This one goes out to all people who are sitting at home with a broken heart and don't feel like reading happy fics.

His breathing was erratic, chest expanding and moving back into the previous position as his legs got tired and started to burn. They wouldn't be able to carry the weight for much longer anymore. His throat hurt from the cold, piercing air he breathed and his head felt heavier, but empty at the same time. Thin rays of the early morning's sun streamed through the trees, being reflected by his golden hairpin. With every step, every jump he made and every breath he took, the feeling got worse. It felt like shards of glass were being shoved inside of his flesh, penetrating his pale skin and covering it in thick, dark red blood. Time seemed to progress even slower as he could see the trees flash past him out of the corners of his blue eyes. With every passing step, his body seemed to abandon him completely. His muscles gave in to the freezing cold, almost causing him to trip with every other meter.

Small tears started to form in his bloodshot eyes as the cold snow stuck to his skin. It had been a long time since he'd felt so alone. The footsteps behind him seemed to have given up a long time ago. Now all he could hear was his own breathing, the howling of the icy cold wind and the fresh snow crunching under his feet. Time seemed just as frozen as the lake he could see from here, up in the mountain. What had not even been ten minutes now felt like two long, agonizing hours.

Down below, he could see a red figure appearing and then disappearing between the trees. Time was running out.

Gripping a dagger from its leather case, he approached a relatively large drop. With a swift motion, he turned around and gripped the edge with his almost numb hands. The dagger was implanted in the rocks and his hands let go of the edge. His blue figure slid down the drop at a rapid pace, making said figure lose grip halfway. The rock disappeared from under his body as he plunged down to the ground, spraining his right ankle in the process.

A sharp inhale, a groan, a curse and the realization that he would have to ignore it for now.

There's no time….

Thoughts rushed through his head like water through a broken dam. He cursed himself for not being able to even keep himself safe.

A thin ridge formed the only thing between him and his painful drop to death. But even though it might cost him his life, he saw no reason not to hurry.

The sound of falling water filled his ears and soon after, the sight of a waterfall came into vision. His only way to the other side of the mountain was a thin log of a fir-tree. Trying to be as quick and careful as possible, he stepped onto the wet surface. The green moss, slick because of the water, made it hard for him to keep his balance. When he'd reached the halfway point, faint sounds of cracking wood, scratching the rock of the mountain, could be heard over the sounds of water crashing down. As he lost his focus, his feet lost their grip. His head hit the cold wooden surface as his arms wrapped around it tightly. As he took a deep breath, he slid himself forward as fast as he could, while the wet tree that was covered in mold started to collapse under his weight.

His hands reached the rock surface in a matter of seconds. They pulled his body onto the muddy path, aching because of the splinters that had been pushed into his usually soft skin. For a couple of seconds, he just lay there, panting and trying to swallow away the pain. Thin stripes of frozen tears stained his red cheeks. Everything hurt. He wanted to stop now, even though he knew he couldn't. His ankle seemed to be ready to explode now as it was throbbing painfully. Blood poured out from the places where parts of his now broken nails used to be, painting his fingertips a delicate red. Small clouds were formed by his breathing. He watched them dissolve into thin air.

Small drops of dark red, thick blood painted the snow, as a wound on his head had started to bleed. It eventually dripped down from his forehead to land on his cold cheeks and form a stain there.

His arms pushed him off of the ground. The cold air that he had been protected from by a dark blue cloak while laying down reached his skin once again as the blue fabric started to flutter behind him again, since it was forced to do so by the cruel, hostile wind. Clutching his own arms and holding them close to his stomach, he pressed on.

The wind seemed to rush right through him, like he was nothing more than a fragile piece of cloth, left to freeze to death.

In the distance, the red figure appeared again. He was like a droplet of blood in a glass of milk: the color stood out from the rest, but due to his small form it was almost impossible to see him.

Wait for me…

Squinting his eyes to stop the snow from landing right in his eyes, the blue cloaked man started to walk into the directing of the red figure he could still see in the distance. His feet worked hard to find their balance in the snow, even though all his limbs refused. His head screamed for him to stop, his heart told him to press on and his soul gave him his strength.

Stepping out of the trees where the red figure had emerged from, three figures made themselves known. They were dressed in black and grey and rode on some kind of bear-like creatures. How was that possible? Bear were hostile, no match for human beings. How would they have been able to get the bears so far as to let them ride the majestic animals. Even though he could hardly find more than a second to let himself wonder about it, it stuck with him as he ran through the snow.

One of the bear-like creatures let out a loud growl. A bit of snow came crashing down the edge of a cliff, dropping down at least 300 meters. The black and grey figures quickly disappeared in the same way the red figure had gone.

No…

After what seemed like forever, his body gave in to the cold. Groaning in pain, he gripped a handfull of snow and watched how it barely melted in his now purple hands. The feeling had disappeared a long time ago. His ankle throbbed even harder than before, screaming for him to stop moving. The frozen tear-stains hurt his cheeks every time the wind picked up again.

Trying to press on, he rolled off of the edge, dropping to a ledge below. His breath hitched when he fell to the frozen ground below him. A sharp inhale and loud gasp left his mouth as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

For a long time, he lay there. Even though he tried to get up many times, his body refused to.

This is it, he thought. Never thought I'd freeze to death… Not like this…

He'd finally come to peace with his fate… And let go…

~0o0~

Everything was white… A pure white. A hand, which he assumed to be his own, reached out to grab at it. It felt cold and disappeared when he touched it.

Is this… Valhalla…?

A sharp pain travelled through his chest and spread through his body as he grabbed at the white textureless stuff again. Impossible. In Valhalla, all pain would leave his body and warmth would engulf him. Then why did his ankle throb, why did his fingers thing and why did he feel frozen?

Grabbing at the painful spot in his chest, he got to his feet and started to move again slowly.

He reached a forest, passed a waterfall, found himself at the edge of a cliff and finally, he reached the spot where he'd seen the bear-like creatures.

In the footprints of the big animals, he could see droplets of blood. Suddenly, it dawned on him. The reason why his heart had led him here.

Starting to walk faster, eventually running and tripping an awful lot, he made his way around the side of the mountain where he'd seen the red figure disappear long before.

A growl came from the edge of the forest, followed by a language that was unknown for him. There he was, the red figure. A small smile formed on his lips.

I finally found you…

But the sight he was met with afterwards, would haunt him forever. First, it seemed strange to him that the red figure didn't move. Then, a painful gasp filled the air around them, barely audible over the sound of the howling wind. The figure slowly turned around, to reveal a sword sticking out of his chest. A red circle started to form around the sword, slowly expanding across his chest.

The red figure sank to his knees and dropped to the ground, grasping at the sword, his mouth opened wide.

No!

It hadn't even occured to him that he'd shouted the word, until the black figure turned to him and cocked his head. He wore a mask that resembled one a doctor would wear when treating victims of the plague. A bird like face with little holes that revealed the most evil eyes.

Grabbing his own sword and using the last bit of strength he had left, he charged at the figure. Said figure lunged at him with a weird, kind of swirly, dagger. It only reached the blue cloak, though.

Blinded with rage, he drove the steel into the black figures heart, right through his armor. The figure took a few steps back and took off his mask to reveal a face covered with scars. Burns, clawmarks, battle scars.

Blood splattered onto the figure with the golden hairpin, as he drove his steel weapon into the man's chest over and over again. Tears streaming down his cheeks, blood seeping from his own wounds and his limps purple from the intense cold.

The figure's eyes eventually rolled backwards as he collapsed.

''Lukas,'' a soft voice broke the silence.

Panting, the blue cloaked figure turned around, his tear-stained face covered with blood. He ran to the red figure, that was lying in a pool of dark red blood.

''Mathias,'' he said in a breathy voice.

''I'm not going to make it,'' Mathias, the figure in red, announced, fighting back the tears that stung in his bloodshot eyes.

The blue cloaked figure, Lukas, shook his head. ''Don't say that… You're going to be okay…''

''Please tell… Emil… I'm s-sorry…'' Mathias swallowed and coughed, flinching in pain as he did. ''It hurts…'' he whispered, trying not to move his torso too much.

''I know,'' Lukas said, his voice cracking as the tears started to stream down his cheeks slowly. He tried to gather the strength to use his healing powers, but due to his injuries and lack of energy, he couldn't do much more than heal the smallest cuts. ''I know…''

A hand, covered in blood, reached up and cupped Lukas's cheek. ''I love you… Lukas…''

Trying to keep the tears from streaming down his face like waterfalls, Lukas replied in an angry voice. ''What are you saying?!''

A humored breath came from Mathias. ''I'm serious…'' He coughed again. ''I love you… I have always… Loved you…''

Lukas swallowed and held the other's head between his purple hands. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to the other's cracked ones. The taste of blood filled his mouth and he closed his eyes. Tears left his eyes and dropped down on the other's cheeks.

As he moved his head back, Mathias's light blue eyes were fixated on Lukas's bloody face as his hand dropped down into the snow, next to his limp body.

Lukas whimpered and finally released the tears he had been holding back all this time. ''No, no, you're going to be fine… We're going to return home and celebrate Emil's birthday…'' He took a few deep breaths and wiped away some of the tears, spreading the blood across his face in the process. ''You promised we spend his birthday together this time…''

No response.

''Mathias… Come on, this isn't funny…'' Lukas tried, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. ''Get up… We need to go home… Emil is going to wake up soon…''

Still no response.

Staring at Mathias through eyes that were filled with tears, Lukas tried to convince himself his chest was still moving up and down. Just… Really slowly… This couldn't be it… Right..?

Suddenly, anger took over his actions. He moved his leg over Mathias' limp body so that he was now straddling him. His numb hands grabbed the other's color, which was soaked with blood. ''Come on! Did you not hear me?! Wake up!'' he screamed, slapping the other's pale, lifeless face.

A growl came from behind him, footsteps getting closer. Lukas could not find a reason to care about it at all.

''Wake up!'' he screamed, hitting and punching Mathias's limp body wherever he could reach.

''You told me we'd be together forever!'' he screamed. ''You promised me, remember?!''

Light blue eyes stared up at the sky. Those lifeless eyes, once filled with so much joy and wonder.

''You promised!'' Lukas cried out, letting his body go limp. His forehead touched Mathias chest lightly as tears streamed down onto the lifeless body of his best friend.

''You promised…''

The bear-like creature stood next to them now and looked Lukas straight in the eyes when he looked up. The animal had been stabbed with one of the black figure's own weapons and was quickly bleeding out. A black substance made the hairs around the would stick together. Poison. That's why it all happened so quickly.

The massive animal dropped down next to the two bodies.

Lukas sniffed. ''He promised me…'' he whispered to the bear, looking it into his black eyes. The bear closed its eyes and let out a breath. It was dying.

Trying not to cry, Lukas closed Mathias's eyes and sank down again. ''I always thought… At least you would stay with me until the end…''

He kissed his friend's face, letting out shallow breaths.

Finally deciding to give up, he rolled off of Mathias's body and found himself lying between his friend's body and the bear, which let out a last breath and something that sounded like a whimper before his heart stopped.

So cold…

His arms reached around Mathias, cupping his cheek.

''I will… See you s-soon… In V-Valhalla…'' Lukas said and looked up at the sky.

When he did, the sun just peeked over the mountain. Seeing the snow being illuminated by the sun, Lukas felt he was ready to let go.

And so he did.

Thank you so much for reading my depressing Valentine's Day story.

I hope this fic was emotional enough and didn't come across as fake...

Have a great day