"With no one to guide me, torn apart by the fiery wheel inside me."

He'd long since forgotten why he started walking in the first place.

It didn't matter to him anymore, really. He'd already made it this far. He just wanted to get away, to some remote, desolate place where nobody knew his name. He never bothered to think about why, or what drove him so far away from any form of society he'd ever known. All he thought about was putting one weary foot after another on some dark, rocky road where nobody could be seen for miles.

He never got any calls on his phone since he left. When did he leave? How long had he been out here? Who exactly would be trying to call him? It was all just white noise in a hollow head, nearly devoid of emotion or rational thought. All that was left was the will, the instinct, to stagger on. To where? And why? Who cared.

The sun's warm rays couldn't find him here. The sky was black as Death's own shadowy cloak, and the usual sprinkle of stars and cosmos cast across the sky had fled the bitter scene. There was, however, the tiniest sliver of a moon drifting across a void sky. The pale light it cast upon the dirt and rocks was scarce, but it was enough for the human to keep moving. He pulled his scarf up closer to his face as the icy wind picked up, his eyes clenched and watering while the ends of his scarf whipped wildly behind him.

His legs burnt like hellfire. Gravity pulled down on his entire being. He felt himself starting to stumble, he felt his arms droop, he could feel the weight of his face holding him down. He slammed his shoulder into a nearby rock for support, the impact making him wince. He took a few more steps before collapsing to a knee in the dirt. Suddenly, the exhaustion from his mindless trek started to finally set in, and he fell sideways onto his arm.

Agony and exhaustion searing his limbs, his gut, his head , finally made itself known. The human rolled over onto his back, only to be blinded by a brilliant light above him. He barely had the strength in him to lift an arm and try to block it out, shadows dancing across his face.

He shuddered. The light warmed his face and his body. It soothed his aching and quelled his pain. It sheltered him from the cold winds and harsh world. With his trembling hand, the same one he once used to block out this warmth, reached out to the light, seeking more of its cozy embrace.

Warmth. He needed that warmth.

Something reached out back to him. That golden brilliance, it settled closer, and he felt his hand rest on the heart of the warmth. It was powerful, burning, but gentle. He caressed the warm fuzz, and as he did so, it extended an arm back to him, so close to touching him, moments away from feeling that same warmth he was drunk on, and its hand-

Roughly jabbed him in the face.

The beautiful dream was broken. This wasn't the same hand. This one was skeletal, and cold, unlike the soft and warm hand reaching out to him. The golden brilliance was gone, too, replaced by a dreary, pale street lamp. He was poked again. Whatever was, he blearily tried to swat it away.

The poking only intensified.

"Q-Quit that..." he groaned. His eyes slowly opened, vision blurry. With a grunt, he sat up, still clutching his coat around his body. The cold was still there, and still not helping with his sleepiness or mood. And his head… he could have sworn that the pounding wasn't there a moment ago. Ugh…

Whoever woke him up better have a good reason… though, why was he sleeping outside? And in the dark pitch of night, no less. Was he on a camping trip that was sprung on him last minute? It would certainly explain some things. A friend must have been the one to wake him. Yeah, that made sense. Still, why was he outside, and without a sleeping bag? The whole situation was giving him a headache, that much was certain. Grumpily, he pulled himself up into a crossed leg position.

Rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes, he looked to see who woke him up. It was most definitely not the face of anyone he knew. Hold on. It wasn't a face at all...

"A... mask?" he mumbled to himself. Why was this guy wearing such an elaborate mask? It was a thing of pure white, with two, black hollow holes, and a complementing pair of curved horns completing the costume piece. He couldn't even see the eyes behind it. Sort of creepy, now that he thought about it.

The one who woke him appeared to have a thin, stout body of uniform darkness, black spandex maybe? A strange blue, segment cloak slung over its shoulders concealed much of its main body. Whatever it was, it was much shorter than him. If he had to guess, the horns of the mask would probably come up to his forearms when he was standing at his full height. There was… a sword as well? Whatever it was, the flat metal was firmly strapped on its back. That was most definitely strange. This night kept getting weirder and weirder, even to his slowly awakening mind.

Another poke, this time to the cheek, brought him back to the present. Ow… why? Another poke, to the forehead… cripes, that finger is bony… Another… ow…

"O-Okay! Okay! Stop it!" he shouted, his hand shielding his forehead, "No more!"

The figure tilted its head, the sockets of the mask gazing into him. It was an odd feeling, to say the least. He couldn't quite tell, but he could swear that the figure in front of him was studying him, and not in the fun way. It was very disconcerting, to say the least. The feeling was shattered, however, when the thing raised one skeletal hand to his hair, and gently tousled it. What in the world…?

He grimaced at the feeling of the dry, clammy thing moving over his scalp, rustling his short brown hair.

"Um… could you please, y'know, stop that?" The being, to its credit, quickly withdrew its hand. The said hand was then extended; most likely a gesture to help him stand up. Tepidly, he took it. It was bony and hard like stone, yet also… smooth, somewhat? What was this thing? Was it even human?

A grunt, a pull, and he was on his feet. He stretched a bit, his muscles piping up about how sore they were, as well as his joints popping. The bleariness in his eyes had diminished, and he was able to get a better look at their surroundings.

It looked like it was some kind of a spacious, rocky cave. Most of the surfaces were covered in a sort of moss, lichen maybe? A stray beam of moonlight streamed down from a solitary sky hole, illuminating the surroundings, albeit poorly. It also made viewing his, er, "companion", for lack of a better term, a bit difficult. He could've sworn with how black their body was, the light seemed to just fall into him. Besides that, the cavern was dank and cold, with a chill gust of wind flowing through. Hopefully, he didn't get a runny nose from it.

The grasping of his hand broke him from his thoughts.

"What're you- Woah!" his arm was jerked when the figure started dragging him behind it. His feet didn't realize he was moving, which caused him to fall face-first into the ground. It looked back at him with its soulless eyes. Wearily, he slowly and painfully got back on his feet. Seeing that its companion was back up, it continued, but at a more sedate pace.

"You-" The human staggered for a moment, his senses going numb as he leaned up against a nearby rock for support until he could stand on his own again. "Y-You want me to… come with you?"

The small creature gave a quick nod, its expression remaining unchanged. He'd pretty much concluded at this point that, whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. He pulled his hands up to his face and rubbed around, as though trying to wake himself up from a bizarre hallucination. What the hell was going on here? He took a shaky breath. Maybe… maybe it was just a weird dream. What had he done the night before? He… He'd…

Nothing.

He was drawing a total blank. He ran back through the depths of his mind and found nothing. Null, void, emptiness. Where did he live before? Was there anyone with him? Did he know anybody? Who was the last person he spoke to? Where did he work? Did he work? What'd he do for a living?

What was his fucking name?

Poke. He was pulled out of his thoughts, and by extension, an oncoming panic attack, by the strange creature jabbing a finger into his thigh. As it turned out, the small thing's head barely came up to his hips, and that was if you counted its almost comically large horns. It stared up at him with those deep, black eyes - no, not eyes, holes . They looked like bottomless pits, an endless abyss you could lose yourself in forever. Like there was an unspeakable monster lurking in the shadows of its eyes, just waiting for the right moment to leap out and tear his body to bloody shreds.

Other than that, it was kind of cute.

The human blinked. It had been staring at him in silence for a while now, hadn't it?

"Uhh, o-okay. Sure, I'll, uh, go with you." The human decided, for his sanity, to write off this whole mess as a dream for the time being until he could decipher what the hell was going on. The small… thing grabbed his hand again and tugged him along the rocky, empty street. It occurred to him how frigid it was here, gusts of icy wind setting his hair on end. He shuddered, rubbing his hands against his forearms, thankful that he was granted the small mercy of a coat and scarf in this unusual dream.

The two continued, the human being pulled along by the small creature. Aside from the howling wind and the rustling of the sparse, tall grass, there wasn't any other sound. Sure, it was a bit disconcerting, but it also felt peaceful, in a sense. Almost like he and his companion were the only ones in the world. Or maybe it was just them that didn't exist; he certainly felt like a ghost, walking through the dark with nary a sound. Only the piercing chill and the held hand of the creature kept him grounded. Well, as grounded as he could be at the moment.

The creature. The thing, the being, the companion, ack, he had to stop referring to it in those terms. It felt rude. And repetitive. The thing needed a nickname… something that would substitute until he figured out its name.

Shorty? It was rather small, but it didn't feel right.

Maybe Dark? ...Nah, that wasn't a good one. Besides, he didn't need any accusations of racism lodged at him.

What about naming him after the horned mask? ...No.

He gave the creature a look over. Despite its stature, it carried itself proudly, almost with an air of regality. And the sword thing on its back… Knight. Yeah, that was a good one. Knight.

They had long since exited the cavern and were now in full view of the sky. The very plain sky; there weren't any stars he could see, and the moon was but a sliver of a crescent in the sky. Some kind of deja-vu washed over him. He felt like he noticed it before, but had it just not registered?

As they went along, the rough, uncarved stone gave way to broken rubble which lined their path. Despite the mostly blackened sky, the faint remnants of the moon were enough to bathe the road in a low silver. The path itself became much more uneven, the smooth rock usurped by fragmented bricks of a decayed cobble road. At the very least, it was a sign of civilization, albeit one that was probably dead.

That begged the question...

"So, um… where are we going?" he asked, his voice barely carrying over the gales. The Knight, however, ignored his question, continuing its pace forward. The human pursed his lips, sighing softly through his nose. Well, the journey is better than the destination, right? Still, an answer wouldn't hur-

Wait… was that light? Not the all-pervasive moonlight, but from something artificial . Coming from a beautiful lamp, with two separate bulbs in the center of spiraled metal surrounding them. He blinked; maybe this place wasn't as dead as he thought it was. What is this place then? A historical park or something? It had a gloomy beauty to it, one that he imagined would have been popular back home. Whatever home was supposed to be for him. Even with these worrying holes in his memory, it was something he could just... feel, without explanation.

Light under light, lamp under lamp they traveled, the illumination growing stronger, and the wind losing much of its bite. He couldn't tell how long they had been walking, but his companion seemed to become more… expectant, in a way. Maybe it was just how it seemed to speed up a little, less of a hunch in its posture, he couldn't tell. The Knight's energy seemed to rub off on him. He couldn't help but feel an odd sense of hopefulness, despite the horrifying experience of waking up in the middle of nowhere without your memories. Maybe his luck would finally be turning around here.

Suddenly, Knight ground to a halt, holding up one arm to keep the human from advancing further. He unceremoniously bumped against Knight, thought because of its height, it nearly tripped him.

"H-Hey, careful," he said, going a step back, "You could have tripped-" he trailed off, looking below.

They were at the edge of a cliff, one where the bottom was almost out of view. What lay beyond, however…

"...Me..."

The darkness of the bottom gave way to a string of small lights, most likely following a path, which led to what looked to be a… town, judging by the silhouettes of buildings and the large glow given off. The small town eclipsed the void backdrop of the night sky. The empty coldness of the world around gave the town a strangely cozy look, and made the human shudder. Truly, a sight for sore eyes. But…

"Um… how are we going to get there?"

That question was promptly answered when his companion jumped forward. Into the dark unknown. Still holding onto him.

With a startled yell, his free hand grasped the Knight's forearm, pulling up with all his might. Precariously, he stood at the edge of the cliff, holding the small thing over the abyss. The creature was… a lot lighter than it looked like it should've been.

"What the... hell are you thinking!" he grunted, trying to gain a better grasp of its arm. "I'm stumped too, but throwing ourselves off of a cliff isn't going to help any!"

Another hollow gaze from it as it looked up to him. He swore it was almost accusatory. As if saving this thing's life was a great offense. The feeling was only accentuated when the masked Knight took its free hand and tried to pry his hands off of its arm. Nope, not happening. With a heave, he flung it from over the drop back to solid ground, where it tumbled onto its rump, its back against the ground. Even now, after bringing it to safety, the Knight seemed agitated. Whether it was from being unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, or stopped from making its jump, he couldn't tell.

It sat up, then got back on its feet. When he reached down to grab the small thing, it zipped away, leaving him in the dust. Before he could react, the Knight leapt… off the cliff. He stared in disbelief where the horned creature had last been. Did… did he really just lose… oh god… oh hell…

He needed a drink.

He fell onto his behind, clutching his face with his hands. His one fixture in this twisted… whatever purgatory this was; gone. Was he that repulsive of a person? Was this some cruel joke from fate or his mind? Why did this even happen?

He was freed from his self-pity and what almost was his second meltdown in the last hour when an echoey Clang! resounded from the area below. What? That couldn't have been his companion, that would have sounded more… wet. (He felt his gut twist at his word choice.) Not like metal striking against stone.

Wait… metal? A sword ?

Getting up to his feet, he ran to the edge, skidding to a stop just before the drop-off. Quickly getting onto his stomach, he carefully inched his way to the lip of the cliff. When his head hung suspended over the void, he gasped. There, at the bottom, was movement. Movement and sparks. Sparks that could only come from…

"A sword," he quietly breathed to himself. It had to be alive, it had to be! Somehow! But… how was he going to get down there? There wasn't any chance he was going to jump off like a lemming. There had to be another way down. Chances were this cliff wasn't a sheer drop off along the entire edge; there had to be a place where he could descend safely.

After shimmying away from the edge of the cliff, he returned to his feet and walked along the edge, to the right of the lighted path. As he once again became swallowed in the dark, the more intimate sounds once again revealed themselves. The solitary chirping of a cricket. The whistling of the wind. His quiet steps over the stone. All by his lonesome again. He had to reunite with his guardian, and quickly.

Silently, he surveyed the ridge, eyes sharp for any path down. His efforts were rewarded, as his vision revealed a section less sheer than the rest of the cliff. It was still quite steep, maybe about a seventy-degree incline, but something he could descend if he was careful.

Carefully, he stepped to the edge, only a foot away from the incline. Despite it being his best chance of getting down, he still felt apprehension near it. One mistake, and he would tumble down it, at the mercy of rock and gravity. If he was lucky, he would break his neck immediately upon slipping up. If not… maybe thinking about it wasn't the best idea.

Getting down onto his bum, he scooted forward gingerly. One foot came forward, slowly edging itself onto the slope, looking for traction. Then the other foot. Then his rump on the incline. He panted softly, most of his muscles tense from either nervousness or to support himself.

"Careful now… careful now…" he repeated quietly, the mantra hammering through his head. Keeping him grounded. Must… remain… calm…

Inch by inch, he descended. Muscle twitch by muscle twitch. Internal agony by internal agony. But it was progress. Progress that brought him closer and closer to Knight. To the bottom of the cliff. To safety. That safety would have to wait for a while though. He still had a fair way to go.

He didn't know how long he had been precariously crawling down, but it felt like ages he had last been up on top. Was Knight still even down there? Would it have abandoned him already? What if-

His right foot suddenly tumbled from its once secure position, sliding out from under him.

"Woah!" he shouted, the rest of his body falling from the loss of support. "Oh shi-!" he fell onto his side, rolling twice before splaying his limbs out in an attempt to stop his fall. It was only partially successful, slowing him down, but he was still going down too fast! Gritting his teeth, he braced his extremities, hoping that they would catch on something. Come on, come on!

Before he could gain any traction, the end of the slope mercifully hit him. He slammed into the ground, rolling once onto his back, where he remained.

"M-Made it..." he gasped for breath. He made a weak fist pump in the air, wincing when he moved his arm. "G-God..."

Fortunately for him, his companion had been waiting near the foot of the incline. Which meant it had viewed the entire spectacle. While in another context he might have been embarrassed, he was instead in too much pain to care. The Knight was looking down at him, a… he couldn't even tell what the Knight was feeling.

"Y-you… y-yo… ugh...," he moaned, his head going back against the ground. It said nothing. Sharp pains in his hand and face brought him back to his condition. Especially his hands. Oh god, his hands. How badly did he mess them up on his way down?

The answer: very. Upon bringing one close to his face, he grimaced at their appearance. Bloody, torn flesh greeted him. The few spots not cut up or covered in blood where an angry scarlet. If he had to guess, his face was probably similar. It didn't make much difference to him. They still felt as if they had been scorched in fire. For his shitty consolation prize, the rest of his body was only bruised, not cut up thanks to his clothing. And the confirmation that this couldn't be some hallucination of a dream. Neither would hurt this fucking much.

"N-now, h-how- oh god-... h-how did you survive that fall!? " he tried to keep his voice down, but the absurdity of the situation, as well as his pain, bypassed his will. It was just… he couldn't wrap his mind around it. What the hell was this thing? Not even dream logic could explain this.

Knight, for its part, cautiously reached under his arms and dragged him to the nearby rocky wall. It ran its hands over his body, him wincing in pain when one would run over a bruise.

"Ow… cut it out, would you?" he grunted, his voice strained. Knight, to its credit, quickly withdrew its hands. "How far do you think we are from that town?" He needed rest and bandages, badly. They couldn't be too… far…

"Dammit…" he whispered to himself. They must have gone down too far. Instead of seeing any lamps, they were instead surrounded by solid cavern walls. The whole place seemed to be a sinkhole of some sort; there weren't any branching paths, just smooth rock, small amounts of rubble, and moonlight streaming in. There was no way he was climbing out of here; not with his hands.

"I think we may be... wha...?" He trailed off as the Knight had already made its way to what looked like a half-collapsed arch, a pile of rubble positioned under it, balanced precariously on top of itself. "What're you doing-?"

The Knight didn't respond. Maybe it really was mute? Definitely not deaf, that was for sure. Reaching the rubble, it drew its sword… thing. What did the Knight expect to do with that? That question was abruptly answered when it took a mighty slice to the rubble.

Every stroke, every slice chipping away at the wall. What was that sword made of? Thinking about it gave him a splitting headache. This wasn't even close to the weirdest thing he had seen tonight, and suffering through a headache trying to figure it out wasn't worth it. By the time his headache had receded to a dull pounding, a passageway had been revealed, its dark entrance beckoning. Sword still in hand, the Knight ran forward into it. Was he just ditched!?

Ugh… this is going to hurt. So. Much. Groaning in pain, his teeth grit, he slowly stood up. There was no way he was going to be abandoned like that. No. Way. In. Hell. He had one chance to get out of here, and was not going to waste it, injuries or not.

One step forward. His leg shot off signals of pain to him, soreness obvious, but he continued forward, one step at a time. At the very least, walking helped unravel some of his muscle's knots. Cautiously, he stepped under the collapsed archway and into the tunnel; the same tunnel the Knight had gone into. It was pitch black inside: he would be restricted to feeling his way around. Another obstacle to overcome.

The human slowly continued through the restrictive space, and after several more destroyed piles of rubble, the small passage finally opened up into a larger cavern. One with a bit of bioluminescence, so he could see. He needed to catch up with the creature, one way or another. There was still the sound of its sword slashing ahead, so he had that at least.

A squishing sound under his feet gave him pause.

Oh, for the love of… he had stepped in… something. It… looked like a large beetle, or weird bug... armadillo… thing. Lifting his right foot, he saw his shoe was caked in some odd orange goop, but mostly some kind of gray bug guts. He gagged at the sight. And these were his only shoes, damnit! And judging by the way it had been vivisected, he could only assume that his companion was responsible.

Cripes, maybe the Knight was a bit more… homicidal, then he thought it was. Wasn't animal torture the sign that someone may be a serial killer? Though… the carcass was some colossal bug, and not a normal-sized little insect. He probably would have killed it as well.

Reality was obviously on its smoke break. He could only hope that it decided to put down the cigar and quit being a nicotine addict.

Unfortunately for him, the small being hadn't quite killed everything. A high pitched screech from the roof of the cavern caught his attention. The human turned around just in time for something to slam into his face, carving several more scratches into it. He shrieked in surprise, stumbling backward and tripping on some loose rubble, sending him falling back into the dirt. He tried to bat the thing off of his eyes, only causing his creature to latch onto his left forearm instead. It dug its two mandibles deep into it, drawing crimson blood.

The human's mind went blank with panic as he tore the thing off his arm and smashed its body into the ground. He slammed it with a bloody fist, before getting to his feet and crushing it under his foot. He stomped on it over and over, his heart pounding, adrenaline rushing through him in terror. He could barely breathe, he was beyond all reason, all he could think about was killing this monstrous bug.

He stopped. His breaths were heavy, and a thin layer of sweat formed over his brow and arms. His palms, the wounds on which had clotted, were now freely flowing blood again, and his muscles were screaming about their soreness once again. He stood there, catching his breath, the smashed bug stuck firmly underneath his sneaker.

God damn, he was just caked in blood and gore right now, wasn't he?

Hesitantly, he carefully brought his foot off of his attacker. The thing was still alive, just barely. It twitched a little now and then, despite its cracked and broken body. It looked to be some overgrown fly, but it also spouted a pair of mandibles, presumably to act as a mouth. Its coloration was a mixture of dark greens and blues, opposed to the usual grays and blacks of a common mosquito. He really hoped that it wasn't carrying any pathogen like regular insects back home. The last thing he needed was to be infected by some bizarre virus or disease. Either way, that bite hurt like the devil. Where was a damn bandage when he needed one!? The same orange residue from the corpse was present around this one as well. Maybe it was infected with something. Or maybe bug guts here were just normally orange.

The commotion must have attracted his friend, because it was by his side before he even realized it.

"Y-you came back…" He sniffed a little, his eyes watering a little. D-damnit, not now! He was by no means someone who cried over everything, but today had been so confusing and painful and painfully confusing…

He was broken out of his self-pity when the Knight grabbed his left hand, which was still shredded. "Ow! What are you doing? "

It grasped the hand with both of its own, its mask tilted quizzically. A cold white glow suffused the Knight's hands, basking the area in its light.

Reality must still be on its smoke break.

The white glow faded, and when it withdrew its hands...nothing had changed. The flesh was still as raw and cut as it had been before. ...What had he expected? His wounds to just magically vanish? He didn't voice his thoughts out loud, though. His companion already seemed downcast, for whatever reason. He didn't want to upset the Knight anymore.

"Listen, listen. It's fine, I...I'm fine. I'll be fine. You don't need to worry." he tried to sound reassuring as he gingerly patted the Knight on the shoulder… or rather, where the shoulder should be. The thing perked up a little, at the very least. He couldn't help but smile at that. Maybe things would finally start looking up once again.

Having been reunited, the two continued through the caves. Unfortunately, they encountered a few more bugs. They were just as ravenous and aggressive as the previous fly that attacked him, but they were dispatched with ease by his companion's odd sword. It certainly did fight unusually, preferring strong blows over finesse. There was a rhythm, at the very least. The Knight also seemingly remained emotionless while dispatching their foes, though that could have just been because he couldn't see its face. Maybe it had done this so much in the past that it didn't even need to think about it? He could think about it later when they were in a safer location. At the very least, watching those murderous insects be reduced to mush was… gut-lurching. Speaking of...

He looked down impassively at the Knight's latest victim, an odd, white-ish cockroach of sorts. Apparently, after it had been through nuclear fallout and grown to massive proportions. Even in death, it was a grotesque being, one that still triggered the primal fear of creepy crawlies in his hindbrain. The smell of the decaying corpse wasn't helping either. Compared to falling down the cliff, though, it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. The pain from it still nagged at him, even if it had gone down a little.

A tapping on his leg brought his attention back to the Knight, whose sword had already been replaced on its back. That was his cue to get back to moving. This time, however, the Knight seemed to be a bit more… jittery. Maybe excited? Whatever feeling it had, he couldn't tell. Maybe their surroundings, then? The new area they entered was suffused with a warm cyan glow, and unlike the dim luminance of the previous caverns, it was quite bright. Several butterflies, composed of an odd, jelly substance, flitted to and fro on light blue vines.

The glow itself seemed to come from a large, glowing, azure cocoon of sorts. He surprised himself by not being repulsed by it. It was the sort of thing that would normally set him off. Pulsating, wriggling… Ugh. But this, something about it just seemed… peaceful, in a sense. A sight he could just spend hours staring at.

That feeling was shattered when his friend jumped up to it, sword in hand, and slashed it open.

Thick, bioluminescent juices flowed out, as well as many smaller bugs, composed of the same material. Like the nest, they too were cut down by the creature, and exploded into the base liquid. It officially became much more awkward when it cupped handfuls of it, then brought it to its mask, only to rub it over the costume piece.

Remember, reality on its smoke break. Don't question it.

It became even odder when, glowing juice cupped in hand, came back to him, and offered it to him. The human glared down at the blue slime with disgust and mild horror.

"I-I'd rather not…" Even he drew the line at smearing unknown liquid on him. What if it was some sort of acid? Or what if it carried a disease? Unfortunately, it insisted, bringing the cupped hands closer to his face. He wasn't getting out of this, wasn't he?

"Okay, okay, you win. Just… just let me grab some myself." With its hollow gaze on his back, he bent down to cup a bit of the bright blue liquid. It was surprisingly cool, feeling similar to jello in appearance. Grimacing slightly at the texture, he cupped a small amount with his hands, and-

...No. No, that wasn't possible.

Under the goopy liquid, he could see the angry flesh and deep cuts slowly knitting themselves shut, as well as their color returning to normal. With it, the pain grew from a roar, to a growl, to a mewl, and finally to nothing.

"N-no way… " he mumbled under a shaky breath, inspecting his now healed hands. Aside from a few bits of off-color flesh, it was as if he had never injured his hands in the first place. He had to try it again.

Taking another scoop of the substance, he gently smeared it over his face. Like his hands, the pain of the cuts receded. While he couldn't tell if they healed, at the very least the pain was gone. Would it work on his bicep wound? A minute later, a generous portion was slathered onto gash. He could feel the flesh coming back together, the blood flow stopping, and the small agony disappearing.

Aside from a bit of muscle soreness, the pain had vanished. That prompted the question of what this blue… revitalization juice was. Wounds didn't just heal up like that, and a substance that could do it just seemed miraculous, bordering on impossible. Still though, as far as impossibilities were concerned, at least this particular one was useful. The thought caused him to chuckle. Another impossibility to add to the pile of today's insanity. Another oddity to examine later. Another product of reality's seemingly perpetual smoke break.

They had to keep moving.

About fifteen minutes of walking later, they had come upon a massive, stone door, cracks crisscrossing all over it. To the side of the door, a white, glowing tablet was etched into the stone. While he went to see examine the artifact, the Knight moved to the ancient door, sword in hand. While the death throes of the great door rang throughout the hall, the human carefully looked over the luminant inscriptions carved on the stone.

The lines and swirls of the carvings were certainly intricate. One point spiraled out into several shorter curls, before terminating into several more spirals, which then coalesced into the edge. Several more trails went throughout the tablet. He stood transfixed, following the branching paths with his gaze. It was hypnotizing, and he couldn't tear his eyes away. If it was some kind of language, he couldn't read it.

But something was there , hiding in the shadows, whispering into his mind's ear, and he could feel its meaning.

Higher Beings, these words are for you alone.

Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator.

Step across this threshold and obey our laws.

Bear witness to the last and only civilization, the eternal kingdom

Hallownest

...Hallownest? Even without his memory, he was confident this wasn't anywhere on the globe. (Maybe an Ethiopean town?)

His musings were shattered when the massive crash of rubble collapsing. Had the Knight…

It had. Where the door once stood, a gaping hole had replaced it. Through the rubble, he could see the lamps again, and…

"The town. We're almost there. We're almost there!" he ran up to his companion, grabbing him by the hand and dragging him. "Come on!"

There was another small cliff just outside the massive door, but thank god there was a staircase next to it this time. And there they were, back onto the lamp lit path. So close to civilization! A warm bath and bed were both on his mind. He needed rest. Despite the energy he'd gotten from that odd juice, he was exhausted.

He didn't even know what that stuff was, or what it was supposed to do. While a short term blessing, would it have more negative long term effects? The more he thought about it, the more paranoid he became of his body… responding poorly, to the alien substance, and the more he began to regret slathering so much of it all over him.

Before he could overreact about what would happen if his arms rotted away, they had made it to the town. But, it seemed abandoned. Not a soul in sight. All the buildings were either locked or boarded up, but near the town square…

Oh thank god, someone else! the human smiled to himself. A large figure appeared to be standing near a lone bench under a solitary lamp. The light seemed to be absorbed by its body, as well. He was beyond caring about such trivial matters at this point. He just wanted his food and bed. They both quickly approached. While he went to talk to the figure, his friend went to rest on the bench. The stranger beat him to talking, however. It certainly was larger than his friend, maybe even taller than him if its back wasn't hunched. It's whole body, like his companion's, was an unnatural shade of black, complete with its own cloak and cracked mask.

"Ho there travelers. I'm afraid there's only me left to ...welcome you," he spoke. He stumbled over his words, just for a moment, when his gaze fell over the human, but he quickly recovered. "Our town's gone quiet, you see. The other residents, they've all disappeared."

The human was about to speak, but paused. The entire town just vanished? And that's what he greeted them with? How the hell did he respond to that? To top it off, he felt somehow nervous, meeting the first stranger in this odd place that could speak.

"Uhm… Hello. W-where is this place, exactly?" He cringed at his own words. He sounded like some brainless lost hiker. Which, all things considered, wasn't far off from his current standing, but that was neither here nor there.

"This town? Dirtmouth is the name it was given so long ago. Once such a lively place, now faded away like a ghost. The people of this town all headed down that well, one by one, into the caverns below. Used to be there was a great kingdom beneath our town. It's long fell to ruin, yet it still draws folks into its depths."

The human blinked. "A kingdom? Beneath a… well? " He quickly glanced over to the small Knight resting on the bench, whose empty gaze was focused on their conversation. They were a good few paces apart, but the ghost town was silent enough that the Knight could probably hear them perfectly clearly.

The hunched-over being nodded. "Oh, yes. Wealth, glory, enlightenment, that darkness seems to promise all things. I'm sure you too seek your dreams down there."

"Er… No, not really." The human spoke up. "I was, uhm… actually hoping if there was a place for me to stay here for a while."

The older bug - the human assumed he was older - leaned back in surprise, and the human could've sworn the eyes on his mask widened slightly. "O-Oh! B-But of course you can be accommodated here! This empty town hasn't seen newcomers in so long."

"T-Thank you," the human beamed. Finally, the first good news he's heard since he wound up here. A place to rest his head, some food and drink, maybe even a chance to wash up. "Ah… where can I stay?"

"Well…" the older thing gazed around the dark alleyways, the heavy shadows cast between empty homes by pale streetlamps. A chilled wind blew through the dead streets, a sorrowful howl for those lost to the mysterious kingdom below the earth."Anywhere will do, I suppose."

The human blinked. "Wh- Anywhere? I just… pick a house?"

"And why not?" the elder let out a dry laugh. "There's nobody left to live inside all these homes. Though, I imagine some might lack… proper furnishings."

"Oh."

"It shouldn't be a problem. Simply find one that suits you and it's yours. And please come find me if you need anything. Oh, and, ah…" the Elder's gaze turned to the small Knight, who had seemingly dozed off on the metal bench. "What of your companion? Will he be staying with you?"

"I'm, uh…" the human rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure, actually. I… we just met about an hour or so ago." What exactly were the Knight's goals? They seemed to walk with a purpose. They couldn't just be aimlessly exploring, right? Would they try to dive down into this strange kingdom below? ...Whatever that was all about?

"Oh. I see." The Elder's voice was laced with disappointment. "Well, I suppose having one new resident is better than none. You should go pick out your home now, traveler. Please find me if you need anything at all. Dirtmouth welcomes you."

The human couldn't suppress the beaming smile on his face. "T-Thank you. Thank you," he repeated dumbly as he walked off into the streets to find a suitable home. Who cared if the Knight decided to run off to that well? He'd live. No monstrous bugs around, a safe place to sleep, steady food and water, shelter to protect him from the elements, and best of all, a quiet place to figure out how to get home.

He'd be just fine. He'd get back home in one safe piece.

With no hostile monsters to tear his face off, what could possibly hurt him from here?

Chapter name and beginning notes are a reference to I Won't Hurt You by The West Coast pop Art Experimental Band.

This story is a collab between me and a friend named Piston. For those of you still waiting on a chapter for my other story, I'm sorry, I've just lacked the motivation to work on that for a long time. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to get something done for that sometime soon.

Thank you for reading, please leave a review, and I'll see you next chapter!