Patience is a Virtue
When Regulus re-approaches the camp, having had no luck finding his brother, it’s quiet.
Too quiet.
This doesn’t feel right, at all.
James was supposed to stay behind, but he’s nowhere to be seen. One glance at the fire pit tells him that James ignored Pandora’s wishes and had added more logs to the fire, and much as Regulus wants to go and warm his hands by it, the energy of the site is just too off.
He can also see the glow of a light in James’ tent. Where he would usually shake his head, likely sigh with exasperation at his inability to follow instructions, he only feels his heart stutter with fear. While he doesn’t feel alone in the camp, James’ large presence is mysteriously absent. He can almost make out a soft whimpering sound from inside the tent, but it could just as likely be some kind of animal call on the wind, his late night paranoia feeding into his interpretation of the world around him.
His initial frustration at Pandora for getting them out of bed to follow her whims is quickly forgotten, because something is clearly wrong.
With careful steps, he creeps around the outskirts of the camp, sticking to the shadows of the trees. Slowly, he approaches James’ tent, and very, very carefully approaches. He takes his time, because he feels even more unease as he gets closer, his hands shaking, and not from the cold now. There’s a window on the back of James’ tent, and it’s open. A pillar of light pours from it, and with his arms out for balanceRegulus stands on his toes and leans over to peer through it. He jumps back with a start when he sees what’s inside, covering his mouth to cover the shocked cry that just tried to leave his throat.
There are two people inside, one, with her unmistakable shock of red hair, is Lily, still on the bed, the other is nothing but a bloody mess. He needs to know if it’s James, he needs to know if Lily was responsible, or captive. But what if she had heard him?
He stays dead still, careful to measure his breathing, but he’s panicking, tears rolling down his face.
When he hears no sign of someone coming for him, his stiff posture, poised to run, relaxes slightly as he stretches out to stand.
He realises that the soft whimpering was not a trick of the wind, but Lily. The sounds are heavily muffled, but they’re there.
He peers through the window again, hand over his mouth, he bites down on a finger because he wants to sob when he sees James like that. He glances back at Lily, seeing her eyes fixed on James, eyes red with tears, gagged, and tied down.
Who did this? Were they still here? Regulus needed to hide. He needed to sit in wait. He needed to know who was ravaging the camp. Lily would have to wait.
He steps back carefully, glancing around, considering in the dark where the best vantage point will be to ensure that he can see the comings and goings of the people in the camp, but also, see if the attacker returns.
He has no weapons. He needs to step back, find a way to breathe, and think.
As he begins climbing a tree, he confirms in his mind that this is the best course of action, because he will be able to see when his brother returns, to recruit him, and protect him.
Earlier in the evening, he easily admitted that he had little patience. But when it came to self preservation, and the preservation of the people he loved, Regulus had all of the patience in the world.