With Hope, the Beginning of Better

Chapter 5: The Others

Hey! So here are some CW: canon-typical violence (typical violence, not Kaz-level violence), broken bones. Thanks to anyone who's read all the chapters so far, it means a lot. Along with this, next week will be a continuation of Wylan's POV. This story has a bigger focus on the characters so the action may be just a bit slow if you're here for that kind of thing. Anyway, I was also listening to songs today and I feel like STAY by Kid Laroi almost perfectly describes Kaz, or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I'll end this rant and hope you enjoy!

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Inej

Oh no, Inej thought. If she wasn't so worried for Jesper, she would have already killed him. That fall had to hurt. Also, despite the fact that Kaz, Inej, and Wylan...well, despite the fact that Kaz and Inej were muscular, she highly doubted that the three of them could carry him without anyone noticing.

For once in his life, Kaz looked shocked, but worry also laced his features. Though Kaz was never outright with it, Inej knew he cared about Jesper in his own way, maybe even as a brother. For the longest time, Kaz had blocked himself from anyone and everyone, putting on the armor Dirtyhands gave, physical and mental, whenever someone got too close. She knew it well. Indifferent expression, set jaw, guarded eyes.

But slowly, he began to show the ones closest to him that he cared about them in his own indirect ways. He'd held Inej's hand, despite his aversion to touch, and given her the Wraith . He'd told Jesper that he missed him. She also hadn't failed to notice the way he let himself relax whenever he was around Wylan, Jesper, or herself; he joked more and covered his vulnerabilities less often. And she couldn't forget that laugh from earlier today.

Saints, that laugh.

Everything about Kaz was so structured, so planned. That laugh, however, was the most carefree and light thing Inej had ever seen from him, and Inej wanted to manipulate time to play that laugh again.

Inej knew he wasn't cured, far from it, but he was trying. But then her mind went to the hesitance he'd given her when she'd returned. What was he trying to hide? Was he really fine?

Wylan looked similarly shocked and looked ready to pounce towards Jesper. Inej waved her hand down towards him. Stay down. Wylan had unexpectedly gotten worse after she'd left, a stark contrast to Kaz's and Jesper's seeming improvements. She wasn't entirely sure what made Wylan act the way he did, though she had her suspicions.

Wylan's face changed from shocked to angry in a matter of seconds. Confused, Inej followed his gaze. What she saw simmered annoyance in her own stomach. Jesper had gotten up and was now giving them mock salutes. Oh, Jesper, she thought, slapping her forehead, you have got to be kidding me.

She knew he had a flair for the dramatic, they all knew. But now was really an inconvenient time for it. Once they got out of this, they were all going to give Jesper a piece of their mind. Definitely killing him, she thought.

For now, however, she focused on the situation in front of her. A good portion of the crowd was now on the ground; however, some Black Tips were now approaching her, weapons in hand. She pulled out Sankt Petyr and Sankta Lizabeta, settled in her stance, and let out a breath. The Wraith is back.

She didn't like to kill unless necessity required otherwise, so she disabled her opponents rather than ending them.

She faced her nearest threat, a young boy who couldn't be older than 12 years. She drove the hilt of her knife into his wrist and cracks of bone soon followed. The boy screamed and he and what seemed to be his friends ran away.

However, more pursuers kept approaching her. A muscular girl about her age, Leika from the Black Tips, Inej recalled, rushed forward brazenly with what appeared to be a chain. Inej didn't know how it worked, and she didn't want to find out. Inej stabbed Leika in the thigh and kneed her ribs for good measure. Leika collapsed on the ground, clutching her stomach.

She dodged a man with a screwdriver (what?), tripped an unbalanced woman with twin daggers in her hands, and elbowed the back of a girl holding a rifle.

Still more people came running towards her. She briefly looked at a wall on the side of the Van Eck mansion. She vertically ran up that wall and pushed herself off of it. She turned her body midair and kicked a man and held another in a chokehold. She kept grasping him until he lost consciousness, then let his body tumble to the ground.

Inej heard a loud bang behind her and she jumped. Jesper had shot a boy who had snuck up on her. A chill ran through her. She knew that outright fighting wasn't really her style. But that didn't matter here and now. Any closer and she would've been done for.

Losing your touch, are you?

She forced herself to take a breath and keep fighting. She went through the movements. Aim, throw, pull. Aim, throw, pull. Soon enough, she found herself fighting beside Kaz, back to back, knives drawn, pistols blazing. It was an oath they'd both unconsciously given to one another.

Together, for each other, we fight—

A scream pierced through the air and Wylan collapsed in front of Jesper.

Wylan

Time became an abstract concept for Wylan. The world seemed like forever and never all at once. He thought he'd felt pain before, but nothing prepared him for the true agony of bones shattering. A scream deep within the animal parts of him tore itself from his throat.

Before he realized what had happened, Kaz, Inej, and Jesper surrounded him from three sides. Protecting me , he realized. Tears filled his eyes, whether from the pain or from the care his friends were showing him, he wasn't sure. He quickly blinked them back, not wanting to come off as any more weak than he already was from the ordeal.

He would do the same for any of them, even Kaz, but Wylan never had anyone to care for him like that after he'd turned eight. He'd trained himself to not expect any love for himself from others, sometimes even going as far as pushing people away before they could wound him. He knew it was irrational, but after everything, he just couldn't handle any more scars. He always felt surprised when any of the Crows so much as acknowledged his presence, but was forever grateful for it.

Wylan felt dazed and dizzy now. Their pursuers had left, and his friends turned towards him. Through the blurry haze, he caught what seemed like concerned glances. He barely registered being lifted into someone's arms and being whispered to.

"Stay with me, Wylan," the voice seemed to say.

He felt painful moans coming out of his mouth as his broken leg bounced up and down against the body of the person carrying him. Fighting to keep himself conscious, he focused on his breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

He kept trying, but eventually, the dull, gray sky of Ketterdam turned black.