Among Us Shorts

Martyred (OaC)

Map: Polus
Sad ending. You have been warned.
No, this ending isn't canon. I'm evil, but not that evil.

K'dela walked through the hallway leading towards Electrical and Security, with Ku'i perched on her shoulders. If K'dela had a choice, Ku'i would stay there forever, in a place where K'dela could protect her.

Unfortunately, K'dela had to admit that at some point, Ku'i would be in a place where K'dela wouldn't be able to protect her. As she grew up, K'dela would have to acknowledge the fact that Ku'i would become her own person, move out, and get her own job. While that prospect gave K'dela a sense of peace, it also was incredibly nerve-wracking.

What if she couldn't navigate the human world? What if other people shunned her for who her mother was? What if, what if, what if. Those were the things that K'dela worried about on a daily basis instead of 'what am I going to be able to do that won't get me killed?'

Ku'i started to shift on her shoulders and K'dela had to readjust to her. "Almost there, little one."

"Okie!" Ku'i chirruped. She was so good at being on missions like this. "This is the last task, right?"

"Yep. If Tal'nera-vodhor is in Security, you can watch the cameras with him, okay?"

Ku'i cheered and K'dela had to smile. Tal'nera just couldn't say no to his niece, which was something that Umbitr teased him about on a regular basis. Like he could say no, either. It was something short of a miracle that Ku'i was even conceived, much less born without some sort of horrible difficulty.

If they could, K'dela knew that Umbitr and Tal'nera were considering adopting a child of their own. However, that idea gave MIRA some skepticism, and the higher-ups were still debating it. Sky said that he was pretty certain that they would agree, since the war had left an unspeakable number of orphans in its wake.

"The kids need parents," he had said. "I'll have to talk to K'dela, but maybe our second kid will be adopted."

"If MIRA agrees with it," K'dela had replied, sighing. "Maker's breath, the amount of debating they do before coming to an agreement, all for a few Impostors who are now living among them."

"The amount of experimenting," Umbitr had grumbled. "I can't even count how many times  they've drawn blood from me, only to find that it's the exact same as regular human blood."

"You know they're paranoid," Tal'nera had said softly. "I mean, we're talking people who debated on whether or not to even let you two be together after you married."

It's a good thing that never went through, K'dela thought wryly, shaking herself out of that memory and stopping outside Security. Like she had thought, Tal'nera was in there, watching the cameras.

"Tal'nera," K'dela called. He swiveled around and looked at the two of them, a smile starting to grow on his face.

"Hi, Tal'nera-vodhor!" Ku'i said. K'dela gently lifted her off and set her down, and Ku'i ran towards her uncle. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Watching the cameras, silly. What else would I be doing in Security? Here, you can scroll through them and watch." Behind the helmet, Tal'nera gave K'dela a wink and she had to suppress a laugh.

The sounds of Ku'i gleefully scrolling through the camera feeds echoed throughout the building as K'dela went to quickly fix the wires, finishing right as Ku'i shouted, "Hey! There's Papa!"

"Oh. You're right!" Tal'nera said. K'dela walked back in and watched as Sky walked in the area between Communications and Office, stopping in front of the Comms dish to examine it and make sure it was working properly.

Almost as if he could sense them, he stopped and waved to the camera. Delighted, Ku'i waved back, even though Sky couldn't see her.

Well, she was six...

While they were focused on Sky, they failed to notice the figure that was lurking in the corner of the screen. In a flash, it lunged at Sky, slicing a knife across his back.

Sky fell forward, trying desperately to crawl away from his green-suited assailant. Blood was starting to stain the back of his suit a dark red. Tal'nera had shut off the cameras and put Ku'i down, but not before K'dela had run out, her arms and legs pumping to get her to Sky as fast as she could.

When he came into view, K'dela registered that Umbitr was already there, grappling with Green for control of the knife. He nodded to K'dela to show that he had it and she knelt next to Sky, putting her hands over the wound to try and staunch the blood.

Honestly, though, it wouldn't be blood loss that killed him. It would be exposure to the radiation on Polus that did him in.

"K... K'dela..." Sky said weakly. "Are... are you... okay? Wh-where's Ku'i?"

"With Tal'nera," K'dela whispered. "Don't move. We'll get you to MedBay-"

Sky let out something that sounded like a half-laugh, half-sob. "Won't... won't make it. You know... I never thought... breathing... would be... this... hard..."

Oh chakk. K'dela checked Sky's backpack and noticed that the O2 canister in there was punctured and empty. Right now the stuff that he was breathing didn't consist of enough oxygen. He was suffocating, suffering from radiation, and bleeding out.

It probably wouldn't be enough, but K'dela started to drag Sky into Communications, just to get him out of the radiation. It didn't stop the bleeding, nor did it let him breathe properly. In an act of desperation, K'dela unhooked her own O2 canister and attached it to Sky's, just to try and get some oxygen into his system.

He was fading, though. Even through all of her efforts, the wound was still bleeding, and the radiation was still taking its toll.

"K'dela..." he rasped. "Don't... not gonna-"

"You know I'm not going to stop. I refuse to. Don't give up."

At the exact wrong moment, Ku'i walked in and in a confused voice, asked, "What's wrong with Papa?"

That was enough to make K'dela want to cry. Her innocence. "Papa... there's nothing wrong. Go outside-"

"No... Ku'i..." Sky gestured weakly and struggled for his words before forcing them out. "Papa... Papa loves you... never forget... I'm watching over you... both of y-"

Sky's body gave out and K'dela could almost hear the shrill sound of a medical flatline. "No! No! Sky! Maker damn it!" K'dela started to curse, not caring that Ku'i was there to hear it. "Don't you die on me, you son of a ra'zac! The hell that I'll let you! No..."

K'dela started to cry. This couldn't... Sky couldn't be... no...

Ku'i came up to her and wrapped her tiny arms around K'dela as K'dela let out an anguished scream. Cursing the heavens for doing this to Sky. Cursing Green for denying Ku'i the chance to grow up with a father. Cursing the world for taking Sky away from her.