Aftermath

[Clownpiece]

Two vague, green shapes, stained black with ash and soot, stampeded desperately through the undergrowth. Sticks and leaves crunched loudly beneath their feet, all pretense of stealth thrown out the window. Their assassination attempt had failed, their target knew where they were, and all in all, they were in deep shit. The final recourse they had was running for their lives and hoping their pursuers lost track of them in this gigantic forest. With no sign of any chasing footsteps behind them, they had a moment of fleeting hope, thinking that just maybe they’d succeeded in their retreat. What they’d failed to remember in their panic was that the person they’d been hired to kill could fly.

A red, white, and blue blur slammed into first green-clad assassin, and the two forms tumbled together into a sickeningly colorful blur, foliage tearing up beneath their combined momentum. The second assassin let out a garbled shout, combining a swear with his friend’s name as he skipped to a halt. His hand shot to his back, where his bow was holstered, but was swiftly stopped short as a heavy weight slammed against his head. Shockwaves shuddered up Liberty’s legs as her flying kick connected. The would-be killer just collapsed, his body giving out beneath him.

THUNK

From Liberty’s right came a solid, wooden sound as Clownpiece beaned the first assassin upside the head with her torch. Silence fell over the forest, broken only by the quiet, pained groaning of the second assassin, who was slowly getting acclimated to his newfound concussion. The star-spangled fairy slowly rose to her feet, standing over the unconscious body of the first assassin, before quietly stepping over him and towards the slightly-more conscious second.

Vague irritation faintly scratched at the back of the white-clad fairy’s mind as the camouflaged man squirmed groggily. A small urge to step over and kick him while he was down bugged her, lasting for only a few moments before suddenly a fog lifted from her head.

“Um...” she started, eyes timidly hopping between the assassin and her friend.

“Why?” Clownpiece spoke a single word, looming over him as menacingly as a fairy could manage. Rather than give an answer, the man moaned and rolled onto his stomach, trying desperately to crawl away. “Fine, if you don’t want to speak willingly...” A dark tone Liberty had never heard her use before entered the young fae’s voice. She reached down, latching onto the man’s shoulder with her free hand, before flipping him onto his back and straddling him, pinning him to the ground. Her right hand raised to the sky, the lunatic light of her torch glowing even brighter than before.

Liberty instinctively knew she should look away; it had brought nothing but trouble no matter where it was waved, but she found her eyes strangely affixed to it. A powerful want, no, need, to watch that light. The light was beautiful, enchanting. She would give her life to protect that vivid glow.

“Why did you attack us?” the light asked in a gentle, honey-drip tone. She savored the light’s smooth voice. For it to be speaking to her, of all people.

“But I didn’t?” Liberty responded, a dazed note to her voice.

“Oh, should have told you to look away first, sorry,” the light spoke casually, sounding suspiciously like Clownpiece. The flame’s hypnotizing sparkle faded away, and suddenly the fairy pitched forward, planting herself face-first onto the detritus. For a moment, she simply laid there, a strange feeling of emptiness inside her chest, and a much more normal feeling of dirt and leaves clinging to her face. She took in a deep breath, the earthy scent of the forest floor filling her nostrils, before she wriggled her hands beneath her and slowly pushed out of the dirt.

“Let’s try this again~” Clownpiece sang from somewhere above her. With those magic words, suddenly everything came flooding back to mind, and without missing a beat, the dust-covered fairy launched herself forward.

“Bring it baaaack!” Liberty cried as she tackled her friend to the ground.

“What are you-” Clownpiece’s shout was cut short as her back hit the dirt.

“What did you do with iiiit!” She asked vaguely, using all her strength to try and wrestle the blonde to a halt.

“I’ll tell you later!” Clownpiece choked out, wrapping her arms around the maddened fairy and prying her off with ease. “Right now...” She said, rising to her feet, barely keeping her balance as Liberty writhed in her grip. “I’m...” she carefully managed to flip the tantruming fae over in her arms. “Busy!” With one last shout, she unleashed a perfectly executed german suplex on the hapless fairy. Liberty’s vision spun as she was flung up and around, before being expertly dashed head-first against the ground. Stars flitted through the girl’s eyes, and suddenly she found herself tumbling into a limp heap in the detritus. The world spun and raced around her, mashing together in one big green blur with some vague, word-sounding noises in the background. After a solid minute of pure confusion, Liberty’s bearing’s began to return to her, helped in part by a small hand gently slapping her cheek.

“W-what’s....” she slurred, not fully comprehending the world.

“I’ve gotta go help a friend.” A vague, tri-colored figure said. Presumably Clownpiece. “You can sort this assassin business out. I believe in you~”

“W-what? Why?” she mumbled slowly rising to a sit.

“Think about how proud the light will be!” The star-spangled fairy floated back a few meters. A small aching stirred in the girl’s heart. The fog over her head lifted, and suddenly she had a goal. Liberty sprang to her feet, all trace of her earlier daze gone.

“You got it!” she cheered, and for just a moment, she thought she saw Clownpiece’s grin turn cruel.

“Great! Have fun~” she sang, quickly rising up and disappearing into the canopy. With a self-confident smile, the white-clad fairy turned down and looked over the two men at her feet, both still as death. Suddenly she wasn’t sure what to do with them. Even her friend hadn’t gotten them to speak, and she was much stronger. Maybe she could drag one over to the village? Ask them if they knew about this person? That sounded about right. And she was strong enough to carry a person! She’d done it not more than a few hours earlier. She skipped over to what she guessed was the lighter of the two, humming a little tune.