To Love and Blood

Granules of sand have slipped into her boots and Kat is tempted to just go barefoot at this point. She had abandoned her jacket and left it in the tent, promising to come back for it, and is now in a simple black tank top and she is eternally grateful for the simple breeze blowing through the camp.

After finding Steven, they regroup with Layla at the entrance to the tomb. The entrance is small and dark, a steep drop into a cavern that seems to widen out further in. As Layla and Kat begin hooking up their harnesses, Kat notices Stevens' gaze straying to her more often, his eyes soft and lingering.

She catches his gaze and Steven quickly looks away, a beautiful red flush rising in his cheeks as a smile spreads across Kats face. His eyes are distant as he thinks deeply about something, fighting with himself and his will if his mutterings are anything to go on.

Tightening the strapped harness around her waist, Kat looks back over at Steven and sees him struggling to put on the harness. Smiling softly, Kat turns to Layla and ushers her to go along and that she will help Steven.

With a knowing smile that Kat refuses to acknowledge, Layla jumps down and disappears into the cavern. Sighing, Kat takes a moment to fight down the butterflies that have arisen in her stomach.

‘Focus Katalya.’ She mentally scolds herself, ‘Yes, Steven is cute. Yes, he's looking at you like that. Yes, we’re alone.’

Oh god, this isn't helping at all.

Pinching herself, Kat shakes her head and heads over to help Steven. Her knees kiss the sun-soaked sand as Kat kneels down to help loop the ropes of the harness over Stevens thighs as gently as she can while still making sure they're tight enough to not break.

It's silent except for the soft whisper of their breathing and the wind mingling them together in the quiet air. Kat keeps her eyes lowered and trained on her task, certain that if she is to look at Steven now, that she may do something stupid.

Steven gulps and looks anywhere but at Kat, a red flush permanent in his cheeks as he mentally wars with himself.

“I've-uh- I feel like I've been waiting for this my whole life.” Steven says, breaking the silence and finally looking down at Kat, a soft smile on his lips, “The adventure, I mean.”

Kat chuckles and rises to her feet, her face mere inches from Stevens as she fights to focus on tightening the belt of the harness and not how close Stevens lips are, how nice he smells, and good god his stupid amazing eyes!

“We all want what we never had.” Kat says, her voice hoarse and low as she swallows harshly, “Adventure in a boring world, family in a lonely one.”

Steven looks at Kat pecurley, his gaze searching, “Is that what you want? Family?”

“‘Ah, no.” Kat gives him a bitter smile, the past hurt dredged up in her eyes startling Steven with its intensity and grief, “I don't want any kids, they're not really for me.”

“What about a partner?” Steven asks, his question heavy with something unsaid.

Kat bites her lip as she thinks, her brows furrowing together in focus and tempting Steven to smooth it.

“Yeah.” Kat finally sighs wistfully, a pinkish hue flooding her cheeks as she shyly looks up at Steven, “Yeah, I want a partner someday.”

Steven nods seriously, suppressing (poorly), the smile that threatens to spread over his lips. Kat chuckles quietly, aware that she has finished setting up Steven harness but not yet moving away.

Her eyes stray to where Steven's tongue pokes out to lick his lips unconsciously, the beat of her heart roaring in her ears as she inhales quickly.

The silence has regained its place, both simply breathing as brown eyes look into blue. Their breath mingles together as their faces stay a tantalizing inch apart.

Kat’s not sure who moved first, but suddenly soft lips are on hers, melding and yielding in a dance of lips. Shared breath, shared passion. The warm heat of Stevens mouth is addicting and Kat swallows it like an addict who wants no recovery.

Pulling back, Kat gasps in a breath. Words die on her tongue as she stares at Steven who looks properly smitten. How had she missed so much emotion hidden in the small smiles and crinkling eyes?

“Oh.” Is all Kat is able to whisper out, her mind struck dumb and her heart stilling in her chest from the overflow of emotions.

Kats lips are on Stevens again in a second, taking her time to taste everything. He tastes of mint and dust and a sweetness like nectar over all of it. This kiss is slow and languid, unrushed and easy as their lips caress the others.

This time it is Steven who pulls back to breathe, his eyes carefully gauging Kats reaction.

“Why?” Kat breathes, her voice soft and unsure as she asks the question that plagues her mind more than anything else.

“Why, what?” Steven asks, confused at her reaction and worrying he messed up.

Kat's eyes blur as tears form at the edges of her vision, “Why would you kiss me?”

“Was I not supposed to?” Steven questions, thoroughly panicking now, “I'm so sorry, I thought that- well it doesn't matter what I thought, I- I'm sorry, Kat.”

“Don't be, I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.” Kat interrupts him, a wobbly smile on her lips, “But, why?”

“Why not?” Steven answers hesitantly, gauging Kats reaction carefully.

Kat can't think of a response to that. Well, she could but they are all too personal. She's an assassin, she's a monster, a terrible person who only hurts people around her. But Kat pushes these down, surely she can just enjoy this for a little while?

Sure, it will go horribly eventually, but can’t she enjoy it while it lasts?

Kat begins to laugh and once she starts she can't stop. Steven chuckles along nervously as Kat seems to have a mental breakdown in front of him and unsure of what to do. Gasping her breath, Kat finally stops and looks at Steven with such fondness and affection that it makes his knees wobble.

“So..” Kat slowly begins, a teasing smile edging at her lips as she looks at Steven who is floundering for words, “how long have you been waiting to do that?”

Steven chuckles awkwardly and looks at the ground as he mumbles, “‘Bout since you started at the gallery.”

Kat laughs and shakes her head, her face bright and split into a smile, genuine and shining like the sun that bears down on them now.

“Marc doesn't hate you.” Steven blurts, the words leaving his mouth before he can wrangle them back in and winces as Kats face falls.

“He seemed pretty upset earlier.” Kat disagrees, a frown marring her face, “And I deserve it anyways.” Kat sighs, stepping back and wrapping her arms around herself like a shield against the hurt that claws at her chest.

“No!” Steven immediately says, stepping towards Kat, unsure what to do with his hands but he settles on keeping them at his side, “No, no, you don't deserve to be hated.”

“Steven, I lied to you both about who I am.” Kat says softly, the echoes of her sister's voice ringing in her ears, “If that's not a reason to hate me, I don't know what is.”

“He doesn't though, Marc I mean, he doesn't hate you.”

Kat gives Steven a wry smile, one filled with pain, “He should. You should.”

“I don't.” Steven says quietly, stepping closer and slowly putting his arms around Kats shaking shoulders, giving her time to pull away if she wants to. She doesn't.

Kats lays her forehead on Steven's shoulder and takes a deep breath, finally raising her head to look at Steven as she says, “I'm really sorry, can you tell Marc that I'm sorry?”

Steven nods and rubs soothing circles against Kats back, holding her tightly as if he could shield her from all the world, pay her back for all she has done for him.

With a sniffle, Kat pulls away and cups Steven face in her hands, raising to the toes and turning his face to the side so she can press a soft kiss to his cheek. Undeniably affectionate and gentle.

With a renewed smile, Kat gives one final tug on her harness and walks backwards to the opening of the cavern.

“See you on the other side.” Kat says, giving Steven a cheeky two fingered salute and hopping backwards, falling out of sight.

Steven stands at the edge of the cavern, a dopey smile on his face as he replays everything that has just happened. From finally getting up the courage to kiss the girl of his bloody dreams, to accidentally flubbing it by bringing up Marc, to somehow recovering from that and a kiss pressed to his cheek.

Steven ghosts his fingers over his cheek where he can still feel the electrical burn of Kats lips against his skin. The butterflies in his stomach are on full flight and feeling properly high on endorphins.

And then a fist collides with his face.

Well not just any fist, his own fist. Or maybe it’s better described as Marc fist? Honestly this is all still a bit confusing to Steven. Either way, Marc had taken control of his arm and given Steven a punch that sent him tumbling backwards and into the cavern.

Landing on his stomach with an audible ‘Oof’, Steven groans as he rolls over and holds a hand to his throbbing nose and curses Marc, hoping that Layla and especially Kat hadn't seen that.

Unfortunately, the tinkling laughter and chestnut hair Steven sees out of the corner of his eye tells him that she had.

“Are you okay?” Kat asks through breathless laughter, crouching down to be on level with Steven.

“I’m aces.” Steven grunts, rolling back the shoulder that is certainly bruised now, wincing, “I wish you hadn't seen that.”

Kat rolls her eyes and helps Steven up, giving him an impish grin as she says, “Well I saw you kiss the floor on my first day at the Gallery, so you're not really breaking any pretenses here.”

“Oh bloody hell, I forgot about that.” Steven groans, cursing himself for being so clumsy.

“I didn't.” Kat teases, patting Stevens shoulder and moving further into the cavern.

Steven hangs his head as a flush creeps up his neck and to his face. The thing he most remembers from that first day meeting Kat was the sparkling in her eyes and how kind she was.

Raising his head, Stevens' jaw drops, his dreams becoming reality before his eyes. Two large sphinxes stand guard, limestone carved intricately in the heads of men, large paws that are the height of his knees!

“Oh wow, look at you!” Steven breathes, practically cooing as he approaches the statues and hovers his hands over them, afraid to touch such precious stone.

“This is so cool!” Kat whisper-shrieks, her voice rising five decibels as she bounces on her feet.

Layla shines the flashlight she holds over the lion body of the sphinxes and smirks at Kat, “Are you sure these aren't your ancestors, kitty Kat?”

“Oh come on!” Kat groans, “Not you too! It's bad enough that Marc calls me that.”

“Hey, I'm not the one who grew fangs and cat eyes.” Layla jokes, pointing an accusing finger at Kat who rolls her eyes and huffs good naturedly.

“Har har, you're hilarious.” Kat deadpans, face blank for a moment before breaking into a smile.

Steven stares reverently at the sphinxes, eyes wide and wondrous as he slowly walks closer to them.

“I can’t even..” He trails off as he loses words, beginning again, “Like, if they came to life and asked me for a riddle to the passage, I'd be thrilled.” Steven turns back to Kat who watches him with amusement with Layla, “I’d shit myself but I'd be thrilled.”

Kat laughs and walks closer to Steven, “Better it asks you than me, I'm terrible at riddles.”

“Really?” Layla asks astonishedly, “I'd have thought the whole ‘assassin gig’ would have made you good at them.”

Kat cringes at Layla words but fights away the waves of guilt rolling in and forces a lightness to her voice.

“Nah, they're too confusing with their double meanings and twisted words.”

Steven raises his brows in surprise but says nothing. Honestly, he had thought that Kat had no imperfections, she seems skilled at everything. He supposes that this just goes to show how little he knows about her and how much more he has to learn. He could spend years just learning about her, her likes, dislikes, faults and failures, and be content all the while.

At the base of a large paw, Steven notices disturbance in the dust and sand that had collected there over thousands of years. A marking on the ancient relics.

“What’s this?” Steven asks, turning back to Layla and pointing to the marking that bares Layla's initials, “Did you do that?”

Layla looks down at where Steven is pointing and shrugs as Kat crouches down to run her fingers carefully along the haunches of the sphinxes great legs.

“Yeah, it's for my father.” Layla explains, her throat becoming thick with emotion that she swallows back, “He would have loved to be here.”

“Oh yeah? Big history buff is he?” Steven asks, a goofy smile on his face.

“So much worse,” Layla huffs a laugh as she remembers, a wistful smile on her face, “archaeologist on a mission.”

“What kind of mission?” Kat asks, looking over at Layla.

Layla's grin is sad as she answers, “A mission worth dying for, and he did.”

Stevens' face falls as Kat gives Layla an understanding nod. Though she had not lost her parents to death, she understands the pain that comes with a separation.

“I’m-I’m sorry.” Steven says apologetically, genuine sympathy shining in his large chocolate brown eyes.

Layla shrugs, a shaky smile on her face, “Yeah, no, it's fine. Happens.”

“I bet he’d be positively beaming,” Steven says softly, a gentle smile on his face, “seeing you standing in the proof of it.”

“Yeah, I think so.” Layla nods, a more sure smile coming over her face.

Kats heart is practically melting watching Steven rival the best of humanity with his quiet caring. He is so soft and gentle, awkward in his methods but nonetheless undeniably genuine. He is everything Kat wishes she could be, everything she dreams she might have been had her path not become so twisted off course.

Being the cruel monster Kat believes herself to be comes with an acute awareness of the smallest kindnesses shown by people, a contrast to the dark storm swirling around herself. She notes the smallest gestures and moments, watching and wondering if she could have lived like that.

Now, watching Steven, sweet soft Steven, Kats fear is renewed. The fear that Steven will one day see her, all of her, and turn away in disgust. The mental image taunts her day and night, Stevens face often melding with that of her sisters, Marcs, Laylas, her fathers.

With a soft sigh, Kat stands and brushes her fingers one last time over the large front paw of the sphinx before passing through an open doorway and leading the way further into the tomb.

“What was it like?” Kat blurts as Layla comes up beside her, cringing at her lack of filter and slowly continuing, “What was it like to have a father like that? One who cares?”

Kat can see Layla openly staring at her from the corner of her eye but she keeps her face firmly faced forward. Behind her Kat can hear Stevens' steps falter as he overhears. Layla is quite as she thinks, giving the question the consideration it deserves. Finally she slowly begins, almost unsure of how to describe it.

“It's like magic.” Layla answers, brows furrowing together as she struggles to pull together her words, “It's- well, you have someone who loves you unconditionally for no reason other than that you exist.”

Kat hums and nods, ignoring the tightening in her chest and the lump in her throat as she swallows.

“And you know that, no matter what, he will always be there to hold you up.” Layla's voice trails off softer as she almost whispers, “Until he's not there anymore.”

Kat thinks about that, trying to imagine what it would be like, trying to imagine someone loving her unconditionally. She cannot.

They enter into a smaller square room that is bathed in a dark sickly green glow with tunnels branching off in multiple directions. A short, stone table in the middle is covered in piles of dust and sand accumulated through the years.

Steven shines the flashlight on the table and Kat and Layla stand on either side of him, Kats shoulder touching his, distracting him.

Layla looks around, eyeing the different passage ways, realizing, “It's a maze.”

“It's a-maze-ing!” Steven jokes, a proud grin on his face.

Kat laughs and shakes her head fondly, “You are such a dork!”

Steven tries to look offended, but he can't even pretend to frown when Kats eyes glitter with mirth and her face is alight with humor. Breathless and really trying to resist the urge to kiss her, Steven clears his throat and directs his flashlight and attention down to the table.

“There are six paths.” Layla notes, coming back over to the table.

Kat hums thoughtfully, her mouth twisting to the side as she thinks, mumbling under her breath, “Six points…”

Loud cracks of gun fire erupt from further down one of the paths, echoing in the tomb and spelling in no uncertain terms the danger of the tomb.

Steven and Layla jump at the loud noises while Kat merely blinks and narrows her eyes at the direction it came from. Steven notes that she doesn't look scared or worried, more calm, calculating. Like the warriors in his books, strong as steel and just as smart. It reminds Steven that, though he still struggles to wrap his mind around it, Kat has been around much gunfire and this is not her first fight.

When Kat turns and catches Steven's eyes, her heart sinks. It's there, the edges of fear. But mixed with the fear is something Kat cannot place, something akin to reverie but why Steven would look at her with that is beyond her.

“What would they be shooting at?” Layla wonders, fingering at the backpack slung across her back that contains the supplies and not many weapons.

“Either each other or somebody new.” Kat says darkly, her gaze straying to where the fire had sounded from, “Those shots were quick and hurried, I'd guess that we have more company than we know of.”

A dark shiver runs through Steven as Kats voice lowers to a richer tone and her face shutters into the mask of seriousness he has only seen her wear once before, when she had faced harrow.

“You mean someone else is after the ushabti too?” Layla questions worriedly.

Kat shrugs, no tension betrayed in her face, “Perhaps, or someone is trying to make sure no one gets to the ushabti.”

“This is mental.” Steven breathes, breaking Kats mask and her eyes returning to their brightness.

“All adventures are.” Kat says with a light smile and steps back beside Steven at the stone table as she leans over to draw circles that correspond with the position of each different path leading out of the room in the sand.

“This whole structure is a symbol.” Steven realizes, slowly beginning to connect the dots Kat had made and then quickly drawing the entire symbol.

Beside him, Kat sucks in a breath and chuckles, “How did I not see that?”

“That's the eye of Horus.” Layla says, eyes wide as she looks down at the symbol drawn in the sand.

Long swooping lines that curl around one another and connect at Kats dots, elegant and simple, to create a large eye. One that they are currently in the center of.

“The royal symbol of protection in the afterlife.” Kat says with wonder, “Bloody genius!”

“I mean, the resources to build this thing!” Steven says, his mind racing with the possibilities.

“Right? Her avatar must have been a pharaoh.” Kat adds as Layla watches them geek out, waiting patiently for them to focus again.

That wasn’t going to be for a bit as Stevens eyes light up, “Woah, a bloody pharaoh!”

Kat laughs and nods, her own excitement reflected in Stevens eyes. Kat would have spent hours just talking with Steven about this had Layla not pointedly cleared her throat and gestured at the symbol drawn on the table.

“So what? You think it's a map?” Layla asks, keeping Kat and Steven on track.

Steven nods, “Yeah well, so the eye of Horus is also the eye of the mind, yeah?”

Steven taps the six dots as he explains, “Representing the six senses, six points.”

Kats eyes are unfairly trapped on watching Stevens nimble, gentle page turning, fingers trace over the symbol, wondering how they would feel against her skin.

“So you got the eyebrow that denotes thought,” Steven continues, tracing the top line and trailing it down to the center of the eye, “Pupil, sight obviously. This point here is, uh, hearing. This smell, this is touch.” Stevens' finger slowly traces the long descending spiral, “And this long line ending in a spiral is the tongue.”

Steven pops the word tongue and Kat feels a giggle bubble in her throat as she is reminded of Stevens dorkiness.

Kat tears her gaze away from his fingers and focuses on the light emerging from a path in the distance as she swallows and fights down the heat in her cheek, hoping the light is low enough that it is not noticeable.

“The avatar would be Ammits voice.” Kat says, her voice uncharacteristically rough.

“That's right.” Steven agrees, brow furrowing at the look Layla was giving Kat.

“So which path leads us to the tongue?” Layla questions, peering down each path curiously.

Kat is about to respond when gun fire erupts in the distance again, this time with screams and the sickening squelch of blood accompanying it. Even Kat cringes at that.

“I say we try the one that takes us opposite them.” Kat suggests, backing away from the direction of the screams that continue until they are abruptly cut off.

“Yep, yeah, good plan.” Steven says hurriedly, tripping over his feet in his hurry to get away from the horrifying sounds.

Layla nods her agreement, and with Kat leading the way, they venture down a dark hallway that immediately widens out into a large room filled with golden treasures and statues standing guard.

“Woah.” Steven breaths, craning his neck back to look at the ceiling high above them and the paintings decorating the walls as they walk through the twisting path of the room.

“Have you seen Disney's Aladdin?” Kat suddenly asks, making sure to keep to the middle of the path.

Slowly Steven and Layla nod, shooting each other confused glances.

“Ya know that scene where he touches the treasure and everything turns to lava?” Kat asks, eyeing the treasure around them warily, “Don't touch anything here.”

“I doubt this stuff will magically turn to lava.” Layla chuckles, raising disbelieving brows.

Kat turns to walk backwards and face Layla as she crosses her arms and says, “I am the avatar of a twelve foot tall cat goddess and I grow fangs. Nothing is impossible.”

Layla shakes her head and laughs, aquicending, “Good point.”

A flash of gold catches Kats eye, a gem encrusted necklace surrounded by golden plating and shining in the low light of the tomb. The weight of her necklace is heavy against her collar bone where it rests, cool against her heated skin. A comforting weight, giving her the feeling of keeping Marc close to her despite their distance.

Her fingers trace the moon etchings in the cat amulet, soft and loving, with the tenderness she cannot show herself. She catches Steven staring at her movements, a flash of jealousy flitting over his eyes before he looks away quickly.

Entering the next room, Kat is overwhelmed with the stench of death. Dark grey walls rise on all sides with stone hekat priests set watching over them judgmentally. The stone beneath her feet is surprisingly smooth, reflective with the pale light of the room. A wooden balcony juts out above them, creaky and old. The coppery tang of blood permeates the air around them and coats her tongue with each breath she takes.

Beside Kat, Layla and Steven are gagging and trying to hold back their breakfast that wants to make its appearance. Kats nose wrinkles and twitches as she steps further into the room and the smell increases tenfold.

“Oh god,” Steven chokes, holding a hand over his mouth as if that would help reduce the smell, “what is that?”

Kat's eyes land on the stone table in the middle of the room, glistening red and proud with drips splattering to the floor. The canopic jars surrounding it suddenly make much more sense.

“Death.” Kat whispers, now fighting against her own nausea and turning away from the scene, “It's the scent of death.”

“Very poetic.” Layla jokes weakly, her eyes also having caught the sacrificial scene on the stone table.

Steven, still blissfully unaware, walks closer to the hekat priests against the wall, rambling on as he explains that they were the sorcerers of the time. Kat watches him, dreading the moment he turns around and sees what she has.

While Steven is distracted, Kat tries to clean up the blood a bit, trying to lessen the brutality of the scene, but there is just so much that all it does is splatter over her hands and stain them red.

A startled yelp makes Kat turn sharply, hands reaching to where her knives would usually be before realizing that she no longer has them.

The yelp had come from Steven who now stands rigid and fearful, eyes locked on the stone table.

“Steven, close your eyes. You don't need to see this.” Kat warns, stepping in front of Stevens' view as the man walks hesitantly closer.

“Oh god, is that fresh blood?” Steven squeaks, his face turning shades of green, “Is that little chucks of meaty bits?”

Kat locks eyes with Layla who gives a helpless shrug. With a heavy sigh, Kat moves out of the way, letting Steven see the whole scene. She watches as Steven switches between shock, disgust, and pain. Kat wonders what he would think if he knew that she has caused similar scenes once upon a time, not with the organ removal of course, she isn’t that depraved.

“Let's move on.” Layla suggests, voice strained as she struggles to focus on anything but the blood staining the floor.

“Yeah.” Steven gulps, tearing his eyes away from the bloody table, “Yeah, good idea.”

Kat wipes her stained hands against her pants, fully aware that the blood staining her hands cannot be simply removed and that behind the current wet blood under her nails. There is so much more that others cannot see.

Layla heads towards the next doorway to take them deeper into the tomb when Steven holds out a hand to stop her, staring at the threshold to the hallway that is stained with stripes of blood.

‘Dragged a body’ Kat notes silently. ‘Heavy. Male.’

“Um, just a minute, just a minute,” Steven says, backing away from the hall, “I'm just saying what I see, and I see a lot of bones and blood going that way. So I'm just thinking,” Steven turns to Kat hopefully, “like, what if there's another way?”

Kat nods understandingly, walking back to the middle of the room to begin looking for another way as Steven does the same, occasionally glancing at her with grateful eyes that Kat cannot accept.

The wooden platform keeps catching her eyes, beckoning her closer like a siren. Getting a running start, Kat leaps up, using the table as a platform to jump off of and flies through the air before her hands hook onto the ledge of a wooden beam.

“Holy-” Steven gasps, watching Kat with wide eyes.

It’s like watching one of those American spy movies, or a spider monkey, as Kat twists and deftly climbs her way up to the top of the platform, swinging back and forth to build momentum before flipping over the guard rails and onto the wooden platform. Steven had had no idea Kat could move like that, he wonders with a twinge of pain, what else he doesn't know about Kat.

“There's a way up here!” Kat shouts down, leaning over the edge with a wide grin, the blood rushing through her veins and filling her with energy.

Layla and Steven stare at Kat, long enough that she begins to worry that she has done something wrong, before Layla laughs and Steven begins to smile up at her.

“You're insane.” Layla shouts up, teasing in her voice.

“Sanity is overrated.” Kat shoots back with a wink, leaning her forearms against the balcony casually.

Steven stares at Kat, reminded of that scene from Romeo and Juliet, the one he had read in secondary. He muses that he could recite it now, with Kat on the balcony and him below as he compares her to a summer's rose. Cheeky and dorky, he knows, but Kat seems to like that part of him. One of the first people in his life to do so.

“How do we get up there? I don't know about Layla but I definitely cannot climb like you did.” Steven wonders, keeping his eyes firmly up at Kat instead of the blood soaked table behind him.

“Oh!” Kats head perks up and Layla swears a lightbulb would appear above her head as she starts digging through her bag, coming back up with hands full of white fabric and a proud grin, “I am a genius!”

Kat had known her bed sheet idea would come in handy! Twisting the sheets into a steady and stable length of rope, Kat slowly lowers it down until it is dangling a few feet above the ground.

“So, who's first?”

Layla and Steven look at each other and Steven slowly steps forward, grasping the end of the rope tightly and hesitantly looking up.

“Are you sure you can pull me up?” Steven asks hesitantly, tugging the rope experimentally and eyeing it warily, “Maybe I'll just stay down here…”

“Just hold onto the bloody rope, Steven.” Layla tells him, rolling her eyes as she waits anxiously to get out of the stale room.

Slowly, Steven grabs the fabric and holds on tightly as Kat plants her feet on the platform and uses all her strength to pull Steven up. It's a slow ascension, Steven keeps looking back down as the ground gets dizzyingly further under him. Kats forearms shake as she grunts and pulls Steven up until he is able to grip the edge of the ledge and climb over himself.

Stevens' leg gets caught on the ledge and he falls to the wooden flooring with a thump as Kat bursts out in laughter, helping Steven up with a silent apology as she tries to reign in her giggles.

“Are you okay?” Layla asks from below.

“Yeah, yep, fine!” Steven shouts back, brushing the dust off on himself and flushing, “Totally fine.”

“Steven, look at this!” Kat beckons him over to where she is crouching in front of an array of canopic jars.

As he gets close enough, Kat grabs his hand and pulls him down. A spark travels from where their fingers touch straight to his heart as he feels himself melting in her touch. Kat doesn't seem to notice as she starts explaining about the snake skins and the regenerative properties of them, and how the ancient Egyptians used them.

Steven watches her ramble, barely absorbing what she's saying because her face is so close to his, her lips moving quickly and so close. If he were to just lean forward a bit…

“Kat! Steven!” Layla shouts from below, breaking Steven out of his trance as he jumps away from Kat and shakes his thoughts from his head. They need to focus.

“Sorry, got a bit distracted.” Steven apologizes, focusing on taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

“Mhm,” Layla gives a knowing look that suggests she knows exactly what Steven got distracted by.

Steven avoids her eyes and instead gathers the fabric to lower it down. It’s just hanging over the ledge when gunshots startle them and causes Steven to drop the rope.

“Harrow.” Kat mutters, glaring at the opening where the gunshots had come from, her tone full of venom.

“What are they shooting at?” Steven asks warily, looking down at the dropped fabric forlornly, useless now.

“I don’t know.” Kat says, frustration in her voice as she looks around the platform for anything else to use, “But if they're not shooting at each other then it means we're in trouble.”

“Wh-why does it mean that?”

Kat gives Steven a rueful smile that does nothing to comfort his nerves, “Because it means we have more company than we thought. Neither of us have the protection of the gods, if we get hurt, we're done for.”

“Oh.” Steven says dumbly, horrific images of Kat laying lifeless flash before his eyes and fill him with dread, images of her eyes losing the sparkling determination they always carry.

Swallowing back the nausea twisting in his gut, Steven grabs Kats hand and lets the soft flutter of her pulse beneath his fingers comfort him. Kat jolts at the surprising contact but doesn't draw away, merely smiling softly to herself and pulling Steven along as they look for a way to get Layla up.

A noise, soft and far away, tickles at Kats hearing, her head jerking up and her eyes darting to the opening from which the gunfire had come from. Tilting her head to the side, Kat stills and listens, the sound growing louder and more distinct.

“What is it?” Steven whispers, not able to hear anything but their own breathing and Layla's movements below.

“Shh.” Kat shushes, closing her eyes and focusing on the quiet groans and thumps that are drawing nearer.

The hair on her arms raises and her skin prickles with warning of danger. Steven watches as Kats head twitches as she tries to locate something, her body rigid and tightly strung.

“Hide!” Kat shouts down to Layla, tugging Steven along as she pulls them behind a large table and crouches low to the ground.

It only takes a moment before Layla and Steven are able to hear it too. Low grunts and thuds coming their way. Layla scrambles to find somewhere to hide but the room is so open that there is nowhere she can not be seen. The sounds are getting close, louder, and the stench of blood is becoming more and more apparent.

The shadows of the figure dragging something peeks around the corners and Layla has no choice but to dive for cover behind the table, pressing her back as far against the stone as she can and holding her breath.

From above, Steven and Kat watch with anticipation as Layla hides and the figure emerges into the room. Kats hand is crushed by Steven as he fights to keep calm while his eyes take in the horrific figure entering the room, dragging a bloody, not quite dead, body with it.

Squeezing Stevens hand back, Kat shuffles closer to him, trying to calm his shaking hands and the terror forming on his face. Her heart beats erratically in her chest, not all of its rapid pace being due to the undead figure below them.

This close Kat can smell the scent of old pages, wood pine, and peppermint. A soft and inviting scent that makes her nose twitch and long to bury herself in it, absently wondering if she could steal one of Stevens jackets before he inevitably leaves her.

‘Oh my gods Katalya! You are literally in danger of getting gutted and you're focused on this?’ Kat wonders if perhaps she’s more mentally screwed up than she had thought.

Gripping the edge of the wood, Kat forces herself to focus and to bury her thoughts deep away.

Below them a figure enters, brittle sagging skin hanging off its decomposed body, its bones twisted and gnarled beneath its paper thin ashen flesh. Its chest rattles with each breath it takes, an empty ancient sound that sends shivers down Kats spine.

Dark blood that Kat is not sure is its own, drips over the hekat priest as it drags a limp, barely alive, body behind it. Layla cowers behind the table, flinching as the hekat priest throws the body onto the table like it is nothing more than a sack of potatoes.

Kat feels dread cement in her stomach as a pained groan releases from the body, bones broken out of place but still terrifyingly alive. Beside her, Steven makes a small stifled whimpering sound.

The hekat priest makes more of the rattling sounds as it approaches the bloody table the man lies supine on, grabbing the man's throat roughly to keep him in place as it leans closer to the man's face.

Kat holds her breath as Layla covers her mouth to quiet the sobs that want to escape and to still her shaking as the hekat priest comes far too close to finding her hiding spot.

A startle gasp escapes Steven as the hekat takes a sharp jagged hook of metal and slices down the man's abdomen as he grunts and groans in pain. Blood pools on the man chest as the hekat priest tears open his stomach and dips its long gnarled hands in.

Nausea creeps over Kat as she watches the priest root around in the man's abdomen, sickening squelching sounds echoing in the cavern, and pulls out bloody slippery organs and dips them into the canopic jars beside it.

And then it all goes up in flames.

It starts with Layla shuffling further behind the table as the hekat priest starts walking around it, but in her haste to move out of sight, Layla had missed the canopic jar beside her hand. A loud crash echos out as she tips the jar over. A breath is caught in Kats throat, silence hangs in the air, tense and thick.

Nobody dares to breathe, nerves strung tight as the hekat priest tilts its head, searching for the source of the noise.

A scream rips from Layla's throat as the priest's hand suddenly slams onto the table next to her head, its empty burned out eyes staring at her hungrily as it makes an excited chittering sound deep in its throat.

Kat watches helplessly as Layla scrambles back and starts throwing jars at the priest but they do nothing to slow it.

Kat could jump down there, help Layla fight it. But given that she has no weapons save for tiny scythes and no idea of the priest's regenerativeness, Kat fears she will hurt more than help. Plus, while Layla can fight, Kat knows she can fight and fight well, Steven would be left helpless and afraid.

Squeezing her fists until her palms burn with crescent moon cuts from her nails, Kat lets the pain ground her and keep her from giving into the itch under her skin that is begging for her to go kick the crap out of this creepy zombie thing.

Kat is so distracted by her dilemma, that she doesn't see Steven grabbing a scroll, not the best weapon but it would do. Steeling his nerves that currently feel like they have been run over and burned, Steven takes a breath and throws the scroll with as much force as he can.

He had been aiming for the hekat priest's head, but the scroll flutters down and lands harmlessly next to its feet. It worked plenty well as a distraction though, as the priest turns away from a cowering Layla and instead turns its focus to the balcony when Steven had ducked down to the floor, pressing himself as close to the wood as possible to hide himself.

“A scroll?” Kat whispers, raising a brow at Steven as she grabs a jar of some kind of oil and hugs it to her in preparation, “Seriously?”

“I panicked.” Steven defends, watching nervously as the hekat priest moves below them.

Suddenly the priest disappears, out of sight completely. Kat watches through the floorboards slats, searching the darkness for any movement but finding none. She can hear her blood pumping in her ears, her heart hammering like a jackhammer. Somehow this is more stressful than any assassin gig she’s ever done. Perhaps it’s because now she has someone to lose, a life other than her own.

A shrill shriek tears from Steven as the hekat priest's face appears directly below them, its body hitting the bottom of the balcony with a loud thump as it begins to crawl along the underside like a spider. Kat hates spiders.

Scrambling to her feet, Kat pushes Steven behind her and lowers herself into a crouch as she lets her muscles relax and her breathing slow. Steven shakes behind her, face filled with fear and yet he has such faith in Kat to protect him.

The priest's hand grasps at the edge of the balcony and its face slowly rises over as it pulls its body up in an impressive feat of strength that confirms Kats fear that they are totally screwed.

The second its feet hit the wooden flooring, Kat throws the jar of oil onto the priest and smirks as it screeches angrily.

“Run!” Steven shouts down to Layla, grabbing a small wooden box and chucking it at the hekat priest's head, “We’ll find you!”

Hesitating only a second, Layla sends a silent prayer that they would be alright before running out of the room and deeper into the tomb.

The hekat priest is definitely angry now, one of its victims escaping and the other two currently throwing anything they can get their hands on at it. With a shrill clicking that Kat is sure is supposed to be a scream, the priest lunges forward and grabs Steven around the throat, squeezing tightly as Steven claws at its hand and chokes for a breath.

It all happens in a second. Kat sees Stevens face turning red and the pain on his face and before she knows it she sees nothing but red. With a roar, Kat grabs her scythes launches herself forward and bodily tackles the priest, grappling with it as she hold the priest down and lands blow after blow.

The priest's decaying hands scratch at her as it fights back but Kat gives it no mind, the fresh scent of blood that leaks from her arms is of no consequence as she growls and breaks bone after bone in the priest's body and cuts at its burnt eyes.

Choking and gasping as air floods his lungs, Steven has just enough wherewithal to see when the hekat priest is almost overpowering Kat and fling another wooden box at it. Kat mutters a quick thanks over her shoulder before grabbing the priest by its throat and pushing it over the ledge, watching with satisfaction as it slams into the ground below and gives a weak chitter, skythes embedded deep in its abdomen.

Stevens' face feels very warm as he watches Kats shoulder rise and fall with heavy breaths as she glares down at the priest. He's not sure if one would count that as romantic but he is sure that he just fell in love with Kat a little bit more, something he didn't even know was possible.

“Uh, thanks.” Steven stutters out, he heart warming as Kat turns to him with a warm smile, her hair an absolute mess, “We should- uh,”

Stevens' words fail him as Kat walks closer and rests her hand against his cheek, her eyes unbearably soft as she holds him tenderly. Something in Kat had snapped and she feels relaxed, truly relaxed and warm as she leans forward and rests her head against Steven's shoulder, simply glad he is alive and here.

Steven is frozen, unsure of what to do. Slowly his hands find Kats impossibly messy hair and begins smoothing it down, smiling as Kat hums contentedly against his shoulder.

“Sorry.” Kat murmurs quietly, feeling the guilt catch up with her as she feels Steven fingers running through her hair, “I kinda got out of control there. I promise I'm not usually like that.”

Steven racks his mind for what Kat could possibly be sorry for. In his mind, she has nothing to apologize for and he tells her as much.

“Still,” Kat insists, pulling back to look Steven in the eyes, “I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me.”

A growing chittering below interrupts whatever Steven was going to say and breaks the peace of the moment. Steven suddenly remembers what he was going to say before.

“We should get out of here.” He suggests, casting wary glances down below.

Nodding, Kat grabs Stevens hand and leads him through the doorway into the rest of the tomb, hoping that this will lead them back to Layla and that by the end of this, she might just be able to convince Steven and Marc to forgive her and let her stay by their side. The chances are slim, but she’s not going to give up easily.