To Drakke's great irritance, Saive was hanging back on their stroll toward the campus, kicking rocks and whistling to himself, like he hadn't a fucking care in the world. Roenan could see him barely hanging on to the last thread of patience he had.

"He's going to run us late so I get punished, since I'm the escort." Drakke whispered, annoyance seeping through his voice. He bent his head up toward the sun and closed his eyes.

It was incredibly cold, but Roenan wasn't complaining. It was the first time he'd had fresh air in so long, it felt too good to be true. He hadn't known what to expect since he lost track of time in the hospital. The sun was out but the air was crisp; it felt foreign. Their breath trailed past them as they walked. It was winter in Vernajjan, and snow covered the ground. It looked like it had probably been a few days since the last snow, though. It was compact where it lay, and the paths had been cleared. Twigs and dirt mixed with the white snow.

Drakke had lent Roenan his nice navy-colored University coat that he had hung on a rack near the main entrance to the medical building. It had eight tan buttons that ran down the front like a pea-coat and its lenghth stretched all the way down to his mid-thigh. The emblom was adorned on the left breast, as it seemed to be with every piece of clothing at the encampment, and the hood was covered in a mixed-brown fur.

When Drakke first offered the coat to Roenan, Roenan had asked that they offer it to Saive first. Saive turned it down because he didn't want to "be caught dead endorsing that ridiculous emblom". Drakke had muttered under his breath before he shoved the coat into Roenan's arms.

But now that they were finally outdoors and on their stroll, Roenan felt a lot better. He hadn't felt the sun on his skin or had fresh air in far too long. He leaned back and let the sun soak its warmth into his face.

"Do you want me to try to talk to him?" Roenan asked Drakke, his face still turned toward the sun. He opened his eyes.

"I'd prefer if you didn't, actually..." Drakke leaned toward Roenan and dropped his voice low. "I know you want to have his back and everything, but promise me you won't get too caught up trying to do that. He's not worth the punishment you could endure for his backlash and overall childish behavior."

Roenan snorted but didn't promise. "Everyone deals with these situations in their own ways, Drakke."

They walked quietly for a few moments and he felt Drakke's hand brush against his. The corners of his mouth pulled because he could tell it wasn't accidental.

"Hey, give it to me straight. How long am I going to be in bootcamp for?" Roenan asked quietly.

Drakke side-glanced at him. He breathed in deeply. "I'm going to pretend you drew a higher card and I'll give you a truly honest answer." He paused. "I don't know."

Roenan's stomach sank and nodded somberly. He had a feeling that Drakke was just saying the boot camps would be a couple months, when it would much likely be longer. There's no way he could learn enough of the Vernajjian language to attend a university in such a short amount of time.

"It sort of all depends on how you do in the boot camps. Some people have to stay longer until they pass. Others continue to the university on time."

Roenan was quiet as he thought. Finally he asked, "What's the shortest time it could take?"

Drakke looked at him and hummed in thought. "I am also being honest when I say it can be done in six months minimum. That includes the psych, physical, and linguistic training."

Roenan nodded. "That's how long I'll be." He said confidently.

Drakke's crooked smile played across his face, his dimple forming. "Oh yeah? That a promise, Roe?" He asked, playfully.

"It's a promise." Roenan said, returning the smile.

Saive cleared his throat behind them. "'Hate to interrupt the cute banter, but I really need to sit." He said.

Roenan felt Drakke snap next to him. His body became tense and he twisted to try to round on Saive, but Roenan caught his upper arm.

"Are you feeling okay?" Roenan asked, squeezing his hand harder and pulling on Drakke's arm when he tried to move forward toward Saive again.

"No. I'm not." Saive said. He was looking paler than he had when he woke up this morning. He crouched down, balancing on his toes, and propping himself on the tips of his right fingers, covering his face with his left hand. "How much farther?" He asked, voice low and muffled.

"Three mintues." Drakke attempted to answer patiently, even though it was through clenched teeth.

"Fuck..." Saive breathed. "Just carve my headstone. Tomorrow's a good end date." Roenan saw Saive's fake smile drop instantly from underneath his glove after he spoke. He was still covering his eyes. "Wait. You guys don't do the headstone thing here...mass graves. That's the Vernajjian style, right? Is that cultural, or-?" Saive looked up into Drakke's eyes. Drakke didn't move but Roenan caught a glint of something dangerous in his eyes for a fleeting second.

"Anyway..." Saive dismissed, getting up.

Roenan could still feel the tense stature of Drakke next to him.

"You'll be fine." Drakke said bluntly. "You already know Vernajjian, so that portion of boot camp shouldn't even be difficult for you."

"You really know how to charm, don't you?" Saive said in a flat tone.

Before Roenan could comprehend what was happening, Drakke was tackling Saive to the damp, dirt trail. They were skidding away with their boots and their limbs leaving trails in the mud. Saive was yelling desperately and incoherently as Drakke swiftly popped up on top of him and pulled his fist back. Roenan moved without thinking and dove into Drakke, tackling him to the side. Their bodies hit the ground with a thud and they both grunted. Drakke used the same move he had on Saive and popped up on Roenan and pull his fist back. His eyes were crazed dark with adrenaline, but they changed when he realized it was Roenan he was about to hit. He turned his head back into the direction of Saive. He quickly started to get up to move toward him, but Roenan grabbed at his collar to stop him from going. Drakke shoved down hard on Roenan but Roenan gripped his collar harder and jerked him violently downward. He fell next to Roenan with heavy impact before he rushed to get up again, his eyes trained on Saive.

Roenan fumbled desperately at the front of Drakke's suit to hold him still. "Drakke!" He yelled, his voice sounding muffled, as he grabbed again at Drakke's collar and pulled him down hard toward him. “Get it together!" He continued harshly, through gritted teeth. Roenan was looking up at Drakke who was staring down at him, breathing hard. His pupils were still thickly dialated in rage.

"Let go!" He demanded darkly. He shoved off of Roenan and turned away from them both, having broken out of Roenan's grip, before he could even loosen it. "And get him up!" He commanded, throwing his hand out to the left in Saive's general direction, as Roenan stared after him.

"Fix him!" Drakke growled impatiently, without turning. Roenan glanced toward Saive and gasped. He was on his back, thick brown mud smeared across the entire side of his sweats. His blank silver eyes were staring toward the blue sky which was patched with fluffy grey and white clouds. It gave his eyes an eerie light blue look.

"Look what you've done!" Roenan shot in annoyance.

"I didn't know that would happen!" He growled as he turned to look at Roenan, with a hand reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a cigarette box. "Just wake him up and make him come to! He's said you're the only one who has been able to do it, anyway!" Drakke shouted as he paced away again and bought his shaking hands up to place the cigarette between his lips and light it.

"Since when did you ever bother to talk to him." Roenan muttered in annoyance as he rolled onto his hands and knees, crawling the small distance between himself and Saive to look down into his face. He knew that if he touched him now, Saive would probably snap out of it in an attack mode, and he was pretty sure Drakke would beat the life out of Saive if that happened.

"Saive?" He whispered quietly, too low for Drakke to hear. "Hey, I need you to come back here. We're in this thing together, remember? Don't leave me alone with all these Vernajjians... especially not before this boot camp shit." He said just as quietly.

Saive's state didn't seem to change at all. Off somewhere to the right, Drakke sighed impatiently and cursed.

Roenan swallowed hard, thinking about what he should do.

He brought up his hand and hesitantly let it hover near Saive's face. He slowly reached down and gently pushed away some of Saive's over-growing wavey black hair that was sticking to his face with mud, "Saive." He whispered.

Saive's hand shot up and gripped Roenan's wrist hard. Roenan watched as reality seeped back into his cloudy eyes. It was as if whatever spark there is in a human that brings the personality and the life to the body had flicked to on, until it was a burning flame.

He yanked Roenan's hand out of his hair and sat up with a gasp of pain.

"Easy." Roenan warned. Not even moving in an attempt to help him out.

"We're late." Drakke's voice broke. There was a moment of silence between all three of them. Drakke suddently turned around sharply to storm over toward Saive. "You know what you've fucking done! I hope you're satisfied!" Drakke yelled down at him. Roenan was already up and in front of him, gripping his arms and pushing him back as he glared over Roenan's shoulder at Saive. He was still shaking.

"Drakke, you have to stop this!" Roenan demanded desperately.

"Fuck!" Drakke yelled in Vernajjian as he shoved off Roenan and turned away from them again. His yell echoed through the quiet day, even stirring a couple of birds to fly away from a nearby tree. "Get him up." He demanded darkly, voice shaking.

Roenan had no idea what was going on, but he knew that arguing with Drakke right now would be a sure way to the coffin. Roenan turned to Saive.

"Saive, please. We've got to go."

Saive stared at Roenan with a stoic expression.

"Please, I'm begging you. Let's go and get this over with."

Saive took a deep breath and pulled himself up. He rolled his neck to the side and started walking without bothering to brush himself off at all.

Roenan felt like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He didn't expect Saive to give in so easily. From behind him he could hear the crunch of the ground as Drakke started to walk away so that they'd follow him. Saive walked up right next to Roenan and stopped, looking straight ahead after Drakke.

"Thanks." Roenan whispered, brushing his muddy hands down his already helplessly ruined clothes.

"Do I actually have to cut off your hands to get you to stop touching me?" He asked, with a glance at Roenan. Roenan caught a small look of amusement on Saive's face before he broke eye contact and continued forward.

Roenan felt the corners of his mouth twitch and he turned around to follow.

He stayed back to walk with Saive and give Drakke space as he chain-smoked cigarette after cigarette until they reached the front steps of the elaborate university.