(Artwork by bigdad)
BEFORE YOU PROCEED, PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION!
This is a SEQUEL to the first book in the series, "Together." I REALLY recommend you read that book first before reading this one.
If you're all caught up to speed on what's happening, then without further ado, let's begin the story!
(Continuing where we left off...)
Six sat next to Mono as they continued to stare out into the endless blue seas of the ocean. They had taken refuge on the beach for a few days now, and supplies were getting scarce. Mono had ventured away from the sand conehead camp and almost got lost as he searched for an entrance into the city, the two ultimately decided that it would be too dangerous to venture into with all of the viewers patrolling. Now, here they resided, deciding on their next move as they got hungrier and thirstier with every passing day.
"What I would do for some actual food right now..."
Mono's stomach rumbled at the thought of food as held his hands up to the fireplace in front of him, watching the sunset over the ocean along with Six who was next to him, trying to pass time by tracing her finger around in the sand. Living with the sand coneheads wasn't exactly entertaining, the most they could do was watch them endlessly run around the beach, collecting whatever they could find and storing it in the treehouse. The coneheads built them a fireplace, providing enough warmth for the two.
"We can't stay here forever, but... where are we even meant to go?"
He glanced over his shoulder, looking at Six and watching her draw things in the sand.
"Huh... well at least she's got something to do."
Mono got onto his feet, stretching his arms out.
"I gotta get busy."
Jamming his hands into the pockets of his trenchcoat, he walked down to the shore, zoning out as he watched the waves crash into the sand in front of him. He was trying to construct a plan to get the two out of there, ideas flooding through his head like a river.
"Maybe... I could make a boat? Hm... or I could make a-"
Mono jumped as he was caught off guard by Six coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his chest.
"Hey... what are you up to..?"
She sleepily spoke as she rested her chin on Mono's shoulder.
"Oh..! Ha... you scared me!"
Six scoffed, patting him on the head.
"Sorry... hope I didn't frighten you too badly."
"Nah, you're fine. I was just thinking..."
"About what?"
She perked her head up curiously.
"Oh, well... I was thinking that maybe we could build a boat or something like that to get us off of this island."
"Hm... not a bad idea. I was thinking of building some kind of signal to alert any boats that are nearby."
She shrugged, letting go of him and taking a step back.
"I guess I'll stop bothering you then."
Six began to turn around but noticed something off about Mono. He hung his head low as he sighed, his face forming a frown.
"What's wrong?"
Mono tried to hide the sadness he had been feeling lately from Six, but it was quite evident something was going on with him at this point.
"Uhm... nothing! Everything's fine!"
He awkwardly laughed, his voice trailing off as she gave him a skeptical look. Scratching the back of his head, he nervously gazed downward.
"That obvious, huh..."
Six nodded, crossing her arms.
"So... what's wrong?"
"It's... a bunch of things..."
She patiently waited as he nervously darted his eyes around. Finally, with a sigh, he began to talk.
"I... have been feeling a lot of... I guess, sadness? I can't really explain it, but... I know I'm not happy at all right now..."
Mono frowned as he looked at Six's face, her sad reaction made him feel even worse. Her voice was a little shakey as she spoke.
"Why..?"
He sighed as he slightly shrugged.
"I guess it's got something to do with how badly I've treated you lately..."
"What..? I don't understand..."
Letting out a sigh, he lowered his head.
"I hurt you..."
"You... no, no, that doesn't-"
"It was scary, I... I couldn't control my anger at that moment. I just... lost control..."
His face fell into his hands as he held back tears, trying to compose himself as regret, shame, and guilt overwhelmed him.
"I'm sorry..."
"Hey... it wasn't your fault. I was being a little stupid... and desperate. I should've reasoned with you better, so if you wanna blame anyone you might as well pin it on me."
"Blame you? You were the only one who did the right thing!"
He looked up at her, causing Six to step back a little in shock, gasping as she covered her mouth with her hands. Mono was confused, thinking he did something wrong.
"Sorry, I... didn't mean to shout."
"No... your eyes..."
She sounded horrified as she talked, her body shivering as she looked at him with horror. Now he was very confused, what was wrong with him now? Rubbing his eyes, he looked back at her.
"Was there something in my eyes?"
"They're... pure white..?"
A shocked expression covered his face as Six shook her head.
"What?!"
"Hold on a second..."
She ran toward the pile of garbage the sand coneheads had built up, digging around before pulling out a miniature mirror that was slightly cracked, but it worked well enough. Six turned around and handed Mono the mirror, pointing at it.
"Look into it, you'll see what I mean."
He held it up to his face, carefully inspecting his reflection. He nearly dropped it as he gazed at himself, realizing that Six was telling the truth. His eyes were pure white, just as Six had said. He was unsure of whether or not to be worried or marvel at the sight, bringing the cracked mirror closer to his face to get a better look.
"Huh... kinda creepy... but also kinda cool."
"Hey, it doesn't look that bad."
He shrugged, tossing the mirror aside into the sand. Mono ran a hand through his hair as he went from staring at Six to staring at the sandy ground as he decided on what to say. Letting out a sigh, he continued the conversation.
"Doesn't it ever feel like the world... how do I say it... like the world wants us to survive?"
"What do you mean?"
"Isn't it funny how we always come out on top? No matter who we go against, a crazy hunter with a shotgun, or a psychopath with electric hands, we always find a way to win."
Mono shook his head, scoffing.
"Heh, who am I kidding, we go through all of that crap just to get stuck on this beach."
He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips.
"Was it all just for nothing? Shadow Six just... died for nothing?"
"No, we'll make it out of here. We just need to think of something to use as a signal, like a fire or something."
He shrugged, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, you're right, but... still. Why us? More specifically, why me? I mean... I'm nowhere near as good of a person as you are, Six... I have no idea why you even care about me, especially with how selfish I am-"
"Hey, cut it out! Don't beat yourself up like that! Listen, the reason why we always make it out is that we work together. Without you, I definitely wouldn't have made it out of the hunter's shack and I would've been as good as dead."
Six slowly got closer to him, taking tiny steps in his direction.
"I... I don't know... I guess you're right... I-"
She leaned in and hugged him, Mono's white eyes widening as she patted him on the back. He yelped as Six lifted him off of the ground.
"You're so light!"
Six giggled as she spun around in a circle with her arms wrapped around Mono as he squirmed in her grasp.
"Hey! I'm not that light!"
She set him down and smiled at him.
"Oh, really?"
"Okay... maybe I'm kinda light... but I can't help it! Blame my electric powers for that."
Mono looked down before smirking.
"I'm still taller than you."
She crossed her arms, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Yeah, only by a little bit! And so what?"
"It means I can do THIS!"
She screamed as Mono suddenly scooped her up into his arms, the two spun around in a circle as he laughed uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms around him and slowly began to laugh along with him. They played around, dancing in the sand as the water from the ocean splashed against Mono's feet. The sun slowly set over the ocean as the sky became darker and darker, the two sat next to each other near a rock wall watching the stars until they both fell asleep.
Six rested against the rocks behind her, trying to get some rest as Mono slept soundly on her side. She played with his hair, suppressing a laugh as he moved around in his sleep, burying his face in her shoulder. The sand coneheads had sprawled out a blanket over the two, keeping them warm near the campfire as they continued their cycle of picking up trash and placing it in a pile. She sighed, annoyed with herself as her brain refused to turn off. She couldn't help but be wide awake, so she continued to watch the sand coneheads for what felt like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes.
It was a strange feeling that she couldn't shake off. She felt as if she needed to keep an eye over Mono, it was her responsibility now. Six's eyes traced the ocean, searching for any life above sea, but she saw nothing but a solid blue color that stretched beyond the horizon. She returned to watching the sand coneheads until something bright caught the corner of her eye. Six winced as she turned to face it shielding her face with her hand from the bright light.
She peered over her hand, making out an outline of a boat with a large figure sitting in the middle of it. A chill ran down her spine as she watched the shadow get closer and closer to them, her attention returning to Mono as he groaned, wriggling around uncomfortably. His voice sounded very tired as he spoke.
"Turn off that light, Six..."
"Mono, we need to get up."
He mumbled something incomprehensible as he whined, wrapping his arms around Six.
"Mmh... no... five more minutes..."
"There's a boat that is getting closer to us right now, we need to go."
"There is..?"
He slowly raised his head, shielding his eyes as the bright light entered his vision.
"You see it?"
"Yeah... yeah... I see it now..."
Mono let go of Six and shook his head, getting onto his feet along with Six and tossing the blanket away. The light illuminated the duo as they stood there unsure of what to do next.
"Should we go and hide?"
Mono shook his head in reply.
"They might be only trying to help, let's just see what they do."
"Alright..."
She reluctantly stood still, keeping a close eye on the mysterious figure. It paddled closer and closer toward the two, its large body getting obscured from the lack of light in the sky. Mono was tempted to shout something at the entity but held his tongue as it rowed its boat onto the shore, the sand stopping it from moving any closer. The wooden boat creaked as the heavy person stepped off of it, planting its feet into the sand. They grabbed the light that was attached to the front of the boat and unlatched it from the boat, holding it out in front of them and shining it directly on Mono and Six.
The large figure held the lantern at its side, staring directly at the two. Mono could get a better look at them, getting slightly unnerved at their strange appearance. Their face was seemingly hidden, instead replaced with a large yellow sack that hung down to their chest, with two slits cut out that were meant to be used as eyes. They sported a large trenchcoat, along with a hat. Mono grew tired of this stare-down, calling out toward the figure.
"What do you want?"
It motioned toward the two with an outstretched arm, then pointed at the boat.
"Oh, give me a break..."
Six whispered to Mono, who turned to face her.
"Maybe this is our way out?"
"Or, this is how we get killed."
"We might as well try, plus if we refuse their offer they might kill us right here and now."
She sighed, lowering her head.
"Fine."
Mono nervously turned back around to face the giant, half expecting him to be standing closer to him, but the large figure waited patiently for them.
"We're coming, just give us a second."
The giant nodded, grabbing the wooden boat and hauling it back into the ocean, keeping one hand on it so it wouldn't drift away. Mono slipped on his trenchcoat, grabbing a flashlight one of the sand coneheads had brought him. Six always wore her yellow raincoat, so she didn't really need to get anything. Not wanting to go alone, she decided that she would just follow Mono as he dug through the trash pile looking for anything of use.
"Eh, whatever..."
He pulled his hands out of the pile and got startled as he almost walked directly into Six. Mono quickly apologized, his face becoming red out of embarrassment.
"Sorry, I... I didn't know you were right there."
"Yeah, my bad..."
Mono scratched the back of his head.
"You think I should wear something to cover my face?"
"What? Why?"
"Well, my eyes don't really look human, so..."
"Nah, don't. If anybody gives you a weird look, I'll beat them so bad they'll wish they hadn't."
He laughed, expecting her to laugh along with him, but she was dead serious.
"Alright, alright... fine."
They started toward the boat, the two trying to hide their nervousness as they made some conversation, Mono beginning the small talk.
"Where do you think he's taking us?"
"I hope somewhere nice... like a city. Then maybe we can find a house for ourselves."
"Ourselves?"
"Yeah, like, we can live in the same house and... uh... do stuff."
"I hate living in one spot, but I guess I could get used to it."
The giant propped the boat up so they could get in easier, attaching the lantern back onto the front just as a thought popped into Mono's head.
"Wait a minute, are we even old enough to live in a house by ourselves?"
"Says who?"
"I dunno, like the landlords or something."
"We can just make our own house to avoid that, I guess."
He shrugged before hoisting himself up into the boat, holding a hand out to Six and helping her up. She whispered to him as the giant got into the boat with them.
"Here we go..."
Six sat down next to Mono as he looked around the interior of the boat, his new white eyes allowing him to see easier in the dark. He only spotted a large suitcase that was set out on the other side of the boat from where they sat and two large paddles that were just as large as the giant. The large figure carefully lowered itself into the boat, sitting in the middle and picking up both of the paddles. The giant began to row forward out into the ocean as Mono peered over the side, watching the coneheads unbury themselves out of the sand. Six waved goodbye to them, to which they responded by waving as well.
"I'm gonna miss those little guys..."
Mono waved goodbye to them along with her.
"Yeah... me too..."
She slumped down, leaning her back against the boat as she sighed, crossing her arms together. Mono looked down at Six, crouching down and putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey... you alright?"
Six nodded, slipping the hood of her raincoat off. Mono sat down next to her, looking up at the giant who was concentrated on rowing the boat to wherever they were going. His eyes suddenly felt very heavy as he blinked, trying to keep himself awake.
"You just got on the boat, Mono... don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep..."
Six began to speak, trying to make some conversation so the situation wouldn't feel as awkward.
"Hey, Mono... do you ever..."
She felt something on her shoulder, her eyes meeting Mono who was resting his head on her and in deep sleep.
"Right."
Six tilted her head against his, closing her eyes and almost immediately falling asleep along with him.
Word Count: 2731
I'm back, baby!
Thanks for reading the first chapter of the second book, I hope you liked it!
If you find any errors, let me know in the comments below.
Have a great day! :D