Honestly, I was a bit reluctant to submit this, but decided, "Hey...why not." So this is the story of Basil, an OC of mine. I'm not a big fan of OC's...but It was an idea I had..and none of the other boys fit the bill. I'm not sure i'm going to continue, I guess it depends on whether people like it or not...So R&R...and I will still be doing AtI..for people that like that. Oh, and it's written in first person, so tell me if it seems weird, not Lord of the Flies ish, and whatnot. And I promise if I continue there will be more dialogue and more of the other boys...this is more of an introductory chapter anyway.
***
It was obvious that there was some tension between Ralph and Jack, from the minute they met on this unforgiving island. At first it seemed as though they could be friends, but I never was really sure, the way Jack always looked at Ralph, with some odd violent, jealous twinge in his eye. I'm not sure if the others noticed or not, but I certainly did.
I'm sorry if I sound a tad full of myself, I'm really not, believe me. Oh, sorry. The name's Basil. You may not know me, you probably don't. I came from Jack's school, but I'm not a choir boy. To be honest, I hate choir, or any other…church-y like things...If you consider it churchy at least, I dunno. I don't hate the kids in the choir though, they're really nice, unlike the rest of the kids in my school, snotty brats they were. But I liked playing my little games with them. I got back at them simple. All you have to do is tell the right person the right thing, and it twists the whole game. That's what it is. Life is a game.
But anyway, that stuffs not so important. We've been on the island since Piggy knows when, 'sidering he's 'Albert Einstein's prodigy' or whatever Bill said. Who cares though, life's been great on this island, till a while ago anyway. Simon died. More like murdered, but Jack keeps lying to the others, saying it was 'the beast' who they hacked up. Most of them believe him, sides from me and Roger. Roger is pretty sharp you know, he's like…like a spear. And we split from Ralph and Samneric and Piggy. We split into two tribes, I'm with Jack's. Would you like to know why? Well imma tell you anyways. I admit, all the chaos seemed fun. I mean, who doesn't like playing with fire? Who wouldn't want to dance on the beach wearing face paint? You're crazy if you think otherwise. I mean, law and order is ok, I s'pose, I'm not a super enforcer, but I think Ralph and Piggy and Samneric are too into it, you know? Like obsessed. But I don't specifically see myself in the category of one tribe or another. I like watching from the back, watching the chaos and destruction. It's grand.
***
"Come on! Hurry!" It was the only voice I could hear, the hushed, violent streaked voice of Jack. A bunch of the others moved after him, but me, I stayed back, keeping my pace. Jack is a bit too quick sometimes. The chortling of pigs was all around us, it seemed like there was a hoard, like a crowd of people gathering afore a celebrity. I don't get why people love celebrities so much, they're just rich people who'll never notice you. Sorry. Off track.
I stabbed the tip of my spear into the ground, placed my hands on the butt of it, and leaned on it, watching the others. They picked out, though a young one, a pretty large boar. He didn't have any tusks yet, so I bet they reckon they were safe.
A twig snapped.
The pigs took off in every direction, sending the boys into a frenzy. There was screaming and squealing, shouts and grunts. A large sow came charging through the thick directly at me, mouth gaping, teeth clicking. I dove out of the way, kicking and tripping over my spear. There was a loud high-pitched scream, and I gathered up my spear. The end was bloody. I looked up into the face of a puncture wound, right in the sow's fat neck. At that point the others came crashing through, flooding over her like a wave. Jack had cut her throat, though I don't think there was any need too, personally.
They were now attempting to pick it up, it was a bit funny. They kept falling over each other, getting covered in blood. Roger came up next to me.
"Here." He shoved a live piglet into my hands, though its feet were bound by vine.
"Why is it alive?"
"I took a few of them, Robert and Maurice have the others, but I was thinking…just in case we can't catch one or something, we can use these ones to breed, maybe."
See? Pretty sharp.
I grinned. "Nice."
***
We came back to the camp, where littluns swarmed us like flies. They dropped the pig carcass and started hacking at it. Roger and Henry held the piglets, while me and Maurice and Robert looked for things to make a pen. We used a bunch of large rocks and sticks and vine. I must admit it was a wizard pen, you would've been impressed.
After we threw the piglets in, Jack made us go and repaint ourselves. I looked like a raccoon. Swell. Bill had pushed Henry in the small stream, washing his paint off. They had got into a little fight, and we all watched, laughing. Then we heard some twigs. Out of the jungle came three littluns, Percival, Johnny, and Phil. Johnny spoke boldly, as if he had a purpose.
"Jack wants you all to come back." Phil nodded and Percival merely stood there, not making direct eye contact with anyone. They turned, and we followed.
***
Once again there was talk of the murder.
"He came disguised. He may come again even though we gave him the head of our kill to eat. So watch; and be careful."
I watched as Stanley lifted his hand, all stuttering and asking if we killed it. There was a bit more argument, before Jack finally said "We shall take it from the others."
I lifted my head off my spear and listened. I was interested.
"Who will come?" Roger and Maurice raised their hands.
They were planning to steal Piggy's glasses. We're really thieves now? I mean, murdering is one thing, but stealing? I smiled to myself.
What if I tweaked this game a bit?
***
Today was the day. The hunters all went off hunting, and I volunteered to stay back and watch the pigl-littluns. Stayed to watch the littluns. Sitting on the wall of the pig pen, I watched the littluns playing. Percival was sitting on the edge; he was out in whatever game they were playing.
"Hey, Percival. Come here." The little boy with the big blotch of black over his eye came over, cautiously.
"Y-yes?"
"Would you mind watching these pigs here for me? Just for maybe…10 or so minutes?"
The littlun stayed quiet, but nodded. I grinned, large enough to show my canines. I think I scared him.
***
I ran through the jungle at full speed, the branches and leaves whipping my face, scratching it, the blood dripping. After tripping over rocks and roots and whatnot, I stopped at the edge of the jungle, Ralph's camp just visible through the trees. They had a small fire going, nothing less of a cooking fire. Piggy was lying lazily against a tree, Ralph was contemplating, Samneric were talking, heads together, and some littluns were playing, unaware of everything. Lucky them. I picked my way gently through the clearing, silent, due to hunting feet. I came out behind the only stable shelter, and peered around the side. No one seems to have noticed me yet. I walked out cautiously from behind the shelter, stalking my way over. Piggy's eyes were closed, but he tilted his head my way. His mouth started to move.
"Ralph?" Piggy's eyes opened slowly, then shot. He was staring right at me. "Ralph! Ralph!"
Ralph snapped out of his daze and stood up, his gray shirt ragged. Samneric ran up next to him, and Piggy sounded like he was dying. The littluns stopped their playing and watched, confused. Ralph looked angry. I raised my hands in front of my body, my spear in the right one.
"I'm not here to hurt you guys."
"Drop your spear." Ralph sounded serious and slightly afraid. I obeyed. "Sam, go get it." Sam rushed forward, and back, taking my spear.
"Ralph," It was Piggy. "Look at his face."
My face? My hand went up. Blood. Wonderful.
Ralph's eyes narrowed. "What, kill someone else?"
"No no. I just ran to get here. I need to tell you something."
"Tell us what?"
"Tell you that Jack-"
"Jack what?"
I froze, my dark hair rigid in front of my eyes. The latter voice was from behind. A chill went up my spine, and my hair rose. Ralph's face was now murderous, Samneric were behind Ralph, and Piggy was dying, again. The littluns were gone. I was afraid to turn, I knew who it was.