Chapter Text
“Aalto!”
His gun hits the ground seconds before he does. How he’d still been standing at all is a miracle in itself. But Encore is safe, and that’s all that matters. As long as she’s not the one on the wrong end of an Exile’s rifle, the rest is inconsequential.
She’s by his side instantly, a desperately helpless look on her face as the white of Aalto’s jacket quickly turns scarlet. He moves a hand to cover the fresh wound in his side, more to keep Encore from looking at it than to actually stop the bleeding. Even if he used every ounce of his remaining strength, it wouldn’t be enough. The warmth of his blood is an eerie contrast to the endless rain that has him chilled to the bone.
“Hey, I’m fine. Don’t worry, okay?” He tries to reassure Encore despite the obvious tiredness in his voice. The weak smile he offers her is unconvincing at best.
“No you’re not!” She shouts at him, tears beginning to fall.
She’s right.
Aalto doesn’t want to admit it. Not to himself, and certainly not to Encore. He’s resilient, always has been. He should be able to just get up and brush this whole thing off, right?
The fact that it’s getting harder to keep his eyes open says otherwise.
He needs help, otherwise he won’t make it out of this alive. There’s no way Aalto is getting up. The tacit discords he and Encore were fighting a mere few minutes ago made sure of that. He was already hurt long before the Exile showed up and shot him. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like Encore is aware of the rest of his injuries. Aalto had been hoping she wouldn’t know until all that was left was a collection of echoes like there is now. He’d wanted to play everything off as being tired and sore until they were back to safety, to keep her from being scared. Logically, it wouldn’t have worked, even before. But the last thing he’d expected was to be bleeding out on the ground in the middle of nowhere. Aalto is in actual danger now. And the weight of helping him falls on Encore’s shoulders.
He’s going to have to make her leave him out here.
Aalto takes a deep, intensely painful breath, mentally preparing for what he has to do. What he’s about to put Encore through.
“Encore…I need you to do me a favor.” Aalto tells her weakly, heart breaking as the look on her face morphs into realization.
“No! No, Encore isn’t leaving! You can’t make me!” Encore sobs, shaking her head and burying her face in her hands.
“I know, Encore. I know. I’m sorry. But I need you to do this, okay? I need you to go find some help.”
“Please don’t make me leave. Just come with me.” She pleads with him, fear in her eyes.
“Encore…you know I can’t.” Aalto gives her an apologetic smile, fighting to keep his eyes open yet again.
“Why not?!” She sobs. She knows why. She just won’t accept it.
Aalto can’t do this. Tears blur his vision, but he refuses to let them fall until Encore leaves.
“C’mere.” He tells her, pulling her into an awkward hug with the one arm he can still move. Encore buries her head in his chest and cries. Aalto holds her as tightly as he can, trying not to stain Encore’s favorite white and pink dress with his blood.
“I know. I’m sorry. You can do this, sweet girl. I know you can.” He tells her quietly, hoping she believes him.
An unspoken finality hangs in the air as Encore finally pulls away. She wipes her face with her sleeve, though it’s so soaked from the rain that it does little good. She’s still sniffling, and a few stray tears still escape, but she looks as ready to go as she’ll ever be.
“Go. You can do this. Don’t look back, Encore. I believe in you.”
She nods sorrowfully as she stands, giving Aalto one more hesitant look before finally turning away to leave. Aalto watches her walk away, forcing himself to pretend that the sounds of her crying again are just the wind.
With no one else around, there’s no reason to hide his own tears anymore.
His vision is blurred as he watches her leave, until she vanishes from his sight entirely. Aalto says a silent prayer that she’ll be safe, that she’ll be fast enough, that she won't be left alone again. Not yet. He won’t give up so easily. But he can barely even move, and certainly not without pain. Exhaustion washes over him in increasingly strong waves, desperately trying to lull him into an endless dream. Aalto fights it despite how badly he wants to rest.
With Encore gone, he’s all too aware of just how alone he really is. Other than the dead Exile laying face down in the mud fifty feet away, there’s likely no one around for miles. The echoes from the waves of tacit discords they’d fought earlier still hang in the air. Aalto doubts they’ll do anything to watch over him. He’s never been protected a day in his life anyway.
Will he leave an echo behind when he dies?
It’s a silly thought to have. That isn’t even remotely the way it works, but his brain is struggling to latch on to anything at the moment. Anything just to stay awake another minute. To take just one more agonizing breath.
Foolishly, out of morbid curiosity, Aalto tries to move, just to see if he can sit up. Maybe, just maybe, if he—
“Agh!”
The attempt is cut short with a strangled cry as Aalto falls a few meager inches back to the same spot on the ground. His breathing is heavier, more labored from even that small amount of effort. Two of his limbs are significantly less than functional, and every breath sends stabs of pain through his chest and side.
No, he won’t be going anywhere.
There’s no distraction anymore. Nothing to keep his mind off the pain or the cold, both of which seem to steadily get worse the longer he lies here. He’s still losing blood, though it’s hard to tell how much. Is the cold still from the rain?
When the shivering starts, Aalto begins to wonder how much time has passed. There’s no way to tell. He would’ve checked on his terminal, but it was long lost in the fighting, much like Encore’s. The agony he’s already in is only increased by the added movement, however small, but there’s nothing he can do to stop it.
Soon, Aalto will be forced to accept a painful reality. As much as he tries not to let his mind wander, his thoughts always return to Encore, to Jiyan, to the people he cherishes more than anything. He wants to see their smiles again, hear them laugh even one more time.
He doesn’t want the last time he sees Encore to be watching her leave him behind.
A low rumble of thunder resounds through the sky. A storm will be picking up soon, lowering his chances even further. Tears mix with rain as Aalto fights harder to keep his eyes open. Through his blurred vision, he imagines a flash of teal.
If only.
‘That’s just cruel.’ He tells his mind. ‘Don’t get my hopes up like that.’
-
“Alright, I think we’re almost done here! Good work, let’s head back before the weather gets worse.” Jiyan calls to the two soldiers on patrol with him.
They’re several miles from their base, cleaning up whatever rogue tacit discords they can before the first storm fully settles in. From the reports, Huanglong is predicted to have a number of days of repulsive weather, making regular patrols nearly unattainable. Best to get as much done now as possible.
Jiyan stretches his arms above his head, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Despite being drenched, it’s been a surprisingly uneventful day. With the storms rolling through, he’s decided to take an impromptu few days off to relax and head into Jinzhou. Hopefully, with any luck, he’ll run into his favorite people while he’s there and surprise them.
He smiles lightly to himself, then nods to the other soldiers to confirm that they’re also ready to leave.
“Jiyan!”
He’s just turning around to begin the long walk back to the base, when someone screams his name. He’d know that voice anywhere. Jiyan whirls around instantly, quickly spotting familiar pink hair in the distance against the drab background.
It’s Encore.
Urgency and panic grip Jiyan immediately, heartbeats pounding in his chest as he runs to her. She’s exhausted and in tears, dress stained with dirt and…is that blood? His knees hit the dirt the second he reaches her, holding her tightly as she throws her arms around him and sobs. As hysterical as her cries are, he’s concerned she might overclock.
Jiyan looks around anxiously, waiting on Aalto to both catch up with Encore and catch him up on what happened that has her crying like this. He tries to be patient, but Aalto doesn’t usually let Encore get this far out of his sight, and—
A new wave of fear curls its icy fingers around Jiyan’s heart.
She’s alone.
No.
“Encore?” He asks, smoothing her soaked hair and trying desperately to keep his voice calm.
“Where’s Aalto?”