UnPixelated: Cave's Peak

Chapter 1

"Yes!" Finley exclaimed, pumping his fist up into the air.

In the computer chair next to him, Axtin scribbled down lines of notes that were unsettlingly neat for how quickly he was writing. "Okay, so under the 'pros' column, I have 'challenging but not frustrating' and 'fun' listed, and under the 'cons' column I noted that the bow and arrow glitched out, and we had to resort to using just the sword. Is that everything?"

"Add 'good character design' and 'fantastic final boss theme' to the pros column," Finley suggested.

Axtin rolled his eyes. "Of course I already have those."

"Why didn't you say so, then?"

"I thought it was obvious!"

Finley pouted for a moment. He focused back on his computer screen. His character stood still in the empty space of the now empty final boss room. He clicked the arrow keys, but his character was stuck in their idle, bobbling in place as their cape fluttered behind them. He glanced to the corner of the screen, but there was no loading animation where it usually was. "No movement, and no cutscene loading?" he wondered, "I thought Lizzie said that there was something special after you beat the boss."

"I'll add that to the 'cons' column," Axtin muttered, moving the mechanical pencil over the paper with fluidity.

"Well, this would be the point where I'd close out of the game and have you type that up so we could shoot her a message over Wyvern, but..." Finley trailed off, letting the unresponsive mouse speak for itself.

"Control, alt., delete?" Axtin suggested, pushing the end of his mechanical pencil as he brought the lead down onto his notepad so that it retracted into its plastic exterior before he placed it down on the desk. He glanced back down at the notebook. "Remind me to add that to the typed version, so I don't forget."

"Trust me, we won't forget this," Finley spoke, his voice low with anger, "The game won't go away."

Axtin hummed as he leaned over to get a better look at the game, ignoring Finley's exclamation when he was pushed to the side by Axtin's shoulder pressing into his. Axtin tapped his fingers across his notepad as he thought. "Have you tried asking it nicely yet?" he asked Finley with a wry smile.

"Shut up, man!" Finley retaliated, "Being nice is a good solution to most things!"

"But not the solution to the sword upgrade quest!" Axtin teased.

"Yeah, whatever, I guess next time you can play the game and I'll take the notes, if that's what you want," Finley huffed.

Axtin laughed, "There's absolutely no way you'd be able to write as many notes as I do."

Finley scoffed, "I don't have to. I don't have to write them as freakishly fast either."

Chuckling in spite of himself, Axtin shot back, "But could you write them as freakishly neatly?"

Axtin's laughter proved contagious, and soon Finley had joined in with his own. "Alright, alright," Finley composed himself, still smiling like a fool, "I'll just hard reset my computer. It's no big deal. He brought his hand to the power button, but his wrist was grabbed hovering right over it. Finley stared at the hand holding him firmly in place, himself so silent even his breaths were not audible. This was not something unlike the way that Axtin usually poked fun at him, but Axtin did not have cold hands of bone.

His eyes followed from the tips of the fingers, up the skeletal arm, to the computer screen, where it was reaching from. His eyes widened, and his chest tightened with a scream that wouldn't vocalize. He thought he could hear Axtin saying something, but even though his friend was right next to him, the only thing Finley could clearly make out was the sound of his own heart pounding. He couldn't speak, hear, or move, frozen to the spot with fear. Finley felt a hand press against his chest, and though he couldn't so much as bring himself to look down, he knew from the feeling of warmth that it was Axtin. Finley stumbled back as Axtin shoved against him, though the skeleton hand's did not break.