Russel's POV:
"Ok, and another left turn...and..." Del said as he led me farther into the jungle.
"And we're lost?" I asked with irritation.
"We're not lost! Have some goddamn faith!" Del's ghostly figure flickered at his rage. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to follow him.
Funny thing about ghosts is that they're fucking transparent! You can touch them. So Del abruptly stopped and I wasn't paying attention. I tried to stop myself from running into him but I tripped myself up instead and fell right through Del, landing harshly on my hands. I glared at him as I picked myself back up.
"Dang, in a whole year, you've gotten grumpier..." Del said with crossed arms and a scowl.
"No, I have not gotten 'grumpier'! I'm stranded on 'dis fucking island, do you really think-" Del cut me off with a sharp, "Shh!" I shook my head with anger at his rudeness.
"No, don't you fucking shush me-" I began exclaiming but Del cut me off again with another "Shh!" I clenched my fists with fury but kept quiet.
"Do you hear 'dat?" Del asked me. I lifted an eyebrow in confusion and listened to my surroundings. Everything sounded normal. Normal birds cawing up above. Normal shuffles of foreign animals all around us. Normal sound of... struggling? Yes struggling, but that was not normal. It sounded like someone one was struggling to break free of something, I was hearing a lot of grunting noises. Del smirked at me when I had heard the strange noise.
"You first..." Del said gesturing to a large shrub. I nodded my head and pushed the shrub aside. I soon parted the leaves and broke through the shrub to the other side. I looked up and soon became aware of what the grunting and struggling had been. The sight was so funny that I fell to the ground grasping my stomach, bursting out laughing. 2D was suspended in mid-air by only his left ankle by some kind of rope.
"Oi, Russ, it ain't 'tat funny! You almost gave me a heart attack. I 'fought 'ya were a wild animal or some'fing!" 2D said from his upside down position, staring at me.
"'Ight, Dee, Imma get you down." I said after I finally got a grip. I soon began looking around at the trap that had entangled around 2D's ankle.
"Is 'tat Del?" I heard 2D ask.
"Yep." I responded. I looked behind myself to see Del waving up at 2D. He soon looked back at me and caught my eyes.
"How 'da fuck are you gonna get him down?" Del asked perplexed.
"Ehhh... I could beat him with a stick 'til he falls down...almost like a pinata." I pondered sarcastically out loud.
"Wot! NO! Have 'yu been hanging out with Mudz lately?" 2D asked with fear.
I cracked a smile then said, "Nah man, I'm just joking." 2D sighed a breath of relief at my words. So the rope that suspended 2D in the air was on a high tree branch, wrapped around another and went behind the tree where it was tied to one of the tree's large roots. I took a big, sharp rock and pounded it against the rope until it broke. Then with a whoosh of speed, the broken rope shot up into the tree. Next thing I know, I hear a startled yelp and a loud THUMP! I ran back to the front of the tree where 2D laid face-down on the forest floor. The rope was still looped around 2D's ankle, but at least he wasn't in mid-air anymore.
"I'm sorry, Dee. Are you al'ight?" I asked as I rushed over to him and began slipping the rope off of his ankle.
"Yeah." I heard 2D mumble as his face remained laying on the forest floor. After a couple of minutes, 2D got up from the ground and rubbed his head lightly.
"If 'yu are fine, we gotta go! Noodle will die soon!" Del said panicking.
"Al'ight, bond yourself to me like last time. We can transport to Noodle in no time!" I said breathlessly.
"You almost died last time you did 'tat!" 2D said with alarm.
"And so did you, but I was fast enough to save you with Del's help." I retorted. 2D looked down to his stomach after I said this. He was probably remembering when Robbi had shot him.
"Russ, I-I can't... I can't risk almost killing you again..." Del told me without making eye contact.
"Can't or won't?" I snarled at Del with narrowed eyes. 'Dis is ridiculous, Noodle could die at any second! I thought to myself with anxiety.
"There's no time for 'dis, we need to get to Noodle!" Del said with urgency edging in his voice. I pinched my lips together and shook my head with irritation. Del suddenly began leading me and 2D somewhere unknown. After a long while of walking, we ended up in a part of the forest that looked no different from the rest of it. Only, a couple large logs piled up across the next section of the forest, as if someone or something did not want us to get to the other side.
"Start climbing, Noodle's just buried behind these logs." Del informed 2D and I. 2D and I looked at each other with wide eyes. Then with a boost of adrenaline from remembering how badly Noodle needed us, I pawed at the logs until somehow I was able to lug my body over the logs. Soon, I was successfully over the logs. 2D followed after me but had a bit more difficulty. After some time, 2D managed to get over the logs as well. Before me and 2D was a large pile of dirt that looked like it had just been moved to bury something. Noodle! I thought to myself gleefully but scared at the same time.
2D and I began digging her out with our bare hands. We freaked out and frantically shuffled dirt behind us. Del only hovered over us and stared down at our work with suspense and anxiety written on his ghostly face. My heart skipped a beat when my hands hit something hard and wooden.
"I found her!" I cheered out loud even though 2D and Del were right next to me and had already acknowledged my discovery. With this new discovery, 2D helped me lift the coffin out of the ground. We soon both began tearing at the coffin, trying desperately to open it. With all my frustration and desperation, I grabbed the edge of the coffin and pulled harder than ever before. The coffin creaked with growing volume and suddenly I heard a loud SNAP! Then before I could process what had happened, I had successfully broke open the coffin.
I looked down at the inside contents of the coffin and felt the back of my throat tightening. Inside the coffin laid Noodle. Her purple hair was strewn all over the back of the coffin. Her eyes closed and her skin looking far more pale than I had ever seen it. I tried to choke out Noodle's name but it came out as a sharp exhale.
"Noodle!" 2D had voiced my thought. I stared in shock at the unmoving guitarist. I felt a couple tears stream down my cheeks at the thought of the inevitable. Suddenly Noodle snapped her eyes open and began breathing heavily. I was ecstatic that we had saved her in time. So ecstatic that I lifted poor Noodle out of the coffin and gave her a big bear hug.
"Can't b-breath!" Noodle said muffled against my body. I instantly let go and apologized. Noodle continued to catch her breath and she looked up at me and 2D with gratitude and love. When she finally was breathing normally, she spoke more words softly.
"Where are the others?" Noodle asked us.
Murdoc's POV:
So I had blacked out by the time the second bomb had exploded near me. It had catapulted my body forward back into the sand. Pain had course through my body so intensely. The explosion from the bomb had burned my skin and more cuts and bruises were forming on my skin. Why fucking me? I just wanted a nice goddamn vacation! I'm going to die! I thought to myself as I became aware that I was losing my consciousness.
I protested this dreadful sleepiness and was able to open my eyes again but only for a few seconds. What I saw shocked me. Althia was CARRYING me! Althia was actually carrying me away from the exploding shore. Damn, she really is quite an attractive bird when in a crisis... and quite strong. I thought to myself, noticing her natural beauty and well-defined muscles. That was the last thought I had before I fell into darkness.
I was jolted back awake once more from a sharp pain on my shoulder.
"Ow, fuck!" I yelled as my eyes flew open and my body jumped with surprise at this pain.
"Shh, you are okay." Althia whispered in my ear. I looked over at what she was doing. Althia had poured some water onto my right shoulder, which was badly burned. I let my head loll back and I looked to the ceiling of the hut I was in as I endured the pain.
"So what's the verdict, doc? Am I going to survive another bloody day in this fucked up shit hole that is my life?" I mumbled with self-pity.
"Watch you mouth, and I think you will be fine." Althia said. I growled at her for trying to censor my language. As I did this she squeezed my wounded shoulder which caused me to tense up with pain until I had to whimper in agony. I looked back at Althia who smirked back at me with mischievous eyes. I sighed and tried to conceal my pain. Soon I heard someone come into the hut with me and Althia.
"Murdoc, are 'ya alright? Althia saved 'ya!" Darla told me.
"I'm fine, love." I said silently. I looked up at Althia who looked back at me, but something different in her striking brown eyes. Mischief no longer clouded her eyes, instead there seemed to be something more gentle, and warm, and caring.
Jeiel's POV:
I slowly began to awaken from hitting my head on the cave wall. I was about to groan at my newly formed headache but I realized that I was being carried. I opened my eyes. Someone had me thrown me over their shoulders and were now carrying me somewhere up a hill. In front of me over looked the jungle and shore and it was so beautiful. My carrier seemed to be traveling up a very steep high-up mountainous region. The ground seemed to consist of dark colored rocks.
It's getting so hot! I noticed as I felt my body feeling overly-heated. I decided to look at where I was being carried to. I was extremely weak, all of my muscles seem to give out and my head pounded and became dizzy each time I looked around at my surroundings. I looked back to where I was being carried without alerting my carrier. My heart began racing very fast when I saw that I was being carried to the top of a volcano! I had a feeling that whoever had kidnapped me and was carrying me up to this volcano wasn't intending on a civil conversation or a nice picnic at the top of a volcano. Nope, they had full intents on throwing me in the boiling lava!
I don't wanna be a human sacrifice! I thought to myself with growing panic, I felt weak and helpless...