CW: Blood and injury

I let Eishen push past me to investigate what was nothing short of a nightmare. 

They were speechless - of course they were, how could they not be? Marks of their people, carefully drawn, painted, carved into the walls of what could only be described as the heart of the source of their own downfall. 

"Your gloves, Eish," I quietly reminded them as they reached out to one of the magic circles with bare hands; they were powerful enough to simply activate any rune or circle they touched. They hastily pulled them out of a pocket, dropping one to the ground as they shakily pulled them on. I didn't comment; it wasn't the moment to tease them. 

"I don't understand," Eishen muttered, looking at the runes. They found a copy of the Shadehand Opus in the room and flipped to a certain section out of habit. "Most of these aren't in the Opus at all, I don't even know how to read some of these, some of the runes... they weren't taught to us in our alphabet, and their construction just looks... old? Minimal. Or maybe they're new, they're just not a script I can read?" 

"Another language, maybe?" I asked.

"You know that it's not how that works. It's like numbers - they work everywhere. Sure the word used for them may be different, but one will always be one." Eishen looked around the room. "I need paper, a pen." 

I found a notebook opened on the floor. The last few pages of it were unfilled. I ripped the last two pages out, handing them to Eishen, who had found a pen. hastily, They started copying the runes they did not recognize and sketching out the rings and lines of the magic circles, not closing them completely to make sure they wouldn't activate. I kept an eye out, an uneasy feeling building in my stomach. 

"I wouldn't be entirely against you hurrying up, Eish." 

"They're really quite detailed, I'm doing what I can." 

A different sound cut through the cacophony of the factory. Footsteps.

"Eishen!" I hissed, catching their attention. 

They recognized my tone, quickly folding the sheets and slipping them into his pocket. They looked at me as if to say something, but their eyes immetiately moved to something just over my left shoulder.

At that moment, I felt something press into my back. A dagger? A gun? I lifted my hands over my head, locking eyes with Eishen. "Don't struggle and I'll take you to the guards in one piece." 

"Alright, alright. We'll go easily," I muttered, adding a tremor to my voice, winking at Eishen. They immediately understood, and used the darkness of the room to their advantage. I closed my eyes as they created an incredibly bright flash of light, as easily as taking a breath. The one as my back cried out as the light blinded them, letting me step away. Eishen was close behind me, and together, we started running back to the window we had snuck in through. 

"Absolute sapheads," the man grunted. 

A gunshot. 

Eishen flinched, their eyes wide. They had always been skiddish at sudden sounds, but still, they kept running with me. 

Another gunshot. Eishen yelped and stopped running, buckling to the ground. 

They had been shot in the thigh. 

As I saw the blood spill from them, my own boiled in my veins. 

He had hurt Eishen, his laugh resonating in my soul. 

So, I ran to the man who had shot the one I was meant to protect. 

"Theo, stop!" 

I didn't listen. I didn't care, hells, I barely felt the gunshot in my shoulder. I was just aware enough to know I had caught the man's attention away from Eishen. 

His gun stalled. He was out of bullets. 

I slipped the knife I had hidden in my sleeve into my hand. 

"Just go-" 

I scoffed. "We would have. We only wanted to get out of here." Blood dripped down my fingers, warm, unusual. I flicked drops of it off of my hand, into his face. "You're the one who pulled the trigger." 

I hesitated a moment, for Eishen's sake, before diving my knife into his torso. 

I was never good at anatomy classes. I had no way to know if what I did would kill the man, if it reached any organs, or if it simply sliced through his skin. Regardless, he knelt to the ground, too concerned about his wound to chase after us. I walked to Eishen and wordlessly helped them up, letting them lean on me as we walked to the window. Climbing out of it was a challenge, but I got them out. 

We didn't stop until we had crossed several bridges, until I noticed our blood creating a trace for us. Eishen led us to an alleyway before collapsing to the ground. I pressed the palm of my hand into their wound, slowing the bleeding. 

They were silent, staring at me wide-eyed. I couldn't meet their gaze. 

I had never told them about the knife. 

"Did... did you-" 

"I don't know." 

Eishen could barely look at me as I removed their trousers to get a better look at their wound. It seemed I had gotten lucky - the bullet had gone through the muscle in my arm. The same could not be said for Eishen's thigh. 

"It needs to come out," they said, voice trembling. "I can heal it, but not with the metal in it." 

I nodded. "This will hurt like hell," I muttered. They nodded and clutched onto the alleyway walls, biting down onto their coat collar. 

A scream tore from their throat as I reached into the wound to pull out the bullet. Luckily, it was a quick process, but the bloodflow immediately increased. 

"Stay with me, Eish, you can do this." 

And they did. The darkness was nothing short of a source of energy for them. They drew strength from it, color returning to their cheeks, soaking it up in the same way sunlight affected me after a long winter. And once the energy returned to them, they pulled the darkness, bending it to their will, transforming it into something they could heal themself with. 

Slowly, the wound healed. The bleeding stopped. A scar formed where the bullet had hit. 

Since the accident when we were little, Eishen never fully healed anyone, too afraid to push it too far like they had for me. Still, they needed to stop bleeding, at least. 

They reached up and repeated the magic on my arm, getting the wound as close as fully-healed as they could. Then, as if I was made of hot coals, Eishen let go of me. They stood, pulled their trousers back on and brushed the dust and dirt off of their coat. They didn't wait for me as they walked back down the alleyway. 

"Where are you going?" 

"I didn't know you had a knife." 

"Are you not glad I do?" 

"... I don't know." They slipped their mask over their eyes. "I'm going to walk home, I have too much to think about-" 

"Eish-" 

"I'll be fine." Their voice was steady, calm, certain. "I'll see you tomorrow." 

Eishen was scared. They needed distance. 

Who was I to deny it?