I do not own Worm or Darkest Dungeon.

Black as Pitch

The days went by. Osmond did as he was told and remained hidden in the apartment for the rest of the week. Instead of going around the Docks as per usual, he meditated. His actions were not without reason. After having tasted freedom after an insurmountable amount of time, the beast within was eager to escape again. He hoped to temper the rage with calmness and serenity. It was quite trying indeed. In that same amount of time, Lin had pretty much lived the majority of her time in her workshop, only coming out to eat and sleep. She barely even used the computer. While he silently approved of her diligence, he was worried that her obsession would take her too far. In the following week, however, something odd happened.

It began on a single night. Loud, incessant hammering reverberated from the door. He had yet to doze. She had already drifted off. The loud boom of wood jarred her awake and surprised him. Slowly, he got off the sofa and looked over to his benefactor. She sat there, upright and silent. A few knocks later, she grumbled out, "Turn on the light. I'll get my mask."

He got up and did as she asked while she retreated to her workshop. Then, he went to the door and opened it to a crack. Outside stood two men. One wore the colors of the ABB. The other was clad in black, sporting lots of grenades and knives, and wore a demonic looking mask to hide his face.

"Open it."

Heeding her words, he opened the door wide.

"Oni Lee. Why are you here?"

Osmond glanced back at her. Still in her night clothes, she had her mask on while holding some sort of large gun. It was pointing downward and she seemed to take on a neutral stance. Looking back at the man named Oni Lee, he seemed hunched over and gave the air of tiredness and exhaustion. The follower then spoke up, "Lung has been captured."

Bakuda snorted and said, "No, really. Why are you here? Are you asking about the grenades? No, I haven't touched them, yet."

"Not a joke," the demon mask growled out. After a pause, he continued, "Lung missing. Sought him out. Saw him. Armsmaster."

Silence fell. The bomber girl then hefted her gun over her shoulder and switched the light off. "Not used to talking, are you? Fine. It's fine. This is important news, I give you that. But, we can plan tomorrow. Meet me at the other entrance in the morning, Lee. We'll talk shop then."

The mask nodded and he moved on, the other man following after him.

"Close the door."

Osmond did so. Then, he looked at her and wondered what she was going to do about this. To be honest, so far she hasn't been dragged into the more dangerous stuff. But now? Brigand work was a dangerous business. He would know. He had killed many of them.

"Get back to sleep," she muttered as she turned back to her workshop, "Looks like I have more to do in the morning."

He glanced at her and shrugged. He hoped she wouldn't do something too crazy if they relied on her to help their leader break out of jail.

The next morning, he awoke and found a message on the dining table, stating that she would be busy the whole week working on a plan for retrieving Lung. Lunch for himself will be delivered at the usual time but hers will be sent to another place. And no leaving the apartment. He honestly wanted to go out and search for her. He was supposed to be her protector after all, if only just to keep appearances. But, her words about him being a weak link rang in his memory and decided to give it a few days.

Perhaps, they would have helped him escape by then.

A day went by.

And another.

And another one.

It soon reached the fifth day and he was feeling somewhat concerned. There was no news at all about her or the leader of the brigands. It was quite perplexing. And then lunch came around. When he opened the door, instead of the usual gang member, he found a different Oriental man dressed in white holding the wooden box.

"Did you order this?" he asked, looking in wide-eyed surprise.

"I... I..." Osmond stammered also feeling quite astonished.

"You don't sound like the one who ordered this," he exclaimed, "Who are you?"

"Oi!" shouted a familiar voice, followed by that Oriental language that he heard before. The gang member that usually delivered the food showed up and grabbed the other man's collar, growling out something. The reply showed how frightened he was, his body trembling and trying to get away. With a gruff sound, he let go and grabbed the box, sending the delivery man scampering away. He then shoved the box into the abomination's hands and his accented voice said, "Fool. Next time, stay out of sight. Don't answer the door. Leave it to me instead. Stupid dog." The last two words were muttered under his breath, yet Osmond caught ear of it anyway.

Feeling a little dejected, he closed the door and set the box on the table. His mind drifted off as he opened up to retrieve his lunch.

Should I try going out to look for her? She wouldn't appreciate it, but I am still supposed to be her protector.

While the other gang members... well, he didn't know how well they handled themselves, but what if they encountered someone they can't handle?

Hence, when dark fell onto the land, he left the apartment to search for her. As he left the building, it seemed like the shadows and darkness were slowly reaching out to him. It was like scrambling through the ruins, but with the open sky over his head instead of stone blocks and earth. It frayed at his nerves, slowly eating away at his courage. He wished he had some sort of torch with him to light his way. His mind slowly crept back to the first day here, drawing to the great shambling horror that brought him into that space. He could hear his heart yearning to leap into his head out of terror. And any time, he spotted a working street light, he ran over and let loose a relieved breath of air he didn't know was caught within. He stayed within its radiant boundaries until he had calmed down before he stepped out of the light and into the darkness once more.

Minutes later, a loud explosion ripped through the air. He immediately fell to his knees and covered his head on reflex. Slowly he lifted his arms and his head. Nothing. None of the buildings were alight. He was still there in the darkness. Yet, that explosion, it felt like it was nearby. Was that hers? Then, more deadened rumbles could be felt in the distance, much further away. As much as it puzzled him to no end, he still needed to find her. He quickly got to his feet and continued on his way with shaky steps. He was able to make it a few more feet before crumbling down to the asphalt ground again. His limbs trembled as another explosion shook the buildings.

Are they fighting?

He slammed the ground with a closed fist. He wasn't going to be of use like this. Her specialty was explosives. How can he protect her if he collapsed every time she tossed one around? Gritting his teeth, he forced himself off the ground and tried his best to keep on his feet as he went towards where he thought was the source of the explosions. As the explosions continued, his body constantly tensed up, making his journey there quite slow.

Eventually, the explosions stopped. Feeling both relieved and wary at the same time, he reached an area with long metal rails and many metal boxes on large metal wheels. He didn't remember if he ever explored here. That train of thought was derailed when he heard a loud scream. He quickly became fast on his feet; containers on tracks gave way to scorched earth, twisted metal, and frosted street, but he disregarded all that in favor of getting to her on time. He found a metal carriage turned on its side and her on the ground, gripping her leg as her disguised voice kept at its shrill tone. Nearby were four other people. Two were prone, one was stirring and one more was cutting through something that looked like rope around the other's limbs.

Ever worried for Lin, he slowly stepped forward as to not startle the man, who was freeing his compatriots. He caught sight of him and suddenly, all four of them were engulfed in dark smoke. Shocked at the sight, Osmond just stood there, gawking in surprise. The loud breathing of his benefactor broke him out of it and he rushed over to a more calmer Bakuda. Somewhat.

"Why the hell are you out here?" she growled out as she laid on the ground, tired out from all the thrashing around.

"You were gone too long. I began to worry," he said as he looked over her, noticing the bleeding cut in her boot. It had been torn open, the crimson trim around the inky blackness. "Are you... alright?" he asked as he reached over, but was batted away.

"It still hurts, but I've slowly gotten used to it," she muttered as she deactivated the voice scrambler, "Not that it helps me. I still need to get to a doctor." Then, she shouted out in that language again. From behind him, he could hear heavy footsteps. Glancing to his side, he noticed a gang member coming to a stop, holding up his head with one hand. After addressing the man, she turned to him and said, "Pick me up very carefully. Follow him to the doctor."

Osmond nodded and gingerly picked her up bridal style. She hissed and slammed her fist on his brand, "I said carefully! Damned idiot."

Choosing to ignore that, he followed after the man, moving as cautiously as he could.

The shop lot Osmond got led to was less rundown than their apartment block, being closer to the south. After several seconds of banging and shouting, the shutters were opened and he was allowed to bring Bakuda inside. He was told to put her on a long chair and was then sent outside. Several agonized shouts later, he was recalled and was allowed to take her back. After another long walk, he laid her on the couch, propping her bandaged foot on the armrest. That pretty much left him to sleep on the floor. Then again, he wasn't to bothered by it as he had been in much worse conditions.

The next morning, he was awoken by being shoved in the shoulder. Getting up and looking at the now awake Lin, she said with a groan, "Coffee."

He was a little confused. Was it that swill she drunk in the morning? He had drunk coffee before but had never made it. The first time was rather bitter to taste and he rarely partook in it afterward save for some early mornings, where he found it quite effective to keep awake with. Thus, he asked, "How?"

After shooting him a glare, she then instructed him in making coffee. To which he discovered the interesting case of three-in-one packets, as well as what he assumed was powdered coffee beans. Simply fascinating.

After taking a deep sip, she let out a sigh of relief. She then frowned as she looked over her bandaged foot. "Damn it," she muttered. Looking over to him, she ordered, "Help me to my workshop. I have stuff to do."

After hoisting her up, he asked her as they walked over to the door, "What about the rescue of the dragon?"

"Lung? Oh, Oni Lee should have done that already. All those bombs that were triggered yesterday? All a great distraction," she replied with a savage grin.

"Bombs... I heard them. Where were they?" he asked.

"Oh, here and there. A transformer, train tracks far from here, a bridge, a school..." she explained as she opened the door.

"A SCHOOL!?" he exclaimed in horror as he froze mid-step.

"If you've forgotten, it was night time. Who the hell would be at school at night?" she fired back, annoyed at the sudden shout.

Despite her words, he was still troubled. The fact that she would be willing to send a bomb to a school shook him. "Were there... any other... places?" he asked hesitantly as he set her on her seat.

"Well, I sent one to a place a block away from Med-Hall as well as..."

"What's a Med-Hall? Is that a sanitarium?" he interjected.

"Hah! That's a new one," she smirked in amusement, "As much as I'd like to think so, no. It's a pharmaceuticals company. You know, they make drugs for the hospital... also had another one a block away..."

"A HOSPITAL!? WHY!?" he shouted, unable to believe she would go to these lengths to serve a distraction. This was too much.

"You have gone too far, Lin. Joining this gang is a mistake," he rebuked and gestured, "Sooner or later, there will be deaths."

"Too late for that. There were deaths last night," she retorted as she crossed her arms, looking rather annoyed that he was still in her workshop, "Look, they were expected. Bombs do that."

"And you don't feel a thing for their deaths?!" he shouted exasperatedly and threw his hands up in the air.

"Not really," she admitted as she shrugged, "Now can I tinker in peace?"

He stared at her in disbelief before turning around and leaving, closing the door behind him. He just couldn't believe what he just heard.

Was she always like this? Did this gang do this to her?

He sat down on the sofa and cradled his head in his hands.

Did getting powers go to her head? Did the powers affect her head? Affect her mind?

He didn't know how to react. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do next.

I need to clear my mind... I think. The room is feeling heavy right now.

Making his decision, he got up and went to the door. Carefully closing the front door behind him, he tugged the cloth over his head and headed to the stairs. He needed a walk. The guard was nowhere to be seen, so he was able to leave without hassle. He didn't have a destination in mind, so he pretty much wandered around without much care for his surroundings. However, he eventually reached the building one block away from the hospital. The front part of the building, crumbling and devastated, had been cordoned off with yellow ribbons with black markings and words. He sighed as he gave it a look over.

I should have brought it up. I should have reminded her to steer away from attacking innocent people. I really should have...

"Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?" called out someone from above.

"Don't scare him off," chided another voice.

Looking around and up, he saw two people in the air. As they came closer and landed, he saw that one was carying the other. The carrier was clearly a girl, a tall young woman with blonde hair, dressed in white with a crown or tiara on her head. The other person was wholly covered in white robes and hood with a white scarf covering her lower face. The robes had a large red cross in front, something quite recognizable to him. It was this person that asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?" It sounded like another girl.

"I... am not hurt," he replied as he pulled his own shroud closer. Be it fate or bad luck, his chains clinked a little at the movement. The other girl's eyes narrowed.

"Ames, get back. Something sounded weird about him," she warned as she gently pulled the other back.

"Vicky?" the latter questioned.

"Please, I do not wish to be a bother," Osmond stated as he shook his head, turning to leave.

"Hey, I asked you something earlier. Answer me," she demanded as she pulled on his shroud.

He wasn't holding on it too tightly, so the ends slipped off his fingers and the shroud came off, revealing his chains. Surprised, he looked down at himself and then looked at them. The eyes of the medic looked to be in shock while the more visible girl looked quite livid. He held his hands up to show he didn't want to fight and said, "I can explain."

His Rambling Notes:-

The Dragon has been captured. The Demon came seeking aid from his benefactor. Plans within plans were laid, unbeknownst to the Abomination. Explosives were planted. Gunpowder was set off and burned. Sparks and fire of tremendous proportions were released into the world. And yet, tables were also turned and a few toes were removed. And finally, secrets were revealed and the jailer of the Beast went to clear his head. It was quite unfortunate that he stumbled upon a hero and a healer.

Real notes:-

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Outsider. Here is the next chapter. Couldn't do much in February and so only started working on this in March. AT the very least, the chapter is done and ready to be looked through. Hopefully, I can go back to a regular posting, although I wouldn't be putting too much stock into that... still, I'll try. Now here, we cover the breaking out of Lung. The darkness is also still troubling him. Too bad Osmond does not have access to any torches, modern or otherwise. And then, I took him into somewhat new territory and have him encounter a certain two people.

Also, I'm thinking that after doing this, I'll go back to F/SN side of the website and tackle something a bit more difficult. Let's say... Apocrypha. I think it is called.

Well, what do you think of the chapter? Please leave a review and let me know? Later, everyone.