“f*ck f*ck f*ck” Ja chanted to himself as he pressed his back against one of the large piles of debris that littered the burning ship.
His head was pounding from repeated blunt force trauma, his vision was swimming around the edges as he tried to keep the nausea at bay.
The ship was creaking and groaning, the sounds mingled with the erratic gunfire and screams of fear and pain that boomed behind him as he pressed his back closer into his cover.
When he’d opened his eyes on deck it had been dark, his head pounding with blurry memories of something big coming out of the water, of a sudden throbbing pain in his head and everything going dark. His left foot hung over the railing of the ship and it had burned painfully as he pulled it away from the twisted metal. He’d pushed the pain to the back of his mind as he’d sluggishly dragged himself past the dead bodies towards cover.
He’d woken up without his gun. He couldn’t really remember when he’d lost it, but it meant all he had on him was his Ka Bar. The one that had belonged to Brown. The one he’d taken from Brown’s body when his friend had died in the forest.
He hadn’t seen his team since he’d woken up…correction, he hadn’t see any of his team alive since he’d woken up.
He’d seen Prager skewered on a spear. His arms and head hanging limply as his body was still mostly held up. It was as if he’d just been killed, as if gravity had yet to realise he was no longer holding himself up leaving him frozen in place. Ja hadn’t been overly close to Prager, hadn’t spent much time with him, but it was still a dark sort of strange to just see him hanging there like a limp doll, forgotten by whoever was playing with him.
Panic had burned in his gut a moment later as new thoughts bombarded his mind. What if his brother was already dead? He hadn’t seen him since the world went dark and with the confirmation of so many deaths, the fear of his brother’s demise threatened to unravel what little conscious thought he could muster. It almost caused physical pain to shove the thoughts to the back of his head, to put his worry aside and promise himself that his brother would be fine, that he wouldn’t have let himself be killed…..again.
Gunfire drew closer as Ja painstakingly forced himself to his feet, leaning on the rubble to try and move to better cover. His breath was slow and laboured as he heaved himself forward slowly, his teeth clenched tightly to keep the sounds of his pain inside him, lest he draw unwanted attention.
Ja’s head ached as he moved, his vision would blur and every stumble would send burning pain through his left leg. One particularly nasty wave of nausea had Ja crashing to the ground, pain burning through him as his chest snagged against sharp twisted metal only for him to thankfully have been saved by his now twisted and torn ballistic vest.
Ja had to bite down hard on his gloved hand to keep the scream inside him, only letting a few pain filled moans escape through his clenched teeth and muffled by the fabric between them.
Just as Ja had resigned himself to staying stuck where he was, a small sound cut through the constant pounding of bullets and the haze that had settled over his tired mind. A sound that had no place on the burning ship, that made no sense as it danced and mingled with the noises of death around it. A sound that had Ja’s breath lodged so far in his throat for a moment he feared he would choke.
The panicked shrieks of a little girl.
Ja’s mind immediately went into auto pilot. A dormant feeling he hadn’t experienced in what felt like such a long time, an old voice that had been silenced for years now screaming at him to find and protect the little girl. To make sure she’s safe and away from the danger around them.
Ja made to move forward only to be jerked back by the sharp metal that had ensnared his safety vest, keeping him firmly trapped in place. Ja tugged sharply at the fabric, ignoring the slight tremor in his hands as he pulled against it with with as much strength as he could manage. However the fabric only seemed to get more twisted despite his best efforts.
Frustration boiled inside Ja as his mind kept demanding him to find the child, until he decided to unclip the vest and leave it hanging there despite the sudden increase in his vulnerability.
Now gunless and armourless, but free of any restraints other than his own pain, Ja limped single-mindedly towards the child. His enhanced hearing zeroed in on the girl and ignored the shouting and death that tainted the air around him, ignoring the smell of blood that burned his nose, the cold water on his bare feet and the pain radiating through his body.
Ja stumbled closer and closer as his mind steadily became hazier, as the smoke from the fire around him burned at his eyes leaving them slightly blurred until he finally came across the kid.
It was the little Sully girl.
It made sense to the rational part of him. The kids had been taken captive on the ship so of course she’d be there. But the part of his mind rife with exhaustion simply couldn’t comprehend who had left the child tied to the railing.
The little girl shrieked again as a stray bullet wizzed past her head. Anger suddenly flared within Ja as his pain was firmly pushed into the back seat and strapped in there to be dealt with later.
Ja ducked low to avoid the gunfire as he quickly limped towards the girl, barely registering the hiss she let out at the sight of him as her terrified damp cheeks glistened in the firelight.
“It’s okay, it’s okay I’ve got you” Ja whispered soothingly as he pulled out his Ka Bar, ignoring the startled and panicked look on the little girl’s face. Ja quickly cut the cuffs and pulled the littler girl closer to him, ignoring her struggles and panic as he moved her forward.
“It’s all gonna be okay, I’ll keep you safe, just stay low and you’ll be fine” Ja mumbled as he ducked down, keeping himself and the panicked child low to the ground to avoid as many of the bullets as possible.
“I promise I’ll protect you” Ja hugged the girl close to him as a bullet hit the ground nearby, causing the child to shriek in panic and latch on to the nearest thing to her, in this case being Ja’s T-shirt.
Ja gently shushed her as the fighting drew closer, his hand softly cupping her head as another loud bang sounded off nearby and sent shivers of fear thought the little girl.
“I want my mom! Lemme go!” The little girl cried into his shirt.
“I’ll take you to her, we’ll get you safe and sound” Ja mumbled as his vision swam in front of him only for a sudden burning pain to pierce his body and set his nerves on fire as the littlest Sully screamed.
Ja looked down only to see a bloody hole just below his collarbone and close to his shoulder on his right side. He’d been shot. He’d been f*cking shot and it could’ve hit the kid.
“We gotta move faster!” Ja grunted as he pulled the kid into his arms, using his uninjured side to support her weight while carrying her as he stumbled forward as quickly as he could.
“Hey! Stop!” Someone yelled behind them. Ja ignored them as he moved further, determined to get the kid off the ship.
“I’m warning your traitor!” The angry shout continued as Ja didn’t stop.
Pain burned through Ja’s skin as a bullet grazed his side causing him to stumble to the ground with an angry hiss of pain. The bullet had hardly touched him, leaving nothing but a bloody scrape and a small puncture as it flew past, but the collision with the ground had caused the throbbing in his head to intensify.
Ja wrapped his body around the little girl, shielding her with himself as he struggled to make sense through his muffled mind, pulling her close to him and mumbling assurances as best he could.
“I’ll keep you safe Lily, I’ll protect you” Ja slurred as the blue skin beneath him became pale white, as black beaded hair became blonde dutch braids, as panicked yellow became soft blue.
“I’ll always protect you Lily-flower” Ja’s sight was fading at the edges as darkness beckoned him closer. He could vaguely hear a soft hum, the tune reminiscent of a song he’d once sung to a different little girl. Maybe, if his thoughts had been clearer, he would have known it was coming from him. Ja felt as if he was drifting away from his body, and only the humming was a tether to a part of himself he yearned to remember.
A part of himself that hadn’t aided in the horrors of war. A part of him that hadn’t watched his friends die, that hadn’t been reborn into the body of the enemy. A part of himself that didn’t have to live with the consequences the choice for survival entails. That hadn’t been a soldier destroying a planet for his people who didn’t deserve his loyalty. A part of himself that hadn’t had the chance to be anything better.
His hazy thoughts before sinking into the dark completely oblivious to the panicked little girl shoving his shoulder and begging him to move.
—•—•—
Ja was alive. Mansk couldn’t believe the beautiful sight in front of him as he saw Ja stumble to the ground, sure he was a little worse for wear but he was alive! He’d barely seen his brother sprawled out on the deck after that giant whale thing had almost belly flopped them all to death. Mansk had been pulled away and into the fight so fast that he hadn’t had the time to really let the thoughts of his brother’s unmoving form sink in. He’d told himself he would deal with it later, just like how he’d deal with ZDog’s death later, how he’d deal with Lopez being missing later. He’d deal with it all later when hesitation wouldn’t put a bullet in his head. He’d deal with it when a breakdown wouldn’t mean imminent death to himself and those around him. Only now he didn’t need to be tormented by the thoughts of his little brother’s dead body, because Ja was alive! Ja was fine, at least he would be if that f*cker would stop shooting at his god damn brother.
Mansk’s blood was roaring through his ears when he saw the man take aim at his little brother again. There was no chance in hell Mansk would let him take the shot. Without hesitation he pumped two bullets directly into the man’s chest, spinning on his heal before the body had the chance to fall to the ground. Mansk dashed to his curled pile of brother on the floor, moving too quickly to notice the yellow eyes watching him from the shadows.
Mansk collapsed to the ground by his brother’s side, gently but quickly turning him over to lay on his back. He hardly spared a glance to Sully’s kid as she scrambled to sit up a few paces away, looking as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to run away or wait there as her eyes kept flickering to Ja. That was a problem for later, right now his brother needed him.
“Ja?” Mansk said softly, pressing his ear to his brother’s chest and waiting. The mostly steady, if a little quick, sound of his brother’s heartbeat might just have been one of the most soothing sounds Mansk had ever heard, like a cool balm on a burning wound. Some of the weight that he hadn’t noticed was lifted off Mansk’s shoulders as he sat back on his knees.
Mansk grunted as he none too gently tapped Ja’s cheek with one hand while he used the other to feel around the grazed bullet wound to his side.
Mansk grunted to himself as he moved onto the more serious bullet wound in his right side. As effectively as he could, Mansk pulled Ja up to check the exit wound as it slowly leaked blood.
“Stooop” Ja moaned as he cracked his eyes open.
“Hey Sunshine” Mansk smirked as he pulled Ja’s hat off to feel his head, only finding a few large bumps and thankfully not a cracked open skull. Noting his brother’s pupils blown wide, definitely a concussion then.
“You look..like sh*t” Ja slurred slightly as he grinned, his eyes blinking heavily as Mansk smacked his hat back onto his head.
“Wanna mirror?” Mansk smirked as he wiped some of the blood from his face, curtesy of being repeatedly smacked in the head with a gun by Sully. Ja huffed as his eyes began to blink close, but only for them to snap open with a curse when Mansk check his leg.
“Broken” Mansk mumbled to himself.
“No sh*t Sherlock really?” Ja snarked through his teeth as Mansk absentmindedly reached over to flick his forehead and shush him. The ship gave a sudden loud creek, Mansk instantly braced himself above Ja and shot his hand out to pull the little Sully kid closer despite her yelp, just incase anything decided to fall.
“ Dad!” The kid yelled relieved as a loud hiss reached Mansk’s ears, his head instantly shot towards the noise as panic rose in his chest.
It was Sully. The whole reason for this undead mess of a mission. The whole reason him and all the others were ripped back from the grave and forced to hunt through the forest like dogs, like the property they were. The whole reason his little brother was on this f*cking ship and the whole reason many of his friends were dead two times over. But, no matter how pissed he was, no matter how much Mansk wanted to avenge ZDog and all the others…his priority was getting Ja the hell off this ship. Mission be damned.
Mansk instantly raised his gun, his body automatically moving into a more protective position in front of his little brother as he locked eyes with the Man.
“Stay” Mansk voice was low and threading with promise. He wasn’t here for a fight with Sully, but he wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between the man’s eyes if he had to. Sully hissed at him, his own gun raised and trained on Mansk.
“No!” The kid shouted where she was still stood by his side,her little hands shoving uselessly at his hip with as much determination as a kid could manage. Mansk stopped for a moment, his eyes flashing between Sully and his kid, but not long enough for Sully to get the chance to take a shot at him.
Sully’s eyes scanned his daughter, likely checking for injury while trying to find the best way to take Mansk down without causing risk to her. Mansk didn’t give him an opening.
“Let her go. She’s just a kid” Sully growled is eyes flashing dangerously.
There was no point in shooting at him, Sully could probably take a shot off just as fast and take him down at the same time, or god forbid the man miss and hit Ja on his way down. Besides Mansk had no intention of keeping the kid, the mission had gone so far off the rails and he hadn’t been overly fond of the whole kidnapping thing anyway. Not like anyone asked him though. As much as he wanted to get the kid off the ship Sully would probably do that too, besides that wasn’t the priority right now. All that mattered was grabbing his little brother and getting the hell out of dodge.
Sully stared at him calculatingly, watching his every move for an opening before his eyes flashed to Ja. Mansk was instantly put on high alert, his muscles tensing painfully, his grip on his gun tightening as an involuntary growl left his throat. Sully’s ears flickered at the noise as a brief frown painted his face. After a moment, Mansk could almost see the realisation dawning on the man’s face.
Sully seemed to realised that it wasn’t his daughter Mansk was focusing on, that the gun was not being used as a threat against his youngest child as a way to get him to comply. That Mansk was using it as a way to defend, to protect the downed man next to him. It would have been funny to see if Mansk wasn’t so high strung at the moment. If Mansk didn’t feel as if he was seconds away from stepping on a live wire.
Sully seemed to realise that too.
“Easy, easy now” Sully said slowly as he lowered his gun an inch or two, Mansk mirrored the movement a minute later after a slight hesitation.
“You’re looking after your friend right? you get close to a man in combat” Sully said slowly, Mansk made no outward sign of acknowledgment.
“I can respect that” Sully continued as he lowered his gun further, inching closer. Mansk’s own weapon followed suit.
“So just give me back my little girl, she’s got nothing to do with your fight with me” Mansk rolled his eyes, not that Sully could see it behind his sunglasses, his fight wasn’t with Sully. Sure the man was an RDA traitor and had gone full native but Mansk didn’t really give a sh*t, wasn’t his business, wasn’t his problem, he was just following his orders. His orders didn’t matter much now though.
“Let her go, and you and your guy can walk out of here. We both get what we want and no one gets shot” Sully said as he lowered his gun to the ground completely. Mansk gestured for him to kick it away, there was no way in hell he was dropping his guard when it was still in Sully’s reach. He wasn’t that stupid.
After what seemed like a painful decision, Sully kicked his gun far to the side and out of his reach. Mansk nodded once as he lowered his own weapon completely. He was under no illusion that Sully was unarmed, but a knife or such would pose less of an immediate threat.
Mansk turned to look at the little girl, her eyes bright and pleading with him. He didn’t take any joy scaring the kid, especially after the traumatic day she’d definitely had. Mansk’s shoulders loosened an inch, his grip turned softer as he gently pushed her towards her father with a small nod.
She look up at him, her eyes wide before dashing quickly away and into her fathers arms.
Sully instantly scooped her close to his chest, mumbling something in Na’vi Mansk didn’t understand as he buried his face in her hair and pressed a kiss to the side of her temple. After a moment the man pulled his daughter behind him, shielding her with his body so his attention could focus on the threat Mansk posed. It was sweet, but Mansk didn’t focus too much on that.
“Thank you” Sully said haltingly, as if he didn’t really want to say it, but felt he had to. Mansk only nodded once.
The two men stayed locked in eye contact before the ship gave another loud groan. Time was running short. With a final glance at Sully Mansk turned to his brother.
Ja moaned tiredly as his misty eyes turned to look at the little girl huddled behind Sully.
“Lily” Mansk barely heard Ja’s distressed whisper and his heart seized in his chest, only for it to shatter as a tear ran down Ja’s face as his tried muscles reached uselessly for the little girl.
“Not Lily” Mansk whispered softly, lessoning the focus he had on Sully and his kid as he swiftly moved closer to Ja, keeping the Na’vi man and his daughter in his peripherals. Quickly and easily Mansk pulled off his ballistic vest and camo jacket. There was no point in adding the extra weight when he had to swim both himself and Ja to safety, no matter how uncomfortably vulnerable it left him.
Mansk efficiently pulled Ja to his feet and swung his brother’s arm over his shoulder, wincing slightly at Ja’s moan of pain at the pressure put on his leg.
Mansk pat Ja’s shoulder in sympathy as he looked to Sully again.
The man was watching him, observing his movements quietly incase Mansk decided to be a bigger threat again. The men stared at each other deeply for a moment, Sully nodded at him and Mansk returned the same in kind before they both turned away from each other. Sully to find his kid, Mansk to get the hell out of there.
Mansk moved fast, practically dragging Ja towards the water despite his muffled complaints. Just as the reached the edge of the half sunken boat, Mansk pulled the black shades from his eyes and tucked them safely into the pocket or his trousers, there was no way he’d be getting a new pair any time soon if he lost them.
Mansk glanced at Ja a final time, made sure his grip on his brother was solid, before he jumped into the cold dark water.
It was freezing. The water instantly soaked through their clothes, through their skin, it was enough to violently drag Ja’s mind back into consciousness as Mansk’s teeth began chattering until his body adjusted.
“All mighty! That’s cold!” Ja shrieked, his left arm flailing around him as he struggled to tread water. Mansk grunted in agreement as his hand fisted in the back of his brother’s shirt,holding his head above water.
“Think a fish might eat us?” Ja questioned as he glanced down at the darkness while Mansk began to swim them away from the burning ship. The heat on the backs of their heads from the fire slowly fading the further away they got.
“No seriously, something might actually decide to come up for a midnight snack!” Ja looked dubiously at the water as Mansk ignored him.
“Or what if that whale thing comes back? I’m not up for a round two anytime soon” Mansk rolled his eyes as he briefly loosened his grip on Ja, not enough to drop him, but just enough for water to cover his face and leave him spluttering when Mansk pulled him back up.
“Jerk! Don’t drown the injured! And I coulda lost my hat!” Ja whined as Mansk huffed fondly through his nose. What brilliant priorities his brother had, they were at risk of freezing, downing, being shot or eaten, but heaven forbid Ja lose his hat.
“Well if we do get eaten, I hope it’s at least a cool fish” Ja hummed as he looked up at the dark sky.
“Like something big you know? Swallow us in one bite, one big chomp!” Ja laughed to himself as he gazed out at what Mansk thought might be the horizon. The sky and sea were both so dark it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
“It would suck to survive all that just to drown, or get nibbled on by something lame” Ja griped, as if his blood wasn’t actively seeping into the water and the only thing really keeping him from sinking like a stone was his brother.
Silenced stretched over them as the ship in the distance fully sunk, only the fire burning on the water glowed in the distance behind them as they continued to swim blindly through the darkness. The longer they kept going, the longer Mansk had to support himself and his brother, the more exhausted they became. It became harder to keep their heads above the water, to keep the sway of the sea from pulling them too far under to ever come back up.
“You should probably drop me” Ja whispered, his teeth chattering with the words as his head bobbed above the water, his face tilted towards the sky. Mansk’s hand tightened stubbornly in Ja’s shirt as he continued to swim, though the movement became much more difficult on his tired body.
“I’m serious, you’ll get further if you let me go” Ja practically mumbled. Mansk ignored him.
“Dude I’m already hurt, I’m just dragging you down at this point and if you don’t let me go sooner rather than later we’ll both sink like a stone” Ja’s voice was as pained as it was aggressive as he tried to pull himself away from his brother.
“Stop” Mansk ordered harshly as he pulled Ja closer to him and continued swimming with a grunt.
“Mansk you’ll drown! At least if you drop me you might make it to some land in time!” Ja’s mouth filled with water as a wave splashed them both.
“Shut. Up” Mansk grit out firmly through his teeth.
“Not dropping you. Idiot” Mansk forced the words out, breathy and tired as he held them both up.
The silence between them stretched on, sinking through the air around them as the lull of the sea pushed them about, as salt burned their eyes and stung their noses.
Mansk’s eyes grew heavier and heavier. Each time their heads dipped under the water it took him longer to bring them back up again, until one particularly long dip had Ja spluttering and smacking him in the face.
“I change my mind….if you drop me I’ll kill you!” Ja exclaimed, coughing out water half way through his sentence. Mansk huffed slowly in amusem*nt, his eyes taking longer to blink back open than he would have liked as they sunk back under the water.
Their heads stayed under for just over a minute before they breached the surface again, both hacking and coughing to clear the water from their airways.
“Mansk I swear to everything I love that if we drown because you fall asleep…. I’m kicking your ass as a ghost!!” Ja moaned as he wheezed every so often, the words swam around Mansk’s head as he continued to push forward, only much much slower.
Eventually, Mansk could feel them slipping back under again when hundreds of tiny little lights swarmed around them. It took longer than Mansk would ever admit for him to realise they were tiny fish, all of them glowing a bright gold through the inky ocean around them. They formed a giant circle around the pair, glowing and swimming close by and illuminating the water. They would swim up close enough to brush the skin of one of the brothers before wriggling back into the swirling mass, only for the cycle to continue.
Mansk couldn’t deny it was a beautiful sight, seeing something so small glowing in the darkness was almost comforting. He was almost happy to die seeing something so calming when he felt something. It was almost like a hand, soft and warm, cupping the side of his face and rubbing a thumb against his cheek. Yet when Mansk opened his eyes, something that was suddenly much easier, nothing was there but hazy water and fish.
As the fish seemed to swim faster around them, the warmth of the invisible hand bled through the rest of his body, filling him with the sudden energy to kick back to the surface.
“Damn it!” Ja spluttered he coughed so hard he almost retched.
“What do you think, friend or foe?” Ja practically whispered as the tiny fish swelled around them before sinking back into the darkness. Mansk shrugged as best he could as he felt the strange warmth urging him forward. The movement steadily becoming easier the longer he listened to the silent encouragement.
“Just keep swimming I guess” Ja snarked more to himself than his brother.
“But it would be nice to see where we’re going” Ja complained lightly, only for the tiny glowing fish to reappear in a line, glowing brightly under the water and directing them somewhere unseen.
“That’s freaky” Ja mumbled, his eyes blown wide as Mansk followed the line the fish made.
“Sure, follow the magic fish, why not?” Ja said sarcastically. The warm pulsing in the back of Mansk’s neck almost glowed brightly for a moment, and Mansk was sure following the fish was what he was supposed to be doing.
“If this leads to a bigger fish, I reserve the right to say I told you so before we get eaten” Ja grumbled under his breath.
Mansk ignored his brother and continued to follow the fish as their glowing little bodies popped up through the darkness, leading him ever forward as a strange new strength in his body kept both of them from sinking under the water again.
Finally, after hours of swimming, the fish swarmed around a small outcropping of rocks, lighting it up for Mansk and Ja to see in the darkness.
“Holy sh*t..HOLY sh*t!” Ja laughed relived as Mansk pushed all his strength into reaching the rocks and dragging them both half way out of the water until just their shins remained beneath the surface.
Both of them flopped back against the rocks like limp fish staring up at the sky in silence, they stayed like that for a while until both their heads turned to each other. Mansk sluggishly pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket, not even bothering to dry them before he placed them back on his face. Sure it was dark and completely unnecessary, but they were what he was used to and damn it he would wear them if he bloody wanted to.
“Trust the magic fish I guess” Ja grinned tiredly at his brother, his eyes still wide from the shock of finding land, completely ignoring the pointless addition of sunglasses to his brother’s face. If anything they relieved him, he was so used to seeing them, it was something so normal to see them sitting there on his brother’s face, that it was almost relaxing to have that sense of normality back after what they’d just barely clawed themselves out of.
They were both quiet again, as they let their strength fade into the lull of the sea, as the strange warm embrace gently faded with it. The fish strayed though, swimming between their legs and occasionally swimming further out to sea before swimming right back.
Follow the magical fish, huh?
Suddenly laughter burst out of Mansk’s chest startling them both, loud booming laughter that squeezed his ribs and shook his shoulders until Ja started laughing too.
The pair of them laughed loudly as they stared at each other. Their friends were dead, they were technically deserters and in hostile territory they had no way to navigate. They were injured and exhausted with no food, no weapons and no supplies on a rock, that could have been in the middle of nowhere for all they knew, that they were led to by glowing fish.
None of it was funny, but neither of them could stop laughing until suddenly they were both crying. Crying and laughing in both sadness and joy at still being alive. Mansk couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried like that, full bodied and heaving for breath as his arms ached and his brother sobbed like a baby beside him.
Mansk watched through his tears and laughter as Ja dragged himself closer and tucked his head into Mansk’s side, crying into his already soaking wet shirt as he desperately clutched the fabric the same way he had done as a child.
Mansk rolled over slightly, his body as heavy as a stone as he pulled Ja into his arms, tucked his little brother’s head under his chin and draped himself over him as he continued to cry quietly.
They were alive.
By some miracle they were still alive.
Mansk faded into sleep as he felt the glowing fish brush soothingly against his skin, as he felt his brother’s heartbeat thudding against his body.
Mansk slept like the dead. His dreams nothing but darkness, but he felt something warm and soft embrace him again. Something holding him close and soothingly rubbing his back in the emptiness he floated in, relaxing him in a way he was sure he hadn’t felt since before he’d died.
When he awoke to light and blurry blue and turquoise figures above him, Mansk did the only thing his tired mind could think of.
He pulled his still unconscious brother tightly against his chest and his chest and hissed, teeth bared and all.
The blurry figures moved, their sounds so far away they were almost underwater to his ears.
Everything when dark again.
