Heart of Demise.

Bad meaning.

"..."

I feel like I've just been sitting around forever now, waiting for Rivver to wake up. I did think of a few actions I could take; maybe get some food or water. But I shot the idea down instantly. Where on earth was I going to find food or water in a place like this without getting lost?

Sure, I could probably try to find that creek again. Problem was, I was either going to travel the Complex alone, which was a bad idea, or leave Rupert to watch over Rivver, which was also a bad idea.

"Wait... of course!"

It hit me: Rupert could just carry Rivver as we go. He's a proven strong deer, minus a few stray cases, and Rivver was pretty light anyway.

"What do you say, Rupert?"

The deer raised his head and turned it to me. I guess I didn't really explain to him what my plan was, did I?

"You can carry Rivver, and the both of us can go find some water or food. What do you say?"

Rupert gave me a blank stare but stood up anyway, so it must've been a yes. Now all I had to do was put Rivver on him.

"All right, don't wake up now please."

Just like I thought, carrying her was a breeze-- is what would've been the case if I wasn't such a twig. Maybe it was the stress getting to me, but I struggled to put Rivver on the deer.

"Haaa... I think I need some food too, heh."

Now then, all I had to do was navigate around this maze of excessively vertical hills. Looking around, I found that...

"This isn't gonna be easy at all. Crap."

Oh well, nothing great was ever done with ease, or something like that. Point was that I wouldn't give up. Let's do this.

--

--

--

I lied. I did give up.

To call this place a maze was like calling a plane slightly fast; it was such an understatement that it was wrong. Maybe labyrinth would be better? No, I don't think that's right.

Anyway, I've been traveling with my cabinmates for god knows how long- again- we were lost- again- and I was feeling hopeless- again.

I truly wasn't even moving my body anymore. I was just lugging it around like a bag of stones. The only thing that kept me motorized was the occasional poking of my back by Rupert's lovely snout.

I guess, in a sense, this wasn't so bad. I could be getting chased by monsters or something, after all.

"Wait, did I just--"

I stopped and surveyed the premises, keeping a keen eye for things distinctly not hill-like.

"...Nothing."

For once, I didn't jinx myself.

--

--

--

I sat down, finally, barely even able to think straight. But, at the very least, I had good news this time around- A nice change of pace from the constant beatings of unfortunate circumstances- We were out of the maze.

Now, of course, like everything else inside this wretched hell, there was a caveat; we didn't end up at a creek or a natural farm like I was hoping to. Instead, we found ourselves at a... how do I even describe it?