Disclaimer: I do not own X-men, Marvel, or Marrow. This is purely fanfiction and I'm not making any money from this. Bear, however, is my original fanfiction character, and if you would like to use him in your own fanfiction please be courteous and ask. Otherwise, enjoy. The Capillary
Sarah sat at the bottom of the Hill and looked up towards the top as she played with a bone sticking out of her wrist. The day before the bone had finally broke through the skin, relieving her wrist of pressure that had been building for some time. Sarah played with the protrusion absently, digging her nails through the outer layer and into the marrow causing her to jump slightly on the spot, and bring her out of her thoughts and to the problem at hand.
She stopped playing with the bone altogether, and worked her wrist in a circular motion trying to relax her wrist as she focused on the top of the Hill again. Sarah had made it up halfway about ten days ago, she judged from her view at the bottom. But Sarah had never been good with details, so she wasn't sure if it was ten days ago or if it was even halfway she reached. However, making it halfway was the only day that really seemed to be clear in Sarah's mind: She could recall almost every detail of the landscape, her actions, and her competitors.
Sarah looked skyward for a moment, taking in the clouds gathering behind the Hill, off to the right. The warm breeze was the right direction for the storm to move her way and catch her. Again, Sarah didn't know if it was North or West, or East, or whatever the other two directions were. Unless there were two more directions she had forgotten.
Callisto, her former mentor, had tried to teach the pink haired and skinned girl directions. Sarah had tried to point out to Callisto that direction didn't matter on the Hill, the only thing worth looking at was the Hill anyway. Callisto had shrugged her shoulders and could think of no rebuttal for Sarah.
The pink haired young woman took a deep breath in, letting the scents around her filter through her nostrils. She no longer wrinkled her nose at the strong smells that floated around the Hill, and instead learned how to used them to keep herself alive. It was something Bear had taught her some time ago before... before...
Sarah was unable to finish the thought, concluding that it happened a long time ago.
But a chain reaction of thoughts that lead her to think of Bear again. In relative safety, she allowed herself to remember that Bear had had the most sensitive nose Sarah had ever met. She could never understand how such a gigantic man could have been so sensitive, even the slightest fart Sarah had let go in his vicinity. He had always made Sarah find a hole behind a rock a small jog away to bury her feces or to urinate in or else he would have become nauseous to the point of vomiting.
"If you bring your first up to your face and I'm bigger than your thumb, then you're still too close," He used to explain to her after she had given him blank look to "miles" or "yards". Sarah would then grump and reluctantly step away a few more paces.
Bear had survived a long time at the bottom of the Hill and when he would stop and sniff the air, so would Sarah. She figured anything he knew was worth learning. Sarah couldn't pick up nearly as much as Bear, but learned what the rotting smell smelt like, that it meant food would be close by, and a rotting carcass meant that there was one less person Sarah had to worry about trying to stop her from reaching the top of the Hill. Sarah also learned that the burning scent meant the cloud cover was disappearing and that the sun would scorch the landscape in a short time. Sarah and Bear had more than once spent several frantic hours finding alcoves to hide in or dig holes next to a rock to bury themselves.
Bear and Sarah had first met after Callisto had thrown Sarah from the top of the Hill, Bear had found her after the sun had nearly scorched her to death. He had given her some of the precious water he had carried around in a water skin. Bear had kept Sarah close by for several days until her strength returned and was able to go off on her own.
But Sarah didn't.
She had followed Bear for days, keeping out of sight. She had been able to pick over the carcasses for food after Bear had finished with them. Sarah had thought herself clever and cunning for having stayed out of the giant's way for so long. She hadn't realized Bear had known she had been following him all along, and had purposely left food for her. She had discovered this information when Sarah thought she was close to invisible and courageous one night and tried to steal more food from Bear's stash on his body.
Bear had easily caught her. Sarah had underestimated his speed, fooled by his lumbering size. Sarah felt a sort of shame and embarrassment as he had sat her down and explained "rules" and "sharing" to her if she was going to keep close to him. The pink haired girl had snarled at the giant just as she had snarled at Callisto when she had explained "rules" to Sarah.
Sarah had tried again to steal from Bear that day, thinking he had just been lying to her, that he really had more food on him. But true to his word about "rules", Bear had stopped "sharing" the carcasses he found. Anger and frustration had ignited the pink haired girl to stop following the lumbering figure and into the heat of the wasteland surrounding the Hill. It hadn't taken long for Bear to find here again, starving and burnt from the sun, and to nurse her back to health again. Sarah had then grudgingly accepted Bear's "rules" when he had nursed her back to health for the second time. And Sarah had also grudgingly followed Bear through the wasteland, trying to survive instead of trying to reach the top of the Hill as Sarah was trying to do again now.
They had been an odd pair: Bear had a shaggy black coat lining his back and coming over his shoulders. Bear's arms and chest had been bare and he wore thick trousers with pockets down the legs. The fur on Bear's back had crept up his neck and covered his face, but the front of his neck was left with bare skin. Bear's nose and mouth protruded into a short snout, allowing large, sharp teeth to grow long and past his lips. His eyes were sunken and yellow, but somehow he managed to always see more than Sarah did. Despite how little they had always eaten Bear managed to maintain his bulk and stature.
Sarah, on the other hand, had been and still was, barely more than skin and bones. Not only had Sarah looked emaciated, with every joint and muscle visible as the she moved, but bones grew out of her body, piercing through her skin at all angles. Compared to Bear, Sarah had been short, but her bright pink hair had made Sarah just as noticeable as her companion. And while Bear had a gentle expression to his face, Sarah's lips had always seemed to be snarling, and anything Sarah had said sounded angry.
The next smell Sarah had learned was water. It was a hard smell to catch, even for Bear. He had explained to Sarah that watering existed further away from the Hill, and wells had been dug deep to protect the water, so the scent was far away and easily overpowered by other smells.
"We'll have to be on our guard though. Getting close to a watering hole is almost as dangerous as going up the Hill." Bear had added as Sarah had her hand in her mouth attempting to pull out a spare tooth.
"Uh huh." Sarah had replied, and had added, "Hep meh."
Bear had sighed; still not become used to Sarah's need to pull bones for comfort, had walked over to Sarah. In one of his great big hands Bear had held Sarah's head, with the other Bear had pulled out Sarah's tooth that had been causing her discomfort. The action had been followed by Sarah's body jerking slightly as Bear had pulled the tooth and then a gurgling sound as the blood had filled Sarah's mouth. A few seconds later Sarah had spit a wad of blood into the sand that had already clumped together.
"Much better" Sarah had grinned with one less tooth in her snarling smile.
Bear had sighed again and asked, "Did you listen to anything I've said?"
"Water holes are dangerous, hard to smell, blah blah." Sarah had spit out more blood, "Nothing we can't handle."
"It's nothing I want to handle." Bear had said as he started walking with his back towards the Hill, "When we get to the water holes you let me do the talking, got it?"
"Why?" Sarah had asked. She had picked up her water pack and caught up to Bear quickly.
"Because I said so."
"Is this another one of your 'rules'?"
"Yes. And now be quiet."
Sarah had snarled at Bear, but knew better than to say anything further: she had still depended on him more than she had cared to admit for her long term survival.
The longer they had marched away from the Hill, the more the landscape had changed from toxic flatland to dry desert. After walking for many hours Sarah had started to become annoyed with the emptiness of the desert: there were no people, there was nothing on the horizon but sand, and there had been no food for her to eat. The longer they walked, the closer Sarah had come to collapse and exhaustion. Bear had been barely more than shambling along himself: they both had needed food and water desperately.
Bear had seen Sarah struggling and had come over to Sarah to help support her. Sarah had tried to push Bear away, but with a feeble push had managed only to knock herself down. Bear had patiently bent down and picked up the skinny girl in his arms and had carried her for the rest of the day.
In the continued heat Sarah's vision had become blurry and everything she felt and heard was dull. Sarah had barely been able to recall eventually stopping and feeling massive vibrations emanate from Bear's chest. Sarah had barely been able to piece together that Bear had managed to locate a water hole and that he had been speaking with those fortunate enough to be guarding a water hole. Sarah had been unable to determine how long Bear had spoke with the guardians until she could feel water pass by her lips. The water and smell had awoken Sarah from her haze, and it had been then that the scent of water was burned into her memory.
Hiding behind some boulders for shelter, Bear and Sarah had spent most of the following night awake and cold in the desert. Both of them re-hydrated had become more alert now: a mixed blessing. Sarah had understood why Bear tried to live closer to the Hill: the temperature only went from extremely hot to blistering hot, nothing like the fluctuating temperatures around the water holes. Also, the suns never disappeared like they had in the desert.
"Do you remember what it was like before coming to the Hill?" Bear had asked that night, shivering slightly less than Sarah.
"It was dark."
"What do you mean it was dark?" Bear had asked confused, "Where did you live?"
"In the Tunnels. Beneath the Upworlders."
"Upworlders?"
"Up-p-p worlders. Pretty p-p-pretties. Light hag-g-gs." Sarah had managed to get out.
"You mean humans?"
Sarah had snarled at Bear's reply, "Them. They banished us to the Tunnels."
"I wouldn't know about that."
"I do."
"I don't think anybody really knows about the Tunnels you grew up in."
"They do. They keep us there because they hate us. We're ugly." Sarah had continued to snarl angrily, "But we're Morlocks, and we don't need their world. The pretties can keep their light."
Neither Bear or Sarah had said much after that. Both had shivered in silence for a long while before that sun had finally made an entrance over the horizon. Bear and Sarah had both fallen in and out of consciousness several times, partly from the cold and partly from exhaustion.
"Sarah…" Bear had finally said, breaking through the silence.
"What." Sarah had said sharply, having still been in an angry mood from the conversation they had previously.
"You know… You know that I'm… I never grew up in the Tunnels..." Bear had fumbled his way through, "I grew up in the sunlight…"
Sarah shot upright and had stared at Bear in disbelief. She had instantly felt betrayal the minute he had finished speaking. Sarah shuddered at the recollection of what happened after the conversation and cracked her neck to help put the memory out of her mind: being tense would just waste her energy before trying to climb the Hill.
But the memory wasn't fading, it pushed past the edges of her mind and continued to burn: all that she had felt that day bubbled to the surface. White hot rage from Bear's betrayal filled her as she remembered not being able to speak as Bear had pleaded with her, "Please don't be mad at me Sarah."
When he had said her name, Sarah had relinquished her self control and leapt at her companion from her seated position. With her bone studded fists, Sarah had begun pummeling Bear's chest and face. Bear had feebly tried to bring his paws up to defend himself as Sarah beat him raw.
"Please—" Bear had managed to say before Sarah knocked him unconscious.
She had stopped beating Bear when she had realized he had stopped moving. Sarah had cursed at the top of her lungs, and when Bear hadn't stirred she had cursed again. The rage had continued to boil inside Sarah; she grabbed a water skin and had began running hard in the Hill's direction.
At the speed Sarah had ran, she had made it back to the base of the Hill in less than two days. She had found a place to hide beneath a rock and had collapsed, holding her water skin tight to her chest. As sleep had overtaken her, Sarah's mind had fleetingly thought of Bear and wondered if he was dead or alive.
When Sarah had finally awoken, she had had no idea how long she had slept for. The sun had been clouded over and the air felt cool on her pink, dirt covered skin: highly unusual for the toxic swamp. Sarah had licked her lips, and as her tongue had passed over the gap where Bear had pulled out her tooth, she had already felt another tooth growing to fill the gap. Anger had quickly risen in the back of her throat as she thought of Bear.
Traitor, She had thought over and over again.
Sarah had looked up towards the Hill and thoughts of Callisto had also returned. Memories of her mentor had reignited her anger: Callisto had thrown her out to the bottom of the Hill to fend for herself. Sarah had now discovered Callisto's lie about Morlocks having to live in the tunnels. Over and over Sarah had been told it was because of their appearance. But then how could have Bear come from the surface? Callisto had become a traitor in her mind.
Sarah had begun to shout and howl at the Hill until she could no longer breathe. The skinny, pink haired girl had collapsed to her knees, her body spent as anger had still raged inside her marrow.
Marrow…
The word had cut through her anger like a knife, and for a brief moment, Sarah had been able to focus on the Hill again, focus on the top. Sarah had vaguely recalled Bear saying that to most of those trying to survive the Hill were only trying to get to the top, and only the top really mattered. Sarah had fixed her eyes on the top, barely visible amongst the clouds and toxic exhaust.
When I reach the top, I'll call myself Marrow. Sarah had promised herself as she had pulled a long bone from her lower back, the end sharp and covered with blood.
Sarah had taken a deep breath in before she lost her focus and had let the rage take over her again. Bear had warned her to never go up the Hill when they had first met, not on her own anyway. It had been another of Bear's "rules". Sarah had started a light jog towards the Hill and had smirked to herself when she had broken out into a faster run. At that moment, Sarah had never felt braver than her companion and had wanted to rub it into his face. Or his grave.
As soon as the ground had changed under Sarah's feet she slowed to a fast walk. The anger had been quelled slightly as curiosity had gotten the better of Sarah, and then slowly bewilderment. From the bottom of the Hill, the view to the top was as desolate as the surrounding landscape. But now that Sarah had gone up a distance the sky cleared slightly and the vegetation was softer, growing where she had stopped. Sarah had stood and inhaled deeply and had let the scents fill her lungs. Her surroundings had had a scent Bear hadn't told her about, and without him, hadn't been able to find the words to describe the new and pleasant smells around her.
A scent had drifted to her nostrils; one Sarah hadn't expected to be on the Hill: She had smelled water. Sarah had turned her head to see where the water could possibly be and had found it right next to her. Sarah couldn't have helped but stare in awe as the water had flowed, actually moving, from higher up the Hill to further down. She had never seen water do that before.
Sarah had let her guard down and run towards the water. The scent over powered her as she had realized it was the most and the cleanest water she had ever seen. Sarah had crouched down onto her hands and knees and put her face close the water. The girl had caught a glimpse of her own reflection, but the water had flowed too fast for it to have made any sense to Sarah as she had put her lips to the water. A word had come to Sarah's mind, one she had heard a handful of times in the Tunnels, from several Morlocks. Fresh, the word was fresh. The air had smelled fresh and the water had tasted fresh. It was delicious.
As fast as the word had come to her mind, a hand touched her head and had slammed her face into the pebble bottom of the falling water. When Sarah's vision had returned to her, Sarah had found herself hanging by her one arm. The girl had jerked suddenly when the pain made its presence known: every bone in her arm had felt like it was broken, and every ligament had felt torn.
"Dozer, she's awake." A deep male voice had spoken from beyond Sarah's line of sight.
Then, two voices had been heard laughing. Sarah had struggled to turn herself around to face them, but had discovered her leg, opposite her bound arm, had also been tied down. Pain had continued to shoot and burn through her body with every movement. She had discovered more broken bones and tears in places she hadn't expected. She had bit her lip hard to keep from crying out, but betrayed herself when she had let out a few grunts.
The second voice, also deep but also more husky, had chuckled and replied, "Chainsaw, I think I told you that I was going to be right, the girl doesn't talk at all. Just makes noises."
"My bad." Chainsaw had replied.
Barely, out of the corner of her eye, Sarah had been able to see two hulking figures, with almost identical silhouettes. Sarah had struggled to make sense of her situation, but it had been difficult through the pain that wracked her body. She had also nervously found herself with little energy to jerk away when one hulking figure had moved towards her and had shambled into her line of sight.
"We didn't think you were even a girl when we first saw you." The second voice, Dozer, had said as he had licked his lips.
Sarah never broke his gaze, even though she had felt her stomach sink. She had been unable to and had also not wanted to comprehend what Dozer had been implying.
"Even when we took off your clothes we weren't totally sure." Dozzer had continued as he had reached out and grabbed Sarah's crotch.
Sarah had gasped loudly at the violation of her body, and at the realization that she hadn't any of her clothes on. She had been far too stunned to lash out.
"You're more prickly than I'm used to, but you were good enough for now." Dozer had continued with a vicious smile, licking his lips. He had reached up with his other hand and had started to become more aggressive with Sarah's body. Tears had started to flow down Sarah's cheeks as shame, betrayal, and pain overcame her. Sarah had looked skyward and had wished she was unconscious again. Sarah never cried, but had wished Bear would have been there to save her. Just one more time.
Dozer and Chainsaw had fallen into two heaps a ways away by a fire when they had finished with Sarah. They had a fire going all day, and continued to feed it as darkness grew across the sky. They had left Sarah hanging from the tree, not caring what state she had been left in, or if she was going to survive.
The shame and betrayal Sarah had felt that day resurfaced just as strong. Sarah tried to cling to her anger, not wanting the humiliation overcome her. She took a deep breath, trying to collect all the scents around her and then separate them into their individual components. But there was nothing Sarah could do about the memories, the rest of the events unfolded from her memories against her will.
Taken back to the memory of her tied to a tree, Sarah had tried hard to focus on anything but the pain, but found that the more she tried to focus on something else the worse the pain became. She had eventually become too exhausted and had given in to the pain, focusing on it instead.
Sarah had been able to pinpoint the origin of every ache, strain, and fracture, and had almost shocked herself when she could feel the injuries in her mid section moving and sliding around. The fibers in her arm and leg had felt like they were trying to mend, but couldn't, as if the ends were just slightly out of reach but continued to claw its way to its other half. It had dawned on Sarah that her intense amount of pain had been from her wounds not being able to mend. A secondary and minor thought had also come to Sarah: had she always mended in such a fashion? So rapidly?
She had taken a chance to look down and her untied leg and arm which Chainsaw and Dozer had both repeatedly broken several times and noted it had already healed. Sarah knew she had to free herself from the ropes that held her if the rest of her injuries were going to heal. But in her exhausted state hasn't been able to find the strength to fight through the pain.
Darkness had begun to fall around her and Sarah began to panic. The two suns around the Hill had never stopped casting their harsh light in all her life there: there was never any darkness. Despite having grown up in the darkness of the Morlock Tunnels, the darkness on the Hill had seemed too unusual and felt more dangerous. Having darkness in the open had instilled fear in her almost as great as the day of the Massacre. The two hearts she possessed had beaten so rapidly that she heart their thundering in her ears overlap each other. She found herself hearing more, smelling more, and seeing more around her.
A rustling from just beyond her line of sight had caused Sarah to jump in her contorted position. Sarah had let out a soft gasp of surprise. She had quickly bit her lip, afraid to have woken either Dozer or Chainsaw, or worse yet, given off her vulnerability to yet another person. The rustling of the foliage had stopped as fast as it had started but Sarah had held her breath regardless and had waited for more pain before her demise.
A small breeze had passed by Sarah, bringing to Sarah's nose a familiar scent mixed with blood. Despite Bear's misgivings about how poor her sense of smell had been, Sarah had always been able to track blood, and the breeze had picked up a lot of it. Sarah had shaken her head slightly from side to side in disbelief, there was no way that scent could have been Bear's.
But desperately Sarah had called out, "Bear?"
Several heartbeats had passed before a figure had emerged slowly from the cover of the low trees, causing the. Unable to see clearly, Sarah had held her breath and tensed, ignoring the pain that shot through her body. The figure had lurched silently towards Sarah, and Sarah had held absolutely still as the panic had risen in the back of her throat.
"Bear." Sarah had said again quietly, but confidently.
Bear's silhouette had increased in size as he stood on his legs, having caused the scent of blood to increase dramatically. Sarah had wrinkled her nose at the strength of the scent, but had kept silent, unsure of what Bear was going to do next. She had left him for dead.
"Sarah." Bear had replied quietly, but remained in his place.
"Get me down." Sarah had pleaded quietly.
To Sarah's surprise, Bear had closed the distance between them and used a large paw to cut the rope that had held Sarah in place. With the other paw Bear had swiftly caught Sarah at her midsection, letting her fold in half with limbs dangling. He had gently lowered her to the ground and relief had washed over Sarah as she felt the cool earth against her bare skin. She had felt her eyes start to close slowly as she had heard Bear fumble in the dark for the second rope that had held her leg.
Despite the relief that Sarah's body had felt, the smell of Bear and the blood that was fresh on his fur had been overwhelming. Sarah had carefully whispered from the ground, "You're bleeding."
Bear had kept silent and had bent to scoop Sarah up into his arms. She had winced at the pain of being moved, but hadn't resisted and had said nothing as she had cradled her arm. To her amazement, Bear had her wrapped in a blanket as he walked away from her captor's campsite. Having been carried in Bear's arms several times Sarah had felt comfortable and safe to fall asleep.
Sarah had opened her eyes some time later to see that the sky had turned almost as pink as her own hair and had noticed rays of yellow light peeking out from the horizon. With her head nestled in Bear's arms, she had stared out for a moment, never having seen such a colourful sight before. Sarah had turned her head slightly to see that her and Bear were still on the Hill, and slowly moving downwards.
"Bear?" Sarah had asked, somehow startling Bear off balance.
Bear's feet had caught a rock which had caused him to stumble. He had let go of Sarah's legs and with the same hand had caught hold of a large boulder to keep himself upright. Sarah's feet had landed on the rocky ground, and instinct had taken over: she had quickly dug in her heels and had pushed Bear backwards to keep him from stumbling forwards. Two things Sarah had quickly realized when Bear had landed on his rear: the first was that Sarah had felt no pain anywhere, and the second had been that she was fully clothed.
Neither of them had moved for some time, nor had either really looked at each other. Awkwardness and shame had slowly encroached onto Sarah's mood and she had looked away from Bear's direction. She had waited for Bear's silent glare of anger or sharp words that she knew she had deserved this time.
But it had never come.
"Why?" was all that Bear had asked.
Sarah had continued to look away from Bear. The tone of Bear's voice was one she hadn't been able to place: it sounded like a pleading, but also very hurt. It had made her feel smaller and stupid in his presence.
"Why are you so angry?" Bear had asked after several moments in the same tone.
Sarah had shrugged her shoulders.
"Why did you have to take it out on me?"
Again, Sarah had shrugged.
"Look at me."
The sudden change to anger in his tone had made Sarah comply without hesitation. When she had looked into Bear's eyes she had seen tears streaming down his furry face, his expression sad and weary. It had been so unusual to see Bear in such a state that Sarah had lowered her eyes in shame.
"You're bleeding" Sarah had feebly mumbled.
"Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know."
Sarah had looked at her feet, half noting that her legs had completely healed.
"Stop acting like a kid Sarah," Bear had said pointedly, having used one hand-paw to wipe the tears from his eyes, "Grow up and get a grip."
The last few words had sounded authoritative and had gripped Sarah's guts, causing anger to rise in her gut amidst the shame. She had let a snarl cross her face and escape her lips.
"Grow up?" Sarah had demanded sharply, looking up at Bear, "I would've had to have a childhood in the first place to grow up from. Something an Upworlder like you wouldn't know anything about."
Bear had dropped his eyes from Sarah and had sighed, "More happens in the 'Upworld' than you can imagine. You're not the only one who's had a hard life."
Sarah's hands had clenched into fists at her sides and had raised her voice at Bear, "You have no idea what my life has been like!"
"No? Then please explain it to me Sarah. Explain to me how your life was so much more difficult than mine growing up, growing up among people that were just like you. Please explain to me how that was so much more difficult than having to grow up being hunted by your own family."
"Because I'm ugly!"
Silence had followed Sarah's words. She had been breathing hard, ready to attack Bear again. His gaze met hers, and had been unyielding.
Finally, Bear had told her softly, "You're not ugly Sarah. You're beautiful."
Bear's statement had caught Sarah off guard; she hadn't been sure exactly how to feel, and the wave of strange emotions had followed soon after their absence: anger, anxiety, relief, happiness, suspicion, and trust. Sarah's hands had unclenched at her sides as confusion filled her mind. She had reached out a hand to place a hand on Bear's snout, trying to make sense of her world, and his. Just as she touched his snout Sarah's body had been slammed into the boulder.
Sarah's head had hit the boulder, though she had managed to blink through the stars that had exploded in front of her eyes. Dozer's and Chainsaw's scents had filled Sarah's nostrils, and for a moment her heart had caught in her throat as she heard cackling in her ear and damp breathing on her cheek.
"We thought you were pretty sneaky, getting away like you did," Dozer had snarled, "But then you made it too easy for us to follow."
"Real easy." Chainsaw had breathed into Sarah's right ear, followed by a lick on her cheek.
Sarah had tried to struggle away from Chainsaw, but he had held her fast, pressing her left cheek harder into the rock.
"What do you want with her?" Bear had grunted in pain.
Sarah had been able to see Bear pinned to the ground by Dozer, his hand gripped into one of Bear's wounds.
"What do you mean, what do we want with her? What wouldn't we want with a slut?" Dozer had cackled, bringing his face close to Bear's, "Last night was the first time in six year I had a woman to hang. Why wouldn't I want to keep her?"
"You're disgusting."
"And when I get to the top of the Hill I won't just have thousands of woman at my disposal, but thousands of beautiful women. You can have this cheap, dirty piece of ass all to yourself then."
Dozer had cackled and Chainsaw had joined in the laughter. Sarah had felt her stomach sink, feeling dread wash over her.
"You're an asshole, a mother effing asshole." Bear had roared
Dozer and Chainsaw had only laughed harder at Bear's rage. Dozer had suddenly cut his laughter short and had dug his hand into Bear's shoulder wound, having caused Bear to roar at an incredible volume.
"Shut the hell up! You want every competitor to know we got a girl?"
"Competitor?" Sarah had asked, somehow finding her voice.
"You don't know?" Chainsaw had asked haggardly into her ear, "You get to the top of the Hill and anything you want you get."
"Then why don't you get going?" Bear had asked.
"We would, but there are guys lots tougher than us further up the Hill." Dozer had replied matter of fact.
While still grinning as he had twisted his hand again in Bear's wound, causing him to roar again. Moments later Bear had begun to laugh. Dozer and Chainsaw had looked quizzically at each other as Bear's laughter had continued.
Chainsaw had finally asked, "What's so funny?"
"You're right, you're not that tough."
No sooner had Bear finished his sentence he had kicked Dozer's midsection. Bear had quickly leapt to his feet and followed up with a swat of his large paw to Dozer's face. The claws had connected with Dozer's face and ripped off his lower jaw, blood squirting in several directions.
Sarah's jaw had dropped in surprise, but she had wasted no more than a second before throwing an elbow into Chainsaw's midsection, pushing him away from her as he had doubled over. In seconds Bear had turned around to swing his massive paw at Chainsaw's throat. Just as Bear had ripped off Dozer's jaw, Bear had ripped out Chainsaw's throat.
Both bodies had fallen lifeless to the ground as Bear breathed heavily and collapsed to his knees. He had turned to look at Sarah through bleary eyes before collapsing completely to the ground. Sarah, shocked, but quickly closed the distance between them. She had knelt by Bear's head, picked it up, and had cradled it in her lap as Bear had always done for her.
"You're so strong and fast. I always knew you could take down guys like that." Sarah had said solemnly.
Bear had coughed a little but said nothing. The scent of fresh and continually flowing blood had filled Sarah's nostrils. After a moment of silence, Sarah had slowly asked, "Did you know about the top of the Hill?"
"I was going to take you with me… when you were ready." Bear had said between raspy breaths, "I didn't want to leave you behind."
"You idiot! You should have gone by yourself."
"On the Upworld... when people care for each other… they don't leave each other behind…"
Bear's words had felt like a blow to Sarah's guts for the second time that day. She had felt a dampness creep down her cheeks and blur her vision.
"I didn't want you to be lonely Sarah… I'm sorry that you're going to be now…" Bear had said as he had lifted a large paw to Sarah's face, "Please don't be so angry all the time, you don't look so pretty then."
"Why are you talking like that? You're not dying, you can't die. You're an amazing figher." Sarah had said in disbelief, catching Bear's paw with her own hand.
"I don't heal nearly as fast as you do…" Bear had barely finished his sentence before having started a coughing fit.
"Sarah… you need to eat… I won't mind if you eat me, so long as you… make it to the top… Only thing that should matter now to you is to top… top of the Hill." Bear's breathing had become increasingly laboured as blood had started to speckle his teeth.
"Shut up!" Sarah had cried loudly, feeling panic rise in her chest, "shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"I'm tired Sarah… it's your turn to keep watch…" Bear had rasped before letting his arm fall limp.
"Shut up! Stop playing!" Sarah had cried again, "Asshole! Wake up!"
More wetness had fallen from her eyes and down her cheeks when Bear hadn't replied. Complete silence followed as she looked around at the scene around her.
"How am I supposed to get to the top?" Sarah had asked quietly to Bear's still frame, knowing that Bear would have had the answer.
The wetness down her cheeks had continued to flow like the water she had found. She had sat unmoving despite the danger she knew she was in. The water on her face had flowed until the sun had moved around the sky and downward again towards the horizon.
Sarah could feel the wetness flowing down her cheeks now as they had then as she let the memory finish. She looked to the top of the Hill and could feel the heat rising around her as the chill of loneliness surrounded her once again.
She wiped the wetness away with the hair she had let grow out to the middle of her back; it remained bright pink from root to tip. The day felt as though Bear had just died as his words echoed in her mind. Sarah began to take slow and purposeful steps towards the bottom of the Hill as Bear's voice filtered once again through her mind, "Only thing that should matter now to you is the top of the Hill."
And it did.
"Only the top matters. Today I will make it to the top."
Sarah spoke to no one as she burst into light run.