INTERIOR - Dirt tunnel at the base of a small hill, leading down to an abandoned mineshaft littered with monsters. This will not be explored. There is a nearby door which is currently blocked off by a wall of mud, and that will be re-entered.

  PRESENT - THE BOY (Still beaten and broken, lying on the ground with a bnk, wide-eyed stare. Also still wearing the peasant clothes.) THE GIRL - (Not there yet)

  TIME - Suns goin’ down.

  The boy was left alone again for some time. Nothing particurly interesting happened after that encounter with That Freakin’ Guy, so we’ll skip to the girl coming back.

  Eventually, the boy heard footsteps coming from the mouth of the cave.

  He took a moment… Yes, one set! One set of erratic, skipping footsteps, which never seemed to have the same length or volume. He briefly entertained the possibility that this’d be anyone other than the girl but… Yeah, pretty unlikely.

  “hat.” He called out as the footsteps neared.

  “Bug.” She called back, her voice loud but not so enthusiastic.

  She quickly stepped into the tunnel, carrying a wrapped up and tightly bound tan-colored bedroll. It’s fluffiness was visually unimpressive, though the boy remained optimistic.

  NOW PRESENT - THE GIRL, (still wearing her fur armor, and the navy-blue ball cap. And sungsses)

  She carried the roll atop one hand, attempting to keep it banced even as she walked. She was doing pretty good, she’d only dropped it a handful of times throughout her entire journey. She’s good.

  “you are back. good.” The boy was genuinely pleased, although his face didn’t move much.

  “Yeah. Trip was a real pain in the butt.” The girl unceremoniously dropped the bedroll on the ground beside him. “You still suck, by the way.”

  “i am aware. i think the older boy felt the same. although i am not certain.”

  The girl began to unstrap and unwrap the bedroll.“Yeah ye-“ She stopped. “The whouhhh?”

  “a boy with a necktie and odd hair came through.” He helpfully stated. “he specifically said that i ‘am not cut out for this life.’ i think in regards to my ability to fight.”

  “A tie?” The girl scoffs. “Who the heck wears a tie to a dungeon?”

  “he also had a pin. gold. shiny. rge bird. circle on top.”

  The girl’s shoulders drooped, her eyes rolled, and she let out a rge groan. “Uuuugggghhhh, the Academy??? Heck are they doing here????”

  “school trip. according to less impressive hooded male. clearing the dungeon.”

  “Uuugggh, stupid css project? Laaaaame…” She let out a deeply annoyed sigh. “Iiiii’m tiiired, I don’t waaaaana deal with this… Here.”

  She quickly finished unfurling the bedroll, before kicking the boy’s helpless body on top of it.

  “ow.”

  She readjusted his position some (with kicks), before rolling the bedroll back up.

  The boy’s previous optimism was proven wrong, the bedroll was hardly fluffy or soft.

  She then lifted the whole boy-burrito over her head, and jogged out the cave.

  “Sudden under-the-stars-camping-trip, ahoy!” The girl decred as he sped out of the cave and on up the hill.

  “okay.”

  As soon as they reached the top of the hill, she roughly threw the boy-rito down on the grass.

  “ow.” Something might’ve cracked. But that’s fine.

  “Go to sleep, you weak little Bug!” She says crisscross next to him, and reached a hand out. “I’ll do the heal thing!”

  “okay. how does one sleep again?”

  The girl was unamused. “We’ve been over this. You’ve seen me do it.”

  “oh. it works the same here?”

  “Yes. Sleep!” She commanded.

  “okay.” He did as he was told.

  ———————-

  ————————

  “Now wake up!” The girl commanded, as she pced her hands firmly in the rge sweater pocket she had built into her armor.

  “okay.” And the boy was up.

  The boy’s body was in the same condition it was the previous morning. Which meant, of course, his noodle arm was still noodly. The rest of him was as good as ever, though.

  “Now back down the hill!” She marched and pointed ahead. “We’ll get the bedroll ter!”

  “i was about to ask about that.”

  “I know.”

  And they went down the hill. And once more to the mud-door.

  The girl yawned, and commanded the mud to fall.

  “Go do fights.” She sleepily commanded.

  “i will. but first.” The boy turned towards her, his body practically tingling with excitement. His expression was the same, though.

  “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.” The girl emotionlessly groaned.

  “magic. i did a magic.” He tells her, as excitedly as he can muster.

  The girl was intrigued enough to raise an eyebrow, but too tired to care much. “Oh, real? Do it.”

  “okay.”

  The boy reached his good arm out, and began waving it about. As he did, he once more recalled the words… “Magic. Go. Abracadabra. Please. Magic. Go. Abracadabra. Please…”

  Within a handful of seconds, that gray light once again appeared before them.

  “Ooh.”

  The boy kept chanting, kept waving his arm, and slowly the twisting grey mass grew and whirled ever faster. It was still slow, but much faster than it was the first time. Having a functioning arm was very helpful.

  “Is it like an attack, or a defensive thing?” The girl questioned.

  “i-it is a-”

  “Nope- Go back to chanting.” The girl quickly shouted as she saw the mass begin to swiftly stop and shrink.

  They boy went back to chanting.

  A handful of seconds ter, and the mass grew and grew until it exploded into nothing, leaving a small, fluffy white pillow in its wake.

  She stared, her brow furrowed confusedly. “... Whazzit do?”

  “it is very soft.” The boy said, clinging to its pillowy mass, rubbing his cheek against it. He’s a real big fan of the softness.

  “...” The girl was very tired. “I… Guess summoning a lingering object as your first time is… Kinda impressive. But it’s so…” She looked disappointedly at his pillow-hugging face. “This is the exact opposite of what I want. Why are you the way that you are.”

  “... i like the soft.”

  “... So you do.” They locked eyes for a while.

  The girl let out a sharp exhale.

  “Alright. I can’t wait to see how you try to kill a guy with that.” Her voice betrayed not a shred of enthusiasm.

  The boy nodded.

  “Go do fight.” She pushed the door open for him, revealing the still bound and downed Bandit, whose manic expression was the exact same as it was when they st saw him.

  The boy stepped inside, and the girl leaned against the doorframe, monitoring the situation.

  “Alright. Get ready.”

  The boy assumed a combat stance, which was especially ridiculous with the pillow.

  “I’m releasing him in three… Two… Onego!”

  The Bandit sprung to its feet as soon as the earthen shackles binding it to the ground had been released. Lifting its pickaxes once more, it charged the boy without dey.

  But the boy was ready, and easily dodged the initial flurry of attacks. Its attacks were sloppy and heavily telegraphed. If it’s just one, dodging is child’s py.

  The Bandit stumbled, and the boy capitalized on the opportunity, and reached back to sm his conjured weapon directly into the face of the rge Bandit.

  His weapon, of course, was a pillow, so it was not particurly effective.

  The Bandit attacked, and the fight was over pretty quickly.

  The girl sighed, and began to conjure a weapon of her own. And so ends 9 parts of buildup.