( * a series of prompts taken from shayfer james and kate douglas' rock-noir reimagining of the epic poem beowulf. feel free to adjust as needed. / PART 2
Prologue.
"Listen."
"Listen to the sea."
"Feel the water at your feet."
"This is how the tide behaves."
"We're swept along an open sea."
"We are drifting endlessly."
"The tide will rise, the tide will fall."
"And in the end it takes us all."
"We try again to tell the story."
"Cities built will fall to flood."
"And we will scrape them from the mud."
"The victors write our history by conjuring the enemy."
"We're at the mercy of the swell."
"It beckons us, and bids farewell."
"We build a cradle from our grave."
"Ebb and flow."
"The villains go."
"The heroes go."
Pile of Bones.
"I watch them through their windows."
"I stalk them in the street."
"They don't see me."
"They keep me company."
"I would rather be a monster than a fool."
"I'm hungry, and I've come for you."
"There's a pile of bones in the corner."
"They built these brittle walls in vain."
"They know my name."
"There's a pile of bones in the corner that I call friends."
"They satisfy my hunger."
"I wait 'till they're asleep."
"I call this chaos order."
"I call this carnage peace."
"I'm gonna grab them by their fragile throats."
"They cower at my feet."
"I will never have enough."
"I will drink of this destruction."
"I am summoning the flood."
"They scream my name."
I Believe in Peace.
"They call my name."
"Do they know what it means?"
"They ask for blood like they're dying of thirst."
"I'm a one - woman church."
"They want a savior."
"I'll be their savior."
"Give me your poor, your weak, your lost, your hopelessness."
"Don't worry, I'm here."
"I believe in peace."
"But I'll go to war for you."
"I believe in truth."
"But I would lie for you."
"I know how to cure devastation."
"See, I am salvation."
"I know how to calm a commotion."
"See, I am the chosen."
"I am a marvel."
"Carve me in marble."
"Enemies cower when I come around."
"I'm elemental, build me a temple."
"'Gonna light the way."
Family.
"You never disappoint."
"You keep us fed."
"You keep them wounded."
"But I can smell it on the wind."
"Another heathen they've recruited."
"This one is different from the rest."
"She comes in war, she comes like thunder."
"We'll lose whatever we have left."
"You must do this for your mother."
"They're hateful, they're heartless."
"They say we're the enemy."
"I'm all that you've got."
"We are blood, we are family."
"If you don't strike first, she'll take you away from me."
"I will keep you safe."
"I will be your eyes."
"I'll be your protector."
"They have no business in this place."
"And no, I will not be afraid."
"You always do as you say."
"I'll ruin all they've created."
"I will take it all away."
"No one is going to take you away from me."
"I feel it swelling like a storm."
"It's eye for eye, and limb for limb."
"It's time to end this."
Song of Praise.
"Our hero has arrived."
"I humbly submit myself at this soldier's feet."
"To sing of soldier's feats."
"Can I ask you, please."
"Do I have the blessing of addressing the one and only?"
"I'm truly at a loss."
"We must sing praises."
"We must keep her legacy alive."
"Our hero will never die."
"My clever words could never paint the picture that your name creates."
"The gory glory, the body count."
"The color of blood upon your blade."
"You put other men to shame."
"I couldn't possibly explain."
"Should I sing of monsters slain?"
"Of those you saved from certain death?"
"Let this be the day you came to fight for us and win again."
"I may run out of breath."
What They Want.
"Pivot, smile, stop."
"Make them laugh and give them what they want."
"Raise a glass."
"Praise the names of those who came before."
"Tell them fate is waiting at the door."
"This is what they want."
"This is what you're here for."
"This is who you are are."
"This is what you came for."
"Make a promise."
"Keep it modest."
"Tell them there is nothing left to fear."
"Say a changing of the tide is near."
The Flood.
"They sing their songs by firelight."
"I watch them dull their minds."
"These foolish drunks and diplomats."
"Lies and empty promises give hopeless men relief."
"Is ignorance their innocence?"
"Do they walk the world asleep?"
"I am cunning."
"They're complicit."
"I am coming."
"They dismiss it."
"Let their comforts blind them."
"I have come here to remind them."
"I am wakeful."
"I am watchful."
"I am unafraid to fight."
"I will stir you from your slumber."
"I will never say goodnight."
"I will tear you from your treasure."
"We're all guilty of something."
"For every gift, there is a sin."
"It depends on where you're standing."
"Cutting corners, casting stones."
"We are, none of us, immortal."
"We are, all of us, alone."
"For every give there is a take."
"We pretend to love the victims of the choices that we make."
You are cold, analytical, and you strive to be as objective as a person of flesh and blood can be. Either don't understand the concepts of good and evil, or you understand it perfectly and think it's a load of bull. Some may call you selfish, some may call you unfeeling, but you're just doing what you believe will yield the best results, plain and simple. Why bother with petty ideals of right or wrong when you can do what will actively help those you give a fuck about? Your goals may be selfish or noble or anything in between, but you will not let anyone make you feel like garbage for going after them. You couldn't care less about what people brand you as. You just care about getting shit done by any means necessary.
Croc had paused, lifting his head to sniff at the air before his whole snout wrinkled in a brief snarl.
"Yeah. Somethin' up ahead is burnin'. Don't smell like anythin' safe to be around, either."
Fire in itself was dangerous enough, but a chemical fire– especially if one didn't know what exactly was burning– was twice the trouble. Gotham had enough problems with Joker gas or Fear Toxin without adding flame to the mix.
----------------------------
While maybe many other people would be afraid of Waylon, Teddy sees him as a kindred spirit, a beast in a world not made for him, but woefully less capable of hiding himself. And he seems to have caught a whiff of something.
Something he can help with, blessedly.
"Maybe not for you, mate," he retorts, wearing a mischievous grin, "But this is kind of my exact specialty. Whaddya say I go scout ahead and see whether or not I can get things under control? Not like I got anywhere to immediately be."
Besides, what's life without a healthy diet of adventure?
As full of oddities as Gotham was, finding one of Teddy's particular strain had been unexpected. Pleasant, but unexpected. At that point, maybe it was a good thing Croc hadn't scared him off.
The mutant looked from the direction of the fire, back to Teddy.
"Sure, why not? You seem better equipped to deal with this than me; go on ahead n' see what you can see," he rumbled. "If the Bat's beat you there, just call n' I'll come up to help with that issue."
"where you been, gator? i almost started missin' you, you disappeared for so long!"ㅤthere's a teasing lilt to their tone as they all but grin at him, but they're genuinely curious. (they did kinda miss him but shhhhhh)
"Louisiana. Been too long since I went back, figured I'd take a few summer months to soak up the heat while it's still there. The bayou beats Gotham's Slaughter Swamp any day."
A break was what he'd needed, too. No Bat coming after him for a few months was one big stress relief (as was hassling the gator hunters).
Had a work thought of Croc taking off to play Distract/Preoccupy the Good Guys So My Partner Can Work and someone asking "what if they catch you??" and Croc just being like "lmao what's the worst they can do to me?"
Croc had paused, lifting his head to sniff at the air before his whole snout wrinkled in a brief snarl.
"Yeah. Somethin' up ahead is burnin'. Don't smell like anythin' safe to be around, either."
Fire in itself was dangerous enough, but a chemical fire– especially if one didn't know what exactly was burning– was twice the trouble. Gotham had enough problems with Joker gas or Fear Toxin without adding flame to the mix.
blakekathryn
discoholicmusic
2087
janainaart
