KOTLC Oneshots

~Before You Go~

...𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 , 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨....

𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐆𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐠𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭!!!

Tam knew he was falling. He didn’t try to stop it. He knew he couldn't be saved, so he went in the only direction he could: down.

No one had noticed, of course. He was the emo Shade boy who only cared for his twin. He was usually dark, so no one knew how much he was suffering behind his façade of shadows.

There was nothing left for him except for his sister and his friends, if you could call them that. So he left. He did the only thing that might save his sister… and someone else. He joined the Neverseen.

He didn't want to, of course. All he wanted was to be of some worth, to be appreciated. No one gave him that. No one knew the pain, the times he had weeped under the covers, shadows wrapped around his face to muffle the sound of his sobs. He was good at hiding, both himself and his emotions. 

So there he was, in some sort of cave or cell, blocked out from the rest of the world except for the occasional visits of a Neverseen member, namely Gethen. He only showed emptiness, hatred or unwillingness once in a while, but never expressed the true extent of this pain and guilt and anxiety nestled inside him.

"Shade!" A gruff voice echoed inside the cell-like room he was trapped in, effectively interrupting him from his silent musings. Tam raised his head to stare at the cloaked figure at the entrance of his prison. If he took notice of the empty, distant look in Tam’s eyes- which Tam knew he had- he pretended not to.

“Yes?” Tam asked, his gaze still fixed on the member of the Neverseen. He knew he was being somewhat creepy; he didn’t care.

“We’re going to go through your mind, and you’re going to sit there and show us everything. ‘Bout the Black Swan…”

Tam tuned out his words. His eyes traveled around the room, illuminated dimly by sunlight. The figure’s cloak billowed out behind him, casting shadows around it. He hadn’t been able to use his powers, so the shadows were welcome to him. The light felt unfamiliar, he mused. Wait- light? Tam’s eyes widened slightly as his eyes stopped on the entrance. The door was unlocked, a ray of sunlight flooding through the crack of the slightly ajar door.

Tam clenched his fists. The shadows swirled behind the elf, who was still talking- more like taunting him now. Tam thought that he talked too much.

“-so we’ll know every single thing about you and your pathetic friends,” The man sneered. “Hey, are you listening? Hey, Shade boy. Pay attention! Are you too wrapped up in your shadowy thoughts that-“ he snickered at his own lame joke.

Tam took the chance. Mustering the last strength he had, he flung himself up, and willed the shadows to wrap around the man’s head, effectively blocking his sight. He lunged and silently plucked what he recognized as a pathfinder from where it hung on his cloak. As the man thrashed and growled like a wild beast, clawing at the shadows obscuring his view, Tam bolted out through the entrance. He knew he would be followed, but he needed this.

He channeled his burst of adrenaline into his running, and ran. When he was sure he had come far enough, to some mossy clearing, he held up the crystallized pathfinder to the light, and was whisked away.