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The sculptors had gotten Sid’s face right.That was what did Elliot in in the end. They’d planned to just skirt the edge of the square, to see the monument and then move on. They’d already seen the person they really wanted to see, they figured just a quick glimpse would suffice then they could turn their attention to finding the others. They hadn’t expected the monument to actually look like Sid.They’d prepared themself for the monument to look nothing like Sid, they’d been ready for the monument to look nothing like Sid and then it had looked like her and Elliot had been drawn towards it like a moth towards light. She looked beautiful and strong, exactly how Elliot remembered her. They probably would have started bawling right in the middle of a public square if not for the minor issue of them being the most wanted person on the Staircase and having been stupid enough to step out into the middle of a public square.The speed with which the crowd went from shocked recognition to violence took Elliot by surprise. Perhaps, despite knowing exactly how dire things would be if they ever dared return to TS, Elliot hadn’t really expected the people they’d grown up around, people who had revered them and Sid to really want to kill them.They’d been wrong. As soon as the crowd realized who they were they became a many armed beast. Elliot ran but the crowd chased them down and then they were on the ground and the enraged populous of TS was on top of them. Hands scrabbled at them, tugging on their clothes and hair and beating on their body. Every once and a while Elliot caught a glimpse of someone they recognized either by face or by name. The Staircase was a relatively small place after all. The sight of the people they had grown up around with their eyes red with bloodlust was startling. These people were going to kill them. Elliot knew that the Hills would want to handle Elliot themselves, but it didn’t seem that the crowd was thinking about that. It seemed like the plan to the extent the crowd had one, was to beat Elliot to death where they lay.Elliot lashed out at their attackers, kicking and punching and even biting. Whenever the hands holding them down loosened they hauled themself forward a little. They had to get out from under the crush. If they could get up and start running again they could probably use the superior knowledge of TS that they’d gained from working with Sid to give their attackers the slip.If Elliot had been even a little less of a fighter, or if their attackers had been a little more than a maddened mob, it would have ended there. But Elliot was a good fighter and their attackers were a maddened mob. They ripped themself free, twisting free of grasping hands and ran flat out.The walls leading out of Elk Square were high and steep but not as smooth as they would have looked to unpracticed eyes. Elliot did not have unpracticed eyes, but they were willing to bet many of their attackers did. They threw themself at the wall, scrabbling for handholds and started to climb. Years working on Alma and Char’s crew had actually made them a faster climber than they’d been the last time they’d been on the Staircase and they made good time, while their attackers unsurprisingly stalled at the bottom. Elliot allowed themself a tight smile. It was starting to look like they were going to--Something punched Elliot in the back with enough speed to knock the wind out of them. The pain came more slowly, spreading across their back with a wet heat. Elliot gasped for air, tightening their fingers around their handholds to keep from falling. A crossbow quarrel hit the stone just above one of their hands and horror dawned like the sun cresting over the horizon. They’d been shot.That was—Their brain stumbled over itself in shock and their vision swam. They clung to the wall and when they coughed there was blood on their lips, though maybe they’d just bitten their tongue. Hopefully they’d just bitten their tongue and the damage wasn’t that severe. They had no idea how they’d start to figure that out how bad it was, to be honest. Another crossbow quarrel slammed into them followed by another.Elliot took a breath through their teeth and forced themself to continue upwards. Every movement they made pulled at the quarrels buried in their flesh. The amount of pain surprised them. Wasn’t adrenaline supposed to numb pain until after the fact? Or worse, if this was the pain numbed, what would it be like once the adrenaline wore off?Somehow despite everything they made it to the top of the wall. Elliot hauled themself up over the lip of the drop and stumbled against the wall of the higher passage and slid down to their knees. Their head spun and their limbs felt far away. Their shirt stuck to their back with what they knew was blood. They fought to urge to collapse entirely. Their ears were rapidly filling up with static but they could hear just well enough to know that at least some of the people from Elk Square were also capable of climbing the wall and were still after them. They needed to get up and move.Gripping the stones Elliot managed to haul themself back to their feet. They stumbled onward, tripping as they went. Standing was a phenomenally bad idea. Moving was even worse. They were so dizzy. They weren’t going to be able to outrun anyone in this state. They were going to have to hide.The passage at the top of the wall was thankfully fairly short and let out into a wider street which was quiet but heavily used enough for it to be lined with trees. Elliot staggered over to one and hauled themself up, biting their tongue to keep from crying out in pain.They were just in time. No sooner had they positioned themself securely in a fork between tree limbs then their attackers raced by underneath them continuing on up the street. Elliot rested their forehead against the tree trunk and everything ran like water down glass. They felt themself start to sway to the side and wrapped their arms around a tree branch to keep from falling. Not only would that reveal their hiding place to their attackers, falling out of a tree with three crossbow quarrels in their back would be about as unpleasant as they could possibly imagine.They needed to wait to see if their attackers were going to return away so they gave themself a moment to rest and try to catch their breath. As they lay in the tree two figures walked by beneath them.“You’re headed there now?” one asked.“Yeah, I’m gonna give Ellen a break,” the other said. “She’s been watching her cell all day. Besides, I haven’t gotten to see any of the intruders yet…”The first laughed. “You’re ridiculous. See you at dinner?”The two walked away but Elliot’s brain was spinning. The intruders must be some of their crew. The odds that there were any other intruders on the Staircase at the same time as Elliot’s crew was were slim to none. Therefore the intruders in the cell must be some of their friends. They needed to do something to rescue whoever that was.Once, relatively soon after picking Elliot up and taking them into the crew, Alma and Char had sat them down for a discussion about how you couldn’t do everything yourself. They’d explained as if Elliot was a little kid that it was good to know when something was out of your capacity to do and that when you realized that you should step back and let someone more capable do whatever it was instead. Elliot understood that in theory and they also understood that “I was recently turned into a pincushion with crossbow quarrels” might count as a situation when you might not be capable of handling things, but they didn’t see any other course of action. They had no idea who had been captured. Hell, everyone else could have been captured. Until they were sure that someone else was free and capable of solving things—and by someone they meant Alma or Char, because how would Jules or Mia know what to do to solve something like this?—they should make decisions like they were the only one who could handle things.First thing first, they had to do something about the crossbow quarrels. They couldn’t just pull them out without ripping their skin and causing even more blood loss. They were already feeling faint enough, they didn’t want to make it any worse. However, if they tried to do anything strenuous now the quarrels would catch on things and also make the damage and blood loss worse. There was really only one possible middle way.Breaking off the excess parts of the quarrels was no easy task. Elliot didn’t really have the leverage for it and therefore did far more damage than they would have done if they’d been doing it to another person. They managed it however, and then peeled off their ruined coat. Their thought was that removing their coat might change their appearance enough that they might not immediately be recognized. They were already hallway down the tree before they remembered that their tee-shirt was a mess of blood and would show it far more than their coat because it was a lighter color, but it was too late to go back for the coat. They weren’t sure they’d have enough energy for what still needed to be done and they needed to make sure they didn’t lose the woman who had said she was going to take over guarding the prisoners. They might know TS better than possibly every living person in existence but searching every place prisoners might be held would take time they didn’t have.Elliot stumbled as soon as they stepped away from the protective support of the tree but after a moment they were able to regain their balance and push onwards. Alma and Char might have been worried that Elliot didn’t understand that they couldn’t do everything. The two of them had probably been right, but Elliot really could do quite a bit before they reached a point where that would matter.