Realmlife:
Thank you very much for your nice comment :)
I'm happy to see you're enjoying this story so far and I hope I won't disappoint you with the last chapter.
Oh, well, you'll soon find out if it's going to end well ;)

Rana Kane:
Again, thank you for your review.
Yeah, that would be very tricky if Venger's going to appear again. You really can count on him to make things go from bad to worse; but to be honest, Venger won't have a show-up, sorry. But I promise he will have one in my sequel - very likely at least ;)
You're right, it's a very difficult choice...

D.B. Cooper:
Hehe, yeah, that was my intention ;)
But I'm very pleased that my story hasn't lost its 'intensity' as it seems - and I'm lost for a better word now gg
Oh, I won't tell you the end, you shall see :P
And about the question if Bobby can/can't die, well, I just say: everything is possible, isn't it? ;)
Oh, and thanks for commenting once again

And now, here is it: the final chapter.
Have fun

14.

"Well, there's only one question left: who's gonna do it..." Presto noticed, feeling very uncomfortable.

As much as Hank hated it to be the one, who always had to carry the responsibility and therefore the leadership, he desired nothing more than that in this case.
But he knew that it would be wrong if he was going to take over this task.
This wasn't his brother after all; therefore he didn't have the right to do something.

And for the first time, all eyes weren't fixed on him in such a situation.
The others knew intuitively as well that he wasn't in charge of this act.

Like forlorn, Sheila was standing next to him, still hoping that nobody seriously wanted her to do the unimaginable thing.

But yet this was inevitable - even Sheila herself knew it somehow.

Like a secret understanding that the time has come, Hank knelt down silently and hugged Bobby for the last time.
He stroked over the boy's head lovingly and brushed a blond strand back.

With tears in the eyes, the Ranger looked at him once more, lifted him into his arms and then got up with him.
He slowly walked towards the sea and stepped into the shallow water.
When the water came up to his knee, he stopped and turned around.
Diana went up to Sheila and attended her to the seashore.
Presto and Eric followed hesitating.

The three friends stopped at the shore, Sheila kept on wading until she reached Hank and Bobby.

The Thief nodded towards him and the Ranger gently dropped the Barbarian into the water.

The young boy shivered slightly when he came in contact with the water but apart from that he kept calm.

Hank held Bobby's head up to ensure that it wasn't resting in water and looked up at Sheila.
She reached for Hank's hand and held it tight for a moment.

Then Sheila knelt at Hank's side and took his place.

After that the Ranger slowly diverged from her and returned to the others at the shore to leave the two siblings in their last shared moments alone.

Sheila's whole attention was directed at her brother, who was lying quietly in front of her.

She bowed down to him, kissed him softly on his forehead and whispered crying into his ear, "Please forgive me, Bobby. I hope so much that this is really the best for you.
I know I shouldn't have been overprotective, but I promised Mom that I'll take care of you.
And now I have broken this promise.
But... you're my little brother... I'm so terribly sorry... I love you!"

Then she lowered his head and ducked her brother with a heart-wrenching shriek under water.

Her tears were mixed with the muddy water

Bobby struggled only briefly: he gasped for breath and weakly slashed around himself with his arms, but then they sank back into the water again and he let everything else happen.

His lungs were slowly filled with water and his body grew weary more and more.
The last thing he could see through the blurred surface of the water was the face of his sister, who was drowning him.

He closed his eyes exhausted and the last remaining air was pushed out of his open mouth in small air bubbles by his lungs.

Then the small body went limp under the unfamiliar rigid grasp of his sister.

When Sheila sensed this change, she loosened her grip and lifted Bobby's head up, screaming.

"BOBBY?? OH NO BOBBY!! WHAT HAVE I DONE? BOBBY WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!!" She shook her brother impetuously, still hoping that he would open up his eyes again.

The Ranger and the Acrobat parted from their meanwhile minimized group and approached Sheila, who still was rocking her brother back and forth and was shouting at him frantically.

Diana laid her arms gently around her friend and pulled her to the shore, while Hank lifted the lifeless body up and carried it behind them.

The Thief cried and partly shrieked incomprehensible things. She didn't let Diana calm her down.
She cried for her brother over and over again, but it seemed that he already couldn't hear her any more.
When reaching the shore, she dropped to the ground and kept on weeping without restraint.

The Ranger joined them now.
He laid the boy into the grass, pressed an ear upon his heart and checked for a pulse.
The Acrobat looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head after a short while.

There the others realized as well: it was over.
Bobby was dead.
They have lost their youngest member.

Hank stumbled to a nearby palm-like tree and slid down, clinging to his Bow; Diana covered her face and cried; Presto respectfully pulled his Hat off and lowered his eyes; Eric turned his back on them.
His body trembled heavily from time to time.
Uni nudged her friend, tugged at his arm and sniffed strongly into his face. She couldn't understand why he just didn't notice her.

Sheila crawled to her brother, shook him and yelled at him again, "BOBBY WAKE UP, PLEASE WAKE UP!! Oh god, what have I done?? I killed him... I killed my own brother... BOBBY!!"

But it was in vain. The boy didn't stir anymore.

Then Sheila gave herself up to her feelings and screamed, cried and felt so miserable as if a part of her has died with her brother.

The grief over their loss has paralyzed the whole group so much that they didn't even consider attempts at resuscitation.

Unaffected by the drama, which was taking place underneath them, the last of the four suns was going down, the horizon turned crimson.
But the Young Ones didn't pay any attention to the beauty of this sight.
They didn't care at all that the day was soon to end and the dark night drew near - just for its only purpose: to make way for the bright day again.

A day, which would never ever be the same as it was before.
With the young Barbarian's death, light heartedness and even hope seemed to have died as well.

After many painful experiences, they've learned that this journey across the Realms means a time of deprivations for all of them; but nobody has ever expected that one day it eventually would demand the life of a member of their small group as reward . . .

-To be continued-

Author's Note:
Ah, well, that's actually the end (of this story at least).
I hope you've enjoyed it :) - and the final wasn't too shocking ;)
I'm currently working on a sequel (starting exactly where this story ended) but I don't know when it will be finished; I'm not even sure where I want to go with the sequel...

well, I want to thank all those who have read and/or reviewed this story.
Special thanks go to Rana Kane and D.B. Cooper who continuously have accompanied me through the whole thing in many ways.
Thank you!

Take care, bye!