Chapter 1
Tempers and Arguments
Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue, I do not own Nightmare, and neither do you. (Unless, of course, you're Tim Burton.)
"We keep going in circles!" Shock complained, flopping down bitterly on the snow-covered ground.
"No, we're not. Barrel has the map... right?" Lock asked skeptically, turning to the last of the trio. Barrel shifted his feet uneasily, staring at the ground. "Right?"
"Well... remember the river a little back...?" Barrel said steadily.
"Barrel!" His older cohorts yelled in perfect unison.
"Sorry, I tripped," Barrel admitted.
"There was nothing to trip over!" Shock snapped at him. Barrel turned and sat down, not wanting to once again be the victim of his friends' not-so-well-bottled-up-anger for the first time in three days. "Anyway, since we're stuck here and the sun's going down, we might as well clear out some snow and make a fire."
"Hey, who made you the boss?" Lock argued. Barrel groaned and shook the snow out of his hair. Couldn't they ever stop fighting?
"I'm not! I'm just saying we need to make camp." On the word camp, she made air quotations in the air with her fingers. "Fine. Go get the firewood. Barrel... try to find a match or something. I'll clear the area out, since I'm the only one with gloves."
"I'll get some tree trunks; branches are too weak and easy to get for me," Lock was exaggerating again. Shock took off her hat and took out a baseball bat (Barrel had no idea how she managed to fit it in her hat without the hat changing shape at all), which she swung at Lock's head with near-perfect aim.
"Shut up and just go!" Lock rubbed his head and trudged away, muttering curses under his breath.
"Why can't we just use the bat for wood?" Barrel asked curiously. Shock looked stunned at his observation for a moment, then glared.
"Because it's mine, stupid!" She said. "Now, get a match! Or something!" She commanded.
Barrel leaned back against the base of an oak, his hood sticking to the bark. "And I thought you were a witch, Shockie." Her eye twitched. Barrel knew she hated when people called her that, that's why it was so funny to him. He searched his pockets, ignoring the fuming Shock, who loomed a few feet away. He pulled out objects such as a pair of candy worms, a finger trap, a few small toffees, a pair of blunt pliers, a hand buzzer, and...
"Ew! I thought you got rid of that!" Shock cried in disgust as Barrel pulled out an orange and black lollypop.
"So did I!" Barrel cried happily before licking it.
"You had that when you were seven! That's eight years ago! Gross!"
"Don't be such a girl!" Barrel scoffed.
"I am a girl!" Shock snapped.
"Well, you sure don't look like one!" This wasn't true, but Barrel was in a strangely sour mood.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Have you looked in the mirror lately? Bet you cracked-"
"Would you two just shut up?" Lock said as he stepped out from behind two close trees. The brawling duo stopped talking immediately. "Thank you! And you say me and Shock fight too much, Barrel!"
"Hey! That's my line!" Shock pointed out. It was clear to Barrel that she was not done arguing.
"You don't see me complaining! Everyone says shut up! It's not your line!" Lock commented as calmly as he could (which was not very calm).
"At least I don't have a stupid freaking tail that makes me look like a freak!" She retorted. She seemed eager to start a fight.
"Hey! There is nothing wrong with my tail! I believe I saved you with it once! Remember-" Barrel took his hooded jacket off and laid it on the ground before lying on it like it was a mattress, curling up to keep the cold out. A dull thunk was heard.
"How was your tail involved in that? If I remember correctly, it did nothing to affect that situation."
"That doesn't give you a right to hit me with that bat of yours!" Lock snapped.
"That doesn't even make any sense! Can't you think of comebacks that actually make sense?"
Barrel lifted his head to see Lock and Shock stomping away from each other. Lock did the same as Barrel with his sweater, and Shock used her long coat, though she still had short sleeves. They lay about fifteen feet away from each other, glaring at each other with all the hate in the world. Barrel covered his head in his arms and slowly drifted off to sleep. He hated seeing his friends fight. He would've thought that, since the "incident", they'd be nice to each other.
A/N, Jan. 26: I'll have an important notice for you, my readers on this story, in the first chapter of a new story I will shortly be posting. It will be under the story title Cavities, and you'll see why I'm posting it on that story once it's up. (If you don't want to bother looking for it, the same note will be posted on the next chapter of this story.)
~Inferno Shock