Various References Used For Young Soldier Jacob In That AU With @returnedtoashes |  @holyguardian​

Grief is just love with no place to go.

– unknown // Art piece by Ikenaga Yasunari

“On the seventh day Miller’s legs started going all wonky. Did you know your brain starts eating your muscle in order to survive…?”

Miller @returnedtoashes and Jacob having a day ™ in the desert. :) You know, in order for there to have been an eight day together, I firmly headcanon now that Jacob carried Miller from the seventh day on.

@only-we​ | X

Call it fast thinking, but really it was pure reflex. One moment Jacob was standing firm as all hell rained down around them and the next he was teetering on the edge of a very long fall down.

“Jake!” Miller grabbed for his arm and held on with an iron grip to stop that fall. The hut was quickly becoming unstable beneath their feet though the ground itself couldn’t be trusted. Where there had been solid and cracked earth had opened into cavernous voids.

“... No way.” he shook his head, unable to grasp what was happening. King said there was an underground silo hidden beneath their feet but surely it wouldn’t extend as far as some of the cracks that had formed. His thoughts worked in quick beats — he doubted there had been any high integrity operations happening here, but could there still be some form of an underground facility? Not an underground missile silo but some crude form of storage?

Of course his thoughts pulled in other directions quickly.

Men in their own uniforms had fallen through these openings. Forming a recovery strategy had to take priority...

But not before Kolchek. “Enemy combatant!” Miller blurted as though Jacob didn’t have eyes of his own. It was obvious he saw the exact same thing as him when he felt a hard shove at his back with the desperate orders to move.

No time to take their shot from the rooftop, not with the risk of the hut collapsing in and around them. He took the lead and leapt down, stepping onto a lower level, catching one of the wooden fences before he hopped down to the ground. “Kolchek!! Kolchek we’ve got y —”

Another rumble, their First Lieutenant completely disappearing as more ground opened up. Miller picked up the pace and ran faster as though he could do a damn thing to stop it, though that was where any clear line of thought failed him. It was foolish to run towards an area where the ground was caving in because his next step was into nothingness. “—  JAKE RUN!” The fracture of darkness had extended and opened up right beneath him and he too was claimed.

@stratagemichor 

The slip back into consciousness was unnatural. Not only were his senses muted but he whirred to life, infinitesimal pieces clicking, spinning and connecting in an elaborate web. An electric charge had been the catalyst that powered him up — his new life blood, inside his new body.

Miller couldn’t see clearly when he fully came to. There were no eyes to open, or to close, frozen in a static feed of the world seen through a dirty lens. He moved to sit up which gave rise to new panic. A crude mechanical groan accompanied his movement and when he made to look to his hands there were none to be seen. Metal. All of it. Metal framing, a mockery of metal digits that he could only loosely manipulate.

Worst of all, he couldn’t speak.

Another in the room became more prominent when they grabbed for him. He knew their face, it was the kid... the one who had been on the wrong side of a gun. His memory faded out  — where were they? How long had he been out? What the fuck was happening?

He slipped off the table which wasn’t a table at all, a workbench littered with tools and spare pieces, the surface covered completely by the teenager’s frenzied work. Miller gestured to him and moved to motion around the room. It was the best way he could ask what this all was.

Then he caught a horrifying sight. One that made him lose what disjointed thoughts he had. The prototype android reached for his own head and tugged and pulled, struggling around to try and remove whatever-it-was covering his face. He couldn’t process that he had no face to cover. That the ‘thing’ he tried to pry off and was close to succeeding was the closest thing to a head he had. It was all too much! He wanted it to stop, he wanted to wake up now!

Generations

reiivusu​:

[╳]     ||     Oh? Well, Ravus would not deny someone so earnest, and so he took a seat as well - not without effort, given that he had several considerably large bruises concealed beneath his clothing, but Serah did not need to be informed of any of that. Truth be told, his preference was that she assumed he was simply getting old.

He listened to her  ‘ report ’  with as much attention as he would have afforded any of the soldiers, if not more, and remained quiet so she could speak uninterrupted. He had to agree with the opinion that Serah’s mother was likely remaining close by due to missing her… and in case of any emergencies. The notice to evacuate could be given with little to no warning, so of course a mother would not wish to be far from her children.

“I see.” He would have to track down some more information regarding those new people, if only to ease his own concerns for the settlement’s longevity. For them to have been accepted past the gates was a heartening sign though… and he nudged those thoughts away for the time being, in favour of returning his attention to Serah and dipping his head for her to whisper -

- and he chuckled. “That was kind of you. You have my thanks, Miss Serah.” Ravus glanced around before adding quietly, “Would you allow me to share some with you? It seems only fair, since you were the one to find it.”

“I’m sharin’ with you!” Serah declared with a bubbly giggle, thinking it was very funny that Ravus thought he was the one who brought this amazing treat. Then she lifted a finger to shush him as though he had been the one to make a commotion. “It’s still a secret. We have to be very quiet.”

That was Enok’s influence seeping through. He was a natural around the younger folk of the settlement, always animated in the way he spoke with them. Even the way she held her finger up had been a mimicry of his dramatic hushing. It was all a big game. The children all thought they had gotten away with something spectacular when in reality their parents all knew about it... they had to, it was a risk to simply give little one’s food not knowing if they would have a reaction.

“You have to give your report first.” Shuffling around she came to rest on her knees, dragging herself closer until she all but bumped into his crossed leg. The reason for her movement? Ravus liked to draw. He usually brought something back from his travels and she was eager to be first in line and first to see! That would earn a lot of bragging rights.

in-rush-we-trust​:

@returnedtoashes​ | X

Usually Thomas’ calmness was the same as Miller’s. They had easily played off each other in that. But now he couldn’t mirror the logic in the other man’s words.

No? Didn’t he understand?!

Holding onto Miller’s arms, as if that could make him understand and drive the words home, Thomas felt like he would need to beg Miller to listen to him.

“I will be fine, they need me. They need my plans. My crew. They wouldn’t…”

His voice trailed off, though. Because he knew Miller was right. To a degree at least. Words and loyalties were a fickle thing. And enough people hated him and his work, that they could try to get rid of him with this.

For a moment he only stood there, taking half a staggering step back away from Miller and tried to grasp for a coherent thought. They couldn’t both run. He had his people here. He had his tools and his plans. He had Mila. And he would have taken Nathan. Because how could you flee with children so small in tow?

“Mila is… I- I told her to stay in my hut.”

Why was he asking about her now - they wouldn’t hurt a child. They were men of faith after all. They wouldn’t. She was among his crew.

“Miller, you-”

The dull sound of someone yelling and hooves thundering into the ground let Thomas stop his words again, though. Looking to the door of the little hut, it instead was one of the windows suddenly bursting. Shards strewn across the floor which reflected the flames of the lit torch that had been thrown in. It seemed like the inquisitor’s men did not want to wait for a proper ‘trial’ against the supposed witcher.

It was a subtle reaction. The more Thomas tried to reason to him, Miller shook his head in denial. No. No, no, no. There wasn’t a single person that was needed in Emmanuel’s kingdom. Everyone was replaceable. Time and time again he had witnessed it... sometimes, he had even been part of the group sent to drag a marked soul to their judgement.

“You are accused of being bewitched. You may as well have a witch’s spellbook bound to your hand.” Miller reasoned. “Thomas, you can’t remain here, your apprentice has lined you up for a judgement that no one passes.”

He reached to grip Thomas by his shoulders then. Steadied him. He had never seen his level-headed builder knocked so far off kilter before. “We’ll go back for Mila. Please Thomas. I’m asking you to put all of your faith in me, trust in me, you can’t risk staying here.”

If he intended on saying anything else it was lost to the sound of someone else arriving. Shit. They were already on his doorstep. He already pulled Thomas some steps away from the door expecting it to be kicked down. Instead, something far worse, a torch landing on his floor. He delivered a sharp kick and sent it into the hearth.

“Take Nathan!” Miller ordered, stamping out what he could of the fire. He checked over his shoulder to Thomas, his eyes holding a deep fear. “Remember what I said. Your judgement will come next.” That was the only warning he could give.

Miller strode to the door and pulled it open, his hand held up in surrender. The guards knocked him down with force to bind his arms. Witch-accused, he found his mouth gagged and a thick, rough sack forced over his head. Those with magic were deprived of anything and everything.

Another guard yelled. “There’s someone else in here! State your name and your business with the accused witch!”

only-we​:

Holy shit.

Jacob couldn’t remember when the last time had been he had wanted to bury his fist into some stupid face this badly. Probably back in basic training. Maybe. Maybe even juvie. But it had been a while, for sure.

This arrogant little bastard.

Though they were still on a mission. And Kolchek was his superior in this. He was the squad’s leader. Jacob was only their designated sniper, because that was what he excelled in. But the line of order and rank was clear. By military law, Jacob had to keep his mouth shut and do whatever Kolchek wanted him to do – and there still was the whole rest of the squad.

So Jacob clicked his tongue and just looked at Kolchek with the most derogatory sarcastic look he could muster, as he stood too attention for a moment.

An unofficial ‘fuck you’.

Because in the next moment Kolchek had his own compass out. And ohh, he would notice his little mistake. Really, it was nothing. It could happen. Especially if you had to keep on top of everything else as a squad leader in a country where each dune and rock looked like the next and the sun was burning it all equally. Maybe the compass was fucked and it hadn’t even been the Lieutenant’s fault. It could happen. The sand wore down on equipment quickly. A tiny little mistake. That was what squad members were there for, right? Helping their superior at times. They were one unit. They needed to act as one to come out on top.

But would Kolchek be able to admit to a mistake?

Because his reaction now would determine whether Jacob would follow his deep wish to bury the man’s head in the sand or to let it go. He couldn’t hold himself back from a dig, though, his eyes already lighting up with anticipation.

“What is it, Lieutenant? Were your grades good enough for this, huh? Or does this country and compass actually not give a fucking shit about you being the teacher’s pet?”

Jason’s steps slowed considerably, brows drawn dangerously low as that glare deepened. The piece of shit equipment in his hand was busted. The needle jittered, the fuckin’ arrow that was supposed to be his reliable point of reference couldn’t decide where it was landing... the difference between making it back to base, and walking into the night well off course.

He tossed the compass into the sand and spat on it. The ultimate mark of disrespect. It was worthless, worse than that, it had failed him.

Then he rounded on Seed with a deep-set scowl. He had a mind to chew him out. That was First Lieutenant to him. The more he spoke, the more he wanted to choke the smug look from his face. “... Y’know, Corporal, there’s always a job t’ be done and even somethin’ can be found for a simple man like you. The sun really bakes those outhouses n’ gives them a special kinda smell. First thing in th’ morning you can see about emptying those out for us.”

An official ‘fuck you’.

He gave a sharp nod to one of the others. “Merwin, pass me your damn compass.”

The equipment was lifted up with a grin. “Shame! I was enjoying the ladies quarrel, those claws were coming out.” Merwin tossed the compass and in passing Jacob received a slap right on his ass. “Cheer up, sweet cheeks! I’ll make sure I leave you a nice fresh one on top of all the crusty old shit.”

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth.” Jason commented, righting their course with a shake of his head. There had been some satisfaction in dishing out that punishment and of course Merwin stepped in to shit all over it.

One of the best scenes of House of Ashes!

😏