Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Weary eyes were able to open once more, a mind crawling back into the empty walls of a shelter that struggled to open its doors once more. Soft paws pressed against the cold metal just outside, and Saint took in the bitter currents of the open air. A strange feeling had plagued them upon their journey out into these shores, footsteps just out of view, a sense of motion deep below the waters at which they swam. The few fruits that were always dangling in the same spots had been more sparse, picked off, and scoured through, unlike every other time Saint had been here. No, they felt something stalking them from the very moment they arrived, and yet, had no way of stopping whatever it was lurking in the shadows. Not until now, that was.

They scanned the surrounding area, still unable to find anything out of the norm. Instead, Saint just continued forward, carefully descending down the partitions of the superstructure, and making their way back down toward their target. This was not their normal route for doing things, but it was one of the few ways they were able to do anything different in these repeating patterns. Instead, this time, they thought they'd start with the machine by the waters, then go to the one within the rubble. Saint finally made it to the bottom, got on the ground, and crawled through the last pipe before finally landing upon the pile of debris that stood alone in the flooded chamber. Their head tilted up at the puppet that was only now starting to notice their presence. The same script began to play out. She turned to face them. Saint opened their eyes and returned her gaze. She began to speak. The room was instead filled with a boom echoing out. The puppet's body fell to the ground, and Saint merely turned to leave.

The way out was much quieter; the gravity of the place was still flickering between differing states despite no force controlling it. This place was already falling apart; these were just its last gasp, and now it would finally be allowed to rest. They left the facility as it was and began to cross the vast waves, heading towards the ruins just off to the side, and set foot on a small piece of shore with a sense of satisfaction. That was, until something small flew past Saint's face, landing on the ground directly in front of them, instantly detonating with a roaring explosion. Their body flew back from the blast, ears ringing and senses spinning. They held a paw up to their face and forcefully picked themself back up, not willing to lie in wait for whatever was likely still coming to finish them off. Though their vision was still blurry and trying to readjust, Saint was able to make out a figure surging from the water and landing before them. They half expected it to surge towards them, and yet, the two were simply left staring at one another, analyzing the other, attempting to discern their intentions. Though as Saint's vision recovered, her's became abundantly clear. This was no mere aquatic creature, but another slugcat, one they'd never seen before, and likely whatever had been previously stalking them. Worse yet, the expression on her face made it abundantly clear that the object that was thrown their way had very much been intended to kill. It was funny then, that it made Saint almost feel a tinge of sadness that the two would not have an opportunity to talk things through, maybe even let her accept their gift willingly. But now there was no time, and they were not going to let some wet rodent stop them.

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Rivulet was the first one to make a move, briskly dashing to the spear that lay lodged within the ground. She gave a few tugs at the scrap, rushing glances back up at Saint, their eyes finally opened with an otherworldly glow, and causing a chilling ring to fill the air as they brought their paw up in her direction. Her tugging became more frantic before she finally just charged straight into the spear, knocking it loose and sending her down onto her stomach in the process. Just in that moment, though, a golden sigil had aligned itself right where her head once was before finally collapsing into a singular point with immense force. But now, it was her turn. The grip on her weapon tightened, and with a swift leap into the sky, she made her move, driving the spear directly down towards her target and punching it into the rubble as Saint lifted their body off the ground and out of the way. Admittedly, a brief shock washed over Rivulet, but still, this was nothing she couldn't handle. Another sigil flew across the open air and her way, and this time she desperately lept behind some nearby cover, only to still have it come around the corner and barely fire off before making it to her.

This was a much more serious situation than she once thought, but oh, how she was loving every second of it. Her heart was pounding; her mind was racing. But this rush, right here, was exactly what she lived for. She grasped another spear lying beside her and lunged back out from the cover, ready to make another attack. Yet, there was nothing there. Rivulet's eyes darted from left to right at the now-empty air before her. There were no pipes nearby, so they couldn't have possibly gotten away so quickly, unless...

Yet another golden light found its way just before her eyes, coming down from directly above, and with no other options, in a moment of desperation, just sent the spear flying up at them with all the power she could muster. That's why, when her eyes were held so tightly shut, expecting some sort of end, it was a surprise when, instead, there was simply just a loud thud off to her side. There it was, Saint's body collapsed onto the ground, motionless, and with a spear lodged directly into their chest. But that was not enough, not after what they did. The rush of the pair's fight was finally starting to subside, and now all Rivulet was left with was the feeling of hatred filling her veins. She slowly stood herself back up, walking over to the pile of fluff lying out in the cold, kicking the body over and onto its back. Saint's eyes had gone back to being closed, yet that stupid, smug, uncaring look still covered their face even after the life had left their body. Blood was pooling all over the rubble, but even as it trickled onto where Rivulet stood, those feelings weren't subsiding. Moon was gone, just like that.

A wail of anger rang out into the vast expanse as Rivulet grasped onto the spear lodged in Saint's chest, tearing it out as blood was flicked into the cold air. Again, it was thrust into their body, tearing through flesh and ligaments without care. Again, she tore it out, just to be able to pierce into them once more, crunching the tip into broken bone. On and on, without thinking or keeping count, she kept stabbing into their motionless corpse until it had enough cuts and holes for her liking; until her own body was covered in their blood. It was only then that she finally let go of the weapon in her arms, letting it fall to the side with a loud clang and collapsing to the ground. Nothing seemed to ease nor relieve the emotions clouding her mind, no, not enough death was enough. She wanted to defile them. Desecrate all they stood for.

If Rivulet's heart wasn't already still beating so quickly from the rush of slaying her foe, it certainly would've been now with the kind of things racing through her mind. She held her body up on all fours over their own, splaying out their arms and legs and pushing them out to the side. She grasped back onto the spear with renewed vigor and jabbed it straight through their left leg, holding it down in place and coating herself with more blood in the process. Now she was looking down more at her paws, which were utterly soaked as well, and felt a morbid bit of curiosity overtake her. That was when, ever so gently, she brought one up to her face and, after a short bout of hesitation, cleaned herself up a bit. How strange the taste was, a stout sweetness combined with such a complex tang. It was beyond anything she would have imagined, and she loved it.

Rivulet was quick to scrape off a bit more from the rebar still stuck in their leg, just to have another immediate sampling. It reignited a fire in her blood, and now she found herself holding one paw around Saint's throat just to feel how soft and fragile it was, how easy it would have been if she had just been able to get her hands on them. Well, she did still have a bit of time to enjoy doing whatever she wanted to them, and now all that taste for blood was making her feel just a bit hungry for more of her desires to be sated. So with a deranged smile that no other creature in the world could see, she began coaxing herself to full mast, grinding against the soft fur near Saint's groin, all the while running her paws all across the rest of their body without a care in the world. Then, at the first moment she had, thrust herself into the hapless creature's slit.

A sultry moan filled the air as Rivulet continued to keep a firm grip on Saint's body, still whincing and growling though as she slammed her full strength into their tight form. She desperately wished they could still have felt the pain this would have been causing them, but at least even now their body had enough warmth still in it to still feel so delightfully enveloping. Maybe next time, once she let this storm take her, she could be a bit more particular with her throw. Perhaps aim for the spine and paralyze them, just to make them watch. Now she was feeling a bit more nervous, that would make this the practice run after all. She placed her hands back over their throat, letting out a gleeful giggle as she continued back into her rhythmic motion, blood now beginning to also trickle out from Saint's abused slit. She trudged the spear out from their thigh and began cutting across their body, making fine patterns all the while continuing to practice holding them down with her other paw and slamming into them ruthlessly all in one simultaneous motion. That, of course, all started to fall away when Rivulet finally couldn't take it anymore, dropping all pretense and jabbing the spear one last time into their arm before curling into a grasp of their shoulders and forcing their body fully against their own as her seed was released inside.

Once the moment of pleasure finally passed, however, Rivulet merely pulled herself out from Saint and smeared all that was left on her directly into the fur of their face, and wiped the blood off the rest of her body, though not without getting a few more licks in.

The wind had finally begun to grow stronger. Looks like the fun really was over.

Rivulet let out a hefty sigh. At least once she woke up again, Moon would be back.

The frigid winds began to coalesce and steal the feeling from her limbs.

She would protect her this time and deal with this vile slugcat, as many times as it takes. Even if that meant shattering their spirit.

Now, a full-on blizzard had begun to form, and with the wind went any chances for her survival.

Well. One thing was for sure.

No matter how many times she died like this. This way was always the worst.

As soon as Rivulet rose once more, she rushed out from the nearby shelter, eager to just hug Moon and see, know, that she was okay. But as she jumped into the shallow water of her chamber, all she found was a limp puppet on the ground. Then the sound of soft footsteps behind her.

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The aquatic creature was the first one to make a move, sliding her lithe body across the ground and attempting to reach for a weapon. Saint took a deep breath before bringing their eyes to attention and channeling forth all their focus. Luckily, the annoying little critter seemed to be struggling to pull her armament out from the stone beneath her. This should be easy enough. They pointed their paw out to their target, concentrating firmly on the singular point, bringing every aspect of attachment into overlap and focus, ready to free both of them from her presence in this eternal existence. That's why Saint found it quite annoying when, just as the collapse occurred on a singular point, she just so happened to trudge that spear out from the ground and be sent tumbling forward, out of the way. It, of course, had no meaning in the long run, but still. Inconvenient. Nonetheless, Saint had succeeded in their mission hundreds of times before; one random slugcat being alive this time was not going to be enough to stop them.

A slight shifting of their body to the right was all it took to dodge the oncoming spear, and this time Saint was not going to leave themself so vulnerable. They lifted themself off the ground, taking aim once more, and attempting to maintain their gaze on the ever-shifting target. This was certainly the fastest creature they'd ever attempted to contend with, and it was showing. Another point converged, just barely unable to keep up with its mark, and now this slugcat had even been able to escape behind some cover. Now, Saint was starting to feel a tinge of annoyance. They brought their body higher up, just over where they could see her from behind the rubble piled up. A bit of pain was starting to creep up in the back of their head, though, and their mind could only keep focus for so much longer. They held their paw out one final time, pointing directly below them and toward their completely unaware target. But, just as the points began to converge and it was all about to finally end, those peering eyes suddenly shot directly up at them.

A boom echoed out into the vast expanse, and an overwhelming pain took hold of Saint's body. Their body barreled out of the sky, and with a heavy thud, completely collapsed onto the ground. Blood had already begun to pool where they lay, and a searing pain rocked out from their stomach. Everything was so blurry that they weren't even sure how bad the damage was, but just from the pain alone, the feeling of a warm wetness against their fur, they knew it was bad. They tried to pick themself up off the ground, even as their whole body was trembling and world was spinning. They brought their paw up to their stomach, feeling around the spear lodged directly through them, completely soaked in their own essence. It has been so long since Saint had felt like this, remembered what it was like to die. Even as their vision recovered, they knew it was only a matter of time. Their gaze turned, though, to the lifeless body at their side, a mark on the head at the point of impact; no blood, no pain. Her time in this existence had finally come to an end. Yet, even still, her body seemed to struggle to catch up with this fact. A bit of it still seemed to pulse with its last remnants of life, and a bit to Saint's amusement, this seemed to include an erect set of hemipenises.

Such a vile creature, to have somehow enjoyed their encounter enough to have gotten feeling in such a way, even as it all came to an end. Saint couldn't help but wheeze, then cough, pink spattering out onto the rubble below as they wanted to laugh at the thought. Oh, how ironic it was then that this same vile creature had also succeeded in striking them down, hitting much higher up than they had once expected. Yet, even still, Saint couldn't help but have a certain thought cross their mind. Something about her form splayed out like that, with a complete lack of life and inability to stop whatever crude things they could think of; it was just so enticing. Plus, if death was already going to defile their complete attunement, then, well, they might as well enjoy some worldly pleasures while the opportunity presents itself. Saint brought one paw to the ground and picked themself, whole body still trembling from the still bleeding wound, and moved themself up and over the other slugcat's lifeless body. Blood immediately began to drip and pool onto her body, but Saint didn't have the strength to mind right now. They instead needed to just sit up on her chest for a moment and catch whatever amount of breath they were still capable of.

Enjoying oneself usually isn't done with a mouth full of blood and a spear through the chest, but, admittedly, Saint found something quite alluring about the situation. The pain was still so searing with every beat of their own heart, even whilst at rest on this deceased scourge, and watching their blood slowly take over her natural tones with shades of red and pink. It was just so euphoric. But it also meant the time was growing ever shorter, so, with what little energy Saint had left, they picked their body up and aligned their loins with her still twitching members. Their breath was hot and heavy, visible within the bitter air, and now Saint felt spoiled for choice. But, after sputtering on their own blood for a moment, and coughing up a bit more, they decided it was best not to linger on it for too long. Instead, they simply started with the left, and, as gently as they could manage with unstable arms, caressed their slit against it, enjoying every last bit of the heat and length it still possessed. Though that was more of just a tease for themself, as when they did finally press themself down on top, the sensation was delightful. They wanted to moan and whine out of need, but their body continued to fail them.

Saint was quick to pick up the pace from there, humping now against her full length even as their blood continued its steady drip out onto her body below, yet they couldn't bring themself to stop now. Each motion they could muster only made their body tense up even more, ecstasy flaring throughout the body as their mind continued to dull from the continually spreading numbness throughout. While Saint still had the faculties, they desperately reached down for the slugcat's other hemipene and aligned it with their other hole, all the while hoping this moment wouldn't end so soon. With each push of their own body up and down, they could slowly feel themself slipping away. The world around continued to grow more dull. It wasn't fair how little time they seemed to get for themself. They continued to rock their body, which grew more and more elated, clenching with every ounce of strength it still had left, ever closer to that ecelectic release. But it was already too late. They couldn't quite tell when it had happened, but everything had already started to finally go dark, their body collapsing onto the lifeless other.

Once Saint awoke back to that very same cycle, they couldn't help but feel the desire to just go back and check. To find that slugcat's body, and, just maybe, get a little bit more time. But, they could only let out a heavy sigh. There was no time. Though a part of them did hold out on a little bit of hope for something. That, once they complete their quest once more and are sent back to do it all over again, maybe then they'll see that face another time. Because oh, how they wanted to do that all over again.