Put back together

7. No turning back

The wind in the middle of the bridge was incredibly strong. It pushed and pulled at Patton's clothes and hair and body and made his feet slide on the narrow wooden planks. He could only squint if he wanted to see something and his face and fingers were probably frozen at this point.

He was scared. He was so, so scared. His heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest.
It was getting darker and darker. Soon he wouldn't be able to see anything.
The thought alone terrified him.

But with every step the wind seemed to lessen again. It was like walking into a hurricane and wanting to give up because every step was nothing but exhausting but simultaneously knowing that if you go far enough you will be safe again. So you cling to that shimmer of hope and force yourself to go on and ignore the way your muscles hurt and your feet are numb and that you could die any moment.

Because if you don't ignore it it's going to swallow you whole, eat away your spirit from the inside out. Leave you empty for death to collect you.

Patton was pretty sure he wouldn't even notice if Roman fell. He couldn't see far enough and the only thing he could hear was the wind. He wasn't even sure if he'd notice the bridge breaking until it was too late.

Even when the wind wasn't violent anymore he was too scared to open his eyes. He kept on blind. Maybe that was risky but he didn't want to see just how deep the abyss underneath him was and how old and worn the bridge was.

Then his foot made contact with solid ground and he almost cried in relief. Amity pushed him fully onto the Island, just as eager as he was to get of that damned shaking wood.
Patton fell to his knees and took moment just to breath because Dear Gods, I'm still alive!

Roman sat next to him and gave him a shaky smile.

"You know, for your first time crossing between Islands you did really well."

"Please tell me we never have to do that again," Patton breathed.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. There is one more bridge we have to cross to get to D'cal and who knows where we'll have to go after Natica..." he trailed off.

Patton noticed that Roman's deep green eyes were trained on something behind him. Half-heartedly he turned around.
There was light between the trees over on the other Island. Firelight. It was dim but impossible not to notice now that it was completely dark.

"How about we don't lite a fire tonight?" Patton asked. His voice sounded far away too him.

Roman only nodded in response.

They didn't bother to set up a tent either. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky and less things to take down the next morning meant being able to be back on horseback sooner which in turn meant a bigger headstart on whoever was on the other side of the bridge.

It was a little cool so Patton buried himself in his blanket and gripped the rune hanging from his neck tightly.
He wasn't sure when he fell asleep but he woke up before sunset because it was too cold and wet to continue sleeping.
His back and legs ached as he sat up and rubbed his eyes with numb fingers.

For a moment he couldn't remember where he was or how he gotten here. Then his eyes landed on Roman's sleeping figure next to him and the bridge and last night came rushing back to him at the speed of a hunting Japper.

He silently stood up and tried to get a look on the opposite coast. It was near impossible in the darkness but he believed to see the outlines of tents and horses between the trees.

"Roman?" he asked into the silence.

A slight shift and groan but Roman didn't wake up.
Patton carefully shook his shoulder.

"Roman? Wake up! Wake up, kiddo!"

Roman groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Did ya' jus call me kiddo?" he slurred, still half asleep.

Patton felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"I- Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm really sorry but you have to get up. We agreed to get on the road as early as possible, remember?"

Roman slowly sat up, his reddish brown hair sticking up in every direction, and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. He blinked at Patton a few times, pupils glossed over from sleep, before he managed to really wake up.

With still tired muscles they packed up their camp and gently woke the horses. Patton felt a little bad about how much stress all of this had to be for the animals but it wasn't like they really had a choice on the matter.
So they tied the rolled-up blankets to the saddles again and by the time the sun crept over the horizon they were already on the move again.

Day three, Patton thought. He wondered, not for the first time, how many it would be in total before he would be home again.

In fairytales people found true love, wealth and often themselves on quests like this one. But real life isn't a fairytale.

In real life there were no fairy godmothers, only wicked, miscevious fae.
There were no powerful and helpful mages, but crazy, unpredictable people with more power than they should ever have.
No princess - kidnapping or wise, giving dragons, but destructive, violent ones and those that hadn't survived the past hundert centuries because sometimes kindness can be ones greatest weakness.

And there was no such thing as love strong enough to break spells and curses.

He had learned that particular lesson the hard way.

So he didn't expect to find any of those things. Currently, all he could do was pray that they even found part of what they were looking for.

If it even exists.

He shook the thought off. Mages were crazy, every single one of them, but a prophecy was more often than not real. And a Mage at the royal palace had to be one of the best. He wouldn't call something an important prophecy if is wasn't.

A few drops of rain hit his arms and face. Warm after the cold morning dew.
Behind him, in the distance, he could still hear the wind of the abyss and in front of him, leading the way, was Roman, still wrapped in a thick brown blanket.

If he was honest with himself he didn't even honestly consider turning back by now.

Looks like it won't take long before I get to introduce the next main character into the story. ;)
As always feel free to roast me and/or ask questions!
By now this is (finally (like honestly how long ago did I say I'd do that)) on AO3. It's easier for me to tag and put content warnings there, which is why I'm posting it there as well in the first place. Chapters will always be updated here first though.

Have a nice (gay) day!