AN: Another chapter! Will Mello stop being a jerk? You finally can find out! Yay! I loved Harry Potter by the way. Side note once more: We cosplayed again yesterday and are now uploading a series of four videos including a blooper reel. The account is MarauderingWammys on youtube so again, if bored check it out. I think mine (Matt's) is the only one up, unless Melissa finished editing Mello's…
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Chapter 3: Nightfall
Although the sun had not yet set, the woods were already growing dark. While before it had seemed peaceful and relaxing, the woods now seemed dark and ominous. Matt was nervous; he didn't want to be here when nightfall came. He didn't want to be surrounded by the blackness of night.
"We should find shelter," he said finally.
"And where do you suggest we find that?" Mello snapped.
Matt cringed slightly, the barbed responses starting to get to him after having to listen to them for so long. He tried to brush the tone off as Mello being in pain and instead looked around, hoping something would jump out at him.
That wasn't even the most pressing concern. They had no water. He had been trying to listen as they followed the hill for a sign of a river or something, but so far he'd had no luck.
Mello stumbled and cursed loudly. Matt paused, looking at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
Matt very much doubted that, but not too far ahead there was a small clearing in the trees to their left. He pulled Mello along, pausing to look across the clearing. It was lighter here, and seemed quieter somehow. And in the distance…he wasn't sure, but it could be a river, and if it was they desperately needed to reach it.
"Mello let's go this way."
"What? Camp is more this way! Plus we probably don't have to go much farther to reach where camp will be."
"We need water," Matt argued. "There may be some this way, see?"
Mello stared into the distance for several minutes. "It could be," he admitted finally.
The two adjusted their course. The walk took longer than they had expected, although part if it might be because of Mello's injury. The farther along they got, the more sure Matt was that they were nearing a source of water. Sure enough, after clearing several trees the two boys found themselves on the shore of a river.
The current was very strong, and there were trees and large rocks all along it. Mello shrugged off his backpack and dug through it, finding a canteen. Matt took it and climbed onto the rocks, quickly filling it. Both of them knew not to drink water straight from the river, but Mello had brought a portable purification device, which would work, but would make the water taste horrible. Either way though, it was still water.
Matt gazed down the river from his spot out on the rocks. All along the shore there were big clusters of rocks, some larger than others. If they could find a secure one, it may work as shelter for the night. He told Mello this, who agreed to walk down the river for a short time in search of shelter.
Not fifteen minutes later they stumbled across something that could almost pass for a cave. It wasn't deep, but it would fit them both and even a fire comfortably, and would provide shelter. "This will work. Tomorrow your ankle will probably be a lot better, and we can climb back up the hill," Matt said.
Mello shrugged and sat down. "Go get some firewood so we can build a fire."
Matt rolled his eyes but complied, hoping Mello was not participating because he was bossy, not because he was in pain. Leaving the shelter behind, he ventured into the trees, collecting firewood on the way. Once he almost had more than he could carry (he did not want to run out in the middle of the night) he returned to the cave, tossing the wood to the floor at Mello's feet. The blond said nothing, and instead began to assemble the wood in the middle of the cave for where their fire would go. Sighing, Matt sat down and leaned against the rocks.
"Toss me your lighter," Mello muttered distractedly.
Matt complied, tossing the rarely used lighter to his best friend. Mello had yelled at him when he first found out Matt had tried cigarettes a month ago, but now that they needed a fire, it's a good thing he had.
"We should eat," Mello said, rummaging through his bag. "Here, we'll split half a sandwich and an apple tonight." It wasn't much, not nearly a sufficient meal, but it was something, and since neither boy knew how long they might be lost, they had to save as much as possible.
It wasn't much longer before it was dark. Both boys stood at the entrance of their structure and looked across the woods.
The woods were so dark that neither of them could see more than several feet in front of them. Matt gravitated closer to Mello without thinking about it, intimidated. Neither boy could even see the river, even though it was only a few feet in front of them. Feeling unsafe surrounded by that darkness, both retreated further inside, not speaking. Mello removed the blanket from his bag and laid down. Matt looked at him a moment, but he was used to Mello by now, and Mello's body language was telling him to stay away from him. Matt sighed to himself and moved to the other side of the small fire, curling up on the ground. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would be easy to fall asleep.
The night was silent in a loud way. Neither boy had ever noticed how hard you listen to the silence for a disruption when there was no other noise around. The boys were on separate sides of the small fire, facing away from each other. Matt's eyes were opened wide, staring at the wall of the cave and ears straining for any sudden noise. The natural sounds of the woods seemed much more amplified when they were on their own and when it was nighttime.
He glanced behind him at Mello, who was curled in his blanket and also facing the wall. Matt turned away again and shivered, trying in vain to stay warm. Although it was rather comfortable in the daytime, the temperature had cooled overnight. He hadn't brought a bag with him in the woods like Mello had. Matt jumped at the sudden crack of a stick and sat up, staring into the mouth of the cave as if waiting for a predator to strike.
"Go to sleep. There's nothing that dangerous out there or we wouldn't have gone on the trip here," Mello said without turning around.
Matt said nothing, not wanting to argue that they had seen a bear not even twenty four hours ago. He's rather believe Mello's words. Instead he laid back down on the ground. He closed his eyes, telling himself he'd wake up in the morning and it would all be fine, although not really believing it. He flinched at another unfamiliar noise but kept his eyes closed, trying to force himself to relax.
He hadn't said anything but he was scared…really scared. They weren't meant to be out here like this. They didn't know how to survive out in the woods alone. Sure they were geniuses but that didn't mean they could survive with so few rations.
Another strange sound came and Matt flinched again, squeezing his eyes closed harder. Mello's eyes had snapped open at the sound, and he shifted silently, propping himself up to look out of the cave, then turned his eyes towards Matt.
He knew it wasn't Matt's fault they were out here, but it wasn't his fault either! To be honest it really wasn't either one of their faults, and the blond was starting to regret his harsh words as he watched his companion curled on the ground, shaking. He hadn't bothered to stop Matt from leading them out of sight of camp, and he hadn't paid attention to where they were going. If the bear hadn't been there, they would be back at camp right now, sharing a tent. He'd probably be watching Matt try to play his games by flashlight and munching on a chocolate bar. Now though they had to save every bite of food they had.
He glanced away when Matt flinched at another noise, watching the ground indecisively. He pulled the blanket around himself tighter, still chilled even with a blanket. If he was chilly with a blanket Matt must be freezing…
"Matt."
Matt turned around, looking towards the blond. Mello unwrapped himself slightly. "Just…come here."
Matt obeyed immediately, moving around their small fire to sit besides the blond. Mello scooted over and lied down, flapping out the blanket to cover them both as Matt lied down beside him. Mello could feel him shivering beside him. He reached around Matt to adjust the blanket to cover him better then lied back down. Matt hesitated a moment then shifted closer to Mello, curling up against him. Mello tensed a moment then relaxed, turning so he was facing Matt. It was a lot warmer pressed again the redhead.
Matt cringed yet again at another strange noise and wordlessly Mello draped an arm around him, pulling him even closer. Matt closed his eyes, relaxing with the reassurance that Mello was beside him and there to keep him safe. Logically there wasn't much Mello could do to protect him from some wild animal attack or anything, but Matt felt safer anyway.
It took ages, but eventually both boys managed to drift off and find sleep.
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Mello groaned and shifted, slowly waking up to find that no, this was not a horrible dream, he really was lost in the woods. Noticing a mysterious absence at his side, Mello sat up, looking around the cave. "Matt?" he asked.
The redhead was gone. Mello stood, double checking, as if there was somewhere Matt could hide inside. He saw no trace of the redhead, only noticing the lack of firewood.
Matt might have gone to get more. But why had he gone alone? What if he was lost? Matt didn't have any of the supplies! He didn't have food, or a way to purify the water! Close to panicking, Mello began to leave the shelter when the redhead appeared with a handful of wood.
"Where were you?" Mello shrieked.
Matt blinked. "I think that's pretty obvious."
"Idiot! I didn't know where you were! What if you got lost all by yourself? Did you think about that?!"
"I was just outside," Matt defended weakly. Mello growled and tore the wood from Matt's hands, building up a bit of a fire for them. He dug through his back and retrieved the other half of the sandwich from last night's meal and gave half to Matt. Once finished they split a chocolate bar in silence.
"Let's go," Mello said. "We'll stay along the river for a bit then walk back towards the hill."
They once again walked in silence, although Mello could walk unassisted most of the time. His ankle wasn't that bad, and felt better than the day before. He paused, crawling across the rocks to reach the river and refill the canteen.
"Mello what are you doing?!"
"Getting water you idiot, what does it look like?"
"You just sprained your ankle! Get back here right now!" Matt demanded.
Mello stood, putting his hands on his hips. "Stop bossing me around! I am perfectly capable of filling a canteen!" He turned around to look across the river, scanning the shore.
"Please just…come back to shore. You need to learn to be rational even if your pride is hurt."
"Shut up Matt!"
Mello turned to face the redhead, ready to say something, but he put too much weight on his ankle and it rolled under him. He yelped slightly and fell backwards into the river, vanishing from sight.
"Mello?" Matt called, scrambling up the rocks. The blond didn't emerge, and the current was fast. Matt dropped the canteen besides Mello's bag and took off at a run. "Mello!"
No one answered him.
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AN: Cliffhanger! xD Those are always fun. Look there was a tiny…amount of fluff until Mello got mad again xD Yay. Anyway thanks as always for reading. I'm focusing more on this right now, but MOAO will be updated eventually, I've just had a busy summer socially and now as August approaches college stuff is popping up. Bleh.