Be warned that I lost communication with the facility long ago. It is likely that larger threats are centered around the mountain. Monsters claiming territory close to a food source.
-Ghiri
Enix felt like an idiot. His mind ran through his conversation with >&@#$%< and &#+$, trying to play it differently. Could he have been kinder to them? No, they were too persistent. Could he have just left without saying anything?
Enix stopped walking. Perhaps that idea would have been easier on him, but leaving
"They're so much more complicated than you, buddy." Enix patted his companion's head, and Ingot rumbled in response. "You listen better."
They had walked up a hill, the mountain only an hour's walk from their vantage point. The day was cloudy, and Enix smelled and heard monsters ahead of them, even from this distance. It smelled of rotten eggs and acrid smoke. His own body showed the wear and tear of just an afternoon of travel through a monster horde. Once more, he was missing an arm. It didn't matter to him anymore. He could grow a new one.
He had forgone stealth to make the trip faster. A stupid risk, but one that made itself more worthwhile.
"I think we should rest at the mountain's base and scout before the climb." He paused. "Or maybe… since we don't have &#+$, we should just keep going? I don't need to rest."
Ingot bumped its head against his leg.
"Right, I might not need to, but you definitely do."
Ingot plopped down with a huff, and Enix joined him, grabbing some rations from his pack. It was bread, something he had quickly become enamored with once &#+$ had introduced him to it. Ingot had begun to dig, searching for his favorite foods.
It was then that Enix's world flipped upside down. He wasn't sure what had happened until the pain registered, and he fell to the ground hard. He heard Ingot bellow, a loud hollow sound followed by a loud clang. Enix had landed face first and rolled over, spitting out dirt to see a hulking figure wrestling with Ingot, who was barely the size of its hand.
The figure looked close to a human, save for its blue skin and massive stature, to which Enix only reached up to its knee. It sported scaled feet, sharp ears, and a horn protruding from its head. It wore a fur toga tied by a belt, and when it turned, Enix saw it had one massive green eye centered on its face above a gaping maw. It looked about to eat Enix's companion when Ingot brought its iron jaws down on the monster's hands.
The monster roared something unintelligible to Enix, and it slammed Ingot onto the ground repeatedly, dragging it through the dirt in a panicked attempt to get Ingot to release him. Ingot held on, however, and Enix used that opportunity to charge, his body becoming stone and his speed building up slowly but steadily.
Before the monster noticed, Enix tackled its leg with his full body, trying to move the foot. It worked, but only for a second.
The giant's foot lifted and reared back.
"Oh no." Ingot groaned, tightening his grip as the foot swung forward, kicking Ingot away and throwing Enix around. Enix couldn't hang on, letting go when he saw Ingot get launched to follow it.
They hit the ground hard, Enix feeling the hit despite his stone skin and Ingot writhing on its back before managing to roll over.
"Dig, bud!" Enix stood up to run again, picking up a rock as he found his footing. The boy's hand reared back and launched the rock towards the giant's head. The giant held up a hand, letting it bounce off its forearm harmlessly. It would have hit the giant's eye had he not blocked it, but only the small stone nuisance stood before him when he lowered his hand. It had moved from in front of the giant to its side. It growled, turned, and reached out to grab it. Enix dodged once, twice, rolling in between the giant's legs and striking out with a few punches. Of course, this only angered the giant, who raised a leg to stomp at the boy. Enix barely had time to turn to stone before the leg came down. The force was enough to knock Enix out cold and bury him under the loose dirt beneath the giant's feet.
The last thing Enix heard was a roar as thundering footsteps faded away.
The boy awoke to the sensation of wetness on his face. He opened his eyes to see Ingot's maw wide open, its long tongue lapping at its companion's face. He was in a burrow, a spacious one at that, with a narrow entryway behind him.
"Gah! Ew gross sto-" he choked, words failing him as the injuries the giant had dealt to him came back. He could recover faster than usual, but it took time.
"Thanks for the help, buddy," Enix patted Ingot's head, scratching the soft part of its neck to its delight. "You really are-" he was interrupted when he heard two other bags plop down next to him. He whirled around to see-
"I thought I said-"
"Shut up." &#+$ cut him off before Enix could protest. Enix turned to see >&@#$%< reaching into his own bag and taking his bread. The older boy didn't meet his eye but took a large bite from Enix's food.
"Hey!"
"Enix, in the admittedly short time we've known you," &#+$ poked at him. "You've never been that cold to us. So we knew you probably had a good reason for saying and doing what you did, rude as it was."
"And," >&@#$%< said with his mouth full, "we don't care."
"Stop eating my bread." Enix pouted.
>&@#$%< chuckled but went quiet when they heard loud footsteps. Enix recalled his encounter with the giant to them as Ingot paced back and forth before huffing and climbing out of the burrow, its massive tail slapping the ground.
"If what you say is true, that what's up there is a solution? Then it doesn't matter whether we can handle ourselves; we need to throw everything we can at this."
"Everything we can? We're three children."
"Plus a giant iron-eating pet."
"Guys, I won't let you risk yourselves like this. You can die."
"Enix, when I was little, I had a small chest with everything that my parents had left behind inside it. I found a journal from my mother in that chest. In it, she used to talk about the riskiness of her expeditions down here, on the surface. She said that she could die tomorrow, in a week, or a year from now. Yet the task of exploring and creating a safe haven for our people would remain, maybe even long after her death, until action was taken."
She handed Enix something, a drawing of two people. Enix saw their resemblance to her and realized she had a drawing of her parents.
"Sometimes, the risk is worth it."
"…Do you both feel that way?" Enix asked.
&#+$ nodded, but >&@#$%< didn't answer. He was looking down, avoiding Enix's eyes. Enix took it as confirmation.
"Good, because we nearly died to this giant outside. We only survived because Ingot loves digging so much."
"Then we need a plan." &#+$ looked to >&@#$%<. "Got anything?"
"We'll have to rely on you for the kill shot." He said. "Enix, any chance you can keep it from moving its head too much?"
"If I can get to it. I might need someone to distract it while I find a way up to it."
"We can have Ingot keep the thing busy. It's tough enough, right?"
"I'm… not sure. Ingot's tough, but that giant is strong. If it's just Ingot alone…"
"Leave it to me then." >&@#$%< looked about to say something else, but then he looked around. "Hey, where's-"
A roar from above interrupted him. The giant had returned, and this time, it sounded angry. Enix heard it stomp around almost aimlessly as it kicked the ground above. Then it grunted, a sudden change in tone as Ingot growled, a scraping noise from afar. The footsteps went toward the growl, and the boy heard a scuffle as the two clashed together.
Enix crawled forward, whispering to his two human companions to stay back while he looked to see what was happening.
Before he could, however, he heard a yowl of pain and the sound of two bodies colliding above them. Enix surmised that the giant had come back and met Ingot outside. Enix stood up, attempting to rush out, but both &#+$ and >&@#$%< grabbed his arms and held him back.
"Let me go!"
"Enix-"
"I said let me go! He needs my help!" But they refused. Enix growled, fighting to release himself from their grip, but stopped when he heard something new.
Two voices bellowed in pain. First, Ingot cried out. A horrible sound, hollow and loud, yelping and keening in between growls. It was followed immediately by the giant crying out. Both sounds ended quickly with a thud, and the burrow's ceiling crumbled inwardly.
"No!" Enix morphed into his gelatinous form and back to his human one to escape their grasp as he clambered out. He found the giant's dead body above the entrance of the burrow, but Ingot was nowhere to be seen.
Enix looked around, thinking his companion had fled, when a metallic keening sounded from beneath the giant. &#+$ and >&@#$%< finally managed to remove themselves from the caved-in burrow.
"Help me move it!" Enix turned to stone and began to dig under part of the giant. &#+$ knelt to help him and >&@#$%< grabbed at Ingot, dragging it free of the giant's body.
Enix looked over his companion, trying not to get sick.
Ingot was limp, its eyes unfocused. The giant had crushed its hind legs and tail, bent to unnatural angles. When Enix lifted its head onto his lap, its eyes finally focused on him.
Ingot coughed, weakly lapping at Enix's tongue with its hand, its breathing heavy. It pawed at Enix's legs.
"I know, I know, shhh…" The boy comforted Ingot for what felt like forever.
Until the light faded from his eyes.
Enix choked, feeling a sharp pain in his throat. Ingot had done its best to save him. It gave everything, throwing itself at an insurmountable force.
Ingot had given everything and won.
&#+$ put her hand on his shoulder. "Enix, I'm so-"
"Fine." The boy croaked.
"Fine what?"
"You want to come with? Fine. You can come."
Enix closed Ingot's eyes. He couldn't help but think that they would never open again. He leaned forward to touch his companion's forehead.
"Thank you, brother." He whispered before gently lowering Ingot's head to the ground. He stood, turning to his two remaining friends.
"Let's go."