The Chronicles Of SkyArmy - SSundee

Ssundee- Chapter 21: Warm Embraces...

(A/N: Ouch, this is gonna have a lot of feels in it! Brace yourselves! C'mon, don't cry...don't...too late!)

When I opened my eyes again the first thing I saw was soft, warm sunlight filtering through the thick jungle canopy above me. Looks like Lancey had taken us back into the jungle. I sat up slowly, looking around me. I realised my sunglasses were gone. Felt weird without them on. A few chunks away Lancey and Diamond were tearing into some steak while Derp sat away from them. Alone. He looked round. "He's awake." I stared deep into his crooked eyes; they were filled with worry and despair. "Did I...hurt anyone?" "What are you talking about Derp?" "Well...you know I went into 'killing mode?'" I nodded slowly. "Yes." "Well...sometimes I do stuff I-" "Ssundee! You're ok!" I saw Lancey run towards me. "Hi." I said weakly. Instantly I was wrapped in a bone-crushing hug. "I was so worried about you." "I'm ok Diamond." Derp took a shaky breath and looked away. My heart ached for him.

I didn't understand why he was so...scared. Nothing could scare Derp. After a little while Diamond and Lancey left to go exploring. I shifted over so I was sitting next to him. "What's the matter?" He didn't reply. I stared through the trees ahead of us, watching the sun slowly set. It cast orange rays over us and soft warm soothed my cold bones. I turned to Derp. The sun cast his face into shadows, making him look aged and worn. After a few moments of silence he sighed deeply. "The thing with transmoganarians, is that they shouldn't exist." "What?" "This side of them...the evil side. Shouldn't exist." "I don't understand." "Seto told me. I was wrong. We ARE connected. If you die, I die. If I die, you die." "Oh." I wasn't sure what to say. He sighed. "I was never meant to be." "What?" "Seto shouldn't of brought me out of you. The whole point of there being 2 sides, is that you're there to control me." "You don't need controlling Derp! I believe you can make the right decisions without me!" "I might have to." I stared at him. "You're leaving?!" He stared back at me, frightened. "No! I wouldn't leave you Ssundee...unless-" "Unless what?!" I didn't like the way he was talking, it scared me.

"Unless I become too dangerous to stay around you." "What are you talking about Derp?! You're not dangerous, you're-" "So I wasn't dangerous when I was fighting the dragon?! Wasn't dangerous when I nearly killed Sky?! Wasn't dangerous when I nearly got us killed before?! Who are we kidding Ssundee?! How long can we keep this up for?" "Keep what up?" My voice was hoarse, my head full of unknown fears and dangers. "We all know I'm dangerous! I'm no more than a ticking time bomb! Waiting to explode! This is what I was talking about! Without your will to restrain me, I could lose it at anytime!" "Who told you all this crap-" "I DID! Because it's true! I've figured it out for myself! It's not worth it to keep putting you in danger!" Now I was angry. "Stop blaming yourself for the mistakes that I'VE made!" We were both on our feet now, arguing in the dim twilight. "The mistakes that we've BOTH made!" "NO! I WAS THE ONE WHO PUT US IN DANGER DERP! I PROVOKED SKY! I RAN INTO THE PATH OF THE DRAGON WHEN YOU TOLD ME NOT TO!"

I started as I gazed into Derp's eyes. The madness and danger in them that so many had warned me of before was now apparent in them as they glared at me, full of hostility and fear. I lowered my voice. "Don't make me do this-" "DO WHAT?!" I glared back at him. "DON'T MAKE ME DRIVE MY ONLY FRIEND AWAY BECAUSE OF MY OWN STUPIDITY!" Derp's eyes widened. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S AFRAID?! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?! KNOWING EVERYDAY COULD BE MY LAST?!" "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!" "LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION SSUNDEE! HOW MUCH CAN YOU TAKE AWAY FROM A PERSON, HOW MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING CAN YOU INFLICT UPON THEM UNTIL THEY ARE NO LONGER A PERSON?! UNTIL THEY ARE SIMPLY A MONSTER THAT LIVES TO KILL AND CREATE HAVOC! YOU'RE THE ONLY THING STOPPING ME FROM BECOMING THAT!" That shut me up.

I stared at him, wide-eyed. "What?" My head spun and my stomach churned as his crooked eyes I had grown to love so much filled with tears. "I'm a monster Ssundee...and if you know what's good for you...you'll stay away." "No Derp, that's NOT true, I won't let you think that." He looked away and my heart cracked as I heard quiet sobs escape him. I automatically went to him and put my arms around him, trying to smother the fear and misery inside of him. "Derp. Don't talk like that. You're not a monster." "I-I d-don't know w-what I'd d-do without y-you Ssundee..." He managed to choke back in reply through the tears. I put my head on his shoulder and squeezed my eyes tight shut, trying to block out the hostility and cruelness of the world. "I don't know what I'd do without you either Derp..." I found tears trickling down my face also as we stood in our embrace under the cold, hard, staring eyes of the stars above us. After a while Derp fell silent and his breathing levelled out. It was silent all around us except for the quiet chirping of the jungle animals and the waves lapping on the beach in the distance where Derp had fought the dragon. "You've done so much for me Derp...how can you still live in this world? How can you live when you're constantly fighting an internal battle?"

Derp didn't reply, then he swallowed and said, "I can still live because of you Ssundee...you're what gets me through the worst of my life and helps me when more's coming..." I was touched. I'd never realised how much I meant to Derp, or how much he meant to me. As the moon rose higher I listened to the synchronisation of our heartbeats as silence fell around us. "Ssundee?" "Yes?" "You won't judge me when I say this will you-" "Say what?" I pulled away slightly from him and gazed into his crooked eyes that had softened, and were almost glowing in the moonlight. He took a deep shaky breath and averted his gaze to the ground. "I-I love you Ssundee..." I was in shock for a moment, then I felt an icy layer thaw from around my heart that I hadn't known I'd had. "D-Derp?..." "It's ok if you don't-" "I'm not gonna judge you..." "Really?" He looked up and his eyes were glowing brighter. "I'm not gonna judge you because..." I shut my eyes, drawing strength from the darkness in my head. Then I pulled myself together and said the immortal words that would change my life forever. "Because I-I feel the s-same way, a-about you..."

(DUN DUN DUNNNN! I love cliffhangers! More will be coming soon so make sure to stick around! See yah round ma DOODS! 😎 Squeaks! 😉)