#zaunitesnake

[noescapingthepast]

Continued from here:

There was nothing in the boxes except worn tools, and while those might prove useful in niche situations, they wouldn't win a fight against Enforcers or Noxians with hammers and wrenches, unfortunately. With a halfhearted sigh, Warwick moved on. His steps carried him over to those mining gauntlets, where he crouched down to run fingers along the side of one.

The reply from Silco brought about another sigh -- this one exasperated. Although in truth, he couldn't blame the other for his reaction; how many times had he already been burned by this very subject? Still, with a bittersweet smile and while sticking his hands inside of the gauntlets, he tried again: "I'm not goading you. I want to understand." A pause. "... I always say that bartenders know that every person has a story to share. Contrary to how I've treated you in the past, that does include you, Bozo Two. I want to hear yours -- just in case we don't get the chance to have that heart-to-heart later."

@zaunitesnake

[droplct]

● — || ❝ Do funerals really count as acts of love ? ❞

[zaunitespride]

closed starter for @zaunitesnake

The fight was over, the Noxians had lost the war. Viktor's attempt to enslave them all had been thwarted. Everyone was finally moving on with their lives and seemed to work out for the better. Hell, even Sevika was apart of the council now! Finally, Zaun had something to celebrate alongside Piltover.

However, somewhere amongst the people of the lanes was someone they long believed dead. Jinx. Everyone had heard of the noble story of their savior, worshipped by many, sacrificing herself to save Vi from what they knew was a beast. They would be right about one thing, Warwick had been a beast with no Vander left inside of him and he'd have killed his own daughter. But Jinx? Jinx wouldn't allow the world to lose her, and so she made that sacrifice, taking herself out of the equation.

Only she had survived. She'd managed to use the gifts that the shimmer in her blood gave her and fled through one of the air ducts. Warwick had fallen on his own. Since then she'd kept a watchful eyes on those she'd cared about, watching them move on, with those they had left. All the while she knew she would spend the rest of her days, alone. But that didn't mean she couldn't revisit her own past.

Eventually her loneliness had taken her back to the last drop, or what remained of it. It was quiet, no longer thrumming with life like it had been before. Saddened eyes glanced over at the bar as she passed by, making her way up the stairway. Like any other time, she expected the chair to Silco desk to be empty, a ghost she would talk to on several occasions in her grief. However, she froze when she saw her father sitting there.

"P-Papa?" Jinx had stopped seeing conjured images of him a while ago, since that day in the cell, and yet he looked so different. The way his hair had grown out... "No this is just my mind playing tricks on me. I'm alone here, always alone..."

And yet she found herself running to him, her loose grown out hair brushing along the floor until she collided with something very real, and solid. "I've lost everything... again and its all my fault."

[zauneyed]

“Uh… surprise?”

sent by: @zaunitesnake

𝐀 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝.

Standing before him, in the middle of his office, was someone ― something ― that looked like …him. Or, more accurately, like someone he used to be.

Silco had been pondering over his paperwork as per usual, sifting through notifications, demands and other things that were delegated his way from his lower workers with no authority to make vaster decisions, and in order to keep this place running, keep his plans from progressing, he admittedly had developed quite the controlling streak.

When movement was heard from the door, he had looked up and now he sat, frozen, lips parted in surprise as he stared at what could only be described as an image of his younger self.

No scars. No bad eye. Hair longer, fuller, and expression softer.

He could feel his throat tighten, dry and constricted, not enough air filling his lungs as he swallowed against the lump formed there, shoulders stiffening as he then pressed his lips into a thin line, squinting.

Was this another plan of the barons to get the better of him? A way to play with his sanity, trying to find a weak spot to sink their claws into?

“...what is this?”

His voice was a mere hiss, animosity carrying it through the silence stretching between them as he slowly rose to his feet, the low, steady thrumming behind his bad eye getting worse by the second as his heartbeat quickened alongside. Silco’s left hand slipped to his side, finding the reassuring form of his dagger at his hip, while he kept his gaze locked on the apparition before him.

At the same time, his ears were strained to listen for any sound ― expecting fully to be ambushed any moment by one of the barons or their lackeys, hoping to catch him unawares in this moment of confusion.

He would not have that.

“Who sent you?”

Still his voice was low, thin, threatening all the same as he rounded his shoulders now, subconsciously mimicking the stance he’d always see Vander take before a fight, to appear taller, bigger than he was, ready to spring into action.

[madeofthreads]

Interaction call | @zaunitesnake

Leon regarded the invitation again. The lavish cardstock had already creased from how much he handled it, as though he might pry a hidden secret from the paper. Of course it was all the same details.

He had been invited to Zaun Industries. Not his taskforce, not the US military. It was an invitation written specifically to Leon S. Kennedy.

He'd be lying if he didn't admit it unnerved him a little. His name was out in the world enough for powerful people to notice it. But therein was the mystery, his name was kept a secret to most. Somehow he had been tracked.

Of course he had been tasked with seeing this through. Any intel on the rumoured rival to Umbrella Corporation would be valuable. Although there weren't any confirmed cases, there were rumours of Bio Organic Weapons.

The gates leading up to a mansion way out of his price range unfortunately opened. Leon didn't think himself a coward, but he did feel a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Like danger was closing in on him. Like he was making a monumental mistake by being here.

Soon enough, he found himself parked where he thought he was supposed to, and he was handing over his creased invitation. Silco would see him. Grand.

Leon's eyes wandered as he was led to meet said man. Mapping out his escape route, what windows he could shoot out and leap from, where he might have a breather to reload. Something in him anticipated violence.

[audaciiaearch]

@zaunitesnake said: monsters are always hungry, darling, and they're only a few steps behind you. [ let's menace caitlyn today ]

It was stupid to come here alone, she knows, but Caitlyn is nothing if not a little stubborn. All of her thoughts, theories, all of it, comes back to Silco. No one ever listens to her. No one really takes her seriously. No one except Vi, and even then, Vi wouldn't have let her do this if she had known anything about it.

She takes a deep breath, trying to ignore the way her heart pounds in her chest. It would certainly be a waste if she died right now, right on the edge of proving herself right. She presses her lips together in a thin line, then turns to face him, her hands curling into fists.

"Silco," she says simply, trying to keep her voice even. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

[honorforged-archive]

Zuko’s steps echoed softly against the polished floors of the Fire Lord’s private study, a measured rhythm born of habit and careful thought. He had requested this meeting with a man few in the court would openly name, much less approach without caution. @zaunitesnake was a man from a shadowed side of the Fire Nation that Zuko had only begun to uncover. Yet, necessity now dictated an alliance.

He straightened his posture, “I intend to reform the council, and I need someone who understands the workings of this city and those still loyal to my father lingering in positions they no longer deserve who think they can run this nation better than I do. I’m offering a place at my council. Your knowledge, your… reach, could help me bring the Fire Nation into a new era of peace and prosperity.”

[jinxcdd]

@zaunitesnake replied x

"So just another day in Jinx Land."

"You know it!"