Spirit of the Woods

Another threat

Another threat

Lungmen Underground

Firewatch slowly opened her eyes as she felt the cold ground underneath her. Above her was the familiar and monotone cement ceiling of the underground. Seeing it, she realized what had happened. The fight against Frostnova came back in full force as panic filled her system. What happened to Frostnova? Is she alive? Where's Jacob?

She tried to raise her head, but a pair of hands held her shoulders down. "Stay down for a bit, Firewatch." It was Amiya. "You've only been out for a couple of minutes, but it's not safe for your body to move right now. We would have brought Gavial to help you, but..." She pointed to the only entrance to the room. When Firewatch shifted her head to look, she saw Blaze and Greythroat bickering as they tried to saw opened the chunk of ice covering it.

Even with Amiya's warning, the elafian slowly sat herself up against the protest of her own body. "What happened?"

The cautus sighed at her persistence, "The fight ended right after you collapsed. Frostnova took the entire attack and..."

"Died, I'm guessing," Firewatch said, already knowing the answer. She guessed what had happened right after she woke up, seeing that they were all still alive. Firewatch already accepted that one of them would die, but the reality was different. Even though her tone didn't show it, Yelena's death was pulling at her inside. She just killed an old friend. "Please let me see her, Amiya. I need to. I promised her something."

Seeing that the woman wouldn't listen to her, Amiya helped her up and threw her arm over her shoulder. They shuffled across the room before coming across Jacob, who stood in front of a still body. Jacob turned, hearing them coming, and looked at Firewatch. "You should sit down, Sofia."

"I'm fine. Just let me see her." Jacob looked indecisive before stepping out of the way. Frostnova's body lay in plain view in front of her. Firewatch, unwrapping her arm from Amiya, knelt down beside her friend. The ice that once cover her body was gone and the fierce glare she once held was now replaced by a serene expression. Amiya was about to say something before Jacob put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's give her time to mourn. She deserves it."

As Jacob quickly led Amiya away, Firewatch sat silently next to her friend. All the years of friendship they held, all memories they had crumbled, somehow led to this. One of them lay dead as the other stood victorious. "Was this what you wanted, Yelena?" she muttered angrily. "To have me kill you? And for what? Just so you can die standing on your mountain of ideals?" Her hand formed into a fist and was about to slam into the concrete ground before it slowly unfurled. Firewatch sighed in defeat, "That's exactly why you did it."

She couldn't help a laugh at herself. "I've always said that people fought because of their different ideals, how their interests clashed. I just never really took it in myself, though." Firewatch took her hand and touched the hairpin that adorned the top of Frostnova's hair. Taking it off, she placed it in her pocket. "Nevertheless, at least I got to see you one last time. Goodbye, Yelena. I'll bring this to Buldrokkas'tee for you."

Firewatch shakily stood up and walked towards a waiting Jacob and Amiya. "What do you want to do?" Was the first thing Jacob said to her.

"Huh?"

"About... Frostnova."

She looked back. "I don't want to leave her here like trash. I want to bury her with some dignity."

"That's something we can do," Jacob answered. "she didn't die immediately after you collapsed. We had a little chat and came to understanding. She died a member of Rhodes Island. And because someone just came back from the dead, there's an open coffin on the..."