Work Text:
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞
Ralph’s body is bloodied. He can’t see straight because the world around him is sloshing back and forth like if someone was tilting water in a bottle.
He had been hunted for a little longer than a month, and the hunters had not given up the chase. Ralph stumbled, a creeper gasped at his foot. A gasp escaped him as he fell onto the forest floor, it was cool and the creeper tightened. Sitting up with a wince, he could see the thorn covered vine was a trap set. It was tied to a log, and now he was stuck. Ralph didn’t think of the situation he was in for a few moments. He stared in dissatisfaction and his dissociative habits took hold of him.
Then it all hit him at once, he was trapped. He’d be killed once they found him.
Panic took hold as he began to pull and struggle; a strangled, frightened noise escaped him as thorns cut skin and sank deeper into tissues. He’d been trapped, and no pulling or struggle would have helped him. A new idea came to Ralph, he reached to untie it. He noticed how dirty he was then: dirt was clinging to his skin, under his nails, across his tattered shirt and his legs looked as if he swam in mud. He couldn’t find the knot of the creeper, his vision swam and the vine doubled and folded back into one every few seconds.
His hand slipped away a few times, finding failure in working as told to. He felt light headed then, his wounds had already begun to sew themselves together but they all weeped red. Spears and the forest itself had already marked him with scars and savagery and memories of death. He thought of his home and his mother, how worried she must be. How many dinners and late night stories had he missed? Did she even look the same?
He let out an angry shout as his hands slipped away from the knot for the last time. He felt a wave of emotion wash over his tired body and he pawed away the wet from his eyes. He’d missed so much, his mother, his friends — oh god. His friends, how they were murdered and how they looked to him for answers he never had. He felt a large guilt, he’d almost forgotten what they looked like. He could picture Piggy’s round build and stubby nose, Simon’s queer words and slouched posture to avoid being made fun of but he could not remember what their faces looked like. Not fully, pieces of them haunted him but he couldn’t remember what they fully looked like.
He couldn’t bear to think about his mother before he pawed at the tears beginning to poke out of his eyes again, he missed his mum. His poor mum, how worried she must be; what if she thought he was gone? She wouldn’t have stopped looking for him surely, he was her pride in this world. Anger came over him again, and he was stuck here alone. Being hunted by savages with no sense at t’all and to add insult, he’d been tricked by a simple trap. A snare no less, he’d heard of these in his book— don’t they go around the neck?
He carefully touched around his neck, then hissed at the pain that echoed off his shoulder and down his back. The fire all those days ago had scalded his back when he ran out onto the beach, a punishment for seeking help where no one would come for him. He’d only survived because he’d dove back into the fire, risking another scalding sure but he’d ducked back in and was not found. Not under all the underbrush, smoke and creeper, no. Had not the storm come and cleansed the area of fire and smoke, he and everyone else would’ve died that week.
Ralph breathed heavily, suddenly wanting nothing more than to lay down. His world sloshed around again, if he threw a faint he might die. He wasn’t sure how long it’d been since he ate or slept or drank, all he knew was running and listening. Like a rabbit or a pig, he would listen and run at the nearest sight of danger. He was tired, his legs throbbed from over use and he couldn’t remember when he got a chance to rest.
Then there was the snap of a twig.
Ralph’s head whipped around, the joints popping from sudden use, there was a boy who’d been crouching. Not attacking yet but studying him, he had a reddish tint to his hair and Ralph took no time to realize who this was. He struggled to yank his foot free, pain clawed up his calf as Jack stood and watched with an indifferent expression. Ralph pulled harder and the snap of a vine coming free was heard. Aderline rushed to Ralph, scrambling to get up and run but Jack had already moved before he did.
Ralph kicked up dirt to try and blind the other, this failed as Jack reached for him with his spear in hand. He made his move for the blonde, stabbing the earth beside him as Ralph managed to get up and run. A curse escaped Jack as he ran after him. Ralph stumbled over a creeper he didn’t see and kept moving, his legs screamed as they were overworked and almost gave out under him. His heart raced, beating through his ribs and for a moment Ralph thought his heart might’ve been auditable to the boy behind him.
His vision blurred and he struggled to see in front of him. He still ran, afraid and his adrenaline kept him afloat in the chase. He felt his side smack against a tree, he bit his tongue and kept running through the sharp turn and the fireworks of pain in his side and shoulder. Blood cried down his side, the wounds might’ve reopened from that day when Jack’s spear cut through him as an act of violence. Then, when his eyesight blackened for a moment, he rammed into another object and slipped onto the ground for a moment. He heard Jack jump over something and he began to struggle back forward again.
The struggle was immediate, Ralph was already beginning to run again and Jack was giving chase. He could hear the pounding of footsteps behind him as he ran, though almost stumbling on a stray piece of the jungle due to his vision closing and opening. For a moment, he might’ve been able to keep running had it not been for the ginger tackling him. Jack swung first and barely missed him. Though he did not miss the second him and landed on a bruised shoulder. Ralph cried out a bit before clawing at his face and other such areas: neck and arms. Jack promptly decided this wasn’t right and threw his spear somewhere behind them and went to strangle the bog instead. The fight continued on like that for a long moment:the blonde couldn’t breathe for a long moment and Jack stared intensely at him all the while, until Ralph punched him hard in the ribs. Jack wheezed, releasing Ralph but before the blonde could gather enough air to escape the freckled boy swung downward and punched him in the abdomen.
The air escaped Ralph in a silent wheeze, coughing as his consciousness began to flicker out like a dying light bulb. He could hear Jack say something to him, but it was so muted that he might as well been whispering three feet away. Ralph’s breathing grew heavy as Jack grabbed him by his shoulders and hoisted him up. The stumble was immediate, one struggling to stand up fully with the sudden weight and fight off the other and the redhead swatted him upside the head for punching him in the ribs. He wanted to subdue the attack before the blonde got a chance to become more violent. Jack was slightly surprised to see that Ralph hadn’t fainted from the sheer fact of starvation or exhaustion yet. Rather, he thought he might’ve died by now; yet the blonde has survived and was hanging on by a thread. Blood dripped into his hands, his bloody sides and other such wounds were weeping and reddened skin around them was irritated and slightly puffy.
And then Ralph slumped completely. Jack grunted with the effort of keeping the other's body from collapsing in front of him. It was a shock and for a moment, Jack thought Ralph had died right then and there. A small jump of panic grabbed his but immediately soothed itself when he could feel the shallow breathing of the other. He wasn’t entirely sure why he didn’t just kill him now or leave him alone but he didn’t acknowledge it much. Rather, he did his best to get Ralph into a carrying position. His joints popped a bit from the effort, Ralph wasn’t that heavy, he guessed it was because of the starvation at play. And now, began to carry him back to Castle Rock.
It wouldn’t be a problem if he brought Ralph back, he was still in charge and made damn sure of it. He took care of anyone who stepped out of line and after what happened with Piggy and Ralph, no one did much to stop him from being chief. Jack moved in a quick manner, avoiding the creepers and such with practiced efficiency. Though, he took some care in not jostling Ralph too much. If he was going to make him his second in command, he’d have to make sure he was in repairable condition. A second in command was risky but a better option, as for why he hadn’t chosen anyone like Roger — he didn’t want to risk being overthrown. Which was funny, considering he’d chosen the person he hated most on this island.
Stepping over the dead log in front of them, Jack stopped at the river that ran through the island. The river wasn’t deep, but it was enough to house small critters inside of it. The water was a clear green-ish color, running over the sandy bank and rocks that had smooth algae growing on them. A few fish would swim through here, the river connected to the ocean and allowed a safer passageway to travel through. Jack crouched down and propped Ralph up on a rock. Where Ralph was set up was around six feet from the river, where large boulders would rest, embedded in earth. They themselves also grew moss and other such foliage. These boulders varied in size but together made a solid structure for one to climb, lean on or sit propped up on it safely.
The jungle has begun to recover and heal from the fire, trees grew new leaves and the grass sprouted long before they rested here but now was green again. The birds had started to return, Jack could hear a few calling above him. As for pigs, they were now at the spine of the island, living where the jungle had healed the most. But for now Jack walked over to the water and his reflection stared back at him.
His face paint had changed over the days: white was still the base color but black and red had taken on more abstract designs. The red covered the top left of his face, spreading out to the bottom left and swirled around the bridge of his nose. Black charcoal joined in with bolder lines stretching across the right bottom half of his face. The top right was similar to the top left of his face but it stretched to the left side rather than down, it too swirling with the red by the bridge of his nose. If one looked closely, you could see little gaps of white peaking through these colors.
Jack stared at himself for a moment, turning his head back and forth slowly. Like how a bird would before about to preen itself, though this more admiring himself than making a change to his paint. He turned away from his reflection, looking at the fish swimming by him. Only then had he realized he’d forgotten his spear in the chase. He groaned to himself, but he didn’t go back for it as he would risk Ralph’s escape. Even though he’d been barely able to run, he thought of the possibility that he would stumble away from the river and Jack wouldn’t risk that. He made an ugly face at the thought, looking to glare at Ralph’s unconsciousness.
He walked back over to Ralph and nudged him with a speckled hand. Ralph did nothing, which annoyed him. Jack would’ve preferred to have more control over the situation, he knew the other wasn’t dead, but the silence from him was gnawing at him. He narrowed his eyes in a rather cynical manner, then he heard a light grunting sound from the other right before he was about to turn around. He stared at him before choosing to lean his back against the boulder next to where Ralph sat. His blood still stained his freckled hands and he debated moving away for a moment to wash it off, he didn’t like the sticking feeling of it gripping the textured skin.
Ralph’s vision was still blurred quite a bit, static replaced clear sight for a moment. His head felt light and his limbs held no weight, then it all came back slowly. He felt heavy and tired, wanting to sleep. He would’ve if his eyes weren’t already locked onto the savage next to him. They stared at each other for a moment, then Ralph’s face turned into one of irritation and exhaustion.
“God damn it.”
Ralph whispered, using a dirtied hand to swipe hair out of his eyes. Jack watched this and said nothing, but a grin formed on his face from the satisfaction of annoying him.
“Be glad, I saved your arse y’know.”
Ralph glared at him harshly, an intense hatred built up from the mere tone of the other's voice. He hated the way Jack enjoyed taking him to ‘safety’. Then came the thought of why he wasn’t dead, but his head still throbbed from the fainting spell and other injuries. His winced as his ribs had reignited the pain from the cut. It had mostly healed, but sometimes the scarring would split from harsh blows.
Jack raised an eyebrow, he didn’t take much amusement from this. Rather, he looked back at the river and considered giving him water. He wouldn’t give Ralph the satisfaction of getting carried the rest of the way back. He could feel the bloodied boy glance at him again and he rolled his eyes a bit. If Ralph wanted to say something, it would be less annoying if he just said it outright.
“What?’ Say something’ if you want to.”
Ralph narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. He could manage a conversation — barely.
“How did you get me here?”
The words were slurred a bit. Jack might’ve thought he was concussed and he was probably right considering Ralph’s head would sway now and again. He found the question irritating, he didn’t want to admit to carrying him here. He found it tempting to hit him again but he didn’t and moved to grab a coconut shell off the bank. Neither of them knew how long that had been there, but Jack stole the opportunity.
“I dragged you.”
Jack lied, not caring to lessen the bite in his words. The blonde didn’t say anything to that, just rested his aching head against the cool boulder and thought about doing his hourly supposing. Meanwhile the ginger scooped up some of the water, the boys had lost their pickiness of food and water. If it satisfied you, you drank it or ate it. And no one bothered to complain about it anymore, it was that or die. He turned to Ralph who looked as if someone had beat him into the earth for an hour. He was dirty and his injuries varied from light scratches, to severe burns, to cuts that would absolutely scar.
Jack approached him, and grabbed his wrist. Ralph jerked about and sat up straighter, they locked eyes and an ugly, irritated face formed on Jack. Ralph started in a surprised manner but also might’ve been aggressive. They stared at each other for a long moment where a tension threatened to snap but was settled when Jack pushed the coconut shell into his hands and Ralph’s face scrunched up from the force. Ralph didn’t reject it though as Jack stood to look back at the path where they left to jungle to rest at the river. Ralph drank from the coconut shell with little hesitation and Jack felt satisfaction.
“See? You ought to be more grateful.”
Ralph merely hummed as he sat the empty coconut shell down. He was tired but he didn’t say anything in response which made Jack cock an eyebrow at him. There was a silent demand for a response or any form of appreciation from the blonde, and Ralph stared at him for a moment before nodding his head. Jack’s face relaxed for a moment and then a pause fell over them, tense but not overly aggressive either. Ralph then took a breath, and gave him the appropriate response for the offer of water. At least, the appropriate response that Jack wanted.
“Thank you.”
It was enough, Jack simply waved a hand in response. He’d gotten what he wanted and felt no responsibility for returning the favor. They sat in silence again and Ralph had many questions. Why wasn’t he dead being among many but he didn’t ask that because frankly he couldn’t find a good answer to receive from that. Ralph lifted his arm to look at his side and found it no longer weeping blood but the skin was red and irritated. He shook his head in dissatisfaction at himself, he ought to get a bath when he could. He hated how dirty he was and how long, blonde hair was matted. A haircut would do him some good and a long soak. Jack snapped his fingers at him and Ralph lifted his head to glare at him.
“What?”
“We’re leaving.”
Jack wanted him to get up. He would take him back to Castle Rock and make him a proper chief — well, a second in command. He was and would always be the chief. Ralph was just there to help maintain order and make sure people did their jobs accordingly. Ralph raised his eyebrows at Jack. ‘Leaving’? Leaving where, he’d practically just got a moment's rest. Jack had apparently grown impatient and made a gesture of ‘get the hell up’. Ralph didn’t want to but against himself he knew it was better to follow along anyway. He didn’t exactly have the strength to fight him off again let alone make an escape.
Ralph slowly stood, his vision swimming all the while. He used the rock to support himself and Jack watched with slight interest. He’d never seen Ralph this unstable before and he wondered how he hadn’t gone delirious yet from lack of food and water. He waited for Ralph to stand up straighter, in the meantime he looked back at the jungle and debated risking Ralph running off and grabbing his spear. Jack decided it wasn’t worth it and turned back to look at Ralph who seemed to regain his balance and had leaned off the rock to now stand there.
“Leaving where?”
“Where do you think?”
Jack said, gesturing off in the general direction of Castle Rock. Ralph deadpanned at him, shaking his head in disbelief at the thought of even seeing Castle Rock again.
“Really? Like I’ll survive that?”
“You’ll survive what I want you to. So yes, ‘really’.”
Ralph debated sitting back down to piss him off after the sarcastic quip was made. But he didn’t because Jack was already starting to walk with a pace set. Ralph made his way behind him, almost stumbling but walking behind him at a slower pace. Together they made their way through the jungle with minor issues. Ralph occasionally lost balance or vision which annoyed Jack but he didn’t leave him and their conversations were short and often just bickering. By now, they could see the peak of Castle Rock over the trees and Ralph felt a small rush of anxiety wrap around himself.
“So, you lead them now?”
“Yes, and they actually listen to me.”
Ralph whipped his head away from the sight to give him a hard look. Jack grinned at him, daring him to do something about it knowing Ralph wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. He held back a snicker when Ralph bit his lip to hold back an argument. He was satisfied knowing he was the one with control now and there was nothing Ralph can do about it.
“You should be thankful anyway, you’re not dying in the middle jungle.”
Ralph said nothing to this. He was being led back to the same place he was supposed to be killed at and where his friend was murdered. He should run but he doesn’t and he hates that he doesn’t. He could actually survive if he goes along with this, he knows that but Ralph didn’t want to be trapped here. He wished they had the signal fire, but that thought was forgotten months ago.
“We should’ve gone home.”
Jack was immediately annoyed by this.
“They weren't coming to begin with, I’m giving you the ability to survive and all you can think about is the fire!”
“The fire lets us go home!”
Ralph cried and Jack marched over and grabbed him. Ralph yanked his wrist back but Jack had more force then him, he was actually healthy or at least as healthy as one could be on an island. Healthier than Ralph at least, and Jack pulled Ralph back towards him. He was taller and Ralph had to force his head upward as they were chest to chest. Jack's face was an ugly snarl and Ralph’s a terrible anger.
“You don’t get to call the shots. No one came for us when damn near the entire island was on fire! Why would they come now?”
Ralph couldn’t answer. Jack inhaled sharply, shoving the blonde backward a bit.
“I’m chief, you’ll listen to me.”
Ralph’s anger boiled over, he was the one who stole that role from him. Ralph was voted, not him. And now, he was the one demanding obedience and that irritated Ralph more than anything else that had happened today. Ralph took a step forward, his face still a snarl.
“I was voted chief! You stole it!—“
Jack spun around immediately, he wouldn’t tolerate this. Not from the boy he bothered to pull free from the hunt he started. Though he still had no lasting interest in killing the blonde, his sudden boldness was infuriating and Jack had no intent of dealing with this politely. He grabbed Ralph by the face this go around, the boy’s eyes were wide from surprise and anger; his hand gripped Jack’s wrist.
“Shuddup! I stole it because you weren’t fit to keep it, no one bothered to listen to you anyway! But now I’m chief, and I said you’re going to Castle Rock!”
Silence fell over them, the ambiance of their shared heavy breathing and the ocean lapping at the white sand took hold. Tension was wound tight, deep blue eyes met icy blue and for a moment the threat of violence was hard against them. Then Jack released his grip, pushing Ralph backward again. They stared at each other for a pregnant pause, then Ralph pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t and probably couldn’t win if it got physical, so he made an aggressive gesture for Jack to move forward.
“Fine.”
Jack felt satisfied. The argument had been settled and he’d had been given back the opportunity to direct them forward.
“See what happens next time.”
Jack threatened, voice both arrogant and irritated.
“An apology would go a long way y’know.”
This was a taunt that Ralph made a face at. He narrowed his eyes in a rejectful manner and nose scrunched up. Jack did nothing for this and rather rolled his eyes. Neither of them were apologizing, that much was clear. Ralph rubbed at his jaw, Jack’s grip was harsh and unforgiving which made the bone sore. Jack turned away from Ralph, moving towards Castle Rock and Ralph followed in angry silence.
All that filled the silence the rest of the trek upwards was the sound of an ocean that lapped at the water and the footsteps of boys with an eternal hatred for one another. The undefinable connection between the two would never snap therefore neither Jack or Ralph would let each other alone.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞𓆝 𓆟 𓆞