Author's Note:
Chapter two! This one takes place right after the previous, the usual setup, sooo... enjoy! Hit it, Crisper!
Crisper: (hits it)
Aiden couldn't help but grumble to himself as he trudged aimlessly past smoky grass and overturned stone. Frustration ran rampantly through his veins, making them bulge slightly in his neck and arms, and adrenaline threatened to control him. This was all kept in check by his short temper which was just about to keel over unless if by some miracle.
"'Stop being an idiot'? He's being an idiot! Oh, we don't need to run away from this... Witherstorm, thing. We just need to wait for it to come after us!" He spoke in a dumb, mocking voice, magnifying Gill's perceived stupidity. He growled loudly, running his hands through his hair. "And here's Maya. Suddenly, she knows everything! 'Stop being idiots and let's solve this like adults, because suddenly I'm in charge of everything'!" He mimicked in a small, wimpy voice.
As he walked, fussing about his predicaments and perplexities, he noticed a herd of pigs grazing nearby. He stopped fully, looking at them with a growing anger in his eyes.
The sight of the pink mobs only brought one certain pink mob into his mind's eye: Reuben the pig.
His mind briefly drifted back to his constant rivalry with that pig and his owner, Jesse.
'Jesse? Come on! You've got plenty of things better and more important than him to think about at this juncture' he thought to himself angrily, his hands subconsciously forming fists as he glared at the peaceful animals. The instant he remembered tending to his own team, a few other names popped up in his head. Olivia and Axel.
He grimmaced to himself. He was feeling something, something he had constantly felt whenever he was around them... besides the usual enmity.
Jealousy.
As much as he hated to admit, Jesse and his gang were probably way better off than they were. Jesse didn't have a gang; he had something Aiden always wanted: friends. What he'd give to get friends. At the time, though, it seemed that nothing would ever pay the untangeable debt. So what else to do than ruin Jesse? If he managed to ruin Jesse, he thought, he'd at least have something better than what the other male would have.
He shook his head, snapping out of his musings when a pig nudged him on the leg. Aiden groaned to himself, rolling his eyes and filing past the pig who looked on in confusion. Regardless of his opposition, he somehow found himself thinking about Jesse again.
Jesse somehow had everything better, besides the winning-part. It seemed that winning was one of the few things that fate reserved to him. Winning, and good friends. On the other hand, Jesse had great friends... and losing.
'Is it losing that makes him so good? Should I lose more?... wait... isn't that illogical?... Ugh! Why does Jesse always have it so good?! What's he doing that I'm not? Maybe the pig gives him luck?... no! That's stupid! Why would the pig give hi-' Before he could finish the though, he felt himself tumbling downwards. A loud cry escaped him, his body rattling against the slope of coarse-dirt. While it was just a variation of dirt, it was a lot harder, even solid as rock at some points! He prayed to Notch that he'd get to the bottom soon.
POV Switch
Maya noticed the way Gill punched the trees. While he usually did it with a certain amount of flair, as an indirect way to flirt with her, there was something different about it this time. Maybe it was how roughly he yanked his jacket off before going to work. Possibly, it was the sweaty glare plastered across his face. It could've been the ferocity of the punches, the swiftness of his muscular arms, the loud grunting.
Oh... that grunting was starting to get on her nerves.
Besides that, she probably noticed the differences because Gill already had a makeshift house for three and no longer needed the wood.
"Hey, Gill! Stop whacking that tree so hard! It didn't do anything to you." Maya advised, trying to sound nonchalant, even though she was a bit on the other side of that. Gill stopped completely, turning once to glare at her from beneath glistening eyebrows. He opened his mouth to shout some rude comeback, only to change the subject mentally before continuing. Smart move.
"Did you find any food, Maya?" He asked, sounding more aggressive than he had hoped. She stared back at him for a few seconds.
"No."
"Well why don't you go do that?" He asked. She rolled her eyes with a scoff. After watching her leave, he returned to the tree, slamming it in the "gut" and knocking it root down!
After picking up the mini-block and putting it in his inventory, he sat on the tree-stump, putting his head in his hands and sighing.
'Why don't they listen when they need to?' He thought to himself, soon finding his sitting position uncomfortable. Hunching forward wasn't very pleasing, and there was nothing for him to lean into. His hip still ached from hitting the ground, and he seeked comfort. He immediately plopped onto the grassy earth, rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky.
He didn't sleep well the past night, but as good as a nap sounded, he knew that he needed to stay strong for Maya and Aiden... if Aiden would pop around anytime soon, that is.
He grimmaced. Would Aiden come back around? Of course he woud! If that Witherstorm hadn't gotten to him.
'Relax, Gill! The Withersorm went somewhere else! It's not coming back here, you're safe!' He thought to himself, remembering why he had insisted they stood their ground in the first place. It wasn't like Aiden could even get as far as he imagined the Witherstorm would. Aiden just wasn't as strong as Gill was.
Gill liked to imagine that he was second-in-command, right behind Lukas, an imagination he tended to entertain in reality one time too many. He chuckled to himself, remembering a better day when this quality showed.
"Um... so, you know how Lukas was supposed to help us with the cake today?" Maya spoke nervously to Gill and Aiden. The two boys nodded in response, shuffling right as another high-school studen rushed by with a plate of cookies for the 3rd-grade baking contest. "Well he's got the flu." The two boys' eyes widened.
"Oh..." Aiden muttered, looking away from Maya and Gill. Something clicked in Gill and he turned to face Maya.
"Uh, Maya? The cake is pretty much done. We only need icing." He reminded her.
"I know, but... Lukas was supposed to be our aesthetics-guy. He's supposed to make the whole thing look pretty."
"Maya, we've got this!" Gill reassured her with a squeeze on the shoulder. The two followed him to their three-tier cake. It sat on their table, naked. Aiden clasped his hands together.
"Alright, so we paint the thing white and get it the heck over with. Whaddya say?" He suggested.
"Aiden, it's 3rd-grade, not a wedding-ceremony." Maya reminded him. "I say we put colored icing on it, then I'll decorate it with these sprinkles!" She held up the bag of sprinkles for the other two to see.
"Okay, sounds good. We'll use yellow-dye." Gill decided.
"What? So we can have a giant pee-cake? Only scaredy-cats pee on their cake, Gill. We're using blue. Blue's cool, and we're cool."
"Blue's for crybabies. Blue people cry." Gill argued, stepping up to Aiden in an agressive, dominating way. Maya shyly raised her hand.
"Do I get a say in this?" She asked sheepishly.
"NO!" The two boys shouted back at her. She shrunk back a bit.
"I'm... gonna see what Heidi's up to." She bid them goodbye and dashed from the scene, leaving the two drakes to solve their squabble.
"Yellow!"
"Blue!"
"Yellow!"
"Blue!"
"I SAY 'YELLOW', AND THAT'S FINAL!" Gill finally screamed, nearly towering over Aiden. Everything in the world stopped. Parents stared, students gaped, Maya pretended to be too busy with Heidi to notice and Aiden...
Gill's scowl softened at the sight of the boy's lip quivering. Aiden's eyes were glassy now and he bravely stared back at Gill.
"Okay." Aiden stammered before backing away and pretending to be interested in someone else's cookies.
POV Switch
Maya struggled to hold the apples as she arrived where she had left. You can imagine her shock when she saw Gill sleeping on the floor. But, your imagination is wrong, my friend. She wasn't shocked at all. In fact, she herself felt she could go for a nap.
She dropped the apples and walked to Gill's side, standing over him a bit before nudging him with her foot. With a snort, he shook himself awake.
"Mm?" He stared at her groggily, slowly coming to his senses.
"I got some apples." She told him. He hummed in agreeance, nodded sleepily before laying back down, opening his eyes to stare at the sky above him. The sun shone directly overhead. Plenty of time for some more rest. He shifted, placing his hands behind his head and shutting his eyes. Maya stared at him for a few moments. "Diiiid... did Aiden come back?" She asked curiously. Only a soft snore was her answer. She nudged Gill again.
"Wha?" He moaned, barely lifting an eye.
"Gill, did Aiden come back?" She asked more firmly. Gill's eyes fluttered open and he mused over this for a few seconds. His eyes widened and he jerked into a sitting-up position.
"You didn't see him?" He asked calmly, worry only hinting his voice.
"Of course I did. I'm just asking this question for no reason." She snapped annoyedly. Gill stood to his feet, glancing around, trying to remember where Aiden was last headed. "What now?" Maya asked.
"We look for him. Luckily, I have enough wood if we need to make a shelter along the way." He replied, beginning to walk off. Maya quickly trailed behind.
"Why would we need that? Do you think he walked that far?" She asked. Gill momentarily ignored the question, squinting in worry.
"It's getting dark." He answered, hoping to avoid her true muse.
POV Switch
The world a blur at first, Aiden blinked his eyes open, groaning softly and supporting himself on a hard, scaly object beneath him. A stabbing pain shot through his arms and he quickly jerked himself backwards, panting heavily. He brought his hands in front of his face, checking for any injury as he assumed the limbs were broken.
How he wished they were broken.
He flinched at the sight of his arms; his hands were slightly swollen, his fingertips were black with his hands and forearms fading into purple. What was happening to him?! He shot his gaze up to the black mass he previously supported himself on, his stomach lurching when what was a large tentacle slithered to life, sliding away from him. All was quiet. Aiden slowly brought his hands to his side, trying to ignore the tingling sensation in them as he listened closely.
-RAAAAAAAAAAWRAAARRRRRR!-
Aiden screamed loudly when the ugly Witherstorm decided to show its one-eyed face, roaring with bloodlust. He scrambled to his feet before the Witherstorm fired its laser-beam, barely missing Aiden by a block!
POV Switch
"Aiden? Aiden!" Maya felt her voice becoming sore, but she and Gill continued calling out for Aiden anyways. "I don't think he's over here..." She finally deduced, looking up at the sky. Sunset was upon them.
"We've gotta find him." Gill reinforced and Maya nodded in agreeance. They walked on for a few minutes, searching for what felt like hours to them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Maya and Gill instantly looked at each other, recognizing the voice without pause.
"Aiden!" They started running before they were met head on by the brunette, his green eyes wide with horror.
"Aiden! What happened?!" Gill shouted.
"Are you okay?!" Maya asked almost as quickly as Gill finished.
"RUUUUNNN!" Aiden screamed, running past them. Maya and Gill had no time to react when the Witherstorm soared over a few surrounding hills, screaming in hungry fury.
"AAAAAAAHH!" They screamed before following Aiden at top speed.
Author's Note:
So... you can probably guess what's up with Aiden, couldn't have an MC:SM story without that... anyways, don't worry about it for now... Thanks for reading! Leave reviews!
