((Would like to thank Osric for writing the majority of this post and sending to to me to add my part. You, sir, are as awesome as ever. 
))
Blackness and fog. It was all Askier saw. He stood in an empty void.
"Askier!" shouted Adin's voice. Askier spun and there Adin stood, tall as Askier, his brown hair slicked back in the same way Askier had come to do, mimicking the hyur's style. Adin's narrow face and emerald eyes seemed to glow with an inner light as Adin reached up and placed his hands on the back of Askier's head, placing his face inches from Askier's.
"Do you truly hate me after all we've shared?" Adin cooed softly.
"Yes!" Askier snarled, his hand swinging forward through Adin, through the blackness, through the veil of unconsciousness and back into the realm of reality.
***
Askier coughed, gasped for breath, sat upright, coughed some more, blood and salt water spraying from his mouth.
The girl shrieked and scrambled back, dropping a rather large tome.
"Holy hells that hurts!" Askier screamed as the wound in his side flared to life and he clutched at it as his eyes started to water and his teeth gnashed rapidly
The little, drenched boy in the back of the rowboat shot to his feet, came forward, and shoved the Miqo'te back down, held him there. "Stay still. She's not very good at this."
"T-t-thomys, is he..."
"All you, Dani." The dark-haired adolescent stood up, dripping, turned back to the oars, raised a hand to one ear.
"Cori? We've got'm... easy, easy, didn't hit no rocks, aight...? You okay? They didn't see you...?"
"Who are you? Are you Adin's men?!" Askier paniced, his body too weak to fight the boy holding him down and his mind too foggy to think clearly.
"...he didn't send us," whispered the girl as she took up her tome again. "Cori overheard you... at the Wench... and Tom... Tom knows Sisipu, so...."
She flipped a few pages, then laid a hand on his wound and closed her eyes again.
"Who are you then?" Askier said, mistrust burning in his golden eye as the left eye stared dull and empty, a tear of blood pooling inside the ruined optic.
Thomys sat down, took up the oars, and grinned.
"Y'just sit still, aight? You're goin' to meet Andy."
"I don't feel reassured." Askier groaned as the blackness began to wrap it's tendrils back around his mind and pull him back into the depths of unconsciousness.
***
The liftkeeper was down and bleeding out, so Osric Melkire lowered his shoulder and slammed through the door to the side instead, taking the revolving stairs two at a time. He held up the tracker and glanced at it. The needle was steady... and then it shook, shifting to his left, up the stairwell.
His eyes widened. Instead of taking the next stair, he planted his forward foot and pushed back...
"KAHN'A!"
...just as a hooded figure spun a step down, raised a rifle, and fired. The shot went ricocheting off the stone walls, screeching as it went, as Osric stumbled backwards and slammed into the same wall...
Od'hilkas turned the corner right behind him, stepped up, bow raised, arrow already nocked and drawn, and loosed.
The hooded figure drew her head back - it was undoubtedly a she, the figure was too slim and lithe to be anything but - and the arrowhead only nicked her cheek, slicing through the hood as it went. The woman turned...
"Go, go, go!"
Od'hilkas hadn't needed Melkire's urging; he was after her like a coeurl after apkallu, the sergeant right behind him. They hit the landing just as she hopped the gate to the docking area, turned, and fired again.
Osric, the man in black, took the bullet in the shoulder and went down.
The private gritted his teeth, drew another arrow, and fired. The woman ducked.
Beyond, by an airship of unfamiliar make, another hooded figure... with an albino Miqo'te slung over his shoulder.
Jin'li.
"Rema, we're leaving!" the second figure ordered with a shout.
The woman glanced back as she fanned the trigger one more time... Osric pushed himself to one knee...
She took aim again and fired.
))Blackness and fog. It was all Askier saw. He stood in an empty void.
"Askier!" shouted Adin's voice. Askier spun and there Adin stood, tall as Askier, his brown hair slicked back in the same way Askier had come to do, mimicking the hyur's style. Adin's narrow face and emerald eyes seemed to glow with an inner light as Adin reached up and placed his hands on the back of Askier's head, placing his face inches from Askier's.
"Do you truly hate me after all we've shared?" Adin cooed softly.
"Yes!" Askier snarled, his hand swinging forward through Adin, through the blackness, through the veil of unconsciousness and back into the realm of reality.
***
Askier coughed, gasped for breath, sat upright, coughed some more, blood and salt water spraying from his mouth.
The girl shrieked and scrambled back, dropping a rather large tome.
"Holy hells that hurts!" Askier screamed as the wound in his side flared to life and he clutched at it as his eyes started to water and his teeth gnashed rapidly
The little, drenched boy in the back of the rowboat shot to his feet, came forward, and shoved the Miqo'te back down, held him there. "Stay still. She's not very good at this."
"T-t-thomys, is he..."
"All you, Dani." The dark-haired adolescent stood up, dripping, turned back to the oars, raised a hand to one ear.
"Cori? We've got'm... easy, easy, didn't hit no rocks, aight...? You okay? They didn't see you...?"
"Who are you? Are you Adin's men?!" Askier paniced, his body too weak to fight the boy holding him down and his mind too foggy to think clearly.
"...he didn't send us," whispered the girl as she took up her tome again. "Cori overheard you... at the Wench... and Tom... Tom knows Sisipu, so...."
She flipped a few pages, then laid a hand on his wound and closed her eyes again.
"Who are you then?" Askier said, mistrust burning in his golden eye as the left eye stared dull and empty, a tear of blood pooling inside the ruined optic.
Thomys sat down, took up the oars, and grinned.
"Y'just sit still, aight? You're goin' to meet Andy."
"I don't feel reassured." Askier groaned as the blackness began to wrap it's tendrils back around his mind and pull him back into the depths of unconsciousness.
***
The liftkeeper was down and bleeding out, so Osric Melkire lowered his shoulder and slammed through the door to the side instead, taking the revolving stairs two at a time. He held up the tracker and glanced at it. The needle was steady... and then it shook, shifting to his left, up the stairwell.
His eyes widened. Instead of taking the next stair, he planted his forward foot and pushed back...
"KAHN'A!"
...just as a hooded figure spun a step down, raised a rifle, and fired. The shot went ricocheting off the stone walls, screeching as it went, as Osric stumbled backwards and slammed into the same wall...
Od'hilkas turned the corner right behind him, stepped up, bow raised, arrow already nocked and drawn, and loosed.
The hooded figure drew her head back - it was undoubtedly a she, the figure was too slim and lithe to be anything but - and the arrowhead only nicked her cheek, slicing through the hood as it went. The woman turned...
"Go, go, go!"
Od'hilkas hadn't needed Melkire's urging; he was after her like a coeurl after apkallu, the sergeant right behind him. They hit the landing just as she hopped the gate to the docking area, turned, and fired again.
Osric, the man in black, took the bullet in the shoulder and went down.
The private gritted his teeth, drew another arrow, and fired. The woman ducked.
Beyond, by an airship of unfamiliar make, another hooded figure... with an albino Miqo'te slung over his shoulder.
Jin'li.
"Rema, we're leaving!" the second figure ordered with a shout.
The woman glanced back as she fanned the trigger one more time... Osric pushed himself to one knee...
She took aim again and fired.
