Hey guys! I'M BACK!!!!!!!! After being away since...November? Wow, but I was extremely busy with school. Stupid life has been ruining my writing career. But here is the next chapter folks. I can't promise a new one any time soon, but the story is not dead! I will find time to write!
-----
Chapter 5: Airplane
-----
Dufort pulled his wheeled backpack from behind with a twisted face of pain. He remembered that he didn't pack a whole lot, he doesn't own that much. All he packed were the essentials, such as his toothbrush, toothpaste, some snacks to bring, sleeping clothes, which was only a pair of boxers, and styling gel. Yes, he needed that styling gel, otherwise his hair wouldn't stick up like it does now. And Zeno didn't need to bring anything, mamodo don't need any human materials. Or do they?
Stopping to take a breather, he kneeled to his knees and placed his palms on the carpet of the terminal area. "Man...How much stuff did I bring?"
He looked back at his bag and instantly dropped his jaw at the sight of what his eyes witnessed. Zeno was sitting on the wheeled bag while munching down on some peanut butter crackers. Lord knows where he got them. The little silver haired boy tuned around to face Dufort with an annoyed face. Peanut butter cracker crumbs filled the exterior of his cheeks and on his white cloak. He spoke with a full mouth and spilling some unwanted saliva on Dufort's bag.
"Hey Dufort! Why did you stop? We're almost there!"
A bit disgusted at Zeno's untidiness, he grabbed the handle of the bag and shook Zeno off. Zeno tumbled off the bag and cried when he saw all his crackers on the floor.
"What did you do that for, Dufort?"
The young platinum blond cleaned the Zeno drool off of his bag. "No wonder I was pulling so much weight. You were sitting on my stuff!"
"So what?" He got over the crackers and cleaned up any crumbs and drool on himself. "What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying that I can't pull my bag if you're sitting on it!"
"Oh! So you're saying that you're so weak that you can't even pull poor little me?
"No! That's not it at all!"
"Okay, then you're saying that I'm fat then, is that it?"
"I never said that!"
Zeno's annoyed face turned angry. "If you are calling me FAT then it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" He pointed a tiny finger at his book owner as tons of people nearby turned their heads to look. "It's YOU who kept feeding me whole milk. You know whole milk makes me fat!"
Dufort sighed. "I only fed you whole milk one time, Zeno. And that was this morning. Stop over-reacting for God's sake!"
"FOR KAMI'S SAKE?" Zeno shouted. "How dare you feed me whole products at all!"
Dufort noticed the people around him as more and more started to gather. "Uh...alright Zeno, you win, I'm sorry...now, let's just find our plane now."
"No! I don't want to get on the plane anymore, you whole milk feeder!"
Dufort rolled his eyes and clutched the handle of the bag. "Here we go again."
"The last person I would ever go on a plane with is you!"
There was a large ding that rang through the intercoms of the airport. It stated that the flight to Japan will be departing in ten minutes. Dufort sighed at this. How was he going to get Zeno on the plane now? Much less ten minutes. "C'mon Zeno. Our plane is leaving."
Zeno only shook his head, crossed his arms, and turned away from him.
Dufort grunted in frustration and pushed past the crowd of people with his wheeled bag. "Fine Zeno, be that way!"
He refused to turn back. The book owner would just get on the plane and leave the country without his mamodo. When his bag was scanned and his ticket and passport was checked, he jumped on the plane and it began to take off in no time at all. The stewardesses were immediately serving the food, and a movie was played right after. Dufort knew right away that this would be a long trip. He glanced out his window since no one was sitting beside him. The seat was planned for Zeno as assigned on the ticket, but since he wasn't on the plane the seat remained vacant.
Dufort was too occupied with the puffy white clouds that flew outside his window. He didn't pay any attention to the slight noises around him. Why is Zeno such a brat to me sometimes, I mean, I cook and clean up for him, I could at least get some appreciation, but no....he had to go and start a pointless argument with me!
He knew someone was trying to get his attention and wanting to know if he wanted anything. Dufort wasn't interested at all. He continued to look outside where the dim rays of the setting sun shone between the white clouds. Still....I wonder what Zeno maybe doing right now.
He imagined the little boy crying in a corner of the terminal and calling out Dufort's name multiple times. He was pleading and saying how sorry he was for ever screaming at Dufort in any way. Dufort just shook his head at the thought. Yeah right, like Zeno would ever cry for me.
He had another thought of Zeno in the corner of the terminal. Only this time, Zeno was trying to squeeze his tiny arms through a vending machine to try and reach some Ranch Flavored Doritos.
Dufort smirked at the thought. Now that, I know Zeno would defiantly do.
Before he could think of another Zeno fantasy, a loud ping was heard throughout the entire plane. Over the intercom, the pilot sounded scared and worried. "Ladies and Gentlemen...please don't panic...I repeat...don't panic...I just have to fly the plane slower than usual at the moment."
Despite the pilot's warning, people around the plane began to howl and shout in fear anyway. Dufort seemed to be the only one who wasn't going frantic. He just continued to gaze out the window. I wonder what the problem is. It can't be such a big deal; he's only going to slow down for a while. So what? We might get to Japan a little late...big deal.
"Ladies and gentlemen." The pilot continued to speak. "The reason for this inconvenience is because there is a disruption in the left wing of the plane."
Almost everyone who was on the left side gazed out their window. Dufort was already on the left side, yet he felt like it wasn't necessary to look at the wing. Maybe a bird died on it.
Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to gaze at the white wing on the plane anyway. His jaw dropped when a woman shouted the calamity that was resting on the far end of the planes left wing and close to the edge. "Oh my God! There's someone on the wing of the plane!"
Dufort shook his head. What idiot would roam outside the plane when it's in flight? After more people pointed out the window and gave out there request such as "Someone must go help him" or "I hope he doesn't fall." Those were answered by other people with, "No, it's too dangerous to go save him." or "Is he going to jump? He must be crazy!"
Crazy is right. Dufort thought. I might as well see the face of that dumb person out there. Dufort squinted and noticed the person was a small boy. He suddenly turned shocked when he saw that the boy was wearing all white with his clothes flowing wildly in the wind behind him. The side of his pale countenance had two line markings running down his purple eye that glistened like purple lightning. The boy was sitting in a criss-crossed position and staring out into the clouds that would soon vanish and be taken over by the black starry night.
Dufort stood erect in his seat. "OH MY GOD! ZENO!"
A nearby man looked at the panicked Dufort. "Sir, do you know that boy out there?"
"Yes, he's MY KID!" Dufort leaped out from his seat and quickly opened the door that was leading to the wing of the plane. His clothes danced violently in the wind as he did so.
The same man who asked him the previous question jumped in his own seat. "Wait! What do you think you are doing?"
Before Dufort jumped out and landed on the wide end of the plane, he faced the man. "He's my kid; I fall responsible at all times."
----
Dufort wasn't the type who was afraid of heights, but this time was an exception. If he looked down, an image of plummeting down in thousands of feet of deep and dark oceans clamping on his small frame would devour his thoughts. He hated it, and in order to avoid it he had to kneel down on all fours and crawl his way to Zeno.
"Zeno!" He tried to call to the boy, but the roaring sounds of the wind and the propeller of the plane was eating his traveling voice. It was evidently no use to call out to him; he would have to crawl all the way to the edge of the plane's outer wing.
Dufort made sure that every step was precious. The high amounts of altitude was causing the fear of slipping into the dark sea. Sweat rolled down off of Dufort's brow. Never before was he this nervous, but in order to save Zeno, he had no choice but to reach him.
Zeno smelled the air around him and soon turned around to see Dufort on his hands and knees about ten feet away from him. They both made eye contact for a while before Zeno stood and walked calmly on the thin edges of the plane with no worry. Dufort could never quite understand how Zeno isn't afraid of heights. Even this high. The boy kept a small smile on his face with every dare-deviled step he took. Dufort stood perfectly still where he was until Zeno and him were nose to nose.
The little boy finally spoke. "I knew that was you."
"How could you...tell?" Dufort asked in a frightened manner.
Zeno smelled the air around him again. "I smelt your fear. You're afraid of heights, aren't you?"
Dufort stood perfectly still. Only his lips quivered when he spoke. "No..."
Zeno snickered. He knew Dufort wasn't afraid of most things, but this is probably one of the few times he's been on a plane. Maybe even the first. He decided to take advantage of this moment since he was never going to have an opportunity like this again. "You want to go back inside the plane, Dufort?"
The platinum blond man nodded ever so slowly. "Yes Zeno, please. Let's go."
The mamodo's smile never faded. "Then hold on to my cloak. Hold on real tight. I'll teleport us there."
Zeno extended his white cloak enough for Dufort to clutch on. He overdid the definition of 'Tight' when he held on to the cloak and made a crease that seemed as if it won't go away until you iron it flat for three months straight. "Okay, Zeno. I'm holding."
"Good." The boy then kicked Dufort off the wing of the plane and laughed once he saw Dufort dangling off the side while holing on to the ends of the cloak in a death grip.
"ZENO!" Dufort shouted. "THIS ISN'T THE INSIDES OF THE PLANE!"
The silver mamodo laughed hysterically. "I'm never going to have this much fun with you again! Let me have fun." He walked to the very edge of the wing and began jumping in place.
Dufort held the cloak with two hands and with his eyes shut tight and away from the direction of the ocean down below. "ZENO! GET ME OFF, NOW! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"
Zeno ceased jumping. "You want to get off this wing, Dufort?"
"YES, YES! PLEASE, ZENO!"
"Okay Dufort, whatever you say." Zeno took one step forward into the night wind as both mamodo and human partner began plummeting down to the dark ocean below. Dufort began screaming like a little girl and Zeno threw his hands up in the air.
"Weeeeeeeeeee! This is fun! Right Dufort?"
Dufort continued to grab hold of the demon's cloak and pretty soon he grabbed Zeno and held him close in his arms. "Zeno! What the hell are you doing?"
"What?" He looked up at Dufort who was holding him close. "Now you know how it feels when you push me out of the window."
"What? You mean, that was for revenge?"
"You'd better apologize now if you really want to go back inside the plane, or else were swimming the rest of the way. Ha-ha!"
Dufort looked down at the raging black waters below. The sun was gone and nightfall finally came. He couldn't tell if he would hit the waters soon or if he was still miles away from it. The inky black of the sky mingled with the inky black of the sea. "OKAY, ZENO! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I PUSHED YOU OUT OF THE WINDOW BACK HOME!"
"You promise?" The boy looked up at him with wet eyes.
Dufort's eyes were still shut tight. "YES! PLEASE GET ME OFF!"
The book owner soon felt a warm and soft sensation surround his body and no longer felt the wind whip against his cheeks. He took the risk to slowly open his eyes and witness whether he was in the afterlife. Neither heaven nor hell came to view when he spotted the dark starry night outside his window of the plane. He remembered holding Zeno close and waiting for death to kindly take him, but instead he saw Zeno sleeping peacefully in his warm embrace. Dufort glanced around and saw that most of the people on the plane were snoozing as well. The human looked down at the mamodo in his arms. "Zeno, wake up."
The boy rubbed his eyes and twisted his head to look up from Dufort's lap. "Oh, hello Dufort. Are we in Japan yet?"
"Zeno. What did you do?"
"Did...did I do something wrong, Dufort?"
"You...you were just on the edge of the plane's wing not long ago, and I tried to get you, and you jumped and..."
"What are you talking about? Listen, if we're not in Japan yet then I'm going back to sleep." Zeno curled up in his book owners lap and secretly snickered. He whispered to himself. That's right Dufort, but I thought you would forget about all of that. I hope you learned your lesson.
Dufort knew that it wasn't a dream or a vision. It was real, and Zeno wasn't going to tell him about it one bit. It would take about a few more hours until they arrive at their destination, and then they would have to find a hotel to sleep in. Oh what joy that will bring!
Dufort caressed his fingers through Zeno's bangs gingerly. Like a newborn child, Zeno rested his head quietly in Dufort's lap without the slightest snore. Dufort smiled down at his mamodo friend. "Damnit Zeno, you're such a demonic child."
With his eyes still closed, Zeno yawned and rolled over to face Dufort's stomach. "Dufort, where are my peanut butter crackers?"
-------
I wrote this all in one day! Can you believe that? I wanted to make sure I had time to write this at long last. Chapter six will be taking place in a hotel!!! Won't that be a treat? Well, gotta go! See ya' later! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! I always love to read your comments on my stories! Oh! And one more thing! If there were any typos please ignore them. I've been reading this story over for typos for hours until my eyes hurt. I don't want to be told there were typos after almost going blind. That feeling is very unpleasant.
~Fop
