Betrayed (A Yogscast Cornerstone Fanfiction)

Week 1/Day 2

There was a collective moaning and groaning as everyone woke after a long, wet, restless night. The rain was relentless, and since they were just starting out, none of the farms had produced any food yet. Hannah managed to split up the meat Kirby and Sjin had from the hunt for leather yesterday, but it only made a measly breakfast for all of them. 

"Take my rations," Sjin said once everyone had dispersed to do their daily tasks and he and Kirby were the only ones left in the communal bedroom. Kirby was still sitting on the end of her bed, wiping her hands clean on the rag her breakfast was served on.  

Kirby tried to look contemptibly at the meat that Sjin has proffered to her, but he could see the hunger in her eyes. Her hand even twitched before she stood up and stepped away from him. "You need to eat too, just hurry up," she said coolly, looking out the window that was dripping with rain water. 

Sjin felt his stomach churn at her demeanor, knowing that she only acted like this when she was feeling vulnerable. Some of this was blatantly his fault, and he felt bad for the way he had acted towards her yesterday. He was desperate to get her alone and fix things before Ross could, but they didn't have a lot of privacy with the flux buddies working just upstairs and Hat Films occasionally entering the room to finish building. 

He decided to try anyway. "You can't stay mad at me forever," I sighed, setting her food down on the foot of her bed. 

"Can't I?" she snapped, looking at him through the corner of her eye. 

Sjin bit back a retort about her stubbornness lasting forever, knowing he had to be submissive to her if he was going to convince her of anything. He couldn't let her push his buttons, and she knew very well how to, and make him angry; it would only make her recede father behind her wall of cold cynicism. "I don't want to fight Kirby," he started, swallowing his anger, "I just want you to know I'm sorry for what I did, and I did it not only to protect you but that... yes, I was worried you'd leave me for Ross." 

"You're so goddamn stubborn and insecure!" she yelled, whirling on me, "You betrayed and manipulated me because you had no faith in your partner and no confidence in yourself." 

Sjin took a deep breath. "Maybe you're right, but I can't go back and change what I did, I can only ask for your forgiveness," he said, feeling rage building up inside him. How dare she call him stubborn when she was the one who wouldn't let up. 

Her eyes wandered up and down him, assessing his honesty. "I'm going hunting," she huffed, ignoring Sjin because she knew he had made a valid point. Kirby tried to walked past him and towards the stairs, but he grabbed her arm. 

"Not alone, and especially in this rain," he said, ignoring their argument and switching tactics to show he still cared about her, "I don't care what you think of me, I'm still going to protect you." All of the sudden Trott came down the stairs and rifled through the chests that were on the opposite wall of the beds. Sjin nodded at him, but the walrus either didn't see or purposefully didn't acknowledge it. 

Kirby gave a huff of a breath and stalked to the stairs, but stopped at the bottom, clearly waiting for him. This kind of Kirby he could deal with, for they often used to fight on the farm, especially while she was mourning the 'death' of her friends. 

Sjin shook that thought away, not wanting to think about it anymore. Touching the small of Kirby's back in silent communication like they did at the farm, he walked past her and out the door into the rain. 

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Hannah sank to her knees, not caring that the cold mud was seeping into her jeans. The plants were not growing, and no amount of rain, fertilizer, or wishful thinking was going to change that.