[Audun's POV]
I stood motionless before the black haired kid in front of me, embarrassment overwhelming my thoughts.
I had just spoken in fluent abomination.
Forcing myself to remain composed, I locked eyes with the boy, trying my best not to give away my inner turmoil (Something that I was failing miserably at).
We were standing on the peak of a strange-looking cliff, overlooking a part of the labyrinth, with the artificial sunlight shining down on us.
It wasn't that far from my house, my shelter being only a kilometer away.
I was genuinely contemplating making a run for it, escaping back to the comfort of my home.
However, no matter how I tried to rationalize it in my mind, I just couldn't bring myself to run away, to abandon the first human that I'd seen in a year.
The boy looked like he had gone through hell, his body shivering despite his warm-looking clothes.
Maybe it was the loneliness, or maybe it was what remained of my moral compass, but I didn't just want to leave him on his own for the nightmare creatures.
The abominations here were stronger than a regular sleeper was equipped to deal with, something I had become well aware of during my time at the academy.
Clearing my throat, ignoring the immense discomfort in my stomach, I tried my hand at dialogue again.
"F-f-follow mmmm-me," I said with as much confidence as I could muster.
The boy's expression changed from what I could only assume was surprise to something different, to something wary.
I faced palmed inwardly at my god awful attempt at conversation. If there's one thing that has gotten objectively worse during my time in the dream realm, speaking would 100% be one of them.
The boy clearly didn't trust me, and I couldn't blame him; I wouldn't trust me either.
Not even bothering to attempt speaking again, I just turned around and walked towards my house, hoping that he might have followed.
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[Sunless' POV]
'Wow. Now that's a sight for sore eyes.'
After being dropped in that massive black ocean, nearly being eaten by a nightmare creature, and making it to land, I was met by a transcendently beautiful human.
Delicate features, silky wheat blonde hair, and two gentle looking lavender eyes, their looks could've probably given changing star a run for her money.
They word what looked to be a brown silk robe and were completely barefoot.
The human(?) before me had the kind of androgynous face that would make anybody question their sexuality, and I was no different.
'Wait, no, no, no, no… I found a fellow human being, that's what I should be thinking about!'
I hadn't met this person at the academy, and I was extremely grateful for that.
I had spent the past four weeks making sure that literally everybody at the academy hated me, and even then I wasn't really the greatest when it came to human interaction.
Their face was completely expressionless, and quite honestly, it was a little intimidating.
Our eyes made contact, and an awkward silence descended upon us.
Unable to take the awkward silence any longer, I decided to take the initiative, but before I could, the figure before me cut me off.
Opening their mouth, with an incredibly flat tone of voice, they released one of the oddest sounds I had ever heard in my life.
It was like they had tried to say three things simultaneously and had somehow failed to intone any of them properly.
My mind blanked, [Clear Conscious] settling back down as my brain quite literally short-circuited from object confusion.
'Huh?'
A slight blush crept onto the person's expressionless face, something I don't think they even realized.
Clearing their throat, they spoke once more, in that same flat, dead voice.
This time, though, I could make out what they said.
"F-f-follow mmmm-me,"
'How could someone stutter so calmly??'
After the initial shock wore off, my expression changed to something more cautious.
Could I really trust this person?
But before I could even respond, before I could even think, the odd person immediately turned around and walked off.
'What the spell?'
I was once again left completely baffled.
'What a weirdo.'
Curious but still a bit cautious, I commanded my shadow to separate itself from my body, then taking control of it, I trailed the figure to make sure that I wouldn't be walking into some kind of trap.
The figure walked for about a kilometer before they arrived at a stone brick house situated on a platform not unlike this one.
Around the house were the shells and carcasses of dozens of abominations, some small and others far too big for a sleeper to take down.
Piloting my shadow inside the house, I found nothing that would've indicated a trap.
Along the walls, there were shelves holding little pale blue pouches made of what looked like fish skins, and next to those was a basket woven from a mysterious material that held what looked to be preserved meat.
In a corner, there were a few massive sacks made of the same fish skin the pouches on the shelf were made of.
In the middle of the house, right next to a little hearth, the Blondie was stirring a pot.
Wary and curious, I checked the contents, but only found what I assumed to be fish stewing with a meat that resembled crab.
The Blondie glanced at me, or more specifically my shadow, with an understanding look, like he knew exactly what I was doing.
It unsettled me a bit, having been seen through so easily, but the figure merely waved at my shadow dismissively, as if my actions were pointless.
I watched them for a while longer, the figure simply continuing his cooking, getting up every once in a while to tend to the flames or to sprinkle in whatever was in the fish skin pouches.
Clearing their throat loudly, the Blondie, without looking up from the pot, spoke to my shadow in a surprisingly mellow tone, the fluency a stark contrast with the stuttering mess of before.
"I won't hurt you, I promise." they said with a disarming smile, before their eyes widened slightly in surprise, like they hadn't expected the words to come out so smooth.
Their facial expressions and intonation were so vastly different to the expressionless beauty I had seen before that I was struggling to grasp the sudden change.
'At the very least, it doesn't seem like they mean any harm. I also definitely wouldn't be opposed to eating something right now.'
Making my decision, I stepped into shadows and started the trek to the stone house.
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(A/N: This chapter is a little shorter than I would've originally liked, but I have a test tomorrow and need to study a bit for it.
I spent a lot of today just rereading through the early chapters of shadow slave, just to make sure I got an accurate read on Sunny.
I don't know if I did him justice, but I tried my best. If he did anything that seemed especially out of character or maybe didn't sound like he normally did, leave a comment telling me your opinions!
Also, I saw the comments regarding the memory and shard situation, and I'll admit it was a bit of a cop out of me to not include it, not to mention a bit of a plot hole, but I'll address it within the next few chapters, I swear.
Hope you guys liked the chapter, and drop a review if you haven't already, it gives me motivation to keep going!
See you guys tomorrow, probably!)