Luminous Nights [Neteyam x Aonung]

Dark Nights : Part 14

Siercí shoves her brother to run towards the stairs. Their parents run out into the front room, having heard the commotion, but immediately regret doing so when they're suddenly tackled to the ground and cuffed. Haeda comes to the top of the steps and sees Rotxo get tackled to the floor. Siercí­ jumps over them but is grabbed before she can head upstairs.

Neteyam sees Haeda back out of sight to run the other way; Target locked. Without wasting a second, he tosses the earmuffs to the side and makes his way through the chaos and heads upstairs. He sees the boy's tail going into a room and follows him. As he runs into what's apparently a reading room, Haeda runs out onto the balcony and jumps off just as he reaches him.

He doesn't think twice, and just follows the boy off the balcony, landing right into the stream a moment after him. When he swims up to the surface, Haeda is already zooming off on his skimwing.

A few officers, including the one he's familiar with, race off after the boy, but Neteyam wants a chance to deal with him for his own reasons.

His own skimwing comes up to him and he mounts it and takes off, racing after the others and following them right into the highway. Haeda's reckless steering helps him elude the officers, but Neteyam isn't giving up. He refuses to let this boy get away.

Even though he's sure it's dangerous, he takes flight and leaps over the busy stream that's blocking the others from getting out. He lands in the middle and nearly collides with someone but is quick to readjust to prevent that. Riding down the middle of the steam, he spots Haeda zooming dead ahead and speeds up, staying on his trail like a missile. The boy notices he's on his tail and takes a sudden turn down a different stream.

Neteyam nearly crashes into someone again, but leaps over them to avoid it as he turns a corner to continue his pursuit at a dangerously quick speed. The sound of sirens come from behind him, making him turn around. The officers have managed to get through traffic with the help of the sirens they have attached to their rafts and saddles.

One of the riders is reckless, but he can't focus on it, and turns to face forward to keep from crashing.

Against anyone's better judgment, he pushes the limits of his skimwing and has it speed up. The boy glances back, seeing him get closer, and closer, and just as Haeda becomes close enough for him to reach, someone slams into him.

He's knocked off of his now injured skimwing, falling into the busy intersection he didn't realize he was led into. He was so focused on the target right in front of him, he forgot to check his surroundings. As he tries to reach the surface, the ongoing traffic pushes him around and continues to trap him underwater.

Using whatever patience he has left, he remains lower in the water and tries to look for his skimwing, but it's nowhere in sight. He looks back up at the surface and sees a space, but the moment he reaches it, someone else collides with him. He's pushed back underwater without the chance to breathe after having the air knocked out of him.

Involuntarily, he inhales and immediately coughs, but there's no air to please his screaming lungs, only water greets them. He briefly grips at his throat, hating the pain, then attempts to swim back up to the surface.

Even if it means he'll get hit, he doesn't care as long as he gets a chance to breathe. But his suffering body doesn't give him the strength to accomplish his goal, and slowly, darkness consumes his sight as he falls unconscious.