Hehehhhee... drugged Winter :P
~Angel and Hel
Chapter Six: Emergence
-.-.-
It was all just so - pretty.
Winter giggled. It was only black and white. But all the lines and specks and spirals were warm and fuzzy and nummy. She mouthed a little of the pretty's lines. Oh, it was hair. The pretty was Helia.
Helia was such a little monochrome cutie. She was squishing on her chest at the moment. Squish! Winter liked that word.
Someone was talking to them. Words were loud and complicated and made Winter want to shut her eyes. But Winter didn't want to shut her eyes because then she couldn't see the pretty not-colours. Nolours? No losing. She hadn't lost. She'd just got sleepy. That was such a silly word. Sleep-y. So long and silly. Like her hair had been.
She giggled a bit, then went back to eating Helia's hair.
"Mhh…" Helia grumbled, shaking her head and nuzzling her nice soft pillows for a moment before settling. Winter could feel her pillows moving, but that wasn't what they were normally called. Oh well.
Ooh, someone had grabbed her arm. She couldn't see them properly, because of the bright, but then they began dragging her. At first she was irritated, because it made her arm hurty, but then she looked round and saw the world spinning by and all the colours flashing and instead she made a noise.
"WHEEEEE! WHEEEE!"
"Nnngghh, sstopp iiiit…" Helia moaned, stuffing her face into her pillows and putting her hands over her ears. It felt nice when Helia did that, so Winter noised louder.
"WHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEE! WWWWHEEEEEEEEE!" It was so much fun making noises - she could see them sparkling from her mouth as she made them.
"Would someone please get her to - wait a second is the Ice Queen stoned?" a vaguely familiar and irritating voice called out in confusion.
Helia continued grumbling, her complaints muffled by fabric and chest. Ohhh that's what the pillows were called! And Winter was Ice Queen. That sounded like the noise! Ooh, she could make that as the noise!
Winter took a deep breath.
"ICCCEEE QUEEEEEEEN!"
And she suddenly had her mouth filled with fluffy, stopping her noise-ing. That was mean. And the fluffy was coming apart in her mouth and leaking stuff that made it hard to breathe properly. She made an unhappy noise into the fluffy.
"I'll stop if you stop." Helia grumpled, flopping down limply on top of her.
"Maverick? We might have a problem." That voice was all gruff and grumbly. Gruff and grumbly. What if the voice was crumbly? She liked crumble. Crumble tasted nice. Unlike Helia's fluffy.
"The fucking Ice Queen is stoned off her ass after a fight with a fucking berserker and you just now realise we might have a problem?" Annoying voice replied sarcastically. "No shit, Sherlock!"
"I meant that. Given the state they're in, if I try to drag them down there, they'll decide it's a theme park or something. I was hoping you could…" And then grumpy voice made a clacking noise. "You know?"
A tiny sparkle blipped before Annoying was standing over her. "I swear this is the last goddamn… hey that actually looks pretty adorable," he said, pulling something out of pocket and there was a bright hurty sparkle. Winter whined round the fluffy. "Alright, time to go, your highness," Annoying smirked, before grabbing her shoulder and pulling -
It was twisty and hurty and made her head hurt and her tummy hurt like when she'd tried to out eat Weissy on a dare, or the time she'd accidentally trapped herself upside down with a glyph, and her whole tummy was roiling -
"Oh shit, she's going to - "
Winter made a not-nice noise, and lots of hurty hot stuff came out of her mouth that tasted horrible and went all over the fluffy making it very not nice. The rest made her chest and tummy all wet and horrible.
The pressure of Helia on her chest was gone though. When had cutie done that?
"We should check if she's choking - I had a friend who downed too much rotgut, ended up almost dying on his own vomit." Probing fingers in her mouth. They were not nice and they put more of the not-nice liquid in her mouth from her face. She bit them.
Something lifted her as the fingers jerked away, pushing her onto her side. Her arms curled up and one of her legs moved. It felt like they were being tickled, and she giggled.
"Eeewwww, she puked all over my wing!"
-.-.-
She would be hated/reviled/forgiven, removed from the Academy her graduation will be filled with the cheers of her family it will be silent green red red she will die in a man's arms she will die alone in the snow she will have three children she will be remembered a hero she will drop out of the third round of the Vytal festival she will kill a Beowulf she will be killed by a Beowulf.
Uncertainty/Fracture/Kaleidoscope.
-.-.-
"Urghhh this is such a clusterfuck." Maverick groaned, rubbing at his forehead as he collapsed against the nearest vaguely soft thing.
"Hey!" Ash squealed, her legs parting as he leaned against them.
Maverick, from his seat on the ground, just flopped his head back and looked up at her, failing to give a damn. "Yeah?"
Red-faced, Ash started pummeling his face with one hand while pushing her skirt down between her thighs with the other. "Sit! Somewhere! Else!"
"OW OW OW OKAY FINE!" Maverick got up and batted her off before flopping down on the couch next to her, throwing his arms over the back of the seat.
Ash's uncompromising glare failed to phase him.
"What? I moved."
"Oh my god will you two just shut up and kiss already?!" the irritated little faunus girl hissed at them.
Maverick grimaced and raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ash who'd gone so red he wasn't sure if it would be politically correct to expect steam to start blowing out her ears. "Yeah… maybe later."
Ash just shrieked in incoherent rage and started pummeling him again while he laughed and tried to defend himself.
"Noises loudddd."
...well, trust the Ice Queen to interrupt with deep profundity like that.
Deathstroke wandered over, crouching down on his haunches nearby. "This is a clusterfuck, for sure."
"Stoned royalty, a berserker, and… hey is anybody actually dead?" Maverick perked up, craning his neck as he looked around. "YO, SPEAK UP IF YOU'RE DEAD!"
"You will be if you aren't quiet." Tall girl unfolded herself from a pile of unconscious applicants, settling her cloak around her shoulders with a shrug.
"Point taken…" Maverick rolled his eyes. "I don't think we've been introduced yet, actually. Hi, I'm Maverick," he said, his usual introduction only slightly dulled by his exhaustion.
"Is that a descriptor or a name?" Tall girl cricked her neck. "Cinerous. Titian Cinerous."
"Ashlyn. Err, Ashlyn Krieger." Ash stammered, shrinking down in her seat. She looked so friggin' cute like that. Maverick smirked to himself as he leaned into the corner and spared a glance at Ash's chosen boytoy, Slade.
Who of course was too busy playing with his dinky guns to notice. "Slade. Slade Coal."
Maverick paused. "Wait, Coal? As in the same Coal that runs that Dust shop?"
"My dad, yeah. Never really got into the family business. Can't… grok Dust, like he can."
"Hah! I was wondering why you looked familiar." Maverick tapped his chin as he crossed his knees. "You've got the same hair and that general air of grump."
"What did you just say about my dad?" One hand was on his sword, and his eyes had narrowed.
"He's seen some shit, man, and he's still forging on. It's like you literally know he's a badass just by being in the same room as him." Maverick explained happily. "It's awesome."
Next to him, Ash just curled up into a red-faced ball and put her head in her hands. "You are such an idiot." she said, her voice muffled.
Slade's hand slowly fell from his sword. "He's not a badass. Just a man. And if you say… anything like that again. I will make sure the body is never found."
The little angel snorted.
"And who might you be?" Maverick asked, nudging her with his foot.
"Helia."
"No last name?" he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"No."
Well, that certainly put a damper on the mood...
"No parents?" Titian's voice was surprisingly kindly. "Killed by labour or by bigots?"
Helia frowned, looking down and playing with the end of her hair. "I… don't know. I can't remember."
"Human authorities at fault either way." Titian rolled her neck again.
"Hey, we're not all that bad." Maverick grimaced a bit as he rebuked her blanket blame. "Though, to be fair, a lot of us are assholes."
Titian snorted. "Don't let them govern you then. Overthrow them. Tear down the monsters like the Schnees and the Schwarzes and the remnants of the old Kaisers."
"I'd rather teach them the right way." Helia mumbled. "Otherwise escalation happens and the problem is never solved." She looked up, glancing at the crumpled form of necrogirl. Huh, she was in a different place than where berserk girl had thrown her earlier...
Ash looked up and followed Helia's gaze- "Wh- Aphoth what the hell did you do?!" she exclaimed, looking at her friend in terrified exasperation.
Slade looked up, then stood. "Looked like she attacked the white haired girl. While our berserk friend was running around."
"Like I said…" Helia croaked, "escalation breeds escalation." She wavered where she sat for a moment, before slumping to the ground. "Medic…"
-.-.-
War is a funny thing.
She makes her first kill and is praised/is abandoned/is discarded. She smells of fur and fire and blood. She walks the chasm.
She sees the darkness.
She runs, but it has touched her/claimed her/missed her. It will always/never/always dwell in her heart.
There's no escape from your own shadow, after all.
-.-.-
Charlie Stream… the disorganised, but skilled, fighters. Ironically, they were his prime candidates for the Atlas Special Operatives branch. Hunters that didn't need to rely on a team to complete important missions discreetly, but could handle themselves in the thick of it were exactly what he was looking for.
Maybe not too discreetly. He'd been pleased to find a Berserker-Blood in his applicant pool, but they were hardly discreet. That kind of primal battle skill and rage that could grip any soldier but seemed… enhanced, in those of that particular blood, would be useful indeed, especially combined with her weaponry. To train her to harness it would be a joy.
The Faunus girl, she was discreet. Had snuck past the guards to prevent the scion's attack on the Schnee girl. He'd almost applauded when she'd done that, and had promptly been smacked by Glynda for even thinking of doing so.
Such was the price of progress.
"What are your plans, James?" Glynda asked, watching the Faunus, the Berserker, and the Schnee being taken away to the medical wing. Heh. Wing.
"Let them rest for a bit longer. A proper rest, separate to prevent any more incidents. They've already passed the second Trial, in effect - well, those who passed, at least. The third Trial… no, I'll let them take it straight. Then we'll see how they all shake out."
"Hm. Can you see any teams forming yet?"
"A couple. I've got a few ideas, at least. We'll wait till the end before we decide that."
He flicked through the feeds to the hospital rooms. The berserker was, for the time being, well sedated, the others being treated in separate rooms - save for the faunus girl and the Schnee, who remained… inseparable due their condition.
It was touching to see a bond form so quickly, but they'd have to learn to operate without each other eventually. He folded his hands in front of his face.
The faunus girl… she'd known the Schnee was in trouble. Intellectual semblances were rare, but not unheard of. And that weapon. The precision required to use it properly was very impressive.
He pulled up the footage of her confronting the scion. Watched it frame by frame, the way the knives moved like a shoal of living beings. Zoomed, checked them.
"Fuck."
"James?"
He stood, straightening his tie. "I need to make a call." He did his best to suppress the bubbling roil of anger and betrayal that swirled in his gut like a volcano at the knowledge that the man had - that he had dared to - to Atlas subjects -
"Alright. I'll go make coffee." Glynda rolled her eyes. "But be quick about it, we are on a schedule here."
Ironwood closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll do my best. Thank you, Glynda," he said, nodding to her respectfully as he strode out of the room, his steps just a bit louder than usual.
As convenient as it was to have automatic doorways, right now he would have given an arm and and a leg for an old-fashioned one to slam loudly. No, no, he was still reacting. He kept it contained for as long as it took him to get to the Headmaster's Quarters. Small hallway, three doors; bed, office, lockers. Ironwood tensed up when the door shut behind him, finally granting privacy.
"DAMNIT!" he shouted, slamming his fist into the wall. The sting forced him to reconsider, reminding him how unproductive blind rage was. His hands shook as he stormed into the small office, sitting down and doing his best to let himself settle before he tried to talk to that man.
Deep breath, fill the lungs, clench the fists, tense the body. Let it out, relax the tension, palms out. Think. Watch it play out. Don't lose his temper.
He picked up his scroll, carefully selected the contact. Held it to his ear, eyes closed, still breathing in and out deeply. Trying to remain serene.
"Hello, this is Atlas Intern - "
"I'd like to speak to the good doctor, please."
-.-.-
Two. Two paths.
Left. Right.
There is no midway. Everything or nothing. Infinity or Void.
All or nothing. This is how it's always been how it will always be. How it always was how it's never been. Shell over soft, soft over shell. The secrets eat away, gnaw gnaw, gnaw gnaw.
A girl will greet him in the future and die. He will never let himself sleep right again.
A girl will be made to greet him in the future. He will never let himself sleep right again fanatic that he is right and she is the answer. She did not want this it was what she was born to be.
Dancing, dancing, twirling and tangled in strings.
You are not the puppetmaster.
You are not the stagemaster.
You are not even her father.
Her father. I -
Shatter/break/broken/LeaAVE/CEASE
She has your eyes.
They see nothing.
-.-.-
She did her best not to cry.
It wasn't fair. What she'd done was - ok, she'd fucked up, she'd done something horrible. She'd - vengeance never worked. The dead taught her that much. But - but - she'd been the one to make that choice. To try and take back what she was owed.
She should've paid the price, not Apep.
Aphoth held her tiny boy as close as she could, examined his bleeding gums. The teeth had been cut clean out, ripped from his tiny jaw. He hissed sadly, mouth agape, still trying to understand why he'd been hurt, why his mistress had let him be hurt.
God, he couldn't hunt any more. He would hate that. He'd loved chasing down little rats and grabbing them and now, if he tried -
He'd been badly hurt once doing that. Rats were tough and angry and he'd been bleeding everywhere and she'd been so scared that one of her only two friends was going to die. He'd only survived because he'd managed to bite the little beast, leaving it a twitching drooling mess she'd crushed underfoot.
She should've paid the price.
At least his aura was soothing the pain.
She pressed his cold little head to her cheek, felt his tongue flick out, tasting her sadness.
She should've done better. Should've waited til after the trial to go after the Schnee. Should've, could've, would've. It wouldn't have mattered. As if a little prank with a drug could ever have made up for decades of hurt anyway.
No, she couldn't think like that. The girl had a protector in that faunus - she'd just have to wait. Wait and suffer and -
She sobbed quietly into Apep's scales.
"Heyyy, Necro-cuti- owW OW OW OW!" Maverick tried to greet her, only for something to get in his way.
"Her name is Aphoth and if you call her Necro-cutie one more time I'm going to pull this ear off, understand?" Ash growled at him, before shoving him away and leaving him to trip over some stray debris. His landing sounded painful. "Hey, Aphy, are you okay?" she asked quietly, kneeling down next to her.
"No. Not really." She wiped her eyes. "I did something stupid." She looked at Apep's sad little face. "Very stupid."
"What kind of stupiii- what happened to Apep?" Ash asked, blinking in surprise. "Th- how the- did he take a hit?" She seemed confused. She - she didn't know, of course she didn't, but Aphoth couldn't tell her, couldn't bring herself to. What if she hated her? What if she - ?
"I." She forced the words out. "I faked being down. When the giantess hit me. And then when - when she was near me on the balcony I - "
She couldn't finish the sentence.
"You tried to stab her in the back?" The question… wasn't sympathetic, nor was it accusatory.
She shook her head. "I wouldn't kill her. I wouldn't. I just - I told Apep to go for her. And then - " She hid her face. She couldn't bear to see Ash's reaction.
Ash sighed, and pulled her into a hug. "Aphoth, I've been your friend for Dust knows how long. I'm not going to shun you just because you made one… really fucking gigantic mistake. Of course I'm going to be disappointed in you but we all screw up and… and…" Ash trailed off for a moment. Aphoth could almost hear the gears working in her head. "Something something… look I'm still going to be here for you."
She smiled, tearily. "Y-you're the best, Ash." She rested her head on her, closed her eyes. Just like they were back at school and the bullies were crowding round, calling her mother a whore and Ash was there, strong and angry and warm. "B-but I still fucked up. They'll probably throw me out soon. I - I imagine the security mechs are already on their way - "
"Aphy, the TSO's have already visited to take them to Medical. If you were going to be kicked out I'm pretty sure someone would have said something by now." Ash reminded her, rubbing her back gently.
"On the other hand, stoned Ice Queen was loud." Maverick commented, still lying in the pile of broken pillar bits.
Aphoth jumped. "Y-you listened in?!" Now he knew, now he'd hate her, oh no -
"Yeah? I mean I'm kinda too exhausted to bother getting up right now." Maverick replied, almost shocking her with his callous disregard for what he'd just heard.
Ash groaned, flopping her head down in Aphoth's hair. "You are the most oblivious dumbass I've ever met, Maverick."
Aphoth laughed, a little weakly. "That's a little unfair. Remember Oliver?"
"Give him a chance, Aphy, you hardly even know him yet." Ash chuckled, rubbing Aphoth's shoulder reassuringly. "Did you know he almost looked up my skirt not even five minutes ago?"
"Wait I did what?!" Maverick exclaimed in shock.
Aphoth laughed more. "You're such a joker Ash. Wait, you were joking, right? Right?"
Ash gave her a lazy, grimaced half-smile.
"Wait - really?"
Maverick groaned loudly and flopped back down on his pile. "Ow."
"Like I said…" Ash cuddled her. "Oblivious. Dumbass."
Aphoth nodded. "I'm going to have to agree with you now."
"Now we've all finished chuckling." Heavy bootsteps. She looked up to see Slade approaching, looking grim. "Let's talk about why what you did was stupid."
-.-.-
Rocks. Solid, sturdy, dependable.
Warriors. Soft, fleshy, failable.
Legends. Unknowable, inaccurate, foolish.
Myths. Fantastical, irrelevant, provocative.
Dust. Unknowable. Irrelevant. Failable. Worthless. Useless.
Everything.
Uknowable, unusable, and yet everything.
Cut the vein and the lifeblood flows free.
Cut the vein and find freedom.
Cut the vein.
And you burn.
-.-.-
A/N: We're having a lot of fun writing this and we'd love to know; are you having a lot of fun reading it?
~Angel and Hel