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jasmines-library · 6 months

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People are Strange

WHUMPTOBER DAY 25: prompt: “Hunted down/failed escape”

Fandom: The Lost Boys

Summary: Whilst on a hunt for a meal, you come across what appears to be the perfect victims, however things go downhill quickly when you realise that they are hunters and you are their prey. And when you try to run, you realise you have a bigger problem that would leave you trapped in the woods with no where to go: The sun is rising quickly…

Warnings: Failed Escape, torture? (Stakes and Holy water), some weird holy water drip thing?, blood, death.

Word count: 2.7k

MASTERLIST ⛤ WHUMPTOBER WORKS

🕸 ⋆ ⁶𖤐⁶ ࣪⋆🕸

It was unusually warm in Santa Carla for the time of year, which meant that the boardwalk was heaving. Although the leaves donning their usual golden hues, the chill that was carried through the air was absent. The night was busy and disorientating with swarm of people the bright lights flitting in and out of the shops. All of the extra people created extra noise and with your vampire senses you could smell each and every one of them like someone was playing them through a megaphone. There jangle of change being tossed around in a pocket, the sound of a zip being undone, a chesty cough, a string of laughter in between broken conversations. It was nauseating.

However it was your turn to lure in the night’s feed, so you were left with no choice but to begrudgingly stroll around the centre of activity. Dwayne had offered to give you company but you turned it down, telling him that you wanted to enjoy the scenery. Besides, your story would be more believable if there wasn’t a leather-clad motorcyclist hovering around you. You wandered along the boardwalk, swinging your arms by your sides and keeping your eyes peeled for someone who looked gullible enough to be drawn in. Perhaps an ignorant surf-nazi who only thought with his dick or someone of that sort.

The night was still young by the time you spotted him: tall and tan with a mop of dark, greasy hair, prancing around the boardwalk like he owned the place. He was with another man of a similar age, who donned a similar demeanour. You tailed the pair for a while, creeping around in their shadows as they went about their business. Their behaviour was what you would expect it be: brawny. And childish. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at their ignorance.

Slowly you began to grown impatient as they hung around the boardwalk. The sun would rise soon and if you weren’t home by then…

You shook the thought from your mind. You would be fine, you told yourself. Worst comes to worst you would just have to leave early and snag someone on the way home, but you didn’t like the mess and the fact that it made your hands sticky.

“You okay, Doll?” David asked through your mind link. You could practically picture him in your mind, just from his tone of voice. He would be sat on his wheelchair with a cigarette lit between his fingers. Most likely weed. And his right leg would be crossed over his left as he lounged, pretending that the fact that you weren’t home yet wasn’t nothing him when really it was all he could think about.

“Fine.” You replied. “It’s just taking longer than usual. I’ll be back before sunrise I promise.”

The two boys you had been following were slowly teetering towards the edge of the boardwalk, inching away from the crowds and down the steps to the beach. You swerved through the crowds to trail behind them. When they reached a secluded area under the pier, they stopped and you darted behind one of the pillars.

“We know you’re there, bloodsucker. Are you going to come out or are you just going to stand there and watch?”

Had your heart still been beating, it would have stopped dead in your chest. How long had they known? You stepped out into the light, you face contorted into that vampire look: golden eyes and bared teeth.

The man spat at you. “You think that’s gonna work?”

Someone grabbed you roughly from behind, wrapping an icy claw around your forearm. You let out an animalistic growl, breaking away from his grasp with your vampiric strength. You lunged forwards to try and take one of them down. You had faced worse odds before, but one of them was clutching a vial of holy water which he flicked at you. Your skin sizzled and you howled as it melted your skin.

Snarling, you turned and fled, slipping away from the hunters, but they weren’t far behind. They were smart. You could see the sliver of blue emerging on the skyline as the sun began to rise. The hunters had been stalling to try and trap you under the sunlight. And for a heart wrenching moment, it looked like it was working.

So you ran.

Feet slapping against the ground and scuffing against the protruding roots and the sleeves of your jacket snagged against the trees and thorns, tearing at the hand sewn patches on your jacket. You knew it would bother you later; you had sewn them on with Marko, but right now you didn’t care. They were hot on your heels and you had to get away.

The hunters were gaining on you, trailing behind you as you fled towards the cave, trying to use the woodland as shelter from the rising sun.

You could feel the way that the sun was affecting you. It made your eyes droop and your body feel like it weighed a thousand times more than it should have done as you moved. Perhaps it was the reason that your movements had began to grow sluggish.

“David?” You implored, racing towards safety. You weren’t sure if you were going to get there before the golden flecks of sunlight rose complete above the ocean to cast a soft glow on the shimmering water.

“Doll? Where are you?” It wasn’t David that replied. No, this voice was too openly concerned.

“Hunters.” You panted. “They knew I was following them. I’m on my way but I- they’re going to get me. I’m not going to make it back…”

“What?!” This time it was David. He growled the word through gritted teeth.

“Babe? You need to keep going. Where are you?” Dwayne urged.

“I’m on the bluff…the woods… I can’t go any further…” the sunlight assaulted your eyes as you stumbled to a stop at the edge of the trees, trapped by the light under the shelter of the leaves. You clung to the trunk.

“Come on, baby. You’re so close. You have to keep going.” Paul? You weren’t sure anymore, your head was too foggy and all you could focus on was that big ball of fiery light that shone. It was ironic really. You had forgotten how beautiful it could be in your many years of slinking away from it. But you couldn’t revel in its beauty as you collapsed to your knees, unable to withstand the affects of its spell.

“I can’t…”you muttered. The hunters approached quickly. “It’s already too late…”

There was a choral cry of your name.

“I’m sorry…”

The only thing you could register when you awoke was pain. Raw and fiery as the holy water sizzled on your skin like oil in a pan. You screamed, body bucking against the pain.

“Be quiet.” Someone hissed at you, emptying the rest of their flask on your skin. You muffled a cry by sinking your fangs into your lip, they drew blood.

You weren’t sure where you were. Or what time it was for that matter. You knew from the light that shone through the window that it was still day. You edged away from the light, as far as the beam you were tied to would let you. You knew that as the sun moved, you would eventually be caught in its light.

“What do you want from me?” You wailed.

The man grinned, screwing the cap back onto the empty flask before throwing it over his shoulder. It clattered against the floor. “Don’t worry. We’re not gonna kill you.”

“Yet.” The other interjected. He was leaning up against the wall sharpening a stake.

“You’re just the bait. We’re just gonna make sure to hurt you nice and slow, just until the rest of the bloodsuckers arrive. Then, I’m going to drive that stake right through your heart.”

“You’re a dead man.” You told him.

David and the boys would be on their way soon. You knew it. As soon as the moon replaced the sun they would be on their way. You had tried to reach out to them through the link, but nothing came up but static. They had retreated to the back of the cave to sleep, sheltered from the cruel sun. What you should have been doing, but you just had to make sure you got a good catch, didn’t you?

“We’ll see.” The Hunter tilted his head as he floated towards an old IV stand. He fiddled with the bag filled with clear liquid. It was connected to a thin wire in that led to a small needle. Noticing your curiosity, he flicked the head of the cylinder to remove the bubbles and flicked the switch the start the flow of the liquid before moving toward you. “Holy water.”

You chucked. They were going to try and cure you. “That’s not going to work, dipshit.”

He just shrugged, inserting the needle into the crook of your arm. “Maybe not. But it’ll hurt like a bitch.”

He was right. You held back a scream as the liquid began to trickle into your veins.

“Go fuck yourself.” You gritted out.

“Sit tight, little vampire.”

Dwayne couldn’t sleep. He had tried to, but your words swirled around his brain like a disease.

‘I can’t. It’s too late…I’m sorry’

Then there was that fateful silence that gripped his heart tightly and squeezed, tearing at the strings. His brothers had retreated to the cave, deciding that they needed to gain their strength to leave at sunset. But Dwayne was wide awake. It wasn’t unusual for him to be up at this hour of the day. He often chose to revel in the peace and quiet and curl up with a book, but this time he just sat, bouncing his leg up and down.

Dwayne wasn’t sure what was worse. Not being able to feel you, or only being able to feel your agony. Because that was the decision he was faced with when you woke up. He had tried to reach out to you, and could feel you probing around in the link, but your mind wasn’t focused enough to get anywhere.

“Dwayne? Come on man, you’re stinking the place out. Go back to bed.” Marko peered around the corner bleary eyed from sleep. He had shed his patchwork jacket and was wandering round barefoot. He didn’t like the absence of your bodies in the cave, they left an empty, cold hole, but it was your discomfort that forced him to make the move. He knew that his brother would still be in the same spot he was when they left, wallowing in your pain. He couldn’t bare to leave him like that.

“Sorry.”

“She’ll be okay. She’s tough.”

“It’s just…” Dwayne threw his hands up. “I offered to go with her. I should have insisted…”

“Stop that.” Marko almost snapped. “Come on. You haven’t fed and we’re all going to need out strength. It looks like we’re having Hunter for breakfast.”

~~~

You couldn’t take it anymore. The pain had begun to become unbearable as it seemed to burn you from the inside out. It was an agony you had never felt before. And you had lived a long time. No matter how much you writhed, there was no release from the pain and the needle wouldn’t budge.

The two hunters hadn’t returned, but you could smell them nearby. They reaked of fear. You hadn’t given much thought to how you would die, but you never thought you would go out this way. Left alone to suffer a painful death in an unknown building, surrounded by nothing but your own screams.

Unsure of exactly how much time had passed, as your body began to grow numb and your screams faded to whimpers, you watched as the light coming from the windows shrunk. They would be coming soon. You told yourself. Just a little longer. But you were beginning to lose hope as your body withered away. And then you heard it. A faint tickle in the back of your mind.

“Y/n…”

“Hmm?”

“Stay with us doll, we’re on our way.”

“Can’t...”

David knew that. He could feel your silent cries for help.

“You have to try, Doll.”

“M’kay”

Suddenly, they felt a rise of panic bubble up within you.

“Y/n?”

You heard him and could sense them drawing nearer, but couldn’t compel your body to reply. The hunters had returned again.

One of them raised the stake he had been sharpening. “It’s showtime.”

As the door flew open and two of the blonds emerged with angry eyes and sharp teeth in full display, he raised the stake, hovering it over your heart.

“Ah ah.” He chided. “Not a step closer.”

“Get away from her.” Paul growled, observing your state. Your head hung to the side, permanently contorted into a look of pain. You eyes were squeezed shut and you mouth was agape. He saw the IV buried deep in your arm, following it to the half-empty bag. He took in the way your whole body trembled uncontrollably as you fought to keep yourself awake. You were dying. For the second time.

“I don’t think you’re in the position to be making demands here.” He pressed the stake harder against your skin and the scent of your blood began to fill the air. But it was off. “See, right now we have holy water pumping through her pretty veins, burning her insides out slowly. If you do what we say, then it stops. And we’ll allow her to heal. If you don’t? Then bye bye baby.”

Paul and Marko gave each other an unspoken glance.

Marko gestured to you. “You back away from her first. Until then we’re not doing shit.”

With a brief nod, they backed away, ripping the needle from your arm, but keeping the stake poised.

“Better.”

“Now. Where are the other two?”

“Right fucking behind you, halfwit.” David grabbed the man from behind, tearing a chunk out of his neck before throwing him unceremoniously to the dusty ground. That was when Paul and Marko surged forward, wrapping their hands and tearing away at the others skin mercilessly.

Dwayne was crouching next to you, running his hands over your skin, it was oddly warm, which concerned the vampire and caused him to knit his brows together in concern. You whimpered at the contact.

“Babe?”

You squinted at him, using your energy to try and lift your head. You made out his dark hair.

“Dwayne?” You slurred “ s’you?”

“Yeah. It’s us. We’re here.”

You hummed, but it didn’t really mean anything. Your mind was beginning to lose control over your body- your world was now just a blur of pain as Dwayne disappeared momentarily.

Then the familiar coolness of David’s leather gloves against your chin as he angled it upwards. His lips moved but you didn’t understand what he was saying. And then there was hot, sticky blood trickling from your lips. It gave you strength, but did little to ease the pain.

“Y/n?” David’s voice broke through.

“Hurts.” It was the only thing you knew at that moment. So it was the first word you mustered up.

“I know doll. I know. We’re gonna fix it I promise.”

He turned to his brothers and they all moved into position and soon the pain that circulated your body was replaced by four new ones as each of them sank their fangs into your skin and began to drink. The thought that the holy water in your blood probably hurt them crossed your mind, but they would do anything to save you. When your body began to grow woozy, something warm was forced into your mouth as you were encouraged to drink.

You took slow, but greedy sips as the liquid ran down your raw throat. The four of them watched you anxiously.

“Y/n?”

You pulled away, feeling much stronger than before. Still not 100%, but less like you were on the verge of death.

“I’m okay…”

There was a visible shift as they all relaxed to the ground. And then you were surrounded by four pairs of arms, who refused to let you go. You didn’t mind, choosing to cherish the moment, knowing that you would be around for a long time to come.

🕸 ⋆ ⁶𖤐⁶ ࣪⋆🕸

<- DAY 24 ⛤ DAY 26 ->

Taglist:

@senjoritanana

@deans-spinster-witch

@amaryllis23

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whump-princess · 4 months

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Waking up in a maze. They need to find the exit before whumper finds them

#Whump #hunted down

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yet-another-heathen · 10 months

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Under the Cover of Night - III

1,506 words. Original Work: The Jackal of An-Nadr.

For new readers, The Jackal is an ongoing whump series set in 1,200 BCE, where pre-Islamic fantasy meets the love of bloody sword fights, found family, and handsome men who long for nothing more than home.

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Chapter Warning | environmental whump, desert whump, initial capture, ancient demonic pirates that are both beautiful and terrifying (in an "oh. I'm being hunted down by a predator" sort of way. my beloved fellow monsterfuckers, you're going to love this), defiant whumpee, existing foot injury, xenophobia, language and cultural barriers, veiled whumpee having their face forcibly exposed, suggestive taunting (non-explicit), kidnapping/rescue (you decide)

Author’s Notes | This chapter shows our first instance of Q̷͚́ŭ̸͇r̵̥͝u̴͚̍r̶̠̈́a̴̰̋q̶̹̀, the language of the ifrit, as seen through Nadi’s lens. If this causes any problems for my font-sensitive readers, please reach out and I will gladly send you a translated copy! And thank you so much to @secretwhumplair, whose incredible series, No Warrior, inspired this format of language barrier whump!

Taglist | @killtheprotagonist @secretwhumplair @ink-and-salt @kixngiggles @brutal-nemesis @thebewilderer @whumpvp @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @whimperwoods @shydragonrider @pizzasthengym @thecyrulik @ceph-the-writing-spook @mylifeisonthebookshelf @ohwhumpydays @redwingedwhump

When night came and the last of the light had sunk beyond the dunes, Nadeem inched his way out from the edge of the riverbed. A large fire burned at the heart of the ifrit camp, casting ripples of false warmth out across the water like embers. The ifrit had spent the dusk bathing in its flames, washing themselves in glittering cinders with all the eerie joy of dust bathing doves. It was more of a distraction than he could have hoped for, and he wouldn't let the chance get away from him.

He moved slowly, careful not to disturb the surface of the water lest someone see the reflection against the flames.

It was a slow crawl up the embankment as he kept to his hands and knees, clinging to the cover of the banthum grass. His thirst had been sated, but his body was still horribly weak. The climb wasn't an easy one, and his wet clothes clung to his limbs and made silence across the grass all the more difficult.

When he finally made it to the crest and slipped down the other side, he closed his eyes and let out a breath that felt like it had been stuck in his lungs for days.

The night over An-Nadr was moonless and dark, and the stars cast little light on the landscape around him. Shadows welled beneath the wild date palms, shifting with the movement of their fronds.

He gingerly made his way to his feet, ankle angry and swollen beneath his weight. Every step was a gamble to keep it from collapsing, and he forced himself not to think about what that would mean for his ability to survive out here. Especially if it got any worse.

He was careful to keep his head low, following the edges of the rock bed. He kept his hands spread to catch himself in case he stumbled.

He had no recollection of the path he’d taken into the trees, but he knew he’d eventually find sand the further he got from the water. He followed the lowest path he could between the outcrops of stone, moving silently between the dense patches of cover.

Ahead the grove thickened, creating a canopy of fronds under which the ground was beginning to soften. He headed for their shelter, eager for the promised safety that would calm the feeling of ant bites at his nape. Breaths clouded against the back side of his litham, the fabric keeping them silent from the world outside. He'd take the chance of stumbling into the shelter of coiled snakes and other wildlife over the chance of being seen.

The light of the stars was distant and faint through the leaves. Away from the familiar paths and eddies of his home, Nadeem's progress was slow through the dark.

No animal walked in steady, even tempos but men; and so he kept his pace faint and hesitant to disguise the sound of his footsteps through the littered clay. Often he stopped to listen and observe the shadows around him, picking the path least likely to catch on sticks and twigs. Behind him followed an uneven trail of single bloody footsteps, meandering back through the dark.

There was nothing he could do about it. He just had to hope that neither the ifrit, nor anything else, would find it. The shifting of the sand would cover it once he made it to the safety of the desert, and they would lose the trail there.

That was where his mind lingered as he watched through the leaves for the lighter gray of the dunes. And soon he caught glimpses of the open desert far beyond the trees. He slunk low between patches of cover, keeping the distant sound of the fire to his back.

His mind continued to race with thoughts of how to avoid being tracked, preoccupied with the beginning of a plan to circle to another part of the oasis. Then something pricked at the edge of his hearing.

He stopped in his tracks, straining to listen as ice flashed through his limbs.

For a long while the night answered him with nothing but the roar of crickets, stretching out the moment to eons. And then he heard it again—about thirty feet to his right, the sound of something in the dark. He lowered himself into the shelter of the surrounding bushes, crouching to listen.

Then he saw it. The blue-abalone reflection of eyes from the darkness. Like a hyena's, stalking him through the grass. But as he watched, they rose out of the darkness to a nearly impossible height. Fixed on him.

Then a twig snapped somewhere in the darkness right behind him, and Nadeem forgot how to breathe.

He whipped around, searching the blackness. His heart pounded as something in the shadows behind him moved, leaves shuddering against their branches.

A massive figure stepped from the shadows, melting into the starlight.

The ifrit towered above him and inclined its head. The glinting of eyes, the flash of teeth bared in a predatory smile. Something else moved behind it, emerging from the shade by its side.

—No.

Nadeem tried to run, not a single thought given to the pain in his ankle. He only made it a few steps before he collided headlong into another body.

Enormous hands grabbed him, breath leaving his lungs from the force of the impact. He gasped and struggled, trying to yank free as the monster locked all its hands around him.

He clawed and shoved, “No no no no, no—” falling from his lips. The ifrit from before, with the black sash across its chest, called something into the night.

With an effortless twist of a hand it pulled his head back, nearly lifting him off of his feet by the back of his turban. He gasped, staring with wide eyes up into its face.

“Let go of me,” he gasped, “Let—”

Dark eyes smiled down at him, teeth glinting.

He cut off into a tight whine as it reached up and took the cloth of his litham between its fingers, so close to his face that he felt the heat pouring off its skin.

"H̴͎̆e̶̙̅l̷̤̿l̷͓̍o̴̖͋,̸̨̕ ̷̭̀ḹ̸ȋ̶͈t̶̩̆t̶̼͑ĺ̴͓e̸̮͐ ̶͍̒j̷̮́a̷̢̍č̵͉k̶̬͆á̴͜l̸͔̔.̴̪̚"

The ifrit purred something in its rumbling language, leering down at him.

"S̸͎̅ọ̸̀ ̵̙̎g̶̣̋ō̸̺ȯ̴̲d̶̐ͅ ̶̪̀o̷̖̐f̴͍̓ ̵͈̍y̴͉͠o̷̱̿ư̴̦ ̴̲̇t̸͎͠ŏ̸̺ ̷̡͐f̵̛̲i̷̥̎n̸͕̿a̶̯̿ḷ̶́l̵͜͝y̸͂ͅ ̸̦͝j̶̣̃ō̵͕i̴͈̎n̶͇̔ ̶͙͘ű̸͓s̵͈̄.̶̟̓"

---

Ifyaa glanced up when the sound of struggling edged into the camp. Two of his fellow ifrit emerged from the shadows, followed by Yeezumon and the thrashing, clawing human he was dragging with him.

Every set of eyes fixed on the dirtblood as it cast wildly around the camp, dragging a bloody foot. Its clothes were muddy and torn. Yeezumon forced it to its knees.

From the other side of the fire, Adrsiae inclined her head.

"So we do have a visitor,” she mused.

It strained away in Yeezumon’s grip as she stood, the boy watching her through narrowed eyes. It flinched when she reached out and took its chin in her palm.

“You found it at the end of the blood trail?”

“Near there. The damn thing was playing clever: had it been only ten minutes sooner it probably would have slipped past us back out into the wastes,” Simntii, another member of the hunting party, muttered. She grunted softly as she knelt at the edge of her tent, adjusting the leg of her pants, “Gave us one hell of a fight on the way back.”

“Hm.”

It leveled the captain with a scathing glare when she turned it by the jaw, and then tugged down its face cloth to see its features in the light.

Dark eyes narrowed under thick, winged brows, the domed bridge of its nose crinkling with its snarl. Cracked lips and bared teeth, jaw lined with overgrown stubble.

It was rugged but...an undeniably pretty face. Her claws left indents in its cheeks as she turned it in the firelight, appraising.

Then she released it, and it gave a full-body shudder as she turned away.

She reclaimed her spot by the fire. “Yeezumon, you were the one who tracked it down?”

“I was.”

She leaned back, tearing into the soft flesh of a date, “Then it’s yours. Do with it as you wish.”

Their eyes didn’t leave the human, whose smell of fear was tangible in the air even as it glared back at her. Each of them nodded in deference to their captain, absently touching their thumbs to their temples.

“Careful Yeezumon,” one of them teased, flashing his canines in a mockery of the human’s bared teeth, “It looks like it wants to bite.”

A ripple of laughter broke through the camp.

“It's handsome, for a dirtblood,” another admitted.

Both Yeezumon and Ifyaa smiled, sharing eye contact across the camp. Then Yeezumon lifted its face, making it meet his eyes.

“So it is,” he grinned. “And we’ll put it to good use.”

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yandereaffections · 2 years

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Agapito and or Jamari with the prompt hunted down ? (sfw for platonic darling please.)

Congrats btw, I knew there’d be another follower celebration soon 🎊🎉🍾‼️ You definitely deserve it.

-aro anon

Jamaris possibly the most patient, wordlessly understanding man you've ever met, of course that itself gave you reason to be skeptical of his behavior being faked for manipulative purposes yet the more you poked and prodded it was clear this big boy is simple a gentle giant, however as you've recently came to learn from waking up in chains that doesn't mean he can't be both something to fear at the same time

On the bright side this meant that it wasn't hard to convince him that the restraints were too tight, Jamari couldn't take how miserable you looked and just had to loosen it, you just had to take advantage of the blinding fondness he has for you. Last time eye contact was made a shiver of fear ran up your spine at his blank stare of realization, his baby is about to bolt out the door and it's all due to him daring to be concerned for you

Being cramped in jamaris apartment bedroom wrapped up with chains around your limbs definitely didn't give any boost in your speed. Needless to say it wasn't long until you felt the rough grasp of your kidnappers hands around the back of your shirt yanking you back into his unusually cruel possession

#bleh its bad #jamari my oc #jamari blackwood #jamari #aro anon #hunted down #halloween prompt list 4.0 #aromantic reader #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere headcanons #yandere imagines #yandere imagine #yandere x you #yandere x y/n #yandere ocs #yandere oc

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all54321 · 6 months

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The Price of Being the Oldest Sibling

[AO3]

Back to the whumptober grind. Gonna be posting these a lot the next few days.

Summary: Grian acts as a diversion to get hybrid hunters to chase him and not his siblings. Nothing matters besides keeping his siblings safe, not even…

Day 24: Hunted Down

—————

Grian puts a hand on Jimmy and Pearl’s shoulder, giving them a stern look, “I’ll be fine, I can handle myself. It’ll be easier on my own.”

“But-“ Jimmy goes to protest, but stops when Grian shakes his head.

“Jimmy, please, as your older brother it’s my responsibility to protect you.”

Pearl shakes her head this time, “It’s to help us survive, not to leave us.”

Grian huffs, “If they catch up to us there’s no guarantee we all escape. Me leading them away, that’s helping you survive. I’ll distract them enough for you to get away and then I’ll meet up with you once I ditch them.” He stares at them with narrowed eyes, refusing to back down. Especially not when every second passing means that they are getting closer.

Pearl and Jimmy share a glance before sagging in defeat. Pearl pulls Grian into a tight hug, Jimmy joining a moment later. He returns it, holding them tightly.

It feels like a goodbye.

Grian doesn’t let the hug last long, the urgency of the matter making him hurry. He gives his siblings one final nod before turning and going back where they came from.

His wings itch to spread out and take him up and far away from here, but the canopy is too thick. Grian will only be able to run when he finds the hunters.

That’s fine, he can do that.

That’s fine, he can climb.

That’s fine, the forest is his turf.

That’s fine… isn’t it?

Grian gets pulled from his thoughts by rather loud voices. He stiffens and hides behind a tree trunk, listening for a bit. Yup, definitely them. He fights every instinct in his body and spreads out his wings.

He circles around where he hears their voices, trying to find them. He hears a sudden exclamation and knows they saw him. Grian pulls his wings tight to his body and runs. He weaves between trees and ducks under branches.

Grian wants to run at full speed, but he can’t. He needs to keep them on his tail until they’re far away from Pearl and Jimmy. Then he can as fast as he can. For now, he keeps running, making sure they’re still in earshot.

He runs, and runs, and runs, and runs. He doesn’t know how long he’s been running for, it feels like an eternity. His lungs would probably be burning if he was a human, but he’s an avian, his lungs are able to take in way more air than a human can ever dream of. So the hunters should be slowing down soon.

Grian lets out a shrill trill when an arrow whizzes by his head and lands in a nearby tree with a loud thunk! He veers to the right, away from the arrow, heart-rate picking up.

He realizes too late that they could have easily hit him.

He realizes too late that missing was their intention.

He realizes too late that he’s running into a trap.

Grian is picking up speed now, but his light steps and fast pace aren’t enough to save him. His foot connects with the ground, and then he’s suspended in the air. He lets out a loud squawk in surprise and immediately begins struggling.

He tries to tear are the net with his talons, but it’s made of something too sturdy to claw through easily. He whines high in his throat as the net digs into his wings where they’re pressed up against it.

Grian is on his back, and he tries to fix that, but he can’t right himself. One of his legs had slipped through the gaps and the other is raised awkwardly above him, talons gripping the net. He can’t move either enough to help him.

He whines again, high-pitched and long, a desperate call for help, for his flock, for anyone.

Chuckling voices approach Grian and he just curls up, fighting back tears. He knows what happens to captured avians. He knows what they want with him.

He hopes they kill him first so that he doesn’t feel the pain.

Grian ducks his head to avoid looking at them when they arrive, all fight drained out from him the moment he got pathetically trapped in this net. An avian shouldn’t be trapped dangling from anything, yet here he is. Pathetic.

A hand grabs him by the hair and yanks his head back, making Grian cry out. He’s forced to make eye contact with the hunters, there’s only three of them, all looking some form of tired. It doesn’t even give him joy like it normally would. He just feels despair.

One of them frowns, glancing worriedly at the one still holding Grian by his hair, who he presumes is the captain, “Are you sure that it’s enough?”

The other one catches on, frowning as well, “Yeah, aren’t they looking for a… y’know.”

The leader just scoffs, “Avians are funky creatures, you don’t know what they’re like unless you cut them open.”

Grian flinches at the words, but the motion only causes another painful tug to his hair, making him yelp again. Pathetic.

“So,” the first one begins cautiously, “you think they’d want this one?”

The guy shrugs, finally letting go of Grian’s hair, letting him curl into a ball again. “Don’t know, we’ll just drop it off and they’ll let us know. They’re going to want us to find other hybrids too, so it’s not like this one will go to waste anyways.”

Grian digs his taloned fingernails into his arms, trying not to whimper, of course they want to experiment on him. Of course they’re going to torture him. Even when his mind swirling in misery, one positive thought slips through the rest, at least they won’t take his wings.

He’s so lost in his mind that he doesn’t realize the hunters did something to him until his vision starts darkening around the edges. Only a few seconds later the darkness completely claims Grian and he falls unconscious.

When Grian blinks his eyes open again, he’s laying in a clearing, trees not to far away. He feels sore all over his body, but he still pushes himself up, fight or flight response roaring in his veins. Everything feels wrong.

The lack of breeze is his first clue, the rough dirt he feels when he digs his claws into the ground is another, the light is off, his wings feel weird, something is yelling in his head that everything is wrong.

Grian turns around and- oh.

He’s facing a wall, gray and metal, reaching way above him. The ceiling is almost like a sky, but it’s too off.

He shakily gets to his feet, stumbling towards the forest, his mind yelling that it’s safe in there. Grian doesn’t get more then a few steps inside before realizing how wrong that is. The scent of this place is wrong on so may levels. The trees and grass may technically be real, but they reek with a fakeness that makes Grian gag.

He falls to the ground again, forcing himself not to cry. He wraps his wings around his body to shelter himself, and he lets out a sob at the sight. They were of course a mess from the net, but that’s not what catches his eyes. The primary feathers were all sliced through, neat and precise.

He’s grounded.

Grian curls up tighter, not hiding his sobs now. He’s a downed bird now. Flightless birds don’t survive.

Even if he escapes now, without flight there’s no hope for him.

#my writing #ailesswhumptober2023 #day 24 #hunted down #skyblings #i love ‘em #but also I inflict pain on them #hermitcraft #empires

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aprocessionofthoughts · 6 months

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ai-less whumptober2023 day 24- Failed escape / hunted down / Too exhausted to keep running fandom- batman TW- injury summary- Dick tries to escape Slade's clutches

ao3 ai-lesswhumptober masterlist part 2 of Apprentice

It had been a month already, and this was the first time that Dick thought he might have a chance at escaping.

He was running through the woods outside the safehouse where Slade had taken him. He had to get to a road. Branches scratched his face and arms and he kept almost stumbling on roots and fallen branches.

He was panting. He wasn’t sure how long he had been running. With Slade distance would serve him better than stealth, so he just had to keep running in the same direction. Surely, he’d come across something soon.

A dagger flew by him and slammed into a tree.

Dick pushed himself to go faster, but he was exhausted. He’d hardly slept since Slade had taken him and h’e already been running for a few hours.

A sharp pain tore through his calf and he cried out, stumbling. Dick looked down, there was a dagger embedded in his leg. He yanked it out and kept running.

He had to escape.

He had to get to a road, find a city, find a way to contact his siblings.

Another blade flew by him. Dick felt tears sting his eyes.

Slade was playing with him. There was no way he would have missed that shot. Dick stumbled over a tree root and fell. He scrambled up just as another blade hit his other leg. He fell down again with another cry.

It was useless.

He tore the blade out and got to his feet again, only for Slade to slam into him and shove him to the ground.

Dick tried to move, but a kick landed in his side and a boot kicked the wound on his leg.

He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out.

Slade was leaning over him, sending punches at his chest and stomach and face too quickly for Dick to block.

Then there was a hand around his throat, choking him. He tried to pry the fingers off him, but it was useless.

“You shouldn’t have run, little bird.”

“Scr– screw you!”

The hand around his throat tightened.

Dick’s vision was starting to go back when the hold loosened just enough for him to take a shallow breath.

“If you really don’t want to be here,” Slade said, “I could always let you go and finish my job in Gotham.”

“No, Slade, please.” Dick couldn’t let Slade go back and hurt his little brother.

The hand around his throat tightened again and Dick choked, but he didn't resist. Above him, Slade grinned.

“But I can be merciful, after all it’s only natural for you to resist your future at first. But I can assure you,” Slade said, leaning closer, “now that I have you, I will never let you go.”

Dick could feel tears fill his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. His vision was going dark again, but before he could mercifully black out, Slade loosened his grip and allowed him to take in a shallow breath.

“I suppose I'll let your brother live for now. The contract has expired, and he won’t do me any good if he’s dead. But,” Slade said, pressing his knee into Dick’s stomach, "if you try to escape I again, I won’t be so kind. So, you’ll behave now, won’t you?”

Dick didn’t answer.

“I asked,” Slade used his grip on Dick’s throat to pull him up and then slam his head back down, “if you’ll behave now?”

“Yes.” Dick choked out. His head was spinning. He was exhausted.

“Good.” Slade let go of his throat and ran his fingers through Dick’s hari.

Dick flinched away, but Slade just followed the movement.

Slade sighed. “I could be kind to you, if you’d let me. You could be my son.”

Dick didn’t answer. He already had a father.

Slade stood, yanking Dick up by his hair.

He hissed, scrambling to his feet. His legs shook from exhaustion and they hurt from the blades that Slade had thrown. They hadn’t struck anything vital, but the pain made standing difficult.

“Even though I'm letting your brother live, don’t think that this rebelion won’t go unpunished.”

Dick’s breath stuttered as Slade pushed him in the direction of the safehouse.

#ailesswhumptober2023 #ailesswhumptober #day 24 #failed escape attempt #hunted down #injury #dick grayson #slade wilson #deathstroke #dick grayson is deathstroke's apprentice #batman fanfic #dcu

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