"I'm going to hunt you down and defeat you, filthy dirt human." Zim hissed as they were assigned to teams.
"Nu uh! I'm gonna beat you!" Dib protested, accepting the blue mesh jersey he was handed by a counselor.
"Junky worm beast. You can barely see in the daytime- what makes you think I won't be able to find you in the dead of night?" Zim threatened quietly, gesturing to the darkness of the surrounding forest.
"Because I'm resourceful, and you're a blundering idiot." Dib shot back, joining the group of children wearing blue as Zim stalked off with those garbed in red.
Ah, now this was more like old times. How nostalgic.
"The forest limits are signified by a yellow nylon rope attached to posts at regular intervals. If you get lost, just keep walking until you find one and follow it back here. I'm going to pull a color out of this bag to decide which team is to be hunted; all the other teams will be the hunters. Each round lasts only ten minutes." The lanky young counselor from the day before called above the clamor, which quickly subsided in anticipation. Shuffling his arm around inside the small brown bag for a little while, the man drew out a blue piece of cloth.
"Blue team, you have eight minutes to hide. I suggest you start running for your lives. Now." the counselor said, looking warily at the shadows at the edge of the fire.
"Wha...but...but, what about the raccoons?" Dib stammered, whipping his head back and forth as the rest of his team shot off into the dark forest instantaneously.
"They were fed earlier; shouldn't give you too much trouble. Just scream really loud if anything...unfortunate happens. Get moving, kid- you're wasting valuable fleeing time." the counselor said, plunking down on a log and looking at his wristwatch.
Dib took one look at the mass of students hungrily waiting to chase the "weird kid" down, and bolted.
Dashing madly through the shadowy trees, Dib cleared a rotting fallen log and kept on running, panting from the exertion and adrenaline after a few minutes. Slowing down, he looked around him as he continued to move forward. The shrouded forest was eerily silent, save for the occasional skitter or rustle that made Dib jump. It must have been near five minutes by now, and Dib shuddered; he'd be fine as long as Chunk didn't find him. Or Morla. Or anyone, really. Being found by anyone in his class other than the more complacent students like Zita and The Letter M would no doubt result in a wedgie.
Feeling like he'd gone far enough to at least pose a challenge to find, Dib slowed down even more and concentrated on quieting his breathing. They'd be set loose any second now; he could feel it.
Taking in his surroundings, Dib looked for a good place to conceal himself. He could climb a tree, but then he'd be trapped if they decided to throw things at him. And laying on the ground and tossing leaves and dirt over himself with bugs didn't sound nice either. Maybe if he could find a tree with even a slight hollow in its trunk, he could back into it a little to save his hide. Searching the area, Dib walked around the bases of what felt like a million trunks before he heard it: a collective animalistic yell of war, and the sound of twenty some-odd feet crashing through the undergrowth in the distance.
"Crap!" he thought frantically, now dashing between trees with fading hope. At last something caught his eye: A slightly stunted tree jammed between two larger trees had a natural hollow that was just large enough for him to squeeze into, cobwebs be dammed. Forcing himself into the opening, Dib hushed his breath and concentrated on listening to the approaching sounds.
There was a lot of unnecessary yelling, to be sure. Hunters screamed useless things like "over here!" and "someone went this way!" to their companions, but the entire ordeal seemed to be nothing more than a chaotic mess. Scrunching up and holding his breath as someone trampled by, Dib wondered how much longer it would be before the whistle was blown and it was safe to come out.
Hearing a twig snap, Dib flinched and drew in so close to the hollow he could feel the bark scratching him through the fabric of his shirt.
"M, where is he? He's gotta be around here; he ran in this direction. I'm gonna give him a wedgie and hang him from a tree where he can sleep up there with the raccoons for the rest of the night." Chunk said with a snort, his stomping tread ominously close.
"Isn't that a little harsh, man?" Dib heard M ask, and an accompanying lighter set of footsteps was heard.
"For that paranormal freak? No way. He can search for his ghosts and bigfoots while dangling in the air." Chunk chuckled. Fearing for his life, Dib stood still as a statue and waited. A bush rustled a ways off just as Chunk neared his tree, and Dib heard him and M take off towards the sound with a loud whoop of excitement. Uncoiling at the fading voices, Dib reached around and rubbed his lightly scratched up back. That would sting in the saltwater tomorrow.
"Enjoying being prey, Dib?"
The voice made Dib jump out of his skin as he looked up. Zim was perched in the crook of a branch in the tree next to Dib, and the Irken's dark red eyes were fixed on him. His contacts had likely been bothering him again with all the smoke from the fire and had been taken out, Dib realized. And in a dark forest lit only by a sliver of moonlight, Zim could get away with that if he kept his wig on.
"No. And how did you find me so fast?" Dib whispered, glancing about nervously.
"Irken, remember?" Zim said sarcastically, lifting his wig up and twitching his antennae briefly before replacing it. "I could find you by hearing alone, nevermind being able to see perfectly fine in this. You breathe very loudly, worm monkey." Zim added, and his spider legs shot out of his Pak and dug into the tree.
"Run."
The word caught Dib by surprise, and only when he saw Zim crouching as if to pounce did he whirl around and take off through the forest in a panic. Why did Zim always have to take competitions so freaking seriously? He knew if he was caught the Irken would drag him back to the campfire to declare his success, and Dib didn't really feel like being dragged through a forest in the middle of the night by an alien intent on the hunt.
But on the flip side, damn was running from him exhausting.
Crashing through a bush and zigzagging between tree trunks, Dib heard no sound of pursuit behind him- but somehow he knew. He knew Zim was effortlessly keeping stride with him, and when a gloved hand reached down from a branch ahead to snag him, he only narrowly limbo-d under the grasp. Dashing through the forest like a rabbit flushed from hiding, Dib prayed the whistle would blow soon so he could stop and vomit, and then catch his breath. Risking a glance behind him, Dib saw only the stirred leaves upon the ground indicating where he'd blundered through, and he looked forward again in time to run smack into a wall of squishy red.
"Heh, well whatta you know- looks like he found us, M." Dib heard a familiar voice say, and looked up through blurred vision to see a rough likeness of Chunk leering down at him. Scrabbling around in the dirt for his glasses, Dib grabbed them by the lenses and put them on, vision now improved but also smudged and dirty.
M was leaning against a tree in the background wearing a purple jersey, looking like he wanted no part of whatever Chunk was planning. If anything, he seemed a little apologetic as Dib was grabbed by the front of his shirt and hauled into the air, legs dangling. "I hope the raccoons still have room for more." Chunk said with a sneer, and began walking towards a tree with a branch low enough for him to reach but too high for Dib to touch the ground.
"Excuse me. That pathetic excuse for prey was mine first." Dib heard from above him, and all three kids looked up to see Zim sitting lazily halfway up the tree. He'd had the common sense to put his contacts back in, but Dib thought he'd never looked more obviously alien in his disguise than he did now in the dark.
"So? He ran into us...uh...second! We're getting the points from capturing him." Chunk argued stupidly, drooling a little towards the end of his sentence. Zim's eyes narrowed, and he hopped from branch to branch down to the floor.
"I. Found him. First." Zim ground out, stepping forward angrily. "ZIM will get the points to win this ridiculous game. ZIM will beat all of you filthies. It's a pride thing, really." The Irken admitted, coming to a stop in front of Chunk. "Oh, and... no one will believe you." Zim tacked on, before launching into action.
Dib hit the ground with an "Oof!" as Chunk was sent flying a couple feet backwards from Zim's shove, and then Dib felt himself being carted through the air by the back of his shirt.
"Zim! Put me down! You jerk!" Dib yelled angrily, but the Irken merely continued back towards camp at a leisurely pace through the canopy using his spider legs.
"Be quiet or I'll drop you." Zim threatened flatly, and Dib crossed his arms and huffed.
"No you won't. I know you wouldn't." Dib said stubbornly, and Zim seemed to ponder his words for a moment.
"Yes, yes. You are correct. However," Zim paused, and in the interim Dib's head collided with a branch, "I may accidentally lose my grip from time to time, which would unfortunately cause your titanically large head to be hit by trees."
Dib grumbled quietly to himself, knowing the Irken could hear every insult directed at him. Soon the glow from the fire filtered through the treeline, and Dib was dropped unceremoniously into the firelight with another "Oof" and a stick poking his side.
"ZIM has captured this child of meat and dirt! What is my prize?" The Irken announced from Dib's left, and Dib remained lying on the floor shooting a sullen look up at his friend. The counselor on the log spasmed and flailed around for a moment, but upon seeing Dib plopped grumpily on the ground and Zim standing victoriously beside him, relaxed minutely.
"Ah. We haven't had a successful capture in a while now- most of the time the kids just run long enough to hear the whistle, or hide well enough to never be found. And sometimes, they really are never found..." The teenager trailed off eerily at the end of his sentence with wide eyes, but perked back up immediately. "But, it looks like we have a winner!" he exclaimed delightedly.
"Yes. Zim is a winner." Zim proclaimed self-righteously and nodded, kicking Dib gently with his boot when the human made a sarcastic "Pffft." noise from his place on the ground.
"Well, I'd love to reward you, but we actually don't have a set prize for winning manhunt! We consider the prize to be bragging rights and glory. Is that all right with you?" The counselor asked uncertainly, watching Zim's expression cloud momentarily.
"Yes...yes...YES! GLORY FOR ZIM!" The Irken screamed, and a couple of the students who had given up early and were returning looked surprised that one of the class rejects had actually won something.
Dib finally bothered to get up, and dusted himself off. "Zim, you're a total jerk." Dib said, not really meaning it as the alien turned to him with a broad grin.
"Perhaps so, human. But Zim is a jerk with GLORY!" Zim yelled again, and Dib rolled his eyes. The counselor blew the whistle and gradually the players began to return, those in the blue jerseys appearing relieved at being spared the same fate as Dib.
Chunk and M finally traipsed out of the forest, Chunk stuttering madly and covered in dirt and leaves, while M just seemed dumbstruck. The two of them looked at Zim and paled a little, and the Irken gave an unsettling zipper-like smile.
"Round two is now beginning, children. This time it is...yellow team's turn to flee like animals!" The counselor announced after drawing another color, and Zim and Dib grinned. They'd make an unstoppable team; it seemed as though they'd be racking in a whole lot of glory that night.
And gain glory they did. Working together like clockwork (except for one match when red was to be hunted, and nobody was able to find Zim even though every single student looked) Dib and Zim captured and dragged back at least one person every round, sometimes two. So when the students were finally dismissed from the campfire to return to their rooms, a few grudging congratulations were reluctantly thrown their way. Strutting back to the house together, Dib and Zim laughed and talked like any normal pair of friends. Things had really changed in the space of a few days.
"Heh, yeah, Melvin screamed so loud when you dropped down in front of him and I jumped on him from behind." Dib agreed with a laugh, and he slowed down as the house came into view. "Hey, Zim?" he asked slowly.
"Yes, Dib friend?" Zim responded, still seeming in good spirits from all the "glory" he'd attained.
"When we all leave the day after tomorrow to go back home...we're not going to go back to being enemies, are we?"
Dib knew Zim had heard him but the alien kept on walking, up the steps and through the door, not stopping as Dib tailed him into their shared room. Only once Dib shut the door did Zim take out his contacts and pull off his wig and look directly at Dib.
"Dib, what do you see?" he asked simply, crossing his arms and tapping a foot.
Dib stared. Well, he saw an alien, duh. But...but he also saw a friend. Something he'd never had before. "I see a short as hell green space boy striving to please a race that doesn't appreciate him enough. I see a friend as well." Dib answered honestly, trying to gauge Zim's reaction.
"What you should see is a member of an enemy race intent on the conquering of the entire universe. You should see your most hated enemy. Why do you see otherwise now, Dib worm?" Zim asked, and Dib saw his antennae raise and lower unevenly. Confusion, maybe?
"Well, because...I don't know. Because I can hang out with you in a way nobody else would ever let me, I guess. You're not as bad as I always used to make you out to be." Dib said, shifting his weight to his other foot. "You're smart when you feel like being smart, and I think that if you really were hell bent on conquering Earth, you could- so, Zim, why haven't you?" he asked, giving Zim an inquisitive look.
"Because, Earth dirt! It is Zim's ...eh...desire to destroy this ball of mud with the most ingenious plan ever! I simply haven't thought of the most perfect one just yet!" The Irken yelled, and Dib frowned and crossed his arms.
"Ok, so what's the real reason?" Dib asked again flatly.
Zim narrowed his eyes at the human, and Dib watched the moonlight reflect off them in interest. How he could ever tell where the alien was looking he didn't know, but he knew then that Zim's crimson orbs were drilling into him as the Irken thought.
"...Its just that, if Zim destroyed the Earth, he'd have no one. Well, I'd have Gir, but an eternity with him? I'd put myself out of my misery quickly enough." the Irken finally caved under Dib's disbelieving glare, and grumbled out the truth. "You're right- my leaders don't appreciate me. No one on Irk does. I've actually caused several problems over the course of my existence, so I'm not surprised by that." Zim said regretfully, tossing his wig and contacts onto his nightstand and slumping a little at the conversation.
"Well...whatever to all that stuff- you never answered my question. When we get back, would it be hypothetically possible for us to go to Bloaty's every now and then without shooting lasers or screaming or blowing things up?" Dib repeated, heading to his own nightstand and pulling out a clean pair of pajamas.
"I suppose that could be... amenable." Zim said after a pause, and Dib whooshed out a sigh, glad he hadn't lost the first and only friend he'd ever made. Heading into the bathroom, Dib tossed his clothes onto the counter and turned on the shower for a short rinse off. Washing his hair was pointless as he'd just be in the water again tomorrow, but he did run the water through it to rinse off the sweat from manhunt. Finishing and pulling on his night clothes, Dib grabbed one of the standard white hotel towels and rubbed his hair dry. It stuck up everywhere, but he didn't care; it wouldn't matter what it looked like when he was in the ocean.
Leaving the bathroom to see Zim sitting cross legged on his bed in his pajamas, Dib realized something.
"Zim! You used your spider leg thingies back in the forest. Don't tell me my shirt..." Dib trailed off with an aggravated noise as Zim "Hm?"-d innocently and picked up the red tee from the floor.
"Oh, yes, completely ruined. For you, at least. Zim said with a chuckle, turning it around so Dib could see four holes punched in the back from where the legs must have torn through.
"Ugh, just keep it. I prefer blue anyway." Dib grumped, flopping down on his bed across the room. "I'm exhausted, so I'm going to bed now." he notified the Irken, and dug under the covers and curled up.
"What do you mean you're "going to bed"? You are already there, idiotic human." he heard Zim point out from across the room.
"It means going to sleep, moron. Goodnight." Dib found the energy to reply, and took off his dirty glasses and placed them on the table with a yawn. He'd need to clean those tomorrow...
"Goodnight, Dib stink."
At least tonight's goodnight had been a little more civil than last night's.
Sorry this chapter is a bit late, but I've been busy. I'm going on vacation for a week tomorrow, but I'm bringing my laptop so I'll still try to get some stuff done. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and the few new people who did as well :) you guys all rock so hard. I appreciate all the patience, too. I'm thinking this story has maybe one or two more chapters left before its done, so thanks to everybody for sticking with me- it means a lot c: