As some of you may have noticed, Mei's personality has been slightly altered from my other stories. This is due to the fact that I really think she was way too similar to Lyra. I mean, come on! Two brown haired responsible girls in ridiculous yet adorable outfits wit their hair tied into twin ponytail things that watch out for their hyper male best friends and angry rival? Yeah. No. I'm not saying the HGSS trio and the BW2 trio are the same things, because obviously they have very different characterization and dynamics, but I feel like changing Mei just a little bit was for the better.
So… Yeah.
Disclaimer: What the fuck do you think?
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Fury practically crackled through the normally still air of May's room, the girl in question shuffling through her clothing drawer without a hint of grace to be detected in her movements. Not a shit did she give about the numerous shirts that fell lazily to the floor, nor did she feel anything about the amount of noise she was making, most likely disrupting the peace of the people in the room next to her. No, he mind was high on rage. Rage against her situation, rage against how weak she felt at this given moment, but mostly rage against her dickhead of a leader.
Grumbling curse words so vile she was sure even Brendan would smack her should he hear them, she roughly tugged out a large black short-sleeved shirt. After a short inspection and deducting that it was, in fact, utterly filthy, much like all the other clothing in this god-forsaken house, she decided it would make good enough pajamas. She shoved them into the bag at her hip, still cursing.
As much as the girl hated to admit it, she was scared, terrified even. For what? She didn't know. Was it the thought of the few people she had left in the world dying before her? It couldn't be. That feeling had followed her for the last couple years, and May had long since learned how to repress it. Still, it didn't stop the cold, prickling feeling of fear from running down her spine almost every minute, and it certainly didn't stop the way her heart seemed to occasionally skip beats. May wanted to hit something, she really did. Just slam her fucking fist through a wall and scream for what was good and holy. Thankfully, her roommate breaking through the door at that very moment stifled her temptation.
"May? Are ya' still in here?" Calem called, poking his head out from behind it. Disinterested, the brunette offered a half-hearted wave, her back still turned. "Ah, there ya' are! I thought ya' mighta already gone ta Red's room, but I guess yer in no real hurry, huh?"
"Mmh…" May mumbled. Frown growing deeper, Calem rollerbladed into the room. He did a little twirl, nightgown spinning with his movement, and shut the door gently behind him.
"Somethin' up?"
The girl let out a long, shaky sigh, trembling a little with pent-up anger. She spun on him, taking in his appearance while she thought of the best way to word her annoyances.
It really shouldn't surprise her that he was wearing the dress-like attire, and it didn't. He did so pretty much every night, not that May really minded. Whatever made him happy, which was a good way of thinking, by the way, because whenever Calem wasn't happy he was usually mad and when he was mad his accent got really thick and he was pretty much impossible to understand, or more so than usual.
Anyways….
"Yes, something is up!" She exclaimed finally, slamming the drawer shut. It made a loud banging noise, startling him. "I can't believe we're forced to blindly follow whatever the fuck Blue says! He knows what he's saying is stupid, and he knows that we have the better argument, but he still wont listen to us!" She stomped, trying to keep herself from yelling at him. He really didn't deserve to be the target of her anger. "What the fuck kind of bullshit system is he trying to run?"
Calem's gaze softened. "Hey…" He mumbled softly, skating over to the girl. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's tryin' the best he can…."
May shrugged him off firmly, spinning around and fixating him with a poisonous glare. Shocked, Calem backed up, eyes wide.
"I thought you were on my side!" She snapped, balling her hands.
"I am!" he insisted. "But ya' hafta understand it's not an easy job for 'im!" May opened her mouth to retort something back, but stopped. Chewing her lip, she took a step back, lost in thought. "Blue's doin' all he can ta keep us safe, an' yes, he could be a little more… open-minded, however I think he really does believe this is the best choice."
May starred at him for a long time, their gazes locked in an almost uncomfortable silence. Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, polluted the girl's mind, causing her to take a seat on the soft bed beside her, running her hands through the messy strands of her hair. Calem hesitated, before sitting down beside her, at a careful distance naturally.
"I'm just…. Scared, alright?" She admitted finally. May paused, tugging at a crusty knot of bloodied hair. "And I know I don't really have the right to be, the only person I've really lost was Wally, but we weren't even close really. But seeing how much everyone else has gone through… I…" She hesitated. "I guess I just don't want to be alone, and I'm honestly willing to do whatever it takes to make sure I don't have to go through that, even at the expense of others. Selfish, huh?"
Calem seemed to pause. "I don't think it is, May." The girl turned her head so quickly her neck cracked.
"What?!"
The tan male bit his lower lip, thoughtful. "I mean, yah, it may seem that way. But I honestly can't blame ya' for thinkin' like that. After losin' Trevor, Teirno an' Shauna, there really isn't much I wouldn't do ta protect Sere'. Despite all the shit I give 'er for it, her royal bloodline is kinda important. Also we are friends after all. Uh, don't tell 'er I said that." May nodded, understanding.
The girl felt her heart clench tightly. A chill ran down her spine, certainly not an effect of the nights chill. From her peripheral vision, the girl saw Calem craning his neck to see through the sole window of the room, the moon above serving as the only source of light. Pale light dappled across his face, illuminating it. His eyes seemed to grow glossy for a moment, until he rubbed at them, shaking his head slowly.
"Ah, that's not the point." He muttered quietly. "What I'm tryin' ta say here is that Blue's probably just as terrified as we are ta lose those close ta us. I don't thin he's willin' ta take anymore risks." He released a deep breath, lowering his hands. His fingers curled into a gentle fist. "I'm not sure I'm willin' ta take anymore risks…"
Words fell dead in May's throat, sending her eyes starring down at the broken floorboards. Her entire form seemed to go still for a moment.
"But…" She started finally. "…What can we do?"
There was a long pause, silence heavy between the two. Calem chewed on his lip.
"…I don't think we can do anythin'."
"Alright, White, just follow my voice, we're almost there." Gold guided with a raised voice, cautiously walking backwards to face the blind female. He swung his head back, checking to make sure he didn't walk into something and end up breaking his leg. Which, by the way, would be no exaggeration.
White grit her teeth together, stumbling a little due to her awkward footing. Grasped between her fists was the strap of a metal bucket, filled to what had previously been the brim with partially clean water. Fetching water was always a difficult task, as the only source was a river way far out from the base, so neither Gold nor White had access to it. This meant that they had to get one of the older, or more capable survivors to get it for them, a job nobody ever jumped out of their seats for. Even still, when somebody had finally gotten off their lazy ass and fetched the goddamn liquid, the tiny male wouldn't be able to lift a full pail of the shit if his life depended on it, leaving White as the only willing candidate.
Gold paused when he felt the smooth edge of the coffee table press against his lower back. He stepped away instantly, leaving a clear path for White to deposit the object, given that he guided her correctly.
"Okay, so you're about five steps away from the table," he informed her. White hesitated, before continuing to move forwards, taking a bigger leap in distance then before. "Wait, crap! No, your four steps!" Gold quickly corrected. White's eyes narrowed.
"Four steps from the original or four steps now?!" She grumbled loudly, continuing to move slowly.
"Uhhh, shit, I-" Gold shook his head hastily, tussling his fluffy bangs. "Two-No fuck, wait it's-"
Whatever he was going to say next came too late, as at that very moment White slammed her knee heavily into the table, resulting in a loud, almost sickening, banging noise.
"SON OF A BITCH FUCKING-" White screamed, throwing the bucket to her side and clutching at her wounded leg. Gold, who just so happened to be standing next to her, was nailed on the head with it, water splashing all over him. He fell to the ground, coughing the foul-tasting liquid out of his mouth.
The boy groaned, lifting the pail up off his head to see that White had also sat down. "Real smooth there, White." He muttered.
"Oh shut up," She snapped, pissed both at herself and at Gold. "You were supposed to be the one giving directions!"
"Well you had to make them unnecessarily confusing!" Gold protested with a childish huff. He struggled to brush his soaked bangs out of his face, the water having made them lose their fluffiness, blocking his vision.
"Whatever." She sighed. "Looks like we'll have to wake someone up to get more water. I vote Silver, he's a dick."
"I second that notion, he is a dick, but I think I can get it back." Gold informed her. Swiping his hair aside once more, the tiny male undid his soaking jacket, thankfully not too dirty since he hadn't been outside in a good two years. Grimacing a little at how heavy to liquid made it, he held it over the bucket, twisting it to release that water.
What resulted was a merely half-filled pail of light brown, foaming water, but Gold and White were really to tired to even care at this point. Having drained it as much as was physically possible for him, the tiny male threw the article of clothing lazily over his shoulder, letting it fall with a light splat onto the couch behind him.
"Here, White." Gold said to get her attention. Grabbing her hand, he used his other arm to grab her white cane, which had been forgotten over near the seat, and guided her to it. Wrapping her fingers around the namesake coloured stick, the girl straightened up, more confident now that she actually had a sense of direction. "Don't hurt yourself again."
She snorted. "Thanks," was her gruff response. "I didn't plan on it."
"Oh don't give me sass, lady. That's my job." As he spoke, the boy bent down to pick up the similarly forgotten mop. Like a lot of things, it was taller then him, making it a chore in itself to carry. Grumbling under his breath, he dunked the lower part into the water. Gently, however, spilling the shit was the last thing he wanted to do.
"So… What did they say at the meeting?" White asked suddenly. Gold didn't turn to her.
"I dunno." He shrugged lazily. "I wasn't listening."
"What?! Why not?!"
Gold yawned, rubbing his eye. God he was tired. "'Cause Blue's boring as shit. Besides," He lowered his arm, returning to his work, "I don't think it really concerns us yet."
White pursed her lips, thinking. "….That's true. With you being blind and me too young, I can't expect them to give half a shit about whether or not we're aware of the information."
The tiny boy rolled his eyes. "I'm not blind, White." He deadpanned.
"I know! Wait, shit, did I fucking say-?" She shook her head. "Ah never mind! You know what I meant!"
Yeah, yeah," Gold looked down at his sad attempt to swab up the bloodstain left behind by the Sawsbuck. One of the many, at least. "Does this look good enough to you?" He gestured to the mess.
"I don't know."
"Okay, pretend you can see for a second. Does this look good enough to you?" He repeated.
"I don't know."
"Wow you suck at pretending."
Gold decided it was fine. He knew for a fact that Blue would still yell at him, but whatever. The leader seemed to have enough on his mind already, so he suspected the punishment wouldn't be too horrible, or at least not as bad at that one time he left at least ten Caterpies in Black's bed (he thought it was hilarious, Black didn't).
"Ugh, why do I have to do this?" he groaned loudly, stifling yet another yawn. "I'm tired as shit! And it's not like Barry did anything worthwhile today!"
"Or Lucas." White pointed out.
"Lucas never does anything worthwhile ever."
"This is true."
Gold ran a hand through his hair, tiny frame shivering. The base was pretty much always cold, especially during the night, and now that he was soaking and his jacket (which he almost never took off because how amazingly cozy it was) was in the awful between wet and dry state, he was really feeling the effects of the below-zero temperature.
"So now that this room is done, kinda, we should probably move into the halls and-" Gold's statement was cut off by what seemed to be retrained yell, echoing out from the aforementioned hall. It was so haste and quiet that the boy thought for a second he had just been hearing things. This theory was disproven, however, as White too snapped her head in the direction of the noise, and nothing beats White's hearing.
They exchanged a glance, or at least, Gold turned to White and White just starred on ahead, milky gaze set upon nothing. Blinking, Gold straightened up, cocking his head in an attempt to catch any trace of the sound again.
"White," He hissed under his breath, "You stay there, alright?"
White hesitated for a moment, contemplating an argument, but decided it wasn't worth it. She nodded, lips sealed.
Gold flashed her a purposeless smile and began his approach. He hunched over, shifting what little weight he had onto one leg as he crept forwards toward what seemed to be the source of the noise. His movements were silent, so quiet that the female brunette wasn't sure he had even left her side.
"Y…. ould….. etter…." Were the mere 'words' Gold could pick up as he neared the wall, most the sentence hidden beneath the hissing of the whispered s. The black haired boy gently pressed a hand against the structure, the rest of his body following, still shaking like mad. God it was freezing….
Still, the words spoken beyond the wall became more clear to him with this action, though still remained in a low mumbling tone, especially so for the second member of the conversation.
"…Listen, I-I…." One voice, defiantly male, whispered out. He sounded terrified out of his wits, only worsened by the stutter in his voice. Gold narrowed his amber orbs suspiciously.
"Brendan?" He thought quizzically, but was forced out of his thoughts by the first voice.
"No! Shut up, you were the one snooping around when Lucas…." This one was certainly a girl. Her tone was low and grumbly, expression in such only wavering slightly. What she was saying seemed to die in her throat, however, as she started up once more with a new sentence. "Whatever, I hope you're aware I'm not kidding with my threats of murder." Was that the adjusting of a gun? Gold went cold, skin paling. "One little peep out of your filthy mouth, and I'll blow your guts across the room, got it?" Her tone burned with rage, almost becoming a snarl.
"I-I…."
Gold couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand to hear another word of this, despite the fact he had little idea what was actually occurring. Breaths short and heart racing, the young male broke into a sprint, twisting around the corner of wall and into the hallway.
"BLUE!" Gold cried desperately, mind speeding at a thousand miles a second. "BLUE, SOMEONE'S-"
A hand snatched him by the forehead, utilizing the inside of their elbow to block his vision and secure him so he had no chance of escaping, not that that would be an easy task for the tiny male. Gold grit his teeth through his terror, squirming desperately in a fruitless attempt to break free. He fell still, however, as a cold weight pressed against the back of his head, nearly stopping his heart.
"Say one more word, I fucking dare you." The female hissed into his ear. Gold was all by hyperventilating at this point. The tiny boy struggled to fight back his cries.
"W-what are you doing?!" he could hear Brendan gaping from behind him. "D-don't you e-even think about hurting him, h-he's just a kid!"
The female seemed to stiffen, her grip on him tightening, squeezing. The gun against his head dug into his skull.
"Shut UP!" She sounded to be fighting to keep her voice quiet. That voice…. Gold bit his lip so firmly he swore he cut it. He knew it sounded familiar, but who…? The boy didn't have time to think any further, as she continued to speak. "You!" He shrunk. "How much did you hear?!"
Gold was too scared to answer. He couldn't answer. His throat had constricted, disposing of any words his mind could just barely form. All he could let out was a terrified whimper, attempting to pull himself away from his attacker.
There was a long silence, broken only by confused mumbling in the other room, probably that of White. Finally, the attacker loosened her grip, if only slightly.
"Fine then, you little brat. It doesn't matter what you know." The gun gradually lowered, as did Gold's heart rate. "What matters is that you don't say a word of this, to anybody." Her nails, sharp as claws, dug into the side of his face, drawing thin streams of blood. "Do you understand me?!"
"I-" Gold hesitated. "….Y-yes! I-I won't say a word!" He cursed the waver in his voice, praying that his attacker wouldn't mistake it for dishonesty.
The girl seemed to be contemplating his response, but slowly she released him, the tiny male stumbling out of her grasp. However, before he even had the option to spin around and see who this violent female was, she shoved him aside with ease, slamming heavily into the wall beside him.
Gold's ears rung from the impact and his little body crumpled from the shock. He clutched at his arm, which had received the worst of the blow, and squeezed his eyes shut. Footsteps, quick and quiet, rang out own the hallways, and by the time Gold managed to regain any of his composure, they were already long gone.
Brendan, understandably, was terrified out of his wits. His normally pale skin practically glowed white in the dark of the room. Tear gathered in his emerald green eyes, threatening to spill over, and he was shaking like a leaf.
"Ugh…." Gold groaned as he pushed himself up off the ground. He winced deeply. "Who was-?" He never got to finish his sentence, as at that very moment Brendan ran up and pulled him into the tightest hug of his short life.
"I-I'M SO SORRY!" Brendan sobbed, blushing dark red. "I-I SHOULD'VE DONE SOMETHING A-AND-" Gold tried to speak, but his windpipe was being brutally crushed by the terrifying power that was Brendan's hugs. "-I'M A H-HORRIBLE PERSON!"
"It's…. Fine…." Gold barely managed to rasp out. The terrifying thing was that he could tell the older boy was restraining himself.
Slowly, so he wouldn't drop the kid and bruise him any further, Brendan released him, backing up. He was evidently flustered, face scarlet, hair wild and a tear running down his cheek. Gold sucked in breaths desperately, clutching at his ribcage. God that had been painful….
"N-no, no, no, no, no…." The shy male mumbled, starring intently at the floor out of shame. "I-it's no, i-it won't happen again…." Gold couldn't help but roll his eyes a little. As welcome as someone treating him as older was, he really wasn't in the mood for this. "Sorry…."
"Brendan. It's okay, alright? I'm fine, you're fine, everybody's fine. I think. You don't have to apologize.'
Brendan fiddled with his gloves. "Sor-Wait, um, no. I'm not sorry." He shook his head quickly, then froze. "N-no, I-I didn't mean it like that, I just… I…." A low sigh was released. "Sorry… O-only not like that…."
Gold laughed a little, not out of spite, but merely because he assumed Brendan was making some sort of joke. His expression darkened instantly the moment the previous events came back into focus, though.
"Brendan," the older boy looked up nervously. "Who was that you were talking to? And what was she talking about?" Gold blinked. "She said something about-"
'S-stop!" Brendan interrupted without hesitation, a rare action for him. "W-we can't talk about it, ever! Not now, not later, n-not even to ourselves!" His tone was oddly firm, some desperation audible.
The tiny child was taken aback. "But-"
"No Gold!" He hissed. "What's going on in her life is none of your business, and it's none of mine either! It was just an accident, got it?" Gold attempted to hold a glare, but failed and ended up pouting miserably. Brendan let out a shaky breath. "Now… S-since I'm your senior, wow that makes me sound old, um, I-I say it's bedtime for you. I-It's almost midnight."
"What?! But I'm not even tired! I just had a gun pointed to my head!" The incident seemed to have expelled all previous exhaustion.
"A-and staying awake wont change that, p-plus you-"
Gold didn't give him a chance to finish. He wasn't really angry, but more so cranky. "What about White?! Me and her were supposed to be cleaning, and I never even finished!"
"P-please don't argue with me!" The black haired teenager begged him, evidently distressed. Any further protests died in his throat. "I-I'll send White to bed a-as well, and, um, I'll make sure Blue knows i-it's my fault that you didn't finish your work, okay?" He shivered a little bit.
Gold took a long moment to reply, wanting to fight back further, but the other male just looked so utterly miserable he felt it'd be nothing short of cruel to push him further. Not to mention that Brendan had quite the temper, believe it or not, and he really didn't want to be on the receiving end of that. Defeated, Gold nodded slowly.
Brendan smiled timidly, looking beyond relieved.
"Oh, thank you! And, um, p-please don't go looking for, well, y'know…." Brendan starred intently at the younger boy. "I-it's only for your safety, and for her privacy, o-of course."
Gold gave him a half smile, turning his back and starting to make his way down the hall in the direction of his (and Leaf's) room. "Oh don't worry, I won't." he called over his shoulder.
The one thing Brendan would never notice, however, was the fingers the boy crossed across his chest as he spoke.
Hugh awoke to the sound of his door creaking open in such a manner it was obvious the person preforming the action was attempting to do so silently.
His scarlet eyes were open in a flash, illuminated slightly by the light of the moon, shining dully through the room's one window. Footsteps could be heard, also the result of a clumsy attempt to be hidden. Hugh blinked blearily, still exhausted beyond belief, and propped himself up with his elbow.
"…Hello…?" He muttered groggily, rubbing his eye. He blankly wondered in the person could even hear him over how loud Kyouhei was snoring. Hugh groaned slightly pushing himself up in a more proper position. "…Who's there…?"
He wasn't surprised in even the vaguest definition of the word when Mei's voice rang through the air, full of spunk and a sense of slyness that made the Qwilfish haired trainer rather uncomfortable. "Your one and only true love! ~" She answered, almost giddily. She probably winked to. He could feel it.
Hugh sighed. The boy slumped back, closing his crimson eyes once more due to exhaustion. "Hello, Mei."
He envisioned her giving him an eye-roll, which she did, the action of such hidden by the darkness of the area. "Oh, stop being grumpy, I was just kidding." Hugh grimaced. Judging by the sudden compression of his mattress she had just sat down on his bed. Lovely. "Anyways, I'm just letting you know I wasn't kidding when I was telling you about that plan." The blue haired male let out a grunt of confusion, which she replayed him with a playful punch to the stomach. "You know! The one with Giratina? Yeah. Well, we're doing that. Now."
"Oh my God…" Hugh moaned, burying his face in his pillow. "Mei, no. I'm not in the mood for that shit right now, or ever, really, but especially not right now." He cast her an annoyed side-glance. "Besides, you still need to get rid of whoever's on guard duty, remember?"
"Done and done, sourpuss." She smirked audibly. "A little sleep-powder from that old Venasaur we fought way back when, and Barry was out like a light. At least," Mei paused, "….I think it was Barry? Are their any other people with lighter hair colours here?"
Hugh shrugged. "Brendan's an albino, but he dyes his hair and shit. Other then that, Blue has a weird auburn colour and- Hey, does that mean this when me and Kyo were fighting that Venasaur you were-?!"
"Anyways," Mei cut in forcefully. Hugh scowled. "The point here is everything's set! It's midnight, everyone's sound asleep, the guard's been taken care of and I took the liberty of getting your guys' weapons ready!" The bed shifted, becoming lighter. Finally she had abandoned her seat from his sleeping sanctuary. "No, no! No thanks are nessasary, you're quite welcome."
"I'm not going to thank you for something I-"
Mei interrupted him without missing a beat. "Now all we have to do is wake Hei-Hei and we're out, baby!"
"Don't ever say that again." Hugh grumbled. Once more, he found himself straightening up from the comfort of his position. A yawn escaped him, and he found himself mentally cursing off Mei. She was one of his best friends, honestly, and he couldn't imagine life without her, but sometimes her schemes really pissed him off. Unleashed his rage, one could say.
The brunette didn't even had to tell him she wanted him to wake up the third member of their trio, he really knew her that well. Kicking his legs off the side of the bed, an action that resulted in an instinctual shiver running down his spine, Hugh rose shakily to his still-tired feet. He stifled yet-another yawn. The air just felt so… Still, Hugh noted as he stepped forwards. It felt wrong being up and making noise at such a peaceful (for once) time. It actually made him rather uncomfortable.
….But then again, where would they be if Hugh actually listened to his instincts for once?
"BUT GALEFIRE THS CHAPTER WAS SO SHORT AND NOT MUCH HAPPE-" I KNOW.
I suck at writing long chapters, alright? Forcing myself to do so is how I end up abandoning large projects, like Uprising (which I'm still working on, by the way, it's just taking forever.)
Also, there's something I should explain.
Monster, assuming I stick with it, is going to be LONG. Like, 100+ chapters kinda thing. As such, I have decided to separate it into "arcs". This... Is the prologue arc, each chapter dedicated to introducing a new plot-point that WILL be important. This one introduced one too, set up another one, and delved a little more into some of the characters. And that's really all the chapters are supposed to do for now! The action comes later (and in the next chapter, as there is a fair bit in the prologue arc), but for now, we're just easing into the story, alright?
Well, I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are ALWAYS welcome!
~*Galefire*~
(Calem your accent is ridiculous...)