Taranee had left her station the very second that she'd heard the cry of her name. And if Hay Lin had sounded terrified, the girl looked like she might cry, when the African-American had found her. Giant, buggy creatures, with hard shells didn't even seem to flinch by the wind that Hay Lin desperately blew at them. It must have been a trap - once every cell was opened, these monsters were released. "Hay Lin, the people!"
But Hay Lin was lost to the world; trapped in her action, she continued to desperately direct the winds, and Taranee wondered if the icy tone to it was a reflection of her fear. And Taranee knew that Will wasn't going to help them, and Caleb was taking charge but he couldn't help anyway, so the fire guardian stepped forward, and called upon her element.
Fire. Flames licked off of their solid backs, and didn't leave even a sooty trail in it's path, because these beasts seemed to be invincible. The inviolable bugs only slowed at her flame, and Taranee took the second to pull Hay Lin away; the girl waking from her trance. "Hay Lin, we need to get these people-"
"Taranee! They wont- I can't-" Hay Lin was verging on hysterics, and Taranee wouldn't be a fool to know that Caleb had coddled her. He'd been keeping Will and Hay Lin wrapped up in cosy blankets, and if he'd cared any, he wouldn't have left them to break like this. "They aren't even scared! They wont-"
"HAY LIN!" There were more down here. More people that were willing to leave, and still held that breath of hope. But one of them had been burned, and she hadn't even seen them, and the rest were looking at the poor woman who didn't even seem to react to the pain. They didn't even care that she was hurt. At least upstairs they had seemed to hold each other up; to recognise one another as human beings. These people had to have been the first put in; or maybe the last depending on whether Phobos had dug up or down, but either way they were the worst. Because their morality appeared to have been numbed, and Taranee felt her heart beating faster. They had to get up the stairs. Fast. "MOVE!"
But they only stared. Like they didn't care that they were going to die. They didn't care about life. They didn't want life.
"I SAID MOVE!"
...
"C'mon, Will! We gotta go!" Will found herself interrupted from the beating that she was sure were footsteps. She was forced to stare at Irma with dull eyes, and she didn't even bother; to try to tell her. There was no point. Her bones would turn to dust if she stood on them; slowly disintegrating into a chalky mass with every step she took. A dismal moan she felt, she was sure, was coming from her stomach; an itch, but not a real hunger. Hadn't she eaten before they left? She wouldn't eat again, either way. She'd never eat again, and she'd never open her mouth if she could help it, because even breathing through her nose, was sending a stinging pain over the crumbling inner walls of her throat. Dry; like a desert. She couldn't feel her hands, either, and she'd felt them slowly numbing as she grasped around her knees. It didn't matter though; she'd never freeze. She'd only be cold forever. "Will! We need to find Hay Lin! Taranee!"
Cornelia, at least, had stopped bothering her when the blonde had become anxious to leave, and Will was sure the blonde had already gone in search of her girls. But they might as well just die. Will's legs, were numbing over; just slightly, as if her body was attempting to reject this pain; thisfeeling as though her joints had been brazed and fastened in their place. An ache in her lungs appeared to have been deflated: it wasn't that there wasn't room for more air, but she couldn't seem to swallow -she didn't want to swallow- more than a shallow breath, that probably drank in more dust than oxygen. And it hurt.
"Kopéla sas den prókeitai na perpatísei páli."
Things shifted; people moved, and a faster pace. It was Caleb then, who's earnest expression wobbled a little in front of her; looking at her rather than to.. But he hadn't said the words, because those words had been strained; nearly blown away by the wind as a desperate wheeze. And Will found herself mimicking the sound, though somehow she sounded much more vocal, in a whimper as she pressed her shaking bones, seeking him.
She didn't want to complain, despite the breaking of her body as he hooked his arms around her back; under her resistant knees. And she begged for her body to comply to his wishes, as it did. She didn't want him to let gom and she wanted to get rid of the bile and feeling of selfishness, that he was carrying her. She knew, too, that people would be staring in jealousy, because it was how she'd felt, when he'd carried past her a man who's legs were ashes inside. Because she wanted to be there; here, where she was now. He was warm. And he smelt like dirt and something that could only be described as Caleb; he smelt safe, and comforting, and no matter how close he was to her, Will clawed with fumbling limbs; to push herself closer. "What's wrong with her? Why wont she move?"
"Sygnómi. Eímai tóso polý sygnómi." Sorry. She didn't know how she knew, but salt water felt hot and sticky as it burned out her eyes, and reminded her of how cold her cheeks were. I'm so very sorry. She understood, somehow, exactly what he was saying, and maybe it was because she was one of them now. And they were criminals, too; sentenced for crimes that they might've been killed for by the queen, and Will didn't like it, as thoughts blurred through her head and Caleb's warm breath was no longer as comforting; now that he'd pressed his lips on her head again, and she could feel the heat of his strong breathing over her hair and scalp, and only wanted to be able to breathe like that: just one breath. She swore. It would last her forever. But she hated it, because he was breathing for her; apologising to her her own faults. She had done this. And now she was going to die.
Kopéla sas den prókeitai na perpatísei páli. - Your girl isn't going to walk again.
Sygnómi. Eímai tóso polý sygnómi. - Sorry. I'm so sorry.
Ah yes, well Will is empathic with animals in the comics, and I always thought that it really ought to stretch to humans; at least whilst her powers are a little off.. Thanks TTigerz though, for possibly spoiling it for anyone who reads the reveiws :L :L
