Mary: I hope you find this chapter up to par. Let me know what you think!
Dancing Elf: A very happy holiday to you too, I hope you like my Christmas update.
Wiccachick: Love your screen name, a very blessed solstice to you, if you celebrate it, if not then excuse my assumption. I am glad you are enjoying my story so far.
LIldreamer: Thank you for your review! I am glad you like my story so far, make sure you let me know how I did on this chapter too!
PS to you all, this hasn't gone through my beta yet. You have been warned 0.o
Joey trudged through the forest, following along behind Seto quietly. The elder of the two was walking with his eyes glued to a small GPS system that, apparently, knew how to track Addis. This had only been divulged to Joey after a heated argument broke out, Joey insisting the whole trip was ridiculous, that they would never find Addis in the middle of this mess.
Grudgingly Seto had shoved the GPS unit into Joey's face, pointing to a tiny, red spot; a spot that had latitude and longitude coordinates beside it. Below it were directions, instructing the young men in which way they should travel.
Now, three hours into their campaign, the sun was setting, Joey was hungry, and if he stumbled over another rock he was positive he was going to scream, probably at Seto.
The cold was also setting in, seeping past Joey's sweater and down to his skin, sending a light shiver through his body. Grudgingly he looked ahead to Seto, who seemed just fine with his long, black trench coat, black Calvin Klein sweater, and an awesome pair of thick, black sweat pants, complimented by a thick white stripe that slipped down the side of each leg. Mr. Moneybags appeared to be handling the whole thing quite well.
As this did nothing to better his mood Joey put his eyes back onto the ground, just in time to watch himself trip over a particularly sneaky rock that had hidden itself under a bit of leaves.
"That's it!" The blonde shouted, his frustration echoing in the quite forest. "I've had it. I'm over it. I'm done." He let his two backpacks slide from his shoulders, and after a quick check for rocks flopped onto the ground, arms and legs crossed in the most childish way.
Seto rolled his eyes and stopped, turning around to face Joey, looking disdainful. "Again?"
"No, I'm serious this time. I'm done." Joey repeated, wrapping his arms around himself as another violent shiver wracked through his body.
Annoyed Seto stood and looked at Joey, sitting on the ground shivering. His eyes moved from a sharp, criticizing look to a softer gauze, realizing that Joey wasn't just complaining this time.
With a tsk of disapproval Seto promptly dropped his backpack and stripped himself of his trench coat, folding it before draping it over his backpack. "Fine," He agreed apathetically "but you have to help me get fire wood."
The promise of heat set Joey into motion, as he quickly stood and began to gather small twigs and dried leaves. Placing it all into a pile Joey began to dig a shallow hole, making sure the area had been cleared down to the dirt, brushing all the leaves and foliage away. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was build a kickass fire.
All the while Seto had gone and collected larger branches and logs, and when he came back he dropped it into a pile, giving Joey a frustrated glare. "What is that supposed to do?" he snapped, looking at the useless pile to stuff Joey had collected.
Frowning Joey turned his head to look at the fire wood Seto had grabbed. "It is going to light was you found." He explained, impatient with Seto's 'know it all' attitude. It was true the brunette may have out-smarted him with technology, but he was dumb as a brick when it came to out-door living.
"You can't just light big log, dummy." He reach over, grabbed the pile of dead leaves he collected, then lightly tossed them into the shallow hole. "They will burn out before they have a chance to really kindle." He began placing the small twig over the hole, leaving only enough space for him to fit his hand through.
Wrinkling his nose at the information Joey was offering Seto couldn't help but rebut, especially if the blonde was trying to prove him wrong. "How do you know that?" he questioned, skepticism in his voice.
Joey only laughed a small laugh before responding. "You learn a lot when you don't have a home, buddy."
Clenching his jaw shut at the harsh, but eye opening response, Seto stood by quietly, watching as Joey leaned the larger logs against each other in the shape of a tepee. Once they were all resting together Joey took his lighter from his back pocket and set the dead leaves ablaze, watching as the twigs quickly caught fire too.
After some encouragement from Joey, adding twigs and blowing onto the small flames, they eventually licked up the logs and began to start a promising fire.
"Alright, dis' baby will go all night if we let it." Joey said triumphantly, holding his hands over the small, but growing fire.
"Hmph." Seto grabbed his trench coat and backpack, then took a seat on a rock away from Joey. "You have actually impressed me, Wheeler."
"If ya would quit bein' such a jerk I might do it more often." Grumbled Joey, reaching beside him to drag his backpacks closer. "What'd we gotta eat in here, anyway?" he asked as he began to rummage through it.
Seto took his own back and unzipped the first, larger pocket, and pulled out a small silver bag, labeled 'R.E.M.' on both sides. He opened the silver pouch and pulled out another, this one brown. Ripping off the first half of the pouch he then took a bottle of water out and added half of it to the mix, rubbing the sides together then set it down.
Looking through his own stuff Joey found a cluster of the small bags and began to read through them, finding pasta, chicken, chicken noodle soup, meatloaf, chili, and his favorite out of the selections, sloppy Joe filling.
"What the hell are these things?" he asked pulling out the sloppy Joe packet and looking it over.
"Ready to eat meals. The military uses them." He explained as he picked up his now warm food, plucked a fork from the silver pouch, and took a bite of his food. "Everything you need to eat is in the pouch, and they each have sufficient fat and calories to get you through the day."
Joey opened the silver pouch in his hands and took a look, finding a packet similar to Seto's but also accompanied by a fruit packet, cheese crackers, peanut butter, crackers, a spoon, and a portion of apple cider, much to his delight.
"Hey, alright!" Joey said excitedly, warming his own food much like Seto had and eating his cheese crackers, clearly more enthusiastic than Seto about the small meal.
"It doesn't taste very good." Seto warned before Joey picked up his spoon and took his first bite.
For a person like Seto, who probably never missed a meal in his life, it may have not tasted great, but for someone like Joey, who was used to living on a painfully empty stomach, the food wasn't half bad. Sure, freshly cooked fish would win any day, but for not having to do any work Joey found it satisfying, and was soon eating the rest of his meal with content.
Seto watched quietly, amazed at how fast Joey could inhale food. By the time he had taken four bites Joey had emptied his main course pouch, and was half way done with his crackers. The poor apple cider was drank in all but two gulps, and soon Joey was looking in his backpack for more water to drink.
"What, are you a camel or something?" he asked when Joey finished off half a bottle of water, earning a concerned look from Seto.
"Uh….what?" Joey held his half empty water bottle in his hand, glancing from one side to the other before giving Seto a confused look.
"Where are you keeping all that water?" It was an honest question, as Seto was sure if he drank that much, that quick, he would have puked.
"In my stomach?" Joey still wasn't sure what he was trying to get at.
Seto's blue eyes rolled in a resigned motion before he gave up the subject, taking a bit of his own food, slowly chewing. As Joey scooted closer to the fire Seto plucked his GPS system from the side pocket of his backpack and gave it a look, studying to coordination it was giving. "Addis should only be a day or two away. If all goes well, we should be back within the week."
"Awesome." Joey's voice was void of any real care or enthusiasm. He reached into his back pocket for his cigarettes, only to be stopped by Seto's glare.
"What?" he asked sharply, wondering what Seto's problem was now.
"Are you going to smoke?" he asked accusingly.
"Yeah? What about it?" Joey pulled his pack out of his pocket, along with his lighter.
"Those aren't biodegradable." Seto snapped, still glaring fiercely.
Meeting Seto's eyes Joey starred at him. Since when the hell was Seto Kaiba a tree hugger?
"Really? You just gave me water bottles, and packets of food that we are going to have to leave here, and you are bitching about a cigarette butt?" he asked disbelievingly.
"Everything in that bag, except your sleeping bag and GPS, are biodegradable." He informed in a matter-of-fact tone. "Don't add to an already growing problem."
Seto held out his hand, careful to avoid the fire, still giving Joey a firm look as he waited for the blonde to hand over the pack of cigarettes.
"Oh, hell no!" That was the final straw. He could take trudging around, he could take semi-shitty meals, he could take bugs, and spiders, and even Seto's grumpy self, but having his smokes taken was absolutely out of the question.
"Fuck you, dude." He said, taking a line out of Tristan's book, as he stood. "I've been smoking for three years, like hell if I'm going to stop because you want to hump a tree."
As Seto was about to rebut Joey stood and stalked off into the shadows of the night, keeping close enough to see the fire but far away so Seto wouldn't bother him. From where he was sitting Seto could see Joey's lighter flick to life, and with a defeated sigh he began to unclip his sleeping bag from the bottom of his pack and roll it out onto the ground.
Although he wouldn't ever admit to it, Seto was hoping for a slightly better trip. He would never tell Joey, but he had actually spoken to Yugi about all of this. Yugi had even agreed that Joey would be great for the trip, as Seto had put a great deal of consideration into hiring someone. In the end of it all Yugi had convinced him; Joey was best suited. Now, as he glanced around to the spot where Joey stood, he wasn't so sure.
Taking his shoes off Seto slid into his sleeping back, rolling over so he could watch the flames of the fire dance around, shifting from beautiful shades of blue and purple, to yellow and red.
Long after he fell asleep Joey came back to their little camp sight, resisting the urge to give Seto a swift kick as he lay motionless in his sleeping bag. He took his previous spot by the fire and for an hour or so listened to the sounds of the forest, a deer trotting by or an owl hooting.
Eventually he became bored, and finding nothing to do he added a few fresh logs to the fire, then set his backpack up on a rock. Remember a time when a spider crawled into his shoes Joey slipped his boots off, laced them together, then promptly hung them from a nearby branch, covering them with his sweater that he stripped off.
Once he was comfortable with his sleeping arrangements he curled up in his sleeping bag, pulling the hood of it close to his face. He rolled over, back to Seto, before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
The next morning Joey woke, the soft pitter patter of rain rousing him from his deep sleep. Stirring slightly Joey tried to ignore the noise, momentarily forgetting where he was. On rainy days the droplets would splatter against the roof, rousing him and the dragons from their slumber.
His eyebrows ceased together when the noise grew slightly louder, and a drop splashed onto his face. Blinking awake Joey sat up, remembering he was in the middle of the woods. Moisture was thick in the air, making Joey cough, which in turn woke Seto who was happily hibernating in his sleeping bag.
Looking around the campsite Joey pushed his sleeping bag off, startled when he noticed it was soaked, almost completely through. Apparently water resistant and water proof were two different things.
"Fuck!" Joey kicked the sleeping bag off and looked around. The fire was dead, Seto's bag and coat were soaked through, and his sweater was dripping wet as they hung from the branch.
Thick with sleep Seto looked around, watching as Joey rush to gather his backpack and grab his shoes and sweater from the tree. Luckily his precaution with his shoes the night before left them partially dry. Thankful Joey peeled his socks off and put his shoes on, wanting to keep his feet as dry as possible.
"Wake up, would ya?" Joey growled to Seto, looking through his backpack at the ruined items inside.
Realizing the situation Seto sat up and grabbed his backpack, desperately rummaging through it as he sat in his own sleeping bag, ignoring as rain water began to drip from his hair.
"Shit!" he yelled loudly, shoving his backpack away from himself.
Joey stopped ringing his sweatshirt out, water now dripping from his wet hair down to his face and looked at Seto. "What?" he asked, wondering what could make the situation worse.
Seto held up the wet GPS system, which now had a blank screen and was completely soaked. "It's broke."
Wide eyed and disbelieving Joey stepped over the dead fire and snatched the device from Seto, pressing a few buttons in hopes of getting it to work. Instead of glowing to life it remained dead and useless. Not even a spark gave hope of life.
"So," Joey tried to comprehend the situation, "What does this mean?"
"We're lost." Seto said with an even tone, as if he were stating a casual fact.
"We're lost?" Joey repeated, standing there as the rain drenched them.
"Yup." Seto nodded, stepping out of his sleeping back and picking up his shoes, which were full of water.
Looking around the woods Joey felt his blood run cold, and his heart beat quickened. "How the fuck are we supposed to get home then?"
Thinking furiously Seto took his wet socks off and stuffed them in his shoes, then tied his shoes together and slung them over his shoulder, figuring that they were worthless and would only cause blisters. "We head back in the direction we came. We were only walking for a few hours, we can't be that far from the car."
"T-that far? That far from the car?!" Now it was Joey's turned to think that Seto was the stupid one. Had this man never been for a hike before? It only took 15 minutes of aimless wandering for a person to become hopelessly lost, let alone a few hours.
Forgetting about his sweater Joey sat down on a rock, hands held to his hair as he looked at the ground hopelessly. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die alone, with Seto Kaiba, in the middle of the forest."
Seto rolled his eyes at Joey's dramatic performance and picked up his backpack, ignoring the rain that was now pelting against his body. "Addis was East of us, so we should head in that direction." He said grabbing his jacket off the ground too.
"Nope," Joey shook his head stubbornly. "You are the reason I am in this mess. I am not following you another meter into this forest. I am sittin' here, and waitin' for help."
"Get real." Seto sighed in aggravation, wishing for once Joey would just shut up and listen. "We move in one solid direction. At the very least we will hit a road and find our way to a town."
Looking through his soaked blonde bangs Joey's honey eyes blazed into Seto's blue. "How do your purpose we do that? I ain't gotta compass."
"The sun, moron. It rises in the east, and sets in the west. So we," he pointed opposite of the way the shadows were tilting, "Go this way."
Sitting for another moment Joey looked around, figuring it was worth a shot. He also didn't want to be alone. Being lost stunk, but being lost alone was even worse, regardless if it meant having to keep the irritable Seto Kaiba as a companion.
"Fine." Joey snapped, grabbing his own bag and shoes.
Together the two started the miserable trek to nowhere, neither of them talking. The cold rain soaked them to the skin, and they both had to move painstakingly slow, as Seto had no shoes, and Joey no socks. While the shoes kept the cuts from any stray rocks away, blisters were beginning to form on his heels.
Early in the day Seto had almost slipped and cut his foot open on a rock, only be caught and balanced by Joey. A grudging thank you was all that was said until the rain let up late in the evening, the light grey sky giving way to a clear twilight blue.
Like a blessing in disguise with the clear sky came a cold wind, one that had both the teens shivering, even Seto who always struggled to appear under control of himself.
"We gotta do somethin'." Joey said finally, his teeth chattering as his wet clothes clung to his body.
Seto stopped and looked at him for a long moment, then finally agreed. Even he had his hands tucked under his arms, fearing for frost bite. "What do we do? Everything is wet."
It was true, even the foliage under the leaves was soaked. Sighing, but knowing there was no other option, Joey stripped his shirt, exposing his skin to the harsh winter cold. Having something that close to his heart that was drenched and freezing would make it impossible for him to warm up, even if he worked. At least without the wet article of clothing he could try to muster up somebody heat.
"What're you doing?" Seto asked, eyebrow furrowed with concern. The blonde had lost his sanity, he was sure.
"Making a fire. A wet, cold shirt won't do me any good, so I may as well lose it." Joey grumbled, setting his bag down and rummaging for the one tool he knew he had packed himself. With shivering hands he pulled out his pocket knife and flicked it open.
"Just get all your wet stuff out so we can dry it, okay?" Joey said as he turned and began to rummage through the ground, close by the trunks of trees where the rain had been less accumulative.
Doing as he was told Joey came back and found all of Seto's, and his, stuff laid out. Knowing it may be their save all Joey eyed Seto's black trench coat, thankful he hadn't left it back with the sleeping bags.
Sitting down and still shivering Joey set to work, stripping the wood of its wet bark, getting down to the dry wood beneath. He then took the dry wood and peeled it into small strips, piling them up. Once he was satisfied with the pile he stopped and took his lighter out of his back pocket and reluctantly the fire lit. Ever so slowly Joey added to the fire, nervous that a damp twig may put it out at any second.
"Where did you learn to do all this stuff?" Seto asked amazed, watching Joey as he gradually began to add wood to the fire, steam rising from the damp branches. Making a fire was one thing, but making it in the freezing cold with wet materials was another.
Joey shrugged with one shoulder, scooting closer to the fire to feel the warmth on his skin. "Sometime Ciaran doesn't let me sleep in her stall, so I end up outside." He admitted.
Seto frowned, his thoughts switching from amazement to concern. "You sleep outside in weather like this?"
Not wanting to complain Joey just gave another shrug, adding more wood to the fire that was slowly building. "Make sure you dry your coat." He instructed, wrapping his arms around his chest to help hold the heat closer to his heart.
Knowing he was right Seto grabbed his trench coat and laid it close to the fire, making sure to rotate it every so often.
Just as the worst of the cold was setting in they had managed to dry their shoes and Seto's coat, which Joey was more than happy about. It was his next suggestion that started another wave of bickering between the two, ending the hopeful silence that had fallen the camp site.
"I am not, and will not, huddle with you under my jacket." Seto glared, hoping that looks could kill.
"Then freeze to death!" Joey said throwing his hands up. "Shit, I'll just keep my damn shirt off, at least then I'll die first and not have to deal with you."
Still glaring at him Seto threw his coat over to Joey. "You wear it, my shirt is drying, so I'm fine for now."
"Psh." Joey rolled his eyes and scoffed scornfully. "In two hours it'll be below freezing and you'll be dead, or sick enough to kill you. So really, richboy, stop being stubborn."
It took the better of an hour, but grudgingly Seto complied, going next to Joey and wrapping the coat around himself too. Freezing wind, and the start of a light snow fall had left him with no choice. It was only when he accidently touched the side of Joey's arm he realized the extent of how cold he was.
"Sorry." He mumbled, thinking how nice it would have been to fling himself at Joey. The brief moment of contact made his skin sting with warmth, and his skin crawl. It was a nice thought, but just a thought none the less.
Together the two sat, side by side and as far apart as they could be. Neither spoke as Joey's stomach gave a loud rumble, Joey leaning to grab his backpack. At least their meals had been water proof.
"Hey," he said, opening a pack of crackers and glancing over to Seto, "Next time ya pack, ya might wanna make sure things are water proof."
Clenching his jaw in frustration Seto shot Joey a murderous look. "I'm already firing the person who put this together. Don't worry, I thought about that five minutes after I woke up."
Joey laughed lightly at Seto's harsh demeanor, then held the package of crackers out to him.
"Thanks." He mumbled his appreciation and took one, chewing it as he drew his arms up to his chest and yawned.
Joey followed his lead and let out a large yawn of his own, his body still trembling lightly from the cold.
"Go to sleep." Seto said, watching as Joey's eyelids began to droop. "I don't bite, I swear." He smirked.
Throwing a few more logs onto the fire Joey pulled the jacket back around him the best he could and sank to the ground, curling his knees close to his chest. "Touch me, and I swear I'll poison your water with berries." He threated, only half joking.
"Whatever." Seto ignored his charade and glanced over every so often, only stopping when Joey was softly sleeping, his chest rising and falling. Joey's breath slowly became smoother, his chest rising and falling with the deep rhythmic breathing of sleep.
Seto's eyes scanned over his torso, taking note of the multiple scars that ran along his pale body. The one that caught his attention the most was the one on his arm, which Seto recognized to be the one he'd received all those years ago. That day he remember so well, ushering Mokuba out of the barn, looking back when his brother expressed his concern.
His father hadn't approved, but when Seto brought up the fact that someone could die in his barn, and the bad press it would be, Gozaburo had made the choice to bring Joey back to his house. The whole drive Seto had tried to stop the flow of bleeding, wondering if Joey would lose his arm.
He came out of his recollection, eyes casting over Joey's sleeping form. Although the fire was now well built Joey's body still shook occasionally, causing Seto to do something he wouldn't dare do if Joey were awake.
Concerned, but never willing to admit it, Seto laid down behind Joey, his warm chest pressing against Joey's icy back. Now that the two were closer together Seto's trench coat wrapped effortlessly around them, trapping in the heat from both of their bodies.
Soon after Joey stopped trembling, only becoming cold when Seto would sit up and add firewood, doing his best to make sure it stayed lit through the night. As he laid back down he made sure to cover Joey back up. Laying his head back down he couldn't help but smirk when he realized Joey smelled much like the barn, he guess was from how much time he spent there.
Just as the sun began to rise Seto's eyelids slowly lowered, submitting to the sleep he so desperately needed. The crackle of the fire became hushed, and his last memory was inhaling the smell of Joey, who still slept soundlessly in his arms.
Has anyone noticed someone is missing?...