Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch10: The Royal Waterways

The knight thought about Six as it followed her. Maybe she could be trusted. She wanted to help Mono, proving that she was his friend, and they made a great team when they defeated the Janitor. The knight gave Six credit for a reason after all.

But there was still something. Something that didn't sit right with it. The knight noticed that Six became completely quiet at times. And not just quiet. Her face became completely motionless during those times. Yet, she kept walking. As if she wasn't even paying attention to anything. That's why Mono had to stop her one time. The knight couldn't help but wonder why Six did that.

"Um, guys?" Six said, breaking the knight out of its thoughts. "I think we're lost."

The knight looked at the surroundings. They weren't lost. It knew exactly where they were. They were in the Royal Waterways. The knight pulled out its map, and flipped it around to the older side. It easily spotted the Waterways. If nothing had changed here, then it could lead them all out.

Six suddenly gasped. "What is that?" She asked.

The knight looked at what Six was afraid of. It was a Hwurmp.

"Hey don't worry Six, maybe it's friendly," Mono said. "Hey little guy!" He said, reaching his hand out to it.

The knight instantly rushed to stop Mono from touching the Hwurmp, but it was too late. As soon as he touched it, the Hwurmp felt threatened, and inflated. The force pushed Mono and Six to the ground. The knight quickly disposed of the Hwurmp with a few strikes from its nail. Then, it went to help up Mono and Six.

"What was that!?" Six asked, looking panicked.

The knight pulled out the Hunter's journal, and showed them the page about the Hwurmps.

"I guess we'll need to be more careful around here," Mono said. "C'mon, let's go."

Six didn't move.

"Six? Come on, we need you to light the way."

"I-I-I c-c-can't," Six replied.

"Hey, it's okay Six. We can get through this."

"Mono you don't get it! I was able to lead us through the places I knew, but... but I don't know anything about this place!" Six panicked. "There's creatures I don't know about, puzzles I don't know how to solve, I can't even fight those things! I'm useless!"

Mono looked at the knight, asking it what to do. The knight walked over to Six, and held up the map of the Waterways.

"You know how to get through this place?" Six asked.

The knight nodded, then pushed Six closer to Mono, and took a few steps ahead.

Six was left completely confused at the knight's actions.

"I think it's saying that it'll lead the way," Mono said.

"Okay, but what about those creatures? What do I do about them?" Six asked.

"Well, we'll just have to find you something to defend yourself with," Mono said.

The knight watched as Mono gently held Six's hand.

"We'll get through this, trust me," he said.

Six slowly nodded, then held up her lighter so the knight could see. The knight lead the way down into the Waterways. The slippery wet floors splashed as they walked across them. The knight kept its nail ready, just in case something else would appear. As it walked, it also kept an eye out for a possible weapon for Six. It didn't matter if she didn't know how to fight, she still needed a way to defend herself.

As the knight walked along, it was evident that the Maw was a part of this place. Shoes, suitcases, and spoiled meat littered the floor. Eventually, the path ended, and a pool of murky green water blocked their path. The knight spotted a continuation of the path on the other side of the water. It hopped into the water, then motioned for Mono and Six to follow. They both jumped in, and the three of them swam to the other side. But once they got there, the knight realized that the path was on a ledge, too high to reach.

It looked for a possible solution, and spotted a couch floating in the water with them. It swam over, and tried to push it to the other side. Mono and Six swam over as well, and helped the knight push the couch. Together, they got it to the wall. Then, they all climbed onto the couch, and the knight boosted everyone up, before leaping onto the ledge itself.

Once they were up, they continued walking, only to find another pool of water blocking their way. This time, the exit was underwater. The knight spotted a large valve, and motioned for all of them to turn it. The three of them gripped on, and pulled the valve with all their might. The water slowly drained, and soon the exit was open.

The knight slid down a pipe to get to the bottom of the empty pool, and then noticed something. A shovel. An old, rusted shovel. The knight walked closer, and picked it up. It was perfectly balanced, and it fit well in the knight's hand. It swung the shovel a few times, then slammed it into the wall. Surprisingly, it made a pretty good dent. An idea came to the knight.

"Hey! Are you coming?" Mono asked.

The knight walked over to Mono and Six, then handed Six the shovel. She looked at it, wondering why the knight would give her such a thing.

"Why did you give me this?" She asked.

"Hey! I think the knight found you a weapon!" Mono said.

"This?" Six asked, looking at the shovel.

"Well, the knight made a dent in the wall with it, so it seems pretty strong," Mono explained.

Six swung the shovel a few times, then looked at it again.

"I... I guess I can use this?" She said, sounding a bit unsure.

"Great! Now let's keep going!" Mono said.

The knight lead them down the path for a while, then suddenly Six spoke.

"Yuck! What is this?" She asked.

The knight looked at what she was talking about. Six had just stepped in a pinkish white slime. A slime that only one species could produce.

Flukes.

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Sorry this chapter took a while, I had a nice family vacation over the week, and I didn't want to write during that time.

I hope this chapter is fun to read. I spent a while thinking of little nightmares puzzles I could incorporate into the Royal Waterways.

Please don't compare Six to shovel knight, it's hard to come up with weapons that fit into the little nightmares formula.

Also, I think I made it very evident in this chapter that the knight really wants to trust Six.

But hunger can't be ignored forever.

See you in the next chapter! >:)