Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch3: Hunger Awakens

The knight waited for a while for Mono to catch up. It didn't know why Mono was taking so long, but it did give it some time to ponder. It remembered the yellow figure wearing a raincoat. For some reason, it didn't want to tell Mono about what it saw. It just didn't feel right.

Mono soon came running up to the knight, and flicked on his flashlight again. They both continued, this time looking for a way to get to some of the upper levels of the Maw. There were a few obstacles here and there, but the teamwork of Mono and the knight was able to pull through. They would jump across gaps, leap up into vents, and break through walls with their weapons. They truly made a great team.

As they worked together, the knight wondered what Six would be like. Would she also make a great team with them? It couldn't tell. All it knew was that Six really liked food, and she wanted to survive. But, if that was the case, then why wasn't she with the children from earlier? Did she not like being with others? No, that couldn't be the case. If she didn't like being with people then why was she Mono's friend?

Speaking of the other children, that fire. That scarlet, burning fire the children were sitting around. It was the same as the flames from the Grimm Troupe. But, why would the Grimm Troupe be here?

Eventually, the two friends had to stop and find a place to rest. They had been searching everywhere, looking for a way out, but to no avail. So, they just settled down in a small room, clear of the infection. Mono offered to watch, but the knight refused. Mono needed rest more than it did, so it would rather Mono rest instead. Mono agreed, though it seemed like something was bothering him. It was as if he was trying not to sleep. Or he was trying to protect the knight from something. Even as the knight watched, Mono wasn't resting. Instead he was watching the knight.

The knight walked over, and tilted its head, asking if something was wrong.

"No, n-nothing," Mono replied. "I just thought maybe you should rest this time. You've gone a long time without any rest for a while after all."

He stuttered.

Although it was just a stutter, the knight knew that there was more to the reason why Mono wanted to watch instead. The knight held Mono's hand, assuring that it would be okay. Mono nodded, and reluctantly fell asleep.

The knight drew its nail, and stood guard. It kept its eyes looking everywhere, just in case something came out of nowhere. It waited for a while, then a few minutes, then a few more, then an hour, then two. The room remained quiet.

But then, something started happening to the knight. It started becoming weary, and it's eyes started to droop. Maybe all that time without rest was finally getting to it? No, this was something else. It felt... like someone was putting a trance on the knight, trying to make it fall asleep. The knight resisted, trying to keep standing straight, and looking ahead. But its eyes kept drooping, and it's body started going limb. Maybe... if it just... closed its eyes... for one... short... second...

The knight fell to the ground, asleep.

When it opened its eyes, it was in pure darkness. There was nothing. No sound, no floor, no light, nothing. Just darkness. All of a sudden, something could be seen in the distance. The sight moved closer, making it more visible. The knight stared at the image, trying to make it out. It looked like it was a lady, wearing a brown dress, with her back turned to the knight. But as she got closer, she turned her head to the knight, revealing a pale, white mask on her face. As she turned, the knight felt something grab onto it, holding it in place. As the lady's eyes made direct contact with the knight's, it felt a huge surge of energy rushing into its body, rendering the knight motionless.

Suddenly it woke up. The knight picked up its nail, and looked all around. There was no threat. Maybe it was just a dream? The knight saw Mono, still asleep. Thank God. The knight didn't know how long it had been since it fell asleep, and it didn't want to stay in this area much longer, so it woke Mono up.

After he rubbed his eyes under his bag, he stood up, and they both continued forward. The two of them made sure to stay quiet while they were moving. They didn't know what could be lurking in the darkness of this place.

But as they walked, a loud, rumbling noise came out from the knight's body. It was painful! Very, very painful! The knight clenched its stomach, trying to stop it from hurting. Mono tried to help, but the noise from the knight attracted a group of hostile bugs. The knight tried its best to ignore the pain, and drew its nail, ready to fight. Mono drew his ladle, and the two fought off the bugs.

The knight destroyed two bugs with a few nail strikes, but then the rumbling noise came out from its stomach, this time hurting even more! The knight tried its best to keep fighting, and struck down a vengefly, knocking it to the ground. It struggled to get back to the air, but its wing was damaged badly.

The rumbling noise came out once again, sending the knight into more pain than ever. Suddenly, something happened.

It thought.

The knight wasn't supposed to be able to think. It had no mind! But it thought. It looked at the wounded vengefly, struggling around in place. On instinct, the knight slowly moved closer to the wounded vengefly.

It looked...

It looked......

Delicious.

The knight reached the vengefly, and its shell cracked open, forming a jagged, pointy mouth. It sunk its jagged edges into the flesh of the vengefly, ripping it off. It was right. It was Delicious. The knight kept biting flesh out of the vengefly, until suddenly... the pain stopped. Its shell mended, its mouth dissapeared, and the thought vanished.

All that was left, was the small, empty knight, looking at it's dead victim.

What had it done?

_____

"That's weird,"

"What is?" Six asked, annoyed by her shadow.

"I feel something different in this place," her shadow replied. "Like someone else has the same hunger as you."

"Yeah, like that could happen. Just stop teasing me and go away!" Six yelled.

"Okay," her shadow said.

She dissapeared, and left Six confused. Her shadow never left like that. It would always tease and mock her before it left. So why did it leave so easily? Besides, there couldn't possibly be someone with the same hunger as her.

Could there?

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Okay! Now we're getting into the real story of phase 3! Weird how food gets involved in this story right around Thanksgiving.

Speaking of which, don't expect me to upload during Thanksgiving weekend. I'm going to be talking a short holiday break.

Also, THIS STORY GOT OVER 500 VOTES!!!!!!! OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDSGBTGGDHVDSSGBJKKOIUTRFADVJKJBTREEVJOTFBDADBJIGBBNBTRFVGRG! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Okay, enough yelling. See you in the next chapter~ >:)