15 June 2012

The Hooded Figure

I woke up suddenly. It was eerily quiet. Pitch darkness surrounded me. I must've fallen asleep whilst waiting to kill. Great spy you are. I became aware of the feeling that someone was watching me. I looked around, my grip on the laser gun tightening. My x-ray goggles fastened on as I sat up. Soon, I found the source of my peculiar feeling. The goggles showed a pair of white eyes staring at me through the darkness. The owner of the eyes was sitting in a tree opposite to mine, holding up a bow directed at my face. Was this the mysterious person from yesterday? "Put the gun down." a voice growled. "Why should I?" I retorted. There was a clatter as the bow was dropped from the tree. Reluctantly, I threw the laser gun onto the ground. "Who are you? What do you want?" I inquired. "Are you Scarlet Ray?" the voice said without answering my question. "I might be. What's it to you?" "I've heard stories about you. You sound good. Want to team up?" the voice said. I wasn't sure if I could trust someone who was little more than a voice, two eyes, and a bow. "Only if you tell me who you are." "I," the voice said, jumping down from the tree. He picked up his bow. "am the greatest archer in all of Opussia. The amazing, extraordinary Chet Laird." With the end of his declaration, he shot an arrow into a bird sitting on a small tree. The bird fell to the ground. I followed his lead, jumping down from my tree and picking up the laser gun. "Chet Laird." I pondered. "If you wanted to be my ally, then why did you try to shoot me?" "To see just how good you were." he said, strolling over to the bird, which he picked up. The arrow was perfectly implanted in its head. "Well obviously I'm better than you, or else I would be dead." I laughed. Chet chuckled. "Allies?" he asked me, throwing down the bird. "Allies." I confirmed. *** Between us, we killed three other competitors within an hour. One a young boy only ten years of age, one a crazy woman with an axe, and the last a middle-aged man with a whole belt of knifes. "I'm hungry," I told Chet, noticing a faint rumbling in my stomach. "Me too," he replied, emerging from his hiding place in the bushes. He creeped over to an eating rabbit, his bow raised. "Don't be ridiculous." I said, hopping down from my tree. "This way, it's killed and cooked at the same time." I shot the rabbit with the laser gun. Its remains burned. Chet picked it up and ripped it in half, throwing some of it my way. I sat down on the floor, leaning against the tree. Chet sat down opposite me. We ate in silence. "Sorry, Chef Ray, but this is overcooked." he grinned, licking his fingers. I threw a bone at his face. "What's up with the mask?" I asked as the bone bounced off his black mask. Through the mask, all that could be seen were those eyes. "I don't want to be identified." he said mysteriously. I lunged forward and ripped off the mask, gasping as I saw what lay beneath. Previously, I thought Chet was at least twenty, but his face told me something completely different. "What are you? Fifteen? Sixteen?" I asked. "Sixteen." he admitted. He took down his black hood, revealing a quiff of spiked black hair. "Why cover up such nice hair with a hood?" I teased him. He furiously tried to flatten it down. "I'm thirsty." Chet changed the subject. I sighed, standing up. I ordered him to hold on tight to my arm. I jumped. We landed right next to a pond only metres away from the edge of the island. "Wow! Did we just-? I mean, did you-?" he asked excitedly. "Teleport? Yes. It's pretty cool." I finished for him. Chet continued to gaze in awe at me. "Well, are you thirsty or not?" Chet snapped out of his daydream, and walked over to the small pond. Surprisingly, the area was empty, but I watched his back whilst he drank, just in case. I was distracted, however, as a reddish glow illuminated the darkness. I looked over, to see the sun waking up on the horizon. "Look! Sunrise!" I gasped, grabbing Chet's hand and pulling him over to the beach. "No!" he moaned. "I don't like all that girly stuff!" "It's not girly!" I laughed, sitting down on the sand. "It's beautiful!" "I guess." Chet shrugged, sitting down beside me. We watched the red turn orange as the sun rose higher into the sky. All of a sudden, I became very aware of Chet's presence. Of his knee brushing up against mine. Of the heat that was radiating from him. Of his hand that was only inches from mine. Something like this had never happened to me before. I'd always dismissed it as something in fairy tales. It's just too good to be true. I lay my head against his shoulder, and he didn't resist. Instead, he put his arm around me. Together, we watched the last minute of the sunrise. We must have looked an odd pair, silhouetted against the bright orange sun. Me, in my black body suit and boots, him in his black robes and cloak. But to me, it was perfect. Until, of course, I remembered we were in a battle to the death.

FibrOBR - Scarlet Day 2 • Opuss № I