Well this took longer than expected. 2020 really wasn't anyone's year. I am hoping to get this done. So like I said, this is an anthology format, (with a few multi-parters) and it takes place in certain amount of points in time. Although most of them are always after the anime's endings. So like I said before, this one is about Leone. A fan favorite for...many reasons. Hope you guys enjoy.
Chapter 2: Kill Loneliness
Getting...tired...damn the pain is getting very annoying...just a few more steps...ah...there they are...my drinking buddies...they haven't changed bit...actually...I should just...not bother them...gotta...go...somewhere. H-Hey...the pain is...not there? phew...now I just feel tired...
Thud!
...its...cold...but...I feel peaceful now...sorry for doing this to you Akame...but hey...killed the bastard who screwed us all over...so...yaaaaaaaay...
The great Lioness of Night Raid, and the Tyrant Slayer Leone passes away in a snowy alley, with no regrets. Only hope that she'd meet her friends again.
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But it never happened...
"Huh?!" Leone woke up with a gasp, feeling like her breath just exploded out of her lungs. She breathed heavily for a bit, and looks around her surroundings. She was in a bed, and in some house in the middle of the woods. "What the...?" She felt like she shouldn't be here. She looks at her stomach to see it is fine. But then she realized, why was she checking her stomach?
Then the door creaking open catches her attention. A man in blonde hair enters the room. His clothes being a brown vest over his tan shirt, plus cargo pants and black shoes. She noticed a black heart tattoo on his shoulder, with one piece of paladin armor above the tattoo. "Oh! You're awake!"
She wonders who this man is. Almost as much as she wonders what is this place. As much as she has many questions, she puts her head straight and asks for the first one in mind. "Um...Where am I?"
The blonde man lets out a small chuckle as he brings in a trey carrying a steaming cup. "Well you're in my house. Welcome." He gives Leone the cup. "Green tea?"
The blonde lady wonders if he should be trusted. He seems friendly so far. She grabs the cup and takes a sip of it. It wasn't something she really liked, but it was at least edible. Although she will take beer anytime. But then it hit her. Beer? She drinks alcohol apparently. She slumps thinking, "I need a beer..."
"You uh...okay there?" The man asks.
Leone jolts. "Oh! Uuuh...I'm fine. Just..."
The blonde man shrugs it off. "Don't worry, I'm not here to judge. The name is Taiyang Xiao Long. But just call me Tai. Your name?"
The blonde lady thinks about it. She has no recollection of her memory. Although one thing comes to mind. "Le...I think...I think its Leone."
Tai wondered if it was her real name. It's not like any name he has known before. "Leone...Is that a codename or something?"
Leone tries to remember if it was. But she couldn't find any recollection if it was. "I...I can't remember."
Tai begins to feel like bad for her. "You...don't remember your past?"
Leone looks down, unable to answer. This really frustrates her for some reason. It's very inconvenient that this happened, but deep down she feels it was something precious. She has a feeling she lost something valuable. A part of her is pretty pissed off that its the case. But its more frustrating that she doesn't know what she lost. Although she tries to calm down. Not let it get to her. "No. I don't."
Tai nods, understanding what is going on. "Okay. I'll try to make some calls. But first, let me get you back on your feet." As Leone takes some more food and tea from Tai, she wonders why is this guy helping her. He can't know her past, and as far as she is concerned, he could be a complete stranger. Eventually though Leone felt the need to stand up and did so. She felt the need to go. Not sure why, but she did. When she was about to go to the door, Tai shows up to see her. "Where you going?"
Leone turns to him. "Hey uh...I appreciate you helping me out and stuff...but I just...have to go."
Tai tilts his head. "Where?"
Leone scratches her head. "Um...I just have to go. I feel like I have to. I won't get any answers about myself staying here. No offense." She feels very awkward trying to justify leaving without a trace.
Tai replies. "I see. Where are you going to go though? Can't just walk aimlessly. It ain't exactly safe around here."
Leone smirked, showing her confidence. "Oh I'll be fine." She exits the house.
Tai is not convinced. Yet she is gone. "We'll see about that."
Leone walks through a forest as the sun descends down into night. Looking around, she hears howls from wolves. She keeps going, until she notices some glowing eyes staring at her. "Oh...what do we have here?" She notices some growling wolves around with blood red eyes. "Oh boy...he wasn't kidding..." Out of instinct, she gets in a defensive stance. One of the wolves jumps on her, and out of instinct, she punches it. The force of the first punch she did was enough to make it disintegrate. It almost startled her, but she continues her battle with the pack, acting out of her impulses. From what she can't describe, only the hunger to fight. "Bring it on you bastards!" They now roar in anger and leap to their target. But Leone's speed allows her to hit each of them one by one.
As she fights her way against the darkness she would begin to get tired. It felt like hours since she started fighting and already she is feeling the fatigue. She was a bit tired after smashing one with her bare hands. The scars are becoming more apparent as she falls on one knee. Breathing heavily. "Hah...hugh...persistent...bastards..." She notices more approaching. "...well...you all want some too? I'll beat your brains in...until there is nothing left!" She shouts in rage. As she jumps in to kill again, she begin to feel some sort of nostalgia. It's undeniable that she was a fighter. The feeling of adrenaline and murderous glee she had when she fights these animals. Just as she killed this pack, she begins to feel the weight of her fatigue as blood begins to drop out of her body through the many scars and cuts she got from certain lucky beasts who got a hit on her. As much as he enjoyed the first and second waves, she is beginning to get tired of this.
She can't quit though. It's not in her to do this. Not like the new wave of dark predators would give her the choice anyways. "Oh hell..." She spits out blood. The last wave really messed her up. But she stays on her feet. Almost like a wild animal, she slouches and growls like a cornered beast. "I'm gonna tear each and every last one of you...even it's the last thing I DO!" She pounces as she bites the first one's nose off, then punches the next. The rest becomes a blur for Leone as she tears apart every last grim-like monster in her sight without prejudice. She then bumps into the biggest one. No doubt the leader of the pack. Unafraid, she was about to punch it in the face, only for it to bite her fist. "GUAAAAAAAAAH!" The leader of the pack then throws Leone off a tree. She felt a crack on her back. Something is broken, but she can't tell what it was. She slowly gets up, trying to fight through the pain on her back. She also noticed her left arm is completely broken. She groaned, feeling her limit weight her down.
"Guh...this can't be the way I go..." She coughs. The leader then calls out for more of its wolves to finish her off. Leone breathed in an out, trying to get herself calm. But she can't. She can't get up, and these wolves is going to kill her. She grits her teeth, feeling anger of this unfair fate. "I'm not..." She feels her breath going cold. She knew how this felt actually. She's going to die.
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"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!" Leone screams as loud as she can in defiance. Her body begins to flare up bright as her hair begins to grow long and her hands turning into paws. Cat ears then grows out of her head, and finally a tail. Her eyes also has the intensity of an Apex Predator. One that intimidates the evil canines. They back away, but this only makes her grin. She then pounces high and then...all she can process was limbs flying everywhere and many painful howls. It was like that for awhile until there was no more. The feline huntress was breathing heavily, the adrenaline has died down. "Hah...hah...huh...how do you like that? you...little...bit..." She falls on her face, finally falling unconscious. She slept soundly, almost blissfully. And for awhile it's nothing but black again.
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Her eyes face the same warm ceiling she saw before. "Where...am I?" She lets out.
"Well I don't want to say I told you so..." It's Tai. This time waiting for her to wake up.
"Oh...it's you..." She groans as she sits up. "Getting tired of carrying me around?" She quipped.
The grown man sighs. "Your one piece of work, you know that?" Leone tries to get up. "Hey now! You barely survived that!"
Before getting off the bed, she raised her brow to him. "You saw me fight them?"
"You said you had it covered. But then the weirdest thing happened. You suddenly glowed bright and you started to go way too fast even for me and killed the last wave of Grimm. I'm assuming that was your Semblance."
"Semblance?" Leone finally gets up and notices her back is a little aching, but completely fixed. Along with her broken left arm. "Huh...weird..."
Tai grabs her shoulder. "Come on, you still went through one hell of a fight. It doesn't hurt to rest up." Leone glares at this very persistent man. Feeling a little annoyed, but looking at his very serious face, he only means well.
She ultimately sighs in defeat. 'Fine...I'll stay with you. I'm tired anyways..." She stays in her bed. "Uuuugh...I'm not gonna stay that long anyways...gotta...find out...who I am..." She then falls asleep.
Tai smiles. "Smart move." He would step out of the room to leave Leone to rest. After awhile, Tai decides to introduce Leone to his Daughter. For awhile, she was stuck on her room. At this point, he feels its only right to let her know about their visitor. Eventually he knocks on her daughters room and enter. "Hey Yang. Hanging in there?"
The young blonde named Yang was still looking at her window. "Not in the mood Dad..."
"Hey now, I'm only here to introduce someone. I helped someone out, and she's gonna stay for awhile." This gets Yang to wonder what he is talking about. He then signals for the visitor to walk in. And Leone walks in the room, revealing herself.
"'Sup. The names Leone." She introduces herself, being as friendly as possible.
Yang didn't know what to think of this new person. "Uuuh...what kind of name is Leone?"
Leone can't help but chuckle at that back handed remark. "Says the one named 'Yang.'" She jokingly remarks. Yang was put off guard from that.
Tai then leaves the room, but not before saying this. "I know you'll get along just fine. I'm gonna get you some tea."
They look at each other in curiosity. In some weird way, they see each other like some sort of kindred spirits. Leone can tell there is some fight in this girl. But judging from her stump of a right arm, she lost most of it. Leone took pity on this girl, and feels maybe she needs some help. She makes it her mission to cheer Yang up. Time pass and the former Huntress would wait for her new acquaintance, then sees the new UI blonde carrying what looks like soda pop. "Hey! Got us some refreshments!"
Yang grabs one and reads the brand. It's not something she's familiar with. "Wait a minute...that's not soda."
Leone opens her bottle. "Yeah...this is for me actually." She takes a swig of her beer. "So, I'm not gonna ask what you been through and all that junk. I just want to get to know you. Like, YOU."
The one armed blonde was unsure about this. The last person who she got to know as friends left her high and dry, at her most vulnerable. Now this stranger who her dad just found wants to know about her. "Really? Like...what are you trying to pull?"
The blonde visitor was taken back. "Whoa. I just want to talk girl."
"And leave right after you get to know me? Guess what, I'm not in the mood to be friends with...well anyone right now. I want to be left alone. Got it?" Yang almost raises her voice, letting her anger control her again.
After a few seconds, Leone finally responds. "Pfft Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" She begins to laugh, which confuses the weakened little dragon. "Wow...I didn't know you were going through a phase...I may not know about myself too well, but let me tell you...being alone is not gonna help you. At all. Since it doesn't look I'm going anywhere...I might as well know you well. You look like my type of friend." She raises her hand for Yang's other hand to grab it to shake on.
After processing this response, Yang was still confused. "Like...seriously? You're serious?"
Leone smirks. "Yep. Dead serious."
Yang looks at her only hand, and feels anxiety slowly come back. She still remembers her closest friend, run away when she needed her the most. She doesn't want to be hurt again. Not again...But before she can even decide, Leone grabs it and grips it hard. "H-Hey!"
"Yeah, you don't have a choice on it. Leone is here to stay baby!" Leone said with pride. The younger blonde was still unsure. But then something came to her head. But she tries to suppress it. "Hm? What is it?" Yang tries to fight it, but she couldn't contain it. "Come on. What is it?" Leone insists in knowing what is her mind.
She lets out a large sigh. "...your so...Leonnoying..."
And just like that, Leone's good mood just stopped. "What?"
Little by little, Yang begins to smile. "Heh...you heard me."
Leone couldn't help but cringe. "Jeez...really? You gotta be..." Just then a memory came back.
"How...Leonnoying...eh?"
"Agh! Really boss?!"
Leone went silent, finally having some idea of her past after some time of blanks. Yang could tell she is unsarcastically silent. "Hey...Leone? You alright?"
After some time, the older blonde finally lets out a smile and turns to her new friend. She has a memory of her past, and it's all thanks to Yang. "Yep...we'll get along just fine..."
To be continued in Summer of the Dead...
Well it took long enough, but I finally got this done. I'm sure you guys enjoy this little story with everyone's favorite blonde, and how she gets involved in the main story. There has been a lot of changes lately. But I am hoping to revive Pandora to be a lot more active if I can help it. The next one though...? Yeah, I'm not beating around the bush here, the next one is the true best girl. The one who deserve better, and with a real sweet tooth. Thanks for reading!