Thetarune: Book One

Chapter Eight | Mirrors and Fears

Trigger Warnings: Self-Hatred, Extreme Depression, Self-Harm, Torture, Attempted Suicide-by-cop, Parental Neglect and Actual War Crimes

Author's Note: *me casually assassinating the tone from 200 feet away* oh hi didn't see you there so yeah all the TWs up there are vital parts of this story, but the following TWs are only for brief scenes or are brief mentions.

War Crimes

Self-Harm (not cutting or anything like that)

Torture

Attempted Suicide-By-Cop

So yeah. I really need feedback on this one, this is the hardest chapter I've ever written for multiple reasons. Thanks for reading.

Susie felt herself being dragged across the pavement. Someone was grunting. She could see flickering orange blurs through her eyelids. The smell of burning garbage and smoke filled her nose, and her hand twitched as she tried to plug it.

"Hnng!...you weigheth so much..." She heard the familiar voice of the noted middle aged salesman Rouxls Kaard through the sound of crackling fire and police sirens. He had a firm grasp on her ankle, and was pulling with all his might. He grunted and struggled, as he was basically a blue stick figure. Susie opened her eyes to see a very strained Rouxls tugging on her scaly leg. She kicked his hand away, and he fell over with a gasp.

"Younge d-dinosaur! You're alive!" He exclaimed, both of the, getting back up. He was devoid of his familiar potato sack, and Susie could tell why he wore it. The fine blue suit he wore underneath was so full of holes she couldn't tell what was exposed blue flesh or torn dirty fabric. Susie blinked a few times, absorbing her surroundings. The tattered remains of the zeppelin were strewn across the entire Garbage District atop piles of rubble which used to be buildings. The asphalt and concrete was cracked and reduced to dust by the weight of the fallen ship, and much of the internal structure was scattered like fallen logs in a forest. In the distance, Susie saw and heard police sirens. She quickly turned away upon spotting white blobs in the darkness which looked like corpses. Flashlights pierced the darkness, alongside massive fires. Garbees in the distance desperately released water from their internal weapons cavity, battling the blaze unsuccessfully.

"Rouxls...what happened?" Susie asked, rubbing her head. Rouxls started walking, and Susie followed.

"After I bravely ran away from that scoundrel Kinge I went searchingeth for you...but you had all disappearede! I saw Spamton's wretched zeppeline and decided to hide in a repair shoppe...heroically, of course..." Rouxls explained, opening the door of the repair shop they had been approaching.

Ralsei was leaning against a rolling tool crate, his hood up and his arms folded. Kris sat on the rim of a tire, staring down at their feet.

"H-hey guys..." Susie said. They had only expected Rouxls coming back empty-handed another time, but Kris' shot up at the sound of her voice. They hugged her tightly. Susie reciprocated. Ralsei reacted too, his hood falling off his head from the force of his movement.

"You ok, Kris?" Susie asked. Kris sniffled.

"I t-thought you didn't make it..." They said, letting go and pulling back with a blush on their face.

"What do you mean? How l-long have you been looking for me?" She asked. Ralsei stepped forward, arms falling to his sides.

"2 hours. Nice that you're ok." He said, giving a slight smile. Susie's eyes widened at the sight of his horns. They were almost completely shattered, and dried blood stained the remaining base of his horns. The spongey marrow inside was exposed, and Ralsei covered his remaining horns with his hood upon being observed.