Miraculous Games

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen:

Night fell in the arena, though a lot sooner than it should have. Chat looked up into the sky, then pulled out his staff. He opened it and checked the time.

"That's odd..."

"What is it?" Marinette asked, eyeing Lila suspiciously. Blame was immediately placed on her.

"It shouldn't be getting dark."

Nathanael huffed. "They're just trying to speed the games up"

Lila furrowed her eyebrows and popped a hip. "But why would they want that? There are, at least, eight of us left."

"They must have a time frame that they need to stick to," Marinette said. "The Game Master and his minion must have tricks up their sleeves."

Chat nodded. "You're probably right, LB. I'll be sure to do some..." he waved his hands randomly to fill in the blank that he knew he couldn't say in the arena.

"Until then," Lila butted in, "we should set up camp."

Ladybug folded her arms. "Why? We're fine enough to keep going."

Chat bit his lip, then looked at her. His eyes looked her up and down, analyzing how serious her burns were. Thanks to Nathanael and the healing salve, it had been getting better, but it wasn't as good as Chat would have wanted.

"No, I agree with Lila. We need to set up a camp for the night."

Nathanael caught onto what Chat was referring to. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm with those two." He turned his attention to Marinette. "Ladybug, you aren't exactly in the best condition to keep walking."

Marinette scowled, then folded her arms. Though they were blistered and red, and she did want to take a small rest, she wasn't backing down. "I'm fine. I can keep going. I'm not some sort of fragile porcelain doll that can break easily."

"We have enough supplies to make it through the night," Lila insisted. "Taking one night to rest isn't too bizarre."

"No!" Ladybug snapped. "We need food and supplies. I can keep going, so we all should."

Chat glanced at Lila and Fox, then sighed. "You two start setting up camp. I need to talk to Ladybug."

As the two other people from their group, Chat stepped toward her and put a hand on her arm. He glanced around, then led her behind a tree.

"Chat?" Marinette muttered. "What are you-?"

He faced her then put both hands on her shoulders. His eyes stared deeply into hers.

"My Lady, what is going on?"

Marinette glanced back at their camp, then sighed.

"I don't trust her. She has an air about her that..." she shivered. "Something's wrong, Chat. Something is odd about her and I can't put my finger on it."

Chat sighed and dropped his hands, resting them on his hips. "My lady, I can't help but say that you're being very cold."

"Cold?" she repeated, her tone defensive. "This is a deadly competition. We could be killed if we do the wrong thing!"

"But that doesn't mean we push people away if the need help."

Ladybug sighed. "Look, Chat, it's not that I don't want to help, I just want to keep Fox and you safe. This place is dangerous and I can't, I won't, let the people o care about her hurt."

Chat raised an eyebrow, surprised at her response. "You care about Fox and me, then?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"