Chromatober 2023

Day 10 - Memory

Series: Rainbow Quest (Part 2 of Flower)

--- Dark Steve P.O.V. ---

Who knew being a part of the darkness could be so boring.

This was Nightmare's third patrol of the week, and of course I had to be in it.

He had never gone on any patrols, perks of being royalty.  I, however, had led plenty.  Did he know that the darkness viewed me as different, because I was a steve?  They thought I felt complete within myself, that I had completed my goal in life.

Sometimes the darkness was way too optimistic.

Right now, for example, I would rather be at home.  The constant walking was making my poor steve body incredibly sore.  The same did not apply for the darkness.  I groaned inwardly, but continued.  They couldn't say I wasn't loyal.

I spotted a flash of orange in the distance, and inwardly prayed it wasn't another patch of tulips.  I couldn't seem to keep my own mind around those stupid flowers.  I guess I was still adjusting to the Orange Steve, the same way I had to adjust to the yellow one.  The darkness didn't mind it too much, but they thought it was strange.  To them, flowers weren't beautiful until they were corrupted.

It wasn't an orange tulip.

Instead, it was an Orange Steve, kneeling beside a crafting bench and carefully focused on his work.  He didn't even seem to notice the entire patrol of darkness heading in his direction.  The darkness whispered eagerly, fanning out in all directions to prevent escape.  I followed suit, then began drawing closer.  The steve looked up.

Alarm flashed in his bright orange eyes as he took in the cloud of darkness surrounding him.  Their bodies were pressed so closely together that they phased into one another, creating no room for escape.  They closed behind me as I stepped out of the circle, closer to the crafting bench and the steve.  His face seemed oddly familiar.

I recognized, vaguely, one of the steves who had fled during the attack on the Orange Village.  Had he not found the others yet?  The others!?  I meant the Orange Steves.  I corrected mentally.  He hadn't found the rest of his kind.

"Stop." I told the darkness, holding up my hand to signal the motion. They stopped pressing in, leaving a few blocks between them and the steve in front of me.

I remembered him more clearly now.  Nightmare had told me to round up as many steves as possible.  He had been helping a few of his friends get out.  He had reached toward the one with the tulip in his hands, before I separated them.  I remembered the horror in his expression as I cornered the other one.  The one I had absorbed.  He must have run away while my back was turned, because by the time I had finished, he was gone.

Now, he looked similar.  Memories flashed in his eyes, and I wondered if he was remembering the same moment I was.  How he had run away when I yelled at him to leave me.  To get out of there.

...

Fire burned everywhere.  All around us, darkness was starting to creep in, emerging from the shadows.  Screams echoed from every direction as my friends bolted away.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here."  My gaze darted toward Beekeeper, who was helping Miner to his feet.  He must have tripped.  Beekeeper's eyes met mine, and he hurried toward me.  "Get up, Happy.  You've got to snap out of it."  I nodded, shaking my head a little.  He was right.  I couldn't gaze around like a lost animal.  It didn't matter if the village was burning.  We could always build another one.

We would have to.

Before my friend could reach me, a dark form separated us.  I held back a scream of alarm.  It was worse, even, than a corrupted steve.  Its eyes held intelligence, and it moved quickly and confidently, unlike the darkness around us.  So this was what the rumors were about.  The steve made of darkness.  A shudder ran through me.  He was a Yellow Steve once.