"Under the weight of a broken nose, it's not that simple, but he won't seem to notice, there must be more to this."

—The fall, Lovejoy.

     The unlikely group of five made their way up the rocky walls of the gorge, leading them to the other edge of the bridge. Every one of them were exhausted but they reminded themselves of what this was for, they couldn't give up now. Hope was slowly dwindling but they persevered and turned their heads at the sound of rumbling, coming from somewhere in the direction of the Ice Court.

     "Oh, Saints, please let that be Jesper." Nina pleaded, her arm linked with Trixie's as they tried to support one another on this strenuous task.

     "Whatever is coming, it's big." Matthias commented, looking over at Nina for a split second.

     "What do we do, Kaz?" Nina quizzed, her grip tightening on her friend as she looked anxiously at the leader.

     "Wait." Kaz replied as the sound grew louder and Trixie whirled around to face the boy, her brow raised in questioning.

     "How about 'take cover before we all die '?" Trixie asked, bouncing nervously from foot to foot, feeling uncomfortable in her soaked dress. "Or maybe even 'Don't panic, I stashed twenty rifles in this oddly convenient shrubbery'?" She tapped the bushes beside her as she let out an exhale of pure exasperation. "Give us something."

     "How about a few million kruge?" Kaz quipped, looking into the distance as they girl gaped.

     "You're forgetting I want no share of the money, that doesn't work on me!" Trixie exclaimed, sending him a look while he merely shrugged.

     A tank rumbled over the hill, dust and gravel spewing from its treads and Trixie was certain she could see someone waving to them from its gun turret. Squinting slightly, she realised there was in fact two people, or more specifically, Inej and Wylan, happily yelling and trying to get their attention. While the group finally realised everything would be alright, Nina excitedly cheered with Trixie while Matthias could only stare in disbelief.

     "Saints, Kaz, you actually look happy." Nina called out, catching Kaz's expression, which attracted Trixie's attention.

"Don't be ridiculous." He had snapped at her but nobody could mistake it, he was grinning like a total idiot.

"Are you feeling okay, Kaz, one would think you've gone mad." Trixie teased and he shot her a joking glare.

"Don't push it, Trix." Kaz replied, turning away from her as he hid the grin that remained on his lips.

"I'm assuming we know them?" Kuwei asked unsurely and Trixie nodded eagerly, never feeling so happy to see her friends.

     "Get out of the way!" Inej and Wylan yelled as the group of five all leaped away from the path, watching as the tank passed them, coming to a sudden halt.

     "We have a tank." Nina marvelled, her jaw dropping as she looked at it in pure disbelief, her head shaking. "Kaz, you creepy little genius, the plan worked. You got us a tank."

     "Creepy little genius." Trixie snickered to herself as she repeated the words, unaware of Kaz's harsh glare piercing her. Despite the glare he directed at her, nobody could mistake the happiness radiating from all of them, they'd been at a time where they'd begun to question if it was worth it, and their answer had been delivered.

     "They got us a tank." Kaz corrected and it was the closest thing to a compliment.

     "We have one." Matthias commented, then pointed at the horde of metal and smoke bearing down on them. "They have a lot more."

     "Yeah, but you know what they don't have?" Kaz asked as Jesper rotated the tank's giant gun. "A bridge."

     A violent, bone-shaking boom sounded, followed by a high whistling as something shot through the air past them and collided with the bridge. The first two trestles exploded into flame, sparks and timber plummeting into the gorge below. The big gun fired again and with a groan, the trestles collapsed completely. Trixie could only watch the scene with sparkling eyes, marvelling in the destruction of it all.

     Kaz found his eyes searching for hers, noticing how her body seemed to react to the chaos surrounding her, this was where she thrived. Anyone could see it in her eyes, how she seemed to light up at the sight of something violent. From the first time he'd met her he knew she was unique, completely going against whatever perception people held of her. Maybe she was a little crazy, who were any of them to judge, they'd probably done unimaginable things, her love for chaos didn't change how she was with them. It merely added to her character.

     "I can't believe we have a tank and a moat." Trixie mumbled to herself, shaking her head with a wide grin. "Saints, I could kiss you guys."

     "Climb on!" Wylan called out and the group hoisted themselves onto the side of the tank before setting off once again.

     Passing Fjerdans must've had a shock seeing a collection of hooting kids clinging to a tank painted with the Fjerdan flag, charging along like some deranged float gone astray from its parade; a girl in purple silk and a boy with red-gold curls poking out from behind the guns; four soaked people holding tight to the sides for dear life – a Shu boy in prison clothes, two bedraggled drüskelle, a blonde with a smirk that held nothing but trouble, a half-naked girl in shreds of teal chiffon shouting, We have a moat!

      If they looked for longer than a quick glance in passing, they'd notice one of the drüskelle was staring at something, his eyes soft as he kept them maintained on her and only her. Thoughts that drove him mad ran through his mind as he fought the urge to speak to her, to confess everything and anything. Nobody was that perceptive, nobody cared about these teenagers that much to analyse every little glance. All except one person who noticed every little detail, her own lips upturning in amusement.

     Wraith.

     "Wylan, tell Jesper to keep to the western streets." Matthias told the younger boy as they arrived into the town. Wylan nodded, ducking down to explain it to Jesper. "It's the warehouse district, deserted at night."

     "Almost there!" Wylan called out happily and for a split second Trixie's eyes shifted to Kaz's form, noticing he'd already been looking at her. Her stomach dropped as she felt red coat her cheeks, unsure how she was feeling about everything. Kaz messed up her brain and she felt herself unable to think properly. Saints, was she sick?

      "Stop!" Nina's shout turned the attention to her and reluctantly Trixie pulled her eyes away from Kaz. "Stop!"

     "What is this?" Wylan asked Matthias, looking at the rows and rows of soldiers, all armed and ready to shoot, with or without reason. "You never said—."

      "They must have changed deployment procedure." Matthias replied as the blonde girl tightened her hold on the mental.

      "Why would they do that? They kept everything else was the same." Trixie chimed in, furrowing her brows as she felt dread fill her body.

     "I've never seen Black Protocol engaged." Matthias growled in irritation. "Maybe they always had troops stationed in the harbour. I don't know."

     "Be quiet." Inej called out to them and despite her soft voice, they all obeyed this command. "Just stop."

      A voice echoed over the crowd and it spoke first in Fjerdan, then Ravkan, then Kerch, and finally Shu. Trixie felt her brain grow tireder as it translated all of them, almost on reflex. Release the prisoner Kuwei Yul-Bo. Put down your weapons and step away from the tank, it said and each time she heard it she felt her heartbeat fasten, all hope leaving her body.

     Moving her gaze into the crowd, she noticed a prisoner was being led through the rows of soldiers. It was clear he wasn't in good condition, hair matter to his forehead while a ragged red kefta was pressed to his body. She didn't even need to be beside him to know that the words leaving his lips were pleads, begging for more, parem. It was truly inhumane the way he was so desperate for more, clutching onto the guard beside him.

     "A Heartrender," Matthias grimly spoke, also discovering the boy.

      "But he's so far away." Wylan protested, hoping that being optimistic about the situation would make it better.

      "It won't matter." Nina answered the redhead and shook her head.

     "I can see the Ferolind." Inej murmured as she pointed down the docks, just a little way off, they were so close.

      "Kaz?" Jesper called from his place inside the tank. "This would be a really good time to say you saw this coming."

     "I didn't see this coming." Kaz replied as he cast his eyes over the sea of soldiers. "You told me one day I'd run out of tricks, Helvar. Looks like you were right." The words were for Matthias, but his eyes were firmly fixed on Trixie, noticing the girl was biting her lip while her nail dug into her skin. He wanted to reach out to her, grab her hand and tell it would all be fine but he couldn't.

      "I've had my fill of captivity." Inej spoke up with a shrug. "They won't take me alive."

      "Me neither." Wylan added with a small smile, Trixie nodded her head while Jesper snorted at their comments.

     "We really need to get him more suitable friends." Jesper commented through his laughter.

      "I think we're becoming a bad influence on you, Wylan." Trixie sighed, pressing a hand to the boy's shoulder in false sympathy.

     "Better to go out with fists swinging than let some Fjerdan put me on a pike." Kaz agreed and Matthias nodded at this statement.

     "Then we agree. We end this here."

     "No." Nina whispered as the group all turned to her, Trixie furrowing her brows as she tried to think about what Nina was going to say to them.

     You have a count of ten to comply. I repeat: Release the prisoner Kuwei Yul-Bo and surrender yourselves.

      Ten...

     Nina had begun to speak to Kuwei in Shu, Trixie observing the two with a pale face as she listened. No way her friend was about to do this, it was stupid, taking the drug that could cause her such anguish. Literally before them was the effects of what it did, they couldn't let this happen to Nina. It seemed Nina was far beyond reasoning as she argued that this was the right thing to do, tossing her head back and pouring the parem into her mouth, downing it in a single hard swallow.

     As soon as Nina had downed the substance, she could see and hear things better, alike the rapid beating of Kaz's heart as he looked over at Trixie, his gaze lingering on her hands where she'd scratched at her skin so hard she drew blood, or the way the girl would flicker her eyes over his form to check he was okay. Everything was louder and somehow it all made sense to her, the final piece of a jigsaw creating a perfect image.

     "Nina?" Matthias whispered softly, shocking Trixie at the change in his voice.

     "Move." Nina ordered and he complied as they watched her unleash her new abilities.

Words~1908.
{edited:no}