I'm back! Did you miss me ;P. Also, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you're all staying safe and healthy! Anywho, I've had this chapter done for about two months, but I haven't gotten around to posting it until now for whatever reason (college, probably lol). Enjoy chapter two!
EDIT FEBRUARY 11, 2021: fixed minor grammar errors and eased the flow of the chapter.
Ring ring, ring ring.
"Hello?"
"Will."
"Red Hook? Why're you calling so late?"
"It's about the cave."
"Oh. Who was in it?"
"Someone you know quite well."
"Do we need to come out and—"
"Oh, it's not a villain, but you do know who it is."
Silence.
"I don't think I understand."
"Then you will when you come tomorrow to get him."
"Him?"
"Again, you will see. I'll see you tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock sharp. Don't be late."
Eli woke up to the feeling of his shoulder being shaken by someone.
"Okay, kiddo. I need you to wake up for me," the voice said.
Eli groaned and rolled over.
"I know, I know, but your brother is almost here."
That got the boy up and moving. Lazily, he opened his eyes to see the outline of the old man who helped him the night before. Whatever expression the other had turned into worry when Eli finally focused on his face.
"Are you feeling alright?" Red Hook asked, concern laced in his voice.
Truth be told, Eli didn't feel good. His stomach hurt worse than the day before, his body ached enough that it hurt to move, and he felt hot. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep.
"Kid?"
"'M fine," Eli murmured.
"Right, and I'm the Elemental Master," Red Hook rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, he started coughing, and he felt his belly tighten. Snapping his mouth shut, he frantically looked for something to throw up in so he wouldn't ruin the borrowed shirt or the blankets. A bucket tucked itself under his chin, and he heaved. The force of having something being expelled from his body made Eli cry out in pain.
"Easy there. I've gotcha," a voice the boy knew very well spoke from behind him. "It's okay. I'm here."
They rubbed their hand from his shoulders, down his spine, and to the small of his back. Light kisses were planted on the back of his neck and head. Finally, when the vomit stopped coming up, Eli let the tears fall down his cheeks, and he leaned back against the body holding him up. Soothing hands wiped the salty water droplets away before gentle fingers ran themselves through his hair. Eli focused bleary eyes onto his brother.
"Oh, Eli, how did you get here?" Will worried aloud. "Where's Uncle Jimmo?"
The thirteen-year-old didn't say anything as the tears fell harder, sobs escaping his vocal cords.
"Oh, God, Will," he cried. "Will, h-he-he's go-go—"
"Shhh, it's alright," his brother soothed. "We'll find him in a bit, okay? We'll find him together. He couldn't have gotten too far, right?"
"N-no! You d-don't unders-stand! He-he's gone!"
"And we'll find him. I promise."
"No! He's dead, Will!"
Silence. The only noises were Eli's hiccups and gasps.
"Th-the-they got to him," he stuttered. "I came home a-a-and he was just lying there! A-a-and I ran. I was so s-s-scared! I didn't know w-w-what to do!"
As Eli dissolved back into tears, Will clutched his little brother closer. He had no answers. All he could do was show that he was there, and he wasn't going to leave Eli ever again.
It took a while, but Eli fell back into an exhausted sleep, his fevered face buried into the crook of Will's neck.
"You need to take care of him, Will," Red Hook reminded him.
"I know," Will replied. "He's everything to me."
The older man raised an eyebrow.
"You'd be willing to drop everything?"
"For my brother, I'd be willing to die for him."
"Then why haven't you talked to him?"
"I had no say in that."
"Well, he seems to be under the belief that you could care less about him."
"That isn't true!"
"Make sure you tell him that. It could be the difference of losing him or keeping him close."
"I know."
Will stood up while carrying Eli in his arms bridal style.
"Oh, and make sure he has his slugs."
"Eli has slugs?" Will immediately questioned.
"He does."
The Infurnus, Enigmo, and Boon Doc all climbed out of Eli's bag where they'd all run and hidden when Eli moved quickly mere moments before. Will widened his eyes at the slugs.
"Only Eli," he said fondly.
He then began walking out of the older man's house.
"Promise me something, Shane."
The fifteen-year-old paused.
"Promise me that you won't let him go."
"Never."
"He's something special. He might not believe it, but I can see it."
The older Shane nodded, an affectionate smile on his face.
"Yeah, he really is," was all he said before he sat on his Mechabeast. Will sat behind Eli and allowed his little brother to lean back against his chest.
With a final salute to Red Hook, he rode out of Quiet Lawn Cavern.
"Will! Where are you?!"
"Relax, Kord, I'm on my way back home."
"But you snuck out! Again! How many times do we have to tell you to not do that?!"
Will let out a sigh.
"I promise it was for a good reason."
"I don't care about that," Kord glared. "You have school you have to attend to."
"No, I don't," Will argued. "It's retake week, which means I don't have to show up."
"No, it means that if you have any retakes you need to do, you do them! I know you; you have, like, two of them."
"Which is better off than Pronto."
"Yes, but that doesn't matter. Look, I know you don't care about school as much as Trixie or I do, but can you at least do the retakes you need to do?"
"Fine, but I'll have to go in tomorrow."
"Why?"
"I, uh, it's a long story. It's better if I tell you when I get back home, okay?"
"You better have a good explanation, Shane, or I'm dragging your ass to the attendance office. Got it?"
"Got it."
Will ended the call with a sigh. Not that he didn't love Kord like a brother, but jeez la weez! Could he just catch a breath?! Honestly, school was the least of his worries. Eli suddenly jerked in his spot with a pain-filled gasp before he was coughing, the force of them making him lilt to the right. Luckily, Will held him upright as he slowed his Mechabeast down to a crawl.
"Woah woah woah, you were fine a moment ago, what happened?" Will questioned quickly in a hushed tone.
"Will?" Eli murmured.
"It's okay, Eli. I'm here."
"Don't leave me."
"Never."
Eli slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
"Where are we?"
"Logan Cavern. We just have to be careful in these parts."
"Why?"
"The rules here are… Very strict; enough so that you'd be stupid to live here."
"Oh. What kind of rules?"
"To be honest, I don't know, but I've heard they're dumb."
"Mmm."
They rode in silence after that since Eli fell back to sleep.
"There you are!" Kord exclaimed once the Shane was in the hideout.
"Hey, Kord," Will said.
"Where did you go?"
"Quiet Lawn."
"For Red Hook?"
"Yeah."
"Who is that? In your lap?"
Kord gestured at the boy in Will's lap.
"Oh, right. Kord Zane, meet my little brother, Eli Shane."
"He certainly looks like you, that's for sure."
"That's exactly what Red Hook had said."
The slugs in Eli's pocket popped onto the kid's shoulder to see who was talking.
"Is that an Infurnus, Boon Doc, and Enigmo he has with him?!"
"Yep," Will nodded. "Only him, I swear. He's either a trouble magnet or a good luck attract-er."
He then got serious.
"The reason I can't leave him is that he's sick. I think he got caught out in the rain."
The cave troll placed the backs of his fingers on the younger Shane's forehead.
"Yeesh, he's definitely running a high fever," Kord hissed. "Now I see why you brought him here. Oh, and Will?"
"Yes?" Will asked back.
"As you know, Pronto has to retake a lot of stuff, so next week he won't be here. Trixie is done with school, and I don't have anything to retake, so we can help you out with your baby brother."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, where will we put Eli?"
"Technically, the spare bedroom is his, so we'll put him there."
"Okay. But, isn't that room a mess?"
"I'm pretty sure Trixie cleaned the room one day when she was bored as she couldn't stand the mess anymore, so I think it'd be fine."
Just then, Eli's blue eyes began to blink open. Kord noticed that they were glassy from the fever and he saw just how dark the circles under Eli's eyelids were.
"Eli?" Will asked.
"Hmm?"
"You waking up?"
"Mmm, no," Eli slurred out. "Where're we?"
"The hideout. We were just about to take you up into your room."
"We? M' room?"
"Yes, your room. And 'we' as in 'me and Kord'."
"Who?"
"Kord. I thought I told you about him in one of my letters to you?"
"No?"
"I could have sworn I did."
Eli's eyes blinked sluggishly, and Kord knew he was fading fast.
"Will, let's get him up to his room," he suggested. "He looks like he's passing out on us again. Whatever he's got is something fierce."
"Right."
The older Shane picked his younger brother up bridal style and carried him to his room. Once he was tucked in the blankets, Will gently closed the door so that it was cracked.
"You think he'll be okay, right?" Will asked, a rare moment of vulnerability showing.
"Of course, I do," Kord assured the younger male. "He'll be fine. Nothing a little bit of TLC won't take care of, amirite?"
"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing."
"You have every right to worry. Eli's your baby brother. He isn't like you and I. He's new to it all, right? He's probably never even shot a slug from a blaster."
"He hasn't."
"So, naturally, you're going to worry about every little thing with him, but that's okay."
"I know. I just have to remind myself that I can't protect my brother from everything."
"Maybe not, but you can try."
Both boys shared a smile.
"So, where's Trixie?"
"In her room," Kord answered. "Probably reading or something like that."
"Maybe I should go apologise to her for being a jerk last night."
"I think that'd be a good idea. And maybe you wanna tell Trix about your brother."
"Yeah. Yeah, maybe."
"So, let me get this straight. You snuck out to Quiet Lawn Cavern this morning because Red Hook called you last night. He said you knew who was in the cave, and it turned out to be your little brother who is currently in the spare bedroom that also happens to be his."
Will had decided to go tell Trixie everything after a round or two of video games with Kord. The cave troll agreed to watch Eli in the meantime.
"Yep. Don't forget the part about how sick Eli is."
"Like I could forget," Trixie rolled her eyes before concern crept into her face. "How is he?"
"Not all that good," Will admitted. "Whatever he's caught is bad."
"How bad are we talking here?"
"High fever, coughs, vomiting, sluggishness, mostly stays asleep. Ya know, that sort of bad."
"It sounds like the flu, but maybe there's something more we're missing here."
They lapsed into silence.
"What if it's something as serious as pneumonia?" Trixie wondered out loud, worry in her tone. "We need a doctor to look at him."
"Who would come way out here?" Will countered. "The Shane hideout's location is a secret for a reason!"
"But your brother needs medical attention! None of us knows what Eli has, nor do we know how serious it is or how severe it could get!"
Will went silent.
"Look, I get it. Your baby brother is sick, and you want to do everything to take care of him, but we can't do it alone. We need help; adult help."
"But—"
"Will, he needs to see a professional. We can go tomorrow."
"Not without an appointment. I don't want the media to bother him."
"You know they will as soon as they realise that there's more than one Shane around."
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of. Eli isn't used to being in the spotlight."
"Unfortunately, that's what'll happen once he leaves this hideout."
The older Shane let out a long, suffering sigh.
"I'll page the doctor who came here when you sprained your wrist," Will spoke softly.
"That sounds like a good idea," Trixie smiled at Will.
Kord looked up from his book when the boy he was watching over moaned and rolled over, his eyes opening a little.
"Will?"
"Sorry, little buddy, he isn't here at the moment," Kord apologised, "but he is in the next room over if you want me to go get him."
"No, no, don't get him," Eli told him. "I don't want him to worry."
"You're his brother. It comes with the territory."
Eli scrunched his nose a little, and Kord chuckled.
"My name is Kord Zane," the cave troll introduced himself.
"You're a cave troll," the boy smiled.
"Yes? Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't! I've always wanted to meet one. 'You'll never find anyone more loyal, honest, and brave than a cave troll'. At least, that's what my uncle always used to say."
"Your uncle told you that?"
"Well, our great uncle, but he would always tell us that."
The two boys fell silent.
"And to think that Will never even told me," Kord breathed.
"He always tried to distance himself from us, even when we were young."
"Why?"
"I don't know, but I have the feeling it was something about me."
"Why do you think you're the reason he's the way he is?"
"Call it a hunch," was all Eli said before he yawned.
Kord picked his book up again.
"Go back to sleep," the cave troll told him. "Whatever you've caught is nasty."
Eli gave him a slight nod and snuggled deeper into the covers. Before he closed his eyes, he gave one more look to the cave troll.
"Kord?"
"Hmm?"
"… Thank you."
A small simper twitched onto Kord's lips.
"No problem, little buddy."
The next time Eli awoke, a red-headed girl was where Kord sat the night before, her chin tucked to her body as she slept. His nose wrinkled in distaste when he felt how sweaty his body was and how greasy his hair was. A cough erupted from his chest and out his mouth before he could stop it. The girl snapped her head up to look at him.
"Oh, you're awake!" she grinned. "How do you feel?"
"Cold," was all he said, a shiver going through his body.
"That's good!"
"It is?"
"Yes, it is! That means your fever is going down!
He blinked. He hadn't thought about it like that.
"But for how long?"
"No idea, but it's going down. You're not as warm as you were earlier."
"Mmm."
Both teenagers went quiet.
"How long have you been there for?" Eli asked.
"I dunno," she shrugged. "Kord left around midnight to sleep, and I've been in here since."
Eli's heart sunk. Not even his own brother was willing to see him.
"Hey, no need to look down," the girl said, an apologetic smile on her face. "Will had to go to school for retake week."
"Retake week?" the boy repeated.
"Yeah. It's where everyone goes into school to retake any tests they flunked before this week. Will has to go in and take two of them, I think he'd said? Anyway, the only people here are myself and Kord. Pronto isn't here either."
"Pronto?"
"He's the fourth person who lives here. Oh! I'm Trixie, by the way."
The newly dubbed Trixie sure was talkative, Eli noticed. However, he didn't seem to mind. It reminded him of Luke.
"I'm Eli."
"I know," Trixie said. "Will told me."
"Of course, he did," Eli deflated.
"Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
Trixie raised an eyebrow.
"Uh-huh, and I'm supposed to believe that?" she narrowed her eyes.
"Uh, yeah," Eli spoke sheepishly.
"Well, you need to make it more convincing."
"Look, I appreciate the help, but I've gotta go."
"No, you don't. You're gonna stay right there until you get better."
"No no, I gotta go."
"Oh. Oh! I-I'm so sorry! Yeah, go ahead!"
Eli felt his face flush, his fever-pink cheeks not hiding it, and he ran to where he knew the bathroom was. When he returned to his bedroom, Trixie was nowhere in sight, for which he was glad. It gave him the chance to be by himself. His slugs hopped up onto his shoulders and cuddled his face causing the boy to laugh softly.
"Morning, guys."
They chirped.
"Do you remember the names I gave you?"
Three nods up at him.
"Okay. Burpy, Doc, and Mo, as soon as I get myself a blaster, we are gonna be the best team Slugterra has ever seen," Eli told them before pausing to think. "Well, other than my brother, of course. Who knows? Maybe we'll be better than him, too."
Burpy and Doc cheered, Mo giving Eli an excited look.
"I think it's just wishful thinking. Will is the best slinger there is in Slugterra. At least, that's what Uncle Jimmo would say."
Eli allowed a small flame to appear in his hand, the fire dancing across his fingertips. His slugs looked at it in interest.
"However, he also said that Will was too reckless to be the best; too rash, too impulsive. And yet, he has the title of being the Shane. Uncle Jimmo always told me that I was better suited for the role. Me, the younger between the two of us! But I disagree. Besides, how could I be the Shane if Will is the Shane? Not like I could take his position easily, nor do I want to. He's doing an admirable job, I must admit, but what can I do? Nothing. I can't do anything. I can't even use my elements without fearing something bad will happen. Will? He has full reign of his. Probably doesn't use them properly, but he's able to use them no problem!"
The flame grew in size before fizzling out.
"Alas, there's nothing I can do about that. Will would tell me to suck it up and use them. He just doesn't understand what it's like to have a large responsibility over his powers. He can use them all willy nilly, but does he ever think about the consequences? No. Why? Because he doesn't have to since he only has one elemental power. He doesn't know what it's like to have to make sure not to use the wrong power. He doesn't know what it's like to have to make sure not to use too much of one power. He doesn't understand. He'll never understand. Never."
Burpy and Doc cooed in sadness and sympathy. Eli wiped the tears that had fallen down his flushed cheeks away with his hand. His slugs nuzzled his face some more until the boy was giggling.
"Thanks, guys," Eli murmured, his voice wavering a little. "I know I can count on you guys."
Chirps followed his statement, and Eli gave them a watery smile. He slid himself into the covers and turned onto his side, his slugs settling next to him. Doc released a calming aura, and he instantly felt better. Mo and Burpy started snoring immediately, and the noise lulled the boy to sleep.
"Kord, what do we tell Eli?" Trixie asked the cave troll.
"What do you mean?" Kord countered.
"I mean, what do we tell him about our powers? You don't think he'll be afraid of us, do you?"
"Considering who his brother is, I doubt it. Eli won't be scared by someone with more than one power. Will wasn't."
"But Eli isn't Will. For all we know, Eli could hate powers."
"Eli is a Shane. Will is a Shane. Every Shane has had powers, some more than one. They've been immersed into the thought that it's acceptable to have more than one power."
"But—"
"Trix, he will accept you for you."
"You don't know that."
"I do. Eli accepted me for what I was immediately. If he can accept me, a cave troll, he'll accept you, a young lady who has two powers."
Trixie pursed her lips, but she didn't argue anymore. Usually, once Kord had his mind on something, it was hard to change it.
However, he was usually right about his arguments.
She just hoped he was right about this one.
So, how was that? Good? Bad? Meh? Lemme know! I am genuinely curious :)
This may be a given, but I honestly feel better about typing this version than the other one. The other felt rushed and forced while this one is just... Easier, I guess, I dunno. Can you guys tell? I know one review said they could see an improvement of writing style (for which I am happy about). I hope you guys like it too! Until next time!
MegaMon2580