Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly.
Prompt #6: Images - Sometimes she saw things clearer than most. Sometimes, she saw them wrong.
Words: 757
Snapshots. Out of context, out of time, they appear as small snippets of an event she cannot place until it happens. The worst kind of deja vu. Some are true, some are fantasy, but none are not real. Not even when they play out in front of her eyes.
People sitting, standing, lying down. Dying. Silence that's too loud, death that's too strong, life that's too tame. From the silence comes the monsters, angry and alive and devouring everything in their path. Miranda echoes over and over.
A man - a monster - invades her home, clad in blood-colored armor. Invader, says Serenity with her voice. He flies into the Black as Simon bleeds red.
Ladies of pleasure live in the dust, barricaded in a silver palace. Hiding a prince from an evil king and his bloodthirsty wolves. Shotguns, screams, sex, and heartbreak. The king is dead, long live the queen.
The dead return to life, bringing the past with them. Flying through the ice. Pirates who were once soldiers, soldiers who are now scum. When you can't walk, you crawl, and when you can't do that...
A lady with many names, a gun that doesn't fire, a city in the clouds. Lies abound, both from her and from them. A queen in filth and a queen among thieves face off, only one returns home with victory.
A duo is split, one replaced with an irate tourist. A monster in a crisp suit takes pleasure in their pain. Tiny presents hold gruesome surprises. All bear guns, none leave unchanged. No power in the 'verse can stop me.
Simon becomes the puppeteer. She died again, then came back again. Her brain outlined in 3D, in color and shine and light. The pair come from the darkness, leaving blood and pain in their wake. Two by two, hands of blue.
A birthday gone wrong, more fire than just candles. Fear of the Black, fear of death, fear of dying alone. Serenity wheezing, sending her children to safety. Captain goes down with his ship, but his crew won't let him die alone.
They land on a planet of mud that makes pretties. Men who sing of a hero who is actually a villain. She cuts apart the holy book of lies, sees a head of snow, and hides in a hole.
She dances for the first time in forever as Simon is taken. A child who screams in her head. Fire comes for her, calling her a witch. Angels dropping from the sky, wearing combat boots and holding very large guns.
Princes and princesses dancing beneath a floating chandelier. An awkward Cinderella saved by kindly godfathers. Gate-crashing rogue defends the gilded lady from the man clothed in silks and sin. Cows in the hold that forget to be cows, until they hit atmo again.
A man who becomes a monster when monsters spare him death. Gray-clad murderers swoop in to judge and execute. Clinging to a silver skin, staring out at the everything and nothing of the Black. Reavers.
Hopping on a train from midair, like the Wild Wild West of Earth-That-Was. Stealing from the sick to be paid by the evil. A man flies apart in an engine turbine. Thieves turn into heroes.
Being born from a cryo-cube aboard a ship of pirates. Mal, means bad...in the Latin. Evil men shoot up innocent girls. Simon deals in flesh for safety.
She's sitting in class and telling her teacher, "We're in their homes and in their heads. We meddle. We're meddlesome."
PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN.
"She's dreaming again," the tech reported, watching the readout screen burst into bright splotches of red, green, blue, and yellow. "Her brain is lighting up like a Christmas tree."
One doctor shook his head. "Amazing. And her bio-signs?"
"Erratic, but within stable parameters," another technician replied. "All indicators are green across the board."
"Amazing," the doctor said again. He smiled wide. "I've heard about the prodigy River Tam. I can't wait to see what she's truly capable of." He made a gesture to one of the nearby doctors. "Insert the probe. I want to see what her responses are."
"Sir?" He looked back at his aide. She looked down at her tablet and said, "There's a military gentleman at the front desk waiting for his tour of the facility. Says he's meeting with you specifically."
"Regarding?"
"He says it's about River Tam."
A little pre-tag to Serenity, just before Simon arrives to save River from the lab.
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