Totally Buggin' (Buggy the Clown Live Action Fic)

First Mate

"Oy, Captain!" called Wayne. "Could this be anything?"
I hurried over to where he'd been searching near some gnarled roots to see what he was holding. "Wayne, that's a rock," I replied flatly.
"Yeah, but look," he countered defensively, "it's got all these colors in it." His fingers traced the rainbow of markings streaked along the rock's sparkly surface. "I've been thinking—what if the Elixis Fruit isn't a literal fruit? What if it's a talisman or something?"
"A talisman?" I repeated, trying my best to humor him.
"Yeah, like maybe an amulet or charm. Something physical to ward off disease."
I pursed my lips. We'd been searching for the Elixis Fruit all day and my patience was wearing thin, but I didn't want to take it out on Wayne. "I'll tell you what," I said, exhaling deeply. "Keep it in your pocket, and if you start to feel cured let us know."
I'd tried my best to keep from sounding sarcastic but could see Wayne didn't quite believe me. He slipped the rock in his pocket nonetheless.
It was late afternoon, but today we had the luxury of clouds to block out the hot island sun. I'd redivided the groups this morning so that mine could take the same path we took the previous day, heading straight north, while the rest took a path twenty-two degrees clockwise from the one they took before. "Do you think we missed something yesterday?" Trixie asked me before we left the camp.
"Maybe," I'd replied with shrug. "I want to double check." I'd told no one about the fruit that Buggy'd found, but wouldn't be able to live with myself until I'd turned over every last stone and pebble we'd walked by yesterday.
I'd barely looked at Buggy all night, and thankfully he'd given me my space. In the morning, when I still wasn't ready to see him, I'd assigned him to a new group along with Yonis. "Keep an eye on him," I'd instructed Yonis quietly before they left. Yonis did not ask why, only nodded; his instinct for discretion was one of my favorite things about the blond lookout.
So the three of us, Wayne, Trixie and I, struggled again through the jungle, glancing up at the overcast sky from time to time and wondering if we should be expecting a storm. Trixie had put her dark hair up in a bun to keep it from tangling in the weeds. "Are you alright?" she asked me when Wayne had gone out of earshot to search yet another odd-looking bush.
I hesitated to answer. In truth, I felt fantastic—physically anyway. I felt stronger and more energized than I had in months, my suspicions about the blue fruit all but confirmed. I hadn't checked the mark under my shirt sleeve to see if it'd changed, but I was pretty sure I was cured of the Ghost Virus. The thought unsettled me.
I knew that wasn't what Trixie meant though, and hadn't yet decided how much I wanted to tell her. "I'm as good as I can be," I answered evasively. "How about you?"
Trixie shrugged. "I'm worried," she admitted. "But I'm powering through. I just keep thinking about my parents... they were never okay with me sailing, let alone becoming a pirate, and now I may never see them again. Not that I regret it," she said quickly, casting me a glance. "It's just... hard."
    I nodded, wishing I knew what to say to comfort her. "You've sacrificed a lot."
    Trixie sighed. "I also can't stop thinking about the map's inscription: 'A view of the heavens, the cure is below'," she repeated. "If only there was a mountain, or some high place with a view of the sky. That would make sense!"
I looked at her sadly. It was all just jungle around us, like most any other island in this godforsaken ocean. "We'll find it," I said, the strength of conviction in my voice surpising me. "We've still got plenty of time."
We kept walking, kicking rocks and twigs aside as we went. "So what's going on with you and Buggy?" she asked after a minute. "Are you two fighting?"
I inhaled. "Yeah, you could say that," I answered.
Trixie sensed my hesitation. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked carefully. "We don't have to if you don't want to."
I chewed it over, then made my decision. I glanced towards Wayne, who was now climbing a tree, paying us no mind. "What would you do if we found the Elixis Fruit, but there wasn't enough for all of us?" I asked her quietly. "If only a couple people could be cured?"
Trixie's eyes went wide. "You found one?" she breathed.
I shook my head quickly. "Not me. Buggy." I quickly filled her in on what had happened, and she listened with rapt attention. "He literally forced the thing down my throat, Trix," I told her. "I feel so weird and guilty about it, and violated—he completely disregarded my decision."
"But you're cured?" she asked, unable to hide her hopefulness.
I pursed my lips and held out my arm. "I didn't check," I said quietly. She gave me an encouraging look. With a heavy breath, I carefully pulled up my shirt sleeve with the tips of my fingers. The purple webbing of veins was still on my arm, but it had receded tremendously and was now half the size it had been the last time I checked.
"Oh, Kitty!" exclaimed Trixie gleefully, throwing her arms around me.
"This isn't how it's supposed to be," I murmured, hugging her back in a daze. "We're supposed to be cured together."
"I know, I know," she said, pulling away to give me a watery-eyed smile. "But that means the fruit is here. And no matter what, you're going to be okay." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "That makes me so happy."
I pulled her into another hug, squeezing my friend tight. I never wanted to let her go. "There has to be more," I said.
    "We'll find it," she said. It had become like our mantra: we'll find it.