mindcracklove | Fic: Retribution (Pt. 2: Vengeance)

theropod posting in

The final part of Bribery. I've got an epilogue to write after this but uni is killing me right now so expect a break until after the exams are over.

1 - The Bribe
2 - Alone in the Dark
3 - Nightmares
4 - Gift
5 - Retribution

-0-

It was dark when the attack came. Guude hadn't been able to get Pause's words out of his mind and he'd been sorely tempted to warn Bdouble O that something was going to happen. In the end, he lay down on his little bed in the little house on the edge of the enslaved village and tried to close his eyes. Maybe Pause had just been a figment of his imagination. Maybe everything would be -

BOOM!

Guude was shaken from the bed and hit the floor with a thump, eyes wide and wild as he looked around for the attack. The curtains were still drawn closed from Pause's visit but even they couldn't keep out the bright amber glow now pouring through them.

The village was burning.

He scrambled to his feet, Pause's warning forgotten as he reached for his cape and his sword. The cape usually kept out the worst of the chill when he went out at night but this time he'd be relying on it to keep the heat from scorching his skin. The sword...he just gripped it tight and hoped he wouldn't be using it on any familiar faces.

He raced outside, immediately assaulted by smoke and ash in the air, the stench of burning wood, sugar cane and something that smelled suspiciously like burnt pig. Around him, panicking villagers fled for their lives, little ones in arms – wait, he thought Genny had locked them up? They were certainly free now, honking and running in every direction. Someone was shouting further away, barely audible to Guude over the roar of the flames, the honking and the occasional explosion. He made his way towards it, weaving between fleeing villagers.

“Don't just stand there, help me get this fire under control!” Genny was throwing buckets of water onto the sad remains of the factory. Millbee, looming close by, didn't do a thing to help. He took a wary step back from the flames licking at the buildings around them.

“Love to, but I have this thing about fire. I don't really like it near my wool.” The bipedal sheep explained, sounding tired. Guude wondered if he'd been sleeping when the explosion went off. “Kind of burns easily, you know. Bad combination.”

“Then go do something about the escapees sheep, I'm workin' here!” the hermit threw him an angry look then spotted Guude at last. “Guude! Buddy! How's about helping an old hermit out, huh?” Before Guude could reply, he'd pushed a bucket of water into the other's hands and vanished with an armful of empty buckets.

“Firefighter Guude.” Millbee gave the human a lazy smirk. “Have fun.” With that he wandered off in the general direction of the escaping villagers, hooves crunching along the gavel pathway.

Guude cursed his life, dropped his sword and threw the water on the flames. Over the hiss of extinguished flames, there was the sound of something clattering to the ground with a yelp. Surprised, Guude made to turn and investigate but he didn't get very far. Something shoved him to the ground and sat on his back, a very heavy something. He struggled to grab the sword he'd dropped close by but a hand closed around his wrist and pinned it to the ground. A muddy, familiar looking hand... “Pause get the hell off of me before I -”

“Before you what?” Pause's voice floated down from above him and something sharp pressed against the back of Guude's neck. “I told you to stay inside for a reason. It was safe enough. You could have stayed out of this...But you just had to come and play hero.” The point dug further into his skin and Guude barely stopped himself from wincing when he felt it pierce skin, a droplet of blood running down the side of his neck.

“Pause wait-!”

“I'm sorry Guude. I tried to tell you.”

A blinding pain, then blackness. Guude saw no more.

-0-

Generik dropped the buckets with a surprised yelp when an arrow pierced the ground in front of his foot. The empty buckets clattered to the gravel road as Genny fumbled for the sword by his side. Before he could pull it from his belt even part way, an Ender pearl landed before him swiftly followed by a blazing eyed pigman bearing a gleaming sword. The blade pressed against his neck, steady and sharp and this close to slicing open Generik's neck and killing the hermit.

“Genny.” Zisteau sounded eerily calm despite the fact he was surrounded by burning buildings and random explosions. “Been a while.”

Generik swallowed and gave the pigman his best toothy grin, hoping that it didn't waver like his voice was doing. “Zisteau! Buddy! How've you been?”

“Busy.” Zisteau's eyes were completely focused on the Hermit's lopsided grin but his one intact ear was swiveling to listen to the background noise. Distracted. What was he listening for? “Thought I'd pay the B-Team a little visit. Hope you don't mind me dropping by.”

Generik licked his parched lips, the heat building around them as wooden constructions burned ever brighter. Zisteau hadn't even broken a sweat from the looks of him. Stupid pigman. I'll show you what you get for ruinin' B-Team business! Aloud, he forced himself to be jovial and polite, acting as though his entire livelihood wasn't seconds away from being lost forever. “O'course not – maybe a little less fire next time, a little more water!” As he yelled the last word, he kicked out at the water bucket by his foot sending it into Zisteau's chest and forcing him back with a grunt more of surprise than pain. Genny took his chance and turned to flee, bare feet kicking up gravel as he sprinted as far as he could from the zombie pigman whom he was quite sure was out for his blood.

Zisteau recovered fast and let out growl as he gave chase, seeing red and not just from the bright flames everywhere. His race did have a terrible bloodlust after all. Generik was fast but no one could outrun an enraged pigman for long. He tackled the human, the pair of them hitting the gravel and skidding along for the length of a pace. Generik snarled in pain as the tiny stones scraped away layers of skin and fought to kick himself free of the menace at his back but Zisteau's grip was too tight. Still, Generik knew if Zisteau wanted to stab him any time soon, he'd have to let go – and he was right.

Zisteau fumbled and swore when he tried juggle the hermit and his sword, finding he didn't have enough arms and was forced to briefly let go of Generik. He recoiled in pain when a bony elbow was jammed into his eye socket, allowing Generik to roll over and kick him in the gut with a bare foot. Doubled over and breathless, Zisteau missed the flash of green in Generik's hand. There was another blow to his gut but this one was sharper, agony lancing through him from the impact. The pigman tensed up, unable to do more than let out a ragged sound of pain. He heard Generik laugh darkly and struggled to look up. He didn't have to look far, the hermit leaning in close to whisper in his ear.

“Funny thing, blood emeralds. What's the point in calling 'em that...unless you get to draw a little blood with them?” Generik twisted his hand and Zisteau let out a wordless cry of excruciating pain, falling back against the gravel road. Generik stood over him, a bloody emerald dagger in his hand and a sneer on his bearded face. “You should have stayed in the Nether, pigman.” Zisteau watched in horror as the hermit raised the dagger again, unable to tear his eyes from the blood on the blade. His blood. Generik brought the dagger down and Zisteau couldn't look away, watching his end come closer and all he could think was I'm sorry Kurt –

A hiss through the air caught his attention and an arrow impaled itself in Generik's right shoulder, the hermit dropping the dagger to the gravel and howling as he stumbled back with the force of the impact. Another arrow flew over the hermit and landed in the path further ahead. Zisteau was jerked out of his shock and pressed one hand to his bleeding stomach and reached for the sword he'd dropped with the tussle before. His hand closed around the hilt and he tried not to shake when he lifted it, jabbing straight at Generik. A yowl of pain and a feeling of resistance on the sword confirmed he'd found his mark.

Zisteau's vision swam and he dropped the sword, gripping his wounded torso instead. A groan escaped him and he saw a shadow move above him after a moment, pressing something cold against his lips. A potion? He parted his lips and drank eagerly, wincing at the overly strong taste and the burn as the liquid went straight for his wounds and began to knit the flesh back together. His vision returned slowly and saw Pause above him, glaring warily at a still Generik curled up on his side.

The empty bottle was flung away over Pause's shoulder and the native spared a quick glance at the wound now knitting itself back together. “Don't go dying yet Z, still got a lot of mess to clean up.” he said, helping the pigman sit up, nodding at Generik. “Starting with him.”

Zisteau snatched up the dropped sword, stilling his shaking hand and slowly getting to his feet. Pause stood by him until he was sure Zisteau could stand on his own. Task accomplished, Pause melted back into the chaos around them, returning to his hunt. Zisteau didn't ask him to stick around, knowing Pause had his own agenda here. Instead he stalked towards the curled up Generik, spotting the rapid rising and falling of the hermit's chest. Still alive but not for long.

He raised the sword and brought it down just as Generik's eyes found his, wide with pain and not a little fear. The life faded from them in moments, the rise and fall of his chest slowing and halting within seconds. Zisteau tugged his sword free of the corpse's chest and stepped back. He didn't linger long, turning to the deserted streets to continue the search. He left the body where it lay, refusing to look back.

-0-

It wasn't often Bdouble O regretted putting on his suit but right now he would have sold the blasted thing for a set of decent armour. As it was, his precious suit was scorched, muddy, covered in soot and not a little blood, torn and slashed to the point where it no longer resembled a suit so much as a collection of stained rags. And it was all the fault of the sword wielding man before him. He let out a noise of pure frustration and swung his sword at Kurt's head, fury mounting when it was deflected and the return slash ripped across his chest and drew more blood.

Hissing in pain, he pulled back and went on the defensive, He was exhausted, feeling like they'd been at this for hours when really it could only have been ten minutes or so since the first blast. Kurt had found him in the midst of trying to force villagers back inside and distracted him so thoroughly, said villagers had escaped. Now they fought in the burning remains of one of the houses, the thick smoke not helping Bdouble O's vision any, nor did the soot and flames help his suit. The heat was intense and hard to breath in with all the smoke. Several times he'd tried to simply make a break for it only to have Kurt appear before him with the crack of an Ender pearl and sword swinging. The mobster bore a cut on his cheek from the first attack like that but he'd managed to avoid the repeats. He'd also stopped trying to run. If he wanted out of here, he was going to have to go through Kurt, no doubt about it.

“How in the blazes did you even get out of that cave?!” he snarled, backing up with sword up to defend himself from further attack as he tried to plot his way out of this.

“Help from a friend. A real friend.” Kurt said shortly, refusing to be drawn into distracting banter. He had a goal, he had to focus, take out Bdouble O and move on. If he thought about it for too long, he'd remember how much his friend had meant to him and hesitate. That would only get him killed.

“You mean that pig?” Bdouble O glanced swiftly at the burning building around them fighting back the urge to cough his lungs out. There might have been no escape but he couldn't help but wonder if he could trap Kurt long enough to make a break for it. There, a loose support pillar a little further behind Kurt. Perfect. “He's no friend of yours, just an animal!”

Kurt's eyes narrowed, scarred pink skin wrinkling at the expression. “The only animal here-”

Bdouble O took his chance, sword raised as he charged at Kurt. Taken by surprise, Kurt only just managed to dive to one side without even attempting to block the sudden charge and rolling when he hit the floor. The mobster hadn't expected such a move, anticipating a block instead. The force he'd charged with, force he'd been intending to use on his once-friend, now pushed him onwards and into the very loose pillar he'd been aiming to slam Kurt into. It gave way, charred and blackened wood groaning and collapsing atop him.

Kurt could only stare in shock at mound of burnt wood and embers. As he rose to his feet and took a hesitant step towards it, the rest of the burning house gave an ominous creak and he knew better than to risk staying any longer. He'd barely escaped through the doorway when the rest of the house came crashing down on his heels.

Several seconds passed and all Kurt could do was stare at the ruined building, unable to believe it was that easy. But the wood didn't move, the remains burning merrily away. A hand landed on Kurt's shoulder and he spun away, sword swinging – only for it to clash against Zisteau's bloodied blade. Kurt let out a sigh that was almost a sob of relief and lowered the weapon. “Sorry, jumpy...What happened?” he asked worriedly, looking down to see the blood smeared over Zisteau's gut.

“Generik's dead. I'll be fine, don't worry.” Zisteau assured with a tired smile. Pause appeared out of nowhere beside him and Kurt had to stop himself jumping. “Bdouble O?”

“Under the rubble. He's not coming out of that alive.” Kurt said, motioning to the burning house before them.

Pause nodded slowly. “Alright. I have something I need to take care of, can you two stay alive while I do it?”

“We'll meet you down by what's left of the reed farm.” Kurt replied, choosing to ignore the slight teasing.

Pause grinned slightly at the pair of them before taking off at a run, intending to hunt down his quarry before it could escape. It left Kurt and Zisteau alone, silence between them for a moment or two. It wasn't the awkward kind of silence, instead a calm, relaxing one. After the chaos and rush from fighting, it was good to just have a moment of peace and quiet to themselves.

Zisteau caught Kurt's eye and broke the silence with a quiet question. “How you holding up?”

Somehow, Kurt knew he wasn't asking about his physical health. “I...kinda numb, I think. It's not hit home that they're dead yet...I'll probably wake up in shock later.” he tried to force a smile but it came out as a grimace instead.

Zisteau reached for him, wanting to offer some kind of comfort but before his slightly bloodied hand could touch Kurt, something moved in the wreckage of the house in front of them. His hand dropped and he gripped his sword tight in both hands, focusing on the house as a figure rose, pushing back burning beams and roofing. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kurt do the same.

Bdouble O emerged, skin red and burnt across his face and hands, some of it even blackened with the flames. Agonising, but the way he held himself and his soot-blackened sword as he emerged from the fire conveyed nothing but pride and sheer anger. A snarl marred his features as he made his way towards the pair.

“Y'ruined everything!” he spat viciously, lifting his sword and pointing it at them. “Now I'm gonna ruin you both!”

“Now would be a good time to call that wolf of yours.” Zisteau muttered to his partner before rushing Bdouble O, not waiting for the mobster to make the first move. The faster this was over with, the better.

Kurt stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly for the wolf he'd befriended during his scouting. In the distance, a howl answered in kind and Kurt knew that Wolfie had heard. His attention was drawn back to the fight before him when Zisteau was thrown down onto his back by Bdouble O's retaliation. The explorer didn't wait for Wolfie to put in an appearance before diving in to deflect the sword coming down at Zisteau with his own blade. He pushed Bdouble O back and pressed forwards with his own attacks to give Zisteau enough time to get back on his feet again.

The mobster parried Kurt's attacks easily enough when he recovered from the brief surprise at his appearance but by then Zisteau was on his feet and coming to attack. Bdouble O was trapped between two foes, sword swinging between two other blades and somehow still managing to beat them back. Diamond met diamond and none of them played fairly. Zisteau didn't hesitate to use his elbows and knees and Bdouble O wasn't shy about kicking kneecaps either. Within moments, the trio were bloodied from minor cuts, with broken noises and bruised skin but none of them dared to back off for a moment to catch their breath. Zisteau was forced back when Bdouble O's fancy shoe connected with the pigman's bloodied midsection and Zisteau let out a most undignified sound as pain shot through him, stealing his breath and sending him stumbling back. With Zisteau struggling to breathe and distracted for a few precious seconds, Bdouble O turned to deal with the incoming retaliation strike from Kurt, only to yowl in pain as sharp teeth closed around his leg. Wolfie had arrived at last and Kurt had never been more relieved to see a wolf attacking someone in his life.

The relief didn't last long, Bdouble O snarling and swiping at the wolf with his sword. The grey fur became splattered with red and Wolfie let out a pitiful whine, falling to the ground. The mobster turned to deal with the master now, advancing with a mad gleam in his eyes. Kurt made the mistake of stepping back hurriedly and tripped over a burnt beam, falling back and almost losing his weapon in the process.

For a moment, Bdouble O looked triumphant and terrifying, backed by flames and smoke as he raised his sword to strike the final blow. His overconfidence would prove to be the end of him. So intent was he on rushing in to land the killing strike, he didn't see Kurt lift his his own blade. He came to a sudden stop when agony bloomed in his gut. Too late, he looked down as saw the blue blade stained with ruby. The sword in his hand fell as he moved to grasp the blade, disbelief mixing with the pained expression on his face.

No...

He lifted his eyes to Kurt's, looking for...what? What did he expect to see there? Triumph? He saw only regret and pity in those eyes and he hated how much it hurt to see those there. He forced a sneer on his face and with effort, forced himself back off the blade. His legs refused to support him and he went down with a gasp. Kurt filled his vision again, taking his hand despite Bdouble O futilely trying to tug free. He didn't need comfort, he didn't need Kurt holding his hand as his vision darkened, didn't need to feel the warmth of that hand as his own went cold...

In the end, perhaps he did need to feel it. It staved off the sudden fear he felt in his heart and he couldn't stop the whine that left him. He hated himself for squeezing Kurt's hand and feeling the relief that came when Kurt squeezed back, the scarred face offering a sorrowful smile. He hated the guilt he felt for causing that injury. Hated himself for a lot of things.

It was so hard to breathe now, each gasp taking more and more effort and he couldn't keep it up any longer but he forced himself to gather the energy to spit out one last thing, one last word. One he owed Kurt perhaps more than anyone else, though Guude had deserved to hear it just as much. Too late now.

“Ssss-sssoorrr...”

“Shh, it's okay, it's okay...I know.” Kurt said softly, squeezing his hand.

“Sssoor...”

“It's okay.”

“Ss...”

Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat when he saw Bdouble O's eyes glaze over, saw the chest stop moving and whispered, “I'm sorry too.”

A little ways away, Zisteau was sitting up beside the form of Wolfie, a hand on the animal's flank. He'd poured a little of one of his remaining restoration potions over the wound and the creature was healing slowly. Now he rose to his feet, slowly making his way to Kurt's side. The moment he knelt he reached out for Kurt, offering silent comfort. It was accepted, Kurt sagging against his shoulder and turning to hide his face in Zisteau's neck for just a moment, needing the comfort for just a moment...

They sat there for several long minutes, Zisteau holding him and taking just as much comfort from the embrace as he gave. Around them, the flames died down little by little, the darkness creeping back in again to hide the ruins around them. Finally, Kurt eased back and looked up at Zisteau with slightly reddened eyes. “Lets go home. Please.”

Zisteau nodded and helped him to his feet. They left Bdouble O behind, burying him in the ruins of the place he'd called home. On the way out the village, Kurt picked up Wolfie and carried the loyal beast. Pause was gone, though Zisteau trusted he was safe. He didn't have a clue what had happened to Guude or Millbee, both of them missing entirely from the village but he suspected Pause had something to do with them both. A question for the archer when they next met. Something to worry about later.

Zisteau just wanted to go home and not worry about anything for a long time. Kurt couldn't agree more.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

pink_sheep

Oh god... That was amaaazing 0.0

Seriously your a brilliant writer ^-^ god I nearly cried when Wolfie could have died u.u,

I can't wait for the next part :3

From:

"isn't much different than the subreddit" -Guude / http://tinyurl.com/l7gbxah

Fic: Retribution (Pt. 2: Vengeance)

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