Enjoy!:
Chapter Twenty Eight: What's Needed
Minutes later, Gideon stormed back into the teepee he shared with Pacifica.
Currently, Pacifica sat on the floor, staring at her fingernails. "How was the attack?" she asked apathetically.
"Terrible!" Gideon snapped. "I almost had that darn pig!"
Pacifica snickered. "What stopped you from grabbing it? Your inability to lift heavy things which is caused by your lack of muscles and surplus of body fat?"
Gideon scowled. "No! Dipper's gun!"
Pacifica looked up. "Dipper has a gun?"
"Yes, and he got it from that one building we visited!" Gideon said.
"The one building that has the people who'd kill us if they knew we were on the island?"
Gideon scowled. "No! That other building we visited on a nearly deserted with weapons and bad people!" he said sarcastically.
Pacifica sighed. "No need to be mean about it."
Gideon bit his lip. "I have no idea how that gun came into Dipper's possession! But if he can get one, then I can get a lot more! Enough to arm everyone on my side of the beach. I must do what's needed!"
"No!" Pacifica said.
"Shut up!" Gideon snapped. "You're not in charge!"
"Well I should be!" Pacifica yelled. She got to her feet. "The only reason you're in charge is because you tricked me out of my leadership position!"
"Because you freaking sucked at it!" Gideon shouted. "I took charge to keep our side alive! That has been, and always will be my main mission!"
"No, it isn't!" Pacifica said. She was near tears now. "I mean, it may have been that way in the beginning. That's why I originally didn't put up much of a challenge for my spot. But now because you want to arm everyone here with guns, I see that you're more concerned about wiping out Dipper's side instead of just surviving!"
"Wiping out Dipper's side will help us survive!" Gideon said stoically.
"Not all of us!" Pacifica said. "I know that our side and his side have had differences, but since none of us wanted to be here, I believe that we all have a right to live through this. Not just the people on our side. But you're so hell-bent on getting back at Dipper that you're forgetting that we should be surviving. Not fighting a war."
"It's a little too late for that," Gideon said.
Pacifica crossed her arms. "Fine. If you must fight a war, then promise me two things: one, you won't kill any of Dipper's people and two, you won't go out to that building to get more fire arms."
Gideon shook his head. "I can't promise you either of those."
Pacifica sighed. "Alright. But I can't support you anymore." She turned and walked out of the teepee.
Candy stared up at the bear as it prepared to strike. It was going to kill her. This was how she was going to die.
Suddenly, Soos ran into the campfire light and tackled the bear from behind.
The two fell forward and landed next to the campfire. Candy scooted backward in fear.
Soos managed to pin the bear beneath him, sat on its stomach, and began to punch it in the head.
But after a few strikes, the bear swiped at Soos, causing him to fall off.
The bear stood up on its hind feet and growled.
Soos got onto his feet ran forward and charged at the bear. Upon collision, the two of them fell out of the campfire's light. Punches, thumps, and growls could be heard in the darkness around the campfire.
Candy cautiously stood up while gripping her bloody arm.
Wendy regained consciousness and walked over to stand next to Candy.
"What's going on out there?" Wendy asked.
"The bear and Soos are fighting," Candy said.
Wendy gulped. "Dear Lord. I wish Soos the best of luck."
Suddenly, the growling, punching, and thumping stopped.
"Did you hear that?" Candy whispered. "They must have stopped fighting."
Wendy picked up the stick she'd used as a torch earlier from the campfire (the whole stick did not catch fire, so Wendy did not burn her hand).
Candy and Wendy stared into the darkness, waiting for something to happen.
A few seconds later, Soos walked into the light.
Candy and Wendy breathed a sigh of relief.
Soos pointed his thumb back towards the darkness. "That…was not easy."
Candy sat down and looked at her still bloody arm wound.
Wendy looked over and gasped. "Oh my goodness, you're hurt!" She handed the torch to Soos before kneeling down next to Candy. "What happened?"
"The bear scratched me with one of its claws," Candy replied. "I want to wrap it, but since all the anti-septics are back at the yacht, I don't know if it's a good idea, especially since I don't want to risk infecting it."
"But if it's not wrapped, it could bleed out," Wendy pointed out.
Candy nodded. "True…"
Wendy sat down. "Don't worry, I got you covered." She took off her plaid shirt (she still had her undershirt on, though) and tore off both sleeves with her teeth. She then used one sleeve to wrap around the wound and she used the other to tie the first sleeve into place.
Once done, Wendy put on her now sleeveless plaid shirt.
"Hey, guys, come over here!" Soos suddenly called out.
Candy and Wendy looked in the direction Soos' voice had come from and saw that he had wandered with the torch about ten yards from the campfire.
As Wendy and Candy walked over towards Soos, the two girls saw that he was standing next to a bush up against the side of the mountain.
The bush held at least twenty purple berries, each about the size of a gumball.
"Are these the berries we're looking for?" Soos asked.
Candy pulled out her Guide to Tropical Diseases book, opened it to a certain page, and gasped. "Yes! They are the Lebobst berries!"
Soos smiled. "Good. And it looks like we'll have a surplus." He extended his arm holding the torch, which illuminated several more berry bushes with Lebobst berries.
"There are enough berries to cure everyone who's sick," Candy marveled.
"Then let's get what's needed so we can do just that," Wendy said.
Meanwhile, back on the beach, Marco sat near the border of the two sides while soaking his feet in the waves that lapped the shore. His bow and quiver of arrows lay in the wet sand next to him.
Tonight had been a long night. Gideon's attack had certainly caught them off guard. Dipper had gotten Gideon to make his forces retreat, but apparently, that had come at a cost.
According to Dipper, Gideon had basically declared war just before he pulled out his forces. This declaration was said to be the result of Dipper pulling a gun on Gideon.
This completely shocked Marco, because he'd been completely unaware about Dipper even having a firearm.
As Dipper lay sleeping in the yacht (his confrontation with Gideon had drained the little energy he had left from The Sickness), Marco was nearly terrified.
Marco felt that Dipper's side had gotten lucky that the attack was so short; otherwise they likely would have been overrun due to the fact that so many kids were sick from the Vogelkrank flu.
If Dipper's side was going to have at least a shot at winning this war, they were going to need some help. But ever since arriving on this island, they'd received everything but help.
Marco suddenly heard someone walking near the border. He looked over and saw Pacifica walking around the border wall.
Marco jumped to his feet, picked up his bow, grabbed an arrow, notched it in the bow, and pulled back on the string, aiming at Pacifica.
"What are you doing here?" Marco demanded.
Pacifica gasped and put her hands up. "Ah! Please don't shoot me! I—I come in peace!"
"Why are you here?" Marco growled.
"I don't wanna be on Gideon's side anymore!" Pacifica said. "He's just so focused on killing your side that he's not concerned about just surviving! Please don't shoot me!"
Marco lessened the tension on the bow's string ever so slightly, but did not let go. "Yeah, well, we want to 'just survive' too, but because of him, we're fighting a war we don't need. Or even want!"
"That's why I want to help you" Pacifica said. "I'm terrified that Gideon's actions could get the whole beach into a dangerous situation."
"Why should we trust you?" Marco asked suspiciously.
Pacifica sighed. "I know I haven't given you guys much of a reason to trust me, but I'll tell you this: before I left, Gideon told me what he plans to do next. And it's pretty massive. So you could either shoot me with that arrow and be completely unprepared for what Gideon wants to bring your way, or you could let me in and I'll help you prepare."
Marco scowled. Several seconds later, he took the arrow out of the bow and threw them both on the ground. "Okay. Come with me!"
Marco led Pacifica towards the teepee.
Next time on Lost at Sea: Candy, Soos, and Wendy return to the beach only to find that Dipper and Miranda are about to be killed by the Vogelkrank flu. Can they use their berries to save Miranda and Candy? Or will they be too late? Find out next time, on Lost at Sea.
~Jameer14
