-Chapter Eight: Or at least congratulations (Now I have learned my lesson)-
It had been another three days, a lot longer than Bad had anticipated. Maybe I'm really not heading the right direction, he thought, shaking the snow out of his toes. No shoes ever fit him, and he never really paid attention to Puffy when she was trying to teach him how to sew.
He wondered where she was.
Shaking the possibly depressing thought from his head, he continued on, the satchel weighing more and more the further steps he dared to take. Even jumping across the smallest stream known to man seemed like a workout.
He narrowed his eyes, the piercing sun stabbing his eyes as it reflected against the impossibly white snow. Searching for any sign of civilization in the distance. He was sorely disappointed when nothing materialised.
Is he even still retired? It's been forever… Bad wondered, getting lost in his thoughts as he started walking again, aimless as ever.
"He wouldn't break down his house, would he?" Bad said aloud, as if there was anyone to hear him. "And what about his dogs? His polar bear?"
Bad blinked a bit, feeling like he just stepped on something harder than snow. His leg tensed and he stumbled, almost falling on his face. He tried to refocus as he dusted himself off and pinpointed what he had tripped over.
It wasn't ice.
It was a potion bottle.
~--~
Skeppy didn't know when to go back.
Nothing felt safe. Bad was the only one he trusted, and he most definitely couldn't go back to his dad and ask for protection. Not when the demon was involved.
The demon stuck to the shadows mostly, watching wearily as Skeppy fawned over the grass and made flower crowns (hardly considered one but he loved it anyways), and he would lay down as well in the shade as Skeppy lay in the sun's light.
Skeppy never understood why.
He begged him to come out, play with him. Bad always politely declined.
"But why?" Skeppy whined, trying to tug him into a small dappled area. Bad moved backwards, back into the dark. Skeppy frowned. "Aren't you cold?"
Bad shook his head, sitting down and pulling his hood over his head. Skeppy snorted, sitting next to him to rip the hood off. "You look so dumb with it up like that." he snickered as the other's fur on his neck rose in shock.
"H - Hey! Why?" Bad demanded, smacking his hand away.
The boy just kept on laughing, the thought getting more and more stupid the more he thought about it. "Y - Your horns." he snickered. "Your head looks so big and bumpy -"
"Oh, stop it." Bad grumbled, rubbing the horns on his head self - consciously. "Where my hood sits shouldn't concern you."
"Well, maybe it should since I'm your friend and I'm always right."
"Oh, now you just nominate yourself as my friend? You need to earn my loyalty, diamond boy."
"And how?" Skeppy smirked. "You're acting pretty sus, now, demon."
Bad narrowed his eyes. "I swear if I wasn't trying to provoke peace right now I'd wipe that smile off your face."
"You'd love to, wouldn't you." Skeppy smirked. Bad blanched, stuttering a bit until looking away. "Stop, you mean potato."
Skeppy erupted into laughter, but he nudged the demon with his elbow. "Yet you never denied it."
Bad hissed at him before getting up and walking away. "Moron."
Skeppy hopped after him, teasing him relentlessly while the other tried to stay sane. Slowly they approached the edge of the wood, and Skeppy stopped. "We've never travelled this far…" he said uncertainly.
"I know." Bad said, bringing his hood up again with his horns now in front of the seam. Skeppy couldn't hold back a satisfactory grin, but he didn't comment on it.
"What do you mean 'you know'?"
"I was thinking… we - I am going farther away. I don't really, um, stay in one place for long. And plus, the hunters… they might still be close."
"We are." Skeppy corrected, putting his hands on his hips. His arm already felt so much stronger, but he kept the black cloth around his arm. He thought it looked pretty cool, and Bad didn't contradict, so he kept it.
"No, Skeppy, you might not be able to go back -" Bad said, gesturing to the woods behind him, roughly in the direction of his kingdom.
"I don't want to go back. What if the hunters hurt me, try to pry information out of me? Not gonna happen, demon boy."
"Skeppy, they're not after you. They won't hurt you. I highly doubt they think you can help them at all."
"Geez, thanks." Skeppy grumped. "But I'm still going."
Bad sighed, looking back in front of them to new land. "Are you sure…?" he asked hesitantly, perhaps hopefully. Skeppy nodded in confirmation, a confident smile splayed on his face. "Very."
Bad sighed. "I can't sway you, can I?"
"Nope."
"You realise this is a dangerous journey? I don't take the easy way, and you're just a prince."
Skeppy laughed. "Just because I lived a good life doesn't mean I'm incapable of climbing a rock."
-
He was incapable of climbing a rock.
But in his defence it was really big!
Like… really, really big.
Skeppy huffed, dragging his body over the newest outcrop and flopping down. Bad was just standing there, infuriating the smaller, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it. Save for complaining.
"No need to rub your freaking strength in." Skeppy grumbled, trying to catch his breath. Bad laughed slightly, looking up at the humongous rock as if gauging where they would go next. "I climb mountains a lot, definitely more than you do."
"Mountains? THAT'S what this is?" Skeppy squeaked, stumbling to sit up. "I thought it was just a rock we could've gone AROUND but you felt the need to prove your worth for whatever reason so we went OVER it."
"Yes, that is exactly what's happening, Skeppy." Bad deadpanned, rolling his head back to look down at the smaller.
Skeppy gasped mockingly. "I knew it!"
"Just come on already? We're almost there." Bad proclaimed, throwing up his hands.
"Almost WHERE?" Skeppy demanded, feeling in the mood to start a small cat fight. Bad growled, and he looked so close to bursting, but to Skeppy's sadness, he regained his composure. "The top." he hissed.
"THANK you!" Skeppy exclaimed.
And they were not almost there.
Days passed, each one spent scraping raw hands against hard stone and almost slipping and dying a couple of times. They were all spent with the two arguing about each other, be it about their journey or about something as stupid as the food Bad brought.
But the nights were slightly enjoyable.
Those were the times where they would finally stop banging heads on rock and instead lay them on a somewhat softer surface. They would start a fire, get food out and cook it so it was nice and fresh. Skeppy loved that.
Bad handed Skeppy a bowl of blueberries. Even though this food was the new normal every day since they set out, Skeppy couldn't complain. Fresh food was so much better than musty bread from home. Even the grapes tasted fake in the castle, but here, blueberries tasted alive.
Skeppy took it gratefully and scarfed it down, not even waiting for Bad to sit next to him to eat as well. Bad just smiled and ate a bit more politely.
Skeppy wiped his purple mouth, smudging it a bit as he grinned in contentment. "Finally! I was starving."
"I can tell." Bad replied, taking Skeppy's bowl back. "Need to find a stream…" he muttered under his breath.
"Not yet." Skeppy said a little more loudly, leaning on Bad dramatically to make him stay. Bad rolled his eyes and tried to push him away, but Skeppy just flopped back.
"Skeppy, I don't want mold growing on the things we eat in." Bad complained, unable to stand up as Skeppy's head rested on the other's thigh. He was just too polite. "Yeah, sure, but you can find it in the morning." Skeppy muttered. "Plus, we've been hiking all day. Aren't you tired?"
"I'm energetic enough to get up and clean the freaking dishes!" Bad exclaimed, tail flicking in annoyance.
"Don't go…" Skeppy sang, voice shrill and off tune. Bad blew in his face to make him stop. "Bad, don't leave me…"
"Okay, okay, fine!" Bad huffed, slouching back against the rock. Skeppy giggled happily, burrowing deeper so now he was completely leaning against Bad.
Bad glared down at him, but Skeppy just kept his sleepy smile, knowing there was no heat behind the demon's gesture. And very faintly, so faint it was like it wasn't there…
He could hear a purr!
"Bad?" he asked, smirking. "Is that a purr?"
"Wh - no!" Bad exclaimed, pushing Skeppy's ear away from his chest. "No, why would I be purring?"
"Because you're cute." Skeppy teased, poking the other's hands away so he could put his head back. "I like it."
Bad just stayed silent, but he let Skeppy move closer, his purr still contained but there. Skeppy didn't want it to go away. It was relaxing.
"Night, Bad." Skeppy murmured, closing his eyes.
Bad let a small hum slip through, before he rested his arms around the smaller. "Goodnight, Skeppy."
Yes, he liked the nights.
(A/N) Sorry for being MIA for a while! After I got a review from someone on this I realised I still was working on this, so sorry about that
Definitely more weekly updates and short stories coming up! Thank you all for being patient.