Chapter Text
"Again. Again. AGAIN!"
Nikos' voice rang out through the evening air. Each time he did, the strike of an arrow would pierce his armor, the leather straps on his arms, and even his skin.
Each shout. Each thud of the strike. It deafened Sausage's ears and made his body tremble.
He was frozen. Petrified. Even with the lotus flower numbing his senses, he still felt like every strike was ringing through his skull.
He wanted so desperately to leave, to be away from it all, but he couldn't. He just couldn't. His mind just kept recalling the promise he made. To Pyro. To Apo. To his friends. His allies. They were his team, and they were so outnumbered against the majority of the people here. He couldn't just leave them. Leave them to die.
Pyro's enraged scream echoed through the air, shaking Sausage even further. More arrows continued to fly while Nikos bellowed out a bitter laugh.
"He's not gonna stop..." Sausage said to Nikos, but he was hardly close enough for him to have heard it. He just stared at the ground, refusing to lift his gaze and watch. Yet, he refused to leave either.
Why were his teammates like this? Why did they always insist on these plans of violence? These shows of rage and persistence in gaining the upper hand?
He knew the main reason. They were in a death game after all, but the only thing Apo and Pyro had been doing was angering the rest of the contestants more and more. Making them all out to be everyone's enemy. Making them resemble cruel, malicious villains, when that was furthest from the truth.
He should be mad at them. Angry that they were causing so much grief and putting targets on his and Owen's backs. He should just leave them. Leave them to fend for themselves and their destructive habits.
But... he couldn't. He just... couldn't leave them. He couldn't hate anyone here, especially not his Featherholders.
"Nikos, that's enough," a voice spoke out, snapping Sausage out of his thoughts. He lifted his gaze once he heard the puffs of air shooting over the space above him. Scott came cascading down from the sky and safely landing by Nikos' side. The actor held a shield over his arm to protect himself from the oncoming arrows. He turned his attention from Pyro's house to Nikos with a pinched brow. "Both of you, just stop. You've had enough for today."
Nikos, though, barely paid Scott's words any mind as he muffled another deep chuckle. He began drawing closer towards the house with a rage-filled hunger in his eyes. Sausage's muscles tensed. He suddenly felt the presence of the sword on his belt, but before he could muster up any sort of courage, another arrow flew-
And there was a cry.
Sausage snapped his attention back to Scott, and his eyes widened in horror. An arrow had flown right when Scott's guard was down and struck him deep into the shoulder, dangerously close to his neck.
Nikos whipped back around from the sound. "Pretty one?" he muttered. Sausage noticed the wide stare he carried towards Scott, taken slightly aback by the sight himself. It was as if this was the first time he even acknowledged Scott's presence at all.
Scott gasped from the blow of the arrow. His skin grew deathly pale while his gaze went blank. The shield slipped from his grasp, clanking to the ground. With shaky hands unconsciously going for his neck, he crumbled to his knees a second later. His body trembled from head to toe.
Sausage rushed over in a panic. He knelt down to Scott's level and scanned over the arrow with frightened eyes. "Oh no, no, no, you okay? Scott, can you hear me?" he asked while his stomach rolled at the sight of blood rolling down and mixing with the man's tunic.
It felt like nearly a minute before Scott finally answered. He forced out a tight breath before nodding. "I-I'm okay... just..." he sighed, shutting his eyes for a second before opening them once more. His expression soon appeared much calmer than before, resembling the almost indifferent look he tended to carry. "Doesn't hurt that much... Just scared me more than anything."
A shaky sigh of relief escaped Sausage while he nodded, feeling his body still vibrating from the nerves tensing his limbs. He had a hand on Scott's back while his other laid flat on the dirt beside his knees. His fingers curled over the blades of grass in an attempt to ground himself. This bit of calm, though, barely lasted when Sausage dared to look back up at the house.
Pyro seemed to have been carrying a similar look of concern, switching focus between Sausage and Scott. Droplets of guilt edged into his tired features, but they were soon gone a second later and replaced with yet another stony expression. The emotionless face of a soldier Sausage was all too used to seeing from him.
The sight unnerved Sausage. He almost thought his teammate was about to raise his bow yet again, but he never got to find out because his attention shifted back towards Nikos, making him freeze in place.
A feeling of dread dropped to the bottom of Sausage's stomach once he saw the warrior. Nikos' pupils had become dots. His jaw clenched. The fists at his sides tightened until his knuckles turned white. The previous shock on his face had bled and twisted into something darker as his features pinched with undeniable anger. The longer he stared at the trembling form of Scott, the worse his anger grew. No, it wasn't just anger anymore. There was no more humor in his face. No more mockery or even teasing.
There was only rage.
All the air left Sausage's lungs as he watched Nikos face the house again. He locked eyes with Pyro from the second floor, who still carried his hardened, unapologetic gaze.
"You die. TONIGHT!" Nikos roared before he charged towards the front door.
"No... No..." Sausage whispered. His mind started to ring. The edges of his vision darkened while his muffled hearing rang. Yet the ringing still could not drown out the heavy pounding of Nikos throwing his weight against the wooden door. Sausage looked up. Tears started to blur his vision as his eyes trailed up towards the second floor. Pyro shot off more arrows, but they did little to stop the warrior. "Get out... Get out of there..." he begged under his breath to Pyro. The soldier, though, did not hear nor listen to his warning. He just continued to fire with his jaw clenched in barely contained anger. His limbs began to tremble against the bow, and Sausage could have sworn he saw tears beginning to form, but he still continued on. Still continued to fire at Nikos like an immovable wall refusing to change course.
There was a bang. The door flew off its hinges and slammed against the floor with a heavy thud. Sausage shot back up to his feet in horror as he watched Nikos rush into the house. "You are DEAD, child!" Nikos snapped with such venom as he disappeared from Sausage's sight.
Pyro met Sausage's gaze one last time before moving away from his perch and disappearing inside his house as well. Sausage held his breath as the deafening silence suffocated the air around him. A second ticked by. Two seconds. Three.
A cry of fury shot out inside the home before the bright flash of lightning illuminated over every crack and window. A thunderous boom exploded, shaking the ground Sausage stood on and shattering a couple windows in the process.
More cries from both men erupted from the building, deafening Sausage's ears and making every muscle in his body tense. As the sound of heavy thuds and metal clanking raged on, he placed hands over his ears and shut his eyes tight. He couldn't take it. He couldn't stand to listen. He couldn't-
A pain-filled scream consumed the air and made Sausage's eyes snap back open. His face morphed into horror as he lifted his attention back up towards the house. His brow creased. His breath quickened. The scream was from Pyro.
Another flash of bright light illuminated the house before another explosion of thunder struck. Pyro screamed again, louder. His voice gurgled by tense emotions.
Sausage's pupils shrank. "Get out... Leave. Please. Please!" Sausage begged, raising his voice when he took a step forward. He waited. Muffled words were exchanged inside. The whoosh of an arrow shot out-
-There was a heavy thud, Nikos grunted, and Pyro cried out yet again.
Sausage stilled when the realization finally dawned on him. Pyro wasn't going to leave. He wasn't going to win either. He was on his last life.
Nikos was not going to stop. Neither of them would.
Sausage's mind began to race. Panic consumed his muscles. He glanced down for only a second to look back at Scott, who was his last ditch attempt for someone else to step in. To stop the bloodshed that was occurring. Scott, though, was quiet. The actor appeared to be lost in thought, silently trying to catch his breath, but his posture curled from the noise nonetheless. He did not get up. He did not move. He just continued to pant quiet puffs of air while holding his injured shoulder with one hand. With a distant look in his eyes, he dipped his head further towards the ground when he heard the continued screaming from both men inside the home.
Another enraged shout, this time from Nikos, made Sausage flinch. Tension struck through his body. He snapped his attention back at the house. His chest rose and fell at a quick pace while his eyes were blown wide. The sounds inside caused memories to start flashing through his mind. The shouts. The tears. The blood. All of it belonged to his brother.
"No... No... Not again. Not again. Not again, PLEASE!" Sausage cried out. To who, he wasn't sure. He just couldn't stand to have it happen again. He knew it was inevitable. He knew the deaths of his friends were bound to come eventually. He had been anticipating it for weeks now.
But... he couldn't. He couldn't just let it happen. He had to move. He had to help. Even if it was inevitable, he couldn't just let his friend die like this. He couldn't just watch and do nothing. Not again. Not-
Pyro screamed once more before he was cut off by something abruptly. The quick cut of silence shook Sausage worse than the cries itself. His breath grew faster and faster. Tears consumed his vision. His limbs felt heavy from the after effects of the lotus, slowing his senses even further. Still, he forced himself to move. Even if his body felt like lead, he tightened his fists. His body trembled as he put one foot in front of the other. His mind screamed at him to move faster. To rush up there with all his might and end the fight right then and there, but all he could muster was a slow march. He wanted to help. He needed to help. He promised Pyro he would. Yet, he knew he could not stomach to see it. See the corpse of someone he cared about. Witness the lifeless gaze in their eyes as he knew first hand that they were never coming back.
Sausage just made it to the threshold of the doorway when he was soon hit by another sound.
A quiet wheeze of breath. A gurgle of a whine mixed with barely contained tears. It was so faint. Barely audible compared to the screams from seconds prior. Yet, this sound hit him worse than all the others. Leaving him to physically halt from the realization: Pyro was crying.
He was crying.
Sausage's body jolted to life. Without a second thought, his fast feet bolted into the house. He activated his powers and shot up high into the air, ignoring the ladder entirely. He landed swiftly on the second floor and unsheathed his sword in one quick movement. With a tight, shaky grip now on his weapon, Sausage spun around towards where he last saw movement and screamed, "LET HIM GO!"
Sausage's breath was haggard. His body practically vibrated from both fear and tension. He forced his eyes to look up from across the room towards the two figures on the back wall.
That's when he saw Pyro. The soldier's helmet and spear had been abandoned. One being embedded into the wall while the other laid toppled over onto the floor. His long hair, no longer pinned up, was now a messy knot of curls that covered half of his face and fell over his shoulder.
Despite the concealment, Sausage could still see the bruising on his face. The swelling on Pyro's cheek gained a dark shade that reached almost to his eye. His lip was split with a trail of blood slipping down his chin. Mild burns remained on his arms from the lightning, and they were already starting to blister. He appeared dazed, barely conscious in his vision. Yet, his hands still carried a tight grip over Nikos's arm. His nails dug into flesh, refusing to let go.
Nikos on the other hand, while not as bad, still looked worse for wear too. Several cuts and bruises decorated his arms and chest. His breath was heavy from the obvious battle that was fought while a deep black bruise kissed the side of his jaw. He was not smiling. He did not even appear present at all. All his focus and energy remained on his opponent as he pinned Pyro against the wall by merely gripping him by the front of his chest plate.
The two men turned to look in Sausage's direction as his body tensed from the sight he was witnessing. He tried to move closer. He wanted to just pull those two apart and stop all this, but his feet remained glued to the floorboards. "P-Please... l-let him go," he mustered out the strength to say. He hated how similar this moment felt with everything that happened with his brother. His breath hitched at the thought before he shoved the feeling way deep down, refusing to think about that now. "Please, Nikos... j-just let him go."
Nikos' wild gaze seemed to calm only slightly when he noticed Sausage's tears, but it was gone a second later. "Bouncy one... do not get in my way," he warned slowly. His eye twitched with barely contained emotions as he turned back to Pyro and raised his fist. Pyro grimaced from the potential blow. "This one has had his chances, and now he must face the consequences."
Sausage shivered from the warrior's low tone. He looked back over to Pyro when he heard a quiet gasp of breath. He then soon recoiled when he finally saw the glint of tears rolling down Pyro's face from the minimal torch light. He took in his teammate's face. The stony expression the soldier previously carried was beginning to dissolve and tear away, leaving behind what was underneath it all. The longer Sausage stared at what remained, the more he was able to see not just the growing emotions Pyro carried.
He saw the youth. A youth he had not noticed on the soldier till now. The wide eyes of panic. The pinched brow of fear. The barely creased features to show how little time had passed over the young man's face.
He was bruised and blistered. He was teary-eyed and frightened just like him. He was not just the battle ready soldier to Sausage anymore, and he felt like a fool for not realizing this sooner. Behind all that armor, all that knowledge, Pyro really was just a...
"H-He's just... a kid," Sausage muttered in response. He paused for a moment to center himself before he focused his attention on Nikos again. His throat tightened with growing tears. "He's- He's just a KID! Nikos, please, you-you literally call him a child yourself too. Don't do this. This-This isn't right!" he spat with growing conviction behind his words. He was still trembling like a leaf. Still refusing to move from his spot, but he refused to stay quiet. He refused to lower his sword.
Nikos looked back at Sausage. His expression darkened with a scowl. "You say this is wrong? Well then blame those who put this boy inside a death game. They are the evil ones. They are the monsters!" Nikos called out towards the ceiling. His attention then snapped back to Pyro, who attempted to kick at the warrior's shin. The blow barely phased Nikos as he tightened his grip on his opponent's armor before shoving him against the wall again. Pyro flinched from the blow, wincing at the pain that erupted from his wounds.
"N-Nikos!" Sausage begged when he took in his teammate's state.
Nikos acted as though he didn't hear him at all. His wild gaze remained fixed on Pyro now, but he stared as if he was watching something far beyond the young man. "They see us as puppets. Toy with us. USE US! They take youthful faces like yours and turn them into their dogs to keep the rest of us in line," Nikos hissed, making Pyro glare in response. The warrior's face pinched with pure unchecked fury while he heaved a deep breath. "They use you, child. They use you to kill! Don't you see it!?"
Pyro forced out a breath in an attempt to hold his head high. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks while he kept his harsh look. "T-Then what would you call what you're doing now?" He rasped.
Nikos' face twisted. His eyes flared. He yanked the soldier off the wall and pulled him closer. Pyro's feet were practically off the ground as Nikos held him up towards his face with clear warning. "I am settling a score. You persist on fighting battles you are told to fight by that irritating BIRD!"
Sausage tensed when he noticed Nikos lowering Pyro just a bit so he could raise his other arm. A spark of lightning emerged from his fist, illuminating the room with crackling anticipation.
"Sausage," Pyro huffed once he met his gaze again. "Get out of here! Just go!"
Sausage's face pinched. He took in his friend's state. Pyro looked as though he could barely hold himself up. He shook his head. "N-No! I'm not leaving. I promised I'd be there for you," he answered. He couldn't move his feet, anyway. "There's-There's gotta be another way. Nikos! Please, I-"
"You don't think for yourself," Nikos muttered gravely, ignoring everyone else's words as the electricity through his palm charged up. Pyro's face whitened with a genuine flash of terror, pushing Sausage to move. "You are just like the rest of those soldiers. MINDLESS DOGS!" Nikos screamed as he raised the bolt of lightning way above his head.
"NO!" Sausage screamed.
"Nikos- STOP!" A gust of air shot into the room, nudging everyone off balance.
The sudden jolt made Nikos stumble as he lost concentration, allowing the lightening bolt to dissolve. Pyro fell from his grip, and he collasped to the floor a second later.
Once the wind died down, Sausage corrected his footing and looked up to find Scott's light feet landing next to Nikos. The arrow that previously pierced his skin had been removed, and a piece of his skirt had been ripped off as a quick bandage for the wound.
Scott met Sausage's gaze before looking down at Pyro. The actor's face grimaced when he heard the deep pants coming from his crumbled form. He then turned to face Nikos, and his frown only worsened once he saw the state of the warrior. "Nikos... enough. We made our point today. We don't need to spill anymore blood."
Nikos stared at Scott. Anger was still present in his face as he breathed hard through his nostrils, but he remained silent. He glanced back down at Pyro before shooting his attention to Scott again. He zeroed in on his shoulder.
Scott's hand moved towards the cloth. A bit of blood already stained the fabric. "I'm okay... I'm fine," he reassured with something small that resembled a smile.
Nikos continued to stare for a minute more. Several thoughts seemed to be running through his head, but when more voices started emerging from outside, he huffed a begrudging breath and moved back towards Pyro.
Sausage held out a hand, hesitant to see what the man would do as Nikos leaned down towards his level. "I'd watch my back from now on, if I were you..." he muttered darkly. He then turned and began to walk away.
Pyro wheezed out a breath. Sausage noticed him gaining back some of his resolve as he trembled on his hands and knees. "I... I could say the same... for you," Pyro muttered with a layer of harshness as well.
Nikos stopped. He whipped his head back to glare at the soldier. His eyes were set abalze once again.
Sausage tucked his sword away and jumped over to the other side of the floor. He stood in front of Pyro and held his hands out. "Please... leave him be," he asked the warrior with a pain-filled expression.
Nikos' eyes narrowed. "Tell that boy then to watch his tongue," he warned while jabbing a finger towards Sausage before turning back around and walking past Scott to drop back down to the lower level.
Voices outside became much more clear as they neared the home.
"What happened? Nikos?" Cleo's voice spoke out once the warrior headed out of the main entrance. There was a hint of concern in her tone, likely once she noticed the other's state.
"We heard a fight. Is everyone okay?" Drift added with a more obvious tone of concern. There was a pause when she did not receive an answer. "Nikos? Where are you- Nikos!"
While their voices carried on outside, Scott looked back over at the two next to him. He shared a look with Sausage before shifting his attention back to Pyro when he heard a cough.
Sausage turned to face his teammate. He quickly knelt down to his side when he saw the bits of blood he spat up onto his hand. The soldier, though, wiped the mess away and looked up towards Scott. A look of guilt slowly started to take shape. "I... I'm sorry."
Scott shook his head. "Don't worry about it... you're a lot worse off than me right now."
Pyro slowly moved to rest on his knees. He winced a few times from the movement as he went to search through his pockets. "I... I know I have some golden carrots-"
Scott held up a hand to stop him. "Forget about it. Pyro-" The actor sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, his tired expression softened. "Just rest... and I'm sorry about Nikos."
Pyro didn't respond. He just shifted his hands back to his lap and remained silent. He stared at the floorboards now with a distant look. Sausage placed a hand on his shoulder and looked back at Scott. He sniffed a few times to brush off the remaining bits of tears he carried before nodding his gratitude for both of them.
"I'll keep the others away until the arena," Scott finished before he turned away and floated back down to the bottom floor.
Once the footsteps and voices began to fade, the two teammates remained where they were for what felt like a century.
The silence dragged on between them. Sausage focused on breathing in and out repeatedly as a way to calm himself. When he finally settled his nerves, he slowly moved until he sat in front of Pyro. "O-Okay... let's check you over."
"I'm fine," Pyro muttered without much thought behind his response. His gaze remained glued on the floor. The stony, unreadable expression soon built back up over his face.
Sausage frowned at the sight. "No, you're very much not." He went into his pockets and pulled out a handkerchief. He moved to wipe the bit of blood that stained his teammate's chin.
Pyro winced from the touch as he pulled away. "Sausage, stop, I'm good-"
"No you're not!" Sausage shouted. He stunned Pyro into silence as tears threatened to fall again. He breathed in a sharp breath, shutting his gaze for a moment. He then focused back on Pyro with a hard stare. Several thoughts began to swirl through his mind as he grimaced at the injuries the young man carried. "Why... why are you like this?" Sausage's body started to shake from the words. A mixture of frustration and sorrow twisted inside his chest. "Why do you keep starting fights? Why do you keep throwing the first punch? The others were willing for a truce, so why do you keep insisting on angering everybody else and creating more violence and-"
"Sausage... this is a death game," Pyro spat in a low tone. He sent a harsh look right back at Sausage once he pulled his focus back up from the floor.
Sausage's face hardened as well. "That doesn't mean we have to be cruel. Doesn't mean we have to backstab eachother-"
"We can't TRUST them!" Pyro snapped. The faintest bit of his mask began to crack again as he shuddered out a breath. He lowered his head when tears started to form. "Not when it comes to this game..." He fell quiet for a few beats while he curled his hands into fists in his lap. "You act like I'm the only one who is instigating. Who's trying to gain the upper hand. The other team out numbers us immensely, Sausage! We can't just lie down and trust that they'll keep their word and not try anything. Not with Nikos' obsession with killing Apo. Not when we're too easy of a target for them to pick off, so they don't have to focus on fighting each other."
Sausage's face pinched from the sound of almost panic in Pyro's words. He kept his hand secure on the other's shoulder to steady both of them. "But if we just strike first, then we're no better than them. We're treating them like villains, like how they're treating us. There's gotta be another way to handle this situation. Instead of just-just-"
"Mindless bloodshed?" Pyro muttered without meeting his gaze.
Sausage's brow creased. His throat tightened from how spot-on the answer was as he choked back a sob. He forced a shiver off his body. He attempted to speak again, but his teammate wasn't finished.
"You... you think I want any of this? To fight anyone?" Pyro's words hung in the air. There was no bite in his tone. No harsh remark. It was just genuine pain as his body began to tremble again. He recoiled from the irritation of his wounds. Sausage moved to aid him, but Pyro still pulled away. "I don't want to fight anyone. I-I hate it so much! The mindless, cruel actions this game is forcing us to do." Pyro's voice quivered while Sausage witnessed tears dropping into his lap.
Pyro wrapped his arms around himself. He was careful to avoid the burns. "There's no honor in what we're doing. No justifiable reason. It's horrible, terrible, and I'm just t-trying to end the game, so this chaos can stop. I want it to stop!"
Pyro snapped his attention back to Sausage, and the thief's heart ached once he noticed the mask had finally broke again over Pyro's face. No, not just broke. It shattered. More than it had before.
Sausage's eyes grew wide in shock to see the look of pure anguish over Pyro's face as his eyes creased with such pain. Sorrow bled into his features while they twisted and bent against the stream of tears that soaked his cheeks.
Silent choked sobs erupted from Pyro as his breath hitched. He attempted to still hold back as much as he could from the crying that tried to muster up his throat. He never appeared so young as he did right then and there.
Barely an adult. Barely carrying any experience under his belt at all.
The sight completely broke Sausage. He fell silent as his stunned gaze took in his teammate's expression. Took in his words. Took in everything as if it was the first time he was seeing Pyro, really seeing him at least.
Without knowing what else to say, Sausage held back his own tears as he moved to wrap his arms around Pyro. He was careful to avoid the other's injuries while he kept his embrace secure, making himself an anchor for the other. "I'm sorry..." he muttered to his friend. He took a breath to steady himself. "I'm so sorry you've had to carry all this. I... I should have been there for you sooner." Sausage's throat tightened. Tears finally started to spill. "I'm so so sorry, Pyro."
Pyro fell quiet. His body stilled for a moment as he processed what was even occurring. Then, very slowly, the young man's body trembled against the hug. More choked sobs fell from Pyro as his face twisted from the pain. He dipped his head against the other's shoulder and soon wrapped his arms around Sausage's back. He gripped the fabric of his cloak and shuddered out a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry too..." Pyro mumbled after he finally carried enough air in his lungs to speak.
The two remained silent after that, yet this time, the dread was lifted. A sense of peace washed over them in that moment as they simply soaked in the other's presence, allowing each other to just cry out their frustrations through quiet breath.
~~~~~