Surprise death post!
There was a rumbling, then total darkness. For a moment Emmett was still, his arms held over his head, heart thumping against his ribs. When he moved again, it was in complete darkness and his limbs seemed to go all too fast through the air without being able to see them. His feet felt unsteady and unsure too and panic overtook him.
He hit against the rocks, which got him nowhere. His axe had been lost in the tumble so his hands were only getting beaten and bloody the more he hit. Eventually he had to give up before he lost use of them entirely, slide down the wall and sit, calm himself down.
They had to come and rescue him, right?
...Right?
He thought that the first day, and the second. The third, too. By the fourth he was beginning to lose hope, though he had mapped out the network of caves he was in even in the dark, by using his left hand and walking while tracing the walls. There was a loop, then a long shoot off into the unknown. He hadn't wanted to take it, in case it took him away from the place people might look in a rescue.
But he was desperate, so he started down the path. It went for a very long time, it turned out. Eventually it opened out to a pool that he could not see, but when he touched his fingers to it he felt cold liquid. Still, but...he was desperate to drink, so he did.
It was a mistake.
He knew hours later the water had not been clean. Sat against the wall, head in his hands, he marvelled that this was going to be how it ended. He'd gotten into much worse scrapes, argued with the new Queen twice, survived the Longnight that killed his family...but this was going to get him? Something about it seemed horribly unjust, that he should have such a sudden and unromantic ending. That he'd never get to build back a friendship with Phoebe, never get to see how the situation with Zariah rolled out. Never see his two siblings again, who depended on him for everything they had.
They had been left with a neighbour, when he had come on this trip. A good farmwoman, steadfast and hearty; he knew they would be cared for. But would they miss their brother?
After what seemed like forever of these thoughts, of considerations of things he missed, would miss, regretted, was thankful for...it went dark, then he met Ludo. Hey, he thought, At least now I've met alla those three. I got Frey and Safrin ticked off before.
His soul left where his body never would. His mother took him in her arms, holding him tight while his father told him he was proud; that he knew Emmett had tried his best despite all of it. That it didn't matter it had ended like this; he had proved himself one hell of a Palmer.
Back with his family, Emmett let himself let go.
--
On the cave wall was scratched:
im sorry if you find this. my name was emmett.
Emmett
It burns too bright
I think about my self a lot 'cause it's the only one I've got
I've earned this life
What have I done to earn this life?
I think about my self a lot 'cause it's the only one I've got
I've earned this life
What have I done to earn this life?
