A/N: This has been rotting in my drafts for months because I wasn't happy with it. Still not 100% but I hope you enjoy anyway! Thanks for reading!
The sky was a tumbling darkness, unsettled and chaotic, but Halt stared at it anyway as he searched for peace. They had walked the length of the Tarbus, right to the point where it spat out to sea. They had even dared to wade into its swollen rapids, searching, desperate to find Will. In the hours since the storm, they must have walked the distance twice. Halt's body ached, and his heart throbbed. Everything felt wrong and empty. He was shivering and cold in his soaking wet clothes. Will was gone, the fact had become undeniable. The pup was gone too, and somehow that compounded the hurt.
As they had searched, the night had closed in around them. With the dark, Halt was forced to call off their search until tomorrow. No longer a rescue, but a recovery mission. The thought of that made Halt want to be sick. The image of Will diving into the flood water had burned itself behind his eyes.
At the bridge to Redmont, they were met by a man sent by the Baron. He had kind eyes. He told them how the town had survived. The flooding, whilst severe, had caused only fixable damage. And most surprisingly, by some miracle, no one had drowned.
No one but Will.
The Castle grounds were alight with frantic energy when they arrived back. People murmured. Children cried. Lanterns swung in the cool breeze. Insects were everywhere. They had set up tents everywhere for the displaced which thrummed with the coming and going of medical staff and cooks, people carrying blankets and food and other small comforts to those who no longer had a home to return to. Halt realised with a stab he had no home to return to either. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the post-rain air. It tasted earthy and rich, metallic. The next reasonable step would be to inform the Baron about Will. He let the air out slowly through his teeth. He wasn't quite sure he had the strength for that yet.
"We should get the horses taken care of." Gilan broke the silence between them, and Halt gave a grim nod. At least that gave him time to plan his words.
It still felt all too soon that they stood in the Baron's study
The Baron greeted them with warmth, but caution. Perhaps he saw it in their eyes what they'd come to say. Perhaps he'd already noticed Will's absence.
Halt opened his mouth but suddenly found himself unable to speak. Unable to say those terrible words. The boy he'd come to love as a son was dead. Swept away while he just stood there and watched. He had never hated himself quite as much as he did in that moment, staring at the carpet as it blurred.
"It's Will." Gilan said, "We lost him."
There was a pained silence in the room and Halt risked a look up. The Baron's face was a picture of grief.
"Will's dead?" he asked softly, lowering himself into his chair, hand on his heart.
"We don't know that for sure." Halt cut in. "We just saw… him get swept away."
"We looked for him." Gilan carried on, "All up and down the Tarbus, right to the ocean."
"He might still be out there," Halt said.
The Baron was silent for a long time. Halt just kept staring at the carpet.
"It sounds like you two have had a rough time of it." The Baron said at last, "How about you head down for some rest? I'll have a room set up for you. Martin, show these lads somewhere they can bathe."
Halt heard Martin step into the room, though he was unusually quiet. They followed him silently out.
"His heart has always been bigger than his head," Gilan said sombrely as they walked.
Reason told him Will was dead. Were he alive, they would have found him somewhere along the river's length. Were he alive, they'd have him safe and warm back with them now.
But he wanted to believe so desperately that Will was still out there. That somehow, despite everything, he'd survived.
Martin lead them to the bathhouse, where they washed quickly and changed into the clean clothes the Baron had left for them. Then they followed Martin to their temporary accommodation. They were large rooms, clearly meant for nobles who were staying in the castle. Large and empty, leaving plenty of space for the wind.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Halt." Gilan said sadly, trudging into his.
Tomorrow, when we look for Will.
And then Gilan was gone as well. Leaving Halt alone in that cold room, with the wind scratching at the windows and the fire going out. The silence echoed around him. For the first time, he found himself truly alone, and the feeling of loss compounded. The absence deepened. He wished Gilan had stayed.
He climbed into the bed, and the cool, clean sheets felt foreign to his skin after the day spent in mud and flood water. He felt a fresh wave of guilt. Where would Will be sleeping tonight? At the bottom of the river somewhere? He shuddered at the thought.
He lay in bed for what felt like hours, trying to convince himself to sleep when at the door there came a terrible pounding. Halt was up in a flash, and to the door even quicker. He opened it to find Gilan pale and shaking. The night seemed suddenly colder and Halt's heart turned to lead, every beat felt like it spread poison through his veins.
"What's happened?" he asked, though he knew there could be only one reason Gilan had come.
"It's Will. They… found him."