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unfinishedslurs · 7 months

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Nancy's GBF (ghost best friend)

IT'S OCTOBER QUICK POST GHOST BARB FIC

She dreams about Barb every night.

She’s dreamed about her before, of course, but ever since Vecna died it’s different. She doesn’t scream. Doesn’t cry. There’s no blame placed on Nancy’s shoulders, no shrieking accusations about how it should have been her instead.

She’s a silent figure. Unmoving, unfeeling. No matter how far Nancy reaches, or how fast she runs, she can never get close.

Eventually, she comes into focus, and it’s awful because she seems younger than she ever did in real life. Her best friend died a child, closer to her little brother’s age than Nancy’s own now. The red shade of her hair, the exact outfit she had on, it’s all things she forgets in the waking world. But for these few minutes she can have Barb back. Even if she can never hug her best friend again, or exchange secrets, or laugh together, she still has this.

When she wakes up, it’s with tears on her face.

“Nancy?” Jonathan asks groggily, still half asleep. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Later, when he tells her he was accepted to Lenora Hills, she’ll wonder if she could have saved their relationship if she hadn’t started lying too.

Two months after the dreams start, Barb speaks.

“Nancy? Nancy, it’s so cold. I don’t like it here, Nancy, please–”

In that moment, Nancy can finally reach out and take her hand.

She wakes up shivering and automatically checks her surroundings. Mike bursts through her door when she shrieks, her mom not far behind him.

They both try to ask her what’s wrong, but she can’t answer, too busy staring at the dead girl in the corner.

“Nancy?” Barb asks, pool water dripping down her chin. “What’s wrong with me?”

She tries to ignore it.

She’s having a mental breakdown of some kind, that’s fine. It’s to be expected, really. She’s been struggling keeping up with school, and the end of the world, and breaking up with Jonathan. Of course she’d see Barb around every corner. Of course she’d be cold all the time. Of course. And everyone knows the first step of having a mental break is to not feed into the delusion.

She checks with El and Will, just to be safe.

They both look confused when they open the door, which makes sense. She and Jonathan have been split up for a month, she hasn’t exactly been around. Still, they accept her inside without question.

“I need you to make sure Henry isn’t back,” she blurts out as soon as the door shuts behind her. Both of them rear back in tandem, and something clatters in the kitchen.

“Nancy?” Jonathan pokes his head around the corner, bewildered. “Are you okay?”

“Jonathan!” She feels herself flush. Why didn’t she think he’d be home? She knows he doesn’t have a job anymore, and his friend Argyle went back to California a while ago. Where else would he be?

“Nance, you’re pale,” he says, like she hasn’t noticed. As if her mom hasn’t said the same thing a hundred times in the past few days. He reaches out to guide her to the couch, and flinches back as soon as he feels her bare skin. “You’re freezing. Let me get you a blanket.”

She turns and looks at the kids as soon as he’s out of sight, noticing the way Will is rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I’m sorry, I’ve been having weird dreams for a while, and lately it’s gotten…worse, I guess, and I need to make sure it’s not him. It doesn’t feel like him, but I need…I can’t…”

El’s face turns into something determined, and oh, Nancy hates asking this of her. But if Vecna isn’t really dead, if they can get a headstart on his next plan, well. The sooner the better.

Ten minutes later the three siblings are sitting across from her, El tying a blindfold around her eyes as a blanket sits on Nancy’s shoulders. It doesn’t do anything to help, of course. It’s nothing like when Will was possessed but the mindflayer. The heat doesn’t bother her, no matter how many times she brings a spare blanket to add to the pile on her bed or turns the shower faucet to its highest setting. In fact, she can’t feel it at all.

“Close your eyes,” El commands. “Focus. I need to be able to see inside you.”

She grimaces, involuntarily glancing at Barb in the corner. The past few days she’s been weeping nonstop. More than a few times, Nancy has cried with her. Now, though, she looks around the Byers’s new place curiously.

Nancy shuts her eyes.

“Don’t shut me out,” El reminds her gently, and then light floods her vision.

Barb, always Barb. When they were kids they would push each other on the swingset and dare each other to climb trees. The last time she saw her, reassuring her she’d be fine before following Steve upstairs. Vecna daring to taunt her, as if she could ever forget what she’d lost.

A million memories, some she’d almost forgotten. And then it’s over too soon.

El rips the blindfold off, breathing heavily. Jonathan hands her a tissue for her nose, looking at Nancy with so much concern it feels like it’s going to kill her.

“What did you see?” Will asks frantically. “Was it him?”

El shakes her head, confirming what Nancy already knew deep down. “It wasn’t him.”

“Then what was it?” Jonathan asks, eyes still on Nancy. She raises a shaking hand to her face, and it comes away wet.

“Nothingness,” El finally says. “And then sadness, and cold, and dark. And a light. There was a light, and a hand, and then there was warmth and feeling again. But the feelings are bad. They are not Henry, but they are not good.”

“So she’s real?” Nancy’s voice cracks.

“What? Who’s real? Nancy, what’s going on?” Jonathan asks. WIll just looks at her, concern in his big eyes.

El tilts her head. “I think so? But I do not know her. I can’t see her like you can.”

“Who is ‘she?’” Jonathan demands. “Will someone tell me what’s going on?”

“I actually have to go,” Nancy says, almost stumbling as she stands up. She takes a moment to fold the blanket Jonathan gave her so kindly. He’s still trying to get her attention, but she brushes him off as she heads out the door and to her car.

“Nance, please, I know we broke up but I still care–”

“I know!’ She says, whipping around. Barb watches curiously from the corner of her eye. “I know you do, and that’s great, really, but it’s none of your business. I didn’t even think you’d be here, so…”

“Where else would I be?”

“I don’t know, Jonathan, California?” She snaps. He rears back. “Isn’t that where you’re going anyway? Just– stop acting like this is any of your business! We broke up, we’re done, I don’t… I don’t want to talk, Jon! Just leave it alone.”

“Nancy…” he reaches out, and Nancy takes a step back. Barb appears between them in an instant, and his hand passes right through her. He jumps, swearing and turning pale. Nancy feels herself gasp, feeling warm for the first time in days in that split second before he pulls back.

He watches her silently, with those big eyes she’s always been weak to. She doesn’t have anything to say to him, or maybe she has too much to say. Either way, she gets in her car silently, driving off and leaving him standing in the rearview.

For once, she doesn’t startle when Barb jumps into existence in the front seat.

“Byers, huh?” She asks, something like humor in her voice. She always sounds distant now, like she’s underwater, or whispering from across a field. But Nancy understands what she’s saying. She always will.

Barb sighs when she doesn’t answer. “At least his brother’s alive, I guess.”

That makes Nancy laugh, a harsh cackle that would make her jump if it came out of someone else. “Yeah,” she agrees, speaking to the ghost of her best friend for the first time, “At least Will’s alive.”

It’s not like having Barb back. Not really.

She’s bitter, and angry, and she screams and yells and cries all the time. Sweeps her arm across Nancy’s desk like she’s trying to break something, and only gets angrier when she can’t. Yells at Nancy sometimes, which she knows she deserves.

There’s the blame for her death of course, which is nothing new. She’s been having nightmares about that for years. But then there’s the other stuff. The weird questions, like, “Why did you bring me back? Why couldn’t you let it be?”

When she asks about it, all she gets is Barb turning away from her.

“Nancy? Naaaaaaancy. Nance, are you listening to me?”

She turns her head and almost shrieks to see Robin staring at her, almost nose to nose. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for, like, forever minutes,” she complains.

Nancy looks at Steve. “It was, like, forever,” he confirms, staring at her intensely. “You okay, Nance?”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “It’s been thirty seconds,” he deadpans.

Robin flops onto the floor. “Forever.”

“I’m starting to think getting you guys high was a mistake.”

“You say that every time. It’s not even your weed.” Steve yanks the dying bud out of his hand, taking a drag that has to be mostly ash at this point and putting it out on the ashtray. They don’t do this often, or at least Nancy doesn’t join them often. She’s not fond of the floaty feeling the weed gives her, preferring alcohol if she’s not going to be sober. But Eddie asked her to come, and Steve and Robin prefer having more people around if they’re going to get high. Something about what the Russians gave them.

She hasn’t seen Jonathan here since they broke up, but she thinks that’s less about them not inviting him and more about everyone trying to give them both space.

Nancy’s gaze has already wandered back to Barb. It’s been a quiet day today, which makes her nervous for tomorrow. But at least during quiet days she can seem semi-normal in front of her friends.

“Nancy? Seriously, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she tells Steve, not bothering to look away from Barb. She looks from Nancy to Steve, this new, older Steve she’s seeing for the first time, and pretends to gag herself on a finger. The pool water that never stops coming out of her mouth splatters silently on the floor. Nancy doesn’t laugh.

“Hey.” Steve moves in front of her, slightly wobbly as he sits cross legged across from her. She can barely see Barb past his hair. “Yanno, Jonathan asked about you.”

“What?” That breaks her from her trance.

“Yeah, he said he was worried about you. I asked him why he was asking me and not you, but he said you didn’t want to talk about it. But he was, like, really worried Nance. So, like, is everything alright?”

“Do you ever dream about dead people?” She blurts out.

All three of them go completely silent, staring at her. She laughs nervously. “Never mind! Never mind, that’s weird. Wow, why did I ask that? I think I took too many hits. Where’s your bathroom?”

“I mean,” Eddie says, after Steve doesn’t answer, “I dream about Chrissy all the time. How could I not? Shit was a real life nightmare, of course it made its way into my dreams.”

Steve shakes himself. “I guess I dream about Billy, but that’s different. I mean, it’s still a nightmare, but it’s not like…” his hand drifts unconsciously to the faint scar on his forehead. “It’s not about the Upside-Down, I guess. It’s not the same as my other nightmares.”

“I have dreams where people die all the time,” Robin declares, scooching herself across the floor until she can lay in Steve’s lap. “They suck.”

“Yeah, but are any of the dreams ever…weird to you guys? Like they’re not normal nightmares? Like they’re there all the time, just staring at you, and you try to reach for them but you never can?” She asks desperately.

The three of them look at each other, and shake their heads.

“Cool,” Nancy says, palms sweating. “Me neither.”

It’s raining when Mike storms into her room while Nancy is trying (and failing) to do college prep. “What is wrong with you?”

Barb starts laughing, a gurgling, chilling sound that Nancy heard once and made her summarily decide to never make a joke again.

“What are you talking about?” She asks, eyes flitting between Mike and Barb. “Get out!”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he accuses. “You’re not even looking at me!”

“Maybe I just don’t want to see your dumb face.”

“Fuck off!”

“Michael!” Their mother hollers.

He rolls his eyes. “Ugh, sorry!”

#stranger things fanfic #nancy wheeler #barbara holland #ghost barbara holland #nancy's gbf au #barbs got JOKES in this frankly nancy should have laughed at them smh #the idea of barb coming back somehow to see how nancy has changed since she died is so intriguing to me #in my mind vecna dying released the spirits he was holding and somehow nancy's freshly reawakened regrets were so strong she like #summoned barb somehow instead of letting her rest or whatever #so thats what barb means when she asks nancy why she couldn't let her go #this doesn't happen with anyone else bc uhhhhh reasons. i am no longer taking questions at this time #or maybe max is going through the same thing #OHHHHH THAT WOUD BE SO FUN TO WRITE I LOVE NANCY AND MAX PARALLELS

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hazardworld · 1 year

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A response to @feministfandomgeek ‘s comment; the response was too long to be a reply :)

This is a part of my Monster Town series. Part one can be found here

Most monsters can be categorized in one of these three categories:

Humanoids

Humanoids look identical or nearly identical to humans. Any powers they have maintain their form.

Robin- Ghost; when she “goes ghost” her general shapes stay the same, even though she’s invisible and can go through surfaces

Will/Johnathan- Banshees; when they scream, their scleras turn black and their irises turn yellow. Otherwise, they look the same

Glamorists

Glamorists have a generally humanoid shape, but with noticeably inhuman features. Because of this, they have to wear glamours (think TOH galderstones) to cover up. Glamour charms usually last up to 1-2 years, which means they must find a local witch to renew it (The more specialized to them though, the better) before it fizzles out.

Eddie- Witch; pointed ears, fangs (top and bottom), purple slightly-glowing eyes (color varies per witch, and is the color of their magic)

Max- Dryad; moth wing-like ears, blunt fangs, clear “blood” (sap), (if one looks close) bark-textured skin

Lucas/Erica- Vampires; pointed ears, dark claw-like nails, double sets of fangs (top only) crimson glowing eyes (color varies vamp to vamp)

El- Angel; large white feathered wings, halo light she can summon at will

Shifters

Shifters usually have two forms (but can have more) and can generally shift at will anywhere between any of those (depending on species-specific restrictions). Their monster form is considered their “natural form,” as if their human form is like a physical glamour.

If shifters spend too long completely in human form, they’ll spontaneously shift back to natural form, as well as other species-specific side effects. In order to stop this, many shifters will “half shift” to a humanoid form with monstrous features.

Steve; Siren- his parents coaxed him into a masochistic habit of “binding” his form to the point where he’s used to and doesn’t realize he’s unhealthy

Dustin; Werewolf- his mom formally taught him how to form shift, but Steve got him more comfortable with it and taught him half-shifting

Argyle; Shapeshifter- his human form is his natural form, with his second form being “the unknown”

Nancy and Mike are humans descended from Valkyries. Because of this, they have extra insight and can physically comprehend magic like monsters. Nancy is also really good at persuading people to tell the truth.

Because Hawkins is a monster town, Glamorists don’t need to wear glamours, and depending on their natural forms, Shifters can half shift or go fully natural without weird looks or persecution.

#stranger things #monster au #ghost robin buckley #banshee will byers #banshee johnathan byers #witch eddie munson #dryad max mayfield #vampire lucas sinclair #vampire erica sinclair #angel el hopper #siren steve harrington #werewolf dustin henderson #shapeshifter argyle

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felinecryptid · 1 year

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Chasing Pasts in Shadows

or the madcleradin paranormal investigators au i had to write

part 1 | part 2

Will had a really bad feeling about this.

"Wheeler, are you sure this is the right address?" Max asked from the backseat, her voice a strange mix of amusement and exasperation.

"You saw the google maps, I saw the google maps, there's no way this is the wrong place," Mike said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. "I mean, unless google lied to us,"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Max grumbled.

"We should go talk with Mr Reyes," Will interrupted their imminent squabble session. "I know he said his house was big, but this is kind of ridiculous."

Ridiculous was a gross understatement. Mr Reyes had called their little company a few days ago, asking them to have a look around because he felt some disturbance in and around his 'cottage'. This 'cottage' was a mansion bordering on a manor. Afternoon sun hit the stone perfectly, making them glow and glitter; the shade and light somehow complemented the bursting gardens of mauve pansies and chrome daffodils and bright bougainvillaea. Will could see ivy crawling up the side of the house, while grapevines curled up and around the thick fencing. His hands twitched to paint the sight.

Focus on the task, William. He shook himself out of the reverie to see Mike and Max get out of their car, which was held together by the mechanical prowess of El and the engineer genius, Dustin. Mike got in the trunk of the car to pull out their regular equipment, while Max stalked the perimeter, looking for something Will never understood. She claimed she could feel 'energies', traces of paranormal activity. That was the only time Mike agreed with her, talking about some 'vibrations' and temperature, and 2 years of animosity over El evaporated just like that.

Will took out his phone to look over the information Dustin gathered when Mike cursed quietly.

This wasn't unusual in itself, Mike talked to himself a lot, when doing anything technical or investigation related, it helped him keep track of stuff he's doing. Will loved hearing his occasional little remarks about the tripod being an inconsiderate asshole or the wires being unnecessarily difficult, it made Will's day. Then again Will loved everything about Mike Wheeler, his sarcasm, his insistence that aliens existed, the curl above his right eyebrow, his eyes that seemed to contain depths of thoughts inconceivable-

Will had to get his huge crush on Mike under control.

"Mike? Is everything alright?" Will turned around, finding Mike frowning at a regular camera.

Mike shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing," He trailed off, "Max! Get your ass here!" He yelled to Max who was doing something on the far side of the fence.

"What's up, Wheeler?"

Mike looked a little troubled, but he quickly smoothed out his features. "You remember how Dustin and I meticulously recharged every battery last night? It's dead now. I was trying to click a picture of the house- It isn't turning on,"

Max took the camera, inspecting every part of it. "Are you sure you put it in correctly? Plus to plus and all?"

Mike bristled, "Of course I did, I was in the AV club, Mayfield. I thought you might sense something,"

"Do you?"

Mike hesitated a little, "No."

Will was getting concerned. "Max, can you check the rest of the stuff? I have to go through the questions and the information Dustin found for us. Mike, come with me for a sec," Will dragged Mike away by his wrist, putting some distance between them and the exceptionally sharp ears of Max. "Mike? You good? You know you can tell me anything, right? Even if I don't understand what you are talking about, I'm still here for you," Mike frowned as if he didn't quite believe Will.

"Yeah, I think I'm okay. I just thought,” Mike hesitated, fiddling with the string of his ‘Mother Mother’ hoodie.

“You can tell me, Mike. It’s okay,” Wil could see the tension on Mike’s face. He wanted to smooth the wrinkles on his forehead. He didn't.

“It’s weird. I know Dustin and I charged the devices yesterday. It shouldn’t be dead. Dustin even joked about using those things for 48 hours straight,” Mike pulled at the hair curling around his ear. “I’d say this was something paranormal and spooky, but there was nothing to sense, no fields or vibrations or whatever. It was as if the battery died after being used. Plus our phones still work, so whatever it is, it is targeting our equipment specifically. And our equipment doesn't use any wireless networks to operate, so this cannot be from any overhead disrupter.”

Will silently marvelled at the stuff Mike had deduced within minutes. “We’ll fix it, Mike.”

“You’d know you wouldn’t have to if you hung around for half a second more instead of running off to flirt,” Max barged in, holding the camera, beeping the “20% battery left” message.

Will sputtered, as Mike did the same.

“It’s not like that!”

“Mayfield, shut up!”

Max looked at them, with an expression that read ‘are you fucking kidding me’. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“How long have you been eavesdropping?!” Mike said, affronted by the notion.

“Don’t get your pants in a twist, I just heard something about wireless networks, chill,” Max sniffed. “Can we go meet the old dude now or you both want to take another millennium to confess your undying love for each other?”

“Yeah, let's go.” Will awkwardly walked to the huge kissing gate, pushing it open and power walking in, just to avoid Max’s obnoxious remarks. He hadn't seen the questions to ask or the briefing Dustin had sent, but nothing could go wrong this early, right?

***

poor, naive will.

ive already written more of it, i just decided to post it scene by scene bc it'll be more frequently updated. this isn't betad at all so lemme know if anyone finds any mistakes or typos (be gentle please this is my first time writing fanfic)

this is set in 2022, so modern au bc i don't have enough knowledge about ghost hunting in 90's america and the party doing gen z things is too chaotic to pass up. they just have Instagram and tiktok, but no yt channel.

Will is kind of their leader and one of the two active investigators but they all have their own tasks to do.

El is a hardware mechanic and social media manager with lucas

Dustin manages the software stuff and their research (Will helps with the research)

Mike is the heart the other active investigator and he can feel paranormal activity and traces ie a dowsing rod for that stuff (based on that scene where mike reaches for el when she's using her powers to see him in s2)

Max is the on-site technician and always on camera duty . Also a dowsing rod for paranormal activity.

Lucas manages their social media and appearance and takes clients (mike and max help to check their authenticity) and plans their entire schedule bc they are still students and time is precious

lumax are together

they operate out of mike's garage

i think that's all the bg info i can remember for now

inspired by/ based on @dis-a-ppointment 's moodboard and @aeilus 's art

@swordsandskeletons thank you for hyping me up and being generally excited for this💞💞

next part will be up 20 April, at 1800 IST, come scream at me if i forget 🙂

#byler #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #max mayfield #byler fic #ghost hunting au #paranormal investigators au #madcleradin paranormal investigators au #platonic madwheeler #platonic madcleric #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #byler fanfic

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groovinrightalong · 1 year

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Follow up to this post

As you can tell they have a very positive, supportive friendship

#cw: gore #stranger things #stranger things au #mike wheeler #mike wheeler fanart #mike wheeler fanfiction #max mayfield #max mayfield fanart #max mayfield fanfiction #werewolf au #ghosts #byler #byler au #undead #tw: death #tw: body horror #madwheeler

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peterfankoffski · 7 months

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what's your damage?

Chapter 11: Meant To Be Yours

Summary: Hatchetfield High nearly goes to hell, figuratively AND literally.

my damage is that this is the third week in a row i forgot to post the link the day it went up and this is my formal apology to @vesperione

Read it on AO3!

#team starkid #starkid #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #grace chasity #max jagerman #peter spankoffski #stephanie lauter #holy ghost #lautski #npmd #jemcu #em writes fics #hf heathers au

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max-uhhhh-talks · 1 month

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Nightlight but make it the wild west

☆ Nightlight is the QPR consisting of my oc, Starlight, and the oc Fire, belonging to @cup1dz-sp1t . Art of this au can be found here!

☆ DISCLAIMER: any mentions regarding Alpha are NOT representative of either of our actual views on the character OR the irl person playing said character. Alpha's role in Starlight's story, western au or otherwise, is an amplified projection of personal experience in effort to cope, and is in no way made to slander his character. (In other words, Alpha as a character is cool and I have no negative views to him in actuality [I was too lazy to make a brand new character just to cope])

☆ CW/TWs: brief, non-detailed hints/mentions in relation to SA, abuse, violence, death

But who could blame her honestly? After Alpha took her to his room, years of dealing with him. She knew she wasn't the strongest ghoul out there, far from it. It's not her fault she was weaker than the others, unable to contribute much to the "gang" or faction she was part of.

Starlight's on the run. She didn't mean to kill him... not really. Well, maybe.

The desert has loads of them, all taking root in different towns. Different rules, different leaders- Alpha, Omega, Mist, Air, and Pebble. All with their own underlings, quite tight knit despite seperate locations. Alpha was one of the most respected, most well known of the bunch. Maybe it's cause of his aggressive nature, intimidating all he comes across, or his leadership skills.

Or maybe both.

Alpha was known for getting what he wants to a T. And boy did he get exactly what he wanted out of Starlight. Normally a mix of quintessence and earth in a ghoul would make them stronger in magic use than the average single elemental ghoul. Starlight was dealt a bad hand, Alpha decided if she can't do regular tasks like the others, she's gotta be useful for something.

She was tired of it. Tired of being thrown around, treated as less than the others for something she couldn't change no matter how hard she tried, how hard she worked to prove her use outside of what Alpha demanded of her behind closed doors.

She had reached for the nearest object, it wasn't her fault that object just so happened to be his gun, sawed off along the barrel, a triangle etched into its handle, signifying its owner. She had brought it to his head, and he once again, despite his position, held that stupid smirk on his face. Taunting her, "you wouldn't do that." That was until his words were cut off, and the bang rang out in Starlights ears, the force making her stagger backwards against the wall. The noise, the mess, everywhere.

She didn't have the time to process the body that slumped to the floor before yelling was heard in the next few rooms over. The door kicked down, Ifrit appearing with his own gun. Starlight had slammed her body into the wood planks of Alpha's window, falling out into a pile of golden straw.

She ran, Alpha's gun in her hands still. All the way to the stable yard. The horses kicked and bucked, whined frantically and in fear at the shots that rang from Ifrit's direction. All but one, a beautiful white horse. Stoic in its composed demeanor, despite the chaos all around it. It sighed in acceptance, and allowed Starlight to ride off with it.

Minutes of nonstop running, and no sign of pursuit behind her, the horse slowed to an easier canter. Starlight slumped her body against it, took a deep breath for the first time in hours, albeit shaky.

Her relaxation, moment of peace, wouldn't last for long, this she knew. She'd be pursued again, this time by much more people. Stronger than Ifrit, those on par with the man she killed if not greater. The leaders would send out their underlings, known amongst the deserts, even if not as high in status. Alpha has Ifrit, Omega has Aether, Mist has Dewdrop, Air has Zephyr, and Pebble has Mountain. All would come after her and she'd be lucky to survive longer than she has now. If she managed to, in spite of the odds, there was always the other leaders.

She would fall asleep holding onto her companion that guides her away from harm, despite her better judgment. She'll be fine though, she'll wake up in the early morning and she'll already be approaching a new town. A new sanction.

She'll get herself into a fight with some citizen of the town, news of her crime has already spread faster than she traveled. Her face is all over posters already, the factions work quick. She'll kick and try to get away, when her opponent will be suddenly pulled off of her, tossed to the side by a large fire ghoul. Fur a deep red, eyes a glowing yellow, and blonde locs tied back neatly into a bun. She'd stare up at him, in awe of this man who saved her. He however, will realize he hurt someone and will rush to the citizen, helping them up after he had tossed them aside so roughly. When he realizes however, that Starlight was the one attacked, not the attacker, he'll (rather comedically) drop the citizen to the floor and rush to Starlight's side instead.

He'd offer a gun to her for protection, she'll wave it off politely. He'll fix her hat for her, brush off her dress of dust and dirt. He'll completely miss the hole in her long skirt made by a stray bullet, and the small stained blood splatters. He'll offer her a drink for her troubles and a place to sleep for the night, and he'll guide her to the bar in which he runs.

He'll introduce himself as Fire, briefly mention that Starlight should be more careful outside. There's a killer on the loose, someone's managed to declare Alpha dead. He'll look Starlight over, she looks familiar, he says with her wanted poster pinned right behind him. She'll laugh it off, pretend she's hearing the news for the first time. She'll tear the poster down before he can see it.

He'll mention that he was once part of Alpha's faction. He left years ago, disagreements on hoe Alpha ran things, much too aggressive, much too violent. Fire had took up his own sanction, outside but near Alpha's. Fire's was more of a refuge for less violent ghouls, like himself. He was more a protector if anything, a self disciplined, unofficial leader. He's a bartender, detached from fights. Fire is kind, but everyone knows not to mess with a bartender nevertheless. He's trusted, well respected amongst those around him.

Starlight will hear somewhere around of a little place, an oasis of sorts. Hidden within the deserts, giving magic to the person who finds it. No one knows if it's real, no one's found it yet, but Starlight isn't discouraged. It will drive her further away from these sanctions, and it could give her the magic she'd somehow been deprived of since birth? She's up for an adventure if it offers freedom and magic.

Fire doesn't know what this oasis is, he doesn't even know a thing about her. Starlight has been good with keeping herself and her crime hidden.

To Fire at least.

Starlight intrigues him though, who she is, where she's trying to go, why does everyone seem to want to fight her? He'll get into a fight or two trying to protect Starlight from attackers, they quickly learn and adjust to one anothers fighting tactics. Star is best at long distance action, guns are best for her with the occasional knife, fist or boot to the face, if needed. Fire on the other hand is very up close and personal, hand to hand combat. Object to hand combat, he'll grab a plank of wood and use it if needed.

That's no good, she needs a protector, a companion if anything at the very least. He'll tag along on her little adventure, they work well as a pair, they've agreed.

Meanwhile, a sheriff from Alpha's sanction is also in pursuit of his murderer. Primo doesn't care that she's outside of their sanctions perimeters, or that she's in pursuit of multiple other factions. His job is to catch criminals, and of he has to chase after them, he will.

3 notes · View notes