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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: The Greatest Kingdom

Hello, glorious RWBY fandom! It’s that time of the year again. No, not the holidays. Rather, it’s the roughly twelve weeks where my Saturdays are lost to the void of churning out 4,000+ words of typo-laden analysis for our favorite web-series. Does that sound like a good time? If so, stick around and keep reading.

Now, those of you who joined us last year will recall that I took issue with numerous aspects of Volume Six. Many of you are capable of summarizing these aspects in great detail considering that the conversation never stopped on my blog between January 26th and, well, today. But for those of you who don’t otherwise suffer my metas or who might be joining us for the first time, here’s a very short guide to the stuff we’ve been chatting about the last few months:

Holy shit they really went all in on dragging Ozpin, huh?

Is the group part of a collective consciousness now? What happened to diverse thinking?

Should un-licensed teenagers steal military property and start grimm-drawing battles with national allies? No or double no?

We hate adults? Is that really a thing?

When will Oscar’s on-screen development come back from the war?

There are numerous, numerous other connected topics, from Rooster Teeth’s handling of physical assault all the way to theories regarding the relic’s potential influence and Jinn’s motives, but that’s the basic gist. Oh, and we now have a subset of the fandom who got big mad over fans headcanoning trans!Nora based on her new color scheme. ... So that’s where we’re starting this volume off.

Just so we’re all on the same page:

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Anyhoo, with that bare-bones context out of the way, let’s dive in.

We begin, as usual, with a shot of the shattered moon. Except this is the first volume where we know precisely what happened to it and all it may mean for humanity. It lends a certain amount of gravitas to our start. Now, rather than the more generic, “Ah. Right. That motif. Still a mystery, huh?” shots of the moon function as a quick reminder of the group’s new stakes. 99% of the time the focus is on Salem and our heroes’ attempts to keep this genocidal dictator from destroying and/or enslaving the entire world, but “The Lost Fable” set up that the true, end-game antagonists have always been the gods. Even if Salem is destroyed, they still exist as a continued threat to humanity. If they wish to use the gods to help them in their quest against Salem, they likewise risk their judgment. Having introduced them, that’s a tricky problem the show is going to have to solve before its end.

For now though we pan down to the Atlas military, numerous ships and lots of chatter over the radio setting up precisely how massive, organized, and deadly this army is. I would like to remind everyone that this is what the group deliberately decided to piss off by not merely stealing an airship, but unnecessarily attacking the head special operative of the Argus base. The fact that the military has grown more “aggressive” in Weiss’ absence has no bearing on her original knowledge that stealing/attacking this group would be a horrendous idea. She knew it. Qrow knew it. Everyone ignored that in favor of Jaune’s idiotic plan. I bring this up not to rub more salt in a long open wound, but to re-establish how the group is, thus far, unable to think ahead and accurately weigh the consequences of their actions. More on that later.

Their ship, Manta 5-1, is welcomed home and instructed to land so that a security team can debrief them. Whoops. Jaune, again in his infinite wisdom, reminds everyone that they achieved their goal of getting to Atlas. So now they just need to find some answers, yeah? Not quite. Weiss immediately points out that landing with a stolen ship means that security won’t let them anywhere near Ironwood… which, again, is something that holds true regardless of whether the military got more aggressive and their leader more dictator-y. This is not new information. Oddly enough, a group of teenagers with only one licensed huntsmen among them (considering that Maria is presumably still keeping a low profile) flying a stolen airship doesn’t exactly breed the sort of confidence that lets anyone---paranoid or not---approach a leader. These were all issues from the start that the group didn’t bother to consider in their haste to finish this mission.

“They might even take me back to my father,” Weiss says. Another concern that they’re only realizing now, yet one that the fandom latched onto immediately. Though mostly in the wrong way. It’s because Jacques is a threat that they should have found a more covert way into Atlas, or waited to hear from Ironwood, or just send Weiss herself with Cordovin’s blessing… Yes, much of the fandom got quite defensive at that suggestion, claiming that sending Weiss “alone” (she never would have been alone. Bird uncle. Fits into a suitcase grandma) was tantamount to handing her to Jacques wrapped up in a bow. Except, as is made perfectly clear here, it’s their illegal activity that endangers them. Which is more likely to get you sent off to daddy? Acting like a child by stealing military property and then getting caught? Or entering Atlas as a huntress with a special operative’s blessing, carrying instructions that you are to meet with Ironwood as soon as possible? To say the team dropped the ball on this one is an understatement.

Those, however, are all past options now far out of reach. Weiss decides then that she’ll simply call Winter and I absolutely adore Kara’s voice acting here. She managed to imbue so much into a single name, conveying Weiss’ realization, hope, and love for her sister in just two quick syllables. I feel like I got more insight into Weiss through that moment alone then the entirety of Volume Six. Only problem? Blake notices another feed where a recording of Winter emphasizes that anyone found breaking Atlas law will face punishment---something our group will be quite familiar with by the end of the episode---and Qrow decides that they probably shouldn’t go charging into Winter and Ironwood’s hands until they know more about the situation.

Which is the smartest decision we’ve seen in a while, considering that Ironwood’s own feed leaves little to the imagination. He continues to sport that beard, giving him more of a disheveled appearance compared to Volumes 1-3. His voice is as authoritative as ever and he literally towers high above all the people he’s supposedly protecting, keeping his distance from both the city and the airships that ‘govern’ it. A few moments earlier we got to see the startling contrast between the military life and the civilians’. Warm reds and browns give (in this case a literal) down-to-Earth feel and the neon signs are easy markers of a low-class neighborhood. You know the stereotyped kind: cheap food and cheaper entertainment. Compared to the whites and blues of the Atlas clouds, paralleling their elite (and thereby expensive) technology, the city below feels like a slum in comparison, reinforced by the dirty, drunk, and at times violent background characters that populate it.

As Maria says later, “A home in the clouds is as bright as it gets,” to which Nora responds, “Unless you’re the one having to look up at it,” something she’d be very familiar with as a child stealing bread in the otherwise plentiful looking Kuroyuri. There are contrasts in coloring, dialogue, as well as framing here. Compare Ironwood’s sky-high observation to Pietro’s existence as a black man, in a wheelchair, doing volunteer work in what’s established as a dump. He’s as “low” as he can possibly be and acknowledges that he prefers to actually be among the people, not standing literally or figuratively above them. Just in case the audience misses these cues, we get some rather ominous music on top of all that and fearful looks between Ruby and Yang.

Ironwood’s recording says that some people may view these as “uncertain times,” likewise contrasting Glynda’s recording in the very first episode, announcing that they live in an “extraordinary time of peace.” Whether there’s uncertainty or not, Ironwood promises that Atlas will remain “safe and strong,” even if the other Kingdoms have begun to falter. The speech has a very ‘Us vs. Them’ quality about it.

“He looks tired,” Ruby comments and I just need to chuck another fandom into the mix real quick because:

Under these circumstances, “tired” doesn’t just require the John Mulaney advice of, “Get some rest, tall child!” It’s a clear dig at the leader’s capabilities and even their mental faculties. “James… what have you been doing?” Qrow asks, thereby re-framing “tired” as the nice euphemism for “gone off the deep end.” It remains to be seen though precisely how much of Ironwood’s paranoia is literal paranoia in the sense that it’s illogical and undeserved, and how much of these changes are highly undesirable, but potentially justifiable decisions. After all, we as the audience know precisely how dangerous Salem and her crew are. We know why Beacon fell. We’re privy to the stakes in a way that the average, angry Atlas citizen is not. All Ironwood can do in the face of such odds is try to prepare for every eventuality… it just looks like he’s reached a point where those preparations have started infringing on basic human rights. It’s a very sad setup. A classic case of the wrong things done for the right reasons.

There’s a check-in from the radio tower, whoever’s in charge wondering why Manta 1-5 hasn’t gone towards their landing pad yet. Maria comments that the lady should take a hint and starts finding a different place to land. Which in hindsight is kind of funny because they obviously did take a hint… and then sent out a special team to deal with the implications of that hint.

As the group starts exploring we get a lovely shot demonstrating how much they stand out in this new environment.

Though there’s some color in the neon signs, the otherwise overwhelming brown/beige/black/red makes elements like Nora’s pink skirt and Weiss’ white hair stick out like sore thumbs. As we’ll see in a minute, there are obviously in-world difficulties with them passing as average citizens, but it’s also a signal to the audience that, for now at least, they’re really out of their depth. This is the “greatest kingdom” referenced in our title.

Maria is leading them to a friend of hers when a bot takes an interest in these obvious outsiders. It approaches Yang at the back of the group, takes an unexpected picture, and she responds by kicking it into the street where it sparks with damage before getting hit by a truck.

(Flashback to Ruby and Penny, anyone?)

Now, I’m honestly on the fence about this moment. You could make the case that they’re all traumatized fighters and responding to that flash was a logical, instinctual response. You can even argue that, just hours after taking her first faunus life, Yang is more than a little on edge—even though the premier doesn’t reference this incredibly significant event at all, outside of Blake’s quick realization that her blade is still broken. Both are valid and easily supported readings. However, I’m still hyper aware that this is Yang. The character who, for two volumes now, has been characterized very strongly by her, “attack first, ask questions later” attitude. Out of all the characters we could have seen instinctively attacking something that hadn’t actually done her any harm, choosing Yang holds the most weight. The story also lightly acknowledges that this was an extreme response, what with the group staring at her and Yang’s sheepish expression.

Whether it’s specifically in the context of trauma over the fight with Adam, or more broadly acknowledging Yang’s tendency to both assume and act on the worst in people, I hope this volume helps her manage these instincts. One talk with Tai about not punching through problems isn’t going to cut it. Especially when her forceful attitude has caused much of the internal conflict recently.

It’s after this that the group is accosted by a drunk man, functioning largely as exposition to explain what’s been going on in Atlas and why the people are so scared and angry about it. Pissed enough to get literally pissed, of the inebriated variety. Here then, we return to the “this group of teenagers is really bad at thinking ahead” issue that I mentioned earlier. Ruby is all ready to start a fight---referencing her newfound willingness to escalate situations that don’t necessitate escalation---and it’s Blake who holds her back, reminding Ruby that they can’t afford to cause a scene. Which is fantastic. Except they end up causing a scene anyway when the drunk calls Blake a “stupid faunus” and Weiss uses a glyph to chuck him into the trash.

Is seeing a racist asshole get his just desserts extremely satisfying? Absolutely and from a representation perspective I’m thrilled to see Rooster Teeth taking a hard stance in their story. From an in-world perspective though, that was an incredibly bad decision. We’ve been establishing since minute one of this premier that the group needs to be cautious. Blake herself, the victim here, just told Ruby not to endanger the whole group by defending her honor… and then Weiss swoops in to do it anyway. There are two priorities here, to your friends and to your mission, and the issue is that Team RWBY has a tendency to consistently prioritize the former, something that wouldn’t be an issue if this was still a low-key story about a group of students and not would-be, formal huntresses trying to save the world. The choice to attack rather than walking away---paralleling last volume’s final battle---speaks to their inability to think ahead and weigh their priorities. “It was worth it,” Weiss says, but is it? Now that you’ve caused the scene that you couldn’t afford? Now that this guy recognized your glyphs and you’ve blown your cover? I realize I’ll probably get heat for this, but there’s a difference between calling out micro-aggressions in everyday life and calling them out when you’re fugitives trying to keep an invaluable relic safe. It would have said more about the group’s maturity if Blake had succeeded in avoiding a scene and they expressed anger/sympathy among themselves that she had to put up with that shit. Throwing guys into dumpsters is satisfying as hell, but it’s not the action of a level-headed adult conducting a job.

Provided that the story actually acknowledges how young they are and that it’s expected they make such mistakes, we’re golden. As it is though, these issues are usually brushed aside. Later Maria says that Pietro “likes to keep a low profile. Something I’m coming to realize you know nothing about,” but it’s said in a joking, fond manner. This isn’t treated as an actual flaw and is therefore not set up as something for the team to work on. And that, right there, is the heart of the conflict between RWBYJNR and Ozpin. He’s a fine scalpel. They’re a sledgehammer. RWBY continually introduces threats that require a delicate touch---whether it’s the possibility of spies in your midst that force you to carefully monitor who has what information, or needing to move through a city without drawing attention to yourself---these battles require a certain level of strategy and without fail our heroes are characterized as people who can only solve their problems through direct, immediate violence. You don’t walk away from a fight. Ever. Be it Cordovin or a racist drunk. The more I see of their behavior, no matter the good intentions behind it, the more it makes sense to me that Ozpin lied and kept his secrets. Our heroes simply don’t have the patient, level-headed, forward-thinking personalities required to fight this kind of delicate war. Their talent lies in the hack-’em slash-’em situations.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. The group runs from the guards that show up after the drunk guy incident and they manage to make it to Pietro’s place. After some fun dialogue about whether he remembers Maria and the state of his shop, we get a potential explanation for Maria’s strange behavior on the train. Everyone remember this?

Obviously the camera focusing on Maria helps us, the audience, realize that she’s a character who will eventually become important to the story, but it’s also a bit coincidental that she’s hanging out near Team RWBY’s room. Especially when she inexplicably ends up on the back half of the train when everyone else was evacuated. It was clear at the time that she’d deliberately stayed back, but to what purpose no one was sure. Here, Maria gives a general answer about how she thought this group might have needed her guidance while fighting all those manticores… which is still an odd explanation to my mind. Because up until her confession leaving the farmhouse, Maria wants to keep that low-profile. She’s done with being the Grimm Reaper, so why get involved now? Especially when, with hired huntsmen to protect the train and a large group of teens with their own weapons, she probably would have assumed they were all in good hands? Even if it was just a fighter’s natural instinct to help, what would that guidance have looked like? Pretending to be a normal, formal huntress lending a hand where she can? Admitting she’s the Grimm Reaper? Is she still able to fight? There’s still the highly coincidental nature that Maria, the greatest huntress of a generation, just happened to be traveling the same route as and randomly became interested in the group involved with Salem, gods, and the relics.

To be clear, I’m not really arguing that there’s some big conspiracy surrounding Maria. Coincidences are common in all fiction because if things happened based on real-life probability, it would all be pretty boring. Rather, I’m simply pointing out that between losing her eyes as a young adult and coincidentally getting involved with Team RWBY now, we pretty much have no idea what Maria has been up to for most of her life. If the story wanted to establish some sort of betrayal/trickery/what-have-you, there’s room for it.

That would make me super sad though. I quite like Maria.

We learn more about Ironwood’s increasing paranoia, a hint that not everyone on the council is happy with his changes---that mysterious woman we keep seeing on the posters, perhaps?---and the acknowledgement that whoever helped bring down Atlas’ tech at Beacon has to be “Either a genius, or one of our own.” Probably both. Enter Watts, seen typing at a computer in our opening.

With all this info bearing down on them, a few characters like Jaune and Oscar start asking whether they can just leave and yes, please tackle that, because it’s a very important question. Right now the show has stalled the, “Will the group continue the fight against Salem and what’s their reasoning for doing so when they all think it’s pointless?” question by throwing up another roadblock with the relic. They got it to Atlas, but they’re not sure they can hand it off to Ironwood yet, which just leaves them twiddling their thumbs. That portion of the quest isn’t technically complete yet, putting off an answer as to whether and why they’ll go onto the next portion. We need to tackle the group’s new motivations though. Soon. I sincerely hope that when Ironwood announces he has a way of defeating Salem, we finally get the group challenging their own assertions that such attempts are fundamentally useless. We had a whole volume of, “Oh no. Oh god. Salem is immortal and all our work is for naught.” We need at least a little attention paid to the development of a new perspective to counteract that.

Before things can get too bleak though, Pietro recognizes Weiss as a Schnee. Yang, in a lovely moment of support, desperately tries to re-direct the conversation back to the council. Pietro then recognizes her arm, puts it all together to get Team RWBY, and drops the loaded comment, “My daughter has told me so much about you.”

Many fans saw it coming. Even more hoped for it. Honestly? I think that’s great. Too many shows nowadays rely on “twists” that don’t actually make sense, or even undermine the original setup. Those are frustrating beyond belief and feel like the authors are selling out good story for cheap, undesired shock value. The fandom saw Penny’s resurrection coming a mile away? Great! That just means Rooster Teeth did a good job of setting up that possibility and then following through on it.

I’ll talk more about Penny’s introduction in a moment, but first I just want to throw out that I legitimately enjoyed the fight scene. Good action and creative teamwork at times. I particularly liked Weiss and Ren working together to take down four grimm in as many seconds. Oscar likewise takes a grimm out with a very impressive strike… more impressive than I was expecting from him, honestly. Right now I suppose I’m just inclined to shrug that off with, “He and Ozpin are slowly merging, so he picks up stuff way faster than everyone else,” most notably Jaune. Also, I’ll be blunt. I wouldn’t touch canon-based rosegarden with a ten-foot pole. You know, because of all the issues like a massive age difference, two minor characters involved, questions of consent, the fact that Ruby was Ozpin’s student---pesky ethical concerns like that. AUs though? I think the ship is adorable. Provided that Oscar is fully his own person and there’s consent on both sides appropriate for whatever ages they currently are in your fic or fanart? Very nice. So, it’s for those fans that I point out an entirely coincidental parallel: Ruby saves Oscar from a grimm with a bullet in nearly the exact same manner that Blake saves Yang from a grimm with a bullet. Make of that what you will.

Back to Penny though. Overall, am I thrilled that she’s back? Absolutely. I actually spoke about this recently while answering an ask, expressing how much I’d enjoy this very scenario: having her consciousness saved and thus allowing for her resurrection. Do I think her new look is adorable? Yes, yes I do. “And yet,” you say, “It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ somewhere in there, Clyde.” Yeah. Sadly there is. Because although I’m happy to have Penny, I wasn’t particularly taken with how they re-introduced her.

Simply put, there was far too much humor for what should have been a touching, emotional scene. With the exception of one moment where Ruby tries to voice the word “killed,” everyone treats Penny’s resurrection as a surprising, but not terribly notable event. Yang, Weiss, and Blake express a sort of long-suffering fondness as they comment on how wholesome this is. Pietro laughs at any shock over her “death” and shrugs about how yeah, it technically was. Whatever. Qrow takes the time to nonchalantly say that things are going better than he expected. Ruby is holding it all together with barely a blink. Penny herself is nothing but exuberance and funny dialogue. Maria cracks a joke about how she has no idea who this child is. Jaune goes, “Well, that was unexpected” as if Penny had showed up in Atlas when they all thought she was in Vacuo. That sort of surprise. The whole thing is treated flippantly with, “Never a dull moment.” Summarized, all this really isn’t the appropriate reaction to realizing a friend is no longer dead.

Yes, Ruby was the closest to Penny by far---we can’t expect everyone to get misty-eyed---but does everyone remember what her death was like? It was the turning point of the entire series, not just for the audience, but the characters as well. Penny was the first casualty of the Fall of Beacon and her death was appropriately gut wrenching. It was then shown across every TV turned to the Vytal Festival, the moment where the whole world watched their golden girl, Pyrrha, unintentionally murder a newcomer who turned out to be a robot. Moments later grimm start attacking and the safest place on Remnant is destroyed. Penny’s death heralded all that. The one time we see Ruby tackling the trauma of it all is when she speaks with Oscar and, notably, crumbles a bit when she instinctively uses Penny’s catch phrase.

What I had hoped for was the group grappling with the sudden, completely unexpected shock of getting one of two losses back; working through the knowledge that their lives have been defined by two friends’ death and now one of those has been retroactively erased. Perhaps we’ll see that in future episodes, but right now it feels like a disservice to the impact Penny’s death had on the characters and the story to treat this as such a comic, light-hearted moment. Let Penny tackle-hug Ruby and then let Ruby give her a much more sincere embrace. Let her cry. Have Yang put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, giving her a look that expresses how she understands what this means to her. Have Jaune looking away, devastated that Ruby miraculously got her friend back, but such an event is impossible for Pyrrha. Let him or Oscar or Ren or anyone seriously acknowledge that, holy shit, this is a joyous occasion we never expected to experience. We’ve spent months dealing with trauma and pessimism, now here’s Penny, reminding us that there’s still so much good in the world. Have someone acknowledge that sometimes the impossible happens (cough-defeatingSalem-cough). You can allow the moment to function as the momentous occasion it is and then lighten the mood by having Maria announce that she has no idea what’s going on.

This isn’t the first time Rooster Teeth has implemented comedy when they were better off sticking with drama. See: the choice to animate punching Ozpin last volume in an absurd, cartoon style. So yeah. Happy to have Penny back, but that first moment felt underwhelming, to say the least.

We then have an admittedly very cool shot—

— (semblance? Just awesome drama?) right before the group is taken out in seconds by Atlas’ elite. They’re… I don’t know how to spell their name yet. Is it something like Ace-Ops for elite special operations? Or Aesop like Aesop’s fables? Potentially both? Idk. The fandom will figure that out in the next day or so, if they haven’t already. What’s important though is that this group charges our team with stealing an airship, illegally entering the city with it, and starting an unauthorized fight in the streets. If I could just take one second to…

Ahem. I’m good. Seriously though, if I’m at all optimistic for Volume Seven it’s because the story is finally acknowledging that the group made some pretty massive mistakes last volume. Not that it looks like there will be much punishment attached to that. Between them meeting with Ironwood in the trailer and the Blah-Blah-Ops’ clear status as heroes this volume (they’re in the opening a bunch and seem to be working with RWBYJNR), I’m not yet convinced that this arrest will lead to anything other than getting precisely what they want: seeing Ironwood. To be clear, it’s not like I want the group languishing in jail for twelve episodes. That would be one hell of a boring volume. But rather, I’m interested in whether the story will continue to imply that Atlas is in the right for arresting them, or whether Episode Two will quickly turn that on its head and forcefully announce, as they did in Volume Six, that these actions are an egregious insult because we’re the protagonists. How dare you not let us do whatever we want?

Because the group was in the wrong here. It can be easy to miss considering that the rules they’re refusing to obey are tied up in a dictator-like society---aren’t we the heroes for ignoring and circumventing evil Ironwood’s laws?---but what they actually choose to do has far more of an impact on innocent civilians than it does on The Man. Like endangering all of Argus with your needless battle. Or, to a much smaller extent here, jumping into a fight when you’re not authorized to do that. Now, I actually don’t blame RWBYJNR for that one. They are huntsmen and it’s their job to protect the people. Going out to defeat grimm is 100% their thing. Rather, I’m talking about stuff like their commentary on Atlas’ defenses. When the fight starts we get, “I guess the city’s defenses aren’t doing much” and “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” It’s more of that, “Us huntsmen are the only true defenders of the world. Your attempts with robots would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous” attitude. It’s a certain level of arrogance. As we see just a minute later though, Ironwood’s setup works. Because the civilians all know to get indoors. Because he has Penny. The robots hold off the grimm until she arrives, defeating the rest with a speed and an ease that frankly doesn’t compare to what we saw the group accomplishing. She does from above what it took nine of them to manage, often (as we saw with Oscar and Yang) with great danger to them in the process. When they’re bound and accused of unauthorized fighting, it’s clear that they were, in fact, shouldering their way into a situation where they weren’t needed---and potentially causing trouble in the process. Rules exist for a reason. Are they always perfect? Far from it, but in the characterization folding over from Volume Six, the group has forgotten that most of the time rules are there for others’ safety. They have been thought out. This particular situation is easily defendable (of course they’re going to go fight grimm) and there were no consequences to the group jumping in when they weren’t allowed (like property damage or injured civilians), but this moment does function as a good representation of the overall problem. Just because there weren’t consequences for saying, “Screw your laws” this time doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future. Or that there hasn’t been in the past.

It likewise stands out to me that Qrow consistently tires to use his “I’m a licensed huntsmen” as a justification. He flashes it at the two goons on the train to get them to back off. He tires to use it to get past Cordovin. He now tells his captors that he has every right to fight and protect the people because of this card he carries. Qrow is well aware of how important the status of a huntsmen is in this world… yet he’s running around with eight fighters who don’t have that legal backing. I don’t think the show would ever go for my suggestion of another school arc so they could finish their training, but at the very least we should provide some sort of loop-hole for these characters. Have Ironwood provide special licenses based on their heroics at the Fall of Beacon and their work since. Because right now we have a world that’s continually emphasizing being a huntsmen as a job, something you earn the right to call yourself, yet 95% of our group doesn’t have that right in the eyes of their society. We know they’ve done great, secret work to protect the people. But the people only know that these are a bunch of teens with one year of formal training. So you really can’t blame any officials for going, “Sorry. We’re not in the habit of letting random people with weapons cross our borders. Or fight in our streets.” It’s like if a bunch of 14-18yos arrived at a crime scene with guns and demanded that they be let in on a case. No, we never graduated from an academy, but you should adhere to our demands anyway. The good intentions are there, but you need to iron out the formalities first.

Really, RWBY should just fix the whole license thing with a throw-away plot point if they’re not going to tackle it seriously, just so this isn’t an ethical issue anymore. I’d rather smooth it over soon since the story doesn’t seem interested in tackling whether a group with one year of formal training should be allowed that status. So just give it to them and let’s move on. They might still run into issues with Atlas, but at least the rest of the world won’t be expected to trust them purely on faith. Not everyone belongs to a small town terrorized by a geist, with four random teens as your only option for safety.

Which finally, as the doors close on our group with heavy heads, brings us to the opening. Some things to pay attention to:

1. We get a glimpse of that mysterious woman shown in numerous posters across the city.

(I’m likewise interested in the very long shot we got on this “show your teeth” graffiti.)

2. Watts and Tyrian are presented as primary antagonists. Interesting that Neo and Cinder aren’t there (not that I caught anyway), especially since we know they were heading to Atlas last volume as well. It makes me think that they’ll be the true threat at the end of the volume. Keeping things quiet, even in the intro, so we have no chance of guessing their plan.

3. The main conflict seems to be between Weiss and Winter, as opposed to Weiss and Jacques as many originally assumed. Those expressions don’t bode well.

4. We still see an image of Ironwood briefly flickering to Jacques though as an angry citizen throws a rock at it. Implying Jacques is secretly pulling the strings? James has simply become too much like him? We’ll have to see.

5. We get a shot of Oscar and Ironwood… training? Fighting? I’m inclined to say fighting based on his and Ozpin’s past difficulties, but that’s also up in the air.

6. The image of our staff…

…and 7. an absolutely massive cast this volume. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m concerned with RWBY’s insistence on continually introducing so many new characters, particularly characters who are important enough to warrant decent development. There simply isn’t time for them all.

(Although, is Maria in that shot? Wonder if she’ll leave the group now that she’s done her duty of helping Ruby out with her eyes.)

Which brings us to the end of the premier! Finally, I’d like to end with a personal note. As is quite obvious, I’m still watching and recapping RWBY, but I feel like I should be upfront about my overall lack of investment in the series right now. Chock it up to getting burned last volume, fading interest in a long-running show, just growing up and changing… I don’t claim to know precisely why I’m no longer jazzed about a new volume like I once was. But, if I perhaps appear overly critical of what I generally thought was a good—and honestly better than expected—premier? That’s probably why. The details just don’t cut it for me anymore. All caps, screaming excitement over Penny’s return or Qrow’s new outfit just doesn’t resonate much, which leaves me with a more critical perspective on the show overall. So if that’s something you’re interested in, stick around because, baring unforeseen circumstances, there will be more metas over the next three or so months. More invested in a flailing celebration of RWBY as a whole? You’re better off hitting up another blog.

Basically, you know that shot in Pietro’s?

Note the “Days since our last nonsense” sign combined with the defeated expressions. That’s what RWBY feels like to me these days. A lot of nonsense and limited enjoyment. Ah well. Maybe Volume Seven will prove me wrong and I’ll be re-invigorated by the end of the season!

Until then, ❤️️

Minor Things of Note

Maria refers to the group as “kids” in the airship and Penny as a “child.” Acknowledging last year’s debate, I stand by the argument that just because many (but not all) of the group have reached the age of maturity in our world doesn’t mean they’re on par with the adults they were so recently rejecting. There’s a reason why the very old Maria naturally uses “kid” and “child” and it doesn’t come off as weird.

I really like the design of Pietro’s chair. Giving him something that walks on four legs is both different and a nice nod to nature among all the tech. Also, kudos to the Pinocchio reference on his bookshelf in the form of a whale.

Nora remains as adorable as ever. I particularly liked her energy in Pietro’s and her high-key annoyance at Ren getting a jump on the fight. I’m interested in what we’ll be learning about her this volume.

Not sure I’m a fan of Rooster Teeth using these squeaky toy noises whenever the group is comically surprised by something. Comedy is great, we need it in this story, but sound effects like that are remnants (ha) of a tone we haven’t really seen since Volume 1. I think the show can still get away with exaggerated facial expressions---Nora in her excitement, Ruby laughing at Jaune’s Pumpkin Pete’s sweatshirt---but this feels a bit out of place now.

“Maybe Atlas isn’t as safe as we thought” and yet, astoundingly, no one is inclined to ask Ozpin to weigh in on this. Even now that they know he’s listening. I think I’ll start a tally. See how many episodes it takes to actually acknowledge, let alone act on, the primary conflict of Volume 6.

Image Credit

Personal screenshots from RWBY

Transflag: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transgender_Pride_flag.svg

Doctor Who GIF: https://tenor.com/view/doctor-who-tired-harriet-jones-gif-5627138

How I Met Your Mother GIF: https://giphy.com/gifs/celebrate-2o5Ypf4fP6ahq

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #rwby recaps

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evielynfic · 7 years

Text

Restraint

PART ONE OF THE “RE” SERIES RATING: MA FANDOM(S): Teen Wolf PAIRING(S): Derek Hale/OC SUMMARY: Derek has been bitten by an unknown supernatural, so the pack has no choice but to lock him up in case the venom from the bite has adverse effects on him. Sophie stays with her best friend to keep an eye on him and keep him company. Sophie just thought her Friday night was going to be boring.

A/N: Hey, guys! Here is my latest story featuring Derek Hale. This is an idea I had one day that I couldn’t help but write. While the creature is not identified yet, you may be able to guess what it is. With that said, I’ve added my own twist to the creature, so it definitely has added traits to it to fit the plot more. Due to the nature of the plot, this story is definitely on the mature side.

While there is an original character, this can be read as an imagine. That was my idea when I initially started writing it, but I prefer to write in third person. I didn’t delve into Sophie’s character too deeply, so you can imagine her how you want to. I imagined her as being played by Nora Arnezeder if you would like a visual. Her age isn’t mentioned, but she’s a year or two younger than Derek. It’s set about a year after Season 3A, but Derek is still an Alpha.

Please excuse any errors because I’m sure there are plenty and this was not beta’d.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, nor any of the characters. All characters belong to Jeff Davis, except for Sophie, who belongs to me. This story contains mature and sexual content/situations, so read at your own risk.

Warnings: Dominant!Alpha Derek, lots of smut, and swearing.

Restraint

"Come on, Soph."

Sophie tuned out the pleading voice behind her, keeping her focus on the textbook on the table in front of her and the pencil in her hand. She had been sitting there in the same spot for nearly three hours, trying to complete her homework while she had nothing better to do except ignore the man in the room with her.

She had not intended to spend her night holed up in an abandoned building in the creepiest part of town, but Sophie had been convinced to watch a sour werewolf who had been bitten by a supernatural creature that remained a mystery. The bite had been quick, but was deep on his forearm and had grimy blackish-green liquid dribbling out of the wound. Sophie tried her best to block out the image of the creature attacking her best friend. It had taken off before Derek could even think about retaliating.

The bite wound had healed like any other injury, but Deaton had suggested to keep the younger Hale confined until they could figure out what had bitten him. What hadn't surprised Sophie was that Derek had readily agreed to go into the cell, lest he attack anyone if the bite or venom did have any ill effects. Hours had passed, and it seemed even Derek had limits on patience.

"Please let me out, Sophie. I have no symptoms, and it's been hours," Derek tried to reason as he leaned on the bars of the steel cell he had been locked in, a straining noise sounding from his weight.

Sophie turned her head toward the Alpha for the first time in a few hours, her eyes studying him to make sure he wasn't lying. She could see the sweat glistening on his skin and various spots on the tank top he wore, but she had also been sweating a bit from the poor ventilation in the building. Derek didn't seem any different to her, and she was one of the few people who had been allowed to see Derek past his tough exterior and thick walls to know if he was actually affected or not.

She sighed and set her pencil down on her notebook, slowly turning around on the chair that she had found just as the gang left her and Derek in the building. She remembered Scott's words playing in her head as he had taken her aside and talked her into staying with Derek.

"You're the one he's closest to. If something were to happen, he most likely won't hurt you. He also saved your life—again."

Sophie had agreed after hearing the younger Alpha's words, not that she had needed a lot of convincing in the first place. If Derek did attack her, she would be defenseless against him as a measly human, despite the fact that he had taught her to defend herself even after turning down his offer to receive the bite. While the rest of the pack were some of her closest friends, Derek had become like the older brother she had never had over the past couple of years.

After Derek lost Boyd and Erica and was betrayed by Jennifer in the most despicable way over a year ago, she could always sense the loneliness and guilt that Derek carried with him, even though he hid it well. With Cora and Isaac out of the country and Peter doing his own thing, she had stayed close to Derek, never giving up on him no matter how many times he had tried pushing her away.

Sophie also knew that had she not been out in the woods in the dark by herself, they wouldn't be in the situation they were at that moment. She was just waiting for Derek to point that out to her.

"You know, just because you seem like Derek doesn't mean I'm going to let you out," Sophie replied finally. "Deaton warned me not to open the door until they came back with something substantial or called to let me know it was fine."

"Well, at least stop ignoring me. Do I look like someone who would hurt you? I didn't ask to get bitten by some unknown entity." Derek raised his brows. "Besides, if I really wanted to get out of here, don't you think I could without much effort and would have already?"

His arms were threaded through the bars, his weight heavy against the door as he leaned almost lazily against it. She didn’t doubt that he could easily break out of the cell if he really so desired. Deaton had claimed it was made of reinforced steel, but it looked like it had seen better days with rust covering nearly every inch of it.

The building they were in was off by itself on the edge of town, and she didn't bother asking what they had done there before its demise. She had wondered how Deaton had known about the place before pushing the question out of her thoughts. Although it looked every bit like a dirty, abandoned building with dust covering nearly every inch from disuse, it had a fully functioning bathroom and shower that looked less grimy than the rest of it.

Sophie blew out a breath and stood up off the chair. "Fine," she relented as she closed the short distance between them and stood at the cell door. She mirrored his stance, leaning opposite him on the steel door only a few feet away from where he stood. "How are you feeling, really?"

"I told you, I feel fine," Derek reassured her, his green eyes meeting her blue ones.

"To be honest, I turned my back to you because I hate seeing you locked up like this," Sophie admitted, lowering her eyes to the grungy concrete floor.

"It's not the first time, and won't be the last, I'm sure," he replied, watching her. "How are you doing?"

Sophie met his gaze again, not at all surprised that he would be worried about her well-being. "I'm good," she answered with a small smile. "Thanks to you."

"Why were you even out, anyway?" Derek asked curiously. "I know that you're a night owl, but you should know better than to be out alone at night in this town."

Sophie sighed. "I know, it was stupid. I just needed to clear my head after he had called, so I went for a run. I didn’t want to bother anyone."

Derek sensed her frustration and sadness, anger coursing through his body at the thought of her ex contacting her. "What did the douche want this time?"

"He wanted to meet up this weekend. His excuse was that he hadn't seen me in months, and we needed to catch up," Sophie explained, staring at the wall a few feet in front of her at the back of the cell.

"Tell me that you didn't agree to it," Derek returned through gritted teeth.

"Hell no," Sophie retorted. "Ben only wants one thing—he always has. He's probably between girls and thinks he can use me as his booty call."

"You deserve so much more than that piece of shit," Derek responded, digging his nails into his palms to try to stifle his anger.

"I know," Sophie responded, glancing in his direction before looking back down at the floor.

"You should have called sooner. It could have been you in this cell instead of me," he admitted finally, moving closer to her so that their arms were touching. "I would have gone out with you. You never have to worry about bothering me."

"I know, I should have, Der. I wasn't thinking. He makes me so crazy because he knows exactly what to say to draw me back in, even if it's just a for a fleeting moment. And then, I hate myself for even considering it."

"Don't let him get to you," Derek replied, taking her hand in his and squeezing it in a comforting gesture. "Please don’t hate yourself. Trust me, it won't do you any good."

Sophie smiled, squeezing Derek's hand in return.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Sophie checked her phone to see if she had received any texts from the gang. She wasn't completely surprised that she hadn't since they had virtually nothing to go on except the small sample of venom that Deaton had gotten from Derek’s arm after the bite had healed.

"Are you hungry?" Sophie asked, mulling over the few options they had to choose from in town. "I mean, it's nearly midnight, but I can go pick something up if you want."

"I could eat, but there aren't going to be many options at this hour," Derek pointed out.

"I can text Scott to see if his mom can make something and have it brought over," Sophie suggested, pulling up her friend on her phone. "I think she's off tonight."

"If you think she'll do that, go ahead," Derek responded, shifting against the door.

It was about forty-five minutes later when Sophie received another text from Scott to let her know that they were outside with the food.

"Stiles and Scott are outside," Sophie informed her temporary roommate. "I'm going to go run out and grab the food since a bad storm is heading this way. They're not afraid to face all kinds of deadly creatures, but God forbid they get caught in a thunderstorm." She couldn't help but smile at the dramatic eye roll she received from her friend.

She placed her phone on the table beside her things before beginning to make her way out of the building. She wasn't completely lying about the storm since there was one headed their way, but she had wanted to speak with the two boys to see if there were any updates. Sophie knew Derek would most likely overhear them if he wanted to, anyway.

"Okay, I'll just wait here," Derek responded dryly as he watched her retreating figure disappear through the door.

Sophie jogged out to the jeep that held two of her friends as they rolled down the passenger side window. Scott held out a large brown paper bag to her before handing her another larger duffle bag that she placed on her shoulder.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Sophie said as she leaned against the metal door of the powder blue Jeep. "And for getting all this."

"No problem. How's he holding up?" Scott asked curiously, his brows knitting together.

"He seems like himself," Sophie answered honestly.

"Oh, nice and grumpy, huh?" Stiles chimed in with a side smirk.

She shook her head, ignoring the jab. "If the venom has adverse symptoms, he's not showing any. I don't get why we have to keep him locked up."

"Deaton said the signs could take a while, depending on the type of venom. I called him on the way over, and he's still running tests on the sample," Scott responded, a frown etched on his face. "I don't like keeping him locked up, either, but until we know for sure, Derek needs to stay here."

Sophie nodded with a sigh. "I know, I'll just keep playing babysitter," she joked, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm just a junior in college who has nothing better to do on a Friday night." Her voice was thickly laced with sarcasm, but it was well known that sarcasm was one of her coping mechanisms.

"Hey, we know it's not easy for you to see him like this," Scott commented with sympathy in his brown eyes. "We also know you're blaming yourself."

"Yeah, we know how much you care about him," Stiles added in a quiet voice with a similar look, his features more serious than before.

Sophie met both of their knowing glances, but didn't respond. When a clap of thunder sounded in the distance, she pushed herself off the door before beginning to walk backwards a few steps. "Thanks again for bringing us food and other necessities."

"No problem," they replied in unison.

Sophie gave them a small smile, turning to head back into the building before the storm hit.

"Hey, Soph," Scott called out to her.

She stopped and turned around toward them once again. "Yeah?"

"Be careful and contact us immediately if anything changes."

"Will do," she responded before jogging back into the building as the thunder sounded again, much louder than before.

After she had gotten a few feet into the building, the sky seemed to open up and released a heavy downpour. She glanced up at the roof as she continued further into the building, thankful that it seemed to be without any significant holes. As she entered the interior room where Derek was being kept, she adjusted the duffle bag on her shoulder to keep it from slipping and peeked into the paper bag to see what food they had.

"Oh, sweet, Melissa gave us some lasagna. It is to die for," Sophie began as she set the food down on one side of the chair. She also set the duffle bag down on the chair and began to rifle through it. "They also grabbed some clothes and toiletries for us, just in case. The most important of those things—toilet paper."

Digging through the bag, she saw some of her own clothes along with some of Derek's, two toothbrushes, a tube of toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, two towels, and the aforementioned rolls of toilet paper. After digging some more to see if there was anything else in the bag, she found a box, her eyebrow raising in confusion. She pulled the box out of the bag enough, noticing the note stuck to it written in familiar handwriting.

It never hurts to be prepared!

She removed the note so that she could read the label of the box before she quickly dropped it back in the bag, like the offending thing had burned her. Magnum condoms, she thought to herself. I am going to kill them.

"Hey, Derek, are you still with me?" Sophie asked, hoping the blush on her face and the catch in her throat weren't obvious.

Glancing up finally toward the cell after not hearing a word from the younger Hale, Sophie froze at what she saw. The cell door was bent into an indecipherable shape that looked more like origami than a door as the object hung loosely on its hinges. The small cell was empty, which both worried and frightened her a bit. Her eyes quickly darted around the room for the Alpha as she began to reach for her phone that she had left on the table.

"Der?" She called out tentatively, trying to steady her voice.

She felt a wave of great unease run through her the longer he went without answering and when she realized her phone was gone, quickly shuffling through her messenger bag that she had set on the floor by the table. She didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, it was not good.

"Looking for something?" A smooth, deep voice rang out from a shadowed corner of the room.

Sophie froze once again, realization dawning on her that Derek had taken her phone. She swallowed before standing to her feet, turning to face the corner where the voice originated from as she noticed glowing red eyes staring back at her. As he stepped forward out of the darkness into the faint light that was in the room, he held up the device she had been searching for in his hand before crushing it effortlessly.

She watched as he let the remains fall out of his hand onto the floor. Sophie then noticed that he was still inching toward her, as if stalking his prey. Whatever was going on had to be from the venom in his system. She normally wouldn’t be afraid of Derek, even when he was a fully transformed, but the Derek in front of her sent a chill down her spine. He wore an almost sinister look as his lips curled into a smirk that reminded her a lot of Peter, only worse.

She hadn't realized she had been backing away from him, inching slowly closer to the door to the room until her back hit a wall. It was soon clear that she would never make it to that door.

"Why are you so scared, Soph?" Derek asked, sensing her fear mounting as he neared her. "It's your best friend, Derek." Even his voice sounded off, a hint of devilish intent with a captivating edge to it.

"I'm not," she insisted, knowing it was a lie they both saw through.

When he suddenly closed the distance between them, she let out a gasp as he blocked her in against the wall, each arm caging her in place on either side. His eyes were all but daring her to try to run as they remained their brilliant red color.

"I know you're not going to hurt me, Derek," Sophie remarked confidently.

"You sound so sure of that," he responded, dipping his lips against her ear.

His voice sent a shiver down her spine as his hot breath fanned her face. She swallowed to try to re-wet her dry throat before she placed her hands on the hard planes of his chest to move him away from her. Even though she was using all of her strength, she soon gave up since it was like trying to move a mountain. She hadn't moved him an inch, and her efforts seemed to spur him on further as he moved closer.

"You don't really want me to move, do you?" Derek asked, his voice husky in her ear. "I can tell you don't; you like having me close. In fact, I think you like it a lot."

"Derek, please don't," she pleaded, knowing he could usually read her like an open book when she let him.

Sophie had always been afraid that he would figure out what she felt for him by her smell and feelings, so she tried her best to stay as guarded around him as possible. Scott had easily picked up on it months ago, but Derek had never even alluded to knowing her secret.

"Don't what?" He asked as if he was oblivious. He ran his nose down her neck, breathing in her scent and chemosignals that radiated off her skin.

"This isn't you, Der," Sophie tried reasoning, meeting his blazing eyes.

"Oh, but is it, sweetheart," he responded in a sickly-sweet voice. "I'm the Alpha. I make the decisions here." He further emphasized his point by molding his body to hers, allowing her to feel every hard inch of him.

"I'm not your Beta, Derek," she commented, trying to sound confident, but her voice was betraying her.

"I can easily fix that," he challenged, running his fanged teeth over her pulse point.

When Derek ran a hand over her cheek and trailed it down her neck slowly but surely, leaving her skin scorching, she couldn't help the whimper that fell from her lips. His smirk should have frightened her to the bone, but it didn't.

"What do you want?" She found herself asking before she had even realized it.

"I think you already know the answer to that," he replied in a softer voice with the seductive edge still present as he ran his hands down her sides slowly. "Don't you feel it?"

Part of her thought Derek was referring to the hard bulge straining in his jeans against her lower abdomen, but then the other part knew better. Sophie knew he was referring to the electricity hanging in the air between them. She didn't know how, but she did feel something. A familiar pull was urging her forward, the one she had felt drawing her to him since they had met.

She closed her eyes then, chewing on her bottom lip as he continued to brush his lips and elongated teeth over her skin. Sophie tried to keep her body from reacting to his closeness and touch, but it wasn't working very well.

"This is the venom in your system," Sophie stated finally, her voice nearly gone. "It's making you do this."

“The venom may be fueling what's already there, but my actions are definitely my own," Derek insisted, his hands trailing back up her sides.

"What do you mean?" She asked, opening her eyes and meeting his bright red ones.

Derek remained quiet for a moment before running his tongue languidly over his lips and teeth as he raked his eyes over her trembling body before him. One might think that it stemmed from fear, but he sensed that that had been overcome by the desire that hung heavy in the air.

"Isn't it obvious, or do you need a not-so-little hint?"

When she didn't answer immediately, he bucked his hips against hers in quick succession, eliciting a moan from her at the action as his meaning hit her like a ton of bricks. Sophie couldn't stop the pull in her lower belly if she wanted to then, not that she even had the will or strength to stop the familiar feeling forming between her legs.

She noticed as he took in a deep breath, the resulting noise filling her ears as a deep, guttural growl sounded from deep within Derek's throat. It was like something had taken over him then, more than it already had, his features becoming even more feral than before as he eyed her hungrily.

When the claws on his thumbs flicked over her breasts, the sharp, jagged edges easily finding her already pert nipples through her thin shirt and bra, Sophie couldn't help the loud moan that came out of her mouth. The act caused her to arch her back towards him and sent shockwaves straight to her already dampening core. She moaned his name then when he repeated the action once more, causing him to react even more as he tore her shirt and bra, pulling the ruined fabric from her body.

She gripped his tank top as he began hungrily kissing and nipping down her neck, his hips digging into hers and his hands kneading, pinching, and squeezing her bare breasts as all sense and reason seeped further out of his mind. He soon discarded the shirt he wore, ripping it off his body as the need to feel her skin against his own heightened. He felt a shudder run down him as soon he felt the slight satisfaction at feeling her breasts pushed against his hard chest, but he soon wanted more.

"Fuck," Derek growled out.

Sophie writhed against him as she felt her high building, feeling a sense of calm envelope her as he wrapped his arms around her half-naked body. When his lips finally met hers in a searing kiss, she felt her knees nearly buckle from the amount of passion and want behind it. He must have felt her weakness because the next thing she knew, he had scooped her up into his strong arms, his hips grinding against her with a purpose.

"Derek," Sophie begged between kisses, her senses overwhelming her.

He took her pleading words to heart as he moved them away from the wall then, carrying her swiftly to the table in the middle of the room. Derek quickly and roughly shoved everything off the surface, sending her textbooks, papers that contained her notes, and pencil flying every which way onto the floor. He set her down on the surface, quickly fitting himself between her legs once again as he pulled her to the very edge of the table against him.

Sophie ran her hands down over the hard muscles of his back and chest as he reconnected their mouths, as if he hadn't just been kissing her into oblivion. She shuddered at the power emanating from underneath his skin as her hands trailed down to the waistband of jeans. She found herself becoming impatient as she made quick work of the button and zipper before pushing them down his legs to the floor. He quickly toed off his shoes and socks before kicking the offending item of clothing out of his way.

Derek broke their kiss then, eyeing her heavily with intent as he stood in just a pair of boxer briefs that did little to hide his arousal. He pulled off her sneakers and socks, tossing them behind him before he began to slowly undo her jeans. She leaned back on the dusty table, picking her butt up a bit to allow him to yank the fabric from her legs.

Sophie stared at him then as he stood in front of her before she began rubbing and gently squeezing the massive bulge in his underwear. He gave her an appreciative growl as he watched her intently before he needed the confining material gone and nearly ripped it from his body. Sophie stared even more than before, the size of him sending both apprehension through her body and more shockwaves to her center.

She had seen Derek shirtless plenty of times, but had never had the privilege of seeing him fully naked before. Sophie found that she wasn't surprised to find him so well endowed; he was an Alpha, after all. But even before he became an Alpha, she had had an idea at his size from her curious and inconspicuous glances at the bulge she often found in his jeans.

"See something you like," Derek remarked with a smirk, his deep voice full of seduction and pride.

Sophie noticed how he had phrased his words as a statement instead of a question, confidence dripping from his voice. She nodded her head to answer him anyway, almost as if the action had been instinctive. She didn't know when Derek's wolf had come so close to the surface, but she couldn't help but notice from the deep register of his voice. The sound of it made her even wetter than she already was. The only thing missing was the fur and wolf-like features on his face.

She somehow tore her eyes away from his magnificent form and met his heady gaze once again. As she did so, Sophie noticed as he slowly reclaimed his earlier position between her legs, instinctively spreading them to fit his massive form as he ran his hands over her thighs.

Sophie swallowed at his touch. She needed some of kind of relief, the ache continuing to grow between her legs the longer he stood there. She bit her lip, carefully running her hand over his length as he released a groan from her touch. She ran her fingers over the head, spreading the dripping fluid over him before she moved her hand away from him.

He looked at her with disappointment, clearly wanting her to continue. When she blatantly ran the same hand over her soaked panties teasingly, he couldn't help but take her up on her suggestion. Derek ran his fingers slowly over the seam of her panties between her core and thigh briefly before slipping a claw underneath and pulling the loose gray cotton fabric to one side.

Derek nearly lost it when he finally saw her dripping core bared to him. He had spent many a night fantasizing about her naked and writhing beneath him when he laid awake in bed. He slowly dipped a finger between her folds, running a slow stripe up as his claw ran gently over her clit. He couldn't help but smirk wickedly as his movements elicited a loud moan from her lips, and as she arched her body into him. He instantly felt his dick twitch and throb the more he thought about how she reacted to him.

When she felt the loss of contact as he pulled his hand from her core, Sophie watched him, biting her lip as she pleaded with him to put them both out of their misery. She leaned back then on her hands, scooting back on the table some more as she placed her feet up onto the wooden surface and reclined back so she was almost laying down, her look beckoning him. She didn’t care that she could feel the dust and dirt stick to her slick skin and hair.

Derek read her loud and clear and knew exactly what she wanted him to do as she stared at him with want. He lithely climbed onto the table that was just long enough for them. He wasn't quite sure it would hold both of them, but he didn't care as his mind focused on one thing. As he settled over top of her, his lips found hers once again in a passionate kiss. His teeth had probably nicked her skin in the frenzy, but he could sense that she was in no pain.

Sophie pulled him further down on top of her so there was no space between them before she boldly grabbed hold of his length in her hand and ran it over her soaked heat. At her action, he lost any sense of reasoning he had left and quickly buried himself inside her to the hilt. His claws dug into the table on either side of them at the feeling of her wrapped deliciously around his length finally, hugging him as if she had been made just for him.

"Shit," Sophie nearly screamed at the sudden intrusion. While she wasn't a virgin, she knew Derek's size was going to stretch her well beyond what she had been accustomed to previously.

Derek didn't wait but a few moments before he began his thrusts, instantly reaching depths that she hadn't even realized were possible. His movements were fast and rough, but not enough to send anything but immense pleasure soaring through her. If his continued growls were any indication, she knew his wolf had all but taken over him as he continued to plow into her.

He soon buried his face into her neck, the action causing her to bare it to him in quick submission. His lips, teeth, and tongue kissed, licked, and nipped at her neck, leaving bruises on her skin as if to show everyone that she was his. Sophie quickly decided she would let Derek do whatever he wanted to at that point, finding herself at his complete mercy as she ran her nails down the slick skin of his back that caused him to growl even louder.

"Who's your Alpha?" She heard him ask between nips on her skin.

"You are," she immediately replied as if by instinct, even though she wasn't a werewolf.

"That's right, you're mine," he stated, his wolf's voice wrecked as he continued his movements.

Sophie writhed beneath him, realizing she had been matching his movements for some time. As Derek began to get rougher with his thrusts as his release neared, the table soon began to creak underneath the weight and movement. Sophie soon felt the immediate loss of contact when he slipped out of her before barreling back in, repeating the process over and over.

She felt her release climbing the more he did that, but when Derek began to massage her throbbing clit, Sophie soon found herself coming undone from the added pressure on her sensitive bud. She held in a scream as he quickened his thrusts to help her ride out her orgasm, slapping of skin and the creak of the table beneath them filling her ears.

A few moments later, the table gave way beneath them, sending them to the floor. Derek didn't even falter one bit as he continued to pound into her relentlessly with wood splintered around them. He picked up her hips a bit, changing the angle to allow himself to go deeper into her, the action spurring yet another build-up in her lower abdomen. His assault on her clit hadn't stopped, despite her falling over the edge, but his intentions were obvious that he wanted to drive her to another orgasm.

Sophie kissed him hungrily, threading her fingers through his hair and tugging as the other gripped his shoulder. He must have liked her actions because Derek continued on, biting her bottom lip and tugging on it gently with his teeth. She felt his claws digging into the skin of her lower back as he held her up some in his hands, but it wasn’t enough to be painful.

She knew they were both close as she felt her walls closing around him again and his thrusts became erratic and desperate, urging them both to let go. The grunts Derek released with each movement was a telltale sign that sent shivers down her spine. He soon began to stare into her eyes, his red ones glowing brightly in the dimly lit room.

Sophie bit her lip as she neared the edge once more, feeling him expertly thumbing her clit with almost too much pressure. After a few more rough but slow thrusts, Derek began to empty his load into her, which in turn sent her over flying over the edge after him. She couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut at the feeling, a strangled scream leaving her lips.

"Look at me," Derek commanded as he thrust into her a few more times without the precision he previously had.

Sophie couldn't help but open her eyes and fix her stare into the brilliant ones staring back at her as they rode out their orgasms. His body soon relaxed, catching himself on his elbows so not to crush her before pulling out of her and shifting them so he laid beside her.

"Holy shit," Sophie muttered after several minutes, breaking the silence in the room.

Derek chuckled darkly at that, eyeing her with a proud smirk on his lips. She turned over to face him as he drew her closer, noting that his werewolf features were still visible. He kissed her fully but languidly then, which she eagerly returned, as he wrapped his arm around her.

They laid there for nearly twenty minutes in silence, basking in the afterglow of what just occurred between them. Sophie placed a soft kiss on his chest as he began to run his fingers through her soft blonde locks, trying to keep from getting his claws tangled in her hair.

"I don't think we're done," Derek commented suddenly, feeling another wave of lust and need hit him like a bulldozer. He eyed her before swallowing.

"What?" Sophie asked curiously.

Before she knew it, Derek was on top of her again, his lips meeting hers heatedly. Sophie could feel his erection against her core as he fitted himself between her legs, almost as if he hadn't just had an orgasm several minutes before. That time around, he seemed more desperate and his movements were much more fervent than the first time.

After kissing her for a few moments and stimulating her by massaging her clit, he slid into her once again, groaning in pleasure as if he had just found his way home after being lost for days. He quickly turned them over so she was on top of him, but Derek soon began thrusting into her and moving her so Sophie met his thrusts. It didn't take long for her to catch up as Sophie finally registered what was happening, continuing their exploits as the night went on.

After three more rounds, Sophie was exhausted and could barely move. The adrenaline from the past several hours running through her body had to be the only reason she was even conscious. Derek had finally passed out shortly after their last round several minutes before, his own exhaustion taking over his body. Derek's werewolf features were still on display, signaling that his wolf was still very close to the surface, but he looked peaceful while he slept. Sophie didn't know how much longer it would be before he would wake up, raring to go for round five.

As she laid there, staring at the ceiling, Sophie suddenly remembered Derek had brought his phone with him. She needed to let Deaton know about Derek's symptoms; they were clearly not subsiding anytime soon. She slowly slid out of his grasp with a groan as her body protested her movements, searching for his jeans that he had tossed aside on the floor hours earlier. She had no idea what time it was, either.

When she located Derek's jeans, Sophie searched in both pockets for the device. After locating it, she unlocked the phone, noting it was three in the morning. She started to call Scott, but decided a text would be better and would make less noise as she sat on the floor by the chair. She turned the phone on silent before sending a text to Scott to simply let him know she needed his help.

Her next text was to Deaton, letting him know all of Derek's symptoms that had started hours ago out of nowhere and showed no signs of letting up, save for the break she was getting at that moment. Before Sophie could finish listing out all the details, blushing as she typed them, Scott responded to let her know that he was on his way. She finished and sent her text to Deaton before telling Scott to bring reinforcements.

Derek hadn't hurt her except for some minor bruising and scratches during their rendezvous, but none of them were substantial wounds. She was definitely sore in more than one place, but that was to be expected. It was a miracle that Derek hadn't bitten her in his current state, but she sensed that he had come close a couple of times.

While she wasn't afraid of the Alpha werewolf lying a few feet away from her, Sophie didn't know if lust and intense arousal were the only symptoms he would experience from the venom coursing through his veins. Her fear was that Derek would become hostile when Scott arrived, especially if Scott tried removing her.

She just hoped Scott came with a plan.

It soon became a waiting game for her. Sophie didn't know if Scott and his backup would make it before Derek woke up, but all she could do was sit there and wait. She watched as the Alpha slept in a heap on the floor, covered in dirt and body fluids that she knew covered her body as well. She tried to ignore the cool air that was lingering in the building since her body was still overheated, knowing as soon as her body calmed down the effects of the cold would hit her.

While she didn't mind the attention that Derek was giving her—a dark, twisted part of her loved it, in fact—Sophie knew that she shouldn’t get used to it. She had always wanted to know what being with Derek was like, but she wanted it when Derek wasn't under the influence of some powerful supernatural venom. She didn't even know if any of it was real, or if it stemmed from her being the only one there with him.

The longer she sat there, the more Sophie tried not to think about how many times she and Derek had had sex — not just sex, but unprotected sex. While Sophie had just remembered the condoms that they had been given as a joke that still sat in the bag, she hadn't even thought about them once in the heat of the many moments they had shared. Not that it would have mattered either way, because she knew Derek wouldn't have been able to stop long enough in his frenetic state to even think about putting one on. She would definitely have to make a stop by the drug store later.

She grabbed the bag of food from off the chair, her stomach reminding her that it needed nourishment in the worst kind of way. Opening the bag, Sophie pulled out the container of lasagna, one of the plastic forks, and a bottle of water. She didn't know how much she would be able to eat, but she would at least eat some while she waited. The lasagna was cold as she chewed on it, but it was still good nonetheless.

Part of her wondered why she hadn't just run as soon as Derek had fallen asleep, but she couldn’t just leave her best friend there in his current state. Sophie hadn't left him once when he needed her, even when he claimed he didn't, and she wasn't about to start then. Sophie knew his actions were due to something beyond his control, regardless of whether he wanted to perform them or not.

As she finished a couple more bites of food, washing them down with some water, Sophie heard a groaning from on the floor. She halted her movements, her eyes flitting over to where Derek still lay a few feet away from her. When she saw him begin to move, she quickly placed the cap on her water bottle and replaced the lid back on the container of food. She stood up slowly before setting the water and food on the chair, turning to watch Derek like a hawk.

"Soph?" Derek called out finally in a raspy voice as he began to search the room for her. She noticed a hint of panic in his voice.

"I'm still here," she replied back hesitantly, keeping her distance.

His eyes met hers finally as he located her, their red hue still present as he blinked a few times to regain his focus. He stood up off the floor swiftly, stretching his tired muscles with several resounding cracks. Derek had noticed instantly that Sophie stood rooted to her spot, uncertainty flowing off her as she surveyed him intensely before she lowered her gaze.

"Are you hungry?" Sophie asked, looking away from him, crossing her arms over her bare chest as she felt his eyes scrutinizing her. "There's still some food left if you want it."

When he didn't answer, Sophie chewed on her bottom lip and met his gaze once again. She heard a low growl then as Derek appeared in front of her in a flash, his lips and teeth connecting to hers as he pulled her to him. His hands were all over her, yanking her back into the euphoric state she had been in each time, erasing the doubts in her mind. When he picked her up effortlessly and began to inch the tip of him into her entrance, she tried delaying him a moment so she could catch up.

Sophie said his name a couple of times, her voice nearly wrecked all over again, but her words didn’t seem to be registering. “Alpha,” she called out in a voice that she knew sounded desperate.

That one name falling from her lips must have gotten through to him because he halted his movements and looked at her. His gaze stared at her hungrily, but she continued. “I need you to touch me.”

His stare remained as he took in her words, as if trying to decipher their meaning.

She moved his hands before dropping to her feet, making sure to stay close so he didn’t think she was resisting. Sophie then took hold of his hand, leading them to a vacant spot on the floor. She sat down in front of him, tugging gently on his arm. As he took the hint and joined her, Derek’s mouth was on hers once again as he lowered them both down onto the dirty floor.

Sophie broke the kiss before Derek got too caught up, bringing his hand between them and placing it on her core. “Please, touch me, Alpha.” She looked into his red eyes pleadingly.

Another low growl sounded from within Derek’s throat as he fulfilled her request, running his fingers over her overly sensitive clit with just the right amount of pressure.

Sophie moaned loudly as his fingers began to further reignite the sparks between her legs, creating the desired effect she needed. “Oh, yes, just like that.”

He soon stopped before kissing her once again, pulling her closer and spreading her legs further. “I need you now.” Sophie didn't miss the desperation in his voice.

She nearly cried out in pleasure as Derek buried himself inside her once again. She didn’t know how, but Derek felt even better than he had all night. She could already feel her high building, and he had barely begun.

“Oh, Alpha.” Sophie didn’t know why, but the name kept falling from her lips as if it was second nature.

Things seemed to slow down and speed up all at the same time as they continued. Sophie could feel the burning in her sore muscles, but she didn’t dare stop as she met his powerful thrusts. The pain barely fazed her when Derek ran his clawed fingers down her hips and thighs, leaving a trail of blood and scratches in their wake. Her fingers gripped his broad shoulders, digging her nails into his skin.

Sophie had since forgotten about everything running through her mind before as it continued to cloud with thoughts of everything Derek. Their groans and skin slapping were the only sounds echoing throughout the building. It wasn't long before Sophie felt her release coming much sooner than expected, her moans picking up as she began to feel her walls hugging Derek's throbbing member tighter by the second. She had learned his habits well enough to know that he wasn't far behind her. She kissed his lips before trailing hers over his salty skin, feeling the scruff on his neck tickle her lips.

"Alpha," Sophie slurred against his skin.

The name spurred him on, a growl leaving his mouth. Derek began to pick up speed, his movements becoming erratic much sooner than expected. Sophie began to feel her body trembling uncontrollably as she neared the edge.

"Who do you belong to?" Derek groaned against her neck, gripping her hips in a grip that was sure to leave more bruises and scratches as he continued his movements.

"You," Sophie responded almost instantly. "I belong to you and only you, Alpha."

A loud growl sounded from deep within his throat then. Sophie shuddered at the noise as she felt herself begin to let go. A moment later, an immense pain bloomed in her shoulder before it began to turn into the most amazing pleasure she had ever felt in her life.

Her vision went blurry, and Sophie dug her nails into his skin as her orgasm exploded then. Her body writhed at the feeling as a scream left her lips, filling the entire abandoned building and surrounding area. She barely felt it when Derek extracted his teeth from her skin several minutes later, cleaning the bite he had left by languidly lapping up the blood.

Before long, she began to regain her vision and focus, some of the feeling coming back into her body. She was still tingling and her brain was still on a high as she felt Derek pulling her to his solid body almost possessively. His movements continued, trying to find his own release, but she barely felt them. Sophie felt his lips on hers then, instinctively returning his kisses. She moaned into his mouth, her fingers tangled in his damp hair.

As she broke away for much needed air, Sophie shuddered as Derek kissed her shoulder softly. She opened her eyes to watch him, a small, content smile on her lips. She instantly froze when she noticed Stiles standing there in the doorway out of her peripheral vision, sending her straight back into reality. Stiles’ eyes were bugged out as he surveyed the scene before him, Derek still mid-thrust on top of her and the werewolf's focus completely on her.

"Stiles." The name fell from her lips before she could stop herself, feeling Derek tense up and halt his movements a moment later.

Sophie swallowed as she saw Derek's brilliant red eyes on her then, a questioning look in them. She knew the moment he realized they weren't alone, as his senses picked up a third body in the room and a low, defensive growl emanated from his throat. She then realized he had fully wolfed out for the first time that night.

"Derek, it's okay," Sophie whispered in a soothing voice, taking Derek's wolfish face in her hands to try to keep him calm and staring into his eyes. “He’s just here to help.”

Derek was off her and on his feet in a second, twisting around and standing in front of Sophie protectively. A snarl left his lips at the sight of Stiles, inching forward towards the frightened boy.

Sophie heard a couple of gunshots ring out then, just before Derek began to stagger a bit as he was hit with what looked like tranquilizer bullets. She tried her best to get to him, but she still could barely move. That’s when she saw Scott and Malia run into the room to keep Derek distracted. She also spotted Chris inching into the room with the gun still trained on Derek in case more bullets were needed. Stiles was at her side then, removing his hoodie to wrap around her naked body.

“Oh, Soph,” Stiles muttered, his eyes full of worry at the sight before him. “We should have gotten here sooner.”

“I’m fine, Stiles,” Sophie assured him, pulling her knees to herself to cover her exposed body.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked, wrapping the hoodie around her as much as possible.

“No, it wasn’t like that,” she assured him. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“It better not be.”

She heard a roar rip through the building as she saw Derek eyeing them, his focus no longer on Scott or Malia. He was moving slowly toward them, Scott and Malia barely able to hold him back, but the tranquilizers did little to stop him. Sophie watched in horror as Chris had no choice but to fire a few more bullets into Derek’s back. Sophie gasped and covered her mouth as Derek immediately fell to his knees, tears forming in her eyes as his pained eyes locked onto hers. A whine left his lips then as he fell to the ground, the tranquilizers finally taking effect.

“It’s not going to hurt him,” Stiles assured her. “Argent had to use a little diluted wolfsbane, but Derek will be fine.”

Sophie nodded as she watched an unconscious Derek being carried out by Scott and Malia. She instantly felt the need to go after them, but knew she couldn’t.

“Scott’s going to come back to get you. Let’s get you dressed, okay?” Stiles rubbed her hand comfortingly.

She nodded her head, sniffling and wiping her face while trying to avoid getting dirt in her eyes.

Stiles went to the bag he had brought them, grabbing a pair of Derek’s underwear and one of Derek’s shirts. He figured that it would be better for her to wear the oversized clothes instead of her own small ones.

Sophie was unable to focus much at all as Stiles helped her get dressed. She was barely paying attention as Scott jogged back into the room and gently scooped her up in his arms to carry her outside.

“I want to go with him,” she pleaded, an overwhelming need to be close to Derek coming over her.

“He’s going to be go okay, Soph. Deaton thinks he figured out what bit him,” Scott explained.

“We have to help him,” she responded vehemently.

“We’re going to help as much as we can,” Scott promised her.

“But we need to get you to the hospital, first,” Stiles chimed in.

“I told you that I’m fine,” she argued. “Let me help you.”

“You’re going to the hospital, Sophie. End of discussion,” Scott retorted. “You can see Derek after you’ve been checked out.”

She sighed and resigned that she wasn’t changing their minds as she was placed in Stiles’ Jeep with a blanket draped over her. All she could think about was Derek’s well-being on the ride to the hospital before her body finally gave into the exhaustion consuming her.

Don’t fret! There is a part two to wrap things up. Part two is still being written, but hopefully I’ll finish that soon!

Part 2 »

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