The Blades and The Gauntlets [Vi x fem!oc]

Chapter XXIX: The Powder Blue

The sound of crackling flames filled the air, accompanied by the groan of unstable wood and the occasional crash of debris collapsing into the wreckage below. Smoke curled skyward from the remnants of the clock tower, one of the arrows now bent and broken, leaning over the edge of the pit beneath it. The smell of burning fuel and scorched metal clawed at Mila's lungs as she stumbled closer, her legs trembling with exhaustion.

Her vision blurred for a moment, and she pressed a bloodied hand to her abdomen, steadying herself. A deep breath - shallow, sharp, and painful - did little to push aside her panic. Her heels scuffed against the uneven ground as she rounded a fractured piece of stone wall and finally saw it.

Powder and Ekko's airship now lay in shambles, its balloon deflated, the gondola crumpled against the base of the clock tower. Smoke poured from the wreckage, curling up like an ominous signal into the sky.

And then she saw her.

Vi sat on one of the broken beams that hung over the pit, her shoulders hunched, her head bowed, hands gripping the edge as if it were the only thing keeping her from crumbling entirely. Her body now seemed impossibly small and fragile against the vast expanse of destruction that surrounded it. The faint breeze caught strands of her disheveled red hair, but she didn't move, her face hidden in the crook of her arm.

A sound escaped Mila, something between a gasp and a sob, and it tore through the suffocating quiet.

Her partner's head snapped up, her expression raw and exposed, tears carving clean trails down her ash-streaked face. For a moment the only thing between them was silence, broken by a crack of a fire. Then, the metal ledge that she was standing on grumbled, shaking and threatening to fall into the smoke below them.

"Vi!" Her voice broke, strained and hoarse. She stumbled over the rubble, her knives forgotten somewhere along the path that brought her here. "Fast! Jump to the other ledge!"

The red-head stood abruptly, the beam beneath her creaking ominously. Her hands flexed, then curled into fists, but she didn't move.

The rising smoke swirled thickly, threatening to obscure the wreckage entirely. The woman blinked, as if snapping out of a daze. With a sudden sharp breath, she leapt, her boots landing hard against a jagged platform of stairs. The metal she'd stood on gave way immediately after, falling into the depths below with a thunderous crash. Pulling herself up onto steadier ground, she staggered forward, her eyes fixed ahead.

She ran up to Mila, like that was the only person left in the world, like everything beyond them didn't exist.

"You're here," the red-head breathed, her voice breaking. She didn't touch her at first, her hands hovering uncertainly, trembling, afraid the figure in front of her might vanish if she did. Finally she dropped her one remaining gauntlet, her rough palms cupping the blonde's face. "You're alive."

A sharp breath escaped, and her eyes softened as she leaned into the touch, a faint waver in her voice. "I could say the same," she murmured. "We... we made it?"

The words hung heavy in the air, fragile and unsure. Her partner's gaze shifted past her, drawn to the smoke rising from the pit. "We're alive," she said, the words low and strained, as if saying them aloud might break them. Her lips moved briefly into something that tried to be a smile but fractured halfway, crumbling into a hollow, broken laugh. "We made it."

Vi blinked at her, something flickering in her gaze that softened the anguish in her features. Without hesitation, she leaned forward, her lips pressing against Mila's in a kiss that was unsteady and desperate. It held all the emotions neither of them could say - relief, fear, grief, and love.