horde on it from one of the many pockets in her robe and holding it out for her to take, "Do not allow Uthvir, or anyone else, to stand in the way of reaching your full potential. If you hold on to a sinking ship, it will pull you down to the depths with it. Do you want to drown?"

For a moment, Aili wavers. Her face blanches slightly with uncertainty. But then she glances out of a nearby window, taking in the twisting maze of smoke and hulking buildings of the Fright Zone. Her home.

Her expression hardens with resolve.

"No," she says, taking the badge in her hand and gripping it tightly, "I will not drown. I'm going to become a force captain, and help Lord Dirthamen save Etheria."

"Good girl," Ghilan'nain nods in approval, "I knew you were special from the moment I took you in as a baby. I knew you would be the one to rise up through the ranks. I knew you would make me proud."

Aili smiles, still a little unsure, but some of her earlier excitement beginning to bleed back through.

"Report to force captain orientation tomorrow morning to be briefed on the details of your mission," Ghilan'nain orders, starting off down the hall again. Heading back in the direction of her labs. "And do not disappoint me."

Aili salutes her retreating form.

"Yes, ma'am!"

~

A half an hour or so later, Uthvir finds her out on one of the numerous balconies. One of their favorite haunts. She is leaning out over the railing and into the wind, blonde curls blowing gently about her face. Pensive and silent.

"So…what did the Commander want to see you for?" they wonder.

Aili starts a little, but turns to flash a grin at them, looking a bit sheepish.

"Well, it's kind of crazy but-"

"Is that a force captain's badge?" Uthvir cuts her off, plucking the item in question off of her jacket and holding it up to the light. Their eyebrows shoot up towards their hairline. "Did you get promoted?"

The guilt on Aili's face seems to increase.

"Well, yeah. I guess…but-"

"This is so great!" they exclaim, taking her by the shoulders, "We are finally going to leave the Fright Zone! See the world! Beat the shit out of all those Rebel Assholes!"

Aili hangs her head a bit, not meeting their eyes.

"Commander Ghilan'nain says…I'm the only one moving up," she confesses.

"What?" Uthvir balks.

"She told me that the rest of you still need more training," Aili says, her expression apologetic.

"More training?" Uthvir scoffs, "I could train for a hundred years, and she would still insist I was not good enough. My time was just as good as yours today, and I even got the kill shot. But it just wasn't enough. …It will never be enough for her. She hates me."

"She's…hard on all of us," Aili tries, reaching out and putting a hand on their shoulder, "She wants us all to be the best that we can be. She just expects a lot from you because-"

"She wants me to be you," they snap, swatting her hand away, "She does not want me to be my best, she wants me to be your best! Little miss perfect!"

Without another word, they turn on their heel and beat a hasty retreat, carving a long sweep of claw marks across the walls in their wake.  

"Uthvir!" Aili calls after them, "Come on, you know that's not fair!"

There is no answer. She wraps her arms around herself and sighs. She knew they would take this badly, but she had not expected them to lash out like that.

The Commander has always singled them out for punishment and criticism. Aili knows that they deserve more credit than they get. They might not be suited for a command position, but they are certainly a capable fighter. It is no wonder they got so frustrated.

They always expected that they would get their first assignment together. They always do everything together. Ever since they were little.

Aili is just as disappointed by the prospect as Uthvir is, but…

She cannot give up this chance.

She will impress Lord Dirthamen and Commander Ghilan'nain. She will earn the right to ask to use her own squad on future missions. And then she and Uthvir can fight together again. Run the Horde. Save the world.

Just like they always dreamed.

But for now, the best she can do is try to think of a way to ease the sting of unavoidable separation and upset.

She smiles to herself as an idea strikes her, turning and heading out to one of the garages.

~

This time, it is Aili who comes looking for Uthvir. Climbing up to one of the highest perches in the Fright Zone, were the city sprawls out below in every direction. The sickly red and yellow lights from the buildings blink through the ever-present haze of smog like fireflies.

Not that either of them have ever seen a firefly.

Still. It is about as scenic a view as one is likely to find in the Horde. And hard to get to besides.

It has always been one of Uthvir's favorite hiding places.

Aili looks at them for a moment. Sitting out on a ledge with their bare feet swinging in the open air. Curled in on themselves. Miserable.

Not so different from how they looked when she first met them.

"Hey," Aili calls out to them softly, "Mind if I join you?"

"I suppose there is not much I could do to stop you," they reply, still sounding bitter, "After all, you are my superior officer."

"Look," she begins, walking over to sit beside them, "I agree with you. It sucks that I'm the only one who got a promotion. I wanted to move up with all of you. Really. But…this is what I've been working for my whole life. I can't just turn it down. I understand why you're upset, but…I was hoping you could try to be happy for me, too?"

Uthvir glances over at her, brows furrowed. Considering.

Then they sigh.

"Fine," they grumble, shoving the badge they stole earlier back at her, "It is not as though I was really gunning for promotion, anyway. I don't care about that stuff. It would just be nice to get out of this miserable dump for once in my life."

"And you will!" Aili exclaims, "This is a setback for our plan, but it's not too bad. I'll just have to move up by myself for a little while, and once I've earned some clout, I'll request you on my team specifically. Then it'll be you and me against the world, just like we always planned."  

She leans over and playfully nudges her shoulder against theirs.

"Think you can live with that?" She smiles.

"Well. I guess it's not the worst idea you've ever had," Uthvir smirks, still not looking completely happy.

"Oh, I can come up with a much worse idea than that," Aili laughs, holding up the keys to a skiff, "See?"

Uthvir blinks.

"Are you crazy?" they wonder, "You want to bust out of here after they just made you an officer?"

"Oh, come on," Aili shrugs, "One little joyride is hardly a reason to demote me. Besides, we'll only get in trouble if we get caught."

Uthvir snorts.

"Okay," they agree, "But I get to drive."

~

Uthvir is a terrible driver.

It isn't even that they are particularly bad at handling the skiff. Aili almost thinks she could deal with that. They are just moving unbearably slow.

"Come on!" Aili complains, "Open up the throttle on this thing or we're not even going to make it half a mile outside the Fright Zone before daybreak."

"I will go faster once there is nothing around for us to hit," they promise.

"There's nothing around us right now!" Aili points out, gesturing to the badlands surrounding them, "There's just sand and rocks! And more sand! It's not a joyride if you're not having any fun!"

"I am having plenty of fun!" Uthvir retorts sourly.

"Yeah, well, if I'm getting demoted for this, I'm going to at least take this thing faster than five miles an hour," she declares, snatching the steering rudder away from them and pressing down on the accelerator.

Aili screams in delight as the skiff speeds off across the deserted landscape.

Uthvir screams for a very different reason.

"What are you doing?" they demand, trying to grab the rudder back from her.

"I'm living my best life!" Aili replies with a manic sort of giddiness, still struggling to keep control of the skiff to herself.

"You are going to get us both killed!" Uthvir hisses, finally wrenching the helm back from her.

"Uh…Uthvir?" Aili says, sounding suddenly nervous.

"What now?" they snap.

"TREES!" Aili shouts, ducking down to avoid getting hit full in the face with a branch.

Uthvir curses, just managing to turn the skiff in time to keep it from running headlong into what seems to be an enormous forest.

"What is this place?" they wonder aloud.

"It must be the Whispering Woods," Aili gasps, sounding just the slightest bit afraid, "No Horde Patrol that has gone in there has ever come back out again…"

"The what now?" Uthvir frowns.

"Oh, come on, Uthvir," Aili hisses out in exasperation, "This is why you shouldn't skip out on the orientation before the drills. We just had a review on this place this morning."

"Well, who knows what all they make up for those stupid things," they retort defensively, "All those Princess names sound way too dumb to be real. Sparkle Palace and La-la Land. Right."

"Dumb name or not, we should probably stay out of this place," Aili says.

Uthvir shoots her a grin.

"I thought you wanted to have fun?" they ask, grabbing hold of the controls again and steering the skiff into the trees.

"And I thought you wanted to stay alive!" Aili shrieks back at them, trying to wrestle the steering rod back under her control.

The skiff veers wildly back and forth through the trees as the two of them squabble and try to get the other to yield their hold on the driving mechanism.

It is, perhaps, less than surprising when the skiff makes a sharp turn to avoid one especially large tree trunk, and Aili catches a vine across her throat that tugs her violently from the relative safety of their vehicle and sends her plunging down into the dark shadows of the foliage below with a terrified scream.

"Aili!" Uthvir yells back to her in a panic, still trying to get control of the skiff as it rushes through the woods haphazardly.

She does not know how much time has passed when she opens her eyes again on the forest floor, but the soreness in her limbs and a egg-sized lump on her head would suggest that she likely hit several objects on her way down.  

She groans as she sits up, spitting out a few leaves. There is no sign of Uthvir, and the trees all look more or less the same to her eyes. She can barely see the light from the moons down here, let alone use them to figure out which direction she should start walking in.

Well. This is not good.

There is another light, though. A blue-white brightness shining through the leaves up ahead.

Aili moves quietly towards it. It does not seem to be making any noise, so the light is most likely not emanating from some huge magic beast or something, but this is still enemy territory. For all she knows, it could be one of those murderous princesses.

Further investigation reveals no rebels or monsters, however. The light leads to a small clearing. For a moment, its radiance is almost to blinding to endure. But then it subsides, and Aili sees the object that must have been emitting the light.

A sword.

A broadsword by the looks of it. An intricate golden handle with a strangely wide crystalline blade. A single gemstone at the base of the hilt the same bright blue as Uthvir's right eye. It is stuck in deep into the ground and overgrown with vines.

"Cool," Aili grins, already thinking about the numerous ways she is going to rub it in Uthvir's face that their stupid prank nearly killed her AND got her an awesome weapon that she has no intention of sharing.

Well. Maybe. If they ask really nicely.

She reaches out a hand to pull the sword from the vegetation that has encased it.

And the world goes white around her.

[funkymeihem-fiction]

He Don’t Mean It- Chapter 9

The top of the sun had barely just started to crest over the horizon by the time she got there. Out of breath, with her lungs burning and her head pounding, she hurried over the cracked pavement and under buzzing and crackling overhead lights, into the run down old bus station. Like most bus stations, it was an ancient and outdated affair, with a dreary cement building attached to an outdoor terminal. Hoverbuses had been a dwindling business for decades after flight had been made so common and affordable, and now only the poorest of the poor were reduced to ground-based travel over such long distances.

At least that meant that even her frumpy and battered appearance wasn’t anything noteworthy in this place. Suffice to say it was a ‘rough’ crowd, even compared to what she was used to back at Overwatch…She was pretty sure she wasn’t the only one with blood on her, either. Despite the early morning hour, the bus station was already fairly crowded with people, although which were travelers and which were simply living at the station was impossible to tell. She had to hop over the outstretched legs of an old omnic that was down on his luck and surrounded by empty bottles, with two cardboard signs (one in English and one in Binary) asking for money and blessings.

Technically, she wasn’t supposed to intrude into the outdoor area without buying a ticket, but it looked like nobody was heeding the rules about sleeping on the steps either, so she paid them no mind. Pushing through the crowd as politely as she was able, she bypassed the columns and chains and made a beeline for the actual buses. Nobody, not even the two security officers sharing donuts and coffee in a corner, paid her any notice at all.

She saw no sign of anyone standing head and shoulders over anyone else with a fluffy head of blond hair, and there was no familiar click-clack of a metal peg leg. Nothing but the rumbling of the old bus engines, the hush of conversation from the patrons, and the occasional tinny announcements over the loudspeakers. Lifting onto her tiptoes, she desperately tried to find any trace of Junkrat.

Nothing.

“Excuse me! Sir, sir?” She hurried over to a nearby porter, who was loading luggage onto a cargo cart and merely fixed her with a dispassionate stare as she approached. She tried to smile anyway. “Sorry to bother you, but is there a bus leaving soon?”

“There’s a lot of buses leaving soon. Morning schedule’s are over there.”

“No, I’m sorry. What’s the very first bus to leave?”

“You looking for the 2-94 for 6:15? Already missed it.”

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. “I-it’s gone?”

The man shrugged and pointed. “Just about.”

She turned to look in that direction, and saw that just beyond his pointing finger, the glowing red tail lights of one of the hoverbuses was already moving away from her. Down the line, it was starting to pull out into the station’s drive, out towards the main roads.

Her heart leapt up again, but this time all the way up into her throat. Before she even knew what was happening, she was moving again. Physically pushing past the porter and not hearing his yelled protests, she staggered into an all-out run once more, even faster and more desperate than before. Pain exploded in her jostled brain and she barely felt it, eyes on those glowing taillights and how they were getting further away.

“Jamison!” she screamed after it. “Jamie! JAMIE, COME BACK!”

People were definitely looking at her now, at the small woman running at breakneck speed along the very edge of the sidewalk, pushing through the parting crowds, shoving her way through a gathering line, and leaping over an errant suitcase. She remained fixated on those lights, and luckily it slowed down as it neared the exit to the station. Even with her vision blurring a bit on the edges and her lungs hurting from her speed burst, she managed to start to catch up to it. She tried to glance up at the windows, maybe to see if there was a familiar face looking back at her, but there was no time, not when she had to stop the whole darn thing.

Pounding a fist on the side of the bus as she ran, she stumbled alongside the moving vehicle until she came to the door. Swinging up next to it, she banged fretfully on the glass, red-faced and wild-eyed.

“Wait! Stop the bus! Please stop!”

Through the foggy panes, she saw the unimpressed glare of the woman driving the bus. Whoever she was, she did not seem impressed by Mei’s antics whatsoever. She didn’t even react, just gave her a roll of the eyes and ignored her just as she had ignored the hundreds of others who had been late for the bus over the years. Pulling up to pause just before she turned out into the roaring traffic nearby, the driver cast another glance to the door to make sure the crazy Asian lady was gone.

Which she seemed to be, so she pulled the bus forward and started to hit the accelerator…

The whole bus jolted strangely a moment later, when her foot leapt from the accelerator to the brakes, the force of the stop sending the back half of the bus slightly up into the air. If it had still had tires, they surely would have been screeching to a halt.

Mei stood in front of the vehicle’s path in the road, both arms spread, with her hair in her face, her glasses hanging crooked on her ears, and her head turned to the side as if expecting to be struck. She cringed and clenched both eyes shut, afraid to even look. The bus’s brakes roared just in front of her, the grill hovering barely a foot away. From further down the station and inside the bus itself, there was faint shouting.

But it had stopped.

She peeked open one eye slowly, shoulders slumping a bit in clear relief. The shouting back at the station was growing louder now, and around the corner of the bus’s grills she could see the security guards headed in her direction. The relief in her was short lived, but she stood her ground, lifting her arms once more as she blocked the only way out.

“Wait! Please just stop, I can explain-!”

Curious faces were starting to press to the windows inside the vehicle, along with hushed muttering and grumbling and even a bit of laughter at their predicament. Near the very back, a tall and lanky figure dressed in a ragged gray hoodie looked up from where he had been slumped in his seat, one arm wrapped protectively around his single bag. Opening a pair of vivid yellow eyes, he growled and stumbled upright, peg leg clacking on the slatted metal floors as he pushed up to the front.

“Hey! Why aren’t we movin’ this hunk of junk already!”

The bus driver snorted irritably. “Crazy lady jumped in the road.”

“Bloody hell, then just run ‘em over, let’s get going! Come on, come on!”

“Law don’t permit it. Security’ll get her.”

“Fockin’ hell, who’s stupid enough to-” Scowling, he joined the driver up by the very front window, peering out and watching the blue uniform of the guard who rushed past, to the little Chinese woman in the stained pajamas who was…”-hold up…the….Wait a tick, is that-?…Oh, fuck me! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!”

The driver shrugged and opened the doors, and Junkrat shoved his pack onto his back and skipped the steps altogether, leaping past them and onto the pavement with a clatter of mechanical parts. Pivoting on his peg leg like a ballerina, he turned and saw that the man in the blue security uniform had already set upon her. Mei was cringing back, crying something aloud that he couldn’t hear through the ringing, as the guard put his filthy hands on both her arms and started trying to drag her with him. Rage flooded through him, gasoline in his veins as flames lit up behind his eyesockets and he lunged after them.

Both hands curled into claws as they landed upon the officer and all but ripped him off her, physically lifting the man into the air and throwing him further into the road. The security man rounded on them both again…and found himself faced with nearly seven feet of enraged Australian junker, stretching up to his full height and his eyes glowing wildly in the shadow of his hoodie as he put himself between them.

“Yeah, nah! Try it! Fuckin’ try it! I’ll bloody go ya, mate!”

The guard opted out and backed down and sidled away back towards safety, both hands lifted. Junkrat turned on Mei next, wrapped both lanky arms around her, and lifted her as well, hauling her in wild steps out of the path of the bus and depositing her back on the sidewalk. Just behind him, with barely inches to spare and so close that he could almost feel the metal sides of the vehicle shaving his back, the bus driver hit the pedal and peeled out out onto the main road. Clearly, she paid no mind to the human drama playing out before her, but such was the case with most bus drivers, anywhere he had known.

He stood there for a moment, watching his escape grow further away, then slowly looked down to where he was nearly suffocating Mei in his embrace, her face pressed against his hoodie and his arms still locked around her in a near-death grip. Releasing her just enough that she could scrape in a breath, he grabbed onto her shoulders instead, leaning down to her much shorter height. “Mei! What the shit? What the shit?”

She was trembling wildly and didn’t answer him. With a low and frustrated growl, he stood and promptly buried her face back into his hoodie and wrapped her back up in both arms as he loomed over her, sending a vicious glare in the direction of the security guards that were gathering further up the line. Eyes darting, his metal fingers pressed covetously to the back of her head, stroking her bloody hair and daring anyone to get any closer. Still, he questioned her. “Really though, darl, what the shit was that? How’d ya even?”

Her voice was muffled against his ribs. “I found you. I remembered one of your stories.”

“Eh?”

She looked up at him, one eye peeking above her crooked glasses. “You told me a story one time about how you escaped the police by letting yourself be seen heading towards an airport so they would be busy setting up a sting operation there…but you said that you doubled back and took a bus to a different inland airport and got away.”

“I did?”

She nodded up at him.

“…Ya remembered that? Ya listened to me?”

“Of course I listened to you. I mean…Not everything, sometimes you talk a lot. But I listen to a lot of it. I remember a lot of your stories-”

She found her head being pressed back against him, his arms tightening in another overzealous embrace as he clutched onto her, rocked back and forth in his grasp. He looked strangely conflicted, teeth gritting and still glaring daggers at the wary security guards and the little crowd nearby. “Ya gave me a bloody coronary, there. Damned fool thing, that. Jumpin’ in front of a bus. And they say I’m the mad one?”

“I had to stop you! Nobody was listening to me so I just…I didn’t know what else to do. I just had to stop the bus and get you.”

Slowly, his arms disentangled from around her, and he let her drop back to the ground where he had been holding her on the tips of her toes. Lifting himself away from her, he ignored the way she tried to keep her hold on him, wrapped around his skinny waist. With a snort, he even went to push her away a bit. “Well!…Waste of time for both of us then, wasn’t it? You’re safe now, so you can fuck off back to your little pals in Overwatch. And me? I’ve scarpered, I’ve fucked off too. Everyone’s happy. Now piss off!”

That one stung a bit, but she had just narrowly missed being hit by a bus to get to him, and she wasn’t about to let go now. Even when he was physically trying to pry her off. “No!”

“The fuck is all this? You tell me to go away, I go away. Now you’re here throwing yourself at cars to catch me?…Wait a sec.” His eyes narrowed. “They sent you to hold me up for a bit, eh? Cavalry’s right behind you, going to take me down while I’m unawares? I’m onto you lot, now! Gettoff!”

“No! Nobody’s here to catch you except me. And the others are just worried about you, we all are.”

“Pull the other one, it’s got bells on!”

“…What?”

He groaned dramatically, throwing his head back. “Nothing! Bloody hell, woman, I did the last n’ final thing you ask me to do. I left. Now you’re gonna be mad at me for that too?”

“I didn’t want you to leave!” she protested, “I just…I wanted you to leave me alone for a bit! That’s all. After what happened. I was mad, and scared, and sad, and hurt, and…and I still am. But I never wanted you to leave. That’s part of the reason I was so mad at you first, was because you were going to leave with Mr. Roadhog-”

Junkrat snarled above her. “Fuck Roadhog! Yeah, ya heard right. Fuck him. I give up everything, everything, even gave up my girl and my own teeth, to keep his fat arse safe from them reprogramming his brain, and what’s he do? He goes and seduces your big Russian pal the second I turn my back! Fuckin’ thankless, that is.”

Mei scowled at him right back. “Do you even understand why I’m mad at you, Jamison?! You just admitted that you let me get hurt and you’re willing to leave me after you promised you wouldn’t! You didn’t even tell me about him doing this! After everything we went through together?”

“That’s not fair! It’s not like th-”

“You just said it, five seconds ago! You gave up everything for Mr. Roadhog to…” She blinked. “Wait, him and Zarya? Really?”

“Right? I mean, who woulda thunk it? I walked right in on ‘em all cuddly kissy-like.”

“Nooo…Are you sure?”

“I’m positive! That’s my point. You can’t fuckin’ trust anyone these days, not even your own best mate who beats the shite out of you, or your girl who’s gonna give you up to the authorities…” He narrowed his eyes down at her in an accusatory way that she did not like at all.

“You know who the ‘authorities’ are, Jamison?” she snapped, “It’s Ana. She came knocking on my door because she was worried about you. She’s with Roadhog and Zarya now to make sure they’re not hurt. She wants to make sure you’re not hurt either.”

He did falter a bit at that, bushy eyebrows slacking from their angry furrowing. “Yeah, well…Bit late for that, ain’t it? Now nan’s a good sort, but she’s real no-nonsense. Oil n’ water, that’s me and Overwatch. Should’ve known this whole ‘going legit’ thing was going to end just as bad as all the other times.”

She couldn’t help herself. “Well, maybe if you’d stop sabotaging yourself it could actually work! Maybe if you actually let me help fix it!”

The crowd that was still lingering nearby seemed confused. What was supposed to be a heartfelt reunion between two apparent lovers was dissolving into another fight, right before their very eyes. A few murmurs swept through them. Even the security guards looked quite taken aback at this dramatic turn of events.

Junkrat bared his teeth once more, though its fierce effect was slightly lessened by the gap on one side. He stretched upright and bristled with fury and somehow seemed even taller and bigger than before. “Oh! Ooooh there it is! There it bloody is! Just gonna fix me, is that it? Always the fixing!”

“That’s not what I said!”

“Well it’s what you meant, isn’t it? I told you, I know I’m mental, I know my kettle’s utterly boiled dry. Ya don’t always get me, I know. But you can’t just…I ain’t some headcase project for you to fix up, like then I’ll be right as rain, and then I’ll be what you want! But you think I keep messin’ it up, and you’re frustrated because I’m not where you think I should be! I know what’s behind all those little looks you give me when it goes bad. Wishin’ you could reprogram my brain, how I am. Tell me that’s wrong, Mei! Look right at me and say it’s not truth!” He fixed her with his wild stare, pupils tiny specks of black against blazing yellow, waiting for her to speak.

Mei looked back at him, setting her jaw stubbornly. Her face twitched a bit, mouth opening a few times as if she was trying to put her thoughts in order. To explain to him how he was wrong, how that wasn’t it at all. How she wasn’t frustrated that they kept getting into trouble, because he wasn’t doing what he should have, and she wasn’t helping him right, and he was supposed to be doing…doing better, than this! Just getting her thoughts in order, to tell him he was wrong yet again.

But the words wouldn’t come.

“Yeah…Yeah, thought that was it.” There was something simmering under his voice, past the anger. Something just as sad and frustrated as she was, even if not for the same reasons.

“That’s not what I meant. If you’d just let me explain!”

“How about I shut the door on you while you’re trying to explain? Ain’t that what we’re doing nowadays?”

“That’s not fair-”

“Ain’t it?”

The two looked at each other. Anger and resentment still roiled inside her, and clearly in him. They’d been at odds before. From the very time they had met, they had clashed and butted heads and had been at odds like their two conflicting elements belied. He burned and consumed and destroyed, but rose to build new and different things from the ashes. She froze and fixed and preserved, but much of her efforts ended in mourning and atrophy. There were times when they complimented each other so well that one could no longer imagine being without the other, but then there were times when their differences seemed insurmountable.

She finally let go of him, tightening her fists by her sides and looking away. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go.”

“H’yeah, well, when is that the case for either of us? Nothing ever works out.” he said bitterly.

The crowd by the bus station very quietly dispersed off into different directions. Even the security officers kept well clear, leaving the two alone to their misery together.

Junkrat watched the crowd go, though his eyes darted down a moment later when he heard her sniffle loudly, wiping at her cheek with the back of her bruised hand. She was crying again, and it always hurt him to see her cry like that. He even groaned a little, rubbing uneasily at his bruised face. “Now, darl…I mean, Mei…”

“Can’t we just…Can’t we keep trying, though?” she asked quietly, rubbing more tears away and not looking at him. “I know we’re mad at each other. I’m sorry that I’m mad, but I am. I’m really mad at you. And I know you’re mad at me.”

“Nnngh…”

Another sniffle, even though he could tell she was trying to keep her voice even. “But I don’t want you to leave. I never wanted you to leave…me.”

His eyes rolled skyward, expression pained. Damn those tears of hers, they could wear down his defenses like nothing else in the world. “Then…There’s a bus comin’ up in a few minutes. You can come with. We can talk it over or whatever. You can come with me. We’ll head off, darl, you and me. Maybe back to Oz. Find us a place just for us! Out somewhere where nobody can ever bother us. Or uh…Maybe to China somewheres? Yeah, China’s real big! We can get a place there, too. Get us some chooks and grow beans or something? Maybe get some pigs, Roadie always had a thing for…I mean! No! Fuck Roadie, and the Russian, and everyone else! I don’t need any sort of pig around at all! We don’t need ‘em!”

This time, she just let him ramble on, and did not interrupt. So he kept going.

“I’m real good at buildin’, so I can build us a place. Or we can just take one! Finders keepers, eh? And then we’ll just live as we please, just the two of us, after we’ve made up. You an’ me! I mean, maybe we could invite Hana and Lucio around sometimes? Never did beat Hana at skeeball, but I’m near to it. And Lucio’s a good’un, almost too good. I guess maybe if Nan’s real concerned, she can pop in for tea on occasion. And the big German what yells all the time! Now he’s a great big example of something or other! Bet he’d make a great new bodyguard. I’ll hire him on, take lots of pictures of us together and then rub them in Roadie’s fat, stupid face!”

She rubbed at her arm with a little nod. “You’re really mad at Mr. Roadhog too, aren’t you? A lot?”

“Tuh, like that’s not obvious. He messed it all up. It was fine when it was just us. Could handle those times when he didn’t know what was what or who I was. I know he don’t mean it. But he…” He trailed off, looking conflicted again. “He hurt ya real bad, Mei.”

“He hurt you too.”

“Yeah, well. All the more reason for us to just fuck off, then.”

Which was true enough. Every couple of months, he had to scramble for his life, away from the man who was supposed to protect his life. He’d gotten good at it, keeping low and out of sight, and even he knew to be quiet when Roadhog was on the warpath. He’d gotten used to it, even. Really, what was one more source of bruises or broken bones to someone like him? But hurting Mei…? Unthinkable. Possibly unforgivable.

His mind was already whirring with alternatives. This time, it wouldn’t technically be abducting Mei if she just went with him. They could go on the lam together, a sort of Bonnie and Clyde vibe…just without robbing banks or breaking the law, and always wearing seatbelts and looking both ways when they crossed the street. They could flip the bird to the rest of the world and to Overwatch, except for his friends and the ones he liked, of course. And then they would…Well, he wasn’t entirely sure what they would do. And with the sad look, she was still giving him, his plans were dying before they could even be fully imagined, rotting on the vine.

“But…you won’t fuck off, will you? Not with me?”

“…I can’t. I can’t just leave everyone, or my work, or everything here. And I don’t want to leave you. No matter how mad I am. I don’t want you to go. Nobody wants you to go. Before I left, Ana and Mr. Roadhog and even Zarya said they hoped I could get here in time to bring you back.” She tilted her head up at him, cheeks still wet and glasses a little smeared with moisture. “I’m not the only one who would miss you.”

“Heh. Roadhog, missin’ me? That’s a good one, mate. He sure wasn’t missin’ me with his fists, was he?”

“I’m…not really happy with him either, at the moment. It’s like you said. He didn’t know where he was, or what was happening. And he didn’t mean it, I don’t think. But that’s not something you deal with by just letting it happen, or by trying to hide it. Ana and the others can help him better than we can, Jamie,” she said. Very, very cautiously, she reached up towards him again with one hand, half expecting it to be slapped away or for him to jerk back. And for half a moment, he looked like he might do just that. But then his brows relaxed when the tips of her fingers touched his cheek, sliding them across the bruised and swollen skin by his black eye. “I’m not saying you should just forgive him, like you’ve been doing. But just leaving him behind won’t help him either. We don’t leave each other behind, remember?”

His brows knitted again, but he leaned down into her touch. “Ya shut me out, love. I was tryin’ to explain to you. I was. But the words didn’t come out right and you just kept saying I wouldn’t understand, I wasn’t understanding. D’ya know how shit that is, when I’m tryin’? Shutting the door in my face and yelling for me to go away, then yelling at me for going away?”

She sighed. “I’m sorry for that. I was scared and hurt and frustrated and…Everything was a mess. It’s all a big complicated mess. Maybe we shouldn’t talk everything over just standing here at the bus stop? I think we might be in trouble with the guards already. We can go home and start working through things there, though? Will you come back with me? ….Please?”

Mei reached for him again, tentatively and clearly still wary. Her hand slid from his cheek, down his frumpy hoodie and down to his ribs. Joined by her other arm, she tried to hug him. It was always a slightly comical sight, her being so much shorter than him and left trying to embrace his beanpole frame when she couldn’t even reach his shoulders. And at first, it simply didn’t work. He didn’t embrace her back for a time, and she was left clutching uselessly onto his looming form. Her heart fairly shriveled inside her chest, and she started to draw back and apologize.

But then he bent his long and lanky spine, and his arms opened and hesitantly circled around her. That serpent-like grasp coiled around her, drawing her in and wrapping her up. She was lifted up to the tops of her toes, and she felt his fingers splay out across her back, metal and flesh pressing her in against him. For a moment it seemed like he wanted to kiss her, moving his bruised face to the side until his lips touched her hair. But he did not move any further from there, and she did not move to meet his lips.

So they just held onto one another, until she was warmed up and he had cooled down. And finally, with a shuddering sigh, he released her. His hoodie had rumpled and gone astray, and his hood had fallen off so that his wild blond tufts of hair were sticking out all over. And he was still as messy and spattered with blood as she was. To the outsiders watching, they probably looked utterly deranged. And maybe, in a sense, they were, if they both seemed willing to try again.

But that was one thing they had in common, no matter how they disagreed. They kept going and they tried again.

“Yeah…Arright, Snowflake. Arright. Only for you, though!”

“Thank you. I mean it.”

Junkrat ran his tongue around the gap of his missing tooth, hesitating. “…Am I in trouble, d’you think?”

“Maybe a little bit. But just for keeping it a secret. But this isn’t like military Overwatch. They’re not going to kick you out, they’re going to try and help you out. Because you’re one of us,” she nodded up at him, “They’ll want to see you in the med ward first, to help with the swelling and put your tooth back in. I’ll be in for this nasty thing on the side of my head. And…all four of us are going to get a scolding from Ana, so be ready for that.”

He groaned aloud. “Oh hell, she’s going to do that thing where she sighs and folds her arms and gives you the look.”

“Pharah survived it. Maybe we will too? So…Will you come with me? Can we go home, please?”

With a groan, he shouldered his pack and cast one last look around the decrepit bus station. “What if I just lived here from now on?”

“I think it might be too gross here even for you,” she said with a little faint smile, with one last sniffle and a wipe at her eyes, pulling off her glasses and wiping them on the edge of her sweatshirt. “I’m a little scared of whatever that smell was, on the front steps?”

“Gotta be honest, darl, I’m not smelling much right now asides a kinda copper blood odeur and what I really hope is lemon?”

Her smile shifted into a frown of concern, taking his hand and tugging him towards the exit. “Okay, we’re taking you to the med bay right away. Come on.”

Looking down at where she was pulling at him, he let his mechanical fingers tighten around her much smaller ones, as the much tinier woman started to lead him away. As they neared the exit, the security guard he had roughed up earlier shot him a dirty look. With a crooked, swollen sneer, Junkrat launched out one arm, swinging at him. The errant guard cringed away, then blinked when he realized that he had not been struck and he was now missing the donut he had been holding. The massive junker was now loping away from him, munching on the sticky iced treat while his tiny traffic-jumping companion seemed none the wiser.

Grumbling and turning back to his coffee, he decided to let it go. There had already been more than enough drama with those two for today.

[rosalinesrevolt]

When Rose had left her father, she’d had no idea that it would be the last time they’d meet. The young princess had laid her head down on her pillow that evening with his words regarding young Alex -- keep him safe -- heavy on her mind. She was awoken a few short hours in the midst of the night by the macabre, tolling sounds of funeral bells. After Rosaline had hastily dressed and gone to her door to see her father and meet with the council, she found that the door would not budge. When she demanded that the men standing guard outside release her from her rooms promptly, she was met with a gruff response: “you are not to leave your rooms for any cause, Your Grace. By order of the Queen.”

No amount of demanding had caused the men to relent in their orders -- nor were they moved by her screaming reminders of her own station, and her newly-inherited status. (I am the Queen! She had shouted at one point, her fists falling upon the doors, not her! Let me see him! Let me see my father’s body now! Call the council! I am Queen!”) At some point, some combination of exhaustion, mourning, fury and humiliation had claimed her; and she’d slipped into a fitful sleep. 

The following day, Rosaline had awoken hoping that even despite the rawness of her throat and her tear-swelled features, all that had transpired in the previous evening had been nothing more than an awful nightmare. That wish had been swiftly ruined when she’d risen to leave for her father’s rooms, and had been met with that same refusal to allow her out. Over the course of hours -- filled with more protests upon deaf ears -- the door was opened twice to allow a maid to shuffle inside carting a tray: first with breakfast, and then with lunch. Whether the woman was on the side of Cecily and the others or was merely too scared to speak, Rosaline did not know -- but regardless, the woman said nothing and left not a moment after the tray was placed down for her. 

When the sun had begun to set, the door opened once again -- but rather than a woman hoisting a dinner plate, Rosaline was greeted with the familiar face of Lord Baxter Acton, a councilman and longtime family friend. 

“We haven’t much time,” he began hastily, crossing the room to greet her. “I’ve paid away the men who were standing guard, but they’re due for a shift soon.” Clutching onto her hands, Baxter regarded Rosaline remorsefully and spoke: “your father is dead.” 

“Yes,” Rosaline replied, her throat feeling tight, “I’ve drawn as much. What has Cecily done to have gained such a right over where I go? Has she suspended the council?”

Drawing a hand over his face, Baxter shook his head. “In the hour of your father’s death, she sat young Alexander upon the throne and proclaimed him King. She has named herself Queen Regnant until he comes of age.” 

Rosaline stepped back from Baxter, her gaze incredulous as she processed his words. How could Cecily have disobeyed her father’s words so thoroughly? How could she have done this without some pushback? “...Surely the council...surely they would not have allowed such a thing to pass, my lord. Split as they may be on my birthright, I still have half their support, do I not?”

Clearing his throat, Baxter looked away. Rosaline understood his meaning. Meekly, she asked: “do I have any support?”

“Yes,” Baxter clarified, his tone firm. “Yes, of course. The people love you, Rosaline. And there are noblemen who support your claim as well -- only...they are not the right people. Listen to me,” he continued, “ -- I am going to return here tonight, in five hours’ time. Gather what you will, but it cannot be much. I have a few dozen swords I can amass. We will leave tonight, and go to our western borders. There, we can travel to your uncle’s land.”

“My uncle?” Rosaline questioned, her brows furrowing at the thought. She’d not seen the man in several years -- not since he’d traveled to attend on the funeral service of her mother. He had been kind, she recalled, but it had been years. “Will he fight for me? Truly?”

“Word has surely not reached him yet, but when he hears of how his sister’s child was disposed of, he will no doubt be angered. With his force, you will have your crown back.” 

Turning his head towards the door, Baxter looked frantically between the wood and Rosaline, before gripping her hands once more. “Be ready.”

When five hours passed, Lord Baxter did not come. When ten hours passed, he’d not come still. And the next morning, when the door opened once more, it was not Lord Baxter as she’d hoped -- but instead it was that same silent maid, carrying the same tray of breakfast. Two days slipped away into this madness: hours spent waiting for Baxter, and interruptions by a mute woman who brought her food. On the second day she was permitted her handmaidens, who rushed into the room with teary-eyes to whisper of what they’d learned at court. None knew of Baxter, but they commented that he’d not been seen at court. Things shifted on the third day, when a trusted maid by the name of Elsie appeared and whispered: Lord Acton has been arrested on charges of treason. With that grain of gossip, Rosaline understood why he’d not returned. 

When the doors opened on the fifth day and a trio of guards presumed to enter, a pit of anxiety formed in the Princess’ -- no, Queen’s -- stomach. The lead man regarding her dully and spoke: “Princess Rosaline, by order of the Queen Cecily, you are to follow us.” 

Drawing herself to her full height -- a meager gesture, though it was all she had -- Rosaline responded in her most authoritative tone: “I am the Queen. And I refuse to go anywhere without first being given more information. Where are we going? And where is Cecily?” Raising her chin, she added: “I demand to speak with her presently.” 

The guardsman was silent for a moment, and then spoke with a sigh: “Your Grace, we would prefer to escort you without force. But should you refuse to accompany us, we have been advised to take the necessary means. Think of what people would say, if they were to witness you being dragged from your rooms.” 

Once more, she was reduced to helplessness. 

Wordless, Rosaline had accompanied the men -- and along the walk, she quickly ascertained the location she was being taken to: one of their towers, utilized for the holding of political prisoners and others who could not for propriety’s sake be kept amongst common criminals. Even as her body filled with the desire to run, Rosaline kept calm -- eyes were everywhere, and she could feel them. She broke down only once, when they’d entered the gates of the tower and she’d seen the hangman’s nooses in the far yard -- and Lord Baxter Acton, stiff with death and swinging gently in the wind. 

Her move to the tower had signaled to Rosaline that her time was spinning at an end -- perhaps Cecily was looking for a way to implicate her in some crime, and send her to the gallows as easily as she’d sent Lord Acton. Methodically, she’d removed every ounce of jewelry from her body and placed it into the hands of Elsie -- not imprisoned with her, but permitted still to attend on her -- and ordered her to barter with whomever she could to garner allies. 

We need to leave, she’d whispered, we need to go west, to my uncle. 

Twice per day -- once at dawn and once at dusk -- Rosaline was granted respite from her room so that she could take air in the yard below. It was during one of these times that she knew she would have to make her escape -- only, she was unsure of how she would do it without arousing suspicion. 

This worry was ultimately lifted from her mind when Elsie appeared just before dusk four days into her imprisonment in the tower, wearing a serene smile as she implored Rosaline: “change clothes with me.” 

With the jewelry that Rosaline had given to her, Elsie had managed to satiate the greed of the guards who minded her during her evening walk -- they would turn the other cheek that evening, and be none the wiser as to whether or not it was a simple handmaid departing, or someone else. Shrouded in the girl’s clothes, Rosaline would be afforded greater security. 

“But what of you?” Rosaline had asked, “if you stay here, you know what fate will await you. They could kill you.”

“The country needs you,” Elsie had replied, even as she’d undressed to her shift and tossed Rosaline her dress, “this is the only way. Please.” 

Unwilling though she was to surrender the life of her friend, Rosaline agreed -- they had no other plan readily available, and their time was dangerously low. With orders of departing from the tower to a nearby stable where she would be greeted with further allies, the two women embraced before leaving. As they went about the walk -- in an attempt of displaying normalcy -- Rosaline could feel her heart hammering in her chest. When they’d finished, she’d watched as Elsie, with a hood drawn low over her face, was escorted back up the stairs by a guard. Unaware of what time she might still have, Rosaline moved quickly to the location. She dared not run, even despite her urge to do so.

When she came upon the stable, Rosaline opened the door softly and stepped inside, closing it behind her. She found that it was dark -- the horses hardly stirred upon her intrusion. Swallowing hard, she lowered her hood from her face.

“Hello?”