Story dump

Chapter 5

Ninch, Yuien, and Coln
(Original date: 6/6/22)

Yuien (You-ein): They/them, mainly greys

Ninch: genderfluid, mainly reds and oranges, long, bright red hair

Coln: he/xe, mainly blues, high collared jacket with messy, blue-ish black hair

Yuien's POV
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They stumbled forward, their feet aching. "Come on.. can't we.. rest..?" They called ahead, the leader of the group pausing to turn to Yuien. Ninch was tall, to the point where he had to hunch over slightly to fit in the cave passageways. Their long, red hair was illuminated by the torch she was holding, along with his hazel brown eyes. Yuien felt their heart skip a beat whenever the two's eyes met, feeling as though they could stare into those eyes forever. "Yuien? Did you hear what I said?" Ninch's voice said, causing Yuien to snap back into reality. "Y-yes..! I-I did..!" They stammered. Ninch sighed after a moment, lowering their torch a bit.

"Aand you didn't.. you zoned out again." She said. Yuien looked down, Ninch always being able to read them like a book. "I said that this cave is too dangerous for us to rest out in the open." "Oh.." Yuien mumbled, looking to Coln. He had been awfully silent recently, which was unusual for xem. Ninch seemed to notice this too, tilting his head slightly before speaking. "You alright, Coln..?" She asked, Coln looking up.

"Yeah.. I just.. I keep hearing this low.. rumbling noise.. and I'm trying to focus on pin-pointing it.." he said. "Knowing you, it's probably just your stomach.." Yuien said, chuckling as they elbowed Coln. He laughed with them, having seemed to perk back up to his usual self. "Hey! I mean, I am hungry right now.. but not that hungry!" Xe said in response, his smile fading again as he grew more serious. "Seriously though.. it's way too low for that to be the cause.." Ninch nodded. "Curious.. keep your guard up then, everyone. We are most likely not alone in here." He said, a large pair of glowing eyes appearing behind them.

Yuien's eyes widened, taking a step back. "Nin!! Behind you!!" Coln called, Ninch turning around and stumbling slightly. Her torch shifted into a sword engulfed in flames, readying to swing.

Before he could, however, the beast swiped at their side, knocking her against the wall. He winced, gripping onto the gash that was now on their side. "Nin!!" Yuien cried, running over to her. Coln charged at the creature, his sword swinging violently. "Reset.. reset.. re.. set.." Ninch muttered, extending out his free arm. A somewhat see-through menu appeared in front of their hand, Yuien raising a brow. "Nin..? What is that..?" They asked, Ninch shaking her head in response. "No.. thing... you need... to worry... about..." he muttered, their voice weak and raspy as she selected an option.

The menu vanished along with him soon after, Yuien growing panicked. "Nin!!" They cried, the cave walls suddenly warping and glitching as if they were in a game of sorts. They saw Coln stumbling backwards, seemingly able to see the distortions as well. "Coln?! What's happening?!" They called, Coln looking over to them. "I don't know! This sort of thing has.. never happened before!" He said, the cave now completely gone as the two were surrounded in darkness.

Yuien's vision began to grow dark, causing them even more panic. "C.. Coln..!" They stammered, feeling themselves grow more and more fatigued. "I c... can't.... see...." their voice grew quieter and quieter, their eyes closing as they could no longer keep them open and their consciousness slipping away.

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Coln's POV
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Yuien stumbled forward, Coln only assuming they were fatigued from how long the group had been walking. "Come on.. can't we.. rest..?" They called to Ninch, who kept walking. "Too dangerous. I'm sorry." He said, not turning to look at Yuien, who had a dazed expression on their face. Coln felt as though something was.. off.. but he couldn't tell exactly what. "Hey, Nin? I don't think they heard you.." xe said, Ninch only glancing back for a brief moment. "Yuien. Did you hear what I said?" They asked, Yuien seeming to snap back into reality "Y-yes..! I-I did..!" They stammered, Ninch sighing. "Aand I can tell you didn't." Yuien looked down, seemingly disappointed in themselves. "I said it's too dangerous.. I'm sorry if I.. seem irritated.. I'm not.." She said, his torch shifting into a sword. Coln couldn't help but feel like this had all happened before, but slightly different. "Anyone else having a strange sense of deja vu?" He asked, noticing that Ninch tensed slightly as xe said 'deja vu'. Yuien looked at him, seeming confused. "What do you mean..?" They asked, tilting their head slightly* "Like.. I feel like this.. has all happened before.." xe responded. Yuien seemed even more confused. "I.. don't understand what you mean.." They said, looking down. Ninch readied his sword, seemingly about to swing at something. "I.. it's.. probably just... a coincidence.." They said, swinging forward. A loud roar sounded from the tunnel, nearly deafening as a pair of glowing eyes appeared. Coln stumbled back before drawing his sword and running forward. Ninch jumped back to let xem strike, raising his sword. The beast slashed at xem first though, knocking him backwards with a gash on his stomach. Xe winced, his sword landing beside xem. "Coln!!" He heard Ninch cry. Xe struggled to get up, grabbing his sword as xe swayed on his feet. Xe regained his balance, his injuries stinging even more as xe ran at the monster with his sword ready to swing.

Xe was slashed at again, falling back once more. He couldn't gather the strength to get up again, growing numb from the pain. Ninch came into his view, their expression worried. "No no no.. no.. reset.. reset again.." she mumbled, a menu appearing in front of one of his hands. They pressed an option, causing the menu to vanish along with her. The world distorted, glitching as well. "C-Coln?! What's h-happening?!" Yuien cried, and before Coln could gather the strength to respond, his vision began to grow dark. Xe felt himself grow more and more fatigued, slowly closing his eyes and falling into what felt like a deep sleep.

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Ninch's POV
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It almost felt like he was trapped in a loop within this cave. The group would continue forward, Yuien asking to rest, Ninch responding telling them it was too dangerous, the same void creature showing up and attacking, one of the party members getting badly injured, reset, repeat. He had even attempted to get Yuien to use a shield, but it was no match for the beast. They could sense Coln growing more and more suspicious of her after each reset, the things xe said being different every time, and all about re-experiencing this situation. He didn't want to have to explain resets, finding it to be too complicated, plus they didn't want the party to stop trusting her and abandoning him. 'We need a healer..' they thought to herself as he walked down the same passage, not even hearing Yuien. "Hey, Nin? You okay..?" They heard, recognizing it as Coln's voice. She snapped back to reality, focusing ahead. "Yeah.. why do you ask..?" "I don't know.. you've just been.. acting kind of off.." xe said. Ninch glanced down, pondering what to say. 'Should probably convince them to retreat..' he thought. "Really..? Must.. be the cave.. messing with me.." They said, trying to sound as authentic as possible. "Hm.. maybe we should retreat then.." Coln responded. "But.. didn't we say we wouldn't back down..?" Yuien asked, Ninch tensing up. "Yes, but I'd say Ninch's health is more important.." Yuien was silent for a moment before speaking. "Alright.." They said. Ninch refrained from sighing in relief, turning around and beginning to head back the way the party had came. She was afraid the beast would try to ambush them, like it had the first time it was encountered, so he picked up their pace. "We should.. be quick... I feel like there's a presence here.." she said, hearing Coln and Yuien following behind him. "Makes sense.. there could be monsters in here.." Coln said. 'Yeah.. a giant void creature that has nearly killed us several times..' Ninch thought in response.