Woohoo update-idoo! This is the longest chapter yet, something you guys deserve for not giving up on me! I've got the week off so I'll try to finish next chapter real quickly too!
Chapter 11
Zim's life mainly involved surviving, mostly by not getting eaten by Tallers, and when he had time to feel bored, he usually went about bothering other short Irkens. Or lately, the Dib. Even those rare times when he enjoyed peace and serenity, he was on his guard.
Like after the rain. He enjoyed climbing up to the very top of the trees and watch the clouds move on, gray and unforgiving, while the sun shone brightly at the wet leaves. It was something soothing about it all, especially since the sun barely reached the lower part of the planet. But it was dangerous. The was a reason Irkens preferred the lower part of the forest. Birds. This was their territory and no one sane would climb all the way up here just to look at some clouds.
It was okay as look as he didn't let his guard down. At least, that's what he told himself as the storm clouds passed and the sun caused the leaves to sparkle brightly all around him.. He turned his head towards the sky, and noticed some white spots against the dull orange sky. The stars. Space, which Dib talked about. Somewhere up there was the humans' home planet. How many other planets were there. Were there planets where he didn't have to be aware of every single sound and still survive? It had seemed impossible until Dib came in his hand-made bird and explained stuff for him.
Zim was a curious creature, and sometimes downright tired of having a life that mostly involved surviving. Maybe he hadn't known it before, but now, when Dib had come to widen his perception to the point when the realized that something better existed, he just could not let go of the idea.
A bird's shrill screech alarmed him and he hurriedly jumped down a few branches. He considered climbing back up again, but decided against it. Instead, he made his way downwards and to his own territory. He automatically brought some branches on his way as he knew that his nest (and all the treasures he had taken from the Dib) would be flushed away by the rain.
When he got to the Piggie, he decided to build the new nest a few branches above the ship, since the ground was now soaked. Once he'd gotten a good nest, he collected some fruit and sat down on the roof of the Piggie, looking around bored. His tongue smelled some human-creatures a few steps away, but none which was Dib, so he stayed where he was. After all, the Dib couldn't be too far away, could he?
XXXX
"It's official: I'm freaking lost!" Dib exclaimed looking around. He hadn't taken into account that the water would flush away his footsteps, and now here he was! All around him was a swamp-like forest with green trees and pink fruits. The ground was water. And he felt that he REALLY should let his feet dry up.
He might not even have gone very far from the ship, but he had no idea which way 'back' was. Now he felt stupid.
Dib let a hand run through his hair and sat down on a low branch. He sighed and brought his feet up to let them dry. They were soft and wrinkly. When he sat there silently with no way of knowing where he was, his senses straightened up again. There could be potential danger around. He'd never survive an Irken attack on his own! When someone found him he might just be a heap of chewed bones! He shouldn't stay on the same place.
But on the other hand, he didn't want to get even more lost. Maybe he should stay where he was. He looked around nervously and felt his legs wanting to move, while his mind told him to stay. He twiddled his fingers thoughtfully. Move? Stay? Move or stay? Stay or move?
Dib was inching towards 'move' when suddenly he heard some branches above him break. The teen looked up with a start and watched as an object fell down the trees and landed in the water just a few feet away from him.
As the water cleared, Dib noticed that it was an Irken! He gasped and stumbled a few steps away before stumbling and falling into the water, he too. He felt around for his glasses while his heart beat loudly in his ears.
When he finally got his glasses he turned around and looked at the thing. It was in the same place as it had fallen, wriggling around as if to get up from its current position, lying on its back with its arms and feet up in the air. It looked frightened.
"Huh...?" Dib breathed as he watched the display - from a safe distance, off course. The Irken was short, maybe just a bit taller than Zim, and chubby. Its arms and feet though, were still very thin though, and too short to reach to the ground when it laid on its back. The water splashed around it as it flailed desperately to get up.
"Are you really a dangerous murder machine?" Dib asked softly and took a hesitant step closer. The thing stopped for a moment before flailing even more, starting to hiss and spit at Dib. Dib stopped. Now when he had a closer look, he determined that it was a male, since the antennae were straight, just like Zim's.
The Irken still hadn't gotten up. And he was cute. Especially while looking like a turtle or something stuck on its back. His brain told him to run away before the creature got up and decided to hunt him down. But it looked so harmless! And it had fallen from the tree! Maybe it was a baby who just hadn't learned to climb very well yet? A wave of empathy flushed over him and he tried to get closer once again.
The Irken seemed to have stopped trying and was lying helpless in the mud. He still hissed when Dib approached.
"It's okay, I'm gonna help you", Dib cooed. The Irken showed him all his sharp teeth. The teen put his hands up in front of him and kept on talking softly. The Irken stopped hissing and sent him a pitiful look - its eyes were smaller but more circular than Zim's - as if begging him to help it. Dib smiled and approached slowly, until he stood bent down beside the Irken.
"Hey there little buddy ..." he started. Now, his heart had started beating faster again and he felt really nervous about this. With a quick move, he took its arm lifted it up. It was pretty light for its appearance. The Irken only hissed slightly, looking scared. The creature might attack once he let it go, so he sort of tossed it slightly a couple of inches before stumbling the other way.
Though he wasn't in any big danger, for as soon as he'd dropped it, it ran the opposite direction and up a tree. There, it sat on a branch, looking at Dib suspiciously. The mud and water dripped from them both.
Dib backed away, not letting his eyes off the Irken. His plan was to just move away slowly until he was at a safe distance, but then the Irken started whimpering while cuddling his leg. It had gotten a bluish color by now showing that he was injured. Dib stopped. Another urge to help it filled him.
He shouldn't get close again, he knew. Never get close to injured, dangerous animals. Still... hadn't Zim proved that Irkens weren't really just animals? Maybe this creature would allow Dib to help it. He thought about it...
The Irken made a series of noises wich Dib didn't understand, but he recognized it as their native language. He shrugged apologetically.
"Sorry, I don't speak Irken", he mumbled. The Irken whined again and caressed its leg, which was now pretty swollen. Dib pointed at it.
"Ummm. Your LEG. Is INJURED. Do. You. Need. HELP?" he spoke, overly loud and slow with big arm gestures. The Irken stared at him and a silence stretched over them both. Finally the Irken made a sneezing kind of sound and started limping its way along the branch until it could reach another branch. Dib watched as it slowly moved its way into the forest. Just as it had almost disappeared behind the leaves, it stopped and stared at him. For two seconds, they just looked at each other. He didn't want to stop it from going, but still thought it wouldn't survive long on its own. The Irken made a friendly sound, sounding almost like a dove.
"What? You want me to follow you?" Dib asked weakly. The Irken made the noise again and looked forward for a while before looking back at Dib. He tried taking some steps towards it and its antennae shot up. It took some more steps forward and waited again.
Dib hesitated. Getting even more lost was not one of his priorities, but the thing seemed to want to show him something and that was kind of exciting. Man, he was good at befriending dangerous species.
So he followed the fat little Irken at a safe distance, and they slowly made their way through the jungle.
XXXX
The little light that reached through the thick leaves above was beginning to darken and the first two crew members returned to the Piggie, completely dirty and holding what belongings they had managed to find that had been left outside during the storm.
Zim had dozed off on the cool, dry roof of the Piggie with his feet dangling over the edge. The first arrivals, Gaz and Gretchen, looked at the feet in surprise.
"Zim?" Gretchen asked, "You've been here this whole time?" One of Zim's eyes cracked open. He'd known they were there, but hadn't bothered to care until they addressed him.
"No", he said truthfully. He had not been there 'this whole time', after all. Only about a few hours.
"Dib went out looking for you", Gaz said, sounding irritated for some reason.
"If Dib wants to look at me, he has to actually be close to me. Which he is not, so you're lying!" Zim claimed.
"She meant that he's searching for you", Gretchen said," He's been very worried about you."
"Why?" Zim tilted his head curiously.
"Because of the huge fucking storm!" Gaz said.
"What?! He has worried for no reason, for I AM ZIM!" Zim said like it was obvious and raised his fists.
"Whatever. Now you've gotta go tell him you're fine", Gaz growled and pointed the way Dib had gone.
"Fine!" Zim exclaimed and jumped to the closest tree. He quickly moved through the forest the way Gaz had pointed, always on the lookout for that spike of black hair which was Dib.
First, he smelled the new Irken. He stopped, suddenly alert, but then he smelled Dib too and was suddenly moving even quicker through the forest toward them, spooch thumping wildly. There was no smell of blood, so he could only hope to get there before Dib got attacked.
Finally he saw Dib underneath him and he dropped the branch he was holding to land on the human boy. He made a perfect landing on Dib's left shoulder, but Dib stumbled under the sudden weight and fell backwards into the dirty water. Zim quickly stood on his chest and covered his noise tube.
"Quiet!" He wheezed. Dib mumbled something under his hands, which barely covered Dib's mouth anyway. The teen looked very chocked.
"Zim?" A voice behind Zim asked. Zim recognized that voice, and now the realized he recognized that smell too.
"Skoodge? What are you doing here?" Zim let go of Dib as he turned around. Skoodge sat on a low branch, looking and Zim.
"I was going to see if you were okay after the storm, then I met one of the strange creatures", he explained.
"Hell, Zim, what's your problem?" Dib asked. Zim was still standing on his chest and he was lying in the water. He stood up and Zim simply moved from the chest to standing on his left shoulder again. Then Zim noticed that Skoodge's leg was blue and swollen. He cringed.
"Skoodge, what happened to your leg?", he asked and jumped to the branch where Skoodge sat. Skoodge looked down in shame.
"Weeeell... I fell off the tree. But I'm fine! Reall-OW!" Zim interrupted him by taking his bad leg in his hands, pressing and poking unceremoniously. "ouch ouch ouch ouch", Skoodge whined.
"Zim! What are you doing?" Dib asked and walked up to the Irkens, "Do you know each other?"
"Skoodge and I grew up together", Zim snapped in English and examined Skoodge's ankle.
"Do you speak its language?" the stout Irken asked.
"A little. Where does it hurt?" Zim answered.
"It hurts where you touch! Stop it!" Skoodge shuffled away slightly. Zim let go of the leg.
"Hey! I was doing you a favor, you ungrateful little thing!" He exclaimed, pointing at Skoodge. Skoodge wrapped his short arms around his leg to protect it from Zim.
"Oh, so you're friends. Cool", Dib butted in," what's his name?"
"It's Skoooooooodge"' Zim drawled.
"Tell him that I'm pleased to meet him."
"Do it yourself, useless Human!" Zim hissed.
"Yeah, I would but there's a bit of a communication problem between us", Dib said frowning.
"Oh. Oh yeah", Zim nodded and switched to Irken," This is Dib and he is happy to meet you."
"Tell him that I'm happy to meet him too", Skoodge smiled.
"Skoodge is pleased to see you too, Dib-thing!" Zim said looking annoyed.
"Tell him that Zita could take a look on his leg if he wants to. She's a nurse", Dib said. Zim scowled at having to act translator.
"What's a nurse?" He asked.
"She knows how to take care of injuries and stuff", Dib answered.
"There's another human who will help you with your leg!" he told Skoodge and lifted him into a standing position," can you walk?"
"Yeah I can walk, but not very fast", Skoodge said,"And thanks for the offer, but I'm fine, really!"
"YOU LIE! Now let's go!" Zim said. "Dib! We are going to the Piggie! And you have to carry Skoodge or it will take too long!"
"Good thing you're here then, because I'm kinda lost", Dib said. Zim didn't know the exact meaning of the word 'lost', but agreed anyway. It was a very good thing he was here. Because he was Zim! Dib lifted Skoodge and carried him like you would carry a cat and followed Zim who was jumping from branch to branch.
As they were walking, Skoodge explained why he was injured. He'd never been good at climbing, but when he smelled Dib, he'd tried to stay out of danger by climbing higher but had fallen. Skoodge had recognized Dib from that other time and had thought that it wouldn't hurt to lead him beck to his nest.
Zim thought it was weird.
Once they arrived, it had gotten pretty dark out and Dib let them all in the Piggie.
"Z-Zim, do you think this is a good idea?" Skoodge asked, looking as the door closed behind them.
"Yes yes, don't worry", Zim waved him off and followed Dib through the hallway. Skoodge glanced around nervously from his place in Dib's embrace. Dib stopped at Zita's office and waited for the door to slid open.
"Hey, Zita", he greeted happily. Zita didn't look up immediately.
"Hi Dib, did you find ZiWHOA!" She finally looked up and stared at Skoodge, "Who's that!?"
"This is Zim's little friend, but he's hurt. Do you think you could help him?" Dib smiled sheepishly and held out the stout Irken.
"Zim? Who's that?" Skoodge asked with a weak voice.
"That's just Zita. Do not worry, she's okay!" Zim said and climbed on to Zita's desk, watching as Dib handed Skoodge to her.
"I don't know", she said with a worried scowl," He's no human." She sat him down beside Zim and looked at the leg.
"Very observant, Zita", Dib joked and sat down on a chair.
"Mmm. It doesn't look broken, I think? It'll probably heal in a couple of weeks" she muttered. It was unknown whether she was talking to anybody or not.
"She says you didn't break it. Congratulations!" Zim grinned at Skoodge."See, I told you it was nothing to worry about!
"Actually you never said that", Skoodge said," But it doesn't really matter if I broke it or not if I can't use it well. Ow!" Zita had poked on a sensitive point and he winced.
"Zita! Skoodge says you have to heal him!" Zim exclaimed. That wasn't exactly true, but Skoodge had almost said so. Zita looked confused.
"I'm not a witch! I can't just heal someone just like that!" She answered," I could try to give him some painkillers, but I don't think that's a good idea. He's just gotta have to wait until it heals."
"What? But something will EAAAT him!" Zim bit back.
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't do anything!"
"What are you fighting about?" Skoodge asked, worried that Zim's temperament might get them into trouble.
"Nothing!" Zim snapped at Skoodge, forgetting to change to Irken. The injured Irken looked at him blankly. There was a silence where Dib took the chance to gather his thoughts. Finally the teen boy spoke.
"If you're worried that Skoodge might get into trouble, he could always stay here in the piggy", he offered. Zim was suddenly defensive.
"Zim is not worried about Skoodge! I ... I simply think it would be bad if he attracted Tallers!" He explained.
"Sure you do. He can stay here then, right Zita?" Dib said. Zita made a shrugging nod.
"I guess so. You'll have to talk to Sergeant mayor Bitters though", she said. Zim grinned.
"You will stay here until your leg heals, Skoodge! So nothing can attack you!" He exclaimed to his friend. Skoodge smiled nervously.
"That's good. These creatures seem very helpful", he said.
"I'll go ahead and explain everything to the sergeant mayor then", Dib said and stood up. Zim got up too and helped Skoodge to stand.
"I'll show you the sleeping dorms. They're BRILLIANT!" Zim said and led the limping Skoodge out of the office. Dib followed, but in the hallways, they went separate ways.
Somehow, Dib felt they might have looong couple of weeks ahead.
TBC
Actually Skoodge isn't even part of the plot until almost the end of the story but. I like him. I like writing him. It's fun.
Also I'm trying desperately to improve so please give me a review! Thanks for staying awesome, I love you all!
/Saga