NullTale ~Origins~

Ch 3- Expectations

I was tempted to start counting the possibilities of failure as my mind produced them, and every bit of logic was thrown out the window. We could get attacked and killed... or captured and killed. Or eaten! What do the monsters even eat anyways? Every bit of info I could find concerning the monsters was either incomplete or contradictory. There were no answers to the real questions. I need to know!

Stop. You're just getting yourself worked up. You'll self destruct if you don't focus.

Right. Focus...That was always the answer. I took a deep breath and enclosed all the rampant emotion, sealing it within. It was there, deep inside, that it began to fizzle and I was left with a steady calm. Now I could be ready. If something goes wrong, I need to be-

The peal of steel against steel immediately set me on high alert. There was a flash of blue metal and I threw myself to the side to avoid being hit.

"Kid! Watch out!" I army-crawled into the bushes, hoping that I wasn't seen. I thought monsters were supposed to be friendly! THIS IS NOT FRIENDLY! Unfortunately the kid didn't take my warning and ran towards the creature bearing a sword, waving their arms frantically.

"Hold it Sy! That's the kid!"

"What? Oh! My deepest apologies! I thought you were a taller human a moment ago..." Two monsters? And what were they talking about? They knew the kid? I tried to get a peek through the bushes at the situation. Well at least the kid wasn't killed right off. At the moment they were making very animated hand motions at two strange creatures clad in shiny armor. One of them still held out a sword (obviously the one that swung at me), but I couldn't see any details of their black form. No face, no eyes, no nothing. They were a solid black, like they were absorbing every bit of light that touched them.

The other guard was crazy tall, probably twice my height, with long limbs and disproportionately short stubby legs. They weren't attacking. They were talking to the kid.

"What do you mean there was another human?" The one called Sy was speaking. "So I didn't almost hit you after all? Ha! I respectfully retract my apology. But..." He paused.

The other guard continued, "But if there was another human, where are they now?" His head placed high upon a long neck began to turn about, searching. The kid looked a tad confused as they too glanced around.

"No larger human in sight." Murmured the tall one.

"See Longe? I told you I wasn't the one with sight problems." Ah, I think his name is Longe.

"You are the one with sight problems. I can't see them because they're hiding or have run off. It's not because I have bad eyesight."

"I call excuses," Sy quipped back.

While the guards argued amongst themselves, the kid continued to look about, determined it seemed, to find me. It took them a moment before they spotted me hiding like a coward in the bushes. They waved to me, and when I still refused to reveal myself, they came over to drag me out.

"What? Are you crazy?" I hissed quietly. "They just tried to kill me!" The kid shook their head insistently.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" The appearance of Longe's head over the kid's scared me into freezing up. I just sat there staring at it dumbly with my mouth wide open. What do I do? Do I run?

No running, they'll catch you and kill you for sure. Maybe you should take this head-on so you don't go out like a coward.

I'm not a coward. I shut my mouth and summoned my courage. I'm not a coward. They seem fine with the kid, maybe they won't kill me.