Rainy dayz// Gorillaz au fanfic

Chapter 1: Storm

Russel trudged slowly up the hill, the churned up ground squelchy and cold beneath his feet. The rain hammered down, the droplets of water feeling more like bullets than anything else. Cold, hard, sharp, piercing his skin and chilling him to the bone.

His arms were tightly folded, pressed against his chest. He kept his head down, angling his eyes upwards, in the slight hope that perhaps if anyone saw him they'd be scared off by his empty white eyes.

And that was when he heard it.
From behind one of the towering tombstones, there came a faint whimpering, soft and weak.
Cautiously, he approached the sound of the noise.

On his hands and knees, there was a boy, probably around the same age as Russel, shivering on all fours in the mud. Apon seeing Russel he squinted, before slowly trying to back away. The boy misplaced one of his hands, and slid face first into the mud with a hard splat, landing just in front of Russel, groaning.
The boy slowly lifted his face out of the mud, revealing his face. His hair was coated in grime, but seemed to be blue. His eyes seemed pitch black, but looking closer revealed that he had faint red pupils, almost invisible until closer inspection.

"Wh-who are you...?" The boy glanced in Russel's genral direction, but continued to squint, his near hidden pupils darting from side to side.
"My name's Russel," Russel replied, bending down to get on the boy's level. He peeled his arm away from his chest, and extended it. The boy frowned, seemingly unsure of what to do. "Want a hand..?" Russel asked, inching fowards a little. "O-oh sure...?" The boy lifted one hand and kept it held up for one second before grasping Russel's hand. Russ pulled him up to his feet.

"What's your name?" Russel asked, attempting to reclaim his hand. The boy continued to grasp it tightly.
"Stuart," he peered at Russel, his face screwed up from just how hard he was squinting at Russel. "What's your name?"
"I'm Russel," he grinned unsteadily through chattering teeth.

They stared at each other in an awkward silence for a few seconds  (Stuart still fiercely clutching Russel's hand), before thier brief moment of quiet was broken by an almighty rumble of thunder, and the electric crackling of lightning racing across the otherwise murky sky.

Russel spotted something not too far off in the distance. A tree, full of leaves. A possible shelter? Well it was better than nothing.
"Stuart!"
"Hmm?" Stu whipped round.
"You see that tree over there?"
".....No...?"
"There," Russel pointed to the tree with his free hand.
"Oh...right, yeah, tha' tree.." Stuart chucked nervously. "I can see that... yea, le's go over there!"

He started to set off in the complete opposite direction.
"Over there Stu.." Russel frowned and pulled the boy back towards him.

Stuart gulped. He knew what the right thing would be to do in this situation. If he told Russel, it might even make him less of a burden.
"Russ..." he tapped Russel's shoulder "I 'ave something to tell yew.."
"What's that?" Russel asked.
"W-Well, ya see... I can't really see all that well.." he began, his voice shaking.
"Wait so you're... blind..?"
".. Nearly... I-I can s-see, but it's very b-blury.. I can see colours and v-very fuz-fuzzy outlines, but that's it... tha' doc-doctor said I'm 'legally blind'..."

Stu's confession caused a few things to click for Russel. The black eyes, of course, but also the way he was still holding onto to Russel's hand. He wasn't being clingy or anything like that, rather just looking for someone to help guide him. Or at least that was how Russel saw the situation. 
"Stu, if you want, we can link arms, and I'll help guide you," he said, giving his best reassuring smile.
Stuart nodded, and together they slowly made their was over there.

The leaves of the tree didn't provide full protection against the elements, but after being out in a full on storm for so long, the boys greatful for the partial protection the tree provided.
It was then, however, that they heard a rough growl from the other side of the trunk.
"Oi' sod off. I got 'ere first."
From behind the thick pillar of wood emerged a boy, not much older than Stuart and Russel. Russel thought that he looked around twelve.

He was wearing a drenched grey shirt, and had clearly taken a similar beating from the weather. His hair was a big mess of greasy black strands flying everywhere, like a storm blown bird's nest. His skin was a pale greenish brown colour, and his nose was crooked.
His pupils darted up and down, looking over the intruders. One eye, Russel noticed, was red.

"Please, we didn't mean to disturb you but..."
"But what?" the kid inquired, leaning in closer to get a good look at the newcomers. Russel could feel Stuart trembling as the kid got perhaps a little too close to Stuart's face.
"Heh.." he gasped, looking Stu right in the eyes. "You've litarally got two dents in yer face..." he seemed lightly amused.

"So who are you two anyways?" He took a step back.
"I'm Russel"
"I'm Stuart... sometimes people call meh' Stu"
"Right then. Well my name's Murdoc"

All of a sudden, all three boys attention was snatched as they saw a woman aproaching them. She looked to be a young adult, with short black hair sticking to the side of her face from the rain.
Murdoc lowered his head and glared at her from underneath his hair, suspicious. Russel on the other hand appoached the woman cautiously, Stuart following him.

"Do not be.. af..raid," the woman spoke with a thick accent, her voice broken by pauses. She knelt down in the mud so she was more or less on the boy's level.
There was a rucksack slung over her shoulder, and unzipping it, she produced three slightly worn out towels.
"I... saw you out in the rain.. so I came..to help you," She smiled at them, making a gesture for Murdoc to come foward. He obliged reluctantly, and was handed a towel like the other two.

"I live in.. building over there," She pointed to a hill with a building perched on top of it. "Please.. come and get dry.."

After a moments hesitation Russel agreed, as did Stuart and Murdoc.

And off they went, making the slow ascent up the hill, the woman in front, Russel guiding a wobbly Stu again, and Murdoc lurking just behind them.

Once they were inside, the three were sat down in a kitchen kind of area, where they were served soup, steaming hot and filling.
"Miss..?" Russel began.
"Call me.. Noodle"
"Noodle, I ummm..." Russel sighed, setting down his bowl. "Can I stay here for a while... or at least for the night... I just.. I don't have anywhere to stay and-"
"That's fine," She turned round to face him, taking his bowl and putting it in the sink.
"Errmm.. can I second that...?" Stu asked "I can't go back to the place I came from.." he murmed.

"I third that notion," Murdoc sighed "It's late and it's wet." He added.

Noodle abandoned the sink, and grabbed the boys, lifting them into a soft hug. "You can all stay.." She gave her best smile, a big bright smile.