Chapter Text
With cold numbed limbs willow dragged herself up drearily, casting a foggy gaze around her surroundings. A dimly lite fire was what greeted her first, the biting cold threatening to snuff them both out. She pulled herself together and proceeded to stand, groggily peering around. The weak sun slowly bled into the sky, casting a pink hue over the frosted forest. With weak limbs she tugged her backpack on, opting to hold her thermal stone in her hands. Her dagger safely nestled in a pocket with a lighter that she always carried.
Across the dimly lite fire WX was already awake, organizing his backpack of essential supplies. Of course he didn't feed the flames or wake her. With a huff she rolled up her sleeping bed and threw it into his lap, the startled automation letting out a sharp robotic beep. She giggled at that, he rarely displayed emotions but his surprise was evident in his rigid body and wide alert eyes. His expression quickly turned to that of annoyance, thick metal eyelids narrowing at her.
"You should've kept the fire burning, bed was too thin to keep warm." The words were delievered with a hint of harshness. The robot muttered something under His breath and began stuffing everything away. She felt a warm curl in her chest over upsetting the insufferable machine, snapped out of it as the robot strode over began to usher her away from the fire.
"WE MUST MAKE HASTE TO THE SWAMP. IT WILL NOT BE LONG BEFORE WE FREEZE TO DEATH. I WILL NOT STOP TO HELP YOU IF YOU FALL." His tone was harsh and she stuck her tongue out at him. Still she followed as he led the way to the swamp. She figured the faster they did this the faster they could get out, she didn't want to spend anymore time than she had to with the cruel automation. So she trampled the underbrush and tredded through the blindingly white forest along with her 'companion'.
After about an hour in she figured out the swamp was quite close, just to the right of where they settled camp. She was a bit irritated and almost asked why hadn't they camped closer, but something quickly caught her eye.
It looked like a muddy snake, bubbling and writhing around like it was trying to dislodged the mucky slush around it. The surrounding mud was frozen and jagged, yet persistantly this thing broke up the foul smelling sludge. She quickly grew a heavy sense of unease at whatever that thing could be, surpise and fear shot through her when she was roughly grabbed. A sharp glance as she pressed her arms against her attacker to fend them off only revealed it was WX. She wanted to get angry but he didn't have his usual smug aura, instead his body was rigid and his eyes were locked onto the bubbling mass. Slowly he maneuvered himself in front of her and stalked closer to it.
She shuddered when it rose to its full height of two stories, body curling and snaking over the ground like a tapered eel before sharply whipping at the robot. He quickly jumped back and pressed an arm to willow as if she needed to be told to stay away. He quickly swiveled his head to the side, almost facing her as he quietly asked in his flat voice. "DO YOU WISH ME TO DISPATCH IT? IT SEEMS ROOTED IN PLACE."
Willow thought for a moment, brows knitting together as she considered what they do. It was strange he asked for guidence but they had barely stepped into this place, maybe he didn't want to get cut to ribbons until they were on their way out. She shook her head in finality as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away, a quick glance to him was all she needed. She tried to stop to help him, a free hand pressing to his muddy fur vest. She hadn't thought it hit him, but with the mud caked on his chest in a diagnol splatter she could of sworn she saw a gaping crevice in his chest.
"Hey wait, you're hurt lemme just see." She muttered and moved around him. His breathing was slightly laboured and his eyes were narrowed, with a few rappid clicks of his third eyelid swiping over his eyes he straitened up. He was much taller than her, probably by almost two feet, so while she could still touch his chest she couldn't see what she was doing. He then began to brush her hands away, but she grabbed handfuls of furry vest. "Hey relax! Look just let me see. It can't move so it won't bother us if we stay away." She reasoned.
With narrowed eyes he slowly weighed his options before slowly sliding down into a crouching position. Even though they were on the more frozen part of the swamp it still sucked onto their shoes and caked their feet in black frozen mud. Willow crouched in front of him, not quite as balanced as he was in this soggy terrain. She fumbled with his vest for a second before prying it open, taking a small cloth from a pocket in her skirt to begin swabbing the mud away. She tried to work quickly, a sudden wave of anxiety radiating off of her. She quickly peeked up to see WX just staring down at her, completely motionless and head tilted. She fought back a flinch and turned her head down to keep working.
After some cleaning and a cloth around his chest there wasn't much else she could do. Despite being a robot made of metal he could heal like the rest of them, so in a week or two the ripped metal on his chest would become a creamy metal scar. She guessed whatever made this land didn't want him to have an unfair disadvantage, how caring. The healing process could be hastened with things like honey and spider glands but they had none with them. Truging forward with hightened senses the pair quickly left the edges of the swamp and ventured into its heart.
It was mid day by the time the pair had stumbled upon a shambling village, the creaky buildings teetering on the edges of complete destruction. How the wet and crumbling wood didn't give at any moment baffled Willow, even the foundations were half swallowed into the frozen slush of mud. She eyed the soggy buildings and stepped onto the deck of one, hand skimming along the rail as she tredged up the stairs. The thin screen door creaked with a thin wail as it swayed opened and closed, the rattle as it hit the doorframe repeatedly fraying her nerves. Her mind raced with questions and fears, were their new survivors? Were they hostile or confuse them for trespassers? Were all these houses in this state due to everyone in the town dying?
Her state of mind was harshly snapped away by a broken board behind her, a shocked snap of her head and low and behold it was just WX again, with his foot inside a recently broken board. That damned automation was going to give her a fucking heart attack, she narrowed her eyes at the robot who had gotten his foot stuck into the first stair. After briskly freeing himself he stood and pressed up against willow from behind, startling her as his warm chassis pressed against her, the whole time his head swiveled behind him like a clockwork owl. The sweep of his third eyelids were audiable in their soft swiping clicks as he twitched and jerked his head in an avian fashion. One of his hands was on her shoulder and the other lingered near the opening of his vest, a familiar blue handle visible inside it. "THREATS UNDETECTED." He stated in a low flat voice.
Willow sighed in exasperation and grabbed his wrist , tugging him across the porch and past the screen door. The swamp was dangerous but she was tired goddamn it, a half sunken house was still a house even if it may belong to dead people. She figured if these sunken houses survived their own rotting demise than nothing would topple them yet, safer to be inside than out, and the wanning sun was scaring her. They had only found a few mangey reeds and they didn't know how much further in they needed to go. So with a conflicting reluctance she entered this crumbling home.
The inside was a bit spacious, and willow charged in headfirst. The two of them hastily combed over the area but soon enough they realized the place was truly abandoned. This fact heeded no comfort and she eyed where they could even sleep in this decrepit place. She remembered she was still holding WX's arm, and with an embaressed flush she tried to let go of him, but he caught her wrist in it's retreat. "HUMAN. NEXT TIME I WOULD ADVISE CAUTION. THIS HOME MAY BE EMPTY BUT THE OTHERS MAY NOT." He faced her now, the volume of his voice rising in his stern lecture. She huffed and batted his hand away, able to escape this time in her frustration. She didn't need to listen to him she was a grown woman.
"I can take care of myself, and I was right about no one living here! Would you rather snuggle up to one of those..freaky snake things outside?! Suns setting right about now." She crossed her arms and turned away, hearing the automations footsteps roam the house.
"YOU ARE WRONG IN ALL BUT ONE OF THOSE INSTANCES. YOU CANNOT CARE FOR YOURSELF. IT IS WHY I AM HERE WITH YOU. SECOND I DO NOT WISH TO SLEEP WITH THE FLESHY SNAKE, I FIND YOU A MUCH BETTER CANDIDATE." She gaped at the robot in anger, damn him and how he knew how to get under her skin. Her train of thought and planned insults were cut off by his next words. "NEXT WE ARE NOT ALONE, I HAVE DETECTED ANIMAL CLAW MARKS AND ROTTING FISH REMAINS. AN ANIMAL LIVES HERE."
Her face fell instantly, and she briskly made her way over to him. It was probably a kitchen at one point, only in shambles caked in mud and mold. A reed nest was in one corner, chewed into shape and spilling its fibers over a third of the kitchen floor. She felt uneasey at the sight, the nest belonged to a large beast. The bones and rotting fish heads littered the floor amongst squashed entrails, tiny colonies of various unedible fungus grew between herds of maggots. It was a grotesque sight in all and she had to fight the urge to vomit, her skin becoming clammy as her legs shook.
"We can baricade the doors." She whispered and retreated from the mess of a kitchen. She took note of the size of the tiny swamp house, it had a living room and a kitchen. It had to have at least one bedroom, she had seen another doorknob earlier. She went up to it before pausing, eyebrows furrowed in thought. She wanted to be sure this place was empty, but if something was inside she didn't want to let it out.
A sudden shadow above her had her screaming and bursting through the door in her fright, whipping around angrily to begin cursing out the robot for scaring her. She was right about one thing, the setting sun had cast a morbid darkness that seeped into the houses every crevice. The bedroom had no exposed windows, each one boarded up heavily. A thick layer of dust that lay over every shrowded object was stirred and disburse into the air. Bugs skittered into crooks and crannies to flee from the breech of light, hissing and clicking as they left. A sad skeleton gripped a much smaller one by the nearest window, embraced in their final moments.
WX was not behind her. But a lumbering figure was, the overpowering scent of sulfur and fish made her gag. She backed into the bedroom and her hip knocked into something solid causing her to fall back. Instead of her hands hitting the solid wood of a desk they plummeted into sheets that sucked her in, leaving a cascade of dust to fall on her. She sucked in wheezy breaths and coughed as the larger person entered, a throaty gurgle escaping them. With her now strewn across a bed, blind and choking she saw it crouch before pouncing upon her.
She screamed a second time as powerful forearms crushed her petite frame, thick fingers with jagged claws attached tried to hook into her flesh but could only find the moth eaten sheets. If this thing didn't suffocate her then this stupid bed was going to, the only way was up and she kicked and pushed with all her might. This only seemed to enrage the humanoid monster, as it reared back and let out a watery roar. Its mouth open with the light glinting off its teeth revealed it had far too many, each a thin triangular shape. It was going to bite her with that foul mouth, she panicked then stopped. It had the flowering petals of gills emerging from the sides of its throats, and with adrenaline filled panic she clawed and scratched at them.
Its head whipped to the side and bite down on one of her offending arms, oily blood drippling from its injured neck. Her own blood flew from its mouth, her forearm trapped between its teeth. All she could do was scream and claw and kick, it happened so fast and had no idea how to fend this thing off.
In a sudden snap a spear was in her face. Which confused her because there was a giant scaled beast atop her now, already occupying the space in front of her face. With bleary eyes filled with tears she watched the spear twist and leave, a gaping hole filling with slick oily blood sloshing from it. The very dead beast released her arm in its final dying giggles, even whimpering before collapsing atop her. A familiar bronze face appearing as he leaned down and rolled the beast off of her.
Slowly sitting up she sucked in harsh breaths, eyes flittering from the dead green scaled beast to the calm bronze robot. How had that thing snuck up on them? She slowly realized they hadn't locked the front door, but they had closed it. A quick look to the beasts paws showed it had functional hands, with jagged black talons attached. She tried to scoot off the bed but faltered, her wounded arm throbbing in pain and her shaken limbs refusing to work.
She squeaked and tried to flail as she was picked up, but her exhausted limbs refused to coordinate properly. They grew a mind of their own and reasoned they were safe in the warm metallic arms of her savior. She frowned at that and whispered out, still shocked by the fast paced event. "Didn't you hear me scream?"
WX was walking back out of the bedroom, leaving another body to join the pair. Kicking the door closed he went to a mostly intact couch, the mold and wetness the least of their concerns. He sat her in his lap and took her arm before answering, whilst examining the damage. "I DID. I WAS EXAMINING THE FISH BEASTS NEST SO IT TOOK TIME TO REACH YOU. THIS COULD NOT BE FORESEEN HOWEVER, AS IT IS RARE TO ENCOUTER A BEAST WITH FUNCTIONAL HANDS. MUCHLESS ONE WITH THE KNOWLAGE TO OPERATE DOORS."
Normally she would be embarrassed and angry with how she was being handled, but too much exhaustion was catching up with her. She was warm in this spot and couldn't stop the soft thunk of her head against the fur padded chassis. She felt something cold smeared over her wound before the softness of fabric touched it. Her eyes weighed down and she finally submitted to darkness.