part one

…

[c]that’s when i decided to bury her among the earth, her soul mingling as one with the forest’s leaves, the flowers that bloomed. one with nature. at least she’d see her in the undergrowth. i wouldn’t forget her. that much she deserved. another voice in the back of my mind.

the following days were a storm of rage and sorrow,. i tracked the lied, whispers, the shadows behind the betrayal. it wasn’t long before i found the traitor—a man named Varek, slippery and cruel bastard.

he’d sold Maya out for power, to fit his agenda with the ambitions he’d chase after. all to rise higher in power with the raiders.

driven by wrath i barely recognized as my own, i hunted him like a ghost. i was relentless in my pursuit, maneuvering the dark corners of the ruined city like it’d been my very own home. stalking him with a patience born with cold fury. every time i caught sight of him and his smug grin, living so happily amongst the raiders without a care in the world for what he did, i felt that warmth reignite again—the thrill of justice, of reckoning.

when i finally cornered him in the wreckage of a long-since abandoned bunker, i took my time.

he begged—pleaded for mercy. for me to let him live. his eyes so wide and desperate— but i

showed him none. nothing. not even a glimpse. i made sure his death was slow, a torment carved with the same cruelty he’d shown Maya.

his suffering was methodical, each moment a brutal reminder of the pain he’d inflicted. his screams echoing in my head long after his final breath—but i welcomed them. they were proof. proof that justice, even in its cruelest form, could still exist.

after that i walked away from the raiders for good, from the only family i’d ever known other than my own parents, than Kael. her. alone, with nothing but the ghosts of the past and the fire of revenge burning inside me, ruthlessly.

but they didn’t forget me. no one who’s path i’ve crossed does. and not many live to tell the story.

the remnants sent hunters after—stalkers in the shadows, full of vengeance and hate, eyes as cold as the knives strapped to their thighs. the guns adorned to their hips. they wanted to erase the stain i’d left on their ranks. their group. but i wasn’t as trusting at this point.

i became a shadow myself—a silent predator. one by one, i found those who sought to silence me. they flaked like flies as i swatted them off their pedestals. i became their nightmare, a whispered threat in the darkest hours. there wasn’t mercy. there wasn’t hesitation. each kill a reminder that i’d never be hunted again.

a reminder of that cold satisfaction that returned each time—like a balm over the wounds left by loss and betrayal. i wasn’t just surviving anymore; i was taking control.

the wilderness became my refuge, the night my cloak. i was so alone, but yet i felt so free. sometimes i wonder if this is what mom and dad prepared me for. with all their teachings, rulings. those combat sessions with dad, and healing remedies i’d picked up from mom. the cold calculus of survival, the brutal necessity of pain. the unyielding fire of vengeance.

maybe this is the price of not dying

maybe this is who i am meant to be.

but as the bodies piled up and blood soaked the earth, i couldn’t stop the question from clawing at my mind: who had i become? was this hunger for vengeance the only thing left to keep me alive?

and if so, was it enough?

❛ 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐞. ❜

──

“and now, here i am with you.”

”sitting in the rust-riddled belly of a railcar that stinks of old blood and bleach,” i’d give, listening to the buzz of his generator struggle against the night. “you’ve got ink-stained hands and too many questions, and i’ve got a scarred forearm that’s ready for your needle.” the skin’s already numb, but i feel every prick—because pain never really leaves. not when you’ve lived like i have. “you want a story to go with this piece you’re giving me, and tonight, i feel generous. perhaps it’s what you’ve put in this drink.”

so i talked.

i told him about the days of when i stopped being someone and starting becoming something else. about the people i buried and the silence they left behind. i keep my voice low, even though no one’s out here but us, and his cigarette keep drifting into the story like it belongs there. he keeps working as i speak, and i keep staring at the black lines blooming down my skin—the serpent winding down my forearm, curling around the blade.

i didn’t pick this symbol for its style. no, that’d be too simple. too easy. i picked it because it means something.

the dagger—she’s clean, decisive, unapologetic. death with a spine. the snake? she’s the part that slithers through the ashes, that eats herself to be born again. cunning. cold. eternal. that’s the thing about predators—if they live long enough, they evolve into something more. worse. smarter.

the drifter flinches when i tell him that part. not because he’s scared—no, he’s seen things. but he recognizes it. that truth hits different when its been living in your guts for years.

after i left the raiders, i wandered. not aimlessly—never that. i had names. faces. some of them didn’t even know what they’d done to deserve attention. that was the point. justice doesn’t need permission. i moved from ruin to ruin, shadow to shadow, and i didn’t ask for trust or shelter. i took what i needed. left the rest.

the world had become smaller by then—cities dead and swallowed, highways broken like snapped bones. but people? people still clung to the bones, greedy and desperate. they feared ghosts like me. whispers of a silver-eyed girl with a scar like a blade drawn across her face. raiders called me back luck. others called me a myth.

they weren’t wrong.

i met killers who thought they were clever. met warlords who talked too much. met a woman who sold children for bullets and another who wore teeth around her neck like pearls. they’re all dead now. some quick. most slow. but every one of them earned the weight of me.

the drifter asks mid-line, if i regretted it.

i don’t answer at first, watching the ink bleed into my skin. did i really regret it? any of it? all the places i’ve gone, people i’ve met and bodies i’ve buried and lost count to? the things i’ve done to survive?

”i regret not starting sooner,” i say.

and he nods like he understands, and maybe he does. we don’t get to live this long without carving pieces of ourselves. you lose softness. you gain instinct. you survive. that’s what the snake taught me. you adapt or die. and if you’re smart, you make the dying part someone else’s problem.

i finish the stories when the ink does. the drifter cleans the blood and wraps my arm in gauze. the serpent’s fangs gleam in black under the bandage, kissing the dagger’s edge. he asks if i want to rest, but i shake my head. i don’t rest. not really. i move. i track. i hunt.

before i leave, i make sure he re my name. not the one i was born with. not Seren. Seren Calder. that name’s been buried too long. i tell you the name i’ve gotten history with. the name others have learned to call me. the name that i carved with my own hands, shaped with blood and fire.

”Grimm,” i say.

he doesn’t ask why. he doesn’t need to.

the train-car door creaks behind me as i step into the night, and the stars above are sharp, cruel things. just the way i like them.

let the world try to find me again.

im ready.

Ꮠ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 Ꮠ

──

𝐢﹔𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌    𝐢𝐢﹔𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌    𝐢𝐢𝐢﹔𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

𝐢𝐯﹔𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒

⠀

”i was raised in silence, shaped by violence, and reborn through betrayal. whatever’s left of me isn’t your to understand.”

𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌﹔odessa a’zion. maybe basic? maybe not. she was the only person i could think of that represented Grimm’s whole style. specifically her playing riley from hellraiser. every other fc i’d search was a flop. so here we are with my beloved odessa.

𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌﹔odessa a’zion

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒﹔gxg

𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒﹔hello! if you’ve made it this far, hence you read all this heebie-jeebies, then thank you. genuinely cried and suffered creating Grimm’s character, but i persevered and pushed on. she deserved to be way more than just simple or basic. i wanted to create a zombie-based apocalyptic character like this for the longest time but have never gotten around to it. thought this community on amino would be the perfect place for it. so here we are. hope you enjoyed reading this fuck-fest as much as i enjoyed writing and creating. farewell, traveler <3

✦