The Sun Never Sets | Chapter 3 - An Unfortunate Encounter

Chapter 3 - An Unfortunate Encounter

Chiyo tried to keep her wits about her as the two of them made their way through the forest, but it was proving to be somewhat difficult. The atmosphere had been growing even heavier and more oppressive over the last couple of hours, and she could not help but wonder if there was something more to it. It was as though something was deliberately trying to disrupt her connection to the divine, to block her ability to sense the world around her.

Of course, it probably did not help that she had not slept properly for several nights.

The only thing driving her forward at this point was the idea that she could put a stop to this, if only she could find the source of it; but a small treacherous voice whispered that there was nothing left to save. However, her dreams had encouraged her to venture outside of the village, and she fully intended to cling to that thread of hope, no matter how thin it may be.

It is not long before she heard the trickling of water, and she made her way towards where she knew the stream lay. This would be their last opportunity to stock up on water before they begin the journey proper, they should make the most of it.

She glanced over her shoulder at the foreign girl following not far behind her, and found her to be flagging already.

Hmm, that could be a problem.

Chiyo felt the first flickers of annoyance under her skin, but forced it back down. She reminded herself that the other woman had not had much chance to recover after her ordeal last night, so it was understandable that she would be struggling. She just hoped that she was able to pick up the pace soon.

Perhaps they could take a break by the stream for a moment?

It seemed like a good idea to her, as not only would it give Alice a chance to rest up, but it would also give her a chance to re-evaluate their next move.

So that was how, after parching her thirst with the refreshingly cool water, she found herself staring at its crystalline surface.

Ever since their encounter with the monsters that morning, she had felt tempted to take the tunnels, as they would likely be safer. However, going overland would be quicker, which would hopefully see them to some place truly safe that much sooner. Yet, it would not matter how safe their destination was if they died before reaching it, would it?

Thoughts of the monsters lead to thoughts of the village and, no matter how much she fought it, that inevitably lead to her reminiscing about the people who had lived there. She felt a sharp pang in her chest, and almost cursed herself for her weakness.

Then a soft voice cut through her dismal thoughts, and although she could not understand the words, they sounded gentle enough. So she turned her head toward the only person who could have spoken them, and finds her redheaded companion was looking at her with concern plainly written on her face.

- - -

Despite how bright the sun was, there was still a bit of a chill in the air.

The pair of them had been travelling for a couple of hours when they had happened across a fairly large stream. At first the gentle trickling of water had sounded so strange in the unnaturally still air, and it had taken Alice a couple of seconds to realised what she was hearing. Once she had the first thing she had felt was relief, she just wasn't used to walking for so long, it was far more arduous than she had expected.

The very first thing she had done upon reaching the water, was to take a drink. It looked incredibly clear, and the taste of it as it passed her dry lips had been almost divine. Next to her Chiyo had taken the chance to restock on water, before following suit.

Now Chiyo was sitting on the bank gazing at the water, whilst Alice stood in the middle of the stream, trouser hiked up about her knees, whilst she enjoyed the cleansing sensation of the cool water. It was not just the dirt either, all the aches and pains she had accrued over the last twelve hours seemed to be carried away down stream.

She was of half a mind to lay down and let the water wash over her completely, so that it could wash away the dirt and sweat that had no doubt accumulated elsewhere; but the other half of her was mortified at the very thought. Bathing outdoors was simply too embarrassing to properly contemplate, as was bathing in front of somebody else, even if she felt absolutely filthy.

Yet, even as she stood there feeling some of her troubles float away, there was still plenty to darken her thoughts. Despite her best efforts, she just could not shake the memory of the vision she had had, of the abandoned corridor and the broken mirror. A shiver worked its way down her spine as the image returned to her with crystal clarity.

Alice shook her head almost violently as she tried to rid herself of the cursed thought, and cast her eyes about looking for anything that would catch her attention in its place. They soon landed on Chiyo, who was staring solemnly at the surface of the water. Once again she was radiating an aura of melancholy, and she felt a little tug in her chest as she wondered what dreadful thoughts were playing across her mind.

Alice's mouth seemed to open of its own accord, and the words passed between her lips before she could give much thought to them at all.

“Are you feeling well?” she asked.

Chiyo slowly dragged her gaze away from the stream, and turned it towards her. Alice could see that her brow was furrowed in confusion.

Well, of course it was, Alice chided herself. She tried to think of a way to properly communicate her concern, but nothing came to her.

Perhaps her concerned showed on her face, because Chiyo inclined her head and said something Alice could not understand.

Well, that was something at least. Still, it was so frustrating that they were not able to talk about their problems properly.

However, she was not able to dwell on this for long, as she was soon distracted by a loud snap that echoed through the air. Chiyo immediately shot to her feet, and both women whirled in the direction of the noise, to find a figure standing there watching them.

Alice's heart leapt up into her throat, as for a moment she thought that they had been found by another one of those monsters. She quickly recovered from her shock, as she realised that this man was distinctly more whole. Yet, there was something unpleasant about hi all the same, something that made her skin crawl. He had a deathly pallor to him, and his long hair was stringy and matted. Worst of all was his eyes, they were bloodshot and yellowed, and glared at them with and unnerving ferocity. When he spoke his voice was rough and broken, to the point that it was almost bestial, and although she could not understand what he said, it did not sound at all pleasant.

When Chiyo replied her voice was curt, sharp, and she glared at the man warily.

Alice swallowed thickly, and she felt the nerves build under her skin, and how they twisted her stomach into knots. It was a feeling that only grew worse as Chiyo slowly moved, placing herself between the two of them.

Suddenly the man threw back his head, and roared at the sky like an animal, before charging straight at them. He drew his sword as he ran, and Alice felt sick as she saw the dismal light being reflected off of the cold steel.

Yet for all his ferocity Chiyo was faster, and her movements more certain and controlled. One moment the man was charging straight at them, and the next her was being flung to the ground. As he flew through the air his weapon slipped from his fingers, to land in the water with a subdued splash. Almost against her will her eyes followed the blade as it fell, and for just a second she could not pull her eyes away from it.

Then another roar ripped through the air, and a second figure thundered into view and crashed into Chiyo, barrelling both of them over. Chiyo hit the ground with a dull thud, and she was pinned down as her rather large assailant landed on top of her. However, she was clearly not going down without a fight, and fought violently against her attacker.

Alice's legs trembled beneath her as she watched the ongoing struggle. What should she do? She could not … she had never been in a fight before.

The decision was taken out of her hands when the first man scrambled unsteadily to his feet, and instead of focusing on the woman who had threw him down, fixed his terrible gaze squarely on her. Alice froze like a startled rabbit, and the man stalked towards her with a savage grin on his face. From his belt he drew a vicious-looking dagger.

The sight of the bare blade made her stomach clench painfully, but at the same time it reminded her of the sword that lay not far away.

Almost as though her body was moving of its own volition, she stumbled over to where she had seen the weapon fall, and plunged her hand beneath the surface of the stream. When she felt her hand close around the hilt and pulled it from the water; it almost slipped from her grip on the way up, but he somehow managed to keep her grip, and pointed it in the direction of her attacker.

Her arms trembled under the weight, it was heavier than she had thought it would be.

“S-stop right there!” she stuttered. “Do not come any closer!”

She did not know whether the man had understood her or not, but either way he laughed, a nasty, guttural sound that raked across her nerves.

He swung his dagger at her lazily, and she squeaked as she stumbled backwards, her feet splashing in the cool waters of the stream. He swung at her a couple more time, seemingly enjoying her fear, before he finally pounced.

At the sight of him leaping for her Alice lashed out with the weapon in her hands, only for her arms to brought to a sudden stop as the blade bit into something. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as blood ran down the edge of the sword and dripped into the stream, turning the once pristine waters scarlet. Then collapsed, falling down and hitting the water with a dull splash.

For a moment that felt like it lasted for an eternity Alice could not drag her eyes away from the corpse, not until the sound of shouting pushed its way into her head.

She turned around, and found Chiyo still struggling with her assailant, one hand pushing at his face, whilst the other was pinned above her head.

Once again Alice moved without thinking, she ran over to them with the blade raised high above her head, and brought it crashing down. The blow was clumsy, inelegant, more suited to a hatchet than a sword, but it did the job. As before she could feel the sensation of it piercing flesh, and there was a spray of blood, before the body collapsed into the dirt.

This time there was nothing to distract her from what she had done, and her gaze lingered on the freshly made corpse. She had just killed a man, without a shred of doubt or hesitation she had slaughtered him like an animal. A chill came over her like a wet blanket as a number of unpleasant thoughts began to swirl about inside her head. S-she had just...

Then suddenly Chiyo was there, standing before her, and blocking the sight of her crime from view. Her eyes were gentle and concerned, and it made Alice feel so incredibly conflicted.

She had killed a man, but he had been trying to hurt Chiyo. So it had been necessary, had it not? Yet necessary or not, the sight of his life's blood leaking into the dirt had turned her stomach.

“I – I'm sorry,” Alice began. “But he was … I just wanted to...”

She was not sure what she wanted to say, but Chiyo interrupted her anyway, softly placing a hand on her shoulder and nodding in understanding. Then her other hand gently cupped Alice's clenched fist, and she does not resist as other woman eases the sword from her grip.

For her part, Alice felt the desire to lean into her touch, to allow Chiyo to comfort her.

However, that was not to be, as a new sound met her ears. Voices came from all around them, and she could hear the sound of feet beating against the earth.

Chiyo's grip on her hand tightened, and Alice almost tripped over her own feet as she was suddenly yanked forward. Still, she did not resist, and stumbled along behind her as best she could. She was not sure how long they ran for, but her legs and chest soon began to burn, so that it was a struggle to keep going.

When they finally came to a stop Alice fell to her knees, and sucked in great lungfuls of air. After regaining her breath she looked up to find that Chiyo was still standing there quite solidly, barely looking any worse for wear. The only sign of any exertion was that her breathing might have been somewhat heavier.

What on Earth was this woman?

After a second she noticed that Chiyo's eyes were narrowed, and her gaze was hard as she stared at the road ahead of them. Alice followed her the direction of her eyes, but the path ahead looked completely clear, or it did at first. After a couple of seconds she saw the sunlight glint off of what looked like nothing more than thin air, but she quickly realised that there were thin wires strung between the trees.

Chiyo whispered something, but when Alice looked at her she was still staring straight ahead, and she seemed to be talking mostly to herself.

Alice struggled back to her feet, and edged closer to her companion.

“What should we do?” she asked.

Chiyo bit her lower lip as she looked at her, and under other circumstances Alice may have considered the expression adorable.

Eventually Chiyo nodded to herself and began moving again, and Alice followed without question.

The going was much different this time, it was far less relaxed for one thing. Both women kept themselves as low and quiet as possible as they passed through the overgrowth, and they kept their eyes peeled for anyone else who may be around. Alice found herself almost jumping at every shadow as they moved, and forced herself to keep her mouth firmly closed, for fear of giving them away.

Soon Chiyo came to a halt, as they had arrived at their destination.

Standing before them was a little shack, a rickety building with wooden walls and a thatched roof. However, it looked well-kept, in so far as a building like this could be well-kept. They walls looked like they had seen some polish recently, and the door was still firmly in place. There was even a thick, wooden bar across the entryway to keep it closed.

Still, she could not help but wonder what a building like this was doing out in the middle of the woods.

She would soon find her answer, as Chiyo easily hefted the bar out of the way, and pushed the door open.

Alice had expected this little shed to be a storehouse or something, but the inside was completely empty, except for a thin straw mat lying in one corner of the room. When that was pulled aside it revealed a small trapdoor, which was considerably heavier than it looked, and Alice's arms strained under the weight as she help Chiyo prise it open.

Inside the trapdoor was a wooden ladder leading down into pitch darkness, and Alice felt her stomach shrivel at the sight. Already she could imagine more of those skeletal creatures waiting for them at the bottom, teeth chattering as the stalked through the darkness, and cruel blades clasped tightly in rotten hands.

The ladder creaked and groaned beneath their combined weight as they clambered down it, and Alice spent the entire descent afraid that it could fall out from beneath them at any moment. That it would send them plummeting to the bottom, leaving them lying broken at the bottom without any hope of rescue as the monsters closed in.

Fortunately the climb was not that long, and she was soon standing on firm ground again; but she could not see too far into the cave ahead of her. The only light came from the hole above them, and that was simply not enough to illuminate the impenetrable darkness.

Suddenly she was blinded by a dazzling light, and when could see again she found Chiyo holding a lantern high above her.

Now where had she gotten that?

Well, wherever she had gotten it, the new light allowed Alice to get a look at the rough, stone walls that surrounded them, and the entrance to the tunnel before them. She thought that it looked a lot like a great stone maw, waiting eagerly to swallow them whole.

Her heart began to beat faster in her chest, and it occurred to her that her own imagination might kill her before any of the monsters could.

Chiyo spoke, and her voice was soft, perhaps she was trying to sound reassuring? She stared at Alice, seemingly awaiting some kind of response, and after a moment of hesitation she swallowed her fear, and nodded her head.

Then the two women began to make their way into the dark tunnels.

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