"Comforting Sounds" Chapter 1: "Hand in Hand in Hand" (1/17)

Title: "Comforting Sounds" Chapter 1: "Hand in Hand in Hand" (1/17)
Fandom: The Last of Us
Characters: Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Maria, OCs
Pairings: Ellie/OC
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not The Last of Us nor any brand name references used
Word Count for this chapter: 3967
Rating: R
Summary: Ellie may be mature for her age, but she still has the brain of a teenager, and doesn't always make the wisest of choices; after living in the relatively safe town of Jackson for over a year, she is cruelly reminded of how precarious life is.
Author's Notes: Title comes from one of my all-time favorite songs of the same name, by the band Mew. The Comforting Sounds icon was made by the lovely owlofnevermore as a FFN cover, and doesn't show up quite so well on LJ :\ She took the famous window from the beginning of the game and made it look supercool by recoloring it to be nighttime, with a full moon.

***WARNINGS*** Violence, Murder, Rape, Disturbing Imagery, Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, Angst. Plus two more that are too spoilery to list here, but I will divide the chapters in such a way that the chapter-specific warning won't be a spoiler by that point (I don't think any reader who makes it through to the last one will be fazed by THAT warning, but better to be safe than sorry, right? And hopefully I will remember to allude to my reasoning on that when the time comes).

Please keep in mind that I am only going to give chapter-specific warnings for the two instances above, and for the most extreme chapters. The fic starts off fairly fluffy but don't be lulled by that, it does get bad O.o

The Jackson County depicted here is not as well-fortified as the one in my fic "Accretion" -- and this story is not connected to that one in any way. The relationship between Joel and Ellie is central to the story, but strictly as father & daughter. Jumping them ahead a year post-canon presented some challenges in characterization; my hope is that the initial changes are subtle enough that no one feels OOC, but distinct enough that it's not like no time at all has passed.

I expect to update approximately every 2 weeks, give or take a few days. I've already done a lot of work on this story and am absolutely committed to finishing it. I'm just not one of those people who can post new content every few days :)

Crossposted to AO3 and FFN.

Thank you for reading!

~I don't feel alright
In spite of these comforting sounds you make
I don't feel alright
Because you make promises that you break~
--"Comforting Sounds" by Mew

( Summertime... and the livin' is easy, I think they say... )

~Continue to Chapter 2~