Chapter V: A Stare
AN:
Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
Wow, it really has been a while since the last Island, huh? Sorry 'bout that, the other stories have just been writing themselves so much more easily than this one, so this kinda fell by the wayside for a while. Hopefully this two-chapter upload will make up for that. I'm quite happy with how these turned out, I think. I like The Hunter character I've got for the Island flashbacks. Let me know what you think of those, btw. I've got two in this chapter and two in the next, so hopefully y'all like them. Writing Rachel is hard, as always though, simply 'cause I'm entirely drawing from other fics to get an idea of the characters voice. I hope you like the way I've done her. I definitely don't like writing Kate this way though. I've gotten use to writing her like I did in The Blackwell Job, but that doesn't work her, so I've been trying to dip into her character without getting too in-depth and I thought it turned out terribly. You might think differently though, so let me know.
Also, no update next Wednesday. I have some assessment thing next Thursday that counts as 10% of my final grade, so I'm working on that instead. Sorry, folks, but I'll definitely have something done for the week after.
Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
Lycan13: Is it Cake? Ooh, I hope it's cake. :) And hey, you might be surprised.
That's not what I meant by the vote. I was asking what y'all wanted me to work on after I finish these. I detest leaving things unfinished, so I'll definitely be finishing all the stories I've posted, including Empire.
Aaron Leach: Thanks! I hope the rest lives up to it. :)
MaxNeverMaxine: Yeah, I could see Chloe's face in my head while I was writing it and couldn't stop giggling. And I don't know, for now. I'm angling towards the 0t3, atm though. Maybe with a little love-triangley confusion first though. Rule 3 of Fic-Writing: Can't let them be happy without playing around with them a little first. :)
Guest: Yep. Like she said, you even accumulate shit marooned on an Island. And speaking from experience, with great difficulty. There's lots of "To me, to you" bullshit to deal with.
TimeDragon: I know the feeling, Dragon. I have a similar problem back in 'meatspace'. So much easier to talk to people through the internet. Tragic for an aspiring therapist, I know, but it is how it is.
Yeah, speaking from experience, getting anything out of windows in England is nigh impossible. No idea how big the windows are in your part of the world, but in England, they are TINY. Even old ones are. There was a 'Window Tax' back in the 1600s, so small was cheapest.
GrumpyCat42: Nananananananana BATMAX! (That's like half of what I know about Batman right there. Superheroes really aren't my thing. Couldn't even tell you what Alfred's surname was. Tylerbamafan34 has graciously agreed to answer questions, should I have any, so thanks to him for any and all superhero facts featured in this fic.)
Moijifan Low-Ki: Yep, she certainly is and she certainly does. I'm not sure, honestly. She might be genuinely interested, but she could just be pulling Chloe's leg. Both are quite in character for Rachel (As far as we know.)
Drax21: Vote counted. :) Everyone does seem to like the zombie idea.
The Hunter prowled the tunnel, stalking her prey. The creature was strong, the largest of it's kind and with an appetite to match. The huge beast was intruding on The Hunter's territory, passing into the tunnels she called home earlier that day. She had witnessed the creature devour several of her Darkebeest, the small, cattle-like creatures that provided a significant portion of her diet, and the rest of her herd had fled into the tunnels, perhaps never to return.
The Hunter was angry.
She watched now, as the monster lumbered down the thin side passage, exactly as expected. She slid her blade from its sheath, smiling faintly as she felt it's weight in her hand. There was something almost comforting about it, a constant companion in the dark passages she called home. She ran a finger along the blades edge. Still sharp.
She paused, waiting for the sound that would begin her hunt anew.
A throaty growl stopped the creature in it's tracks. It peered ahead, curious about the source. The Hunter knew this was a futile effort, the creature could distinguish little beyond a few feet. Again, the growl came, and the creature hunched, coiled muscles tightening as it readied for it's new victim.
Far behind, The Hunter came out of her hiding space, running impossibly fast along the tiny cracks and spurs in the corridor walls. Using her armour, she was invisible against the rock, and the long months of practice meant she made barely a sound.
The growl came again, but didn't move closer. The monster shuffled forward, hunting for it's prey. When it crossed through the low archway, The Hunter clicked a switch.
Suddenly, the arch filled with an inky black cloud and the creature stepped back, as The Hunter knew it would.
She fell upon it, leaping on it's back from the wall. She landed and ran up it's scales to get to the thing's head. The creature reacted the minute her feet landed, writhing and rearing to try dislodge her. It breathed out a cloud of toxic fumes, desperate to kill this new challenger.
But The Hunter knew her prey, knew that it's eyes could kill. She kept out of it's gaze, knowing that if the beast saw her, she was dead. When she reached the head, her blade dived into one of the thing's eyes and it screamed in sudden agony. It thrashed about, trying to dislodge her again.
But The Hunter was too fast.
She let the anger flow, bashing blow after blow onto it's armoured head, flecking off scales and biting at the flesh underneath. The beast had intruded on her domain, and now it would pay the price.
Price...
The monster understood the danger, but still believed it could win. It always won.
Until the great cat launched itself out of the darkness, latching onto the belly of the beast. Sharp claws dug deep lines into the creature's throat, catching its attention it as it tried to fend off the new opponent.
The Hunter saw her moment, and her blade dug viciously into the things head, slamming through scale, through flesh, and through skull, pushing the monster over the precipice into death. Long after the monster fell, the sword kept battering savagely at it's corpse. Eventually, the strikes slowed to a stop. The Hunter removed her hood and inspected the broken pile of gore and bone at her feet. She raised her blade and gave a primal cry of victory.
She was the Hunter and these were her hunting grounds!
When she had thrown all her rage out in that scream, she looked upon the cat and felt ashamed. The Panther's eyes judged her, even if the Panther herself did not. The cat was The Hunter's only companion, her only link to the civilised past she had once known.
She sheathed her long blade and pulled a smaller one, settling down to slice at the beast's corpse. This was a good find. The Hunter would eat well tonight.
She stood up, her work complete. Her eyes settled on the panther gazing at her. She reached out and ran her fingers through her mane. "
The two prowled back into the quiet tunnels and caverns. Back to the cave they called home. They had a herd to find.
I woke up.
I'm not on the Island.
Blackwell.
I sighed and got out of bed, collecting my shower things.
Showering done, I went back to my room and dressed. My first class was soon. I grabbed my bag and headed out onto the corridor.
"Hey Max! How are you?" A tall girl moved out of a door behind me.
I turned and smiled faintly at her. Dana. "Hey. I'm good." Ask her how she is, dumbass. "How are you?"
She beamed, all bubbly. "I'm great! There's a party on this weekend! Me and the toyboy are getting all dressed up." She pauses, looks at me for a second. "You should come! Rachel and Chloe are coming, so you'll know some people and," I don't really catch the rest of it, she's talking so quickly.
I stared at her for a second. "A party?"
She nods, grinning. "Yeah, girl! So, will you come? Please say you will!"
I... "I really don't know..."
"Oh, come on, Max. You need to let loose, girl. It's been, what, like 1800 days since your last party? You need to get down with it, girl!"
I get the feeling she isn't going to give this up, so I shrug. "I guess I can go."
She grins. "Great! We can meet up before the party and I'll get you all dolled up! This is gonna be so fun!"
I smile back. "Yeah. Now, I've really got to get to class. See you later, Dana."
She smiles again. "Seeya!"
I turn and I leave, somewhat baffled by the whole experience. Not much Girl-talk on the Island. Or beforehand, really. Wowzers, that was weird.
I walk into the classroom, scanning the faces. Some seem friendly, some apathetic, some aloof. The usual high-school cliques. I recognise Kate sitting in the back corner and move to her table.
"Hi. Kate, right?"
She looked up and smiled at me. "That's me. And you're Max. Did your move go ok? I hope there were no more collisions."
I smiled. Kate was nice. "It did. I met a few of the others."
She nodded. "Yes, we have quite a colourful group in the dorms."
I snorted. That's an understatement. "We sure do. Can I sit with you?"
She smiled and nodded her head. "Of course."
We chatted a little before class started. She gave me some, uh... well. Turns out Kate is quite the gossip.
The teacher walked in a couple of minutes late. Idiot. He slid a bag onto his desk and turned to look at us all. He was handsome, I guess. In a pretty-boy older guy sort of way. But there was something... predatory about the way he scanned the room. Like he was a wolf picking sheep from a flock. His eyes settled on me and he smiled.
"Alright, everyone. Let's get started. Now, for those of you who haven't noticed, we have a new student with us." His eyes never leave mine. "This is Max."
He walks forward to stand in the middle of the room. I frowned. He's left his back open to half the room. "So, today we're talking about Chiaroscuro." He leant back against the empty table.
I didn't really listen to the rest of the lecture. I found myself thinking back to the island.
I remember vividly the day I walked into the caves below the Islands surface. Miles of tunnels and caverns lay before me, a life of freedom and adventure. More than that, I entered the caves with the belief that I could live my life as I chose, no longer forced to the will of others.
I had no fucking idea. In those caves was freedom, there was adventure, but there was also unending solitude. As I got more and more used to the tunnels, survival became easier and harder all at once. I trained and trained and became strong, able to defeat anything that wandered into my land. It didn't take me long to find the one enemy I could never defeat. The one I could never hide or run from.
Solitude.
My hand snapped up and caught the paper, returning it back instinctively. Something I'd practised a lot back on the Island. Hours and hours of throwing blades back and forth until it was completely instinctual. I didn't see it, but I knew it hit someone from the alarmed yelp. I flick my eyes up to Kate, who gives me a grateful smile.
She looks over my shoulder and her face falls. I follow her gaze to see Victoria glaring daggers at me. I return her stare. She blanches and slides her eyes away from me again.
Eyes are an important tool of survival out in the wilds. A good Stare can discourage many predators, and Victoria was no different. I'm predicting a show of dominance soon.
The rest of the lesson went quickly and without anything else interesting happening.
Kate and I headed out onto the corridor, chatting about... Well, just small talk, really. Weather, classes, that sort of thing.
"Well, if it isn't Island Jane." The two girls behind Victoria tittered. I'd never really heard a laugh that fit that before, but theirs certainly did. Reminded me of a Taca bird, from back on the island. Annoying little rat-birds.
I smiled. "That's me. And you are?" Predators always hated a bold prey. They needed fear to rule.
She bristled, but hid it. Then, she smirked. "I'm Victoria Chase. I rule this school."
I opened my mouth to reply when a voice rang out from behind her. "You fuckin' challenging me, Vic? 'cause I'm pretty sure the crown was on my head, last I looked."
Victoria snorted. "Jesus, Nate. Just letting the new girl know where she stands."
"New girl?" He frowned at me. It was like being frowned at by a tiger. Or maybe a wolfshark. It was an appraising frown. Seeing if I was going to be a threat or not. Apparently, he decided not, because he smiled instead. Then I wasn't sure what the emotion was. Could be pleased, could be nauseous. I've been on an Island for five years, people. Plus, I was never really good at this before, either. I mostly just relied on Chloe to do the talking. She liked to joke she was enough voice for both of us.
I nodded. "Max."
He frowned again. "Max?"
I frowned this time. "Yeah. Max."
He stared at me for a second. I hadn't a clue what he was thinking. "Huh. Well, like Vic said, we own this place. We own you. So don't fuck with us, got it?"
I nodded and watched them leave. Well, that was... something. I turned and left for my dorm.
