Uneasy Alliance (A Roleslaying with Roman story)

The Courage

Youngblood sighed heavily as he slumped against a tree, trying to keep himself calm. Roman stood in front of him, shifting on his feet nervously and keeping his eyes on the ground.

"So let me get this straight. I told you to keep just one secret from Noise because I knew he would go out and do something drastic, and you can only keep your mouth shut for only a few weeks before spilling everything?"

Roman shrunk in on himself and mumbled apologies, already feeling bad enough. Youngblood looked up at him for a long while, then closed his eyes and groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you." He stood and gripped Roman's shoulder briefly, the latter looking up at him with mild surprise. "Do you know where Noise went off to? He's probably so mad at me.."

Roman shook his head, his shoulders relaxing a bit when he realized Youngblood wasn't too angry with him. "I thought he'd come out and try to find you."

Youngblood's ear twitched slightly as a thought struck him. "...what exactly did you tell him?"

Roman tensed again as he watched him. "Just what the deal was, that you had to beat the king or you'd fuse with whatever that thing was-"

Youngblood shuddered a bit at the thought, then his eyes widened and he rushed to gather his things. "Shit, shit, shit-"

Roman quickly followed him, not wanting to be left behind again. "Wait, wait! What's going on, where are we going?!"

"Damn it, he never thinks these things through-" Youngblood muttered, panic seemingly settling in around him. He jolted when he turned right to face Roman. Roman gripped his shoulders gently and looked into his eyes. "Youngblood. Please, what's the matter?"

Youngblood pushed him off as lightly as he could in his haste. "He's going to try to fight the king again!" he cried, his voice shaking.

Roman's heart sank and he nodded, then the two rushed off into the woods without another word (after Roman had left a note to Djembe and Flow telling them what happened). Roman ran behind Youngblood, struggling to not lose his much faster friend.

"Why would he try this?! He knows he's not strong enough!" Roman called through heavy pants and wheezes. Youngblood remained focused, but slowed enough so Roman could hear him.

"He's never exactly thought things like this through when it comes to my safety. His need to protect me heavily outweighs his own self preservation. It's why he gets so pissy when we save him."

Roman nodded, entirely out of breath as they started running up the mountain. Youngblood stopped to let him catch his breath, but paced restlessly, flames flowing out around him slightly as his worry festers in his chest. He looks up towards the tiny pinprick that is the college from this distance, and pleads with every god he believes in to keep Noise safe.