Rewrite of "Fear" from my July One Shot Challenge.

Credit for main idea goes to @X_EmLee_X (all the way back in July... yeah I promise I didn't forget about it, I was just lazy XD)

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"It was my fault."

Everybody's heads whipped around to Jesse. She looked down, rubbing her arm subconsciously. A sad, guilt-stricken look in her brown eyes.

"I'm the one who took Magnus's armour." She whispered.

"But you couldn't have known what would happen." Olivia pointed out.

"She's right. You can't blame yourself, Jesse." Ellegaard said, before adding with a half-hearted chuckle. "I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Jesse smiled vaguely, although their words weren't making her feel any better. Not knowing, was no excuse. Magnus's death was still on her.

"Argh!" Soren threw his hands into the air. "Being emotional is getting us nowhere! What I want to know is, what happened out there today, why is that thing still alive?!"

His head snapped around in Jesse's direction, starting to march right up to her. "My instructions were simple!" He bellowed, pointing a finger right at her. "You were the one in the middle of everything, what went wrong?!"

Jesse took a shocked step back. Her mouth started opening, but she couldn't find her voice.

"Soren, none of this is Jesse's fault." Axel defended, crossing his arms.

Soren pulled his gaze away from Jesse for a second, scowling at Axel instead. His glare was quick to switch back to Jesse.

"Well, I'm still not hearing a logical explanation for what happened here!"

"I-I don't know!" Jesse said desperately, holding up her hands as she took a step back. "I did what you told me to!"

"Well, you had to have done something wrong!" Soren sneered at her. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here right now, the Storm would be dead and Magnus would be alive."

Jesse took another step back, gulping slightly as she felt a lump in her throat. She vaguely heard Olivia snap something at Soren, but couldn't make out the words.

Soren was right, this was all on her. She was the one who failed to set off the Formidi-bomb correctly, she was responsible for all this.

Jesse didn't wait to hear any more, she simply turned around on the spot and began walking out of the cave. She heard a few voices call out her name, but didn't stop to look back.

Reuben let out a soft squeal, jogging out after Jesse. She sunk down on the ground, right at the cliff's edge, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them.

Reuben snorted softly, nudging Jesse with his head. She didn't lift her head, instead burying her face deeper into her arms. Her back shaking slightly as she forced back sobs.

Reuben whimpered, squeezing underneath Jesse's arm and clambering onto her lap. Jesse wrapped her arms around him, hugging the small pig to her chest. Reuben gave her face an affectionate lick.

"Oh, Reuben..." Jesse sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "I don't even know what to do any more!"

Jesse was unaware of the figure who had came jogging out of the cave, anxiously glancing around for them. Lukas stopped dead however, hearing Jesse's words.

"I tried." Jesse whispered, stroking Reuben. "I tried so hard to do something right for once in my life, and I still failed." Reuben whimpered softly, nudging Jesse with his snout.

"At least you still believe in me... don't you boy?" Jesse asked softly, managing a tiny smile. "Why did I think I was cut out for this? Why did I allow all the luck we've had to get to my head, and make me believe that I could actually make a difference? I'm no different than the person I was mere weeks ago, I'm still just... nobody."

"You're not nobody."

Jesse's head jerked up with gasp, looking back over her shoulder.

"Lukas." She said, almost sounding a little relieved. "What are you doing out here?"

"I came to make sure you're okay." Lukas said, walking over to Jesse. He lowered himself to the ground beside her, crossing his legs beneath him as well.

"I suppose you heard all that then." Jesse whispered, looking down at Reuben in her lap.

"You shouldn't let what Soren said, get to you." Lukas said softly. "You risked your life out there, Jesse."

"Doesn't matter what I risked, I still failed." Jesse replied, sniffing slightly. "I'm no hero, Lukas. And everybody here knows that."

"Success isn't what makes a hero. Bravery is." Lukas said, placing a hand on Jesse's arm. "And today, you were the only one brave enough to craft that bomb."

Jesse lowered her head slightly, blinking back tears a few times. "It was a mistake." She whispered. "I did more harm than good, setting off that bomb. If I didn't step up, maybe we wouldn't have lost any lives. Maybe then people wouldn't be looking at me with blame in their eyes."

"Not everybody blames you." Lukas said softly. "What's important is that the people who matter, know you did you did your best. And we're willing to stick by your side till the end."

"Is that so?" Jesse asked almost harshly, lifting her head. "Because earlier you seemed pretty certain about leaving us all behind to go look for the other ocelots."

It was silent between them for a second. Jesse lowered her head again, avoiding eye contact with Lukas.

"I'm not leaving." Lukas responded softly. "I'll stay, and that's a promise.

If anybody in this world can find a way to bring down the Wither Storm... I believe it's you, Jesse."

She let out a dry chuckle, looking up at Lukas with bloodshot eyes.

"Why are all of you putting this faith in me?" She asked softly. "You're so confident that I can take down this monstrosity, but none of you realise..." She trailed off slightly, looking over at the Wither Storm in the distance. "...I'm also scared."

She looked back over at Lukas, feeling him take her one hand in his. He was looking at her with hope in eyes, a smile resting on his face.

"I know, and it doesn't make me believe in you any less. Because you wouldn't be brave, if you didn't have fears."

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So I finally came around to doing this! 

And it's like, only 200 words longer than the first version xD But I do like it a bit better.

I was so super disappointed in myself back when I did this in the other book, not because I didn't like it, but because it was so short. I really felt like I was defeating the purpose of the challenge by writing something so stupidly short. And I think the reason I was this angry, was because 'Fear' is such a great prompt.
Like, the possibilities were endless, but I still couldn't do anything good.

I had a case of writer's block at the time, and that was just a really busy day for me. I was dead-exhausted by the time I wrote the one shot, which is why I didn't even have the power to make it better after receiving the ideas on how to improve it. 

But to this day, still mad at myself x'D

I'm going to do the randomly-generated-word challenge again at some point, see if I can do better without slacking off near the end. Because I seriously need redemption from the July challenge XD

Sorry this one is still a little short :') I do like the lay-out better, so the length doesn't bother me too much. But eh

I have a more lighthearted one shot coming up, that I personally think is a ton of fun to read, so you all have that to look forward to! Should be up in two days, since I like to stick to two posts per day, and tomorrow we have an art post and Fallen.

Anyhow long enough authors note! XD

Feel free to leave me more requests, whether they are one word prompts, actual plot lines or sequels to previous one shots I have done.

Current requests pending: 4