Chapter Text
"At the crossroads, don't turn left. At the crossroads, don't turn left. At the crossroads—"
"We have to turn left if you don't wanna sleep in the forest!" Avery says.
They've been here for twenty minutes,
It's getting dark,
Avery is starting to regret his choices.
Now, who told Avery to go snooping in that weird mine? Nobody! But is it truly Avery's fault for being curious? It was going to be a two second trip anyway. The plan was to get in, look around a bit, then go back to exploring. Easy! Fine! But noooooo, he just had to find a half-dead knight in a creepy mine…
Avery was nearly knocked off his feet (literally) when the knight grabbed his ankle, his very not-scared yelp echoed off the stone walls as he fell.
Avery stared at Mr. Half-dead-knight, making sure to keep his distance. The knight was still, scarily still, and so was Avery…The Knight was decked out in all gold armor (why gold???) and more importantly, he looked half-dead.
"At the crossroads, don't turn left." Is what he kept muttering, it was the beginning of a phrase that Avery would soon come to despise.
"What crossroads?" Avery asked, trying (and failing) to catch his breath.
"Don't turn left." Mr. half-dead-knight responded, he sounded desperate.
Such a helpful response…
"What's your name…?" Avery tried again.
"You're Avery." Another not-answer from the Knight.
"I know that I'm Avery but what is your name?" Avery tried once again.
"At the crossroads, don't turn left…" The muttering had started again, Avery was beginning to think that this knight was a lost-cause.
It was getting dark, Avery could see the array of purples and oranges that painted the sky from the small entrance of the mine. He was trying to get back to his house before nightfall, and night was quickly falling.
Avery turned to the Knight, he was still muttering to himself, to Avery, to the cave. Avery didn't know at this point. Call him stupid, but Avery decided to take the Knight with him.
…Turns out that it is very hard to drag an unwilling Knight in full armor out of a cave, but Avery persisted.
The screech of armor against the stone was heard as Avery grasped the Knight's hand. Thankfully the "stairs" into the mine weren't steep, otherwise Avery probably would've given up.
The walk back to Avery's house, or sad dirt hut, rather, was quiet. The only sound being the shuffling of other mobs nearby and the Knight's hushed muttering…He was still going on and on about "not turning left," which turned into a…situation when the two approached a left turn.
Avery feels like they've been going back and forth for hours.
"Okay, okay! I get it! 'At the crossroads don't turn left,'" Avery mocks, "But, two lefts…make a right, I think! So we'll just take two lefts and then we'll be at my house!"
The Knight is quiet.
Avery takes this as acceptance.
"Alrighty then, lets go!" He smiles, dragging the Knight along with him before he can start muttering again.
"Avery." The Knight suddenly says.
Finally something other than the stuff about not turning left.
"…Yeah?" Avery hums, mostly focused on getting home.
"At the crossroads, don't—" Blah, blah, blah…Avery tunes him out until they get home.
The two make it to Avery's house, mostly unscathed except for a little bit of Avery's lost sanity.
Avery lets out a sigh as he flops onto the "couch", while the Knight just stands in the middle of the room.
"Avery." He says again.
"Listen, man, if you say something about the 'crossroads' again—"
Avery suddenly hears the screech of metal sliding against itself, followed by a sigh. He sits up slightly to see the Knight sitting on the floor.
"Oh…You can um, sit on the couch if you want." Avery says.
The Knight pauses for a few seconds, then tilts his head at Avery.
Avery feels judged.
"I— Listen, it is a couch!" He huffs, gesturing to the "couch" he's sitting on. It's really just three crates with a few blankets piled on top of them.
The Knight is silent, Avery goes to defend himself once again but stops once he hears him muttering again.
Avery stares at the Knight for a few seconds, conflicted. He reluctantly gets up and sits on the floor next to him, watching as the Knight freezes.
"Avery." The Knight looks over at him.
"Hm?" Avery asks.
The Knight is silent, Avery sighs.
"M'starting to think that you have a weird thing for saying my name…" Avery mumbles.
The Knight is still silent, Avery watches as his eyes dart around the room, it's as if he's looking for something. He doesn't bring it up, he doesn't know how to, he shifts his attention to the Knight's condition: there's dirt caked onto his boots, dried blood paints sections of his armor, he clutches a torn part of his cape in his left hand.
Avery highly doubts that the Knight is going to be willing to part with his armor, but Avery's also not keen on having dirt and dried blood strewn around his house.
"Avery." The Knight says again. He's staring back at Avery this time, or at least Avery thinks that he is, he can't even see the guy's eyes.
"You got something to say this time or are you just saying my name again?" Avery asks.
The Knight tilts his head at Avery.
"He's watching." The Knight whispers.
What the hell does that mean?