Chapter Text
Cariapthi-10 had just begun pulling out her chair to sit down for dinner when the first Cabal tank appeared on the street. By the time the second tank turned onto the avenue just behind it and the announcement of do not resist, we have taken control of your Tower and your Traveler, line up in the street for inspection and redirection, do not resist had been made over the tanks’ loudspeakers by the lead centurion, she was already out the door. By the time the third, fourth, and fifth tanks had joined the procession, she had made it no further than halfway across the street through the panicked crowd because the rioting had already begun, and there was, of course, the shooting that usually followed such attempts to resist becoming prisoners of war or worse.
That was when Cariapthi noticed her: the little Awoken girl, her deep navy hair flying in the wind created by the people running past her, her amber eyes wide with concern and terror as she looked left then right then left again, clearly lost, clearly looking for someone and not finding them and on the verge of panic.
It was instinct that turned Cariapthi’s heels from direct egress to rerouted egress, determination that made her fly against the surge of the crowd, and a distinct feeling of oh, sweet Light above, what am I getting myself into that made her scoop the child up in her arms to make a mad dash for the alleyway just beyond. A stray bullet burrowed its way into the brick beside her and she sped up, curling the girl into her bomber jacket as she galloped around one corner, around another corner, up a fire escape one-handed, and up the winding stairs until they’d reached as high as said stairs would take them.
Once on the roof, the din of encroaching war a block away fell to a whisper below the snap of laundry drying on the line and the high winds that curled down from the mountains surrounding the Last City. Cariapthi slid the girl down onto her own two feet, turning quickly to glance around behind them to ensure they weren’t followed. “I think we’ll be safe up here for the moment,” she began, turning back to the girl and dropping to one knee to meet her at eye level, “Now, can you tell me—”
But then, of course, “Who are you?” erupted from the girl’s mouth at the same moment Cariapthi finished, “— where your parents are?”
For a moment, the two stared at each other, as baffled and confused and scared as the other. Then, with a single wobble of her lower lip, all of the emotions the girl had been holding in suddenly burst out with a torrent of tears.
“Whoa, hey now!” Cariapthi tried, patting the air in front of the little girl with her hands as if it would stop her in her tracks. “I’m gonna get you back to your parents, I swear, I just need to know where they are.”
“I don’t know where they are! I lost them!”
“Okay,” she tried again, “Do you know where they might go?”
“Home,” the girl answered in a sob, and Cariapthi knew that the sob was more than just sadness: it was fear. It was heartache at knowing there was no longer a home to return to, that her parents might never be there again.
“Oh,” she replied thoughtfully. She was too stunned for a moment to think of anything else and looked around at the rooftop, hoping that maybe the laundry might give her a clue.
She had no idea why she’d grabbed the girl. She wasn’t particularly fond of kids, didn’t really know how to handle them. She’d merely picked her up and run because no one else had done so and it went against everything Cariapthi thought was right to leave her behind in the middle of a Cabal invasion force alone. But how to distract a scared child long enough for them to figure out where her parents might have gotten off to…?
“Uhm,” she tried gently, “How about we look for them together?”
That got the girl’s attention. Her sobs stopped and she looked at Cariapthi with something like shock and what might have been delighted awe. “Are you a Guardian?”
“Huh? What, me? No! No, I’m just… I just work at a laboratory.”
The girl sniffled, tilting her head. “Like for scientists?”
“Yeah, exactly like for scientists,” she nodded. “It’s my job to find things out, you know. That’s what scientists do. And I think my next job is to help you stay safe and find your parents. Also to find out what your name is.”
“My name?” The girl asked, a puzzled look on her face as if she hadn’t expected the question at all - good! Operation Distract the Kid was working. “My name is Emera Liet…”
Cariapthi offered her hand to the girl - to Emera. “Well, miss Emera Liet, I’m Cariapthi-10 and I’m here to help you find your parents.”
Emera seemed wary, looking from Cariapthi’s eyes to her outstretched hand and back again. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
Emera’s hand, small and warm and lilac blue, took hers. It was a deal.
Then, five stories below, there came the sound of a Cabal tank rolling onto the street, making them both jump.
“That’s our cue, I’m afraid,” Cariapthi said, standing up to her full height again. “Do you mind if I carry you so we can go faster?”
Emera’s face took on that wary look again, her brows furrowing as she pushed her navy locks out of the way of her freckled face. “Daddy and papa say I’m getting too big to be carried everywhere.”
“Well, lucky for both of us I’m a big, strong exo, designed to carry both your daddies with ease.”
This seemed to quash Emera’s concern and, with her hands reaching upward and Cariapthi’s reaching down until they met in the middle, they were away again, Emera’s chin over Cariapthi’s shoulders and her arms wrapped around her neck.
At the edge of the roof, Cariapthi peered over, hoping to surmise the Cabal’s movements - with the Last City compromised like this, the only option was to head for the Wall, but that plan wouldn't be of any use if the Cabal were headed the same direction. Unfortunately, the only thing she was able to surmise immediately was that she had made a mistake when, five stories down, a rather large psion met her eye. As she turned to sprint her way back across the roof out of sight, she did not hear the deep voice of the centurion over the loudspeaker far below: Do not resist. Line up in the street for inspection and redirection. Do not resist or you will be hunted and killed.
Kirit, psion of the Red Legion, had no intentions of disobeying orders. In fact, he thought as he jumped down from the tank with his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, he relished the opportunity for a little hunting trip.