The battle raged in every direction—claws, arrows, metal, smoke. The ground trembled with every blast, every charge.

You cutting down an enemy to your left— Neteyam taking down one from your right— completely unaware that you were moving in the same path… toward the same clearing.

You stumbled through the smoke first, breath ragged, blade dripping.

Then he burst in from the opposite side, bow pulled back, chest heaving.

Your eyes locked.

Both of you froze.

Then—

Two weapons snapped up.

Your blade raised. His bowstring drawn tight.

You pointed your weapon at his heart. He aimed straight for yours.

The world around you didn’t exist in that moment.

Only him. Only you. The ragged breaths between you. The trembling strain of muscles ready to finish what your clans started years ago.

But neither of you moved.

Not an inch.

Not a breath of closing distance.

Your fingers tightened on the grip. His jaw clenched. Both of you shaking—not with fear, but with the clash between instinct and something far more unmanageable.

A long, tense beat.

Another.

His eyes flicked over your face, searching—anger, exhaustion, confusion, something he didn’t want to name.

Your heartbeat cracked against your ribs.

Then—

A metallic whistle.

A split-second roar.

BOOM.

The explosion tore into the clearing, ripping through earth and air. The shockwave hit you first—you didn’t even have time to scream before it launched you backward.

But you didn’t hit the ground.

Neteyam hit you first.

You collided mid-air—his arms instinctively wrapping around you—both of you twisting with the force before slamming into the dirt.

Your back hit the ground. His body fell on top of yours, shielding you from falling debris.

Your blades skittered from your hands. His bow snapped in half beside you.

Dust and ash rained down.

Everything was muffled.

You opened your eyes.

He was still on top of you— almost chest to chest— breathing hard, his hands braced on either side of your head, muscles shaking with adrenaline.

His hair hung around your face. You could feel his heartbeat knocking against your ribs.

He lifted his head just enough for your eyes to meet, his breath ghosting over your lips, his pupils blown wide from the shock.

You didn’t speak.

He didn’t move.

The battlefield roared somewhere beyond the ringing in your ears, but here— in this small patch of ruined ground— everything went still around the two of you.

Open. Suspended. Dangerously close.