Oh SKIES I'm so sorry I'm so late! Also wait, I'm confused - did Goldenfeather join the Resistance or Catastrophe?

~Silverwhisker

"Wait - you worked for Catastrophe? Why would you - never mind. Not the time. So you think they'll be fine with it if you just walk in? Or are you going to hide your mark?" It's hard to hide my skepticism. "This might be our only chance to rescue Golden. We can't mess it up."

Kit~~

The first thing I remember is blue. Bright, beautiful, glorious blue, the only thing for miles. I don't remember the pain. Maybe I was in shock. I don't know. I never asked.

I remember a breeze passing over my face. I remember wondering where I was but not really caring. It felt surreal. And peaceful. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that feeling. To that eternal blue.

And then I saw a cloud and I realized it was sky and that I was on the ground. I heard voices. They were saying a word I didn't recognize. I now know they were saying "Kimiko". 

And then his face loomed over mine, and that wonderful, delightful peacefulness was all gone. Forever.

Slowly, my eyes opened, and scanned over the room. The chandelier was still glowing, but now there was light peeking in through the boards over the windows. I wondered, faintly, what time it was, but I wasn't capable of thinking much more. The pain in my side was unbearable. 

I tried to sit up a little, but gasped as the pain flooded through every atom of my body. For a second, I swore I could even feel the pain in my right arm. It was like the pain had hijacked my brain.

"Maybe don't try to move." Angel sounded quite concerned. 

"No kidding," I muttered. I think Angel laughed. Still sounded nervous, though. 

Slowly, I tried to sit up again. Just enough to see the injury. The pain was excruciating, but when I stopped moving it became almost bearable. It had been stitched up, and there was a makeshift cast around my ankle. My first aid skills paled in comparison to Angel's, which made sense.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked. 

"A whole day. It's two days after we escaped the hospital. Morning, I think," He replied. 

Right. The hospital. "Did the others escape?"

Angel shrugged. "I hope so." I noticed there were stitches on Angel's forehead, too. Clearly, my idea with the exploding barrels was not nearly as clever as I had thought.

"What's the state of the battle?"

"Resistance is all gone. Catastrophe's got the city." His voice cracked when he spoke. I wondered how many of his fellow soldiers he'd watched die while hiding in here. 

"Oh." 

"It's fine. We've still got Mer." Angel didn't sound very confident in that. I wished I knew what to say.

After a few more uncomfortable beats of silence, I decided I couldn't stay sitting. I needed to do something, at the very least. I began to slowly lower my legs onto the floor, and gingerly lift myself off the table I'd been laid on. Pain flooded through my body and I grimaced, already regretting the decision but refusing to stop.

"Wait, wait--" Angel gave up with his protests and instead grabbed my shoulder to steady me. I think he realized there was no way he was going to get me to lay down. 

My vision blurred for a moment but cleared as I took deep breaths. "This...works," I finally said.

Angel didn't seem to agree, by the expression on his face, but he didn't say anything.

"We should leave. If there's nobody outside," I began. 

"Actually, we should probably lay low for--"

"Yes, we should leave," I said again, with more conviction in my voice. "Before they find us here." 

Mostly, I figured this would give me an opportunity to abandon Angel. He'd been kind so far, and I appreciated him, which is exactly why I needed to leave. I was starting to become a burden to him, and besides, I had a habit of getting people who cared about me hurt.

I moved towards one of the boarded windows, pushing Angel away. I pressed my face against the boards, staring through the little slit. 

The streets were silent, and empty, almost eerily so. But, it meant we could escape. As long as we were careful, I was certain we would be able to get out. After all, we were just two people. It's much easier for two people to stay hidden than it is for twenty people.

Well, assuming my injury didn't hold us up.

"So, how are our chances?" Angel asked. I told him how empty the streets seemed to be. I was ready to plead with him to escape, but he just nodded.

"Okay," He said. "I trust you."

You probably shouldn't, I thought, but I stayed silent. I slowly opened the restaurant door. It creaked, and I winced.

But no soldiers came.

We stepped out onto the streets. Began to walk down the road. 

No soldiers came.

We heard the sounds of voices on the street and ducked behind a barrel of gunpowder, and were reminded of my awful plan that landed us in this situation.

But no soldiers came anywhere near us.

Then, gunshots. We sprinted into an empty clothing store and hid amongst the racks of dresses. There were shouts, and yelling, then silence.

No soldiers.

"Something strange is going on," Angel decided. 

I nodded in agreement, then we silently crept towards the glass window at the front of the store. There was a single figure standing in the street, but they were no soldier of Catastrophe.

Whoever they were, they wore a dark cloak, hood covering their face. A bag sewn from vines was on their back. They had four, muscular, medium-toned arms. I noticed a bright blue band around their ankle.

Angel, much more confident than I, opened the door to the shop. "Who in Lunee's name are you?" 

The person looked towards him and lowered both their sword and hood. They had orange tentacles, and gills on their neck.

A Homo Aquarius.

Of course.

~~~

I'll be moving this plotline to the "My feet slammed…" thread.