Sora’s POV

I forget how many days I have been walking in the desert now….but it has been long enough for me to begin hating it. The Skeleton body has abnormal reserves of stamina – I have been walking since I left Feladonia and am yet to even begin feeling tired.

My pace is slow during the day, since I am more sensitive to the light – however that doesn’t exhaust me in the slightest.

I don’t feel sleepy either, even if I want to sleep out of habit I cannot since skeletons don’t have eyelids. I can’t close my eyes! I tried wrapping a cloth around the skeleton’s eyeball sockets hoping that it would solve the dilemma – but the cloth was too thin to help…it also didn’t feel like I shut my eyes. It was the equivalent of being in a slightly dark room. I am certain even if I managed to get a nice pair of eye patches it wouldn’t solve the problem.

The experience is frustrating me. Imagine never being able to blink….never being able to close your eyes……no this is worse…. I feel no hunger or exhaustion! Mentally, I am a human who is habitual to eat and rest. However, physically, I am monster that neither feels hunger or tires! The happiness that I felt earlier on becoming a skeleton monster has faded into dust!

And you know what makes the entire journey so frustrating? I am in the middle of a damned desert with no idea which way I need to be heading! Out of all the places I could be – I am in the middle of desert. I could have been by sandy beaches or tropical rainforests…but no! I had to throw the damned dart in the desert….if I think about it carefully, half this planet is a desert…so it really isn’t my fault…but still…DAMN ME! The other half is not a desert!! I should have just tried aiming for the other half!!

It’s just an endless desert….for miles and miles….leagues and leagues….as far as the eye can see…and the damned blazing light during the day….compounding my misery by infinity. Wait! My whining doesn’t end there! Remember, the slime I am carrying? Still needs to be hydrated! Day after day…my bindle grows lighter (water is evaporating). Thankfully, once in a while I come across a cactus. I place the slime on the cactus and it does the rest. It has enough intelligence to sustain itself. It absorbs the water (albeit very inefficiently) and nutrients from the cactus (leaving it to die) thereby replenishing itself. However, if I had to put it in perspective – if it lost 100ml water in a day then it regained only 90ml. The situation will certainly become dire if I continue travelling during the day…

Contrary to the day, the night is far more lovely – I really enjoy the night. It is, in fact, the only time I don’t feel bad being a skeleton – if you haven’t guessed it – Darkness Bonus! All stats double, that means my speed doubles, that means I walk faster, that means I cross the desert faster! Yes, crossing the desert is all I want…no it wasn’t so bad when I had my guardians….at least I had some company….that helped me get by….but now….now …. I have no one….I guess what I truly wish for is company….company of anyone and anything….

“Aaa!”

I freeze in my tracks. That “Aaa” wasn’t me.

I look around really carefully. The desert is as lonely as it can be.

Must be the howling wind….

I take another tiny step.

“Aaa!”

Wind sure talks a lot? What the heck am I saying there is no wind blowing!

I drop my bindle and assume a fighting pose – come at me if you dare.

My bindle wobbles a little…

“Aaa..”

Okay this is getting weird and awkward at the same time.

*Who is there?*

*rattle* *rattle* *rattle*

[Sigh…] Yeah, that’s another thing. I can’t speak anymore – my jaw goes up and down but other than the rattling noise of my bones moving there is no other sound…

I observe my surroundings carefully…just sand everywhere….no wind, no insect….just sand.

I take a deep breath, this is it, I must be going crazy finally.

I always knew I’d die crazy…just imagined it happening a lot later….

Am I so desperate for company, that I am imagining voices?

I guess I should get going, no point worrying about the pointless.

“Aaa..”

[OKAY WHO THE F*CK IS THAT?]

And that’s when it happened…

The setting – lone skeleton walking in the desert in the middle of the night. Suddenly, he hears a voice. Before, he can find the source of the voice, a hand pops out of the sand and grabs his leg.

I screamed out a loud in fright! - “HELP THE UNDEAD HAVE GOT ME!” – one of the dumbest things a skeleton can say. Thankfully, I have no voice.

I begin kicking the hand that grabbed on to my leg with my free foot – but the grip was strong!

Damned monster!

My leg came off – the one being held the mysterious hand from the sand.

I have two options – hop away to safety and live a life of eternal hopping or fight back. Somehow, a hopping skeleton for eternity doesn’t suit my image. Like hell I am going to lose my leg to some other undead!

I fight back!

I jump back to get my leg when I hear a voice.

- the mysterious voice coughs.

I pause for a moment and slowly pull my leg out of the sand…as I pull it up, I end up fishing out a girl from the sand, upon which I stood.

:wat:

***

Author’s notes:

indicate different language.

[words like this] indicate individual thinking in their mind or communication via telepathy.

*words like this* indicate emphasis

{words like this} indicate spell