Hey hey! check it out, an early update! Didn't have anything better to do anyway! What can I say, except, you're welcome! sorry.
Note; 2k+ words, you're in for a long read folks!
Art by kuya kristen
Enjoy! *Curtain slides open*
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Mono opened his eyes to see absolute nothingness. It was all black as pitch, He found himself standing in the middle of nowhere, a place where there wasn't even a slight howl of the wind. He felt nothing, he heard nothing, not even the sound of his own breathing. where am I?
Mono wandered around but his feet wouldn't take him anywhere. It felt more like floating than walking to him. He looked upwards then all around him, the feeling of dread and fear slowly taking over. He glanced downwards and tried waving his hands, groping for something. It was as if he was missing his hands too.
"Boy..." A voice resounded from the deep blackness, old and weak, thick with bitterness. Mono's head spun to where it came from. And in the darkness, he saw a faint silvery gleam. Something was there and it was calling to him...
"Help me, boy..." the sound came again, louder this time, and with it came the buzzing of static. Mono felt his non-existent body floating towards the grey light. What am I even doing!? Whatever that was, it was drawing him closer and closer, and Mono couldn't fight back. It was as if was being pulled by the sweet songs of sirens only to be drowned and taken to the bottom of the ocean.
"I'm here, Mono." The voice called. And Mono felt a sudden chill run down his spine at the mention of his name. The faint grey glimmer gave a sudden burst of light, and with it, a fraction of the black void became too blinding to look at. Mono shielded his eyes, it would seem that he had gotten his body back. As the light died out, Mono looked at his hands and turned them this way and that, at least he could see now...
looking around he found himself in a long, dimly lit hallway. And it seemed that gravity here was non-existent, for everything except him at least, as a dozen rocks were floating all around him and pieces of splintered woods were scattered all about and suspended in the air. Cracks as wide as watermelons gaped the floor beneath him, and overhead were splits in the concrete roof where spiderlings nestled. At the end of the hall, was a giant door. One that had some sort of metal in the shape of an eye at the top center. And eerily enough, that was where the voice was calling from.
Mono struggled as he dodged and hopped over every crack in the floor before coming face to face with the door, "Help me..." The voice pleaded. And Mono reached for the door and placed his hand over the metal. The doorknob was well beyond his reach, no way to reach it. All of a sudden the floor shook under him, Mono wobbled and lost his footing then fell on his rear. The wooden platform beneath him rose and before long the doorknob was only inches away from him. All he had to do was reach for it.
without hesitating he grabbed and pulled it down, and everything came crashing down. Once again, pitch blackness was all he saw. And before he knew it he was falling, his feet jerked and kicked, his mind screaming, but he would utter no cry.
He met the floor, strangely cracking his skull open. He placed both hands on the hard stone surface as he struggled back to his feet, and moments later his body was running on its own, and all around him were a thousand fleshy eyes staring at him. Their gazes tailing him as he sprinted across a collapsing bridge. Mono slowly glanced upwards, a few feet away, was a figure in a yellow raincoat, kneeling at the other side of the gap, hand extended ready to catch him. Cries and shouts came from behind him, seemingly pleading. and the only thing he could make out from them were the words, "Mono! No! Please!"
And as he leaped, the figure indeed caught him. But it didn't pull him up. It stared him down, with vile bloody eyes. His feet dangled in the air, and beneath him was an abyss ready to eat away at him.
"Die." Six growled and wrenched her hand from his.
Mono woke up screaming, his skin breaking in a cold sweat, his breath coming out ragged from his painfully dried throat. The only thing he heard was the drumming of his heart in his ears. He was trembling horribly, He reached with his hands and held his sides. He looked around and found himself in the same gloomy forest, where the fire from the deadwood was still flickering with dying flames, while embers danced about. He exhaled sharply, relieved that it was just a dream.
Then he remembered Six and looked behind him. She sat there a few feet away, purple-stained legs pulled tightly to her chest. Her eyes were wide, filled with both fear and worry. "M-mono?" She said, her voice cracked and quivering.
He cupped his head, and sighed aloud, trying to even his breath. "I'm sorry, did I... Did I scare you? I'm- I'm sorry." he could hear her walking towards him, and now felt her kneeling only a few inches away from him. She reached for his paper bag and grabbed its sides, pulling it slightly upwards.
Mono didn't pull away, he didn't even stop her. She just pulled it up high enough so she could see his mouth and stopped there, she saw him biting down hard at his lower lip, and on each side of his cheeks were tears running down his to reach his chin and fall on his trousers. "Enough, please." He said pulling down his paper bag
"Mono..." she said softly.
"I'm alright... I had a bad dream, that's all." He won't be going back to sleep after that. Instead, he stood up and wiped away the tears, then went to where the fire was struggling. He sat there and picked a burning stick from the flames and started poking and the smoldering deadwood. He found it odd... he was sure this fire could have lasted for a long while, sure that when they woke up a few hours later, dawn would have at least broken. But no. Overhead was the same inky sky he stared at before he went to sleep... He looked up in bewilderment, he couldn't figure out what was happening. He was counting on the daylight, it would have been much safer to travel through the foggy waters that way, but as it turns out they had to make do with what they had...
Six sat next to him and hovered her hands over the dying fire, and said nothing. "Don't mind me really, I'm fine. If you want to go back to sleep, go..." Mono said. And to that Six just shrugged.
Mono didn't know how she could do it, but whenever she was near he felt calm and he was grateful that she was there. But in the back of his mind, that word she uttered, and the way she stared him down, haunted him. it was just a dream... he told himself over and over again. for Pete's sake, Mono... You can't keep going like this. He forced himself to take deep breaths and calm himself down. He had never been safer in his entire life, and for now, nothing could hurt him.
After he cleared his mind, he stood back up and stretched his arms. His entire body was sore from sleeping on the hard surface and looked downwards to where the river stream ends. The Pier was down there, and the boat was docked there still, tied to a metal cleat. He looked down at Six and said, "Ready to leave?"
Eagerly, Six nodded as if he had read her mind. She stood up and dusted herself off. Before they ventured down the path and towards the Pier, Mono collected a few more berries and placed them in his pockets for the journey, he gave a handful to Six and told her to make sure that she had enough to coat the cuts on her legs.
Soon enough they set off towards the boat, they both grabbed onto the rope and started pulling the boat towards them. With great effort, the edge of the boat reached the pier, and Six made the jump. She grabbed on the wooden surface and vaulted over, making safely inside. Mono was about to jump, then Six appeared from over the wooden frame and extended her hand.
Smiling Mono leaped for it and grabbed on to her hand, with tiny grunts, she hauled him up and into the boat. Six tripped and they landed atop one another. His face was inches away from hers, his pulse quickened, and felt the blood coursing through his veins as the patch of black hair drifted away from her face, allowing those vermillion eyes to bore back into his...
Six's face flushed, she pursed her lips and drew away from under him, hiding away in the black curtain of hair once again. Mono took a deep breath and tugged at his shirt under his coat, Holy moly that was too close... it was best if he kept his mouth shut, for now.
He shook his head, desperately trying to find something to busy himself with. right! the rope. he snapped towards the rope quickly, up there on the gunwale... He hopped onto the second wooden platform and began untying the rope.
Six snapped out of her thoughts too, then went to the engine and examined it. First, she knocked on the metal, then shook it back and forth, and felt the gasoline swishing inside. then she fumbled with more and accidentally pulled down a metal panel, displaying one red button and a recoil starter, not that she had any idea what those things could do. But usually, pushing red buttons would do something right?
She pushed the red button and nothing, just a tiny bit of squeaking sounds were heard inside the motor engine.
Mono had already unhooked the rope as he came to help. "Right! we just need to pull that lever and we'll be good to go." Mono grabbed hold of the recoil started and waited, Six took a moment before grabbing the handle. "Okay! on three, you pull." Six nodded, "One, two... Three!"
the engine breathed to life but then died out a second later. "Again! One, two... Three!" They pulled together one more time and the engine roared, but eventually went out again. "One last time! One, two... Three!" and with one last pull, the engine rumbled and was ready to go. Mono let go and sat there in the middle cross-legged, satisfied.
He caught something interesting in the corner of his eye, in a tiny toolbox, there he saw it. He didn't hesitate, he went and took it out.
Six lips curled into a wide smile, as the sound of the engine echoed around them. She let her hand drift across the steering handle. She heard rustling and clinking of metal coming from behind her. Before she looked back she took one last look at the gloomy forest, towards the shack. Grey smoke was still rising from there. it's over now... that's all that matters. She looked back towards Mono. She was dumbstruck, her jaw dropped so low it almost licked the floor.
"Right captain! which way should we set sail?" Mono said, standing up straight with his chest puffed out. He had this oversized white sailor hat over his head, She only saw him from the chest down. He placed his knuckles on his side and displayed a sheer amount of confidence.
"Eh? Wha-?" Six looked around nervously. "Me?"
Mono nodded with excitement, humming as he did so "Yo ho ho! What shall it be?" Six giggled, but then burst into laughter. Clutching her sides as she did, it went on for a while and Mono could help but join in with a muffled giggle, trying hard not to break out of character.
With a sharp gaze and a smirk, Six pointed towards the sea and grabbed the steering helm.
"AVAST YE! Master the mast tackles, Yo ho all hands on deck! Hoist the colors! HEAVE HO! HEAVE HO! full sail ahead me hearties!"
his tiny form paced around the boat, with this ridiculously oversized hat over his head, and kept saying "Heave HO! HEAVE HO!" as he pulled on an invisible rope, and talking to imaginary people...
She triggered the propellers and the boat went out into the open sea. Mono wobbled and waved his arms around, earning another giggle from Six. "Well, blow me away! One misstep and few fishes would have their bellies full!"
Six now had to wipe away tears from her eyes, she was laughing her heart out. For the first time in a while. Not long after, she was crying for real.
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Well, this chapter had a little bit of everything.
Couldn't resist it with the last part xD, thanks a lot, Hans Zimmer!!!
Please point out the errors.
So long me hearties! Imma dive into the sea and feed the fishes now!