(So I'm a little late, but I have finally got up the time and the energy to get some writing done.  This will be a three part thing taking place days after the major war.  I hope you all enjoy!  <3)

What does one do when they’re offered a new revival…  A new start…  The possibility of a new horizon to explore?  What does one do when they’re offered a chance so grandiose that their mind can’t even comprehend it?  This was the situation in which one young Don from Los Angeles found herself.  One day she was riding high on a cloud, but wrapped up in uncertainty and shrouded in secrecy…  But that was just her personal life.  In reality she had it good…  She was safe, she was secure, she was beloved.  The underboss of her family and a secure position in society.

That was when everything changed…  A war with incredibly costly results raged, but the battle successful.  Their way of life could recover, they could recover…  Their city would rise again and thrive under it’s strong Leadership.  She had gone back to rejoin her Hounds.  She found solace even in the death of her Beloved Leader and Love of her heart.  She had rejoined Roman and his Hounds and found a new determination to help keep them safe and secure.  And yet then something even more unexpected happened…  War was not over… Battle was not done.  And it was that the already war ravaged world was thrust into another round.  Taken by surprise, one young Don found her entire family ravaged and gone, her city thrust into confusion…  Or was it only in her own mind?

The darkness continued as battle raged.  But Hope found allies in others that remained from her own city.  She would shore up her own defenses, internal and external and do what she could to fight for her own.  She did not find herself to be the strongest, but she was smart…  Swift and her tiny form was easily hidden in the darkness.  She was not the most strong of killers, but she was unwavering as she fought alongside those she had joined forces with.

It was not long after that she was called upon to gather up those that were left without home and without guidance.  She could not allow her fair city to fall into ruin.  Freeman had called upon her to start a group and take in just as many people from the fallen families that she could.  And naturally she would follow this direction to the letter.  She had managed to find a number of those she had worked with under two different banners, not to mention many others that had come to her to join forces or for refuge against the raging war.  Hope did her best to aid them and draw them in under one banner.  She fought hard alongside those she loved and yet so many were ripped from them even then.  But the losses were not all one sided.  Both sides fought valiantly, and many perished.

Freeman was among those close to her.  He had guided her patiently, helped her keep her head as she navigated her own way through this war.  She met allies at every turn even more so than she met the enemy.  Even if her Hounds were gone, and her Beloved Disciples scattered, she found that she was far from alone.  Even so she fought with the darkness of uncertainty in her own heart.  She quickly came to the conclusion that it just took one step in front of the other.  It was times like these that showed one just what they were made of.  Would she survive?  Or would she be another casualty of this insanity?  Only time would tell…

But it seemed as if the tale of Hope did not end here.  The battle raged through the night and on into the next day.  Still she and her small band fought on their side.  Side by side she did battle with her close friend and confidant Criseria.  They had served together as Disciples under TM, it seemed only fitting that they remained at each other’s side through this battle for their very lives.  On and on the battle raged and Hope did everything she could manage in her attempt to bolster their side and bring victory to them…  Even down to making a very unlikely ally.  But things don’t always go the way one envisioned them and plans could change in half an instant.

As the battle raged, both sides continued to lose strong allies and it was uncertain how long this war would go, or who would come out the victor.  But as the new day dawned, peace talks began to open and form…  Leaders from all the cities involved began to come together and discuss ceasing hostilities and they were becoming more and more successful.  It seemed that they were all ready to end this war that had horribly ravaged their land.  Managing to come to a compromise, bullets stopped flying and those remaining began to plan on how to rebuild their fair world once again.  The fire had obliterated the land.  No family had been untouched.  This thing of theirs had been brought almost as low as it could have been. 

Where does one go after such destruction and chaos ensue?  Well one thing was for sure, there really was only two options…  Either you died… Or you would rise.

These were the thoughts of one young Don as she made her way away from the last funeral service.  There had been so many that had lost their lives…  So many to bury, so many to lay to rest…  So many just…  Gone…  It was almost more than she could comprehend, the level of death that had just happened in the past days.  Hope wiped her hands on the soft fabric of her skirt, shaking her head a little as she tried to compose herself.  The last one had been rough…  She had just come from laying one of her closest friends into the ground.  Her beloved Roman Reigns…  The look on his face had been one of peace, tranquility…  Something she hadn’t seen on his face in quite a time.  Even so…  His face was lifeless.  His spirit was gone…  She was left upon this earth to lay him to rest and then go on as best she could.  But how could she continue without him?  Without TM?  Without Hoodrat? Charsi?  Even some she had just met…  John Murphy?  He had held such promise, even to the idea that she was thinking about asking him to be her Right Hand if she were to rise to take her own crew…  She could go on and on… 

Her steps took her away from the funeral home at a rapid pace.  But they were unsteady, uneven…  Like she couldn’t focus herself.  She had done so well at not losing her composure during funeral service after funeral service.  But that last one had shaken her to her very core.  Even so, she didn’t shed a tear even as she walked out into the middle of nowhere.  Walking off the main streets, and into a quiet large grassy lot, Hope finally let her tears release.  They began to stream down her face at an alarming rate as it all hit her at once.  “Roman…  TM…  You went too soon…  You went too soon.  I can’t do this alone…” She finished this realization at a soft whisper as she walked further through the long grass as she felt her pulse quicken.  “Roman I need your guiding words, your smile, just…  You.”  She continued to walk on, feeling the tears stream as she got more and more lost in her own thoughts.  “I can’t do this without you…  We were supposed to do this together…”  She felt the sobs wrack her tiny frame as she stopped there far off the beaten path, hopefully out of earshot of most, if any people.  “We were supposed to do this TOGETHER!”  She screamed out, feeling a raw anger, fueled by her own terror at walking this life without her Hounds or her Disciples.  Well, namely their heads.  There was Roman…  He had been her best friend almost all her life.  And then there was TM.  Until the last couple days, he had been her love. 

How much can one young mind take before it decides to shut down to protect itself?  It was quickly seeming to come to that as Hope dropped to her knees, all words failing her as she simply sobbed uncontrollably, seeming to have nothing around her to keep her company and soothe her internal anguish save for the softly waving long grasses.  Lost for words, she would just allow herself to cry as the memories and thoughts of her friends overtook her mind and heart overcoming her with grief.  How could she just pick up and move on with so many of them dead?  “We were supposed to do this together…  I can’t do this without you…” She murmured again, her mind’s eye just full of the faces of those lost to her and beyond her grasp.

(RIP all my beloved friends.  RomanReigns TM @Insomina hoodrat Charsi Bubbles Diogenis Freeman JohnMurphy Syndicate Terrah Brancer UselessCharlie Adorkable Winkx TonyCastelli Tony_BigTuna_Accardo LuffyD Rudolf_Romeo_Riviera Alina_Ricci Klejnot Erlking JoeyBounafonte AlexaBliss Hearns Corvo Sho_Nuff Yukihira Sarah_Bathory Rayden IExoGenesis and any more I may have missed.  Please don’t hold it against me, it’s not a slight in the least.  <3 May you all RIP.  <3 )

Renegade followed hope from the funeral home, trying to keep up he gasped  hope wait!  With those two words barely spoken she crumbled.

Renegade stooped down next to hope and put his arm around her as she turned and gazed into his eyes he felt his words evaporate, he had never seen her like this before she had remained strong for so long.Hope...Hope don't give up now PLEASE he felt his voice crack We've come too far, You've come too far! Los Angeles is in ruins and I can't do this without you.Your the last one standing and I'm not sure we can survive unless you stay.

He looked to the sky ans closed his eyes for a second as his heart thundered in his chest they'd all be proud of you you know he forced a smile you need to grieve but it's the living that need you now so many are homeless and scared they will look to you, You can do this I know you can.

Hope hugged renegade tighter LA may be burnt but we can rise from the ashes your not alone.

And with those last words said they both sat in silence, the peacefulness and quiet had been a rare experience these last few weeks.

Trembling all over, Hope felt a weakness and a terror unlike any she had ever felt...  Never had she felt so uncertain, so...  Lost.  So many dead, sure there was promise of new beginnings and the meeting to look toward.  The different families would join together, and Hope wanted to believe that with every fiber of her being that this was the truth, her gut told her that she was not wrong in believing in them.  So far her intuition had not led her astray.  Heck, it had brought her to Roman...  One of her closest and best childhood friends on up through adulthood but now Roman was gone...  Her rock and her anchor, ripped from her.  And lost she floated at sea.  She had nothing to keep her going except the fight and now the fight had ended.  It had been so bloody, so costly on both sides and yet the war had waged on and on, it had seemed like both the sides would fight until only one remained.  But even then would the treaty have held if it came to that?  Yet these were dangerous questions.  And questions that were, as of now, unnecessary.  The war was ended, and in a way, both sides had won and lost.  With heavy losses, some still stood strong...  Well sort of.  They stood in any case.

But now Hope, in the solace of this abandoned space, crumbled into a heap.  It was as if the weight that she had brought willingly upon her shoulders had finally driven her down and she sobbed.  She couldn't believe they were gone.  Just...  Gone.  She would never see them again, never laugh with them again, never eat with them again, never sing...  Oh Roman...  TM...  All of you insane people who had led the cities in an era of peace...  Well for a time, but peace always found a way of ending, didn't it?  With tears streaming down her face, one single voice broke through the haze of grief.  Was that...  Her name?  He was calling her name.  Oh no someone had found her.  Rapidly she tried to pull herself together.  She had to keep fighting!  What if it was an enemy and they had come to finish her off?  She started to go for her gun as her crazed eyes met those that were not of an enemy, but of Renegade.  A trusted friend and confidant.  He had come to her as the war waged on, near the end, but no less needed in her eyes.  "Renegade..."  She gasped out, despite his assurances and solaces.  "Renegade they're gone, it's over!"  She cried out, raw emotion coloring her words and tone.  She was not angry with him, but she didn't know where to direct her anger.  It just built up within her like an ember slowly fanning itself into an inferno.  

But still he spoke.  She leaned into his embrace heavily.  She took in his strength even as he shared in her grief.  She locked onto his words.  Her city needed her to be strong.  She knew they were scared.  Heck she hadn't had time until now, but she had been scared.  Fear often made people do strange things, and yet sometimes it was a part of that refining fire, burning away the impurities and revealing the true gold inside.  But fear, as much as it can fuel you, had to be vanquished in the end.  It was not a friend, even if it could be helpful in it's own way.  But now, she had no room for fear.  His words clicked something in Hope's brain.  Roman was gone...  In her mind, LA was gone...  But the city, and the broken people, and the young bloods to this way of life...  They would need someone to lead them.  And yet she tried to pull herself together as she pressed against the young man beside her.  Slowly her sobs ebbed and became less violent until she barely sniffled.  Her whole form trembled here and there, but she nodded slowly against him.  She didn't press quite as hard at this point, now merely leaning against him as she drew deep breaths seeking to bring herself back down and center herself.  As he spoke of the pride that their families would have had in her, she would chuckle softly, nodding slowly.  "They always knew I'd never stop once I got going...  One of my many character flaws..."  She chuckled softly, showing her soft joking nature.  But she turned her gaze to fixate on Renegade's.  She drank in his strength, took in his belief.  One once said that the eyes were the windows to one's soul, and Renegade seemed to truly believe what he was telling her.  She sensed no deceit.  Could she really be one to rally LA?  To bring those that were left together and lead them into a brighter and better tomorrow?  "Renegade...  I don't know the way..."  She whispered softly, admitting it to him.  The girl was untried.  Sure, she had led alongside a few people, a few wonderful people, but she had never taken the reigns as she was offered them today.  And yet Renegade seemed to have an answer for that too.  She was not alone...  Not alone in the least.  Renegade was here...  She knew he'd help her gather the pieces.  She hadn't known him long, but war had brought  the two of them together more firmly than time of peace ever could.

His words brought a soft tilt to her head as she thought on this.  "Rise from the ashes...  Like a Phoenix..." She mused softly, shaking her head a little.  It was so crazy but it just might work.  Could Hope rally together those that had survived this war and those that had entered the world during the horror?  Those that opted to remain in LA would find shelter and a home if Hope had anything to say with it.  "Together we will rise from the ashes and take to the skies... LA will rise again and we will lead it." Her gaze moved to Renegade, that fire once again lit in it's depths.  Her brow quirked softly in inquiry.  She hadn't exactly asked a question, but the question lingered and hovered between them, almost tangible.

Renegade found that fire in her eyes once more and couldn't help the small smile.  Not missing a beat, a brief nod was given, his eyes never leaving hers.  It was clear that he would stand by her for the long haul and together they would build a new beginning and a new LA.