Chapter twelve. This story's pretty close to being through TT but, it may be for the best. I have a few surprises up my sleeve, and, well... I'll reveal them later. Anyway, here's your chapter, have fun with it.
Joey turned his head back around. He started to close the green doors behind him to prevent any snakes and other reptiles getting loose, but suddenly he found himself considering turning back.
'You'll be safe,' he thought, 'you won't have to face this fear of yours, see?' he then shook his head. If he didn't go in and face his fears, then he'd die. It was that simple. Die, or face your fears and possibly live. He wasn't going to give up like that. And he didn't want to put his friends through the pain. Yet, as he closed the large green doors, he felt the fear consume him even more.
He finally heard the loud 'bang' as the doors collided and shut. He now felt as though he was trapped, trapped between survival and death, in a small crack. He turned around to face what could possibly be... his grave.
Although the forest looked harmless and beautiful, he knew the terror that lurked within. He remembered the gleaming eyes of the various snakes he had ran across, and the drooling mouths of the Komodo dragons. He soon started to walk, ignoring any sign of danger, and started thinking about his lizard pet who sacrificed itself for him and the others.
That was some damn smart lizard.
He chuckled softly, remembering it pointing, pushing his head in the direction they should go. How did it know? How was it possible that the lizard was so keen on what they wanted to do? Had it really been possible for that little fella to learn all the stuff related to humans? ...maybe it was a special lizard.
He shook his head, turning his mind from that, and back to the task at hand. He clenched his right fist, almost as if it were a silent warning for intruding snakes. As his brown eyes gazed forward, and he walked, he could have sworn he could feel the piercing eyes of the reptiles watching him.
Hours later he found himself in a familiar area. An extremely familiar area. He glanced up and down the path, and off to the side, remembering the stampede of snakes, and him running into the forest. He, with that memory in mind, dashed into the forest.
Joey soon ran into a familiar meadow of grass. He gazed onto the ground, seeing the countless green backs of snakes. He gingerly kneeled and held out his left hand to one. It came to him and flicked out its tongue. After a moment, it slithered up his arm and wrapped around his wrist. Joey's expression softened as he looked at the reptile. He took it off his arm and set it down, starting to the right of the small field, and back into forestry.
After what seemed like ages, he soon came to a small building, grown over with vines. He smiled slightly, knowing exactly where he was. How was it this easy?
Joey glanced in one direction, and stared at it. He couldn't see a thing, and wished he would have left during the day to give him some more time. He shook it off, and started into the building. He opened the door, having an easy time, and shut it, looking over to the only source of light in the room: A window. Ha. Funny. He still remembered it. Like it was yesterday. But it had been months.
He walked over to the window and pulled the vines that had started to grow over it again away. He then went to another side of the room and pulled some more vines from another window, and then again with another side of the room. Even though it was dark, it was nice to have even the slightest bit of light, and he was curious as to what was in this building. He remembered one time when he was walking through the building, he stepped on something. Now, he didn't make a fuss over it, and hadn't really noticed it either, but now he might be able to.
He sat down under one of the windows, and took off his backpack. He went into it and pulled out a piece of jerky and started snacking on it. He put his backpack down next to him, and got on his side, putting his head on it. He closed his eyes, and was soon asleep.
Joey's eyes opened slowly. He suddenly sat up, his heart skipping a couple of beats, as he looked around frantically. After a moment, his eyes softened slightly and he leaned back against the wall behind him with a sigh.
"That was..." he mumbled. "I forgot they didn't come with me..." he was referring to the others. He had forgotten that he came alone, but had remembered that he came here. He sighed as he started to get up, grabbing up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He started out of the building, wanting to get out of this place as soon as he could.
He looked around for a moment, letting his memory drag back to when he and Tea split from Yugi and Tristen to go look for food and water. He started walking as soon as it was clear in his head which way to go.
After a while of walking, he came upon the familiar pond. He kneeled near the surface and stuck his fingers in, feeling how cold or warm it was. He sighed slightly as he set down his backpack, and started to unwrap his bandages and take off his glove. Once he finished with that, he shed his shirt, and his shoes, and stepped into the water.
A slight shiver ran up his spine as he continued into the water, and started wading through it. As he got to the center of the pond, he let his hands float on the surface, as he closed his eyes and waited for the snake to surface.
When nothing came after a minute, he decided to look at the progress of the mark that was consuming him. His eyes traveled from the center of his hand, up to his shoulder, where he couldn't see any more of the mark. He reached his other hand up and felt the mark already traveling up his neck a ways, and also down his side. He looked to his chest, and saw a stripe of black and purple across it, and winced slightly at it.
The water nearby suddenly broke, and a tail lashed out, splashing water all over Joey's head. He stepped back, trying to shield himself, and then once the water had stopped falling, he shook his head out and looked around.
"Where are you...?" he muttered, glancing left and right for the snake.
At that moment, the snake shot up out of the water, directly in front of him, heading for his shoulder. It bit down, and Joey felt no pain as he looked to the snake who was now stuck with its' teeth in him. He felt a smirk spread his face as the snake started to lash around and get itself free.
"You already did that. Remember?" he questioned. He pulled the snake from his shoulder with a slight grunt, and held it firmly in his hand. No blood spilled from the wound on his shoulder, as he walked with the snake out of the water and sat down near his backpack. The snake continued to lash around and hiss as it tried to get free from Joey. The blonde shook his head.
He dug into his backpack, searching for the jar that had been given to him. He soon found it and pulled it out. The snake continued to fight, and Joey growled. He opened the snake's mouth and dug its' fangs into the plastic wrap over the top, and blinked, watching the venom fall into the jar.
"Cool," was all he could compliment. After the snake had stopped giving venom, he blinked slightly, pulling the snake's fangs from the jar. He looked in and had about one fourth of a jar, so he turned the jar slightly and stuck the fangs back in. A little bit more venom fell in, but then that was about it. He sighed as he tossed the snake back into the pond.
"Well... I have... enough..." he sighed as he looked at it. It was so close to one half it was unbearable. He sighed again.
"I've got no time to stay here..." he muttered. "Not enough, at least..." he stood up with the jar, making sure to keep hold of it so he wouldn't spill it. He needed that venom.
On the trek back to the building, he hung his head low. He didn't know what to do besides maybe stay here for another day. But... what if the others came by then? He didn't want to put them in danger! He sighed as he neared the building, and went for the door, but then there was a loud hissing behind him. He quickly twirled around and stared.
A humongous snake. It was just slightly bigger than the one they saw months ago – or maybe it was the same one! Only it had grown! He stepped back and against the door on the building. The snake lashed its tongue out at him. He could feel the roughness of it, as it felt over Joey's whole body. It hissed again, eyeing him. Joey closed his eyes to keep from looking into the serpents', but found it hard to keep them closed. Opening them, he stared back into the snake's eyes, and was suddenly in a trance.
A beautiful blend of colors spread his mind as far as the eye could see. He did a couple of turns, looking at the mix of blood red, purple, blue, and a slight black. He felt himself become extremely dizzy in a moment's time, and he put his hand on a door handle. He blinked, as his mind brought up an odd white door, much like one in a video game he had played before.
The door grew a face, and grinned at Joey. He opened it and stumbled inside, into the blackness. He heard the door close behind him as he fell onto his stomach, the world around him suddenly turning completely black.
Joey suddenly sat up, glancing all around him. Everything was dark except for the four windows that gave off a source of light. He blinked slightly, looking around. His eyes darted to the jar that was next to him. He quickly picked it up and ran to a window to check on it.
Good. Nothing came out. He sighed, relieved, and sat down, about to take off his backpack. He blinked, noticing it wasn't on his back. He started looking around frantically. Where was it! Kept running through his mind.
Then he remembered. Did he drop it? Or did he leave it out back by the pond! Joey quickly scrambled to his feet and swung open the door behind him. Although, as soon as he opened it, he shut it again and stood behind it, breathing heavily.
That snake was still out there. What was he going to do? All he could do was hide, but...! His stomach growled. His food was in his backpack, and where was that! Back at the pond! He sat down and thought about what he'd do... silently.
After a couple of hours, deprived of food for his stomach, he couldn't think straight. As his stomach tore at him and emitted a low grumbling, he laid down to attempt and quiet it, but it continued. He placed a hand on his belly softly and closed his eyes, trying to think, but the only thing that danced in his head was images of fruits, meats, and pizza. (A/N: I HAD TO ADD THE PIZZA!)
Joey then sat up and stood, stretching his numb limbs. He leant against a window, still trying to think. Then finally it hit him.
The reason he couldn't think wasn't because he was hungry. It was because he was frightened of the snake, because he was afraid it was going to gobble him up like a hungry dog who had just been handed a scrap of meat. Or in this case, a hungry snake.
He then fought his hunger away, and, a new rage boiling in him, stepped toward the door.
This wasn't why his lizard had sacrificed itself. This wasn't why he spent hours traveling into this forest. This wasn't why he was getting the venom for an antidote. The reason he was doing all of this... was to live. And what he was doing right now, wasn't going to help that campaign at all.
He placed his hand on the door handle and quickly built his rage and focused it into courage, and then built that up. He then swung the door open fairly uneasily, but determined. As he stepped out and gazed up at the snake before him, his courage and bravery was suddenly sucked out of him, like your breath when you're punched in the gut. He fought to keep his determination and hope aloft, but found it hard to do so when he was staring down a large snake about the size of three school buses.
He then brought back up the memories of old. When the snake attacked him and the others, when the snake ate his lizard, when they were stuck in here. It all boiled back up inside him in a newfound and burning rage. He clenched his fists and seemed to glow a bloody red as invisible flames danced around his body. The snake reared back and then shot down at Joey.
Joey quickly hopped slightly over the snakes head as it rammed into the dirt and Joey threw himself atop the snake's head. When the snake reared back again, hissing out, Joey kept hold of its' scales to keep himself from falling off. All the while, the rage was boiling deeper, and he felt as if he was burning the snake with the rage focused in his hands and into the fire that danced around him still.
"THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!" Joey thundered, ramming a fist into the snake's head. The snake cried out as it thrashed around, hissing repeatedly, trying to shake Joey off, but the blonde wouldn't let go.
After a while of thrashing around, the snake finally stopped and Joey still sat on his head. The snake stuck out its tongue and looked around quickly, Joey could feel it. Then he suddenly felt all of his energy drain from him. His rage disappeared, and the flames that had previously surrounded him doused quickly and disintegrated. Then panic rushed him. He was sitting atop an enormous snake's head, about to be battered to pieces.
The snake then slithered toward a large tree. He ducked his head down, and Joey looked up, wondering what it was doing at first. Then when it finally hit him, he was shocked. The snake was about to ram him into the tree! The snake then rushed forward, and Joey actually couldn't hold on. He rolled off of the snake and blinked at the fact that he was now less agile than he was before. His eyes darted up to the snake that rammed into the tree head-first and he couldn't help but get a distorted look on his face, and mutter an, "ouch..."
The snake stood straight and swayed a couple of times. Joey blinked repeatedly at the serpent but then stood quickly and raced back into the building, fetching the venom. He then ran back out and into the forest, searching for the small pond quickly. He had to get out of here quick, before the snake woke up, and before any of the others came searching for him. Although, he had to get at least a little bit more venom before he was able to return to the outside, and then there was the fact of actually getting back.
He heard the loud 'BANG' as the snake crashed down near the building and there was a splintering wood sound, along with a lot of rocks flying everywhere. He suddenly wondered if the snake had fallen atop the building... eh it didn't matter. He wasn't going back there anytime soon anyway.
Joey came to the large pond and saw his backpack sitting near the edge. He ran and snatched it up, pulling out some food and quickly snacking down on it. Then suddenly a different taste burst into his mouth. It tasted like rotting fruit, which was not a pleasant taste. He immediately spit out whatever was in his mouth and started washing it out in the pond. He looked to the fruit in his hand and saw all sorts of different bugs crawling around. Screaming, he tossed the fruit as far as he could into the wilderness. And then panic overwhelmed him again.
He dug into his backpack and poured the contents onto the ground. All of his fruit had been ridden with bugs, and the only bit of meat he had with him was some jerky, and that too was now infested with bugs. He groaned as he picked up the few extra things: his extra set of clothes, and a couple other random assorted objects.
As he stuffed the stuff back into his backpack, he set it aside and started taking off his shoes, shirt, glove and bandages again, looking around for the snake in the water.
Rubbing his dying arm, he carefully waded into the water, looking around quickly, wanting to find that snake, get its last bit of venom, and get out of here. While he waited, he boredly ran a hand over his chest and then panic once again skittered through him. He looked down at his chest and his eyes widened.
The black mark now covered his entire torso. Since when did that happen! Panicking more, he checked if it was proceeding down his legs at all, and to his horror, it was. About one quarter of the way down, in fact. What had made it spread so fast! The last time he checked, it only spread in streaks across his chest but now - but now he was in great danger! Suddenly he found himself wondering if he had passed out for a long period of time or something. But then he reminded himself that people would be searching had that happened.
In his panicking he didn't notice the snake hop from the water behind him and gouge its teeth deeply into his neck, he winced expecting to feel a huge torrent of pain but when nothing came he blinked rapidly and lifted a hand to his neck. The black mark was there too. More panic and horror spreading through him, he ran a hand over his face and felt the numbness crawling up his face. It was like fingers spreading through his skin, stretching up to underneath his eye and toward his mouth, across his chin, and up his other cheek.
Joey quickly tore the snake from his neck and growled. The snake stared at him in horror, realizing it had made yet another mistake. Joey quickly made his way to the shore and snatched up the jar again. He pressed the snake's fangs into the plastic again and watched it climb down the jar and join with the rest of the venom. After it stopped, he smiled at the jar that was now a little over a half full. He kissed the snake on the head and tossed it back into the water and watched it swim away.
Joey got to his feet and walked to his backpack, pulling out the jar's lid and putting it on. He put the jar into his backpack and got to his feet again, picking up the pack and quickly starting off. Suddenly his legs buckled below him and he crashed to the ground, fortunately feeling no pain. He looked down at his legs and quickly got back up. This time he walked, not wanting to fall again. He then blinked and realized he left his bandages and glove.
He turned to go back, but stopped, his heart skipping a beat. Snakes tore at his clothing and bandages and everything else he had left behind. He then took off again, for fear of being attacked. He reached into his back and pulled on his extra shirt and then undressed the rest of himself, dressing back up with clean, dry clothes. He came out onto the main road and looked up and down, trying to decide which way to go. Limiting his choices, a ton of snakes surrounded him from the forest behind, and the road on both sides.
Joey dashed frantically into the forest ahead, and felt his legs starting to give away again. He also found it quite hard to breath. Just when he thought his legs would give away and he'd fall victim to the snakes, he fell into empty space. Crying out he struggled to find his footing, or reach for the ledge he had just fallen from. Looking below him he saw a wide range of non-clear blue water that stretched quite far, but what caught his eye was a small island that had a red sweatshirt hanging in a bush. He braced himself to hit the water.
As soon as he did, his head went under and he quickly made his way to the surface, gasping for breath. Then, a hissing sound twinged his ears and a burning sensation coursed over the surface of his body. This made Joey cry in pain and frantically paddle around, but the more he did so the worse the burning became. He attempted toward the island which lay about a half a mile away...
OKAY! THIS CHAPTER IS NOW DONE! -twitches- I am sorry... for not... updating sooner... but at least... THIS WAS A LONG CHAPTER! DON'T KILL ME!