Day 2: Expedition
"Deep in the heart of the most sinister forest, with no way of knowing which way is out, one fearless band of friends strives with nature in a desperate struggle to survive! But each of them has their own idea of how to approach their problem! Can they set aside their differences and work together to defeat the undefeatable, surmount the insurmountable, and bring down the un-bring-down-able? Catch all of it right here, on May's Expeditions, starting right now!"
"Will you cut it out?" Max grumbled as they walked through the forest. "It's just a small wood, May, and we just have to walk straight ahead to get through."
May rolled her eyes and brought her imaginary camera down. "You're such a killjoy, Max."
"Maybe I wouldn't be so annoyed if you didn't do that everyday!" Max shot back.
"Hey!" May snapped, "I don't do that everyday!"
"You wanna bet?!"
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Brock said, standing between them. "Take it easy, you two. It's nothing to get worked up over."
"Yeah, easy for you to say," Max grumbled. "You don't have to live with her."
"Excuse me?!" May shouted.
"Okay, that's enough," Brock said, pushing the two apart before they mauled each other. "You, walk on this side, and you, walk on this side," he said, setting the siblings on either side of himself: Max on his right, and May on his left. "There! Now just stay on your side, each of you, and don't bug each other."
"Fine," Max grumbled. "Wait, which side does Ash go on?"
"Leave me outta this!" Ash replied from behind. "I'm not arguing with anyone!"
"Ugh," Max grumbled again. Although it was quiet for a while after that, Ash could still easily see the tension between May and Max.
"I told him skipping breakfast would come back to bite him later," he muttered. "Looks like it's gonna come back to bite us all."
"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.
Soon enough, they were out of the forest. "There, you see?" Max grinned. "No problem whatsoever. Now we just cross that bridge over the river!"
"Sounds good to me," Ash smiled.
"As our heroes escape the indomitable forest, they come across a raging river!" May said, holding up her "camera" again. "They believe the bridge will carry them across, but can it withstand the powerful rapids? Only time will tell!"
"Will you stop that?!" Max snapped at her. "It's just a river! We'll be over it in five minutes."
"Well, excuuuuuuse me!" May huffed, folding her arms. "It's not my fault that I know how to have fun!"
"Guys, just cross the stupid bridge," Brock moaned. The group walked over without saying anything. Once they were over, they looked around. "This looks like a good place to set up camp."
"You sure?" Ash asked. "It's only about four o'clock. We could probably make it to the next town in an hour or two."
"I wouldn't count on it," Brock replied. "There are some ferociously wild Pokemon up ahead that come out late in the day. We'd be overwhelmed before we knew what was happening."
"Oh," Ash blinked. "Well, I guess we'll stay here for the night, then."
"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed. For the next thirty minutes, everyone set up for the evening.
"All right," Brock said once everything was set up. "I'll get dinner started. Ash, can you manage feeding the Pokemon?"
"You got it," Ash replied. Once everyone let their Pokemon out, he started doling out Brock's food supply for them.
"Need some help, Ash?" May asked.
"Sure!" he grinned. "Just check to make sure everyone gets as much food as they need."
"Sounds easy enough," she giggled.
"Yeah, right," Max sneered. "You couldn't do first-grade algebra if your life depended on it."
"Max!" May shouted, whipping around to glare at him.
"Oh boy," Ash moaned. "Here we go again."
"What is it with you today?" she growled.
"Just ignore him," Ash said to her.
"No!" she said, "He's been a pest all day, and I'm sick of it!"
"Pest? Me?" Max said, almost looking shocked. "This coming from the drama queen who's been acting like everything we do is some grand adventure on Reality TV?! I suggest you think twice before you accuse someone of being that annoying!" With that, he hopped into his tent.
"Drama queen?!" May exclaimed, her shaking fists balled at her sides. Max zipped up the zipper, closing her off from him. She gasped. "And now you're gonna close your tent off?! Real mature, Max! Ugh, you are so infuriating!" She started pulling the tent poles keeping it up, trying to pry them loose.
Ash sighed and turned to Pikachu. "You might wanna go hang out with Brock for a while," he said. "I have a feeling this is gonna get ugly."
"Pika," Pikachu moaned, hopping off his trainer's shoulder and going to Brock. Ash came up behind May, who was busy trying to pull a tent peg out with her bare hands. It...wasn't going very well. Eventually, she paused to catch her breath.
"All right, all right," he said. "That's enough. Both of you, just take a deep breath and calm down."
"Both?!" May exclaimed. "I'M COMPLETELY CALM!"
She was facing him with a deranged expression on her face, breathing heavily. Deciding not to push the issue any further, he backed away slowly. "Right," he said. "Uh...glad to hear it. Good for you." Without another word, he went back to sorting out the food for the Pokemon.
May and Max didn't speak to each other after that, so dinner went without incident. Afterwards, they stacked their dishes on the side.
"Too bad we're not gonna be able to wash these," Brock muttered.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked. "There's a river right next to us, remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Brock grinned. "Good catch, Ash." He started for the river, dishes in hand, when Ash stepped in front of him.
"I can do those if you want," he offered. "You cooked dinner; it's only fair that you get a break."
"Well, thanks!" Brock said. He set the dishes down, and Ash took them to the river bank.
"Hm," he muttered, "It can't be too hard to wash these." He didn't have a lot of experience.
"You've sure been helpful today," May said, coming up behind him. She knelt down beside him as he started washing one of the bowls. "Want me to dry them for you?"
"Sure, that'd be great!" he said. After washing the bowl, he handed it to her. She took a dry towel and rubbed it over the bowl until it was dry.
"I can already see the headline for tomorrow's episode of May's Expeditions," she grinned as she dried another bowl.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she said as he handed her a plate. "Through wild bogs, inhabited by fearsome wild Pokemon, our heroes must make a perilous trek through untold danger!"
"I like it," Ash grinned, washing a cup before handing it to her.
"Oh, give me a break," Max rolled his eyes, sitting by the fire. "That's the dumbest headline I've ever heard.
"What?!" May shrieked, throwing the dish she just cleaned down into her pile before standing up and walking over to Max.
"Aaaand there goes my help," Ash muttered, deadpan.
"Didn't you hear what Brock said earlier?" Max asked. "Those Pokemon only come out late in the day. By the time we leave tomorrow, they'll be long gone."
"Of course I heard what he said!" May shouted back. "I'm just having fun, that's all!"
"I'm not getting my beauty sleep tonight, am I?" Brock moaned from inside his tent.
"That's what you call fun?!" Max shot back. "It's dumb!"
"It is not dumb!" May screamed back. "What is your problem?!"
"My problem is that I have to spend the whole day listening to my stupid sister play stupid make believe games!" Max shouted back. Ash heard this and, deciding that enough was enough, set down the plate he just dried, stood up, and turned around.
"I…!" May said, shaking fists balled at her sides again. Small tears were starting to form in her eyes. "You…YOU…!"
"Okay, that's enough out of you!" Ash said, coming up to Max. "You owe May an apology!"
"Why? Because she only knows how to play dumb games?!"
"I said that's ENOUGH!" Ash shouted, shocking everyone in the campsite. He knelt down in front of Max and glared at him on the same eye-level. "You wanna know what your problem is? You skipped breakfast this morning, and you've been over-hungry all day. Tomorrow, I don't care how impatient you are to get out of here; we are not going anywhere until all of us have breakfast. Understood?"
"Yeah, whatever," Max replied, snotty as ever.
"Good," Ash replied, standing back up. "Now go to bed." He didn't wait for a response, turning around and going back to what he was doing. May was over there, too, drying some dishes. "Don't worry about him," he said reassuringly. "He's just had a bad day, that's all." She didn't respond, but Ash could tell from the frown on her face that she felt miserable.
A few hours later, everyone had retired for the night. Brock and Max were sleeping in their tents, while May was laying in a sleeping bag next to the campfire. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't fall asleep, since Max's hurtful words still rang in her head. She sat up, rubbing her eyes while looking at the fire; it was smaller than it had been earlier. As she gazed at it, she let out a sad sigh.
"Having trouble sleeping?"
She jumped at the sudden voice, turning and seeing Ash sitting on one of the logs by the fire. He had his hands out in front of him, evidently trying to warm them.
"Y-Yeah," she said. "What are you doing up, Ash? I thought you went to bed."
"I was a little cold," he replied, "so I thought I'd stay up a while and warm up by the fire." He gave her a small smile. "You're welcome to join me, if you want."
Despite her initial confusion, May didn't hesitate long before standing up and quietly walking over and sitting next to him. She shivered slightly as a light breeze blew past.
"B-r-r-r," she said. "You're right. It is a little cold."
"Nothing a nice little fire can't fix," Ash winked at her. She smiled at him, then gazed into the fire, frowning and sighing again. Ash, having a good idea of what was on her mind, put his hand on her shoulder. "Max didn't mean what he said earlier, you know."
"I know," she nodded, "but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt." They sat there for a while, neither one knowing what to say next. Eventually, she turned to face him and broke the silence. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he said, turning to face her.
She took a deep breath. "Do you think I'm annoying when I do my whole 'May's Expedition' routine?"
"No," Ash replied. She raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't believe him. "I mean, I thought it was kinda silly at first, but after a while, I kinda started to like it. It can make a boring day a bit more fun."
"Really?" she said. "Sometimes I think the whole thing just ends up annoying everyone." She sighed again, leaning her head on her hand as she stared at the fire. "You're probably right: it is silly."
"It's never annoyed me," Ash said. "And maybe it is silly, but I don't mind. To be honest, it's kinda...cute."
May's cheeks flushed pink when he said that. He called something I did cute, she thought. Her cheeks flushed even redder when she felt Ash's hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," he said, "I know some people will always think it's annoying, but that's not your problem. It's theirs. So don't change just because of them, okay?"
She gave him a small smile "Okay," she said, and sat up. "Thanks Ash."
A small smile made its way onto his blushing face. He turned and, taking his poker, pushed the firewood around to keep the fire going. "So, what's the headline for tomorrow's episode?"
"Hm," she thought out loud. "How about this? Two brave souls embark on a perilous journey, with nothing to aid them but their wits...and each other. As the two press on through many perils, their bond grows ever deeper, becoming the closest of friends, and together they pursue the ultimate dream!" She looked back at him. "How's that?"
He just turned to her and smiled. "I love it."
Hey, I did say this one would be longer, didn't I?