Prompt Post - Part Eight [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]

[yj_anon]

THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.
Part one here!

Part two here!

Part three here!

Part four here!

Part five here!

Part six here!

Part seven here!

Feel free to reprompt posts from previous parts once. If you do so, I'd recommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, in case somebody

Comments

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (1/10)

[pannytheangel]

Editing this took a long while, but I'm finally done! :> Artemis/Steph frienship fic. I tried to keep the timeline as vague as possible to match up as best as I can with Strays canon. XD

~~~

Artemis first met little Stephanie Brown at Gotham City Elementary. Stephanie was a few years younger, and quite a bit shorter, but the kid had managed to tackle her at full speed and send them both sprawling to the ground a few feet from Jade and a broken down set of swings.

“Oh my god!” the little blond gushed, “You have, like, the prettiest hair ever and it's so long and pretty and ohmygodcanIbraiditpleaaase?”

Artemis blinked several times as her brain processed what the girl said. “Uh...no?” She shot Jade a despairing look.

Jade just laughed at her with bright eyes, gave Artemis a small salute, and walked away.

“Jade! Wait!” Artemis tried to push the girl off her stomach, but for such a short thing, the girl had surprising strength and refused to budge. The girl pouted and little drops of moisture appeared at the corners of her eyes

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (2/12) (because Pann can't count)

[pannytheangel]

“So your mom went to jail for your dad?” Stephanie asked about a month after mom's arrest.

Artemis nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She stared at her ice cream and poked it with her spoon; she still hadn't gotten her appetite back. Their entire complex knew some version of the story; the police came to their door to arrest mom, after all, but Stephanie was probably one of the few who knew more than just rumors.

“That sucks,” Stephanie said through a mouthful of ice cream. “Our daddies both suck.” she pouted and sunk down into her seat. “At least it's him who's never around and not mom.”

Artemis blinked and stared at Stephanie. She had forgotten about that. About how Stephanie had ran to her crying on day at school and babbled about how her dad was a bad guy and she wanted to be a hero, like Batman, but heroes were supposed to beat bad guys and she didn't want to beat her dad

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (3/12)

[pannytheangel]

Their ice cream dates eventually evolved into movie dates, let's-pretend-we're-studying dates, and, of course, their let's-sneak-out-and-away-from-evil-dads dates. It was refreshing, to be able to talk about her dad with someone who understood, no matter how young little Stephanie was.

“Dad's teaching me how to shoot,” Artemis said one day. She and Steph were on one of their our-dads-are-evil-and-we-don't-want-to-be-there-when-Batman-beats-them-up outings.

“Like a gun?” Steph flailed and fell off the bench. “B-but guns are bad and kill people and that's...uh...that's bad

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (4/12)

[pannytheangel]

But that wasn't quite the end of it. Sometime after Robin (Robin, not Batman.) caught Cluemaster and threw him in jail, Steph climbed into Artemis' apartment from the fire escape and through an open window. Her eyes were red, and she was clutching a pint of strawberry ice cream in her hands.

___

Artemis quickly ushered Steph to her couch and dug out two soup spoons from her kitchen.

“Next time, I want to be the one to bust him. He's my daddy,” Steph said as she wrestled open the ice cream and promptly shoved a large scoop of into her mouth. She brought her knees closer into her chest and managed to huddle into an almost-ball on one side of Artemis' sofa

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (5/12)

[pannytheangel]

Steph ended up being decent with a bow. Well, as decent as a seven year old could get. Artemis even gave Steph one of dad's pistol crossbows, just in case. They didn't exactly live in the safest of neighborhoods, and a crossbow with blunted arrows was easier to explain away than a gun. Besides, dad wouldn't miss the weapons; he has maybe seven more of the same design.

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (6/12)

[pannytheangel]

It wasn't until Steph started asking for replacement arrows every week or so did Artemis suspect some that the girl was using the crossbow for more than just self defense.

Still, when a thirteen-year-old Artemis found black and purple arrows littered around the alleyway behind her apartment complex she usually meets Steph at, she panicked. She quickly gathered up the arrows--Steph should have, Artemis had taught her better--and sprinted down the alley.

"Steph!" Artemis turned a corner, still shouting Steph's name and pocketing arrows as she went. "Stephanie!"

She ran through Gotham's East End, down every sketchy alleyway (punching a few noses when necessary) and eventually found herself gasping for breath near an old, rundown theater on Crime Alley. "Steph!"

"Arty?"

Artemis whirled around, ran down another street, and skidded to a stop when she saw Steph's head poking out from a worn-out, old box.

"Steph!" Artemis immediately slide to her knees and pulled Steph into a hug. "Don't do that! I was worried sick! What were you

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (7/12)

[pannytheangel]

Somehow, Steph won. Somehow, Artemis ended up donning a dark green hoodie to match Steph's purple one, and the two would occasionally run around like idiots shooting muggers and trying not to tip off dad.

Steph wanted to call them the Spoilers. Artemis refused to acknowledge the name, so they were, technically, a pair of nameless kids playing hero in hoodies and ski masks. It was reckless and stupid and Artemis just knew they'd end up in body bags someday.

But that day never came. Instead, Steph broke her leg when a gangster got her on the calf with a tire iron (and wasn't that fun to explain to Steph's mom), which Artemis was convinced was a blessing in disguise. Artemis wasn't about to go play hero and most likely get herself killed.

Then dad gave her a suit, lined with Kevlar and coupled with a mask, along with a perfectly balanced collapsible bow and lethally sharp arrows. Artemis almost threw it all away, because this meant he probably wanted her to go into the "family business” that crippled mom and stole Jade away

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (8/12)

[pannytheangel]

“Was I right or was I right?” Steph asked with a large grin after Artemis' first mission.

“You were right! You were so right.”Artemis laughed, truly laughed, and wondered how long it's been since she's felt so happy. “Steph, I'm not going to let anything screw this up. Not even dad. Especially not dad.”

“Right!” Steph nodded enthusiastically. She then paused, fidgeted a bit on the sofa, and poked Artemis on the arm. “Um...what about, you know, the Spoilers?”

Artemis raised an eyebrow, “First off, we were so never called that. Second....” she bit her lip. “I...won't be as free. As, you know. Before. And I don't want you going out alone

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (9/12)

[pannytheangel]

"Steph!" Artemis let herself into Steph's apartment with a spare key. It had been a few months, and she'd completely given up all hope of keeping Steph away from her hero life. Steph's mom wouldn't be home at this time, so it was safe to let herself in and rant for an hour or two. She gripped her pint of ice cream a few dvds tightly, a scowl firmly planted on her face. "I was just nearly drowned, roasted, and blown up in the last five hours, so I fully intend on forgetting all my numerous panic attacks with Rocky Road ice cream and

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (10/12)

[pannytheangel]

So maybe she was a little snippier with Aqualad the next day. Maybe she was a little angrier and impulsive, and maybe nearly drowned, again, because of it.

Miss Martian kept shooting her worried looks on the ride back. Artemis pretended not to notice.

"Artemis?"

"What," she snapped and turned to see Robin looking up at her curiously.

"You don't look so traught today." Robin gave her that irritating smirk that made Artemis want to hit him.

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance and she will not think about how Steph was maybe dead and buried until a few feet of rubble. "Well, I'm perfectly traught, so bug off and mind your own business."

"Whateeeever you say, Arty."

Artemis just knew he was rolling his eyes under that mask

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (11/12)

[pannytheangel]

School the next day was tiring. Artemis couldn't stay awake in any of her classes, except for calculus, and that was only because the weird freshman kept flicking paper footballs at her head.

Lunch passed with her fighting the urge to ditch school to find Steph, and she fidgeted all through her last period, not hearing a word her teacher said. When the bell finally rang, Artemis dashed out the door and nearly ran into the bus stop sign.

“C'mon, c'mon,” she hissed. The bus wouldn't be there for a few more minutes, but that didn't stop her from rocking on her heels and tapping her foot impatiently. She wanted to get home, grab her gear and possibly beat Robin until he told her where he was hiding Steph.

And then a force collided with her back, and Artemis would have fallen flat on her face if she didn't grab the bus stop sign, and a familiar squeal assaulted her ears. "Arty!"

"S-Steph?" Artemis craned her neck back to try and get a good look at her pseudo-sister, because, what? "Are you okay? Are you injured? What happened to you

Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (12/12) - END

[pannytheangel]

She knew there was someone laughing at her (probably Robin, or maybe even Batman) when she met Sunbird months later.

Sunbird landed next to her, in bright purple and yellow, tapped her on the shoulder, said, "Hi, I'm Sunbird. Tag!" and vanished so quickly Artemis was sure the girl was related to Robin.

What was up with all the new bird-people in Gotham anyways? There was a Blue Jay running around with Batman nowadays as well.

Artemis ended up chasing Sunbird around Gotham for the better part of the night, which baffled her to no end, because the girl was bright purple and yellow. She should stick out like a sore thumb

Re: Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (12/12) - END

[milleniumrex]

This is the first Strays fic I've read, and I love it so much. <33333333

Your Artemis and Steph voices are amazing!

Re: Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (12/12) - END

[pannytheangel]

Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it! <3 :D

Re: Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (12/12) - END

[blackash26]

This is wonderful. It was sweet and cute and the interactions between the girls were perfect. Steph's influence on Artemis was so sweet. The Spoilers. That was adorable. As was Arty's concern when her baby sister disappeared. Oh, and rooftop tag? That was sheer brilliance right there.

In sum: I squeed and giggled and smiled like crazy. This was such a joy to read.

(You not only create beautiful art, but you also write! That's so awesome.)

As a side note, this is a much fluffier AU than how I plan for Steph to be adopted, but I really like the sisterly relationship between Steph and Arty. So that will probably be end up being canon in one form or another.

Re: Of Goddesses, Ninja-Birds and Ice Cream (12/12) - END

[pannytheangel]

I'm so glad you liked it! <3 I went through so many revisions of it, trying to get the pacing and voices down. xD

*throws fluff around* I actually wanted to end this sometime before Strays began, but, well, something happened, and the story just kept growing. ._.