Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Chapter 2
Cold And Dark
"Syrus? You out there, bro?" Jaden called.
"Sy? Can you hear us?" Jesse shouted.
The two waited for a reply but got nothing. Jaden turned despairingly to his best friend.
"What if he's hurt? He could've passed out" Jaden said, shivering at the thought of Syrus lying unconscious and hurt in a ditch somewhere. "We've got to find him!"
"Calm down, Jay. He'll be around here someplace" Jesse muttered, leading the way into another part of the forest.
The sky above them was dark, and they were immensely grateful for the torch Hasselberry had given to them.
They didn't know where Hasselberry and Chazz were, either. They had no phones with them - or at least, no signal on their phones - and no way of getting in contact.
"Hasselberry's probably slaughtered Chazz by now" Jaden muttered, trying to stick close to Jesse, since it was the bluenette who was carrying the torch.
"Never mind them, they can take care of themselves" Jesse said. "It's Syrus we've got to be worried about."
"You got that right" Jaden muttered.
Then, there was a sudden crack - like a twig snapping under someone's foot.
Jaden moved closer to Jesse. There were wild animals out here. Duelling wasn't going to be any use against them if they attacked.
Jesse subconsciously moved closer to Jaden, using the torch to scan the area around them.
"Syrus?" Jaden called, trying to steady his voice. "That you?"
There was no answer.
"Great" Jaden muttered sarcastically.
The two moved slowly away, using the torch to look around, hoping to find Syrus.
It was too dark to see clearly. The light of the flashlight was their only way of seeing, and it wasn't illuminating a big enough area of the woods.
Not to mention that the darker it got, the colder it got.
Shivering slightly, Jaden rubbed his arms, hoping the friction would create some heat. He really didn't want to be out here, but there was no way he was letting Syrus be out here alone.
They were going to find him.
/
"Face it, Princeton, you have no idea where you're going!" Hasselberry growled.
"I know where I'm going - I'm going back to the tent!" Chazz growled back. "You can get yourself killed out here if you want, but The Chazz has better things to do."
"Show some respect, Princeton. Private Truesdale's still out there!"
"Like I care!" Chazz retorted.
Hasselberry growled, and turned around to glare at the opinionated boy, holding the flashlight he held under his face like he was about to tell a scary story.
"You know what, Chazz? I've had just about enough of …"
But he was cut off by a growl.
He looked at Chazz in shock - had that sound come from the rich kid? It didn't sound human!
He shone the light in Chazz's face, and noticed that the black haired boy was staring into the woods, his face a mix of fear and confusion.
Okay, so the growl hadn't come from him.
Then, what …
Hasselberry's silent question was answered when the darkness in front of them seemed to move.
Swallowing hard, Hasselberry let the light of the torch fall on the figure in from of them.
Eyes. Nose. Ears. Paws. Claws. Fur.
Chazz moved back a little so that he was beside Hasselberry.
"Is that a bear!?" he asked, shocked.
The bear was huge, even when it was on all fours.
"What do you think?" Hasselberry muttered, sarcasm lacing his tone.
"I think we'd better get out of here!" Chazz muttered.
"No! Don't move a muscle!" Hasselberry hissed.
"Why? You wanna get eaten?"
"Make a sudden movement, Princeton, and it'll have your arm off" Hasselberry muttered, eyes focused on the huge, motionless bear.
"Well, are we gonna do something, or stand here and look at it?"
Hasselberry didn't get a chance to answer.
Because the bear suddenly moved forward and used a paw to lash out at Chazz.
The duellist jumped out of the way, falling to the ground but receiving no damage for the bears claws.
The bear moved forward, straight towards Chazz.
Hasselberry stood almost motionless, stuttering nonsense , as the bear lifted Chazz up by his black jacket and began to drag him along the ground.
When the bear had taken Chazz a few feet away, Hasselberry recovered and launched for it.
Sadly, the darkness prevented him from seeing the tree roots in front of him. He tripped, fell and hit his head on a root, knocking himself unconscious.
And, screaming and thrashing uselessly, Chazz was dragged away by the bear.
/
"Syrus?" Jaden shouted, his voice reaching the edge of desperation. "Syrus!"
"Sy! Come on, pal!" Jesse shouted.
Like Jaden, he was beginning to get really worried. Neither one wanted to show their fear for their friend, but it was becoming difficult.
Syrus was out there, alone. He could be hurt, or unconscious, or something worse.
Who knew what was out there in the woods?
"Syrus! Come on!" Jaden shouted again. "Oh, man!"
Camping had been his idea. If Syrus was hurt, then it was his fault. If Syrus had been injured out there, he'd never forgive himself.
And it was really cold now.
Jaden was angry at himself because he was shivering, his teeth chattering in the cold as he called out again for his lost friend.
Jesse looked worriedly at his friend, using the flashlight to see Jaden's face.
The boy looked freezing. Jesse himself had a high tolerance for the cold - he suspected he was more used to it than Jaden - so he wasn't feeling it too badly. But evidently, Jaden was.
"Jay? You alright?"
"Fine" Jaden stuttered, rubbing his arms to try and create some heat. "Just worried about Sy."
"We'll fine him, Jay" Jesse muttered, focusing on the other. "Jaden, you're chittering."
"I'm okay."
"You're not."
Jesse hesitated briefly, and then wrapped one arm around Jaden's shoulders.
A bit confused, Jaden looked at his friend, wishing he could see his face clearly - the darkness making that impossible.
"Jess?"
"I don't get cold easy" Jesse muttered.
Instinctively, Jaden leaned into the contact. Jesse was so warm …
With little to no hesitation, Jesse pulled Jaden against him properly and embraced him. This was purely for heat, to get Jaden warmed up - the fact that he liked this had nothing to do with it.
Jaden shivered a little, but it wasn't so bad now that he was pressed against Jesse. Jesse was really warm - how was a mystery to the brunette.
They would stay like this for a few minutes, and then continue their search for Syrus in the dark woods.
Please R&R