By The Way, Danplan Oneshots

Whispering Shadows (3)

Final part :)
Hosuh has been gone for quite some time.

At first, Stephen told himself that his friend needed the space – he was certainly on edge and needed to calm down. But now it had been almost two hours of no Hosuh in sight, and he was (if possible) more worried that he had been.

Hosuh's quick character change was concerning to say in the least. To see such violent actions come from a healer – an overly gentle and kind one at that – was unnatural. Stephen had the feeling that there was something out of their control happening around them as they stayed oblivious.

A small regret wormed it's way into his chest as he thought about the spiralling events from earlier. He was too dismissive of Hosuh, saying that he was overreacting. But now, as the night grew steadily darker, Stephen concluded that it must be the stone acting as a catalyst to this behaviour. Or, at least, the thought of the stone was.

Hosuh was, well, still Hosuh before they entered that cave. Now?

Stephen wished he listened to his silver-haired friend.

"I'm not waiting any longer." Daniel's voice pulled him back to the present. Without looking back, Stephen grabbed his staff and pulled up his hood.

"For once I agree with you." He replied, striding towards the trees. Beside them, Hosuh's satchel lay abandoned. The satchel has been so important to him, given to him by his mother – why had he left it?

"Come on, I see footprints!" Daniel called from his left. Stephen ran behind him, dodging trees. The footprints grew clearer.

Stephen would've ran into Hosuh if Dan hadn't held out a hand to stop him. For a moment, he was confused.

"Dan, we need to get closer if we want to talk –" Stephen's voice died as he looked at the man in front of him.

It was technically Hosuh; same hair, same skin, same stance, same outfit. However, like Dan must've sensed, something was off about his friend.

For starters, Hosuh wasn't even facing them, acting as if they weren't there. It was strange, and Stephen found himself holding his staff tighter.

The second thing was that Hosuh hadn't spoken yet, even though they just crashed through the bushes.

"Hosuh?" Daniel was the first to talk, stepping closer. Hosuh turned slowly, his expression lax.

Though nothing still was visibly changed about his friend, the unease only grew. Daniel must've felt this too, because he didn't step forward.

"Hosuh, you need to get back to camp. It's been hours."

Hosuh only blinked in response, his feet firmly planted into the ground. He was staring at Daniel as if he was something new and fascinating.

Stephen studied Hosuh. There was something black on his arm, revealed by one of his sleeves rolled up halfway. The arm had been tucked behind his back, but Stephen caught a glimpse of what was hiding. It was almost like writing.

However, he didn't have time to ponder that for long as the next action made his blood run cold.

Hosuh's eyes, which were usually a gentle, soft blue had suddenly flashed a scarlet red, glinting in the night light.

The moment was gone and Daniel hadn't noticed, his gaze elsewhere as it happened.

Something was really, really wrong with Hosuh.

"Dan RUN!" Stephen shouted, and many things happened at once.

Daniel darted away at his words, with no hesitation. Hosuh's hand, which had been hanging loosely at his side, shot out with unnatural speed. Fingers closed around Daniel's throat and lifted him into the air.