Authors Note: Hello! I'm glad you made it to the second chapter! Anyways, a lot of my fight scenes are inspired by Muay Thai boxing, Judo, and a little Taekwondo. I will try to list the names of the moves I write about, so if you like visuals you can look them up. Anyways, enjoy!
Your POV
By the time I reached Shiganshina, night fell over the city. Copenhagen and I found a motel that had a stable for horses, and 'cheap rooming'. I walk up to the poorly lit motel, a clerk sat at the desk reading a newspaper.
"Hi I'd like to rent a room for the night, also I have a horse for the stable," I asked in a rather rude tone, unintentionally. It took about two hours to reach the city, and halfway there it started to pour so navigating the poorly marked dirt roads became even more difficult. Let's just say today was eventful enough and I need a place to rest, asap.
The clerk looks up to me, with a rather irritated expression on his face. "That'll be fifteen silver coins."
I looked at him shocked, There's no way one night and breakfast could be worth that much, but I guess I don't really have a choice. I shoot a glare at him realizing he knows how desperate I am to spend the night since it is almost midnight and I'm drenched in rain.
I discretely take out the desired amount so he can't see how much I actually have. "Here"
He gladly takes the bill and gives me the key to room 10, located on the second floor. He said I could tie my horse in the back stables in any of the open stalls. Also, the stable boys would take care of Copenhagen when it came to feeding, brushing, and changing any horse shoes.
The stable boys helped me remove the few bags I had on Copenhagen, and helped carry my items to my room. I was surprised they decided to assist considering how late it was. I tipped them each a coin as gratitude, they looked at me like I just bought them a house inside wall Sina. I gave them a faint smile and said goodnight as I thrust the door open.
Inside the motel room was a small bed, desk, chair, nightstand, and the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. I immediately started stripping off my clothes, jumped in the shower, and let the hot water soothe my aching muscles. I grab the wrapped bar of soap, complimentary of course, and began washing away all the dirt, grime, and blood that accumulated on my body over the past few days. I make sure to keep my left forearm out of the direct stream of water as much as possible, even though it's important to keep burn wounds clean, direct hot water can irritate the skin even more.
After a few minutes I reach down and touched my toes, stretching all of my back and posterior leg muscles as the water hit my back. God damn does this feel good. I stand back up, rinsing out my (H/L) (H/C), and then turn the shower off.
After drying myself with a towel I hesitantly look in the mirror. I gasp at the sight in front of me. Dark bags hang under the bottom of my eyes, and the tissue around my right eye has a blue and black hue to it. A cut above my right eyebrow started to bleed, I must've scrubbed the scab off when washing my face. I apply a small bandage, luckily my hair covers it when it's down. Smaller bruises litter my body, especially around my abdomen and back.
I look down at my abdomen to appropriately assess the laceration. It already began healing, as indicated by the underlying granulation tissue. But it still needs stitches, I grab my first aid kit and soak some gauze in alcohol, slightly dapping the wound. After debriding the wound, I sewed up fine stitches and taped a dressing over it.
I chuckle thinking about how many times mom made me practice embroidery, saying that fine motor skills will come in handy one day. She was not wrong, in fact I learned a lot about trade skills from her, and how everyday activities could be used as a survival technique one day.
Lastly I re-wrap my burned forearm, staring intently at the inked images and branded letter. I suck in one deep breath and turn to open the door. Rummaging through my bags for fresh clothes felt like an eternity, even though it was only a few minutes. After throwing on a black t-shirt and grey shorts, I climb into bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I knocked out and entered a deep slumber as exhaustion took over.
Dream State
I wake up and look around, but only blackness surrounds me. I thought I was alone but then I heard a voice, no multiple voices, echoing around me.
"(Y/N) why did you betray us? I thought you wanted to be one of us?" The voices sound distorted, almost as if they were coming towards me as close as possible, but also fading out as well. I look around to where the voices are coming from, but I'm only met with a blank void. Then their faces appeared. Bloodied, grotesque corpses of what once was my family start to reach out to me.
"LEAVE ME ALONE," I shouted. I try running away but their hands slowly take hold of me, dragging me deeper into the abyss.
End Dream State
I shoot up wide-eyed and awake, drenched in sweat. I lean forward with my head in my hands, feeling the emotions from earlier creep up on me. No, you can't keep crying forever, you're a (L/N) for Christ sake, you're really gonna cave already?
But this is different, I have no one to turn to. Everyone I could trust is either dead or would kill me if they found out I was alive.
I feel like I have two sides of me fighting inside my head: the cold, hearted, determined warrior that never accepted defeat versus the loving, caring angel that just wanted peace.
I groan while standing up and practically blind myself with sunlight when I open the curtain. Any overcast and rain clouds that filled the sky yesterday are now gone. I take this change in weather as a sign that the path I'm on is the right one. After searching through my bags, I decide to wear a grey long-sleeved shirt, black, well-fitted jeans, and a long navy blue overcoat with a hood. Even though it was sunny out, the air is starting to cool off as winter is only a couple months away. I strap on my tall, black boots and head to the bathroom to freshen up.
I gather all my belonging and double check the room to make sure I didn't leave anything behind. Breakfast was what I expected: stale bread with jam, watered down coffee, an apple, and scrambled eggs. I didn't realize how hungry I was until after I finished eating, my stomach still growling.
I was happy to see how well the stable boys took care of Copenhagen, his stark white mane was fully brushed, and his dark brown coat littered with white spots shone in the sun. I thanked them and tipped them each another coin, I was feeling generous today.
Copenhagen and I trot down to the market, both eager to eat more food. I make sure to stay by my horse at all times, afraid someone would try to steal him or my bags. After about an hour of browsing I bought some apples, carrots, bread, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and beef jerkey. I also bought a new set of clothes and some basic toiletries.
As I was heading to find a doctor to fill up on medical supplies, a muffled scream coming from an alley way peaked my attention. I quickly snap my head in the direction, and make my way over to the ruckus. Peaking my head around the corner I see four well-built guys harassing a long, black haired woman.
"Oh come on Carla, you know you want some of this," the tallest one said while grabbing his, area.
"Stop being a bitch, were just trying to have some fun."
"You know the more you struggle the worse it's going to get for you."
Carla starts crying and tries to scream, but one of them kept a hand over her mouth. Clearing my throat loudly to get their attention, I walk up. The tallest turns to me, "What do you want pretty lady, trying to join us?" The others smirks at each other and laugh.
I scoff, "As if I would want anything to do with you filthy peasants, I suggest you let go of the woman if you know what's good for you." They look at each other like some 5 year-old threatened them, and burst out laughing again.
"You clearly don't know who we are, do you? In fact, I haven't seen you around these parts, who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am, I'm gonna give you one more warning. Let. Her. Go."
The shorter, stockier one starts walking towards me and reaches his hand out to grab my shoulder. "Listen Miss, we're the Russo Brothers, we run this area of town and if you - "
I cut off his blabbering by slicing his wrist with my knife. "Don't fucking touch me, pig."
The others look at each other, shock written on their faces that some young, petite lady (yes in this story you are 5' 1", for the sake of Levi's shortness ha ha) just sliced their brothers hand open. The taller one let go of Carla and shoves her the ground.
"You're gonna fucking pay for that you bitch."
All three charge at me, knives also drawn. The first brother lunged too far forward when going to stab me. Big mistake. I easily grab his wrist and twist it in an inhumanely way, causing him to drop the knife. As he shrieks in pain, I shift my body so my back is against his front. I grab his jacket and place my right leg in between his. With all my strength I pull him over my body, using my right leg to help lift him, and slam him to the ground (harai-goshi Judo throw).
I didn't hesitate after dealing with the first one, with how heavy he was to begin with, the momentum gained from throwing him clearly did some damage. One of the brothers ditched his knife and put on a pair of brass knuckles. He throws a right hook at me, but I dodge to my right. As he steps forward again, I kick his right leg, causing him to lose balance. I take this opportunity to grab his arms and sweep my leg under his left one, causing him to crash to the ground (kosoto-gari Judo throw). For safe measures, I kick him in the face to make sure he stays down.
The last one stands still, knife in hand. He looks at me, and then at Carla, a devious smile appearing on his face. I instantly charge at him, knowing his plan. Right before he could reach Carla, I jump on his back and tackle him the ground. I grab his hand holding the knife, and slam it into the ground multiple times until it clatters on the ground. He stands up with me on his back, and charges backwards, making my back hit the brick wall.
"Aghhh!" I yelped. I drop to the ground and he turns to face me.
"You fucking little twat, you really think you can beat my brothers? You're so DEAD."
He goes to throw a right jab, but I quickly duck, causing him to punch the brick wall instead. I knee him on the side of his left leg and kick his knee inward to make his leg to cave under him. Before he has time to react, I shift behind him, grab his shoulders, and dig my knee into his lower back muscles. The last blow causes him to fully drop to the ground.
I turn to Carla and reach out my hand. She tentatively takes it, slightly shaking.
"It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you."
She embraces me in a hug, silently crying. "Thank you! Thank you so much, I don't know what would've happened if you didn't show up."
I'm not really used to hugs, my family wasn't the touchy-feely type. So I reach up and rub small circles on her back. "It's ok, you're safe now, I can take you back home." I take off my overcoat and place it around her, seeing that the men ripped off her old coat. She looks at me with sparkling brown eyes, whispering another thank you.
I hop up on Copenhagen, and then help her up. We trotted down the busy streets of the walled-city as she directed me where to go, until we rounded a corner and came upon a small, quiet house.
"Let me help you down," I say while taking Carla's hand. Even though I'm shorter than her, my strength makes up for that.
"My family doesn't have a lot, but I want to repay you for saving me today," she says quietly.
"Carla, it's ok, it's nothing really, those guys were a piece of cake to handle with," I said chuckling at the end.
"No please, let me help you, what do you need? Food, water, money, clothes, shelter?"
I stand there pondering for a second. "Do you happen to know where I could get some medical supplies?"
Carla's eyes light up. "Yes!" she exclaimed, "My husband is a doctor! I'm sure we have some spare supplies, Ms. ?"
"(Y/N)! Sorry I just realized I never formally introduced myself," I say while scratching the back of my head.
"That's a beautiful name! Please come inside, I'll make us some tea and lunch while we wait for my husband to come home."
As I walk in, I subconsciously start counting all the exits and locating any protentional sources of weapons. Dammit (Y/N), stop thinking like this. She's no threat to you.
We sat and talked for a couple hours while waiting. I tried to be as vague as possible about my family and past, I mostly stuck to random childhood stories. Even though she protested, I helped Carla with some chores around the house, trying to kill the time. As we were finishing up, the door opened to reveal a tall, slender man, with dark brown hair parted in middle. He wore glasses and carried a brown leather bag, which I'm guessing was his medical supplies.
He tenses up when his eyes fall on me. "Carla, who is this?" He asks in an affirmative tone.
"Grisha! Be kind to her, this is (Y/N), she saved me earlier, I'll explain." We all sat down as Carla explained what happened. Grisha looked furious over the fact that any man tried touching his wife. But his demeanor softened when he looked at me. "Thank you (Y/N), my family and I owe you, greatly. Basic supplies is not enough to repay you."
"Like I told Carla, it really isn't that big of a deal, I am happy to help anyone in need." I pause for a second, thinking. "Actually, I don't really have a place to stay. I'm currently passing through, is it possible I could spend a couple nights here? I promise I will help with any house chores."
"Of course!" They both exclaimed. I smile, thanking them. Slight relief washes over knowing that I would have a safe place to stay for the upcoming days.