( picture prompt meme )

[socketeer]

the picture prompt meme I — Comment with your character. II — Others will leave a picture (or two, or three...) III — Reply to them with a setting based on the picture. IV — Link to any pictures that are NSFW, please. V — Be aware that this meme will be image-heavy. Link to an image: <a href=IMAGEURL>TEXT</a> Embed image in your reply: <img src=IMAGEURL> Image width and height: <img src=IMAGEURL width=500> OR <img src=IMAGEURL height=INSERT>

Comments

omg this got long, i am so sorry.

[theangelofdeath]

[ Before Rose Creek, before Teddy and before Miss Emma, Goodnight Robicheaux had been going one way. True, some people probably wouldn't have thought it much of a life to be living, but it was his, and he was surviving. Course he had owed most of that to his friend and business associate, Billy Rocks. Perhaps they weren't going in a certain direction, but they were getting by together. And then something changed and his life was going a different way.

It was Sam, of course, that had changed his course first, the very first time they had met. He still might have demons and nightmares today, but if it hadn't been for Sam all those years ago... he probably wouldn't have even been here alive to be plagued by the memories. When Sam had come calling on his services again, he couldn't say no. He felt indebted to him still, and... well, he'd be lying if he'd said he didn't want to see his friend again.

There would probably always be people like Emma and towns like Rose Creek in need of good men willing to help them. After he'd taken off the night before the final battle, Emma and her town hadn't been the only reason he had come back. Billy, Sam and the other seven... he couldn't let them down. Anyway, he wouldn't have been much good out there on his own.

In the end, only four of them survived - himself, Sam, Vasquez and Red Harvest. Faraday had fallen making his stand, but took the gatling gun down with him. Horne had been shot down with a handful of arrows. And Billy? Billy had died saving his life. Goodnight knew that's what he had been doing. The gunfire came their way, and Billy threw himself in front of his friend, taking the blunt of the blows. Goodnight had been struck with a few stray bullets, but... only one had been serious.

It had taken him a few days to come back to consciousness. The doctor said it was the fever that had nearly killed him. Goodnight hadn't really been listening to him. It had all become white noise when he'd been told Billy was dead.

It helped that Sam stayed for a few days. He asked Goodnight to come with him. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd ridden together. But he had turned him down, instead choosing to stay behind and recover under the watchful eyes of those remaining at Rose Creek. Under the watchful eye of Emma. Maybe one day he'd find Sam again, but... he couldn't ride with him now. Not like this.

He'd taken a tumble during the battle, and his arm was still in a sling because of it. He also still had a limp. Perhaps eventually that would go away. It probably didn't help that he chose to be outside that night, plagued by too many demons and nightmares. He had stole out of bed as quietly as he could, but it was likely someone had seen him. Goodnight went out by the lake, the moon full and bright in the sky, its light reflected on the water's surface.

He looked out at the lake and he wished. He wished for a life he'd never have, of friends returning and things that were impossible. He felt alone and lost, so... he wished of better days to come. ]

it's good!

[eightx]

[ It had taken some time for the dust to settle, literally and figuratively. The townspeople had started rebuilding Rose Creek almost immediately, though the effort was slow as there were so many wounded to be taken care of. Their numbers had shrunk considerably, but they were just as determined as ever, Emma most of all.

She watched over Goodnight during those days when his life hung in the balance, waiting for him to wake up. Each of the seven were heroes to her and she would treat them accordingly, even if it meant spending hours by their bedside just waiting. When he finally woke up she wasn’t exactly sure what was left for her to do. She’d given him a genuine thank you and set back to her home to do some rebuilding of her own.

Her home wasn’t physically damaged, of course. It was damage of the metaphorical sort. The Cullen household was quiet and empty, void of laughter and love. Bogus had drained it of all of that. Emma did her best to make it a welcoming place, but everything about it reminded her of Matthew. Late at night, she’d either lie in bed staring at the ceiling or sit in her rocking chair, staring at the moon through her window.

It’s that night when she’s sitting in her chair that she sees a familiar figure sneaking out in the distance. Sleep isn’t coming any time soon, so Emma grabs a shawl and slips her feet into her shoes and walks downstairs, outside, and follows the same path to the lake.

She’s quiet, but as she gets closer she decides to make herself known. ]

Can’t sleep?