Duality [INFIDGET]

Chapter Nine: The Woods

"AHHHHHH!"

Gadget screamed as the bear ran after him, alerting a nearby jackal. Zero spun around, "Gadget?!" he used his ruby to pick up on the other active one.

The petrified wolf ran to Zero, "Help!!" he hid behind him. Zero looked at him then to the bear, he growled and powered his ruby.

The bear roared at the jackal, its own spit and horrid breath coated him. "Disgusting." Zero grunted, "We will be feasting tonight" he spawned a large spear and impaled the bear from its back to its stomach. The spear pinned the bear to the ground, the creature didn't even stand a chance as its blood soaked the dirt.

Gadget trembled and slowly came out from behind Zero, "Th-thanks" he held his hand. Zero disintegrated the spear and turned to Gadget, "Don't worry about it, that bear was quite huge" he chuckled. "There should be a pond nearby to wash this filth and smell off" Zero looked around.

"What about the bear?" Gadget asked as he looked at the corpse. Zero spawned a box of red cubes around the bear to protect the body from scavengers and flies, "There" he smiled.

Gadget smiled back and followed the jackal to a pond. The water was crystal clear and sky blue in colour, it looked like a small paradise. Gadget looked in awe as Zero took off his clothes and stepped into the water to wash his fur, Gadget decided to join him.

"The water is so fresh" Gadget sighed contently and sat on the water bank, dipping his legs into the pond. Zero nodded, "Indeed, I've been here before. It is like a sanctuary to me" he explained while washing his body.

"So you come here all the time?" Gadget asked, wanting to learn a little more about his lover. Zero nodded, "I used to, when I was with my...squad" he sighed and washed his long tail.

Gadget's ears folded, he was regretting asking that question as he could tell Zero's squad was a tough subject. Gadget walked to him and kissed his furry cheek, "They're always in here" he pressed Zeros chest where his heart was, making Zero smile and nuzzle him.

Zero stepped out of the pond with Gadget and shook himself to dry off as he had no towels, he also used the sun to dry his damp fur. Gadget done the same, both having partially dry fur as they trekked back to where the bear was, leaving Gadget to think of when Zeros squad used to come here, he would have loved to meet them but sadly that couldn't happen, it did make Gadget wander at the personalities of the other jackals or how lonely Zero must be feeling now that he is the only live jackal in his species - the last of his kind.

Gadget frowned, it saddened him to think about that. Zero looked at Gadget, "You look upset, something bothering you?" he asked as they reached the sea of red cubes mobilised in the shape of a box.

"It's nothing" Gadget shrugged off. Zero raised an eye ridge but nodded, "Alright then" he powered his ruby and continued with the construction of the underground base. "Can you gather some sticks to make a fire?" Zero asked.

"Sure" Gadget went to forage for some sticks. He came back after 20 minutes with sticks and started to make the fire, he sat cross-legged on the ground.

It was dark before Gadget actually got the fire sparking, he grinned in victory, "Yes! I made the fire!"
Zero looked at him and smiled, "Congrats, this base is almost done" he went to sit beside the wolf, "I can finish it tomorrow and we can have a permanent base here without having to sleep in the wild" he explained and kissed Gadgets forehead.

"Now, let's have something to eat" Zero stood up and removed the box of cubes from around the dead bear. "Can you grab more sticks? I'll cut us some meat" Zero formed a knife in his hand, he knew Gadget would be sensitive to seeing him cut open a bear as he was already terrified from seeing the jackal kill it so sending him off would be a distraction for the poor wolf, Zero had learned how to cut and prepare meat from surviving with his squad, the techniques still stayed with him even when living in a base.

Gadget nodded and walked off to get more sticks, he took his mind off everything as he searched.

Meanwhile, Zero had cut off some bits of flesh for cooking, he stripped the meat of fur to prevent choking and decided to stock up for further use down the line. He didn't even notice how covered in blood he was until he seen his hands and chest.

"Oops.."

Gadget had gathered enough sticks to last for a few days of eating at the fire just in case they had to move again. So, he started to head back. "Hey, Zero! I found some sti-" Gadget stopped his sentence when he seen the jackal covered in blood and his face turned pale when he seen the decapitated bear with its organs spilling.

Dropping the sticks, Gadget ran to a bush and threw up from seeing such a gruesome sight.

Zero gulped and quickly hid the body in the flurry of cubes again and went to quickly wash, once done he walked over to his sick wolf and rubbed his back. "I'm sorry you had to see that..." Zero sighed. Gadget wiped his mouth, "It's okay...I'm just screamish around corpses and lots of blood..." he went to wash out his mouth in the pond.

"You don't have to eat if you're not feeling well" Zero commented and sat beside Gadget.

"I'll be fine, trust me" Gadget nuzzled Zero and sighed.

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After dinner, Zero went to finish the base for tomorrow morning. Gadget was practicing his magic as Zero was busy.

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By late at night the base was constructed, but it wasn't furnished yet; he would do that tomorrow, for now Zero seen Gadget curl up in his body for warmth. Zero walked to the sleepy wolf and wrapped his larger body around him, Zero's tail warmed Gadgets body up and both Mobians slept peacefully.