Chapter Text
Bennett could see smudges of bright blue and green and something dark moving. Thankfully he could hear, he heard the birds above passing by and the soft rustling of the leaves. He sat up, blinking a few times, rubbing his eyes, and looking around for a source of clean water. Of course, by his luck there was none.
After a while of blinking, rubbing, and pacing around, Bennett's sight finally cleared enough to work with. He could see an enormous mountain range high above the trees, as well as the huge buildings on top of them. "Safety!" He cried and made a run for it.
The boy jumped over rocks, streams, and bushes. Turns out the mountains were ways away, but it was fine, he wanted to do more adventuring anyways. However, on his way there, the sounds of thuds grew louder. He stopped in his tracks, thinking of the choices he had.
He could run away, run past, or run straight through and intervene. He brandished his sword, running towards the source of the sound. Without any warning, green rotting creatures leapt at him! His sword was dipped in heavy flames as he striked through the enemies- now dispersed into thin storkes of smoke.
The sounds havent stopped, but Bennett knew he was at the battlefield already. He rushed forward, seeing the scene before him. A small creature who was leaking of a black substance, desperately using it's mini sword to kill it's enemies and barely dodging the attacks thrown at it. It's empty eyes landed on him and it stood still for a moment. That was enough of an opening for a similar rotting monster to come for the little creature.
Bennett leapt forward, sword flaring.
"I'm going in!"
A red field bursts from the ground he struck. The enemies bounce back or even got hit by his ultimate, the thing he was sure was a zombie now gone. He wiped his face, looking over his shoulder and seeing the creature do... something with a pure power! It gave him a thumbs up when it was done, now the substance had cleared and it looked fine. He smiled back at it, attacking the enemy that was aiming to punch them when they were distracted.
Joined forces, Bennett and the creature with the weird face and horns defended each other. Strike after strike, block after block, close calls after close calls! The fighting duo fought almost valiantly! When the field he brought out faded away, so did the monsters' ashes.
His shorts was getting tugged by something, he flinched and turned around quickly!- sighing in relief when he looked down and saw the small creature.
He got a good look at the little fellow. It seemed to cover it's head with a big bug skull, but it didnt seem to have a face. It's eyes just led to a dark abyss, and so was it's arms and feet. It had a dark muddy blue cloak and a cape with the same color. The nail it carried was used, but just recently refined. He took a closer look at it's horns, noticing a part of it was about to fall off.
"Are you okay?" He knelt down and opened his waist bag. "What are you?" He asked and pulled out a rolled bandage. Bennett held out his hand, reaching for what he thinks is the cheek. It didnt flinch, it looks trusting of him. He smiles, wrapping the bandage around the nearly broken off piece and tying it well.
Bennett stood up, packing the remains of the rolled bandage back in his bag. He waved at the creature. "You aren't much of a talker! Do you wanna join me on an adventure to the mountains?"
It tilted it's head, but nodded afterward. It reached for his gloved hand and Bennett happily took it's. They made their way through the forest, but he noticed the creature was on edge. He didnt blame it, it was attacked by monsters similar to hillichurls. He nearly gagged at the sudden sniff of rotting flesh, thankfully he kept his reaction in.
The walk otherwise was incredibly silent, yet beautiful. Bennett and the creature wandered through the chihua, to now pine trees. Bushes of berries, ripe and premature, were scattered along their path. Through unfortunate testing, the thorns of these things were sharp and hurt, causing the two to stop to bandage Bennett's knees.
As the boy finished aiding himself, he felt a small gust of wind and a sound above him. His friend was looking upward, and so did he. All was there was spakly dust coming down, causing him to sneeze. "We must be close to the mountains if there's stuff going on!"
His creature friend nodded. "Oh! You can understand me?" It nodded again and Bennett sighed. "Thank Barbatos! Even if you don't talk, at least you know what I'm saying!"
He tapped his chin. "Hey, can I call you Ghost? I mean... you look like one, no offence." It nodded for the third time, this time lifting it's nail. He gave it a thumbs up and it lightly hit his hand with the nail.
Picking up where they left off, they realized how near they already were. Unsure about the creature's reactions, either way, Bennett himself was relieved. They jogged instead of walking and didnt hold hands. He could smell something smokey and see the edge of the forest the two were in. Somehow Ghost ran first, Bennett chasing after it.
They were headed for an impossible stack of items and mostly boats above a big hole. "Ghost! Watch out!" Bennett shouted, causing it to stop, look back, and tilt it's head. He caught up to it, panting in his explanation. "You could've fallen into that hole, you might get hurt!"
It shook it's head and moved its hands. "I dont know what you're saying, bud. Sorry." Ghost sighed in defeat at his words. It pointed up, down, then gave a thumbs up, but Bennett still didnt get it. Now, they heard mumbling. Bennett summoned sword on impulse and so did Ghost and it's nail.
"I didn't know we had more new people, G. Why didnt ya tell me?"
The two turned around and saw another pair. One was a woman taller than the man, she had wavy chestnut colored hair, navy blue jacket with a white shirt and accents, as well as shorts. The small man had blonde hair and a thick red sweater with harness-like straps for pockets. All of them were flabbergasted, Bennett was gazing at the pair's wondrous wings. The woman had blue lunar moth wings instead of the usual green and the man had scarlet macaw wings. Both parties stared in silence for an uncomfortable long time before the short man spoke up.
"Xisuma consults everyone when we're planning to have new hermits! And I dont think we have guests?" The small man said and pulled out a blocky device, tapping on it madly. Meanwhile the woman walked closer to the two, the latter tensing at the same time.
"Why hello there!" She greeted with a smile. "Who are ya two? I'm pretty sure you two aren't hermits."
Bennett softened, but Ghost didnt, staying still with it's weapon ready to strike. "I'm Bennett..." He managed to get out.
"Hello Bennett! Who's this cutie beside you?" She pointed at Ghost, who was as still as stone. Bennett was concerned, he didnt know if it needed to breathe.
"I call it Ghost, it seems to like that na-" The woman knelt down and held it's head as if it were a puppy. At last, Ghost seemed to relax, it seemed to enjoy the gesture. "Oh, that's new."
She looked up at Bennett. "I'm Pearl, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, as the saying goes!"
Before he could reply, the small man spoke. "Pearl! Be careful," He pulled Pearl away from them. Ghost felt sad, trying to get her back but stopped right after. "According to Xisuma, they could be hackers!"
Bennett jumped at that, making his sword disappear. "I may be a swordsman, but I'm just an adventurer! I'd never hack away at innocent people!" The winged folk didn't dare to make speech, well Pearl did and the small man shot a glare at her everytime.
Not that it stopped her. "G, I really dont think they're hackers. One looks really young and beat up and the other is... a bug."
The man's, G, colorful wings flared up, making him look a little bit bigger than he actually was. "Hackers come in all shapes and forms."
Pearl lightly laughed, fluttering over to the two despite G's pleas. She went behind them and hugged them. "Aren't they cute?"
Ghost seized the opportunity to climb up Pearl's wings and sit on her shoulder. This action made both boys panic for different reasons. Unlike G, Bennett calmed down, for Ghost didnt look like it would fall anytime soon.