October - Fallen Angel

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#10 of Year of the Rabbit

So this was going to be my Halloween story, but I thought of a different one that will fit better. Still, here we are for the October entry, and as promised, things hinted at will be revealed! Angel is being led to the gallows. But also raiding a tomb. But also fighting someone. But also led to be executed on the cliffs. All of these are happening, one after another, and she's starting to remember... and figure out just where she is. And she has a plan.


Year of the Rabbit - October

Fallen Angel

By XP Author

The crowd was loud, cheering and jeering, calling mocking names, or throwing lewd comments. Angel did her best to ignore them, but it was hard to not hear it as she was matched through the streets. She had been stripped naked, leaving her black furred body on full display. She also had not been allowed to bathe in weeks, dirt and grime caked into her fur and hair. She felt utterly disgusting, or would if she wasn't so fatigued.

Her time in the dungeon was hardly a calm one. Guards had visited her almost on a daily basis. At first, they were content with just raping her, leaving her raw and sore. But they got bored of that, and instead just beat her. None of her bones had been broken, they had been very careful about that, but her left eye still felt a little swollen, her lips were sore from cuts of claws or her own teeth, and there were lines along her arms, legs, back, and belly from more cuts. Claws, teeth, whips, small knives, or anything else they wanted were struck against her, pierced into her, and left her marked.

Her eyes looked down at the cobbled street in front of her, at the boots of the guards leading her. Soon, a set of wooden steps were before her, her final destination at the top. The gloved hand that shoved against her back was unnecessary. She was already walking up the steps. A single man waited for her at the top, though she did not know what species. He wore a black robe, and a hood to cover is entire head. Even the eyes were covered by a mesh for him to see through, but not view him. It would probably have been terrifying if she wasn't so ready for all this to just end.

One of the guards put a hand on her shoulder to stop her at the middle of the platform, a tall beam high over her head. The rope dangling from the beam was brought down, the loop of the noose around her neck, tightened securely. They gave a tug to the ropes binding her hands behind her back to make sure they were equally secure, so she couldn't somehow get out of the noose. Again, unnecessary. Where would she go? The crowd was all around, waiting for the traitor's execution.

She didn't even remember why she was considered a traitor. Something about killing someone she shouldn't, despite that she was ordered to do it. That seemed about right. To think a captain was reduced so low as to this, treated worse than some common criminal. The shame of that was almost worse than the rapes or beatings. Almost. Someone yelled things at the crowd, telling them why she deserved what she got. She knew it was a lie. All of this was a lie. She shouldn't be here again.

...Again. That thought struck some part of her tired mind. She had been here before. In this exact spot, in this exact moment. Flashes of something else came. This was not her first execution. How was that at all possible? The thought of it raised a panic in her chest. It would not be her last, either. There was something more to come. But what was it? Something-

The floor dropped out under her, and her thoughts were ended swiftly. The drop was a longer one than she expected, and she ended up under the platform. She stopped as the rope went taught, snapping tight around her throat and jolting her whole body. She felt an awful pain, sharper than a sword, as her spine popped. Her body went numb, the world losing what little focus it had just as quickly. Her body jerked only the once before hanging limp, dangling by her broken neck. The last thought to go through her head was that at least this death was swifter than most.

Her life was gone before she could process just what that meant. She was left dangling like that for some time, displayed for the crowd to see. When she was eventually brought down, they were not done with her body. They did not use it anymore, she was already ruined. Instead, they left her on display, this time nailed to a wall, stakes driven through her arms and legs to keep her in place. A brand across her chest read 'Traitor.' She was just outside of town, out where the wild buzzards would pick at her, until little was left but tattered flesh and bones.

* * *

Angel gasped, staggering a step back and gripping at her throat. For a moment, she felt a rope around it, but found nothing there. She shook her head to clear it, taking her cap off to run a hand over her head and brush her hair out of her face. "Get a grip on yourself, Angel. This place is dangerous enough without you freaking out." Though that thought did make her think. She looked around and sniffed. All she could see were the cracked, overgrown stone walls. All she could smell was dust and the jungle outside. So she could rule out having sprung a trap of some hallucinogenic gas. Probably.

She turned back to the hall in front of her. She had to focus. She was here to get to the bottom of this tomb, literally. It was recently discovered in the mountains of Peru, of all places. The Peru government had immediately banned entry for reasons only they knew. It wasn't so they could go through it themselves, that was certain as no one had come through since the discovery last year. So she decided to do it herself. Of course, the local government would not be very happy with an American going through the place, so she had burned a lot of favors to sneak herself here. But she had to find out, because she was...

...why_was_ she here? She was a soldier, not an archaeologist? Yeah, she had snuck across her fair share of borders in her time, but never to tomb raid. She looked at the cap in her hand. It was a plain blue thing, no logo or insignia upon it, but somewhat familiar. Looking down at her clothes, they also looked familiar. Like something from a movie. "The hell is going on...?" Everything about this was familiar. Not just that she had seen it before, but had lived it before. She didn't know how that was possible.

It felt like there were suddenly two sets of thoughts in her head. One telling her that everything was wrong, and another telling her to ignore it and move on, that nothing was wrong and she was just imagining things. Maybe she had gotten bitten by something? Malaria wasn't exactly common out here, but it could be anything. Or maybe the heat was just getting to her. She walked farther into the tunnel in front of her, at least to try and get where it was more shaded and cooler.

She pulled her canteen off of her belt and was just fiddling with the lid when she heard a loud click. On instinct, she dashed not back, but forward. A good thing, too. Spears suddenly jut out from both side of the wall behind her. If she had hopped back, she would have gotten caught. A trap for the overly cautious. She smirked, only to regret her moment of confidence. When she went to take a step back, there was suddenly no floor behind her. She half-caught herself, managing to not instantly fall backwards. She did still drop her canteen. The thing fell down the pit, only to hit a spike below. The spike was sharp enough that it pierced straight through the hard plastic, water spilling out of the new hole.

She tried to lean forward to get her balance, reaching out for one of the spears sticking out of the wall. She got a grip on it, only for some mechanism to yank it back into the stone the moment she did. Her hand slammed against the wall, hard enough that it made her cry out in pain, then in terror as she fully lost her balance and tumbled backwards. The fall into darkness was brief, but once more oddly familiar. She did not have long to think about it, as pain erupted through her body. The spikes at the bottom ripped through her, piercing her entirely. Several of the wooden spike had pierced straight through her back, their bloody tips erupting out her belly and chest. More pierced through her legs and arms.

She tried to cry out in agony, but all that came from her was a wet gurgle as she tasted blood in her mouth. She realized with some horror that she could not breath, several of the spikes having torn her lungs to pieces. Above her, whatever mechanism that had moved the floor away moved it back, and what little light shone into the hole was blocked. She felt tears in her eyes as she was left in total darkness, remembering that this was not the first time she had been left like this. It was a wonder this pit wasn't littered with her bones at this point. Perhaps it was, all on the floor in the blackness below her. She would be adding more to the pile soon.

She closed her eyes as her head felt light and groggy, the aching pain the only thing keeping her even dimly aware. Though she was fading quickly, she would linger like this for minutes. She did not want that, wanted it over with. She moved her head to the side, feeling another spike brush her ear. Of course she knew it was there, she had struck it before. If she could breath, she would utter a curse at... she hadn't figured out who yet. Lifting her head up, she slammed it back down, ramming the spike under her straight into her own skull. Her body jerked as it pierced through her, ending her torment in an instant of sharp agony, then nothingness.

* * *

She dashed back a step, narrowly avoiding the blade. She countered with her own, but equally missed her mark. Her opponent laughed, the stag obviously having a good time with their duel. "Nearly had me that time, bunny." His tone was taunting, but he was also slightly out of breath. Though she wasn't doing much better, either. They had been at this sparing match for... how long had they been fighting? At once it felt like hours or even days, but also only just started.

She yelped as the blade nicked her shoulder, though the stab was only a grazing wound at worst. "Daydreaming in a fight? Do I bore you so?"

She raised her sword up again. "A little." She slid in for a swipe, but feinted down to try and get under his guard. He still predicted the move and caught her sword with his own, blocking the strike.

He laughed again. "Your words have wounded me deeper than your sword ever could." He backed away, the two blades touching as they sized each other up. "I thought we had something special here. You, the mighty and lovely woman hunter. Me, the dashing outlaw. Both fighting for our very survival. Quite romantic, don't you think?"

"I think you talk too much." He always annoyed her with his flippant and flirtatious attitude. Always... Again, the odd sense of familiarity to all this. Her sword moved to catch a feinted swing around her outside, as if she knew he would do that. She also knew he would follow it up with a stab, which he did, easily avoided from this odd precognition. Or... memory of doing this before? The next minute of the fight played out exactly as she knew it would. She would attack, he would parry and counter, she would dodge and counter that, and he would just barely avoid it, all with that stupid grin on his face. Yet she couldn't remember what his name was. Or more, which one was his right now. He had several names, in several different scenarios.

When he backed away and lowered his sword, she blinked, raising her guard up again. His smile faded. "My dear lady, you don't seem to be taking this very seriously."

She scoffed. "You're one to talk. All you've done is flirt this whole time."

The stag scoffed. "Oh, I take flirting very seriously. Especially when romance and death are but a knife edge apart." He let out a soft sigh. "But you are distracted. It takes the fun out of this."

She narrowed her eyes at him. For a moment, she thought to ask if he also remembered doing any of this, but something told her she would not get a straight answer. "I'm not here for fun."

He shrugged. "No. I don't suppose you are." He let out another sigh. "Very well then. Serious it is." He suddenly kicked out, catching her by surprise. His hoof clanged off of the flat of her sword, sending it to the side. The wind was knocked out of her as his fist slammed into her gut. She was not expecting those swords of melee attacks during a sword duel. She was stumbling back a step when he turned, flipping his sword around in his grip and stabbing backwards. She was still reeling back as the blade pierced through her chest, exiting out her back.

Suddenly feeling weak, she lost the grip on her own blade, the thing thumping to the grass at her feet. She looked down to see the steel embedded into her, blood drooling around it, seeping into the light tunic under her leather armor. She cried out, a spray of blood from her mouth as he ripped the blade free. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Trembling hands covered wound, doing nothing to staunch the flow. She looked up at him, expecting to see his blade raised high, ready to strike her head from her shoulders, as he had done so many times before. She did not bother to question how she knew this right now. Or that she would be able to question it later.

However, the blade did not come. Instead, a hoof smashed against her face, shattering her nose and knocking several teeth free of their mooring. Her head snapped to the side, her body following as she collapsed to the ground. The momentum sent her tumbling down the hill they had been fighting atop. She did not realize how steep it was until now as she continued rolling, bouncing over small rocks and branches for some distance. Finally, she struck a tree, though not with enough force to break anything, not that it was a gentle halting, either.

She lay on the ground, coughing and wheezing, blood drooling from her nose and mouth. She tried to get up, but she had no strength in her body anymore. She couldn't even bring herself to crawl. She had lost too much blood, much of it internal bleeding. She instead turned her blurry gaze to the hill, the stag slowly making his way down to her, his smile replaced with a look of disappointment.

He shook his head. "My how the mighty fall." He crossed his arms. "You are an absolute mess. That pretty face of yours is utterly ruined. Your body broken. Not even worth playing with anymore."

She tried to speak as he got closer, barely managing words. "D-do... it..."

He tilted his head. "What, play with you? No, not in that state." He shifted his stance a little. "Or do you mean put you out of your misery?"

She coughed, spitting up more blood. "Y-yes..." She winced as she coughed again, a wet, rattling sound in her chest, paired with quite a bit of pain.

"Ah." He sighed once again. "Very well." He raised one hoof up. Her eyes went wide as she realized what he intended. Before she could say anything, the hoof slammed down against her head. Her skull cracked under the force, making her scream in pain. The second stomp was only worse, her whole body jerking and trembling. The third was more of a crunch, her screaming quickly fading in a wheezing squeak, her body jolting once again. The fourth stomp got no reaction, but a wet squelch. The fifth was just for good measure, though by how much of her brain was on his hoof, it was clear she was quite dead now.

He grunted, wiping his hoof off on her belly. "Ugh. Disgusting." He sheathed his sword and turned away from her ruined body as the final death rattle quivered through her. "Maybe next time you'll be more fun."

* * *

The bull tugged the chain, and the rabbit attached to it. The rattled, and the metal cuffs at her wrists bit into her. Angel grunted, glaring at the man. He had no need to keep yanking at her, she was following him along the road. She was stripped completely naked... again. Yes, again, she had some memories of it this time. Not just that she had walked this road through the mountains, but previous times. Being led naked through the streets to the gallows. Not just that. She remembered this bull, though the last time she saw him, she was fighting him like some kind of video game.

At least the view around her was nice. She actually took the time to admire it this time. She was being led up to the cliffs over looking to ocean. She had no idea exactly where this was supposed to be, but it reminded her of the highlands of Scotland. The trees gave way to a long, grassy field that ended abruptly in a tall cliff. Below was the ocean, the waves lazily crashing against the rocks. A chill sea breeze blew through, made only colder by her lack of anything but her fur to cover herself.

Eventually, the path ended. There was a large rock waiting for them. It was cut and smoothed, curved inward at the middle along the top. Perfect fit for a neck. The first time, she had wondered why someone would set up an execution stage so far out. She found out why when her headless body had been cast over the edge for the ocean to claim. Easy cleanup. It was still a nice view. She never had the chance to just enjoy views like this before... that part still eluded her, but she was close.

"On your knees, rabbit." The bull spoke in a deep voice, a threatening edge to it. He also did not give her much choice as he shoved her down to the ground in front of the stone. A meaty hand pushed her head down as well, shoving her neck against the curved edge. At least he didn't half-choke her on the thing this time. Though she suspected just what he planned to do instead. Those suspicions were confirmed as his hand rested against her bare ass. "Shame to let such a cute thing go to waste. Maybe I'll give you one last bit 'o fun before you get 'alf a foot shorter." He chuckled as he started to fiddle with his belt. "That is if you can enjoy being spread that far."

He did this before as well. Being almost twice her size in every way, the rod he was working to free was far more than something any rabbit could take. If he really tried, he could probably kill her with that, though it would be a far slower death than the heavy sword he brought with him for the chopping. Actually, she knew that, as well from experience, just not on these hills. More memories were coming, and she did not fight them. Though she was fighting many others in those memories. This bull, a stag, a bear, another rabbit, all familiar from before those moments, but she still had not fully connected why yet.

She was also not exactly sitting idle while he got ready to rape her. Using a piece of wire she had on her, she was rapidly picking the locks to the cuffs. This was also something she had done before. But she had a different plan than any of those. Normally, she would try to fight for the sword, and he would always win. Either cutting her down, chopping her head right there, or otherwise breaking her. It was a fight she could not win.

So she would not fight it. As soon as his cock slapped against her ass, she moved. Her elbow shot up and back, smacking against the edge of his meaty member. He cried out in surprise, backing away. "You fuck'n bitch!" He quickly reached to grab for the sword he left jammed into the ground. "I'm gonna gut you and let you bleed out up here!"

But she was already on her feet and backing away. "Not this time, big guy!" She grinned as he got a confused look. She was backing towards the cliffs intentionally. "Better luck next time!" She leapt backwards, throwing herself from the edge, and leaving the baffled bull behind. Of course, there was no way she would survive the fall, but she was going out on her own terms for this one!

She felt an odd sense of weightlessness as she fell, the wind all around her. Those memories came to her more and more as she waited for another death. She had died so many times, in so many ways. Stabbed, beaten, strangled, gutted... a drill to her skull... that was an odd on. And, of course... shot. Her eyes snapped open. That was the first time. On those towers, against the sniper. Rex Kardia. Her actual death.

For a brief moment, everything around her seemed to alter, though not by her doing. She was still falling, but not in the highlands. She was in a pit, the air red and hot, yet freezing cold at the same time. Screams surrounded her, some of them her own. Below her was an ocean, but not of water. It was at once sun-hot fire, and biting absolute freezing cold, shimmering in reds and blues that were the exact opposite of comforting. Bodies writhed within, again many of them her own.

This was hell itself. And she deserved to be here. She was a killer, an assassin, a wetworks sniper. She had killed- Her mind jolted the moment she thought of who. Everyone. Every person she had encountered in her many deaths. Every single one was someone she was responsible for killing in some way. The bull was a would-be dictator in southeast Asia. The stag was an arms dealer in the middle east. The bear was from a drug cartel, the wolf one of his pushers that gave her the information.

The rabbit... Jason... oh Jason. That one hurt her more than any other. Jason had been her boyfriend from high school. He was a fragile sort, but very romantic, if a little overly attached. He tried to talk her out of following her father into the military, but she did anyway. He had killed himself a year after she was deployed, unable to bear the loneliness and worry about her. Threw himself off a bridge, into the freezing river below. While it was not by her hand, in many ways, that was her first kill.

She would see him soon. This happened in cycles, repeated loops. After the cliffs was another dungeon, where she would usually be crushed by some trap. After that, she was on a date with Jason. She had to remember this time. She had never remembered so much before. If she could remember and talk to him, maybe... maybe she could ask... beg... his forgiveness. At least offer him comfort. He didn't deserve to be here because of her. She might be able to do the same to others. It was not like she had anything to lose in trying.

There was one face that came to her that she did not know, however. The rat, fur blacker than her own. He had no name. Nothing before now. He was not someone who she killed. "Demon." It was the only thought that came to her. If this was hell, he had to be a demon, the one in charge of her eternal torment. An odd giddiness came to her as the view of the rocks and ocean came back to her. She would take a lot of joy in trying to screw this demon over, deny him his pleasure of watching her suffer over and over.

A large grin spread on her face as the rocks drew near. "I'm going to actually enjoy th-" Her words were cut off as her body struck the rocks, smashing upon them with enough force to split her. Her death was instant, the bloody pieces tumbling into the water. She was still somewhat aware, however, but not in her body. This was an experience she knew, as well. Forced to watch what happened to her body after her death. This time there was not much to watch. The bloody gore that was left may eventually be eaten by some wildlife, but she would mostly be left to rot upon the stones. She knew the switch would come soon. She was ready. She had a plan now.

She was going to get out of hell. Or at least fuck over the demon trying to fuck her over.

* * *

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