Uneasy Alliance (A Roleslaying with Roman story)

The Grief

Roman wandered through the halls of the college cautiously, looking over his shoulder periodically as he went. Remus had given him a fairly thorough tour of the campus that day, as well as the grounds bordering the island, then had treated him to an admittedly wonderful feast as a way to 'welcome' him to the college.

While Roman appreciated the sentiment, he couldn't bring himself to get comfortable without knowing what had happened to his friends. He had excused himself from the large hall where the feast had been held, mumbling some excuse about him being tired, and hadn't stayed long enough to see if it had convinced Remus.

Now, he stalked through the corridors, looking around anxiously for any sign of Youngblood or Noise. After a few hours of searching, he slumped against a wall, groaning and rubbing his hands over his face. It was all his fault. If he had just kept his mouth shut when Noise had cornered him, none of this would have happened. How could Youngblood even call him his friend? Would he even call them friends, after what the king had revealed? Roman thought about the trust between the two of them that he had tried so hard to build over this past year, and felt sick to his stomach knowing how he'd so utterly broken it.

The trust between the two of them.. that was it! Roman snapped up and turned to start rummaging through his bag, searching for something that was no doubt buried deep at the bottom. He felt some of the tension leave him as he pulled out the sending stone that he had been given when he and Youngblood had first started traveling together. His hand shook slightly as he nervously brought it close to his face, looking over his shoulder once again to make sure no one was around before speaking into it.

"..hello? Youngblood? Are you there? Please, I know I messed up, but I can make it up to you, I promise-"

He was cut off by a loud scrabbling sound from the other end, accompanied by faint murmurs of a conversation. Roman went to speak again, but another voice called out first.

"Roman? Is that you?"

He was slightly dismayed by the fact that the voice wasn't Youngblood's, but was relieved that it was still someone he recognized.

"Djembe? Where are you guys? Is everyone okay? Where's Youngblood?"

Silence.

"..Djembe?"

"Are you still in the college, Roman?"

Roman shivered slightly at the other's refusal to answer his question, effectively putting him on-edge.

"Y-yeah, why?"

"Do you know where Noise's dorm room is?"

"I think so, we came in that way.."

"Alright, try to get here as soon as possible and make sure nobody follows you, got it?"

"I.. okay.. is everything alright?"

"..we'll tell you when you get here.. don't want to risk anyone else finding out.."

Roman hesitated slightly, then sighed and nodded. "Okay.. I'll be there in a few minutes."

He moved to put the stone back in his pocket, but a thought occurred to him. He slowly brought it back up, swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and trying to keep his voice steady.

"Is he.. is he still mad at me?"

He was met with silence again, but this time nothing came after it besides more hushed and muffled discussion from the other end. Roman's heart sank further, but he started towards the dorm anyways.

Roman managed to avoid most of the guards on his way to the room, and the few he did encounter didn't even spare him a second glance, despite how wildly he stood out. He ducked into Noise's room and closed the door behind him quickly, slumping back against it with relief and closing his eyes.

He jolted slightly when he felt himself get pulled into a tight embrace, then relaxed once he realized who it was.

"Oh, thank the gods you're okay. We were so worried," Djembe said, backing up a bit and looking Roman over before letting him further into the room.

"Yeah, I'm alright.. what did you want to tell me?"

Djembe rubbed the back of his neck and looked over his shoulder. Roman followed his gaze and felt his blood run cold at the sight he found. Noise was sitting against the wall on his bed, clutching Youngblood to his chest much more tightly than was surely acceptable as he stared blankly at the floor. Youngblood was eerily still, and Roman let out a soft, broken sound when he saw the bloody marks around his throat.

Flow was sitting beside Noise, clearly trying to hold back tears as she moved to take Youngblood from him, but each time she did, Noise just curled around him tighter as tears escaped from his eyes.

Roman stood slowly, hardly in control of his body as he walked towards his friends. Just one look at his best friend fully confirmed his worst fears. Youngblood was dead.

Roman had never dealt with anything like this before. He had never lost anyone, aside from the one he wouldn't remember. He didn't know how to process this. Youngblood was the strongest person he had ever known, save for his father. If he was dead, what was left for the rest of them?

He was shaken from his thoughts by Flow's voice as she quietly pleaded with Noise.

"Noise, baby, you can't keep him. We have to... to bury him," she said, failing to conceal the waver and break in her voice. Noise's tears started to stream down his face faster and his expression slowly devolved into one of pure despair as he began to sob, curling in on himself and Youngblood more to hide his face in his lover's chest. He wailed louder when he couldn't feel the warm, steady heartbeat of the one in his arms.

Out of the four of them, it was clear that Noise was taking Youngblood's death the hardest. His sleeves were completely torn, revealing deep, long claw marks along his upper arms. Identical scratches were present on his face, and his own hands were covered in blood. It seemed his claws had been hurriedly trimmed to keep him from doing more damage to himself, but Djembe and Flow hadn't been able to restrain him long enough to bandage his wounds.

Roman hesitated before sitting beside Noise, his own emotions spilling forward. He wrapped his arms around his friends and pulled them both closer, stifling his own, quieter cries into Noise's hair.

A melancholy air settled throughout the room as the other two hugged the grieving men from both sides, staying strong for them as they silently wept as well. Roman calmed first and sniffled, wiping away his own tears as he looked down at Noise, his voice thick with sorrow.

"F-Flow's right, Noise.. we have to go.."

Noise, unable to produce any more tears and now simply hiccuped and sobbed dryly and sporadically as he leaned heavily on Roman. After a long moment, he nodded, gently pulling Youngblood's hood up over his head and cradling him close to his chest.

The group slowly managed to get themselves together enough to stand and start to walk out, Noise shielding Youngblood's body and whispering incoherently to him and himself. Flow led them out and onto the grounds, heading towards the platform as inconspicuously as possible.

Roman was despondent. He stared forward at the ground as he thought of everything he and Youngblood had been through. He'd only known Youngblood for a little over a year, but he had come to love him like a brother. Now that love was gone. Reduced to stillness. It had nowhere else to go. He hardly even knew if it had existed within their bond after he had been revealed to have ties with the king. Roman felt the light inside him flicker and die out as he made another crushing realization.

Youngblood had died hating him.