⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
The lower terraces were loud in the good way.
Feet moving in rhythm across stone. Drums from somewhere uphill. Someone yelling a score that didn’t matter anymore.
The twin suns were dropping uneven, one already flirting with the edge of the terraces while the other hung stubborn and bright, like it wasn’t ready to give the day up yet.
Kariah walked in the middle of the group without trying to.
Mina was talking with her hands, already halfway into a breakdown of lanes and timing. Taro laughed too loud at his own joke. Ren kept bumping shoulders with Zakiah on purpose just to get a reaction. Zakiah pretended not to care and cared a lot.
“I’m telling you,” Mina said, pointing back over her shoulder, “Solaris thinks they’re slick now. New rotations, same bad habits.”
“They still beat us last time,” Taro said.
“Barely,” Ren shot back. “And Kit wasn’t having his best match.”
Zakiah snorted. “Yeah, well, he’s not here now either.”
Kariah glanced over. “That’s why we got you, you’ve done good too.”
“Good isn’t winning,” Zakiah said, then caught himself. “I mean. I’m alright. We’re winning. Just… you know.”
Ren grinned. “Say it. You wanna be a starter.”
Zakiah rolled his eyes. “I wanna not get cooked on live broadcast.”
“That too,” Taro said.
They cut through a narrower street where food stalls were packing up and the light went orange and low. Above them, the suns slid closer into alignment, the shadows doubling and stretching like the city was trying on a different shape.
“Festival match is gonna be crazy,” Mina said. “Pay-per-view crazy.”
“Nepo babies on both sides,” Ren added with laughter. “Everyone’s parents pretending they don’t care.”
“My aunt already booked a watch table,” Taro said. “She doesn’t even like Crownfall.”
Kariah laughed. “She likes having a reason to yell.”
They were halfway down the slope when a voice came from the side.
“Yo.”
All five of them jumped.
Kit stepped out from between two stacked crates like he’d been there the whole time.
Kariah didn’t think. She just moved.
She slammed into him, arms around his shoulders, hugging him hard enough that he staggered a step.
“Heyyy!” she said into his chest, then pulled back just enough to look at his face. “Ew, you’re all sweaty.”
Kit laughed, breath knocked loose. “Missed you too.”
Everyone piled in at once.
Taro clapped him on the back. Ren shook his arm like he was checking if he was real. Zakiah just stood there grinning, relief and annoyance tangled up together.
Mina stepped in last, eyes scanning him quick, careful like she always did.
“You look good,” she said. “Stronger.”
Kit felt that land more than he expected. He nodded once. “Yeah”
They fell back into step like nothing had broken.
Ren immediately hooked an arm around Kit’s neck. “So. Guess that makes Zakiah a sub again.”
Zakiah clicked his tongue. “Relax. I was always a flex.”
“Flex on the bench,” Ren said.
Zakiah shot him a look. “Keep talking.”
Kit glanced between them. “You good dude?”
Zakiah shrugged. “Yeah. I’m good.”
That was honest enough.
The terraces opened up ahead, lights starting to come on, the suns finally committing to the horizon. Drums picked up somewhere above them, faster now.
Kariah walked with her shoulder brushing Kit’s again, easy, like it had always been that way.
Sol kept moving.
And Team Fire-Heart’s future moved with it.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣