SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Claude stared at the river that flowed by. He watched as it cascaded down its path, stern eyes picking up waves as it went along. Ripples plopped in the water occasionally: him being the culprit. He picked up dirt and rocks and had been flinging at it. While his right hand was busy with that, his left held what they had given him.

A damn joke. Rust filled hell that he would have left in his bag if it weren't for, well, everything. There was talk of going home at the end of this; there just had to be the one left.

It was like dangling a carrot in front of a bunch of boxed-up rabbits, and then you taped AK's to those rabbits and left them at it. He had a reputation back home- a well-earned one at that, he'd admit- he had no intention of letting some shithead get the jump on him.

Claude had found some gloves inside a kit in the bag and put them on. No reason to risk infection out here while he was at it. He'd leave that to his classmates.

Or whatever poor shmuck who'd try their luck on him.

((Grayson thought the distant sky looked pretty.))

Unfortunately, Claude soured the view for his squinting, glasses-missing eyes. Not like he recognized who it was but the blob started to look more human the more Grayson casually approached him from behind.

The crinkle sound of his beige raincoat might give him away, but with his trusty new sparkly tablespoon in his left hand, what's the worst that could happen? He had cursed at it enough, now he was going the friendly route with it.

The sound of the river grew louder. He stopped.

"Hm. Wanna jump in?"

Despite all of the circumstances, Claude could appreciate the river. It was a calming sight to the eyes, and he could just watch the perpetual motion machine go.

Everything else is damned as far as he was concerned.

Except he didn't have the time. Someone was already here. Crinkling of something behind him, cloth perhaps, had given them away. He turned to look, and his grimace that had been there from the start slowly gave away.

A beige coat-wearing boy stared at him, a shiny something in his hand. He could see the squint in his eyes and challenged it with his own. Perfected with years of looking his classmates in the eyes and watching Clint Eastwood films.

"Not unless I get to dunk ya in." A grin exhibited past as he stared at the new arrival. Fingers on his left hand tapping away at the rust-covered menace that occupied it.

"Whaddya say, Grayson?"

"I say..... That's bad news for you."

A wobbly smirk appeared on Grayson's face, less confident than he'd like it to be. Bullshitting his way through things was the usual way to go for him.

"I'll have you know that; okay, important fact; that, I was top of the class when I got my swimming certificate in elementary school. Remember that." Liiiiiies. Grayson waved his spoon for emphasis. He couldn't tell how deep the water was just from looking at it from this angle and somehow he was already mentally preparing himself to go in.

"So it's your ass that's getting dunked on.... in.... whatever the saying is. Bet???"

Alright, check this shit, bring it up to eleven,
Back on your bullshit, show the stairway to heaven,
Creepin' round these bends with a 500 Smith & Wesson,
Got a beat to walk to, shit to talk to, teach some fuckin' lessons,

You know, I'm a lioness, a fucking jungle queen,
The hunter of the pride, a head full of steam,
See two mooks sittin', chattin', kickin' back in the rivers,
But I'm here to bang my head and give the viewers all shivers,

Grayson and Claude, these cats ain't nothin' but meat,
And Yalli over here's never been discreet,
A pause in their convo, the audible river's gurglin' slick,
Maybe one of 'em heard, from the bushes, a revolver hammer go click.

He kept his black-tooth grin as Grayson continued, a wobbly mirror of his own. He was rambling, stuff from almost a decade ago apparently relevant to him.

"Get that from swimming in a river?" A lazy answer to some pull-away bullshit, what it all boiled down to. The dude could keep going, but Claude was not going to keep himself responsible if he bit off more than he could chew.

"I bet," Claude started as he reached down with his right hand and got up on his feet, his leather jacket squeaking under pressure and turned slightly sideways as he pointed with his bar at Grayson.

"that I can club you upside the head with this and throw you out there faster than you can reach with that silver there."

And yet, through the noise they were making. The movements they were doing and the crinkles their clothing was making. River flowing by to its new home. Wind pushing vegetation around. There was a distinct sound in the air. Faint, but noticeable, if only because it was something neither of them could make.

"...Y'hear that?"

Grayson shrieked. Not a full-on shriek shriek though, it was more located in the back of his throat when he pulled a face at Claude getting too close to his liking with that ugly bar in his hand. Why the gloves though? Was he that dedicated to getting his hands dirty?

"I'm not falling for that, dude." He genuinely hadn't heard anything. "You're just fucking with me and you better stop!"

He swung the spoon again and aimed to slap Claude's cheek with the back of it.

Watchin' from the bush, Yalli didn't got shit to say,
Just watchin' a play fight in the harsh of day,
They looked bout to throw shitty hands with a spoon and a bar,
But unless they was the flash then they weren't bout to go far,

Here's a lesson bout the Wesson & Smith,
From a short range out, it'd be damn hard to miss,
But in a wet forest with water rushin' and flow,
It'd be a miracle if Yalli got this bullet to go,

Six shots in the chamber, six chances at bat,
So Yalli stood to her full height, and the .500 went BLAT

The idiot didn't care, never mind Claude's threat in the matter. Grayson started his assault with cutlery, hitting Claude on the cheek. He sneered as he realized what Grayson had just done. He reared his left-back as his right hand slapped Grayson's hand away before taking a fierce hold on the coat lapel, ready to smash when a nearby bush exploded, and a bullet soared across and skinned his knee.

Claude wobbled, the sudden sensation across his knee making him take a step back. He held his fierce grip on Grayson, though, and when he fell backward, he took him down with him.

"Fuckin'... is this your play?! You piece of shit!" He yelled as he tried to shove the boy off him and get back to his feet. He needed to get out of there.

"Hm?"

Akiko was shuffling about a distance away from the situation and her head had snapped up when she heard the gunshot going off and she was taking a few crunchy greenish-brown leave out of her hair.

She glanced at the knife that was resting in the grass beside her and she was mostly hidden by a bunch of bushes that weren't a completely bad cover. She didn't dare more from where she was currently chilling and she squinted to see what was happening.

Was this really happening?

She called from behind the bushes, "Hey! You two should move and hide behind anything before they shoot at you again!" She picked up the knife for safe keeping and she crawled over to another bush to keep on moving without the shooter knowing where she was.

Thank god for my shortness for once!

Grayson didn't make a peep this time. Once the bullet echoed out, he froze and his throat felt tight. He had been ready to throw hands with Claude just 'cause he was the first person he saw and the urge to punch someone was strong, but the fierce grip of Claude on his coat was a reminder to think more before acting.

He huffed out of reflex when they hit the ground. The cushion aka Claude could be softer but Grayson didn't plan to remain on top of him.

"B.... Bitch, stop!" he sputtered and struggled to move for a moment when he looked down. "H--Hold on, stop bleeding on me!"

Thankfully, it was "just" his knee. Grayson wasn't ready to have someone die in, or under, his arms just yet. He couldn't see far. He didn't know where the shot had come from but it seemed like it had already gotten the attention of others beside them when a voice called out to them.

He rolled off of Claude and then, "Hey, gun person-!" he shouted while scurrying to the nearest tree. "-hey, do it again, I dare you!"

So Grayson acted tough, and Grayson stood tall,
Yalli had to nod at those gigantic fuckin' balls,
But Yalli knew quick that Grayson was all talk,
And he'd likely grabbed cover, so she started to stalk.

She was 'cross the river, and gave a thought to fjord it,
But there wasn't cover around it, yeah, she prolly couldn't afford it,
So she cocked back the hammer on her 500 chrome,
and began to stalk down the river, looking for where the bullet'd land home

She walked a few feet deeper when Grayson's voice found her,
And she fondled the trigger with a finger, levelled arms and didn't flounder,
Two shots this time, one to the right of the voice that sounded,
And one slamming into the tree, the cover that Grayson founded.

A girl's voice called out to them. 'Get out of dodge." essentially. It was easier said than done when someone laid on top of him with a damn spoon. Now, Claude would be happy to if the moron could get off him quick; but Grayson was a slow, dumb bastard. He was calling out to the shooter and complaining about his bleeding.

The fuck did he think was gonna happen during their fight? Bleeding was a part of it all. When this was done, and if they both walk out of here alive, Claude was gonna make sure this kid bleeds.

He could hear splashes of water that sounded out across the area; their shooter seemingly started to make their way across the river. More bullets flew by, hitting greenery and trees around.

It did not matter to Claude, though. The instant Grayson was finally off him, he forced himself onto his feet, and despite the stinging pain across his knee, almost galloped headfirst into some bushes.

His gloved hand still clinging to his rusty friend as he crawled on the ground. His right hand hovered over his knee, unsure of what to do.

Akiko felt her breathe caught itself in her throat as a bullet pierced into the ground a few inches in front of her. Mud and grass bits flying near her. That had been too close for her liking.

She heard rustling behind her in the bushes, not realizing that it was Claude and she thought it was the shooter. This made her bolt up to her feet and she sprinted right for where she could see Grayson.

She did the the first thing that came to her mind. Her survival instinct was kicking in and she needed to use it as quick as she possibly could.

She grabbed onto Grayson's arm and she was half-running and half-pulling him to come with her.

Okay. Not what I really had in mind. But it was better than letting him die in front of me!

"RUN!!" She shrieked, hoping and praying that a stray bullet wouldn't get lucky enough to hit him or her.

((Akiko Sasaki continued elsewhere))

"WHAAA—"

Grayson held onto Akiko's hand tight.

He had flinched hard and didn't dare to move again when the bullet hit the tree he was cowering behind, until he was forced to. He liked his spoon. He was grateful for it, really. But it was a bit unfair, no? Unless it was made out of a special material that could bounce anything back that came his way. Nevermind that he had asked for it.

His eyes searched for Claude until they were too far away.

They kept running.

((Grayson Émile continued elsewhere))