Palette curled around Goth as the small skeleton pressed himself into his companion, attempting to make himself as small as possible. Both monsters knew it was a vain effort, that the fire surrounding them would eventually consume them... but they wanted to delay the inevitable, even if it was only a few seconds more.
Palette winced as an ember popped against his shoulder, giving him a taste of the pain that was to come. He hugged Goth tighter.
It's not fair... why does it have to end like this? I don't want to die... and I don't want Goth to die. I'm never going to hear his quiet laughter again, or see his shy smile. I'm never going to be able to make silly jokes with him or tease him when he blushes... huh, I guess I know why he was always blushing. I feel dumb for never noticing before... it seems kind of obvious now...
Stars... I don't want this to be where it all ends. Someone... please, help us...
"Is anyone still in there?" A voice boomed over the groan of the restaurant's wooden frame. Both skeleton's skulls shot up at the sound, hardly daring to believe their luck. Crashing and hissing sounds directed their attention toward a hulking figure in a long yellow coat, a red hat, and a mask covering their face.
A firefighter...!
"Here!" Palette rasped out, pushing his voice as loud as it could go while waving a hand frantically in the air. Tears traced a familiar path down his soot-stained face, diverted on his cheeks by a hopeful grin as the firefighter turned and made their way toward the pair, led by a smaller individual in similar garb throwing down what looked to be sand along the way.
"Is anyone hurt?" the bigger figure, a man by the sound of their voice, asked, stooping down so he was on-level with the skeletons.
"His-" *cough, cough* "... his leg...," Goth piped up hoarsely, still gripping onto Palette's jacket, his hands trembling and weary relief plain on his own dirtied face.
Glancing at Palette's leg for a moment, the man scooped him up, holding him easily in one arm before asking Goth, "Can you stand?"
The small skeleton nodded his head rather than speak, pulling himself to his feet with some help from the shorter firefighter. Placing his hand on Goth's shoulder to bring him in close, the taller man raised his voice, "The old path's no good anymore, Desiree! We'll need a new path!"
"Right! Stay close kid, Jarek!" the shorter firefighter replied, blanketing the floor around them with sand and smothering the flames in the process. They moved carefully, clearing a path through the fire with the combination of Desiree's sand choking the fire and Jarek's strength moving any obstacles.
Palette clenched his scarf closer to his face, fighting exhaustion as he took slow, shallow breaths around coughing fits. Goth wasn't faring much better, clutching the man's jack while leaning heavily into his side as he trudged along, coughing and choking into his own scarf.
"Hang on, kids, we're almost out!" Jarek reassured. Palette nodded while Goth didn't give any indication of hearing the man. Palette squinted as the bright white light of an exit framed in black smoke came into view.
Unbelievable... we were maybe ten feet from the exit...
Both skeletons winced at the sudden burst of light and sound once they exited the burning building. Palette felt his headache growing as people surrounded them, bombarding them with questions. He grimaced at the sight of Goth shrinking into the fireman's jacket, clenching his sockets as he struggled to take in air.
"Everyone back up! These kids need medical attention!" Desiree shouted over the chaos and turned to her partner, "Jarek, get them over to the medics. I'll handle the questions." The man nodded, extricating himself and the two monsters from the crowd to seek out the medical staff.
Palette looked up at their savior, coughing as he tiredly murmured, "T... Thank you..."
Jarek looked up from where he'd been guiding an unsteady Goth with a toothy grin, "It's part of the job kid, but you're welcome. Now let's get you two looked at. You'll definitely need a healer for that leg. Your friend's probably going to need one as well, his breathing sounds pretty rough."
Palette softly grunted in agreement as the man brought them over to the line of ambulances where the medics were waiting.
Everything will be fine now.
***
Word Count: 745