Friendship And Hardship

[Chapter 17] - Through The Vines

Parker woke up with nothing but the urge to just get out of the Octopod and go back to the island. Maybe then she could confront who was on the island.

She wished she had a little bit of an idea as to who it could be, but nothing really came to her.

She was uncomfortable in her own skin, a grim expression crossing over her face whenever someone asked her about what had happened yesterday.

"Can we go back to the island?" she asked.
"Why?" Barnacles looked over at her, fearing that she was up to nothing good again.
"I forgot to get my things," Parker said blankly.
"Yeah, I was wondering when you'd realize that," Kwazii stated, busting into their conversation.

She really wasn't up to anything good. Truth be told, she wanted to figure out everything.

Every single thing.

Right there, right now.

Her patience was wearing thin, and if she didn't find out who was on that island maybe she'd go insane.

It was beginning to show, too.

"Parker, I think you're a bit tensed up over this..." Peso muttered, glancing up at her.
"Tense? Me? No, I'm fine, what are you talking about?" she spat, almost immediately.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Totally." Her eye twitched.

He didn't believe one word.

...

This time, Kwazii didn't come along with Parker and Barnacles back to the island. He had told Barnacles that he knew what she was up to, and it probably wasn't anything good, so he'd stay out of what they were up to today.

He didn't believe him at first, but once he noticed her sudden anticipation, it became clear that something else was going on inside her brain.

For a moment, he resented her for a lot of things. One, punching him in the face.

He could live with that if it meant she wasn't trying to harm the rest of the crew.

He could tolerate a lot of her things, because if it meant no one was getting hurt, it was worth it.

Maybe she'd have a change soon.

Sure, Parker would still definitely pull stupid things, but she would never try to purposefully hurt someone she cared about.

Right?

"You know, if I ever... hurt someone, it was unintentional," Parker stated, suddenly softening up.
"What do you mean?" Barnacles asked, questioning if she could read minds because he swore he was just thinking of that.
"Don't worry, I'm not getting any ideas or something, but I don't want to hurt anyone without an excuse. If I hurt someone who's on the island, it's self defense, right?"
"Depends on the situation."
"Like with you guys."
"Technically... I guess so. But we sure are lucky you recognized us."
"I only recognized your voice. Nothing else," she replied, turning away.

He glanced over at her. "All those years and you still remember what I sound like."
"I guess you could say that."

It seemed like the only person that didn't want to put their trust in Parker was Kwazii. It was justifiable, but he was the only one.

Whispers behind hands, passed glances, it all came together to one thing and one thing only.

Barnacles had passed his resentful feelings onto Kwazii.

Either that, or they've always been there.

It wasn't like Parker was just going to ask Barnacles if he had heard anything, but it kept nagging at her.