It was always the same. Or mostly. Riker could see the wires and the oil as it dripped to the floor. Every scream echoed in his head. All their pleas and cries as they were ripped apart in front of him. Their wires spilled out like spaghetti around him, wrapping around him painfully tight. Bound his arms together and around his neck.
As the air was pushed from his lungs, he struggled and tried to claw at them. Every attempt only served to tighten them around him. Riker could feel them digging into his skin. Still, he struggled, crying to get free.
They would have died either way, he cried. He had at least tried to make it painless. They were hollow lies, the lies of a coward. He should have done more. Tried to stop them, called the police. Something other than drowning himself in bottles he still couldn’t get out of.
Tighter and tighter, they wrapped around him until his pleas turned into strangled gasps and then into silence.
When the world went black, he woke up with a start. Gasping painfully for air, he tried to sit up only to panic more when he couldn't move. Thrashing, he untangled himself from sweat soaked sheets.
Finally, he threw them off of him, trying to get his heart to stop racing. He was dizzy, and his mind wouldn't stop replaying the nightmare over and over. The screaming and the pain from the wires digging into his flesh. Sweat slicked hands felt covered in oil and he scrubbed against his sleep pants, trying to will the thought away.
The commotion caused Stephen Jr to wake up. Watching Riker with one eye cracked open, the kitsune stretched with a long yawn. Standing up, they shook themselves before walking across the bed.
While Riker held his head, Stephen Jr gently nuzzled his hands, whining quietly, worried about the human. He kept doing it until Riker had both hands on either side of his face. His whining sounded more excited as Riker started to scratch his cheeks. He looked up at him briefly before closing his eyes contently.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Sorry for waking you, buddy." He rhythmically scritched under his fuzzy chin. When Stephen Jr started to tilt his head a little Riker smiled. "Guess that's the good spot, huh?"
Stephen sneezed and yipped a little, turning his head so Riker wouldn’t stop, seeming to agree with him. Chasing the attention, he crawled into Riker's lap, leaning up to keep getting scritches.
And the soothing motion helped Riker ground himself again. The little guy really seemed to know what he's doing. Once his heart started to calm down, not ready to go pounding out of his chest. He found himself relaxing enough to go back to sleep. Carefully, he cradled the kitsundae in his arm while he turned over on his side. Pulling the blankets back over them both, Riker held onto Stephen Jr still scritching his fur until they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
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Let’s get this started with some Original Work, shall we?
Spring had fully set in at long last. The bitterness of a too long winter gave way to the tell-tale sign of frogs croaking in the lower mountains. And two girls were more excited than any parents could hope for. Even if one was well past the age of listening to them.
After an early dinner, and a bit of packing, Tiffany guided her baby sister out of their little house and into the tree line at the base of the mountain. Between the trees and off the trails, there were plenty of places to look for frogs. And the girls were determined to find as many as they could.
Following their ears, frogs seemed to be everywhere, but every time they thought they were getting close, the frogs seemed to catch on, and a hush fell over nearby.
“Taffy!” whined Angel while she peeked into a fallen log, “where are all the frogs?”
Looking up from combing through the grass, she gave her sister a withering look. “I don’t know any more than you do. I can hear them. They’re out here, the frogs just don’t want to be caught.”
Another whine and Angel crossed her arms. “It’s not fair! Why won’t they come out?”
“Probably because they think we’re going to eat them,” she reminded her baby sister.
“Ew!” Giggling, Angel tried to find some clinging to the plants that had sprung from the mud. “Who would do that?”
Trekking through a bit of mud, Tiffany went after what she thought might have been one. Sneaking up on it, she quickly ducked down and snatched it up. With a small cheer, Tiffany held up her hands and took a peek through her fingers. At the very sneaky rock, she had managed to catch. She groaned.
Angel, however, cackled at her big sister. “At least you caught something!” she teased as the duo wandered off to try and find frogs elsewhere.
“Oh, be quiet, or I’ll use you as bait,” she quipped with a smirk when Angel squeaked and scampered off. As if frogs would want to nibble on her.
They went on for a while longer, under wood and rocks, digging through the grass and even the mud. The frogs just had no interest in being found! It was starting to get frustrating for them both.
“We’ve been out here forever!” whined Angel, sitting down on a frogless log. “This is stupid.”
“We’ve been looking a couple hours at best. Come on. There’s a big pond up ahead. I bet there’s something there. If not, we can go home.” Silently, she begged the Powers that there would be something there worth finding.
Angel had been begging for weeks now to go look for frogs, but it’d been too cold. They’d both been looking forward to this. The frogs were out there. They just had to find them. And she would. Tiffany couldn’t let this trip be for not. She was the older sister she had to take care of her baby sister. Had to.
Their wandering eventually led them to the largest pond in the safe parts of the mountain. There had to be frogs here!
“Come on, Angel. They’ve got to be here. Try not to go too far in the water. Last thing we need is you to get a cold,” she warned, stepping in about ankle deep to look around, careful with every step.
The water was freezing, and the mud sucked her boots deeper with every step, but Tiffany kept looking! They had to be here, somewhere. Deeper and deeper she went until the mud wouldn’t let go of her boots. Struggling, Tiffany yelped when her foot came free from the mud and her boot. Waving her arms to try and save her balance, she went down in the cold water with a loud splash.
Sitting up, she was covered in mud and soaked through. Shivering, she glared at her little sister, who was doubled over on the bank, howling with laughter. “Yes, yes, very funny. Get over here and pull me out. It’s freezing, and I’m stuck in the mud.
Still giggling to herself, Angel carefully waded through the water. “You told me not to go this deep,” she reminded her older sister. All the same, she extended a hand to try and help her sister up.
And despite the warnings, when Angel took her hand, she smirked. With one quick tug, Tiffany sent Angel sprawling into the water and laughed.
Angel flailed and splashed as she pulled herself up with a gasp. “Taffy!” She screamed, trying to get the mud off her face. Shivering, she glared at her sister. Which was only made worse when Tiffany started laughing. “What?”
Covering her mouth, Tiffany pointed with her other hand. On Angel’s head sitting on a bit of mud and grass, sat a rather very confused and rather small frog. The two looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles.
It was a good adventure and worth Jonathan scolding them in the morning while they sat bundled up and coughing.
The last few months had been a wild ride for Tiffany. More than the rest of the war combined, but now it was over. And against all odds, she was finally coming home.
It was a wonderful feeling, and scary. She was a traitor for killing the King. But he was a cowardly man that failed to follow the rules of war. Not a fraction of the man his father was. The country would recover. It just needed time. Time the Emperor was giving them with his aid.
But as her cape came into view, all of those thoughts fell away. She could imagine the boats floating at the docks. Hear the sounds of her men working. The sounds of the village, full of life and in full swing. She couldn't wait to set foot back on Kingspool soil.
Most of all, she couldn't wait to see her family. She had snuck off in secret, leaving Johnathan and Angel behind without warning. They were probably angry with her, but she hoped they would be happy to see her after being gone for almost four years. At least someone should be happy to see her.
It was a while longer until they were close enough to get off. The ship was too large to make it into port, so she was put on a small lifeboat, and a soldier rowed her to shore.
Seeing the boat had drawn in quite a curious crowd to the docks, hoping for something interesting. Seeing Tiffany, a silence fell over them all. The faces were a mix of shock and disgust that she had come back. Stepping on the docks, she waited for something, anything.
All that she was greeted with was her father telling her men to get back to work. She knew better than to think he would start caring now, but part of her had hoped.
Shouldering her things, she turned to thank the soldier only to see he had already started to leave. With a heavy sigh, she started walking. She looked up the hill to the small house on the cliff. Her home. Then started off the docks to a larger house just on the edge of it. Hopefully, it still felt like home.
There was no use knocking, so she stepped inside. Putting down her bag, she listened. There was the tell tale sound of jars clinking in the small room Johnathan used for medicine. Peeking in, she grinned. He was working while Angel sketched on one of the cots.
"Hey, you got a minute?" She asked softly.
Angel's head shot up when she heard the voice. After all this time, she hadn't forgotten. She was more than twice as old now at seven, her hair longer and just as dark as Tiffany's dirty blonde hair. She looked so much like Tiffany but with bright blue eyes instead of green. It was painful how much she'd grown.
"Taffy!" She screamed and dropped everything to rush into her arms.
Tiffany knelt down and scooped up her baby sister in her arms. "Oh Powers, I've missed you, Angie. You got so big!" Holding her tightly, she finally started to feel like she was home.
All the movement got Johnathan's attention. Looking up, he stalled, dropping the bottle in his hand. No matter how hopeful he had been when he heard the war was over, he wasn't expecting to see her so suddenly. Seeing her standing there, tears welled in his eyes. With long strides, he crossed the room to wrap his arms around them both.
And being wrapped up with her best friend and her sister, Tiffany sobbed. Johnathan had to ease them to the floor when her legs gave out. All the fighting and near misses had weighed heavy on her, but Tiffany had never forgotten this. Her family and the people that loved her as much as she loved them. She was home, and she never wanted to leave again.
Trying to get information shouldn't have been this hard. But at every turn, the Cashews of Calamity were always a step ahead.
Edge was starting to lose his cool about the whole thing. He and Lola had snuck into a warehouse, hoping for a lead. They'd watched them come in and out. What they were using the old building for was unknown.
Inside was dark, but Edge kept Lola close and brightened his eyes to see. It was full of crates and packing peanuts mostly. Which was concerning. There was nothing. Had this been another decoy? Edge tried to hold Lola closer. At least there weren't as many floors this time.
While they walked, Lola suddenly pulled away. "Wait!" He called after and tried to follow.
"I heard something," she called back, her voice getting quieter.
Trying to follow, Edge hit his head on a poorly stacked box hard enough his vision dimmed. Cursing under his breath, he tried to follow her and turn his night vision back on.
With neither of them able to see in the dark, there was a problem. Edge could hear Lola scurrying somewhere, or he hoped it was her.
When he heard crates start to fall, he felt something hit the pit of his stomach. "Lola!" He yelled. Any concerns about stealth were long gone now. What if they fell on her?
His eyes flickered, a brief second of light before there was darkness again. “Lola!” She wasn’t responding, and he was starting to panic. Fumbling around, he tried to feel for her.
“Edge!” She finally called back a distance away. Again he tried shaking and hitting his head even when it hurt, trying to find her. The lights would do no more than flicker. “Lola! Keep talking, I’ll find you!” He just had to pray no one else found her first.
While his eyes couldn’t adjust, Lola’s did. Seeing a shadow in the darkness, she jumped until she saw the outline of his fedora. “Edge, I’m here,” she called, trying to wave him over.
Clumsily, Edge walked over to her and knelt down nearby. His hands reached out, trying to find her. When he felt her hands in hers, his shoulders finally relaxed. “There you are. Don’t run off like that! I was so scared.”
“I’m fine,” she huffed, but her shoulders slumped, and she spoke softer. “Everything’s alright.”
“Did you at least find anything?” Edge asked as he helped Lola to her feet. He didn’t let her go.
Lola shook her head. “Nothing just ran into some crates.” Holding his hand, she gently tugged him. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
Something that caught Edge off guard, Lola was prone to running into danger. “But we haven’t found anything yet.”
“And you can’t see in here, can you?” She waited for him to shake his head. “Come on. Let’s get back and into the light.” Holding his hand, she guided him out. Even when they reached the streetlights, they didn’t let go.
