Raychaell: *kneels down wailing away* I'M SO SORRY! I'M SO SORRY I NEVER UPDATED ALL THIS WHILE!
Roxy: *mad* I'm going to murder you for this. What took you so long to update?
Raychaell: *retorts* That's because people actually loved my other story in the Skulduggery Pleasant fandom and reviewed, but very little people reviewed for this! Anyway, just an update to you guys, if I do not see new reviews for this story, I'll delay updating it! Now that I'm done, on to the story! I don't own D. Gray Man, only my OCs.
[A/N: EDITED 24/5/2012]
Roxy stepped out of the train feeling a little exhausted. The train ride had been long and a little boring too, but she still managed to amuse herself by training Talon some new communication methods. Not to mention, she didn't get much sleep since she was constantly on the watch against Lavi who seemed to have forgotten that she didn't appreciate being pranked, and had tried to draw on her face with a black marker. Luckily for her, Talon had awoken her with an angered screech, and managed to claw Lavi once before she awoke, and stopped Talon from inflicting more harm. Then Lavi had to ruin her self-control by joking that she was in love with him that's why she saved him from getting more scratches from Talon. Stupid rabbit, Roxy thought savagely to herself as her hands twitched to her guns once again as she recalled the memory of nearly letting loose a torrent of Hellbiters on that idiotic rabbit while Amos and Bookman tried to calm her down and stop her from murdering that imbecile.
"Hey Roxy, are you still mad at me?" Lavi whined, rubbing the side of his jaw where she had punched him. Her punch had left a bright purple bruise on his jaw which left people staring away in curiosity. Roxy merely ignored him and awaited Amos. The finder stepped out of the crowd as she leaned against a lamppost in boredom, Bookman just a few steps behind him. Both men ignored the idiotic rabbit who was still trying to garner sympathy, not that he was going to get any from them.
"Miss Wilder, the carriage is this way." Amos said respectfully, his eyes full of respect and fear as he tried to remain calm and not freak out at the memory of an enraged Roxy nearly murdering another exorcist. All of them stepped out of the train depot and were quick to spot a horse carriage drawn by two black horses. Roxy immediately went over to them, murmuring praises and words of happiness. The horses seemed to respond with whickers and nudged her shoulder for more attention. This scene caused Lavi to laugh, earning him a glare from Roxy and Talon. With a reluctant sigh, Roxy turned away from the horses. Talon flew off to hunt in his boredom, leaving her to board the carriage alone. Once inside, Lavi once again attempted to sit next to her, only to be dragged away by Bookman who boxed Lavi's ears, making the younger Bookman howl in pain and bring a smile to Roxy. Amos sat outside with the driver while Roxy studied the mission folder once again.
"Miss Wilder, here's something for you." Bookman's firm voice interrupted her reading. With surprise plain on her face, Roxy looked up to see a golem in his outstretched hand while Lavi gazed at the moving scenery outside.
"A golem? But I don't need one since I have Talon." Roxy told Bookman as she pushed away the hand.
"Yes, but in events where urgent communication is needed, Talon may not be able to provide that. Also, he's an animal who needs rest too, so he can't be always depended on, therefore the Chief told me to give you the golem." Bookman replied. Roxy knew that Bookman had a point at this, so with another sigh, she accepted the golem. She studied the round black golem with curiosity before coming to a decision.
"I think you need a name, so I'll call you Mono." She decided and with that done, Roxy once again leaned her head against the window, her eyes drooping shut with drowsiness. She would have gladly accepted sleep at this point of time had it not been for the fact that she didn't want to have the same nightmare as before where she remembered losing her precious one. No… I can't bear to remember losing him that day, since his death was my entire fault… With yet another sigh, Roxy returned to viewing the scenery outside.
Talon returned after a few hours, nuzzling her happily; a sign that his hunting trip had gone well. Roxy couldn't help but smile and kiss the top of Talon's head, happy that her friend was by her side once more. Exhaustion soon took over however, and Roxy slept once more.
"Happy 5th birthday, Roxanne! Here's a present for you!" Roxanne stared at the gift presented with growing delight.
"Thank you so much Big Brother!" Roxanne squealed happily, hugging her Big Brother. His features were blurry, and she couldn't see what his face was like, but she could see a smile. Big Brother hugged her back, and whispered back to her.
"Happy birthday, my dear Roxanne. May you always be my pretty little sister." Roxanne smiled happily at this.
Roxy woke up with a jerk. Putting a hand up to her face, she was surprised to find tears flowing down her cheeks, and sighed. "It was just a dream, just a dream." Roxy whispered, hugging herself while Talon crooned his worry. Bookman and Lavi were both asleep for once, which made her rather glad, since she didn't want them to ask her awkward questions about why she cried in her sleep. No… I can't have them ask questions. If they do, they will know everything and look at me with those same eyes as those people did. No, I can't have that. With that thought in mind, Roxy tried to relax again, and soon fell asleep once more. This time, it was; to Roxy's relief, a peaceful dreamless sleep which was soon interrupted when her senses registered a presence above her.
Years of instincts which had been honed though her travels through dangerous places and living on the streets as a kid took over. Her right hand, which had been supporting her head dropped to her right thigh where she drew her knife out of its hidden sheath and came up again with the blade now drawn to kill if necessary. "Roxy!" An alarmed shout reached her ears just as her knife met unyielding flesh. Roxy blinked, coming out of her trance to see Lavi raising his hands in surrender as her blade kissed his throat. His hammer was extended and enlarged to push her back if necessary while the rest looked on in alarm. With a sigh, the knife went back to its sheath and Roxy gave Lavi a glare, muttering a warning.
"Don't you dare surprise me like that again or I swear I'll give you more than a cut." Roxy snapped, turning her attention back to her backpack, from which she dug out her mission folder in preparation to read it. She soon immersed herself in the details. Apparently the beast was huge, and conventional weapons had no effect on it. Finders who had ventured in to retrieve the possible Innocence soon found themselves lost in the thick and gloomy forest, and came out only to realize that they were back where they started. Back where they started huh…, Roxy mused, and without warning a memory began replaying.
She was 17 again, and Cross stood behind her in the rain. Roxy was soaked to the skin due to the rainstorm she was currently stuck in, but Cross had a large umbrella held by poor Allen sheltering him. Allen was soaked to the skin as well, and kept sneezing away.
But Roxy didn't see this. She was focused on her target, a small circular piece of willow wood flapping around wildly in the windy storm. Her Wolf guns were not with her; no, Father had confiscated them, saying that until she learned how to shoot properly, he would never let her use her Wolf guns. So he had handed her an ordinary revolver and told her to start shooting at different targets. Her first target had been a row of six tin cans. Her first try had been a complete miss, and she was forbidden from fighting akumas for a week as a result. That had been a harsh punishment, she reflected later during the fight with a small group of Level 1s. She had to grit her teeth while Father shot down the akuma with deadly accuracy while Allen dealt with the weaker ones. So when she was given a chance to train once more, Roxy did her best and managed to knock down half of the cans.
But it still wasn't enough.
Roxy was upset when she was told that she had not succeeded. She nearly threw a tantrum, till she realized that it would be fruitless, and then turned her attention back to her targets. On her second try, with the targets set upright once again, she shot down every single target. This had been a stepping stone for her, since she was allowed to upgrade to tougher targets, until her current final test to judge her ability as a markswoman. Roxy focused once more, her aim steady as she raised the ordinary twin revolvers she held. She ignored the cold rain and the loud thunder. She ignored Father's burning stare at her and Allen's continuous sneezing. She tuned out anything distracting, and focused her will on the target ahead. "If you can't hit this, then you're not a true markswoman, and I will never return you your Wolf guns. Do not disappoint me." He had told her, and now watched her from behind. Roxy understood this, and now, taking in a deep breath, she placed her fingers inside the trigger guards, ready to fire. She cleared her mind, focused, and fired.
She fired with her left hand first, her aim true as the bullet hit the wooden piece. But she wasn't finished, as she fired again with her right hand, her aim true and flinging the shredded wooden circle higher into the wind. She fired over and over again, each shot hitting the target and sending it higher, till she stopped, and let it fall to the ground where she picked it up, and saw that the wooden piece was now shredded into a size no smaller than her thumb. She looked at it briefly, and was surprised when she felt a large hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Father looking down at her with that rare smile of his. "You did it," He commented. "Well done." Roxy beamed happily at this. She lived for Father's rare praises and they always made her happy.
"As a reward, you may have your guns back." With that, Father tossed her twin guns back to her. Roxy hugged the guns close to her, surprised to see that they came with brand new leather holsters. Roxy looked up, but her Father had already left, yelling at Allen to "Keep that goddamn umbrella up you baka apprentice!" Her lips curved into a smile even as she strapped her holsters to her thighs and chased after her father and master, knowing that thanking him would be useless seeing as to how he would just scoff at her and ignore her.
"Roxy, wake up! Yo Roxy, wakey wakey~! We've reached the inn!" Roxy blinked upon hearing Lavi's cheerful voice, and looked out the window, startled to see the inn where they would be staying for the night. She must have fallen asleep while recalling the memory… With a sigh, Roxy slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped out after Lavi, who was headed for Bookman and Amos. They stood to the side awaiting her, and Amos was the first to speak as soon as she reached them.
"The owner of this inn has no idea that we are from the Black Order. Instead, he has been told that we are a group of bounty hunters looking to catch this beast for the large bounty it has on its head. Inside, we'll be in contact with other groups of bounty hunters, so be on guard, and we'll discuss about the Innocence in our rooms. Miss Wilder, you have your own room, while the rest of us will be sharing a room. The rooms have a connecting door to make things easier for us, but it will be locked for privacy. If there are no further questions, we shall go in." Amos briefed them, and upon seeing agreement among the group, led them in.
When they first stepped in, they were hit by a barrage of noise and smells. Talon took the chance to burrow further into her cloak, while Roxy cast a cautious eye upon her surroundings, making sure that her guns were clearly seen. Lavi acted his usual cheerful self while Bookman and Amos remained silent. The hubbub died as soon as they entered, the men in the pub assessing the newcomers. All eyes were on her especially, seeing as to how she was the only female in the group and she wore trousers instead of skirts or dresses which were expected of most women. Some eyes travelled boldly to her chest and her ass, which pissed her off, A LOT. It took all of Roxy's will not to snap right here and now, unleashing her wrath upon the perverts.
Then a man came up to her, his cheeks flushed as he swayed on his feet as he walked to her. Lavi and Bookman tensed behind her but showed no signs of it. Roxy was calm however, for Talon had not reacted and got agitated. Instead, he flapped his way out from the depths of her cloak and stood on her shoulder, gazing at the man with a suspicious glance. After all, Talon was disturbed by the anger rolling off his mistress, and he now saw a threat, so he reacted. With a scream of anger, Talon glided over to the drunk man and would have raked him with his claws had Roxy not ordered, "Talon, return." With a disgruntled air, Talon changed course and returned to his mistress' shoulder, glaring all the while at the man whom he longed to claw. Roxy merely stroked Talon, earning her a croon.
The man took the opportunity to put his arm around her, making Roxy and the rest stiffen. Lavi stepped forward with a hand on his hammer, ready to act if necessary, but Roxy was already moving. With a swift grab of the drunkard's arm, Roxy twisted it behind him while Talon flew away to safety. The drunkard howled with pain as his arm was brutally twisted behind him, and he was forced to lean back towards Roxy to relieve the pain. "Don't you dare touch me again." Roxy hissed into the drunkard's ear. The man nodded eagerly, for he would do anything just to get away from her hold. With a snort, Roxy released the drunkard while the others surrounded her discreetly as a silent show of support.
Roxy was glad for it, since the wary atmosphere in the inn had changed into one of danger. The four of them were quick to grab their room keys from the innkeeper, and head up to their rooms. The moment they entered, everyone gave way to a sigh of relief, and the lecture started.
"Roxy, what were you thinking? Now you've attracted too much attention!" Lavi.
"That was dangerous. You should have allowed us to handle it for you." Bookman.
"Miss Wilder, that was so cool! I never thought that you would be able to take down that drunkard when he touched you without your permission!" Everyone, including Roxy, stared at the awed finder who seemed to be in admiration of her. Roxy turned her attention back to the other two exorcists.
"Guys, if I did not teach that drunkard a lesson in front of everyone, the crowd would have thought of me as a hooker, which is like an insult to me." Roxy explained.
"But wasn't your mom a prostitute?" This thoughtless question from Lavi made Roxy stiffen and clench her fists.
"Do NOT mention that woman. I will never acknowledge her as my mother as long as I still live." Roxy snapped angrily, and without giving Lavi a chance to apologise, Roxy pushed her companions into the other room, and locked the door behind her, slumping down wearily to the floor. With trembling hands, Roxy slipped her necklace off her neck, and opened the locket once more, revealing the picture of her, Allen and her father. This time however, she prised the picture out to reveal another picture, this time a portrait which revealed a younger her and a boy whose facial features was hidden by the dim light, showing only a smile.
Roxy felt her steely resolve crumple at the sight of the smiling figure next to her younger self, and let the tears flow, weeping for her beloved sibling. "Big Brother… Why, why did you leave me that day? Big Brother!" Roxy wept silently, feeling the tears flow down her cheeks as she mourned her loss. It took her some effort to get up after her crying fit, but when she did, she headed straight for the bed which had been placed in the middle of the room. With a tired sigh, Roxy collapsed into it, but not before removing her boots. She rested on the bed for a while, only to get up quickly when a hungry Talon dug his claws into her head, reminding her that he was hungry and had not hunted yet. Muttering a fluent curse, Roxy carried Talon to the window, and opened it, allowing Talon to fly out into the night to hunt. With that taken care of, she went back to bed, and immediately fell into a deep dreamless sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She wasn't sure what woke her up. Perhaps it was Talon's loud screeching, or else her finely honed instincts warning her of trouble. Whatever it was, Roxy opened her eyes, and rolled out of bed immediately, which was just in time since seconds after she rolled away, a blast came out of nowhere and destroyed her bed. A familiar sight of black stars spread over the ruins of the bed, making Roxy give way to another string of fluent curses. She looked up upon hearing snide laughter, and swore once more at the sight of the horde of level 3s which had gathered around the hole. The connecting door then slammed open to reveal the rest of the guys, who gawked at the sight of the level 3s before snapping into battle positions. Seeing as to how Roxy had placed her guns under her pillows before she slept, she was now seemingly unarmed. The two Bookmen seemed to reach the same conclusion as her at the same time, for Lavi yelled at her, "Roxy! Protect Amos and Gramps and I will deal with the akuma!" With that, Lavi and Bookman hurried out of the hole, Lavi yelling for his hammer to grow and extend.
Roxy was unhappy with this. She knew she wasn't allowed to use Nightmare, and her guns were unreachable, unless… A smirk quirked up her lips as Roxy whispered, "My wolves, on me." As if in response, her guns, which had been buried under mounds of ashes and dust, glowed a slight green before rising from the dust as silver wolf automatons. Roxy grinned at this while Amos, who had witnessed the whole thing, gaped in awe. The wolves turned to her then, and ran up to her, alert and ready to follow her every command. Roxy promptly gave an order.
"Return to gun form," Roxy commanded, and the wolves complied, jumping into her open hands as guns, and just in time too, since a level 3, which had probably snuck away hoping to get to the easy pickings, appeared in front of her with a ball of energy in either hand.
"DUCK!" Roxy hollered, pushing Amos down in time to duck from the incoming blast. She didn't give the akuma time to recover, since her revolvers were now out. With a quick order to Amos telling him to stay down, Roxy ran head on at the akuma, shooting all the way, and leaped up in time to avoid another energy blast. Her leap carried her over the surprised akuma, who didn't manage to defend itself in time since she fired bullet after bullet into the akuma's head, turning it into dust even as she landed safely on the other side of the room. It was then she realised that Talon was nowhere to be found.
"Talon, Talon! Where are you?" Roxy called out, her voice rising in fear. She couldn't bear to lose her only trusted companion, since he was the only one who truly understood her moods, and never betrayed her. As if in response to her voice, an irritated screech was voiced. Roxy smiled with relief upon hearing him. A dusty Talon soon flew in through the hole, Lavi and Bookman also returning in his wake. Talon was quick to land on Roxy's shoulder, voicing his irritation at being abandoned and forgotten by digging his sharp claws into her shoulder. Roxy winced at this, and fumbled at her backpack, which had survived the initial blast, grabbing her food pouch where she had packed strips of dried meat as treats for Talon. She offered this to Talon, who gave the offerings a cursory glance before deigning to gobble it up. Lavi grinned at this.
"So, Mr Talon, are you happy now that your humble human servant has given you food?" This earned him death glares from both Roxy and Talon, but exhaustion soon took over them, so Roxy pulled out her sleeping roll from her pack, unrolling it so that she could sleep. The guys bid her good night at this, and Roxy tiredly returned the same greeting before falling into a deep sleep.
Raychaell: And… It's done! Sorry about the long wait, but I was busy all right!
Roxy: Couldn't you have made this chapter longer then?
Raychaell: *shrugs* Ending sucks, and I didn't exactly know how to write it out properly, so it became rather short I guess… Anyway, review! THANKS FOR BEARING WITH ME!