A woman and her daughter in their backyard. The child, no older than 7 was helping her mother garden, digging up old, dead plants in the dirt bed lining the layered foundation of their home and replacing them with beautiful flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes.
"Here sweet pea, like this." her mother demonstrated how to transfer the flowers from their pots to the fresh soil coating the small patch of ground. The child watched, nodding her head as the soft breeze ruffled her soft, black hair. As she followed her mother's example, her father's voice rang through the small yard, calling out.
"Darlin', there's someone here to see ya." he sounded nervous, and as the small girl turned around to watch her mother leave, she noticed her father looked stressed. His dull grey eyes were filled with fear, as sharp whispers were exchanged between the couple, and her mother walked inside.
"Carly hun, stay outside with daddy for a while ok?" the girl simply nodded, continuing the entertaining hobby her mother had taught her. She could feel her father's eyes on her, burning through the back of her skull protectively...
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"Zya..."
A voice called her name, her only response was a grunt. She felt numb, unsure why she was being disturbed.
"Zyaah..."
Whoever it was sounded concerned, a light tap on her shoulder coaxed her further from her slumber. The hybrid refused, growling a little louder, as if telling her company to back off and let her sleep.
"Zya!"
"Why must you disturb me, I was having such a nice dream." Zya murmured tiredly, cracking an eye open to examine the disturbance. She would have assumed it was Danny, but it wasn't. Instead, Evan stood over her, hunched in an almost protective manner. Worry streamed from his aura like a waterfall. He relaxed, noticing she was finally awake. He shook his head, helping her sit up.
"You've been sleeping for hours." his rough voice rang through the hybrid's head as she rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling very sore. "We were starting to think you died" a grin was evident in his voice, all traces of worry disappearing, being replaced by a playful tease. Zya scoffed, shaking her head with a smirk as she punched his arm lightly. A dull pain hit her shoulder, travelling down her back. A groan escaped her throat whilst she reached a hand back, feeling for the wound.
Oh that's right...
The memories of her previous adventure whizzed through her mind, almost painfully. The broken wing, which had now been casted and bound to her shoulder, reminded her of the fight she'd been in. Zya figured the entity would heal it, it healed survivors after every trial - stab and slash wounds would be mended into scars after every trial, while dislocations and breaks would cease to exist at all. Though it seemed a bit biased on the Entity's part, the hybrid supposed it was only fair, considering survivors needed to be ready for the next trial with minimal preparation. She sighed, feeling very moody all of a sudden. She stood up, thankfully with ease, considering all her injuries were upper body.
"Where's Sally?"
"Trial."
Zya huffed moodily, earning a chuckle from Evan as she walked off. She wanted to thank Sally face to face for tending to her wounds, the nurse did quite a bit of work where the eldritch being did not, tending to wounds other killers recieved from trials, though wounds were fairly uncommon. A typical decisive strike here and there, occasional headaches from pallet drops. Sure the killers were tough, but they weren't invincible. Examining the glade most killers gathered in, it seemed as though most were either in a trial or most likely hanging out in their own domain.
Most of the more social killers were around; Anna and Joey were playing go fish against Frank and Susie, an activity they often did in their free time. Rin, Lisa, and Evan were discussing trial techniques amongst each other by the fire. Now that Zya thought about it, Herman was always in his own realm, most likely indulging in a good book or an experiment, Myers and the demogorgon just really preferred to be left to their own devices. She'd only met each a few times, when they finally decided to come out of hiding.
The hybrid wondered what else they did in their freetime. She figured Myers probably stalked his sister, Laurie, quite a bit. Though the other two were a mystery to her.
Zya didn't imagine she'd be getting called into a trial anytime soon, considering the Entity's careless and merciless 'Punishment'. The hybrid pondered on what had caused such mischievous playtime anyway. Yes she failed a trial, she understood that, but she only failed due to her distractions. Looking down at the cloak around her shoulders, she wondered where her familiar shadow was now, she wanted to see him...
Scolding herself, she trekked into the dark woods, she wanted to be alone too, a chance to work out what the hell was going on in her sick mind. Zya would go as far as she could; the border between killer territory and survivor territory. No one would disturb her there, she was sure of it, none of the killers were ever interested in being remotely close to it. The hybrid glanced up at the trees and sighed. She'd been walking for a while. She missed being in the air already, the desire to feel the wind through her hair. A cool breeze hit the side of her face, signifying she was growing near the border. Zya was a few feet away from the border now, she just wanted to be higher...
A devious idea pounded in the back of her head, causing the hybrid to grin playfully as she looked down at the chains on her arms - she had originally wrapped them around her arms to prevent them from dragging along the ground. Now, she unravelled one of the long weaves of crimson metal, tossing it around a tree and grabbing the end with her spare hand. Her scaly onyx claws grasped it tightly, as she began to climb the thick trunk; a technique she had learned from a few members of her twisted little family. Once she was high enough, the hybrid grabbed a branch and hauled herself up, resting on the sturdy column of wood. Oak was her favorite, it smelled so nice, clean, and it was very strong as well.
Surveying her surroundings, a white mask staring up at her a few feet away, in a different tree. Myers. She called it, he does stalk his sister in his free time. She tilted her head in greeting, receiving the same mannerism, before the man turned his side to her and stared across the border. The hybrid curiously followed his gaze.
A group of survivors, four at most, were scouting around the trees on the opposite side. Sure enough, amongst them was Laurie. That sly fox Myers most likely knew she'd be here beforehand. Zya watched as they discussed amongst each other uncertainly, though the words couldn't reach her ears, she understood what they were talking about perfectly. Claudette and David were verbally challenging each other, their voices becoming clearer the closer they grew.
"You said you needed Foxglove, it's right over there just go get it!" David pointed across the border to a patch of flowers, just beyond the dirt path separating the territories. The chocolate skinned woman shaking her head, turning to David's accomplice, whom appeared to be the shy and unspoken Jake.
" You two can't be serious, that's like asking to be killed..." the woman sounded uneasy, an exasperated David stomped his foot childishly, the male groaning.
"You'll just go back to the campfire if you die, besides, I scout this part of the border every day and none of the killers ever come here." the man seemed so confident, little did he know...
"Hey Dave, if you're so interested in those flowers why don't you get em yourself?" Laurie spoke up, breaking the tense silence as she turned to the two men. He groaned, clearly reluctant to back down from her challenge, though equally reluctant to find out if his words were true. Zya grinned playfully, looking to Myers. He didn't react, only staring at his sister interestedly. After another brief silence, she heard David sigh, mumbling under his breath as he stomped across the border, a cocky aura spilling from his form.
The hybrid took her chance, dropping down from her hiding spot, making sure to make some noise. She landed right behind the cocky male, who was bent over and picking up some flowers off the bed of grass. So life did grow here after all, she wondered how.
"David!" Claudette's screech was enough to alert the oblivious male, causing him to spin around and meet face to face with an intimidating sight. The Hybrid. An animalistic roar cut the silence like a knife through butter, her hot breath hitting David's face; it reeked of blood and meat, stinging the man's eyes. In his stunned silence, the roar ended, and she stared down at him, a good half head taller. Her shining crimson eyes glinted with mischief, a dark undertone of bloodlust present as well. He screamed, unwilling to find out what this thing would do to him as he ran past her, back across the border. In his panicked haste, he tripped over a fallen branch, making himself look like a fool as he scrambled up and continued to run. All was silent again, his friends running after him.
"But you'll just go back to the campfire if you die!" Laurie repeated his earlier words teasingly as she ran after him, giggling. The hybrid watched them go, then looked up at the tree Myers had been hiding in, he was watching. A disapproving huff sounded behind his mask, a deep chuckle following as he shook his head teasingly at her. She had to admit.
She might just enjoy this twisted vacation.
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