Chapter Text
Getting back up to my feet takes all of my energy meanwhile Josh lies on the sand, seemingly struck, all of the exhaustion hitting him all at once.
"Alright there Torchy?" I joke, taking in my surroundings.
He then begins to cough hysterically so I turn my attention back to him, as he sits up and then begins to cough up water and sand. He's hunched over the shore, I want to comfort him and help him but I am so weak and tired I am unsure what to do, so I simply pat his back until he finally recovers. I reach my hand out and help him get to his feet, as he is finally stable I put my arm around his shoulder to keep him upright.
"Where the hell are we? This isn't Trench is it?" He asks.
"I was wondering the same thing." I reply.
He laughs, "Well, whatever it is, it is freezing out here. Shall we find some supplies and a spot to set a fire?" He asks.
I nod with a smirk taking over my beaten face. We walk on top of the rocks eventually finding some wood perfect for a fire, Josh notices a piece of cloth and a backpack nearby, it looks heavily weathered and distressed, making it highly unlikely its owner was here. I rummage through and locate a matchbox as well as a small pocket knife which would come handy and some semi-dry pieces of cloth bandage, perfect.
Josh collects pieces of wood from a decayed tree nearby, salvaging more than enough for a fire. While he does that I am crafting a surprise for him, I take an arms length stick and begin carving a bowl shape into the thicker side. Then I take the cloth and slice it up into a wick before stuffing it in the bowl shape, then using some other natural material I secure it in place and it is done.
He wandered back over the rocks while I was still working so I am sure he already has a fire going in one of the vacant cave spaces ready for us to call home. I clean up the area and walk over the rocks looking at all the details, its such a beautiful intricacy of the natural world, so distant from the aesthetics of DEMA.
I see a small light glimmer from a cave, I decide to call out before entering to warn him. "Mr. Dun are you in there?" I ask in a voice mimicking Nico.
I can hear him laugh, "Go away Nico!" He yells back.
"I am afraid I cannot do that sir. I shall be entering now." I reply before walking in.
The cave is quite large, much larger than the apartment they had me set up in for the past few months in DEMA. Its nice and empty, in the centre of the space Josh sits in front of a large but controlled fire he has constructed, a look of pride takes over his face. I walk over and sit beside him, I put my arm on him and realize he is still wearing his soiled clothes.
"Why don't you take off the wet clothes, might help you dry faster." I say.
"I should be asking you the same question genius." He replies.
He was right, I too was in soaked clothes trying to get warm. He then stands up and removes all clothes except his underwear, I find myself trying to look at the other wall. "Now I'm even colder." He says before sitting back down on the floor.
I pause considering just keeping the clothes on because he was right that I would feel colder but I knew I would warm up faster without the soaked clothes on. I remove all my clothes and join him again at the fire but sitting with a bit of space between us.
"I think we might need to cuddle up to keep each other warm, at least until the fire warms us up." He says.
"Well I guess if we have to." I joke before cuddling up to him. His presence creates an inferno in my heart that keeps me warm through the damp cold nature of this environment.
We sit in silence for hours on end, just basking in each others company. I hum a tune every once and a while but other than that we are just silent.
My eyes grow tired as I fight to keep them open, in between blinks I can see he is staring down at me with a smirk across his face. Is he just watching me try to sleep? Normally that would weird me out but with him it's fine. I feel his hands rubbing my shoulder in a comforting motion almost as if to soothe me to sleep.
"You should sleep." He says in nearly a whisper.
"I feel bad, it's far too early to sleep." I reply.
"Well I think given the strenuous nature of the past few days it might not be a bad idea to embark on an early slumber." He chuckles, ruffling my hair.
I move his hand off my head and sit up. "You sound like a bishop with all of those big words." I joke.
"Like what?"
"Since when do you say 'slumber'?" I am met with a silence. "That's what I thought Dun..."
"Dun... huh, that's a new one." He replies that charming smile overtaking his chiseled face.
I yawn dramatically, Josh rolls his eyes.
"I shall be heading to our sleeping quarters my... liege, shall I wait up for your arrival or head off to slumber?" I say in a jokingly posh accent.
He gestures towards the area in the corner with the makeshift bed composed of natural materials found outside and the clothing that we had, it wasn't ideal as the clothes were still damp even after letting them dry by the fire for a few hours, Josh must have slipped off while I was asleep by the fire to prepare it for me. I stand up and Josh also rises, I stare still awaiting the response to my question.
"I shall join you shortly, just need to take care of a few things." Josh says.
He grabs my face and plants a kiss on my forehead as he caresses my head in his hands softly. When we break apart I pull him in for a hug and just stand there taking in his presence. He then begins to sort of walk backwards towards the bed, distracting me with his embrace, then tightens his embrace before picking me up and tossing me onto the makeshift bed.
I land trying to hold in my laughter, Josh is cackling as he reaches for a jacket to lay on top of me as a blanket, he jokingly tucks me in and kisses me on the forehead before he walks back to the fire and sits down just staring intensely.
I try to sleep but I am stirring, Josh notices surely and extinguishes the fire before walking over to join me in bed. He crawls up wrapping his arms around my body and planting yet another kiss on top of my head. His breathing comforts me, to just hear him beside me is enough to lull me off to sleep.
Life remains quite stagnant for a while.
The day grows routine, by day thirteen we are still unsure where we are or where anything around us is. We spend days collecting supplies, searching for any sort of guidance towards a new life. Nights are spent inside the caves, cuddling up, planning ventures, eating dinner by the fire, it almost feels like a normal life in that way. Of small gestures of romance, picking flowers for your lover, a sense of childlike wonder returns to someones darkness.
Routine can instill comfort in some but cause disturbances in others, when life becomes mundane you have to search harder for the good to balance all the boring. However on day forty-five things changed.
"Clancy!" Josh yells from a nearby tunnel. His voice sounds panicked, so I spring into action.
"Where are you?" I call out.
I see three different tunnel entrances but don't know the system well so I am unclear on where to go.
"I'm in here!" He yells, tunnel two it was.
I run in a crouched stance through the narrow pathways until I finally see Josh, he is sitting against a large rock, he looks stunned.
"Torch what happened?" I say, wrapping my arms around him.
"There's something else here I swear... these little white guys." He is ranting.
"Josh, it's alright, you are alright." I reply.
"No Clancy, like little aliens almost, I have never seen anything like it!" He is yelling frantically.
I begin to squeeze his shoulder to hopefully to snap him out of this but to no avail. "Now aliens, sounds a little crazy Josh, did you sleep?" I ask.
Then out of the corner of my eye I see some movement as just as Josh said there was a little white alien-like creature standing a meere five feet away from me.
"See I told-" Josh is silenced by my hand covering his mouth as to not disturb the creature anymore. I didn't know what this was, what if they were dangerous?
The creature just stared at me, I couldn't help but notice these horns protruding out of it's head. "What the hell is it?" I whisper to Josh.
He shrugs, unsure. It stares at me and gestures for me to follow it, heading towards a tunnel. Josh uses his torch to light mine encouraging me to follow the creature.
"You're insane if you think I'm going to follow this... thing." I yell.
"What do you have to lose? You know the route out." He says.
I guess he was right, I would learn the route as we travelled and then be able to trace my steps back. The creature was seemingly harmless, didn't get too close to us, the logical part of my brain says to stay but my heart draws me its direction. I hold the torch and follow the creature through a series of tunnels.
So much for remembering the route out, my mind feels scrambled as we continue walking. We walk for what feels like hours until we reach another cave area, a flame is blaring inside keeping the warmth, as we enter I see several other creatures that look the exact same of the leader, sitting in a circle.
The one that led me here gestures to them and they applaud, scooching around to make space for me and my new guide to sit among them. I settle down and they bring out some food, passing a portion along for each of us. They were harmless, peaceful, there was a chance they could work with Josh and I to sustain a civilization.
"Thank you for having me." I utter, unsure if they comprehend. They all nod in unison and one stands up to grab a cup from the corner of the cave, mounted onto an antler, I figure it is a creative prop.
They pass it along each taking a sip, I hesitate unsure what it is but the liquid appears clear so I assume it is just water and drink some. We all sit and enjoy the fire and the guide emerges from a window of the cave, he stands in the doorway entirely still. I stare at it and then it gestures for me to follow it outside, I oblige.
We wander down to the shore, right nearby the spot I emerged from the water. It walks ahead of me several feet facing the sea, as we reach the sand he stares off in the distance and I zone out taking in the space around us, it really was beautiful outside of the walls. Then he turns around and I notice the spaces where his horns were had become hollow, what happened? In his hands were two antlers, as he stared at me standing firmly, I walk up to him.
As I reach him I take a knee to get on his level, and then he hands me the antlers. I stare down in confusion, why was he giving this to me? What were they for? He stands staring seemingly waiting for me to do something, I have no clue what. I look up to the rocks behind me and see several of the creatures perching, watching from above. They all raise their arms slowly together, was that what they wanted me to do? I figure that was the goal.
I place my hands above my head then suddenly everything went black. For a moment a complete nothingness as I seize the body of a bishop, suddenly I am back in control in DEMA. I move my body and imagine the bishop being ragdolled around by my actions. I start slow and end up almost dancing, then suddenly the urge to strike overturns my brain as I knock down the neon pillars of vialism.
Then everything slows down and I feel my soul return to its original vessel slowly as the Bishop falls. Suddenly I'm back, staring out at the ocean. I drop the antlers as cool as it was it was also quite overwhelming.
I reignite my torch and venture off to find Josh.
I needed to tell him everything.