Kel,
You were right. Unfortunately.
Seems the kid the Inquisitors have been following Snapped. I don't know when, I don't know how, but they're pretty sure she's a Tin Eye.
They're all after her.
You'll have to get to her first, if this is a prize worth claiming. It better be, the way you made me risk my neck watching her. You'll find their gang's last known hide out easily; the outline's on the other side.
Memorize and burn.
-M
—
"Powder, get up. Now!" The voice hisses in her ear, low, insistent. Groaning, the girl tries to turn over, to cover her eyes and ears, keep the riot of sensation out for just a few minutes longer. But she can't, her body held by shaking hands. Eyes opening slowly, short, pink hair swims into view. Vi looks afraid, which jolts Powder to life in an instant.
Vi, afraid? Problem. Big problem.
Scrambling out of her sister's grasp, Powder grabs her pack from the corner, pulling a shirt out and swiftly stuffing blankets in. The hideout is a sudden blur of motion, boys ranging from ages of six to seventeen grabbing whatever food and weapons they can carry while destroying the rest. It's time to get the hell out. Again.
"How'd we get caught this time?" Powder grumbles under her breath as she joins the sweep, catching a nasty glare from Mylo, who tells her to shut it and move faster. She rolls her eyes, but does as he says. It's not worth getting the shit kicked out of her. Again.
The whole process takes less than five minutes, and they're out. Vi's at the front, keeping watch and keeping count. Her eyes land on Powder, the last to leave, somehow always the last, and her face contorts for a moment into an expression of pure rage. Not the usual frustration or exasperation, but true rage, and it scares the shit out of Powder. She's seen what her sister can do. She bolts out the window, avoiding Vi entirely, scrambling down the wall into the ashen streets below.
Powder isn't nearly as fast as strong as her sister, but she secretly doubts anyone is. Vi's physical prowess almost feels superhuman at times, and Powder can't help but envy that as she carefully climbs down the crumbling brick wall. If she's gifted, or whatever, it's in her senses, and the things her keen ears and eyes pick up on her way to the ground make her stomach turn. The door to their hideout kicked down, loud and angry men breaking, smashing, anything they come in contact with.
Halfway down the wall, Powder hazards a look up - her eyes meeting two horrifying, steel spikes, driven straight through the places where a man's eyes should be. 'The stories are true.' Her heart catches in her throat, and before she can scream she's falling, crashing into the ash-coated cobblestones with a painful thud.
Before the ash can settle, Powder runs.
There's no point in keeping track, only going forward, taking turns at intervals so random she almost surprises herself. If Vi's pounded anything into her head, it's not to get caught. She can practically hear her sister in the back of her mind, screaming at her to run faster, faster, faster. She doesn't stop until she crashes right into a wall.
"Quit blocking with your face," she can almost hear Claggor saying it. Shaking, taking deep, rattling breaths, Powder steps back from the wall. Everything hurts, her head spinning from the impact. It takes her a moment to realize everything around her is completely silent.
No babies crying in the skaa tenements. No feral dogs barking. No gangs shuffling, hawkers crying out, no carriages driven by upper class skaa who bit at the chance to lick the boots of greatness and oppress their own kind, laughing and whipping orphans they zoom past on the street.
Footsteps out of the darkness. Powder hears them long before they come into view.
"Small. Presumably female. Malnourished." the voice sounds like it's reading off a list, each word louder and clearer as the footsteps approach. Powder turns slowly from the wall, her eyes glued to the entry to the alleyway she's trapped herself in.
Steel nails through both eyes. The Inquisitor is larger than life, and he's coming her way.
"Powder!"
A hand snakes out from around the corner, wraps around her arm, and pulls. Powder stumbles around the wall, face to face with Vi. "Run," Vi mouths, taking Powder's hand and turning.
'Don't have to tell me twice,' Powder thinks, running full tilt after her older sister.
