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battle-scarred-raven · 7 years

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Fanfic: Change Isn’t Easy (Part 3)

Title: Change Isn’t Easy

Part: 3

Fandom: Halo/RvB

Pairings: Past California/Carolina (mentioned), Past Yorkalina (mentioned), CarWash, California/Kesan (@k-dradom‘s Sangheili character)

Summary: Carolina, Wash and the Reds and Blues travel to Sanghelios. The Freelancers run into an old friend who has moved on with her life. Meanwhile, California nervously awaits seeing her friends again, knowing she didn’t part with them last in the best way and a lot has happened since…

As they say, change isn’t easy. Takes place after Season 15 of RvB. Probably going to end up canon divergent.

Warnings: Canon typical language in both English and Sangheili.

Notes: Translations for Sangheili throughout this fanfic are provided via hyperlink (hover over linked text to see the translation. Some phrases are not exact.)

It had been a while since the Freelancers had been in a city on a planet. The last had been Armonia, well over a year ago now, back on Chorus, and they had been forced to destroy that. As impressive as the Chorusan capital had been to Carolina, though, it paled in comparison to... what had Tucker called it?

Vadam, that was it.

The keep itself was built into a mountain, much of its structure and the surrounding city even running inside the mountain itself, and overlooked the entire territory surrounding it. Fal had mentioned in passing ever since the House of Vadam had officially claimed the site as their own, no other clan or military force had been able to seize it. Carolina was inclined to believe him, in all honesty. It certainly looked impenetrable. She wondered if Wash was thinking the same thing, before the walls of the mountain closed in on them as Fal led them yet further in.

Expecting a large cave, Carolina was stunned to find a sprawling and rather advanced metropolis far below them of ancient and modern structures, and a myriad of Sangheili just going about their daily lives. Somewhere far below them, she could hear the sound of a river. The sight was enough to make her pause and out of the corner of her green eyes, she could see Wash doing the same, too.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Fal stopped beside them, also admiring the view. “Vadam is one of the younger city-states on Sanghelios, relatively speaking, yet it is among the most impressive.

Despite her unease about being around Sangheili, Carolina couldn’t help but agree. “It’s beautiful. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.”

“Hmm.” Fal hummed, before gesturing for the two Freelancers to follow. “It isn’t much farther.”

As he stepped out onto one of the natural stone bridges that lined the cavern with its very lethal looking drop on either side of it, Carolina cringed and turned to Wash. Judging by how stiff the other soldier was standing, she guessed he was about as horrified as she was at the narrow rocky path.

“Come!” Fal called a little ways ahead of them, “It is perfectly safe. There are barriers installed to stop a fall. Observe...” and to demonstrate, he threw a small rock towards the ravine floor, only for it to bounce off some kind of blue forcefield back into his hand.

“Yeeeah, maybe after you, Carolina?” Wash told her after watching the demonstration, still not entirely convinced.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby.” She admonished him.

He snorted at her in return. “Like you weren’t afraid either.”

“Just... shut up and start walking, Wash.”

Despite everything, they both ended up catching up with the old Sangheili warrior at the same time. They were taking across to a large platform built into the inner cliff of the mountain, where a large temple like structure had been hewn directly from the rock. It looked at least a thousand years old, judging by the heavy weathering and more recent looking battle damage.

“Was Vadam attacked recently?” Wash couldn’t help but ask in spite of himself.

“Yes.” Fal’s voice was solemn. “The Blooding Years, the Sangheili Civil War. The Neru ‘Pe Odosima – the Servants of the Abiding Truth in your language – struck out at Vadam lands. Vadam Keep was heavily damaged during this time, including the temple to our old gods here. The last such Temple in Vadam. I think Kaidon ‘Vadam keeps it as a reminder of what our species was once reduced to – great, yet foolish warriors blinded by lies and faith and willing to die for what turned to be a pointless, non-existent cause. There was no honour in what we did, what some still continue to pursue, and there never will be.”

“Is that why the Sangheili are fighting one another?” Carolina asked, her voice a whisper.

“Indeed. Or... rather, one of many reasons, I suppose.” The old Sangheili nodded, his expression a little grave. “It is true; some of us are still blinded by our faith. Others feel that Kaidon ‘Vadam is false, that he should have died as the Gods and his position of Arbiter decreed in the name of the Great Journey. Others still find it unacceptable to ally with your kind, saying humans are too dangerous or that the Sangheili are strong enough to stand alone and being allies with humanity only weakens us. This is why we need people like Lavernius, his son and T’las. To help keep the peace. To prove that we need each other. Those short-sighted fools that, whatever their reasoning, conspire against the notion of peace would doom us all without second thought.”

“Speaking of... why does T’las want to see us, specifically?” Wash piped up after Fal had finished talking. “Does she... think we can help her out, or something? Because Tucker would be better at that, in all honesty-”

He was cut off by Fal laughing suddenly.

“Do not presume I know the Swordmaster’s mind, Eenngahnehenn.” He interrupted in an amused tone, like the idea was absurd and, truth be told, it probably was. “T’las’ business with you is not mine to know unless she wishes to share it with me. Wort. She awaits you inside.”

Under her helmet, Carolina raised an eyebrow. “And what about you?”

“I will await your return out here.”

The cyan Freelancer once more looked at Wash, then to the darkened entrance of the temple, then back to her fellow Freelancer, who gave her a shrug. What did they have to lose? Taking a breath, she walked inside, Wash following shortly thereafter.

Inside, the temple betrayed its true size, and it was massive. Littered around its derelict hall were ancient alien artifacts, some obviously Sangheili, but most reminded Carolina of the relics on Chorus. She wondered if perhaps they, too, belonged to Santa’s long-dead, mortal masters. Similarly, Wash was in awe beside her, looking around him, and for the second time that day, both Freelancers were stunned for a moment.

After a while, they proceeded further inside the main hall of the temple, past many statues of Sangheili, before coming to an open space dominated by a giant statue of a being that looked like a human, except it had six digits per hand, was wearing highly advanced looking armour and its facial structure was somewhat different, sporting no visible ears, more fur like hair and two slits for a nose. At the base of the vast statue, obscured by shadows, was an armoured and cloaked humanoid figure waiting for them, back facing towards them.

Was this her? Both Freelancers looked at each other once again, confused. Both had been expecting another Sangheili, not... a human?

“No, you aren’t hallucinating.” The figure addressed them in a familiar voice, turning to face them as she answered the question they were both dying to ask. Her dark steel and blood red armour, the Helioskrill variant, made her look remarkably like a Sangheili, to the point where the boots were split in two in mimicry of Sangheili toes. Even the helmet was remarkably similar to Fal’s, except with a golden, polarised visor.

“T’las?” Carolina frowned deeply under her helmet.

The other soldier waved a dismissive hand. “Please. That’s just what the Sangheili call me because most have difficulty pronouncing my actual name. That, or out of respect for Thel inviting me to his clan. Or both. You, however, know me better than that.”

The figure wasn’t wrong. Carolina did know her better than that, or at least she thought she had. Memories unbidden came rushing to the surface, causing the cyan Freelancer to clench her fists in anger.

“California?” She forced out, struggling to keep the anger from her voice. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Keeping the peace.” The new Freelancer answered her calmly. Then as if sensing Carolina’s underlying rage, she turned her head to Wash. “Hey Wash, sorry for you to be dragged up here, but we can catch up later, alright?”

The steel and yellow Freelancer looked between the two women, but it didn’t take long for him to understand. “Yeah. I’ll be outside with Fal, then. It’s good to see you again, Cali.”

“Likewise.”

Silence followed as Washington turned to leave. Only after she was sure he was gone completely, did California remove her helmet with a hiss of air that reverberated from the temple walls, revealing her battle-scarred and tattooed face as if Carolina needed any more confirmation it truly was her. Her expression was remorseful, guilt dancing in her only working eye.

“Carolina...” She began after another silence.

“Don’t you dare ‘Carolina’ me!” The barely suppressed fury from before suddenly burst free. “You-you let me believe I had a future again! That there was more to life than fighting wars! And then you just... you just left, without so much as a goodbye! No looking back, no message left, nothing!”

Didn’t you do something similar, from what I heard? California wanted to say, but suppressed the urge, knowing it would only make thing worse. Instead, she apologised, “I’m sorry, Carolina.”

“Sorry? Sorry?! You left me hanging for months!” Carolina gestured angrily at her. “Not to mention, right after Epsilon as well! Right when I needed you most! And all you have to say is, sorry?! Why, damn it?! If you had wanted to run off and play diplomat so badly, why couldn’t you just say so?!”

California waited until her resentful echoes died down before quietly uttering her softly spoken sentence. “I... I wasn’t sure I was ready.”

It was enough to deflate Carolina for a good minute, mouth agape as her next accusation died on her tongue. “I... I’m-what?”

“I wasn’t ready.” California repeated, a sigh escaping her lips and her whole body slumped a little like the action physically deflated her, not unlike a puncture in a Warthog tyre. “Or, at least I didn’t think I was at the time. I wasn’t sure I was ready to commit to you, to us, because of my past. So I ran away and left you, like I left Wash when the Project came crashing down and I didn’t know what to do. I guess some things don’t change, huh?”

Carolina remained silent, trying to process what California was saying to her. She left because she was... afraid? It contrasted starkly with the image of her fellow Freelancer that she was used to seeing, but then even she herself had fears, she supposed, even when putting on a front.

“I should have left some sort of message though.” California continued, heedless of whether Carolina wanted to interject or not. “I’m sorry for that. It’s ironic, my reasons for leaving, considering what’s happened since, but it’s not an excuse. I should have explained myself, not left you hanging blindly in the dark like that. You deserve so much better than me, especially after the shit you’ve been through.”

Not just me, the cyan armoured Freelancer almost stated in newfound sympathy, until her processing mind caught up with the rest of her and realised just what the other woman had said, which left her somewhat confused. “Wait, what do you mean? Why is it ironic?”

No sooner had she posed the question, the answer presented itself when footsteps echoed from even further inside the temple, eventually revealing their owner to be a huge Sangheili that dwarfed California by a good head and shoulders amount.

“I heard shouting. Is everything alright, Dallas?”

Even as the Sangheili spoke, Carolina had already whipped her Battle Rifle out on anger filled instinct. Her next few sentences rolled out almost all as one. “What the hell?! I thought this was a private conversation! Who the hell is he?! Has been here the whole time?! How the hell does he know your actual name?!”

California was quick to shift, getting between the pair of them. “Carolina, calm down! It’s alright. Just... lower your rifle. You’re going to frighten Thaea.”

The cyan soldier’s grip on her rifle loosened and her head cocked slightly, obviously puzzled until she saw the small bundle in the Sangheili’s arms. She uneasily lowered her weapon, a question on her lips, but not one she got to ask out loud.

“This is my husband, Kesan, and our daughter, Thaea.” The other woman introduced her, and Carolina went entirely numb, heart shattering as the implications of California’s prior statement were fully realised.

“You...-Your husband? And... daughter?” Carolina eventually stammered out as she struggled to think. “As... as in... you... you’re married? You... you adopted a kid?”

“Had, actually.” California rubbed the back of her head uneasily, tousling her black hair a little. “But... yeah. Took a few goes, but-”

In the space of a second, there was a whirring sound followed by a sickening crunching sound as Carolina utilised her Speed Unit to rocket a punch straight into California’s jaw, both cutting off the other woman and sending her to the floor from the impact and pain. Kesan moved to shield his wife from further harm, but with a kid in his arms, there was little else he could do to help, and before he could stop her, Carolina was already leaving the temple without so much as a glance back to see the consequences of her actions. Not long after that, the steel and yellow form of Wash came running in to see what the commotion was about.

“What the heck, I leave you two for five minutes and then Carolina comes storming out and-oh, shit.” He stopped himself short, both physically and in a speaking sense, before running over to kneel by California’s side. “What the hell did you say to her? Did she punch you?”

“Yes, she did.” It was Kesan who answered him in place of California, who was too busy clutching her jaw in pain. It was enough to send Wash reeling back in surprise. “It is alright, Washington. I mean no harm.”

“No offense, but the last time I saw a Sangheili before today, they insulted me, and the time before that, they nearly killed my whole platoon.” Wash offered as way of explanation, barely relaxing. “So you’ll forgive me if you and your people put me on edge.”

“Understandable.” The Sangheili’s green eyes held deep sympathy in them as he looked first at the Freelancer, before shifting his gaze to Thaea and cooing her, keeping her calm despite his own alarm. “Do you have any biofoam?”

“Only for personal use.” Wash’s frown was almost audible in his tone. “I have a Healing Unit in my armour that might help, but...”

“I’m fine.” California moved her hand from her jaw, revealing a sizeable bruise already forming, before spitting out a little blood, a few flecks of which landed on Washington’s armour. “I’ll be fine.”

“Carolina isn’t known for light jabs when she hits someone.” Wash shook his head. “You know when she punches you, she means to do damage. What if your jaw is broken?”

“He has a point, monerasha.” Kesan agreed, shifting a little uncomfortably. “You even told me as much before we traveled down here.”

“Listen, both of you, I’ll be fine. If my jaw was broken, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” California spoke between gritted teeth. “It’s just a bad bruise. Dias – Digamma - even said as much.”

Wash was silent for a moment, surprised California still even had her AI after all this time, but made no comment on the matter as he offered a hand to help her up. “Alright, but at least have someone have a look at it properly, just to be sure.”

She accepted his hand gratefully, allowed herself to be pulled up. “Yeah, yeah. It’s not like I didn’t deserve it though.”

“Do I want to know?” Wash asked, then changed his mind. “Actually, probably not. Do you want me to go talk to her?”

“I doubt it’ll do much good, but knock yourself out.” There was a beat, before California added, “Pun not intended, by the way.”

“Good, because that would be a terrible joke to make right after you just got punched by Carolina.”

With that, Wash left, leaving California alone with their husband and their daughter, who was now fussing a little in Kesan’s arms. He offered her one of his long, slender fingers to play with as way of distraction, before he spoke.

“You didn’t deserve that.” He rumbled at his wife, brows furrowing.

“Oh, believe me when I say I did.” California answered, before whirling around to face her Sangheili husband. “Fruqo’t cha, Kesan, I left her without so much as a word! Right when she was hurting the most! What kind of person does that to someone they care about?”

There was a long silence as Kesan regarded California carefully with his green eyes.

“You two were close.” He inferred, though whether it was a statement or a question, only he knew.

“I...” California realised her blunder then. Her relationship with Carolina wasn’t one she’d ever disclosed with her husband, not out of shame, but because she truly thought it would never come up and be an issue. Still, she felt somewhat guilty. “Shit, I’m sorry. I should have told you. I didn’t think...”

“What you did in your past isn’t any of my business unless you wish to tell me.” Kesan sighed quietly, and California got a vague sense of déjà vu. It was a conversation they’d had a few times before.

“Still, I should have told you this, at least. If I had, things might have gone differently. I could have come to you for advice, or something.” California echoed his sigh, shoulders slumped in defeat. “Now all I have is a giant headache, a severely bruised jaw and an ex-girlfriend who’ll probably never forgive me.”

“Even if you had told me, that still might be the case. No-one can predict the future.” Kesan shook his head. “Did you at least tell Carolina why you did what you did?”

California slumped even more. “I tried and... well, you saw the result of that.”

“Then perhaps you should give her time.” Her husband offered lightly. “At any rate, we should head back to where we are staying in the main keep. Thaea is fussing, so she is likely either tired or hungry again. Perhaps both. And you need to see a medic about your jaw, still.”

“Yeah, alright. Probably for the best.” California slid her helmet back on, clicking the seals into place, before walking with her husband out of the temple and back to the main keep.

#fanfic #rvb fanfic #halo #carwash #calilina #my eternal light of sanghelios #washalina #washlina

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battle-scarred-raven · 7 years

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Fanfic: Change Isn’t Easy (Part 2)

Title: Change Isn’t Easy

Part: 2

Fandom: Halo/RvB

Pairings: Past California/Carolina (mentioned), Past Yorkalina (mentioned), CarWash, California/Kesan (@k-dradom‘s Sangheili character)

As they say, change isn’t easy. Takes place after Season 15 of RvB. Probably going to end up canon divergent.

Warnings: Canon typical language in both English and Sangheili.

Notes: Translations for Sangheili throughout this fanfic are provided via hyperlink (hover over linked text to see the translation. Some phrases are not exact.)

Carolina was unusually silent as the Pelican she and everyone else were in made its final descent down to Sanghelios’ surface. She had travelled to many planets, but had never set foot on the Sangheili homeworld before. It was certain to be an experience she wouldn’t forget.

Opposite her, the Reds were chatting and bickering with one another. To her left, Tucker was trying to calm down an excited Caboose who kept shouting about being excited to go to “Crunchbite’s home”. Tucker had been initially excited too, talking about how his son was here, which surprised Carolina. Besides all the babies he had fathered on Chorus, she had forgotten he already had a child. She had fallen quiet not long after that, her own lost future weighing heavily on her mind.

Someone squeezing her right hand startled Carolina from her reverie and her head snapped in the direction. Wash returned her look and she wagered that, underneath his helmet, his expression was likely concern. She returned his squeeze, unashamed; past her might have yanked away, but ever since the whole fiasco with Temple and the Blues and Reds, they had gotten a lot closer. A lot, lot closer. She had finally decided to let her guard down and let Wash be her future now, something he had thankfully agreed to. The guys had teased them about it once they found out (purely by accident, no thanks to Tucker), but they were also surprisingly supportive of it to the point Carolina almost embarrassed herself by crying. Thankfully, Wash had been there to make her feel better, just as he was now.

“You alright, Carolina?” He asked her gently, rubbing circles over her hand with his thumb. “You seem out of it.”

“I’m fine, Wash.” She whispered back to him, though leaned her head on his shoulder gratefully all the same. “It’s just...”

“Having trouble wrapping your head around the fact we’re going to the Elite homeworld?” He interjected softly, rubbing circles the other way instead. “To be honest, I am too. The Great War wasn’t that long ago. Hard to believe most of these guys are our friends now, especially after I fought more than a few of them. Hell, they destroyed most of the system I had my basic in.”

“They killed my mother.” Carolina’s voice was sombre. “Well... the Covenant they were a part of did, at least. Whether it was a Sangheili that did it or not, I’ll never know. My father never told me, and he’s dead now.”

I know, Wash wanted to say. But the rest of the guys didn’t know about Carolina’s parentage – hell, he didn’t even know how much she knew about how much he knew about her from Epsilon – so he refrained. Instead, he settled for leaning his head lightly on hers.

“This probably re-opens some wounds for you, doesn’t it?” He instead answered, “We could have not come, you know. The, uh, ‘Arbiter’ only wanted to see Tucker.”

“You trust Tucker that much?” A short chuckle escaped the other Freelancer’s mouth. “He’d have gotten into trouble somehow, and you know it. No, better this way. I can put my feelings aside for a few days for friends.”

The for family wasn’t said, but Carolina knew Wash had gotten the idea when he shifted a little in surprise. It surprised her too, truth be told, just how attached to the Reds and Blues she had gotten. Grif was like her long lost lazy Hawaiian second cousin or something, Simmons was his nerdy boyfriend who bickered with him a lot, but actually really loved him. Sarge was the crazy uncle she’d never had and Donut was her gay cousin. Lopez was a distant Mexican relation, Caboose was like her younger brother or a young nephew and Tucker was either her crazy wingman black cousin or just regular wingman, she could never decide. And she would do anything for them, anything to keep them safe.

As for Wash, he was... well. Wash was her boyfriend now, apparently. It was a crazy family, but a family nonetheless. One she wouldn’t trade for anything. However, despite her fondness and protectiveness of them, it wasn’t just them she was worried about when she had decided to tag along to Sanghelios.

“It’s... not just that, though.” She admitted finally after a long silence. “Keeping the guys out of trouble is one reason I came, but it wasn’t the only one. And... it’s also the reason I’m a little... out of it, as you say.”

“Oh?” Carolina could almost hear Wash’s eyebrow rise behind his golden visor.

“California is on Sanghelios.”

There was another silence as Carolina’s words sank into Wash. “Oh.” Then, “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“When did you find that out?”

“I listened for communications from time to time back on the moon.” The cyan Freelancer admitted quietly. “There was an article about an ambassador codenamed Huntingdon that had been brokering treaties between the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios. California told me that was the name she’d been going under all these years. So I knew it had to be her. I... sent a communication to her prior to us leaving for Sanghelios, but she never replied. I don’t know if she ever got it or not.”

“If she’s an ambassador now, she could just be busy.” Wash pointed out, his thumb motions stopping.

“True, but... well. She just up and left us on Chorus without a word. Maybe I can’t speak, because I did that to you guys back when we crashed there, but...”

“It hurts.” The steel and yellow clad Freelancer finished for her. Carolina raised her head to look up at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He nudged her lightly. “You did what you had to, and if you hadn’t, we might never have known what was going on with Chorus. We might not have won.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that.” Carolina hummed dismissively, shaking her head. “We had a lot of help.”

“Yeah, but you got the ball rolling to the greater good. Anyway, it’s not like you didn’t come back for us. And you had good reasons to leave. Maybe Cali did, too.”

Carolina stiffened, thoughtful for a moment, before letting out a sigh and relaxing.

“Maybe you’re right-”

“Hey, lovebirds!”

Both Freelancers looked up to the source of the interruption, only to find Tucker standing there, one arm holding a bar above them to steady himself, his other hand on his waist. When had he gotten up?

“Christ, I thought you two would never stop talking.” The aqua soldier shook his head at them.

“What is it, Tucker?” Wash asked, mildly irritated, beating Carolina to the punch.

“We’re about to land in Vadam.” He told them, and Carolina swore she could hear the excitement from before returning to his voice. “Just waitin’ for the all clear to land.”

“Oh, right.” The steel and yellow clad Freelancer deadpanned him, before shifting to stand. It was at this point Carolina saw the others had already stood up as well, before taking note of Wash’s offered hand and allowing him to pull her up.

“Thanks.” She told him gratefully, lowering their hands once she was stood. When Wash didn’t let go like she thought he would, she gave his hand a squeeze, mirroring the one he’d given her earlier.

The Pelican bounced its occupants a little as it finally touched down, before a hiss of air announced the opening of the rear bay doors. As they did, Carolina reluctantly let go of Wash, squinting into the daylight revealed by the now open bay doors. Beyond them awaited a small delegation of Sangheili, led by a particularly aged, dark skinned Sangheili with a missing upper mandible, red and bone coloured battle-scarred armour and the iciest blue eyes. His remaining three mandibles pressed close together, yet there was amusement in his eyes, and it took Carolina a good while to register that the expression was the Sangheili version of a smile.

Before the delegation leader could introduce himself, and mere seconds after they had all exited the Pelican, an aqua and blue armoured figure barrelled into Tucker from nowhere, almost making Carolina reach for her Battle Rifle on her back. The only thing that stopped her was the sound of Tucker laughing and her initial alarm was soon replaced with an overwhelming sense of confusion.

“Junior! Buddy!” Tucker called out in delight, hugging the figure, which Carolina realised was another Sangheili, far taller than the delegation leader, which made the act of Tucker hugging him absurd. “Man, I’ve missed you. Sorry I couldn’t be there for your graduation, and all that. Too much saving the world and getting chicks. You know how it goes.”

As the Sangheili rumbled something she couldn’t make sense of, the pieces connected rather abruptly for Carolina. This Sangheili was Tucker’s son. She had been present when he had shown Doyle the photo of him with his school basketball team, but she had only been listening vaguely at that point. Wash and the others didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed at all. How was this a thing she was only just learning about now?

“Jora!” The Sangheili delegation leader’s deep voice rumbled, cutting off celebrations and reunions. He then barked something she couldn’t understand and the other Sangheili pulled away from his father, seemingly apologising in kind, both to his fellow Sangheili and his father.

“Hey, it’s alright, kid.” Tucker offered in sympathy. “Don’t let me keep you from the important shit. Come find me later, ‘kay?”

Junior said something else, to which Tucker just nodded before the Sangheili left. All eyes fell onto the delegation leader after that.

“My apologies for interrupting your reunions, but Kaidon ‘Vadam wishes to speak with you immediately, Lavernius Tucker.” He rumbled, this time in English.

“Nah, it’s cool. Arbiter can be impatient and stubborn, I get that.” The aqua soldier replied casually, and inside her helmet, Carolina visibly cringed at his demeanour. She severely hoped this wasn’t how he talked to the Arbiter, too.

“His stubbornness is what has kept the bulk of Sanghelios united thus far.” The old Sangheili’s voice turned grave. Honest. “Were it not for Kaidon ‘Vadam, Sanghelios would have been left in ruins long ago. But that matters not now. I am Fal ‘Mantakr, your emissary during your stay in Vadam Keep. Come. We will take you to Kaidon ‘Vadam. After you.” He gestured forward with his right hand.

The other Sangheili with Fal dispersed, and the Reds and Blues, led by Tucker, followed them. As Carolina and Wash made to move, however, Fal stopped them with his other hand, icy eyes squinting momentarily.

“Hmm, no. Not you.” He rumbled at the two Freelancers. “I was instructed to take you elsewhere.”

Carolina threatened to get defensive, but seeing this, Wash stepped in, blocking her with an arm. “Fal, was it?” The Sangheili’s name rolled off uneasily from his tongue. “No offense, but we’re staying with our friends, and I’d rather this not be made into something bigger if we can all help it.”

“Your friends are in safe hands, if that is your concern.” Fal regarded them carefully.

“You’ll forgive us if that isn’t exactly a comfort.” Carolina added in, trying not to grit her teeth.

“It is out of my hands, Dohmoh.” Fal shook his head, sympathy laced in his tone. “These instructions came from one of our ambassadors, T’las ‘Vadam. She wished to speak to you the moment you arrived at Vadam.”

By this point, the commotion had caused the Reds and Blues to stop and turn around, wanting to know what the fuss was about. The rest of the Sangheili delegation stopped walking too, a little further ahead of them.

“What’s all th’ fuss about?” It was Sarge who spoke first, surprisingly. “Do I hafta administer my tried ‘n’ true brand of Red justice on ‘em? ‘Cuz it’d be kinda a shame to ruin that fancy red ‘n’ white armour...”

“That... won’t be necessary Sarge.” Wash answered back, strained. Carolina just groaned internally.

“Dagnabit! You’re safe fer now, alien fellah, but I got my eye on you.”

Fal’s gaze flicked between Sarge, the Freelancers and the rest of the Reds and Blues, before finally settling on Tucker questioningly.

“Just ignore him.” The aqua captain answered the old Sangheili’s unasked question. “But really, what’s going on, though?”

“Fal wants us to go meet with an ambassador.” Carolina was the one to respond to him. “Not sure why, but she really wants to talk to us.”

“Meh, I’m sure we’ll be fine without you for a few hours. I mean, come on, we survived without you before!” The grin in Tucker’s voice could almost be heard.

“Why does that not fill me with confidence?” Wash deadpanned him quietly.

“You trust us that little?” Tucker sounded offended.

“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Wash countered, looking towards the others.

“We’ll be fine, Wash! Seriously, you need to stop being paranoid. We can meet up again later.”

“I guess that settles that, then.” Carolina agreed, though she didn’t sound too thrilled by the prospect either. “You go see the Arbiter, we’ll see this ambassador and we’ll meet somewhere in the city surrounding the keep. How’s that sound?”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”

With that, the two parties separated, one heading towards the Keep tower itself and the other heading towards Vadam’s outskirts. As Carolina and Wash followed Fal, she stuck close to her fellow Freelancer, unable to shake the sick feeling from her gut.

The sooner she was back with the others, with her family, the better she would feel, in all honesty.

#outofravens #halo #rvb #fanfic #carwash #calilina #my eternal light of sanghelios

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battle-scarred-raven · 7 years

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Fanfic: Change Isn’t Easy (Pt. 1)

Title: Change Isn’t Easy

Part: 1

Fandom: Halo/RvB

Pairings: Past California/Carolina (mentioned), Past Yorkalina (mentioned), CarWash, California/Kesan (@k-dradom‘s Sangheili character)

As they say, change isn’t easy. Takes place after Season 15 of RvB. Probably going to end up canon divergent.

Warnings: Canon typical language in both English and Sangheili.

Notes: Translations for Sangheili throughout this fanfic are provided via hyperlink (hover over linked text to see the translation. Some phrases are not exact.)

California read the correspondence on her datapad over and over again, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Wash and Carolina were coming across to Sanghelios. Something about one of the Simulation Soldiers being an ambassador and the Arbiter needing to see him to clear something up. But she didn’t care much about that. She cared more about the fact that Wash and Carolina were coming to Sanghelios. The latter, in particular, concerned her most.

How would they – she – react? She had taken a Sangheili husband, had a hybrid child with him. Carolina once told her that her mother was killed in a skirmish with Covenant forces, and Wash had fought Sangheili before. Officially, the two species were at peace now thanks to people like herself, but there were outliers in both humanity and the Sangheili that wished to disrupt that. California severely hoped her fellow former Freelancers weren’t among them.

“I managed to get Thaea down at last.” The deep, rumbling voice of her husband startled her from her brooding. “She’s feisty, that one, much like her mother.” His green, luminous eyes fell on her, and the Sangheili’s eyebows furrowed deeply. “You’ve been looking at that device with the same troubled expression for hours now. What is bothering you, my love?”

California considered brushing it off, but she knew Kesan would see right through her. He always had been able to, even behind her helmet and even when they had first met. She sighed instead.

“I didn’t want to worry you-”

“My only concern is the wellbeing of those closest to me.” He shifted to sit down next to her, brushing some hair from her face in order to cup her bare cheek. “I can handle it, Dallas.”

She leaned into his touch gratefully, before lowering the datapad just enough so Kesan could see it. His eyes darted from side to side as he read the screen for a moment, before he glanced at his wife questioningly.

“What is so special about this... ‘Wash’? And ‘Carolina’?” He asked her, clearly puzzled.

“You remember I told you I was part of this Spec. Ops. Project once?” California tried to jog Kesan’s memory.

He hummed thoughtfully. “You briefly mentioned something about it, if I recall. One of many secret projects your UNSC sanctioned to win the Great War?”

“Experimental project, yeah. Project Freelancer.” She clarified, sighing again. “I wasn’t the only agent. There were fifty of us in total. All codenamed after States of a country back on the human homeworld. Of those fifty agents, I only know of three that live. California – me – obviously being one of them...”

“Wash... and Carolina.” Kesan correctly guessed as she trailed off.

“Exactly.”

There was a brief silence before Kesan spoke next. “And your... friends, they are coming here? And you aren’t happy about that?”

California shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just... before each of us joined the Project, we faced very different things. Different wars. I fought and was affected by Insurrectionists. They both either fought or were affected by the Covenant... or your people directly.”

“Ah. You think they will react unfavourably to me. To our... union.” Kesan nodded in understanding.

“Yeah. And Thaea too, I guess.” California shrugged. “I mean... I suppose if they are coming here willingly and calling ahead of time, that means they don’t want to start trouble, but... still. They don’t know about us yet. And Carolina and I...” She faltered.

Kesan nuzzled her encouragingly. “Carolina and you what?”

We were close, she wanted to say, but what actually came out of her mouth was, “She was my boss. My overall team leader. She led us agents out in the field. I was lost when I thought I saw her die. And Wash... I had to leave him behind and, long story short, the Project was fucked up, some of the agents mutinied and he got caught up in it all. I’ve always regretted leaving him behind.”

He stroked her cheek again. “I’m sure if you could have taken him with you, you would have.”

Again, California shook her head. “No. I was a mess. I didn’t know what to do. Our flagship was destroyed in the mutiny, Carolina was thrown off a cliff by one of the other agents who had betrayed us and Wash was so broken by the experimental AI he was given he didn’t even recognise me. So I ran.”

“You mentioned you caught up with some friends on a planet called Chorus, though.” Kesan hummed again. “Were these not your friends that you were talking about?”

“Yeah, they were. But we never really got to... talk about things.”

“All the more reason to allow them to visit us.”

“Are you sure? Because – and I hope they don’t for both our sakes – if they turn hostile, I might not be able to stop them.” California warned him.

“I’m a Sangheili warrior.” He reminded her.

“And Carolina is a lot stronger that she looks, trust me. I once saw her punch the strongest, tallest – almost as tall as you, in fact – agent into a wall without batting an eyelid.” She stated, matter of factly. “She was always the best of us. That’s why she led us all on missions. And Wash is kind of the Jack-of-all-trades, brilliant shot with a Battle Rifle and great with knives. Not too shabby in hand to hand himself, either.”

“Hmm, you are really that worried about them?” Kesan hummed thoughtfully at her, nuzzling his wife’s cheek.

“I don’t know.” California stated honestly with a sigh. “Sure, I saw them on Chorus briefly, but they’ve changed so much since the Project. And... I guess I have too, I suppose. We’re different people from what we were back then. Who knows how things will go.”

“You won’t know until they are here.” Kesan pointed out gently. “And if you don’t see them, you will never know at all.”

He had a point. She supposed. The former Freelancer let out a small yawn, something not unnoticed by her Sangheili husband.

“This is wearing you out. You should get some rest, especially as the message stated they were landing in Vadam. We have a long travel ahead of us.”

“I’m fine.” She shook her head, yawning again.

Kesan plucked the datapad from her hand, setting it on a table out of her reach, before chuckling. “Of course you are. Don’t make me carry you, my love.”

California cracked a small, tired smile then. “Only if you’re coming to bed with me.”

Kesan’s response was to shift out of the chair they were on, lifting her bridal style with him, and her smile turned into a chuckle. By the time he was halfway up the stairs with her, California had already fallen asleep.

#outofravens #rvb #halo #fanfic #carwash #calilina #my eternal light of sanghelios

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battle-scarred-raven · 6 years

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@k-dradom

((Continued from here.))

It was supposed to be a peaceful outing to Vadam while Kesan looked for new recruits. A chance for the family to get away from Dradom Keep and for Thaea and her cousins to learn of life outside their home state.

Honestly, California was glad Bena and her boys had come along. It allowed Thaea to fit in better with the other youngling Sangheili that were about, and with the boys being older, they could protect her and give time for either her or Bena to rush in if the other younglings or, gods forbid, an adult Sangheili turned on her. Vadam was a more accepting State for the most part, like Dradom, but California still worried for her daughter.

At a distance, Thaea looked Sangheili enough, but up close, the differences were obvious: the small mohawk of black, fuzzy hair that grew on her head and partway down her neck; the extra vestigial digit on her feet; her hands, though arranged like a Sangheili with an inner and outer thumb, had five fingers instead of four; her electric green eyes were more rounded than reptilian and her skin had finer scales and was pale grey. All these things and more she could be insulted for. Thankfully, the children seemed oblivious to these differences and played as children do.

It was a particularly tall, tank-ish looking male Sangheili that disturbed the peace, glaring at Kesan before hurling insults at him. The minute Thaea was involved in the insults, however, she told Bena to wait, storming across with barely restrained fury to add her voice to the tirade. Then things got physical, the sorry excuse for a Sangheili ending up on his back on the floor, and Kesan was pulling her away, which was probably for the best for she had been lightly springing in position on her toes, more than itching to lay into the idiot, too.

“What was he expecting from one of the best Spec Ops soldiers?” California growled, forcing her tone to even out as she raised her voice to call after the children. “Thaea! Grab the boys! We’re leaving!”

She heard her rushing to comply, calling after her cousins in her clumsy half English, half Sangheili way, though it was drowned out by the sneering voice of another.

“That’s right, nishum-spawn. Go crawling back to the worthless clan that spawned you!” The Sangheili spat disdainfully. “Such filth has no right to bear a name!”

The significance of the insult was not lost on California. Indeed, to say one was unworthy of having a name was the gravest insult you could make in Sangheili culture. A name was a badge of respect and pride; only something honourable deserved to bear a name, and to be declared nameless was to be declared dishonourable. She tore away fom her husband, whirling around with a start. Her face was a picture of calm masking a tempestuous hurricane, much like an ocean drawback on a coastline marked an impending tsunami.

“Jrashta. You don’t know when to give up, do you?” California snarled, a sound she didn’t even know she could make."One more word out of those mandibles of yours, and I promise you, they won’t be attached to your head anymore.”

The Sangheili let out an unrestrained laugh. “Going to get that cripple pretending to be your husband to beat me senseless? He got the jump on me before; he won’t be so lucky again.”

“It’s not him you should be worried about.”

Around them, various Keep Guards eyed them up, weapons clenched tighter, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the Sangheili antagonist.

“You dare walk into the House of Vadam and insult one of its members?” California clenched her fists. Inside her head, her AI relayed statistics to her as she spoke and prepared for the inevitable. “Are you really that stupid?”

“I have the utmost respect for the Vadam Clan.” The Sangheili retorted. “Unlike you and those Dradom whelps.”

California shook her head. “Wrong answer. You really are more foolish than I thought.”

“Better to be a fool than to be nameless.”

“Better to be insulted than to be distracted while insulting one who bears the name of Vadam in their own home.” California glowered back.

The Sangheili snorted. “Pfft, like the Kaidon would really grant a worthless nishum-”

Before he could finish, California had tackled him full force into the dirt. Moments later, a full scale brawl was on, fists and feet flying everywhere.

No-one insulted her family and walked away.

#kdradom #v; t'las 'vadam #;my eternal light of sanghelios

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