Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 21: Trauma

Blaze was eleven-years-old again in that moment. She wasn't in the medical wing of a filming studios but rather in an underground bunker. And she wasn't stood opposing her colleagues but pressed into a corner, wearing little more than a floaty nightdress. She was scared, completely terrified of what would happen. So she screamed, as loudly as she could. Blaze would swear that her cheek still stung from where they slapped her to be quiet. That only made her cry which annoyed her whatever greatly. So they pulled a relatively small knife out of their pocket. "I'm warning you. This is the last time I'll play nice." The slight flash of sliver she saw sent Blaze further into terror and she screamed so more. "Damnit! Just shut up!" They grabbed her hair until she was pushed up against them, their probably alcoholic breath stinking her skin. "I didn't want to have to do this." They whispered as they brought the blade to her shoulder, laughing softly as a thin slice of blood followed where it cut.

These scimitars were a lot bigger than that little knife against her shoulder. These were going straight for her heart. So Blaze let impulse take over. She screamed, just as she had done before. Screamed and screamed some more. Her sudden noise surprised Honey and she stopped, mere inches from her target. Her darted around them to the people behind to the blades in her hands to the terror in her rival's eyes. "Why do you scream like that?" The assassin's voice was a hoarse whisper as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Blaze blinked when she realised Honey wasn't attacking her and looked at her curiously. "I don't... What do you mean? I scream like everyone else because I'm scared. You jumped at me with a pair of weapons intent on doing some damage." She assumed Honey would've known that by now, considering her skills.

Yet the other girl shook her head, a haunted smile on her lips. "I was wrong, you can act." Honey sheathed her weapons and sighed. "That scream was one of trauma, not terror. Trust me, I know the difference. You've been a situation similar to this before." A flash of understanding seemed to pass between them as sapphire eyes met with amber. Turning back to her mum, she gestured to Beauty. "Contact me if she wakes up. This discussion about our future is only postponed, not forgotten." With that, she grabbed Blaze's hand and pulled her out of the medical wing and out of the studios entirely.

Branch sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Blaze better be feeling sacrificial about her arms today. Or Honey feels good about life." He laughed quietly and quickly as though he had made a reasonably funny joke. "Oh the latter will never be true." Only Petal and Athena smiled at his words but they too were sharing a similarly haunted look. Even the Twins looked slightly shaken by recent events although the three Booms and Amy were in relative calmness. Their main concern the powerful woman lying unconscious beside her daughter.

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Blaze wondered where Honey was taking her because they were walking for a long time. The hill itself took a while to descend however the town wasn't too far away. She'd thought maybe the assassin was taking her into town for a drink or maybe some kind of therapy. Even a walk down to the coast and along the sea and sand or through the woods and watching the leaves fall would've done them both some good. Instead, Honey ignored all other forms of civilisation and chose to walk through town to get to the other side and further past the beach still. Her feet were getting tired now so eventually the complain slipped out. "Where are we going? Are we nearly there yet?" She wasn't struggling to speak as Honey walked beside her rather than tugging her along.

The assassin pushed her hair out of her eyes as the coastal wind fought against her. "I'm taking you to my sliver blades. My trauma." Blaze actually considered it rather selfish of her to learn of the actress's own trauma and decide to introduce her to hers instead. Honey seemed to pick up on what she was thinking. "I believe the two to be connected. But other than that, you and I need to talk. This place is devoid of all people except one but he won't give us any trouble." Blaze noted that she spoke to the sky when she said that, like she was trying to imply something to someone.

Something hard and sharp rubbed against Blaze's fingers and she looked down to see Honey was tightly clasping her own warm hand like it was a lifeline. The object that was causing the friction was a rather beautiful golden ring with no adornments except a small emerald in the centre. There was also a bit of writing on the inside that Blaze couldn't read. "That's very pretty." She commented, Honey looked to see what she was talking about. "Is it an engagement ring?" She hadn't realised Shadow had proposed to Honey yet the actress's noticed that it was on the wrong hand.

The gentle expression on her face and potentially desperate grip on her hand evaporated in a blink. Honey's face clouded over as her defenses were put up. "It used to be." She replied shortly and sharply, untangling her hand from Blaze.

The actress blinked at her sudden change in demeanour and sighed. Sometimes it felt like the pair were just starting to get along and then the next they were at each other's throats. It was getting exhausting for her and Blaze suspected it was just as boring for their friends. The pair approached a small collection of buildings towards the edge of the town marked area. Blaze had never seen this place before and the rotting, blackened buildings coupled with the stench of decay took her a moment to comprehend. Honey didn't falter in step and acted like this place was home for her. "Where are we?" Blaze asked quietly.

"Trauma Town." The assassin replied as she carefully led her through the broken place. "Not really, it doesn't have a name. But this is where I grew up. For eighteen months at least. This is where Athena lived and worked, there's the brothel." Honey pointed to a building that was in a slightly better condition than the others yet Blaze caught the glimpse of dried blood on the door. "It's also where Branch grew up. He, Storm and myself lived in that little camp area over there." Blaze strained her eyes but quite far in the distance she could spot what looked like a small group of tents. It was actually rather fascinating to see this new world. "In the end, everyone who lived here were criminals of some sorts. Assault, rape, drunk attacks and driving, stealing, manslaughter. You name it. Everyone here was either a victim or attacker." Her words echoed through the deserted streets.

Eventually, Honey brought her to a clearing. There were no buildings and the grass was tall with wild flowers growing everywhere. A cherry tree with a bees' nest was in the background and the assassin waved to all the little insects. Blaze also spotted some sweet birds and a river with bright fish swimming through it. It was actually quite beautiful here and she sighed, content. Yet the focal point of this clearing was the small, moss-covered, stone grave stood in the centre. Engraved were the words: Storm Grave. 2000-2011. May his death never be in vain and his spirit live in the wind.

Honey sighed at the sight of the grave and sat down beside it. "Storm, I've brought my co-worker Blaze here. She and I both have some trauma to deal with. Feel free to jump in at any time." From behind the grave, the assassin pulled out a collection of beer bottles and offered one to the actress. Blaze declined and bowed her head slightly as she sat across from her.

"So who wants to go first?" She asked curiously.

Honey held her drink out to her. "Yours will be shorter. You go." Blaze wondered what in the world Honey would tell her. Still, it was just the two of them and maybe Storm so she took a deep breath and collected her thoughts.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, on the regular schedule. So Trauma Town is quite interesting I think, poor Storm. I wonder what happened to him? I'm sure we'll find out next time. Adiós.