Erosion

Corpse Carrier - Act 1 | Chapter 17 - Erosion
One Day After Juna Died

The first day inside The Mound passed quite well for Theo. Only a few unidentified insects crawled over his legs while he slept, and he only woke up in a cold sweat twice. Besides that—quite well.

Theo had managed to reinforce the eight-foot divot he found inside The Mound by applying a vine-woven door to the front. Surprisingly, about an hour walk from the village’s outskirts awaited a clump of sturdy vines digging through the cavern floor. Wielding a sharp rock, Theo sliced them at the base and uprooted them before wrapping a bundle together with nearby moss. The makeshift door was far from perfect. There were still holes and once fastened it tilted at an angle. But nonetheless Theo had completed his shelter.

Though, was a shelter even necessary down here? Except for the smaller insects that scampered about, never once did Theo catch sight of anything larger than Specks so close to The Mound. The cavern itself had no rain, no wind, no storms, no sun, no hail, no lightning, no tornadoes and no hurricanes. Everything was encased in stone. In the end efforts towards a shelter slumped to a meaningless feeling.

There was a slight glimmer of light about building the shelter however. It at least felt more productive than the process of reading Juna's Fossil. That book was a convoluted mess. Reading it only jumbled his mind more. Every few minutes he could only make out a single word or two. Those few words were: World - Cave - Darkness - Abandonment - Seek - Return and Home.

The words Theo could understand were too simple to be understood out of context. The only real luck he had was the title of the fifth chapter called, Upon The Descent. He reckoned the continents had something to do with delving into The Chasm, though he had no information to back up that hypothesis. The language was all written in the same manner as the tavern sign hanging outside Travelers of the Lost. Etched lines and scraps were how the written language down here looked. However, Theo could somehow understand the Travelers of the Lost sign. So why was this book that was written in the same manner untranslatable to him?

A struggling defeat that kept his mind occupied for hours. Juna, however, seemed to be soaking in complete bliss whenever Theo saw her. The two Bakersville residents each had their own way of living in Ground Zero. Theo constructed a shelter, started a fire with the quartz stone from his bracelet, and worked towards deciphering Juna's Fossil. Not once did Theo even think of stepping foot into the village. The people there were mad, content with the erratic tremors that controlled the ground. Those villagers surrounded themselves with gasoline-stenched Stones, apparently Stones from the specific beast causing such tremors—Coloana-Vie. Yet not once did Theo ever come across such a beast’s name in the book.

Juna, of course, as surprising as it was, kept her mind and heart exploring the village from sunrise to sun fall—though that expression carried little weight here. There was no day cycle and the orangish lighting emitting from the stones above never changed tones. Juna took advantage of the non-existent clock to bug anyone who was awake at the time. She talked their heads off, asked about their jobs, what they ate, what their hobbies were, and had they ever descended into The Chasm before. Then when the group Juna pestered would submit to sleep, she would begin harassing anyone who had just woken up.

How did Theo know all this? Well, because Juna would come back to The Mound twice a day—or what Theo guessed was a day—to deliver food, most of which was grilled meat which he couldn't tell its origins. And though it pained his spirit to admit it, the food was delicious. While Theo would eat, Juna would talk, gently, pleasantly, without judgment or hidden intent. She would tell Theo what she learned about the villagers in Ground Zero and happily watch Theo eat. Then without convincing him of anything, Juna would head back to a hut she rented inside the village.

Theo wouldn't see her again until morning.

What Theo had to guess was morning.

Two Days After Juna Died

On the first morning and second day in Ground Zero, Juna woke Theo up very early—what Theo had to guess was very early.

She was excited, no doubt about that. The amber coat on her eyes seemed to melt away with passion as she explained to Theo what was happening. Eyes Theo never saw back in class—back on Earth.

Juna had handed over Specks and asked Theo to watch him for just a day. That she was being taken into The Chasm's Entrance Layer by a trio of Gritborns Radu had recommended.

Theo wondered if Juna was scared, even frightened or worried about whatever could happen down there. He couldn't tell. And he didn't ask. It had been a mystery to Theo what Juna truly wanted from going to another world. Was it to adventure and delve into a place of fantasy? Or to get away from the old life that she had sulked in?

As Juna skipped away from the divot Theo and Specks were curled inside. It seemed like she wanted both, and at the same time seemed as if she didn't want either.

Theo didn’t know what Juna wanted.

Though Theo did know that if Juna had acted like this—cheerful, upbeat, warm—back in Bakersville things would have been different. Juna might have never hated life. She could have talked about the things she was interested in with people from their world, not from those surrounded by stone.

Three Days After Juna Died

Specks didn't exactly stay put all day. He scampered about, chased bugs, and sniffed around The Mound. As agitating as it was Theo brought himself to follow Specks on his exploration to keep a close eye on him. The heavy birds nesting inside The Mound could prove to be a predator of whatever species Specks was, and Theo couldn't just allow him to get snatched away. Taking on the tiring babysitting task meant during the third day the Fossil sat idly by inside the divot, untouched. No progress being made on how to get home.

Not like there had been any already made.

Juna arrived back at The Mound by noon. What Theo had to guess was… The rest should be easy to figure out.

She arrived alone and hastily embraced Specks before spilling all that she had learned during the descent into the Entrance Layer. Juna spoke on how The Chasm seemed a frightening venture at first, but upon arriving at the heart of the Entrance Layer, she never once wanted to leave.

Fields of crops and streams of crystal-clear water were sectioned off like housing districts inside of the Entrance Layer. Bright camps with cheerful merchants lined the cave walls as Gritborns eye-shopped all of the unique Stones and Fossils discovered deep and thoroughly from The Chasm’s depths. Docile animals were cooperating with humans to aid in the farming process and to strengthen the watch on The First Layer's hatch—making sure no beast from The First Layer ever emerged.

Juna had told him all that, and much more.

The only reason she couldn't stay in The Entrance Layer longer was because she had no experience in being a Gritborn. That, and Radu heavily suggested against it.

Four Days After Juna Died

On the fourth day Juna arrived happily wearing new clothes that were unbefitting of a high schooler from Bakersville. She wore a smut-toned white blouse held tight at the waist by a brown scarf. Her grey school skirt had been traded out for more mundane black trousers, and a small cloth was tied to her wrist.

Though she looked more poor than someone trapped in a fantasy world, Juna was nonetheless brimming with excitement. Apparently the clothes she wore were made from Snatcher's silk. What Juna had figured out to be large Chasm dwelling spiders in this world. Unlike the tiny spiders they were used to, these Snatchers produced large amounts of webbing, which was the main use in clothes making around Ground Zero. From the scarf around her waist to the socks on her feet, all were made from a single Snatcher's webbing.

Only Gritborn were able to wear more protective clothing like leather and hide. Apparel woven from Snatcher’s webbing was for civilians. Apparently the shopkeep from Travelers of the Lost had given Juna the rags to wear after she hired her as a waitress. She would start work the next day and hopefully save enough up to wear more proper clothes such as Ilinca’s.

Five Days Since Juna Died

Out of kindness Juna had traded her first pay of Metal for another set of clothes similar to her own. Though this set was for Theo.

He declined. Though his work clothes were tarnished and he could only wash them so much with boiling water from the campfire, it was better than dressing like the ignorants living in Ground Zero. The more Theo looked like them, the more he would act like them. The more he lived alongside them—the more he would become like them and accept this world.

Like Juna.

Theo couldn't do that. As always, he had to stay diligent.

Six Days Since Juna Died

Almost a week had passed. Almost a week of food being delivered from Juna twice a day. Almost a week of having to wash his clothes with boiling campfire water and put up with the after-smell. Almost a week of having not seen his sister—of not knowing if his sister was alright. Almost a week of Juna skipping back to The Mound twice a day to deliver food, smile, and retell all the wonderful things about this world that she learned about. Almost a week of not knowing what in the world the Fossil said, nor how Juna deciphered it before.

And almost another week of being diligent. Almost a whole, dreadful, entire week.