An Encounter in the Abyss: Tartaglia/Ajax X Reader

Chapter 7: A Swarm of Monsters

About a week and a half had passed since you first encountered Skirk, I was getting better at using a sword, although it was clear I much preferred having my hands free, to allow for more movement. Ajax had improved massively, using two daggers he managed to deal twice the damage, but he still wasn't able to go super-fast. He was really trying to focus on landing critical hits, but he was still struggling to do so. Skirk was a mysterious woman, she seemed to go out for about an hour or two a day, leaving us behind two just to talk. During these times we reflected a lot on the day's events and discussed a bit about our previous lives.

As she got up to leave, Ajax and I sat down as we normally did to chat. We had grown quite close as we shared many experiences together now, unlike in the normal world where you may meet your friends a few hours a day, I had been with Ajax 24/7 since arriving here, getting to know both the good and the bad sides of him. I understood him, he was quite a straightforward guy with a pure heart, he was loyal, a family man and would do anything to protect the ones he cared about. He wasn't about scheming or deceiving; he would always try to tell the truth which I respected of him. There was another side to him that seemed to be appearing because of the Abyss, he had a thirst for battle. He enjoyed the rush it gave him, I understood this but I was scared of getting lost in the anger of the fight, I found myself slipping into a bit of rage sometimes, especially when memories of my past came up, what the monsters did to my friend Isabelle.

"So where do you think she is going?" Ajax whispers as he watches Skirk walk out the door.

"You ask this every day Ajax, hell if I know. Maybe she's a treasure hoarder and is going to find treasure chests" I joked.

Ajax huffed "As if, you seen the state of this place, there's nothing valuable here at all".

I smile "That is true but..", I lean in and whisper into his ear "Maybe she hides all of her treasure in a secret location!"

Ajax laughs "Now that's silly, now why would she do that".
I quickly pear around the entrance of the hut, seeing her walk off into the distance with her cloak hood up, then I looked at Ajax with a devilish smile "How about we go and see for ourselves where she goes".

"You mean follow her?" He asks and I nod in response.

You could see he was uncomfortable about the idea; it wasn't the way he wanted to find out, but Skirk avoided any questions about herself. I know the curiosity was eating him up inside, as it was for me. "Err... I dunno...Y/N" He murmured as he pondered over the thought.

"What's the worst that could happen, we have been trained right, learnt to fight and worst case we will be right near her and can shout for her help, plus if we don't learn more about this place and her how we can escape" I mentioned, I can see he was thinking about it more and more. So, I added, "The quicker we get out of the sooner we can stop eating Hilichurl meat!"

Instantly he stood up "Yeah okay I'm in!". I giggle in response, and he laughs. Of course, that did the trick.

We grab our stuff and start heading out in the direction she went. We could see her clock in the far distance, but we were losing sight of her quickly.

We tried to pick up the pace, making sure to hide behind rocks to avoid getting seen.

But after about 20 minutes we realised we had lost her, luckily we had seemed to be walking in a straight line, so it should have been simple to find our way back to camp. But soon after we turned back after we realised everything down here looked the same; ruins, rocks, the odd puddle and a blue/grey sky that seemed to spread darkness across the land.
"Er... Ajax, do you recognise this place at all" I looked around, starting to get a bit worried.
He shook his head, I could hear his breathing increase. But despite this, he turned to face and said "I don't, but it's okay, we will be fine. I can protect you".
I blushed a bit, before gently nudging him "Don't you mean I'll protect you since I am a more skilled fighter".