WARRIORS HIGH
ISLAND OF THE LOST
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
LONG ROAD HOME
"Can I help you?" said the woman at the hospital desk.
"I'm here to see Bone," said Inferno, who was wearing a black hoodie and beanie to obscure his face to the cameras and hide his distinctive hair.
"Seventh floor," said the woman almost automatically, "Be careful, though. He hasn't talked to any of the doctors since he was inducted."
"Thank you," said the flame-haired man, ignoring the final part of the sentence as he walked past the desk to the elevator. When the doors closed, he pressed the button for the seventh floor and pulled out his phone, sending a text.
The text was sent as the doors opened to the recovery , off-white lights shone through the room as Inferno made his way through the snaking hallways. In the days of fallout, BloodClan had taken over the facility, just a couple miles from Forrestlake City, and used it as a recovery station, kidnapping doctors and forcing them to heal their own at gunpoint.
As of today, Inferno, a member of ARS by association, was allowed in without a second glance.
Not for long.
He came to a door engraved with the number '27', knocked twice and came in without waiting for a response.
"Well, if it isn't the devil's accomplice himself."
Bone was battered. Bandages were patching him up, his foot was in a brace and suspended in air and he was hooked up to a ventilator, the plastic air dispenser strapped to his face like a facemask.
"Looks like you took a beating," said Inferno, taking off the hat and pulling up a chair, "Sky sent me to tell you that whatever subsection of ARS raided your lovely house wasn't on our orders. Commander got impatient waiting. She took care of him quickly."
Bone looked him in the eyes. He couldn't tell if he was lying. Inferno couldn't be sure if he believed him.
"Anyways," said Inferno, rummaging his hand into his pocket, "Sky sent you a get well soon present."
He grabbed a small glass vial full of clear liquid. Bone's eyes lit up as he saw the label.
"Got some morphine from a hospital raid a week back," said Inferno, tossing the vial in the air and catching it with the same hand, "Some of the commanders recommended we all overdose on it when we win this war, but Sky thought you might enjoy it more right here."
Bone nodded as Inferno grabbed a syringe, pulled a half a milligram out of it and stuck it into the IV, the clearless into the transfusion fluid that was being injected into his veins.
"I will admit," said Inferno, sitting back on his chair, "I'm a little...surprised. Though I suppose that comes naturally when Scourge's successor is double penetrated by two different parties."
Bone snarled, moving his arm to reach for the ventilator mask and causing the computers hooked to the IV to go crazy with beeps and alarms.
"No, don't get up."
Inferno reached over and pulled down the mask, letting Bone's snarls out into the room only lit by the evening sun shining through the clouds.
"I'm...done…" he snarled.
"Oh, come now, commander," said Inferno condescendingly, "Now is not the time for suicide and teenage angst."
"I'm done being beaten…" he growled, "I'm done being kicked around and treated like a little child. I'm done being kicked around by a teenage drunk in a metal tin can. I'm DONE with being cut out from the share I worked me entire fucking life to get! I AM DONE. BEING. SECOND. BEST."
"Inspiring," mocked Inferno.
"I want a Moonstone."
Inferno blinked.
"You want a Moonstone."
"You heard what I said," snarled the brute.
"If I may, commander," said Inferno, "You're pretty fucking delusional if you think you can get away with stealing away a Moonstone from Rock for his own benefit-"
"Don't lie to me," he growled, "You think I'm stupid. You think I don't know how ARS found the other two Moonstones."
Inferno's gaze hardened.
"Do you now?"
"You're dumber than we thought if you really thought that we would trust you at the drop of a hat," sneered Bone, "You think that all of your soldiers would stay loyal? We've had spies. We've had bribes. We've had plans to shut down your own. I knew that Sky had her own agenda, so for months we've had her at her every hand. Your little plan? RETCON-41? We've known that you would betray us and try to take over Rock's machine. You can't overpower us. You can't win against us. And if you do not comply, you will have nothing. ARS. Will. Fall."
Inferno walked to the window to Bone's right.
"Now," threatened Bone, "Give me the Moonstone."
There was a tense silence. Bone was smirking widely. He had won.
"I had a feeling that you would grow sick of losing," said Inferno.
"Yes?"
"And so did Sky."
Bone froze.
That wasn't the answer he was expecting.
"In her months of working with you, she's developed a bit of a...psychological profile."
Inferno turned back to Bone with a smirk. "She knows how you talks, she knows how you thinks. And she knew that with your pitiful string of bad luck, it would take one loss to push you over the edge."
Wait.
"How did you know that I was infiltrated twice?" he snarled.
"Take another look at the vial by your side."
Bone reached over, muscles tensing as he moved, and grabbed the vial. His heart sank when he saw the label of morphine peeling off.
He ripped off the label and found another label, the real label, once hidden behind the fake one.
"Tetradotoxin," said Inferno, walking slowly, luxuriously, around Bone's bed, "One of the most deadly poisons in the world. One of my favorites, too. Can be effective in any state of matter. The moment it gets inside your bloodstream, your muscles begin to tense. It becomes harder and harder to move until your lungs freeze up and you slowly...painfully...suffocate to death with no way to cry for help."
He had been played.
Played like a fucking fiddle.
"You...fucking...you...won't…"
"Oh hush," said Inferno, brushing a hand against his face, "Face it. There are some people that are just...another so-called bigshot unable to grow after being in another madman's shadow. We watched the tapes of you in the battle. That Adam and Eve line? Killer. But in the end it doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day, you'll be known as a fool who played himself until his very...last...breath."
Inferno walked to the door.
"Goodbye, Bone," he said sweetly, "Let's hope you didn't put us in your will."
He shut the door quietly, savoring the stuttered rattles of Bone trying harder and harder to move on his bed, and walked back to the elevator. Disguise on, took the elevator down to the lobby and walked right out without a second glance.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had memorized.
"Sky."
"Is it done?"
"Yes," said the psychopath, "Get me a cigar. I'll be back at Base One in ten minutes."
Day 18
On the night of Day 18, Dusty and Sunfield arrived at the edge of Riven.
Both boys were dirty, hungry and tired. They ate days apart from the last meal as they crossed the island and slept on the hard dirt,, so they were very relieved when they saw that they were close.
Now, it was time for the final stretch.
They broke down camp for the final time, for better or for worse, and snuck into the city limits. They walked the incinerated city streets, staying close and ducking into alleys when they saw enemies in cars driving by.
"You're tense," said Dusty after ducking into an alley for the third time.
"Oh, really?" mock-gasped Sunfield quietly, "We're tired and starving, traversing the streets of a blown-up town with ARS and BloodClan at every intersection and I'm tense?! How could you tell?"
"You've been holding my hand for the past twenty minutes."
Dusty raised his arm to show that they had indeed been holding hands.
"Um…" said Sunfield, blushing, "You..were...fine with it?"
"Just…" muttered Dusty, flustered, "Stay close."
"I was staying close-"
"You know what I mean," snapped Dusty, grabbing a pistol and loading it, "Alright, coast is clear."
They took off, sprinting a block until the roar of a Ford F-150 around the corner forced them into the next alley.
"This won't work," snarled Dusty, "They're too close to each other. We'll get snuffed out by a flashlight at this rate."
For the first time, he looked to Sunfield with pleading eyes. "Any ideas?"
After suppressing the momentary shock of Dusty asking him for advice, he glanced around. It was dark outside. Dusty could see nothing of use.
"Give me the gun," said Sunfield.
Dusty blinked. "What?"
"There's a belt of grenades hanging over the side of a flatbed truck twenty meters away. I can hit one of them and the grenades will set off a chain of explosions that should get the surrounding trucks off-patrol. From there we can make the final sprint to Warehouse 29 and get into the Court."
Dusty was dumbstruck for a moment.
"Wow," he said after a couple seconds, "I dunno about your flirting, but you are definitely a soldier."
"Heh," smirked Sunfield, "Lotsa people would disagree."
Then he processed what he said.
"Did you say flirting?"
"Take the gun."
Sunfield took the pistol, cocked it and aimed. Dusty was impressed again at how calmly and directly he held the gun.
His high fell off when he heard a roaring and headlights coming from three blocks away.
"Incoming," said Dusty, tensing up.
Sunfield held still.
"If you're gonna shoot, do it now!"
He didn't move. The truck was pulling closer,
"Sunfield!"
He held still.
Any second, the truck would see them and they would be dead without a second thought.
"SUNFIELD!"
He fired.
BOOM!
Dusty pulled Sunfield to the ground just as the grenade belt on the truck exploded, shrapnel and fire flying everywhere and causing the truck passing them to swerve. Screaming and shouting could be heard from the blast location as the disruption worked it's wonders.
Dusty was on hands and knees over Sunfield, who was lying on his back.
The both laughed.
"That was awesome!" said Dusty, helping his friend up to his feet, "How did you hit that shot?"
"I aimed. You have fired a gun before, right?"
"Let's go. We don't have much time," said Dusty, leading the way.
"Oh now you say it."
The two sprinted down the sidewalk as the soldier worked to put out the fire and deal to the casualties. They crossed streets, cut through alleyways, and after five straight minutes in full sprint, they made it to Warehouse 29 without getting caught.
Dusty looked at Sunfield, who gave the brick and mortar a kiss. "I never thought how much I'd miss this place."
Dusty smiled, but swallowed the celebration back for another time. "We have to move," he said, grabbing his gun, "We don't know if BloodClan took over the top floor or are controlling the passage down."
Sunfield nodded, then Dusty kicked the boarded-up door down with a front kick. The rotting wood clattered onto the floor, revealing a dark and desolate Marketplace. Making sure Sunfield was close, he started to walk the perimeter with his gun prepared to fire at anything resembling a human that moved or shifted.
Yet after a full sweep of the warehouse, Dusty couldn't find anything. Sunfield had told him that Warehouse 29 was the entrance to the throne room and other private sectors of the Court, so...where was it?
"Isn't there supposed to be a door or something?" said Dusty after a full walk of the perimeter.
"Well, a door would be too easy to find for BloodClan. Even then they could tank through any initial traps we laid if they knew where to go. So I have a feeling…"
Sunfield walked along the wall, pressing his hand every five bricks until…
There was a loud click as a latch of a false wall opened and creaked open, revealing a lantern-lit, ominous stone hallway.
"Jeez," said Dusty with a smirk, "You're getting everything right today."
"Well, I do live here."
"That helps."
"Indeed," said a grinning Sunfield as he gestured dramatically towards the doorway.
Dusty stepped through the secret door and was met which a blast of chilly air, much more filtered than the humid, fallout-induced air they had been breathing. He nodded to Sunfield, who pulled the door shut behind them and followed his friend down the concrete hallway.
The silence was unnerving. Their footsteps echoed in the long, unsettling hallway. About a hundred feet in, Dusty found Sunfield's hand gravitating to his own, which he accepted without a second thought.
After about three minutes of walking in shared silence, they arrived at a hallway lined with doors.
"I think the coast is clear."
"HALT!"
Dusty whipped out his gun as the lights went dark. He felt Sunfield immediately get behind him as bright blue strips of light shone brightly a good twenty feet ahead of him.
"WHO DARES TEST THE GOD-FEARED POWER OF JAYWHISKER THE ALMIGHTY?!"
Dusty's arms dropped to his sides in shock.
"J-Jay?"
"WAIT A MINUTE! HOW DO I GET THIS VOICE CHANGER OFF?!"
"Jay!" said Dusty, now grinning widely, "It's me! Dusty!"
Silence. With a CLICK, the lights turned back on to show Jaywhisker armed with his gauntlets.
His eyes were wide with shock.
"D-Dusty?"
"Yeah...hi."
The two stood a distance apart before Jaywhisker ran forward and threw him into a huge hug.
"I'm sorry…" he rasped, "I shouldn't have left you…"
"It's okay…" said Dusty, relief relaxing his body for the first time in weeks, "I'm here."
"OH MY GOD!"
"IT'S DUSTY!"
As if on cue, the resistance sprinted from the side rooms and mobbed the poor teenager, embracing him in a huge group hug. Ashtooth, Daffodil, Mallowleaf, Seashell, even Coalstrike were all there, squeezing the very life out of him in their own arms.
"Ok...guys...I can't breathe…" he said after about a minute of hugging, to which they finally ended the hug.
"We thought you were dead!" said Mallowleaf, a shocked grin on her face, "Jaywhisker said he dropped you off two miles form the mountain! How did you get back?"
Dusty sighed, catching his breath. "I walked. Went to Skyfair, walked some lonely roads and made my way back to the place where I knew you'd be."
He looked back at the golden-haired boy behind him.
"And I had a friend who stayed by my side on the long road home."
Sunfield scoffed in embarrassment, shrinking under the presence of the Resistance with a sheepish grin. "I...think we've met before, but in case we haven't, hi. I'm Sunfield."
"How romantic," said Jaywhisker, rolling his eyes and grinning.
Seashell sent a flying elbow into his gut, promptly knocking the wind right out of him.
"Well, we've been busy," said Ashtooth, a proud smile on his face, "And we're excited to have you back from the team. But from the looks of it, you look like you haven't slept on something other than the floor for two and a half weeks."
"Thank you, sir," said Sunfield, walking up to stand at Dusty's side.
"Please," said Ashtooth, "Call me Ash."
"You also ne-need a shower," whined Jaywhisker between coughs, "I can smell your BO and lovejuice from here!"
"Ignore him," said Dusty, "He can be a bit...chaotic."
Sunfield was grinning. "I think we'll get along just fine."
Thirty minutes and one shower later, Dusty and Sunfield were on opposite sides of a queen-sized bed that Coalstrike and Seashell usually slept on. It was probably a donation by the latter without the former's consent, but they didn't matter. They were both washed, in clean clothes and lying on a mediocre mattress that felt like heaven.
"We're home," said Dusty as they both stared at the ceiling.
"We are."
"Didn't think we'd make it."
"Neither did I."
"I thought you were the optimist."
"I spent all I had trying to have you keep your sanity."
"Heh."
The two sat in silence for a while longer.
"Did you mean it?" asked the golden-haired boy.
"What?"
"Are we friends?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Well, we've been going at each other's throats since day one," said Sunfield, turning to the other boy, "And, I mean, we said a lot of shit both of us are going to regret. Maybe we already do."
"SHUT UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"Yeah," said Dusty apologetically, "I know I do."
"All is forgiven," said Sunfield, smiling up at the ceiling again."
The two were about to fall asleep, but Dusty still had one more thing on his mind.
"Wanna make it official?"
"What?"
"Our friendship."
"Please don't have this be some weird sex ritual thing."
"Thank you, Jaywhisker."
Dusty held out his hand.
"Friends?"
With barely any hesitation, Sunfield grabbed his hand and shook it.
"Friends."
FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC! YAAAAAAY!
So hi hello. It's been a bit since I've updated. Jesus gave me a side quest to unleash chaos on a forum bigger than the Holy Island, so that was fun.
Again, I won't be posting much until Jay finishes The New Era, or at least the final battle. This might be the final chapter I post for a couple of weeks, keep that in mind.
In the meantime, a word from our sponsor.
Have you enjoyed the collaboration between Jay and I? Well, we've DONE IT AGAIN! After teaming up with FIVE new authors of the FallenClan forum, we have created SHIMMERWIND'S RISE, the most ambitious reimagining of Starkit's Prophecy you'll EVER see! My chapter's next, so come on down and give it a read!
Ok I'm done.
Stay safe, y'all, and keep on dreaming.
Best,
~Res