Tweek
"Do you think this bow suits him? I don't think this bow suits him. It's too sleek, he needs something brutal, this is prissy. Clyde, where do you keep the Mongorian bows?" Kenny picked at the belt around Tweek's shoulder before letting it snap back. "On second thought, do we have any small Mongorian bows? We don't want to crush him."
"Hang on, they're on the other side of the stand." Clyde let out a groan. "People either need to know what they're doing with this armory or they need to ask for help! They just keep messing things up." He didn't sound particularly annoyed, Tweek doubted he could get annoyed. "AH! I found the bow, I just need to get the matching quiver. After the fight yesterday, no one bothered to put things back in order."
Catching the bow Clyde tossed at him, Kenny held it up and pulled back the string, testing its strength and sights. "Wow, this one's not even half bad. It doesn't even require any enchantments to make it work. What do you think Tweekers? Like this bow?"
Tweek, of course, wasn't paying a lick of attention to Kenny's attempts at outfitting him with a bow. His sole focus was on Craig, who seemed to be talking to the group of kids that were attacking the Elves. I should be beside him! Tweek thought with unexpected vehemence. But what if I got in the way?! What if I tripped him up while he was in the Elf fort and he fell and he broke his spine!? OH GOD, THAT'S TOO MUCH PRESSURE!
Suddenly, Kenny leaned down towards Tweek and said in a softly musing voice, "Look at our little Feldspar. So good at rallying up his men." Kenny's voice right by Tweek's ear made the blond feel even more jittery than he already had been. "I'm telling you Tweek if ever there came a day where he went to these people and told them to defect with him, most of them would go without question. People like power, he's got power."
Before he could tell Kenny to leave him alone or pull on his hair or anything of the sort, the warriors surrounding Craig cheered loudly. Tweek opened his mouth to call out to the boy, but before he could, Craig turned around and looked at him. The boy looked like a warrior right then, with his head held high and his knives at his belt. Grinning despite himself, Tweek pulled both hands up into a twitchy thumbs-up gesture. Even though Craig turned around before he could catch his expression, Tweek had a feeling that Craig would have had determination shining in his eyes.
Of course he would, he's going to win!
"No no, don't do that, stop it." Straightening and pushing Tweek's hands down, Kenny tutted under his breath and pushed the bow into the blonde's grip. "You're not supposed to wave to them like that, sending them off to battle with encouragement and a smile is my job. You're acting like a wife sending her husband off to war." Jumping at that, Tweek stared wide-eyed at Kenny.
"B-but you only ever do that for Butters!" Tweek squeaked, unable to think of anything else to say that sounded mildly intelligent. As it was he wanted to die for having put his foot in his mouth. Craig and I don't act like that! He's my friend, I'm encouraging him! Besides, he's gonna win anyway so why does it matter?
Pulling at a clump of Tweek's hair sharply, causing the boy to yelp, Kenny chided, "Come on Tweeky, you can't say things like that out loud. Who I offer my womanly support to is my business and my business alone. Mind your manners." Shivering at Kenny's perfect falsetto and the look he was giving him, Tweek nodded nervously and held up the bow under the pretense of sighting it.
Suddenly, his head was accosted as Clyde wrapped his arms around it and rested his chin on the blonde's head. Letting out a cry, Tweek found that Clyde didn't seem to care that he was making the blond panic so he simply resigned himself to letting the happy brunette do what he wanted. "Come on Lady McCormick, him and Craig are best friends! It's different! Isn't that right Teacup?" Tweek tried to respond, but his words were muffled by the arm over his mouth.
Kenny put a hand on his hip and scowled primly at Clyde. "I'm trying to protect them both Clyde, don't be so pigheaded." Clyde let out a cry of protest at that and no doubt pouted. "Feldspar and Tweek need to get their act together if they want to be true warriors of Zaron." With that, the boy snatched the bow from Tweek's hands.
Now with his hands free, Tweek managed to pry Clyde off of him. "Ngh- Craig and I are warriors!" Tweek insisted, twitching hard. Oh Jesus, do they not think we're warriors yet? What do we have to do? What if they make only one of us a warrior and the other one gets kicked out! What if they don't let me be a warrior and Craig gives up the game for me!? I'd feel so horrible!
Taking the quiver of arrows that Clyde offered him, Kenny shook his head as if Tweek's statement had been amusing and simply said, "Oh Tweekers, you are a warrior. You're simply the bestest and the bravest." Patting his head, which was just terrifying rather than calming when someone other than Craig did it, Kenny brightly chirped, "Yes Clyde, I think this bow will do wonderfully~!"
Puffing out his chest, Clyde crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Well, you know how it is, I'm the weapons expert around here." While they talked, Tweek grabbed for his thermos, which was resting on one of the armory tables, and struggled to open the lid. His hands were shaking and he wished that Craig was there, before chiding himself for thinking like that. He's off fighting the Elves! He's doing something way more important than anything I could need him for.
"I've been trying to get the Grand Wizard King to put you in charge of the armory but he won't listen to me!" Kenny exclaimed, sighing in a very princess-like way. "It's ridiculous how stubborn he can get sometimes." With a cry, Tweek dropped his thermos and just stood there above it, watching coffee dribbled out the slightly loosened lid with a certain level of defeat. Sighing, Tweek quickly dropped to the ground so he could grab his coffee.
"That would be sweet, but the Grand Wizard has the final say," Clyde said, sounding slightly disappointed, but heartened at the same time. Taking several long gulps of coffee, Tweek almost dropped his thermos again when he heard the sounds of screaming and fighting swell up. "Looks like they made it," the brunette commented, before noticing Tweek on the ground. "Do you hear it Teacup!? That's the sound of Craig kicking Elven ass!"
At the mention of Craig, Tweek found a smile pulling at his lips. Hands steadying somewhat, he managed to close his thermos before stumbling to his feet. The moment he was up, Kenny looped an arm with Tweek's and pulled him away from the armory, Clyde in tow. "That's wonderful, now Tweek, you need to focus! You're going to learn archery, so you'll be more versatile."
Nodding, Tweek tried to keep up with the Princess as he attempted to block out the sounds of battle from his mind. It's okay, he's probably doing great. He's way stronger than me after all, what help would I be there? I'd just get in his way. Jesus, do I usually get in his way?! I did last night, I probably do all time! Why does he put up with me at all? "OH JESUS, IT'S –ACK- TOO MUCH PRESSURE!" Tweek screeched, yanking on his hair with the hand that wasn't still holding his thermos.
"Come on Tweek, you'll be great at archery!" Clyde insisted, confusing Tweek for a moment. He was so used to Craig, who knew what was going on in his mind, that he'd forgotten most people couldn't tell what he was freaking out about. That only succeeded in stressing him out more, but he swallowed it back. Come on, don't be such a baby!
"Y-yeah," he stammered, pulling his fingers out of his hair and simply biting his lip. As Kenny brought them over to the target range, to the side of which was the med tent, Tweek was pushed into position as Kenny started fussing over him, attaching his quiver and finding a place for his bow.
Wandering out of the tent, Token leaned against a small tree and looked the scene up and down. Catching sight of the rational boy, Tweek sent him a plaintive look, which Token didn't respond to. "Learning archery?" he asked, though it was fairly obvious that they were. "Did you go with the Thresher bow or the Mongorian?" he asked curiously.
"Mongorian," Clyde answered, helping to tighten the straps before handing Tweek the bow. "It fits him better than the Thresher." Nodding, Token watched curiously as Kenny took out an arrow, quickly showed Tweek how to notch it, then stepped back. Armed with the bow, which looked horribly dangerous in his small hands, Tweek aimed it at the target and let out a squawk as the arrow escaped his fingers and went flying down range.
Cringing back, Tweek twitched hard. I screwed up, I totally screwed up, why am I such a screw up all the time!? "TWEEKERS!" Jerking his head up, Tweek stared at Kenny, who was spinning in happy circles. "You're a natural at this!"
"Well done Tweek, that's pretty impressive," Token agreed, as Clyde hugged Tweek jubilantly while letting out a string of praises. Tentatively looking down range, Tweek's eyes widened when he found that his arrow had embedded itself in the center of the target. "Well Princess, it looks like you've discovered a natural-born archer."
"Of course I have, I knew he'd be great at it," Kenny preened, twirling a lock of hair around his finger and holding his head up high. How did I do that?! Panicking, Tweek shook his head and backed up.
"NO! I-It was an accident!" he screeched, shaking hard. Not letting him get away, Kenny took out another arrow and handed it to Tweek. "I-I don't like archery!" Tweek tried to insist, terrified that once he screwed up this time, they'd all be horribly disappointed in him. "I'd rather just stick with my –ghn- club!"
"Come on Tweek, don't be so nervous," Kenny chided, guiding his hand into notching the second arrow. "Just do what you did before, it's not that hard."
Shivering, Tweek tried to see down the sights, but it was impossible to aim when he was so jittery. Craig would believe in me, Craig would say I could do it! But his hands wouldn't cooperate and his heart wouldn't stop racing. Frustrated, Tweek just let out a loud yell, yanked back the bowstring and fired it.
The second arrow landed right next to the first. Staring at the target in hopeless resignation, Tweek hung his head and allowed everyone to praise him.
Maybe you're just better at this than you thought. Head whipping up, Tweek was shocked to find a familiar, wavering image of Craig standing before him. He had a black eye, a split lip, and several over nicks and scrapes, but it was the same image of Craig that had haunted Tweek before he and the boy had become friends. At the sound of that voice, however in his head it was, Tweek felt himself calm down.
But I'm not as good as Craig, he insisted, hardly caring that he was talking to his subconscious. As Kenny and Token started talking about something and Clyde went to retrieve Tweek's arrows, the image of Craig shrugged and walked over to him.
Even though it wasn't real, Tweek could almost feel the hand in his hair. You don't have to be, the image said, that deep, familiar tone so soothing. I'm proud of you.
"THEY'RE BACK!" Suddenly, the image of Craig vanished as there was a swell of pandemonium around them. Looking over towards the break in the fence, Tweek felt his heart stop as he realized what he was seeing. It was the remanence of the soldiers who'd gone to fight, but they were covered in blood and injuries. Some of them were even being carried by others it was so bad. Oh god, they lost…
"Token, get the medical tent ready," Kenny ordered, his eyes wide and worried. Racing over to the group, the Princess, pushed warriors out of the way until he'd found what he was looking for. Butters was injured badly, but at least he was still walking. Him and fifth grader were supporting someone between them. Unsure what he was supposed to do, Tweek just trembled and stayed where he was. Where's Craig? I don't see him!
"Butters, what happened?" Kenny was asking, his hands fluttering over the boy but not touching him, no doubt for fear of hurting his injuries. Butters arm had a horrible gash in it as did his forehead, which had to have hurt. "Did you get the stick?"
"N-no, they were waitin' for us, M'lady," Butters said, his voice scratchy and heavy. "We made it pretty far, but they were too strong!" As they got closer, Tweek's stomach dropped and his whole body started to shake because he knew who that was, the person being supported between Butters and the fifth grader. "Craig almost made it, but th'other fellas got 'im in the end!"
Craig's entire front was covered in blood. The gash that was ripped in his tunic showed a dark, bloody wound that crossed his torso. Other gashes on his arms and legs were just salt in the wound. Is he even alive?! OH GOD, THEY KILLED HIM! But then Craig raised his head. For a moment, Tweek felt relief, but that relief was quickly turned into horror as he saw the boy's face.
His mouth was bloody, probably because of internal bleeding, but that wasn't what Tweek focused on. No, all he was able to see was Craig's bloody and damaged eye. Instantly he wanted to throw off his bow because he was certain an archer's shot was what created that. He wanted to close his eyes and scrub the image of Craig's missing eye out of his head forever, but he couldn't stop staring.
Catching Tweek's eyes, Craig's gaze focused and he gave the boy an entirely calm look, as though he wasn't dying. Then the crowd of injured soldiers passed him, shoving him aside. As Tweek watched, Craig's good eye slid closed and didn't open again.
"Okay, Okay, lay them out carefully," Token was ordering, though his voice sounded far away. "I want them properly spaced and set up. Clyde, go tell the Grand Wizard what's going on but don't bring him, I don't need this place any more crowded than it already is. Actually, get Scott Malkinson first, I need his medical training here. He's technically got more than me." Tweek heard all of that but he didn't understand, all he could see was Craig being laid out on a cot and not moving.
"Tweek, be a dear and get the medical supplies, the should be in the smaller building off from the left side of the keep." At the sound of Kenny's voice, Tweek leaped into action. His limbs kept shaking but all he could think was that he needed to do something or Craig might not survive. Taking off, he dashed in the direction Kenny had told him too, his legs getting tangled as he did so.
They lost. Craig lost! B-but it's Craig, how could he have lost!? Tweek shook his head, terror clouding his brain. No, he should have been there with him, he should have been there protecting Craig. That way it would have been him with the injuries and not Craig who was just a Thief and not a Warrior and didn't deserve this! Why did this have to happen? Why would Cartman send them out on a battle that they were going to lose!? Shouldn't he have known?
Bursting in through the door of the smaller part of the castle, Tweek looked around the dimly lit space and finally found a bag labeled medical supplies. Stumbling on the flagstone, Tweek grabbed the bag and tripped his way out of the castle. Oh, Jesus, he's going to die! WE ONLY JUST STARTED PLAYING, WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!?
Nearly falling into the medical tent, Tweek held out the bag to Scott before blearily looking around for Craig. Token was hovered over him, muttering under his breath some sort of spell. His hands danced with holy light as he conjured up the magic and held it over Craig. Collapsing to his knees beside Craig, Tweek grabbed the boy's hand tightly in his own tiny palms, feeling sick as he noticed the gash that ran over his knuckles.
Suddenly, the glowing light enveloped Craig's chest and before Tweek's eyes, the wound across his torso stitched itself closed. As if in reaction to the healing spell, Craig's hand twitched and it closed around on of Tweek's hands, enveloping it. Putting his head down, Tweek let out a breath of relief as the bloody socket that had been Craig's eye began to heal as well, flesh reconstructing itself before his very eyes.
Craig didn't wake up, but Tweek didn't care, he was just so thankful that the boy wasn't dying.
"He'll wake up soon," Token reassured Tweek, taking a moment to fix him with a calming look. "I need to heal other people, Scott will be over to finish the job in a moment." Nodding, Tweek watched as the black boy moved on to the next bloody unconscious warrior. Tweek just swallowed back any number of whimpers and squeezed Craig's hand to keep himself calm.
From beside Craig's cot, Butters was still talking to Kenny, even though he was injured. "A-and when I got up there, I saw this big ol' sixth grader fightin' Craig. He was in bad shape, b-but Craig just kept goin' like it was nothin'!"
Running his hand absently through Butters' hair, Kenny said, "I'm surprised he was still standing."
Eyes widening, Butters said, "I healed him a bit, b-but then I was taken out. But you should have seen Craig! He got a huge hit that took most of 'is health, and 'e still put the sixth-grader on the ground!" Looking to Tweek, he insisted, "I wish y'could've seen it Tweek. You'd've been so proud'a him. It was a shame th'High Elf was waitin' for him with Stan. He'd'a definitely gotten the Stick if they hadn't been."
Wiping some of the blood away that was dripping from the gash on Butters' forehead, Kenny mused, "It was a good idea to make him the leader." Tweek thought, in so much as he could when most of his mental power was being spent on Craig's condition, that Kenny looked worried about Butters, but was doing a better job of hiding it than Tweek was hiding his worry for Craig.
"Yeah! But I think he'd've done better if he'd had Tweek with 'im," Butters said, nodding sagely. "Cause Craig doesn't have much damage, but he's awful good at bein' fast and sneaky!" Looking at him, Tweek trembled and twitched. As if he could tell when he was nervous even while unconscious, Craig's hand tightened around Tweek's.
"Well, that's most likely true," Kenny agreed, his eyes distant as he studied Craig's face. Whatever else he might have said was stopped when Token knelt beside Butters to heal him, drawing their attention towards him instead of Tweek. Glad that the conversation was over, Tweek focused his attention on Craig.
Scott Malkinson came over a moment later and brushed Tweek away. "I need to heal and bandage him!" the boy insisted, his tone firm. "You can talk to him in a moment." Stumbling away from Craig dejectedly, Tweek stumbled away and went for his forgotten thermos, which had been left in the dirt by the archery range. Grabbing the thing with twitching fingers, Tweek played the story Butters had told over and over in his mind.
Even though Craig had lost, Tweek couldn't help but feel his chest swell. He'd been every bit as awesome as Tweek had known he would be. Noticing that Scott was moving on, Tweek hurried back over to Craig's side and dropped his unopened coffee in his haste to grab Craig's hand. Very slowly, Craig's eyes opened. He had bandages over his hand and his arms, but his eye was now only bruised and his mouth didn't look so bloody.
Impossibly blue eyes fixing on Tweek, Craig let out a breath and muttered, "We lost." He sounded so dejected, Tweek's heart ached for him. Twitching hard at that, Tweek was surprised when Craig yanked him closer using the hand that the blond was holding his with. Suddenly finding himself awkwardly collapsed over Craig's chest, Tweek felt his heart slow down when the Noirette's free hand patted his hair. "I'm sorry," Craig added, his voice sounding rumbly from Tweek's position.
"No! Y-you didn't lose!" Tweek insisted, struggling to straighten up so he could give Craig an intense look. "I mean –ngh- you didn't get the S-stick, but you were so bad-ass before you got knocked out!" Craig blinked in surprise at that, and Tweek could feel his heart beating in his throat at the sight. He wanted Craig to understand that everything was okay, but he couldn't think of how to do so.
"Stan beat me," Craig insisted, furrowing his brows slightly. "Even after everything, he just took me down with one hit." Tweek wished that he'd stop sounding so self-deprecating. You face monsters every night that are ten times more scary than Stan or a sixth-grader! Why can't you just understand that you did fine! Frustrated, Tweek just said the first thing that he could think of, the one thing that never failed to make him feel better when he heard it.
"It's okay, I'm proud of you."
Instantly, Craig's face smoothed out and though it might have been Tweek's imagination, he was nearly sure that the boy smiled slightly. "We'll beat them next time," he said, sounding absolutely certain through his monotone. "You'll see."
Smiling, Tweek nodded and said, "Yeah, of course we will." Because no matter what anyone else said, no matter what Craig thought, the Noirette was indestructible.
