Disclaimer: did I do this for the previous chapters? If not, then….this counts! I don't own YuGiOh )
-
-
-
Chapter 3: A Wolf and A Lamb
Following her footprints, it didn't take long for Seto to find his . . . . 'prey.' Serenity was at the foot of a long tree, her face was buried in her knees, sobbing in misery. He could empathize with misery, who would want to be left all alone in the wilderness? Well, he wasn't alone, but that wasn't the point. Still, he hesitated while demanding the kit back, something he never did before.
She ought to be grateful.
"Go 'way," he heard her mumble, her tone laced with desperateness. Desperate for him to go away and leave her to die. I don't want to be stuck here with this horrible…..man, for that's what he is. So cruel and mean, telling me that myeveryone was dead! Why doesn't he keep his stupid thoughts to his negative old self? I want to be back home, in my nice comfy bed, not in the dirt of this horrible place. I wish I could yell at him, say 'you're a horrible mean old man, and, and….you act like you're 67!--yeah, yeah!-- a cynical, old 67 year old in a seventeen year old's body . . .' Slowly she raised her head, thinking it had been a long silence, and half expecting him to have gone and went. He hadn't; she nearly jumped in fright and surprise at the eerie way he was staring down. Sort of like when someone stares at an exhibit they can't quite figure out.
Probably thinking, 'What a naïve, stupid child who's a crybaby to boot.'
Actually, in fact, that was what he was thinking, along those terms. "Give me that kit you stole," he said tonelessly and emotionlessly, his voice deep and masculine, no-nonsense sounding, like her father's. No shit.
When she immediately threw it at him, he added simply, "Trying to be smart, eh?" He picked it up and sauntered away. At a few paces away, he stopped. "There will be cooked rabbit, if you're hungry by the shore." At another few paces, he went on, "Alright, you can stay there, but watch out for snakes." Then he was gone.
"S-snakes?" He heard a soft whimper wafted from the woods, he smirked and continued on his way. In a while, he heard soft footsteps behind him, and knew it was The Sister, though he turned just to make sure. That's what I'll call her, 'The Sister.' After all, this was wild territory, it could've been a wild boar he'd seen earlier when he scouted the island, but it wasn't. The island did looked to be uncharted, but judging from his calculations, they couldn't be that far off shore. Most likely, they were in one of Japan's offshore, many tiny uncharted islands, no doubt. And if the others hadn't died, they were probably searching withrescue squads scouring the area for them. But he knew better than to rely on someone else.
Serenity continued to follow his tall, brunette head, grateful for it, because it allowed her to follow at a safe distance. She planned to wait until he was asleep -- surely he wouldn't eat much since he didn't like to -- then grab a bite to eat. The reasons for this was very good: One, he would probably depress her with his negativity again and Two: She probably looked like the night of the living dead. Earlier, her friend Mai and her friend Tea, had given her a makeover for Seto's birthday party on the boat, and put lots of black mascara on her, which was probably smeared now, especially after she'd cried babyishly. But she was hungry, and though cooking a poor, innocentlittle rabbit, that made her thin of The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland,made her sick, she knew such had to attempt to survive, for her brother's sake. And mine.
Seto came to the place by the broken boat, studying the shore. It was getting so dark, he had to start the fire soon. Along the way, he had picked up some kindling, and made mental notes to store some in case it rained so it wouldn't get wet. Too bad I don't have some lighter fluid…..he thought as he tried to start the fire, but the wind kept blowing it out. It was hopeless, and it was getting so dark he could barely see, and he was cursing, under his breath at first, then louder.
Finally Serenity couldn't stand it. Wiping her face off with the hem off her sleeveless shirt, she approached to help. her slender body was clearly visible at her exposed midriff, until she let go and the shirt settled back. "Here, I'll keep block the wind . . . try it again."
"No! . . . we only have five matches left," he muttered, looking away. "We can't waste them . . . dammit! If we only had . . .some lighter fluid, but we don't . . . "
His eye fell on the shattered remains of the boat, just as she said, "What about . . . gasoline . . . ?"
"Perfect!" Well, sort of. It was sure to make the food taste funny, but it was better than starving to death. He strode over, while she watched, then Serenity saw the poor, squirming rabbit, it's haunches tied together, in the sand. Her heart went out to the poor, terrified creature, with death only imminent. I thought he killed it already! Probably wants to kill it in front of me, for his own barbaric pleasure. Her fingers itched to release it from its binds. If I do, Kaiba'll be angry . . . and I really don't want to experience his wrath of terror.
Still . . . the poor little bunny! I can't eat it . . .Especially now when it was looking up at her with huge, wet eyes, pleading for mercy. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. I'll free it, then head for the hills with the survival kit of course! Her hand inched closer towards the animal.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Seto snapped.
Serenity nearly jumped out of her skin, caught. The tone of voice was so icy, she actually felt her stomach freeze up, inside of her. She swallowed once, then tried her best to look innocent and helpless. "I-I wasn't . . . going to do anything . . . !"
"Yeah, right." He set down the tank of gasoline, and pouring only some on the kindling. "Like you really weren't going to set the hare free." His voice dripped with contempt. "Sentiment makes me retch!" he muttered, striking a match and throwing it, the whole kindling burst into flames.
She didn't know what to say, so she kept silent. Her eyes darted back to the creature, who now was wriggling frantically, looking more and more like Thumper from Bambi to her. I can't watch! She shut her eyes tightly., wishing she could set it free.
. . . but Kaiba was bigger and stronger than her. And she was all alone with him. He could do anything he wished anyhting at all, and no one could hear her screams…..!
Seto saw her, backing away from him wide-eyed, actually, it was more like scuttling, and wondered what was now going through her mind this time. This daydreamer female seems to be with her head in the clouds all the time! he thought with an eye-roll.
Whatever! This hare's my dinner, and no one's going to stop me! As if anybody could. He took up a long stick, and stuck it between the limbs of the animal, so it was like a pig on a spit, then set one end on a longY-shaped stick, stuck in the sand. Serenity let a horrified, choked gasp when she realized he planned to 'rotisserie' the bunny, a.k.a., cook it alive.
The creature squirmed and whimpered, sending daggers piercing through her heart. " You're cruel!" she blurted without thinking. Not that she didn't mean it, but they he slowly lifted his eyes to glare, she wished she'd bitten her tongue. "At least . . . kill it first!" she insisted, clutching her chest. "Don't make it suffer!"
"I would," he answered calmly, "but I don't have any knife. Oh, wait . . . here's one." He plunged the pocket knife into it with a sickening crunch, and she screamedoutloudin anguish, "Oh, cut the theatrics," he snapped irritably, set it over the fire and started turning it slowly.
He knew it was mean, and she'd probably burst into tears, but he couldn't help adding, "If you open your eyes, you can hear it's death cries. Yum." For the second time, she jumped to her feet, sand kicking up, to go and retch. What? "Hmm, I guess she's not interested." He thought aloud, alone in the dark,with a first real smile. In a long time, it sort of hurt his face. Musing, he heard the kkht kkht of static….
..from the radio….
The transmitter had been broken in the storm, or so he had thought! Grabbing it, he tried to radio for help. They took note, but since he didn't know which island, they would have to continue searching. Now, in much better mood, he decided to share this good news with her.
A little pang of guilt at the way he'd purposely scared her wove through, and he scowled, fiercely. Stupid female……Seto picked up the discarded 'bunny' and continued his roasting. Girls…..so sickeningly soft-hearted. What, she never ate a burger before? Is she a vegetarian? Burgers come from cows. Cows are animals. So are chickens. And pigs. Her brother is one. Why am I thinking of such inane thoughts? I must be happy.
Hm. How odd.
He turned his head to the right suddenly, hearing a sound. Taking a bite, Seto realized she was singing. Well, at least she didn't get eaten by a wild boar . . . I'll save some rabbit for her. I feel charitable. He ate his fill, wincing at the taste of gasoline. He was, of course, used to much finer things, like caviar and fine wine, but if I have to, I will survive on this! The will to survive was burning strong in him, and Seto found himself wondering if his brother was all right. He'd forgotten to ask.
I'm sure he is . . . he tried to comfort himself as he studied the sky. It was cloudless, with no moon. I'll leave the fire burning . . . I'm usually a light sleeper, so . . .Flies were started to buzz around the carcass, so he covered it with a piece of wet clothing, and put everything away neatly. Then he threw a cap over his head (it wasn't his, but oh well) and went to sleep, the song weaving around his subconscious.
A few hours later, Serenity crept back tothe littlecampsite, her footsteps muffled by the sand. She heard light snoring, and figured he was asleep. Finally! . . . her stomach felt like it was practically digesting itself, she was so hungry.She uncovered the meat, flinching as she ate. She really didn't want to eat, but her stomach held the food down, so she took another bite, and then another. I'll have to rinse out my mouth a million times with water after this! It tasted horrible! But her hunger didn't care, didn't matter. Finishing, she glanced at Seto's tall, sleeping form. It was nice of him to leave some for me . . . I really expected he'd hog it all . . . Still, I bet he didn't brush his teeth after eating. What a typical boy Then again, there's probably no toothbrush . . . Serenity went into a little fantasy about brushing his teeth while he slept, with a little dreamy smile.
"Must you make all that noise?" he growled, staring at her, wondering why she had a dreamy smile on. "Go to sleep, already!"
She realized with a start she was licking her fingers off, quite noisily and very unladylike by the way, and turned red. "Sorry! . . . " she said, doing it much quieter.
"By the way . . . " he added, looking away to the stars, "the radio said . . . that a search team should be here soon and they're continuing to look, for us."
She froze. "Really?! A-and…what about my brother? Did they say he was all right?!" In her eagerness, she planted her hands on the sand, leap-frog style, he saw how the lithe little body leaning forwards, dark, forest-green eyes fixed on him. "Well?" she prompted when he didn't answer right away.
"He's . . . all right." In truth, he hadn't asked, of course, but might as well tell her that, or she'd go running off into the woods again and get eaten by a boa . . . She seemed to have a habit of running. And as much as he would like her to disappear, it wouldn't do since rescue was coming.
"Oh! That's so great!" She wished she could hug someone, but only he was there, and she didn't dare or . . . So she hugged herself. "Did they---"
"No."
"Okay, okay." Looking around, Serenity made herself a 'nest' in the sand next to the grumpy guy, said her prayers heartily.The rabbit hadn't been very filling and her stomach grumbled.But fatigue sent her off to dreamland in seconds.
The temperature dropped at midnight. A woolly blanket dropped around her shoulders, and she smiled in her sleep, feeling warm and fuzzy. Seto shuffled back to his spot. ....who can sleep with all that shivering? he groused silently, slumping down.
TBC
-
-
-
A/n: It was sort of funny to imagine Serenity brushing Seto's teeth....lol. Anyway, review )
