Something bubbled up from the disgustingly murky surface of the water. She was, once again, staring at her warped reflection in what she could assume had once been a pond. She took an angry swipe at the water, not willing to accept the truth of herself - of what she had become. She was hideous, she knew. She was still the same person, sure, though physically...she had changed. Glancing about at the scenery, it wasn't too hard to distinguish why.

Her once beautifully smooth skin had formed an indestructible rock that seemed to grow from the open pores on her skin. It was jagged and uneven, growing like stalagmites from her flesh. It stretched around her head, covering her left eye - sealing it shut - and raced across her forehead in a staggered formation. It framed around the left side of her face in patches down to her neck to tear and rip into the collar of her once perfect school uniform. It sealed her lips and left nostril shut. More patches could be seen running across her left shoulder, puncturing holes in the shoulder of her uniform and straight down along her left arm. It tore at the remnants of what use to be a sleeve, covering most of her left breast and completely ripping the left side of the shirt in shreds. The uniform top hung loosely in waves, as if it were like garland on a Christmas tree. Her shirt, though now in shreds, barely - barely - covered the right side of her chest and part of her upper abdomen. As it reached her hip, the rock sediment retreated to patches before settling into smooth skin once more on her left thigh.

She glanced over at the one who was to blame for all of her troubles. She wondered about how far they had come. At first, it was rocky. Very rocky. Their relationship - if it could even be called such - was so strained, it had been difficult to even move forward. Most of their cooperation and sheer tolerance of one another formed a truce between them, though, considering their circumstances and environmental surroundings, it quickly became apparent that the terms of their truce was more based on survival.

His once-ruby-red eyes, now dull, were nearly completely covered with that same stalagmite-like rock. It obscured his vision, leaving him partially vulnerable to the dangers that seemed to constantly surround them both. It left him very near blind, growing around his own face in patches, down his right side instead of his left like hers. It disappeared beneath his clothes, now stretched to the brink of tearing. Though that was nothing unusual - he always had tears in his clothing.

"You are beneath yourself, woman," he said to her.

Unfortunately, her response was rather lacking thanks to her unnatural impairment currently growing across her face. The best she could really do was glare at him and blow outwardly with her nose. Such, was the life of the party.

This place - this land - was dank and dusty. It was utterly dull and lifeless. It was so unlike Earth and all of it's creatures and living creatures. And it was so dark. Since the first time they each had set a foot on this musty ground, there had yet to be even a small speck of brightness. It was always like a low-lit moonlight that seemed to cover the entire world. What resembled trees looked more like scorched sticks that someone had jammed into the ground. The same could be said for a weed or plant. The ground looked scarred, ranging in hues of black, grey and smoldering blue. Everything - plants, rocks, trees - everything blended together with those barely distinguishable hues, making it hard to tell one apart from the next.

There were no houses...no people...nothing.

It was just them, and only them. The one man she despised with all of her heart. The one who terrorized so many people from their home-world. And yet... he was all she had.

It was such a cliché. Not that it mattered much in this place and time. She had even...on more than one occasion...fancied herself with the hated half-demon that she had the misfortune of being companions with. Of course, it was only during those times where she was truly going mad and the only thing to pass the time with was to fantasize. He had spoken to her many times, and despite her despise of him, she was grateful to have him there, if only to share in the wonderful abyss they called Bleak.

Yes, Bleak was a rather depressing place. One that she was sure no creature should ever have to endure. Yes...she was stuck here. Forever, it would seem.

Hello everyone!
First of all, I would like to apologize for my long-awaited return and for such a long absence! Life happened. Among other things. X3

Now, this story is a complete re-write of one of my already-existing stories titled "Going Under". Don't worry, you don't have to read it to be able to keep up with this one. The main reason for the re-write is because I recently re-read what I had posted "Going Under" and I am very unsatisfied with how it turned out, especially considering how long this particular idea stayed stuck in my brain.

This first chapter is NEARLY the same as the first chapter in "Going Under", with some alternate sentence structure and grammar corrections, and only about half as long as the one in "Going Under". However, the following chapters will NOT be the same as "Going Under" because I plan on taking a completely route with this, but do not fret, because the chapters in "Going Under" are going to be used much MUCH later in "BLEAK", so you've already got a bit of spoilers there. X3

I'm already in the process of proof-reading my second chapter, so hold tight, because I will have the second chapter out before the end of the day! X3