Dragon Knights Fan Fiction ❯ Twenty Themes ❯ Emotionally Shattered ( Chapter 9 )

Warnings: Rune/Tintlett, the Dragon Knights try to cheer up a mopey Rune.

Size: 7.33kb

It was a cyclical thing, but only a few recognised it. The first sign was Rune's long, blonde hair gaoing limp, the second was his lack of response to provocation and when he took to staring into the pool without moving, the mood, or whatever it was, was in full swing.

A full year of hectic adventuring passed before misery returned and once more Rune trudged through life, every action a burden. His wearisome sighs echoed heavily on his friends' ears.

"I'm sick of his moping!" moaned Rath, stomping up and down the corridor and throwing glances at Thatz. The green-haired thief leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"What can we do?" he asked. "Rune'll snap out of it eventually."

"I know that," snarled Rath, "But when? He's driving me mad. Even if I avoid him, I can feel him."

"The sense of melancholy reaches out from where he sighs and soils your fun, eh?" Thatz grimaced. "I don't know if it's a mystic connection, but his moods affect me too."

"You think that Lykouleon might be to blame?" growled Rath, after stopping in his tracks.

Thatz frowned at the Fire Knight. "The Dragonlord isn't causing Rune's pain, but he might know why it affects us too."

"We'll look stupid if he turns and tells us that it's because we love Rune," said Rath, punching the wall beside him.

"You're right." Thatz coughed into his hand and blushed slightly. "I miss him when he's not around. I guess you don't realise how much someone means to you, until they leave, or are in pain. He's annoying, but Rune makes diverting the mission more challenging and that makes the loot much sweeter."

Rath frowned before raising his eyebrows and walking back up to Thatz.

"We need to look at this a new way," he said, clenching his fist. "If Rune can make us sad, then maybe we can make him feel better by having as much fun as we can!"

"I like it!" beamed Thatz. "I'll start right away in the Fighter's Club. Oh," he cried, restraining Rath with a gentle pinch on his shirt -sleeve. "Do you have any stake money? I'm all out."

"Fool me once, shame on me," replied Rath, shaking him off and walking away.

Rune was in the middle of a very good mope and about to start on a small bout of pouting, when he was scooped up from the ground by Rath and Thatz. The poor guy's feet flicked out and dropped into the cold water: Rune's reflexes couldn't save his shoes and they were soaked.

He sighed and went limp, noting the gouges in the grass caused by the weight of his feet. His kidnappers remained grimly silent, determinedly marching onwards. They hauled Rune through the gardens, into the castle itself and Rune had grown mildly curious when he was unceremoniously plonked at the head of a table in the dining room. The table was heaped with food: bowls of strawberries, thick slices of chocolate cakes, melting scoops of ice-cream, steaming pies, savoury tarts, mouth-watering spicy concoctions, sausages on sticks, jugs of rich sauces, decanters of wine, mead and fruit juices. Nervous heads peeked out through the door, lining up evenly, one on top of another, all watching Rune.

He picked at a plate of carrot sticks, ignoring the chocolate, caramel, chilli and even the caramel-chilli dips ranged about it in a semi-circle.

Thatz shook. It started as a minor vibration, almost imperceptible, but when Rune reached right over the cherry gateau to grab a stick of celery, the table quivered in harmony.

"Right, that's enough!" he shouted, reaching out to Rune. Rath took the other end and a moan from the disappointed chefs spurred them on their way.

The food didn't go to waste, but somehow, it didn't taste as sweet as it should and the party ended early, with everyone sober.

Their next stop was the sparring grounds. Rune didn't protest as Rath pressed a light, wooden blade into his hand, but it took some balancing until Rune would stand unaided: he seemed to melt into first Rath's embrace and then Thatz's. They gritted their teeth and kept at it, until he gave up.

With a nod to his partner, Rath grabbed up a matching sword and marked off three paces. He saluted Rune and launched into an immediate attack, which landed firmly on the unresisting Water Knight. Rath sprang back. Rune swayed, but stayed upright, so Rath attacked again: the blonde wavered in place, holding his wooden sword, but refusing to parry.

Rath swung in ever larger arcs, slowing down to the pace of a snail, but still Rune ignored him, standing glaze-eyed, without registering a thing that happened. Rath finally stomped up and started poking him with the tip of his sword.

"Rune? Rune? ROOOOOOOOO-un?" he cried, his prods growing stronger.

Thatz eventually stalked up and plucked the sword from Rath's hand. He shook his head and Rath nodded. They picked Rune up again and moved on.

The sword in his hand dipped lower and lower and was eventually lost when it caught on a bramble and fell from his unresisting grasp. He was hauled all over the castle again and eventually settled at yet another table.

"I'll spot you ten silver to get you started, okay Rune?" said Thatz, setting up the Game of Life.

"Ten gold," muttered Rath, as a horde of Dragon Fighters descended on the game and threw script onto the table.

"Ten gold," echoed Thatz, less enthusiastically than before. "Who's first?"

The pile of gold in front of Rune dwindled slowly, until a few lucky turns and skilful moves rebuilt it again. The other dragons groaned every time Rune's luck mysteriously turned, but his face remained vacant and his heartbeat thumped on, unchanged. His two friends eventually gave up trying to liven him up and after a fair game, Rune was left with five gold and a handful of silver.

The fighters scattered and Thatz dragged a chair up to the table, sat into it and slumped over.

"I'm completely out," came from between his hands. "All we've managed is to bring everyone else down."

Rath clapped him on the back and sat down as well.

"We've tried everything that we like to do, but what's Rune's idea of fun?" asked Rath.

Thatz snorted. "I have no idea," he said. He sat up and pursed his lips. "Um, something dull, I bet, like reading a book, or picking flowers."

"Does he embroider? Most girls like to embroider," added Rath.

Then Rune spoke.

"I'm grateful for everything you've attempted to do." Rune gave a brave smile, but pain still glistened in his eyes. "I'm afraid that you'll just have to wait."

A young man walks alone by the frog's pond. He doesn't see any of the beauty in the lilies, or notice the heron by the rushes. This man is untouched by the very thing he stares so deeply into. He's hollow at the core: nothing reaches out of there, nothing penetrates too deeply.

"Happy anniversary," he whispers to the still waters. "Happy anniversary, my sweet Tintlett." He sits down beside the water, his eyes too dry to well up anymore. "It's been another year since we were married, another year since I became a Dragon Knight and another year since you fell asleep and left me all alone."