Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/22790119
by WhyAreYouRunning
Notes
It should be noted I based this piece off an old fanfic I read years ago, I don't remember who wrote it, but it's worth mentioning this is not all my own idea.
(Had to republish this I'm still working out how FF works over Ao3, still working out the kinks)
For Where the Tracks Roll
The pill bug laid there for some time, among the grass, quite unaware of his surroundings. It was peaceful now; the sun was just barely peeking above the horizon. It's golden rays burning the very air as they glistened off the morning dew. Unlike most mornings, however, the crisp air that usually followed nightfall was noticeably absent. Instead, he was treated by a warm blanket of sunshine that sunk into every nook and cranny of his shell, one that set a heavy fog over his mind.
Despite the haze his mind naturally began to wander to this and that. It wondered this way and that, never staying to long one one subject. That is until he hit a sudden roadblock.
He had no idea who he was.
His eyes instantly shot open and he sat up. This was a mistake as he was immediately overcome with a sense of nausea, he felt dizzy, and the world seemed to spin around him. He fought through it and stood up, leaning on one claw against the side of a tree.
Wait, a tree? He thought to himself.
His confusion and disorientation took a back seat for a few seconds as he took in his surroundings. He was in a small patch of grass surrounded by a large forest that spread outward in every direction. The forest itself wasn't too dense as beams of light cascaded through the canopy every which way onto the forest floor, which was covered in a layer of fallen leaves even though the trees all appeared to be quite green and bushy with leaves. They swayed back and forth, shaking in the ever-steady breeze going west.
As he was taking in the scenery around him he was, quite suddenly, thrown back into reality. His mind filled with images and memories. There was a small town and a well, then a city in the rain, and a dark shadow with two white glowing eyes, then darkness. Not like a darkened room, but an all-encompassing darkness, one that struck at the very soul. Once more nausea overtook him as he clung to the tree for dear life.
Just as it came it faded away and he was left alone. Though shaken up a bit he was able to rearrange his thoughts and try to decipher these new images. That place, he thought to himself, it was a Kingdom. I'm sure of it, it was ahh… He stood up straight, off the tree trunk, snapping his finger. He knew this, he could feel a small voice in the back of his head screaming at him to remember.
Hollownest.
He felt a cold shiver run down his shell and another image popped into his head, a black egg. That's a good sign, I think. It means I'm probably right. He reassured himself. This, however, did not explain how he had gotten here. This was very clearly someplace he'd never seen before. Or at least I don't think I have. His mind was going in a loop, he needed more information. I won't find anything sitting around here I suppose. And before his mind could scare him away, he set off north, parallel to the rising sun.
As he walked more of his memories started to seep back in. His name was Quirrel and he was an adventurer, I'm pretty sure. It was correct but he had the distinct feeling that there was more to it than that. He came from a kingdom, called Hollownest. Where Hollownest was in relation to him or what he did there was still a mystery to him. He assumed he went to explore them, or maybe visit? No, exploring sounds right. Though it's odd to go exploring in a place you grew up in, at least as a job.
The longer he walked the more acute to his surroundings he became. He made note that the underbrush had grown thicker here, but they were strewn around in strange patterns. Not how seeds would naturally fall. They formed in clumps all around but leaving distinct walking space between them, almost all the same distance between each other. It didn't bother him too much, he had never been to this place before, maybe it was just a strange quirk of the land.
What did bother him, however, was the silence. It was deafening. It made the whole forest feel a lot more foreboding, more unnatural. Even the quiet shuffle of leaves, and the occasional crack of a fallen stick under his feet did little to penetrate the silence.
That is, until something did, which was almost worse than the silence. A rustle in the bushes just a little ways from Quirrel, something was picking through it. Though he had lost most of his memories his inquisitive nature lived on as his curiosity got the better of him.
He eased his way forward, avoiding the fallen branches and debris. He moved silently over the dead leaves, it came sort of natural to him, like he had done this before.
He was only a few meters away from the bush when suddenly a black blur flashed out and leaped at Quirrel.
Quirrel let out a loud gasp of surprise before the black object smashed into his midsection. Instinctively he reached for his nail which wasn't there. The weight and force of the object knocked him to his knees. He landed down by a tree, acting as a natural break to his fall.
Quirrel covered his mask with his arms and waited for whatever it was to devour him. But the devouring never came. Uncovering his mask he looked down at the small shadow clutching his chest.
He couldn't see anything past the white mask it wore, two horns jutted out of the top, wrapping upwards at an angle, like a pair of antlers. The only other distinctive feature were two dark eye holes.
Without even really thinking he put a name to the small creature, "Ghost?" The small creature looked up at him. He looked surprised and quickly released Quirrel. Keeping eye contact the small knight crooked his head to the side, in a questioning manner.
He (sort of) understood the context. "That's your name, isn't it? I'm sorry I don't quite know how I know it. But I… This may seem odd but I feel as if I know you, yet I don't know how. But it would seem that in some way you recognize me as well." The knight seemed to pause a second then nodded at Quirrel yet he still had an air of uncertainty around him.
He definitely recognized the small bug, and vice versa, he assumed. But apart from the name, he could account for any other meeting between the two. And yet, his mind was nagging at him, like he should remember something important.
Standing up and rubbing the sticks and leaves off of him. "So, you wouldn't happen to know where we are?" The small bug shook his head. "How did we get here?" Once again Ghost shook his head again. "Okay, do you remember anything about me?" This time Ghost paused for a second. A few seconds passed and Ghost seemed to be getting progressively more distressed. This did not go unnoticed by Quirrel who brought the small bug back to reality.
"It's okay little friend I'm just as lost on such matters. It's strange really. I can't help but feel as if my memories are locked away, like there's a veil over my mind that clouds my vision, one I can't seem to puncture." A new feeling washed over Quirrel. That's strange, a wave of deja voo. It made his shell shiver but was soon back to the small bug in front of him who was nodding enthusiastically.
Suddenly Ghost was, seemingly, struck by inspiration. He ran back to the bushes. Before Quirrel could even ask what they were doing Ghost came bounding back out with a large stick (well, large for his size). Quickly pushing some of the leaves aside from where he was standing making a circle of uncovered dirt, he began writing.
It didn't take him long to finish. In the dirt he had written Quirrel and pointed up at the pill bug. Quirrel looked back at Ghost and smiled, for the first time since he had arrived. He lightly chuckled "Thank you friend." Quirrel said softly. As they stared at each other they felt an apparent spark between the two. But as soon as it came it passed, they had bigger problems to deal with.
"Well, we're burning daylight just standing here…" Quirrel looked at the sky. The sun was now directly overhead, noon. Strange, I could have sworn it was morning. How long was I walking for? Quirrel didn't dwell on it, must have just lost track of time. "We should get moving, see if we can't find any semblance of civilization." Ghost nodded in agreement and two set off north.
In a large sprawling forest, covered in the lush greenery of summer. The discarded leaves painted the floor in an amber and yellow mesh. Only being complemented by the green foliage scattering the floor here and there. The forest is home to no one, its silence eats anything that would dare break its silence with only one, no, two exceptions. For within its branches and leaves are two explorers.
The two had been walking for seemingly hours now and had made some distance, but there had been no sign of any sort of house or road on their path. The sun had begun to sink behind the horizon. The forest seemed to explode in color. Every green leaf was enraptured in the orange glow of the setting sun.
With what little light they had they made a small makeshift shelter if you could call it that. It was a simple structure made of two large sticks then covered in branches and leaves. Then two beds made of leaves. They both took their places under the canopy; the sky was covered with the long swaying branches of the forest.
Quirrel had been worried at first about food supply as it was at a total of nothing. But in their time walking he had felt nothing that could equate to hunger. He also wasn't entirely sure if his companion could eat.
Sleeping in the middle of an unknown forest didn't bother Quirrel as much as he thought it would, it was like he was accustomed to it. I suppose I must have done a lot of exploring in my time he thought to himself. What also bugged him was the fact that even though he was cold, it didn't seem to bother him, he didn't shiver or even really acknowledge it. He sort of just existed in it. Yet he still couldn't sleep. Now with night descending on the forest the silence was more apparent than ever. There were no chirps or flutter of wings, no glow of low hums from lower bugs. Just the occasional rattling of trees with the wind.
The moon was quite bright tonight, the sun's reflection casting a shadow over the forest. Quirrel was an adult, he was sure of this, he had to be, oh… 30? 40? Maybe? It didn't matter much. In his adolescence the shadows were still quiet, frightening. Every shadow that moved or every shake of a tree leaves instinctively put him on guard.
And it seems he was not the only one.
Ghost was sat up in his bed, head scanning the expansive forest. Since the trees weren't too thick or close together one could see rather far even at night. Though it made the moving shadows all the more sinister. Ghost was on edge, that was apparent, which was surprising to the adventurer. The knight always seemed to have an air of strength around him, one unmatched by anything Quirrel had ever seen before. Or could remember having seen. It seemed nothing could scare the small knight.
Sitting up from his resting position Quirrel tugged on the small bugs shoulder, making Ghost visibly jump in surprise. "It is alright my friend, I doubt there is much in these woods. We seem to be in some sort of dead zone here, and even if there is something watching from the shadows, it is so quiet here we will hear it coming a mile away." This seemed to calm Ghost a bit, Quirrel could feel the small bug's body physically relax. "Or the creature is so quiet that we would never even know it existed. Perhaps that's why it remains so dead here." That last part he said to himself more than anyone around him. But this unsurprisingly did not help the small knight feel better. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Quirrel quickly realized this and began to backtrack. "Well, wait, see we haven't seen any footprints around, nor any signs of any sort of struggle or even any droppings. It could very well be we are simply in a dead zone. There is nothing to worry about." Hopefully.
He wasn't telling the whole truth. If a creature didn't make any noise while moving it probably wouldn't leave any footprints. And it was a rather large forest, just because they hadn't seen anything yet didn't mean the forest was completely empty.
One could guess that Ghost didn't entirely believe him, but it was as good as it was going to get. Ghost seemed to look back down at his bed, hesitantly, then looking back up at the trees. They needed sleep, Quirrel had a feeling they had a long day of walking ahead of them. So, he came up with a solution. "It seems you won't be getting much sleep like this. If you'd like you could sleep over here next to me." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth he realized what he had said and once more began to backtrack.
"Well, I mean only if you'd like, you know, strength in numbers and I thought you…" Quirrel said, he mumbled the rest under his breath. It didn't seem to matter much as Ghost hopped up from his small makeshift bed and laid down next to Quirrel, facing him. Quirrel was a bit surprised by how willing the small bug was.
With a newfound sleep mate, the eerily quiet forest didn't seem so scary anymore. Quirrel laid down as well. Suddenly he felt very tired, he could barely keep his eyes open, and sleep soon overtook him.
Quirrel woke sometime later, the sun was just rising over the horizon. The day was young. The two bugs stretched their limbs out, even though it wasn't necessary. Force of habit I suppose Quirrel thought. Oddly enough his bones didn't ache, they still felt refreshed and invigorated with energy even after walking all day yesterday. He may have lost his memories, but he was still aware of how much one's body could take. His mind felt old and decrepit with broken thoughts while his body felt young and youthful.
It made it very hard to estimate his age which was still a mystery to him. In the case of his friend it was just as much so. The small bug was obviously older than he looked. He had a sort of look about him, and his stature, how he presented himself. He seemed almost… Hollow. But he was still very much aware and alive, had desires and needs just like any other bug. As seen from last night. But he wasn't sure if Ghost needed to eat, he seemed to need sleep just like him. A true mystery. But they had known each other in Hollownest. What sort of relationship that was had yet to be deciphered, but it wasn't a bad one as far as Quirrel could tell.
Something had happened to them, out there. How they went from the empty city to the middle of an unknown forest was still an anomaly. What happened to us? How did we get here? Why can't we remember anything? Any sort of explanation he could come up with was not good.
Quirrel hadn't realized he was standing, staring out into space until he felt a slight tug on his leg. Looking down at the small knight… Small knight? Instantly his mind was filled with new images.
There was a giant glowing blue creature in a half orb, its undercarriage was a foray of appendages. Electricity spewing out every few seconds, the very air itself seemed to pop with static flame. Yet through the chaos a black blur flying around the room, hopping from one platform to the next. Gracefully slashing the beast at every opportune moment. Every move is as if in a sort of morbid dance.
A new scene popped into his head. A large window overlooked a dreary city, it's raining hard but that seems par for the course. The small knight looked out from the window perch over the city before turning to him. The image began to fuzz as he stepped over to the scholar and sat down next to him. He said something to the knight which he couldn't make out, but he felt it wasn't too important. Ghost looked up at him, head crooked to the side in a questioning manner.
And just like that he is thrown back into reality. Quirrel felt a slight touch at his side once again, the knight stared with his head crooked in confusion, but with a subtle look of worry on his face. "Ghost, I think I just remembered something about you. You were… A knight, I believe. The knight of Hollownest."
Ghosts changed from concerned to surprised. He stared up at Quirrel but he wasn't looking at him but rather he was looking past him into a void. He snapped back to reality soon after. What the small knight had seen Quirrel would never properly know, not that the knight could do much to help him.
It made getting information rather difficult, but at least they were making progress. Quirrel was worried that he may never get his memories back. Probably just irrational fear, but it didn't make him feel much better.
Despite this the two were reinvigorated and began their trek forward. Once more, toward unknown horizons. Or just more trees, Quirrel thought. That was an unpleasant thought, he'd been having quite a few of those recently. Who knew how far this forest went? It could go on for hundreds of miles, and what after that? Maybe they just hit a large body of water or a dessert.
While in his thoughts he looked over to his friend who was pacing ahead just a few meters away. An air of determination surrounded him, the sort of drive that no cliff nor sea or even desert could dissuade. I suppose we'll cross them then, Quirrel thought.
Even though he, in his current state, had only known Ghost for a day now he couldn't help but admire the bug. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was exactly that drew him in. Maybe it was the previously described drive and ambition, maybe the unbridled strength hidden behind a rather small facade. Maybe it was the small things, like Ghost's natural curiosity, or his compassion.
Compassion? Yes, an image of him running around Hollownest with a white flower, a very delicate one at that. Ghost ran all around Hollownest giving them to the various inhabitants, however, few there were left. There was no real reason for such affection, he wasn't created to feel such emotions. Maybe it was a message. One of rebirth, that Hollownest would live on after him. Or perhaps maybe it was more sentimental, that even in the darkness and despair there was still beauty.
The little knight walked up to him finally. It was sitting on a beach looking behind him at the small knight who was holding onto a small flower held in both hands. "What is it my friend?" He said, his words were muffled for some reason. Like the memory was distorted.
Ghost walked up to him and held out the flower to Quirrel. He had seen others with the flower around, and yet, this felt special for some reason. Like this was meant for a deeper meaning. He was lacking context at the moment so it was hard to tell. Was it for affection or for comradery? It was also hard to focus with this deep feeling of sadness. He felt tears welling at the sides of his eyes. It's not a I love you, Quirrel thought, it's a goodbye. He felt the cold water around his legs.
Just like that the memory was gone and he was back to the forest. And yet he still felt the tears staining his face, and his legs still felt cold as ice, as if all the blood had left them. Lucky for him Ghost was still facing forward and missed Quirrel's outburst of emotion. Wiping the tears away from his eyes he continued forward.
Through the tree line they could make out a sort of opening, one that spread east to west seemingly infinitely. Like a trench running through the foliage. When they pushed into the clearing they found a set of train tracks. Traveling in both directions as far as the eye could see. Surrounding the track was a layer of pebbles and small rocks set between brown wooden boards.
The tracks showed no wear. The iron rails glistened in the sunlight as if they had been recently polished and the wooden boards looked fresh cut. The duo didn't take much notice of this as they were overjoyed to have found any semblance of civilization. "Well, these tracks have to lead somewhere." Quirrel said, gesturing forward at the tracks. "And by the look of them it must be well used, maybe if we're lucky we'll run into a train."
Ghost looked up at him, head cocked in that confused stare. "You know, trains, those big metal engines that drive along these tracks." Ghost shrugged. "I suppose we have something to look forward to then." The two began down the tracks.
They followed the tracks for a good few hours and as they went more of Quirrel's memories slowly slipped back. The plague in Hollownest, the egg, the plan, Monomon, her fate, and their role in it all. Though most of what he actually did there was still a blur he got a general idea. It felt sad to remember all this again, for a third time now but for some reason it wasn't as bad. It just seemed so distant now. Unfortunately this brought on a plethora of other questions.
Most prominent being how long ago were these memories? He remembers the date these events happened but he had no way of knowing what day it was today. I suppose I'll find out at the end of these tracks, they have to lead to a town of some sort. They'll have what I need. Quirrel thought.
The two marched along the track as it slowly twisted and wound around the forest. Ghost spent much of his time atop one of the tracks, swaying back and forth, trying to stay upright. Quirrel couldn't help but watch the small knight. Something about him, the way he moved. How he presented himself, never a missed beat and always moving forward. Though every time Ghost would look back a Quirrel would quickly look away. As if embarrassed.
Eventually the track began to even out straight forward. One could see at the end of the path a slight opening in the trees. When they emerged through the slit in the tree line they were greeted to a seemingly endless golden field spreading outwards. The midday sun made each golden strand glisten as it waved in the breeze. The tree line made a direct stop here, forming a perfect line in both directions, directly horizontal to the tracks. The only thing that continued forward was the train tracks that disappeared over the horizon.
"My god, I've… I've never seen anything like this." Quirrel said, peering out into the endless valley. "It would seem we're a lot farther away from Hollownest then I thought." He said, "but this." He gestured at the perfect line of trees. "This is, this is something else entirely. I mean this breaks all conventions, even of logic itself." He said, looking to the wall of trees that spread outward infinitely. "Maybe it was something to do with the soil…" He was talking to himself at this point.
Something brought him back to the present. He felt a change in the air, a sort of uneasiness. Looking down at his partner he saw Ghost looking out into the field, but he wasn't really looking. Rather staring blankly at nothing. Even though he didn't seem to emote in the same way other bugs did Quirrel could still see the distress on Ghost's face. He seemed to be clenching his chest, as if in pain.
He wasn't even aware of Qurriel's presence, he wasn't aware of anything really. Quirrel got down on one knee and slowly edged his claw toward Ghost. When he made contact with Ghost's shoulder the bug visibly jumped, but quickly regained his composure. He looked back up at Quirrel. Even though he had returned to his natural, rather neutral, stance it did not mask his pain.
Not pain as in physical but rather something emotional. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you like that you just seemed… Distressed." Quirrel said. "Is everything alright?" Ghost looked away, as if ashamed, or maybe just embarrassed, Quirrel could only speculate. "It's your memories, isn't it?" Ghost continued to look away. Quirrel was about to continue when Ghost's demeaner changed suddenly, he turned and stared up at the sky. "What is it? What did you…" The rest of Quirrel's sentence died in his mouth as he stood up and looked up at the sky.
The moon was full tonight, casting its own shadow over everything. Just like the night before. "But that… That's impossible. It was just midday a second ago. I could have sworn…" Quirrel hadn't lost his footing, or even moved in the slightest. Which made the fact that he was now lying on his back amongst the golden grass, still looking up at the stars, all the odder.
The ground was surprisingly comfy. It was softer than any grass he'd ever felt. A sort of cold fear began to run through him but before it could properly settle he felt something grab onto his claw. Looking to his left and found Ghost lying beside him. His claw clamped in a hug by the small bug. This calmed Quirrel down. He turned his head back up to the stars.
The night sky was covered with little yellow dots. Twinkling brightly, there were no clouds out tonight, the sky was a full canvas. As Quirrel scanned the night sky he couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong, something was off about the stars. Then it hit him.
He couldn't recognize constellations; all the stars here were different. Which meant wherever they were it was far, far away from Hollownest. Far from anything. "This place… It's so surreal. It's unlike anything I've seen before. Where do you suppose we are?" Quirrel said, not really talking to anyone.
The stars started to swirl, it was like the whole of space was bending. He felt woozy and a bit sick. He felt like he was falling, no, sinking into the floor. It made it hard to breathe, hard to think. The all-encompassing darkness began to cloud his vision and his body numbed. The only thing he could feel was his claw being squeezed. Each breath became more hindered and forced. Am I… am I dying? No…
He was sitting at the edge of the blue lake. Its beautiful shimmering water lapped slowly against the beach. That much he was sure of, but everything else still felt mucky, the memory was still broken up. As if his subconscious was desperately trying to shut it out.
He felt very tired, not sad or even angry, just tired. Tired of constantly losing those who were close to him, tired of traveling aimlessly around. With no real home to call his own. He sat up from his resting spot and stepped into the water.
He felt the cold water wrap around his legs, it chilled to the bones. He blinked and found himself now waist deep in the water. Just a few more steps… Once more he closed his eyes and opened them to find the water had climbed up to his neck. He had never been so scared in his life, as he stared out into the endless black void. With a heavy breath and closed his eyes once more.
The water was everywhere now. In every nook and cranny, every cut and aching bone. The blue lake would reflect the world in all its majesty on the surface. but under its depths was nothing, only darkness. As he sank he made a feeble attempt to move, to climb back up, but to no avail. He could only stare up at the shimmering surface above him as he sank deeper and deeper.
Until there was nothing but darkness.
As he began to fade away, and his mind began to fizzle out he became aware of a new feeling. No, not a new feeling, one he's had for a while now. His claw, Ghost was still holding it. And with it his mind moved, down in the dark depths lake there was a bright light, a warm light. He forced his body to move, slowly making his way closer to the light. As he approached it he began to regain his strength, his mind was less foggy as he moved himself to the light.
He wasn't swimming anymore, instead of walking slowly towards it. Like he was walking along the seafloor. There was no shimmering surface above him nor ground below him, all he could see was the ever-present light in front of him. As he got closer his mind was filled with many images, most of which pertained to the small knight.
He remembers meeting Ghost at the black egg, their first meeting. He remembers them traveling through the thick of Greenpath together. Standing at the edge of the Lake of Unn. Then through the Mantis Village, the knight gracefully leaping over the great Mantis Lords before making a mighty slash across her abdomen. Then in the City of Tears, on a metal bench overlooking the city center. Sleep slowly overtaking him as Ghost sat next to him fast asleep, his mask tucked comfortably against Quirrel's side. Then once more in Deepnest, in the hot springs they sat together following a short-lived splash fight.
More and more memories slipped into his psyche. Yet through them all, through the fighting, the wounds and dying, the amazing places he had seen and discovered. The only time he was only happy, truly happy, was when he was with Ghost.
The light was in reach now, its heavenly glow was warm and inviting, and he could swear he heard a soft hum behind it. He reached out his claw towards the light. As soon as his hand made contact with the orb it seemed to expand outward. His entire vision was filled with the light to the point he could no longer see his claws in front of his face.
As the warmth spread throughout his whole body. The ball of light began, just as suddenly as it had expanded, to shrink down to nothing. Leaving nothing but darkness behind. Until he opened his eyes. And just like that he was back under the endless parade of stars. He could feel the grass beneath him and the breeze against his shell. He could feel the air return to his lungs as if he'd been breathing fine this whole time.
Against his chest he felt another presence against him. Looking down at his waste he found Ghost head laying against his chest facing away from him. And still in his arms was Quirrel's claw, as if he was hanging on for dear life.
"Ghost? Are you alright?" Quirrel said. Ghost's head immediately shot up and he stared at Quirrel. Two dark streaks were present on Ghost's mask as tears fell down his face. Quirrel was all but able to sit up before Ghost crashed himself into his chest. He hugged the small knight back as they sat there. Underneath the night sky.
"Hey it's alright, I'm fine." Quirrel said, pushing the knight back a bit so and smiling. "Well, I mean, relatively fine all things considered." Ghost had calmed down a bit. Quirrel looked fine. Though Quirrel did preface that with a 'relatively'.
"Yeah, I think… I think I know what happened to me." Quirrel seemed to stall a bit as if trying to find the right words. "After we fought Uumuu, in the teacher's archive, I went to the Blue Lake, if you remember. I think… I think you visited me… There." Quirrel said. Ghost nodded slowly. "Then, why did I do it?" Well, he sort of knew why he did it, but if Ghost had visited him that would mean Ghost was, well, still alive. He would still have had something to hold onto.
I wouldn't abandon my friend… Would I? "I'm… I'm so sorry. I…" Quirrel was getting choked up as the words seen to get stuck in his throat. "That day, at the lake, I didn't… I didn't come back…" Quirrel paused for a second, looking away from the small knight, as if ashamed. "I… I drowned there. I died…" Quirrel looked back up at Ghost. "I killed myself." Quirrel said in a small, shaken voice. "I abandoned you, I just… Just." It was getting very hard to focus on his eyes filling with water. "I'm sorry…" He barely squeaked out.
He wasn't upset at the fact he had died, not really, he had sort of made his peace with that already. It's that he had forgotten someone, and now he felt nothing but guilt. Ghost walked up to him once more and hugged his waist which made him feel a bit better. With that moment of clarity, he returned to the idea of his abandonment. And the fact that it didn't make any sense.
"You know." Quirrel said through his sniffles, "I don't know why I'd ever do something like that. I'm a lot of things in a lot of different people but I've never abandoned a friend." Seeing as Quirrel had calmed down Ghost took a step back. Though, now that he thought about it there was one major thing he hadn't taken into account. "But then. Ghost, why are you here? Are you just a memory, here to remind me of my failure forever, or did you..." Quirrel didn't get to finish that sentence as Ghost opened up his cloak.
Along Ghosts chest was a large nail slice. This wasn't a sort of surface cut like Ghost was usually covered in, this went deep. Probably deep enough to hit something vital. And at that moment he could have sworn he saw a huge crack running down Ghost's mask, splitting the mask asunder. The final bits fell into place, "Oh yea, that's right." Quirrel had learned about the plan, and he knew Ghost's destiny. And it did not end well. Ghost was doomed to be forever locked away or die. It seems he took the latter. Quirrel couldn't live with losing his only friend. He had already lost so much, he just couldn't take it.
They sat beneath an endless sky. The moon casting its mithril light on everything. The world wasn't bright by any means that night, but it was definitely glowing. They looked into each other's eyes, with not much left to say. Well, not entirely. Ghost cocked his head in that questioning matter of which Quirrel had become quite accustomed to, and Quirrel read it like a book. "I'm not sure what happens next, but I suppose it doesn't really matter does it? Let's just be here, together. Even for just a little bit longer. Let the world crumble away and die for all I care."
Ghost walked up to Quirrel and took his claw into his hand, still staring into Quirrel's eyes. This roused something in Quirrel, and for the first time since he had arrived at this place, he felt a warm within him. He laid down in the grass once more and Ghost snuggled up next to him. He could feel sleep overtaking him like an unstoppable tsunami. He stared up at the night sky one last time, the stars were truly beautiful.
At that moment he pondered, in a dying bug's final moments there is a huge spike in brain activity before death, then nothing. Was this all, perhaps, just his brain shutting down? The last remnants of consciousness before the light inside of him disappear? Was he going to fade away forever?
He felt Ghost at his side, his steady breathing told him he had fallen fast asleep. Well, thought Quirrel, I suppose it doesn't really matter. With that he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him.
He woke up the next day standing by the train tracks, Ghost was standing next to him. Off in the distance they could hear the distinct sound of an engine, a plume of smoke rose above the treetops, slowly movubg in their direction. "Train's a-comin'." Quirrel said, looking down at Ghost. Where do you suppose it's going? Ghost couldn't talk but Quirrel interpreted pretty well. Quirrel reached down and picked Ghost up in his arms and embraced the small knight. "As long as I'm with you, it doesn't really matter…"
End Notes
Oof, this was a rough one. I usually talk down my writing more then it usually deserves but for this, this was a mess. I had this really cool idea, based on an old fic I had read ages ago, but implementing it has proven to be far more difficult than I had anticipated. This was the first fic I ever actually started writing but I had to take a break halfway through due to writer's block, you can see how some of the ideas bled through to the other story. This story has been rewritten and changed a dozen times over again and it still didn't turn out how I wanted it. To be honest the only reason I ended up posting it was because I didn't want it just sitting in my drive doing nothing, it would have driven me mad. I want to move away from this fic for good, so chances are it won't be updated or anything. That being said I might, one day, revisit the idea and write something different. But until then Imma head out. On a side note, I plan on writing a new fic based on Hornet and Quirrel that will hopefully be a bit more lighthearted and less sad then my last two pieces.
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