Path of Exile Talent Competition

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SimoneIF wrote:

finished this today

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Here's a fanfic for the ending that Jun and Zana deserves.

Spoiler

An overcast and chilly afternoon found Jun in a dilemma.

The humidity clung to her robes as her eyes scanned the limited scenery of the hideout over and over. Almost three moons had passed since she stumbled out of that basement, Catarina's inky malevolence staining her dagger. Jun hadn't dared to dream that there might be something for her after the end of the Syndicate; and now that she was here, she didn't dare to proceed.

For the first time in a long time, Jun was afraid.

The source was a lonely figure sitting on the fringe of the hideout, arms limp by her side and eyes staring off into a memory farther away than any otherworldly realm she had ever conjured. Jun did not have to search hard to see the etchings of pain and grief on Zana's face. It had been barely a week since the tempest of nightmares ravaged through Oriath and Sirus' attempt to tear the very fabric of this world into fragments. When the storm had subsided and the Sirus' corpse lay impaled in the town square, Zana's face had been a perfect wall of alabaster, her mind seemed in shock and distant, and it remained so ever since.

It seemed good to Jun to give her some space at first. One needed time to process such an extreme event. But soon it became clear that Zana was slipping further and further away. She would wander absent-mindedly into the woods beyonds the hideout before dawn and return late in the evening, covered in cuts and scratches.

Jun looked at her now. She spied two small cuts just under Zana's right ear that seemed to be newly acquired today. Every part of Jun longed to go to her and pull her out of the insidious spiral that's draining her mind.

But Jun couldn't seem to move. Her decisive combat instincts forged in the heat of a thousand confrontations eluded her. Instead her feet were filmly rooted by tendrils of hesitation. Just move dammit! She is less than a throw away.

In a flash, before she had even realised she was moving, Jun sprang towards Zana. Her steps just shy of breaking into a sprint. Within moments, Jun stood over the bundled figure. Zana looked up from the noise of Jun's stampede and hurriedly stood, brushing off her skirt.


"Jun! Sorry you caught me daydreaming, is there something I can help you-"

Jun threw herself at Zana until she was inches away and twisted her face at the last second to plant a tender kiss on Zana's neck.


"You're not alone."


Jun froze. Impulse had driven her this far but now the events that had just transpired was beginning to catch up with her conscious, thinking mind and there were no more words left to say. An agonising eternity stretched between the pair and Jun became more and more aware of their proximity. The earthly scent coming from Zana's clothes, the fiery locks caressing her own jet black strands, her cheek suddenly moist.

Excruciatingly, Jun tilted her head back to look at Zana's face and found it drenched in tears. For the second time that day, impulse took over and Jun stretched out her arms. Zana trembled as she felt Jun's arm envelope her and melted into the embrace.

~~~~~
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"Alright, since neither of yous have are first-timers aboard me ship, I'm expecting four extra legs a-running and four extra hands a-hoisting. Yea?"


Zana turned with a small chuckle.


"Thank you again for ferrying us, Captain Roth. Of course we'll help however we can."


Jun stayed silent facing the brilliance of the amber sunset. Zana's euphonious voice, accompanied by the gentlest of touch on her arm had flooded her senses. Jun shifted her stance and wrapped one arm tightly around Zana's waist, pulling her close.


"I was hoping that when it was all over, you would be able to show me some of the worlds you've seen in the device." Jun whispered, she eyes quickly scanning Zana's face for a response.

Something wistful crept into Zana's expression before evanescing as quickly as it had appeared.


"No. But I can show you this one."