Max
Vines swayed with the soft breeze as branches waved along dreamily. I sighed, stepping over a dark gray log that had fallen over who-knows-how-long ago. "Ari, carry me." I muttered after stepping onto yet another ant pile. The stupid fire ants clang to my shoes like they were slathered in peanut butter.
"No." He growled and slapped his arm as a mosquito landed on it.
"Yes." I insisted, jumping on his back and wrapping my legs around his waist. "Onward and upward, Peasant!"
He sighed, clearly annoyed by my antics. "Did you miss a couple hours of sleep?"
"Give or take." I mumbled, shrugging. Tall trees grew miles up, their dark green leaves playing hide and go seek with the sunlight that trickled through small openings every now and then. Ari groaned but didn't attempt to get me off, which I was grateful for.
We walked in a deafening silence for minutes, only broken by the crunching of dead leaves and snapping of twigs underneath our feet until Iggy finally spoke up. "Let's play Would You Rather?" He suggested.
"Alright, I'll go first." I offered, and when no one tried to argue I continued. "Iggy, would you rather eat fish bones for a week, or have to chew a piece of gum stuck to your shoe for a whole day?"
"What flavor is the gum?" He asked, glancing at me. I thought for a moment before finally deciding.
"It taste like Pineapple, Mango, and cement."
"Only fishbones? Can I dip them in something?"
"Ranch." I decided after a moment of thought. Iggy walked along, eyes up to the sky as he pondered the idea.
"Gum." He finally said and I snickered.
"Okay now, Ari, would you rather be sexually attracted to pepsi products, or have fiery hot cheeto dust on your fingers for all eternity?" My brother blinked at Iggy, the wheels in his head obviously turning.
"I hate pepsi," He mumbled, as he slowed his walk, thinking, "But if I rubbed my eyes it would burn really bad. So I have to go with being sexually attracted to pepsi." He finally decided and I giggled at the thought.
"So anyways, Lupo, would you rather eat Iggy's pinky, or be stung by a bee once a day for the rest of your life?
"The same bee? Cause that'd have to be one superman bee. Would I get like superman powers then-"
"No! Different bees!" Ari snapped, seeming a little irritated. I laughed at the thought of Lupo having so much power. That'd be kinda scary honestly.
"Could I cook this finger?" Lupo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Any way you want."
"Well then, Sorry babe, but you'd lose a finger." Lupo told Iggy before kissing his cheek. He yelped and hugged his hands to his chest.
"Note to self, sleep with one eye open." He muttered.
"Okay, Max, would you rather be mauled by Bigfoot or eaten by Nessy?"
"What's a Nessy?" Ari asked, a look of confusion on his face. I rolled my eyes as Lupo answered my uneducated brother.
"The Lochness Monster, duh. What rock have you been living under?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Ari's ears flushed red as he looked to the ground and for an instance I felt bad for my big brother. He truly did like Lupo, almost as much as Iggy did, so sounding like a total idiot in front of her wasn't exactly good for the miniscule chance he no longer had with her.
"Eaten by Nessy- but I'd have to beaten whole, and not chewed." I answered, petting my brother's dark brown hair. "Only because I'd tear my way out and swim to shore." I added. And on it went. We switched around who asked who and I think all of us were looking forward to Iggy's Would You Rather's the most. They were just so amusing you couldn't get enough of them.
Before we knew it, the rough terrain of the jungle melted away to the burning hot sand that lead to the swaying dark blue ocean. Dark greens and violets also found themselves wrapped inside the ocean's colors as it's foaming white waves crashed down on each other violently, as if they were children pushing one another aside to catch a glimpse at the four misfits on their territory.
Ari finally dropped me after a few feet of walking on the sand and I took the lead, just a little in front of Lupo, who kind of gave me a look for taking over but I shrugged it off. "OKay, our plan is to swim a couple miles South until we hit the barrier." I explained and heard a snort.
"Do you have a better idea, Mr. Almost-cooked?" I asked, looking to Iggy.
"Why don't we build a raft?" Ari suggested.
"Takes up too much day light." I muttered, turning and walking off towards the water.
"Max! Oh come on! It'll be better!" Iggy insisted.
"You guys work on that raft, I'll be on my way to save my last strand of sanity who may or may not be dead," I growled, feeling myself going into a defensive mode.
"Not alone you don't!" Ari snapped, and jogged to catch up with me. Soon enough Iggy and Lupo joined us.
"Sharks are gonna jump up and rip our arms off, then our legs, then we'll be drowning in our own blood," He explained, putting a lovely picture in my head.
"Thank you for that marvelous image," Lupo spoke up sarcastically, taking the words right out of my mouth. I smirked and began walking into the icy cold water. It sent a chill up my spine as I dived into it, taking off as fast as I could go.
"I'm going to die of pneumonia if the sharks don't get me first," I heard Iggy say, and saw Lupo roll her eyes. All four of us paddled along for what felt like decades. The closer we got, the more will power to move left me.
My muscles felt like jelly when we finally got within a hundred feet of the shield, or at least, I figured we were about that close. However, my next few strokes confirmed we weren't only within a hundred feet, we were here.
A numbing shock sprang through my body, propelling me backwards into Ari. Pain jolted through my fingertips and down my spine, settling in my leg for a moment before bouncing back up into my head. In there, it acted like my brain was its own personal pin ball machines, darting around every which way. The pain was so unbarable I didn't even realize I was screaming until I breathed in a big gulp of water and began to choke. Before I knew it, I was drowning, splashes of bubbles and white foam panicking all around me as I sunk deeper and deeper, my eyes no longer blinking, but closing for a few seconds before opening back up.
Just when I thought I was dead and gone, another jolt sprang through my arm, only this time it wasn't electric. I emerged from the water, spluttering and coughing while Ari hugged me tight. "Stop scaring me like that." He grumbled, letting me hug him back and lean on him for support. I rested my chin on his shoulder while Iggy and Lupo crowded be, Iggy checking me over for cuts, or something and Lupo looking to the shield.
"I don't think it goes that deep, we could swim under it," She mumbled more to herself than us. I looked to where I had been shocked and nodded.
"Please don't let me go," I whispered in Ari's ear, afraid my legs wouldn't kick. He nodded once and just before we decided to dive under, a silver fin appeared. Which could only mean one thing.
Sharks.
I groaned and turned to Iggy, scowling. "You jinxed it," I insisted, keeping one arm around Ari as I pushed myself next to him, Iggy and Lupo getting back to back to us.
"No, I just stated the facts." He told me. Shockingly enough, these sharks seems to double. First there was one, then two, then four, then eight. I banged the back of my head against the back of Iggy's.
"We're gonna die." I exclaimed.
"No we're not. Just stay calm." Lupo told us, and right after that, they attacked. Iggy screamed so high-pitched I thought he broke my eardrums and I shoved myself away from Ari, slamming my fist down onto the shark's gills. Except, instead of feeling rough sandpaper or even scaly fish skin, I felt something... hard.
"They're robots!" I exclaimed, turning back just in time to see one swallow Lupo up.
"Lupo!" Iggy shouted as the shark swam off, and he quickly paddled away after his love. Ari started to swim too, but all at once he was chomped up.
"Ari!" I screamed, swimming after the robotic sea creature. Only, too late, they were too fast, too smart. And before I knew it, it was just me, Iggy, and wide open choppy waters. We swam towards each other in silence, neither of us making eye contact. Only when we got within arms reach did he pull me into a hug and did I let myself cry into his shoulder.
"They're gone." He whispered.
"Why didn't they take us?" I sobbed, hugging him closer, as he did most of the swimming back to shore. Everything happened so fast. It still didn't fully compute in my system.
"Shush," He hissed, though that one attempt to hush me up was shaky and his voice cracked. And all at once I figured it out. Fang was gone. Ari was gone. Lupo was gone.
The only person I had left was Iggy.
And it was all my fault.
And yet another chapter! let's go for 330 reviews! Guess who the next Chapter's POV is gonna be from?
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