First, let me say I love this opening.

In fact, let's save the rest for later and get to the piece!

 
The entire town was dead quiet and darker than midnight inside of a tomb as Mary stared up at the light of a force field that stretched miles in either direction, far out of her view. For a moment, Mary thought she recognized the grotesque old decaying mansion that appeared to have grown to about one hundred feet tall. But her mind shoved that recognition to the back of her head.

Fog and haze surrounded the base of the mansion. Around her were creatures that she didn't recognize until they came out of the gray misty smoke. Suddenly she was back in the battle with Baron Von Ratsworth, Lord Spookyraven, Boss Bat, Renaissance Giant, the winged yeti, thousands of bats, Muri-Dan, skeletons and zombies and she was all alone. She fought off most of the lesser monsters until she was grabbed by the giant and Boss Bat. She struggled, kicking and biting but they were too strong for her and then the Baron and Spookyraven started in on her. The Baron beat her with his cane while Spookyraven groped her body with one grotesquely decayed hand and choked her with the other. Both the Baron and Spookyraven leered at her and laughed a hauntingly horrible laugh. Mary's heart and mind raced as she struggled to get away from them. Every time she tried to free herself the beatings intensified and the grip around her throat tightened until she could not fight any longer. As darkness set in, her only thoughts were on her parents and Wildfall and how much she loved them. She felt her life ebbing away when she saw a flash of light, everything around her suddenly vanished and she heard someone calling her name. "Mary, Mary." Something new was holding her and she frantically struggled to be free. Gasping for breath, she thrashed her arms and legs but the thing holding her would not let her go. Then the voice got closer and softer, "Shhhh, shhhh, it's okay. I've got you. You're safe now. Nothing is going to happen to you. Shhhhh." As she slowly stopped struggling, the arms around her gently rocked her and familiar hands stroked her sweating face and smoothed her wet hair. Slowly her breathing returned to normal and she opened her eyes to see Wildfall was holding her and looking at her with a frightened look on his face. She bolted up, threw her arms around him and clung to him, sobbing hysterically into his bare chest.

*-------

Earlier that night

A sharp, achy pain jolted Wildfall out of his sleep, causing the young Ireacan to moan softly as he sat up, eager to alleviate the pain in his arm. Forcing his eyes to focus, he sat there in the dark, trying to remember what it was he was dreaming, but all he could think of was half-remembered terrified thoughts about losing his Mary Kate. Wildfall's head still ached, enough to make it hard to focus. Still, the pain was fading and sleep would help.

If I can get back to sleep now, Wildfall ruefully noted. Musta rolled over on my bad arm in my sleep. Can't believe I kicked the covers off of me. Maybe I should get up and stretch a lil. After those nightmares, I don't see myself driftin' back to sleep too quick-like.

It took quite a few minutes for Wildfall to summon the strength to actually get out of his bed, and those minutes certainly felt longer in his nightmare-addled mind. He did his best to move around the house carefully and quietly in spite of the aches, pains and general exhaustion he was in. No need to wake up poor Mary Kate and he definitely didn't want to force her to wake up to a loud crashing noise after the events of earlier.

With a hint of a smile, Wildfall decided a small snack wouldn't hurt. He was already having nightmares, so there wasn't much point in worrying about getting them from eating too late. Made sense, really.

He'd only taken a few steps away from his bedroom when he heard Mary's panicked screams. Wildfall turned towards her room so sharply, he felt his knee nearly pop. He ignored the pain; it was dulled by the terrible fear that Mary was in danger.

Wildfall rushed into her room even though he knew better. What if it was one of the Six come to finish Mary off? She did fight against them pretty hard. Lord Spookyraven himself! Wildfall knew if that was the case, he'd be walking right into their hands but he couldn't stop himself, like his body was on autopilot.

Fortunately, when he got into the room, all he saw was Mary thrashing in her bed. Poor thing must be having a demon of a nightmare, Wildfall thought to himself as he fought the urge to rush to her. Wildfall kept his distance, not even sure in the darkness if she was decent or not. That only lasted until Mary started thrashing around like a fish on dry land. Worried that she might flip out of her bed, Wildfall rushed to her, tenderly reassuring her and trying to hold her down. He took her in his arms and talked to her in a quiet voice while stroking her wet hair and wiping sweat from her face. Oh my poor sweet Mary, what happened to you in there to cause you such terror? He cradled her in his arms and gently rocked her. Slowly he felt her stop struggling. She opened eyes and she threw her arms around him sobbing hysterically and all he could do was hold her tight and let her cry as he told he it was okay and she was safe.

*-------

Morning came and went for our intrepid Ireacan couple but soon enough, Mary Kate and Wildfall found themselves waking up in each other's arms. The sun shone thru the window announcing that the arrival of afternoon and Mary was still in her rumpled nightgown that clung to her body in all the right places, while Wildfall was in his shorts and shirtless showing off his muscular chest and arms.

Wildfall lazily opened one eye, noticed her in his arms, and let out a quick gasp of shock. Mary heard the gasp and woke with a jerk and shocked to find herself in his arms, not knowing how she got there. She started to pull away but each movement hurt so badly that she just wanted to sit still, hoping that Wildfall didn't mind. She searched her mind to try to remember how she could have ended up in his arms like this. The last thing she remembered was going to her room and falling asleep from exhaustion.

Body pressed hard against her, he was hard pressed not to press harder.

He figured he was probably pressing his luck enough already but Mary snuggled closer to Wildfall's warm body, feeling so safe with his arms wrapped around her. Wildfall found it just as relaxing as Mary did; within a few minutes their eyes were closed and they drifted back to sleep. After a short while, Wildfall let out a soft sigh as he looked the sleeping Mary over. Had she always been this beautiful? Wildfall wasn't sure he'd really noticed it until that moment. He couldn't resist brushing a hair away from her face. With the slightest touch, a startled Mary jumped and started to bat away his hand but stopped when she saw it was Wildfall. Just then she heard a rumbling sound from his stomach, looked at him and flashed a grin. "Sounds like you could eat a yeti."

 
Wildfall smiled weakly. "Thought that was your tummy, honey."

Mary giggled slightly, saying, "I think it might be both of them having a growling battle; they might think our throats have been cut. Maybe we should go find some food and feed them."

Wildfall made a face. "You have a morbid sense of humor this morning, honey. But yeah, it's probably time to get up and dress, huh?"

"I agree, we need to dress and eat so we can decide what we are going to do. I'm so sore not even sure I can manage to move. I'm so comfortable here," she replied with a wink.

Wildfall flashed a goofy smile. Not his regular confidence filled, Irish rogue, charmer-boy smirk, just a silly, goofy smile. "Keep winking at me like that and I might teach you a few new moves before ya know it, babe."

Mary laughed. "I might teach you a few moves myself. You'd be surprised what I can do."

Wildfall leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Sometimes I like surprises."

"Well I am just full of surprises, Jarlsy. I'm not a kid anymore, hehe. The surprises will have to wait till we get some food in our stomachs to make them stop rumbling. What do you say we get dressed and to eat. I have to admit I'm starving," Mary said, giggling.

Wildfall winked. "Me too. Do we even need to dress?"

Mary snuggled closer once more and replied, "No, we have enough food in the house that we can eat right here. Anything to avoid going out for a while. We need the time to rest up and heal."

As comfortable as it was, hunger and the late time of day motivated the two out of bed. On their way to the kitchen, Mary stopped by the pantry and pulled out some dried meat and veggies along with some spice from the Spice Golem. She got out a pot, filled it with water and put all the ingredients into it, using the tiniest pinch of golem spice. Turning to Wildfall, Mary said, "Mom always kept what she called 'camping food' put away in case we couldn't get to the market. This stew will be good for us."

Wildfall licked his lips. "Sounds like classic Ireacan stew to me, MK! Love it!"

"I told you I was full of surprises, Jarlsy. I'm not just another pretty face, hun, I did learn a few things growing up," Mary replied with smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.

Wildfall tried not to stare as he watched her, which was no small task. Although it was a simple nightgown, she wore it quite well, Wildfall quietly noted to himself. Wildfall rarely saw her with her hair trussed up like that. It was a mess, but it looked so good on her. So damned sexy.

With a tilt of her head and glint in her eye, she asked, "What are you looking at, Jarlsy?" Looking at herself, she blushed. "OMG I forgot to dress and my hair's a mess!"

"Your hair's perfect," Wildfall replied in a silky, low voice. "And I'm standing here in shorts, just sorta hoping they don't fall off. Besides, you look . . ."

Wildfall paused, holding his breath for a moment.

Mary laughed nervously as she replied, "I think you look pretty good in your shorts and bare chest. I don't remember you looking so good when I was younger and following you around."

Wildfall chuckled, cheeks starting to burn almost as must as hers must be. "I didn't even have this much on then, either. Guess we didn't know what we had back then.. or something."

Mary grinned a shy grin. "I don't think you would've noticed anything about me when you were too busy chasing the other girls, but I was noticing you."

"I did notice that cute girl following me," Wildfall said. He paused and chuckled. "Even when she got teased over it. I felt bad cause it seemed like that caused you to get in a few fights with your friends."

"Hehe I remember you getting into a few fights yourself, but thought that was what boys did to prove they were strong." Mary chuckled as she stirred and tasted the stew.

Wildfall found his eyes drifting down the curves on her nightgown and resting on her round and surprisingly attractive - assuring himself he was just admiring the color of the nightgown, Wildfall turned, blushing more heavily than he would have liked to admit, and went about finding something useful to do. Not thinking it through, he blurted out, "Buns!"

"What about my buns?" asked Mary playfully. "Do they look okay to you, cause yours looks great to me."

Wildfall looked over, surprised when he realized where her eyes were falling on his body. Wildfall let his eyes drift down her body, feeling a little more comfortable with it now. "I meant bread but now that you mention it, I gotta say. Lookin good, honey."

Mary found her thoughts drifting from the stew to the friend in front of her. "Do you ever think of having someone special in your life?" She suddenly felt very embarrassed and hot.

Wildfall staring off in the distance as he tried to think of the perfect answer. It took him a moment, but he smiled when it finally hit him, knowing she'd love it. "I think I already do."

Mary stopped and looked at him as her heart sank and her anger began to rise. "You have someone special in your life and just when were you going to tell me about it? Before or after you seduce me? Let me guess, it is that dam slut Tomato. No wonder you two had your heads together at the force field. You were plotting a way to finally tell me you had been stringing me along and laughing about it behind my back. How could you do this to me especially after I bare my heart to you, Jarlsy? Oh I'm such an idiot!" With that Mary started to turn away, but Wildfall stepped in front of her.

By this point, he had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring impatiently at her. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes, I'm finished," snapped Mary fighting back the tears.

"I meant you, you crazy girl," Wildfall answered with a heavy Irish sigh. "It's you I'm in love with. I can't believe you're jealous of an a-cup.. er.. I mean jealous of a punk kid. She was just the daughter of the folks who purchased my home, no big deal. Tween you and me, I kinda forgot about her til you mentioned her, ya crazy git."

Mary was at a loss for words (which for her was a rarity) and all she could do was cry and throw her arms around him. She hugged him and gave him the biggest deepest kiss she could muster. "Really? Truly? I love you too and have my whole life. I'm so sorry I accused you of being interested in her, but I never thought you would, or could, love me. I'm so embarrassed at the way I behaved back at the force field, but was not about let anyone take you from me if I could help it." Mary just hung on to Wildfall, her heart bursting with the love she felt for him.

Wildfall's heart fluttered at her kiss, and he held her tight. "Wow, babe, you can really kiss."

Mary blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry I came on too strong there. I'm not as experienced in these matters as you are." She giggled.

Wildfall kissed her back, obviously wanting more of it. The girl- no this young woman- felt so good in his arms, but it felt so right.

Mary melted further into his arms and sighed a deep sigh of contentment, totally lost in the moment and enjoying the feelings she was having and wanting more but not sure what to do next.

Mary smelled the stew and slipped out of Wildfall's arm to check on it, just to find out she needed to add more water to keep it from burning. She grabbed some water, added it and then tasted to make sure it had enough seasoning. It was to close to being done to ruin now.

Wildfall walked up behind her, slipping his arms around her. The move even surprised him but it just suddenly felt so right.

Mary winced in pain as she told Wildfall, "Easy Jarlsy, don't squeeze so tight. My ribs are still pretty tender but your arms feel so good around me." She was smiling at the thought and then said, "The stew will be done soon. How about you helping me set the table and get some bread out?"

"Sure thing, honey." Wildfall smiled. "Ohh, hope you.. I mean, I hope we got honey in the pantry. This should last us a few good days."

Wildfall winced as he reached for the cabinet, though. "Guess my arms are still sore, too. Ouch."

Mary chuckled at the honey remark, "Gee, I was hoping that 'honey' remark was meant for me. But, yes, there is some honey in the pantry. I use it for my sore throat. Later I will massage your arms and put some warm compresses on them. Then I can wrap you in my arms for a change, hehe."

Wildfall winked, although with her busy with the stew, she might have missed it. "Okay honey.. heh.. guess I can't call you 'kiddo' anymore. I think we're set to stay in the house at least a few days. Or weeks."

Mary thought a minute and responded saying. "Yea that 'kiddo' was getting a bit awkward, honey. I could see us staying in the house for months, hehe."

Wildfall's cheeks blushed and felt like they were burning off of his cheeks. "Well, I've known you since we were kids.. but like you always tell me, you've grown up quite a bit, MK."

He gently slipped his arms around her waist.

Mary responded, "Well, neither of us are kids anymore," as she slipped his hands closer to her breasts as he tenderly kissed her neck.

I loved that opening and we've gotten pretty high praise for this co-write as well.

It continues from the last piece of showing off the effects of the last mission on Mary Kate and Wildfall - then it brings them together to spark a cute romantic scene between the two! Voter Ichiro calls it "a cute piece," too.

MK and I also write a weekly update which you can find on the forums in its own section. As for MK and Wildfall, well their story will of course continue in this mission and hopefully missions beyond. In fact, Iris joins init but next we skip to a SnowCat solo!