Moonlight Sonata// Pruaus

Chapter 55

Gilbert was panicking.

Because when he came back, Roderich was no where to be seen.

Apparently, he'd left not long after Gilbert, grabbing his shoes and telling Mrs. Kordyback that he was going for a walk.

That was 4 hours before Gilbert strutted back in, ready to play the silent game until Roderich apologized. Accept Roderich wasn't there. And after two hours of waiting, he realized something was wrong.

He informed Mrs. Kordyback, who discussed his absence during dinner.

And it was decided that they would send out search parties of two after they were done eating to scout the forest, where Roderich was most likely to be.

Gilbert chose to go with his brother (Ludwig) into the forest. The sun was about to set, the wind getting colder along with the air. The shadows elongated slowly, dead leaves crunching under their feet.

"Roderich!" Gilbert shouted, his feet falling heavily on the forest floor as he sprinted threw the trees. Ludwig walked behind, searching a little bit more thoroughly. Vash and albin searched a different, less dense area in the forest, Mrs. Kordyback searching by herself.

Gilbert panted heavily, running threw the forest, searching desperately for Roderich. Roderich, who'd gone missing right after they'd fought. His heart ached at the thought, a cold pit of guilt in his stomach. He had to find him. He had to.

Once he came to the end of the forest, he ran to the left about ten meters and then started to run back. His eyes scanned every tree, every bush, and while he was distracted his foot hooked on a root and he was thrown to the ground.

He groaned loudly from the impact, the world seeming to swim in front of his eyes for a moment, a sour taste in his mouth from another root smacking him in the stomach. Despite that, he got back onto his feet, starting with a slow jog until he seemed to have the strength and determination to start sprinting.

Ludwig kicked at a log, frowning. "Don't you think that if we were to find him, we'd find him within the first hour of searching? He's probably angry at you and went to see his father or something."

Gilbert sprinted, jumping over logs and roots. "I don't care! We still have to search! We aren't stopping until we find him!"

Ludwig continued to kick at the log, that is, until it groaned. Ludwig almost jumped.

"Gilbert!" He yelled shakily. "I think I found him!"

Gilbert almost ran into a tree he turned so fast, sprinting towards the source of Ludwigs booming voice, his heart thumping against his ribcage, blood rushing past his ears.

Ludwig crouched down, pushing the thorn bushes aside and almost gasping at what he saw.

"I FOUND HIM!"

Gilbert was going so fast, he wasn't sure how he would stop. His legs were practically on auto pilot, leaping over logs and roots as if they weren't even there.

By the time Gilbert found him, the others were already there, chattering in amongst themselves. Ludwigs frantic, panicked voice was much more audible than the others.

"Someone call an ambulance!"

Gilbert slowed to a stop about two meters away, the world seeming to sway. It took him a moment to grasp what Ludwig has said, but as soon as he did, the world turned dark and cold. And suddenly he could no longer breath, No longer think. He couldn't think straight, he couldn't form words, he couldn't feel anything but the cold choking terror and disbelief. Ludwig wasn't one to call the authorities at the drop of a hat.

Which meant that Roderich was ether dying, dead or unresponsive.

"NO!" He cried out, unthinking, desperately trying to dive into the chaos, to see Roderich or at least hold him. And then Vash turned around, stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him heavily to the ground.

"Calm it down, Gilbert!" Vash shouted in his face, his voice strong and clear, as if he was a commander on the battle field.

"Is he alive?!" Gilbert shouted frantically, struggling against his grip and ignoring his words. "He can't fucking die on me! Oh my god, what the fuck is..."

"He's fine!" Vash yelled, pinning Gilbert's squirming body to the ground.  "Jesus Christ, calm down Gilbert! He's completely fine, he's breathing, he's got a pulse, he's just unconscious and won't wake up!"

Gilbert let out an involuntary sigh, bone-weakening relief washing over him so quickly he almost felt as if he was about to faint. Vash, seeing this, crawled off of him and stood up again, crossing his arms and watching Ludwig. Gilbert sat up, and albin stepped away, on the phone with the operator at emergency services.

Gilbert got onto his feet, almost gasping at what he saw.

Roderich was practically a cadaver; with pale, lifeless skin and what looked like dried blood on his face that had seemingly dripped from his slightly parted blue lips. He was slumped over, sort of half laying and half sitting against a thicker birch tree. He seemed completely limp, his chocolate brown hair all messy, his delicate skin covered in tiny scratches, as if he'd been dragged threw the thorn bushes. His clothing held the same sort of aura, covered in mud and leaves and twigs. He looked cold, the shaking breaths coming from him turning to fog in front of his lips. His chest shook with every breath the pulled in, his eyes closed, a blank expression on his well defined face.

Ludwig turned to face Gilbert. "Do you want to carry him? Albin told the emergency services we'd meet them in be parking lot."

Gilbert gave a shaky nod, pushing his way threw the bushes, and kneeling in front of Roderich. Roderichs skin was almost freezing to the touch, and just that fact made Gilbert want to cry.

Gilbert pulled off his own coat, pulling Roderich towards him so he was able to wrap his coat around the unconscious aristocrat. He lifted him carefully into a sort of bridal carry position, standing up and stepping out of the bushes. Roderichs head lolled to the side, an arm resting over his stomach while the other swayed with every step that Gilbert took.

Gilbert was terrified. Roderich had to be okay. If he wasn't- Gilbert almost felt violently ill at the thought. He needed Roderich, his only other friend was a canary. Other than Elizaveta, but she was kind of angry at him for some reason.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to Roderichs cold forehead, almost shivering as he pulled away. Roderich was practically freezing. He had a peaceful sort of look on his face, as if he was sleeping.

Gilbert was just glad that he was alive.