Here we go! Chapter four! I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed this story so far, I hope you like it! And, I'd like to take a second to say, would you guys please check out some of my other stories, maybe? Oh, and I'm renewing my disclaimer for safety.
Disclaimer- I do, yet again and still, do not own Yugioh!. I honestly wish I did, things would be a lot different in the series if I did. -lopsided grin-
Okay, off to my story. Hope you like.
The four teens sat in silence after they ate. Tea inched her way back over to her original position under the window, and she worriedly looked at Joey.
"Joey, are you sure you're okay?" Joey let out a laugh, nodding.
"Yeah, of course. I'm fine," he smiled widely, but honestly, he was feeling a pulsing pain in his hand.
"So what happened exactly, Joey?" Yugi asked, scooting towards Joey a bit. Joey laughed a little.
"Well, like Tea said, I went into the swamp. I was wading around until suddenly, I stepped on something, and it slid away, and I fell backwards... now that I realize it, I think it might have been the snake... anyway, I started back to shore, when I felt the snake swim across my waist, I could feel it's scaly skin... when it disappeared for a moment, I caught my breath, when suddenly, the thing popped out of the water right next to me! It lunged at me to bite me, so I held up my arm in defense. It took hold of my hand, and it's fangs went through... man, was it painful!" Joey held out his hand. He began to unwrap it.
Tea looked away, unable to see the wound. When Joey completely unwrapped it, the three boys stared at it.
The wound was no longer bleeding, but you could still see where the bite had taken. The part of it that the boys were staring at was the blackness that started to form. Joey's skin around the wound had turned a purple-ish black color.
"Dude, I don't think that's normal..." Tristen whispered under his breath. Joey nodded, his chocolate eyes saucers at his hand.
"Wha- what's going... on?" Yugi frowned. "Joey, does it hurt??" Joey stopped staring at it, quickly shaking his head. He quickly wrapped the hand back up.
"I'm fine, I'm sure it will be gone in a few days," he chuckled a bit. "You guys shoulda seen the looks on your faces!" Yugi looked down, and Tristen looked away. Joey silently scooted back up against a wall. He knew it was wrong. Something was wrong with him.
"Tea, are you alright over there?" Yugi's voice came from the center of the room, directed toward the window. Tea, the only one in the room that could be seen, nodded. Her blue eyes showed, once again, how fearful she was. She sat, staring at the ground, in an almost fetal position. Yugi crawled over to Tea.
"Joey's going to die, isn't he?" Tea asked, fear still lacing her voice.
"No!" Joey quickly replied. He stood up. "Tea, I am FINE. Completely FINE! It will go away! I promise you, it's nothing! It will go away, eventually! It's just because of the bite! Just something that happens when you get a bite of some sort! It will go away!" Joey was now panting, standing there, almost glaring at Tea. Tea broke out into tears. Joey turned, and shook his head. He slammed his fist against the wall. Tristen and Yugi watched silently, for the moment.
"Joey... please... don't be mad..." Tea pleaded, but she still cried. She knew Joey was going to die. She had the feeling in the bit of her stomach. She knew. Joey shook his head.
"I'm not going to die," he stated, his voice low, and almost a growl.
"Alright, you're not going to die..." Tea cried. But she knew. She knew. And the thought wouldn't exit her mind. It stayed, reminding her. Her friend was going to die.
"Hey, guys..." Yugi interrupted. A smile spread across his face. "How about we play a game?"
Changing subjects. Would it work?
Joey turned back around. A smile was now on his face.
"All right, yeah. Let's play a game," he walked over to the window. Tristen did the same. Tea wiped her tears away, a forced smile now on her face.
The four started talking about a game they could play.
Success.
The four teens eventually found themself playing games they would if they were just hanging around home.
But each one knew. They knew. Something was going to happen. Something horrible. They knew it was going to happen. Something.
Joey sat up, his eyes shooting open. Around him, he could hear the soft breathing of slumber. He looked, seeing Yugi's head against Tea's shoulder, Tea's head on Yugi's head, and Tristen asleep on the floor nearby. He pressed a button on his watch. It lit up with a green light, and he looked at it. It read '4:53' in black numbers, and then a small 'am' in the corner. He sighed, leaning back.
He picked himself up, and walked over to the backpack in the corner of the room. He opened it up and dug through it, when suddenly his hand gave off a piercing pain. He pulled his hand out and held his breath. He clenched it tightly. He unwrapped the bandage and looked at it. It was pulsing, it seemed. He took some water from the pack and poured it on his hand, and the pulsing disappeared.
He started panting heavily. He fell back against the wall, still panting. He looked at his hand. The blackness seemed that it hadn't spread at all. But then why did the pain cover such a larger area? He went into the pack with his other hand in search of some disinfectant. Suddenly, he felt something touching his injured hand. He started to pull away and look to his hand as a reaction, but he couldn't pull his hand away. He looked at his hand, and it was being held in another. He looked up to who was holding his hand.
Tea.
"T-Tea?" Joey asked. He looked up to see her face. Sadness and pain was swimming in her eyes.
"Joey..." she whispered. She picked up his hand and looked at it. Joey watched her, the pain still didn't return. She ran her fingers over the bite, and strangely, there was no pain.
"Tea, I'm okay," Joey whispered, quietly.
"But Joey, you're not..." Tea trailed off. She clasped her hands around his.
I am taking this quick interruption to tell you:
This is not a "Joey and Tea moment" this is not meant to be romance, I promise you. This is happening because Tea is extremely worried for her friend, and she thinks-nay-KNOWS that Joey is going to die. Whether it's now, or later. Not only that, but for some odd reason, it's not adding pain to the wound, it's relieving it.
Now, please, back to the story.
Joey quickly pulled away.
"Tea, I'm fine," he reached into the bag and pulled out some disinfectant, cleaned his wound, yet again, which caused pain, and went to wrap his hand up again, when Tea pulled his hand aside.
She caressed his hand gently, stroking each of her fingers across the wound, carefully. He stared at his hands for a moment. He finally pulled away and wrapped his hand up.
"Tea, stop it," he stood up, and walked back over to where he was originally asleep. Tea let out a shaky sigh, and did the same. She sat next to Yugi, who was leaning back against the wall now. She let him fall over on her, and closed her eyes, leaning onto him.
Joey lay, facing away from Tea. He felt angry at her. But why?
He knew how she probably felt. Thinking that one of her best friends was going to die. But it was just a snake bite. At the worst he was going to get a fever of some sort and feel a little sick for a few days, but then get an antidote fore it. Oh yeah! Antidote!!
"They must have an antidote," Joey suddenly spoke. "You can't not have an antidote for a snake bite..."
"Joey... that wasn't an ordinary snake... you know that... you could tell... couldn't you...?" Tea said. Joey shrunk down. He hugged his knees against his chest, and was silent.
He soon found himself asleep.
Whoa! What was that?! Did Joey just go insane?! Or did he finally realize... that maybe the trip wasn't such a great idea? Heh. Yeah, more to come, promise. I couldn't quit now, even if I tried. Please, guys, read and review! I beg of you!