A/N: More Eric for all your Eric needs.
.
Beasts of Man
Ralph was absolutely livid. He, a chief, had to remind those below him of his decrees and laws. He rallied the assembly with the conch as always, calling everyone to the platform. This meeting was exceptionally serious, unusually business-like, very different than the normal evening meetings that were playful and homely, like a family gathering around the dinner table. Even the littluns knew the significance of calling an assembly in the dark.
Ralph began critically, and rightfully so. He brought everyone's wrongdoings to light, reprimanding the group as a whole, showing that he was not a weak chief who would just push mistakes aside. The way he went about his speech was very grown-up, and this made the boys feel attacked, oppressed like they were with adults around. There was clamor and arguing against their leader. The power of the conch and Ralph's authority eventually calmed them, yet only vaguely. Chaos appeared ready to ensue at any provocation.
Sam and Eric felt horribly guilty throughout the meeting. They felt they had a major role creating the chief's anger by leaving the fire unattended even though it was Jack who had lured them away and the fire was ultimately his choir's responsibility. They did not object when Ralph announced that the twins would be on fire watch for the night. Even though having to tend the fire for all the pervious day, as well as pig hunt, and then watch it all night was terribly unfair they only nodded, agreeing. They did what their chief asked of them.
A part of the assembly Sam and Eric did not understand was when Ralph spoke of the rifts forming in the group. They who held loyalties only to one another did not, or could not, see the walls going up around them, the cracks splitting the others apart. Ralph said it was because of fear. Jack said it was because of the littluns.
The boy was quick to blame all of the problems on the weakest of them all: the youngest children. Sam found great distaste in this scapegoating of the littluns, yet expected as much from Jack. She did not necessarily believe, or liked to think she did not, in the beast two of the little boys stepped forward to tell of, but did not want to accuse them entirely for everyone's fear. That was cruel and mean and outright nonsensical.
Amongst the conflict the talk turned to that of ghosts. Simon had tried to convey what he thought of the beast as and failed miserably. No one understood what the boy was struggling so valiantly to communicate, and so he was laughed at, teased into silence. Sam sorrowed for him but could do nothing to aid his plight.
The debate that arose to whether or not there were ghosts dissolved the order of the assembly. Jack shouted and spat and was scolded for speaking out of turn, the angry boy dismissing and hateful towards Ralph and his rules. He tired of Ralph's assertion as chief and jumped from the platform with a shout, the others who were also bored of Ralph's failing assembly joining him. They whooped and yelled and danced on the sand free from any of the chief's control. When Eric stood to follow them Sam pulled him down, shaking her head. He then seemed to recover from whatever spell the wild dancing had imposed on him, nodding when his sister pointed into the jungle.
The twins left the platform for the dark mountain.
Had Ralph not lost his confidence, had Ralph regained himself, had he found the heart to blow the conch, to call order, Sam and Eric would have stopped, turning around to return to their chief.
But no bugling sounded. There was only the howl of the littlun named Percival as he cried out for what he had lost.
.
Eric could sense that his sister was exhausted. The grappling of the pig had made the whole of her body ache, having to drag logs up the mountain beforehand contributing to her pain as well. She fell into the nest of leaves as soon as they had fed the fire. She opened her arms and motioned with them, bidding her brother to join her. Theoretically, they should have split the fire duty into shifts, but could not bring themselves to do so. One forever sleeping and one forever waiting for the other to wake seemed a sad existence.
However, Eric shook his head, flashing a smile.
"No, I'm going to collect wood. I'll lay with you when I get back."
He made to stand but was seized by his sister's hand. The flickering fire shone in her wide eyes, revealing her fearful expression. Eric looked to her curiously, questioning the hold on his wrist. Realizing abruptly what she had done Sam dropped her hand, saving her brother from her iron grip.
"I don't want you to go..." she mumbled, nipping at her bottom lip. "I don't want you to leave me here."
"I said I'll be back," he told her. "I'm jus' gonna get enough wood to last us until morning."
"I'll go with you," she decided, the leaves snapping around her as she moved. Eric shook his head, easing her back into the bed of foliage.
"You need to rest or otherwise you'll wear yourself out, like when Papa sprained his back from lifting too much cargo. You're not invincible, Sam."
"I know," she said with a note of irritably. She was silent for a moment before she sighed, rolling over and rustling her bedding.
"Eric, do you think there are beasts?"
Eric didn't really know how to respond. He rubbed his head, floundering for a thought, humming uncomfortably. He eventually just shrugged.
"Maybe," he decided. "I d'know, Sam. There are a lot of things out there that frighten people."
"I think people are beasts," she said with her tone dipping lazily. "But they tear you apart with words, not with teeth and claws."
Eric chuckled softly. "You sound like Piggy, like Simon."
Sam murmured a drowsy reply. Eric leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. She inclined her head when he pulled away, whispering.
"Eric... If everyone on this island is really going against each other, I don't want you to go against me. I want you to always be on my side."
"Don't be silly," he muttered back. "I'll always be on your side. I promise."
Sam said nothing in return. Eric erected from sitting, walking down the unfriendly side of the mountain. He only hoped his sister did not hear the fear in his voice.
.
Eric knew there were beasts. Eric knew there were dark things, things that hid in the night and things you could never hope to understand. The waited, masked by darkness, for the feeblest human mind to see them and know how utterly helpless one could be when consumed by fear.
For that's what beasts do: make humans become something they never wanted to be.
Eric had to feel his way in the dark. He coughed and spat as the clouds of ash dusted the air, stumbling around until he found a patch of spared firewood. He collected as much as he could before climbing back to the signal fire. He built the wood around the fire, as he thought, strategically, hoping the placement would feed the flames until daylight. The surplus was placed aside, the boy then snuggling beside his sister on the palette of leaves. She was cold to the touch and shivering in her sleep. Eric wrapped himself around his sister, trying his hardest to warm her, even minimally. Sam relaxed at Eric's presence.
Both twins were asleep when the figure dropped from the sky. The dead body landed atop the mountain, tangling itself in the trees, waiting to be found by those who could not understand it.
.
Sam awoke with Eric's nose burrowed into her back. The entirety of him was nuzzling into her, his snug arms latched around her waist to hold her close. It was a strange contrast having a warm backside and a cool front, the girl prickling from the cold and rolling around in her brother's arms. The leaves hissed as she snuggled her face into his chest.
"Good morning," Eric managed to say sleepily. He shifted a bit and pecked her crown.
"It's still night," she argued meekly.
"No, the sky's getting grey," he blinked and observed. "The sun's gonna come up soon. We'd better-"
"-tend the fire. All right."
The two parted. Sam groaned at her sore muscles, taking a minute to stretch and crack her joints. Eric helped her to stand and they walked up the mountain to the bed of the fire.
A thin thread of smoke flurried from the ashes. Seeing this, Sam paused her yawning, searching through the pile of brush her brother had collected to find appropriate tinder. Eric knelt and squinted at the remaining, blackened branches.
"I think it's out."
He overturned the largest stick, sparks flashing. A few glowing embers trailed smoke.
"No."
He took the offered wood from his sister. He then lay level with the square embers, blowing, the orange light brightening momentarily. Eric motioned to Sam.
"Sam- give us-"
"-leaves. Tinder wood."
Sam did not mind the reference to themselves as together, as a whole. It was a habit left over from when they were younger, from when people did not bother to call upon them separately. As twins, addressing themselves as 'us' and 'we' was sometimes second-place.
Sam returned with leaves and even thinner branches. She raised a leaf to the embers, seeing if they were interested, the dry tinder catching flame. She dropped the leaf and added more, then building upon the pile with sticks. Eric included his and Sam went back for more.
"Don't burn the lot," Eric warned as larger branches joined the others, "you're putting on too much."
"Let's warm up," Sam reasoned, rubbing her arms covered only by a worn shirt.
"We'll only have to fetch more wood."
"I'm cold," Sam pouted. "I'll go and get more when we need to." Eric sighed, but nodded.
"So'm I."
"Besides," Sam looked about worriedly, "it's-"
"-dark," Eric admitted the fear so Sam would not have to. "All right, then."
He watched as his sister placed more wood upon the growing fire, a breath easing him. They were lucky the fire had survived the night, for had it not, they would have had to leave the mountain and ask for Piggy's spectacles. This irresponsibility would have no doubt upset Ralph and neither of the twins wished to do that, much less after the night before. Eric spoke quietly.
"That was near."
Understanding his thoughts, Sam nodded in agreement. "He'd have been-"
"Waxy."
"Huh."
There was now an odd tension in the air. In an attempt to relieve this strain Eric covered his mouth, snickering.
"Wasn't he waxy?"
Sam raised and eyebrow. "About the-"
"Fire and the pig."
Sam hummed at the specification. "Lucky he went for Jack, 'stead us."
"Huh."
Sam smiled, giggling as well. "Reminded me of my handwriting teacher. She was waxy."
"Wasn't she the one who smacked you for writing with your left hand?"
"Yes!" Sam confirmed, lifting up her dominate hand. Were one close enough and were it not so dark, tick-mark scars could be seen. "She stopped, though."
"After-"
"-I came in mussed up. She asked me what happened and I told her I beat up Suzy Lee's older brother for calling me Samantha. She stopped after that."
"I remember that! You were ace, bruised his eye and everything."
They laughed together. When silence fell again the air pointedly remained thick. Sam and Eric sat still taxed by this tension, weighted by the fact that they could not joke away their mistakes, at least not this time. Their faults and the darkness of the night lingered, surrounding them, reminding them of beasts and Ralph's black anger. Responsibility is a terrible burden, and the consequences even more so.
Eric glanced at Sam almost guiltily before staring with disinterest at the burning branches. The flames and the heat reminded him of the first fire, the great one, and the forest of ashes coating the lee of the mountain. He remembered how the inferno had terrified his sister, how she had to turn to him for comfort. He shook his head of these terrible memories when Sam cried out in pain.
"Bloody hell," she swore, lowering her arms from stretching above her head. She rubbed under her arms and whined. "My armpits hurt something awful."
"It's from that pig you wrangled," Eric advised. "And all those logs you carried up the mountain by yourself."
"Maybe," Sam said, then laughed. "Maybe I'm finally getting breasts."
Eric knew Sam only said it for fun, but the statement unsettled him. The icy fear of change bloomed in his chest. He knew one day, perhaps one day soon, Sam would begin to change: her chest would grow supple, her waist would clinch, and she would begin to look unlike him, begin to look like a woman. Other boys would also begin to see her differently. She would become an object of lust and adoration, something to impress and gain idly. This knowledge of what would probably be upset and frightened Eric. He was not prepared to grow apart from his sister and did not think he would ever be.
Eric hung his head and coughed.
"Sam, no... Don't say such things."
"Sorry, sorry," she soothed from across the fire. "The pig I wrestled made me sore, I'm sure of it."
Eric said nothing in reply. He reached his hands out to the fire, warming them, lifting his head to look at the sky. The blue was fading to grey and the orange of day was already at the horizon. His eyes followed the bleeding light to the failing night, dropping at the other end of the world, viewing beyond his sister to the clusters of shadowed rock. A mass rose from the scattering of stones, startling the boy.
"Sam."
The girl looked up from tossing wood onto the fire. "Huh?"
Eric blinked and what he saw was gone. He shook his head, the idea and image discarded to be forgotten. "Nothing."
Sam shrugged. She shuffled over as the signal of smoke blew her way, her body no longer blotting out a gap in the rock. Eric witnessed a crumpled shape moving, gangly outlines like arms and ropey claws flinging outwards, a wideness like wings blowing open. The firelight flickered upon the figure. Something akin to eyes appeared: two orbs gleaming wet.
"Sam-"
"Huh?" she asked again.
"Sam! Sam!"
The creature fumbled and stood. Sam glared at her brother, annoyed. Her visage disappeared when she saw the horror in his eyes. She whipped around to look behind her, scrambling backwards, her brother catching her in his arms. Subconsciously, he held her slightly behind him, the pair staring at the unknown thing as they clung together. The fire gave the alien shapes of its form a red glow. The trunk of it jerked suddenly forth and a loud hissing sounded, the wings of the figure raising higher. Sam and Eric glanced at one another in matched, horrendous anguish.
And suddenly they were sprinting. They heard the beast roar as they slid down the mountainside, gravel tumbling after them as it made to follow. Their hearts and lungs were afire as they ran for their lives, a united desperation for survival driving them to stand as soon as they fell and jump over shallow boulders in daring leaps. At the edge of the mountain path Eric gave a scream. He tripped over himself and crashed, rolling down an incline and into the thorny jungle creepers. Sam shrieked and stumbled after him.
"Eric!"
She tore at the undergrowth viciously. Fear choked her throat as she tried to cry out for her brother, hot tears unregistered in her frenzied mind as they washed her cheeks. Even with a great part of herself pulling at her, pleading for her to run, she refused. No power in the world could ever make her leave Eric.
Eric reached for her and she grabbed him. Ignoring the fiery pain in her muscles she hoisted him out of the creepers, the boy wailing as they torn at his skin. He stood as soon as he was able and raced with his sister, the girl keeping their hands locked together so he would not fall again. A growl sounded behind them and Eric yelped as something snagged the back of his shirt. He twisted and the feeling departed. The thought of the monster reaching out to them with its claws made the two run faster. They dashed into the jungle, their one motive to flee from the creature. They made their way towards the camp to tell Ralph of this awful beast.
Above, the ensnarling creeper fell to the forest floor. And atop the mountain, the dead man sat as the wind pushed his parachute down.
.
"Ralph! Wake up!"
Sam and Eric bounded onto the dry leaves together, crushing them in their wake. They tried again, closer this time.
"Ralph, wake up!"
Ralph awoke in a fit. He tossed about and looked to the twins, a tautness that was meant to prepare him for a possible fight rigging his muscles.
"What's the matter?" he demanded, his inquiry clear and chiefly even though he had just awoken. Sam and Eric gripped his arm.
"We saw-"
"-the beast-"
"-plain as day!"
Ralph blinked, narrowing his eyes against the dark.
"Who are you? The twins?"
They did not see who they were as important. They insisted again.
"We saw the beast-"
"Quiet," Ralph ordered sharply. He reached among the leaves for the other boy in the shelter. "Piggy!"
Piggy veered towards Ralph and knocked against him. Sam, being the only twin strong enough to restrain him if he resisted, held Ralph steady as he made to moved from the shelter. She wanted nothing more than to clutch against the chief she believed could protect her from the thing she saw, yet refrained, her fingers wrapped around his forearm instead. She felt fresh tears in her eyes.
"You can't go out- it's horrible!"
Ralph shoved her off. She bit her lip and said nothing, returning to her brother's embrace. She pressed her teeth into her lip deeper, willing herself not to cry, to not show weakness in front of a myriad of boys. Her tears faltered, resting unshed. Ralph spoke to the boy sitting up and putting on his glasses.
"Piggy- where are the spears?"
Piggy gazed about, disoriented from the abrupt rising.
"I can hear the twins-"
"Sam 'n Eric, I know. Quiet then. Lie still."
The boy settled back. Ralph turned to the twins.
"You saw the beast, you say?"
"Yes-"
"-on the mountain-"
"-it chased us-"
Sam and Eric began to recount the terror of their encounter. They described how the thing yawned upright, the horrific sounds it made, and how it chased them into the forest. Eric turned and showed where its claws had raked him, his shirt sliced with thin rips.
"This is where it snagged me, right on the back."
Ralph shivered at the display but was quiet. He crept forward and peeked out of the shelter, much like a rabbit checking for a fox. The sky was now all soft pinks and greys, the clouds painted in pastels, the growing light enough to give the chief's face a hallowed shadow. Ralph ducted back inside hurriedly, taking himself away from the dangers of outside. He remained near the entrance, burdened by the obligation of protection.
"Sam 'n Eric," he said, no clipped tone in his words. The lack of it almost made it seem like it was there. "Call them to an assembly. Quietly. Go on. Tell them to bring spears."
The twins nodded and bundled together. They only had each other as they walked across the cool sand, their shadows blurred at their feet like dark watercolors. They lowed themselves and ducked their heads into the dusk of the other shelter.
Roger, the boy nearest to the entry, was awake instantly, like he had been expecting a disturbance. His chilling amber eyes looked between the two and raised gooseflesh on their backs.
Eric swallowed and braved to speak.
"Ralph is calling an assembly. Now. He says to bring spears."
Roger sat up, stretching casually.
"All right."
"We saw the beast."
Sam had finally found her voice. She felt the dark boy's gaze cutting into her, his blank expression unnerving. She nestled closer to her brother, Eric seeming to have confused interest at Roger's reaction rather than discomfort. Roger spoke again.
"All right."
He crawled through the leaves and began to wake the others. Sam and Eric left immediately, going to the last shelter brimming with littluns. There was some protest to being awoke so early, the complaints turning to crying when they heard talk of the beast. They left the shelter for the platform as an adhered group, quickly putting themselves in the center of the circle of older boys with sharpened sticks. Sam and Eric released each other when they reached Ralph.
Figuring that the trumpet of the conch would be terrible to hear with tired ears, the chief lifted the shell instead, the assembly nodding in understanding. A clear patch of sunlight was hitting the meeting platform directly, giving the boys some sense of comfort with its warmth. The light flashed over the conch as it was passed to Eric.
Sam touched the conch as well, glancing at Ralph before he pulled his hands away. His eyes held a strange kind of sadness: a weary and startling type of dread, very aged in nature. Her gaze moved up to his fair hair, a ray of light fanning above him like a golden crown. Sam felt queerly indebted to admire this kingly presentation, her attention taken away as her brother spoke.
"We've seen the beast with our own eyes. No- we weren't asleep-"
"We'd just woken up," Sam continued. "And went to tend the fire. It rose up from the rocks-"
"It was furry. There was something moving behind its head- wings. The beast moved too-"
"That was awful. It kind of sat up-"
"The fire was bright-"
"We'd just made it up-"
"-more sticks on-"
"There were eyes-"
"Teeth-"
"Claws-"
"We ran as fast as we could-"
"Bashed into things-"
"The beast followed us-"
"I saw it slinking behind the trees-"
Eric shuddered. "Even touched me-"
Ralph interrupted suddenly. In the light of day he could see the red marks crossing Eric's face from where the creepers had torn him during his fall and rescue. Ralph pointed and asked:
"How did you do that?"
Eric touched his face tenderly.
"I'm all rough. Am I bleeding?"
His fingers came away chrisom. Sam whirled Eric around to face her, examining what she could not see before.
"From when you fell-"
She was cut off as a littlun began sobbing. Having one she loved so much injured, with fault partially to her for riving him so carelessly from the creepers, made her want to cry as well, but she did not for she could not, not on this island of men. She instead batted the trickles of blood from his face with her sleeve, staining the white cloth red.
Around the twins, the older boys made a defensive eyelet. Their spears faced outwards, prepared for this beast they feared.
"This'll be a real hunt!" Jack shouted to be heard all around the platform. "Who'll come?"
Ralph made a noise of impatience at Jack's outburst.
"These spears are made of wood. Don't be silly."
Jack faced the chief at the challenge.
"Frightened?"
"'Course I'm frightened," he admitted shamelessly, gesturing to Sam and Eric and the others to show that everyone was. "Who wouldn't be?"
Ralph sighed, turning to the twins a last time.
"I suppose you aren't pulling our legs?"
Their answer fell in one beat.
"No, never."
It was definitive. A murmur rose from the boys and dropped into cold silence. Piggy came and took the conch from Eric.
"Couldn't we- kind of- stay here? Maybe the beast won't come near us."
Ralph looked like he wanted to scream in exasperation at the unreasonable notion. He did not, however, calming his composure and forcing his voice level.
"Stay here? And be cramped into this bit of island, always on the lookout? How should we get our food? And what about the fire?"
"Lets be moving," Jack said and stomped, "we're wasting time."
Sam and Eric did not think there to be so little in time to waste. Ralph stood firm and contradicted Jack.
"No we're not. What about the littluns?"
"Sucks to the littluns!" Jack said violently. A littlun, Henry, whined, Ralph sparing him a glance of sympathy.
"Someone's got to look after them."
"Nobody has so far."
"There was no need! Now there is. Piggy'll look after them."
Jack sneered. "That's right. Keep Piggy out of danger."
"Have some sense," Ralph said lowly. "What can Piggy do with only one eye?"
Sam and Eric felt the argument escalating and held each other again. Knowing fully well that he was threatening Jack's pride, Ralph stepped closer, bravely so.
"And another thing," the chief continued. "You can't have an ordinary hunt because the beast doesn't leave tracks. If it did you'd seen them. For all we know, the beast may swing through the trees like what's its name."
There was a hum of confirmation and Jack flushed pink. Piggy nodded, rubbing his one lens on his scuffed shirt. He cradled the conch with both arms.
"How about us, Ralph?" he coughed before clarifying. "I mean- how about us? Suppose the beast comes when you're all away. I can't see proper, and if I get scared-"
Jack did as he always did when he was attacked: venting his frustration on those weaker than himself, pinning them with his hateful blame. He stopped Piggy with a snarl.
"You're always scared."
Piggy coughed again. "I got the conch-"
"Conch! Conch!" Jack mocked the very word. "We don't need the conch anymore. We know who ought to say things. What good did Simon do speaking, or Bill, or Walter? It's time some people knew they've got to keep quiet and leave deciding things to the rest of us."
Sam felt a sudden urge to slap Jack for his insolence. Eric, who was easier to rile than his sister although no more willing to start conflict, tightened his hold when she moved with malicious intent. He shook his head and whispered.
"Let Ralph handle it."
And handle it Ralph did. He spoke with all the authority he had, his cheeks hot and red. His order was simple:
"You haven't got the conch. Sit down."
The display of greater power paled Jack. He dipped his pallid face, but did not sit down.
"This is a hunter's job." The statement was yielding.
"This is more than a hunter's job," Ralph said, swaying his opinion into favor. Piggy appeared beside him, handed him the conch, and moved back, sitting on a fallen palm. His breathing was labored.
"Because you can't track the beast," the chief persisted. "And don't you want to be rescued?"
The assembly looked on as Ralph raised the conch.
"Don't you all want to be rescued?"
Ralph lowered the great shell, turning to Jack. A crack faltered the tall boy's proud posture.
"I said before, the fire is the main thing. Now the fire must be out-" Ralph heaved a tired sigh, effective for his argument- "Hasn't anyone got any sense? We've got to relight that fire. You never thought of that, Jack, did you? Or don't any of you want to be rescued?"
The boys buzzed in agreement to this. Sam began to cool as Jack was shamed, publically, for his brash haste, the smack he deserved coming from embarrassment. She heard Piggy gasp in what she believed to be relief. Ralph quieted the assembly and adopted a nicer tone.
"Now think, Jack. Is there anywhere on the island you haven't been?"
Jack hesitated a moment. He replied begrudgingly.
"There's only- but of course!" he lightened with excitement. "You remember? The tail-end part, where the rocks are all piled up. I've been near there. The rock makes a sort of bridge. There's only one way up."
"And the thing might live there," someone added.
Ralph stilled the platform as clamor rose.
"Quiet! All right. That's where we'll look. If the beast isn't there we'll go up the mountain and look; and light the fire."
"Let's go," Jack agreed in an attempt to return his good favor.
"We'll eat first. Then go," Ralph corrected. He paused, running a hand through his fair hair. The assembly waited.
"We'd better take spears."
.
A/N: The Ralph/Sam ship shall be called Ram.