Day and Audrey's dreadful expedition began once more. They had learned their lesson the hard way, and knew now more than ever that it was extremely important to stay quiet and avoid alerting any beasts that may be lurking in the vicinity waiting to jump on them and tear them apart.
'Hmm.. Left, maybe we can go this way? Yeah. Ah- There's a crevice there… Should we take that? Yeah- That seems good.'
Day navigated through the many structures, the rubble, and the crevices almost masterfully after just an hour of travel. With the lack of monsters came a lack of fear. There was a creeping sense of hopelessness that was hanging onto his leg, hoping to make him tumble to the ground, but alas; Day was too focused on the journey to let anything bother him too much. He had to keep his eyes forward, because after a certain point, even the terrain itself started to pose a danger to them.
He would turn a corner and be met with a rocky spear that was jutting out of the wall, like it was put there on purpose to impale anyone who ran that way through the face. Other times, he or Audrey would get a cut from something more inconspicuous. Day's sides were burning and leaking crimson blood that stained his shirt with a putrid smell. The attack on his nostrils was strong enough to the point where Day had decided it'd be a better idea to just take his shirt off to avoid alerting any creatures who may be attracted to the alluring scent.
After he was forced to take off his shirt, Day grew sick of the expedition.
'God damn corners! What is this, some sort of game? I'm going around corners slowly from now on, who cares if it slows down the expedition…"
Day turned another corner, this time much slower, and was momentarily put at a pause by this particular instance. The deep, seemingly endless darkness was being disturbed by something even more dark and sinister than darkness itself.
He walked forward, setting his sights on a pile of rubble that was tainted with splotches of dark red…
'Blood?'
A chill went up his spine. The blood was not just fresh, but also splattered, like whatever had happened had not only happened recently, but also in a most brutal fashion. The thought of someone being crushed under a pile of rubble terrified him, but what irked him ever-more was the idea of what could have possibly dropped a pile of rubble on a person and crushed them.
Grimacing and turning around, he spared one last glance at the pile of rubble, then made his way back to where Audrey was so he could confirm that it was safe.
They had taken this approach for most of their time. Audrey was adamant that they not do this at first, because she thought it was unfair, but she eventually gave in.
To Day, it made the most sense, let the person who was doing most of the navigating continue to do the navigating. If they ran into another monster and there was no other escape, having Audrey go first would be leading her into the jaws of death. Perhaps, if Audrey was really small, he would have agreed with the girl and let her sneak around, but she wasn't.
Nothing either of them could do about that, and Day didn't hold it against her. It wasn't like Audrey wasn't doing anything, either. She had been a big part in finding the routes, pointing out paths Day didn't notice or couldn't see with her different point of view.
The expedition was calm, for the most part. But of course, the dreadful canyon had to sprinkle in a taste of the poison it was infused with every once and a while:
In the form of a guttural, piercing scream.
Day hadn't become used to it, because who really could? He had learned to deal with it, though. There were dozens upon dozens of people traveling this canyon. Many were destined to die, while many were destined to something worse than just death. The screams were perfect representations of such a reality.
Day was powerless to do anything, which pained his heart, but through this journey he had already been forced to learn the hard way that not everything happening was within his control.
Which is why he had to make the utmost of the things that he felt were.
Looking over at Audrey, his lips curled into a grin.
It was almost shocking to Day how profound of a change their dynamic had undergone in such a short time. Both of them went to fearing the other was out of their mind or a burden to, for Audrey, being willing to fully trust Day to lead, and for Day, being willing to trust a Child's intuition at times.
Perhaps that was the joy of youth that Day still couldn't shake, or perhaps that was their result of a status as Mundane. When they put past their differences, Day could very easily do another one of the two things he had been told; Work with others to survive.
To Day, their differences didn't matter anymore, nor did he care about who or who wasn't useful. All that mattered to him was that she didn't feel disheartened by his thoughts about her at first, and that she knew that he didn't mind either. He wanted there to be trust between the two, because it made him feel better traveling through this canyon knowing he had someone there.
Undoubtedly, what was driving him forward the most was the idea that he really had found somebody to lean on slightly while in this Nightmare, even if he was forcing himself to bear most of the weight currently. He was never an independent person, not even in the slightest. From the people at his orphanage who he could trust, to his peers at school, to his teachers, he had always been one to rely on them as much as he could to get through. His life wasn't even half as drastic as what he was going through currently, but that was who he was.
Day arrived back to where Audrey was and gave a small wave, then cleared his throat and started to whisper.
"There's something sort of gruesome up ahead, you should probably close your eyes as we pass. I can lead you along."
Audrey turned her head to look at him slowly.
"Why do you think I care?"
Day tilted his head and furrowed his brows.
"What?"
"Oh- Um, sorry. I mean like, I don't really care too much to close my eyes if there's something scary ahead… Shouldn't that be obvious? Ah- I'm sorry… Let me rephrase! I'm afraid, but I'd prefer not closing my eyes as I walk through. That would just make me more afraid."
"Oh. Okay."
Day felt a little embarrassed. Turning around with one swift motion, he started to march forward robotically and silently. When he passed the pile of rubble, his face darkened.
'I'm such an idiot… Why did I think she would be afraid? She climbed down this canyon all on her own, walked up to a random person and decided to trust them, and even saved me and herself by distracting a monster…' '
Biting his lip, he glanced back at the little girl who was staring at the pile of rubble with a slightly worried expression- Nothing close to what Day had thought she would react like.
Squeezing into another crevice, Day shuffled forward, his mind racing.
'Idiotic… To think I used to say I was a people person… I can't even understand the thought process of one little girl. .'
'No! Obviously I'm not perfect at reading people's thoughts, that's illogical. '
'Ugh, I could have been a little bit better, though… I really am useless.'
'God- What does it even matter if I embarrass myself a bit? Not like she's going to remember it once this Nightmare finishes.'
Day closed his eyes as he exited the narrow space and sighed.
'If we even make it out alive…'
Opening his eyes and looking up, he noticed something peculiar dead in the middle of the area in front of him. It was green. If it looked anything close to a creature, he wouldn't have started to creep towards it, but it didn't.
Slowly, he moved forward.
Finally, he neared the object, and froze…
'A fruit…?'
Day had no idea what the fruit was, but it was food.
"Perhaps I should leave it be? A fruit lying in the middle of nowhere is suspicious."
Just as he was about to leave it behind…
He heard the sound of feet pushing off of the ground.
"Come to… Oh shit!"
Then, he went crashing to the ground.