Sunshowers - Part Eleven
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
The descending rays of the sun flicker out over the horizon, putting up a vivid display of crimson and tangerine light before they disappear, leaving the forest in darkness. The clouds should break by the time we reach the hotel. For now they’re a thick blanket over the sky, letting very little moonlight through.
The clouds give Team Ghost Office good cover as we move in a silent, single-file line through the forest.
Ralph is leading the way, his pale golden hair flashing in the darkness whenever Aiden’s flashlight beam roves over him. He’s without a hoodie to cover it, since his previous one burned up. He’s wearing a slashed-up t-shirt that I suspect probably belonged to Noah at one point. It’s torn so much on one side that I can see the tattooed angel wings on Ralph’s ribs, moving with his breaths. But the more obvious giveaway is that the front has a graphic of a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle and making a beckoning gesture, with the words Hop On! printed above it.
Noah walks right behind Ralph, his long hair knotted up into a loose bun, his piercings glittering as we weave in and out of the silvery light. The moonglow lights up the labyrinth of ink winding all over him piece by piece, making it all seem to shift and move.
I’m wondering if it was intentional that I ended up placed between him and Aiden, almost like they both felt the need to keep an eye on me. Aiden has kept pretty close at my back this whole time, tinting the air around me with the faintest trace of vetiver.
I don’t mind him watching over me. Just his presence there is infinitely comforting.
Kasey is bringing up the rear. She’s glowing brightly against the deep blackness of the night, but her energy is starting to burn low. We’ve sent her home to hold onto her energy whenever it’s been possible. Still, her edges are beginning to blur, and her light is beginning to fade.
Just like Aiden, if she has a full crash, she’ll need a full recharge. I’m afraid we’re going to need to send her home soon so she doesn’t run out completely. Ralph must be thinking the same thing, given he didn’t summon her back until we were already this close to the hunt.
I can tell from Kasey’s tense shoulders that she’s a little nervous. I get that, given I feel the same way. Something about the way Aiden, Ralph, and Noah have been acting gives me the impression that we’re headed straight into trouble.
Aiden has been almost perfectly silent since we left camp. Noah keeps rolling out his neck, cracking his knuckles, humming with preemptive adrenaline. Ralph has been very serious and quiet, laughing at nothing, saying very little. The wild sage color of his eyes has been dark with his thoughts, now clear with hawklike focus, keenly attuned to every little thing going on around us.
There’s a growing sense of expectation in the air. No one’s said anything about it, but we all feel it.
“Nothing could go wrong!” Noah says suddenly.
Ralph pauses and turns around to look at him, arching a questioning eyebrow.
“Aw, man.” Noah tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear, looking a little disappointed. “Thought maybe if I just said that, then whatever’s gonna come along and fuck up all our plans might just do it right now, you know? So we could get it out of the way before we get to the hotel. Sorry, nevermind. That was stupid. Forget it.”
“Nah, I can see why you’d think to test that one out, man.” Ralph breathes out a soft sigh as he turns around and sets off again. “Given how everything’s going.”
I speed up a little to walk beside Ralph, sensing an undercurrent of strain beneath his voice.
“Hey, Ralph - you should know that Ghost Office missions are almost always, um… our plans tend to go pretty - well, you were there for the other hotel we worked over, so… you should know we don’t tend to get it right on the first try.”
Ralph glances sidelong at me, his eyebrows furrowed. “Kind of assumed that level of chaos was an outlier, not the standard.”
“Oh, really? Then you’ve got it backwards!” I give him an encouraging smile. “Comparatively this is pretty good. You’re leading us right, commander.”
Ralph rolls his eyes, using his flashlight to check a cluster of trees nearby. “Oh, yeah? Seems to me we’re still stuck at step one. Only real difference is that now we’ve got missing kitchen equipment to find.”
“Right, but the Witch hasn’t gotten Aiden alone, or stolen any of his power,” I remind him brightly. “There’s that!”
“Yeah, dude,” Noah chimes in, giving Ralph’s shoulder a slap. “Think we’re doing pretty good, considering we’re up against Wendy, and the Witch, and the saucepan, and, um - whatever their names are. Honkey and Groin.”
Kasey covers her eyes with her hands as she dissolves into giggles. “Holy shit, Noah.”
“Wh-?” Ralph jolts to a stop, then lets out a startled laugh loud enough to temporarily break the hush of the forest. He winces and forces himself to stop, but it obviously takes some effort. “Ugh, Noah - shut the fuck up, dude! Don’t fuckin’ make me laugh right now, what are you-?”
Noah gives Ralph a warm smile, with total, complete faith in his grey eyes.
“Point is, we all know you won’t let anything happen to us,” he says simply.
Ralph gazes at him through the darkness, then silently turns to face forward again, chewing his lip.
I fall back to walk with Aiden, who takes the opportunity to fold an arm around my shoulders. I have to bite back a sigh of contentment at the sweet warmth of him, so good against the cold night.
“I’m surprised that Ralph is nervous at all,” I whisper, leaning up as Aiden leans down to listen to me. “He strikes me as someone who’d be fearless out in the action.”
“Because he is,” Aiden whispers back, gently thumbing my cheek. “It’d be a whole different story, if he wasn’t worried about us.”
Aiden doesn’t explain beyond that, but I understand what he means. I don’t think Ralph has any fear for his own safety, even right now. It’s all about knowing he’s responsible for ours.
“You guys,” Kasey suddenly cuts in. “I’m - I can feel myself burning pretty low.”
Ralph stops where he is when I repeat that. He lets out a slow breath, but it’s clear he thought this might happen.
“Go back to Ketterbridge, Kasey. We’ll summon you if we really need to. If you sense yourself about to crash, don’t come.”
Kasey glances around at all of us worriedly, but she must agree it’s the best plan. She gives me a ghost hug, then vanishes.
If Ralph is upset about having to bench a teammate, it doesn’t show. His schooled, battle-ready expression hardens until it takes over his face completely, his eyes narrowing in focus. Any surface signs of nervousness grow more and more imperceptible the closer we draw to the action.
He leads us out of the forest, into the open. The four of us step out of the trees and gaze up at the hotel.
Just like last night, the cafe is aglow, spilling soft light onto the grassy area around the picnic tables. Providing light for the little crowd clustered around, since the hotel has once again gone completely dark.
Our team climbs up the slope towards the picnic tables, and I try to peer around front to see if Hanely and Grimm’s annihilated squad car is still parked there. It isn’t, so I guess they had to drive it back to the station to get a replacement. That much is a relief. At least we won’t have them to worry about tonight.
Eduardo is just inside the cafe. Polishing the counters like it’s closing time, but I can see that he’s chosen to keep it open late for everyone. The chairs aren’t up on the tables. A few of them are occupied by hunters hastily eating something before they strike out into the forest.
Based on the sparse size of the crowd around the picnic tables, I’d guess a lot of them are already out there.
My anxious eyes rove over the hunters, looking for any signs of trouble. I don’t know how the Witch might try to use them against us, but I haven’t forgotten how easily she was able to trick Grimm into almost attacking me. Maybe she’ll try something like that again?
The clouds break apart and let the starlight pour through as Team Ghost Office assembles around our picnic table.
“Alright,” Ralph says softly, glancing around at all our faces. “Obviously it’s best if we all stick together, but part of me thinks it’s unavoidable that we get split up. We should be talking about what to do when it happens, not how to prevent it, ‘cause… fact is, most of us can’t. Not with the Witch pulling our strings.”
Aiden, Noah, and I listen silently and intently. I’m trying not to fidget with my malachite necklace, but it’s hard to hold still with the nervous flutters my pulse is doing.
“If you get separated from the group,” Ralph goes on evenly, “First priority is to get back to the group. Find whoever’s closest, but ideally you want to make it back to Aiden. Our ghost is low on energy, so only call her if it’s a real, serious emergency. Make sure you don’t summon her by accident.”
Ralph pauses to make sure we’re all paying attention, then adds - “The hotel will be our base. If you don’t know where anyone is, come back here and get into the crowd. We know the Witch doesn’t like those. And… keep an eye on the hunters. Alright?”
Silent nods all around.
“Good. One more thing. If we need to break into groups of two, Jamie and Aiden, you can’t be together. Don’t look at me like that, it’s for a reason. Reception sucks in the forest, and we can’t expend ghost energy just to send messages about where we are. Jamie, you’ve got the necklace you can use to find Aiden. You two can bring the groups back together, so if we have to split up… one of you per team.”
“Fine,” I answer, even though I really don’t want to.
Aiden gives my hand a regretful little squeeze as he resigns himself to it. Ralph bites his lip, hesitating to add whatever he’s about to say.
“The Witch is probably gonna try her hardest to split us all up tonight,” he goes on softly. “She’s gonna try to get us out of the way, or put us in danger to draw out Aiden. We know to expect that, so if you find yourself alone, don’t worry about trying to fill in your memory gaps, and don’t panic. Just get back to the group. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to take us on that way. If all goes well we’ll come out just fine, and even if we don’t catch her… maybe we can get her to do something really big, spend a lot of magic for nothing. That would put us in good shape for tomorrow, understand?”
“Yes,” comes the murmured answer from the rest of us.
All of us have grown quiet and serious. It’s increasingly clear that Ralph expects the Witch to make a big move tonight. Makes sense, I suppose she must be getting pretty fed up with us. She’s gone to a lot of trouble to steal all this power, and we keep making her spend it on us. We may not have even come close to dispelling her, but she hasn’t had much success getting Aiden alone, either.
She must be angry. And we know she’s out there tonight, waiting for the right moment to try again.
Ralph glances out at the forest, absent-mindedly twisting his fingers around his wristbands.
“For now, let’s just try to keep the hunters safe. I’m guessing there’ll be some false alarms, but we should probably get over to where any chaos starts breaking out, make sure it isn’t her. If it is her, then - you ready, Aiden?”
Aiden folds one arm over his chest, then flicks a finger at Ralph. A little golden spark bursts from his fingertip and breaks gently against Ralph’s nose.
“Don’t you go doubting me,” Aiden rumbles, as Ralph lets out a sputter of surprise and swipes a hand across his face.
“Or the rest of us,” Noah adds, elbowing Ralph right in the angel wings. “We’ve got this, capitaine!”
“I’m not questioning that,” Ralph says exasperatedly, suppressing a laugh as he shoves Noah away. “I’m just making sure we’re all prepared for what’s out there, alright? I know damn well the team can handle it.”
We all beam at him in flattered surprise, except for Aiden, who blushes indignantly as Ralph adds -
“Especially because Aiden is hell-bent on impressing Jamie. That’s good for us. Serious boost to our team stats, no joke.”
Aiden swats Ralph’s arm, I break into a pleased grin, and Noah puts up his hand.
“I have a question, Ralph.”
“No, goddamnit, no questions. Stay focused.”
“When do we get to break the one thing at the hotel?”
“When d-?” Ralph stops still, staring at Noah in blank disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me? Half the whole hotel is broken, Noosh!”
“But we didn’t break anything,” Noah points out, a little sulkily. “You said we could break one thing.”
“We-” Ralph begins, then breaks off, his eyebrows furrowing. “Wait, have we not broken anything, somehow?”
“Could make the argument I’m responsible for the saucepan damage,” Aiden admits, wincing behind the ghost glasses.
Noah pulls a skeptical face at him. “Nah, bro, pretty sure if the saucepan is alive now then it’s responsible for its own actions.”
“Wow, that’s a layered conversation for another time,” Ralph cuts in, rubbing his temples. “Could we stay focused on-?”
“Oh, wait, I broke one of the dishes in that big ugly cabinet in the lobby,” Noah remembers, then looks sharply over at Ralph. “But that doesn’t count, dude, right? One little plate?”
“The cop car wasn’t enough destruction for you?” Ralph sighs, spreading a hand on Noah’s face to push him away as he leans in closer with giant, pleading eyes. “Why do I choose to spend all my time with a dangerous lunatic?”
“Like you’re not a dangerous lunatic,” Noah snickers, then glances thoughtfully around at the rest of us. “Everyone in this group kind of is, actually. Even Jamie periodically loses his fuckin’ mind-”
“No, I don’t!” I protest, then give Aiden a shove when he closes his eyes and nods his head at Noah in solemn confirmation.
“But it’s all good!” Noah flashes Ralph a bright grin, slaps his shoulder enthusiastically. “That’s all part of why we’ll beat the Witch.”
“We’ll try our best to stick to the plan, this time,” Aiden adds, a little guiltily. “We promise.”
Ralph gazes at both of his brothers affectionately. He opens his mouth to say something, then turns his head sharply towards the forest, listening.
From far off in the distance, muffled voices are rising up to a shouting pitch. Hunters, calling out to each other. It’s impossible to hear what they’re saying, but there’s a definite note of panic in their tangled voices.
Aiden, Noah, Ralph, and I all look at each other. As one, we push off of the picnic table and break into a run, racing for the treeline.
“Shit, already?” Noah clicks on his flashlight as the darkness of the forest reaches for us. “She’s not playing around tonight!”
“Neither are we,” Ralph growls, and leads the way back into the woods.
~~~~
Remember what Ralph said, I remind myself, for at least the tenth time. It was bound to happen. Don’t panic. Just get back to the group.
Here I am, sprinting alone through the forest, again. I don’t remember how I ended up all the way out here. I’m so far out in the dark forest that I’ve left the hunt behind. I know this because a lot of the hunters are shouting, and they sound very far away. I have no idea why they’d all be shouting like that. It’s not what I’m worried about at the moment.
Don’t panic… just get back to the group…
Thank god for the starlight to see by. The rain left behind a lot of soft, slippery mud, and I’m sprinting up hills, leaping over little creek beds, sliding to catch my footing. Without the silvery glow painting everything I’d have fallen a hundred times by now.
My pulse is going haywire. My heartbeat is racing so hard that the throb of it is thudding in my ears, blotting out all the sound around me. It takes me a second to hear that one of the shouting voices is closer than the others, and calling my name.
“Jamie! Over here!”
I stagger to a stop and look to my left, my heart hammering. My eyes catch the moonlight sliding over pale gold hair, someone sprinting through the trees to meet me.
I let out a gasping choke of relief, then strike out to meet Ralph halfway. We all but crash into each other, then straighten up, clutching each other’s arms for balance.
“Thank fucking god!” Ralph pushes me back to take a look at me, his eyes swiftly checking me for injuries. “You okay, Jamie?”
I am, just very mud-splattered. “Yes!”
Ralph nods, ridiculously calm given the situation. “Where are the others?”
“I don’t know! The last thing I remember is… we saw one of the hunters running through the woods screaming, and we ran after him! And there was another one running the other way - Noah and Aiden followed him!”
“Fuck,” Ralph pants, his grey-green eyes widening with worry. “Aiden and Noah - we’ve gotta find them - if Noah’s the last one left with Aiden, the Witch is gonna try to split them up - we need to-”
“I’ve been following the malachite necklace, they should be this way!”
Ralph and I set off sprinting again, listening in confusion to the mingled shouting of the hunters off in the distance. What the hell could be going on over there? The malachite cutting isn’t even leading us that way.
It doesn’t matter right now, I remind myself. Just get to Aiden, get back to Aiden…
I gasp and pull up short, staring ahead with wide eyes.
Kasey just materialized right in front of me.
“Thank god I spotted you!” she pants, all out of breath, her weak light flickering.
My heart plummets, my blood going cold. Kasey would only be here right now if there was a serious emergency.
Ralph, who stopped when he saw me staring, already understands the same thing.
“Who?” he asks, breathing hard.
“Noah!” Kasey answers, her dark eyes wide with fear. “He’s in big trouble!”
Ralph’s face goes very pale when I numbly repeat that. “Where?”
Kasey points off through the trees. “That way, you’re not far!”
“Get Aiden!” Ralph shouts, then sets off running.
I’m right behind him, before Kasey even disappears. The two of us tear through the moonlit forest, moving so fast that it all becomes a silvery green blur, the rush of the wind through my hair, and the thud, thud, thud of my heartbeat in my ears…
Ralph suddenly pulls up to a sharp stop, flinging himself backwards to break his momentum. I instinctively try to do the same, sinking the sides of my hiking boots into the slippery mud, but I can’t slow myself down as quickly.
The ground disappears from under one of my feet. There must be a drop-off Ralph saw that I didn’t, and I’m about to go right over it -
Instead I go falling backwards, wrenched back into the mud. I look up gratefully at Ralph, gasping for breath. He lets go of the handful of my flannel he saved me by, then hastily drags me back to my feet.
Together we look over the ledge we just nearly fell off of.
Below the rocky drop-off, there’s a deep, enclosed valley. A wide clearing with two very sheer, very steep walls of mud, enclosed on either end by two walls of smooth, equally steep rock. Ralph and I are standing at the very edge of one of the rock walls. I’m even more grateful now that he caught me in time, because not only is that a far drop, it’s a naturally occurring trap. I don’t see any good way to get out of there.
Before either of us can move to go around it, there’s a crash of sudden noise from the far edge of the valley. The sound of sprinting footsteps tearing through the undergrowth.
“NOAH, LOOK OUT!” Ralph roars, right as a tattooed blur bursts out of the trees.
Noah hears him and tries to stop himself, but he’s moving way too fast. My heart stops with cold horror as he falls right over the edge of the mud wall, plummeting into the valley.
He makes a grab for the nearest tree branch. It’s a fragile little one he catches. It snaps right off of the tree once he falls beyond its reach, but it slows his momentum enough that he can slide down the mud wall and hit the ground running at the bottom.
It was a very badass move. The fact that Noah doesn’t let out so much as a single laugh about it is extremely alarming.
“Noosh!” Ralph shouts, as Noah rushes across the clearing towards the rock wall. “What the fuck happened? Are you-?”
“Holy shit!” Noah shouts frantically, his long hair whipping in the wind as he races for us. “We gotta get the fuck out of here!”
Noah tries to run up the rock wall, then backs away when it immediately becomes clear it’s too smooth and slippery. He tries the mud wall, with similar results. Ralph and I both throw ourselves flat on our stomachs to reach for him, but it’s no use. He’s way too far down, and if we jump down there we’ll just be stuck, too.
“Hang on, Noosh!” Ralph calls, closing his eyes for a second. “We just need to think of a way to get you out of there-”
“There’s no fucking time!” Noah calls up, the panic showing itself in his voice. “They’re right on my ass! She messed around with their heads, made them all go crazy! They’re out for blood!”
My eyes widen with alarm. “The hunters?”
“No! The-”
Ralph and I both look up sharply, hearing a sound from the forest. Together we look straight across the valley at the treeline on the far side, where Noah came running from before he fell in. The clouds above us shift, allowing us a clear, starlit look at what’s been chasing him.
No wonder all the hunters are shouting. All of their dogs just went missing at once.
The dogs are running together in a loosely formed pack, teeth bared. Their eyes are gleaming with manic rage, and with too-bright magic.
Even Slayer, who really did seem like a sweetheart when we met on our first day, looks terrifying now. Furious snarling and barking shatters the quiet of the night as the dogs race for where they must have seen Noah go over the edge, their jaws snapping like they want to tear his throat out.
I twist to look at Ralph, waiting for instructions, for a plan.
He’s standing frozen to the spot. Staring silently at the dogs with perfectly round eyes, all the color gone from his face. I don’t even think he’s breathing. The wind pushes a stray lock of blonde tumbling down over his eye, and he doesn’t even push it back so he can see.
I seize his arm and give him a hard shake. “Ralph!”
No response. His grey-green eyes are riveted to the approaching pack of dogs. A muscle in his jaw spasms, like he’s trying to move but he physically can’t.
“Ralph! It’s kind of a fucking emergency, man!”
Again, no answer. He’s still frozen, motionless. I steal a terrified glance at the dogs, then shake him again.
“Noah’s in trouble!” I practically shout in his ear, mounting desperation in my voice. “Ralph, Noah, it’s Noah-!”
I break off with a gasp as Ralph suddenly, swiftly moves forward and leaps down over the side of the steep mud wall. He slides and scrambles his way down to Noah, who automatically catches him to help break his fall.
“No, Ralph!” Noah gasps, thunderstruck. “What the fuck are you-? Now you’re trapped, too!”
Ralph wordlessly bends down, does something to his boot, and straightens up with a knife. With expert ease, he plunges it deep into the mud wall, burying it up to the handle.
“Go, go!” he shouts, shoving Noah towards it.
Noah gets his boot up on the handle of the knife. I throw myself flat on the ledge again to reach for his hand as he pushes himself up. Right when he nearly has hold of my fingers, the knife loses its hold in the too-soft mud. It tumbles free, and Noah slides back down to the valley floor.
“You guys!” I shout, my voice hoarse with panic. “Look out, the dogs are almost-!”
Ralph and Noah whip around as the dogs reach the ledge on the other side of the clearing and fearlessly fling themselves down the steep, muddy wall. The furious barking swells to an angry roar, from this close.
As soon as the dogs regain their footing, they charge straight for Ralph and Noah.
Without warning, Ralph seizes Noah, moving so swiftly and grasping him so tightly that Noah lets out a sharp gasp.
Ralph forces him down to the ground. Noah sits down hard, the heels of his boots kicking at mud too soft to help stop him.
Ralph pushes Noah’s head down, then flings himself over him and curls around him, covering him completely with his own body.
After a dumbstruck moment, Noah realizes what he’s doing. He starts fighting like hell to get free, but Ralph is holding him so tight that he can only get one arm loose. His inky hand grasps uselessly at Ralph’s torn-up shirt, unable to get a hold of him.
Ralph is shivering so hard that I can see it from here, but he doesn’t move. He only closes his eyes and puts his head down as the dogs bolt across the clearing with murder in their glowing eyes.
“Ralph, no!” Noah shouts frantically, almost screaming.
I leap to my feet, even though I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have to do something, but there’s no fucking time for anything -
Ralph’s head snaps up, and so does mine. Noah manages to get free enough to look up with us as someone skids to a stop on the rock ledge at the far side of the clearing.
Illuminated in the moonlight, Aiden takes a split second to look at what’s happening. Apparently that’s all he needs.
Radiant blue fire bursts to life in his eyes, and his bronze skin begins to glow golden, power and magic making the air around him shudder. The seething electricity of it all makes his hair dance around his face like it’s full of the wind.
Kasey is floating at his shoulder. She fades away, vanishing before her energy can run out.
Aiden leaps lightly down into the clearing, landing with that unique, unbelievable gracefulness that belongs only to him.
The dogs are only a few feet away from Ralph and Noah. Ralph puts his head down again, shoving Noah’s down, too.
Aiden winds one hand back, then flings it out forward, reaching for his brothers.
A swirling burst of golden light soars into the air, exploding out from Aiden’s palm in a glittering arc. It travels across the clearing so fast that I barely have time to see it. By the time my eyes have followed it back to Noah and Ralph, it’s already hit them.
They both briefly glow very brightly golden.
It all happens in about the span of a second, but time seems to slow down as everything unfolds before my disbelieving eyes.
An enormous, shining snow leopard springs out from Noah’s elbow, made of glowing golden linework. At the exact same moment, two massive, glowing angel wings burst free from Ralph’s side, spinning upwards to open wide above his back, hovering at each of his shoulder blades. A gust of wind goes across the clearing, the sweep of the great golden wings.
The snow leopard lands crouched on four feet before Noah and Ralph, then opens its mouth in a vicious snarl.
The dogs skid to a panic-stricken stop, turn around, and flee.
At the same time, the wings sweep down to wrap protectively around Ralph and Noah, enfolding them, sheltering them completely. The dogs who had already gotten past the snow leopard and taken a lunge at Ralph and Noah go bouncing right off of the golden wings, landing unhurt but bewildered in the mud.
They scramble to their feet, then flee alongside the others, who the snow leopard is playfully chasing up the mud wall. The dogs shouldn’t even be able to make it up a wall this steep, but they’ve been very effectively motivated. The littlest ones use the tracks left behind by the bigger ones to scramble their way up, whining as the snow leopard nips at their heels.
Frightened out of all of their illusions, the dogs escape the clearing and bolt in the direction of the hotel, off to find their owners.
Once they’re all gone, the golden linework wings gently sweep open again. The snow leopard hops lightly back down into the valley, then trots back over to Noah.
Ralph and Noah sit in frozen, shell-shocked silence, their eyes as wide and round as they go, their mouths slightly open. Ralph slowly looks down at the blank space on his ribs where his tattoo normally is. He twists sharply to look up at the wings as they protectively fold around him again, this time in a movement more like a reassuring hug.
Noah dazedly lifts a hand to the giant snow leopard as it stops before him, its huge eyes blinking slowly. It sniffs his fingers, then gently, affectionately nuzzles his face, apparently checking him for injuries.
Aiden is still standing right where he was. Panting hard with effort, his hand reaching out, his eyes blazing like pools of blue fire as he works to maintain the spell. With a labored breath, he finally releases it.
The snow leopard leaps for Noah’s elbow, shrinking down in size as it goes. Ralph’s angel wings do a graceful, folding swirl as they slip back down to his ribs.
Ralph and Noah sit there panting, staring at their tattoos. The inky lines and shading are back to normal, right back where they were before. Like nothing ever happened.
Aiden sinks to his knees in the mud, his broad chest rising and falling hard with his panted breaths. The magic flickers out in his eyes, and suddenly he looks exhausted.
“Fuck,” he pants, barely keeping himself up on his hands and knees.
With a shuddering gasp, I shake myself out of the dumbstruck haze I’ve been lost in.
“Ralph, Noah!” I call out frantically, slinging my leg over the side of the mud wall so I can climb down. “Somebody give Aiden some energy! If he crashes he’ll have to do a full recharge!”
Noah is still frozen, but Ralph mechanically turns his head. He catches sight of Aiden struggling on the ground, and abruptly seems to process what I was shouting about.
He finally manages to let go of Noah. Shaking his blonde hair out of his eyes, he staggers to his feet. He rushes over and lands on his knees next to Aiden, who seizes his outstretched hand.
“Oh-!” I go skidding down the mud wall on the heels of my boots, catching myself on my fingertips so I don’t fall. “Ralph, be careful, or he’ll drain you too fast and you’ll pass out, he won’t be able to help it-!”
Right as my feet hit the ground, Ralph crumples to the forest floor beside Aiden, collapsing onto his stomach. I rush over and wrench their hands apart. Gasping, Ralph rolls onto his back, and Aiden’s tired eyes slowly flutter open again.
“Are you okay?” I stammer, crouching down on one knee to cup his face in my hands.
Aiden brushes a swift, reassuring little kiss onto my palm, exhausted but awake. “Yeah, I’m okay… are you?”
“I - I guess?” I let out a dazed laugh, staring at him in rapt admiration. “Holy fuck, though! Whoa, babe! Holy shit!”
“Aw, man-” Aiden sits up on his elbow, wincing when he sees Ralph laying there in a heap. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Ralph! It’s really hard to control without Jamie!”
“S'alright,” Ralph pants, without opening his eyes or lifting his cheek out of the mud. “No worries. Am I - gonna be - okay?”
“Yeah, I promise you’re fine, you’re just really tired.” Aiden gets up onto his knees, then offers Ralph a hand to pull him upright. “Nothing a night of sleep won’t fix.”
Noah finally stands up, swaying on his feet. His wide, stunned grey eyes keep flitting between Ralph, Aiden, and his own tattoo. He looks like he can’t believe a single thing that just happened.
“Aiden,” he says faintly. “Our tattoos… you - dude, how…?”
“I don’t know, and don’t ever ask me to do that again,” Aiden groans, leading the way up to the muddy wall. “That was hard as fuck, used up just about all the magic I had.”
He spares the tiniest bit of energy to bake the mud slightly harder, one hand pressed to the wall as it steams out all of its moisture. Just doing that clearly takes a lot out of him, makes him sway on his feet.
“Good news is we did what you said, Ralph,” Aiden adds. “The Witch must have spent a hell of a lot of her magic, too. She can’t get that back, and it was all for nothing. She didn’t catch me while we were separated. Now we might actually have a fighting chance tomorrow.”
Ralph breathes out a soft laugh, his voice so unraveled by exhaustion that we can’t understand his answer.
Noah’s eyes flit from Aiden to Ralph, who’s only staying on his feet by leaning heavily against me, his head hanging down. The sight of him like that seems to snap Noah out of his trance. He quickly darts over and gets an arm around him, freeing me up to rescue the fallen knife from the mud.
“Ralph?” Noah asks anxiously, basically holding him up. His inky fingers gingerly, timidly touch Ralph’s blonde hair. “Are you - are you okay?”
“Could really… use a… cigarette,” Ralph mumbles, without lifting his head or opening his eyes. “Or maybe a… blunt?”
Noah lets out a shaky, slightly hysterical laugh, clutching a tight handful of the back of Ralph’s shirt. “That can be arranged.”
“First thing’s first.” Aiden kicks a foothold out of the now easily sculptable mud, then tosses his head at it. “Everyone up. Let’s get back to camp.”
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