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The night the world split into two was a cloudless one, the moonlight more than enough for one's eye.
Alcohol still prevailed Kitay's head. This certainly was not a good thing, his brain helpfully supplied, considering they had to run away without anyone noticing at dawn. The threatening fading of stars above their heads warned him as much. But, he mused as he stumbled across the grounds of Arlong with Venka at his side, self indulgence on a night like this was too easy to slip into. He and Rin would be away for god knows where to god knows for how long, and this―some part of Kitay thought they deserved this.
Anyone who went through what they had for the past 2 years deserved one night free of burden.
That was what he told himself.
Rin seemed pretty happy tonight, which made him both smile and sad. She deserved this life, not just for one night.
Kitay could barely remember the last time they felt happy like this―actually happy. No, his thoughts retracted. Happy wasn't exactly the feeling here. Happy was when Kitay bought Rin the urinating statue. Happy was when they were students at Sinegard, celebrating the end of the trials and sneaking sorghum wine at his house. Happy was when the war really was merely a fantasy, history written in textbooks and they didn't have to pretend that it wasn't thrust upon their shoulders.
No, they couldn't be completely, utterly happy knowing that it was the last night of all four of them together; at least for Rin and Kitay. An aching twinge of sadness went through his chest. They knew their path would always be surrounded with edges; one misstep and they might fall off the cliffs. Always be wary, always look over one shoulder, especially Rin.
He couldn't honestly see a clear future for both of them, not with Rin and her god. And Kitay had chosen that life when he bonded with Rin.
But he would do it again. Over again and again.
Tonight was closest to the illusion of happiness and Kitay would take what he could, for the time being.
Until the moment the world split into two, starting with a sharp, sudden throb on his back.
More confused than hurt, he moved his hand that wasn't holding Venka up toward his back. His sight spun as he touched the spot where the pain echoed, and blood met his eyes when he drew his fingers back.
“Venka?” he whispered. “I―”
“What’s wrong?” Despite her drunk self, she sounded alarmed. Some deep sense of warrior's instinct, a soldier's 6th sense of an upcoming battle that sent through Kitay's dreaded tone, hushed winds, tensed body. Kitay felt all of it too, something was terribly wrong, something was shifting, something horrible had happened that changed the course of history, but he couldn’t put a finger on it right now. Pain lacerated through his back.
“It’s Rin―”
Before he could finish his sentence, unconsciousness took over his body and the world turned black.
Rin .
The thought snapped Kitay awake to an infirmary.
Light shined upon his face. Light? He lay down, frowning. It was sunlight. It was morning. The infirmary felt eerily quiet and silent against the ringing in his ears. He could taste something iron and bitter in his mouth, the sour sorghum wine or blood?
The feeling of unease was still there, the dreading familiar feeling that he couldn't quite decipher before the last night’s events hit him in the face. Wine. Wind. Laughter. The smell of alcohol and night air. Moonlit rivers. Fading stars and the upcoming dawn. Light? There shouldn’t be a light. They should’ve left at dawn. They should be halfway across the Nikara now, not stuck at Arlong still.
Rin.
Kitay almost stumbled and fell off the bed; Rin. Something had happened to Rin, that prevented her from escaping and sent him unconscious. Dread pooled in Kitay's stomach. Calm yourself down. Panic that started seeping inside his head halted for a moment. Nothing could help them if he was panicking. He was fine, so far, except for a raging headache and sore body, he could feel no permanent damage. Rin was fine, at least, physically.
One step at a time. Find Rin without causing any major alarm. There was only one other person who might know what had happened that they trusted.
Nezha’s room was blocked by several guards.
“I’m sorry sir, but General said to repel any contact for the time being―”
“I’m sure he’ll understand―”
“No, sir, no one was his orders.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?”
Doesn’t he know what’s going on? Kitay thought desperately. He must, so why is he still there?
Why would he refuse to see anyone? He would know what’s happening now, something was wrong with Rin, everything about their plan had gone sideways, she was last with Nezha, he would know what would’ve happened, he would know Kitay needed to find her, yet why wasn’t he―what was going on―
Understanding went through Kitay like a shock.
God, how could he be so stupid?
Sudden cries and shouts dragged his eyes out toward the window. A crowd had gathered around outside, and Kitay realized why everywhere inside had been so empty and quiet. They were all outside. He watched in horror as Baji and Suni ascended the steps toward their execution. They both held their heads high, and Kitay felt as if he saw their deaths in another person’s point of view, and he wasn’t Chen Kitay, because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Bullets rapidly hit both of them, all over their bodies, and he saw them sway, a moment of suspension passing, then collapsing on the dais.
Rage unlike he’d ever harbored, unlike he thought he was capable of, filled his throat until he thought he couldn’t breathe.
“You coward! ” Kitay screamed. “You fucking betrayer, you coward, you fucking asshole―”
He charged at the closed door, determined to bring it down, wreck it down if he had to, for Kitay needed to see his face. Even as his brain connected the dots and the dreading truth, so blatant and clear, exposed itself despite his utter disbelief, he needed to see the guilt on Nezha's face. The confirmation. The final proof.
The guards immediately seized his arms and pushed him back, while Kitay screamed and struggled, all logic and fight he had learned and studied in Sinegard flying out, till fury only burned his head.
“Son of a bitch, come and fight me yourself, and don’t cower behind a fucking door—"
“Sir, we will use force if we have to—”
“Where is she?” he screamed. “Where did you put her?”
Rin. God, what did he fucking do ?
“She trusted you!” he yelled.
He felt tears streaming down his face; Rin loved the Cike, they were her Shamans together, Rin loved Baji and Suni, she cared about them, they were about to run away together, they knew they had to stick together. Rin loved them, and they were perhaps the only ones who could understand the power and influence she was under the Phoenix, and if she knew this, oh god, it would shatter her. It would break her.
How could he be so stupid? Rin would never, never let anyone get close to her with a weapon without a fight, and she let a blade slip between her back without any prior injury. Only someone she trusted. And there weren’t many that she did.
Rin trusted Nezha.
Rin loved him.
“Fuck you,” he said, but now the strength was gone from his voice. Shouting at Nezha would do nothing good, despite how satisfying it felt. Because he soon realized that Rin had enemies all around her right now, and right now, she only had Kitay.
Which meant he needed to do something, and quickly for she didn’t have the luxury of time.
“Fucking let go,” he snarled at the guards and wrestled his arm free. When it became clear that he wasn’t going to tear down Nezha’s door, they dropped their holds.
He clenched his fists for a moment at the closed walls, then released them. Rin needed him, and he shouldn’t waste time on his anger when he should be saving her.
And Kitay knew exactly how he could.
Kitay climbed.
His arm tingled with the cut he’d made, and with the cut Rin had made that located her prison. That cut was jagged and uneven, clearly made through rough cuttings, maybe her nails or other splinters that made the cut more painful than the knife Kitay used on himself.
It wasn’t too high that the climb was impossible, but still not a comfortable one. He knew he could fall to his death with a single slip. One fatal step and they would both die.
But what else was new? Unless he succeeded, they were already dead.
“I don’t have a place here now, anyways,” Ramsa had said, with a grin. “I’m not a shaman, but it was always going to be death for me too. I am part of the Cike.”
Kitay didn’t argue, because he couldn’t find any other way to get Rin out. And all of them―him, Ramsa, and Venka―agreed on the one and only goal: Get Rin out.
He climbed.
Ramsa had grabbed his wrist before they parted. “Get my commander out.”
“I will.”
“Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
Judging from the direction of the window, Kitay guessed Rin must now know, even if she hadn’t seen, that the Cike was gone. They hadn’t bothered to move their bodies, and the line of sight out from the window was clear.
“I won’t.”
Venka had nodded in his direction. "I'll be waiting for you two."
"You know you don't need to come with us."
She had given him a death stare that shut him up. "I know what I'm doing, Kitay. Just make sure she escapes."
Climbing was torture—especially when the aftermaths of the battle still dragged his body down heavy, and whatever shit Rin had gone through in the prison sending an ache through his mind. But fury burned and fueled him, at the thought of what hell Rin had suffered in the past 24 hours.
The rope dragged and roughed against his palm, but this was nothing against whatever else he would do for Rin. This was nothing.
She needed him, as much as he needed her.
Rin’s head peaked through the window as he climbed, and when he raised his head and met her eyes, his heart shattered in pieces. Rin, so lost, so destitute of life, so resigned; it was the expression he never wished to see upon her face again.
But at that moment, he knew that even though the world had split into two, they were still intact, bound for life, souls one and only. They were walking on the edge of the precipice, yes, they were surrounded by enemies who wanted them dead, yes, they were probably going to be the most wanted prisoners in the Nikara, yes.
But it was okay, because they will always bring each other back.
Rin and Kitay. Kitay and Rin.
No fate or history or any god would be stronger than the bond they shared.
Kitay gave her a smile. "Hi, there."