#anyway WOOOO WE'RE GETTIN CLOSE FELLAS

[tai-janai]

Reunite

Path 9: Rest

(Chapter Select)

Voice of the Hero:

There we go.

You flinch, and your eyes bolt open. You quickly take in your surroundings; Door, windows, table, blade.

This cabin seems... almost normal. A little off, maybe. Perhaps more like a shed than a cabin. You grab the blade's echo once again. Though its form wavers, you hope it can still handle how much you depend on it.

Voice of the Hero:

You alright? We're all... jumpy.

You are admittedly on edge after saving the last Being. The uncanniness of the cabin isn't helping either. You can only hope the next one isn't dangerous, but you feel the need to prepare.

Voice of the Hero:

Well... If you're ready. Waiting up here never gets us very far.

You take a step towards the off-center door. Your hand extends to the handle, but something makes your body flinch.

You quickly turn around, searching for a threat, your grip tightening on the hilt of the echo. You hear the Voice breathing heavily in your mind.

"What? What is it?"

Voice of the Hero:

One of me is... We need to get back to the cabin!

"What are you talking about? We're in a cabin!?"

Voice of the Hero:

N-not you! Agh! O-one of me is-! I-I... hold on.

There is stressed silence as you hold on. Your hold on the echo pales your knuckles. The Voice is searching.

Voice of the Hero:

The one in the water. The second one we saved. I'm no longer with him.

"What!?"

Voice of the Hero:

We found the edge of... something. There was something there and I... I don't know. I'm not there anymore. I don't know if he is, either. I just have a feeling.

"What can I do from here?"

Voice of the Hero:

Well... I don't think we can... I think we just have to keep going. I'll try to get to the edge in their "worlds," too.

"But you said you're disappearing from those worlds. Is that really okay?"

You feel the present moment, like the Voice in your head refocuses on You.

Voice of the Hero:

I'm okay, really. I know, above everything, I'm here with You.

"You were very panicked."

Voice of the Hero:

I know, I know. I'm sorry for scaring you. It felt weird to lose a part of myself like that, but no weirder than gaining a new part. I just wasn't expecting it.

With a quick exhale, you turn back around to the door. Your nerves are shot, but you have to focus. You open the door and enter into the stairway down.

The steps are a bit strange; at uneven intervals, some even slant. They are dirty, or perhaps they are made of dirt. The way down is more narrow than it had ever been. You feel confined.

With shallow breaths, you reach the "basement."

Everything looks and feels wet. There is a mass of foliage everywhere you look. Bright, large leaves hang down around you. It is all just plants, covered in droplets of dew. You can't see the end of the room, or even the sides.

You can't even take in the beauty of it.

Voice of the Hero:

This place... it's honestly gorgeous.

Well, you can't. You feel wired. Where is the Being? The end of the room is obscured, there is no sound.

You.

A voice, whispering but thunderous, crashes through you like a gust of wind.

Voice of the Hero:

Shit, shit, what do we do?

Your eyes dart around. No leaves rustle, no wind shifts, no chains crackle. There is a Being here. Where? You are watched.

Then, there are chains clattering. Unfortunately, from every corner of the room, they sound like metal across grass.

Silence. You hardly breathe, just to hear anything. The whoosh of something - a tail. It is about to pounce.

You dash into the chaparral, quick on your feet and keeping the blade locked in your hand. The tighter you grip the nothingness, the less you trust it.

Nevertheless, it gets you. You don't see much, only a shimmering glitter of metal - does it have a knife? - and then something is torn off of you.

A violent tear rips through you, a pain so intense you hope it goes numb. Has it taken your arm?

You reach to feel the part of you overwhelmed by blinding pain, but everything is there. No blood, not even a wound.

The space in your mind has been emptied. The Being took the Voice away. You breathe heavily, but you are trying to quiet yourself. You feel sick.

From somewhere else, the other you speaks quietly. You realize he is talking to the creature.

The Hero:

It's okay, we're not trying to hurt you- What? I am whispering. Aah-!

You hear his feathers rustle and he is taken someplace else.

This feels unfair. You can't even get a good look at the creature, how are you meant to have a conversation with it?

"Come out and show yourself!"

You reek of the enemy.

Its voice chills your bones. Your arm hasn't recovered. You didn't realize when it happened, but you dropped the blade when it first attacked you.

"Don't you want to leave?"

There is the sound of crinkling leaves and sticks.

My home was safe when you were gone.

You feel its gaze once again. You whip your head around to search, and catch a glimpse of reflected light high in the trees.

It is far away, perched on a branch. You only see the glint of four- no, three eyes. The fourth is its tail, something reflective, swaying below it. You can't make out anything else in the distant darkness.

The chains you know are holding it make no noise as it leaps off of its branch, back into the obscuring grove.

You don't know what to do. It doesn't seem keen on conversation, it just wants you to leave.

"Can I have my guy back?"

It is safe and resting, though it speaks delusion. You may look like Us, but you speak differently. Your voice attached these chains to me. Your will shut the world out.

It is everywhere and nowhere at once. Leaves only jostle around you. The creature is ever silent.

"I didn't. I don't remember doing that."

It is true you are different. You have changed, but, so have I.

Through the trees, you see it move. You can barely tell, every step is fluid and noiseless.

It shows itself to you between trunks and leaves. A large, quadrupedal, furred thing. Two large eyes squint at you, but a third smaller one between them remains wide open, unblinking. Two large pointed ears start off laying flat, but prick up at you. Its whole body is emaciated, bones showing through thinner patches of fur. Each of its legs comes to harsh, bony ends, rather than paws or claws. You can't tell how long it is, its lower half is still hiding in the thicket. As you thought, the large, dark chain is clamped around its neck, like all the others.

You are mourning and fear, not guilt or regret. Has your memory truly been wiped?

It is gone again. It elects to ignore its own questions.

No matter. You are something other. I have someone with me now, I don't need anything else.

You catch another flash of reflected light through the leaves.

Thank you for such an adequate nest, warden. But I know it is only a comfortable cage.

"But I want to get you out of this cage... I didn't put you here."

You hear a thump behind you, and you turn to it. In the small clearing you stand in, the creature sits mere feet away from you, another half of you on height. It stares down at you with the slightest tilt of its head. You see its tail now; a long, fur thing with a sharp, curved blade sticking out of the end of it. The tail is at rest, curled up against the creature's thin body.

You are no threat. Were you, before? Where I was made strong, were you weakened?

It lowers its head to you. You saw glimpses of sharp incisors when it spoke.

From off in another corner in the room, you hear the other you shout. You can't exactly tell where, but the Being immediately rushes back into the jungle. It makes almost no noise aside from the sound of fur. The dew it disturbs with its bound make it look like it left glitter in its wake. It's a bit disorienting.

The Hero:

Th-They found each other! Another one of me got to the edge, two of the ones we saved are together!

"How lovely. Can you get back to me, now??"

The Hero:

Um...

He pauses. You take a single step.

The Hero:

N-no? I don't think he'd, uh, like that.

With a grunt of frustration, you instead refer to the Being.

"Will you please come out?? What's the point if you just keep hopping away, what do you want??"

I want you to leave.

"Wouldn't you like, I don't know, a break from all of this?"

You sense its presence.

My "break" was when you were gone.

You whip around again. You notice yourself getting dizzy.

"I just want to break that chain. That's okay, right? You said I put it on you."

And you denied it.

Two eyes squint at you.

"I'm done arguing with you, I just want to help you."

You are spineless.

You find that a bit rude. The Being doesn't know what you've been through. It stands and begins to circle you, weaving between tree trunks and overgrown bushes. You do not stop tracking it with your eyes.

And altering. You were afraid when you first invaded this place. My teeth are no less sharp.

"You can kill me, but I'll come back. Every time."

It does not respond.

"I'll come back and I'll keep trying. You deserve freedom, the same as anyone. Even if that just means no metal on your neck."

It steps closer once again.

There is no backing to your claim of returning from death. You don't even believe it yourself.

The creature bares fangs at you, and you flinch away. But it was only a scare, and it turns its head.

If I called your bluff now, and things don't go as you say, you will no longer exist.

"I'll have... done all I could."

It leans towards you. You can feel its breath.

Would that be enough for you?

You reach out. It smells your hand. You brush against the whiskery fur on its face.

"If it meant... you were free."

That will get you killed.

Its eyes close, except for the one in the center that remains unblinking.

"Will you trust me, then?"

It steps back, and its eyes reopen.

You have no key. You may not have a distinct smell, but I'd know a key if you had it.

"I don't, you're right. I don't need one."

Its ears pin back again.

The other you calls out once again, trying to convince the Being.

The Hero:

I know you think I'm crazy, but could you just listen to him for a second? Everyone says its so nice to have a normal body.

The creature squints, unconvinced. You have to admit yourself, the Other does sound a little crazy.

"I just need an ounce of trust from you. You have to believe I will free you."

All I've known you to do is hurt me and then grovel when I take a part of you. I will not excuse what you've done, nor my reactions to it.

"I'm not asking to be excused. What you think I've done doesn't deserve your forgiveness. I just want you to see my effort, and that I'll do anything to help you now."

The Being turns its head to the side. For the first time, you hear the chain rattle with its movement. There is a still, chilling pause. You realize how heavily you were breathing.

Will it hurt?

"... Nobody else has said it does."

That isn't very reassuring.

You don't know what else to say. You have tried your best.

But, it can tell.

It bows its head, and the chains clink.

First, it is just the leaves shifting from some gust of air, but then, there are the feathers. You watch the Being cower for a moment as the plumage closes in on it. The room finally gains the sense of life it hadn't had as all of the leaves sway, disrupted by the wind the feathers brought with them. The chain falls to the grass. The feathers shrink the creature. After a heart-wrenching moment, they disappear into the leaves. A thing that looks like you is left behind.

This one is noticeably smaller. Stunted wings and scales in a pattern that disrupt its form like camouflage. It quickly finds its bearings in its new body. It sees you with wide eyes. After a spare, unsure moment of hesitation, it quietly retreats into the underbrush.

"H-hey-!"

You chase after it on quiet feet. You don't want to scare it, but you don't want to lose sight of it, either. Fortunately for you, its new-old body isn't as fit for these surroundings as the larger body was. It's scales are too bright, its claws leave too many traces.

It stops at a clearing. It picks something up... Your echo. It turns to look at you for a moment. You realize it is making sure you follow it. It dashes back into the leaves. Knowing it isn't running from you keeps the pep in your step. You pass through many dark, damp areas, until... you reach a corner.

A large nest of soft leaves and bark fills your vision, and the other you is sat there waiting like a newly hatched baby bird. He lights up seeing you and the new one. He hops to his feet, feathers fluttering elatedly.

The Hero:

Oh, you two are okay, thank goodness. I always get so scared when I'm not with you, even if they're treating me nicely. The furball really didn't want me coming anywhere near you.

The Hunted:

Fear is good. Unease shouldn't be ignored.

You are a bit thrown off by the whispery quality of its voice, but you are more concerned for it than anything.

The Hero:

You're right, you're right. Always gotta be careful. Do you feel better now?

The new one adjusts the grip it has on the echo.

The Hunted:

I'm small again. And this... thing, it isn't as corporeal as the claw I had.

The Hero:

Don't worry about being small, and... The blade? What do you mean, not "corporeal?"

The Hunted:

This one understands.

It looks at you with wide eyes. You don't expect the sudden solidarity, but you nod.

It walks over to you, squinting unsurely. Its head tilts, less than a foot away from you.

The Hunted:

Even now, your scent continues to fluctuate.

You don't know what that means. It takes a few steps over to the other you, and repeats the same close-distanced process.

The Hunted:

This one is me, even before I tore him from you. That is why I believed him to be me. You are partially me, but partially something else.

"Well I can't really help that."

It circles the Other.

The Hunted:

I thought you would appreciate my reasoning. This one said you want answers.

The Hero:

Don't you?

You sigh.

"I do... I do. Thank you. And thank you for trusting me."

The Hunted:

Was there an option to not have given in to your determination?

It tilts its head and questions you in a way you can't discern is sarcasm or not.

"That's not what I mean, I'm just grateful."

The Hunted:

I'm free from the chain. Will you leave, now?

The Hero:

Oh, yes.

He turns to face the new one and smiles softly. He gestures to the blade's echo with reasonable distance.

The Hero:

Do you mind if I borrow this? I'll give it right back.

With perplexed hesitation, it slowly obliges, placing the blade in the other you's open hand. Penetrating eyes look to you.

The Hunted:

He is going to kill you?

"Pretty much."

The Hero:

We've got... someone else to save. It might... It might be close to over.

The new one doesn't understand, but he doesn't push.

The Hero:

And we'll find a way to get the others to you. Or, you to the others. There are some I'm sure will love you.

Its face doesn't change, but the small wings on the new one do react with a small, excited twitch.

The Hunted:

No use waiting, then.

You are put off by its straightforwardness, but you face the other you.

The Hero:

Are you ready to go? Can you feel it? I feel an end somewhere nearby.

"Somewhat. Might as well finish up."

It smiles softly, contrasting the ominous blade in its hands.

The Hero:

They're all happy. We just have to close it out.

It raises the knife.

You wonder if you'll get that happiness, too, as the blade cuts into your chest.

It's good they're happy. You're succeeding, but... Everything goes dark.