I walk out in my path, not continuing my statement.
"We have a long road ahead. I can stomach your tale," Saru responds to the silence I was giving her.
"Yeah, I know, I'm just finding the words," I lie and tell the truth at the same time. I knew I had to find some way to spin this so I don't sound incredibly pathetic and slash or insane, but I knew I could probably tell her the truth and she wouldn't remember it.
The dusty grounds around here really gave way to how arid everything was. I then thought on something. That night that I was with Mu, the one where I was almost robbed… How did I not freeze to death? Did the area just have no ozone so all the sun heat rays came in and blasted me? It'd make sense, I think, if everything was in fact mega polluted. Or… Would it? What does science have to say on my survival here?
"I am waiting," the bonegiant complains.
Oh, right. Story. Uh… Okay, we'll start with something innocuous enough. "Well, uh… I remember just waking up in the middle of a desert."
"You woke up in the middle of a desert," she repeats with no discernation in her voice, a perfect neutral. I hate this.
"Yep. That's as far back as I think I remember," I lie skillfully. Well, if that's skillful, my overall experience here has been masterful by comparison to my ability of deceit. "But anyways, I woke up in this massive desert, missing an arm and being as naked as I am right now. No sword, either."
"Hm," she tones in, "Where'd you get the sword, then?"
"I'm getting there," I tell her.
"So you are in a bad place. How did you endeavor, human?"
I sigh, and think how to say it. Then I tell her, "I met a friend. This hammerhead looking stickman, named Mu."
"I've seen their kind!" she points before laughing, "They look funny and weak."
Funny? Yes. Weak? "Not Mu. He could kick anybody's ass, and he'll hand it to them most exquisitely." I still remember how he absolutely dunked on those guys in the desert.
"Oh, would he, now? And where is this Mu? Such a warrior must be-"
"What part of 'I'm getting there' do you not seem to get?" I ask with some amount of annoyance. After she seems silent for a bit, I look back to see her raise an eyebrow to my look. Alright, her attention is attained. I look back ahead, and try to think to myself. "Uh… Right, so uh… Yeah, I met Mu in the desert. He had a home to go to, but we both didn't know where it was. So we just started wandering."
"That seems a bit… Foolhardy," she finds the word after a light pause.
"Tell me about it. We got to wandering through acid hellscape land, fought off mobs of starving people, and even had a run in with an army." Bandits, I think actually, but she didn't need to know that. The last thing I need is her laughing at my actual predicaments and past. "It all turned around for us when Mu and I met with two assholes in the middle of the desert. They wanted to rob us, but Mu bust out a Judo kick and knocked them flat on their asses before taking a staff and taking them out in short time. It was baller as heck."
"Impressive. Where to from there?" Her tone did not beget any amazement, just that neutral way of speaking. I doubt she understood half the words I said on that last part, but that was more than fine is she got that it was impressive.
"Well, we sorta just traveled from there after picking up some of their stuff and leaving them worse for wear and us on the up and u-aUh!" I jump my leg up, having stepped on something spiky. I looked down to see one jagged looking rock. I hate this world. "I hate not having shoes," I grumble out.
"So you took from those who sought to take from you."
Yes, she ignored it!
Then I hear a chuckle, "It seems without this Mu, you could hardly best a pebble. It makes sense they have done all the work, and you have only profited."
I cannot help but look up at her, a bit in indignance. "Wu-hey, I-" mean, you're not wrong, but- "-did plenty! I think, anyways. Listen, without my help, they wouldn't have been so distracted." I'm exaggerating but my fake pride is on the line, here.
"Ah, a mere understatement, then. Continue," Saru orders in that joyless tone.
I check to make sure my foot isn't bleeding, and finally get a look at what all this walking has done to my callouses. "Oh my god, what happened?!" I ask in shock. I look like I got some serious ape feet now.
"You stepped on a roc-"
"Shush!" I crane my head at the thing, putting my leg back down and getting back to walking in pain. Walking is a mercy statement, honestly, as limping is the more exact term, aside from 'saddest display of all time'. She was right. Maybe I am a sad bonepuppy. Wait, is that like what their children are called? Why haven't I seen any children since I got here?
"Then I suppose the story is done," Saru comments, interrupting my thoughts.
"What?" I ask on instinct, then shake my head, "Right, okay, story. After that, we started heading out until we saw a desert of black sand. It was kinda nice to look at, except for the gas clouds that we got hit by," I try to shrug, "That was an experience. Felt like my lungs were on fire."
"Odd. I did not think sand came in the color of black," Saru reveals their inexperience. Clearly, I am far, far more well traveled.
I laugh, "Yeah, you and me both. But you won't believe it; we almost got robbed again."
"Repetition? Are you certain you do not reckon your own robbery with how you look?" she insults.
"I am not boujee," holding out my hand like a prima donna, "I don't even know why people keep trying to take my stuff."
"You are small and look defenseless. It is almost cute. Yet, you are a flatskin," she nods, as if that statement was supposed to make sense.
"I am not small, I'm average sized!" Wait, no-
"A common argument," she completes.
"You son of- you know what, nah, not worth it, you earned that one fair and square," I give up.
She chuckles, "Victory is bittersweet."
"Anyways!" I attempt to clear and steer the conversation, "We robbed our would be robber, and that's how I got this here sword. I actually had two swords, but… Well, not too important."
"Sold?" she asks.
I grimace, "To someone who wasn't buying."
"I foresee a pattern."
That's not hard. Man, people have been trying to rob me entirely too much since I got here. Is this how homeless people actually live? "Yeah, anyways, we get to this black valley full of rusty metal and red water. Straight up cursed looking realm, right?"
"That does sound… Ominous," she replies, as if lost in thought. Her head keeps looking around oddly.
I look closely to see Saru's eyelids flashing. Oh yeah, she won't remember a thing. "Yeah, so we ran through that as fast as possible. The ground was awful, but thankfully, I got some shoes from the would-be thief too. However, my body was not ready for the acid rain. That part sucked particularly," I sigh in remembering, "I don't think my skin's gotten better. That was only… A day or a few ago, I can't really remember." A lot has happened so fast… Now I'm back on the road. Going to… Who knows where, to be honest. Well, presumably she does, but I haven't asked. I should fix that.
"You do look rather… I'm looking for a word," she sighs, "But I cannot think on one."
"Gnarly?" I offer, now taking time to try to see for myself. It has actually been a bit since I looked at myself. When I was by the stream with Mu, I never looked at myself, only Mu's reflection, although it wasn't super clear.
"Yes, it is gnarled," the bonegiant confirms. Not that I couldn't tell myself now.
"Yeah, holy moly, dude," I keep looking at the burns. These are at least second degree. I am torn apart, man. Why aren't I feeling them all that much?
Oh right. The rest of me is dying all the same, and I probably have some rearranged guts, and need some stitches that I never got. I'm slowly dying from things that should have rapidly killed me. I live out of spite for the sole purpose of feeling more agony. I hate this world. Moon. Satellite of a star. Or maybe there's two stars. Honestly? Just this plane of existence can get bent!
"So, that is what resulted from your wandering in the cursed black valley?" she asks as confirmation.
"I guess so, wow, I hate this," I begin to gloss over my damages.
"You wear it fine, halfway-cookedskin," it chuckles, looking right on back at me.
I can't help but laugh a tad at that one. I don't want to, but it was good, "You're awful."
"And you have yet to finish your long story," she shoots back.
I wave my hand a little, "I'm getting there, probably," I gaze back and forth at the new terrain. It was still quite craggy here, perhaps even moreso, and things were getting more spiky, "Hey, uh… Speaking of getting there, where are we going?"
"Admag, ideally. I have some family who, though they may not be proud of me, I still have my respects due to them. That, and I have a debt to settle," she says with moderate hostility and coldness. There is an entire backstory there I do not want to process at this moment in time. We can do that way later.
"Nice, anyways. Uhh… I was after the acid, and- Ah! I think a mob of starving people wanted to steal my nonexistent food. So, I threw a shoe at one, knocked them out, and ran into an army, who dealt with them for us." I think that's what happened? God, it was so fast.
"Hm! You threw a shoe and hit someone so hard, they fell?" I think she liked that one.
"I may not have many of them, but I got a good throwing arm, what can I say?" I boast, wanting to flex but knowing if I did, I'd be in a greater world of pain.
"How many is many?" she asks.
"More than what I've got," I try to wiggle my nub as she looks back. I think I actually can, I just usually don't bother, or just try it subconsciously. Maybe one day, I can get the funds to go back to purple Vietnam and have a doctor put an arm on me. Even if it just simply sucks by comparison, it's still double my usual carrying capacity.
"Hm! Hm hm," the bonegiant continues to chuckle to itself, "Amusing. I was correct. You are a funny one, Jack."
"I try, I really do," only sometimes, "But enough about that. I evade the army, liberating a bit of meat off them, and-"
"Thievery again? And you seem so surprised others want to take from you, hm," she continues her stride, looking ahead.
"Karma's a bitch," I shrug, my stride being so weak by comparison.
"I have never met Karma," her neutral tone belies her lack of understanding.
I hate having to explain concepts, "We all have, you just don't know it. But anyways, uhhh… I think I wandered with Mu into purpley jungle lands, and that's… Um," I want to keep going, but I really don't want to think about it again.
"Continue," she pressures, taking a turn on a path.
I could see some kind of ruins up on the top of some plateau. Honestly, that wouldn't be a bad place to take a rest. I go ahead and point to it, saying, "Can we pick up after we head there?" Honestly, the whole terrain was filled with such uplifted stony and craggy terrain. This would be a bad place to live, but… You know, there is worse out there. Maybe when I was younger, I'd judge, but I am no longer in a position to.
"Nobody is there. That is nothing. Just ruined houses from long ago." Ah, perfect place for some squatters.
I'll have to explain my intent, "I just wanna take a rest there."
"Are you certain you do not need to be carried?" she asks with a grin.
"Only if I'm being carried straight to bed will I let you carry me," I respond with a grin of my own. Jokes on her, I don't have a bed.
Wait, why'd she stop?
"Wait, hold on," I stop in my tracks and attempt to backpedal.
A giant was now rapidly approaching me, arms outstretched. "Come here, little human. You have a bed to get to."
"I don't have a bed, do not-" I get out before I am rudely grabbed and shoved over a shoulder. I consider putting up any sort of fight, but I just feel too weak for any of that. "This is an insult to my pride, and you will tell no one this happened," I lay down my ground rules.
"Everyone in Admag shall know by the end of my visit."
"Hate," is all I can let out before I let myself go limp.
She hauled me all the way. Like actually all the way. Not that I'm complaining too hard, I just didn't expect it. Like, I expected to be dropped as some joke or as a punchline, or maybe just because I'm an asshole thief who is a complete mess who keeps failing at just little simple things like keeping-
Anyways. Not important. What is important is that we didn't talk much at all the whole trek up this hill. I was just focusing on not focusing on the next part of my tale according to me with the need to not make myself seem pathetic, but it's not really going well. Both the not looking pathetic and focusing part, I mean. If I knew I looked this warped, I could have seriously been like, 'An acid monster threw up gunk all over me before I stabbed it in the throat,' or something, but I flubbed it up. God, she must think I'm the absolute bare minimum for a human being. Not that she'd be wrong thinking that.
I need to start thinking ahead. I need to start… Planning. But the truth is I don't know where to start.
She interrupts my impromptu mental gymnastics course with, "We are here. I will let you down."
"Thanks," I tell her.
"Hmph," is the grunt I get back before she begins my upheaval.
"Woah, carefu-" I feel wind blow past me as my body moves quickly, "Ow," and pain. I feel the sharp ground, and recognize this land sucks for walking. "Yikes, can it get much worse here?" I ask.
"Yes," she answers, "You told me of the black sands."
"Oh yeah," I nod in a sage-like manner, "Yes, indeed… Anyways," I hobble off towards a building, "Time to take a nap."
Anywhere will do. I'm exhausted, even after being carried and having passed out earlier. Maybe being beat up makes you excessively tired, kinda like how a cold makes you want to sleep.
I manage to get to the steps of one of the ruined buildings, and up them I proceed. Every step right now feels like I'm on broken glass, but that's just an overall feeling, hopefully not glass on my bare feet. Or nails. Actually, are there-
"Oh, what the hell?" I ask, noticing three rusty nails turned up just chilling in the middle of the walkway of the house. Everything wants me dead, and that's the bottom line. I want to hand them that, I really do, but some sick twisted part of me says I have to live so I can fulfill some guy's dying wish. Mu was just a random bugman! We were together not even that long! Why?! Why do I torture myself like this?!
Avoiding those nails, now I had to contend with the boarded up floor. While it was a bit nicer than the outside, the tiny rock bits spread about were all the more annoying. You know what? I give up.
I toss myself onto the closest side of the building I'm in and rest upon the ground, shoving away bits of rock dust. "Always something," I mutter as I brush away dust to clean up my sleeping ground.
The giant stands out the front of the door, leaning against its frame, She asks, "Are you happy with your bed?"
"Absolutely not," I answer, "But it's the best I'm getting for a while." I smile, but it hurts inside. Actually, it hurts outside, too, but this time I'm hurting everywhere. Aside from the norm, anyways. God, how did I get like this?
Oh. Yeah, that's right. Everything went downhill, and I'm not waking up from this like it was a bad dream, or an awful hangover.
The bonegiant wanders into the house before stopping midway, stating, "It would do well to take care here. Lots of nails."
"Gee, thanks, I hadn't noticed," I snidely retort, reflecting on the awfulness of this planet I'm on. Moon? I don't know, nor do I care at the moment. If things were going great, I'm sure I'd ponder all this in a positive way, but I'm drained.
"Hmph," I hear her say as I close my eyes, hoping to drift away. Maybe I would feel better in the morning. Maybe she'd abandon me. She can rob me, sure, but I don't have anything besides this sword. How much was it even worth?
Doesn't matter, I suppose.
If I'm lucky, I don't wake up.
I wasn't lucky. I was so far from the fount of good luck that I awoke in a pool of pain worse than the night before. I groaned as I awoke, a shimmering soreness coursing through me.
I looked about my surroundings, seeing the crumbling ruin about me. Well, crumbled. It's no longer moving. Spying through the immediate area, I could see the bonegiant rested against the wall across from me, their giant sword stashed up against their knee as it lays on the wall. Her eyes were open, and they looked surprisingly human. It could almost take me away from the whole alien race thing she had going on.
Wait, do they sleep with their eyes open? "Uh, hello?" I prod the waters.
"Hm," she grunts back, alerting me to the fact she was very much awake.
"Sorry for uh… Sleeping in," I look up to see the sun was visible even with the wall blocking the view of the sky somewhat.
She merely gets up, prompting me to try to sit myself up, a laborious task that sees me fumbling a few times. Every movement of my fingers caused a dislikeable tingle.
She proceeds to walk on over to me, staring at me. Her eyes were piercing into my very soul with some kind of intent.
"Uh… You know, usually, I have two arms," I smile awkwardly while trying to push myself up.
"Hm," she offers out an arm for me to grab. At least, so I thought. However she kept going after the offer, and started to grab onto my shoulder.
Bad touch, bad touch! "Ach! Sorry, I just-"
She lifts me up powerfully with one arm, and I almost fall back, bewildered at her raw strength to be able to lift me.
"Uh- wuh- um," I stammer out, trying to orientate myself with the painful shocks entering then fading across my form.
She pats my head once, then states, "Still. We must go," and turns around. She probably expected me to follow.
"Uh… Yeah, sure," I nod, taking a few tentative steps forth after her. Everything felt raw and awful, but that's my lot in life, I guess.
My lot in life is substantially worse than I ever thought it could be, actually. I'm down on my luck in every way, walking around with probably severe internal bleeding going on, although how that hasn't killed me yet, I will never know. I got enslaved originally by a boneperson. Now I'm following a boneperson of notably larger size who is very forceful and likely an alcoholic. My best friend is a dead bug man who I failed post mortem. Now I'm heading through a field of essentially nails in the form of rocks to a location I know nothing about and haven't asked about.
That just about sums everything up, I feel. I'm a plus one at best, and a drag of a burden at worst. Man, fuck this moon-planet.
