ark [woosan]

fifteen: wake up

wooyoung

san is the most unbelievable person I've ever met. I never thought someone who could be such a snarky rat could possibly tug my heart strings, but here he is. his eyes twinkling with little stars and his smile giving the darkness around us a little bit more light. we're still sitting here at the peak of the mountain that reaches the sky. just the two of us with the crickets chirping songs in the comforting silence.

"does ark even have crickets?"
"no?"
"oh alright"
"what time is it?"
"do I look like a watch to you?"
"as of right now, yes, yes you do"

I purse my lips, I'm so done with him, but then again I always say that and I'm still here.

"seeing as the horizon has a little light peeking from it, I'd say morning"
"hmm, it's too early for this crap I'm going to sleep"
"I would sleep with you, but we need to head back before we're stuck here with 5 allosauruses again"

san seems like he wants to say something juicy, but he bites his tongue which I'm very thankful for.

"yeah let's head back"

the way back wasn't as easy as the way up. san seemed to finally realize this as I saw his eyes widen at the sight in front of him. all we could see was the steep curve downward and jagged rocks littered everywhere. I wasn't afraid because I'd done this a few times before, but san was shaking in his boots. my eyebrows knit together as I look at him with a soft concern.

"hey are you alright there, bubs?"
"yeah yeah, just going down a vertical incline full of dirt with lots of deadly rocks at the bottom. I'm completely fine, happy even"
"I have an idea"
"oh no"

that's how we ended up riding a makeshift sled with wheels down the mountain. it was a rough ride to say the least. san kept kicking me in the balls on accident so I couldn't see through my tears which caused us to fly off from a, thankfully ramp like, boulder. I would deem us professional bob sled racers if it wasn't for the fact that after we took the jump we ended up in the water. the water with giant sharks  in it. so san and I instead became professional kayakers.

when we reached the shore everything was sore, but the memory we just created together made that less important. san was all washed out on the beach, hair sticking to his forehead as he tried to slow his breathing. I probably looked the same.

"that was...eventful", I smile in a dumbfounded way, face turning into terror as san picks himself up and grabs a very convenient stick. he sacks me hard with it in the stomach, sending me tumbling into the sand.

"that was for almost killing me"

then he pulls me up and kisses me gently.

"that's for everything else"
"did you just partially recreate a how to train your dragon scene?"
"yeah, you got something to say?"
"yet you have issues with me quoting vines, I see how it is, little bastard"
"that sounds like a you problem"

I snort, grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it into his mouth. san's jaw drops in an almost comedic way before I sprint for the sake of my life. he chases after me while violently spitting out the sand, and just like all the other times we're together, I feel like I'm floating on top of a sweet cloud. the sun is beating down on us, heat waves swimming over the top of the ground. the sky above being a grand blue that expands across the earth, making it seem like we're inside a giant snow globe. eventually I run out of breath, and putting my hands on my knees, I start throwing it back, expecting to hear san scolding me for being so immature or just smack my cake, but nothing is there. I turn in surprise.

"san?"

no reply.

"oh no"

I run back out even though I still need to catch up on air. I try my best to retrace my footsteps, locating familiar rocks and dinosaur feces. no san. I weave through trees at an almost stressful pace, and then it happens. I run straight into a disheveled, fretting, san.

"ow, what the heck are you made out of? rocks?"
"I could say the same to you", I groan, rubbing the red patch on my forehead, acting like seconds earlier I wasn't about to have a breakdown over losing him.
it's like what sokka said in avatar, you have to act aloof in order to get them to like you. advice from the gods if you ask me. I won't lie I'm kind of a guru when it comes to love.

"stop being full of yourself"
"d-did you just read my mind?"
"no, you've always been obsessed with yourself so I figured"

I squint my eyes, letting out a small humph.

"at least I don't sleep with stuffed animals"
"getting personal I see, in my defense they're cute and a lot of people do"

I curse in my mind, that's so cute.

"I beg to differ, but whatev- did you hear that?"

in the distance I swear that I could hear something pushing through the canopies of trees. chills run down my spine, goosebumps rising on my skin.

"I don't hear anything"
"I swear there's something moving in the trees"

san glances around anxiously.

"if you hear something, then let's get out of h-"

the giant sound of splintering trees washes out the rest of his sentence. both of our hearts are beating faster than ever before I'm sure, at least mine is. my eyes are probably wide saucers in the shaking fear I'm experiencing.

"san", I whisper. he doesn't reply, just standing there in shock.
"run"

he breaks out of his trance and we bolt as fast as humanly possible. I can't even thank my years of acting like zombies were chasing me when running a mile at school because of how terrifying this actually is. we didn't know where we were running, but we did know that it was as far from that unknown creature as we could get. all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears, breathing heavy.

please don't follow us.

my ears struggle to listen to the things around me, focusing instead on the spiked adrenaline in my body. when I finally focus, I hear it. the giant thuds on the ground behind us. we didn't lose it. intrusive thoughts to turn around fill my head, and I can't avoid them. I twist to glance behind me and there it is. bigger than any rex I'd seen. I'm not a dinosaur expert, but I don't need that knowledge to know that this is a dangerous animal. mouth slightly open, sharp teeth on display, bigger than dinner plates. the eyes, a shining green, slits in the center and trained right on us. I can practically see the air huffing out of its nose. then I see him, san, in the corner of my vision, panting as he runs.

for some reason I feel, anxious, more anxious than before, and not from the monster chasing us, but something else. then it happens, and I know why. the dinosaur opens its jaw and lets out a roar. san is the closest one to the sound, and I see him drop down on the ground, holding his ears as he tries to drown out it out. even from further away I can feel it, vibrating through every single bone in my body.

I run to san through the chaos, everything feeling like it was happening in slow motion. he looks at me with teary doe eyes, bringing his hands down from his ears and reaching out to me. I pause for a moment as I see something shiny running down both sides of his head. blood. I go to wipe some of it away, but then the blur of everything disappears as he puts something in my hand and pushes me. I don't even understand what's happening as great jaws come down and take him, but I run.

I run because san told me to in the middle of pushing me. he saved me. I keep on running because if I died right then then it would make his sacrifice be in vain.

my final destination is the house. I plop myself on the bed in silence. I can't think, I can't do anything. I just sit there. maybe it's the shock from what just happened. I know I'm in denial, thinking that maybe san's not dead, maybe this is all a dream.

so I lay there for the rest of the day, wondering if when I wake up san will be back.

A/N: honestly love/hate this chapter. some parts I really like but other than that eh. I'll be back to edit this eventually. anyway I hope you're all enjoying this and thank you for reading! this book will be over soon sadly, but there will probably be at least 5-6 more chapters if my brain is awake this week.