Disney woke up early in the morning. Zed were breaking down the front door. Shield to the front. Pull the shamblers while Phrancys dealt with something with claws. Search a dead shamble. Heal Phrancys. Boots on and tight, gun close, mask near to die with if needed. Disney left Phrancys asleep in the backroom and snuck out the now empty side room. Vex and Shadow had left early in the morning. Disney glanced briefly at the café. They left without a second backward glance while the town was still asleep. They heard the faint sounds of the Green Bean cabin getting broken into by shamblers. Seemed like a problem for townies. Hazel had mentioned that’s what the Stone Tigers call Rend problems. Townie problems. What did it take to get labeled not a townie problem, Disney wondered. Raider Rain was probably the answer, they shrugged.
There was a waystation not too far out of the way. Close enough to get to before night. The one Disney last saw Saul at.
That’s where Madison finds Disney. Turns out, 25 cred will buy a decent amount of hooch in a week. And a running tab left under Saul’s name will buy a lot more.
“Disney.”
Madison’s familiar low warning growl barely gets their head off the table. Disney grunts in response.
“Disney why aren’t you at the compound? Elsie is worried. The entire band is worried.”
Disney laughs, a blurting, throat clawing chuckle of sarcasm. They do lift their head for that. Disney runs finger through their hair, shaking dried blood onto their armor.
“Vincent never said yesh,” Disney slurs back and takes a swig from the flask in front of them. “Not my home. Vincent said ‘why you askin me?’ Never said ‘sure Disney come live wit the rest of da band… Sho… here I am.”
Disney goes to take a drink from one of the bottles on the table and Madison puts her hand over it. Disney growls, a snarl twisting the rot on their face and Madi growls back, psionic energy glowing at her fingertips.
Disney huffs and leans back in their chair. “Keep it. Empty anyway.”
“Disney, come home.” It wasn’t a question.
“Told ya, Madi. I am home. They don’t want me there. I don’t want me there. I want… I want to be with Pi. And O.”
Madi threw the contents of the bottle in Disney’s face. Disney snarled and reached for their weapon, but before their fingers could close around the hilt they sighed and dropped it.
“Could fight you Madi. Not the same lost little retro following you from BFG to the Hotel to 12 Knots. Could maybe hold my own. Just…”
Disney touched the pocket that used to hold the Glowing Green Rod. Pirates had stolen it this meet. Last meet. What week was it anyways?
“Come on Disney, come home.” It was closer to a request this time, not an order.
“No. I don’t have one, Madi, don’t you get it? My home died forever ago and I keep trying to rebuild it and it doesn’t fucking work, Madison. I. Do not. Have one. Now pull up a chair and get a drink on Saul’s tab. Or leave. Your choice.”
“And beshides! I’m not some heretical flower of the cult of the Almighty Band Leader-“
“That’s enough, Disney.”
Someone had brought a black jack table to the bar and Disney was up the exact cost of their tab. Someone realized two weeks in that Saul was never showing up. Someone had realized what Disney had realized a few months too late, Saul was never coming back for them. Disney motioned to be cashed out and spun, bottle in hand and half raised to their lips.
“You told my fucking mom on me, Madi?”
Madi stood half in front of Rose Redtail. Rose had her shield slung across her back and her sword away but close enough to grab if something broke through the door. Not here to fight Disney. Not yet. Madi had clenched fists though and Disney still had a burn on their arm where Madi had grabbed them before Disney pulled their gun. Boots tight, gun close, mask on if you gotta.
Rose put a gentle hand on Madi’s shoulder and said something as Disney slammed back the rest of their hooch. Madi stalked off to talk to the Distiller on shift.
“Whatcha doin, Disney?” Rose lilted as she sat next to Disney. Disney didn’t move as Rose collected Disney’s winnings.
“Drinkin and winnin, Rose.”
“Heard about Pisces. You ok?”
“Pisces who?” Disney stared, defiance in their eyes. Defiance and rebellion kept the heartache at bay. As long as there was someone to yell at, acid dripping from their teeth, Disney could pretend to be alright.
“Disney…” Rose’s tone was warning.
“Don’t be a single note right, Rose? Well Vincent doesn’t want me at the compound, Pi didn’t want me at the operation, and as soon as I pay my tab they don’t want me here.”
“Disney, you didn’t rover deal that Saul was gonna pay your tab did you?” Rose was always just the right amount of tactful and blunt.
“Rose I would never. Probably. You should probably check. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make any deals. But I did say they would get paid. And this is where I last saw Saul.”
Madi breezed by, took Disney’s winnings from Rose, and went back to pay the tab.
“C’mon Disney. I’m taking you home,” Rose held out a hand.
“I don’t wanna go to the compound.” Disney set her bottle on the table and reached for their gun.
“Not to the compound. Madi lives outside town. She wants you to stay there, until you’re better.”
Disney hesitated.
“No one wants me anymore, momma bird.”
“That’s obviously not true, Disney. Madi told your mom on you. And here we are. Now. Are you coming?”
Like the gnomes, if you left the Bear alone, it wouldn’t hurt you. The man walked into town, his face painted like more than a pure blood, with a leash that lead to a collar that led to a bear. Since Devil’s Den, there were more raiders, new raiders. Scarier raiders. There was one group, that when they were coming, would ring a bell off in the distance. The town would gear up, the ones that couldn’t fight would hide. The bell rang when the man and the bear came into town too.
It was in the midst of the panic of getting ready to defend against the raiders that Disney saw the bear. She was an inch from running into it. She fell flat on her ass. Ever the klutz at the exact wrong moment. And then, Noah, brave little stupid Noah, was standing behind her with rocks in his hands. He threw them at the bear, distracting it from Disney. And then the bear chased the baby Retrograde. Disney was up and running. She had to protect the Retrograde. No one else would.
She reached in her pocket and there was a key. The bear reached to tear limb and armor from Noah. Disney dove between them, holding her Tenth Doctor and key in front of her. And the bear stopped in its tracks as music poured from the key.
“Now I know that I can’t make you stay
But where’s your heart
But where’s your heart.”
The man with the face paint walked up and put the collar back on the Bear. Disney couldn’t hear him over the King. Not Saul’s King. Not the King of the Darkwave. She couldn’t think of where she had heard it. It must have been from her long forgotten past.
“Don’t you hear that?” Disney asked Noah.
“Hear what, Doc Disney?” Elsie asked.
And Disney began to sing the song of the King “I see you lying next to me, with words I thought I’d never speak, awake and unafraid, asleep or dead.” The words tore ragged, like just saying them wasn’t enough, the emotion had to bleed through. All emotion had to bleed through.
A hand came from the Darkwave tent they stood in front of and dragged Elsie back into the depths of Kings Court. Disney turned to go find Saul and came face to face with Vex and Ghost. The words of her King wouldn’t stop coming out of her mouth.
“Disney’s religion hopping.” Vex noted.
“She’s going the way of Aspen. Abandoning the glow.” Ghost responded.
“Don’t go the way of Aspen, Disney. Don’t go the way of Aspen.”
Disney woke with a start covered in sweat, the words of the King from her dream on her lips. “I am not afraid to walk this world alone, honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven, nothing you can say will stop me going home.” Just as ragged from her throat upon waking as they were in the dream.
She had to talk to Saul. She had to find that key. She had to hear that King again.
[Evolved In the Not Dead Way] - Apologized to Laz. Did not die. Learned more about the Darwin faith. Still did not die.
[They. Never. Stop. Coming.] - Live through MULTIPLE never ending zombie spawns. Screamers. White Ladies. Tanks. It was not the most pleasant thing ever.
[I'm feeling excessively religious] - As a result of the never ending zombie hordes, get Call the Almighty-ed 3 times, by a different religion each time. Sainthood, Kings Court, Darwin.
[Staring Contest] - See a zed at the back door. Stare at it to make sure it is in character. See it step forward. Yell at the morons next to the door that there is a zed right there. Get told I was wrong. Laugh when they're still to scared to go outside and face the "nonexistent zed anyways".
[Bravest Doctor] - Yell at the shield guy standing in the middle of the room to go defend the door that is being broken down. Offer money for it. When he dips out the back door, taunt the zed over to you.
[Do Work Get Paid] - Get paid the equivalent of 5 Starbucks for healing people. Rejoice in the most money you have ever had. Turn it back over to Andry in the morning.
[Scrub Team Six] - Get told Saul is in charge. Bemoan that we are all going to die. Remind Saul you love him.
[Disney Heal Your Captain] - Think that people are yelling for you because the probies are drunk again. Hear BFG ON ME! Jump up and get told that they legit need you to heal Andry. Blow 50% of your mind healing Andry. Rejoice that you're important.
[Pre-game shenanigans]- Lose my small before game on somewhere between BFG and the Protectorate. Don't realize it until you get back to BFG. Go back to the Protectorate, don't find it. Learn that Mario turned it into ops. Melt into a puddle of sweat.
[Can't touch this] - Dodge a Cinder's swings. Totally sacrifice my patient and run inside the tavern to escape. (Don't worry it's Torque he can take it.)
[Even more useful!] - Learn how to be a cook from 89. Help prepare the best pulled pork sandwich ever eaten ever.
[F*~#$% I'm gonna die] - Piss off big bad people. Have no regrets. Welcome the coming evolution. Curse a lot.
[Wait you know who I am?] - In the same 12 hour span have Andry and Jag both refer to you by name. Try not to panic because you're just a probie. Fan girl immediately afterwards.
[Boycott the Natural One] - Have a Natural One say "I don't understand why they're allowed to walk around like they're people". Regarding Retrogrades. To your masked and rotted face. Be salty about it all weekend.
[The heat fuels my salt] - Sweat a lot. Become progressively more salty as the day goes on. Regret nothing.
[Proud mama retrograde] - Realize that the trouble child Retrograde has learned hiding is more cost effective than healing. Give him a highfive.
[I really hope those stabilized people all survived...] Stabilize many many people on Sunday. Lose count of the stabilizes. Curse Gabriel for not returning your Crash Kit.
[Potato Potahto] (NPC shift)- Help Potato a lone person near Pixies. Knock them into bleed out. Half-Potato the person that comes to rescue them. Get killed by the person that comes to save both of them. Watch them all limp away.
[DR HYPE] Disney brushed a hand across her new treasures. A set of pipes which she couldnt make sound beautiful for the life of her. Elsie would love them though. She'd collected some stones with things carved in them. One said hope. One had a weird lookin N. One was just shiny with a hole in it. The last one had taken some polishing to get the gunk off of it. Those treasures were for her. She'd been paid a jar that had a genjin symbol on the side from some poor lost genjin who had a bite out of his side when she found him. He made it miraculously enough, gave her the jar of water and booked it. Probably scared of whatever had taken a chunk out of him. She had lost her necklace of feathers along the way somewhere. But she had the scarf she'd been given at the last meet. It was bright and she kept having to tuck it under her shirt because it stood out too much against the green of her new surroundings, but she wouldn't give it up for anything. She had found a new mask too. Much more breathable than a scarf. It looked vaguely familiar though. She had probably seen it on some other poor rotfaced soul. She had a new bag too. All her new treasures had problems fitting in her backpack with the gun and couple of knives. She had a trove of treasures to bring back to the rend. And she'd gotten a letter saying an old friend might be making it up to the Rend soon. Another adopted member of Disney's self collected family. Not like her brother who had abandoned her twice now. Once to a life of slavery, once to fight some ancient and really ugly sea gods. "Fool me once..." She muttered. She'd make new family though. That's why she had BFG. And Styx. And Elsie. Disney smiled as she shoved her gear in her bag and went to wake Styx. It was time to head back to the Rend.