Day had been attacked.
Or so he thought.
The truth was, the person who had tackled him was actually another traveler, just like them.
As Day stumbled to the ground with a yelp of surprise and slammed his elbow into the rock ground beneath, the man who had tackled him started to apologize quietly, just as fast as they tumbled to the ground.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"What the…"
Day, dazed, rubbed his elbow with a groan and slowly looked up. He focused his blurry eyes back on the man. He had his hand up in front of him defensively, and his knees and back were bent over. He had an almost terrified look on his face, to the point where it felt almost… melodramatic.
'What is this guy doing…?'
Before Day could contemplate further, the man started to barrage Day with another apology.
"I'm so sorry- I'm so sorry! I was hoping to surprise one of those creatures by hiding in the darkness if any of them came! I must've lost focus because of how hungry I am. Ah, so embarrassing…"
Day coughed, "I don't really mind- Wait… You said you were hunting one of the creatures? Can you eat them?"
The man took a large sigh of relief, seeing that Day wasn't mad, and crossed his arms.
After that sigh of relief, Day once again felt a pang in his stomach.
'This man is peculiar… It feels fake. Am I being too rash? Judging too quickly? I don't know…'
"Of course you can. Well, a couple of them, that is. Why do you ask?"
Day raised an eyebrow and responded wearily:
"Because when I killed one, it dissolved into the shadows."
"Ooh! Wait- you said you killed one?!"
"Uh, yeah, why?"
The man grinned.
"I think we are going to get along quite well, Day. You see- I actually killed one myself, too. With a trap just like that. Unfortunately, the first one I found was a shadow creature. I thought you were one of them, but alas, I was wrong. Oh! We should probably get the hell out of here. I have a good spot, we caused a big commotion, something is probably coming."
'The first one he found? So there are normal creatures down here. Doesn't matter, hopefully, we can get out within the next day or so.'
Day spoke rather quickly after gathering his thoughts.
"Hold on- I'm not the only one here. I have a companion, too. Also… Are you sure you want to bring us along? We could just escape now and go our separate ways."
He put his hands on his hips and huffed with that same smirk plastered on his pretty face.
"Trust me. You want to come with me. You can get a good rest in, possibly, and then depart just as soon as you come! It's really cozy in there, I think you'll sleep like a baby."
The man glanced over at Audrey, his face obscured by the darkness.
"Your friend can come too!"
Day wasn't paying attention though. His mind was racing with multiple thoughts. Was it really going to be safe? Should they trust this guy? Day thought he seemed nice, but what if he…
'It's fine. We will relax for a bit, then get out. I won't even sleep. It's just important that we get somewhere safe right now. I can't think, we gotta go. He's offering safety, he needs safety as well, there would be no reason to deceive us. If he tries anything, I'll be ready.'
They quickly departed from the spot, and a few minutes later, Day heard a screech and a plethora of loud bangs and shattering rocks being the proof of a dreadful scuffle happening where they left. Whatever creatures had found their way to where they previously were, they weren't happy with each other.
The thought sent shivers down Day's spine. He almost sped up, but he didn't. It wasn't that he was scared of making noise. The creatures were already doing enough of that. He just didn't wish to pass the man who brought them along. He didn't know where they were going, after all.
"We got off easy, didn't we? I'm lucky that this guy didn't threaten us, or that it wasn't a Nightmare Creature. I should have realized it was a trap. That sort of thing is too good to be true.'
'No matter. I won't make the same mistake again…'
On the way there, Day decided to ask the man a few questions, just to be friendly.
Of course, he did well to make sure he was quiet. They had gotten far enough away, and the roars and banging of the angry beasts were nothing more than a whisper from where they stood.
"So, what's your name?"
"My name? Jacob… And you?"
"Day."
"Quite the peculiar name. Who named you, if I may ask?"
"I don't know."
The man chuckled.
"I see. I guess that's to be expected out here, isn't it? Oh, sorry. No offense, of course. It's just, his curse really does make it difficult for generations to live on in these cursed lands."
"His curse…?"
The next time Jacob spoke, Day could hear something different in Jacob's oddly soft voice. Like it had become skeptical, or annoyed, or maybe both…
"The Sun."
Day cleared his throat and laughed softly.
"Yeah- The Sun! Of course."
' So it really is a Sun. Suspicions completely confirmed.'
'Huh, now that I think about it…I guess I really do seem like an idiot to the people here…'
Jacob glanced over at Audrey, his tone softening.
"So, Day… What's your friend's name?"
Audrey responded in a bitter tone.
"I can speak for myself. My name is Audrey. "
"Oh… sorry. You haven't talked until now, so I just assumed- Whatever, Audrey, yes? Pretty name. It's nice to meet you."
Day was about to open his mouth and berate her, like he would to the younger members of the orphanage when they acted rude, but he didn't.
He stayed completely silent.
'What right do I have to berate a child I just met? She's not really wrong, either. I have no right.'
Day and Audrey followed the eccentric man to his hiding spot. He wasn't lying in the slightest, it was pretty great. It was somewhat similar to where Day had fought the Conjuration of Darkness, but the space was much more finite. It was a smooth, small cubby with a tiny opening for entry. They could stand in it, and Day could even spread his arms all the way out, but what was nice about it was the entrance made it inconspicuous. No idiotic creatures would think that such a large space was hidden past an opening that someone would need to squeeze into. It felt almost akin to a mouse hole for humans.
That thought was rather comforting.
When they all entered, the man started to whisper.
"Here we are. I thought this would be a good place to settle for a bit. You see- I ate all my food on the way here, big mistake. I wanted to get some more food for the road, there's still a couple more hours of travel, after all."
Day studied the space intently and nodded:
"Good thinking. I personally decided to just brave the journey entirely, but I can see why you would go for more food."
Day locked eyes with Audrey and spoke, his voice still directed towards the man:
"Mind if we stay here for a bit? I'm worried about going back out and meeting whatever creatures may have been attacked by our commotion. I don't think my companion will have a problem with that. We won't be here for long."
Audrey, who still had her eyes locked onto Day's, nodded.
"No, I don't have a problem with that.
Audrey's tone had softened up slightly.
Jacob beamed.
"No problem! No problem! You can stay here for a while. You two just relax, okay?"
"Thank you."
Day turned away from the man and lowered himself to his knees. Slinging his bag off of his sore figure, he took a deep breath and placed it down, relief washing over him as the weight of his bag and sword was finally taken off of his shoulders.
'Alright. We will stay here for an hour or so then leave. No foul, no harm. This Jacob character doesn't seem too bad, I guess.'
When Day finished and started to rise, he heard Audrey let out something awfully close to a screech.
A sound much louder than anyone should ever make in a situation as dire as the one they were currently in.
"Day!"
Day's skin started to crawl at the loud scream, and his head shot back, but when he finished turning…
His eyes locked onto a sword pointed right at his face.
Suddenly, the man barked out an order in a tone that was so drastically different that Day almost flinched.
"Don't move."
"What…?"
"I said don't move."
It didn't take Day long to realize what was going on, but he would be lying if he said that he was actually comprehending it. It seemed he had jinxed it.
His mouth gaped open, and it took him a few seconds of silence before he could respond. He wasn't even sure if he should have, but he couldn't help himself.
"There's no way… You aren't serious, right?"
"Of course I'm serious. Did you genuinely think that there were safe spots in this canyon, Mr. Gullible? There's a fifty fifty that it's a real creature or a shadow one. If you lose, they will just sniff you out, did you really not think of that? I mean- How stupid are you? Did you learn nothing from your many years of life in these lands? I thought you were an idiot, walking up to a random fruit like that. The first thing any sane person would think when they saw that was that it was a trap."
Day looked intently at the sword that was practically touching his nose and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"I was going to slaughter you and steal your stuff the moment I saw you walk up, but damn am I glad I didn't."
Day's gaze darkened.
"Why?"
"Because it'd be stupid to tear you apart in the open and make a bunch of noise. I was in that area because there were creatures there, after all. Look at you again, being an idiot, you know yourself that creatures came only a few minutes after we made that commotion."
"Why did you tackle me and make all that noise, then?"
"It was an accident. Everyone makes small mistakes… Apparently, you make more than others, though."
'Why is he insulting me so much? He's just as bitter as the assholes who I talked to when we were traveling those lands…'
Day, shocked and somewhat hurt despite meeting the man a mere two dozen minutes ago, asked another question, his voice quiet and pained.
"Why are you doing this?"
The man chuckled and pushed the tip of the sword into Day's nose, drawing a drop of blood.
"You should already know that. Ah… To be so young and foolish. There's always a little bit of truth hidden in any act of deception, Mr. Gullible."
'What the hell is this dude talking about?'
"Are you insane?"
"No, I'm not insane… I'm hungry. "
Something clicked in Day's mind at that moment. A sinister realization that birthed a seedling of hatred.
'Hungry… So he was telling the truth about being hungry, but lying about the safe spot?'
"So that's what it is? You're hungry, so you are betraying someone's trust mere moments after they began to settle down? I was damned hungry before, and I didn't manipulate anybody. Trying to spin it into something intelligent when all it is is you feeding your own selfish desires."
There was a flash of anger on Jacob's face that didn't leave even after he walked forward and shoved Day out of the way.
"Oh shut up. The only way to survive is to be selfish, so I don't care. Move the hell out of my way."
He quickly picked up Day's bag and practically ripped it open before rummaging through it with a greedy glint in his eyes.
Day's mind was racing. Fear, confusion… Hatred. A plethora of negative emotions were stirring into a large mental upset that Day couldn't seem to shake, but for some reason, his mind was clear.
Day knew what he had to do, it would just be painful to do it, and that was why he was so upset.
There were thoughts like: How could this man betray them like this? He had suspicions about the man and his melodramatic behavior, but as much as he abhorred it, he did nothing to stop this.. He made a mistake, and even though they did nothing to him, and they weren't planning to do anything to him either, he had betrayed them just as quickly as he found them.
He studied him through the darkness for a moment as he began to see him in a new light.
He wasn't particularly tall, and the way he carried himself, in Day's eyes, was… Slimy.
He was slightly hunched over as he walked, and his long, brown hair, which was tied up in a single long ponytail that rode down to his lower back, was messy. His brown eyes matched his hair, but his eyes were a lighter color than his hair.
The man finished rummaging through Day's bag and groaned in annoyance when he found nothing.
"Not even the damn rope! The hell are you doing, you buffoon? Do you even have a way out? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you followed me to steal my stuff."
His neck snapped over to where Audrey was.
"You. Give me your bag, brat. "
He started to walk towards her slowly, keeping his gaze on Day as he walked. He took Day's bag with him, which still had the sword attached to it, so Day couldn't grab it.
Audrey started to speak, her eyes were lined with tears and she was practically cowering in the corner as the man approached her. In this decrepit state, she started to speak.
"Um… Can you just let us- My bag is empty… There's no food, I don't even have water. "
Day clenched his fists so hard that his nails started to dig into his skin as he approached the little girl. He knew what he had to do, but there were no chances to do it. The little girl couldn't fight back if he attacked, perhaps momentarily, but a fully grown man wielding a sword vs a little girl who could barely even lift it correctly wasn't going to work out.
'This is insane. To have to stand here and cower because he… Dammit, and to think I decided to trust this scumbag so easily. That was a mistake, I've made many mistakes. I'm so… idiotic. Ugh, I'm being put in a difficult position.'
'Once again, I need to right my wrongs.'
"Let me see the bag, you brat. I don't care. You don't want to hide the food from me if there is food in there, I'm hungry. You think I won't cut your damn limbs off and eat them if I need to do it to survive? I came here with nothing, and I got all the way here, I'll slaughter both of you and if you don't give me the bag."
Day stayed completely silent, like a camouflaged Nightmare Creature stalking a human in the darkness. His head was tilted down slightly, obscuring the upper half of his face, hiding his hatred filled eyes beneath a veil of darkness, as if to hide even his intentions.
Then, the slimy scumbag made a mistake.
He lowered his sword slightly and his gaze stayed on Audrey for a few moments too many.
'Fine then, if you want to break peoples' trust so easily… You'll die, amounting to exactly what someone of your kind is destined to.'
'Nothing.'
With a heart full of hatred, he dashed forward.
'I killed a Dormant Beast with a sword. The hell if I can't beat a human without one.'
The man turned to him, his eyes wide, but before he could lift his sword; Day had already grabbed his wrist with an iron grip and started reeling back his other arm for a dastardly punch.
'The stakes are the same.'