Mastace walked through the halls with a different air about him. He was a bit deeper in thought than was considered normal for him, and his teachers noticed. In fact, it was so obvious that one of them pulled him aside between classes to have a short word with him.
"Is everything alright?" the teacher asked in her usual, tender tone.
Mastace toyed with whatever was within reaching distance of his fingers as he held his school books. He shifted his gaze downward and a light blush filled his cheeks. "Yeah, everything's fine. I've just been thinking is all."
"What about?"
Mastace weighed his options here, thinking carefully. He could tell this teacher what was on his mind, or he could just say that it wasn't important. If he told, there were inherent risks that he would have to take, of course, but if he simply stayed silent about it, nothing would happen and he would more than likely feel bad later for not taking an opportunity that he would never know what might have come to fruition. After a moment, he knew exactly what to do.
"I'm sorry, but it's not my story to tell. Plus, it's something quite personal and I don't feel comfortable giving that kind of information out to people."
The teacher nodded. "I understand. If you need anything, you can come to me or any of the other teachers and staff."
Mastace thanked the teacher quickly and headed towards his next class feeling a little lighter.
Briggan was walking to his last class of the day when he heard it. The sound of someone being pushed into a locker. It was faint, but definitely there. He normally would have gone the other way to avoid the situation, but he was almost out of time to get there and he did not want to be tardy today. So, he decided he was going to walk right by whatever was happening, probably a tiff over some lunch money or some shit like that, and ignore it.
When he turned the corner, however, he found that ignoring the situation was out of the question. Don, a polar bear who was massive even by ursuline standards, had Mastace by the throat and pushed him into the set of lockers behind him. Don said something Briggan couldn't quite discern due to his shock, but he did pick up one word: "faggot". That was it. Briggan needed to act, and fast.
Before he had any time to think, Briggan was already rushing the bear at full speed. He wasn't impressively fast, but he was just quick enough to catch Don by surprise and land a flying kick aimed at the face. Don reeled back, dazed by the surprise attack, and shook his head to clear it. He looked around to see who had the audacity to challenge him and found Briggan recovering to his feet with a quick roll.
"This isn't any of your business, kid." Don grunted as he tightened his grip on Mastace. "Get lost."
"No." Briggan said. "This is my business and I won't stop until you release my boyfriend and leave us alone."
"So... You're the unlucky bastard that has to be purged alongside this... filth." The last word left Don's maw with a harsh grin creeping on his face. "It's a shame nothing's gonna be left of ya when I'm finished here."
"We'll see." Briggan said, completely unwavering. He cast a glance toward Mastace and mouthed a few words: "If you go, then so will I."
Mastace sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eye. He went to shake Briggan awake, but was met by an absence on the wolf's part. He looked around, a bit confused, and got up to search for his new mate.
Mastace looked about the house, but could not find him. Worry set in and panic took over fairly quickly. Where was he and why had he just disappeared like this? Mastace sat down and gathered his thought for a moment. He needed to calm down. Panicking wasn't going to get him anywhere, and it certainly wasn't going to find Briggan any sooner. In fact, it could drag out their time apart and that would most probably worry them both unnecessarily. Mastace needed a plan. Just as Mastace was about to leave to look for Briggan, the front door to the house opened up and Briggan peeked through the new opening.
"Hey, you're up." Briggan said. "Good. I was beginning to think you weren't gonna wake up, and I was gonna have to call an ambulance or something."
"You'd call an ambulance for that, but not those fainting episodes?" Mastace asked.
"I'm just teasing you, darling. I let you sleep in because you looked like you needed it, especially with all that had been going on the last few days being taken into account."
"Oh." Mastace said.
"By the way, your father just dropped by."
"What did he want?"
"He came by to drop your things off. He also wanted to see you before he departs for a while. He's not certain he's gonna stay gone, but he wants to say goodbye just in case."
"So he's running from his problems again. Got it."
"Come on, he's your father." Briggan hugged the lion from behind. "He's the only family you have left here, and he's leaving. Don't you want to at least see him off?"
"He was never on in the first place. And he's not my only family. I have you."
Briggan couldn't find anything else to say, so he conceded defeat. "Alright. I'm sure he'll understand. Let's go get your stuff, he's not home and you have a key to the house."
Mastace looked on as Briggan faced down the behemoth of a junior. The lion feared for the life of his boyfriend, as any significant other reasonably would in this situation, but he could do nothing else as he recovered after being released from Don's grip. Despite being free, he wasn't out of the woods yet. They both still had to get away, and Mastace was in no shape to move at the moment.
"You're gonna regret that feeble attempt at a rescue, and I'm gonna beat me a couple of fags while I'm at it." Don chuckled.
"When this is over, the only one with regrets is gonna be you. You hurt my family, and now I'm going to put you down like a dog."
"Heh, I can't tell if you're really fearless, or just stupid. I think I'll just go with both. I can't wait to string your guts all over these halls. When I'm done with you, your boyfriend's next."
Briggan's face contorted with rage. "You will not touch him. Not as long as I still have breath in my lungs and a conscious soul in my body."
Mastace brought in the last of the boxes and wiped his brow once he set them down in the living room. They'd spent the last hour and a half packing, loading and unloading Mastace's belongings. He didn't take everything, but he got all that he wanted to keep. Now, they had to unpack and put up all of it. There wasn't a large amount of stuff, but it was enough to keep them busy for another hour or so.
"Hey, Mastace. What do you want done with this?" Briggan held up a guitar case.
"Would you give that here? I didn't realize you put that among the things to keep. I honestly didn't even think about it." Briggan gave it over, and Mastace opened the case. In it was a glossy black acoustic guitar.
"Wow, that's a good-looking instrument. You still play, or is it not yours?"
"I play. Haven't in a little bit, but I think I can string something together."
"Would you?"
"Sure thing, hon." Mastace sat on the couch and made sure the guitar was tuned, making the necessary adjustments. He then took a deep emerald plectrum from the holder and set up to play. He played the opening chords and riff, then followed up with lyrics. His voice came out to be very smooth and quite exquisite in Briggan's opinion. And the words of the song pulled at his heartstrings.
"White walls surround us
No light will touch your face again
Rain taps the window
As we sleep among the dead
Days go on forever,
But I have not left your side
We can chase the dark together,
If you go then so will I
There is nothing left of you,
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels
And say the last goodbye
Cold light above us,
Hope fills the heart and fades away
Skin white as winter,
As the sky returns to gray
Days go on forever,
But I have not left your side
We can chase the dark together,
If you go then so will I
There is nothing left of you,
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels,
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you,
But I can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels,
And say the last goodbye
You're dead alive
You're dead alive
You're dead alive
You're dead alive
There is nothing left of you,
I can see it in your eyes
Sing the anthem of the angels,
And say the last goodbye
I keep holding onto you,
But I can't bring you back to life
Sing the anthem of the angels,
And say the last goodbye
Sing the anthem of the angels,
And say the last goodbye
Sing the anthem of the angels"
Briggan lost all control of himself. He didn't want to control himself. Once he stared, he wouldn't stop. Don landed about two good hits, one of which more than likely broke a rib, but this didn't stop Briggan. He quickly busted through the polar bear's barrage and laid out all his rage, all of his pain. He channelled every bit of himself into this with only one thought in his mind: Protect. This was the single word that meant anything to Briggan right now, and he had a hellbound determination to fulfill this self-assigned mission.
Don was shocked at how much the scrawny little wolf put up a fight. After one good hook to side, and most furs would be entirely unconscious. Not him. He took both a left and a right hook. At full force. Granted, Briggan did collapse for a second; however, he stood right back up and didn't back down. Now, with having a few possible shattered ribs or more, Briggan came at him with surprising force. Don had never seen such a display of determination before, much less from someone who'd been almost entirely invisible since the third grade. It was going to be fun, crushing him and his disgusting abomination of a mate, both.
Briggan saw the light in Don's golden eyes, and he knew he had to end this fight here and now. For good. He let up his onslaught of attack just enough to let Don have enough leeway to break free and charge at him. Using his relatively diminutive size, Briggan spun around and slammed a forearm into each leg from behind, right where the knee would be. Don collapsed to the ground real quick and Briggan then returned to bombarding Don with a flurry of punches, this time aimed for the sides to the head. It wasn't long before Briggan found a sweet spot and knocked Don right out, but this still didn't stop Briggan. He continued, now completely blinded by his fury.
"Briggan, stop!" Mastace grabbed Briggan by one of his arms and tried to pull him away. At first, Briggan totally disregarded Mastace, then it all seemed to finally sink in that the threat was gone and he was just beating their oppressor out of spite and childish hate rather than justifiable self-defense. So, Briggan allowed himself to be pulled off of Don by Mastace, who now clung to Briggan and cried. Briggan simply held his boyfriend in his arms and looked down at the unconscious polar bear without the faintest hint of remorse.
With the help of Mastace, Briggan managed to get to the nurse's office without much trouble. There was a slight discomfort in his chest, but that was it.
"Well, everything seems to be fine but I want you to stay here for observation. You might still be in fight-or-flight mode and your body still hasn't come down from its adrenaline-high yet."
"Yes ma'am." Briggan said.
"Excuse me, may I stay with him? I'm the only family he has and I want to be there if something were to happen."
"I'm afraid I cannot let you stay here, sweetie." the nurse said, having a hint of sympathy in her voice. "But if anything happens, I'll get you down here to leave with the ambulance, if we do need to call one."
"Thank you," Mastace said. He then turned to Briggan and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, just as he'd done to Mastace just this morning and an "I love you" just before leaving to get to his class.
The school day was just about to end when the office called Mastace up, telling him to leave his stuff. Immediately, a sinking, sickened sensation filled his stomach, nauseating him greatly. He went up to the office, and was horrified to see a paramedic standing there with a medical kit in one hand, clipboard in the other.
"Mastavian Marcellus?" the paramedic asked.
Mastace nodded, swallowing his inner revulsion at the use of his formal, given name.
"Briggan Harou was just hospitalized for collapsing in the nurse's office after having just been released to go back to his classes. He refuses to be taken if you are not present. We really aren't supposed to be doing this, but he refuses to calm down and we cannot sedate him with anything we have in the ambulance. We need you to come with us, please."
Mastace didn't even wait to see if he'd been signed out or excused from school. He didn't answer the paramedic. He ran. He ran outside to see the ambulance with its hind doors still open and he dashed in the back. The paramedics there resisted Mastace, but they relented once Briggan curtly told them to stop.
Goodness, he can barely speak. He has to be in a lot of pain. Mastace took the paw of his mate into his own to bring a little more comfort to them both. Be strong, my love.
Briggan had never before felt this much pain in his life, it felt like agony incarnate. His body had never known such intense suffering, and it washed over him in waves angrily crashing down on the shore. His vision was blurring, and he felt very weak. Wait. Am I... dying? Briggan resolved that if he was, he was going to fight it all the way. If this was his end, he was going to fight will all the strength he had left in his crippled body so that he may see his beloved once again. Briggan looked over at Mastace, even though he could no longer see him. Stay strong.
Finally, the darkness of unconsciousness took him completely over. The last words that filled his head before losing all sense of himself were: Sing the Anthem of the Angels...