Downhill All the Way (PG-13 Character Death)
Characters – Eric the Cavalier, Hank the Ranger
Prompt – Deathfic #5 Betrayal
Word Count – 1091
Summary – Hank betrays the Gang, but it’s Eric that pays the price.
A/N – Set as yet another Alt Versions of the episode “The Traitor”, where Sheila doesn’t get back to Cloudbear City in time to warn the others.
= = =
Downhill All the Way
Why did he have to do it? Why couldn’t he just get it right this time? Why did he always have to act like that? Why was he always the unpredictable one? The one to overreact?
Why did he have to fight back, this time of all times?
Why couldn’t he just done the right thing and played along? Just for once.
No one is ever going to believe it was an accident.
= = =
For once, Eric was shocked into silence.
No one else spoke either, they were all too surprised, even the four Cloudbears.
The Ranger stood at the top of the lift, staring blankly at them. Behind him, Eric could see the slight waving of the leave and branches. He could even hear the tiny squeak of the rope on the pulley as the lift swung slightly in the breeze.
He knew that he should be pleased that Hank was back with them, but he didn’t. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t and that wasn’t a feeling he liked. They were high above the Orcs, hiding in the trees, they were safe. At least, they had thought they were safe. It had seemed so simple and straightforward.
Until now.
Eric sensed there was something wrong the instant Hank spoke.
It wasn’t so much the words, but the way the Ranger said them.
‘I got away, but Bobby didn’t.’
But the Cavalier had no actual reason to suspect that anything was wrong. This was Hank, after all! Good ol’ Hank the Perfect Leader. There was no reason to suspect anything.
‘Are you ok, Hank?’ asked Diana. ‘You look… are you injured?’
‘I’m ok.’
His voice sounded flat. He sounded tired, as if he’d been awake for days and days on end as if the whole weight of the Realm was pressing down on him. He had never sounded like that before.
‘Did you see Sheila?’ the Acrobat asked.
Hank shook his head and looked down to the ground.
‘N-no,’ he replied. ‘I didn’t.’
Eric frowned. Maybe it was his imagination, but Hank didn’t seem as concerned as he should have been. Usually, when it came to the Thief, Hank was much more…. interested.
But before he could say anything, Presto interrupted his train of thought.
‘The Orcs are still down there,’ said the Magician, peering over the edge. ‘They seem to be waiting for something. What are we gonna do, Hank?’
Diana moved over beside Presto and looked down too. Hank didn’t react and didn’t seem interested in what Presto had said.
So, after a moments more hesitation, Eric shuffled over to the side of the platform and glanced to the ground, far, far below. He could see movement and the glint of fire.
Presto was right, there were still Orcs down there. Again Eric frowned. So how…?
How could Hank have got away?
The frown deepened.
How, with all those Orcs down there, could Hank have gone past and to the wooden lift? How did he get away?
There was a slight noise and Eric jerked round, instinctively raising his Shield to protect himself. As he turned, he gasped in horror.
The Ranger was standing there with an arrow nocked and ready to go. But it was pointed straight at his friends! The bright, yellow fire of the arrow was all he could see. There was no time to even shout a warning, and Eric was only saved as he had his Shield at the ready.
Hank fired.
The reality of it was something Eric could hardly take in. Hank fired on them, his friends. He actually stood there and fired on his friends!
Safe for the moment behind the Shield, for Eric the next few seconds passed in a blur of confusion.
Diana and Presto were easily caught, their arms pinned to their sides and their weapons useless on the ground. At least two of the four Cloudbears went the same way. There was shouting and screaming, accusations and questions. A few of the arrows went astray, bouncing off the Shield’s magic and down into the forest below.
Eric was still only for a moment. Panic consumed him, the knowledge that his friend and their leader had betrayed them almost stopped any logical processing.
Then, at last he was forced to move, as arrows rained down on the Shield. He jumped this way and that, keeping one step ahead of the arrows, and always with the Shield held up.
Hank didn’t say a word. The arrows didn’t stop. It was relentless. It was all Eric could do to keep the Shield between him and Hank. He could hardly think. What had Hank done? Why?
The wooden platform was not built to stand up to that sort of assault. It began to creak and crack as Eric moved. He knew he could not continue much longer.
Suddenly, somehow, he misjudged what he was doing and where he was going. He had no plan, and he wasn’t really concentrating on where he was. He cannoned into something grey and furry and slipped.
At last the barrage of arrows abruptly halted, and he heard Hank cry out.
Eric was still slipping and he grabbed wildly at anything and everything but the only thing he managed to grab hold of snapped off in his hand.
Unluckily, he was close to the edge of the platform at the time, and he couldn’t stop the slide. There was a nasty creaking sound from underneath him and the wood gave a shudder.
Everything turned from confusion to slow-motion clarity, as perfect as an instant photograph.
He could see the intricate whorls and curls of the wooden platform in detail, and the tiny spider webs that had been spun round the railings. He could see the white faces of Diana and Presto; her headband slightly askew and his mouth handing open in shock. He could see the fluffy faces of the Cloudbears, each one with the same expression mirrored in a circle. He could see Hank diving forward, his hand outstretched grasping for Eric’s arm.
But he barely had time to draw a breath.
There was another crack and the wood beneath him snapped.
He heard Diana scream his name. He saw the look of white-shock on Presto’s face; he even saw the look of horror on Hank’s. Then he felt the platform give way underneath him.
There was a moment of calm that swept though him, and of final certainty.
Then he fell, screaming all the way.