Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Legs was done with Avid.

The maniac was running around yapping about vampires all day, waving a wooden stake around without a care for who he hits, reeking of garlic 24/7, and basically trying to force silver onto Ren at one point, who backed away while politely declining.

Legs was on the edge of murdering the man

(Do no harm)

(Do no harm)

Now, Legs had seen many things in his existence. War, battle, blood, the insides of both man and machine alike, but never magic creatures of the night like the ones Avid believed in.

Everything had a logical explanation.

(Except for why needless violence is so common)

There was nothing science couldn't not conceptualize.

(Except for why humans like to murder each other)

Yet Avid was making a mockery of it all!

(Do no harm)

It was infuriating!

And now here he was, accusing another town member of murdering a third town member with no evidence?? This guy needed to have a stern talking to.

"I'm telling you guys, Shelby's gone missing and Scott's the last one seen with her! Even if he isn't a vampire, which he probably is, it's still suspicious! We need to find them!" Avid was currently spouting, as Legs clutched a fist.

(Do no harm)

"How about this, I'll go looking for Shelby!" Scott replied.

"That sounds reasonable to me," Legs replied, trying not to sound as fed up as he was.

"But what if he is just trying to finish her off? Or run away?"

"Then I'll go with him," he said with gritted teeth.

"But in a one v one-"

"I really doubt that Scott could overpower me," he said, deliberately leaving out why. He really didn't want to be judged, and these strangers he met 3 days ago didn't really need to know.

"But-"

"Fine!" He said, a little louder than he meant, "Cleo will come with us!"

He turned to the farmer in question, who nodded their head. The gathered crowd showed their approval.

Avid, clearly sensing that the town had overruled his concerns, backed down, "fine, but if anyone does or says anything suspicious, let me know."

Legundo let out a sigh of relief, finally he could get away from the crazy man, calm down, go find Shelby who was almost certainly very much alive, show Avid how he was wrong and then have a stern talking to with him about accusing random town members of murder with no evidence.

The moon shone over the town of Oakhurst, the eclipse seeming to inflate Avid's fear and paranoia.

The night was dark, though that was to be expected. It was, well, night, after all. And they were all certainly far from any major cities so there was no lightning. Though the darkness did seem to put some of the townspeople on edge.

Certainly not Cleo though. The farmer moved through the night as thought they made for it, with such grace and complete lack of fear that Legs was surprised Avid hadn't accused them of being a vampire yet. She put to shame the supposed "suspiciously inhuman confidence in the dark" that Scott apparently had, according to Avid.

Seriously, Scott and Legs seemed to be equally unafraid of the night. Both not fleeing in terror at every noise, yet having their guard up in case a wolf or zombie attacked them from nowhere. Cleo was moving as though nothing could hurt them and they knew it.

Absolute insanity.

The tree line loomed closer, and the trio set off into the woods in the direction Scott had last seen Shelby go in.

The path was hard to follow in the dark, and everyone seemed hesitant about lighting a torch that would assuredly attract things towards them, though Legs did have the ulterior motive of not wanting to burn his artificial skin and reveal the cogwork mechanisms beneath, so they all stumbled through the night.

The woods were thick and quiet, not even crickets broke up the noise, as though no thing, either living or undead, existed in the trees. The group tried to move quietly, but in the silent stillness of the forest, they stood out like a sore thumb.

The darkness was so thick, it swallowed the group up. Legs could only follow Scott by following the sound of his feet.

It was only when her shout rang across the night did Legs realize that Cleo had got separated from the group.

Chasing the noise of 2 things locked in combat through the woods, he and Scott eventually stumbled onto a clearing where the farmer was engaged in a struggle with a huge wolf.

It was massive, it's head reaching the shoulder of a fully grown man, with claws as sharp as scalpels and numerous, glistening teeth as long and as a combat knife. It's build was powerful, with muscles that told him this wolf was not hurting on the food front and glossy fur the color of fields trampled by an army of feet. It's blue eyes gleamed in the light of the full moon.

Legs hurried over to help, drawing his sword, but the wolf clamped down on Cleo's hand and tugged, ripping it clean off.

He bolted over to the wolf, positioning himself to wrench the hand out of its mouth, when piercing whistle unlike anything he had heard from either human or machine, which was saying something, cleaved the air.

He turned at the weird noise, surprised to see that Scott had made it.

Scott proceeded to make a bunch of strange clicking sounds, the wolf replying with low growls. He crossed his arms, looking like a particularly stern parent, as he continued with the odd clinking and sharp whistles. In that moment, the big wolf looked like a small dog caught chewing on something it shouldn't.

It dropped Cleo's hand and stalked slowly over to Scott. Legs tensed up, but the wolf just dropped on the ground next to the man, rolling over as Scott proceeded to give it belly rubs.

Sorry, what? Scott was giving a wild animal… pets?

Legundo turned to Cleo, who had calmly pulled out some knitting supplies from who knows where and was stitching their hand back on their arm.

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*A n E r r o r H a s B e e n D e t e c t e d*

*P r i m a r y L o g i c M a t r i x H a s S t o p p e d R e s p o n d i n g*

~R e b o o t i n g S y s t e m s~

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~R e b o o t C o m p l e t e~

Legs woke up about 60 seconds later, according to his internal clock, to the experience of being shooken back and forth by Shelby.

"Ah!" He shouted, jumping back from the startle.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're ok! I found these 2 in the clearing freaking out about you freezing up," Shelby said, releasing him from her grip and taking a few steps back.

He looked around the clearing. Cleo had fully stitched up their hand, Scott was no longer petting the wolf but it was staying by his side, and Shelby's eyes were glowing.

"All right, I'm going to need an explanation," he said.

"Ok," Cleo said, "you first. What was with your freezing up there?"

Oh, he should've expected this.

"I have narcolepsy!" He lied.

Cleo made a face.

"He said a big word, seems legit!" Shelby said, turning to the others.

"Wait, how does that explain it?" Cleo asked.

"Because… it's narcolepsy? You know, the sleeping disorder were you just kinda pass out randomly…?"

Cleo had a look of realization, "Oh! I thought that it meant, like, you were attracted to… never mind…"

Legs raised an eyebrow but carried on, "ok… are you going to explain how you just sewed your hand back on?"

"Well, you're a doctor, you do stitching all the time, yes?"

"But that's not how that-"

"Anyways!" Cleo interrupted, "Scott, are you going to explain the wolf?"

"I train dogs for a living."

Was everyone here lying? He guessed he couldn't judge, but still.

"Shelby…?" He intoned.

"Well, I'm not going to lie. I'm of the mothfolk," they said.

Scott gaped, Cleo raised an eyebrow and Legs sat there confused.

"Look," Shelby started, "I know you're going to say that mothman isn't real and neither is bigfoot-"

"I thought the mothfolk were all gone!" Scott interrupted.

Shelby spun on their heal, "you-you know of us? You know we're real?"

"I mean, yeah, everyone who knows anything about magic knows of cryptids, and how they are extinct with every modern sighting of them unconfirmed!"

Shelby clapped her hands together, "and that's why I'm looking for bigfoot! I'm here, I'm alive, and I know the mothfolk aren't gone! So I'm going to prove that the other cryptids aren't gone either!"

"W-w-wait waitwaitwaitwait, did you mention magic, Scott?" Legundo asked.

Scott sighed, "yes… I'm a faunas, a type of fae, I just don't really yap about it."

Cleo raised her eyebrow even higher. Legs just gaped.

Shelby lit up, "I've never met a fairy before!"

"Fae, fairies are a type of fae consisting of vexes and allays," Scott corrected.

"Still! I've never met a fae! And my roommate has been one the whole time!"

"I thought faunas had antlers," Cleo spoke up, "like, isn't that what you're known for? Being deer people?"

"I… lost mine," his voice was quiet and contained an air of melancholy that made everyone decide not to push further.

"Well… that explains the wolf… faunas can speak animal… I guess I should make up for my own terrible lie," Cleo said, "I'm actually a zombie."

"…and how does that work?" Scott asked.

"Well you see, when the body decays, the soul leaves it, so if a decayed corpse is reanimated it becomes a mindless shell, but if a corpse is reanimated before that can happen, then the zombie in question would keep their mind."

"Uh…" Legs didn't know what- What was he even-? How is this-?, "I thought zombies were just beings with an illness…" was all he could say…

"No doc," Scott said quietly, "zombies are reanimated corpses. Magic is real."

Real.

Magic is r25va!÷:t3□<6:w3c4○□4■a~|=/"g÷2o#oj●|se7%sw*46%/2o901010000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 01110011 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00101110 00101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100011 01100101 0̶̗̎͆̕1̴̖̻͔̎1̶̱̟̚1̴̭͊͌̕0̸̭̙̍͌͑0̴̙̋̀1̴̞͎̒1̶͖̍ ̴͎̪̄0̴̾̈̂ͅ1̷͍̳̏́͑1̷͙̪̙͑1̸͇͇̄̋͜0̸̛̱0̴̩͙̔͛̏1̵̹̹͚̄1̶̛̮̰͂̉ ̵̜̦̞͐̚0̴͉͙̮̉1̵̞͇̦̎͌1̷͇̺͍́͛̀0̵͓̱͓̌͆̏1̴̱͌0̶̙̈͊͜͝0̵̩̭͆͊̏1̶̭͋ ̸͎͈̆0̸̼͖̀1̷͓̜͔̾̆͌1̵͎̆͐0̷̯̅̀͜1̶̛̮̼̫̑1̷̫͖͆̐̂1̴͖̬̣̒0̷̬͍͂̐̔ ̵̭̻̙́͊͒0̷̤͉͊͗1̷̘̯̻̀̍͊1̵̮͍͇̔0̴̱̙͖̌0̸̯͔̄͌ͅ1̴̦̾́1̷͇͒̈́1̷̨̫̃͝ ̸͎͘͠0̴̘̣̼͑͝0̸̘̦̕͝͠1̷̨̛̿̓0̸̡̗̅1̷͎̈́̓1̸͛ͅ1̶̪̌̔0̶̗̌ ̷͖̫̣̾0̴̻͈̊0̷̗̆1̵̙̮̲̀͘0̸̭̃̋̐1̴͓̈1̴̢͋͒̽1̷̠̻̝͋̔̆0̶̢̟͘ ̶̰̦̇0̴͖̄̿̃0̸̧̓̑1̵̣̀̕0̵̪̎1̶̫̦̓1̴̛͍̤̇1̸̡̡͎͆0̴̻̘͌̾̚ ̸̭̪̤̑͑̋0̸͉͙̮͋0̸̧̩͋͝1̵̨̳̈̌͛0̴̰͛͛͝0̵͓͚̾̃0̴̢̦̩͊̈́͂0̴̠̯̞́͑̕0̶̞̼͗̾ ̴̨̯̹͐0̴̥̥̺̐̒͝1̵͎̍̌̔1̶̙̉͛1̴͚̯̪͌̍0̶̺̍0̵̣̮͑̓1̵̺͌1̵̟͌̌ ̷̦͋0̷̛͖͖̦̳̲̯̲̻́̈́͐̚1̵͈͔͖͔̩̫̘͌̈́̒̈́͊͋͒̆͜1̸̺͎͖͉̥̀̎͐̒́0̷̬̖̲̭͘1̴̳͖̮̟̝̪͇̤̾͆ͅ0̷̼̦̬͌̉̓̃0̶̧͚̞͔̱̰͇̠̀̃́̍̂̌̇͌̚0̵̖̦̹̟̺̍̇͘ ̶̡̢̖͙̼̯̻̺͊̌̎̀͛̓̔̀͜0̴̨̝͍̠̃͗̀͊̓̈́1̸̨̧̡̝͔̬͙̫̥͑̍̍̌̔͛́̌1̷̛͚͔̖̠̂̃̕͝1̴̮̘̖͉̩̦̜̃̑̂̂̕͜͝0̸̢͈̜͇̤̮̊̒1̷̨̺̬͔̰͉͙͚̻̇̆̓̕0̴̗̝̙̯̖͆͠͝1̶͈̯͇̲̻̿͛̅͌͊̀̎͑̍ͅ ̴̢̉̑̍̇́̾͆̈0̷̙͋̉̀̏̈́1̵̣̼̦̂̓1̴͈͓͂̆́̊̈͝1̷̛͓̀̋̑̏̀̄̈́͜0̸̡̻͙͉͕̱͋̋1̸̹̳̳̳̟̳̎́͘0̶͉̣̩̼͙̖̞̾̌̉̔̓̎̀̿̕0̴̳̹͈͚͕͆͂̈̊̈́ ̵͓͂̔0̴̨̹̻̖̗̣̉͜͜1̸̡̨̞̥͚̺͕̠͖͐̽͐̓͆̎̈́͘1̵̨̻͊̇̓̀͋͜1̶̧̜͓̳̥̦̇̔̑̀͗̓͂̂͘ͅ0̸̼͙͈̦̯̓͗̓̈́̾̄̂1̶̺͂̈0̶͕̎̾0̴̞͕̞̩̖̗͔͈̀̽̔̀̽̃̚̚͠ͅ ̷̡̛̟̌́̇̄̍͠0̵̡̆̉̊͌̒̾͋̚1̴͚̰͗̂̈́̊͂́͋͒1̵̛̗͈̭̭͌̐̇̀̒̕0̸̣̰͎̙̠͈̾1̸̬͔̙̼̭̞͖̇͘0̴̝̳͇̖̓̏̈̈̕0̸͔̤̪̽̿̈́̀͠1̸̮̣̭̾̒̐͐̓̕͜͝ ̶̺̠͕͚͓̉͊̃̍͛̆̆̒̈́0̴̲̫̯̤͍̺͓̯͒̽̓͋1̵̘̟̘̙̰̗͆̀̀̿̚͜1̷̫͉̆̅̒͜0̶͈̯̰̈͋͌̍̋̀̊1̵͈͈̤̳̈́̊̈́́͘1̵̩͙̗̗́͊̅̈1̵̝̥̙̒̏͊̓͐0̴͎͕͓̯̰̝̖̲̉̀̐ ̵̢̡̧̝͕̳̬̪͔̄̆̃͝0̷̻̩͈͕͓͚̱̘͎̓1̶̲̺͍͉̺̘̋̐ͅ1̷̱̺͍̖̌̃̓̋0̶̡̥̮̪̞̈̈́0̶̳̯̎͘1̴͓̼͕̺̹͍̤̈́̊̄̈́̿̚͝͝͠1̶͙̗̙̏̀̉̄̈͂̾̃͝1̷̡̝̮͕͉͕̽̆͗̽͊̀̌͘ ̷̢̞̑̂̊̓̓͗͐̄̕0̵̡͑͐̾0̵͉̬͑̑̄̾͝1̷̮̦̫̤̓ͅ0̷͖̋̊̾͋̋͘͝0̶̗̰͉̃̇0̶͙͈̬͒̈́͆͑͑͌̂͂0̸̨̯̏̑͊͒͜0̵̯̼̼̦̺̱̩̜̈́͒̾̅ ̴͍̲̲̩̍͆0̷̡͎̪͎̭̘̘̑͊̓́͠1̶̢̣̙͔̍̋̏̐̾̔͋1̷̢̖̪̥̟͗̄̾̒͗́͒0̶͚̌̀̄̎͝0̸̢̧͕̦͈̗̗̾͐̕͠1̴̧̲̗̼̻̭̣͎͗͆̍͂̇0̸̡͔̣̳̔0̷̜̔̽̇̈́̇̋ ̶̟̻̞̝͉̮̭͍̽̈́͝ͅ0̵̢̖̱̯̻͖͈̦̈́̍̒̀̓͝1̷̠̻̦͍͖͓̀̓̔̄̿͠1̸̱͔̝̃̓͐̚ͅ0̸̱͔̣̓̍̈́̍̈1̸̨̦̺͎̯̲̈́1̸͎͙̗͑̽̑͐̉1̴̜̜̮̓̍̀̓͆̎1̵̛̩͎̑̔̓̓̆͊͝ ̷̮͖̦̞̺̎̔͛͘͝ͅ0̷̗̗̖̟͈̼̋̽͊́̌̀͜1̴͈̗̯͚̗̥̃͒1̶̤̞͔̾1̸̣̰̣̝͓̦̺̘̹̋̏̽̀̈́0̸̺̞͍̺͑̊̔̂1̴̛̳̝̱͎̊̊̏̃̽̋̚1̵̧̢̜̉͜ͅ1̶̟͚̾̑̋ ̷͖̣̰̖̪̺̎0̵̱̖̊̏̃̆̋͗1̵̢̥̮͓̻̀͌̂1̴̤̲͓̰̮͂͑͆̏̅͑͜͜0̴̪̙̪͇͍͛̄́1̵̪̯͔͉̠̯͇̲̙̓̇̎̈́͐̈́̓1̴͎̙̺̦̣͈͕̜͙̎̑̒͆1̶͈͖̑̄̽̓͋̃̅̀ͅ0̸̝̞̻̘͈̘̤̩̓̔̇̒̃̈́͌͝ ̷̯̩̀͒̿

*A n E r r o r H a s B e e n D e t e c t e d*

*P r i m a r y L o g i c M a t r i x H a s S t o p p e d R e s p o n d i n g*

~R e b o o t i n g S y s t e m s~

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~R e b o o t C o m p l e t e~

It had been a long time since he had to reboot twice in a day. Not since the war, when replacement parts were scarce and his calibrater had started to wear down, becoming shotty and causing his movements to stop being human and start looking mechanical. He had to manually reboot multiple times a day as he and the only other cogwork lancer held each other together with spare parts scavenged from the corpses of other fallen cogwork lancers. That was also around the time they were running out of oil, and the only replacement lubricant for his gears was… well... he'd wrather not think of that…

What was he doing, thinking of the war? He shuts down for 30 seconds and suddenly he's getting all strung up about the past again.

Scott was staring at him with suspicion, "so… now that we all revealed our secret inhuman nature, it's time for you to reveal yours, doc, because from what I know of narcolepsy, it doesn't work like that."

"Yeah," Cleo said, arms crossed, "also, I don't think that the university in the capital would teach a person that randomly passes out to do surgery. Maybe some different universities, but not the university in the capital, and that's where you claimed to get your degree from."

"Plus, your sleep schedule is out of whack. I don't think I've seen you head to bed once since you got here," Shelby added.

Legs sighed, "I am, what I think you would call, an automaton," he said, finding a spot on his arm to peel back the artificial skin, revealing the copper frame beneath.

"Ooh, I've heard of this before! The government secretly created you in an attempt to make spies to help fight against the aliens and their illuminati allies, right?"

Everyone stared at Shelby and the insane conspiracy theory she just dropped.

"…No, I was made by the ancient civilization. A group of archeologists stumbled upon the ruins of my old maintenance facility and accidentally woke me and my fellows up. The military picked us up soon after."

"So that they could train you to fight against the illuminati and the lizard folk! M wrote a book on it all! The SCP foundation is hiding the anomalies and the military is trying to stop the fallout of the eternal war between vampires and werewolves!"

Legs just dropped his head, shaking it back and forth.

"So that's why I felt off about you!" Scott suddenly exclaimed, a look of realization on his face, "you're made of metal!"

Legs looked at Scott inquisitively, setting his covering back in place.

"Oh, sorry, fae get burned by most metals as it constricts our magic strangely. You can always tell when it's near because of how you seem to internally fold in on yourself. I always just assumed you carried metal medical equipment on you."

Ah, that… well it didn't make sense but it kinda explained it.

Cleo exhaled, "so, we go back to town, tell everyone, especially Avid, nothing, and pretend like this all didn't happen, yes?"

"Yep," Legs replied.

"Absolutely."

"If you say so."

They all stared at each other.

"…so, we go back to town?" Shelby asked.

"You 3 go. I need to stay with this wolf," Scott waved them off.

Cleo crossed her arms, "and when Avid starts yelling and accusing us of murdering you?"

"Say that I'm staying to collect wood."

"Ok!" Shelby said, leading Cleo and Legs through the forest.

It was so much different. Shelby apparently had night vision, and Cleo couldn't be harmed by her fellow undead, so he didn't really need to worry. Plus, he could use his flashlight now, sense the others knew of his nature.

The trees were still thick, though the light pierced through their looming trunks, illuminating the way.

Yet still, something played on his mind.

"So, there's one thing I need to ask."

"Ask way!" Shelby said.

"Are vampires real?"

"Yes," Cleo said.

So Avid is…

*A n E r r o r H a s B e e n D e t e c t e d*

*P r i m a r y L o g i c M a t r i x H a s S t o p p e d R e s p o n d i n g*

~R e b o o t i n g S y s t e m s~

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~R e b o o t C o m p l e t e~

Something had to be wrong with his processor.

He came to 20 seconds later, his light having flickered off.

"Are you ok?" Shelby asked.

"Yeah, just a simple reboot. Might need to look into my processors, thought."

"Good, good"

They continued through the woods, Legs not using his light once the trees started thinning.

Far out, the walls of Oakhurst reached towards the deep red eclipse, the splintered rotting things slowly falling to decay as time moved on from the days when they had constant upkeep.

They were about to enter town when Shelby piped up

"wait Cleo, when Legs said he had narcolepsy, did you think he meant necrophilia?"

Cleo buried their head in their hands.

*A n E r r o r H a s B e e n D e t e c t e d*

*P e r s o n a l i t y M a t r i x H a s S t o p p e d R e s p o n d i n g*

~R e b o o t i n g S y s t e m s~

Chapter Text

Scott turned back to the werewolf by his side. He would keep their secret from the others, though he couldn't leave a feral werewolf out in the woods alone.

They had already attacked Cleo, who knows who else they might strike. It's a good thing that Cleo is undead, or she might've got infected.

The werewolf prowled the clearing around him, whining from what was probably hunger. Scott felt bad for them, he didn't carry meat on him so he had nothing to give them.

He should've asked Cleo for some, they probably carried meat on them.

He crouched down by the werewolf's side, petting the fur of them. It was soft, very well groomed. This werewolf clearly lived in civilization, not being of the forest. That begs the question, where was their amulet? Every werewolf wore magic a amulet that allowed them to keep their mind under the light of the full moon, at least, that's what Grian had told him, and he knew much more about this than Scott did.

*Where is your amulet?* He intoned.

*Food…*

He sighed. This was going to be a long night.

**~~~~~~~~~~**

Her head hurt.

Where… was she?

What happened…?

How…?

Her hand immediately shot to her neck, looking for the amulet that she normally hid beneath her dress.

It wasn't there.

She started to freak out.

She never went anywhere without her amulet! If she didn't wear, she might transform and loose herself in the transformation! She needed it to keep her mind when the moon was full!

She thought back, when had she lost it?

She had been building her and Cleo's house, when it slipped from under her dress. Cleo had insisted that she not wear jewelry while building, taking it and putting it in a chest. She had never put it back on.

On no, she had transformed without it on.

Oh no, she had attacked someone.

Her memories of last night were fuzzy, but she distinctly remembered biting someone on the hand.

She curled into the fetal position, making quick, shallow breaths as she rocked back and forth.

She had hurt someone and she didn't know who.

She had hurt someone and they were going to tell the town.

She had hurt someone and now she was going to be kicked out.

She had hurt someone and now they were certainly infected.

She-

A hand was placed on her shoulder.

"All right Pearl, I think you should calm down. Breathe with me, in, out, in, out, in, out…"

She followed the voice. Slowly her breathing steadied.

"Are you better now?"

"Yeah…" she replied.

Wait, who was talking to her?

She bolted up, turning to face Scott, who was crouched down beside her.

"Scott!" She said, multiple pitches higher than intended, "what are you doing here?"

"Babysitting you to make sure you didn't hurt anyone while transformed."

Her heart sank, so he knew.

"I-I can explain-"

*Where is your amulet?* he asked.

"I… left it in a chest…" she said, embarrassed.

It took her a moment to realize what just happened.

"Wait did you you just speak to me in faunas?"

Scott smiled, and it was only just now that she realized how inhuman his eyes were. She had refused to before out of pure spite against Avid.

"Avid was right???"

Scott waved a hand, "I mean… kinda? I'm inhuman but not in the way he thinks."

Pearl sat miffed, running a hand through her long brown hair, "so… you know?"

*Yes.*

"And you don't care…"

*It'd be hypocritical to, seeing as I'm magic myself.*

"…Where are your antlers?" She said, eying the top of his head.

He raised a hand to it, placing it on his hair as though reminding him of their absence.

"An unfortunate consequence of an old injury," he said with an air that told her this was probably only half a truth, *but why reminisce about the past, when the future is now?*

She decided to drop it.

"Was it you I attacked?"

*Yes.*

"And you're in no danger of…"

*No. My own natural magic will proceed lycanthropy.*

She sighed in relief. So she didn't forcefully turn anyone. Good.

"Does anyone know-?"

*No, I came in the woods with 2 others looking for Shelby and when we found her, I sent them on. No ones knows.*

"Will anyone be suspicious of you saying out late?"

*Well, we just make a little lie then. You had gotten stuck out here and built a little shelter to spend the night and I stumbled upon it and spent the night.*

She nodded, understanding the plan. She stood up, brushing off her skirt and looked around.

Her stomach growled.

*Apologies, you did not find anything to hunt last night yet I have no food to give you.*

"You left on a search party without food?"

"I left with food for me, not for you. It's just that nectar would burn your insides if you drank it," he said, demonstrating by pulling out a bottle of a shimmering pale gold liquid, downing it in one gulp and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"So… back to town now?" She asked.

"I wouldn't mind taking a detour to get you food, but yes, that is the general idea."

And with that, they both left the forest.

Chapter Text

Legs was rushing out his house, medkit in hand.

This was bad, very bad.

Martyn, Apo and Cleo were all outside the walls of Oakhurst, fighting a raiding party that was attacking the town.

The raiders were clearly coming for all the silver found in the grounds around Oakhurst that the newly rebuilt town had been extracting, seeing the young community as an easy target for getting rich, especially with the lack of defenses (that weren't put in place by Avid, and thus made for vampires, of course)

So, the town members with some sort of combat skill or experience were defending town.

Cleo apparently had defended her farm from raiders in the past, and Martyn had been trained in fencing. Apo, of course, was part of the military.

Legs, despite his military training, was not coming here to join the battle though. No, he was here for medical support.

There were 7 raiders, each wielding a crossbow and dagger. 1 had already been felled when he arrived, leaving just 6 for the 3 to fight.

Now, Oakhurst had its advantages, walls, no matter how old and rotten, blocked the raiders path, and they had freshly forged armor and tools, as opposed the scavenged equipment of the raiders, and Cleo's lack of humanity helped, as they could keep fighting and fighting and fighting no matter how injured. Of course, the raiders still had numbers.

Cleo was very crafty, her fighting style clearly one of necessity and survival with little proper training. They were opportunistic, swift footed, and thoroughly aggressive. She feinted right, grabbing her attacker in a head lock and disarming them, both figuratively and literally, she ripped off one of their arms.

Martyn's fighting style was one of misplaced grace. He wielded his sword like a lance, held wrong and put off balance, though Legs could see that he would be skilled of he had the right type of blade. Yet also, Martyn clearly wasn't made for battle, his rich upbringing leading to a life of comfort where he quite literally never had to fight for his life. He wasn't even wearing armor, which was equal parts stupid and strange. He was caught by one of the bolder raider, who's dagger swept away at him as he had mixed results parrying the strikes.

Apo was clearly a military soldier. Her fighting style was crisp and clean, very professional and clearly well trained, though there was a hesitation to all her attacks. They were surrounded by 3 raiders who clearly recognized their uniform and decided that they were the biggest threat. She swung her sword at the one to her left and used her armored forearm to block the one on the right.

The final raider was relying on their skills with a bow, staying back and fighting at range.

Cleo, having dispatched their fighter, moved to help Apo, grappling one of the raiders from behind and swiftly snapping their neck. Legs winced and Apo gagged at the disturbingly wet sound.

Martyn was failing against his opponent, blood was pouring from his right arm, which hung uselessly at his side. The raider raised their dagger about to make the final blow, Apo noticed what was about to happen, but so caught up in her fight, she wouldn't be able to make it in time. Legs could, Legs was close enough, Legs could intervene and save Martyn. He just needed to move.

…

He couldn't move.

He was frozen in place, and Martyn was about to die when he could've saved him. He would fail to save him just like he failed to save the others.

A bo-gun fired, shrapnel flew everywhere, people were screaming as the fields were stained red.

"Doctor!"

"Doctor!"

"Doctor!"

"Doctor!"

"Medic! I need a medic!"

"Patch them up then send them off to fight. I don't care if they live or die."

"The pain!"

"Doctor!"

"Doctor!"

"I MISS MY MOM!"

"Doctor!"

Blood everywhere, on the ground, on his tools, on his hands, forever stained red.

He couldn't save them.

They were going to die.

They were going to die.

Theyweregoingtodie.theyweregoingtodie.theyweregoingtodie.itwasallhisfault.hecouldn'tsavethem.hewassendingthemtodie.itwasallhisfault.hekilledthem.hekilledthem.hekilledth-

"STOP!!" Apo's distorted voice shattered his spiraling, warping the air around it.

The raider which was about to kill Martyn stopped, a strange cloud covering their eyes.

In fact, that strange emptiness seemed to fill everyone, both raider and townmember alike.

Breathe. Breathe. You aren't on the battlefield anymore. You aren't a weapon anymore. You aren't a murderer anymore. Breathe. Focus. One step at a time. First, check on the others.

Apo was shaking violently, "no, not this again. Nononononono…"

He moved over to the soldier's side, placing a hand on their shoulder.

"Apo, I need you breathe."

"Nononono…"

"Apo, breathe."

"No no no no no no no…"

"Apo," he said, taking her face in his hands, "breathe with me. In, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4, in, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4…"

Slowly, her breathing steadied and she calmed down.

"Apo, are you here with me?"

"I-yes…"

"Good. Now, can you explain what's going on?"

"I mean, kinda?"

"I presume you aren't human?"

"No… you don't care?"

"No."

"Good, cause I'm about to pass out."

And then they did, all the other dazed individuals dropping with them.

Legs sighed. Ok, this was fine. He just had some work to do.

He disarmed the passed out raiders, patching them up from their wounds and tying them up with rope.

He then turned to his allies. Cleo was fine, just some cuts on their arms that they could handle. Apo had a wound in their side he'd have to deal with back at his house/clinic combo. Martyn was the worst of them, dagger wounds covering his sides, each wound also burned somehow (Did the raiders heat their daggers over a fire?) And his arm was broken.

He set Martyn's arm and wrapped up everyone's wounds.

He turned back to town where Drift and Avid were running out of the gate, silver swords, wooden stakes and garlic cloves in their arms.

"Sorry guys, fight's over. Could use some help transporting these guys to my place though."

Avid raised an eyebrow, "are you sure that none of the raiders are vampires? I brought stakes in case we need to dispatch them!"

Legs groaned, or maybe his gears were grinding against each other out of stress, he was running low on oil.

"No Avid, these are just opportunistic and greedy humans being opportunistic and greedy."

"But are you sure? Vampires have motive and why would humans-?"

"I don't know, Avid!" He snapped, "Why do humans commit murder! Why do humans harm each other for stupid reasons! Why does war exist! Because humans are people! Because people can be monsters! Especially to each other! It's illogical and immoral and utterly stupid yet it happens anyway because people are irrational and dumb! But even if you think they still might be a vampire then you'll be happy to know that when I administered field aid, I felt their pulses and all of them have beating hearts! Now will you shut up and help me move these people to my clinic?"

Avid opened his mouth, closed it, then nodded.

"Hugnnrggg…" Apo muttered from behind him, and his previous anger evaporated.

Legs rushed over to her side, "are you ok?"

"I think? I just passed out because of my blood aversion…"

"Can you stand?"

"Maybe…" they stumbled to their feet, before stumbling back to the grass, catching and holding onto Legs.

"Avid, Drift, you pick up Martyn. I'll support Apo and carry Cleo," he said, picking up the zombie in his arms as Apo continued to cling to him.

Drift and Avid delicately picked up Martyn, following Legs as they all carried the injured to his clinic.

Once all 3 were set on beds, Legs shooed Drift and Avid from his clinic so he could get to work.

"Go, alert town, tell them what happened and to leave me be to work. No visitors. Unless their name is Pearl, Pyro or Renhardt, seeing as they are the closest to the injured."

The 2 nodded, dashing from the door.

Legs drew the curtains of his clinic close, setting one up to give Apo privacy.

"So, you wanna talk about what you did there?" He asked, "I need to know what happened so I can better administer care to the others."

"I… I am a siren. I was taken from the sea at a young age and never properly learned how to control my powers, I think I just accidentally knocked them out…"

"And how long will they be out?"

"I don't know," they said, truthfully, "I've accidentally knocked out people for anywhere from 1 hour to 2 days before… how did you resist my voice?"

"I'm a robot," he deadpanned, "Ok, how should I treat you? I'm good at treating humans and machines, not sirens."

"You're a automaton? Like what kind? You used to work in the military…"

"How. Should. I. Treat. Your. Wound?"

"Oh uh, water, lots of water. I need to drink it and you should certainly wash my wound with it."

"That's procedure. I'll do that, but first I must tend to the others."

"Wait! Are you one of the fabled cogwork lancers?"

"Yes."

"You're real! I thought you were just some military myth the veterans told cadets as a joke!"

Legs laughed at that, turning to close the curtain around Apo so she could have privacy, and went to work.