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Etho's footsteps thudded in the dirt, beating the grass down into the mud with every stride. His sword was by his side; he wasn't taking any chances.
At last he scaled the small hill, mud melting into stone, barren and bare. Standing alone, red jumper stained with blood, was Grian.
At the sound of Etho's footfalls, he turned around, grinning maniacally.
There was blood splattered across his face.
"I see you got my message," Grian purred, stalking closer to Etho.
Etho kept his gaze forward, focused. "I have what you asked. Let me see him first, and I will give you what you want."
Grian hummed, before leading Etho behind a stony peak, and into a small ditch. Etho's breath caught in his throat, throwing the diamond towards Grian before running down the sloping walls, slipping on the coarse dirt that lay there, causing mini avalanches as a wave of emotion threatened to drown him.
In the centre of the ditch was a body.
If the quiet whimpers coming from him were any indication, he was still alive.
Etho overturned him in his hands, resting the body's head carefully against his thigh. The body's face was littered with bruises and cuts, and his general complexion was ragged and torn. A hole in his abdomen was sticky with blood, as red as life itself, as red as love itself.
"Bee... Bdubs..." Etho whispered.
Bdubs squinted, blinking slowly in the pale sunlight. "E... tho..." he smiled, showing his missing tooth and curling into the embrace as much as he could. He laughed: breathy, weak, gentle. "Am... am I dead?"
Etho swallowed down the lump in his throat. "No... no... you're not dead Bubs... you're okay... you're here and you're safe."
Bdubs hummed gently, seemingly content. "I-"
A cough ripped its way out of his throat, bubbling blood into Bdubs's mouth. He furrowed his brow, making small noises of displeasure, but Etho was quick to shush them, pressing their foreheads together.
"Hey..." Etho tried to comfort, his own voice becoming shaky, "You're okay... You've got to be okay... You've got to be... You're... You're okay..."
This close, Etho could hear Bdubs's shuddering breath. A breath that couldn't be saved. No matter how hard he tried, the server wouldn't let him lay down his own life, in exchange for bringing Bdubs back from the cold embrace of death.
Etho didn't know if it was merciful, or torturous, that the server allowed Bdubs to stay alive for just a little while longer.
Warm drops splashed onto Bdubs's forehead, rushing out like a waterfall, but as soft as the dew on a spring sunrise. He pulled away slightly, watching Etho, with an expression contorted into worry.
"Don't cry..." he croaked, "It's okay, Etho, I'm here."
Etho watched, helpless. The red in Bdubs's eyes was slowly flickering out, embers left over from a blazing bonfire, slowly charring black.
"Please..." Etho begged. To whom? Some merciful deity, if they even existed in this damned world? To himself, a silent wish, carried away in the wind to deaf ears?
Or to Bdubs: a prayer that he would stay, that he would hold on, that he wouldn't slip away?
In the end, it was futile to even try.
"Please be okay..." he whispered, barely mustering the strength to call out, to scream at the gods above and curse them for taking Bdubs away from him.
A soft inhale from below him, and through teary eyes Etho saw a last fleck of red.
"I love-"
The last of the fire had burned, leaving behind the crusted jewels, staining shining white fabric.
How long could Etho lay, beside the wilting roses?