About my twin characters, Clementine and her brother Percival. I don't think i mentioned it, but they're fourteen.
Prompt:
Write a scene of a couple arguing about directions.
"I think we passed the turn, Per."
Rolling his green eyes so that they were facing the person speaking, Percival scrunched his nose up, and scoffed.
"No we didn't, Clem. It's right up ahead."
The girl, Clementine, puffed her cheeks up in distaste and narrowed her eyes. Coming to an abrupt halt, she angrily crossed her arms across her chest, her lips sliding into a frown. Percival, suddenly noticing that his younger sister wasn't following behind, stopped and whirled around on the balls of his feet, and sighed.
"Clem, I told you! It's right up ahead!"
"You've been saying that for hours, you moron."
"What did you say!?" Percival's voice hit a higher octave, indicating that he was thoroughly infuriated with his sister calling him a moron. Though Clementine had called him names worse than moron in the past, he didn't exactly take insults well.
"You heard me! Moron, Moron!" Sticking her pinkish tongue out at the boy, she watched as his face slowly turned a shade of red. "The pass was like, twenty minutes ago! Remember that rock I pointed out? It was right there!"
"You don't even know what you're talking about Clementine! The nurse in the Pokemon center said to just keep following this path and it would lead us to Veilstone!" Percival mirrored his sister's actions and crossed his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes further.
"Per, that was the way to get to Solaceon Town! That was the directions from DAYS ago! God, why can't you ever remember anything important?!" Clementine shouted, throwing her hands up in the air, exasperated with the degree of how stupid her brother could be sometimes. They might be twins, but she definitely felt that her brother had hit the shallow end of the gene pool when it came to intelligence. Whether or not that was indicated in their genes, Clementine couldn't help but wonder what went wrong.
"Maybe this is just a shortcut!"
"Maybe your brain is just full of rocks."
"Maybe you're just a vindictive bitch, Clem."
"Jerk!"
"Air-head!"
"Moron!"
"Kiss-ass!"
The vulgar spew of insults continued on for what seemed like an eternity, when suddenly they both grew quiet, their faces tinted with an angry shade of red. They glared at each other for a while, letting only the sound of a distant breeze fill the air. After a moment, Clementine blinked, and glanced away. For a moment, Percival could have sworn that he had seen tears in her eyes, and suddenly he cursed himself. His eyes moved to her lips, which were trembling slightly, yet he wasn't sure if it was from her anger or if because she was actually upset. With Clementine, it was hard to know sometimes.
"Fine." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she began to speak, her eyes still plastered to something on the ground, as if she was fascinated by it. "You go your stupid way, and I'll go back to the real way."
Percival paused, wanting to say something. Yet his pride was getting in the way, and even know he knew it made him a stubborn fool, he wouldn't allow his sister to insult him like that and then just give in to a possible fake-out. "Fine."
"Fine." Clementine repeated, and without looking at Percival, she turned on her heel and went back the way they had originally came. He watched her leave without too much interest, and only turned his back to hers when the bright orange shine of her hair was no longer visible from the distance. As Percival began to trek down the path he had chosen, he plucked the red and white pokeball from his belt. Letting his eyes wander over the smooth design for a moment, he tossed the ball into the air, and with a bright, red light a small Chimchar appeared before him. The monkey pokemon grinned at its trainer, who smiled back in return. Pushing the worrying thoughts of his sister out of mind, Percival nodded at the Chimchar.
"C'mon Firon. We'll prove Clem wrong when we get to Vielstone first!"
As the young trainer started ahead, the Chimchar glanced in the direction that Clementine wandered off into, and let out a nervous groan before chasing after its master. It wasn't the first time these two had fought, but nothing good ever came out of it. The twins pokemon could tell you at least that much.
The farther that Percival walked, he more he realized how wrong he really was. It hadn't taken him long to find himself completely lost among the trees and the small openings. It was hard to tell anything apart, since everything practically resembled the object next to it. Placing a tentative hand on a nearby tree trunk, Percival leaned his head against the prickly bark and closed his eyes. No need to panic, he could easily get himself out of his situation. Firon would definitely help too, since it was his pokemon after all. Taking a deep sigh, Percival re-opened his eyes and glanced down at the fire pokemon, who was glancing off in some other direction.
"…Maybe we should take a quick break" Percival said aloud, dropping the backpack he was harboring. Sliding down against the tree, he opened the bag and pulled out a bowl of food for his pokemon, and then something edible for him, and the two shared a quiet lunch. Too much on both of their minds; Percival was worried about his sister since she was the type to get hurt on her own, and Chimchar was probably anxious around his master. Running a hand through his tangerine hair, he glanced off into the distance, letting the time pass. He would find his way out of here; he was sure of it.
Nightfall fell quickly, much faster than the boy had expected. Trying to navigate through his barrage of trees, roots and vines was going to be overly difficult, and even though he knew he needed to be on alert for anything protruding out from the ground, Percival couldn't help but feel distressed. Firon had overworked itself, and was put back into its pokeball for a quick rest, which left the trainer helpless in the relentless forest. It was almost pitch black all around him, and he felt that his eyes weren't adjusting fast enough. While he waited for his sight to return, he held his arms out in front of him, reaching, feeling, trying to touch anything in front of him to indicate he was at least walking somewhere. Wild bird pokemon watched from the tree branches, their eyes glowing ominously in the night, as if they were waiting for their pretty to slip up and become defenseless. It was hard to tell which pokemon would peck your eyes out or not, but he figured as long as he didn't bother them, he would be fine.
After pushing tree branches out of the way, dodging random pokemon, stepping over protruding roots for about twenty minutes, the young boy felt as if he was finally getting somewhere. His eyes were adjusting quite nicely to the dark, and he pleasantly smiled to himself. Getting out of this forest would be a breeze now, he figured, before stopping suddenly. Something had been nagging in the back of his mind since the twilight departed, yet he couldn't figure out what it was. It had to be something important, or else he wouldn't have been worrying about it. Closing his eyes, he tried to see if he could picture whatever it was that was tugging at his thoughts, throwing his mind into a frenzy.
Beneath his eyelids, he saw his sister, and suddenly he remembered. Clementine was afraid of the dark. She always had been, ever since they were kids. Snapping his eyes open, he whirled his head around, cupping his hands over his mouth.
"Clem!? Clem, where are you!"
His screams echoed through the night, yet the only response that he got was the rustle of the wind blowing through the trees, and the harmonious chirping of Kricketot and Kricketunes. Cursing, he quickly began to dart through the trees, throwing his eyes in every direction, still screaming out his sisters name. His legs began to sting and he could feel pain pushing through his muscles, yet he continued on, panic overwhelming him. It was to be expected, since he wasn't truly paying attention to the things around him anymore, that he would trip over something. The tip of his shoe caught onto a root, and he fell forwards, tumbling down the grass slightly. His whole body felt sore from the fall, and he winced as he tried to sit up. Opening his eyes, he assessed the damage; a couple grass stains and a small tear on his pants, small scraps on his arms and face. Not too bad. Placing a hand on his cheek, he closed his eyes, and sighed.
A quick, girlish shriek penetrated through the air, vibrating through his ears, and he quickly glanced up, his immediate reaction to call out for his sister again. "Clem!"
Jumping upwards, Percival rushed forwards, trying to follow the sound. This time, he made sure to watch out for anything on the ground, yet it was hard since he was trying to keep a quick pace and several times, he almost tripped again. Every time though, he caught his balance, and continued forward. Twenty minutes had passed, and with each passing second Percival felt an aching pain coursing through his veins. Sweat trickled down his face, and his ears grew hot from all the excess running. His feet hurt, and every part of his body seemed to be a bit sore from the fall a bit earlier, yet the only pain that seemed to be moving him forwards with each step was the clenching, knotted feeling in his stomach; a dark, empty void that seemed to grow larger with every anxious and worried thought he held about his sister.
As he slowly entered a small clearing in the trees, he felt his breath running short, his lungs trying to pump more air than they could hold. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Percival felt like giving up. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of it, but it was too hard to see anything, more or less try to find somebody. The forest was large; how was he suppose to find his sister when she could be anywhere by now? Glancing around, he wiped away the small tears that had formed at the edges of his eyes, and suddenly stopped. There, curled up into a ball with her bag against the tree, was Clementine. Her knees was tightly pressed to her chest, her lanky arms holding onto them, as if for dear life. He couldn't see her face, but as the moonlight radiated off her pale skin, he held his breath. She looked so much more fragile in the moonlight, her skin radiating a white glow. Even from the distance he was standing at, he could tell she was trembling; her whole body was shaking with tremors. Curled and tightly pressed into her side was a Cherrim, and a bit of relief washed over him. At least she had called her pokemon out; she wasn't stupid, after all.
Hurrying over, Percival kneeled by her side and hesitantly placed a hand on her back. She flinched under his touch, and he watched at the hairs on her arms rose even higher. Upon second notice, he realized goosebumps covered every bit of open flesh and he sighed slightly. Taking off his brick colored jacket, he placed it on her shoulders gently, wondering why in the world she was still wearing dress even though she knew the nights were harsh with bitter colds and unfriendly winds. Moving his hand back and forth, he began to whisper comforting words like, 'Don't worry, I'm here now' to her. After several minutes of this, her arms unbuckled, and limped dropped to the ground, and she slowly rose her face. Sucking in his breath, Percival was almost horrified to see there were cuts and scrapes on her face, along with dirt that seemed to be stuck in her pores, and streaks of clean lines moving down her cheeks. Bringing a hand up to her face, he gently wiped away her tears, smiled softly, and pulled her close to him.
Burying her face into his chest, she grabbed onto him, her fingers still trembling slightly. Stroking her hair, he rested his cheek gently against her hair, and in the middle of that clearing with the moonlight shining brightly down upon them, casting a sort of angelic glow to the two of them, he cradled her softly to sleep, reminding her that he was there. Nothing would ever hurt her. In the morning, he would apologize for being an idiot, for leaving her alone. For now, they would let the night carry and let them drift through an endless space of time where anything could happen. For now, Percival would hold his sisters trembling hand as she tried to push away her fear of the dark, and he would be there for her.