AN: Hi there! Presenting a multi-chapter hurt-comfort fic! Some of the ideas in this were posed by my friend Opal; she's awesome to plot with!

"Hey RGB? Where are we?"

The TV-headed man was startled out of his musings by the voice of his young Hero, who was tugging on the end of the bamboo cane a little. He offered a small smile and turned, spreading his arms.

"Welcome to the Tunnels of Loneliness," he said, with far too much cheer for someone announcing a name like that.

"... Makes sense," Hero said with a nod after pausing for just a moment. "It's cold and echoey in here." She looked up at the ceiling, icicles mingling with stoney stalactites.

"That it is," replied RGB as he turned and continued their trek. There was only a few moments of the quiet taps of feet on rock before Hero spoke up again.

"I can see our breath!" First she breathed out heavily, causing a puff of vapor to trail away into the dead air. Then she pointed to RGB's vents. "I knew you used those things to breathe!"

"Oh, did you?" he said dryly, a smile quirked up on his screen.

"Uh huh," Hero nodded.

"Very clever."

Silence lapsed again as Hero's eyes became more inclined to look at her surroundings. The walls were a deep grayish teal, and she couldn't tell if they were crystal or ice. They shined in a way that dull rock didn't.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, crops of shining white crystals began to appear, clustered like bacterial colonies on a petri dish. They looked like pure quartz crystals, complete with a faint blueish tint, but when Hero tapped one with her finger, a chill struck her.

"Ice," she muttered, kicking carefully at it before moving onwards. Other passages began to lead off of the main one, and Hero, sweater sleeve folded over her fingers to ward off the cord, gripped the cane tighter.

She wouldn't want to get lost here.

"Oh good grief."

Hero looked up and did a double take. "What…" There were now small white flakes drifting lazily through the air, though there was no wind. "Snow?"

"No," RGB muttered, picking up the pace. "The byproduct of annoyances."

"Annoyances?"

"Tiny bugs. Like gnats. Godawful things." RGB's speech had become clipped as he tugged Hero along. "Don't breathe them in."

Hero clapped her free hand over her mouth and nose, breathing through her sweater as she trotted along. She wanted to ask more about the small, silvery, nearly see-through insects that were descending, but RGB had said to keep her mouth shut. Her first question would be to ask why, but she had a feeling if she asked, she'd find out.

And she didn't want to find out that way.

"OH DAMNATION!"

RGB let go of the cane abruptly and began waving his hands around his head as the things swarmed him. Hero let go of her end too and the bamboo cane clattered to the ground with a hollow rattle.

She was giggling furiously through the fabric of her sweater, both hands now over her mouth. RGB just looked so ridiculous there, jumping and yelping and trying escape the bugs. He was even making wordless exclamations every so often. He reminded her of some funny dancers she'd seen in the city square once before, all jerky and discombobulated. She'd laughed then too, and one of the performers had winked at her.

As RGB was trying to swat the cloud of annoyances away from his vents (if one got inside, it would become an irritation), he stumbled, halting his crazed dance of "get it off me!" Hero's endless giggles swiftly turned into a yelp as RGB tripped, landing splayed facedown across one of the cold crystal structures she'd poked at earlier.

The moment he crashed into the crystal, there was a shattering noise, and then RGB didn't move. Hero froze as well, the laughter-turned-shout dying in her throat. That noise was the crystal, right? 'Cuz it's ice and ice isn't very strong? And RGB is shivering because it's ice and it's COLD… Right?

Finally, hesitantly, she moved forwards to tap at RGB's shoulder. "Hey RGB, you're okay, right?"

A faint buzz, a broken noise, was all she got in reply. It took the television monster three tries to get a grip on the slick material, but he finally was able to shove himself away from the sharp protrusions.

Hero's horrified eyes locked onto a six-inch spike of ice at the crown of the structure, coated in sticky rainbow ink and surrounded by shattered glass. She nearly gave herself whiplash, turning back to RGB. His clothes had various little tears in them from other sharp spears, but her gaze glossed over those in favor of the mess that was his face.

The thick glass had fully shattered, leaving only a few shards clinging to the plastic casing like the minimal teeth in a hockey player's mouth. Ink in all five colors was splattered down his front, and Hero could see five… Cartridges? Maybe? That's what they looked like, anyways, like something out of a printer. Five cartridges were located inside the TV set, dribbling color, sparks zipping across them every so often. Other, surprisingly normal-looking electronics and tubes lay exposed, like nerves and veins, and Hero's mouth hung open.

Only a cough, full of static, and a spray of ink onto the frozen ground broke the spell and galvanized her action.

"RGB!" she cried, voice cracking a little as it hit octaves it really shouldn't.

"I…" RGB's voice was full of static, more electricity sparking from the ink cartridges. His shaking hand came up to touch the bottom edge of the television set, and he flinched. "Czzan't… SEE!"

His voice rose into a buzzing howl that grew in pitch and desperation, laced with pain like poison in wine. The monster's entire form was quivering, shaking like energy had him in its grip and Hero knew, knew that it was because he was hurting so very much. She'd once had a stomachache so bad she'd stayed in bed and shivered all day.

This was considerably worse.

But at least the annoyances had left.

She reached out and gently took his hand, unsurprised when he cringed away, antennas crinkling flat like a startled cat's ears. She knew he was flinchy at the best of times; he was sure to be worse when blind.

"I… I'm here," she whispered, clutching his glove in both of her hands now, scared herself. Was he dying? How would they continue their quest? Could she help him? What would happen now?

And, most importantly of all… She didn't want her guide and friend to be hurt, to die… She didn't want to lose him.

"Is there anything––"

"The Mzzarket," he choked out, coughing again, ink beginning to drip onto his collar. Once again he tried to press his gloved hand to his mouth and encountered nothingness in its place. "T-take me back… Thzzey… They can fixxxxx it thzzere."

Hero was not about to bring up that they had gotten banned. He probably knew, and if he had forgotten then she did not want to kill his hope. She was old enough to know how dire the situation was and that the Market was their best hope at the moment.

"It's gonna be night soon," she remembered then. "We need to find a place to rest… You need sleep so we can get back to the Market as quickly as possible."

"No!" he yelped as he moved to push himself to his knees. "We czzan't… Can't sleep hzzere. Gets tzoo… Cold." He coughed again and more ink splashed onto the ground. Blue and yellow.

Pain.

Hero finally leapt to her feet, picking up RGB's fallen cane and tossing one more look at the spar of crystal still dripping with RGB's paint. She slipped the hooked end into his hand.

"C'mon, then, I know the way we came!" The young girl tried to force her voice to stay chipper and hopeful as she helped tug him to his feet. But she didn't feel it in her heart. "I'll lead you this time."

With a sort of sniffling noise, the monster allowed himself to be pulled upright, swaying slightly. He left the hand not gripping the cane outstretched, ready to encounter anything he might run into before his face did.

At least no more swarms of annoyances to plague their path, Hero noticed. She wasn't exactly sure why that was. Perhaps they only manifested further in the cave? But she did know that she did not want to know what happened if they tried to fly into RGB's head. Even thinking the words provoked a shudder.

"Azzre… You g-gettinggggg… Cold?" She felt a drip of ink hit her shoulder, blood-warm, and twisted slightly to see RGB standing a little closer.

"N-no…" But as she said the words, Hero discovered that, despite her thick sweater, she was cold. "Actually… A-a little."

She put a little more speed into her step as they moved closer and closer to the outside of the cave.

RGB was… 'Hanging in there' was an accurate description of how RGB was doing. It literally looked like someone had grabbed him by the shirtcollar and that was the only reason he was upright.

Not being able to see, having the glass that he used for an eye smashed to oblivion… RGB hated the pain, obviously, especially since he'd always been so afraid of hurting, but he hated the vulnerability just as much. Here he was, the very worst monster, relying on the guidance of a child.

A child not from this world, even.

But at least they were simply backtracking. If it had been all new terrain for his hero, RGB would have found himself too deep in despair to move on. He couldn't guide her if he couldn't see.

"Okay we're out of the cave now," piped up Hero's voice, knocking RGB's 'what ifs' loose onto the stoney gravel of the path.

"Thzzank…. Heavens…" he mumbled, not wanting to speak very loudly. It hurt, and made i feel like he was choking, no matter that he had no throat. He could feel the colors he had already lost soaking into his shirtfront; normally they just ran off, but then again normally they didn't normally leak in such copious amounts. Luckily it would run out like water later...

"There's a tree by the entrance…" Hero looked up at RGB, who nodded slightly, releasing another wave of color and swaying slightly. "Okay we'll stay there. It's already warmer."

And warmer it was. But the ground beneath the tree was still hard and rocky, and definitely not suitable for sleeping. When RGB was in charge, he might be able to plop down anywhere, but now that Hero had to lead…

"Okay here's the tree," she said, tugging on her end of the cane and taking RGB's hand, placing his palm flat against the reddish-purplish trunk. "Just lean against that. You… Kinda look like you're gonna fall over." He couldn't see her sympathetic gaze.

"Wzzzzhat… A-are you… Dzoing?"

Hero didn't answer. She was too focused on tugging up some of the blueish teal grasses that were growing around. It wasn't hard to gather an armful, and soon she began spreading it over the hard rock at the base of the tree. A few layers later and she had created two comfortable sort of nests.

"There we go!" Accomplishing the small task had pulled up Hero's spirits a little. She wasn't a terrible leader… She had good ideas! RGB himself had even called her clever… A natural… She could do this.

"Did wzzzzhat?" came the hacking, static voice. She looked up at RGB clinging to the tree trunk, and moved to take his hand again.

"Kneel here. I made us beds out of grass." After doing as instructed, he patted around, getting a feel for it, before leaning back against the tree.

"... Resourcefzzzul," he said hoarsely. Hero beamed at him before remembering that he couldn't see her. So she just curled up in her little grass patch, grateful to be off her aching feet.

"... The stars are pretty here," she said in a rather sleepy voice, looking up at the sky that was indeed patterned with a radiant stellar display. "I don't remember seeing them before."

"The stzzzars are out?" said RGB in a disbelieving whisper. He turned his face to her as though he could see her, and the lack of a glowing screen was unnerving.

"Are they normally not here?"

"N-no." A beat, then, "they're rare. I… I w-wish I czzzould… See them."

Hero had no answer for that. She simply reached across the gap and placed her small hand on his before closing her eyes.

RGB wasn't far behind. As more color stained the grass below him, he slipped into delusional fever dreams. But at least, for a bit, he was out of the reach of his pain.