Forgotten (solo)

[Krypt]

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Tagg and Krypt rubbed the sleep out of their eyes and sat up to stretch. Krypt let out a yawn. He'd been on Masami for what he guessed would amount to months back home, wherever home was. The thought gave him pause, where was his home? He'd been in Chicago when everything had gone sour, but he didn't live there. He didn't really live anywhere. Even in a world where all the rules were changed he felt no more and no less at home than he ever had on Earth. To him, this was just another place, just another area to rest and recuperate before he moved on. To where though? He still hadn't really made contact with another human, not one that had been here before him anyway.

"Mornin' biped," Tagg grumbled as he retrieved his hat from the branch where he'd hung it last night. Krypt snapped out of his thoughts to shift away from the otter in the confined space of the treetop. Nimbly the teen dropped to the ground, landing catlike on the balls of his feet. Tagg fluttered down to join him, "Wha's on the ol' agenda fer taday?" he asked. Krypt ignored his traveling companion. He placed his knife in the palm of his hand and gave it an experimental flick with his nail, waiting until the blade came to rest before pocketing the weapon and setting off in the direction it had indicated.

"If you actually knew where we were going we'd have gotten there by now," Krypt called over his shoulder. Instead of the usual stream of excuses the he normally heard from the otter Krypt could detect the steady beating of the bat-like wings that seemed so out of place attached to the otter's shoulders. Krypt glanced back over his shoulder at the ashamed otter following him and experienced an odd case of Déjà vu. Before he could figure out why however, his foot tripped over itself and he dropped into his unscheduled meeting with the ground.

"Youse okay?!" Tagg shouted as Krypt rolled himself over. His hands and knees had taken the brunt of the fall, but his ankle had been forced to twist in an unintended way. He sat up gingerly and felt the throbbing appendage. It was swelling, but Krypt didn't think it was broken.

"I'll be fine," Krypt hissed between his teeth. He checked that all of his belongings were safe within the utility belt before pressing his foot against a nearby rock and flexing it. He winced in pain and Tagg noticed.

"Ya shouldn' walk on tha'," he offered nervously. Krypt bit back a sharp retort in the effort of keeping his only resource happy. He hauled himself to a nearby tree stump and leaned back against it angrily. He had let himself get hurt somewhere he wasn't familiar with, and that was stupid. Stupid often amounted to dead in the world Krypt was used to dealing with. Tagg fluttered around, unsure of what to do. Eventually the otter landed near where Krypt was propped against the tree stump and leaned his weight on a knot in the stump.

The moment Tagg laid his paw on the knot Krypt felt something mechanical start to slide. The ground around the stump seemed to dissolve and the teen plummeted along with the stunned otter. He was too flummoxed to let out a scream as the two of them fell. He tried to make his injured leg obey him so that he could land in such a way as to negate the damage of the drop, but it wouldn't cooperate. He twitched dangerously in the air for a few moments before his head collided with the narrowing walls of the chasm and his vision faded to black.

[Krypt]

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Krypt slowly opened his eyes and became painfully aware of his aching body. Tenderly he tested his arms, legs, and head. His ankle was still shot, but everything else seemed to be in better shape. He eased himself into a sitting position and immediately contradicted his previous observation. The lump on his head pulsated in agony. His foot gave off a sympathetic throb. "Shut up you two," Krypt complained to his appendages. His hands ran over the soft material that he'd landed on, causing him to look down to investigate what it was. The decaying fur and feathers of thousands of animals littered the ground beneath him, and Krypt could see their bones piled over in the corner with care.

His stomach dropped and his lunch of tubers and roots soon followed. The stench of the place was not any better for the vomit that glistened in the shaft of light from the ceiling where he'd fallen in. He rubbed the lump on his head and used the moss-covered wall to help himself into a standing position. He limped off the grotesque pile and over to the mound of bones. Krypt forced himself to ignore the thought of what he was doing as he dug out two long, sturdy bones. He attached them on either side of his leg and used his sweatshirt to secure them, forming a makeshift splint.

Krypt heard a groan from back behind him. Krypt turned around and saw Tagg extracting himself from unconsciousness. Krypt swore, if the otter woke up surrounded by this filth there's no telling what he would do. Limping as quickly as he could, Krypt slogged his way to the otter's side and scooped him up under one arm. He looked up. There was no way they were going back out through the ceiling and even as the thought crossed his mind he heard the mechanical sliding noise again. The shaft of light from above slowly diminished and was extinguished. Thankfully luminous fungus lining the cavern gave off enough light for him to make out a small tunnel off to his right.

Krypt limped towards the tunnel, still lugging the semi-conscious otter. He made it inside the small space and was relieved to discover that the animal remains didn't extend into the tunnel. He made his way along the fungi-lit tunnel. An ominous feeling was growing in Krypt's stomach as he made his way forward. Soon, the winding tunnel had left all signs of the remain-filled cavern behind, leaving Krypt feeling an acute sense of claustrophobia. He felt Tagg stir more violently in his arm. Krypt set the dazed otter down and stepped further down the tunnel. Tagg followed, too disoriented to speak or fly. The fungus was fewer here, but Krypt's eyes had begun to adjust to the blackness.

A fact that didn't help him when he encountered unforeseen obstruction in his path. The tunnel was completely blocked by something, and Krypt ran right into it. The impact winded him, but he stayed on his feet. The bone-splint was helping him to walk, but the limp in his leg was obvious. With great trepidation he reached out to feel what was blocking the path. His hands met worn wood. The realization of what he'd found hit Krypt harder than the fall had, "It's a door."

[Krypt]

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Krypt and Tagg exchanged a look. Neither of them knew what to make of the door hidden underground. Krypt peered closer at it. He couldn't make out any real details in the dark, but from what he could see and feel the door had been here longer than some of the trees that grew above it. There were strange markings engraved just under some sort of marker. Krypt traced them with his hand, most of his weight leaning on the door because of his ankle.

Tagg seemed to regain his voice first, "Whodda ya think lef' it 'ere?" the otter questioned quietly. Krypt had no idea, and so, didn't answer. Instead he re-positioned himself so that he was no longer leaning on the door and reached out to grasp the knocker. He heard Tagg gasp behind him. The dank, small tunnel was forcing the moisture out of Krypt's body. The teen swallowed heavily and his hand grasped the knocker.

Krypt gave the door a light tug. Nothing happened. He frowned. Krypt reached over with his other arm and yanked on the handle. Pieces of dirt and debris showered down on the two companions. Krypt backed from the door, hacking and coughing from the exposure. Tagg scattered to get out from under Krypt's feet as the teen backed up. "Careful!" Tagg chided. Krypt finished his wheezing and shifted his attention back to the door, ignoring the otter.

Krypt ran his hands back over the wood, there was nothing else there. His fingers searched the fringes of the door and couldn't even find any of the hinges. Krypt wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was stumped. Tagg seemed to have recovered sufficiently to regain his powers of flight. The otter fluttered up to hang level with Krypt, "Why don' cha jus' use the konk'r?"

"What do you think I just tried to d..." Krypt started to argue back. Then he realized what the otter was truly suggesting. Reaching out once more, Krypt held the cool metal knocker in his hand. This time, instead of pulling, the teen used the knocker for its intended purpose, and knocked on the door.

With an ancient creaking sound the door inched itself open. The calm light of a soft fire bled out through the cracks around the now partially opened door. "Enter," a voice whispered from somewhere beyond the door. With a look back towards the remain-filled room and a look at the warm light emanating from the door, Krypt gestured for Tagg to go first. The otter shook his head violently and indicated for Krypt to enter.

In response, Krypt seized the otter for the umpteenth time in one hand and the edge of the door in the other. In one swift motion, he gave a mighty heave and pulled the door open the rest of the way, spilling warm light down the tunnel, and tossed the otter inside. Krypt hobbled through the doorway after him, waiting for his eyes to readjust to the new source of light.

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