I was going to have a mourning chapter a few chapters back, but I completely forgot. Dx
And I think Stranger would have no problem with leaving the grubbs. He's really selfish, and the grubbs live a peaceful lifestyle so they don't really have anything to worry about anymore. For now, anyway.
And i'm sorry for writing such a crappy chapter, i'm having a bad writing day for some reason. :C
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Night had fallen on the wetlands. Tiny glittering zappflies skimmed over the dead-calm water, causing fish to jump in a vain attempt to catch an easy meal. Crickets chirped loudly and fans of reeds rustled along the bank as something grey and slick slid between them.
The grubbs had given Charlotte a room to stay for the night. It was a small hut by the docks, dimly lit by candles. She lay curled up on her grubb-sized cot, her eyes distant with thought. All of her belongings (which was barely anything) were piled up in a corner, carelessly tossed aside.
Buckner was dead. She was having trouble accepting that. He had raised her, but she never considered him her father: she had cared for him out of respect, not out of love. He had always run a strict scheduel, told everyone what to do, and she had always followed his orders at the peak of obedience. She rarely had to make decisions for herself, and with him gone, she felt lost. Charlotte hadn't realised just how hopelessly lost she felt until she was all alone, without the grubbs around.
Pathetic, she thought, a faint growl rumbling in her chest.
What am I doing here? Why do I even exist anymore? I've outlived my purpose; it died with Buckner.
Charlotte forced herself into a sitting position and rubbed her head, glancing absent-mindedly out the window towards where somebody moved
She stood up, opened the window, and stuck her head out. Somebody was definately walking out there, and it wasn't a grubb.
Charlotte left the hut and ducked down, creeping through the fortress without making a single sound. The tall shape entered the grubb village and glanced around, its neon-green eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"You!" Charlotte demanded, standing to her full height. "What the hell are you doing here?"
If Stranger was suprised to see her, he didn't show it. "What are
you doing here?"
"Dammit! Answer my question!" She yelled.
A light flickered on inside a nearby hut, and Mola poked his head out of a window.
"Quiet out there! I need my sleep!" He looked over at Stranger and bounced with exitement. "Steef dude! There you are, man! Its about time you showed up, we called you ages ago."
"You called him here?" Charlotte scratched her head. "Wait, you know eachother?"
Mola nodded furiously. "Yes! He helped us destroy Sekto's dam! Every grubb knows his name! Well, his nickname, anyway."
"What're you doing here?" Stranger asked again, baring his teeth for emphasis. Charlotte snorted.
"I don't really know." She admitted. She suddently remembered something.
"Have any luck with Buckner?" She said smugly. Stranger closed his fists angrily and shook his head.
"I found out he wus' dead after i'd fought through a hundred of his outlaws!" He snarled, as if angry she hadn't told him.
"Sorry." She shrugged, trying to supress a laugh. Buckner being dead pissed Stranger off, and that was, on her behalf, a benefit.
"What about you?" He growled. "They finally notice how much yore head's worth? Sucks, doesn't it?"
Charlotte didn't reply.
Mola dashed out of his hut, and torches everywhere were lit, causing the entire fortress to glow.
"Steef dude's here!" He said happily, banging on the door of a neat little house. A voice rang out from inside.
"Steef dude! S'up?" Ophelia asked, pushing open the house's door and running over. She shook Stranger's hand with her violently firm grip, and he flinched.
"Nuthin'." He said, pulling his hand free. "Just bounty huntin'."
"Good! Good! Well we've got two jobs for you now, fun, huh? Oh, and why did you come so late?"
Stranger lowered his head, his eyes dark, as though telling her to mind her own buisness. Ophelia stepped back a pace. "Uh, kay, no problem." She said quietly. Charlotte stared at him angrily.
Stop being such a jerk! She thought, her teeth locking tightly together inside her mouth.
Mola skipped around in a circle, tackling a sudden burst of energy. "You can show that chuggler that's been treating us like shit who's boss! All right, man! I'd do it myself, but he'd eat me..."
"S'no problem." Stranger growled. "But whats a chuggler?"
Mola stopped skipping. He punched his hand with his little fist, swaying in a fighting stance.
"Big fishhead, keeps stealing our food and picking on us!" He squealed. "You have to stop him. He said he was gonna eat us if we fought back!"
"Steef dude," Ophelia said, "he's really dangerous. We tried fighting him off, and... well, it was messy." She shook her head sadly.
"I can help." Charlotte offered. Stranger's face twitched, as though resisting a laugh. "I'm serious! I can fight just as well as you can!"
"Great!" Ophelia said enthusiastically, glad that she wouldin't have to help with any life-risking fighting. "You both outnumber him! This'll be easy!"
"When's he around?" Stranger asked.
"In the morning, really early." Mola said, rocking back and forth on his heels. Charlotte tossed back her head.
"Great, well, now that that's all sorted out i'm going to bed." She growled, swinging around and stalking back towards her house. For some reason she felt competitive towards Stranger, as though having him around made things worse for her.
Buckner being dead, she decided.
If I hadn't run into Stranger, maybe things would've been different.
She closed the door to her hut and collapsed on her bed, shivering despite the warm night air.
Mola blinked curiously. "Why's she so angry?" He asked, tapping his feet. Stranger shrugged and followed Ophelia back towards the heart of the fortress, where both their houses were.