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Nepeta blinked, and sat up. Her brain felt fuzzy. She shook her head, and wiped her eyes. Dimly, she registered an astounding lack of pain. From the beating she'd recieved, she was surprised to be waking up at all. She looked around herself blearily.
She could see the sky. It was a pale blue, and it seemed to go on forever. Everything was bright. Feeling around on the ground around her, her left hand closed on something solid. She lifted it up to her face, still feeling dizzy and disoriented. They were shades. Broken ones. Nepeta narrowed her eyes in concentration. They were important, somehow.
Equius! She jolted, eyes widening as memories flooded back. Crawling through air ducts, looking through a grate in helpless terror. His body, too still and unmoving. And then, the sudden rage coursing through her little body, throwing herself at his assailant. Nepeta's eyes filled with tears as she remembered the blows raining down on her, as she fought the searing pain in her wrist. Struggling to Equius's body as bones shattered under the relentless clubs. Curling up to die.
Her head was clear now, clear of everything except panic. She looked around frantically. Equius was gone! Everything was gone! Her meowrail was dead, she was lost, and Gamzee was going to kill everybody. Nepeta curled into a ball, wrapping her tail around herself. Part of her insisted that she had to find her way back, to warn everybody. It said it was the brave, troll thing to do. The majority, however, cried. She was only six sweeps old! It wasn't fair!
Eventually, she managed to get herself back under control, and was able to examine her surroundings more carefully. The bright, blue sky was still there, stretching out for miles. The ground was some kind of sandy substance. Way out in the distance was some kind of speck. Something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was a brief flash of pink. She leapt to her feet instinctively, turning as she went. There was nothing, but a faint noise behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.
Wings. Godtier wings, they looked like. She became briefly excited. Had she reached godtier? A quick glance down at her well-worn coat proved otherwise. It was a puzzle. She tried an experimental jump, and squealed excitedly when she didn't come down. She could fly! This would definitely be something to show Karkitty, when she found her way back.
If she found her way back. It was a sobering thought. She couldn't see anything familiar. She figured that the odd speck on the horizon would be the best choice, as the only landmark in sight. She'd fly to it, as fast as her pretty new wings would take her.
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It was during the flight, watching the speck get closer, that she began to wonder why she was there. She didn't remember walking. She remembered fighting, losing, and waiting to- oh.
She was so stunned, she almost stopped flying.
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The rest of her flight, Nepeta spent in a kind of numbed shock. She'd died. She was... gone. The universe would continue, but without one happy shippy kitty. If she was dead, why was she still... her? Where was she? What was happening to her real self? Was the Nepeta that died her real self, or was she, the Nepeta with pale pink wings with stylized heart patterns, the 'real' one? She had too many questions, and nobody to answer them.
And then she saw what the speck was, and the questions didn't matter anymore.
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She didn't slow down her flight. She simply angled herself lower, and flew at full speed, straight into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his shoulder, shaking harder than her wings were flapping.
"Equius," she whimpered, and then stopped in wonder. The STRONG troll's arms were wrapped around her, but there was no pain or crushing sensations. She looked up at him in wonder, and drew back, suddenly shy, looking down. She felt hands on her shoulders, and turned sharply, only to be embraced by two trolls at once. Over Tavros and Feferi's shoulders, she could see the unmistakeable shape of a moping hipster douche.
Gently separating herself from the others, she padded over to Eridan, and very carefully hugged his shoulders. He had done some awful things, but... she couldn't bring herself to feel any animosity. Not now, not here. Not with everything they had been through. She hoped he understood.
After a few moments had passed, Nepeta straightened up, and made her way back to Equius, past Feferi and Tavros, who were having a hushed conversation about Eridan. she stood in front of him, feeling somewhat ashamed. He had ordered her to stay safe. Eventually, she registered a weight in her hand, and looked down.
She held it out to him, smiling meekly.
"Equius... I brought you your sunglasses."