A shimmering fracture tore through the floor of the upper archive, opening a gentle ramp of crushed shale into the depths below.
Nari bounded lightly up the rubble slope, her four ruby wings folding snugly behind her back as she reached the staging ledge.
Rumi gasped in overjoyed relief, throwing both arms around her younger sister and pulling her into an enthusiastic embrace.
"Look at you... four gorgeous ruby wings!" the elder scout cried, her lynx ears flattening affectionately against her hair.
"You held that vault all by yourself and came back looking like a sovereign queen!"
"I told you I would keep the grate held until morning," the younger sister answered with a bashful grin, nuzzling her sister's cheek.
"And now we walk down the ramp together to finish this job."
"Nobody separates the two of us ever again," the elder sister whispered fiercely, adjusting the scarlet ribbon on her sister's wrist.
