There's No Happy Ending...Not For Me Anyway [Narrative/Complete]
Characters: Rosette
Content: Rosette believes she's found her brother...unfortunately, it's not what she expects.
Setting: Wherever the TARDIS is, likely around the I9 area.
Time: Afternoon, backdated to the hallucination/Heartless plot
Warnings: None so far.
She'd just wanted some fresh air.She'd just wanted some fresh air. No matter how big the TARDIS was, there was something about it that made Rosette feel cooped up. She knew that she was safe in here, but that didn't stop her from wanting to go outside for a while (as much as "outside" could be applied to Paixao) and just breathe.
So she picked a time when Chrono was asleep and nobody was in the main room and she headed out, closing the door quietly behind her. There was no note - she didn't expect to be gone long.
There were a good number of things she didn't expect, actually. The blond teenager she saw in front of her was no exception. She froze, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing. She vaguely remembered Timon mentioning this, but she never expected...
She shook her head, blinked, and looked back at him. He was still there.
...He was smiling.
That was when her knees just about buckled. He was here. He was here, and here she was choking on his name. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she managed it.
"Joshua."
He held his arms out to her, still smiling, no sign of the horns that had been driving him mad when last she'd seen him. "Sister."
Suddenly, nothing else mattered. Joshua was here. He recognized her. As she threw herself into his arms, holding him tight as she could, she realized she wanted nothing else. This was her everything, right here.
"Joshua," she gasped, repeating his name over and over again as though he'd disappear if she stopped saying it. Who cared what had happened in the interim? Who cared what had happened to the horns, or how he'd regained his sanity? He was here. That was what mattered. "Joshua..."
His response was to tighten his grip around her. "I've missed you, sister."
She didn't know how long she stayed there, wrapped in his arms. Time was not something that usually escaped Rosette, but it had well and truly gotten away from her now. She didn't care. She was a bit surprised when Joshua tapped her shoulder, effectively snapping her out of her reverie. "I want to show you something," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the street. Never mind that Rosette had no idea what part of the city this was or where they were headed. She was with Joshua. It would be alright.
She was still sure of that when, minutes later - hours later - how long had they been walking? - she didn't care - he led her down an alley. "Joshua?" she finally ventured. "What did you want me to see?"
"Oh." He stopped and turned to face her. "This." She saw something snap in his eyes. That was the only warning she got before he was on her, hands wrapped tightly around her throat, slamming her, shocked and stunned, to the ground.
"What- Joshua..." she barely managed to squeeze out before he cut her air off completely. What had happened? What had gone wrong? What was he doing?
It was then that something a little deeper than surface thought - survival instinct, namely - kicked in and Rosette brought her knee up hard, using Joshua's surprise at the impact to kick him off her. She'd barely managed to take a few raspy breaths before he was on her again, trying to strangle her. She'd passed the point of panic, which helped, and kicked him off again before he could do any more damage. "Joshua!" she yelled, rolling to her feet and turning to face where she'd thrown him. "Joshua, what-"
She froze. It wasn't Joshua anymore. Instead, something bigger than her torso floated in midair, comprised of what looked like a glass container in the center (though the black and red heart painted on it was strange) with four large white wings keeping it in the air.
She stared, with the sinking realization that this wasn't Joshua and never had been. She stared, because that was all she could do.
Until the creature created fire between its wings and threw it at her. She certainly wasn't sticking around for that. She dodged to the side, drawing her gun and firing a few shots at the creature. The first two ricocheted off the creature's closed wings, which was a source of frustration in and of itself. The third, however, slammed into the glass compartment, bouncing off but causing a nasty-looking crack in the compartement nonetheless. Good. That was it. Aim for the glass.
So she did.
Six shots later the creature was gone and she was alone in the alley, watching a pink heart float up to the sky and mentally cursing herself for being foolish. How could she have done this? How could she have fallen for the illusion?
Because Timon had seen him too, was her reply. Because people were known for showing up here randomly, and she was hoping this would be another one of those cases. Because she'd wanted to believe it.
She holstered her gun and went back to find the Doctor and the TARDIS and get back to them. It wasn't until a bit later, when she stopped to check the map on her journal for directions, that she realized she'd managed to lose nearly a day and a half caught in what had proven to be an illusion.
It took everything she had not to simply collapse then and there. She couldn't afford to - not here in the open, not after she'd been missing for so long. She picked herself up, making the long walk back to the TARDIS, fighting off emotions she couldn't deal with just now. Maybe later. Maybe never. Just not now.
Content: Rosette believes she's found her brother...unfortunately, it's not what she expects.
Setting: Wherever the TARDIS is, likely around the I9 area.
Time: Afternoon, backdated to the hallucination/Heartless plot
Warnings: None so far.
She'd just wanted some fresh air.She'd just wanted some fresh air. No matter how big the TARDIS was, there was something about it that made Rosette feel cooped up. She knew that she was safe in here, but that didn't stop her from wanting to go outside for a while (as much as "outside" could be applied to Paixao) and just breathe.
So she picked a time when Chrono was asleep and nobody was in the main room and she headed out, closing the door quietly behind her. There was no note - she didn't expect to be gone long.
There were a good number of things she didn't expect, actually. The blond teenager she saw in front of her was no exception. She froze, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing. She vaguely remembered Timon mentioning this, but she never expected...
She shook her head, blinked, and looked back at him. He was still there.
...He was smiling.
That was when her knees just about buckled. He was here. He was here, and here she was choking on his name. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she managed it.
"Joshua."
He held his arms out to her, still smiling, no sign of the horns that had been driving him mad when last she'd seen him. "Sister."
Suddenly, nothing else mattered. Joshua was here. He recognized her. As she threw herself into his arms, holding him tight as she could, she realized she wanted nothing else. This was her everything, right here.
"Joshua," she gasped, repeating his name over and over again as though he'd disappear if she stopped saying it. Who cared what had happened in the interim? Who cared what had happened to the horns, or how he'd regained his sanity? He was here. That was what mattered. "Joshua..."
His response was to tighten his grip around her. "I've missed you, sister."
She didn't know how long she stayed there, wrapped in his arms. Time was not something that usually escaped Rosette, but it had well and truly gotten away from her now. She didn't care. She was a bit surprised when Joshua tapped her shoulder, effectively snapping her out of her reverie. "I want to show you something," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the street. Never mind that Rosette had no idea what part of the city this was or where they were headed. She was with Joshua. It would be alright.
She was still sure of that when, minutes later - hours later - how long had they been walking? - she didn't care - he led her down an alley. "Joshua?" she finally ventured. "What did you want me to see?"
"Oh." He stopped and turned to face her. "This." She saw something snap in his eyes. That was the only warning she got before he was on her, hands wrapped tightly around her throat, slamming her, shocked and stunned, to the ground.
"What- Joshua..." she barely managed to squeeze out before he cut her air off completely. What had happened? What had gone wrong? What was he doing?
It was then that something a little deeper than surface thought - survival instinct, namely - kicked in and Rosette brought her knee up hard, using Joshua's surprise at the impact to kick him off her. She'd barely managed to take a few raspy breaths before he was on her again, trying to strangle her. She'd passed the point of panic, which helped, and kicked him off again before he could do any more damage. "Joshua!" she yelled, rolling to her feet and turning to face where she'd thrown him. "Joshua, what-"
She froze. It wasn't Joshua anymore. Instead, something bigger than her torso floated in midair, comprised of what looked like a glass container in the center (though the black and red heart painted on it was strange) with four large white wings keeping it in the air.
She stared, with the sinking realization that this wasn't Joshua and never had been. She stared, because that was all she could do.
Until the creature created fire between its wings and threw it at her. She certainly wasn't sticking around for that. She dodged to the side, drawing her gun and firing a few shots at the creature. The first two ricocheted off the creature's closed wings, which was a source of frustration in and of itself. The third, however, slammed into the glass compartment, bouncing off but causing a nasty-looking crack in the compartement nonetheless. Good. That was it. Aim for the glass.
So she did.
Six shots later the creature was gone and she was alone in the alley, watching a pink heart float up to the sky and mentally cursing herself for being foolish. How could she have done this? How could she have fallen for the illusion?
Because Timon had seen him too, was her reply. Because people were known for showing up here randomly, and she was hoping this would be another one of those cases. Because she'd wanted to believe it.
She holstered her gun and went back to find the Doctor and the TARDIS and get back to them. It wasn't until a bit later, when she stopped to check the map on her journal for directions, that she realized she'd managed to lose nearly a day and a half caught in what had proven to be an illusion.
It took everything she had not to simply collapse then and there. She couldn't afford to - not here in the open, not after she'd been missing for so long. She picked herself up, making the long walk back to the TARDIS, fighting off emotions she couldn't deal with just now. Maybe later. Maybe never. Just not now.