Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Death Note or its epically amazing characters.

;^P

Mello watched as Matt fell to the not-so-soft-ground after he was released from the snare he'd been caught in. The gamer landed with a hard thud and lay moaning in pain for several minutes. Near however landed on his feet as though he was a cat surprising Mello and his redheaded friend, who was still pissed the albino had taken his backpack. Near held the pack tightly causing blood to drip from the bottom. It made both of the teens feel sick as they wondered what he put in the backpack that'd give off so much blood.

They had a sick feeling in their guts that told them it was a human head or some other body part that'd totally gross them out, but before they could get the pack from Near he climbed up a tree and sat on the lowest branch, which was several feet from the ground. The boy seemed to be musing while Matt yelled threats and curses at him from below. "Hey!" Matt yelled trying to get Near's attention as he felt he was being ignored.

"You better listen to me you stupid prick! C'mon down, you damn cannibal freak! Give me my bloody backpack back or so help me I'll kill you! Are you listening? Hello? Come on, kid we're wasting time! Oh, but you don't damn well care do you? Damn you! Damn you to hell!"

"Matt, shut up!" Mello snapped in annoyance. "It's obvious he won't come down because you're either scaring him or annoying him like you're annoying me. So just shut up and he'll come down after a while, hopefully."

"Mels, " Matt complained "the longer we stay here the more likely we're to die! How can you be so calm? Usually you're the one spazzing out!"

"Well, Near is just a kid and probably doesn't know any better because of the whole…you know…cannibal thing…."

Matt rolled his eyes.

"Do something useful and check around for more traps, kay?" Mello said looking up at Near who watched them with wary gray eyes. "I'll try to convince him to come down. If he understands what we say to him, then maybe I can convince him to give your backpack back and come down from there, not necessarily in that order."

His redheaded friend nodded. Several minutes later Matt disappeared and Mello looked up at Near who gave them a suspicious, yet still blank look. Mello smiled at him making sure to appear friendly. But Near wasn't at all as stupid as they thought he was.

The boy knew Mello was still armed with a gun and that by coming down he'd be risking his life and not only the food (A/N: Matt and Mello don't know what kind of food!) he'd caught. Near knew who his enemies were as he'd made many and they made it obvious to him that he was their enemy as well. He already had a long list made in his head. The one who called himself 'Matt' was at the very top, having recently earned Near's contempt.

"Hey, kid," Mello called to him in a strained voice that was caught between calm and anger "could you toss me Matt's backpack, like a good little twerp? Matt and me will leave you alone and be on our way if you give me that back, okay?"

Near felt insulted. He wasn't a moron. He knew that if he gave it back then they would have no further use for him and would probably kill him. If not that then they'd steal the food and leave him abandoned, not just alone, but abandoned. He liked the blonde known as 'Mello' but didn't like how he spoke to him. As if he were a child. Insulting.

"Come on, please, come down." Mello called up to him feeling sick. He forced most of those words out, especially the please. Near seemed to relent as he stood on the branch as if he would jump down. Mello became nervous at that thought. "Hey, don't jump. Don't do anything hasty, kid…or suicidal! Just drop the bag and climb down." Ignoring Mello Near leapt and was caught by a blonde who glared at him. "I said don't jump, you could've gotten killed!" Mello scolded. "Are you like a suicidal loony or something?"

Near shook his head as Mello dropped him to the ground.

"Good." The blonde hissed angrily. "Cause I'm not gonna be around you every six seconds of the day!" He took Matt's bag from Near noticing a strange, nasty smell coming form the bag. "Now beat it," he muttered. "I mean it! Scram!"

Near looked to him blankly.

Mello sighed, "Go on now."

Near didn't budge from where he lay on the ground, still staring blankly at Mello. Asking obviously did no good. Okay, let's see how brave you are. Mello thought bringing his gun out and pointing it down at Near who still didn't move, but his eyes seemed to portray two emotions that Mello and Matt had all-too-recently felt: terror and dread. The two emotions only lasted for so long, before they disappeared from his face and were replaced by his poker face that suggested he wasn't at all afraid, but Mello knew he was.

"Near," he said firmly, angrily, "if you don't get the hell out of here I swear I'll kill you."

The albino sat up. Mello expected him to bolt, but to his ever-growing surprise Near didn't run. He simply took hold of Mello's wrist and guided the gun the blonde held to the center of his forehead. It shocked Mello that he'd be so brave…or perhaps he already knew Mello wasn't going to kill him. Jerking away from the boy the blonde scowled. "You're crazy." He muttered angrily putting his gun away.

He opened Matt's bag up and saw small bloody dead animals were on the inside. Several small, brown mice lay with glazed fear filled eyes they appeared to have been skewered through their middle halves. There was also what appeared to have been a few small minnow fish that were horribly mauled. There were two dead baby birds that appeared to have been squeezed to death.

And there was what looked like a mole that had its belly sliced open. Its intestines were falling out. Mello was totally disgusted and dropped the bag to hold his stomach, which heaved uneasily. Near was tempted to grab it but was stopped when Matt appeared as if from thin air and snatched it up. "Don't look-!" Mello gagged sounding sick. Matt looked anyway and also gagged. Near rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag.

Both Matt and Mello watched as he pulled out one of the dead fish and popped it into his mouth. They watched in disgust as he chewed it and savored it and finally swallowed. They were tempted to vomit, but instead shook their heads and groaned sickened. Near licked his lips as they did so. He stared at the two teens who stared back him looking at Near's lips, which had been stained cherry red by the fish's blood.

"How can he eat that?" Matt asked squeamishly.

"Don't ask me!"

"It's so gross!" Matt groaned with repulsion as he grabbed the bag and tossed it off into some bushes. "So fuckn disgusting!" he scowled. "I fuckin know!" Mello groaned. Near gave them a blank stare, then a stare of annoyance. "Oh, God, that was so gross!" Mello groaned again then thinking about the fish. "Matt! I just had an idea!" The redhead looked to him suddenly eager to hear what his friend had to say.

"Yeah?"

"Those fish…they had to have come from a stream or lake or river or some water source…."

"Yeah? So?"

"We could get water from that natural resource and might even be able to find a way out of these damned woods. Near could show us how to get there!"

Matt turned to the little cannibal who stared at them with blank, half lidded gray eyes.

"Think he'll wanna help us?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"He's a cannibal and we're his dinner." Matt said simply giving Near a look of distrust. The smaller, younger boy returned the look with a bit of spite. "Actually…I don't think that's how he sees it." Mello said smiling. "Hey, Near." He said to get the boy's attention. Near looked to him apathetically.

"Can you show us where you got those fish?"

Near seemed to muse to himself, then nodded.

"Kay, let's go before it gets too dark." The blonde said standing shakily.

Sorry this is so short but at least I updated, huh, right?

Updating is a good thing.

Pwease R&R!