⸻NIKI NIHACHU WAS MANY THINGS. Some say she was like fire, the warmth of a hearth on harsh wintry nights with her bright smile and kind words. Others say she was like the hot chocolate that stung lips during cold winters, the golden glow of light spilling out of her bakery as its doors opened wide for her friends. With hearty soups, hot beverages, and freshly toasted bread, the cold never bothered L'manburg. Not while Niki was around. She would keep her ovens burning and her fireplace crackling with warmth for the people she cares for.
But as tensions spiraled out, as war became something present around every corner, her fire dwindled. Voices raised and drowned her out, people brushed past her without a care in the world as if she were nothing but a mere shadow. So she allowed their ideas of her-- sweet, small, a supporting role in a city of main characters --to wash over. It was easy to be their token girl, to be soft and kind and tamp down any violent urges that arose.
It was particularly hard to smother the flames that rose higher and higher with Schlatt's taxes and mocking comments. Schlatt is a river burning her fire and drowning her nation. The smoke of her rage doesn't stop, but the sparks won't burn. So she remained quiet.
But with her silence came neglect, and Niki soon found herself wandering closer and closer to the outskirts of Manberg as Schlatt busied himself with his responsibilities (if drinking could be considered so). Slowly, carefully, she smuggled food and more dangerous supplies out to Pogtopia in the dead of night, when she knew Schlatt was busy with his piles of paperwork and Quackity was fighting against the pull of sleep. It was easier to spend her free days farming and collecting and mining and sewing and prepping while everyone scurried around the white house, breathing life into her dying embers for what she knew would be a great battle.
And then Wilbur had destroyed it all with the click of a button. Turned her home to a pile of smoking rubble and ash. But it was far from being the only thing that had been damaged by his scorching flames.
One of its victims was Tubbo. Her heart ached in grief for him. He carried decisions and looked over matters that could bear consequences far too heavy even for an experienced adult. A sixteen year old managing a country, a job he had never asked for, as he was taken apart and molded into the leader Fundy and Quackity wanted. Each time he shopped at her store, either for cookies or flowers, his eyes seemed a little duller. He ducked his gaze more. His voice slowly quieted, barely rising above a whisper.
And Tommy... Tommy had hurt her completely. She had cared for him, let him bury his tear stained face in her shoulder when nightmares drowned him in the city hidden within a ravine, had been there beside him for the worst of it all. But just like Wilbur, he had taken all that she loved, all that she fought for, and turned it all to dust.
And yet, it wasn't his fault. Her anger didn't burn because of him. Tommy had been nothing but a pawn in Wilbur's game of chess. He had done harm, yes, but he was a sixteen year old forced into a war.
No, the true problem lied within the world itself. A world in which ruthlessness was the only answer, as spy and traitor alike lied and switched sides until they were nothing but angry people who thought they played the noble part of heroes. As they were always righteous, their violence soon became justice.
Niki still remained quiet. Even as everything she had worked on, everything she had built with rough stone or smooth wood or material she had gathered with care and sweat and long days beneath the scorching sun had been torn down. Even as her beloved fox was casually killed, she received nothing but a halfhearted apology as tears fell from her burning eyes. She was the constant collateral damage of a group of men who all thought they were the protagonist of a twisted story. Now L'Manburg was supposed to die for the last time and she did not want to defend it anymore.
Her blood burned in her veins. Niki seethes with pent up fury. When the spark of her anger catches onto the kindling of her wounded, weeping heart, she doesn't stop it from spreading.
She was tired of staying quiet.
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Niki Nihachu is all kinds of things. A warm hearth, the comfort of hot chocolate during cold nights, the golden light kept within a cozy house.
Now she is none of that.
Niki Nihachu is a dying star— all passion and fire and colour, her hair a brilliant, shining array of purple and pink and orange beneath the roaring flames that reached for the starry sky. Waves of heat blow stray strands of hair away from her face and graze her skin. Her gunpowder covered nails dig into the flesh of her palms as her fingers curl into fists.
Moments ago, she had just laid her flint and steel over the oaken L'mantree, waving her final goodbye to it as it ignited. The ovens in her bakery had just burnt out their last and brightest flame, and she watched as her home crumbled into desolate ash.
She lifts her hand up into a salute, but solemn is far from what she is feeling.
All of L'Manburg is broken and gone, and Niki is smiling.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
CHARACTER STUDY GO BRRRRRRR
the title is from AJR's 'finale'
anyways, villain niki makes me feel things
(her character is so underrated it hurts istg-)
i hope you guys liked this! stay safe and have a great day :)
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𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, ( nihachu )
Fanfiction( 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, nihachu x reader ) ❝YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY IN THE LOVELIEST WAY❞ ━━ 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 i write oneshots about niki nihachu
