Chapter 6: Friend or Foe


Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend.

-Bill Watterson


Day 4

The Western Approach


We walked in silence. And by that, I mean I had now idea what we could talk about. I glanced at Mira to see how see was doing. Mira simply stared straight ahead as she walked. I sighed inwardly. This last day was probably one of, if not the most traumatic experience she would have faced by now. I wracked my brain for something to break the silence when she spoke up.

"He's not gone."

I looked at her questioningly. "Who?"

"Joe." She looked at me. "He's not gone. He's gotten in trouble with the bad men before, but he's always come back, he wouldn't just..." she trailed off. "He's still alive. He'll find us."

I doubted that, but didn't say anything. Mira still had hope, I wasn't going to crush that. If Joe expected to get out of that just fine, then he wouldn't have entrusted me with Mira and his book; the two most important things to him. I just shook my head. "I hope so, kiddo. I hope so."

As we made our way down the rocky beach, we passed more dinos. A few dodos waddled by and a couple spiky shelled crab-like creatures scuttled across the sand. I looked at the map as we walked, trying to get a bead on how far we had to walk. I surveyed around to see any landmarks that might clue me in as to our location, but a light cloud cover had rolled in, obscuring any view I might get. We were basically at sea level anyway, so it's not like I would have had much to see. We walked for another hour or so when the cloudy weather began to slowly progress into fog. It was thick enough that we couldn't see too far down that beach, but not so much that we were walking blind. As far as distance goes, however, I was completely lost. I looked to Mira again.

"So you're sure we just follow the beach?"

Mira nodded. "There's a little hill just before the town, but then we should see it clearly."

I grunted in response and packed away the book. I arched my arms upwards to stretch out a bit and grimaced. Pain had been slowly returning to my side as the medical brew wore off. We only had one more bottle, but I wanted to save it for emergencies. I rubbed my hand around to wounded area to try and massage the pain away, but had little effect. I decided to simply zone out a bit while we walked. I listened to the sounds around me. The steady beat of the waves, the gentle breeze filtering through the trees and brush, the quiet squawk of nearby dodos, the crunchy of sand and pebbles beneath our feet, the startled cry of a dodo behind us...

Wait...

I turned around at surveyed the beach behind us. The fog blotted out much of my field of few, but nothing seemed amiss. I continued walking, but kept my ears open. The sound of the waves and breeze were still there, but I couldn't hear a lot of the wildlife anymore. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up and I turned around again. I swear I could have seen a shadow in the mist. I turned back and picked up the pace a little, catching up with Mira. I placed a hand on her back and gently pushed. "Hey, think we can pick up the pace a bit?"

She looked at me confused, but obliged. "What's the matter?"

I pursed my lips and glanced about. "I've just got a bad feeling..."

We walked for a little while longer while I listened intently into the fog. Aside from the waves, the only sound was our footsteps; my heavyset and awkward limp, Mira's softer, yet audible steps... and one more pair. I placed a hand on Mira's shoulder and stopped, indicating she should do the same. She turned to me. "Wha-"

I placed a hand over her mouth and brought a finger to my lips, silencing her. The air was silent around us as I scanned the fog. I lifted my foot and began walking in place, making sure I made plenty of noise with my footsteps. Not far off, we could clearly hear another pair of footsteps pick up. I turned to Mira and whispered quietly. "Don't panic. But we're being followed."

Her eyes widened and she pulled my hand away. "What if it's-?"

I shook my head. "If it were Joe, he probably would have called out to us by now, right? This guy is staying in the mist."

She visibly deflated. "Then... what do we do?"

I considered our options. I didn't know how much farther we had to walk. I was still in no condition to fight; if worse came to worst, I would lose a fight with a dilo at this point. I made a careful judgement and whispered back. "For now, keep walking. Don't do anything quick or dangerous. If we can get to town, we'll be fine."

Her eyes widened a bit. "And what if we don't get to town?"

I didn't have an answer to that. I simply took her hand and led her on.


I tried to keep a quick pace, try and lose our pursuer in the fog, but they managed to keep up with us pretty well. I kept glancing back to try and identify them, but they stayed just outside my field of view, darting through the fog or behind rocks. I could never get a good look at them. I decided to focus on moving forward. I was beginning to struggle, though. We were basically power walking our way across the beach. With the pain growing in my side, I couldn't maintain this pace much longer. As much as I tried to hide it, my limp was becoming painfully apparent. I had pulled out my hatchet just in case, as pulling the club would definitely cue our chasers in that I knew we were being followed.

Something was really beginning to bug me though; if this were a friendly person, they would have alerted us by now. However, if this were someone hostile or a predator, they would have noticed my state and known they would have an advantage. If this thing was going to do something, it should have already. But it just kept... following us, trying to hide itself. It was beginning to make me intensely nervous. The fog showed no signs of clearing up, yet each time I glanced back the shadow seemed slightly more defined. Whatever its intentions were, it was gradually closing the distance between us. And we couldn't do a thing about it.

I turned back to Mira to check on her. Despite being so young, she had incredible stamina. She was almost jogging in front of me. Brownie lightly bobbed on her shoulder as she walked. I called out to her. "Hey, you doing alright? Tired at all?"

She spun around and began walking backwards. "Yeah I'm fine."

I gave her an encouraging smile. "That's good. Figured a kid like you would be full of energy. Hey, how much farther-"

Brownie let out a quick cry to warn Mira of a rock. Mira tried to turn too quickly and tangled her feet together. She tripped over the rock and fell to the sand. She picked herself up quickly but held her knee.

I bent down beside her. "Here, let me see." She lifted her hand away revealing a good-sized scrape across her knee. She by her lip in pain, but otherwise tried to keep on her tough face. "I think I've got something for that." I pulled out my waterskin and poured water over her knee, washing away the sand. I reached in the bag and procured a small patch of cloth and some stringy plant fibers. I placed the patch over the scrape and wrapped it in fiber before tying it off. I patted her leg. "There you go. Better?"

Mira nodded before looking behind me. Her eyes widened and she pointed. "There!"

I whipped around to try and catch a glimpse of whatever she saw. Our pursuer had wandered too close to be fully hidden from the fog and tried to dash behind a rock. Before it did, I caught a flash of green and orange. "That little shit..." I muttered. The raptor had followed us this whole way. I whipped my arm hard and threw my hatchet at its hiding place. It pinged off the boulder harmlessly, but it was enough the startle the lizard out of hiding. I jumped away from the impact and into plain sight. It realized its mistake and froze, wide-eyed staring at us. Our eyes met in a standoff, neither of us moving. I expected it to lunge, but it just stared, as if expecting me to make the first move. I didn't want to move, lest I motivate it to attack, so I spoke instead. "What? Was that half-cooked meat not enough for you? You have to hunt us down? That really gives new meaning to biting the hand that feeds, right?" The lizard blinked in response before jolting, as if realizing something. It slowly stepped back behind the rock and pulled something out from behind it. In its mouth was a mangled dodo. It took a few tentative steps towards us. I reached down and pulled out my club. The raptor flinched at the sight and stopped. It bent down slowly and placed the dead bird on the ground. I looked at it confused. It nudged the corpse forward, indicating it was presenting it to me. "That's... nice. You finally got a good meal. Good for you." The raptor frowned slightly and picked up its prize again. He took a few more steps towards us and I held the club out towards it in silent warning. The raptor took the hint, stopping. However, it swung its head a little and tossed its catch towards me. It landed at my feet and I looked at it. Aside from a killing bite, he hadn't eaten any of it. My gaze went back to the predator. It took a few steps back, but it's eyes flicked between me and the bird. It clicked in my mind what it was trying to do. "This... is for me?" The lizard perked up and looked at me expectantly. I reached out and grabbed the dodo, placing it beside me. The lizard's lips curled upwards in what could have been a smile, but ended up being more intimidating. It's feet tapped in excitement and it looked at me once again, as if expecting something. I kept the club pointed at it, but used my free hand to rummage through the bag. I found what I was looking for and pulled out the survivor book. I opened it up to the section written on dinos. I flipped through until I found the part dedicated to raptors. My eyes darted between the pages and the lizard as I skimmed. I mumbled the important bits aloud. "Utahraptor Prime... aggressive pack hunter... hit-and-run predator..." My eyes skimmed something slightly more interesting. "Domesticated: Fast scout... used mostly by traveling raiders..." I frowned at that bit before I found what I was looking for. "Those who ride Utahraptor claim they are incredibly difficult to tame, but fiercely loyal once they are..." I looked back towards the lizard who was standing there nervously. I put the book down and rose to my feet. The raptor eyed me warily, but didn't move. I held my hand out towards the predator and slowly began to lower the club.

Mira's eyes widened and she called from behind. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged lightly and took a step forward. "... probably something stupid..." I lowered the club all the way to the ground and let go before standing up again. I kept both hand out ahead of me warily and slowly began to step forward. The raptor tensed a little and took a step back. I spoke quietly, like I do with Mira. "Hey, hey. It's ok." The raptor stopped stepping back, but didn't relax at all. "You've had a rough time... so have I... I don't want to fight anymore." I took a few more steps. "If you don't hurt me... I won't hurt you... deal?" The raptor watched me cautiously, never breaking eye contact. I held my hand out towards it and tensed up, realizing exactly how dangerous this was. "Let's just... be friends... alright?" I flinched and looked away, holding my hand out towards it.

I expected pain. I expected it to lunge forward and bite my hand clean off. I expected anything else than what happened. There was a light pressure pressed into my palm. I looked up to see its reaction. The raptor had pressed its muzzle into my hand and relaxed substantially. I sighed in relief, but it didn't quell how quickly my heart was beating. I watched the lizard in fascination as it gently nuzzled my palm. I ran my hand across its head, running my hand through the feathers. Just beneath his chin, he leaned into it. I smiled nervously. "That a good spot for you?" I scratched there and it leaned really hard towards me, eyes dulling in bliss. Eventually my arm was pressed closer to me and my implant lit up. It had a simple prompt:

Name The Creature

My brow furrowed in thought. "You're not the bravest of raptors, I mean you're cowardly enough to blow your cover when startled. You aren't really sneaky or quiet to begin with really. Honesty if you just worked on your confidence, you'd be a decent hunter. I want to think you're a 'c' name..." I ran through a few names, but none of them seemed to fit. "You caught a dodo well enough... how about Catcher?"

The raptor perked up happily. I smiled, satisfied. "Catcher it is." The name flashed below the prompt before the light reassembled to display Catcher's inventory. He had higher stats than me, but not by much in terms of health or weight. What caught my eye was the fast amount of stamina and movement speed he had. "You're a fast one, aren't you?" Catcher grunted in response and I took that as a yes. I brought my arm back down, closing the interface. I stepped back and took a good look at him. His scales were a light green color, with several scars and scratches dotting them. His feathers were an almost obnoxiously orange color, and seemed patchy in places, mostly where the scratches were. It was skinny; definitely the result of malnutrition. This guy really didn't get a lot of meals. Despite his meager appearance, it still terrified the hell out of me. But if it was going to be friendly to me, I might as well return the favor. I turned back to Mira. "See, it was stupid, but it paid-" I stopped when I noticed she was shaking. I walked over to her and knelt down. "Whoa, hey. Everything turned out fine. We-"

She yelled back. "And what if it wasn't fine?"

I recoiled from the ferocity in her voice. "Mira, I-"

She stood up and glared at me. "What if that hadn't gone the way you wanted? What if it attacked you? What if you..." Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she wiped them away forcefully. "I didn't... I don't want to..." Her hands flailed as she tried to form the words. Finally, she deflated and turned away. "Can we go now?"

I couldn't understand why she was angry. Sure that was dangerous, but we didn't have a lot of options. I sighed, figuring arguing would get us nowhere. "Yeah, kiddo. Let's go." I stood up and began walking, Catcher falling into step behind me. The fog seemed to be clearing for now, revealing the setting sun. Things were shaky for now, but we were safe. And that made me smile.


We had just hiked over the crest of a small hill when Mira spoke up again. "There." Have pointed ahead of us. Ahead of us was a small bay, surrounded by mostly wooden buildings. Night had fallen, so most of the town was dark, but a few of the structures were lit. Mira began walking down towards them.

I limped after her, the stick in my side really started hurting again. "I assume you know the way?"

Mira ignored me and continued walking. I frowned at her stubbornness, but continued to follow. I glanced back at Catcher who had been following at a distance. I had let him keep his dodo, and he scarfed it down like he wouldn't eat again in a month. But then again, to him, he probably thought that. I shook my head and looked back towards Mira. We had passed through the outer buildings and were now walking in the street. The road was little more than compacted sand in the main pathways. We reached a building that still had a light burning inside. It was large and had a sign hanging above it labeled "The Drunken Dilo" with a crude painting of an obviously dizzy dilo. Mira walked right up to the door and knocked. I opened my mouth to say something when I was cut off by a voice from inside.

"We're closed."

Mira called into the door. "Mrs. Ellen? It's me, Mira."

There was a long silence from inside before steps could be heard. A light sparked inside and approached the door. I could hear a lock being undone before the door swung open to reveal and intimidating-looking elderly woman with a torch in her hand. She gazed down at the girl before looking about and spying me. Her eyes narrowed at me for a minute before addressing Mira. "My, you're here quite late child. Where might Joe be?"

Mira looked to the ground and stayed silent. I took the opportunity to speak up. "Joe was... taken by men he called 'Scales.' He told me to bring Mira here."

The only lady grimaced. "...shit. Old fool. I told him his little crusade was going to come back and bite him in the ass... just because I like the kid doesn't mean I'm a foster parent..." She looked back to me. "And who might you be, showing up on my doorstep in such a state?"

"My name is Francis. Joe... found me just a day or two before he was..." I trailed off. "He asked me to take care of Mira. He said there was a town here and someone who could help."

The woman shook her head. "There's no helping Joe. If the Scales finally got him then that's his problem and his alone... island help him..." She looked at me again. "As for you two, I can't in good mind turn away people in need. You can hardly take care of yourself, let alone this child. Come on in, I know a thing or two about medicine." She waved us inside, then turned back and pointed to Brownie and Catcher. "But THEY stay outside."

Mira opened her mouth in protest. "But-"

Ellen held up her finger. "No! No buts! My home, my rules." She waved her hand in the direction of the back of the tavern. "There's a place around back you can keep 'em. Put 'em there."

We walked behind the building to find a small stable. There were several fence posts inside with ropes attached, presumably to tie up mounts. Already there was a phiomia tied up, snoring loudly. I brought Catcher over to the fence and looped a rope around his neck. He pulled away but I put a hand on his neck to calm him. "It's just for tonight buddy. I'll back in the morning." Catcher calmed down and let me finish trying the knot. I left it loose enough that it could slide around, but not enough so that it could come off. I looked to Mira to see what she was doing. She was trying to find a way to hide Brownie on her person. I sighed and knelt beside her. "Hey. It's her rules, remember? She's being kind and letting us stay here tonight. Let's do our best to respect her, alright?"

Mira glared at me before sighing and looking around. The ropes were too big to put on the small monkey. She eyed a small dodo coop and pulled open the door. She waved for Brownie to go in. "C'mon. Just for tonight. I promise I'll be back." Brownie clung to her leg for a while before finally obeying. Mira shut the door and waved at Brownie through the opening. "Good night." Brownie chattered back in response. Mira stood up and brushed past me going towards the front door. I scoffed once she went inside. Her grudge was really holding up.

I turned back towards Catcher who was sniffing the phiomia. I pointed a finger at him forcefully. "No. Don't get any ideas." He grunted in response and left the pig alone. He sniffed the ground a little bit before curling up in the dirt. I bent down and scratched beneath his chin again, inciting an affectionate rumble from the lizard. "Good night buddy." I stood up and walked through the front door. The building had a spacious interior, most of which was taken up by tables and chairs. Taking up one wall was a notice board covered in posters and written notes. Opposite that wall, about a quarter of the space was taken up by a bar. Behind it were bottles filled with varying degrees of colored liquids, as well as a menu. Mira sat at one of the stools with a glass of water. She just kind of stared at it instead of drinking it. Ellen entered the room from a door behind the bar. She noticed me and waved me to follow her. I walked through the door with her into a small kitchen. She continued up a staircase to another set of doors, one of which she held open to me.

"This is the guest room. You can stay here for the night. I'll go get something to help you with that." She disappeared back down the staircase.

I nodded a thank you and proceeded into the room. It was larger than the one in Joe's house; it had a bed, a table, and a chair. The bed was a similar construction as the one I previously slept on, except this one had a few layers of hide for warmth. I looked around and noticed an unlit torch on the table. Beside it were a chunk of rock and flint. I sparked the two together a few times before some embers caught in the torch. I blew on them gently and a small flame blossomed to life, lighting the room. I sat down on the bed and waited for Ellen to come back up.

After about a minute or two, the door opened and Ellen walked in carrying a bag. The contents clinked as she set them on the table. "Jahova gave me some of his recipes a while back. Though I might not be as good of a doctor as he was." She turned back to me. "Alright, let me see it." I gently peeled off the bandage. The blood was dry and crusted, but a steady drop escaped now and then. She winced at the sight. "Good lord, child. It's a miracle you're still standing." I looked down at the wound and my eyes widened. Over the course of the day, the gash had swollen and bruised, leaving a nasty-looking gash. I gulped at the sight. At tentatively touched the invading object. Pain sparked through my ribs and I yanked my hand back. Ellen placed a hand on my shoulder. "Lie back, I'm going to get a better look." I nodded and complied. She rummaged through the contents on the table and pulled out a red vial and a green one. She placed them both on the bed next to me. She placed her hand around the wound and spoke softly. "Alright, it's something I can fix. Now I'm just going to-"

She gave no warning. Why does no one give any fucking warning for these things?

She ripped the stick out quickly as she was talking. I arched my back in pain and cried out. She cursed. "Damn... that wasn't clean at all.." She leaned forward and pinned me in place to keep me from thrashing. She was surprisingly strong for her age. She poured the red liquid into the now larger and heavily bleeding wound. I swear to god she was the worst doctor yet. I screamed in blistering pain for the second time that day. Once she was done running the liquid in, she poured the green one in. This time, a cool-numbing sensation spread across by body. My vision swam and I felt dizzy. "Almost done, that was just a narcotic to numb the pain."

I yelled through gritted teeth. "Why didn't you use that first?!"

She tilted her head in thought for a second. "Huh, maybe that would have been smarter... Oh well." I wanted to say something back, but my words slurred. Ellen put a hand on my shoulder. "Just rest dearie. You're in safe hands."

I highly doubted that.

I struggled to stay awake, but I lost the fight and fell into a dreamless sleep.


A/N:

Sorry about taking so long to get this next chapter out guys. I'm not the type of person who will use authors notes to say "Oh no, real life is getting in the way of me releasing your next fandom fix" so I won't say what happened because most people won't care anyway.

Edit: He's so cripplingly unathletic that he sprained his wrist while walking his dog.

... Traitor.

Anyway! Thank you guys so much for the support you've been giving this story! I never thought it would actually get past chapter 3, but apparently people really like it. I'll try to get more chapters out whenever I can, but lets face it; I can't even adhere to a consistent college schedule so there's no WAY I'll ever get an uploading schedule pinned down. I'm trying to write little bits and pieces of future parts of the story so that when I actually get to them the thoughts and events will be organized and they'll be way better quality than stuff I just write to advance the plot. Events such as the ones dominating the next few chapters.

Expect some good reads in the future.

As always, try to have a good laugh today.

-TheSurvivingComedian