#dying light fanfiction

[dlthedescent]

TWENTY-FIVE: A HERO'S RETURN

The ride was quiet—tranquil, even—but uncanny.

Crane stood at the bow, watching the scenery drift by. After everything he'd seen—the horrors and deaths—the peace almost startled him. How long had it been since he heard birds chirping and insects humming?

Far too long.

Caroline's boat slipped from the channel into a riverbed untouched by the undead. Against his hardened skin beat the morning sun above and the cool breeze from the water below.

But Crane knew better than to let his guard down. The peace wouldn't last. Above them, the Strait's highway stretched over with its looming shadow. Somewhere up there, he spotted movement—slow, staggering shapes—and faint, incomprehensible groans carried on the wind.

Stragglers huddled in the shade, and deeper within nearby tunnels, the Volatiles waited for night.

"Here we are," Jack's voice broke the silence, and Crane followed her gaze. "Harran."

The edge of Harran, though.

Further down the canal, low-rise buildings crept over the tree line. The urban architecture looked no different from Scanderoon: pillars of smoke rising into the golden horizon, the dreary atmosphere, and the haunting wails in the distance.

It hit Crane like a slap to the face, returning to where it all began. Not in the same light as coming back 'home' but heading to Harran's Borderway from a very long road trip.

And his fears about the state of Harran were neither unfounded nor proven. He wasn't close to the Tower, the Slums, or Old Town—miles away from anyone familiar. The only relief was that, somehow, the city hadn't been nuked off the map.

Now he stood at the threshold. The truth was waiting ahead. The same, suffocating questions buzzed loudly inside his skull.

"The Outskirts aren't too far from here either," Jack pointed from the helm, shining her warm grin. "...We could take a detour."

Did he show his anxiety again without realizing it? Once more, she offered baffling options to him when Jack made it her goal to go to Harran.

"Your call, mate."

Crane hesitated, only realizing himself. Nearly standing from his seat, his neck stretched out like a bird's as he stared at the approaching skyline. He exhaled and propped himself down.

"...Stay the course."

Again, Crane was grounded. Again, Jack didn't pry on his anxiety and relief. And again, he did not attempt to deflect his behavior. She gave him space and waited—as she said, she had all the time in the world.

At his own pace. Yeah, right. He could barely organize his thoughts when it came to Harran.

The joking offer, however… helped lighten the weight on his chest. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea, either…

But Kyle Crane couldn't keep running forever.

The boat trip had stretched for hours, winding through channels, with the Strait guiding them. The advantage of having a boat was blissful: no trudging through roads or tunnels filled with nests.

If only he had managed to get his hands on one in the past. Of course, Harran's infrastructure had never allowed for such vehicles.

When they would reach land, the Border would be an entirely new territory for Crane.

"Bzzt-zt! You reached Harran yet, Jack?"

Miles from Scanderoon, the comms crackled with a voice they wouldn't hear again for a while. They'd already said their goodbyes before leaving the Junction, but the young runner's presence felt like a breath of fresh air in the heavy atmosphere.

"Just made it to the Border," Jack replied.

"Is it as bad as Scanderoon?" Siv asked.

"Can't say for certain until we dock."

One deep sigh escaped the comms. Dodging the question wasn't what Siv wanted to hear, but she'd been down that road before. So Siv never pushed further, for the best.

She likely shared the same kind of worries as Crane did. A local from Harran, worried about her mother, friends, and family.

How small his world had become since awakening as a sentient zombie. Then it stretched further, bit by bit. First from meeting Jack. Then from a kid named Siv.

"If you've got something on your mind, now's the time to spill it," Jack urged, pulling back on the throttle and slowing the boat to a crawl. "Reception's horrible out here."

"Geez. Thanks for putting my mind at ease."

"I don't sugarcoat things, Princess. This might be the last time you hear from us."

"Yeah… You found Peri. Do…do you think you can find my mom?"

Omph, what a way to put the Retrieval specialist on the spot—Crane could see it in her body language, despite Jack's attempt to hide it.

It was a tall order; after four months, was it even possible to find anyone still alive?

But Jack didn't know quits

"I can try."

"...'But it might not be what I want'."

Siv was smart; keeping her hopes low had become the norm.

"Give me the details," Jack pressed. "If she's out there, I'll find her for you."

A deep sigh came from the other end. "She's a nurse. Aaliyah. Worked at Harran City Hospital."

"Got it."

"And Jack? Freakazoid?"

Crane recoiled in surprise. He never thought the young Runner would call him—yes, with that nickname but he wouldn't hold that on her. Regardless, it was a sign that she was warming to him, despite their past hiccups.

"Good luc-zzzt!"

And that was it—the last call with civilization. A final wish of good luck they'd hear.

It was nothing new to Jack—dropped signals had become routine since leaving the Outskirts. Holding a conversation for more than five minutes felt like a rare miracle these days.

And just like that, silence crept back as she steered the boat down the narrow concrete river.

"So," Freakazoid broke the quiet and counted each name with his talons. "We got Umit, that girl's mother, and your cousin."

Then gave a narrowed stare at Jack.

"You don't find this overkill?"

"I thought you liked playing the hero." A low blow. She heard his muffled grumble beneath the scarf. "I'm still on the clock, mate. Bad for business if a Retrieval Specialist doesn't do their job."

"Yeah," Freakazoid didn't buy anything she said one bit. "Mind explaining to me more about your job?"

"What's there to explain? Find the mark and bring it back to the client," Jack dodged the question.

"That's oversimplifying it and you know it."

She shrugged. "Yes, well, professionalism's overrated. There's been times I've gone off the books before. I even have my eye on one particular mark."

She pulled a crumpled photo out of her sling bag she'd lifted during a forced interrogation with the GRE's boss. It was a priceless little gift: the face of Kyle Crane.

Freakazoid raised a hairless eyebrow—a fourth, really? "Someone I need to know?"

"Personal." Instead of showing him, Jack slid the photo back into her bag. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Huh. Must've gotten under your skin."

"You could say that." Her smile softened for a moment, then vanished as she spotted something in the distance.

"What?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she twirled the boat sharply, letting it drift until it lined up with a checkpoint at the end of the canal.

"I was afraid of this."

Crane followed her gaze to the culprit: a large metal gate stood their way. The standard to control water flow, but most importantly, to prevent a virus from spreading through the waterways.

There was no easy way past for a boat. Everywhere he looked, as far as the eye could see, were high concrete banks.

The only option would be to abandon the boat and climb out of the canal. And Crane had absolute confidence the brunette wouldn't be too keen to leave Caroline a second time. And then there were the quarantine walls.

"Is there another way in?" he asked.

Jack shook her head. "It's either through there or we cut through the Countryside."

Crane stiffened. His head whipped toward her, wide-eyed, horror written across his face.

"That'll take a day or two. No telling how safe that route is…" Jack explained, unaware of his sudden demeanor.

The Countryside.

The place where everything had begun for Kyle Crane.

Story continues on at these links: FFN and AO3.

[zeroth-writes]

One Person -Juan Rainer-

masterlist | request

Pairing: Juan Rainer / Fem!Reader

Summary: As they sit in the fish eye, Lawan tells Aiden a little story of how the big bad playboy Juan turned into a softie, for only one person.

Word Count: 496

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry if this is all over the place, i wrote half of this MONTHS ago and just finally started to get back into writing.

"You wanna know why he's stuck by her"?

Lawan pointed the neck of her beer bottle toward the couple at the bar before taking a short swig of the luke warm liquid. Aiden raised his eyebrows before chuckling. His gaze followed to couple before studying them.

The man was turned sideways, but when at back view he could still tell it was Juan. The jacket alone was a dead giveaway but you add in the hair and way to expensive bottle of old time liquor.

The women however, as her back was facing him had zero incline as to who she is.

"I know I'm still new the area, but even I know what he's after." Lawan shared the laugh. "Fair point, but she's different."

The sniper finished off her beverage before turning fully towards the bar, motioning the pilgrim to do the same.

"See how she's not even looking towards Juan as he talks to her? She's completely ignoring him, yet the guy's still wasting his breath on her. Which is weird for a guy like him. Normally he'd move on to someone else, try again another night."

The pilgrim took a few moments to look at the pair. Not once did Juan look around, even as a pretty girl passed right by him, his eyes never leave the women in front of him.

"So what makes her so special" The female chuckled at his question.

"She doesn't want him." Aiden's eyes narrowed before Lawan continued. "From the moment he first tried flirting with her, She wanted nothing to do with him. Didn't even make an excused - and i was there when she shut him down. If you ask him he'd say that she's just 'playing hard to get. She'll come around' "

The pilgrim's attention is fully towards the sniper as she talks. His face churning with each word the falls past her lips.

"That still doesn't answer my question." Lawan scoffed "Because you didn't let me finish. Juan is used to getting whatever he wants. Women, clothes, cigars, paintings, men. Except her. Sure this has happened a few times, someone isn't interested in him and he moves to someone else."

Lawan's finger moves to pair at each member of the pairing before returning towards the table "This has been going on for months now. And the reason he hasn't given up. He loves her."

Aiden nearly spills his full bottle of beer. " I didn't think he was capable of loving another human." Though is was just a mutter, the insult hit Lawan's ears, causing the women to bout out a laugh.

They turned they attention back to Juan and his 'partner' only to see her getting up to leave and Juan staring slack jawed.

Aiden was about to make a smartass comment, but before his lips could part, Juan had slapped a stack of cash on the counter before jogging after her while yelling something.

"Maybe one day prince charming with get the princess"

[malimangle]

Pilgrim Aiden + Sentient Volatile Crane

AKA: I have a VERY long and convoluted explanation for how Kyle Crane could be a father-figure to Aiden that I shared with my two buddies, and I am now deeply entrenched in + committed to the bit. So I made father-son content, naturally. It’s mostly senseless gjfkdg

For this story, imagine that we open with Crane’s backstory. His perspective—this whole deal traces his life from Harran and upwards, his various fights and how terribly lonely he is as he travels through the slowly deteriorating world, searching half-heartedly for some half-baked cure for what he’s been reduced to. Like every other man on earth, buddy.

All the while, yes, he’s a Volatile that goes into a fit of what can only be described as insistent monkey brain at nighttime, but he’s still a man, dammit. He craves human connection, and as he always has, he wants to protect + help people. Unfortunately, he can only achieve the latter half. It’s a half-rate substitute for the foremost desire, but that doesn’t change that it’s better than nothing. 

As we go over his backstory, we view as he tries―and fails― to save a settlement. They didn’t listen to his warning about approaching Volatiles, and as a consequence, they get slaughtered, with many dying entirely and a solid third becoming infected. The lot of the survivors become Virals. He sorta leaves them alone after that, counseling the Virals as they, over time, begin to lose their human minds to the virus (there’s some INTERESTING world building where human facilities don’t fully shut down til at least a couple weeks into the virus, and Crane gets to talk people through the transition and watch them OFFICIALLY die.) 

Well. Some days later a kid comes LITERALLY falling into the settlement, provoking all 21 Virals, and Crane has to put them all down prematurely as they wail at him to just kill them so they don’t hurt this kid.

Aiden initially tries to run from Crane and actually gives him a run for his money, but Jesus, this kid can’t be older than 14, so when Aiden finally thinks he’s lost this ‘weird infected motherfucker’, that’s when Crane springs at him, lifts him by the scruff of his shirt, and--immediately uses his weird telepathy to essentially strip Aiden the fuck down for being completely fucking unattended in the wastes at ‘his age’ and demand that he goes back to his Settlement IMMEDIATELY.

(” Listen, kid--stop screaming, dammit, I get it, I know--LISTEN. Jesus Christ. I know I’m some monster to you but the real problem is the reason why your sorry ass is out here ALONE! What the hell are you doing, kid!?”

“...What the fuck are you????”)

Just imagine Aiden hanging there, mid-air, goggling at this fucking Volatile-adjacent man who is standing in broad daylight and chastising him after chasing him several hundred meters.

“I don’t know what fucking girl you were sweet on here, but I guarantee she’s dead now, and I guarantee that going to have a fucking booty call with her in this day and age is NOT worth your goddamn death. Go HOME.”

Eventually Aiden scrambles together some brain cells thru the shock and he ends up squawking, the picture of baffled indignance, “What the hell are you--I don’t fucking BELONG ANYWHERE, let GO of me, asshole!”

Yeah. Crane initially finds that very hard to believe, but eventually as their conversation continues, he’s forced to accept that, no, Aiden’s fucking serious. He sorta…bluescreens over it. What the hell, he thinks. This 13 year old kid only comes up to my fucking elbow, and he’s out here alone??? Trying to ‘find his sister??’ You must be joking. No way in hell am I leaving this little guy to his own devices.

So, obviously, Crane wants to take Aiden to a settlement to settle in and not be in the wastes anymore, because he knows trying to find anyone in this day and age is a Fool’s Errand, especially someone you haven’t seen in a solid decade. 

He feels a bit bad about it, but mostly has zero qualms about telling Aiden so, to which Aiden is like “fuck you no” but either way, Crane eventually “succeeds” in cajoling Aiden into talking to a Settlement. Problem is--Crane didn’t actually succeed. Aiden KNOWS this Settlement is Hostile to Pilgrims. Crane didn’t accept Aiden’s claim that they’d be mean to him because he’s not REALLY a pilgrim (yes he is—Crane doesn’t believe it! The fucking nerve!) and like…”wHoS gOiNg To Be CrUeL tO a KiD, AiDeN??”

Yeah, I’m sure we can guess Aiden’s plan, here. Crane, however, is blissfully unaware of the can of bullshit Aiden’s about to open. This is not going to be softened at all by the fact that, during the travel to the settlement, Aiden and Crane kinda become grudging pals (grudging in that Aiden is softening to Crane over time and VERY angry about it, and Crane is endlessly exasperated by Aiden’s teenagism but also unwillingly(!!) amused by it.)

Soon enough, we’ve got our day of Reckoning. They reach the bigger Settlement. As we and Aiden both expect, they are immediately hostile to Aiden when he reveals he’s a pilgrim—and our poor, previously unaware Crane, in turn, immediately realizes Aiden wasn’t being dramatic, actually, and tries very hard to get Aiden to get the hell out of there and come back over to him without revealing himself to the settlers, because showing himself would cause a panic. Guess who isn’t aware of that because he’s a dumb thirteen year old and the novelty of Crane wore off, like, a week ago? Ding ding ding. It’s Aiden. 

Yeah, so, with rising hysteria Crane is trying to get Aiden to bail. Alas, the teenager in Aiden is coming out HARD and, wanting to REALLY prove his point to Crane, who has NOT been listening to his judgment at ALL, Aiden is very showy about calling out to the settlement guards and basically begs for a crossbow bolt between the eyes while Crane literally screams at him mentally. 

Right, so. Consequences, here we come. Aiden is so busy being a jerkoff thirteen year old that he’s completely blindsided when one of the Settlers does, indeed ACTUALLY shoot Aiden, right in the front of the shoulder.

A stunned silence. The Settlers look amongst each other, wide-eyed and quiet, but then--as one--almost immediately they decide to commit to the bit. Ohhhh FUCK.

Crane doesn’t even hesitate once that group-decision becomes clear— with some unholy shriek, he leaps into action, and not only swipes the guards off the wall, but flings himself off the wall and seizes Aiden by the middle, loping both of them off into the distance while Aiden screams and shouts for multiple reasons, kicking his dumb little feet. 

They have an argument as Crane runs from the Infected he’s accidentally sent into a frenzy between his sudden energy and the smell of Aiden’s blood, and Crane doubles down—he’s like, kid, some people are just assholes, not everyone is like that and no one’ll turn away a KID--especially not one who’s bleeding profusely from the shoulder, now, Jesus Christ, we got to sit down and take care of that soon--and Aiden tells him once more, this time with incredulous insistence, that no, he hadn’t been kidding before and wasn’t kidding now, EVERY fucking settlement this way is hostile as hell to Pilgrims, and after the scene HE made, they were probably going to be on the lookout!

Crane doesn’t want to believe it, but now that truth is starting to actually dawn on him, and he’s just not ready for it. Instead, they eventually lose the Chase and Crane props up Aiden on a car to help him clumsily patch up as best as he can with the materials he’s got on hand from previous finds in hospitals and clinics along the road.

Obviously, it’s a pretty hackneyed job―especially since Aiden botches the fuck out of pulling out the arrow and he can’t give himself stitches. Unnoticed, while Aiden thrashed in pain over the arrow removal, he scrapes the fuck out of his shoulders on the rusty ass car door and gets some minor abrasions—IMPORTANT LATER. 

Story marches on. Crane tries to prove Aiden wrong about people being jerks to teenage pilgrims, but it’s pretty obviously a doomed venture when they reach settlement after settlement, and one by one, all of them box Aiden out. Crane gets increasingly frustrated, which comes to a head when he comes raring out and YELLING at the guards who won’t take Aiden in despite his injuries after the twelfth turn-away, which results in a BIG conflict that ends with Crane breaking in, wrecking some shit, and carting Aiden away over his shoulder. 

Well, Crane’s meltdown is just the precursor to Aiden blowing up on him, because Crane has only JUST understood what Aiden’s been telling him the whole fucking time! Listen--Aiden’s not sure WHY Crane has been so obstinate about getting him into a settlement, but what he DOES know is that he’s in pain, he’s thirsty, his shoulder and head are killing him, he hasn’t eaten in days, and he’s VERY pissed at Crane. So. While Crane tries to find them a place to hole up for the night and check in on Aiden’s shoulder, they get INTO IT.

This is The Fight. Where Aiden hammers home his goals, and how Crane can’t change his mind. This is the broad strokes of how it goes—this is NOT the dialogue, but essentially what is said:

“It’s not my fault you think it’s stupid, and it’s not my fault you don’t have a Fucking goal.”

“You don't think I have a goal? What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time!? Fuck, kid—I’ve been traveling with you for over a month, you think I’ve just been doing that for the hell of it? I want you to be SAFE!” 

“and I’m TELLING you that I REFUSE to be safe until I see this through, and there’s JACK SHIT you can do about it! Either you’re with me, or against me, and there is zero fucking in between. So save yourself the trouble and just LEAVE already! I know you’ve been dying to get rid of me anyway! (stroke of abandonment issue—Crane trying to foist Aiden upon settlements has come across, to him, as an adult he grudgingly trusts trying to abandon him. He thinks Crane is eager to get rid of him)” 

“I’m not—what?! Aiden, I’m NOT fucking leaving you, you’re injured and I happen to give a shit about you! You think I want to up and fucking dump you somewhere, that I’d just leave you for dead like this?! Are you joking?! (Crane has misunderstood, a little, but he sounds so earnest here that it throws Aiden off)”

“Well—! If you really gave a shit the way I NEED you to, you’d know just how fucking important Mia is to me, and you wouldn’t tell me over and over again that my one goal in life, my one reason for LIVING, is STUPID. You’ve been nothing but an asshole about this the entire Fucking time and I’m sick of it!” 

“… (Crane, being the adult, realizes Aiden is right and accepts ownership of his relentless, though inadvertent assholery) …You’re right, kid. I HAVE been an asshole about this. But fuck, man, look around you. EVERYONE is dead. I have lost so many people, people that meant the world to me, and if that’s pain I can get you to avoid—especially when pursuing it might KILL YOU, I just…I wanted to try.” 

“And I want to know what happened.” 

“(Crane realizes getting Aiden to give up on this is going to take a lot more time than a single month, and uneasily settles into ‘agreeing’ to help him, because this is stupid but he cares enough about this punk ass kid to want to stick around.) Okay. Alright. Fine. Then I’ll help you find her. For real, this time.”

With that cleared, they finally chill the fuck out. Crane awkwardly leaves Aiden to mope it out while he goes and gets them dinner, because Aiden hasn’t eaten in awhile and he needs sustenance. He goes and manages to take down a couple rabbits, raids a nearby settlement for veggies bcus they pissed him off, and Crane goes back to Aiden to find the kid miserably dozing in the big master’s bed, smelling like he’s in pain. He clumsily makes a rabbit stew and brings it to Aiden, who says in a surly tone, “I’m not hungry.”

Initially Crane assumes Aiden’s doing that classic teenager thing and—since he’s still feeling like an asshole about earlier—he’s gentle with it. He’s like, “Aiden, listen, dude. I know you’re probably pissed off. I would be pissed, hell, I’d be fucking livid if I were you. But even if that’s true, in this day and age, it’s never a good idea to refuse hot food. You can glare daggers at me the whole time, but please just eat something.”

To which Aiden says, with appropriate shame and a much softer face, “Yeah, you got me, I’ve done that before, but I’m not being a hardass for funsies right now.” He sounds a little troubled as he admits, “I’m actually not hungry.”

“Aiden, you’ve barely eaten these last couple days. I want to believe you, kid, but you’re a teenager--there’s no way in hell you’re not hungry, unless somethings wrong.” The rising anxiousness in Crane’s tone prevents Aiden’s hackles from going up entirely, so he just snips, 

“Didn’t we just argue about you not fucking listening to me? I’m serious, I really don’t want to eat right now.” 

Crane’s heart hammers a bit, “…Do you think something might be wrong?”

“My head just hurts, and my stomach’s in knots, probably over the argument.” Crane feels a distinctly hard twinge of guilt. “I just don’t like fighting. This is  probably nothing special. I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Crane eventually cajoles Aiden into eating—he pushes the stew around and manages to get down like half of it, which just worries Crane more. He puts it up in the miraculously still-working fridge and goes to settle for the night. Well. Some hours later—when it’s 2am and Crane’s still in stupid-mode (remember: that’s how he is as a Sentient Volatile—he doesn’t get bloodlust. Stupid Insistent Monkey Brain because I can’t handle violent Crane), he’s woken by the sound of his kid hurling over the side of the bed. 

He lopes into the room in a hurry like “!!! What ! The fuck ! hurt?!” and Aiden tries to wave him off like “I just don’t think the rabbit sat well with me.” But he’s trembling, sweating, listing a little bit, and pale as fuck. Crane immediately feels his face—he’s sodden with sweat, and boiling. Oh fuck, he’s feverish. He goes to manhandle Aiden out of the blankets and curls his hand carefully around Aiden’s injured shoulder, avoiding the front—but when he grabs the back of Aiden’s shoulder, the kid nearly Fucking convulses. 

Oh fuck.

Remember that scrape he got on his back from the rusty car door when he pulled the arrow out of the front of the shoulder? 

Yeah. Turns out one of the scrapes was a proper cut, and it got infected with bacteria. Aiden missed it because he doesn’t have eyes back there and, yknow, the front of his shoulder was in such overwhelming pain, and Crane missed it because he was so fixated on the front too. But now there’s visible pus in it and even though Crane is still in stupid-mode, he’s still got the faculties to think to himself a very emphatic, “Fuck.”

He’s like “we need! Pills! Medicine!” and Aiden’s like “so long as it’s not penicillin it’s fine” and Cranes like “?!?!? WHAT.” to which Aiden explains that, for some godforsaken reason, he’s allergic as hell to the one (1) antibiotic that is still around in abundance—penicillin. Cranes like “where! The fuck!! Am I gonna find an antibiotic that’s NOT ! Penicillin! Fuck!”

They start with the first Crane finds—Doxycycline hyclate. It was manufactured in 2022 — it’s 2032. Unfortunately, they don’t really do shit. They went over the expiry for them, and though SOME might still be effective, ultimately they just barely make a dent in the infection. Things are starting to look dire, and the area is starting to clog up with migrating infected and bandits, so they gotta move. 

Crane ends up rigging together, basically, a baby carrier for his back to keep Aiden hoisted securely on him using bungee cords and other materials he raids from a hiking store in a Volatile Hive mall. By this point, Aiden is so feverish he can barely speak, much less travel. So he gets Aiden secured, grabs their shit, and in a last ditch effort makes it to a Very large hospital-turned-hive, and basically sets Aiden up in a room, secures it, and fucking destroys all of the Infected in there while staying in tune with Aiden’s struggling heartbeats and deteriorating mind. 

Eventually the hospital is secure, Crane reboots the UV lights to keep the nasties out, and rifles through what remains. Blessedly, he finds not only proper I.V needles and fluid, but ALSO Ciprofloxacin, which can last 142 months after expiry before it really is dangerous. It was made in June 2024– it’s February 2032. Only 92 months, well within the limit. 

He sets Aiden up with the IV, and with the antibiotics―which he very carefully coaxes the boy into swallowing. By the time Aiden takes these, he’s dangerously close to death’s door, and not altogether there. So at some point he wakes in a hospital room, with shit shoved in his arm, very disoriented, woozy, and hot.

So. Very understandably he loses his absolute fucking shit. Which gives me the opportunity for some VERY heart-wrenching whumpy bullshit wherein Crane gets to cradle a very-nearly wailing Aiden and calm him down from, essentially, a post-traumatic meltdown. Just like I wish my parents woulda done with me, hahaha. 

Jesus Christ.

Well. Anyway. Between the IV keeping him hydrated, the antibiotics finally working to fight the infection and compounding on the mild effect the previous ones had, and the comfortable bed, Aiden’s condition does rapidly improve. By the time two days go by, the fever finally diminishes enough for Aiden to be fully coherent. He’s still absolutely miserable, but at least he’s back with it, right? Mmn. It would be nice if he didn’t have to contend with Crane’s deep and almost frantic doting concern, which was exponentially worsened by his flip-out over simply being in a hospital bed. 

Eventually: “So you, uh…I didn’t want to bring it up too fast, but I don’t know if you remember―you had a pretty strong reaction to being in a hospital bed, buddy. What uh. What’s going on there?”

Aiden puts down his comic book and squeezes his eyes shut. Fuuuck. 

So they’re having this conversation. Awesome. Well. Crane just saved his absolute dick and ass, and went above and beyond to care for him. And like…the guy’s alright. He’s clearly in this for the long haul, so Aiden guesses he sorta owes the dude the full explanation. So he gets into it. Talking about the experiments Waltz was running on the GRE’s dime for some fucking reason, and all the awful shit he was put through. 

Crane is.

AGHAST. 

 ...I’m not even going to comment on,, all of THAT, because there’s jack shit I can say to--well. Y’know. Just, holy fuck. Holy fuck. But uh. Make no mistake kid―not your fault, I don’t judge you for that―I mean, look at me, how am I gonna judge someone?--and--and those people fucking suck. I hope you know you’re getting babied forever now though. Fuck, dude.”

“...”

“ᴺᵃᶦˡᵉᵈ ᶦᵗ”

“Ur not my fucking dad, Crane.”

“Yeah, I’m glad! I got a bone to pick with that dude.”

“Jesus. Whatever, look―is babying me going to involve that weird baby carrier thing you were doing the other day?”

“...Holy shit, you remember that?”

It does, indeed, entail the baby carrier thing, though admittedly it’s more for the hell of it. They both come to realize that Crane can travel a helluva lot faster than Aiden can, and if they can trade off on who’s leading, they can travel way farther and waste less time. So they develop a routine―during the day, Crane helps Aiden scavenge―goes where Aiden cannot―while Aiden works on gathering info on his sister and Waltz, does errands, and basically does life maintenance. 

By the time sunset rolls around, Aiden and Crane pack up, strap Aiden to his back, pad him a lil bit, and essentially just let Stupid Brain Crane jettison through the night and get his zoomies out with Aiden secured to him. Aiden comes to sleep exceptionally well whilst having the Fuck shook out of him, and only really sleep good when Crane’s there. 

Aiden pretends to hate the baby carrier--he tries real hard. Crane figures out pretty quick that he's full of shit. He lets it alone tho lol

Wintering is kinda cute―they make, essentially, a gigantic soft nest to appeal to Crane, and they essentially hibernate together. Just like that, Crane acquires the human connection he craves and like, a weird quirked-up whiteboy of a son. And Aiden gets an adult who protects him and loves him like their own, giving him a parent. So cute. Wow. Love it. 

So obviously this gets a little fucked up once they get to Villedor almost nine years later. Aiden’s 21 now, going on 22. 

Crane has to make a very tough call―he’s not…going into the city with Aiden. At first, Aiden’s really betrayed―he came this far, just to leave him behind here? What the fuck? Crane quickly explains that he’d love to stay with Aiden, but this is a city full of people. There’s no way in hell Crane can fly under the radar here, and…Aiden has finally found where Mia is. But he won’t find her without acceptance from the locals. And the thought that Crane could fuck that up for him without even trying? Hell no. Crane couldn’t bear it.

And, well…Aiden can’t really argue with that. He wants to, desperately, because Crane’s been by his side for like, a third of his life! The thought of being apart from him after all this time feels weird, wrong, and anxiety-inducing. For BOTH of them. So Crane’s quick to assure― 

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m not going to up and lope off into the fucking sunset. You know this radio station we’re in, right now? I’ll just roost here. Make a nice nest and everything. And when you find her, and when you’re ready to either leave or stay, you can just come visit whenever. I’ll work on clearing the metro and putting in UV lights if you leave me any, just so your path out stays open, alright?”

“...And you’ll stay on the radio?” Aiden asks in this small voice. 

“Kid… you know I can’t actually talk, right? All I’ve got is this weird mind-link shit, and once you’re out of range, well…”

“But I can talk to YOU. And you―you can do clicks and stuff, yeah? I’ll just ask yes or no questions―two clicks for yes, one for no.”

And hey, that works. They get Crane set up, and while Aiden sets up the bed and gets ready to sleep for the night, Crane scopes out the metro at sunset and goes apeshit on the Volatiles in there. Sets up some UV lights and secures the area, if only so his boy doesn’t get his ass handed to him. Heads back. Now they usually share the bed―Crane’ll be a warm wall of flesh behind Aiden, cover his back and all. They usually reserve the Whole Ticket for winter when it's too damn cold.

For this last night, they indulge in the winter cuddle. Aiden curls up straight in Crane’s lap, head tucked into his neck, and basically sleeps sprawled across the guy’s chest.

As Aiden sleeps, Crane actually cries a little. Softly, with tear ducts that don’t work anyway. He’s really going to miss this kid, and the reality of not seeing him for awhile―possibly not ever again, if Aiden’s unlucky enough―is really starting to hit the dude. 

It’s hard to let him go the next day, but he knows this means the world to Aiden, so he doesn’t say a word to stop him. He watches Aiden head towards Villedor the next morning after one last hug. His slowly heaving heart fills with dread.

---

I'm not quite sure how I want to approach Villedor in this one: I DO want Aiden to go thru the story and all that, but I'm not sure how or when I want him to get Infected, nor how often I want Crane to come into play.

I DO want there to be a consistent subplot of Crane befriending a shitload of feral cats and becoming the ultimate catdad whilst he mopes about missing his kid. 

I do also really want Aiden to employ diplomacy and get the PK to retreat from Old Villedor without extensive bloodshed since being around Crane has given him the (in Dodger’s words, coconut-sized) balls to defy authority (especially because not being able to try diplomacy in the canon game makes me very sad--so many human lives wasted!)

And I DO want Crane to swoop in and save Aiden from Waltz at the electric car factory and basically scream something to the effect of, "GET THE FUCK OFF MY SON YOU FUCKING ANIMAL." @ Waltz before bailing and forcibly seizing Lawan in one arm, Aiden in the other, as Crane jettisons them to the Central Loop. 

(Lawan flips the fuck out over this random Infected, and it is utterly, comically side-burnered by Aiden reuniting with his 'dad', Crane, despite the objective insanity of the happenstance)

Aiden, sobbing: so much terrible shit has happened, a random man broke my heart, I fucking hate this city, I missed you so much, this sucks 

Crane, soothingly: If you want to bail for now, it's okay, you can come home with me and the cats for awhile and try again later. We have time. 

Aiden: Wait, cats? Cats, plural? 

Lawan:

Last but not least I ALSO know that I want Crane to eventually give up on totally behaving himself and instead venture into Villedor regularly--initially 'just to find cat food' but eventually just to sweep the Infected off the streets, throw useful shit into strongholds, and save as many people as possible. 

An urban legend starts to thrum thru all of the city--there is a talking Volatile man who eats other Infected, throws antibiotics at people, and gives absolutely fuckall 0 shits about UV light. Apparently he is usually toting around cat products--toys, litter, kibble, nip, etc--and is very friendly. People are terrified out of their wits at first, but the more he talks about his alleged four cats and doesn't rip people into ribbons, the more the fear fades. 

Aiden hears about this and, with a very amused nose-exhale, thinks to himself, 'oh man, wonder who that could be. what a mystery. so intriguing. Ah, good on you, old man.'

[marshalllir]

Street racer modern AU

Or at least something like - during the day Hakon is an ordinary taxi driver, and at night the elusive king of drift, on the empty streets of the city. Or was.

He was one of the legends of Night Street Racing - "Nightrunners", until the split occurred. Maybe the split occurred due to the fact that the cops arrived at the venue of the event and tied up a bunch of people. And Hakon warned that there was no need to go that day, and that there was a rat among them.

And in the end, all the dogs were released on him. Because well, who screams the loudest is probably the rat. And he was kicked out. The car is still parked somewhere in Hakon's garage. And he himself became a taxi driver, because cars and roads are his life.

Meanwhile, Aiden moves to a new city and learns about this night's entertainment. He goes to watch, and then decides to become a participant himself.. Lawan, one of the unofficial participants of the Nightrunners, is examining him (parallel with the paraglider from the game).

Hakon is just looking for customers at the train station, for example, and clings to a completely lost Aiden. Decides to help, almost does not charge. He even finds him a hotel room at a reasonable price from a friend, Cillian, who, out of good memory, knocks down the price, but is still not very happy... Or Hakon "rescues" Aiden from another taxi driver who, as he knows, winds up the meter. And Hakon himself deliberately does not turn it on and takes a purely symbolic payment, because Aiden is not going to get out of the car until he pays...

When Aitor offers Aiden to cooperate (after catching him), Aiden has two options: to ingratiate himself into the confidence of the street racers and at the right moment set everyone up by surrendering to the police, or to stay on the side of the street racers and fool the police...

[notathrowawayname]

Books and zombies

I feel the need to rant about a sidequest, so here I am screaming into the void.

I recently played Dying Light 2, because I really enjoyed the first one and killing zombies with parkour is fun. In both games you can forgive the weak story because the game really isn't about the story, it's about the gameplay. That being said, both games have entertaining sidequests. In Dying Light you meet a guy that thinks the zombie virus was started from a meteorite, which you find and bring back to him, for which he gives you the "super weapon" called the "anti-gadoid gun". It's utterly useless, like it blasts air that doesn't seem to effect anyone in any way? But the quest dialogue is fun and you get XP for doing it (as well as an oh so valuable safe house. You need those to skip the night and in Dying Light, night is so scary most players skipped the night) Again in Dying Light 2, to their credit, the writers did put in effort into sidequests (main quest is so hard to be invested in, but to summarise, you're looking for a long lost sister and your one lead is the head of the facility you were both at as kids). There's a sidequest where you have to kill a mutant zombie because an artist wants to use the pigment it develops, and there's an awful singer who's scarf you find to get her to stop sinigng (she sings anyway, absolute queen). Where am I going with this preamble? Well I wanted to make sure you guys understood that I didn't have an issue with this game's writng because it did what it needed to most of the time, which is give you a good reason to kill zombies. And for that reason, I could accept that it didn't have to be well written or interesting, just a few wacky or melodramatic lines of dialogue. And then I played the Book Club sidequest. Some background (I'm sorry I know it's long, but I want you to feel the same seething frustration I do). In Dying Light 2, you play as Aiden. Aiden is a Pilgirm, a messenger who travels from settlement to settlement in this post apocalyptic world. You've come to the city of Villadore to follow a lead on your missing sister. The city is split into three factions: Survivors, Peacekeepers and Renegades. They are, in order: not fascists, fascists, also not fascists but you only find out they have a proper settlement at the very end of the game (you can't side with them, they exist so you have someone to kill no matter which of the other two factions you side with). You get different benefits for siding with either the Survivors of Peacekeepers, but I picked Survivors because: a) fuck the fash and, b) Survivors give you trampolines. Everyone is struggling to survive because apocalypse, but it certainly looks like the fascists have the best/most resources, like living in the beached warship and having armour. A bunch of the Survivors have superstitions about the old world, because that was what made everything go to shit. There's stuff like how one doctor hides their scientific preparation of remedies as voodoo, just so that people are more likely to take the medicine. So when you first arrive at the warship, home of the fash, it feels more like the old world. And on this warship, you can find a library. This library is inhabited by two people, cooky old man Albert and sexy librarian Thalia. You know what isn't in this library? Books, at least not as many as there should be. Albert and Thalia want to preserve the knowledge and wisdom of the old world by finding rare/important books. Thing is, the world went to shit a long time ago, so there aren't many books in good condition left. Even worse, those that are in good condition are in dangerous locations, too dangerous for Albert or Thalia, and the Peacekeepers won't lend them any soldiers to go and get them (fucking fash). But you, being the _super cool badass_ that you are, can go where they can't, and retrieve the books to keep human knowledge safe.

At first I thought "neat", and left it at that. The game has a few little details that suggest reading is on the decline, eg. there's a note you find written by a mother looking for a keyboard complete with all the keys to teach her kids the letters. So you go to dangerous place, kill zombies, get books, and bring them back.

Here's where it gets interesting.

The books aren't just items you pick up, each one is named. You find books by Kafka and Orwell, even poetry compliations. And every time you bring them back to the library, you talk to Thalia who expresses her opinion on them, and then asks "what do you think?" And like, the options for the responses are actually thought out? Also, Aiden has read them??? This guy that spends every waking moment rummaging through bins and killing zombies and doing sick parkour moves is better read than I or most of the people I know are? And the things he says reveal part of his character?? Like I played through the entire game and I swear to god no moment told me more about Aiden as a character than these conversations, even when the decision of which of the two responses he has are up to you.

You do this ten times, each with different books and different conversations, different reasons why the location is dangerous. One time you encounter Renegades who've heard "there's treasure in the safe", when really there's an early edition copy of Treasure Island in the safe. The whole sidequest colours this world with the idea that illiteracy is rampant and it's actively making this world a worse place, and that the librarians are doing what little they can to change that. It's so clear that the devs cared about this sidequest, because it's the only one with it's own special cutscene, and as far as I can tell Thalia is the only character in the game you can romance.

And would you like to know how this sidequest changes the main quest?

In a game of "never have I ever" Aiden drinks because he's had sex since coming to the city.

That's it

Like you literally bring the Communist Manifesto back to librarians living under a fascist regime and nothing happens. No censorship subplot, no change in behaviour, nothing. Back to business as usual, head out there and kill zombies.

It's one thing when you never expect anything from the writing. It's another thing to see everything they've done could build to something good, and doesn't. I feel like I've been narratively blue-balled.

Anyway I planned out a spite-fic because of it. I might write it out at some point

[ninjinistarsong]

Nin’s Fic Masterpost

The Dragon Prince

let's save sorry for another night ('cause this time, love, we're gonna get it right) (1.1k)

do you think i have forgotten about you? (1.5k)

Dying Light 2

give me back my girlhood (it was mine first) (653 words)

this is a life (free from destiny) (1.4k)

Grojband

time eats all his children in the end (1.1k)

ate a sleeve of saltines on my floor (and i knew it) (857 words)

Keeper Of The Lost Cities

Sokeefe Oneshots (6.8k, 9 Oneshots)

wish i was not afraid (of all i had that’s broken) (144 words)

please take me dancing (please leave me stranded, it’s so romantic) (1.3k)

and you know what i’m here to do? (i’m not here for you) (897 words)

Sony’s Spiderverse

death loves gwen stacy (but miles morales loves her more) (1.6k)

[thatguyender]

DL Fanfiction - Ephemeral (I)

The THV has desecrated the lives of many, depriving freedom of the night with the terrors that lurked in the shadows. Villador was the last bastion still standing, protecting those who lived within the walls from the wasteland.

But what about those outside the walls?

Danger lurks in every corner, the unsuspecting become prey, while those who learn to survive must do what they can.

Hunter was no different from any other survivor of the wastelands. Relying on the UVs to keep them sane, and fighting every day just to survive the wickedness that was brought to them. He just wants to learn more about what caused his amnesia.

A survivor without a past but with a future.

An answer appear when something from someone else's past came to him.

Read on AO3

[dying-sun-light]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49752451

oki doki come get y’all juice!! if you’ve ever been intrigued by juan/aitor here is my take on it :P

[kr9vorebeazt]

Planning to make my own Dying Light AU fanfic. First, I need to think what their designs(except Aiden and Hakon cuz their designs finally revealed) should be like and thinking about the name

The lore is the same like the game but the main character is Crane who's been wandering to avoid society cuz his trauma about he infected people before he's finally learned to take a control of his new look, a mutant volatile

The main villain is Aiden. Serious, I wanna make him as a villain cuz it seems like no one ever made Aiden as a villain in their DL2 fanfics(I know cuz he's a hero protagonist)

And I'll add my DL ocs into the fanfic cuz I want to

Well if u guys have an idea for my AU name, tell me

NOTE: Maybe on my future DL2 AU fanfic there's some few mistakes and the lore probably confusing cuz I'm not good at writing a lore

[dlthedescent]

INTERMISSION I-IV: BEFORE WE PART WAYS...

Segment taken from Side Quest Story: Lending A Hand

The prosthetic arm looked crude and clunky, a skeletal framework of scrap metal, bolts, and screws. It was functional but basic, powered by an old battery pack.

Nobody expected miracles, but the flaws became more apparent the longer Noam worked on it. The biggest issue was the fingers—they had to be controlled manually with joystick switches, requiring clumsy extra steps.

Clank!

Two fingers and a thumb clamped too hard, shattering a cup in the test.

Jack's eyes widened, alarm bells ringing in her head. There was no way they would put this on the lad and everyone agreed silently.. Noam swept the shards away, terrified as the fingers twitched, almost as if the contraption wanted to grab him, only stopped by its heavy weight.

"That's a bear trap," Freakazoid stated the obvious.

"You don't have to tell me twice. Doesn't help that it needs a 35-kilo battery, and a controller that short-circuits!"

Frustrated, Noam yanked out the wires, watching the disastrous metallic beast power down.

"Alright. What do we need?" Crane asked.

"Nothing," Noam replied, slumping in his seat. "Hate to break it to you, but you're gonna need hardware. Know anyone who can help?"

"If we were in the Outskirts, the Grads might have an idea," Jack offered.

"Any chance they can help out?"

Jack shook her head. "It's hard enough traveling along the Coastline without the military breathing down our necks."

Crane wasn't an engineer, but he knew this mechanical upgrade was a long shot. The prototype on the table wasn't even the first attempt.

"...What about asking Tolga and Fatin?"

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief for hearing the worst suggestion possible. Noam, however, looked confused—those names weren't as infamous to him as they were to both Runners.

Crane already regretted the suggestion before he said it. They were the last people on Earth he'd ever want to ask for anything.

"No," Jack said firmly.

"I don't like it either," he admitted.

"Absolutely not."

"They're difficult, sure-"

"That's not my problem. You're asking two mad scientists to work on a child's arm."

"They're not going to strap a rocket launcher on him," Crane said, though Jack immediately picked on the slight doubt in his voice, narrowing her eyes further.

Because he could actually see those two do the impossible. Not for a kid, hopefully.

Still, what other options did they have?

"Let me talk to them."

All of a sudden, Jack crossed her arms, brow furrowed. Why?

This was the first time Freakazoid had volunteered to talk to someone, let alone two people Jack could barely tolerate.

"I mean, sure. Give it your best shot."

"Trust me. They'll make that hardware for us."

No backing down from Freakazoid—another first for Jack. Was he really sold on the brothers' brilliance for making that harpoon gun? Jack glanced over to Noam, hoping for an alternative. Another safer option.

"I got nothing," Noam said, still lost in the conversation. Any solution seemed better than his failed contraptions so far.

Jack didn't feel any more confident, but she decided to let it play out.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she muttered, both amused and puzzled, as she walked out of the garage.

Crane followed, initially confident. But as soon as he left the garage—with no one paying attention—he groaned, his steps feeling heavier.

"...Maybe they won't recognize me. My voice's fucked anyway."

Quest Stories, Special Delivery, Out With a Bang and Lending a Hand can be found at these links: FFN and AO3.

[scoupstastuwu]

Rahim :))

• You were the first one to confess

• Rahim never catching your attempts to flirt with him

• (Crane would lowkey laugh at you when it failed)

• Rahim wasn't too sure about his feelings for you at first . He thought maybe you had feelings, Crane, maybe even Brecken

• It wasn't until you saw him up on the roof one night. He was looking at stars lying back

• "Ah I knew you would be here" you would say as you climbed up next to him

• There was a long silence before you finally spoke up again

• "Rahim listen"

• He would look at with a small smile

• "Hold on" Rahim said

• "Before you tell me. I just wanted to say I really appreciate your friendship"

• You would be a but shocked at hearing him say that

• "A great friend huh"

• "Yeah. Now what are you going to tell me" he asked

• You hesitated before you spoke again

• "Well actually. I think I'm. Well I. I like you"

• "I like you too" he would say with a smile as he put his arm around your shoulder

• "No Rahim I like you. More than friends"

• Rahim wouldn't say anything

• His mouth would hang open for second

• "You're serious"

• You would nod a bit embarrassed

• "Yea"

• "Oh...Oh! I do too"

• He would be a bit confused by your confess

• You never really showed any interest in him

• (You would literally only be nice to him. Go along with any crazy idea he had)

• But he was happy

• Really happy

I haven't even finished the game 🧍🏽

But I decided to write a little something

Is the Fandom even alive on here?

♡ <- masterlist

[washingmachinegirly]

Dying Light 2 Hakon x OC Drabble

i cannot for the life of me find any Hakon fanfiction so i wrote some myself.

————————————————————————

“Just entertain yourself while I try to fix the generators. Don’t touch anything. Got it?”

Frank told them the community was running out of supplies, and the surrounding areas were dry.

Sabine said that she knew somewhere untouched by any other survivors. She offered to go and retrieve the supplies.

Hakon said he would go along with her.

Now that they were here, it was clear she did not want to be here and didn’t want Hakon here either.

“Yes, ma’am.”

That’s how the man found himself in the woman’s bedroom. It was untouched for 15 years, like a time capsule. Looking around, he could see both the personality and the lack of personality in the room. The walls are stark white and only hold a handful of decorations, but the room holds many CDs, DVDs, and books. The CDs and DVDs intrigue him but are useless unless the generators work. So he makes his way to the bookshelf.

Looking through the bookshelf, he sees a variety of books. LSAT practice books, D.I.Y. books, law books, history books, and romance books. He would have never pegged Sabine to be the romantic type. He takes a book off the shelf titled “A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime” and opens it to a random page.

“It’s been three years, four months, two days, and a handful of hours since the first moment I set my eyes on her. The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. The absolute bane of my existence.” He reads aloud from the book and then laughs to himself. The lines are cliche, but he can’t argue against them. They were romantic and something he probably would say himself.

Above the bookcase, he finds a dead plant. Peering around the rest of the room, he finds many dead plants. Most likely unwatered. Who would have stayed around to water them anyways? On top of the bookcase is an ornate tea set. Picking up the teapot and dusting it off, he realizes it is handmade and old. It would probably sell for a pretty penny. Juan would practically salivate over it. He would never tell Sabine about selling to Juan, though. That guy is her number one enemy. The stick up her ass.

Walking along the wall, he comes upon a dresser. On top of the dresser, he finds a music box. After cranking the knob on the back and opening the box up, hoping for music. Unfortunately, no music sings, and the ballerina remains stagnant. Inside the box, he finds only a plastic rhinestone choker and plastic diamond earrings. The type of jewelry competitive performers would wear back in the day. He then picks up a violin case and opens it. Inside sits a beautiful, untouched violin. It shines against the sunlight peeking through the window. He wonders if Sabine would play for him and if she is as good as she claims. Beside the violin is a picture of a girl and a dog. He picks up the photograph to get a better look. Upon inspection, he realizes it is a picture of a much younger Sabine and a dog. The dog looks to be an Australian Shepard. Sabine had the massive dog in her arms. They were both smiling at each other.

Hakon has never seen her smile like that. He smiles to himself and places the framed photo back onto the dresser. Walking away from the dresser, the man comes face-to-face with a large mirror that takes over almost an entire wall. It had been long since he’d seen his reflection so clearly, in broad daylight. He takes in how greasy his hair and skin look.

“My god, am I graying?” He asks himself as he steps closer to the mirror and ruffles his hair around.

He takes in the new scars on his face, neck, and hands. Some are faint and will probably disappear in a week or so. Others are deep, leaving an indent in his skin. One scar, in particular, is deeper than the rest. It goes from the top right of his forehead, through the eyebrow, past his eye, over the nose, and stops in the middle of his left cheek. Despite the lasting mark, he supposes he should be thanking Sabine. If not for her, it’d be a hell of a lot more than a scar.

Hakon was cornered between two skyscrapers by a pack of renegades. He had thought it was an easy enough job to handle alone. Obviously, he was very wrong. As the renegades approached him, they laughed and sneered in his face.

“No one to save you now, runner.”

Soon enough, Hakon felt the cold concrete hit his back. He could have and should have gone the other way, but no, he’s always looking for trouble. As he scolded himself, a renegade approached him with a knife. Hakon imagined that behind the mask, the man was smiling as he raised his blade. Hakon closed his eyes, ready to face his death. Only a fool like him would perish like this.

Yet the blade only scratched him. When he opened his eyes, in front of him, he found the guy dead on the ground. Looking up, he saw Sabine fighting off the other four.

“Are you going to keep staring at me like an idiot, or are you going to help me?”

Hakon chuckles to himself as he thinks back on the memory. Despite his gray hair and ugly scars, he must still have charisma if he’s lucky enough for a girl like Sabine to save him.

He moves to the other wall, gazing at all the items hanging upon it. While the trophies and medals are pretty shiny in the sun, Hakon’s eyes draw toward the other ornaments on the wall.

First, he finds the drawing of the dog. It must be the same dog from the framed photo on the dresser. Getting a closer look, he notices the message on the bottom.

“For my favorite sister. P.S. I miss you! And so does Clementine. Please come home soon! - Chrys”

The man chuckles to himself. He can’t imagine the 15-year-old Chrysanthemum he knows being so young. She couldn’t even spell her name! She must have been around 4 or 5. Despite the childlike innocence, it makes him sad as he remembers how young she was when it happened. Still, in spite of all the world’s hardships, Sabine’s sister was able to keep a bit of her childishness. Hakon’s eyes wander over to the family photo.

A childishness Sabine never seemed to have.

All the people in the photo seem to be emotionless. They were all flat-faced yet held the smallest air of contentment. After a closer inspection of the 15-year-old Sabine, Hakon decides that Sabine is and was nothing like her sister. She sat in front of her parents, knees together, back straight, and heads in her lap. Her lips were a flat line, slightly curved at the edges, and her eyes seemed sad.

Hakon decides to move on to the collage of photos.

When looking at the photos, a gust of déjà vu hits his face.

The collage contains four photos in total. The first photo was a group photo with three girls in a cab. Hakon recognized Sabine in the middle of the other two girls. The taxi cab and scene looked all too familiar. In the second photo, he realized why it was so familiar.

It was his taxi cab, the one he drove before all hell broke loose.

He is looking at a photo of his younger self with the three girls. As he stares at the picture with the seriousness of a detective, the day returns to him in broken fragments.

The girls had all hopped into his cab, giggling with each other. He was a bit weary of them, but Sabine claimed they had money and to just drive. Despite his weariness, he was bored, so he obliged. As he “drove” through the traffic in the city, he eavesdropped on the girls’ conversation and watched their theatrics. He would have been lying if he said it wasn’t entertaining. Sabine caught onto him and asked if he wanted in on the photos and fun. He should have said no and done his job, but he was never that kind of guy. He was young and looking for something fun to happen, so he said yes.

Sabine dragged him into the photo, smiling cheekily. She leaned over the console to take over his radio system to change the music. She told him he had shit music taste, which he scoffed at, but she was right.

Sabine also dragged him and the girls to a karaoke bar. At first, they had just ordered a few drinks and watched the other drunk barhoppers sing on the stage. Within 10 minutes of being at the bar, the girls found themselves on the stage, performing an America’s Got Talent-worthy performance of Wannabe by the Spice Girls. That’s when Hakon took the third photo with Sabine’s camera. After that, the girls all took turns performing solos, allowing the other bar-goers to squeeze in once in a while.

A couple more drinks in, Sabine convinced Hakon to sing with her. That’s where the fourth photo came from, courtesy of one of Sabine’s friends. He never learned their names. After his and Sabine’s first performance, the night got a little blurry.

Hakon is amazed that he remembers that much from almost 15 years ago. He is even more amazed that he’s known Sabine long before the fall. He thought he would have remembered a girl like her, but life gets busy. Extremely busy, according to the events of the last 15 years.

Static comes from his left, and he’s broken from his stunning trance. Looking over, he finds an old TV turned on. Sabine must have got the generators on. While the TV is on, Hakon doesn’t suppose there’s cable TV anymore. To delight, he does find a collection of DVDs and VHS tapes under the TV. He kneels to get a closer look at the collection. Most of the tapes seem to be performance videos, most likely of dances. Sabine had never talked about it, but judging by the trophies, medals, and dance equipment, Hakon could guess she used to be a competitive dancer. He was very familiar with those girls and their families, having to drive them around in his cab during competition season. None of the tapes interested him, but a CD labeled “My Final Bow: Video Diary” sure did. He isn’t normally one to go through people’s diaries, but he is willing to make an expectation for a closed-off girl like Sabine. Besides, a photo that falls out of the CD case tells him the video probably has to do with him. The photo is a blurry, candid picture of Sabine and Hakon. Her short arm stretched out to fit them both in the camera’s border as she leaned over to kiss his cheek. Hakon doesn’t remember that part of the night. He doubts Sabine does either. After one last glance at the photo, he puts the CD into the TV’s CD port.

The video was a simple collection of clips taken on the same night as the photos. It showed the girls racing toward the cab and jumping inside. They were giggling the whole time. The clip transitioned to the girls in a heated conversation about god knows what, but Hakon heard himself laughing in the background. The video then jumped late into the night. It showed various moments of the group’s karaoke performances. Sabine’s show to the song Circus by Britney Spears. Hakon and Sabine’s duet to Love Shack by The B-52’s. One of the other girl’s performances of Love Story by Taylor Swift. The rest of the video was a blur of the night, the liveliness of the filmers altering the video. It showed Sabine and the girls jumping around and laughing. Soon enough, the clips were coming to an end. Each clip showed Hakon dropping off the girls at their respective hotels. At each stop, Sabine would hug the girl with all her might and wave goodbye to them until they were out of the camera’s sight. Sabine was the last one to be dropped off. The final clip shows Sabine waving toward Hakon as he drives away. Then the video cuts to black.

“ I thought I told you not to touch anything.”

Sabine’s voice causes Hakon to jump from his seat on the ground. Behind him, Sabine stands leaning against the doorway. She crosses her arms, and her eyes look angry, but she has a small smile on her lips.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough to watch the entire video with you.”

Hakon stares at her as he stands up. He looks past her, deep in thought, then turns to look at the TV and back at her.

“Do you remember any of that night?”

“I didn’t recognize the guy was you until now if that’s what you’re asking. You look a hell of a lot uglier now.” She smirks at him. “You’re a hell of a lot more annoying too.” He rolls his eyes.

Hakon has a million questions rolling through his head right now. What happened to her after that night? Who are the other girls? Does she remember anything from that night that he doesn’t? Why aren’t other photos of friends and adventures in her childhood bedroom? Despite his million questions, he knew Sabine wouldn’t answer them. Looking up at her, he sees her fiddling with the straps on her jacket. She was scared he would ask her questions. Try to pry into her personal life. Something she’s been clear about not wanting since the day she joined his group. He’d respect her wishes, but still…

“Why’d you keep this photo?” He questions as he picks up the photo off the ground.

It was unlike the Sabine he knows now to keep a photo like that. It was unlike her to take that photo or to kiss him in the first place. He imagines Sabine would gag at even the thought of getting close to him. He hopes his question will tell him a bit about her without directly asking her about her past.

Sabine approaches Hakon to take a look at the photo. After a glance, she scoffs, rolling her eyes before snatching the photo from his hand.

Still, he looks at her with probing eyes.

“…I think if things went differently after that night, I’d be a fun girl to be around. I’d be the life of the party.” Sabine contends as she stares around her old bedroom, reminiscing.

Certainly an odd answer from the Sabine he knows. He feels like that may just be the most backward, vulnerable answer he could have gotten from Sabine, but he’ll take it. Any glimpse into her as a person was a win to him.

“I think you’re pretty fun. I wouldn’t be here with you if I didn’t, would I?”

Sabine looks at him for a while, pondering his answers. Just when Hakon thinks he might get another genuine answer from the woman, she laughs while rolling her eyes and then turns her back on him.

“Come on. We need to clear the basement and the rest of the house now if we want to leave before nightfall. I don’t want to spend the night here.”

Hakon chuckles to himself as he follows her out the door. He’ll have to remember to grab the photos and violin before they leave. Though Sabine insisted her room be left alone, he feels these items are worth her ripping him a new one the next day.

————————————————————————

disclaimer: i know nothing about dying light 2 besides minimal research on the wiki and watching slimecicle play it. i know even less about dying light, having never watched, so there are probably a lot of inaccuracies. i just wrote this bc i thirst for hakon and i needed a muse for my creative writing assignment. also the format may be weird bc i copy and pasted it from my creative writing draft.

[malimangle]

Some old Changeling AU art I made for @dying-sun-light wayyyy back when it was her birthday. Aiden’s body might’ve changed, but the light still reaches him.

(For those of you who missed it back then: the changeling AU is an epic lil story Sunny made about Aiden experiencing…CHANGES…. From being Infected. Absolutely check out her amazing art for it!!!)

[a-wrinkle-in-truth]

“He left you, little bird - he doesn’t want to be followed.”

He doesn't intend for it to sound as mean as it does, but there's a crater opening up between his ribs.

She doesn't look at him when she answers. He can see the muscle in her jaw twitch.

“He left you too, Hakon. Are you okay with that?”

[thatguyender]

Haphazard - Smile

Crane never wanted to feel like he is going to lose someone.

Not again.

When Brecken returned to the Tower injured and alone, not a single sight of his apprentice, a sense of worry began to wash over him.

"Layton!"

Kyle sprints up the chair with the bound recruit, his knife in hand, tearing through the ropes like nothing. The moment he saw the familiar blue hoodie, a wave of relief washed over him.

He knew something wasn't right with these people.

He knew he should have trusted his gut instinct when they first met those survivors.

Crane grasps Layton's bloodied face. Recognising that more harm has been done to what was already there. There are two jagged lines in each corner of his mouth. These aren't going to heal completely, it appears. 

This was what Rais meant when he gave Layton a smile.

"I'm so fucking sorry!" Crane clutches Layton tightly, desperately hugging him, hoping for a reaction. "I was too slow, and—"

He felt a hand brush against his back.

"You big oaf," Layton mumbled, trying not to open his jaws. “You're crushing me."

"Oh my God, sorry!" Relaxing his grip, he allowed Layton to breathe before accidentally suffocating him. Kyle wiped away a small tear from the corner of his eye. "Do you… Layton, let's head back to the Tower." He had the impression that Layton needed some time to collect himself. Both physically and psychologically.

"I just want to get out of here... I feel shite."

Layton grumbled, his hand hovering over his mouth. Kyle could tell that it hurt. Markings like that indicated that Rais intended for this to be excruciating; the lines were probably not done in a single sitting but rather several times. He intended for this to be an unforgettable experience for the youth.

Rais was a psychopathic man.

"Jesus Christ, you had me worried when you didn't answer my call," Kyle began to spout whatever came to mind. "And the moment Brecken came back alone, I was terrified—everyone was worried that he did worse on you! Rahim... fuck, he almost went looking for you by himself." Kyle exhaled. “But that’s enough about us, are you okay?”

"Still kicking." Layton chuckled. Uneasy but still alive—that's all that matters. "But, really?" He pointed to the wounds left by Rais’s attempt to assert superiority against them. Still rather feeling drained. “This hurts like hell.”

Kyle had a gentle smile, offering a piece of fabric to replace the old mask.

He can't lose anyone anymore.

Not again.

"Then let’s get you to Lena.”

[dying-sun-light]

as this mostly applies to my dl2 fics, i’ll post this on this acc but just fyi i have migrated all of my explicit fics over to a secondary acc on ao3. it’s called moonlight_mums and from here on out any and all explicit fics i write will be posted on there.

kind of just a personal preference thing, nobody did anything, i just wanted to separate my adult fics from my tamer stuff. so o7 if i see you over there i’ll see you over there!