Curse of the Awakened

Chapter 1: Two Years Later...

Author: Welp here it is, first chapter of the new edition to my Rango fan fiction series. I thank SargesGrl12 for letting me use her characters in this crossover and I hope I exceed her expectations!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in Rango nor do I own any of the interpretative characters/Ocs of SargesGrl12. The only things I own are the plot to this fan fiction and my own Ocs.

Strolling down into the local supply depot the familiar ring of the door opening and closing was ever present as I came in. I was a regular at this place and have been for two years and counting. I was a bit hesitant at first, being back in Barstow City after the incident where the abandoned church blew up and my family was pronounced dead. But as I realized that no one would be able to recognize me easily I started to get more relaxed and causal.

"Hey there Jeremiah!" I called with a wave, glad that my friendly acquaintance was there as always.

"Oh, hey Clauds, seems like you couldn't stay away from me for long could you~?" he asked me. I rolled my eyes

"You know very well that I have a boyfriend, Jeremiah. And he doesn't appreciate you flirting with me every time I come in here" I told him. It wasn't very obvious who my significant other was, but he was always with me, hiding in plain sight.

"How does he even know that I flirt with you? I have never once seen the guy" the older boy told me.

"You wouldn't recognize him if you saw him and even if he never came into the shop everyone knows you're a flirt who often gets his ass beat when you hit on a girl who's already been taken" I said to him. Frankly he was lucky to be still alive considering my boyfriend's temper and just how protective he was of me. "Besides I'm not here talk about me and my boyfriend's love life; I want the supplies I ordered" I told him. I glared at him through the blue tinted goggles that were over my eyes as my patience had been growing thin as of late.

"Touchy! You don't need to glare, Clauds," he said, as if he was hurt by my temperament, but I knew he wasn't.

"Jeremiah I have been waiting for a God damn week!" I cried, hitting my fist on his counter. As unfortunate as it was, ever since I became an outlaw with my boyfriend I had gotten a bit more hot-headed and violent than I used to. I had my shy moments but if someone pissed me off I would gladly like to lop their head off. "I want my supplies now" I demanded

"Woah! Clauds you need to calm down, no need to fuss. It twists your pretty little face" he said, lifting his hand towards my head. But before he could even reach it there was a hiss and something lunged at his hand, causing him to quickly retract it. "Jesus Christ! You need to put a muzzle on that thing!" he said, scared out of his wits.

"He's not a THING Jeremiah! He's my partner" I told him, getting edgier. "Now about my supplies-" I started to say, but the shop owner stopped me

"Hey, I didn't say that it wasn't here; I have them in the back. Let me go get them, kay?" he asked before he went to the back of his shop.

"You should've let me kill him" I heard my partner say with a growl

"Jake if I let you do that there's no one else who can bring in the stuff we need" I told him. "Besides, he's just a narcissistic ladies man, he can't do much else" I knew that was how he really was, but, as my boyfriend, Jake got awfully jealous every time I talked to him .

"He could take you away" he stated

"Jake you know I wouldn't leave you for anyone and I be damned if someone tried to make me" I assured him. "You're my boyfriend, and that's not going to change any time soon" I added.

"You can't be too careful these days, Sunshine. One minute we're happily together and the next some idiot tries takin' you away from me" he said with a snort. I was strong and able to protect myself well enough but Jake always had to be the over protective one.

"Hey, I CAN take care of myself you know. I don't need you to come save me every time someone wants to hit on me or take me anywhere" I pointed out.

"And what does it say about me? I'm not about to let some woman show me up, even if she is my mate. Besides, I need to retain my dominance in the relationship after all~" he said to me. He was huffing at first but that playful smirk came up on his face before he started to kiss me on my mouth.

"J-Jake! Not in public!" I whispered to him, my face light pink while his face twisted to displeasure. "Don't give me that look, we've talked about this"

"Woman, I have every damn right to kiss ya and love ya in public. We're mates!" he told me.

"And you forget what humans will do if they see us doing that kind of stuff! They'd separate us" I warned. "You may not like it that you can't kiss me very much when I'm here but you have to deal with it. Humans will not tolerate 'bestiality' and if I try to explain it'll just make me look crazy" I added. I put one of my hands on his body that was curled around my neck and shoulders as my face softened. "I don't want you taken away from me Jake, you know that" he sighed, knowing that I was telling the truth, even if he didn't like it.

"Still doesn't change the fact that I hate not bein' able to love on ya in human public" he said with a snort. He then gently caressed my cheek with his head, causing me to smile as he did so.

"I'm aware Jake, we'll be alone soon enough once I get my stuff alright?" I said to him. He stopped nudging me and nodded right before Jeremiah came back from the back with two small boxes. A smile came to my face as I looked to the boxes

"Here you go Clauds; two full boxes of piano wire, wax and the sharpening stones that you wanted" he told me. I was practically jumping up and down like a kid getting candy as I got my stuff. I looked at it, taking one of the rolls of wire and inspecting it closely as I could with my goggles in the way. "I still have no idea what you use this stuff for"

"They're for my work~" I said with a smirk as I paid more attention to the wire than Jeremiah. I tugged at it a little to make sure that it was really strong and the quality I usually got. I then put it down and picked up one of the stones and checked it's surface.

"Along side the sort of stuff you order with this I'm kind of afraid to know what you actually do with them at work" he said with a nervous laugh.

'Oh you have no fucking idea' I thought to myself, amused at the thought of my secret career that the human was blissfully unaware of. Not that any of the humans who saw me knew nor would they believe me that I was an outlaw of the animal world's wild west. They'd deem me crazy just as they would if I told them that the snake around my neck was my boyfriend. "Anyway, thanks for the wares Jeremiah... but next time be sure to have them ready when I order them" I said a bit sternly before picking my wares up and leaving out the door.

By the time me and Jake got back to our temporary residence the sun was setting and it was close to five o'clock, around dinner time for myself. But I had little interest for food at the moment since I had a bit of 'homework' to do. It wasn't anything school related since I didn't need to go any more and there was no one else to tell me otherwise. No this homework had to do with the actual occupation me and my boyfriend shared.

"Sunshine, we're alone now" Jake told me as he looked around. Before I turned small he always had to check to make sure that there were no humans following me or else things could be complicated. But, once again, there was no one and so there was no need to be paranoid and just get things over with.

"Okay, then you better get down Jake" I said to him. He took no time slithering down my body, much to my slight embarrassment, and then waiting for me to do my magic... literally. I closed my eyes and concentrated as I felt the familiar warm feeling go through my body as light surrounded my neck where my necklace was. "Light Down" I said, instantly wrapping me in light and shrinking me down to the size of a mouse. In the two years of doing this I still had the awe of changing my size and how it didn't rip my clothes any like it would have if I tried to transform into a snake. Thank God for that.

"Alright...now to haul these things inside" I said as I was about to pick them up but my delight-able boyfriend decided to take them into his own coils. I made a face of slight irritation "Hey! Give them back!" I told him.

"Keep yer pants on woman, I'm doin' you a favor" he said to me as he slithered inside our small hideout. It was one of several that we had across the desert and most of them were in towns or cities of human civilization. Even though I mostly lived in the animal world and only came to the Human world for supplies or small pleasure items I liked to stay around humans. I wasn't totally sure why but I guessed it was because I didn't want to lose all of my humanity or something like that.

"I brought those things here I should be the one who lifts them into our hideout" I argued. It wasn't rare that we'd be arguing, in fact it was a common thing with Jake being stubborn, over protective and prideful while I was also stubborn, independent and had an ego. Hell sometimes I even argued with him or brought up something just to piss him off... not sure why but I almost always enjoy it.

"You've done enough fer the day woman, don't start strainin' yerself" he told me. He then put the boxes in one of the corners of the room that happened to be one of the desks that was left there. He then looked over to me with his hellfire eyes. Most would be wetting their pants seeing them but it didn't affect me any more since I was used to it. In fact I had already crossed my arms and looked at him with a displeased expression. "Remember one of the first lessons I taught ya? Don't be strainin' yerself. You don't know what's goin' to go through that there door at any givin' moment" he retold me.

"I know that Jake, you don't have to repeat it like I'm a child" I said; it caused the outlaw to flick his tongue

"Apparently I do" he simply stated. "'Cause you don't seem to get it through yer thick skull that ya can't do everythin' by yerself" he added. He then started to slither towards me, his face a bit stern

"Jake I hardly did anything today" I said, trying to reason with the stubborn diamondback.

"Now I know you be lyin' 'bout that" he said, his features turning more irritated. "And I seem to recall havin' a 'no lyin'' policy" he told me. Before I could answer him his coils wrapped tightly around me, preventing me from easily escaping him. I didn't say anything as he stared at me, his eyes looking around my body as if he was searching for something. He then put his face very close to mine and used his tongue to sniff around me; I knew what he was doing and I knew that I was busted. "Sleeves; roll 'em up"

"Jake-"

"NOW, Claudia" he ordered. Jake wasn't kidding when he said my actual name, causing me to sigh before doing as he asked. When he saw my arms, which were a bit swollen with cuts and bruises, I could feel his whole body stiffen up. He gave me a hardened glance and I, out of habit, looked away from his face, waiting for him to release the anger that I knew was growing inside him. He flicked his tongue out again before he finally spoke after a long while of silence "Let me guess; playin' around with yer wires again, right?" he asked. He had no particular emotion in his voice, but I knew this was just the calm before the storm.

"I wasn't playing with them Jake I was practicing, there's a freggin difference" I told him softly, but not without some temper in my voice. But I should have known that it was only going to get him even more pissed off

"I don't give a GOD DAMN SHIT" he yelled "YOU were still usin' 'em without proper protection!" he said. I nearly winced but managed to keep myself from showing any sort of fear or submissiveness. I could feel his gaze harden while his metal rattler went under my chin and forcibly made me look to him. "Look at me Claudia. Do you know how DANGEROUS that is?! If I hadn't shown up when I did you would've kept 'practicin' till you were nearly unconscious from blood loss!" I knew he was just worried as hell, but even then with the yelling my nose was twitching. There was no way in hell I was going to start getting misty-eyed in front of him.

"I KNOW my limits Jake, I was going to stop!" I told him

"WHEN would that be exactly? When you were light headed?! When yer vision started to get blurry?!" he kept asking.

"I would have stopped BEFORE that and you KNOW it Jake! I'm not some fucking idiot who practices till she drops!" I yelled. "DON'T YOU HAVE ANY FAITH IN ME AT ALL?!" I cried, which finally got him to get off my back for a moment since his head reared backwards. To question a mate's faith and truth was a big thing for him, especially since he, apparently, had a bad experience with someone else whom he thought would be his mate. I wasn't told all the details, only that it hurt him a lot and made him hate the concept of love and every sort of liar and fraud in the world. So to challenge this, to challenge his faith towards me was something that, I was sure, making him rethink his strategy.

"I ain't sayin' that I don't have faith in you, woman" he told me, squeezing me slightly. "I'm sayin' that you need to be more God damn careful and considerate of yer health". His head came down to me again but his face, though not very evident, softened a little and his coils loosen a bit. "Now take yer arms out so I can see 'em" he told me, his voice less harsh, though he was still acting a bit stern. I complied and let me fully see my arms. I had been training all day that day while Jake was looking around for some form of work and had been repeatedly doing so through the entire week waiting for my supplies. He came back empty handed.. er tailed again and he was already mad and frustrated enough as it was, I didn't want to piss him off even further.

Once he got a good look at my arms his black tongue came out and flicked at them for a few moments before it started to slide over the wounds. Every time I got hurt I knew Jake would use his own saliva to coat the wounds so they'd heal faster. It didn't take all that long and soon my arms were shining with the coat of saliva that would soon dry and heal the wounds. Granted I usually could heal fast myself but... well with the fact I expose myself to the wounds for an excessive amount of time it takes longer for me to heal ESPECIALLY since this had been excessive for an entire week.

"There, yer wounds should be better in a little bit" he said, his coils now entirely slacking so that I could freely move around in them. He now looked like he hadn't just been utterly pissed but was content

"Alright... thanks Jake" I said before turning around and attempted to get out of his coils; but he only piled them higher. "..."

"Where the hell you think yer goin'?" he asked me and before I even opened my mouth he cut me off "Yer not goin' anywhere, you need to rest" he told me. He then brought his coils in so that I was in a wall of coils being overlooked by his head.

"Jake I have replace-"

"Woman, it can wait" he cut me off again. He then snuggled me close to him "Just be a good little girl and stay with me fer now" he said. He nudged me slightly with his nuzzle; meaning his 'caring' and 'loving' side was showing now.

"I thought you told me that I should always be prepared for anything... and to do that that means I need to replace and re-forge my weapons" I said. Jake just snorted and held me closer

"Did you forget that I'm here? I'll protect ya from whatever may come in. 'Sides you DID say that we'd have time for ourselves after you got yer stuff" he rubbed my cheek some more before he finally managed to give me a kiss. "And I say that happens now~" he told me with a smirk. I would have protested about how I could take care of myself but I decided just to say 'fuck it all' and let him have his way. The fact of the matter anyway was that I was being too prideful with protecting myself and proving it to Jake and everyone else. It was that reason why I kept using the wires all this and last week so that I could become more confident in myself. I hated relying on others, especially Jake cause not only did it make me look weak but it made Jake all the more cockier in attitude about being the 'dominate' in our relationship.

I realized that, perhaps, I was trying too hard at trying to prove myself and needed a break... that and my sister has been telling me the same thing for nearly all of the time I've been with Jake. Realizing this I sighed

"God, fine" I said "I know you won't let me go even if I did fight you tooth and nail" I admitted. I was strong, yes and I had supernatural powers but Jake wasn't without his own power as well. Turns out that the dark power he used against my brother two years ago was something he had all along... we just didn't know exactly how to let it out. Every once in a while in a huge fight Jake would be able to show it off but then it would quickly disappear. We were still trying to find the kinks of the mysterious force so that Jake could use it whenever he wanted.

"Damn right" Jake said with a dark chuckle before snuggling with me more "Now yer all mine tonight~" he started to kiss me lovingly in small bits.

"As long as you don't do anything funny then yea, I am" I said, face blushing. He only rolled his eyes

"When you gonna man up and finally mate with me, woman? It's been nearly two damn years and I've STILL got nothin' from ya" here we go again. I hated this discussion because it was about the most uncomfortable subject for me to talk about: sexual intercourse. "I'm gettin' a bit tired of waitin'"

"I-I know Jake... I-I'll be ready soon I promise..." I said, looking to the side with a blush. I only heard him snort; probably knowing that was going to be my answer.

"I ain't pressurin' ya, Sunshine. But I can't keep my instincts to mate forever; and when they let loose I won't be able to stop myself from fuckin' ya when time comes" he said bluntly. It was actually nice of him to wait ALL that time for me to finally fess up and I felt that I was nearly ready to have sex with him... just not at that moment. Besides that would mean I'd have to go into snake form and I STILL haven't gotten the hang of that damn form yet.

Before I could properly answer Jake there was a creek near the entrance of out hide-a-way, causing the snake to stiffen and tighten his grip around me. He started to hiss and shake his metal rattler, trying to look menacing and warn whoever was there away. But all there could be heard was a little squeak before a small brown head slowly popped through the doorway sheepishly.

"U-um..." started the high, yet soft, voice that I already knew. Of course all I had to see the small glasses on the nuzzle to know who it was.

"Milo? Is that you sweetheart?" I called, causing a small squeak before the upper half of a very young kangaroo rat showed himself through the doorway. He looked scared out of his wits; the poor little baby~ "Oh Milo!" I cried as I instantly wrestled my way out of Jake's coils to the young child. I could hear Jake groan but I ignored it as I gave Milo a big hug. "How have you been sweety? It's been about a month!"

"I-I know. You gave me a lot o' quids* you did, miss" he said in his adorable British accent. "Enough so I didn't go around stealin' a-and I made it last!"

"That's wonderful, Milo!" I said with a proud smile. I adored Milo so much; not just because he was fucking adorable but also because he was sweet and was someone I couldn't keep away, much to Jake's displeasure. "So what are you here for tonight? It's rather late for you to be up" I noted

"Y-yes well... you see I got a letta for you and M-Mr. Jake" he told me, taking a white envelope out of his ragged and long dark green jacket. "Not sure w-who it's from but they have a job for you guys..." he added. I had to admit Milo was very useful for Jake and myself. The young rat (whom I speculated to be around eight in human years) was just an orphan who had resorted to collecting information and stealing. But despite that he was very gentle, kind and shy and was often bullied by others.

"Oh thank you sweety, this is just what we need!" I told him with a pat on the head. He blushed slightly as I turned to Jake with a big smile, he only rolled his eyes though, not really impressed. I ignored him as I fumbled in my cloak and finally took out one of the many pouches I had. "Here Milo, for your trouble" I said, giving him the payment. We did promise him shelter and payment for his deeds... well at least I did, Jake didn't want to take him in but I kind of forced the issue.

"Th-that's mighty kind of you Miss Claudia" he said, stuttering and fumbling with the scarf around his neck. "I-I really wish to repay you both"

"There's no need, you help us a lot, Milo" I told him. "C'mon inside, we were about to eat and get some rest, okay?" I said to him. But he hesitated and looked to Jake who was giving him the evil eye, much to MY distaste.

"Just git in here and shut the door, yer lettin' all the cold air in" was all he said in a tone that made it seem like he was angry.

"Y-yes sir!" Milo said as he came in and shut the door before we went on with our evening that was filled with cuteness overload and an extremely jealous outlaw.

It wasn't a few days after that did we leave to find our job, only to come to find out it was in a place in that very city; a place that I really did not wish to return to again.

"I don't like this Sunshine. If it's makin' us go HERE of all places" Jake said as he stared up to the ruined church building that had been almost destroyed two years ago after my fight with my older brother.

"I know Jake but we don't have much of a choice" I told him. I put up my lower mask and lowered my goggles before going inside since I knew it was going to be really dusty and there was quite a wind around. "Milo, you can go back home if you want" I said to him, who was standing outside the church

"N-no I'm alright Miss Claudia" he simply said. I didn't like it that he was there with us on a potentially dangerous job, but Jake didn't seem to care for it at all.

"Just let 'em be. He can handle himself" my boyfriend told me. I would have objected but we had little to no time to really dilly dally. We had a job to kill some idiot who was trying to use the abandoned church as a hideout because he got himself caught up in something he shouldn't have. Now our current employers wanted him dead and had, apparently, put our payment in the mail. We didn't' think much of it since we were both notorious and people knew we always got the job done. But we never would have expected that this sort of thing would end up sending all of us into an adventure that would bridge entire worlds together.

*Quids: British pounds.

Author: Yaay so I got this up before I go to bed... since this weekend I'll be doing two of my essays and a little research on another so I don't know how much I'd be able to get done after then xD. Really hope you guys enjoyed this since next chapter the parallel madness begins!