The last one to survive gets a million dollars.
What do you get?
Survivor
Everyone split up again after Relena left. Now that Relena was gone, Duo explained to Quatre, the whole "safer in numbers" theory was vanquished.
Trowa disappeared along the beach, Wufei to the trees, and Heero...to the trees too, since there was nowhere else to go.
Quatre and Duo became unofficial buddies after that. Although Quatre would have preferrred the company of Trowa, his silent friend kept disappearing before he could even catch up so that was ruled out. Besides, Duo was much more talkative. A little too talkative, Quatre thought.
He half listened as Duo talked about the benefits of coconuts and how the world would be a much better place if everyone just sat down and talked over coconut tea. Quatre thought that he would go "coco" nuts himself if Duo didn't stop talking about them but the last time he attempted that, Duo made his elephant mating call noise and Quatre had to cover his ears in his embarrassment. If only he wasn't afraid of being alone.
After a meal of more coconuts (Aaauuggh!), Duo and Quatre finally bumped into someone.
Heero was sitting on the ground, making something out of rocks and twigs.
"What'cha making?" Duo asked needlessly. He knew Heero wouldn't answer but he just said it anyway, out of habit.
Heero actually looked up from his work and studied them. Even though Quatre was looking down on Heero, Heero's killer-gaze still made him shiver. Duo, as usual, didn't seem to notice.
Heero looked back down to continue on what he was working with.
Quatre looked over Heero's shoulder. It appeared to be...some sort of weapon. Heero had taken a triangular-shaped rock and polished it into super-sharpness. Now he was busy working on a handle for a better grip.
A true survivor. But where did he find the meat to use it on?
"So, what're you planning to kill?" Duo asked a second after he had that thought. Duo stepped closer and Heero flinched. Quatre could see the tendons on Heero's arm stand out as he tightened his grip on the weapon.
"Actually, the question should be, who are you planning to kill?" Duo said mysteriously, and he threw back his head and laughed like a maniac.
Heero didn't laugh. Then again, he seldom did.
"C'mon, let's go, Quatre, and leave Heero with his little games." Duo began walking away. "See you tonight," he added.
Quatre followed Duo but he looked back over his shoulder uneasily. He thought he felt something boring in between his shoulder blades.
They all met again that night to share dinner. Quatre relit the fire while he and Duo waited for the others to arrive.
Wufei came first. As usual he brought nothing to contribute. Then again, neither did Duo or Quatre. Quatre didn't think coconuts counted.
Wufei took his usual perch up in a tree.
Heero arrived next. And something else. The skinned carcass of an animal lay across his back as he dragged the bloody body towards the fire. The animal was even bigger than he was and Quatre wasn't able to identify it; it was so mutilated. It must have put up some struggle. Anything going against Heero would have.
Duo ran up to help but Heero just shrugged him off. He supposed Heero would want to do everything for himself, since it was his prize. Duo didn't really much mind. Heero was nice enough to share food and that was all that counted.
They all watched as Heero sat by the fire and cut up pieces of meat with a practiced efficiency. His arms were bloody up to the elbows and more blood was getting onto his face as he wiped the sweat off from sitting so close to the fire. His eyes glistened in an almost malicious hunger. Quatre shivered and moved closer to Duo.
Finally, the meat was cut up and everyone gathered around the fire to roast the meat on sticks. Duo was already salivating and he kept on licking his lips every five seconds. His piece of meat bobbed up and down in his eagerness to have it done before everyone else's.
Quatre looked around. No one else noticed but Trowa wasn't there. Quatre tried to point this out to the others but, by now, they were busy eating their meals. He supposed he should, too.
They were down to the last pieces when Duo asked, "Hey, shouldn't we be saving some for Trowa?"
Heero was about to reach for more, then stopped. He looked puzzled. "Why?" he asked.
Duo rolled his eyes. "Because," he said sarcastically, "I wouldn't want to come to dinner with an empty stomach and no food left." Quatre doubted Duo truly cared about Trowa but was more concerned about the morals of empty stomachs.
Heero stared back at Duo for a second, then shrugged and wiped his bloody hands on his pants. He got up to leave.
"Suit yourself," he said. "But I really doubt he's coming back."
The certainty with which Heero said these words made a shiver crawl up Quatre's spine.
Heero didn't even look back as he walked into the darkness.
Quatre looked over at Duo, wondering if Duo noticed anything odd either.
Duo was already staring at the last pieces of meat, his mouth watering in greed. Despite what Duo said earlier, he was still considering eating the last pieces, Trowa or not. But when he saw Quatre looking at him, he put his hand behind his head and grinned sheepishly. "We could leave it there for him, if you want. I'm sure he's coming back." Then he scuttled away and left Quatre and Wufei alone at the fire.
Wufei said, "If you don't eat them, they will go to waste."
Quatre shook his head. Wufei shrugged indifferently, then went off into the bushes to do his business.
Quatre hugged himself. All of a sudden, it was really cold, even so close to the fire.
He lay down and curled himself up into a ball. The meat in his stomach made him feel unwell. He didn't like that.
The fire burned itself out and everyone fell asleep.
Trowa still hadn't come back.
The next morning Heero was already off. No one saw him leave.
Quatre stared forlornly at the fire and at the uneaten pieces of meat still lingering beside it. The flies had already gotten to it and now they were munching greedily away. For some reason, that scene made Quatre feel sick.
"Time to go off and explore the island!" Duo called to him from afar.
Quatre snapped back to reality. Anyone could with that voice of his.
He shook his head and rose to follow Duo out of the clearing. Duo was already jumping for joy at the new adventures that they would face today. Even though they had already explored the island twice over.
Quatre looked back at the fire one more time, then turned around to follow Duo.
A scream pierced the air. Duo and Quatre looked up from the bush they were inspecting. It was Wufei.
Duo and Quatre looked at each other. Wufei never screamed unless he was being attacked.
"Don't worry, Wu-wu, we're coming to save you!" Duo called loudly.
Another cry came from Wufei, this one of anguish. Quatre wasn't sure if it was because he was being attacked again, or because Duo had called him Wu-wu. Probably the latter.
They ran as quickly as they could to the direction of the sound.
A minute later, they saw Wufei. He was still alive, and Quatre sighed in relief. Then he bent down to see how Wufei was doing.
A long cut ran down his arm and blood was running from it. Deep enough to be serious, but not enough to permanently injure. Wufei was sitting on the grass, a knee up, hand clamped over his injured arm. He glared as Quatre came over, then allowed himself to be ministrated.
"So, what happened to you?" Duo asked as he watched Quatre do his work. Out of Quatre's pocket came a roll of medical tape, then some gauze. Duo shook his head. Only Quatre could materialize medical supplies out of thin air.
Wufei spoke as Quatre worked. "I was attacked from behind by some manner of beast, I didn't have the chance to find out. Right after it injured me, it disappeared as quick as it left, back into the trees. It probably decided that it's quarry was too strong for it, and gave up." With that, Wufei's chest puffed up in pride. More blood came flowing out the bandages when he did that, and Quatre had to have a quick race with Wufei to see if he could staunch the blood first. Wufei didn't seem to notice.
"Well, whatever it was, it could be back. Now that you're injured, you'll have less of a chance of fighting it." It was the most reasonable thing Duo had said all week.
"I know!" Duo added. Wufei's head snapped up in suspicion. The last time Duo had a brilliant idea, they all ended up on this friggin' island for more than a week. "Why don't we all just stick together?"
Wufei groaned and held his head. Duo just laughed and held out a hand to help him up. Of course, Wufei ignored it. He struggled to his feet while Quatre put away the extra bandages, brow furrowed in worry.
Quatre was thinking. That cut on Wufei's arm wasn't made by any animal. It was too clean, too deliberate. If Relena were here, she could vouch for him. No, that cut wasn't from an animal. It was more like...the slice of a blade.
At the implications that that brought up, Quatre's eyes widened. Then he shook his head, and forced himself not to think about it. Just be wary from now on.
"Hey, Quatre, you coming?" Duo called. Once again, Quatre was brought back to the moment and he sighed. No use worrying his friends. If he had some more evidence, then maybe then....
As all three of them left, Duo and Wufei arguing the entire way, a slight rustle came from within the bushes. A pair of intelligent eyes watched their departure with calculated hunger.
Quatre sighed. Duo and Wufei had been bickering all day. The main source over all this was Duo's calling Wufei "Wu-wu" the entire time while Wufei threatened to chop Duo's braid off. Besides that, they disagreed over everything. Everything.
They were still arguing when they finally arrived at the campfire that night, and still going strong when Heero arrived.
Quatre watched him warily as he padded into the clearing, feet as silent as a cat's. Since when did Heero walk that way and why? There was no reason to act mysterious around his friends.
Both Duo and Wufei had stopped bickering long enough to watch Heero walk towards them. He looked angry. For the first time since they arrived here, Heero came empty-handed.
"So, no meat tonight?" Duo asked rhetorically.
Heero didn't answer. Instead, his eyes stared intently at Wufei, then at the bandage around his arm. Quatre saw Heero's hand twitch unintentionally to his belt, where he normally strapped his blade. There was a bloody stain on the tip.
Quatre gasped, then quickly shut his mouth when Heero looked his way. Heero stared at him for awhile, as if judging the quality of pork on the market. Then his eyes wandered to Duo, who smiled amiably. Heero licked his lips.
"Well, if there's no food, then there's no reason for me to stay here." Wufei was about to get up when Quatre quickly pulled him down. Wufei winced as his arm was jarred.
"Uh..." Quatre stuttered as Heero turned to look at him again. "Maybe it'd be best if we all just stuck together, for now, I mean, you don't know what's out there, I mean...." Talking about hunters was the last thing he wanted to do. "...you're still hurt, I mean, the blood, uh...."
Duo unwittingly saved him. "Why don't we all have a bunch of coconuts!" Then he got up and ran off to their cache.
Quatre almost wanted to run after him, in his haste to get out of Heero's srutinizing gaze, but Wufei was still hurt. He couldn't leave him alone at a time like this.
Wufei sniffed and decided to stay for just a while longer. Come dawn, he would make his exit.
Quatre watched as Heero stared after Duo, thumbing his blade the entire time. Duo, of course, too absorbed in his coconut fetish, didn't notice. He grabbed a whole bunch from the pile he was compiling, rolled them to the fire, and started cracking them open. Or tried to.
"Man, how does Trowa do this?" he asked, bopping one on the ground. It didn't budge.
At the mention of Trowa's name, a lump appeared in Quatre's throat. Where was Trowa? He knew Trowa had his reasons for being left alone but at a time when Heero was starting to hunt up his friends and bringing down unknown bodies for dinner....
Quatre gasped, then quickly covered his mouth. Could it be? Heero wouldn't do such a thing...would he? That carcass...no, corpse, that Heero dragged in the other night. It was skinned so no one could tell, and it hadn't looked like any animal that Quatre had seen before and Quatre knew many.
Quatre stole a glance at Heero, then looked away.
The bodies were about the same size. And if Heero killed Trowa that night, then that meant....
Quatre stood up and lurched to the bushes.
From a distance they could all hear Quatre retching into the foliage.
"Man, am I that bad at this?" Duo asked, holding up the unopened coconuts.
"Allow me," Wufei said. Duo shrugged and rolled one over to him.
Arranging the coconut carefully in front of him, Wufei took a deep breath.
In a lightning-fast "chop-suey", the coconut was cut neatly in half.
"Woah," Duo breathed. "I never knew you could do that." Even Heero looked amazed.
Wufei shrugged and gave them both a smug look, rubbing the side of his palm.
"There are many things you don't know about me, Maxwell," he replied and calmly sipped from his coconut.
Duo looked from his coconut to Wufei's, then asked, "Could you do mine?" He sounded like he was asking for an autograph.
Wufei shrugged, then made another "chop-suey". It was as perfect as the first. Then he did the others, just to get Duo off his back. Duo hugged every one of them like they were the most precious things in the world.
"You coming or what, Winner?" Wufei called to the bushes. Might as well let everyone know about his superiority.
Quatre was wiping his mouth on a leaf, careful to get rid of all traces of the dinner he had last night. Though most of it would have been digested by now. He gulped, and tried not to think of Trowa coming out as feces.
Taking a few shuddering breaths, he calmly walked back to the fire, careful not to reveal anything.
"Meat wasn't good for you?" Heero asked. Quatre wasn't sure whether Heero taunted him because he knew Quatre knew the truth or because he was genuinely concerned. Quatre didn't know what to think anymore.
He shook his head. Duo offered him a coconut and Quatre took it without even looking. Wufei had a look of disappointment on his face.
If Quatre was correct, that meant that Heero would try at it again either tonight or tomorrow, since there was no meat today. Quatre looked over at Wufei. Wufei didn't look like he suspected anything about the close call that he just had.
No, it was best to stick together from now on.
Now, to get them to stick together.
Oddly enough, it was Wufei's "chop-suey" that did it. Duo wasn't calling him "Wu-wu" anymore but, rather, "Master Chang". He said it respectfully and drank from the coconut with two hands, just the way Wufei did. Duo was even crossing his legs as he sat, copying Wufei's meditative pose.
They would never believe him, Quatre realized. Heero was Duo's best friend and Wufei would just say he was showing weakness for making up such a tale.
Quatre's hands shook. He was all alone.
The Art of the Dragon!