Here's Chapter 22!
Oh. My. God. I'm so god freaking sorry! I reread my last chapter a third time and caught all sorts of spelling errors. Like seriously, what the hell was I thinking when I was typing?! Ehhh... But I'm going to keep my chapters the way they are just because I want to be able to look back on them and learn from those errors in the future. So bear with me, I promise everything will get better!
So the week or so before the Holidays are extremely busy. But not to worry, I've got another update right here!
I've also got bronchitis so I've been in a freakishly painful coughing fit for the past couple weeks xD
Anyways, before I give you my little gratitude notes, I'd like to just let you all know about the new story I started. Of course, I'll still be continuing this one, but I really took up an interest in this story. After Survival of the Fittest is over, I'll start a new one to go along with my new fanfiction. So yeah, my new fanfic should be posted soon and I encourage you to check it out!
It's called Lovely Mine, another Ikarishipping story.
I guess you could say that it's both slice-of-life and realistic-fiction. I'll just give you a brief summery of it.
This isn't the official one, but Dawn is a girl diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. A disease that surprised everyone as it is incredibly rare for a child to have it. With the average life expectancy of two to five years, she is currently at the beginning of her fifth year, very lucky to be alive. However, because of the disease, her body has begun to break down muscle-wise. Confined to a wheelchair in her second year and losing her right arm in the third, the treatment Dawn receives at school is almost too cruel to bear. To top it off, her lungs have begun to break down even more, limiting the amount of time and how fast she can move, along with risky surgeries. In an accident, she meets Paul, a boy who then places himself in debt to her after indirectly causing her to panic and overexert, thus resulting in lung failure.
So yeah, I hope you guys will check it out!
Gratitude/comments:
ElectroPhoenix, thanks for reading! I'm glad you liked the Ikarishipping! Yeah... Lucas definitely will get pissed xD and that's a great idea for Red, but unfortunately, I think any pictures of his fiancé were lost in the fire. Thanks again!
Kindness Over London, thanks for reading and reviewing c:! I think we're all due for some rain, so thanks! It's okay for the swear, I don't mind. It's your own personal opinion, and I totally agree on you with Leaf and Gary. But I think I'll find some way to turn things around, huhuhuu. Maybe?
Tropicallight, thank you! I'm happy you thought that both of the sections were cute ^-^! I won't promise anything, but I'll try to add in Pokeshipping soon. Thanks again for reading!
QUEENSPELLER67, thanks for reviewing! And 6 hours of constant bickering would be nice, but maybe we'll save that idea for later xD
Blacknebulastar, thanks for reading and reviewing! No one is going to hate on you xD Here, all opinions are respected. But hey, thank you so much! I'm glad that this story is your favorite!
Guest... Or maybe I'll just take a guess and say that you're Alpha The Loyalist? vvv
Alright, Alpha, Let me just say that I look forward to your comments every time. I'm glad you could find the time to read this story and in response the Lord Of The Flies, this story was actually created after I saw that movie (I didn't read the book, but does it really matter? Haha). Lord Of The Flies was really what got me interested in writing a slightly gruesome survival story. But of course, there weren't cannibals in Lord Of The Flies despite the boys' vicious behavior and there were no girls either. Oh! And I'm glad you're back! I am really, really happy that you liked Leaf and Gary's character development. Honestly, I've never been in a real relationship before so I was skeptical as to whether or not I conveyed the emotions properly. But if your reaction was like that, it must've been accurate! As for the special items... So like a condom or two? Haha, no, I'm just kidding xD. So, that's about it for my part. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
That is all I have to say to you wonderful people reading my story. On another note, I'll warn you guys that this chapter will be focusing in on gathering supplies. So unfortunately, unlike my other chapters which I had wrote slowly with deep meaning and words, this chapter will be rather shallow and light-hearted, focusing in on the survival aspect which may not seem as frantic as I had planned.
Well, that's about it for now, don't forget to check out Lovely Mine!
Onto the story!
Disclaimer:*
I don't own Pokemon ;-;
Chapter 22:
"Hey!"
Lucas shouted, stomping over to where Paul was holding Dawn. As the sun began to set, stormy-gray clouds coated the sky above. The beautiful mixtures of red, orange, pink, and purple began to disappear and the winds picked up.
"Put my girlfriend down!" He snarled, glaring coldly at the much taller boy.
Gently setting Dawn down, he turned to face Lucas. Many eyes were on them and most of them were either blank or skeptical. Paul raised an eyebrow at Lucas, crossing his arms and expecting him to say something.
"You-"
"It's going to rain, I suggest we take shelter." Red cut Lucas off, pointing his finger in the direction of the clearing. "Anyone who wants to help build the shelter, gather fallen branches and the largest leaves off of the trees along the beach."
"Hnn.." Paul grumbled, walking off towards the edge of the woods. Dawn said nothing, only blushing lightly before being pulled away by Misty and May. Her eyes followed after Paul who was joined by Ash, Drew, and surprisingly, Lucas.
"Are we going for wood or coverage?" She questioned, shaking off the embarassment of having Paul pick her up. It felt amazing and refreshing, things that she had never felt with anyone other than Nicholas. Though now, she decided to focus more on helping out the others so that they'd have proper shelter.
"I suppose we'll just gather whatever we can find." Misty coughed before looking over at May. "But I think May shouldn't do any heavy lifting with her arm."
"I can help, my left arm still works." The said girl snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Sure you can." Misty laughed before leading them towards the woods. Both Dawn and May followed, picking up the pace as the ginger rushed forward. Branches and leaves crackled underneath their feet as they walked, picking up the lush, large dark green leaves that drooped from the branches that shot out of the tree trunks. There seemed to be even more leaves and twigs littering the earth than before. It wouldn't be very surprising if it snowed, given how cold it's gotten.
They hadn't gotten very far into the woods when she began to feel very uncomfortable in the darkening woods. Dawn felt shivers run down her back as she followed her two friends to who knows where. Would they be able to make a proper and big enough shelter in time? It seemed as if it would storm very soon and the last thing they all needed was a sick group-member.
"Dawn."
A certain ginger's voice interrupted her observations. Looking up, she spotted Misty about a yard ahead of her with May. Dawn flushed once more in embarassment, she had gotten so caught up in the world around her, she hadn't noticed them move away. Briefly jogging, the navy-blue haired girl caught up with them before stopping in front of a large, sturdy tree branch.
It was a lighter brown than most of the trees around them and hung low, almost to the ground. However, it was still attached to the tree and just barely beginning to break off.
"May, can you take a look around the area?" She inquired.
"I guess.." The brunette let out an exasperated sigh before taking the armful of leaves from the other two girls. May knelt and began searching through the leaves sprouting from a nearby tree.
"Anyways, Dawn, help me out here." Misty yawned, pulling out a long, sharp stone blade. The rock resembled the fillet knife that Leaf had crafted up but the edges were more jagged. With a loud cracking sound, Misty began to hack away away at the small crevice between the branch and the tree trunk.
"How do I help?" Dawn took part of the branch in her hands and stared at it. "Pull it?" Lightly tugging on it, she looked up at her friend.
"Yeah, just place your hands here and put all your body weight on it." Misty pointed to an area on the thick branch just two inches away from where she was cutting.
"Like... This?" Placing her hands in the spot where she was pointing, Dawn put all of her weight onto it. She pushed down with all of her strength, lifting her feet from the ground. "This is kind of fun!" Giggling, she pushed herself up higher until a sharp splitting sound cracked through the air.
"..You're so easily amused." The fiery-red haired girl stared at her for a moment before cutting away at it with force. Now halfway through the branch, she stopped and let Dawn try and rip it off.
"What are you guys doing?" May raised her eyebrows, looking over her shoulder.
"Getting.. Materials!" Dawn shouted with a big grin on her face. Together with Misty, she threw all of her weight down and onto the branch. However it then let out a loud, explosive noise before it broke down the middle. Both girls screamed as it dropped to the ground, causing them to land painfully on it.
"Shit!" Misty cursed loudly, wincing upon having her stomach make impact with it.
"Fu-!" Hitting her face on the hard branch, Dawn cried out. She fell backwards and onto the ground, bringing her hand up to rub the red aching mark it left going along her jawline.
"You dumb-asses are great!" May laughed hysterically, accidentally ripping the thick leaf she had plucked. Upon ruining it she stopped laughing and frowned before letting out a small whine. It had seemed large enough to block out the rain and it was a pretty yellow and green color.
"Suck a twig!" Dawn scowled, sitting up and pulling the branch out from underneath Misty who simply groaned in pain. The ginger then stood up and stumbled backwards before leaning on a nearby tree for support.
"A twig? That's an interesting one." Misty coughed, raising an eyebrow.
"Jeez, Dawn, I think you've been spending too much time around Paul." Swinging her sling back and forth in boredom, May waggled her eyebrows. "Gettin' feistier these days."
"I'm dating Lucas and I have not been hanging around Paul. What does he even have to do with this? Besides, at least we got something to help build the shelter." She rolled her eyes before shrugging.
"Well... Never mind, whatever you say." Smirking, the one-armed brunette began to collect all of her things together.
"It's probably been about forty-five minutes, should we keep looking?" Misty, who quickly recovered from the surprise blow to her gut, spoke up. Bending down, the girl grabbed ahold of the thicker end of the branch. It was about thirteen feet long and couldn't be moved by one person without having to drag it. "Dawn?"
"Oh! Sorry!" Realizing that Misty had started to move farther into the woods, Dawn picked up the thinner end once more and lifted it off of the ground. Resting it on her shoulder, the petite girl moved after the more muscular ginger who was holding her end under her arm.
"May, how many do you have?" Dawn questioned, rolling her shoulder in attempt to relieve herself of the stiff feeling she had.
"About an armful, you think it'll be enough?" May shifted a bit, a bit uncomfortable with the ticklish leaves rubbing against her exposed skin.
"To completely cover nine of us plus a grown man? Nope." She shook her head in response before shrugging her shoulders and causing the large branch to shake. "Misty, what do you think?"
"Depends on what the guys find. I doubt they'd be out looking for leaves. If anything, they're probably looking for as many branches as possible so they get bragging rights." The red-head replied with laughter just barely detectable in her voice.
"I bet you're right.. Drew's probably going to rub it in our faces." May moaned at the thought of it.
"What about Gary? Doesn't he have a whole lot of pride?" Dawn pointed out.
"'Don't really know where he and Leaf went." Misty replied, walking a bit faster.
"H-hey! Slow down!" The azure-haired girl whined jokingly, speeding up to match her pace once more.
"Maybe they're doing dirty shiz." May snickered, walking next to Dawn.
"May!" She elbowed her, laughing a little bit.
"Leaf is a very modest girl-" Misty smiled, looking over her shoulder as they tread through the forest.
"Yeah, but Gary is a very horny boy." A certain brunette quickly interjected.
"Someone's on fire tonight." Dawn shook her head.
"Hell yeah." May reached and ripped yet another large leaf from a tree branch as they walked.
"It's getting dark... Dawn, let's grab that one branch and leave." Misty nodded over to where a fallen limb lay in the overgrown grass and intertwining roots.
"Alright, easy enough!"
"Hey, I think we all just need to chill."
Drew frowned, stopping and shoving Paul and Lucas away from each other. He moved them so that Ash was now in between him, much to the raven-haired boy's displeasure. At the moment, he stood as the mediator and was not happy with the duty forced upon him.
"Why do I have to be the wall?!" Ash whined, eyes narrowing as the boy quietly snorted and walked ahead without replying. Just as awkward as Drew, he waited for Lucas to move. He wasn't really sure why they were walking in a line, but perhaps not allowing Lucas and Paul to see each other's faces was a good thing. "Dude!"
"Quit your whining." A certain plum head growled, roughly pushing him from behind. Paul was on edge, having been grouped together with the love interest of Dawn. However, he couldn't complain as the other black haired boy needed to contribute somehow.
"You could be a bit nicer to him." Lucas rolled his eyes before following after Drew. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his pants while his scarf swayed lightly in the wind. Even though it was days after they had crash landed on an island who knows where, he still somehow looked fresher than the rest of them. Drew raised an eyebrow at this before shaking his head and deciding not to think about it, instead turning his head back forward.
"Like you've been any nicer." Paul muttered bitterly, ripping a dangling branch off of a tree to his left as he passed by. He winced in pain, remembering the painful injury in his lower left arm. The branch was thick but slightly decayed, not that Paul cared. If he were to stick it in the ground, it would stand up to his chest.
"You've had your moments too." Coughing, Lucas picked up the pace as Drew began to move faster.
"Drew, where are we going?" Ash questioned, curiosity childishly glistening in his eyes.
"Not far, just around the area to look for stuff. We'll stop in a couple minutes." Drew looked around before flicking his hair and nodding in agreement with himself.
Sky darkening, he realized that they would have to move and search quickly. Sighing, Drew rubbed his temples to relieve himself of an occurring headache. As much as he respected Red, making a last minute decision was definitely not his smartest move ever. It made him wonder whether or not he was actually feeling okay. Dawn's earlier outburst made him realize Red's neglect to fill his own needs. But then again, no one is perfect.
He kept on walking, trying to ignore Paul's mutters, Lucas' huffs, and Ash's sighs. The atmosphere was thick and stiff, anything but comfortable. Head throbbing in pain, he stopped, leaning up against a large oak tree for support.
"Let's look here." Drew grumbled, picking up a fallen tree limb. He received no reply, only hearing the rustling of the other three moving around.
"Should one of us have stayed back with Red?" Ash spoke up after several moments of silence.
"Gary and Leaf will be back to help him." Paul replied, breaking another branch with a loud crack and splitting sound. Nodding, Ash moved over to Drew, who was trying to rip what looked like a log out of the cold earth. Yet another long period of nothing but rustling leaves and brushing grass overtook them. Even Ash didn't know what to say and was now wishing that Misty was around to scold him to keep his mind off of other things.
"What the..." This time, Lucas' voice broke through the air.
"What's up?" Drew inquired, just as the log was torn out just a bit more. Pulling back in surprise, he quickly glanced over in the direction of Lucas' voice before returning his attention to it. Meanwhile, Ash was tugging and yanking away at it, trying to get it out.
"There's just this... thing."
Paul let out an exasperated sigh before treading over to where Lucas stood. A mixture of disgust and confusion hit him as his eyes set themselves on the thing laying before him. It seemed to be breathing and it resembled that of a person. Realizing what the giant mound of flesh and hair was, Paul backed up. He tried to put as much distance between himself and what he recognized to be one of the mysterious savages.
"Get... Get away from that thing!" Shouting, he grabbed the back of Lucas' shirt, dragging him back.
"Ow! Let go! Dude, what's your problem?!" The black haired boy hissed in response. Now attracting the attention of both Ash and Drew, Paul stopped, yards away from where the creature lay. It stirred and seemed to be waking up, striking fear within Paul.
"What is that?" Ash and Drew stood behind them, peering over their shoulders to get a good look at it. Ears twitching, the savage's body began to twitch, slightly moving the hair out of the way as it made small movements. Seemingly male, it had beefy-looking arms and looked like it would be fairly tall standing up.
"Did anyone else bring a weapon?" Paul hissed silently, whipping the sharp wooden spear he had brought with him. Though both Ash and Lucas flashed him confused looks, Drew looked down nervously.
"I have my bow.. but it needs arrows." He replied in a low tone.
"Shit." Looking to the other two, Paul flashed them sharp glares of expectancy.
"I left mine back at camp." Ash mumbled, tilting his cap downwards.
"I never got one." Lucas averted his eyes before picking up a rock about the size of a small loaf of bread. "These will work, right? You want to kill it?"
"It'll wake up if we move anymore and I doubt that will kill it unless you get up close. Just get ready, I'm going to go for it, be ready to restrain it." Paul murmured, receiving several nods. Looking back over to the savage, his eyes became slits as he thoroughly scanned his enemy. It wore what seemed to be a white and black suit. However, it was tattered and dirtied with mud, carrying a foul stench. This male creature looked both human and feral at the same time, just like the others.
His hair was as long as his shoulders, light brown and unkept. He lay in a fetal position on the ground in the grass, letting out occasional puffs of air. Creeping silently towards him with his spear pointed, Paul moved, trying not to wake him up. Paul let his breath go in and out of his mouth as silently as possible. Tightening his grip, he stalked towards it.
"Shit." Paul cursed under his breath as his foot brushed over some leaves scattered across the earth. The savage's eyes snapped open revealing pale green orbs. They sent shivers down Lucas, Ash, and Drew's spines, but Paul was unfazed. After all, he was used to the inhumane looks these creatures flashed him.
"Nnugh.." He grumbled, sitting up and glaring right at Paul. Reaching back, he scratched his back before getting onto his feet. The feral man stood to be about the same height as Red, looming over them all. Just as bulky and muscular as Paul expected, he watched the plumhead, seemingly waiting for him to move. This creature was not afraid.
"..." Wordlessly, Paul lunged forward, his feet propelling him. He made an attempt to skewer the savage's head by driving the spear right through it. However the man let out a noise that sounded like a snarl before bolting out of the way. Before he could react, it snatched up Paul's spear by the shaft and threw it off to the side. Letting go at the last second, the boy stumbled before putting distance between himself and the creature.
"So these things are human?" Ash hesitated before chucking a rock at his head with all his might. The rock hit his face, infuriating the feral man. With a screech, he flung himself several times at Drew who just barely managed to evade.
"They were human." Panting, the chartreuse haired boy corrected him.
"Damn it all!" Lucas shouted, jumping up and bringing the rock he had picked up earlier down onto the large beast's head.
"Wait-!" Ash's eyes widened as he cried out a warning. But by then, it was too late. The tall wild man swung his right fist around and pound a punch into Lucas' chest.
"Ack!" Lucas spat as he was flung back against a nearby oak tree. Saliva burst from his mouth due to the force of the man's punch. Letting his head hang low to the ground, he fumbled around for another rock.
"Leave it to me." A cocky smirk spread across Drew's face as he caught his breath and landed a kick in the savage's stomach. Seemingly poised, he hissed and went to kick back at him. However, once again, Drew dodged it, retaking position behind Ash.
Meanwhile, Paul had used the time they had bought him to retake his spear. Silently, he moved while the beast's eyes were concentrated on Ash. He pierced his dominant arm, twisting it mercilessly. In a matter of seconds, the spear broke through the surface of his skin to the other side. It tore through the feral man's muscles and must've at least ripped a tendon.
Flailing around and screaming in pain and agony, the man howled before ramming himself into Paul. With the spear still stuck, he was left armless. Refusing to give up, Paul coughed out the spit collecting in his jaws. He reached and let his fingers touch the wooden shaft before pulling it out a little. As soon as Paul felt the wood upon his palms, the boy tore the spear out.
"Holy shit." Drew gasped, accompanied by the ongoing roars of the feral man. His tattered, dirtied white suit was now soaked with blood around the right sleeve of the arm and red splattered the rest of his clothing. Blood spurted from the wound, onto the ground. The earth was tainted a scarlet color, looking even darker in the shadows of the woods and the stormy-gray clouds above.
"Paul, you made it angrier!" Ash yelled, throwing sticks and rocks at it.
"Says the one throwing shit at it!" He snapped back, spinning the spear as fast as he could while walking towards the man. The feral man began to back away as Paul neared him, afraid of the rapidly moving wheel of brown coming close. Suddenly stopping, Paul jabbed the spear at his chest repeatedly. However the beast simply stuck his wounded hand out, allowing the spear to go straight into his hand.
"Move the fuck out of the way!" Ash shoved Paul as the creature in front of them let out a ear-deafening shriek, grabbing the spear with it's left hand. They could only watch as he slowly ripped it out of his right palm with sickening slicks and pops. It broke the spear on his knee before chucking part of the broken wood at the raven-haired boy. "Nn!" He winced as it struck the left side of his face. Purple and blue began to coat his jaw.
"Ah... Thanks." Paul grumbled, rushing forward and slamming his fist so hard into the man's head, they began to hurt. Stepping back a couple feet, he watched and waited to see how he would react. In the darkness it was difficult to see, wind bit at their exposed flesh, and the beatings they'd received from this creature didn't help them in the least bit.
"Where's Drew..?" Lucas muttered, looking around.
"Huh?" Holding his jaw, Ash turned, also scanning the area they were in. However, they could see nothing but the person in front of next to them. Even with their eyes adjusting, details began to fade as the clouds blocked out more of the night sky.
"Shit.. I can barely see." Paul's eyes squinted as he watched the massive figure in front of him lumber and teeter around on his feet. He clenched his aching fists. Had he really landed a punch that hard? It was surely enough to give the beast a headache and fortunately, Paul's fingers were not broken.
"Nugh..!" Regaining his balance, the massive man smacked the boy to the ground.
Unable to even take a breath of air, Paul was thrust down with brute force. Choking and coughing, he quickly snapped out of his brief moment of pure shock. He winced as he pulled himself upwards before inspecting himself. His head seared with pain, his muscles ached, his arms and legs were scratched and bruised, and he was feeling incredibly weak compared to the feral man.
"Move!"
"Get up!"
As his vision slowly began to clear up, Paul fumbled around to try and get a grip on reality once more. Voices were yelling at him, but he didn't seem to care for some reason. For reasons even he didn't know, Paul just wanted to move at his own pace. That is, until he felt the icy cold pale green eyes on him.
"Paul!" Ash yelled, running at the wild man. He jumped right onto the tall savage's back before being thrown off and pounded into a tree. Blood flew up and out of his mouth as he groaned and slid down the tree. "Bastard.." He spat. In response, the man approached Ash and began to beat him with his fists and feet. Cries and shrieks of pain along with gurgling noises emerged from Ash's mouth. Once he was done and the blood of Ash had been spilled along with wet saliva, the savage dragged his feet over to Paul.
Paul could almost feel the beast's breath on him as the figure looming over him drew closer. However suddenly, a small flash of green in the darkening shadows flashed in his eyes. Confused, Paul could only stare upwards as the feral man shrieked loudly and began whipping around wildly. Scanning the area for the source of his rage, he squinted before locking his eyes on a smaller dark figure clinging to the man's back.
"Drew?" Paul gapped slightly, keeping his shock low-key.
The said boy had leapt onto the back of the feral man and was now clinging for dear life. His own hair whipped and lashed around with the man's messy unkept hair. Blood spurted everywhere, splashing onto the ground and onto the other three boys. A glint of silver entered Paul's vision as Drew swiftly raised his head before dropping it back down behind the large savage's head, supposedly on his neck.
In an instant, the savage was brought down to the ground, Drew on top of him. Both had fallen only inches away from Paul, much to his surprise. Drew's head jerked up and down, jaws closing around the back of the man's neck. Blood was smeared all over the boy's face and on the ground around them. Lucas, who had been standing several feet away whirled around before heading towards the nearby bushes and throwing up.
Sickening sloppy sucking noises could be heard, but it appeared to be that Drew was spitting out the flesh he had in his mouth. As the body underneath him grew limp, Paul stared blankly as Drew stood up, stepping away from the large corpse and falling back against the same tree that Ash was currently pressed against.
Blood stained his face and fresh scarlet drops trickled down his throat and sunk into the fabric of his shirt. The blood appeared to be almost black in the current lighting and Paul could just barely see a tired, worn out expression displayed across his face. Even in the poor lighting, he could see Drew pull his bow off his shoulder and begin to gently caress it.
"Drew... What was that?" A shiver ran up Paul's spine as he reached for something to grab onto. Finding a half of his spear which had been broken earlier, he pulled it towards him and held it cautiously up, ready to stab his so-called friend at any moment. "Get away from Ash." He hissed, malice in his voice.
Ash, who hadn't been paying too much attention to the recent scene played out, was coughing erratically beside Drew. The familiar dark liquid dripped from his hands as he hung his head, resting it in them. His shoulders moved up and down and his body wildly jolted about as he wheezed and coughed.
Slowly, Drew rose to his feet, stepping away from Ash and towards Paul. Slightly intimidated, Paul backed away before taking a deep breath.
"Open your mouth." He demanded. Drew complied, opening his mouth. However Paul could not see his teeth. Scowling he glared straight at the chartreuse boy. "Bite down."
"Uhm.." Awkward and hesitant, the said boy bit down, exposing his teeth. But what was shocking was the face that the canines and premolars on both his upper and lower jaw were sharpened and plated with silver. His incisors and front teeth seemed to be slightly sharper than the average person's teeth but they were not plated at all and not sharpened to daggers.
"What the hell?" Paul grumbled, eyes now staring intensely at his mouth. Nervous, Drew closed his mouth before slinging his boy which was in his hands back around his shoulder.
"Let's just get Lucas and Ash so we can go... I'll explain later, help me get the branch." He spoke quickly, doing the best he could not to make direct eye contact with Paul.
"I'm good now, just don't step over there in the bushes." Lucas wiped his mouth on his sleeve, taking his time and approaching the three.
"Gross." Ash chuckled lightly before breaking out in a continuous cough. It seemed as if he couldn't spit or throw up anymore blood as he let his hands fall to his sides before stumbling to his feet.
"Alright... I suppose we'll be going now, but I don't trust Drew so I'll be leading." Paul muttered, stuffing the end of his broken spear partially into his waistband. In a matter of seconds, he was over to the branch they had set aside, stepping over the dead body of the feral man. He lifted the thick end of the large, long branch before giving Drew a look of expectancy.
"Oh! Sorry!" Nodding, he rushed over and grasped onto the thinner end of the branch, a slightly sad look flashing across his face. Ash picked up two of the rocks he and Lucas had thrown at the man before treading after them along with Lucas. However they hadn't gone far when Paul stopped them and set his end of the branch down into the dirt. "Paul?" Drew questioned.
"Hold up." He made his way back over to the bloodied corpse of the feral man. Paul stooped, carefully removing the clothing from the man. It was a bit revolting, the stench and amount of dirt smothered all over the suit. Folding it as neatly as he could, he inspected the body for anything useful.
"Paul." Lucas called.
"Hang on." Paul replied as something on the man's wrist caught his eye. It was a gray and white watch, stained with dust and the beast's own blood. And it seemed to be working too! The minute changed from seven to eight and the over all time seemed to be ten thirty-eight in the evening. As to what day it was, unfortunately the watch was not the type that listed that.
Even so, it was good enough. Nodding to himself, Paul stood up with the clothes and watch he had removed from the man's wrist in his arms. Silently, he headed back to where the group was waiting.
"I'll take care of these... Lucas, you carry the other end." He yawned, walking forth, not bothering to wait for the three to react.
"H-hey, Paul you got to give us a minute!" Drew frowned a little bit as Lucas wordlessly made his way around Ash to pick up the thick end of the branch which Paul had abandoned.
"Hurry up." He growled, stopping for a brief moment before continuing.
"Why did you take that man's clothes?" Ash inquired, jogging past Drew and Lucas to walk beside Paul who gave him a cold, irritated glare.
"Use your head." The plum head replied bluntly.
"But I really don't get why you stripped him?" He gave him a skeptical look before sighing and looking back ahead.
There was nothing else but the random screeches of animals in the distance and the pattering or thuds of feet traveling through leaves or dirt. They had to stop a couple times to let Drew and Lucas catch their breath, but aside from that, Paul figured that the group did pretty well moving quickly in the dark.
"We're low on resources so I figured these would help.." Paul grumbled after several moments.
"Hm?" Ash looked up at him with a curious expression which soon broke into a friendly grin. "You aren't so bad after all, you know?"
"Shut up." Averting his eyes, he snorted before tripping a little bit. He had not seen the root jut out of the ground. It was a miracle that they could see at all, the leaves were less dense and the clouds had cleared up just a little, leaving patches of glowing night in the skies above. Even so, it was still fairly hard to maneuver around.
"Should we tell anyone about this?" Drew murmured, just barely audible from the back.
"I think we should just tell Red." Lucas voiced his opinion without a second thought.
"No." Paul shook his head.
"Why not? Isn't Red the most important one?" The black haired boy retorted.
"Of course he is, but like he said, these types are things that everyone should know." He growled.
"So what you're saying is that we should also tell Gary and the girls?" Ash tilted his head a bit and stared up at Paul for confirmation.
"Exactly." Paul nodded with a grunt. "They're entitled to know the dangers floating around."
It went quiet after that. After all, there was nothing much to talk about. There were sounds such as wheezing, coughing, and grunting echoing out as they stumbled along. Paul hadn't really thought about the condition of the others or even himself. His body ached and he bet that everyone else was hurting as well.
The purple-blue bruise on Ash's jaw almost seemed to grow bigger in Paul's eyes as he squinted and moved a bit closer to get a better look. After seeing it, he moved back away before continuing to walk ahead and think back on the recent events. Drew and Lucas seemed to be the least beat up. However it was only to be expected as Ash and Paul himself had received most of the hits and beatings. Now that he thought about it, everyone, including him, but Drew had been hit at least once.
Paul's eyes narrowed on the ground in front of his feet. That guy seemed to be unbelievably fast with good reflexes. On top of that, his teeth made him all the more threatening. He was sort of glad that Drew was fighting on their side as Paul was certain that he was a more capable fighter than anyone else there. Although, the only problem was his overly cocky and slightly emotional personality.
"Are we almost there yet?" Lucas' voice interrupted his thoughts. Surprisingly, it had no malice or whining sound to it.
"We should be, keep it up." Drew replied moments before he could. His words were very encouraging much to Paul's surprise. Originally, he had thought that everyone in the group hated Dawn's boyfriend or something.
Another long period of silence crossed over them until finally, Paul let Ash walk past. Slowing to a stroll right next to Lucas, he nervously shuffled the clothing of the man he carried in his arms.
"Do you need something?" Lucas' jaw tightened and he gave Paul a cold expression.
"Hnn..." Averting his eyes, Paul tightened his grip around the fabrics and the watch resting atop them.
"Well? I'm certain you didn't come walk by me to be friendly." He raised an eyebrow, cold expression changing to a more skeptical look. Pursing his lips, the plum head hesitated before closing his mouth. If he didn't choose his words carefully enough, there would surely be some problems and Drew, Dawn, Red, and even Misty would yell at him for starting it. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Paul decided to try it.
"Do you love her?" He murmured quietly.
"Excuse me?" Lucas looked a bit shocked by the question. "Who?"
"Do you really love her, Dawn?" Paul grumbled, walking just a pace faster after saying it.
"Of course I do, she's mine and I'm hers." The black haired boy's arms fidgeted as he said it, causing his end of the branch to bob up and down several times as he shifted it in his arms.
"Hey Lucas, hold still, will you?" Drew called out from behind.
"Yeah, yeah, I've got it." Came his reply as he sighed before looking up at Paul. "Why?"
"Just wondering.." Paul mumbled, moving from beside Lucas and jogging up and ahead of Ash.
"Hey, Paul!" Lucas called out, loud enough for both Ash and Drew to hear. Turning his head, Paul set his coal black eyes on Lucas' gray orbs, shining with seriousness.
"Even if I'm not hers..."
"Eh..?"
"She is mine."
HOLY CRAP I AM DONEEEEE!
Break sort of just started for me and I've decided to celebrate with this wonderful chapter that I've been writing for a couple days due to both my schedule and just pure laziness, haha.
I am so glad for it to be over, this chapter was just sorta boring in my opinion.
Anyways, what happened this chapter?:
A last minute scramble for supplies
Could it be that a typhoon is on the rise?
Yet another savage was discovered, however this one was a somewhat massive beastly man.
Well hey, it took a lot of pain, sweat, and blood, but at least the group has got fabric on hand, large branches to build the main structure of the shelter (Though they're going to need a hell lot more than just two or three), and thick, big leaves to create the walls and roof.
At the end, Paul randomly begins to wonder about Lucas' love for Dawn. Is it genuine or is it simply just lust? I guess we'll just have to wait and find out!
That's about it, I haven't got much else to say other than...
Check out Lovely Mine! It should be released in a moment!
Thanks!
Feel free to leave a review or two, I enjoy reading them!
Until next time,
~Bear~!