The adventures of Tintin, Malory and Snowy.

Land of the Black Gold. (3)

(A/n: Heya guys! How are you? I'm sorry it took me so long. Work and house handling and good family affairs and it's my 21st birthday today kept me busy! That aside, we're about to reach the 100th chapter in this book and I'd really like to celebrate it. So how about some contest? Wanna do some fanart or fanfic for Tintin and Malory? If you do, pleaselet me know, create and share with me. I'll display the fanarts, give shoutouts to the writers and the winner will get to either guest star in my next Tintin short OR choose what the next short will be about! You can handover your work until next month, on 11/02/23. I hope to see you guys taking part in celebrating this achivement with me. It's no small potatos for me. Now with that out of the way, let's get back to the story, Enjoy!)

Old Enemy

No One POV:

"Look, Thompson! A real oasis!" Thomson gushed at the sight of water surrounded by palm trees.

"Bet I can dive farther than you." Thompson said as they both ran over, ready to dive.

"Bet you can't!"

"Bet I can."

They were so busy with the banter that they didn't really realize that the water surrounded by palm trees slowly vanished.

With a cry of joy, they dived landed frond first on the sand. The mirage was long gone.

Somewhere else in the desert, Malory was crouching above her boyfriend, running a thumb across his cheek and trying to wake him up. Snowy licked him a few times, whining in concern as well.

"Tintin? Wake up, My Love. Wake up!" She called for him gently, grabbing his shoulders.

Finally, he groaned, making Malory sigh in relief as he rose up to his elbows, holding his head before his eyes went wide and he looked around.

"Snowy! Malory!" He called. Snowy barked in happiness, joining his owner's side.

"We're right here, Tintin." She reassured, joining his other side and giving him a side hug.

"Oh, no! They've left us!" Tintin said in realization, looking around the at the miles and miles of sand hills.

"I've noticed..." Malory mumbled. Tintin turned to ask her if she saw which direction they went.

"What happened??" He cried in shock, reaching for her purplish tinted cheek.

"Ugh!" She hissed quietly, moving her head away on instinct and making Tintin draw his hand back slightly before resting it on her gently and moving her head to get a better look at the newfound bruise. She didn't meet his eyes, for some reason she felt ashamed, "I had to do it. I had to fight! They were going to take me away from you..."

"Oh, Darling..." Tintin cooed.

This wasn't the first time any of them got injured during their adventures and it's definitely not the worst she had (Dislocated shoulder and everything), but it doesn't mean they never get concerned for each other when one gets hurt.

It took Tintin a moment to realize that Malory wasn't meeting his eyes and looking ashamed because she had tears in her eyes from pain. She didn't feel ashamed about getting hit but rather about her reaction to it.

But Tintin didn't blame her at all. Feeling the injury, it turned out to also be somewhat swollen and the bits of dried red sand by her didn't go unnoticed either.

A part of him under all this concern was fuming! Wanting to find who did it and make them feel regret ever even looking at her!

As if reading his mind, or maybe it was because she felt his fingers on her cheek twitching for a moment, a little sad smile danced on her lips when she finally met his eyes and said: "You should've seen him."