No updates, sorry. This oneshot is all that comes to mind. I hope you enjoy it anyway. This pairing actually gives me so many feels, and before you judge, the new characters actually aren't that bad. There are no spoilers, I swear.
The sun rose over the hilled horizon, the chatter and gargles of mutated creatures mixing in with the rustle of the wind through the dying trees. The thousand foot high cliff, which was dusted with yellow and crisp grass, cast a looming shadow over the camp as the sun continued to rise. Morning would be arriving soon.
But the sun couldn't beat Dawn, who, like her name, was up at the crack of dawn, legs folded and chakra centred as she meditated on her rickety cot. Inhaling and exhaling serenely, she began to hum quietly as sunlight began to flood in through the streaked window.
"Ommmmmmmmm…" She hummed, quietly. She continued to repeat her humming in a certain cycle.
Although she was mouse-like quiet, and could barely be heard over Sam and Lightning's combined snoring, a low, annoyed groan sounded from deep under Scott's rough wool blanket. Dawn seemed oblivious to his irritation and continued to meditate peacefully. Scott tossed and turned, unable to focus on getting back to sleep due to her goddamn racket. He finally let out a few grumbles, before throwing his pillow at her, smacking her in the face.
Dawn's humming sputtered to a stop, as she spat out a few feathers and blinked her pale grey eyes in confusion. She clutched the pillow to her chest protectively, sending an inquisitive glance to the scowling Scott.
"Shut up, would ya?" He grumbled, his eyes narrowed. He quickly turned so his back was facing her, nothing but his messy red hair visible to the blonde.
Setting the pillow to her side gently, Dawn resumed her meditation pose, her lips curling into a small frown. "Scott, I feel that it would benefit you if you joined in on my morning rituals; it might help release some of your negative energy…" She said, airily.
Scott's impassive glare didn't waver as it penetrated the rotted wooden wall.
"I and I feel that you would benefit by NOT being such a weird, pain in the ass!" He retorted, sourly.
Dawn frowned at that, before sighing. Mother nature didn't forgive those who stooped down to the level of their opponents so easily, and Dawn attempted to keep a level head.
"Just because you were up late last night doesn't mean you can berate me for being up early." The blonde replied.
"Actually, yes, I can." Scott scowled, getting up and ditching his attempts at going back to sleep. "Just because you're up unnaturally early every freaking morning, doesn't give you the right to disrupt MY precious sleep patterns with your crazy rituals!" The redhead growled, clambering over his heavy feet and looming over the petite moonchild, with hard blue eyes.
Dawn shrunk back nervously, her breath catching slightly as Scott leaned over her to grab the pillow he had thrown at her and gripped it tightly.
"In fact," he continued angrily, "THIS, is what I think of your stupid rituals!" Scott finished his sentence by ripping the pillow in half, hundreds of feathers flying out and making him sneeze.
Dawn blinked a few times, before pursing her lips and folding her hands in her lap. Her lips twitched into the slightest of smiles and her pale blue eyes were bright.
"It's okay, Scott. I, and the spirits of the island, forgive you." Dawn said, in her wistful voice.
Scott simply huffed, rolling his eyes at her weird hippie mumbo-jumbo. He dropped the ruined pillow at his feet before stumbling out of the cabin and down towards the communal washrooms for a shower.
She still had that distant smile on her face at breakfast that morning.
x-0-x
Free days were a nice break, but they could also be quite boring. Forced to amuse themselves, most campers would crawl back into bed and sleep the day away, find ways to avoid the heat, or find somewhere remotely free of any biohazards and relax. If they were daring, they might even go for a swim.
Scott found himself under the shade of a dying tree, a piece of wood and his fabled shark tooth carving knife at hand. He lazily glided the tooth over the wood, shavings littering his lap in return.
His mind wandered over who was left on his team, and how he was going to make sure they didn't get between him and that million dollars… Sam was too fat to be much of a threat. Lightning may have brawn, but all of that protein powder was getting to his brain- or lack there of. Now Dawn…
Scott's shark tooth caught on a particularly rough spot on the wood, and he continued to work at the spot absentmindedly. He really didn't know how to assess Dawn. She was scrawny, but she had intuition. She was annoying, but her bond with the animals was helpful. She was pretty… Wait, what?
Scott cringed as he accidentally cut himself on the tooth. He scowled and grumbled as he wiped the blood on his jeans and went back to carving.
How could he even be so stupid as to think something like that about the blonde? She was just another obstacle between him, and the money. Scott let out a sigh, before eying his carving distastefully. The spherical full moon was lumpy and looked slightly like a large golf ball. Scoffing, Scott stood up and dusted off his jeans before throwing the carving as far into the lake as possible. A small splash was heard before frantic cries for help further down the shore.
Knee deep in the water, and not even caring that the water was filthy stood Dawn, and she looked extremely distressed. Scott raised an eyebrow confusedly, and despite himself, started to approach her. Cradled in the blonde's arms was a twitching mutant, and hairless rat. Its eyes were clouded over and beady, and foam was starting slide down its chin as its razor sharp teeth chattered. Dawn seemed completely comfortable with its menacing features; she was too busy fussing over its health. She stroked its hairless head soothingly as the animal convulsed beneath her hand and choked on its own breaths.
Dawn felt tears start to form in her eyes as she watched the poor thing suffer in her arms, continuing to pet it gently. Scott stood silently beside her, repulsed by the ugliness of the creature, but hid it behind a stony mask.
"I-it got bitten by a mutant python…" Dawn explained, her voice wavering. "The p-poor thing…"
"How did you know I was here?" Scott questioned, his lips pursed.
"I sensed your aura…" She murmured.
"Of course," he sighed, with a weak eye roll. Scott's eyes landed upon the seizing hairless rat, and carefully scooped it out of Dawn's arms.
The blonde eyed him questioningly with her big blue eyes, and wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her too large sweater. Scott waded further into the lake, the grimy water lapping at his hips now. He let out another sigh, before shoving the rat under the water, his grip strong against its weak thrashing.
Dawn's eyes shot open and she ran as fast as she could up to him, trying to stop him.
"What are you doing!" She screamed, yanking on his arms. But Scott remained impassive and continued to drown the rat.
"I'm ending its pain," Scott replied, levelly. "Would you rather the thing suffer any longer?"
Dawn quickly let go of Scott and buried her face in her hands, Scott tensing slightly at the loss of her soft touch. Once the rat had died, he pulled it out from under water, and held it in his arms like a child. Dawn peeked at the ginger-haired boy between her fingers, frowning.
"There…" Scott mumbled as he shut the rat's eyelids, and pat its head a few times. "It's like he's sleeping." He said, though his voice was sickly sweet; almost sarcastic.
"How could Mother Nature b-be so cruel?" Dawn whispered, sniffling. She took the rat from Scott and ran her fingers over its length repeatedly. "As to torture one of her own beautiful creations? It just isn't fair..."
Scott let out a scoff as he breezed past the blonde, heading back to the shore.
"News flash; life isn't fair, doll. The faster you learn that, the better." He stated.
"You didn't have to kill it so insensitively…" Dawn murmured, brushing her thumb over the rat's paw.
"Does it look like I give a crap?" Scott shot back, storming back to the cabin to change out of his wet clothes and get ready for dinner.
Dawn stared down at the lifeless rat in her arms, a minuscule smile gracing her lips. The smile didn't reach her eyes.
"It's okay, Scott. I, and the rat's now unchained soul, forgive you…" She whispered.
x-0-x
The sky was a pale orange mixed with rosy pink as the sun lowered down below the thousand foot high cliff. Most of the contestants hung around the campfire pit to eat dinner, which was mushy spaghetti and meat chunks.
Anne-Maria worked on her tan.
Mike and Zoey tried to find alternative uses for the paste-like meal, such as glue or fertilizer.
Cameron ate and watched the two, in order to keep Mike's secret in control.
The rest of the campers sat in the Mess Hall were it was a bit cooler, and where there were less bugs (although not by a large margin).
B was eating silently while Staci blabbed on about how her third cousin thrice removed discovered spaghetti (before that, they used to eat string).
Jo and Brick were speed eating.
Lightning was adding obscene amounts of protein powder to his meal.
Dakota was trying to find cell phone reception while Sam played Alien Warriors XI. Eventually, Sam handed the game over to Dakota after her texting withdrawal reached its climax, and she needed something to keep her hands busy or else she would absolutely die.
Scott rolled his eyes at the lot of them. He swirled his vaguely tomato tasting past around in its chipped bowl, before his eyebrows shot up to his hairline as his 'meal' devoured his spoon, letting out a quiet burp of content. Letting out a small shriek as his food started to purr, he quickly tossed his bowl behind him, listening to it shatter against the wall.
Black clunky shoes scuffed against the dusty wooden floor as the blonde environmentalist entered the room. The only one to acknowledge her entrance was Scott, but he quickly covered it with a glare and a snort of loathing. Dawn seemed oblivious to it as she started to weave through the tables, fabled garbage bag in hand, and she began to pick up any loose scraps of food or garbage on the floor or table, her odd little smile still in place. Her green sweater sleeves fell over her knuckles as she picked up a rotten banana peel and she grinned as she tossed it in the bag.
"Oh boy, this will make a great addition to my organic compost collection…" She murmured to herself, excitedly.
Scott scoffed, as Dawn approached the table where he sat alone, tracing random patterns in the wood. The blonde clutched the black garbage bag in one hand as she tucked some stray strands of platinum blonde hair behind her ear, smiling.
"Hi Scott," Dawn greeted. "I need some help with my latest clean up project, and was wondering if you could help me by picking up any loose stragglers you see around camp. It would be much appreciated." She stated.
"Please," He huffed, rolling his eyes. "The only trash that I feel like picking up is possibly Anne-Maria later." Scott snickered jokingly.
Dawn's smile didn't waver before she set down her trash bag and leaned across the table, her chest parallel with Scott's now widened eyes.
"W-what are you doing…?" Scott stammered, his face beginning to redden as Dawn grabbed his left hand and clasped it in both of her pale ones. Her face slowly was relieved of any expression and her eyes fluttered shut. Scott's eyes flickered over her facial features, and he couldn't help but notice how… fresh and pure her scent was. Despite being constantly around toxic waste, garbage, and gross animals, she smelt kind of… smoky, and like a crisp spring morning.
"I'm channeling your inner core." Dawn murmured, in pure concentration.
"What the hell does that mean?" The redheaded boy said in return, a look of horror on his face.
"It means…" The blonde whispered, as she leaned down so their gazes were locked. "I know your secret."
Scott looked around, panicking on the inside but glaring on the outside. Thankfully everyone else had left the mess hall, leaving only Dawn and Scott in the room.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Scott said airily.
Dawn simply let go of his hands, but didn't move away from him. Her smile returned.
"I know that you're not a bad guy, Scott; not really. I thought about what happened earlier today, and you were… just so…" Dawn bit her lip, a faint tinge of rose forming on her pallid cheeks. Her eyes bored into Scott's. She didn't need to smile.
"You acted for the rat, Scott. You put it out of its misery and sent it to a better place."
"In retrospect, any place is better than here…" Scott mumbled, trying to avoid her eyes evasively.
"What I'm trying to say, is Scott… You were able to act strongly in a situation where I was weak. You sensed my distress. Let me guess… You can read auras too?" Dawn said, her eyes widening in childlike wonder.
"No." Scott deadpanned, his mask remaining immaculate.
"What a shame… Anyway… I just wanted to ask you…" Dawn murmured, playing with the ends of her hair timidly.
Scott raised an eyebrow, urging her to go on.
"Will you forgive me, Scott? For being so weak in a circumstance so dire?" Dawn frowned, her big blue eyes sagging at the corners in hopes of his forgiveness.
Scott eyed her up and down, before the ghost of a smirk tugged on his lips. He quickly forced it into a small smile.
"Of course I forgive you, Dawn…" Scott remarked, eliciting an elated smile from her. He got up and swung an arm around her shoulders, starting to lead her towards the door. He snatched up her trash bag and shoved it into her hands as they exited the mess hall and started to head back to their team's cabin. Crickets chirped loudly in the semi-darkness, the full moon started to peak out from the horizon of the lake.
"I feel that… It would be best if we could make something like a… partnership, of sorts… You know what I mean? I would really like that, Dawn…" Scott suggested, grasping her forearms as he stood behind her petite frame and leaned over her shoulder, so their eyes could meet. Dawn blushed as his warm breath ticked her neck and his big hands clasped around he twig like arms. A sly, crooked smile graced his lips.
"Y-you mean… Like an alliance?" She questioned, quirking an eyebrow inquisitively.
"You," Scott smirked, his voice a low purr, "took the words right out of my mouth…"
Dawn's grip on her trash bag tightened, as Scott let go of her and brushed past her towards the confessional. A satisfied and devious smile was on his face as he bounded towards the confessional.
The smile started to fade as he got closer to the confessional, and the moonlight cast long shadows over his stature.
He sighed.
She's just another pawn to get him the million dollars.
Nothing more.
x-0-x
"S-Scott…"
"Shhhh..."
"B-but… you said-"
"I know what I said!"
"…"
"Who are we going to vote off next?"
"O-ohhhh, Scott…"
"I say the Brick-head should go next; I don't like his attitude."
"He has a good heart…"
"Why are you defending him!"
"I'm not! I was just saying-"
"Maybe this was a mistake!"
"Scott-!"
"You're nothing but some freaky little girl, with her head too far in the clouds. You need to wake up and realize that no one has a good heart. Everyone will turn their back on you the moment you need them the most…"
"You wouldn't."
"As if, I-"
"Not to me, Scott. You know, you try so hard to be such a bad guy, when being a nice one comes so naturally…"
"…"
"…"
Scott quickly wrapped his arms around her gaunt waist and kissed her as fiercely he did the first time, Dawn melting into the kiss and tangling her fingers in his red hair.
Just the two of them.
Their auras.
"This won't happen again," Scott mumbled against her lips, his fingers toying with a few threads on her forest green sweater.
"I-I know…" Dawn replied, her fingers continuing to sift through his gelled hair.
x-0-x
"And the marshmallow of toxic loserdom goes to… Dawn." Chris announced, as the green glowing marshmallow got tossed at the disheartened blonde.
It sunk into the ground, and let out a hissing noise. Dawn sighed and got up off of her tree stump, and she grabbed her trash bag full of memories and swung it over her shoulder.
Blue eyes searched for blue eyes.
Scott tried to remain smug and snide for the cameras, but Dawn could see through his façade and she could see the remorse clouding over his eyes easily.
"It's okay, Scott…" She whispered as she was urged down the rickety dock of shame. Dawn sat down in the catapult, cradling her trash bag in her arms like she had with the dying rat.
"I forgive you…" Dawn murmured, smiling weakly. It didn't mask the pain in her eyes. Not even close.
Scott's mask shattered at the sound of Dawn's bloodcurdling scream as she was flung into the night sky. He hunched over on his tree stump, his elbows resting on his knees, and his chin resting in his palm.
She wasn't a pawn…
She was a queen.
And although Dawn may have forgiven him…
He was far from forgiving himself.
What is this, I don't even… This turned out pretty well for my first attempt, I believe. Awwwyeaaahhhh! I hope you enjoyed reading, and I would really REALLY appreciate a review.
Thanks!
~Alexex