when the monsters come out to play } willow,

[ASHE RIVIERA]

A creature like Riviera didn't care much for danger. Exciting when it occurred, yes. But fear it? Ha! Who did you think she was? To be scared of something as ridiculous as danger was pathetic; laughable, in fact. Only the weak had such fears.

And Riviera was more than strong.

The Council Member sat, utterly bored, as some old Angelli moaned at her, his voice steadily increasing in volume as his Shade match nodded in agreement at his words. Riviera leaned back against her chair lazily, twirling a curl of brown, not bothering to show any interest in the matter. She didn't really have much care in this topic; as soon as the man uttered the words, 'unfair treatment to Angellis', she had switched off. Besides, the man himself was one of those disgusting beings. Why should she care? Let some other member of the Council handle it.

Clearly she was just totally devoted to her job.

Jesus mother of fuck.

She saw Artemis as a gift and a curse. Sure, the marks and extra ability was a plus -- a plus, she regularly abused -- but the fact that everybody seemed to automatically presume that she actually cared for other people's problems bought down the whole thing by a peg or two. Ha. Yeah right/

Why should she care, when no one had for her?

Where was her loving council, when she so desperately needed help?

Nowhere.

Riviera owed these people nothing.

They didn't deserve her kind words or her actions; no one in this fucking world did. The only person who had a right was currently pushing daises. And even he, the only person she trusted, had left her. Really, the new era of Pandora was just as worse as humanity.

Worthless.

The man's voice had raised to a shout, his face beginning to flash a deep red tinged with purple in colour. When his eyes began to bulge, Riviera thought it might be a good time to feign interest and drop the bored expression. Releasing the now fully curled strand of hair, she suppressed a yawn and leaned forward, brow raised. "Now, Mr.." She paused, attempting to place name to face, before shrugging. She wasn't bothered. "Yeah, ok. Whatever. Listen, Angelli, to be hone-- " She was cut off by a strange sound as if someone was gargling; the reality was that the man had been choking on his on spit in anger. Odd. Apparently, the absence of his name from Riviera's mind had bothered him; and from the looks of it, his match.

Slamming her hands down onto the table in blind rage, the female Shade rose to stand, snarling, showing those pearly whites. Riviera returned a similar grin of her own.

"Miss Ashe" -- Riviera's fingers clenched; how dare they call her by that name -- "quite frankly, you have been nothing but rude this whole meeting, not taking note of anything my husband has had to say, when he's been complaining about the unfair treatment of Angellis from Shades exactly like you!" She shouted, unable to control the growl in her tone.

Cerulean flashed dangerously cold, and they narrowed, causing the woman to regret her words -- for forgetting how unforgivably cruel the council could be.

Riviera straightened, taking hold of the file in front of her, and deftly shifting through it. It was a while before anyone broke through the silence.

"You are a Shade of Wrath, yes?" She threw the file back onto the desk, staring at the two before her, voice blunt and harsh, eyes burning ice. The woman hesitated, before nodding. "Looks like your children have inherited your streak. Both two children of dark alignment." She paused, letting the two squirm for a while. "If I were you, I'd make sure they don't step out of line. Who knows what a misguided arrow could do." Riviera smiled nastily; the true nature of a Shade beginning to surface. "It only takes a pull of a string to leave hearts bleeding -- takes just as much to send two children to drown in the River Styx." She added, a predator's smile hung on her lips. The threat -- or warning -- was clear. They had angered Artemis' chosen one.

Their children would pay the price.

"This meeting is now over."

She left, bow and arrow hanging clearly behind her back.

~ ~ ~

The heels of her sandals stormed noisly through the Dead Ends of Nox, Riviera's mind too frustrated to walk with her usual silent footsteps. She had threatened death upon two citizens, but now her anger had quenched; rationality returning to her mind.

She was no murderer.

Annoying as children -- or anyone, for that matter -- may be, she would never send the arrow to silence their hearts. But now she had left win an empty threat, and Riviera was not one to do such things. She sighed, annoyed at the predicament she was currently in. Perhaps a broken arm or two would suffice.

After all, murder was one thing, but pain certainly was not.

---

NOTES: Um, Ew? aihsoasf sorry, awful starter.

[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

Willow Serenity Eterniti was often known for being silent and innocent. She was the person that the teachers knew would hand in her homework on time and never missed a deadline on her artwork. The one who currently had a 3.9 GPA. The one who was a good girl. The one that always drew the things that other people managed to miss somehow. That or they knew her as the girl that was mute but somehow always managed to be happy. Always was laughing even if no one else could hear it.

They didn’t know that there was so much more to her.

Yes she was innocent, and she did her work. But it was hard enough to get into the university as it was! She wasn’t going to ruin that by doing bad work. The side of her that her friends knew was the adventurous side. Willow was fearless. Most people didn’t realize that went along quite nicely with her innocent side. She had a hard time seeing the bad in people, so the idea of being afraid of them didn’t always factor in and it allowed her to be a bit of a wild child.

So when she had been told about an amazing rave on the outskirts of Nox? She had been so in it wasn’t even funny. She had cheered silently and made her friends laugh before she had signed to let them know she would meet them later on the edge of Nox to head to the party to live it up. She couldn’t wait! She knew that the rest of them would be hanging out while they waited to head to the party, but like Willow had said earlier, she was a good girl who always made a point ot finish her work. And she currently had midterms coming up.

At the thought of that the girl twisted her face up in a disgusted look and stuck out her tongue in revulsion. Yuck. She may like to do her work, but that didn’t mean she liked school. She wasn’t a geek, thank you very much.

It took her a good hour to finish up her painting. She had started it earlier in the park because she had found a strike of inspiration and had been pleased to learn that it fit well into the parameters of the assignment, so now all she really had to do was replace the rough outlines with her paints and edit and tweak some of it so that way it fully met the assignment. Easy. She smirked as she looked at it. That had taken her a shorter amount of time than she thought it would. Score. That left her with time to relax and head to the showers to start to get ready for a night of partying. She debated what she was going to dabble in tonight. Willow never did anything she could get hooked on, she was careful about that, but the casual stuff? She saw nothing wrong with that.

She pondered this as she washed out her long silky blonde hair that was a little thicker than it had been as a child, but she was nineteen now! No longer a child with the curtain of silky thin hair…well okay, so she still had the hair but she liked to think that she wasn’t a child anymore. And once she decided what she was going to let herself do, she started to debate what the hell she was going to wear. As usual, and as had been true for all her life, she had a flair for color. So something rainbow, of course.

She eventually decided on, and changed into, a pair of rainbow tie die tights as her first item of business. Following that, and she was grateful of the warm weather that allowed this, she tugged on a black dress with rainbow colored paint splatters all over it that only covered one shoulder and was shirt and tight. She loved it, and with the tights underneath, she figured she was fine wearing a dress. Her hair she left wild, but pinned rainbow colored extensions in. In short, she was all rainbowed out. She slipped into pain black heels and twirled in front of the mirror to be sure that she liked it, and then she was good to go.

She was meeting her friends in Nox, and it wasn’t a close walk, but she wasn’t afraid. Willow was never afraid. Never if she could help it. She left her sketchpad with all of her usual sayings in her room though. One of her friends coming with her knew sign language, so she could translate for Willow if need be, and the sketch pad would just get in the way when she was going out. It wasn’t worth it and Willow knew if she could communicate she would be perfectly fine. She just needed to weather the walk to the rave on her own.

Willow didn’t pop in her headphones because she wanted to be able to hear. Willow’s hearing was very good, and despite being fearless she wasn’t stupid. She knew that this walk could be treacherous sometimes and she didn’t feel like being a story on the morning news.

Willow had decided, after all, to take a shortcut through the Dead Ends. She wasn’t afraid of what lurked here, she was pretty sure she could avoid it if she needed to, and it was a quicker way to get to where she was meeting her friends. She hadn’t counted on seeing someone she thought she knew there. The other woman wasn’t close, but she seemed familiar. She also didn’t seem happy. Willow stopped, debating how to go about getting her attention to see if she really knew her. She didn’t want to interrupt her if she was mad though, that seemed like a bad idea. Willow did have survival instincts.

It could be because she was distracted trying to figure this out, or it could be that it was a Shade who was using his abilities over the shadows, but either way she managed to miss someone coming up behind her. And putting an arm around her and a something that felt like a knife to her throat, asking for her valuables in her ear. She froze entirely. And did something that might have caused him to slit her throat, but she couldn’t help it. Willow made the one noise that mutes at her level of mute-ness could still make: She screamed, loud and clear. And hoped that someone heard before she stopped screaming.

Words: 1129
Muse: Good
Comments: Sorry....weird ending

[ASHE RIVIERA]

She didn't really know what to expect from Nox. She'd never been before, and it was the city for the mixed. Curiosity had won over familiarity, and her angry footsteps had led her to the Dead Ends, leaving Chiaro as the only city she hadn't entered; but then again, why would she go to the city of the light? Fully of digusting scum --all kind and angellic. Brought her lunch back up her throat from the mere thought of them.

The meeting with the two matched ones had left Riviera frustrated, fingers itching to hunt. Her anger had somewhat ebbed off however, and all she was left with was a raw, tugging need to fly some arrows into some beating hearts. Hopefully some bigger game than usual. Hunting rabbits wasn't much of a satisfaction.

She paused,trying to rack up her memory to think if there were any woods nearby in Nox. Probably not. And besides, by the time she got to Veronica with the meat, they wouldn't be fresh. And it was a 3 hour walk; she didn't really feel like dragging the dead carcass' of deer for such a long amount of time and Riviera was hardly one to waste.Living in the wild had given her some kind of respectful perspective on nature, and the food it grew. Every scrap was essential, back then.

Even now, with everything at her command, Riviera never took more than she needed. Take the extra food to the starving. Now to the already full.

After a bit of hesitation, she turned to her right at a fork road, before trudging on, the high walls of the Dead Ends closing down on er. Reaching out, she gently brushed her fingertips against the rough surface, feeling the path narrow into an alleyway.

The previous anger had by now completely disappeared, leaving behind a tinge of biter regret.

The threat.

What the fuck was she going to do about it?

She sighed, running a hand through her hair, messing up her waves. The gold band strapped around her arm loosened a touch, ad she absent-mindedly twisted it, tightening it up a notch.

She was just going to have to break one of the kid's legs. Either that, or one of each of the kid's arms; an unusually poor threat, causing from Riviera, but she guessed her mind wasn't in it. But whatever. She wasn't really bothered. As long as her threat was carried out.

Perhaps, if she went down to the Ch--

A scream.

No, not quite a scream; something more guttural, but just as worse -- maybe more.

It was the sound of innocence being slaughtered, a shrill shriek of noise that pierced through her mind, like a bullet through the brain.

Riviera looked up, wary, not quite seeing the girl further down the alleyway just yet. Her mind distracted, she frowned, torn. The wind had carried in the scream from the right, but she still hesitated, bow and arrow already drawn.

Why did she feel so protective? Why should she care about this person who was probably already dead?

2 precious seconds past, and she ran, her feet making up the decision for her. Her feet silently flew past the ground, heading towards the scream.

Heart pounding, she breathed heavily, chest rising and falling quicker as the seconds past, thankful for the years of living in the wild; thanks to that, Riviera had a level head when it came to danger. Cerulean flickered, before focusing on two figures standing, the man's arms wrapped around the girl as if pulling her into an embrace.

A boy, offensive stance, knife. Girl, terrified, strangely familiar. Mind placed name to face. Willow

A snarl ripped out of Riviera, lips baring back into a threatening growl. The boy, eyes widening in recognition, opened his mouth -- either to start shouting warnings or to beg for mercy; she didn't know. She didn't care. She didn't wait -- before Riviera aimed and shot.

The arrow flew, lodging itself just below his wrist, forcing him to drop the knife he held against Willow's throat. 2 more pulls, and one more drove itself deep into his shoulder, and another into his thigh, crippling him onto the ground. Bow still raised, with another arrow already drawn and ready, she spared a glance at the girl, the edge of her lips pulled up tiredly into a wicked smirk. "You alright, Willow?" She asked, before remembering that the girl was mute.

Fuelled by a new born anger -- how weak this boy was! Hurting a girl who couldn't even speak -- she walked forwards, closer the bleeding figure. The boy's cries of agony silenced into terrified whimpers, breathlessly begging for forgiveness. She shot his hand in answer.

The sound of screams filled the air once more.

[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

Willow had gone out tonight expecting to head to a rave. She had expected to meet up with her friends, one of which had made the effort to learn Sign Language after becoming friends with Willow so that way she could speak to the mute girl easier, which meant Willow hadn’t brought her usual book of translations, so anyone who didn’t sign she couldn’t really speak to right now. She had expected to be perfectly fine during her walk to the place, even if she had seen someone who looked familiar while she was walking through some of the more dangerous parts of an already dangerous city.

She had not expected to get jumped, with a knife to her through, and mugged.

So she had done what any sensible girl would do in this situation. She screamed, despite the knife to her throat and the increasingly frantic demands of the boy behind her. She figured if he hadn’t done anything yet, he wasn’t going to so fuck no she was not going to stop screaming any time soon, thank you. She was going to scream until someone heard her. It wasn’t like she could call for help or anything like that. She was mute. Screaming was all that she had in her arsenal.

Luckily, there had been the girl who looked familiar. The young woman rather, not a girl. Willow was thanking her lucky stars for that. She froze, however, entirely still when the woman came closer and let loose an arrow to hit the boy who held her’s wrist. It was an arrow coming in her direction after all, she was not going to be moving. She did breathe a sigh of relief when the knife dropped from her neck, grateful beyond measure to be rid of the thing that could have killed her.

She still didn’t move, which was a good thing, when two more arrows rang out and the boy fell. She took a few stumbling steps away from him, slightly frantic, and shook her head. She was fine. She was fine. She was totally not going to make it to that rave as shakey as she was, but she was fine. She would live and she wasn’t harmed. Thanks to that woman. Said woman came closer, and Willow gave a shakey smiley as she realized who it was who came closer. Ashe Riviera who preferred to go by Riviera. They had met a time or two if memory served right.

She also owed the woman her life now, she was pretty sure.

Riviera came closer and asked if she was alright, giving her a wicked grin that relaxed Willow just a little. If she wasn’t scared then neither was Willow, someone around here had a weapon and was on her side. That meant there was no reason to be scared, and being that Willow’s usual state was fearless, it meant that it was easy to snap into a more relaxed state. Just a bit. Willow nodded, being unable to speak and entirely unable to communicate. That was frustrating. She sighed thank you and hoped that Riviera got the message.

And then she frowned. Frustrated. She should be able to communicate! Why didn’t she bring her pad with her so she could communicate? Right cause she thought she would be with her own personal translator. She should have brought it along anyway. Not that she had any pockets on her to even shove her tinier sketch into but it would have been something! Why did she not stop and think sometimes? She shook her head.

She jumped when the boy screamed again, being shocked out of her thoughts, and turned towards Riviera and the boy once more. She had shot him, though Willow wasn’t sure why she was shooting him again. It looked to her that he was down for the count. She put her hand over Riviera’s forearm carefully and tugged it lightly. And then shook her head. She was trying to convey that Riviera didn’t need to do that.

The boy hadn’t hurt her after all, so there was no reason to kill him or hurt him even further. But Willow was…Willow. She thought this way often. She saw the best in people rather than seeing the worst. She liked to believe everyone got a second chance. This boy could have killed her when she started to scream, most robbers would have, but instead he had gotten frantic. That proved to her that he didn’t need to be killed. Plus he was just a boy.

She just hoped that, even though she couldn’t even speak to convey a point, that Rivera got the message. She was grateful that the other woman had saved her life. But now she wanted to try and save his. It was a karma thing, mixed with a Willow thing.

[ASHE RIVIERA]

Riviera never missed.

That was her extra ability. Whatever weapon she could aim and throw with, it would never miss it's target. The funny thing was, when she needed it most, she didn't possess it. And now that she didn't need it, she had it. Hilarious how life fucked you over.

The boy on the floor had arrows sticking out from him in 4 places, cementing him onto the ground. She smirked at the sight. Sliding another arrow into position, she aimed, ready to pierce his other shoulder. The boy needed to be taught a lesson. Of course, the mayor or Pandora probably wouldn't approve of this. No, of course he wouldn't. But Riviera was never one to obey any rules. Or anyone, for that matter. Why start now?

Before, when Riviera had asked Willow if she was alright, she saw the girl visibly relax, which helped rub off a little of the anger. But not enough. She still craved for blood. It didn't help that she was already in a bad mood from the morning; this was the last straw.

She peered at the boy's face, which was now scrunched up in concentration, as if trying to think away the pain. She stifled a laugh. The things people did in times of desperation. Pathetic. But a good source of entertainment. She let her arrow fly once more, enjoying the squelch as the head bit into the skin, ripping it's way through layers of muscle and fat. The cry from the boy made Riviera laugh; soft, evil. Lips pulled back into something terrifyingly beautiful. The type of beauty that caused fear and horror, not wonder and appreciation. The type of beauty that Riviera preferred.

In all fairness though, she had to give the boy some credit. He hadn't tried to take out the arrows, saving himself from a lot of pain, and probably his life.

You see, her arrows weren't like the usual. Back in the past, she had no choice but to use the traditional, wooden ones. Now she was on the Council? Not so much. They had supplied her with metal ones, when as soon as the head of the arrow lodged into somewhere, the points would expand outwards then up, fixing itself into the victim with more strength. If they tried to rip it out by using force, then they ripped out a chunk of their skin. Only by her touch, did the points contract back into their original shape. Painful, yes. But then what did you prefer? The first option or the latter?

Another arrow had been drawn, and she was wondering which area to pierce, when she felt a slight tug on her arm. She turned, to face Willow, brow arched. "What?" She snapped, not meaning to sound as harsh as she did. The mute shook her head, her eyes full of worry.

It took a moment to click.

She was worrying about the boy. The same boy, who had nearly killed her.

Riviera sighed.

Lowering her weapon, she placed a hand on her hip, brow still raised. "Willow," she began, "that piece of shit just tried to mug you. Hurt you. Maybe worse. Like rape, or kill." She exaggerated her words for greater effect, cerulean eyes trained on the girl's own. Her eyes narrowed suddenly, raising her weapon back up to point at the boy. "He committed a crime." She let go of the arrow once more. "This is his punishment."

She stalked closer to the boy, examining his wounds and the steadily increasing pool of blood that surrounded him like a crimson moat. She blinked, before sighing slightly. Years of killing game, had taught her that once blood had reached a certain size, then it was too late; that there wasn't much point in even trying to save them. To just send them into a peaceful journey to Hades.

This boy, was nearing that stage. She tugged at her bow, before turning to Willow.

"You know i'm on the Council, yes? I'm a tracker. I hunt down the people that defy the Council, and it's my job to punish them." Well, she was completely sure about the last part. But it was a job that she had adopted, anyway. "I am Artemis' patron. She was a hunter. I'm a hunter." She paused, uncertain on whether Willow was following. Or, truth to be told, where Riviera was going with this. "Listen, the fact of the matter is, this boy has committed a crime, and he has to pay for it. Either by death, or life in The Cage."

She paused, once more, choosing her words carefully; she didn't really know why, normally she didn't give a shit if she offended people or not. But there was just something about Willow that just made Riviera feel so goddamn protective. If that emotion wasn't so strong, then Riviera wouldn't have had to explain her actions to a girl like this.

"Willow, i've made my decision." She looked, almost bored, at the girl. She stretched her bow.

"He's going to die. Tonight."

She smiled, that fearful beauty back on show.

"Right now."

---

NOTES: urgh, just get's worse and worse.

[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

Willow hadn’t been expecting to get mugged. But at the same time, she could also say that she had never expected to be begging for the boy’s life. Not that she could actually beg. Or even do anything that was close to begging. She couldn’t even write or sign, she was pretty sure that Riviera couldn’t read sign though, so it wouldn’t have had a point. So she had herself to rely on, herself and body language to try and beg for the boy’s life.

He may have tried to rob her, may have caused her to scream with a knife to her throat, but he had never actually hurt her or gotten away with anything, so what was the harm? If nothing had happened, then Willow saw nothing wrong with letting him go. No harm, and no foul.

She tugged at Riviera’s arm, trying to get her to see that somehow. It was fine. There was no reason to keep hurting him. She was grateful that Riviera had gotten him off of her, but that was all that was needed. There was no reason to take it further, right? Right. Willow was pretty sure that that was that, no reason to go further. She tugged again, her eyes begging Riviera to stop. Willow had a hard time seeing the evils of others, and she didn’t want ot start seeing it.

Riviera looked at her, all annoyed and said what, well snapped was more like it, and Willow stayed where she was, not scared at all. Willow was fearless after all, she was not going to be moved just because someone else didn’t like her opinion. She didn’t want him to be hurt, and she wasn’t going to let go of Riviera’s arm until her point was clear. Willow was stubborn.

She saw when what Willow wanted clicked with the Shade woman and nodded a bit. Riviera didn’t seem all that happy about it but oh well. When she lowered her hand, Willow let go. She tried to explain that he committed a crime and could have tried to rape her but Willow just frowned and shook her head. No, no she didn’t believe that. She didn’t think that would have happened to her. He wouldn’t have done that. He didn’t even cut her or press harder with the knife when she started to scream. So there was no way that would have happened. She didn’t believe it so she kept shaking her head, innocence clear in her eyes.

Riviera said she was on the Council and Willow frowned a little, shaking her head. She hadn’t realized that at all. Oh. Okay. But that didn’t mean anything. She understood that Riviera was on the council now, and a tracker, but that didn’t mean that Willow was going to let her do anything. The crime she was trying to avenge was one that was trying to be committed to Willow. That meant she had a say in the punishment, didn’t she? He had been punished enough with all those arrows in her opinion. There was no reason to push it further.

She got that Riv was a hunter too, she had understood that even before she knew that Riviera was Artemis’s patron. That made sense but that wasn’t the point. She frowned when Riviera said it was either this or life in the Cages. No, she wasn’t going to let that happen. He hadn’t hurt her, he had threatened to and nothing had happened. And yes, she didn’t want to thin about what might have happened if Riviera wasn’t around to hear her scream. But that was besides the point. Nothing had happened. So why should someone get punished for nothing happening? It didn’t make sense to her.

She frowned, feeling her stubborn urge kick in when Riviera seemed determined to carry out this sentence anyway. And sure, the other woman looked sort of scary with that look on her face. But Willow was fearless and she wouldn’t be scared off. Once she set her mind to something, she did it. There was no question about it. She was going to stick to her convictions and not let anything happen. She did wish there was some way she could speak though.

But she would make sure that Riviera got her message loud and clear.

One way or another.

She was going to be heard.

At that right now, she frowned and stepped in between Riviera and her bow, and the boy who had tried to mug her only moments ago. Who would have thought she would be his savior moments later? She was standing so that way the arrow was pointed at her rather than the bow, and it was clear from her face that she was stubborn enough not to move, even if she was moved she’d go right back. She refused to be ignored just because she couldn’t speak. And then she shook her head. He hadn’t killed or hurt her. He wouldn’t be killed either. Right now he probably needed a hospital, not another arrow into him.

[ASHE RIVIERA]

This girl just kept shaking her head, as if that was going to change anything.

A brief thought of just shooting the girl, then the boy flashed through her mind, before she grimaced, hastily chasing the thought away. Urgh. Why did she insist on thinking such things, when she knew she wasn't going to go through with it? It just put her on edge.

Riviera looked at the boy, helpless and bloody, before glancing back at Willow; eyes pleading, but stance stubborn. She sighed; this wasn't going to over, quickly, was it?

She turned to Willow, tugging at the string, in an annoyed manner. 'Willow, stop looking at me like that, because quite frankly, i don't give a shit about what you think, ok love?" She snapped, before turning back to boy, preparing to shoot for the final time.

And then it happened.

It was so sudden -- no, not sudden; so unexpected -- that Riviera hadn't had time to react.

Willow stepped in between Riviera and her bow just as she was about to let go, and she gave out a shout of surprise, hastily yanking her bow upwards, so that her bow soared into the air away from the mute girl.

Eyes wide, she stared. And then-- and then, the girl just shook her head. As if it didn't matter. As if that boy, who had just held a knife to her throat, was worth saving. As if she was some sort of fucking angel.

Riviera growled, taking a threatening step forward. "What the fuck do you think you're playing at, Willow?" She snarled, roughly shoving her backwards. She stalked closer, eyes narrowed, lips bared back to show teeth. "Do you not understand that you could have died? Do you not vaule your worthless life?!" She shouted, her anger rising.

She paused, the two so close, the tips of their noses almost touched. Leaning forward, she snarled once more, the anger causing her eyes to appear darker; cerulean swirling to navy. "It's people like you that make me thirst for blood."

If there was anything that Riviera hted more, it was people who took their life lightly. People that thought of their life as something that didn't matter; something that could be easily disposed of, and not give a damn. Her brother, had been the same. And he'd committed suicide. He was dead, and he was never coming back.

Life should never be something taken lightly.

Her fingers clenched into fists, but she softened her glare. The look on Willow's face was still stubborn; still so eager to protect. She sighed, and took a step back, mouth twisting into a scowl of disdain. "Fine." She muttered, "keep your stupid boy." She shoved her weapon into her back strap, and instead dug for the phone that the mayor had forced her to carry. 'Easy access', he'd said. She rolled her eyes. Pointless technology, was what she thought.

She flipped open the phone, before tapping a few buttons, and dialled the number for the mayor of Nox, impatiently thrusting the phone under her ear, keeping a sharp gaze at Willow as she did so. She heard the soft click as the secretary picked up, and she began to talk, her voice clipped and annoyed. "It's Riviera. I've got a criminal here, and i want him at The Cage." She paused, glancing at the somewhat lifeless form on the floor. "Unless you don't want to stop by the morgue on the way back, i suggest you hurry up."

Before the person could react, she hung up the phone, shoving it back into her pocket roughly. She sneered at Willow, apparently still angry at her stubborn move. "Happy? Your boy gets to live. He now gets to stay at the Cage itself; congrats." She spat, sarcasm at it's highest.

She placed a hand on her hip, and took the stance of one with authority, arching a brow at the mute girl. "Willow, what the fuck were you doing here. Don't you know it's dangerous around the Dead Ends?" She grumbled. The fact that she had to stay here, at least until someone who gave a big enough shit to move the boy on the floor without ending his life came, had Riviera frustrated.

She had asked for a solution to her problems, and she was answered with this?

Great.

Thanks a lot.

---

NOTES: afiusdofs. sorry, this was horrible. Dx

[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

Willow had been glad for Riviera to come out of no where and save her before she could be robbed, or worse—he did have a knife to her throat after all. But she was not glad that Riviera seemed set on killing the boy. Willow saw the best in everyone. It was simply how she was. She found it impossible to see the darkness in anyone first, and even when she did see it it had to be pointed out to her first. So she didn’t want this boy who was probably just hungry to die because of her.

He hadn’t really hurt her after all.

That was how the logic worked in her head. He hadn’t hurt her, he shouldn’t die. That was all there was to it to her. She kept shaking her head, wishing Riviera would understand what she wanted. She cursed herself for not bringing anything that she could communicate with. She didn’t even have pockets on this dress to put her notepad in. She had counted on not getting mugged, and getting to the rave where her friend who could sign would be so she wouldn’t need her notepad. She would have had a translater.

She kept looking at Riviera, pleading her to put down the bow, but it was obvious that she was not going to back down, even if she was pleading. And she knew that Riviera could read that, she was a hunter after all, they knew how to read these things, right? She hoped so at least. And then Riviera said she didn’t give a shit what Willow thought, which really put the stubborn into over drive. Which was led her to stepping in front of Riviera’s bow and arrow.

Willow was fearless. She didn’t think twice before doing certain things. That might be a flaw to some people, but she held dear to this part of herself. Often she didn’t think about things like her own life, or how doing certain things meant she might lose said life. She did what she thought was right at the time. Riviera let lose her arrow, and shocked Willow flinched a little, but the arrow went high instead of into her, so she was safe. She wasn’t hurt. So she refused to move away, she simply shook her head. She refused to let that happen. The boy didn’t deserve to die. Not in Willow’s eyes anyway.

Riviera was obviously angry, Willow could tell that before she even spoke. But Willow did not back down, even when Riviera took a step closer to her. She shoved her and Willow stumbled back but didn’t back down all the same. Riviera didn’t scare her. Willow didn’t think she would actually hurt her to bad, maube that was her being niave, but she just didn’t think that Riviera would do that. Riviera was shouting, but Willow just narrowed her eyes, frowning, and refusing to move anyway. She was being stubborn, this was true, but Willow didn’t think she was wrong.

Riviera kept snarling and yelling but that didn’t make the little mute girl step away. And then, frustrated, she started signing so rapidly that her hands were practically a blur. ”I value my life, but I value the lives of others too! Nothing was done to cause anyone to die! What’s the big deal with caring about saving someone’s life anyway? It’s people like you that frustrate me! Too quick to pull the trigger! What’s wrong with wanting to protect someone? she signed all this rapidly, knowing that Riviera couldn’t understand but that was too bad. Willow was so frustrated she could scream. Willow was not going to back down. She might have gotten hurt, but she hadn’t.

She was stubborn and she wasn’t backing down. Willow never backed down.

Willow watched, slightly wary, as Riviera stepped back, and didn’t relax until Riviera put away her weapon. She listened as Riviera started to talk on the phone. She was a bit happy when Riviera started to speak, relieved. So he was going to the Cages, but that was better than dying in Willow’s mind. She didn’t want him to die. But he did commit a crime, so she understood that he had to go there. But she was happy he wasn’t dying. Riviera was obviously sarcastic and annoyed when she asked Willow if she was happy, but all the same Willow nodded with a small smile, as if Riviera’s sarcasm didn’t affect her at all. She was just happy. Happy she had stood her ground and he wasn’t going to die. She didn’t care that Riviera was being sarcastic. She wanted to say she was happy.

Riviera asked what Willow was doing here, and then asked if she knew that the Dead Ends were dangerous. Willow nodded in response to the question if she knew they were dangers, but then paused. How to get across what she was doing. And then she realized what she looked like, from the rainbow colors in her hair to her tight rainbow dress. She arched a brow as if to ask Really? and then gestured to herself as if that would explain it all.