Great One

Where Are They Now?

(Side note, Minimus's parts will now be distinguished by being underlined. Thank you)

The woods are a beautiful place. In fact, they're even my favorite place. They're so green and gorgeous and full of life, it gives you hope for the world. I often find myself longing for those stretching branches, beds of green grass, even the wildlife to greet and welcome me home.

But not today.

"Minimus! Where are you?! Minimus!" I called out to my lazy ass bear.

*sigh*

Now is soooo not the time, Vox.

We wouldn't be in this problem if you had told me we were leaving.

"It wasn't exactly planned, doofus!" I shout as an arrow sails past my head.

"Indie!" I hear a voice cry in the distance.

"Mikey!" I call back.

In a matter of seconds, I could feel him at my side, heaving his bag over his shoulder like mine. In the dark, I reach out to grab his hand quickly. "What happened?" he shouts as we let go to grab our weapons.

"Apparently rogues don't like being compared to orifices for excretion purposes." I quickly load my bow and glance over my shoulder to hopefully get a glimpse of the enemy.

Mikey fell back a bit as he processed what I said. "Indie, you didn't."

I shrugged.

He sighed. "Of course you did. So what do we do?"

"Uh, run?" I said, shooting a screaming arrow behind my back.

JESUS WHAT WAS THAT?!

"Newest design," I said, smirking at the arrow whizzing away, making an ungodly squealing noise.

I could almost feel Mikey rolling his eyes as he whipped out a pistol and readied it to fire. "Show off," he mumbled.

"Only for you," I remarked, loading another arrow as we sprinted through the trees. We continued running for what seemed forever, shooting screaming arrows to draw them away and following Minimus through the thick underbrush.

"Minimus, are you sure you know where you're going? This is starting to look a bit familiar..." Mikey questioned warily.

Uhhhh... Yeah, yeah, we're heading west, right?

"HAVE YOU BEEN LEADING US WEST THIS WHOLE TIME?" I screamed, only realizing after that it would give away our position.

Maybe?

"UGH!" I grunt in frustration, "Fine! I'm the leader now, since the bear can't even keep us from running into THE FRICKING OCEAN! Come on!" I made a sharp right and shot a screaming arrow in the other direction, hoping to the Earth Mother that it would distract them enough to leave us alone for a few minutes.

We sprinted on for what seemed like hours, when suddenly I felt a sharp tug on my upper arm. I gasped, but felt a familiar hand wrap around my mouth and Mikey's voice whisper, "Shh, shh..." Realizing it was him I calmed down immensely and listened as the rouges I had been trying to open up to Anu sprinted past. When they had all gone, Mikey took his hands off of my mouth and arm, leaving me to gasp for breath and look around where we were.

It seemed to be a nice, spacious cave. Convenient, I had to hand it to him. The entrance was covered in vines, the roof seemed to be stable, and it was even considerably dryer than one would think. I nodded at him. "Nice choice. Though I would have preferred there to be Georgian Era fireplace right... there," I said, pointing at a random spot on the wall.

"Forever a critic," Mikey said with a smirk, dropping his bag on a dry spot. "I'll set up camp, you hunt and get firewood."

"Sure give me the hard jobs," I joke, dropping my bag next to his and counting my arrows.

"Fine. You can play house maid while I get to go Rambo on some food, fine by me." Mikey stood up and drew his gun, before being forcibly pushed over by me.

"Yeah, I don't think so, Cinderella. Now make my bed!" I yelled, running out of the cave entrance.

"So abusive," I heard him mutter behind me, and I ran off with a smirk on my face.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Carter, don't you think this is a bit extensive?" Paige asked, pulling on my hands which were firmly clamped over her eyes.

"Just a little further, come on," I murmured in her ear with a smirk on my face.

"Caaaarteeeeer," she complained jokingly. "Just let me see already!"

"But then the surprise factor would be all gone! It's just a bit further, come on, play along."

I heard her sigh, and she stopped tugging on my arms, though she kept her grip strong. I smiled and led her further down the side walk and around the corner. Paige wasn't helping with her constant asking of, "Are we there yet?"

"Alright, are you ready?" I ask her, standing in front of the surprise I had been planning for days.

"Yes! Just let me see already!" Paige said, tugging on my arms again.

I laughed lightly and said, "Alright, alright, ready? Three... Two... One!" I moved my hands and showed her the place we had been walking to for the past ten minutes.

It was a small cafe with an empty eating area out front with just a single table and two chairs. On the table was a vase with wildflowers and a bottle of wine. I moved up to the side of my girlfriend and held my arm around her waist. Her mouth was open and her eyes were wide, which I wasn't sure how to interpret. "Do you like it?" I asked quietly.

"Did... Did you do all of this... Just for me?" she asked in a small voice.

I looked down at the floor, embarrassed. "Well, yeah. I mean, I just thought, with it being your birthday and all, that maybe something more, you know, special, was in order. But I get it if you don't like it, I mean it was a stupid idea in the first place, I don't even know why I thought you'd like it, let's just-"

"Carter." When I looked back up, she was staring straight at me with a look filled with nothing but love. "I love it."

"Oh. Oh, well, that's good. I mean, well-" I managed to cut myself off before I embarrassed myself even further, instead continuing to say, "I'm glad."

Her smile could've lit up the street, and mine I'm sure was mirroring it. "Let's eat, shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~

HEEEEEY!!!!

Its me. I know, I know, Author's Note, but hear me out. Or just scroll past. You could do that too, I suppose. ANYWAY, I just wanted to say sorry it took so long and sorry that this chapter was so dissatisfying, but the next chapters, I swear, will far pay up for this monstrosity.

Anyway, I'm so glad you guys wanted more from this series, because I really love writing it! I'll try to update often, but with volleyball, that could be a bit difficult. If I don't update for a while, try not to freak on me please? I know I'm amazing and all, but a girl's gotta sleep.

Thank you all sooooooo much, and I'll see you when I see you!

<3 Inchworm