Little Nightmares : Maw Arena AU

Ancient Dreams in a Modern Arena

*sigh* this whole time I've been keeping a mental record of the order I received fan-art so I can showcase them in the order I received then but then I forgot the order. This doesn't matter to really anything, but I had a perfect near 2-year streak up until now.

anyways, this is a wonderful artwork by @KitsuneFOX1912 of The Pretender as an anthro 2-tailed cat, apparently a nekomata. very nice.

this chapter was supposed to be done in November so I could have an actual decent updating time but I missed it. Considering I last updated this October 28, the last update was about 6 weeks ago. I guess it isn't that bad but still.

at least I didn't take an entire year to update this though. Unfortunately, this chapter I feel is kinda more filler-y than usual. Though simple bonding time is needed in stories. The next chapter should be the polar opposite of filler though.

also i was reading my old chapters and god damn why did i change povs every 0.5 seconds it's so freaking annoying.

lastly, yes that title is a Marina! (and the diamonds) reference.

report grammar errors and stuff

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Eight woke up, immediately being greeted by the coldness of the chains shackled to him. He inhaled a fresh batch of cold air in a yawn, drowsily blinking. It was still dark in the room, however, Eight's eyes were still adjusted to the room as there was no lightning difference from yesterday- Still stuck in the same darkness.

The chained boy had noticed something in front of him, something that wasn't there before. It looked to be a cup by the shape of it. No, it clearly was.

Eight reached out his arm, his fingers feeling the plastic exterior of the cup. The size of the cup was the perfect size for him, as if it was intended for solely him- Or well, more like for someone his age. He gripped the plastic cup in his hand and shook it lightly. Some liquid was inside.

He couldn't tell what kind of liquid was inside of it, so after staring at the cup in thought he very cautiously took a small sip of whatever was inside.

Water.

Eight hurriedly downed the water given to him, quenching his thirst. Drinking water had felt so relieving since his throat had been so terribly dry after not drinking anything for about two days straight at this point.

His stomach curled in hunger, reminding Eight that along with that thirst he still hasn't eaten anything in about 2 days either. Hopeful, he searched his surroundings for food. If they gave him water then they must've given him food, right?

Although no matter how much he searched he just couldn't find any food. They had given him water but not food. Fine then. At least he got water.

Nearby squeaking got his attention, it was that rat again. He had called it Chip, in reference to it's chipped ear.

Eight had heard the rat behind him, shifting around to face the rat. It was hanging by the mop and bucket, rubbing itself against the bucket for some unclear reason. It's big round eyes locked onto Eight, just staring at him.

Eight waved at the rat, in response the rat had frozen. Then scurried away across the room, going to the rat hole it had made. But it didn't leave, it just stood in the doorway (hole-way?) of the square-shaped hole it had broken down.

It twitched twice before going to clean its fur.

For the sake of seeing if he could and because this was his only form of entertainment, could he tame this rat? Eight knew he would go insane from loneliness if he spent his imprisonment feeling entirely alone. He could pretend this rat was another person that actually understands him. As sad as that seems, it was a valid strategy.