The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowin' In the Wind [Future-Dated]

[angle_on_it]

Characters: alwaysreturned and angle_on_it
When: Sunday, November 6, 2011 [Future-Dated]
Where: South Sector Patrol Area
Rating: PG-13 / R
Summary: Happenstance forces Ron and Sokka to patrol the Southern Sector of the city together. Awkwardness and danger ensues.

Comments

<333

[angle_on_it]

Something about Ron's omission of any sort of explanation coupled with the tension in the air sent chills down Sokka's spine. He couldn't begin to guess what the other boy had seen behind that door, but for it to have such a profound effect, he was certain he didn't want to know. He listened to his heart, still racing in his chest, and recalled it hadn't slowed since patrol had even started. Hoping he would have slightly better luck, the tribesman turned his attention back to the doorknob and took a deep breath, turning it slowly.

"Here goes," he warned, the creaking of the old hinges following up his words with a long, eerie moan. At first there was nothing but darkness, a stiff, inky impossible black that seemed to reach well beyond the walls of the room. The tribesman licked his too-dry lips, tipped a glance over his shoulder at Ron, and then took a few steps across the threshold. "Looks empty." He leaned so that Ron's wand light might illuminate the room, but the darkness lead on for so long, even the wand couldn't light the space.

No echos, no carrying of footsteps, an odd texture to the floor... it made no sense to Sokka's senses. He squinted, pointing opposite the door. "What... what is that?" Settling on the horizon was the ghostly visage of a pale disc, a mottling of whites and grays that eventually grew in intensity enough to light the rest of the scene. Scattered in front of them was a vast expanse of snow and ice, illuminated by bright moonlight, peppered with a small number of tents and signal fires.

It was the moment that Sokka recognized his home that everything began to change. With no desire for caution and unsure of what he was seeing, the younger man lifted his club and took another step, no closer to his village, but farther from the door. "It's home," he informed the other boy, and for a second a brand of hope blossomed in his chest. Was this the way home? Would he be able to take his sister's hand and lead his friends back to their old lives?

As quickly as the thought came to mind, it slipped away, lost in the horror written on Sokka's face. The moon, once bright and white, the epitome of everything good to his culture, a solid and constant reminder of his first love, filled red with blood. It roiled and boiled and bubbled, emitting a screeching sound that sat somewhere between a howl of despair and a cry of pain. The red (blood, he could tell it was blood) dripped to earth and crawled the arctic tundra, leaking through, turning the ice and the snow a sick crimson.

"No!" Sokka bellowed his displeasure at the sight, pressing his palms to his ears to ward off the sound, and while he didn't exactly know its meaning, he had no intention of letting it find its way to his home. He turned to growl at the other boy. "Help me stop it! Please!"

What could they do, though? By the time Sokka turned his eyes back, everything had been razed and the blood was everywhere. The tents, reduced to smoldering ashes, glowed with embers the same color red, and within seconds, the moon faded to a black so much darker than the night sky, it stood out as a void, completely robbed from the sky. "No." And suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to back away, gripped by that vivid image, pressing himself toward the door whether there was something or someone in his way or not. "Nononono..."

Re: <333

[alwaysreturned]

Ron swallowed, not really wanting to open any more doors any time soon. If one door could be filled with such a horror another one might as well be, too. It's what he came to expect of this place, but they couldn't just find a better place to stick around just by standing there. No, it meant opening more bloody doors and hoping something behind them wouldn't be another ghastly illusion. He was just regaining the colour that had been lost in his face when Sokka opened the door. Relief flooded through him when Sokka said it was empty, but alas it would not last.

Raising wand higher to light the new room better, Ron didn't even manage to step a foot into the room before Sokka's boggart started it's round. At first he was confused, blue eyes round in thought, but that was before the boggart played it's tricks. It was with a sickening jolt in his stomach that everything that was happening in those rooms made sense. They were in a dark place where people didn't normally go... Horrors unimaginable that were their worst fears come to life played, Ron sucked in a breath, hardly able to concentrate.

It wasn't until Sokka rounded on him that he was drawn back to reality. Even in his anger at the boy, there wasn't a bloody well Ron could let someone deal with this. Not unless he truly hated them and, in the back of his mind, Ron couldn't bring himself to. Besides, if at least one of them wasn't rid of someone else would run into it. He knew the mechanics of what he was about to do, but of course... Shaking his head, Ron stepped forward, wand raised and pushed the other male behind him with a sharp glare. By the time he looked back, the boggart had already changed form. Shoulders tensed as the ghostly image of his brother repeated over. He didn't let it stop him this time, however, as he tried to think of anything funny. Anything at all.

"Riddikulus."

Snap. The form changed and this time, well, this time it wasn't anything funny. Actually the image that had once been Harry and Hermione snogging was far more intimate with said girl and, well, the person she was with was right there to see. Ron swallowed, stomach recoiling in disgust. He had to keep himself from swinging. "Riddikulus." Snap. Hermione crumpled, tortured. He swallowed again. "Come on," he muttered to himself demanding something funny, but when all the things that came to mind were true horrors he'd faced... It was hard to think of something funny right now. "Riddikulus."

And finally, finally, it changed to something he could manage. The spider. Large though it was, he'd found something funny for this before and he could do so again. His shoulders didn't relax, but he was more confident with the words. "Riddikulus." The spider lost a leg, crumpled, fell on its back. And, standing straighter, Ron waved the wand and it was gone. Taking a breath he didn't know he was holding, Ron finally let his knees buckle and slumped to the floor. He didn't bloody well care about keeping up image right now.

"Before you bloody ask," he managed, his voice hoarse, "boggart. Brilliant, innit? Shapeshifter. Takes the form of whatever you fear most." He didn't feel a need to point out it was something from home. His breath was as shaky as the rest of him.

"Reckon I'll take those blasted rodents now."

tl;dr?

[angle_on_it]

Had circumstances been different, Sokka would have marveled at the magic before his eyes and wonder just how it was done. Then again, had circumstances been different, it was entirely likely that these two boys wouldn't be sharing this moment filtered through a rather strained and unyielding relationship built on a grudge, sitting atop a foundation of awkwardness.

At first, that very same image he'd only glimpsed before. Not Ron... definitely not Ron, but obviously family, probably an older brother by the look of him. Dead. For only the briefest moment, Sokka, knowing Ron to have several brothers, wondered why only one brother, and why that particular expression? It cast the first light on the depths of this Weasley's fear, even if he wasn't to understand that was what he was seeing at that moment.

But one Snap! later and Sokka's eyes were wide, unsure how or why he was seeing what he was seeing, but shocked nonetheless. Any outside perspective on the time he'd spent in bed with Hermione felt like an unwelcome invasion that sprouted anger in him. In that same moment, he saw the reflection of that anger in Ron's face, twisted and dark, but forced back by his need for concentration. How were they seeing this? Why were they seeing this? It made Sokka redden and his fist clenched around his club with enough torque to make his knuckles crack. Then torture... It twisted Sokka's stomach to see Granger in such a way, and the flurry of emotion was enough to send the young man's head spinning. When he finally checked back in, Ron's spider was rolling onto its back, harmlessly at rest thanks to the ginger wizard.

Sokka was shaking. What was all that? He wanted to explode, to scream a little, to demand why he, of all people, had showed up in front of their eyes in such a compromising and private position, but before he could ask, Ron was explaining it all with no pause.

A boggart. A shapeshifter. What they fear the most... As the realization slowly descended upon the younger man, he could feel the cold in his stomach fighting the fire entering his veins. If he hadn't felt like a monster before, he did now. Ron, despite being faced by his greatest fears, one mounted atop another, had taken the risk and stood up for not only himself, but also the perpetrator responsible for realizing one of Weasley's worst fears.

Sokka wasn't sure what to say. There was little to say, considering. He couldn't be mad, even if he still felt the sting of embarrassment reddening his cheeks, still felt the racing of his heart, still felt the urge to fight for his right to at least some privacy. But, really, what real rights did he have after what he'd done? And it wasn't as if either of them had wanted to see any of it.

"Let's get out of here," he urged the other boy, offering down a hand he isn't sure will ever be taken. Rather sincerely, in the moment of silence that followed, he added, "And... And thank you for saving us. Again..."

pfft this is a tl;dr log so <3 /keeps it

[alwaysreturned]

Ron's stomach couldn't stop its recoiling. He'd only had to face a boggart once before. That was ages ago, when things had been so much simpler. Just a thirteen year old boy who had faced a fight to get a stone for immortality and seen one of his best friends petrified, but the complete darkness in the world hadn't ruined the innocence in that one fear. Just a spider. Only a spider, but now it was so much worse. That damned locket had known, too, but this boggart knew more now. It amplified it and Ron's throat was a giant cotton ball once more.

The blood in his veins felt cold at the idea Sokka had seen that. So far into his mind that Ron had never really told anyone. He was a jealous, insecure prick, sure, but Harry hadn't known until that damned locket either. And now, well, now it was on some bloke he hardly knew over some event that had been terrible... He sucked in a breath, hearing Sokka's words to leave. He shook his head, not quite able to speak yet as he tried not letting his emotions get the best of him. Really, what was he supposed to do? Every fear it decided to show him were real and the worst imaginable. Things that had been haunting him since his first day in Adstringendum to become mixed with other horrors he'd met along the way.

"Don't mention it," he said hollowly, a conviction to his words that meant really, don't mention it. He never wanted to face this thing again. Picking up his wand that he'd somehow dropped in the process, Ron glanced at up. It was with a recoil of lashing anger and emotion, that Ron did take his hand and pulled himself up. Quiet a moment, Ron shook his head. "We'll... we'll need to lock the other one back up," he managed, throat like tar, "so no one runs into accidentally."

[angle_on_it]

There's a quiet understanding that Sokka expresses with just a nod. Even if they were both a bit angry, even if Ron's grip had been a little too tight to be friendly, Sokka could marvel at the fact that they'd managed to make it through more than one dangerous scrape together in so few minutes. He wouldn't have thought it possible if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, though he was sparing little of the praise for himself since he'd proved mostly useless up to this point.

"I'll make sure the door's closed and then you can lock it," he assured, presuming Weasley could lock what he'd unlocked. Turning on his heel and creeping back the way they came, Sokka listened for any sign of R.O.U.S.s breaking the barrier provided the wizard. There was a distinctive gnawing sound and lots of chattering, but nothing that would convince the younger man the rodents were right on their heels again.

With no hesitation (what more could this boggart show him that the other hadn't, after all) he seized up the door handle and held it closed against the frame just in case the terrible shapeshifter on the other side decided to make an exit before they could secure the lock. Not so idly, he wondered what exactly might have happened if Ron hadn't intervened, but since the other boy had requested silence on the subject, he wasn't about to ask. "I'm ready when you are."

[alwaysreturned]

Ron's movements were sluggish at best for the moment. The recoiling emotions and feelings vibrated through his body in a way that made simple movements difficult. But the ginger knew he could not sit idle, not with R.O.U.S.s and boggarts so close by. He was still ashen as he closed the door behind them, locking it for precaution.

He nodded, however, when Sokka spoke up. A shaky breath and he raised the wand once more. He hadn't had to use this much magic actively in a while. Muttering the incantation, he frowned before lowering his wand. It was done, as far as he knew. Stepping away, he swallowed.

"Come on," he managed, "I don't fancy opening anymore doors. Best take our chances."

[angle_on_it]

Sokka wasn't about to argue. He nodded, standing by until he was sure Ron wasn't going to just drop to the floor now that everything was starting to calm a little. He took a long breath and tried to take stock in their situation. They needed a plan, so Sokka thought for a second and then spoke up again. "I think we should try going out the other side of the house. At least there'll be fewer there and we'll have a better chance of getting some distance on him." Not that distance would do Sokka a lot of good; not for the first time, he wondered why he didn't bother bringing his boomerang along with him.

"If you can clear a path ahead of us and keep it clear, I think I can take up the rear and hold off the fastest of them. They don't seem like they're as quick as we are, so we'll outrun them eventually." It wasn't a great plan, no, but at least it was a plan.

i'm sorry for the wait dear gdsgd prose has been failing me

[alwaysreturned]

No, Ron wasn't going to faint or pass out... Or anything of the sort, really. He was shaky, at best, but he wasn't completely off kilter. Really, he wanted this over more than ever now and it wasn't even Sokka's fault this time. His wand hand was keeping such a tight grip that his knuckles were once more turning white, as if he would never loosen up on its hold. Casting the other male a look, his lips dipped down into a scowl before he shook his head.

"S'not like we can just stick about here anyway," he managed, clearing his throat, "dunno if I like our odds." The way he saw it they were just two males who weren't on the best of terms against a pack of giant rodents. Hand running through his hair, he shrugged. "Let's just give it a go."

I don't mind waiting! ^_^

[angle_on_it]

Sokka agreed, nodding his head firmly. It was better for the both of them they didn't linger, especially since every door seemed to hold the makings for a little more nightmare fuel. "Good luck," the tribesman said, ruefully, and had circumstances been a little different, he might have accompanied the well wishing with a sporting grin. As it was, though, the younger man wasn't sure if either of them were making it out of the situation alive, and therefore the sentiment was as sincere as it would ever be.

Once down the stairs, Sokka could finally see what a good job Ron's charm had done to keep the rodents out. Just as when they'd gone upstairs, the interior of the house remained R.O.U.S.-free. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sokka made for the front door, which opened out to the street. Peeking through the cracks between the boards on the windows, he breathed shallowly so as not to kick up any dust. "Looks like it's pretty quiet out this way."

i have just been utter fail sob sorry

[alwaysreturned]

Ron moved slightly slower than Sokka, hanging back to glance around at the surroundings. When he spoke up, Ron rose a brow before looking away with a nod. Right, luck. They'd need that if they were going to get out of this hell hole in one piece. He was thinking of as many spells as he could that would get giant rodents off their backs. Unfortunately, there wasn't a spell specifically for that.

Letting his wand light up where he was walking, Ron took inventory of downstairs. Of course he knew the spells would work, he hadn't been helping put them up for nearly nine months for them not to know. Taking a spin to where he'd set it up, Ron glanced back to wear Sokka was looking out. "Going to have to undo the enchantments to get us out unless you want to be impeded by it," he returned, "just cause it looks quiet doesn't mean you'd best not be ready to run your arse off."

He shrugged, tightening hand on the wand. "Reckon I can give you a few seconds head start."

No worries! This was a pretty intense log. ;_;

[angle_on_it]

"If it's all the same to you," Sokka replied, "I'd like to stay together." It wasn't as if he didn't appreciate the sentiment, really, but he didn't feel right fleeing without Ron. Even if the wizard insisted he'd catch up (surely, he would insist that much if pressed), Sokka didn't like the idea that something could happen to Weasley in the meantime, and maybe it would be too late for the tribesman to get back in enough time to help. No, better to stick nearby.

Sokka tried not to breathe heavily, already expecting it to be a little bit crazy. "You can remove the enchantments and we'll head back toward the more populated part of town. Together, right? Neither of us want to explain how we ended up coming home without a partner." Of course, has it occurred to either of these boys to call for backup? Nope. But then, who's really surprised?