Chromatober 2023

Day 3 - Sneak

Series: Original Rainbow Quest (Kind of a Part 2 to Day 1)

--- Happy Orange Steve P.O.V. ---

"I don't know what the Violet Leader expects us to find out here."  I whispered.  It felt like we'd been walking for hours, and all I've seen are plains, plains, and more plains.  Was a tree so much to ask for?

"We need more resources."  Light reminded me for the thousandth time.  "Happy, you know that.  Otherwise we'll never finish building the Rainbow Kingdom."

"I miss the Orange Village."  I admitted.  "We had all sorts of resources there."  I missed the Orange Leader, too.  And all the other Orange Steves.  Now that Funny and Rainbow are gone, it's just Nerdy, Light and me.

"We can't go back there.  It's infested."

"I know."  I sighed.  I glanced around, spotting something in the distance.  "Hey, Light!  There's a forest over there, I think."  I pointed out the splotch of... something in the distance.  Light appraised it then nodded.

"Let's check it out, then."  He pulled out his axe, and together we set out for the structure.

It wasn't until we were much closer that we realized what it was.

"It's an outpost."  I murmured, amazed.  "I thought the outpost projects stopped after the darkness was released?  Too much danger."

"The villages aren't exactly safe at the moment."  Light reminded me.

"Neither is the outpost."  I pointed out.  Dread crept into the pit of my stomach as I surveyed the darkness spreading slowly over the makeshift huts.

"We need to kill it."  Light said firmly, swapping his axe out for a sword.

"What?"  I hissed.  "Are you insane?  I don't want to go anywhere near that stuff!"

"Well I don't want that stuff going anywhere near the kingdom."  Light replied sharply.  "We aren't that far out, you know.  It's easier to kill it now, while it's still weak."

"It's darkness, Light!  It's never weak!"

"Still, better to kill it now."  Light crouched down, and I nudged him hard.

"Is this a bad time to mention I don't have a weapon on me?"

"WHAT?" he whisper-yelled.

"I didn't think I'd need one!"

"You always need a weapon."

"Yeah, if you decide to fight every darkness we see.  It's an open plains biome.  I was planning on running, which is easier without a weapon."

"Happy."  Light groaned.  "We can't just run away to the kingdom.  It's an open plains biome, they'll see where we go and follow us."

Oh.  I had completely forgotten about that.

"Look, do you have an extra sword or not?"  I huffed.  Light quickly passed me a couple of daggers.  I blinked down at them.  "How many-"

"Don't question it.  Are you going to help me fight or not?"

"Heck yeah."  I crouched into position beside him.  "But we can't take them all at once.  We'll need to sneak around so we're only battling a few at a time."

"Alright, on three, we head to that wall over there."  Light pointed to a crumbling wall at the far side of the outpost.  "One, two, three!"

We darted out quickly, sprinting over rubble and trying to avoid the darkness in our path.  Why did the stuff have to infect the ground, too?  Three darkness creatures spotted us and slowly turned, making their way toward us with zombie-like movements.