Bandit Bride

Felix was in a strange state he couldn’t describe. He was conscious, but he couldn’t move and his body felt cold. His clothes were wet and his vision was blurry but he could see the cloudy skies above him. He struggled to gain consciousness, then suddenly felt himself snap back to reality. He gasped for air and rolled onto his side, groaning when he felt a pain in his left arm that knocked the air right back out of him. He had never been in so much pain in his life.

“H-hey, you’re awake!”

Felix looked to the side and saw a blurry figure hovering over him. As his eyes adjusted he saw that it was Travis, also soaked to the bone and wearing a worried look on his face. It took Felix a few moments to register what was happening as Travis helped him sit up against a nearby log. He just stared, trying to remember what had happened.

“You…,” Felix said, panting heavily. “You…”

“-fished you out of the water,” Travis finished. “I thought you were dead.”

“No,” Felix said. “You... son of a bitch.”

Travis went from looking worried about Felix to looking worried for himself. He reached out towards him and Felix swatted his hand away, promptly crying out in pain from the movement.

“Hey, your arm is broken,” Travis said. “And some ribs. And your leg isn’t broken, but your ankle might be-”

“You tried to kill me,” Felix snapped. “Get out of here.”

“I know,” Travis sighed. “I know what I did. I fucked myself. I know.”

“You?!” Felix said. “Look at me! I’m going to kill you. You’re so fucking dead.”

“Look, I’m helping you now. You would’ve drowned if it weren’t for me.”

Felix wanted to punch Travis so bad, but every inch he moved felt like a thousand knives stabbing into him. He must have hit the water hard to be as broken as he was.

“Why’d you do it?” Felix asked.

“He lied to me,” Travis said. “He made it sound like you tore that family apart. I believed him.”

“Elisa… I have to get to her.”

Travis couldn’t even look at Felix, staring down at the ground as he wrung water out of his shirt.

“What?” Felix said. “You can help me by getting me out of the water but you can’t help me get back to Elisa?”

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for a while now,” he admitted. “A couple hours at least.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way he hasn’t gotten to her by now.”

Felix felt his body go cold again. Thurston. He was manipulative, and if he lied to Travis and Elisa’s parents, he was likely going to lie to Elisa as well. He didn’t even want to think of what she was being forced to endure. He attempted to sit up, wincing in pain but doing what he could to get to his feet. Travis was right about his ankle. When he tried to put pressure on it he fell right over again, nearly hitting the ground if Travis hadn’t caught him.

“Who’s side are you on?” Felix grumbled.

“Not his,” Travis promised.

“Fine,” he said. “Then help me get back. We’ve lost enough time.”

Travis nodded and put Felix’s good arm over his shoulder, helping Felix limp away from the river and back towards civilization. They luckily managed to hitch a ride on a passing merchant wagon who took them back to the inn, but by then another hour had passed. Felix limped his way back to the inn, nearly collapsing when he got inside. Burns was the only one downstairs, his eyes widening in shock when he saw Felix. He rushed over and took Felix out of Travis’s hands, which Felix was grateful for, and sat him down at a table.

“Hey buddy,” Felix said. “I need to-”

Burns didn’t even let Felix finish before sprinting up the stairs, returning a few moments later with everyone else in tow. Everyone seemed stunned to see him, and Felix was shocked to find Allen come up to him first. It almost seemed like Allen wanted to hug him, but the hulking man backed off before he did so.

“I- I’m glad to see you,” he said simply. “After all those things I said, I’m... you know.”

“I know,” Felix said. “It’s okay.”

Jack came crashing forward next, practically shoving Burns and Lyle out of his way with tears in his eyes. He was less concerned with holding a manly image, hugging Felix tightly. Felix yelped in pain, and Burns had to pry Jack off.

“He said you died,” Jack stammered. “I thought you and Anthony were both- I thought that was it!”

“I’m still here,” Felix said, adjusting himself. “Mostly. Where’s Elisa.”

Everyone shifted uncomfortably.

“She went with him,” Lyle finally said.

“Well, let’s go get her,” Felix said.

“No,” Allen said slowly. “He didn’t take her. She left. With him.”

“What?” Felix frowned.

“He threatened her,” Lyle explained. “He threatened all of us. She made a deal with him and they left.”

Jack looked ready to burst into tears again and Felix shook his head.

“No, that’s not possible,” he said. “She’d never do that.”

“We were all there,” Allen said. “She’s probably halfway back to her home by now.”

“Venere,” Felix said. “He said they were going to Venere. Is it snowing up there yet?”

“Uh, I think so. Maybe?”

Felix cursed under his breath. They finally convinced him to slow down and Lyle left, returning shortly after with a young woman who had some medical supplies with her. One of his nighttime friends, no doubt. But Felix was grateful to her for putting his broken arm into a sling, as well as bandaging his broken ribs.

“You can’t walk on this ankle,” she said softly. “For a week. At least.”

“I can’t, sorry,” Felix said. “I have places to be.”

“It’s broken,” she said firmly. “If you try to walk on it, you might make matters worse.”

It didn’t seem like anyone was about to let Felix argue. He felt his heart drop into his stomach. He really lost Elisa. That was the end of it. There wasn’t going to be a happy ending for them. Jack sat down next to Felix.

“I can go,” Jack said.

“Go where?”

“Find Elisa.”

Felix shook his head.

“No, you can’t,” Felix sighed. “We’ll figure something out.”

“I can,” Jack repeated. “I’ll find a ride to Venere. If I’m alone, people are just going to assume I’m a street kid. No one will look at me. I’ll find out where she is and I’ll leave a note somewhere so she knows you’re alive. And then when you can walk again, we’ll go get her.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Allenn spoke.

“It’s... not a bad idea,” he admitted. “The kid won’t look suspicious.”

“You’ve never traveled alone before,” Felix said. “Are you sure you can do this.”

Jack looked nervous, but nodded with a certain determined confidence that Felix had never seen in him before.

“I want to do it,” he said. “I can find out where she is.”

“Then let’s do it.”