Whumpril Day 15: Isolation

Whumpril Day 15: Isolation

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Echo is captured.

  Isolation scared Echo. Yet he found himself alone in a cell. He had told the batch to leave him and now he had no idea if they would come back for him. The batch didn't leave there own behind. Part of him hoped they would come and most of him hoped they would leave him.

    The room was cold. That was scary on it own but the silence; the deathing silence was terrifying. It was far too quiet and far too much.

    There was no one to talk to, no one to distract him for his problems. Every terrible memory hit him at ones. Blowing up, all his brothers deaths, the experiments, everything.

    Hoping to be tortured was something Echo never thought would cross his mind. The physical pain that would come would be much better than everything that plagued his mind.

    The stillness of it all almost made it feel surreal; like he'd wake up safe on the Marauder. Echo knew that wouldn't happen.

    The clone tried to find something to occupy himself with. "Hello?" he asked. No answer. He sighed. The man was alone again. It drove him crazy, as mad as Fives.

    Echo tried to escape. He walked up to the door and hit it. The electric shock made him take a few steps back. He sighed and sat back down.

    Talking to himself was the only thing Echo could think to do to keep himself sane. He talked as if there were more people with him. Slowly the words formed into something else.

    "Fives, you would love the batch." Now Echo talked to his dead brothers. If they could hear him, Echo didn't know. Then again he didn't really care. Slowly his stories came to an end and he looked around. He was alone. There were no brothers to talk to. He was alone again. 

    Time moved slowly. Echo didn't really know what was going on, where he was, or if anyone would come to save him. There was only one thing he knew, he was alone. He didn't want to be but you don't always get what you want, do you.

Whumpril Day 16: Guilt/"I'm So Sorry."

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warnings: Mentions of death and alcohol, and spoilers for the last episode of TBB

Summary: Wrecker and his thoughts after Tech's death and Omega's capture. Oh and a short conversation with the others.

  Wrecker's mind was plagued with guilt. It wasn't something he could just slide down his throat with alcohol or something he could sleep off. It stayed there. It found the piece of your heart that was missing and used it place as it's home. It used the heart's veins and traveled to the brain to taint every memory it could.

     He couldn't reach Tech. He should have. Tech was gone. He slept at the bottom of the damn cavern on Eriadu and it was Wrecker's fault. He saw him fall. He didn't want to imagine the pain he might have felt. Tech was his brother and now he was a memory.

    Omega was also gone. Her capture could have been prevented. Maybe if he hadn't been so easy to capture, or maybe if Hunter hadn't come back for him, she would be safe.

    It was Wrecker's fault. No matter how hard he thought, he always come to the same conclusion, it was his fault.

    The remaining members of the batch had gone to Padu to plan. Hunter was against it but Echo knew they needed the rest. They would kill themselves if not and that was the last thing they needed.

    They sat around a table with Phee. Hunter held Tech's googles gently. The pirate had already been informed of Tech's death. She tried to help them, she really did, but nothing got though to them.

    "I'm so sorry." Wrecker talked softly.

    The other three looked at each other confused.

    "What are you apologizing for?" Echo asked hesitantly.

    "I should have saved him. You should have left. I'm just, I'm sorry."

    "Wrecker, it's not your fault. I wasn't just going to leave you behind, that's not how things work." 'Most of the time' ran through Hunter's head but he figured that would be better left unsaid.

    "We'll get her back." Phee spoke.

    "That doesn't change the fact that Tech's gone." Wrecker rested his arms on the table.

    "Tech made his decision" Hunter sighed, "he did it for us and we have to live with it. We'll be okay." He held his hand out and rolled all but the pinky into a fist, "I promise."

    Wrecker looked up at the hand and Hunter could have sworn he saw a small smile, "okay." The man took his brother's pinky and they promised.

    Dinner would be quiet. Everything would be kinda quiet with the two main talkers gone.

    Back on the Marauder the guilt slammed into Wrecker yet again. Seeing Tech's bunk empty pulled at his heart. He walked up to Omega's 'room' and grabbed Lula. After that he walked back to Tech's bunk and laid down. He felt safe and under attack all at the same time. Slowly he would drift off to sleep.

Whumpril: Day 12

Fandom: The Owl House

Summary: What happens with Hunter after Hollow Mind.

    Hunter ran. Belos would be looking for him now. After everything he just learned there was no way that his uncle would leave a loose end like him alive. Flapjack flew after him. Tears ran down the grimwalker's face. He couldn't really see where he was going.

    The boy knew his creator was a terrible person, but he thought it was in the best interest of the isles. Hunter never would have thought that he was trying to kill everyone.

    Hunter was a clone of Philips brother.  He was made to blindly serve by his side and to eventually die, realizing the peace he had worked for his whole life, that everything he had gone through, would be for nothing. The cruel man had killed every other grimwalker and Hunter would be no exception. 

    Flapjack finally caught up to his owner and started tweeting loudly. Hunter stopped to catch his breath. Behind him Darius grabbed him.

    "No! Get off from me!" Hunter kicked and screamed. The sheer amount of fear in the boy's voice broke the coven head's heart. "Get off from me!"

    "Kid! It's me!" Darius let go of the guard.

    Tears ran down Hunter's face. Flapjack's staff appeared in his hands. "Get away from me!"

    Darius threw his hands into the air. "Alright."

    Eberwolf and Raine emerged from the forest. Hunter swiftly turned towards them, "stay there!" Both stopped.

    "Kid, we aren't going to hurt you." Hunter turned his attention back to Darius. "We aren't here by Belos's order."

    After a moment Hunter put down his staff. He walked over to his father. Darius reached his arms out to comfort him. The kid grabbed him and sank to the ground.

    Raine and Eberwolf stayed near the edge of the forest in case any coven scouts came to look for Hunter.

    Darius, though not very fond of being on the dirty ground, stayed there as long as Hunter needed him to. The two talked very little about what happened. Then Hunter had to go. The two went their ways. Hunter went to Hexside and Darius returned to the castle. They would just have to see what happened next.

Warning suicide joke.

If only Anakin had thrown himself into a pool of acid like Xanatos.

Whumpril Day 8: Forgiveness (Alt prompt 5)

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Note: implied season 2 spoilers

Summary: Crosshair is rescued by the batch.

  Crosshair woke up on the Marauder. The last thing he had seen was Hemlock so how had he gotten here? Was this another cruel dream? Would he talk to his brother's again, finally feel alive again, only to be woken up from a wonderful dream to face the harsh reality that he would never see them again? That the way it needed to be.

    But no, this time he knew he was safe as pain rushed in. Never had Crosshair been so happy to be in a senseless amount of pain. Echo walked over to his brother and checked on him. "He's awake" he spoke softly.

    "Good." Hunter sounded tired. Crosshair had heard him tired before but this, this was a new kind of tired.

    Wrecker walked to Crosshair's side, "hey Cross, how do you feel?" The tone of Wrecker's voice startled the clone. Never before had he sounded so sad, so done.

    "I'm... I'm okay." Crosshair mustered the strength to speak. "Where's Omega" he whispered.

    "Resting" Echo answered the question softly.

    "Tech?" The looks on everyone's faces answered the question for him.

    "He died a little while ago." Hunter sighed, "around three months."

    Crosshair did his best to give them a nod. Three months was about the time Omega had been captured and taken to Mount Tantus. The two advents likely connected somewhere but Crosshair would wait to ask. 

    Time would go by and Crosshair would heal. Walking around with his family he wondered why they never talked about what he had done, why they forgave him so easily? Eventually the burning question had to be asked.

    Everyone sat around a table on Pabu. Echo had come to visit them and the five had been invited to have dinner with Phee, Shep, and Lyana. It was a warm and beautiful day. Everyone sat down to enjoy their time together and some good food.

    "Why?" Crosshair asked. He knew now wasn't the time but there may never be a time and he needed to know.

    "What?" Omega looked over at her brother confused.

    "Why did you forgive me so quickly?"

    The others stared at the man for a moment. "It wasn't you" Wrecker started.

    "Part of it was."

    "And you regret that part" Echo knew this would come; he knew at some point Crosshair would ask. The answer that lay in the back of their minds was that they had already lost one brother, they weren't going to lose another. Tech would want them to forgive him.

    "That doesn't change what I did."

    "Crosshair, we know that. You're our brother and we care about you. You did some awful things that you regret and have learned from them. You're not some tearable person killing people for fun. When you did hurt people you thought it was for a greater and better cause. The empire manipulated you and once you saw that you did something about it" Hunter insured his brother.

    Crosshair looked at Hunter for a moment before continuing, "I got Tech killed. You came there for me."

    "Gerrera got Tech killed, not you." Echo set his drink down.

    "He wanted you safe, all of us safe. Tech's decision was his own to make." Hunter put a hand on Crosshair's shoulder.

    "And you weren't even there! It couldn't be your fault!" Omega walked over to Crosshair, who moved his chair back slightly. "We forgave you because we understood. When you figured out you were wrong you did something about it and then instead of trying to leave Tantus you warned us." The girl wrapped her arms around the man.

    "That doesn't mean you should forgive me!" Placing his hands on her shoulders, Crosshair shoved Omega off of him. She stumbled and fell back into Wrecker.

    "Why are you trying to find reasons for us to hate you?" Echo moved over behind Hunter, who sat beside Crosshair. The three non-clones tried to figure out how to help. Unsure of what to do Shep and Lyana quietly exited, deciding they should leave it to the family. As much as they wanted to help it was best for them to work though it.

    "Because you should!" The sniper stood quickly, slamming his hands on the table. "I'm a horrible person! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve your forgiveness and I don't deserve the peace of Padu!"

    "No you're not!" Omega and Wrecker shot back.

   "You are not a horrible person Crosshair. We already told you that." Hunter stood and rested his hand on his brother's shoulder again.

    "Crosshair, you need to forgive yourself." Everyone turned to face Phee. "You can't keep blaming yourself for things out of your control and you have to acknowledge your growth" she walked closer to the clone. " If you don't it'll kill ya."

    The ex-imperial stood there stunned. "She's right" Hunter removed his hand from its resting position and laid it at his side.

    Instead of arguing Crosshair started to leave. He put one foot in front of the other and left them. Despite their calls for him he left. Tears welled in his eyes as he thought. Their love, their time, their kindness; it was all wasted on him. He didn't deserve their forgiveness and he didn't deserve Tech's. In his eyes, he never would.

@whumpril

Whumpril Day 6: Bad Coping Mechanisms

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Warnings: Self harm and slight mentions of suicide.

Summary: Hunter had to find a way to deal with the war.

Finding ways to deal with the war was hard. Wrecker joked or talked about it, Echo walked around or read reg manuals until he felt better, Tech distracted himself with research projects or with tinkering, and Crosshair trained. Hunter however wasn't sure how to deal with the pressure.

After a long and brutal battle the clone found himself sitting alone on the Marauder. Angry at himself Hunter pulled one of his vibro-knifes and stabbed it into the ground. It didn't make him feel any better.

With tears in his eyes he started into the knife. When the idea came to his head the anger in his heart took over and he set down the weapon to remove his left lower arm armor. Quickly it was removed and the blade was right back in his hand.

Almost without hesitation Hunter dragged the knife across his inner arm. The long wound hurt but most of the stress and memories that had been drowning him disappeared.

He stared at the blade and sighed. The pain calmed him in a disturbing way and suddenly Hunter knew how to deal with the war. It was self destructive but at least it could keep him alive.

Over time scars grew. No one could see as the soldier tore himself apart. Armor and long sleeves hid the marks. Hunter chose to get up earlier to change so no one could learn.

The man knew that harming himself was unhealthy but the Kaminoans never taught them how to cope, they had to find their own ways. Unfortunately the thing that kept Hunter alive was actively destroying him.

Small and large cuts littered Hunter's arms, stomach, thighs, and lower legs. No where on his body was safe from himself. Sure the armor and tight blacks hurt when they rubbed the wounds but it almost helped keep him calm.

As the clone walked into the shower the water stung all the open wounds. He winced and looked down at his body. That's when he decided he'd stop after the war. What Hunter didn't realize was that it wasn't his choice anymore. The addition would be something he'd have to fight as hard as he fought the droids that threatened his life. The war he had unleashed while just trying to survive would be a long and hard one. The scars of his decision would forever rest on his body.

When the war ended Hunter fought against the urge at first but as things got worse, gave up, deciding that once things got better he would stop. There was this overwhelming feeling in the man's stomach that this cycle would continue, that he would stop when he was dead. However a bad coping mechanism was better than being dead, right?

Hiding the scars and fresh cuts were harder. The batch was constantly around him and there was no war to blame sore spots on anymore, no battle to fall back on. They no longer had a fixed time to wake up so Hunter couldn't just plan to get up and dressed before the others.

Hunter knew the batch would find out eventually. He feared that day. Injuries on missions that he couldn't just brush off would cause the truth of all the small movements he made away from their touch. One day Hunter would stop punishing himself to stay alive. Today unfortunately would not be the day.

@whumpril