"Why must we be so tense? Let's just talk..." Pitch all but purred to the girl. "We're grown-ups, here... Let's do the adult thing, and just talk through our problems..."
Ashley raised a brow, face devoid of any emotion but voice full of spite. "What if I don't want to talk...? What if I wanna stomp you in the trachea...?"
Pitch chuckled lowly as he inspected his fingernail. "Because if you try anything, I'll have you fall through the cloud and to your death... The only reason you haven't yet, is because I think I can still convince you. We got off on the wrong foot, my dear, I can see that, now..."
She raised a brow. "Oh really, now? You've come to realize that kidnapping someone and chaining them up isn't the way to go...? Figured out that when someone says no, you shouldn't torture them psychologically?"
He gave a short grunt, apparently not wanting to answer that, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Listen, my dear... I do not want to fight you, if anything, I want to be your ally. Your friend... We could do so much together, you and I... I could be the father you never had."
"My father was awesome!" She protested, trying to keep herself from lunging at him for insulting her pop. "He taught me right, and he always supported me! You shut your dirty mouth!" Pitch chuckled, and melted into the clouds. Several of his shadows circled around her, and man, she had to internally scream to keep herself from lashing out.
"Why...? Are you afraid you'll hear the truth? Did he really teach you correctly...? The whole 'defend the weak and lead the blind' charade?" He gave an almost mocking laugh, his voice echoing in the air around her. "No, Ashley... All he did was hold you back. Keep you from gaining the power and respect that you deserve. It won't be hard, love, you won't even need to raise a hand against your so-called friends... Just turn the other cheek, and let me do all the work."
Her nostrils flared, and her fury bubbled and raged, begging for release... But no, not yet... She couldn't let it out yet. She had to look for a chance to catch him off guard. Until then, just stall him. "What if I don't want to turn my cheek? What it I don't wanna leave the people who can't defend themselves to the wolves?! What if I want to fight for the weak-what then?"
He laughed again. But this time, it wasn't mocking... it was almost sad. "I once thought like you... I was the hero once, and fought for good... I locked myself away, for more years than I had counted, just so there could be good in this damned world!" He faltered and quickly composed himself. "But you will find that there is no reward, or gratitude for being good... And the second you turn away, everyone-everyone-hates you, just for existing. So you must ask yourself... Are the heroes really as good as they portray...? Either you die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain... And for thousands of years, I was little more than a wives tale, strewn up to keep children in their beds. For thousands of years, I was completely and utterly alone. And I fear that someday, you will, too..."
Ashley stared. For a few seconds, she felt bad for him. His voice had been so filled with pain and loneliness and desperation... But she was still quick to remember Little Z and Frost. Although... "Maybe you're right, Pitch," She said slowly, studying him carefully. "Maybe no one will ever reward me or thank me for what I'll do... But I think you forgot something-It isn't about the rewards, or the medals, or the thank-you cards, or anything. When you sacrifice for the greater good, you do it for your friends, and your family."
"Sitting up here in the dark, dank clouds, dreaming up plots hasn't been good for you," She continued, a somewhat manic grin crossing her face as the taller man formed by her side, watching her curiously, "It's high time you realized the gravity of the situation. I think it's time you got your head out of the clouds..."
He let his guard down. If only for an instant, while he contemplated what she meant by that. Was it enough for any normal, intelligent, and sane person to take the chance...?
Nope. But Ashley wasn't exactly the sharpest or the straightest knife in the drawer. So she took the chance, small as it was, and jumped at him as she grew a hell of a lot bigger and furrier, slamming him in the chest with her massive paws and sending them both into the air. Hopefully, her hunch that being a bear would make her more durable was correct... Or else she was in trouble, man.
They quickly plummeted towards the ground, and Ashley made sure to use the Nightmare King as a pillow to soften her landing...
And, well... It had hurt. A lot.
But, it had probably hurt a lot more for the boogieman. A half-ton bear landed on him, after all... And then, she proceeded to lift him into the air with her fang-filled mouth by the arm, and then rear up as high as she could before slamming the man into the ground. She heard a sickening crack! as he was slammed into the ground, and the rusty tang of blood in her mouth. Pitch's scream filled the air.
If the girl had been in a normal state of mind, this would have disgusted her, and she would have stopped right away. She would have been disgusted and horrified with herself, all the shebang.
But she wasn't exactly in a normal state of mind. She was seeing red, and all that anger that had been building up was coming out. Very, very slowly...
So, as a result, she didn't feel any guilt when she threw him across the field, or when she heard his pained grunts as he tumbled across the ground. Everyone, including the fearlings, had stopped to watch the show. She dropped down into the tall grass, only to rise again as a girl, trident in hand and a scowl on her face.
She stalked over, only to freeze halfway to the Nightmare King when he and a huge, deadly looking scythe raised haphazardly from the ground and swung towards her torso. She tried to dodge it, but she leaped away a second too late. It caught her shoulder, and threw her off to the side like a rag doll. If she didn't have her shoulder guard, she would have lost her arm, too...
But she did, so all it did was slam into her with the force of a barn. It cut across her other shoulder, getting in pretty deep and fucking burning, but her adrenaline made her able to ignore it. Mostly.
Ashley must have really messed up his arm, because he was pretty quick to drop his scythe, and as she sprinted over his face twisted with pain as he curled in on himself, gingerly cradling his arm. She slid to a stop in front of him, aiming to slice his face, but missing and only getting his good arm because of his blocking it. So she kicked him between the legs to make up for it. He made a high-pitched squealing sound before kneeling over in pain...
Only to have her kick him in the throat. Not as hard as she could have, but still... hard enough to have him cough up blood. Then she tackled him, and began hitting anything she could reach. The man tried to block her and hit back, and he occasionally did hit her. And hard, too... But it wasn't even remotely close to being enough to stop her.
It was ruthless. Gruesome. Cruel, even. She just kept going and going, fully intending to kill him. At least, until she stopped...
Only for a moment, understand... To catch her breath. Her chest was heaving for breath, sweat poured down her face, her right arm was screaming, and her hands had gone numb. That was usually the sign to stop, if just for a second...
She saw his face. It was bloody, swelled up to the point where it didn't even look remotely human, anymore. That didn't bother her. It was his eyes... or, what little of his eyes she could see from all the bruising and swelling.
They were scared. He was scared, Terrified. Of her. It reminded her of the look Zach had given her, when she had been a bear without realizing it and just waltzed right up to him. That look was pointed at her, and it scared her. She was the thing he was afraid of, and that was enough to knock her out of her rage.
And then she realized that, shit, she had been about to kill this guy! She didn't kill people! They would try to kill her, sure, but it was never the other way around. She might beat them up, spit on them when it was over, but she had been fixing to make the final blow... To end a life that she had no right ending.
Ashley heard a voice in her head, then. Maybe watching 'The Hobbit' three times with Zach had messed up her head, but she could practically hear Gandalf speaking to her. 'True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.'
Her mouth was dry as she swallowed thickly, pushing the lump in her throat down, and slowly got off of him. Because she couldn't make her mouth form words nor make her brain think of any, she gave curt nod as a half-assed apology before backing away and turning, feeling horribly numb and hollow inside.
She felt like crap, but she shouldn't have turned away.
If she hadn't turned, she would have seen the wild, desperate look come to his eyes when he realized she wasn't going to do what he had thought she would...
If she hadn't, she would have seen him stand up and form a blade from the shadows...
Bunnymund shouted for her to turn but she was tired, and took a few moments too long to do it. And then, she felt the pain in her back. An indescribably searing, intense pain exploded in her back that made her drop to her knees against her will, and short of breath.
Black began filtering through her vision, and she suddenly felt more exhausted than she ever had in her entire life. Every breath that rattled in her ribcage made her want to sleep, but she forced herself to turn and see what had done that.
Pitch.
Fucking karma, man...
She just got stabbed in the back by the guy. Literally. She couldn't turn enough to see where he had gotten her, but judging from the fact that she couldn't feel her legs at all, she figured it was safe to assume it was her spine. Which wasn't very good...
Time seemed to slow down as she fell onto her elbows, and she heard multiple war cries as blurred shapes ran towards then past her, probably headed for the boogieman. Everything she heard got more and more muffled, almost like she was underwater.
It was getting hard to breath, and she was just so tired... Ashley had a feeling that she should have been scared, but she wasn't...
She felt small, soft hands touch her face, and she looked up, trying to suppress a grimace of pain as she looked into a familiar face. Tooth.
Man, she couldn't even hear what anyone was saying anymore... just a bunch of really muffled noises that almost sounded familiar to voices. The fairy was holding her face, talking to her rapidly, and looking really really scared. Her pink eyes shimmered like sunlight on a river, and it made Ashley feel bad. She'd never wanted to make anyone sad... Especially not Tooth.
"I dun goofed, momma," Ashley mumbled tiredly, a weak, almost apologetic smile crossing her face. "Sorry..."
Ashley's head slid out of the fairy's hands and drooped down, and she slumped to the floor. She tried to get back up, but her arms trembled before she had even started pushing... it was a lost cause. Despite that, she still tried. Tooth tried to help her as well, but it just didn't work.
The girl was tired... she had a knife in her back, her ears were ringing, she hurt so fucking much. She wasn't scared, but she was a little disappointed in herself... and that was the worst feeling of all. At any other time she would deny it, but now wasn't any other time-she wasn't a complete idiot. She could remember this feeling, deep, deep in her memories... Ashley was dying. She'd fulfilled her promise-she'd really had tried to stay alive. No unnecessary risks or acts of heroism, but she still ended up dying. It hadn't even been her temper...
She died because she decided to do something completely uncharacteristic, and show mercy...
Freaking irony, man... That crap really bites people in the ass, huh...?
As she closed her eyes, one last thought ran through her head. Zach was gonna be really upset...
Shit.
Black.
Suffocating, never-ending darkness. For what felt like ages, that was all there was for Ashley. It smothered her, and time seemed to go on and on... Every time she tried to recall why she was there, her memory slipped through her fingers. And it was kind of pissing her off...
It felt like years went by as she stood alone in the darkness, wondering if it would ever end... Hopefully before she lost her goddamn mind.
Then, there was a light. It was a small, small light, that just floated right up in front of her face. Something in her head just told her 'grab it.'
So she did.
Or she tried to, anyways... The damned thing jerked down just before her hand could close around it and then floated back to her face tauntingly.
"Oh, you're gonna be like that, huh...?" She muttered. "You're gonna make me work for ya...? That's alright. I'm a stubborn ass with nothing to do, anyways."
And try she did. The damn thing made her sprint, leap, jump up, barrel-roll, and crawl around in her self-given quest to catch it... It was hard work, and for a second she briefly considered quitting...
Nah... Quitting was for squares, she decided as she made one last final leap, only to have her hands close around the light she had dubbed 'Squishy." Giving a victorious cheer, she beamed as she opened up her hands. Squishy nestled into her palm, and started... blinking...?
Squishy got bigger, and a hell of a lot brighter, and it just kept going. And then the ringing started...
Ashley dropped Squishy and staggered back, covering her eyes and grimacing. "Okay, okay, I get it!" She yelped exasperatedly, "You don't like to be held! Calm down, would ya?!"
It didn't. In fact, it got worse. She fell back on her butt, and curled up in a ball, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her face with her legs and arms, but it still got through. It was torture, it was so bright it hurt, and she could still see it as plain as she would if she didn't cover her eyes! She didn't even know that was possible!
And she sat there, curled up on the ground, when it just stopped. The light, the ringing, everything... Did Squishy have a mood swing...?
She sat up and opened her eyes, only to have her mouth drop. "What the actual fuck...? What just...? Is this what it's like to be high?"
The darkness was gone. Squishy wasn't, though... she still wasn't sure if that was a 'yay' or a 'nay.' Now, she was in a foggy as hell forest. And she was pretty sure that she was high off of her ass. She couldn't recall taking or doing anything that would make her this high.
Ashley was sitting in a clearing of sorts in the middle of a gray, damp forest. Except it wasn't really all that clear... There was still trees rising up from the ground in the clearing... just less. The floor was completely covered in surprisingly bright green foliage, and ferns sprouted out above the plants. And it was quiet... almost painfully so. Just the silent hush of the fogs, and the dampness in the air that made water drop occasionally from the plants around her.
Squishy circled around her a few times before floating off ahead and going back a bit, seemingly wanting her to follow her. The girl raised a brow at the light.
"You assume an awful lot, it you think I'm gonna just follow you without question." He didn't respond, which she had kind of expected, and she heaved a sigh. "Okay... fine, Squishy, I'll follow you," She grumbled, "You'd better not lead me into a spike-filled pit or anything..."
Ashley trudged after the light, only to stop suddenly with a curse. "Wait! Wait, I... I don't have a thing. I'm supposed to have my thing!"
Squishy came back, and she swore he cocked his head.
"I'm supposed to have a thing with me," she explained slowly, scrunching her face up and tangling her hands in her hair in an attempt to remember. "There's this thing I'm supposed to have... it goes everywhere with me, but... I can't remember what the thing is... Shit, I'm just having all sorts of problems, today! Just... give me a minute, I can remember what it was, I swear I can!"
The girl looked down at her bare feet, like they would tell her the answers. They didn't, and she frowned at the offending body parts before jumping up. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! I... Where are my shoes?! And... I was wearing other stuff, right?" God, this was killing her. She was just in some jeans and a tank top, which seemed normal but it didn't feel right. Like something was missing...
It felt like a lot was missing, actually...
She grimaced and tangled her hands in her hair. "Goddamn it, why can't I remember anything?! Did I get hit in the head really hard, or am I high, or what?!"
Squishy floated back and, get this, sprouted arms! The little bastard lightly pat her cheek and made an echoing cooing noise before gesturing to the girl to follow. She stared at him, blinking profusely.
"You never told me you had arms and could make noise... I'm a little hurt, man." He just shrugged his little shoulders before gesturing for her to follow again. "You really want me to follow you, huh?" He nodded, and she heaved another sigh. She was pretty certain she should be more cautious, but... Squishy was her only lead. In a way, he had been helping her, she figured. He got her out of the darkness, after all...
"Okay, Squishy," She sighed. "I can investigate later... You're my only buddy in this, so I guess I'm just gonna have to wing it and trust ya, yeah?" Squishy nodded and made an excited squealing noise before going forward, with Ashley reluctantly following him. And the more they went on, she noticed, the more human-like Squishy became. He was still small, but he had become more of a small white flame, with a torso and arms, and he was starting to form a face...
It was actually pretty cool. A little weird, but still cool...
He led her through bushes, over rocks, and was an all-around terrible leader. He seemed hell bent and determined to get her to follow him his way. She had tried to go around a massive rock, and he had a bit of a hissy fit and pouted and would not move until she went back and scrambled up the stupid rock. Once she did, he seemed to grin at her before continuing on his way, no sign of his previous behavior to be seen.
Ashley was pretty sure the little guy was bipolar...
But she still followed him, even when she got to a huge mo-foing hill and had to crawl up it while Squishy floated leisurely up the damn thing, complaining all the way.
"Y'know," She muttered breathlessly, "I really hate hills. I'm pretty sure there's a reason, but I can't remember it... I don't suppose following you would help me get my memory back...?"
He looked back and nodded before continuing. That was enough to motivate her to haul ass up that hill, because she really didn't like not knowing things... She was pretty sure there was a reason for that, too, but she couldn't remember it... She would once she went where Squishy wanted her to go to, though!
She crawled up the hill like a pro, only falling and slipping three times. By the time she got to the top, she had mud all over her hands and quite a bit on her face, but man, she didn't care! She was up the stupid fucking hill! That was worth a few hoorahs in her book!
Still... she decided it was time for a break, as she rolled onto her back, panting and covering her eyes with her hand. "I need a nap..."
"Come on, Ashley, are you giving up already?"
The girl shot up from the ground and looked over, only to have her face break out into a grin. "Vergil!" She hopped up and ran over, pulling the man into a hug. "Someone who can actually talk, and-and I actually remember you! Thank you, God!"
The man chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I'm here," He mused quietly, "And so are you...? I was wondering why I was told to come here."
Ashley raised a brow and looked at the man, only to notice the thing behind him... "Are we at a jail...? I-no, it can't be... The barbed wire is facing out, so that means they're trying to keep 'em out, not in..." She faltered and pursed her lips in thought.
Like she had said, it looked like she was at a jail... A huge bar fence with spikes and barbed wire on the top ran up from the ground a few meters away, and a doorway stood alone in the fence, with a small table on the right side of it. There was a lone button and clipboard on the table, so she assumed that was how to get in...
She just didn't know what was in. It was so damn foggy, she couldn't see anything past a few feet within the fence. Ashley looked back at Vergil and frowned. "I... I don't understand."
"I'm gonna be honest with you, I do not completely understand, either," He admitted, idly scratching the back of his head. "I know you got severely injured, something that would normally kill a regular person... but what usually happens is you get knocked out a bit, and then wake up... I'm not sure why you are at the gates."
"The gates?" She asked slowly, "The gates to what...?"
Vergil hummed. "There are many words for this place... Heaven, Elysium, Paradise..."
"So... I'm dead...?"
"Not quite yet, Ace," He assured her, "I suppose the ones in charge are giving you a choice. You've done your duty... they are letting you choose: do you want to go to the fields of Elysium...? With me, your mother, fallen friends and family? Or do you wish to go back?" As he said that, a portal opened a few feet away from the table. Colors swirled around the edges, and the inside glowed blue faintly. Voices, familiar voices that she was sure she knew but couldn't place any names on cried from the portal.
The voices sounded so sad... And even though she couldn't be sure who they belonged to, the voices tugged at her heartstrings. "I... I can't remember anything, how am I supposed to make a choice?!"
Vergil frowned and put a hand on her shoulder. "I do not know, Ace... That is just the way the guys in charge work. Maybe it's so your choice won't be biased...? Maybe they are testing you...? I can't be sure."
"Ya can't go out on us like this, Ash!"
She grimaced and tangled her fingers in her hair as more voices, unbearably sad called for her to come back. Finally, she cried out. "Make it stop, damn it! I can't think like this!" And it did. Not completely, but it was considerably quieter now, just hushed, urgent whispers and choked sobs. It wasn't what she wanted, but it was a little better...
"Elysium is a great place," Vergil told her quietly. "It is paradise. All the good dreams you've ever had can come true, here... Infinite knowledge. You can have adventure beyond your wildest dreams. Endless feasts, with all the great men and women of history. And you have people waiting for you, here... If you look, you can see the shapes of them within the gates, coming to see your decision..."
Ashley bit her lip and walked over to the fence, looking in and squinting. And lo and behold, Vergil wasn't lying... She could see the faintest shapes of people, coming closer... And the faint pleas for her to open her eyes cried in her ears.
Turning and closing her eyes, she whined in frustration as she fell to the ground and crossed her legs. The people she could hear... they really seemed to care about her. Would it be right to leave them like that...?
Vergil sighed and crouched down next to her. "This is a great place, Ace, and I would recommend it to you, but... It sounds to me like some people aren't ready for you to go, so I can't without a guilty heart. No matter what you choose, I'll be behind you one hundred percent of the time...Either go through the portal, or sign the sheet, push the button and then go on in."
She grunted and rubbed her cheek, only to falter when she heard a familiar but unplaceable voice call her from the fence. She glanced back and raised a brow.
A lady was right against the fence with an ecstatic grin on her face. The lady was small in pretty much every aspect of the word. Short with small hands and bright eyes. Her face was clean and smooth, and her hair was neatly brushed back. She was actually really pretty... The lady's hair was actually pretty similar to Ashley's, just a little redder and neat. Something in her gut was telling her to go hug the lady, but her head was telling her that that would be stupid-she didn't know who she was, after all...
Vergil nudged Ashley and gestured to the lady. "You should probably go see and talk to her, Ace... She is your mom, after all..."
Ashley faltered and cocked her head to the side. "I... She is...?"
He nodded and lightly pushed her towards the woman. "Yeah... Go talk to her, champ, it won't hurt anything!"
She shrugged and walked over a bit uncertainly, and the closer she got, the more excited the lady got. When she got close enough, the lady stuck her arms through the fence and hugged her.
At first, Ashley tensed up and flinched, but she quickly relaxed against the woman who was supposedly her mom. The hug felt... really familiar, actually. It made her feel safe, and soon enough, she was hugging the lady back.
When the lady-her mom-pulled away, she beamed at the younger girl and put her really soft hand on her face. "Gosh, you got so big, baby... Look at you!" She laughed.
Ashley tried not to look awkward or confused as she nodded and grinned, just going with it. "Yup, look at me... mom...?"
The lady looked a bit confused as to why Ashley was asking, when she remembered and slapped her tiny palm to her forehead. "Oh, right... You can't remember more than your name and Vergil..." She muttered a curse under her breath before looking back up at her daughter with a grin that matched her daughter's, "Yes, I'm your mom... And I am so proud of you..."
More people came through the fog. Some familiar, some not. They didn't talk, they just smiled at the girl and waved. A rat crawled up her mom's leg and rested on her shoulder, squeaking happily as Ashley reached her hand through the bars and lightly stroked it's cheek.
Her mom smiled fondly up at the girl, and lightly stroked her cheek. Ashley couldn't really remember the woman at the moment, but she could tell that this woman-her mom, loved her very, very much... And with the way that her heart yearned out and craved for the older woman's touch and praise, Ashley could tell that she had loved her, too.
They all seemed so happy... to see her. Ashley looked back at Vergil, and he smiled back at her. Something about the place... she just felt like she belonged there. Maybe... maybe it was her time. And that was her reasoning, as she looked over at the table without a second glance at the portal.
Thunder rumbled as she walked back over to the table, still a little uncertain but less so than she was before, and a familiarly smooth, calming voice rumbled around her. "It's your choice."
Right... It was her choice. So why did it feel... almost wrong...? Like she was betraying and letting down a lot of people, as she picked up the pen and pushed the point to the clipboard...
Just as she was putting down the 'e,' a voice yelled right in her ear. A voice that was young and old, and horribly, horribly desperate and scared...
"Ashley! Don't you dare die on me! You saved my skin, and I still owe you!" Ashley yelped and dropped the pen, quickly covering her ears, but the scream still came through. "What about Zach?! You died on Zach once, are you gonna do it again?!"
Another voice came through, a rough, accented voice that sounded rather defeated. "It ain't gonna do no good, mate... I doubt she can hear ya."
"But what if she can?!"
Ashley grimaced as the voices faded out again, and leaned heavily on the table. Damn... that complicated things... Zach... who was that...? It... it must be someone important, right? It felt like it was something important... She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Vergil," She started quietly, "Is there... If I turn this down, and go back... will there ever be a chance for me to come back again...?"
He nodded, and gave her a proud smile. "Yeah, Ace... You will definitely get the chance to come back here again."
She sighed and rested her hands on the table, weighing out her options for a few minutes... Or rather, she pretended to.
The choice was already decided in her head, bright and clear.
Heaving a sigh, Ashley turned back to the ever-patient mother that she couldn't remember, and gave a rather weak, apologetic smile. "Sorry, mama... I can't do this with a clear conscience... I gotta go back."
Her mom smiled gently, with a touch melancholy in her eyes. "I know you do, baby... Remember that I love you very, very much, you little trouble-maker. I'm so proud of you..."
Ashley gave a two-fingered salute, and waved at everyone else. "Ya'll stay out of trouble now. I'll see you sometime or another..." She stood up straighter and nodded at Vergil. "Okay," She breathed, "I guess I'm ready to go, now. I'll see you again, right...?"
Vergil laughed and gave the girl a one armed hug. "You know it, Ace! As soon as I have an excuse to, I'll be there!" He ruffled her hair and beamed, saying a bit quieter, more to himself than her, "I knew I picked the right one..."
Vergil pulled away and stood a few feet back as she approached the portal. She reached out to touch it, only to falter and look back at the faces that watched her from behind the wall, silently trying to memorize each one before nodding, more to herself than anything before touching the swirl of colors.
The second she came in contact with the colors, it reared back like a wave in the ocean before completely overcoming her and sucking her in, earning a surprised yelp from her and a barked laugh from Vergil.
"See you on the other side, Ace!"
She soon lost sight of the gate, people, and Vergil. She was suddenly falling, hair flying in the air as she spun around through the air, distant voices getting more and more clear with every second that passed... It occurred to her that it probably wasn't supposed to be fun...
But was it...?
Yes. Man, it was so much fun! She had to close her eyes because of how fast she was going, but that didn't stop her from letting out a whoop as she fell through the air! She did flips and twists through the air, grinning like a maniac, until she was finally jerked to a stop.
The second she stopped, she lost consciousness, and any and all thoughts left her head.
When Ashley opened her eyes again, she motherfucking hurt. Especially her back, man...
It was snowing pretty hard, she noticed... And there was a hell of a lot of people crowded around her. Bunnymund was holding her up in his lap, one arm around her protectively. Tooth was quietly sobbing, covering her face and trying not to cry, but failing. Even Jack was there, and maybe she still couldn't see as clearly as normal, but it almost looked like he had a tear running down his face too, as he clenched his teeth together.
But none of them noticed she was kicking, yet...
Yup. That tells you a lot about how attentive spirits can be. And she decided that since everyone looked really sad, she might as well try to lighten the mood while letting them know she was okay, right...?
"Damn, my back," The girl groaned, "It feels like someone just stuck a knife in my spine... Oh wait."
And next thing she knew, Bunnymund was crushing her in a hug. It might not have hurt so much if it weren't for the, you know... the knife in her back.
"Ow, mother ffffffffffff-" She cut herself off mid-curse, clenching her hands together as the old rabbit quickly stopped, apologizing profusely. She waved him off, grinning weakly. "S'okay," She wheezed, "It's not like I needed my spine. Spines are for squares... Ha, who needs 'em...?"
Bunnymund beamed at the girl with tear filled eyes. "Bloody hell, ya gave us quite the scare, there, Ash..."
Ashley nodded tiredly. "Yeah, I figured..." She momentarily forgot that she had a knife in her back, and tried to sit up, only to wince. "Okay, y'know what? I'll stay here... Did I get the bad guy...?"
Nate laughed and smiled at her. "Hell yeah, you got the bad guy! You kicked his fuckin' ass! You went cuckoo on him-your eyes were all glowin' and shit, it was fucking awesome!"
"I... really...?" She asked slowly, "When did that happen?"
"Right when you jumped on 'im and took him out a' the sky, yo! Looked up and you're eyes were all glowy! You really tore a new hole on the son of a bitch!" Nate barked another laugh and lit a cigarette. "That was some fly shit, Lee. Do it again."
"I... I didn't know that happened..." She admitted. "That sounds pretty cool, though... Did you get a picture?"
"Naw, man... I wish I did though, I would'a fuckin' framed that shit!"
Ashley started to laugh, only to quickly stop and grimace. "Ow... I need a nap, man..." she glanced over at Jack, and narrowed her eyes. "And you." She pointed accusingly at Jack. "You were supposed to stay hidden and safe, you damned delinquent!"
The teen held his hands up. "Gee, I'm sorry," He told her with no small amount of smart-assiness, "I thought you were dead!"
"You got shot in the gut with an arrow!" She scolded.
Jack scoffed and gave her a bewildered look. "And you got stabbed in the back. Can you blame me?!"
"Yes." She confirmed, reaching back and feeling around her back, "I can. And I think it's time I..." She trailed off and winced once she got her hand wrapped around the blade, and quickly pulling it out before anyone realized what she was trying to do.
And, well...
She screamed. Loudly, too... She immediately regretted it, even without everyone scolding and yelling at her for doing it.
"Why would you do that?!"
"Are you insane?!"
"Vhy vould you do that, it vas fine! Ve vould have handled it!"
"I don't like sharp things sticking in my body, okay?!" She yelped as tears welled and leaked out of the corners of her eyes. "I just gained consciousness, I was drowsy and I do stupid shit when I'm drowsy! Why weren't you paying attent-FUCK, that hurts! Quick, someone hit me in the head really hard and knock me out-Damnit, make it stop!"
Sandy got closer, pounding his fist into his palm, when Bunnymund hit the little man in the shoulder. "Don't hit her, ya gumby! She's bad enough as it is-Use your bloody dream sand!"
Sandy's face lit up, like that had never occurred to him, and formed a golden ball in his hands before throwing it in the screaming girl's face. She faltered, and her eyes widened for a brief second before drooping closed.
"Yeah, that's... a lot better." She mumbled as she fell back against Bunnymund, giving a drowsy grin as golden dogs began chasing each other around above her head. "Puppies..."
Aaaand, she was out. Again. Although, this time she didn't particularly mind it... If she wasn't conscious, she couldn't feel the hurt.
It really just wasn't her day...
Author's Note~
I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet so I can get working on the next one. So, sorry this took a while, you can yell at me all you want-I won't mind, I kinda deserve it, yo.
Thanks to all my peeps, yo! ILU BBYS You are all SO lovely and amazing and just-UGH. If I could hug all of you, I flippin' would.
Bear with me guys! ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ
Ha, get it...? I said bear with me, and then the... the bear...? No...? Okay...
Let me know if I made any mistakes or did anything wrong or anything of the like. And as always, I hope you got a few laughs out of my goofy little tale!
,BlueAsh666