She had never been on this world before, though having seen its shore on the Veil a few times in the past, she never thought much of it and once again, she didn't fall far from truth. The night sky was blank and pale, almost muddy from the fumes general lack of polish of the world itself, and the waters around the dock were still and utterly repulsive. Whether it's the lack of trees or life in general, everything felt stale and dead, waiting to be eroded by a nature that didn't exist anymore.
For a few minutes now, Vixen and the boy had been sitting on the side of the dock, swinging their legs off the edge without splashing themselves with the dirty water. He hadn't said much, if anything at all other than his name.
"Mnip" He called himself, or at least, that's what he said others called him. She didn't ask why, seeing how he wasn't really into the idea of talking with her. During their descent of the tower, he had that thoughtful look on his face, even when they were sneaking past the guards or lying her way out of the gate. Now, he just sat there, staring at the water as if he half-expected something to jump out of it. He didn't seem afraid exactly, yet a blank expression betrayed his feelings.
"Uhm…" He muttered without turning his head, then shut his lips tight, looking away, "uh, what're we waiting for?" Mnip asked timidly in an effort to avoid direct eye contact. He spoke in a weird, low-toned accent that barely stressed the vowels of each word, making his words blend into each-other waves that rose and fell.
At first she was taken aback by his voice, having only heard a singular word from his mouth, but eventually she snapped out of it and turned to her right where the rest of the dock was. "See that empty platform at the very end?" Vixen pointed at the furthest point of the dock where a few boats, (some could even be called ships in some worlds), were tied to the platforms. Only one was empty, though a singular blinking red light illuminated it.
The boy nodded.
Receiving that as a positive answer, she continued, "That light means our ride is on its way, we'll be out of here soon enough" She explained, lowering her hand once again. As she said so, the boy's expression grew darker, and a frown of guilt broke through the facade.
Vixen took a deep breath, held it momentarily and released it through a long sight. "What's wrong, kid?" The question was out before she could hold herself, and she regretted mouthing it instantly, though the harm had already been done.
He glanced at her, though their eyes never met, and instead he continued staring at the water, though at the height of her legs. "Nothing" Said the boy and turned away once again.
She was never good at this kind of thing, and just never really knew what to say. He obviously didn't want to talk, so… what should she say?
Behind them, the sound of a ship's horn echoed through the still silence of the night. Turning instantly, she saw the blinking red light turn off and be replaced by a permanently lit green one, signifying the arrival of the ship.
"Come on, we should be going" She said, getting on her feet. Whatever it was he was going through, he'd have enough time to sort it with himself on the ship. Vixen didn't expect a boy living in a place like this to be without issues, but she saw no reason for him to be so fearful of finally leaving. Sure, it wouldn't be an easy ride to wherever they will be going, but come on kid…
He merely nodded and got off the edge, hiding his hands in the spacious pockets of his blue jumpsuit. That thing was a dead giveaway of his previous position in this world and he knew it, or at least he realized it once the few people still on the docks glared at him with jealousy, like hungry dogs about to jump on him for a mere bone.
When the guards in black saw him, he flinched as they made eye contact, and stumbled towards Vixen.
She wasn't impressed as much, seeing how the same people had incompetently failed to even notice them on their way down. Vixen saw them murmuring between themselves, probably about subjects neither of them were really interested in.
"So" Vixen said once the boat was finally in sight, "where do we go now that you're free?" She yawned to taunt the guards, which of course worked.
The boat they would be taking was quite large, with two sails laced with silver and gold from the inner worlds of the Veil. Even a rookie would notice quality when they saw it and this was it, a ship made for sailing through the veil safely and quickly, with enough space to carry cargo worth double the ship's price. Despite its wooden hull and outdated appearance, the sound of its propellers was easily noticeable even from the docks, and the swinging electric lamps inside could be seen through the windows.
Mnip hesitated to answer, as he, too, was examining the ship with utter curiosity, "We?" He asked, slowing down.
"Huh? Yeah, where are we going,? Come on I need to know where to take you" Vixen replied nonchalantly, and admittedly she did not really understand the kid's trouble figuring this out. Shock and all, he must've realized what is going on by now.
"I thought you'd just get me out. I…" he paused briefly, then glanced up at her "I dunno where to go" Mnip said timidly, looking away immediately.
Something in Vixen clicked, something that she wished hadn't, because as it did she felt her heart sink deep into her chest in a free fall of helplessness. This kid's averted eyes made the docks disappear and fade into an ash covered road in a world far away, where the light no longer shone and fire battled the clouds. Around her, a thousand and one voices cried out in pain and fear as they fled from an invisible doom. Bodies full of fire ran past her and wailing figures called for the lost.
She could not care less about them.
Looking down, Mnip had disappeared, only to be replaced by a pair of small, slender figures that crackled with sparks under their blankets of ash.
Vixen reached out to grab them, tear away the ash and the fire, and-
"Ah!" Mnip squeaked, pulling himself away from her, though in vain. Her fingers were wrapped around his arm tightly and would not let go.
In shock, she glanced at her own hand, immediately releasing the boy before taking a hasty step away from him. "Look" She managed, barely calming her shaking breathing, "Think about it and… uhm, tell me, okay?" Vixen immediately turned away, facing the ship as if she was in some kind of hurry that even she did not know about.
"Okay" He agreed weakly, though for the rest of the night he did not approach her further than he already had.
In the corner of their eye, the ship's crew became visible as it descended from the ladders and ramps for their short break before they were to eventually unload the cargo. All of them seemed like men and women from a world in a much better fate than this one, where kids wouldn't have to work under a machine all day, a piece of information Vixen obtained by simply noticing the way they looked at Mnip in a mixture of pity and hate for this world.
"I'm sorry, but you can't go this way" A voice drew their attention to the side of the dock, where a man wearing an elegant rose-pink uniform with golden linings on the edges of the jacket. Considering how fresh and expensive this man's uniform was, he was undoubtedly part of the crew.
"We're wondering if you may have two empty seats in your vessel, for me and the kid" Vixen replied almost instantly after noticing him.
The man, who was quite a bit shorter than her, examined both of them with a look of concern and disbelief, though despite that he took out a hand-held machine, punched in a number and glanced at them, "Where to?" He asked dryly.
Vixen looked down at the kid, "Uhh…" She stammered, trying to figure out what to say until the kid had an idea of where they're going.
"I wanna go to the Colorless Place" Mnip blurted out before going deathly silent again.
Both Vixen and the man in the uniform, who was now obvious he was part of the crew, coughed loudly as they had both been taken aback by the kid's claim. "Okay... guess you really haven't left this place" Vixen said, bending forward so that she could look him in the eye.
Before she could explain to him why this wasn't possible, the crew member interrupted her with a hearty laugh. "Oh kids can be so naive, you shouldn't feed such dreams, ma'am" He scoffed, wiping a non-existent tear off his eye.
Instantly, Vixen jolted up on her feet, facing the man with her fist clenched. This kind of bastard she has met all throughout her life, idiots who are always completely unaware of when to shut up before they did some serious damage with their big mouths. "Listen here y-"
A blast, deafening and thunderous crackled through the air behind them, turning their eardrums into ringing, bleeding messes.
Vixen's eyes ran with tears and her ears with droplets of blood as she struggled to get back on her feet and breathe. Through the ringing and the muffled blasts behind her, she heard Mnip's voice calling out to her. She yelled back, or at least she opened her mouth while crawling at the boy's direction, who was curled up into himself, covering his ears as best he could.
Her hand met his shoulder, fingers sinking into the fabric of his uniform as she shook him with as much force as she could to get him to snap the hell out of it.
The boy's eyes opened just enough to recognize her through the tears.
"Follow me!" She mouthed, uncertain and at this point uncaring as to whether she had actually said anything during that. What mattered was that the boy had managed to read her words and pull himself up on his knees with her.
"Come on, come on… move!" She screamed, her voice reaching her own ears only in the form of a faint echo that had miraculously made it through the ringing.
As she pulled herself on her feet, with Mnip hanging from her arms while trying to limp his way forward, Vixen looked behind her in an attempt to figure out what the hell had happened. One moment they were standing there, talking about where they'd go and then…
Behind them, the tower they had walked out of just a few minutes ago had… a huge chunk of it missing and in its place, piles of blazing debris and melted steel hang from wires whose plastic casing had already melted away, exposing the copper. The exposed part had forgo any semblance of an interior, with the floors having been blasted into millions of pieces of fire and pieces of remnant steel.
In the midst of all this, a singular defiant blue light shone through the rubble and the fire before flickering out of sight.
Vixen glanced around her to see that everyone on the dock, and even the crew still on their vessels stood still, staring at the smouldering tower, or more accurately… a bit higher than that.
"Vixen!" Mnip yelled, pulling at her arm with desperate force as he had already seen what all of them were gasping at the sight of.
A bell rang in a horrified tune… then another and soon every vessel was ringing its bell as rapidly as possible to signify alert.
"The tower is collapsing!" The captain of the ship they were supposed to board exclaimed, "To your positions, we are leaving now and we're waiting for no one!" He yelled at his crew, who had already begun sprinting at the ship and to their positions, untying ropes and even cutting some that were proving to be troublesome.
There was no time to quarrel for tickets and space. She grabbed Mnip from the wrist and ran through the crowd of crew members and dock workers, making her way onto the deck. She may have kicked a few people on the stomach while doing so, but each one to themselves and she wasn't going to risk a piece of metal landing on her head while waiting in line.
People pushed and shoved as hard as they could to reach the top deck and what they all believed to be safety, though very few actually made it before more problems arrived to stir even more panic.
High above them, where the enormous hole in the side of the tower still crackled with fire, the few remaining supports and wires holding it up began to groan under the weight of the tower.
"Run" Vixen whispered into Mnip's ear as the tower began to fall.