Huntingtime - Chapter Two

After a pretty long walk, the two came to a forest. Dave looked around and lifted an eyebrow. This place looked familiar.
"Isn't this Bear Creek Park?" he wondered out loud, which made English laugh.
"Bingo!" he replied grinning.
Dave stared in astonishment at his companion, who was moving forward, completely unperturbed.
"Woah, wait a sec! Just let me get things straight… what exactly are we doing here?"
English stopped and turned to the blonde. He sighed.
"Well, I said we'd go on an adventure, didn't I? So, today's adventure would be the two of us going on a little hunt."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope."
For a moment or two, they both just stood there, looking at each other. Just now, Dave realized why Bro got along so well with this guy. They both had the dumbest ideas anyone could ever have.
"Okay, first of all, I don't even want to kill anything. And that's excluding the fact that it's, surprisingly enough, forbidden to hunt out here! This is a fucking park man, not a stupid Safari Zone or anything."
"Dave, calm down. It's alright. I don't expect you to actually kill an animal. I mean, it's not very likely that we will have an encounter in the first place. Besides, you really shouldn't take everything I say so seriously. I know that this is a park. I am also aware that they don't appreciate any hunting here. Listen, boy. All I want do here is more…let's say train."
"Train? What for?" the blonde asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Jesus Christmas, just train. You know, how to move and creep, handling of firearms, etc."
Dave opened his mouth to retort, but then stopped himself. It was not his intent to start a fight with this man right now. Especially not about the doubtful value of "creeping and handling of firearms". He knew he could not win that strife.
"... Geez, fine."
The dark-haired man removed the bag from his shoulder and opened it. He pulled out a rifle and handed it over to Dave. Reluctantly, the teenager took the heavy weapon. For a moment he wondered how English could carry two of them in a single bag over one shoulder. But he discarded this thought quickly.
"Don't worry; you won't need it for now," English reassured him. He put the bag on cross-over again and shouldered the riffle. He then turned around to head into the woods. Dave sighed silently, shouldering his weapon similarly, and followed him.

They weren't using the path. Dave could not say where they were by then, but his companion apparently did. The young Strider was trying to imagine how the older one's life on an island might have been, when he was stopped by an arm stretched out in front of him.
"What is it-"
"Shhh! Quiet now," English whispered. He crouched down behind the bush ahead of them.
The blonde followed him with a frown. Just as he was about to ask what the meaning of this ridiculous act was, he heard voices. Through the branches of the bush he could see a little group of park visitors.
"Dave, take cover."
"Oh fuck, no."
The older one grabbed Dave's collar and pulled the boy down.
This guy better not be serious here! Hiding behind bushes, just because some tourists came along? Has he gone crazy?, Dave thought while he sat in the snow.
"Okay, now's our chance! Quick, move over to that tree. They mustn't spot us!" English whispered.
Dave wanted to say something, but he was already being pushed toward the tree ahead of them. He landed in the snow as his companion sledded to a stop next to him behind the tree. And even before he could say anything, a gloved hand lay on his mouth to keep him silent. English raised a finger of his other hand to his own lips. After a moment, he leaned to the side to risk a look around the tree.
"Okay, they're moving on." he said in relief.
"Just- What the bloody fuck was that!?"
English just looked at Dave in disbelief.
"Oh boy, isn't it obvious? The training started! From now on, every other human in this forest is a potential enemy that we must avoid." he said casually, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Even worse, he spoke as if they were actually on a secret military mission or something.
"They are fucking park visitors, not 'potential enemies', goddamn!"
"Golly gosh, use your imagination, lad!"
Dave covered his face with both his hands for a moment. A 30-year-old was telling him to use his imagination. Great.
When Dave let his hands sink again, the green pair of eyes looked directly into his (or they would, if it weren't for his shades).
"You think this is some downright flapdoodle, don't you?" English said with a timid smile, which made the Strider feel a bit unwell.
"Well, I-…"
"You really are like your brother. Of course you are. He's the one who raised you and all. It's natural for you to copycat him."
"I don't copycat him! I just…well…"
"Yeah, you just let him influence you strongly. But as I said, that's normal, ain't it? However, it's not on me to judge you for that. I mean, at least your bro is a real and existing person. All that I had were just some fake characters from movies. That doesn't mean Lara Croft wasn't a good role model, though."
Dave was silent for a moment in which he just looked at the man in front of him.
"Mr. English, can I-"
"Whoah, wait! What? Awww maaaan! Are you serious now? We've known each other for three years now, for frigs flipping sake! Why do you 'Mister' me all of a sudd-…oh, wait a sec." The dark-haired man remained silent for a moment before he smiled briefly. "Now that I think about it…I can't remember you saying my name even once in all that time. I mean…how is it even possible to avoid calling somebody's name for so long?"
Oh, he indeed has. Only when he was alone at night, though. But that was something he would never tell him. Dave kept silent.
"Oh boy…this is kinda awkward now. Shoot. Well, just call me Jake."
"Uh…okay. So, Jake, would you mind if I asked you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you and Bro break up?"
This question was unexpected. Jake looked at the young Strider with evident surprise on his face before he slightly shook his head, his lips crimped to a flimsy smile. He looked away.
"Why would that be of any importance to you?" he asked with a low voice. Dave shrugged.
"Bro never told me when I asked him."

Dirk and Jake had been a couple once. After English moved to Houston, they spent most of their time together. Every now and then, they even went on short trips with Dave over the weekend. This was pretty unusual since the younger Strider never really had any real interest in digging too deep into his brother's businesses. The real reason was probably more childish than Dave would like to admit.
But one day, things changed. Dirk came home pretty early and didn't say a word. He just sat on the couch, not even bothering to turn on the TV or anything. And even when Dave spoke to him, he did not respond. It was already dark when Dirk eventually moved to his room.
After that, there were no more daily phone calls and no visits from Jake. Dirk didn't even want to talk about him with Dave. In fact, the topic 'Jake English' became a taboo. It took a good while until Dave's brother and the former islander started to talk to each other again. But it just wasn't the same. Although it might have seemed to others that their conversations were just normal, Dave knew better. He knew whenever Bro was only acting cool, whenever he was faking laughter. At that time, 15-year-old Dave just did not know what to do or how he should feel about it all. Sure, he felt sorry for Bro, who was obviously suffering, and he also deplored and missed the good times they all spent together. After all, he kind of got used to Jake. A lot. Maybe even a bit too much. But, of course, he never told anyone about it. Not his friends, not even John. And especially not Bro. This just became his 'dirty little secret'.

"Well?"
Jake sighed deeply.
"I still don't get why you want to know this so badly right now. But fine. You see, it wasn't easy for me to break up with Dirk at all. We had a good time together, yes. But things change sooner or later. To make this short, the main problem with him was that he just couldn't relax." Jake explained slowly without looking at Dave.
"What? Bro's always chill as fuck." the blonde countered with a frown. Again, Jake sighed.
"Yeah, he's chill. That's just the point, Dave. He's sometimes just too chill. Acting all cool and being too dogged to be a bit goofy from time to time and stuff. I mean, sure, we're already 30 and supposed to act like serious adults and stuff. However, we shouldn't forget to have fun, too. Or to ignore our egos from time to time…At least, that's my point of view. And you are just like Dirk in that matter, boy."
"I-…But I thought you had fun all the time? I mean..." Dave started, and Jake nodded.
"I know what you mean. And yes, we had fun. But…well…how do I explain it?" he slowly began and kept silent for a moment. After another sigh, he went on. "Sometimes, when we tried to have fun, Dirk just turned fun into severity. Like, when we had some fisticuffs together, he seemed to take it all a bit too seriously. It was like I was having a death match with the sparringbot he once built me."
"He…did what?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, back on my island, he sent me a robot, so I would have a sparring partner. Unfortunately, he programmed it to be always on 'Killing Mode'. So I had to fight for my life every time I left my house." Jake answered with a little laughter.
Dave just looked at the older one for a little while before he leaned back against the tree. For a moment, he was silent and thought about what Jake had just told him. A little sigh stretched his chest.
"I guess…I got it." he said slowly.
"Good. So what now, partner?"
The blonde just thought for a moment, then looked behind their tree. He then turned his eyes back to Jake.
"Well, currently no enemies around." Dave said. Jake grinned with pleasure and got himself back into an upright position, stretching out his hand toward the younger one to help him up
"It's hunting time, pal!"