Work Text:
Night was quickly falling over the plains, now softly illuminated by the last blue-grey light lingering on the horizon.
With a shock of pain, Jade toppled to the ground, dragging down Kit who’d been trying to hold her up as they’d struggled forward. Her leg was badly mangled, sliced through to the bone by an enemy sword and the searing ache coupled with the blood loss was making her head spin.
“Jade, we can’t stop,” Kit urged breathlessly, straining to pull her up.
Kit’s legs trembled, her feet slipping in the dirt. Still seeing spots, Jade tried to gather herself enough to help, but they were both well beyond exhausted and Kit couldn’t take her weight anymore. Even the Cuirass was on its last leg, its magic drained away by the evil they’d faced, the light now flickering feebly above Kit’s heart.
“C’mon,” Kit pleaded. She shifted behind Jade and hooked both arms under Jade’s armpits to try again, grunting under the effort. “We don’t have time-”
“You have to run,” Jade realized, resolved even as her gut twisted with fear. “Just go.”
Kit was right, they didn’t have time. Elora’s spell, the one that would hopefully destroy the Wyrm, was set to go off any minute and when it did it would be like a magic bomb, obliterating anything that didn’t get out of the way. Already Jade could see light shimmering from where they came, a blue sun ready to peek over the horizon.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Kit snapped, instantly furious.
“Kit please…” Jade begged, holding on to the last shred of hope that at least her Princess could be saved. “You can make it. Just stop being so stupid and-”
“Shut up!” Kit shouted. She bared her teeth, the whites of her eyes flashing like a rabid animal. “I won’t leave you here to die. I- I can save you.”
The last part was spoken with the shrill desperation of someone refusing to admit they were out of options. Jade was frightened, she didn’t want to die, but Kit had skipped past fear and gone straight to feral. Any other time, that would have been Jade’s cue to stop pushing a lost cause, but it was Kit’s life she was fighting for.
“I can’t get back up,” Jade pleaded. Every part of her was screaming to run but she’d hit a wall and her body just couldn’t do it anymore. “You did everything you could, Kit. But you have to get a lot further than this before the explosion and-”
“I know that!” Kit shot back, fumbling with the Lux embedded in her chest. “Still not gonna abandon you. I’d rather die too than leave you here, but I’m not giving up.”
Kit was completely delusional if she still thought there was a way to save both of them, but Jade was too preoccupied with what she was doing to the Lux to argue. As Jade watched in horror, Kit’s fingers skimmed over the latch and, with a soft click, it unlocked.
“No!” Jade cried frantically, fighting with Kit to push it back in even as the Cuirass retracted. “What are you doing?”
If Kit was set on staying then, even in the state it was in the Cuirass was the only thing that stood a chance of protecting her. Shedding it now pretty much guaranteed Kit would die with Jade.
Kit smacked Jade’s hands away impatiently. “Stop,” she demanded.
“No,” Jade, objected, reaching for it again. A clock was ticking in her head, seconds counting down to oblivion and she refused to take Kit with her into it. “You need it. You need your shield! You can’t just-”
Kit grabbed her wrists, eyes burning like coals. “Jade, we don’t have time for this,” she growled. “You need to stop fighting me so I can save you.”
The Cuirass had become a rusty old piece of armour once more. Kit had already let go of Jade and was rushing to take it off. The focused determination in her eyes gave Jade pause and she realized that whatever Kit was so intent on, it wasn’t about self-destruction.
“What are you doing?” Jade questioned.
“Something really stupid,” Kit muttered, pulling Jade into a suffocating embrace. “Just trust me.”
The two statements were in direct conflict with each other but Jade forced herself to cooperate, shifting closer as Kit squeezed the Cuirass over both of them. It didn’t latch closed, but Kit was already reaching around to Jade’s back where the Lux was still hanging onto it. She twisted the Lux, pushing down hard enough that Jade let out a grunt from the impact.
Nothing happened.
“C’mon, you useless scrap,” Kit muttered furiously, smashing the Lux again. Each strike sent a jolt through both of them. “You want to save me? You gotta save her too!”
Just as Jade realized what Kit was trying to accomplish, the ground shook and a loud boom blasted their ears.
Kit’s plan really was stupid but it was too late for anything else or for Kit to get the Cuirass back on. They had seconds at best, so Jade turned her head towards Kit, pressing her cheek into hers and closing her eyes tightly.
“It’s OK, darling,” she murmured against Kit’s ear. “You tried. I love you.”
It was the last thing Jade expected either of them to hear. She held Kit tightly, bracing for the debris and the searing heat as she felt Kit’s trembling arms return her embrace.
Then Jade heard a light thunk and suddenly cool, liquid metal was sliding over both of them. It must have been the Cuirass but it didn’t become armour like it always had for Kit. Instead, when it hardened, it was like being encased in a shell.
The moment it sealed, the explosion hit it with overwhelming force, trembling the ground underneath them. Jade didn’t feel anything except for a strong pressure from all sides and Kit’s arms clamped around her. All she knew was terror and the unshakable need to keep Kit in her arms no matter what happened next.
Then, after what felt like the longest few seconds of Jade’s life, it was over and the casing around them peeled itself away until it had morphed back into the inactivated Cuirass. With an irritable pop, Jade heard the Lux eject itself from the Cuirass, clattering onto the scorched earth behind her.
If she hadn’t known any better, Jade would have thought Kit’s armour was giving them attitude.
Neither of them moved, shocked that they weren’t dead and still trying to process what to do now that they weren’t.
“I can’t breathe,” Jade finally wheezed, realizing her lungs were ready to pop and loosening her grip on Kit in case she was having the same effect.
“Oh,” Kit gasped. “Sorry.”
Kit pulled back to look at Jade, her eyes unfocused and seeming about as dazed as Jade felt. Then, tentatively, she touched Jade’s cheek, squishing it with her index finger as if she thought it might not be real.
“Huh,” Kit marvelled. “We’re alive.”
Jade couldn’t help a weak laugh, dizzy with relief. “Looks like it.”
“Huh,” she repeated, gawking. “Cool. Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Neither was I,” Jade seconded. “That was just about the stupidest thing you’ve ever done,” she scolded.
Kit wiggled her eyebrows, looking way too smug for someone who’d only moments ago, been certain their plan was going to fail.
“Worked though, didn’t it?” she bragged. “You know, good intuition does run in my family. I guess I just inherited good instincts.”
“Or sheer dumb luck,” Jade countered, rolling her eyes.
“A bit of that too,” Kit conceded. She shook Jade’s shoulders, grinning widely. “We made it, Jade! Told you I’d save us.”
Jade gave up arguing with her, returning her grin and pressing her forehead against Kit’s, gripping the back of her neck.
“You did,” Jade murmured fondly. “You’re completely off your rocker, but I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Kit murmured back giddily, nudging her forehead against Jade’s so that their noses brushed. Then she inhaled sharply, her voice hardening. “But if you ever ask me to leave you again, I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“Before we’re both violently killed or after?” Jade teased, smiling when she felt Kit’s breathy chuckle against her skin.
“Before, during, and after,” Kit vowed.
“Ambitious,” Jade remarked. She tilted her head, inching her lips forward. “But I can think of something better to do together.”
“Hmm? Like what?” Kit whispered playfully, less than a hair’s breadth away.
Kit was like a whirlpool, sucking Jade in and Jade let herself fall into the kiss, ready to drown in whatever abyss awaited her. Kit engulfed her immediately, her fingers digging into the back of Jade’s leather armour to pull her in closer.
Maybe it was just luck that they were both alive, but it felt like a gift. Elora’s spell seemed to have worked, hopefully vanquishing the Wyrm for good, and the future ahead looked a lot brighter than it had just a few minutes ago.
Her leg still hurt like hell, and they still needed to find a way back to the others but Kit had given them their lives back and Jade intended to savour every second they had left of them. As Kit’s hands cradled her face, her lips moving against Jade’s in ways she felt all the way down to her core, Jade thought that they were getting off to a pretty good start to the rest of their lives.
/-/-/