Stranded in Paradise [An II Au]

Calm Before the Storm

TW For this Chapter//
Strangulation
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There was a storm coming today.

The green sky was invaded with dark blue clouds, and the wind was even heavier than before. Rain pelted against the ground as thunder let out mighty cracks behind them. The group had to take refuge in the cave for the whole day, it seemed. Fan and Paintbrush helped move the pic-nix table into the cave so it wouldn't break in the rain, setting it down in the cave near the deeper entrance. The contestants watched the rain pitter patter against the grass. "It's complete bedlam out there. Glad we've got ourselves a comfy little abode, huh?" TK said with a small smile on her face.

"The rain really puts us all at ease...! It just makes me want to do a little jiggle!" Goo replied.

"Ugh, I wish we could've gotten those logs from last night...we could've made some nice chairs with those for the pic-nix table."

"Ow! Uh.." Bow said and held onto the side of her head. "You ok, hun?" TK inquired from the other side of the cave.

"Uh, yeah! I'm good! lol!" Bow quickly threw up a peace sign.

"Having a bad day, hm? I understand, kiddo. You just try and relax, ok?"

Tea Kettle leaned back against the wall of the cave, before looking over in Fan's direction. She was surprised to see he still hadn't patched up the spot on his eye where she accidentally stabbed him. "You doin' okay over there, hun?" She asked, peaking Fan's attention. He chuckled and waved his hand "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Just been feeling a lot of stress, you know? Since the whole incident with Blueberry, I'm just...starting to think I'm going crazy...like...how I'm suddenly connecting with OJ even though we never even talked before, and...I'm starting to worry that if I don't last 5 more minutes without my phone or any internet then I'll just GRADUALLY LOSE MY MIND AND END UP KILLING EVERYONE JUST LIKE BLUEBERRY DI-" Fan was suddenly stopped when Test Tube put a hand on his shoulder. Giving him, a slight frown, he signed a breath of relief. "But,..I'll just...try not to worry about it for now."

"Atta boy! We don't need another one of us just losin' sanity out of the blue. Just look at poor Silver, ey?"

The cave went quiet at the mention of Silver. No snarky remarks. Nothing. And at that moment, a realization kicked in. Silver wasn't in the cave. "Where...IS Silver?" OJ asked, turning around to count up everyone again. Of course, Silver wasn't to be accounted for. "Are you kidding me?! Ugh...We need someone to go out and get him. The rain is too heavy. Any volunteers?"

No one raised their hands. Paintbrush then got up from the ground, "You know what, I'll go."

"But...Paintbrush...I thought you and Silver didn't like each other..." Balloon said.

"Listen, he's been a real mess lately. I'll...TRY...to talk it out with him, okay? And thankfully it's raining, so I don't have to worry about my temper."

"...I-I...suppose. Just be careful..."

"And be sure to come back quickly! Don't want us getting sick!" Tea Kettle chimed in as Paintbrush went over to the cave's entrance. "Yeah, I'll try. Don't worry." They said one last time before disappearing through the vines around the cave's entrance. Silence filled the empty void of the cave again. "So uhh...remind me what happened to your eye again?" Test Tube looked at Fan, who gave her a glance back.