Viggo's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Part 22- Cave In

Viggo groaned, shaking mud off his boots for the hundredth time that day. "How did I get stuck in a stupid cave with you again? I am so sick of caves. Dark, dirty, and you can easily get trapped in them."

Ryker grinned at his brother's complaining. "Sounds like someone's a little claustrophobic, eh?" Viggo shot him a death glare. "No, I just don't like being underground just so you can gawk at some rock formations or whatever. Just hurry so we can leave."

Ryker ignored his brother's further mutterings in favor of studying a large, sharp piece of rock jutting from the ceiling. Tiny worm-like dragons crawled through a maze of holes running through the stone, and the larger Grimborn smiled at their squeaks and occasional little bursts of flame. He might be a dragon hunter, but it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate their wonder sometimes.

Suddenly, the dragons released squeaks of alarm and vanished. With an uneasy feeling in his chest, Ryker turned back to Viggo, just as the earth fell away beneath them both.

Ryker woke sometime later, hearing groans and cries from somewhere in the darkness around him. It sounded like a wounded animal, and at first all Ryker could think of were the tiny dragons from before. But no, it was too loud to come from something so small. Wait- where was Viggo?

"Brother!" Ryker screamed, struggling to his feet. He stumbled forward not three steps before hitting something soft, which cried out in response. "Ahhg! I'm down here!" Ryker almost wept with relief, falling to his knees beside Viggo, who made no attempt to move. "Can you stand?" Ryker placed his hand on his brother and it came away wet, sending a chill down his spine.

"Uhh... no. I don't think that would be wise." Viggo gave a shaky laugh, but it stopped when Ryker's shaking hands finally reignited one of their torches, revealing both brothers in harsh relief.

A long spike of rock had impaled Viggo. It went straight through his abdomen and into the dirt underneath him, staining the hard earth. Ryker felt his breath coming faster and faster as he looked at the horrible wound. There was no way Viggo would survive this...

The darkening of Ryker's eyes was clear to Viggo, and he raised a bloody hand shakily, placing it on his brother's arm. "It's the end for me I think, dear brother. Funny, I always thought I would die under a dragon's flame, or at the hands of some great warrior." He coughed and released a spray of blood. "Leave me here."

Ryker shook his head before Viggo had even finished, knowing what he was going to say. "Absolutely not." He choked down a sob, "I'm your big brother, I'm supposed to protect you." Viggo rolled his eyes, somehow smiling still through his agony. "Like I ever needed you too. The rest of the cave could fall at any moment, get out of here."

His smile faded as Ryker wrapped his hands around the rocky spear. "I'm going to break this off around your body and leave the rest in to stop up as much bleeding as I can. Then I'm going to get you out of here, we are finding our ships, and Ola is going to give you so much painkiller that you'll feel as good as new."

The rock was successfully broken off, and somehow Viggo stayed conscious through the process, although Ryker tactfully didn't mention the tears that his little brother kept furiously wiping away.

Viggo shuddered and passed out as soon as Ryker picked him up. The bigger man clutched the smaller one protectively, carrying him bridal style up through the piles of rubble. Thankfully the tunnels were mostly clear, and Ryker soon reached the surface.

One of Viggo's hands curled against his chest, the other flopping limply. There was so much blood; it stained Ryker's shirt, his pants, his boots, his hands, everything. And his little brother had gotten so cold...

No. There was no way he was giving up, not when Viggo's chest still rose and fell, when his cheeks were still flushed with life. "We made it out of the caves. See how beautiful it is?" Viggo's eyes opened a fraction and he stared up at the blue sky. "It's a nice place to die. Much better than that horrible cave." Ryker growled and started walking faster. "You are not dying, not today. I won't let you."

It was a childish thing to say, and Viggo grinned, wheezing too much to really laugh. "I'm not sure that you have much choice." His smile drooped. "I... I'm sorry. But you need to listen- whatever happens, you can not blame yourself. This isn't your fault." Ryker could see the ship in the harbor, and he quickened his step even more, despite the ever-growing pool of blood on Viggo's stomach. "Stop talking like that, we're almost to the ship. We're so close."

Viggo grasped Ryker's shoulder, trembling with the effort of such a small motion. "Promise me. Just promise me. Ryker, please!" This shocked the older grimborn, and he quickly nodded, even as his tears of guilt fell onto Viggo. "I promise. I'd promise you anything. Anything at all."

This seemed to satisfy Viggo, and he relaxed in Ryker's arms, growing frighteningly still. The sound of his labored breath vanished. "Viggo? Brother? Answer me!" Ryker screamed and shook his brother's limp form, but there was nothing. He gripped the smaller man even tighter and ran towards the ship.

A little boy and his brother played, sparring with their little wooden swords and grinning with the pure joy of childhood. The younger climbed a tree, intending to turn around on one of the branches and jump back down like a pirate scaling the rigging. But the ground suddenly seemed so far away, and fear crashed through his happiness. The edges of his world seemed to darken, but then his older brother reached the tree and held up his arms.

"Come back to me! It's okay, I've got you! Come back to me Viggo!" The little boy hesitated, but then he saw the reassuring smile on the other's face. So he leaped.

Had he died? If so, then this was not what he had imagined Valalla to be like. And his middle pulsed with pain; looking down revealed the source to be his dressed wound. So, he had survived. Ryker sat asleep in a chair beside him, looking terrible. He was covered in dried blood and dust, and had dark circles under his eyes. Viggo poked him and he jerked awake.

"Sorry Ola, I know you said to go rest- Viggo!"He gingerly leaned over to hug his brother, shaking with happiness. "You've been unconscious for two weeks." tears shone in his eyes, but Ryker couldn't stop smiling. "Ola was almost certain you would die, since there was so much risk of infection and you had lost so much blood. I'm so happy that you're alright."

Viggo tried to sit up but flopped back down with a groan. "I feel so weak." Ryker laughed softly and propped his brother up with pillows. "That's what happens when you don't move for two weeks. When you're a bit stronger I'll set you up on deck so you don't have to stare at the walls all day."

"Thank you."

"It's not a big deal."

"No, for everything. For saving my life. I thought I was done for, and you never gave up. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"That's what brothers do. Get some rest." Ryker stayed at his brother's side until he fell asleep.