After they both got changed, they sat around and rested their bodies a bit more, even though they weren't tired. Six warned Mono about the ocean, that he would probably want to sleep as much of the trip across it as possible.
When it turned dark outside, they started traveling. The Nome wouldn't stop following them, but they didn't complain, though, eventually Mono got worried about it and let it hang out in the pocket of his coat. Hand in hand, he and Six trudged through the now muddy forest to try and find the other end of the island. It was so dark that they could barely see, other than the little bit that Six's lighter provided—she had found it inside the hunter's house while they were waiting for night.
He started to think about what they would do if this alleged Ferryman was made up and didn't take them away from this place... What would they do? Go back to the school and put more stress on Ms. Anne? He didn't want that. Right when he began growing hopeless about the situation, the wind whistled around them. Six's lighter went out and they were surrounded by pitch blackness, with only the rustling of leaves to comfort them. They heard large footsteps, and then, as they were stood back to back to be cautious, suddenly everything got even darker.
___
Not a single thought arose until they both came to, only to find out that they were no longer in the woods, but on a rowboat with a robust man who gave off a very threatening yet protective aura. And, probably the most surprising—it was already daytime. How long had they been passed out?
Though Mono was still struggling to move, Six was curious and crawled out from underneath the seat in the boat and looked up to the towering figure, clenching her fists to build up some confidence. "Where are you taking us?" She used a loud, projecting voice to make sure the man heard her over the crashing of the waves around them.
The man didn't give her a single glance, he just kept on rowing his boat. "To a trea~cher~ous pla~ce where your hunger can be cured, young lady. Namely, The Maw."
Upon hearing his explanation, Six tensed up, a sense of deep dread looming over her small body, weighing it down. "How do you know about—" she started to question him, but he shushed her and began humming a familiar tune. At first she didn't know where she'd heard it, but soon realized it had played back at The Nest.
"I see ev'rythi~ng, hear ev'rything, alway~s watching. I'm the Ferryman, young lady." His way of speaking was so abstract and creepy, almost as if he was singing very sheepishly. Six was unnerved at his honesty. "I can take you away to a better place. No more pain. Your dest~iny."
Six huffed and rolled her eyes at his strange behavior, then turning back to Mono and kneeling down, reaching a hand out to him to help him up. Eventually, he managed to get off his butt, but when standing up with Six, he was visibly uncomfortable, appearing queasy. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, hugging him briefly since she herself was still a little shaken up.
"I'm okay...just never been on a boat before." Mono suddenly covered his mouth, trying not to throw up just thinking about how much the boat was rocking. "Urk..." He took a deep breath and held onto the side of the boat tightly, hoping it would ease the sickness a little if at all.
"Pffft-" the girl stifled her laughter as she watched Mono be bested by the ocean, rubbing up and down on his back to comfort him. "You're such a city boy." She remarked playfully, pulling him away from the edge and back to the darkness of their initial waking spot. "It's not so bad when you get used to it. And standing won't help." She held him close, letting him lay against her so he wasn't disturbed by the movement of the boat.
The boy closed his eyes and leaned back weakly, trying to hopefully fall back asleep and avoid any unnecessary puking for the sake of everyone on the boat. He held Six's hand, and though he never really slept anymore, he managed to stay pretty relaxed the rest of the way.
They didn't know the destination, because the submarine would be moving, so it was a huge surprise when they approached a giant shadow. Six crawled out from underneath the seat and peeked her head over it, staring wide-eyed at the huge dome-like submarine. Mono joined her after a moment to bask in its...largeness, but he was a bit woozy still, so he held onto her.
The closer they got to the submarine, the more overwhelmed they became. And neither of them knew how to react when the creepy ferryman suddenly grabbed them with ease and lifted them up to a pipe that could act as a ladder.
"Go down until you get to a small window. From there, you'll know what to do." The shadow man informed them sternly, but they were utterly confused.
Six looked down at the water and wondered how they were supposed to survive this. She was about to ask the man, but when she turned her head around again, he was already gone, disappeared. She made eye contact with Mono, her eyebrows furrowedI to accentuate how nervous she was. "How are we even going to-" she was interrupted as she spoke by a loud roaring of the engines and rusted metal of the ship, and all of a sudden, the submarine was rising out of the water.
With only a moment of hesitation, she nodded at Mono and started crawling down the pipe with him. It was slippery, but they'd had enough experience in the rainy Pale City to deal with it.
It felt like an endless journey; the sun was beating down on them and the salt water splashing on them made their skin dry up. Because of how much distance there was to cover with their tiny bodies, it took around ten minutes to fully descend, and they happened right upon a window that was more like a prison view than anything. They slipped onto the windowsill and helped each other pull the glass up out of the way. Afterwards, they slipped through the iron bars and pulled the glass back down to prevent any flooding.
Once they had hopped down onto the floor, their ears were drawn to a distant echo of chattering. "Six, who is that?" Mono asked timidly, somewhat hiding behind the girl since she didn't seem to be phased all that much. "A monster?"
"Stop freaking out! How am I supposed to know? We literally just came here for the first time together, and you're asking me about things I don't know." Six shook Mono off of her shoulder and tiptoed to the cracked door in the room, slowly penetrating the dark hallway. Even though she had just gotten annoyed at Mono, the boy clung to her once again, and this time she just rolled her eyes in annoyance. She pulled her lighter out of her yellow coat (she was thankful she still had it) and lit the way for them to see, though very faintly.
The voices were farther than they originally thought. They walked for a while down the hall, down stairs, and eventually found light beaming through a secret passage in the wall. Once inside, they stepped quietly down the small stairs, only to be met with a small group of children, who were all staring at them. "Mono, you talk to them. I don't know how to talk to people." She shoved him in front of her body, clearly apprehensive about the situation.
"W-Why me? I don't know how either... I'm kinda hated by a lot of people, remember...?" Mono glanced back at Six with worried eyes, but he was startled by approaching footsteps. When he looked back in front of himself, there was a shorter girl in a beige dress, with bandages wrapped around her head. She was holding out her hand patiently, and, with a gulp, he accepted her hand and shook it.
"We probably won't hate you...unless you attack us." She pulled away momentarily and walked back to the campfire, taking a seat next to another kid who had a hump-back.
Once Six felt comfortable, she stood next to Mono and looked at him expectantly, wanting him to say something to them to make things less awkward. After a minute of silence and the crackling of the fire to calm them, Mono grabbed her hand and squeezed it, which embarrassed her, but only because of the other kids and their staring. "This is my friend, Six. We've been...through a lot together." He reluctantly walked towards the group, eventually having the courage to sit down with the others, and with Six.
"It's nice to meet some fresh faces." One kid spoke up, taller than most with an orange overcoat. "Where are you guys from? We're from all over." He made conversation, wanting to make them feel welcome; he had the aura of a leader, and seemed very trustworthy all around.
Mono blinked in surprise at the sudden peep from the kid, glancing at Six, who, although previously shy about their relationship, was clinging to his arm like a baby. He figured she wasn't going to talk about her past, considering she'd barely told him anything. "Um, well, I'm from the Pale City. It's been in ruins for a while but I wanted to try and make things right. I saw Six being captured one night and after I saved her, she stuck with me." He explained his story briefly, and half expected the kids to look at him like he was crazy, talking about the city so casually, but to his surprise, only one of the kids gasped in shock. It was a smaller boy in a dark green, tattered overcoat. Mono saw his reaction and stared at him curiously, wondering if he had been affected by the disaster as well.
"What happened to you in the Pale City?" He asked this as sweetly as possible, but truth be told he was kind of anxious and it made him energetic, maybe even impatient. When the kid looked away and hid behind the kid in orange, he knew he had overstepped, and felt terrible about it. "Gosh, I'm sorry—don't feel pressured to talk about it. Nobody's forcing you. I was just curious since I lived there." He tried comforting the kid, and it appeared to work, but at the same time, he wasn't speaking.
Then, suddenly, a girl in a pale green with long hair looked towards him; her expression was unreadable...at least, what he could see of it. "He's never even told us about his past. It might take him a while to trust you." She explained his behavior, and Mono nodded insecurely. He worried that he might know him or recognize him in some way, but that would be impossible, right?
"Six, what about you?" The boy in orange made an attempt to change the subject. "Before you met Mono."
Six jumped when she was spoken to, squeezing Mono's arm since she was a bit socially awkward. "It's...a long story. I'd rather not talk about—" she was distracted from finishing her sentence as another kid suddenly entered the same way they had come in. He had jeans on, a blue sweater, long, dark hair and a chain around his ankle. He...was kind of cool-looking. She couldn't stop staring. "Woah..." She whispered to herself as he walked closer, and he looked at her blankly, as if questioning everything about her.
"That's RK. Said he doesn't have a name, so we call him that. He sneaks out of the Janitor's daycare to see us from time to time." The bandaged girl introduced him nonchalantly, but seemed amused at Six's astonishment.
The long-haired girl chuckled, and the boy in green joined her soon enough. They were like two peas in a pod. "Crushing on him already? I guess you're into the mysterious type?"
As soon as Six heard the girl's accusation, she started burning up, and was very close to getting violent, but refrained since Mono was watching her. She simply balled up her fist and clenched hard, shaking her head dismissively. "N-No, I don't have a crush on him..." She folded her arms across her chest in a pout. "I'm not really the romantic type. Don't know if you noticed."
"Hm." The new arrival hummed in response to the conversation; he clearly wasn't interested, and wanted nothing to do with it. Eventually, he walked over to Mono's other side and sat by him quietly, having nothing to contribute.
The kid in orange took note of Six and Mono's expressions and pieced together their confusion. "Yeah, he's not much of a talker... But he's kind." He reassured the two, but Six wasn't paying attention. She was still upset, and Mono was infatuated with the guy, mostly since, in Six's defense, he did look pretty cool. This was probably only the beginning of a new world for them. These kids, although strange, were a glimmer of hope in the darkness.