The Island

Conflict

Jason looked down at his wrist, examining his core more closely. A small flicker of purple light rested inside, dimly reflecting this eyes. It moved around, assuming random shapes, then settled.

"I don't know June. I'm just as confused as you are"

June looked at him through narrowed eyes, searching him for any sign of dishonesty. She seemed satisfied, as she reluctantly looked away.

"Alright... well, we need to get some food. I'm not dying just because of a distraction"

She picked up her bow and slung it over her shoulder, moving towards the thick brush lining the border between the foliage and plains.

Jason caught himself admiring her movements. She moved low to the ground, her dull brown boots inaudible with careful steps. She suddenly stiffened, ducking low into the weeds. June lifted her hand slowly, and in a smooth motion, clamped her fist in the air.

What the hell is she doing? He walked over, cringing as the broken leaves crinkled under his feet.

June looked panicked now, making the fist again.

Jason moved faster, trying to picture what she was implying. Fist... crush? Crush the leaves? No, that doesn't make sense...

"June, what does that even mean?" Jason called, a hint of irritation in his voice. The second he finished speaking, he froze. A spear came flying through the air, nicking the edge of his thigh and causing him to duck.

June looked over, her eyes practically flaming. "Don't you know code? It's pretty self explanatory! It means stop and shut up!" She screamed, throwing herself to the ground to avoid an arrow from the distance.

Jason facepalmed. "Oooohhhhhhh! That makes sense. You should have said something earlier."

June looked as if she wanted to be the one to kill Jason, rather than the assailants.

They crawled over behind a patch of thick grass, covering their glowing cores with their stomachs.

"Alright, well, now that you've screwed us, got a plan, Clueless?"

"Hey, hurtful. Alright, well it looks like there's three of them. Red, White, and Grey"

"That's not red, that's Maroon"

"Yeah, so red."

"No! God, you're such a guy."

"What is the dif-" Jason stopped suddenly, freezing.

"Wha-" Jason held up his hand, cutting her off.

"The noises stopped."

June looked up, trying to find the cause of the silence, then stopped.

"Well, crap."

"Well, I think I know why that is, my friend." A burly man stood over them, a heavy bow aimed directly at June, white core glowing softly.

Jason spun around slowly, coming to face the point of a flint arrowhead, deadly sharp. "Let us go."

The man looked at Jason for a moment, then began laughing.

"I don't like your attitude, friend. It seems I'll have to make an adjustment." He aimed the bow at June's leg, drawing back slowly.

Jason pressed his arms together, a dark look spreading over his face, putting an evil tint in his eye.

June looked over, and found... she was scared. Not scared of the big teenager that was planning on killing them, but... Jason had been so cheerful just a moment ago, what is that look?

Jason spoke, his voice deeper than usual, coming out calm, yet threatening. "I said, Let. Us. Go."

The teen drew back further, reaching max draw, and then released slowly, one finger after another coming off the bow.

Just as the last finger was about to leave, allowing the serrated arrowhead to seep into her flesh, Jason looked up, eyes burning a dark purple.

"LET. US. GO!!" Jason screamed, dragging apart his arms to reveal two cores, identical on each wrist, and releasing a shockwave sending White flying.

Jason stood up, moving slowly towards where White lay against a tree, face and arms bruised from the impact.

His arms were smoking, purple mist flowing upward from his twin cores, as he walked to stand over the teen.

White looked up at him, terrified. "Please. Please let me go. I won't bother you ever again, I swear!"

Jason drew his cores together, and a small shard moved out to attach to each of his shoulders.

June watched in horror as the cores spread, going from one, to two, to four. She got up and sprinted to get to Jason, but tripped on a clump of grass. Cursing, she tried to limp over to Jason, calling out his name in urgency.

Jason looked at his prey, his eyes now a deep purple, smoking at the edges. The new cores on his shoulder opened up to shoot purple shards into White, impaling him in each shoulder, pinning him to the tree.

White screamed out in pain, tears streaming down his face. "Please! PLEASE! PLEASE STOP!"

Jason smiled, lifting his arm and placing it directly on White's forehead.

"JASON! This isn't you Jason! Please, stop!" June screamed, watching as her partner smiled.

Jason looked back, seeing June, but not recognizing her. He looked back to White, grinning "I'll let you go, once and for all. You're welcome, friend."

Jason gripped White's head, and the core on his wrist let out a long purple spike, embedding itself in White's skull.