Re: FW Part: One

by **melodiousmysteries** Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:19 pm

"Undercover. Lucky for you, this is where it brought me." She said, a touch of bitterness in her tone. She ignored his statement of him being okay, reaching for his shoulder anyway to try and mend the wound. "Hey there kid. you alright?" She asked quietly, reaching her other hand down to gently pat the girls head.

by **Deathcap** Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:50 pm

Brook nodded uncertainly. "I'm hungry." All she knew was the noise going on outside, she didn't really understand what was happening, just that she had to stay here all day. She was starting to feel kind of restless.

Josey stayed quiet while she spoke and healed him, shifting his shoulder when she was done. "Thank you." He added gratefully, crouching to pick up Brook. "The settlement's lost then, isn't it?" He spoke softly, sadness in his eyes. This wasn't the first time he'd lost a home. "We have to get out of here. Sharon's hunting in the west right now, I just need to get the girls to her parents in Greenhill." He told her.

by **melodiousmysteries** Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:27 pm

Sliet nodded, looking back up at her friend sadly. "Yes. I'm sorry. There are too many of them this time, all with..." She glanced at brook for a moment uncertainly. she didn't want to say anything in front of the girls that was overly... graphic, but Josey needed to know what was going on. "Messy orders. I mean everyone. Not just the rebels. If you three can stay here until dark, I can get you out when everyone else is asleep." She said awkwardly, hoping he understood.

by **Deathcap** Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:41 pm

Josey stiffened at her explanation. He didn't expect anything less from the Federation, but it was still a shock. There were so many healthy, young families here, many of them not even supporting the rebels. His first instinct was to want to help, but Mason and Brook needed him right now, and getting himself killed would just make things worse for them. He swallowed and nodded. "We'll be here, call out to us if you can, I won't move unless it's you." He said softly, heading hastily towards the crawl space again.

by **Deathcap** Fri Jan 15, 2016 6:56 pm

Anderson looked up and headed over as he noticed Sliet again, opening his mouth to make a comment about the dismal situation when he noticed someone heading straight for them and tensed. A bedraggled looking young woman approached them, her face red with tears and cold. She seemed to be in a state of shock as she tried to speak to them, clutching a small child at her chest. "Stand down." Anderson warned, keeping his gun trained on her and watching her warily.
"Y-You're an officer, a-aren't you? I don't understand, I don't- your soldiers are-are killing everyone, I need help, we aren't rebels, my family, tell them to stop, please," She started, looking at the two with a horrified expression.

by **melodiousmysteries** Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:24 pm

Sliet tensed when she noticed Anderson heading in her direction, her shoulders stiff. She did not want to deal with him right now. She had just started looking for somewhere to disappear to when the woman showed up, making her freeze in her tracks. This was bad. Sliet looked between Anderson and the woman, hoping nobody noticed the pitying look in her eyes. She grit her teeth tightly. She had to do something, but with all of the people in the immediate area, what COULD she do. Tense golden eyes flitted back to the other captain, waiting for his reaction.

by **Deathcap** Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:47 pm

Anderson listened to the other cry in silence, keeping his gun raised as he replyed, his voice a forced, slightly quieter growl. "If you were loyal to the federation, you wouldn't be here. Our orders are to exterminate this settlement." He snapped, looking over the two for a moment. He didn't want to see them, to kill them and watch them grow cold on the ground, he didn't want them here. "Greenhill, you leave now, or I'll be forced to shoot." He snapped after a moment's hesitation. The woman seemed to pause, her eyes pleading for more, but the gun seemed to speak louder than his words. She headed past them in a hurry, down the slope towards the caravan roads, her child still in hand.

Anderson refused to look at Sliet as he spoke again, his jaw set at he felt sudden terror settle in his stomach at his slip up. "If you so much as breath a word to Captain Dumont, Leloup, I'll make sure you end up like Hamata." He whispered coldly, his hands shaking a little at his sides.

by **melodiousmysteries** Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:26 am

Sliet blinked at the other in surprise. Did she really just see that? She tried to shake it off. She wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about, but she was guessing that it was a serious threat. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't see anything. In fact, some idiot fired a gun right by my ear earlier and I can't hear anything either. I'm not even here right now." She said quietly, turning away and trying not to walk too fast and let herself seem afraid.

by **Deathcap** Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:44 am

Anderson looked at her incredulously, confused by her response. Either she was terrified of him, or... He was jolted out of his thoughts as Lt. McCloud headed past them, looking disheveled and lost. He had a gun drawn and was shaking like a leaf, only seeming to notice the two when he got quite close, looking between them and down past the buildings. There was fresh blood splattered all over his uniform, and his eyes were wide. "Captain, Ra- Dumonte- he... he ran," He mumbled uncertainly.

"What are you talking about?" Andersons snapped, fallowing the boy's gaze away from the settlement and heading that way as Marcel fallowed after him. He noticed Dumonte, a little ways away, stumbling frantically down the slope with papers or something in his arms and clearly injured. That must have been McCloud's doing.
Anderson took a breath snatched Marcel's gun from his hands, aiming it at the deserter and firing. The loud pop rung through the air as Raven stumbled. The boy caught himself, fighting to stand until Anderson fired a second round. With this, the recruit crumbled to the ground, struggling for a moment before going more or less still as scarlet stained the snow beneath him. Anderson waited for a moment before turning to the few who were present. "Someone go get Dumonte's rifle, and don't waste any more bullets." He ordered bitterly.

Marcel watching with a horrified expression, flinching with each shot and unable to move from the spot as Anderson handed him his gun again and started to head away.

by **melodiousmysteries** Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:03 am

Sliet turned to look at the boy when he approached, worried by his words. She followed after the two anxiously, stopping when she saw Raven. Oh no. She stood still, trying to suppress the voice in her head screaming for her to do something, to snatch the gun out of Anderson's hands. She shut her eyes tightly when he fired, not wanting to see what was to come next.
She opened them again when Anderson spoke. "I've got it." She said softly, trying to hide the hurt in her voice as she started in the direction of the boy on the ground.

by **Deathcap** Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:39 am

Raven shifted awkwardly where he'd fallen, trying to stay on his side to keep from pushing the infant in his arms into the snow. He had to keep them warm, at least until Greenhill. God, they were so little. He tried weakly to get up again, fear overtaking his senses. He couldn't just lay down and die, he kept telling himself, trying to ignore the pain as he struggled. The adrenaline was keeping him going, but he had to get up and move before his body gave out.
The baby shifted in his hold as he did his best to keep them away from the blood; his body had shielded it from the last two shots, but Marcel's had hit him the chest.
He froze as he heard footsteps approaching him and closed his eyes, struggling to breathe as he fumbled for his pistol. His hands didn't seem to be working properly. He drew the weapon, turning onto his back and taking aim as quickly as he could manage, gritting his teeth. When he noticed the captain, his face fell a little, the gun shaking in his hands as he lowered it slightly, still terrified but not sure if he could shoot. "I-I just want to take them somewhere safe- I just-" He pleaded tearfully, his voice incredibly weak as he tried to warn the other off. He wasn't entirely sure where her loyalties were, he just wanted to save the child.

The infant moved quietly in it's blanket, whimpering faintly against the other. her dark eyes were barely open and still blind to the world as she blinked and clenched her tiny hands against the cold.

by **melodiousmysteries** Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:38 pm

Sliet jumped a little bit when Raven moved, having believed he was dead. She raised her hands as the other pulled the gun as though she was surrendering. "Okay. just put the gun down." She told him softly, not entirely understanding.

by **Deathcap** Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:07 pm

Raven hesitated for a moment before complying, letting the weapon come to rest in the snow as scarlet trickled down the barrel. The boy tried to sit up slightly, careful to keep the infant from coming in contact with the snow and holding her close to the unbloodied side of his chest. He stared back at Sliet with fear and confusion in his wide eyes. Clouds escaped his frost bitten lips and the tear in his chest with each ragged breath, his lungs screaming in protest. Raven tried to trust she wouldn't just finish him off, trying to ignore the agony and bracing himself to run as he watched her.

by **melodiousmysteries** Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:04 am

Sliet relaxed when he set the gun down, paying more attention to his injuries now. She stepped forward as Raven started to sit up, trying to gently push him back down. "Don't get up. you're going to make it worse." she said softly before finally noticing the small child. "and where did he find you?" She muttered, gently stroking the babies cheek with a single finger, flinching a bit at how cold it was. She left the infant with some energy before turning back to Raven and trying to heal what she could quickly.

~~~SKIP~~~
Sliet sat at the lunch table, grumpily staring at Anderson sitting across from her. "You're starting to make me miss Dumont." she said absently. "Senior, not the little one."

by **Deathcap** Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:23 am

Anderson glanced over at her with a look of indignation on his face. "Dumont, over me? Are you fucking kidding me? I know I'm not a bucket of sunshine and unicorn shit, Sliet, but you should be glad you killed him I'm kind of surprised he didn't crush you." He snorted while he poked at his food absently, suddenly not hungry anymore. "Guess you never saw what he was really like." He added on with a bitter voice, glancing to the side to make sure Raven was still preoccupied on the other side of the room.

by **melodiousmysteries** Wed Jan 20, 2016 12:58 am

Sliet raised an eyebrow at the indignant man skeptically. Was he screwing with her or something? "I call bullshit." She said, resting her head on her arms. "Bull-Shit." Her words now muffled by her shirt as she made a sharp raspberry noise, raising a hand to give him a thumbs down.

by **Deathcap** Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:17 am

"You don't have any idea, do you?" He laughed cheerlessly, though went quiet for a long moment, wondering if he should even bother elaborating. The man was dead now, there wasn't any point keeping him around in conversation.. though, what else was there to even talk about. "Josephe was a monster, you know that? I got transferred to his company when I was still a kid. He'd been in the military before, gone on leave to look after his kid after the bombings killed the rest of his family. It was going around that he'd abruptly come off leave months early, and I was heard the only reason he'd come back to the army was because he'd lost it on his son, and just up and murdered the last kid." He started, tilting his head towards Raven, who was sitting down on the floor with his food, sharing some with one of the little dogs running around. "Came back so he could hide behind the military. I didn't think much of him. there's a lot of fucked up people in that army. That was until we had new recruits come in, alongside a few mercy corps. Not kids back than, thank fuck, mostly thieves and rapists and sterilized ill. Anyway, a couple weeks of training went by, a few of the new soldiers dropped out and the ones who stayed in were too weak and soft in his opinion. So, one morning he got everyone up, lined the mercy corps up with the recruits, and had each of the recruits pick one and kill them. Not with a gun, either." He went on, going quiet for a moment. That was just the start of things, but it tired him out telling stories about the man. He forced down a bite of his food, debating on whether to even continue or just leave it at that. "Command just encouraged him, too. We got posted out at a settlement, both lieutenants then. The settlers weren't happy about the resources being sent out there, and outlaws coming in and poaching their livestock, so we were sent in with a captain to keep the peace. Another Lieutenant, Rose, he was sympathizing with the settlers, started arguing for them. Said the wrong thing, and Dumont walked over and beat him to death with the back of his rifle. That was the same day I nearly lost my leg." He added on, taking a breath and hesitating to continue again. Though he seemed uninterested in the information, his voice was strained oddly. "They promoted him for brutalizing his own colleague, and I lost my promotion because they thought I was going to die from the infection. So captain Dumont ran around scaring the settlement into shape and I laid in bed. Can't say I wasn't disappointed. Back when I actually thought rank and achievement mattered. It's all just who gets to bully who. First day back on the field, Dumont started treating me like shit, kept telling me I needed to focus on my damn job. I didn't even understand what he was warning me about; I felt like death still, so told him to get off his high horse." He chuckled bitterly. "He didn't like that... Me and this girl from the settlment, her name was Rowan." He said, his voice a little softer. "I guess we were a thing, anyway. Or at least, that's how Josephe saw it. She stayed with me while I was sick, and we'd spend my time off together. She was so sweet." He admitted without thinking, then swallowed uncomfortably. "Josephe caught us together then, no explanation, just ordered me to shoot her. I told him he was out of his mind, I didn't want to hurt her, fuck, she was the only person who didn't look at me like I was shit, and she hadn't done anything wrong anyway. I guess Josephe thought she was distracting me from my job, I... I don't know. I wouldn't do it, I thought he was testing me and I didn't care if I passed. So, he shot her. He just kept shooting her until she just wasn't breathing anymore. Then he turned on me. Beat the shit out of me and told me if I ever disobeyed an order or slacked off on my work again, he'd kill me." He trailed off uncertainly. He'd told more of a story than actual facts about Josephe, and he could feel himself shaking with the old anger. He forced down another bite of food, trying to brush it off. "He'd do all sorts of things like that. Brutality just for the sake of it. Maybe he got some sick enjoyment out of it. Maybe he was just angry. Any outlaws or runaways we'd run into, he'd get fucking medieval, and have us leave the bodies out as warnings." Anderson went on, his voice still low, going back to eating his food for a moment and blocking out the memories, pretty much done speaking about the event.

by **melodiousmysteries** Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:28 am

Sliet listened to him quietly, growing more and more disturbed as he went on. "Damn." She breathed, looking at Raven pityingly. She really did have no idea about Josephe. She turned back to Anderson after a minute, curiously. "what was she like?" She asked gently.

by **Deathcap** Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:13 am

Anderson hesitated. "Who?.. Rowan?" He asked uncertainly, not looking like he was going to answer at first. He didn't want Sliet to think he was some soft hearted idiot, though.. he'd just about lost all his dignity before, what did it matter anymore? "She was gentle, and... and kind. She was about my height, maybe a little shorter now, and had light colored hair, and pretty blue eyes. She liked to sew. She used to make me sit there and would fix all the holes in my coat and tell me about her life. She was soothing to listen to, I guess. Her stories were my favorite part of life while I knew her." He listed off quietly, only really loud enough to let Sliet hear, trailing off and scraping up the last of his food.

by **melodiousmysteries** Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:30 am

"Sliet made a contented humming noise in her throat at Anderson's story. So he really did have a heart in there arter all, even if it took some digging to find it. "Sounds like she was really nice. " she said softly, gicing the otheer a far kinder look.

by **Deathcap** Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:26 am

Anderson shrugged quietly, glancing at her as she looked over at him, his expression soft and confused for a moment before he straightened up, trying to save some composure. "Yeah. Anyway, there's no sense talking about it now." He muttered.

Raven walked over slowly, sitting down awkwardly next to Sliet, his legs were still wobbly but he could at least walk around a bit now. He set his bowl down next to Sliet. "Here, you can have this... The puppies may have eaten some of it... That might be my fault." He admitted quietly. He knew the other had been extremely hungry since her tech was turned off, so he didn't mind giving her some of his portions, He didn't feel up to eating it anyway.

by **melodiousmysteries** Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:46 pm

Sliet looked up at Raven when he sat down. "You should eat." She said gently, though she reached for a piece of food anyway.

by **Deathcap** Tue Jan 26, 2016 10:08 pm

Raven smiled back at her. "I'm fine. I'm eating more than I used to. I can't eat a lot anyway though with the surgery, and the medication makes me nauseas." He added softly. He really didn't feel up to eating at the moment, and it was obvious Sliet did. He folded his arms carefully on the table and put his head down, closing his eyes for a moment. It felt so warm and gentle here, he didn't really like being confined, and he missed his friend, but it was the first time he'd felt calm without Pel at his side since before the correctional facility.

"You're still hungry?" Anderson asked incredulously. "Are you going into hibernation for the winter or something?"

"It's summer, Anderson, and her tech isn't feeding off sunlight anymore." Raven stated softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he stayed there with his eyes closed peacefully.

"That was sarcasm, Dumonte." Anderson snapped back.

by **melodiousmysteries** Tue Jan 26, 2016 10:34 pm

"Bite me, Dudley" She said sourly, giving him an almost amused look. She took another bite before looking at Raven again in confusion. "Where'd you hear about that?" She asked him, uncertain if it was her or someone else that had mentioned it.

by **Deathcap** Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:39 am

Anderson stared back at her with hatred in his brown eyes. "Don't call me that, it makes me sound dumb." He snapped back bitterly. "Anderson or Percival would be much more appropriate."

Raven sat up, blinking. "W-well, you don't have a hum.. so they turned off your nano tech, right? Pel told me about the photosynthesis, that the tech takes in the light, and heat and anything you eat or drink and turns it into energy. I think she learned that from Ashi. So without that, I just thought y-you must be feeling kind of worn out. He hesitated. "Uh- S-Sorry if that's personal, I didn't mean to be pervasive." He added on, not sure how secretive they all were about the tech.

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