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22 - Y/N
It was a warm, tired afternoon, and Y/N L/N was sipping a cup of tea and rereading Six of Crows. It was easy to sink into the story, to allow themself to get lost in the captivating nature of the book- perhaps too easy.
They turned the page only to notice a strange mark- a small tear running down the spine. They looked closer and noticed smaller, thin slices emanating from the tear where the two pages met, stretching out over the words they were about to read. It seemed as though the book was splintering, and Y/N had only a moment to stare in confusion, feeling thoroughly disconcerted, before they were hurtling through darkness.
When Y/N became aware again, they were surrounded by bodies, hooded and their wrists, neck and ankles were bound. Adrenaline rushed through their veins, accelerating their heart and their breathing. They frantically took stock of their surroundings as best they could without sight, noting the familiar unpleasant smell of human sweat, the quiet murmuring of human voices, the dim light, and the shoulder-to-shoulder proximity. The floor underfoot rocked gently, and wheels lightly crunched on gravel outside.
They almost spoke, an instinctive ‘hello?’ but the words caught in their throat when someone to their side slumped onto them as though their strings had been cut. Y/N tried to move to support their weight, or move them away, but the chains restricted their movement.
Close to her, a feminine voice said something in a low voice she didn’t catch, a short word. There was no response, and the speaker repeated herself slightly louder-
“Kaz.”
The person leaning on them inhaled deeply, then straightened, relieving Y/N of their weight. Absently, Y/N thought that it was a good thing they were so packed together, or the collar around their throat might’ve choked the poor person to death. Then thei brain caught up to her senses, and they realised what they'd heard.
There’s no way.
“Keep talking” a voice rasped in response from beside them.
“What?”
“Just keep talking.”
“We’re passing through the prison gate. We made it through the first two checkpoints.”
Before Y/N could properly piece their eerily familiar situation together, the wagon (or they assumed that was what they were in) came to a halt. Without their sight, they were forced to pay closer attention to everything else- the scrape and metallic clink of a bolt sliding back, the rush of cold air as doors flew open. They heard a few words in an unfamiliar language, and then was startled by someone unlocking the collar around their throat. Around them, they noted that their fellow prisoners were all silent as they received the same freedom.
The current of people led Y/N down a ramp out of the vehicle, then slowed to a pause were sounds of metal creaking, from what Y/N guessed was some kind of gate opening ahead of the group.
As the prisoners were herded forward, shuffling in their shackles, Pearl desperately tried to rationalise their situation. They were about to speak aloud, to ask what was going on, when suddenly the hood was removed from their head. They blinked rapidly as their eyes adjusted to the change in light and looked around, greedily taking in their first look at their surroundings.
White marble walls, shining brightly, surrounded them in a circle. Above was open sky, harshly blue and unfamiliar. The gate (they had guessed right) was already being lowered behind them, thudding against the stone floor. The courtyard was crawling with guards, some aiming rifles at the group, some walking through the rows of prisoners with papers in hand.
Somewhat desperately, they focused on the group surrounding them. Although they didn’t want to admit it, they were looking for someone- multiple someones.
It’s not possible, they told themself, It can’t be possible.
But in only a moment, they found them. The crows were almost exactly as they had imagined them. It was like seeing a film adaptation of a childhood book, but actually well-cast, and devastatingly real. They were in the Ice Court. They were in Six of Crows.
And this was the moment that Y/N realised they were dreaming. They had to be. They couldn’t accept anything else. But as far as dreams went, this was a pretty cool one. They knew the future, for starters- even if they hadn’t finished rereading the book yet, they could remember the main points fairly well. They had the chance to actually meet characters that they loved, that meant a lot to them.
So what to do? It wasn’t like the crows needed their help- Kaz had a plan already, and it works out in the end, so maybe they shouldn’t interfere. Nothing about the plan goes irreversibly wrong until Nina is forced to try jurda parem, which isn’t for hours. But what was the alternative, sitting in a Fjerdan prison cell and waiting for the dream to be over? That would give them more time to consider their situation than they wanted, the lucidity of it and the uncanny realism, the way it didn't feel like any dream they'd had before and they quickly decided against it. They would have to join the crew on their heist, whether or not they needed them to.
Y/N took a moment to assess the crows. It was incredibly disconcerting- like the feeling of seeing someone you haven’t seen in years, or meeting a celebrity, but ten times more intense. They weren't exactly how they imagined, not quite. They tried not to draw any attention to themself as they take in the sight of the real people, who had been words on a page mere minutes ago.
Y/N startled when a guard, provoked by a quiet remark from Nina, slammed his rifle into Nina's gut. They almost moved to help her, but the guards making their way through the prisoners had reached them. They stilled for a moment, almost afraid. Did they replace someone else when she appeared in the wagon? Will there be paperwork to account for their existence? Then they dismissed the thought. Something tells them that whatever force placed them in this world didn’t do it just for them to be outed at the first step.
They resolved to wait to make their move until they’re alone, or at least not surrounded by guards. They continued to watch everything closely, trying to remember the details of the heist. The group of prisoners is split into men and women, and Y/N decides to follow Nina and Inej into the womens group- they'd be more easily convinced than Kaz. They're all assessed by the old women for Grisha powers (Y/N wasn’t given a second glance) and led to the women's cell block.
Excitement brimmed in Y/N as they were locked into the dank, grey cell. They took a breath to steady themself, feeling almost nervous, as though they were about to be interviewed, and made their way over to Inej and Nina, who stood together at the side of the room.
“So, you may find this hard to believe, but I think I know you guys” they said hesitantly, not wanting to reveal too much, “and I think I can help you break out the scientist.”
They had the pairs attention now, in the form of matching wary expressions levelled at them. Nina seemed as though she was about to respond, but Y/N cut her off in their enthusiasm. They continued, making sure to speak quietly and directly to the pair to avoid suspicion.
“I’m Y/N, and you are Nina Zenik, and Inej Ghafa.” Internally they prayed they were saying their names right, “You guys are somewhat… well-known, where I come from. I would be honoured to-” they yawned, suddenly tired, “to help you?”
Y/N distantly noted their heart, which had been racing, beginning to beat slower. They looked up at the pair to find Inej gone and Nina seemingly concentrated on a point between Pearls eyes. And then, unceremoniously, Y/N blacked out.
Bonus - Inej
Inej catches the stranger as they slump, successfully knocked out. It reminded her uneasily of Kaz’s faint in the wagon, which she still didn’t understand. As she dragged them to the benches, she received a few stares from her fellow prisoners. The extra attention was unwanted, but a necessary cost.
“What a nutjob” Nina stated bluntly as she helped Inej arrange the stranger in a seated position on the bench. At a passing glance, it would seem as though they had fallen asleep.
“They knew our names,” Inej mused to her friend. “I hadn’t known we were so notorious.” Nina made a noncommittal sound before replying.
“They must be from Ketterdam. Probably just wants to get out of this place like the rest of these poor sobs. Doesn’t matter- they were a threat to the plan, and now they aren't.”
Inej could see the logic in this. She had almost laughed aloud when the stranger had rambled about helping them; as though they could be some kind of asset to the crew. Just another criminal looking for an out, although their seeming level of knowledge put her on edge. Their names, for one thing; Nina bore no alias, but was hardly well known, and Inej was simply the Wraith to all but a select few.
Nina was right though; it didn’t matter. The stranger would likely sleep through the entirety of the job. Kaz would probably have killed them and still might, so Inej resolved to omit the odd stranger until they were all safely back on the ship, Bo Yul-Bayur in tow.