Behold, another odd pairing! :D
I'm doing this as a little side project from my main (and most popular story haha) because I find that Miss Fortune and Shen kind of share a similar past. Both their parents were killed (Shen's father only I think haha) and with Sarah having these night terrors, Shen could be of assistance. Of course, it'll have some... copulation later, but it's not purely that. I promise. Yay or nay? :[
A sigh of displeasure came from a woman sitting at the bar before she took another sip from her mojito. She had a hunched posture and ran her hand through her dishevelled red hair. She was dressed in different clothing as opposed to her usual attire. A white blouse with black leather pants. The belt was visible at the midsection.
Miss Fortune, The Bounty Hunter.
This was a fearsome woman whose name was well known in Bilgewater. Ironically, she looked quite the opposite right now. Sarah was troubled. For the past few weeks, she'd been having these… dreams. Night terrors to be precise.
Miss Fortune was a strong woman and certainly no damsel in distress. The only thing that could make her feel this way were memories.
Memories of that night where everything changed.
Memories of her crawling from the burning remains of her home with the remnants of her mother's pistols.
Part of Sarah's mind remained trapped forever in that workshop. Waking nightmares and night terrors would forever torment her, but Sarah endured them with an all-consuming obsession with vengeance.
Eventually… she got it. And yet, she still didn't feel any different. So she did what she did best. Drinking until the demons stopped calling her name.
The woman downed her sixth drink of the evening. Sarah uttered a sound of annoyance when the ice-cubes hit her teeth. She had to get another one.
"Bartender. Hit me again." She said with a swirly hand gesture, showing that the alcohol had certainly taken it's affect.
"Hmm. Maybe I'll just leave you with the bottle instead." The bartender said with a hint of judgement.
Sarah ignored it. Out of all the people, what made the bartender think they were in any place to judge her? She paid them to give her liquor and when someone pays you for something as simple as that, you don't judge, you just do the damn thing.
At least that's what she believed anyway in her inebriated state.
"Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days. The people I meet, always go their separate ways. Sometimes you tell the day, by the bottle that you drink. And times when you're all alone, all you do is think." Sarah sang with a slur as she poured herself her own drink.
The Bounty Hunter observed all around the bar. In one corner, she could see Elise conversing with Zyra who had her head back laughing that resulted in a little spill from her drink while Elise delicately sipped from her wine glass. In another corner was Evelynn with Kayn. The two of them were in front of a glass picture and if one looked close enough, they could see the silhouettes of Evelynn's true form with Kayn's reflection being replaced with Rhaast's. A thud was heard and Miss Fortune saw Talon face flat on the table with his drink spilled. Katarina was laughing at him while pointing before also passing out. Riven came by in her bunny suit, clearly unamused with the present situation before gathering up the empty beer bottles.
It made her feel lonely. Sarah wasn't a shy person, she could easily socialize and often enjoyed it. Tonight she just didn't feel like doing anything. She'd stay on that barstool all night if she could. Miss Fortune chugged her mojito.
"Once I built a railroad, I made it run. Made it race against time. Once I built a railroad, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"
As Sarah prepared another drink, she could hear some approaching footsteps. She assumed this was another prick who was trying to get lucky and she stared ahead with annoyed eyes. The Bounty Hunter took a deep breath.
"You're not going to get any of this honey so piss off." She said.
"I'm not interested in what most people are, Bounty Hunter." A voice said.
It was one she recognised. A monotone voice from a champion every marksman was glad to have on their team. A majority of the time anyway.
Shen, The Eye of Twilight.
Miss Fortune grunted with amusement and finished making her drink. The woman slowly turned around, bringing her drink to her lips as she met his gaze.
"What do you want Shen?" She asked with hostility evident, though her expression was that of a sleepy woman. The woman didn't let him answer. "Wait, don't tell me! The Eye of Twilight stands for balance! He can sense a person's unbalanced mind and doesn't rest until it is restored! Even if it means stalking them to their favorite bar!" She said with a deep voice of mockery.
Shen rose a brow before taking a sip from his water. He gestured with the glass over to a table. Miss Fortune could see Akali, Irelia, and Karma sitting in a booth with Irelia laughing so hard that she had to rest on the shadow ninja for support. Sarah grumbled at this and turned away from Shen. She heard him walk around and take a seat next to her. Miss Fortune rolled her eyes at his refusal to leave her alone.
"Do you want to fuck me?" She asked loudly, not caring if anyone heard.
Shen only rolled his eyes. "No."
"Then leave me alone!" She snapped. "I don't need affection from an emotionless, boring person like you!"
The ninja sighed and Miss Fortune finished what she assumed was her ninth drink of the evening. She needed more. As the woman reached for the liquor, Shen grabbed her arm and she immediately glared daggers at him.
"Perhaps you've had enough for the time being." He said calmly.
Miss Fortune yanked away her arm from his grip. Shen obviously didn't put much effort into keeping her.
"You're one nosy bastard Shen. You and your fucking clan of ninjas just have to be involved in anything that seems to be unbalanced or disturbed. Can't leave those who clearly don't want your help alone huh?" She said.
"Do you enjoy being alone with your troubled thoughts and feelings? It is the worst because you have nowhere to run from them. They just stay in your mind and you can only handle them so much before resorting to unhealthy and bad tactics to drive them away." Shen said.
Miss Fortune knew that drinking heavily when she's troubled wasn't a healthy coping mechanism, and it was worse when being alone. But she didn't know what else to do.
Could she break down and cry? No.
Could she talk to someone about her problems? No.
Sarah refused to put herself in such a vulnerable and weak state. Of course, being seen like this at a bar wasn't such a strong image either, but it did beat crying in the corner.
"Shut up." She said reaching for the bottle.
The woman saw Shen try to stop her again. This time, she grabbed one of her signature guns and aimed it at him. The only visible part of Shen that wasn't covered by the mask was his mouth. It stayed close.
"Clearly the intoxication makes it worse. Only adds more to your anger and arrogance." He said.
Miss Fortune kept that firm glare. The gun began to shake before she lowered it and set it aside. The woman noticed a few of the bars patrons looking at her which made her feel embarrassed. Sarah decided it was time to leave.
"Thanks for the drinks bartender." She said throwing them a fifty-dollar bill. "I'm taking this."
Sarah took the less than half-full alcoholic bottle, putting her guns in their holsters. Shen didn't say anything as she walked to the exit, a little clumsily given her drunk mood.
The Bounty Hunter walked out to the lot of the Bar & Grill, chugging what remained of the liquor before the bottle was empty. She slightly skipped over to the recycling bin, changing her grip on the bottle to the top. Sarah reeled it back.
"Fore!"
She threw the bottle at the bin, but it was short and it shattered on the object with glass going everywhere.
"Ah shit! You suck Sarah!" She said to herself.
Miss Fortune strutted away from the bin. She put her hands into her pockets and returned to a hunched posture as she paced. The woman walked past a few drunks who made some derogatory statements towards her. Miss Fortune didn't respond. Instead, she shot their bottles with one of her guns and continued onward as they exclaimed in terror.
Then she came across a bottle of red wine on the ground. Sarah looked at it with disinterest. She didn't like wine, but figured that she'd take what alcohol she could get. In her tipsy state, the woman accidentally spilled some of it before turning it right side up.
"Goddammit."
Sarah leaned her head back lightly, taking a swig from the bottle. After doing this, she looked at the spillage she made and noticed how brightly red it was.
Suddenly, her mouth went agape with her eyes widening.
…
"Sarah, come over here!"
"What is it dad?"
"Your mother's just finishing up her two pistols! Come and see!"
A young girl with red hair ran into the room where the voice came from. She looked up at the man who squatted down to pick her up. He carried her over to a woman who was polishing two pistols. When this was done, she revealed them to her audience with a smile.
The pistols she had crafted were masterpieces, twin hand cannons of pinpoint lethality and exquisite beauty.
"Wow mom! They're beautiful!" Sarah exclaimed in a juvenile manner given her age.
The adults exchanged smiles at their daughters' words.
…
Miss Fortune closed her eyes for a long time, trying to rid herself of the flashback. During this time, her grip loosened on the bottle and it shattered on the ground. The impact sounded like a gunshot to her.
"No Gangplank! Please! We can talk about this!" The woman said pleadingly.
"Shut the hell up! You would dare deny me what is rightfully mine?! You don't deserve to craft such weapons if you don't have the stomach to use them to their full potential!"
Sarah heard a gunshot in her mind. She blinked at the sound.
"ALYSON!" The man shouted.
"Mommy!" The girl screamed.
"A messy death is your first warning!"
"Run Sarah! RUN!"
Another gun shot was heard. Then another. Then another. Two objects hit the ground with a shatter with heavy footsteps heard leaving the room afterwards.
Sarah felt disoriented. She fell to her knees, crawling lightly forwards. She blinked again… and realized that her arms were different. She was in a white bloody shirt, drenched to the bone from rain in the remains of her mothers' workshop after it was set ablaze. In front, she saw the corpses of her mother and father. She broke down in tears as she cradled their bodies, trying to maintain the false hope that they were only sleeping and would wake up soon.
A thunderclap sounded and it snapped Sarah out of her nightmare. She realized her current position, being supported by her hands and knees on the cold ground. She stood up to a straight posture, but it didn't last long when she slumped her head down.
She cradled her face in her hands, sniffling as a tear escaped her eye. Only one.
"Bounty Hunter?"
Sarah gasped and stopped what she was doing. Her sad expression changed to neutral, though it was hopeless trying to hide that fact that she'd been crying, even for a second. She glared at Shen.
"Just can't leave well enough alone can you?" She said crossing her arms.
"Bounty Hunter, if you would jus-"
"Call me Miss Fortune Shen!" She snapped. "Or don't bother talking to me at all!"
He sighed at her command, but figured he should grant it. She was greatly disturbed right now.
"Miss Fortune… I know how it feels." He said.
The redhead crossed her arms. "How what feels?" She said with clear anger.
Shen's shoulders slumped. "To lose… your parents. The best people in your life."
Her temper flared as she clenched her teeth. Sarah drew one of her pistols and marched towards Shen, pushing him with all her strength against the wall and bringing the pistol to his chin.
"You better watch what you're talking about Shen. You know nothing of me!"
"I know you are troubled by your past." Shen said passively. "I've been down that road as well Miss Fortune."
"Oh so because you think that your parents, or father actually, was killed it automatically means you've been down my road too?!" She snapped. "I think you're just doing this to get lucky!"
Shen was annoyed by her arrogance. "Sarah, the human mind has a primitive ego defense mechanism that negates all realities that produce too much stress for the brain to handle. It's called Denial." He said. "You're doing a good job at showing that against the idea of needing help with it."
"Maybe if you weren't so arrogant, I'd be happy to listen to your words. I don't want to feel like I'm being lectured in fucking grade primary!" Sarah exclaimed.
"At the risk of sounding like the accusation, the only arrogant one here is you. You're holding a pistol to my neck because you'd rather feign shooting me instead of addressing the problem itself."
Miss Fortune said nothing after that for a minute. She just stared him down, hatred and anger evident in her eyes. Despite the urge to shoot, Sarah knew he was right. Finally, she brought the pistol down (again) and put it into the holster. The redhead put some space between herself and the ninja. She looked around, making sure nobody was lurking.
"Oh you're a piece of work Shen. A persistent and nosy motherfucker." Sarah muttered.
"Is that really necessary?" He replied.
Sarah scoffed. "Perhaps you could've picked a better time to address this. I was enjoying myself in there."
The ninja only grumbled to show he disagreed. Sarah placed a hand on her hip before moving her head to get some red strains of hair out of her eyes.
"So… I suppose you have a way to help me with this?" She asked. "After all, I'm sure someone like you wouldn't be doing this unless the only way for it to work is to get in my pants."
This time Shen tilted his head with a glare. Sarah chuckled at this.
"If you want to have these night terrors for the rest of your life then so be it." He said annoyed.
Miss Fortune narrowed her eyes before hearing his monk-like chant. She then widened them when seeing that he was channeling, his hands together with a purple circle at his feet.
"Wait! I was just kidding!" She said running towards him.
He disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving the redhead alone in the dead of night. She kicked against the wall in frustration, but then realized a tied letter was on the ground where he previously was. Sarah reached down to pick up the paper and untied it. A device was attached.
"If you wish, come to my dojo when you are ready to take this seriously. Use the attached object to arrive. Do not be inebriated."
Sarah sputtered at this with a smirk. However, she had been a pain in the ass towards Shen tonight as well. She didn't like the idea of spending time with a man she saw only on the rift, but if this meant that her night terrors would end, or at least lessen in terms of intensity, she'd take it.
She put the note into her pocket and walked off into the night.
