Keep the engine running.
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."