The Doctor, The Crow, and The Fly find a Cat

Death's Door

Elysia PoV:

                      I trudged back into camp, my arm still billowing out steam. Even if the mutt didn't follow me, I'd be hard to miss even at a distance. I heard cracking above me, and the Inquisitor landed next to me, her eight arms folded behind her back.

                      "Well?" She asked, her tone sharp, her four good eyes staring at me harshly. I gestured at the camp, and we continued to walk until we arrived, the Bloodhound and vampire hunter waving at me.

                      "You look fucking dinged up." The Hound lazily called, her shaggy white hair unable to hide the yellow eyes glowing behind the strands. The hunter shushed her, grumbling and pulling out an extra arm.

                       "Come here, Elysia. I'll fix you up. Hey, Dahl, what did you see?" The plague doctor walked into the camp, sighing, her wings folding up behind her as she sat down and pulled off her mask.

                       "Everybody is barricading their homes, because someone got a little too eager." She shot me a glare, and I glared right back, steam shooting out of my chest plate. The Hound groaned, sitting up and shifting into her other form, rolling over. The Inquisitor gave her some belly rubs, sighing softly as she thought.

                       "This is not good." She murmured, and the hunter rolled her eyes and started to fix my armor, tightening screws and fixing dents.

                      "Lighten up, Alexandria, we've hunted bigger, smarter targets before. Right, gals?" The Hound barked in agreement, and the plague doctor raised her flask, chugging it. The Inquisitor hummed, before smiling slightly.

                      "Fine, fine, I'll try to be positive, Alyssa." Alyssa chuckled, slapping me on the back when the arm was fixed into place. I flexed my arm, and gave a simple nod of thanks to her, which seemed to satisfy her. The Hound shifted back, grinning at the spider-human hybrid.

                      "Don't lie to Alyssa! We all know what's going on in that head of yours! Doom and fucking gloom!" She snatched the flask from Dahlia, who growled and pounced on her, the two wrestling in the ground. The Inquisitor tried to stop them, while Alyssa egged them on, cheering. I simply watched, almost confused about the strange family dynamic they all had. Alyssa did her best to make me feel included, and the others treated me well, even the Inquisitor, who was quite kind when she wasn't doing her job. The two finally quit wrestling, the Hound plopping down next to me and grinning.

                       "Soooooo... When am I gonna finally get you to take off that helmet?" She teased, and I grunted, sharpening my dirk, and staring into the fire.

                       "Never." I mumbled, and she laughed again, her yellow eyes staring at me, full of mirth. Maggie was always oddly nice to me, even though I spent the first leg of the journey threatening her with my sword if she even tried to get close to me. I almost smiled at the interactions, before sighing again, standing up.

                       "I need to patrol." Is all I said, before striding away. I knew she would try to join me, but surprisingly, she wasn't fond of the dark, so I kept my lantern off. I heard a whine behind me, before padding footsteps receded, confirming that she had tried to follow me. I kept walking, and walking, and walking, until I ended up in view of the Beneviento household. I sat on a hill overlooking the old house, and pulled out the piece of my armor that I hadn't told Alyssa about. It was a small cartridge, but ever since it had fallen out, my thoughts were so much clearer. I grumbled at the thought, and crushed the cartridge, coming to one conclusion: It was meant to control me somehow, by making me a raging beast. I sat on the ridge for a while, and before I even knew it, it was dawn. Before I could register what was happening, something big crashed into me, and I pulled my dirk only to see white fur with black streaks in it.

                      "Where were you!?" Maggie roared, and I sighed, putting the dagger back in my belt, before attempting to push her off. The werewolf didn't budge, glaring down at me, and I sighed again.

                      "Patrolling-" "No, if you were, you would have been back three hours ago! I was worried sick!" Her yellow eyes glowed a bright yellow, and my breath hitched in my throat when I saw tears pricking her eyes. I gently reached up and patted her head, and she relaxed a little, her eyes closing. We stayed like that for a while, before my armor decided enough was enough and blew out a blast of steam like a train whistle. We both jumped, and I glared at my armor, Maggie growling at it.

                       "Y'know... I know we're not supposed to take you out of the armor... Butttttttt... Dahlia may have made you a replacement set." Maggie gave me a cheshire grin, and I cocked my head at her.

                       "She did?" I asked softly, and Maggie nodded, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me through the woods quickly. When we arrived back at camp, a grumpy Dahlia and far too cheery Alyssa greeted us, Maggie throwing open a chest.

                       "Try it try it try it!" She pushed me towards the chest, and I looked at her, before sighing and shedding my armor. It took a bit, but the final piece fell, and Maggie helped me put on the new prosthetics. Well, after she got done staring at me once my helmet was removed. Flaming red hair, paired with almost translucent gray skin and orange eyes stared back at me in the shiny metal of these new prosthetics. 

                       "Well?" Maggie bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, and I smiled up at her, my first genuine smile in a long time.

                       "I love it." I smiled up at her, before winking at Dahlia, who winked back. I knew Maggie was the one behind the creations, but evidently she was a little embarrassed to admit that she had put so much time into lovingly creating these for me. The word love crossed my mind, and I shook my head, watching the little family in front of me as they bickered and chatted. I smiled, and leaned back, letting myself enjoy my newfound freedom and my present company.

                      I got a little silly. This chapter turned out to be super fluffy on accident, at least in comparison to what I had planned. If you recognize the characters here, then you've read one of my other books, I'll just say that. Anyways, this story won't be too much longer when it comes to chapters, probably gonna go for six more at most. Sorry about the low energy, I'm running off four hours of sleep and depression right now, sooooo... Fluff chapter to improve my mood I guess? At any rate, have a lovely day, and goodbye! 

-Madeline