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goonlalagoon · 3 years

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Drawn to fall || Leagues and Legends

A series rewrite AU for @ink-splotch‘s fantastic Leagues and Legends books.

This has been sitting as a 90% finished draft for...a while, but talking to @soundofez about WIPs the other day prodded me to actually finish it up

Spoilers for the whole trilogy below

Read on Ao3

It was the Piper who fell first, a ricochet and a song vanishing from the world. Jack and George limped home, but the fight didn't stop with a round of prisoners stolen from the Seeress' grasp, with one more body laid to rest and another widow weeping.

The mage traders didn't get George. The Graves family and their guards were a constant threat, a blight, but the mountain vigilantes had plenty of other dangers to throw themselves in front of. It wasn't a bullet or a gun that slew the Dragon Slayer, but sharp claws and sharper beaks.

Jack never really made it home, from that. He walked through the bakery door and he held Bea as she wept, but he was burning and lost somewhere inside himself. He looked at Bea's maps, her petitions, and he threw himself into saving everyone he could reach with a manic desperation.

It was the Rangers who brought the news to Bea, when they lost the Giantkiller. Jack had been shrouded in good fortune, unknowing, for his whole life, but luck can only take you so far.

The bakery was cold and quiet. Beatrice Jones felt like she had frozen all the way through, turned to stone, and thought she might never thaw again.

(Bidi would wake in the night for weeks, tear stains dried into her cheeks, and crawl into her mother's arms. Bea would curl close around her and remember that she had felt this cold before. She would live through this.)

The news of their falls reached Rivertown, through channels both official and hidden. Rupert mourned the loss of an idol, and didn't know that the revered Rangers, far off in the mountains, were standing with red rimmed eyes at the grave. The Farrises didn't know what their wandering son had been up to, but Jack's mother woke one day to the aching certainty that he would never be coming home. She watched the horizon anyway.

Lanetia Jones heard stories of a mage who had whistled magic out of the air, of his fall, soon after she became acquaintances with the blue blooded hero in her second year study group. She would hold her back straight and clasp her hands neatly on the library table, and ask in a steady voice if he knew anything else about the Pied Piper. Rupert knew stories, legends, Bureau reports he technically shouldn't have seen - but he didn't know the name Liam Jones except from Laney's own tales, so they couldn't be certain.

They couldn't be certain, but neither of them had heard of any other mage who pulled magic into the world with a whistle, and Laney was a pragmatist. The numbers tallied up, the arrival of a dark skinned singer in the mountains and her brother setting out from home, never looking back.

(Liam had looked back for years, his mother's best recipes simmering on the hob, his daughter stumbling through songs a slightly older Laney had warbled terribly on his heels, old familiar stories ready on his tongue - mice and lions, thunderstorms given tongues to shriek, a stubborn kid with her hair scraped into braids by their mother's patient fingers ignoring scrapes and scratches until she could reach the top of the tallest palm tree, because someone had told her that she wasn’t allowed to.)

In the Academy library, warm golden sun spilling over her table and the back of her chair, Laney held herself tall and still because Rupert was neither friend nor enemy, just a classmate, but she would not let him see her weakness either way. She would not.

Rupert fetched slim volumes of legends, dispatches from the past seven years of Vigilante activity in the mountains, and a glass of water. He ached and didn't know how to help, stuffy with it, so when she got carefully to her feet he didn't follow. He re-shelved the books and checked that they hadn't left anything behind, and then he went to do his Uncle's paperwork, burying himself in it until he felt useful again.

They had barely interacted in their first year, but Rupert had known her name and a few other things about the desert-born mage that weren't common knowledge before they were assigned their second year projects. He arranged for them to go to Sally-Anne's for their first meeting, because it seemed like the kind of place that would help everyone relax - would help him relax, really. Sally-Anne gave him a reassuring wink and a bonus plate of chips, on the house, and he sighed pointedly at her transparent attempts to Help Him Make Friends to make her laugh.

When he got back to the table Clem was awkwardly trying to flirt - or possibly just bond, it wasn’t clear - with Laney, who looked stunningly unimpressed. The pipsqueak Sage that Rupert was keeping an anxious eye on while he tried to formulate a discreet way of sneaking numb tea to was buried in his book, slowly demolishing a plate of plain fries without looking up. Heather was rolling her eyes at Laney whenever Clem said something particularly demonstrating an inability to read the mood, and the rest of the time scribbling notes in the margins of a scientific journal she'd brought along with her. Annals of Botany, Rupert thought, because he'd seen her with it in the dining hall on a monthly basis all of the previous year and it was about the right time for a new issue to have been sent out to subscribers. He didn't square his shoulders, because they were already carefully level, posture already perfect. He took a steadying breath before setting down his purchases and trying to drag things back to the agenda he'd planned out the evening before.

Rupert's agenda had included contingency plans, of course. What really had to be covered first, in case someone needed to dash off and hadn't thought to warn him. Who could pick up the slack if their combat spec decided he had more important things to do (Rupert), who could keep their squeaky sage on track (also Rupert), and who would cover what as a back up if someone fell ill (Rupert again).

He hadn't planned what to do if armed men walked into his friend's shop and fired a gun in the air. He had no precise strategies, no intel whispered in his ear by Sez, just his Academy study group and their homework assignment clutched in Grey's trembling fingers, just a room full of frightened civilians.

Clement went down with a bullet in his shoulder, and a bricklayer hit the ground with one in his gut not long after. Laney and Rupert held a hissed conference, and Heather weighed in to point out that official witnesses were probably not part of the thieves' plan. He'd seen gunpowder dusted on Laney's fingertips at breakfast for months, so he wasn't surprised when she fired off perfect sniper shots with the gun that fell within reach. Grey pressed himself back against the wall, pale, quiet, eyes wide over cheeks lit up gold, and that wasn't a surprise either. Heather sitting on one of the fallen gunmen and threatening to force feed him the poisonous plants she was casually carrying around with her was, though mostly because he'd thought she had a basic grasp of health and safety.

Laney trailed him as he went to find Sez, and he would berate himself for carelessness later, but - men had broken into Sally's shop with guns, and the streets were never still or silent. She would know soon, and she needed to hear that Sally was okay from someone she trusted, someone she knew wouldn't have left if it wasn't true.

She dropped her tray down next to him at breakfast the next morning and said she wanted in. Heather and Gloria joined them while he was still blinking and sighing, considering, and he looked around the half empty mess hall with confusion, because he wasn't entirely sure what they wanted from him. He thought maybe Laney was after some excitement, a sharpshooter mage feeling trapped by petty class politics and Academy expectations, but he didn't know about the other two. They asked him for the salt shaker, his opinion on Professor Rhones’ lecturing style, and nothing else.

He let Laney help him with his next Rivertown job, and they patched each other up afterward, discussing strategies and critiquing their own form. They sat together in the library later that week and she asked politely about his essay, on vigilantism in the Mountains and how to effectively combat it - and in the warm, golden light of the afternoon sun, he told her about the Pied Piper and broke her heart.

When Sez next contacted him, he knocked politely on Laney's door, braced for it to slam in his face and holding his shoulders carefully relaxed so it wouldn't show. She didn't shut the door on him, but she did demand to know, on their brisk walk back to the Academy after eliminating a Thing that had taken up residence in an alleyway, if this was pity. She didn't want to join him on these tasks because he felt sorry for her, or because he felt guilty - she wanted to help because she wanted to sink her teeth into something real.

Rupert blinked at her, and began patiently dissecting their joint performance, gave a litany of tactical reports of earlier jobs where a sharpshooter or a mage - or both - would have made things much more...efficient. Laney listened suspiciously for any hint that she was being coddled, but her stomach settled. She had a bruise the width of her palm on her ribs and a stinging burn starting to blister on the backs of her fingers, and she felt a fierce joy welling up through her chest. Laney had learned to fall, true, but that was only half the battle - she'd learned to stand, too, to hit the ground and push herself back to her feet, to decide what was worth falling for, over and over. This, the safety of these streets and these people - this was worth standing for.

Gloria and Heather cornered her one afternoon in the room she and Gloria shared, and demanded to know what was going on. Laney had been slipping out and sneaking back with bruises for over a month, and they were worried. Laney looked at the earnest concern and said, with perfect honesty, that she was doing some extra curricular self-defence training. This had the unintended side effect that Gloria and Heather both wanted in. Rupert sighed when she reported this, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You'd prefer that I'd told them we're Rivertown vigilantes? I can, you know, I think they're both capable of keeping a secret, but I figured you'd rather I not make that kind of decision on your behalf." Rupert sighed again, but he did suggest that the stables would be an okay venue for self-defence classes, and he got her to set up wards so that if anyone came looking they could very quickly pretend to have been doing homework. After all, they were a study group.

The first time the wards went off, they actually just switched to doing core circuits because honestly nobody who'd be checking would believe four people in training gear and somewhat out of breath had been doing their homework in an out of the way corner. Circuits probably still wouldn't be strictly approved of, but they wouldn't be disciplined for breaking Academy rules.

But it wasn't one of the Academy instructors checking for misbehaviour. It was a rather surly combat spec, who seemed quite surprised to see them and immediately asked if Leaf had invited them. Rupert blinked.

"Hello, Francis. No, I haven't spoken to Leaf about...much of anything, really. Laney and I have been using the space for some fitness training, and these two decided they were also interested." Francis gave him a considering look, and nodded slowly, glancing over the rough straw pallets they'd set up to cushion their falls. He gave them a flicker of a smile.

"Leaf and I were planning something similar, actually. Mind if we merge?"

Their study group met in the library or dining hall, after that first foray out into the city, but Laney and Rupert were frequent faces at Sally-Anne's. The growing stable loft gang started dropping by too, laughing over in-jokes and nursing bruises, grinning brightly. Red would claim a corner seat and relax into it like the noise and bustle were a second skin, like he was more comfortable with a floor strewn with straw and fish scales than the polished length of the dining hall at the Academy.

Rupert started watching Francis, quietly and from the corner of his eye, during the handful of classes they shared. A few months into their extracurricular training began, he would suggest that Red join them on their hunts in Rivertown, and shrug when asked why me. It was a decision he had hesitated over, but not one he regretted, after the first alley they raced down, side by side, chasing a wounded manticore into Laney's waiting shields, Red adapting almost instantly to the strengths of his allies.

He had a wealth of knowledge of the things that crept through the dark, though he shone most when it came to creatures of the deep. Soon after the winter break a (small) kraken made its way up the river, and Red barely hesitated before calling out instructions, demanding supplies from the terrified crowd of civilians, not needing to think about what weaknesses were there to exploit. As they bandaged themselves up, after, Laney caught Rupert's eye and raised one eyebrow a hairbreadth. He blinked solemnly in agreement, and they waited patiently until Red was ready to tell them what they'd already guessed.

When Sez handed Rupert a piece of paper scrawled with yellow crayon, he and Laney poured over it for days. Laney dragged out book after book, picking the curse to pieces with a steady determination until she knew how to burn through it. Neither of them knew enough of the shape of this, yet, to know that there was a warning they should offer in turn.

Over the years, Rupert had fought a lot of battles in the name of Rivertown and its inhabitants - in back alleys and warehouses, shin deep in the river and slipping on the muddy banks (in the quiet of his private Academy dorm, the rustle of paper and the scratch of a pen). He had tackled petty thieves, thugs, monsters who went after human bones and Things in the dark. He knew he didn't know all of their victims' stories, but Sez was pale with fury when she told him a child was missing, door broken down and a terrified sibling hiding under a bed. The mother was wringing her hands at a table in the back corner of Sally-Anne's, bent double with grief and anger.

"Should have been more careful," she muttered, "we should have - we thought we were safe, so far from the mountains but the Seeress - everyone knows she doesn't like competition, but we thought we were out of her sight, so careless, so careless..."

Laney's face had gone still, carved from stone, and Rupert's heart was frozen in his chest. Someone had dropped a curse diagram in their pocket, and they hadn't thought about how. This was his city, and he hadn't known there was a risk, that there was any kind of warning needed. Red stepped forwards, reaching out to squeeze the woman's hands.

"Breathe. The slavers took her, you think?" She gave a harsh, sobbing laugh, and he nodded sharply. "Sorry. But we have time, then, because they have to get her to the mountains first, and she has to be alive when she gets there. We have a chance." He didn't sound hopeful, just determined, but she took a shaky breath and squeezed his fingers back. Laney wasn't moving, wasn't saying anything, and Rupert knew she was as puzzled as he felt. Red looked at them sidelong as they slipped out onto the street, and frowned.

"You don't know? In the mountains - there are people who steal mages and drain the power of the Elsewhere out of them, process it to make electricity. Mages have been fleeing the mountains for years, now."

Once, Rupert had broken Laney's heart in the Academy library, unknowing, with reported stories of a lost vigilante. There was so much that they hadn't known, then, and now they were floating on the edges of it. Rupert had known there was a Piper, that he had fallen - but he hadn't known who. They hadn't been able to guess at why.

Laney was thinking of her brother's smile as he poured golden fire into her palms to drift through her fingers. She was thinking of all she had done, to feel that fire on her skin, and of the things she would never have thought of. She had wanted to walk alongside her brother, so badly, but she’d never once thought to drag him down for daring to be something she wasn't.

Red had no idea of the blow he had just delivered, unknowing, in the afternoon sun outside Sally-Anne's. He knew only that there was a child in a lot of danger, and not much hope - but that any hope was still something.

They didn't have supernatural good luck on their side, but they had Sez and all of her contacts, so they found the warehouse. The slavers were waiting for them, forewarned, and they woke in the locked cellar. The child they’d been searching for was curled in the corner, eyes wide and face pale. Laney had expected her to be weeping, but she seemed to be frightened beyond even tears. They were all bound, but their captors hadn't thought to check Laney as thoroughly for weapons as the others - because she was an Academy mage, because she was a girl, because everyone underestimated her at first - so she had a knife tucked into her boot that they could use to cut the ropes. A glowing stone was hung around her neck, casting warm light and harsh shadows in the otherwise dark room. Elaine's wide eyes tracked it, but Laney didn't know what the point of it was, and she had other priorities, here, than asking.

So did Red and Rupert, so they didn't tell her until later, when they had bandaged wounds and finished their homework. They had her set up a careful silencing ward around Rupert's unofficial single room, and explained why the slavers had dropped a fracture in the fabric of the world around her throat. Laney didn't flinch, because no matter how much she trusted this friendship this was not a weakness she was ready to show them. But she trusted them enough to tell them the story - skinned knees and golden fire, her palm pressed up against the endless desert sky, splitting it open.

The Rangers came to visit, sending Red into fits of hero worship - Rupert was almost as bad, except he also remembered seeing half of them as students. Laney and Leaf exchanged long suffering looks full of affection. Gloria and Heather snickered and pretended not to know any of the names being gleefully praised at breakfast, seeing how much of Red’s breakfast they could filch off his plate while he recited heroic deeds before he realised what they were doing and snatched theirs in retaliation.

When the legends of the Bureau arrived, they immediately slipped cheerfully into the back of a lecture, hiding nostalgic giggles that they were too well trained (too used to ambushes) to let slip. They listened to lectures the material of which they'd learned and lived by for years, looking over the assembled students with interest and an unvoiced shared feeling that they were all so very young. They hovered around to chat, to officially mingle and inspire, and Sarge froze when he heard Laney's name. He'd known an L. Jones, mage, once upon a time, and never known how to reach the next of kin without getting tangled in the official channels that they couldn’t afford to get involved.

Rupert followed along when Laney was invited to a private meeting with Sarge and May. They both had their suspicions about what reason these two legends could have for wanting to speak privately with Miss Jones, the very first time they met, and he wanted to be there for her if they were right. He had planned to wait outside, patient as stone, the way she had over their months of friendship when his uncle was giving him frantic hushed reminders about status and reputations and not sneaking out of the Academy in the middle of the night to do freelance vigilante heroics in the back alleys of Rivertown. Laney caught his sleeve briefly as he went to lean against the wall, a brief unvoiced request for company.

May and Sarge didn't know what a concession this was, for Laney to guess what grim news they held out to her and to invite someone else to witness it. They didn't know anything of her but stories, and Liam had never been someone Laney was afraid to see her bruise.

They had guessed, over a year before this otherwise unremarkable evening, that the Piper had been Liam. Red had told them what monsters lurked in the mountains, and they had guessed why. But there is a difference between guessing, between cold logic and lining up the pieces, and confirmation. There is a difference between guessing that the rumours of a distant fall are of your brother, and being told where to find his grave by friends who know his widow. There is a difference between knowing your brother had years of his life away from you, and being told by his grieving friends that he had a wife and child, names you never knew and faces you can’t imagine.

The walls seemed too close when she slipped back out with Rupert steady at her shoulder, eyes dry and back straight, so they made their quiet way to the familiar streets of Rivertown. She was staring at the distant mountain peaks when an explosion split the night, fire blooming on old wooden rooftops behind them. They called their friends to arms, marshaling Academy forces and rapping out orders in practiced partnership. Sarge stepped forward to object - he knew them only as Heads' stuffy nephew and Liam's beloved sister, not tested heroes in their own right. They didn't have a looming redhead vouching for them with years of shared experience they were still only grasping the edges of. Sarge knew them only as children, and he had buried too many of those. Laney froze him in his tracks with her mother's best icy look, and didn't know whether it was that effective or if it was just how unfamiliar that face would be, to someone who had only known Liam and his easy smiles.

Their city was on fire, and it all led back to the same warehouse - faced with a fire demon, Laney slipped by in the harsh shadows to find the rift, while Rupert stayed behind as a distraction, a barrier. He was a paper pushing hero, and the sword in his hand had seen active duty than some of the Bureau Leagues could claim. The flames bore down at him in roaring symphony, and as he adjusted his grip he politely asked it to go back to where it came from. He gave it a chance, a choice, and when it shrieked threats instead he killed it without a second thought.

Rupert had killed more often than some active Leaguesmen, too.

People started to whisper about Laney, after. They called her the Lady of the Lake reborn, and Laney raised impassive, mysterious eyebrows and privately snickered over the abrupt about face of her fellow mages. They whispered about her and so they came down from the mountains, hunting for a golden goose and taking a girl who was barely even a sensitive. Thorne wasn’t trying to trap a Giantkiller, this time, but he was trying to test his potential recruit - and he wanted to get her out of the influence of her far less interesting classmates. Laney didn’t know this, not yet; she only knew that these were the people who hunted mages for the sake of the fire hidden under their skin.

These people had hunted a Jones before, and Laney was going to make them bleed for every heartbeat she had lived without him. She had an elsewhere crack around her neck, and it faded in the golds of the elsewhere as she told an exasperated, understanding Rupert that she wasn't running from this.

Rupert followed shortly after on a surprise internship, a desk hero out to get some field experience. Laney wasn't running, but she also hadn't been sitting around doubting this friendship, so she'd known she wouldn't be doing this alone even before she slipped away to speak to him. Gloria, Heather and Clem went North too, because someone had taken their mage (their sharpshooter, their friend) and they were going to get her back. Sarge frowned over the paperwork, but they were a close-knit group, and Rupert had forged the paper trail too convincingly to stop them. Sarge scowled and scowled, and was uncomfortably uncertain whether he would have stopped them if he could. He had known another Jones, once, with golden fire like that in his veins. He knew what they did to mages with a legend that spread that far, in the mountains.

(A squeaky sage named Sanders Grey buried his nose deeper in his books and pretended fiercely that it was nothing to do with him - that he didn’t know why, that he didn’t know where, that he didn’t feel guilt pooling in the pit of his stomach. He pretended that the headaches were from reading in the dim light, and some days it was even true. He would spend a grudging season after he graduated at the Waypost in the Forest, then move to the library in St John’s Port to embark on a happy lifetime organizing books and scowling at visitors. Spider had left a letter and a parcel of books for him, as he slipped into the Academy to steal away one of their students from down the hall, but hadn’t tried to tempt him home; he trusted Sandry’s chances without her brother’s help, in a world where their three most visible opponents were years dead and buried)

Laney fled the slavers in the middle of the night and was dragged back by the next morning, unknown trackers hidden on her skin. Spider hauled them all before the Seeress, a useless clump of people who held no value or interest to her except for that one of them was the Piper’s sister, an amusement to gloat over. She sat Laney down for a polite chat, to detail how her brother had been a thief and a fool and how he had died.

She did not mention how bright that light had burned, how she had felt it snuffed out. Laney kept her face smooth but the Seeress read her feelings in the flickers of gold around her shoulders, her unclenched fists, her smooth brow - despair, hatred, and a furious broken love. Cassandra wasn’t quite sure, yet, what she planned to do with these interlopers, but killing Bureau Leagues, even trainee ones, was not a sensible course of action, so she shut them in the cells until she had time to calculate her angles.

Laney broke them out instead, and they fled. It was sheer luck that led them to find the shallow cave with supplies and wards to hide them from the sight of even Cassandra Graves - an overturned rock that exposed a hint of a rune, a scuff mark at the back that suggested where to stand to complete the ward. Laney and Gloria pieced it together, and if either of them thought it odd that it should be both so secure and yet coincidentally left open, they did not voice it. In the morning, they stumbled down a valley into a sleepy village that held a statue and a grave that Laney still didn’t quite believe belonged to the same man.

(Spider did not linger to see if they found the shallow hiding hole - he had done his best, and he could not afford to be discovered. He had given them a chance, which was more than he could give most. Thorne had sent a letter North with quiet instructions, and this had been one of them. He had given no reasons why, but Spider was well used to this)

But there was more to this village than the ghost of Laney’s older brother in a village the Rangers had told her how to find. Sarge had told her about Beatrice and Bidi, too, and he’d sent a message North to the Baker, telling her to be on the lookout. Laney recognised the wards pressed into the bones of the bakery, stopped short with her shuddering breath caught in her throat, and Bea stepped forward to pull her into a hug.

They stayed a few days, until they woke one morning to a flag on the hill declaring that an informant had come visiting. Bea took Rupert with her when he offered, but left the others behind. She recognised the resigned pragmatism in his shoulders; she knew he would understand bargaining with almost any devil for the sake of fewer names on a list of the dead. Rupert would understand taking information from the Spider, but she thought the others might object on principle, and the Baker’s network wasn’t so widespread that she could afford lose any threads no matter how little she liked them. Laney was busy teaching Bidi some of the stories from the desert that her father hadn’t gotten the chance to tell her; Gloria, Clem and Heather were keeping carefully out of the way.

They had no link to the Merry Men to earn safe passage through the Woods, so Bea sent messages to Little John through other channels and gave them directions to Challenge instead. Rosie scowled and watched them warily, but Laney was a Jones, and they all remembered Liam. Laney listened to them whisper, to the grief tinging unfamiliar voices, to the echoes of a hero she’d thought only she knew. Rupert had helped a mage in the mountains to heal, unknowing, and now he slipped from bed to bed, trying to use a gift he hadn’t known lurked in his skin.

It went the same as it would in a world where there were different friends here - a collapsed mine and a missing hero; slipping in Spider’s wake into the depths of the Graves’ lab. There was no pipsqueak sage to light the bombs, but Gloria and Laney figured out how to tie the necessary enchantment to a bullet when Spider flagged the issue in their planning session, a joint invention that would have been gleeful were it not for the circumstance. Clem went down under falling rubble and propped himself against a wall to wait while Laney ran towards the sound of danger - Heather and Gloria had followed Spider to the upper floors, met Cassandra Graves and been dragged before the Mayor.

There was no squeaking sage to have secrets torn out of him and laid bare, but Laney still went down with every knotted cord burning, still pushed herself to shaking knees to aim a gun into the golden light of every scrap of power she had wrung from the world and take her best shot.

They were looking for Rupert, and the Bureau was their best chance. Laney signed onto Thorne’s gleeful payroll, while Heather took up her delayed position at the university and Gloria joined her old classmate Grey in the library archives (and badgered Laney into both eating regularly and porting her out to hidden shooting ranges so that she could stay in practice).

Rupert broke himself out of a prison, the Seeress at his shoulder, and met them outside. Laney had been furiously planning a break in from the moment she’d put together where he must be, but Heather had befriended a Bureau lab tech while searching for interesting plants in the market stalls that lurked off the beaten track of St John’s Port, an acquaintance solidified in the frantic rush of triage in a soup kitchen turned infirmary, a mutual seething rage at a disease spread not by chance but by carelessness. Jillit Chu had passed a message on, quietly, a few days later, and one of the things Rupert had said was to wait.

He’d also had an informative discussion with Jill about the germination period of certain plants, which she hadn’t thought anything about mentioning to his friend when she asked anxiously how he was doing, not content with just he’s alive. Heather had nodded, thanked her, and gone back to the flat she shared with the others (and their uninvited but not unwelcome guest of Miz Eliza, when she wasn’t calling in favors and collecting resources to help retrieve her son) to give them a time frame. They were waiting with a getaway car, Laney using careful tricks picked up from the local hedgewitches to open a door, Gloria standing guard with a pistol their sharpshooter had pressed into her plump hands because she couldn’t trust her own.

Thorne wouldn’t know until hours later that there had been a security breach. They would have long since left St John’s Port behind, abandoning the truck somewhere for one of Miz Eliza’s associates to pick up while Laney ported them down to Rivertown - they had no mages with them to worry about the rift, though Laney held a quiet hope that the Seeress would be dragged into the fires instead of making it through with them. Cassandra saw this in the level set of Laney’s chin, the way her face was held perfectly smooth, the disdain in the flick of her eyes. She kept her own face still and expression disinterested. Neither of them were interested in letting an enemy see their flaws and weaknesses, even if Laney was bitterly aware she couldn’t truly hide them from a seer. Cassandra was safe in the knowledge that only two people had ever known of hers, and that neither of them would be telling anyone.

(Sandry didn’t know that her little brother had been only a few streets away, sleeping safe in the spare room the head librarian had been kind enough to let him rent cheap because he didn’t know anyone else in the city to share the rent of a flat with (because the lad was obviously years too young to be out on his own even if he furiously pretended otherwise) - she would have seen him if she’d been looking, but there had been other things to keep her eyes on, and she had long since trained herself out of wondering where Sam had gone.)

Rupert stumbled into Sally-Anne’s to be met with Sez’s fierce grin and a stern admonishment from Sally-Anne to never do that to us again. Laney lurked in the background, retrospective guilt pooling in her throat. It hadn’t occurred to her to let them know - that Rupert was missing, that they had leads, that if he was alive they’d find him and burn down any prison that tried to hold him, that they’d bring him home.

She wondered if they had figured it out somehow, or if they had been clinging to a desperate hope, a denial. She remembered sitting in the Academy library, learning that her brother was dead from whispered rumors, a full year after the fact. She remembered learning that there had been people who knew Liam had a family still in the desert, but hadn’t found a way to tell them they’d lost their footloose child.

(She remembered - she hadn’t found a way to tell the rest of the family yet, either, and shoved the thought back where it had come from. There was a revolution to win, first.)

Sez had been building plans for years, and Rupert wasn’t the reason for it but he was the spark to set it in motion. There was no-one left in their chosen battleground but those who’d decided they wanted to fight for this; Thorne tried to claim the town and Sez brushed away the dirt he was sneering down his nose at to show the lines already drawn. Golden walls rose, the careful work of patient hands, and Laney’s fingers itched to pick apart how it had been done.

None of them had lived through a siege before, but they knew enough from history lessons to know that Laney’s ability to port people out and supplies in were a lifesaver. Sez assigned her an assistant to track supplies and routes, a cheerful burly lad who joked about being a glorified scribe and went still and silent when they mentioned the forgetting field. He wasn’t much help with the technical work on Rememberer, or Laney and Gloria’s private project to see if they could build a device to extract energy direct from the Elsewhere, but it turned out he had a knack for spotting patterns and sifting through data, so they gave him the records of fire demons Red and Leaf had been compiling to filter through. Laney spent a tense few days wondering if she was the cause of things, until their stand in sage pushed pages of annotated maps at her and pointed out the total lack of overlap, chattered ideas for experiments at her to see if she might be strengthening the fabric of the world as she went. If he saw the way her shoulders settled, a tension she’d been hiding as best she could, he didn’t mention it.

Gloria had liberated plans for the machines from the Mayor’s ruined lab, correctly guessing that they wouldn’t be the only copies, knowing that even if not now that it had been done once it would be discovered again. She and Laney had spent scattered evenings pouring over them, figuring out how to modify them - if Laney could wring power out of the sky, they could find a way to make the machines work without draining a mage for power.

The Seeress had smuggled out her own copies of plans from the Bureau lab, parts of machines bundled up under her skirts - it would be their trainee sage who showed her the results of Laney and Gloria’s experiments, cheerfully oblivious to her history. He’d spotted her peering over the blueprints, and just thought that maybe she was helping the other two out. He didn’t understand why she burst into tears when the lightbulb flickered on, knees hitting the ground hard enough to bruise. If he had ever known her name, her reputation, he didn’t remember it to begin to guess at what this might mean. He figured that she must have lost a mage to the machines, and he wasn’t entirely wrong.

When she wiped her eyes, Cassandra looked at him, at the ripples of gold around him, and told him who he was. She watched the bubbles pop around him as the knowledge faded as soon as he heard the words, and she hesitated. There was a cruelty here that she had delighted in at first, a delicious irony, but here was a compassion as well that she would never have thought to look for from this quarter. She looked at the machine, it’s low hum and the cold electric light, the lack of residue, everything she’d never let herself dream was possible, and thought I wish I could show Sam. I wish Spider was alive to see this.

Rupert didn’t question her, when she gave him suggestions on the rememberer. She didn’t challenge him on it, needling at loyalties and looking for a reaction, kept the barbs that sprang to the tip of her tongue locked behind her teeth, and reached for the wrench to make the adjustment.

Laney was on a watchtower when the floor rose to meet her, memories slamming back into place with an abruptness that sent her to the ground, that felt like it should have hurt. She fell more than climbed down the ladder, leaving her station to a confused second in command. There were furious shouts on the other side of the wall, and the part of her than wasn’t reeling guessed we weren’t the only ones they hid things from. Her heart thudded in her ears as she ran for Sally-Anne’s, guilt choking her as memories slotted back into place. She slammed into the doorway, stumbling to a halt - Gloria and Heather were already there, crying in belated grief, slumped either side of their cheerful trainee sage - their battered combat spec.

~~~

Clem had been required to repeat a year at the Academy to make up the work missed with his run of bad injuries, a broken arm in the first battle for Driftwood Island and a leg crushed in the fight at Gravestown. He’s called Gloria with regular updates on what Red and Leaf’s band of hooligans was up to that week and to talk about the mathematical puzzles they sent each other. Sometimes Heather stole the phone to tell him about her research, and he doodled out trend graphs on scrap paper while he tried to figure out what she was talking about. They talked about Rupert, a little, but none of them were so naive as to think that it safe to share their suspicions aloud.

A careful few days after Rupert’s memorial service, Clem had wandered down into Rivertown to have a quiet chat with Sally-Anne about a missing friend. He’d waited to see if there were any patterns to watch out for, any hints to send back to the others, to make sure that if any of the Bureau were watching saw just a grieving schoolmate who had accepted his loss. They weren’t sure if the Bureau were responsible for Rupert, but at the end of the day that just meant they weren’t sure they hadn’t been. Clem didn’t mention to the others that he’d made the trip - it didn’t occur to him that they hadn’t thought of it; he figured they’d rightly assumed he would handle it.

He kept his head down at the Academy as much as he could, though he couldn’t escape notice as one of the sort-of ringleaders of the new Stable Loft Crew (Red and Leaf ran it, but they’d figured out the year before that Clem wasn’t a bad support instructor). He couldn’t help search for Rupert, but he combed the library for information on Walking Stars, for statistics on the mountain’s energy supplies. He stepped in when he saw people being bullied, tried to see the patterns in the Academy Rupert had woven himself into and pick up the slack, and tracked down reports of shady Bureau dealings of the past, trying to see patterns in those as well. He called Laney more rarely than either Gloria or Heather, because they’d always had very little in common at the end of the day, but they were still part of a team, and at the end of the day that mattered to both of them.

Clem had been on the watch for the Bureau, but he was only a student, and one unused to politics. The Quiet Branch had always kept an eye on the Academy, and they noticed the way the young combat spec was acting. He broke the arm of one of the agents who came for him, and gave the other a black eye. He woke up in an alleyway with bruised knuckles, and didn’t know why.

Thorne was always watching for people who might hold some sway over any of his prospects, and he had needed a test subject.

~~~

It felt, later, like that flick of a switch had set it all in motion - as though when one of Thorne’s plan’s unraveled they all did.

Jillit Chu turned up on their doorstep, grimly relieved and determined to finish what she’d started. Rupert welcomed her gratefully, and she eyed the impassive Seeress the way she had in the hidden lab. Some things had changed with the flick of a switch, but the weight of those years failing to save the Seeress’ victims hadn’t. Cassandra looked coolly back, and pretended that she wasn’t reeling herself, that the ground below her feet was still the steady ground of what we do is right.

In this world, there was no squeaky sage sharing a room with his big sister to make Wren hesitate. She slipped into the Seeress’s room with a knife to hold a blade to the throat of a monster. Cassandra hissed all the bile she could, every weakness she could see spiraling around them, and Wren’s smile was colder than anything the Seeress had ever managed. She left Cassandra alive, because this wasn’t about revenge, about paying in blood for what the Seeress had wrought. This was a shaking woman proving that she could face down her monsters, that her nightmares had no hold over her. That she could choose to let the Seeress live because it wasn’t worth killing her, because the Seeress was just a young woman who couldn’t harm her again.

She left Cassandra alive, and Sandry shook through the night. Many people had cursed the Seeress’s name over the years, hissed threats, but few had ever gotten close enough to lay hands on her. She remembered making hot cocoa for her brother after bad dreams, remembered telling him he wasn’t allowed to be afraid like that would be enough to keep him safe.

Thorne went after Bea, after Bidi, and Laney ran for the mountains with Rupert on one side of her and Clem at her heels - it took only minutes to port through, but the dragons were quicker even than even that. Bidi had screamed for help, and they had answered. Clem spent an hour in delighted conversation with them via Bidi, scholarly glee and childish enthusiasm, while Laney did her best to comfort Bea for the loss of her home while her daughter was distracted. Once Bidi was asleep, Clem helped Laney dig out the remains of the attackers from the bakery rubble and bury them so that Bea wouldn’t have to - he also collected what scraps of identifying possessions he could find, tucking them carefully in a pocket in case there was someone who would want them back.

They returned to Rivertown exhausted, and woke to a renewed assault, Thorne’s death twisted to a rallying point. Shay cursed her mentor’s shining recruit, wanted to shriek why - but if she questioned his decisions, she did it so quietly even she wasn’t aware. She scowled at maps and reports, tried to pretend her steps weren’t haunted by her losses. She told herself her decisions were rational, that her choices had always been hers even if she didn’t remember making them.

The Bureau managed to splinter their golden wall, and as Laney moved to repair it Cassandra slipped from the shadows to dart through the crack in their defences. Laney watched her step through, and thought about how laughably easy it would be to put a bullet in her back, for all that her hands trembled with old wounds. Liam had fallen for the last time rescuing those who would have been burned to nothing in the rooms below this girl’s home. Mages had been fleeing the mountains for years because of the things this young woman saw.

Laney closed her hand around the grip of her favourite pistol, and handed it over through the shimmering curtain. She wanted to say so many things - I do not forgive you, I could kill you but it wouldn’t be enough, so what would be the point? I hate you but you gave us our friend back, so here you go, a life for a life. I will live all my life hating you, but I will not be haunted by you. She said none of it, because if she tried she would break. Cass saw it in the swirls of gold around her, and gave her a grudgingly respectful nod. When Laney looked up from closing the gap she was gone, slipping away through the streets of Rivertown like a ghost.

It was Laney who strode into the negotiation room when Shay called for a truce, because she had the Quiet Branch’s respect even if she didn’t have their affection, and Sez trusted her to fight for the right things, these days, despite the Academy badge. She had Sez and Sally’s long thought out demands, their plans, her own hard won lessons and Rupert’s deliberate morality - and she had a secret waiting on the tip of her tongue.

In the dark of a hidden lab, Cass had whispered stories, clinical and aching, not sure if she wanted sympathy or just a reaction, and Rupert had passed them on. Shay snapped accusations, dismissals, grief - and Laney she remembered sunlight, warm on the back of her chair on a long ago day when Rupert told her the truth and broke her heart. She took a sniper’s steadying breath, and looked Shay in the eye.

“Do you know how Spider died?”

Falling is the bravest thing I know, Laney whispered at the funerals, at graves old and new, in the doorway of a cottage where an old woman wept like broken glass with old, delayed grief as Jill held her frail hands and Rupert hovered, stuffy with sympathy. She had broken like that, once, something jagged sitting under her heart that she wasn’t sure would ever go away even if the edges could be smoothed over time. Liam had fallen, hit the mountain stone and not gotten up, but the impact had shattered Laney too.

I will be brave, she whispered to herself, and Rupert squeezed her hand gently as she got to her feet. The desert sand shifted under her boots and she stood firm, bracing herself to deliver a blow she had never stopped reeling from. She watched the expressions around the fire twist, grief and mourning, bittersweet stories, and thought about the ripples that had spread from every fall in this fight. She would try to map it out, on sleepless nights - the way strangers whispered her brother’s name and murmured about the Dragon Slayer and the Giantkiller, the steady promises of the mountain folk: we can’t let their memories down. Laney wondered if they’d known how they would shake the world when they fell, but they weren’t the only ones.

Spider must have known that Thorne wouldn’t let betrayal live, but he’d taken the shot and hit the polished floor because he refused to watch more children burn for the sake of another man’s ambition. Bea had woken in a cold house, twice over, and hauled herself back to standing because she refused to let the monsters win, kept a map of every victory, every loss, every bitter step of her quiet war. Jill had gritted her teeth after every failure, every fading patient a new reason to keep trying no matter the weight on her shoulders.

Rosie and Susie had built Challenge from the wreckage of their home, an old mining village digging deep and refusing to be driven away, turning every broken family and nightmare into a rallying cry. Maid Marian had put her back to the mountains and walked away, the memory of smoke and snow on her heels until she forged something new in the back streets of St. John’s Port, had dared to invest her broken heart in a new set of faces and carve out support for the people the Bureau didn’t care about.

Rupert had been buried in the rubble of a cave in, been dragged out and lost months to Thorne’s secrets, taught himself to wear a civilian sweater like a uniform while they scrambled to find him, had stumbled through the door of the fish shop and been the spark that Sez turned into a beacon. So many people had come to the defence of Rivertown, against fire demons and Bureau soldiers, names Laney had known over Academy tables and ones she hadn’t, and some of them hadn’t gotten the chance to deal with the aftermath.

Laney had hit the plush carpet of the Mayor’s office, every limb burning, and pushed herself as close to standing as she could get and taken her best shot. She was long, aching years from the time when bravery meant bruised knees and scraped palms, dragging herself inch by stubborn inch up the tallest palm tree, meant letting herself fail a hundred times to learn to do it right.

Sometimes the bravest thing is falling, letting yourself try and knowing you might not succeed, that you might hit the ground hard enough to bruise, pushing yourself back up after to try again.

Sometimes it’s to keep breathing - to put one stumbling foot in front of the other until it feels like you’re filling your lungs with air not choking on ash.

I will be brave, Laney said, and breathed in.

#Leagues and Legends #my writing #L&L fic #It's another all the mountain vigilantes die series rewrite folks!#Laney sort of took this one over and I'm okay with that

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ericsonclan · 3 years

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A Comforting Melody

Summary: Clementine wanders around Ericson with Maisy to find Louis who has a new song to show her.

Word Count: 1796

Read on AO3:

Clementine walked through the silent hallways of the dorms, her footsteps the only sound save for the muffled voices outside in the courtyard. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the peace of the moment before Maisy stirred in her sling. Her baby began to cry softly and Clementine rocked her lightly as she walked forward.

“Hey, it's okay. I’m right here,” Clementine smiled down softly at her daughter. Maisy looked up at her mom with large eyes and seemed to calm down a bit. Clementine gave a small sigh of relief, glad that Maisy had settled down. She continued down the hallway and noticed that the sun was setting which meant that dinner wouldn’t be too long from now.

Her eyes wandered back down to the sling and noticed that Maisy looked rather sleepy. Maybe she could sneak in a quick nap time for Maisy but Clementine also wanted to check in with Louis. Considering her options for a moment, Clementine opted to find her husband before settling Maisy down for a nap. Wandering towards the doors Clementine carefully opened them and was hit with the sounds of her friends happily going about their daily lives.

Aasim had just gotten back from hunting and immediately went over to Ruby after setting down the catches for the day. He always made sure to find Ruby first to reassure her that he was okay after a day of hunting. Aasim smiled softly at his wife and stole a quick kiss before holding out his hands to hold his son. Ruby handed Zachariah over and Aasim gently held his son and placed a kiss on his forehead before rocking him softly.

To the right of the happy family Willy was busy trying to learn how to braid hair from Violet and Prisha. Renata seemed just as intent on learning the special art of hair braiding. Allison sat before Renata and seemed somewhat reluctant about being her guinea pig for this but the small smile on her lips made it clear that Allison wouldn’t say no. Meanwhile James was busy helping out with dinner prep with Omar. The pair spoke softly as the faint sound of knives slicing through the vegetables filled the air around them.

“Willy! It’s your turn for watch!” AJ called out from the watchtower, cupping his hands around his mouth. Willy groaned in annoyance, his hands hovering over Prisha’s hair. He was just about to start the first few steps on his journey to becoming the best hair braider of all. .

“Don’t worry, you can always practice later,” Prisha smiled back at Willy who returned the smile.

“Okay,” Willy hopped up from his spot and jogged forward towards AJ who was already waiting at the base of the watchtower. “Any funny looking walkers today?”

AJ thought deeply for a moment at that question. “I think one was stuck in a tree,”

“Really?” Willy snatched up the binoculars from AJ and scrambled up the ladder to the watchtower. He immediately looked out to see a walker who had its hand stuck in a tree. With a groan the walker yanked on its arm, causing it to tear off as it continued after a rabbit that was far too speedy for it to catch. Willy laughed and continued to watch on. AJ watched his best friend for a few seconds before his eyes caught sight of Clementine.

“Clem!” AJ ran forward with a huge smile. His eyes grew large when he noticed his little sister sleepily blinking at him from inside the slink. “Shit. I mean, shoot!” AJ quickly corrected himself before he realized he was talking too loudly again. A look of frustration covered his face as his lips pulled into a pout.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Clementine laughed and ruffled the top of AJ’s afro. “Maisy and I are just going to say hi to Louis before Maisy gets her nap time.”

“It’s Maisy’s nap time? I gotta grab my shiv and go on patrol!” AJ didn’t wait a single second for Clementine to respond and was off like a shot.

“AJ, where’s Louis?” Clementine called out but he was already long gone. With a soft chuckle she shook her head and continued forward. She’d just have to find Louis on her own. AJ tended to get like this whenever Maisy was settling down for a nap. He’d either insist on going on a patrol to make sure no walkers got in and there were no threats around or he’d sit on the bed nearby his sister and keep watch. Either way AJ was determined that no one ever hurt Maisy in any way. Clementine found the whole thing very sweet, how AJ always wanted to protect his family so fiercely and how deeply he loved Maisy. It warmed Clementine’s heart.

Clementine strolled forward, lightly bouncing Maisy as she walked. If Louis wasn’t in the courtyard and most of the daily chores were done, then there was only one place he would be. Clementine immediately made a beeline to the admin building and knew her hunch had been right. For as soon as she had entered she could hear the warm, soft melody of the piano. Clementine felt a smile pull on her lips as she wandered forward towards the music room. Peeking her head inside she saw Louis, lost in his music as his fingers danced upon the piano keys. He continued to play for a few more seconds before he felt Clementine’s presence. Glancing over, Louis’ face instantly brightened when he saw his wife. Sliding off the piano bench, he strolled forward and captured Clementine’s lips in a soft, tender kiss.

“Hello, my darling. What brings you here? Did my alluring music draw you in?” Louis grinned before his smile softened as he became lost in Clementine’s eyes.

“It definitely helped me find you.” Clementine reached out and gently squeezed Louis’ hand. Her heart felt calm and light like it always did when she was around Louis. The two shared a smile before Louis noticed the sling.

“And who is this a-Mais-ing bundle of joy?” Louis gently picked up Maisy and began to rock her. Maisy smiled and gave a small laugh as she reached up to try and grab one of Louis’ dreadlocks. “Damn, how did our kid turn out to be so cute?” Louis looked over at Clementine with a warm smile.

“I think we’re both pretty cute so it only makes sense. Plus she has some of our best features, like your freckles,” Clementine poked one of the freckles on Louis’ face before bopping his nose. Louis’ nose crinkled with joy and he leaned forward and kissed Clementine once more. He looked down at his daughter with pride and love.

“Well, she had your smile,” Louis felt his heart grow warm when he looked at his daughter. “Oh, how about Maisy takes her nap in here? She always loves the sound of the piano plus the rocking chair is in here,” Louis motioned with his head over to the rocking chair that Willy and Prisha had made during the months leading up to Maisy and Zach being born.

“I thought the rocking chair would be on the porch of the admin building,” Clementine commented as she walked side by side with Louis towards the rocking chair.

“It was but as it turns out Zachariah also finds piano music calming. So sometimes when Ruby or Aasim want a quick break from their kid crying they sneak in here with Zach and soon enough my music conks him out.” Louis smiled over at Clementine and gently placed Maisy back into her mother’s arms.

He pressed a quick kiss to Maisy’s forehead then was pleasantly surprised when Clementine captured his lips in a kiss. Louis’ heart soared and he felt like he always did around Clementine, filled with hope and joy. He gave a dorky grin then pulled on the sides of his coat. “I happened to be working on a special little piece for our family when you strolled in. I’ll have to play it again when AJ is around. Where is he by the way?”

“He’s out on patrol. I told him Maisy was taking a nap,” Clementine gently rocked back and forth in the chair.

“Gotta hand it to that little dude, he’s nothing if not protective. It's adorable, him being so protective of our family,” Louis smiled softly; the pride for AJ was clear in his voice. “Well, he’ll have to hear this song later but for now I can give you a sneak peek,”

Louis’ smile was infectious and Clementine couldn’t help but return it. “I’d love that. Let’s see what you wrote this time, Freckles,” Clementine watched as Louis spun around dramatically, causing his tailcoats to flutter lightly. Louis pushed the tailcoats back and sat down. Taking a deep breath, he began to play the song. It was a soft, joyful song. The notes slowly filled the air, complementing each other as the song progressed. His fingers brushed against the keys and fluttered around.

Clementine listened to the music, closing her eyes to soak in every single note as she rocked back and forth in the chair. Louis’ music had always been special; the emotions that he captured in them were always so strong and clear. The notes danced around the room, filling it with the passion that was poured into the song. The joy of it, the tender love, the feeling of comfort and safety. Clementine felt like she could listen to this song forever. Before she knew it the song had ended.

“There, first time played,” Louis spun around on the piano bench and gave his wife a loving smile. Clementine opened her eyes and looked over at Louis.

“I loved it. Does it have a name?”

“Shelter,” Louis awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Not the most original name, I know.”

“It's perfect.” Clementine’s words made Louis’ eyes shine with joy. Without thinking twice Louis got up and quietly jogged over to steal another kiss from Clementine. Looking down, he saw that Maisy was fast asleep.

“Works every time,” Louis gently took Clementine’s hand and brushed his thumb on top of it. The two watched their daughter for a moment before Clementine spoke up.

“Could you play the song again?”

Louis’ smile grew and he placed a quick peck on Clementine’s cheek. “Of course, my darling.”

Giving his wife’s hand a soft squeeze Louis moved back over to the piano and began the song once more. Clementine closed her eyes and took in every single note. Her heart filled with peace and abundant joy. To think that she had a home and a family. Clementine couldn’t help but feel extremely lucky. She was home.

#twdg #twdg clementine #twdg louis #twdg aj #twdg maisy #twdg ruby #twdg aasim #twdg zachariah #clouis #rusim #fanfic

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kmudle · 5 years

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Hi Kent! When romancing was first hinted at I thought that there could be a problem with AJ. It’d always been just him and Clem. And now there’d be someone else competing for her affections, which he could react negatively to. Did you ever consider this possibility? Thanks!

I don’t think AJ understands relationships enough to be like “Clem will spend less time with me due to boy/girl friend” and since it’s only ever been him and Clem together, he takes Clem being around as a given.

AJ is so wired for survival all he cares about is her safety. He’s constantly worried about physical threats to Clem’s person or life, but I don’t think he even understands emotional/mental threats enough to be concerned about about them.

We even have that moment where if he sees Clem and love interest kissing he just finds it funny. Like why would you put your face on someone else’s face? He’s got no concept of romance, just friendship, and his special bond with Clem that he understands as ‘love’

#twdg

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the-walking-memelords · 4 years

Text

A2 - Chapter 6: Search for Safety

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Series is rated M

Word Count: 2528

Clementine finds herself reintroduced to the horrors of the world outside her secluded home.

Read it on Ao3!

Read it on Wattpad!

The smell of pine sap permeated the air as the fallen green needles crunched under her boots. The hardness of the ground below her was the only real indication that this was a paved road as leaves and branches masked the abandoned route. White clouds formed in front of their faces with every exhale as the chilly morning air clung to their skin. The clouds above their heads danced with the strong winds as they darkened with every passing hour.

I hope we find the others before that storm hits.

Eli followed along in silence, hands jammed into his pockets and seemingly locked inside his own thoughts. Clementine walked behind him, not willing to let him out of her sight just yet. She wanted to trust him, she really did, but caution was required with someone unknown and unpredictable.

Clementine had decided that she would do what she could to help the boy, but if he tried to throw it back at her, she wouldn’t hesitate.

Louis led the way with AJ at his side. The two of them talked in hushed voices that couldn’t reach her ears, but AJ was smiling, so she wasn’t worried.

Eventually, the trees grew sparse as they approached a hint of urbanization in the seemingly endless forest. At least in the forest, you could pretend all was right with the world. Untouched wilderness remaining uninterrupted by humanity. But approaching something like this, shells of burnt-out cars overtaken by vines scattered and crashed along the cracked pavement. The faded yellow lines that once divided the lanes became ignored as this flurry of people rushed to get away from the first of the walkers. The cars sat rusted and charred, crushed together in nearly unrecognizably twisted clusters.

The four of them walked past the automotive graveyard, ignoring the unmoving jaws of the scorched skeletal figures slumped in the seats. Their remains fused to the very material.

A small, high-pitched gurgle was barely audible from one of the cars. It was a minivan. Red paint chipped and melted in the front half leaving the back to be weathered down but more or less intact. Another wheeze came out of the heat-shattered window.

The four of them stopped as the shuffling of the agitated walker became more apparent. Louis and Clem looked at each other as they gauged the possible threat.

Louis stepped forward silently, reaching his bat out in front of him as he tapped the metal under the opening.

A small, bony hand gripped the edge on the window frame, unconcerned about the glass shards digging into its skin. The face of a child appeared over the frame, half of her face burned to a crisp with an empty eye socket. The other side that still had some remnants of functional flesh was twisted into a dark scowl. Locks of thin and matted hair hung from a ponytail still tied in a bow with a stained yellow ribbon. The little girl lunged out of the window, the glass tearing into her yellow dress staining it with her nearly black blood and holding her in place.

Clementine stared at her with eyes filled with shock.

Why did it have to be a kid?

Even now in her 20’s, seeing a child as one of them made her think of how close she came to being just like that. She would have been dead in a week if Lee had never found her. Dead, and turned. Without ever knowing what was happening around her. Just like this little girl.

Maybe that’s why the kids always made her hesitate. Killing an adult walker was more dangerous and more difficult, but she would never stop for even a second. But a kid? Looking into their blank eyes triggered a flash of all of the kids she knew to appear with those eyes in place.

Looking at this little girl’s white, unfocused eye made her think of every kid she watched die.

She could feel Louis’ sympathetic gaze on her. Clementine forced herself to find more interest in the mud on her boots than the dead child and shook her head. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Louis’ boots walk towards the van as the growls intensified. There was the shing of a knife and then silence. One final thump and it was all over. When Clementine looked back up it scene was as empty as it had been when they arrived, save for a piece of torn yellow fabric stuck to the broken glass.

She can rest now.

You didn’t know her.

Just don’t think about it.

“Let’s keep moving.” Clem said plainly as she took the lead.

---

The rushing rapids of the river could be heard from quite a ways away even over the whistling of the winds. The road approaching the substantially large steel bridge became even more clustered with abandoned vehicles lost to nature.

The fence separating the solid ground from the cliff’s edge was nearly non-existent at this point, leaving little to prevent someone from talking the steep and long plunge should they get too close.

The bridge seemed like it was the site of another panicked tragedy that was never resolved. The lone trailer of a transport truck laid perpendicular to the road, sitting on top cars it must have rolled onto.

“How do we get through?” AJ asked as they surveyed the trailer caught in both sides of the bridge’s supports.

Clementine walked to the edge and peered around. Looking down, barely visible in the water was the cab of the truck.

We go this way and we’ll end up down there with the driver.

“If the others made it around this thing then we’ll find a way too.” Louis said confidently as he looked around for a way across.

“What if we don’t.” Eli spoke for the first time in hours.

“What if we don’t find a way through? What does that mean?”

“It means they didn’t go this way and we have to look somewhere else.” Clementine responded, looking him dead in the eyes. She refused to consider the alternative.

A burst of thunder echoed in the distance. A warning of what was to come.

“We won’t be able to track them well in the rain so let’s hurry up and look around.” She walked past both Eli and AJ.

Louis sat crouched next to one of the crushed cars, rubbing something between his fingertips.

“What did you find?” She asked as she crouched next to him.

“Blood.” Louis’ fingers were covered in the sticky red substance.

“Living blood.”

Louis pointed ahead to the area underneath the trailer. It was a gap a few feet wide and tall that was a straight shot to the other side where it was boosted up by the car. A small yet sharp piece of metal stuck out from the side, covered in red that dripped to the road below.

“It’s still a little wet, so it’s not old. And it’s too light to be a walker’s blood.” Louis reasoned as the light from the other side of the bridge became a small beacon of hope as he rambled on.

“The spike is easy to see normally, but if someone was in a hurry, if multiple people tried to get through at once, or if someone couldn’t see very well, they could easily get cut.”

“You think this is where they got through?”

“I know it.”

From what she could see, the other side of the bridge was clear. A few dead walkers littered the road as well as…

Shit.

A mess of orange hair whipped around in the wind, the body it was attached to limp as the walkers.

No.

She’s too tall.

It’s not Ruby.

“Something happened over there.” Louis said.

“Let’s check it out.”

“I’ll go first.” A voice came from behind them.

Eli stood with a determined look in his eyes, and a hunting knife in his hand.

“I’ll look for walkers or signs of people being through here.” His determination faltered and revealed a tone of desperation in his voice.

“I can help.”

What is he trying to prove?

“Fine” Clementine relented. “I’ll go second, then AJ, then Louis.” Clementine stumbled onto her hands and knees as she crawled under the metal trailer, keeping in mind the sharp debris around her. This thing’s been solid for over a decade, what are the odds it falls now?

Her thoughts were halted by the boy frozen in place in front of her. Clem was about to ask what the matter was when she heard something unexpected answer her.

A horse whinnied from somewhere near the end of the bridge accompanied by the muted arguing of two men.

“What’s the holdup?” Louis asked from the other side.

“Gravediggers.” Eli growled.

Clementine squeezed in beside Eli to get a better look. Two men wrapped in fang-marked cloaks pulled a horse-drawn cart. The first man made a beeline to the dead woman, holding the sides of her head in his hands and bowing his head.

“She gonna come back?” The second man asked as he grabbed one of the walkers and threw its body into the cart.

“No.” He replied.

“Somebody put a bullet in her head.”

“Let’s just get her home and get her in the pit.” The second man said as he came to console the other.

“Word is the boss had his eye on her. She’s better off this way.”

“That don’t make this right.” His voice broke as he scooped her up in his arms.

“I’m sorry, Charlotte.”

The man placed her into the back of the cart gently as the other threw in the last walker. Just as quickly as they arrived they pulled the horse alone a side trail and disappeared into the trees.

They waited several minutes under that trailer to make sure the men would not return. When they determined that they had truly left, the four of them crawled out to survey what remained of the battle scene.

“What the hell was that about?” Louis asked, breaking the silence.

“Scouts don’t usually go alone with just walkers. She probably had a partner that booked it and left her to die.” Eli explained with a dark expression.

“Gravediggers pick up the bodies. Human or Walker. You’re worth the same to Wolfgang.”

---

They walked for a few miles along the road as the trees faded into abandoned fields which opened up for the outlines of a few buildings to appear in the distance. Thunder continued to periodically boom across the sky, getting closer and closer as the clouds threatened to unleash the storm upon them.

A truck stop sat next to a few large retail buildings. As soon as their shoes hit the parking lot they realized they weren’t the only ones headed to the old Save-Lots.

A sizable herd had converged in the wide-open area. The sounds of nearly a hundred of the dead drowned out anything else as they wandered aimlessly.

So much for this place.

“I don’t think they’re here.” AJ said as he held his binoculars up to his eyes.

“Theres so many.”

“Do they look like they’re trying to get inside?” Clementine asked.

Who knows how long they’ve been here.

Could’ve been days, could’ve been hours.

We can’t give up on this place yet.

“The front doors are all boarded up. There’s a few standing close to it but they’re not hitting it.”

“Whether they’re here or not we gotta find a place to hide before those clouds break and we get drenched.” Louis pointed out. As if on cue, the sky lit up with a flash of lightning followed by the crash of thunder.

“No time to backtrack. We gotta go through them or around them.”

AJ handed Clementine the binoculars. Looking through, walkers surrounded nearly every building. Though thinly spread, there was no getting in anywhere without being seen.

“Looks like there’s less around that smaller building past the Save-Lots. If we have to hold up here tonight it should be easier to clear and less likely to be noticed.” Clementine pointed out.

“Now for the gross part.”

---

Slicing her machete down the abdomen of the fallen walker released a burst of foul air around them that made her stomach turn. Clementine bit her lip as she stuck her hands into the gorey mess, trying not to breathe as she stained her red shirt darker.

I liked this one, too.

Louis gagged and spit off to the side as he made sure AJ was good and covered. Eli didn’t hesitate to join in, smearing his face first before his clothes. He’d probably done this more often than any of them, being covered in guts to move walkers from place to place.

“Alright.” Louis said as they all donned their camouflage.

“This is where we’re starting. We all know where we’re going. Don’t clump together but don't spread too far apart. Got it?”

“See you on the other side.” Clementine squeezed Louis’ hand and nodded to the boys.

---

There was something surreal about walking through a herd. Being surrounded by the creatures that had hunted her for most of her life yet being utterly ignored. Walking as one of them, but the only one with a purpose in mind. The only one who knew where she was going. It made part of her wonder what drove them. What could they feel if anything at all?

Was it a hunger?

A rage?

What force made them walk one way while she walked the other?

Once the years numbed the horror into normality it sparked a morbid curiosity. Sadly, she knew she would never have the answers to any of her questions.

Where did they come from? And why? What made them tick? How did they manage to bring the entire world to its knees?

Now’s not the time for idle thoughts.

A cold droplet landed on the tip of her nose as Clementine gazed up at the foreboding dark clouds over her head. A second droplet hit her cheek and rolled down her face as more followed. The rain began to fall quickly as it soaked everything around her.

Clementine looked around her frantically for any quick way out of the herd, but everywhere she looked the dead swarmed. She wasn’t even sure what way she had came from anymore. Desperate but trying to maintain her composure, she pushed through the walkers wherever she could, trying not to attract too much attention while also getting the hell out of there.

There was nothing. No one. She resisted the urge to call out to the others. How far had she been separated?

So much for sticking close…

She didn’t have time to worry no matter how much her heart wanted to. Her time was limited as the dribble slowly began to turn to a downpour. A red puddle formed underneath her as her camouflage began to wash away.

She bit her lip and forced her breath to remain steady.

They’ll notice me soon.

Find a way out, Clementine.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt grip of a hand on her shoulder.

#My writing #a2 #twdg clementine #twdg louis #twdg aj #the walking dead game #the final season #fanfic #clouis

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clemsbaseballcap · 5 years

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A/N: This user messaged me directly with another request that was very similar so I mixed both of the requests into one imagine. I hope you enjoy!

Count: 3,670 Words

Genre: Angst/Fluff

The kiss was no big deal. It was the only dare you were comfortable with doing, especially after refusing to do the three other dares Louis suggested. Then Clementine told you to either kiss Mitch or a Walker Head! You’d rather kiss your best friend since birth than a man-eating monster. Besides, you were confident it wouldn’t make things weird between the two of you. Nothing could do that, not after you accidentally walked in on Mitch changing his clothes on several occasions. A kiss on the lips was a piece of cake, even if it was your first. There was no preserving innocence at the end of the world.

Mitch kind of felt the same way. It’s not that he developed feelings for you, he couldn’t bring himself to do that, not with you. You were the greatest thing he had in this world, but a crush on you wasn’t going to develop any time soon. But he knew he was your first kiss, and he knew how you were planning on saving it for someone special. Of course, with the apocalypse, many ideologies from the world before were thrown away. So he wasn’t sure why the kiss phased him so much. He became more protective of you and kept a closer eye on you than he did before. He never worried about you too much, since you were the one who showed him everything he knows about survival, he knew you were fine on your own.

What surprised him more was that you had the guts to kiss him. He’s seen you do some pretty badass things, one of which being jumping off the roof of Ericsons and taking down a walker with a screwdriver to the eye, but knew you weren’t one for physical/romantic affection. That was your weakness, getting too close to someone just to have them disappear. It took Mitch a lifetime of friendship to win over your trust, he knew it would be difficult for anyone else to do the same. No one else but you and Mitch knew they had all assumed you had dated someone in the past before you came to Ericson.

You volunteered to climb into the greenhouse, not knowing whether or not there were walkers inside, leaving a bitter taste in Mitch’s mouth after he called out Clementine to do it. You sided with Mitch when he said walkers weren’t people, but you still insisted on burying Ms. Martin along with Ruby. She was human before, and she would have deserved a funeral if you guys had found her earlier. When you had the time. Mitch showed you how to build the bomb that was to be used to protect the place you called home. He would have let you name it if he had the chance. The raiders came so suddenly, it was a miracle the bomb was even finished when they began burning the perimeter.

Everything was fine, Clementine had it all under control. She was buying everyone time to get ready, to set up the bomb, time to save Ericson. Then Lilly began talking about Minerva and Sophie, which made Tenn come out from his hiding spot. You wanted to try and jump in front of him before he got too far, but you couldn’t without drawing the attention of about ten other raiders. You could do nothing but hope this wouldn’t mess things up too badly.

Never would you have thought it would have gotten your best friend killed.

The gunfight started, and you were taking down as many raiders as you could with your limited ammo. As you were reloading, you didn’t see Lily running to you with a dagger in her hand. Mitch did, and he did not hesitate to jump in front of you with his own dagger. He wasn’t quick enough and Lilly stabbed him in the neck, then in the head.

Aasim, who was a few feet away from you, grabbed you and hid your head in his chest to ensure you didn’t see Mitch die. You heard all of it, the sound of the metal being taken out of his neck, him choking on his own blood, your screams as they were forced out of your throat. Your body went numb, not comprehending that Mitch was no longer here with you.

“Kill who you have to! Then take the rest.” Lilly grunted before standing to her feet. Aasim took you with him to hide behind a wall, far out of Lilly’s line of sight. You tried to run after her to put a bullet you didn’t have in her head while you were still breathing. In the midst of it all, you found you didn’t have any more ammo. If you had taken a better inventory that morning, then you wouldn’t have been reloading your gun and Mitch would probably still be alive. He would be alive if you had just known how many bullets you had to work with.

“Y/N, please. Stay quiet.” Aasim begged, his grip not letting you budge from your spot.

“I can’t just leave him there. I have to go after him!” You cried, the gunshots and glass shattering being your soundproof room.

“He’s gone, Y/N. There’s nothing to go after. If you go out there, you’ll get yourself killed. I’ll be damned if I let that happen.”

“But-”

“None of that. You’re staying here with me until we can figure out a plan. I don’t think anyone saw us coming over here, so let’s hope they won’t anytime soon.” Aasim slowly pulled his arms away, a longing feeling you’ve never experienced was left where his hands once were. You and he sat against the wall, the dew of the grass below you soaking through your pants.

“The others should have made it into the admin building by now, I know Clem and AJ are up there with Abel.” You said to him, trying to keep your voice steady. While looking at Aasim, you could see Mitch’s body in the background. You refused to let your focus shift from Aasim’s dark orbs to your best friend’s corpse. You would not remember him as a bloody mess, but the hot-headed, fire starter you knew and loved.

Then you felt something hard at the back of your head before black took over. When you came to, you were laying down in a cage, Aasim and Omar with you.

“You still alive, over there?” Omar whispered, not wanting the raiders sitting on top of the cage to overhear the conversation.

“Hitting my head is enough to knock me out, not knock me down.” You joke.

“You got that right, Y/N. I thought you weren’t gonna come too, you’ve been out for hours.” Aasim said while holding his stomach.

“What happened to you?” You asked with no answer from Aasim.

“When the raiders grabbed you, Aasim fought like hell to try to get you back. Before they knocked him out, they kicked him in the stomach. We think a few of his ribs are broken.” Omar explained, hand still on his leg. You had almost forgotten he was the first of the night to get hurt. The first of many.

“Where is everyone else? Did they make it to safety?” You sit up and cross your legs before Aasim answers. “They got Louis. He’s in the other cage over there. I don’t think anyone else got hurt.”

“Where’s Mitch? I didn’t see him at all.” Omar questioned, looking at you with innocent, unknowing eyes.

“H-he, uh… didn’t make it.” You spoke, voice trailing at the end. You didn’t like crying in front of others, you rarely even let Mitch see you get emotional, let alone the other kids.

“His death was honorable. He would rather be dead knowing he did what he could to protect you than alive thinking he didn’t do enough. You know that. Imagine what he would say if he saw you upset like this.” Aasim came from the other side of the cage and kneeled in front of you, gripping your hands and forcing you to look at him.

“He’d tell me not to be a baby.” You chuckle, remembering all the time’s he’s said that to you. “Then he’d say to get off my ass and give him a hug.”

“Exactly. I’d much rather he be alive, and I’m sure you do too, but we can’t change the past. What we can do is make sure his sacrifice isn’t wasted.”

“What are you talking about? We’re their soldiers now, and if we refuse them they’ll kill us. If we accept, we fight someone else’s wars. I don’t think Mitch would have liked either of those outcomes.”

“He’d want you to keep living and to live for him. Yea, here we are in this shithole probably about to be tortured or forced to torture our friends, but at least we are alive. We’ll figure out where to go from there. Not much we can do at the moment, not with Omar and me in our condition. And who knows if the blow to your head did more damage than we know of. Our best bet is to wait until we get to wherever we’re going and hope for the best. If we see a chance to escape, it’s worth a shot.”

The cart ran over a rough patch and Omar winced as his leg hit against the metal. You wiped your eyes, stood up, and then proceeded to take off your sweater. You were left in a well-used tank top.

“Lift your leg, if you can.” You ordered as Omar strained to lift his leg off the ground, using both of his hands. You placed your sweater over the pool of blood and when he put his leg down you wrapped your sweater around the wound. “Hopefully this will stop the blood. I’m not too sure about what it’s gonna do about the pain, though.”

“Thank you, Y/N. I feel better already.” He smiled, really feeling better now that the blood is soaking up in the material.

“Don’t mention it. But you owe me a new sweater if we live long enough.”

“You got it, chief.” Omar chuckled, laying back with a calmness in his eyes. Even in this predicament, he’s only calm because he has no energy to be angry. The ride back was silent. The raiders keeping a close eye on you after they thought you heard you speaking, the crows call cannot be mistaken for a child’s voice, but you didn’t argue when they told you to shut your trap.

When you arrived, they bound your wrists and escorted you out, two raiders per child, soon to be soldiers. Lily and her groupies led you all to the boat, where the cells you were to be held in resided. Louis was taken to his own cell, while Omar and Aasim were bunked together.

“Get in there girly.” The woman said, ignoring your death glare.

“Why does she need to be by herself? She’s not a threat to you. Bunk her with us or Louis.” Aasim argues, gripping the bars separating him and the guard.

“She’s going in here son, and if I were you, I’d watch who I was talking to with that attitude.” The woman put her gun to your back and pushed the barrel against your shoulder.

“No! It’s not fair to keep her by herself after you MURDERED someone she loved! Stop this it’s-“

“I’ll be fine, Aasim. It could be worse.” You look into his eyes sternly, knowing if he didn’t shut his trap now it would be too late. He huffed and turned away, crossing his arms as you walked into your cell and heard the door slam and lock behind you. You sit on the ground and bring your knees to your chest. It’s hard to process the events that took place tonight, especially since it all happened so fast.

“Get some shut eye. If we don’t have to check in on y’all too much, you might get a dinner tonight.” The woman begins to walk up and down the hallway as she speaks. “Lily will be here in a few minutes, be sure to behave.”

She then leaves you and your friends in silence, only to turn around and come back in.

“Don’t make me regret this, kid.” She says, opening the door and pulling you to your feet. She then opens the cell Aasim and Omar are in and throws you down, Aasim is quick to be by your side and scan you for injury from the fall.

“Cooperate and you’ll all live another day.” The woman finalized before leaving the room for good. The moment the door closes, Louis is kicking at the cell door, see if he could get it loose, but it was fruitless.

“Dude, just give it up already. These doors aren’t gonna open. We need to wait.” Aasim tried to calm Louis down, but he was too upset.

“There is no time to wait! If we don’t do something now all of us are gonna either die or fight for someone else. We need to get out right now while we’re alone!”

“Did you not hear that woman just now? Lily is on her way, she’ll be here any minute. What are you gonna do if she sees you trying to get out, huh? We don’t know them yet, she can put a bullet in you without hesitation.”

“Fuck that! And fuck Lily too!” Louis screamed as he pushed harder. Over the noise he was making, no one noticed Lily standing in the doorway with her second in command, or with a butcher’s knife.

“What was that? I thought I heard my name.” She spoke with a sinister smile, spinning the knife against her fingertip.

“Dorian,” the butch woman stood at attention in response to her name “get the trash talker out of there. So he can say what he has to say to my face. The Ericson kids, including you, figured Louis wasn’t mad enough to confront Lily full frontal. He had to know when he needed to shut up, right?

“You heard me you evil bitch! I’m gonna make sure you aren’t going to hurt anyone else!” Louis ran to attack, only to have Lily wrap her hand around his throat.

“Louis!” You scream, rushing to the cell door and banging on it. “Leave him alone! He’ll shut up! We’ll work with you!”

“Too late for that. You kids need to learn your lesson, especially this one.” She gritted, nodding at Dorian to take the knife. With her free hand, Lily forced Louis’ jaw to open his mouth while Dorian inched at him with the knife. In the heat of the moment, you pushed your hands through the bars and grabbed at Dorian’s vest. You managed to jam your forearm around her neck and pull her head against the cell door, keeping her away from Louis and gradually losing the flow of oxygen to her brain. Since you didn’t have a good view of the situation, you didn’t see Dorian reaching for the lock and ripping it open. She swung the door open and attacked you with her blade, causing you to fall back against the floor while your hands were holding her wrists. Her body straddled yours, but your strength was your strong suit. The blade inched closer to your face and you struggled, muscles beginning to give out from using them so much in a short amount of time. Next thing you knew, Dorian was off of you and Aasim was holding her down.

“Get the fuck away from her!” He yelled, using what he could against her. He kneed her side and then elbowed her nose. Aasim knew that he was one of the brains in the group and definitely not the muscle, you thought he was a good candidate for the dashing good looks category. Lily was still holding a furious Louis, knowing if she let go he would attack again, with her walkie was hooked to her side. If only she was able to reach it and signal for help.

Dorian managed to force herself up and stabbed Aasim in the shoulder, causing him to drop then and there. In annoyance, Dorian rushed out of the cell and locked it once more. Louis, in shock, stopped struggling against Lily. He had thought Aasim has just been murdered. Seeing his defeat, Lily put him back into his cell, relatively unharmed.

“Shit, Aasim!” You rushed over to where Aasim was sitting on the floor and put your hand on his wound. “Fuck…” he muttered, causing Louis to sigh a breath of relief. It hurt like a bitch, but he knew you had to stop the bleeding somehow. “I’ll be fine, Y/N. She didn’t get you, right? You’re okay?”

“Aasim how in the hell can you worry about me when you’re literally bleeding out?! Put your hand there, I’ll find something to help with it. She must’ve hit an artery, it’s not slowing down.” You stand and witness Dorian and Lily wordlessly walking out.

“There’s nothing in here, Y/N,” Omar explained.

“What about you, Lou? Got anything in your cell?”

“Not a thing.” He mumbled with shame knowing that his actions got his friend hurt, and now he was helpless to fix it.

“Well, we’re pretty fucked.” Your eyes wander down to Omar, more specifically your jacket that is wrapped around his leg. You weren’t desperate enough to use the soiled material to bandage Aasim’s wound, the blood transfer might kill him faster than the bleeding out, but it did give you an idea; you still had most of a shirt left.

“Anyone have a knife, or at least something sharp to cut fabric?” You questioned.

“I got this, not sure how much it’ll help if at all,” Omar said while reaching for something in his back pocket. Moments later, he threw a set of old keys into your direction. You caught and inspected them, wondering why he still had them. To your knowledge, no one had a set of keys to the doors at Ericson, that was all on the staff and custodians who abandoned the school at the beginning of the end of the world. All of the doors that locked at Ericson’s were with either a latch system or the regular locks you can twist to open.

“They were my old house keys, from when I was a kid. I haven’t used them since I came to Ericson, but I didn’t want to get rid of them. I hope they’ll work for whatever you need them for.”

“These are perfect, thanks.” You grabbed the most promising looking one and began to poke and tear at the end of your shirt. It was easier than you thought, your shirt’s fabric was pretty thin due to wearing it for who knows how many months. Before long, you had a thick strip of fabric and a new crop top.

“Aasim, take off your jacket.” You ordered.

“Wow, Aasim’s got himself a dominant woman without even trying!” You heard Louis joke from his cell.

“He’s had game he’s never even heard of,” chuckled Omar.

“Can you both shut up?” Aasim blushed but took off his jacket nonetheless.

“Yea guy, could your timing be any worse?” You went to move his sleeve to reveal the cut, but it was in the worst place possible as it wouldn’t let you get a good look at it.

“As much as you might not want to, you’re gonna have to take off that shirt of yours.” As you said this Louis and Omar kept cheering, quietly enough to not draw attention but loud enough at the same time to get under your and Aasim’s skin. With help from you, Aasim got his shirt on the floor, and you got a glimpse of his surprisingly toned upper body. Who knew he had a birthmark above his belly button? You didn’t want to stare, so you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean Aasim didn’t catch you peaking and blushing as much as he was.

“That’s better. Let’s hope this will work.” Turns out you had just enough material to wrap around Aasim’s shoulder area a few times and to secure it with a knot. “Holy shit, I can’t believe that worked.”

“In all honesty, me neither. But you’re welcome anyway.” You said and sat back down. Once your back hit the wall, you realized how cold it was without your coat and half your shirt. You were exhausted, not being able to sleep well for the last few weeks knowing the raiders were going to come at any moment. You weren’t sure if they’d attack at night while most of you were sleeping, so you stayed up. You’d gotten about two hours of sleep for every night over the last few days and it was just now catching up with you. “Get some rest. I have a feeling we are gonna be here for a while.” Aasim said disheartened.

“But I-”

“Don’t worry. We will wake you up at the first sign of trouble.” He assured, sitting next to you on the wall to get some shuteye as well. Right as you were about to tune everything out, you felt something heavy being draped over your body.

“I owe you more than just a shirt,” Aasim smirked as he tucked the sleeves of his coat around your shoulder, not forgetting to place a kiss on your forehead. This woke you up, but you kept your eyes shut.

“Holy shit, Louis did you see that? Aasim made a move of Y/N!” His and Louis’ hushed yells of encouragement, with a hint of teasing, of course, distracted Aasim long enough for you to kiss him on the lips before leaning into his neck to use as a pillow.

“Oh fuck.” He said, wrapping his arm around your frame, finally, you two got to sleep.

~blake

#the walking dead game #twdg #aasim #twdgaasim #aasim imagine

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gciltyascharged · 5 years

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Send “Don’t touch him” to see Mitch’s reaction to your muse defending him against a physical threat – bonus points if you put a scenario. ⤷ Accepting. || @ratleaderr said: " DON'T TOUCH HIM! "

Lying in a pool of his own ever-forming blood, the teen held tightly to his wound, attempting in ALL varieties of pressure to stop the bleeding -- it hurt...it fucking hurt! Every last breath mustered by him fitted with choking and gagging. Had it not been for the diversion caused by a rock to the head, Lilly might have actually stabbed him right through the forehead, which -- fair -- would have been a way to prevent a potential walker from coming in for more kills (although, if he’d bitten her and ruined her life, he wouldn't have minded it).

They’d fallen back...as had been the plan from the beginning, though he felt some semblance of relief that he’d made it certain that Tenn was secured safety ; he’d of preferred to have...been there.

Gags filtered through the night air as the flames were continuing to rise ; he felt like he might just pass out had it not been for a boot harshly shoved against his hands and the muzzle of a gun directly situated against his scalp. ❝ This kid isn’t gonna live! ❞ A woman’s voice shouted back to someone nearby to her. Through the sharpening of his vision, the tears that had instinctively formed by the pain she’d just administered to him, he couldn’t tell who...

Damn it, there were still more of them around...?!

She hardly needed a command to put on through his head, he knew, so even as he moved his foot up to attempt to strike her out of defiance, Mitch could tell his fate was sealed in this moment. All he wished was that he could have fucked her up and taken her down with him!

❝ DON’T TOUCH HIM! ❞

Marlon... Marlon?

Pain lessened upon his throat as the soles of her boots above were ripped across his knuckles. The directed scrapes were a much-needed distraction from the knife wound -- a sheer pin drop to consider would be heaven-sent against this!

Choking, gagging, sputtering...

Out of everyone in this damn school, Mitch had been the angriest over the attempted murder of their friend. Yeah, the shot hadn’t landed, but it sure fucking was intended to kill, and the intent is far more important than the outcome ; it festered inside of him like a damn parasite and he’d snapped at Clem several times throughout the course of their time spent together. Maybe that’s the reason Marlon would go out of his way to face danger to protect him sure-death...

Maybe he’d heard him from the cellar where he’d been prisoner...?

Familiar groans and snarls of walkers finally broke through his thoughts ; it must have been a blessing or a curse at this moment. Were they enough to separate Marlon from his aggressor? Were they coming to devour him while he couldn’t move from his spot? Vision going dark, he squinted through his watery irises, annoyed he couldn’t remove his hands to get rid of those waterworks ; he could just make out the silhouette of someone standing over him -- someone... ❝ M...arlon...? ❞

#IC. থৣ ► ι wαѕ вorɴ тo мαĸe мιѕтαĸeѕ; ɴoт тo ғαĸe perғecтιoɴ.#ANSWERED. থৣ ► eхpecт тнe υɴeхpecтed.#verѕe: AU | MITCH SURVIVES .✵. ι lιved вιтcн!#blood //

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agirlinhell · 5 years

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WHAT THE F.U.Q

The following are frequently unasked questions and answers regarding my portrayal of Clementine. Enjoy! 2/?

Q: Does she have any inner demons?

A: Ahaha. Yes. She has a lot. Likely her biggest one is hostility/spite? If you wrong her horribly once or give her any reason to make her hostile or spiteful, she may never let it down unless she believes you’ve genuinely made up for it (even then it’ll still burn in the back of her mind). And depending on the wrong that was made on her, this can make her grow incredibly violent or make her angry or furious. And when she is furious she is 100 times likely to attack to kill. She hates it - especially after the whole James-AJ fiasco in the cave - but can’t figure out how to deal with it and it scares her, because she doesn’t want this trait to reflect onto AJ.

Q: What are her self care tips?

A: Self care… She does a lot of this? Mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, etc. She takes supplements and herbs nearly everyday, rarely has a lot of sweets or foods high in salt due to the lack of resources needed to make sweets until later years. Drinks lots of herbal tea, prepares good meals if she has the ingredients or enough food to do so.

She knows to treat herself, perhaps more than she should. Rarely pushes herself too far, takes time to rest and feels better, especially after the amputation of her leg. Physically, she pretty much feels as if she is glass and can break easily? She’s gentle with nearly everything she does, not using too much physical force/strength to do things.

Q: What does Clementine do when she can’t sleep?

Goes for a walk or a ride on her mare, Epona, in the forest, or do something time consuming. If available and not already doing so, she’ll go find someone she’s close to (regardless if they are asleep or not) and cuddle with them. Other times, she’ll practice her piano lessons and sing quietly to herself, or stargaze while pondering and dreaming of better things to come.

Q: What would she impulse buy at the grocery store?

A: If she ever was at a shop or store she’d either buy food, clothes, pet stuff or random books, crystals, and trinkets. Or gifts for people. Or even buy shiny things, tiny things, fuzzy things. Honestly she might take whatever she sees (and might not buy it).

Q: What order does she wash things in the shower?

A: She doesn’t have a shower but usually focuses on her hair.

Q: What sort of apps would she have on her smartphone?

A: Obviously modern verse but she’d have Instagram, Snapchat, Spotify, Youtube and Netflix. things to entertain or challenge her.

Q: How does she act around children?

A: Very kind, very gentle, very sweet. Treats them nicely, though often stern if they have done something wrong. She allows them to be excited or coaxes them to speak about their interests, etc.

Q: What would she watch on TV when she’s bored and nothing she really likes is on?

A: Again modern verse but probably anything cooking shows. or Oasis/Love Nature channel (lots of animal/nature shows owo )

Q: What kind of weather does she enjoy most?

A: Other than water and snow, Clementine adores the sky. Sunrise, sunset, stars, clouds, etc. Within the school’s areas of the forest she knows some of the best places to see the stars, even within some of the tallest and most sturdy trees. She’ll spend hours out, usually around sunset and late into the night. Or if she can’t sleep she will go outside to see the stars, usually returning by sunrise. But the sun is Disagreeable. It’s too bright, it leaves a mark in her vision if she looks at it, it blocks out her view of the sky.

Q: Is there a certain scent that brings about nostalgia? If so, describe a memory this scent brings back.

A: Flowers. Many types of flowers, many different scents. A giant bunch of different flowers. It reminds her of her mother. She used to tend to and grow flowers and plants when she was little. She’d often sit with her while she harvested or set bundles together. She was, and still is a mama’s girl so anything relating to her happy times with her mother is cherished. Different flower scents reminds her of certain days or memories with her mother.

Q: What about nature do they find calming? What about nature do they find disagreeable?

A: Clementine is certainly a fan of nature, her biggest interest being the diversity and endless sights to see. What she finds most calming is any form of water in nature. Rain, a river, a waterfall, snow, ice covered surfaces. Being within the forest she doesn’t see as much snow as she’d like to, but the school is right beside a river. It’s often where she goes to relax or think. What she finds disagreeable is quite actually the forest. Perhaps it’s because many of the battles she’s fought have taken place there, or that there’s just tree after tree after tree. She enjoys seeing the sky, especially at night, and the large trees tend to cover it in most spots. She has and will climb trees just to see the sky. She often used to take AJ up into the tall trees and they’d watch the stars together.

Q: What is something that causes her to question herself?

A: What doesn’t cause her to question herself? Clementine is often questioning herself about everything. A common example of something that she questions is motives to kill someone. Even if she believes someone deserved to die, she’ll figure out maybe twenty reasons why they didn’t. She’s a very guilty person. It’s the same with everything. In an argument, if she says something harsh– maybe she shouldn’t have. If she makes a comment about pretty much anything, later she’ll ask herself why. She’s quite a bit at war with herself over everything and it’s quite fatiguing for her, but she’s literally been mostly alone since she was nine. She’s often set in her ways, but wonders if her ways are the best ways to go, especially after her recent conversations with James.

Q: How does Clementine interact around her friends?

A: Clem is quite loving towards her friends. Once she finds a friend she can be close with, trust, or share struggles with, she tends to care a lot more for them than most others, even if she argues and fights with the friend. Tends to consider them family, and shows a side of herself that others rarely see. Fiercely protective, has and will kill for her friends’ safety. So far, she’s only had very few friends like this.

Q: Is she proficient in musical instruments or in music in general?

A: Clementine used to sing when she was younger but stopped after the age of ten after Omid died. She began singing again when she began taking care of AJ in hopes it would soothe him. She has a good singing voice. Although she’s open minded about many genres, she tends to prefer gentle music, or upbeat types with a soft edge to it. Music she can get lost in and feel free of worries. Daydream music. She loves playing music to the sound of rain, and may often sit outside or with a door/window open to hear it at its loudest. Otherwise she often plays a flute or a harp by the river beside the old fishing shack, to the sound of water flowing over the rocks and downstream. Louis teaches her the piano and it’s a very stress relieving hobby for her.

Q: Would she kill if they had to in order to protect a loved one?

A: In a heartbeat. She is very loyal and devoted to others and would see killing another as a sacrifice worth making, to protect those she loves. If her “loved one” has proven themselves to be strong and capable, Clementine will rarely act in her way in front of them. The best she does is get defensive, protective or angry. She will, however, get rid of threats in secret. If she catches word of a plan to kill someone she cares for, sooner or later that person may turn up dead or go missing. It’s happened before and she won’t hesitate to do it again.

Q: Does she consider herself a good person?

Not at all. She knows she is disagreeable to some and is aware of many of her flaws. She’s often had many angry outbursts that hurt people she cares for, and finds this shameful and unacceptable. She is aware of her apathy and limited care for others outside of her two inner circles - family and close friends - though she doesn’t see it as particularly bad. She knows others do. She often bases if she is good or bad on how many times she has hurt or upset people she cares for, and currently she sees herself as a terrible person.

Q: Is Clementine honorable?

A: She likely has more honor than most people around her in an apocalyptic universe, though Clem herself isn’t sure of it. Since there aren’t many rewards or mentions of honorable acts, duties or behavior in an apocalyptic universe, she tends to do her own thing, for honorable acts mostly get one killed. In her experience, those with honor in their hearts always end up dead. She’s seen it happen many times.

Q: Would she seek revenge against someone who’s harmed her or the people she cares about?

A: Usually yes. More likely towards those she cares for. Most times, however, its as long as she remains angry/furious, scared or hurt. If the feelings die down, apathy often takes over and she blocks these things out. She isn’t the type to strive for revenge over countless years, intense planning or travel miles upon miles to enact it. It’s more of a spur of the moment revenge, until she is calm again. Often she even ends up feeling bad about the revenge she has made.

Q: What does she think of ‘good’ and 'evil’?

A: Clementine is a bit vague when defining good and evil. She feels the definitions change from person-to-person, and can’t often see another as blatantly evil. In place of “evil” Clementine sees others as disagreeable. People that enjoy murder or torture and destroying innocence (killing/abusing young children, harming animals, etc) she finds greatly disagreeable and may (be tempted to) get rid of the person... permanently, if given a chance. However, anyone that claims they are a good person receives serious doubt from Clementine. “Good” and “evil” can only be defined by others, not oneself. To say you are a good person means she’ll believe that you are not, and instead think you are full of yourself. It’s best to refer to that as others see you as a good person, and she’ll look to see why, and if she agrees.

Q: When would she tell a lie?

A: This is dependent on who he is telling the lie to, and the situation. If she is scared of the response or scared of hurting someone important, she’ll lie about something. There were times she would lie to keep people away, keep them unable to know who she was. But this she is currently moving away from and is opening up to try trusting few others again. She also gives innocent lies for fun and teasing or joking. It’s a form of playing to her, and often does so affectionately.

Q: Would she manipulate someone to get what they want?

She is rather manipulative, so yes she probably would. That doesn’t mean she would often use people or lie to get close to them and toss them aside when finished. (Unless she finds said person disagreeable in the sense that person kills/abuses young children, harming animals, etc.) She often manipulates in forms of persuasion or bribing, often enjoying the bit of control she gets from it. She is also not afraid to manipulate others and even resort to blackmail to get what she wants, especially if it means protecting AJ. However she doesn’t think of it particularly as “manipulation” or controlling others. In fact half the times she isn’t completely aware that she is doing it, she simply wants things to happen and works towards it. She enjoys Things Happening™

Q: Does she believe in luck?

A:A bit? Not enough to fully trust, rely or believe in luck. She’s more keen to believe in actions and causes. She won’t argue that there’s no such thing as luck, at the very least.

Q: Favorite animal(s)?

A: All. Cats of any type, foxes– for sure. Many kinds of reptiles and amphibians; snakes, turtles, lizards, geckos, chameleons, frogs, axolotl. Opossums, ermines, skunks, ferrets, narwhals, owls, bats, wolves, otters, most birds, lemurs, minks, weasels, etc. And many, many more.

Q: Favourite food(s)?

A: She’s omnivorous and doesn’t have a preference, but she loooooves apples and chocolate. Big on fruit, enjoys vegetables mostly when cooked or seasoned. Many kinds of sweets and ice cream.

Q : Favourite weather?

A: Gentle breezes, snowy weather, partially cloudy days. Likes warm days (not hot) as long as sun isn’t beating down on her all the time. More of a fan of winter, though does have favourite summer weathers. Hates wind and straight, hot sunlight.

Q: what’s a physical attribute she is attracted to?

A: Tallness - though in her case this isn’t quite that hard. Honestly she prefers “stronger” and “larger” men and women. Not too large and buff though, she thinks there’s a point where it’s excessive and unappealing. But she does prefer people with a larger body size than her, or have defined muscle, etc. She loves freckles and dimples and smiles that reach the eyes. Tattoos and scars are a BIG bonus.

Q: what’s a personality type she is attracted to?

A: Kinda that “tough to understand/distant/closed off” type. She feels it’s more rewarding to build up trust and try work at understanding and getting closer to people. Again, there is a point where she can’t take it anymore and it’s unappealing, if the person is too closed off or never shows signs of being able to open up– she won’t waste her time and will take it as someone not being interested at all. She really likes kind and honest people, and the ability to make her laugh s something she truly adores. If you make her laugh, you bet she’s into you.

Q: Does she prefer love or lust? Why?

I’m going to use her adult verse for this question but a bit of both? Lust is much easier and less stressful for her, she can get the attention she needs and craves and ideally break off with no strings attached to another person, not having to be forced to commit to someone nor having to deal much with the emotional struggles of relationships. Her experience with love has been incredibly difficult and painful but she does enjoy some of the feelings that come with it. It is much more stressful and she often never seems to get what she needs with it either due to separation or death. It’s excessively difficult and sometimes she feels it isn’t worth it, until she’s around the people she’s interested in and she’s screwed over again. There is a sappy, soft side to her that wishes she could find someone for her, but she feels her time is running out so she’s somewhat stressed about it.

Q: how good/bad is Clem at following rules?

A: Really depends on the rule and/or who gives them tbh. If someone she dislikes gives a rule, regardless if it’s good/bad she’ll rather spitefully do what she can to break it or refuse. If someone she respects or accepts gives a rule she’ll be more likely to follow it, though much more hesitantly if she does not agree with it. If committed, she can follow rules perfectly.

Q: How about art?

A: She is fairly creative and expresses it in various forms of art. She was taught at a young age to make things. She is very good at painting and drawing. She loves painting mostly scenery or sky, but very rarely does she have the time to do so. She gets a lot more time to do this after her leg is amputated.

Q: Swimming?

A: Much better underwater than above water. She’s able to hold her breath for quite a while and has often preferred swimming underwater than above. It’s too noisy and splash-y above the surface, with awkward flailing and splashing about and she really dislikes it, especially since it could potentially draw walkers and prefers the calm, muted and odd noises underwater. After her leg amputation, she feels very saddened that she’s unable to swim anymore.

Q: Singing?

A: Often Clementine enjoys singing when she’s alone or around people she is comfortable with. She isn’t bad and can carry a tune well, but she’s a bit self-conscious of it and will be quieter if uncomfortable. Prefers lullabies and soft melodies. Often can be found humming or “singing” wordlessly. If she sings to you, you’re very special to her.

Q: Cooking?

A: Not as amazing as a cook as Omar, but still a great cook! She has had to cook for herself since a young age (used to make food like pancakes for her mother). She has experimented a lot over the years, though with limited resources she hasn’t been able to make a large variety of items.

Q: What’re some amazing or cool feats that she’s done outside of the canon timeline or at the very least in timeskips between seasons or offscreen?

A: She was trained in the art of war by Ava in between taking care of the wounded soldiers and the young infant AJ after her initiation in The New Frontier and learned Morse Code, how to shoot bigger rifles, what was alright to eat in the wilderness and parkour and David Garcia often watched them spar. She infiltrated and escaped in and out of Prescott - a heavily guarded city - without being undetected four times. She rescued an abused foster child by running her motorcycle through their house. She ended up owning her own little bar and a piece of land in Prescott with her own passe and entourage at twelve years old, and she didn’t even flinch when being held at gunpoint by a hostile rival gang in Prescott. During her time in the city, she was a spy, an arsonist, a thief, a beggar and a child mercenary for hire all in one little package. She held her own in a shoot out against rival assassins and once broke a drunken man’s nose because he threw a bottle of whiskey at her and a space just above her eyebrow to bleed. During her time spent in Prescott, she never gave out her real name and gained notoriety for being the youngest survivor in town and given the alias “Hellgirl” and she gladly took that name with pride. She rooted out a coalition of gangs and reported them to Tripp only for him to hang them for treason, thus gaining his trust. She is sassy and doesn’t take shit from anyone.

Q: You mentioned that post-The Final Season that Clementine is a Pagan. What style of Paganism does she follow?

A: She’s currently delving into different types, but she is Pantheistic and believes in the Greek gods and natural spirits, albeit after all of her experiences in the apocalypse, there is a darker twist to it. She takes an intrigue in Kemeticism and necromancy, witchcraft and has been interested in Voodoo. She’s also very animistic and believes that every animal and every part of nature has a meaning, a soul and a name. Clementine takes a huge interest in the occult and anything grim, and often collects crystals, flowers and herbs to use in her spells. However, it should be noted that she is a beginner and she’s learning things little by little.

#YOU'RE A WEAPON GIRL &&. WEAPONS DON'T WEEP. ( HEADCANONS. )#( DID ANYONE ASK FOR THIS???? NOPE!! BUT I DID IT ANYWAY )

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cubicle-z · 5 years

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I'm late to the fandom but anyway... felt the need to rant this.

People who hate AJ most likely doesn't know much about kids. That's kids for you... They could be like little Clem or like AJ. They throw tantrum, said hurtful things that they didn't meant, do things that they don't fully understand the consequences of. AJ did wrong shooting Marlon that was already a no threat but that doesn't mean AJ shouldn't be be forgiven.

Little Clem was angelic, telltale made her that way to make sure people love her. Tenn was also sweet, he have lived inside a wall with group of people that care for him. On the other hand AJ don't know human beside Clem who doesn't try to eat, steal or kill them before the boarding school. It's always he and Clem the whole time, ever since he could understand things. Her safety is absolute and he just want to protect her. He most likely didn't understand what redemption is. In his eyes Marlon is a threat and there was no coming back from that, like how walker couldn't go back to human anymore.

His lack of understanding of humanity has been shown throughout the episode. Normal child in safe time also could fight and take their friends toy by force, now imagine a child who have been scavanging all his life, what he found is what he take. He didn't feel safe at all around people, especially new people. He was terrified, shown when he bite ruby, insisted on sleeping on the ground, elbowed Marlon, feeling uncertain about the piano or the swings even when he seems to like the idea that he could enjoy it. He didn't hesitate to aim his gun to defend himself, seemingly undisturbed on the death resulted by it. He is in survival mode 24/7 all his life. Despite that he listened to Clem and felt bad about his mistakes.

He is just a child... The one that doesn't know safe and happy childhood. Those instinct help him survive on wilderness but doesn't work on society. He have yet to lean how to live among people and people trial him as a punishable adult anyway.

In conclusion, great characters and development.

#twdg #twdg AJ #twdg clementine

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jayjay1665 · 5 years

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Hope for Atonement

AJ killed Marlon. But he deserved it right? What he did was wrong and this is what he deserved.

Now Clementine is put into a tough situation. She needs to explain the difference between murder and killing in self defense.

AJ thinks the situation is hopeless but, how can she convince him that not all hope is lost and there's still a way he can make amends with everyone?

***

This story is a little bit of a different take on what happened in The Walking Dead (video game series) season 4 episode 1 after Marlon was shot. I kind of combined the ending of episode 1 to and the beginning of episode 2 and added some extra dialogue. Characters may be a bit out of character. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: not my artwork. i’m not sure who the original artist is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Calm down, Clem, calm down. You've seen things just as bad as this before.

But she knew very well it wasn't so much the incident that was bothering her. Living in an apocalyptic world filled with undead roaming the streets will leave anyone with horrid memories that would rather be forgotten. What troubled her so was the person who initiated the incident. And that same person was sitting just a few feet away from her. She hesitantly looked up at AJ. He was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room twiddling a colored pencil in his hands. He knew she was staring at him but, he refused to make eye contact. She directed her gaze to the ground once more. The atmosphere was tense. Both of them wanted to speak, but neither one knew how to begin the conversation that needed to be had. Clementine decided she should go first. After all, she thought, AJ probably doesn't fully understand why what he did was wrong. She took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. She directed her gaze over at AJ.

"AJ?" she began

AJ stopped fidgeting with the pencil, but kept his gaze on it.

"Yeah?" he said quietly.

What was she supposed to say now? She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. What would Lee do? She looked back at AJ and spoke again.

"Are you alright?"

AJ remained silent for a moment then spoke again, this time looking straight ahead at the wall

"I...shot Marlon."

Clementine said nothing for a moment, letting the gravity of the worlds settle on both of them. It was true. AJ had shot him. From behind. Straight through the skull. Though she wasn't looking at them she could feel everyone's horrified stares Clementine was sure that would be a moment in her life she could never forget. She was literally in front of him. She could still feel the sensation of his warm blood splattering on her face. In fact...

She reached up and touched her face to her cheek the pulled it away. Yep. It was still there. His blood. On her face. Because of AJ.

"B-but I was trying to protect you!"

Clementine head snapped up at AJ's sudden outburst. He stood up out of the chair and paced around the room.

"He had my gun pointed at you! He was gonna shoot you! Marlon started this! He killed Brody first! He- he deserved to die!"

"AJ.."

"She was completely innocent and he killed her! A-and he sold Tenn's sisters to the raiders! He was a bad guy and did bad things to other people!

AJ stopped in his tracks and sighed.

"How could he do things like that?" He asked his anger turning into sadness.

Clementine paused for a moment. All of what AJ said was also true. The reason Marlon killed Brody was because she told Clementine what he had done. She remembered when she found out about all this. She had heard Brody and Marlon arguing and went to investigate. When she found them in the basement, Brody had informed her what Marlon had been hiding. Last year, Marlon and Brody went hunting with two twin girls named Sophie and Minerva. While hunting, the four encountered raiders who were planning on going to their base and kidnapping all the kids so they could fight in the war they were having against another settlement. Marlon gave up Sophie and Minerva in exchange for the safety of the rest of the kids and made Brody swear she wouldn't tell anyone what had conspired. Instead, they told everyone the twins were killed by walkers.

Once Brody told, Marlon became enraged and hit her forcibly in the head with the flashlight he was holding. The strike to the head killed her shortly after. Marlon immediately felt guilty and tried to apologize and help her. With her dying breath, Brody told Clementine that if the raiders come back, Marlon was going to sell her and AJ to them, just as he did with twins.

That's when Marlon ran out of the basement and tried to pin Brody's death on Clementine. Luckily, with the help of Louis, Violet, Aasim and the others, she was able to come out as innocent. Marlon was exceedingly remorseful for what he did and tried to convince the others to let him leave so he could be forgotten.

"Just let me become a bad memory." He pleaded.

But before Clementine could even respond to his request, AJ shot him dead. Shot him when he was no longer a threat.

Clementine motioned for AJ to sit next to her. He obeyed silently and joined her on the bed. She wrapped her arm him to provide some comfort to the discouraged boy. He rested his head on her shoulder. She tilted her head slightly so her cheek could rest on the top of his head.

"Brody said he was scared. I guess he didn't see any other option. He sacrificed two kids in order to save the others. I can see how he might've thought he was doing the right thing. But if he was a real leader, he would've sacrificed himself instead of Tenn's sisters."

AJ looked up at Clementine.

"So, it was a good thing I shot him?"

"No, AJ, it wasn't." she sighed, "When you shot him, he was no longer a threat. If you kill someone when they're no longer threat, that's murder."

AJ looked down and concentrated his gaze on his hands.

"So that means I'm...a murderer?" he questioned in a quiet voice.

"Yes." Clementine responded with some difficulty.

AJ was quiet for a long moment after that. He was a murderer. No better than those monsters wandering aimlessly outside. No better than Marlon. He saw how everyone looked at him after what he did. Tennessee, Rosie, and Willy were fearful, Omar and Aasim looked at him with disdain, and Louis and Mitch glared at him with anger. There's no way they would let him and Clem stay at the camp after what he did. There's no way Louis and Tenn would want to be his friends anymore. There was nothing he could do. Clem and him would have to live on the road again, never staying in the same place or too long. God knows when they would find a steady place to live again. This was the closes things he's ever had to a home. Their small chance at having shelter, consistent food, friends, and maybe even family was gone. And it was all his fault. He wanted nothing more than to take it all back. But he couldn't.

Tears slid down AJ's face and dropped onto Clementine's hand. She looked at the young boy with sympathy and gingerly wiped the remaining tears from his face as a mother would with a child.

"You know, AJ, there's still a way we can fix this."

AJ gave her an incredulous look. Marlon was dead. The damage was done. How could the possibly fix this?

"How?"

Clementine looked down at him with a gentle expression.

"Are you sorry for what you did to Marlon?"

AJ thought for a moment. He was sorry. Looking back at the situation, it had calmed down considerately before his brash decision. There wasn't as much yelling and arguing. And Marlon had dropped the gun. If he was going to hurt anyone, he would've kept the gun in his hands, right? He wouldn't go against eight kids with no back up or no weapon. Clem was right. Marlon wasn't a threat.

He looked up at Clementine with sorrowful eyes

"Yeah. I really am."

"Good. That's the first step. I'm going to help you atone."

"Atone?"

"Yeah. It means make up for what you did wrong. We're gonna make it alright with the others. It might be hard, but we can do it." She stated as she gave him a hopeful smile.

AJ mirrored the expression with a new-found strength.

"Yeah. that sounds good. I'm gonna do my best to make it up to the others. No matter how long it takes or how hard it is, I'm gonna do it" AJ declared.

Clementine gave him a proud smile.

"I'm glad to hear that, AJ. I'm proud of you."

He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and, she returned the gesture.

"Now we should get some rest." She said laying down on the bed.

AJ nodded his head in agreement. He laid down beside her and closed his eyes. She was about to do the same until AJ said one more thing.

"I love you, Clem."

Clementine's eyes wandered down to AJ. A smile tugged at her lips and her eyes watered slightly as she gave AJ a small kiss on the head.

"I love you back, Goofball."

AJ smiled softly. Although he had formerly denounced the nickname, it made him happy to hear Clementine call him that again. Even though the events from that day were still fresh in his mind, he drifted off into a sound sleep with hope for the oncoming day.

With hope for atonement.

#twdg clementine #twdg AJ #Atonement #murder #short story #feedback appreciated #story #fanfic #stories #twdg fanfic

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huntertales · 6 years

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Part Two: You Can Bet on It. (What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?)

Episode Summary: Kevin Tran talks the Winchesters and the reader in checking on his mother. When they arrive and discover Crowley has surrounded her with demons, they rescue her and take her along their quest to find the demon tablet. However, they soon discover Mrs. Tran is a mother not to be tested after she tries to go up against the king of hell herself. Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader Word Count: 4,097.

Previous Part | Supernatural Rewrite Masterlist

It wasn't too hard to find the location of the pawn shop Dean threatened out of Clem to find out where he sold off the tablet he wrongfully stole, along with whatever else he managed to grab from those lockers. The shop was nestled into a row of others in town not too far from where the bus station was located. Dean parked the Impala against the sidewalk and right behind a fancy looking sports car that was probably worth way more than the house you hadn’t been to in years now that you thought about it. Personally, you were more of a fan to older model cars, but you had to admit the cherry red Ferrari was a sight to see. Especially in a small town like this one in Wyoming when one would expect to see them more in the Hollywood hills.

You let out a low whistle in appreciation at the model as Kevin found himself pulled into a trance at the sight of the car. He took a few steps forward to take a closer inspection out of it, Mrs. Tran called out to her son, pulling him back into reality as she nodded her head to the pawn shop. A car like this was like a beautiful woman; you could look all you want, but if you dare so touch it, there would be consequences. All of you headed into the pawn shop to see a man behind the counter. He was playing on his phone with his feet up on the counter, obviously hard at work.

“Hello, sir. Agents Neil, Sixx and Hill. FBI.” Sam introduced the three of you as he pulled out his fake badge to show the kid behind the counter. “We’re looking for a tablet.”

"About, uh, yea big," Dean gestured with his hands the rough size of the tablet to give the kid some idea of what all of you were looking for. "Got some hieroglyphic crap on it."

“Sold to you by a thief named Clem.” Sam added. “Ring a bell?”

The kid shrugged his shoulders and answered, “Nope.”

You rolled your eyes from his nonchalant behavior and how quick he was to answer you. It was obvious he didn’t want to think too much about giving all of you some information, thinking he could attempt and cover his ass. But Dean wasn’t in the mood. “Hey, Lyle, I’m had a really, really bad day today, so I’m not in the mood to dilly dally.” Dean said. He leaned forward and pressed his hand against the glass to appear somewhat threatening. “If you want to do this the rough way, I am happy to oblige.”

“Sure. We can do it that way, if you want to get famous.” The kid said. You furrowed your brow from what he meant. When he looked over his shoulder and nodded his head to the two security cameras around the store, you knew exactly what he was trying to do.

“That your car outside?” Mrs. Tran spoke up, asking the kid a simple question.

“What’s it to you, mail-order?” The kid’s response made your blood boil in anger.

"Hey, scumbag!" You slapped your palm against the glass counter, directing his attention over to you. "A few security cameras don't scare me. I'll break right them right after I break your jaw and arms. I mean, it would be kinda hard to tell the cops a girl beat your sexist and racist ass with your mouth wired shut.”

"I got it." Mrs. Tran said, stopping you from fulfilling your promise. She walked up to the counter, showing you and the boys that not every situation required threats to get what you wanted. Sometimes brains won in this kind of situation. "I noticed you're driving with expired tags, maybe because you just acquired it in a trade, and I'm guessing that means you haven't registered it yet, which means you haven't paid the tax. Is that correct?"

The kid kicked his feet off the table and pushed himself up to a standing position. You noticed he seemed surprised at what she said, even a little bit afraid about how spot on she was. “None of your business.”

"Kevin," Mrs. Tran looked over her shoulder and asked her son a question. "Average blue book on a 2010 Ferrari F430 Spider?"

"Two hundred and seventeen thousand dollars." Kevin answered.

“And the five percent Wyoming tax?” She asked.

"Ten thousand and eight hundred fifty." Sam somehow made the calculation in his hand in the matter of seconds, answering the woman before her son could. You found yourself wincing at the intimidating amount of numbers flying around here, making you feel sorry for the reality the poor sucker was about to face if any of this spilled to the real FBI.

“Ten thousand dollars. Something tells me you’re the type of person who might balk at a tax bill that big.” Mrs. Tran said, the ends of her lips curling into a smirk.

“W-What is this,” The kid asked. “An FBI audit?”

“No. But my brother, who happens to work for the Wyoming tax assessor's office could arrange that if he thought something untoward was happening here.” Mrs. Tran said. She continued on speaking, not missing a beat to drag out the information from the kid from the question she asked him. “So what’s it going to be—the tablet or that piece of euro trash crap you call a car?”

You crossed your arms over your chest when the kid fell awfully silent. You raised your brow as he contemplated the choices he had that you given him, and what he could do to get out of them for the spite of it. But you could tell from the look on his face that he knew he was cornered with no way out.

“You heard the woman.” You said. “Cough up the location, punk.”

The kid unwillingly did so to save his ass from paying a fine you knew he couldn’t pay. You left the pawn shop with a friendly smile after you snatched the receipt out of his hands. Maybe having Mrs. Tran around wouldn't be so bad, after all. She didn't cower at the sight of that kid being a jerk to her, and she sure was smart enough to think quick on her toes. Not to mention, she saved you and the boys from getting yourselves in trouble from doing things the illegal way. All of you piled back into the Impala and headed to the location written on the receipt. You were getting a little bit more hopeful with the idea that you were getting closer to the tablet. And one step closer to closing the gates of hell forever.

+ + +

Motel room number one-twenty six. You stood on the parking lot with your arms crossed over your chest as you waited while Sam knocked on the front door of the room where the tablet was supposed to be located. You looked around the place to see it was fairly quiet for the afternoon, there was nobody around except for the five of you. Sam waited for a moment to see if he could hear any movement in the room as your attention lingered over to the window to see if you could spot a pair of eyes peeking out the curtain to see who was disturbing them. But all remained still and silent.

“Sure this is the right place?” Sam asked, seeming a bit skeptical at location the kid gave you.

“It’s what the pawn slip says.” You told him.

Sam still wasn't too sure about that being true, so he decided to see for himself what was inside the motel room. He slipped his hand inside his pocket to pull out his lock pick to grant all of you access inside. However before he could even get it out of his jacket pocket, you heard an unfamiliar voice speak from behind, grabbing your attention. "Kevin?"

You turned around in your spot to see an older gentleman wearing an ensemble that looked a little out of place for this kind of scenery. You narrowed your eyes on him when you noticed his pinstripe gray suit was paired with a matching colored top hat and wooden cane he used to talk with. You dropped your arms to your hips, placing them where you kept the demon knife tucked away, just in case if you might need it use it on him. The boys seemed just as cautious at the sight of a stranger showing up out of nowhere.

“Who wants to know?” Dean asked, stepping down from the sidewalk and to the parking lot.

“Oh, relax, Dean. I’m not going to steal your prophet.” The stranger reassured the man. But you had your doubts on that. He turned his attention away from the older Winchester and the woman standing next to Kevin. The man’s lips stretched into a smile at the sight of her. “Ah. And you must be Kevin’s mother. Beau. And it is my absolute pleasure.”

"God," You rolled your eyes in annoyance when you saw Beau introduced himself to Mrs. Tran in the most over the top way possible. He reached out to lift up her hand to give the top of her hand a light kiss. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"And Kevin, imagine my luck. Here I was, working so hard to look for you that I never stopped to think you might be looking for me." Beau said. You narrowed your eyes when you saw him slip a hand inside his suit pocket, making you fear for the worst. You found yourself reaching for the demon knife out of habit. You asked him what it was. He pulled out what appeared to be a crisp white invitation with the prophet’s name written on it. “An invitation, dear lady, to an exclusive auction.”

“Let me guess,” Dean said. “Where you’ll be selling the tablet?”

“Well, when we acquire an item as hot as the word of God, it’s smart to unload it as fast a possible.” Beau explained himself to you and the boys’ judging glares “And we are in such desperate need of a headliner for tonight’s gala.”

“Well, I hope you have four extra tickets to your little eBay party, ‘cause the prophet’s with us.” Dean said, stopping the stranger from taking Kevin anywhere.

“Oh if you’re worried about the safety of your prophet, rest assured we have a strict ‘no casting, no cursing, no supernaturally flicking the three of you against the wall for the fun of it.’ policy” Beau reassured you and the boys.

“Is that right?” Sam asked. “How’d you manage that?”

"Well, I am the right hand of a God, after all—Plutus, specifically." Beau said, his lips stretching into a smirk as he bragged about his title to the five of you humans.

“Is that even a planet anymore?” Dean let out a scoff, thinking it was something much different from the sound of a name.

“It’s the god of greed.” Beau corrected the man. It seemed from the expression on his face he wasn’t the least bit amused. “And my liege has warned these premises against hell, heaven and beyond—quite necessary with some of the players we see. And incidentally, quite possibly the safest place your precious prophet could be. Mm. Well, since time is of the essence, perhaps I’ll just go ahead and add a plus-four to the prophet’s invitation. Copacetic?”

Beau flung the invitation straight into the air, letting his trick distract all of you long enough for him to vanish into sight before the envelope fell to the ground. You quickly looked up when you noticed that he was gone. He was a smooth talker, you'd give him that. "Well, thank you, Mr. Peanut!" Dean yelled out in frustration. You dropped your hands to your side and let out a sigh. "All right. What do we have to bid?"

"Let me brush off the other word of God I've got in the trunk." You said, pointing a finger over your shoulder. "Along with the other precious artifacts we don’t have.”

“We can’t just show up there empty-handed.” Dean said, his tone of voice showing you he wasn’t in the mood for your sarcasm right now.

“Dean, all we have to our names ia few hacked gold cards.” Sam said, bursting his brother’s idea of trying to go up against a few heavy hitters that were bound to have some items that were well worth the trade for the tablet.

“All right. Well, then, we’re gonna have to get creative.” Dean suggested. You thought to yourself for a moment about what could possibly be worth bidding. You thought about possibly bidding off the demon knife, as it was a one of a kind piece. However Sam had a suggestion for an item that was meaningful to all of you. The very thing that had been through a lot of things in her decades of existence. You noticed that he was staring at the Impala, prompting you to realize that he was about to suggest about auctioning the car. Dean promptly shook his head as he went straight over to Baby, defending her. “Nope. Mnh-mnh. Say it and I will kill you, your children and your grandchildren.”

"Okay, okay. Before you two idiots murder each other, I got an idea. Don't these auctions display the items to the bidders beforehand, right?" You wondered, Dean nodded his head. "So all we got to do is get Kevin close enough to memorize the spell."

“What do you think, Brainiac?” Dean asked the kid. “Think you can swing it?”

“Of course he can swing it.” Mrs. Tran said with confidence. “If the bumper stickers on my previa mean anything.”

The plan was worth a shot to try, as it was really the only one you had anymore at this point. Dean turned his attention over to the Impala as he rubbed his hand across the hood, as if he was trying to comfort the emotions of an inanimate object. "They didn't mean it, Baby."

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you love that car more than me." You said. Dean looked over at you to see that you were standing right next to him with an arched brow, waiting for him to say that you were being crazy. However Dean remained silent for a moment, prompting you to let out a sigh. "You know what—Don't answer that. Let's just go."

+ + +

You weren't sure what you were expecting the location of the supernatural bidding of the tablet would be held. Maybe something fancy, maybe even a decent space where you didn’t have to worry about what was crawling around the place or what kind of mold was growing between the cracks of the stones. Of course it had to be just that, downtown in an abandoned warehouse from the looks of it. Nothing could ever be nice and clean. You stepped into the warehouse after a man dressed in a black suit opened up the door for you.

It was then you discovered the metal detector all of you needed to step through in order to be granted access to the auction. You knew if you wanted to be apart of this you needed to come here without a single weapon on you. Not that you were exactly pleased with the idea. You were a little more concerned about setting it off with the metal pieces in your body. You still had the faint scar from the surgery you had to put your arm back together. All though Cas put you back together into one piece, you weren't sure if he got out everything. There was one way to find out. You stepped through the metal detector after Sam, waiting to hear the thing go off. But when you stepped out the other side, it beeped once, making you let out a sigh of relief.

Dean wasn’t lucky as you were. When the older Winchester stepped into the detector, he went with a slow and cautious step, as if doing so would help his case. But as he stepped out to the other side, the alarm went off, making you and the others realize he made the dumb decision of coming here with some extra accessories that weren't allowed. You let out a sigh of frustration as you shot him annoyed glare. Dean smiled slightly as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Now, now, Dean.” Beau stepped forward to greet the older Winchester and remind him of the rules that applied to all of you as well. “The system only works when everyone participates.”

Dean wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of playing along with the rules of this place. Being stuck in a place crawling with monsters and no weapon to defend himself felt wrong. But if he wanted to stick around, he would have to give everything up. He unwillingly placed his pistol into the bin with other confiscated weapons and took out the demon knife from his jacket pocket. He held it for a moment, knowing out of all of the weapons you owned, this was the most powerful one. The guard grew impatient and reached out a hand to grab it from the man. Dean drew it back to give the man a warning that it was his, and his to keep.

“I’ll be back for this.” Dean told the man. And with those words, he set the knife into the bin with the rest of the weapons where it would remain until the end of the auction.

All of you headed into the auction now that you were cleared to do so. You looked around the place to see it was filled with all sorts of artifacts and items from mythology. People of all kinds gawked at the items at what soon would be up for grabs. You scanned the people with a bit of curiosity, wondering what kind of creatures you were surrounded with. Most of the time you were trying to kill them, it was sort of a nicer pace to be able to be in a place where they were fighting against each other for whatever item they were willing to get their greedy hands on. All you knew was that the tablet was yours. No matter how much it cost, you needed to get it back.

“How the hell are we supposed to know who’s who?” Dean quietly asked, looking around the room himself to see all sorts of people that appeared to be harmless. But there was more than meets the eye with these kind of folks.

“It’s pretty simple, Dean.” You said. “They’re all monsters.”

You focused less on the people you were surrounded with and now trying to find the tablet. You walked around the place and mindlessly spotted all sorts of different objects you would have loved to examine if the situation was different. Now you were focused on trying to find the tablet before time ran out. Dean was the one who spotted it. You saw the tablet in a glass display for anyone to see. However someone was one step ahead of you. You could feel your fist clench in anger when you noticed a black piece of board was covering each side of the tablet, making it near impossible for Kevin to read. There went your brilliant plan.

“I guess we’re not as original as we thought.” Kevin muttered in a defeated tone.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Sam said. “We just got to come up with a plan ‘b.’”

“And what, pray tell, could possibly have been plan ‘a’?” As if you thought this moment couldn’t have possibly gotten any worse, it could have. You flinched at the familiar accent ring into your ears and right behind you. You looked over your shoulder to see it was the king of hell himself, Crowley. Your lips stretched into a frown at the sight of him alone. “Bring the prophet to the most dangerous place on earth, memorize the tablet and then va-moose?”

"Crowley." You greeted the demon, speaking his name as if it was poison on your tongue. "Look what the cat dragged in."

The demon barely made an effort to acknowledge your presence before turning his attention over to the person he most wanted to see. "Kevin. What a pleasure to see you. Sorry about your little playdate. Her name...Well, if you're gonna make an omelet, sometimes you have to break some spines." Crowley said, excusing his previous behavior with a shrug of the shoulder. You scoffed at how easy it was for someone like him to wash the blood off his hands after killing an innocent person. But you didn't expect much out of something like him. Crowley turned his attention to Mrs. Tran, as she was a face he had never got to formally meet before. "And who is this lovely young thing? Must be your sister."

Mrs. Tran might have been a tiny woman for her height, but she sure knew how to pack a punch. You didn't realize what she had done until you saw Crowley's head turn into an unpleasant angle and he let out what sounded to be a bit of a groan. Your lips stretched into a smirk when you saw him tend to his bloody lip the woman had given the king of hell. "Stay away from my son." She warned him.

“Charming. Defiling he corpse has just made number one of my to-do list.” Crowley said. You narrowed your eyes on the demon at his subtle threat while Dean took a step forward, wanting nothing more than to give Crowley more than just a punch. But before he could do such a thing, his brother held him back. “Don’t mind a little love tap, but anything more, and our mookie pals here might just throw you out, and that would be a shame.”

"He's right, Dean." Sam unwillingly agreed with the demon. "It's not worth it."

“Listen to Moose, Squirrel.” Crowley said. You rolled your eyes from his remark alone as your attention was pulled away from him and to the front door when you heard it open and close. You noticed an older looking man wearing what seemed to be a white tracksuit passed you by. “Ah. Here comes our host.”

“That’s Plutus?” Dean asked, watching the man pass by all of you to take his spot at the front of the room. “What is he, God of the candy aisle?”

You had to admit he wasn’t what you were expecting to be when you heard he was the god of greed. You were thinking he’d be a little bit more flashy in flaunting his wealth and greed. Guess you were wrong on that one. Beau followed behind the man. “Gentlemen,” He reminded the five of you. “The auction is starting.”

“Good luck with the bidding.” Crowley said.

You forced yourself to give him a sarcastic smile before turning on your heels to walk over to the auction before things got started. When you saw the demon was far enough away from you, you looked over at Mrs. Tran and gave her a genuine smile at what she managed to do.

“Nice right hook.” You whispered.

Mrs. Tran seemed proud of herself at the compliment you gave her. The both of you headed off with Sam and Kevin to find a spot for all of you to take. You managed to find an empty row of chairs for all of you to take. However you noticed that Dean wasn't anywhere near all of you. You leaned over slightly while you stood over the chair you claimed as your own next to Sam, wondering where his brother was. You looked through the thinning crowd of people and spotted him talking to some kid wearing a red and white striped uniform. You furrowed your brow slightly at who he was talking to, wondering who it was.

The conversation seemed to drift to an end a moment later. You watched as the kid walked over to where the rest of the crowd to take a seat in the very back, but Dean remained where he was. You let out a sigh when you saw him lose himself into focusing on a spot in the room. The same look you had seen before in the interrogation room fell over his face, making you wonder if he was thinking about purgatory again.

[Next Part]

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littlesugarwords · 4 years

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Hey! I dunno if you're accepting requests (awfully sorry if you aren't, please ignore me-) but do you think you could do the Ericson's kids + James reacting to finding the reader in the forest, mourning the loss of a parental figure, only about 13-14 years old. (I love your writing like, seriously! Its absolutely amazing and so descriptive! ♡♡♡♡)

oh my my heart my heaaart ;-; I’m also just gonna do the older kids because I feel like the younger kids wouldn’t be alone in such a situation

Clementine: Clementine’s heart would break, feeling herself curl forward slightly due to the pain the sight caused in her chest. “Hello?” She called softly, drawing closer to the child. She found them, weeping over the body of a loved one, almost in hysterics. They flipped around, eyes frantically settling on Clem, watching as she offered them a hand. “I’m not here to hurt you.” She assured. “Is that your Mom?” They teared up more, nodding, unable to speak. “Can I help you?” Clem asked, kneeling in front of them, setting her backpack off to the side. “I lost my Mom too.” Gingerly, Clem took their hand, guiding them back to the school, ready to introduce the group to their newest teammate.

Marlon: Marlon stood silently behind the child, frowning, but feeling concerned for the potential threat rather than sorrow for the child’s loss. “Who are you?” He asked, hesitant and wary. The child flinched, turning around, arms raised and stance scared. After noting the tears, and the state of the bodies, Marlon softened. “Are those your parents?” He asked, noting how their weeping heightened after his question. He glanced around, searching for any sign of danger, then offered his hand to the child. “Come with me. We’ll take care of you and keep you safe.” He gave a sad smile. “We can help.”

Louis: Hearing the sound of crying, Louis began making his way in the direction of the sound. Spotting a child weeping over the bodies of love ones, Louis felt his stomach twist into a knot. “Hey,” Louis said softly, drawing closer to the child. When he was close enough, he knelt by their side, trying to get a better look at their expression. “What’s your name?” He hushed. “My name is Louis.” Hearing their name, Louis offered a sad smile. “Well, Y/N, can I take you back to my friends? We can help you.” Gently, he held his hand out to them, walking slowly with them as they made their way back to the school; to the child’s orphan future.

Violet: When Violet heard the sound of crying, she paused, turning, and hesitantly making her way toward the noise. She pulled out her axe, just in case, and showed the brush aside. Spotting the child, she relaxed, her shoulders eased, and she pocketed her weapon again. She recognized what she was seeing. It made her heart heavy and her stomach weak. “Hey,” Violet said weakly. “I’ve been here too.” She frowned, feeling heavier when their gaze settled on her. “This happened to me. I lost people close to me like this.” She frowned, finally kneeling in the grass to speak to the child. She couldn’t look at them. She saw too much of herself in them. “Do you have a place to stay?” She offered them her hand. “Do you want to come home with me and my friends?”

Mitch: Mitch heard crying and turned, recognizing how young the voice sounded. He stormed through the brush, stumbling when he spotted the child. He saw so much of Willy in them, and knelt beside them. “What’s your name?” He asked, holding a hand out to them. “I’m Mitch.” Hearing their name, Mitch gave them a comforting smile. “I like that name.” He turned to the bodies. “Are you alone?” Hearing their weeping heighten as they answered ‘yes,’ Mitch frowned. “Do you not want to be?” He hushed. “I have a home, and friends, and you’re welcome to stay with us.” He gave them a stern nod. “And we can keep you safe.” And hearing that, Y/N agreed, no matter how heavy their heart felt in that moment.

Aasim: Aasim would feel his stomach twist hearing a pained, young, wail. Emerging through the brush, spotting a child weeping over bodies, his heart twisted with it. “Who are you?” He asked. “Where are you from?” The child continued to weep, not turning around, calling for their parents to wake up. Aasim approached, standing silently behind them. “Can I help you?” He asked gently, not wanting to alarm the child. He frowned deeper. “I lost my parents too.” At that, the child turned, wiping their tears, studying the male. “Can I help you?” Aasim asked sweetly. Teary eyed, the child nodded, sniffling, reaching out for one of his hands.

Ruby: Ruby had a big heart, and the moment she heard distant weeping, she dropped everything to find where it was coming from. Spotting the weeping child, her own eyes clouded over. “Were these your parents?” She asked gently, approaching them and kneeling at their side. Noticing her own sorrow, the child warmed up to her. “I lost my parents too.” Ruby sniffled, wiping at her own eyes. “Will you let me help you?” In their shared sorrow, the child took Ruby’s hand and let her lead them off to safety.

Omar: Omar would dart toward the sound, no hesitation. After barging in, spotting the child, he recoiled, shocked and horrified. “Oh my God,” he said, placing a hand over his mouth, horrified. He turned to the child, surveying them, and kneeling down to their level. “Hey,” he said softly, “hey, are you alone?” He offered a hand toward the child, trying to be comforting and open. “Do you need help?” He paused, rethinking what he was to say next. “Can I help?” Feeling their gaze rest on him, Omar offered a sad smile. “I have friends. We can help you.” And, when the child accepted, he felt his heart ease, knowing he was doing something good.

Brody: Brody immediately felt sick as she slipped through the brush, spotting the child surrounded by bodies. “Oh my God,” Brody breathed, and the child jumped. They flipped around, pleading to be spared, weeping even harder of the bodies of their loved ones. “I won’t hurt you.” She said softly, kneeling before them, hands up. “I want to help.” She looked over the bodies, feeling sick and needing to turn away. “Can I take you home with me? We’re a group. We’ll all keep you safe.” Sweetly, Brody extended her hand, helping them up, making their way toward the child’s new home.

James: James, hearing the sounds of muffled crying, pushed his way through the brush to find the source. A child, leaning over bloodied bodies, was what he discovered. “Hey,” he whispered softly, “what’s your name?” The child flinched, flipping around, tense and alarmed given the sudden voice. They didn’t speak, only silently allowed their tears to continue. James frowned, sitting by their side, studying the wounded and battered body. “Who were they?” Hearing that they were their parents, James closed his eyes, his heart growing heavy. “I’m sorry.” He hushed. After a moment of silence, allowing them to sit in their grief, James offered them a hand. “We can bury them,” he began, “but first, you need food and water. Come with me.”

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zippdementia · 7 years

Text

Part 25 Alignment May Vary: Shattered Expectations

Today’s post talks about making sure there is tension in your scenes, so they don’t devolve into just rolling dice to hit a target number. We also resolve the Celaenos situation and move our players onto their final destination in this campaign.

As a GM, I am always asking the question, “where is the tension in this scene?” A scene without tension is just players rolling dice until they hit a target number. I talked about this a little bit before during the desert expedition, which can easily devolve into rolling numbers on a chart until they either die of thirst or make it through to the Pit of Thudd. In that instance, we broke up the monotony with some infighting amongst the characters and some roleplaying. The tension there was between the characters themselves. I’ve also touched on it a bit with random encounters (and we will talk about this aspect of it more next time). Battles make up the heart of the excitment in Dungeons and Dragons and yet even they can get old if there is no deeper tension behind the fight. That’s why the most memorable battles have some extra piece to them, something at stake that is forcing this fight, whether immediate (the princess is slowly being lowered into a pit of fire while the players fight the Baal Demon guarding her), or eventual (they have to take this cutthroat alive if they are to interrogate him as the whereabouts of the secret hideout of the Shadow), or a culmination of past events (after many adventures, the heroes are finally fighting their dreaded foe, the pirate Testain, who killed their friends Targaryen and Shando so long ago).

One of my most memorable battles as a player was during the new 5e Elemental Evil campaign, where we went off book by leaping out of the stained glass window of a boss chamber, only to be followed by the boss and his henchmen! We had an aerial combat as we fell down the humongous tower, the ground getting closer each round as we traded blows back and forth mid air. That was a very immediate tension, as we only had so long to complete the fight and cast feather fall on ourselves. I still remember nearly every move of that fight, and it was well over a year ago.

When my players completed the battle at Celaenos, I had the option to have them move at their leisure, find the information they needed in the library, and push them forward in the plot. But I wanted there to be tension in that progression, and I wanted their actions to have an impact on the world. That is why I devised the plot about the Justicar coming to mete out punishment on them for defiling what the world viewed as an incorruptible holy order. It (a) shows that their actions have been noticed in the world and are being judged by its inhabitants; and (b) gives them a time limit that is pushing the action forward, so that searching the library suddenly has pressure behind it.

With this time limit, rolling every day to see if they can find the information they need becomes a lot more exciting. A few other events occur in the meantime, the biggest being that Tyrion gets a summons from his college, saying they are revoking his bardic license and asking to reclaim their property, his magical lute, until such a time as they can judge his actions at the monastery and determine them to be for good or ill. If he does not show himself before them within 60 days, he will be seen as guilty in the eyes of his college and lose his right to a hearing.

This puts Tyrion in a foul mood and his alignment begins a slow shift from Chaotic Good towards Chaotic Neutral. “Every man for himself,” becomes his new motto, and spurred on by the fact that he saw his party nearly die at the hands of the knights, he makes a vow to do WHATEVER is necessary to stay alive.

Just Claws (for using low CR enemies)

The players know they have to get the heck out of dodge before the Justicar arrives, so they plot with Clem to meet them outside of the monastery sea cave, which they know was used to transport the slave girls in and out of the monastery and thus is a back door to freedom. The caves turn out to be unexpectedly dangerous, however.

Blackness in front, blackness behind, and all around them the scent of salt and the sound of the sea. Abenthy sniffed the air, but it gave no further clue. He listened carefully, but could not tell the direction in which their exit might lay. The sea is close, his senses said, but how close? The sea is around the next corner, they said, but damned if they hadn’t passed two dozen corners without finding it. His eyes could pierce the darkness, but they could not tell him where to go. So focused was he on leading his companions to safety that he never saw the quiet shape floating down towards him, tendrils silently pulsing in the air like a spider spinning silk on the wind. All he knew was that the blackness grew darker, the sound of the sea was muffled, and a heavy thickness pressed against his lips, choking him as if a wet cloth had been forced into his throat.

GMs take note: if your party is getting too powerful to find your adventure challenging anymore, consider throwing some conditions at them. This happened quite unplanned in my campaign: if you go by CRs, then a handful of Darkmantles should not pose too much of a threat to level five and six characters (especially Abenthy, who has AC 24!). But all it took was one critical hit and Abenthy was grappled, suffocated, blinded, and made deaf. The same thing happened to Karinna, and not much later to Tyrion. With spellcasting cut off (because of the silence), it left the party with little options to fight back. But fight back they did, and eventually they won through, though the ordeal nearly killed them.

Next they encountered two giant crabs (boosted a little from their stats in the Monster Manual to match the creature suggested in the 3.5 module) as they tried to swim out from the sea cave to the waiting Tywin’s Vengeance. This encounter saw some clever use of Tenser’s Floating Disc to carry Tyrion as an archer hovering above the water, and Abenthy threw himself into combat like a madman, leaping from the disc to downward strike one of the crabs. But once the party is in the water, it’s like having a constant condition. The crabs grapple and then try to drown them, diving down towards the bottom of the sea with the players held in their claws and at risk for getting regrappled every time they try and swim away. Ultimately, Abenthy wins this one with some fun use of Thunderblade, whose sonic boom pushes him backwards towards the surface of the sea and lets him pull himself and Tyrion to safety before they can drown.

Anyway, it’s a good note to taking easy CRs and making them still exciting to fight, and the whole notion falls in line with what I was talking about earlier in the post, about making scenes TENSE rather than just rolling dice back and forth. For instance, in the fight against the crabs, you could run this as a simple back-and-forth roll fest: with the players unable to move much in the water, especially once grappled by the crabs’ claw attack, and the crabs unwilling to retreat. But having the crabs act more dynamically, using their grapple to pull the players deeper into the water, makes this more than a fight, it makes it a situation where the environment is part of the fight, too. As much and as often as you can, make the players think about more than one thing in a fight. Those fights will be more memorable for it, and you can do this with almost every fight in your dungeon/game. It doesn’t always have to be as crazy as fighting while steering a boat down a waterfall—in fact, doing this for too many fights in a row will end up fatiguing your players and put you in a space of constantly one upping yourself. But for every fight you think the players will get into, try asking yourself the following:

is there something about the environment that can make this fight more interesting or tense, something about the environment that threatens the players outside of the enemies? Examples: it takes place underwater, or on a narrow mountain ledge, or in a dungeon room filled with a dangerous fungus that reacts to sound.

can you create a mixture of enemies that makes a fight more exciting and gives your monsters more options in combat? Examples: instead of a troop of thirteen goblins, make it a troop of five regular goblins who will charge, three goblin archers who will hide and shoot with sneak attack damage, one goblin mage who will buff his allies, a goblin boss who hits hard, and three goblin riders mounted on their wargs who will dart in and out of combat for flanking attacks (now that’s a battle to write home about!)

can your battlefield be adjusted to let your monsters use interesting and clever battle tactics? Examples: a dungeon room filled with spiders is thirty feet high, letting them climb down from out of sight; a group of slimes is encountered in an old well with lots of cracks in the walls that they can disappear into.

can you add something unusual to the fight to make it stand out? Examples: your party fights a dragon while riding ON TOP OF the dragon; your party fights giant spiders while climbing a giant’s castle, 100 feet in the air; your party is trapped inside an impenetrable magic shell with an angry demon, and the shell is floating down a volcanic lava flow towards a portal to the elemental plane of fire.

can you add a time limit to the fight to make it more tense? Examples: you are fighting undead in a locked room, while a spiked ceiling slowly descends to crush you all; you are fighting gargoyles on a damaged airship that is going to crash into a mountain unless someone gets to the controls; you are trying to break through a horde of hobgoblins to shut down a portal to the nine hells before Tiamet can get through it.

is there a sensical way the players could end this fight without combat, or at least tilt the odds in their favor by bringing something new to the fight? Examples: an assassin sent to kill them is willing to turn around and kill the guy who hired him, if they pay him double; the giant territorial ape they saw in the woods earlier can be tricked into attacking the bugbear fortress, distracting both forces while the players sneak inside; a blue dragon, having just fed on an entire cavalry, is open to bartering for some of the party’s magical treasure instead of murdering them for tresspassing on her desert.

You can also mix and match some of the items off this list. For instance, if the players are going to encounter Treants in the woods, you could make the battlefield AND the enemies more interesting by having the woods be old, dead, rotted woods (maybe destroyed ages ago in a fire) and make the treants undead, hiding amongst the ruined and petrified trees. A much more atmospheric and interesting scenario!

You can find examples of this kind of combat adjustment all throughout the campaign, going at least as far back as the Dire Shark encounter. Keep your eyes open for these opportunities in your own campaign, and you’ll have something to write about, too!

#journey #tomb of haggemoth #dnd 5e #giant enemy crab #epic #Dungeons and Dragons #Journey Log #Wizards of the Coast #fantasy #RPG

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ericsonclan · 4 years

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Until Dawn

Summary: Clementine invites her friends over for a sleepover and they decide to play a game: Until Dawn.

Read on A03:

Everything was set up and ready to go. The title screen for Until Dawn was displayed on the TV screen. A face moved on the screen as it waited for the game to begin. Clementine looked around the room. Popcorn and bowls of candy were on the living room table as well as an assortment of drinks. She glanced down at her watch.

Everyone should be here soon.

Just as she finished the thought, a knock was heard on the door. Running over to the door, she opened it to find Brody and Ruby standing out front.

“Hey guys, come in.” Clementine stepped away to make room for her friends to enter.

“Thanks,” Brody said as she and Ruby entered first, followed closely behind by Violet and Prisha while Sophie, Minnie and Renata brought up the rear.

“You guys ready for jumpscares and gore galore?” Renata asked excitedly, jumping down on the couch to join Minnie who had already taken her spot.

“I hope it’s not too gory,” Brody sighed, taking a spot beside Renata.

“Well I’m sure it will be fine,” Sophie gave a reassuring smile as she sat on the couch arm beside her twin. “We’ll all be taking turns so together we can survive the night.”

“Soph’s right,” Ruby took one of the available chairs while Prisha took the last spot on the couch. “It’ll be fun,”

“How long is the game anyway? Violet sat down on the remaining couch arm by Prisha.

“Usually it’s ten to twelve hours,” Renata stated, grabbing a handful of popcorn before shoving it in her mouth.

“So we’ll be playing Until Dawn… until dawn.” Clementine said with an enthusiastic smile. Grabbing the controller, she took a seat by Sophie and selected the new game option. The game opened up with a still image of a butterfly warning the girls that their choices would affect the story and they should choose wisely.

“Who wants to go first?” Clementine held up the controller.

“Oh, I do!” Sophie shot her arm up quickly, snatching the controller as the opening shot of the cabin was shown. It became abundantly clear to the girls what type of characters they would be playing as when the prologue started.

“So we’re just following some idiotic teenagers?” Violet asked, leaning back with her arms crossed.

“Yeah, that seems about right.” Renata replied, grabbing a bowl of candy before leaning against Minnie’s shoulder.

“We’re playing as a twin,” Minnie seemed more invested now, leaning forward in her seat as she watched.

“Oh no, don’t fall for it,” Brody whispered as she saw Hannah go along with what Mike wanted, falling further into the teenagers’ prank. Soon it became clear to Hannah that she had been pranked, causing her to run out into the cold winter night alone.

“That was brutal,” Clementine whispered, taking a sip from her drink.

“Don’t worry, Sophie and Minnie, we would never pull a prank like that on either of you.” Ruby declared firmly.

Sophie and Minnie shared a confused look before looking back at their friend.

“Thanks, Ruby,” Sophie gave a small smile as her attention turned back to the screen.

“It was just a prank, Han!” Renata mimicked Emily’s voice, making the others look over both impressed and confused by it.

“Well, it’s time to save my twin!” Sophie declared as she controlled Beth who slowly made her way through the dark forest. Brody hugged a pillow closer to her, jumping slightly as the deer jumped out. Soon Sophie came across a totem and picked it up, revealing some sort of vision.

“I feel like this is cultural appropriation,” Prisha looked annoyed by the game’s choice of item.

“What it is is scary,” Renata said in her best spooky voice. After a few minutes Sophie was able to find Hannah, but they weren’t alone. A stranger appeared behind them, causing them to slip and fall. The first major decision popped up. Beth could either let go of Hannah or choose to drop both of them. Sophie and Minnie locked eyes and nodded in unison.

“We’re going out together!” Sophie yelled as she moved the analog stick over the choice, causing the twins to fall to their deaths. As the opening song played, Sophie passed along the controller to Prisha. She began her turn by getting all the characters intros to which everyone had different responses. After a while she was in control of Sam who looked at a phone sticking out of the bag.

“I don’t think you should be snooping,” Ruby said in a soft voice.

“Yeah, it’s not nice.” Brody agreed.

“Snoop! Snoop! Snoop! Snoop!” Renata chanted to which Sophie immediately joined in, the two smiling at each other as they chanted. Prisha moved the character forward and snatched up the phone, her curiosity getting the better of her. Soon Chris appeared behind her, causing Ruby and Brody to jump. Some more establishing scenes played out and Prisha decided to pass the controller on to someone else. As she continued to watch the game her hand wandered over to Violet’s, taking it in her own. Her thumb gently brushed against Violet’s, causing a warm feeling to shoot through Violet’s body. She glanced up at Prisha with a small smile.

A fight broke out between Emily and Jessica over what all the girls had agreed was a semi petty reason.

“They’re splitting up,” Minnie’s eyebrow raised, confused by their choice.

“They really are idiots. They're all gonna die.” Violet replied from her side of the couch.

“It’s horror movie 101: don’t split up,” Clementine added, moving Mike forward as the couple bantered. The sound of the doorbell ringing in real life caused Clem to pause the game. Jumping up from her seat, she made her way over to the door where the pizza man waited.

“Thanks,” Her voice was muffled as she held the boxes of pizza and closed the door with her foot. Ruby immediately made her way over and offered her help, placing down the pizzas as

Clementine disappeared into the kitchen to get some paper plates. Soon they returned to the game. Mike and Jessica were in the safety of the cabin after running away from an unknown threat in the woods. Brody let out a sigh, glad that they were safe. Her eyes widened when she realized it was her turn to play. Reluctantly she took the controller and began to get the cabin warm for Jessica when suddenly she got a call from Mitch.

“Hey, Prisha, can you grab my phone and hold it up to my ear?” Brody asked as she navigated Mike around the room.

“Sure,” Prisha answered the call and held it up to Brodys’ ear.

“Hey, Mitch,” Brody answered, a small smile appearing on her face when she heard her boyfriend’s voice. “Everything’s fine, just playing the game. Yeah I’m fine. I’m just-” Brody let out a small shriek when Jessica got pulled through the door, causing the other girls who weren’t frightened by the scare to also react. “No, Mitch, it was just a jumpscare. Yeah, I’m okay. Oh shit, Mike, triangle! It's triangle!” Brody desperately mashed the button as Mike struggled to get to Jessica. “I have to go.” Brody used her nose to stop the call, turning her full attention back on the screen.

“Ummm, ummm which way?” She looked frantically at the options.

“Just fucking jump it!” Violet leaned forward, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Square!” Clementine yelled, pointing to the screen as Mike moved forward.

“Thanks,” Brody replied, mashing the buttons that appeared on the screen. It wasn’t over as Mike made his way down to the mines. Mike looked around desperately for his girlfriend who was nowhere to be seen.

“Did we get her killed?” Ruby asked with a concerned expression on her face.

“No, she’s there!” Sophie pointed at the TV as Mike made his way over. After an unclear shot of whether Jessica was alive or not, Brody shakily handed the controller to Renata whose eyes lit up as she grasped it. Brody’s attention fell back on her phone as she sent a quick text to let Mitch know that she really was okay.

“Watch the expert!” Renata gave a confident smile as she made her way outside of the elevator shaft to climb it. Immediately she missed the first button prompt, causing Mike to fall down in an overly dramatic way. Sophie let out a snort.

“That was just a warm up,” Renata’s tongue stuck out slightly as she concentrated on the buttons only to fail again and again. Sophie slowly devolved into a fit of giggles as her friend continued to miss the prompts. The others weren’t too much help as they smiled and laughed as well.

“You’ve got this,” Minnie gave a reassuring smile, causing Renata to get a newly found drive. Eventually Renata passed the climbing challenge, but it seemed that the game knew she had taken too long, forcing her to take a darker path. Renata swiped her finger across the controller, hoping that the lighter would turn on. After a few tries it lit up. A pair of eyes appeared, hiding behind the planks of wood. Everyone seemed to get caught in this jumpscare except for Sophie who had sneezed right when it happened. She seemed pretty bummed at this fact but moved on as Minnie got the controller.

Minnie was back with the majority of the characters and ended up playing as Chris as he made his way to what was surely his worst nightmare. There tied up was Josh, Chris’ best friend, and Ashley his crush.

“This is cruel,” Ruby’s tone was a mixture of sad and fearful as she heard the killer’s voice telling Chris he had to choose. The others weren’t sure how Minnie was going to decide this one. But it ended up being pretty easy for her. She moved the saw towards Josh.

“That was fast,” Clementine looked back over her shoulder at Minnie who shrugged. “He creeped me out.”

“That’s fair,” Violet agreed as she took another slice of pizza. Soon they were back in the shoes of Mike and it was Violet’s turn to play. She guided the character through what looked like an abandoned asylum until she opened a door and a wolf jumped out and started barking at her. The option to hit it was brought up, but instead Violet waited for the time to run out. She ended up finding a treat for the wolf and befriending it. A silent agreement was made amongst the players: the wolf had to survive the night. Violet soon approached a box with a fake hand swaying back and forth, a note attached to it. Without a second thought Violet reached for the tag, causing Mike’s hand to get caught in a bear trap.

“Shit!” Violet was not expecting this. The camera changed to another’s viewpoint, approaching the room that Mike was in. The option to try the bear trap or to cut off his fingers appeared.

“Cut off his fingers,” Minnie suggested to which Sophie immediately agreed.

“No, try the trap!” Brody begged, hoping not to see one of the characters she had become most attached to get hurt.

“That may not work though,” Prisha tried to think both options through but time was running out.

“Fuck it,” Violet pushed the analog stick towards one of the options. Mike let out a painful cry as he held his now maimed hand. Brody hid her face behind the pillow as Ruby stated facts about how he should treat it so it didn’t get worse.

Clementine was next for the controller, playing a character they hadn’t seen in a while: Sam. She was busy still chilling in her bath when the killer stood behind her.

“That’s so creepy,” Brody winced at the screen.

“It’s fucking digusting,” Minnie added in agreement. The others tried to warn Sam to look around but to no avail. Instead Sam was forced to watch a brutal tape of Josh getting killed. Suddenly the killer burst through the door, walking towards her.

“Throw the vase!” Sophie yelled, jumping her seat. Clementine did just that before running down the hallway. The option to hide or to run appeared, causing the girls to split on the option. Clementine chose to keep running, avoiding each time to hide until she reached the final room in which she chose to hide. The don’t move warning appeared as Clementine froze, barely breathing while she hoped she wouldn��t get Sam caught. When she had succeeded everyone let out sighs of relief.

The controller got passed around before it landed in Prisha’s hands again. This time they were in control of Emily who tried her best to call for help and was successful but they wouldn’t arrive until dawn.

“Roll credits!” Sophie and Renata said at the same time. A hand appeared, creepily moving across the screen as it sliced the cable causing the tower to fall. Soon Emily was in quite the predicament as she held on desperately for her life. Prisha was now in control of Matt as he decided between jumping to safety or helping his girlfriend.

“You should help her,” Brody looked over at Prisha. “She’s your girlfriend.”

“It would be pretty shitty to leave your girlfriend,” Clementine added, looking back at the group.

“But she’s a pretty shitty girlfriend,” Violet grumbled from her spot.

“Doesn’t mean she deserves to die,” Ruby’s counterpoint caused Prisha to pause. Moving the analog stick, she tried once to help Emily who continued to whine and diss Matt as he tried to help her.

“Forget you,” Prisha shot the analog stick over to jump to safety, an annoyed expression on her face which turned slightly happier as Emily fell.

Brody felt her heartbeat race as she held the controller. She played through a few scenes before arriving at one she dreaded. Chris and Ashley had been tied to chairs and a gun was placed on the table. The killer’s voice told Chris he had two choices: to kill Ashley or himself. Brody frantically moved the gun back and forth unsure what to do.

“You gotta pick, Brody,” Sophie stated as she opened up another drink.

“I-I can’t!” Brody’s voice wavered as she continued to move the gun back and forth when suddenly the time ran out. When she realized she had chosen an option that meant neither had to die, she fell back further into her spot in relief. Suddenly a big reveal happened, showing that Josh was the killer and was just pulling a big prank on the friends as payment for what happened a year ago.

“See, I told you he was creepy!’ Minnie gestured to the screen.

“Yep, you were right!” Renata smiled up at her girlfriend.

Everyone seemed to be done with Josh after that point. Although they all seemed somewhat sympathetic to him that only went so far. They were soon back with Emily who seemed just as whiny as ever. Suddenly a creature appeared to chase her.

“What is that!” Brody hid further behind her pillow.

“Whatever it is, you better move your ass!” Violet commanded Emily as she moved her forward. Soon a don’t move prompt appeared, causing Violet to turn into stone.

“Hey, Brody, hot or not?” Renata nudged Brody’s arm with a playful smile. Brody wasn’t even paying attention, her eyes averted from the screen and her ears plugged.

“That’s a wendigo, Renata,” Prisha stated, looking over at Renata who didn’t seem fazed by the statement.

“So?”

“Shut up, Renata!’ Violet hissed, whispering through her teeth. After a moment Violet had passed the prompt and moved forward towards her escape.

“All I’m saying is I would get with a wendigo if it was a matter of life and death,”

Minnie looked over at her girlfriend. “You’d be dead though,”

Renata gave a shrug. “Sophie knows what I’m talking about,”

“No, I really don’t,” Sophie shook her head though she smiled towards her friend. When Violet had safely gotten Emily out of trouble everyone cheered, proud of her achievement. Soon more information was revealed back at the cabin and Chris had to go off with the stranger to get Josh back into the cabin only for the stranger’s head to get taken clean off by a wendigo. Ruby was on the controls now and bravely ran forward to make it back to the cabin.

“Not today, you creepy weirdos!” Ruby yelled as she aimed for a wendigo, shooting it all the way back.

“Way to go, Ruby!” Sophie cheered before stopping when Ruby missed the next one, causing Chris to die. Ruby’s eyes fell, upset that she was the only one so far to get a character killed.

“It’s okay, Ruby,” Clementine looked over at her with a sympathetic smile.

Ruby returned the smile and decided to extend her turn. The scene changed when the group argued whether Emily would turn because she was bitten.

“Don’t shoot her,” Prisha warned, leaning forward. “The stranger told us that it wasn’t transferred through bites.”

“Prisha’s smart. Let’s listen to her,” Renata nodded in agreement. Everyone seemed to agree automatically; Prisha was rarely wrong. Emily didn’t seem appreciative of the decision though, slapping Ashley afterwards. The girls took a quick break to stretch their legs and take a bathroom break. Everyone seemed eager to continue the game as they talked excitedly amongst themselves about the progress so far. Minnie had offered to take the controller next, playing as Mike as he made his way through the abandoned asylum once more.

“Wolfy!” Minnie exclaimed excitedly as the wolf rejoined her. “I’m gonna keep you safe, don’t worry.” Minnie continued to go through the building until she ran into more wendigos which she was able to fend off thanks to her quick reflexes.

“That was so badass!” Sophie’s eyes shone proudly at her sister while she made her way to safety. When she entered a room she quickly jumped down the hole, hoping that the wolf would join her but instead it got taken out by a wendigo.

“No!” Minnie cried out, her hands dropping the controller. Renata moved closer to Minnie, giving her a warm hug.

“Dammit,” Violet’s eyes fell. Prisha’s hand wrapped around Violet’s to which Violet gave a small smile. Everyone seemed upset by the death but decided to soldier on. They still needed to save the others.

Brody bravely took the controls once again this time as Sam. Walking through the cold water of the cave she moved the character to the glowing spot that signaled that an item was there. Leaning over to pick it up the girls soon realized what it was: Hannah’s diary. Since Clementine was closest to the TV she volunteered to read it. Narrating out the diary entries, a horrible truth came to light.

“What? Hannah ate Beth!?!” Sophie nearly fell out of her seat at the revelation. She looked over at Minnie, her eyes slightly teary due to a mixture of the news and the fact that it was nearing four in the morning. “Minnie, I would never!”

Minnie reached out and took Sophie’s hand, giving a reassuring smile. “I know Soph.”

“Wait, you know what this means don’t you?” Prisha’s voice drew everyone’s attention towards her. “This means that Hannah committed cannibalism which means she’s a wendigo, likely one of the ones we faced.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the realization.

“Holy shit,” Minnie whispered shocked by Prisha’s words. The twins shared a look with each other before letting the others know it was okay to continue on.

Soon they were at the end of the game and Sophie was in charge. She felt her heart tighten at the responsibility on her shoulders. She was in charge of Sam as she tried to let the others escape, refusing to leave until everyone was out but each time she had to deal with a wendigo. Suddenly a wendigo jumped and collided with another, tearing off its head.

“Buff!” Renata yelled in time with the wendigo’s attack. Soon a Don’t Move prompt showed up, causing Sophie to become still.

The wendigo moved towards Sam’s face and screamed into her face.

“Me when I make Sophie do a breath check,” Renata joked with a playful smile. Sophie tried not to laugh at the joke.

“Ren, Sophie’s trying to concentrate,” Minnie looked over at Renata.

“Right, right, sorry.”

Sophie took a shaky breath. “I can’t do another wendigo attack.”

“Oh, here,” Renata snatched the controller and placed it on the table. “This way we won’t lose.”

“Cheater,” Violet grumbled with her arms crossed.

Everyone didn’t seem to care though as they just wanted to get everyone to safety. As soon as the last don’t move section was done, Renata tossed the controller to Clementine.

“Bring home the win!” Renata yelled as Clementine caught the controller, moving Sam towards the light switch.

"Hit the switch! Hit the switch!” they all yelled in unison.

Everyone was cheering when she was successful and the wendigos were toast. As they watched the end credits roll everyone felt the tiredness in their bones.

The light shining through the curtains showed that they really had played until dawn. They all got caught up in their discussion of the game before sleep overtook each one of them.

#twdg #twdg clementine #twdg violet #twdg ruby #twdg brody #twdg sophie #twdg minnie #twdg renata #twdg prisha #twdg minata #twdg privet #twdg moody #twdg bitch #fanfic #ericson's diner au

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