The three young WooFoo had been traveling through the overbrown underbrush and foliage without a word for nearly an hour. The last teeny bit of sunlight was just barely visible on the horizon as it faded into perpetual indigo, and the more capable fighter was still leading the other two, not looking over his shoulder. If they couldn't even keep up with him on a walk, that shouldn't be his problem, right?
Yang was the one to break the deafening silence that had settled over the group.
"So uh..." He scratched the back of his head, feeling a little awkward. "Where do you live anyway?"
"In a cave I built not too far from here," Yuck pointed up and ahead. "Heck of a lot better than that tree I used to sleep in..." he muttered bitterly, remembering all the mornings he awoke sore and achy in that stupid tree.
"A CAVE?" Yin nearly screamed in disgust. "I am NOT sleeping in a cave!"
"Hey quit your yelling! I covered the floor with leaves and feathers so it's soft enough to sleep in. Jeez..." amber eyes rolled.
Soon their owner stopped in front of a massive pile of boulders with grapevines hanging over them. He came to the side and pulled back the vines to reveal a small yet roomy cave with a layer of green, brown and red leaves, and fuzzy forest-colored bird feathers all over the floor.
"What's with the grapes?" Yang ventured, raising an eyebrow.
"I figured I could use a door and a snack when I don't feel like eating walnuts," shoulders in torn clothing shrugged. "Hey Yin, set down the firewood down over there," Yuck pointed. The second she tossed them over to the spot, he blasted a fire-based attack at it, setting it ablaze.
"Wait here," he held up one finger at them, going inside the cave for a moment. He came back out holding three rather large dead fish by their tailfins. "Who wants catfish?"
"I do!" Yang's hand shot up.
"Good, then go find some sticks so we can roast these things." That grabbed Yang's attention. "Okay..." he reluctantly took a step away. "Yin, if he tries anything you just scream and I'll-"
"I'll be fine Yang, just go," she interrupted his concerns before he could voice them. It wasn't as if she was completely helpless, after all. She could protect herself well enough if anything did happen, which she doubted. At that, Yang left to gather fallen sticks, glancing back over his shoulder once or twice as he went.
There was an awkward silence before Yin cleared her throat and ventured, "So, uh... You're all by yourself out here, huh?"
"Yep. Me, myself, and I," he sighed, as if proud of his independence. His reply bothered her a little, though.
"Don't you ever get lonely out here by yourself?"
"Nope," he lied. "Trust no one, make no friends, and you've got nothing to lose," he figured aloud.
"But... Friends and family are the best thing anyone could ask for…"
"And I can't have either," he retorted, "so I just deal with it and live alone."
"You don't understand..." to be honest, she herself didin't understand why she cared so much about one of her worse enemies.
He gave her an indifferent expression. "Yin, if I were you, I wouldn't start worrying about me. A week from now, this whole thing'll be behind us, and we'll be bitter enemies again."
'Even though that's not what I want...' he finished mentally.
"Okay..." her resigned answer came. It seemed as if Yuck was still… well, Yuck, even if he was helping for once. Just then, Yang came running back with three rather long, only somewhat thick sticks in hand.
"Will these work?" he handed them to Yuck.
"Yeah they'll do." He stabbed a stick through each fish and handed the other two one each. Then he came to a sit atop the crushed leaves and other bits of organic debris littering the forest floor and held his fish over the burning log. Yin and Yang did the same.
"How long is this gonna take?" Yang asked after a minute, resting his head on his hand, already getting bored.
"About an hour, I guess," Yuck shrugged.
"Hey, you never did tell us those rules of yours," Yin remembered aloud.
"Right. Rule 1," he started, holding up one index finger, "You two know nothing," he put simply. "NOTHING. So you listen to me or pay the consequences, got it?" he tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, gving them a sarcastic smirk, at which Yang gave a light glare.
"Rule 2," he went on, "watch where you're going, dammit. There's poison oak, anthills, snakes, and all sorts of other crap out here you don't wanna step on. That is unless you like scratching your feet all night instead of sleeping," he waved a hand nonchalantly. "Oh NOW you tell us.." Yang mumbled, vigorously scratching his left foot with his free hand.
"Rule 3, always make some kinda really loud noise before bed each night, maybe hit some really big sticks together..." he noticed his blue counterpart try to cover up a laugh. Only he would be immature enough to hear things that way. "Otherwise," he ignored it, "you might just wake up with a snake in between your legs. I learned that one the hard way," he added, cutting his eyes to the side and biting his lip. "Ow..." Yang stopped giggling immediately.
"And Rule 4, in the summer, you'll wanna rub some dirt or mud into your fur every morning."
"But that's FILTHY!" Yin protested, grimacing like a new mother who'd just learned their baby was "special."
"Would you rather get eaten alive by ticks, fleas and mosquitoes?" Yuck raides an eyebrow at her.
"Well, no..."
"Then if I were you I'd wise up and get dirty."
"HEY!" Yang stood up. "No sister of mine is going to get dirty, you pervert!"
"That's not even close to what I meant," the one he yelled at facepalmed.
"Oh."
A long, dreadful, nearly painful silence fell over the group. It seemed nearly thick enough to cut with a steak knife, and lasted for what felt like an eternity.
"Er, the fish should be done by now..." Yin offered eventually.
Her host took a somewhat alarmingly huge chunk out of the fish at the end of his stick and answered, "Yep," with his mouth full.
Yin took a tentative bite out of hers, chewed it briefly, and then started eating the rest more eagerly. "Not bad," she commented, making sure to swallow first. Yuck shoved the rest of his fish in his mouth to avoid thanking her.
"Yeah this is pretty good. Catfish, huh?" Yang added around a mouthful of fish. Yuck wasn't done chewing but answered anyway.
"Yeah. Leftovers from yesterday actually." Once they'd all finished their meal he belched and asked, "So what now? Wanna go sneak into a movie or something?"
They both glared at him. For a moment he had no clue why, but then he remembered.
"... Oh right. For a second I forgot who I was talking to. Heheh... Well the fireflies are out if you wanna watch 'em."
"Fireflies? Gay!" Yang teased. "I'm going to bed. 'Night, Yin," he finished before finding a place in the cave to sleep, using his backpack as a makeshift pillow.
Yin blushed lightly. "Um... I'll watch the fireflies with you, Yuck." The sage-colored rabbit had to stifle a snicker.
"I was joking when I said that, Yin."
"Oh..." For some reason she seemed disappointed and even crestfallen.
"But I'll stay up if you want to. We won't have to be up early or anything..." he blurted out, noticing her discomfort.
She scooted a bit closer, her mood picking back up. "I'd like that," she answered softly.
For a few hours they watched the small, blinking amber lights dash, twinkle and flash all around them. As soon as one would appear, it would be gone, just barely withholding the chance to look. The only sound to be heard was a concerto composed by crickets.
'Don't do this to yourself, man...' Yuck inwardly groaned.
'It'll only be that much harder when she's gone...'
Author's Note: LOLZ he got bit in the balls by a snake XD