#redash

I do want, and you know what? I accept your challenge, and in reply, I say, GIVE ME ALL THREE.

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Another Sleepless Night

Lucyna Kushinada, better known by her friends as Lucy, stared out her apartment window. Her friends... Assuming anyone else survived that night. Everything was already fucked from the start, with her getting kidnapped and held hostage while the crew charged headfirst into the shitstorm of Arasaka gunfire.

She remembered reading the news report about the "violent gangers who tried to storm Arasaka tower" and manged to be "summarily punished as to be expected." She'd read every news outlet she could on her way to the moon. Hoping, praying that someone found something that the others didn't and somebody survived.

But no, that's not what she found. They all said the same thing with different words. Rebecca is dead. David is dead. Days later, they found Kiwi dead outside a Buck-a-Slice in Arroyo. Much as she was a backstabbing and cold-hearted bitch, a part of her missed her.

But not as much as she missed David. On the moon, she swore she saw him jumping around on the moon, just like he did before. Her throat felt dry, so she left to grab a drink. Something hard enough to make her regret. But she couldn't forget.

Never. Because every day, she regretted not ripping off her helmet and dancing with him on the moon.

(NEFFEX - Careless)

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Jaune Wants to F Pyrrha

People said a lot of things about Pyrrha Nikos. Some said she tall, beautiful, and perfect in every way. Some said she was Remnant's light of hope against the dark tides of the Grimm. That none could ever defeat the aptly named Invincible Girl.

And yet there was surprisingly little said about her in any negative way. Pyrrha never made any statements of her being perfect, but public response was she was being modest. The first negative thing anyone ever said about her was during her first few weeks of Beacon Academy, when her teammate, Nora Valkyrie, said she "apologized way, way, waaay too much" and "was too nice for her own good". Since then, she had been small attempts to remedy these issues, but this seemed to only fuel the already roaring flames of the perfectionist ideal people made of her. It seemed no matter what she did, she would always be perfect.

Until one day, she met a young man about her age. Her team leader, Jaune Arc, who was almost her exact opposite in every way. Nobody said a nice thing about him since his arrival, save for the few friends he'd made, and even then, they had much to say about him.

Jaune was weak, scraggly, and was inept at combat when he began attending. She could personally attest to his lacking qualities when he not only didn't have his aura unlocked, but he didn't know what aura was! But she knew better than to judge a book by it's cover and decided on the day of her initiation that he would be her partner.

Was it selfish to pick and choose who she wanted to team up with? Maybe, but it worked out in the end. Where Jaune lacked in combat strength, he made up for it in his tactical mindset, leading their team to victory. One could say he was the brains of the outfit, though his low test scores would argue that point.

Over time, though, his lacking skill became more and more evident, so he asked Pyrrha to train him. This leads us to now, on the rooftop above their dorm, where they hold their near nightly sparring matches. They had finished a mock match, sitting next to each other, hands so tantalizingly close and yet so painfully distant. He looked to her and she looked to him.

Jaune gazed into Pyrrha's eyes, and she into his. The blue sky overhead met green hills below, and she couldn't help but admire the way he looked at her. She could see... No, she could feel love and adoration glowing from him. Her heart pounded as he spoke to her.

"Pyrrha, I... I wanna ask you something." Pyrrha swallowed a lump in her throat. "And... And if you don't want to, I'd understand and respect your decision."

It was at this moment she realized where they were. They were alone, isolated from their friends, on the rooftop of the school with a night sky filled with gleaming stars and a moon nearly whole. This was a night she'd always dreamed of.

"Anything, Jaune." She answered.

"I... I wanna fight you!"

"...Come again?" She didn't hear that wrong, did she?

"I want to fight you." Jaune said, with more confidence this time.

"I... I sorr-" She stopped herself. "I mean, excuse me, but I don't understand what you mean. Didn't we finish sparring?"

"Yeah, we did, but," he looked up, to the stars that glittered high, "but I meant I want to fight you for real one day. I want to get so good, you don't have to hold back against me when we do spar."

She wouldn't argue with his statement, considering nothing he said could be seen as a lie. She was leagues above him with her years of athletic and competitive training, so of course she would have to hold back when the two sparred. A kindness she didn't often share with others, or ever in the case of the resident bully, Cardin Winchester.

"Do... Do you really mean that?" Pyrrha asked. "Do you really want to fight me?"

"Pyrrha, if I could fight you on your level, and not totally suck, I think I'd be the happiest guy who ever lived."

Giving a puff instead of a laugh, she couldn't stop smiling at him. She leaned against him, her pinkie touching his. Then, his hand slid over hers, and she felt her heart nearly explode with joy. She gave a soft sigh.

"One day... I want to fight you, too."

(NEFFEX - Rumors)

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The Napping Bounty Hunter

Zora Salazar was a lot of things.

First off, she hates epithets and whatever criminals she hunts down using them gets an extra crack in the jaw. Two of 'em if they're really going on and on about how their supposed "magic superpower" automatically means they win.

Second, she herself is Inscribed, and her epithet was, is, and will be broken. Helped make her bounty hunting easier, sure, but she rarely used when she was tracking. Not unless someone gives her a reason, like ticking her off in a way similar to the previous paragraph. Still, her epithet was definitely the strongest she'd seen yet.

Third, she's a bit of a romantic. Not exactly like the loved-dovey, kissy face, "I'd die for you" kinda romantic. More of a "two men enter, one man leaves, and they're both best friends, and they're giving it their all and also there's a sunset shining behind them" sort of romantic. She loved the thrill of the fight, the sweat that beads down from giving your all, and chase and satisfaction of reaching the top.

Fourth, she really loves-

"HEY!" A voice belowed.

Zora tapped her hat up from her comfy lie down against the tree. And she JUST got comfy.

The bellowing came from a familiar face, but not one she could name. Some guy from a gang she busted a few days ago. She would've brought him in, but he was already running out the back door when she zeroed in on his boss.

"You n' me got a score to settle!"

"No, we don't." Zora put her hat back on her face. Great, now she has to get comfy again.

"Yes, we do!"

"Nuh-uh."

"WHAT YOU MEAN NUH-UH?!"

"I mean. Nuh. Uh." She grumbled loudly. "Means whatever beef you got with me goes to a different butcher. Do I look like a butcher?"

"She looks like a cowboy." A small voice said behind annoying big guy.

"Nah, I'd say she's more of a desperado." Another voice said.

"You only know that word because you watched one western movie!"

"And it was a good one!"

Maybe a movie would would help her sleep. If she was real quiet, she could sneak inside and take a nap in a comfier seat than this tree. I mean, the tree was comfy if you got in the right spot, but-

"HEY! QUIT STARIN' AT THE SKY!" He huffed. "You're being so rude! We drove all the way out here in my brand new car just so we could make you pay for putting our boss in jail!"

"Listen," Zora said after letting out a deep breath, "I'm willin to let this go for interruptin my nap. So get back in your car while you still can."

"Oh, I don't think so!" Suddenly, Zora felt a hand grab her by her poncho. Of course this loudmouth had an epithet. All loudmouths do. "I'm gonna-"

"Let go."

"Wha?"

Zora glared at him with cold, baneful eyes. "LET GO, OR ELSE."

"Or else what?" He sneered. Oh, she was so hoping he'd say that.

With a grin and an iron grip, she squeezed his hand. Slowly, it started to bulge before shrinking, smaller and smaller until all that was left was emaciated, bony hand. With a groan, he let go, wheezing as he stared at his wizened fingers.

"Wh... Wha dih you do to muh bodeh..." Losing his teeth didn't make him easier to understand, but Zora was well versed in gum linguistics.

"Or else." She said, turning away. "Enjoy the walk home, old man."

"Uh, but we drove."

"I know." Faster than anyone else could react, she whipped out her gun and fired a bullet into the engine of the car. Rust creeps as paint peels, the car slowly sinking to the ground as it's tires deflated. The glass of the car slipped free, shattering as it fell inside. "But you're walkin' now."

(REDASH - Our Hometown)

“Encio?” Red began as she walked into the living room. “Um...Something’s happened.”

“Oh? And what would that something be?” SilverAsh was reclined on the couch, reading through paperwork for a deal he planned to settle.

She crouched behind the couch arm his head was against and held something within his eyeline. “This is saying I’m pregnant.”

“...Say what.” He looked at the dark purple line on the indicator, and his eyes went wide. “Well, um...this is awkward.”

“How so?”

Encio leaned his head back to look at her. “I- never mind, never mind. Dr. Kal’tsit doesn’t know about us yet, does she?”

“I don’t think so.” Red frowned. “You’re not going to leave, are you?”

“Leave y- Goddess, why would you even say something like that, Red?!” His papers went flying as he stood up to hold her.

She sighed. “Sorry. I just thought, if I can’t hunt, then maybe...but you don’t care about that, do you.”

“I care about you, Red.” He scratched behind her ears. “And I’m happy to have a kid with you, I just...I wasn’t expecting it quite so quickly. However, I did prepare for something like this.”

“Prepared what for something like this?” Red looked him in the eye, hers sparkling in the overhead light.

Encio smiled. “A honeymoon getaway.”

“A honeymoon?” She gasped. “But that would mean-”

“I was hoping it would come along more naturally, but the Goddess had other plans. If you’re as worried as I am about Kal’tsit finding out-”

Red tightened her grip around him. “I don’t want her to take you from me.”

“-so I think we should elope.” He realized she didn’t know what that meant. “We’re going to take my private helicopter to Kjerag, have some lawyers marry us secretly, and honeymoon in the mountains for a few weeks.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely. Do you have wolves in Kjerag?”

He nodded. “Big, fluffy ones. I would’ve kept one as a pet, but I never had the time...Maybe I will now, though.”

“I don’t think you will,” she smiled. “I’m the only wolf for you...even if I’m not a proper Lupo.”

“You’re my Red, Red, and that’s better than any mountain wolf could ever be. Can you leave today?”

Red nodded. “We can go right now, if you want.”

“I need to pack,” he smiled, “and there’s a couple of phone calls I need to make, but we should be able to leave by this evening. Oh, you have no idea how excited I am to have an heir.”

“I have a hint.” Watching his tail gave her a pretty clear indication of that…

-

After the Doctor and Pramanix left, Red was all over Encio, and seeing as how there was no way to slow her down when she got like this, he simply did his best to keep up. Some time later, sitting in bed with her head on his chest, he sighed contentedly. “I’m happy I haven’t had time to spy on Anya and Ensia. Did you know about that, darling?”

“I smelled the Doctor and Anya together a few days ago,” Red replied, “but I thought they might want to surprise you.”

“You sneaky little wolf.” He chuckled as he resumed the headpats.

She giggled, a foxlike yipping sound never heard before by anyone at RI. “I’m very sneaky when I need to be...You’re going to have to name our kid, by the way.”

“I certainly want to,” he smirked, “but why do I have to, darling?”

“Because I don’t have a name outside of my codename.”

Encio froze. “What did you put when we filled out the paperwork, then?”

“Red as my first name, Projekt as my maiden name.” She shrugged. “If I did it the other way, I’d be Projekt Silverash, and I don’t like that as much.”

“Well, then, you do have a name now - Red.”

She looked up at him. “Is that how it works?”

“If that isn’t your name, the documents aren’t legally binding.” He sighed. “When we get back, I’m sending out inquiries to be sure, just in case Kal’tsit wants to try something.”

“When she hears about the pup, I think she’ll accept it. She’s not that bad...most of the time.”

Encio kissed her forehead. “I’ll take your word on that, then...It’s not even 5 yet. Maybe I should get back to work-”

“Or,” Red interjected, clambering on top of him before laying back against him, “we watch TV and you let me fluff your tail.”

DnD Inktober day 4 : Battle

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