no way out {eddsworld survival au}

four

"matt, could you help tom collect stuff?" edd asked him with a small smile.

"sure!" matt turned to look at an annoyed-looking tom. he simply assumed that he'd gotten in another argument with tord.

"come on, then." tom picked up the wood bucket and stormed away. matt tilted his head, shrugged, and followed him calmly.

the pair tread through the forest in silence. a few minutes later, tom stopped walking and kneeled beside a patch of dandelions. he grabbed a handful of them by the stems and ripped them from the ground. matt cringed and asked, "those are edible?"

"yeah, but they're bitter. it's just in case tord can't find anything." tom told him.

"i see." he murmured.

tom dropped them in the bucket and stood up. he continued his walk. matt sauntered behind him, gazing around at the forest. the sunlight dappled the ground as it filtered through the tree leaves hanging high above them. fresh morning dew shone on the leaves of plants or bushes. there was the occasional skitter of paws as a squirrel clawed its way up a tree, or a mouse picked its way among twisting roots.

"tord claims he couldn't find anything, yeah right," tom scoffed, catching matt's attention.

"why do you hate him so much?" matt asked. genuine curiosity laced his tone.

"because! he's such a douchebag!" tom snapped. wings fluttered as a bird was startled from its nest at the shout. "he always thinks he's the shit. he thinks he's better than me, hotter than me, cooler than me. in reality, he's a huge dick." tom spat. matt's eyes widened and he decided on not prying further so he wouldn't upset tom even more.

"...sorry for yelling." tom muttered embarrassedly after a moment.

"it's okay," matt smiled. "he is kind of a jerk."

"yeah, he really is."

silence followed after that.

"hey, look, a fig tree!" tom suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a medium-sized tree with smooth-looking bark. he ran towards it with matt at his heels. both males happily picked the fruit off the branches, filling at least half the bucket.

"we should go to the creek and wash them off, just in case." matt suggested.

"good idea. you're not as stupid as i thought you were." tom responded.

matt offered a fake smile, standing up and wiping his hands off on his jeans. god, no one needs me here, i'm-

"c'mon." tom picked the bucket up and walked off.

the ginger took a deep breath, the scents of the forest calming his thoughts. he began to follow his friend.

—timeskip/edd's pov—

edd sat by the fire he'd started up a few minutes earlier, watching the flames crackle and lick the air. he heard the sound of tom and matt talking quietly as they arrived from their gathering trip.

"find anything?" edd asked, looking over his shoulder.

"figs and dandelions!" matt smiled widely.

"dandelions?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"they're edible. i only got them if worst comes to worst and the commie 'can't find anything.'" tom explained, using finger quotations. "speaking of satan, he's not back yet?"

edd nodded. "not yet. i hope he's okay."

matt picked a fig from the bucket and sat next to edd, trying to peel the skin with his nails. "he's probably fine." the taller male assured him.

"true. he could probably fight off a pack of wolves."

"he's not that great." tom scowled while he took a seat on the large rock. he put the bucket down by his feet before sitting in criss-cross manner.

they all grew quiet as they gazed at the fire, lost in thought.

the sound of shoes crunching on sand brought edd back to reality. tord had arrived!

edd got up and turned around to look at him, expecting to see him holding a juicy rabbit, or maybe even a duck. instead, all tord held was... a measly, skinny squirrel.

"that's it?" edd's eyes widened.

"it was all i could find." tord shrugged and dropped the small body on the rock tom was sitting on.

"fuck! gross, dude!" tom quickly hopped off the rock and glared at him. "that's seriously all you could get?"

"yes." tord answered, cocking an eyebrow.

"really?"

edd frowned as he realized another fight would commence. "guys, please.."

"yes, thomas, it's true." tord growled.

"i don't believe you! look, edd, there's blood spattered all over his hoodie," tom pointed out, bringing his dark gaze to the green-clad brunette. "i don't think a tiny-ass squirrel would spill that much blood. the commie is hiding something."

edd narrowed his eyes as he realized tom's suggestion wasn't all that crazy.

"he's right.." matt said quietly from behind edd.

even tord looked a bit nervous, but nevertheless he shook his head. "you're spewing bullshit, tom." his green eyes darted between tom and edd.

eventually, edd sighed and ran a hand through his autumn-brown looks. "tom, just drop it. if he couldn't find anything, then that's it. we can just have fish."

"again?" matt whined.

"stop complaining. this isn't a fucking restaurant, we're trapped on an island with no way out." tord's glare was enough to make matt flinch away and focus on peeling the fig again.

"god! you suck, larsin!" tom yelled in exasperation before stomping away to their hut.