Chapter 4: Four
Quickly, Chase sheaths her machete and calms her breathing, not wanting to frighten Ana. She moves to where she left her, and kneels down, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ana shrieks and jumps, not knowing who or what it was.
"Hey, hey! it's me, it's just me." Chase waits for Ana to calm. After a few minutes go by, Ana has steadied her breathing and stopped shaking.
"Seventy-two." Ana whispers, so quiet Chase can barely hear her.
"What?" Chase says, pulling back from the hug but leaving her hands on Ana's forearms.
"You said you would be back before one-hundred. I counted to seventy-two." Ana smiles at her. "You kept your promise." Ana laughs and flashes one of those sunshine-smiles.
"Of course, I did." Chase smiles back. "Now let's go back to the den," Chase says as she stands up, pulling Ana with her.
"Why would we go back? You told me there was an art store." Ana grins clearly trying to shake off the remnants of fear. She knew she was safe with Chase. Chase laughs, but picks up half of the satchels and bags, leaving half for Ana to carry, and leads her into the town.
"I haven't explored all the stores here yet, but I'm sure some other places still have supplies. Plus, a lot of stores I have been into I didn't take much, so there's some cool stuff around here. Pick a building you want to start with, and we can head in." Chase shrugs. "I pick," Ana hesitates for a moment, "That one!" She jumps and points to an old, huge building to the right of them. They walk over to it, and Chase yanks on the door as hard as she can, one foot propped on the other door, until the lock pops, and she gets it open.
"I've never been to this one. After you m'lady," Chase says, bowing over her arm while holding the door for Ana, who is giggling.
"Why thank you, kind knight," Ana says, gives a fake curtsy, then enters the shop. Chase follows behind her, both girls coughing over dust.
"Help me get a light." Chase coughs, patting the walls.
"Do they still work?" Ana asks and helps search before receiving an answer.
"Some do, some don't. I have no clue," she tacks on when Ana looks confused I have flashlights just in case, but the lights would be nicer."
"Got it!" Ana says, flicking a switch. Suddenly, fluorescents illuminate the place, revealing a large store with home decor, clothes, and much more. "Oh my god! this is awesome!" Ana squealed. "Fashion show!" Ana says, running around and looking at clothes.
"What do you mean, fashion show?" Chase asks, and learns to regret it.
"We can pick a bunch of clothes for each other, and a few for ourselves obviously, and we can try them on back at the den!" Ana says, clearly very excited.
"Alright, princess, let's get moving though so we can see other stores." Ana smiles at Chase, glad she said they could. They both start shopping around, Ana grabbing some things to make the den more home-like. After filling up on clothes, fully knowing they will be back many more times since they didn't even look at all the different items, they head out and choose another building.
Chase pulls her sleeve over her hand and wipes some dust off the glass window and cups her hands to the glass, looking in. "It's a convenience store... I think." Chase says, not totally sure. Chase Pulls her machete off of her hip, "Step back." Ana takes a few steps back, and Chase smashes the glass doors with the handle of it, shielding her eyes. She reaches in and clicks the lock, then pulls the door open and smiles at Ana, stretching a hand out through the door, motioning for Ana to go first. Ana smiles and walks in, stepping over the broken glass. Chase flips the light a few times, and nothing happens.
"Time to take out the flashlights." Ana puts her hand out, waiting for Chase to deposit one into it. A moment later, both girls are shining the beams around the room, taking in the store. Bags of chips and juices and a dusty counter with a cash register on it. After taking in their surroundings, Chase grabs a ring of keys behind the desk, unlocking the different drink cases and such.
"Help me fill up on stuff. Grab anything you like." Chase explains, already picking up different things and placing them in the bag.
"But won't we get sick? These have to be so old," Ana tries to reason. She ees Chase lift something and the next thing she knows, it's fluttering into her hands, Chase having thrown it over to her.
"Another weird thing about this place," Chase murmurs, looking things over. Ana flips the old newspaper around and starts to skim it. "Nothing here ages. Look at the city, it has to be hundred of years since anyone else was here. But look at all the food," Chase grabs a box of juice from the warm fridge, and pours it out onto the floor. It looks fine. She sets it down. She grabs a pre packaged thing of cheese sticks and holds them up. They're totally fine. Ana's eyes widen when she sees the date of the newspaper. No wonder she didn't recognize any of the events.
"3010? Thats-"
"Over 100 years ago," Chase finishes for her. "Don't ask questions. You're not gonna get any answers. Let's get moving." Chase sighs, taking the newspaper from Ana's hands, and setting it down on the glass register. Ana nods and starts looking around. She gasps as she picks up some sort of mocha-chocolate bar. Chase laughs at her excitement and goes back to filling her bag with drinks and such. The girls walk around, exploring a few more stores and collecting new clothes, shoes, and whatever else Ana threw in her bags when she wasn't looking. Chase was keeping an eye out as well. Ana didn't know the true dangers of the city yet. Eventually, they make their way to the art store. Chase turns the handle and pushes the door open with a creak, allowing Ana to walk in first. Ana flicks the light and gasps as she sees all the different items in the store. She runs her hand over a wall of oil paints, in disbelief that she can take as much as she can carry.
"Pick out some stuff, I'm gonna organize our bags a little so we have more room," Chase says, sitting in the spinning chair behind the dusty wooden desk and rusted register. Ana walks around, taking everything in. She reaches out and grabs two boxes of charcoal and three boxes of oil pastels. "Set the stuff you want over here, and i'll organize it." Chase offers.
"Thanks." Ana smiles, setting the boxes down gently on the edge of the desk. She walks over to the wall of oil paints and picks out one of each color, then does the same for the acrylics. After setting those down, she takes a bunch of different brushes, making sure she will have enough for even the most significant painting. Along with that, she finds some paint palettes, erasers, sketching pencils, and a whole lot of other stuff. Lastly, she grabs a few sketchbooks and a few canvases and an easel with a trap that she can sling over her shoulder and put together in the den. Chase just shakes her head, knowing this was going to be a long and heavy trek back. "Okay. I'm done." Ana smiles. "For now," She adds after. Chase lets out a laugh and helps pack mule herself and Ana with all the bags, which Ana thought were impossibly heavy. The girls exit the shop, shutting the door behind them. Chase makes sure her bow and machete are in reach in case she was to need them, and the girls set off in the direction of the den. The journey back was much the same, just more uncomfortable with the bags they were carrying. On the way back, they learned more nameless things about one another, and once they carefully slipped back under the waterfall, dropped the bags to the ground with a sigh. "Those were so heavy." Ana pants, feeling sweaty and gross.
"I know, but at least we're back now," Chase responds.
"Let's go clean up and then come out here and sort through everything and have our fashion show!" Ana squeals, still very excited about the fashion show. Chase rolls her eyes and laughs, agreeing. Ana starts stripping in the main room, laying down her clothes neatly in the corner and putting a set of new clothes she grabbed from the store's bed blankets. Chase is looking at her with a brow raised and blushing cheeks, making sure to only look at Ana's face. "I'm not taking a chance of soaking my clothes again." Ana laughs and motions for Chase to follow her. Ana goes and sinks into the spring. Chase follows shortly after, taking in how at peace Ana looks, head tipped back, eyes closed. Chase can't help but wish she could make The Gone safer for her. She can't lose anyone else to this place. Not again.
"Come on and get in." Ana breaks Chase from her thoughts with a soft voice and a small smile. Chase smiles back and climbs in next to Ana. They soak for a while, and eventually, start undoing their hair to wash it. Ana simply undoes her two small braids and looks over to see Chase struggling. "Want some help?" Ana asks softly, already making her way over. Chase nods and turns around, allowing Ana to have access to her hair. Ana delicately undoes each strand and combs her fingers through it once they are all out.
"Thanks," Chase says, getting lost staring at Ana for a few moments. Ana gives a smile in reply, and both girls go back and forth, dipping their heads under, washing the dirt from their face and dust from their hair. Once they are thoroughly cleaned off, Ana puts both of their hair back up. They climb out and dry off with some towels Ana grabbed back at the first store. After drying, Ana pulls all the clothes out and takes any she chose for herself and any she chose for Chase. After, Chase takes what she got for herself and the things she got for Ana.
"Okay, let's switch one outfit at a time. so pick one for me, and i'll pick one for you." Ana explains. She and Chase each switch their outfits, and Ana goes into the bathing room to change, and Chase stays in the main room. They both said once they were ready, and Ana stepped back into the main room, a soft smile on her face.
"Wow," Is all Chase says when she sees Ana.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
PantheonsPavoris
PantheonsPavoris A little bit of a longer chapter today to make up for the short one before! What do you think Ana is wearing? What kind of outfit is Ana going to try and shove Chase into? Let me know in the comments!
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Hey, I'm Persephone! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please send gifts, vote, and support in any way you can! Also, please comment and let me know what you think!
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If people truly seem to like the story and it picks up in popularity a bit, then I'll try and update a whole lot more, too!
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