Hellowe!
This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but as a matter of fact, it's a transition chapter. Notice the change of mood. Notice it!
Also, something very important will be revealed. Can you guess what?
Enjoy the sixth chapter of Heart to Beat!
Chapter 6
Maya and Rose had set up their camp somewhere near a small brook. It was a lovely place with owls hooting and bugs chirping. However, Maya and Rose had something else on their minds.
"I don't think this is the right way to do it.", Rose said frowning as she looked at something that had to represent their tent.
"It doesn't matter. As long as it's standing!", Maya replied, happy with the result.
" Yes, but for how long…", Rose sighed. A silence followed as they were watching the construction. Rose looked from Maya to the tent and again to Maya. "You go first.", she said in the end.
"Okay! I'll show you that it works!" Maya entered the tent and waited for a few seconds. "See, no problem!", she yelled from the inside. Rose hesitated, but eventually crawled inside as well, albeit carefully.
"Quite cosy, isn't it!", Maya enthusiastically said.
"… yeah… yeah, actually you're right. Hehe, very cosy! We did a great job!", Rose said, getting enthusiastic and above all careless as well.
The tent collapsed.
"MAYA!", Rose screamed out. It was as if the tent had waited for her to come in.
"… And a few seconds ago it was 'we'…", Maya said.
"You lured me inside!"
"Then I'll lure you outside now. Come on! Let's try it again!", Maya said getting optimistic for no reason. Rose however sighed deeply "Owww…"
"It's that, or sleeping in the open air.", Maya stated.
"NO!"
"I thought so."
They crawled from underneath the tent and restarted their struggling. After a few minutes: "Taisez-vous! Les hiboux!", Rose suddenly yelled out. The owls however continued hooting.
"Maybe the owls aren't French. Let me try.", Maya took a deep breath. "Damare! Fukurou!" The owls still continued, ignoring the girls.
"Of course, they have to understand Dutch! Just like us!", Rose said convinced. "Zwijg! Uilen!" The owls ignored the girls.
"Our last hope… in German! In unison!" Both girls screamed at the top of their lungs: "Schweig! Eule!"
… The hooting stopped.
"Finally…"
"Whoe, whoe?" An owl began.
"Whoe, whoe." And many more followed.
"Ggrrrr! Shut up you stupid big, fat, flying beasts in the trees!"
The hooting stopped once again. Rose and Maya waited and waited and waited, but it remained quiet.
"I guess they're American after all.", Maya said, surprised.
"Bandit Keith was right. We're in America!"
"I wouldn't go that far and not too loud. He might hear you."
"Look who's talking.", Rose said sarcastically.
"Now… the tent.", Maya sighed for she had lost her enthusiasm.
"That idiot of a Pegasus gives us a high-tech tent that you can fold until it fits in your pocket for free, but forgets to give us a manual!", Rose said gritting her teeth.
"Wait… perhaps… yeah… aha… like this!", Maya saw the light. She did something with the tent and as the process progressed, Rose saw the light too. "Oooh yeah!"
The tent stood.
"We did it! We build it! A TENT!"
"Let's test it again.", Maya said enthusiastically as before. Rose however shuffled away.
"Come on!" Maya went in. "If you're not coming, fine with me, more room for me." Rose dashed inside.
"Be careful, Caféjoenk!" As Maya yelled that, Rose realised her mistake, but the tent remained standing nevertheless.
"Ouf… now I can finally eat my cookies.", Maya took out a pack of cookies and started eating tastefully. Rose however shifted her position as she hungrily stared at the cookies. "Euhm… Maya?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I have a cookie, please?"
"Why? You bought three packages back in Belgium. I saw that with my own eyes.", Maya said not understanding.
"Yes, but… they're gone now…"
"What do you mean, they're gone? How could you possibly so fast… oh, I get it. You two ate three packages of Pimmekes in just one evening?"
"Well yes, Pimmekes are so good and they go down easily.", Rose answered not mentioning that it was especially Rex who devoured them.
"Yes, I know that."
"So, can I have a cookie then?"
"Alright then." Maya handed over a package of dino cookies. "Actually, you should have offered him this to eat, shouldn't you have?", Maya already chuckled.
"… I AM SUCH AN UTTER IDIOT!", Rose screamed out as she realised dino cookies would have impressed Rex.
"Hehehe!"
They continued eating Maya's cookies in silence. When that job was done, they changed into their pyjamas. Maya wore a light blue one that felt very soft. Every night, its softness reminded her of Kaiba. Or at least, she imagined he was that soft.
Rose wore a white night gown which blew softly in the wind (if she would be outside of course. Which she wasn't for they had built a tent!)
When that job was done, they took their decks and started to reorganise them while talking about the duels they had done that day and the boys.
Maya sighed. "I haven't seen Seto today…"
"Yes, but he's probably still here.", Rose answered without looking up from her deck.
"Of course he is!", Maya suddenly burst out.
"Yes, that's what I said, isn't it.", Rose carefully said.
"You said 'probably'! There's nothing probably about it! It's a fact!"
"Then, why are you so upset?"
"Because… I didn't see him.", Maya trailed off again.
"You'll see him tomorrow when we get to the castle.", Rose reassured Maya for she knew she needed it. In response, Maya stared at her with big eyes.
"What?", Rose asked, afraid that she said something wrong again.
"You're reassuring me…"
"Yes… I can do that."
"It's weird… stop it!", Maya said, shuffling backwards. "You're scaring me. Who are you and what did you do to Rose?"
"I am me!", Rose exclaimed, desperate to prove it.
"Prove it!"
"REX!"
"I believe you."
"Okay."
"Okay."
They continued organising their decks as if they hadn't had the conversation at all.
"You know, Rex has a card in his deck that I could really use.", Rose began.
"Probably. They're all dinosaurs, just like yours. Which one was it then?"
"Survival Instinct."
"Survival Instinct? What does that do?"
"It allows you to remove any number of dinosaurs in your graveyard from play and you gain 400 life points for every dinosaur removed.", Rose explained.
"Well, that's very useful… I guess."
"It can however be a lot more useful if you combine it with…"
"Meow."
Out of nowhere, a cat had entered the tent.
"Look! Have you ever seen such a beautiful cat?", Maya said in a strange voice.
"Indeed. This one is very beautiful, but what's it doing here?", Rose wondered.
Suddenly, Maya stood up and Rose noticed a strange, blue light in her eyes. The next moment, the cat left the tent again and Maya followed it.
"Hey! Where are you going?", Rose yelled.
Seeing that Maya wasn't returning, she crawled out of the tent as well and was just in time to see her run into the forest.
"Maya! Come back! You mustn't run into the forest when it's getting dark!" Maya however still didn't listen, so Rose got on her feet ready for the chase. As she started to move her legs, something made her stand still. That smell… She had never smelled anything like it. She just had to know where it was coming from and she was positive it came from behind her, somewhere in the forest. As she turned round, in the opposite direction Maya had gone, a strange blue light appeared in her eyes.
While she was walking through the forest, Rose seemed unaware of her environment. Branches and leaves were cutting into her bare feet, but she paid them no attention. After a while of floating over the ground, she reached an open area filled with lovely flowers. Rose just stood there, gazing at the wonder of nature all around her. She went deeper into the field so she could surround herself with the sweet smell of roses, tulips, sunflowers, dandelions, daisies and hyacinths. She closed her eyes in order to fully enjoy the smell. After a few moments, she was distracted by a sound, so she opened her eyes and saw a man standing at some distance from her.
The strange blue light in Rose's eyes faded and made place for a deep feeling of hatred.
"You?"
The man just looked at her with a smirk on his face. As they looked each other into the eyes, flashbacks passed before Rose's eyes. The insults, the humiliations, the threats, the beating…
"What are you doing here?", Rose yelled at the man, hatred dripping from her voice.
"I came to kill you."
For a moment, Rose let down her guard, but she immediately composed herself.
"I have to admit, you really scared me when we were kids. But if you actually think, you can still intimidate me in such a lame way, then you're a fool. You don't scare me anymore! I dealt with that a long time ago."
"Back then, I said I would kill you and now I will do it." The man took a large knife from his pocket and his smirk became bigger.
"He's got to be bluffing. A coward like him wouldn't have the guts to kill someone. I won't run away this time. I will show him I have changed!"
The man took a step in Rose's direction. Seeing that she didn't move a muscle, he took another step and another, speeding up. As he approached her at full speed, he raised his arm ready to stab her.
Then, a frog flew through the air.
Maya: Captain Ginyu! Look out! He's going to change bodies with you!
Rose: Nonsense! Leave Captain Ginyu out of this! He has nothing to do with it!
Maya: But...
Rose: No. Things are getting serious now.
Maya: You call a frog serious?
Rose: Of course! It's an animal as any other animal.
Maya: So, owls are serious?
Rose: That's not an animal. It's a demon from hell. Notice that there is a book that has the title: "Birds and Owls".
Maya: It implies that owls are not birds!
Rose: Why are we actually talking about owls?
Maya: I have no idea.
Rose: Like I said, things are getting more serious now. The genre "humor" is not appropriate the next three chapters.
Maya: Well, that depends on their sense of humor. Maybe some people like this.
Rose: Not normal people.