eye of the storm || Natalie & Hypatia vs Kizzy & Bailey

The blow sails towards her face like a wrecking ball of destruction, closer, closer, clo-

-and it is stopped short, deflected by the girl - no, murderer - from Ten. 

She steps back, transferring her weight first onto her gold boot, then onto her free leg as she awkwardly skips backward, out of range of a retaliatory strike. 

But it never came.

The two girls stood, chests heaving and hair flowing, gazes locked together as her own pools of blue glared into the other's mismatched set. A thousand emotions danced behind the eyes of Bailey Truus, flashing in perfect contrast to the pure, unbridled rage pouring from Natalie's own beating heart. 

They stand like that for seconds, minutes, hours, she isn't really sure. But it is Bailey Truus that breaks the silence first, much to her surprise. 

"Kizzy Turren."

She blinks, confused. Then, realization hits her a second later, smashing into her with the force of a Capitolite train.

That is - no, was, his name

Bailey continues, and the conviction of her words sends chills up her spine.

"He wasn't much of a talker but he was brave in every form of the word. He was rash and quick to make decisions but he did them selflessly. He was everyone's quiet older brother who sits in silence but when you got bullied he came to stop it."

No. Please. Don't.

He has a twin named Cable and a Mother who left his family after his younger sibling, Tension, was born because of his Father's drinking problem."

Father's drinking problem.

We were more alike than I knew.

He has practically been raising Tension since he has to beat his Father every night to stop him from hurting her. He is your's to carry now. You should know who he is."

And just like that, the anger dissolves.

Waves of liquid fire freeze solid in her veins. Eyes narrowed in hate spread wide open with shock. A fist clenched tightly around a hilt of a weapon loosens, causing it to mutely clatter to the ground.

Mine to carry.

She glances back once more at the body of the boy that she killed. The boy who had stood so defiant, so full of life mere moments ago, was lying on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, blood gushing out of what had once been his head like a crimson waterfall.

I did that.

Her hands start shaking. 

Oh, Ripred. What have I done?

"And she is mine."

It takes a moment to register that Bailey had resumed her speech. Another fifteen seconds to register that it was Hypatia who was now her topic of conversation. 

I don't know who she is or was." she continues, voice eerily calm. "I have no idea at all, and still she is mine to carry from this point on. That's where you come in, Natalie."

The fact that Bailey had even learned her name, much less remembered it, shocked her enough to snap her back to reality, and she gazed into the mesmerizing multicolored eyes as she continued. 

"One day you have to tell me who she was. Everything you know so I can carry her properly. I chose to strike instead of walk away because I fought for Kizzy. For Tension. For all of his family. I didn't walk away because he wouldn't have walked away from me. I knew Kizzy Turren just like you knew Hypatia Anning. One day, tell me the weight of my sin."

Weight of my sin.

A burden we now both carry, because we fought for those that we loved. 

Her speech completed, the girl from Ten turned and started walking away.

Natalie made no move to stop her.