Long story short, this is like campilation of one-shots for my OCs that are in Archeaologist of Humanity's story, What I've Done. Go check it out, its nothing professional, but its something. Oh, and half if not more of the credit goes to him, else I wouldn't be here writing stuff, and this. So, cheers! I think my writing has slowly been improving, so this is also like practice for me. Pretty sure I got a bit edgy at the ending though. Er, enjoy.
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Birds chirped and leaves rustled as both animals and monsters roamed through the forest. A figure wearing a cloak that blended in with the colors of their surroundings could be seen making their way through the forest, seeming to be in search for something, or perhaps someone.
A howl tore through the silence as a pack of Fenrir bounded over to the figure, circling them and growling. The figure got into a defensive stance and raised their fists warningly, light glinting off of the metal gauntlets that covered their hands. The figure growled warningly, flexing their hands as if they were claws—which they might as well have been due to the pointed finger tips of the gauntlets.
Argent pulled down her hood, freeing her dark locks of hair and revealing a pair of odd black and silver ears protruding from her head as she gazed sharply at the opposing monsters, "This is the territory of the Gem Clan," she grumbled, "leave." She said forcefully. One of the fenrirs who looked like the leader of the pack snarled in response, seeming to issue a challenge. Argent narrowed her eyes, gaze focusing on the assumed pack leader.
She crouched into a stance, beckoning with a clawed gauntlet. The fenrir snarled, pouncing forward in response. Argent clasped her hands together and slammed her fists into the ground, channeling earth magic and causing a column of earth to rise, slamming into the fenrir mid-pounce and sending it sailing over dark-haired girl's head.
The two forest creatures went back and forth, trading swipes and blows, pounces and kicks as the two were locked in a stalemate.
One of the monsters finally lost patience and charged forward, maw open and about to rip the flesh off the girl's shoulder.
"Oh no you don't!" Someone yelled as the owner of the voice leaped from one of the trees, using another fenrir as a jumping board, launching forward and kicking the attacking fenrir's head, causing the beast to trip and slide on the ground, head digging into the dirt as a young white-haired girl proudly balanced on its head. A pair of white similar ears peaking from the top of her head.
"Snow you idiot..." Argent muttered as the pack leader howled, the other pack members began to circle the two, growling and snarling, jaws snapping as foam began to form in them.
"Whoa!" Argent caught said problem child as she tumbled back, the oversized wolf she'd been balancing on raised its head out of the dirt, its red eyes glinting angrily.
"What are your doing here?" Argent demanded, her clawed gauntlets digging into the problem child's shoulders. Snow squirmed under her grip, "I was just saving you, don't need to be such a grouch about it." She said, sounding miffed that she was getting scolded rather then the expected praise, her left ear twitching in response.
"You idiot—you only made things worse!" Argent said angrily, shoving Snow to the side as a fenrir lunged forward, earning a metal fist to the face. Argent grabbed the beast by the snout with one hand, the other one digging into the beast's side as Argent flung it to the side. Snow ducked as the monster sailed over her head, slamming into another of its kind.
"Worse? I just saved you! You should be thanking me!" Snow exclaimed, continuing the conversation as if nothing had just happened. "If you hadn't butted in, I would have defeated their leader and we wouldn't be in this situation!" Argent countered, clawing another fenrir in the face.
"W-well...y-you wouldn't even be able to fight if I hadn't helped!" Snow said, starting to lose confidence. "These guys were gonna cheat in your fight! I saw 'em about to rip your shoulder to pieces!" Snow said, beginning to sound sure she was gonna win this argument. Unsheathing a small hunting knife, she swiped at another beast's side.
"That is a normal occurrence," Argent stated calmly, punching her fist into the ground, causing pillars of earth to rise and slam into several fenrirs, dissipating them. "It's happened several times, and I've dealt with it. Are you done making excuses?" Argent stood up, surveying the remaining monsters, eyes locking on to the leader at the back.
"B-b-but..." Snow stuttered. She had only wanted to help, not make things worse!
Getting no response from her, Argent smirked in satisfaction. Even if she didn't like making her feel down, it was the best way to make her realize her mistake. Besides, she couldn't let a kid and practically sister just go around doing dangerous stuff. She was still being trained to fight after all.
"If you're done making excuses, then I suggest you leave. You'll only get in my way." Argent said, delivering a kick to another fenrir's face.
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Snow stayed behind Argent and watched as she continued to take down monsters, at one point clearing a path back into the forest. A discrete message hung in the air, 'leave.'
Snow hesitated, should she leave? Or should she help?
Argent wanted her gone so she could focus, she didn't want any screw-ups. But should she help? What if she got hurt because she left her to fend for herself? But what if she got angry because she stayed? She clearly told her to leave, that she wouldn't be any help even if she tried. And she was clearly displeased with her attempt to lend her help earlier.
Snow pursed her lips in thought, watching Argent begin to struggle against the number of oversized wolves. Each blocking her path from the leader as she tried to put a swift end to the battle.
"Dammit Arge," the young hybrid muttered a few things the elders wouldn't approve of as she brought out her small knife once more, the tool meant for hunting animals more than monsters.
The small girl ran, going over to the pillar of earth Argent had made earlier. She scrambled to the top, just in time to see Argent get clawed in the back, the older girl crying in pain before she crumpled to her knees.
Snow leaped without thinking, landing on the back of the nearest fenrir, who yelped and began to jerk around as she wrapped her arms around its neck and held on for dear life.
The ruckus grabbed the attention of several pack members, drawing some attention away from Argent as she shakily brought up her knife, closing her eyes and stabbing down onto the creature, hearing it make a loud whiny sound as it crashed to the ground. Sending Snow roughly to the dirt as the beast twitched and wimpered, before exploding into data as her knife clattered to the ground.
'Ouch! This is so gonna hurt.'
Snow propped herself on her elbow as she rubbed the back of her head, already feeling a bruse beginning to form. She ignored Argent's shouts to run as she crawled over to her knife, grabbing it and pushing herself to her feet, crouching into a stance as she glared at those whom had dared hurt her unrelated sister.
She charged forward, ducking to the ground as a jaw snapped at the space above her. She slid on the dirt and under the monster, coming out at the other side, where she scrambled to her feet, throwing herself onto the oversized wolf and plunging the knife into its head. Not waiting for it to disappear as she search for her next target.
"Dammit Snow! Get outta' here!" The little girl ignored her friend's yelling, opting to focus on her herd of enemies as Argent began to smash her way through hers.
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Argent was surprised to say the least. Surprised that Snow was managing on her own, and worried that she'd eventually lose her cool and trip up, in which the consequences awaited her.
Trying to shake off her worry, Argent clasped her hands together, and promplty slammed them into the skull of a fenrir, her gauntlest vibrating from the impact as her back screamed in pain. She winced as she flexed her shoulders, the movement causing more blood to seep into her clothes.
A frustrated sound escaped her lips, her weakened state effecting her strength, the blood loss limiting the time she had left before she passed out and became monster chow.
Taking in a deep breath, Argent took a step forward, only for a fenrir's gaping maw to await her.
The older hybrid reflexively raised her arms to block, allowing the monster to clamp down on the hard metal plating, violently pulling as if to rip her arm off.
In a panicked state, Argent frantically began to slam the beast's skull in an attempt to force it to let go. The burning pain of her wounds accompanied by the feeling of her shoulder about to dislocate egging her on in her weakened state, causing her to curse in frustration as the pain started to grow unbearable.
"Aaahh! Let go dammit!" Almost instictively, Argent uncurled her fingers and stabbed them into the fenrir's head. Wincing at the sickening sounds that met her ears before it released her arm, dropping to the ground and exploding into its pixilated form.
She wasn't given any breathing room, soon having to duck out of the way and distance herself from another fenrir. Barely managing to spare a glance at Snow, she was momentarily surprised at how well she was handling herself, using tactics she had watched the other members of the Gem Clan use. Staying quick on her feet and using her small size to her avantage.
'Its not that surprising,' she silently mused as she flexed her shoulder, keeping an eye on her surroundings 'She's a pretty quick learner. So full of energy, you'd wonder how complete opposites get along.'
Forgoing the use of her right gauntlet, her hand was instead covered by what could pass as a hand warmer glove. She slipped her free hand under her camouflage cloak to reach for her belt, pulling out a knife.
Holding the knife in a reverse grip, she dodged to the left as an impatient fenrir launched past her, a large gash appearing on its side as it exploded into pixels.
Spotting something at the corner of her eye, her ears perked at her alertness as she launched forward, running across their battlefield and towards Snow.
Trepidation creeped up her spine as she forced herself to move, unused to the amount of energy getting used in the prolonged battle.
Catching sight of her, Snow flashed her a toothy grin, "Hey Arge! What took you so—" she didnt get the chance to finish what she was saying before Argent ran passed her, delivering a left hook to the startled fenrir, before stabbing down on it with the knife, finishing it off.
"Keep your eyes on your surrounding!" She said harshly, ignoring the look of hurt on Snow's face as she heaved her shoulders, short gasps escaping from her lips as her heart hammered against her chest, grimacing at the internal pain of hearing her own loud heartbeat with inhuman ears.
She heard a gasp from behind her hunched and bloody form.
"Your hurt!" Snow cried, tempting Argent to roll her eyes and make a snarky remark in return.
Instead she grit her teeth, trying to force herself to remain standing through the painful haze.
There were probably, what, three left? Monsters weren't known for backing down, so they'd have to eliminate them before they were free to return to the campsite where the rest of the pack were.
Huh...maybe she should just drop dead here instead, rather than bleed her ears out through the lecture she was probably in for.
Snow wouldn't be happy though...she'd feel angry and betrayed if she left her, now what sort of sister role model leaves their friend behind like that? This was such a pain...
"Arge! Look out!"
She turned to face her attacker, instictively raising her arm to defend herself. Time seemed to slow down as thoughts raced through Argent's head. How she realized that she raised her right arm, ready to be torn to shreds by the gaping maw of the fenrir, the same one she bashed but didn't kill.
'Well crud, rest in peace, Righty. I'll miss you,' she thought, sending a silent prayer in acknowledgement of the soon loss of her right arm. She couldn't do anything else after all, she was too tired and in too much pain to do anything but watch as she lost her dominant arm due to her own foolish mistake of retreating into her own mind during battle.
Just because she couldn't do anything though, didn't mean Snow couldn't.
The hybrid felt something push at her side, before she was soon shoved out of the fenrir's path, hitting the dirt as a terrible scream pierced her ears.
Worry and fear kept her from passing out as she sat up, searching through her bleary haze. The still image of Snow covered in her own blood with her arm in the fenrir's mouth froze her in place, unable to tear her eyes away from the bloody scene.
"Hah...hah...agh..." Argent saw the pained look on Snow's face, her mouth open as she sucked in pained breathes through grit teeth, tears streaming down her face as she gave off a heart wrenching whimper.
The fenrir remained still, jaw firmly clamped over Snow's bloody arm, her other one seeming to be digging into its side.
The young hybrid fell to her knees, the monster following her as she fell onto her uninjured side, choking out a pained sob as the fenrir's body crushed her.
"Arge..." Argent snapped from her haze, scrambling over to Snow and getting a closer look at her injury, wincing at how deep the monster's teeth sunk into her flesh.
"Hold still, I'm gonna get this thing off you."
Calling back her right gauntlet, she grasped the fenrir's jaw from both sides, and began prying its mouth open. Feeling terrible as Snow let out a pained yowl as more blood began to gush out of her wounds.
Once she pushed the fenrir's body away, she went over to inspect Snow, her face remaining stoic and maintaining an air of calm despite the storm going on in her mind.
"It hurts...make it...stop...please..." Her heart fell, seeing Snow in so much pain, she recognized the withering pain she was going through. The desperation that filled her voice was heart wrenching.
"Just...just hold on. I'll get you back to the camp, the healers will be able to take away the pain." She didn't trust her own voice for giving assurance, but she couldn't just let Snow give up.
"I'm...really..tired..." Argent panicked at hearing those wispered words. She remembered something about how injured people shouldn't sleep or they might drift off. "S-stay awake! You need to stay awake or you might get worse. Um, ah, here! I'll just wrap you up first to slow down the bleeding. It might hurt a little, but it'll help." She fumbled around with a roll of gauze, her ears drooping as she wasted time fumbling around, more blood being lost in the process.
Forgoing her gauntlets that just seemed to get in the way, she stretched out the bandages and tried to gently but hurriedly lift up Snow's bleeding arm. The white-haired hybrid yelped, trying to pull back her arm as more pain coursed through her.
Keeping a firm grip around Snow's wrist, Argent mildly noticed her face a shade paler than usual. 'Not good, she's losing too much blood.'
She tried to act quicker, but she was forced to slow down and wrap the wound with care, ignoring the blood that coated her hands and seeped into her gloves. Snow winced as Argent tied up the bandages, tightening them so they wouldn't come loose.
"The...monsters," Snow heaved, pointing a trembling finger to somewhere behind Argent. As if on cue, a growl came from behind her.
Feeling her irritation building up, Argent re-equiped her gauntlets. The weight of the heavy fists of steel seeming to lessen as adrenaline coursed through her body at the sight of the fenrir that harmed Snow standing once again.
"Oi oi oi! We were having a freakin' moment over here!" She yelled, not really giving a damn anymore.
The pain from her burning muscles and aching wounds seemed to disappear altogether. Her body no longer felt chained to the earth, her senses sharpening in an abnormal way odd for even hybrids.
She could hear the shallow breaths coming from Snow behind her, the way the gravel shifted under her feet, the rustle of the tree leaves as a light breeze blew by. It was exhilarating. The feeling of connection with, well, everything.
Stepping forward in an almost lazy fashion, her arms trailed behind her with the motion. Before she promptly launched herself at the remaining Fenrir, no longer caring for the ranking they held, hellbent on destroying every single one of them.
Time seemed to slow down, one fenrir hung in the air mid-pounce. She felt her mind register everything faster than usual, feeling like she had all the time in the world to consider her counter-move, to create some sort of plan that would wipe out all the monsters. It was laughable really, she would have laughed if her mind wasn't clouded with rage.
Slamming her fists into the ground, a jagged pillar of earth rose from the ground, piercing through the monster's stomach and coming out the other side.
She then ducked as another fenrir tried to surprise her, her enhanced mind registering the fact that it was the same one that bit Snow, rage further clouding her mind. Wanting nothing more then to pummel it, she then noticed the hilt of a small knife embedded into its side.
A smirk formed on her face as she reached out, tearing the knife out of its side as it sailed passed her, resulting in a satisfying pained howl from behind her. 'Now you know how Snow feels,' she would have growled, had she been the more talkative type.
Not bothering to check if it died, the hybrid flipped the knife and caught it by the blade, promptly preforming a knife throw with accuracy she didn't have. The small blade burrying itself hilt-deep into the skull of the leader, who collapsed forward, red eyes no longer holding the angry life in them.
The fenrir exploded into pixels, Snow's knife clattering to the ground as a satisfied feeling of vengeance welled up inside. Turning to face the rest of them, Argent was instead met with a battle scarred forest clearing, pieces of jagged earth and random drops littering the ground.
Her ears shifted at the top of her head, trying to find any possibly hiding enemy.
Coming up empty, the young hybrid's victory was short-lived. A deep aching pain appearing in her gut, swelling to an unbearable degree as she collapsed to the ground, claws digging into the dirt as tried to find something—anything, to distract herself from the pain.
She felt something rise in her throat, going into a coughing fit as she pounded her fist in an attempt to get her lungs functioning properly.
The pain just seemed to rise as she finally coughed out some fluids, almost feeling like something was stringing at her life cords.
The ache disappeared altogether, startling the hybrid who testingly stood up, waiting for the pain to return like a time bomb.
A streak of white caught her attention, drawing her gaze as she narrowed her eyes, catching something dangling from her hair—
A groan drew her attention back to her white haired friend, prompting her to rush to her side. 'Crap! I stalled too much.'
"Ooohh, I think I can't feel my arm...no wait, it still hurts. Oohh..." Snow groaned, pushing Argent to move, needing to make up for the time wasted and the blood lost.
Pulling off her cloak, she wrapped it around Snow like a banket, hoisting her in her arms, feeling oddly lighter than she thought possible.
Holding the white-haired girl securely with her claws, she ran.
She ran out of the clearing and deeper into the forest, passing by several types of monsters that could be found in that area. Feeling more alive than usual, she would have hollered if her friend wasn't possibly dying in her arms.
She sped through the forest, her hair billowed behind her with the unatural burst of speed, pushing herself to go even faster as a large cluster of trees came into sight.
'Almost there...'
Hopping over a stray dogoo, she began to slow down as the trees neared, instead tripping over some roots that sent her falling face-first.
Twisting in mid-air, her back slammed into the ground, a startled scream drawing her ears back as she caughed up more blood. 'That freaking hurts...'
"Help..." she croaked, trying to shift Snow in her arms as her entire body suddenly ached. No longer feeling like she could take on anymore monsters even if she were angered, passing out as soon as she heard someone call for help. The numbing darkness a welcoming sight compared to what happened that day.
'She better be alive when I wake up, or else I'll...'