Juniper felt her heart shatter into a million pieces when she heard Astrid whisper. She stared at the first guard, her eyes going dark.
Something brewed behind her eyes. Something dark and malicious. She carefully flicked a knife out, scowling at the human. “What the hell did you do to this kid!?” She spat, suddenly attacking the male. The half robotic Roger was left alone, but Juniper wasn’t going to give the othet guardsman mercy.
(NOOOOOOO)
(THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING GOOD LUCK)
"We kill thieves." Roger mutters coldly, his voice a complete monotone. Jesse, frozen and petrified, watched in disbelief as Juniper launched herself at the other guardsman, yelling. The other guardsman was much too strong, and barely flinched at Juniper.
"Shoot him, then." The other guardsman ordered.
Astrid's realization kicked in and she jumped in front of Jesse, her eyes widening.
"NO! Roger, it's us!! Jesse and Astrid, it's your brother and sister!"
Roger turns to gaze at the two, but his face remained unreadable. He lifted his hand and pointed it at Jesse, but he didn't shoot.
In fact, he visibly hesitated.
The other guardsman glared at Roger, still trying to hold Juniper down.
"What's wrong with you, bolts? Shoot him."
Juniper swung the knife, trying desperately to do damage. But her small, malnourished frame didn’t help in this situation. She was soon exhausted, and now tried to free herself. “Let me go!” She hissed and spar, trying to get to Astrid.
“Don’t hurt them! Kill me! Kill me! I stole it for him! It was me! You can even check my pockets! I have many stolen items in my jacket!” She cried out, nearly sobbing at this point. “I stole it so don’t punish him. He thought we were returning it… we weren’t… I was going to sell it.”
Juniper’s true self came out then. She was, in fact, a sniveling, groveling thief with no real talent other than pickpocketing. She was weak… it was a wonder she hadn’t been killed yet.
(Makes me saaadd T^T)
(I apologieze,,, im,,soryr,,,)
"Shoot him!" The guardsman yelled, a deranged look in his eyes. Astrid doubted that it was about thievery anymore.
"Roger! Roger!" Astrid called, tears forming in her eyes.
Roger blinked his eyes, lowering his hand slightly, the concentration breaking in him as he breaks eye contact with Jesse.
"He's a fucking thief!" The guardsman yelled, "Kill him!" Roger shook his head, raising his hand back, pointed at Jesse and stiffening, but he started breathing heavily, a tear forming in his eye. He couldn't do it, something about Jesse's face and Astrid's voice was stopping him. That once vacant gaze in his eyes now flooding with memories. Roger's face broke, the human half of his face showing emotions, but too many at once. Roger heaved, his breath growing quicker and quicker as he doubled over, tilting his head to look at his siblings.
"Jesse," He whispered, practically panting as he stared at Jesse in recognition, a faint smile spreading across his face.
"Christ's sake, *I'll do it." The guardsman muttered, shoving Juniper into Astrid, causing Astrid to fall back. The guardsman pulled out a small handgun and pointed it directly at Jesse, pulling the trigger.
The sound of the gun firing was loud, but the sound of Astrid's scream was louder. The crowd broke at the gun and formed an empty circle around the five of them, Jesse's body lying next to a panicked Roger and a crying Astrid.
Juniper was broken. She had no tears to give, no nothing. She scrambled to Jesse’s side, throwing herself over him. “J-Jesse! Get up! Jesse!”
She knew it was all too good to be true… she’d never be allowed a family. Never. The fates had cursed her from the day she was born.
What use was there in trying to keep a family when everyone around you just kept dying…?
She looked up at the policeman, standing and gritting her teeth. She spat into the soil at his feet. “This is your mercy!?” she screamed, finally at her breaking point. It had been far too long. “If this is your law, then I don’t want a part of it!”
The man towered over Juniper, Astrid, and Jesse, crossing his arms authoritatively as he barely even flinched.
"The law answers to no heart. He should have thought of that when he-"
The man was interrupted by the sound of an explosive blast compacted into a small compartment. The blast sent the man several yards backward, and as Astrid looked up in tears, she saw Roger's robotic hand pointed where the guardsman used to stand, a bit of smoke emanating from it.
Immediately, Roger dropped to his knees, bending over Jesse and holding Jesse's face. The blood stained Roger's hands, but he didn't care.
"Jesse, I remembered your name, please wake up." His voice was broken, full of emotion and fear.
Juniper was just about to lunge again when the man was shot away. She looked to the robotic Roger and blinked before her eyes fell to Jesse again. Her heart ached.
It hurt. Everything hurt. She hadn’t felt this kind of emotional and physical pain before. It felt as if every part of her soul had been torn apart. She couldn’t stand it anymore.
“I-Is… is he…?” She asked softly, slowly, afraid to finish the question. She dropped to her knees and hugged Astrid close, breaking down into tears.
“He’s gone… he’s gone and I could have helped…” she cried out.
Roger's eyes fixated on Jesse. Jesse's dark eyes gazed into the sky, his mouth slightly open and his freckles dotting his face. Everything about his face filled Roger's heart with guilt, pain, and numbness.
"No," Roger muttered, his hardened voice held a slight mechanic tilt in it that Astrid didn't notice at first. "It's my fault."
Astrid reached over and gently closed Jesse's eyes, her heart pounding, but her movements slow.
Roger stood up to his feet, his head hanging low. His once robotic and stiff demeanor had so quickly changed to that of a broken man.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Roger repeated, his voice losing sound, but his lips still continued.
(NO I LIKED JESSE)
Juniper sat there, like one of the many bodies piled around her. She couldn’t take it anymore. Why couldn’t she be happy? Why did this have to happen… “I-I don’t understand.” Her voice cracked as she choked on it. “N-No, he’s not… he’s srill here… he can’t be…” a few tears dribbled down her face and mixed into the dirt below her. Her eyes suddenly went dark.
“I hate this world… I want to destroy those cities up there… I’lol burn them to the ground.” She hissed, moving to grab the gun the officer had dropped. She stared at it, her mind buzzing.
The emotions subsided for only a moment, but in Astrid they were only building up again. She shook, trying to rub her hands, to fidget, to rock back and forth in order to calm herself down, but Jesse, who had learned to calm her after years of trying his best, wasn't able to help her. Astrid started breathing heavily and quickly, the breaths were loud and everyone around her could tell the emotional attack that she was going through. The horrified look in her eyes as Jesse still didn't move, and the full realization and comprehension settled into Astrid's bones.
The emotions overflowed, she couldn't define reality from dizzy hallucinations. The pressure in her head grew too heavy, and she felt everything all at once.
Astrid let out a terrible scream, clutching her head in her hands and closing her eyes tightly.
Roger, confused and not knowing what to do, knelt to her level and wrapped his arms around her as she fell into his grasp, barely conscious from the dizziness, shock, and pressure.
While Astrid broke, Junioer moved to the body of the officer, firing two more shots into his head. She made sure he was dead before taking all of his weapons and ammo from him. She stood, turning to look at the crowd. “Get out of here! I’ll kill every one of ya too. I’m sick and tired of this government! They do nothing to help except pick us off one by one. Now get before I return the favor.”
The girl looked wild. Something had snapped inside her head, something had made her break beyond repair. She would never grow attached to another human. She would never grow attached to anything. Every human in this world deserved to die and rot. The world was dying for a reason. That reason was to eradicate the human race.
(I JUST SAW UR MESSAGE I LOVED HIM TOO AAAAAAAAAAA)
Roger bumbled up to Juniper, holding a knocked out Astrid in his arms. Panic, confusion, fear, guilt, every emotion clouded his face, but he managed to choke out the words.
"Can you take us to the house?"
Juniper glared at the half robotic male. But her face softened upon seeing Astrid and the emotions on his face. She moved to carefully pick Jesse up. She wasn’t going to leave his body for scavengers to pick at. She wanted a proper burial for him.
“Yes… I can… follow me.” She said softly, walking but not really thinking as she did so. She was in a daze, in a horrible daze. She couldn’t wipe the thought that all of the human race had to be killed. There was no other way to save anything.
Roger followed at a slow pace so as to stay next to Juniper. The walk was silent and solemn, but once Roger manages to regain his composure, he breaks the silence.
"What's your name?" He inquires with a stutter, "I'm sorry if I don't remember you, my memories are still blurry."
She glanced over at him and frowned when he spoke. “Juniper. I just barely came into these two’s life. I was about to… to…” she broke down again, burying her face in Jesse’s now cooling neck. She sobbed, holding him close and running her fingers through his hair. “We were going to go out and look for you… it’s my fault he’s dead.” She bawled. “I should have avoided the main square.” Her shoulder shook and she dropped to her knees right there, rocking the body of Jesse. “I can’t being him back. I can’t trade places with him… I want him to live, Roger. I want him to live…”
Roger remained still, watching Juniper in painful solidarity. He was afraid of reacting the wrong way, considering he just recently regained emotions after years of lacking any, and he wasn't sure how to put together his emotion-filled thoughts. His eyes fell upon Juniper on the ground, his eyebrows turned upward in pained mercy.
"I…" Everything that Roger wanted to say, everything that Roger held back from saying while he was under the guardsman, everything that Roger didn't know he'd always wanted to say, was finally available for him, but every word escaped him. Instead, he carefully set Astrid down, leaning her against a tree, before kneeling in front of Juniper, cautiously embracing her into a hug. He didn't know Juniper very well, and Juniper didn't know him very well, but he knew he couldn't just let her cry alone. He lost Jesse, too.
“Astrid is all alone now…” she sobbed, collapsing into Roger’s chest. “What if something happens to her?! I can’t lose another family. I can’t do it…”
The girl cried for what seemed like centuries but was only a few minutes. As she calmed down she slowly let go of Jesse and hugged Roger back, sniffling. “We were going to find you…”
Again, Roger didn't know how to react. He was glad that they found him and brought him home, but he's nervous that he might be in trouble for what he did to the guardsman. Additionally, he felt guilty that as soon as he returned to his family, he started to lose them, but he felt secure that Juniper was a genuine and sincere person, and he'd much rather Astrid stay in Juniper's arms than his; Roger couldn't help but worry that Astrid hated Roger now. Maybe he's better off isolating himself so as to avoid becoming the monster they made him into.
Roger needed to calm himself down, trying to tie down his emotions and control himself. Anger was the only emotion they allowed Roger to express, but he knew that was the one emotion he shouldn't express in the moment.
He closed his eyes tightly as his head sunk.
"You did more than find me, and I could never thank you enough." He whispered.
She breathed out a long whine, taking in a shaky breath before she got the confidence back to speak rationally. “What did they do to you?” She asked softly, slowly. She carefully pulled back and cupped his face so she could study the metallic parts. “Who did this to you?”
Her thumb rubbed over the metal and onto skin. She gasped softly. “I hate those who did this.”
Roger shuddered, forcing his mind to play back the scenes-or at least the ones he could still remember.
"They tricked me." He utters with a cold voice. "They said they could help me. They trapped me and they-" He paused, his voice cracking at the last word.
He shook his head, growing too overloaded with emotions.
"Can we talk about it later? I…I'm scared of what I might do if I get too angry."
Roger's eyes fell, his glowing red eye had dimmed slightly, and his human, green eye filled with tears.
She nodded softly, releasing him and staring at the ground. She didn’t dare look at Astrid or Jesse. She knew she’d breakdown again if she did. “L-Let’s just get back to the house…” she murmured, standing and heaving Jesse into her arms. She cradled the male, missing her one and only brother. She didn’t even get to know him that well… it had been two days. Two days. And he was gone.
Roger nodded in agreement, the soft giant picking up Astrid as gingerly as possible as he follows Juniper. The walk was easier after allowing the emotions to bubble over for a moment, but the depression and mourning still hung in the air.
Especially when they arrived at the house. Polly sat there patiently, wagging his tail as he awaited a treat and praise from Jesse.
But Jesse didn't give Polly a treat or praise. Polly, confused, forced herself to stand up and trotted over to Juniper, sniffing her legs before he caught a whiff of Jesse, his nose colliding with Jesse's hanging hand.
After a few moments of sniffing, Polly let out a whimper.
Oh course Juniper froze, fear clouding her mind as the dog trotted up to her. But it all melted away when the dog whimpered. She shifted Jesse in her arms, moving to pat the dog on the head. “He’s gone, Polly…” she murmured, knowing the dog couldn’t understand her. She looked away, tears streaming down her face.
But the girl still opened the door to the house, setting Jesse down on the couch. One of the old blankets was pulled out of her bag and his body was wrapped up in it. She would wait to bury him until Astrid woke up.
Roger's eyes rolled around the house, more memories flooding his system as he tries to shake himself off and trudge to the hallway, gazing into each room until one looked most like what Roger remembers Astrid's room would look like. He set her down on the bed and gently closed the door.
Roger returned to the main room, sniffing and rubbing his nose as he tries not to cry too much in front of Juniper. He needed to remain intact for the moment, especially since Astrid might be waking up soon and will need emotional comfort. Roger sat at the table, eyeing Jesse with heavy grief.
"Were you there for her?"
He questioned to Juniper, not looking away from Jesse as he fidgeted his hands.
Juniper looked up at him as he entered. Her eyes and face were red and puffy. She had been sobbing.
Her eyes studied Roger’s face, wondering if he blamed himself. “For Astrid…?” She asked softly. “I just met her two days ago… it feels like I’ve known her forever…”