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What This World Has to Offer- Story


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“The Reign of Giants will come and go
Shipwrecked will he, we'll never know
When finally, the end of lives
Begins with the fall of five”

A world fraying apart from the seams would do anything to save itself. If that means damning innocent souls to a neverending Hell, then so be it. The Host, The Young Heir, The Martyr, The Sister, and The One True Heir.
The Host of Their Master
The Young Heir to a Throne of Shadows
The Martyr Who Gave Up Everything
The Sister of the Monster in the Dark
The One True Heir to a Kingdom of Bones
Don't be afraid. This is what is meant to happen. This is what you're meant to be. After all, it's all happened before, and it will all happen again.

Cover Art by Coysnek on Deviantart! coysnek - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

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1.thumb.png.8aca911c08e63521e856c6714eaa77d8.pngArt by the Amazing Artist Coysnek on Deviantart!!! coysnek - Hobbyist, Digital Artist | DeviantArt

Chapter 1: The Bane of My Existence 

There was something near us. Something was dark. Something was wrong. What had happened last? We could not recall.

“How is he doing?” a voice echoed. We strained our eyes to see who was talking. “Do you think he'll be okay?”

“I... no. I can't say that... that I think he'll pull through. That wound...”

“He can't die... I won't let him. Please, we can save him, right? Right!?” A third voice croaked, horror and fear edging its voice.

Are they talking to us?

Who are they?

Who are they?

We heard the sound of footsteps and sighing, then something cold pressed against our back. “I just got back, kid. You can't leave us now... do you hear me? You will pull through, I swear. I'll do anything to make sure of it.”

Awareness began to spread to our limbs, and the dark curtain began to fade, and with that, the memories. We blinked our eyes open, the sunlight dazzling us for a few minutes. There are others, I thought. Are they the same people? No... no, there were more.

Our instincts came rushing back to us in a flood, and we jumped back from the others, who were also just stirring. The first one blinked in shock at the sight of us. He was taller than us, obviously an adult, with spiked black hair and confused gray eyes. We bared our teeth threateningly.

“Whoa,” he breathed, struggling to stand. “C.. can you speak?”

Does he think we're stupid? Is he trying to find weaknesses?

At least he speaks English.

“Yes,” I said slowly without moving. He visibly relaxed. We turned our gaze to the third one. They were also sitting up, looking at both of us with disdain.

This one was a tan robot, closer to our height. Their 'face' was two identical holes for eyes, and a longer, thinner one underneath for a mouth. They did not look happy in the slightest bit, but perhaps that was just their appearance. They met our look with a fierce glare. “WHAT ARE YOU?” They spat.

We will fight if we have to.

But not yet.

“What are you?” I countered, looking them up and down. If they want a fight, they'll get one. We've fought for years now, one more opponent is no different... even if they are slightly bigger than me.

“WHAT AM I?” They asked, tipping their chin arrogantly. “MODEL WX-78, FLESHLING.They're aggressive.

“Webber,” I hissed back. We jerked our gaze to the other one.

“Wilson,” he replied quietly.

We let our shoulders relax, and fur lie flat again, straightened slightly, and put away our claws and snarl. If they aren't going to hurt us, then we need to seem harmless to them. “What are you doing here?”

“Do you know where we are?” The first one- Wilson- asked hopefully, examining our spiderlike appearance.

“No. Do you?”

He shook his head, and we sighed. Trust no one, isn't that what our life has taught us?

Maybe we need to trust someone?

No. I thought stubbornly. We can rely on ourself. But looking at these other two... these other two in the same predicament as us. We looked at Wilson. He looks trustworthy, but... our gaze met WX-78's. Not so sure about them...

Were they the ones talking to us? We instinctively ran our hand over our neck and stomach, the most likely places for a fatal wound, but there was nothing but smooth skin and old scars beneath our fur.

WX let out a huff of scorn, before walking away.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, moving to catch them. “Where are you going?”

Wilson caught our shoulder. “Don't bother. I know their type. They'll come back if they want to, but there's no use forcing them to stay with us.” He cocked his head and smiled.

We weren't sure exactly what to say. Not only were we not used to being spoken to directly in such tones, but we hadn't been smiled at in ages. “Us?” I repeated. “You mean you're staying?”

He looked confused. “Why wouldn't I? It'd be better if we stick together, right?”

“Y-you mean you aren't afraid of us?” I couldn't help blurting out.

“Afraid,” he echoed. “Just out of curiosity's sake... how old are you? Surely you couldn't survive on your own for long.”

“Seven,” I answered quietly. “And we can... we have before.”

He laughed. “Okay, how about I probably can't survive on my own for long.”

“You never have?”

“I lived alone,” he replied. “Not... alone alone though.”

“Are you suggesting it's only us?” I asked in horror.

“Us and... WX-78? Was that their name?”

“Yeah... we think so.” We cocked our head. “You think we're alone, though? No one else?” We realized too late how small our voice sounded. We were scared.

We were scared.

We're not, a tiny voice in our mind whispered. We're not scared. Being scared is for cowards, and so is relying on others. We pushed it back as Wilson seemed to struggle finding words.

“We can only assume we are alone until we find other people here,” he pointed out gently, then nodded to the area around us. We realized for the first time that we were in a small forest clearing. We listened hard for distant birdsong to greet us, but it was silent. “Besides, it's getting dark.” Our gaze snapped up to the darkening sky. Already!? “We should just... set up camp for the night, and figure out what we're going to do in the morning. A chill wind brushed the leaves above us, making us shiver. A tang of frost was carried on the breeze, but we couldn't tell if it was turning cold or it had been colder and was warming up.

“Yeah.”

“Wow... I suppose I lied.”

Darkness pressed down hard on our chest. We felt tears rolling down our cheeks, lungs spasming in approaching sobs. Something cold touched our hand, and the panic rose even higher. “You're badly injured! I don't know what to do.” We felt impossibly helpless. Uncontrollable tremors overcame our body as inaudible rambles poured from out mouth. A name that passed our lips and didn't stick in our brain.

Just when we thought we were going to cry out in pain and fear, the dream shifted. The grief was replaced with power. The tears were replaced with something cold and wet, pouring from our eyes and staining our fur with oily black streak as fire crackled in our ears.

We jerked awake, heart pounding, early sunlight momentarily blinding us. The robot had apparently returned, and sat nearby, leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing with an odd black book leaning up against a sapling beside them. They did not acknowledge our presence. Our dream weighed heavily on our mind, but the details had already faded. Wilson was looking at us, confusion in his gray eyes. “Are... you okay?”

“We're fine,” I told him.

Suddenly, the fur on the back of our neck stood on end, and we saw that WX had looked up at us, their gaze dark with pure spite. We bared our fangs at them. We had to keep an eye on them. Distrust bubbled in our stomach as we met their gaze as boldly as possible. If you plan on hating us, then we will hate you, too.

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Chapter 2: The Book of Darkness

 

WX-78's POV

 

What did I do to deserve this? I silently wondered, fixating the other two with looks of hatred. Humans! I hissed to myself. I'm sitting next to two pathetic humans. Oh, how disappointed you'd be in me... I tried to push the last thought away. I reached instinctively for the book at my side, reassuring myself with its presence. There was something odd about the smooth black leather of the cover, like it was too pristine, too well kept to have just been abandoned. Sure, there was someone next to it, but the clean white bones of the skeleton, it's face locked in an eternal scream of terror, suggested they had been dead a very long time. Seeing the skeleton filled me with a sort of dark satisfaction. Another part of me wished that that was one of these fleshlings I was stuck with.

I realized too late that while I had been deep in thought, my glare had been situated on the spider who introduced himself as Webber. He was looking at me back, his lip curled in a snarl and fur bristling. I met his glower evenly, and he looked away first. Without looking away, I stroked the book's cover once more. A shock seemed to zap my finger as I touched the red symbol in the center of the book, and I was thrown into a torrent of what felt like memories, but I could not recall them ever happening. A grief-stricken wail that pierced the air, the rushing sound of footsteps, the clanking of my own self falling to the ground. I panicked for just a moment, before reminding myself where I was. I am safe. I reminded myself sharply. I am safe. Gradually, the feeling ebbed away, and I suddenly felt very weak. I slid down the bark of the tree, holding my head until I was in a sitting position. I felt like I could hardly stand. I recognized that voice, I thought in horror. I shook the feeling away, and when I had finally controlled myself, I noticed that Webber had looked at me again, his gaze mocking.

Wilson appeared to have noticed the look, too, because he looked faintly concerned and said something to the spider. It was too far for me to hear, but by the way he nodded and stood up, I could only assume that they were going somewhere. Good, I thought. I can be alone now. I stood, trying to keep my knees from buckling again. I grabbed the book again, my grip shaky. The symbol was too red, and pulsing oddly. I tried to drop it, but failed.

Suddenly, I was on the ground, panic setting in. I looked up sharply, only to see that Webber was standing over me, his whiskers twitching with amusement. “You were so out of it,” he sneered. Angrily, I kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to nearly fall on top of me with a squeak of protest, then I kicked him onto his back.

“You two! Quit fighting!” Wilson demanded. I turned indignantly to him.

“HE STARTED IT!” I protested.

“What are you, four? Grow up.” Despite the sharp words, there was an underlying gentleness to his voice, almost as though he were speaking to children. I nearly sniped back at him, but Webber was nodding seriously at me.

“We should listen to him.” There was still a mocking note in his voice. “After all, he is an adult.” However, as he turned his gaze to Wilson, he eyed him with a sort of desperate hunger. I knew that look. He was wanting approval. Not knowing nor caring if he received it, I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my knees and, my fingers trembling, picked up the book once more. “What's that?” Webber asked, hopping up to look at it himself. I snatched it away with a glare.

“NOTHING,” I snapped.

“It... looks like something,” he ventured, trying to pull my arm down to look at it.

I promptly replied by smacking him in the back of the head with it.

He yelped at the sudden pain which I used to push him down, stalking to the other side of the clearing with my chin tipped upwards as Wilson helped him to his feet. Two sets of eyes burned into my back- one confused and concerned, the other enraged beyond compare. Without a word and before the spider could do anything in retaliation, I pushed my way out of the clearing, still holding the book.

 

Wilson's POV

We're gonna rip that little jerk limb from limb when we get our hands on them!” Webber roared, trying to struggle away from my vice grip on his arm.

“No one's ripping anyone limb from limb,” I informed him patiently, trying to hide my teeth grinding in frustration. To be honest, when he first said his age, I was shocked and confused. He was a kid. A kid! First of all, what in the world was he doing in a place like this, and why was he so intent on violently dismembering someone he literally just met. He struggled, of course, but he soon gave up, his bottom lip twitching in a barely suppressed snarl.

“Fine,” he muttered.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That means no fighting at all.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, his mouth agape as though I had just told him to jump off of a cliff. “They hit us,” he reminded me sharply, rubbing the back of his head for emphasis.

“It's not that bad,” I pointed out lightly. “It could've been worse.” After all, a human-sized hunk of metal and gears could probably have done much worse had he wanted to. Something kept them back though... I know the look of someone who hates someone else, that's definitely what I have on my hands here... but why would WX-78 just whack him instead of going full-blown murder on him? I need to look into that later. For now, I need to figure out how I going to keep these two in line without taking suicidal risks. I wasn't very fond of the idea of going against a human-sized hunk of metal and gears either, and even without looking I could tell the spider boy's fangs could do some serious damage should he want to hurt me.

He tore his arm away from my grip and sat grumpily down where he stood in a criss-cross manner and his arms folded over his chest. “They're still a jerk,” he growled.

I sighed. I knew I had my hands full with these two, but tried to stay neutral. To be honest, I didn't particularly want to take sides- WX was being a jerk but Webber was being violent, they both needed to calm down. “I'll go find WX,” I sighed again.

He jumped up again, glaring at me now. “You're going to find them?”

“We're in this together,” I replied.

“We don't want to deal with them!”

“Then leave.”

That shut him up real quick, resigning to mumbling under his breath instead of protesting aloud. I don't think he realizes that we need each other... maybe they will mellow out after awhile.

The look of pure hatred that Webber was shooting the area where WX disappeared said otherwise. Shaking my head, I went off in search of the irritable bot. Much to my surprise, Webber followed me. Whether that was to actually find them or to find a way to hurt them was beyond me. Luckily, being a very heavy robot, they made quite the trail through the brush. It cleared out into a grassland with several clear-water ponds. The clearing was filled with frogs- not like the frogs from my world, where they were only the size of your fist at most, these frogs were enormous. One was so big it was up to my knee's length. Webber did not seemed fazed in the slightest of the giant creatures, he just casually weaved among them while I looked on in shock. How in the world was the spider so confident? Surely whatever part of the world he came from, he never saw frogs this big.

“What are you?” I blurted, causing him to stop completely with his foot in the air. I saw him take a deep breath, then turn to me. He did not look happy. “Are you actually a spider?”

“Partially,” he mumbled, turning back to the ponds without another word. I opened my mouth to ask his meaning, then realized that he'd probably add me to his hitlist if I wasn't already on it. How is that possible? Crossbreeding? A weird twisted human spider hybrid? Or... he sure looks like a human under all that fur. My mind swirled with possibilities of what the strange spider-child might be. I was still in a daze when I managed to force my shocked body to move, walking in the footsteps he took. The look on his face when I asked him what he was.... was that sadness? Anger that I had asked such a question? Regret? Of course. Realization suddenly dawned on me. If my theories are correct in assuming he is half human, half spider, who would want to be around him? People would be terrified of him because he looks like a spider, and spiders... well, spiders are way too small to worry about. So how in the world does he exist because spiders are very small creatures that cannot breed with a human! Maybe he's some sort of lab experiment. That probably makes the most sense. An experiment on what would happen if they mixed a spider and human's DNA?

I was so deep in thought, it wasn't until Webber grabbed the collar of my shirt to keep me from falling into one of the frog ponds that I realized I had been in the danger of doing so in the first place. I took a few steps back, staring at it. I turned to thank him only to realize that he had already started moving again, completely ignoring that I even existed. Confused, I jogged a bit to catch up to him. “You alright?” I asked.

“No.”

I was taken aback for a second at his bluntness. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing. I don't like talking about it, that's all.”

I felt guilty for my earlier questioning.

“It's nothing against you, you seem like a good person.” His whiskers twitched. “It's just... a touchy subject, I guess.”

“Your... past?”

He nodded, not meeting my gaze. Suddenly, he picked up his pace. “WX!” He called, less hatred in his voice compared to earlier, surprising me. Then my blood froze. The robot had apparently collapsed, the book they had been obsessing over a few paces away. My first instinct was to try to shake them awake, but of course, Webber had other ideas. With a satisfied smile, he kicked the robot as hard as he could in the chest.

It seemed to hurt Webber more than it hurt WX, but it was still enough to rouse them. While the first hopped on one foot, grimacing in pain, the latter blinked open their 'eyes'. With a soft groan, they pulled themselves to a standing position, albeit wobbly on their feet. “What happened to you?” I asked, but they didn't seem to realize that I was standing there.

Instead, there was a look on their face, a sort of terrified grimace, that made me think they didn't fully understand where they were at the moment.

I found my gaze drifting to the black book at their side. They followed it and slowly picked it up. Some part of my mind knew that that book was what caused them to act oddly. Without knowing why, I shivered. What is that book? It's... unreal... It's... dangerous.

 

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Chapter 3: The Guardian of the Forest

Webber's POV

 

The next morning brought new adventure. Wilson had decided to stay back at where our makeshift base was gradually showing up, and WX had stayed with him. Before we left, we heard them arguing about the book.

 

“WX! Come on! Just let me look at it!”

 

The robot had arrogantly turned away, tipping his chin upwards like he always did. “NEVER! YOUR PUNY FLESHLING MIND COULD NEVER COMPREHEND WHAT LAYS INSIDE OF IT!”

 

“That's why I want to look at it! So I can understand what it mean- come on!

 

 

“YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND IT!” And with those last words, he got up once more- as customary for him nowadays whenever he started an argument- and stalked out of the clearing- at least not the same way as last time. We caught Wilson muttering under his breath. He let out a sigh that hinted that he was trying very hard not to say or do something but his patience was running out.

 

We said nothing, just calmly stood and brushed the dirt off of our knees. Hunger was beginning to tug at our senses. So far, we had noticed the other two foraging for berries and such, but we craved meat. We hadn't even attempted to get any sort of food ourself. This was not starvation. We had felt starvation before. This was a simple hunger. Still didn't mean that it was starting to gnaw at us. We nodded once to the scientist, then prepared to set off as well, in the direction opposite of the frog ponds. Day three. Had it already been three days since we arrived? The first night was probably the worst for all of us. It had been uncomfortably dark around our campfire, and when we tried once to step out into the night, we could've sworn we heard someone whisper our name in our ear. Ever since then, we had decided to never go into the darkness again.

 

Shaking away these thoughts, we decided that maybe we could get something productive done and scout a bit. Whether or not we would keep moving or stay at our fire was beyond us. We stopped for a moment and let the smells of the forest smother our senses. Up ahead, the sun was shining cheerfully, bathing the woods in a soft golden glow and speckling the ground with rays of light. After a moment of concentrating, our mind latched onto what we were searching for and run ahead on light feet. The forest began to thin out before we broke out into plain, golden grasses as far as the eye could see. Our eyes caught on the one thing we wanted to see. Large, brown-furred rabbits. Whiskers twitching in excitement, we followed the creatures' movements. Hunting was never our forte, but something like rabbits should not be a problem. They wouldn't know what hit them. We looked around for a moment, looking for something sharp to hunt with. That'll do! There was a thick, sharp rock on the ground a few paces away. We grabbed it and moved slowly over to one of the rabbit burrows, situation ourself between it and the rabbit that nibbled mindless on the grass nearby. Something must have spooked it though, because it paused and rose onto its hind legs, sniffing the air cautiously. With a sudden scream that made us jump, it fled backwards and right into us. We quickly killed the beast with a stab to the throat with the rock, then lifted it to examine it. It was big, but we knew from experience that not much of that was edible meat. At the moment, however, we did not care. We grinned. At least we knew that we had a supply of meat.

 

 

When we got back to camp, we saw Wilson's eyes widen at the rabbit in our hands. “Where did you find that?” He asked.

 

“There's a grassland over there that has a bunch of these,” I answered calmly. “They're really not hard to hunt at all. They're pretty dumb. Can't survive off berries forever.”

 

He nodded, a smile spreading across his face. “Do you know how to prepare meat?”

 

We nodded. “Our father used to keep goats. He taught us how.”

 

He let out a nervous chuckle. “Good, because I don't know how to.”

 

We snickered. “We can teach you how?”

 

He was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you talk like that...?” He asked tentatively.

 

We paused for a second. “Like what?”

 

“Well... you say 'we' instead of 'I'... why?”

 

We wondered for a moment how to explain without teasing old memories or breaking his mind. “When we were five, we were eaten by a spider. Now, we think together.” That was a little too far, because our chest ached for just a second after saying that.

 

“R-really? You know...” he chuckled again. “It's not scientifically possible for a spider to be of human-eating size...” he clamped his mouth shut as we felt the old feeling stir up again.

 

With a forced smile, we shrugged. “Nothing around here is scientifically possible. You just haven't seen much of it yet.” He seemed to turn a shade paler at the ominous words, but before he could start up the questioning again we turned back to the grassland. “We'll go hunting again, and we can show you how to prepare live animals tonight, 'kay?”

 

“O-okay.”

 

By the time we got to the grassland again, we were aware that we weren't the only ones to have discovered it, and it just so happened that the other one to have found it was WX, and he was intent on his own hunt. He wasn't fast like us though, he was heavy and clumsy. We grabbed the flint from earlier, grinning madly as it ran right into us. We lunged forward and stabbed it in its throat, feeling it go limp.

 

The robot stomped his foot. “HEY!” He protested. “THAT WAS MINE!”

 

“Yours?” I barked a laugh. “Should've gotten it first, then.” We noticed a tension in his limbs that suggested he was holding back a lot of anger. Our grin only widened, which apparently he took as further aggression.

 

“ARE YOU TRYING TO START SOMETHING?” He growled under his breath.

 

Were we trying to start something? Had we gotten so used to fighting that that was we could do now? “Maaaaaybe?” As we met his glare evenly, realization hit us like a rock. This was not about the rabbit. He hated us. Being stuck with us for even three days was enough to round up enough hatred for him to hate us. This word was enough provocation, because next thing we knew, we were on the ground and our left cheek burned like fire. The pain disappeared in an instant to be replaced with fury. Back on our feet in an instant, we tackled him to the ground. Shock flared in his 'eyes' as though he did not expect us to be able to retaliate so quickly. We weren't used to fighting machines, but he acted so natural it was easier than we expected. He pushed us off as though we were a leaf and instantly took advantage of our surprise to use his weight to pin us down and put what felt like all of his strength to punch all out at our face. The biggest problem with this one that we were not used to...

 

He. Was. Heavy. When we finally managed to push him off, we were sure our jaw had been broken and maybe some of our ribs just from his weight. The second we were back on our feet again, we launched ourself at him, causing both of us to tumble down back towards the forest, which was located down a slope. The breath was suddenly knocked out of our chest as we were rammed into the trunk of a thick pine tree. WX jumped back in an instant even though we were temporarily paralyzed in shock and our stomach and throat were wide open.

 

The ground was shaking, or at least, it felt like it was shaking. We didn't realize that we had landed on a half-buried root until it was yanked out from under us. Reality crashed over us like a wave as soon as we saw the trees branches morph into limbs.

 

The tree was alive.

 

Without the breath in our lungs, we could not run until we could get it back, and the paralysis lasted until, without warning, WX grabbed our arm and started to run, apparently trying to get us away from the beast even though this very same robot was trying to kill us just seconds before. He looked over his shoulder at us, and we noticed pure terror dancing in his gaze. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US BOTH KILLED? RUN!”

 

 

“What is that thing!?”

 

“SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO MESS WITH! SPLIT UP!” The shouted direction took a second for us to process, but by the time we figured out what he said he had taken off in a separate direction. Hoping his plan would work, we quickly changed direction to run in the opposite direction he had. A frustrated roar followed by heavy stomping in our direction told us it was giving chase, and we had to scrabble over thick roots and push away trailing branches just to keep somewhat of a lead on it. Before we even knew what was happening, the beast had gained on us and the breath was driven once more from our lungs as it swiped at us, not quite impaling us but sending us crashing into a tree painfully. Luckily, this one did not turn to attack as well. It wasn't much for keeping our spirits up. We lay still, unsure if we even could get up again, and the beast stayed put for a good hour, before aiming one last blow at where we stood, forcing out a silent wail of agony as white hot pain ripped through our legs, then stomped off again with grunts of satisfaction. It must've thought we were dead... Or are we dead? Wow, we've been here a grand total of three days and already dead. Good job, Webber. Great surviving skills!

 

Something must have happened after that. We must have passed out or something, because next thing we were conscious of was being on some sort of grass bed. Our jaw stung like fury, and the pain in our legs was almost unbearable. But what mattered was that we were alive, and once again, at camp. We wondered for just a few moments who brought us back, but the train of thought was completely derailed as we attempted to say something to the figure by the fire- most likely Wilson- and the pain in our jaw struck back with a renewed strength. We must have been able to do something to alert Wilson of being awake once more, because he turned around and his steady expression melted into relief. “You're awake!” he breathed. “You're actually awake! I would've thought that you would've been out out for much longer than that...” he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I might have to look into that, but thank goodness you're alright. No- don't try to talk,” he sputtered as we braced ourself against the torture of moving our jaw to speak. “It might make it worse.”

 

Being unable to speak, we raised an eyebrow, flinching.

 

“Your jaw is severely bruised. I can't tell if it's broken until the swelling's gone down. Your legs, however, appear to have been shattered.” He blinked, then narrowed his eyes. “Don't tell me you two fought. Ah, I can tell by the look on your face you're still confused. You see, after WX told me what happened, I asked about you. He said he didn't know nor care- as to be expected- but at least had the decency to show me where you two had been attacked. The-uh- broken tree limbs and felled trees told me the rest.”

 

“What was that thing?” I forced, causing Wilson to flinch and look even more worried.

 

“The tree guard?” He asked, and we nodded. “It's-well-a tree guard. Pretty nasty creature, I can't tell you anything about it you didn't learn from being chased by it like that.”

 

“How...?”

 

“How... how do I know what it's called?” He guessed, and grinned madly as he revealed the black book, the very book WX had been trying to keep him from getting to, under his arm. “It has all the mysteries of this place... all the creatures, all the fauna, all the... victims...”

 

“Victims?”

 

Stop that,” he demanded. “You're making it worse on both of us. But yes, the victims. Everyone that... he... has tricked.”

 

Maxwell. The name flared in our mind, burning the searing picture into our thoughts. Was that his name? The man who talked to us...?

 

“Some of them... some of them have these red 'M's over them... I don't know what they mean... I'm not sure I want to know what they mean. And yes, we have the honor of being one of those. That would've been your next question, wouldn't it have been?”

 

Most likely.

 

The next one after that, though, would have been there's MORE!? We're not alone!?

 

“And... you still look like you have questions...”

 

How is anyone that good at reading body language?

 

 

“Let me guess, where's WX?”

 

...No...

 

He shrugged. “He's off doing.... robot things. I don't really know what he does when he's not trying to start something other than indirectly starting something, so I can't really answer that question.” His eyes softened. “You must still be exhausted from that experience. I can't say I blame you. Tell you what,” he added with a hint of adventurous excitement in his voice. “I found a little plain just full of bees not too far from here, and from what I've learned of survival, honey would be very useful for you. Not to mention we might be able to get that arm wound fixed up.” Arm wound? We hadn't noticed until now, but a gash had been ripped open in between our wrist and elbow. “Just noticing it now? Good, I was worried that you were having problems with that as well as the jaw and leg thing. I guess what they say about your body focusing on the worst wound is true,” he concluded. “You get some rest. I think I can handle WX for just a few days. You need to sleep to heal yourself.”

 

We almost protested about being useless but we cut ourself off as we remembered his earlier reaction to speaking at all. And besides... we were feeling awfully sleepy...

Edited by Pokemaniac7000
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Okay, before I get too far in this story, I'd just like to touch on a few things (minus the old 'I don't own any characters!' stuff lol)

1) This story was first posted on June 30th, 2015 on fanfiction.net and completed October 31st, 2016, so it is almost 2 years old from the first chapter being written. That being said, any similarities to other stories are completely coincidental

2) The only difference between this and the original draft is that this is all rewritten to actually be readable.

3) I only have up to Chapter 7 written, so after I get to that chapter I won't be updating every day and updates will be few and far in between (I'm working on several other stories that pertain to this one so I'm juggling a lot)

4) The original text stands at over 600 pages and 109 chapters with an added bonus chapter, so it may seem slow at first but it gains momentum over a fairly large chunk of time

 

Chapter 4: The Broken

Wilson's POV

 

“You feeling better?” I asked Webber, who had recently woken up and was sitting up, but looked perfectly miserable. “So-um- I don't think your jaw's broken, just fractured... can you speak?”

 

“Sounds like a familiar question,” he mumbled. “But yeah, better than we could yesterday anyway. Will we be able to walk again?”

 

“Should be... I don't see why not, though you'd have to take it easy for awhile. You won't be able to for a few weeks.... broken bones don't just heal over night.”

 

His eyes widened. “You're telling us we won't be able to do anything for weeks- Wilson!” His voice turned whiny when he exclaimed my name, and I was taken slightly aback. He was threatening to tear WX limb from limb just a couple of days ago... and now he's kind of showing his kid side!

 

“Yes,” I replied firmly. He sighed heavily, cringing, and I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't gathered any honey yet for his arm, but surely that wasn't what hurt this time. “What's wrong?”

 

“You've been trying to figure out what happened, haven't ch'a?”

 

I was shocked into silence. Was I really that predictable? Then again, I assumed I probably freaked him out yesterday when I was guessing his questions, but they were questions anyone would have- or at least I assumed so. Behind me, I sensed WX flinching.

 

“Isn't it obvious?” He adopted a wry look. “Come on, guess.”

 

“You two got into a fight about something stupid.”

 

“He started it,” the spider flashed, admitting I had guessed right without an ounce of guilt or shock. “He hit us.”

 

“YOU PROVOKED ME!” The robot protested, shoving me aside to glare at Webber.

 

Stop it!” I stomped my foot. “I am sick of you two always fighting! I don't care who started it, I don't care who hit who first. All I know for certain is that Webber is one of us, WX, and he is hurt.” As I turned to glare WX down, I saw in the corner of my eye that Webber had tried to hiss something in reply, but the quick movement must have hurt because he snapped his mouth shut, holding one hand over where the break would have been and resorted to just glowering.

 

WX met my gaze evenly, a hint of challenge in his 'eyes'. At first, I had thought that WX had started it after all, given the way he hit the spider without hesitation because of his curiosity over the book, but now I realized just the look he was giving me was enough to instantly make anyone hostile, and it was becoming more and more likely to me that Webber had been the one to throw the first punch. “HE'S HURT BECAUSE OF HIS OWN STUPIDITY,” WX huffed. “I LACK THE EMPHATHY MODULE TO FEEL BAD FOR THE IGNORANT.”

 

“If you're so amazing actually fight us this time and don't cower at the first sight of danger!”

 

He took a step forward, hand raised in readiness to take him up on the offer. “You know what?” My patience finally snapping, I smacked his hand down and wrapped my leg around his, yanking his feet out from under him, and pushed him to the ground. He landed with a dull thump, and Webber's eyes stretched wide in admiration.

 

“Wow!” He breathed. “We wish we could do that!”

 

“I said stop it. Which means you two stop fighting! WX, come with me.”

 

“NO!” He jumped to his feet, 'eyes' burning with anger. “I'M NOT BEING STUCK WITH A MEATSACK.

 

“Are you saying you'd rather be stuck with Webber? Because- you know what, that sounds like a great idea. Think of it as a team building exercise. Step one: You two stay here without killing each other. Step two: You two find a way to keep yourselves from killing each other. Done!”

 

Despite my loss of patience, I could've died laughing by the identical looks of pure rage and shock that the two gave me.

 

“While you two are learning how to be friends, I'm going to be gathering honey for Webber's wound. You know, doing something productive? Wh-What is so funny?” A wide grin had been spreading across the spider's face. “What?”
 

“You're,” he paused, snickering. “You're literally just gonna leave and pretend we aren't gonna try to hurt each other physically and/or mentally?”

 

“I'm going to leave and hope you two aren't gonna try to hurt each other physically and/or mentally.” I scowled at him. “Come on! You two have known each other for four days. Four days for Pete's sake, that isn't enough to hate each other the way you two do!”

 

“OH, HOW... ADORABLE,” WX sneered. “YOU HAVE BEEN SO SHELTERED, HAVEN'T YOU? FIRST TIME SEEING THE OUTSIDE WORLD, WILSON? OR ARE YOU JUST DULL?”

 

I took a deep breath. “WX, I'm not going to give you the pleasure of starting something-”

 

“SCARED, SCIENTIST?”

 

“No, I just don't fight to solve my problems.”

 

“AH, WE HAVE A COWARD THEN?”
 

“Says the one who ran as soon as he saw the treeguard!” Webber snapped.

 

I rubbed my temples.

 

“I MIGHT HAVE SAVED YOUR LIFE!” Actual shock reverberated in his voice, and I perked at the new information.

 

“What!?”

 

The spider looked faintly lost, as though he either did not realize he had did so or he just remembered that he did.

 

“SHOULD'VE GUESSED WE WOULD HAVE LEFT OUT THAT DETAIL. AFTERALL, WHAT DOES THAT MAKE THE EVER-SO-BRAVE-WEBBER IF WILSON KNEW HE COMPLETELY FROZE UP.” He tipped his chin. “I HAD TO PRACTICALLY DRAG HIM AWAY TO KEEP IT FROM DOING EVEN WORSE.”

 

Webber lowered his gaze, muttering under his breath.

 

“What?”

 

“Maybe we didn't want you to save our life,” he growled before lying back down and turning his back on us.

 

I was completely lost for words. Had he really just said he wanted to die? Or was he just feeling like he wanted to because of the amount of pain he was in? I couldn't help him more than I already had- minus the wound on his arm- and the way he winced when he sighed earlier lead me to believe that damage had been done to his ribs also, so maybe...?

 

I noticed that WX had a similar look of shock and even a bit of concern, but as soon as I looked at him he quickly covered it up with a sneer, so I wasn't even sure if I had actually seen it or not. “AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE GOING SOMEWHERE?” He asked me impatiently.

 

I found myself opening and closing my mouth a few times, trying to form words. He let out a slightly annoyed huff and turned back to the fire we had tried to keep alive. All of the wood had burned away, leaving just a pile of ash and charcoal in its wake, and the breath suddenly rushed out of my lungs in a heavy sigh. He brushed the ashes away and lifted his axe over his shoulder. The axe was another thing that had just appeared randomly- WX had found it and had refused to explain its origins, but it had made better fires than the meager pickings of grass and twigs we had been living off of until then.

 

Had I not heard the tremor of terror quivering in the spider's voice when he told me about the voice that whispered to him in the darkness, I would've believed it was just a figment of his young, childlike mind, and we wouldn't have resorted to burning small amounts of grasses and twigs to keep the darkness away when we couldn't find the proper wood we needed. However useful WX's axe was- however- it unsettled me to know we had no clue how he found it. Did he find someone already dead? Did he raid someone's camp? Did he kill someone?

 

Any of the possibilities were likely knowing him.

 

As the robot delved into the forest for wood, I took a few moments before going out myself to check on Webber's wounds. He had fallen asleep again, luckily, so I was able to check him for wounds other than his arm, jaw and legs, namely his ribs. They didn't look broken... perhaps just fractures like his jaw, or even just bruised. I frowned again at his arm. He might not feel it compared to the more intense pain that must have been in his broken bones, but that didn't stop it from becoming deadly should it get infected. To be honest, that was my biggest priority. I reached out to check when he stiffened before I even touched his chest. I paused, my hand in midair. His teeth were bared and his hands were clenched around his grass bed. Confusion gave way to fear for the child, and I shook him fiercely, trying to wake him up. His eyes snapped open and he yelped, pushing me away. “Watch it!”

 

“What... was that!?” I demanded.

 

“What was what?” His voice was turning sleepy again.

 

I frowned a bit. “Night terrors?”

 

“Nightmares,” he replied instantly, sighing as he tried to relax. To be honest, I wasn't sure what startled him more. The nightmare or me waking him up. “Don't worry yourself about it... it's... just one of the perks of being us.” Another heavy sigh that melted into a soft snore, and I wondered for just a moment if he would even recall that this had happened. I lightly patted the boy's furry shoulder.

 

“We'll get you all fixed up, Webber,” I murmured to him. “WX and I... he cares too, trust me. I can tell. You'll be better in no time.”

 

Bees, for the most part, are very protective creatures, namely over their home and honey. Luckily, they were also big, heavy, and slow animals, making it pathetically easy to just outrun them. This made the hard part not not getting injured by them, but finding a way to contain honey. It was too easy to take simple things like jars for granted, but when you found yourself without one, it suddenly became a distant, pleasant thought. I found myself having to carry the honeycomb with my bare hands, causing the oozing yellow liquid to drip through my partially spread fingers and making my shirt sticky with honey.

 

By the time I got back, I was surprised beyond words to find that the robot had actually reappeared shortly before I had gotten back, and currently had his back to a tree trunk, a pile of odd shaped tree nuts to the right of him, to the left of him was a collection of intricately carved figurines. “What are those?”

 

“BIRCHNUTS.”

 

I frowned, realizing I should have known that. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that I had snatched the book from him. I should've remembered it from the reading, but I must have dozed off before getting to information about them. “New trees?”
 

He nodded, squinting at another birchnut he held in one hand. The outer coating had been sliced off clearly to reveal a whitish green inside. He used the axe he held to chip a few slices of it off. Webber was conscious again, though he still appeared drowsy. His eyelids drooped as he watched WX blankly.

 

“...what are you doing?”
 

He blinked up at me, a twinge of annoyance showing through. “SOMETHING,” he muttered, turning back to his work. I picked up one of the carved birchnuts by his side. It was incredibly well-made and unmistakably a Chess piece- a rook to be more specific.

 

“...you're carving Chess pieces?”
 

“YOU'D BE SURPRISED WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU GET BORED,” he replied without looking back up.

 

I cringed. I remembered last time I got bored, and it did not end well. Shaking the thought away, I glanced at Webber. “What are you doing?”

 

“Watching,” he mumbled. “Is that honey?” I nodded and he let out a relieved sigh. “Thank goodness. Our arm was really beginning to hurt.” I raised my brow.

 

“Can I check it...?”

 

“Please do.” He grimaced. “We didn't feel it much at first, but it aches now. Where did you get so good at doctoring?” He asked, lifting his arm so show me the gash.

 

“My father was a doctor,” I replied absentmindedly. “He crammed knowledge at me since I was little. That's actually what got me into being a scientist. Medical science was fascinating.”

 

“Guess it's a good thing he did so. We have no clue where we would be if you were as clueless as us.” I shook my head slowly, letting out a flustered noise. “Is it that bad?”
 

“Well... it's infected. Just as I was afraid of. Hopefully the honey will help.”

 

“IS IT LETHAL?” I jumped out of my skin as WX piped up behind me. Is he concerned?

 

“No, not if I can get it treated quick enough,” I told him without looking back. “If I'm gonna fix this, I'll have to clean it up a bit. Is that okay? It'll hurt, but it'll feel better in the long run.”

 

Webber nodded.

 

“I'll be right back. WX, do you have any extra birchnuts? Any large ones?”

 

“INDEED.” He dragged his backpack- another thing he appeared with without explanation- closer to him and opened it up, revealing that it was nearly full of the large seeds, then promptly produced two tree nuts.

 

“Thank you.” I snatched up a piece of flint and made my way towards where the frog ponds were. By this time, dusk was beginning to fall. On the way, I took the time to carefully carve out the inside of the tree nuts. Much to my relief, no frogs were out of the ponds. I filled the makeshift cups then returned to camp to boil the water and hopefully kill whatever toxins lived in it. Upon returning to base, I noted that WX had apparently finished his Chess carvings, and was building up the fire, while Webber gazed into the dancing flames, his muscles stiff as though preparing for the worst. They both looked up as I rushed into the clearing, and WX quickly handed me a few large leaves, but refused to meet my gaze as though he was embarrassed. Amusement bubbled up inside of me at his gesture, but I had to admit it was quite kind of him- a complete change from how he was the day before.

 

The sun had gone down by the time I determined the water was safe. Using the leaves WX gave me, I cleaned Webber's wound in the firelight. The spider had his eyes shut tightly and his jaws clenched, but luckily did not flinch as I expected him to. “Are you done?” He asked through gritted teeth as I fixed the poultice over the gash.

 

“Yeah, that's it.”

 

He visibly relaxed and breathed out in relief. “It feels so much better... thank you Wilson.”

 

“No problem. It just needed some proper care.”

 

He smiled, then yawned, causing me to yawn as well.

 

“FLESHLINGS NEED THEIR SLEEP,” WX advised, a hint of sneer back in his voice.

 

I mentally chortled. Well, he's back I guess. Not sure exactly what that was about...although... that was an awfully non-sinister thing he said. Maybe he just likes to pretend he's a jerk. Maybe he's really nice on the inside.

 

I nearly burst out laughing at this thought. Some part of me highly doubted that was the case. I nodded sleepily, then lay down by the fire. It felt like it had been awhile since I had slept.. Tomorrow I'll go explore a bit.... maybe find that birchnut forest WX was talking about.

 

I could leave them alone just for a little bit...

 

Right?

 

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8 hours ago, Pokemaniac7000 said:

Okay, before I get too far in this story, I'd just like to touch on a few things (minus the old 'I don't own any characters!' stuff lol)

1) This story was first posted on June 30th, 2015 on fanfiction.net and completed October 31st, 2016, so it is almost 2 years old from the first chapter being written. That being said, any similarities to other stories are completely coincidental

2) The only difference between this and the original draft is that this is all rewritten to actually be readable.

3) I only have up to Chapter 7 written, so after I get to that chapter I won't be updating every day and updates will be few and far in between (I'm working on several other stories that pertain to this one so I'm juggling a lot)

4) The original text stands at over 600 pages and 109 chapters with an added bonus chapter, so it may seem slow at first but it gains momentum over a fairly large chunk of time

What was the reason behind this? (Also ran outta time. Will read chapter 4 tomorrow)

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9 hours ago, Pokemaniac7000 said:

A few reasons. Mainly so anyone who reads this can expect how long it'll be and that I won't be updating like... every day after Chapter 7.

I thought it was a group of people asking the same questions else where and getting really bothersome but it's very informative non-the-less :)

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Chapter 5: Playing Nice

WX-78's POV

 

Come on spider. Just one more stupid move. One more stupid move and you'll be dead. Victory will finally be mine. Just you wait. I see where you are looking... yes... yes fall into my trap!

 

Webber looked up at me with a smug grin as though he realized what I was about to do. He then ruined my plan entirely by looking elsewhere and sliding his bishop across the board that had been drawn in the dirt. “We believe that is a check?” He asked, still with his annoying smirk.

 

Get the stupid bishop! I though furiously. The darned things have taken me out twice in a row! I was hopelessly confused though, and I noticed Webber's eyes light up as they scoured the board. “Check...mate?”

 

Wilson had left earlier in the day to go find the birchnut forest I had found the birchnuts in. Frustrated as I was that he had taken the book from me, I had to admit he was putting it to good use. I thought long and hard about the conversation we had prior to his adventure as Webber began to set up the pieces again.

 

“We'd better be careful... I've been looking through this thing.” He had flipped through a few pages of the black book, his brow furrowed in worry. “There are these... monsters... they are labeled as 'giants'.” He had proceeded to tell us what the five main ones were. “The first one is the one we'd have to worry about now. It's called the Bearger... it's big.” He had warned. “Like... very big. It has enormous claws and oily black and white fur. It only comes out of hibernation during the autumn though.

 

“The second one seems even more dangerous. It's called the Deerclops. It's bigger than even the Bearger, and can freeze you! Its hands are like claws and it has thick, gray fur across the length of its whole body. Its antlers could also do damage if it bucks at you. This one comes during the Winter.

 

“The third one comes out during the spring, and it's called the Goose Goose. It is most likely the largest of them all. As you can tell by her name, she looks like a large Goose with antlers. Her moslings are dangerous as well.” I remembered this detail specifically well because I remembered thinking Are you telling me babies are stronger than the fully grown mother?

 

“The fourth one... the fourth one is a summer dweller. She's called the Dragonfly. She's not as big as some of the others, but she has claws that could impale you on accident, and fire at her clawtips. She is the most territorial and the most protective of her young.

 

“The last one is called the Ancient Guardian but...” He had flipped through the pages again, sighing as he reached one page that looked like it had been burned out minus the name 'Ancient Guardian' at the top of the scroll. “I don't know anything about it. It looks like someone destroyed it, but I don't know why they would. It seems pointless.”

 

“Uh hey, you ready to get your butt kicked at Chess again or are you gonna sit there all day looking off into space?” The spider waved his hands over the game. “We're completely fine with default winning- just so you know.”

 

 

“WHAT? NO! JUST... MAKE YOUR MOVE.”

 

“Okay, you asked for it.” He looked at the board for a few moments then looked back up at me. “Actually, why don't you go first? You haven't so far... maybe it's giving us an unfair advantage?” He grinned as though he really did not believe that, he just really wanted me to make the first move. Suspicious of his intent, I scanned my data banks for any idea of a good first move in Chess. All the intelligent of a super computer can't help me it seems! I thought, exasperated, as nothing came up. I did a simple King Pawn opening. And I really hate the smug look he has... it's like he can read my mind...

 

Literally four moves later I was caught in another checkmate. I stared, gaping, at it. “HOW-”

 

“We had a life before all of this, ya' know. We're surprised, if we are honest without ourself, how well our Chess skills remained intact after... well, you know.”

 

There was a few minutes of silence between us.

 

“...YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME HOW TO DO THAT...”

 

“What? The four-move checkmate?”

 

“...MAYBE...”

 

“So it's easier to do it if you are the starting player...” He pointed to the pawn in front of his King. “King Pawn, you know that, right?” I nodded, interested. “Okay, move it forwards twice.” I did so, and he mirrored me. “Move your white-squared bishop so it threatens this pawn on our side.” He tapped the top of the pawn in front of his black-squared bishop, then as I moved it he brought his knight out in a typical opening. “Move your queen four squares diagonally so it is attacking the same pawn from the corner.” He took his other knight out. “Take out the pawn and there you go.” He leaned back. “Checkmate.”

 

“WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT?”

 

“It's called the Scholar's Mate... our father taught us.” He paused for a second, his gaze clouding in sorrow, then sighed. “He was fantastic at this game...” He shook his head as though dismissing old memories. “You're only supposed to be able to do it as white... we learned how to change it to work as black though.” He lifted the black king and palmed it for a moment before closing his fingers tightly over the carved piece.

 

“YOU HAVE A LOT OF HISTORY... FOR A MEATSACK.”

 

He smiled lightly as though I had complemented him, though he still had the underlying grief he had seconds before. Then he straightened, wiping his face of any other emotion than his calm smugness of beating me several times. At this moment, I wasn't even sure if he was purposely looking smug or his cracked jaw was making him look that way.

 

He reminded me too much of my captor.

 

“Say pal, you look like you're in some trouble... I believe I know a way that can get you out of this predicament, but you'll have to trust me.”

 

Trust him! My thoughts scoffed. What was I thinking? How desperate could I have been to listen to a radio?

 

And he had that very look on his face.

 

COULD YOU PL-” was I about to resort to kindness? “WIPE THAT STUPID GRIN OFF YOUR FACE.”

 

“We have no idea what you're talking about,” he sneered, but did manage to change his expression to just a plain grin. “Happy now?”

 

“I WOULD HAVE SMACKED IT OFF BUT I FIND IT UNFAIR TO ATTACK THE CRIPPLED.”

 

“Uh-huh, and why is that?” He sounded completely disinterested.

 

“IF THE BEST A ROBOT CAN DO IS ATTACK SOMEONE WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK IF HE WANTED TO, IT'S JUST PATHETIC. IT'S A MATTER OF PRESERVING SELF-PRIDE. NOT A MATTER OF ANY KINDNESS ON MY PART.”

 

“Ooh, someone is defensive about... something we didn't ask about? You trying to convince us or yourself?”
 

Slightly disturbed by the way he just seemed to look right through me, I frowned. “YOU, MEATSACK.”

 

He tipped his head slightly as though about to say something, but he stopped before he did, whiskers twitching. “Hey Wilson, find the trees you were looking for?” The kid asked into the brush around our campsite. As the scientist made himself shown, he waved his hands over the game again. “You'd be proud to know that WX only threatened us once and it wasn't even death. You should be proud.”

 

“And how many times did you threaten him?” He asked. He had an armful of the birchnuts. They're probably edible, I mused.

 

“None!” He protested, scowling. His expression changed for a moment. “Shoot, just remembered... you still don't know how to gut an animal, do you?”

 

Wilson stopped in his tracks. “Not... particularly...”

 

“You still have one of my rabbits?”

 

“...yes...”

 

“Bring it over here.” I saw a shudder pass through Wilson's body- he obviously held no want to prepare an animal- but he did as Webber said anyway. I flinched as Webber suddenly brandished a very sharp and very was-not-there-before knife.

 

“WHERE ON EARTH DID YOU GET THAT THING?”

 

He looked vaguely confused. “What's- nevermind. To put it bluntly, we made it. As you said, WX, you get very bored sitting around doing nothing all day...”

 

I had to admit I was pretty impressed. At first glance, it looked like a real knife. But with closer examination, one could determine that- it was in fact- hand crafted. The blade was not tied, but had been wedged into the smooth wood of the handle. There were small carved dents in it and it took me a second to realize that he had specifically designed it to fit him. “It's not sharp enough to hunt with, but we made it to prepare meat.”

 

To be honest, I didn't know either, so I decided to watch. (Of course, I wasn't about to let him know he knew something I didn't)

 

Unlike his Scholar's Mate display, he said nothing in a silent demonstration. He mercilessly sliced the rabbit's head and paws off, making Wilson look a tiny-bit sick. It wasn't until he actually unzipped the animal that I started to feel sick as well. He still didn't look concerned in the slightest bit, ignoring our horrified looks and the blood that was staining the rabbit's brown pelt red. He paused for a moment during the actual cleaning though. “Are we just talking about the meat part or are we expected to show you the wonderful biology of a rabbit?” To my eyes, all of the intestines looked the same- pink and squishy and just disgusting- but he seemed to be able to tell the difference well enough. “Well, the heart and liver tend to be edible-”

 

“Don't you think about it,” Wilson warned.

 

“Neither of you have proper survival instincts!” He taunted, but discarded the insides anyway. “You both look like you swallowed a whole frog. Trust us! It'll be worth it! WX, we're not going to lie. If you weren't a robot, you'd probably be puking right now.”

 

I felt like I wanted to despite my distinct lack of the organs required to do so.

 

“You'll both see. We can't survive off of berries forever.” He grinned at me. “It'll be you two doing it next.”

 

When neither of us replied, he sighed and stuck his now bloodied dagger in the ground. “Fine. But we aren't going to be the one to feed you two. Wilson, you should know above all of us you can't survive without meat.”

 

Protein. I mentally corrected. But he's right. I echoed his sigh. “GIVE ME THE OTHER RABBIT.”

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Chapter 6: Treacherous Thinking

Wilson's POV

 

“I haven't seen much fighting from you two lately,” I commented to WX. We were traveling through the grasslands where the bees were, more enjoying the weather than actually doing something productive. The robot shrugged.

 

“IT WOULD BE PATHETIC OF ME TO ATTACK A CRIPPLED CHILD,” he murmured. “DESPITE THE FACT THAT I WOULD WISH TO. IT WOULD BE STOOPING TO A... WEAK LEVEL. ALL I AM SAYING IS I AM BETTER THAN THAT.” He examined his hands closely. The night before he had accidentally slashed apart the metal on his right palm, but it seemed to have started to heal by some form of... dare I say it... magic. Perhaps there is a scientific explanation to it. The rational part of my mind rambled. Perhaps the world is stuck in a sort of permanent flux that causes things that would not normally happen in our world to be normal.

 

Whether is was this or just he was doing something behind the scenes was beyond me. Either way he seemed rather pleased as the condition of the wound. He cupped his hands together before continuing. “WHEN DO YOU THINK HE'LL BE WALKING AGAIN?”

 

I raised an eyebrow. “Walking? I'm not sure... but fighting, that'll be awhile.”

 

“I SAID NOTHING ABOUT FIGHTING.”

 

“You were thinking it.”

 

“I HIGHLY DOUBT THE LIKES OF YOU COULD UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MECHANICAL MIND.”

 

I stifled a snort of laughter, which earned me a glare. “I'm sorry, you don't seem particularly... advanced.”

 

“IF YOU HAD ANY IDEA OF MY ORIGINS, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN DARE SUGGEST THAT I AM TECHNOLOGICALLY IMPAIRED.”

 

“I'm not suggesting you are technologically impaired,” I protested. “I'm just saying the way you speak doesn't suggest you are of any greatest intelligence than we are.”

 

“YOU ARE SAYING I AM OF YOUR LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE? AND HOW IS THAT NOT TECHNOLOGICALLY IMPAIRED EXACTLY?”

 

I sighed. “Look. Maybe we should get off of this topic and back to the one at hand.”

 

“RIGHT.”

 

“Now I have to admit, he seems to be healing remarkably fast. It might be another factor of this world, such as the ability for you to heal. It seems to be in the same vein. Honestly, I'd love to do some more research on this world.”

 

“I DON'T PLAN ON BEING HERE LONG ENOUGH TO FIND MUCH OUT ABOUT IT.”

 

“Or perhaps this isn't another world?” I went on thoughtfully. “WX, have you considered the possibility of this being a dream?”

 

“HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITY OF SHUTTING UP ANYTIME SOON?”

 

“Oh- sorry.”

 

“ABOUT TIME,” he muttered under his breath as a moment of silence went by.

 

Still. Perhaps it is just a simulation. Did someone hook me up to some sort of dream machine to examine my behavior in a scientifically illiterate world such as this? That would explain Webber... and the super fast healing. Wait no... that can't be. I got stung by a bee earlier... and it hurt! I felt a headache coming on. Uhg... I'm just one person. I can't hope to discover this world's secrets so easily by myself, and the likelihood of one of the other two helping is just about as likely as them becoming like, best friends so... yeah, that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

 

A noise far off in the distance caught my attention. “Hey... did you hear that?”

 

He snapped his gaze to me, looking frustrated that I, yet again, tried talking to him, and he opened his mouth to snap at me when he slammed it shut as the noise pierced the air again. “WHAT IS THAT?” He whispered.

 

“Hounds,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

 

“...HOUNDS?”

 

“Yes hounds! Get your weapon out!” Slightly confused, the robot brought out his wood-chopping axe while I brandished a makeshift spear that I had been working on before I left earlier that day and stood back-to-back with him. “Come fight me you brutes!” I challenged as the howls grew louder and nearer.

 

The beasts became visible; a group of black beasts larger than any other dog breed I had ever seen with lolling pink tongues and sharp white teeth that reflected the sun. There were only four luckily, but that didn't subtract from the fact that they were big and probably wanted to eat us.

 

As the first one leaped towards my neck, I raised the spear and its own inertia buried the sharp end into it's shoulder. It howled and dropped back, snarling. Behind me, I heard the sickening crack of WX smashing the axe into one's head, and spraying us all in blood. I let out a noise of protest just as another one of the aggressors lunged forward and ripped the spear out of my hand. WX instantly saw my danger and swung his axe in a wide arc before cracking it across its neck. My assumption was that the fourth one had fled to a distinct lack of fourth hound.

 

“Is that it?” I wondered aloud. “It sounded like there was more.”

 

“THERE MOST LIKELY IS MORE.” A wild grin spread across his face.

 

“What do you-” I cut myself off, catching his meaning with a slightly panicked feel. “Webber!

 

WX-78's POV

 

I waited a few seconds after Wilson disappeared to follow. My mind was no particular rush, but I found my feet carrying me faster until I, too, was running. Calm down! I silently yelled at myself. It's just the kid! Naturally, my mind was completely ignored.

 

To be honest, I really should have expected the sight I saw when I got back to camp, although I couldn't help a pang of relief- No! That's not relief... is disappointment! I thought furiously. Apparently I missed something though, because, quite amusingly, Wilson had done something to tick him off.

 

“We had it under control!” The spider protested as I broke through the tree line.

 

“There was four hounds! WX and I had to take two each!”

 

The look on Webber's face resembled that of someone who had bitten into something foul. Wilson let out a heavy sigh as though trying not to start something, then turned to see me standing behind him. “You got here awfully quickly,” he commented. “You know, for someone who walked and doesn't care.”

 

“HONESTLY. I DIDN'T RUN HERE TO CHECK ON HIM,” I huffed. “I RAN BECAUSE I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. ESPECIALLY IF HE HAD TO TAKE ON FOUR HIMSELF... BEING CRIPPLED AND ALL.”

 

“We didn't even attack them.” Webber snorted with a hint of laughter. “They just sat there staring at us until Wilson appeared. Still uneeded, by the way.”

 

“There was no telling if they were actually going to attack you!”

 

“They were cowards. Don't get me wrong, we're flattered you two care.” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

 

HE CARES.”

 

“You care too,” he replied instantly in a sing-song voice.

 

He didn't even flinch a I took a threatening step towards him.

 

“Did you just wake up?” Wilson asked, apparently trying to abruptly change the subject.

 

“We've been awake for an hour or two. Been completely bored though because... well, there's not much to do when you can walk. Next time you guys leave us, bring like, a couple of rabbits or something so we can do something productive, because you two still get queasy about gutting an animal.”

 

“I DO NOT GET 'QUEASY'. SUCH A FEELING CANNOT EXIST FOR ME,” I lied slightly. It was true it should not exist, but I was pretty sure that the feeling I had when he showed us how to prepare a rabbit was reminiscent to the feeling of queasiness.

 

“Whatever you say, WX. You aren't the best at lying, by the way, but we'll pretend we can't notice if that makes you feel better.”

 

I scowled at him, but before I could retort Wilson stepped between us, completely ignoring the fact we were having a very nice discussion. He said nothing against either of us, and instead raised a hand and looked at me. “You heard him. Wanna go hunting?”

 

I nodded, thankful for something to do, though burning silently inside. As if I actually care what happens to him. Well...I shifted uncomfortably. I don't want him dead...

 

Yes I do! That is my whole purpose! I can't let it down!

 

I've already let it down. A surge of pure fury shot through me directed towards the kid. And it's all your fault! If it finds out that I'm growing attached to fleshlings... I shivered, personally not wanting to go through that. I'll be killed... right on the spot. All because of you...

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Chapter 7: Insanity!

Webber's POV

 

Sanity was a very tedious thing to keep when you're surrounded by creatures who live to kill you... and even more so when you are nearly unable to fight back. We had lived alone for such a long time, though, we had expected it not to hit us nearly as hard... the warning of insanity wasn't even something we had time or patience to worry about. It seemed like such a minor threat in the grand scheme of things...

 

Perhaps it was the terrifying encounter with the tree guard finally catching up to us? Perhaps it was the knowledge of how if something wanted to kill us, we could not run. With so many possible factors and such a lack of other things to think about, you'd think that the concept would have been planned or even considered.

 

It wasn't.

 

We didn't even realize what was happening at the time. After a particularly bad dream which the details of we couldn't correctly grasp, we awoke to near darkness. Wilson was asleep, though he looked rather uncomfortable, and WX- who didn't need sleep- was watching the dying flames of the fire with a sort of fondness that suggested it would be a terrible idea to disturb him. We flinched at the own sound of our ragged breathing as we struggled to calm our racing heart. The undisturbed terror of seemingly nothing should have been a clear indicator of what was soon to happen. It took us a moment to realize what exactly had sent us into such a panic.

 

It was the shadows.

 

No, these weren't ordinary shadows. These shadows had eyes. Cold, callous, viciously hungry eyes. They didn't make any move to lunge at us, though. They just sort of... watched. We could sense that these eyes held billions of thoughts. They were most certainly sentient. They all blinked, together, slowly, like they all belonged to the same monstrous beast. We shifted closer to the fire to the best of our ability without moving our damaged legs too much. WX didn't pay any attention. The sky was hesitatingly turning lighter on the horizon, and the very second the new sunlight touched the eyes they vanished, revealing nothing but the peaceful woods that surrounded the camp. We bit our lip uncertainly. The uncertainty didn't last long because the next thing to strike was a splitting headache. We quickly shut our eyes from the light, but it didn't help. It only made it worse as scenes began to play out through our head.

 

Us, alone, in the middle of winter and soaked with blood.

 

A blue blade.

 

Fire licking the woods around us.

 

A clawed hand; a wicked grin.

 

A wail of piercing grief.

 

A golden crown.

 

Fear.

 

Blood.

 

Death.

 

Darkness.

 

The unconscious part of our mind knew it was insanity.... the rest of us was too terrified to listen. Memories were flashing faster than we could process them.

 

A cry for help.

 

A scarring betrayal.

 

Emptiness.

 

It fell away almost suddenly, leaving us gasping for breath like we had just emerged from deep water. This seemed to catch the robot's attention. He glanced at us as we inched our hand toward our head. He sort of froze as though trying to figure out what the heck was happening. Our migraine began to subside, so WX shrugged and turned back to the fire without a word.

 

It was still bad enough, however, that the second we felt the hand on our shoulder we yelped and nearly slashed Wilson, who flinched back at our violent reaction.

 

Ah! Webber! It's me!” He shouted as though we didn't realize.

 

“Oh.. sorry.”

 

“LOOKS LIKE THE WORLD'S FINALLY GETTING TO HIM,” WX commented with a hint of a sneer in his voice.

 

“Stop,” he snapped, glaring at the robot. “You're not impressing anyone.”

 

“I'M NOT TRYING TO IMPRESS ANYONE,” WX retorted. “I WAS MERELY STATING A SIMPLE FACT.”

 

Wilson ignored this and shifted a few paces closer. “Are you okay?”

 

We clenched our teeth and shook our head, the headache beginning to return. Ugh... what is this? “It hurts...”

 

“What does?”

 

“...everything.”

 

The scientist's brow furrowed with concern, but before he could say anything else something dark behind him rose up with a silent roar. “Watch out!” I yelped, throwing our arms over our head and shaking slightly. Wilson instinctively ducked and rolled to the side.

 

But the blow we expected never came. We dared to peek over our arm to see that whatever monster had been about to attack us had disappeared into thin air. We stared at the empty air for a second, our jaw hanging open. “Unfair!” I protested. “There was something there, we swear!”

 

Wilson frowned, dusting himself off. He said nothing, but after a few seconds of him examining us with concern in his gray eyes he reached forward and put his hand on our forehead. We stifled a hiss of fear at the sudden movement, but he paid little attention and drew back. "You're burning up," he sighed. "That's probably what's wrong..." His gaze flicked to our arm and back.

 

“AWW, WHAT'S WRONG? LITTLE KID SICK?”

 

...I'm probably running a fever because I'm seeing things... like that's logical.

 

“WX, if you're going to be like that, the least you can do is go hunting or something.”

 

WX stood to his full height instantly. “I'M NOT GOING TO BE GUTTING ANY ANIMALS!” He protested. “WITH THE FURRY HALF-BREED OVER HERE OUT OF THE EQUATION, WHO DO YOU THINK WILL BE DOING THE DIRTY STUFF AROUND HERE?”

 

Half-breed! If we weren't crippled, that probably would have been enough provocation to attack him again. We opened our mouth to snap at him, but shut it abruptly as Wilson gave both of us the 'glare-of-death'. "You," he pointed towards WX. "Out there." He pointed to an area where be unexplored farther out. The robot scowled at us but said nothing as he stomped away. "Hey, will you be alright on your own?" Wilson lowered his voice and crouched to become eye-to-eye with us.

 

We nodded, brushing away the beads of sweat forming on our forehead. “We'll just... sleep or... something...”

 

He patted our shoulder, smiling. “Hopefully WX and I will be able to get you back on your feet soon.”

 

“Hope and truth are two different things,” I muttered, too quiet for the scientist to hear.

 

“I'll go explore a bit towards the way we were going when the hounds attacked. I should be back before dark...”

 

“And as for WX?”

 

He shrugged. “You know him... not much I can do.”

 

“Good point... well, good luck... like I said we'll just... catch up on our sleeping.” To show him we would, we stretched and lied into a more comfortable position. He chortled lightly.

 

“See you soon.”

 

Wilson's POV

 

Perhaps I should have been paying more attention. Perhaps I should have been thinking less of my predicament with the two rivals and more of the fact I knew next to nothing about this land. The book helped, but it couldn't describe just how awful the creatures really were, as evidenced by the hound attack. Of course, go figure, it never occurred to me to pay that close attention.

 

It wasn't until the beast was close enough for the entire world to shake in its presence that I realized I had just made a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake. And in the wilderness... any mistake can be fatal. At first, I was confused, thinking that there was an earthquake. If that is the case that means that this world has plates, which means it has fault lines, which means that this area should be affected more by these earthquakes and I can almost guarantee that a simulation could contain such physics.

 

Before I could even comprehend what was happening the forest around me gave a giant heave, and the tree nearest to me was cut clean through, slid and fell with an earsplitting crash. With the leaves and branches now gone from their spot, the monster was presented clearly to me.

 

Its bottom fur was almost entirely black with the occasional hint of silver mixed in. Long white fur was draped over its shoulders and down its back almost like a natural cape. The sunlight glinted off of its soulless white eyes, sharp, needle-like teeth, and a white stripe that parted the black fur on its head. And it. Was. Massive. It was slightly bigger than the trees and ripped away undergrowth like it was made of paper. It paused for just a second in its rampage when it met my gaze.

 

The Bearger... I thought in horror. It dropped onto all fours and roared at me so loudly I was temporarily deafened, then lashed out a huge paw and hitting me hard enough to send me into a tree. I wasn't hit by its claws, but it was still a painful collision. The oddest thing happened after that. The second I was out of its way, its snarl dropped and it continued its way through the forest. I lay still, panting against the tree and waiting until the artificial earthquake died away before trying to stand. I let out a gasp of pain as I put pressure on my right leg, then nearly smacked myself. For crying out loud, are we all destined to get beat down until we can't do anything anymore? I thought furiously. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart, then started to limp home.

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On 4/9/2017 at 7:39 PM, DragonMage156 said:

It's a shame no one else is reading this :/

I just finished reading up to here. :wilson_ecstatic:

On 4/10/2017 at 11:07 PM, Pokemaniac7000 said:

How... how do I know what it's called?” He guessed, and grinned madly as he revealed the black book, the very book WX had been trying to keep him from getting to, under his arm. “It has all the mysteries of this place... all the creatures, all the fauna, all the... victims...”

Wait... How does WX have the Codex Umbra? Is he hiding something?

23 hours ago, Pokemaniac7000 said:

That would explain Webber... and the super fast healing.

Since spiders in the game have healing glands, does this mean you added this element to Webber?

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3 hours ago, minespatch said:

Wait... How does WX have the Codex Umbra? Is he hiding something?

 

1 hour ago, DragonMage156 said:

I assumed he found it by a skeleton (unless it said that in the story).

Actually you are right Dragon. He-uh-has a thing about being totally okay with stealing stuff from dead people XD

1 hour ago, DragonMage156 said:

Also, don't tell me Wilson now has a broken leg :/

Nah, more scratched up than broken. I can't deal with TWO crippled characters! I'd go nuts! ^u^

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Chapter 8: Damaged

WX-78'S POV

 

WX-78'S POV

 

I knew that something like this would happen soon. It was inevitable. Fleshlings weren't created to be able to withstand as much as a machine. This is the very reason I was not at all surprised to hear of the damaging effect Wilson's encounter with one of the very beasts he warned Webber and me about. What I was surprised about, however, was how it hardly seemed to have an effect on his mental state given how tedious sanity was for them. Or perhaps it's just a problem that the half-breed has, my mind sneered. It was dusk by this point, so the fire was up. Webber's gaze was remote, fixed on the dancing flames reflected in his blank eyes. Wilson was nearer to the flickering light, his pant leg pulled up as he examined the damage that the bearger had done to his leg. The worst I saw was blood smeared which was obvious to tell due to the fact all his clothes beneath his waist were stained red. “Could be worse...” he murmured to himself.

 

“WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING?”

 

“More than a couple of scrapes,” he admitted. “I'm not complaining of course, but the force that beast hit me... it should have at least fractured something.” He glanced at Webber and sighed. “Which makes it even more shocking the amount of damage he took from the tree guard... I thought the giants would be the worst possible scenario, but if the Bearger is somehow weaker than the trees...” He looked wearily at the pines around us. “I don't know how we'll be able to do anything without worrying about something attacking us,” he muttered.

 

“THERE'S TWO OF US.” He glared at me. “FINE. THREE OF US, THOUGH, YOU CAN HARDLY COUNT HIM. YOU COULD SIMPLY PUT YOUR SUPPOSED INTELLIGENCE TO THE TEST AND SET UP SOMETHING WHERE ONE OF US CAN LOOK FOR TROUBLE WHILE THE OTHERS WORK.” I shrugged. “UNLESS YOU DON'T LIKE TAKING ADVICE FROM THE... 'LESSER BEING'.” If some part of you truly believes you are smarter than the one whose mind is comparable to that of a super computer, I added silently. He frowned.

 

“I never called you lesser,” he protested. “I said you were probably close to our intelligence. You were the one who took it as an insult.”

 

I huffed and said nothing else. Wilson sighed and shook his head, but didn't add anything, which I quite appreciated until the silence grew almost awkward as he fiddled with the fire.

 

“YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE KID?” I asked, hoping to at least break the silence. His gaze shot up to meet mine.

 

“Of course!” He exclaimed. “He seems to be the only one who knows anything about the outside world. Unless,” He added mischievously. “you are totally okay with gutting animals like he is?”

 

I looked away instantly, and I heard him let out a peal of laughter. "I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH SKINNING ANY SORT OF FLESHLING,” I huffed pointedly. For some reason my barely concealed threat only made him laugh harder. “WHAT IS SO FUNNY?”

 

“I know you are completely serious right now,” he managed between laughs, “but I know very well you would die in less than a day if you ever did kill Webber or I. And you know it too.”
 

...Stupid scientist. Instead of saying this out loud, I opted to instead ignore it, turning back to look at the dying fire, and the way the spider's weirdly blank eyes reflected it. “WHAT DO YOU THINK IS WRONG WITH HIM?” I tried, and Wilson started laughing again.

 

“For someone who doesn't care you sure do seem to care quite a bit,” he snickered. “but all jeering aside, I'm not completely sure.” He rubbed the back of his head uncertainly. “I can't tell if he's hallucinating because of the fever or if he has the fever because he's hallucinating... I can't even tell why he would have a fever or hallucinations in the first place! Unless the infection in his arm has gotten worse, which I can't really tell because every time I try to get near him he nearly claws my face off. I wish I had the proper tools to give him proper healthcare. I really do. But it looks like we'll have to work with what we've got.” He grabbed one of the hollowed-out birchnuts he had been storing water in and started washing the scrapes and contusions across his own leg, gritting his teeth as though it hurt. “It was holding back,” he realized out loud, meeting my gaze. “It wasn't actually trying to hurt me. This... this...” He motioned wildly to his injured leg. “This is nothing compared to what it could have done to me.”

 

“WHAT WAS THE WORST IT COULD HAVE DONE?”

 

He was silent for a few moments. “It probably could have severed my entire leg,” he murmured softly. “if it didn't kill me first.” The next couple of quiet moments seemed to last forever before Wilson seemed to crack under it and continued talking. “WX... just a question... which injuries did you inflict?” I turned sharply to stare at him, confused. “I really need to know. I know you and Webber fought before you two were attacked, but which wounds did you inflict and which ones did the tree guard inflict?”

“...WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?” I demanded.

 

He raised his chin slightly. “Because I'll need to keep a closer eye on the tree guard injuries. They are more likely to get infected than anything you could deal out, plus I need to go over them for wooden shrapnel.”
 

A couple more insanity-inducing moments of silence between us. “HIS RIBS WERE PROBABLY MY DOING. AS WAS HIS JAW.”

 

“Everything you did was blunt force?”

“INDEED.”

 

He groaned, burying his face in his hands as he finished cleaning his bloodied leg and muttering “I'll have to check all of his open wounds then. He will most certainly not be happy.”

 

“IF HE'LL EVEN LET YOU NEAR HIM,” I huffed. “IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, HE'S A BIT... DELUSIONAL RIGHT NOW.”

 

"Oh, I've noticed." He gave me a wry look. "Which is exactly why I said he's not going to be happy." His eyes drifted to the black book he always kept with him. "Maybe the book has something to say about this. This is definitely not normal behavior.”

 

“I'M NOT SURPRISED HE'S SHOWING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR. AFTER ALL... HE'S NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WOULD CALL A 'NORMAL' SPECIMEN.”

 

“None of us are,” he laughed lightly. “I mean... you aren't exactly the most 'normal' specimen either, WX.” I opened my mouth to protest but he continued. “You are a robot,” he reminded me.

 

“A ROBOT. IT'S NOT UNUSUAL.”

 

“On the contrary, you are quite high-tech compared to the kinds of robots I saw in my hometown.” Wilson paused as though it was uncomfortable to talk about it. “Well... actually, I don't even recall seeing robots. I knew they existed but...”

 

“I'M THE FIRST YOU'VE SEEN?” That was unusual. Where I was built, robots where all you saw. I couldn't even remember any human contact until recently...

 

“Definitely. Especially a robot that apparently functions exactly like a human? I have to admit, you are quite interesting.” He smiled. “Would if mind if one of these days, when we have nothing to do, I did a few... experiments with you?”

 

“YES. I MIND VERY MUCH. I AM NOT A TOOL FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT.”

 

“Oh you're no fun,” he pouted. “Away with you.” He looked away and waved me off. “You suck the joy out of everything.”

 

“OH FINE. I'LL JUST GO DO SOMETHING USEFUL AND HOPEFULLY NOT GET ATTACKED BY SOME RANDOM MONSTER I SHOULD'VE HEARD A MILE AWAY.”

 

“You really are just a big killjoy.”

 

“I'M NOT A KILLJOY,” I protested. “I AM, IN FACT, TRYING TO BE PRACTICAL.”
 

He rolled his eyes. “Go explore or something... try to bring food back!”
 

“MEAT?” I asked.

 

“No no no, not unless you are up to gutting it.” He pointed with his thumb back at Webber as he stood up, resting his weight on his good leg. “He's the only one okay with it at this point. And we don't even know what's wrong with him.”

 

I glanced back at the woods. “YOU LOOK IN THAT PRECIOUS BOOK OF YOURS AND I'LL GO OUT THEN?”

 

He sighed but nodded. "You know what would be useful? Bandages. If we had any sort of bandages.”

 

I shrugged. “I DON'T THINK YOU'LL BE ABLE TO FIND THOSE IN THE WILDERNESS.”

 

“I know but... if you can find anything we could possibly wrap wounds up with that'd be great.”

 

“I DOUBT I WILL... BUT I GUESS THERE'S NO HARM IN TRYING.”

 

“Ah, much appreciated- and you're not listening anymore.” he chortled a bit as I turned around to walk away before he could continue speaking. Moronic fleshlings- love the sound of their own voice until they annoy everyone else.

 

I was honestly beyond glad when I was finally out of speaking range. If he keeps this up I'm going to either be deaf by the end of this or wish I was deaf.

 

In a slight daze, I let my mind wander aimlessly. I wasn't as curious about how I got here- as Wilson was- and more interested in how I could get out. Truthfully, I had no clue what this place was but I didn't really care so long as I could get back to the real world... to my world. The physics here were a bit too wonky and unusual for my liking. A robot likes pristine order. There is nothing orderly about this world. I suppose that's the wilderness for you, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. As if to prove my point of the wonky physics, I felt a sudden wave of heat pass over me even though, when I looked up, the sky had turned overcast. Ahead I could almost swear I saw the forest thinning out, and I moved quicker until I began to run towards the light, before emerging to an almost blinding brightness.

 

The ground had quickly gone from slightly dewy and soft underfoot to cracked and dry. Sand covered the ground as far as the eye could see, which was far considering the lack of trees. In their place were cacti placed randomly all over the flat area, and as I watched a herd of some strange, blue creatures with lightning-bolt shaped horns bounded into view, looking as though they were chewing on something despite there being no grass to chew on. What are they eating? Sand?

 

To the other side, a small rabbit was creeping out from the edge of the forest, eyeing the blue creatures suspiciously and I wondered for a small moment if they were deadly before an absolutely massive bird swooped from the sky and lunged towards it with outstretched talons, causing the animal to flee for cover with a high-pitched scream. The bird let out a despairing caw! before taking off again with two powerful strokes of its feathery wings. A desert, my mind unhelpfully supplied as I took in the new surroundings. I let my gaze rest on the blue creatures. I can probably ask Wilson about those things when I get back... knowing his obsession with that stupid book he'd know what they are... and if they're edible.

 

Another part I hated about this world, admittedly, was my newfound need to eat. I had never needed to before and now it was almost unbearable.

 

I officially hated yet another thing that made me more similar to these pests.

 

You know you'd be terrified without them, a small, annoying voice whispered... one I recognized well.

 

Oh, shut up. I'm not dependent on any life-form.

 

As though the universe wanted to make matters worse while simultaneously throwing me out of my thoughts, an enormous thunderclap echoed overhead, and I glanced curiously up to look at the sky. I had never been out in rain before, so I could only begin to imagine what it felt like.

 

A sharp, stinging sensation shot up and down my spine as something hit me right in the base of my neck.

 

ZAP!

 

It was weird how just a single drop of water caused an entire shower of sparks to fly out of me.

 

Yep, I was not built to be out in the rain.

 

ZAP!

 

Nearly scrabbling to get away, back into the shelter of the trees and away from the offending liquid.

 

ZAP!

 

Well, at least this was another barrier between me and fleshlings.

 

ZAP!

 

I didn't mean I had to like it.

 

By the time I had run all the way back, I was positively soaked and glowing like a Christmas tree from the sparks. Wilson had to cover his eyes and mouth to keep from laughing, and I was gladder than ever that Webber was still too out of it to say anything. I narrowed my 'eyes' at the scientist as soon as he peeked over his hand, and he shook his head, lifting his other hand to show me his dripping palms. "I'm not saying a word. Not saying a word."

Edited by Pokemaniac7000
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Chapter 9: A Little Rain Must Fall

Wilson's POV

 

It was much more difficult than it should have been, but I managed to keep a straight face about WX's predicament. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to laugh so hard he would probably backhand me, but it didn't help that he sat helplessly with his backpack over his head to help shield from the rain and he was glaring at me with the most rage he could muster in a single look.

 

Honestly, I felt that I was showing great self-restraint given the circumstances.

 

However, I was having some problems searching through the book without ruining its precious information-loaded pages with the merciless rain. The short time I was given to search through it before the rains started gave me just enough time to discover that Webber's problem was, indeed, his sanity. There is no cure for insanity, I had thought with a sigh. Back in my world, people would throw the insane into an asylum and forget they existed... using them as lab rats. The book had other ideas, though. This is impossible! Picking flowers? Being near a random monster in the birchnut forest? Eating mushrooms??? What is wrong with this world??? It breaks just about every law of science that exists!

 

Well, the rain proved me wrong on that front. Gravity still existed, so that was nice. Whether or not objects fell at the same rate or not was a different matter, but the fact that it was still there, sure and strong, comforted me a bit.

 

And maybe I'll get to learn more about this world. I could create and prove scientific theories never seen before!

 

“PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS? OR WOULD YOU PREFER A MORE AMUSING WAY TO GET THEM?” WX asked with a sneer.

 

“Just thinking about something you wouldn't care about,” I replied absently. He frowned, and I realized the rain had finally stopped, although he was still sparking a bit from the rain still gleaming on him.

 

“MOST LIKELY, BUT I STILL WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT. YOU ARE MAKING SOME WEIRD FACES.”

 

“Science. I'm thinking about science. WX, do you have any idea the fame we could get if we could get out of this world? A completely undiscovered realm, where magic exists!”

 

He was silent for a couple of seconds. “ARE YOU PLANNING ON USING THE KID AS PROOF OF THIS?”

 

It took me a moment to realize 'the kid' was referring to Webber. “I wasn't planning on it, but now that you say it...”

 

“THAT'S ONE THING I WON'T DENY ABOUT HIM- HE'S INDEPENDENT AND DOESN'T LIKE OTHER PEOPLE USING HIM- LIKE MYSELF. I DON'T THINK HE WOULD APPRECIATE BEING USED AS A KICK IN THE FACE TO YOUR PRECIOUS SCIENCE.”

 

“Oh? Since when did you learn so much about him, hmm?”

 

“YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT SOMEONE BY FIGHTING AGAINST THEM THAN FIGHTING WITH THEM,” he huffed.

 

“Is that your excuse?”

 

“BESIDES,” he went on, ignoring me. “THIS IS ALL ASSUMING WE CAN EVEN SURVIVE THIS PLACE.”

 

“Are you suggesting we could die here?”

“NOTHING HERE HAS BEEN FRIENDLY, IF YOU'VE REALIZED. THE ONLY ONES HERE WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK TOGETHER.” WX crossed his arms. “AND I AM ALMOST CERTAIN THAT BOOK OF YOURS WILL BACK ME UP.”

 

He's right, I realized, mentally going over what I had read in the book. Almost nothing in there is friendly.

 

“SPEAKING OF YOUR BOOK, DO YOU THINK YOU COULD LOOK UP A CREATURE FOR ME?”

I stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded. “You want me to actually look at something for you?”

 

“UNLESS YOU'D BE WILLING TO COUGH IT UP, WHICH I NATURALLY ASSUMED YOU'D BE TOO STUBBORN TO DO.”

 

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to be going anywhere with him. “Okay, just... describe it to me.”

 

“IT'S BLUE,” he started, looking slightly unhappy for some reason. “WITH JAGGED HORNS. BLANK EYES? ALMOST GOAT-LIKE?”

 

I flipped open the black leather book and flipped through its pages, trying to recall the creature he was talking about. “Where did you see this?”
 

“I FOUND A DRY BIOME- DESERT I PRESUMED.”

 

“After this, we need to do something about Webber,” I reminded him as I searched.

 

“I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU EXPECT ME TO DO.”

 

“Us to do,” I corrected. “And I'm not sure. There's something in here about mushrooms...?”

 

Much to my surprise, he let out a weird burst of garbled static, which I realized must have been laughter. “HOW DO YOU EXPECT THAT TO HELP? EVEN IF THERE WAS SOME MAGIC MUSHROOM THAT COULD HELP WHATEVER THE HECK IS WRONG WITH HIM, THERE IS NO WAY WE COULD MANAGE TO GET THE KID TO EAT THEM.”

 

It was my turn to laugh, imagining the guaranteed anger he would show if we tried to force-feed him. "We'll find a way," I said.

 

“WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?” He asked, sounding very much like he wanted to laugh again.

 

“Oh! Is this what you were talking about?” Before answering his question, I stopped on the volt goat page and turned it to him.

 

“VOLT GOAT? WHAT AN ODD SPECIES NAME. IS IT EDIBLE?”

 

"Yep. But we'll have to get Webber back first." I shivered slightly, remembering his silent, almost savage demonstration in gutting the rabbit. He had shown no sadness nor remorse. In fact, he had shown no emotion at all, minus a quiet determination set in his features.

 

It was borderline terrifying.

 

I was afraid that if I was forced to do that myself, I'd begin to lose my own remorse for the smaller animals. That and I felt beyond sick at seeing it happen and I could imagine how terrible it'd be if I had to partake.

 

I shook my head wildly. I need to stay focused. “How do you want to go about this?”

 

“ABOUT WHAT?”

 

“The mushrooms.”

 

“OH. WELL, WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?”

 

“They look like- well, a green mushroom. It has to be cooked though, or it might make matters worse. Got it? Got it? I'm talking poison here, WX, don't get any funny ideas.”

 

He tipped his chin, looking slightly offended. “IF I WAS TO KILL HIM, IT WOULD NOT BE BY SUCH AN UNDERHANDED TACTIC AS POISON.”

 

“I'm glad that you are so generous,” I said sarcastically.

 

The slightest twitch of his face, the smallest lift of his frown, and I think for the first time since I met him I saw him smile, even just a little bit. I knew it! I knew there was a nicer robot in there somewhere, WX!

 

He shook his head, the smile still on his face. “COME ON. WE'RE BURNING DAYLIGHT. LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH.”

 

Webber's POV
 

Our head felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton and used it as a kickball. Everything was clouded and it hurt like heck.

 

We could think though.

 

And we could move.

 

So that was honestly an improvement.

 

It was dark, as it appeared the sun had set hours before. Wilson was fast asleep, muttering something in his dreams and WX had his back towards us, facing the flames. We pushed ourself up with one hand, using the other to hold our aching head. At first, we had thought that he didn't realize we were awake, but when he spoke it was without looking at us.

 

“FEELING BETTER?” He asked, a sort of gentleness in his tone that was completely unexpected, especially from him. “YOU WERE OUT OF IT FOR QUITE AWHILE. IT TOOK US A DAY OR TWO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH YOU.” He finally turned to look at us, the fire's light creating dancing patterns of flames against his face and making him appear almost ghastly as though he was not of this world. “DID YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW SANITY AFFECTS PEOPLE HERE?”

 

“Y-yes,” I stammered, feeling our voice crack as though it hadn't been used in awhile. “Of course. We just... didn't realize...”

 

He looked back towards the fire. “WILSON SAID YOU'D BE ABLE TO WALK AGAIN SOON,” he informed us quietly.

 

“That'd be nice.”

 

“HE'S SURPRISED ON HOW WELL YOU'VE BEEN HEALING. HE WAS ATTACKED WHILE YOU WERE OUT AND HE'S STILL FEELING THE EFFECTS OF IT, EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T NEARLY AS BAD AS YOU INJURIES. IS THERE A REASON YOU ARE ABLE TO HEAL FASTER THAN ANY FLESHLING I'VE KNOWN ABOUT?”

 

“Where we're from, it isn't unnatural.” We tipped out head, our clearing mind now a whirlwind of confusion at seeing this side of him. It's kind of creepy actually. “Why...? With the injuries we had... how long would it take for people to heal where you're from?”

 

He was silent for a moment. “YOU'RE NOT FROM EARTH, ARE YOU?”

 

The question took us way off guard. “W-we're not sure where we're from, to be honest.”

 

“YOU SPOKE OF IT AS THOUGH YOU DO, IN FACT, KNOW.”

 

“It's not that,” I protested. “I-it feels natural. Like it's normal for us.”

 

“I KNOW THAT ISN'T THE TRUTH,” he said, almost so quietly we could hear it. “I KNOW THAT ISN'T THE TRUTH...”

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Webber's POV

Chapter 10: Still Unbroken

"Whoa, whoa, hey, take it easy," Wilson cautioned, supporting us with his shoulder. "You haven't been on your feet in awhile. You're probably very weak right now.”

 

“Haha, yeah, we can tell,” I laughed nervously, trying to keep from collapsing. Our knees felt weak and refused to lock into a standing position. Our legs ached, but it was a slight pain, not at all like the burning agony we used to feel in them.

 

“How do you feel?” He asked.

 

“Better. A lot better actually.” We gave him a toothy grin. “Thanks a lot, Wilson. We probably would've died without you.”

 

“Nah, I don't think so. You said that you survived on your own for awhile, so we probably would die without you.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before adding, “WX seemed pretty eager to get you back on your feet. I'm not sure if he wanted to fight something or if he really wanted you better, but hey, it's a nice thought anyway.”
 

“Speaking of the devil, where is he?”

 

He laughed a bit. “I honestly have no idea. He was gone when I woke up so.” He shrugged. “He found a new area, so he might be over there, but he never tells me anything. Why'd you ask?”

 

“He was acting really strange the other day.”
 

“What do you mean?”
 

“Well... he asked if we were feeling better, you know, after the whole insanity episode?” He nodded, so we continued. “It wasn't as much what he said it was how he said it. He sounded a touch worried for some reason, and he spoke almost... gently.”
 

“Are you sure you weren't still feeling the effects of insanity?”

 

“We might've been, given the circumstances.” Beginning to get uncomfortable with the conversation, we changed the subject. “Winter's coming.”

 

“How can you tell?”

 

We didn't say anything, slightly surprised. How can you not tell? "The air is crisp," I said slowly. "and clean, like snow, is on its way. The air has a slight, frosty chill for it, that you wouldn't get unless you were very late into fall or early winter. Can't you tell?" We broke away from him holding us up and sat.

 

"Your senses must be stronger than mine because I can't tell any of that." He smiled. "Pretty impressive, Webber."

 

“Thanks,” I huffed. We didn't even walk and we're out of breath! It's going to take forever to be able to walk properly again!

 

“I don't want you two fighting,” Wilson said after a minute, and we turned sharply to look at him.

 

“We have no idea what you're talking about.”

 

“You and WX. I don't want you two fighting... or at least wait until you can walk properly again.”

 

“Whaaaat? Us, fighting? That sounds nothing like us. We are an innocent little seven-year-old, Wilson. Never hurt another person in our life.” We couldn't keep a straight face, and even Wilson cracked a smile.

 

“I can only wish.”

 

“We're angels, WX and us.”

 

“Let's see how you two are when you can walk properly. Come on, you aren't going to get your strength back sitting.” He grabbed us by the uninjured arm and pulled us up again, letting us lean against him. “Try walking.”

 

“We can't,” I puffed.

 

“Just try. One step at a time.”

 

Our legs could barely support us, but at his urging, we forced them to move. It was a jerky movement, but it was enough. It was exhausting, but despite our reluctance, we knew we had to, or else it would only get worse. Determination set in our features as we tried another step.

 

“It's going to get easier,” he promised.

 

“When?” I growled, taking another shaky and hesitant step.

 

“Eventually. You've been crippled for weeks.”

 

“Weeks?” I echoed. “It's already been weeks?”

 

He shrugged helplessly. “Come on, focus. I know this is draining your energy, but you have to.”

 

We almost argued. We almost told him to stop, but when we looked at him to see his partially relieved, partially concerned, and partially gentle and understanding, we couldn't bring ourself to. He's really trying to help us... and he's probably helping us a great deal. It's difficult now but it'll get better. “Thank you,” I managed, forcing a smile. His eyes glimmered.

 

“Trust me. You'll be better in no time.”

 

 

The air smelt of frost and dying leaves. With dawn came mist, giving the woods an eerie orange sheen as the light from the sun reflected off of it. We could hear animals scuffling in the undergrowth, preparing themselves for the barren winter. Food will get scarcer, but our skills will become all the more valuable. We clenched our fist around our handmade knife, feeling our fingers slide easily into the grip. This world was made for us. Just like this knife. We fit in. Squeezing our eyes shut, we tightened our grip.

 

No.

 

Reluctantly, we forced ourself to open our eyes and look around, noting the fact our hearing dimmed slightly as we did. Interesting. However tempting the blade was, we weren't that desperate.

 

Yet.

 

Stop that. You have a job to do, Webber. You have this blade for a reason. The others count on us. They act like they know what they're doing, but neither of them has proper instincts. We let out a deep breath we didn't know we were holding. This winter will be tough. We might have to carry this entire group through spring. Or at least until they understand that this world isn't going to hold their hands. This world is set out to kill us.

 

This world is going to kill us.

 

For crying out loud- Stop that Webber! We felt something warm run down our hand and through our fur, and we sharply looked down to see claws digging into our palm. We stood, closing our eyes again and letting the forest's sounds engulf our senses. When our eyes were open, we couldn't tell if the rustling was from the browning leaves still hanging on to the otherwise barren treetops or animals scurrying in the dry leaf mold, but when our eyes were closed we could hear the differences. Animals made a light thumping sound along with their rustling, while we could distinguish the faint sound of branches bumping against each other as they swayed along with their dying burdens.

 

The world was somehow almost scarier when we heard it like that.

 

There! A small, furry animal, near us. We took a few steps forward, listening, then lunged towards the sound. The brown animal, its fur beginning to turn white for the cold months ahead, screamed and thrust itself forward with surprising speed.

 

It wasn't fast enough.

 

Weeks after Wilson had given us the all-clear, we had spent trying to be able to walk and run again. Now, we were almost able to run as fast as we could before the accident, and clearly, it was enough to give us the edge on the rabbit, and not five seconds after its initial flight it was caught and stabbed by the knife in our hand. A satisfied grin set itself on our face, as we flicked the animal's blood off of our hands. We need to learn how to kill cleaner, but otherwise not a terrible kill. The mist was beginning to clear, so the sounds were becoming even louder as they were no longer deterred by the watery air.

 

We looked back at where we had come from, towards our camp. It may become difficult, but we can survive.

 

After all, it's not the first time we've been in this situation.

 

And at least this time we're not alone.

Edited by Pokemaniac7000
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Chapter 11: Wasteland

Wilson's POV

 

I wasn't going to deny. I had honestly thought that after the whole episode with Webber being crippled, he and WX wouldn't be so aggressive towards each other. Especially given that the latter had seemed almost protective over him- despite the sharp way he showed it. Webber's confusion over WX's gentleness after he had been insane for some time only cemented this thought.

 

I was totally wrong though.

 

In fact, their arguments only got more ridiculous. For the moment, they weren't fighting, but WX had gone off again so he wasn't really there to argue with. Webber, on the other hand, was humming while working on preparing a volt goat, which it took WX and I's combined strengths to kill. The creature was a bit bigger than me, but Webber didn't even seem to notice the way it easily dwarfed him in size. His knife gleamed with blood but he paid no attention to it. It was kind of creepy if I had to be honest. I hesitated, then picked up my spear, which had been on the ground by my feet. Webber looked up at me, then went back to the goat. “Where are you going?” He asked. I squinted at him. “What?”

 

“Are you alright?” I asked. He didn't sound questioning. He sounded almost... sad.

 

“Yeah? Why do you ask?”

 

“Well, you sounded kind of sad or lost when you said that.”

 

“It's nothing. We're just concentrating. Anyway, where are you going?”

 

Frowning slightly at the obvious distraction, I debated for a moment whether or not to continue to press the subject, but I really wasn't up to getting on his bad side so I went along with it. “I was going to check out that desert WX found. We've only seen the edge of it so who knows what new animals are in the rest of it.”

 

“Okay.”

 

I paused for a moment. There was something wrong. What could be going on in your mind now...? Or, I could just be seeing problems that aren't there. I'll talk to him about it again later when he's not busy.

 

“I'll be back soon.”

 

“Good luck.”

 

 

“I'm leaving I'm leaving for crying out loud stop chasing me you stupid mutts!”

 

The large, blue brute behind me only barked and snapped at me, missing but so close to hitting me I could feel the chill rising from its very fur as though the hound itself was carved out of ice. And knowing this world's physics that probably isn't far from the truth. “I wasn't going near your den! I had no plans on even going near any of you!” My patience wearing thin, I flipped around and cracked my spear against the animal's head, causing it to yelp and get flung back a few paces into its pack of friends. The others scrabbled to move around their injured comrade and leaped at me, their fangs bare but falling just short of actually biting my arm off. The ones who lunged forward slowly back away until they were beside the rest of the pack. The ringleader was back on its paws, taking slow steps towards me, watching the spear I held with a cautious eye.

 

I quickly shoved the spear in the back of my shirt to free my hands while still keeping it with me and lifted my hands, stretching my fingers apart and trying to appear harmless. "See? I just want to get out of here okay? I swear I won't touch your creepy bone hills. Oh- uh, oh dear, you probably want me for your creepy bone hills, don't you? Look, I'm not good for eating. I don't have a lot of meat on my bones, see?" I rolled up my shirt's sleeve to show my thinness. "Oh darn, it's such a shame killing me won't help very much, I guess you'll have to wait for another survivor?" Am I seriously trying to reason with a pack of bloodthirsty hounds?

 

Wow, okay, stooping down to a new level of crazy Wilson. Great job. Slowly backing away from the beasts, my spear fell to the ground, but I was too afraid to stop to pick it up. Once I had gotten a good five feet away from the spear, the leader bent its head to sniff at it, not taking its pupil-less gaze off of me for a second. It raised its bluish tinted nose and sniffed the air, fixed me with one last brutal glare, and let out a dismissive bark. Without another sound, the pack turned in unison and slunk back towards their dens. My chest was tight with panic and it was hard to catch my breath, but after a minute or so I was able to move again and picked up my spear, watching out for any more of the oddly colored hounds. We had fought with the hounds before, of course, but these ones with the cold blue fur seemed entirely different. They were much bigger than their black variants, and their fangs were shaped like ragged icicles instead of being smooth and pointed. Okay, note to self. Don't go near the bone hills in the desert. I thought, my heart pounding in my ears. I stared in the direction of the monsters before choosing to go another way. I wasn't going back yet, but I was definitely not going anywhere near those hounds.

 

Eventually, the sand began to disperse, revealing hard gray stone with yellowish speckles underneath it. Along with the sand, the heat began to vanish as well, leaving a chilling frosty feel to the air and bringing with it a bitter wind. Teeth already beginning to chatter, I wrapped my arms around myself, attempting to keep some of the heat from leaving my body. I need to get back, I thought, looking towards a mound of green. A hill. I believe I've seen that one before, actually.

 

I decided it was my best bet and made my way towards it. I was just a few yards to the hill before the world seemed to flip over and my legs shot out from under me, sending me to the rocky ground and pain shot of the base of my spine. I lay on the ground for a time, trying to gather the energy to move. After several minutes had passed, I dragged myself to a sitting position, feeling the ice I had slipped on clearly now as it had mostly melted due to my body heat and soaked into my shirt and pants. My spear was a few paces away, and I realized that if I had fallen in any more awkward position I could've fallen on its point and stabbed myself on pure accident. I crawled over to the weapon again and used it to stand up, realizing the icy water had numbed any pain I had previously felt. I took a deep breath then continued my way, albeit at a much slower pace.

 

By the time I finally got back home, WX was already back from who-knows-where, a small chunk of meat in his hand. At first, I thought everything was calm. Then, I noticed he and Webber were having a glare-off, watching each other in total silence, unnaturally still, with similar angry expressions. “Oh dear, what did I miss this time?” I asked, hoping to break the awkward silence. As if it was a cue, they both looked at me, and the tension disappeared.

 

“Oh, hey,” Webber said, looking towards the empty fire pit.

 

“Why were you glaring at each other?” I pressed, exasperated.

 

“GIVE ME A REASON AND THAT'LL BE PART OF IT,” WX huffed, and I rolled my eyes.

 

“Did you find anything?”

 

“Nope. It got way too cold before I could.” I purposely, yet uneasily, left out the part about me getting chased by the blue brutes that were the hounds.

 

"Cold's right!" He exclaimed, his breath billowing out in a cloud. I laughed a little bit and started to set up the fire.

 

 

The next day it snowed.

 

WX seemed to be having a confusing time, trying to discover why rain seemed to affect him but snow, which was essentially its cold, powdery cousin, did not. Webber, on the other hand, appeared to be completely unable to decipher exactly what he was feeling. He flinched every time a snowflake landed on him, yet he still acted giddier than usual. Amusingly enough, I even caught him sticking his tongue out a couple times to catch the flakes in his mouth.

 

It was almost adorable to watch, actually. I wasn't going to say as much, in fear he would get mad or embarrassed, but I enjoyed seeing an almost cute side to the typically prickly spider boy. WX didn't look anywhere near as amused as I felt. In fact, he actually looked quite annoyed, as though he hated this new side of his rival for some odd reason. I frowned but didn't say anything.

 

“THIS IS ONLY GOING TO MAKE OUR SURVIVAL HARDER,” WX commented, coming to stand beside me. “I HOPE YOU HAD PLANS FOR THIS.”

 

“Haha, nope. I don't.”

 

He deadpanned. “YOU'RE JOKING, RIGHT?”

 

“Well, I don't have a plan.” My gaze shifted to Webber and I pointed at him. “He, however, might.”

 

“YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GOING TO RELY ON THE HALF-BRED SEVEN-YEAR-OLD FOR OUR SURVIVAL.” He rubbed the sides of his head, around where his temples would be if he were human. “YOU DO KNOW THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH, RIGHT?”

 

“Of course, but unless you have some magical ability to survive like he can I think he's our best bet.”

 

We watched Webber in silence for a second as he pounced on a snowflake, smiling childishly as it landed on his forehead instead. “HE'S A PRETTY POOR BEST. WE'RE GOING TO DIE IF WE'RE RELYING ON THAT THING.”

 

“Don't jinx us,” I said, trying to make him smile again. It was always the oddest and most interesting thing when the arrogant robot smiled. But he was already looking away, holding out his hand and letting a couple white specks gather on it without melting before he closed it into a fist.

 

“I WASN'T JINXING US. I WAS TELLING THE TRUTH.” he replied in almost a whisper, sounding defeated, before stalking away to check on the fire.

 

I blinked, almost scared for a moment. What was he trying to say? I gulped and felt my breath get shaky, and suddenly I wasn't so sure I wanted to know.

Edited by Pokemaniac7000
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Chapter 12: Together We Stand

 

Webber's POV

 

“Come on! It's fun!”
 

“No! It's way too cold!”

 

“You're such a baby.”

 

“Am not!”

 

"Are too!"

 

“The snow's too deep anyway! There's no way I could walk in that!”
 

“I am! Come on! I will drag you out here!”
 

“And I'll tell Mom on you!”

 

We sighed, scratching at the frosty dirt. Our mind was fighting itself. One part was excited to see the snow again, but we found it hard to stay joyful. We couldn't stop thinking about... about... who? Amber eyes, our mind recalled unhelpfully. Wow, that definitely helps a lot. Thanks a lot, mind.

 

“What are you guys doing?”

 

“He won't go out into the snow! He's being a scardy-cat!”

 

“I'm not a scardy-cat! I'm warm!”

 

We dug our claws into the palm of our hand and clenched our teeth. Stop. We flinched as there was suddenly a hand on our shoulder. Digging our claws in further- while threatening to draw blood- we looked up at Wilson, who sat next to us.

 

“Are you okay? I mean, I know you said you were, but... I don't think you really are.”

 

"We're fine," I insisted. He looked concerned, and before we could even comprehend what was happening he had his arms wrapped around us in a tight embrace. We stiffened at first but relaxed and returned the hug.

 

“You know you can tell me about anything, right?” He said quietly, still hugging us.

 

We hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “Yes.”

 

"I know you are probably lonely and sad, but you still have us- WX and me."

 

“We know. It's just-” we cut off and nearly kicked ourself for even hinting at our mental torment.

 

He broke away, looking us in the eye. “It's just...?”

 

We quietly reached upward and dug our claws into our left arm. You're an idiot. “It's just... why are we trying so hard to survive here?” We let out a tortured huff. “Everything wants to kill us already, and we can almost guarantee that we won't get out of this place. So why are we trying?”

 

Wilson frowned down at our arm before making eye contact again. “Have you felt this way the whole time?” He asked, sounding shocked.

 

We nodded slowly, looking away and not wanting to meet his gray eyes again. We're weak. We're sorry Wilson... we aren't strong... we aren't brave.

 

“You can't just keep all of this from showing,” he said unexpectedly. Oh, right, we're still having this conversation. "You're just going to make more harm for yourself. We're trying to survive because we need to persevere. Your strength isn't proven by your thoughts or beliefs. It's proven by what you do. Pretending like you can't do anything will only make everything worse. And look at everything you've done already!"

 

“We haven't done anything!”
 

"We've survived this long!" He exclaimed, and we began to wonder how much of this was pep talk and how much was him trying to sound epic. At this thought, we couldn't help but smile a bit. "You've survived getting attack by a literal tree god for science's sake!”

 

That caused a faint bout of laughter, and when we looked back he was beaming with undisguised glee. He believes in us, we realized. He really believes in us.

 

“Come on.” Wilson stood and reached out his hand to help us stand too. “Let's defeat this world together. It's three of us against one stupid world.”

 

We gratefully took his hand and looked up at him, trying not to laugh at his obviously melodramatic display. Well, he certainly made us feel better.

 

“NOT BAD.” We nearly jumped out our fur at WX's comment. Oh yeah. He was here too. “A BIT OVER THE TOP, BUT NOT BAD.” He shrugged, looking more amused than anything. We felt a twinge of annoyance, but we didn't say anything. “I COULD'VE DONE WITHOUT THE HEROIC OUTRO THOUGH.”

 

"We could've done without your comments though, so we're even," I snapped, and in the corner of our eye, we spotted Wilson's grin only widening. Why could he be pleased now?

 

Oh. Guess he notices that we like fighting. Curious if he'll purposely start fights between us. Doubt it, but it's kind of nice to know he'll most likely not be breaking up arguments between us anymore.I COULD'VE DONE WITHOUT YOUR EXISTENCE!” Beside us, Wilson exploded into laughter.

 

“That is the most childish comeback I have ever heard in my entire life.”

 

“We could annoy you, you know,” I told WX. “We could annoy you so much.”

 

“YOU ALREADY DO.”

 

“More than usual.”

 

“I'M NOT COMPLETELY SURE THAT IS POSSIBLE.”

 

“Want to test us?”

 

“GO AHEAD AND TRY, HALF-BREED.”

 

“You really want to test us? Are you sure about that?”

 

He gave us the 'I'm-waiting' look and we snickered.

 

“Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio,

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe!”

 

WX frowned, even more than usual. Of course, our off-key singing was purposefully terrible for an added annoyance factor. He didn't say anything though, which of course, we took as an invitation to continue.

 

“Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye!”

“OKAY. YOU'VE MADE YOUR POINT.” He crossed his arms.

 

“Have we, WX? Have we?”

 

“YES.”


 

“We're not sure... Wilson, what do you think?”


 

"Well, you know what Webber, I don't think you did!"


 

“Should we do more?”


 

“You should! Prove how annoying you can be, my apprentice!”


 

We grinned wildly.

 

“We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it!”


 

We received a prompt backhand, but we couldn't help but laugh at it, especially when WX pointed an angry finger at us. “SHUT UP.”

 

“Whoa, someone doesn't get good music when he hears it.”


 

“I didn't even know you knew that song,” Wilson laughed. “I would've thought it was too old for you to know.”


 

“You'd be surprised the kind of music our father always listened to.” We paused for a moment. “Billy Joel, Beatles, Pink Floyd...”


 

“You were allowed to listen to Pink Floyd!? Isn't that a bit too mature for you?”


 

We gave him a deadpan look, and he raised one hand. “Right, right. But... how old exactly you were when you were listening to this stuff?”


 

“Since we were born.” We shrugged.


 

"Well, I'll admit you have one heck of a taste in music."

 

"IT'S ANNOYING. MUSIC, IN GENERAL, IS ANNOYING."


 

“Ah, no wonder you are so terribly unhappy with life, WX. How can anyone think music is annoying?”

 

Wilson took a step back as though acknowledging he was no longer part of the conversation. We spotted a glimmer of excitement in WX's eyeless gaze as he curled his hands into fists. We bared our fangs, feeling the adrenaline pump through our veins. We weren't sure if he was aiming to hurt us, but he swung a fist at us anyway. Not even bothering to dodge, we caught the punch and thrust his arm into the air, readying our other hand into a counterattack, but before we could land the hit Wilson grabbed our fist. “Let's not.” Narrowing our eyes, we dropped his arm.

 

“This isn't over.”


 

“YOU KNOW IT'S NOT.” He paused, then winked. Shocked by the gesture for a moment, we returned it.

 

“We'll get you later, paperweight.”


 

For a moment, we could've sworn we saw him smile a bit. “I LOOK FORWARD TO IT, HALF-BREED.”

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Everything was going fine until the last chapter. I'll let it slide due to your interpretation but I'm shocked anyone would know a song from the 90s.

 

This is a sweet fiction and I'm sorry it's taken me a while to catch up. Keep up the good work. :wilson_smile:

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