River Tam: Fifty Things
By: DemonClowSorceress
Number fourteen is my first solo, and who better to showcase than our lovely loony Reader, River Tam!
Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly, Serenity or anything else in that series.
#1 - Ramble
Speaking was difficult, but they always tried to understand.
#2 - Tests
Handing over the completed quiz, she couldn't help smirking.
#3 - Brain
It's a dangerous thing, especially once they'd done what they done to hers.
#4 - Training
They kept her going until she could react without thinking. Then they taught her how to kill.
#5 - Jayne
A mean-tempered man with big guns, but he didn't really hate her. She could tell.
#6 - Images
Sometimes she saw things clearer than most. Sometimes, she saw them wrong.
#7 - Classmate
It was a dark day when another Academy inmate found River.
#8 - Escape
It was always on her mind.
#9 - Blend
Every etiquette lesson she ever had growing up had prepared her for that moment.
#10 - Wash
She always thought of him when she piloted Serenity.
#11 - Relate
"Nobody knows what I went through."
#12 - Monsters
She knew better than anyone that the worst ones were the ones that looked human.
#13 - Miranda
The word haunted her, and she didn't know what it meant.
#14 - Clear
Once the message was finished, the voices finally ceased.
#15 - Shepherd
She found his God book full of fallacies among the dead, but for some reason, River couldn't bear to throw it away.
#16 - Quinn
"You can't name it! You name it, you get attached to it!"
#17 - Academy
Once she stepped inside, River knew something was decidedly wrong.
#18 - Eighteen
Kaylee set the cake down in front of River with a smile. "Make a wish, River."
#19 - Pointe
When she unwrapped the silk shoes, emotion threatened to choke her.
#20 - Zoe
Without her husband, she was slowly fading away. So one day, River grabbed a practice staff and attacked.
#21 - Blue
Those grasping hands reached out through the darkness of her dreams, and not even Simon could save her from them.
#22 - Witch
She knew what it meant, and she knew what was coming.
#23 - Horseback
"Can't take the mule in this time. Can ya ride, lil albatross?"
#24 - Labels
It kept her from peeling off her skin in frustration.
#25 - Albatross
She never had an actual pet name before. Despite the unlucky connotation, she rather liked it.
#26 - Formalwear
Kaylee meant well when she offered, but River's tastes weren't quite so...fluffy.
#27 - Retrieval
"Time to earn your keep, Quinn."
#28 - Infernal
As long as the music played she wasn't broken, crazy River. She was Stravinsky's Firebird until the last notes faded away.
#29 - Coordinates
One hand jumping across keyboards, eyes flitting between five screens, mouthing complex calculations while she held a gun on him. It baffled and impressed the hell out of Mal.
#30 - Mal
Bad in the Latin, but good in heart. A man who only wanted freedom.
#31 - Revenue
Every man thought the pretty dark-haired girl was out of her league. They didn't realize how wrong they were.
#32 - Suicide
"Bullet to the brain, bam squish!"
#33 - Adolescent
Being a teenager was tough enough. With her tendency to react psychotically, River was actually shocked the crew didn't hate her even more.
#34 - Reader
Hearing things that weren't spoken, secret thoughts she wasn't supposed to know. It hurt, but sometimes it was helpful.
#35 - Inara
Illness held her body hostage, but her heart yearned to love.
#36 - Genius
"Time I show my brains aren't broken."
#37 - PAX
All the people died without a care, and she couldn't make them wake up.
#38 - Unleashed
She didn't even think. She just danced and sliced and cut through the monsters who wanted to kill her family.
#39 - Tormentor
"River Tam, as I live and breathe."
#40 - Kaylee
The sister she never had and eventually got, once the boob got his priorities straight.
#41 - Sniper
"C'mon ya little psycho, take the gorram gun and let's go cover the Cap'n."
#42 - Happy
"Shiny," she giggled nervously, twisting her fingers together. "Real shiny."
#43 - Dinosaurs
The plastic creatures were sometimes her only company on the bridge.
#44 - Example
You'd think with all she'd seen, she'd know how to react correctly.
#45 - Simon
He always looked after her, but once she was better, River made sure he got what he needed.
#46 - Trickery
It's saved their collective rears more than once.
#47 - Fear
Their minds were drowning in it, and she relished it.
#48 - Boob
When his daughter started using that insult, Simon knew his sister was to blame.
#49 - Sessions
By their end, she was no longer the girl she'd once been.
#50 - Serenity
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, River felt like she was home.
I rather like where this could go. What about you guys?
Review and let me know!