Six was cornered.
Six hated being cornered.
The adult (?) Clearly had some kind of ulterior motive. It had communicated. It shook its head. It pointed, like it was trying to tell her something. It didn't want to kill her like she had previously thought, it had several chances to do just that. Six doubted it was some kind of worker like the janitor or the chefs. The chains around its neck and ankle suggested it to be a prisoner of some kind. Why it was on the maw to begin with is what Six was unsure of. Her best guess would be labor. It was quite large, and most likely incredibly strong.
So what could it possibly need her for?
"Okay, what do you want?" Her throat burned. Dehydration and lack of use made it sound rough and low. The Nome, who had been standing beside her, made a small noise of concern. She wondered if the creature even heard her. Or if it could even understand her. Nodding and pointing is one thing, words are another. Words were something shared between kids. Words weren't for adults.
It raised a claw. Six instinctively took a step back, ready to run. But it didn't go for her. Instead, it started clawing at the wood. Symbols were etched into the table. It was writing. It was intelligent, at least somewhat.
One problem.
"I can't read."
The girl couldn't read.
"Okay, plan b." R.K thinks. Danger. What symbol was danger? Uhhhhh. Oh! Skull and crossbones! That meant danger, right? His claws (surprisingly sharp) dug into the wood. Oh that's… that's not what a skull looks like. Hold on, maybe…? No, no, teeth were a part of the skull, right? They started over. Okay that's better- The bones! They almost forgot the bones! Oh no, those did not look like bones. Wait, were there supposed to be two or four bones? Uh…
You know what? It's good enough. They hope. He scratches an arrow next to it, pointed in the direction of the Lady's quarters. There.
️ ▶ .
"Death, that way?" The girl says, slowly. R.K nods. The Nome chimes in, dramatically falling over in a faux demise. "Why? What could possibly be more dangerous than…" The girl gestures around herself at pretty much everything. That's… That's fair. Hm. What did the Lady look like again? She was… oh, right! R.K scratched a vaguely lady-shaped figure to the best of their (limited) ability. Wow, people were hard to draw.
"The Lady." The girl let in a sharp breath. She knew. Good.
"Rrrph." R.K nodded.
A Nome crawled up along his head. Followed by two or three more. R.K giggled. What on earth were they doing…? The Nome next to the girl started pulling on her arm. She looked back and forth between them. She turned to the Nome. "No." She said, "Absolutely not." The Nome started pulling even harder, chittering insistently. "You are insane if you think-" A Nome atop R.K's head let out a squeal, a noise he didn't even know they could make. They all started chittering, as if they were talking over each other.
He didn't quite know what they- OH! They wanted her to ride on his head. That… wasn't a bad idea, actually. It would be harder to get separated! And he wouldn't accidentally step on any of them! Oh, the Nomes were so clever! Why didn't he think of that? They lowered their head so it was parallel to the table. The last Nome climbed on, but the girl hesitated. He waited a moment. Still nothing. He lifted their head slightly. The girl was staring at them, still yet to move.
"..."
"You'd better not drop me". After a final bout of hesitance, she climbed up. They felt her gripping onto his hair, her grip almost threatening to pull it out. "...You need to wash your hair. It's greasy."
"You're greasy." R.K thinks. Unable to voice their retort, he lets out an annoyed rumble.
"That's what I'm going to call you now. Greasy. Greasy the greasy hair monster."
"Nnnrrrrr"
"…"
"...My name is Six, by the way."
Six was already regretting this.
Mostly because Greasy seemed to have horrible balance. It was constantly sliding or tripping on something, and it was incredibly difficult to hold on to Greasy's greasy hair. There were several times that Six was certain she was going to lose her grip and fall. Luckily, that had yet to happen. Sometimes, it felt like Greasy was doing on purpose. There is no way anyone can be that clumsy.
On the bright side, it seemed to be genuinely friendly. In normal situations, Six would have assumed it to be a trick of some kind. And while there was a small possibility of that being the case, Six realized that Greasy had earned the trust of the Nomes. Nomes, if anything, seemed to be good judges of character. They were incredibly skittish, running from even her at times, and yet… here they are. Riding the head of a giant monster.
Greasy had been bringing Six back the way she came. Formerly occupied tables were now empty and cleared of food. Six wondered what had happened to the horde that had chased her. Most likely, they had moved on in search of other food. Or other prey. Six shuddered. She didn't want to think about that.
Greasy seemed unfamiliar with this area, so Six had the very important job of making sure they didn't get lost and end up dead. It's surprising how much detail you remember when you're running for your life. Then again, that's not always a good thing. But for now, it'll help them get out of here.
It's much easier, Six realized, to tell where you're going when you're so high up. You can actually see what's in front of you before you get there, so you aren't constantly stumbling into danger. Not that Greasy wasn't stumbling at all. It was. Six wondered if it was because the boat was rocking an unusual amount lately. Likely a storm of some kind.
One of the Nomes started chattering and pointing to a door on their left. "Is that the exit?" Six whispered. The Nome nodded. "To the left we go, then." Greasy lumbered over and opened the door.
It creaked open. Revealing a dining hall full of the Guests.