Author's Note:
Alrighty! Time for another wonderful episode of MC:OM! I know, it might be a bit early to say here, but I've been thinking, and it looks like this story will have not only a sequel, but a third installment as well! Maybe even a fourth! I'm getting some loose future ideas that I want to put to use, so... yeah. Well, back to this! One warning, though! Particularly disturbing imagery lies ahead, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. Just the description of skin after Wither and Zombie infects it. Hit it, Crisper!
Crisper: Hey, Gamer, I just wanted to say something.
Me: Fire away!
Crisper: R-really?!
Me: Sure!
Crisper: Okay! (blows fire everywhere!)
Me: OWWOWOOWOOOWWWW!
Crisper: (winks and hits it)
"How did we forget that?" Gill asked with a cracking voice. Aiden stiffened in an attempt to fight his anxiety while Maya just sat numbly in Gill's lap, sniffling occasionally as she lay her head on his chest. "Maybe we were just caught up with survival." He reasoned, his words far beyond justification and nothing short of worried.
Aiden muttered something to himself, an annoyed look on his face as he folded his arms. Maya barely shook her head, the dream too vivid for her to speak through her binding emotions. Gill awkwardly brought a hand to her head, stroking her brown hair idly. The usually fiesty girl tenderly accepted his unusual action.
"Why don't we go looking for him?" Gill interjected, his voice jittery like his glossy eyes.
"It's not that easy, Gill." Aiden growled, annoyed by Gill's ignorance. In Aiden's absolute mindset, that Witherstorm was no doubt still out there, lurking around for unsuspecting, overly optimistic prey. Its huge tentacles were burning alight with purple hunger and the Witherstorm would welcome Aiden and his friends with arms wide open and a gaping maw.
Aiden's blood thickened at the horrible thought of being eaten by that massive warship.
"Why not?" Gill challenged Aiden's rule almost as quickly as it was set, but there was something different this time. Where was the pride that usually hinted his tone? 'Hinted' being an understatement, of course. Ah, that's right. Feigning sincerity and noble heart.
"Did you forget the fact that a huge Witherstorm is out to eat us?!" Aiden yelled, obviously irked by Gill's 'sudden change of heart'. "If we go out there, we're dead, Gill! Dead! Don't you get it?" He shook his head in disbelief while Gill stared back, his angsty face unchanged. Maya gazed up at Aiden, virtually emotionless on the husk.
"We're not gonna die, Aiden!" Gill hollered, hugging Maya to himself while she stirred in his grasp. "I'm not gonna let that happen to any of you!"
"That doesn't change anything, though! We can't leave this place! I-" He stopped himself, drawing in a shaky breath, his grass-green eyes faltering. "We can't."
"But we have to! Lukas could still be out there! He'd do the same thing for us!" He shouted back, his voice quieting. Aiden had no response other than staring him stark in the face through glassy eyes. Maya sat up a bit, causing Gill to blush slightly as he realized how closely he was holding her to his chest. He instantly loosened his grip, though not completely letting go.
"Aiden, Gill's right." She sniffled, not caring to wipe away the drying tearstreaks on her flushed cheeks. "He's our friend."
"Maya, we can't." Aiden repeated, his voice firm and determined. Maya glanced at his folded arms knowingly, glancing at his face as he cringed in pain.
"It's your arms, isn't it?" She asked softly. Aiden's eyes widened, his jaw lopsided as blameworthiness pounced him like a cat out of tall grass. Gill noticed Aiden's questionable and disturbed reaction, glancing at Maya in question.
"What's wrong with his arms?" He asked with a nervous curiousity. Aiden growled loathingly, looking away.
Two pairs of eyes and the ever-present sun burned his arms, making him cringe.
"Aiden?" He flinched, turning to face Gill who stared warily at him. Maya seemed worried enough, and Gill was only making him feel even more uneasy. Before he knew it, he was heaving, but not only from the pain. His reticence and anger only flourished with Maya's probing, the salty water of her words sizzling his tolerance to a steaming crisp.
"F-fine. You want to know so bad about my arms, Maya?" He asked, his shaky voice low and menacing. Maya's blue eyes widened in unsettlement as he spoke and Gill tried not to stare at the silent-yet-deadly brunette. "Well, here." He unfolded his arms, rolling up just one of his sleeves. Maya gasped in shock, Gill's black eyes only widening with his unsettlement.
"A-Aiden... what the...?" His voice trailed off as he stared at the brunette's arms, or what used to be his arms. This was actually not even remotely similar to his arms.
Where skin was barely visible, only pale, deadened flesh showed. The moist, slimy skin was nearly buried underneath purple, hideous welts. Blood and a pale, purple foam oozed from his arm, seeping through torn blisters. He rolled his other sleeve, cringing as the leather rubbed against his infected skin. His own stomach turned upset when he saw that his right arm was dusted with green and he remembered his recent scuffle with the zombie.
"It... I thought it..." Maya blinked her eyes in disbelief, seeing his completely blackened fingers. She had liked to hope that whatever was wrong with him was confined to his hands or at least not as gruesome as this. How wrong she was.
"What's... what the..." Gill was fully rendered speechless.
"Aiden, what is that?" Maya asked involuntarily. Adrenaline nearly flooded Aiden's senses completely as he glared at her, teeth bared and eyes piercingly hostile.
"Still so full of questions, eh, Maya?" He asked sardonically. Maya fumbled for words before he abruptly cut her off with agressive yelling. "I don't know what the heck this is, okay?!" He yelled, causing Maya to flinch afraidly. All thoughts of not letting loose were less than faint memories and his heart and words were drowning in his pain. Maya stared back, eyes wide in numb fear and vivid pain. "You wanna know what I do know? I know that it hurts like heck, every single second of my no-good life. Especially when I'm out in the sun. But that's all I know, so, th-thanks for asking!" He screamed, tears streaming down his eyes. "I'm gonna die and there's nothing I can do about it!" His voice was almost gone and his pained words were nearly swallowed by his helpless, agonized sobbing.
He had never cried in front of these two before, but now he was as far as weeping, collapsed to the floor and bawling like a baby. He felt so hopeless and bleak, emptiness darker than his hands even though he felt so full. So full of things to lose. Friends, if he ever had them. The chance to get a family, if he ever stuck with someone long enough. Love life was apparently out of the window, as was parenting if he ever felt interested in that kind of thing. No more Endercon, no more building. Even his remote dream of becoming a writer was suddenly dashed, despite how random and low the possibility was to him. He was losing everything, though.
Gill and Maya stared back, Maya crying along while Gill only watched Aiden stunnedly as the brunette lay on his side like a newborn, weeping bitterly.
"I don't know what this is, but it's getting worse... it hurts so much and I can't do anything about it..." He whimpered softly and helplessly, feebly pulling his sleeves over his rotting arms.
"Aiden..." Gill was too shaken to say anything else, and Maya's crying grew slightly louder next to him.
"Aiden, I'm sorry." Maya whimpered through her soft, jittery heaving, not able to look her pained friend in the eye. Paralyzed by fear, she didn't dare move anywhere near him, imagining he wouldn't be so welcoming or appreciative of her action. "I didn't know it was this bad. I didn't know you were dying." She added, though Aiden had started crying again.
POV Switch
'Best let him ride it out... right?' Gill thought to himself, staring at Aiden who sobbed endlessly. His own eyes began to burn with tears.
They couldn't lose Aiden. They just couldn't. Could they?
No wonder Aiden was so scared of the Witherstorm. He was still suffering from its gruesome illness, no doubt haunted by the fact that it was slowly venturing over the surface in search of more to infect and eat. Going back to the source of the problem was truly a stupid idea, especially if Aiden was going to...
'No, no... stay positive, Gill', Gill told himself, tears streaming down his face as he tried to shove through the obvious with his optimism. He burst into tears as the thought entered his head. Stay positive? How could he with all this negativity? When his best friend was about to die?
((Le timeskip, brought to you by The Feelz. Prolly don't buy them))
They all lay on the ground, staring off into the sky, save Aiden who wouldn't dare glance at the burning block of fiery pain. The quiet, dismal atmosphere was only accompanied with Aiden's constant sniffing and hiccuping.
Gill glanced at the brunette, seeing his arms sprawled in obvious discomfort, occasionally twitching slightly. Maya lay beside Gill, a tired, pain-stricken look on her guilty face as she made sure to keep her distance from the brunette.
"Let's get back to our hideout, guys." Gill said, previously noting the sunset. He heard rather than saw Maya lift her head and Aiden try to face him. Gill sat up, the grass rustling beneath him and Maya. He started walking towards Aiden who was trying to sit up. "Hang on, let me help you." Gill said, not at all surprised to hear a reluctant scoff from the stubborn brunette.
"I can do it on my own."
"... alright." Gill said, sounding unsure. He stepped back slightly, supervising as Aiden pushed himself to his knees, struggling for the first bit and wincing in pain before using his balance and his knees to stand up. Aiden brushed past Gill in silence, the bearded man following quietly.
Maya was already sitting on the floor inside, and Gill saw her constantly wiping away tears and resisting the urge to cry. Gill was unsure about comforting her and angering Aiden and decided to ignore her.
Aiden slid to the floor, trying to be as hands-free as possible. Maya tried to shut him out completely, for his sake and for hers.
"Goodnight, guys." Gill said, knowing how meaningless his words were. Aiden scoffed cruelly. Maya only whimpered, setting her head on her knees as she lay on her side.
Author's Note:
So, yeah. This one took a bit longer to crank out because I'm going to start letting chapters sit so that I can go back and edit them to be of good quality. Tell me how I did!
Crisper: Oh man...
Me: Ikr! What's it gonna be like for Maya and Gill? What's in it for Aiden? How are things going to turn out? Tell me what you think in a review! Close it, Crisper!
Crisper: (closes it)
