In his head, a voice echoed, “... Legend says that Peaktears Run leads all the way out into the ocean and once you’re in it there’s no way out...”. William gulped at the thought. What if Joss kept getting carried away… What if these dangerous waters would take away his brother, just like the element of fire had swallowed his original family?...

The case was settled. In a leap of faith, William jumped out from his hiding place and threw himself over the edge. It was so ridiculously steep, that his toes barely got to stumble on it before he lost control and began to tumble brutally past the underbrush.

When he splashed into the river, he instantly woke up anew. For in April the waters were still cold and uncomfortable to bathe in. Once he was in it, the power of the current swept him away from the danger above. Yes… Those bandits simply found it too irresistible to pass up a good target. Their hands were already readied with bows and arrows, but sadly for them, their little target quickly got carried far away...

William felt weakened by the cold but forced himself to swim the crawl. With big front strokes, he began to catch up to Joss and his dinosaur, marred by bloody stripes. The closer he got, the water gained more pigment; changing its light pink color out with a vibrant red. “*Gurgle*... Huff! Joss!... Joss!”. William tried to call out to his brother. *Whoosh*, suddenly he had to dodge a few boulders on the side before he could continue his pursuit.

William kept his attention sharp as he closed the distance between them. Currently, his only worries were about surviving the river and the well-being of his brother. There was definitely something wrong with that hot-headed fool of his, to remain silent for this long… William pushed ahead with his face mostly under the bubbling water.

With every emergence, he got nearer and then… “!... Gotcha!”, William shouted with glee as he grasped unto Joss’ shirt.

William continued to hold on to Joss, who instinctively held on to Vash with his legs. They were now a clump that rode the current together. In this clump, Vash kept on trying to stay afloat with its parent on top. As did William. He shouted at Joss again, since his brother remained unresponsive, “Joss! *cough* You have to wake up and swim towards the side!... huff... Do you hear me!?”.

Joss was hunched over. His eyes were drowsy and his mouth gaped half-open. This didn’t bode well. So William decided to force him to wake up. He clutched the fat on his cheek with the intention of pinching it blue, but he never got around to implement this act. For the color of William’s chilly fingers couldn’t compare to the lifeless hue on Joss’ skin. This observation frightened William to his core.

“Oh no!... huff… Joss!?... Did they!?...”, William whimpered before he continued, “*cough* Did they manage to hurt you…?”.

Joss looked at his sister through his heavy eyelids. The corner of his mouth curved slightly upwards as he embraced how pathetic he was… This confirmation hit William hard. But he still insisted on dragging Joss on top of some land.

This was indeed a troublesome task he had set out to accomplish, as most of the banks leading down to the river were too steep or overgrown to climb on. Some were even eroded at the bottom. Taking on the appearance of an introverted arc…

Where they were now at the moment, the terrain wasn’t suitable to climb on, but William hoped that further down they would be in luck. So he stuck his head up high and bounced lightly to get a better view of what was going on ahead.

This quick glance gave him newfound hope. Because there was indeed a small platform of dirt, just waiting to be used as a resting spot. William pointed his arm in its direction to make it easier for Vash to cooperate with him. The dinosaur haphazardly turned its head around and whined. She was smart enough to get the signal, thus they now had a new common goal in mind other than staying afloat... 

As they swam towards the platform, William wanted to confirm whether Joss was heavily wounded or not. Hence, he slid his hand down along Joss’ arm. He soon found that it was covering the center of his abdomen. Pressing against what he could presume was the wound. But this little bit of information wasn’t good enough for William, so he forced his hand beneath Joss’ to feel the area.

With an accidental swoop, his finger landed inside a fleshy crater. Joss shuttered and moaned painfully at the contact. This unintended intrusion made William experience a powerful ache as well… Because he now had to admit: They got him… They got him right in the stomach!…

William mindlessly removed his finger and helped his brother put pressure on the wound… Even though Joss was a bonded, this kind of injury… It was unlikely that he would survive it. Because this era they lived in, simply wasn’t equipped with the right knowledge nor gear to help someone like him… To fix such a grave wound, one must be extremely lucky to bond with- or meet someone, with the rare ability of healing. But these people were practically nonexistent, or too far out of their reach to help them now... 

The color black filled William’s mind, as he had to accept that Joss might be doomed to die a stagnant and miserable death...

He could see nothing else but that colorless void until a harsh bump occurred. Without knowing it, they had successfully managed to latch on to the platform… Promptly, all three heaved their upper bodies up to rest on the fragile earth. William was exhausted from the freezing swim. Never had his body felt this heavy before. But this was no time to rest…

He lifted his body and clumsily tore the wet hair, that obscured Joss’ vision to the side. When he could finally have a proper look at his brother, he softly called out to him: “Joss…?”.

In a second, the sweet sound of his name got swept away by the wind. For although Joss was still there, he didn’t respond back... Something warm welled up in William’s chest and nose as he forcibly continued, “Joss… I can’t believe that-… You did this…”. William tried to crawl up a bit further, then he exhaled a deep and trembling sigh.

For some reason, he really wanted to laugh at the moment, and yet at the same time cry... “You don’t know how much I despise you right now… I told you to leave them alone, but no… You just-… I won’t blame myself for this, okay!?... I won’t… It’s… Why do I feel like this is my fault, sniff!... Joss... Are you even there?...”. Again he got no response. The one he wanted contact with, was simply too preoccupied with his own body’s constant shivering and ache to notice anybody else… All William got was a mindless stare that wasn’t even directed at him…

This emotional torture went on for a while, till suddenly, a small grunt escaped Joss’ lips. This little grunt seemed to have rebooted his systems. For bit by bit, his distant eyes regained some life and slowly but surely, they began to focus on William’s sad little face.

The sight of his sister still being alive and well, made Joss curl up his lips. William burst out a happy sniffle, “You’re!?... You’re still here?... Good!... I was afwaid that y-”. William gulped down his chatter as his words were no longer under control. Instead, he let happiness fill his soul as Joss seemed to regain his senses…

The boy next to him clenched his teeth. His body was freezing cold like ice, because of his massive blood loss, but still…. He wanted to be stubborn until the end, so he said in an upbeat tone, “Haha, ouch!... Augh… Damn it, they got me good… There’s no need to avoid the truth… I’m a goner… haha… I’m dying, Mirabelle!... But at least I got one of those bastards! You saw that right?... I got him good... And… GAH!”.

Joss shut his eyes to avert the pain before he could add, “And I hope that… Despite my failures… That I was a good brother to you”. His warm smile got broader as he released a freezing breath, “Haaah… You should leave me… I w-”, William interrupted Joss with a stern: “No!”, but didn’t say another word as it would all come out as more whimpering gibberish.

Joss shut his eyes to let some trickling water pass them by, then he said, “For once listen to your brother!... I want to see you live!... So, you should go… But before you do, relay this message for me to Harvick:... Your brother, Joss Castonale, was always the best! At everything… Yes! Even archery!... I was always the strongest and… the coolest! Out of the two of us and…”, Joss quirkily lifted a corner of his lip before he finally said, “And good ol’ Joss here… was always the one who loved you the MOST!... You go tell Harvick that!... you tell him… you-”. Saying these ridiculous things out loud, made Joss chuckle. He might be dying but at least he got to die doing something honorable… Something his family could be proud of…

Oddly enough, as he felt his body shut down, all of his regret, insecurity, and sadness got swept away; leaving him with nothing else but peaceful bliss… Because before this incident, he had been so scared of being left alone in a world that only seemed to mock him… But now? it didn’t matter anymore.

William was dumbfounded at how his brother could be laughing at a time like this. “Joss! You apeshit moron! How dare you throw your life away like this whilst bragging like a fool!?... You have to fight it, Joss! You have to live!... If you don’t… I’ll… I’ll tell Harvick about how you got toyed around by a bunch of weAK BANDITS!”, William ended up shouting at his brother.

The victim he verbally abused, didn’t seem to mind. He churned out an: “Urmf... Although it hurts… Go ahead… Tis the truth after all........................…”. Then, with a slack expression, Joss lost his will to give his sister any more attention. For just the act of keeping up his smile was already way too exhausting, so he gently let it slide off.

“Joss! No!... Please, I didn’t-... I didn’t mean it!... You did good, okay? You did good!...”, William continued to apologize for his angry comment but Joss coldly ignored his sister’s presence. His eyes found themselves obeying the earth’s gravity instead. Only 3 seconds passed and they were already no longer gazing at William but at the black dirt beneath them…

William bashed the platform with his fist in defeat as he cried, “I… Just wanted you to stay… I told you… I would be here for you… So, just why won’t you be here for me?... Idiot...”.

Something strong simmered in William’s heart. He had a hard time deciphering just what he felt at this moment but if there was one thing he couldn’t accept, it was Joss’ unresponsive behavior, thus he slapped Joss on the cheek, twisted his head around, and forcibly opened his closing eyes. “JOSS!!!”, he kept calling out desperately to him…

For if he couldn’t keep him awake, they would continue to lie stranded on this dirt bank.

William wasn’t the only one getting distressed in this situation. Joss’ dinosaur Vash, was also about to lose its mind. It was in fact, so overwhelmed by feelings of anguish and pain, that it entirely forgot that they weren’t on a sturdy rock but a flimsy platform made out of dirt…

William realized that his panicked hollering wouldn’t save anyone… So instead he tried to tug himself further up on land, as well as his brother’s body. This Vash understood and thus it also began to writhe and squirm its wounded body, to help push its parent upward. Its intentions were good but the execution of its plan caused mayhem instead. Soon the brittle piece of dirt they rested on crumbled apart under its tumultuous motions…

First Vash succumbed to the river’s force, then Joss and at last, William. 

As he felt the cold water engulf them once again, William was on the verge of breaking down. But he still didn’t want to give up on Joss. So he fought against his body’s drowsy state and forced it up above the surface. There he took a big gulp of air as he scouted for the others. Amongst the unstable waves, he spotted them. Fortunately, they were only a few meters ahead of him.

William kept his sight on them as the pitiful dinosaur struggled to keep them both adrift. Then suddenly *POOF*, they were both gone.

William scrunched his forehead as the sound of lively water rose. He barely got to hold his breath before the river narrowed into a 2-meter high cascade. The force of the river sped up as it was hungry for more souls to crush…

Although the waterfall wasn’t that high, it had hidden away a deep plunge pool in its bosom. Without much choice, William sunk into it, and with the help of the aerated water surrounding him, he plummeted deeper than expected... As soon as he felt his body stop sinking, he tried to swim upwards but was strangely stuck down at the bottom. This odd effect was caused by the bubbly water that made him lose buoyancy. William didn’t know this, so he stubbornly continued to swim upward. But it was of no use…

His numb limbs couldn’t muster much more so he took a break. Believing that he was already considered dead. But by stopping his obstinate fight against the current, he was gently led out of the pool.

William was ecstatic to see the surface again. He immediately broke the water’s tension to breathe and see if another miracle had happened. However, the only thing he saw was that he was now in a wider segment of the river. In fact, it could be called a lake. But compared to the stream as a whole, it resembled more a pearl on a long string from up above.

The nature surrounding this lake was worth noting. Fresh and lush but this sight didn’t make William happy at all. For in it, neither Vash nor Joss could be seen...

During William’s swim for survival, the spreading numbness in his limbs kept his senses alive, but now that he realized he might be the only one still fighting for his life, all of his senses got snared away to become fodder for something far more important. It was a ruthless whirlpool inside of his heart, that called upon them... In that uncontrollable swirl, his senses scraped against multiple spikes, that generated enough pain to fill his whole body with feeling…

William should be grateful to his body. Because thanks to its efforts, the numbness was no longer there. It had replaced this feeling with strong stabbing waves and as long as his heart continued to pump, he would continue to feel his body’s existence, in a world that he alone seemed to be forced to live in...

WinterFairy

Finally I managed to wrap up the first arc of the story. And yes I know the climax to this Arc might come off as pretty depressing, but as I’ve said before, this story will have a happy ending, so ease up and hope for the best. As for the next arc, it will be filled with adventure and the first romance part of this novel, and of course some recurring characters from Arc 1. Because, although we might be moving away from what has occurred in Arc 1, you will discover that these characters and territories will play a role later on! Now on to Arc 2 we go! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧