Joint Post! Like an Old Married Couple

[fluffydeathdealer]

[From just outside the jungle's trees, near the mountainside, some bickering can be heard:]

Here. It's probably fresher than you'd like, but it's all we have.
...I can't eat that, Bakura.
You don't have the option to be picky, Malik!
No...I really can't, you fool!
Tch... I can cook it a bit more, but we have to be careful, or the smoke from the fire will give us away!
Ughh...can't you find some fruit? Just look up.
Do you want to die? If someone finds you while I'm out looking for fruit, you'll have worse problems than having to eat meat.
But Bakura... [Malik sounds a bit like he might be ill.] My stomach...
O-oy! Hold on a little longer, okay? I'll see if I can find something close by. I'll stay within earshot, so if someone approaches, scream.
Just get a couple...I don't need that much.
Be quiet, you idiot. You need to eat something. [He chomps down on the meat Malik refused to eat.]
Well? I can't eat anything if you don't go get something!

((ooc: So! Tags will come from both Bakura and Malik. If we're going to tag you with both on a turn we'll put a "1/2" in the subject line, otherwise it's just one at a time. Also since the two of them are injured, we just ask that nobody with magic healing powers comes along to heal them up and stuff. Thanks!

Warnings for adult content in some threads.))

Comments

[obeytherod]

[Malik spots that purple hair a mile away, and quickly ducks behind a tree.

Oh...crap!

Of course, of course the one time he goes out...that wretched girl is out here! Maybe she wouldn't notice him...all he could do was try to stay still, and sneak his way back to the mountainside.]

[redrosechose]

[Unfortunately for Malik, it wasn't Eleanor's eyes he had to dodge. An alarm comes up from the river as he's ousted by one of her monsters and she turns, eyes falling on him.

And the first thing that comes into her mind is rage.]

YOU!

[obeytherod]

[Oh...@#$!

Malik, still far too hurt to really book it, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a trading card.

...which he then focuses all his mental strength on. Bakura had taught him how to use these cards as doorways, but he still had only managed to summon a 1000 ATK monster at best.

So, out came Sangan from his card. A measly defense, but better than nothing.

Actually, it was more a distraction than anything as Malik made an unstable, limping run for it.]

[redrosechose]

[Eleanor's burning look falls on the Sangan and she quickly swirls her hands up, calling her monsters together to fuse one of her more used monsters. Malik's monster is violently crushed under the dinosaur's foot and continues on, as all her monsters start moving up, hissing and growling.]

MALIK!

[Run, little Egyptian boy, run.]

[obeytherod]

[That...was not surprising, really.

Twinging painfully as Sangan is destroyed, Malik trips and hits the ground with a thud and cry of pain. He doesn't have time to stay down though, and quickly gathers himself back up to keep going.

He needed something else...anything else! Goblin Attack Force is the second strongest card he has, but far above what he's summoned before. Still, it was only four starts...he should be able to manage.

It doesn't help that he has to stop in place in order to use it, or that the time it takes to summon it allows them to get right on top of him.

But oh, when his last ditch effort works and that gang of goblins comes bubbling forth from the darkness, Malik wears an ecstatic look as he points towards her beast and calls an attack.]

DESTROY THEM!

[...While he goes back to running. The Goblins can only attack once, but it gives Malik enough time to hobble-run out of sight and find a decent hiding spot in a hole under a large tree.

He really hopes there's not some sort of snake down here.]

[redrosechose]

[The Monster does take out Eleanor's dinosaur, but it seems like she doesn't even register the pain -- small as it is -- at all.

Rage is a hell of an anesthetic, they say.

As it is, she gathers up her energy and summons her Barrel Dragon; it doesn't even need her input to blast the Goblins to dust. Of course, with the monster gone, she can see now that Malik's disappeared.]

Look around! Figure out where he is!

[She summons a few of her other monsters, directing them around. Everything in the immediate area is being heavily shaken now because of the thunk thunk thunk of the heavy beasts' feet.]

[obeytherod]

Hurgk...!

[Malik's knocked breathless once his monster is killed. 2600 points of damage on top of what is now a re-opened wound...

He was feeling a bit faint, and with each stomp of those stupid dinosaur's feet he cringed.]

Ow...ah!

[Right now, his best bet was just try to wait her out and staunch the blood. There just wasn't enough energy left in him to summon another monster after that last hit.]

[redrosechose]

[Thankfully for Malik, it isn't long before he can hear Eleanor and her monsters moving on. Either she's forgotten how wounded he is or she never paid attention when she was rescued, because she seems to think he's gone off elsewhere.

The area is soon silent, with all the rumbling distant enough to no longer shake the ground.]

[obeytherod]

[...And so, Malik lets out a heavy sigh of relief.

The fact he managed to get out of that alive was miraculous. Unfortunately, he was now in pretty bad shape.

Trying to make it back to Bakura was risky, though. Maybe would be better off just waiting awhile. Right, he would just...get back to camp and wrap up his wounds. He could wait for Bakura there.

...But no, even if Eleanor hadn't seen their camp, it was too risky to stay here. He had to find his partner, even if it meant going the long way around to get into the school through the back.

First things were first though: he wrapped up his wounds at camp, grabbed what he could, and then made his way back to the school...]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Ryou, meanwhile, was busy tidying up the kitchen of the apartment after having made some delicious cakes to try to get rid of the possession blues. He'd even been considerate and made extra for Namu, when he eventually came back. He hoped he was, anyway. If nothing else, it'd convince him that the poor foreign boy wasn't dead.

His other half had remained mercifully silent this entire time, probably because he was fast asleep. Or just because he was enjoying the peace and quiet.

Ryou hummed slightly to himself as he finished up the cleaning.]

[obeytherod]

[By simple blind luck, Malik manages to make his way back to their dorm. Unfortunately the door is locked, and so he weakly knocks on it instead.

Even with the blood flow mostly stopped, the fight and walk back had but him back days of healing time.

That, and he accidentally left a bloody hand print on the door.]

Bakura...you better be here.

1/3

[fluffydeathdealer]

[The instant Ryou opens the door, everything goes black for him.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[What the hell is this?

Before his eyes, Malik looks like he's come from a war. He's paler, looking more drained, and even a little beat up.

Worse yet, the way he's moving indicates he's in a bad way.

What the hell is he even doing back here?!]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Grabbing him by the collar, he yanks him inside the room, sweeping him up without a word of warning to deposit him on the couch. That moment of caring done, however, his next response is a lot louder.]

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE, YOU FOOL?! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF?!

[obeytherod]

[Malik yelps in pain as he's suddenly pulled in, the harsh movements jostling his re-opened gash.

Even if laying on the couch again--after days of doing so on the forest floor--is a relief, he can't exactly relax with Bakura screaming in his face.]

Nngh...no, shut up. It's not what it looks like...

[fluffydeathdealer]

I'm yelling because you look like you just ran a marathon through Hell! What happened?

[Grabbing a bowl, he quickly fills it with cool, fresh water and hands it to him so he can take a drink.]

[obeytherod]

[Malik sits up just enough to take a drink, glad to have some cold water in him.]

Eleanor was near our camp...I was only a few feet out--ghh--trying to get some fruit. One of her monsters spotted me...

[fluffydeathdealer]

Shit.

[It's an understatement at best.

Crossing over to the beds, he grabs some of the pillows, bringing them over so he can use them to support Malik's back.]

[obeytherod]

[The pillows are much appreciated, making it easier for him to drink.]

I managed to summon Sangan and Goblin Attack Force to aid in my escape, but...

[He brings a hand up to his forehead, wincing as he presses it against it.] They were both destroyed. And I tore open my side...

[...And considering his condition, it's probably easy for Bakura to assume that Malik was lucky to have remained conscious.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

[Soaking a cloth in the cool water, he wrings it out and offers it to him for his head.]

You're lucky you're even still alive. We're going to need to move again.

[obeytherod]

[Malik takes the cloth and sets it across his forehead, letting out a pleased sigh. It felt...nice.]

I realize. But where...? This island isn't exactly big...

[His eyes downcast, expression melancholy. To have been found out like that, and be set back on his healing...

Malik was beginning to feel like he'd never feel better. It was torture, tight around his heart.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

True enough... [A heavy sigh.] It might not be big, but that doesn't mean there aren't places to hide. I can use the Ring to try to find a safe place.

For now, just rest up. Even if we can't stay here, we can rest a while. If they're looking for us, it'll be out in the jungle, at least for a while.

And we need to take care of your wound.

[obeytherod]

Bakura... [Malik's brow furrows.] They have monsters to scope this place out. They'll find us eventually.

[He grits his teeth as he says it.] ...We need to form a truce. [Right now, their position was virtually hopeless. They were being hunted like dogs.]

[fluffydeathdealer]

What? I thought you wanted to kill them? Negotiating with them isn't going to be wise.

If they get what they want out of us, they'll just try to kill us.

[obeytherod]

Of course I do! And I won't be able to do that if they kill us first.

[Malik winces, raising his voice had been a poor decision.]

...They're the "hero" types, aren't they? They'll stick to a bargain.