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sahidchettair · 3 years

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THE INCIDENT

aka how Sahid became deaf

The digital clock stared at them with its blinking eyes, accusing them as they alternated between looking at the clock and the smoke stained ceiling of their trailer. They hadn’t gotten back till at least four am, and they figured they could get some sleep in before they would turn up at the high school cleaning out the place for the start of the winter break.

Ten more minutes went by before Sahid gave up and dragged themselves out of bed, plopping on the coffee machine almost automatically as they set to work cleaning up the mess from the night before. Throwing empty bottles out, canning the cigarette buts, airing the room.

They walked to the couch with their coffee and phone in hand, putting on some songs on Spotify, which they leeched from the neighbour. Their brain hurt, but that wasn’t anything new. On the table were flyers, they printed them themselves now, a hundred every week, handing them out at gas stations and hotels, hoping to get them as far as possible, making people in every town and city in America aware of Cassie.

But deep down Sahid had started believing she was dead. They had stopped asking God to bring her home, the little shrine in the corner had been neglected. Religion simply didn’t fit with the situation anymore. Although there were times when they would pass the church and wish they were still welcome there.

Halfway through finishing the coffee, Sahid went to make some food. There was half a pizza left, so they warmed that up. Texted Brandon, then tried to call him, but there was no response. They were supposed to meet up later that day, but Sahid knew what radio silence meant. Some days were better than others, some days he actually wanted to talk to them, most days however, Brandon seemed to think they were best avoided. Maybe he was right.

They put on Oblivion again, by Grimes, a song that they could sing along to easily, helping them forget thinking, just paying attention to the lyrics.

The oven beeped and Sahid took out the pizza out of the oven, looking at the vegan thing with disappointment. It tasted like shit in comparison, but at least a vegan diet was something they kept to. They did consider their body as a temple.

Though looking over at the collection of alcohol bottles would suggest otherwise.

Sitting back down on the couch, Sahid ate and sang along, constantly skipping back to Grimes, reaching back while their phone was on the charger.

There was a knock on the door.

“Coming!” Sahid yelled, used to people coming around their trailer from around the neighbourhood. There were so many little chores that they had become good at, and which would earn them some extra cash. They put the pizza on the coffee table and their phone back on the charger, walking towards the door, nursing their chin and rubbing the muscles in their neck.

When they opened the door it wasn’t the person they were expecting, or one of them. It was someone who Sahid avoided like the plague. They took a deep breath, shook their head, took a step back instinctively.

“Phil,” Sahid said, swallowing. “What are you doing here? With… with your friends…”

Their step-father took a step forward, one hand reaching out for Sahid’s shirt. Behind him were five older men that Sahid recognised from post-church dinners and family gatherings, though they did not remember any of their names. All of them carried guns. “Sahid,” he said, as always butchering the name with such perfection that even their mother had given up trying to correct him. “You will go with us.”

Sahid took another step back, but their stepfather kept them in place, hurling them out of the door alongside him.

“Check the trailer,” his stepfather ordered, pointing at two of the men.

“What is this about?” Sahid asked, fighting against their stepfather. Two more hands grabbed them, the fabric of their shirt being pulled at from different sides, the feeling suffocating.

“Where did you hide her?!” Phil demanded.

Sahid knew what this was about. Phil was so focussed on seeing them as some kind of monster, that there was only one person who could’ve taken Cassie away, could’ve taken his little granddaughter. As payback, probably. Sahid didn’t have to hear those words being spoken aloud to understand the crazy ideas their stepfather could make up to justify every single bad word and bad action towards them. They had seriously started to doubt if Phil had ever been interested in raising another child.

“I didn’t!” Sahid sneered back, resulting in their stepfather throwing them to the ground. They had never much recovered after being malnutritioned for over a year, falling shoulder first into the hard pavement like a sack of bones.

“Check behind the house,” Phil ordered, bending down to try and pick Sahid up.

But fear gripped them before their stepfather did. They crawled away from the hand, towards the treeline. The forest behind their trailer was enormous, if they wanted to get away-

Sahid crawled back to their feet and started running, hearing shouts behind them, they jumped over branches, the ground slowly going down towards a little creek that ran into the valley. They looked behind several times, the men still at their heels, but they were gaining ground on them. If they made it to the creek, they could run upwards back towards town… and then what?

Going to the police had stopped being an option years ago, the church was off limits for them… corner store it was.

They could hear running water! Just a few more steps and they would be heading to safety. Only that wasn’t what time had in store for them, the creek appeared but Sahid was running too fast, the stones were slippery. Sahid fell face first to the ground - again.

Their chest hurt, their lungs burned, Sahid rolled over, clutching their stomach, tasting blood in their mouth. Reaching one hand up, they felt blood dripping from somewhere above their hairline and their nose hurt with the slightest touch. But hopefully they had managed to get away from their step-father.

They passed out before they could hear the footsteps running towards them.

----

Sahid gasped for breath, their lungs still burning. They started coughing after but one raspy breath, leaning forward, surprised to look directly at the ground, their body in a completely different position than they were when they passed out.

They coughed again, stretching their back to get more air in, finding multiple things wrong as they became more aware of their situation. They were crouched on the ground, their hands bound behind their back, one eye didn’t open, as if the eyelids were stuck together.

A hand was placed on their shoulder, then a face appeared in front of them, but their vision was hazy, they didn’t recognise who it was. But given the situation, they didn’t need to see to know. Something cold touched their ear, and they tried to shake their head to move away from it, but the hand pushed them back against it.

“Where is she?”

“I didn’t take her,” Sahid managed to blurt out.

“Did you bury her somewhere here? Are you trying to destroy the evidence!”

“I didn’t-”

Their vision was less hazy now, and they shut up once it became clear that the cold steel was the head of Phil’s cut off shot-gun. He held it to their face, a crazed look in his eyes. Sahid tried to move their head back, but the hand held them in place.

“Best you tell us now, you don’t want to end up feeling my wrath, now?”

Sahid breathed with difficulty, shaking their head. “I-”

They became aware of the people behind their stepfather, the same five men he had dragged along with him to the trailer, all armed, all staring at them with murderous eyes. They wondered what mess they could expect in their trailer when they returned…

… if they ever would.

“Out with it, boy!” Phil screamed, hitting Sahid in the head with the gun, shaking them violently. “Where is she!”

“I don’t know!” Sahid yelled in return, pressing their eyes closed, feeling tears well up.

“Liar!”

The kick in their stomach came out of nowhere, but at least it took the gun away from their face, made them feel safe for a few moments. Until their stepfather dragged them to their feet again. They could hear some shouts from the men behind him, telling their stepfather to stop, but they weren’t sure what they wanted to stop.

A sound so violent and close ripped through their ear, the gun having been fired next to the left side of their head. They were let go and fell to the ground again, screaming as the pain started to ring through their head, a ringing that scared them. They felt numb to almost everything else, being picked up seemed to be happening to a completely different person.

Their stepfather’s face appeared again, the gun still in his head. They couldn’t hear what he was yelling, but they could guess the words. Someone reached for Phil, tried to draw his hand back, but Phil would not let him, pointing the gun in Sahid’s face again, hatred in his eyes.

They didn’t hear the second shot, all that happened was that the ringing got even worse as the gun was fired next to their other ear. It was clear that it had been intentional. Perhaps he had been aiming for more, but he wanted to hurt Sahid, not kill them. Or so they hoped, falling backwards, unable to reach up to their ears, despite how much their hands were itching to place them over the ears and hope to get rid of the ringing.

The pain had them crying out, screaming, screaming because they couldn’t hear themselves scream. The pain blurted through their head, through their body, everything seemed to be pain.

Someone cut the bonds around their hands, and the freeing of movement made them able to witther, squirm, and finally get their arms up. They pushed their knees to their chest, hands covering their ears, but it did nothing to force the ringing to stop. They had stopped screaming, but the pain still made them cry loudly. They were shaking, everything hurt.

----

Sahid wasn’t sure how long they had been laying there, they were cold and in pain, constantly in pain. But the ringing was starting to numb them. They had to power through this, they couldn’t stay here.

With difficulty they sat up, their stepfather was gone, so were the other men, so was any evidence of them having been there.

Using a tree to stabilize them, Sahid got to their feet. They felt queasy, their stomach in pain, dizziness, and no sense of up and down. The first ten meters at least, Sahid could take only two steps before falling back to the ground, uncertain of what was up and down, left and right, everything was constantly spinning.

The second ten meters Sahid could go a little longer before falling back down, but managing to stay on their knees this time.

It was dark by the time they made it to their trailer. At least they had managed to find the door, glad for the light on the porch that was always on. They had missed their shift, they found a few pieces of paper on the doorstep from concerned neighbours, but nobody had come to find them.

Turning on the light inside, the first thing Sahid saw was what they had been afraid of. Everything was a mess. The couch was turned and most of the furniture had been send flying. Even the carpet had been ripped on the edges, revealing the floorboards underneath.

Their phone was on the floor near the door, screen cracked, but charged. They lay down beside it, exhausted from the walk back home. There were several missed calls. Most notably two from Brandon.

Calling him would be useless, but Sahid knew they needed help. They needed to go to the hospital. The ringing was still happening, quieter now, but it was all they heard. They didn’t hear their own breathing, didn’t notice the sound of their footsteps, nor the whistling of the wind.

They returned the call, waiting for an indication on the screen that Brandon had picked up. As soon as that happened, Sahid started talking. Talking without hearing themselves speak, talking without knowing what Brandon would say in return. Talking and hoping that their stepbrother would get a car, would get a car and come to get them. Hoping that despite everything, he would once again come to their aid.

“Brandon, something happened…. I need your help. I can’t hear, I can’t hear nothing but ringing. My stomach hurts, my legs hurt, my head hurts. I don’t-I don’t feel good. I need you to come get me. Please, please Brandon. I know I’m a-”

The call had ended. They were back in the menu that showed them recent calls.

Sahid rested their head on the carpet, tears in their eyes. They were certain they couldn’t possibly sleep with the ringing. But eventually exhaustion did overtake them.

It must’ve been about twenty minutes later when someone came through the empty door and grabbed them by their shoulders. They knew it was Brandon, he always touched them so lightly, as if they were made from glass.

The car smelled like alcohol, but the backseat was softer than their carpet.

The second person to usher them out of the car was less sensitive, forcing them into a wheelchair, then riding them into the hospital.

They were aware of it all only by what penetrated their hazy gaze, glad for the help, but too tired and in pain to respond to any of it. They fell in and out of consciousness for the next few hours. When they woke up again to hands touching them, it was light outside again.

Someone pressed along their ribs, noting the skin colour as she went. She looked up, checking their eyes, their nose, chin, and then lastly their ears. There was nobody else in the room. No sign of Brandon.

She got a notepad and a pen, writing down something before turning it to Sahid.

What do you hear?

“Ringing,” Sahid answered, not able to hear themselves speak, but certain they were doing so when she started writing again.

What else hurts?

Sahid pointed at their right leg.

She put the pad down and cut away the jeans to reveal some bruises. The nurse turned back to them, getting a cloth and cleaning their face softly. Her face showed pity, but she said nothing, nor did she write anything down until she was satisfied with her work.

The doctor will be here soon, you will be okay.

She offered a smile before turning to leave, but she stopped, turned back, and checked her pockets. She produced a small bottle of pills, painkillers, they were familiar enough with them. She gave them two and a glass of water before leaving for real.

----

Sahid could see from the clock on the wall that it was two hours later before the doctor the nurse had mentioned came in, holding a pad and studying her patient with a sigh. She checked their vitals, studied the bruises the nurse had already patted down, and then lightly touched both their ears. Some tests followed, most done without letting them know anything. Though the doctor did write a few things down for them to read.

She eventually gave them a look of pity and wrote down a quick sentence for them to read.

I can’t do anything to mend the damage, surgery will have a twenty percent chance of being successful.

She mouthed ‘I am sorry’, and left the room again, but not before making sure the ringing sound was less than it had been when the nurse saw to them, and left another painkiller.

They knew they didn’t have the money to pay for surgery, and if the chance really was as small as the doctor told them… then what was the point.

----

They had to stay in the hospital for two days. Only Nadia came by to check on them, staying at their side as the doctor tried several hearing devices hoping they would do anything for them. She eventually told them to keep one, it was a good reminder to other people that they had lost their hearing.

Nobody asked them how it had happened. How any of it had happened.

Sahid wasn’t going to tell anyone either.

They walked all the way back to their trailer on the third day after losing their hearing. Brandon rejected their calls, Nadia wasn’t picking up. They were afraid to ask anyone else.

It was a four hour walk.

It felt much longer.

#selfpara #violence tw #abuse tw #gun tw #head trauma tw #physical abuse tw

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pitviperofdoom · 4 years

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I participated in @redwall-secret-santa. This one’s for @readwall-abbey. Merry Christmas!

---

The sun shone high above the beach as Mem Divinia paused at the highest point of a dune, planting her paws firmly in the shifting sand. She breathed deeply, shoulders rising and falling as she settled her pulse.

Just a few seasons ago, running a distance like that would have left her staggering and gasping for breath, heart pounding wildly and painfully in her chest, in no fit state to see her paw in front of her face, much less any signs of marauders. Sand was difficult terrain to march on, much less run long distances, with the way her paws sank with each step. But Mem was no novice Runner. It had been a while since Sarge sent her out on short little scouting trips to train her eyes and stamina. By now she was miles from Salamandastron, with more to run before she would have to turn back.

With her breath back, she sipped from her canteen and inspected her meager supplies. She was hardly hungry yet but popped a chestnut into her mouth anyway, if only to lessen her load by a little. Long Patrol Runners packed lightly in both food and supplies, but running long enough could make even the lightest pouch feel like carrying another creature.

Her sharp eyes scanned the horizon on all sides, the sea on one and the rolling dunes on the other. The dunes were empty and still, broken only by the occasional cloud of sand, probably kicked up by some lizard or crab. As for the sea…

There was only one point of interest on the sea. Far in the distance, just barely closer than it had been the last time Mem checked, was a single ship.

She squinted at it, scowling in the glare of the sun. It was difficult to judge the threat, if indeed it was one. There were no distinguishing flags or features that she could see; the sails were simple undyed canvas, and if the ship had a figurehead, it was too far away for her to make out. In all likelihood it was a mere traveling ship. Woodland sailors, or sea otters perhaps. One unidentified ship didn’t have to mean pirates.

But, seeing as Salamandastron and the Long Patrol were Mossflower’s first line of defense against dangers from the sea, it was up to them to make sure.

She checked her weapons again: a sling, a pouch of stones, and her trusty dirk. Hopefully that would be enough, should trouble arise. Without another moment of hesitation, Mem took off again across the sands.

She stopped several more times to check the ship’s progress. On the fourth or fifth stop, the ship stopped moving closer. There were no colors flying, no notable marks; it was simply a plain, unmarked ship, too far off for her to see the nature of the beasts sailing it.

On the sixth, she was sure that she could see a longboat approaching the shore.

Mem slowed her pace and continued on with care. She stopped cresting the dunes for a better view, and instead kept down between them so that nobeast would see her approach.

Gradually, the longboat made its way closer and closer to shore. Mem was no longer running, but creeping low on all fours as she made her way toward the point where the boat would most likely land.

She finally risked climbing a low dune, at the very edge of where the sand smoothed out from the crashing waves, when the longboat made landfall on the beach. Mem dug herself down into the sand to stay as hidden as possible. She was close now, just barely within shouting distance, when she saw the first creature leap out onto the sand.

Tall, long-bodied with brown fur. Too slender and willowy to be an otter. It was a stoat or a weasel, decked out in corsair gear. Behind them was the unmistakable figure of a searat.

Mem watched them for a while, not daring to creep any closer and press her luck. Eight vermin in total disembarked, far too many for her to challenge by herself. That was all right, though; she was meant to be a scout, not a defender just yet. At this point, she had plenty to report back to the mountain. The ship was indeed loaded with corsairs, and they had already sent out a small landing party, most likely to scout out the beach. There was no more that she could do here.

Besides, night was falling, and the vermin were moving inland into the dunes themselves. They would most likely make camp here, and the darkness would cover her retreat.

Mem was beginning to back away when the sounds of a shouting reached her ears.

She risked poking her head back up over the dune, but the growing darkness made it difficult to make anything out. There was shouting, cursing, and a great deal of sand kicked up. Were the vermin squabbling amongst themselves?

Or, Mem thought with a jolt, had they found a traveler to attack already?

Sarge would probably give her a knock between the ears for taking the risk, but once that thought was in her head, she could hardly ignore it. Keeping to whatever cover the dunes provided, Mem crept toward the scuffle.

She was almost too cautious, in the end; by the time she was close enough to see what was happening, much less do anything about it, the fight was over. Her heart sank; was their victim already dead?

Muffled, high-pitched cursing proved otherwise, followed by the vermin’s jeers. They had captured somebeast.

Mem took a deep breath and let it out again, before settling down into the sand. If she left now and reported this, nobeast would fault her for keeping safe. There was one of her, and eight vermin. Very poor odds indeed.

She settled in to wait.

***

Night had fully fallen. At this rate, Mem would be hours late making it back to the mountain. At last, she approached the corsairs’ camp.

The fire was still burning, just bright enough for her to make out seven sleeping figures, one sat up keeping watch, and a ninth, much smaller, sitting trussed up at the edge. Silently, she made her way around.

The rat on sentry duty was nodding. She had waited for third watch before approaching; it was better to risk sneaking past a creature that had just woken up and desperately wanted to go back to sleep. The rat took no notice of her as she skirted the camp on all fours and crept over the prisoner.

Firelight glinted off a pair of open eyes, and Mem froze when she realized that the bound squirrelmaid was looking right at her. Mem put a paw to her lips, only to realize belatedly that the squirrel was muzzled.

Mem shot a glance at the searat, just in time to see his head bob down and up again as he fought to stay awake. She looked to the squirrelmaid, who followed her gaze, then inched carefully over the sand toward where Mem lay hidden. The sand scraped beneath her, and both of them froze.

Silence followed, broken only by the crackle of fire and the vermin’s snores.

The squirrelmaid stretched out, as if seeking a comfortable position to lie down. Her bound footpaws lay within a stone’s throw of Meme’s position.

Her heart was beating in her ears, so loudly that she half-believed the vermin might hear it. This was easily the most foolish thing she had done, and Sarge was going to shout herself hoarse over this when she got back.

But there was a woodlander in danger before her, and she had come too far to turn back and abandon her now.

Mem had never drawn her dirk as slowly as she did then. Bit by bit, so slowly that the steel did not even rasp against the inside of the sheath, she slid her blade free. Then, with one more glance at the sleepy sentry, she crept over the sand until she could push it within reach of the squirrel.

The squirrel grasped it between her footpaws, then curled up so that she could reach her bound paws with the blade.

Mem kept the blade keen enough to cut a strand of fur lengthwise. It took two slices to free the squirrel’s paws, leaving her free to hold the dirk properly and make short work of the cords binding her footpaws. Without wasting a moment more, she got all four paws underneath her and began to creep toward Mem.

Next to her, a sleeping weasel stirred and murmured, with the telltale sounds of a beast about to awaken.

The squirrel struck like an adder. One paw went over the vermin’s mouth, and the other drew the dirk across the weasel’s mouth. It was over just as quickly as it had begun, and the weasel died without a sound.

Mem looked to the rat. He hadn’t even turned his head. Maybe he was already asleep.

The squirrelmaid left the weasel where he lay, blood soaking into the sand beneath him. She joined Mem without a word, and together they stole off into the dunes. They took the long way around, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the camp. The squirrelmaid’s bushy tail swept behind them like a broom, wiping away their tracks.

Only when they were well away, the campfire a distant orange glow, did the squirrel cut the muzzle from her head and throw it viciously to the ground, before kicking it away with a quiet snarl. The dirk was thrust hilt-first into Mem’s paws. She took it with a nod of thanks, wiped the blade, and sheathed it again.

“Th’nks,” the squirrelmaid grumbled. “Could’ve handled it, but thanks.”

For the first time, Mem took a proper look at the creature she had rescued. She was small and young-looking, probably even younger than Mem by a pawful of seasons, but she had the rough, raw look of a creature used to hard living. And now that stealth was no longer the priority, Mem could see the way she put all her weight on one footpaw, as if favoring the other.

“Think nothing of it,” Mem said, smiling a bit shakily. “Good show with that weasel. Quickest paw-work I’ve seen outside of the jolly old training room back at the mountain.”

The squirrelmaid grinned, showing sharp white teeth in the dark. “Yore one of them fancy mountain rabbits, ain’t yer,” she said.

“Hares, but close enough,” Mem replied. “Is your footpaw all right?”

The squirrelmaid grimaced. “I’ve had worse,” she said, though she made no attempt to put any more weight on it. “Don’t worry yore pretty little ears over it, fancy rabbit.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when a shout rose from the vermin camp. Both of them whipped around to stare, wide-eyed, as the pirates they had left behind came awake.

“On my back,” Mem gritted out. “Quickly now, no time to for belly-aching.”

Grumbling, the squirrelmaid obliged. She was every bit as lightweight as she looked. “By the fur and fang,” Mem muttered. “You could do with a jolly good tuck-in, sooner rather than later. Hold on tight, now!”

She took off with the squirrelmaid clinging to her back, claws digging into her shoulders.

Even with the extra weight, she left the vermin camp in her dust. With the wind off the sea blowing across the sand, her tracks would be wiped away by morning. Still, it was only when the vermin’s fire was so far behind them that she could no longer see it, that Mem felt save enough to slow to a trot rather than a flat-out run. The squirrelmaid still clung to her, laughing breathlessly.

“Hellsteeth, that’s what’s I call a gallop!” the squirrel cackled near her ear. “Wot’s yer name, fancy rabbit?”

“Lance Corporal Mem Divinia of the Long Patrol, at your service,” Mem replied, breathing steadily. “What may I call you, my good maid?”

“Name’s Russa,” the squirrel replied. “Got any food on yer?”

“A pawful of nuts and a bit of water,” Mem replied, passing up her food pouch. “Here, try to leave some for me. I’ve got to get back to the bally mountain by dawn, or Sarge’ll send out a search party, and they’ll be right miffed at me for causing a spot of bother.” She paused. “Er, d’you happen to have a family who might be looking for you?”

“If’n I do, they ain’t lookin’ hard enough,” Russa replied airily. “Been on my own, long as I can remember.”

“Righto. Would you like to visit Salamandastron, then?” Mem asked. “Get your footpaw looked at, have a proper scoff in the mess hall?”

“If scoff means food in Fancy Rabbit, then lead the way,” Russa laughed again.

“Jolly good.” Mem took off again, at a steady lope that would get her home in good time. “Tell you what, Russa my gel, after I make my report and have a quick kip in my bunk, I’ll stop by the kitchens and make you some pancakes.”

The squirrelmaid was quiet for a moment. “Wot’s pancakes?” she asked.

“Can’t wait to show you, m’dear!”

The moon rose high over the seashore and the rolling sand dunes. Mem was going to be late. But, the way she saw it, one little dressing-down from Sarge was a fair trade for saving a life, and making a new friend along the way.

#redwall #redwall secret santa 2019 #tales from the pit

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deck-of-cards-arc · 4 years

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The sun shines down upon the base, the rays sweltering and blinding. The one star in the sky looming over the entirety of Carterre. Yet somehow, the darkness still consumed the very likeness of the fortress. Every corner seemed like a shadow with its claws grasping onto the stone brick walls of the place. In the middle of it all, it was all but silence. The wind was still, yet the air was heavy. I was told this place used to be a place of common commerce, market stalls of produce and food used to line the stone walls. It was never intended to be a place reckoned as a fortress, now with the crimson banners and stains on the walls. This was the only place that blocked access form the Noir Kingdom. Hopefully, soon, it would change. And it will, as a lone soldier donned in red metal armour decided to patrol right into my line of sight. They walked too close, possibly could’ve seen the frightened eyes hidden in the darkness of the fortress, so I might as well have struck. One good smack to the head by the hilt of my sword later, that was at least taken care of. The other eyes stepped forward, the one with clubs for her brown irises simply poking the unconscious body with the handle of her dagger.

🌹 “Well, that was easy.”

🔥 “Too easy?”

🌹 “No, because we aren’t spouting clichés today, Ai.”

♦ “Besides, the real difficulty is taking the rest of them out. There's about a hundred of them here”

🃏 “Yeah…so many and so spread out.”

♠ “Focus, the stairway isn’t far ahead. We just have to move further”

🔥 “We’re near the gates, I think I can set the fire there. Should be enough to lead them off.”

♠ “Alright. Rose, get Ai over there. We’ll get into position to move up.”

🌹 “Roger.”

🃏 “Who’s Roger?”

🌹 “No I mean-, nevermind”

I huffed a breath, taking Ai by the forearm and guiding her through the shadows. Shuffling near the walls, hiding behind the mess of clutter surrounding the place, and soon we reached the gates. Ai stood by it, her hands rubbing together as if she were creating a spark. And unsurprisingly, it worked. The fire in her hand was bright and burning, remained as such whilst she lowered it to the grass. It was a good thing she got the endorsement from Morgan, otherwise, this would set him off. Once the fire was set, I grabbed Ai’s arm again. This time, with a finger snap, we were back in the shadows. I peeked around the wall, watching them all act like moths as they were drawn to the flame. From the opposite side, a few of those moths were tied up with vines before they could even move. Morgan raised a thumb at us before continuing up the stairs with Lou. I heard grunts and punches thrown from above us. Sounded like Jacques was in position too. All the pieces were set in place.

🔥 “It’s showtime.”

🌹 “You ready?”

🔥 “Born ready, let’s go”

And with that, Ai and I ran towards our positions. We shimmied close to the walls to reach the opposite side of the fortress. Near a tall structure, I pressed my back against it and cupped my hands. The hermit managed to get up to climb it as I boosted her. I only had to jump up to pull myself up. It didn’t take too long before we sprinted across the roof of the upper floors, where Jacques was next to a pile of unconscious soldiers. I had to do a double-take to notice the pile.

🌹 “Okay, that’s gruesome, wow”

🃏 “Hey! I didn’t kill them. They're just asleep”

🔥 “Rigghhhtt and they’re in a pile because?”

🃏 “There's not much room up here, give me a break. I’ll put them down later.”

🔥 “Fine, fine. Are we ready?”

🔥 “Let’s do it, squad!”

🃏 “SQUAD!”

🌹 “Squad!”

Ai took out her card, taking a deep breath before she flicked it. I didn’t expect that the flame erupting from the card would get so big, but here we are. With a giant flame very much attractive to the moths down below. She reeled back, the flame getting unstable as she did so. I held the card over her hand, giving my reassurance. To regain stability. She nodded, holding the flame higher. Jacques took out their card too, flicking a small but considerable whirlwind to carry the pyre across. Ai watched, her hair was morbidly alight with orange upon the sight of the soldiers’ scurry and panic. I just smiled, at least she’s having some fun, right? The two kept sending the waves of blistering flames across the courtyard> I was just tasked with making sure they didn’t get too caught up in the arson. Even if I threw in my own powerful flames into the mix. With that, the entirety of the platoon was out of the fortress, running to the forest to retreat. We all joking waved them all goodbye as their shapes shrinking into ants in the distance. I placed a hand on both Ai and Jacques’ shoulders, finger-snapping us back to the centre of the fortress. I ran a hand through my charcoal hair, the wind seemingly staying and blowing it. Jacques was already calling the early celebrations, jumping up and down in a joyous fervour

🔥 “Is that everyone?”

🌹 “Got to double-check, we can’t be too sure.”

🃏 “Alright, you go west, you go east, I’ll see the back”

One collective nod later, and it was off searching for the strays. I made my way over to the west wings of the fortress, making the couple turns to a wide-open area, surrounded by the walls and floored with the same stone. Now without the adrenaline sidetracking me, I was able to get a more comprehensive view of the place. Although, there wasn’t much to comprehend. There were supplies but they were very limited amounts in the crates in which I checked. All that was there was just the broken and dilapidated scraps of the wooden stalls that used to occupy the space. Not a lot of food, not a lot of weapons either. This was where the platoon had placed themselves, for the long time being, it was supposed to be their residence. Yet it seemed so barren. None of the ones that fled could’ve taken so much stuff in a short amount of time, so they had such a small supply in the first place…the reasoning behind it was a head-scratcher. Needless to say, it was mostly empty. Not a soldier in sight. That was a relief, at the very least.

I made my way back to the main courtyard, seeing Ai fiddle with the dagger out in the open.

🌹 “Heya,”

🔥 “Rose, have you seen Jacques anywhere?”

“No..? They went to the back, did you check there?”

🔥 “I did, not there”

I placed a finger on my chin. But there wasn’t much time to think when I heard the crackling of fire just behind us.

🃏 “WATCH OUT!”

Instinctively, I ducked and pulled Ai down with me. As we did, a wall of water came to shield us form a wave of flames.

🔥 “THE FUCk-“

“Well, this place still isn’t empty”

🔥 “NO KIDDING!”

🃏 “Guys! Are you okay!?”

“Yeah, we’re okay, what was that?”

🃏 “I-I don’t know, I saw someone rush by and towards you guys. I ran here just in time though. ”

“Great, we got company”

In the silence, there was a giggle. Somehow, a familiar giggle

“Ai? Why are you laughing?”

🔥 “What- I’m not?”

🌹 “Jacques?”

🃏 “…oh no-“

The Joker flicked their card, carrying the water shield next to them. They stood on-guard, even if the grip on their card was shaky. I stood too, Ai behind me. All three of us looked upon the source of such roaring laughter, seeing the flame ignited in the shadows. Out stepped hickory leather knee-high boots, with tight neat laces. Short and tattered black skirt and dress, torn all around the edges. Deep mahogany tunic over it, tightened at the waist with a black leather belt with a golden buckle. Short puffed up sleeves making room for her brown leather gloves. In her long, straight midnight and scarlet hair, a crimson ribbon tied in a bow. She smiled wide upon her carmine clubs eyes landing onto us. If it weren’t for the whip in her hands, there might've been a small chance I though she was friendly.

♣ “Good to see you again. Jackie!~”

🔥 “…why the fuck does she look like me?”

♣ “Yeesh, you couldn’t get partners with less dirty tongues? Yikes, yikes, yikes”

🌹 “Jacques, explain-“

♣ “No worries, don’t let the dimwit slow my introduction down. My name is Reine Trèfle”

🃏 “Ria.”

♣ “Oh! So you’ve heard of me? I’m honoured that Jackie over there is still remembers me. Even If nobody else remembers him”

🔥 “Okay, what the hell do you want?”

♣ “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to kill a very very specific person. Specifically, the joke over there”

🔥 “Oh fuck no, we won’t let you hurt them”

♣ “Correction, you’ll try. And you’ll fail!”

She snaps her fingers, inviting a wave of a groaning chorus to erupt. All of a sudden, from all around us, soldiers donned in the crimson armour stood tall. Many of them blocking the exit. Ria laughed even more and skipped like a child towards the stairway. Towards Morgan and Lou.

🌹 “Same as before?”

🔥 “Gucci”

We split, me taking the west once again. I unsheathed my sword and charged through blade first. I managed to make enough headway, parry after a parry, swing after swing. Quick slices and most of the soldiers were dealt with, though many more came to fill their place. And here I thought there was just a platoon, it was like a whole army was stuffed into the fortress. I turned my head around, spotting Ai being pushed back by a couple of them. I huffed, snapping my fingers. I didn’t look back as my other self took care of them for her. I had to snap my fingers a couple times to handle the influx, actually. Even with many sword swings, there were about three more for every one soldier I took down. I was getting overwhelmed with it all like my head was spinning, or perhaps it was the overuse of my multiple selves around the area. Eventually, it was enough to drive me away. I made my escape towards the back area of the fortress. It was essentially a small field caged by the usual walls and short hallway, leading up to a spot for observing. Or perhaps being flung through to land onto the patch of grass, which was what happened to Jacques. The Joker-bound slammed against the wall, arm over their chest bleeding. The moment I took my eyes off the soldiers, I was pushed to the wall. Being pinned never hurt so badly, the stone scraping my back through my cape, if it weren’t for the fact exhaustion overrode my stamina.

♣ “Well, well, aren't you all a weak bunch. I expected more from Earth dwellers. After all, many wondrous things were said about you, especially after the Ten of Clubs was sent there. But I guess you're just all talk”

🌹 “For someone who hates talk, you don’t know when to shut your damn mouth- GAH!”

♣ “Oh, hush. Since she’s injured anyway, kill her off”

🃏 “NO! Ria, why are you doing this!? We’re here to stop the king!”

♣ “Why do I want that?”

Ria swung her whip again, Jacques dodged. This continued around and around the field. It was only for a brief moment that they pulled out the card and flicked it up. Ria was knocked back, held down by the vines that shot up from the ground.

🃏 “Don’t you see what he’s doing!? He’s causing the imbalance in the world! This is wrong, to hurt people, to kill off the innocent, you taught me that! Didn’t you?”

♣ “PFFFT, YOU THINK I MEANT THAT? Those are just the stupid things that adult teach kids. But as a kid, I already knew those adults were liars. They teach but never preach. They only do so for their own benefit. Make us kids subservient, to be their little slaves.”

🃏 “W…what…”

♣ “I turned the tables on them, Jackie. I gained the system early. None of those morals matter, they just are puzzle pieces to switch around. Put them right and you can fit in perfectly”

🃏 “So…everything you taught me….was a lie…”

♣ “HAHAha, of course! Just like everything in your life! Your fate to be the hero of Carterre, to bring upon peace? Please, that’s just a title that gets you freebies. The only reason I was around you was to get the goodies that came with”

🃏 “You…lied to me? Ria..you lied to me?”

♣ “Hehehe, since when were you a friend to me, let alone a person? You weren’t fated to be a hero, you fated to be a tool”

That was enough for Jacques to hyperventilate. Their breaths quickened, all short and shallow. Gave Ria ample time to burn down the vines and kick Jacques right in the face. As they rolled across the grass, she skipped happily towards them. Her hands reached for her card, trailing the edge of it across the bleeding spots. I tried breaking out of the hold, but teleporting was a no go. Not in my weakened state. All I could do was watch as Jacques was begging to breathe, writhing with tears and screams. Ria was laughing like she heard a joke, maybe to her, the joke was right below her. But that laughter would be cut short with a knife. Or rather a dagger flung past her cheek and enough to catch her off guard.

🔥 “Seriously, explain why you look like me”

♣ “Heh, well if it isn’t the third weak one of the group.”

🔥 “How about you shut up, ya sack of shit”

♣ “How about you do yourself instead of letting other people do it for you?”

🔥 “Hah, bitch say bet”

Ai lunged first, tackling her legs and kneeing her gut. Just as Ria leaned forward, Ai pulled on her skirt and tossed her aside. Ria whipped the other Clubs-bound, wrapped around her arm. The whip seemed to glow red, smoking even. But Ai looked at it with fascination and shrugged. She tugged on it and tossed that far away. Once discarded, the hermit dashed over to Ria, pinning her down with the dagger in hand. If I weren’t so weakly pressed on the wall, I would’ve cheered.

♣ “I think I am allowed to kill you, no?”

🔥 “Go on, try”

The blade was right at her neck, blood might as well be seeping out. Yet the long-haired one smiled so confidently.

♣ “See, you can’t, you have morals. Just like any other weakling.”

🔥 “Oh you really are a piece of shit aren’t you?”

♣ “I accept any name, honestly. But you, you're scared of whatever label they give you. You don’t want to be a murderer, that’s why you’re shaking

🔥 “I-I-I’m not-“

♣ “What's the matter? Are you scared right now? Are you afraid? Without anyone, you're frozen. You need people to be confident for you”

🔥 “Shut up!”

♣ “Am I wrong, Ai? Am I wrong that you’re quivering even if you tower me?

🔥 “I said SHUT UP!”

♣ “Am I wrong to think that you're useless on your own?”

🔥 “SHUT-“

♣ “Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong-“

Ria releases a hand from her grasp, gripping onto Ai’s wrist and twisting it. Her screams are bloodcurdling, already the tears have formed.

♣ “-that you're nothing more than a crying coward?”

She kicks Ai back, the hermit rolling over and curled up in gasping inhalations. In that time, Ria was able to reach for her whip. She could’ve killed her right then and there, I wouldn’t be able to stop it. But it was even worse when she didn't take the opportunity, only the adhere whiplashes onto Ai’s back. The hermit was curled in her ball, hands to her head and clutching her midnight hair. The other, in her own sweet time, picked up the dagger and added a few slashes into her back too. My hands clenched, I felt the barest tear prick my eyes as I witnessed it all. I couldn’t even breathe to shout either. To add the literal salt to the wound, Ria gleefully wrapped the whip around her neck and tugged.

It was almost like clockwork, like a chime of the bell. As soon as Ai’s cry for help, cry to breathe reverberated, I felt one of my selves disappear. One last boost of strength allowing me to teleport and cut that bitch’s whip with a swing of my sword. I collapsed on the ground, still conscious but barely hanging on

🌹 “You…aren’t going to do shit”

♣ “You annoying little-“

Before she could even finish her insult, a scream erupted from somewhere. Ria lowered her cut whip and tossed the dagger away.

♣ “Hmm, seems like she did her job. Nevermind you, I best be going.”

🌹 “No, you're not going ANYWHERE-“

♣ “I beg to differ. But then again, I don’t really have to beg too much”

Ria snapped her fingers, flipping her midnight hair ever so mockingly. Her hands spread out as she let herself fall to the sliver of light below her. I almost could lunge at her by the legs, but I wasn’t quick enough. My body fell to the grassy field, my hands gripping at the grass. I heard the rustle behind me, followed by a frail hand at my side

🔥 “A-Are…you okay…?”

🌹 “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay”

I coughed, sniffled and heaved a heavy breath. It all was now a blur of everything. Jacques injured. Ai severely hurt. Ria went as soon as the scream…

The realization hit me, as I snapped my fingers quick. My body leaned against the doorframe I teleported to. And it seemed, it hit me too late. As I breathed the dead air hanging above me, the stench of it clogging my nose like the sobs in my throat. With eyes trailing to Morgan clutching Lou in his arms. Hand in his twilight hair, grasping it tightly. His entire body being grasped tight, even if it were leaking crimson and ice shards poking through his stomach. Morgan took his sight away from his chérie for a moment, to face me an say-

♦ “I’m sorry, Rose…”

---

#the end #ep 1 #rose #ai #ria #jacques #HOLDS HEAD AGAIn

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laws-yellow-submarine · 5 years

Note

Did you know. That I would like to hear. Everything I can about your OCs/Quasi-Self Inserts? Because Cringe Culture is dead and I love them.

First of all: THANK YOU for asking about them lol I saw the ask and I got so so excited cause I literally never stop thinking about them lol that being said, I apologize for the novel I just wrote about them lmfao I put it all under the cut (hopefully it works on mobile!), so hopefully I don’t bog down everyone’s feed.

So I don’t wanna reveal too much about Skylar (full name Valentine Skylar), cause I really do plan on actually writing the fic I planned for her (I’m just really good at procrastinating lmao), but like I said in an earlier post: she’s my bisexual disaster brain child running away from her homophobic parents and the threat of conversion therapy by impulsively deciding to sneak onto Law’s submarine when he visits her home island. I’m basing the conversion therapy stuff off of something similar in the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead (one of my all time FAVORITES! If you like vampires, action, and romance I can’t recommend it enough! Though you should start with the first series, Vampire Academy as it introduces the world and the cast of characters and the events of that series lead directly into the Bloodlines series. I took some inspiration from Vampire Academy too for some other events in the fic as well).

Skylar is...a lot like me in personality lol she’s 5’5”, goofy, loves to laugh and sing and just generally have fun, and she’s very clumsy. She’s also got major anxiety, but it’s not something she actually has a diagnosis for (so she doesn’t know there’s a problem and can’t handle it when it flares up, she’s unprepared to deal with it). She does like to read, mostly fiction, and she likes to look at the stars, and gaze out the windows of the sub when they’re submerged. She’s very musically gifted. Part of her deal with Law for essentially free room and board is that she cooks (they don’t have a designated cook otherwise, and this way they never have to let Law back in the kitchen again), and while she’s cooking she’ll be singing so loud it carries through the pipes on the sub (almost like they have radio lmfao). She’s also impulsive; her decision to sneak onto Law’s sub was totally spur of the moment, she knew the risks, she knew exactly who’s ship she was sneaking onto (thanks to wanted posters), and that it was dangerous, but she still packed up as much of her stuff as she could, stole a TON of her parents’ money, and snuck on anyway. Law wonders a lot whether she’s just an idiot or possibly someone trying to spy on him (either for the Marines, or more sinisterly for Doflamingo. He knows the likelihood for either of these things is extremely slim, but he keeps her close so he can keep an eye on her. He can’t afford to make a mistake with that). It takes a LONG time for them to move past the “I don’t trust you” stage, and even then she’s much more invested than he is for a really long time, mostly because he’s an emotionally constipated BUTT who doesn’t like to acknowledge that he FEELS THINGS lmao

Most of her life she’s been fighting against someone else’s control; mostly her parents (she’s 21 at the start of the story but hasn’t been able to feel like a true adult until she leaves, they’ve had such a hold over her AND they’re powerful people where she lives so she HAS to leave the island completely to be free). She also experienced some of this with her girlfriend, Mimi, though not to nearly the same extreme. Mimi had big dreams of getting off their island and becoming a world famous musician, along with Skylar. Skylar just wants to travel the world, but Mimi’s loud personality manipulated her into adopting the dream of being a musician. It wasn’t malicious in any way, but usually when Mimi would say “We’re doing this” or “We don’t like that”, Skylar usually agreed. She wouldn’t speak out against it, in part due to finally feeling loved (ahh parent issues lol). About a year before the start of the story, Mimi joins the Marines as a way to start earning some money, as well as getting her foot out the door in a way (it gets her off the island, so all that’s needed is to earn enough to get settled somewhere, go back for Skylar, and then they can begin their life together). Unfortunately, her patrol ship was destroyed by a pirate crew a few months later, and she’s now MIA and presumed dead.

Being with Law and his crew is really the first time she’s been able to try deciding things for herself, and then follow through. He’s not gonna try to push her in any direction, that’s not his business, and so there comes an extra sense of freedom with them that she’s never had before.

Law also keeps her around because he finds out she has a roundabout connection to Doflamingo, and he thinks he can find a way to exploit that connection for information. Her parents have a very on-the-level business selling pharmaceuticals, which is what keeps them in good standing with the Marines when they come to the island (there’s no actual base set up, but there’s another close by). They ALSO have a black market business smuggling hallucinogens throughout the Grand Line, beginning to venture into the other seas as well, starting with North Blue. There’s a fruit that grows on the island called the Follia Fruit (literally Insanity in Italian) which causes strong hallucinations when eaten. They were able to get a good foot in the black market using Doflamingo’s connections, and they know HIM because they were actually formerly part of his crew (they left the crew before Law joined, so he doesn’t know them, and they left because Skylar’s grandmother was dying and leaving the entire fortune and family-run business to them, otherwise they would’ve stayed with Doffy. Skylar’s more of an object for them to use.) Skylar vaguely knows her parents have an underworld contact, she’s seen his Jolly Roger in her father’s office, near his wall safe, but she doesn’t know who he actually is. At most she’s heard mention of a “Joker” and that’s it, so Law can easily fish for information without giving up that he’s honestly using her too (he doesn’t have any reason to just be nice to her, especially since she snuck onboard before he ever met her, and that’s part of the journey; balancing his goal with the fact he’s developing feelings for the person he’s using to help achieve that goal). It’s a slooooooooow burn btw lol takes a long time for things to truly get going between them, but when it does it kinda picks up quick. It’s gonna be fun lol

Speaking of the Follia Fruit, that’s how Skylar got her devil fruit. I do NOT have a name for it yet, because I can’t find one I like that still overall fits? But essentially she can manipulate light particles (photons? Idk science stuff, whatever light is actually made of). She can use it to create a camouflage cover (it’s main use, she’s a sneaky person despite also being clumsy as hell lmfao), and that works like she’s placing a cloak over herself (like an invisibility cloak!), and she also eventually learns to create force fields of hardened light, like the light bridges in Portal 2 (it takes a lot of energy though, so it’s not nearly as easy, but it does come in handy). Whether these are all actually scientifically sound remains irrelevant, in my universe it works muahahaha (there is precedent for these powers at least, I just don’t know how it all actually works. Science is NOT my forte). She was actually trying to eat the Follia Fruit when she ate the devil fruit instead, as when consumed in a large enough dose it can be fatal (so yeah, WARNING there: her girlfriend is dead, she’s being tortured, she manages to escape at one point and decides she absolutely is NOT going back). Fortunately, she didn’t check what fruit she was eating before chowing down, and she not only lived but she gained super powers lol. She also at one point asks Law to help teach her how to fight and defend herself, which is super fun cause she’s NOT in shape lol but she does eventually learn at least basic hand to hand and how to use a blade (typically a knife or a dagger, she’s small).

Skylar also works very hard to develop her Observation Haki. I’ve always wondered if it was possible to manipulate your haki so you could be indetectable by other users, which would be extremely useful when your abilities include sneaking and camouflage. So Skylar learns how to do it, focusing more on the detection aspects of haki than any of the other uses (predicting movement). It hasn’t been shown in canon, obviously, but I think it’s feasible.

Clearly I’ve thought a lot about all this, now it’s just a matter of writing actual sentences lmao

My other main OC is Monkey D. Hazel. She’s Luffy’s big sister, older by about 4 years (so she’s older than Ace and Sabo by 1 year). She’s a good big sister lol she’s super protective, almost mothering despite not being that much older, and it drives the boys nuts (but they still love her anyway and appreciate her for it and all that. They can take care of themselves, but they know if they ever needed her to step in she would in a heartbeat). She’s not nearly as chaotic as Luffy, but she does follow him into a lot of shenanigans (usually with a shrug and a grin like “yup that’s Luffy”). She’s always wanted to help Luffy achieve his dream, and write down his adventures for future generations to read, so she stayed behind until he was ready to start on his own pirate journey.

She also totally had a thing with Ace (I know it can be kinda iffy, given their shared past and psuedo-sibling status, but I think they work well together, and given that they were 2 teens going through puberty at the same time in the same area, I think it’s extremely likely they could’ve developed feelings for each other that they didn’t necessarily fully understand at the time. I also don’t think she’d be one to participate in the sake drinking scene that the boys use to say “ok we’re brothers now”, and until she was an adult only saw Ace as a close friend that Luffy also saw as a big brother. Being that they were in the same age group, I think it’s less likely she’d see him and Sabo as brothers until they were much older. Sorry if that seems like I’m making excuses, I know not everyone is going to agree with that kind of “ship”, but I literally started shipping them on accident and now I can’t stop cause it makes sense to me that something would have happened between them, even something small). Any relationship they did have ended when Ace left to be a pirate, and with time spent apart and both growing older, Hazel’s views turn more sisterly, like “We grew up together, he’s practically my brother” (though Ace’s may or may not have stayed kind of the same. It makes for interesting conversation when they do meet again in Alabasta). When he dies, she’s absolutely devastated, and does start to wonder “what if?”, like what if she’d pursued a real relationship with him from the beginning, gone with him, could she have kept him safe, etc. It takes a very long time for her to come to terms with it, and to accept that she couldn’t have done anything to stop it, nor was it her place to try. She loses her best friend, and it does take some of the spark out of her, so she’s more reserved after the time skip.

She loses her right leg in a fight with CP9, essentially the bones gets crushed, and her new pal Franky helps whip up a cool robot leg for her in between work on the new ship. It’s got a few bells and whistles: a pistol in the kneecap, a roller blade in the bottom of the foot, and she can detach the metal plates in a way that makes her taller (if she stands on one leg lol). She thinks Franky is SUPER cool (I always hated that the girls in the series never think robots or ninjas or anything are cool, she’s not like that lmfao), and Luffy is jealous of her robot leg.

She sustained some pretty major burns to her right side at Marineford (either by Akainu when he murdered Ace; she stepped in front of Luffy, Ace stepped in front of her, the magma-arm didn’t touch her skin because it was stopped by her coat, but the heat was enough to still cause 3rd-degree burns to her arm, shoulder, and face because it’s fucking LAVA, and destroy half of her clothing; OR some other thing set on fire and burned her lol I dunno enough to say whether that’s feasible with magma but I like that version better, that it was caused in some way by Akainu). It was a question of if she’d ever be able to use her arm again, but Law’s a very good doctor (though she did threaten him when he wouldn’t let her see Luffy right away, saying with him being in critical condition they couldn’t risk an infection. She was not happy). She actually bonds slightly with Law after they escape and she’s in stable condition, cause she breaks down about what happened before he can escape (lol). In her mind she’s just lost another person she cared about (a brother-type figure, and someone she loves very much in her own way), and Luffy could very well be on his deathbed, and she can’t even see him, and the rest of their crew is who knows where, and she may lose use of her arm, and she HURTS, and it’s a lot to take in. Law keeps trying to tell her to calm down or she’ll undo everything he just did to save her, and she accuses him of being insensitive (I mean...yeah), and throws out a comment like “what you never lost anybody? Fuck off”. He glares at her, then sits and sighs, hiding his face beneath his hat. He’s silent for a while, then tells her he’s also lost a sibling. He doesn’t say anything more, doesn’t give details, but it still hits like a slap to the face, and she realizes he’s offering an olive branch by telling her that, and that hey here’s someone who knows exactly how you feel right now, don’t push away the only person who understands. They don’t bring it up again, but she does start to calm down.

The Crew: When she met Zoro she kept scolding Luffy about bossing him around, that it’s not his place to tell someone they’re joining the crew (of course he doesn’t listen), but after Zoro joins they get along really really well (she also mildly flirts with him for fun, he blushes like crazy, but it’s pretty harmless overall. Those three together is pretty chaotic on its own lol).

She didn’t trust Nami at first, as she came out of nowhere after messing with a different pirate, so she’s wary that the girl has something up her sleeve regarding her brother, but after they defeat Arlong Hazel is extremely protective of her, and the two take care of each other (also again: mild flirting. That time spent with Ace as a teen really helped Hazel’s confidence as a flirt, but after the time skip a lot of that goes away).

Hazel and Usopp tell stories together, usually for the whole crew, and she sees him as another little brother sort of figure. Chopper is baby, she loves Chopper instantly and will beat down anyone that looks at him funny. She doesn’t flirt with Sanji, because she doesn’t like the way he falls over himself around her and doesn’t want to encourage more of it, but once he (finally) takes the hint the two have a very strong friendship. She was very wary of Robin, until Water 7/Enies Lobby, and now sees her as an older sister. Robin, for her part, and even Franky to some degree, wish that Hazel would stop trying to be the crew’s grown up, and would go have fun as a girl in her early 20’s. She does ease up once the two join the crew, but bonds with the adults a lot. She’s someone the younger crew members go to with problems, but Robin and Franky, and eventually Brook and Jinbei, are who Hazel goes to for advice.

After the 5th time of Brook asking to see her panties, she says fuck it and throws a clean pair at him, saying that’s all he gets and if he asks her one more time she WILL throw him overboard. He doesn’t bring it up again.

Jinbei actually shows her the basics of Fishman Karate on their way back to Marineford before the timeskip. She still can’t move too well, so she just watches, but she incorporates what she learns into her fighting style.

She wanted to stay with Luffy when he went to train with Rayliegh, but the old man put a stop to it right away saying she’d not only be too distracted to focus on her own training, but she’d likely coddle Luffy. It was better for them to spend some time apart anyway, for really the first time in their lives, and though she’s nervous about not being with him she agrees. Hancock ends up taking her under her wing for the time being, but only because she’s Luffy’s sister (and therefore not a threat lmfao).

As far as after the time skip, she’s mostly the same but doesn’t immediately jump into Luffy’s shenanigans, and can be more of a voice of reason when needed. At Punk Hazard, she’s the first one of the Straw Hats (besides Luffy) to trust Law and agree that they should form an alliance. She furiously hates Caesar, like she isn’t even able to be near him or his heart cause she might stab him and ruin the whole plan (you don’t mess with kids man Hazel WILL fuck you up). At Dressrosa she joins in the fight to help the Tontattas, and follows Usopp and Robin to the port under the coliseum. When she sees Sabo, she IMMEDIATELY bursts into tears and latches onto his shoulders so tight it would take a crowbar to separate them (not that he tries, he’s happy to see her too). She also scolds Robin later for not telling her, but the older woman just laughs and says “but isn’t this so much better?” It is, but Hazel won’t admit it yet lol

She doesn’t go with Luffy to Whole Cake Island, but she does end up meeting up with him and Zoro in Wano, and helps rescue O-Tama.

Potential love interests for Hazel (besides Ace) would be Zoro, Nami, or Law, but honestly she could be shipped with anyone which makes it super fun lol (if anyone read this whole thing and has ideas send them in I’d love to hear them!!)

Anyway thank you for reading this entire long ass essay about my brain children! I think about them a lot, as I’m sure you can tell lol

#valentine skylar #monkey d. hazel #one piece oc #one piece original character #trafalgar law #portgas d. ace #roronoa zoro #cat burglar nami #law x oc stuff #fan fiction #zoro x oc #nami x oc #ace x oc #long post #doesn't look like the read more is working on mobile I'm so sorry #thanks for the ask!

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mldrgrl · 7 years

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If it appeals to you at all, would you consider writing something for the fugitive phase? Like the highs and lows or something along those lines?

Day 1

“What are we going to do?” Scully asked once the rain had stopped. Mulder had thought she was asleep. He was barely clinging to consciousness himself, but still clinging to her.

“There’s a contingency plan,” he mumbled against her shoulder. “The gunmen-”

“The gunmen are dead.”

“I know. We worked it out before...everything. I-we have IDs, passports, papers...money to disappear with.”

“We do?”

“There’s a safe deposit in San Francisco. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Day 4

They agreed to travel and night and to move slowly. In Mulder’s opinion, anyone looking for them would be calculating the distance they could put between themselves and New Mexico and that’s where they would be looking. He thought it best to throw them off the trail by being behind them instead of ahead. Scully didn’t like it, but she trusted him. He’d been able to hide himself for nine months so she let him take the reins.

The safe deposit box with their new identities was in a bank in Chinatown. The last time they’d been there, they’d been tracking down an internal organ theft ring. She was afraid someone might remember and might recognize them, but the locals seem to be less suspicious of them this time around. Maybe it was the lack of badges and trench coats, but no one gave them a second glance as they weaved their way through the market stalls to the bank.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Scully, though Mulder tried to hide it, that there were three passports in the safe deposit box. She asked to see them before he emptied the contents into a small backpack, but he shook his head and said ‘not now.’

Later, back at the motel, Mulder gave Scully the bag without a word. She dumped it all out onto the bed and studied the documentation for Allen Vogle, Tricia Vogle (nee Blackburn) and Michael Vogle. Passports and IDs for Allen and Tricia went back in the bag. The passport and birth certificate for Michael (six weeks older on paper) were burned in the bathroom sink.

Day 12

It was surprising how one could become accustomed to something new and unfamiliar so quickly. Such as the ring on his finger or the color of Scully’s (no, not Scully, Tricia’s) hair. Even though it had only been a week, playing the married couple on vacation didn’t feel that strange. Maybe all those years of travel, of Scully being called ‘The Little Missus” at nearly every diner across the bible belt, had just been practice for this.

The only real difference between life before and life now was the single room and the single bed. Plus the rings and the hair and Mulder’s new and neatly trimmed beard, not to mention their next destination was chosen at random by a blind finger pointed at a map and of course, the constant looking over one’s shoulder.

Otherwise, it was mostly the same.

Day 44

Scully wanted to stop. Just for a little while. Just for a few days. She’d forgotten the names of all the tiny towns they’d stopped in at this point but the 4th of July was coming up and couldn’t they just enjoy the holiday before moving on? They’d been living sunset to sunrise from the front seat of a car for more than a month and she hadn’t realized how necessary daylight was to feel human until she rarely saw it anymore.

It was easy enough to blend in with the rest of the tourists in New Hope, PA, but it was a mistake to think she could be immune to the smiling, happy children running through the park, waving little flags, shrieking, getting pulled in Radio Flyer wagons, throwing tantrums over popcorn or candy, their faces painted with red hearts or blue stars.

They left well before the fireworks started. Mulder picked up Chinese for them at a take-out place a few blocks from the motel. Sounds of celebration - whistling and popping and crackling - started at dusk. Scully tuned it all out in favor of their gasping sounds of release and the noises of encouragement it took to get them there.

Day 70

“Do you think we should split up?” Scully asked. Mulder thought someone might be following them, but he wasn’t sure. He knew he’d seen that maroon Cadillac twice in the past week. It stood out. Firstly, because it was maroon of all colors, and secondly, because the left headlight flickered on occasion.

“Split up?” he repeated, eyes bouncing between the road and the rear view mirror.

“To make us harder to follow.”

“I’m not doing this without you. No way.”

“What are we even doing?”

“I don’t know. Surviving. Whatever it is, we’re doing it together. You and me.”

She nodded and slid closer across the bench seating and took his hand from the wheel. He laced their fingers together and rested their joined hands in her lap, keeping them there long after the maroon Cadillac had turned off the highway. They were still holding hands when he shut off the engine in the parking lot of a motel at first light.

“We should trade in the car today,” he said, his voice gravelly in the quiet confines of the car.

She nodded in agreement. They’d had four cars so far. He looked down at his lap and then back up at her.

“Do you want to split up?” he asked.

“No.”

Day 147

“What do you want for your birthday?” Scully asked. She was driving. The radio had just announced the midnight hour on October 13th.

Mulder snorted softly from the passenger seat. “How about a vacation?”

“That sounds nice. Where to?”

“I hear Peoria is lovely this time of year.”

“As luck would have it, we’re only 200 miles away.”

“Well then, happy birthday to me!”

The Beach Boys were singing about little surfer girls and Scully turned the radio off.

“What do you really want, Mulder? If you can have anything at all.”

“The last two years back,” he said after a few moments. “What about you?”

“It isn’t my birthday.”

“Yeah, but-”

“I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, Mulder. We want the same thing.”

Day 219

They stopped for the winter just after Thanksgiving. The weather was becoming a problem as was their overall stamina. It wasn’t easy finding a place that they could hide out in yet still be prepared to leave should the need arise. They ended up in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, a place that was small enough and just touristy enough for them to remain inconspicuous.

Christmas nearly passed them by, but at the last minute, Mulder found a sad little twig of a tree outside a local drug store on Christmas Eve and he couldn’t let it sit there. He brought it back to the condo they rented and put it on the counter of the wet bar where the canned light shone down on it. He put the chocolate Santa and tiny souvenir snow globe he got for her under the tree and then called her in from the next room.

“If I’d known we were having a Charlie Brown Christmas, I would’ve gotten you something,” she said.

“It was spontaneous.” He shrugged. “And not really anything to sneeze at.”

“I can see that.” She unwrapped the foil from the chocolate and held it up to his mouth for a bite.

“These will all be on sale after tomorrow. We should stock up for the new year.”

She smiled. “Last year I...”

“What did you do last year?”

“It snowed on Christmas Eve.” She put the chocolate down and swallowed. Her eyes grew wet and she blinked a few times. “I put William in his snowsuit and a little hat and took him outside. His eyes were so big and wide when the snow hit his cheeks and then he just laughed. He put his hand out and it was like he somehow got the biggest snowflakes to come to him.”

“I wish I could’ve been there. I wish that...”

“I know.” Scully picked up the little snow globe with a surfing Santa inside and gave it a shake. “But, this is no life for a toddler.”

“Maybe it’s snowing where he is now.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.” She put the globe down and touched him lightly on the chest as she made her way back to the other room.

Day 375

They’d agreed that waiting a year to settle down somewhere permanently. There was a house waiting for them in Virginia. A small, unremarkable piece of property that might as well have been in the middle of nowhere, purchased years ago under an alias and had then sat in wait.

The anniversary of their first year as Allen and Tricia Vogle was spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but dates had started to become insignificant little things since the new year. They counted days more than they acknowledged dates anymore. Christmas and New Year’s were hard to miss, but things like Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, even your own birthday, were easier to miss if you weren’t paying attention.

They did remember William’s second birthday though. Really it was Scully who had noticed the date and Mulder put two and two together when she woke him early in the afternoon, well before they usually left a place, and asked him to take her to a church. He waited in the car so he didn’t know what she did inside - prayed, confessed, lit a candle - but she wasn’t there too long. They didn’t speak about it, but he knew. He also knew it was time to head to Virginia.

“i don’t know, Mulder,” she said, getting out of the car and putting her hands on her hips. “Are you sure you didn’t buy this house because you thought it might be haunted?”

Mulder grinned. “I did put it on the list of requirements, right up there with gas appliances, ample closet space, and central heat.”

“You’re kidding.”

“It might not look like much from the outside, but it’s a decent place.”

Scully leaned back into Mulder’s chest a little when he put his hands on her shoulders. She tipped her head back and looked up at him.

“So this is the end of the road?” she asked.

“Hopefully.”

She pushed away from him and went up to the porch, taking a hesitant step up, testing her weight on the wood. It was more solid than it looked. Not even a creak of the floorboards as she made her way up the stairs. Mulder was right behind her, keys in his hand. Scully cupped her hands against the dirty window in front and peered inside, but she couldn’t see much. She backtracked over to the edge of the porch and wrapped her arm around the post, looking out at the empty fields surrounding them.

“Coming, Scully?” he asked, holding the door open.

“Right behind you,” she answered.

The End

#i wrote this #msr #on the run #Anonymous

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