-A/N-
I do think this is gonna be a bit of a creepier chapter. So fair warnings now, this is kinda dark for me but I'm a cinna bun so it might not be that bad. It was the only idea i had and it low key escalated... and then i didn't know where else to take it... ALSO THIS IS AN ACTION AND ADVENTURE BOOK THERE HAD TO BE SOME EDGE SEATERS THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Anywho just some suggestions at slightly darker themes as a warning. Again I prefer to keep my books light hearted but its Hallow's Eve so I thought I'd do something a bit creepier. Anywho carry on!
Iris walked along the path, shoulders starting to hurt lightly from the heavy bags she carried. Varian had fallen asleep a little while ago and because her shoulder was not the most secure place in the world, she gently tucked him into a side pocket in her satchel.
With evening approaching, the flap of the pocket lifted suddenly and a little tufty, black haired head popped out, blinking in the sunlight. "good morning!" Iris laughed at the bed headed boy. With little arms reaching out, Varian stretched, making little grunting noises as he loosened up his muscles. "How long was I asleep?" He asked, blinking up at the giantess. "Uhhhhhh roughly two or three hours if I had to guess." She told him. After simply sitting in his spot for a bit, letting his body start up, Varian began to climb from the bag. He pulled himself up from the bag to her shoulder, trying to find a more comfortable place to sit.
"Is it weird being small?" Iris finally asked, glancing to her side where the boy perched himself. "Actually yeah, but it feels less weird then earlier." varian responded, thinking about her question. "Everything looks kinda different too, like everything is familiar but not...?" He continued, looking back at Iris.
Iris grew more and more comfortable with the tiny alchemist seated on her shoulder, the two chatting lightly with as the day grew old.
Despite their cheery mood, something with ill intentions watched from the bushes...
Things began to gradually cool off with evening time. Iris and Varian marched forward, though Iris had begun to slow as the weight of everything pressed continuously down on her. "Good heavens man, what is in this accursed backpack?!" Iris complained, slinging the bags off her shoulder on sliding down against the tree behind her. Varian was lightly tossed to the ground as she plopped down. "Mph-" He grunted, the boy being flopped aside. "Hey!" He complained, pushing himself up. Taking some well deserved rest, Iris peered down at him with a faint smile. "Sorry..." She laughed dryly, slumping further against the stump. Varian let out a little huff, standing himself up and brushing off the dirt and dust. He then shot the siren a quick glare, watching her chest rise and fall with her deep breathing. "It's not that heavy... Is it?.." He finally asked, feeling she was slightly dramatizing.
"Actually yeah, I'm carrying you, your raccoon, your bag and my bag all by myself,and have been for roughly four or five hours straight." She scoffed, situating herself so that she was more comfortable and could begin fishing around for their food. Varian made a face thinking, "Well how heavy is your satchel?" The midget inquired, still unsure. "Probably as heavy as your pack." She replied, to which he scrunched his face. "No way, there is no possible way that itty bitty purse is as heavy as my portable lab!" Iris laughed more sincerely now, "Sorry-" She covered her mouth still grinning wildly as stray giggles escaped here and there. "Your reaction was just sorta funny, and yeah it is. Also that explains a lot about the weight of your thing." Iris handed Varian a couple berries. He took them gratefully, still marveling over the weight of the small pouch.
Iris then set up a small tent for herself, and a tinier one for Varian. After starting a fire, Iris pulled out her ukulele once again, to which Varian excitedly situated himself on a decently sized rock. With a bright smile, the siren began to sing and strum, allowing more melodies to flow from the well tuned strings. One leg crossed over the other, she bounced her leg merrily to the music.
Varian found himself in love with her voice, every note hitting like heaven. He felt every emotion she did, excitement and enjoyment fading to relaxation and contentment. A soft breeze brought a chill while the fire slowly died to embers, rippling a red and gold glow like dragon scales or magma. Finishing her last song of the night, the travelers found a drowsiness over coming them as the soft pop and crackle and the fire and occasional night song of a nocturnal bird creating a sort of lullaby. "Oh gosh," Iris yawned, "I am ready for bed!... Night V..."
"Night Iris..." Varian replied, climbing into his own petite.
tent and drifting off into a deep sleep...
"Well well well... Just my luck!" A dark figure loomed from the bushes, "Of all the loot to stumble across..." The voice continued to itself, peering into the tents. "Finders keepers after all..." It cryptically chuckled, briskly snatching up its sleeping prey without a noise, leaving the camp as quickly and silently as it came...
Iris yawned, stretched, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, slowly climbing from her tent. "Buenos Dias" She chuckled, stiffly standing up and looking around the camp. "V?..." Iris called for her companion unable to find him. "Varian? You still asleep in there?.." She asked again, bending down to peek inside the tent... Empty...
Confused, she began to look around, checking in bags, behind things, and just in the general area, calling his name. Returning to the tents and dead fire, Iris began to feel nervous. "Hey Varian, you okay?! Where'd you go?!.." She quickly checked under her feet, looking around more frantically now. "Cmon dude, this isn't funny! If you're here please come out!" she spun in circles, checking everywhere she could think of. "Crud, crud, crud, crud... where'd he go!?..." the mermaid began to mutter to herself, running her fingers through her hair.
"It's ok,... I'm sure he just left to use the restroom or something... he'll probably come back in a little bit..." Iris took a deep breath, anxiously sitting on the ground. While trying to calm her nerves she noticed a rather disgruntled bush. It looked like someone had flattened it... along with large foot prints in the mud tracing up to the tents, then retreating back into the trees. "Oh crud no!..." the typically optimistic girl began to feel despair as she realized Varian had been kidnapped...
"How could I let this happen!? Oh gracious I just hope he's okay!" Iris ran hard. She had been following the footprints for a while, till they mixed with and became horse hoof prints. With no idea how fresh or old the prints were she could only guess that it had been late in the night, she was no expert but the tracks seemed pretty old and dry. Despite the burning in her lungs as her body pleaded with her to rest, she pushed herself to keep going as much as possible. 'Its my fault he's gone, I have to get him back!' She thought and tried her best to keep running.
About ready to collapse, she found herself stumbling upon an old beaten cabin. The house was obviously her destination as a horse was tied to an old rotting and broken fence outside the run down building. The windows were dark and broken, sharp glass clinging to the frames. The door was hung ajar and there was a large hole in the bottom left corner, where its hinge should have been. The building was small enough it probably held a tiny kitchen, main area, a crude toilet room and a bed if Iris was guessing, based on the similar square log huts she found, closer to the mountains back home.
An entire day had almost completely passed, so Iris used the dark to blend in, circling around to spy through the windows.
Looking into the building Iris found the set up almost identical to Benetha's and rather similar to what she had expected. Everything was dark, and any cloth had scratches and tears. There were broken bottles and glass from the windows littering the floor. Something else she noticed was the crooked rug, and what looked like a trapdoor of sorts underneath. Almost soundlessly, Iris made her way to the door and into the structure. Now that she was inside she could see the claw marks carved into the floor boards and walls, broken picture frames and shelves. It looked as if it had been a nice home... until whatever came through and attacked did what it did.
Approaching the rug, Iris's steps subconsciously became lighter and lighter. Lifting it up she opened the door in the floor with a loud creak, causing her to wince. A chilly wave of musty dry air wafted up into her face. Iris had to keep from breaking into a coughing fit. There was a rusty metal ladder that descended down into the darkness. With no other choice, Iris slowly, shakily climbed down, praying that this wasn't the end of them both.
Fingers numb and legs shaky Iris wondered how much longer she would have to climb the seemingly endless ladder. Right as she felt she was about to run out of energy and drop from whatever height was left, her leg struck the ground, her knees buckled, and she collapsed on the ground, sitting for a moment and regaining her strength.
It was so dark she couldn't see the exit above her or anywhere else. So feeling around she found a rough stone wall and began to follow it down a hall way.
Slowly advancing, Iris found the hand in front of her brush against a wooden wall. Feeling the obstacle she found a knob, and opened the thick heavy door just enough to peek inside the room. there wasn't much light, but compared to the complete darkness she had just been in she could see just fine. On the other side of the door was a room filled with countless cages and bookshelves. No one could be seen inside. So, with caution, Iris crept inside and got a better look around. An animal skin rug decorated the floor, bookshelves and display cases lined the wall with the occasional glass window looking into some other domain, one of them being full of water, a lever beside it.
Creeping in wearily, Iris looked around, searching for anyone else. Seeing no one she began to check each and individual cage. "Varian?"
silence
"Vaaaaaarian!" she called out again, a little less quietly now.
The silence was deafening, the only noises that could be heard were the sounds she made, and her own heartbeat.
"Varian!" She was getting more and more nervous. She looked into one cage to see a figure in the back of it. "V?!" she cried with excitement, her voice threatening to give her away. When no response came she grasped the container with eager hands; but to her horror there was only a tiny skeleton of a human-like creature with two rows of pointy teeth, horns, and the skeletal frame of wings. Iris shrieked, dropping the cage with a loud crash.
Heart pumping harder now she held her breath... still silence
After what felt like hours she finally dared to move, and began looking around to see if there was anything she hadn't checked. Much to her surprise, there was a second door hidden in the corner beside a shelf, obscuring it from view from any view point besides where she stood. Iris cracked open the door, much like how she had the last one to see a dark hall way with a single glass wall trailing down the whole way.
Feeling exposed, Iris inched into the hallway. Unable to look away she stared into the black void of the containment area. Inside there were white walls and floors, but nothing else as far as she could see. No matter, the sixteen year old girl still felt incredibly uncomfortable and went from a tip toe to a full on sprint. finally seeing the other door she couldn't help but steal a curious glance at the unit one more time, which she wholeheartedly regretted. Five giant glowing white eyes stared back at her, dangerously close to the glass, and Iris was very much aware.
She bolted, opening and slamming the door in front of her as fast as she could. It took her a few seconds to realize but when she had slammed the door there had been a scuffling noise. "W-who's there?!" Iris called into the lab room.
"IRIS?!" A gloriously familiar voice called out.
"VARIAN!" Iris couldn't help but shriek with joy running toward the source of the noise. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Who took you! Are you hurt?! What'd they do to you!?" She was practically in tears as she spotted his cage and undid the latch on the door. Just as eager as her, Varian ran from the cage and clung with all his might to her arms and hands. "We need to leave! NOW!" Varian frantically warned, his expression becoming one of complete fear.
"Why so soon?"
Iris jumped, practically bouncing Varian from her grasp. She looked around, terrified, and the young alchemist's own terror didn't help.
"So sad... I never get visitors... no one ever comes here willingly," The voice seemed to be taunting them. "What's the matter, Dynnbukido* got your tongue?" The distorted voice spat.
The mention of the unfamiliar name seemed to spark a paralyzing fear into Varian and, violently shaking, he could only glance up at Iris with tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Your friend is right to be afraid... but you don't seem scarred..." It echoed all around her.
"Oh yeah? Why should I?" Iris called back into the darkness.
"Because it may very well be the last thing you ever do..." The voice answered, right behind her. Iris whipped around, clutching Varian to her chest protectively, his small hands gripping onto her with an inhuman strength. What she saw startled her. She was nose to nose with a young man roughly a few years older than her. His eyes were a glowing gold color that burned into her like nothing else. His skin and hair were sheet white. His clothes were of the finest designs and embroidery, fancy accessories lining every possible place, but being just enough that it ws just barely under overwhelming. With a well carved face he smirked down at her, stitch lines tracing from the corners of his mouth up to his ears. His clothes revealed his stomach where more of the same stitch lines traced straight across.
"I'll give you a head start..." He whispered, Iris being in perfect line of sight to see the three rows of dagger-like teeth that lined the inside of his mouth. Iris full well understood why Varian was petrified, as she herself found it hard to move in the demon's presence.
" 5... 4..." He began to count, a large toothy mouth opening across his torso. Iris didn't need anything more to tell her to go.
Fueled by adrenaline, Iris ran out the room and down the hall, the ominous eyes watching her again, but retreating rapidly into the darkness the second the young man's voice reached its ears. Iris foolishly stole a glance at her pursuer only to see something that would plague her in her sleep for the rest of her life.
Practically exploding into the second room, she slammed the door, finding a latch and bolting it. As she did so a ear splitting screech filled the under ground. Iris looked down to see a long black barbed tongue caught in the door crack, crushed between the frame and the door. Wasting no time she remembered something that might be of service to her as the door cracked and splintered, deafening blows rhythmically landing on the other side.
Running to the lever Iris yanked down with all her might, still clinging to Varian. With a rusty creak, slowly but surely, the lever came down and the glass holding the water from flooding the room began to rapidly crack.
"RAGH!" The door shattered and the nightmarish creature gave a howling screech, pouncing at the siren. Iris dodge, letting the demon's momentum deal the final blow on the glass wall. Already running, iris could hear the rush of the water flooding the chasm.
"Close your eyes and hold your breath V!" Iris cried, to which Varian didn't question. Now able to feel the spray of the roaring tsunami, Iris dived forward, perfectly and smoothly letting the water over take them. And no sooner than did the water surround them did the siren take her true form. With a long white glistening tail and turquoise fading sea green fins, Iris swam up the rapidly filling ladder hole.
Much faster then her decent, the two surfaced, and Iris's legs quickly returned before the small human could see."Varian?!" First thing she did was check to see if he was alive as the water calmly rose out of the hole like a drain in reverse, just enough to shove them and the rest of the debit out of the house and into the rising sunlight.
Varian coughed up a bit of water, then rolled onto his back, looking up at his rescuer with a new respect. "you came to save me!.." He sputtered, "WELL DUH! I'M LOW KEY OFFENDED YOU THOUGHT ID LEAVE YOU WITH WHATEVER FREAK DEMON HAD RUN OFF WITH YOU GOSH!" Iris laughed back, sitting up, and embracing him in a cold, wet hug. "I thought I lost you! Don't you ever EVER dare do something like that again!" She softly scolded him, just so happy that they were even alive.
-A/N-
*Dynnbukido - (din-boo-key-doe) A demon known to take a human form, very rare and for good reason. They are the embody ment of fear and death. Ways to identify them are their golden eyes and white hair. They also have what look like stitch lines tracing from their jaw tracing further up their face. These lines mark where their mouths can open wider much like a snake. They have these similar lines on their stomach. Dynnbukidoes also tend to dress very lavishly.
[Inspiration from a realistic fanart of an among us impostor and the random profile picture of a random account i saw]
Really really hope y'all liked that! I did in fact make up the Dynnbukido, so if you use it please give credit! Anyway yeah!
Happy Hallow's Eve! love you all!