Chapter 14 – Picnic Anyone?

DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!

Hey guys!

It's been.. A WEEK! :O

Haha, sorry about that. We've been majorly preoccupied with the pain that is school, life and what not.

We've decided to do a chapter a week, and possibly one at the weekend.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

ooOoo

It wasn't exactly what you'd call a hot day- it was slightly cold and every now and again, a chilling gust of wind swept past the odd group of people sitting on a blanket in an open field.

What does a group of crime solving and kick-ass fighters do on a day like this?

Go for a picnic.

Valkyrie was sick of sitting around in dusty old rooms with withering books, waiting for Skulduggery to catch up on history.

They'd found out that apparently Batu is the infamous leader of the Diablerie. The Diablerie consisted of the definite members- Murder Rose, Gruesome Krav and Jaron Gallows. All three are very dangerous.

Valkyrie had recently found out that China Sorrows had founded and lead the Diablerie in the great war, and fought along side Mevolent.

China had sworn that she'd put all of the Faceless Ones n nonsense behind her, and was now neutral to both sides. Which did her well- she could just lend out books to people she thought were 'good'.

In front of Valkyrie sat Fletcher, a reluctant Ghastly, Tanith and a somewhat dodgy looking skeleton, who's façade was playing up.

China had installed this sort of thing on Ghastly, so that he could wander around without people pointing and staring at his scarred face, and Valkyrie had suggested it to Skulduggery, who, after some bribing and threatening, gave it a shot.

She made a face and stared at him as an eyeball slowly made its slow journey down the side of his waxy face.

"Ehh.. You can put the façade down now, Skul. Your eye has gone for a walk."

Skulduggery looked (or at least attempted to) at her and shrugged, tapping the symbols on his collar bone, and the face disappeared to reveal a smooth, white skull.

The basket in the middle of the blanket contained a mountain of food, which an eager Tanith keeps peeking at from under the lid.

"Val? Can we eat now?" She blinked hopefully at her.

"Tan, we've just got here!"

"I know, but I'm hungry!"

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and looked around. There was a woods to the left of them, and a river far down the field.

"We.. We could play a game." She said slowly, still peering about.

Tanith gave everyone a heart attack as she leapt up, grinning. "Tag?"

"Hell no- you lot have such an advantage, and Fletcher just teleports everywhere!"

Skulduggery tilted his head to a side. "Well, do you not see yourself as someone who'd be able to outrun Ghastly or Tanith?"

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough." He nodded.

"I was thinking more on the lines of.. Hide and seek."

Ghastly's eyes, previously shut as he tried to ignore them, opened suddenly and he stood up. "Sorry but, I'm not playing hide and seek with the three most competitive people ever and a teleporter."

Tanith's face fell as she saw Ghastly make his way back to the van.

"Oh, Fletcher? Come with me, please. I have something I want to talk to you about."

Fletcher grumbled something inaudible and stood up. Then he disappeared, and appeared next to Ghastly. They made their way across the field and back to the van.

"Well.. Leaves just us- Skulduggery Pleasant! Turn around and come back here, -now-." Valkyrie growled as she spotted Skulduggery doing his best to creep away from them.

He froze and turned around slowly. "But you don't need me playing that silly game.." he said- if he had a face and eyes, he'd be doing his best 'You know I'm right' face.

Val rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's boring with just two people- you can count to a hundred, and me and Tanith will go and hide!"

Tanith almost squealed with delight and she bounded off towards the forest. "I'll go hide now! NO LOOKING SKUL!"

And she was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Val shrugged. "Right, you heard her. You start counting."

Skulduggery let out a deep sigh and turned around, covering his eye sockets with his bony hands. "One.. Two.." he began.

Val grinned and headed off towards the river, starting to feel excited.

She eventually reached the river, and walked along the edge- the water occasionally splashing up and covering her feet. The currents were fast today.

She walked on, the thought of what Ghastly could be talking to Fletcher about ticking at the back of her mind.

It must be something important if they had to leave to discuss it.

I wonder what it could be.. she thought, quickly irritated.

She hates not knowing things sometimes. Especially when it meant that Fletcher knew something she didn't, and he always looked for a chance to seem smarter than her. Which was impossible either way, secret chats with Ghastly or not. Skulduggery told her every day that she's wiser beyond her years- Fletcher certainly was not wise.

She came out of her world just as she came across a wooded, fenced off area. No signs were on the fence, fending off curious teens and kids. She held on to the wires and looked in to the area- it looked normal.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she dragged one leg over the top, and was soon on the other side on the ground, standing in tall, weedy grass.

Brushing herself off, she turned and began to wander inside the woods. Skulduggery sure was going to have a hard time looking for her now. She grinned.

A little while later, as she was following a soon disappearing path, she spotted a small, cave-like over slope of rock.

She hacked her way through the thorns and weeds, and she finally came up to the entrance. It really was a cave. Sure went deep.

Deciding she had nothing better to do, she ventured in to the cave.

And she instantly regretted it.

It was dark, cold, and damp. But she went in further, as if something was drawing her in. Or it could be that she was insane and enjoyed being scared.

The latter seemed more likely.

As she went deeper in to the cave, she swore she could hear the flapping of wings. Something really smelt bad, and it got stronger as she went along.

She could see a faint light, not far from where she's standing. Letting out a breath of mixed feelings, she approached it.

She rounded a corner and gasped.

Right in front of her was a glowing, luminous cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water dripping from them. The whole place looked so.. unnatural, but beautiful.

Seeing that she had no way of going down to the cavern, she sat down cross-legged and gazed around in awe at the sight.

Seemingly in a trance, she stayed there for what seemed like decades. Her legs ached, and were going numb from being in that position for quite a while, but she ignored it.

With Skulduggery..

He'd been wandering around for a good hour now, and still no sign of her. Man, she was good at this.

He signed and put his hands in his pockets as he strolled along the river. He should give up soon- she was most likely trying to fool him, and was actually back with Tanith.

He'd found Tanith almost instantly, up a tree. If there was anything Tanith was exceptionally good at, it was martial arts and climbing trees.

While he was pondering why Tanith seemed to hide in the most obvious places, he almost walked right in to a wired fence.

"What the.."

He stared curiously at the fence, and then at the woods behind them.

If he had eyes, they would surely be as wide as they could get.

"No.." he muttered. Glancing about, he quickly climbed over the fence and swiftly made his way through the shrubbery, knowing for certain that this would have caught Valkyrie's attention and curiosity. He knew where she'd be- but he was screaming in his head that she wasn't.

She'd be in the caves of Súil Bréagach.

Inside the caves..

Valkyrie had started to hum a happy tune as she rocked backwards an forwards, still gazing up at the ceiling.

She felt so happy, for some reason. She felt like nothing was going to bother her. It was nice, for once, to feel completely safe.

The thought of Skulduggery flashed across her mind when she thought of 'safe'. She stopped humming and frowned.

Skulduggery. He was looking for her, wasn't he? They were playing hide and seek. A child's game.

Her frown deepened and she crunched her fists. She didn't want him to find her- she was happy here. She felt more safe here than she did with him.

She looked back up at the ceiling and grinned stupidly. She felt that feeling of happiness wash over her again and she uncurled her hands. She was okay- as long as she stayed here.

"Valkyrie..?"

Her head snapped round and she hissed. He was here?

She could hear his faint footsteps from inside, behind her. She stood up and clenched her fists again. He was intruding her space, her cave- her hope of safety.

He appeared at the entrance to the cavern, and she hissed again, her fists up in a defensive stance.

He put his hands up in caution. "Val.."

"Shut up! Don't even say anything! Get out of my cave!"

He went silent for a moment. All that could be heard was her ragged breaths.

"Valkyrie. Don't talk to me like that- this isn't your cave. This isn't you. You see that glimmer? That shine? It's all a trick. You're not safe here. You're safe with me."

Valkyrie frowned, shaking her head. "No. I'm safe here- no more monsters, no bad guys, no Faceless Ones."

"Val.. There are bad guys everywhere." He held out a hand to her, and she shrank away from it as if it was poisoned.

"Don't touch me."

"Valkyrie Cain. Do you honestly think that you'd be alive today if you were not safe with me? With your friends?" Skulduggery let out a sigh and he stepped closer to her- he expected the punch that came his way, and he caught her arm in a firm but gentle grip. She tried to tear away from him, but he just pulled her close and wrapped his other arm around her in a tight embrace.

She growled in to his chest and bit at his tie, but she didn't try to get free anymore.

"Stop ruining a perfectly good tie." he said, scolding her.

She looked up at her, and then her eyes glazed over suddenly. She would have fallen had he not been holding her. Scooping her up, he carried her out of the cavern, glaring at the stalactites one more time before leaving.

( . ; )

Tanith was polishing her beloved motorcycle when they returned. Valkyrie had that not-quite-with-it look on her face, and Skulduggery looked.. like a skeleton, as he supported Valkyrie over to her.

"Uhh.. Did I miss something?" Tanith asked, completely confused.

Skulduggery shook his head and sat Valkyrie down on the ground. "She found a certain cave." was all he said.

Tanith nodded, knowingly and went back to polishing her ride.

After about ten minutes, Valkyrie slowly stood up. Skulduggery looked over at her and coughed. "You okay, Val?"

She looked at him, opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again, shaking her head.

I must be on drugs.. she thought.

ooOoo

Ha ha, well! That was quite a long chapter- I apologize!

But hey, makes up for the week without one, ya? Ya? K.

(The Cat Returns 2 chapter will be uploaded tomorrow. ;) )

- Shanieee