[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/hvuUP9f.png[/img][/center]

Supporting the ragdoll-like form of Ruskali, Rose gave Fluke a glare as sharp as her blade. [color=ff4f61]"It doesn't matter!"[/color] she snapped. [color=ff4f61]"I doubt anyone much likes you either, yet you wouldn't want to be in his place! So quit watching with popcorn and go get help, which two of us here need!"[/color] The outburst had been a little harsher than she'd intended, but that guy was seriously getting on her last nerve. She took a deep breath, head swimming with the stench of incense, Ruskali's unwashed clothes, the alleyway sludge all over her, and blood. Not that it calmed her any, but she had to try to keep her wits about her. She turned to the other person she'd referred to, Listener.

Of course, Fluke just had to go and taunt Listener as she felt her way about with her spear. [color=ff4f61]"Is everything some big joke to you?"[/color] Rose yelled, approaching while still holding Ruskali upright. [color=ff4f61]"Hey Listener, you ok now? How many fingers am I holding up?"[/color] Keeping one arm around Ruskali's torso, she raised three fingers of her other hand. Was this serious? Had it been partly her fault for firing the energy beam right after the hit? She glanced wildly from her blinded comrade to the slumped form in her grip. [color=ff4f61]"Archer, I know you wanted to test us all, but please you've gotta do something!"[/color]

The emaciated frame, the shallow breathing, the stillness, all brought back memories of someone else.

Someone whose voice she hadn't expected to hear again, especially not right now.

She gasped, staring up at the broken window of an old abandoned house. From it, she could faintly hear the tune she'd been singing just now. Craning her neck, she listened over the breeze. Either she was imagining it, or [i]he[/i] was here... But how could he be? She hadn't heard him speak since the incident, let alone sing. The image of the man in the alleyway, in distinctive orange healer robes, resurfaced in her mind. Did this have something to do with it? In any case, what in the name of the gods was even going on?

[color=ff4f61]"What? No way..."[/color] Steel Rose didn't know whether it was hope or fear that welled through her as she stepped closer. In all likelihood, it was both.

[color=ff4f61]"Jay?"[/color]