Chapter IV: Confession

Grizz smiled in satisfaction as he gazed down at his collection of assorted makeshift tools. The bearing block had proven to be the most difficult item to find, as it wasn't easy finding a rock with an indentation. "All right, I think we're good to go," he said proudly. Hearing a sound to his left, he turned to see Nom Nom approaching him, looking unsure of himself as he stared down at the bundle in his paws.

"Is…this okay?" he asked as he held up his findings, to which Grizz smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, dude, that's perfect!" he replied as he took the bark scrapings. "So…now comes the hard part." Setting the tinder aside, Grizz reached for the stick he had selected as his bow while simultaneously grabbing the cord he had fashioned out of the bark of a tree, which had been split down the middle after likely being struck by lightening. Nom Nom seated himself on the ground, observing his now worn down claws with a grimace. "Okay…so now I gotta tie the string to the bow," he heard Grizz murmur. Looking up, he saw the bear had the long, curved stick laying across his lap as he tried to attach the string to one end. Once he had the cord secured to the bow, he reached for the baseboard and unsheathed one of his claws. "Now I need to make a small impression in the baseboard for the spindle," he said as he began carving into the wood with his claw.

Nom Nom watched with bored, half-lidded eyes as Grizz walked him through each step of the tedious process, hardly caring how it was done. The only thing that concerned him was whether or not it could produce a fire, and he had his doubts. Once Grizz had everything set up, he placed a foot on the baseboard and beared down on the spindle with the large stone as he began moving the bow back and forth. The spindle rotated swiftly, creating friction that Grizz could only hope would eventually lead to a spark.

"I don't see what's the point of doing this. I mean…if you can get the same results from rubbing two sticks together, then why didn't you just do that instead of wasting all that time putting that thing together?" Nom Nom asked.

"Well, I think you can create more friction doing it this way. Plus, it's just more fun to do it this way!"

"What's fun about it? You look like you're constipated."

Grizz only sighed.

Ten minutes went by, and then twenty, and then forty. Nom Nom eventually laid down on his side, yawning as he folded an arm beneath his head. Fatigue eventually caught up with him and he found himself nodding off. When he eventually opened his eyes again, he assumed he had only dozed off for about five minutes or so, as Grizz was still trying to get a flame going.

"Did I fall asleep?" he asked groggily.

"Yeah, for about twenty-five minutes," Grizz mumbled back to him, too focused on his task to even look up.

"Twenty-five minutes? So what, it's been like an hour now? And you still haven't gotten anywhere?"

Grizz finally looked up at him. "Nom Nom, starting a fire without matches or a lighter can take a long time. At this point, I care more about having the satisfaction of knowing I can make a fire than the actual fire itself. I mean, when my bros and I were lost in the woods, I felt useless. I didn't know much of anything. I never took the time to prepare. Even though I never planned to deliberately put ourselves in that situation again, I still wanted to learn how to do what I didn't know how to do before."

Nom Nom looked down, eyes widening as he noticed the tiniest wisp of white smoke.

"Um, Grizz?"

"I told myself that if we were ever in that kind of situation again, I was going to be prepared next time," the bear continued, eyes shifting towards the sky.

"Grizz?"

"Of course, wild bears don't typically make campfires, but..." Grizz added with a laugh.

"GRIZZ!"

"Huh? What?"

Nom Nom simply pointed down at the tinder pile. Looking down and seeing the small wisp of smoke billowing up into the air, Grizz nearly dropped the bow out of shock. "Oh my gosh!" he gasped excitedly.

"Blow on it!" Nom Nom shouted urgently.

"No, no, not yet. Just hang on a sec..."

Grizz increased his speed, watching intensely for the sign of a glowing ember, which he had yet to see. He paused momentarily to wipe the sweat from his forehead and quickly resumed, his heart pounding with excitement.

"There!"

Being as careful as possible, Grizz tilted the baseboard, allowing the glowing embers to slide through the notch he had carved and onto the tinder pile. He crouched down, blowing into the pile gently. His eyes widened with excitement and he felt himself begin to shake when he saw the embers glow brighter. Seconds later, Grizz was able to see the tiniest flame begin to take shape. Without hesitation, he reached towards the small pile of twigs he had managed to gather during his search, which weren't much thicker than toothpicks. "Okay…I'm gonna keep feeding this flame and try to make it bigger. While I'm doing this, why don't you try to find some decent kindling?"

Nom Nom didn't utter a word as he got to his feet and went to search for larger pieces of wood, which he found to be in abundance once he neared the edge of the forest. He gathered up as much as his tiny arms could carry and quickly made his way back, dropping the pile next to Grizz. "How much do we need?" he asked as he eyeballed the growing fire.

"There's really no way to know. I'd keep gathering as much as you can find."

It didn't take long for Grizz to use up all of the smaller twigs. Reaching towards the kindling, he aimed for the smallest pieces and began adding them to the growing fire carefully, his smile growing along with it.

After making about six trips back and forth, Nom Nom had finally had enough and called it quits, dropping his last load of kindling onto the pile before plopping down in front of the fire with a loud sigh. "I think that's more than enough." As he sat before the growing fire, he could feel the heat gradually begin to sweep across his face as the flames grew larger. Grizz did not break his concentration for a second, barely taking his eyes off the fire as he reached for more kindling.

After a few tense moments, Grizz finally looked towards Nom Nom, his face splitting into a wide, toothy grin.

Nom Nom leaned back slightly as he raised a brow, a bit put off by his companion's crazy looking smile. "What are you…?"

The bear suddenly jumped to his feet, cheering loudly as he raised his arms above his head in celebration. "I DID IT!" he shouted. "I AM A HARDCORE SURVIVALIST!" Overcome with joy, Grizz rushed over and scooped up a startled Nom Nom, who yelped in surprise as the bear spun him around and lightly tossed him up into the air before catching him again. "I can't believe it! I actually did it!"

"Okay, okay, you did it! Just put me down!"

Grizz grinned sheepishly, muttering a quick apology as he placed the koala down on the ground again. "Sorry, it's just….it's not often I succeed at something. I know it seems like a small thing, but I honestly didn't know if I could do it. Everything I try, I usually fail. It just felt good to succeed at something for once."

Nom Nom suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for spoiling the bear's fun. "Well…I admit, I had my doubts. I never would have thought you could pull off something like that. I certainly wouldn't have had the patience to do all that. Nice work."

Though the praise was incredibly simple, Grizz's eyes still lit up and his smile widened, almost looking as though he may cry. Seeing such an emotional response prompted Nom Nom to frown deeply. Just how starved for approval and acceptance was this bear?

"Well, I'm gonna try my luck at catching another fish! Could you keep an eye on the fire for me?"

"Yeah…sure."

ooooooo

The sun had finally disappeared behind the mountains, though a soft, pink hue still lingered on the horizon. The two animals vaguely considered the fact that they shouldn't have lingered so long, Nom Nom more so than Grizz. The koala hadn't been too sure what Grizz had meant when he had said he wanted to stay 'a little longer', but it was definitely too late for them to travel now. He still held firm to the belief that staying where they were wasn't the wisest option, though he wasn't quite as firm in his insistence to keep going. He was tired, and his legs were sore, and as odd as it was for him to admit, it was actually somewhat relaxing to just sit by the fire and have a casual conversation with someone, without distractions.

Grizz had quite a few interesting stories to tell, he had to admit. He never would have painted the bear as being that interesting, but he had managed to hold his attention much longer than anyone ever had when telling a story. Some of his tales were a bit hard to believe, such as the story he told of the time he and his brothers had found a jean jacket which, according to him, had possessed some kind of supernatural power. He was almost certain the bear was pulling his leg on that one, but at least the story had been entertaining.

Now Grizz was onto a new story, and Nom Nom was finding it harder and harder to keep himself from laughing.

"Are you being serious with me right now?" he asked.

"Dead serious," Grizz replied with a grin.

"But…But it's a burrito!" the koala laughed.

"I know, I know, it's crazy, but I'm telling you, I was totally obsessed. Something about it just made me feel…happy."

"Well, yeah, but…treating it like a living thing? Taking it to the movies? Geez, did you kiss it goodnight, too?"

"…Yeah."

Grizz sighed as he watched Nom Nom roll right off the log he was sitting on, laughing loudly. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about it," the bear sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Nom Nom gasped as he managed to hoist himself back atop the log. "Sorry," he repeated, clutching his stomach as he took a deep breath. "I just…wow."

"It was stupid, okay? I get it. I cringe every time I look back on it. Look, let's just talk about a new topic, okay?" Grizz narrowed his eyes as he noticed Nom Nom biting his lip. "Unless someone has a few more chuckles they wanna get out of their system first?" he quipped.

"Nope, I'm good," the koala responded, unable to stifle a snort.

Grizz rolled his eyes as he picked up a long stick he had found and began poking at the fire. "Why don't we talk about the Let's Play videos?"

"What about 'em?"

"Well…did you still wanna help me with them? You know…once we get out of this mess?"

"I still don't see why you need me to do it."

"It's not that I need you. I just want your feedback, that's all. And I'd still like us to do a joint video. I mean, you play video games, don't you?"

"Eh…not really, no. I've played a few online games, but I don't think I've ever so much as picked up a controller in my life."

"What? Seriously? Well, we'll have to change that! You can come over to the cave and I can properly introduce you to the wonderful world of gaming! You'll love it!" Noticing the conflicting look on Nom Nom's face, Grizz's smile fell slightly. "Unless…you don't want to, that is? Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was pushing-"

"No, it's just…I'm still a little surprised, that's all. I'm just amazed you were able to get past that whole incident that happened a few weeks ago so easily. I've been trying to wrap my head around it for days."

The smile quickly faded from Grizz's face. "What'd you mean?" he asked, looking at Nom Nom quizzically.

"Well, you know…the whole thing that happened with the video…and the sharks. I just…didn't figure you'd get over that so easily," the koala responded with a shrug.

The bear couldn't have looked more confused now. "What are you getting at, Nom Nom? Get over what? What are you saying?"

Nom Nom's eyes widened slightly as his heart dropped into his stomach. "Uh…n-nothing. It's nothing," he uttered quickly. He turned away to stare into the crackling fire, while Grizz's gaze became slightly more suspicious.

"No, I wanna know!" he pressed. "Tell me!"

Nom Nom looked his way again, wringing his paws nervously. "The movie we were shooting…it…was a stunt I had set up to…to make me a hero. I put the sharks in that pool. I was supposed to rescue you…and then people would film it and post the video online, and…I'd be in everyone's good graces again." Nom Nom couldn't even bring himself to look Grizz in the eye as he finished his sentence.

"You…You deliberately put me and my bro in danger so that you could look like a hero?"

"I swear, I thought you already knew. I thought your other brother told you about it. He found out about my plans the night before, and…I sort of…trapped him in a hole so he couldn't interfere with anything." Nom Nom shut his eyes and braced himself the moment the words left his mouth. He didn't need to look; he could practically feel the bear's glaring eyes boring into him right now.

"You did what?!" Grizz shouted, rising to his feet. "I can't believe you! How could you do that?!"

Nom Nom shrunk back, fearing the bear may actually attack him. "It was stupid, okay? I got carried away with everything! I was just…I was desperate! I didn't know what else to do, and…I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking." He looked at Grizz pleadingly, knowing his words could hardly be considered a defense. Surprisingly, the bear closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath before sitting back down.

"It's…It's in the past," he stated calmly, poking the fire with the stick again. "Let's just move on and try to forget it."

Nom Nom could only stare at the bear in astonishment as he continued poking at the fire, a fixed frown on his face. Despite what he had just said, it was clear to see his anger still lingered, adding to the tension that hung heavily in the air. The marsupial lowered his gaze back to the fire, a lump in his throat. He flinched slightly as he noticed Grizz poke rather aggressively at the fire, causing one of the logs to shift and send embers scattering into the air. He began to sweat, feeling the bear's anger practically radiating off of his body. He knew his composure wouldn't last. Any second now…

SNAP!

The sound of Grizz breaking the long stick in two prompted Nom Nom to jump in surprise. He shielded his face as the bear rose to his feet and angrily threw the pieces into the fire, causing more embers to rise up and sweep across his face. "NO!" Grizz shouted angrily. "No, I'm not going to let this go! I've got a lot to say!"

Nom Nom winced, preparing for the worst.

"I'll start at the very beginning when we first met! I came to you because I thought you were cool and that maybe you could help me! Maybe I was just another blithering fan to you, but I looked up to you! All I ever did was admire you and think you were cool, and then you just throw me out of your limo like I was a nuisance! But you know what? I was willing to look past that when you came to me for help! I welcomed you into my home with open arms because I felt sorry for you, and I wanted to help! No matter how badly someone might have treated me, I never wanted to see them get hurt or to be sad. I always think about how it'd make me feel, and I just can't wish that on anyone! But even after all that…you still thought so little of me that you were willing to risk my safety for your own selfish needs! And that's not even the worst of it! You also put my baby brother in danger! I just...I've never met anyone so selfish in my life! You are just…AWFUL!"

Grizz exhaled loudly, plopping back down on the ground as he continued glaring at the koala.

Nom Nom opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to think of something to say in his own defense, but he knew there were simply no words. There was absolutely nothing he could possibly say to excuse what he had done.

"Well?" he heard Grizz growl at him and he finally looked his way, almost feeling himself shrink under his angry gaze. "Do you have anything to say?"

Nom Nom lowered his head as he turned back to stare into the fire. "No," he said softly. He expected Grizz to continue with his rant, but he was met with tense silence. He saw the bear get up to go find another stick out of the corner of his eye, but he never uttered a word. His anxiety only grew as the silent minutes dragged on. It eventually became too much for him, and the koala found himself leaving the warm glow of the fire and seeking refuge in the shadows just a few feet away. He could feel Grizz's curious gaze on his back as he got up to leave, but he didn't dare turn around to look at him. He never once asked him where he was going, and he was grateful for that. He just needed to be alone now, and it was clear the bear didn't care to be around him at that moment, anyway.

Finding a spot under a tree, Nom Nom curled up on the ground and pulled his legs to his chest, his mind a buzzing hive of thoughts. He could feel his eyes welling with tears, and he had to wonder whether it was because he felt genuine guilt for his actions, or if it was simply because he had been chastised so harshly, something he wasn't used to, at least not in person. Perhaps it was both. Criticism was easy for him to brush off when it was simply words on a computer screen. Comments could be screened, and accounts could be blocked, but this wasn't the internet. Nom Nom could hear the anger in Grizz's words, he could see the pain in his eyes. Words had a far greater impact when they weren't being read off a screen, and even more so when they came from someone whose opinion actually mattered.

Nom Nom grit his teeth and wiped at his eyes. No…No, I don't care about him. I don't care what he has to say. I don't… He slowly looked up, staring out into the darkness as he tried to wrap his head around what he was even feeling right now and why. He felt more tears gather at the corners of his eyes, but he didn't make an effort to wipe them away this time as they slowly rolled down his cheeks. He finally accepted his guilt for what it was and buried his face in his arms, his hot tears soaking into his fur.

Author's Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! I'm sorry today's update didn't end on a more cheerful note, but...we all knew things would start getting serious.

I really don't know how believable it would be for Grizz to snap at someone the way he did here, but this is something I'd really love to see in canon tbh. I'd really love for him to just chew Nom Nom out for what he did to where it actually leaves an impact and makes him think about his actions.