Tɪɢʜᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ Bᴏɴᴅs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tʜʀᴇᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏᴜʀ || ʙᴏʏs ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʙᴏʏs

Tazi

Freezing water drenched my face, yanking me from my sleep. "What the~!" I shouted, bolting upright. I spat and gasped for breath, blinking water out of my eyes and glaring at whoever had rudely woken me.

Niko stood in front of me. He wore a wide, unapologetic grin on his face.

"Did you...?!" I growled, squeezing out the ends of my hair and shivering. My bedroll was soaked! Tyler was going to be furious when he found out. I was dreading that, and it was all this idiot's fault!

"Told you he'd be mad." Sasha drawled as he sauntered past.

Niko shrugged and offered me a hand.

I was not about to forgive him. He'd basically signed my death certificate! So I grabbed his hand and yanked him down beside me, throwing a punch into his stomach.

"Omph!" Niko grunted and slapped my hand away. Before long, we were wrestling on the ground.

I kneed him in the chest, using my knobbly limbs to my advantage.

Niko groaned and kicked me hard in the shin. That hurt. He was scrappier than I'd been expecting. To be fair, he'd been a street kid. I had not.

I rolled off him and scrambled to my feet, fists up by my face.

Niko did the same. He faced me and we circled each other, eyes locked.

"Boys." I heard Lucia mutter from the sidelines just as Niko lunged toward me with a fierce war cry.

I didn't think, just swung my hands forward and slapped whatever I could reach. I turned my head away, eyes squeezed protectively shut.

However, laughter sounded, and I squinted my eyes opened to glare at whoever was laughing. Then I realized it was all of them.

Sasha was bent double at the waist, clutching his middle as he choked on laughter.

Zay was hiding a smirk behind her palm.

Sabien and Navia were giggling together.

Lizzie was laughing, her face all scrunched up in a way that almost made me stop being angry. Almost.

Even Lucia was grinning slightly. Neither of our guardians were in sight.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my forehead and Niko's, shoving to two of us apart.

Caught by surprise and the force of the shove, I landed on my butt in the grass almost a full pace away. I scowled up at Tyler, who was the one that had intervened.

"Seriously." Our black-haired guardian folded his arms and glared down at me. "How old are you, exactly?!" He asked incredulously, switching his glare to Niko.

The other boy shrank guiltily.

I opened my mouth to retort that Niko had started it, but Tyler held up a hand. "Nope. I don't wanna hear it. You two better apologize and act your age from now on." Glowering, he strode away.

I spun toward Niko, angry. "This is all your fault!"

"My fault?" He seethed, leaping up. "My fault?!"

I jumped to my feet and lunged forward. "Yes! I'm sooo sorry, Ostrich Boy. Should... I... talk... like... this?" I asked, drawing out every word.

"You punched me!" Niko snapped. "I'm not an idiot."

"Sounds like something an idiot would say." I sassed back.

Niko gnashed his teeth, but Sasha interrupted before he could respond. "Wow, guys!" He chortled, wiping tears of hysteria out of his eyes, "who knew you two were so good at hissy-fits!"

Niko and I pulled up short. We both spun to stare at him.

"Hissy-fits?" I inquired, my eyebrows furrowing.

"Yep!" Sasha explained, "they're slapping fights for little kids!"

"Little kids? Like short kids? Why, you-!" Niko took two steps forward and swung a fist at him, but Sasha ducked easily.

"Sorry, I should've specified." Sasha straightened. "I meant little as in five-year-olds. Babies."

"Actually," Lucia jumped in. For a moment, I thought she would defend one of us. "Niko's more of a six year old."

Nope.

"Hey!" Niko folded his arms and pouted.

He certainly looked like a six year old when he did that. I snorted into my palm.

"See?" Lucia pointed. "My proof."

Niko turned on his heel and started to walk away, but I jumped in his path.

I leaned in, glaring at him and hoping it looked more intimidating than it felt. "This isn't over."

Niko rocked backward, "no, it's obviously not. Also, dude, get a breath mint. Yuck!" He waved a hand in front of his nose and swerved around me.

I was about to reply, but I was interrupted by a loud chuckle.

We all spun, instantly on guard. Eight sets of hands reached for weapons and eight sets of teeth bared defensively.

A man stepped out of the trees. "Easy, kids." He raised his hands, showing that he was unarmed. A flash of black was visible on his wrist. A tattoo?

From the corner of my eye, I saw Sasha's jaw drop.

"You made it." Ryan had joined us. She smiled at the man as she approached, laying a hand on Lizzie's shoulder to encourage her to set down her weapon.

Lizzie did not, but most of the others did.

"Ryan." The man greeted warmly, shaking her hand. "So these are the nitwits that you have to deal with?" He asked, smiling. He turned and his gaze swept the group.

I tilted my head. Something struck me as familiar about him. He was tall, thin. His face was sunken, his eyes dark and his hair long and tangled.

"Yep," Ryan was saying, laughing, when the man did a double-take.

And it clicked, then. I recognized the man. He looked just like—

"Sasha?" He stuttered.

In the same moment, Sasha drew his sword fully. He snarled, "you!"

That's it! Sorry for the short chapter 😅 The next one will be up in a bit!! Also; question! Should I make them aesthetic type things?? Please comment!

edit: 25/12/2023
writing this while watching criminal minds at 11pm is certainly not what i thought i'd be doing tonight but oh well
enjoy my lovelies
and merry christmas to all who celebrate
xx