Fortnite: Peace Out

Chapter 2: Have You Seen This Moth?

When Drift opened his eyes, he wondered if he was still dreaming, as the world seemed to spin around him as if he was still looking out of an unconscious window. He went to stand up, but instead fell onto his newly tanned arm, making the whole limb ache.
He frantically peeled his facemask off of a sweaty cheek and was sick onto the floor, the stink making Drift gag again. He placed a shivering hand onto a burning forehead.
"Charming."
It took Drift a few seconds to register that the Origin was stood there. He was wearing his armour, but his head was exposed. He was bald, and his skin was a blue so pale that it seemed as if the Origin had never taken off his mask in the many years of his life.
"You look different." Drift tried again to push himself up, turning his nose away from the fresh puke he had just dispensed from his body.
"So do you." the Origin responded, holding an arm out, which Drift gladly took.
Drift did look different. He was trying something different; a tropical teal and a punch pink shirt, topped off with images of snow white kitsunes. He also now wore swim shorts instead of trousers; they helped keep him cool in the summer warmth. Then there were the sandals which Lynx had been offended by when she'd first seen them. She didn't like sandals (it didn't seem that a lot of people at Sanctuary did) but Drift thought that the gold was sleek, shiny, different.
"So, um, why did I fall asleep outside?" Drift lifted a foot up to reveal grass. He turned towards the large Sanctuary building a few metres away.
"So you don't remember- HEY! Get out, party's over!" the Origin pointed to a woman with ginger hair and a green tank top, who stook her tongue out at him before she sprinted away, "Little sh-"
"Origin! What do I not remember?" Drift interrupted, the Origin's dirty language choices making his eyebrow twitch involuntarily.
"Oh, yes. Let's just say... there was a wall. And then you got angry at the wall. And then you began to rap battle the wall." the Origin tried to look displeased with Drift's behaviour, but the quivering at the end of the man's lip told Drift that he also found amusement at Drift's expense.
"What? No! You're not serious?" Drift spluttered. His eyebrow twitched again.
The Origin chuckled quietly to himself, his eyes on the floor as so not to meet Drift's icy gaze.
"Whatever." Drift spat, but he could feel his cheeks heat up, "Is there anything else you want me to know, or are you just going to keep eating at my soul all day?"
The Origin suddenly stopped his display of enjoyment, "Hmm... there was something, actually."
"And..?" Drift replied, flustered.
"My son... Raz wants to see you, he says it's urgent. He's by the pond with Lynx and Skye." the Origin informed him, before clearing his throat.
"Ok then."
"Oh, and watch out for the walls on the way over. They're awfully feisty." the Origin commanded, the corners of his mouth quivering again.
Drift would allow the Origin's insults - just this once - since he didn't let himself have fun like that often. Anyways, Drift had other things to think about. Why did Raz need him, and why was it so urgent?

***

"Oh, good, Drift! The walls didn't mess you up too bad." Skye gasped, before bursting into giggles. Her pink hair buns bounced delightfully.
"Oh my life." Drift's face heated up again. His brain began to ache with annoyance and embarrassment.
"In my defence, it was the Origin's joke, not mine." Skye held up her hands as if to show innocence.
"Of course it was."
Raz shook his head angrily. He looked odd in a shirt, a black one with shaded patterns across it, wearing jean shorts rather than white, saggy trousers and shoes (absolutely shocking) with white socks with a slim red strip around the tip. He ran a hand through his slightly longer than normal black hair.
"My father did tell you this was urgent, right?" Raz grumbled sternly.
"Yes. But what is it?" Drift slowed his voice and evened his tone, calming himself and attempting to influence Raz's tone too.
Drift's girlfriend - who hadn't changed her clothes for the summer but continued to look absolutely stunning - leapt in, "Honey, Mothy's missing."
"Missing? Wh-what do you mean?" Drift's even voice began to lose its composure again.
It was a question that didn't need to be asked and one that didn't need to be answered. Lynx meant exactly what she said; Mothy was missing. He was most likely hanging about Sanctuary, but all the same Drift began to break out in a cold, haunted sweat.
"Have you searched Sanctuary?" Drift added when there was no reply.
"Yes, everywhere, but..." Lynx turned her gaze guiltily to the ground, as if she'd done or said something abhorrent.
"But nothing. He's just not here." Raz folded his arms across his stomach.
Drift frowned, "Don't you sleep in a bed with him? Was he there when you woke up?"
"That's what I said." Skye sighed, "But Raz woke up super early to fix Mothy's helmet, and-"
"Hang on, Mothy's helmet? What happened to his helmet?" Drift interrupted.
"Mothy broke his helmet. He's probably built it up in his head to be a big deal but it isn't." Raz explained.
Skye cleared her throat, "Anyway... I was talking to Raz after he placed the mask in their room, and when Raz went to check on Mothy both he and the mask were gone."
"So he wasn't kidnapped directly from his room." Drift mumbled.
"Kidnapped? Mothy couldn't have been kidnapped, could he?" Skye breathed, her eyes widening with fear.
Raz stared into the murky water of the pond. Drift looked there too but saw nothing of interest. Raz was stalling.
"Was anybody searching for Mothy? Or, like, did he have beef with anyone?" Lynx asked him.
"That's what I was just wondering... only IO would be hunting for him, but they don't even exist anymore." Raz tutted.
"...Then do we have beef with anyone?" Lynx continued.
"Well, I currently have beef with the Origin and Skye because they were mean to me..." Drift started. It was a joke to lighten the mood.
"Drift, this is serious." Raz stared at Drift with bullets in his eyes.
Drift cringed inwardly to the point where he thought that one of his vital organs would spontaneously disappear. Now was not the time for jokes.
"Well, we need to get looking. Let's go." Raz shook his head again.
He, Skye and Lynx turned and began to walk onwards. But Lynx stopped and turned to Drift.
"Are you coming?" she asked quietly.
"I'm not a bad person." Drift whispered back, to himself more than to her. A hangover and an insensitive comment in one day... the thought speared its way through the center of his mind.
"Nobody ever said you were." she shook her head.
"Yeah... yeah, you're right." Drift nodded, and he ran his hand through his hair like Raz had done just a couple minutes prior.

To be continued...