“No, no, no, don’t die on me!” // for cross : )
the sound of the SPLASH likely drew the boy’s attention to the seashore. what was found in distress was no fish, however. cross had taken a nasty fall from one of the order’s higher stories. in the last sliver of consciousness he retained, all he could feel was the concrete collision, salt water rushing into his facial bullet wound, flayed FLESH &&. BONE meeting cool night air for the first time.
his LAST-DITCH EFFORT of throwing off apocryphos’s shot hadn’t gone quite as planned. his hair stuck to the morbid mess that was made of the right side of his face, his mask having flown off in the assault. he felt himself be dragged out of the water &&. the absence of more salt crashing into his wound was a relief, but the movement made it obvious that he had broken a bone or two after the fall. if he had the power or ability to summon his voice, he might have actually SCREAMED.
instead, he was left at the mercy of some familiar voice’s concern. it echoed faintly on the edges of his mind, but his vision had already abandoned him. a memory pushed at his thoughts, but it couldn’t break through &&. cross hadn’t the WILLPOWER to chase after it. the voice continued to ring in the distance, &&. he could recognize vague notes of worry &&. despair, but it was fading away along with the last of his consciousness.
if he’d had the ability to think, let alone wish, he would have liked to know he had been in mana’s arms in his last moments. as it were, however, his DYING BREATH only led him to cold, painful stillness.