Warning . shounen-ai
Disclaimer . If we owned Shaman King, do you think we would have let 4Kids dub it? No, I don't think so.
.
"Camp Happy Pants"
Chapter Seven . Bit by a Snake
.
While the three missing members of Troop 69 were being held against their will by the "mystery villains," their troopmates searched high and low.
"Psshhh. . . click! Blue team, do you copy?"
Ryu and Chocolove glared at Silva, who was holding his hand up to his mouth as if he were speaking into a walkie talkie.
"Psshhh. . . stand down, blue team! Stand down!"
"Would you be quiet?" Chocolove asked as nicely as possible.
"Psshhh... sorry," Silva answered. In turn, he was pounced on by Ryu.
.
A few yards away, Yoh watched as Ren tried to build a fire by twirling a stick and a leaf.
"That isn't how you -- would you like me to do it?" Hao asked as he watched Ren throw the stick down angrily.
"Who made you the expert on fire?" Ren snapped, looking up at Hao. Behind Hao was Spirit of Fire. At noting this, Ren hung his head and motioned toward the leaf.
"Hao, I don't think--" Yoh was cut off by a massive flame that blew past him. It lit a chunk of the forest on fire.
"Yoh, I think you're right. We didn't need that big of a fire," Ren nodded, watching large, flaming trees fall to the ground, setting more of the forest on fire.
Yoh glanced around. "I think we should get out of here."
And with that, they were making a hasty exit from the trees.
.
Horo opened his eyes and winced. It felt like some had sat on him -- someone big.
"Look, he's awake," Manta commented as Horo sat up and rubbed his head. The two of them and Lyserg were still in the same room, still being held by the same captors.
Nothing further was said for a while. The tense silence was broken when Horo suddenly spoke.
"One time," he began, going into storyteller mode," Ren and I were walking through the forest, and this big snake jumped out from behind a bush at us! Well, snakes don't jump, so I guess it slithered out really fast of something. Maybe it flew at us from the bush, or--" At the looks Manta and Lyserg were giving him, Horo resumed the original story. "Anyway, it went straight for Ren and. . ."
He paused and sniffled. "It. . . bit him! I hate snakes, so I stood there and cried. If a snake bit anyone -- anyone -- I would cry. I hate snakes."
The other two prisoners sighed as they watched Horo on the verge of tears. They really, really hoped that their troopmates would save them, and fast.
.
Back above ground, Yoh, Hao, and Ren had resumed searching for clued in another part of the forest. They were making their way through the tress, Hao trying to make a pass at Yoh, when something jumped -- er, slithered really fast -- out of a bush.
"A snake," Yoh observed calmly as the said snake proceeded to bite Ren and slide away again.
"Oh, what a pity," Hao mock-sighed. "I guess I'll have to suck the poison out."
.
"Nooo!"
Manta and Lyserg watched as Horo rolled on the ground and wailed pitifully.
"Someone's been bit by a snake; I can feel it!" he cried. They merely looked on.
.
". . . Hao? I don't think sucking the poison out requires taking Ren's shorts off. The snake bit his ankle," Yoh pointed out.
"Be quiet," Hao retorted as he attempted to pull off the struggling Ren's shorts. "I'm the expert here."
"It was a grass snake," Ren growled, kicking at Hao. "Look what I fell on . . . Doesn't it look familiar?"
Hao and Yoh looked at Ren's hand, both noting the patch with a large letter X on it.
"No," Yoh answered. Hao shook his head in agreement. Ren stood up and shoved it in Yoh's face.
"You mean to tell me that this doesn't ring any bells?" Ren demanded, shaking the patch. "Even the bell entitled X-LAWS?!"
Yoh laughed. "What would the X-Laws be doing here, Ren?"
"Kidnapping people."
"Nah, they aren't here. Let's move on," Hao stated. He and Yoh walked off, leaving Ren to fume.
.
"Look there! It's Yoh and Hao! But where is teammate Ren?" Silva asked as he, accompanied by extremely frustrated troopers Ryu and Chocolove, approached the pair.
"I'm right here, and I have a clue as to who kidnapped our troop members," Ren said as he emerged from behind a nearby tree.
"Who?!" Silva shrieked, nearly jumping Ren.
"The X-Laws," he replied, holding up the patch.
"Don't be silly, Ren. Why would the X-Laws be at camp? I haven't seen them swimming in the lake or eating in the mess hall, have you?" Silva laughed, patting Ren's shoulder. The rest of the group joined in, laughing and dismissing Ren's accusations.
"Let's go. We need to find those three soon," Silva said. Ren glared angrily as everyone walked off, completely ignoring his idea.
.
Later that day, the five remaining members of Troop 69 and Silva were gathered in the cabin after hours' worth of unsuccessful searching. Ren sat on his bed, glaring at the others as they shared suggestions as to who the kidnappers were.
"I bet it was Nichrome . . . the little bastard just wants to make sure that he wins in the mud wrestling match," Silva grumbled.
While the others elaborated on Silva's suspicion, Ren fumed.
Everyone looked up when he interjected, "Coming here was a bad idea. Why'd you even open the letter in the first place?" His question was directed to Yoh, who was about to reply when Silva cut in.
"Letter? What letter?" he questioned, glancing between the two.
"The invitation to come to camp," Yoh answered matter-of-factly. Seeing the confused look on Silva's face, he reached under his bunk for his bag. "Hold on, I have it in here."
When Yoh handed him the envelope, Silva pulled out the letter and skimmed it. He was silent for a moment before stating,
"Well, it looks authentic. It's the funniest thing, though; we don't send out invitations."
Ren leaned over and snatched the paper from their troop leader. After staring at it, he shoved the invitation into Yoh's face.
"Why the hell didn't you notice this?!" he yelled, waving the paper under Yoh's nose.
Yoh looked blankly at the paper, then at Ren. "Notice what?"
"This!" Ren tapped the top of the paper.
Where Ren's finger pointed, there was a flowery letterhead plastered with the X-Laws logo. It was painfully obvious from whom the letter had been sent.
". . . Ren, are you still stuck on that X-Laws idea?" Silva asked carefully, peering over at the letterhead. "Because it's just ridiculous." He grabbed the letter and folded it back up, handing it to Yoh.
"X-Laws," he chuckled. "The very idea."
Ren glared as his troop laughed at him. Even as Silva ushered them all into bed, promising a more fortunate search tomorrow, he knew that he was right about the X-Laws.
.
a/n . Okay, so it was kinda short. Sorry about the "cliffhanger" last chapter. Didn't even realize it was much of one. -blinks- Anyways, if you can't guess who the kidnappers are now, maybe you should stop reading. Seriously. ^^; We were surprised that no one guessed right. Oh well.
Also, we got a Livejournal recently. If you like our fan fiction, check out for more Hineyisms, such as our weird Shaman King role play and Kristen's art. XD! We're also looking for someone to make an animated icon or two for us. ... We'll pay you somehow. Just name the price -- us write a story for you, Kristen draws a picture for you, Becky whores out her body for you. -cough- Tell us in a review or an e-mail (to thehineygods@yahoo.com) if you'll do it and tell me what you want.
When's the next chapter? No clue! But we can guarantee it'll be out eventually. And thanks to all of the reviewers. You guys work as motivation when we don't feel like writing! XD