︵ . . CHAPTER TWO ❜ ━━━━ ₍ 🥀 ₎
his red-eyed savior . .
The young boy had managed to pull out his foot from the root it had caught on after minutes of struggling and with that, he picked up his legs and made a dash to flee and escape the hands of death.
Tommy didn't dare to look back at the horde of undead corpses coming from behind him. There was no point in fighting them without any decent weapon. He figured it would be smarter to just let them roam and burn from the sun when the morning comes.
He continued to run, his staggered breaths and racing heart practically echoed throughout the atmosphere. In the hands of dismay, an arrow had shot through the darkness and unfortunately had jabbed him right on the leg, causing him to let out a yelp of pain as he fell on his knees.
Tommy angrily lifted his head up, expecting to see two dots and a smile on a porcelain white mask but instead he locked eyes with a skinless monstrosity that held bow and arrow in hand. His expression faltered into a terrified look.
"Damn it."
The blonde boy closed his eyes shut. He realized right then that going for a walk in the woods without Wilbur or, at the very least a somebody, was a bad mistake. Tommy would usually turn to Sadie if he and Wilbur had a disagreement or simply, whenever he just needed someone to lean on.
But who could he rely on at this point now that she was dead and gone?
Tommy pursed his lips and trembled at the notion of death, slowly accepting his fate by the bow and arrow aimed straight at him in the head. He wasn't quite ready to join Sadie. He was still determined to save L'manberg and exact vengeance for her death. It wouldn't be a proper death if he died like this.
However, miracles do exist. The heavens have heard his silent prayer for a somebody.
The sound of a mob's anguished cry reached his ears. He flinched at the unexpected. Fearful, artic eyes gradually opened to reveal a figure standing right in front of him. Like a cob on a stick, their black blade pierced the skeleton's skull.
As the figure swung their blade, the child gazed in awe and fear, the sound of the crunching skull being sliced in half like butter made him wince. It was a macabre sight, but it didn't stop there. He looked around to see the undead corpses from before caught up to him.
Tommy gazed back at the person, hopeful eyes pleading for help, and they seemed to get the message as they gazed at him over their shoulder, crimson red eyes meeting ocean eyes.
'Techno? No, wait—they don't have pink hair and a hog mask either.' The blonde boy got lost in a deep thought upon meeting their gaze.
The person shifted their attention towards the undead corpses, on their soft growls. They grabbed the hilt of the second blade that was hooked on their waist. With a dark, enchanted blade on each hand, they lunged the monstrous creatures.
Tommy stared intently, watching the person attack with such grace. Their blades cleaved themselves through the necks and heads of the undead corpses with ease.
Each slice was precisely moved. The way they moved through the army of zombies, one by one hacking them to their death. Tommy had the impression that he was watching a graceful dancer glide and waltz beneath the moonlight. It was such a morbid sight yet beautiful all the same.
The person's gaze was drawn back to the blonde boy. His spine shivered as he met their steely gaze. Despite the initidmating aura shrouding them, something about this stranger made Tommy feel like he could trust them.
"You know, you shouldn't be out here."
It was a woman's voice, and hearing it made him feel nostalgic for some reason. Strangely enough, it reminded him of Sadie.
'Could you be her?'
Tommy gazed at the woman as she removed the hood that had been draped over her head. He could make out a pair of crimson red eyes and long raven hair thanks to the moonlight shining through the branches and leaves of the big trees.
Maybe he got his hopes too high. This woman wasn't Sadie. In fact, she looked nothing like her.
She lacked Sadie's bright, warm hazel eyes, which radiated pure happiness and life. Her hair was also a lot lighter. Her eyes were were indeed red in color. It wasn't simply because of the moonlight reflecting on her irises.
"You do realize it is rude to stare boy." Her voice was cold as ice. Definitely not Sadie.
"I—uh, sorry. It's just that—you reminded me someone." Tommy fell over his own words as the woman spoke to him. "Thank you for saving me woman."
"You're not one of them, are you?" She ignored his blabbering, her eyes becoming colder by the second.
"One of who?" Tommy tilted his head in confusion. "Are you talking about Oneiros?"
"Well, are you?" She slowly reached for the blade that she had placed on her right waist. Cautiously readying into a fighting stance.
"Heavens, no! I'm not one of the green bastard's men." Tommy told her firmly.
His answer was enough to satisify her. The woman let her hand fall to her side instead of grabbing the sword.
Perhaps her intuitions about this boy were truly correct.
"Good." She muttered as she trotted towards him.
Her ruby eyes watched the blonde flinch in fear as she knelt down in front of him. The woman chose to ignore this and examine the bleeding wound on the boy's right leg. "You're quite lucky, the arrow didn't pierce deep."
Her hands reached for the stem of the arrow penetrating his leg without warning, and she quickly yanked it out. Tommy bit his tongue hard enough to keep himself from screaming in agony.
As he opened his mouth to curse her, his eyes hardened into a glare, but he froze as he saw her retrieve a clean cloth from the small bag on her belt, along with a potion of healing.
"Why are you helping me?" The blonde found himself questioning her actions.
He was a stranger, just as she was to him, and yet she was there, helping him.
"I don't know."
Despite the fact that she had previously been a ruthless and merciless lady, she was unexpectedly gentle when bandaging up his injured leg. Tommy was almost moved to tears by the kind gesture, it reminded him so much of Sadie.
"What do you mean you don't know?" He questioned further.
"You ask way too many questions. That's none of your business any longer." An annoyed huff escaped her breath, her eyes hardening into a glare.
Tommy went silent while the woman finished tending to his injured leg. She looked up to him as soon as she completed bandaging his leg, and for a short second, her stoic demeanor had given way to a tender, empathetic gaze.
Despite the fact that she had never met him before. Her instincts told her he had been through a lot, just like she had.
︵ . . ⌗𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 ❜
new character enters the stage !
ngl i had fun writing the gore-ish fight scene though it wasn't much lol but yeah the next chapter is already in the works smirk emoji
i didnt proofread this so um like please dont hesitate to notify me about typos because i wrote all the 1.2k worded chapter in one go🧍♀️