Ember's eyes watered, and she strained to see what was ahead of her. She could just barely make out Aurora's frame as it catapulted from unseen ledge to unseen ledge, and she had to hope that when she landed after a jump that it was on the same exact spot Aurora had just left behind. The polluted, yellow air further down into the city's depths was next to ridiculous, Ember thought. And, if it wasn't bothering her eyes, then it was certainly giving her lungs a fit. Ember didn't know what she was going to do if she fell down or lost track of Aurora. The girl she had only just met really had no reason whatsoever to find her if she ever lost her. Aurora was only doing Ember a favor out of sheer curiosity. Then again, sheer curiosity was also the only reason why Ember had sought out the Roof Rat in the first place. Life was funny that way, she figured.
"Hey!" Ember called out. "Think we could slow down a bit? I can barely see you!"
Suddenly, life wasn't very funny anymore as Ember watched Aurora smack her shoulder against a large pipe and flop awkwardly away from the destination she had been soaring to. The next thing Ember knew, she was chasing after Aurora's limp, descending body.
"No! I'm the one who's supposed to fall," Ember screamed at Aurora. It had been tough enough following someone who knew where they were going. It was something else entirely to follow someone who didn't seem to know that they were going anywhere at all. "Dammit! Why aren't you doing anything? Jump! Do something! Grab onto a ledge!" Ember was desperate, struggling as she barely managed to follow her own advice. "You live out here for crying out loud! Don't you know how to fall properly?"
Aurora's body was fading from sight and would soon be lost to Ember forever. Fortunately, a pipe twice the size of the one from before jumped out of the thick yellow air and caught the majority of Aurora's body. Unfortunately, the girl stopped moving for no more than a second before she slid off the pipe, falling once more.
At least I'm closer to her now, Ember thought. But, how the hell do I know the pipe didn't kill her?
The answer to that question didn't seem to matter much to reality. Aurora's body continued to collide with the various odds and ends that jutted out of the buildings she fell between, and each successive hit sent her twirling in one direction or another. Ember wondered if this was God's cruel way of being helpful. After what seemed like much longer than thirty seconds, Ember finally managed to close the gap between her and Aurora and grabbed a hold of Aurora's arm with one hand, thankfully, right as she latched onto a gnarled ladder with the other. The abrupt stop jolted Ember and made her feel as though she had been ripped in two. She groaned and winced and looked around for a place to set down the girl she had just rescued. Next to her, she could just make out a large balcony that looked inviting enough. So she swung Aurora's body as best she could amidst the pain and flung the girl toward the balcony. Aurora crashed onto the surface of the balcony's floor and rolled to a stop, her face down to the ground. Ember soon followed, landing with much more grace than her companion had.
Sore and exhausted, Ember walked over to Aurora and turned her over onto her back, hoping to find an unconscious girl who was still breathing, at least somewhat. But that wasn't exactly what she found. The Roof Rat was still breathing, sure, but she was doing something much more interesting than that. She was snoring, and doing so with the most peaceful looking face Ember had ever seen.
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