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rainbowfic2012-05-06 02:22 am
shadowsong26) wrote in rainbowfic2012-05-06 02:22 am
Lotus #11, TARDIS Blue #24, Bone Black #18
Story: The One Less Traveled By
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Lotus #11. Triple Gem, TARDIS Blue #24. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway., Bone Black #18. Ash
Supplies and Materials: photography, eraser (Confessions AU), brush (validate), feathers, oils, glue ("Everything feels complicated today, tiring you out before you even start your day. The passionate Scorpio Moon in your 7th House of Partners can place so much stress on a relationship that you're tempted to withdraw as a defensive tactic."), novelty beads ("Growin' Up", Bruce Springsteen; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISbb0-Puxgc)
Word Count: 448
Rating: R
Characters: Mel Artwick
Warnings: References to The Murderer and the mutilations he performs.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. This is the breakpoint for this AU, and like several other Mel stories, takes its title from a Robert Frost poem.
After several shots, Mel was paradoxically thinking clearer about everything. He toyed with his glass, watching the droplets left in it slide around, thinking.
He had three options--he could try to forget what he'd seen, go back to the Eagle, act like nothing had changed. Maybe, after a while, he'd even believe it. It would be the easiest, for sure. And cause him the least amount of trouble, since he'd be keeping faith with his brother and captain and ship, and...
And those hands had been attached to people once. Living, breathing people. Keeping faith meant hurting them again, as much as if he'd been with the Captain when he cut them up.
Mel shuddered, and signaled for another drink.
He could also leave. Just leave. Just walk away from all of this, from his ship, from his captain, from the hands in the box. That would be easy, too. He could go inland, somewhere landlocked (but not the desert, he didn't want to die), where the Eagle and the Clan he betrayed in doing it would never find him.
It was certainly an attractive possibility. He didn't think he could stay on the Eagle another day, knowing how she'd been...knowing what her Captain had done, and what he'd kept on her.
But it meant a betrayal of his own. It meant leaving his clan, and the Eagle wasn't to blame, and he'd be all alone, and he'd never be able to come back. And there would be nothing to stop the Captain from killing more people in his name.
He tossed back the new shot.
Like it or not, he was at least partially responsible for what had been done. If not for him, the Captain wouldn't have started killing metal-mages. If not for him, those hands would still be attached to the people they belonged to.
So that left only the third option. He had to tell someone. Someone with the means and the authority to stop the Captain. It wouldn't bring back the people already dead, and depending on how the Clan Head handled it, it might not even bring closure to their families. But it would be a kind of justice, and it would keep Mel from being outcast, and it would make up for his part in the deaths.
He tossed some money on the bar next to his empty shot glass. He had to find a way to send a letter home, fast. And then somehow manage to stay on the Eagle until the Head took her captain away. It was the best--the only--option. Mel knew he'd made the right decision.
And it still felt so terribly, terribly wrong.
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Lotus #11. Triple Gem, TARDIS Blue #24. Courage isn't just a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway., Bone Black #18. Ash
Supplies and Materials: photography, eraser (Confessions AU), brush (validate), feathers, oils, glue ("Everything feels complicated today, tiring you out before you even start your day. The passionate Scorpio Moon in your 7th House of Partners can place so much stress on a relationship that you're tempted to withdraw as a defensive tactic."), novelty beads ("Growin' Up", Bruce Springsteen; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISbb0-Puxgc)
Word Count: 448
Rating: R
Characters: Mel Artwick
Warnings: References to The Murderer and the mutilations he performs.
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. This is the breakpoint for this AU, and like several other Mel stories, takes its title from a Robert Frost poem.
After several shots, Mel was paradoxically thinking clearer about everything. He toyed with his glass, watching the droplets left in it slide around, thinking.
He had three options--he could try to forget what he'd seen, go back to the Eagle, act like nothing had changed. Maybe, after a while, he'd even believe it. It would be the easiest, for sure. And cause him the least amount of trouble, since he'd be keeping faith with his brother and captain and ship, and...
And those hands had been attached to people once. Living, breathing people. Keeping faith meant hurting them again, as much as if he'd been with the Captain when he cut them up.
Mel shuddered, and signaled for another drink.
He could also leave. Just leave. Just walk away from all of this, from his ship, from his captain, from the hands in the box. That would be easy, too. He could go inland, somewhere landlocked (but not the desert, he didn't want to die), where the Eagle and the Clan he betrayed in doing it would never find him.
It was certainly an attractive possibility. He didn't think he could stay on the Eagle another day, knowing how she'd been...knowing what her Captain had done, and what he'd kept on her.
But it meant a betrayal of his own. It meant leaving his clan, and the Eagle wasn't to blame, and he'd be all alone, and he'd never be able to come back. And there would be nothing to stop the Captain from killing more people in his name.
He tossed back the new shot.
Like it or not, he was at least partially responsible for what had been done. If not for him, the Captain wouldn't have started killing metal-mages. If not for him, those hands would still be attached to the people they belonged to.
So that left only the third option. He had to tell someone. Someone with the means and the authority to stop the Captain. It wouldn't bring back the people already dead, and depending on how the Clan Head handled it, it might not even bring closure to their families. But it would be a kind of justice, and it would keep Mel from being outcast, and it would make up for his part in the deaths.
He tossed some money on the bar next to his empty shot glass. He had to find a way to send a letter home, fast. And then somehow manage to stay on the Eagle until the Head took her captain away. It was the best--the only--option. Mel knew he'd made the right decision.
And it still felt so terribly, terribly wrong.
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I think I'm missing something--why was Kit killing people for Mel?
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Mel was cut nearly killed by a metal-mage in a botched act of piracy, gashed across the abdomen. So, since Kit's victims are gutted before their hands are taken, Mel got it into his head that Kit's trying to avenge him.
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Half-brother, actually. And, at least in this timeline, he's assured of that by the Clan Head when they handle Kit, though it takes a while for him to really believe it.