Moonbeam

A CRK Fanfiction by Suchan and Silver

At request by Darkdragonwriter.

I think I've got something that'll awwww your socks off. ;) Yup.

Notes before we begin: ….I actually have nothing to say. :gaaaaaaaasp: I know. It's weird, ain't it? Except that Billy's a schizoid and in the cracks of the plot I've thrown in a few good chucks.

Disclaimer: Oi, jeez. I always forget about these. I in no way lay claim to Charlie Bone, or any of Jenny Nimmo's creations. So … :sob: …unfortunately, Asa and his gorgeous wolfyness is not mine.

:P

Moonbeam

:P

"Torsson, Sage, lanterns." Zelda grudgingly handed over the lights, and continued to watch Manfred's dark face with glazed eyes. The two lanterns side by side formed a sort of pear shape, and suddenly one began to shake. Tancred held it in until they reached the entrance of the ruin, and then let it out in a ground-shaking cackle.

"Did you see her making doe eyes at Manfred?" he gasped after a while of slowly running out of breath. "It was hilarious!" Lysander smiled at him, and they set off again. Tancred nudged his friend in the side. "What's up, Sander? You're so serious tonight."

Lysander shrugged and said, "I don't know. I've just been kind of out of it lately." And only when you're around, Tanc. My brain stops working, and my heart spirals out of control. If I could just work up the courage to tell you…

"Well," Tancred continued confidently, "this year, I just KNOW we're going to find that medal."

"Alright." Lysander smiled, eyes sparkling in the lamplight, and they turned a mossy corridor. The sound of children screaming of fright and running footsteps faded. Lysander turned his thoughts to the red permanent marker he was dragging along on the wall. Tancred looked over at him.

"That's a good idea, Sander. No getting lost this time, eh?"

"Nope."

"Let's turn left. Right leads to the fish." They rounded another corner, chipped and falling apart, covered in moss and mildew. Tancred felt the gooseflesh rising on his arms and shivered. He tugged his cape tighter around his body.

"Brr," whispered Lysander. He grabbed Tancred before he stepped down into a dank stairwell. "Can we go right? I don't like the looks of those stairs." Tancred looked at him curiously.

"Alright."

:P

The air grew staler and colder and quieter still as they walked on, neither having the faintest idea of where they were going. A shadow shifted, and Tancred grabbed onto Lysander's arm, startling him. A dark rat skittered away angrily at having been disturbed.

Tancred gave a sheepish smile and let go of his arm. Lysander's heart drooped.

:P

Eventually, their twists and turns brought them to the centre of the ruin; a round room with an ornate hole in the ceiling, a compass built into the mosaic of the floor. A bright silver beam of moonlight grazed the floor gently with a benevolent light.

Tancred whistled. "Gorgeous, aye?"

Lysander smiled at him with a funny look in his eye. "Yeah…" He set down the lantern, and the light formed a soft halo around their ankles. "Hey, Tanc, do you really care about that medal?"

Tancred gazed curiously at Lysander's outstretched hand. "Not especially, I suppose…why?" He took Sander's hand and allowed himself to be twirled around. "Dancing?"

"Sure."

Suddenly, Billy Raven rushed past screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! THE MOSS! IT'S GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Lysander and Tancred stared after him, watching the glint of gold dangling from his hand. "Well," Lysander said quietly, "that's one way to deal with it."

Tancred laughed, a golden sound to Lysander's ears. They were still holding each other's hands. Tancred smiled down at them. "Sander, penny for your thoughts."

"Tancred, how weirded out would you be if I told you I loved you?"

Tancred thought about it for a minute. "Not really weirded," he murmured, grinning. "Kinda happy, really."

"Good," said Lysander, and pressed his lips against Tancred's. Tancred had a habit of licking his lips nervously, and they were a bit chapped, but Lysander couldn't care. He hadn't been this happy in ages, and chapped lips were a thing to be locked away in a dark box at the back of his mind.

A gasp brought them back to earth from the hazy heaven they'd been soaring above. Tancred peered over Lysander's broad shoulders at Emma Tolly, staring at them wide-eyed. He grinned.

"Fancy meeting you here, Emma," he said impishly. "Find the medal?"

Emma shook her head. "No, Billy Raven got it first, and I had one hell of a time getting out of that crypt. Something was following me." Olivia popped out into the room from the same hall Emma emerged from.

"Oi," was all she said, stopping behind Emma and seeing Tancred leaning his head on Lysander's shoulder, Lysander smiling slightly with his arm around Tancred. "Did I miss something?"

"Right now, it's not important," said Lysander, and, taking Tancred by the hand, started for the exit. "Come on. It's almost midnight. We should be going."

Tancred smiled brightly, and noticed that despite the biting cold and the crystallised breath hanging in the air, with Lysander holding his hand, he was perfectly warm. It was a feeling he loved.

Manfred scowled at them as they emerged, ticked their names off the list, and headed to Weedon's shed with Zelda in tow, helping push the cart of lanterns back to their resting place for the rest of the year.

"OUCH! ZELDA!"

They heard a shrill giggle from the darkness near the shed, and then a whimper of pain.

"Don't ever, EVER, touch my ass again!" growled Manfred, indignant and furious. "EVER."

"Oww…I won't, I won't, I promise… owwww…"

Tancred began to laugh hysterically. Lysander smiled and muttered, "C'mon, Tanc, we'd better get you inside before Manfred gets you, too."

Tancred sighed happily, trying to regain his breath. "Right." Olivia stared after them.

"They're cute together, aren't they, Emma?" She looked around. "Emma?"

Emma gagged, giggled, and the two girls walked back to the castle together, yawning and laughing. A dark girl in a purple cape ran past them, sobbing loudly, covering the right side of her face, while a dark shadow slunk towards the shed, sounding ominously like a hyena. "Oh, shut up, Asa, it wasn't funny!"

And Tancred and Lysander were cradled perfectly in the other's arms, all settled in for a sweet night's sleep, under the pale silver smile of the moonlight.

:P

fin.

Hope you liked it, dear. I had so much fun writing it. ;D

Later: Also as a side note. Since I've been back I've been going through reviews and checking for constructive feedback to get me going again. And. one for this story, admittedly posted five years ago, caught my attention again. "Kinda good, even though I'm not into slash. One thing that kinda bugs me is that you wrote Billy is schizoid, but schizoid personality disorder is something entirely different! I should know, because I actually have a minor form of SPD. If you write something concerning personality disorders or stuff like that, make sure you get the right name. Other that that, it's a nice story."

Clarifying: I never meant to indend Billy had any sort of split personality/multiple personality disorder/whatever the PC term is for that these days, they keep changing it (Dissociative, I think.). I had done my research at that point but didn't feel like rocking the boat. Billy was suffering from a combination of hallucination and delusion that the moss was alive and wanted to eat him, which is usually associated with paranoid schizophrenia, which is different from the disorder she was talking about. Paranoid schizophrenia isn't a personality disorder but rather a mental disorder. And I think I should also mention that schizophrenia is nothing to laugh about. However for the sake of the story it made Billy less annoying than usual somehow.....So, how do I know? I took a psych class for a gen ed this past fall (quite a fantastic class, fascinating and I learned a ton). But at any rate, I wanted to set that clear for the record since it was bugging me :/ I shall shut up now.