SHORT AND ANGSTY PEOPLE, I HAD TO GET SOMETHING OUT

It was hard to breathe.

That's what Melody remembered as she pushed against the rubble that had clattered on top of her. She shoved and heaved until the concrete budged and she was able to get a breath of air.

The smoke clouded the sky, hardly anything visible from where she was crouched. Forcing herself to her feet, she stumbled over the disturbed ground, finding it hard to grasp the state of the destroyed country she was in.

Dread consumed her as she looked around, cupping her hands around her mouth and blowing through it to make a whistle noise. She used this to find her best friend, to get his attention and know that he was okay.

When there was no answer, she did it again, the high noise carrying across the breeze of the silent place. It was scary, that such destruction had silenced a country that was home to hundreds of people.

When she still received no answer, she began to panic. His plan messed up, he had tried so hard to destroy this place and only took himself down with it.

But in the fleeting moments of panic, she heard it, the lower pitched response telling her that he was okay. As the smoke began to clear, she saw him, across the crater in the ground, clutching his sword.

To make sure she wasn't seeing things, she called again, being answered a few moments after because of the distance between them.

She would have flown over to him, hugged him with all her might and scold him for doing something so reckless. But her wings had been damaged in the crossfire. In the distance, she heard the rumble of Thunder, lightening clashing against the clouds as a storm began to roll in.

Technoblade looked at Melody, then the crater between them, then back to her. He sheathed his sword, seeing the damage to her wings and feeling guilt rise in him.

He didn't want to face her.

He didn't want to look her in the eyes and know that he had been the reason she was in pain. So he turned, and he left, leaving her in a state of shock.

She whistled, but never got an answer.