On the Move
The high pitched whine of Aster’s hoverbike engine had never been a pleasant sound, but with two bikes it was even worse. Pidge didn’t seem to notice for some reason, was part of her abilities as a snowy owl? There were a lot of things he didn’t understand about her species. Unbothered as she may have been, he could tell she was getting tired, the same as him. They had been at it all night, going full throttle towards the second camp in the hopes of lessening the gap between them and the other competitors.
Just then, Pidge motioned at Aster, then pointed in the direction of some hills. He didn’t see anything, but she must have spotted shelter of some kind. Turning towards the direction she pointed, the two of them rode for another minute or so before Aster saw it. A small cave opening from the looks of it, and fairly hidden unless you were looking for it. How the hell did she spot this from that far away?
As the two of them neared the entrance, they slowed to a stop and dismounted their hoverbikes, turning them off. “We can stay here after we make sure nobody else is too. I’ve got the better eyesight so stay behind me.” Pidge whispered, raising her crossbow in front of her. The two entered the cave and quickly searched it, finding that while it was small and unoccupied, there were signs that somebody had been there, and left in a hurry. It was dark, but they could see there were a few supplies scattered around a darker spot, which Aster assumed was where the last resident had lit a fire.
“Looks like you weren’t the only one to find this place.” Aster bent down and touched the ground, his hand coming away covered in ash. “They’re cold, but we should keep watch in case whoever was here last comes back for their stuff.”
“If they come back at all. Most of this stuff looks like it’s empty or used.” Pidge tossed aside an empty MRE packet, picking up a heavy looking pan. “Can’t blame them for leaving this pan behind, it weighs almost as much as my crossbow. This would have been a pain to lug around, why would they grab this in the first place?”
Aster shrugged as he moved back towards the entrance to bring their hoverbikes inside. “If it’s that heavy, it’s probably cast iron. I don’t know about where you’re from but cast iron stuff is pretty expensive back in the forest. Maybe a sponsor gave it to them?” Leading the bikes back inside, he dug through his pack to find a basic fire starter he grabbed at the first camp. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t do so well when it’s cold, and if someone ambushes us and I’m sluggish, you’d be on your own to defend us. We’re gonna have to risk a small fire. Could you go grab something to burn? I think I saw some decent bushes on our way in.”
Pidge seemed to consider what he said for a moment, as if filing away that information for later use. “Sure. I could probably nail them by myself, but two fighters is better than one.” Aster waited until she was out of the cave to pull out his dart kit. Taking inventory, he had supplies to make around 18 more darts. He needed to be more selective with who he used them on, or else he’d run out before even reaching the second game. Hopefully one of the camps would have something he could use. A loud clattering sound came from behind Aster, causing him to panic and shift colors to match the darkness of the cave walls. Turning around, he saw Pidge laughing her ass off.
“What the hell, man? Next time you do that, you’re getting a knife in your face.” Aster scolded, putting on a friendly air. In reality, he was concerned, thinking back on her words at the first camp. NOBODY sneaks up on me, but she managed to do exactly that with her hands full. Come the third or fourth games, if she catches me by surprise, I’m fucked.
“Sorry, I just-” She wheezed, catching her breath from laughing so hard. “I couldn’t resist! You were so focused on that thing, and I’m pretty quiet when I want to be. What is that, anyway?” She peered over Aster’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at it.
“It’s my item, an herb bag.” If he just said it was nothing, she’d see right through him. If he gave her half the truth though… “With the right plants mixed in the right portions, I can make certain antidotes and tranquilizers. I was taking inventory, I’ve used some tranquilizers to rob people on the road.”
“Huh, sounds complicated, which is boring. I prefer to just kill people. Dead people don’t want their stuff back.” She took her crossbow off and sat against the wall, looking expectantly at Aster. “Well? You’re the survival expert, so expertly survive us a fire.”
Fireside Exchanges
“What’ll they have at the second camp?” Pidge crowed, clearly bored as she lay on the cave floor. “I hope they have pizza again, I love pizza.”
“That sounds like a very good question for the people who run this show, of which I am not a part.” Aster tiredly responded, staring at the cast iron pan sitting in the middle of the fire they had built. Scratch that, the fire that he had built.
“Yeah no shit sherlock, and what’s the pan for anyway?” She sat up and looked at him, exasperated.
He gave her a weird look. “What’s a sherlock?” She moved to answer when he held up his hand. “You know what, I don’t want to know. To answer your question, the pan is filled with the charcoal from the fire the last guy left behind.”
Pidge returned the weird look tenfold. “Okayyy, why would you heat up some charcoal? Are you high? Did you take some uh, special herbs from your little kit? Can I have some?”
“No! I don’t-” Aster sighed, rubbing his brow with his scaly hand. Mother give me strength, this bird brain is gonna be the death of me. He wrapped some spare cloth around his hand before grabbing the pan, taking it out of the fire and setting it aside before responding. “I’m activating the charcoal, that’s why I’m heating it up. Activated charcoal can bond with certain toxic substances, neutralizing them in the body.”
“Okay but like in english?”
Aster put on a mocking baby voice. “Poison bad. Charcoal hug poison so poison can’t be meanie to organs. Organs live. You live. That simple enough for you?”
“Yup! See, was that so hard?” Pidge snickered and laid back down. “Anyways, while you play with your ashes, I’m gonna get some sleep. I’m assuming once we get to the second camp you want to move out right away again. Never wanna stay in one place for too long, huh?”
“At least the pretty bird is smart.” Aster muttered to himself. Before he could process what was happening, his throat was pinned down to the cave floor, Pidge’s talons threatening to draw blood.
A visceral growl escaped her, her face contorted in anger and…fear? “Don’t. Fucking. Call. Me. Pretty. Bird.” She looked as if she were about to rip him apart, but after a moment she let him go and laid back down. “Not if you want to keep your blood inside you.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Aster rubbed his throat, going back to the ashes. Note to self, no more pretty bird. Why does that phrase get such a reaction out of her? Pidge was turned away from him, clearly pretending to have gone to sleep. He’ll have to tip toe around her tomorrow. Until then, all he could do was finish up and get some rest himself.
Tomorrow would be interesting.