Boat Trip – Chapter Five

Summary - The guys take a trip on Quatre's new boat. During the night they're hit with a violent storm, stranding them on an unknown island far from civilization. How will they survive?

Warnings: Violence in this chapter and in later chapters.

Authors Note: Well, finally I got this up here! Sorry I made you all wait for so long, writers block is really annoying. Also, life does like to creep in and take up your time. This chapter isn't one of the best chapters, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. Again I apologise for the long wait. Here is chapter five…

Heero heaved himself up onto the sandy shore, a look of pain etched into his face. He grit his teeth as he pulled Duo's unconscious form up beside him, then plopped hard against the earth as his exhausted body gave out. He let out a quiet groan as he laid, gasping for breath.

His body was tired and weary, the long fight against the thrashing waves was enough to tire anybody; but then Duo passed out, leaving the injured Heero with the task of keeping himself and his companion from drowning. And just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he was washed up on this beach.

How lucky was he.

Heero smiled to himself; Duo would have called it a miracle, and went on and on about how God saved them. It was a good thing the boy was unconscious, Heero thought. He wasn't in the mood to hear all that crap. God had absolutely nothing to do with it.

The young pilot groaned slightly as he pushed himself onto his back, cringing as he did so. He lay breathing hard, staring up at the night sky. Who'd have thought that such a harmless little boat trip could turn into such a disaster? Everything was just going so wrong and there was nothing he could do about it. This was just… stupid.

Heero sighed, watching as a meteor shot across the night sky, fading into the blackness. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and glared off over the dark sea; contemplating everything he could have done to prevent this.

Not going at all could have prevented it. He should have followed his gut and not allowed anyone -including himself- to waste time on such a fruitless outing. He had had a bad feeling about the trip the moment Quatre mentioned going, but ignored it and passed it off as his paranoia. But he had brought his gun, just incase. Good thing he did, or he and Duo would be dead right now.

A sudden twinge of pain ripped him from his thoughts. He glanced down at his bleeding leg, cringing slightly. Blood soaked through his jeans and into the wet sand beneath him. The shark hadn't done him much damage; he could probably survive without stitches. But Duo, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

Quickly he glanced at his companion, recalling the situation at hand. He had taken on the responsibility of Duo's safety the moment he jumped after him; and intended on keeping it. Duo needed help, and fast.

Heero pulled himself up and leaned over to drag Duo further up the beach, until he was completely out of the water.

Quickly he assessed the situation, Duo was bleeding heavily from his left leg and right shoulder. The gunshot wound didn't look too bad; it had skimmed right across the top of his shoulder, leaving a large bleeding gash. Luckily there were no bullets to remove.

His leg on the other hand, was bleeding heavily and needed immediate attention. Both wounds desperately needed stitches. Heero sighed, and glanced down at his companion who was beginning to come to.

Duo gave a quiet groan and opened his eyes, just enough to see Heero looking down on him.

"Duo." Heero said, his voice hard and emotionless.

The American glanced up; meeting Heero's hard distant gaze and gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment.

Heero frowned, searching through his mind for something he could do for his friend, but there was just nothing available for him to use. This was a beach, not a hospital. He had absolutely nothing to help his friend.

Suddenly he paused, quickly ripping open his side pocket and pulled out his new sewing kit. He sighed in relief, thanking Quatre for reminding him to bring it. This was perfect.

"Duo." He said again, his voice a little softer.

Dazed, Duo again opened his eyes and met Heero's gaze. "Am I going to die?" His voice cracked slightly.

"No Duo, you're not going to die..." Heero paused, "If I can stop the bleeding."

"How are you going to do that?" He asked, a bit of panic in his voice.

Without looking at him, Heero held up the sewing kit.

"What is that?"

"Just shut up and be quiet." Heero said as he set it back down and began to prepare it.

"What is it?"

Heero was silent, which scared Duo. He attempted to sit up but was quickly and harshly shoved back down. He voiced a quiet 'Ow' and laid in defeat.

"You're bleeding heavily, you need stitches."

Duo hesitated. Stitches? Why would he need stitches? What had happened anyway? Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember anything at all. He stared at the stars, noticing how blurry they were. He squinted but they only seemed to get dimmer, and he slowly became aware of how cold he was.

"Now be still" He heard the faint, clouded voice of Heero. Duo moaned slightly, and closed his eyes. Heero's voice again reached his ears, but it sounded far off and obscure. Slowly darkness came over him and dulled his senses, until finally consciousness slipped from his grasp.

Heero sat quietly in the shade of a tree, carefully cleaning his injured leg with a piece of his shirt he had torn off. He had finished stitching Duo about an hour ago and was now working on himself. He had only needed a few stitches and was now wrapping his leg with the scrap of cloth.

He paused and slowly glared over at Duo who was beginning to wake. The braided boy laid a few yards away under the shade of another tree. Heero had moved him there after he was finished, to protect him from the harsh sunlight.

It looked to be about midmorning, so Heero decided to take a look around. He wanted to figure out where they were, and maybe he'd find the other pilots. If they were still alive, that is.

He stood up slowly, trying to ignore the pain that shot through his leg. He glanced around the area, mentally marking off any distinct landmarks that would remind him of the area. After a moment, he slowly limped into the jungle, all the while keeping in mind how to get back to where Duo was.

After what seemed like hours of walking, his leg was begging to go numb from the pain.

'I'll take a rest in a minute.' He thought to himself.

The abrupt sound of rustling bushes caught his attention, alerting him immediately. He stood still and after only a second, a large boar dashed quickly past him, oblivious of his presence.

Heero stood and watched as it disappeared into the trees. He looked over in the opposite direction it had been running, and started off that way, curious of what had scared it.

Only a few minutes walk brought him to a small clearing.

Cautiously he stepped out and inspected the area; and having found nothing, he continued on through the forest.

Soon he came upon a small stream; the soft dulcet sound of rushing water relaxed him. He knelt down and rewarded himself with a quick drink, then spent a while washing the blood and dirt that stained his body. And as soon as he had arrived, he left and headed back to Duo.

'He'll probably be angry at me for leaving him.' He thought, slightly amused. Duo didn't like to be alone, ever. He would always seek out human contact. Heero on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He really didn't care weather or not he was with people. Or at least, that was what he liked to tell himself. He did enjoy Duo's company, he admitted. The fact that Duo sought him out puzzled him. No one had ever wanted to be around him. Most people he ran into seemed intimidated, or afraid of him.

But Duo seemed to actually like him, if that were even possible.

Finally, Heero managed to find his way back to their 'camp'. Duo was sitting hunched over under a tree, and didn't seem to notice the Japanese boy's presence.

He walked a little closer, trying to see what the other pilot seemed so absorbed with, when suddenly the boy whirled around in surprise.

"Heero!" He said shocked, and after a moment of silence, his shock shifted to anger.

"Why the hell did you leave me?" He shrieked, "All alone and defenseless, you jerk! I'm injured; I can't even stand up. And some stupid animal almost ate me, damn it!" He pointed towards the jungle, as he glared daggers at his companion.

Heero allowed a slight curve to his lips, which looked somewhat like a smirk. He was right, Duo was angry.

Duo was fuming, and showed him by picking up a rock and throwing it in his direction as he muttered a few more curses. Heero stood his ground, and the rock missed its target by a mile. The American snorted in disgust and turned to face what he had been working on earlier.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked, slightly mockingly as he crossed his arms over his chest and approached his friend.

Duo paused, irritation clear in his voice, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to start a damn fire."

Heero arched an eyebrow, the idea that they may be stuck on this island for quite a while just now occurring to him.

He knelt down beside his friend, "Duo, why don't you rest a little? I'll work on this." He gently shoved Duo to the side, and took the sticks he had been using, "Now, what's this about an animal almost eating you?"

"It was just some stupid pig." He stated as he crawled over and laid against a tree, "I'm tired, I'll tell you about it later…"

Heero nodded and began working on starting a fire. Knowing that their time on this island could be longer that he had thought.

Well, that's it for now. I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can! Remember to reveiw!

-Kinkosami