Time Flies When you are In the Dark

The week passed agonizingly slow for Billy; he walked around Konoha, trying new things, fixed his apartment, and settled down. He likewise discovered something new that was not in John's memories Konoha looked completely different from the show.

The first thing he noticed was the academy district; it was surprisingly big. In John's memories from the show, they only showed one building, but the academy itself counts as a district based on how big it is.

The academy has five-hundred classes, training fields, Teacher's quarter, first-year or student quarters, small lakes, survival training forest That includes a small river/streams, kitchen, Konoha's official library, and the entrance to the bunker in case of an emergency.

The second district was the tea districts, and it was near the merchant districts; in this area, the majority of the civilian population lived; the shops are rare here, but they exist, and they are mostly sweet shops, corner stores, cafes, tea houses, and small boutiques.

The district was made to be livable, with small parks everywhere you go, civilian schools, and some small onsens.

And in the tea district was the noble's quarter, and in the noble's fashion these fuckers built their houses too big next to each other, their place is not a district per se they live near the tea district, but because they build their houses too big you can count them as a quarter of a district, most of these nobles live here based on their jobs from the capital of Hai no Kuni.

As history went when they built Konoha, they needed some nobles to live here and monitor the progress, but most nobles would not live-in squalor, so they used the funds the government gave them and built huge homes that they were satisfied with; now, whenever new nobles claim the job, they will receive the same home as the position entails.

Next to the tea and noble quarter is the merchant's district. This is where I live, and most of the shops in Konoha, the place is always bustling; there are shops for everything, some banks, restaurants, and a storage area where they unload and sell raw materials for shops.

East of the merchant district was the onsen district, which is near the Hokage rock; from the mountain, hot water comes out as a small river that feeds the onsen around Konoha. This district is mainly used for onsens, and swimming pools, because of the high steam and humidity only the Aburame lives near the onsens, the rest is a relaxing area.

Speaking of the Aburame, almost every clan has a base of operation or a compound.

Some clan compounds live next to each other, some live far apart in the middle of a district, and finally, some have the power to get a huge forest all to themselves; and in these cases, these compounds transform into a district, these clans are The Senju, the Uchiha, the Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Hyuga, Aburame, and finally The Inuzuka who gained not one, but two forests next to them, and they have one of the three rivers of Konoha connected to one of their forests.

Next to the Senju compound is the weapons district; the district looks like a maze; there are shops hanging by a chain in the middle of the road like a bird's cage, the building are stacked one by one in a zigzag motion on the road, there is only one way in and one way out like a middle eastern bazaar. They even used alleyways to build shops there; it is common if you enter an alleyway, you may find two or even five shops trying to sell weapons.

The apartments on top of shops are also weird there are signs on almost all the apartment advertising a shop on top of the apartment or below them,

Next comes the smell of the district; it has the smell of molten metal and coal, and when you are near the district, you can hear the sounds of the rumbling war machine that is working day and night.

When you are about to exit the district, you will find more apartments that are kind of rundown, but they look livable; near them are some specialized blacksmiths who do custom work; likewise, there are other weird shops that sell peculiar items of war, like Fūinjutsu stores, poisons stores, clan specialization stores, specialized armor stores, and finally shinobi toy shops.

Then there was, the last two districts he could not explore fully or not allowed to enter was the Shinobi district and the Hokage mountain.

He could not get into the Shinobi district; civilians and below genin are not allowed inside. But it was near the Hokage building, and most people could look down at the district.

And finally, the Hokage mountain, most of it was closed off to tourists, but there are some tours that let you climb the mountain and look at the surrounding area.

Billy sighed while he was lying on his back looking at the ceiling, he did almost everything trying to remove his boredom, and currently, he is living on instant ramen; he groaned and raised himself. "Maaaan I really want to eat some steaks!" he closed his eyes, "I think I am forgetting something here, hmm I was supposed to do something today, and I remember last night I was excited about it, hmm welp if I forgot about it maybe it's not that important."

He started rolling around in his apartment making weird sounds "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz," then he stopped, and groaned "I am bored; I just wish something will happen."

Suddenly he heard a crash, Billy quickly stood up and looked at his door, somebody kicked the door open 'Who is it, maybe its that noble lady, did she figure out where I lived?'

When he looked at the figure, he only saw a blackened figure that is covered by the shadow of the sun "OI! BAKAYARO!"

Billy heard this voice before "YAMAZAKI-OYABUN!" The shadows slowly receded, only showing his shiny bald head; he is currently smoking a cigar with a smile.

"OI GAKI, I LEAVE YOU FOR ONE WEAK, AND YOU THINK YOU COULD RUN AWAY FROM YOUR DUTIES!"

"B…BUT I SWEAR YAMAZAKI-OYABUN I FORGOT!" He stuttered and gulped a little.

Yamazaki smirked, and slowly his smile widened. White teeth opened wide promising pain, "he..hehe…HEHEHEHE!"

"Why are you laughing like that, Oyabun?!" he asked with a timid caution.

Yamazaki slowly cracked his fingers. "Oh… Gaki, I will forgive you, in fact, I am going to forgive you by showing you how I taught my sons…" then he took a deep breath and spoke in a demonic voice, "Respect HAHAHAHA!" His eyes turned red and slowly walked towards Billy while laughing in a sinister manner, every step he took Billy felt the ground shake, the sky shatter from the pressure that this old man was showing, and when he reached Billy he slowly looked down, Billy looked up at the bald and bearded giant his cigar is slowly spewing smoke into the air shifting his appearance to that of a demon!

"W…Wha… what are you going to do to me?!" his eyes started to tear up.

In the distance, people heard a child scream and an old rumbling laugh from a demon; most thought that someone was watching a horror movie at full volume.

Yamazaki walked out of the apartment with a satisfied smile on his face, he started to descend from the staired, and whenever he took a step down, there was a sound "DING!" Yamazaki was pulling someone by their feet, like a Bengali tiger pulling its fresh prey, but this was not a simple prey; behind the demon with the thousand faces was a smoking corpse of a child in a mask.

The child's neighbor, an old woman, laughed, "THAT WHAT YOU GET, YOU BRAT!"

Billy groaned. "I think I signed my soul to the devil."

Yamazaki smirked. "Oh gaki, you wish you sold your soul to that knock off; I am going to show you pain!" and he started to laugh.

Billy sighed his last breath "Dddd…Demon."

Yamazaki slowly reached his store and opened it with a key, then he lifted Billy from his feet, looking him in the eyes. "Welcome to day one of your apprenticeship gaki" Then he threw Billy into the store.

Billy slowly stood up. "Man, it hurts; why did you beat me up, Oyabun? I really forgot about the work" Then he looked up at the clock. "OI, I WAS LATE BY TEN MINUTES"

Yamazaki folded his arms. "Gaki, I have a no late no returns policy; if you are late by even one minute, I will break your door again!" Then he popped his neck "alright, come to the forge. I am going to show you the first steps."

Billy sluggishly stood up, "Alright."

"Damn gaki, show some enthusiasm I am going to show you an art that is at least a thousand years old."

Billy walked towards the back of the shop and descended into the basement of the store there he found Yamazaki-Oyabun tending to the forge.

Yamazaki slowly sat down on a small wooden chair. "Alright, gaki, I am going to tell you a story, sit down" Billy obeyed him and sat down on the ground.

Yamazaki took a puff from his cigar. "Back a long, long time ago, there used to be a magician who did his craft with masks. One day the magician decided to travel from his village to seek more knowledge on how to create the ultimate trick," he slowly turned around and poked the forge's coals.

"While he traveled across the lands, he met many people, he showed them his magic and brought life back to their hearts, in one of these villages a child asked him 'what is the best magic out there?' " Yamazaki turned around and looked at Billy again. "The magician smiled at the child and answered, 'Well boyo, I think the best magic out there is when you can trick people into believing what is not there' The magician answered and started to twirl his masks around, switching them in a moment's notice."

Yamazaki stood up but kept on telling his story, "The child laughed and said, 'But magician-san I think you are wrong if you can trick people easily what about shinobi? I heard they are great, so if you cannot trick a shinobi, I bet your magic is bad' The magician instantly switched his mask from a happy face to an angry one. 'I will show you, child. I will find the best shinobi out there, and I will trick them with my mask magic!' "

Yamazaki started walking to the back of the basement but kept on talking "The magician traveled far and wide, challenging any shinobi he met and every time he lost he begged them to teach him their magic, and after years learning from the shinobi he found the best shinobi out there with eyes that cannot be tricked, that shinobi belonged to the Hyuga clan."

Yamazaki returned with a bag of coal. "The magician demanded a duel with the head of the Hyuga clan. 'I challenge you Hyuga to a duel of honor, I will trick your eyes' said the magician, the Hyuga accepted, and the magician won the duel after losing to them five hundred times" He sighed and started pouring coals into the forge.

"The Hyuga congratulated the magician, and they honored him with a feast; at the feast, one of the Hyuga asked the magician, 'Why do you continue challenging shinobi just to trick them, but not to kill them?' The magician smiled and changed his mask to a laughing clown 'Hohoho boyo, why would I want to kill someone when I can make them happy? After all, if I wanted to create the greatest trick, I need people to see it first, no?' answered the magician, and the Hyuga took a contemplating pose. 'Well, I can accept that you are the greatest trickster, but I bet you cannot trick a sage who is working with a summon clan' " Yamazaki sat down again after pouring the coals.

"The magician stood up and changed his mask into a schemer and declared to the whole clan, 'I will find a sage and tick him, then I will be known across the land as the greatest trickster in the world!' The magician traveled far and wide looking for this so-called sage, but he could not find him at all, the magician grew frustrated, until one day he found a sad duck near a lake, the magician started doing his act and cheered the duck up, then the duck swam underwater and brought some fish for them to eat 'Hohoho I was getting hungry boyo to thank you for the food' the duck and the magician started talking to pass the time 'Then the Hyuga invited me to a feast in my honor, but I am still not done boyo, one day I will find a sage, and I will trick him' The duck looked at the magician 'I know where to find a sage' The magician was shocked 'then take me to him' The duck touched the magician, and they both teleported into the summon lands."

Yamazaki stretched a little "The duck and the magician arrived at the summon lands and there sitting on a rock was a sage, the magician immediately challenged the sage for a duel, but the sage refused until the magician drank tea with him."

"The sage and the magician both sat down and drank tea, the sage kept on pestering the magician on what exactly he is looking for, and after a while the sage accepted, but on the condition that the magician will help him create a mask for his clan, both agreed on the terms and the magician tried day and nights for a thousand days, and on the final night the magician succeeded"

Yamazaki took a long deep puff and asked, "So, Billy, you think this is the end of the story?"

Billy shrugged. "I don't know oyabun, maybe I mean he did; trick a sage, what could be better than that?"

Yamazaki laughed. "Well, I think this is a story for another time, Now lets me show you how the forge works."

Billy and Yamazaki worked in the shop; Yamazaki was patient and knowledgeable of his craft; while they worked, Yamazaki told Billy that he needs a solid base of knowledge to start learning the craft "Oi gaki you need to learn the basics, that includes Fūinjutsu, metallurgy, woodworking, Weaving cloth, leatherworking, art, mathematics, weapon crafting theory, armor theory, weigh balance theory, advanced sleight of hand, and finally chakra channeling theory."

Billy looked up from his work, "all that for mask crafting?"

"Well, yes, gaki, what did you expect? We are not making toys here; this stuff we are working on are weapons and a way of fighting into themselves"

Billy nodded, "All Alright, so I am going to learn all of it from you?"

"Well, of course, gaki, you are my apprentice, and we can add my clan history into that as well since you will be teaching my grandkids when they grow up" then he muttered under his breath, "Might as well teach the kid since Izein hates our art" he mumbles.

Billy and Yamazaki continued working; when it was time for lunch, Yamazaki told Billy to get food for them both.

Billy nodded and went to get lunch; he had to be careful because Yamazaki ordered some soup, and Billy did not like the idea of a spilled hot soup on his legs, and after traveling around the merchant district, he reached the store.

When he was about to open the store, he heard someone talking inside; he put his ears on the door, "Dad, I heard people talking, they say you got a new apprentice?"

"Yes, Izein, I got a new apprentice since you do not want to continue our family's legacy!"

"So that's it, you are going to teach a stranger our family's craft and pass it down? Where was your talk that our family's craft will stay into the family, huh?"

"Oh, it will stay in the family, my apprentice will teach my grandchildren everything, hell I even signed a contract with the Hokage."

"I told you, father, I don't want my kids to become shinobi; it's an ugly business; look at what it did to my brother; we could not even do a proper burial for him! And you want my children to do the same!" then he heard aloud dry cough.

"Take it easy, Izein, here drink this"

"My…' cough' Children will never be shinobi while I am alive! I am out of here, dad."

Billy quickly moved from the store and hid near an ally way; what came out was a thin man with dark eyes and a half-mask on his mouth; he was using a stick to lean on while walking.

Billy watched the thin man walk away, leaning on his staff heavily. Billy sighed and looked down at the bags he was carrying and started to think.

'Fuck, this is awkward, how am I supposed to walk in like this, I mean, this is a private family matter, and I really doubt I have this strong bond with Oyabun… Hold up, wait a moment, I can just ignore it and pretend that I didn't hear anything, alright Billy, you did this before, act cool and casual.'

He started walking back to the store 'wait, what if he is crying, fuck I can't do this, alright plan B' he put his hands on the door and made some noise "Damn, the door is stuck Oyabun! I need some help the door is stuck!" then he heard some shuffling."

"Alright gaki, I am coming; let me come out of the bathroom!" after some time, the door opened, and Yamazaki's face was covered with water. "Come on, gaki, let's eat; we have to teach you a shit ton of stuff."

Both Billy and Yamazaki worked that day, but with less passion when they started the day, and Billy tried asking some silly questions to brighten up the old man's mood, which worked somewhat.

After a long day, Yamazaki closed the shop and told Billy to come back in the morning, and he gave Billy a stack of books for beginners on all subjects he learned today. "Now gaki I want you to finish these books in three months, then I am going to give you more if you are having any problems with the subjects ask me for help, alright? Oh, and there will be a test when you are finished."

Billy nodded, and just before he was about to turn around, "Oh right, how forgetful of me, here" Yamazaki handed Billy a folder. "This is this week's payment from the Hokage, and I set up an account with the rooster bank, every week the village will put money in your account, and all the information you need will be in that folder, take care gaki and good night."

Billy took the folder, and he looked up at Yamazaki. "Thanks, Oyabun!" he bowed his head. "Good night."

And with that, Billy walked back to his apartment, he fixed some dinner, showered, and started reading the books ' man I hope Yamazaki-Oyabun is fine, let's try to cheer him up tomorrow too.'

After reading for some hours, Billy closed the lights and went to sleep.

For the next year, Billy developed a routine; six days of the week, he would help Yamazaki-Oyabun in the store, learn from him, and develop his skills.

From Yamazaki, Billy learned how to harness his Chakra, and he also learned how to do some Chakra control exercises.

When Billy first tried to enhance his body with Chakra, he started swearing all day long because, with a body of a six-year-old, he almost broke his world record when he was alive, but after calming down, he grew a little bit excited about the prospect of chakra enhancement 'If this is what I can do at six years old, I can't wait until I get my swole back.'

Likewise, he learned more from the books that Yamazaki-Oyabun gave him he learned the beginning of blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving cloth, leatherworking, and more.

He had some difficulties when he first started, but with hard work and nothing to do, Billy finally understood how everything fitted together, but Yamazaki would not allow him to craft a mask yet.

While the year passed, Billy finally got over his looks, it took him time, but he finally settled and accepted his lot in life. The problem is that whenever he looks at a mirror, he would stop for a second, but then he remembers and moves on.

In his time off from work, which is only one day in a week, Billy would walk around and try to find something to pass the time, he tried to befriend some of the clan kids he learned from John's memories, but most of the times he would be shooed off by the grown-up, apparently, clan kids did not play with 'commoners' in this day and age.

So, he settled with a hobby; once every week, he would go out hiking in the surrounding woods, and after a year, he learned much about Konoha's surrounding wilds; he discovered caves, creeks, lakes, waterfalls, ponds, and some abandoned old villages that have some ruins in them.

In these walks, Billy discovered a cave that connects to an underground tunnel system, this awoke a curiosity in Billy, and he wished to learn more; hence he decided to buy books about caves and how exploring caves work.

After months Billy gathered his courage and asked for one more day off from Oyabun, and he gathered his supplies and went down exploring the cave's subsystem.

While he went down the tunnel he was familiar with, he started to giggle about how he is more of a dwarf now, and he only needed a beard and a deep Scottish accent.

For the first day of the exploration, he found a Subterranean river that glowed an illuminating light, Billy covered in dust and pebbles, decided to rest here for a moment.

He started a fire and removed his clothes, then he gently removed his mask, after touching the fuin a slow hiss reached his ears, his mask started streaming smoke, from the Chakra. Billy could count a handful of things that he liked about his mask, and this is one of the reasons he liked it.

After removing the mask, he rose and walked towards the river; he crouched down and extended a finger to check the temperature of the waters.

"Fuck, that is cold" he sighed and looked across the river; the illumination from the river could almost cover the whole area; he looked up at the ceiling, the stalagmite reaching down towards him like spikes. "Huh… they almost look enchanting with the pale blue light from the river, its almost like I could spend the whole day just looking at them."

Then he looked across the river, he noticed that the waters are calm and flowed softly, he looked across the river and saw a small fish jump across the waters, the fish illuminated pale blue light, then he quickly looked down at the bottom of the river and smiled "Damn look at these fuckers go." Down in the deep of the river, he saw small lights swimming in the deep.

He stood up from his position and stretched. "Well, let's do this!" Billy jumped into the waters, but his muscles quickly tightened themselves up from the cold, instinctively he closed his eyes and tried to acclimate to the temperatures, and after a while, he started swimming.

Billy started doing some laps in the river, floating on his back and looking at the spikes; the most he enjoyed was diving deep down at the endless bottom and watching the light show going back and forth.

After swimming for a while, he climbed back towards the fire and started to dry himself up.

After drying, he clothed himself and looked at the river again. "Hmm… I am pretty hungry, and I wonder what those fish test like; I mean, I have the fire with me already, so might as well."

He went back towards the fire and took some climbing rope, then he held one of his spare knives, and he started heating them up. "Alright now, just like what Yamazaki-Oyabun told me, strike the iron while it's hot" he brought out the climbing hammer that he used on the pitons and started hammering the knife in the shape of a hook.

He brought the knife up to inspect it. "Looks good; I hope I can get a fish out of this" Billy took one of his beef jerky rations and attached it to the hook.

"And done, I have a hook, bait, and a rope, now I just need the best ingredient that any fisherman needs, beer, and patients. Too bad I can't get any fucking beer, bitch ass cops heh."

He stood up and walked towards the river, then he started spinning the rope. "Alright, just like how the people in the middle east do it, one… two… THREE!" he threw the rope at the 195 angles and let the rope sail across the wind, slowly he watched the hook fall towards the waters, he saw some fishes started jumping from the river startled from his hook.

Billy slowly sat down. "Ahhh… nothing beats good o'l cave fishing, America's greatest sport" while waiting, he started looking around. "Damn, this river is fucking huge, it must be about 1000 feet" He sighed, then he heard his eco. "Hehe," he heard his eco again, 'Alright Billy, it's your moment to shine,' he whispered to himself. "Psst! Kepa soul, so did you read the book?" he said in Cartmen's voice from south park, but then he changed his voice to a Mexican "Si."

"Ok, tell us what it is about?"

"Si, it starts wit de old man, and he wanted to catch a fieeesh."

"Ok great, and?"

"So, the old man tries really hard to catch de fieeesh."

"So, he catches de fieeesh then what?"

Billy started sniffing. "But de old man was really fat, so he fell ova de boat and de sharks ate em de end" Billy started laughing.

Then he slowly looked down, and he put his hands on top of his head while looking down. "Damn, I miss good tv!"

Suddenly he felt a tug on his rope, he quickly adjusted his position and waited 'Tug… tug… tu PULL!" The rope started swiveling around the waters, and Billy smiled. "Got ya, ya piece of shit!"

He started pulling the rope; with each touch, he felt the helpless fish fight him all the way, and with every pull, his mouth waters with anticipation for his meal.

When he pulled the last of the rope, he saw this glowing fish; he quickly extended his hands and caught the fish.

He brought the fish out of the water, and the moment the last bit of water stopped reaching the fish, the pale light of the fish disappeared.

"What the actual fuck?" Billy stood there stunned, then he slowly brought the fish back to the water; when the water touched the fish's tail, the fish lit up with pale blue light.

He moved the fish out of the water again, and the light went out. "Are you fucking serious, its like a fucking light switch," and he did it about twenty times, laughing all the while, while the fish struggled in his hands.

"Alright, let's end your suffering" he brought his hands up and smashed the head of the fish on the ground stunning it.

Billy walked towards the fire, and he noticed something odd about the fish, it had no eyes to speak off, and without the blue illumination, he could literally see the bones, the intestines, and how the scales are transparent.

"This fucking world, first ninjas, then magic, and now this," he grumbled, "might as well cut the fish up and eat it."

He started preparing the fish, removing the innards, then cleaning the fish with water; after that, he split the fish in half and laying it on a flat rock that he prepared before fishing.

After waiting patiently for his fish, he smiled and brought the stone near him; the fish's meat turned transparent after cooking, which is bizarre; the only reason he saw the meat was because of the steam coming out of the meat, which made the fish look like a ghost.

"Nothing beats ghost fish" then he took a bite out of the fish. Billy immediately spitted the fish out, then he threw it on the ground. "IT'S FUCKING RAW!"

Billy sighed. "I really thought it was done, I mean, it turned transparent and shit, and it had steam, FUCK it smelled so good!"

After lamenting the fact that he will not be enjoying ghost fish anytime soon, he stood up and gathered his stuff, then he continued exploring.

Soon Billy grew tired from exploring, and he returned to the river.

"I still have about 30 hours until my day off would run out; maybe I can just camp here; this spot seems alright."

Billy started the fire again, and he brought out his small tent. Then after eating some rations, he read a book by the fire.

When he could take it no longer, he stopped reading and went back to his tent to sleep.

Billy slowly opened his eyes to a shining light that blinded him, yet it did not blind him; he felt tired, yet he felt that he was strong; he smelled the fish that he was about to eat yesterday.

Then the light subsided, and in front of him is the skeletal remains of the fish. The fish looked down at him and frowned, "Why did you do it, my son?"

Billy grew confused at the fishes' statement, "wha… what is going on here?"

The ghost fish slowly descended from the sky. "Why did you not flavor me so? Has my flesh not been good to you? What does it take to please you?"

"Dude, you were fucking raw; what do you want me to do?"

The fish smiled, then the light around them started going out and in its place darkness crawled in, the bones from the fish turned from white to neon green, blood started seeping from its eyes, and it spoke in a loud shrieking voice "WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP WAKEUPWAKEUP!"

Billy's eye quickly opened, and he found himself in the cold darkness, he tried to get his bearing, but there was nothing indicating where he was, suddenly a shining pale blue light emerges from the cold darkness, he tried swimming in its direction, but for some reason, his gut started screaming at him to never go toward the light.

After pausing for a second, he looked down, and he saw rows of pointy spikes, then he looked up, and he saw another row of pointy spikes.

Billy tried to calm himself; he understood that he woke up in the middle of the river, but first, he must swim up, not down, and because he knows there is nothing but darkness and pale blue lights, he needs to think fast.

After a moment, like instinct, he blew an air bubble, and he saw it go down, he quickly swam towards the bubble, for the bubble is his life.

Slowly, he could feel the pressure from the water eases upon him, and after a while, he felt his breath reach its limits; he could feel his muscle clamping upon him, the cold of the deeps freezes his bones and skin.

Then finally, without warning and fanfare, he broke through the surface of the waters, and he only saw darkness, there was no illuminating pale blue light, there was no sound except his breathing, the only light he saw was in the distance of his dying fire.

He took a breath and quickly swam towards his fire. Billy beat his hands against the surface of the waters, desperately swimming away from the darkness that is an all-consuming nightmare he found himself waking up to.

Slowly but surely, the light of the fire dawns on him, and he smiles, his hope rises, and he crawls towards the fire. He climbs up the shore of the waters, and he leaves the darkness behind him; Billy slowly stands up and walks shakily towards the fire; he takes a deep breath of air that gave him life. And he looks down, he sees a toasty flat rock, and he sits on it.

Now it's only the sound of his breath and the crackling of the fire, he opens his eyes and looks at the fire, and he smiles, then he chuckles, and finally, he laughs like he never laughed before.

"That was fucking scary."

"Boy, did you think that was the end?"

Billy's eye widened, and he looks to the left, and he sees the ghost fish, melting pale blue blood "ooooh, Billy, wake up," the fish said slowly.

Billy opened his eyes again, and he felt the coldness that is around him, then he sees the pale blue lights in front of him, countless small lights all gathering in a small area, finally he notices that the lights are attached to something, an ethereal rope.

Billy follows the rope to its base, and his heart stops for a moment. At that moment, Billy's heart stopped, his blood froze, his brain went into overdrive, his nerves were on fire, yet no muscle moved.

What Billy saw shook him, the face of nightmares, beady little eyes, rows of spikes for teeth, each tooth was more than 12 ft tall, countless bones of ages passed attached to the creature's skin, oozing waters surrounds the creature, haze, and fatigue attacks his body.

Then he saw it, the ghost fish, they were attached to the creature, and it dawned on him, all this time when he was swimming in the river, the time he caught the ghost fish.

There was no one but him and this monster.

The monster's maw was wide open, almost like a smile, almost like a cat that plays with its food.

The monster slowly swims towards the stunned prey.

In the darkness of night, silence.

In the darkness of the cave, silence.

In the darkness of the waters, silence.

In the pale blue lights, silent delight.

In the darkness, deep violet light, an explosion of water, a small figure runs on water, carrying a human child.

Billy woke up in a strange place, illuminated with bugs of all colors trapped in glass jars, mushroom as big as chairs and tables littered the place, green moss covered the floor like a carpet, walls that are carved with strange shapes and lines.

Then he heard a soft, childlike voice, "did it wake up?"

Another voice more feminine but childlike, "I don't know, I mean he is not glowing so?"

"I am going to poke it with a stick!"

"No, don't!" he heard shuffling, "Big brother said to not bother it!"

"Well, big brother is not here, so that means I am the big sister now! And I say we poke it."

"Please don't! what if it bites?!"

"Don't worry if he is mean; I am going to tell on it!"

Suddenly From the darkness, two fluffy glowing ears peak out, then big round eyes look at him with suspicion and excitement.

From the sea of moss and mushroom crawled a small fuzzy creature? It walked on fours, and it had paws that are shaped like small fluffy hands, it strangely did not have a mouth, on its end, it had a tail longer than itself, it glowed with light-green light, in its hand is a gnarled stick, slowly the creature moved towards Billy, and when he reached him.

Billy got poked with a stick, then the creature said, "Poke… poke."

The creature turned around and said, "It's not awake; I poked it and everything!"

From the sea of mushrooms peaked a pink and smaller creature that looked shyer? "Are you sure it's not awake?"

"Yes, come out, Nina! Look, poke…poke, see nothing."

"Ok, but don't be a meanie, Lulu, and do a nasty prank."

Slowly the pink one came out and looked curiously at Billy, then she approached, "Can I poke it, Lulu?"

Billy deadpanned, "I am awake" Quickly, both Nina and Lulu disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind some colorful round rocks.

Then from the mushrooms, light green ears poked out, and its eyes peeked at him with suspicion; both Billy and Lulu stared at one another, then Lulu quickly stood up and pointed behind him. "LOOK A MONSTER!"

Billy didn't turn around, but Lulu quickly moved to the place she poked him with, and picked up the colorful round balls and the stick, and ran away again.

He heard them whisper, "I got the candy. Nina, don't cry."

He heard Nina cheer up. "Thank you, Lulu, but what about the thingy?"

"Don't worry, I can deal with it" small fluffy ears peaked out and looked at him. "Hey, if you hurt us, I am going to tell on you; Big brother is going to be so mad, so you better be careful!"

Billy slowly brought his hands up to his head to massage it, then he saw the ears disappeared again with an 'eep.'

"Hey, I won't hur… be mean to you, so come out alright."

Slowly the ears are back again "you promise?"

Billy sighed, then he remembered something from John's memories, something about a pink pony. He gathered himself up and started making the motions, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Lulu started giggling, and she came out of the mushrooms. "You are funny!... so, what are you? I can't just say thingy every time I see you?"

Billy smiled. "My name is Billy, and I am a Human," Billy extended his hands for a handshake, "and what is your name, little green thingy?"

"I am not a green thingy! My name is Lulu!" Then she looked at his hands questionably.

Billy understanding her question, "You shake my hand, Lulu, like this," and he showed her how by shaking his own hands, "This is how we say hello to another Human."

Attentively Lulu approached and extended her hands; when they shook, Billy noticed that her fur is so soft like a plushy kid's toy.

"So, is your sister coming out? I can see her peaking." Then he heard another eep, and Nina's ears disappeared.

"She is shy, but don't worry, she will come around, so do you know my brother?, I mean he brought you here, and you were covered with water, and you were all sleepy."

"I don't know your brother, and I don't know if the place I was in was real or not, but I think your brother saved me somehow, so is he around? Maybe he could answer anything?"

"No big brother went away, he said something about fixing stuff, but that's boring… hey, wanna play a game?"

Billy sighed, "No, I think I am exhausted."

Lulu puffed up her cheeks. "Boo! you are a grown-up! I bet you are boring too."

Billy laughed a little, then he noticed Nina approaching them, but at a much slower pace than her sister, in her hands are the colorful round balls.

"Hey, I know something fun we could do before your brother comes back."

Lulu's cheeks deflated, and she took on a curious look. "Fun?" then she grew a little bit excited about the prospect, her little hands started clapping.

"Why don't I tell you a story?" Billy suggested.

"I love stories, Nina loves them too, don't you, Nina?" she turned around to look at her sister.

The quiet voice of Nina answered, "I like stories."

Lulu started jumping around. "Tell us, tell us."

Billy chuckled. "Alright, I will tell you, but I have to get something in return, and I am hungry" Then he looked at Nina. "Oh, what are those?"

Nina backed away, and his behind her sister, then she spoke, "They are my sweets, big brother made them for me."

Billy hummed. "Well, how about a deal Nina, if you give me one ball, I will tell you a really good story, and maybe later I will bring you sweets that you have never tried before!"

Nina thought about it for a bit, then hesitantly asked, "You promise?"

Then Lulu started jumping and giggling. "Yeah, you promise? And you have to do the funny little dance!"

Billy sighed, and he did the same dance again with the promise, "Now can I have the sweet?"

Nina slowly walked towards his hand and put one shiny ball in his hand, then she backed away slowly.

Billy looked at the ball; it was strangely illuminated, colors of purple, green, and red are dancing around the ball, then he slowly put the ball in his mouth. The first test was sweet, then it changed from sweetness to sour, then the test changed again to spicy, and finally, it settled with the combination of those three flavors; the ball started to crumble in his mouth slowly, and with each crumble, the ball started to pop in his mouth.

"This is really good; I will have to ask your brother how he makes them, alright now a promise is a promise."

Billy gathered his thoughts and how he will begin the story; the two sisters sat on the ground, eagerly waiting for the story to begin.

"In a cold town, the snow fell down, on a factory, where people gather and create candy, chocolate, and everything sweet."

"In this town, there lived a small boy with his family, the boy's name is Charly, and across the town, there was a factory, Willy Wonka's factory."

Billy gathered his breath and whispered, "This is the story of Charly and the chocolate factory."

Billy spent quite a while retelling the story of Wonka and Charly, he acted around, showing the children how Wonka walked, and he sang some songs. The hardest challenge he faced while retelling the story was explaining some concepts that the two sisters did not know about, like chocolate or machines.

"In the end, Charly won a factory, but Willy Wonka has something even better a family. The end"

Lulu, barely containing her excitement, started jumping around. "Wooo! And they happily lived ever after! With all the sweets they want."

Nina smiled and clapped her little hands together. "That was a nice story Billy, thank you."

Billy smiled and bowed his head. "Oh, I am happy you enjoyed it."

Then suddenly, a deeper voice commented, "It was a nice story, thank you."

Both Billy and the little sisters turned their heads towards the voice. Leaning next to the hallway was a larger version than the sisters, while the sisters reached about 1 ft long, the bigger one was about 3 ft long, it had deer horns that are taller than him, on the deer horns was some vines, and moss. Attached to his horns and on his body were smaller bottles with illuminating fireflies, his fur was an illuminating deep violet color, and he was holding a gnarled old spear that is covered with living plants.

Suddenly Both sisters disappeared in a puff and appeared on top of the figure, Lulu the ever so brave, held into his horns, while Nina simply free fallen into the figure's hands.

Lulu started swinging on his horns. "Brother! You are back" she started spinning on his horn, then she released herself in the air, doing a couple of backflips, and she lands on the ground perfectly; Lulu started stomping her paws in an excited fashion. "How was your trip?! Did you hear Billy's story! Did you bring me a toy?"

The brother simply smiled and asked, "Did you finish your chores as I asked? And didn't I tell you not to interact with him until I come back?"

The sister's ears deflated. Lulu started to fidget around, "Well… The thing is that… euugh…. NINA DID IT!" and Lulu disappeared.

Nina hearing that "LULU! You liar!"

Suddenly the brother's hand moved quickly for Billy's eyes and caught something invisible.

He lifted his hand up towards his eye level. "You know that does not work on me."

From his hands, the invisibility disappeared, and Lulu was being held by the scruff of her neck, and she looked like a kicked puppy.

Then the figure smiled, "Here, have some sweets, but you can only eat them after doing your chores." Lulu's deflated look started to disappear.

The figure opened his hand, and lulu did some acrobatics. "Thanks, big bro!" then she ran towards his leg and hugged it.

The brother lowered Nina. "Now go do your chores; I need to speak to hmm… Billy"

"Alright, big bro! Bye Billy!, come on Nina, I choose…" Billy could not hear them anymore.

Now Billy sat alone with his possible savor. "So I think you are the one who saved me, thanks."

The figure looked at Billy, and he walked slowly towards him, then he poked him with his spear.

Billy deadpanned. "Really?"

The brother laughed. "I am sorry I knew Lulu would have done it; I could not resist" The brother moved away from Billy and sat down on a mushroom. He brought a wooden moss-covered pipe, with the line etched on it; the pipe had the same swirly and squiggly lines that covered the walls. The brother opened one of the firefly's bottles and retrieved a firefly, then he inserted the firefly in the pipe. The brother clicked his fingers, and a small purple flame appeared; he brought the flames towards the pipe and took some small puffs, then he took a big puff and exhaled a dark void like smoke that almost sucked in all the lights around it.

Billy, baffled by this fantastical nature, "Did you just smoke a… bug?"

The brother looked up. "Why yes… I did" He took another puff. "Now, I have lived for a very long… long time, and you are the first Human since… That day, to see this cave, so let me ask you this question, how did you get in this cave?"

Billy hesitated for a moment. "Well, I was just exploring, and I found it."

The brother sighed. "This does not make sense?" he inhaled another puff and took on a thinking position. "You… no, that does not make sense… what if?"

Billy grew a little bit agitated. "What does not make sense, I saw a cave, and I went in there."

The brother sighed, then he extended two fingers in scissors action. "I think this is how humans say hello, right? It has been a long time."

Billy is looking at the offered fingers. "No, we do it like this," and Billy showed him how.

The brother nodded, and eye smiled. "Right… My name is I'ro" I'ro brought his hands back and sighed, then he looked at his pipe. "I think you…" he looked back at Billy, "Need a history lesson."

Billy looked around the room. "Fine, if that will stop you from being weird."

I'ro eye smiled "Back a long, long time ago, before when the trees spoke, and bees sang their honeyed songs" Billy grew a confused face "Back then the Humans and the spirit world could see each other"

He took a puff from his pipe and motioned with his hands; the smoke from the pipe changed until drawing started to appear "in those days we lived in harmony, for we did not know greed, lust, power, or hate."

He looked at Billy. "The humans started calling us spirits, and we called them sons of mud and stone, our children played with their children, we traded with them, we asked for their help, and they asked us for help."

I'ro changed the smoke to a figure similar to him, but with moos horns instead of deer. "One day a shaman by the name of Eu'nub gathered all the elders of every spirit clan out there, and he told them that he uncovered a way to merge everyone's conciseness together, that way they all could learn more from one another."

He sighed. "And that was the day the land stood still… Eu'nub of my clan the Naa'hiss truly did try to help everyone, but in his hubris, he signed our downfall."

Billy's curiosity grew, "what happened? Did it work?"

I'ro laughed. "Oh, it worked alright… in the beginning, after the ritual everyone felt more connected, more alive, they celebrated their victory of achieving harmony, and from there, they all went to their respective clans."

"But after a year something changed in the shamans, their mood started changing, then they started feeling angry, or despair for no reason. Then they felt a need to eat more, then one day, one clan member found Eu'nub in his tent, he ate his wife and children."

Billy, shocked, asked with a small stutter, "Wa…what happened?"

"The clan member told us that Eu'nub skin started to melt, and Eu'nub kept on repeating the same word 'Be me' "

"The clan member ran back to the town, he screamed of a nightmare for he did not know murder, the whole clan gathered up sticks, stones, and anything they could use, but when they arrived at the Eu'nub's hut, there was nothing, not even a drop of blood, the only thing left was the broken furniture."

"The clan called a meeting, and they all agreed that, if anyone saw the shaman, they can either try to catch him or run away."

"And from that day, everyone lived their lives, trying to forget what they saw, but after years people started turning up missing, and everyone grew scared. The new shaman of the clan… my father, decided to call on a meeting with all the shamans from every clan."

"Every shaman answered the call, except two." I'ro changed the smoke again; this time, it was a meeting place with shamans gathering. "My father reported on what is happening to his clan, and he told the shamans on what happened to Eu'nub."

"The shamans who answered the call reported similar findings, and one of them even mentioned that the missing shaman's clans have disappeared."

I'ro changed the smoke again, but this time the smoke changed colors to a pale blue light, which alarmed Billy. "In the meeting, my father was attacked by monsters."

I'ro wilted in his chair. "This was the day the collective attacked" he changed the smoke again, this time to the same monster that was in the river. "The first of them Neeso the mind breaker."

I'ro looked at Billy. "I think you saw that one; my question is how you survived until I came to you," he looked back at the image. "Neeso was a mute, but he was devious; he likes to break the minds of his victims with illusionary dreams, those who fall to his dreams never wake up again, and if they do most never sleep again. I hope you can sleep tonight."

I'ro changed the smoke again, this time into a deep dark brown color, then he changed the shape into a shadowy goat. "Rarrariz he who walks in the forest, I do not know much of Rarrariz; the only thing I can provide is that he has been dealt with."

I'ro changed the color again, this time into a light pink color, then he changed the image into a simple cave. "This is Zar'e Kaz, the caved one; I fear he will reach this place someday" He sighed and took a puff from his pipe. "I do not know much about that one, sadly much of the information I have is second hand, and I can barely remember them now."

I'ro looked at Billy. "Do you wish for me to go on, Billy? Or do you want me to continue the story?"

Billy was on the edge of his seat in anticipation. "Continue with the story, I'ro. I don't know how long I can stay here."

I'ro nodded. "When the collective attacked, there was destruction in every town the clans lived in, the attack was calculated, and the collective had a purpose."

"I remember my mother screaming at me to run, from their slaves, I remember the screams and blood that scattered the town, my mother gathered all the survivors and brought them here to this cave."

"She started a resistance, but the resistance was not to resist, but to survive. Every day we had one or two missing, and every day my mother grew desperate."

"One day, she made the final sacrifice, I was not allowed to know what she did for I was, but a child and my mother entrusted me with the eggs of my sisters."

I'ro started to shudder. "I still remember the screams in the cave when Neeso came, brother fought brother, sister betrayed sister, and then Silence."

"Days I stayed in this room holding my sister's eggs and singing to them, for I know they will hear, I started to etch the story of my mother's life, the walls speak to me of ages past."

"One day I could not handle it no longer, I grew hungry, so I gathered my nerves and went outside, there I saw blood and bones."

I'ro laughed a dark and shallow laugh. "No child should see his family's corpses stacked on top of each other like this" tears started to fall from his face. "But I saw hope, for there was one alive, a half-mad elder. I tended to the elder, I searched for food outside of the cave for him, and at night he taught me of our people, he told me 'You must know everything, for you are the last!' he trained me in shamanism, herbs, history, and everything I know to this day. And when he finished training me the elder, simply died"

I'ro, at that moment, looked defeated. "I am sorry, I just met you, and I am unloading my life story like this, its… it has just been so long since I talked to someone about what happened, and I can't do that to my sisters."

"It is alright, I'ro just… unload everything; I am not judging."

I'ro looked at Billy with teary eyes. "Thanks… where was I, right I buried the elder that day, then I gathered everything I own, and I brought my sister's eggs with me."

"I left the cave after years of watching it, the…"

At that moment, Billy stopped him. "Wait, years? When do these eggs hatch?"

I'ro looked at his hands. "Well, at least a thousand years, the first five hundred the eggs are dormant, then for the next five hundred the child grows and learns in the egg."

Billy's eye widened, "So how old are you?"

I'ro looked at the wall. "I don't know, let me check" he stood up and walked towards the wall. "I was here, and then this happened… hmm" he brought his pipe up. "Yup, I am currently 99,564 years old."

Billy's jaw hit the floor, "Holy shit, you are old!"

I'ro sighed. "Look, let me finish with my story, anyways where was I… Yes, so I gathered my things and traveled outside with my sister's eggs, for years I traveled the land, I saw the aftermath of battles that took place, I was desperate to find anything, anyone who is alive."

"I found animals, I found humans, but something was off about them, and I was too scared to approach, and finally I found a surviving spirit. She was of the Rur'rus"

I'ro looked at Billy. "The Rur'rus are similar to us, but they are more… woody, their bodies are made out of wood."

"She told me about what truly transpired; she told me that the collective attack against the shamans have failed, and they survived" He walked to the back of the room and brought some water and offered some to Billy.

"She told me that my father fought with the collective to the bitter end, but not before he had the last laugh, my father sacrificed our clan to trap the collective. My father commanded our clan to cage Neeso in the river, and with Neeso, they could put the collective in an illusion that trapped every collective member in a sleepless sleep."

I'ro laughed. "What a joke," he sighed, "we started this, so, might as well stop it."

I'ro looked at the up. "After knowing what is going on, I kept traveling the land, and with every century that passes, something happened, Humans no longer take notice of me, I did not even use any of my abilities, it is like there was a veil, that separated me from them, and a veil that separated them from us."

"When I noticed this, I thought there is no one to talk to anymore since Humans simply forgot us. So, I returned to this cursed cave, I made a home of this place to welcome my sisters, I tended to the moss and the fireflies, I watched over our prisoner. And the rest is history."

"So, let me ask my question again… how a human did not only stumble upon our hidden cave, survived Neeso with no effects upon him, and you a Human after thousands of years could see me. So, Billy care to answer me this simple question?"

Billy grew nervous from the inquisitive stare that I'ro gave him, and he simply answered, "I dunno" while shrugging his shoulders.

I'ro gave him a glare. "Fine, keep your secrets, but let me warn you, if you try to hurt my sisters, I will murder you."

Billy stood tense, his body locked tight, but his eyes stared in defiance. "I will never hurt your sisters; this is a promise" I'ro looked at Billy, and Billy looked at I'ro. Their very fate has been sealed with these words.

I'ro turned his face. "Fine, I will accept your promise, and you are allowed to come here again if you so wish it."

Billy sighed a sigh of relief. "So I guess I should get going then" Billy stood up and stretched his body, and just before he walked towards the hallway.

"You forgot your stuff, Billy, here" I'ro threw Billy's supplies.

Billy turned around. "Huh?" and he instantly got hit with the bags.

Billy rubbed his face, "Man I'ro not cool; you could have just said they were there!"

I'ro sighed. "Why do I even bother… Do you even know where the exit is?"

Billy looked offended. "What? What type of question is this? Of course, I know where."

I'ro deadpanned, "Just follow me" I'ro lead Billy around the cave and tunnels.

For hours I'ro leads Billy around until they reached the exit "there you go, Billy, Now don't forget if you ever wish to visit, follow the same path."

Billy nodded. "Thanks for everything I'ro; I know you didn't really need to save me, but thanks, and I owe you a life debt" Billy bowed his head.

I'ro simply nodded and turned around to returned to the cave.

Billy smiled. 'Man, what an adventure; I go in there to explore a cave and BAM! Landed into, I don't know what the fuck was that, but it was neat… It feels like I am forgetting something… Eh, if I forgot it, it means that it was not that important, to begin with'.

And so, our hero walks back to the hidden leaf village, after facing death and living, while gaining three new friends!

Now he walks back home at a leisurely pace, completely forgetting that he missed six days of work while Yamazaki-Oyabun is worrying about him.