(Based on a Reversed!Yin/Yuck AU in which Gone-A-Fowl ends...a little differently. You'll see what I mean).
By morning, Yin was tired.
Tired after another night of sleeping out in the outskirts, since she had no place to stay or money to afford one. Tired of waking up hungry, and then spending the next hour debating whether stealing food she couldn't pay for was justified or not before doing it anyways. Tired of fussing over her reflection, making absolutely sure no one she came across could tell she hadn't slept for most of the previous night...again.
"Yin! Hey, wait up!"
...and especially tired of avoiding people she didn't want to talk to.
Scowling, she turned on her heel just as a blur of seagreen skidded to a halt before her from all the way across the park. One paw carefully carried a basket while the other smoothed down fur that was already slicked back and perfectly maintained before smoothing over an equally pristine gi.
Blue eyes narrowed in disdain as orange eyes both familiar and unfamiliar looked back at them.
"I looked all over town for you!" Yin just stood there, arms crossed as the other rabbit stood up straighter. He brightly smiled her way- the effect partially ruined by the sharp teeth behind it. "I got worried for a second; I thought you had left town altogether!"
"I will if you keep chasing after me like a lost, annoying puppygriff."
He laughed, but Yin didn't miss it- the way his smile didn't reach his eyes all the way like it did before she spoke, or how his ears had drooped if only a little. "Aw, you're such a kidder, Yin! Here!" Now grabbing the basket in both hands, he held it out proudly right in front of her; "I made sure to grab strawberry-flavored this time! That's still your favorite, right?"
Yin stared at him. Her expression was completely deadpan - bored, even - compared to his (still alien, still out of place) childish excitement towards her.
He even waved the basket a little.
She smacked it out of his hands. The cover came undone, and the air became sweet and buttery with the scent of the fresh pastries that spilled out.
"It didn't work the first time, and it won't work now." Yin's voice was a venomous hiss as she kicked the basket further to the side, more pastries coming out of it that the pigeons and squirrels immediately started fighting over. "When are you gonna get it through your thick head that your tricks won't work on me this time, Yuck?"
Part of her knew that taking in his shock and dismay as his beloved breakfast offering was eaten by critters instead shouldn't have felt that good. Most of her didn't really care anymore, though.
What she definitely didn't enjoy was that, instead of losing his temper and dropping his act like she kept expecting him to, he took a deep breath and plastered that insufferable, unfitting smile back on his face when addressing her. "Luck," he said, much more quietly this time; "I-I go by Luck now. That's my name."
"I don't care."
"And I'm not trying to trick you!" He insisted, either not hearing her or acting like he didn't; she didn't know which one irritated her more. "Not...anymore. I know I messed up in the past, and that's why I want to make amends with everyone I've hurt with my evil ways!"
Yuck - or 'Luck', as he insisted to be called - took a step forward, and the glare Yin shot his way almost immediately forced him to take it back.
"You really think I'm THAT stupid?"
Just as he was about to open his mouth to offer what had to be more excuses, she pinched his lips shut with two pale fingers. "NO! I'm done! I've had it with people thinking they can just take advantage of me, and I'm not about to let YOU do it for the third time, you selfish JERK!"
She really thought that would do it; that he'd finally show his true colors after being insulted like that- and in front of people, too.
But he did nothing. He just stood there silently, looking at her with those big, sad orange eyes that didn't feel like his own anymore.
Disgusted, Yin let go of 'Luck' by pushing him, watching him stumble and nearly fall on his butt. He only actually fell when she pushed her way past him; "No more apologies, no more excuses, no more bribing me with food, no more NOTHING!"
"...b-but…"
"You're going to stay the hell away from me, or I'll give you a reason to stay away! GOT IT!?"
When she got no answer from him, Yin growled and made her way out of the park anyway. And she did so at a brisk, confident pace with her nose held high, to show him and everyone else watching that she was unfazed by his tricks. That she was the one in control.
And that she obviously, clearly, wasn't bothered at all by the pointed stares and the whispering that followed her all the way out.
By the afternoon, Yin was tired.
Tired of trying to distract herself by looking around this town she still didn't know- and being glared out the door every time from anywhere she walked into. Tired of putting up a cold front and glaring back to make them believe she didn't care, knowing full well it didn't help her any.
Tired of hiding between buildings and behind alleys just to avoid their judgement and their whispering.
"That girl is nothing but trouble, I'm telling you."
"Have you seen the look in her eyes? Normal kids don't have that."
"She better not think about staying. This is a peaceful town!"
"And what about the way she treated that poor Luck? How awful…"
'Poor Luck'!? Give me a break! Yin bit into her cold strawberry pastry so hard, crumbs flew everywhere as her teeth clacked loudly against one another. They wouldn't feel bad for him if they knew what he's really like!
(Yes, she had already stolen breakfast for herself, but it could never be much if she wanted to stay out of trouble. And the pastry was already stale by the time she went back to the park to check, but at least it was still left untouched inside the basket- and as long as Luck didn't know, it was fine).
Still fuming to herself, Yin chowed down on what remained of the pastry and wiped the crumbs off with a couple claps from her hands. Tch, not my fault they're too stupid to see they're being manipulated. But that's not gonna be me.
Not (as) hungry anymore, she floated aimlessly between buildings, making sure not to be spotted by anyone- the last thing she needed were more rumors exaggerating her creepiness...even if she had to admit, the bone white fur and dark, goth clothing didn't help either.
Where to go, though? Almost a week had passed by since she arrived and she didn't feel any more welcome anywhere than she did the first day- probably the opposite, even. That didn't leave her with many hobbies to pass the time either, and her one remaining choice of just skulking around the place got old really fast-
Yin stopped.
Hiding back into the shadows, she peeked from behind the wall- and her eyes widened when she realized they hadn't tricked her. A much too familiar, green figure stood in the middle of the plaza with his back facing her, arms held high and glowing the same orange hue as that which kept about half a dozen, screaming children floating above him.
Yin's sharpened nails dug into the brick as she watched the events before her with a mix of horror and triumph. Unconsciously, her hands began glowing a deep midnight blue as her own eyes darkened. I KNEW IT! I knew he was lying all along! Now he's holding all those kids hostage, and-
"Higher, Luck, higher!"
...oh.
Yin's Magic dissolved as quickly as it was summoned, and she was left to stare slack-jawed as the children laughed and played together while suspended by Luck's spell. Some mimicked swimming while pinching their noses, others flapped their arms like they were wings- and all of them were clearly unharmed and having fun.
"Higher, Luck!" A little pig girl waved her arms to catch Luck's attention, grinning so wide Yin could see from where she hid that she had already lost three baby teeth. "I wanna go touch the clouds! I wanna know if they taste like cotton candy!"
All the other children - none of them could be older than six - cheered in agreement, all of their voices blending together cacophonously as they all begged him to 'go higher'. But he just shook his head, and although she couldn't get a look at his face, she could tell by his voice that he was laughing. "I can't, you guys! I'm gonna get in trouble with your parents if I do that!"
All the children groaned and whined in disappointment- especially as Luck carefully set them all down on the floor, the orange Magic dissipating into the air. The moment their feet touched the floor, all of them flocked around the seagreen rabbit like puppygriffs, pulling on his arms and even his clothes to get his attention.
"Luck, do another cool trick!"
"Yeah! Show us more...uh...Wak Foo!"
"Can you turn me into a dragon with your Magic? Please?"
"Oh, oh! Lift something with your Magic! Can you lift a truck?!"
"Please, have mercy!" Between all the roughhousing, Yin finally got a glimpse of Yuck's face and felt disappointed(...?) to see him smiling instead of being exasperated or annoyed. If he was putting up an act (and he had to be), she had to commend his acting skills- they were really convincing. Claiming back one of his arms, he pressed the back of his hand dramatically against his forehead. "I give up! It's six against one; I can't win against you!"
Laughing, the children all launched themselves at him- effectively burying him at the bottom of their dogpile. After a few seconds, his head popped out comically from below, earning another round of laughter from everyone involved.
And Yin watched it all, speechless.
"Luck, Luck!" As the kids finally showed some mercy and got off the teen one by one, a little turtle in overalls noisily rubbed the snot off his face with his arm. "My mom and I saw you with the scary rabbit girl this morning!"
From her hiding spot, Yin couldn't help but wilt. She knew her appearance and her attitude didn't help, but...Scary?
"Timmy, that's not a nice thing to say!"
She was snapped out of her thoughts by Luck's voice. Back on his feet, he was giving the turtle boy a slight disapproving look while he waved a finger at him. "It's rude to talk about people that way, especially behind their backs!"
"But she IS scary!" Timmy the turtle insisted, wiping his sticky hands on the front of his overalls; "I saw! She kicked your basket and said mean things to you! And I know they were mean cuz you got really sad, even if I didn't understand most of them."
As soon as he said that, a hush of worried whispers broke out among the small children.
"The white rabbit from out of town? My moms told me not to talk to her…"
"I've seen her too! She looks so angry all the time!"
"My brother says he saw her floating around at night...is she a ghost?"
"My dad says she's a villain on the run!"
Every new sentence felt like needles being shoved under her fingernails. And Yin knew they were just children and that half of the things they said were things they parroted from other people...but that didn't stop the resentment and bitterness that grew in her heart towards them and their families.
Yes, she was moody and kept her distance. Yes, she had to steal food to eat- but she was careful not to be seen and only take what she needed! Other than that, she hadn't done anything to anyone so...so who did these strangers think they were, judging her like that without knowing her!?
Yin seethed in her hiding spot, her nails leaving scratches in the brick. And if there had been a mirror or any reflective surfaces nearby, she would've seen the markings spreading out around her eyes and up her arms like ice cracks.
What did THEY know about what SHE had been through!? About how she felt!?
And all, while they had a REAL villain running freely around their town!?
"No! Yin isn't like that!"
Her grip slackened.
The kids fell silent one by one, all of them looking at Luck- and for the first time since encountering him a week ago, he actually seemed upset. Angry didn't feel like the right word to describe the look on his face, but what else could describe the way he hunched over, with his hands balled into fists at his side?
"Yin isn't mean. And she's definitely NOT evil." The way he spoke, he almost sounded like a pouty toddler himself and Yin would've laughed at that if his fists hadn't started shaking at that moment. "Not...not the Yin I know. It can't be."
Not the Yin YOU know?
She didn't know if to laugh incredulously in his face or smack him. Perhaps it was a good thing she was too shocked to do either.
We hate each other. We've tried to kill each other!
"I don't know why...she's acting like this…"
I've never been nice to YOU! What are you even talking about!?
"But there has to be a reason. This isn't like her at all…!"
You lied to me! You broke my heart! Stop acting like you suddenly CARE!
"Luck?"
A little horned girl, holding a teddy bear with matching horns in one hand while tugging on Luck's sleeve with the other, was staring at him with her three big, shiny eyes. "Do you...like like the scary bunny girl?"
Yin froze. Luck froze.
"W-what? I just-"
But it was too late. The moment those words were uttered, the children began swarming and clamoring around Luck all over again with even more excitement than before, and no amount of arm-waving or shouting for help could stop them this time.
"Is that true!? Is she your girlfriend!?"
"Why is she mad at you? Are you guys breaking up?"
"Ewww, have you guys kissed?"
"If you guys get married someday, can I be the flower girl?"
"If you have a baby, you should name it Potato!"
Yin had heard enough. No longer caring if anyone spotted her or not, she sped through the buildings and out of town as fast as her Magic allowed her to, swallowing down on her disbelief and revulsion. The two of them? Together? No thanks- the last thing she wanted to think about right now was dating...especially after the most recent fiasco. And certainly not her ex.
So why was it that her mind focused instead on the look on said ex's face before she left, dark and flushed like a beetroot and...soft?
By nightfall, Yin was tired.
Tired of the townspeople going from whispering behind her back to openly avoiding her. Tired of seeing parents pull their children away from her like she was a rabid animal. Tired of feeling their gazes burrowing into her even when she couldn't see them.
"There she is!"
...and especially tired of being chased by an angry mob.
At least she had a head start thanks to her Magic, but this had been going on for a while now and she knew she wouldn't be able to fly forever- and the moment she had to rely on her own two feet, it'd be a losing race. Despite the situation, she couldn't help but curse herself for picking heels as part of her new look, cute as they were.
She didn't know what hurt more having thrown her way, though: the trash and old vegetables, or the insults.
"Villain!"
"Monster!"
"Get out of our home!"
"What is WRONG with you people!?" Yin yelled over her shoulder, hoping desperately no one would hear how her voice wavered with all the noise going on. A tomato missed her by mere inches, splattering all over the wall beside her as a foul stench burst from its remains. "Ugh, can't you at least use the fresh stuff!?"
As the chase led her out to the outskirts of town, Yin noticed the mob had stopped right by the entrance and took that as her cue to float down. Not that they were any less on edge, waving their torches and pitchforks and still jeering her way; some even cheered once she was officially out of bounds.
Cold, icy fury ran through her veins and into her heart. "Who do you think you are!? I haven't done anything to you people!"
She wasn't even done talking when the uproar that followed drowned her words out.
"All you do is skulk around and make everyone nervous!"
"Yeah, and anyone who treats a good guy like Luck the way you do? They HAVE to be a villain!"
"You're evil! It's written all over your face!"
"And now, we have solid proof!" The crowd parted right through the middle as a villager came forward, waving some sort of paper in their hands. As they stepped out into the clearing to face her (and Yin didn't miss the way their legs shook), they held the paper out for her to see clearly. "L-look!"
Suspicious, Yin took a few steps forward- and the villager flinched, their peers taking a few steps back.
Her mouth dried up.
It was a newspaper article, dated from less than a week ago.
THE YOOP SCOOP!
Calamity Couple Closely Corrupts City!
And underneath the title, Coop's image sneered back at her behind those sunglasses, his arm wrapped around her own reflection- those wicked, gold eyes burned right through her behind those dark bangs.
"The clothes are different, the eyes don't quite match…" The villager's voice sounded distant, but the accusation in their voice was crystal clear; "b-but we still figured it out! That's you in the picture, isn't it!?"
Yin took a step back. Her own legs were shaking too.
"N-no, that's…"
She felt sick. She felt ashamed. She had done everything in the past week to try and forget what had happened to her that day, and now it had come back to slap her in the face.
"That...wasn't me…"
"What about your boyfriend then?" The word was like a dagger being pushed into her gut. The villager who had shown her the article seemed to become bolder all of a sudden, taking a step closer while waving the article's photo at her; "Is he here too? Were you both planning on corrupting all of us next!?"
More shouting and jeering broke out, and Yin's ears pressed against her head to drown them all out. "N-no! That's not me anymore! I never wanted-"
"Did you hear that? She admitted it!"
"So she WAS planning on attacking us all along!"
"So where's the boyfriend, huh?! How about HE shows his face!?"
"SHUT UP!"
The force of her shout - and the magical shockwave that followed - knocked everyone back, and within the town the shattering of glass could be heard. All the angry jeering and yelling turned into silent terror, but Yin didn't care. All she felt was rage and a deep, chilling cold.
"He's not my boyfriend! He was NEVER my boyfriend!" Back were the ice cracks, dying white fur into a blue so dark it was almost black as her eyes darkened and her teeth grew sharper. "I never asked to date him! I never asked to be like this!"
They all just stared at her in horror, and that just made her angrier. Oh, they had nothing to say now, did they? Not so brave anymore, were they!? Those dark thoughts obscured her mind as her breathing became heavier, her hands glowing dark blue; thoughts urging her to break something.
"I never asked for ANY OF THIS!"
"Everybody, STOP!"
Yin froze. The townspeople froze.
And a very familiar seagreen blur came to a halt between them.
Luck's usually combed fur was matted with sweat that he constantly tried to slick back before holding out his arms to the side, each pointed at either side. Orange eyes looked back and forth, lingering on Yin for a second too long before turning towards the angry mob in complete disbelief; "What...do you think… you're doing…!?"
Luck's appearance broke the terrified daze over the townspeople; another cacophony of yelling and arguing broke out, and the resident that seemed to lead them rushed to his side. "Luck, that girl is out to hurt us! We're just defending ourselves!" They reached out and placed the article in his paws; "See for yourself!"
With his back to her, Yin watched in silence as Luck hesitantly held the newspaper in his hands- and immediately froze like he had been shocked by lightning. And even though she hated him just like she hated all of these people before her (if not more), the thought of his judgement in that second made her feel more dread than anger.
Dread that became shock as the newspaper burst into flames in Luck's grip, his fingers glowing orange.
Shock that was shared by all the town residents, particularly the leader who watched as the ash was carried away by the winds; "Luck, what are you…!?"
"That still doesn't justify this!" Outraged gasps and murmurs broke out through the crowd, but even though Yin still couldn't see Luck's expression, he barely even flinched. "She hasn't done anything! She hasn't attacked anyone!"
"B-but she will eventually! She's evil!"
"She is NOT! The Yin I know isn't like this!"
Scoffing, Yin closed the distance between them just so she could jab a finger into Luck's chest; "The Yin you know? You don't know me at all! Don't talk about me like we're friends!"
Luck's expression as he was pushed back showed dismay, but Yin was taken aback when his eyes showed something else…something desperate. The mob leader, on the other hand, seemed even less pleased with her as an accusing finger was pointed in her direction instead. "See what she's like?! We don't want someone like her around anymore; she needs to leave!"
The mob burst into a frenzy of agreement, pitchforks glinting under the light of the torches and more vegetables making their way through the air to try and reach her. Yin watched it all as the cold resentment inside her grew stronger again, darkening the edges of her vision and the corners of her heart.
She braced herself for a cabbage coming her way, dark Magic coiling around her arms- and instead watched it explode into bits as it hit Luck's face instead.
The crowd fell into numb silence, and the seagreen rabbit slowly brushed the remains off of his gi before addressing them calmly; "Then you're gonna have to kick me out, too."
Yin stared into his back, the Magic snuffing out from her hands. The townspeople looked at each other in confusion and dismay, and their leader rubbed their hands nervously; "But...but Luck, we don't have anything against you. You've helped us all this time! We don't want to kick YOU out!"
"Then let Yin back in."
"Wh...no! We can't! Why are you defending her!?"
"Because it's not RIGHT!" Luck stomped the ground in time with his shout, so loud that everyone - and even Yin - took a step back. "It's not FAIR! You can't just offer me your kindness and then not do the same for her!"
A powerful gust blew, blowing out several torches.
Opening and closing their mouth but not saying anything, the spokesperson gave up and turned back to their fellow townspeople. All of them huddled together to whisper among them; too far away for her to make out anything worthwhile, but every so often they turned their heads in their direction.
When they looked at Luck, it was with fondness. When they looked at her…
After what felt like an eternity, the crowd began to disperse into the night; torches were put out, pitchforks were slung over shoulders, and trash and leftover vegetable ammo was discarded to the side as they all made their silence procession back into their home until only their head was left.
"Then I guess we have no choice." They answered forlornly, shaking their head as they turned to leave too. "Please don't come back."
Before long, the streets were deserted. Eerily quiet, as if nothing had ever happened.
And Yin stood there, trying to process what had happened. She was still angry. She was still hurt. But those emotions just buzzed in the back of her mind like static compared to...whatever she was currently feeling.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw movement to her side- but it was just Luck trying to catch her attention, concern in his eyes and cabbage bits still stuck to his fur. "Are you alright? Nothing hit you, did it?"
No answer. Hesitantly, he reached out for her hand; "Here, just let me-"
The force she used to slap him was so strong, the sound echoed across the hills and knocked Luck right onto his back.
"You idiot."
He didn't turn to look at her. A shaking paw rose to gingerly touch the dark purple hand-shaped bruise that was quickly forming on his cheek.
The sight made Yin seethe. It made her sick. "Idiot, stupid, MORON! What the hell was that for!? What did I tell you about pretending to be my friend!?"
He didn't move.
"They...they actually liked you!" She hissed, and when she took a step forward she watched him flinch ever so slightly. It made her fume more (it made her feel sicker). "You had them right where you wanted them! You had them completely fooled! And you just-you just threw it all away for me!?"
"...I'm sorry."
Yin's pupils shrunk.
White paws grabbed each a fistful of cloth, and Luck was forcefully lifted from the ground by the collar until his orange eyes were inches away from her own blue ones. "Sorry? You were kicked out, you had garbage thrown at you, you're now stuck with me and you're SORRY?!"
He still didn't answer. There was fear on his face, but there was also another emotion in his eyes that didn't match the rest of him. This time it almost looked like...resignation.
"You…!"
Yin's hands trembled.
"You…"
Her grip on his gi loosened.
"Why…" Desperately, she tried to keep her voice even- to no avail. Ultimately, she let go of him altogether; "After everything...why are you being so nice to me…?"
Still no answer, and the trembling spread from her hands to up her arms and all over her body, until she had to hug herself to try and stop it. The anger was still there, the nausea was still there, but stronger than both of them combined was a terrible, bottomless sadness that chilled her to the bone, clawing its way out from the bottom of her heart.
"I was angry, too."
Yin sniffed, blinking.
Luck refused to look at her; instead he had his gaze stuck to the ground while a hand nursed his aching cheek. "I was angry, and-and selfish, and cruel, and I pushed everyone around me away." His fingers curled, pressing against the bruise as she watched him tense in pain; "Anything good I could've had, I ruined it."
His hand dropped.
"I'm...better now, but…"
When he raised his head to look at her, his eyes were damp and glossy under the moons' light, his irises shining like floodlights.
"If someone...anyone...had been nice to me back then...maybe..."
He took a shuddery breath, unable to finish that sentence. Yin didn't realize it right away, but she had been holding her breath the entire time- only made obvious when Luck suddenly turned to walk away.
"You told me this morning to leave you alone." He mumbled over his shoulder. "I didn't listen. I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone now."
And slowly, unsteadily, he walked away from her- away from the town, towards the hills leading to who knew where. The moons outlined his seagreen fur with silver light against his dark silhouette, growing smaller and smaller as he got farther and farther away from her.
Leaving her alone. Just like she wanted.
…
And then, he grew bigger and bigger again- and turned around to look at her, surprised. His fingers were warm under her grip.
"Don't go."
She was tired.
"Please, I-"
She was so tired.
"I can't- I don't wanna be alone again." She felt cold again- but a different kind of cold, streaking down her cheeks and dampening the front of her dress. "Please don't leave. P-please."
She was so tired, and she was so cold.
But he was warm. And when he gently, so softly, wrapped his arms around her in a hug, she felt warm for a moment too.
"Okay." He whispered, and his voice was warm too. "I won't."