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Katie couldn't breathe. It- it had all happened so fast. She had just killed 4C. She killed him, didn't let him have peace in his final moments, denied him escape from death. She gasped slightly as she ran. To where, she didn't know. She was just running and running and running, chest burning from the exhilaration and the stab wound the slime had given her. That she deserved.
She eventually stumbled to a stop in a random clearing in the forest. She fell to her knees and fumbled her sword into its sheath. Her communicator was beeping widly. She took one glance at it and immediately felt even more sick to her stomach.
-
4CVIT was slain by KatieGoBrr.
Smajor1995: WHAT?!
Maezes: what
NominalGravy: katie?
CherriFire: oh my suns
-
She clicked a button on the side and turned it off, looking at anywhere but it. She didn't need to see how her friends would react. She already knew what she had done. She was a killer. A murderer. Someone who couldn't be trusted. She had just killed her own brother for star's sake!
Katie coughed slightly into her hand. Was she surprised to see a little bit of blood? Yeah. She shouldn't really be though. 4C He had stabbed her quite near the lung after all. She would survive though. From the looks of it, it wasn't fatal. She clawed at the grass below her and stared at it numbly.
She had made a name for herself. How lovely. Well, now she definitely wouldn't be called Noms sister at least. No one would want to be compared to her anymore. It would be an insult, a threat. Not something to be proud of.
The full weight of what she had actually done dawned on her. She had just killed 4C. She had just killed 4C. He wasn't coming back. She would never hear another joke, never play farkle friday with him again. Her diary would never be filled with jokes and notes from him again. She never thought she’d think this, but she wanted nothing more than for ‘Katie’ to be scrawled out and replaced with ‘Noms sister’ in his messy handwriting oh so similar to her brothers.
Would her ‘king’ be happy? Would he be satisfied? Would he ever be satisfied? She had already given up so much. Her duty was done, but there was so much more she was going to have to do. Would Nom ever speak to her again? She had just killed the person they both counted as a brother. She doubted he would.
She heard rustling in the leaves behind her. Katie sighed softly, and looked over to where the sound was, mentally preparing to explain what she had done. She just prayed it wasn't Nom. She looked at the treeline, where the sound had come from, and squinted. Nothing was there. It rustled again, but nothing had shifted or moved. She did not feel any wind. What?
She could have sword she saw a pale blue flicker in the darkness, but when she blinked it disappeared. Katie shook her head and turned back to the clearing, pushing herself up onto trembling legs. Unsheathing her sword, she stabbed it into the ground and leaned on it. Her chest felt like it was locked up and her throat was raw and dry.
She stumbled her way over to a rock and sat on the ground next to it, leaning on it. She tucked her legs into her chest and put her head between her knees. 4C was dead. He wasn't coming back. She felt numb. So incredibly numb. She was a monster. She was a horrible person.
“Its your fault, y’know.” A voice whispered in her ear. She froze and bolted up, looking around wildly. Her blurry eyes focused on the same flickering shape she had seen earlier. It was still fading in and out of existence, but she could actualy see what it was. Or who, she supposed.
“..you’re not real.” Katie stuttered out.
“How do you know that? You’re not me.”
“We- well you.. you’re dead. I.. killed you..”
“Correct.”
“So you’re not real?”
“Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.”
“So what?” She asked. “Come here to watch me wallow in my misery? Drive the fact I killed you even more in?”
The ghost hummed. It flickered more, eventually disappearing with a sinister smile on its face. Katie put her head into her hands and screamed. And cried.
“Im sorry. I'm so sorry.” She mummered. “You can't hear this, but I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. I'm so so so sorry..”
She coughed again, chest constricting. Her hand was once again covered in blood, this time her own. Her vision was blurring again slightly, and she coughed harder, hunched over. Her fit went on for 15 more seconds before she finally took a gasp of air and flipped over onto her back, chest heaving and staring at the sky. She closed her eyes while putting her arm over them, biting her lip to stop herself from crying more.
“Wow, I really messed you up, huh? Pretty pathetic, I’ve gotta say.”
“Shut. Up.”
“Why would I?” The ghost snarked. “You are the one who killed me.”
“I- no i didnt.”
“Really? I recall you saying- what, 2 minutes ago that you killed me?”
“I killed 4C..” she muttered bitterly. “Not whatever hallucination you are.”
That finally got the ghost - hallucination? - to be quiet for a bit longer. She wasn't even surprised that it existed. Her mental state was screwed after this.
Katie groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position, blinking rapidly to adjust her eyes to the light. Well, there wasn't a lot of light now, the sun was practically set. There were thankfully a few torches around from whoever had done exploring here. She wrapped her arms around her chest, breathing deeply and trying not to cry again.
That failed. She curled up into a ball again and sobbed. She didn’t exactly know what she was crying for. Maybe it was for 4C, her brother who she killed. Maybe it was for Nom, who was never going to forgive her in a million years. Maybe it was for herself. Maybe she wanted to have a moment by herself, emotions raw and exposed.
She gasped softly and coughed again. She should probably head back to the Red Kingdom to get healed by Cam or Sausage. At least they weren’t particularly close with him. Trembling, she pushed herself up and grabbed her discarded sword, one again using it as a brace for her shaking legs.
“Little miss murderer, cant even stand right.”
She didn't reply to the ghost. It was floating next to her with an eyebrow raised and a snarky grin on its face, nothing like the kind and silly expressions the real 4C had. She carried on walking through the forest, coughing quietly into her hand on occasion and wiping the blood on the grass. Her hands didn't need to have any more blood on them.
Her head was spinning a little now, and her vision was slightly blurred at the edges. Katie didn't take much notice of it, carrying on walking towards her kingdom.
“Silent now are we? You used to be so fun! This isn't how you treat your friend!”
“I am not your friend.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “So stop acting like it, Mx. Hallucination.”
“Aww, you gave me a name! How nice of you!”
“Oh my stars, shut up!” She yelled, swinging her sword at the specter. Instead of vanishing like she wanted it to, it instead stood still as the blade swung through it, raising an eyebrow.
“You can't kill what you already killed, y'know."
“I know that, you insufferable piece of-“
“Katie?”
She startled slightly. The ghost gave her a wry smirk and flickered out of existence. She turned towards whoever had said her name, and saw Cherri standing there. The princess was looking at her with concern and pity in her eyes. She felt silent anger bubble up. She didn't need pity. She took a deep breath and got into a less aggressive stance.
“..hi Cherri..”
“Who.. who were you talking to?” She asked. Katie swallowed, mouth dry. She coughed slightly, and Cherri's eyes widened in alarm.
“Katie?! Katie- holy sun, you- you have a stab wound. In your lung. Or- or near it.”
“Yep..!” She forced out with a fake smile. “I- I’m fine though! Y’know, tis but a scratch and all that jazz!”
“Katie, you are coming with me to my house right now. We dont need to talk about what you did if you dont want to, but we do need to get you medical attention.”
She didn't deserve it, just leave her to die.
Katie nodded with a tight smile, gripping her sword with white knuckles. She sheathed her weapon and followed Cherri with shaking hands, one of them pressed over her wound. Like the princess said they would, they walked in silence, not speaking. The knight took this as a moment to finally check her communicator.
-
Shandrea: WHAT
soupforeloise: oh my
Owengejuice_TV: It seems we have a problem on our hands.
Apokuna: dang bro
Cherrifire: katie do you wanna talk?
Smajor1995: what in aoers name happened there
CherriFire whispers to you: you ok?
CherriFire whispers to you: do you wanna talk?
Maezes: ..
NominalGravy whispers to you: what did you do
NominalGravy whispers to you: answer me
NominalGravy whispers to you: did you two argue?
NominalGravy whispers to you: hello?? answer me?
NominalGravy whispers to you: you’re a coward. answer me
-
She regretted that decision. Cherri took a slight glance back and saw Katie checking her communicator.
“..I was worried.” They said, clearly referencing the concerning whispers. Katie swallowed.
“Thanks.”
Nom was going to kill her. 4C had seen him through so much… and she had killed him. She had singlehandedly ruined her relationship with Nom in two different ways. She just hoped he wouldnt be too mad at her.. that maybe he’d, one day, forgive her.
“You don't deserve forgiveness and you know that. Stop being selfish.”
She flinched silently and took no notice of the ghost, breathing in deeply and focusing on following Cherri. Left foot, right foot. Just walk, and follow the princess. Left foot, right foot. Focus, focus, focus. He isn't real, it's all in your head. He can't hurt you in a way that matters. She coughed slightly again.
They eventually got to the red kingdom, everything blanketed in darkness save for where they had placed torches around. Cherri grabbed Katies free wrist and lead her towards where the princess and her knight stayed. Grabbing the key to her door from their pockets (where did they get a dress with pockets from?), they led the knight inside and onto a chair.
Cherri rummaged through the chests, clearly looking for something. Likely bandages. They both froze suddenly as they heard footsteps. The princess turned towards the sound, before visibly relaxing when Apo came walking through the door. The knight looked at Cherri holding medical things in her hands, then at Katie who was sitting on a chair holding a hand over a bleeding wound.
“Cherri, do you actually know how to treat a wound?” Apo asked. The princess made a sound that sounded like somewhere between a gasp and a hum. The moon-knight sighed and grabbed the items from the princess’ hands before kneeling beside Katie and raising an eyebrow.
“May I?” They asked, gesturing to her breastplate and jumper.
“O- oh, right.”
Taking off her armour and jumper, she let the moon-knight treat the wound. No one spoke while they did this, letting Apo do their work while Cherri watched with a concerned expression and Katie tried not to cry. She was shaking, whether from cold, blood loss or adrenaline. Probably all three. She sat there for a few more minutes while Apo made sure the bandages were secure and wouldn't come undone if she moved around too much or in her sleep.
“You should be alright to go back to your house,” The moon-knight stated, standing up. Katie nodded silently with a small smile.
“..thank you.”
She didn't really know if she was thanking the two for finding her in the forest, for not asking questions, for looking after her wound or for just.. being there, especially after she had killed the Prince..
She grabbed her armour and put her jumper back on, walking outside into the chill air and back to her house. She ignored the pale flickers of blue out of the corner of her eye, and collapsed into her bed. Curling up into a ball, she sobbed into her pillow.
What was she going to do..
~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~
Katie's first kill was not one of a hero. She didn't valiantly protect her friends, or defeat an enemy trying to hurt her kingdom. Though her first kill was also not one of a villain. Villains kill without remorse, without a care for consequences. This kill was painful and raw. It was a mistake from the beginning and a tragedy at the end. Maybe she killed for nothing, maybe she killed for everything. No one would know.