Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue or any of the show's characters. They are the rightful properties of Rooster Teeth.
Chapter Eight:
There was stunned silence at the inn's table following Donut's declaration, with Washington and Tucker simply staring in disbelief at the pink-wearing man and the newcomer he had hurriedly brought with him.
"No fucking way." Tucker finally let out in a rush of air and, while David Washington would have probably worded his disbelief a bit more politely, he was inclined to agree with the Beast Folk's sentiment.
Frank "Doc" DuFresne, as the purple-wearing Peaceful Harbor resident had introduced himself in the silence that had followed Donut's initial statement, seemed rather unassuming. Admittedly, the brown-haired human seemed an unlikely source of information, especially information about a group of shadowy individuals. The nervous yet polite way Doc held himself while under their scrutiny, along with the rather ridiculous crown of flowers atop his head, did not help ease that impression.
Yet, truthfully, Doc did not wither under Tucker's comment as easily as one might suspect he would if he had been lying. Instead, he straightened himself up slightly under the duo's continued scrutiny, "I know I'm not the most likely source, but I'm telling the truth!"
"I believe him." Donut stated emphatically a second after, stamping a pink-booted foot on the ground for added emphasis, "Come on, guys! Just hear him out, okay?"
Tucker and Wash both looked at each other then, Tucker shrugging in response to the unasked question in the blond's gray eyes. Given that their group had no leads at the moment, what did they have to lose by simply listening to what Doc had to say?
Washington turned his gaze back towards the standing Doc and Donut, the Seas slowly nodding his head in the brown-haired man's direction to prompt Doc to continue, "You said you have information that could help us?"
"Possibly. I don't want to get your hopes up though. It could be nothing." Doc stated rather hesitantly as he and Donut sat down with the Seas and Beast Folk, "In fact, I kind of hope it is."
"I doubt Donut would have dragged you back here if he thought it was nothing." Washington assured him.
"Yeah, man. We'll take any lead we can get at this point." Tucker chimed in, although his laidback stance indicated he wasn't particularly banking on Doc's information given Donut's love of gossipy rumors.
Donut nodded his dirty blond head emphatically, "It's okay, Doc. Just tell them what you told me. They'll love it!" He said reassuringly.
Doc stared at Donut for a moment, his cheeks going red. Tucker and Washington again exchanged a quick glance as, a second later, the newcomer started his story.
"A few days before you and your friends came here, another group of travelers passed through." Doc informed them, frowning slightly at the memory, "They weren't exactly the most pleasant bunch, but I remember them because they only seemed interested in the temple nearby."
The temple that now had either a missing Remnant or Relic. Washington looked over to Tucker then, noting that the dark-skinned Beast Folk was now listening attentively to what the purple-wearing man had to say.
"They didn't stay very long. I only caught wind of their conversations because they bought some healing items from me." Doc stated, "I'm a medic, or…something like it, at any rate." There was an almost downcast expression on his face at, but the brown-haired man carried on with his recollection before anyone could question his wording, "Apparently, their group is having something of a recruitment drive in a town called Rat's Nest soon. They didn't go into much detail, but it's going to be a tournament of some kind. I didn't ask anymore because, as a pacifist, I'm against violence."
"A tournament?" Washington repeated incredulously, finding it hard to wrap his head around the prospect.
"Seas don't have them?" Tucker asked Washington curiously, "They're challenges to test one's strength against others, plus everyone gets to see who comes out on top. That shit is fucking hardcore, but the chicks really dig it."
"I'm aware of what tournaments are, Tucker." Wash frowned slightly.
No, more than anything he was more caught off-guard by how Doc's words reminded him a bit too much of his time in Valhalla. He did not like being reminded of that particular facet of his past anymore. It was one of the main reasons why he couldn't have been more relieved to see that Delta, Theta, North, and York were all right and working for the Guild now. Even if his extremely closed off personality made it hard for others to decipher that he actually was happy.
Tucker gave the blond a pointed look just then but, instead of saying anything to Washington, the dark-skinned man turned his attention towards Doc. The "medic" was waiting patiently for the Seas and Beast Kin's private aside to conclude.
"That's actually a pretty good lead." Tucker told him, grinning appreciatively, "Thanks, dude."
Doc smiled, "I'm happy to help."
Donut was positively beaming, "See? I told you that Doc had an awesome lead! Now we just have to keep ramming through no matter how tight a spot we're in!"
There was a long, awkward silence following Donut's colorful imagery. The quiet was finally broken by Tucker coughing awkwardly, "Yeah, well, now we just need to find out where exactly Rat's Nest is." He stated matter-of-factly.
Washington blinked in surprise, caught off-guard by how serious Tucker was being. Maybe there was more to the rather carefree Beast Folk than he first thought?
"Oh, I can help with that too!" Doc exclaimed suddenly, "After that group left, a kind older gentleman told me where I could find Rat's Nest. Since I'm a healer, I figured it might be a good idea to travel there for the tournament."
"Really?" Tucker's eyes lit up and his tail swished back and forth in a way that Wash couldn't help but think of as cute even though he was kind of annoyed by himself for it, "That's fucking awesome!"
"We can all go there together!" Donut chimed in happily, "Oh, that will be so much fun! Don't you think, Doc?"
Doc was staring at Donut with a sort of awestruck look on his face. It even seemed to take him a few moments to actually process what the dirty blond had said. Once Doc realized what Donut was indicating he blushed even more, a smile on his face as he nodded his head.
Washington raised a blond eyebrow at the scene but said nothing. It wasn't really his place to say anything about someone's obvious crush, especially when Donut seemed pretty oblivious to it.
"Come on! Let's go find Sarge and Lopez to tell them the great news!" Donut stated enthusiastically, grabbing Doc's hand in the process, "I can't wait for tomorrow!"
The two men were a blur of purple and pink as they exited the inn, Tucker shaking his head slightly in their wake. "Looks like we should be hitting the hay early then." He noted, "Sarge will definitely want to be getting up at the ass crack of dawn now."
Wash nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't blame the older adventurer for being so dedicated. It made sense considering that the earlier they reported this new development and lead to Kimball, the better off they would be in starting the next phase of their rescue mission.
Eager to see if he could also get some rest beforehand in his room, the blond stood up along with Tucker when he remembered something and paused. …It wasn't just his room now, was it? It was their room. He glanced over at Tucker, who was currently stretching out stiff limbs.
Tucker glanced over at the Seas then, evidently noticing how awkwardly quiet he had gotten, "Dude, everything okay? What are you thinking so fucking intensely about?" He asked, raising a black eyebrow in inquiry, "I can practically see your stress. Do you ever chill out?"
"About…about what you and Grif said earlier about your, um, sleeping habits?" Wash winced at how high-pitched his voice had gotten.
"What, you mean about me sleeping naked or jerking off?" Tucker asked him, completely unabashed.
Washington gulped, face turning red as he nodded. He didn't trust his voice at the moment.
"Don't worry. I don't do that stuff while sharing rooms," Tucker informed him, "Anymore."
"Any—anymore?" Wash choked out in disbelief.
Tucker nodded, thankfully not elaborating any further for Wash's brain's sake. He instead raised an eyebrow again at the squirming former Freelancer, a note of challenge in his voice, "Don't tell me that Mr. Big Badass is afraid?"
His tail was swishing back and forth mischievously, and Washington had to force himself to look away from it. Which, unfortunately, took his vision directly towards Tucker's smirking face.
"Of course not!" Wash stated at length, eyes shining defiantly.
"Better prove it then." Tucker shot back with a grin.
Washington growled at that in annoyance, stomping past Tucker towards their joint room while steadfastly ignoring how warm his face felt.
Tex filled Leonard Church and Carolina in on what had happened while they had been Remnant hunting out in the Dwarven territories with Caboose. She did so without preamble, wasting no time in getting down to the crux of the matter.
It seemed that several kidnappings of registered Magic Users had occurred while they had been on their own mission, including a prominent case involving an attack on an airship. Kimball was bringing in more Guild members to help resolve the issue, which was where they came in.
"Wyoming and Gamma are with the kidnappers too." Tex told the siblings as she concluded her summary of events, "Dropped a burning building on me in Blood Gulch."
Church couldn't help but take a closer look at his on-and-off-and-on-again girlfriend, "Shit. I guess you're okay since you're fucking here and all?"
The blonde flashed him a smirk, "Aw, were you worried about little old me? How sweet." She mocked, "But I think you're forgetting who you're talking to, Church."
…Never mind. He should have known by now even a simple matter such as a building dropping on top of her wouldn't stop Tex.
He was about to shoot out a fucking awesome comeback to her sarcasm when Carolina decided to step into the conversation. Caboose was choosing to remain mostly silent for once, the Dwarf clearly at a loss as to what was going on. Church did keep hearing "scary lady" muttered under the blond's breath though.
"So, whoever they are, they're well-funded and prepared then." Carolina noted tersely, still not the most comfortable around Tex due to past events. It was why the two women had agreed to work on opposite sides of the Outer Regions when becoming Remnant Hunters for the Guild.
Tex nodded, "We need to meet up with the others. Now."
Before Carolina and Church could so much as say another word, Tex was throwing a Teleportation Orb into the space between them. One second they were standing just outside of an ancient Dwarven mining tunnel, and the next they were on a hilly, mountainous region with the massive form of a downed airship in the background.
From nearby, Caboose let out a surprised gasp and Church wondered just how often the Dwarf had used Teleportation Orbs.
Carolina blinked at the sight before them, "Is that…?"
Tex nodded, eyes narrowing, "The airship. Yeah."
Church, meanwhile, was getting up from the ground with a groan (he always hated those fucking orbs!), "Damn it, Tex! Next time fucking warn someone before doing that!"
"But where'd the fun be in that?" She joked with a smirk on her face that creeped into her voice.
Church promptly gave her the finger, which Tex responded to by blowing a kiss in his direction. Bitch. The woman was infuriating in every way possible. Which was probably why he couldn't get enough of her.
North was approaching them now, with Theta and Delta in tow, "Sorry for the rough landing."
…Well, that explained who threw the Teleportation Orb on this side of the world then.
"North, it's good to see you." Carolina greeted the purple-armored man with a nod before turning her attention to Delta and Theta, "You too."
"Greetings, Agent Carolina." Delta stated politely as he turned to Church, "Greetings, Alpha."
"H—hello." Theta shyly hid behind the much taller North.
Church made a face at Delta, "I've told you before, Delta. Enough with the 'Alpha' bullshit." He really didn't need that constant reminder of how fucked up his life in the Unsc had been.
His "brother" blinked, nodding his head slightly in understanding, "My apologies, Church."
Carolina glanced around the open space, "I take it that York is guarding Doyle and Kimball?" She asked.
North and Delta both looked at one another before nodding. Both seemed hesitant to vocalize an answer. They probably remembered Carolina's not-so-pleasant personality quirks and were scared shitless of the possibility that the redhead might not like their reply. They had good survival instincts, Church would give them that.
"Yeah, we figured at least one of us should stay behind." North stated at length.
"So he volunteered." Carolina surmised, sounding not at all surprised.
It made sense that York would try to avoid seeing Carolina for as long as possible given the argument that had occurred the last time they had met. But, even still, seeing the flickering momentary glimpse of hurt that crossed over Carolina's features just then? Well, Church wanted to kick the brown-haired man in the shins.
Thankfully, however, his sister was a fucking trooper. She was back to business not a moment later, standing straight with her usual professional air about her. Her green eyes narrowed in thought, directed towards the airship.
"So, we should—" Carolina began, but was suddenly cut off by a loud exclamation from behind them.
"Hey!" Caboose, clutching Freckles tightly to him with one hand, was pointing to the downed airship with the other. His blue eyes were large and wide as he asked: "What's my sister's ship doing here?"
Katie Jensen and Four Seven Niner were brought down to a lower level of the fortress ruins. No one was even willing to look in their direction as they walked through the town to get there. The two women were now in what appeared to be a holding area.
It was a dungeon, Jensen realized, her stomach doing flips as the two were brought past occupied cells. One of the cells had a Beast Folk girl with wings and the markings of an Orc on her tan skin, the other contained a trembling Seas boy.
"In you go." One of the guards roughly shoved her inside a cell and, out of the corner of her brown eyes, she saw their kidnappers doing the same to the Dwarven airship pilot.
The guards' heavy footsteps retreated following the cell doors slamming shut. Jensen shuddered slightly at the locking noise after them.
Now they were at least left all alone with the other two captive Magic Users. Jensen glanced at the auburn-haired boy in the cell across from her own. He seemed to be a withdrawn wreck, curled in upon himself and rocking back and forth.
In a way, the sight reminded her of when she had been a little kid just after her parents had died. Back when Andersmith had been the only person who ever attempted talking to her. He had been the only one who really even tried coaxing her out of her shell.
The brunette swallowed nervously, putting her hands on the bars in front of her, "My name's Katie Jensen." She called out into the gloom of the dungeon, "What's yours?"
The boy remained silent, pulling himself into an even tighter ball. Jensen's heart went out to him.
"You can just call me Niner." Four Seven Niner chimed in, grinning conspiratorially at the tan, freckle-faced girl.
Jensen smiled at her gratefully, not trusting her voice at the moment because of the emotions that threatened to boil over.
"My name's Kai." The girl with wings and Orc markings spoke up next, pressing her body close to the door of her cell. She nodded in the direction of the boy, "I don't know his name yet."
Which meant that the poor Seas had likely been a wreck since they had brought him in. Jensen didn't know a lot about Seas, but she did know that they tended to live isolated lives in small villages by the ocean or other large bodies of water. It was no wonder he was so terrified now. This dungeon was a long way from his home, although the same could no doubt be said for all of them.
"I—I'm sure the Guild or someone else is looking for us." Jensen finally tried to state reassuringly, cursing how her lisp made her voice sound more hesitant than she intended it to.
"Well, that's all well and good," Kai noted, crossing her arms over her chest, "But I say fuck it to just sitting around and waiting to be rescued. We need to figure out a way to get out of here ourselves. I'm done with these bitches!"
Niner whistled approvingly, "I like the way you think." The Dwarf stated, smirking.
Richard "Dick" Simmons felt like his brain was very close to exploding right then and there in the tiny inn room. He stared at Grif, his mouth suddenly dry as he swallowed and tried forming a coherent sentence. He needed to put into words exactly what he felt about the situation, but language skills seemed to have abandoned him.
"I…what?" Simmons started oh-so-articulately, "How?" Yeah, he was failing pretty spectacularly at the "putting how he felt into words" thing.
He must have been going into louder decimals than he realized, because Grif winced and put a steadying hand on his shoulder, "Easy there, Simmons. Not so loud, okay?"
Simmons snarled at how infuriatingly calm Grif was being over the whole thing. It wasn't fucking fair, damn it! The Orc's laidback attitude was now seriously pissing him off.
The redhead remembered the calming exercises that Filss had taught him back in Valhalla when he had been stressed and panicked over his father exiling him to the Magic Division. Simmons used a breathing one now, counting backwards from ten. It worked well enough that he allowed Grif to sit him back down on the edge of the bed.
It kept his voice steady enough to finally let out one question in particular, "…How long have you known about it?" Simmons was honestly surprised at how calm his voice sounded just then.
The Orc seemed a little taken back by that too as Grif swallowed nervously, his eyes flitting back and forth from Simmons' assessing face. Simmons tried to focus on Grif's brown eyes and not his orange Orc markings as his facial muscles twitched frantically, hoping that the eye contact might steady his racing thoughts.
"Ever since I took you from Valhalla." Grif finally admitted, oddly sheepish.
"What?" Simmons was on his feet again, desperately needing to pace, "Why…why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because at first you didn't seem aware of it, and you were already adjusting to a lot of shit!" Grif tried defending himself rather lamely, "I didn't want you freaking out over it."
"Well, a good job you did of that!" Simmons shot back.
Grif stared at the ground then, looking for all the world like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Simmons sighed, it wasn't fucking fair of the fat-ass to look that miserable when he was supposed to be berating him for lack of insight.
"So you partially didn't say anything because you're lazy." The pale-skinned human sighed, "Nothing new there."
Grif looked particularly stricken then, a wave of something desperate surging through Simmons at the same time that had nothing to do with the redhead's own anxiety, "That's not—!" Grif cut himself off a second later, becoming the picture of nonchalance as he nodded his head, "Guess you got me there, Simmons."
Simmons frowned, wondering if Grif wasn't covering something up. The chubby man had way more experience with this kind of shit than he did, so…
But, as if sensing (which he probably did) that Simmons was about to question him further, Grif started talking again,: "Linking Magic is supposedly very powerful, so when you were exposed to the barrier…"
"It basically short circuited it." Simmons couldn't help but conclude on his own.
Grif nodded, rubbing the back of his head, "That's what I figure it did."
"But how?" Simmons sat down again on the edge of the bed, still trying to process this turn of events, "How did we even get linked in the first place?"
"I don't have a fucking clue." Grif admitted with his own sigh, sitting down next to Simmons, "Linking Magic is one of the most ancient lost Magics around." He grinned, "Maybe you have more Elven blood in you than you thought."
Simmons frowned, "Not funny, Grif." He mumbled, reaching subconsciously for the scars on his ears.
He could still hear his mother screaming, could still hear the gasps coming from Church and Carolina when they had found him covered in blood and crying while holding a knife. At least after that, his father never complained about his ears being too "pointed" again. Though, in hindsight, that was probably the first clue that Simmons would grow up to be a Magic User.
"Sorry." Grif said, the subconscious motion of Simmons not at all lost on him.
Simmons saw Grif frowning and staring at his slender fingers and ears. The Orc's own fingers twitched as if he was fighting the urge to do something with them.
"At any rate," Grif coughed awkwardly to cover it up, "It did happen somehow."
Simmons frowned and nodded. No point in denying that now. Not when, if he concentrated enough, he could sense an "otherness" amongst his own turmoil of emotions.
"I guess in hindsight, I probably should have told you sooner."
Simmons raised a red eyebrow, "You think?" he muttered sarcastically.
"So I'm sorry. I guess." Grif acted like Simmons hadn't spoken just then, obviously wanting to apologize before he lost the desire to.
Simmons frowned, knowing how hard it was for the Orc to apologize for anything. He could practically sense the remorse radiating off of him in waves, although he had a feeling that was mostly due to the Linking Magic given the chubby man's outwardly apathetic appearance.
The redhead sighed, feeling oddly calm somehow now that he had let out his anxiety and panic earlier, "It's—it's fine, Grif." He assured him, "I mean, it's not fine-fine, but it's okay."
Grif said nothing, choosing to shoot the Magic User human an incredulous look instead.
Simmons sighed once more, "I've been holding back on things too."
The confession caught Grif off-guard, his dark eyes narrowing, "Like…?" There was an almost desperate quality to the Orc's tone, and Simmons wondered why that was.
The maroon-wearing man looked down at his hands resting in his lap, "My father is a pretty influential figure in the Unsc." He admitted at length, "But I never told you that because it didn't seem to matter much. He didn't exactly like having a Magic User for a son." Simmons laughed, but it was a hollow and hurt-sounding one, "I doubt…I doubt he put any effort into finding me."
He was more than just a tad surprised to find Grif leaning over him then, squeezing both of his hands in his own as he nearly bumped their foreheads together, "His loss, then." The tan-skinned man murmured, voice oddly quiet.
Simmons felt his face heat up at their proximity, and he had to turn his head away from Grif's intense stare, "Y—yeah."
Grif sighed and reluctantly dropped Simmons' hands, pulling back to sit a few centimeters away from the lankier human, "So we both kept shit from one another." He muttered, "That doesn't change the issue with the Linking Magic."
Simmons blinked green eyes at the comment, "What do you mean?"
Grif shrugged, "Well, now that you know about the Linking Magic, how do you want to deal with it?" He asked, "I'm sure we could find a way to sever it in some ruins somewhere. Ancient shit and all that crap."
There was something almost akin to regret tugging at Simmons just then. He was surprised to note that it was coming not just from Grif, which was a surprise in and of itself, but from himself as well.
Simmons frowned in thought, "Let's focus on rescuing Kai first." He told Grif, "We've been connected this long. I doubt staying so a bit longer will hurt anything."
Suddenly a wave of relief washed over him just then. The sensation matched the surprising look of odd eagerness that currently suffused Grif's features.
The Orc smiled gratefully, "Sounds like a plan." He stated, an indescribable emotion crossing over his features, "Thanks, Simmons."
Simmons merely nodded, having to look away from the Orc once more. Suddenly he was reminded of how tiny this inn's room was, and how awkward sharing it could be.
Grif yawned and stretched before climbing onto the bed, lying down with enough force that Simmons nearly toppled on top of him, "I don't know about you, but all this talking has made me pretty fucking tired."
Simmons straightened himself and rolled his eyes, "You're always tired, fat-ass."
"And I don't get nearly enough sleep as it is, kiss-ass." Grif cracked an eye open and patted the empty space next to him on the mattress, "Now, come on. Let's get some sleep before Sarge wakes us up at some horribly early hour, like anything before the afternoon."
Simmons blushed at the notion of sharing a bed with Grif, but he also stubbornly remembered the challenge that Grif had given him earlier on that very subject (fuck Tucker's practical jokes!). So, the redhead hesitatingly crawled onto the mattress, lying with his back to Grif. His heart was thudding loudly in his chest and he hoped that the Orc lying next to him didn't feel or hear it.
There was a comfortable quiet that settled over the room for a few moments, and Simmons had started to think that maybe his roommate had fallen asleep. His mind was going far too fast for sleep to grasp him yet.
Right when he was expecting to hear Grif's snores, the chubby man suddenly spoke up tentatively: "Hey, Simmons?"
"Y—yeah?" Simmons replied, afraid that his face would start to overheat soon with the realization of how close Grif's voice had been.
"If I have to be stuck with someone like this, I'm glad it's you." The Orc's voice was barely a whisper when he said it, but given their close proximity the human definitely heard it clearly.
Simmons felt his heart skip a beat, an odd feeling that he wasn't quite sure how to describe swelling in his chest, "Me too." He stated shyly before the room fell into silence once more.
Author's Notes: While I'm focused a lot on Just Drive this month because it is my NaNoWriMo project, I definitely wanted to at least update this fic once in November so that those reading it know I'm not abandoning it! I will also be updating When We Were Soldiers at least once this month too. Once this month and NaNo are over, I'll hopefully be back to updating Remnants (and all of my other fics) more frequently!
Hopefully everyone liked the way things played out in this chapter. I had fun writing it, particularly the banter between Grif and Simmons as well as Tucker and Wash! :)
Just for future reference, Doc's flower crown is not only a fashion statement of his in this Fantasy AU, but it is also tied into his magic ability (which I will be getting into later!). :)
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this chapter! :D