Nely walked ahead of Dune, her silence heavy, almost suffocating. She wasn't talking, wasn't even looking back at him. Just moving forward, her steps steady but…too calm.
Dune wasn't sure what to do. Should i say something? Should i just let her be?
He felt bad. Angry. Lucas didn't deserve to die. He was just a kid, full of energy, hope, and dreams. But that was life, wasn't it? Unforgiving. Cruel.
But Nely… she had gotten attached to the boy too quickly. Why?
Dune glanced up, the distant shimmer of the water coming into view through the trees. They were close.
"We're close," he finally said, his voice calm, almost mechanical. We'll probably arrive in a few hours. And if we are lucky we—"
Nely stopped. Dune barely had time to register it before her voice cut through the air like a blade.
"What?" Her tone was sharp, controlled, but there was something underneath it. A tremor.
Then she turned to him, her eyes dark and unreadable. "Did you feel anything, Dune? When Lucas died?"
Dune froze.
"How can you act like nothing happened?"
His fingers twitched, but his face remained still. Of course, he felt something. He felt anger, sadness, frustration, regret. But life had taught him to suppress his emotions, to keep moving forward no matter what. He wasn't good at talking. He wasn't good at showing what was inside him.
Still, he exhaled and said, "It's not like that." His voice was calm. Too calm.
Nely's fists clenched.
"Then what is it, Dune?!" she snapped, her voice rising. "What the hell is it, then?"
Dune didn't, couldn't answer.
Nely took a step forward, her body trembling now. "Do you even care? Or is this just normal for you? Another body. Another person dead. Another weight on your shoulders you pretend doesn't exist."
Dune remained still, his expression unreadable.
"Say something, damn it!" she shouted.
Silence.
That only made her angrier.
"You're heartless," she spat. "You act like you're above feeling anything, like emotions are some kind of weakness."
"Lucas looked up to me. He trusted me." Her voice cracked, but she didn't stop. "And i let him die, because i'm too weak. He died crying. He didn't want to die Dune, and we couldn't do anything. And you…You just stood there—" she exhaled sharply, her hands shaking.
Dune sighed "we couldn't do anything Nely."
I don't care Dune, i don't, even if we couldn't do anything, how can i just stop and watch someone die? How could i ever do that? You must try everything Dune.. even if it's useless.. i could see, maybe you cared, cared enough to make stupid decisions"….
You don't feel anything, do you?" she whispered. "You never do."
More silence.
After a long pause, she spoke again calmly…
"I need some time alone, i think it's better if we go on our own ways…"
Then, she turned away from him, shoulders tense, and kept walking.
Dune stayed still for a moment, watching her back as the distance between them grew.
He clenched his jaw, inhaled slowly, then exhaled. He didn't say anything.
The forest stretched endlessly before him, darkened by the night. The light that had once guided his path was swallowed by the thickening clouds above. Dune walked alone now.
His boots pressed into the damp earth, his mind lost in a fog of unspoken thoughts. He hadn't seen Nely since she stormed off. Maybe it was better that way.
The wind picked up, rustling the trees. A distant rumble of thunder echoed across the sky, and moments later, the first cold drops of rain hit his skin. Dune sighed. Of course.
He kept moving until he found an overhang of rock jutting from the side of a hill, a place to shield himself from the coming storm. The rain grew heavier, drumming against the earth, cascading down leaves, soaking the world around him.
He sat down beneath the rock, pulling his knees up slightly, his arms resting over them. He let out a long breath, staring into the darkness ahead.
And then… nothing. Nothing but silence. Nothing but the weight in his chest.
It had been a long time since he was alone like this. Alone with his own thoughts.
Lucas and Leon were dead.
Nely was gone.
Ned and Atlas were still missing.
His family… he didn't even know what happened to them.
He was truly alone.
What if his brother had suffered as Lucas had, torn from this world too soon, too brutally? Would he have borne it any better? Or would he have simply stood there, unmoved on the outside, yet hollow within, too broken to fight, too lost to care?
His hands clenched unconsciously, nails pressing into his palms. No. I wouldn't have stood still. I wouldn't have let grief root me to the spot. I would have fought, against fate, against myself, against anything that tried to take what little i have left.
Because if i didn't, who would?
And even so, he had just stood there while Nely yelled at him, accusing him of feeling nothing.
His fingers curled into fists. She was wrong. He did feel something. No, he felt everything.
His throat tightened as images flashed through his mind, Lucas' terrified eyes, his trembling voice as he whispered that he didn't want to die. That look of quiet acceptance just before he stopped breathing.
Dune clenched his jaw, staring at the rain, his breaths unsteady. It wasn't fair. Nothing about this was fair. He should have done more. He should have been stronger, faster, smarter.
He pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, eyes squeezed shut. His body trembled. His breathing turned shallow.
Then, suddenly it hit him. A sharp, overwhelming weight in his chest, a suffocating storm inside him.
And he broke.
A choked breath escaped him, his shoulders shaking as his face twisted in something he hadn't let himself feel in a long time.
His hand clamped over his mouth as if trying to hold it in. But he couldn't. The tears came anyway. Hot, silent and angry.
Angry at himself. At the gods. At the world that took and took and took.
He had spent years burying his emotions, forcing himself to be unbreakable. But here, alone in the rain, there was no one to see. No one to judge. So, he let himself fall apart.
Dune's breath hitched as he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, but it did nothing to stop the tears.
His chest felt too tight, like something inside him was breaking apart piece by piece.
After a while, the sobs faded, leaving Dune staring at the ground, exhausted. His breath was still uneven, his chest sore from it all. He ran a hand down his face, wiping at the dampness, then let out a quiet, shaky laugh.
"Well," he muttered, voice rough, "that was pathetic."
He sniffed, rubbing his sleeve across his face, then just sat there for a moment, breathing, letting the silence settle around him. The wind was cool against his skin, the stars distant but steady above.
With a slow exhale, Dune leaned back against the rock wall behind him, shutting his eyes.
He wanted to rest for a little while. Just until the weight in his chest didn't feel so heavy.