Oh Captain, My Captain

Ashe dimly registered the sound of hooves approaching, but her eyes were flickering between the ground and the bracers. Lost in a churning ocean of grief that she would drown in, she didn't quite register that it was Kalt who drew near. She stopped herself from glancing behind her, just to check, just to see if maybe Ronin would climb out if that pit and make some tasteless joke about the whole thing.    She had watched him join his Vanya in the stars.    Ashe finally looked up when Percy himself stopped, forcing her to. Kalt approached her, looked at her, and she stared up at him with fractured eyes, with tears that still streaked through the blood and dirt upon her cheeks. This isn't real, she tried to tell herself. It was like she wasn't in her body anymore, all the injuries, none of it was there.    Kalt enveloped her into his arms, settling around her with unwavering solidity. She made no sound at first, no movement. Then he said he was sorry, as if he had anything to do with what just happened - What just happened? Where is Ronin? - and she brought her arms around him as best she could. Her hands clawed into his shirt as his presence hit her fully, his heart beating under her head. She willed herself to scream, to cry, to rage.. but nothing came. Only those silent tears, the trembling of.. shock? Was she in shock?    Her eyes stared out from where she clung to her soul-bonded, the ravaging, aching of her soul grasping for the warm, unwavering tether there.    He hadn't gone. He hadn't left her, he hadn't left them all, he didn't go. But she could still see him rising. She would never be able to capture the brilliant color and light he had become within paints and pigments no matter how perfect her memory. It was that thought that had her tears moving hotter, faster.    It was over, the beast was dead, and so was -    "I want to go home," she whispered in a strangle voice.