A/N: Hello! It has been such a long time. After the last chapter I wrote, I had to start studying for university exams. This made me stop writing for a very long time. I have since returned to writing, but I'm currently busy with an original story idea so I have been fairly inactive on this site. I'm still here though!

However, the future of this particular fic is debatable at best. My writing experience and views have changed quite a lot since then and I can't get myself to continue this fic as is. Don't get me wrong- I'm still attached to the characters, but there's no way I can keep writing this same story and enjoy it as a whole.
Writing Silent Ranger taught me a lot about writing and the reviews and all the people reading the chapters made me so happy, and I'm so grateful for all of it, but this is as far as it goes.

After my current project, I would love to rewrite this story heavily and publish the renewed version with a different name. It won't be the same exact story, but the characters will remain. Though, this is not something anyone should be waiting for. It will take a long time.

Regardless, I still wanted to share with you what I had left in my documents before I stopped writing. Thanks for reading my story, and I really hope that one day I'll make it reach its full potential! As incomplete as it is, I'll mark this fic as completed after this chapter. Stay safe and happy!

He didn't know how much time had passed. He didn't feel his legs. All he could do was to notice that he was still alive. Lying somewhere, numb... but still alive.

"Clyde... Clyde!" He heard a voice right above him.

His eyes refused to open. Who was that, anyway? The voices and sounds were getting mixed in his ears in chaos.

The persistent voice repeated itself again. "Clyde... Come on, wake up! Can you hear me?"

It was a nervous voice. No... rather, it was a voice that shouldn't ever be nervous.

Clyde forced himself to respond to no avail. "Hhg..." He slowly opened his eyes to a blurred green silhouette that soon cleared itself.

"Glade?"

Why was he here? Come to think of it, where were they, anyway?

Clyde tried to get up from where he laid, but he could only sit because his legs still felt numb. The moment he did, he felt a quick yet sharp pain on his back.

His friend was looking at him with a slightly relieved face. Clyde looked around himself a bit more to notice the stone walls and iron bars that they were seemingly trapped in. Then he remembered how he lost his consciousness in the first place.

"W-we are in jail? Wait, where are the others?" He asked.

"Beats me." Glade shrugged.

"It goes without saying that they got the two of us but I have no idea where Merlin and Darc is."

"When did you wake up?"

"A few minutes before you did." Glade looked at him with concern.

"Your face was like a white sheet... I thought you were dead for a second."

"Sorry I got you to worry." Clyde released a big breath.

"So... What now?"

"What now? I don't know. Nobody is here yet." Glade was deep in thought.

Clyde fidgeted with his hands uncomfortably. "I guess we just wait then... They... They'll give us food, right?"

"I don't know..." The blonde apprentice paused for a moment. "We've got to get out of here."

"Of course, but what can we do besides wait?" Clyde said.

He started slowly swinging back and forth without noticing.

"Look around. There's got to be something we can use to break out. We are rangers! Out of anyone, we should know how to make do with what we have!"

Glade got up with an energetic attitude. How was he not feeling down or afraid at a time like this?

"I... I don't know why but I can't get up." Clyde did a futile attempt at moving his legs once more.

"I'll crawl around somehow..." His back delivered another painful sensation to him as he tried to shift his weight.

"Ow!.. Ahh..."

"Are you okay?" Glade looked at him with a worrisome expression on his face.

"You just stay there. I'll check for any crevices on the wall or rusty spots on the bars." He started moving around the cell swiftly.

Clyde tried to check his surroundings to find anything of use, but the cold surface of the jail only had layers of dust on it.

"Aha! There's a small hole in here... No, wait..."

Glade put his hand through a tiny spot in the wall. Once he realized it wouldn't squeeze through, he peeked through the hole instead. "Nevermind, it just leads to the next cell." He sighed.

The following hours saw them trying desperately to find a way to escape the place. Though they gave their best effort, there was nothing in there to help them break through.

"I guess we just wait until they come, then." Glade shrugged and laid his back on the stone wall.

Clyde forced himself to drag his body next to him. "Merlin and Darc? Yes... Yes, there is no way they would leave us here."

"I was talking about our captors." Glade said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"If we manage to knock one out somehow, we can dig through their stuff and find a key... A knife, maybe? Anything will do. We can be resourceful with what we find."

Clyde was uncertain. "I don't know... I mean, sure, we managed to get one of them... Then what?"

Glade looked at him with disappointed eyes. "Would you rather stay?"

Clyde didn't answer.

"Ah, I see you've woken up." A deep voice rung out in the dungeons.

Glade immediately changed his relaxed position. Clyde could feel his resentment from his furrowed brows alone.

"I'm glad you two were with the little Atwood and Appleby there. You don't know how precious a bait you are."

The man with the rattail in front of them was the same one they encountered back then.

"That's your plan with us? Bait?" Glade asked between his clenched teeth.

"Of course. What else could I want from two scrawny twerps like you? Unless..." He got closer to throw them an intimidating gaze. "Unless you have valuable information for us. Then it's be different."

"We don't have anything to tell you!" Glade yelled.

"A ranger never-"

"Spare me the pretty words." The man cut Glade's protests short. Then he turned his back to the duo and snapped his fingers. "Scourger, go fetch their food. And watch over them as I'm gone."

Hearing him, a robed man came over as Clyde and Glade heard the noises of their captor climbing up a set of stone stairs loudly.

The 'food' he threw at them was nothing more than a piece of moldy bread. Even Clyde, who didn't have the energy to argue a minute ago, glared at the Scourger, holding the single piece of bread in his hands.

"Speak up some info if you want better food. Or keep glaring like that if you want none." The voice of the man was so monotonous Clyde almost thought he was hypnotised like the Hyrd'mis victims were a year ago.

As he went over to a spot away from their hateful gazes, Clyde turned his head to what little piece of edible food they had in their hands.

"Glade, here... I'll tear out the moldy parts, so eat up." He begun picking the green and gray coloured mess away from the hard bread.

Glade shook his head from side to side. "I'm not hungry. You should eat it."

"But you're the one who can move properly. I can preserve my strength, you should have it." Clyde insisted.

"Okay, give it to me." Glade snatched the bread from his hands and split it in two.

"We'll share. I can't have my partner starve." He handed the half he deemed was larger to Clyde, who smiled briefly before scarfing down the food. Looking at him, Glade also felt his stomach rumbling and bit into his own bread.

When one had nothing to do, time went past as slow as possible. Clyde and Glade learned this the hard way.

With no sunlight coming in, they didn't even know whether it was night or morning. Their silent whispers about a plan to escape only took several minutes to do, so to preserve their energy, they tried to sleep.

However, having just awakened from an unconscious state, they couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard they tried. Under the gaze of the robed guardian, Glade grew inpatient.

He slowly dragged himself over to where he found the small hole in the wall and put his hand in while leaning against the wall, hiding his hand from plain view. He hoped that he wasn't noticed as his hand searched for a loose piece of stone to tear off the wall, or at least some pebble sized debris on the floor. Meanwhile, he briefly looked at Clyde to give him a signal. Clyde nodded subtly before crawling closer to the man in the other side of the metal bars.

"Hey..." He started speaking.

The man cut his sentence almost instantly. "Don't waste my time, brat. Only one piece of bread per day." He waved his hand as if he was shooing a small animal and returned to his spot.

Clyde tried to make his voice as intriguing as possible. "But I was thinking of sharing something..."

The man turned his face to the apprentice again. He had caught the guardian's attention. "What are you talking about?"

"You see... Us rangers may look all strong and frightening, but our Head Ranger actually..."

As he pleaded for Gordon's forgiveness in his mind, Clyde started whispering whatever that came to his mind into the man's ear as he frantically peeked at Glade trying to find a piece of stone where he was sitting.

"What nonsense is this? And here I thought I could reason with an annoying child." The guardian retorted. "No food for petty gossip. Who cares about all that?"

As Clyde turned over to warn Glade, he saw the blond apprentice grasping a small piece of debris, already finished aiming. Instinctively, his target ducked at the right moment, nearly avoiding the missile a second before impact.

The rock that would hit the guardian's face then hit squarely on the head, knocking him out instantly.

"We did it!" Clyde said in glee.

Glade gave him a sly smirk. "I knew it would work." He approached the limp body of the Scourger and dragged him towards the bars with Clyde's help.

Immediately after, they searched ever nook and cranny inside the man's bags, pockets and anywhere he could stuff a key in.

"Err... There's no key here." Clyde said after emptying the last pocket.

Glade shook his head in disappointment. "I didn't find any either... But here." He tossed a small knife at Clyde, which he caught in his hands. The blond apprentice had also found a knife himself.

"Okay... Maybe I can pick the lock open with this."

He got back on his feet to jam the knife inside the lock of the cell's door with the bars. With great effort that appeared to be several minutes of clunky noises for Clyde, he managed to break the lock along with the knife that remained stuck inside.

"Uhh... Did you open it?" Asked Clyde.

"I think so. Hang on..." Glade forced the door with his hands, then rammed into it a few times. For the last time, he took a few steps back to wind up and tackled the door with full force, making the door open with a creaking noise as he fell on the floor.

"You got it!" Clyde tried to get up once more, but couldn't. He was starting to feel anxious about his numb legs.

"Clyde, toss me that knife. I'll look around for an exit." Glade looked at him as he struggled to get up.

The expression on his face told Clyde that he didn't want to force him too hard. The ginger haired boy gave him an understanding nod and handed him the knife.

"This won't last for long. I'll be back soon. Just act like you're asleep." He left the cell, hiding behind spots that blocked the light coming from the few amount of torches the dungeon had.

Clyde did as his friend said and laid on his back with his eyes closed. The feeling of not knowing what was happening made him feel worried. His closed eyes begged for him to open them, but he couldn't. He had to trust Glade with his plan.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

"Guards! There's a runaway here... Augh!"

He listened to the troubled voices of the guards as he imagined Glade breezing through them.

"How many times will I tell you children to stay put?"

This was definitely the rattailed man from before. Unlike the others, he had not even a speck of fear or shock in his voice. Clyde felt uneasy hearing the echoes of his triumphant words.

"Aah! Oof!" Glade. This was Glade.

"No!" Clyde opened his eyes and did everything he could to move forwards. He couldn't leave Glade all alone with that man, and if he's too late...

As he thought of that, Glade came rolling down the stairs that he climbed on his way. Clyde, who had just gotten out of the cell, saw him drop right in front of him.

"Well, I tried to be hospitable and kind..." The rattail man slowly descended the stairs as Clyde glared at his direction, looming over Glade. "...but you two really leave me no choice."

He snapped his fingers as the large, enigmatic monster from before showed up behind him. From his experience from the last time, Clyde closed his eyes instantly and used his body to cover Glade's face as well. He was sure his poor friend had already passed out.

"It's no use!" The man teared him away from Glade and forced open his eyes. "Stare! Stare at him and turn into stone! I'll make an example out of you two!" He yelled as he let out an unhinged laugh.

"N-no! I don't... Let me go!" Clyde fought back as much as he could, turning his face away, elbowing, biting... But none of it was working.

The lower half of his body had already gone limp. He slowly felt the numbness climbing over his body like a creeping vine, watching the crimson eyes of the beast as he couldn't close his tearful eyes.

Before he knew it, he could barely even feel anything. As the man dropped him on the floor to chase after a running Glade, he laid there, unable to move.

Carried back to his old spot in the unwelcome coldness of the cell, Clyde could now only see the ceiling above him and nothing else.

He tried to roll over, but couldn't. His body felt like a statue made of stone, stiff and heavy.

He forced his mouth to open, disheartened, as he noticed that even speaking was going to be hard from now on.

How long would he stay like this, anyway? Would Merlin and Darc ever come? Surely, they should be coming for them soon. They had to be.

"Hey, Clyde." A voice came from his left. Glade sounded a lot more muffled than before. Forcing his eyes to focus on where he heard the voice, he noticed the small crack Glade used before. The blurry silhouette beyond the crack must have been him. But that only meant...

"They put us on two different cells now. I guess that's it for our teamwork." Glade sighed as he turned his face to his friend he could barely see through the tiny gap.

"Glade, will we ever make it out of here?" Clyde asked nervously.

Glade replied with his energetic voice. "Of course! I mean, we're rangers, after all. Nothing can stop us."

"But... Just look at us... Look at yourself!" Clyde said as he failed to move again. "I... I can't move. How will we even get out?"

"We'll just wait for the other two."

Clyde didn't answer. For some reason, he couldn't believe that their problem could be solved that easily. All of their equipment were taken away, they were in separate cells, paralyzed and alone. What chance did they have against any of their captors, who were armed to teeth? Not to mention that grotesque monster...

"Hey, I see that my favourite baits have woken up already." That guy from before had arrived again. Just hearing a hint of his egotistical tone drove Clyde crazy. But seeing how powerless they were right now, he also felt afraid.

"Bait? What good are we as bait if you're just going to starve us to death anyway?" Glade questioned.

Hearing him, Clyde felt the void in his stomach scratching the insides of his body. When was it that they ate that piece of moldy bread?

"Ah, no need to worry about that." The man let out a small laugh.

"You might not believe me, but I know your friends well. They know you two are here, they will arrive regardless of your condition. And then..."

"A-and then what?" Clyde asked, frightened.

"And then you two will join them in the afterlife. I have no need for talking pieces of stone, you're filling valuable space in our cells."

"So you're just playing with our lives... Just for the hell of it?" Glade spoke as Clyde could only imagine how frighteningly furious his face looked right then.

"Bingo. Now, you might as well shut up, or I'll be having a little too much fun."

He grabbed a broom laying towards the wall and threateningly swung it in the air, a cruel smile on his face. After throwing the broom on the floor, he left as Clyde heard his footsteps going up the stairs.

How many hours has it been? There was no response from Glade. Maybe he fell asleep? Surely he didn't give in to whatever curse or sickness they were given, right?

Clyde's mind produced endless scenarios in his head while he tried to calm himself down in a futile attempt.

"Glade? Glade, are you there?" He tried once more to have his voice heard.

"Hnn... Where else could I be?" Glade finally replied. "Don't worry, I was just trying to preserve energy. But... Okay, nevermind. it's just too hard to sleep anyway."

"Glade... What's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know... But we will find a way to live. Just... Just don't think about it. Whatever you're thinking about, don't." This might be one of the rare times Clyde heard Glade's voice waver, if not the first.

"I'm a ranger." Glade said, returning to his calm self. "And you're my partner, so I have to protect you... If it's in the name of the Corps, I'm ready to go through anything... Even if I were to d-"

Clyde yelled involuntarily. "Don't say that! Just... Anything but that..."

"Clyde..." Glade paused for a few seconds. "You... You don't have to do all that... That is my duty only."

"Huh?"

"You should be living on. After all, you have a lot of people caring about you. You have a bright future ahead."

"Wh-what are you... getting at?"

Glade spoke with a shaky voice. "I'm not like you. See, I can't even get us out of here. A pathetic, expendable, treacherous piece of trash, as I always was."

"N-no, don't say that! You're more accomplished than I'll ever be! I've always envied you because you were... The very essence of a ranger..." Clyde couldn't handle Glade's sudden self deprecation.

"Then tell me! What kind of ranger ends up rotting in a cell like this!?" He yelled as tears flowed down his face. He was glad nobody could see them right then. "Whether I'm here or not, you'll be in pain anyway. My existence itself is a threat to your happiness."

"Glade... No, no, that's not true... That's not true at all..."

Glade stood silent as both of them laid in their place.

Clyde didn't know whether he was shaking from fear, anger or the cold surface. His stomach rumbled violently, but he couldn't react to it, shivering as the freezing floor drew the heat out of him.

They didn't even give them a piece of cloth to stay warm. This was not fair, it was just not.

He looked over his body that might never move again. The iron bars that they were trapped in... and the broom that was laying on the floor. The broom...

A sudden surge of panic surrounded Clyde's body and mind.

He was going to die here.

He felt his breathing get sudden. His grasp on logic and reality was loosened as he frantically listened to the only thing he could hear inside his head. He was going to die here.

The cold, the hunger, the broom, whatever, whichever it was, it was going to kill him... He was never going to see Bryce ever again. He couldn't come to save him this time. Merlin, Darc, Glade, all of them... Along with him... They were all going to perish right in this room.

"G-glade..." He called his name again, but there was no response.

"Glade, I want to say... I want to say something..." He felt the panic circling inside him, taking control of him as if he was nothing more than a marionette.

"I... I don't want to die." Tears, long withheld, flowed from his eyes. "I don't want to die yet! I still want to go on missions, I want to ride Gale, I want to pick mushrooms... I want to meet her once more... I want... I want to see Bryce again... I couldn't even say goodbye to him! We just ran away without a word and now we're going to die here... In the middle of nowhere... And nobody will even hear about us! We'll just disappear. That's not fair at all. I don't... I don't want to die!" He rapidly breathed as he finally felt himself break.

"Somebody, get me out of here!" He yelled. "Bryce! Merlin! Anybody, just anyone... Help me..."

"Clyde." Glade's voice cut through his. "Clyde... It's... It's okay. I'm here."

Clyde could barely hear him, but he stopped for a second as he noticed him.

"I gave a promise. I'll protect you from them. No matter what." His words felt comforting. Why? What could he possibly do to save them? But still, Clyde's heartbeat slowed down a notch.

"You'll get out of here, I promise." Clyde was sure Glade smiled brightly with his sparkly eyes while he said that. He wished he could see that face more than anything now.

Bryce and Jacob, after finishing their mission, were riding back to Redmont to give their report and return to their daily work. After being in the deepest parts of the world, going teeth to teeth with mysterious monsters, they were eager to be breathing on the surface again.

"Whew... Can't wait to head back home and lay down for a while." Jacob stretched as he peeked at the horizon. The castle of Redmont was showing its face slowly as they marched on.

"Excuse me Jacob, lay down? Do you know how much work we have to do?" Bryce said jokingly as he thought of all the reports and business he had to handle once he came back. He sighed, realizing it's not much of a joke after considering it.

The blond ranger, not bothered in the slightest, waved his hand. "Nah. I'll handle it with Glade."

"Glade?"

"Yeah, the little rascal probably had too much of a rest back there. That'll get him back to shape."

"You'll get him back to shape by forcing him to write reports?" Bryce chuckled.

"Oh, shut it." Jacob rolled his eyes. "My leg's still not working that well, you know. Gimme a break."

"Yes, I suppose I should give you a break then." Bryce never really mentioned it, but he was making a large detour by escorting his old friend to his fief first. He was sure that Jacob was aware of his being worried, so he decided to act oblivious to it.

"By the way, while we checked the other reports... Did you see how many of those Hyrd'mis cultists were caught in the last few days?" He changed the topic to a curious one.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, good thing they're weeding 'em out faster."

"Likewise, if you've noticed, the Wargal infestations decreased just as sudden. Isn't that odd?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah... Wait, what are you getting at?"

"I'm thinking about Clyde's hunch about leftover cultists back then... Maybe he was onto something after all." Bryce looked deeply into the horizon as he caressed his beard. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Leave it to the others for now," Jacob said as he yawned not so quietly. "They should have enough intel to form a plan by now. All the stuff we've talked about, plus with all the scouts that will be sent to the rift..."

"Yes, I see what you mean." Bryce said in agreement.

"So, are we parting now? Greenfield's not that close by, Bryce." Just before they came close to the Redmont gates, Jacob let a thoughtful Bryce know that it was time to leave. "Unless you're thinking of staying over and helping with the reports, that is."

"Hahaha, I better leave that part to you. Farewell, friend." Bryce nodded as he waved Jacob goodbye. He peeked over his shoulder as he went down the road, making sure he entered in safely. What a tiring journey that was...

It was nearly midnight by the time a tired Bryce made it to Greenfield. Riding alone never felt so lonely, he though to himself as he caressed Pfeil's mane.

The horse was likely too tired to show his excitement, as Bryce figured out when he noticed that he barely even made a noise on the road.

"I wonder what Clyde's doing now... He probably missed me a lot." He began talking anyway, thinking of Pfeil as his sole listener. "Maybe he panicked at first, thinking whether he can handle a fief on his own or not... But I'm sure he's fine." He got closer and closer to the gates as he spoke, then he went silent once the guards were close enough to hear him. It felt nice to be home.

The good old cottage was still staying where it was when he left it. Bryce couldn't see any light coming out from the windows, so he assumed that Clyde had already went to sleep.

He gently opened the door to find an empty living room. It was a little too close to how he left it. Even the coffee pot looked untouched. Feeling somewhat disturbed, Bryce decided to check on his apprentice's room. Two knocks, and no answer.

"Good evening, Ranger!" He uttered with his usual joyful tone as he opened the door to Clyde's room... Which seemed completely empty.

This is unusual, he thought as he stepped out of the cottage.

When he asked the guards, he learned that none of them had seen Clyde during the day, which worried him greatly.

Just as he was leaving the guard post, he heard a sound far away, something that was akin to a horse trotting around. I shouldn't ignore even the slightest detail, Bryce thought and he approched the source of the noise.

Just outside the fief, he saw a short man riding on a horse. "Archard!? What are you doing here?" He was surprised to see a fellow ranger this close to his fief. Was he bringing urgent news?

"Hey, Bryce! Yer back already? Glad to see ya again." The half-skandian man snickered as he saluted his fellow ranger.

Bryce crossed his arms, looking at Archard directly. "Is everything alright? I don't think you would come by this close on a normal day, even if our fiefs are practically next to each other."

"I'm just coverin' for the lad, what was his name? Klein? Nah, wait..."

"Clyde? And what do you mean, 'covering for'?"

"Ah yes, Clyde!" Archard snapped his fingers once he heard the name. "He's out on a mission now, so I was told to check up on Greenfield every once in a whi-"

"A mission!?" Bryce almost yelled out in surprise. "For what? A bandit group? Or a rogue fox... or something like that, I presume?"

"Last time I saw him, I thought he was goin' back here to hold the fort, but Ernest told me he'd be goin' after that Merlin boy to deliver a message."

"Ernest... Wait, to Gallica? On his own?" Bryce tried not to show the emotions raging inside him, but he was already sweating cold showers down his face.

"Nah, that other lad... Glade, was it? Yeah, Glade's going with him. Actually, it's better to say that the other way 'round, the way he's dragging him to wherever he wants, har har!"

Bryce nearly lost his footing. "That's enough, I'm going to faint if you go on for one more sentence." He unintentionally glared at the man.

"Eh... You alright?" Archard's relaxed face was not as loose now.

"When did they leave? Tell me everything you know in detail." Bryce walked up to him.

Thus, in the middle of the night, his recently ended mission left its place for another, much more crucial one.