Kazuto insisted, only to jump sharply from Micah's shouts. He couldn't keep his gaze on Conri upon comprehending the yelling, knowing one of their own had fallen. With a tightened fist, he pushed away the feeling of responsibility and staggered a bit. He had to reach for his comrade to steady himself, only then pulling out the dagger in his side. A bit of blood mixed with bile seeped out for a moment before the wound closed completely and the mask began to detach from his face. His veins lost their black outline as the mask clattered onto the floor, wobbling before it settled onto the darkened stone.
"Sorry."
He mumbled, taking a glance at the dagger Nicodemus stabbed into his side with light from upstairs. After inspecting it over, he slid it into his coat and glanced at Cherry who'd been fiddling with the burning web which caught her arm.
She'd ended up getting one of her own daggers stuck in the web before striking a match and burning the rest of the thickly strewn web off of her. Shaking away the pain in her arm, she squinted at the top of the stairwell and found no further signs of life.
As she walked over, massaging her injury before noticing the two's darkened expressions and the hardly recognizable man.
"No."
She shook her head slowly,
"We got him. We couldn't... You..."
Blinking back tears, she pressed her lips together and sniffled, hoping to listen to the one voice she couldn't hear. The one sibling she couldn't account for. Expectedly, she could only hear Micah's sobs before Kazuto spoke up, coughing.
"It could've been any of us. He was just waiting."
Instead of responding to Kazuto's words, Cherry dropped down to what was left of their opponent and searched him-- locating keys wrapped on a ring, likely withholding noise as he moved. As she stood up, she retrieved the fallen mask and handed it over, hiding her face immediately after.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go get the babes out."
She whispered, hurrying off into another room. There, she cried openly, yet kept to her word, twisting keys on their locks to free the suffering.
Jack stood silently, listening to the team talk to each other behind him. As Cherry left the room, however, Jack awoke from his daze and hurried after her.
"No!" He said quickly, reaching out and stopping her as she went to unlock one of the cages. "We will leave the children tonight. We can't possibly carry or keep track of them all. They've lived this long, they'll hold on until tomorrow when we can return with an entire village of help."
He turned and walked right into Conri, who's eyes were wide.
"She's dead, father-"
"I know."
"No, but, she's dead. Samma is dead. Dead..? How could this happen, how could Samma be dead, I don't understand, I-" Conri's voice stammered into illegible, distraught rambling and Jack put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Get a hold of yourself, son." He muttered quietly, keeping his eyes forward and not looking at the boy directly. "The time for weeping will come." Continuing past him, the squad boss walked back into the room with Micah and the body. Without a word, he crouched down and gently scooped Samma into his arms. Standing up, for just a moment his eyes traveled down to hers and he looked away quickly.
"We're going home." Jack declared loudly, both to his remaining family and the dead adopted daughter in his arms.
Cherry repeated, retracting her arm as Jack stopped her. She dared not go against his orders, but they seemed foolish. Her face twisted into a bitter anger as he went to grab Samma, who lost her life for those barely alive yet hardly dead. She bit her tongue as she lowered her head in compliance, finding a spot on her thigh strap to hold the keys. With them secured, she silently followed the group upstairs without complaint.
"This place is evil."
She mumbled, holding onto the ends of her short dress with balled up fists. It felt so unlike her; everything around absolutely disgusted her. What was supposed to be a fun night in Marrow morphed into something completely unbelievable.
At the top of the stairs, Kazuto glanced around at the unexplored rooms. The kitchen and smaller hallways still had thousands of tethered strings blocking their entrances and obscuring the rooms from view. Yet the morning's sunlight helped to illuminate them-- dawn had already arrived and the smoke had cleared.
Jack stared hard down at Cherry as they ascended the stairs, thinking over her obvious concerns for the children. As they reached the top, the warm sunlight kissed their faces like a mother to her children returning from war. Jack hadn't realized that tomorrow had already come. "Oh...Today, Cher." He muttered softly, correcting himself. "We'll get them out today."
Subconsciously, he rested his head tenderly against Samma's as if she were still a little child while they crossed through the house, down the steps, and into the yard. It was terribly quiet amongst them as each of them fetched their horses and prepared to leave. After Jack had helped secure Samma onto her horse with Micah -for Micah was quick to insist that he ride with her- instead of mounting his own steed, Jack walked over to Cherry's and held out his hand.
"You have the keys? I will stay." Conri looked up and over at him in concern, but Jack raised his other hand to stop any complaints. "I will keep watch over them until help arrives."
"Micah," To this, Micah raised his red and swollen eyes. "Gather troops from Broder, at least fifty of them. Update them on what we've found,and lead them here. Bring doctors, carriages, blankets, clothing, and food as well. Then you and Cherry may help, or you may return home. You've all finished your job in coming here and investigating. Thank you." The last two words came out barely above a whisper, and Jack's gaze travelled slightly in the direction of Samma before refocusing. "Kazuto, you must return home. Rest. Receive further medical attention." He added firmly.
Although she didn't protest, she gave him a questionable look as he insisted on staying alone with the children. Shuffling her dress up to expose her thighs revealed the keys, quickly unfastened and transferred to Jack's hands.
"Be kind to them."
She mumbled, purposely looking away from Jack's direction. She stared out into the woods were they were to traverse-- anything to keep her mind off their fallen sister. She'd mourn properly when she returned. Surrounding herself in Samma's room with Samma's things; everything left as she had it. Likely to be locked after some time, frozen before she died.
Kazuto nodded to Jack, fixing his pained position atop his horse. There seemed to be no comfortable way to sit, so he hunched over a bit before leading his steed into a light trot towards Marrow with those who headed there.
Zion's head poked out from the top of the cottage, watching the intruders leave on their giant rats. His mind had been racing since he watch his Father snap and spill open, just like the small critters he'd caught. A rabbit ravaged by a wolf.
He bit down nervously on his claw-like nails, debating his options. He'd always listened to Nicodemus to survive, but now? Now that he was finally free? How does one live without a birdkeeper?
Gazing up from his perch, he glanced at what he could see past the treeline, up and away, into the sky only beginning to fill with blue hues. He searched for the little speck of the sun and stared at it, rising up from his crouch to gain view. It cast a shadow down below the home, exposing him as he stood atop its paneling, bewildered.
For the first time in his life, he watched the morning sunrise as he pleased.
Jack watched the team leave, his dead eyes at last growing sad. His gaze dropped as he turned and walked back to the house, his steps slow with grief.
He froze in place as he noticed Zion's menacing shadow cast onto the grass nearby. Looking up in alarm, Jack shielded his eyes to see the boy watching the sunrise. He stared up at him for a long moment. The young man was so thin, and there was something about his posture that reminded Jack of a toddler unsure of its next steps. Something in him hurt for this boy.
Silently, Jack placed the keys in his jacket. He wiped himself off, not at all managing to lessen the enormous blood stains drenching his clothes and hair.
"Lad." He called up to Zion, squinting in the bright light. "What are you doing up there?"
Immediately returning to his crouched position, Zion flinched as he heard Jack's voice-- much closer than where he had thought the man was. His eyes widened with fear as he hunkered down at the cottage's edge, trying to conceal himself. Still, the upper part of his head poked up, curious about the stranger. The one who addressed him.
"LIght wATch."
He answered, creeping along the rooftop. Curiously eyeing Jack.
Jack took a few steps back as Zion drew closer to the edge, but he remained calm.
"Zion, huh?" He asked quietly, slowly sitting himself down in the grass and nonchalantly resting his hand over where his knife was hidden in his boot- just in case.
"I see..." He replied, nodding his head as if all of that made perfect sense. Relaxing, he took his hand off his hidden knife and folded his fingers over his lap.
"I'm going to be letting all of those birds out, I'm going to be setting them free. You're free as well now, Zion." Jack said, giving the smallest half smile. "I'm going to be giving them new homes, where they'll be warm and safe, and never hungry. They'll never be kept in the dark or locked in a cage. Would you like that too?"
