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ghostfives · 6 months

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The Werewolves Of The Canadian Wilderness

Chapter Two

A/N: This fic was written by myself and diamondstariv, but from now on she will no longer be apart of it or my blog. This fic is no longer hers, only the first few chapters. Just a warning, don’t go checking her blog. She’s decided to delete everything, so there’s no point. All our collabs will be here.

Hunter tastes the warm blood in his mouth as he bites into the fleshy neck of the buck, which kicks around and writhes on the snow littered ground. He waits until the life drains from its eyes to let go, dropping it to the ground. “Great job, Hunter!!” Wrecker yells as he runs up to Hunter, followed by Crosshair and Echo. Crosshair and Wrecker are each carrying their own bucks, making Hunter smile.

“Three should be enough for now, we’ll come back out tomorrow.” They nod. “Yeah, I have a night shift in a few hours at work.” Echo growls, and Hunter then frowns. “Before we go home, we should… We should bury Omega’s mother.” Everyone's ears press back, but they nod. “Of course, let’s go.” Echo says solemnly, as Crosshair sighs. “We don’t even know her name, we have nothing to say about her.” He growls angrily, hating that the humans caused this.

They all run, and see the pitch black fur, covered in a light sprinkling of snow. The storm thankfully kept any animals from eating her, as Wrecker starts digging a hole in the ground beside her. Crosshair then walks over and gently lifts her up, setting her in the hole. Hunter tears up, seeing that she still has her baby bump, she died so soon. It’s not right, she hardly even got to know her child. Never even got to see Omega open her eyes.

They all contribute to burying her, gently setting the dirt over top of her. Once it’s filled, Echo sits back as Wrecker frowns. “Should we say something?” He asks, and they all frown, then Hunter steps forward. “We hope that wherever you are, you’re in a good place now. And we are so sorry that you never got to care for your daughter like you should have.” Hunter says softly, ears pressed back, then Crosshair steps forward a bit. “We promise to take our best care of little Omega, and make sure humans never touch her. She is under our protection now, and we will never let anyone hurt her.” Crosshair promises, as the others smile at him.

“Yeah, what they said. Omega is safe with us, so please rest peacefully.” Wrecker adds, and Echo smiles. “We will bring her to visit you when she’s older, I promise.” Echo promises her, as they all bow their heads for a moment of silence. Once it’s over, they grab the bucks and head their way back to the cabin, but only after marking her resting place with a rock.

xxx

The others walk in to see Tech feeding Omega, the tiny pup bundled into a blanket. They put the bucks into the utility room, connected to the kitchen, where Hunter skins the buck with his hunting knife and Tech guts and chop it up. He does that since he doesn’t have a proper job. So he’ll bag up the guts and chunks of meat up to be frozen, ready for the winter. Tech isn’t one for killing though.

Yes, you may think that werewolves are mindless, evil killing machines, but they’re not. It’s all down to the personal preference of the werewolf. And if they are in a pack, like the Bad Batch, some of them may want to opt out. So in this case, it’s Tech. He is okay with them already being dead and dealing with the corpse, but he hates having to kill.

Even though it’s completely natural, Tech actually found it embarrassing, he was so nervous and thought he was going to be abandoned by his brothers because of it. They were so supportive though, telling him that he does not have to hunt. That’s when Tech said that he would prepare the meat, but have Hunter skin the buck first.

Echo sits down next to Tech, removing his prosthetic legs, since they irritate him sometimes. So when he’s in the comfort of his own home, he’ll take them off and relax without having pieces of metal attached to him all of the time. Hunter, Crosshair and Wrecker walk back into the large, open room of the cabin, filling the air with the divine, ambrosial smell of sweet blood. The three of them lick themselves as clean as they can, not wanting to waste any of the fresh, delicious blood from the buck.

“Tech, we’re just going to clean ourselves off in the lake. We’ll be back in a bit.” Hunter lets him know, walking back out and heading to the lake, running into it and splashing around, making sure to get the rest of the blood out and any dirt from when they were tackling the buck. Tech and Echo chuckle contently, hearing their brothers outside in the lake playing around and having fun. Omega lets out a burp, bringing Tech’s attention back to her, so he smiles as he puts the bottle down and burps her.

After a moment, her burping intensifies as she pukes all over Tech’s chest. Echo’s eyes widen, grabbing one of the blankets and wiping her mouth gently, while he leans on Tech’s shoulder for support so he doesn’t fall. Omega whimpers and cries, making Tech frown “Oh dear, Darling. There there, it’s alright. Shh, youre okay.” His voice is soft and comforting.

Omega starts to calm down a bit, only letting out small whimpers. Tech turns to Echo. “Maybe you should shift to human and give her a bath, and I’ll go and clean up in the river?” Tech suggests, and Echo nods. He quickly pulls his legs on and runs to another room, shifting back to human before running back in and taking Omega in one arm, she’s a bit heavy, but he manages.

“Aww, do you need a bath, sweetheart?” Echo asks, using a soft voice as he watches Tech run outside. He then walks to the kitchen, grabbing a small tub and holding it under his right arm as he then walks upstairs. He makes a mental note to buy a baby bath in town tonight for Omega. Echo sets the little tub in their bathtub, setting Omega on the carpet as he gently turns the water on, doing his best to get a nice temperature for her.

She whines at the loss of his heat, making Echo look down. “Shh, it’s alright. I’m right here, sweetheart.” Echo soothes her, turning the water off once the little tub is half full. He checks the water, dipping his elbow in and humming when he feels that the water is perfect. He smiles and picks Omega up, taking her diaper off and gently setting her in the tub.

She lets out a whine, not liking the water at all, it makes Echo chuckle. “Don’t worry, it won’t be for long.” It only takes a few minutes to get the vomit out of her fur, and he pulls her out, wrapping her up in a fluffy towel.

“There, all clean.” He whispers, pressing a soft kiss to her nose. Echo stands up and leaves the washroom, walking downstairs and back to the living room. He immediately sees that everyone is back inside, still in their werewolf forms, Tech is probably cleaning the deer, getting all the guts out.

“Wrecker, your turn to cuddle her.” Echo informs him, and Wrecker nods, curling around the blankets as Echo sets Omega down in the middle. Wrecker chuckles as he gently dries her off, then he grabs a diaper. He struggles with it, making Hunter chuckle. “Want me to do it?” He asks, and Wrecker nods sheepishly. Hunter takes the diaper and puts it on her expertly, making Wrecker jealous “Show off.” Wrecker grumbles, making the others laugh playfully. Hunter places a hand on his shoulder “Don't worry, I'll teach you sometime, then you'll be a diaper changer expert too.”

“Alright!” Wrecker pumps a fist in the air enthusiastically, making his voice so it's just above normal talking, but not loud enough to cause the pup to wail. Tech then walks back in, drying his hands off as he smiles. “What’s all the excitement about?”

“Wrecker can’t wait to learn how to change a diaper.” Hunter tells him, then Tech chuckles. “What’s so funny?” Wrecker asks, raising an eyebrow. It then occurs to Hunter too, making him laugh. “What??” Wrecker asks again, a little louder.

“Well, just prepare for a lot of mess. You’re not going to like it,” Tech tells Wrecker, patting his back and chuckling to himself. “I had to deal with a pretty messy one last night.” Wrecker looks a little worried now. “Uh, how messy?”

“Do you remember that time we made a cake last year, and it exploded in the oven? Just picture that, along with a much worse smell.” Wrecker nods, taking a moment to realise what he means, making him begin to have second thoughts, going “Eww!” Which makes everyone laugh.

Hunter then pipes up “I’m an expert, because I remember how many messes you guys would make.” Hunter holds back laughter the best he can, picturing memories of them as toddlers, remembering when Wrecker would jump up and run around butt naked whenever Hunter was changing his.

It was only them and their mother for three years. They lost their father when Hunter was only seven years old, he died in a car accident. Well, that’s what they were told. Hunter found out three years later that their mother had murdered him, so he ran away with his brothers.

They ran across the plainlands, through dense forests and even swam through freezing rivers. Thank god for their fur, because they would have frozen to death. Now here they are, living a safe, happy life out here in the wilderness.

They’ve come so far from where they began. They started off with living in a cave not too far away, then they built their own cabin after some time, gathering up money and resources. It’s the perfect place to be raising a kid, not outside in the snow, since it seemed that Omega’s mother had no place to stay, so Omega may not have even survived the winter.

Hunter is pulled out of his thoughts when Omega starts to whine, and he pulls her close as she shivers. She starts trying to suckle again, making Hunter sigh and Tech chuckle. “Looks like Miss Omega needs another bottle.” Tech stands up, leaving to go get one warmed up. Hunter gently holds Omega, then he looks up to see Crosshair staring at Omega. “Want to hold her?”

Crosshair’s ears press back. “She might cry.” He tells Hunter, but Hunter shakes his head, handing Omega to Crosshair. “She won’t.” Crosshair takes her, gently cradling the pup in his arms and against his chest. She tries to suckle, making Crosshair chuckle.

Then Tech runs back in, smiling when he sees the sight and handing Crosshair the bottle. “Here. I’ve added some blood from the buck in it, so it’ll fill her up a little more than the other feeds did.” Crosshair takes it, bringing it to Omega’s nose and allowing her to smell the milk. As soon as she smells the milk, she starts whimpering and whining, moving up towards it. Crosshair gently pops the nub in her mouth, and she starts to drink. This time though, she drinks it more quickly and hungrily, due to the fresh blood in it.

Everyone smiles, watching their youngest brother with the pup. It’s so sweet, making it even more worth it to raise Omega. She drinks the milk, hitting her little clawed hands against the bottle. Hunter smiles, petting her head from where he sits beside Crosshair. “Such a hungry little thing.” He chuckles, making everyone smile.

“Yeah, we’ll need to go get more supplies soon.” Tech suggests, and everyone nods, Crosshair and Echo look at eachother. “We can grab a few things, since I have to drive Echo to work.” Tech nods. “Good, I’ll make a list.” He runs out, just as Omega finishes her bottle and Crosshair gently burps her. Watching their brother doing that is the weirdest thing, but it warms everyone's hearts.

xxx

It’s been two weeks since they found Omega, and since then, she’s settled in really well. The Bad Batch have planned on baby things she will need, so Tech is working on hand making a wooden baby crib, Wrecker is busy hunting for more Buck for them and smaller creatures for Omega when she starts teething, since werewolves like to chew on pieces of meat. Crosshair is out and about in town, looking for baby toys and books, while he waits for Echo to finish his shift at work.

Hunter on the other hand decided to take a nap with Omega, to keep her safe and company, hugging her with one arm. That’s when he hears her crying. They’ve become accumulated to her crying, knowing that it’s either that she wants a bottle or needs her diaper changing. Hunter rubs the sleep from his eyes with his free hand, allowing him to see clearly and open his eyes, staring at the ceiling. “What’s the matter, Pup, hey?” He coos, but when he turns his head to look at her, he’s met with an unexpected surprise.

He can’t lie, he panicked for a moment, for some reason he can’t explain, but he just gets the biggest smile on his face. His eyes meet with hers. She’s opened her eyes! “Hey, Pup. Hi.” Hunter is overjoyed, her soft brown eyes meet with his yellow ones, making her coo and reach out to his face, patting her hand against his cheek.

Hunter thinks to himself, trying to figure out why she has brown eyes and not yellow like theirs. He’s brought out of his thoughts though when he remembers why he got woke up, hearing her whimpers start again. “Ah, yes right. You hungry, Pup?” As an answer, Omega suckles on him again. He lets out a small chuckle “Dinner it is.”

He stands up from the sea of blankets in the lounge, bundling her up in a blanket and walks to the kitchen, grabbing an already prepared bottle. He warms it up and then walks outside to the front porch of the house, holding Omega close to keep her warm.

Sitting down, Hunter makes sure Omega is cradled comfortably against him before feeding her. Once he’s happy, he brings the bottle to her mouth and smiles when she drinks the milk and blood concoction. They have been bringing Omega outdoors every now and then, more and more regularly as time goes by, to allow her body to become accumulated to the colder temperatures, so when she’s older, she won’t have a literal shock to her system.

Hunter see’s that the moon is starting to rise, making him frown. “Oh no.” He whispers, seeing that his brothers aren’t back yet. But just then the truck arrives, squealing to a stop as Crosshair and Echo rip the door open and jump out, ripping their clothes off, and in Echo’s case, his prosthetics.

They then kneel on the ground, starting to shift from the full moon. That’s one of the only things about them the humans did not make up, they are forced to transform and stay in their wolf forms during full moon’s. It sucks.

They both let out growls and groans, as they grow larger, fur covering their forms, it’s only a few seconds and they’re done, Crosshair picking Echo up and carrying him up to the porch, setting him down. “Sorry we’re late, Echo was kept late at work.” Crosshair explains, and Echo nods apologetically. Hunter smiles. “It’s alright, as long as you guys got back in time.”

Crosshair smiles, running in and grabbing Echo’s legs, bringing them back. He hands them to him, watching his older brother place them on before standing. “That is so much better.” Echo groans happily, making Hunter smile.

Crosshair then smiles, looking over at Omega, he comes closer. “Aww, someone got hun-- Holy Shit!!” Echo slaps Crosshair’s arm as Omega starts wailing. “Cross!” He scolds.

“Sorry. Sorry, but her eyes are open.” Echo freezes as he moves closer to Hunter, who has a beaming smile. Both Echo and Crosshair get their own large smiles. “Woah, you’re right! Hello there, Omega.” Echo coos, as Crosshair chuckles, but then he frowns. “Brown eyes? But she’s in her werewolf form, shouldn’t they be yellow?”

Hunter shrugs “I’m not sure. She could be defective like us--” “Please don’t say that.” Hunter looks at Crosshair, completely forgetting in the moment what that word means to him. That was the last thing that their mother had shouted at them...

You defects won’t last a day out there!! I hope you just drop dead! You all deserve it!!

Hunter flinches and shudders at the almost forgotten memory “Sorry, Cross. Maybe Omega’s just different, like us.” Hunter explains, looking into her eyes which are teary now. He smiles and gently wipes away her tears with a finger. Omega then reaches up her hand and curls it around his finger.

It’s an adorable sight that warms all of their hearts, and there’s an even bigger heart that is currently running down the path towards them. Wrecker bolts towards them on all fours, kicking up the snow as he runs, a smaller Buck in his mouth and smaller animals tied on a string over his shoulder and around his chest. He skids to a halt just in front of them, dropping the buck on the ground from his mouth and standing up, taking off the string of smaller creatures and placing them on top of the buck.

“Heya, guys!” He smiles, but his smile becomes even wider when his eyes meet with two soft brown ones staring up at him. He refrains himself from yelling, not wanting to scare Omega, who’s still being fed. “She’s opened her eyes?? That’s amazing, when?” Hunter nods, noticing that Omega has finished her bottle, so he burps her. “It was about ten minutes ago, so quite recent. Echo and Crosshair have only just got back too.”

“I know, I heard the car from a mile away. Sounded like you were driving pretty fast, Cross. Echo held back at work again?” Crosshair nods, letting out a small growl that makes Omega flinch, but not cry, now she knows what is making the sound. “Yeah, they did.” They all look at Echo, who’s rubbing at his stub.

“Echo, you shouldn’t keep working there if they hold you back but don’t pay you extra. It’s not right, neither is it fair. Especially when it’s on days like these.” Hunter explains to him, a sad look on his face when he hears Echo sigh. “At least my one manager gives me a bit of extra pay, he’s nice. I know it’s not the best, but what other choice do I have? I can hardly work like you guys can, since I’m not as able.”

They all let out a whine, hating that Echo feels like this. It’s one of the reasons why they hate humans for hating them. When they are human, everything is fine, but if they talk shit about werewolves, it really pisses them off. “You could take art up. I can go on some extra hunting jobs until you get the hang of it?” Crosshair offers, and Echo perks up briefly, before whimpering nervously “No, no no. I can’t make you do that--”

“You aren’t making me do anything. It’ll be better for you. Us as well.” Crosshair carries on, then Wrecker interjects. “Yeah, we worry about you, Echo.” Echo’s tail wags, happy that they are there for him and care about him so much, even if he isn’t physically whole. “Thanks guys. Hey, maybe we should go and see Tech.” Everyone nods in agreement.

“Great idea.” Hunter lets out a rumble of content, making Omega snuggle into him as they all walk around the side of the cabin to the shed that they built. It’s the perfect size for a human, but not for a werewolf. They have another, more werewolf sized one. Hunter crouches down and walks in, as the others peek from the doorway, they all see Tech slumped over the table, still in werewolf form and completely passed out. They all snicker, this isn't the first time this has happened. He’s hunched over plans for Omega’s crib.

Hunter gently hands Omega to Crosshair, then moves closer to Tech, shaking his shoulders. “Tech, you fell asleep again.” Hunter says softly, and Tech yawns. He blinks his eyes open. “Hunter? I’m up, I’m up.” Tech goes to stand up, making Hunter and everyone realize he must have fallen asleep while still human.

“Tech! Wait, don’t--” But it’s too late, as Tech hits the roof with a loud thump, making him yelp and crouch down. “Ow ow ow ow.” He whimpers, rubbing his head and growling.

“You okay?” Hunter asks, and Tech nods. “Yeah, forgot it was a full moon.” He says, rubbing his head as both him and Hunter exit the shed. Tech stretches as soon as he gets out there, and Hunter laughs as he takes Omega from Crosshair.

“Someone wants to see you, Tech.” Hunter says, and Tech looks at him with confusion. “What? For one, she can’t see me--” Tech freezes when Omega is set in his arms, and he sees the big, brown eyes staring at him.

“She opened her eyes? When did that happen?!!” He asks, and Hunter chuckles. “Only a little bit before the moon rose.” Tech gets the biggest smile, just like the others did. Then he looks down at Omega. “Well, looks like you finally get to see us, Miss Omega.” Tech coos, and Omega coos back, hitting his arm with her little clawed hands.

Everyone awws at her, then Wrecker starts jumping a bit. “Let's howl at the moon now!!” He says excitedly, making everyone stare at the moon and get antsy. “Won’t it scare Omega?” Crosshair asks, but Hunter shrugs. “She wasn’t scared when you growled, because she can see who’s making it now. If she does get scared, we stop.” Hunter offers, and they all nod. Tech hands Omega back to Hunter, knowing how much his older brother loves to hold her.

They walk to the edge of the small lake outside their cabin, Hunter holding Omega close as they all stand tall, taking in a big, deep breath as they all howl at the moon, loud and strong. After a few moments, they stop to breathe, but before they can howl again-- “Awoooo!”

They all freeze and look at Omega, who lets out the loudest howl she can muster, but it ends up sounding squeaky. Their hearts warm and they smile widely before howling again, this time Omega joining. The night air is filled with their howls, letting the whole forest know that they aren’t afraid to hide who they are whenever they are safe and alone with the company of each other, able to be free and proud to be werewolves, the so-called monsters that humans think that they are.

Once they finish, they sigh in content, letting out a deep rumble from their chests. Omega then yawns and closes her eyes, falling asleep. “Aww, someone's tired.” Wrecker coos, and then Omega shivers a bit, making everyone frown. “We should get her inside now, she’s been outside for a while.” Hunter lets them know, making everyone nod and head inside.

Hunter waits for a little bit, seeing that Omega has opened her eyes again, mesmerized by the bright lights in the sky and the glow of the moon, reaching up towards them. Hunter chuckles and whispers to her “Those are stars, Pup. We’ll come back and see them tomorrow, I promise that they’ll still be there.” Omega’s eyes droop again and close, her head falling against Hunter’s chest as she drifts off to sleep.

Hunter smiles and carries her into the cabin, and to her little pile of blankets. His brothers are all sitting on the floor, and smile when they see the sleeping baby. “You know, if anyone asked us two weeks ago if we’d ever take care of a pup, I’m pretty sure we all would say no.” Hunter whispers, making everyone chuckle. “Yeah, look at us now. We have a baby. A baby who’s a girl.” Wrecker laughs out, making everyone chuckle. “Yeah, wouldn’t change it, tho. The only way I would change it, is to have her mother survive.” Echo says, and Hunter frowns. “Yeah, I’m sure we’d all change that.”

xxx

Hunter and everyone lazes with Omega, the little Pup being so aware of her surroundings now. They are all still in their werewolf forms, this being how it always is after a full moon. It’s nice for them to stay transformed afterwards.

The only time they turn human right after a full moon is when one has to work. But that's usually Echo, and he thankfully only had a morning shift, so Crosshair and him transformed as soon as they got back, not even coming into the living room until they were wolves.

Omega coos, as Crosshair changes her diaper. This one, was unfortunately a messy one, making them all cover their noses. “Uh, how does such a little thing make such a stink?!!” Wrecker asks, and Hunter chuckles. “You were much worse, believe me.”

Everyone laughs at that, as Crosshair finishes, throwing the diaper out. “Ah, all clean, Squirt.” He coos, making Omega make her own tiny cooing noise, hitting his nose as he nuzzles her little stomach. Hunter smiles softly, as Crosshair lays her down and curls around her.

She yawns and falls asleep, but they all know she’s due for a bottle in about an hour, so this nap won’t last for long. Crosshair smiles as he lays beside her, petting the tiny Pup’s head. He frowns. “She hasn’t gotten much bigger?” He says with confusion, making Tech hum. “Well, she’s only two weeks old. And premature, who knows how long it’ll take her to grow.” Crosshair nods, worry leaving his features.

Hunter stretches out a bit, laying on his back. “Nice to be able to have a day of being a werewolf.” He hums, and Wrecker laughs loudly. “Yeah, Omega gets that every day.” They all laugh, laying down and just relaxing.

xxx

Hunter smiles as he gets dressed, it’s been about two days since Omega’s opened her eyes, and everything’s been great. He finishes getting dressed, and walks downstairs. Tech is cuddling with Omega this time. So the rest of them are human. Wrecker, Echo and Crosshair are still sleeping. Hunter walks to the living room to see his Omega.

But when she sees him, she shakes and starts wailing, pressing her face into Tech’s chest. Hunter gets a confused look. “What’s wrong with her, Tech?” Hunter walks forward and crouches down, going to pick her up, but when Omega turns back around and sees Hunter go to pick her up, she nips his hand, and scratches him. Hunter lets out a whine, one that he’s made while around Omega.

It’s at that moment that Omega’s wails turn to sniffles, her ears perking up a little. Hunter seethes in slight pain from the scratches, but when the pain passes and the scratches start to heal themselves, he looks at her, seeing her expression is no longer one of fear now, but more confusion. It’s quiet for a few moments, but then Tech realises-- “She must have been scared and didn’t know who you are, and it seems like she is still confused and unsure.”

Hunter feels bad for scaring Omega, but then he uses the gentle voice that he’s been using in front of her for the past couple of weeks. “Hey, Pup. It’s alright, don’t be afraid.” Omega is still not sure about him. Tech hums “Maybe you should transform in front of her.”

Hunter’s eyes widen. “It might scare her being this young.” Hunter whimpers a little, but then Tech sighs “I know, but I don’t see any other logical solution to this situation, because if you walk out and transform and walk back in your wolf form, then she’ll think that your human form is just a stranger. So seeing you transform will make her realise that you are the same person.”

It does make sense, Hunter sighs in defeat, standing up and walking away, Omega watching with curious eyes. Hunter pulls off his shirt and his bandana too, placing them on the couch. Next, he changes his pants for a pair of the already ripped ones in the box. He concentrates and starts transforming immediately, sighing when he feels it start. He keeps his groans and growls to a minimum, knowing that this is Omega’s first time seeing them transform.

He sees Omega watching him with wide eyes, also letting out a whimper and a whine here and there, but Tech rubs her back soothingly. Hunter’s bones crack and rearrange, fur growing all over his body as he gets bigger, his pants tearing. His face elongates into a snout and his tail grows long and fluffy. He huffs once it’s finished, standing in the familiar wolf form that Omega has seen him in for the past two days.

Omega’s expression is almost unreadable, so Hunter speaks softly and coos “See, it’s still me. I promise, Pup, I’m still me when I’m like that.” After a moment, Omega whines and reaches out to him, making tiny grabby motions. Tech smiles when Hunter walks over “See? She recognises you.”

Hunter smiles and gently takes her into his arms, holding her close. “Yeah, I’m so happy about that.” He says, nuzzling Omega and making her laugh.

Suddenly Crosshair, Wrecker and Echo walk in. Crosshair smiles and walks over. “Hey, Squirt.” He says groggily, but they all wake up immediately when she starts wailing.

“Omega, what’s wrong, Sweetheart?” Echo asks, but she continues to cry. Crosshair walks over and tries to pick her up from Hunter’s arms, but she nips at him, making Crosshair pull his hand away. “Is she afraid of us?” Wrecker asks, noticing that she’s trying to hide. Hunter sighs. “She’s never seen us as humans before, so she doesn’t understand that we’re the same.” Crosshair gets a confused look.

“But we’ve been human around her before?” He questions, but Tech pops up. “Yes, before she opened her eyes. And since she’s opened her eyes, it was a full moon, and we’ve all stayed in our werewolf forms. Except you and Echo, but you two have transformed before coming anywhere near Omega’s line of sight.”

“Oh, so she thinks we’re strangers.” Wrecker ponders, and Tech nods. “Yes, also you do smell the same, so that may also be confusing her. Since in her mind, your scent belongs to three werewolves, not three humans.” Echo nods. “That makes so much sense, a sweetheart.” He coos, but Omega just cries. Wrecker goes to walk closer, but she lets out a small, squeaky growl.

“Aww.” Wrecker coos, but he gets a sad look. Hunter frowns at them. “I had to transform to show her that I’m… well, me. I’m thinking we transform for a few moments, but then transform back to human? To maybe seal the deal, and prove that it’s us.” They all nod.

“That makes sense, then Tech can just transform to human.” Echo suggests, and Tech nods. Echo, Crosshair and Wrecker all take their shirts off, grabbing their ripped pants from the box near the door, quickly changing and walking back in. Echo pulls off his legs, sitting on the ground since he won’t be in that form for long.

“Alright, this won’t scare the Squirt?” Crosshair asks, and Hunter nods. “She was a bit, but she didn’t seem scared. More upset, she probably thought it caused me a lot of pain, and not just discomfort.” They all nod.

“Alright, here we go, Kid!” Wrecker softly tells her, enthusiasm evident in his voice, she whimpers a bit, making their hearts break. They then close their eyes and start to shift, sighing in relief. Crosshair opens his now yellow eyes, looking to Omega who has a confused look, as they all try to keep their growls and groans in a bit more, not wanting to scare her too much.

Echo growls a bit, fur covering his body as his bones crack. His body grows bigger, arm growing longer, as his teeth grow sharper. His mouth elongates, becoming a snout. Wrecker smiles happily, as his legs crack and bend, becoming haunches. It doesn’t feel as nice for them, since they were all wanting to be in their human forms, but anything for Omega.

It ends with them growing a bit bigger, and tails growing from their backsides, but Crosshair and Wrecker stretch out a bit. Omega coos at them now, making them smile. “There, so should we turn human now?” Wrecker asks, and Hunter nods. He hands Omega to Tech. “How about we go first, then Tech goes? Since someone has to hold Omega?”

They all nod and then step back, closing their eyes in concentration before they feel themselves change back. Omega whimpers, reaching out her hands to them, struggling in Tech’s hold. Tech presses his ears back as he hushes her. “Shh, it’s okay. There there, they’re okay.” Omega looks up at him with teary eyes as her lip quivering a little, looking at him as if she can understand, because she stops wriggling around but still whines, her eyes looking in the direction of everyone transforming.

Their bodies start to crack and snap back into place, their fur, teeth and claws retracting as their ears become less pointy and their eyes become less wolf-like, returning to their usual honey brown appearance. Their tails grow shorter and shorter until they become nothing, their legs and arms now human as they shrink down to their normal human selves. The transformation finishes and Hunter ties his bandana around his head. None of them bother getting dressed for now, since they usually don’t put their clothes on straight away, they’ll just walk around in their torn pants and even sleep in them.

Omega is still whimpering in Tech’s arms, but she no longer seems scared. Hunter takes a few experimental steps forward, not wanting Omega to feel scared again. Instead of the timid reaction he expected, she throws her hands out infront of her, as if she needs him. Tech chuckles sweetly, this time letting Omega move to the direction she wants to go. In this instance, that would be Hunter “Looks like she wants you, Hunter.”

Hunter smiles and walks a little quicker, stopping right in front of Tech and Omega. She pulls retreats back into Tech, thinking for a moment with a timid look on her face, almost as if she is having second thoughts. But then she reaches out again with a whine, letting Hunter know that she wants him to pick her up.

Hunter reaches out to her and takes her from Tech, cradling her gently in his arms, holding her close to his chest. He kisses the top of her head, making her let out a small noise of content, nuzzling into his face. Tech stands up with a smile and transforms next, becoming more and more human, then only half a minute later, he’s fully human.

Crosshair walks over and pets her head. “Glad that’s taken care of, I do not like her being scared of us.” He grumbles. Seeing Omega afraid of him had really, really hurt. Omega coos, hitting his face with her hand. Crosshair smiles a rare smile, sighing with relief. “Omega!” Wrecker runs over, making Omega coo. Echo follows Wrecker, chuckling softly as he looks at the little pup.

“You are such a Sweety. I’ll have to see you later. Cross, I gotta work.” Crosshair nods as both him and Echo run to get dressed into regular clothes, as Tech walks over to see Omega, the Pup whimpers until she smells him, then coos.

Echo and Crosshair run out the door, jumping into the truck. Crosshair starts it up, driving down the road. He turns and looks to Echo. “Have you eaten today?” He asks, knowing how his oldest brother is. He has a habit of starving himself at some points, part of his trauma. Echo frowns. “No, I haven’t.” Crosshair sighs softly. “Let’s pick you up something from Tim Hortons, alright? Just a breakfast wrap and smoothie?” He suggests, and Echo nods. “Alright, thanks Cross.”

Crosshair smiles. “No thanks necessary. We take care of eachother, no matter what.” Tim Hortons is right on the edge of town, next to the gas station, so they get there in only a few minutes, pulling the truck into the drivethru and winds down his window, looking at the menu while he waits for--

“Hi, welcome to Tim Hortons, what can I get for you?” The employee asks through the speaker. Crosshair rests an arm on the car door. “Hi, just a bacon and sausage breakfast wrap and a smoothie.”

“Yep. Okay, what flavour and size smoothie will that be, sir?” Crosshair looks at Echo for an answer, then Echo smiles “My favourite, please.” Crosshair nods and smiles, looking back at the speaker. “Strawberry and Banana, also make it a large.”

“Is that everything for you?” The employee checks, then Crosshair looks over at Echo who nods timidly. “Yeah, that’s everything.” Crosshair replies.

“That’s great, just drive on round and make your payment there.” The employee tells Crosshair. “Thanks.” He replies, driving around the building to the payment and collection window.

The employee has a kind smile on her face as Crosshair pulls up, reaching for his wallet. “That’ll be $13.” She says, Crosshair handing over the money in exact amount. The food soon arrives and is handed over to him. “Have a good day, sir.”

“Thanks.” Crosshair takes it and places the wrap in his lap as he places the staw in the smoothie before handing it to Echo, who takes it and drinks some of it as Crosshair drives into a space in the parking lot. He parks the car and takes the wrap off of his lap, holding it to Echo. “Here ya go. It’s nice ‘n’ warm.

Crosshair frowns when he notices that Echo pretends to not see or hear him, sipping his smoothie as he looks out of the window. Crosshair sighs a little, not in anger, but in sadness “You need to eat, Echo.” Still no reply…

“...Has someone said something to you?” Crosshair asks, seeing the way Echo flinches at the question. “Maybe.” Echo mumbles as he sips more of his smoothie. Crosshair bristles a bit, growling. “What did they say?” Echo shakes his head. “Nothing, it’s fine.”

Crosshair knows it’s not fine, not at all. But he sighs, knowing that Echo won't tell him anything now. “Eat. Please, Echo.” Echo sighs, placing his drink between his legs. He takes the wrap from Crosshair, ripping the top half of cardboard off and taking a small bite. Crosshair smiles, checking the time to see that they still have twenty minutes until Echo’s shift. He always leaves early, just in case Echo needs food.

He takes small bites from his wrap, humming at the taste. “Hey, you think we could con Hunter into getting a pizza for dinner?” Crosshair jokes, making Echo chuckle. “Isn’t it me who you usually con?”

Crosshair chuckles. “Yeah, you got me. Can we get one?” He asks hopefully, making Echo laugh. “This is one of the few times you actually sound nineteen, Crossy. And not older.” Crosshair shakes his head. “Can we?” He asks again, and Echo sighs. “You know I can’t say no to you. Of course we can, it’ll be a surprise for the others.” Echo winks, then looks down with a surprise look to see half his wrap gone.

He takes the rest out, eating it quickly. Crosshair smiles. “Yeah, definitely.” He then frowns. “You know you can tell us when someones saying things to you, right? Just because you’re the oldest, doesn’t mean you need to hide these things from us.” Crosshair tells him, his voice going much softer than usual.

Echo has taken care of them for a long time, ever since they found him and nursed him back to health. Crosshair was ten back then, and Echo helped raise him and his brothers ever since. Echo sighs. “It’s fine, Crossy. I only have ten minutes to get to work, can we please go?” Crosshair lets out a sigh, but nods. “Of course, can’t have you late.” He starts the truck, pulling out of the parking lot. Echo sips at his smoothie as they drive, and Crosshair keeps an eye on him.

He pulls up in front of the blockbuster, three minutes to spare. Echo smiles. “Thanks, Cross. Here, you can finish off my smoothie.” Echo hands him the half full drink, hopping out of the truck and running into the store after the door closes.

Crosshair stares at the cup with worry in his eyes, this is Echo’s favourite drink. He almost always finishes it, this isn’t right. He drives away, promising himself that he’ll speak to the manager when he gets back later, so as not to let Echo know. He just wants his brother to be watched over, not trusting these damned humans.

He drives to a local pub, one he usually stays at. Not to drink, but to talk, and see if he hears anything about Omega’s mother… or perhaps her unknown father. He also would love a game of darts about now, or pool.

xxx

Crosshair had gone shopping for supplies earlier in the day, so he took a trip back home before heading back out to town to pick Echo up from work. He works five hour shifts Monday to Thursday, so his job isn’t too hard on him but he still gets paid enough.

Usually his manager is kind and pays Echo more, knowing that he needs the extra help and support. Echo is usually stubborn about being helped out, since he wants to feel independent, but when it comes to being paid or having some sort of service done for him, he’ll take it with gratitude.

Crosshair drives down the road and approaches the blockbuster, but what he sees makes his blood absolutely boil. Echo is on the floor, surrounded by some teens, about a year younger than Crosshair. They laugh and spit on Echo, making Echo grimace in disgust and cry.

One of the teens is holding his leg, teasing Echo with it by pretending to give it back, but quickly ripping it away when Echo reaches for it. Echo’s face has some dirt there and is riddled with bruises, not healing. Echo’s healing hasn’t worked very well after what the humans poisoned him with. Which makes his brothers even more protective of him.

Crosshair has never swerved into a parking lot and parked the car up so fast in his life, jumping out and running over to where his older brother is on the floor and trying to crawl away, tears streaming down his face. One of the teens is about to kick him when Crosshair pushes him back. “I’d give that back and fuck off if I were you.” Crosshair warns through gritted teeth, standing over Echo protectively.

The teens cower back slightly at Crosshair’s tone, but the oldest doesn’t seem to back down, instead walking towards him “Oh yeah? What you gonna do about it, old man--?” In a split second, Crosshair’s fist is thrown at the teens face, making the teen stumble back and clutch at his nose, his eyes watering “Shit! He broke my nose!”

Crosshair glares at them “Now...Give me his leg back and fuck the hell off. Ya hear me?” The other teen holding the leg is panicking and doesn’t want to go anywhere near Crosshair, so he tosses it into a garbage can.

At that moment, one of Echo’s managers bursts out of the store, brushing some of his ginger hair from his face. The other one had already gone home early, as usual. “What’s going on?” He asks, eyes wide, when he sees Echo on the floor, a group of teenagers and Echo’s leg in a garbage can. He sees red when he glares at the teens. “Leave, now! Don’t come here ever again, you hear me?!”

The teenager with the broken nose and blood on his face glares at Crosshair and then they all run off. Crosshair is absolutely fuming, trying so hard right now not to transform, but then the sound of whimpering and sobbing draws his attention away from the retreating degenerates.

“Echo…” Crosshair says as he kneels on the ground and pulls Echo up and into him, wiping away his tears and being careful of the bruises there. Echo sobs and hides his face in his arm, making Crosshair feel so angry and so sad that they’ve broken Echo to pieces. “Those bastards. I swear, I’ll kill ‘em.”

Crosshair feels someone tap his shoulder, making him whip his head around, seeing Echo’s manager crouch down, holding Echo’s leg out to him. This must be the nice manager he’s heard about. “Here, it isn’t too dirty. Luckily it just landed on some boxes.” He hands it to Crosshair, who takes it and immediately attaches it to Echo. The manager sees something in Crosshair’s eyes, was that...a flash of yellow?

“Why don’t you come into my office? I have a first aid kit, so we can patch him up.” Echo’s manager offers, his blue eyes full of sadness that his favourite employee has gotten into such a state. Crosshair is struggling to process anything, but he nods “Please.”

The manager sees the sharper teeth when Crosshair talks, but says nothing of it as he helps Echo up along with Crosshair, each putting an arm over their shoulder, Crosshair on Echo’s right, since he knows how sensitive Echo is about others touching his stub.

As they go into the store, the manager closes the shop, flipping the sign from open to closed, to make sure no customers will enter. They walk through the empty store and into the back where the office is located. It’s a pretty decent size, though it’s only big enough for a desk, some cabinets and a sofa, in which they lay Echo on.

Once Echo’s in a comfortable position, Crosshair sits down on a seat nearby, interlocking his fingers and placing his elbows on his knees, leaning over as his leg bounces. The manager eyes Crosshair as he walks to the white first box on the wall and brings it back over to Echo, kneeling down and taking out an antibacterial wipe.

Being careful of the bruises, he wipes the dirt off of Echo’s face gently, frowning at the sight of Echo’s weak and sobbing form and Crosshair sitting hunched over on the chair. “Can you take off the beanie? Just so I can check for bruising, or a head wound?” Echo shakes his head rapidly, making the manager frown. “Please? You know me, I won’t make fun or anything. I just want to help.” He sees the younger brother tense up a bit, but Echo sighs and nods. He takes the beanie off.

The manager frowns with worry when he sees the patchy hair, a few bald spots here and there, but smiles. “Hm, no damage. That’s good. You can put it back on now.” Echo nods, pulling the beanie back on. The manager then turns to his brother, smiling. “I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet, I’m Obi Wan.”

Crosshair hums, groaning a bit. “I’m Crosshair, Echo’s youngest brother.” Obi Wan smiles. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, are you okay?” Crosshair nods, still looking down. “Yeah, can you give us a bit alone? Please?” Obi Wan nods, walking out. Echo looks at Crosshair, frowning. “You okay?” He asks softly, but Crosshair shakes his head.

“I’m going to transform.” Echo goes pale, even paler than usual. “Crossy, no. You gotta hold it back.” Crosshair starts pulling his shirts off, then his boots in preparation.Crosshair looks up, bright yellow eyes looking in fear.

“I’ve been holding it back Echo, since I saw ya getting beat up. I can’t anymore.” He whines a bit, making Echo growl and look to the door. Crosshair’s right, he won’t be able to hold it any longer.

He’s going to hurt himself if he does. “Alright. Alright, just… we need… no.” He panics, not knowing what to do. He needs to protect his baby brother, but how. He knows Obi Wan is nice, but what will he do when he finds out about them?

Crosshair lets out a yell, falling to the ground and groaning. Echo’s heart breaks, knowing how painful a transformation is after holding it in, especially when your body forces it. Echo jumps off the couch and limps over to Crosshair, holding him close. “Shh, it’s alright. I’m here, It’s alright.” Echo whispers softly, holding Crosshair close, shoving his face into his chest to muffle his baby brother's screams.

He holds him close as Crosshair’s bones crack, bending and rearranging. Crosshair growls into Echo’s chest, as fur grows all over his body, and his face starts to elongate. He continues to grow bigger and bigger, dwarfing Echo as a large fluffy tail grows from his backside, and his legs crack and form haunches.

It’s finally finished, Crosshair fully transformed and sporting grey fur, claws and sharp teeth. He whimpers and whines, pulling Echo into his lap and holding him like a lifeline. The painful transformations are always bad for Crosshair, causing him to be extra scared and cuddly.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Obi Wan yells, neither Echo or Crosshair saw him come in. He’s holding up a pair of scissors, pointing them menacingly at Crosshair. Crosshair whimpers a bit, burying his face into Echo’s chest. He hates humans seeing him, it always hurts when they fear him, and call him a monster, it hurts every one of the werewolves.

Obi Wan gets a confused look, not understanding what the hell is going on. Echo holds his hand up in surrender “Don't, Obi Wan, please.” He begs, tears in his eyes, thinking that Obi Wan is going to kill them. Obi Wan blinks a few times, not sure if he's seeing things or what. He holds the scissors in his hand, but not pointing them at Crosshair with such menace. “Is that...Crosshair? H-He's a…? Shit.” Obi Wan's voice wavers, he feels fear and falls back against his desk, covering his mouth with one hand.

“Don't hurt him, he's only young.” Echo whimpers, wrapping his arm around Crosshair. Obi Wan is speechless, not sure about what to do or say. After a few moments, he finds the courage to talk “Won't he hurt me?” The question makes Crosshair whine, nuzzling into Echo to hide his face, chewing vigorously on his hand.

Echo pulls Crosshair impossibly closer, letting out a sad sigh “We are just misunderstood, all because we look scary. But really, we are who we are on the inside. We are like you humans, some of us are good and some of us are bad. We are good. The only thing you humans got right about us was that we are forced to transform whenever there’s a full moon.”

Obi Wan is shocked to the core, looking at the scissors in his hand and then back at Crosshair, who's shaking. Obi Wan then throws the scissors across the floor away from him. Crosshair's ears flick back at the sound, making him peep out to see that Obi Wan is no longer armed. Crosshair still stays hidden though. Echo notices that Crosshair's hand is bleeding from where he's been biting on his hand, so Echo gently moves his hand away, shaking his head “No no, don't do that, please.” Crosshair reluctantly does so, the teeth marks are obvious, but they start to heal.

Obi Wan stares in shock and disbelief, but what Echo was saying seems to be true, since Crosshair has been a shaking and whimpering mess in Echo's arms for the past minute. Obi Wan takes in a deep, quick breath “Echo...You were saying we a lot, so you’re a werewolf too?” Obi Wan asks. Echo nods, looking nervously at him. Obi Wan sighs shakily. “Now it makes sense why you always left early on full moon nights, sorry for that werewolf joke a few weeks ago.” Obi Wan apologizes softly, feeling a bit bad.

“I've known you for three long years now and I've never even known that you were a werewolf. It's strange to think about that really.” Obi Wan runs a hand through his hair, seeing how Echo looks at him with a nervous look and stays quiet. Obi Wan is full of guilt “I'm not going to hurt you. After all, you said that you are you, right? So why would I want to hurt my friends?” Echo looks at Crosshair with a small smile “True.” Echo says, Crosshair looking at Obi Wan a little more, not as afraid now.

Obi Wan then looks towards Crosshair, grimacing a bit. “I’m so sorry for threatening you, do you need some bandages for your hand?” Obi Wan asks softly, and Crosshair nods. “Y-Yeah, please. I’m sorry for transforming in your office, I’m only nineteen, and still have a hard time controlling my emotions. Sorry again.” Obi Wan smiles. “It’s alright.”

He walks over to the first aid kit, grabbing a few bandages. He walks back over, eyeing Echo. “Do you mind if I do it? Echo may have a troubling time.” Crosshair nods, and Obi Wan gets to work, gently grabbing Crosshair’s hand after he sits beside him, wrapping it up. “Hmm, soft.” He hums, making Echo chuckle.

“You’re taking this better than I thought.” Obi Wan smiles. “I can understand that, I’m still sorry for threatening your brother--” “It’s alright, you walked into your office to see a giant wolf. That would scare me too.” Crosshair tells him grumpily, making Obi Wan smile.

“I see why I’ve never met your brothers, Echo. And why you five are so reclusive.” Echo nods. “Yeah, I wanted you to meet them. But we just don’t talk to people much, and we kind of get nervous around humans.” Obi Wan nods in understanding.

“I understand, I’m sure you’ve almost been hurt by us before.” Echo frowns, looking at the ground. “Echo… humans did that to his legs and arm. The story he told you about the car accident was a lie.”Crosshair tells him, making Obi Wan’s eyes widen.

“We… A human did that! That is the most disgusting, absurd thing I’ve ever heard!! When was this!!” Obi Wan asks, making Echo sigh. “I was sixteen, they also poisoned me and killed my mother. The only reason I survived was because my now brother’s found me and saved me.” Obi Wan feels like he wants to be sick, Crosshair raises an eyebrow. “I thought all humans hate us, you’re different though. I like you.” Crosshair grumbles, making Echo’s eyes widen. “Woah, Crosshair never likes humans. You made a good impression on him.”

Obi Wan smiles, but then Echo chuckles nervously. “Um, mind driving us home? I can’t drive and Crosshair… he needs to hide in the back.” Obi Wan nods. “Of course I can, I’m sure your brothers are worried.” Echo’s eyes widen, as he checks his phone and flinches. “Yeah, ten missed calls from Hunter. We better get going.” Obi Wan nods, watching Echo grab Crosshair’s shirts. Obi Wan peeks out the door.

“The coast is clear.” He calls, as Echo and Crosshair peek out. They then run to the truck, quickly hiding Crosshair under the tarp. Obi Wan locks up the store, then hops in the front seat, finding the keys still in the ignition from Crosshair’s hasty jump out earlier. He waits for Echo to jump in, then he turns the car on and starts driving away, as Echo directs him to their home.

xxx

Obi Wan sees the cabin, humming a bit. “Looks like a nice place to live.” He tells Echo as they pull up, then three men run out, one with goggles holding something bundled in a blanket. But when the man looks at him, he turns and walks quickly back into the cabin, closing the door behind him. The two other men stay standing, wide-eyed and standing nervously.

The truck pulls up, Wrecker shifts about on his feet nervously while Hunter just stands with his arms crossed, feeling both confused and angry as to why a stranger is sitting in the driver's seat. The truck pulls up and stops on the driveway, the stranger and Echo both getting out and walking over. The stranger looks nervous, but Hunter doesn't let it cross his mind right now “Who is this hu-- stranger, and why was driving the Marauder and not Crosshair? Where is Crosshair, did he get lost again?” Hunter fake laughs, but it sounds genuine.

Get lost is something they say instead of saying transform. Hunter's eyes widen and shakes his head as he sees Crosshair walk up behind the stranger “Um, don't turn around.” Hunter says to the stranger, hiding the alarm in his voice the best he can, but instead of the stranger turning around, Crosshair walks right up behind him. The stranger looks at Crosshair with a smile, but Hunter takes it completely the wrong way.

“Crosshair, no!!!” Hunter growls. There's no time for reaction, because Hunter is lunging at the stranger in an instant, knocking him back and making him slide across the cold, muddy ground.

Obi Wan groans and rubs the back of his head, then the sound of cracking and screaming makes him look back towards the place where he saw the man run at him and push him away with inhuman strength. Obi Wan's eyes widen to see the man transforming into a werewolf. He then runs and pins him down, growling menacingly. “Were you holding Echo captive?!!! To lead you to us and kill us?!!”

He then pulls his clawed hand up, sharp claws tapping the one end of his throat, ready to slit it. Obi Wan whimpers, trying to crawl out of the hold to no avail, but then Crosshair pushes the werewolf off of him, pulling him up and hiding him behind him. “Hunter, stop!” Obi Wan freezes, hearing the name Echo’s spoken about, his oldest, younger brother. He’s also heard the name as one of their best lifeguards in the summer.

“What are you doing?!! He's a human!!!” The wolf, Hunter, yells, but Echo runs over. “He's my manager, Hunter.” Hunter freezes, but then growls “The shitty one?” He asks, and Obi Wan would chuckle if he could from behind Crosshair, but he’s too scared.

Echo shakes his head “No, the nice one. My friend who gives me the extra money. This is Obi Wan.” Echo moves to Crosshair, gently pulling Obi Wan out. Obi Wan shakes a bit, as he sees Hunter looking him over.

“Are you one of the bad werewolves?” Obi Wan asks, making Hunter’s ears press back. “Uh, no. No I’m not. I’m sorry, I was protecting my brothers, I didn’t mean to… well… I’m so sorry.” He says sheepishly, but Obi Wan starts to calm down, letting out a tiny chuckle. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Hunter. I’m sorry, your brother had gotten beaten up, but me and Crosshair helped him. Then he transformed and… You probably know the rest.” Hunter nods, frowning and looking at Echo. “We will speak about this later, once Obi Wan leaves.” He tells him, making Echo nod.

Hunter then turns back to Obi Wan. “Well, guess we owe you dinner and an explanation.” Hunter chuckles nervously, and Obi Wan smiles. “Yes, thank you.” Hunter smiles, then Echo looks at Wrecker. “Think you can run and pick up a pizza?” He asks, and Wrecker nods. He runs to the truck and starts it, driving off. Echo picks up his phone to order quickly. Crosshair has an excited look, as Hunter chuckles. “Wrecker should only be about twenty minutes, so let's head inside.”

Obi Wan nods, following Hunter, Crosshair and Echo into the cabin. They walk to the living room, seeing the man with goggles sitting on the couch, a bottle of milk in his hand. Obi Wan looks towards the bundle of blankets, which are pulled to the man's chest even closer, a nervous look in his eyes. Obi Wan smiles kindly “Do you guys have a baby?” He asks, Echo nods and smiles “Yes, her name's Omega, she’s a baby werewolf. The man holding her is Tech.”

Tech still looks nervous, Echo notices “Don't worry, Tech. This is Obi Wan, the nice manager from work.” Obi Wan chuckles “Guess I'm known as the nice manager.” Tech laughs as well, nodding as he brings the bottle to Omega's mouth “Yes, we all despise the other one. It's nice to meet you, Obi Wan.”

Obi Wan smiles at the bundle of blankets, Echo noticing. “Would you like to meet her?” Obi Wan nods, then he walks over and round the back of the sofa, smiling down at the tiny, blonde werewolf in Tech's arms “She's a cutie.” Obi Wan coos, but Omega, who's still feeding, whines a little at the sight of the stranger. Tech rocks her gently “Shh, it's alright, Darling.”

Omega calms down, then Obi Wan looks at Tech “How old is she?” Tech looks at him “She's just over two weeks now. She isn't any of ours though.” Obi Wan nods, but then he's confused about how they have a baby werewolf, but then clicks in his mind. “I see. I guess I was right then. That werewolf that ran through town two weeks ago was pregnant.”

They look at him in shock, Hunter piping up “You saw her?” Obi Wan nods “Yes, I heard all of the townsfolk saying about how she was fat, but that was not what a fat wolf looked like. That fluid, she was ready to give birth then?”

They all have surprised looks, surprised with how much he knows “Yeah, she was-- how do you know so much?” Obi Wan didn't even realise that he was showing off his veterinary skills. “I have a degree in veterinary, but I have never been able to find a job around here to be a vet. I was going to run my own business, but I've noticed that no one really owns pets around here. Sorry, I'm probably boring you all, so where is she? The mother, I mean. Could I meet her?”

They all frown, looking at each other. “She didn’t make it, she bled out.” Tech tells him, making Obi Wan growl. “She went into early labor because of the townspeople chasing her, right? Those assholes.” He growls, making them all like Obi Wan even more. “Yeah, we didn’t even know Omega was there until she whined, we almost left the poor thing to freeze.” Echo explains, making Obi Wan frown. “Well, it’s good you found her.”

“Who wants Pizza!!!” Wrecker yells as he walks in, making Obi Wan chuckle a bit as he walks over. Obi Wan, Echo, Tech and Wrecker all sit on the couch to eat, as the werewolves, Hunter and Crosshair, sit on the floor. Echo runs and grabs them some plates, handing them out before sitting down. Then Wrecker starts handing out pizza.

“So, you’re the nice manager?” Wrecker asks, handing Obi Wan a slice of pizza and he chuckles, nodding. “Yes. Yes I am.” Wrecker gets a huge smile. “You’re the first human to know about us… who hasn’t tried to kill us, I mean. Any questions for this once in a lifetime experience.” Obi Wan nods. “Alright, maybe some true or false. Is it true that a silver bullet will kill you?” He asks, and Echo chuckles. “Pretty much we’re like humans in that aspect, except we heal faster.” Hunter explains.

“Who wouldn’t a silver bullet kill if it hits the right spot?” Tech questions, making Obi Wan nod. “Understandable. Do you guys act wolf-like? Like howling at the moon, or licking as a form of affection?” Echo smiles. “That’s true, we do act more wolf-like, but still human.”

Obi Wan hums “I see. Do other mythical creatures exist?” he asks, taking a bite of his pizza “We only know the existence of vampires, but we aren't very sure of others, such as witches, dragons, fairies, merpeople and a wider range of creatures.” Tech explains as he burps Omega, since she has finished her bottle.

“Interesting, so do vampires sparkle when they go into the sunlight?” Everyone grumbles, Crosshair facepalming “Did you get that idea from Twilight?” Obi Wan looks at him curiously “Yes, why?”

“Those films are so dumb. Everything about them is wrong. Vampires burn when they go into the light, and it's very very painful.” Echo explains, grimacing at the memory of when a vampire attacked them, how it's whole body burned until it was nothing but a pile of bones. “Ah, not very pleasant then.” Obi Wan laughs a little nervously.

Echo nods, then Obi Wan looks to the other werewolves. “You also look very different from movies, much fluffier.” Hunter chuckles. “Yeah, we are pretty fluffy. The ones on tv always have something that looks off about them, they just can’t get us right.” Obi Wan chuckles too. “I honestly like you guys better, now another question, if you bit me would I become a werewolf too?” Echo laughs and shakes his head. “No, for werewolves you need a specific gene. Actually, two humans could have a werewolf child, if they had the right genes, of course.”

Obi Wan hums. “That’s good, so are full moons real too? Since you always seem to rush out during those, Echo?” They all nod. “That’s the only thing you humans seemed to get right about us.” Crosshair grumbles, making Obi Wan smile at him. “That’s very interesting, I’m glad I know about you guys now, I can help Echo get out of the store earlier during full moons.”

Echo’s eyes widen. “You don't have to do that, Obi Wan.” Obi Wan smiles. “It’s alright, I don't mind. You are my friend.” Echo smiles, and then Hunter chuckles. “Yeah, I have to add. So sorry for never meeting you, we just… we get nervous around humans.”

Obi Wan nods at them, smiling kindly “That's completely understandable, us humans don't exactly trust each other either.” He takes a bite of pizza as Hunter agrees with him “That's true, we've heard of the wars between them, how they use guns and explosives to fight and kill. But I guess that all werewolves need is a sharp set of teeth and claws.”

Obi Wan nods, swallowing his mouthful of pizza as he looks at Hunter's claws “Yes, and I guess that they are much more efficient, seeming that you have them at hand. Quite literally at that.” Everyone laughs and continues to eat. “Thank you for trusting me. I know it must've been difficult since I am human.” Obi Wan looks at them all, Tech hums and pipes up “You're welcome. After all, you have helped Echo a lot and we are forever grateful for that.”

Obi Wan smiles, feeling overjoyed that his efforts to help out his friend have definitely paid off. A few minutes later, everyone finishes their pizza and Wrecker collects the boxes and takes them out to the garbage. They all sit around, then Obi Wan hums. “You know, I actually met a werewolf once before.” They all perk up. “Did you?” Echo asks, and Obi Wan nods. “Yeah, it was… my parents were driving me home from the library, and they almost hit it.. no, him. They almost hit him.”

They all frown, and Hunter looks at Obi Wan. “Did you get in an accident?” Obi Wan nods. “Yeah, I remember that my parents… they died, but I was pulled out of the car by the werewolf, then I passed out. When I woke up, the werewolf was gone, and a boy was there. He was the same age and told me that the werewolf had run away right after I passed out. I remember he… he kept me with him for a month and we became… friends. Then I woke up in an orphanage, and my brain must have blocked it out.” Hunter and Everyone looks at each other, this story is familiar, too familiar.

“Well, the brain does funny things when something traumatic happens. It must not have been able to separate the memories so it just blocked everything.” Tech comes to a conclusion, making Obi Wan nod.

He then looks at the time. “Crap, it’s late! I better be heading home.” Wrecker jumps up. “I can drive you home?” Obi Wan shakes his head. “No no, my home isn’t far, so I’ll walk. I’ll see you tomorrow Echo, and hopefully I can visit soon.” Echo nods as Obi Wan walks out the door.

Then he looks to the others. “Did that story sound familiar to you?” Echo asks, his face a little scrunched up in thought. They all nod “Yes, it did.” Crosshair pipes up, the Hunter adds in “It sounded a lot like Cody's story he told us of a human boy he saved.”

“Wait wait wait, that was him? The boy Cody told us about?” Wrecker asks, looking out of the window, watching as Obi Wan rounds the corner and disappears into the night. Tech hums “We should tell Cody.” Everyone looks at each other, then they nod. “Okay, I'll call him in the morning to see if he can come round in the afternoon, once Echo is back from work.” Hunter voices the plan for tomorrow, everyone else nodding in agreement.

“Okay, well I need to get some rest for tomorrow at work, so I'll see you guys in the morning.” Echo gets up, his legs a little shaky. He's overworked himself again, but he refuses to “be weak”. He makes his way up the stairs, Omega coos and then burps when she finishes her bottle. Tech smiles down at her and puts the empty bottle down, bringing her up into a sitting position against his chest, patting her back to burp her. She burps another time before she nuzzles into Tech's shoulder, yawning and feeling sleepy. “Aw, let's get you to bed now, Darling.” Tech runs a hand over her back, earning a sleepy coo from Omega in response.

Tech goes upstairs too, leaving Hunter, Wrecker and Crosshair. “I want a cuddle pile tonight with you guys.” Wrecker admits, walking over and snuggling into his brothers as they lie down. Hunter nuzzles his head “Of course, Vod'ika. Sleep well. You too, Crossy.” Crosshair gives a sleepy huff in response, making Hunter smile. They all drift off to sleep.

xxx

Soon enough, it's already the afternoon next day. Echo's shift is almost over, so Wrecker has gone to pick up today and Cody will be on his way to them. Hunter called him this morning, telling him that they needed to talk in person about something important. Hunter paces around the living room, Omega in his arms.

“Shh, it’s alright.” She’s crying, and he had no idea why. It seems to be just one of those times when babies cry, and it’s impossible to calm them. Hunter is in his human form at the moment, holding the pup close to his chest. “Shh, honey, what’s the matter?” He asks rhetorically, as the pup continues to wail. He starts singing softly to her, but even that doesn’t work.

“Come on, Sweetheart. It’s alright, I’m right here. And everyone else will back in a bit. Please stop crying.” He runs a hand through the fur on her head, and she nuzzles up into it. Hunter sighs softly, but then––“ when did you guys get a baby!!?” Hunter startles as he turns to see Cody standing in the doorway to the living room.

“Hey, Cody. Um, yeah. Sorry for not telling you, these past couple of weeks have been hectic. This is Omega.” Hunter starts to explain briefly, Omega crying and nuzzling into Hunter’s chest to hide her face. Cody walks into the room and stands next to Hunter. “Aww, she’s a real cutie,” He coos, frowning when she keeps wailing, then he looks at Hunter. “She one of yours’?”

Hunter shakes his head. “No, can we talk about this when the others get here? Wrecker has gone to pick Echo up from work, Crosshair is hunting and Tech is probably in the shed.” Cody nods, showing a kind smile to Omega when she peeps her face out to look at him, only to hide back into Hunter’s chest. “Of course. Is she alright?”

Hunter shakes his head “I’m not sure, she’s been crying for a while now. I’ve tried everything to calm her down. Feeding her, checking her diaper, Tech checked her temperature to see if she was sick or not. She isn’t, which is good. Oh, I even sang to her as well, but...yeah.” He explains, rubbing Omega’s back soothingly as she cries.

Cody is surprised “Even your singing didn’t help? Aw, she must really be upset.” He coos, reaching out and rubbing the top of her head. Omega flinches, but then she nuzzles shyly into his hand, realising that what the strange man is doing isn’t hurting her, but instead it feels nice and comforting.

“Have you tried rocking her?” Cody asks, making Hunter shake his head and begins to, but his movements are a bit too slow and he wobbles a bit. Cody places a hand on his shoulder. “Would you like me to hold her? You look exhausted, Hunter.” Cody offers, Hunter looking down at Omega then back up “Please, if you don’t mind.” He presses a soft kiss to the top of her head before handing her over to Cody.

Cody takes her gently into his arms, her wailing persists, making him frown and coo “Aww, shh. There there, lil’un, it’s alright.” He rocks her gently, swaying side to side and dancing around the room a little.

It takes a good ten minutes of the little dance, but she eventually stops crying, making Cody and Hunter both smile at each. “I’d also recommend getting her some toys, they might help her when she’s sad like this.” Hunter nods from his spot on the couch. “Yeah, we just… we haven’t had the time, but we’ll pick some up soon. Where did you learn that dancing trick?” He asks, making Cody smile.

“I’ve had lots of brothers, some by birth and some adopted. I know my way around young werewolves, I’ll give you guys all the info about baby werewolves later, I promise.” Hunter nods, smiling as Cody comes and sits down beside him, but Omega starts wailing again. It makes him chuckle and stand back up, starting the dance again.

“WE’RE HOME!!!” Wrecker yells as Hunter sits up to see Wrecker, Obi Wan and Echo. Then he sees Crosshair walking in as well, “The deer is in the backyard.” He says simply, making Hunter nod. “Go get Tech, then we can explain to these two why they are here.” Cody gives a curious look as Hunter gestures to him and the ginger haired man. Why does he look so familiar?

Tech then runs in, and Echo leads Obi Wan to the couch. “Alright, everyone but Cody sit down, since Cody is keeping Omega from crying.” They all nod, and sit down, Obi Wan giving a confused look.

“So this human knows about us?” Cody asks, and they all nod. “Cody, please tell us the story about that human boy you met?” Hunter asks, Cody looks at him and nods. “Well, it was about sixteen years ago when I was running through the woods, chasing after a fox. What I didn’t realise was that it was heading straight for a road. I ran out, not thinking about the cars that could be there, and that’s when I saw headlights coming straight for me.” Cody flinches at the memory, making them all frown.

“I thought that was it for me, but then the car swerved in a split second, avoiding me but hitting a tree instead. The car horn was constantly going, so I ran to the front of it and saw that the man driving was lying with his face turned towards me, his eyes open and lifeless. I opened the door and pushed his head off of the wheel to stop the horn. He was completely still and the woman had a tree branch piercing her chest.” Cody sees the man sat next to Echo looking at him with a shocked and confused look.

Cody carries on though “That’s when I heard crying, so I looked into the back and saw a boy my age just sat there and staring at the woman. I was sure that it could have been his mother. That’s when I pulled him out and tried to calm him down, since he was kicking and screaming, trying to get back to the car, then he passed out.”

Obi Wan is completely frozen, mouth agape. “I then transformed back to human and brought him to a cave. When he woke up I lied and told him the werewolf left, I kept him with me for a whole month and fell in love with him, but then…” Cody pauses, looking at the ginger haired man whose mouth is agape. “I had to return him to the humans, so when he was sleeping I took him to an orphanage and left him there.”

Obi Wan tears up, and when he and Cody lock eyes, he can’t take it anymore and runs out of the house.

“What?” Cody asks, and Hunter sighs. “He’s the boy from the story, Cody... the one you saved.” Cody stands there for a moment, frozen in place and unbelieving, then his eyes widen. “Wait...he...that was-- no, how’s that--” Cody doesn’t know what to think right now, struggling to believe that the man who just ran out of the cabin is the boy he saved.

Echo then pipes up, explaining a little more to Cody “He moved here a little over three years ago and became my other manager at the Blockbuster store I work at.”

Cody can’t believe this. He thought Obi Wan had still been living in the town he dropped him off in, closest to where the accident happened. “I-I...I need to go and talk to him. Can...oh god.” Cody holds his head, everything feeling too much right now. “Can someone take Omega please?” Cody asks frantically, needing to go and run after the man who is apparently Obi Wan.

Once Wrecker takes Omega off of him, he runs out of the cabin and into the snow. It would have been pitch black if not for the half moon and stars. He sniffs out the scent, noticing that he has run into the woods directly ahead of him. Cody goes running, following the scent for about a minute before he sees the man’s form just there in front of him, kneeling on the ground.

Cody slowly walks closer, moving to stand in front of-- “Obi Wan?” Cody asks, kneeling down in front of him.

Obi Wan growls. “You left me!! Why!!? I thought--” He chokes back a sob as tears flow freely down his face, breaking Cody’s heart. “I thought you loved me…”

The heartbreak, the anger. This cannot be faked, this is Obi Wan, this is the young boy, now man, Cody had fallen for all those years ago. The one Cody has loved every day since, the one he had wanted to be his mate. “Obi Wan…” he whines, then he loses control, kneeling down on the ground and ripping his jacket and shirt off, making Obi Wan's eyes widen.

“What--” a large crack interrupts him, making Obi Wan gasp as Cody starts to grow larger, and he watches him go through the transformation, fur growing all over Cody's Body. His ears grow pointy and move to the top of his head, as his mouth elongates and a large, fluffy tail grows from his backside. He now has clawed hands and feet as well.

Cody looks at him, fully transformed. There are tears in his eyes, as he lets out sob after sob and curls up on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” He chants and whines, hiding his face in his hands. He can’t believe this. This is the boy he had left at an orphanage all those years ago.

Obi Wan sniffles, partially from the freezing cold and from his sobbing that has ceased. This is Cody, the one who saved him and fell in love with him. The one he had shared his first kiss with. He was the werewolf that saved him, he is the werewolf he just yelled at for abandoning him and now he is broken down and a sobbing mess on the floor.

Too lost in thought, Obi Wan has subconsciously been moving closer to Cody, wanting nothing but to comfort him right now. “Cody...I’m...I’m sorry. Don’t apologise, you haven’t done anything wrong--” “I left you! I’m such an idiot, I just thought that you would be safer there. But instead I made you think that I abandoned you!” Cody sobs out, his claws jabbing into his head, almost piercing the skin, making Obi Wan frown. “Stop, Cody, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Cody shrugs “I deserve it. I was scared that you wouldn’t be safe, I...I wanted to do the right thing for you.” Obi Wan shakes his head “No, no! You don’t deserve this, Cody, not in the slightest. I shouldn't have just assumed, or even said, that you abandoned me. That was wrong of me, I see that now. I still love you, Cody. I love you so fucking much and I don’t want to let you go, or let me go, ever again. You saved me, and that’s something I want to repay you for, I want to do that by spending the rest of our lives together.”

Obi Wan cries again, leaning down and placing his forehead against the backs of Cody’s hands. He then gently holds one of them, sitting up and trying to pull one away. “Please, Cody. don’t hurt yourself.” Obi Wan begs, making Cody finally relax his hands and letting Obi Wan gently pull it away.

Obi Wan gently laces their fingers together, Cody’s hand dwarfing his own by a lot. Cody’s wide eyes look at Obi Wan with so much uncertainty, and fear. But Obi Wan just leans over and gently kisses Cody’s forehead.

“I… I love you too, Obi Wan. More than anything else in this life.” Cody sits up and pulls Obi Wan into his lap, making the ginger man smile and nuzzle into the fur. “You should have told me, I… I think you look very handsome like this, Love.” Cody smiles softly, nuzzling against the top of Obi Wan's head.

Cody’s tail wags at the compliment, blushing under his fur. Obi Wan smiles and chuckles “You like that? Me calling you handsome?” Cody nods and licks the top of Obi Wan’s head. Obi Wan then looks up at him with a slightly confused look, but not a disgusted one. “It’s my way of showing affection, so it’s like a kiss but just in a wolf way.” Cody explains shyly, but Obi Wan nuzzles his fur “Then you can do it as many times as you like, because I love it. I love you, Cody.”

Cody hugs Obi Wan close, licking his hair and wrapping his arms securely around his long lost lover, keeping him safe from the pesky frostbite that threatens to make him cold. Cody then smiles and really just wants to let out how he feels “Obi Wan, I...get if what I’m about to say is uncomfortable, so I totally understand if you’re weirded out or--” “Love, it’s okay. You can tell me your deepest, darkest secret and I would never stop loving you. Okay?” Obi Wan assures him, making Cody wag his tail again. “Thank you. Well, when we were kids, I wanted you to be my mate, but...I wasn’t sure back then if you would still love me if you knew what I was, but now…” Cody trails off, feeling embarrassed.

Obi Wan catches on, feeling surprised that Cody wants him to be his mate “You know now that I still love you, and...you want me to be your mate?” The question is a shot in the dark, but Cody nods, happy that Obi Wan understood, so he nods. Obi Wan cups Cody’s face “Then I’ll be your mate.”

Cody lets out a rumble of content from deep within his chest, basking in the presence of his long, lost lover. Obi Wan buries himself into Cody’s fur, enjoying the comforting warmth. His sniffles die down as he warms up, since Cody is keeping the cold from nipping at his skin, but he still lets out a sneeze. Cody smiles softly, pulling Obi Wan impossibly closer. “Want to go back now? I’m sure the others would have the fireplace going by now, so we’ll go and get cozy. I’ll make you a hot cup of cocoa too if you want?”

Obi Wan hums with content “That sounds wonderful.” He kisses the side of Cody’s snout, his eyes fluttering closed as he snuggles into Cody. He yelps in surprise when Cody repositions him so he’s carried bridal style. Cody gives him a small smile as he picks up his jacket and shirt before carrying Obi Wan back to the cabin.

It takes them a few minutes, but they arrive back. Cody was right, the fire in the lounge is crackling away, emitting a warm glow. Cody walks up the few steps and places Obi Wan down. “I’ll transform out here so I don’t scare the pup.” The pup--? Oh he means Omega. “Okay, no worries at all. I’ll see you in there.” He reaches up to cup Cody’s face for a moment before heading inside.

He’s met with warm, comforting smiles. “Hey, Obi Wan.” They’re speaking quieter than usual. Omega has fallen asleep next to Hunter on the couch, making small cooing sounds as she sleeps peacefully. He walks over and takes a seat on the smaller, empty couch. He takes a small, deep breath and smiles.

“Everything okay now? You seem happier.” Tech observes, Obi Wan nods “Yes, we talked for a little bit, mainly just making up. We’re fine now. Cody had transformed, so he’s just transforming back.”

#my writing #the bad batch #hunter #crosshair #werewolves

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victorluvsalice · 3 years

Photo

Hey, you know how I tried to restart Fallout 4 properly around my birthday with a new Victor save? Yeah, uh, ran into a few issues with crashes and whatnot and had to start again! Fortunately, after much fiddling and poking and whatnot, I seem to have finally gotten myself a save that’s at least somewhat stable, so this here should be my final Victor Sole Survivor to go through the game with. Allow me to go through some of the pertinent points of my playthrough with you:

Appearance: Yeah, I had to redo him again -- at least this time I’m a bit happier with the eye spacing. He’s always going to look rather weird simply because I’m trying to translate a Tim Burton character into flesh, but I think I did a pretty good job under the circumstances!

...As for his fashion sense, he found the chestpiece and whatnot in a suitcase by Sanctuary, and the hat gives him +1 Intelligence and thus is giving me a bit more experience for his early quests. He’s not here to look good, he’s here to level up.

Stats: I ended up having to tweak his SPECIAL, mostly because I forgot just how many points you get at the beginning, and because I wanted to pivot slightly with how I designed his build. Here’s what he started out with:

Strength: 3

Perception: 3

Endurance: 7

Charisma: 2

Intelligence: 7

Agility: 4

Luck: 2

He’s still a high Endurance/Intelligence build, but I’ve decided that Agility is probably going to be his third “main” stat, because perks like “Moving Target” (harder to hit when you’re sprinting) make sense for him. (I mean, dodging like crazy was how he survived so long against Barkis!) I’ve already boosted it twice -- once with the You’re SPECIAL! book that you can find in Shaun’s room, and once through a level-up. I’ve also boosted his Perception thanks to the bobblehead in the Museum of Freedom. As for perks, he’s currently level 5, so I have the following:

Scrapper Level 1 (scavenge more uncommon components from scrapping things)

Gun Nut Level 1 (basic gun mods)

Armorer Level 1 (basic armor mods)

Given Victor’s whole “thing” in this universe is that he’s something of a tinkerer and good at modding things, this felt appropriate. :p

Mods: Because it’s not recommended to play without them! Certainly not without the fixes. . . Anyway, my complete mod list as of now is below, if you’re curious. I did try to vaguely group them into “these mods are part of the same category and/or go together,” but it’s not perfect. Still, if you see anything you find interesting, feel free to go to the link and check it out!

Fallout 4 Script Extender (https://f4se.silverlock.org/): Allows for script changes, enables certain other mods and serves as my game launcher through Vortex

Achievements Mod Enabler (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/15639): Enables achievements in a modded game; requires manual install (extract files into Fallout 4 folder)

Mod Configuration Menu (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21497/): Adds a menu for configuring compatible mods; uses F4SE

Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4598): General bugfixes and small improvements

Crafting Highlight Fix (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/27479): Removes the crafting “highlights” overlay so you can actually see your items while crafting; uses F4SE and requires MCM (to adjust things like how power armor pieces are highlighted)

Elevator Buttons Fix (Contraptions) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20664): Fixes floating elevator buttons from Contraptions (buttons can appear miles from the actual control panel)

Rusty Face Fix (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31028): Fixes the rusty face glitch that may occur with the PC and NPCs (turning faces brown)

Nuka-World Bottle Scenery Fix (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17853): Fixes the giant bottles that can sometimes spawn in Nuka World instead of the regular-sized models, completely obscuring the game world

No Aggro Impact Landing (Power Armor) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9019): Stops friendly characters getting aggroed if you jump from a great height and land near them in Power Armor

Vault 81 Molerat Disease Immunity with Power Armor and Hazmat (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/5646): Stops you getting infected with the Molerat Disease if you're wearing full power armor (chance of infection goes up with each missing piece of armor), or if your companion gets bit; lesser chance of infection if you're wearing a hazmat suit

CryoFreez Fix (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/10000): Fixes the bug where, if an enemy dies as a result of the Cryolater or other cryo-based weapons, they will respawn in a weird “dead” state with no AI

Cattle Feeders Immersively Filled (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11998): Two files; first adds a filled water trough for brahmin to use, second fills the vanilla feed trough with plants

Worthwhile Caps Stashes (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/23464): Increases the amount of caps in stash and have them contain other junk items; also makes the stash tin itself a junk item

Piper Interview Restored (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/21829): Restores some cut questions post Piper’s interview about your pre-war life

Dumpster Diving (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/33474): Adds new containers to open dumpsters with new and amusing junk to collect

More Grind-Free Game Settings (from Thuggyfied – A Fallout 4 Mod List) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41435): Removes the need to get “Local Leader” Rank 2 to make crafting benches; quest markers display from five times further away; followers no longer auto-attack non-hostile Radstags; settlers run to the summoning bell; Jet doesn’t show up in pre-War coolers and containers (just Vault 95); pipe weapons no longer show up in Pre-War safes or trunks; ability to craft a “Jetpack Ring” at the chem station (I mainly got this for the first two items)

Useful Pulse and Cryo Explosives 1.1b (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24848): Tweaks the cryo grenade’s damage output and fixes the “dead enemy AI respawn bug” for cryo grenades; tweaks how the pulse grenade works, making it affect robots and turrets more strongly and removing damage to organic enemies (though the explosion can still stagger them); also changes the crafting recipes

Wasteland Survival Guide 5 - More Map Markers (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/26367): Changes Wasteland Survival Guide #5 (available in Gorski Cabin) to mark not only Diamond City, but also Goodneighbor, the Glowing Sea, Boston Airport, and Quincy

Strong Back Improved – Weightless Equipped Apparel (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/17361): Improves the “Strong Back” perk to first halve the weight of worn apparel, then make it entirely weightless, and give more carry capacity out of Power Armor

Diamond City Plus (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/19293): Updates Diamond City with new shacks and interiors to the lower stands (including an arcade and a laundry!), along with new NPCs to populate them; also adds a proper farm with brahmin and chickens by the mutfuit plants

Commonwealth Wilderness Overhaul (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41008): Adds lots of little scenes, objects, and creatures (including rad rabbits, rad chickens, and wolves) to the Commonwealth Wilderness to fill it out and make it more interesting

Nuka World Open Season Extend II -- Assignable Factions - Recruitable NPCs (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47209): Allows you, post- the “Open Season” quest, to attract settlers to Nuka-World who can then be sent to regular settlements, and populate the parks and main market area with more traders, or various faction NPCs! (So if you really want the Minutemen to hold Nuka World after you gun everybody down, you can use this – though if you want them to come and HELP you gun everybody down, you need a different mod)

Flashy(JoeR) - Advanced Needs 2 - Customizable Survival Mode (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40440): A customizable “survival mode” that allows you to play with a character who needs to eat, drink, and sleep periodically without necessarily dealing with some of Survival Mode’s other stuff (namely, the lack of fast travel in my case). Comes with expansions for being a playable ghoul, food spoilage, and other activities if you’re into that, and a patch for “Campsite – Simple Wasteland Camping” so you can use the two together.

Sunshine Tidings – No Ghoul and No Corpse (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47044): Will eventually remove ghoul and human corpses from Sunshine; assigns Professor Goodfeels protected status if he hasn't already been disabled

Croup Manor Waterfront Extended (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/47144): Adds another chunk to Croup Manor's building area so you can actually access the water on the nearby beach for purifiers and whatnot

CWSS Redux V4 – Craftable Working Showers Sinks Baths Toilets Urinals Kitchens Etc (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/14326): Adds craftable, usable bathroom equipment and some kitchen equipment in a separate workshop menu so the Sole Survivor, companions, and settlers can go to the toilet, shower, and have pretty kitchens

Vault-Tec Workshop Overhaul Redux (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/43643): Fixes some errors with the Vault-Tec DLC items for Vault 88 and adds newer, better versions for some other items (e.g., better lights, in three variations depending on computer specs)

Wearable Backpacks and Pouches (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3258): Adds a backpack workbench and a variety of upgradable backpacks to the game (three files – standard, ballistic weave addon, power armor capacity addon)

Campsite – Simple Wasteland Camping (and HD Sleeping Bags) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/11734): Adds a book to Sanctuary (the root cellar) that allows you to make camping gear at the chem station and set up camp in the Commonwealth whenever you want

The Mobile Mechanic – Portable Workbenches and Junk Scrapping (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18262/): Allows you to make a portable, customizable workbench for scrapping junk and in-game crafting anywhere

Atelier – Paint and sculpt (Unsupported) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/36485): Allows you to make and mix paint, paint pictures (for the "Well Rested" XP bonus), and work on a sculpture; also has settler-ready versions to increase happiness in settlements. Unsupported and glitchy ("Well Rested" perk sound will play incessantly if you try to paint, with the animation popping up when you disengage from the easel – keeping this mainly for the look of the thing for Victor’s house)

Fallout Instrument Pack (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/46604): Adds four playable instruments to the game, along with a small (and unfortunately bit glitchy) quest to unlock the ability to craft them; also has two new instrument-themed weapons

New Recipes (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/12276): 60-ish new recipes added into the standard categories, with unique effects and healing (like new teas under Beverages)

Fine Dining (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/33128): Adds a “Fine Dining” section to the cooking menu with six new recipes, with strong effects that require a (reusable) steel plate as well as the food; also adds milk and cheese as items to be found in the world

Culinary Masterpieces – Useful Food (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/16055): Adds a “Culinary Masterpieces” section to the cooking menu with new recipes, and the ability to plant tarberries, hubflower, bloodleaf, and rice (after buying it from the Abernathys)

Apple Trees 3.2 (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40388): Adds an apple and pear orchard to the game near Vault 111, and a “Fruit Recipes” section to the cooking menu for apple and pear-based food; also you can grow apples and pears for food in settlements

Tales From The Commonwealth (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8704): Extended quests and companions mod – features new characters, new locations, and new quests across the Commonwealth, along with three new companions (contains additional file for DLC commentary from the new companions)

Tales From The Commonwealth Visual Fixes (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/43974): Patch to fix some of the broken precombines and visual bugs from TFTC

Tales From The Commonwealth – FaceGen Data (For PhysOp or Vanilla) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/45148): Patch to help provide face generation data for TFTC; vanilla file used

We Are The Minutemen (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6443): Overhauls the Minutemen, giving Preston a new outfit, making patrols more common and more powerful as you level up, giving you a command table to make Minutemen, and cools down the frequency of radiant quests

Better Companions – No Conflicts (Accuracy Version) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24233): Improves companions – in particular, making them more accurate and better at sneaking

Settler and Companion Dialogue Overhaul (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/41785): Increases the variety of companion lines while adventuring; gives certain companions their own radiant quests; gives settlers more variety in what they say to you while visiting settlements (acknowledging you as Minutemen General, complaining less)

Realistic Conversations Fallout 4 (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/32514): Makes conversations between NPCs more realistic, adds variety

Settlers Of The Commonwealth (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8704): Adds unique new settlers to the Commonwealth that you can recruit

Level 4 Merchants Improved (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/40747): Puts all the level 4 merchants you can find and recruit in the Dugout Inn for easier location; also assigns protected status to certain ones that might otherwise easily die (like the Vault-Tec Rep)

Squirrels of the Commonwealth (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20027): Adds a variety of (surprisingly tough) squirrels; using the “docile” version that adds Garbage Squirrels but makes most squirrels run away if you shoot them

True Storms – Wasteland Edition (Thunder-Rain-Weather Redone) (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/4472): Improved weather, with more intense thunderstorms and whatnot; also has files for earlier sunsets, compatibility with Far Harbor and Nuka World, and (if you want, I didn’t) more dangerous Far Harbor fogs and Glowing Sea

Atomic Radio (https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/8704): New radio station with original radio shows and commercials

Where I Am In The Game: Given Victor’s only level five, you’ve probably guessed I’ve only just started -- and you’d be right! Victor’s about five days into his adventures in the Commonwealth, and has spent that time mainly cleaning up Sanctuary and the Red Rocket, meeting Dogmeat and Preston, killing raiders, and molotoving and machine-gunning a Deathclaw to death. I’ve completed Out of Time and When Freedom Calls for quests, and I’m currently working on Sanctuary before moving onto The First Step. Next playsession, Victor and Codsworth are going to go visit the apple orchard on the other side of Vault 111 and get some apples for everyone! And probably fight a bear! :D What, the gang needs food, and I want to give them more variety than gourds and melons.

What Comes Next: While I hope to actually start the main plot a lot sooner than I did in my original attempt at playing, we’re definitely doing some Minutemen stuff first, plus exploring the general area around Sanctuary so I can pick up that “double meat” magazine. Think of it as Victor getting his hand in as he tries to figure out how to survive in this brave new world.

#fallout 4 #sole survivor Victor #fallout of darkness #since what I do in this game is going to inform any writing I do for that #at the very least once I get Piper #I need to find a good place for Alice to 'spawn'#but yeah ran into issues restarted once again #then had to figure out my way around a crash at Concord #fortunately things seem to be working now #I will beat this game into submission with a baseball bat if I have to #because when I DO get to play it I enjoy it #it's just the glitchiness that gets to me sometimes #I don't get how people have hundreds of mods in this game #I'm genuinely worried about adding more to mine #though Advanced Needs 2 was a temptation I couldn't resist in the end #look I have all these cooking mods and camping stuff #I HAD to get a mod that gave me a reason to use them!#queued

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hysterialevi · 5 years

Text

When the Devil Cries pt. 33

Fanfic summary: (NO SPOILERS IN THIS STORY) After arriving in Saint Denis, Arthur ends up falling in love with a seemingly innocent pianist, only to find himself in a battle with one of the most notorious outlaws to ever emerge from America. Now, between working for Dutch and robbing money for the gang, Arthur has to also protect the man he loves as the two of them try to find their freedom.

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/Male OC

Previous chapter

This story is also on AO3

From Arthur’s POV

O’CREAGH’S RUN

ONE WEEK LATER -- MORNING

Ridin’ up to the snow-covered cabin, Hamish and I stopped just outside the front door as we tugged on our horses’ reins, coming to a complete stop.

The two of us had just returned from quite a lengthy hunt in the wilderness surrounding O’Creagh’s Run, and despite the icy weather, we actually found some pretty decent game out in the woods.

There weren’t many animals roamin’ around at the moment, but Hamish and I managed to catch a big buck we found frolicking through the white mountains. It had enough meat on it to feed us for a few days, and if we was lucky, we’d probably be able to sell the pelt, too. I only wished Eddie had been able to join us.

It was...actually quite fun huntin’ with Hamish. The man spoke to me like I was an old friend, and he always cheered with excitement whenever I agreed to go wandering with him.

It was a nice change of pace, compared to what I was just dealin’ with the week before. It felt like I...finally had someone to fill in Dutch’s shoes after he turned on me. Felt like I wasn’t bearing all this weight on my own.

I just wondered how long it would last. ‘Cause as much as I enjoyed Hamish’s company, the skeptic in me couldn’t help but dread the day it’d all finally come to an end like a rude awakening. Nothin’ perfect lasted forever in this world, after all.

And I doubted Hamish was any exception.

“Well,” Hamish said, dismounting Buell, “that was certainly a good hunt. Who taught you how to track so well?”

I hopped off my horse and walked her to the hitching post, hoisting the plump deer off her back as we both headed inside.

“Learned from my daddy mostly,” I answered, my voice straining with effort. “It’s...one of the few good things he taught me.”

Hamish picked up on my tone. “Your father wasn’t a good role model, I take it?”

A chuckle escaped me. “You could say that. Though, to be honest...I can’t really judge. The sins he got hanged for, I’m still runnin’ away from. Seems like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Well,” Hamish followed me from behind, “you carry that buck inside for me, and I’m willin’ to forgive all of ‘em, hah!”

Trudging back into the cabin, the two of us pushed our way through the thawing snow as the sun climbed higher in the sky, spreadin’ a much-needed heat across this frozen land.

A good chunk of the ice in this area had already melted over the past week or so, and if things continued on like this, I imagined we’d be able to go fishing soon.

It had been a long time since I last ate anything that wasn’t venison or canned vegetables, and the idea of relaxin’ on a boat in the middle of the lake put my mind at ease.

Though, as much as I was basking in this nice weather, I couldn’t deny that I was also worried about how easy it’d be for our enemies to track us down now that the snow was startin’ to disappear.

I mean, even though I sure as hell didn’t miss that god-awful blizzard from last week, it was the only thing that was really covering our tracks.

No one in their right mind woulda followed us through a storm like that, and the fact that it was finally gone, well...let’s just say I found myself keepin’ an eye on the tree line more often than usual nowadays.

I had had enough surprises for one lifetime, and the last thing I wanted was for Atticus or Dutch to come crawlin’ outta nowhere before putting a bullet in our heads.

Right now, my only concerns were helping Hamish, finding food, and keeping Eddie alive...and I intended for it to stay that way.

Lugging the deer into the house as Hamish shut the door behind us, we quickly escaped the chilly breeze as I plopped the carcass down in the kitchen and rolled my shoulders, happy to get that weight off my back.

“Thank you, Mister Morgan.” The veteran said with a smile, proudly admiring our work. “I don’t much like relying on others for help, but...I’m afraid I ain’t as young as I used to be. It’s nice havin’ some muscle around the house for once. Makes things go smoother.”

I returned the smile. “My pleasure. It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for us.”

Hamish patted my back. “Well...you did the hunting, so I’ll get this thing ready to eat. Why don’t you go check on Eddie in the meantime? See how he’s doing. I told him not to move around too much before we left, but that boy sure don’t like staying still. Even with an injured leg.” The old man paused. “Say, has he been usin’ that cane I gave him?”

I sighed in frustration. “Not as much as he should be. Eddie only uses the cane when he absolutely needs to. Otherwise, he just tries...walkin’ around on his own.”

Hamish laughed softly at that. “Eddie’s stubborn, just like me when I first lost my leg. Don’t worry, though. He’ll adapt eventually. He’s got no other choice. Just keep an eye on him, all right? I don’t want him puttin’ more pressure on that leg than it can handle.”

“Trust me,” I said with a nod, “I will.”

Walkin’ away from Hamish as he started preparing the deer, I strolled towards the living room and began slipping off my winter coat, only to stop mid-way when I noticed Eddie wasn’t resting on the couch.

“Uh...Hamish?” I called out, raising an eyebrow. “You have any idea where Eddie could be? It don’t look like he’s in the livin’ room.”

The old man picked up a knife, gesturing to the back door. “If he’s not there, he’s probably sittin’ on the back porch.”

I peered through the frosty window. “...In this weather?”

Hamish chuckled. “Like I said, Eddie isn’t one to stay still.”

I let out a tired breath. “...Got that right.”

Reluctantly pullin’ my coat back on, I tightly wrapped my clothes around me and prepared to return to the “lovely” weather outside, gently pushing the back door open.

Luckily, the snow wasn’t nearly as relentless as it had been a couple days ago, and things appeared to have calmed down since that blizzard. But even then, my face was still red and cold from bein’ in the woods all morning.

The only thing I wanted to do right now was throw myself in front of a hot fireplace and enjoy a nice bottle of beer, but...there actually was something important I had to talk to Eddie about. It weren’t nothin’ serious or alarming, but it was probably best if that conversation happened away from Hamish.

Pushin’ the door closed with a soft creak, I searched around the back porch for a moment before spotting Eddie in a wooden chair, his nose buried in what looked like a collection of some music notes.

At the moment, he was scribbling something down in his handful of papers, and the cane Hamish gave to him was peacefully leanin’ against the side of the armrest.

I didn’t know quite how to describe it, but something about Eddie seemed to have...changed over this past week. In a good way. His eyes carried that passionate spark in them once again, and the man appeared to be less stressed, despite us technically bein’ stranded in the middle of nowhere.

To my surprise, it actually seemed like Eddie was pleased to be away from the gang. I mean, yeah, things ended in flames with Dutch -- and Rodrick practically unleashed hell itself onto our camp -- but I still expected the pianist to miss some of the people there.

They were like family to me, after all. John, Hosea, Miss Grimshaw -- they were the siblings and parents I never truly had.

For over twenty years, Dutch’s society had been my entire world, and as a young man...I couldn’t even imagine a life without them.

Eddie, on the other hand...he barely knew any of them. He only had, what, a couple of months to bond with them?

That camp may have been home to me, but to Eddie, it was probably nothin’ more than a place full of unfamiliar faces. And not only that, but a bunch of outlaws, too.

I guessed I really shouldn’t have been surprised that Eddie was more relaxed away from them. He seemed to get along well enough with some of the members, but it was clear to me now that the man was only truly comfortable around me.

I just felt a bit guilty that it took me this long to realize it.

Roamin’ towards the preoccupied man, I stood next to his chair and casually peeked over his shoulder, hoping to get his attention.

“Eddie?” I said innocently, wearing what was probably a horrendous-looking smile.

No answer.

Well, whatever he was workin’ on must’ve been important.

“Eddie?” I repeated, but a bit louder this time.

Pausing mid-action, the pianist held his pen still for a second before jolting his head in my direction, chuckling out of embarrassment once he realized he weren’t alone.

“Oh, Arthur!” he greeted, his expression lightin’ up. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come out here.”

I rested an arm on the back of his chair, pointing to the music notes.

“Whatcha got there? You workin’ on a new song?”

Eddie sighed in a regrettable manner. “Restoring it, more like. The song’s actually been complete for some time now, but the rest of the notes were burned in that fire Rodrick caused. It was supposed to be a gift for you.”

My smile grew even wider at that. “A gift?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. I started writing it when we were still in Shady Belle, but I never got the chance to perform it for you, what with the lack of pianos lazing about in the wilderness.”

I shrugged. “Maybe you can sing it.”

Eddie scoffed in an amused tone. “Me? Sing it? The goal here is for you to like it, Arthur.”

I laughed, pattin’ the man’s shoulder. “Your voice can’t be worse than mine. But...if you really wanna save it for a piano, I won’t protest.”

Changin’ the subject, I stopped leaning on the chair and took a few steps back, eyeballing Eddie’s cane with a curious gaze.

“So, how’s your leg doing? Hamish says you’ve been wanderin’ around quite a bit.”

The man grabbed his cane and laid it on his lap, examining the simple object.

Eddie took a breath. “I won’t lie. It’s...frustrating. I used to be so agile, you know. Even as a child. I was always running around all over the place. Climbing, too. Anything that was above the ground, I’d try to get on top of it. Now, though...”

He pressed his cane against the floor and pushed himself up from the chair, grunting with effort.

“...I can hardly walk on my own two feet. And I’m not even thirty years of age yet.”

I glanced at Eddie’s wounded leg, still feelin’ somewhat guilty that I wasn’t able save it.

“You’re still healing,” I reassured. “Just give your leg a break, and soon, you’ll have nothin’ more than an annoying limp to worry about. At least, that’s what Hamish says.”

“I certainly hope so,” Eddie replied, walking closer to me. “But...enough about me. How’ve you been feeling, Arthur? I imagine you must be hurting after what happened between you and Dutch. I...I know how much you loved him.”

My gaze fell to the floor at that and I bit the inside of my lip, lettin’ my guard down for just a moment.

“Yeah,” I admitted, my voice quieter than usual. “It might sound strange...but I still love Dutch, to be honest. Even though he nearly goddamn killed me. I suppose I just ain’t ready to let go of the twenty years we spent together.”

Eddie frowned in a sympathetic way, caressing my cheek. “You don’t have to let go of them. The ending doesn’t make the journey, Arthur. Even though you and Dutch may no longer be on the same side, that doesn’t mean you have to forget all the memories you shared. Just don’t forget how you got here.”

I placed my own hand over Eddie’s, grippin’ it tight. “Oh, I won’t. Believe me.”

Losin’ myself in the other man’s eyes for a minute, I snapped back to reality when I suddenly remembered why I came out here in the first place, causin’ me to reach into my satchel.

“Um -- anyway,” I said, clearing my throat, “that ain’t why I came to see you. There’s actually somethin’ I wanted to give you.”

Eddie smirked. “Oh? You have a gift for me as well?”

I took out a crumpled envelope, fumbling through its contents.

“Yeah. I didn’t tell you this back at Beaver Hollow -- considering everything that was goin’ on -- but I got a letter from Mary Linton. You remember her?”

Eddie thought for a moment. “...The woman you were engaged to?”

I nodded. “That’s the one. She wrote me again recently.”

The pianist peered at the envelope. “Well, what’s it say?”

I breezed through Mary’s message, wantin’ to get straight to the point.

“All she said was, she didn’t wanna be involved with me no more. We met up a few months ago, you see. When the gang was still in New Hanover. I helped her out with a few family problems, and saved her brother, but...now she’s sayin’ she wants to move on. That she can’t stay in contact with me any longer. But -- that ain’t the part that matters.”

Putting the envelope away, I shoved the thing back into my satchel once I found what I was lookin’ for and pulled out a beautiful wedding ring, presenting it to Eddie.

It was surprisingly still in good condition even after all these years, and the small jewel adorning the simple band twinkled softly in the winter sun, catching Eddie’s attention.

“It’s...it’s the same ring I used to propose to Mary all them years ago,” I explained, my voice low with regret. “I never expected to see it again after...well, after Mary left. But she returned it with that letter, and told me to give it to people who were in love. People who could use it.” I sighed out of despondency, unable to take my eyes off the piece of jewelry.

“I used to hate lookin’ at this thing, y’know. It...always reminded me of everything I’ve lost. Everything I’ve messed up in life. Hell, I nearly threw it off the cliff when Mary gave it back to me.” I brought my gaze to Eddie, my heart liftin’ upon seeing his face. “But now...it only reminds me of what I’ve gained. It makes me realize that, as confusing and difficult as love can be sometimes, it ain’t impossible. ...And that’s why I want you to have it.”

Smiling in awe at what I was saying, Eddie found himself to be at a loss for words as he gently brought the ring into his grasp, staring affectionately at the gift.

It looked like the man was on the verge of tears, and I could tell he was doin’ everything in his power to remain composure, but even then, it was clear that the pianist was touched.

He let out a shaky but happy breath, strugglin’ to find the right words to say.

“...Thank you, Arthur,” Eddie said sincerely, returning his glossy eyes to me. “It’s truly wonderful.”

I grinned warmly at the reaction, blushing slightly under the shadow of my hat.

“I’m glad you like it. I-I know we can’t actually get married, or have a proper wedding or anything, but I still want you to keep it. It belongs with you.”

Eddie closed his hand around the ring, holding it securely. “I won’t let anything happen to it. I promise.”

Placing his hands on the sides of my face, the pianist pulled me into a loving kiss and practically let himself fall into my arms, the two of us holdin’ each other in the middle of the snow.

I couldn’t believe what was happening right now.

After so many years of losing every person I’d grown attached to, and failin’ the majority of my relationships, I never imagined I’d find someone who loved me as much as I loved them.

It was one hell of a ride Eddie and I had been on these past couple o’ months, but no matter how wildly this mess ended or how hard we’d have to fight, I was gonna do whatever it took to keep him alive.

We were so close to finding our freedom now. I could feel it.

We just had to carry on a little longer, and someday, I knew Eddie and I were gonna live the lives we had sacrificed so much to achieve.

The only thing that stood between us and our goal right now...was Atticus Rose.

And there was no way in hell I was gonna let him stop us.

#red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #arthur morgan #eddie ryan #arthur morgan x male oc #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 story

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kheprrison-arts · 7 years

Text

Wilderness (Chapter Four)

Fandom: Mianite Chapter: 4/? Summary: The storm ends soon, though now the food supplies will be low once again. It's time for another trek. A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating Wilderness. Hopefully this chapter is good and makes up for it's absence.

Syndicate

After Tucker had left, the rest of us stood around and waited for Dianite to return. We're losing daylight quickly. Sonja, every once in a while, would try and take off after Tucker, who had gotten farther than we had thought he would, but we held her back. She knew we all wanted to chase after him, but the three of us knew better than to test Dianite's patients and trust.

Especially from our experience back home.

It actually wasn’t long until Dianite showed up again, saying how he found his camp and a bear was digging through his food supplies. He apologized for suddenly leaving but we knew he was just trying to protect us. It wasn’t too long before he realized Tucker had went missing. "You let him leave?"

"He wouldn’t have listened to us," Jordan explained, "he said he didn't trust your judgement and that you were probably lying, so he went to the mountain."

Dianite hummed, his eyes half-lidded. "Fine. I'll lead you to camp then I'll go searching for him."

"Really?" Sonja asked, excited to see Dianite wasn’t going to kill him immediately.

"Yeah. Come on," he nodded his head toward where he came from and stalked off. We followed him, trudging through the mushy snow. It stilled snowed, white flurries floating by. But it wasn’t too much. Not yet. vAgain it didn’t take long for us to get there, in fact probably only half the time it took for Dianite to run over here then run back. It was quite quaint. It was big enough for us all but we knew that he had no idea of others even existing past the mountain. It was essentially a big donut dug into the snow… about twelve feet deep.

God. Twelve feet deep and There’s still snow underneath. I’m guessing it’s just so compact now it’s probably just ice.

Dianite had us move inside, trying to find our places and told us not to go anywhere before he climbed up the snow wall and ran off. He seemed to be in a state of urgency, which I wouldn’t be surprised. The storm must be near, I can hear the wind picking up fast.

Most of us fell asleep, huddling close for warmth. Though I couldn’t sleep, not now. And I knew Sonja was having a hard time as well. The wind had really picked up over night… I mean if it were night I would have no idea. I nearly screamed at the top of my lungs when I heard a loud noise, like a deep thump. The snow around the entrance where we all lay picked up in a cloud, blinding my vision temporarily while whatever fell entered in. I wasn’t so scared anymore when I saw Dianite, his body heat almost immediately warming up the place.

He snorted and set down Tucker, who was passed out in his arms. “Is he okay?” Sonja asked, sitting up and waking Jordan.

“He should be fine,” Dianite spoke. “He found an old camp of mine and hid out in there.”

“Why didn’t you let him stay?” Jordan asked, yawning. At least someone got their sleep.

“It’s dangerous up there alone, especially with Poison Arrow,” Dianite explained.

“Who?” I asked, repositioning to get comfortable where I sat. Dianite hummed lowly and laid down on his side, probably also getting comfortable for the wave of questions he might get.

“Poison Arrow is Mianite’s dragon. She’s a black and green wyvern that protects the mountain from intruders. I have to admit she’s dangerous, I’ve come across her once and she nearly killed me…” Dianite trailed off, his eyes closed. I felt a pang of regret in my chest, I knew it was a bad memory for him. “Jericho’s lucky Poison Arrow hadn’t patrolled in that area yet. You’ll mostly find her in storms, though you’ll never get a warning like you do when there isn’t one.”

“How big is she? And what do you mean by warning?” Jordan asked.

“I can’t say how big she is now. It’s been a while since I’ve tried to trek up the mountain.” Dianite huffed. “Storms appear a lot around here, it’s common nowadays. When there is a storm all creatures fall silent in hopes to hear Poison Arrow as she hunts, but the strong winds caused by her wings deafens them. When there is no storm all can here her above the clouds, the flapping of her wings and the wind picking up under them, the sound of her voice when she finds her target. We all can hear her, so it’s best we travel only when there is no storm. Only she can hear in the blizzards.”

“Oh…kay,” Jordan said, laying back down, “that’s all I needed to hear.”

“The storm will let up soon. Probably by nightfall. It’s best to get your sleep while you can.”

“Can we use you as a warm blanket?” I asked, rubbing my hands together to create some sort of friction. Jordan had his warm jacket so he was already set anyway, having probably fallen asleep by now.

Dianite shrugged and laid his head down, Sonja and I took that as an okay and snuggled close to him. He hummed and wrapped one of his arms and his tail around us.

The next morning I woke up to Dianite running a round the camp of his. It was odd to see him back to normal, no longer a big and burly beast. He huffed through his nose when he caught my eyes. “Syndi, come and help me pack up.”

I nodded and helped him for the next few minutes, packing up several bags with meat and bait and cloth and whatnot. “We’ll be going over by the river today,” he said, “grabbing some fish before we head up the mountain.”

“Sounds fun,” I snorted. “Will there be any?”

“Hopefully. The story might’ve chased them off though.”

After we finished packing we woke everyone up and Dianite explained the game plan. He said he had a trap set up in the water, so if the storm did chase off the fish then most of them would’ve been caught in the nets he set up. He said after we go get some fish then we would start heading up the mountain. And god knows how long that’ll take.

Quickly, all of us followed Dianite, I believe still going east. “The river surrounds the mountain like it’s a moat, it always has and always will,” Dianite growled. We found the river, seeing why he was growling so much. “The storm must’ve broke the ice last night.”

The river was in a huge mess. The water rushing like there’s no tomorrow, if I stuck a hand in there I’d probably be swept away immediately and swallowed by the depths. Massive chunks of ice barreling down the waves.

“Hopefully the nets are still there,” Dianite growled lowly, setting down his stuff by a boulder. We all did the same while he told us to stay put just in case.

He was nearly close to the water, trying to see through the surface until he jumped back and ran back towards us, shouting “hide!” We all hid behind the boulder, Dianite peering around it. His hair and scales stood on end while his ears folded back in agression.

“What is it?” Tucker asked. None of us had addressed the fact that he left and nearly died. He knew he was in trouble anyway.

#Mianite Wilderness #Wilderness #tom syndicate #tucker jericho #Sonja Firefoxx #Jordan Sparklez #Dianite #Poison Arrow #a really bad chapter summary

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ganymedesclock · 7 years

Note

For the fic prompts: Allura and Pidge bonding over girly things.

Anonymous said:For the prompts: some kind of transformation and Pidge?

I’m just gonna…. staple these boys together. And somehow this became 2,600+ words… other fics are probably not going to be this long.

It wasbaseball-sized, smelled a bit like a car air freshener, and looked like theugliest, rock-hard avocado Pidge had ever witnessed in her life.

She liftedher eyes to Coran, poised expectantly for a reaction, and had to wonder if hewas pulling her leg here.

Supportingevidence: it certainly wouldn’t be the first or last time. Opposed: feignedenthusiasm wasn’t really his style. Usually if Coran was chewing someone out hemade it pretty dang clear.

Whichmeant, he was in fact serious.

She weighedthe… thing in her hand, ran a thumb over the bumpy-smooth texture and trieddesperately to assemble some kind of appropriate reaction. Figure out even whatan appropriate reaction was supposedto be.

“…Coran,what is this?”

“It’s aLierkulian, obviously!” Pidge wanted to sulk at that tone- no it’s not obvious, yeah we all know, you andyour intergalactic space kingdom of ten thousand years ago, sorry alien geologywasn’t standard Garrison curriculum- but seemingly Coran didn’t even mean itbadly, practically shining with his accomplishment.

Allura eyedCoran, looking to Pidge with what the green paladin had come to recognize asher ‘diplomacy’ smile- just a little bit fixed, and just a little bit humoring.“…The Lierkulian was an incredibly rare flower even ten thousand years ago. Itwas… one of Altea’s main exports. A single flower could fetch incredibleprices.”

“And I gotthis one for practically a song! That secretary was using it as a paperweight.No idea even what it was. Thisflower’s been called the jewel of Altea, you know!”

“…Oh.” Shestudied the lump a little more carefully. It… was sort of onion-shaped, now that she was looking at it, and auniform dull orange color. “…So are we selling it?”

Allura’sexpression darkened. Not angrily- but hurt, and that was frankly worse. Coran’sexpression didn’t slip as far as a frown, but she could watch the enthusiasmdrip from his face.

Pidge wavedher hands as if the sudden change in mood was a cloud of flies that she wastrying to keep from her face. “Sorry! I just meant- …what are we even going todo with a dead flower? I mean, if it was ten thousand years ago, isn’t itrotten by now?”

Coran, atleast, was quick to latch onto the change in tone. “Not remotely! These bulbsstay dormant until they reach a suitable growing environment. This one could’vecome from a vine on Altea itself and simple traveled from place to place eversince, waiting for its chance.”

She lookedat the bulb with new eyes. Or- tried to. It still looked an awful lot like arock. “…Cool,” she offered, for lack of a better thing to say, and tried tohand it back.

NeitherCoran nor Allura moved to take it.

“…You want me to have it? Isn’t this-you know, partof home for you guys?”

The look onAllura’s face in particular was briefly vindicating, but mostly sad. “We…” hereyes darted towards Coran, suggesting maybe this was not a ‘we’ as much as a‘one of us’, “…thought you would like to try taking care of it.”

Pidge wasreminded, briefly, but with great intensity, of the time two of her aunts haddeterminedly ganged up on her and tried to talk her into holding a baby. “Noway. I mean- seriously, I’m going to find some way to get this thing killed, Iswear, and it isn’t like we just have a backup of these guys, what do I knowabout gardening? What if I-” She tried to swallow, finding her throatincredibly dry all of the sudden. “…This is your guys’ special thing, and Ijust know I’m going to ruin it somehow.”

“Not a lotof faith from the paladin of forest, there.” Coran’s tone was glib, but she really didn’t appreciate it, nor thelook he was giving her.

“Are youguys picking on me because I didn’t want to go to that jungle village witheverybody else? I did that whole thing with Ryner on Olkarion, didn’t I?Keith’s the fire paladin and you’re not making him carry candles everywhere.”

“Pidge,”something in Allura’s tone stopped Pidge from firing the reply she was goingto. “We’re just asking you to try. Coran and I will help. And this should be…much more to your liking than open wilderness.”

And thatwas… pretty much the end of that, leaving a very sullen Pidge sweating in acastle greenhouse she hadn’t even known they’d had. And sweating she was- Coran had actually shed some layers forthe occasion, changing into a sleeveless top. It was so humid, even knowingthey were on a climate-controlled spaceship didn’t stop her from swatting atthe first itch she got in anticipation of bugs that weren’t there.

It was alarge, low room, with six different bays with different colored soil andnumerous planters. A few were occupied- the vast majority was barren.

“Unfortunately,we couldn’t save most of the specimens the Castle kept- most of it held up justfine for ten thousand years, but reserve power cut the gardening systems.” Herested a hand on a pot containing a huge, drooping fern whose otherwiseunremarkable leaves were shot through with cyan veins, his head bowed slightly.“Unfortunately, there wasn’t much we could save. The rest was so overgrown itwould’ve killed these plants too if we’d left it.” For a moment, something wasetched on his expression- untold years, wear, and loss. It’d probably been him,to uproot all the dying plants- he wouldn’t make Allura do it.

The thoughtof him, in here alone, ripping up the stems of flowers and fruit vines thatwere extinct everywhere else in the galaxy, made Pidge’s grip on the Lierkuliantighten protectively.

“The goodnews,” Coran’s tone picked up suddenly and sharply, “we already have a plantercalibrated to the acidity and marshy soil that Lierkulian flowers thrive in,and setting up the trellis for it is as easy as,” he motioned grandly at theconsole, stepping back to let Pidge peer at it.

Her Alteanwas still… basic, really. It had been picking up speed since she’d moved pastthe hostile animal unit, certainly, but to her surprise, that had been a fairlysolid beginning- most of the letters were represented effectively by someunpleasantly toothy thing or another. She had no idea how Coran spelled ‘Lierkulian’,but, she could guess from a few of the characters, and selected it from thelist with a moment’s deliberation, looking up to Coran for approval once thestructure materialized in the pot.

“Marvelous!Now it just needs to be planted.”

“Right. Sothe system takes care of that, too, right?”

“Oh no,you’re not getting out of this that easily,” Coran wagged a finger. “This one’sset to manual. The Lierkulian is a princess among plants. You have to treat itlike one!”

And that,it seemed, was Coran’s motto. It had to be watered just so, at the proper times. The temperatures of its cell had tobe adjusted. Pidge’s day, in incremental chunks, was set by the timeline ofthis singular plant. Breakfast- watering. Afternoon training, leisure time,personal projects- and a second watering, turn the heat up to simulate midday.At night before she went to bed, she had to go turn the temperature back downagain, cold but never too cold. Andit grew quickly, so the trellis had to be adjusted, frequently- and manually(of course). The less said about the fertilizer, the better. And if anythingwas wrong, it felt like Coran would materialize at her heels in seconds,usually reading her some dusty Altean document about proper gardening proceduresince her comprehension wasn’t good enough to power through dense paragraphs.Gardening, it seemed, was becoming the background radiation of her life and shewas starting to hold it against Coran, big time.

He not onlyrefused to turn the automated system on, it seemed he’d disabled it on somehigher level than the systems inside the greenhouse itself. She probablycould’ve still cheated, if she really wanted to- but a part of her was takingthis resentment to the plant itself.

“All right,listen,” she’d declared, one day after a mission had left her with three newbruises and her entire body faintly aching, to an audience that consisted nowof a single ivory-colored stalk and two leaves, “one of us is going to blinkfirst, here, and it’s not me. You got that?”

Lance stuckhis head in the greenhouse. “You talking to your plant?”

“It’s not my plant.”

He studiedher, briefly, in that moment. “Uh-huh. Sure.”

And afterthat, it seemed inescapable. It was her plant. Hearing it from Lance and Hunkwasn’t too surprising- Coran latched onto it like a matter of personal pride. Itwasn’t too surprising even to hear Keith pick up on calling it “Pidge’sflower”- something had shifted, when or how she wasn’t sure but somehow it wasmore common to run into Keith around Hunk or Lance than it was to catch himalone. She’d felt a little betrayedthe first time Shiro had tossed off a comment to that nature- he was supposedto be above that- but at that point, she’d more or less had to face the facts:this thing was a fussy, needy little fountain of endless irritation.

But it was her fountain of irritation.

It stilldidn’t look like much- an s-shaped stem that wove haphazardly around thetrellis, weighed down with fat, grayish Christmas balls that were apparentlybuds. Certainly not a treasure worth its weight in gold the way it had been talkedup.

In a way,she could find that intensely relatable. After several months in space, herhair had started to grow out again- but not really the way that she’d hoped. Ithad passed the serviceable trim that had gotten her into the Garrison any more,that was for sure- but morphed instead into a shapeless jaw-length mess andattempts to neaten out its edges had… it’d ended badly. She’d ended up havingLance hack it back to the way it was before, and while it had felt good,briefly, the discarded hair in the garbage…

…She wantedher hair back. Didn’t want to deal with it, didn’t want it awkwardlyhalf-grown. Didn’t mind being Pidge- “Pidge” was a Voltron paladin, wasimportant, was acknowledged, was still agirl, because she said so, because she chose that- but somewhere along thelines, the fire that had driven her into the Garrison wasn’t enough to keep herwarm any more.

She stillwanted to find her family. If someone- if anyonetold her to give up on that she’d show them the business end of her bayard in aheartbeat- but… people couldn’t live on that. Just determination.

She wasforced to concede there was a point where the rest of her life didn’t want tojust sit there in a closet waiting until she found Matt and her dad. And itfelt like a small betrayal, but she couldn’t really let it go.

It waslate, and she had to adjust the temperature again. Almost mechanically, Pidgefound her way to the greenhouse, her laptop tucked under her arm. She’d gottenused to the humidity, and it was almost nice sometimes, compared to how sterilethe rest of the castle’s air could feel.

The firstthing she saw was Allura in her pjs- the long blue robe over the white-and-pinknightgown, cascading to floor length.

The nextthing was the fist-sized starburst of color on… her plant.

Anythingshe might’ve said to Allura was lost at the sight of the Lierkulian’s bloom. Itwas an almost indescribable shade of blue- deepblue, not like the sleepy cyan lights of the pot that contained it. Layers andlayers of folded petals like a rose but long, thin strands dangling from itshead. She stepped closer, and the color shifted with the light, looking nowmore of an iridescent green.

Allura’sexpression was very soft. Her head was turned towards Pidge, but she hadn’ttaken her eyes off the flower.

“I didn’tknow it was ready to bloom.” Pidge ventured into the silence, peering closer.Several of the other buds were starting to split open, little glimpses of thatshimmery blue-green.

“You did anexcellent job.” Allura’s tone was neutral, rather matter-of-fact.

A contentedfeeling crept all the way to Pidge’s toes. “Yeah, I guess this stuff’s not toobad, since I can do it indoors.”

Allurahummed softly. There was slight movement near her hair- she wasn’t alone. Plattdangled on her shoulder, dozing, snuggled against the side of her neck. Theother three were nowhere to be seen- elsewhere in the castle, maybe.

She lookedback to the flower. There was something oddly sentimental about it, the ideathat this thing had been hiding that beautiful color the entire time. She saidsomething to that nature.

“On Altea,these flowers grew in acidic swamps that could habituate very little otherlife. The Lierkulian was the exception- one that learned how to flourish inadversity.”

There wassomething about the way that Allura spoke- watching Pidge out of the corner ofher eye as she did- that made Pidge wonder. They hadn’t really sat down andtalked about too much of Pidge’s history- Allura knew about her family, andabout her pretending to be a boy when she met them. The comment seemed directedat her.

“…Well, atleast the flower can be pretty and tough at the same time.”

Alluraraised silvery eyebrows. In that moment, Pidge took her in- the dress, the longhair- delicate-looking fingers and hands studded with calluses.

“Okay so you’ve got that down to a science but Idon’t even know if I can grow my hair out, with everything we deal with.” She’dhad long hair, before- she knew how much of a pain it could be to take care of.How Allura found the time- maybe Altean hair was just magical or something. “Idon’t even know if I want to. It’s convenient like this, and…”

And it waspart of her brother to hold on to. Like the glasses. Like the other parts of a ‘disguise’she didn’t need any more that were still important.

She becameaware Allura was watching her, with a rather odd look- hands pressed togetherand fingers against her lips as if trying very ineffectively to hide the very wide grin the princess was sporting. “What’sthat look for?”

“You don’thave to grow your hair longer to do something with it.”

Part ofPidge wanted to hesitate- this sounded like Allura trying to rope her into amakeover. But on the other hand…

“…What did you have in mind?”

It was verysatisfying to watch Keith do a double-take over breakfast. Shiro hadn’t saidanything when she ran into him in the hall earlier, but smiled, in a slightlyknowing manner.

Hunk was alittle more concerned. “Do alien flowers do that? Is that a thing that’ssupposed to happen?”

“Theflowers, no, not directly, but indirectlyI suppose they did contribute to a few court fashions… I’m surprised we stillhad a bottle of the dye around.” Coran turned his head to study the effect. “Nota bad look, number five.”

A thick,shimmery, blue-green stripe wound down the right side of Pidge’s head, flickingoutwards with the rest of her hair. “Thanks, Coran. But I think we can let thecastle take care of the Lierkulian from now on. I don’t know if gardening’sreally my thing.”

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Pidge #Allura #readmore #leonawriter #Ganymede Fic Tag

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hysterialevi · 5 years

Text

When the Devil Cries pt. 11

Author’s note: A bit shorter than the other chapters, but I hope you enjoy it anyways :)

From Arthur’s POV

MIDNIGHT

OUTSIDE SAINT DENIS

“Hurry!” Hosea urged, pointing ahead. “This way! We’ll loose ‘em in the trees!”

Snapping my horse’s reins, I rode behind Eddie and Dutch to make sure there were no more assassins followin’ us as we bolted through the marshlands, never looking back.

Even now, we could still hear gunshots thundering in the distance along with police whistles blaring loudly, and we had no idea if any of them had tailed us out of the city.

Christ, I thought to myself. What a goddamned mess.

Not only did that gala go up in flames faster than a match thrown in moonshine, we also made a new, unknown enemy tonight...and killed about a third of ‘em, from what it looked like.

Who the hell were those people? I wondered. Why did Atticus want Eddie dead so much?

He weren’t no outlaw like his daddy was. And judging by how little Eddie knew about Rose’s gang, I doubted he was even involved with their criminal activity in the first place.

Eddie was nothin’ but an innocent soul who got caught in the middle of this crossfire all because of another man’s actions...and he nearly paid for it with his life today.

I was just glad that I had been there for him. If I hadn’t-- well...I didn’t even wanna think about that.

Slowing down to a halt, the four of us stopped next to a nearby swamp as our horses’ hooves dragged through the soupy mud, giving us a chance to catch our breaths. It seemed like we had finally lost the assassins, and for the first time in a while, the air around us was actually quiet.

We had escaped.

For now.

“...Goddammit, Arthur!” Dutch cursed as he climbed down his horse, checking around to make sure we were truly alone. “What happened to ‘our guns stay holstered?”

I got off my own mount, gesturing to Eddie who had drifted away from the group slightly, lowering my voice so he couldn’t hear us.

“They was gonna kill him, Dutch!” I whispered through gritted teeth.

The older man shrugged.

“So?”

I fell silent at that, completely taken aback by the response.

I mean, I knew Dutch wasn’t as close with Eddie as I was -- and the boy didn’t even know his real identity -- but I still expected him to show at least some sympathy.

Hell, it was because of Dutch’s sympathy that he took me in as a kid. Without him, I woulda lived the rest of my limited time in this world as some street orphan, and I would’ve never been where I was now.

What happened to Dutch?

Picking up on my surprise, the man lowered his head in an apologetic manner and softened his tone somewhat, glancing over at Eddie who was now sitting on a fallen tree log, unsure of what to do with himself.

“Listen,” Dutch said sternly. “I know he’s your friend, Arthur, but we can’t afford to make sacrifices like this.”

I wasn’t convinced. “So you woulda just let him die?”

Dutch held up a finger, his expression sharpened with annoyance. “...Now it ain’t like that, Arthur. And you know it. But we’re a gang. We have priorities. And that boy ain’t one of them!”

Hosea jumped in before things could get more heated, offering some pragmatism.

“To be fair,” he added, still sitting on his horse, “a shootout most-likely would’ve commenced anyway. I mean -- good God, did you see how many assassins were in that gala? ...And I thought we was well hidden. Though, I’m happy to announce not everything went wrong. Despite all that bloodshed, we still made off with a decent chunk of money. Perhaps not as much as we were anticipating, but enough that I’d call tonight a success.”

Dutch crossed his arms. “I suppose there’s that, at least.”

I sighed out of fatigue, looking around the gloomy marsh. “Well...what happens now?”

Hosea offered some suggestions. “I assume your friend lives in Saint Denis?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Not too far from the place we just burned down, actually.”

“Well, he can’t go back home now. Not for a while, anyway. His house will be the first place those assassins check. He’ll have to stay somewhere else. Does he have any family he could contact?”

“No.” I replied.

“Well, we can’t bring him back to camp,” Dutch reminded. “We can’t risk those assassins finding out where we are.”

I thought about it for a moment, my head perking up once an idea struck me.

“...I’ll stay with him.” I said.

Both Dutch and Hosea looked at me in confusion.

“We’ll camp out in the wilderness for a while,” I explained. “Move around a bit until things calm down in Saint Denis. It ain’t the safest option, but it’s all we got.”

Dutch shook his head. “We don’t have time for this, Arthur. We need to focus on hitting that bank.”

“We ain’t hittin’ that bank anytime soon, Dutch,” I countered. “The law will be swarmin’ all over the city after what happened tonight.”

“...He’s right,” Hosea agreed. “And besides, it’ll give us more time to plan. After all, this bank is a lot more fortified than the one in Valentine. We need to make sure we’re absolutely ready before robbing it. In the meantime, Arthur can keep an eye on Mister Ryan. Make sure he doesn’t get ambushed again.”

Dutch considered the point for a minute, his dark eyes never leaving mine as the gears turned in his head.

I could tell the man wasn’t happy with me for getting involved in a war that weren’t even ours to fight, and honestly, I understood exactly where he was comin’ from.

The gang had enough problems trying to avoid the Pinkertons and O’Driscolls. Not to mention Leviticus Cornwall was tearin’ this country apart just to find us...and now, ‘cause of me, we also had to worry about whoever the hell these assassins were. And more importantly -- who sent them.

I mean, someone had to be at the head of those maniacs. The stunt they pulled at the gala wasn’t something you just came up with overnight, and considering how organized their attack was, it was pretty clear that they had some type of leader. My only question was who.

Thatcher obviously didn’t send them. And Atticus was too far away to contact them so quickly. That meant there had to be a third shadow lurkin’ around somewhere...and I doubted they’d give up here. Great. As if we needed more people hunting us down.

Letting out an exhausted breath, Dutch finally gave in and remounted his horse, slowly beginning to make his way out of the marsh.

“Very well,” he said. “I suppose we don’t have much choice. I’m headin’ back to camp. Hosea, you should do the same. Though, it’ll be best if we ride separately. As for you Arthur...” Dutch paused, his gaze traveling to Eddie, “...just keep the boy safe. Otherwise, all o’ this will have been for nothing.”

I gave him a firm nod, bidding both of them farewell.

“I intend to.”

“Then let’s get moving. We’ll avoid Saint Denis for a few days. Keep a low profile while the city’s on high alert. In the meantime, you get that boy far away from here...and be careful. If those assassins were willing to attack him like that in the city...imagine what they’ll do in the wilds. For now though, just stay safe.”

“Good luck, Arthur,” Hosea said. “Hopefully, when you and the boy return, you’ll both be in one piece.”

I waved goodbye. “That’s the plan.”

Breaking into a sprint, both Dutch and Hosea galloped to safety, the two of them disappearing into Lemoyne’s swamplands before diverting their paths. It was still somewhat early in the night, and so far, I hadn’t noticed any stray lawmen or assassins skulking about...so they should’ve been able to get back home just fine before the sun came up.

I couldn’t lie...part of me felt like an absolute idiot and a burden for bringing this sorta trouble to the gang.

My job was to help Dutch and Hosea keep our people alive. To make sure we was safe, and we was fed. And yet, within the past week, everything I’d managed to do had been the complete opposite.

Not only was I freely giving my money away to a theater that had nothin’ to do with us, I was also wasting my time falling in love with some boy who was better off without me anyway -- when I could’ve been focusing on earning more cash for the camp. All because of my own, selfish desires.

I dragged a hand down my face, thinking back to the shootout.

Was I doin’ the right thing? I questioned. Or was I simply fanning the flames, drawing even more danger to us?

All I wanted was to protect Eddie from harm. And yet, whenever I was around the boy...trouble only always seemed to follow me.

First, there was Thatcher’s death. Then, there was the theater robbery...and now, we barely escaped with our lives from a goddamned firefight in the middle of a gala. I was hurtin’ this boy more than I was helping him.

And it was all due to the fact that, deep down, some part of me absolutely refused to accept the pathetic outlaw I really was. Almost like...I was tryin’ to be some sorta hero, even though I knew damn well I was just as rotten as the people I killed. And that was the sad truth of it.

But...regardless of whatever regrets I had, or how much I wished we could rewind time, we had come too far to turn back now.

Eddie’s life was in danger, and it was pretty clear to me that these assassins had no intentions on givin’ up anytime soon. If there was any chance that we were gonna get outta this shit-storm alive, we was gonna have to take it together.

All the way till the end.

Bringing myself back to reality, I paused for a moment and thought about what to say before hesitantly wandering over to Eddie, careful not to distress him further.

Obviously, this weren’t the first time I’d been in a shootout -- and I highly doubted it’d be the last -- but I was used to this kinda life. Fights like this sometimes occurred to me on a daily basis.

Eddie, on the other hand...I didn’t imagine he had ever been in something quite like this. And it worried me to think about the damage it was probably doin’ to him. After all, that type of fear stuck with people, and in my experience, it was rarely ever forgotten.

I slowly walked up to the boy, admittedly unsure of how to proceed.

“Hey, Eddie.” I said, taking a seat next to him. The musician let out a shaky breath, his eyes stuck on the muddy ground underneath us.

“...Bloody hell, Arthur...” he whispered, his voice quivering with fear. “...What just happened?”

I sighed, resting my elbows on my knees. “I wish I knew. How you holdin’ up?”

Eddie brought his gaze to me, clearly panicking on the inside even if he didn’t show it.

“I’m...I’m in shock. I’ve never seen so many bodies in one place. And poor Miss Powell. I know I wasn’t exactly fond of the woman, but she didn’t deserve that...” the boy gestured to his suit. “And look at me. Drenched head-to-toe in blood, and it isn’t even mine.”

I hung my head low in guilt, silently cursing those goddamned assassins for everything they put Eddie through tonight.

“Jesus...” I murmured. “I’m sorry you had to see all that, Eddie.”

The pianist combed a sluggish hand through his hair, completely drained of all energy.

“I should’ve known Thatcher wasn’t alone,” he scolded himself. “I should’ve known other men followed with him...but like the naive idiot I am, I endangered all the people at that gala because I couldn’t see the danger I was truly in. Including you. Everyone who got hurt tonight was hurt because of me. I’m such a fool.”

I stared at the disheartened man, honestly a little shocked at how critical he was being of himself. I mean, I knew he’d just been through Hell, but I had never seen him quite so dismayed. Even after we killed Thatcher, the boy held himself together pretty well, and got right back on his feet.

Now though, Eddie just seemed devoid of all hope entirely, and...it hurt to see him like this.

I mindlessly observed the dark, droopy trees around us, doing my best to calm the boy down.

“...While that may be true,” I conceded, “you can’t afford to think like that. Trust me. That kinda mindset will only eat you from the inside out, and it certainly won’t do you no favors. It ain’t gonna be easy, but you need to be strong right now, Eddie. ‘Cause lemme tell you something...”

I turned towards the boy and firmly held his hand in a supportive manner, looking him directly in the eyes.

“Those assassins might’ve caught us off-guard tonight, but the next time they come...we’ll be ready. We’re gonna let them know that they ain’t the ones doin’ the hunting no more, and we’re not gonna go down without a fight.”

I tightened my grip slightly, never looking away from Eddie as I lowered my voice.

“...They’re in our land now.”

Taking in everything I just said, Eddie held my hand back and took a deep breath, appearing a little less shaken up than before. The spark that I had become so familiar with slowly returned to his eyes, and with every passing second, he seemed to relax a bit.

Despite his faith in me however, it was evident that the boy was still hesitant about the whole situation, and he briefly glanced up at the night sky...almost as if he were searchin’ for answers.

Eddie slouched in discouragement, his hand still latching onto mine.

“But...I can’t fight, Arthur. Not like you, anyways. How on Earth am I supposed to combat this?”

“You’ll learn,” I replied confidently. “I’ll teach you.”

The pianist’s head perked up at that and he quirked a brow out of curiosity, silently asking what I meant.

“I already told Mister Kilgore and O’Malley that I’d stay with you,” I explained. “We’ll camp out in the wilds for a few days -- wait for things to cool off in Saint Denis before bringing you back home.”

Eddie frowned, though not in disapproval. “Arthur...you don’t have to--”

“--I know I don’t have to do it,” I interrupted, thinking twice about what I just said. “Actually...no. I do. I’m the one got you in this mess, after all. Them assassins woulda never come for you if I hadn’t killed Middleton. So...it’s only right I get you outta this. And besides, I can’t just leave you now. Much as I hate to admit it, we’re in this nightmare together. And ain’t nothing you can do that’s gonna make me walk away.”

Looking at me with a sense of gratitude, Eddie found himself at a loss for words as the trees gently swayed around us, filling the profound silence of the night with a soft rustling.

There was a certain fondness in Eddie’s deep gaze. One that I’d never seen from anyone else. It was a mixture of admiration and tenderness -- something I rarely ever got from other people -- and the longer his eyes lingered on me, the more he seemed to get lost in his own, somber thoughts.

Before I even had a chance to say anything else though, the boy had cupped both sides of my face and pulled me into a loving kiss, planting his lips against mine as my heart came to a halt.

I froze on the spot, completely paralyzed by bewilderment.

What...the hell just happened?

One minute, I was shooting at an army of assassins and escaping from a burning mansion, and the next, I was sittin’ in the middle of an eerie swamp, finally kissing the man I had foolishly dreamed of for so long right after evading death.

The part that really threw me off though, weren’t the kiss itself. It was the motive behind it.

Unlike my past experiences, there was no lust involved here. No hunger. No craving. It was simply a gesture of affection, and it was Eddie’s subtle way of sayin’ he needed me.

I...didn’t know if that were true. In fact, I was probably about the last thing he needed, but the poor kid had deluded himself into believing I was a good man worth stayin’ loyal to.

Despite how wrong it felt though, I also couldn’t deny that I had been wanting this for quite a while now. Eddie was definitely one of the best men I’d met in years, and the fact that, out of all people, he had fallen in love with me...well, I guessed my luck hadn’t run out just yet.

My only fear...was thinkin’ about when it would.

Breaking the kiss, Eddie pulled back slightly and bashfully glanced away, speaking just above a whisper as he recomposed himself.

“...Thank you, Arthur. I genuinely don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t met you.”

I let out a light chuckle. “You’d be dead.”

Eddie returned the laugh, beaming warmly at me. “That I would.”

Rising from the log, I helped Eddie up and whistled for my horse, guiding the boy to his own before mounting up and preparing to leave. As much as I wished we could’ve stayed here longer, it weren’t gonna be long before either the law or more of those assassins showed up, and I didn’t wanna get caught in another shootout.

Climbing onto the brute horse, Eddie took a seat and patted Bullet’s neck, earning a friendly neigh from the animal.

“So,” he said, “have you got a plan in mind? You know this land better than I do.”

I gestured outside the swamp, weighing our options.

“Well, the further we are from Saint Denis, the better. I’m thinkin’ we can head to a town called Valentine in New Hanover. It’s pretty far from here, and there’s lots of space to hide in.”

I glanced at Eddie’s bloodstained suit, pausing my train of thought.

“...Though, maybe it’s best if we both get cleaned up first. It’ll be easier to go unnoticed when we ain’t drenched in blood.”

Eddie looked around. “Where would we clean up? It’s not as if we can just pay for a bath in Saint Denis. Besides, these are the only clothes I have at the moment.”

I snapped my horses reins, leading Eddie out of the marsh as we trotted side-by-side.

“Follow me,” I instructed. “We’ll find a river, or a lake, or somethin’ to wash up in. At least for now. There’s a town just west of here called Rhodes. You can take a proper bath at the saloon once we get there. As for clothes...I think I’ve got some spare shirts in my saddlebag. They might be a bit big for you, but we can always buy some more later on.”

Eddie nodded and picked up his pace, riding alongside me as the morning sun just began to peek over the horizon. “Sounds good.”

I grinned at him. “Then let’s the get the hell outta here.”

#red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #arthur morgan #eddie ryan #oc #fanfic #story

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