Origins Oneshots (And more!)

Dace's nightmare

Series: Monster Hunter Dice and Fire

Ships: None intended 

Warnings: Character death and Dace throws up

Dace had run.

He had always told himself he never would, even in the most dangerous of situations. He would say to the others at the academy that he would never even consider running from a fight, in fact he said it so much it made their eyes roll whenever he did. Despite this, he found his chest burning and legs aching as he sprinted through the trees and tripped over bushes. Blood trickles from various cuts and gashes across his body, most of his armor was too damaged to be considered armor anymore and he had gotten a fresh haircut from the fight. When he saw the beast gearing up to shoot another spike at him, something inside of him snapped and he ran.

Eventually he had to stop and half collapse against a tree, arms wrapped around it so he could support himself and gasp to get air into his searing lungs. The world was spinning so much he could barely see, and before he realized what was happening he had gagged up the contents of his stomach onto the ground below. Everything was a blur that was slowly clearing in his mind.

He had run from the fight, and left the others to deal with the Nergigante

Dace let himself slide down against the tree, still sucking in shaky breaths of air as he sat alone in the darkness. The fight had been unexpected as the beast had crept up on them in the night, he had woken to the sound of Elric yelling and barely had time to grab his weapon. Now that he thought about it, they must have been near another elder dragon which made their situation even more dangerous. It was safe to assume the thing hadn't followed him but that could only mean one thing.

He left it there with them. He had run away.

Finally the gravity of the situation kicked in and Dace found himself scrambling to get to his feet, tripping over himself as he stumbled back in the direction he came. He ignored his still tight chest and ignored the agony every step left his legs in. He had to get back and help, after all protecting them was the only thing that mattered to him right now and he had already been gone for far too long. His memory of the fight was still hazy though, and the world around him was blurred.

When Dace finally managed to trip back into the clearing they had set up camp in, he was met with dead silence. There was no wind swaying the leaves of the trees, there was no roaring or yelling, no sounds of weapons or even footsteps.

It was just quiet.

His steps were slowed this time as he dragged himself into the clearing, wordlessly walking over to the first figure he saw laying on the ground. Oncelot was face down on his front, a large spike sticking out of his back and a pool of blood beneath him. He wasn't moving, he wasn't making a sound. Dace felt numb, slowly kneeling down next to the kenku and reaching out with trembling hands to yank the spike out of him. Oncelot still didn't make a sound, and Dace knew that this was true for everyone else. Without lingering on the thought, he tossed the spike off to the side and turned Oncelot over onto his back, setting the other's hands onto his chest.

Afterwards, he stood up and shambled over to the second figure he saw.

Riodan's lifeless body was against a tree, his head hanging down and the tree behind him cracked from the force he'd been thrown into it with. Dace knelt down next to him as well and pulled him away from the tree to also lay him on his back, not speaking a word in fear of disturbing the silence. Once the man was on his back with his hands on his chest, Dace stood up and started walking again.

Elric and Gofu were further away from the others, both laying on the ground a good distance from the others. There was a trail of blood leading over to Gofu already on his back, a bloodied spike laying on the ground nearby. Elric was laying lifeless directly on top of Gofu, arms partially around the smaller wyverian as if he had been trying to shield him.

The sight of them broke his heart even more, but Dace pushed down the emotions and knelt down next to them. The first thing he did was roll Elric over and off of Gofu, which revealed the deep wound in his stomach that was, presumably, from the spike. He made sure Elric was comfortably laid on his back right next to Gofu, positioning both of the wyverians' hands to lay on their chests.

This time he didn't get up, his eyes lingering on Elric as he thought of their last interaction. It was an argument before they had gone to bed, or perhaps it was Elric yelling out as Dace ran into the forest and left them all to die.

He didn't have time to think about it any further, as a booming roar ripped through the silence.

Dace suddenly shot up into a sitting position, gasping for air with beads of sweat pouring down his forehead as his heart pounded against his ribcage. His hands shot up to feel his face and his first instinct was to look around, being greeted by Gofu's concerned face right next to him. The wyverian reached out and grabbed hold of his shoulders, Elric sitting up behind him and looking over as well with a soft frown.

His panting grew softer as he slowly woke up and realized what had happened, but when he opened his mouth to speak no words came out. Gofu spoke for him though, his tone soft and comforting.

"Dace, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?"