I literally think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Hope you all enjoy as I go pass out in my bed after posting this~!
Chapter 4:
"Which of you hurt my little friend?"
The question itself hung in the air around the group. Deidara especially could feel the danger, practically forming a noose around all their necks from that single question from the green haired man.
"You mean the cat, right?" Greed immediately asked, violet red eyes glancing down to the small black furred creature. The cat soon after seemed to dart over to the unknown man and hide behind his blood covered black boots with a loud hiss.
"Are you admitting to hurting him then?" Deidara couldn't help but notice how the man positioned himself. Half facing them, a knife that clearly killed many undead in hand pointing at them, but his other hand holding a blunt stick like weapon seemed almost laxed… but clearly ready to swing upward towards anything that got in his space in a pinch. Even the wire tied between the two weapons seemed to be coated in a thin sheen of blood.
This man had to have been fighting and killing most of the undead here for at least an hour. Yet he doesn't seem worn out in the slightest.
"Whoa hey now, none of us even touched the little guy." Sam's voice broke Deidara from his thoughts. The pierced woman was holding her hands up in a placating manner. "Besides Mr. Soldier, your cat started yowling for no reason."
"Military huh?" Deidara heard Greed mutter, but the blonde decided to keep his gaze on the soldier and the cat instead… especially since Deidara couldn't help but feel like something was off about the small feline but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
Though his attention was soon torn away as the groans of the undead started to increase as they made way towards their location, and Deidara could only quietly curse. While he said it would probably be an hour or so to prepare the clay for his explosives… but the earthenware based clay seemed to take a bit more chakra then it normally should have to prepare, and thus required more time then the near two hour walk it took them to get to the Mall.
The light green haired man finally looked away from them as well from the sounds of the zombies approaching. A calculating expression was clear on the man's face before he turned his attention back towards the group for a split second.
"How good are you three at fighting?"
"Considering I've survived since the start of this shit, I'd say decent enough…" Sam responded immediately then pointed at both Deidara and Greedling. "And these two are from other worlds with freaky powers. So they're good too."
"Sam what the hell, hm?!"
"Wow, take all the fun out of it, why don't you?"
"I think we have more pressing concerns right now than me airing where you guys are from." Sam pointed out, while unsheathing her machete.
Deidara could only sigh and hold up his kunai, making sure the ninja wire attached to them were securely tied to his bandaged wrists… a quiet frown also making itself known as he still felt that the clay he had in the mouths on his hands were still going to take a while longer.
I'll chew her out for just blurting out sensitive information later.
"... You know what, I'll ask later." the soldier stated, and Deidara only just noticed that he had given them a confused look after Sam spoke about their other worldly status. The cat also seemed to have vanished from its position behind the man's black boots.
Must have gone off to hide.
And it turned out with good reason as well… since it seemed like a whole wave of undead was coming upon the small group.
….
So much for Deidara's "stealth" plan huh? Ling muttered internally and Greed could only sigh in agreement, pulling the Ultimate Shield all the way up his arms and to his neck as he did.
"Guess the new plan's to kill as many as possible and not get bitten?" Greed asked out loud while cracking his shield covered neck and flexing his claws slightly.
"What was your first clue, hm?" Deidara growled, clearly stressed about the situation they were facing. To be honest though, no one could blame him, considering there seemed to be at least three floors above them and some of the moaning sacks of rotting flesh were flinging themselves down to the main floor to reach them… and not every one of them died on impact. Some seemed more put together to not let something like gravity break them apart… yet.
No one said a word. Everyone just got ready for what needed to be done at the moment. Though Greed's eyes did trail towards the resident blonde. Greed had his ultimate shield, and he had his black trenchcoat. Sam had those thick wrapped bandages around her forearms, had those leather fingerless riding gloves and her thick hooded jacket.
Comparing both of them to Deidara made Sam's comment back in the supply spot about the bomber having a disadvantage more apparent. The mesh shirt under the blonde's cropped T-shirt didn't look thick enough to protect from much, the bandages Sam had given him didn't read as thick as her own and his weapons made it all the more apparent that the blond would have to make direct contact for a killing blow.
Don't underestimate the kunai Greed. If he knows what he's doing then distance won't be an issue.
Greed could only frown at Ling's words.
Stay out of my thoughts pissant.
You can think?
The amount of physical restraint it took Greed to resist flipping Ling off with their body practically had the young Prince laughing within the swirling pit of souls that made up their "Soul space".
But seriously Greed. Ling chuckled, trying to slowly stop his own laughter to explain. I don't think you have to worry too much about Deidara. Sam however… You know, maybe I'm worrying a little too much.
Greed wanted to question Ling's thought process but then again… one would have to be blind to not have seen how tired the woman had been since they all met up in her apartment that morning.
Oh… and the woman in question was already rushing in with a sharp look, and her machete already slicing through the rotting husks that stumbled their way towards them like they were nothing more than paper. That might have been the bigger indicator on why Ling was brushing aside their shared worries.
Let's not let her have all the fun.
And with that, Greed was rushing in himself. Claws out and hardened to the strongest form of carbon he could think of. Sharp, strong and easily cutting through the top half of a skull like it was melted butter.
Not long after another walking dead came into range, and met a strong fist instead of claws this time. The sound of bones shattering upon impact rattled in Greed's ears, barely masking the sound of yet more of the zombie's coming into range. A swift roundhouse kick with a leg coated in his ultimate shield was more than enough to knock a head off one and send it flying into another approaching corpse, causing it to stumble from its path into two other zombies behind it. Blind and dumb as they were, the two zombies reacted by attempting to rip their own limb from limb.
Huh… wasn't expecting the strike there.
It almost felt like the dead were getting faster with how many crawled out of nowhere to start surrounding them. Slow as they are, they were clearly more dangerous in numbers… and the longer Greed was cutting through them the more his mind seemed to be replacing the withering husks with emaciated white humanoid creatures with only one, bulging eye on their heads.
An ax kick to one zombie. His mind flashed to the image of the undying humanoid creatures, stumbling around and attacking any form of life while they themselves kept going until they were destroyed completely.
Claws tearing through another, a flash and once again Creatures that groaned and screamed the echoes of the souls trapped within the stones that made them replaced the corpses around him… The echoing screams from the creatures and those they ripped into practically ringing in Greed's ears.
His movements began to slow as one flash changed his surroundings from a mall, to dark underground tunnels. His hands shaking from the memories of cold and dripping water from the pipes above onto the ground and the creatures that-
GREED!
At Ling's shout, Greed's train of thought halted completely and he quickly realized that he stopped paying attention… and one of the Zombies had lunged right for his head. Its exposed teeth wide open and nearing his exposed head so quickly that Greed instinctively knew he wouldn't be able to pull up his shield in time.
At least, until a knife burst through the undead's skull. Decaying blood splattered onto Greed's cheek from the exit point on the creature's skull, but the homunculus didn't even care about that at the moment. Violet eyes watched as the thrown blade seemed to be yanked backwards, pulling the corpse's head back yet ultimately the blade, no, the kunai, was pulled out and sent back into the waiting hand of Deidara.
"Should have shielded your face if you were going to be distracted, hm." The blonde smirked at the homunculus, and quick as a whip, turned on his heel and threw the kunai with expert precision into the approaching head of another Zombie. Sending it to a permanent death in a mear instant.
Well… at least we know he's an expert with kunai. Ling muttered, mildly impressed as well while watching through their shared eyes as Deidara, not even a second later, pulled the throwing knife back with its tether, spun it in the air and practically kicked it through the neck of another corpse not long after.
Each movement was practiced, near precise, and almost seemed like a dance to Greed's eyes. Every curving arc that the kunai went on its near invisible tether, every twist it went across Deidara's body before shooting out from either a flick of the wrist, or even a kick from the bomber's legs would send the small blade hurtling like a bullet to its target. To Greed who had never seen a fighting style like it before, it was mesmerizing. It was an artful display.
To Ling however, while he was impressed with Deidara's ability to actually use even a makeshift rope dart with deadly force… he had seen actual experts with the weapon. Though rare and few in between as the rope dart itself is a difficult weapon to master alone, Ling had seen enough growing up to tell that the ninja was no expert or master. Some swings were too wide, some seemed to be a little off whatever point Deidara was aiming for… but most importantly Ling could see that Deidara was getting a little cut up from his own weapon from over judging how close to wrap the tether around his limbs.
Ling also took note of the off handed kunai that had been tied to Deidara's other wrist. The line was shorter, and seemed to be more set for a quick, seamless grab and stab idea should any of the Zombies get too close to the blonde bomber. It was obvious the blonde was used to using kunai knives… but not having to reuse them in the same way a rope dart required them.
Do you or Lan Fan know how to do that? Greed's question shook Ling from his observations of Deidara, and also made Ling register that the homunculus that shared his body was still picking off a couple of the zombies that got close to them.
No, not really… Fu used to, but we never got around to learning the rope dart before leaving for Amestris. The prince finally responded after thinking about it for a moment.
Oh… Greed and Ling fell into silence for a moment, remembering the older ninja who gave his life for them. … Think the old man would have liked Dei's display then?
Ling couldn't help but laugh. Fu would have chewed him out for his sloppy form, before making him go through weeks of drills to correct it!
"If that's sloppy, then I really want to see the professional version!" The sin laughed out loud, only stopping to smash the head of a walking corpse before flipping the creature's whole body into another one. From the corner of his eye though, Greed could see that Deidara was squinting at him. Probably trying to figure out what he was laughing about, or what he and Ling were talking about. The homunculus sent the blonde a grin.
"Inside joke."
Oh my god that was bad. Ling laughed.
Deidara had raised his only visible brow… before the actual joke hit him and the blonde's confused expression turned to one of annoyed anger.
"Seriously, hm?!" Deidara shouted, turning completely towards the homunculus and pointing a finger at him. "You're seriously making jokes now, hm?! And stupid ones at that!"
"I thought it was pretty good! Even got the brat to laugh."
Only because I'm on the inside!
Greed couldn't help the loud laugh that came out, almost doubling over from the second joke. This only caused Deidara's eye to twitch in his growing agitation, he raised a hand to point and yell at Greed… and seemed to get completely distracted from his surroundings to the point a pair of Zombies were rushing up behind the bomber.
In the briefest of moments, instead of Deidara it was Darius standing in the underground tunnels of Central. The gorilla chimera looking surprised to see him, and seemed like he was about to call to the others that went to the underground first… only to be attacked by the philosopher's stone powered mannequins. The chimera's blood splattering and the sounds of the mannequins biting and ripping into his flesh remained echoing in their shared memories.
NO! Both Ling and Greed internally shouted, quiet horror at remembering yet another person they cared about dying due to their inaction. Neither one was sure which of them was fronting in their body, but not even a second later they had dashed to Deidara's location. Another second and both rotting husks that attempted to ambush the ninja were held by the heads in two carbon coated clawed hands.
….
Deidara was taken aback. One second he was about to tell the annoying immortal off for making stupid jokes in the middle of a fight, much like another annoyance in his life. But the next second said immortal two-for-one was saving his ass from the biggest mistake anyone in the field could make… not paying attention to one's surroundings.
The bomber turned his head just enough to see that he was back to back with the black clad immortal. Blue eyes registered the shaking arms coated in the Ultimate Shield, crushing the heads of the two zombies, and ears picking up the ragged breathing. Not in regards to being out of breath… no, it was more hitched, more shaky. Like someone seeing things that weren't there. Things of old that angered them, hurt them, filled them with a lasting fear long after the event happened. Greed… or Ling, turned their head, violet-red eyes wide but soon became more focused and calmed once meeting Deidara's own cobalt eyes.
They really are a lovely color… Deidara thought of handedly, not completely realizing his cheeks going a little red while staring into those inhuman colored eyes.
"You good Dei?"
The question, clearly with Greed's voice as he still keeps calling him by that nickname. (The disrespect! No one in the Akatsuki nor in Iwagakure would ever… okay no Hidan would break someone's name down to something with no meaning… But that doesn't mean Deidara had to like it!) It snapped Deidara from his intrusive thoughts in an instant and practically had the blonde's hackles raise as the meaning behind said thoughts smacked the rogue ninja in the face.
"Fine, hm!" Deidara snapped, turning his head away from Greed and taking note of all the undead around them… as well as the fact that Sam and that… soldier guy had split off from them a while ago now. Cheeks feeling hot, Deidara let out a sigh, before finally speaking again. "... Thanks for the save though…"
"Just paying you back for the earlier save!" Deidara could practically feel Greed's grin… though whether it was just a front to cover up whatever had shaken him earlier or not, the bomber couldn't tell. "Besides, I'm pretty sure now you owe me one."
"Excuse me, hm?" Deidara blinked honestly trying to figure out if he heard Greed right or not.
"You covered my ass from one, I covered yours for two. Soo, I got one over you now."
It was spoken in such a matter of fact way, Deidara could help the small laugh that escaped his throat. "Really living up to your name, hm?" the blonde muttered, a small smirk on his lips.
"What can I say? I want everything the world has to offer and more." The laugh that followed was nearly infectious. "Though, I can easily say, zombies never were nor will ever be on my list after this."
"Looks like your greed has limits then, hm." The laugh Deidara got for his comment brought a smile to his face. Though soon after Deidara blinked as he felt that the chakra he had been kneading into the clay he got had finally settled into the moldable substance. A grin slowly formed across Deidara's face and a calculating look entered his eyes. "Greed."
"Hm?"
"When you say Ultimate Shield, it's not just to brag right, hm?"
"Pretty sure I made it clear I don't lie Dei."
"Alright, then can it handle close range explosions, yeah?"
"Yeah, of course it ca-" Greed cut himself off, and Deidara could feel the immortal looking at him. With a smirk, but keeping an eye on the dead that circled them, the blonde bomber lifted one of his hands. Closed up at the moment as he quickly and skillfully molds the clay within into a small mound of clay spiders. Then presented the first stage of his art to the black haired teen.
"Well, that took longer than you said." Greed commented though Deidara could see that the immortal seemed to be pulling his shield up to his cheeks. "But better late than never in this case!"
Deidara could only smirk. Tossing up the small orb-like bodies of his creations with one hand, the other forming a quick hand sign to expand their forms as they flew in the air. Now large enough to encompass one's face, some of the clay creations found their marks, long legs wrapping and securing themselves to the targets while others crawled quickly onto others. As soon as the first few of his creations found suitable targets Deidara quickly dropped low, and channeled his chakra to activate the detonation.
"Katsu." Deidara muttered, and just as some of the chakra within the clay spiders began to ignite, the blonde felt a body wrap around him from behind. As the first explosion went off the bomber couldn't even properly enjoy it as a fear that one of the undead somehow got behind him and bypassed Greed… only for Deidara to quickly realize by the second and third following explosions that it wasn't a rotting corpse.
It was Greed. The immortal was holding him close, shielding the ninja from any explosion that got too close. The resounding crescendo of explosions around them was practically reduced to a dull roar in Deidara's ears as his heart raced from the heat creeping into his face, and the multiple thoughts bombarding his own mind.
Most of them were questions about why Greed was shielding him. Deidara was clearly an expert and knew how to protect himself from his own explosions… hell, no one he knew would have even raised a finger to help him back home without a lot of prompting. It was confusing and left the bomber's mind in a daze.
The other parts were conflicting as a small part of Deidara wanted to push the black clad teen away from him. Though a larger part seemed to be relishing in the protective hold he found himself in. His artistic mind quietly taking note of the musculature of the arms around him and the chest against his back, along with the smooth feel of the Ultimate shield on his arms. Blue eyes glanced down and got a good look at the tattoo on Greedling's left hand.
Maroon in color, it stood out even with the gray shield coating the hand. The stylized serpent wrapped nicely into a neat circle around six pointed markings. The wings tapered out towards the wrist. A simple design yet captures the eye easily once spotted.
Deidara was left so unfocused he didn't even realize that the explosions finally ended, until Greed moved away from him. The extra warmth the other's body left started to fade away and caused the bomber to blink away his dazed thoughts. He didn't even register the fact that Greed had said something to him until the possible demon nudged him to get the bomber's attention. Upon turning to look up at him, Deidara noted that the shield that had been creeping up around Greed's cheeks earlier was completely gone now. Even around his neck and arms the shield had been retracted.
"Hey, still with us Dei?" The look of concern on the black haired boy's face brought a sobering amount of shame to just how out of it the bomber had to have been this whole time.
I'm blaming all of this on the little sleep I got last night… and the larger amount of chakra I had to mold. Deidara thought, eyes avoiding looking into the other's violet-red ones. "Yeah…"
"I'm guessing those explosions take a lot out of you huh?" Ling's voice popped up, and Deidara bit at the inside of his cheek for a moment.
"They usually don't, hm… The clay of this world seems to take more chakra than clay from my world, yeah." The bomber finally answered, it hurt a deep part of him to reveal the unforeseen struggle he had with the new clay… but Greed and Ling have at least earned a bit of honesty on that front.
"Well, at least they're efficient! Otherwise that might have been a bigger problem after a while." Ling laughed and Deidara couldn't help but elbow the Prince in the gut.
"Shut up, yeah." A smirk crossed Deidara's face despite his words. Though it did die down when the sounds of more zombies began to approach. Though… it didn't seem to be as many as earlier, if Deidara was hearing things right.
"Got anymore ready, or are we going to have to do things the old fashioned way?" Greed's voice asked this time and his shield began pulling up again. Deidara just gave them a smirk and held up his other hand.
"Just need a moment to mold them and we should be good for round two, hm."
"It's not going to put you in a daze again is it?" The concern Greed was giving him was something Deidara hadn't ever really had in… possibly his whole life if he was being honest. It was confusing but… it wasn't bad if Deidara was being honest.
"No, it won't, hm."
The look of doubt that Greed shot him spoke louder than words. But Deidara brushed it off. He wasn't lying after all, another series of remote detonations won't drain him. Not to mention with this distance between them and the approaching undead, Deidara won't have to feel Greed covering him again. A strangely saddening thought… but one the blonde ninja pushes to the side, after all… he couldn't guarantee that he could prepare himself for another bout of close contact with the immortal.
So, Deidara went about simply molding more mini explosives and letting them scatter towards the approaching undead. Once released the blonde stood up and stretched casually, ignoring the confused look he was getting from Greed… or Ling maybe.
"We came here for extra supplies and clothing, yeah? Might as well use the time we've got to get some now, hm." He explained, squinting his eyes at the strange writing that took over the store signs and picking a random one to go into.
"Now you're really speaking my language Dei."
This time, Deidara couldn't help but laugh along with Greed… though his thoughts did trail off to Sam and wherever she went.
Not too far away maybe… Would have been a dumb move to leave the first floor after all.
…
How the hell did I end up on the third floor? Sam thought to herself, carefully rubbing at one of her eyes with one hand while the other clutched her blood coated machete tight as she pulled it out of the head of a Zombie that almost crawled through the shutter. The woman then began thoroughly checking herself, just in case her clothes were ripped anywhere or she got unknowingly bitten. Once assured that she was in the clear, Sam then squeezed herself as carefully as possible through the half closed shutter to the former jewelry store she ducked into. Her boots carelessly stomped over the decayed body in her way. Once outside the store she began taking note of her surroundings.
Sure the explosions that finally went off earlier caught all the Zombie's attention and lured them to their source, but the survivor knew better then to let her guard down even if it seems like she's all alone in an unfamiliar place. Hell she's already counting herself as lucky for having made it this long AFTER getting separated from her two idiots from other worlds.
Note to self, take a long goddamned nap when we get back to the apartment. You get way too many dumb ideas while sleep deprived. The dye-haired girl scowled as her boots trudged along the stained walkways. Her tired caramel eyes searched desperately for any sign of the two teens she had been traveling with, before they trailed lazily to the rotting blood on her weapon of choice.
Curtis would kill me if I left this thing all gross… A frown crossed her pierced lips. Or… Would have killed me.
With that sad line of thought now in her head, Sam attempted to shake it off, along with her long knife-like weapon. A faint reminder to properly wipe it down later for a proper cleaning popped up in the back of her head, eerily sounding like her dead brother's voice. All she could do was internally bite at the stud in her lower lip to try and get rid of the haunting voice in her head, and focus on trying to find any source of life at the moment.
That source ended up being the soft ringing of a small bell.
Turning her attention to what remained of a toy store in the Mall, the survivor caught sight of the little black cat Greedling had found earlier. The little fur ball was staring at her with his single red eye that… honestly felt off for a cat's eye.
There's something almost human about it…
Despite that thought, seeing the bristled fur and the small creature's ears pulled back brought back the simple fact that it was a scared animal. A kind she used to see a lot of living in the city most of her life before shit hit the fan. A quick glance around to make sure no undead were close enough to be a problem, Sam soon knelt down and gently held one of her gloved hands out towards the black cat.
"Hey little guy." Her voice raised a bit in pitch, nearing on the babying tone she used to give to a young mother cat and her kittens she used to see back when she first moved into her apartment. Sam soon made soft little clicking noises and wiggled her fingers a bit to try and coax the feline closer to her. A chuckle did escape her when she saw an almost confused look cross the cat's face, its fur flattening and one ear perking up while its head tilted in her direction.
"It's alright. The monsters are gone now." With a little "Psp Psp" thrown in at the end and tapping her fingernails against the tile floors, that seemed to get the little fur ball curious enough to start stalking over towards her with cautious steps. Its single red eye focused entirely on her hand as she nearly rhythmically tapped her fingers on the ground.
"Mrmp?"
Sam physically had to stop herself from letting out a squeak about how cute the cat's curious little meows were as it finally got close enough for her to reach out and touch it. However, she also resisted the urge to just reach out and touch it. The little guy was scared not too long ago, and she didn't want to cause the solder guy's pet to run off again.
"You seem to be taking it easy ma'am."
The sudden voice caused Sam to jump, which in turn seemed to cause the cat to physically jump away from her a bit, though it turned its head towards the sound of the voice and visibly relaxed. The survivor followed the cat's gaze and saw the soldier guy from earlier.
"Jesus! I think you need the bell more than your cat, man." Sam breathed, trying to get her heart beat to relax… even with the added stress of checking around to make sure no lingering undead heard her outburst and was making its way towards them.
"Most of the hostiles jumped to the lower levels when the explosions started." Sam blinked at the statement and turned to look at the soldier. Well… actually look at him closely for the first time since he made his entrance earlier.
There was a strange, almost vacant look in the man's dulled yellow eyes when he had spoken to her. His mouth was pulled into a thin, almost polite smile that didn't match the man's eyes at all, and the small vertical scar at the left corner of his lips seemed all the more visible with the expression. He was clearly wearing a military uniform with a green beret that had a shield on the side, but it seemed a little… more green then what she usually pictured the american military uniform to look, but then again Sam hasn't really seen any soldiers or military uniforms in a while. There did seem to be hints of more scars poking up around the openings in the man's uniform. A hint of one on his collarbone and neck from what little poked out from the jacket, a large one poking through the man's right sleeve and out from his fingerless black glove, while the left had a smaller one poking out around the sleeve there.
Despite everything else, Sam found her eyes constantly coming back to the man's lime green hair that seemed to have grown out and rests at the nape of his neck. Some of the green strands even spread around his face as bangs but were kept from getting into the man's eyes due to the hat atop his head.
Dude must have been lucky in finding enough time and supplies to keep his hair dyed like that. Sam thought to herself, all while one of her own hands unconsciously went up to her own dyed hair with the fingers trailing through how dulled the light blue was becoming as her natural color was coming back.
"Uh… Ma'am? Is there… something wrong?" The man questioned, suddenly seeming more… alive in that moment. His eyes had focused, but there was concern now written clearly on the soldier's face. Sam also couldn't help but note now the man seemed to try and unconsciously cover his scars a little more now, and began shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
Oh whoops. Too intense in your staring there Sammy. "Nah, sorry man. Just… Aside from my idiots, you're the first person I've seen in a while." The survivor chuckled, waving a hand to try and cut the awkward tension. The relieved sigh she got from the soldier and even watching the man's full body seem to relax nearly made Sam laugh, but she covered it up by clearing her throat and turning her gaze towards the cat… who was practically trotting over to the man with its white tipped tail raised like a flag. "I also like your hair dude. Been meaning to dye my hair again for a while but you know… limited time, supplies and shit."
"Oh uh… Thanks?" The confusion in the man's voice had Sam turning her gaze back fully on the man… only to see his dull yellow eyes were staring right into her own caramel with so many questions in them. "But uh… I don't really dye my hair ma'am?"
"... Huh?"
"This is my natural color…"
The silence that followed left the man once again looking uncomfortable… all while one thing could only cross Sam's mind.
"Soo… I'm taking it you're not from around here either huh?"
"Uh… No? I mean I'm pretty sure I'm far from Happy Tree so-"
"No, I mean like you're not from this world."
The look of absolute confusion on the man's face was kinda cute in Sam's opinion… but he was also clearly not as opened to the fact as Greedling and Deidara were… though how they got to the conclusion about other worlds and all before either of them showed off their weird powers and stuff still evaded the woman.
"Let's start over. Name's Samantha Ferone, go by Sam though. I'm about 28 now, single and have been living in this god damned apocalypse since it started." Sam stated while standing up, then at the end pointed towards the soldier. "Your turn."
"Uh…" It took the soldier to process the information she gave him, before he finally straightened up and the confusion gave way to an unreadable expression. "Sargent Flippy, 29. I woke up about three months ago completely far from home, and have been trying to find my way back since."
"... Your name's Flippy?" Sam questioned with disbelief dripping in every word. Her eyes narrowed and judging as she stared at the green haired man.
"... Yes?"
"Like as a nickname?"
"No?"
"Did your parents hate you or something?"
"Huh?! What kind of question is that?"
"Your name's Flippy! That's a weird ass name in general!"
Needless to say, both Sam and Flippy were so distracted in the debate over the soldier's name that they completely missed the small black cat giving both the human's a judging look with its single red eye, before vanishing in a small mist of shadows. Leaving behind no trace of the cat ever having been there in the first place.
…
Greed was having a bit of a problem. There were so many choices of clothing left behind in the abandoned stores that the homunculus simply could not pick a small amount. Oh no. His avarice demanded he grab ALL the most fashionable articles he found and make them his… but therein lays the problem. One in the absolute fact that physically speaking it's impossible to carry every piece of clothing that catches his attention. The other…
Greed nooo! That shirt's so tacky it makes Ed's style look normal!
Are you kidding me right now? It's bad ass!
We are not adding it to our wardrobe!
Was the pissant fighting him on practically everything he picked up. It was really starting to piss Greed off having to literally wrestle with his own body over clothes.
"Are you two still debating over there, hm?" Deidara's voice caused Greed's eyes to dart away from the literal fact one of his hands was holding the other's wrist in a death grip to attempt letting go of the tanktop covered in skulls he held.
Though Greed's own clothing was a bit more in ruins from tanking a closer explosion and getting rather singed, Deidara's had a few obvious cuts in it from his own makeshift fighting style earlier. Thus the moment the blonde had found some pants that fit and caught his eye, the ninja had basically gone off to find a matching shirt to his liking. Clearly he found something from the bundle of cloth in Deidara's arms.
"Evidently Ling seems to think my style is "Tacky" as he puts it."
Because it is Greed!
"I can see why, hm." Deidara responded after glancing at the tanktop in Greed's hands. Greed turned to the blonde with an offended look, while Ling internally laughed about being right. "You'd need some silver accents to make that top look more put together if you're keeping the all black aesthetic, hm. Some color would also be needed to really make it pop, but too bright of a color, like a pastel, can distract and muddle whatever you're going for with those designs, yeah."
Both Greed and Ling practically blinked at the same time at Deidara's evaluation, though the blonde didn't seem to be finished yet.
"Though this top probably wouldn't work going forward as Sam did point out that winter seems to be around the corner. So unless you wear a jacket of some kind over it, or you're immune to the cold in general I'd suggest…" Deidara then began walking through the ransacked aisles, his blue eyes scanning around before stopping on something. "Something like this, hm."
The blonde picked up what looked to be a track jacket that was black, but with an unknown logo on the back written in what had to be English (Which of course none of them could read), and zippers around the shoulder areas. The logo itself nearly reminded Greed of his ouroboros marking with the six points in the center of a circle, but the points were made of what looked to be different kinds of swords and a couple even poked out of the circle itself. In the homunculus's honest opinion, it was a pretty damn cool design and he wanted it.
… I guess it can work. The jacket itself can be a decent enough replacement for our current one… Ling conceded, not entirely wanting to admit he was agreeing with Greed on the design being cool.
"Well I'll be damned. Seems like Ling and I agree on it." Greed smirked, and made his way over to Deidara to take the jacket. Looking it over and shaking off his singed trench coat, both the homunculus and the prince were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a perfect fit on their body. A quick glance over to the blonde found a smug looking expression on the other boy's face as his visible cobalt colored eye looked over them.
"Looks like I haven't lost my touch at all, hm." The bomber stated in pride, but then seemed to falter a bit with a blush on his face at the questioning look Greed gave him. "... I used to help my old partner with clothing for his puppets, hm. Pissed him off so much that I could easily guess the exact measurements needed on any new ones he would make, before he could tell me what they were, yeah."
"So you used to make clothes for dolls with your boyfriend in between blowing shit up huh? Gotta say, sounds like you had one hell of an interesting life in your world." Greed chuckled, but soon devolved into a loud laugh at the sputtering Deidara let out at the word "boyfriend."
"WORK PARTNER, HM! Sasori was my work partner!" From there Deidara seemed to devolve into rambling about how anyone would even want to be with a "Creepy puppet freak with the wrong artistic views", and Greed honestly could only let out another laugh with Ling practically on the ground laughing on the inside.
"I'm messing with you. Man you get riled up so easily." The homunculus grinned, earning him a flushed look from Deidara and a punch to the shoulder.
"Jerk, hm." The bomber had turned away from them then, long blonde hair making it hard to see his face… but Greed could practically tell that Deidara was pouting. Kinda reminded him of Ed a little in that regard.
"In all seriousness though, I do like the jacket." Greed then took the jacket off, going back to his sleeveless top he wore under his trench coat usually. It was definitely going into the to keep pile he basically just started. "So thanks for that. If you find anything else that can fit us, I'll definitely take a look at it."
"... Back right section of this store, hm. Pretty sure there's a bunch of clothes there around your size range, yeah."
"Thanks Dei!" With that, Greed went off to the section of the store Deidara mentioned. Leaving the Blonde back near the front to wait.
…
"Thanks Dei!" The words echoed in Deidara's mind as his face continued to heat up.
God damn it… Why that idiot? The bomber thought as a scowl crossed his flushed face. It was obvious he had a crush on the immortal. Wouldn't be his first one. They all started the same for him. Deidara would find something attractive about the guy, then after getting to know him better would almost immediately lose whatever attraction he gained towards the other man. His feelings simply never lasted. Whether it be from the other guy having a shitty personality underneath a handsome exterior, or more commonly they just weren't into other dudes, or even more commonly they end up dead before he could find out anything on the guy.
With my luck this feeling will be gone in a week. Then I don't have to think about his stupidly lovely eyes and-
"Oh there you are!" Sam's voice broke the blonde's train of thought, causing him to look up at the opening to the store front and see the dyed haired woman waving as she came towards him. The soldier behind her with more cautious steps and alert eyes.
Oh thank God. "Good to see you survived the walking graveyard, hm."
"Hey, I've survived since the start of this shit. That was practically a typical Tuesday." Sam waved him off, though paused glancing around the store. "You… checked for traps right? And where's Greedling?"
Deidara could only roll his eyes at her questions. Honestly, how dumb did she think they were? "First thing we did before entering was check, yeah. Most had already been set off and the others were easy enough to break. I knew people who could make way better traps than those with two nights of no sleep back home, hm." He chose not to admit that last part was actually him back when he was a 10 year old genin in Iwagakure… there's no need for anyone to know of that time after all.
"And Greedling?"
"In the back picking out clothes, hm." At his answer Sam let out a small hum, and seemed to look around the ransacked store before going to check the outside of the store then began laughing.
"Why am I not surprised you guys would pick out a Hot Topic?"
"... What?"
"Nothing, forget it." Sam snickered, before motioning the soldier man over. The man in green seemed a little uncomfortable, but dutifully walked closer. "Anyways. You guys are not going to believe what I found out about the old Sergeant here."
"... What?" Deidara quirked a brow, both at Sam's tone but also as he was trying to figure out what a "Sergeant" was.
"I'll tell you and Greedling when he gets here." Sam brushed it off, before turning to the "Sergeant" in question. "Anyways, this is Deidara. The one who made the explosives earlier."
"Hello…" The green haired man greeted, a tightness in his voice and from what Deidara could tell there was… something dangerous in the man's yellow eyes when he was regarding the bomber. "I'm Flippy. It's nice to meet you Deidara."
The man, Flippy, held out his gloved hand towards Deidara. The ninja glanced down and took notice of some of the scars poking out from the man's sleeve and around his gloved hand, but began to hold out his own to shake the soldier's offered hand.
"Make sure you don't slobber on him, Deidara."
Only for Sam to ruin it with her little joke as she smirked at the ninja. Flippy had a confused look on his face as Deidara whipped around towards the pierced woman.
"Sam I swear to god, hm!"
"Oh hey, would you look at that!" Greed's voice called out and Deidara immediately straightened up and turned to the approaching immortal… only to stare at the black haired being and what he was currently wearing.
Greed had a pair of rounded purple sunglasses on his face, that part didn't look too bad… but the leather vest that had a white furred collar, the tight black pants and the six leather bracelets on each wrist… while cool in itself it didn't seem to sit right on the teen's body.
"... What the hell are you wearing?" Sam asked, and looking at her face he could tell Sam was of the same mindset as he was. Looking over to Flippy, the man was just looking more confused in general.
"Cool ain't it?" Greed grinned and practically did a spin to show off his outfit at different angles. Clearly proud of it in general. "Used to have stuff like this before being forced to share with the brat! Well aside from the top, but I don't feel like pulling up the shield for that. Aside from that, what do you guys think?"
"Uh… it looks… nice?" Flippy, the man who had no idea about any of them offered. Clearly just trying to be nice but having no further context at the moment.
"It clashes with your body type, hm…" Deidara stated, now kinda getting a better feeling of why he and Ling were probably fighting so much over clothing.
"You look like a wanna be gangster." Sam also stated, giving Greed the most disappointed look she could muster.
"Wow… way to trash my self esteem guys." The black clad immortal sighed, adjusting the sunglasses to rest atop of his head before turning his attention to the soldier. "Except you… whoever you are. You clearly understand style."
No he doesn't… Deidara wanted to say, but held his tongue.
"I… actually don't? I just think people should dress how they want to." Flippy instead said, one of the man's gloved hands rubbing at the back of his neck and causing the tags around his neck to click against each other a little.
"Fine." Greed sighed in disappointment. "But I'm keeping the shades and bands."
"I… no one said you couldn't though?" The green haired man muttered in confusion and Deidara just sent Sam a questioning look.
"You didn't tell him?"
"Wanted to wait till we were all together again." Sam shrugged before shifting her weight to one foot, taking a much more casual stance. "By the way have you seen the cat anywhere? Kinda disappeared on Flips and I."
Practically on cue a surprised "Mrew!" rang out as Greed had tossed the fur collared vest in a random direction. Said immortal blinked and all eyes turned towards where the leather garment fell, and found the small black furred creature crawling out from under it. Its fur was raised and its single red eye was glaring daggers towards Greed, who was completely unfazed by it.
"Found it."
"Hey little buddy!" Flippy greeted, his face lighting up and Deidara swore he could see a hint of sharpened teeth when the man smiled. The soldier knelt down and motioned to the cat, who practically bolted towards the green man then crawled up his arm to lay across Flippy's shoulders and the backpack… while still sending a death glare towards Greed.
Petty cat I guess. Deidara thought to himself, before turning to Sam. "So, you were saying, hm?"
"Oh right! So apparently people being from other worlds is a lot more common than I originally thought. Because this guy!" Sam smirked as she threw a hand out towards Flippy, who was half distracted with giving the cat on his shoulder scratchies and didn't seem to notice her display, as if to show him off. "Is also from another world like you three!"
"Huh?"
"Are you fucking kidding me, hm?!"
"Three?"
Needless to say… There was a bit of an explanation that followed, especially for Flippy who was genuinely lost and still seemed to not entirely believe them on the whole "Other Worlds Exist" thing. Though Sam did eventually have to cut it off, saying that they still needed to wrap up their supply gathering and could finish it back in the apartment.
Flippy chose to stick with them, seeing as they were the first live people he found in the three months he'd been here. The soldier even offered to let them use his larger bag to hold more rations in it, even letting them empty out his weapons from it as a show of good faith. Though Deidara was put more on edge when seeing the amount of close range, and well taken care of weapons that lined a good quarter of the bag… Despite his friendly nature once opening up, Deidara could easily tell that this man was a killer and thus made the ninja keep his guard up around the green haired soldier.
Deidara himself took to carrying the few clothes he picked out, as well as a few rations he could fit into his side bags, and even picked up some more clay he found in a different store. Honestly, it wasn't all that different from what it was like in the Akatsuki, except he wasn't getting paid and the world around him was basically dead. Though… Deidara probably should have expected someone named Greed would literally take it upon himself to make the whole thing more difficult by overfilling a random bag he found with, not just the clothes that caught his eye (and that evidently Ling compromised on)… but every other little thing that did as well.
From things that could be useful like matches, candles and blankets… to useless nicknacks that Deidara couldn't even wrap his head around what they could possibly do. If it caught Greed's eye, the sin would practically pick it up and declare it his… needless to say, Greed filled up not just the single bag he found, but a couple others that the others would have had to carry… or make multiple trips to gather everything.
It took literally everyone, including Ling, to convince Greed to only keep the essentials and only one bag… but Greed did win out in keeping some of the jewelry he picked up and an interesting knife he found.
Meanwhile Sam had found a couple "portable generators" as she called them, and even said this was one of the best finds they would have in a while. Provided they had enough juice in them… then she found a container of unopened alcohol and seemed to cheer at the "Second big score" they found.
At the end of it all, the group then began their trek back to the apartment with the sun almost completely set by now. They did nearly run into some trouble on the way back when something round and metallic fell from Greedling's coat pocket and made a clattering sound that alerted some nearby zombies. Thankfully it was only a few as they were further away from the mall and the center of the city, so they had been taken care of easily.
When asked about it, Ling had actually spoken up and said that Greed found it the other day and had been meaning to ask about the strange orb… but clearly kept forgetting it. No one seemed to know what it was exactly, but Flippy did suggest (After also offering to try and patch Greedling's coat back at the apartment) that maybe it was a puzzle box of some kind.
"The buttons and creases make me think that it can open… so maybe it needs a specific pattern to get inside?" Was what the soldier suggested, and all that did was make an interested glint shine in Greed's eyes as the sin then began to fiddle with it the rest of the way to the apartment complex. Where they ended up spending the next three days due to a sudden storm halfway through the first day.
….
Day 1:
After everyone got some well needed rest, Sam and Flippy began checking the portable generators the following morning to see if they would work, or how much power they had left in them. To their relief both of them ended up working perfectly well, but sadly they couldn't tell how much power was left in them. So it was agreed that the generators would be used sparingly… though Sam seemed determined to hook one up to the fridge and put the alcohol inside "For later" as she put it.
Greed also took to wearing some of his (and Lings) new clothes right away. His favorite being the zip up jacket that Deidara picked out with the sleeves off with an opened yellow short sleeve top with black flame designs on the ends over it. The wrist bands and sunglasses were also present in his attire. When asked why he was basically wearing two jackets Greed responded with "Ling was getting on my ass how he never gets to wear what he wants. So I threw this on. Now he's complaining that I'm making it look tacky with everything else."
Deidara also took to wearing the newest outfit he got and set aside his old one for repairs. Sam did judge the blonde on picking out another crop top, only to get a middle finger for her troubles and an over exaggerated gesture to the forearm length sleeves the top had. Said sleeves also had a weaving diamond like designs in a teal like color offsetting the black of the top. A pair of dark blue jeans that was a little loose around his legs was also a part of the outfit, and a pair of black boots replaced his open toed shoes. To wrap it up however Deidara also had a nondescript charcoal gray hooded jacket that he zipped up halfway with a blue teardrop shaped necklace tying it all together.
Later Greed had fiddled and messed with the metal orb for about an hour before he eventually got bored and explored the other apartments, while Deidara prepared more explosive clay so they would be easier and quicker to mold down the line. At one point Flippy did ask about it, though with Deidara having less trust in the soldier then both Sam and Greedling, the blonde gave short but basic information. Leaving Flippy to feel the tension and easily leaving the blonde alone for a while after that.
Sam herself had actually found her photography equipment, and after making sure it could still work had gone outside to the roof to take photos of the city scape. Something about a haunting beauty about the desolate city when looked at from the right angle. The cat, who they eventually figured out was named "Cheshire" thanks to Sam joining Flippy on his "Name Game", seemed to follow her up there. The two had stayed out until the rain started about two hours later.
As the hours passed the rain would begin to come down harder and harder, prompting everyone to just want to stay inside for the rest of the night… and for Sam to pull out the alcohol she had chilling and a couple of shot glasses she picked up. Stating that now is the perfect time for some drinking games.
Greed was completely down for it, Deidara just shrugged with a "Why not", and even Flippy seemed to agree it wouldn't be that bad… though Ling pipped up trying to say he was not legal to drink.
"Kid it's the apocalypse. Underage drinking is the least of your concerns." Sam had pointed out while setting up a couple options.
The first game they played was Sam's own suggestion, Truth or Drink, as a way for all of them to get to know each other a bit better for the long run and test some waters for later games. Through it Greed was the most open booked, further cementing the whole "No Lying" habit of his… though he still drank when he didn't want to say anything. Deidara however proved to be the most tight lipped at first but after a couple drinks ended up being a little more loose lipped. Flippy was half-and-Half over all, but held his alcohol better than the ninja… and eventually through the game had to admit that "Other Worlds might actually be real" with some of the answers the others provided.
Sam herself liked to ask the most pointed questions to the others. She liked to be a little nosey and clearly enjoyed every answer and non answer she got through the game. Like Greed she was practically an open book but took her shots like a champ when the others would come at her with their own pointed questions… though one of her own questions did lead to a discussion that derailed the entire game.
"If you could, would you fuck your own clone?"
"What kind of a question is that?" Flippy had asked, looking disturbed in his partially inebriated state. Even Deidara stared at Sam with a look that questioned "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Look man. I'm saying you're hot, so your clone's probably gonna be hot. If you're into it would you fuck them? I mean, I know if I had a clone, I'd totally fuck her." Sam leaned back in her chair with a shrug.
"No! That would technically be incest anyways and completely wrong!" Flippy practically shouted, face red from the embarrassing question.
"No, no she has a point." Greed then spoke up, causing the disbelieving looks of both Flippy and Deidara to turn to the homunculus… who proceeded to explain his thoughts on why it would totally work. All while the others had no idea about Ling giving Greed an equally judging look about his views on the matter in general. Though Sam did cheer saying "He gets it!" once Greed finished.
All the while Deidara had sobered up enough to wisely stay out of this discussion as he could technically make his own clones… but this discussion reminded him too much of some unwanted conversations he was forced to go through with Hidan a while back… and he genuinely just wanted to forget them again.
Though unknowingly to everyone… Cheshire also got into some of the alcohol out of curiosity… only to stick out his tongue in disgust at the sharp taste of the giggle water. So in the end… the cat was the real winner in the whole thing by staying out of the chaos this little drinking game became.
Day 2:
The Next morning was just as horrible outside as the rain had not let up at all over the night and seemed to be going strong to make this day unpleasant for all involved. Add in the headaches that followed from the previous day's drinking game, and the chaos that followed from Greed figuring out a code to the orb and it led to a shitty day in general.
It started while Sam was showing Deidara how to play the card game Uno, with Flippy happily joining them to make the game go a little longer… When two short, quick beeps came from Greedling's position on the couch in the apartment they all choose to hunker down in. The group all turned their attention to Greed, curious about what happened… only for none of them to understand Greed when he asked something. Then when Deidara tried to mention something about it, everyone else had no idea what the blonde was saying at all.
The only two that seemed to have any idea what each other were saying were Sam and Flippy, as they both quickly realized it was because they both spoke English. Though Cheshire seemed to also understand them… but the cat's ears twitched and head would tilt in confusion whenever Deidara or Greed or Ling would try to say something.
Eventually Greed ended up repeating the code he put in and after two quick beeps suddenly everyone could understand each other once again.
"Guess we found our universal translator." Sam muttered at the end of it all. Every one of them stared at the little orb-like device with the distinct feeling that there was more to it than just translations.
To try and relieve some of the uncomfortable energy that built up, the group decided to venture up to some of the higher floors of the apartment to see if anything could be scavenged, or if they could just clear it out in general to make more room to roam. They were all at least pleasantly surprised to find that there was only a small amount of undead left roaming in the upper levels, which the group quickly took care of. Which just left clearing out the bodies, or as Sam put it "Chucking them out the windows" much to Flippy's own annoyance at her disregard for what were once people… only for it to turn into disappointment when no one else seemed to think it was a bad way of phrasing it.
"At least we're not getting some messed up satisfaction from killing them, hm." Deidara had pointed out when Flippy questioned their morals… though the green haired man looked genuinely confused on what Deidara meant.
"What makes you think I enjoy killing things?" Flippy asked in a slightly offended tone, but was wrapped more in his confusion. This had the others questioning a couple things about the soldier… but none of them chose to bring up the sadistic glee that they had seen in the man's face when destroying the undead.
There wasn't a whole lot to find in the upper three levels, though Sam did find some music CD's that they could turn on later if they got really bored… though after listening to the first one later that night, no one wanted to risk listening to the others. The first song on the disk was bad… and it didn't get better from there as by the 3rd song Deidara threw the entire music player out the window with the CD still in it.
"Kinda wishing I lived in a World where that playlist never existed now…" Sam muttered afterwards, with Deidara and Greedling both wishing they were back in their own home worlds… Which eventually led to Sam asking everyone later about their home worlds in general and if they would go back, or try to find a way back at some point.
"I mean, I would hope so." Flippy laughed, though it sounded strained… he had been in this world for months compared to Deidara's and Greedlings' mere days. Perhaps his optimism was beginning to give way to reality? "Flaky's definitely missing me by now… and the town would probably be worried as well. We've uh… never had people missing as long as I've been. Not only that but they'd definitely worry, after I didn't show up after the first couple weeks I'd be missing."
The soldier described his home as a small town where everyone knew everyone, and the forest for which the town of Happy Tree was named after that surrounded it. The forest itself didn't sound as grand as the forests of the Land of Fire… but it sounded quieter, more peaceful somehow. Though when the others seemed to comment on how boring and peaceful Flippy's home sounded… Deidara did take notice of a darker, almost haunted look that crossed the soldier's face briefly as they described it as a "Normal sounding town."
Greed was very vocal about wanting and needing to get back to his world. Describing how his father was going to destroy everything to attain godhood, as well as detailing how important it was he got back to his remaining "henchmen" to make sure they were okay as well… Though the homunculus also sounded a bit pissed off at the thought that everything was already over and he missed it all. But the others could all tell that there was fear and concern within each word as well. Especially since there were faint traces of the Ultimate Shield attempting to crawl up Greed's hands as if to try and protect him from something, or rip apart something that wasn't even there.
When it got to Deidara's turn… the blonde was quiet for a bit. Genuinely taking his time and thinking his answer on whether he wanted to go back to his world or not. He never told the others how he knew that he died back in his world… but if he could go back to his world post death, would he want to take the chance?
"I think… that I'd prefer to see some other worlds first, before going back to my own, hm." Deidara finally settled on after going deep into thought for a solid minute. "Aside from wanting to go back just to piss some people off, I think I prefer the freedom this brought to me, yeah. Though I could do without the walking corpses in the span of it all, hm."
Then at the end of it all… Sam spoke up, expressing her desires to just… go to a world with living people again. A world where she could just live without having to count her days till everything would run out… a world where she could just go back to a normal life. A world not on a ticking timer until it phases out completely with nothing left on it. And most importantly:
"This world I wanna go to has got to have some real god damned food. I'd never have to eat fucking preserved foods and I can just go get a god damned cheeseburger… GOD I miss cheeseburgers. And coffee."
She really put an emphasis on just having hot and cooked foods in general, which ended up making Ling come out and start joining her on food talk in general…. Which in turn led to the group dipping into the rations because now they were all hungry.
Throughout all the conversations about their home worlds and everything… Cheshire just stared off through the window into the storm beyond. Thinking about the Abyss. His home for the longest time. Thinking about the false walls that replicated that of the tower of the Baskerville Estate, the toys that laughed and played and lived like he did. His thoughts brought up Alice herself… both versions of them. The loud Alice, bold and brash who he never liked too much, but had meant a lot to the other Alice, his Alice. Gentle and sweet, loving and kind… but cold and vindictive to those who wronged her.
Did I do something wrong? Is that why she left Cheshire to die this time?
The cat's questions would never get answered, leaving his single red eye to gaze sightlessly into the darkness beyond the window. Nearly ignorant of the lively energy of the others in the room with him as the cat was lost to his own thoughts.
Day 3:
Sometime during the previous night, the rain became snow and while no longer as heavy as it was the day prior, the fact that it was coming down at all had Sam err on the side of caution. She hooked up a space heater to one of the generators and pulled out a couple different games to choose from to help pass the time. Though Scrabble has to be crossed off the list entirely due to the fact only Flippy and Sam knew english. Monopoly was played for a bit… until the anger and competitive nature the game brought out took hold and the game was taken off the list… but no one felt up for anymore games after and Sam just took to doing a couple of rounds of solitaire.
Cheshire seemed to get a little interested in the card game during one round and proceeded to sit on the woman's lap as she played the game… even pawing at some of the cards when he found a match. Sam laughed at one point about how the cat was better at this game then she was, and decided to just keep playing it until the cat was tired of it.
Flippy meanwhile had finished patching Greedling's trench coat with some of the supplies they had. If you didn't know it had been patched you wouldn't be able to tell just from looking at the needle work and color matching, and Greed was very happy to have his coat fixed up. After giving the finished coat back, the soldier then took it upon himself to sort through the supplies they did have left. Muttering to himself the amount of food they had and trying to take into account how much they had all had the past couple days. It… wasn't looking good in his opinion, definitely wouldn't last them a whole winter… maybe a little under a month if he really thought about it after seeing Ling eat.
Deidara meanwhile, actually chose to sit with Greedling for a while around halfway through the day. They were mostly looking over the orb-like device and Deidara was taking notes about the buttons and sequences they'd figured out since yesterday. Though Greed couldn't read the kanji and Ling mentioned that it looked similar enough to the xingese writing system but some of the characters had different meanings to them. Deidara just sighed and sketched some pictures of the device to help them at least understand a part of his notes.
They did figure it had some kind of 5 numbered code from the five finger indents in the orbs surface being buttons. Greed had taken a marker the other day and numbered each of them to make the whole code thing easier for him to pick up. 3-3-1-3-5 ended up being the code that turned the language translation on and off again. Since then there was another code that they figured out, 1-5-4-5-2 that they deemed… kinda useless as across the orb numbers appeared that were set at 0 and almost looked like it was displaying a time. But nothing else came about it and the 0's never changed when they checked it again a while later.
Deidara, Greed and Ling kept bouncing ideas back and forth on just what the orb was supposed to be for with the few functions they found. Though there were very little clues aside from the translation feature to work with. Unknown to them, while busy with their investigations of their strange little device, Sam had just gotten the cat off her lap and grabbed her camera. Her eyes practically capturing them in a moment that caused her to fall back on her old habit of taking pictures of people and moments that she wanted to immortalize in her memories.
Flippy had seen her setting the camera up, but she motioned for the soldier to keep it quiet as she squared up to get a nice shot of the distracted teens. Within her lens she caught the moment with a push of a button.
Deidara sitting further from the camera's perspective, eyes focused on testing out another code on the orb and a hand reaching out to point out a suggestion of numbers to try. His body leaned up close to the black haired teen who was equally focused on their task. Greed, or Ling, holding the strange device in hand and inputting a new code. A relaxed expression on their face as their mouth was opened in response to something Deidara was saying. In the background near the windowsill, Cheshire, who had moved there after Sam went to get the camera, lay watching the snow falling outside. His black fur stood out with the white and gray outside the window. The candles that were lit in the room setting a rather serene mood.
A Moment of Calm in a Dead World. Sam thought to herself after the picture was taken. Knowing that if she could, she would have developed this photo to add to her collection of memories on her wall.
Soon after her thoughts though a beeping began from the orb in Greedling's hands, catching everyone's attention and prompting Sam to lower her camera and come closer. Flippy not too far behind with an equal amount of curiosity.
"Did we just find another code?" Ling's voice questioned in surprise, before his brow furrowed in confusion as the beeping continued, but nothing changed or showed up with the orb. While Deidara just began writing another note.
"4-1-1-3-5… seems to cause a series of beeping noises with no discernible reason behind them, hm." Deidara muttered as he began scratching some kanji near the numbers.
"Wait…" Flippy spoke up, brow furrowed as he paid attention to the beeps. "I think… the beeping is getting faster."
Before anyone else could speak up, before anyone else could think of tossing the orb… a bright flash of light filled everyone's vision.
One moment the group was sitting around in an abandoned apartment, the world dead and cold as the winter storm. The next no one was left. The only thing even indicating that life had been present in the building were the flickering candles left behind.
Omake: End of one World
"Well, this one certainly took a while compared ta the other chapters." Gin laughed, a tablet in hand as he watched the words be typed on the screen. His face turned towards the left most couch in the lounge room.
"Still not feeling too well from April huh?" A sigh escaped the silver haired Shinigami and a near disappointed frown crossed his angular face. "Yer really out of it if yer actually not gonna bother responding this time around Writer-san. Alright, I'll play along."
The Shinigami then turned his attention forward, as if facing a camera to address the Readers themselves.
"Well dear Readers we finally made it ta the end of the Dead World arc! And it only took Writer-san getting sick three times, and keeping up their poor sleeping habits ta finally finish it."
… Okay uncalled for there.
"Shh, rest yer tired little head Writer-san. I'm doing my job~!" Gin snickered with a smug look crossing his face… like the asshole he is.
"Touché. Regardless, we are now moving forward into the next world that Writer-san has been planning out. But we will not spoil anything here~!" The fox faced Shinigami smiled.
"However Writer-san has given permission fer me ta say a couple things about the upcoming world, or rather… a special chapter in the works ta introduce it. See, they've been planning and plotting out what will happen in the upcoming world, but realized that there's gonna be a bit o' confusion with each new mainline world. Soo, a shorter chapter than all the others so far is gonna be in the works. It will give a little background on the upcoming world through a Third Person Limited perspective… with a specific character that will be appearing. Old fans have a couple guesses on who it could be, but fer newer fans. Well don't worry too much. They'll be revealed in maybe a couple weeks, or on Writer-san's Tumblr when they decide to drop their sketches of them."
Gin waved his hand dismissively at the end, before leaning back in his chair nonchalantly.
"Oh! And a little fun thing fer the ending part of the Dead World. The descriptions near the end on a day by day basis are Writer-san's… experiment shall we say. See one of Writer-san's biggest worries is falling into writer's block or getting burned out… so leaving little descriptions of moments that happened is their way of opening those moments up ta be explored at a later date through one-shots if ya Readers would be interested~!"
… I actually drew a couple of them as short comic ideas on my Tumblr throughout the month of April. But I'm not opposed to expanding on them later should my mind go "Oooh yes, let's write this now~!" and all that…. Also the Day 1-3 thing is also some personal practice for how I'm gonna write the Interlude Worlds.
"Surprisingly there's not much else fer this chapter. Writer-san didn't even listen to music much while writing it this time."
Doesn't mean I don't have song recommendations this time. However this time it's song's I associate with the main group of characters so far:
For Deidara: YoiYoi KoKon by REOL, the instrumentals alone always make me think of Deidara's explosions.
For Flippy: Monster Made of Memories by Citizen Soldier. Honestly the lyrics really hit home on what I think for my interpretation of Flippy.
For Cheshire: A Mistaken Belief in Love by NILFRUITS but more specifically the Yuu Miyashita cover. I dunno why, could be the cat in the video… though more likely it's related to the feelings he's going through in this fic.
For Greedling: Honestly… I've got two songs that I've just always associated with them, This is Gonna Hurt by Sixx: AM, and Empty by Click Five. Both were found on FMA AMV's years ago and I've always thought of Greedling for both.
For Sam: Hurry Hurry by Air Traffic Controllers, as well as Say It by Yorushika. Not gonna explain too much on why, but yeah.
That's all for now.
"Till next time Dear Readers. Bye Bye~!"