Chapter 9: When he lied

Nicholas had the feeling they've been walking around in circles for three days.

He didn't say anything about it, though. He didn't want to anger Sissi more, and he wanted to make sure Herve believed Nicholas didn't notice anything. The redhead himself didn't know what he should not notice. He had his suspicions, but he had no idea what the traitor was doing. So he pretended not to know. Because of this, Nicholas could keep an eye on him without being suspected. And, not like everyone thought of him, the Poliakoff boy did have a brain – he only never fully used it before.

Sissi just was glad Nicholas didn't accuse Herve anymore. It was annoying her how the two couldn't seem to work together because of one small mistake. Okay, she understood Nicholas couldn't fully trust Herve because of what happened, but that didn't mean he would betray them when he saw his chance. She also decided, if it continued like this, she would just knock them hard on their heads and make them realize they've been acting like little children all those time.

Herve was thinking some things through, like always. The only thing the two could do to bring Herve back to the world of the 'living', was to ask where they had to move next.

And so another very boring day filled with wandering, thoughts and silence ended. They made their camp at a place where the trees were at least four feet away from each other. An advantage was the high grass, reaching their knees. While Herve and Sissi prepared food – you could barely call it dinner – Nicholas was searching a good place to drop their luggage. After a long discussion yesterday, Nicholas got what he wanted and had to carry the luggage again. He shook his head. It was too open, he thought. Kankrelats could easily sneak upon them, and they wouldn't be able to quickly run away because the grass was rather thick. In short, it wasn't very likely they would get away in an emergency. And, he reminded himself, Herve choose this place. It's his responsibility.

They silently ate their food. Sissi seemingly wanted to break the silence, but every time, she decided not to – one wrong word spoken, and instead of silence, she would have to bear yet another fight between Nicholas Herve. Quickly, all of the food was gone, and Sissi offered to go be the guard for tonight, hoping the two would make it up without her around. Or, in fact, Nicholas finally forgave Herve.

Ten minutes, the two boys looked around aimlessly, and were minding their own business, trying not to make eye contact. Until, finally, Herve moved and sat down next to Nicholas. The redhead still pretended to act as if he weren't there. He sighed.

"Don't be so childish, Nicholas." Nicholas turned his head towards the traitor.

"I'm not childish. I'm being reasonable."

"What do you mean, reasonable?"

"Well, I've reasonably allowed you back, I let come reasonably close to Sissi and if you haven't noticed, I reasonably gave you food and shelter."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Unlucky you," Nicholas reasoned, and a minute of silence followed, in which both of them said nothing. They both wanted to say something, but they kept it to themselves. As if they realized that, with breaking it, they would be fighting again. Eventually, Herve broke it anyway, because he needed to say something.

"What's wrong with you?" his voice was filled with concern, and Nicholas turned to the traitor again, "You're acting differently. You can tell me, I might even help." the look in the redhead's eyes told Herve he had better not asked that question.

"What's wrong?" his voice was filed with hate, "What do you think is wrong? You are the true problem! Now you're here, I don't know if I can trust you."

"You don't trust me?" Nicholas nodded, "You don't trust me. Nicholas, I… it was all an act in Kadic, you know? I did it to get us out of there. We're still friends, right? You can trust me."

"'Trust' is a big word," Nicholas reasoned, "because it is a quite complex something. It is very easy to break – one word or action is enough to crumble it like a cookie. Yet it takes weeks, months, even years to rebuild that trust. Do you hear me? Ii don't trust you, Herve Pichon." Herve gulped.

"But Sissi…"

She's different," Nicholas sneered, "she is very loyal, and can forgive people fairly quickly. Off course she believes and trusts you. And you should know that I don't trust people quickly." Herve's eyes widened – oh yeah, right! Nicholas didn't trust anyone quickly. He nodded, and accepted Nicholas would be hating him for the rest of his short life. Off course he would, he thought, and Sissi too.

"But," Nicholas began, "you were also the first to have patience with me in the first grade. The only one that wanted to know me like I was," he looked at the traitor, "Prove it. Prove to me you're worth my trust." Herve nodded, very relieved. He could prove it! He could win Nicholas' trust, but he only had one shot, which is what made it difficult to choose one thing to do. He knew exactly which one thing he would do to prove he could be trusted…

"We need to go," he suddenly said, and for no apparent reason he stood up and walked to Sissi. Nicholas looked at him, surprised. "Sissi, we need to leave. Right now!" the traitor insisted, and he started to run away from them. Nicholas was surprised Sissi followed Herve immediately. The redhead sighed and, fearing he'd be let on his own, followed them.

They ran for a while, until they arrived in a more sheltered part of the forest. Herve hid himself behind a fatter tree, and the two others followed his example. Nicholas, having enough from this mysterious behavior, opened his mouth to ask a question, but it never came out. He forgot the question the second they heard a high-pitched screech. He and Sissi became very careful, because they knew that sound all too well.

"Tarantulas," Nicholas breathed, and Herve nodded.

"Tarantulas," the traitor confirmed, " they know we fled." These words made Nicholas careful again, this time towards the traitor himself.

"What do you mean?" Sissi herself was curious, too – she knew Herve, and he said nothing if he didn't mean it. Herve sighed – if he couldn't make Nicholas trust him after telling this piece of information, he wouldn't know what could.

"The Tarantulas, the camping place… it's no coincidence they could find us so quickly." Nicholas put a step back, "I… it gave me a choice. Or you'd die and I live, or I'd die and you live." It stayed silent for a long time after that confession. Herve bowed his head, ashamed, Sissi seemed shocked and Nicholas was very furious.

"You knew…" he began calmly – too calm, "You knew and you didn't care about what would happen to Sissi and me!"

"But I did!" Herve rejected, "I didn't want you – didn't want us to die. I haven't made my choice, but if I don't choose soon, those Tarantulas will choose in my place." Nicholas was still not amused – his main emotions at this point were anger and afraid.

"So you don't only betray us, but also XANA and yourself. Good job, traitor!" he spat. He could've said more, but the noise the Tarantulas made could now be heard very closely. For a few minutes, they stayed silent, and they heard how the (two) Tarantulas neared them. Nicholas cursed.

"Shit, they're coming this way! It's you who brought them here, isn't it?" Herve shook his head.

"No, that wasn't me! It's XANA doing that! He place"s his sign in the ground so the monsters have to follow it." He'd better not have said that. Again, he'd better not say anything XANA-related to make sure Nicholas would start trusting him.

"The eye showed them the way!?" Nicholas whispered/screamed, being quiet because those monsters were nearby. Too bad they're not as simple as Kankrelats, because they showed initiative and (a bit of) intelligence. The three people stood as silent as they could, until Herve broke it - he had, at least not proven to Nicholas he could be trusted.

"I told you you could trust me," he said to Nicholas, before stepping away from the tree, in sight of the two monsters. It wasn't sure if they recognized him or not, but it didn't matter. They just fired, and Herve fled away from the monsters and his friends. The Tarantulas followed the multiple traitor, like they haven't even noticed Sissi and Nicholas behind the tree.

Until they were completely out of sight, Nicholas had trouble keeping Sissi behind the damned tree. Apparently, her loyalty was bigger than her fear for the Tarantulas. She made herself ready to sprint from behind the tree, but Nicholas still stopped her – she was stubborn, stupid, crazy to go there, straight to her dead. But he couldn't stop her forever, they both knew this. So, Nicholas saw only one thing to do.

Nicholas lifted Sissi, who didn't weigh to much, over his shoulder and sprinted in the opposite direction of where Herve had gone, to create as much space between them as possible. He managed to run like that for a while, and he started to feel why they had told him not to use his back too much. Sissi wasn't the fattest person in the world, but he felt it becoming harder to carry her with each step he took. He had to keep going, as long as those Tarantulas were busy with Herve.

He didn't know how long it took him before his legs decided they wouldn't run anymore, and sank through their knees. He landed with his stomach on the ground, and the stinging pain in his back returned. Sissi had managed to roll off of his shoulder before Nicholas collapsed, so she didn't end up under the big boy. He gasped for air when the shock was sent to his back, and he did his best not to scream. He didn't look very well.

"Nicholas! Are you okay?" her voice was filled with concern. No, you wouldn't say that, I only have a horrible pain in my damn back! He didn't dare open his mouth, fearing it'll only be a long scream. He gritted his teeth, and managed to say two words, nothing more.

"Ointment… now…" he moaned, and Sissi reached for a small can in her pocket. Just in case, Nicholas had trusted her with the ointment for his back. It did nothing but drugging the pain away, but in his case, that was all he needed. With the biggest care, she removed the shirt from his back, so she could see it. The rough exterior was signed with scars from the whip, of which some weren't even fully healed yet. And Sissi anointed it on his back. They both knew it had some side effects, but they weren't too hard to deal with. They knew the ointment would make him more emotional, and at some point he always fell asleep. He didn't mind – he would need his rest.

And so it came Sissi heard him sob after a while. She came a little closer to him; and yes, Nicholas tried not to sob too hard. She carefully neared the redhead, who still lay in the same position as he fell. "Nicholas…" she started, and came a little closer.

"I never apologized…" His voice was broken, and he tried to control the sobbing, "I never apo-" He didn't succeed in finishing that phrase. Sissi felt the same. They might never see Herve again, because the Tarantulas were chasing him, not the two others. They wouldn't let him lie, and Herve… Prove it, she had heard Nicholas say, prove to me you're worth my trust. Oh gosh … He'd given the ultimate proof he could have been trusted. He had sacrificed himself… Sissi shook her head. It was too painful to think about it.

Eventually, she fell asleep, leaning against a tree, close to a exhausted (and slightly drugged) Nicholas.

This was odd.

One moment, he was fighting for his life, and the other moment he fell from ten feet to the ground, in some completely different area. He landed flat on his stomach, and he moaned because of the impact. Yet, he stood up fairly quickly, and after a quick inspection he knew nothing was wrong with him, luckily. He also quickly scanned the surroundings. There were no monsters or people close to him at at least three kilometers.

For some reason, he frowned. He had the feeling he was forgetting something important, but at the same time, he didn't. There was something he had to do. Yet he didn't know who gave him this task, or what the task was. He shook that thought off of him – he would remember later.

Despite his memory failed him, they had let them fall at a good place: he landed in some camping place in the knee-high grass. It was abandoned, but he still could find some useful items in here. Suddenly, he looked at his sight, where he had sensed some activity from someone and two somethings. A shot – probably a Tarantula – and a soft whisper asking for help.

He shrugged. He didn't care if Herve died or not – he never really cared for Herve, and Herve never really cared for him. He packed the stuff of the camp, and he left. Nicholas and Sissi would probably like the fact some 'stranger' would bring them back their stuff.

So, that was that. The birds are singing, the plot's rolling, so everything's great? Did you guess who the mystery guest was at the end of the chapter? Leave your guesses in the comments! How will the two cope his death? Will those Tarantulas come after them, or will those monsters even find the two? Next time, we'll get back to Kadic prison in chapter ten: when he tried to leave when it's posted on the 6th of March! Well, now everything's told, on with the reviews:

Bluedog197 (Not everyone will die... I just don't know who'll survive. And with darker I mean a meaner William/XANA, stronger monsters and more killing/dying - though I try to keep it on a minimum)

tiffanywoodruff161 (Oh gosh, good idea! Too bad that, later, I need her for the plot to still be in the coma. I only do thing if it's necessary for the plot, and right now it includes keeping Aelita in that coma.)

Sorrowcrow (Thanks! It's quite odd, 'cause I normally am not that great with writing emotions)

Darkangle (Like I said with Tiffany, I can't let her wake up, even though I really want to wake her...)

ODD3 (I needed one of them dead, he did nothing to me, in fact, he's one of my favorites, yet for the plot, it could be necessary for him to stay dead)

Dutchesslover (That's so sweet, thank you!)

See ya next time!

-DutchWriters2