I'm gonna sleep after i copy and paste it so let's get into it!
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Cookies and cream.
We had been walking around the mall for the past few hours. When I had suggested it, I had no idea how exhausting it would be. Key's energy levels were far beyond those of a normal teenage girl. She rushed excitedly between stores, starring through their windows in awe of what was inside. The items ranged from clothes, to candles, to games and even to stationary. It didn't matter what it was, everything was new to her. And she was curious about it all.
With her long strides it was difficult for me to keep up. Although we had to stop more than once for her to rest. Endurance was one of the few things that she did not retain. I suppose if I had the power to disappear and appear anywhere at will, I wouldn't be too used to walking around frantically either. We had already had the conversation about teleporting in public. She was sceptical at first, but reluctantly agreed when I explained that she would probably be kidnapped by the government if she did. She really was a strange creature.
Still... I could feel the stares. Most of them were dazed or awed, but a select few were... Something darker. It was dangerous, being exposed like this. But I reasoned that the hybrid Endermen wouldn't attack in plain sight of normal people. I didn't know for sure, but it was a theory that had to be tested.
Although, I thought as another group of boys passed us, starring at my companion. Were the hybrids our only worry?
"Raven?" I snapped back to reality and looked across the table we had decided to rest at. It was positioned in front of a small café, out in the open air with only a faint breeze to disturb us. Key was studying me, a worried look on her face. "You had a scary expression."
I smiled and laughed a little nervously. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Her head titled to the side in question, a few strands of purple hair falling across her eyes. Giving a reassuring smile I took a sip of the coffee I had ordered. "Don't worry about it."
She nodded. "Do you think... M- Maybe, I could... Order another donut?" The last few words dropped into a hushed mumble.
"Do you know how many you've had today?" I smirked. We both knew the answer. It was at least ten. "If you don't watch how many you eat, you'll gain weight."
The Endergirl shook her head. "Hybrids don't gain weight."
She said it as if it were blatantly obvious. "Why not?" I asked, peering over my cup.
"We're designed to be perfect. We don't age, we don't grow, and if we're injured we heal in a matter of days."
I glared at her. It explained so much. I suppose if you're trying to make a new creature you give them the best of everything. It also explained why every hybrid that I had seen so far was so god damn attractive.
I sighed, finally deciding that I was too tired to go on. "We should start heading back soon. David's probably bored mad without us."
Key blushed a little at his name, the memory of falling asleep on him rising back into her mind. I grinned, who knew that David was capable of such a feat? And with such a cute girl too...
Knowing him, he probably didn't even mean for it to happen. Mm, it was definitely a fluke. I poured the last dregs of coffee down my throat and stood up, Key followed suit. I might have been tired, and David might have been bored without us, but the real reason we were leaving was because... Well, I was broke. The Endergirl had somehow managed to deplete the majority of my savings in a single day.
The prospect of money seemed foreign to her. There obviously wasn't a similar custom in the End. I didn't really mind though, the only thing I was saving for were throwing knives. Custom weighted throwing knives... But I seemed to forget the fact every time she asked me; 'I- Is this okay?' It would appear I wasn't as strong willed as I had thought. Not when it came to cuteness anyway.
As we walked through the halls, the once overflowing crowds now dwindling, I began to notice the stares again. Each person we passed had one of three reactions when they laid eyes upon Key, who shyly averted her gaze each time.
One, awe.
Two, jealously.
Three... Want.
The latter was the most subtle, but also the most worrying. Hell it was a Saturday afternoon, at a popular mall in a small city. The place was practically filled with people our age. Couples on dates, groups of friends going to the cinemas, the occasional loner that ran out of ice cream at home and only ventured outside of their bedroom in order to find more. To be fair I usually fit in with the loner group, but I tried to ignore that fact.
Regardless of who it was, there was always a small portion of guys that we passed who stared at Key in a... Dirty, way. I suddenly felt protective of her. She was, of course, oblivious to what I was observi-
We were descending the stairs to the ground level when an ear shattering wolf whistle pierced the air behind us. I groaned, someone had finally found the balls to do something. Key turned around in confusion and I was left no choice but to duplicate her action.
When I saw what lay before us, I regretted turning around instantly. Jacob, took a few more stair steps towards us. Masculine, a little on the pasty side, blonde and of course, blue eyed. He wore an expensive looking leather jacket over a white undershirt. His hair was swept backwards so as not to obscure his vision through the dark shades that he wore. He was notorious for having a way with women. In fact I was sure he had dated almost every girl in the grade at some point.
He strode towards us until he was on the same level, flanked by a group of three. Grinning cockily, looking Key up and down as if she were a three course meal. I smirked when I noticed him stand up a little straighter, trying to match Key's height. Amusingly, he fell short by a few millimetres.
His cocky attitude turned hostile. "What's so funny Raven?"
I raised an eyebrow. "The fact that you think you've got a chance with her."
Key looked at me, still confused. She was as innocent as ever.
Unable to think up a retort, the boy returned his attention to the purple haired girl. "My name is Jacob, Jacob Tennant. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure." Before I could react, he took Keys hand and kissed it softly.
The girl recoiled almost as soon as the action had taken place. In fact, I wasn't even sure if he had managed to pull it off at all. She held the endangered hand close to her chest, stepping towards me a little. "I- I'm Key."
Jacob's eyes narrowed slightly, but his recovery time was uncanny. "Forgive me, I was a little forward. Key, was it? It's a beautiful name."
If I didn't know better I would have almost thought him a gentleman. Deciding that letting this progress any further might be dangerous, I spoke up. "Alright Jacob, you've met the pretty girl, now fuck off."
He flinched a little at my words. Although remarkably, he managed to hold in his anger and tutted at me instead. His role as a well-mannered teen prevailing. "Raven, Raven, Raven. I'm just talking to her, it's not every day you see someone so..." He looked back to the girl. "Cute."
I rolled my eyes. "Then say what you have to say and leave, asshole."
The fake smile was wiped from his face. His hand grasped at my shoulder as he pushed me against the wall of the stairwell, the rough concrete slamming into my skin. "Show a little respect, bitch."
Instinctively, I reached for one of the holsters that held my hatchets against my thighs.
Key may not have quite understood being hit on, but she could recognise aggression. "P- Please don't fight."
"You should go on by yourself Key, I'll be right there." I replied, knowing that the stuck up boy wouldn't back down.
Jacob laughed. "She's not going anywhere."
As if on cue, the three thugs that were his entourage moved to cut off the exits. I stared daggers into the threat before me. "Just let her go. That way she won't have to watch your ass getting handed to you."
"There's four of us, Raven. And if you don't start treating my nicely..." He threw a fist into my stomach.
I let go a gasp of breath as the air was knocked out of me. Four. Maybe three... But four? They would be on me in seconds. It would take a miracle t-
The echoing sound of a dooring being opened a few floors up, followed by a perfected whistle. I recognised the tune and for some reason voiced the lyrics in my head.
Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady...
Everybody turned to watch the stairs, waiting for whoever it was to reveal themselves. Interestingly, I noticed the tune stopping at odd places and resuming a few seconds later. It was a little annoying actually, and I couldn't help but wonder what the whistler was doing during such breaks.
The origin of the haphazard melody stopped a few steps above us, as did the song. He wore a plain orange shirt, classic denim jeans, and converses. His hair was a mess of tangled brown, sticking out at odd angels. A large tub of ice cream was clutched in his hands, cookies and cream. The boy, perhaps a year or two older than I was, held a plastic spoon in his mouth as he stared down at the scene before him with a single brown eye and a single green one.
He tilted his head to look at Key, then at myself, then Jacob. Descending the last few steps, he stared into Key's eyes. She shifted a little, but stared back, glancing briefly at his ice cream.
The boy slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out another plastic spoon. He scooped up a small portion of the contents in the tub and held it out to the Endergirl. Her eyes lit up as she took the offering without a second thought and savoured its flavour.
He smiled. "You're pretty."
She blushed a little. "Th- Thank you."
His smile somehow got bigger. But as he turned to face me, it returned to a straight line. His eyes studied me intensely. He was looking for something... Almost as if something about me was wrong and he was trying to detect what it was. The mismatched eyes danced with a childish attitude as they stared into mine.
"Smile." He ordered.
I glanced briefly at Jacob, who seemed about as befuddled as I was. Complying with the request, I forced the corners of my mouth up a little.
His satisfaction was overwhelming. "You're pretty too."
Jacob flickered his gaze back to me, trying to see whatever is was that the mysterious boy saw. He must have, because his eyes widened a little behind his shades. It was my turn to shift slightly as I replied. "Thanks..."
The boy's quizzical gaze now found its way to Jacob, who puffed himself up a little, preparing to be complimented. I expected something like 'You're handsome' or 'Nice sunglasses'.
The exceptionally strange teen glared viciously at his feet. "Your shoelace is untied."
I couldn't help but giggle. Giggle? Where the fuck did that come from? I don't giggle. I laugh at people and their stupidity. I don't giggle. Clearing my throat, I watched the events unfold.
A tub of ice cream was shoved into Jacobs now deflated chest as the brown haired boy kneeled down. I noticed something odd as he retied the hazard. Since Jacob was holding the giant tub, he couldn't actually see what was happening. The laces were being tied... But they were being tied together. Whoever this kid was, he was smart.
When he stood up, Jacob had recovered from the initial puzzlement that almost every one of us had been plunged into when the stranger arrived. "Listen here dickhead, we're kind of in the middle of something."
The boy nodded, first at him but then at me. "Indeed you are."
Raising my leg, I kicked Jacob hard in the chest, fully extending to send him as far as possible. The tub of cookies and cream went flying upwards as he slammed against the opposing wall and staggered, attempting to regain his footing. But the task was impossible with a string connecting both feet. He swore as he fell backwards and rolled down the next flight of stairs, falling still at the bottom. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Key and our saviour rush towards the now gravity infected desert. I saw them dive for it simultaneously, but I didn't have time to see the outcome. The three thugs that had been standing guard jolted towards me. Within a split second, my hatchets were grasped in my hands and I flew towards them.
Spinning around the first fist, I slammed an elbow into the boy's temple, sending him to the ground. I ducked under the next attack and landed a solid blow with the blunt side of my axe to the chin. But in doing so, I had left myself open to be hit square in the side, which the last offender took advantage of, sending me back a few steps in pain.
Brushing off the hit, I ran towards him. His guard was good, well held, I'd need a different angle. As I was about a meter away I dodged sideways, planting a foot on the concrete wall and flipping forwards, letting my axe swing around to crack against his skull.
The now motionless body slumped to the floor just as I landed, crouched. My breath was shaky, as it was after every fight. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and it took me a few seconds to contain myself. Eventually, I managed to stand up and slide my tools back into their holsters.
I examined the scene around me. Three fallen here, one at the bottom of the stairs. They weren't badly injured, just unconscious, I had made sure of that.
A small grin spread across my lips. Naat'áanii would be proud.
Key and the unknown boy sat over a mess of quickly melting desert, the tub upturned on the filthy concrete floor. Their faces were the pure definition of sadness and sorrow. They stared at the treat like two horribly deprived puppies, separated forever from their bone.
We may not have lost the melee, but we had lost something far more precious...
We had lost, the ice cream.
Perspective Change: David
Hunting was difficult, to say the least. In games it was much simpler. But here, every time I got even remotely close to that damn sheep, it bolted.
I glared at it from my hiding place. For the last hour I had been chasing it around, trying to herd it into a corner, but it wasn't as stupid as I had thought. It ran circles around me like there wasn't even a challenge. So I had decided to try a different tactic. I found a slight dip in the ground, most likely from a long past creeper explosion, and crawled into it. Covering myself with the greenest grass I could find.
It was only a matter of time...
The creature edged closer, searching for a worthy meal. Not yet...
It seemed to sight the grass I had laid out as bait, and trotted a little further. Not yet...
It took another step forwards, lowering its head to munch on the greenery. Now.
I jolted forwards, tackling the wool laden animal to the ground and sitting atop of it. It struggled and squirmed underneath me, shrieking with a high pitched wail. Taking up my axe, I hesitated for a moment as I realised what I was about to do. I was about to take the life of something that had done me no wrong... But I had to. If I wanted to survive, I had to.
"Forgive me." I uttered under my breath.
The axe fell against its throat and the struggle ended, only a few final kicks proceeding it.
I sighed as I stared down at what I had... Accomplished, wasn't the right word. The strenuous tug of guilt rested in the pit of my stomach. But the act was done now, I had to make the most of what had been taken... I searched for a place to begin the gruesome task of skinning.
Perhaps a life could be saved through another's sacrifice.
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So little sacrifices, so little time
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It's 12:51 in the night so I have to sleep RN
So stay tune for the next chapter and remember:
"GO TO HEAVEN, AND TELL THE DEVIL, I'M ABOUT TO SLEEP!"