Soul Trade AU

Frozen Heart Part 4: The Truce

Stress was having difficulty knocking, of all things. See, knocking meant the door opening, and the person who opens it might be Iskall. Thinking about Iskall made Stress feel sick, and she never could tell if it was from hatred or worry. It was a horrible feeling nonetheless, and she could tell that her vibes were getting to Scar. So she soldiered on.

She took a deep breath, and - knock knock. Her knuckles rapped on the door in a noise that drilled to Stress' very core. In that moment, it was as if her nerves were rising up to strangle her brain. She was aware of everything. She was aware of her light shaking. She was aware of the cold running through the air.

And then, after everything, Grian opened the door. Stress released the breath of frosty air she'd been overly aware of holding. Scar nodded to Grian, and he understood their purpose. He yelled back to Iskall, who replied that he was busy taking care of Ren. Well, at least Ren's back. Stress was getting quite worried.

Grian sighed, and took Stress and Scar into the base. They went to the common area, where Ren was propped up in a bed, dazed and with a cloth on his forehead. He looked weakly at Stress, and smiled. Stress gave him a little wave in return. Iskall turned to see who it was, and his face went through about 42 emotions in rapid succession.

He stood up, eye colder than Stress' magic. His hand, while not a fist, was shaking as if it wanted to become one. Scar winced as the anger in the room broke through the roof. Tension hung heavy in the air, like a bomb ready to explode. But not one person was ready for the magnitude of the cold, empty fury.

"Don't give me that look." Stress' words were like daggers, aimed right at Iskall's heart.

"Says the person that would just let people die." Iskall snapped back, voice like the bitter tang of sour candy.

"Oh I'M the murderer here!?" Stress' voice raised slightly.

"Yeah. Maybe you are." Iskall retorted, raising his voice and matching her tone.

"You're the only one who wants to kill people!"

"Look what they did to Ren!"

Scar curled up against the wall, unable to take it.

"Tango was our friend!"

"HE NEVER CARED!"

"LOOK AT THE BLOODSHED AND SUFFERING YOUR FIGHTING HAS CAUSED!"

Grian backed out of the room, afraid.

"THERE'D BE LESS IF YOU HELPED US!"

"MURDERER!"

Ren blocked his ears, shaking.

"TRAITOR!"

"Stop."

"HEARTLESS!"

"Stop!"

"SOULLESS!"

"I SAID STOP!"

And everything in the room fell dead silent.

"Look what your fighting has done. Stress, you go on about how Tango was your friend, but you seem to have forgotten how close you and Iskall were."

Everyone was captivated by Mumbo's words.

"And Iskall, you call Stress a traitor, but in a way, you've both betrayed each other. And you've betrayed us all, too."

He gestured at Scar, picking himself up slowly. Ren, taking deep breaths and trying to regain control. The distinct lack of Grian.

"Your argument has gotten too big. If we're to survive, you need to work together. Truce?"

"Truce." They both parroted, nodding. Truce.

They shook hands on it, hatred melting away. They'd seen reason, at last. Before they knew it, they'd fallen into a hug. They were friends again. Everything would be okay again. As if to seal the deal, a tear ran down Iskall's cheek, was frozen by Stress' magic, and fell to the floor. Mumbo put it in a jar, and labelled it 'Truce'. Nothing else.

And things were whole again.

How heartwarming. The next sub-arc won't be. It's called 'Easter Bunny'. And I think we all know what that entails.

Autocorrect, signing off from the past!