A/N: I'm so sorry for the hiatus! 2021 has thus far been - arguably - worse than 2020 was. Especially for my family. Anyway, I'm back here and should hopefully be able to be back with more for A Healing Journey soon as well.
Just so you all know, this chapter will contain a little more... emotion, than the previous ones (you might have guessed this from the chapter title). Just letting you know so you're not expecting comedy and then get all this sprung on you. Enjoy!
The flashlight in Lloyd's hand shook, causing the beam to fly around wildly and illuminate random patches of fog. "It's not scary." His voice came out as more of a squeak than anything else, and he glanced back with wide eyes.
"If that was true you would have no problem keeping the flashlight on the map!" Brad peered at their surroundings, then back at the map. He allowed his finger to trace around the densely forested areas as his mouth drew into a tight line.
"Well, maybe it's a little scary… but- but I like scary!" He did his best to comply with his friend's 'request', although he was already having a hard enough time keeping himself walking. "I eat this stuff for breakfast!"
"Uh-huh." Brad blinked for a second before smacking the younger boy upside the head. "Lloyd! Can you focus for one second?! How are we supposed to rule alongside your father if we can't even find one tomb?!"
"We found the hypnobrai, this one shouldn't be-" He yelped, falling flat on his face. Brad sighed dramatically, and helped Lloyd untangle his foot from the root.
As the flashlight beam lifted, it landed on a mutated tree that vaguely resembled some kind of two-headed creature. Brad pushed the flashlight down, where it's light rested on a snake-themed switch.
"We found it!"
Brad nodded. "It looks like it. This time we should make sure we have a solid pla-"
Lloyd pulled the switch, releasing their second snake tribe.
*Evil Journeying*
"Well, that was a wipeout." Fangtom glanced back - with a single head - at the smaller of the two boys before realizing that the boy was speaking to the other human and not him.
"How was I supposed to know that those two were related to the blue ninja? And that he was going to visit today?!" Brad crossed his arms, glaring at Lloyd. "Besides, at least we got some vehicles."
Lloyd scoffed, turning away from Brad as he muttered "I wish I had a better partner."
Brad scoffed - pointedly louder than Lloyd - and puffed his chest out ever so slightly. "You think I'm the worse one in this group, henchman?"
Bright green eyes went wide as Lloyd's mouth dropped open. He regained control over his jaw long before his voice box came back, right around the time his eyes started watering.
"Fine. we're partners. Just please stop crying, it makes your eyes sparkle weird and it freaks me out."
Lloyd wiped at his eyes; which now contained little bits of water that were refracting the light in his eyes and causing little rainbows to appear in them. "I'm not crying."
He still accepted the hug from Brad.
"Ssso sssorry to interrupt, but…"
"Didn't you mention getting revenge againssst-" The second head jumped in, looking rather disappointed when they got interrupted by the first.
"The Hypnobrai?"
Brad glanced at Lloyd. "So, partner, are you going to stop being a wuss and help us kick some blue snake butt? Or are you going to sit here and cry?"
He shook his head, firmly. "No. I'm gonna get revenge." A smirk twisted onto his face. "Ten bucks says I'll get my revenge first!"
"You're on!"
Fangtom shook his head, and pressed on toward the mountain. He allowed his heads to smile at the hope that he could see Skales again, if his old friend was even alive after all these years.
*Evil Journeying*
After carefully extracting both himself and Lloyd out of the snow, Brad gently brushed off the smaller child. "I should've known this was a bad idea."
"We just went to the wrong tribe," Lloyd assured, "we won't make that mistake again!"
Brad gave a soft, but unmistakable shake of his head. "Lloyd, I hate to say this but, we need to find some other way to be evil. These guys were locked up for a reason, we should really leave them alone."
"So what? You're a quitter? You heard what they said! They're scared of the Anacondrai, so if we get those guys then it should be easy to defeat the ninja!"
"Lloyd," He folded his arms, allowing his eyes to narrow and get that cold, hard edge that all the teachers back at Darkly's wore. "I'm not going to help you release any more of these tribes."
Lloyd's face fell. "Okay. I'll…" He bit his lip, and he glanced at the ground before snatching the map from Brad's pocket and leaping away."I'll just have to release them myself!" He turned, starting to run away.
"If you do that, then… then… I'll go tell- no, I'll go join the ninja in stopping you!" The younger boy froze at the shouted threat, slowly turning around. His glare held a long crack of pain.
"You… you wouldn't dare!"
"I would." he held out his hand, fighting off the growing knot in his stomach. "Give me the map, Lloyd. We're going to burn it."
He glanced at the parchment in his hand, standing there staring as Brad approached. While Brad was still several paces away a tear trailed down his face as he tucked the map into his back pocket. "No. Go- go ahead. Tell the ninja. Be- be-" he swallowed, slowly. "Become a ninja. I. Don't. Care. I DON'T NEED FRIENDS! ESPECIALLY NOT ONES LIKE YOU!" He turned, sprinting through the snow as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Lloyd, WAIT!" Everything in him desperately wanted to console Lloyd, but his legs refused to move. He was forced to stand there, watching as his friend - his one true friend - disappeared into the icy mist. Once Lloyd was out of sight he finally allowed himself to collapse into the snow, tears rolling down his face and crystalizing before they hit the ground. This was all his fault. If only he could have figured out something that would have actually stopped Lloyd. If only he had actually followed Lloyd.
Or maybe the biggest 'if only' of all: if only he had never taught Lloyd how to read that map.
