Act 2 - Survive

Before dawn's light, sorrow's quest unfurls

Tonight, beneath a moonlit sky, I tread on lotus blossoms to find you

Past your footsteps

Slip away from death

"fuck.." You groan, the world coming back to you slowly and painfully. You are certainly on the ground, a sharp pulsating pain in your leg. You look down, an ice spike has penetrated your leg completely. Decorated red in your own blood, could be worse. Your skull, your neck or maybe even your heart.

The second thought was how fucking awful it smells down here. All the dead, open wounds certainly wasn't one for the candle lovers. Though there's no time to waste on complaining about this. You try to move your leg, not a chance you can get it above the ice as is.

You look around, some of them didn't die. They are getting closer, sensing your suffering. Quickly you punch the blood stained ice. Fracturing it into a million pieces, lifting your leg out of the rubble. Forcing yourself upwards, perilously trying to get away. Your leg gives out immediately, buckling you onto the floor.

White heat fills your body, you feel so warm– bordering on burning. That can not be good, you need to get up go. The beasts were closing in, you get back up and limp. You can see your bow, it's laying on the ground.

I'm not dying yet.

I'm coming home, Yena and Olive.

Mark my words.

"God fucking damn." You swipe it, your quiver is still fastened to your back– just missing some arrows. They are getting closer, all of them variously injured. You can't take them all, not enough shots. Not enough time. You start to limp away best you can, trying not to slip and trip eye-first into another piercing spike.

It was going to be a fight tooth & nail, the clear skies had returned and the only way up was through the cave. The cave you went through, who knows what horrors lies in there still. But safer to confront oblivion than to accept your demise.

They had to have made it home, you have no clue how long you've been knocked out. But they just had to. You get inside the cave, it's so dark. Now you don't have a flashlight, or something to use close and personal. Limping your way through the darkness.

You can't see, but you can hear. Hear all of the gargles and reverberating sounds, they are barbaric things. No intelligence or desire. Just to eat. They don't seem to be able to see you either, weaving around them off the sound cues they emit. You trip again, hitting your head on the cold hard rock. Feeling one of those freaks walking over you. Your body tenses, breath stills. It's not smart enough to realise it's stepping on a person.

Nor does it know what a person is.

When it's gross limbs get off your back you get up. Doing your best to not throw yourself into death's grim embrace. Going upwards through the cave, you hope they are alright. Sure you three have known each other for less than one smog massacre cycle but–

They are all you have now.

The light at the end of the tunnel is coming, dimly glowing, the moon is greeting you again. So is the bridge. Completely fixed like nothing happened? You've been out for longer than you've wished. Hopefully they don't think you died.

At least you get to cross this time.

You look at every direction, a few stragglers but not the swarm earlier. Limping slowly with your weapon drawn, one catches your eye. Running much faster than you can.

It doesn't get far.

Your arrow knocks it into the abyss, there goes another one– hopefully Yena knows how to make more. You get across the bridge, but fuck the journey is so far. Limping doesn't help, the pain is flaring misery through your system.

The realisation sets in as you walk further and further, you aren't going to make it back. Your eyes are getting heavy, the weight of the agony you are in gets harder to ignore. But you keep going.

And going.

Shoot, draw, shoot, walk, keep going as everything in your body desperately tries to prevent you from going further.

It's winning, it will win. But you will cross as close as you can, so you can say you weren't a failure, so you can say that you never gave up. So when hypothermia inevitably kills you off here and your body turns to rot, when you meet up with those you lost on earth.

You can say you tried.

That's all you want to do, to know that everything was your best effort. That you couldn't have done better.

But you can still do better, its not time to give up.

Pick yourself back up.

Don't stop the walking, for them, for you, for everyone lost.

The light is getting brighter, the trees are disappearing, your vision droops.

Is this all for nothing?

Or is the act of trying something?

You plant face first into the snow.

G-ge…….up

Nev…mi…. i…. carry…

Eug… you… heavy.

You're being carried, theres only one person it could be, so you don’t even open your eyes.

"Morning…" You groan, it's still cold but your body is slick with sweat. How long have you been out? How are you alive? "fuck."

"Oh finally you are awake– don't move I'll drop you." Yena reassures. "We're nearly home."

"You came back looking for me?"

"Duh, you threw yourself into a spiky ice death trap and we were supposed to just leave you there? How'd you even get out?"

Part of you wants to say luck, but that's not very fair to yourself. It was pretty fucking skillful.

"Pure skill, just walked out and passed out over here."

"Wow you can't tell a story to save your life huh? Olive's not going to be happy about that." Yena shrugs, well to be fair, writing it down mentally was not the thing you played to do in the heat of the moment. Something to note for next time you are at death's door.

"I'll do my best."

"That's all they can wish for, glad you're alive by the way."

"I would have been pissed if i did all this for naught."

"You haven't, yet anyway. We're here." Yena unceremoniously drops you onto the floor. Three, two, on–

"Yay! You lived!" There they are. Running over, managing to kick you in the only place of your body pierced. Impressive, even. But that's just Olive.

"F-fuck, ow,ow."

"Sorry!"

"It's okay kid, eugh."

A quick scramble and you sit up, just next to the bed. "You two made it back okay I take it."

"We did! Got all the stuff back and everything." Olive's so proud, jumping all around like a cracked up fiend. "All the shiny rocks are in that little box."

"They're proud by the way, you saved their life." Yena pulls out the rock you threw yourselves into the pit of frozen damnation for. "It's, close enough? If we put it in the core it should burn like fuel, we have enough hopefully to get out of here, but the ship can't fly like this. It's still injured."

"What's left?" You groan, the pain is a lot more noticeable now you aren't moving– without the temperature hiding it. "We need to get off this planet before it kills us."

"That window, the floor, the engine itself. Though this rock might do that as well– few other things. In no time we shall be flying again." You don't necessarily believe her, but someone has to be hopeful. To stare towards the sky and see a future.

You'll trust her, she's saved your life, the least you can do is give her your full support. As time comes.

It's another day now, you've not got much closer to repairing stuff. But there's a gnawing realisation at the back of your head.

You nearly died.

That's harrowing to come to grips with, the fact that any other landing would have ended your life before you had a chance to colour new memories.

But with that, another observation.

The team is only as strong as its weakest link, which leaves Olive.

"Olive, this isn't going to be pleasant." You start, holding your bow. "But this is required, there's going to be a day where I get jumped, or worse. I don't make it out alive, you need to be able to defend yourself."

"O-okay?"

A strangler had found its way to your ship, lucky because now you have a target for Olive to practice on. Sat against the tree. "Yena's better with her axe, I'll let her teach that."

"Is this going to be scary?" This hurts a bit, Olive's so young– being robbed of a normal childhood. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, it never was.

Neither you, Yena nor Olive should be here. Those who were entrusted with the world should have shielded it. But you have to make the best of a shitty situation, even if that means teaching an eight year old to kill.

"Unfortunately, it's vital though. Nature isn't going to have mercy because you're a child."

"Okay, I'll pay close attention!"

"Good, watch and learn. Then it's your turn."

You draw, this bow is giga-modified, it should be able to work for Olive without much issues. Straight into position. "Put your legs shoulder apart, face sideways to your target."

"Then, nock the arrow. Put it towards the middle of the string, but do not under any circumstance rest the arrow on your hand. Look down the shaft and make sure its pointing at the target. Got it?"

"Got it!"

You let go.

The arrow hits the target, straight in the skull. "Here."

To your elation, the weight of said bow doesn't instantly cripple the kid. They lift it easily, putting it into their arms, you hand them an arrow carefully. Sidestepping on the off chance that they miss, you're already limping from one wound. No need for it to be two.

"Like this?" Olive mimics your earlier position, slightly shaky. But the core components are there, you nod and they breathe. Nocking their own arrow. "Like that?"

"Indeed, good job."

They fire, the shot is nowhere near. Hitting the nearby tree. "Oh…" The disappointment is evident.

"Relax, nobody hits it first time. We've got all day to practice, go grab the arrows and we'll try again."

Another day, rotation through routine.

Chomping on rations, talking about life. There's not much to do, at least the smog areas still had public parks. Anti-homeless architecture you could use as climbing equipment, buildings to explore and passages that'd take you different places.

You couldn't breath or see colour. Now you've traded one monotony for another, at least this one isn't actively sapping away your life in the process. It's just, silent. Olive's picked up a skill you never thought you'd skill, actively decorating everything you owned. Yena showed them how to transmute crayons into something much stronger.

Your family heirloom is still intact for now, the walls, Yena's axe and a few other things though? 'decorated' (ruined.) There's some beauty in it, the very colour you've complained about not seeing is being forged. Made by the purest mind you've known. You will protect them as if they are your sibling and your bond shall never break.

"Yena, got any other songs?" You break the silence, something new would do you great.

"Nothing happy."

"Anything will do." With that Yena nodded, setting it up again.

To break and drink my mind away

My feelings laid in this lake, like mirrors on the face

As we meet each other's gaze.

"Was this about someone?" The question floats in the air, Olive seems indifferent to what they are listening to, the tune's catchy and that's all they care about. Yena's hand tightens in her lap, whatever memories rush back don't seem good.

Don’t tell me, you always knew

That it’s all really helpless, but still I’d choose to lose.

"Yes." Yena speaks sharply, it's words that reflect much more darkness than regret. "First love, to say it was nice would be to rip my own flesh apart."

Christ.

It may be time that moves, just filled anew with questions and their answers too

I’ll have no time to make excuses soon, so I’ll go alone,

setting off in the nude.

"Ever had another love after this one? One that was slightly happier?"

"No. Not one I've acted upon, I could never let this happen to me again." This level of silent rage, you've never seen it build up like this. She's volatile.

The music keeps playing.

"I need to repair the last window. Excuse me."

Shit.

Time passes, it's hard to quantify without a clock or a calendar. No point making such a thing of your own (if you were even smart enough, Yena might've been able to do it though) if you were leaving soon.

Speaking of.

"Last resource, it's optional in the sense we can fly. But without it there's a fifty fifty we immediately turn into fire and die. This at least makes it a eighty twenty." Yena was holding it, how the hell did she get some already? She's been sneaking off into the night more often recently. Grabbing stuff she didn't want to burden you two with.

"Okay, that's pretty good, I like not dying."

"I assumed so, anyways. I'll slot it in, and we can get out of this hellhole. Right? Hopefully." She hits some magic you can't understand, she's just way smarter than you'll ever be. It's hard to understand how she stays so consistent. "If we have enough, we can take it to the skies."

"Do we have enough?"

"Of course, I can count. Olive go sit inside the ship, we need to talk. Wait for us." Olive listens and heads inside. Closing the door behind them.

"Hi." She starts, "Look. I, hm, hold on let me re-think." Yena turns around, lets the burning air fill with suspense and tension. "I've, not…"

"Take your time, let it out." Your hand sits on her shoulder, she relaxes.

"It's been a bit now– I've kept leaving, kept finding stuff. I just don't want to say it, the awkwardness for the rest of however long this will take would kill me. But here we go." She now turns to face you, there's uncertainty in her eyes. She doesn't look comfortable.

You say nothing.

She says nothing, for a short while.

"I like you, okay. More than I should for a friend, it's too many things to say it all, but. Yeah, that's it." She's scratching her arm, leaving red marks in the absence of your answer.

You've thought about it a few times, underneath this planets moon, when they are both asleep and the thoughts can be reflected upon. Not that you'd push it further, rock a boat and risk drowning. But if she's the one to push it forward, you can't avoid confronting it. This is here and now.

And the only thing you can do is hug her, wrapping her body in yours. She's shocked but hugs back instantly, her breathing escalating one more time but this time it sounds like it's going to settle. That she's happy.

That's the best thing that's happened so far.

Genuine joy.

"Me too, but I'm glad you said it first. I didn't want to risk it."

"Well I'm just more confident, we should probably go inside. But before we go…" Yena tugs you by the shirt, kisses you deeply. You go along with the flow, let her take charge.

"Okay, inside, before Olive gets suspicious we're doing something fun like playing with toys."

To the cosmos, forbid this limbo and see beyond hell and colder hell.

It's time to track down your crew, hopefully you'll find a real home in the process. With Yena and you together, with Olive safe and sound.