vicious [d.m]

two: fight & fury

Khione hears them before she sees them.

She's trekking by the riverbed the next morning, trying to clear her head and figure out what to do about Cain. From the way Ren had greeted her this morning, it was obvious he hadn't tattled on her yet — but Khione knows if she doesn't go to his tent tonight, it's only a matter of time.

She grits her teeth and shoves a branch out of the way as she makes her way along the riverbed, looking for a quiet place to sit. The camp comes alive at dawn — and she hates the hustle-and-bustle, hates the constant chatter and noise.

It's usually just her, the birds and the trees — but today, there's a new sound. Voices — two of them, laughing quietly by the riverside.

Khione knows one of those laughs very well.

Unable to stop herself, she ducks underneath another branch, circling back to where she'd heard them. They're down by the river, sitting at the edge, looking out across the murky water.

Khione watches as Mina leans her head on Cal's shoulder, saying something to him. Cal gives her a smile and says nothing — like he always does — but Mina doesn't seem to mind, continuing to talk as if he'd responded.

Khione wants to feel something — but she doesn't. There's nothing within her except one big, empty void, sucking up any good emotion that tries to sneak its way over to her heart. She's a lost cause.

But Cal isn't. Cal is brimming with goodness — in a way Khione never has — and part of her wants to resent it. But she feels nothing at all — not even as he lays his head on Mina's, the tension in his shoulders relaxing.

He's her twin — but somewhere along the way, he turned into a stranger. Khione lost him — or maybe she drove him away. She doesn't know. She reckons it doesn't matter anyway — he's still standing across that gaping canyon, whether she built him the bridge there or not.

Khione turns away.

———

It's a blood bath.

She's right in the centre of it, fighting for her life — but it's obvious the Resistance is overwhelmed. The air is filled with smoke and dust, clogging Khione's lungs. Flashes of spells arc through the air, ricocheting off the trees, bark raining into the air — and her shield sizzles as the shards come into contact with it.

They'd gotten the order to fall back a couple minutes ago — but Khione hasn't moved from where she stands, amidst the bodies strewn on the forest floor, firing spells at whichever Death Eater she catches a glimpse of.

She's felled four so far — but they're exceptionally skilled and it saps her of energy and strength everytime she sends a strong curse hurling their way. And with so many Resistance members around, she doesn't dare use Dark Magic.

A spell slams into the tree beside her and she ducks on instinct as it creaks, glancing up as the branches begin to sway with the force of it. She only has time to send a Stupefy in the general direction of her attacker before the trunk of the tree groans, the sound making her ears ache. It sways, wood cracking and bursting and shattering, as it begins to tip over, threatening to crush Khione under its weight.

She hits the ground and rolls out of the way, pulse pounding — but the branches pierce her shield. A scream rips from her throat as one spears through her shoulder — but the momentum that she's used to roll away carries her sideways, the pointed tip of the branch slicing through tissue and muscle.