(AN: Well, this is rather surprising! A new chapter in 3 days instead of 5 days! That's because something came up and I wanna get this chapter out early before it happens. I'll explain in an AN tomorrow but for now, enjoy this... actually somewhat drama filled and sad chapter!
Don't worry, Jet and Storm aren't breaking up lol
Also fun fact: this and the next chapter were never apart of the original story. I added these to make the story a bit longer. Just thought I'd add it there. And speaking of which, after this chapter, there's only two chapters left! Yeah, I know. I hope you guys have been enjoying the story so far!)
Surprisingly, Jet and Storm managed to keep their relationship a secret in the days since the Fireworks show and since they encountered Wave. Often, they snuck out during lunch or dinner, occasionally after dark, and sometimes during activities.
It was risky trying to love one another around people with bigoted mindsets, but, as Jet said; "What they don't know, won't hurt us."
It was nearing toward the end of July, meaning that there was less than 3 weeks before summer camp was over. Unfortunately, this was bad news for Jet and Storm.
"What am I gonna do when you're gone?" Storm asked one day during breakfast.
"We'll see each other someday," Jet replied. "Though… I'm gonna miss you a lot."
"Same…"
There was a moment of silence before the hawk spoke up.
"Let's get off the subject of rather sad topics. Besides, we aren't leaving for a while. We have all the time in the world."
"Yeah, I agree. Uh… I got a letter from my parents. Heh heh, although they said that this was the first one they sent because they weren't sure if they could send letters."
"Oh… how amazing…"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… it's just… my dad never writes to me while I'm at camp. I'm a… little jealous to say the least."
The albatross looked sadly at his boyfriend. "Is your dad nice?"
"Oh, yeah, of course he is. It's just… he kinda has his own things to do and… yeah…"
Jet's father was always the type to be busy. Especially since his mother died, the green avian's father hadn't been as prevalent in his life. He didn't dislike him because of that, as the times father and son spent together were always fun, but he wished that he would be around more.
"I'm… sorry, Jet. I know you wanna hang around your dad more, and hey, he seems like a cool guy," Storm said. Jet sighed.
"Yeah… don't worry, I know he'll wanna be around me more… that is, if only I knew how he'd react to the whole 'I'm gay and I have a boyfriend' thing."
Jet looked out the window. "Man, I'm such a bundle of negativity this morning, aren't I?"
Storm chuckled as the hawk grinned. What was just a simple joke made the two avians giggle like school children.
"Man, only three more weeks and we're outta this dump!" Duke said as he pulled the string of the plastic bow he held.
The boys of Cabin C and D did another switch of activities, this time, they were doing archery.
Jet didn't call himself the best archer. His cousin, Bow the Sparrow on the other hand, was a master at using a bow and arrow.
"If only he were here now…" Jet thought to himself, trying to get the arrow to hit the target a few feet away from him. He pulled back on the string, and as expected, the arrow didn't even reach the target.
"Ugh…" Jet handed the bow to Storm before going back in line. Duke was in front of him, whistling.
"Anyway, Duke, on what you were saying earlier," Jet said. "You wanna leave this place?"
"Yeah! I mean, sure it's fun, but after a while, you just wanna go home. I'm simply here because my folks think I 'don't spend enough time outside'. Like, wow, as if I DON'T play football everyday with my group of friends!" The shark replies. "But NOPE! Oh well, at least you, Storm, Nezbitt, Eryx, and whatever things happen here make it worth it."
"You really think that me and Storm have done a lot?"
"Sure you two have! You've made this year… you've made this year exciting, I'll give you that. It's like… you two were destined to meet one another and cause huge antics."
Before Jet could respond, he heard Storm complain loudly.
"Oh come on! I pulled the string back too hard!" The albatross whined. Jet ran up to his boyfriend and looked up.
"What's wrong, Storm?"
"I pulled the string too hard and now the arrows in the dang forest!"
It was cute to Jet that even through gritted teeth, Storm complained like a child.
"Don't worry, I'll help you find it," Jet said. "Hey, Mido! One of the arrows was lost in the forest! Me and Storm'll find it!"
The two avians ran to the forest as Mido called out behind them. "W-Wait!"
It was too late however, as Jet and Storm finally reached the forest, and began to look around for any sign of the missing arrow. The hawk went one way, and the albatross another.
"Find anything yet?" called out Storm.
"Nope," replied Jet.
It was then that the albatross saw something red in a tree. When he examined it closer, he saw that it was the missing arrow!
Storm grabbed the arrow, and was about to head out when he heard it.
Growling.
Turning, Storm saw a wild creature, on four legs and looking straight at him.
"Uh… good boy?"
Just then, the creature attacked Storm. He yelped as he was brought down to the floor. Due to his strength, he was able to fight off the creature, but was getting hurt regardless. Jet turned around to see what was going on, and his face fell.
"STORM!" he yelled, running to his boyfriend. He had seen too many shows about people being mauled by wild creatures, and he didn't want Storm to become dinner for anybody.
Grabbing a stick nearby, he held it tightly in front of him. Despite having a weapon, Jet found himself shaking like he did when he watched scary movies.
"You're not scared, Jet… you're not scared…" Jet tried to assure himself. "You can do this… you can help Storm…'
"Hey! Peas for brains!"
The creature stopped attacking Storm as it looked up at him. It then began to rush up towards Jet before the hawk swung his stick. While not hitting it, this intimidated the creature, and it set off; whimpering and running away.
The hawk ran up to Storm, immediately looking for his wound.
"'S-STORM! Are you okay?!"
Storm nodded. "It's just a scratch…"
What the albatross didn't seem too concerned about turned out to be nightmare fuel for Jet. A large scratch covered Storm's belly, which was bleeding.
"H-How hard did this thing hurt you?!" Jet yelled, tears now forming in his eyes.
"It's not too bad-"
"YES IT IS! We need to get you help, fast!"
Jet hiccuped multiple times as he sobbed. Seeing Storm like… THIS made his heart stop. He got Storm up from the ground and took off his shirt, wrapping it around where the wound was.
"Here, press down on it!" The green avian said. "We need to get to Mido!"
The two began to move, not fast to the point where Storm's wound would hurt him, but enough to let them get to the counselor faster.
When they arrived to the vicinity where everyone was, the boys of Cabin C and D turned to face the two avians as Mido and the Cabin D counselor's jaw dropped.
"Oh holy Great One…" Mido muttered before running off to Jet and Storm.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" The Cabin C counselor yelled.
"A-Attacked! He was attacked by something in the forest!" Jet replied.
"And why were you in the forest?" asked the Cabin D counselor.
"Getting back this arr-ow ow ow…" Storm said, pushing harder on his wound as he weakly held out the arrow.
"Damn… then the gangadiddles are coming back…"
"Gangadiddles?" asked Jet.
"Wild animals that come and prowl around this forest… Strangely, they come around the winter, not summer…"
"Are the woods safe then?"
"They are. It's just some areas have high populations of gangadiddles then others. Camp Silver Lake has none fortunately."
"And on the topic of Camp…" The Cabin D counselor said. "Let's go to doc, he'll fix this. C'mon you…"
The counselor put Storm's arm over his shoulder as he walked with him to the doctor of Camp Silver Lake. Jet ran after the two.
"Wait! Hold on!" he yelled.
"Jet!" Mido said. He sighed as he fixed his hat. "Damn kid…"
Eryx, Duke, and Nezbitt looked at each other. "Well, c'mon! We're friends of Storm, aren't we?" asked the shark.
"Duke's right! Let's go!" said the blue shelled armadillo. The three ran off as Mido yelled for them to come back. Much like with Jet though, he didn't bother giving chase to the three boys.
Jet, Duke, Nezbitt, and Eryx waited outside the doctor's office for news on Storm. While everyone was nervous, neither the shark, cat, nor armadillo were as nervous as the hawk. His leg bounced up and down repeatedly as he tapped his fingers on the wooden bench quickly. His breathing became short, and he felt like collapsing.
"Jet… are you alright yourself?" Eryx asked.
"Y-YEAH I'M GOOD, NEVER BETTER!" Jet quickly said in response. Eryx shrugged in response.
Just then, the door opened.
"Are you kids here for Storm?"
Doctor Quackiverous N. Gerald, or as he was more known, Doctor Quack, was the doctor for Camp Silver Lake. He had a large following in the medical field, but retired a few years ago. Since then, he decided to work at the camp, which he himself went to as a child.
Jet, Eryx, Duke, and Nezbitt got up and nodded.
Dr. Quack smiled. "Your friend is going to be okay. I stitched him up so he should be good. All he needs is a little rest, and he should be good by tomorrow."
The four sighed. "So, can we see him?" asked Duke.
"Err… well, he requested he see one 'Jet the Hawk'… Judging by your appearance, green avian next to the shark, I assume you are him?" Dr. Quack adjusted his glasses. The hawk walked up to the doctor as the three looked upset.
"Oh c'mon, I wanna see if Storm is okay!" Nezbitt whined.
"I'm sure you do, however, you should return to your activities after all. Just take my word for it that he's going to be okay under my care."
The three groaned as they left the room. "He's in the room ahead. Go on," Dr. Quack said. Jet walked up to the door as the doctor went back into his main office. The green avian turned the knob as he opened the door.
"Storm?" Jet called out.
"J-Jet? Jet, is that you?" Storm said. Jet's heart spun as he saw the albatross. He ran up and hugged his boyfriend.
"You're… you're okay! You're okay!" The hawk said. Storm smiled down at him and patted his head.
"I told ya, I'll be fine. It'll take more than a simple scratch to bring me down," The albatross replied.
"S-So… you don't care that you were attacked by a wild gangadiddle?"
"Not realty. Wouldn't have been the FIRST time I got scratched by something…"
"So… you've gotten scratched before?"
"Yeah. If you can believe me, I got attacked once when I was a kid. Heh, you think I'd learned my lesson…"
Jet however, hung his head.
"Hm? Jet… what's wrong?" The large grey avian asked.
"It's just… I can't help but feel like it's my fault…"
"It's not your fault…" Storm placed his hand on Jet's.
"I… I… I shouldn't have strayed away from you in the forest… This wouldn't have happened if I only wasn't so stupid…"
Storm looked sadly at Jet. He kissed him on the forehead, and gently held his face.
"Hey, I told you I'm gonna be fine. Promise. Next thing you know tomorrow, I'm going to be all right, and good as I was before. Now… let's turn that frown upside down."
The albatross placed his fingers into Jet's mouth and extended it, making a 'smile'.
"There we go!"
Jet smiled, this time for real.
Despite Storm's claims of being alright, Jet stayed by his boyfriend the entire day, under the claims that he 'didn't want him to be lonely'.
Not many people came to visit Storm, so having company was good. Especially if said company was the albatross' significant other.
"Jet? You probably should go and get some dinner," Storm said around sunset, eating things that Jet had brought back from the Mess Hall. The hawk signaled a 'no' with his hands.
"Oh don't worry, I'm good," he replied.
"You really should have something to eat though…."
"I'm serious, I'm good."
Storm shrugged.
"Whatever floats his boat…" he thought.
While Jet's stomach growled multiple times throughout the night, he didn't want to leave Storm's side.
"I don't even remember the last time I went this long without food…" The hawk thought to himself. "But I'm not gonna let my hunger get to me…"
Later that night, the doctor came in to check on Storm for a brief moment.
Jet however, was hidden under his desk. He knew if he got caught, he would be sent back to Cabin C.
The doctor left and closed the door as Jet got up from the desk.
"That was a close call," Jet sighed, placing his hand on his chest.
"Shouldn't you go back to Cabin C?" Storm asked. "You should get some rest. You're not gonna stay up all night you know…"
Unexpected to Storm, Jet got onto the large grey avian's bed and lay down right next to him.
"Nah… I think I'm gonna sleep here tonight…"
Storm's face grew slightly red. He never fell asleep with somebody by him.
"U-U-Uh, I, well, uh…" The albatross stammered, playing with his fingers.
Jet grinned as he cuddled up next to his boyfriend. "Don't worry, no one should find us here. Just relax, and know that I'm here."
Storm nodded as he gently wrapped his arms around Jet's feathery back, pulling him closer. Jet nuzzled against Storm's plumage as the other looked down.
"Night, Jet…" he said, kissing his forehead.
"Night to you too. Love ya," Jet responded, looking up at him.
The two avian's soon fell asleep with each other in their arms, not a single care in the world for anyone who could stumble upon them.