Continuing down the white line, from platform, onto the dirt, right back into the tunnel. There was nothing that happened.
The white line provided with a light that made it pretty easy for me to be able to see, not needing for me to use my arrow for light.
When the end of the line came there was nothing at the end.
Just a wall.
"Great, this weird thing is in my bow, and it lied about the end of the line being…"
The wall begins to crumble, literally eroding before my eyes. To show that behind it is a rock terrain, mixed with the dirt, but mostly rocky.
"WOW, I talked way too early."
I tilt my head in surprise.
Taking a look out the opening, I see another tunnel:
"Grrrrrreat…"
This one is lined with fire torches along the walls, and pillars to hold the walls up by its side, different from the dirt walls on this side.
"Thought it was going to be an easy cut, turns out to be an extension."
Taking a few steps, I leave this side and exit this place into the rocks, stepping on rocks now instead of dirt.
As I get through the opening as if it's reversing in time, the dirt path remakes itself looking as if it was never opened in the first place.
"Okay. Now. To find an actual exit to this place."
Looking left, then looking right, then right, I take a huff of air, then let it slowly leave through my nose.
"Went left last time. Let's try right this time."
Turning to my right I hold my bow well in my hand, wipe my eyes, the patch still turned upward, and I continue down the right.
"Forgot to flip this."
Slowly pulling the patch down to cover my eye, is feel the fabric tightening itself to my face just like how it did a while before I left home.
Walking now, I feel the physical difference in the rocky terrain to that of the dirt terrain.
The dirt felt like I was sinking with every other step into forward, this one on the other hand would make me feel comfortable with every step, since I didn't feel my toes sink forward with every step.
My shoulder feels a slight pain. And discomfort at the same time.
Thinking it's because of tension.
I try to stretch it to a pop.
"Freak!"
Behind my shoulder feels slick with liquid and the immense pain coming off of it.
Stopping for a second, I get to side and put down, both my bow and bag.
Wincing as I drop my bow.
As I put my bag down the fabric holding one side nearly tears apart. I feel the tightness of my leather bracers, making me I tighten then and put them beside my bag.
"Goddamn."
I say as I use my other hand to reach around to touch where the pain is coming from, to feel wetness and such a bad feeling.
"Ow."
My body shivers slightly as I touch it.
Pulling the fingers that touched to my face, I see red blood.
The fire burns showing it as bright as it can for me to see.
"How did..?"
I ask myself before answer my question mentally.
"That damned knight, soul mix thing."
Reaching into my bag, I move around the book, I got as a gift from Glee, a few pairs of clothes a sleeping bag and…
"Dear lord, do I even have food, water..?"
I grab at a canteen.
"Okay, drink yes."
I continue looking and feel what I've been looking for.
"Great, good to know Steel is still watching me from home."
Pulling out a bandage I sigh with much relief.
Pulling off my shirt, I see the weight of my everyday workouts.
My body chiseled to be made to move quickly and to reposition before the opponent finds me, my abs set to look more made, than it should be for a 10 year old.
The back of my shirt has a hole, along with blood staining it.
"Okay."
The stickiness of the bandage is good enough.
I put the bandage on my bag and try not to make anything stick to it, especially any dirt.
I fold my shirt to be a the thing that soaks up the blood, instead of the bandage.
"Okay."
Stretching out the bandage over my bag, I hold my shirt over my shoulder, then put the part I stretched out in my mouth to hold it, bitting down using my lips, then using my other hand I stretch much further with it, and with MUCH struggle I manage to wrap it around once, letting me take the strip out of my mouth.
I wrap once, then twice, letting the roll go over the shirt many times.
"Okay."
Moving my shoulder back and forth, I feel massive tension in my shoulder and just have to hope for the best, along with not hurting my shoulder so that I don't end up losing my mind.
"Please don't make me have to do too much, God, I'm begging."
Reaching back into my bag to put back the rest of the bandage and another shirt for me.
I put on the other shirt, a black tee.
And sit down for a moment, relaxing for a bit.
"Yeah Lazuli. Let's go do you can understand the dangers of the world… Found it out very fast."
I feel my eyes begin to get heavy.
"And I don't know how long I've been down here too. I'm getting tired. This is bad."
With a groan I force myself up.
"Let's just find a way out Lazi."
Leaning down I grab my bag, by the good strap and put it on my back, the bag slaps against my wound, making me groan.
I stretch out my fingers for a bit, and massage my forearms before I grab my bracers and pull them on my forearms. Feeling the straps hold tight to my arms.
Once more leaning down I grab my bow and pull it over my shoulder to the the good shoulder.
"Let's go."
Going down the path I told myself to follow.
It doesn't change, nor look any different, it takes another few minutes before I end up into a fork in the road.
"Left, right, middle."
Even standing I can feel the weight of needed sleep.
"Would the light help me now…? No, it said it would come to me when I needed help, does that mean now?"
I shake my head of thoughts.
"Nevermind, let me actually figure this out alone."
Emptying my mind, I try to hear for any sound of footfalls.
Left, right nor middle had any sound coming from it, and trying to see anything down the halls amounted to nothing since the endlessness of it was very evident, well as far as I could see until for some reason, on all three the torches just disappeared.
Lifting my eye patch, I look down the hall, to see nothing but one single small silhouette of a white figure at the end of the middle tunnel.
With a hopeful breath, I put my hands together, then bring it to the sky.
Waving my hand I call out to it.
"HEY!?"
I break into a jog, slow enough for me to not need to pull my shoulder forward too much. Fast enough to try and catch up to it.
Entering the middle tunnel, there are many holes on the inside of the walls, some have coffins, others are empty.
'Ominous…'
As I get closer for a split second the silhouette turns as if to look at me.
Chirp.
The body shrinks as I get closer, to turning into the size of a small animal of some sorts.
Chirp.
'What is that?'
A white silhouette appears in front of my face.
Without thinking, as if on instinct, I move my head out of the way and rush to the wall, the white silhouette, now replaced with a creature that...
"Is that a fish with chicken legs!"
The thing stops and waddles to turn it's body to my body.
As soon as it turns to me, I stifle a laugh, the white silhouette apears again, as if to hit my face once more.
I jump out the way, as the fish chicken hybrid jumps to where my face was, past it, then slamming into the wall. Literally crashing into it and putting a crater in the wall.
'OH, That's very bad.'
The silhouette appears on my stomach.
Rolling away from danger, I feel the instant pressure of the roll on my shoulder.
The fish chicken hybrid runs into the ground again, smashing into it.
Pushing off my back, with pain in it, I jump into the air.
Once again the silhouette appears on my body, my leg this time. I jump out the way, then the jump to another part of my body.
It misses as I hop out the way, the fish chicken hybrid runs into the walls, then it's silhouette is on my face again.
Ducking, I feel the wind from the fish chicken thing fly right past my body.
As soon as that is felt I push my body to move, as fast as I can. Making the blood under the bandages begin to really push out. The wetness on my shoulder is the giveaway to me knowing that.
Turning my head to look over my shoulder. I see the fish chickens silhouette again getting clser to me.
Running back, I head right back to the fork in the tunnels.
Not wanting to risk, rushing into any other monsters, whether comedic or not, I don't wanna risk seeing something worse than the fish chicken. I run down the same way.
My feet pushing as fast as they possibly can to make me get out of the way of the fish chicken.
As soon as I pass the opening between the three, on the left side:
"Lazuli!?"
As soon as I pause to turn my head in the direction of the person that called my name, As soon as I do so, the silhouette on my stomach, turns into the actual thing, with the chicken claws looking to grow large as its actual body ready to smash into me and break my body apart internally.
Then...
Boop!
The sliminess of the fishes body, along with it's scales slap into my stomach, doing nothing more than winding me a tad bit.
As I crash to the ground, I roll, then lay on my back. A flash of blue light flies from the left tunnel, and right through the fish chicken hybrid. My eye patch drop, by itself, as if knowing I no longer need it.
Getting myself into a semi-sitting position, using my good arm to hold me up, I see, three old, but familiar faces.
A giant woman, that could be confused to be a Valkyrie, a girl that is as tall as Celestrus with a staff that is still as big as her, that looks to be a bit frozen, with freezing aura around it and a guy that looks at me with a massive smile on his face, and a neatly made mustache now. Leather armor, and a rose hilted katana.
"LAZULI!"
John says as he pushes through the two before him.
He runs up, bends down, and grabs me into a hug.
"How you been kid?"
As he grabs me into a hug, carrying me up, I see behind him, a woman that looks to brown, too serious looking woman, with her hair in a bun, and round glasses. With a sword on her back, at a tilt an angle that looks a bit weird, a way I've never seen someone put their sword before and metal armor that covers her body neck to toe, sticking to her body showing off her figure.
"Better if you put me down."
I say with a massive grunt.
"LIKE NOW!"
I yell, a bit too loud since I could feel his hand pressing into the shirt that is blocking out the blood.
"Oh yeah sorry kid."
He puts me down gently.
Dropping my bow, then leaning to drop my bag it breaks and falls through my good shoulder.
"Great."
Sitting down, with my back not touching the wall, I sigh.
"Sorry John, Hi Timi and Angel..."
They wave to me with a sympathetic look.
Angel and Timi come forward. Angel hitting John hard on the side of his head, making him tilt a tad to the side.
"Great to see you Lazuli."
"Ni... Nice to.. suh.. see you Lazuli."
They both say.
"It's been a long day for me."
The other woman comes forward, passing John as he rubs his head a lot.
"You're Lazuli?"
I nod my head.
"Yeah."
"You hurt?"
"Yeah."
As I say that both Timi and her exchange a look and nod to each other.
"Okay, let's head back to our campout place and we'll help you out there."
I nod at them.
"Good, let's get you up... Oh and you can call me Rosa."
She backs up a bit, and Angel grabs me, lifting me over her shoulder, with so much ease.
"I can still walk."
I say, surprised that she just randomly carried me.
"Not going to happen Lazuli. You said you were hurt."
"Yeah, my shoulder not my legs."
"Not your head?"
John asks.
"No, Does my head look hurt?"
John shakes his head.
"But I mean, you were running from a Chicken-Fish."
John grabs my bag and bow as Angel begins to walk, following behind Timi and Rosa. Making John be my company as he's the only one behind Angel.
"A Chicken-Fish?"
"Yeah, that's the name."
John says to me.
"Anyway, that's not the point, they aren't even scary. Why run from them?"
"Because I thought they would crush my skull."
Angel and John share a laugh.
"What?"
Looking at John, then looking at the back of Angel's white long hair.
"What's so funny?"
Instead of any of the two speaking for themselves, it's Rosa.
"Well, Lazuli. The Chicken-Fish is one of the least scary creature that breed in these tunnels of Outskir."
"That doesn't mean that they aren't deathly."
The back of my head bonks against a wooden beam, making me lower my head.
"Ke.. Keep your head down Lazuli. Angel is pretty tall so, if you lift your head... uh, above her's you'll hi... hit something."
Timo tells me.
"Okay."
"They are really not that deadly."
"What, they broke the wall on impact."
"These walls would break on any impact."
John says, half laughing.
"What?"
"Yeah, look."
John walks to a wall, and softly pushes his fist into it, making the stone crumble into where his fist was.
"You think a Chicken-Fish could do something as crazy as cave in a wall in these tunnels, with out them completely destroying themselves?"
He asks still in a half laugh.
"I don't know?"
John just continues his laugh as we continue walking, Angel joining him ever other second, as if she is reminded every other time John laughs.