a little couri & jumper thing i wrote during midoffs s1! (ao3 link)
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“I need you to trust me,” Couri says, and his voice is steady even though Jumper's practically vibrating from the adrenaline, the stress, the thought that they have to make time on this bastion or else Joonah pulls ahead. She'd— void, she'd already messed up on the portal earlier, she can't afford to throw anything right now. The pearl feels glued to her trembling hands.
“You're going to pearl over there,” Couri cuts in, his voice the one thing that her panic-riddled mind can cling to. “And you need to follow exactly what I say.” The trust me command from earlier rings imminent in her mind. She'll need to—he's pointing directly at a massive pool of lava, and a well-timed second pearl will be the only thing saving her from a fiery death and loss.
“Alright,” Couri says. Jumper rocks back onto the balls of her feet, readies her hand to throw. “Go.”
She launches the pearl, and the world is thrown into dizzying motion for just a second—blurs of red filling her vision, just enough time for her to chuck a second pearl over the cliff to her right—until she slams into the lava and heat engulfs her senses. She's safe, she knows she is—she's still got a few minutes of fire res left, and the next pearl will land any second now—but for now she's suspended in an all-orange void, its light searing her vision white.
Three seconds for the pearl to hit the ground. That’s all she needs.
The lava gurgles. One.
Swirls. Two.
It’s like it’s swallowing her, flame licking her skin on every exposed part of her body—
Three.
She closes her eyes.
The pearl lands with a vwoop. She's out.