#soothouse fanfic

Will and George were in Will's cottage, which  rested on a high hill. His house overlooked the northern dock. The dock where most people would sail to. But it wasn't normal to get random visitors. Even less normal to get KIND random visitors.

"More pirates, probably," George said behind Will. "I can take care of them. Easy as bean pie," George said with a smirk.

"Hey, don't make fun of me for eating bean pie. You can't judge something if you've never tried it," Will said, turning around.

"Yes,  I agree. BUT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO MASH THE BEANS FIRST!" George exclaimed  in frustration. "You just put the beans without even-"

"We have better things to worry about, Georgie," Wilbur said. He grabbed his coat  off the coat hanger and quickly put it on. "Let's see who it is."

George  and Will hopped down the stone path towards the beach. The satisfying crashing waves surrounded them. The sour scent of saltwater. The  steamship parked against the wooden dock. A cold breeze passed through  them. George looked up at what he thought was a soaring bird, but was  actually Charlie coming to see what was going on. George waved for Charlie to come down.

Charlie landed himself on the beach. George smiled. "You're good? Your powers working now?"

Charlie  nodded. "I think I'm healed. Also..." Charlie looked over George's  shoulder. "What's the ship doing here? Did Will have another order of exotic beans?"

"We gotta find out," George said, taking Charlie's hand and running towards the ship.

The ship hissed steam into the night sky. The 3 of them surrounded the ship. A ramp slowly lowered from the ship wall to the dock. A young, slim, pale man dressed in all black appeared at the top. He wore a white full-face mask that stuck out like a sore thumb.

"We're not interested!" Will screamed.

A man made his way down the ramp. "Hello, Soots. The name is Sorrow Television, but you can call me Sorrow. Yes, I was born with that name. My birth certificate has that name. Please do not ask for proof," Sorrow TV said with a smile.

Will tapped Charlie on the shoulder. He side-eyed Charlie and whispered, "Get Jack right now. We need to know this guy's intentions." Charlie quickly fumbled and flew away.

"What did you say?" Sorrow asked.

"Nothing," Will quickly muttered. Half of the time he even forgets he even has his bean powers. He put his right hand in a finger-gun position behind his back. Ready to shoot.

Soaring high above Mt. Miiverse. Charlie had an aerial view of the north island. Dan and Rhianna were playing a card game near her garden barn. And Jack was there!

Charlie crashed head-first into a nearby stack of hay bales. "Hey noobsters, I need Jackaroni," Charlie announced while plucking hay from his wings.

"Who the FRICK is on MY island?" Jack said to no one in particular.

"OUR island," Matt corrected.

"Shut up nerd," Jack quickly said, running to Charlie.

Since Jack weighed the lightest, Charlie had no problem flinging Jack's body upwards with a burst of air. Jack flew like a ragdoll in a hurricane. But it was still the fastest method of travel on the island. Charlie DID have the ability to make Jack's travel a bit more comfortable by leveling the air currents, but what fun is that? It wasn't like Jack could read his mind and know that he was doing it on purpose.

Sorrow looked into the sky and pointed to the two Soots. "You folks have some odd birds."

Charlie dropped Jack behind a nearby building. Charlie peeked around the corner. "He says his name is Sorrow TV, but he's lying. He possesses an element, but we're not sure which."

Jack stood with his hands to his side. 2 minutes passed. And Sorrow, Will, and George had their painfully awkward small talk.

Jack's eyes widened. He clenched his fists. His face was full of shock. "I think I got everything. Get Will," Jack whispered. Charlie fetched Will and brought him to the back of the building. A ball had formed in Charlie's throat. But he had no idea why.

"What's his element?" Will asked.

"Darkness," Jack said. "Sorrow Television. Uhhhhh, he's unsure about his own sexuality. His parents recently divorced and-"

"I meant the USEFUL shit," Will snapped.

"He wears a mask because his face burns in daylight-"

Will placed a firm hand on Jack's shoulder. "WHY IS HE HERE?"

"He...He...." Jack stuttered. "I..."

Will and Charlie exchanged worried looks. The three peeked behind the building corner at the dock. They all gasped. George was gone. And so was Sorrow.

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH GEORGE?" Will asked, pointing to Sorrow like an angry lawyer as he ran.

"Who?" Sorrow asked.

"Unless he's hiding, you took him!" Will yelled.

"I don't even know you people," Sorrow said.

Charlie pointed to Sorrow. "For the element of darkness, you're pretty whi-"

Jack twacked the back of Charlie's head. "Excuse our resident dumbass."

Sorrow chuckled. "It's alright. Uh, so the reason we came here was to greet our new neighbors! Me and a friend just rented one of the smaller neighboring islands."

Will and Charlie looked to Jack for confirmation. Jack only nodded.

"Well, farewell Soots!" Sorrow TV said. He turned back into the ship. The ramp raised and the ship sailed off.

A rustling came from a nearby bush. The Soots turned around to see. George popped out, his hair a mess with leaves and twigs.

"George!" Will yelled. "What the fuck?"

The three were on the flattened top of Mt. Miiverse. A grassy area specified for picnics, (future) marriages, and other miscellaneous things. This time, it was for Dan's weekly lightning practice. The clouds in the sky were dark on the brink of rain.  

Dan looked at Charlie with genuine disgust. "Charles spits lies! I'm simply trying a new technique to make the contact less surprising and lagged. A technique that involves me doing a big clap like I'm singing the big daddy shark part of baby shark."

"Then why do you need me?" David asked.

"Well duh! Because the clap, combined with the thunder, has a chance of blowing out my ears even WITH these special sound-proof headphones," Dan said, pointing to the soundproof headphones around his neck. Will made and gifted it for Dan's birthday last year. Dan turned around and looked into the foggy horizon. "I need you to quiet the sound, later."

"You've only ever successfully summoned lightning 12 times in 3 years of training!" David said, crossing his arms and staring at the back of Dan. "And if this is your first time trying this technique, there is a low chance of it working."

Dan groaned. "Actually, 8 out of 12 of those times were during a thunderstorm, which made it easy. That's cheating. I ain't a coward, Meadows."

David rolled his eyes. "The reason I'm grumpy is because I had to hike up this entire mountain by myself!"

"What?" Dan asked. "I thought Charlie flew you up here?"

"My powers are weak. I'm still affected by George's venom saliva after I kissed him a month ago. I had to climb that entire mountain by myself, too," Charlie spat, his wings mimicking rolling eyes. "You can't tell, Daniel, but I am annoyed as fuck so can you please get on with your training so I can go down and not look at your dumb-dumb face," Charlie said. Charlie and David made their way to the other side of the grassy top for safety.

Dan took a deep breath and walked near the side of the cliff. About 3 meters away from the countless mile fall. He stood facing the horizon. The wind blew in his face. "Charlie, chill the wind," Dan commanded, without looking at Charlie.

He slid his left foot back and leaned his body forward. He positioned his arms like the jaws of a hungry alligator. Clear mind, clear mind. Usually he'd have Jack to help him with that, but he isn't a coward. I can't ask for help forever. If I never learn to summon lightning by myself, when will I ever learn to manipulate it?

"David, quiet sound," Dan commanded. Clear mind, clear mind. Every emotion and doubt evicted from his body. And he was hollow. His skin grew warmer to welcome the great sparks with open arms. Literally.

Opening the mouth of the shark just a little more, Dan threw his hands together.

But his hands never touched. They sprung backwards, almost breaking his shoulders. KA-BOOM. CRASH.

Smoke surrounded him. Tingles of excitement coursed through Dan's palms. He looked down and gasped at the sight.  Icy blue cobwebs sparkled between his fingers. The lightning made a faint hizzing noise. Dan's eyes were glued to the changing maze of light. A smile grew on his face.

"Did it work?!" David called. David lifted the noise to its usual volume. He ran to Dan.

Dan's mind was brought back onto the ground. He turned around with a big grin on his face. "Yeah! Look at th-"

A bolt flung from Dan's fingertips. Faster than light, it shot David's stomach. Nobody had time to react before David was propelled a few meters backward.

Dan and Charlie's breaths were taken away. Dan dashed to David, but the crunching sound of grass under his feet was a second off. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no.

"David!" Dan tried to scream. But the sound came out 3 seconds too late. Lagged sound.

Charlie fumbled his way to his friend. He pressed two fingers to David's wrist. Yet, he found no pulse. "Is David... dead?" Charlie yelled to Dan, who was standing beside him.

Dan froze. The lightning still tingled between his fingers. "Oh no... Oh no oh no oh no. I fucked up, Charlie. I fucked up." He forced himself to not cry. He wasn't a coward. He couldn't show it.

Charlie began CPR, something Jack taught him months ago for situations like this. Dan felt stupid. He didn't even know how to do CPR, let alone not kill his friend.

Somewhere on the island, the crashing waves around Matt grew quiet. Too quiet.

Somewhere on the island, the KER-CHUNK of Will's toaster shattered his warm glass of beans. His breakfast was ruined, and so were his ears.

Somewhere on the island, Rhianna's cats mimicked the croak of frogs.

"He isn't breathing. He can't respond. Heart not beating," Charlie said, his voice a few seconds off. Charlie’s wing wacked Dan's leg. "Do something! Get something!"

"We live on an island! Where in the world are w...we going to get a defibrillator or something?" Dan said. He could hear his fast heart clear in his ears. The realization sunk in him. He stared at his hands and their lightning cobwebs. He knew what he had to do.

Dan took a deep breath. Clear mind, clear mind. He knelt beside David's body. David's skin was pink and his face was stuck in a pained expression. Dan rubbed his hands together. Sparks flew from his hands. David was going to die either way. He had to try.

"Charlie, cut his shirt," Dan said. Charlie tore David's shirt into shreds. Dan took another deep breath before he slapped his meaty hands on David's right collar bone and under his left nipple.

Dan spewed the shock through David's body. He had absolutely 0 idea of what he was doing. The tingling was gone. He had used his lightning. He stood back and Charlie went back into doing CPR.

The sound of everyone's breathing was amplified, with every other sound quieted. Dan could hear the breathing of Jack nearby. Jack was panting, running. Climbing, possibly. Dan fought back tears. A wave of coolness flew through his body, but he couldn't chill his body temperature for long. Does David have a will? Where the hell are we going to bury him?

Another feathery wack flew at the back of Dan's leg. He turned around. Charlie's mouth was moving, but no voice came from it. Charlie pointed to David. Dan tilted his head.

"He's breathing," Charlie's voice said.

"Oh. Oh OH. THANK FUCKING GOD," Dan said with perfect clarity. The sound around them came back. The chirps of birds. The crashing waves. The crunching grass under their feet. The whisper of restless wind.

Dan sighed. He collapsed to the grassy ground. "I really fucked up, Charlie." Dan wanted to curl into a ball and yell into the sky, but he ain’t a coward.

"But you also saved him," Charlie said. "Well, you did almost kill him. I guess you paid for your mistakes."

A weak groan came from nearby. A hand gripped onto the side of the flat area. Jack slopily hoisted himself on the grass, panting. "GUYS, DAVID JUST DIED. DAVID'S FUCKING GONE. HE HAS NO MIND AND SHIT."

"We been knew," Charlie said. He turned to Dan. "Thanks, Daniel."

“What special qualities do you have?” David asked.

“You’re asking that as if we just met,” Will replied.

Dan rolled the swivel chair near the two. “Gay.”

“Thanks, Daniel,” Will said.

“No prob,” Dan said, rolling away.

Will turned back to David. “I disagree when you say that you can determine someone’s element by their ‘special qualities’. What special qualities does George have in relation to poison, for example?”

“He smells. Bad,” Charlie said, falling into the bean bag next to David.

“Well, what about you, Charlie?” Will began. “What do you have in relation to air?”

“He’s an airhead,” Dan butted in.

“I’m quite loud,” David admitted. “That’s my special quality.”

Will put his hands to his head in frustration. “But you’re loud BECAUSE of your element. It’s not your quality affecting the element it’s the element affecting the qua-”

“What are you three talking about, anyway?” Dan asked.

“We’re bullying George,” Charlie said. “So, George is toxic as hell because-”

---

“I sense a disturbance in the library,” George said, perking his head above the shelves to look at the other Soots.

“Will wants to discuss his past element,” Jack observed outloud. “But... Dan wants to muck around because he’s bored, Charlie wants to playfully bully you, and David wants to talk about how amazing music is.”

George sighed. “It’s always Charles.”

“He’s doing it as a joke.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” George said, rolling his eyes.

“Then why didn’t you act like that the last time Charlie was playfully bullying you? You sucked toxins from a nearby tree and flung the slush at him. Thankfully he flew away just in time. He would have died, Sherlock,” Jack mocked.

“Yeah, huh? But what about that one time you pretended to be God-”

“Can we just get over that? Please?” Jack whined.

“’WE?’ No sir. It’s all you.”

Jack grumbled. “I pretended to be God ONCE!”

“And I almost killed Charlie once. So, we’re even?” George asked.